Hour 1: WBC Hype

Summary

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Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 1: WBC Hype (March 16, 2026)

Episode Theme / Purpose

This episode centers around the growing buzz and debate around the World Baseball Classic (WBC), particularly the excitement ignited by the recent USA vs. Dominican Republic game. The hosts discuss how the WBC compares to classic baseball events like the World Series and the Olympics, the authenticity of the passion from players and fans, and whether the tournament’s hype is deserved or “manufactured.” They also touch on Yankee Aaron Judge's controversial claim that the WBC crowd was bigger and better than the World Series, and the complexities of bringing elite-level event energy to what is essentially a pre-season tournament.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Opening Banter & Show Recap (00:32–04:50)

• Don, Hahn, and Rosenberg joke about their dynamic and recap the live event at Irish Exit, highlighting surprise guest Rochelle and the now-viral Walter Berry “haberdashery”/Dapper Dan story involving Mike Tyson and Mitch Blood Green.
• They praise how Berry’s recounting was humble and genuine, with Peter noting, “Walter’s got no ego” (06:30).

On Compelling Sports Stories (05:00–08:30)

• The group discusses legendary radio moments, like Andrew Gulley’s Jay Z tale, but focus on why Walter Berry’s Tyson story stands out—even above Tyson’s own retelling.
• Peter explains the cultural impact of Dapper Dan in 1980s/90s NYC hip hop and crime scene, underlining why Berry’s Dapper Dan story ("the story") is so resonant for a NY audience (07:45).

WBC Hype – Is It Real? (11:05–13:21)

• Don asks if the WBC's enthusiasm is actually catching on, and admits that while it provides “competitive baseball rather than spring training,” it still doesn’t have Olympic gravitas.

• However, the recent US vs. Dominican game provided compelling atmosphere, with Han noting:

  “The moments you could see the passion of the players. Didn’t we say this? When you look like you really care, it makes us care, right?” – Han (12:44)

• Judge’s game-turning defensive play is praised as a throwback performance, fueling Han’s Yankee fan excitement (13:23–14:24).

Atmosphere & Authenticity (14:24–16:35)

• The hosts agree the WBC brings more fan energy than past editions. Still, Don and Han urge caution against comparing it directly with the World Series, with Han warning:

  “…this is basically a spring training tournament that seems to just have a little more to it.” – Han (14:49)

• The panel discusses how MLB is pushing players to hype the event, with Don suspecting media coaching:

  “Clearly these players have been told, talk it up, gotta show meaning, gotta care…” – Don (15:11)

• They play and analyze Aaron Judge’s quote claiming the WBC crowd was “bigger and better than the World Series” (16:11), and question whether players truly believe this or are simply promoting the tournament.

Manufactured Hype vs. True Stakes (16:35–22:23)

• Han gives Judge credit for wanting to be in pressure situations, but questions why he’d say the WBC surpasses the World Series (“I don’t know why he would say that…unless wanting to hype up something that he’s proud of right now”) – Han (17:08).
• Don is skeptical about comparing a 2006-launched event to generational icons like the World Cup or Olympics, noting that players’ and fans’ true childhood dreams center on the World Series, not WBC (18:21).
• The hosts debate fan accessibility and atmosphere, with Don reluctantly acknowledging the WBC is “a contrived event that can be fun. What’s wrong with that? But now we’re starting to compare it to the damn World Series…” (21:08).

Memorable Quote

“Every time Aaron Judge was in his backyard playing wiffle ball, he was hitting the game winning home run in the World Series, not the WBC.” – Don (21:10)

Technology & the Integrity of the Game (25:54–32:41)

• The crew unpacks the lack of ABS (automated balls and strikes) tech in the WBC, finding it odd and outdated but understanding that not every international player has been measured for strike zone calibration (27:22–28:32). Han and Peter are incredulous that such things aren’t automated by now, with Han joking about square-foot-apps on his phone (28:07).

• Don delivers a mini-rant on tradition vs. tech:

  “Stop with the purist stuff. We have the technology... You’re Amish? …Why have a car, Peter? They didn’t have cars back in the day. It’s really an Amish sport opinion.” – Don (29:16–29:51)

• All agree modern sports must prioritize tech-enabled fairness over nostalgia for human error in officiating.

Authenticity, Stakes, and International Context (32:41–41:00)

• The show pivots to callers voicing frustration at the WBC being dismissed as “exhibition” or “manufactured.” One caller, Joshua, points to overwhelming passion from non-US players, but Han and Don counter that Americans see their claim to baseball supremacy as less threatened—they don’t need WBC validation the way other countries do (34:14–35:00).

• Han suggests the event’s timing (March, pre-season) also affects its perceived importance:

  “Doesn’t it feel like the fact that it’s in March and the season hasn’t even started yet, it just feels like it’s placed weird, right?” – Han (36:02)

• Another caller, Aaron, challenges the hosts on whether “manufactured” tournaments can become true legacy events over time (like the World Cup)—the hosts agree this is possible, but feel meaningful history takes time and commitment (39:01).

• Don points out the event’s constraints—pitch counts, players leaving for club duties—undermine the true “all-in” stakes of Olympic or World Cup tournaments (38:53).

Where Does the WBC Fit? (41:00–46:38)

• Don and Han clarify that their critique is not of the WBC as an event, but of calls to instantly elevate it above baseball’s traditional crown jewels. They note that logistical realities (timing, player injuries, and club loyalty) mean the WBC is unlikely to ever supplant the World Series for an American audience.
• Han notes the real value is as a “great way to start off the season” (46:38).

Did the Hype Work? (46:38–53:00)

• Peter points out that, regardless of skepticism, they’re all talking about it now—acknowledging that the WBC has in fact generated legitimate excitement, controversy, and call-in engagement this year (47:02–47:17).

• Don sums up their position:

  “All we’re saying is it being what it is is still really good. But just don’t make it a good—you nailed it…Please like my sport, please love my sport…” – Don (47:13–47:27)

• Caller John pushes back, arguing the enthusiasm from players (e.g. Julio Rodriguez wanting WBC more than a World Series) shouldn’t be dismissed and that perhaps, for some, the international flavor really is bigger than the MLB postseason (48:39–51:07).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “When you look like you really care, it makes us care, right?”
  — Han (12:44)

• “Every time Aaron Judge was in his backyard playing wiffle ball, he was hitting the game winning home run in the World Series, not the WBC.”
  — Don (21:10)

• “Stop with the purist stuff. We have the technology…You’re Amish?”
  — Don (29:16–29:51)

• “Please like my sport, please love my sport…You enjoy it, right? It’s fun. Who cares what other people think, right?”
  — Don (47:13–47:30)

• “As the tournament has gone on and on, there’s been more and more momentum…and that we had the great matchup yesterday. It’s [not fair] to just be like, hey, that was a great game, but relax everybody, nobody get too excited.”
  — Caller John (48:40–49:00)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:45–03:35: Show banter, Irish Exit event, Walter Berry’s Tyson/Dapper Dan story
• 11:03–16:35: WBC hype—real or manufactured? Judge’s comments, player/MLB motives
• 25:54–32:41: Use of technology in baseball, ABS system debate, tradition vs. progress
• 32:41–36:13: First callers; what does the WBC mean to fans/players in the US vs. abroad?
• 39:01–41:00: Can a “manufactured” event become legacy? Olympics/World Cup comparison
• 46:38–47:18: Has the WBC hype succeeded at last?
• 48:39–51:07: Caller John’s rebuttal—why international fans and players may value WBC more

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Conclusion

This episode uses the electrifying finish of the recent WBC game as a jumping-off point for a bigger conversation about authenticity, tradition versus innovation, and the ways events can grow into true sporting milestones. The hosts—skeptical but fair—underline that the WBC is an enjoyable, energized addition to the baseball calendar. But they warn against forced comparisons to legacy events. Ultimately, they acknowledge that the WBC has arrived as a point of passionate debate and, perhaps, is on the path to creating its own enduring history.

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Transcript

[Don]

Get in the game with the college branded Venmo debit card. Wreck your team with every tap and earn up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash, a new rewards program from Venmo. No monthly fee, no minimum balance, just school pride and spending power. Get in the game and sign up for the Venmo debit [e-mail] collegecard the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. select schools available. Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply at venmo.me stash terms max $100 cash back per month. Don Sitnick. Sick.

[Peter]

You stink.

[Han]

Han, how about your nuts? Can I get some?

[Peter]

And Rosenberg, he wanted me to jump up and make the jokey jokey so the people go laugh time.

[Don]

This isn't North Dakota, this is New York.

[Han]

This is Don, Han and Rosenberg.

[Don]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[Han]

ESPN New York and streaming live on

[Don]

YouTube 301 to the big city. Don Ottarosenberg with you. Hopefully everybody had a tremendous weekend to get up until 6:30. Then it's little hockey Ranger Rangers back from their road trip. They're killing it all of a sudden. The Rangers, they're like out of it. They've become interesting.

[Han]

La Freniere turning into a stud.

[Don]

Look at this. We've got a huge show for you. But we should get it right out of the way because coming up at 6 o' clock in lieu of enn is we're going to announce Drop Madness.

[Han]

Oh yeah.

[Peter]

Hit the music. Where's my Drop Madness music?

[Don]

That's not Drop Madness. We have to have the breaking music first. Now.

[Han]

There it is.

[Don]

And I'm excited about this because I think get you going. You know what it is? You know, listen, we took a break from it. We had a year without it and we longed for it. And we had some drops, man. We had some awesome drops. And I'm really looking forward to laying it all out for you at six o' clock here in lieu of enn. You're okay with that, right, Peter?

[Peter]

Yeah, but the things that you guys just took off the screen was that stuff from Friday that Alan may have wanted to hear or was that Old Drops? Those were old Drops.

[Han]

What did I want to hear?

[Peter]

Well, you missed out on something. You missed an event when you left. The second best part of the show after the great Walter Berry. Walter Berry. Mike Tyson stories tremendous. That was unbelievable. But the next best part of the show, Alan, was Rochelle.

[Han]

Oh, yes.

[Peter]

Showed up.

[Han]

I got to see her as I was leaving.

[Peter]

She said hello to you, right?

[Han]

Yeah, coincidentally, Irish exit. At the Irish exit.

[Peter]

Right? You Irish exit.

[Han]

But yeah, her husband stopped me, introduced me to her, and I was like, almost disappointed. Cause I'm like, oh, I'm gonna miss this.

[Peter]

Put her right on the. You know how I did. I didn't tell Don.

[Han]

Yeah, put her right on.

[Don]

No, no, I didn't know.

[Peter]

I put her right on the air. Just gave her head. Don's doing a read for the event. Cause, you know, we had two or 300 of them and he was getting through it. And as he's reading, he sees just a woman putting a headset on, doesn't know what's going on.

[Don]

Why is the drummer from Lenny Kravitz on set? Because that's what she looks like her.

[Peter]

So, yeah, she reminds her Don of Lenny Kravitz, drummer.

[Han]

Okay.

[Peter]

Why is she. And all of a sudden he realizes it's Rochelle and she's not faking it.

[Han]

Rochelle, Rochelle.

[Peter]

She loves her some Don Legrette. How'd it feel? Did you tell Nancy about it?

[Han]

I did.

[Don]

She just laughed. She's like, dangerous. You. Yeah. Knows me too well to buy into because she said that there's like a danger about me, like a Frank Sinatra kind of like, I can end you. Not physically, or I can hire somebody to end you. So I got like this Sinatra mob thing. Well, that's what they say.

[Han]

Apparently Sinatra could just.

[Don]

Yeah, Mario Puzo believes that.

[Han]

Huh.

[Peter]

But it was a moment, though.

[Don]

No, it was great. And it was real. Like, I never got a sense it was performative at all. No, I think they're into some kinky stuff. Oh, I think that because I talked to the husband.

[Peter]

Okay.

[Don]

I'm not gonna reveal off the air, but there was. There was conversation. He wore sunglasses and ironically, because of the Oscars last night, he looked like Michael B. Jordan with the sunglasses on.

[Peter]

I thought that was favorable for him.

[Don]

But, you know, why go out?

[Han]

He was giving, but there was a. You know, Michael B.

[Don]

That's an interesting relationship. Yeah, he's like Michael C. Jordan, right?

[Han]

Michael B minus.

[Don]

Yeah. Or Michael B minus. But, you know, thanks for coming out to the Irish exit. We got a great reaction from it. And the Walter Berry story is going around. If you missed it again, it's got like over a hundred thousand views.

[Han]

If you missed it, find your way to our Twitter or Instagram and you will be able to view it. And it is one of the all time.

[Don]

He is maybe even better than Mike Tyson of the people that can Tell the story about the haberdashery incident with Mitch Blood Green. You don't want to hear from Mitch Blood Green because he was unconscious for some of it. Right. Mike, at this point. And you even mentioned when he did his one man show is gonna exaggerate just a little bit.

[Peter]

Sure.

[Don]

And really, any bystander could tell the story, but Walter had. It was involved chapter and verse. He was dating Mitch Bloodgreen's ex and he thought that Mitch was coming for him. Which, by the way, what a way

[Han]

to start the story. The setup included him just dropping casually.

[Peter]

So I'm dating, you know, I was

[Han]

dating his girl at the time.

[Peter]

I'm dating.

[Don]

For anybody that's a fan of ESPN Radio and especially going back to the Michael K show days, they are very familiar with the work of Andrew Gulley.

[Peter]

Yeah.

[Don]

And we talked how he had a story about how he met and hung with Jay Z on vacation. Yeah.

[Peter]

Greatest story of all time.

[Don]

One of the greatest stories of all time. And he. He doesn't reveal it like anybody else who had that story. He'd be meeting people on the street saying, oh, by the way, I hung out with Jay Z here. Let me tell you the story.

[Peter]

It's on YouTube.

[Don]

You can watch it.

[Peter]

It's one of the great moments in the history of the show.

[Don]

But. But the Walter Berry is right there. This is an amazing story that Allen had to pry out of him. So you got some Tyson story. That's the third time in a row that we've interviewed him and that's the first time he has told that story.

[Peter]

I want to know whether he's told it other places. I don't know because, like, how many interviews is Walter Berry doing? He's not out doing media every day.

[Don]

He retweeted it and commented on, like, he didn't know. Like, I did not know. You did not know. And you know Tyson.

[Han]

This is one of those stories as it's being told because of the way Walter Berry was telling it, that you want it, you want it narrated over like an illustration of what happened.

[Peter]

Oh, yeah, it would be great.

[Han]

Like, that would be tremendous. And watch while he's telling the story.

[Don]

And there is something. Because when you have a story that that's that good, your ego is gonna get involved a little bit. Walter's got no ego.

[Han]

You could tell.

[Don]

So he told the story. Not, not. It wasn't indulgent on him. Just. He was just telling the story.

[Peter]

I'm gonna give you. I'm gonna give you the real kicker as to how, you know, this is a real story and it hasn't been told that much. Alan says, do you have some Mike Tyson stories? And he goes, I do. In fact, I've got a few. And he tells us two much more sort of benign, Benign, you know, good stories. Crystal.

[Han]

First time I met him, before he was big, my mom ran into him one time.

[Peter]

No, no, he's. No, that was. And Tyson and a friend of Walter's stopped by his house in the Rolls Royce.

[Han]

Oh, that's when it was. Mom got the autograph.

[Don]

Cool. Great story.

[Han]

Right? Right. Charles Smith had the one with a mom.

[Don]

Yeah.

[Peter]

Third time. And then he goes. And then one time he actually reached out to me and invited me to go to Dapper Dan's. When he started saying that, I'm just telling you, no part of me thought it was gonna be the Dapper Dan story.

[Han]

Well, that's when your head came up from your phone and you went, wait a second. You, you said Dapper Dan's.

[Peter]

I said the first two stories were good. I was involved. I said, this is nice. I love getting Mike's stories. Now. Dapper Dan. Mike went to Dapper Dan a lot. You have to understand, by the way, there are people listening. I understand this. Who don't. And Don, you may not even know the full extent of Dapper Dan, like what Dapper Dan is in that time.

[Don]

I don't.

[Han]

I just.

[Don]

Whenever I hear the story, the haberdashery, the habitat open at 2 o' clock in the morning.

[Peter]

I'm going to make sure, moving forward, the cult. I think I can speak on behalf enough, not completely of hip hop enough to say, you shouldn't be saying haberdashery. We need you saying Dapper Dance.

[Don]

Okay, but when you hear that story,

[Peter]

like the haberdashery story, because people don't understand what it is. So Dapper Dan at that time in the 80s, is designing everyone's clothes. He basically saw when Louis Vuitton and Gucci and all these brands and Fendi were selling clothes, they didn't do a lot with their logos at that time. They would like have stuff and people would get something, but they'd want something that was going to show off. Like the drug dealers in the 80s were trying to let everybody know they were wearing Gucci and Louis Vuitton. So he would basically cut up and make these items, these bootleg Louis Vuitton jackets, where the lv, for example, would be all over the jacket, where the Gucci would have the print. It would Be Gucci print everywhere. And he would make it, and it was all handmade at his shop in Harlem that would be open all hours.

[Han]

And.

[Peter]

And if the drug dealer. If Alpo or whatever big drug dealer said, I need the new. I need that new Dapper Dan, he'd have to be there 3am cause they're spending five grand for a jacket, and he's hooking it up so you could go anytime. All the. Rakim's going. Run DMC is going. Kane's going. Tyson's obviously going. So everyone is there at different times. So, Don, when he says there's a Dapper Dan story, I just assumed it was another trip for sure, not the story. Tyson probably dropped $200,000 there without ever thinking about it. You know what I'm saying?

[Han]

It was the story.

[Don]

The story. To be there that night. Unreal. It was.

[Peter]

No. Walter Berry brought it home.

[Han]

Sitting there listening to him tell this story was.

[Don]

It was. It was pretty incredible. So you missed this show. You miss a lot. For sure.

[Peter]

Who knew where we were going? I didn't know.

[Don]

No, that was. That was really terrific. That was a lot of fun. Lots to get into today. We'll get into the next.

[Peter]

What's going to happen Wednesday, though, at Calandras? How do we. How.

[Han]

Who's coming? Who? Anybody.

[Peter]

We need to get somebody to show up and tell a crazy story.

[Don]

I was. It was. The MSG was nice enough to have me promote Calandras on the game Saturday. Oh, coming into the third period.

[Peter]

That's big.

[Don]

And I promoted it. So Bryce is busy. Bryce, Salvador. But. But Kenny and Rachel are gonna talk. Yes, Rachel's coming.

[Peter]

I love this.

[Han]

Rachel bringing some sushi. Sushi.

[Peter]

I don't know if she needs.

[Don]

You don't bring food to.

[Peter]

Yeah, you don't have to bring sushi to Calandra's, but this is big.

[Han]

If you bring some in, like Tupperware, I'll bring it home.

[Peter]

Did you. Oh, you mean her homemade sushi?

[Han]

That's what she said she makes.

[Peter]

Yeah, that's what she did. Now, did you. On the air when you promoted our big event Wednesday at Calandras, where we're not only going to do the show, but watch the game together like gentlemen and gentlewomen. Did you tell people that they should if they can call Calandras early and make a reservation?

[Don]

Yes, I did. And I'm assuming that we're going to Don Han and Rosenberg on espn and then we're going to have the watch party right after. So reservations are filling up and now that I mentioned it, filling up even more. So looking forward to seeing you guys on Wednesday.

[Han]

If you're listening today and you want to go, call now.

[Don]

Now, I don't. I asked you guys the question about the WBC and whether you were going to be interested or not. When I got home after the show on Friday, Nancy just happened to have the USA Canada game on. So I watched it. You know, she was getting the kids a bath or something. Like, I'm just going to sit here. Why? And I got into it.

[Han]

It was okay.

[Don]

You know, I still don't change my opinion on it. If you're a baseball fan, it gives you some competitive baseball rather than watching spring training. It's a great little entree going into the regular season that's going to start in a couple of weeks. But then came yesterday against the Dominican Republic and the way the game ended with the strikeout, that was 4 inches low and people freaking out and all that stuff. I don't know if that's the moment, but now I feel like there's a bit of a buzz. Not to the level of the Olympics. That's silly, because it's not an Olympic event. But am I getting a buzz from what happened last night? The same way I got when you had those three fights between Canada and the US and the four nations?

[Peter]

Yeah, kind of.

[Don]

And the reaction, listening to me, Michael open the show and listening to people around, it seemed like it might have been a thing. And. And we'll see who they end up playing. It looks like it'll most likely be Venezuela that will advance and they'll have the game on Tuesday. We'll see.

[Peter]

We'll see.

[Don]

We'll see whether this will be something. But I did. I did get some movement yesterday, but.

[Peter]

Did you? I'm sorry, you did have movement?

[Don]

Yeah.

[Peter]

Wow.

[Han]

Good for you, man. Well, this is the atmosphere we love to see, right? Like, we love to see where. Look, the crowd was great and there were some spectacular plays in the field. There were spec, you know, some. A couple of big home runs. Three big home runs. The moments you could see the passion of the players. Didn't we say this? When you look like you really care, it makes us care, right?

[Don]

Yeah.

[Han]

Because we're drawn in by what? Wow, these guys are playing hard. It matters to them. That draws you in. I do think that that's what that game felt like. It was a lot of pride on the line, of course, but, yeah, it draws you in. When you see teams or players playing hard, you see that it matters to Them you see Severino just pumping his fist and screaming like crazy in those first two winnings as he's getting, you know, he's mowing down a tough lineup. I mean, that was a throwback performance, was it not?

[Don]

Yes, it was for Louis Severino.

[Han]

And you know, like Judge has a moment at the plate where if you're every Yankee fan, you want him to come through because it's a pressure situation or manufacture or not, it's still a pressured situation. And he doesn't come through. Strikes out, which. How many times have we seen that? That same kind of swing that he has where he just misses the ball and now, now he has to walk back to the dugout and you're frustrated because he didn't deliver with a big hit. But then an inning and a half later, what does he do? Unreal. Just cannon from right field, getting Tatis out at third. What a hell of a play that was. And if you think about it in the context of the game, how big of a play was that?

[Don]

It already started. Game. Yeah.

[Han]

You know, he's sitting there. He don't make that throw. He's on third. Maybe if you missed the throw completely, he's on his way home. So that's a huge play in a big spot. So from my perspective, just Yankee fan, you know, watching, that's the stuff I was looking at and I was saying, okay, like I'm into this now. Now, would the best matchup be Italy because of the drama?

[Don]

Probably. Right.

[Han]

There's a little more extra to it.

[Peter]

Oh, I think so.

[Han]

Right. There's a lot like Venice, really good team. But wouldn't the story be better if it was Italy?

[Peter]

Well, particularly the story's better, respectfully, if the US were to lose to Italy from a best story. Don't.

[Han]

I'm saying just going into the game, but remove.

[Peter]

Remove the America. Like you're rooting interest out of Italy winning the whole thing. That's awesome. Yeah, that's the story.

[Han]

Yeah. So that's now why you're drawn in. But let's not lose perspective. The fact that this is basically a spring training tournament that seems to just have a little more to it.

[Don]

That's really what it is.

[Han]

Yeah, it was. That was a fun atmosphere. It was cool.

[Don]

But. But I do believe that things are getting a tinge bit over exaggerated because,

[Han]

I don't know, it never happens that

[Don]

Major League baseball obviously has an end game here. They want this to work. They've invested a lot in this. They finally got the big guns to play. Remember, Judge didn't want to play last time because his contract was up and he wanted to focus on free agency and all that stuff. And. And now he's. He's under contract and he wanted to play, but I don't know what their end game is. Are they thinking of maybe doing something like the four nations where they'll do this in lieu of an all Star game? Are they trying to angle to maybe shut down their sport like the NHL does and have the major League baseball players go to the Summer Olympics? So they're like, there seems to be some kind of endgame. But clearly, clearly these players have been told, talk it up, got to show meaning, got to care, because we want people to be into this thing. And Aaron Judge said this yesterday that riled some people up about the crowds of the wbc. Compared to a World Series, I was in this crowd here, the crowd we had when we played against Mexico, it's bigger and better than the World Series. It's just like I said, the passion that these fans have representing their country, representing some of their favorite players.

[Peter]

There's nothing with wrong like it.

[Don]

And that's what you dream of. As a kid, I was betting my backyard playing wiffle ball. This is the moment to dream of big spots, big situations. And it gives me chills right now thinking about how special that was. You know, I try to take a moment every game to kind of look around, appreciate the crowd, appreciate the moment.

[Han]

It's just go out there and do our thing now.

[Peter]

All right?

[Han]

When he says when you're playing wheel football in your backyard, these are the big moments that you want to be part of. That part. I can co sign.

[Peter]

Okay.

[Han]

Because again, I'll say it again. Even though it's manufactured, it does feel like a pressure situation. And we need to see Aaron Judge more in these pressure situations because of his reputation in the postseason. Right. So that's. I like that he wants to be in it. He. And we need to see him in it. But bigger and better than the World Series, I don't know why he would say that other than wanting to hype up something that he's proud of right now and he's living in the moment.

[Don]

And that's what I think is happening here, is that they probably told him, pump it up. We want people to get excited about this. You heard some of the Dominican players say this is bigger than winning a World Series. Tus. All right. I don't want to get inside your brain. Representing your country, representing the Dominican Republic. I'm sure is a big deal, but this event started in 2006. Okay? It's every three years. We didn't see it during COVID All right? So there hasn't been that many of them. I don't think anybody in the Dominican was thinking, I want to win the wbc. They're like, I want to go to America. I want to win the World Series, but whatever. But it feels like somebody took Aaron Judge's side and said, let's hype this up. And Judge did it, because Judge is a really nice guy. But, dude, don't say that. When you were in the World Series last year, how do you feel like, as a Yankee fan going, wait a minute. First of all, you were playing in Houston. That holds 41,000. We hold 55,000 at Yankee Stadium. You telling me there wasn't an atmosphere for the World Series against the Dodgers? Didn't. Didn't turn out the way you wanted it to turn out?

[Han]

But really, like, so Yankee Stadium wasn't that loud in the World Series. The fans didn't show out. Now, some people might argue, well, it's the World Series. It's a corporate crowd. You're not getting the real fans.

[Don]

But. But here's the thing.

[Han]

This is a cheaper ticket. You're getting more regular fans, real fans. And it's also obviously national stuff, so you get a little more personal about it.

[Don]

But there's. There's two debates here. Is it possible? Yeah, I guess it's possible. That atmosphere was better for what you said. You know, a lot of corporate people come into the games. A lot of people want to be seen. Fox brings in their new sitcom stars to sit there. Yeah, you know, all right, there's that debate. But do you say it even if it's true? Do you say it? It's like, here's the example I'll give. Just pick a random player. Evan Longoria, when he played for the Tampa Bay race, all right, and they had a big win. And he's being interviewed after the game, and he goes, how about these fans? The greatest fans in Major League Baseball? It's not true. But you say it because you want to talk up your fan base. So there's the debate of whether it's true or not. And listen, he played in the game, so he would know better than I would whether the atmosphere was greater at Yankee Stadium or greater or whatever they're calling minute made now. I think they changed the name again. But do you say it?

[Peter]

I don't see it. And if you say I don't know what's the upside. I mean, I guess you're talking, you're talking trash at that point. Basically, like do better. Not necessarily to the Yankee fan base, but to the fan base overall.

[Don]

You never, as a player, throw any shade at your own fan base. Now, do I think he meant that? No. But this is what happens when they're probably like, hey, talk it up. Aaron Judge is not some actor, so he probably went a little too far. He could have just very good said, man, that atmosphere. I just played in the World series back in 2024. I'll tell you, that atmosphere was comparable or boy, that atmosphere was off the charts, man. Just the fact we're having a conversation about being close to the World. But do you. Are you trying to sell the WBC to the point where, like, it's more important than the damn games you'll be playing in two weeks?

[Han]

Like it's bigger, it's bigger than the World Series is. Is it? Like that's not. Even if you're Rob Manfred, you don't want that. Now, again, he's in the moment right now and I think he's just sharing, like this experience has been fun because the crowds have really been loud and that.

[Don]

You could say that.

[Han]

But to make the comparison to the World Series, yeah, the next breath should have been, it's not the World Series though.

[Don]

But why does everything have to be a comparison? Why can't it just be big on its own? You know, not the World Series, it's not the Olympics. But it's a really cool event and it's fun and baseball fans are going to love it. And you know what? If you give it a chance, you'll love it too. But why do we always get to get into the comparisons? Oh, it's got a better atmosphere than the World Series. It's like the Olympics.

[Peter]

No, it's not.

[Don]

It's a contrived event that can be fun. What's wrong with that? Now we're starting to compare it to the damn World Series. And I'm sorry, every time Aaron Judge was in his backyard playing wiffle ball, he was hitting the game winning home run in the World Series, not the wbc. You know why? Because there was no WBC when he was hitting wiffle balls over his fence. But there's nothing wrong with that.

[Peter]

But I do think there's a valid part here you can't leave out, which is that the international part of this for the other teams, not the US probably legitimately makes the atmosphere feel more. Feel more exciting than most all major league baseball games.

[Don]

No, that makes say that like.

[Peter]

Well, he did. He did say it's the international crowds. He said that people cheering for their country. He made specific reference to that.

[Don]

But now you've got to compare it to the World Series or somebody comparing it to what happened with the men and women in the Olympics. Well, like, why are you striving so high? Why can't it just be what it is? Why do we always try to make something into something it's not?

[Peter]

Comparison is the thief of joy, right?

[Don]

Well, because then what happens is it doesn't live up to those expectations and now it gets killed more than it should. Fact is, you had a great baseball game last night with controversy and it was. It was a great.

[Han]

That's a piece. But we're not talking about.

[Don]

And I've got a conspiracy theory around that as well. I got a bunch today.

[Han]

Oh, look at you. You've got the shot out of a can.

[Don]

Yeah, I got a lot going on today. I haven't.

[Han]

You do.

[Don]

I didn't have. I haven't had a talk show since Friday. That's with the weekend. That's why Monday's over.

[Peter]

That's why Monday.

[Don]

You're so hot. Monday hits different. I think I got another sinus infection coming. Who knows?

[Peter]

I'm feeling some.

[Don]

Yeah. So we got a lot going on.

[Peter]

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[Don]

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[Han]

by thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Han]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want.

[Peter]

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[Don]

Now the other thing that works out for the USA is that Italy's playing Venezuela tonight and then tomorrow's the championship game. So that extra day is going to allow Miller to be available and some of the bullpen to get some rest. So that works the USA's favor.

[Han]

Even still, like you're in spring training, if I'm my, if I'm the team, I want to make sure my guys aren't blowing out their arms this early.

[Don]

Right? You know, it's interesting you say that.

[Han]

There's got to be some stipulations going on here. Like no, no, no, because how many pitches did Miller throw like he had that was a long. The last at bat was like. But eight pitches, nine pitches.

[Don]

See, that's why it'll never ever be what Major League Baseball wants it to be because you get moments like this. Mike Puma just tweeted covers the Mets. Carlos Mendoza says he's got mixed feelings about Nolan McClain starting for Team USA in tomorrow's WBC final. And I don't blame him.

[Han]

He's not opening day right? Because it's right.

[Don]

It's what's his face they got. But.

[Han]

But he's obviously your number two.

[Don]

No, he's got mixed feelings because, oh, this guy is going to be all pumped up and he's probably going to be treating it like throwing gas regular season game as he should because it's going to be the championship for the WBC and you're an athlete.

[Han]

You're going to be jacked up for

[Don]

and God forbid something may happen like so I understand the mixed feelings. I mean that's, that's why it's not the Olympics, because there was never one moment during the Olympics for the men and the women, because the women, a lot of them are going back to their PWHL teams. But in the NHL, there was not anything of, well, we're not going to play this guy because he's a little banged up and he's got to get ready for, you know, his game when he comes back. No, they were all in. They were all in.

[Han]

All right. But this is more aligned with Four Nations. And wasn't the Four nations, was it McAfee that got hurt?

[Don]

Yes.

[Han]

And if you're the Bruins. Right. I mean, you know, he's got to play. But I don't love this.

[Don]

Right. But. But here it's like, I understand Carlos Mendoza going, man, be careful.

[Han]

Yeah.

[Don]

Because I.

[Peter]

Second most important, nothing bad has happened to a Mets pitcher at the.

[Don]

No, but. But he's. But what I said was that Carlos Mendoza said that he's got mixed feelings about Nolan McLean pitching tomorrow. I know, I know.

[Han]

No, no, you know, because he's referencing history with the Mets in the.

[Don]

Well, that history was just him, you know, DS celebrating.

[Han]

Doesn't matter.

[Peter]

It could have been celebrating. It could have been.

[Han]

Gets a big strikeout and he jumps off the mound and pumps his fist and all this.

[Don]

So that's why. That's why it gets a little cool baseball suit. But also, you know, the ABS system is not being used in the wbc. I did not know this until I listened to Michael driving in. Do you know why they're not using in the wbc? Don't feel bad because I didn't know either.

[Han]

Because they want to debut it in actual. The baseball season is because technology is not available.

[Don]

The technology measures each player because everybody's got a different strike zone. Because everybody's a different size.

[Han]

Okay.

[Don]

And there are non Major League Baseball players playing in the WBC that they have not measured. So that's why they're not using it.

[Han]

Wait, wait, wait. In this world.

[Peter]

Yes.

[Han]

Where you can. You can electronically measure things, we can't just have a player go to the plate and whatever the camera is, can automatically create the strike zone. We have to measure you first.

[Don]

Yes.

[Han]

And put in your statistics.

[Don]

Yes. Because everybody's strike zone is different based on body size. And they haven't put everybody in the system.

[Han]

I have an app on my phone where I can measure the square. The square foot of square footage of the room if I want to order flooring.

[Don]

Right.

[Han]

I could do that on my phone.

[Peter]

Sure.

[Han]

But I have to measure a human to know what his strike zone is. There's no Way the camera just would have the ability to see elbow, knee. All right, there's your strike.

[Don]

They're measuring it, so. And they were guys that were not in the system, so that's why they.

[Han]

Am I the only one that thinks this is kind of strange?

[Don]

It is weird, but again, I'm sure they were thinking, so we don't have it in the wbc. Big deal. Right? Like, that's the. That's the little. That's take here that tells you. It's like, we could. We could do it, but we don't have to, because.

[Han]

Perfect place to debut it so the fans could learn it.

[Don]

Unless you buy into my conspiracy.

[Han]

What is your conspiracy?

[Don]

Anybody complaining about ABS isn't complaining anymore because that ball was 4 inches low, and everybody got a chance to see it. And now they'd be like, so you're complaining about electronic strike zone. Well, imagine if this was game seven

[Peter]

of the World Series.

[Han]

The expectation was that at some point we're going to have a missed call, maybe. And if it happens, these people will now say, we need abs.

[Don]

That's right.

[Han]

And they'll welcome it. Well, do you? Because you're a purist.

[Don]

No, but stop with the purist stuff. We have the technology. Doubleday didn't have the technology. If they had the technology to play night games, if they had the technology to wear helmets, if they had the technology to review plays, they would have done it. They didn't have the technology. Now we do. So the whole human error stuff, stop it. You know what? For the human. What are you, Amish? You would. So don't ride a bike to work.

[Han]

Right.

[Don]

That's pure. Mm. All right. Why. Why have a car, Peter? They didn't have cars back in the day.

[Han]

No horse and buggy. That worked.

[Don]

It's really an Amish sport opinion.

[Peter]

Yeah.

[Don]

Like, I want. I want the. The realism. I want the human element. No, they didn't have it in the game because it wasn't invented then.

[Han]

Right, Right. They didn't know they could do it.

[Peter]

Correct. You should always be maximizing the technology possible for your sport, game, music, whatever your genre is.

[Don]

Right.

[Peter]

You maximize the technology as good as humanly possible.

[Han]

Let me just make sure I'm following. If you're a professional sport worth billions of dollars.

[Peter]

That's right. Go ahead.

[Han]

You should always make sure that you get it as right as you possibly can. Is that what you're telling me? I'm saying not be random about it.

[Peter]

I'm saying you should be more committed to the integrity of the Results of the game, then you are committed to the old timey ness of the tradition, right?

[Han]

Yes.

[Peter]

The integrity of the game is the most important.

[Don]

Now, if they had the technology, it's crazy. The only reason you would have a kick coming is if when they invented it, they had the technology and they decided, no, no, we. We would just rather have the human element. We don't want to muck everything up with technology. Then you're honoring the old days. But when the first major league baseball game was played in 1869, they couldn't replay. Matter of fact, they probably made up half the stuff that happened.

[Han]

Oh, for sure.

[Don]

You know, one guy writing everything down, and all of a sudden he's, you

[Han]

know, he missed something.

[Don]

There's a. There's a pretty girl in the.

[Caller]

In.

[Don]

In the third row.

[Han]

Little breeze.

[Don]

What happened there? Oh, don't just write something down. Yeah, nobody's gonna check this because, you know, the Civil War just end. Nobody cares. Civil War, any war. Yeah, Revolutionary.

[Han]

There was always a war.

[Peter]

Okay.

[Don]

That's what I'm saying. It's like nobody bothered back then to think that. Why are we writing this stuff down? Because there might be people 100 years from now, they're gonna analyze it.

[Peter]

Really?

[Han]

The first time since 1892 that this happened. Because in 1892, we have it right there in that box score that that happened.

[Don]

I thought I read somewhere that the sun's supposed to go out by like 1973. There's not going to be any future.

[Han]

Yeah. It didn't happen.

[Don]

You know, like, that's. It's. It's stupid. Now we have the technology. It's important we apply it.

[Peter]

It's in.

[Don]

Let's go.

[Han]

Yeah. So it. It's definitely something, though, for those who might have been fighting it to now make the case of. In a moment like that, on a pitch like that, you want to get that right. And they didn't. And it leaves you. You walk away and you say, the US did earn the win, but it still had a controversial ending. And no one wants that. You, like, you want closure in games like that, right? You want closure in a game 7. You want closure when it comes to eliminating a team in a playoff series. You want to know that the call was right. And what you don't want is that the replays of a ball that was out of the zone and just go, well, he missed it.

[Don]

And we're not even in. We're not even in full bloom love with it, because we're just using it as a challenge system. Right now. So at some point we'll probably do a full time, but we'll see.

[Han]

It should be full time.

[Don]

Let's start with the calls. Let's go to Joshua. He's in the Bronx. You're on ESPN New York. You just started off here on Don Hunter Rosenberg. What's up?

[Caller]

Good afternoon, fellas. How you doing, man?

[Don]

How are you?

[Caller]

Yeah, all as well. As well. All right. So I just want to just basically make the point of why we're just like diminishing the. Just the players reactions, the players feelings of, you know, the world based world classic. It's clear that everyone cares about it so much. But why is it that people that are watching, mainly Americans that just don't really care about the wbc? I feel like everybody in New York spokes already was just like, okay, like it is what it is.

[Don]

It is what it is. What is it, Josh? What would you compare it to?

[Caller]

But I'm not saying it's. I'm not saying that there's Olympics, but then everybody's playing for the pride of the country. They playing.

[Don]

What about the guys that went back

[Han]

to spring training and what about the guys that aren't from Italy but yet are playing for Italy?

[Don]

Yeah, it is weird.

[Caller]

It is weird. But at the same time we're just like letting it go. We're not even trying to. We're not even trying to just make it work when we're just.

[Han]

If I may, because first of all, it's. We're in the spring so that this first doesn't feel natural. Right. You what you said to make it something. Try to make it something. This is manufactured. Now it's catching on.

[Caller]

The everything is manufacturing in his own way.

[Han]

I'm sorry, you're right. And you're not right because you play a whole season to get to a World Series. So that's not manufactured. That's it. And that's a journey to get to a destination. This was something created. And let's make it a tournament to play for something which is nothing. It's like the NBA Cup. It's something, but it's nothing. And the eye of the beholder. And all I'm saying is is that there are compelling moments. I thought last night was very compelling. When the players are playing hard, when you see it matters to the players. We're all drawn in. But also, Don, you're the one who said it. Why does it seem like for the Americans that they're not like what the caller just said, like Americans aren't really into it. Why?

[Don]

Unlike hockey, because it's not an international. We don't feel like we have to prove ourselves.

[Peter]

We are the best.

[Don]

We are the kings. Yeah.

[Han]

And in other sports, we have to prove that. That's what makes it different, I think for Americans.

[Don]

Yeah. And Judge was very close to say, hey, listen, we live for these moments playing with the ball in the backyard of hitting the game winning home run. But make no mistake, when you grew up in the United States, you're thinking, I want to hit a home run in the World Series. Now in hockey, you might be from Russia, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland. And your dream growing up was, I want to win a gold medal. Maybe it was I want to win a Stanley cup, but I want to win a gold medal. But for a baseball player, it wasn't about the World Baseball Classic which started in 2006.

[Han]

Yeah.

[Don]

Now when you have a history like the Olympics or the World cup in soccer, it's a different story. Is it possible 50 years from now there may be, or maybe my son,

[Han]

this becomes a thing will.

[Don]

Will grow up to become a Major league baseball player and long to play for the wpc. Yeah. Maybe.

[Peter]

The question is, can the next couple of days, can yesterday and tomorrow, whatever tomorrow is, lead to increasing the likelihood of that?

[Han]

Where younger players are like I'm.

[Peter]

Because that's what everyone's supposed to do.

[Han]

I want to play in that. I want part of that atmosphere.

[Peter]

Each one, each one matters.

[Don]

It feels like the last couple have meant more than the early ones.

[Han]

But can I add though, doesn't it feel like the fact that it's in March and the season hasn't even started yet, it just feels like it's placed weird. Right?

[Don]

Well, where else do you place it?

[Han]

I don't know.

[Don]

I'm not going to shut down. That's why I'm wondering what the end game is. Is it to get into the Olympics? Is it to do a four nations thing where you shut down instead of having an all star game, let's play this for a week or 10 days

[Han]

and shut the game. Why can't it just like it doesn't need to be all end all greatest thing ever playing for your country. This is fun. It's a fun way to start the year off and let's just keep it moving. The preseason NIT back in the day.

[Don]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Han]

For college basketball is like the college basketball kickoff. You had this little tournament and you had some fun and it wasn't the greatest championship, but that had fun moments and it kick started your Season. Just let it be that.

[Don]

Aaron and Yonkers, you're on ESPN New York.

[Caller]

I just don't really understand why you guys are so upset. Obsessed to calling it a contrived exhibition. Was the World cup one in 1930 when they first made it?

[Don]

Like it might have been at the time. But now you've got generations of people that long to play in the World Cup. The WBC could become that in 50, 60 years.

[Caller]

But I'm just like, who, who are you guys to decide when that happens? It's been around since 2000.

[Don]

Do anybody at the World cup leave early to go back to their regular club?

[Han]

Good, Good question.

[Don]

Are they compromised where they can only play a certain amount of minutes at the World cup because they've got a game in two weeks with their Nash, with their regular club team. Don't you see the difference, Aaron?

[Caller]

Well, we're still building. That's the thing. Who's weight we obviously have built past the point of fish at your league baseball. We're building this tournament up.

[Han]

Yeah. Again, I don't know what part of the conversation was us saying that this is complete trash.

[Caller]

Well, you're just saying you're diminishing it to be an exhibition.

[Don]

That's what it is.

[Han]

But it is an exhibition.

[Caller]

Second. The goal is to make this the second premier international tournament in the world, very clearly.

[Don]

But you know how far away it is from that, Aaron. Yeah, but you can't do it. But you can't do it, Aaron, at the beginning of the season, where pitchers are on pitch limits, the guys are going back to spring training. That's not the way you decide this. You decide it by saying you're all in. Now, do you do it in the middle of the season? Do you do it after the season? That's what I would do it during the Olympics and shut down Major League Baseball the way the NHL did the Olympics. Those guys played because it's the Olympics and there were no restrictions. And there were no. As long as you've got restrictions, Aaron, it's always going to be compromised.

[Caller]

They're playing because this is the premier international baseball tournament, not the Olympics. This, this is why they're playing it. But if Major League.

[Don]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. At the highest level, if Major League Baseball played in the Olympics, there'd be no more WBC because the Olympics are the Olympics.

[Caller]

That's not true. The World Cup. FIFA plays in the Olympics.

[Don]

I'm just telling you. I am telling you, Aaron, you don't, you don't want to understand comparing Something

[Han]

that's five years old or whatever it is, something that is been around for generations.

[Peter]

His point is just why bash it? Maybe not bashing. No, no. When we talk about it, when I'm just being honest, I'm part of the conversation. I'm kind of with you guys. When we talk about it, our slant is usually what's bad about it.

[Don]

Well, because we're being told by the best player in the sport that it's better than the World Series.

[Han]

Come on.

[Don]

You stay in your lane and your lane's good and it's cure. And come on, Aaron, get back to me. If they all of a sudden decided at the next Summer Olympics that baseball is going to be played and they're going to shut down baseball for three weeks and go to the Olympics, they're not going to play the WBC anymore.

[Han]

And also, can I just add this? Can I just add this, too? This is screaming, please love my sport.

[Don]

Yes.

[Han]

And I'm telling you something. That's the problem. You can't force onto people. You're supposed to like this right away. Now, if you're a Die Hard fan and you love it, God bless. Nobody's telling you you should. But you know what gets people drawn in, leaning in, paying attention. When something like last night happens where you have. You can feel it, you can see it, you need to know what's going to happen. You find out. Like we were walking out of the building last night after the Knicks game and Santiago. Ray. Santiago was watching the last inning on his. On his laptop, and we stopped, sat with him to watch it because it was that compelling. That's how you draw people in. That's how you do it. You build it over time. But you can't just start telling people you're supposed to like this right now because it's great. They're trying to build something good. Let them build. Yeah. And right now it's not where you hope it will be.

[Don]

No, I wasn't around. Nobody was around in 1930 to remember what the feeling was when they started the World Cup. But there's something international about soccer. There's something international about hockey. There's something international about basketball. Baseball's a little bit far behind there. It's getting there. It's still starting to happen. I'm just saying. I'm all in.

[Han]

All right.

[Don]

But don't make it into something that it's not. And maybe one day it will get to be the World Cup. I don't think so, but maybe one day. But something that started in 2006. Didn't do it during COVID So how many have they had? 069 1215? They've had like seven of them. I mean, it takes a little bit of time avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the Thumbtack app.

[Peter]

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[Han]

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[Don]

Jupiter Links face off in their playoff debuts.

[Han]

Who will advance? Keep up its playoffs tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6:30pm and 9:00pm only on ESPN and the ESPN app. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Han]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don]

Don on a roads work with you until 6:30. Then it's Rangers Hockey we'll have on Drop Madness Roll reveal coming up at 6 now. Nate tweeted something interesting. He says love you guys, but the Olympics doesn't hit like it used to Kids don't care like they used to. Baseball is gone from the Olympics because it wasn't popular. WBC baseball has more history to it than Olympic baseball. Fellas. All right, first of all, Nate, love you. Just like you love us. The gold medal game between the US and Canada faced off at 8, 10 in the morning. 20 million people watched. 3 million people. If you're lucky, you're gonna watch a Stanley cup final. So the Olympics still hits. The recent baseball didn't work in the Olympics. Major League Baseball players didn't play in it. You think you would have gotten 20 million people to watch the USA versus Canada at 8, 10 in the morning if it were amateurs playing?

[Han]

No.

[Don]

If you had this event happening in the Summer Olympics and there was a championship game between the United States and Italy, it would do a bigger number than the World Series because it's the Olympics. The Olympics still hits. The Olympics still matter. Okay, you're right. Most kids don't watch anything anymore. I get that. But the numbers are still amazing because it's the Olympics. And the reason baseball wasn't popular is because the Major League Baseball players didn't play. That's why they opened it up, because they wanted to get better ratings. Because you're right. The Olympics were getting a little stale because the best athletes weren't participating in it unless you were from Russia. And then the Dream Team went over there, and it opened the door for the best on best. The truly best on best. And if it were in the Olympics, it'd be way bigger than the WBC is. The WBC has major league players. The Olympics never did. That's the difference. So I'm sorry, Nate. Love you, but sorry doesn't work.

[Han]

Like, again, this is not saying it sucks. It's a great idea. It's fun. It gets more fun now that you get into elimination. We talked about it. I mean, again, Derosa not knowing what his team's situation. Elimination situations, like, kind of tells you that. Are you as locked in as you're supposed to be? Now he's an amateur. This is not a regular manager who probably would be all over this stuff, but those guys are in the middle of spring training. They can't leave their team. So that's also, to me, the timing part of this as well. If, like, it. Could they have done this before spring training? No, probably not.

[Don]

Because baseball's odd that way. Because you got to ramp up.

[Han]

I know. So that's just the issue right now with the sport.

[Don]

And none of these. I'm telling you, no One's bad. And as big as the WBC is becoming, if they did it after the World Series, nobody would want to play. Want to do this after 160 right

[Han]

now, you'd be so banged up. And then teams wouldn't want their players because you want to get into. If you have any. Handle any surgeries or any of that stuff, free agency coming up. You don't want to mess with it. But once again, like, it's not saying that this isn't good. It's interesting, it's entertaining. It's a great way to start off the season. But just don't. Don't tell me that this is better than the World Series. Don't oversell it. That's all I'm saying. Don't oversell it.

[Peter]

Can we. We got to admit this, though. Regardless of whether you think it's great, whether you think it could be great, but it's not great yet, whether you like some pieces of it, I'll say this. We're talking about it. We questioned whether we'd be talking about it by the end because at the beginning, we all agreed.

[Han]

No movement, right?

[Peter]

And I think I said, if there's a great matchup at the end, I could see us all being dialed in.

[Han]

That was last night.

[Peter]

That ended up happening last night.

[Han]

We got an epic one.

[Peter]

We're all. We're all talking about. Phone lines are jammed. K was shot out of a cannon. Upset about the way the game ended. A lot of different conversations. Pretty good.

[Don]

All we're saying is it being what it is is still really good.

[Han]

Still good.

[Don]

But just don't make it a good. You. You nailed it. Because I used to say that. Why don't you love the sport like I do? Please like my sport. Please love my sport.

[Peter]

Listen, who cares?

[Don]

You enjoy it, right? It's fun.

[Peter]

So what?

[Don]

Who cares what other people think, right?

[Han]

And everybody else will catch on at some point if it's that good. No one, no one's going to hate something that's really good, right?

[Don]

But, like, you're kind of.

[Han]

You'll catch on eventually.

[Don]

You start throwing out Olympics and World Cup. Compared to. It just. It's not fair.

[Han]

Soccer World Cup, Are you kidding me?

[Don]

You can't do it.

[Han]

Nothing compares to that.

[Don]

Let's go to John and Queen. John, ESPN New York. What's up, John?

[Caller]

What's up, boys? How we doing today?

[Don]

Good.

[Caller]

All right, so I have some critiques about how you've been. Guys. How you guys been discussing the tournament. But before I get into that I'm not going to bash you guys, but I do want to say will give you guys credit. You guys are not bashing the tournament itself. You guys aren't bashing the play, you guys aren't bashing the emotion. I'll give you that for sure. Alright, so I just feel that the critiques you guys have had just been kind of just a little bit unfair. When I say that, I don't mean it in the sense of that you guys are not. You guys, like great things are happening. You go, who cares? I'm saying that when the tournament started, you guys, I think that your biggest point is like, this is like a tribe thing. This isn't the World Cup. Let's relax. It's not the Olympics. All right, that's fine.

[Don]

I.

[Caller]

That's perfectly fine. That's valid. But as the tournament has gone on and on, there's been more and more momentum. Building out of pool play into the quarterfinals is really exciting and that we had the great matchup yesterday. It's open up today's show to just be like, hey, that was a great game, but relax everybody, nobody get too excited. It's. I, I don't think that's fair. And this ties into a bigger point I have. So Julio was interviewed at some point. I think it was still quarterfinals where he had, where he says something, oh, the World Baseball Classic. I want to win the World Baseball Classic more than a World Series. And I don't think he received any criticism from anybody. People are like, that's a little crazy, especially given that your team is so close to World Series. But we were like, oh, that's that passion that other countries come with. So I don't find it fair that when judge says like, yo, this crowd is crazy. It's better than the World Series. I don't think that's fair for you guys to go, oh, yeah, MLB's putting them up to this. I don't, I don't think that's. I don't think that's a fair critique. And I understand that that's your opinion on his opinion. I can't tell you opinion is wrong or not, but I just think that's not a fair critique. To be like, yeah, MLB's pulling up USA players to this.

[Don]

I'm sorry, I'm just. Well, we're up.

[Caller]

Can I make one more point?

[Don]

Go ahead, John.

[Caller]

Just. I'm sorry. It's just close it out. And that's it. Like that what you guys said, like, don't tell me that is bigger than The World Series. That goes into something that American baseball culture is lacking and you guys talk about all the time. That slogan that MLB put out years ago, let the kids play, but when somebody pimps a home run, I the next guy has to wear it in his ear. That's the problem with American baseball culture. We're not allowed to have fun. And I'm not saying that you guys are the arbitrators.

[Don]

I don't think it's a good point. A lot of good points, though. Yeah, you've made a lot of good points. But I'm saying is I just find it difficult to believe that someone who grew up in America is going to put the WBC ahead of the World Series.

[Peter]

But Don, what if he the reason I disagree with you and do not think he was put up to it. I think he legitimately, the energy he feels from the crowd is bigger and better than Major League Baseball. And he's saying it almost as a challenge to what we're doing.

[Han]

World Serious.

[Peter]

What if he feels that these international fans are more hyped than Major League Baseball fans are for the World Series? Dodgers, Yankees, it's a fairly privileged group. Who gets to go to the.

[Don]

I know, but it's still. Even if he believes it, you don't say it because why would you just say you're just in the World Series and telling Yankee fans, dude, you're not hyped up enough? I don't think that's a great idea to do. I don't know.

[Peter]

I kind of feel like I could see you playing the exact opposite and respect him for saying it. If he felt it, is it his job to protect the feelings of the people? If he went out there and he felt the energy.

[Don]

I will never, you know, defend a player for going after his own fans. These guys pay.

[Peter]

Is he going after his fans?

[Don]

Well, he's just saying is I just played in the World Series. You know what? This feels big.

[Han]

And by the way, was it. Was it J Rod that said the. Was it when he said Julio, who's he talking about? That also said Rodriguez. Right? Like, I didn't. I never saw that. That didn't. That didn't cross my plate. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter]

I don't want to know how the

[Han]

sausage is made, but I just want to know. It's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter

[Peter]

Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app,

[Han]

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[Don]

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