Ben & Woods On Demand Podcast
7am Hour - Manny Chasing Colbert's Record + Adam Jones Calls In
Ben & Woods kick off the 7am hour talking about Padres 3rd baseman Manny Machado who is just a couple of home runs away from passing Nate Colbert on the team's all-time HR list! Then we get to "Don't Do This" before we head out to Barcelona on a Big League Wednesday to have our weekly conversation with our pal Adam Jones! Listen here!
- Duration:
- 44m
- Broadcast on:
- 28 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
[MUSIC PLAYING] After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon AT&T at tmobile.com/keepandswitch. [MUSIC PLAYING] Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service ported 90-plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. So for every single day of my life, there has been one truth about the San Diego Padres. Nate Colbert has been the all-time home run leader with 163 home runs every day of my life because he hit his last home run for the Padres in 1974, the year before I was born. He was part of the original 1969 expansion San Diego Padres, played six seasons, became the all-time home run leader in his six seasons, and boy, he did it the hard way because he played at the old Jack Murphy Stadium before they brought the inner wall in. What was that to poke it out of their back there? It was insane. It was a high wall, so deep. I mean, he probably lost dozens, if not 50 or more home runs playing in that ballpark without the inner wall. But no one since then has been able to eclipse it. Adrian Gonzalez got to 161 too short of it during his time with the San Diego Padres. And by the way, every other team's all-time home run leader is substantially more. I think the Rays have the second lowest, and they're a much newer team with Evan Lungoria with 261. But no one still 100 more, 100 more. No one has been able to stick around with the Padres and have enough power. Hang on, to get past 163. Aaron Judge can do that in three seasons nowadays. But for the Padres, no. It's just been stuck at 163 for 50 years. My entire life is insane. And that record is on the verge of falling courtesy of one Manny Machado who hit number 159 on Monday and 160 with the San Diego Padres yesterday. This is Manny Machado. Three away from tying and four away from passing Nate Colbert and becoming the new San Diego Padres all-time home run leader. Feels right, doesn't it? It does. Feels absolutely right. That's awesome. That'll be cool, Moit. Yeah. He's also creeping up on his typical 30 minutes every year. But I was told repeatedly throughout April, May, June, July, June, that he's washed. Yeah. No chance at getting to 30 this year. It always says that, hey, the numbers will be there. And everyone, they're not going to be there. It's almost like he was hurt. It's recovering from significance to save the surgery. And had a baby. I mean, it's big life moments here. I was very-- I'm very happy to see back-to-back nights with home runs and playing great defense, doing the things that Manny Machado does. He's still a lightning rod in this community. And I understand that, I guess. There's going to be people that don't like him, unless he hits the walk-off home run in the World Series. That's fine. I mean, I totally get it. He's the best. I'm 49. I've never seen anybody like him. I've never seen anybody make plays the way he does. Does he boot balls? Yep. Sure does. Booted one the other night. Big one. Big one. Does he strike out in key situations? Yep. Yeah, absolutely. Like every other player. Like every other player does. Like Bryce Harper does. Bryce Harper does, too. Bryce Harper boots balls. Bryce Harper doesn't run hard to first every time. Got choked out for it. I mean, let's go, man. The guy is, he's as bought in as anyone. First guy out of the dugout every single time. You know, listen. Embrace this thing, man. This is a really, really fun ride that we're on right now. Embrace it. Let's have some fun with it. And he's going to be here for a long time to come. Hopefully adding, blowing way past 163. And, you know, 200's, 300's. Who knows how many he'll hit with the San Diego pond? Yes. Before all is said and done. But I wanted to point that out. Hopefully, you know, gets a couple more on this road trip and can do it at home next week. Would be very fun. Or just get that done on the road trip in the next few days. He had to be even more fun. I'm not picky at all. No, about where we get it. I need a contestant for Tacon Woods before we get into some of the other results last night. If you want to call in and get online for our musical trivia challenge, 833-280-973. Call now, 833-280-973. Head to head versus Woods, trip to Las Vegas. Potentially in store if you can prove your worth in a game of Tacon Woods in just about five minutes. So after the game was over, did the multiple screen thing, had the game cast for the Diamondbacks on, and then ESPN+ had the Dodgers Orioles game to see if someone could actually give the Padres a little bit of help in the playoff chase. And for once, it did happen. The New York Mets scored early, built an 8-0 lead, and then held on for an 8-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had to look this up, Woods. Their first loss in nine days was a week ago Sunday, was the last time the Arizona Diamondbacks actually lost a baseball game. Feels right, right? I mean, they've been as hot as anybody. So the Padres tie them for the nationally wildcard lead, and the Baltimore Orioles in a very tense nerve-wracking ninth inning held on for a 3-2 win over the L.A. Dodgers. That's Dodger Stadium. I missed it. I went down to sleep after. So a lot of early runs, and then it was kind of the bullpen battle at the end. And it was a 3-2 bottom of the ninth inning. One man on, two outs, and then who was a Drewal Walk? Good at bat. Gavin Locks drew a long A/B with a walk. So they get the winning run at first, and the tying run at second base. And then Chris Taylor comes up. Pinch it, right? Yeah, and then shows Shohei's on deck. You really-- you don't want it to get to Shohei. Another long at bat. Chris Taylor going up against Sir Anthony Dominguez. And finally, at the end of the at bat, ropes when it looks like, oh, that's a double to the gap. Dodgers are going to win, but outfield was played well, caught it just in front of the warning tip track on the line drive. Mama. And the Orioles held on for the 3-2 win, which means the Padres and Dbacks are now just three games behind the Dodgers in the National League West. And three games behind the Dodgers who also still own the best record in all of Major League Baseball, if I'm not mistaken. Absolutely, bananas. It's as bananas as it could be that it's down to this close. At the end of the year with what the Dodgers were projected to do, I mean, they're going to fall well short of projections, which we know that feeling well here in San Diego. We fell well short of projections last year. So I don't sympathize. I remember what their exact number was heading into the season. But right now they are projected at 96 and 66. I mean, it was over 100, obviously, obviously. And the Padres, I mean, they're now 18 games above 500. If they just play 500 baseball the rest of the way, that's 90 wins. Yeah, crazy. And that's just 14 and 14 the rest of the way of their final 28 games. If they could go 18 and 10, all of a sudden, you're talking about 94 wins. And you're right close to where the Dodgers are projected to be at the end of the season. We'll see how that plays out. But the only times the Padres have ever won at least 92 games or twice. 1984, they won 92. 1998, they won 98. Both of them being pretty good ones, right? Both years ended in a trip to the World Series. So you're only, what, 16 and 12 gets you to 92 wins and gets you to the second best record in franchise history at this point. I mean, the 500 path this team was on was so staggering. I mean, it really were. And they obviously would last year's record as well. We talked about it on a round table a couple months ago. Like, it's crazy that this team has just been mired in 500 for well over a year. And for them to go on this run, now, what are they? 18 over 500 right now? 18. It's insane. It's insane. How special is that? So the Braves won in 10 innings over the twins, used a four run tenth to beat Minnesota eight to six. So there's still three games back of the Padres and Diamondbacks and holding that third wild card spot. Obviously, the Mets beat the Diamondbacks. So there are also three back of the Braves, six backs of the Diamondbacks and Padres. Giants beat the Brewers. Giants just still a game above 500, not totally out of it. They need a winning streak, though, and go on a run here. And the Phillies shut out the Astros five to nothing. So that battle for the top record in the National League, very tight between the Dodgers, Phillies, and Brewers right now with a bunch of wild card teams just kind of waiting in the wings. If anyone goes on a run in these last four weeks of the season, that's still in play. Number one seed, number two seed buy in the first round, but you've got to win your division to get those. How about the Royals, man, over on the AL? What a story they are. They swept a double header from the Guardians and then won again yesterday and are tied for first place in the AL Central. Guardians had a nine game lead at one point in that division. And Mariners blew a 10 game lead to the Astros, so. That's crazy, man. Guys are fighting. This is a great time of year to be a baseball fan, unless you're a fan of one of those teams. All right, I see we've got a couple of contestants on the line. Let's get to it. It is time to take on Woods. It's time for take on Woods. Woods. Woods. All right, we've got Dan on the line. In fact, it says, "Dan the Man" on my screen. Is this Dan the Man? Well, I'm fine with just Dan the Man. OK, that's fine. I mean, every Dan that I've ever known is Dan the Man. Dan, maybe the Man? See if you're the Man. Take on-- got you by Valvely and Instant Oil Change. It only takes 15 minutes. You don't have to get out of your car for directions and discounts. Go to SoCalOilChange.com. That's SoCalOilChange.com. You're playing for the trip to Las Vegas, two nights at the resorts world. Beautiful, beautiful resorts world to take its carry-underwood reflection at Resorts World Theater. Get your tickets now at aexcess.com or rwlossvagus.com. You just need to beat our Thai Woods in our five question musical trivia challenge and to give you a little leg up, I will give you the category choices. We've got Sister Axe. Those are five bands or artists with Sister in the name. We've got Ashen Nation, all song titles featuring a single word ending in Ashen, A-T-I-O-N. And we've got Paradise City, five song titles that all include the word Paradise. But none of them are actually Paradise City. So Dan, Sister Axe, Ashen Nation, or Paradise City? Well, none of these sound promising for me this morning. So I'm going to try-- I don't know, Paradise. Paradise City, all right, the new category today again. Five song titles, all include the word Paradise. But none of them are actually Paradise City. You'll have 60 seconds to get as many as you can. First question is our two second song. Polly is going to play some music. You need to give me the title of the song and the artist. Just score that point. If you don't know an answer, you can say pass. We'll come back to it if there's time left on the clock. Dan, are you ready to play? Sure. Well, I'm not ready yet. Polly is not quite ready. Sometimes it takes just-- I'm not ready either now. But no one's ready. No one's ready. Well, I'll just have a little sip of my ice coffee. Check my phone here. See if anyone sent me any messages. All right, is everybody ready now? Yes. All right, Polly's ready. Dan is ready. All right, 60 seconds on the clock. The category is Paradise City. Dan, your time begins when Paul plays the music. Good luck. Let's take on Woods and go. And we've got a little lag here going. And play. Yes, there it is. Gangster's Paradise, Julio. Correct. Eddie Money waited so long, in which debut album hit became his signature song. Ellen Foley sings alongside Meat Loaf, on which single from the Bat Out of Hell album that reaches eight minutes and 28 seconds on its full length version. Oh, path. The Love's theme from Footloose is which duet sung by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Hearts Ann Wilson, which 1994 Green Day song is about the band members moving out of their parents' house into a abandoned home in Oakland where they lived rent-free. Take me to Paradise. Incorrect. Go back to Eddie Money waited so long, in which debut album hit became his signature song. Incorrect. Ellen Foley sings alongside Meat Loaf, on which single from the Bat Out of Hell album. We got the one, but that's all Dan. Close on a couple of-- You were. You got Gangster's Paradise by Coolio. So Eddie Money is two tickets to Paradise. Meat Loaf is Paradise by the Dashboard Light. Almost Paradise is the Love theme from Footloose and welcome to Paradise. Do you like that one, Green Day fan? Paulie? No. No, maybe, maybe not. I don't know. I don't know if Woods will give that one. I think he's got most of the other ones. We'll see. He doesn't get the category. It makes it a little tougher. All right, Dan's score is locked in. We had a qualifier yesterday, so it is possible. It's 60 seconds back on the clock. Hopefully, the music will actually play in a reasonable amount of time this time. Your time against when Paul plays the music. Good luck, Woods. Let's take on Dan. Gangster's Paradise Coolio. Correct. Eddie Money waited so long in which debut album-- Two tickets to Paradise. Correct. Ellen Foley sings alongside Meat Loaf, on which single from the Bad Out of Hell album that reaches eight minutes and 28 seconds on its full-length version. Paradise by the Dashboard Light. Correct. The Love theme from Footloose is which duets sung by Mike Reno of Lovable and Hearts Ann Wilson. Oh, almost Paradise. All right, let's go for five or five, which 1994 Green Day's song is about the band members moving out of their parents' house and into an abandoned home in Oakland where they lived rent-free. Definitely the toughest one here. What's the name of that song? Dookie Taint. I don't know. Probably has the word paradise in it. Oh, I didn't know it was paradise. It's welcome to Paradise. Welcome to Paradise. There you go. How'd I do it? Four to one, though. You were a winner today in the category Paradise City. Songs that include the word paradise, but none of them being Paradise City. I love the lover boy. But you do. Oh, well, that is a good song. It's my favorite movie. So it's the love thing. You were talking about it earlier. Yeah, ironically. Coincidentally. Coincidentally. It was my favorite. Coincidentally. But it's my favorite. I love that song. Give me some. Oh, yes. I thought that dreams belong to other men. Because each time I got close, they'd fall apart again. So, syrupy and sappy. Listen to that. How 80s. So 80s. So 80s, man. Someone's got to synthesize. Here we go. I thought that dreams belong to other men. Oh, I love it. 'Cause each time I got close, they'd fall apart again. With all animals in here. For an answer, Anthony. I think my heart would be insane. Listen to this harmony. I face the nights alone. Oh, how could I have known? And all my life, I only needed you. Oh. Oh, almost paradise. When I get on heaven's time. I'm glad we've made woodsy so happy this morning with the category today. All right. Don't do this is coming up next. I don't even know if this is a don't or a do-do this. But I've got to bring up what LeBron said yesterday on his whatever show he does, the undisputed podcast thing. Yeah, having to do it. Disputed, isn't it? I think that Stephen A. Smith show. What's the what's uninterrupted? Uninterrupted. It was unsomething. We can we'll get to that and more and don't do this coming up next. And then got AJ at the bottom of the hour here on San Diego's number one sports station, 97.3 the fan. When you think about businesses that are selling through the roof like aloe, all birds or skims, sure. You think about a great product, a cool brand and brilliant marketing. 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[MUSIC PLAYING] After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon and AT&T at T-Mobile.com/KeepAndSwitch. Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service, ported 90-plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Don't do this. It's time for Don't Do This. What were you thinking? Three stories from the world of sports that make us all shake our heads. Why am I? How many times do I have to tell you? I'm sorry I fudged up, guys. You idiot. You moron. Don't come out. The apple sometimes does far fall from the tree. Don't do this. Do not tweet that. With Ben and Woods. I like a Nickelback song or two. On 97.3, the fan. Baseball coverage on 97.3, the fan is presented by T-Mobile. Switch to T-Mobile. You can get tons of benefits and still save on every plan versus AT&T and Verizon. Use their savings calculator to find out how at T-Mobile.com/Switch. Now, we got a bunch of hybrid kind of don't and just do this. Yeah, there's a little bit of each today. And I don't even know where this one fits in, but I wanted to bring it up. So apparently, LeBron has been getting this question and he decided to answer it on the uninterrupted, the shop, his podcast, video podcast that he does on uninterrupted. And the question here, Woods, and you tell me what you think he should have said, is Bronnie allowed to call him dad when they're on the court together? - Dad. - In practice. - Dad. - Like, hey, dad, I'm open. Hey, dad, dad, I'm open. Like, can he say that? Pops. - So LeBron said, no. Hell no, actually. He said, no, there's no dad calling when we're playing basketball. You can call me two, three. - Two. - Or Bron? - Bron. - Is that in the car? You know, if we're riding together, you know, I can be dad, but when we're on the Lakers together, I do not want to hear dad, dad, dad, dad, dad. - Dad, is that from step, brothers? - Yeah. - Yeah. - Apparently, Bronnie usually just calls him Bron anyway. - Bron. - Bron, you know, so. - What do you call your dad, Chief? - Chief is what, well, his name's Steve, like yours, and all the little grandkids who couldn't say, Steve, it came out as Chief. - That sounds Chief, so. - I mean, that's a bad-ass name for like a petriarch. - Yes, dude. - When I was little, though, I used to call him Pops. - Pops? - Yeah. - They call my dad Pops. - No. - Yeah, it Pops, dad, I, you know, I'm Bo's coach. He can call me dad, it's fine, right? - Yeah, LeBron says, we cannot be running down the court and he'd be like, "Dad, I'm open, dad, come on." You cannot do that. - I would wear hair. - You cannot do that. - You would wear hair. - That would be the don't do this right there. - Yeah, I think he posted something on Instagram, he's like, "Dad, get your ass back on defense." - Yeah, yeah, yeah, get that ass back. - Yeah, that's great. So this is like, again, it's a combo, don't, and do do this, but Oscar De La Jolla and Holly Saunders are, I mean, they're a very attractive couple with their bodies are, they're very fit, very fit. And there was a video that popped up over the weekend of them in Mexico, she was in a two-piece bikini, looking great, and he was in a banana hammock. - A man-kinie. - A man-kinie. - I mean, in this thing, did not leave anything to the imagination. - It was the one that goes like Borat's. - No, no. - For the shoulder, I thought I saw that one. - No, just the hammock. - Just the, you know, for the, right, just the hammock is thin, and you saw like, floppage, they were dancing around. So you saw like, the whole thing, and they're dancing around, people are like, "Are they on drugs?" What are they doing? - That's what I thought. - Posting this video, well, what's the least clothing you've ever worn in public? - In public, yeah. Shorts in a T-shirt. - Right. I mean, a bathing suit. - Obviously, you go to the pool. - Yeah, okay, I didn't wear it. - Like, what's the smallest bathing suit you would wear? - Probably the one, remember what we just talked about, how you can't buy shorts that are above the, they're all above the knees. - Yeah. So I did, I bought some chubbies, and I wore them in Hawaii, and I felt very, very self-conscious about it. So that's what you'll get. - But like a speedo, no change. - Never. - And one of these that Oscar De La Jolla was wearing, absolutely no change. - There's not a bet, you don't have to do a lot of grooming before you could even-- - I mean, yeah. I mean, thinking about something like that. - Like a professional, like waxing and all that. Like, you don't have to really go deep, but he looks like he's hairless, it looks like he's fully groomed, and her as well. But, so they were dancing around, and I was like, well, they were all clearly on some sort of psychotropic drug, and they're having a great time, and it looks really great. Well, turns out, it was all for a good cause, allegedly. I don't know if I missed, but I'm gonna go with it, because it actually does kind of make a little sense. So she actually came out with the statements, and so a lot of you thought we were crazy with the first video we made, but we all really, all we really wanted to do was bring awareness to the Tatas, and to the packers, because I was a quote. Adam, Michael, because it is that time of year for you to get a prostate exam, and a mammogram. Let's knock out cancer in La Jolla. Good, that's still donning the tiny banana hammock at it. That's nice, they shelled out $50,000 of their own money to help provide screenings to a hospital in LA. - Well, that's a do-do. - That's a do-do this, for sure. - Is there a kudos to them, or a kudos to their PR teams? - Right, yeah, we hope that our lighthearted video brings awareness to two diseases that are not funny at all. We want to do whatever we can to help men and women with access, that they need to remain healthy for their family, so we want this to become less of a taboo subject in the community, and spread the message that people should get checked early and annually, and I fully support them, her making more videos, and posting them on the internet. Fully support. - And then finally, this is a do-do this story. - D-D, mega do-do. - It's smart, so if you saw the news, the Pittsburgh Pirates are moving O'Neill Crews out to center field, and O'Neill Crews was talking yesterday, and he said, well, obviously I know someone who has made this transition very successfully from shortstop to the outfield, and he says, I'm going to reach out to Fernando Tati's junior to see how he did it. - Gold Glover, he said, he's definitely on my list. He's the closest to me at some point. I will give him a call just to ask for advice and see how his process was. - That's smart, and that's respectful. - Mature, and mature. - And Fernando Tati's already a role model for other players in Major League Baseball, as O'Neill Crews is now going to make that transition from the infield to the outfield, like Fernando successfully did, and becoming a platinum glove winner last year. - I thought it was also a pretty cool moment. Who's the kid that plays center for the Cardinals? That made that-- - Victor Scott. - Victor Scott was a good moment. - Phenomenal catch, Jackson Merrill takes his helmet off and gives him the look like are you kidding me? - He's trying to give him a hug. - Give him a hug after. - Yeah, man. I thought that was special. - So, apparently they played against each other in the minors. - That's so cool. - Double A last year, too, so they'd seen it before, and boy, I thought that was a hit for sure. That was an RBI double they took away from Jackson. - Oh, yeah. - That play. Boy, Jackson barreled a couple of balls yesterday. They didn't. Got two hits, also had, probably could have had two more. Manny could have had more, too. He barreled some, just right at guys. Deep warning track flies. - Guys, you've seen it right now, man. It's fun. - It certainly feels like it. - That's fun, but yeah, I love that. - That's don't-ish and do-ish this on a Wednesday. - That was don't-do-this. With Ben and Woods, 97.3, the fan. - All right, tons going on. We are a month of Wednesday. That is coming up next year on San Diego's number one sports station, 97.3, the fan. It is a fun, pennant race. Lot of teams still, just anywhere. You could finish anywhere right now. One, three, six. - Yeah. - I mean, absolutely wide open. Pottery's right now, three games behind the Dodgers and the N.L. West after picking up a game last night. Tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Top of the wild card standings. We got Adam Jones standing by on a big league Wednesday. Tunked to AJ right after this check of traffic on 97.3, the fan. ♪ Travel for your health ♪ (upbeat music) All right, let's start by asking where in the world is Adam Jones. He was in Baltimore last week. But before that, Milwaukee, San Diego, all-star game in Texas. It's been quite the whirlwind summer. AJ, where are you now? - I'm tired, not tired. I'm back home and work some other time. - Back in person. I can imagine. - I'm tired. - That's a lot of flights. - Not even time, not tired, I'm tired. - Tied. - Tied. - You're tired, folks. - That's a laundry detergent for us white people. - That's right, yeah. Tied. Yeah, you're tired. That's right. How was the MarCakus induction? - It was great. It was great. I think he deserved to get his flowers from the Baltimore fans. I know a long time since he's been there for 10 years. It was great to see his family there. I talked to his dad. It was just a sudden nostalgia for his parents who obviously grew up in that organization also. And I see some of the guys come back. Weeder's Jim Johnson, CD and it was a great time to be around baseball. It was great that Nick got the love show and that he needed. - So that a 44-rich hill is back in the big leagues again, signed with the Red Sox, his 20th MLB season. I mean, you got five more years to get a comeback going here, AJ. I mean, he's five years older than you are. - That curveball's still bending, man. It's still bending, it's still working. I mean, it's still hitting 90 and still got a breaking ball. It's worth it for him. God bless him. I mean, it's God bless his family for the continuously to push him to do this. And regardless, his wife for just, you just, wow. It's exactly, and obviously the credit goes to him too for still wanting it. You know, it comes to a point where me physically, I just said, I just didn't want to do it anymore. And he went at the rate that I was doing it off of it. She's thoroughly enjoying it and teams are still balling at him because, I guess, he says he has a lot of knowledge in big situations. And again, that's not necessarily if he's going to pitch well, but he has a lot of information to pick towards the young guys that are playing in this tight race. Red Sox, I mean, I don't know if they're in it right now. I mean, they're not out of it. They think they're tied back from the wild court at this present moment. So obviously with, you know, 30-some games or 20-whatever-some games left, are there still time? And, you know, I think they're looking for a life and a bottle and, you know, maybe it gives them four or five good starts. Let me ask you this. Talking to Adam Jones here on Ben & Woods this morning, I flipped the game on last night. They're playing in St. Louis. Dylan Cease is covered and sweat. Head to toe before he's throwing a pitch. And when you play those games, AJ, you know, there's probably places you loved playing. And then you looked at the calendar and you went, ah, man, August and St. Louis is going to be rough. How do you prepare? I mean, it's already been a long season. 130 games are already under your belt. You're sore, you're tired. And now you've got to go out and you've got to fight the elements of humidity. Was there anything you did differently as a center fielder or an outfielder to prepare yourself to play in those games? Well, obviously, it is what it is. That's first and foremost. There ain't no excuses made. You know, I mean, they end up on the same hot-ass weather, too. I think the fans are the craziest ones. They're the two coming in and pay to sit next. But no, you know, it's about managing your energy. You know, one thing I told a couple young outfielders that the Orioles is like, look, it's late in the season. I know you and your young, you got energy. But look, when you go to traveling to the West Coast, as they're in Dodger Stadium right now, I told them, hey, look, you're going to be tired that first day. I don't care what you say. You can be 23, 25, you're going to be tired. Don't do anything the first day. It's August. Trust me, I think you know how to catch a fly ball. You know how to catch a ground ball. And they got a good win last night. And it was a scrappy win. You know, win is a win, especially in this part of the season. And, you know, today, good after today. But you have to minimize your activities again. You have to realize it's hot. And the humanity drains you a little bit differently than the Phoenix weather. That's just, that's scalding. But the community just takes an idea. So me personally, I just not do much come in the summer months. Once June 1st, June 15th, I'd say hit me, start to get hot ball more. I'd say, hey, it's time to cut back like 50% on most of the things I did. And then once August comes, it's another 25% of that. And September, it's really more of a showing go. Because at this point, I got it off down and I'm sore as hell. So I need to preserve all this energy. Yeah. Talking to Adam Jones here, the five-time All-Star and center fielder. And we've talked about Jackson Merrill several times throughout this year's transition to center field, the rookie of the year battle with Paul Skeens, which I think is over now after another walk-off home run this week for Jackson Merrill. What I want to ask you about-- and I don't know what you remember from your rookie season. We often see rookies kind of hit a wall at some point, because they're not used to 162 games. And now, plus with the playoffs. And he's played almost every single day. He got a day off a couple of weeks ago. But that's about it. He's going to get to 155, 156 games played before the playoffs. How do you push through when you're a rookie? And I don't know, how is he avoided not hitting that rookie wall that sometimes other guys run into? Well, I mean, that person was just his personal talent. I mean, that's taken over. And you just see his fullness. Again, he's not the guy that's the focal point in that lineup. Obviously, you have to worry about Manny Bogart's, Kim. And obviously, he's just coming back. So he's been able to just fly under the radar not for too long. Again, not for too long. So he's been able to fly under the radar for a little bit of the season. And just do his. When you're hitting, you know, start 8 and 8/9. And then you start to do something. You start hitting 6, 7, you know what I mean? They start noticing when you're moving up in that lineup a little bit. And again, I think you can just feature definitely a middle line-up kind of guy. And they're going to start fishing them differently. And this is when it comes to chess match. But I just think that his athleticism has allowed him to have a 0 for 3, but still do something. Yeah, I do so. He said this to Colton Cowser. He said this to Colton Cowser. He said, you're 6, 3, 2, 10, 2, 20. And you can run. You're athletic as hell. Better beat out than double plays. You better take that extra base. You better steal that base. You better score on every double. You better do all these things. And guess what he's doing? He's doing all these things that is allowing him-- allowing his athleticism to take over. It's hard to every single day. There's good defenders, as you see many making an unbelievable play last night against-- I mean, obviously, he's the greatest adversary of this generation, the two best third basins, I believe. And you know, you go through these times. And what he's done is he's just gone through them. And he has guys that are surrounded by a focal point. And Manny, I know it's been in this year, you know, Tatisse has a long guard. So he's like, hey, I deserve this. It's a long season. And you know, being around the Padres a little bit this year, it seems like he has a right head on his shoulder. And the coaches have a great routine and a great regimen for him and for everybody else. And they're hitting their stride right now. So that's why it looks good. And look, Manny's fully healthy right now. It looks like. Body's moving a little bit better. And you know, his arm is good. So just think it's-- right now, it's a really good time for Padres baseball. Talking about Jackson Merrill, talking to Adam Jones here on Ben & Woods this morning. I watched a piece that Xavier Scruggs did. Talking about how he covers the entire plate. I mean, just-- they make adjustments to him. He makes adjustments right back. It really is pretty staggering to see that out of such a young kid. But I think, you know, a lot of credit's got to go to Victor Rodriguez, the hitting coach, a lot of credit to Mike Schilt as well. Talking about the consistency of the message since day one, AJ. Now, it's one thing-- it's one thing to say it in spring training. I think it's another thing to stick to it and then get the buy-in from the clubhouse or something. Everybody's talking about who was your most consistent manager as far as message goes? Well, I mean, personal, that is very important. It is a message, you know. And it's message-- everything is personal. Merrill doesn't hit like Tatis, who doesn't hit like Manny, who doesn't-- like, everything is personal. And I've always felt that if you just have a guy who does the same things for everybody, that sucks. But for me, it was Buck, honestly. I mean, Buck was-- and the message was looking. I need y'all to go to the day. I don't give a damn. How you do it? I don't care what it looks like. It could be pretty. Hey, if I have to go through six pictures, I don't care. I need this W today. And that right there told us, like, look it. I don't need you all to hit five run on runs. Can't do it. I need you to move the guy over. I need you to sacrifice that guy. I need you to drive the guy in. I need you to crunch down and make that play. I need you to maybe make a spectacular play. I need you to turn on double plays. It's like, you play the games-- I'm not close to the internet. My own new crew is going into a few. You need to make 99.9% of the routine plays in the next weeks. If you don't do that, I can't trust you. That's one that's just first and foremost. If you can't do that, I can't trust you. And this place happened, as you see, with, like, moving the child over the day last night. So, and Meryl got robbed by Victor Scott. So you see those spectacular plays. But the routine play has to be made. And that was Buck's message. You're going to struggle after play. You're going to look terrible most of the time. And that's OK. Battle, and figure it out. But on the defensive side, no, no. Is that that play made? I can't trust you. AJ, one thing that Mike Schill does preach is consistent quality at bats. And he says, our team does that well. They go out even down eight and a ninth inning. He likes to see good at bats. But what does that exactly mean? In your mind, as a big leader, like, what's a good at bat? What's a bad at bat? I mean, is it good at bat if it ends in a single? Because you can have a good at bat and strike out. And you can have a bad at bat and probably hit a home run. So what does that really mean when a manager wants to see good at bats? Well, I've never heard of a bad at bat resorting. I guess not. I've never heard of bad at bat, you know, resulting in a hit. I've never yet to see bat. OK. Well, you can have your D. You can put your D swing on a pitch and blow one in. Yeah. But what's a good at bat and a bat? Bullet, that's called a bullet in the books, by the way. That's right. So for me, I would say, getting a pitch hit, you know what I mean? Like, you know, in the game, obviously you've got our guys, especially the believers who are tapped in the season. You know, maybe throw a first pitch curve ball, first pitch slider, first pitch split. Now, it's been a good pitch to hit late in the game. And like, early in the counting, but if we're on a good pitch, I don't think anybody'd be mad. I think if you went up there, it's like over-aggressive. It's what you had, whatever you wanted to, and like, you know, first swing was wild at a pitch that was out of this. I think people were going to be like, hey, let's zone it up a little bit. But I just think it's about getting a good pitch hit. You can't decipher that part. Like if, you know, if it's the first pitch or if the sixth pitch, if it's a good pitch in your zone and you're able to drive this pitch, then, hey, swing at it. I mean, nobody ever bothers Corey Seager. He's one of the most aggressive pitch guys on the first pitch, and he also does incredible damage on it. So I think it's just about if you, a good or bad, is picking a good pitch that you can drive. Now again, the result might not be there, just because there's nine defenders or eight defenders out there who are trying to make money themselves. So you have to remember that. But, you know, I think a bad or bad would be going up there and just wildly swinging at a pitch, just thinking that, hey, he's just approved me a fastball because, you know, he's dumb. No, he's not going to do that to you, buddy. So these pitchers are good enough. They're going to get you out plenty of times. Don't get yourself out. One by swinging at a slider off the plate on, you know, on a 1-0 count and hitting a ground ball on the second baseman. Don't try to. See, now, that's the question is that if you swing in this, I mean, if you swing at a bad pitch, I had a problem with that. It's my criticism took over where I swung at it, but my simple self hit the ball. Sometimes I wish I just swung in missed. Yeah, the final slider. Why do you have to put it in play? Just swinging this. So sometimes that leticism of the player makes him put the ball in play. Sometimes you do want to have that swing and miss on those pitches, but obviously with two strikes, you've got to buckle down. I think Luis Arai sometimes has that like-- Yeah, he does. He's so good at making contact. Like, I probably would have been better off just missing that one because that was not a good pitch. Exactly. 100% missed it. I got to tell you, AJ, your thing that you gave us last year, your sound clip of the first two swings are mine, the next ones for the team. I've used it for me playing ball on Sundays. I've used it for my kids. I've used it for the kids that I'm coaching. It's some of the best advice I've ever gotten. If you're a coach out there, AJ said it, man, first two swings of yours, go get it, man. Find your pitch, drive it. The last one, this one's for the team. Choke, poke, don't strike out, get the guy over. It has helped me tremendously in my playing and my coaching. So I wanted to thank you for that. I think about it every single day of my life, dude. It's really some of the best advice I've ever gotten. You got a battle, man. That's the thing. It's hard enough. But hey, two strikes. Hey, just take the eagle away. You can hit a home run with if you choke up. Barry Bonds hit a lot of them while choking up. So it's OK to strip you. It's OK to take your finger off or your pinky off the damn knob and slide it up a little bit. That's right. That's right. Yeah, it won't hurt you. No one's going to get mad at you and call you choking poke. OK, hit it up. 100%. Get some rest and relaxation so you won't be so tied when we talk to you next Wednesday. I got to talk just to go too bad. Oh, god. Have fun. All right, we'll talk to you next week, either way. Thanks, Adam. All right. Adam Jones, five time all-star. Always fun, finding out where he is, where he's been, where he's going next, and getting his thoughts on the grand old game. It is nuts, though. Think about you land in St. Louis, and you're like, all right, I know what's out there. I'm not hitting. Give me some front toss, something. I'm not taking grounders. I'm not taking fly balls. I mean, you know, every player's different. Every player's got a routine. I'm not going to. So quit a half. Hey, you're going to get some work out there today, woodsy. I'm not going to. So quit a asker. No, I know my body. It's nuts, man. But you go out before the game and do all your work and then find the third inning. You're just cast. Done. You're just toast. That's not a great strategy. I'll take a few extra ground balls and Tampa this year. Yeah, 100%. You rip them down there. I'll be out there extra 15 minutes. But I just-- I mean, watching that game last night, you could feel it. You could feel it through the television of like, this looks miserable, miserable. It's not Scott's jersey when he got into the game. I'm like, he just got in the game. Just got in the game. It's like, just soaked. Dylan Cease just looked as uncomfortable as I've ever seen a pitcher on the mound. I mean, Rick Ainkeel looked more uncomfortable, but that's because he had no idea where it was going. Dylan Cease just looked like, not like, I want to get out of here, but it was just labor. It was just he was laboring out there all night and just could not land certain pitches and certain spots. And still grinded, I guess. And as AJ said, both teams had to deal with it. But I do think when you live in Columbus-- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you play there. That's an advantage for the home team more than the road team. Donovan Solano said it after the game. I think it was-- or David Peralta. Like, yeah, we're in San Diego. The weather weather is really, really nice. And we're very used to that good, good weather. It's not-- this is not normal for us. Just remember, and you watch Dylan Cease. Full sleeves, by the way. Full spandex sleeves on both arms. And I'm like, I understand you want to be comfortable. I want to understand you have a routine. Like, when I was wrestlers trying to make weights before-- Yeah, like, the garbage bag on them. I just-- I couldn't believe it. Going full sleeves in St. Louis, heat index of what? 108, 111? I wonder how much weight he lost during that game. Four pounds. I mean, it was just pouring sweat. In the new uniforms, you can tell they're not great for that-- Oyster wicking-- Oyster wicking. I mean, it looked like he was wearing paper towels out there. A uniform made of paper towels. Just stuck to them the whole time. gnarly, man. I think it's supposed to be a tad cooler. Just a tiny bit with some clouds. Yeah, that would be great. Still sticky, obviously, but we'll see. We'll have more on today's game coming up in our second half of the show. We've got our Incorporator to pay off. Brett Boone's going to join us all coming up. Do not go anywhere. More Ben Woods on San Diego's number one sports station, 97.3, the fan. [MUSIC PLAYING] After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. 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