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Wasabi Technologies the world's hottest cloud storage provider recently asked themselves, "What good is storing data if you can't access what you need when you need it?" Their answer? Wasabi Air is the first intelligent cloud storage with built-in AI auto-tagging capabilities. Now, everything you store with wasabi, every game ever played, every movie ever produced, can be searched through quickly and easily. Go to wasabi.com to see how wasabi Air can breathe new life into your content. The following podcast is #BoonApproof. It's time for another edition of the Brett Boon podcast. Whoever made you almost with the blows, you lose that me down three times too, so I know what you're talking about. It's your host, MLB All-Star, Brett Boon. Bottom line is, you will become a successful majorly hitter by hitting Hitchers mistakes. As he sits down with his sports entertainment friends from around the world, you are not gonna be a successful majorly hitter if you hit Hitchers pitch. This isn't just any form of Jock's podcast. It's a change outcome, you gotta change the income, you gotta change what goes in. And that changes to what goes out. Often duplicated, but never replicated, just like his back flip. Okay, now the party starts. The responsibility starts now. Now, in its fourth year, this is the one and only, Brett Boon podcast. Welcome to the Brett Boon podcast. I'm your host, Brett Boon, and on today's program, I'm joined by Rob Bradford, who hosts baseball as an boring podcast. And today, we're gonna bring our two acts together, these two Odyssey originals. Ladies and gentlemen, Rob Bradford, Rob, thanks for coming on. - Well, let's go, let's go, a collab. - I heard, yeah, how about me using the word collaboration? I heard the kids like that. It's a catch word right now. - I think this is, if I had any musical acumen, I would burst off into a song right now, 'cause I do think there's a collaboration song somewhere in the mix. So, but yeah, no, it's an honor, a privilege. And I really, Brett, before you get going, I really admire what you're doing here. It's an awesome podcast. It's great. I think your voice is a really powerful one. And yeah, so on behalf of the entire Odyssey family, thank you. - Yeah, and thank, back at you, Robby, back at you. I wanna get into your, I wanna talk about your podcast a little bit. We'll move on to what we're gonna do today, but baseball isn't, where did it come from? What did you come up with that name? Baseball isn't boring. - So, it was, it goes back to January 2022. And Joe Kelly, who I covered with the Red Sox, and obviously he'd moved on. We had always kept in touch, and we had wanted to do a book about basically baseball being good, and being fun and remembering. And remember, it was during the lockout. So, baseball was not trending in the right direction. So, we sort of reverse engineered it, where we said, let's start with the title, baseball's in boring. And then, let's make T-shirts, and then let's make, you know, a social media account, and then Joe did an op-ed in the LA Times. And again, this was during the lockout, where people were really, really crap and all over baseball. And so, as we did it, as we kept coming out with the baseball's in boring, we realized people like saying it, people like the idea, people like being reminded, you know, flash forward to, we did the book, flash forward to October that year, and they said, listen, we gotta do a podcast. This is a straight ball right down the middle. So, end up doing the podcast, daily podcast, every single day, since October, 2022. And, like I said, people, there's probably 5% of my brain that I'm using when it comes to the baseball's and boring stuff, but Brett, it really is. I think it sort of hit the sweet spot, but that's where it started with Joe. - Well, very cool. And, you know, I was thinking about your podcast, and I'm thinking baseball is boring. I'm thinking how you came up with it, before I even asked you this question. And then, you move back, right around those times, a couple of years ago, is the games, you know, everybody was starting to complain, games are too long, they're this, they're that. And, I was on the other side of the fence. I thought, no, I wanna keep my game the same way. You know, we don't have clocks in baseball. You know, it turned out like a lot of people. I was pleasantly surprised with the new rule. It's kinda cool. And, for what we do in content and putting it out there, it really is nice because I know, okay, I gotta put my eyes on certain games today. I've got some shows to do tomorrow. And, I know that probably at the two hour and 48 minute mark, we're gonna be done with baseball for the night, whereas in the past, I don't know if it's gonna be two hours, 45, three hours, 45, four hours and 15 minutes. I think it's been kinda nice. And what it did is it just got the game back to where, you know, probably 34 years ago it's been, it's just, you needed a little bit of push. So, is baseball less boring or more boring than before the rules? - Oh, no, listen, I mean, it's less boring. And I'll go back to, again, that time, that early 2022 with a lockout of how unpopular baseball was, and it was because of the lockout, but also because of what baseball had become, where it had become long, the shift stuff, the pitch clocks, everything. And then I think they took enormous steps in the right direction, Brad. I mean, I think that I remember I do the Red Sox broadcast during spring training, and I sat down for that first game. I was like, holy mackerel, like holy mackerel, this is like, you couldn't, the storytelling, there was no storytelling, it was fast, but then you're like, all of a sudden a three hour game felt like what used to be a four hour game was, which is a good thing. And I think that this was part of the conversation for the last year, more than a year, about the pitch clock and how baseball is and everything else. But even before that, somebody said this, and I think that this one word is important, urgency, is that it's great to have some semblance of urgency, more urgency in baseball. It doesn't have to be like the other sports. I still say that baseball is the best game to go to, the best game to go to, because you can go to it, you can talk, you can eat, you can do other things, and then all of a sudden boom, something happens. You don't do that in the other sports, but now it's just the urgency is a little bit more, and I don't think that's a bad thing. - No, I think you're right, and speaking of, you do in the game during spring training, the first spring training, it was implemented, and everybody's up in the air, how's this gonna affect the game? I was in Seattle, or I was in Peoria, where Seattle trains for spring training. So whenever I'm in town, yeah, I'll pop into the booth for an inning or two with Rick Riz. So Riz says, "Boney, why don't you come up "in the fourth, we'll do the fourth and the fifth inning?" I said, "Okay." And you're right, usually they have me there to tell stories and BS, and I'm sitting there and halfway through my story, it's a third out, and I'm going, "Wow, this is different." And it seemed like I was in the booth for about 15 minutes, whereas in the past, would have been at least a half hour. But I don't know now, like I said, I kind of like it now. I've got step-daughters that were the opposite of baseball fans. Now in San Diego, it's kind of the hip thing to be a Padres fan these days. The younger generations coming out really supporting this Padres team, and it's cool to see. Anywhere, anytime for me, that baseball's being promoted in a positive light, I think it's great. But they go to the games now and they love it, and they know it's not going to be this four hour, and for new fans, fans that aren't the die-hards, like yourself, like since I've retired, this game's been my whole life, let's be honest. Since I was two years old, that's all I knew is baseball. I retired, I kind of stepped away for a while and kind of have it, I call it my dark spot, where I don't remember the game from like 2010 to 2016. I have no idea, I don't know who played in that era. I don't know who played that generation. It just kind of a dark spot. But once I've got back into it, this is my life, and it's what I've done my whole life. It's obviously what my family's done and all I've known. So I really like it, and I think, I don't know. I think it's nothing but the positives. I was hesitant about that, oh, you can only throw over twice to first base, come on, what is this? It's going to be easy for the base stealer. Well, in retrospect, that was the reason for them implementing the rule. To encourage base stealing again. To encourage playing baseball, and they call it little ball, kind of bugs me, because it's kind of easy. Everybody gets away with it, oh, that's little ball. Well, nobody knows what they're talking about, but it sounds good, but it really is. It's encouraging stealing base. Now you're seeing guys, they're talking about 30, 30 guys, 40, 40 guys. Now, when the real base stealers start to make that their craft again, like Ricky Henderson did, I think they're going to have to auto-correct those, or tweak the rules about throwing over twice. Like, wait a minute, now too many guys are stealing bases. But I think in the interim, I think it did the job and just adds to that excitement. Like you said, move it along. We're getting in the box, strikeouts are a big part of today's game. I have a little bit of problem with that, 'cause I don't think there's as much pride taken in putting that ball in play. But I'll tell you what, when you're ready to go, when you're engaged, you know you have to engage at the eight second mark. As a hitter, you're more apt to put the ball in play, if that makes sense. - Yeah, it all makes sense. And we can't turn a blind eye to this, right? And when this came out, when the rules came out, there was a lot of players, especially a lot of pitchers with a pitch clock saying, what are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing? And then you go, all you have to do is go, and in baseball reference, you can see this, the number of violations. Go to April of last year to the end of the year. And remember, Brett, the post season was, oh my goodness, how are we ever gonna do this? How are we ever gonna rush the game along at the most important time of the game? And really, I don't know if there was any violations. And I didn't feel like there was any, because I think that players adjust. And like you said, and we're gonna continue to adjust. We're gonna have to continue to tweak. I think some of the moving it down two seconds, maybe it was caught before the horse a little bit, going from 20 seconds to 18 seconds. I don't know if that was necessary. And the pitchers will still, there'll still be pitchers saying, yeah, great. You know, we're getting the fans in, and it's faster games and everything. But let's see where this lands in terms of the pitchers' injuries. Like we don't, there is stuff that we don't know. But what we do know is that the much like your family, the demographic and the attention span of baseball fans and society has gotten shorter and shorter and shorter. So as much as you and I can sit there and digest a four-hour game, that's not the way that society is going. So we can't turn a blind eye to it. - You're right, it's not for the masses. In today's social media era, you're right. I mean, the attention span's this big. 'Cause if something's not ultra exciting over here, oh, it is over here. So we'll just move over there. I never thought it was gonna be a problem from a hitter's perspective. I mean, I just, you always, when you think about a new rule or something new, you think, okay, how would I react? It always goes to yourself. 'Cause that's what you can relate to. And I thought, well, you know, sometimes I took a little time in between pitches, but I didn't take too much time. And if I need to just be there within 12 seconds, I can make that happen. I always thought though, and then that thought went out the door 'cause we don't give signs anymore. So I thought, no, getting the sign from the third base coach and what if, you know, in my day, if you didn't get the sign, you'd have to run through it and then you'd run down to the third base coach and boss. - Yeah, yeah. - Well, they don't give signs anymore. So that ends that. So then I thought, well, I don't have to worry about that 'cause when's the last time they gave a sign? But I think everything's worked out good. And I think, like you said, players adjust, players adapt. - And Brett, let me give you an example of this, not to interrupt you. - No, go ahead. - But it's, the ultimate was David Ortiz for me. So David Ortiz, remember one of the first things they did. And some of these initial forays into trying to speed up the games were like kind of stupid, to be honest with you, it was like, "Oh, we're gonna limit the walk-in music." Okay, whatever. But that, that offseason where they said, you're not gonna be allowed to take your foot out of the batter's box. That was a big thing. And you have to keep one foot in the batter's box. So David Ortiz was told this in spring training and he flips out. He flips out. He was like, "What are we doing? This is ridiculous." 'Cause remember, Ortiz was a guy steps out, looked around at Justin's batting gloves. And then after that year, I think it was his last year, after that year, he said, "You know what? It made me a better hitter. It made me a better hitter because it made me think about what I had to do next faster instead of worrying about what just happened." And, you know, so to your point, I mean, that's part of the adjustment. And I think that a lot of players sort of will think they'll line those lines. - Yeah, they're right. All right, let's get on to the, we talked off-camera the other day a little bit. And I think I use the term to you. I think the Red Sox are sneaky good. You're on the ground. You see it on a regular base. I think the Yankees in Baltimore and rightfully so, stole a lot of the headlines. I think that, you know, for the first half of the season have been two of the best teams. I think there's four elite teams in the game. I think two of them are Baltimore and the Yankees, although recently, Yankees have fallen on some tough times, had some injuries been banged up a little bit. Let's go through the East real quick before we get to the Red Sox. We'll save the big extravaganza for the end. Talk to me what you've seen so far about the top guys, the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore Orioles to me, Rob, and I'll let you go on this. They won 100 games a year ago, 101 games, I believe. I wasn't all in on them this year. And I thought, no, it was nice. They won 101 games. It's a feel good story. Yeah, a lot of young talent. I don't think they're ready to win 101 games again. Well, I was dead wrong. I watched this team. These guys are electric. They're young, they're talented. They're not scared. They're pitching better than I thought they'd pitch burns. It's been a big acquisition, putting him in the top of the rotation over there. But what have you seen so far from that young, exciting Baltimore Orioles? Well, I think they are the best team right now. And I think it's pretty obvious, too, that if they want to get aggressive, and once you have the new ownership group, David Rubenstein, and you had him come in, and immediately you have the burns trade right after that, say, OK, here we go. This is exactly what we're talking about. They're finally being a little aggressive, and understanding the urgency, and understanding what they have to work with in terms of getting some of these players that will help that urgency. But I think that burns has made a huge difference. I think, but though now, you go out and get another starter. And if you go out and get another starter, a legit starter, I mean, a starter that is gonna start in a postseason game, then I don't think there's any question that from top to bottom, what you have is a dynamic team, like you said, a young team. And this is another factor of this, is that young teams, man, in this day and age of baseball, it works. If you have a good young talented team in the grind of a baseball season who just is showing up and loving life and not feeling the aches and pains, like it works. And this is a really, really talented young team, which obviously has more guys coming up, but I just feel like you're just, you're there, but you do not, if you're the Orioles, you do not want to be blindsided when it comes to what postseason series and being caught short when it comes to your starting coaching. (upbeat music) - Take your business further with a smart and flexible American Express Business Gold Card. You can earn four times points on your top two eligible spending categories every month, like transit, U.S. restaurants, and gas stations. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Four times points on up to $150,000 in purchases per year. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com/businessgoldcard. - Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harman from Reception Perception. Join me and James Co as we take a deep dive into the position that's gonna make or break your fantasy roster. Wide receivers. We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need. Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. - All-star, closer, Kelly, James, and we have a question. - What's the best podcast of all time? This boy isn't boring, baby. - I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast, it's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago, and it's now the most prolific national daily baseball pod. There is another fact. So jump aboard the BIB Express. Follow and listen to baseball as I'm boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. - Yeah, you mentioned that they do need another starting pitch. And with braddish means going down, both of them opted for Tommy John's surgery. And you know who I'm really impressed with. He gets a lot of headlines, but Gunner's getting all the headlines this year, and he's been an MVP candidate since day one. But I'll tell you what, this Adley Rushman kid, he's good. And I don't mean just pretty good. He does a great job handling the pitching staff. Catch throw is excellent, but I don't really look at that. I just look at the whole pet. This kid's like, and I don't want to give him too much 'cause he doesn't have the body of work yet. But to me, he's every bit what Posey was. He's got that demeanor, he reminds me of him. Switch hitter, and this sucker, and maybe it's just, you know those guys you get robbed that it seems like every time you watch him, they do something good, or certain guys, every time you watch them, they don't get a hit, and you don't know how their numbers are where they are. Every time I turn the TV on, and I catch the Orioles for a minute, seems like Adley Rushman comes up, and he always does something that blows me out like, he did it again, every time. This guy should be hitting 500. Every time I see him, he gets a hit. He's just really special to me. My question to you is, this season out for the year is Batista. Arguably the best closer in game, and there's a lot of good ones right now, a lot of dynamic guys. Getting to the Pose season, are they gonna be okay with Kimbell, with his recent struggles in the Pose season? Is he enough to be at the end of that bullpen for Baltimore, and is that a question mark for them? - Yeah, yes, I mean, I don't think there's any question about it, and I always, when I talk about Kimbell, I always have to have the caveat of saying, "Hey, listen, unbelievable career. "I've seen him at the height of Craig Kimbell. "He's rejuvenated himself for the last couple of years, "and he will help you get to the finish line." But Brad, you go back to last year, last Pose season, and I've seen other Pose seasons that Craig has been in, and you start with the Marlin series, that Philly's for a series. Yeah, he got the save, but it looked different. And so when they went into that Diamondbacks series, I was talking to an executive, and I said, and they were talking about how talented the Phillies were, I said, "Yeah, but you know what? "They're gonna pitch Kimbell at really important times, "and the Kimbell that I'm seeing in the Pose season "isn't necessarily a guy that you say, "That's the guy who's gonna shut down this game." And sure enough, it didn't happen. Now, maybe I'm being unfair to Craig Kimbell, but for me, if I'm running the Orioles, I have a fail-safe plan in place. I think, when we talk about a starter, I don't think you can just say, "There's the guy. "There's the guy who's gonna close out the Pose season game "for you." So it's a good point by you. And so the short answer is, yeah, I think they needed somebody else to really cover yourself if you do go the other way. - Now, the reason I bring it up is 'cause I have those feelings. When Kimbell comes into the game, I was watching a Yankee game the other day, and they were talking about the last time he was at Yankee City. 'Cause this year, they had to give him a few days off, take him out of that closer role. They ended up incorporating him back in, and he's been doing well again. And he's got a, I think he's got an earning in the mid-twos. But they were talking about it in New York, and they said, "Oh, are they gonna bring him in? "This is where it happened last time." And I'm kind of wondering, all right, let me watch what unfolds here. Sure enough, they bring him in, he gives it up. And I went, "That's kind of the feeling "that you've had with Kimbell." I think across the board, and not just me and not just Rob Bradford, but a lot of guys, a lot of it's been in the Pose season, 'cause unless you're in the local market, you probably don't watch it, Kimbell, until you get to the Pose season. But I'm with you. He's got that feeling like, and believe me, it's not just me and you, everybody feels it. And I don't want to give any disrespect to Craig Kimbell. As you said at the top, a hell of a career, a great career, and well accomplished. But at this stage, it's just the feeling we get, and I'm not gonna lie about it. Just the feeling you get-- Yeah, I mean, everybody gets it. Were you kind of surprised when they're constructing this team, all the users said, Batista's out, that Kimbell was the guy, that they're saying, "There's a replacement "for Felix Batista." I mean, I was, because I just felt like, especially after what happened in the Pose season, like, well, that doesn't seem like, for a team as good as this, that doesn't seem like the certainty that you're looking for. Yeah, and now I'm gonna get Kimbell hate mail. That's all right, that's all right, it's what we do. All right, moving on to the Yankees. Another team that was a little bit surprising to me, Rob, how they got out of the gate, they were that good. I looked at Cole going down at the beginning of the season, I thought, you know, they've got some talent that started rotation, but there's no way they're good enough to play. At this level, Stanton was a huge question mark until recently went on the IEL. Stanton, to me, has been the most important part. Yes, Soto came over, he's been an MVP candidate. Aaron Judge is the best player in the world, but to me, Stanton was the key. He needed to be a presence in the lineup. He's been every bit that thus far. Like I said, recently went on the IEL. Look at this team up and down. Your thoughts at this stage of the season, are they good enough? If not, where do they need to improve? Well, I think you're going to have to have Louis Hill in some of these pitchers hang on, and you have to have Garrett Cole be good. I think they'll score runs, I do. And throw them in as well. It's, you just, you have, it's not a news flash that the teams, you have to position yourself. You could have be a really, really good team. You can win a division, but just talk it with some of the Dodgers, they know this as well, that that's great. But you better have your starting pitching lined up and pitching well when the rubber meets the road in October. And so that's what I worry a little bit about the Yankees and wonder if they're going to cover themselves a little bit in that respect at the deadline. But I just, I mean, I'll be fascinated to get your point of view. We just had on, it's Rich Hill, it's coming on tomorrow, we just taped it. And we were talking about leadership in the clubhouse and the importance of player leadership. And that clip, and your brother does an awesome job, one of the best matrices in the game, I'm not just saying that. But to have that player, where Aaron Judge walks up alongside of Marcus Roman and just said, hey, you know, excuse me, this isn't really how we do things. You know, we don't play in the field as I'm paraphrasing, but to have that impact, to have that guy who is steering the ship through all this stuff that we're talking about, that is a difference maker for me, it just is. And he's a great player, Aaron Judge, but that just, you know, I mean, to have a player be able to have that guy in that clubhouse do that, whether it's Strowman or Verdugo or whoever else, that is a huge check mark in the favor of the Yankees, I think. - Yeah, it's true and you got to have it, Rob. You got to have that type of policing internally. You know, that's not up to the manager, that's not up to a coaching staff. You got a guy like Aaron Judge, you know, he's got the respect and the admiration of pretty much everybody, the way he's going about his business, kind of passed on the torch from Jeter to Aaron Judge. I couldn't imagine a better guy, just the way he carries himself. And then, you know, the numbers he puts up are ridiculous. I think he's the best player in baseball. You know, you talk about Otani, a healthy Aaron Judge to me is the only man in the game right now that's capable of hitting 60 plus home runs and hitting over 300, which is a rare thing we see today. Guys, it hit 300. Aaron Judge has got that unbelievable combo. I mean, he's hitting, Rob, he's hitting pop-ups. They go out just 'cause he's so big and he's got so much leverage. I used to, I played with Richie Saxon for one year. I remember taking batting practice with him. And he, these got, they're so big and they have so much leverage. And he's sitting there and he's flicking balls and they're going where my balls are going on. You know, when I'm back legging it and I'm in perfect position, I said, oh, Richie, it must be nice to have that kind of leverage. It just flicked balls out of the park and he looked at me and goes, oh yeah, but it must be nice having those little short arms. So nothing, you know, not as much can go wrong. So yeah, there's an advantage to having shorter limbs. Yeah, less can go wrong. But I'll take that leverage all day long. Aaron Judge definitely has it. Good points on that, you know, touching on the Strowman situation the other day. And I don't, you know, I'm not one of those ex players that gets ahead of myself and says, oh, I know what he did. You've got to be on the field. You got to feel it. If he did what I think he did, which was reacting emotionally to Torres' play. And by the way, Torres turned a decent double play. It didn't look any different than every double play ever turns. If I'm at second base and that happens from one of my pitch, those are fighting words right there. Those aren't, oh, I'm just not going to talk to you 'cause I'm mad at you. That's go under the stands and let's go. You don't do that to me on the field. That is the last thing you do. I've seen guys getting fights over that stuff before. And I think you should. You never show up a teammate ever on the field when the cameras are rolling. If that's what happens, Strowman knows better than that. I think Aaron Judge handles it. The most important thing, team to team is, you get it squashed, you get it handled in-house. And you're moving on the next day. So hopefully that's the- - Well, and you hear Strowman's comments. I know, listen, I mean, it's comments to the media, but he said the right thing. - Right, he did. - Yeah, and so you're right. I mean, the fact is, is that now Strowman knows, I don't know like what type of like, who has confronted Strowman in the past if these like this have happened. But I know this. I don't remember seeing anyone do what Judge did with Strowman, which is like, what, like 10 seconds. - Right. - But do that and like, okay, you know, he's probably not doing it again to your point. - Right, right. And it's kind of just a moment. Excuse my French is cut that shit out. We don't play that bullshit here in New York. And with Aaron Judge having that captain thing, which I laugh, be the captain, there's no captains in baseball. - Yeah, I know. - Thank you. - That's for hockey. That's for hockey, but, you know, said captain. Now, I think it was poignant and I think it's moving on. That's the key to great team drop and all the great teams I've been on. There's no BS that gets us off track. Everything is handled in-house. When something happens, you squash it right now. And whatever the controversy may be, you need to wake up the next morning, come to the ballpark and it really is squashing. It's over and you're moving on. So the real positive teams and the successful teams I've been a part of, they were all really policed from the inside. Okay, moving on to the team. I don't think drive me crazy as the right phrase. I can't figure it out. This Tampa Bay race team, year in and year out, I don't know half the players on the team ever, yet they're at the postseason every single year. They're knocking on the door. They were dead and gone. They're up to 500 already. But is this the year where Tampa Bay just doesn't make it? Rob Bradford. I tell you what, Brett, you know, again, we have to say we want to say this every year and then we're always made to look the fool when if we do say it because they find a way. Last year was the extreme example when they're starting out like 100 and O to begin the year where a lot of people went in that year so then this is the year again. The difference this time around was that you had two key guys missing. And I think that hurt them at the end of the year. The wonder Franco thing, listen, whatever happened, it happened to him. But I'm just talking about on the field, that hurt them. Offensively, defensively, they could not replace them in that lineup at the end of that year. And I think it carried over a little bit. And then McClanahan, like one of the best pictures in the American League, you're without him. So you keep losing guys. And by the way, they lost GetLaz now too. And Pepio has been okay, but he was glass now is glass now. So you keep losing these guys is going to catch up to ultimately. Now I will say this, they have some guys coming back. They have some pictures coming back. They're playing a little bit better as you mentioned. So as we sit here, like I can't count them out. I can't count them out, especially with guys coming back. I can't, but boy, every year, and this is why every time they come to town, you say you asked them, hey, they Kyle Snyder, you know, just between us. Like, what's the secret sauce? What's the thing? What's the secret? And what he'll do, like throw strike one over the plate. Throw strike one over the plate. And I'm sure it's more complicated than that. But whatever they're doing, it's working. And I would not count them out even now. It's impressive, this run they've been on. And I think it's a culture. I think when you sign up to be a Tampa Bay Ray, you get to spring training, and there's something Kevin Cash has got going there. And that's, I don't know any other word to use in culture, but when you walk through the spring training doors for the Rays, the atmosphere is kind of, hey, we win here. And we go to the postseason here. The only thing they haven't done, they haven't finished the deal in one of World Series. But when you have that type of atmosphere, I had it when I went to Atlanta. You know, different circumstances. The Braves were a juggernaut in the 90s. They'd never lost a division. But I remember going into that spring training, coming over from the Reds, and I was on some good Reds teams. But the atmosphere was, no, no, it's, it's not a matter if we're going to the postseason. It's whether we're going to win the World Series here. But it wasn't just words. It was a real feeling that you had in that clubhouse. I think Tampa Bay has found a way to make that a real thing. And when you go through those doors, it's not the raw, raw answer to the reporter's questions that, yeah, we're really, you know, we're really going to have a good year and get to the postseason. It's, no, we're going to the postseason. Is this the year we figure out how to win the World Series? And I think it's nothing but a great thing. - Yeah, and Brett, you know, in terms of this, if you're focused on the pitching too, well, there's that dynamic, the mentality, which I'll go back to Joe Madden, when, you know, I, they defined this, this James Shields, Coco Chris fight is, we're taking on the big boys in American League East. Next then, you know, you're actually beating the big boys in the American League East and you're going on the run that they haven't really stopped. But the pitching, you had said, when you walk in there, you have the raised mindset of doing things. Jake Deakman, this was the guy who he was released by the White Sox, couldn't throw strikes, had great stuff, had bounced around, he lands with Tampa Bay. And then all of a sudden, the Tampa Bay wave doing things, got him pitching like everybody had hoped that he would pitch. And talking to Deakman, he said, he was honest. He said, when you, everyone tells you, this is what you got to do. Throw the ball over the play for strike one, so forth and so on. But when you hear it from the race, this is his words. When you hear it from the race, it hits different. And I think that's part of what you're talking about. - It's, it's amazing to me. All right, last team, before we get to your Red Sox, to me, one of the more disappointing teams, you know, I've watched this, this young team grow up together and I thought they were going to be a real force going forward offensively this year. They've done nothing from a pitching standpoint. They're at the bottom of the American League in all the categories defensively. There is mediocre as they come. I looked at this Blue Jays team at the beginning of the season and I saw Gossman, I saw Bassett, I saw Kakuchi, Berios, and thought, this is probably the best, the best staff, the best starting rotation in the American League East. They're in the basement. Is there any hope, have you given up on this young, you know, with Bassett and Vlattie and Springer? They brought in, they brought in Justin Turner who's had a ton of success in LA. Is this the end of the run? Do they need to scrap this or, I don't know, what's your thought on the Blue Jays? For me, very disappointing. - Yeah, it is disappointing. And I do think it's the end of the run because now you're at the point where you have to make decisions on guys like Justin Turner, on guys like, you know, Bassett and Guerrero. And you're gonna have to start turning over the roster a little bit just because of contract status. But, and then you have injuries like the Romano injury. It's just that time where I know that there's three months left but for the Blue Jays, it is what it is. It just, this isn't like we talk about the race. You're trending a little bit better and you have the race way of doing things. No, the Blue Jays way of doing things in recent years has been underachieving. But it is disappointing because, like you, I was, I thought they were the most talented team in the American League East last year. You could make the argument this year, even with Baltimore and the Yankees. And I know, the reason I know that they were perceived as one of the most talented teams was because the guy that they almost had, the guy that was supposed to be on the jet flying from California to Toronto but wasn't, but still went to Dunedin to actually take a tour of the facility and that's Shohei Itani. I mean, Shohei Itani, I know what the money was there, but he doesn't go there unless he feels, or he doesn't even entertain that, unless he feels that this is a good situation going forward. And it's amazing to think about that. It's amazing to think about you lose Otani and this almost like fork in the road. And now we're talking about dealing off these really, really talented players. It's just taking a real turn for the words and I think it's just not gonna change in the next month. - Yeah, I think underachieving, I think that's the word, I'm gonna coin it. I'm gonna coin it, I'm gonna take it at Rob Bradford, Brett Boone, underachieving. That's the word for it. All right, let's get to your Red Sox. I've been keeping an eye on them all year. And it's like, man, Red Sox pitch. I got a good bullpen. They offense more than I thought. I know there's a Deber's guy there, but who else is there, they're playing, they're stealing bases. And they're just hanging around 44 and 39 as we tape this. And I don't know. Do they have enough in that division? Give me your take on the ground. - It's funny. It's like the 2024 Red Sox colon, I don't know. I mean, that's, there it is. It really is. I mean, it's, and before it was maybe question park, I mean, it's, it really Brett is one of the most baffling teams that I've ever covered, certainly. And more than the most surprising teams too, because you already came in with low expectations. You didn't do much in the off season. You have the win over under, win total was like 78 and a half. And then you have, then you get in the season and Gio Lido, they're big signing out for the year. Trevor's story, weakened the season out for the year. You keep having these injuries. Garrett Whitlock, a guy who was supposed to be part of the rotation out for the year. So you have all of these things and you're just filling the gap. Vaughn Grissom, the guy that he's got for Chris Sale, who is supposed to be the everyday second baseman, have barely played. And when he's played, it hasn't been great. Tristan Cassis, the guy, the foundation guy, well, he's been out for a couple of months now. All of it. And as you said, now they're sitting here, game and a half out of the wild card, over 500. And at first, for the first couple of months, it was a starting pitching. It was Andrew Bailey had found the secret sauce, the recipe, and they've gotten Tanner Hauck, he cut a craw for it, and Nick Pavetta and these guys to be one of the best starting rotations around. And that kept them in it. But now what's happening is that you're seeing a lot of these younger players who are getting a chance. So Don Rafaela, and will you pray you when David Hamilton, guys that probably are outside of Boston, people barely know. And all of a sudden, they've gotten a chance and they've actually become better. And this is where I'm going to pivot to one of the biggest storylines when it comes to the Red Sox. It's Alex Cora. Alex Cora and his coaching staff, Brad, you know, like one of the things about managing in baseball, it's, are you getting the most out of your players? However you're doing, are you getting the most out of your players? And this year, undeniably, Alex Cora, and I'm going to throw his coaching staff in there as well, because they're working with these guys every day, they're getting the most out of these players right now. And because of the way they play, like you said, stealing bases, running around, that eliminates some slumps, and you have big-eyed divers, casts is coming back, they become, you know, they're not going to win the division, but as we've seen in this world of baseball, just get in, get some good starting pitching, and you're on your way. - Yeah, I look at this division, and because of the Red Sox, I put them up there, maybe the best division in all of baseball with obviously Baltimore and the Yankees sitting at the top, but it certainly makes it interesting. And, you know, you touch on the manager thing, and, you know, I don't like to get too deep in the weeds on manager, you know, look at the Cubs and counsel, and oh, yeah, he just forgot how to manage, that's what it is, but let's be honest. The end of the day, players win games, and in the media standpoint, managers lose games, that's just the way it is. But the great managers that I've run into year in and year out, and it doesn't matter, if the players don't play, well, I don't care who you are. Manage, it's not going to mean a hill of beans. But if you got the horses, the next step to elite managing, I think, is putting those horses in the best frame of mind, mentally, to go out, take the field every day, put them in the best position possible for them to succeed. And the great ones have the ability to do that. They have the ability to kick me in the butt, and maybe to another teammate, give that teammate a hug. And correspondence, that puts everybody in the best position to be the best player they can be. It's reading people, it's being that great CEO. It's not, oh, did I bring in the lefty at the right time? Oh, you know, I brought in that righty a little early. Those are exes and allos. Computer these days can run that. But it's managing people. And I think we get to it, you know, I laugh, because now having a brother doing it, you listen to the fans. Oh, he stinks, he should have brought him. I just sit there and shake my hand like, nobody has a clue. You know, once that national anthem ends, Rob, I'll tell you what, it's very, very miniscule. The say a manager has in the outcome of that game. And I've talked to a lot of teammates. I said, how many times do we sit around after a game, have a beer and bitch about the manager losing the game for us? Every time it was because we didn't do something to win that game. It had nothing to do with the manager. Once in a while, you'd come in and say, man, skip me in a bad move at this part of the game. But it was so a one off and it didn't happen. So no, I agree with you. The great ones, they can have that little impact. And it's just putting you, the talent in position to succeed. - Well, that's why they call it managing, right? - Yeah. - Because it's almost like the managing of everything outside from seven to 10 is the more important stuff. It's managing people. - Right. - Yeah, so. - Interesting, interesting. Well, I appreciate you on the Red Sox. I got to keep a closer eye on that Red Sox, but you've kind of put it out there like, I don't know why, but they keep coming. And I can't give you a real, I don't have a real feel on it. And you're watching these guys daily. Yeah. - Well, I do think this is that, I didn't mention one of the, they could legitimately have four all-stars. I mean, we're talking about obviously Deverse, 10 or how has emerged as to a legitimate ace. But Jared Duran has become one of the best outfielders in baseball. And if anybody who hasn't seen him play, like he's also a really fun guy to watch play. And then, even a guy like Connor Wong, who was one of the third guy in the Mookie Betts trade. So they just have guys who, maybe a lot of people in baseball hasn't got on their radar, but Brett, they're so desperate to find the foundation for the next good Red Sox team, the next Red Sox team where we're not saying, how are they doing this? And they, they've, I don't wanna say stumbled upon, but they have found some of those pieces, which I think a lot of people didn't think they would find this year. - I'll tell you what, sometimes it's nice to look around and go, how are we doing this? Who knows, but just keep doing it. - Exactly. - Sometimes as players, you don't know. You just, hey, just shut up and just keep doing it. Rob, I appreciate you coming on, man. A lot of fun. - Love your, I love your show, I love your podcast. Baseball isn't boring. Everybody out there watching the Brett Boom podcast. Go check out Rob's podcast, it's a fun show. You mentioned, who's coming up? - Oh yeah, so, well, today we just dropped Dylan C, talk to him, we love having Dylan on. He's a really smart guy, he's a really good pitcher. Rich Hill is a constant. Rich Hill is trying to become the first guy who goes from coaching in William's port, the winning the Little League World Series, which he's coaching his son, to then jumping on with a major league team and winning a World Series as a player. So, we talk about that. But there's, listen, it's honestly, Brett, it's like, it's every single day, like I look forward to listening, to watching your podcast. And I just, I feel very fortunate that we have this family of baseball talk here, because, you know, we can do this all day long, right? It's not taking ditches. - Yeah, and we'll do it again. We'll do it in a couple of months where we get close to that postseason. Always fun catching up with you, Rob. For those of you tuning in to the Brett Boom podcast, now catch us on YouTube. For those who are listening on the Odyssey app, wherever you get your podcast, I appreciate you tuning in, tuning in to Rob. He's an Odyssey insider too. He's an Odyssey original, his podcast, check his out. And until next time, keep it here. (upbeat music)
