Kap & J. Hood
9/5 7 AM: No for a combined no-no?
Good morning, routine. Listen to respect for me. Cap and G hood. That's right. That's right. We're bad, huh? Watch the show on Twitch. Follow ESPN 1000 Chicago. Stream the show on the ESPN Chicago app. And on Instagram, 100.3, HD2, and on ESPN 1000 Chicago. No, no, no, no. David Kaplan and Jonathan Hood. Good morning, everyone. Bring 'em out, bring 'em out. Bring 'em out, bring 'em out, bring 'em out. Bring 'em out, bring 'em out, bring 'em out. Bring 'em out, bring 'em out. Bring 'em out, bring 'em out. Bring 'em out, bring 'em out. Ooh. Welcome in to the Captain Jay Good Morning Show on ESPN 1000. And we're streaming on the ESPN Chicago app with David Kaplan, Jonathan Hood, with you. We've got Shane. We've got Charlie. And we've got you for a three-hour ride here on this deal breakers Thursday. We're up in full lines for you. 3, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 7, 7, 6 is our phone number. And Captain Cubs got themselves off the mat. They were able to win yesterday 12 to nothing. And that's just 12 to nothing. But a combined no-hitter for the Cubs as they salvaged the series when the last game yesterday. Shota Inanaga magnificent for seven innings, 95 pitches. If they get better defense, Paredes needs a reset in the off season. I like the kid. I think he's going to be a good player. But he needs just a reset and get ready to roll in the off season and then come into camp ready to go. I think it would have limited his pitch count because I lost count when I was watching. I believe it cost him 17, 18 pitches. So he might have had the chance at the no-hitter. I completely agree with Craig Council pulling him after seven innings. 100% agree. 95 pitch outing. And then two relievers Nate Pearson, who's been really good since he came over from Toronto and Porter Hodge, closed her down. And the Cubs bludgeon. Bludgeon, Domingo Herman, and the Pirates 12, nothing on a beautiful night at Riggly. I guess Brett and I went one night too soon. Of course. We were there the night before, as we wanted to see schemes, who knew the next night we'd get a combined no-hitter. Again, I applaud Craig Council having the stones to pull the kid. I need him healthy next year. I need him ready to go. I don't care about no-hitters when you're four and a half games out in the wildcard. I don't. And he didn't even know he had a no-hitter when they were pulling him. He said, Craig came over. He looked concerned. We're taking you out, even though you have a no-hitter. I do? He had no idea. He's just locked in making pitches. So again, I give Craig a lot of credit because he knew he was going to get blasted after the day. How could you take the kid out? Because we're worried about his long-term health, period. Well, there are several things at work here for me when I saw yesterday with the Cubs getting combined no-hitter. Number one, what Major League Baseball wants is to be able to have special moments throughout the season. More than the playoffs, more than the all-star game, more than opening day, baseball deserves special moments. And because of the care, and sometimes overly so, the care of the athlete, that we are bereft of these special moments throughout the week. See, Major League Baseball is a long season, as we all know. But there's always these little pop-up things where there's a milestone for home runs, or there's a milestone for doubles, or you see a triple every now and then every blue moon. But the no-hitter is still special to me as a baseball fan cap because there's so few and far in between. It's more commonplace now than ever before, but what do you saw it? I remember when I was working on network radio for ESPN Radio, they would bail out of our talk show and say, all right, we're going to go to Anaheim. There's a no-hitter here. It's just down right what's going on, and they just brought up the game, and we'd kind of talk around the innings of how special it is to have a no-hitter. I understand that they'll cap right now, not just with the Cubs or everyone else, is that everything's about the pitch count. Everything is about the pitch count. If you get to 100 pitches, that is a threshold. And by the way, sometimes, starting pitching doesn't even get to 100 pitches. Sometimes it's 90, it's 80, 85. But I understand that's what it is today. But I'm just telling you that Emi Naga not being able to go the entire nine took away something special that I think that the common baseball fan likes is, oh my God, this guy's a warrior. He went through nine innings and shut down the opposition. But I understand that's not commonplace today. We understand that it's more about the pitch count more so than the special moment. - So he has already gone past his career high in innings. He's at 95 pitches going to the eighth. How long would you let him go? How many pitches? - Well, the hope is, is that he would have the control to be able to go, you know, 110 pitches and be able to get it done, but still-- - Well, because you could have gotten a no hitter. - 15 pitches to have a no hitter. - Well, what I was gonna-- - For two innings. - What I was gonna say is, is that he didn't have the control to be able to get like one, two, three, or strike out like that. Because he likes to pay on the corners, he already walked two guys. He didn't have that kind of special stuff to get it done for 110, 115 pitches. - Okay, so-- - Or maybe it would have been longer. - Okay, so you're sitting there in the dugout and you're making the decision. - Yeah, I understand. - What would you have done? - Well, I understand. What I just laid out for you is today, in today's pitching, it is not commonplace for a starter to go longer than 100 pitches. So he was going to leave anyway. - Right. - No matter what. - And if you were managing, would you have let him in September going, you're four and a half back. You're probably not getting the postseason. - Go for it. - Because of his stuff, I think that he would have went longer than 110 pitches, so he'd had to get pulled, if it's me. - Yeah, I completely agree. - Well, that's what I just laid out at the beginning of the show, is that, even though we love the special moment of the no hitter, the starting pitcher can't go more than 100 pitches today, because that's what's happening today. That's what I just laid out. So if I'm the manager, I can't go past and say, well, it's Imunaga, he's got to go 150, 120 pitches, 125 pitches, 'cause what does that do? Say for instance, he gives a base hit, then he extended himself for what? That's my point. - Right, but there are a lot of people mad today. A lot of people, I've checked in the outrage on social, there are a lot of people that are mad, that they feel, oh, come on, you got to play this guy, you got to let him go for the no hitter. I completely disagree. If he was at 85 pitches, okay? Let's see where we're at at the end of eight. If it takes him 25 pitches to get through the eighth, he's done, but if it takes him 11, now he's at 96, could I possibly stretch him? 14 pitches, yes. But at 95, going to the eighth, as you said correctly, he walked two in the ballgame. Again, the defensive miscue by Paredis cost him. Dylan ceased through a no hitter earlier this year back in July. - Yes. - I don't know how many pitches he threw. - I watched it. And the manager told him to, that's all in the eighth. And he said, no, I'm going back out there and he's stormed back out there to the mound and finished the job. But I'm saying that today in 2024, you're just not gonna have the solo no hitter. More times than not, we've seen this with the Dodgers I think a couple of times this year, where a pitcher will go 90 pitches, 100 pitches, and there's a cut off, no matter what's going on in the game. - In terms of protecting your asset, look, you've got a lot of money tied up in Shota Imunaga. And he was really, really locked in and really, really good. He didn't even know he had a no hitter. People are on social drugs gotta be furious when they took him out. - No, not so much. - Listen, but you can understand from the fan standpoint. - Yes, I can. - And that's the whole point of it. The whole point of it is when social media says, "Hey man, Imunaga's got something special going on. "I wanna see him finish it." Well, you gotta know what baseball is. Today, you're just not gonna get those type of accolades for a guy out there to throw a no hitter by himself and be able to dominate, because it's about the pitch count. Some thoughts now from Craig Council on the decision to pull the show to Imunaga yesterday as the Cubs win 12-0. - It's always hard to do in that situation. But look, you're taking care of Shoda. I mean, it's 100% about taking care of Shoda and making sure we're doing the right thing for him. And so, it's not fun to do, but when you're prioritizing the player's health and making sure that you don't know what's gonna happen moving forward and we want him to stay healthy. He's at a career high in innings and doing a great job. He actually didn't know he had a no hitter going at all, which is funny. But yeah, Tommy and I talked about it. We considered it, frankly, after the sixth inning. But that was for us the right thing to do. - Thoughts there from Craig Council? - Yeah, and I completely agree with him. - 100%, again, I understand your perspective about the fan, doesn't get the special moment. Dylan Cece's no hitter, I just looked it up. He went, he walked three in the game and still was at only 114 pitches. And his stuff is so electric. Like, Shoda's gotta paint the corners and move the ball in and out. Dylan Cece's throwing 99 miles an hour with some say the single best curve ball in baseball. Like when he was with the White Sox, you would watch that thing and they called it a nose to toes curve ball, started up here and dropped all the way down. - Yeah, kind of a bird blind leaven was the best with that, that 12 to six curve ball. - Correct. - Yeah, I was, I watched the back half of that game for Cece. You know, obviously when we locked in with the Padres this year, it was against the Nationals at National Park. And I remember Mike Schilt saying, all right, that'll be all, that's enough. It's a good job. And Cece's like, no, I can finish this up. It's the Nationals after all, I can finish this. That's exactly what happened. And you got the no hitter, it was a special moment. Great for him, but this is what it is. Now, the other side of the conversation is, Che, is that is a combined no hitter or a real no hitter. And so I think that any time that you could shot the opposition and it's a no hitter, whether it takes one pitcher or it takes four, there's always the asterisk. Like, okay, the Cubs no hit the pirates, even though it took three pitchers to do it, is the Cubs decision, it's still a no hitter, but is it as impressive as Milt Papis or Bert Hooten in the 70s or Ken Holtzman in the 60s or Don Cardwell or Sam Jones in 1955 or anyone else that does it by themselves? No, it's not as impressive because it, when you have one guy shutting out in the opposition, it's great. When it takes two or three guys, it's still a no hitter, but it's not as impressive to me in that regard. So Kerry Wood, when he struck out 20 Houston Astros, May 6, 1998. - Everybody, everybody was there. - I was, well, I was, I was broadcasting. And I'm the idiot, if you listen to the call, you hear Pat Hughes make the call and you hear some idiot in the back row, whoa! That's me hugging Joe Montaigne, okay? And we're making all this noise and Pat looking back at us and then it's still on the call. Kerry Wood, 122 pitches, 84 for strike. And Kerry then told me on air, it had never been reported. He's over at TV with me. And I said, when did you know you hurt your elbow? 'Cause remember the next spring, he came to camp, said my elbow hurts and then ended up having Tommy John. He said, the last pitch of the 20 strikeout game. I snapped off that insane wiffle ball pitch, the Derrick Bell waved that. He said, that's when I tore it. He said, it absolutely, I felt it right then. And he pitched in the playoffs and pitched fine, but he was in pain. And then went to spring training and was like, I can't do anything. And that was the end of that. But he said, pitch 122 is when I injured my elbow. So that doesn't mean the next guy at 122 is gonna injure his elbow. Guys are trained differently today. It's not Nolan Ryan and Luis Tian. Go look up that box score. You're a historian of baseball. 240 pitches by Ryan, 190 for Luis Tian. - Oh yeah. - In one game. - Oh yeah. - And Ryan made his next start on three days rest. Like today, they fire the manager. - Yes, yes. - But that's just not how it is. - They don't make them like they used to, Cap. They do not. But as far as I'm concerned, when you have these combined no hitters, and this is not rare as happened many times in Major League Baseball, the no hitter still is important, but it's not as significant. It's not as, it's not the pitching excellence as if one guy did it. - Hold the hold on a minute. - It's not as cool. The like when you, we were texting the night that Cease did it. - Yeah. - Super cool. Super cool. Shane Reynolds in the 20 strikeout game, he actually threw a complete game at the Cubs, and gave up one earned run. That was it. It struck out 10, his pitch got 116. So it was just a different era back then, man. - It just was. Shane, Charlie, were you guys anti what council did or you understand it? - I get why he did it. I don't have to like it. Like I get why baseball has gone this direction of starting pitchers not ever crossing the 100 pitch threshold. I understand protecting your arms. Doesn't mean I have to like it. And honestly, it lessens the no hitter to me. Makes it a smaller accomplishment. The combined no hitter is not nearly as fun or as compelling or as celebratory of a moment. Like if you're a fan in the stands and you go to a game and your hope is to see a no hitter, you want to see the starting pitcher go from the first pitch to the end of the game and accomplish that feat. When it becomes the combined deal, it's a little lame. - Yeah, and with Imanaga stuff, Shay, it's one of these things where he loves to paint the corners. He'll go late in counts. And as much as I would have liked to see that, we're talking about in over 120 pitches for him and maybe he gets a no hitter, maybe he doesn't. But I just, I think that what we saw was again, a nice feat because it's rare that we see it. But when it's combined like that, it doesn't have the same shine as it would be for a solo guy going out there. - The starting pitcher finishing his work. - I do wish they'd just let him try though. I really do. The idea that these guys never even get a chance to try anymore, like see, go in the distance and throw in a no hitter was awesome. The idea, you don't even let the pitcher try. Like, I'm not that old hoodie and it's not 30 years ago now that pitchers were doing it. It's like five to 10 years ago that if you were at 95 pitches and you had a no hitter, let's see how far you can go. Get two innings left, go get them. - You know what Shay, instead of doing a deep dive on this, I'll just be, I'll use brevity by just saying this. Sports today is about individual businesses. It's more than just the team. The players are individual businesses. - They're brands. - They're brands. - Yes. - So baseball, basketball, football, basketball, the same thing. Why is there a minutes limit on a number of players? Not because of age. It's just because, well, you have to sit out because the doctors say you need to sit out because the analytics or whatever the doctor says, based on your body structure or injuries you had in the past, you can't play every game. Why can't you? Why can't you just play 20 minutes instead of 40? Why can't you play 30 minutes instead of 40? No, we just have to have you sit out. This is where we are today in sports. As much as we all still love sports, there is a changing of the guard where every, the many individual players are their own brand, are their own entity. With Imunaga, less than 100 pitches, was good enough. Of course, we would love to see Imunaga by himself, but this is where we are today. This is why we don't see as many no hitters anymore, Cap, because the innings pitched and the pitch limit is more important than the feet. That's where we are. - 100% correct. - So, I mean, but you remember the outrage when Michael Jordan came back from his broken foot. We found out he'd been playing pick-up games in North Carolina. If there was social media back then, the Bulls wouldn't have been blindsided. Remember that? - I do. - Kraus put a restriction, no basketball. And they were gonna keep him out the whole year and get a better draft pick. That was tanking back in 1986, folks. And Michael went, I'm gonna play at North Carolina. Well, there was no social media. There was no phones. Nobody's taking pictures. And all of a sudden, they, what? They got a call. You know him, but Jordan's been playing pick-up ball. All day, every day. - What? - Yeah. - He came back and they said, "All right, we'll let you play." Ryan's North had to get involved, 'cause Kraus was like, "You're not playing." All right, I'll let you play, but you can only play. Whatever the number was, you can look it up. 20 minutes, I think Stan Albeck was the coach. And there were games. They got down with a minute and a half, two minutes to go. Michael's out of minutes. And he was coming out of the game. He's like, "You can't take me out, I can win the game." They'll fire me. I will get fired if I go one second over. And then, you remember, I think it was, was it Vinny? Yeah, it was Vinny Del Negro, it was coaching Joe Kim Noah. And he was on a minutes restriction. And he went like 40 seconds over and packs got into it with Vinny in the locker room. Grab the tie. Yes. And the coach's office after the game. And he said, "Joe Kim, "Hey man, I can't play the extra 40 seconds. "They'll fire me." Yes, that's, that stuff's real. Yeah, this is where we are. And so, as much as I would have loved to see it, we're not gonna see great things like that on a regular basis in Major League Baseball. Again, it's very rare. But when a pitcher is out there and he's dealing, if the pitch counts too high, it's about analytics. It's about the manager. It's about the front office. Nope, take him out. As much as we could do merch with this, could you imagine the Ima Naga No Hitter T-shirt? Could you imagine that? Yeah. You sell 50,000 of those across the country? Nope. Combine No Hitter. Show No No. Would have gone crazy. Instead, Porter Hodge gets involved. Whoo! So there you have it. Yeah. I mean, did you see? I think, oh yeah, obvious shirts. Our guy, Joe Johnson, put out a thing last night. N-O-H-I-T-A Ima Naga. Instead of, showed it was No Hitter Ima Naga. It was cool. With a trophy, the whole, I mean a statue, the whole deal. It was great. But no, but it didn't happen. I've got the show Kago, a shirt from him. God. Yeah, it's super cool, man. Is a combined No Hitter, a real No Hitter. So again, if you watch the game or if you had a chance to listen to it, it happened yesterday, the No Hitter. Unto. Rounder to Short. Dance me to first. There it is. No Hitter. Shoped up Ima Naga. Nate Pearson, Porter Hodge. A combine No Hitter, a real No Hitter. Should have been allowed to fish the game. Your thoughts, 3-1-2-3-3-2-E-S-P-N, 3-3-2-3-7-7-6-XAR, full number. And what happened yesterday might be the end for the Cubs. I'll explain next on Captain Jay Hood. Welcome back to Captain Jay Hood. You're officially locked in. On Chicago's home for sports, ESPN Chicago. Is a combined No Hitter, a real No Hitter. It happened yesterday for the Cubs as the Cubs defeated the Pirates. Unto. Rounder to Short. Dance me to first. There it is. No Hitter. Shoped up Ima Naga. Nate Pearson, Porter Hodge. A combine No No. It happened yesterday with Ima Naga and Pearson and Hodge and the Cubs win 12-0. And from my standpoint, it's a No Hitter. It goes with an asterisk next to it in the record book. But I love the solo No Hitter when a guy comes out in the first season, he finishes it up. But with Ima Naga, 95 pitches through 7, he walked 2, struck out 7. And the kind of stuff that Ima Naga has is, and we've talked about this on the show before, Ima Naga is Bob Ross, he likes to paint on the corners. And for the opposition, it's like, should I swing at this? Nah, it looks too far outside, I'm going to take it. Strike 3. Right. So because of his pinch it to throw a lot more pitches, this could have went up to over 120. And maybe he has a No Hitter, maybe he doesn't. But the Cubs didn't want to take a chance. Yeah. And I completely support what Craig Council did. Hey man, I call it as I see it. I've been hard on Craig Council when I thought there were moments where, dude, you can show a little emotion out there. Fight for your guys. Instead of barking from the dugout, why don't you come out when your team spiraling out of control in June, July, and they just look flat, get kicked out. Nobody cares whether you're in the dugout and you're just mellow dude. That's maybe that's just not who I am. I understand. You know what I mean. But I respected his decision yesterday where he said to tell me how to be, we're getting this dude out. We're protecting the asset period. Well, Cap, that might be the best highlight in September for you, because I think that will be all. I hope that you enjoy that combined no hitter, 12, nothing. You should have beat the pirates ass, this whole series. But I mean, the schemes game I thought they might lose, but they should have won the other night. Just win the series. If nothing else, keep winning two out of three, two out of three, and then you try your luck, right? Yeah. I just, I think that what you saw last night is the best highlight you're going to get for the month of September to round out the season, because what you're seeing here coming up is the New York Yankees for three. All 120 games, by the way, perfect for you, right? All three day games, all 120s, and then going out to Los Angeles, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, into the Colorado, the hapless Colorado Rockies, and then you're back home the 16th of September starting against Oakland. Cap, that will tell a great story. The three games against the Yankees and the three against the Dodgers, because you see how far back you are now. Just telling you, like the Mets just keep coming. They are one of the hottest teams in the National League. What are the Cubs going to do about it? And the Braves are too. What are the Cubs going to do about it? Cubs, the Cubs are hot too, but the point is, again, it's late. You're right. You're running out of time. Let me just say this. I did a little research yesterday, and when they brought in Jorge Lopez the other night, he gave up one earned run in July and one earned run in August. That's magnificent, that's as good as it gets. However, as I went back through his game log, you needed that win Monday, three nothing in the eighth, wasn't like it was 11 nothing in the eighth. It was three nothing. You're going to face Brian Reynolds when men get on, who's a really quality player. That's one of the few guys the pirates pay. Do you realize this dude, Jorge Lopez, pitched on August the 23rd, one inning, two strikeouts, no runs. Did a good job. You know, six three went over to the Miami Marlins in Florida. They did not use him then for eight days. Why? Your hottest reliever doesn't pitch for eight days. Sounds to me like maybe he's got an issue, like maybe he's not healthy. They pitch him on August 31. He pitches one inning. He walks one man strikes out one in a five three victory over Washington. And then they use him on Monday. If you in the end of August when you are trying to close the gap in the race, can't use your top reliever for eight days? Come on now. Yeah. You can tell me, well, they've scored a lot of runs or a bunch of blowouts. Your top reliever doesn't get used for eight days. That tells me might not be a hundred percent healthy. And guess what happened yesterday? He went on the injured list. Yep. He went on the injured list. His last outing was the night he blew the game on in the eighth inning on Monday. Three nothing lead. He gives up two home runs, four runs. See you later. Thanks for coming. You needed that victory. Sadly, that, that one for me, I'd like to know more why the heck you brought that guy in when you couldn't use him for eight days with the game on the line. And I, I know Craig's going to say, because he did already, look, look at the numbers. He's been amazing. Who wouldn't make that move? And on the surface, I agreed with him till I went back and did my research. Hold on a second. Your best guy didn't throw for eight freaking days. And it wasn't like all those games, okay. He pitched on the 23rd and then you don't see him again until eight days later on the 31st. Yeah. Not good. And you know what all so sucks? So long Justin Steele. Well, I think for Justin, you know, Justin's going to pitch if he's healthy. And that's, that's kind of how we're progressing right now. I think that's what's just Justin's interested in. You know, we're not going to, he's not going to pitch if he's not healthy. So that's how it's going to work. And you know, we'll see what the next 10 days bring. I think the next 10 days would be important here. Craig Council on Justin Steele. So no Lopez, no steal down the stretch. And again, the starting rotation goes like this. Big Sasan tie on in the Yankee series is still TBA in their first game against the Dodgers. Don't think you need to just a steal down the stretch cap? So this is why you closed the book. You're done. Oh, I would not pitch Justin Steele again. You understand, but you get the point like there's a hole in like Hendrix can't be at innings, either and help you out here or there. But he's at the tail end too. Yeah. And he, I was there the other night. He went five innings, gave up two runs. He did his job. He had the bases loaded in the first and the second against Paul Scienes. You need a big hit in a big spot and you failed again, Paul Scienes is a beast. I sat there with Brett watching this thing way down close. His stuff is freaking electric a hunt when he needed to wrap it up a hundred miles an hour. Bam. He did it. He got out of the trouble. Okay. That's why you had to have Monday nights game. You had to have it. And I find it curious that your best reliever pitches on the 23rd and that doesn't show up in a game. There were some blowouts in there for eight days. And then two days later, after he gets lit up, he's on the injured list. I mean, so you see what's happening here. Too little too late, Cap. Yeah. And just this is the, the wrong time. Justin Steele, I would shut him down. I would just say, look, I know. He's going to want to pitch. We're protecting our asset. He's important to this team. He and Emma Naga have to be the front of your rotation next year. And we're trying to win next year, period. So see, I think it's a, and I know Jed is in Japan seeing Roki Sasaki, who they're going to be involved in. He's going to get paid a lot of money. I don't think get him, but he's over there. Great. Here's my thing. And Jed's back, and he's always so measured, I would love for Jed to sit in front of the white wall in the dugout and say, look, we're shutting Justin down. We protected Emma Naga because next year, we have to win. Enough messing around here. Next year, the Chicago Cubs have to be a playoff team. And that is our mantra, but they'll never say that stuff. We got football full tilt starting tonight. We're going to talk about the bears in the NFL as we move forward here. And if you're on hold, you will be on the air 3 1 2 3 3 2 3 7 7 6 is our telephone number on the cap and jayhood morning show. What's up? Welcome back. Welcome. Welcome back to Captain Jayhood on Chicago's home for sports, ESPN Chicago. It's a cap and jayhood morning show here on ESPN 1000. We're hoping that you're going to have an outstanding Thursday as we keep you covered here until 10 o'clock. Then my green bird comes in at 10 followed by Carmen and Yerko at 12. One loom Sylvia 230 into Bears Weekly with Jeff and Tom and Blucking Abdullah afterwards at 7 30 right here on the home of the Bears, ESPN 1000 3 1 2 3 3 2 3 7 7 6 is our phone number. We're talking about the combined no hitter for the Cubs. You hear about this? You read about this? Cubs defeated the Pirates 12 to nothing could go by no hitter and an iminaga and two relievers. And the Cubs were able to get the job done. But the question is, I mean, I think that that's going to be the best thing that we'll talk about with the Cubs this year, this September as the season rounds out because now would steal on the IL and then Lopez, part of the back of the bullpen, that's going to be tough to overcome. Even other tubs that play good baseball, you can't overcome at all. This has just been a snake bitten season from the front office all the way down to the field for the Cubs this year, it is snake bitten. You blown 23 saves, 16 of which led to losses. The other ones you can come back, even though you blow a save and win 16 losses. Imagine if you'd saved 40% of those, you'd be a playoff team, unconscionable that you entered the season and went, oh, we're good with Adbert Al's a lie. It doesn't have the make up to be a closer. Use them in the seventh and eighth, different. Just talking to Steve Stone, I said, what is the difference getting three outs in the eighth with men on when it's 42,000 at Wrigley? He said, you know how he talks. Happy boy, listen to me. The last three outs are different and you better have the stickular fortitude to be able to get those three outs. And if you don't get them and you blow it, you better be able to come back the next day and get the job done or you ain't going to have the job very long. That's how he put it. And the Cubs didn't have somebody built to do that. You're going to spend $230 million on your payroll and you're going to turn the ball over to a guy who ain't good enough to do the job. That's unconscionable. You got a freaking ATM machine over there. You print money, get a closer, squeeze in Dan on I-55 on Captain Jhood. Dan, good morning. Hi. I think you're taking my call, my listen every day, I appreciate the show. I just want to say that, I mean, I don't think they should be really considered no hitter. I think that, you know, it's great that they were able to do it as a team. But, you know, I have two, three people, even maybe four come in and do. I mean, at some point, what they're supposed to do. And I mean, every time a reliever comes in, you shouldn't, and doesn't allow a hit. It's not like, oh, they got a no hitter. Guy comes in, walks three batters, then he kicked them out. Hey, it's okay. You got a no hitter. But, so I don't know, I mean, I still great, love it, but I just don't think it's the same. So had nobody got on base with you, taking them out, that is another question. What do you mean, if nobody got, you mean, if you had a perfect game going? Yes. Well, if he had a perfect game going, you wouldn't have had the air by paratus, which led to like 18 extra pitches. So he would have been able to finish. But if he had a perfect game, he was still at 95 pitches. They were pulling him. Yeah. This has happened before, major league baseball is not new the way it is today because Justin Steele was warming up the other day to do his side session with Tommy how to be. That's what every, you have your five days and you get ready for the next one. And he said, God, just can't get loose. I feel something and I've been managing it in my elbow. Shut it down. And then they sent him for imaging, imaging. He said he spent an hour in the MRI tube and fortunately he's had Tommy John before 2017. So I got no issues with what Craig did. Now football is back, Ravens and Chiefs and we move forward throughout the year, College and Pro. We talk about it on the cap and Jhood morning show. If you miss something, get the podcast on the ESPN Chicago app. Jab and Jhood are back on Chicago's home for sports, ESPN Chicago. We've got shot of no shot coming up at eight o'clock right here on cap and Jhood. So this time last year, Cap and I are on the phone talking about the loot lifter for the NFL in which it was a Kansas City Chiefs against Detroit Lions. Cap is in Las Vegas and I'm driving home from my birthday. No, I was in Reno. Reno. For my son's bachelor party. So he was in the state of Nevada in old Reno and we're on the phone talking about this game, Chiefs and Lions. Can you believe this? Everybody, look at the line. Take that. We're talking about this, right? Yep. So we fast forward to tonight and here we go. Again, Kansas City Chiefs, the champs big spot, big spotlight against the Baltimore Ravens. Now at the time that we were talking about this, you and I, we were surprised at how the Chiefs, first of all, just the way they kind of played down and did not play up to the snuff in the championship level that we thought they would and the Lions end up winning that ball game. What about tonight? Right now, Kansas City is a three point favorite against the Baltimore Ravens. Yep. Will there be another hangover? Will there be a situation where Kansas City again does not play up the snuff? There's no Coderias Tony to blame this time. There isn't. Because didn't he drop a pass and then he fumbled, I think? So in that game last year, he's no longer a member of that club. My other mighty have fallen. First round pick. Ironically with the pick, the Bears gave up to get Justin Fields and Coderias Tony now is on the street looking for work, I believe, unless somebody picked him up. I did not see his name on any of the transaction list. Tonight's game. Last year, you know, I bet the lion sure. We were on the phone. He has a show. We bet the Lions. We did. I think we all did. And you and I talk way more on the phone that I think people realize texting all the time, even though we're here together every day, we've always got stuff to discuss. And so hoodie and I liked Detroit going into that game. They had a lot to prove tonight. I liked the chief. And I know all the sharps in Vegas are betting the heck out of the Raven because the line was three and a half and it's moved down to three. I liked the Chiefs tonight. I do. I think it's gonna be a heck of a football game. You know, Shay, when we were talking about Joe, I was telling you over the summer about Joe Burrow and which I think that Joe Burrow can have a special season, but yet the Cincinnati Bengals, I don't think they get back up there and win the Super Bowl or even being the Super Bowl pitcher. I wonder about Lamar Jackson that same way. He just won his second NFL MVP award last season, led the league and yards rushing for a quarterback with eight twenty one, main fourth and passer rating, all that. He is a fantastic electric quarterback, but it just makes me wonder, will Baltimore at some point, while Lamar Jackson is the quarterback and while Harbaugh is the head coach, will they knock it down and win a Super Bowl championship over the next couple of years? I wonder about that. And I just think that the Chiefs will find a way to win the ball game, but also on the other side, I wonder about Baltimore, like, like, are they just one of those teams that's just good, but not good enough? There's plenty of those. Next few years, it better be this year that I feel like they're in kind of an hour never spot, similar to where the Niners are, quarterbacks eating a ton of the money on the cap with Baltimore. You've got issues with you lost some of your defensive playmakers, Patrick Queens gone offensively. You got to show me something different. I'm with cap. I love the Chiefs tonight. I have all week. It's one of my favorite plays of week one. I think the Chiefs could just potentially drop a bomb on Baltimore tonight. But who do you like, I don't know if Baltimore is going to get over the hump at any point with Lamar Jackson. What does he show us that we can look at and go? That's a guy who can win a Super Bowl. Every time he gets close, he vomits on himself. Well, I mean, to me, the quarterback has put up big time numbers and I accolades for himself. That is for sure. He's elevated Baltimore, but I think there's a ceiling to the success. Like I think that it's about defense. It's about running the football. It's about a lot of other things with this Ravens team and it's sometimes cap is not that deep. Sometimes it's like, you know what, Baltimore's good, but they're just not good enough. It's Kansas City. It's other teams. Sometimes it's how you have to look at it. Like you feel like you have enough or you've spent enough and you feel like we have enough to win and you just don't. It happens in sports where you're just the bridesmaid. That's who you are. And I think that's kind of what Baltimore is. This is not a shot Lamar Jackson. This is shot at Baltimore being good, but just not good enough. I'll take a shot at Lamar because last year they were good enough. Last year they had weapons. Last year they had a historic defense. The only defense in like 50 years that led the league and sacks turnovers, tackles for loss, scoring defense, all of it. Like they were a historically good defense and Lamar went into that game at home against the Chiefs and every time he saw a blitz, he looked like a scared puppy. He had no clue what he was doing. He has to be better, specifically him. That team he had last year wins the Super Bowl with any other quarterback that Super Bowl caliber year over year. He's got to be better. Well, that means that he had to wait for the Chiefs to age out. That's the only way this will move Baltimore to the NFC. Well, I mean, ultimately, Charlie, this is what again, you're taking on Kansas City Chiefs and I'm not going to bet on them until I see them start to age out. Like I have them win the Super Bowl again this year because I can't bet. I've spent enough money betting against them saying it's not going to be the year. It's no way they can do it. Okay. Patrick Mahomes still has a heartbeat. Yeah, there's no there's no there. I can't imagine a worse feeling than the end of the season ending and looking at the Chiefs hoisting another Lombardi and being like, God, I can't believe I bet against them. Like I'd so much rather bet on them and be wrong than bet against them and be wrong. You feel so much stupider if you do the former, just it's just, it's just what it is, man. You take on Kansas City. You lose 17 to 10. By the way, that's that's no shot at Baltimore. That's Kansas City on the other side now. They know how to win. Baltimore knows how to win to an extent. I think that's only fair. Is it not Dallas just with better PR? I mean, like every year this team runs into a wall in the playoffs. It seems like I know they were what a Z flowers fumble at the goal line away from potentially winning that game last year. But like you look at the numbers of that game, 17 to 10, you're Lamar Jackson. You're an MVP. You have this awesome offense. You only put up 10 points against the Chiefs who I know had a great defense, but it's just got to be better. It has to be. But there comes to a Bulls LeBron scenario cap, where it's just like, I like the Bulls. Yeah, but LeBron's on the other side. Right. Oh, you know, we're not beating Cleveland. When go and see it was good. Oh, I like Oklahoma City or I like something. Yeah, but go and see it's the other side. The team that's tenure that has the hardware knows how to win ball games, whether it's blow outs or tight and give Baltimore credit, they shut down a young, spry, Houston Texans team, 34 to 10, and they need to run into the juggernaut. That's Kansas City. Yeah, it was winnable ball game. But again, that's why we can't wait for tonight. Tells a great story. It is top there and I will be at North Avenue beach tonight over by castaways. And there is a great event that Jewel is putting on a Tom and I are going to broadcast a beach volleyball tournament. And I charged up my iPad and I asked the people from, can you make sure there's a plug in there? They said, yeah, we got you covered. We're going to watch the Chiefs and the Ravens right there while we're doing the broadcast. They said, yeah, we got you covered. Absolutely. I see. Make sure you concentrate on the volleyball in front of you. Don't be calling plays for Lamar Jackson by mistake. What a play by Jackson he ran for 35. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Great spike there by that young lady. There's a spike the serve the return. Oh, there's a point that what you're that's what you're doing. Basically. Is that your first time calling volleyball? No. Hmm. Interesting. My old girlfriend was a volleyball player, so so you call that I would announce her volleyball. Hmm. Yeah. At home. Up at Northern. You're on your own home. Shatter. No shot. Two minutes on Cafe J good. 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