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As soccer takes center stage this summer, Comcast helps bring the experience home to America. As the exclusive Spanish language home of the tournament in the US Telemundo is set to present its most expansive coverage ever. 700 hours of programming, live on site presence at all 104 matches. And with multi view and real time 4K Xfinity will deliver the most innovative and immersive sports viewing experience for fans watching on Telemundo. Peacock, Fox and FS1. Learn more at ComcastCorporation.com Don Sometimes fraud gives you movement.
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It sounded like it moved.
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Han, you heard a squish. And Rosenberg shake gently to assure complete activation.
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Hello. This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.
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This is Don, Han and Rosenberg.
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The best threesome I've ever heard on
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ESPN New York and streaming live on
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YouTube 301 in the big city Don Hahn and Rosenberg with you on a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon in the big city. Hopefully everybody's enjoying it. After a few days of rain and Thunderstorms and high 60s with a breeze, we get kind of back to what July is supposed to be. How are you?
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Do we have to watch baseball?
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Yes.
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In this town?
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Yes.
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It really is getting.
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Because you know what?
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Getting really, really hard.
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But you know what? Take your soul out of it.
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Okay.
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Honestly? Because that's what I've done with the Mets.
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Right?
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I can't.
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They don't have me.
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I can't take my soul out.
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Well, you. You don't have to. Your team's battling for first place.
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Okay.
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Your team's going to the playoffs.
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Is that a battle right now?
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But the Mets being out of it. I mean, listen, 1612, that was a wild. When you take your heart out of it, it's actually fun.
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You had fun. It really played into the whole. The theme song. Wait, that. That game could have been played to the Benny Hill theme. That game.
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By the way, I know the Benny Hill theme works.
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Cuz you had the, the. The little league home run and you had all.
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Wait, you guys. You guys didn't start talking Mets baseball? No, we were talking.
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Not officially.
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Oh no.
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So now here we go. I heard 1612.
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It started out on the side of the Mets with an inside the park home run off a bunch of errors.
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But it kept going from there though.
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The game didn't end there. More baseball to be played.
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What did the Mets get up? Five runs at one point.
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And the Mets, they were up 9 4, 9 4, decided that having that early lead, who needs it? Was not something they wanted.
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It was not what they Needed. They didn't care. Didn't care for it.
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They thought, let's make this more interesting. Let's take it up higher and higher.
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Oh, boy.
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By the way, Soto, who's better at just playing a ball off the wall than one? Soto, let me tell you, no one can chase after it better.
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You know, we did see major league history, though, within this debacle.
C
What's that?
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The kid hit for like nine. He had what, nine straight plate appearances, right?
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Yes.
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No, he did see history.
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That happened. People actually left in the. Anybody left in the building acknowledged it and gave him an applause.
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That's exactly right.
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This is so painful.
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But you know what? But we'll get to the Mets.
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No, the Yankee thing, though. We need to.
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But I need to talk to everybody.
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Oh.
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There is a complete and utter disconnect. I don't think there is a more disconnected sport to their fan base and to a lot of people that actually cover it as well than Major League Baseball. Now, when you look at football, there's a bit of a disconnect because we don't know all the inner workings of what goes on. Play calling, we think we know, but we really don't know. But that's understandable because football is very complicated. There's a phone book of plays. All right? We can't pretend to know everything that goes in, but we've watched football enough to know the basic premise is to get a first down, get in the red zone, score points. That, that's. We know the fundamentals of that. Basketball, the same thing. Outscore the opponent. Yeah, sure, Throw the ball to the open man, take the three, whatever, drive the lane, get points. Hockey, the same thing. Put yourself in a position to score goals. But baseball, when I hear fans complain about it, it's as if they don't know what they're watching. And I'm guilty of this too, because we take the phone calls and I think we'd all agree that baseball fan bases skews a little older than the other sports.
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Okay.
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Mm.
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So we still hear the complaints. Why are they batting? Judge? Second, he should be batting cleanup. Why don't they bunt anymore? Does anybody know how to steal a base anymore? But it's beyond that. Aaron Boone said this last night and everybody's killing him. About 17 strikeouts and 34 strikeouts in the last two games. You know how many times the Yankees have done that in their hundred plus year history?
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Zero.
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Never. From what I understand, it's never been done by American League team. But Aaron Boone Talked about the 17 strikeouts last night?
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Yeah, I mean, that's obviously, you know, you're gonna. You're gonna have nights where you're up against a dominant pitcher, especially in today's game, where you're going to have those. A double digit here and there. But, you know, we got to do a better job of getting the ball in play, you know, in a lot of ways. Good to see that. Creating a little more opportunities for ourselves, getting a lot of hits in a lot of ways. I thought offensively we were a little better than last night, but we got to do a better job in some situations of getting the ball in play.
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But this is the one that I think people went crazy over. Is the approach of your hitters off.
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I don't know if it's an approach. I think we got some guys clearly going through it right now and in a little bit of a funk and a little bit in between and coupled with, you know, we're facing good pitching, but the end of the day, we gotta. We gotta find a way offensively, you know, especially the times when it's challenging.
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Now, what people took from that was, well, it's not the approach. You guys are just going through it right now.
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Mm.
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The reason why there's nothing wrong with the approaches, they don't care. They got 11 hits last night. They scored four runs in most situations. That's enough to win a baseball game. Wasn't last night because the Yankees have a pitching problem, because Warren only went four innings allowed, you know, six runs on seven hits in four innings and really didn't give you a chance to win, which is four runs. Bullpen did fine, didn't allow anything after that. But guys, they don't care about the strikeouts. They don't care that all of their offense is produced by home runs. That's by design. So get over it. Whatever you were taught as a kid, whatever you were taught in little league, in high school, in college, whatever you grew up with baseball, that strikeouts were bad. Put the it doesn't matter launch angle if you want more home runs. The byproduct of more home runs is striking out more. Caballero is a great example. Two bombs on Monday struck out four times yesterday. They don't care about the approach. Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, they. They don't fit. In baseball today, it's all about just hit bombs. Don't move runners over, bother putting the ball in play. Although you like to put the ball in play. But Boone will tell you they had 11 hits. So, guys, the complaints about the Yankees. The Yankees aren't paying attention to them. This is by design. Now, 17 is excessive. I think everybody will agree, Boone will agree. But the fact that they strike out too much is not a problem to the Yankees. The fact that they hit too many home runs is not a problem to the Yankees. This is by design. When are we finally going to sink it into our thick skulls that this is the way they want to play baseball?
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We've been saying that for years. That we've been saying it. This is how they play. They're never going to change it. Whether you like it or not, they believe this is going to work. They believe it does work.
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Well, this does feel like it.
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Like. No, but Don, what you're saying is all the stuff that we have, we have gone over that for years. But here's the issue, and I think this is what you're saying is that nobody wants to accept it. Nobody wants to accept it. That this is. And so as a result of how they want to play, you're going to get nights like this. Yeah, you're just going to, you're not going to get this conversation in the, in the dugout of, hey, all right, let's just start putting the ball in play. Let's just slap a few, let's get on base. Let's try to make some things happen. Some other teams are playing that way, some other teams are trying to get on base and be versatile and be. Be athletic, but the Yankees don't believe in that. They don't build a team that way. And so you're going to get nights like these because of this. You're going to have moments in the season where it just all falls to crap because the timing, the injuries, all the reasons this is not a sport anymore where you're going to grind out at bats, where you're going to grind out like that, that team. And this isn't going back to the 70s and 60s and 50s, just go back to the late 90s teams, those were grinders. Those were guys that would work through the, work the count, that would make you work as a pitcher, wear you out, get to the bullpen. They don't play that way anymore. So our generation doesn't know that and maybe doesn't want to accept it, but the response, of course, I always have, is, is this healthy for the sport? Is this healthy for you as a franchise?
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This is.
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This is my work, numbers wise. But this is an entertainment business and visually, this is not pretty to watch.
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It stinks.
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The other night was fun. To watch because Caballero hit a couple home runs.
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But you know what? Yesterday would have been fun too if Warren pitched better.
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Well, you're. You're absolutely right.
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Let's say they won the game.
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4 1. Are we laughing about right? If. Are we laughing about 17 strikeouts and they still won't.
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We're talking about that scored 11 runs in two games and they beat the first place team twice. Instead they. They split the two. So the problem to me just seems like I don't like the strikeouts. Boone doesn't like the strikeouts. But if it produces runs. Last night's loss came because they didn't get pitching. They won the game before because they got pitching.
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And then they.
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That's the difference.
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And then they finally hit. Got to a hit eventually. It took them five and it took them five innings to get there. It did. But they finally got into the three run home run.
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You don't care. It's like Moneyball. I don't care how he gets on base as long as he gets on base. Don't. Two walks, a three run home run. They had one hit and they had three runs.
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But I think the biggest question that we keep. I think we, we all understand that as a fan base, as just people who love baseball, that you have to accept this even though you can't. This is who they are. It's never going to change. The more you complain, the more you're wasting your breath. But in the end it becomes.
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It does what?
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Right? At what point though do you just kind of go, but I don't enjoy this anymore?
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Well, that, that's the thing.
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So like I don't like watching that.
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We can say it's on the fans. We can say it's on baseball. Baseball is to me where I'm who I'm more annoyed with.
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I don't think because all of baseball does this though. I think this is the Yankees approach and there are other teams that do it, but this has been the Yankee approach for the better part of the last 10 years.
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So I think that's a fair point. I think you're right.
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There are other teams play a different way.
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There are teams that are winning championships and using gun.
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But think about this. The Blue Jays last year played a different way and they got all the way to the World Series. Got within a heel of winning a championship.
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The Rays are in first place. Not striking a lot.
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But now what are the Rays. What are they now? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The Blue Jays. What are the Blue Jays now?
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But yeah, because that, see that's the instinct.
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You take a risk, you take a risk you might win. But the Yankees are the definition of nothing venture, nothing gain. They just, we're going to do this and we'll always win around 90 games and we'll always come up short.
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This is your Boston Celtics living and dying by the three. And while it helped them win a championship, it also cost them an embarrassing first round loss to a team that should never lost to. And it cost them the year before losing two home games to a Knicks team that had no, that had no business winning those two games.
C
It actually is a very interesting comp.
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It's the same idea because the shooters tell us.
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Well, not just that, the watch from a watching standpoint.
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Oh, it's brutal.
C
It's not fun to watch unless they're making them. I mean when they make them, it's somewhat fun, but. But it's still not as fun.
A
It's like when the Yankees at home when they wear bottles bombing like they are fun to watch when they're just mashing home runs. But, but you know, it's not sustainable.
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But, but at least a missed three is an opportunity to get a rebound. Like things are happening. All right, there's action. But with the. But Allen hit the nail on the head. What the Yankees are going to tell you is oh yeah, we could do it the Blue Jays way. What's the Blue Jays record this year? 43 and 49. When was the last time we were seven games under 500, six games under 500. What was the last time we had an irrelevant season when we've been healthy? We've been over.500 every single year since 1990. All right. Haven't won a championship since 2009. But we could be the Red Sox. Win a championship, lose 100 games, win a championship, lose 100 games. We don't do that. We're always consistently good. But what I want to ask, what I really want to ask, and I want you guys to be honest, okay? Because I think baseball is different than the other sports in this way. All right? 1-800-919-3776 Answer honestly and I'm going to ask. I'll ask Jacob. I'll ask Anthony. Anthony's a die hard Yankee. Do you really enjoy what you're watching when you sit down? Are you enjoying the game? Are you having fun or is it. I've been a Yankee fan for 50 years. This is what I do in the summer. This is part of how I grew up. It's how my dad was, how my grandfather was. It's a part of my DNA. I feel a moral obligation. I'll give you an example. I'm winning accurate France in 1938. I watched from the first episode to the last, the entire seven season run of how I met your mother. The final five seasons. I hate, watched, I despise. I waited for the fire where every character burned to death. That's how much I despised and hated the show. But I wanted to friggin find out who was his mother. So I watched the whole damn show. Hated every second of it from season three right to season seven. But it was some. It was every Monday. It was a part of my life. I sat there, my wife and I, before the kids, watched every single episode because it was in my DNA. I wanted to find out who the damn mother was. And you know what? Brutally disappointed. Wish I never did it. But I did it because it was just a part of my life.
C
Wait till the episode of what happened with the fire with the whole cast burning.
B
No, I never did. That would have been something. All right, I never heard about that.
A
You know what?
B
There's always a rewatching, just so I make it clear, because people have listened to. I did not want the actors to die, I wanted the characters to die.
A
We can make a cartoon about that.
C
Sure.
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Same thing with Parenthood. I watched Parenthood. I hate watch that TV show for years. They were pretentious, they were conceited, they all. Everything's about me. It was just such a terrible. But I watched it because I was already engulfed in it. It just became a tradition. Whatever night it was on Thursday, I'd sit there with the wife. When I had a life before kids and watched it. Are you watching that way? Hey, the Yankees. I'm a fan, I gotta watch. But are you really sitting there and enjoying the two and a half hours in which you're consumed by.
A
We all love music, so this is perfect to me, at least tell me if this is.
B
I think, I think I know what you're gonna say.
A
There's a band, a group, whatever it is that from like day one, loved them. Every album came out. You're like bangers, right? Part of your. Part of your life, growing up. All nostalgia, all of it. And then somewhere in the middle of their heyday, they decided we're gonna change how we. We're gonna change the type of music we play. And you, you start listening because it's your band, you love them. And the next album comes out and you're like, Love this.
B
This you send them because you love
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them because they're so popular. Everything sells. So it sells. So everybody's going, well, they're still really popular, but I don't like what they've become. And then they. More albums come out and now you're just like, I can't even listen to this. Why can't they play the music they played back in the day? Why don't they play that anymore? But they don't want to. This is their new sound, and you now are stuck with it because you love them so much. And it's still very popular, but it's not what you like. That's what the Yankees have become. Keep waiting for that. Play music you don't like anymore.
B
And also.
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And you wish they played the music they used to play because you love that music.
B
And let me. And let me tell you something. I thought about this, too, because you're so right. That's a great analogy. I was going to go with the Springsteen, where you go to the show and you sit there for three hours, knowing an hour of the three hours is going to be what Michael K. Used to call the castor oil songs. I know you don't like them. I'm playing them anyway. You sit there and you nod your head because you're a Springsteen fan. But you're like, please end this song right. But you're. But you're a fan and you defend it because you love Bruce Springsteen. So you defend everything.
A
The Yankees changed the way they played.
B
Now I'm going to. I've never said this before, but this dawned on me. We talk about regional sports and national sports. Are we really saying. When we say regional sports, what we're saying is you love your team. Sure you do. But you don't necessarily love the sport because you're not watching it if it's not your team involved. But football and basketball, hey, the Knicks aren't playing, but I'll watch. Lakers and Warriors, I get into that. I'll watch on Saturday Night Football's the number one example. I'm a Giant fan, but, you know, I'm a Jet fan.
C
I mean, Dave Rothenberg, Wilton and John Winthrop will leave the house.
A
I'm all diapers.
B
That's a sickness. And it's called, you know, go to a doctor. But Eagles, Cowboys, you got me. You know, I'm not. I'm not a fan of either team. I wish there was a way for both of them to lose. But you'll watch because you enjoy the sport. You find fun in watching that sport. But when we say regional sport, all we're really saying is I love my team and I feel obligated to watch my team, but I'm not really enjoying watching.
A
That's what makes it regional.
B
That's what makes it regional. If I give you that sport that doesn't involve the Yankees or the Mets or does it involve the Rangers or
A
whatever you're like if, but Donnie, if you're. If your team's off, but they're good and so let's say the Mets are off, they're good though. And the Phillies and Braves are playing a game and you know, there's all you're fighting, you know, you're three good teams, you know, you're interested in watching Phillies, Braves just because you just want to see it. But that's what makes it regional. So yes, it's about my team to my region, but even the teams that affect my team, that's really all I'm doing. Right. Because do I care about Astros, Mariners? No. So I'm not really watching it like that. But the NFL, you do.
E
So.
A
Yeah, but I just think it boils down to the fact that the Yankees are the Yankees by name and by brand, but they really aren't the Yankees that you remembered. That's what I think this is. They're not that team that they used to be because of the style of play.
B
Right. That is different than what you're using DNA that on. In July, on a Tuesday, you watch the Yankees.
A
So you have to make a gun your whole life. So you have to make a choice because we've learned this already. Cashman is going to be here long. We're all going to be gone and Cashman and all the roaches are still going to be here after the bomb when the. Yeah, when the bomb goes off. Those are the only two. You know, he's not going anywhere, so he's not changing the way he's playing no matter how much we demand it. They even did remember that faculty study they did internal, you know, we're going to look into what we're doing and how we're doing it came out. Oh, we're doing it right.
B
So.
A
So they're not changing that. So are you willing to change with them?
B
So when you're saying is. Is that when the last day on the planet. Yes, we're all going. CNN is running the last video that they supposedly have.
A
They have a lesson.
B
They have a doomsday video apparently that when we're seconds away from explode, they're Gonna run it. They're gonna run it.
A
What is it? Highlights.
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It's the highlights of the world.
A
What do you play like sticks the best of times.
B
I don't know what song they have, but you'll be. You're flipping around like, maybe that.
A
You could play that now, you know, that would be fitting.
B
But this is the way it is. You be, you're, you're flipping around like, like again, just like, why am I
A
watching TV if I know the world's click?
B
The bomb is three minutes from hitting the earth. Say you're click. Yeah. Iran has sent the bomb. We're waiting. But then you go on.
A
Yes.
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Yeah, we want Volpe to play shortstop. Just don't think he can be a second baseman. And Caballero is going to be. The bomb is now two minutes away from exploit. All right. You will burn to death. Be near the bomb so you don't suffer. Yeah, we hope to get judge back, you know, probably sometime in the like.
C
And then the last time you turn back is all of a sudden 1986 and Rigetti will enter the game right there.
A
Would you really do that? They said to you the epicenter of where this thing's gonna hit is in this location, remote location, upstate New York. What you say, and the closer you are, the quicker it's gonna be further away the fallout. It's gonna be very painful. Do you think people will drive to that location?
B
I think people's like instead of instinct would be to try to get as
A
far, far away as possible. You don't think some people are just like, look, I'm never getting far away. I might as well get really close.
B
That's the way that logic tells you that you should try to get close. Because I saw this thing that with the dinosaurs, like they. Because there was a meteor that hit.
A
They didn't know anything.
B
The ones that were the closest, but the ones that really suffered were the ones on the other side of the planet that went through. It was 150 degrees and then it was like minus 150 degrees and tsunamis and you know, the sky on fire and all that. I don't want to go that way. Don't you want it to just be like a blink and it's done.
A
Vaporized, man.
B
But I think human instinct will. People will try to go as far away as possible.
A
I hear you.
B
They'll be selling things on TV like the super blanket. The blanket that will protect you from nuclear war for 9.99, this blanket. And people will have super blanket. And then there'll be somebody that'll have a hundred super blankets and they'll be selling them for a billion dollars.
A
Or the fallout shelters or tornado shelters that they have. Right. You go into that thing, do you really want to come back out after that?
C
That's a good point.
A
Who knows that you open the door and you're like, uh, okay, close the door. I did.
C
Homer slowly back in the bushes. If you turn on yes. If you turn on yes. In the final seconds. Now you know. It'll be an ad for Trumpy Bear. I forgot about that era.
B
Remember that?
C
Oh, I forgot. I didn't forget about that.
B
There was the Chia.
A
Untuck it.
C
Untuck it. Will still have their apocalyptic sale.
A
He's still walking across the screen telling you about his shirt as it's burning off.
C
Don and I, by the way, still
B
won't get one a decade on. Yes. Not one Untucked.
A
What?
C
And you know how annoying it was that I don't listen?
A
You didn't get a shirt.
C
I didn't need an untucked shirt. But what was annoying was people asking me, how are the untucked shirts? No idea.
A
No idea.
C
But its logo is across your face.
B
But the Trumpy Bear.
C
Every single day.
A
But the Trumpy Bear.
B
Forget it. Fantastic.
A
Did you get a bear?
C
Oh, yeah. Maya.
B
Sleeping with one every night.
C
I got it early. I held on to it.
B
Oh, I were having fun. As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by.
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C
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
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Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
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All right, get to Your calls at 1-800-919-3776. Got a list at 4:30 enn at 6 and then Mets and Royals. So we'll get to the Mets of it all. Some NBA stuff to do. The list I think is going to get a tremendous reaction.
C
By the way, it's going to take on a whole new joke. You realize that now too. Because now as time goes on and things are really bad, all you'll need to or to for someone to understand what bad is, it'll just be that's it.
A
That's all it takes when things go bad for a New York franchise.
C
That's all it is.
A
Gonna start playing.
C
Although I really wish the button. This is an inside baseball thing. I really wish this screen had a hard stop button. It's so annoying.
A
Why can't you pause and then continue?
C
Not only can it but no, it has to fade out like from a radio. From an audio guy standpoint, you know how frustrating is for me. We have to play something.
B
I can't stop the old way.
A
It used to be stopped.
E
Yeah.
C
Now I can't.
B
The system doesn't allow you to do.
C
There's no like inside way to change settings.
A
They've stopped it from being a thing. This is the way they programmed it.
C
They programmed it.
A
Who's this they?
C
Who is that?
A
The company that. Who's Wide Orbit.
E
We don't.
A
We don't have the option to. Well, we need to. I didn't think anybody.
E
I think anybody.
B
I doubt our chats gonna go.
A
Yeah, Wide Orbit.
D
I know that.
A
Who's our. Who's our Wide Orbit rep? That we have a rep. I'll get Ray Dinahan. Let's bring the rep.
C
It's not Ray Dinahan.
A
No, you don't work for us.
C
We need a rep from White Orbit.
A
We need the Wide Orbit people. We've talked to them about this. Yeah, let's talk to them.
C
We did.
E
They.
A
It doesn't. They don't do it anymore. Well, I think we. I want.
B
I want to be able to edit my dvr.
A
You know, that's a different thing completely.
D
Nothing to do.
B
Let's say.
C
Can we ask the white Orvis?
B
Let's say. Let's say something wacky happened, right?
C
All right.
B
And everybody got sick with dysentery and they needed somebody on. On first take, so they invited me. And I go on first take and do a bit.
A
Right?
C
Well, hold on. Is Bear unavailable?
B
Right, Bear's unavailable. The ghost of Rocky's unavailable. It's all that, right?
C
So even Rocco can't come.
B
So they. They invite me. All right. And I do a five minute spot on five, right? Or get up or first take. But the show is how long? Like two hours.
C
That's two hours, you and me.
B
So I DVR the two hours. Well, I just want my spot. So why can't I go back and edit out all the other stuff and just keep my. My part? And then now I don't have to fill up all this memory on my DVR of a two hour program in which I'm only on for a couple of minutes, right? Yeah, we have the technology. I mean, it's a pay rate for it certainly do.
C
I love the idea that you just came up with. In fact, this would be a great list for another day because I heard your list today is supposed to be unbelievable, but one day I would love a list of top five technological advances Don legrecker needs. I would really enjoy that.
A
Tech we should have. No, no, no, no.
B
It's down in sarcastic.
C
Oh, if I said. Because I added your name. Yeah, well, let me take out your name.
B
All right, five.
C
But it has to be coming from you because we're all gonna have different.
A
It should be top.
C
What are the top five things tech
A
we should have but don't like?
C
We could hoverboard, maybe the hoverboard should be.
B
Well, my tech should be. There should be like a reverse microwave. Like if I've got a warm soda, I should be able to go in there, put 30 seconds, come out, ice freeze it.
C
Why?
B
Why not? I think I like things cold just as much as I like things hot. You know, we have a machine to make things hot. We don't have a machine to make. I can put in the freezer, but I gotta wait a half hour.
C
See, this is why I said I want down the grec list. I wouldn't have had that.
A
That's when I never.
B
You'd buy it.
C
I'd. So a reverse microwave.
B
I guess there's some word better than reverse blast freeze.
A
It's called. Yeah, yeah. Blast freeze.
C
Are you sure?
A
I'm absolutely sure. You're positive? I am. How many internally positive that it.
C
But wouldn't that mean it freezes it?
A
That's what I would call it.
C
But you don't want to. Oh, that's what you call it because blasto freeze.
A
Come on. A blast freeze. If you said, hey, G, you know, I got this blast freeze. Hey, give me. It'll be nice and cold because my mom had.
B
I used to do this and they. That we had. Mom got a blast, showed us how to do it on the cartoons. And my mom would do it for. For me and David. Is that you get like high C fruit punch or something. You'd put it in the ice cube.
A
What?
B
That thing we make, the ice cubes, Right. You pour it in there. Then you put the tray.
A
The ice cube tray.
B
Then you put like, cellophane over the tray, and you put little toothpicks and then you put in the freezer. And then, you know, however, five hours later, when it's frozen now you got like a little ice pop.
A
Sure.
B
I don't want to wait five hours. I want 30. I want 30 seconds. You'd slide it in there, bing, bing, bing. 30 seconds, bang. Out comes ice pop.
A
Daddy, I want it and I want it now.
B
Let's do it. I don't know why everybody loves things, you know, Hot, Why not cold?
C
That would be so. And as the show goes on, feel free in the chat on YouTube or to call us. I want to hear other people's three more ideas.
A
Don has the first two. Wouldn't that be a blast chiller? I just said a thing. Yeah, I wasn't in the room.
B
I was talking to our white Orbit.
A
Blast free.
B
Listen, he couldn't make that call in studio. No, I was only one phone. Did he call Wide Orbit could do that, actually, is what they said.
C
What do I do?
B
Orbit say, no, we can't do that now. And also, who are you at coffee right now. If I had a hot coffee, I'm gonna have a nice hot coffee later. And then it's gonna get cold, right? Go to the microwave. Bing, bing, bing.
C
Come out.
B
My coffee's hot again. Peter's a big fan of the iced coffee, right? If he. If his iced coffee gets warm, all
A
right, I can get you a blast freezer at Home Depot for the low price, three grand.
B
See, this is what I'm talking.
C
A real thing.
B
And yet you probably could walk into a dollar store and get a microwave.
A
They even have reaching units.
B
It's really for restaurants.
A
You can get one. It's a three pan commercial countertop blast freezer by Coolmore25.
B
I don't want that. I want a microwave that freezes. I could probably walk into a she lost. But it's $3,000.
A
I walk into a microwave.
B
I could walk into a five below and get a microwave.
A
I think I'm gonna buy one. I want to get. I can't imagine it's a good microwave. All due respect.
B
You know what? My coffee and I just want to freeze my ice cubes. That's all I want to do. And I can walk into a. I can walk into a dollar store and get a microwave. Meanwhile, I got to take out a load to get that.
A
It looks like alone it's three.
B
I don't care. You could tell me that it could fit in the palm of my hand. It's $3,000.
A
It looks like I can get a
B
microwave the same price as for an Atari. For God's sake.
D
Because it's for rest.
A
Like blast chillers are for restaurants. Look at, look at this.
B
This is brilliant.
A
It's not for us commoners. Look at this.
B
Not brilliant if it's cost. Peter, I'm going to talk to you
C
because he's not being reasonable.
A
Thousand dollars.
C
Come on.
B
I don't want to have to pay $2,000.
A
You want to have a blast freezer, that's what you got to pay.
C
And by the way, do we know that the blast freezer, you can literally just drop it in in 30 seconds.
A
It gets cold by circulating sub zero air at high velocities. It quickly passes food through critical temperature danger zone.
D
It's not 30 seconds.
B
What's going to happen is I'm going to want my Pepsi to get cold and it's going to be an ice cube when it comes out. Not what I'm looking for.
C
That's not what he wants.
B
I don't, I don't.
C
I don't put.
B
I don't put 90 minutes chili into a microwave and it comes back on fire. 90 minutes or less is not what he's looking for.
A
90 minutes or less.
B
90. What are we doing? I could put in the freezer for 90 minutes and get cold soda. We've lost out. No, he likes my head in the microwave.
C
He doesn't get what we need.
A
I really want to get one.
C
Yeah, but this isn't going to do anything for you.
A
Think about it. You bring home. You bring home like you Know it's not cold or it's not gonna stay cold.
C
Yeah.
B
How often does this happen?
A
I mean, just throw it in the blast freezer.
C
When was the last. When was the last time you brought home a case of beer and said, I immediately need this to be cold. I need this to be right now. Like, I need a crisp freshie right now.
A
Cold from the.
B
My idea would be good if you wanted your six pack to be in an ice cube, then you buy his thing for three grand. Yeah, I want to buy something for, like, 35 bucks that I could put next to my microwave to just make my soda a little colder.
A
I like this.
C
We're getting. So we're making progress.
B
But I remember when the microwave came out, because I'm old enough, they were very expensive, the dial on it and actually showed you, like, if you wanted to make a turkey dinner, like, who would put a turkey in a microwave?
A
The first time you had something that you had to microwave for, like, more than three minutes.
C
Can you imagine the cancer that those early microwaves are pumping out?
B
People were, like, dying of heart attacks. Like, you had a pacemaker. They didn't tell you, by the way, the pacemaker. Pacemaker might stop. Yeah, but I really need this meatloaf. I'm gonna run the risk.
C
Yeah, I need the meatloaf. And I saw a thing.
A
And then in Gremlins, you realize you shouldn't put any pets in it. Bad idea.
B
Well, yeah.
C
Well, it was effective in that moment, though.
A
It was very effective.
C
Did you guys see. Do you guys remember the.
B
The.
C
The plastic? The little thing they sold in a tube, and you'd squeeze out a tiny bit of the plastic, and then you connect the straw to it and you blow into it. It makes a big.
B
Oh, yeah, Yeah.
C
I saw a video feature about that. Natalie sent it to me on Instagram the other day. Do you know the level of toxic that they were selling to children?
B
I can imagine.
C
It was. It was meant for children that you were blow. You were making plastic with your mouth through a straw.
B
Yeah.
C
You were just inhaling, and it was like death.
B
It would be like selling paint chip gum. Yeah, that's exactly what the fumes of the plastic.
C
And other countries were just banning it. They're like, no, absolutely not, America. They're like, no, advertise it Saturday morning. Right. Right after cartoons. That's what we need.
B
The only thing they had to worry about is crowd control for the people that were online to buy it.
C
That's it. That was the only danger.
B
1,8009193776. A lot's been said in the last few minutes. Let's go and start it all off with Jack and Yonkers. You're on. Don Hanna, Rosenberg. What's up, man?
E
Talking about the Keys only hitting home runs out of their way. I think it is a good way to be good win games, but that's not helping in the postseason when you start playing against great teams and great pitchers. We're not giving up those home runs. That's why they're losing. And you can't even compare it to basketball, because basketball, it's not the same. Playing defense between, between the regular season and the postseason is very similar. It's not like you're getting a whole new pitcher like defending the three.
B
No, you're right. And even though we kind of do think it's boring, everybody just launching threes still when, when, when they're happening, it's exciting, like the home run. But the, the negative byproduct of 3 is it's a miss. But you could still get the rebound. Maybe there's a put back. I mean, look at the Brunson play. Right? You still have moments like that where a miss could be exciting. The miss of a home run is a strikeout. Is there anything more boring than just seeing a guy strike out? Did you see Caballero?
C
Yes.
B
He put his bat down before the ball hit the club. Like, what was going on there?
A
I didn't understand that.
B
The only thing I could think of because. Did you hear Girardi's like, I got nothing. Like, he had no idea. Again, another guy is the only thing I was thinking. He just literally guessed the pitch was wrong and figured, all right, I can't.
A
Thought it was going to be a ball and was just.
B
Or just. I was waiting for a curveball. I got a fastball. I'm not hitting this thing anyway. Just put the bat down. Yeah, but it's just embarrassing.
A
Yeah.
B
There's nothing more crippling emotionally for a kid to strike out. The humiliation of walking back to the dugout after not making contact.
A
And they see these guys don't care because they're fine. It's good swings.
B
Better than a double play.
A
It's a good swings. And it's also, you could argue that in a, in an offense that has been stagnant. If I'm trying to find like some type of like spin it positive. It's. I want to be aggressive at the plate. I'm swinging at everything. They were throwing four seam fastballs, man. They Just couldn't catch up to some of them. So is that just. Basically I'm going to stay aggressive and just try to like, you know, just get after it because I'm in a slump or the team's in a slump rather than if I'm taking too many pitches. Now I can't see anything. Now I'm being hesitant, right? This was just, hey, just get up there and start hacking and get aggressive and it just looks awful.
B
All I know is, is that, you know, Boone could have said that I didn't pitch on a major league level. But you know, still the fundamentals of pitching are the same. Is that when I pitched in high school, if I had a guy that was just swinging for the fences, that it was really easy to pitch to guys like that because I could see, I could see the weakness right there. I'll throw something off speed, I'll try to jam them. It's the guy that's selective, the guy that chokes up, the guy that's got a two strike approach. Those are the guys that are difficult to get out. But if you just swinging for the fences, man, I. There's multiple areas where I can see holes in that swing.
A
That's where the Bellinger's getting through it. Bellinger's too good to be going through what he's going through. Goldschmidt's probably hitting a wall.
B
Yeah, I think he's hitting physically, but
A
like Bellinger, I can't. You can't explain.
B
And the splits of why he's so bad down the road and good at home, even though he's been bad both for the like the last month. But it is maddening for sure. Are all batteries the same? That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracell. Is there any other battery with power boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Remember, goats only trust goats because they're built different and Messi only trusts Duracell.
A
MLB TV on ESPN is your home for every out of market game, live or on demand.
D
Catch your favorite teams and players. Plus MLB Network and ESPN app features
A
like multi view, syncing your stats, key plays, bets and fantasy all in one place. Sign up now for MLB TV in the ESPN app. Separate subscriptions required. Blackouts and other terms apply. Visit stream.espn.commlbtv for more information. Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.
C
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
A
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
B
Now Josh is going to tell us why what I want is physically not possible. Josh Trenton, you're on ESPN New York. What's up, man?
E
I hope he got checked out with the double vision.
A
That sounds like it could be.
E
Could be an issue. You guys know in my cousin Vinnie, when he's got the guy in the stand and he's telling him the story about making the grits, and then Vinnie busts him by proving that you can't make grits in a certain amount of time unless the laws of physics cease to exist in this guy's kitchen. That's what you're asking for. You want to suspend the second law of thermodynamics. It costs a lot more energy and money to make something cold than to make something hot. That's why your air conditioning bill costs so much more than your heating bill in the summer. That's why the blast chiller takes up half the counter and cost $2,500.
C
Wow, he's making sense.
E
Which takes up one cubic foot and costs. Like you said in the dollar store, this is not possible. We don't live on that planet.
B
Well, obviously.
A
Still buying one.
B
Well, obviously. And, Josh, thank you so much, because you're.
A
You're way smarter than I. Yeah, Josh is very smart.
B
It's just. It's still something I want. And. And maybe one day we can achieve that. Because I got to be honest with
C
you, it doesn't sound likely.
B
You know what? I know everybody's really trying to go live on Mars and do stuff. I'd rather have this. So can we just shift our attention to this? And away from trying to land on Mars, which I'm not gonna be able to do anymore.
A
You think space travel's overrated? You know, it's really cold up there too. You wanna blast freeze anything, you stick your hand out the window. In a spaceship.
C
It is.
B
But the money that we. I don't wanna get overly political, but I'm sure we probably waste a lot of money on things that aren't gonna benefit anybody. This feels like it's gonna benefit a lot of people.
A
You know, he's a good point.
C
I like where you're.
D
Where you're.
C
Don. Don wants to, you know, stop spending money. I see we're saying on wars to
B
spend the money thing, but I was just saying that I'm sure we need.
C
This is where we need to need this. Because some people would say, hey, if we. If we lower our are spending money on wars. Let's put a little towards education, maybe taking care of the poor. You're saying hold down them for a second. We got to make this freezer.
B
Did you ever see the movie Dane to freeze something? You ever see the movie Dave?
C
Sorry?
A
Dave.
B
The movie Dave.
C
Yes, of course I did.
E
Right.
B
Well, so you remember when he's like, if you can find, you know, $10 million in the budget, you can have your children's program. And then he brought his accountant in and they went over all the spending, right. And they got rid of things like the $1 million they were spending on consumer confidence in automobiles. Like stuff. Like stuff that, you know, it's important adjacent. But this.
C
It's really money that's getting lost in there and you find it, that money, and now you get the blast freeze.
B
Yeah.
C
I love what you do. That's all we want.
B
It's something to run on. You know what?
A
Why can't we just get one here in the, you know, expense it.
B
Well, this all started because we wanted to fix wide orbit, which actually makes sense from. And now we're gonna be like the government now. Spend money on things that don't make any sense for the air. But we'll make my. My soda cold.
A
Exactly.
B
Steve is in Middle Village. You're on ESPN New York.
C
What's up, Steve?
E
I am at fault for the Yankees having a problem. I decided about a month ago after not watching Yankee games since really being a real fan. Since 2020, my wife's been a little ill. She watches all the games. She watched the Mets, the Yankees. I said, let's get. You know what? Let's get. Yes. We're both in our seventies. Bygones be bygones. I'm going to watch the Yankees. Ever since then, nothing. And it's kind of like deja vu all over again. It's kind of like Groundhog Day because the home runs and strikeout strategy really doesn't work. And you can argue, yeah. That that's modern baseball and all that stuff, but it's boring. It's the same strategy all. All the time. I think you, you know, you guys have said that what is embarrassing is at least the Yankees and the Mets too. I've been watching a few Met games. There's no fundamentals. I'm not sure, you know, I really don't. There's no defense the year. You know, the base stealing. They try to be small ball, and it really doesn't work. My feeling is it's not about winning. Anymore. It's, it's about.
A
Well, it is, Steve, but Steve, you're making a great point. And it's, it's what we're losing and I think what the teams are losing, which is the entertainment value of sports. And what do we love? We love strategy and action and activity and all the things that you can watch and say, did you see that play? Did you see that moment? And it's kind of being taken away and they're just telling you, well, the numbers say this can work out and this is the better way to play, but the eyes tell you, but it's not as entertaining for us anymore.
B
Well, but what a general manager, what Brian Cashman says, my job is not to entertain you. My job is to win. And as far as the winning is not working, they're going to turn around and say, what do you mean it's not working? When was the last time we had a losing season? Our worst year in the last 30 was back in 2023 when we finished 82 and 80 because we were decimated by injuries. We just lost three of our best offensive players and we're still a playoff team. Like, so to them, it's working.
A
No, no.
B
To the average fan, it's like, I haven't won a championship since 2009. Tell me it's working. They're getting.
A
But working and enjoyable to watch are two different things. And they're saying, but winning is enjoyable. In the end, you're happy because the team wins more than they lose. So more times than not this season, you're going to leave the stadium happy.
B
Right?
A
Right. And that's all they care about. But there is some sort of visual impact that the sport has, or at least from the Yankee perspective, it just doesn't feel the same. It's as simple as that. But it's easier to build teams like this and harder to build teams like a lot of Yankee fans were used to growing up on, which are teams that have stars at every position. They don't do that anymore.
C
I just still don't understand, though, why it has to not only be the way you build the team, but the way you choose to play with that system. It's. The system's boring, too. It's the. There are times when it seems like they get to the playoffs, start to struggle, and you go, well, now they'll play some small ball because they're not everyone's struggling to hit the long ball
A
inning and you're hoping for. All right, Drew, a lead off walk. I pumped him over no.
C
And they still won't do it. And instead they're waiting for the home run that never comes that you could have, you could have manufactured. You're looking to get the three run homer, but you could have manufactured one run in three separate innings.
A
There you go.
C
And this has been a pattern, guys of October comes.
A
Yes.
C
And this team never hits the ball out the same way they do during the regular season.
B
But you know, they're in the playoffs and they'll say, oh, look at the Blue Jays, they won the division last year and now there's six games under.500. So it's all the eye of the beholder. That's why I opened the show with the disconnect that the fans seem to have with the sport that they're Don
A
saying it's your fault. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
C
I don't want to know how the
A
sausage is made, man. I just want to know it's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.
Main Theme:
This episode centers on an ever-growing gap between modern Major League Baseball—specifically the New York Yankees’ philosophy—and the interests, tastes, and expectations of their fan base. Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, and Peter Rosenberg dissect the Yankees' home run-or-nothing approach, exploring how it alienates fans, fails to entertain, and stands in contrast to older forms of baseball and other sports. They highlight the evolution of fandom: from passionate engagement to ritual “hate-watching.” The discussion evolves into broader sports culture topics, generational changes, and some inventive riffs on technology and nostalgia.
“There is a complete and utter disconnect. I don't think there is a more disconnected sport to their fan base and to a lot of people that actually cover it as well than Major League Baseball.”
“They don't care about the strikeouts. They don't care that all of their offense is produced by home runs. That's by design. So get over it… The byproduct of more home runs is striking out more.”
“There's a band, a group... that from like day one, loved them. Every album came out... And then somewhere in the middle of their heyday, they decided we're gonna change the type of music we play. And you... keep waiting for them to play music you don't like anymore.”
“Are we really saying—when we say regional sports, what we're saying is you love your team. Sure you do. But you don't necessarily love the sport because you're not watching it if it's not your team involved.”
“It's kind of like Groundhog Day because the home runs and strikeout strategy really doesn’t work... it’s boring. It’s the same strategy all the time... what’s embarrassing is... there's no fundamentals.”
Don (08:25):
“They don’t care about the strikeouts… This is by design. When are we finally going to sink it into our thick skulls that this is the way they want to play baseball?”
Hahn (10:16):
“This is an entertainment business and visually, this is not pretty to watch.”
Don (15:01):
“Are you watching [the Yankees] that way? ... Are you really sitting there and enjoying the two and a half hours in which you’re consumed by...”
“I hate-watched... How I Met Your Mother. The final five seasons. I waited for the fire where every character burned to death... But I did it because it was just part of my life.”
“There's a band... you love them. And then they change the type of music… you keep waiting for them to play music you don't like anymore. That's what the Yankees have become.”
“All we’re really saying is I love my team and I feel obligated to watch my team, but I'm not really enjoying watching.”
“There are times when it seems like they get to the playoffs, start to struggle... you go, well, now they'll play some small ball because not everyone's struggling to hit the long ball... And they still won’t do it.”
“That’s why I opened the show with the disconnect that the fans seem to have with the sport.”
The episode is brimming with the trio’s trademark sarcasm, humor, and cultural references. They lean into self-deprecation, riffs on their own fandom, and draw creative analogies to music and pop culture to articulate fan disillusionment. The tone is conversational, blending professional insight with genuine personal frustration and warmth.
Interwoven throughout are moments of levity and nostalgia:
For any baseball fan—especially Yankees followers—this episode is a clear-eyed reckoning with the sport’s present-day contradictions. It’s a compelling mix of laughter, exasperation, and insight about why watching baseball feels more like obligation than joy to so many. The hosts articulate, honestly and humorously, what it’s like to love a team (or a band, or a show) that no longer loves you back the way you want—while giving plenty of room for the complex realities of modern sports business, analytics, and the culture of fandom.