Ben & Woods On Demand Podcast
9am Hour - Smart Baseball w Eno Sarris + The Reindl Report
Ben & Woods kick off the 9am by chatting with Eno Sarris of The Athletic a day early since we will be off for the rest of the week. Then we look ahead to tonight’s matchup between the Padres and Rangers with Adam Mazur taking the mound before we get to The Reindl Report and Paulie’s top stories of the morning and wish everyone a Happy 4th of July! Listen here!
- Duration:
- 55m
- Broadcast on:
- 03 Jul 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
Thanks again to Nick Hunley. Just joined us. That was a fun conversation. Final hour of Ben & Woods here on a Wednesday heading into the 4th of July holiday. Now, of course, everything that Nick Hunley said about catcher framing. I thought that was fascinating about when he pitched umpires would get mad if he tried to frame. Now everybody does it. But of course, that could all go away as soon as next season if they decide to go to an automated ball strike robot umpire system framing will have zero value. It'll either be a ball or a strike. You can catch it ugly, catch it soft and pretty, and it won't make a bit of difference. And all this work that these catchers have done for years and years on framing and how they show it to the umpire will make no difference whatsoever. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying that's a lot of work that's been put in that could be completely eradicated by one rule change. Yeah, and I don't know that they're discussing full on robo, right? It's more of a discussion. That may not be what is implemented. Sure, okay, with a challenge system, man. I really am because last night, Higgy on that last on that pitch in the first inning would have tapped his helmet and boom strike three year out. And I'm fine with the challenge. The challenge is fine. I don't know how many you do. I don't know how you keep it moving. Whatever. I know that's the most important thing in baseball now to get it over with. As far as the commissioner's office is concerned, but I don't think you'll ever, I don't know that you'll ever see full robo. I really don't. If only we had someone smart, they could discuss this with us further. Oh, how about that? In fact, we do have someone smart and because tomorrow is a holiday, our usual Thursday guest, going to join us a little bit earlier right now on a Wednesday. It's time for the super polished gift to be named smart baseball weekly segment with Eno Harris, Sarah's son of a bitch. Brought to you by seven mile casino, just seven minutes from the ballpark by the pay in Chula Vista. Here's Eno, Sarah's with Ben and Woods on 97 3, the fan. Happy Independence Day to you, Eno. What's on the barbecue menu at the Harris or Sarah's home? I'm probably going to do hamburgers. My little secret is, and this is going to discuss some people, but it's really good. A tiny bit of fish sauce, a little bit of soy sauce, and then it's like three quarters beef, one quarter pork. Eno knows umami. This is what, yeah, this is great that umami flavor. Oh, I thought you were going to say you use mayo to put the burgers together, which I have heard is really, really good. The extra binding. Yeah, it binds it. Yeah, and it's a little fatty in there and a good flavor. I think that'd be a decent one. I may try that myself. Let's, yeah, I'll do that. You do yours with fish sauce on it and we can compare. You don't want to put a lot of it. Yeah, you don't put a lot of it in it. It's not like you would separate it out if you're eating it. I love a good fish burger. I like my beef to taste like fish every time if I have the opportunity. No, not to tell you try. That's fair enough. So, you know, we were just talking with Nick Conley and about framing and then, you know, the idea of the automated ball strike system came up. How do you see it playing out? How does Major League Baseball going to handle this? Because obviously that discussion is not going away anytime soon. Yeah, I think it's going to be the challenge system like you see in tennis and I think that's the best outcome because it's fun for the viewers in tennis. When they challenge a double fault, you know, they go to the big board immediately. Everyone looks at it. There's limited amount of challenges. You look at the board and the crowd goes, "Oh!" and they watch the ball bounce, you know, and there's like an audience participation portion of it. So, the challenge system is you have three challenges. The batter has to challenge immediately. There's no looking over to the manager to see if they should challenge. And you only have three for the game. So, you have to kind of hold on to them. But that means no huge. You can't lose the game on a bad call. You know, there's no, you know, if you have the bases loaded in the eighth or something, then you can challenge it. And it's immediate and there's audience participation. The reason I don't like ABS as it is now is that walks and strikeouts went through the roof in the minor leagues when they instituted it. And their only sort of recompense has been to shrink the strike zone and walks and strikeouts are still kind of high. And then lastly, like, I think there could be unintended consequences. I think of Sergio Romo and Rich Hill throwing frisbees and these huge 12 to 6ers that hit the plate, that the catcher catches two feet outside the strike zone, but nicked the strike zone and make the light go green. And I'm not sure that I want baseball to sort of, you know, end up in that direction. Yeah, and I've always been of the opinion that it doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't. And I know it's recency bias and everything, Eno. But I mean, I'm seeing some lately that is, you know, the catcher may move his glove a little bit, but the ball's down the middle. I mean, it's 96 at the, not even at the top of the zone. It's down the middle. And these guys are missing. And I understand how hard it is. You know, your eyes can only catch up. These guys are throwing nastier stuff than they ever have before. But I do think that, you know, there's some, some way to do it where everybody is happy. I mean, but then again, we're talking about baseball that can't decide on a uniform baseball that it works for everyone. Everybody's happy? Right. Yeah. I don't think that's enough. Exactly. And one thing that we have seen with the umpires is that since we've had the machines, the umpires have been trained by the machine. And so I know this is kind of hard to hear, but the umpires are doing the best they've ever done. Yeah. Yeah. It's true. It's true. I think Mike and it's, they're pretty good. It's like a 95% sort of thing. So it's not, you know, it's not, it may feel sometimes like they're guessing, but, you know, they're actually pretty good. I think if the system is implemented, as you said, with the challenges, I guess my concern, or I would just assume that with, as competitive as teams are, if the Astros found a way to cheat stealing signals, you can see instantly if it's a ball or strike. Some way some teams going to figure out how to get that information to either the hitter or the catcher to make those seemingly instantaneous challenge decisions to know that they're going to be right 100% of the time when they do challenge. Yes. Yes. You're right. They're going to have somebody. There is actually right now a battle over whether the strike zone box is allowed on the iPad that's in the dugout. So the umpires complained that players were using the strike zone box on the, on the pitches they could watch on the iPad to argue with the umpires. Yeah. Because of course. Yeah. If you invite that to the box to be taken off and then the players union fought back and now the boxes are back. But maybe if they do have a challenge system, you are not allowed to have boxes on those pitches on the iPad. Interesting stuff, talking to, you know, Sarah's here on Ben Woods this morning and, you know, saw trade this morning, Aaron Savali going from the Rays to the Brewers for an infielder. Kind of your thoughts on that are the Rays trading from a position of depth here, or they just doing what the Rays do and just moving guys. I looked up his numbers. They're nothing to write home about, but I'm sure, you know, every team needs arms, every team needs innings eaten. You know, what was your kind of take on that? And do you expect some more arms to be moved? And if so, who? I mean, they have a couple of guys coming back from injury in Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen. They're in a really tough division. So it could just be an early sell. You know, they're at 500, but they're, you know, they're fourth in their division. And, you know, Aaron Savali hasn't turned out exactly as they hoped. He's a kind of a bad fastball guy with good breaking balls. They thought they could coax, you know, you know, three really good breaking balls out of there. And I think sometimes these breaking balls blend together. So I think there's just been, they traded Kalman Zarda, who was thought of as a pretty good hitting prospect, who struggled a little bit in the major leagues and has tried so far in Cleveland. But they don't look backwards and, you know, like, oh, God, we got to hold on to Aaron Savali because we traded Kalman Zarda for him. They do have a little bit of AJ in them where they're just like, nope, next move is this, you know. And so they have Shane Boz, who was at one point one of the best pitching prospects in the minors. He's lost a little bit due to injury, but he's ready to go. So they're just going to stick Shane Boz in there and keep on trucking. And the next person goes down, hopefully, you know, one of their returning guys from injuries is back. You know, they also want to think beyond this year. So if they trade him for somebody that they have next year, then that's so much better for them. They always do. They always think beyond this year, always. We are a little different here in San Diego. [laughter] And we've been talking about how creative our general manager is going to have to be. There's, you know, there's money constraints. There's prospect constraints. Kind of how do you see potentially in your gut the trade deadline for the San Diego Padres shaping up? Yeah, the crochet thing is just super interesting because you can get Garrett Crochet is probably the jewel of the deadline. Because he's got years of control. He throws 97. He looks like an ace. And he's in Chicago with the White Sox, and they're not going to be good in the next two, three years as well as they have him. The problem is that the most innings he's ever thrown before this year is 60. Now he's at 95 or 100. And every inning after this is sort of stepping into the unknown. What if you trade for him and you have to shut him down for the playoffs or you have to turn into a reliever or whatever it is, you know, that would affect your short term. But the nice thing is you have him for the next couple of years. So it wouldn't just be a deadline acquisition. And if there's anybody that I think would maybe quote-unquote throw caution to the wind, it might be AJ and just say, "Hey, you know, we're going to let Garrett pitch as much as he feels good." You know, we're doing that right now with Michael King in a way. You know, and so he might just roll the dice there and maybe he can acquire crochet for a little bit less than you'd expect, given all these questions about how many innings you will actually give him. The best otherwise is like a Jack Flaherty rental from the Tigers. Or, you know, you kind of wait for the Rangers to fall out and do a max shows are rental. But the clear jewel is crochet. Talking to, you know, Sarah's from the athletic here in with James Wood making his major league debut on Monday. A lot of people revisiting once again the 2022 Padres Nationals, Juan Soto trade. And I imagine we're going to be doing this for a decade to come. We don't have to, though. We don't want to. It's our show. We don't have to. We don't have to do it. And in some ways it's impossible to ever really do it. I mean, you can, you know, how do you, I mean, you can just go straight, like, war for war and who gave you more in the future. But you can't really, you can't really do that because, you know, players then turn into other players like the Padres did with Juan Soto and can't take away a nationally championship appearance, a series of parents, does that happen without Juan Soto? Have no idea. So it really is impossible even after the fact to truly evaluate a trade. I'm sorry, you know, and if you were going to go back and look for it, you were going to, you would have to like, you'd have to realize that, you know, James Wood had like a 50, 40 chance of turning out to be even now that he looks so good. He's in the big leagues. He still has a sort of 50, 50 shot of being a great player, you know. And so you have to think about the sort of probability of each thing. And it does look like that trade for Soto, you know, a lot of the players that he traded away in that trade are turning out to be on the better end of their probabilities. You know, CDA rooms might be one of the worst defensive shorts off some big leagues, but he looks pretty good on offense and he's super young and they haven't forever. The Kenzie Gore turned out to be one of the better versions of himself, I think. You know, it's lining up to be like, okay, you know, they did a good job in that trade, but they were also trading, you know, a few years of one of the best hitters on the planet. And yeah, the Padres got something out of it too. So, you know, one thing that just sort of boggles my mind is that, you know, Jackson Meryl's, you know, in center field playing really well and looking like a, maybe even a future star himself, and they traded away so many guys and they still have a guy like Jackson Meryl. So, you know, the playbook is clear for Preller. It's just keep restocking the cupboard and keep trading them away and hold on to a couple of them. Maybe even current star for Jackson Meryl, you're nationally Rookie of the Month, as of this morning. You know, you have a very good Fourth of July holiday, good weekend, and we'll talk to you again next week. All right. Thanks, guys. You know, Sarah, so the athletic or smart baseball segment brought to you by Seven Mile Casino. Enjoy your fish burger, you know, doesn't really taste like fish. Why put it in there? It's, it's just kind of amplifies the flavor of other things. Why wouldn't it be meat sauce then? I mean, it is made from fish, I believe. Beef oils, just an accurate name. Wouldn't you want your beef to taste more like beef, so you add beef oil? You love cholula, right? Yeah, love cholula. It's got that kind of, you say sometimes smells like feet a little bit. A little bit? Yeah. That's what fish sauce is. It's got that extra kind of foot, kind of funk to it, it just makes everything taste better. Okay. I mean, if you like this taste of smelly feet, then yes, it sounds like it's right. I think you do, actually. I think you do. I could be. All right, Paul, he's got round the report coming up. We'll look ahead to the matchup tonight. Padres Rangers game two of the series all ahead after a check traffic here on 97-3, the fan. Padres like most teams are in need of starting pitching depth. I brought up a name during the break that Woods did not seem interested in. But yesterday, the Texas Rangers parted ways. Well, I guess Johnny Quato opted out of his minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. Now, Johnny Quato is over the hill. He's not the Johnny Quato. That was really good pitcher, by the way, for good chunk of time back in the 2010s. Johnny Quato was one of the top pitchers in the National League for a while. It's not that anymore. But, you know, he's got his experience. And if he's healthy, there's a team that's going to want to take a flyer, I would think, at some point on Johnny Quato here. Yard Barker, which is a baseball website, has them potentially helping out the San Francisco Giants, which he has a long history back there, the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox. So, I don't know. I mean, are we in a position to turn down anyone at this point on a minor league deal? I think the answer to that question is no, but doesn't blow my hair. I will say that any time you pair a pitcher with Reuben Niebla, there is some intrigue there because there's a track record of whatever magic that Reuben Niebla has working. I mean, look at Big Fudge. You're a new favorite. I love Big Fudge. Austin Davis. Yes. And the changes. I've seen some side-by-side videos, some of the Padres Twitter accounts from 2022 versus 2024, and just the incredible amount of extra movement he's getting now. Big Fudge. Yeah. Yeah. Coaching does make a difference. We not learned enough though from Rich Hill last year. Someone just, Zach said, smells like Dick Mountain all over again. It absolutely does. That's true too. It absolutely, absolutely feels like a different version of Dick Mountain. And I, that was excruciating to watch. I don't know how you guys feel about it, but that was... It's Arietta, it's Dick Mountain. It gives me, it gives me like panic attack feeling. Now, trying to remember, last year, we didn't have a ton of major injuries to our rotation. Right. Certainly not our top two guys. So, you know, AJ kind of went around the margins. The year we got Arietta, all the injuries happened right after the trade deadline. Yeah. Like right after, like the day after the trade deadline. So, we were kind of screwed there. That's when you had to go get Jake Arietta in August, Stuff Waver, you know, whatever. Vince Velasquez. So, now AJ knows, and he knows better than us, what the future holds for this season with Darvish and Musgrove in particular, he knows he's got to go out and make some moves. Yeah. I don't think there's any question. Janine, who is just my favorite, she's incredible in the chat. She goes, "I don't know. This is pretty awful to watch too." He has his moments. In my mind, when I watch Dylan Sees, I go, "Alright, he may be off to a rough start. He gave up a two-run homer in the first, the reasoning I had with myself was, at least he's throwing 98." I mean, he's up there, he's gassing it up there. If he can hone it, if he can figure out a little mechanical adjustment, whatever, they pounded him really, really good last night, they really, really got to him. And Nick Unley said a lot of damage off him. A lot of doubles, a lot of home runs. I mean, everything was for extra vases last night, but, you know, I just, I don't watch Dylan Sees and I'm not filled with rage like I was when I watched Rich Hill pitch. You know, Rich Hill's throwing 61 miles an hour up there, and I'm going. I'm kind of like Mike Shilt. I mean, I know Dylan Sees hasn't been perfect, but I'm not worried about Dylan Sees. He's got the stuff still, I mean, he'll be on or he won't. But I'd rather have him out there than honestly, and I know it sounds like I'm such a hater. But today's starter, again, out of nature, is getting another chance because the Padres don't have any better options. I hope- He's not pitching again because he's done so well. He's pitching again because the Padres don't have any other options. I hope Mr. and Mrs. Major do not listen to the Venom Woods program. I'm sorry for his vitriol about your son. I don't know if Johnny Quito would be a better option right now than Adam Major. Can I say no? Can I just say no? Can I say no? You wouldn't be necessarily wrong, but there's got to be someone out there that's not- that you don't have to give up your entire farm system for. They could be in upgrade right now over Adam Major. Now Adam Major in a couple of months or next season or in two years might be a really decent, fine starting pitcher, but he's not there yet. The Padres right now are three games above 500 in a massive battle with all kinds of teams for a playoff spot, and they continue every fifth or sixth day to hand the ball to someone who's not quite ready to be a- a regular big league starter. It's too bad we're not on tomorrow because he's going to shove tonight. He's going to absolutely shove. I hope he does. He'll be left with egg on your face. Adam Major are going to shove against the Texas Rangers. I forgot about that. I had forgotten about when Southern Ben, out of nowhere one day, popped up. It's an authentic show here in Dallas. The Texas Rangers, the Texas Rangers, the Texas Rangers, here with my family. Where would- where was that from? I wasn't asked to do a Southern action, it just got popped up. I just did it. You just did it, and I- we said, did you just do a Southern action? It's very, very good. That was in March. March. Much of in the tier one tour maybe, we were talking about the Rangers. Yeah, let's hear it again. The Texas Rangers. Yee-haw. That is unbelievable. The Texas Rangers. You got my 10-gallon hat on. Right. Talking about my Texas Rangers. The Texas Rangers. That was so good. It was so good. You're like a chameleon. Wherever you go, that's where you are. Adam Asier tonight, and against John Gray, who you had the numbers I think earlier. Twelve and six. Very successful. Twelve and six, two, nine, nine, one. Maybe beat him one out of every three times. Maybe this will be one of the three that they actually get John Gray. Yeah. It feels like you're going to need more than, you know, a run or two offensively to win this game tonight. Yes, you wanted, what did you say they've scored one run in their last nineteen innings? They were scoring twenty runs in their previous thirteen innings. Feast or famine. Again, this is, we were, we were, we felt like we were climbing out of the feast or famine hole. We were right back in it. It's like they woke up in the day and they're like, oh, just because. Five games above 500. Just because your feasting doesn't mean you're out of the feast or famine cycle. Yeah. Listen, I knew they weren't going to feast the entire rest of the season. But a snack or two in the middle of, you know, you're not feasting. Have a meal. Okay. And you go from eight, nine, eleven runs to four, six, five. What's fine? Right. Is it always happy? Yeah. Twelve? No. Thirteen. One. I mean, that's last season. That's last season as well. Exactly right. Right. The ship today fell us. Right. The ship. We're going to need more from, I would say the top of the order. I mean, that's why they hit at the top of the order because they're really good. Our top of the order lessons is over four, oh, for fifteen or something. So yeah, going to need more from the top, certainly tonight against John Gray. All right. We're going to take our final time out and then we'll come back and Paulie's got his Rindle report headlines for us and we'll wrap up our short week here heading into the 4th of July holiday with more Ben Woods on San Diego's number one sports station, 97-3 the fan. This hour on 97-3 the fan is brought to you by the Frozen Ropes Baseball and Softball Training Facilities. Frozen Ropes now signing up athletes aged six through twelve for baseball and softball summer camps. Half day and full day options are available. Make it a Frozen Ropes summer like Bo Woods. For more information visit SanDiegoFrozenRopes.com at SanDiegoFrozenRopes.com. The game on Sunday, buddy. It's excited. Now when does your tier one start again? Sunday. Sunday. So imagine winning the World Series in October and two weeks later they're like, all right, you're back at it fellas. There's no string training. Just come on back. Don't get it confused. What we just went through was basically like six month grinds. It's exactly right. You played 12 games, 14 or something like that. Yeah. Once a week. Yeah. Once a week. We did double header. We did have that one double header. It was very hot. We did. And we had a double header when we won the championship. That was hot. We guys played two for a real World Series. But no, we're right back at it this week. We'll be at Vista Sports Complex at 9 a.m. on Sunday taking on the team we just beat in the championship. The Aztec. So I'm sure they're going to come hungry and ready to play. We'll see if the World Series hang over is real for the tier one baseball team. All right. We've got some Rital Report headlines coming up right after a final check of traffic here at 97-3 the fan. And get things started here with our edition today's edition of the Rital Report. Now to the to the most greatest. Welcome to the Rital Report. With Paul Rindell. Hi Paul. All right. Two stories from the world of sports that we haven't gotten to yet. We'll start off in Major League Baseball. And one story that you didn't know you needed. Are you laughing the odds? It's the Rindell Report. Hey Paul. How you doing? Okay. How are you? On 97-3 the fan. Are you ready to blast the mood? I need some help. Please. That was good. Can I get over here? Yeah. All right. All right. Paul, you got to Irene Fangeek in the chat says he's in North Park right now. He needs a shout out because he's stranded. He needs a jump. Okay. So. Well, I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to give him a jump. Go give him a jump. Do you? Well, there's tier ones everywhere. You get a battery cables and you can give a fellow tier one a jump starts in the area. Find him right now. Just as an aside, Paulie, before you get in. Trust tree. I'm looking at you. If you had to. Well, I wouldn't know how else. That's what I'm saying. If you had to jump my car. No idea. I assume there's like, you know, you got those clamps and then you do. I don't know. You don't know where to put it. I would I would hate to blow up your car accidentally by connecting the anode to the diode or whatever it's supposed to do. I don't know. I'm not a good mechanical engineer. No. Well, maybe. Actually. I can't. I am so. I am so car-in-app. Maybe. I don't even know. Is there a compartment where they might be hiding like in the back of my car somewhere? It's possible. Certainly, it's possible. I don't. You just match the colors, man. It's really that. I meant what you do. Just Google it. Watch a YouTube video. Something. I like to do that. You can watch on YouTube. Yeah. I mean, I filled my own washer fluid thanks to a YouTube video. So maybe I could jump start a car. Well, hopefully somebody goes and helps Irie in North Park right now. Yes. We'll update on a story in mainly baseball. I have AAA. That's what I have. Kill me. Maybe. We'll update on a story we discussed the other day. We've got some closure on it. Show Hay Otani will not be participating in the home run derby in a couple of weeks. Do you guys see him smoke that kid in the face last night with his home run? Yes. Oh my God. I think he should be suspended. For the rest of the season. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. It's egregious. Yeah. The gambling. He's the gambling. The children. Child abuse. What are we doing here, man? What's the game? He, now he had expressed interest like he still wanted to play, but he said I'm going to follow the, you know, guidance of the team doctors and what my manager wants. And he said last night through an interpreter, I'm in the middle of my rehab progression. So it's not going to look like I'll be participating. So he's out. All right. Kind of bummer. I mean, I'd like to see a minute. He's one of the best power hitters in on the planet and he's only done it once. You know, it's like, Braun never did the dunk contest. So that would have been cool. So stupid. I'd like to see Aaron judge and the home run derby every, every year, every year. I understand it. It's also, you know, supposed to be time off for them, but you're going to be in the all-star game. Might as well do it. Might as well do it. We're just really hoping it ruins his swing, but something tells me it wouldn't. Probably not. Maybe the first guy who actually gets locked in. It's better to the home runner. I'm just feeling so much. I can feel like I'm seeing it so much better now. All those extra reps and goes and hits 50 in the second half of the season. So I'm in the WNBA mode. I'm excited. I'm going to my first WNBA game on Friday night. Very nice. We're going to go up to LA and we'll see the sparks play the Las Vegas aces. Where's the game? Crypto dot com. Crypto dot com. Staple center. And so the, the aces, their home arena is actually the Michelobe ultra arena at Mandalay Bay. They were playing the Indiana fever yesterday in Vegas, Caitlin Clark draws a huge crowd on the road. So they moved this game from their home arena over to T mobile arena where the Golden Knights play and they sold that mother out. Wow. Saw some aerial foot. I had footage from the top of the arena. Every seat was completely packed. It was an all time record for that arena. Now the arena is not very old, but they've had Stanley Cup finals games there. Yeah. Ben did point out earlier when we were talking about it off the air. The capacity is different because the hockey rink takes up much more space than the last night. Nice. Nice. And yeah, it says 20,366 fans in attendance at T mobile arena. It's the largest T mobile arena crowd in history and the largest WNBA crowd since 1999. By the way, our, uh, San Diego's own Kelsey plum crew season high 34 points in the win for the aces. Excited to see her play on Friday nights. You don't get to see your beloved Kevin Carrey. She tore her face out for a while. She might be there. She might. She might be there. I'd probably expect her to be there. Uh, and then we were also talking off the air, the, uh, WNBA All Star teams were announced in the rookie sensations, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark. They did make the All Star team, but then you're explaining how the All Star game works here because of the Olympics, they're going to have team USA is one of the teams, which obviously is filled with WNBA All Stars. And then there's another team of non team USA, WNBA All Stars, like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, and they're going to play against each other. So team WNBA versus team, U S. So basically, yeah, like twice as many All Stars as usual, making up two teams that are going to play against each other, but it's kind of a tune up for team USA playing, uh, probably the second best team in the world is going to be the rest of the All Stars and the WNBA. So that was pretty actually entertaining format, I would think. Yeah, not bad at all. And it gets, you know, it gets Caitlin Clark there and gets Angel Reese there and that should be kind of interesting. And then finally, another update on a story that we discussed a while ago, but this is not sports related. If you guys remember, we talked about, um, Red Lobster was going out of business or looking to be filing for bankruptcy and that really, really upset. Flavor Flav. Yeah. Flavor Flav was not happy, he loves his Red Lobster. He posted a picture that week he bought every single item on the menu, had it delivered to his house and just set up a feast of Red Lobster and Red Lobster was so moved by that gesture that they have added a item to their menu called Flavor Flav's faves. That's clever. It costs, uh, $42.99 and the item consists of a main lobster tail paired with half pound snow crab legs served with garlic shrimp scampi, bacon, mac and cheese and the choice of one side dish. So are they going out of business or are they not? Are they just doing new, well, bankruptcy is not out of business. That's true. You continue on and you just reorganize and you move forward. People continue to need to eat seafood, it's not stopping just because they had some financial difficulties. These people need their, their shrimp and their crab legs and their lobster tails and their bacon, mac and cheese, but a little fish sauce in there, pick up the mommy, beef sauce, beef sauce in the fish, taste more like fish. That's what I learned today. Fish sauce makes beef taste more like beef. So then beef oil will make your fish taste more like fish, possibly. Beef logic serves to first, I like flavor, flavors, faves. Yeah, flavor, flavors, faves, favorite things, 42, 99. I know sounds like a lot. Are you getting a lobster tail in there? Yeah. I mean, lobster is pricey. It is. Even the red lobster. It's in the name. Should we do Ben's likes? We have a couple minutes, but yeah, we probably should because we hadn't gotten to it the last couple of Fridays. We added any poly. It's a Wednesday. Oh, remember, we kind of just we do it in big spurs. Chunks. Chunks. I have to like some things before I can before you can add our numbers usually about 50 per per segment. And I think our fourth installment's at like 30. It's going to be 14 minutes straight of things that you like. Out of measure, not on the list. Not at one day, maybe you'll make the likes that for good. Not there yet. Yeah, he's going to go six shutout innings tonight, and then maybe he'll make the likes. All right. I like out of measure. I like what he did the other night. I like this breaking ball. Can't wait. Oh, what do we got? So, but between now and when we come back next week, Padres finished the series against the Rangers today and tomorrow and then they're home against the Diamondbacks Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then they get a day off on Monday and then two against the Seattle Mariners and three against the Atlanta Braves and possibly by that brave series as we found out yesterday's and a Bogart's could be back after a rehab stint, assuming Luis Camposano is going to be back fairly soon as well. He's been in Lake Elson over the last two days. Some good news. I mean, still a lot of question marks about the health of the Padres, but at least some positive signs about players coming back. So you're going to be out Monday. I am also out Monday. Yeah, me and Paulie will be in first two hours going to be me and Paulie solo. And then Tim Flannery is going to come in and shoot the breeze, tell some stories for the last couple hours. Looking forward to that. Always love him. He is such a gentleman and a really soulful soulful baseball man. You guys all know flan well. So looking forward to that on Monday as well. And let's get to some things Ben likes. Sounds good. I like the juicy sweet strawberries. I like a good marching band. I like a good thin pancake. I like a Nickelback song or two. I like a barbecue chicken pizza. I really like those seeds. I like it midnight. I kind of like the smell of soft scrub. I like more of a small derriere. I like cake. I like it. I like both a hamburger and cheeseburger. I like clocks. I like how I've kind of set up my life. I like grasshopper pie. Oh, no, I like it creamy. I like good firm banana. I like just looking out at the sea. I like eating. I like moist. I like curry. I like big butts. I like fried brussels sprouts. I like more of a firm filling. I like corn. I like Nordstrom. I do like musicals. I like pepperoni. I like dice hotels. I like Nick getting a start today. I like nuts. I like Steph Curry. I like that song. I like squirt. I like sucky. I like San Diego State. I like straight up, Paul Abdul. I like the beef and broccoli. I like to mix it up. I like science experiments. I like that song. I like the crispiness of the waffle. I really like cheese. I like the little lunch meat. I like very straight lines. I like cantaloney. I like a well crafted headline. I like brown sugar. I like maps. I'll say I like Justin Turner. I like going to golf games. I like diving into chores. I like sugar. I do like butter finger. I like blue and silver and not bad colors. I like the time change. I like Major League Baseball's new rule. I like the radio. I like geography. I like the knuckle method. I like skippy and I like pie. I like ball. I like to chase tingler, too. I like this day. I like being right. I still do like movie scores. I like good food. I like maps. I like when interviews can turn into organic conversation. I do like a sofa's French red pizza. I like having the wind go through my hair. I think I like shows that the characters have an arc. I like the full lettuce, tomato, onion, experience as well. I like those kind of burgers. I like the big overflowing bag of fries. I like those little smarties rolls. I like what I saw from Seth Lugo. I like this competitive fire. I like walking around between the different lands. Steve Kerr, though, I like that. I like living on the coast. I like watching Tiger still. I like the idea of that matchup. I liked what I saw in the preseason. I like the aloneness sometimes of Texas Hold 'em. I like watching San Diego State basketball. I like those cashew buttered cashews. I like cold, clear sake. I like a lot of things. I like Chick-fil-A sauce. I just like rankings. I like Steve Winwood. I like pie gal poker. I like to be informed on subjects. I like Chicago. I like Tom Petty. I like the idea of another left-handed bat in the lineup for sure. I do like a good Matt Damon film. I like being on the same page. I like broccoli. I like brussel sprouts. I like a lot of things. I like this shirt. I like white belt. I liked my omelette. I like San Diego State at home. I like when a baseball player can be more than just a baseball player. I like vanilla. I like the atmosphere. I like the felt on a poker table. Just kind of how it feels under your fingers when you're there. I like rhubarb pie. I like the window seat. Changing the subject. I like that. I like just a standard yellow tea. I like how San Diego State's playing right now. I like finer things. I like calling it a game. I like fiction more than not. This hour on "97 Through the Fantasy" brought to you by the frozen ropes baseball and softball training facilities. Frozen ropes now signing up athletes aged six through 12 for baseball and softball summer camps, half day and full day options are available. Make it a frozen rope summer like Beau Woods. For more information visit San DiegoFrozen ropes.com at San DiegoFrozen ropes.com. The game on Sunday, buddy. It's excited. When does your tier one start again? Sunday, Sunday. I mean, imagine winning the World Series in October and two weeks later, they're like, all right, you're back at it, fellas. There's no spring training. Just come on back. Don't get it confused. What we just went through was basically like the six month grind for the World Series. Exactly right. You played 12 games, 14 games, something like that. Something like that. Yeah, once a week. Yeah, once a week. We had to double-header. We did have that one double-header. We did have that one double-header. It was very hot. Then we had a double-header when we won the championship. That was hot. I've never seen guys play two for a real world series. But now we're right back at it this week. We'll be at Vista Sports Complex at 9 a.m. on Sunday, taking on the team we just beat in the championship, the Aztecs. I'm sure they're going to come hungry and ready to play. We'll see if the World Series hang over is real for the Tier 1 baseball team. All right. We've got some Rital Report headlines coming up right after a final check of traffic here at 97.3, the fan. And a good thing started here with our edition today's edition of the Rital Report. Now tuned to the Muff. Greatest. Welcome to the Rital Report with Paul Rinder. Hi, Paul. All right. Two stories from the world of sports that we haven't gotten to yet. We'll start off in Major League Baseball. And one story that you didn't know you needed. Are you laughing, be hot? It's the Rital Report. Hey, Paul. How you doing? OK. How are you? On 97.3, the fan. Are you ready to blast the mood? I need some help, please. That was good. Can I get a hoo-hoo here? Yeah. All right. All right. Paul, you got to iri fan geek in the chat. Says he's in North Park right now. He needs a shout out because he's stranded. He needs a jump. OK. So, well, I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to give him a jump. Go give him a jump. Well, there's tier ones everywhere. They're tier ones. You get a battery cables. And you can give a fellow tier one a jump starts in the area. Find him right now. Just as an aside, Paul, before you get in. Trust tree. I'm looking at you. If you had to-- Well, I wouldn't know how. That's what I'm saying. If you had to jump my car. No idea. I assume there's like, you know, you've got those clamps. Yes. But then what you do, I don't know. You don't know where to put it. I don't know where to put it. I would hate to blow up your car accidentally by connecting the anode to the diode or whatever it's supposed to do. I don't know. I'm not a good mechanical engineer. No. Well, maybe. Actually, I am so car inept. I don't even know. They're a compartment where they might be hiding, like, in the back of my car or somewhere, it's possible. Certainly it's possible I don't. You just match the colors, man. It's really-- Is that what you do? Just Google it. Watch a YouTube video. Something I have to do that. Yeah, watch on YouTube. I mean, I filled my own washer fluid thanks to a YouTube video, so maybe I could jump start a car. Well, hopefully, somebody goes and helps Irie in North Park right now. Yes. A little update on a story in May to be baseball. I have AAA. Maybe. That's what I have. Kill me. Maybe. A little update on a story we discussed the other day. We've got some closure on it. Show Hay Otani will not be participating in the home run derby in a couple of weeks. Do you guys see him smoke that kid in the face last night? With his home run? Yes. Oh my god. Yeah, I think he should be suspended. For the rest of the season? Yeah, for sure. He's egregious. The gambling, he's-- The gambling, the children, child abuse. What are we doing here, man? God. This guy out of the game. Now, he had expressed interest. He still wanted to play. But he said, I'm going to follow the guidance of the team doctors and what my manager wants. And he said, last night, through an interpreter, I'm in the middle of my rehab progression, so it's not going to look like I'll be participating. So he's out. It's kind of bummer. I'd like to see him in it. He's one of the best power hitters on the planet, and he's only done it once. It's like, Braun never did the dunk contest. So-- That would have been cool. I'd like to see Aaron judge in the home run derby every year. Every year. I understand it. It's also supposed to be time off for them. But if you're going to be in the All-Star game. Might as well do it. Might as well do it. We're just really hoping it ruins his swing, but something tells me it wouldn't. Probably not. It would have been the first guy who actually gets locked in and tries to the home run derby. I'm just feeling so much. I can feel like I'm seeing it so much better now. All those extra reps. And he goes and hits 50 in the second half of the season. So I'm in the WNBA mode. I'm excited. I'm going to my first WNBA game on Friday night. Very nice. We're going to go up to LA and see the Sparks, play the Las Vegas aces. Where's the game? Crypto.com. Crypto.com, Staples Center. And so the aces, their home arena is actually the Michelobe Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay. They were playing the Indiana fever yesterday in Vegas. Caitlin Clark draws a huge crowd on the road. So they moved this game from their home arena over to T-Mobile Arena where the Golden Knights play. And they sold that mother out. It saw some aerial footage from the top of the arena. Every seat was completely packed. It was an all-time record for that arena. Now, the arena is not very old, but they've had Stanley Cup finals games there. Ben did point out earlier when we were talking about it off the air. The capacity is different because the hockey rink takes up much more space than the-- Wow, that was last night. That was last night. And yeah, it says 20,366 fans in attendance at T-Mobile Arena. It's the largest T-Mobile Arena crowd in history and the largest WNBA crowd since 1999. By the way, our San Diego's own Kelsey Plum grew a season high 34 points in the win for the aces. Excited to see her play on Friday nights. You don't get to see your beloved human caring. She tore her ACL. She's out for a while. She might be there. She might be there. No, I'd probably expect her to be there. And then we were also talking off the air. The WNBA All-Star teams were announced. And the rookie sensations, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, they did make the All-Star team. But Ben, you're explaining how the All-Star game works here because of the Olympics. They're going to have Team USA is one of the teams, which obviously is filled with WNBA All-Stars. And then there's another team of non-Team USA WNBA All-Stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, and they're going to play against each other. So Team WNBA versus Team U.S. wins. So basically you have like twice as many All-Stars as usual, making up two teams that are going to play against each other. But it's kind of a tune up for Team USA playing probably the second best team in the world is going to be the rest of the All-Stars and the WNBA. So that was pretty actually entertaining format, I would think. Yeah, not bad at all. And it gets Caitlin Clark there and gets Angel Reese there. And that should be kind of interesting. And then finally, another update on a story that we discussed a while ago, but this is not sports related. If you guys remember, we talked about Red Lobster was going out of business or looking to be filing for bankruptcy and that really, really upset. Flavor Flav. Flavor Flav was not happy. He loves his Red Lobster. He posted a picture that week. He bought every single item on the menu, had delivered to his house and just set up a feast of Red Lobster. And Red Lobster was so moved by that gesture that they have added an item to their menu called Flavor Flav's Faves. That's clever. Costs $42.99. And the item consists of a main lobster tail paired with half pound snow crab legs, served with garlic shrimp scampi, bacon mac and cheese, and the choice of one side dish. So are they going out of business or are they not? Are they just doing new value? Bankruptcy is not out of business. That's true. You continue on and you just reorganize and you move forward. People continue to need to eat seafood. It's not stopping just because they had some financial difficulties. These people need their shrimp and their crab legs. And their lobster tails and their bacon, mac and cheese. Little fish sauce in there. Yellow fish. Pick up the mama. No beef sauce makes it in the fish. Taste more like fish. That's what I learned today. Fish sauce makes the beef taste more like beef. So then beef oil will make your fish taste more like fish. Possibly. If logic serves. It's at first. I like Flavor Flav's Faves. Yeah, Flavor Flav's Faves. $42.99. $42.99. $42.99. I know sounds like a lot. Are you getting a lobster tail in there? Yeah. I mean, lobster is pricey. It is. Even a red lobster. It's in the name. Should we do Ben's likes? We should, yeah, we've got a couple minutes, but yeah, we probably should, because we hadn't gotten to it the last couple of Fridays. We had it any, Paulie? It's a Wednesday. No, remember, we kind of just-- we do it in big-- Chunks, spurts. Chunks, I have to like some things. We get close. Before I can-- before you can add. Our number is usually about 50 per segment. And I think our fourth installment's at like 30. It's going to be 14 minutes straight of things that you like. Out of measure, not on the list of sports. [LAUGHTER] One day, maybe you'll make the likes. That's for good. Not there yet. Yeah, he's going to go six shutout innings tonight. And then maybe he'll make the likes. I like that. Out of measure. I like what he did the other night. I like this breaking ball. Can't wait. Oh, what have we got? But between now and when we come back next week, Padres finish the series against the Rangers today and tomorrow. And then they're home against the Diamondbacks, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And then they get a day off on Monday. And then two against the Seattle Mariners. And three against the Atlanta Braves. And possibly by that Braves series, as we found out yesterday's, Andrew Bogart's could be back after a rehab stint. Assuming Luis Campasano is going to be back fairly soon as well, he's been in Lake Elson over the last two days. Some good news. I mean, still a lot of question marks about the health of the Padres. But at least some positive signs about players coming back. So you're going to be out Monday. I am also out Monday. Yeah, me and Paulie, you'll be in first two hours. Going to be me and Paulie solo. And then Tim Flannery is going to come in and shoot the breeze, tell some stories for the last couple hours. Looking forward to that. Always love him. He is such a gentleman and a really soulful, soulful baseball man. You guys all know Flanwell. So looking forward to that on Monday as well. And let's get to some things Ben likes. Sounds good. I like good juicy sweet strawberries. I like a good marching band. I like a good thin pancake. I like a Nickelback song or two. I like a barbecue chicken pizza. I really like those seeds. I like it midnight, but fast. I kind of like the smell of soft scrub. I like more of a small derriere. I like cake. I like it cheering. I like both a hamburger and a cheeseburger. I like clocks. I like how I've kind of set up my life. I like grasshopper pie. Oh, no, I like it creamy. I like good firm banana. I like just looking out at the sea. I like eating. I like moist. I like curry. I like big butts. I like fried Brussels sprouts. I like more of a firm filling. I like corn. I like Nordstrom. I do like musicals. I like pepperoni. I like nice hotels. I like Nick getting a start today. I like nuts. I like Steph Curry. I like that song. I like squirt. I like sake. I like San Diego State. I like straight up, Paul Abdul. I like the beef and broccoli. I like to mix it up. I like science experiments. I like that song. I like the crispiness of the waffle. I really like cheese. I like the little lunch meat. I like very straight lines. I like cannelloni. I like a well crafted headline. I like brown sugar. I like maps. I'll say I like Justin Turner. I like going to goals games. I like diving into chores. I like sugar. I do like butter finger. I like blue and silver and not bad colors. I like the time change. I like Major League Baseball's new rule. I like the radio. I like geography. I like the knuckle method. I like skippy. I like pie. I like bio. I like to chase tingler too. I like this day. I like being right. I still do like movie scores. I like good food. I like maps. I like when interviews can turn into organic conversation. I do like a sofas French red pizza. I like having the wind go through my hair. I think I like shows that the characters have an arc. I like the full lettuce tomato, onion experience as well. I like those kind of burgers. I like the big overflowing bag of fries. I like those little smarties rolls. I like what I saw from Seth Lugo. I like this competitive fire. I like walking around between the different lands. Steve Kerr though, I like that. I like living on the coast. I like watching Tiger still. I like the idea of that matchup. I liked what I saw in the preseason. I like the aloneness sometimes of Texas Hold 'em. I like watching San Diego State basketball. I like those cashew buttered cashews. I like cold, clear sake. I like a lot of things. I like Chick-fil-A sauce. I just like rankings. I like Steve Winwood. I like pie gal poker. I like to be informed on subjects. I like Chicago. I like Tom Petty. I like the idea of another left-handed bat in the lineup for sure. I do like a good Matt Damon film. I like being on the same page. I like broccoli. I like Brussels sprouts. I like a lot of things. I like this shirt. I like wipe out. I liked my omelette. I like San Diego State at home. I like when a baseball player can be more than just a baseball player. I like vanilla. I like the atmosphere. I like the felt on a poker table. Just kind of how it feels under your fingers when you're there. I like rhubarb pie. I like the window seat. Changing subject. I like that. I like just a standard yellow peak. I like how San Diego State is playing right now. I like finer things. I like calling it a game. I like fiction more than nonfiction, just like the cream. I actually like playing golf with other people. I've liked everything I've seen so far from Mike Schill. I like Mexican food. I like just the solar system. I do like steak. I like specifics. I like going to seven mile casino during the day. I like that people are there having a good time. I like my new eating schedule. I liked what I was eating. I like the variety of the menu and Sami. I do like a good midnight buffet. That is a lengthy, extensive list. Am I not discriminating enough? I don't think so. I think you like too much that I need to start narrowing down the field a little bit. I like less things. Jake says I'm starting to no longer like the likes. Jake, I mean, that's brutal for us. We have to come up with a new bit, my friend. That's a nice little show killer at the end. Jake, I liked everything about this week. Ben says, Jake says Ben makes me want to not like things. You know, the alternative is things Woods doesn't care about. Basketball. Most things. Most things. Yeah, that's actually very short. It would be short. Most things. Yeah, I don't care. Woods doesn't care. I don't care about that. Oh, I lost my keys. So you can tell I'm ready to go. I'm like, keys to my hand. Ready to get out of here for the weekend, my friend. You're off to Santa Barbara. Yes, I'll be gone Friday through Monday. So the horseback riding the-- Try not to get us fired or anything on the day I'm not here. No, we'll be fine. The horseback. The land coming in though, that's cool. Your horseback riding? Yeah. Drinking white wine. Some red wine too. Some red wine too. Some delicious meals. Yeah. Golf, oak, grilled meats and-- Oh my gosh. Little golf, maybe some pickleball. Wow. You know, it is bougie thing. Very. I like doing it. Very bougie. Please ride a horse this year. I'm begging you for the content alone. Don't. You don't really ride the horses. But I'd like you to this year. I'd like to get you a picture of you. You've lost the weight. That's true. Less onerous on the horse. Correct. Thanks to sdfatloss.com. I'm begging you. Mama Higgins, if you're listening, get him on a horse this weekend. I need the picture of him on a-- On a Steve. Steve. All right. That is it for us. Any else coming up next. Have a great 4th of July holiday, everybody. We'll talk to you next week for Paul Ryan over Stephen Woods. I bet Higgins, thanks for joining us, everybody. So long. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again, with North Sides and Bullion as your not-so-secret ingredient, you can skip the drive-through and do dinner at home. North Taste combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable, and well-balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit nore.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home-cooked weeknight dinners. It's not fast food, but it's so good.