Hour 1: Yankees Eliminated Again

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg

Hour 1: Yankees Eliminated Again

Air Date: October 9, 2025
Hosts: Don La Greca ("Don"), Alan Hahn ("Hahn"), Peter Rosenberg
Network: ESPN New York

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the New York Yankees' latest postseason disappointment, eliminated for the 16th consecutive year without a championship. The hosts dive deep into why the Yankees consistently fall short despite regular season success, focusing on organizational philosophy, lack of urgency, managerial accountability, and the limitations of an analytics-first approach that fails in the postseason. The show features passionate calls from fans and draws comparisons with other MLB teams and historic Yankees teams.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Another Yankee Failure: The Postmortem Begins

• Yankees eliminated without a World Series again—16 straight seasons, second-longest drought since '78-'96.
  • "It comes up short again. And then this one a lot shorter... They died last night because they couldn’t hit a bullpen that they thrashed the night before. How do you make that make sense?" — Don (00:50)
• Last night's elimination loss: offense faltered, pitching subpar, no clutch hitting.
  • "They had two hits going into the eighth inning." — Don (01:10)
  • "The magic that kept them alive for a day, the reality that has been the New York Yankees for two decades now, in the postseason going on, is the inability to hit when they desperately need to." — Don (02:52)

2. Stagnant Organizational Philosophy: Is Change Coming?

• Constant player turnover, but no change at the top (GM/Manager).
  • "They’re going to change the players, they’re not going to change the manager, and they’re not going to change the general manager... That’s the most important part to me—the general manager." — Hahn (04:29)
  • "If you keep changing out the players and you get the same result, eventually, it's no longer blame the players. Eventually, it's maybe it's just the way they play or how they prepare." — Hahn (05:20)
• Brian Cashman (GM) as the architect of a system focused on regular-season success over postseason adaptability.
  • "This is the way he wants to play... And so everyone that continues to talk about how frustrating the Yankees are to watch... that's not your first target. The first target... is the guy who says, 'this is how we’re going to play.' It doesn’t work when we get to October." — Hahn (06:25)

3. Analytics vs. ‘Gut’: Built to Win 162, Not October

• Yankees' approach: optimized for regular season via analytics, not adaptable for short-series unpredictability.
  • "They build a team for 162... The only way analytics work is over a large sample size." — Don (08:00)
  • "Once you get to a best of three, a best of five, a best of seven, the sample size is a lot smaller." — Don (08:09)

4. Always Seem “Overmatched”—But Why?

• Yankees losing to teams that are just stronger or better prepared—Blue Jays, Dodgers, Astros—despite payroll advantages.
  • "Why are there teams that are always better than the Yankees? The Astros—they were better than the Yankees... the Blue Jays are better, the Dodgers are better." — Don (09:19)
  • "Why when you have not made any changes, you continue to do it the same way all the time saying this is the way that works. Then why every so often is somebody always better than you?" — Don (10:02)

5. Roster Critiques and Accountability

• Judge was not the problem; others failed to support.
  • "I'm not getting on Judge." — Don (41:22)
  • "He tried to carry the team. But unlike basketball... that doesn't work in baseball." — Don (41:41)
• Calls for organizational accountability and change at the top, not just cosmetic swaps.
  • "Letting go of Boone would just be cosmetic... The only way you get real change... is if we move the wizard, the man behind the curtain [Cashman]." — Hahn (26:44)

6. Inflexibility, Overvaluation of Prospects, and Lack of Urgency

• Holding onto unproven prospects rather than trading for impact talent now.
  • "Maybe you ship these guys out to get the guys that can win now instead of holding on to the, oh, my precious. My precious prospects." — Don (21:01)
• Organization prioritizes long-term stability over going “all in” for a championship.
  • "They don't want to ever look and say, this is the year, sink it in. If it means [next year] suffers—be damned, because we want to win the World Series this year." — Don (17:55)
• Frustration with definitions of success (“printing money”, playoff appearances) over winning it all.
  • "They define success differently... Playoffs every year. All right, Toronto got us. We'll get them next year." — Don (27:05)

7. Fan Calls: Echoes & New Insights

• Jimmy in Connecticut (25:19): Calls out the organization for arrogance and the need for real change.
  • "When you're not good enough, you have to change something." — Jimmy (26:08)
• Patrick Mayupac (30:25): Yankees need more “dogs” and “killers”—players who step up in October, not just good regular season stats.
  • "Our 1 and 2 pitchers go out there, completely wet the bed, and we got a rookie come in and try to save their butt." — Patrick (30:25)
• Matt in NYC (51:40): Critiques Cashman's philosophy, pointing to high strikeout rates and lack of situational hitting.
  • "The Yankees have had 10 guys with 100 strikeouts this year. They struck out 66 times in seven games." — Matt (51:40)
• Repeated frustration: “It’s the formula, not the players.”

8. Comparing to Other Teams and Past Yankees

• Contrast with teams that “go for it” (Giants, Red Sox, Royals, Dodgers), willing to risk future for a title.
  • "They don't want to be like the Marlins in '97 and '03... Yankees don't have to worry about that... 16 years enough, let's win." — Don (17:55)
• Past Yankees had “circular lineup” and “pass the baton” mentality—lacking now.
  • "Circular lineup and pass the baton. Well, I'm not hitting a home run here, but I'm going to get a single. Next guy will hit a home run..." — Don (61:47)

9. Numbers vs. Situational Baseball—Postseason Failures

• Too much reliance on analytics and home runs, not enough on putting the ball in play, adapting in the moment.
  • "Once you got two strikes on you, maybe you change the approach like Bellinger." — Don (53:35)
  • "Analytics work over the long haul but not in the postseason. These aren’t robots. The players still have to execute." — Don (50:17)
• Blue Jays out-prepared, out-executed, with fewer strikeouts and more bat-to-ball contact.
  • "How many times the Blue Jays strike out in this series? What, like 12? Right. Bad on ball, man." — Don (58:16)
  • "It's the approach—the Yankees seem one-dimensional." — Hahn (56:00)

10. Culture & Accountability: “Death Star” Metaphor & Fan Frustration

• Inside jokes about Yankees’ “operational Death Star” getting blown up in October by teams with more “dogs.”
  • "Both times they built this thing and both times they were blown up by some... dog. Luke Skywalker was a postseason player, a dog." — Don (36:05)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It looks the same all the time... It's just a trick, all right? It can be diagnosed." — Don (02:15)
• "Why does it always feel like, how could they flop in the biggest moment?... That's the part I think that's most frustrating." — Hahn (04:29)
• "Are you getting value for your money? His answer has to be no." — Hahn on Steinbrenner's spending (14:05)
• "Letting go of Boone would just be cosmetic... The only way you get real change is if we move the wizard, the man behind the curtain." — Hahn (26:44)
• "They don't believe in pressure. They don't believe in clutch, they don't believe in hot. They just believe in the numbers. 162." — Don (33:21)
• "If the philosophy doesn't change, then the result doesn't change." — Don (30:03)
• "Start living in the now instead of a future." — Don (22:51)

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Notable Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:50 — Recap of another Yankees postseason failure, focusing on lack of offense.
• 04:29 – 10:34 — Deeper exploration of organizational philosophy; why changing players isn’t enough.
• 17:55 — Discussion on urgency vs. long-term planning ("They don’t want to ever look and say, this is the year…").
• 21:01 — Fan frustration over prospect hoarding and lack of win-now moves.
• 26:08 – 27:00 — The “arrogance” and “defiance” of the organization; real change means GM change.
• 36:05 – 37:32 — Extended “Death Star”/Star Wars metaphor for Yankees’ regular season dominance and postseason collapse.
• 41:22 – 43:14 — Breaking down the lack of support for Judge; batting stats for the series.
• 51:40 — Caller Matt critiques Yankees’ contact approach and draws on recent MLB history.
• 56:00 – 62:15 — Deep dive on team construction woes, philosophy, and the importance of situational hitting.
• 65:03 — Frustration building: is “good” no longer good enough without a title?

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Additional Highlights & Color

• Calls for “dogs”: Multiple callers and hosts echo the need for more “gamers”—players who “step up” in postseason moments, not just stat compilers.
• Fire Cashman? Unified among hosts and callers: the root of the problem is at the top, beyond the manager.
• Numbers vs. Baseball Reality: Repeated complaints that analytics and formulas “work on paper” for 162, but become predictable and less effective in October.
• Fan Therapy: Episode had “therapy day” vibes, hosts acknowledging the need for fans to vent and process yet another playoff letdown.
• Cultural Impact: Yankees remain the team every opponent wants to beat, but the “Yankee standard” feels hollow without titles.

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Conclusion

The episode is a cathartic, insightful, and at times biting dissection of the Yankees’ recurring October failures. The primary thesis: as long as the current front office philosophy persists—prioritizing regular-season success, analytics over adaptability, and a future-looking approach at the expense of win-now moves—the result will continue to be the same. Frustration dominates, and both hosts and listeners are eager for real organizational change. Yankees’ fans must now watch another postseason from the sidelines, wondering when and if urgency will ever return to the Bronx.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Learn [e-mail] Don where do we stand on Sus Han?

[A]

It's lame. It needs Viagra. And Rosenberg.

[B]

I'm gonna lift my shirt up, take my pants down and shake it all around. This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.

[A]

This is Don Hahn and Rosenberg on 880 ESPN and the ESPN New York.

[B]

App 301 of the big city. Don Hahn and Rosenberg with you until 6:30. Then it's Rangers, Hockey, Rangers and SA. As the postmortem continues on not just last night's Yankee game, but another Yankee season without a championship. 16 consecutive now, second longest streak in franchise history and the most since not winning from 1978 to 1996. And we're here for you. 1-800-919-3776. I'm here for my partner Alan Hahn, who went through it, but I can't say that it's really any different. I'd like to change the topic of where we go different to what Michael had and what Barton Carlin had and what, you know, Rick and Dave had this morning and. Or what we've been saying Allen, for the 15 previous ends to their season. It just, it comes up short again. And then this one a lot shorter. Last year you lived with it because it was the World Series and you were upset by the way they played that game five in the fifth inning, but against an opener, facing elimination, they had two hits going into the eighth inning. Alan. So it's the same song and dance. We can blame the pitching, which was awful. We can blame the bullpen, which was not good. But they died last night because they couldn't hit a bullpen that they thrashed the night before. How do you make that make sense?

[A]

It doesn't. It's just. But it's this. It's. It looks the same all the time. But how did my, my. Hey, I'm sensing a little magic. Had that, had that age.

[B]

Not good, but it ages the way magic ages. Just know you nailed it yesterday.

[A]

It felt like something was brewing and then it just flopped.

[B]

But all magic. I don't care who you are. Was it Criss Angel? You know, whoever you know, any. Any of the great magicians, you want to go back in time, right? At some point, you figure it out. Like, it comes out somewhere that, hey, it's magic.

[A]

It's a trick, all right?

[B]

It can be diagnosed. One of my favorite shows is the Penn and Teller Fool Us, where comedians come on and Penn and Teller, nine times out of ten, figure it out. And if they don't figure out the trick, that magician gets to be in Vegas with them. Like, that's the. That's the prize. They get a trophy, and they're going to be on the show in Vegas, because eventually magic gets figured out. That's what I was saying about the Mets all the time. When you're pulling magic out of your hat, eventually somebody's going to, you know what, the rabbit's coming up through the bottom of the hat, there's an opening, you know, or the ball stuck behind his fingers, or, you know, the cards rigged in some way, is that you can't rely on it. And the magic that kept them alive for a day, the reality that has been the New York Yankees for two decades now, in the postseason going on, is the inability to hit when they desperately need to. And now you can't. You can't blame Judge. Well, no, now you gotta take Judge out of the equation, right?

[A]

He batted.500. He really had a good time.

[B]

And how happy were you, as a.

[A]

Yankee fan or Judge Fair, that his last at bat.

[B]

That his last at bat was what it was. Cause I'm like, he's going to be the last out, and everybody's going to say, see, I told you. No, he scored. He almost puts the ball through the left field wall so much that it's just a single trying to keep him alive. And then it's Bellinger that makes the last. I was happy for him that he ended up, you know, batting.500, driving in another run, because I'm like, I don't need him to strike out looking. And now all the Yankee fans to blame him because he is blameless in this.

[A]

I just want to know why each year it always feels like. Like some. Some years you have a run and you're like, boy, they got everything they could out of that team. Why is it now in nine of 10 years that all nine times didn't feel like they squeezed as much they could out of team? They just ran into a better team. And you just kind of tip your cap because there are years that have that happens. Why is it that it always feels like, how could they flop in the Biggest moment. How could they be shut down so easily in the biggest moment? Why does it always grind to a halt when they need to just get, get themselves a win? Last year in the World Series, yes, they got to a World Series, but how did it look when they got there? They looked over match. It looked like, wait a minute, like they look terrible. That's the part I think that's most frustrating. And here's the problem. They're going to change the players because they do all the time and there's a lot of free agents, there's decisions to make. We all know that part. They're going to change the players, they're not going to change the manager and they're not going to change the general manager, Right? And that's the most important part to me is the general manager. This is the way he wants to play. And so everyone that continues to talk about how frustrating the Yankees are to watch at times and how a bullpen that they, they owned 12 runs that they scored against them in 12 innings earlier in the series, now all of a sudden they can't get, they can get two hits. That's the part that you ask yourself, like, what are they doing wrong as an organization? Because if you keep changing out the players and you get the same result, eventually it's no longer blame the players eventually. It's maybe it's just the way they play or how they prepare. Because the one thing I noticed, although Schlitler, the kid was the best pitcher.

[B]

They had in the playoffs, right?

[A]

But even he wasn't the same in this. They didn't have his number, but they got to him right away. Why did the Blue Jays seem to know everything they needed to know about the Yankee starters, but the Yankees had no idea what to do against the Blue Jays. Why is that? Why did they look unprepared and overmatched at times throughout this series to a point where it was almost comical how the Blue Jays were able to score at will except for in one game. That's the stuff that I wonder about. So I don't want to hear about players I don't want to hear about. We're going to hear about Volpe, we're going to hear about Judge, we're going to hear about Jazz, we're going to hear about Wells, that terrible at bat. Don't talk about the players. That's not your first target. The first target, because they changed the players out is the guy who says, this is how we're going to play. It doesn't work when we get to October, doesn't work to a point where you win a championship and it never gets you to say, boy, they got everything could out of that team. They just ran into a better team. That never happens.

[B]

Well, I tell you what, the only deal the last time it happened, Al.

[A]

Don'T say 2017 because that team got cheated.

[B]

But that's the last time it happened where a Yankee team overachieved and you said, wow, I didn't see that coming. And what happened? George Rorty lost his job.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

Since then the statement was, we can do better. Yeah, we need somebody better. So they bring in Boone. And this is not a referendum on Boone because we know what it's about.

[A]

No, don't believe Boone is that they.

[B]

Build a team for 162 and they.

[A]

Build a team to play a certain way, just this way. And they insist it works.

[B]

They insist it works because the only way analytics work is over a large sample size. So you take the large sample size and you apply what you are. The largest sample size in any season is the regular season. It's 162 games. But once you get to a best of three, a best of five, a best of seven, the sample size is a lot smaller.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And they clearly aren't built for the postseason. The other thing that should aggravate you even more than that is that for the last two seasons, and you could debate me if you want, 1,8009193776 but I don't believe I'm wrong. They end up losing to a better team. Blue Jays are a better team. It was proven during the regular season when you played them. It was proven during this series. You really got blown out. If not for Aaron Judge single handedly winning the game earlier in the week, you probably get swept. All right, the Blue Jays are better. Last year the Dodgers were better. Sorry, I know that inning was bad. They're better. Why are there teams that are always better than the Yankees? The Astros, they were better than the Yankees. All right, cheating helped in 2017. We don't know for a fact they cheated in 2019. But the fact is the Astros were better, the Blue Jays better, the Dodgers better. So why when you have not made any changes, you continue to do it the same way all the time saying this is the way that works. Then why every so often is somebody always better than you?

[A]

Why?

[B]

When you've got, you've got 100 million dollar payroll higher than the Toronto Reese. Why are the Blue Jays better? Why? I understand why the Dodgers Are better. They spend $75 million more than the Yankees do. That I get. But why were the Astros better? It couldn't have all been cheating because in the last game in 2017, they scored one run. All right.

[A]

Always seem to have the cheat code.

[B]

To show somebody is always better than you. Why?

[A]

And the part that doesn't make sense to me, like, again, just looking at this year, I don't want to go macro view. The only macro view I'm giving you is the fact that it's the same system. It's different players. At some point, you've got to realize that it's time to stop blaming the players. But beyond that, Judge even said it. This year's team was better than last year's team. They were deeper, better defensively.

[B]

Right.

[A]

They did lose Cole. That would have been huge to have.

[B]

But they got better. I think the Cavaliero acquisition, by the.

[A]

Time they got to October, they were a better team.

[B]

I believe at the deadline. I wouldn't have said that if they didn't make those deals. But getting McMahon to play third, because they didn't go into the season with a third baseman, Caballero, I think with.

[A]

A real closer either. They found that out.

[B]

Right. And Bednar was good.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I think you're right. By the time we got to the playoffs, I think they were a better team than they were.

[A]

And that's what Judge said. Judge said last night in the clubhouse that he believed that the team. Because he said, we finally started to figure it out late in the season. We hit our stride. We were waiting for it all year. And he finally started to click and he was feeling good. He thought they were going to win the whole thing. You can see in his eyes, he thought this was it. And he got himself locked in thinking, I'm gonna make sure that I'm not the reason why not. And then it all went to hell because they ran into a team that couldn't wait to play them. Another team, by the way, that took it personal. This is why I don't want to hear from anybody about the Yankee standard doesn't exist. Oh, it's it. You guys, as fans, hold them to a higher standard than anybody else does. Baloney. You know why? Why is it that when teams beat the Yankees, they celebrate like it's the biggest win of the season for them? Why does it matter so much to some of these teams when they knock off the Yankees? Why did the Dodgers now, they won the World Series, but boy, did they carry on a little extra about New York they play Sinatra now, almost mocking the Yankees. Why do you think they do that? Because it is different. It hits different when you beat the Yankees. So it still matters. Which tells you you still very much reside in all the heads of every other team in this league. They want to beat you. But this team, as I told you going into this series especially, it was personal for this group to win this series. And that's what you saw in their preparation. Forget about everything else. They had guys that played great. Guerrero was phenomenal. But I'm telling you, they were ready for this series. And they ambushed the Yankees in Toronto before they even knew what hit them. The series was over. 23 runs you gave up in two games over. They were going to climb back and it was going to be very difficult to do. But what I can't believe is the game you lost was the one against a team they didn't even start a pitcher. They went with their bullpen and they set it up the way they knew you were going to set your lineup up. It's like they had an answer for every single guy. Every time Schneider went to the bullpen, every. It was the right matchup for the next guy coming up.

[B]

Had it all figured out.

[A]

It was unreal. Just not checkers. So why are they cashmen talks so much about numbers. Why is your math not math? And why is their math better than yours? Every year there's always somebody that knows how to shut you down. There's a team that just knows this is what we'll do to them and watch us squelch that league leading offense every year one of the best offenses in the league. And every year you run into one team that just goes, oh, we know how to turn that water off. And they do.

[B]

They do.

[A]

How is that?

[B]

Well, that's why I kept telling you yesterday when you talk about the standard, right? And you're not wrong about the standard. But again, the advantages aren't there anymore because they've. There's other teams that got better analytics than you, but that shouldn't exist. Do it better does. Wait a minute.

[A]

It's not the same. This franchise is the highest valued baseball franchise. Highest. They have the highest value. They have a great income.

[C]

They.

[A]

They have lots of resources. The best of the best. Steinbrenner way.

[B]

Yeah, right. But you still need the right people. But you don't have.

[A]

That's what, that's why every year I. If I could ever sit down with Hal Steinbrenner, the question nobody ever asks him that I would love to ask Is it's not fair that you get criticized when you have one of the highest payrolls every year. But my question is, never mind how much you're spending, is it being spent wisely? Are you getting bang for your buck writing this gigantic payroll check year after year? Are you getting value for your money? His answer has to be no.

[B]

Well, they brought in, if you remember, that whole audit which everybody said was blown out of the abortion a couple of years ago. But the idea of the audit was bring in somebody to analyze their analytics and figure out if it works. And they were told, no, good, everything looks great. Yeah, clean bill of health. So if the analytics work, which I never understood, if everybody does it, well, not everybody can win, right? So obviously some people could do it better. Some players are better. And that also has to be factored in too. Are you bringing in winning players? Are you bringing in players that are good over 162 but once the light shines brighter. We've talked about. Yankee Stadium is different. All right? You Yankee Stadium is different when they put the bunting up. It's different in October. Okay, it's a pretty cool place to play in May, but man, it's another planet come October. Do you bring in the right people? Listen, Max Freed is a hell of a pitcher and he won a World Series in Atlanta and he is going to be given the American League Cy Young Award possibly in the next couple of weeks. But is he suited to be a Yankee when his knees were knocking in Toronto at the beginning of the series?

[A]

Well, nevermind, all you have to do is look at his playoffs performance overall in first career. Hey, think about this. In eight years of playing in playoff games, his ERA is 531. Right?

[B]

But you know, that's the crapshoot time.

[A]

22 games he's played now in the playoffs. This is not a guy that's new to it, Right, but that's the crapshoot.

[B]

Time because they always talk about the 162 and the playoffs are a crapshoot. But are you bringing in guys that can handle New York? I don't think Devin Williams can handle.

[A]

New York, but yet he looks.

[B]

Guys that can do well in the postseason, I don't know. Doesn't look like it because I see the best offense in baseball that hit the most home runs in baseball get shut down too many times, too many times. How many home runs did they hit in this series? How many meaningful home runs did they hit in the postseason?

[A]

Four.

[B]

So come on. Four in the series, but over 162, it's aces. You're winning 90 plus games. You're going to the playoffs every year. You're breaking records for home runs.

[A]

And you think of in the game, Game three.

[B]

So are you built for the postseason or is the postseason something that you even consider? Because if every decision's about winning your division, every decision's about what's good for the 162. And if the playoffs are just, hey, it's a crapshoot, well, then are you building a team that's equipped to go out there and play? Because I saw a Blue Jays team and I disrespected them. I said, look, I'll see you when I believe it. Because this team never seems to win in a big spot.

[A]

You're right.

[B]

They looked prepared and ready to go out there. And ball. And they. So that's the difference. All right? Milwaukee, they go to the playoffs, they had the best record in baseball. All right, they lost yesterday, but they smoked Chicago. The first two games, Dodgers, same thing. Four straight wins in the postseason. After they play with their food during the regular season, those teams seem prepared. Now, the Dodgers, I get it, they're the one team outside the Mets that had a higher payroll than the Yankees. But it can't always be about the money. It can't always be about the analytics. Are you bringing in the right guys that can handle wearing those pinstrips? What do you always say? They're heavier than other uniforms, right?

[A]

It is.

[B]

And you come in here and New York is different, it hits different.

[A]

Or again, is the approach the wrong way?

[B]

Well, the approach is the wrong way because the approach is the right way in the regular season, but it doesn't translate to the postseason. Because you know why? Here's the difference. I'm going to tell you right now before we get to the phone calls. It's the thing that we always harp on, Brian Cashman saying, it's not about World Series, it's about. It's not about championships, it's about a championship. It's about championships. Right now, the Giants go out there and they win in 2010, they win in 2012, they win in 2014. But you know what happened in between? Not making the playoffs, not being very good. The Red Sox, they'll win a championship, then lose 100 games, then turn around, win another championship. They don't want to do that. They don't want to ever look and say, this is the year, sink it in. And if it means 2016, suffers be damned, because we want to win the World Series, this Year, they, they don't think that way. It's the long haul. The wide angle lens of, hey, don't sacrifice next year for this year because we want to be good in 26 and be good in 27. So are they pushing the right buttons to say the hell with 26? I want to win now because Aaron Judge is going to be 34 next year and Cole's getting older. I want to win now. I'll worry about 26 when 26 comes. I'll worry about 27 when 27 comes. That's what the Giants thought. That's what the Dodgers thought. That's what the Royals thought back in the day. The Royals are suffering for some of the decisions that they made, but they saw a chance to win the World Series and they took it. I'm not saying you got to be like the Marlins in 97 and 03 where you hemorrhage money from the eyes to win the championship. Yankees don't have to worry about that. They just say, you know what? This is special. It's been 16 years enough, let's win. Oh, but, but Hal, Brian, Aaron, that could hurt you in 26. We're all day to day. The planet might fold in half by next year. Let's win. Now, is that, is that maybe the difference? That they'll have to start thinking more in the now than worrying about the future?

[A]

The salary caps.

[B]

Oh, the salary cap ever hit this sport, the Yankees would be in big time trouble because now everybody would be on equal footing.

[A]

I'm telling you, it's. To me, there's just. And I've said that I'm almost getting sick of doing this because it feels like the same bit every year. But the problem is, is that it's the first thing I think about because it's something that you see and I can't stand it because you watch a team and you just see, okay, there it is again. And you know that the underbelly, the weakness part of it, the Achilles heel of whatever the strategy is, whatever that game plan is, you always know, all right, well, when it gets exposed, it's ugly. Because like the, again, the Yankees looked meager. That was an elimination game at home. And they looked like they couldn't touch anything. That was, they had no idea what was coming. Confused by some of these at bats. Like I said that Wells at bat was the guy can't throw a strike and you're going, first pitch. You're swinging, first pitch. Come on, man.

[B]

And maybe the philosophy changes this way because I've been listening today. It's killing me, you know, we got to hold on to Dominguez. He's a Martian. What's he doing?

[A]

He got one at bat, right?

[B]

He got one at bat. Finally they pinched him.

[A]

They got a double.

[B]

They finally pinched in for Volpe. Finally hold on to Volpe. We can't. We can't go out and get an established shortstop. Volpe's coming. We can't go out and get an outfielder because we've got Dominguez and we've got Spencer Jones. Well, Dominguez is up, never plays. Spencer Jones is going to turn 30 and still be a Somerset Patriot. Those are the things I'm talking about, is that maybe you ship these guys out to get the guys that can win now instead of holding on to the, oh, my precious. My precious prospects. And what happens when do they ever come outside of Judge? Whenever they come to fruition, Cam, they seem to step in it, but otherwise you've got all these guys. Lombard Jr. Is he going to play? Let's get him up here. Let's get him to play. All right. Pull the plug on Volpe. If he's not the right guy, make the decision. I know you put a lot into the kid, and he seems like a really good kid, but it doesn't look like he's got it. He had 11 strikeouts in this series, and you held onto him like grim death when you could have went out and got a legitimate shortstop and free agency, but you didn't want to landlock him. And now he's here and he's not getting the job done. There's. So these are the things that I'm saying is that maybe you've got to think about the now instead of the precious toys in the future. They either don't work out and you don't win with because the fans don't care about how high your prospects are rated. The fans don't care about who's down in Somerset or who's down in Scranton. They want to win a championship. And you know what? I'm getting tired of hearing about the championships. Got to get the first one, and you've got the wherewithal to pivot. If for some reason you do ship guys out that turn out to be stars someplace else. So what? Get the ring. That's the philosophy that has to change, Alan. Start living in the now instead of a future.

[A]

It's. It's. But it's not going to.

[B]

No, it's not a frustrating thing.

[A]

So looking at everything right, and we're going to. By the way, we're going commercial free with calls today.

[B]

Good.

[A]

I just feel like this is the day to do it from. From what? We'll get one more segment in and we'll get a break. Then we'll, we'll get 345. We'll take. I really feel like this is the day. Let them rip. Got to let him rip because I know I want to.

[B]

Well listen, we got it over chest over the hour.

[A]

Go through the 4 o' clock hour and into the 4 o' clock hour. We'll go with calls. So load them up now and get going. This was something we talked about a lot. Extra inning game six and eight. They would struggle so much with extra inning gains. When you get a runner on second like little things like that, those are the types of things that concern me. Those bothered me and everybody that talks about what's got to change and they talk about players changing and and I'm telling you, nothing changes because it's the same freaking system every year. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[B]

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]

Game Time is brought to you by Telemore Do Irish Whiskey because when it's game time, Alan, welcome.

[A]

It's Tony time. I like when he holds it.

[B]

Rangers visit the Sabres with coverage immediately following us right here on 880 at 6:30. Islanders open up their season against the Penguins at 7 and the Devils are in Carolina to face the Hurricanes at 7:30. Now that game is on ESPN Plus. That's why I'm not in. Carolina sucks and I appreciate all the well wishers. Got a great voicemail from John Sterling earlier today. I just didn't have the heart to call him back. Say no, it's not till Saturday. Michael. Text me like not not till Saturday but I get it. I understand the schedule but and the Giants play host to the Eagles on Thursday night football at 8:15 and the Knicks have a preseason game. That's why Allen looks all spiffy against the T wolves 7:30. So we got a full this is a nice therapy day to pivot away from the Yankees. If you're a Yankee fan. Tullamore do the original triple distill Triple one did and triple cast matured Irish whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tully More dollar or try the new Telemore do honey during today's action glasses up to enjoying Telemore do responsibly. Let it begin at 1-800-919-3776. And it begins with Jimmy in Connecticut. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, man?

[C]

I am sick to my stomach today, but I'm going to try to articulate my point in the calmest way possible.

[B]

Go ahead.

[C]

The Yankees are a solid. The Yankees are a solid organization. They win 90 plus games a year. They sell a lot of seats in that ballpark. And I'm sure as a business owner, House Steinburn sees a ton of value in that. And I understand that, you know, he's a business owner. He's to make money. But the bottom line is every year they're good. But good enough. And change does not always work. Let's, let's. Let's call it what it is. But I feel like you need to. You can't sell to your fan base year after year that you can change nothing and you're going to get a different result. The Knicks just fired Tom Thibodeau after an Eastern Conference final appearance. The Rangers have done it a couple of times, too. Shortly after conference final period. Look, it'll. Time will tell if those moves work, but when you're not good enough, you have to change something. I just don't understand the arrogance. I love the Yankees, but it's just. It's just. It drives me crazy.

[A]

That's the exact line. When you're not good enough, you have to change something. And you talked about the arrogance. And I truly believe it's become a defiance more than anything else. Instead of accepting the fact that, you know what, we probably got to change things up. It's. No. No. We'll show that.

[B]

But to me. And this isn't even really about defending Aaron Boone, the manager.

[A]

No.

[B]

Is that letting go of Boone would just be cosmetic. I don't. Because they'd bring in the same guy. They'd be defiant. No. This one guy.

[A]

This one guy. Don. This one guy.

[B]

Right. Brian Cash.

[A]

The only way it changes is if we move the wizard, the man behind the curtain.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You got to remove. That's the only way you get real change. Where suddenly somebody else comes in and says, I got a way. We're going to do. It's going to be different. The fans are going to love it.

[B]

And I don't think that's going to happen.

[A]

It's never going to happen because he's too successful. He can't do it.

[B]

Well, because they define success differently. Yeah. To where they're going to say, how are we doing? Printing money Playoffs every year. All right, Toronto got us. We'll get them next year.

[A]

Do we have him from last night, by the way?

[B]

Brian?

[A]

Yeah. No. Okay.

[B]

Do not have Brian.

[A]

I thought they caught him with a couple of comments. All right, never mind.

[B]

But, you know, he'll. He'll say. And then how will say it too. Yeah, we're gonna. We're gonna reevaluate, take a look at it. We're not gonna tolerate it. This is not what this is about. And yet, if the philosophy doesn't change, well, don't you think nothing else matters?

[A]

Should there not at least be a strong statement, not just the typical. Well, every year we want to win a championship, and when we don't, we do feel like we didn't reach our goal, but, you know, we. Here's what I would like. I don't want to hear some just monotone rambling about how back to work will go in the old college try crap. Your fan base is frustrated by this.

[B]

That's why I thought the audit was a reason for Yankee fans to get excited. Because then somebody would say, all right, they're at least looking from within. And then they came out just. And doubled down, hey, this is exactly how it's supposed to be run. Because maybe they feel that that is the way it's supposed to be run. Because if I were to ask, how win me, if I gave you the opportunity to win the championship in 20, 26, but those decisions will cost you 27, you a 500 or below team in 27, would you do it? And I bet you they'd say no.

[A]

And if that's the case, because you can't guarantee a championship, but you can guarantee just being good every.

[B]

Right. And they figured, listen, eventually. Eventually, we'll get there. Because if it's a crapshoot, Michael had a great choice, but no. But if it's a crapshoot, then when does your time come up?

[A]

Why does it always have to be crap?

[B]

You know, there's gotta be some time where, listen, you went to the World Series or whatever, but. And I guess they must be satisfied with that because there's no changes being made. You brought up. I think that Thibodeau is a bad example because Thibodeau just wasn't a fit. But Pete DeBoer was an example in Dallas. Hey, you keep going to the conference final and losing, man. We don't. We're not. We're not satisfied with that. And they fired DeBoer because they said we wanted better at the top, right? You Know, Thibodeau was more of a, you know, I think a philosophy difference in all that.

[A]

I think a lot of it just like it ran its course.

[B]

Yeah, there was some things, but this hasn't ran its course.

[A]

But you understand, like, here's the difference. The Knicks are going to look like a different team with the same players, right? Mike Brown's going to play differently. So when you change the coach, you change the style, you change the look, because they felt like, okay, that style. We just couldn't get over the hump. We've got to try something different. The problem with the Yankees, they're going to change the players, but play the same way.

[B]

Play the same way. And that's the thing that's frustrating is the.

[A]

It always looks the same. It's different people, but it's the same thing. It looks the same.

[B]

Well, think about it. Think about the turnover, because you go back to 2017, when they went to Game 7 against the Astros. Judge is the only player left from that team. Like so. That's how much it turns over in less than a decade. Everybody's pretty much gone. New guys come in, like so. But it's the same philosophy. And if the philosophy doesn't change, then the result doesn't change. Patrick Mayupac, you're on espn. New York.

[C]

Good afternoon, gentlemen. Obviously, calling about the Yankees. Get right into it. You'll hear a lot today that our team might have been better on paper and we should have gone farther, but unfortunately, the game's played on dirt and grass. Our 1 and 2 pitchers go out there, completely wet the bed, and we got a rookie come in and try to save their butt. After the Red Sox game, Schlitler went to the media and said that's what he expected. We heard other teams and even our fans mock him for that swagger, but that's what we need. Allen has a great point with the way this team's built. The players go out there and over 162, they'll finish above.500, make the playoffs. But we need more dogs. We need killers. Look at the Dodgers. Kike Hernandez, career.200 hitter, OPS.700 in the postseason. That picks up 60 and 180 points, respectively. Trent Grisham has a 160 career batter in the postseason. What are we expecting from these guys to do? Yes, they'll finish above.500 in the regular season, but then when it comes time to bear down and work in the postseason, they just cannot do it.

[A]

It's again, though, you keep changing, but, you know, we keep Focusing on players now, Grisham, you didn't know what he was in the postseason because, you know, he wasn't a main guy until this year. And he became that. And his numbers were great, but in the postseason, not so great. So the problem is. And again, it was a well thought out point, but it's. We keep focusing on players and all we keep saying is we got to get players that do this and we got to get players that do that. And I'm telling you, maybe sometimes the players come here and they get into the playing a certain way and it's like.

[B]

But I don't like doing this. But I give you examples about how New York is different and how the postseason is different. They went out and traded for Devin Williams.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

To be their closer.

[A]

Yeah. They needed a closer.

[B]

All right. Turned out he was able to pick himself up and wasn't completely damaged as a setup guy. As a setup guy. Why did he fail as a closer? He didn't have the stomach for it.

[A]

No.

[B]

You know, but how do you not root that out? Because you just looked at the numbers and the numbers say this guy's an excellent closer. But could he handle New York? Could he handle the media? Could he handle all the fans booing him when he failed? The answer was no. And they took him out of that pressure situation and he did better. They didn't vet that properly. You mentioned Max Freedom. Well, Max Freed they gave an eight year contract to. Why? Because his regular season numbers are stellar and he was great in the regular season. But you just showed over a five earner, an average in the postseason. Why didn't that factor in when you gave him an eight year deal?

[A]

Mm.

[B]

Because you're gonna need him to pitch in the postseason because you're trying to win a championship. Number two, you only looked at. Oh, look at his regular season numbers because that's all you care about. Because the analytics don't work in the postseason. Because the sample size is too small. Because you're not going up against eight different pitchers where the other team's doing everything they can to win the game. This is not May. Against the. Against the Diamondbacks, who are 10 games under.500 and don't care. This is the playoffs. It's a different animal. Get people in here that can handle New York. Get people that can handle pressure, but they don't believe in pressure. They don't believe in clutch, they don't believe in hot. They just believe in the numbers. 162.

[A]

What's amazing. Don't. Is that if they don't win the championship next year, it will match the drought from 78, that 78 World Series.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Until 96. Match it in length. The difference is this current team has been good enough and fails. That team had new managers every six months. Had, like, all kinds of.

[B]

They were. They didn't make it because they were bad.

[A]

Disaster of a franchise.

[B]

They weren't good enough. Right.

[A]

So think about it. They were a disaster of a franchise. Poorly run, constantly firing managers, trading players. All the things that they did from 79 to 95, all the stuff that went on. The owner ended up getting banned from baseball. All that stuff. Embarrassing. And this has been a run where they've been good enough every year and can't get through. Wouldn't you rather like, say, he didn't win a championship in 18 years? Well, because it was a disaster. They had to. You had to clean the mess, right? There's no mess. They're just not good enough, whatever it is. So that's why the player thing, it's there. A stable franchise that doesn't have the, you know what. To get over the top, whatever it is, but they don't have it because they can't make that tough decision to say, this way's wrong or we've got to change it up, or is it stay with it because it's safe.

[B]

If I bring in those dogs, if I bring in the guys with cubes, if I bring in the Hustlers and the bangers in the postseason, could it hurt my chances of making the playoffs in the regular season? Because let's face it, Alan, that's not the way the game is played in the regular season. Right. Because not all the games have the same meaning how the Blue Jays do pretty good, right? They did great, but they do it. Where'd they finish last?

[A]

I know they were last place.

[B]

They were last place last year.

[A]

They were underwhelming.

[B]

Don't be surprised if next year they finish.500. Right? That's the way it works. See, that's what I'm saying. They don't want to do that. Well, you could give them the formula. They know everything that you're saying. They're listening to us right now, and they're laughing, going, they think we're failing, then they're winning.

[A]

Then the real Yankee way is dead. It's dead, dude.

[B]

It is dead.

[A]

Dead.

[B]

Because no heads roll. No, no heads are gonna roll. Nobody's gonna be held accountable for this. You know what they're gonna get? They're gonna get raises they're gonna get bonuses. Good job, guys. Great. The promotion. The guy that with the. When there's two strikes.

[A]

Good job.

[B]

We love that. The whale sound is great.

[A]

It's from Star Wars.

[B]

It's a whale sound.

[A]

It's not a whale sound.

[B]

Well, that's what it is to me because I'm not a whale sound.

[A]

No, it's. It's right before.

[B]

You know, your operational Death Star looks more like the end of the first Star wars than it does later on. If you knew what it was, you'd.

[A]

Actually laugh at what it actually meant, what it actually is for. But. But it's funny because both Death Stars were blown up in the last minute by a smaller little army. The little engine isn't that kind of.

[B]

By a dog. Perfect blowing. Because Luke Skywalker was a post game player, a postseason player. He was a dog.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

These Storm Troopers, they're all analytic regular season guys.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You need a Chewbacca. You need a Han Solo.

[A]

Yeah. Hell yeah, you do.

[B]

These guys, these guys come to play in the post regular season. I don't care about the regular season. You saw.

[A]

Just get me to October. I'll get us home.

[B]

Right. What was.

[A]

What was. Hans Ship the Millennium.

[B]

Millennium Falcon. This piece of garbage, right? They barely could get from place to place, but when they needed it, it got done. Did he call it a piece of garbage? It wasn't good. Come on. I don't. I know enough about garbage. That wasn't.

[A]

Well, tell them about the Kessel Run. Pick a piece of garbage.

[B]

What was it? Car. What was it? I can't think of what it was. Carceps. I would.

[A]

As parsecs.

[B]

You're just too. Dude. The fact that you have. The sex life that you have with all this knowledge is amazing.

[A]

But it was.

[B]

It was a rickety old. They weren't sure they didn't have enough gas. They're putting five bucks of gas to get from place to place. But you know what?

[A]

When it met, it got it done. You got to put something on afterwards.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Right.

[B]

But meanwhile you got this operational Death Star. 162 games can't die. All of a sudden, the postseason. What it gets. Gets folded in half. Come on. You know I'm right.

[A]

Such a great point though. Both times they built this thing and both times they blown up by some. Some.

[B]

Some. Some butcher. Some. The mucker and grinder in the corners.

[A]

Getting job looking Nerf hurt.

[B]

Right? Exactly. They march in single file to hide their numbers.

[C]

This episode is brought to you by.

[B]

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[A]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[B]

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]

All right, let's let it rip for you. 1-800-919-3776. Let's go to Anthony in the Bronx. You're on ESPN New York. What's up Tony?

[C]

What's up fellas? Well, listen. Listen to you. I know you're emptied out, but listen, as a Yankee fan and I got to agree with both of you, you know, Boone plays the players that is given to him by Cashmen. It's Cashmen that brings the players to boom. So it's not relatively Boone's fault, but I'm not in love with Boone as a manager. But it's Brian Cashman and I agree with you that the Yankees we have gotten so arrogant that we can't follow nobody else's formula. Like these teams that have $100 million less payroll than we have. You know, who's making the playoffs, who's winning world championships. And so we can't follow that formula. We keep following the same formula and we got guys, including Judge. Let's don't take Judge off the hook. He had one good game. But the but the but the Toronto first Baseman. He wrecked the whole Series. That's what superstars do, and we don't have those kind of players. Hideki Matsui came 19. What? 2009, he wrecked the series. Alex Rodriguez. 2009, he wrecked the series. Reggie Jackson. You know why the fans love Reggie Jackson? He only played five seasons with the Yankees because he wrecked the World Series. We need players like that. Gamers, dogs out there doing their thing. But until Cashmere changes philosophy, we're going to repeat the same old things, looking for different results. It's time for change. And then you're right. Cashman has got to go.

[B]

Well, it's. Well said, everything. But I'm not getting on. Judge.

[A]

No, the judge thing's incorrect.

[B]

Not this year.

[A]

Hey, Guerrero. The reason why Guerrero was able to wreck the series and he did. He was unbelievable, was because he had other people also. Like Clement. Like, they had other people that were also causing trouble. Problem with judges. He was doing everything and then looking around. Anybody else want to join me?

[B]

He was on an island by himself. He tried. He tried to carry the team. But unlike basketball, where one guy, LeBron James might be able to drag his team through a series or a hot goaltender in hockey can, you know, drag a team through a series where they don't play well, but he stands on his head, that doesn't work in baseball.

[A]

All right, before we get back to the calls, quickly, can you guess, knowing that Judge hit.600 in the series.

[B]

Right. Like 500 for the playoffs.

[A]

Right. But just in the series. What regular player, which means he played in all four games, was the next highest batting average.

[B]

The next highest batting.

[A]

Who was it?

[B]

Just trying to think. Just.

[A]

I won't even ask you for the batting average. Just give me the name of the player who had the next highest batting average. Let me just. After Judd, he had to play in all four games.

[B]

Oh, it certainly wasn't Grisham because he was. He was terrible. Wasn't Volpe, because he was awful as well. Goldschmidt didn't play in every game. Rice didn't play in every game. Wells.

[A]

No.

[B]

Who?

[A]

Wells had 231. Ryan McMahon, the third baseman, the guy who is usually bats nice playing every game. He did. He appeared. He appeared in every game.

[B]

He appeared in every game. Okay. Yeah.

[A]

Well, I say he appeared in every game.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because he bats. He hit.300.

[B]

Yeah. And he had the.

[A]

So Stanton was 267. Goldschmidt played in three games. He was.250. Wells played all four. He was 231. Bellinger all four.188. All the guys on the interstate. Ready? Bellinger, Rice, Chisholm, Grisham, and then Volpe. Jeez. He was on the state road.

[B]

Bellinger might have been injured, but he's in there, right? He's playing. That's what Derek Jeter would always say.

[A]

4 RBI, though. Even though he didn't do anything with the bat, he still got your 4 RBI.

[B]

Yeah. In that 137 loss, saying, I'm not.

[A]

Taking Judge off the hook. No, no, he didn't have one good game. He had a great series. The problem is nobody else. No support. And we got a tweet before. It was like, judge has to carry the team to a championship. Name me the last baseball player.

[B]

You can't do it.

[A]

To carry a team to win a.

[B]

Championship, you only get four at bats. So if you homer in every at bat, you still need a pitcher. You still need a bullpen to be able to shut them down. You need. You need help, man.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And also defensively, they didn't kick the ball around like they did last year. But that. That Jazz.

[A]

Oh, that was it. That was the game that was killed.

[B]

That was killer. Like any at 2:1 ate him up at 2:1. Yep. You're thinking, all right. All you need, you know, Judge is going to get a couple of bats. He'll run into one here, tie the game, maybe win an extra innings, force a game five. That opened the floodgates for once. It was four one.

[A]

It was felt.

[B]

It was over.

[A]

Yeah. All right, back to the calls. Let him rip, Donnie. Let him rip.

[B]

Roger. Bronx. Go.

[C]

Hey, what's up, guys, huh? Huge fan. Because you are a Yankees fan. You said everything that all of us are thinking. I got two things I want to say. The first thing. Cashmere. Gotta go. You're right. Players have come and gone. They've changed. You can't keep blaming the players. It's the same philosophy. And two, I was disgusted the way they protected Volpe yesterday in the ninth inning because they knew. They knew he's gonna get booed. They didn't pinch in for him. They didn't pitch in for him two innings ago. They did in the ninth when the game was pretty much over. It was disgusting. And that comes from the top. We all know. We know who's running the show. Even Jeter called it out. Jeter himself called that out. I'm gonna hang up so I can listen to what you guys gotta say.

[B]

Wrong.

[A]

Jeter was. You could see it. He was smoldering during that post Game.

[B]

Remember, he's got no love for Cashman.

[A]

So he doesn't like the approach. He doesn't like all the things that I'm saying is what he won't. He has hinted to, but he'll never say you. I would love to hear him like it's just a one on one conversation and hear him rip.

[B]

And Alex got on him too. And there's a little. There's a thing going on from the post game where Alex said that Boone. That they're pulling strings from above. And then there was another report that says Boone does make the decisions. Michael's been saying it forever. We've been saying it forever. It's semantics. Boone is in lockstep with everything that they do. So whether it's, you know, the chicken or the egg, it doesn't matter. It's like Boone is doing. He's not. He's not doing their bidding. He's doing his own bidding. He agrees with them.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So they're both right. Like, so there isn't any outside the box thinking because there doesn't need to be because Boone agrees with everything. So nobody's calling from above down to do this, do that. But it's all mapped out beforehand and he's involved in it. The problem is it almost is cultish in the sense that. So everybody agrees. There isn't one person that goes, maybe we shouldn't do it that way. What happens? Do they like, spontaneously combust? If you disagree, how can you have all these people, the Tampa people, the Cashman people, Boone, all the. And they all like, yeah, yeah. That's the way you do it.

[A]

Yeah, right. They all just nod.

[B]

How can everybody be of like mind? That's scary.

[A]

Great idea. B.C.

[B]

You know what?

[A]

I agree too. B.C.

[B]

Because you know what?

[A]

Let's keep doing it that way BC you're the man.

[B]

BC you know what I think when that happens, when everybody agrees with the boss, it's because they're scared they're gonna lose their job.

[A]

They all want to keep their jobs.

[B]

Because you can't all listen, Alan, I love you. We've known each other for 25 years. I would be scared if we agreed on everything.

[A]

We never. We don't see us argue over at lunches.

[B]

Life, right? I mean, listen, I married my wife. I spend my whole life with her. We don't agree on everything. When you agree on everything, it's somebody staging it. Somebody's faking it. Somebody's scared that the other one's gonna leave. Somebody scared they're gonna get Beat up, Somebody's scared they're gonna lose their job.

[A]

Trust anyone's real opinion if they don't ever disagree with you.

[B]

Right, That's. That's an issue.

[A]

Now I'm wondering are you, are you ever honest with me or are you just. You just go with it because you don't want to argue.

[B]

I've lost respect you now because I'm going to obviously lose respect for you. You're listening to Don Han and Rosenberg on 880 ESPN, WHSQ and WCBS FM HD2 New York. Tommy Lyndon.

[A]

Go let him rip, Donnie.

[C]

Hey, guys, I'm just seeing a pattern here. It's starting to really look unfortunately like the. The Billy Bean A's. And that's what happens when it sounds like they rely 100% on analytics. And you were talking before about the heart and the gut and not. Not watching the game. I mean, pulling schwindler last night, 88 pitches I didn't know about.

[A]

You know what, it's a. I never thought to bring that up. I was wondering the same thing. Why would they take it out Lanes? And you saw him come out the first time, right? Yeah.

[B]

You were texting like, better not take him out.

[A]

The crowd was booing. And then when he turned around and walked away, they gave the kid the option or did he just want to talk to him or get a feel? Whatever it was, I don't know. But the fact that they took him, when they took him out, I'm like, wait a second, why don't we have.

[B]

To get to this now? Again, their argument would be, well, look how good the bullpen was last night. The night before, which it was. It was weird. But Tommy, that was very curious. 88 pitches, really? I mean, even by the hundred standard, you could still get a couple more batters with 12 more pitches.

[A]

Was he losing it? I mean, I know he wasn't mowing people down, but he looked like. Well, I'll tell you what, by the way, side note, I am excited for next year for one reason. When they get Cole back, they got four really good pitchers.

[B]

They'll win 100 games, win the division.

[A]

They got four guys that can go get ready.

[B]

I mean, October 9th, next year, except the 4th.

[A]

October, what's going to happen except we get talked over?

[B]

What else you got, Tommy?

[C]

Yeah, it just, I mean, again, they don't have guys. I mean, the, the analytics work over a long period of time, as you say, but they're playing the best players now and the best teams, and I just think they're relying way too much on the numbers.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

As you say, it's planned out and they're not going by their gut. That's part of the reason Girardi got fired. Everyone said he didn't want to listen to that.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And Joe Tory, too, to a certain extent, they felt that he wasn't like that.

[A]

Well, don't you wonder. And Tommy, think about it, because what you're saying makes a lot of sense. If you are. If they know you're going by the numbers and they all like. It's not like some magical numbers that no one knows about. Everybody has the numbers. Right. Aren't you predictable? Doesn't it make it easier to prepare for you? And again, playoff series are different than a series in July or a series in June or a series in May or even August. When you're, you know, you're going from one city to another, you're bouncing around, you got. Everybody's got to read the reports. Not everybody's going to read the reports. They're not going to know all the details.

[B]

Like.

[A]

But when you get to a playoff series, especially when you have a week to prepare, you're going to know everything. You're going to know chapter and verse about the opponent, and that's when it becomes predictable.

[B]

But also, these aren't robots, okay? You program them to hit and they hit. All right? Vlad Guerrero seemed to know what was coming.

[A]

It felt like it.

[B]

But he still had to execute. He still had to hit it. Right. Wells is told in the situation where, you know, he came up with the bases loaded, right, pitcher can't find the plate, swings at the first pitch. Why? Because the analytics tell you when a guy can't find the strike zone, he's going to throw a fastball. So jump that fastball. He did, but he didn't execute. Lazy fly ball to left. The players still have to execute. Allen, you've got to get the right players that can play your reindeer games. All right? So I'm all for following these numbers, but you still got to execute it. Just because the Blue Jays did a great job scouting the Yankees give credit to the players. They executed. They executed a plan to a T.

[A]

Yeah, they were locked in.

[B]

I mean, so it is still about the players. And can the players execute this? Not lefty hits righty, launch angle, exit velocity, home run now.

[A]

Does not compute.

[B]

It's great if you're, if you're playing the game on a computer and. Yeah, somebody used the old adage on the phone call earlier. You know, the game's not played on paper. To the analytic people, they believe the game is played on paper.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But make sure you've got the right players to get it done. Matt, New York City, you're on espn.

[C]

New York, dude. This guy has had the most resources in baseball for 25 years, the most money. He's won one World Series in 25 years, and he only did it when he did what everyone told him to do, which was signed Cece Sabathi and Mark Teixeira every other year. He's been resistant to do the obvious thing because he wants to build the team in his image, which is home runs, bat 220, strikeout 100 times. The Yankees have had 10 guys with 100 strikeouts this year. They struck out 66 times in seven games. The highest contact rates and lowest KO rates in the last 10 years. 2015 Royals World Series champion 17 to 22. Astros won multiple World Series 2022 Guardians finished second to the Astros. Nationals won a World Series. The only outlier is the Texas Rangers. They had three guys on the team that struck out 100 times. Because when you put the ball on bite in playoffs, guys make mistakes. And it's for all the big home runs that the 90s Yankees had. They had a lot of times where they hit a ground ball to short and a Brave shortstop botched it and made an error. Because in the postseason, those plays become less easy to make.

[A]

And that was game three.

[B]

That's what happened in game three. That's how they won game three.

[A]

Excellent call, by the way. You came prepared.

[B]

Yeah. Good job, man.

[C]

How many times have you seen someone come into Yankee Stadium? Kenny Rogers or some bum shut down the Yankees because they strike out nine or 10 times? Because he gets guys that are all or nothing. And the problem is home runs do in postseason games. But you only hit home runs when you get pitches to hit, and that's when players get on base, but there's never anybody on base to make them pitch to. Aaron Judge to hit home runs. So that's all I got to say.

[B]

Well, hey, man, say this, man, and I'll split the difference.

[A]

Amen.

[B]

You got to hit home runs because the Blue Jays, even with their not striking out, they hit home runs. Home runs are key. I get it, you want to hit home runs, but can we split the difference and say, okay, once you got two strikes on you, maybe you change the approach like Bellinger. Yeah, like, you know what? Unfortunately, the home run now is off the table because it's 02. So now that's What Bellinger does.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And Bellinger.

[A]

Bellinger breaks from the mold. He's just like, I don't do that.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I do this.

[B]

He does, and we'll see. Are they gonna bring him back? We'll find out. Listen, and I want to say. I want to say this, too. That's a kid that gets it.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

All right. Because he's gonna opt out. Everybody knows he's gonna opt out. He's not gonna take $25 million and stay. He's gonna opt out. That's the smart thing to do. But what did he say? I'm gonna talk about it with my family. Not like Pete Alonso. I'm gone. Not like, you know, Cole and Soto already got different hats on. It's all business. Give the kid credit, man. Like, he loves being here, right? His dad was here. Yeah, but he's also. It's a business.

[A]

Judge loves him.

[B]

So the smart thing is to opt out, and we'll see if the Yankees are going to pay him.

[A]

And I'm telling you, Judge is the type of guy that you come and ask me. I'll tell you, but don't. I'm not going to force my will on the front office.

[B]

Well, maybe he should now. Cash.

[A]

No, no, they better. They better go to him. Because again, you can't keep taking people away from him. Soto, you took away from him. Right. You can't take Bellinger away from him now.

[B]

But wouldn't it be doing this? Listen, I'm not asking Judge to be or do something that he isn't capable of doing. But he's a partner in this thing with the contract that he got. I'm not saying you got to kick down the door, but just say I'm certain.

[A]

Guys, though, he's not about that. Because if he does become about that now you're taking on responsibility, and that's not right. Like, you don't want that as a player, especially as a team leader, because other players didn't look and go, oh, you wanted him here. You didn't want. He doesn't want that. Don't want that. I've talked to players about this. I understand they're very careful with how they do it. But if you approach me, I'll give you my opinion, but I'm not forcing my will because then that gets out, and now it looks like I'm hand picking.

[B]

I get it.

[A]

But that can ruin a room.

[B]

Not like I hate when players, like, take it to the media and they're grandiose about it, trying to play general Manager. I'm just saying that, you know, his legacy's on the line. He's the highest paid player on the team. He's the best player on the team. He's the best player in baseball. It wouldn't be anything wrong to knock on the door and say, brian, hey, listen, my two cents. You do what you got to do. You're the boss. But I'd like Bellinger to stay here, make it happen.

[A]

I think if you listen to him, last night, he sounded like that's what he was kind of saying.

[B]

I hope that's because I do think there's a difference there, too, of grandstanding and being the man and being selfish and just say, hey, I want to win here, and I'm a partner in this. You gave me a monster contract. I'm not trying to step on any toes. But listen, if you. If you want my two cents, it's that. Yeah, Curly in Brooklyn. You're on ESPN New York.

[C]

Hey, what's going on, fellas? Thanks for taking the call to the time. I feel like you guys have already, and all the callers are saying what I wanted to say, but I'm going to try to coalesce it into a full point. I got two. So the first one is the formula is bad, right? So we know. Everyone knows that Han is saying that. You're saying that. And this is the right stage where everyone to call them because you guys say that the most. Cashmen and. And everything else, the front office, how they put together the team. The formula is missing pieces. They're just holding. You want to make a steak dinner. All you feel. All you feel you have to do is just say steak. You don't get any asparagus. There's nothing to go with it. And then we got. Well, the busboy is going to cook the steak as well as the chef is going to cook the steak. We don't need all of the players trying to hit home runs. When you're putting together a team that to win a championship, they say, we need pitching. We need. We need. We need hitting. But when it comes to breaking down the parts of each. You only want to hit home runs when it comes to hitting. So obviously, there's more than home runs. You're not just. You're not going to hit solo home runs and win the game all the time. Right now, you know, bunch of solo home runs. People got to be on base. You want to hit two and three run home runs. And all these other teams are doing better at putting the formula together. They're getting parts of. They're not one dimensional. That's, that's. Long story short, they're not one dimensional and the Yankees are one dimensional and you have up and down the lineup because, oh, you drive the ball out, you're going to win the game. Everybody's trying to do it. Not everybody can be judged. And it's messing up these guys swings. The, the game plan was simple for the Blue Jays. A bunch of players that can keep their bat. Keep the bat in the strike zone. That's all it is. The longer you have the bat in the strike zone, the more chance you're going to make contact. The more, the more, the more chances that pitch. Ha. That pitcher has to be perfect at hitting that spot and getting. And getting you out. And nine times out of 10, the odds are that's not going to happen. Right.

[B]

Well, how many times, how many times the Blue Jays strike out in this series? What was like 12? So some ridiculous. Right.

[A]

It's a very low number. Yeah.

[B]

Bad on ball, man. But they, they, again, they don't not get it. Like, they just, they just disagree. Like, it's not out of ignorance, it's out of stubbornness. We believe this is the best way home runs win games. I want all my guys to be able to hit home runs.

[A]

They struck out 24 times.

[B]

There's the Blue Jays.

[A]

Yeah. Over in the series.

[B]

That's so, so that's what, in four games? That's compared to like how many times the Yankees strike out.

[A]

Yankees struck out 37. The swing and miss stat was the one they had last night on Fox.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Mind blowing. Mind blowing.

[B]

Oh, just. And guys are working counts, fouling balls off. It's like, oh, my God.

[A]

It was just like waiting for the majority of those strikes. Strikeouts for the Blue Jays came in game three.

[B]

Right. That must have been the stat. Well, how many times they strike out in game three?

[A]

Game three strikeout was 11.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So 11 of the 23.

[B]

11 of the 23. Because 10 stuck on my. I think, I think they gave the stat like going into this sixth inning or seventh inning in the, in, in, in the wins. I think they only struck out 10 times. Like something ridiculous.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then strike out a ton. But they look at it and go, oh, listen, I, I get the strikeout, but I want my guy hitting home runs. There's nothing wrong with a home run. Why do I want to hit three? Why do I get three singles to get one run when one swing of the bat, I can get one run. That's Again, this all, this all makes sense as a math equation. You're right. Same thing with three pointers in the NBA. Why am I working for two points when I can just launch one from half court and get three? Like that's it's all logical in playing it on paper, in theory before the game. But on a night where you're like the. They're mixing and matching. I got a lefty against the lefty here and he's not seeing it. So just get the bat on the ball man. Hit a sacrifice. What was the insurance run that the Blue Jays got to make it 5:1.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Just a little looper. Right. I'm not trying to hit a two run home run. Yeah, it'd be nice if I hit one, make it six one. But you know what? Two outs, runner at the defensive at bat.

[A]

Just throw the bat on the ball and it just finds a hole.

[B]

It was one out. So it's like I'm trying to hit a. Just hit a fly ball. Let's get that run in, man. I don't want to strand in there. I don't want to give them momentum at 4:1 and have them get out of Dodge. Leaving a guy stranded at third. God, how many guys. Big innings.

[A]

And it's always the like. To me again the two things that stand out is that and the bottom of the order never seems to be able to produce ever. Like most teams obviously the bottom of the order doesn't produce well. But the better teams always have one or two guys that just, you know, they just find a way. Yeah. And if judges like if judges hitting second the one time that he's going to have the leadoff batter in front of him and that's it is the beginning of the game. After that the eight and nine guys are important as like like it's almost like again putting Judge in cleanup. Old school is so that you get a couple of guys on base when he hits these home runs.

[B]

Right.

[A]

When he's going he's going to do something big. When you're playing a guy when he's hitting the two hole, I understand it's more at bats for him. But you're also getting the 8 and 9 guy you're awful hoping gets on base so that someone's on base when he does hit a home run.

[B]

Right? Yeah. Right.

[A]

The 89 guy is not really your best hitter. Not really your best get on base guys.

[B]

What was the big compliment? There was two things they used to say about the old time Yankees circular lineup and pass the baton yes.

[A]

Yeah, well, that was the old days.

[B]

Well, I'm not hitting a home run here, but I'm going to get a single. Next guy will hit a home run. Oh, he'll get a single. Next guy, I'll get a home run. And again, it would have been nice. Wells hit the grand slam home run. But you know, maybe if his, if his philosophy is, I'm, I just want, I just want to drive a line, drive someplace, get a base hit, that'd be two runs and boy, maybe that would have really changed everything.

[A]

Talk about stepping up.

[B]

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[C]

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[B]

Let's go to Rodney in Westchester. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, man?

[C]

Hey, what's going on, fellas? A big fan of you guys. Just. Man, I'm gonna go out and say it. I'm saying right now, as a Yankee fan, long time, the Yankees replaced Juan Soto, but they didn't replace Juan Soto. And I'm gonna say what I mean by that.

[A]

I know what you mean.

[C]

Last night you got what I mean, right?

[A]

I know what you mean. Yeah.

[C]

And Alan and Don let me. And then, you know, and this is, this is us as me and now the entrance venting. But it's one of these things where it's like, Juan Soto is that guy that you mentioned in line of those other guys. What we saw last year, that at bat that he hit, that he played the, the picture from the guardians and hit that blast like that's what we needed and we didn't have that. And this goes on into what you were talking about with Judge can't do everything. We didn't know the guy. Well, we had that guy last year and he didn't want to play for us for some freaking reason. Granted, whatever you want to say, money, whatever, it doesn't matter. He's not here anymore. So what did they do? Oh, yeah, we pivoted and we got this guy, this guy. So you got a bunch of bodies. Don't get me wrong, those bodies did the job during the regular season. But guess what? This is the difference. This is where those guys don't equate to that one guy. It's in this moment, is in the Playoffs. That's when the big boys play. That's when the big guys come in and make the move that they need to do. That's where, that's why when, when Uncle Steve paid all that money for Juan Soto, he paid it for those moments. Now granted, yes, the mess didn't make the playoffs this year. That's not going to happen again because I'm assuming that they're going to do what it takes because they really want to win a title. Unlike the team. I'm sorry unlike the team in the Bronx that what they're happy with is guess what? Let's raise the banner for having another winning season. This is what it is about now and this is what we have to. And honest, you know, I don't want to accept this but this is what they are about.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

It's a building full. And if the ratings and yes are high. Is that good? Great. Let's, let's, let's put on. Let's, let's, let's show them that we're good. Hun. You've seen that the Jada Kiss meme. It's good. Yeah, but it's not enough. What this is about.

[A]

That's exactly what, that's the best way to put it is every fan acknowledges like we get it that every year it's good but at some point you're like okay, we can't keep getting to October and it's a letdown every time. Like at some point when are you like this has to all this like cheering for six months. It's got to lead to something. You know, it's almost like that, you know that date in high school.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Yeah, you probably do.

[B]

But I'll tell you what triples got you through high school.

[A]

Bellinger and Soto, the comparisons are interesting. Right? Year to year, so very close in games played during the regular season. Soto played 157 games last year for the Yankees. 41 home runs, 109 RBI.

[B]

Right.

[A]

That's terrific. Bellinger, 152 games. There's five fewer.

[B]

That's it.

[A]

29 home runs, 98 RBI. And that's the second highest RBI on the team.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Judge still carrying the offense but you needed that sec. And that's I think what, what he's trying to suggest to call and that's. You're kind of missing that second dude.

[B]

But.

[A]

And Bellinger. Good. But.

[B]

And I know we're beating up on the Yankees, but I don't think, I don't think Bellinger was healthy. I think the heel was a problem for him. I can't prove it. But.

[A]

But I gave those numbers through the regular. The whole season. I didn't give you his playoff numbers. Right.

[B]

Numbers weren't. Were very good.

[A]

No, but I'm saying.

[B]

So maybe they would have been if he didn't hurt the heel, because that was at the end of the Boston series. So, like, maybe, maybe things would have been a little bit. But the way the Yankees would counter that call is, well, the Mets had. Juan Soto didn't make the playoffs, and we want to make the playoffs because.

[A]

They didn't have a dude.

[B]

Because maybe if, because their thinking is going to be, listen, if I caved and gave him the suite and let him family run around during batting practice or whatever. Yeah. Then maybe I would have got a less engaged guy in the regular season than Bellinger was. And maybe it would have affected us in the regular season and we don't make the playoffs. I'm not, I'm not saying they're right, but that. Because Bellinger was great.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, all the Yankee fans don't listen when Soto left. Maybe it was just a way to kind of put a salve on. It was, hey, we love the pivot. You know, we got Freed, we got Bellinger, we got Goldschmidt. Well, Goldschmidt ended up being a part time player. Bellinger didn't do anything. The series against Toronto and Max Freed cost you in the one game he pitched against Toronto because his knees were knocking. Didn't seem like he could handle it.

[A]

Brutal.

[B]

All right, so. But in the regular season, Max Freed's going to win the Cy Young, Right? Bellinger was the second best player on the team offensively, you know, and Goldschmidt was a pretty solid first baseman until Rice took over, like, so again, they won't look at that as a failure. They'll look at it and go, all right, well, the Mets missed the playoffs.

[A]

I'm not saying it's a failure. I'm just saying that, like, when you're looking at all the little things like, that's another thing where you just, yeah, there's kind of missing that guy, Juan Soto.

[B]

His bat would have been telling me that we wouldn't have helped at least yesterday when you get hits going into the eighth.

[A]

But I'm, I'm going to, I'm going to continue to say it. We got to stop focusing on the players. This goes beyond the players. This goes beyond the approach. This, this is, it's what the Yankees want to be. And one man decides that, and it's the same guy. Well, for the last 25.

[B]

And you know what the Yankee fans are saying right now? We're going to get back to your calls at 1-800-919-3776. Maybe you'll say it yourself, is that they're thinking, well, why didn't you bring back Soto, give him what he wanted, and signed Freed and signed Goldschmidt, like with the New York Yankees, for God's sakes. The Dodgers had a $414 million payroll. Well, why are we not giving Soto what he wanted? We want to win that championship. We went to the World Series. You're not leaving the building. What do you need? We'll do it, all right? And we'll still get Max Freed and we'll have a $400 million. That's what the fans are saying.

[A]

Because there should be urgency in. And getting one while Judge is in his prime, before he starts to decline, before Cole starts to decline. There has to be an urgency to do it now.

[B]

And there could have been a sense of urgency in the sense that we also need somebody to replace Judge. Soto would still be, what, 30 when Judge is done, and we'd have the next superstar on our team. But they were thinking, you know what? We don't want to set a precedent. And I understood. Again, I'm not going to sit here and say this happened because of soda.

[A]

But, Don, you were still good enough, in my opinion. You won 94 games. You were good enough to win the World Series this year. You were right. But you didn't play well enough.

[B]

And that. And last year. And last year, Yankee fans could kill me. Last year, I. You could live with it. Because I think they. I think they lost to a better team. I know the Yankees handed it to him in game one with the home run for the Freedman home run, and they kicked the ball around in Game 5. I still believe in my heart the Dodgers were the better team.

[A]

All right, but fine.

[B]

Were.

[A]

But they weren't that.

[B]

Were the Astros always better? You know, I think the Blue Jays are better, too. But are they that much better?

[A]

The Blue Jays play their game better than the Yankees play their game.

[B]

And the other thing, too. And then this is part of it, too, in analyzing it. They got dunked on in this series.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

I mean, they didn't lose in five. And every game was a one run game.

[A]

This was.

[B]

They got beat the heck up. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, this was. This was Kobe, Shaq, Lakers.

[B]

Yeah, they came in, except Judge put up a 50 spot in the game and they won.

[A]

Yeah. Judge was Allen Iverson. Right.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Yeah, that's it. Stepped over Guerrero 1 in Game 3, but aside from that, this was Kobe, Shaq. They were just too freaking good.

[B]

So I.

[A]

But they aren't Kobe, Shaq. That's the problem. They play their way better than you play your way.

[B]

And I got to tell you, if you're.

[A]

We've said that about the Rays. We've said that about the Astros, the Red Sox. That's been the problem. The Yankees run into that wall because the other team plays their way better than you play yours.

[B]

And I'll say this. And I get accused of telling Yankee fans how to root. I'm telling you how to root. Root for the Blue Jays to win the whole thing.

[A]

The whole thing.

[B]

Because if the Blue Jays get, like, swept by the Mariners, you're going to be sick to your stomach.

[A]

That's a good point.

[B]

At least if the Blue Jays go on a run, beat the, sweep the Dodgers in the World Series, you'll be like, all right, that's a really good team we lost to. But if, like, the Blue Jays get swept in four by, like, the Tigers and don't score, how red hot would you be? Think about it. You would be. You're a Yankee fan. I know you hate the Blue Jays right now and everything they're about, but don't you have to, like, hope that they end up killing everybody?

[A]

Has to be a part of you that says, well, just now go on and take it all the way to the end. So at least you could say that they were just on the. They were on that heater this year again. That's a good point.

[B]

And also, I. I'm telling you how to do this is my opinion. If I were a Yankee, because I'm a Met fan, I, I went through it. Don't you respect the Blue Jays for. I. I'm not. Because they didn't.

[A]

I don't.

[B]

I, I didn't. I didn't sense any disrespect. Maybe you felt there was disrespect by.

[A]

The Blue Jays celebrating on the field.

[B]

Well, no, no, they should celebrate. They just won. No, no, what I'm. What I'm saying is, is that the, the, the work that they put in. They owned you. You got it. You got it. You got to respect. What did I tell you?

[A]

Yeah, well, do you remember what I was saying before the Series started? I was warning you. They want this.

[B]

Oh, yeah, listen, they're going to be ready. They play with A chip on the shoulder.

[A]

It's because what John Schneider did with that team, getting them ready.

[B]

Yeah, they were prepared.

[A]

You got to respect their staff. Everything they did to prepare for this series, it showed from the first pitch. And I give them credit because they were. They were ready for everything. Incredibly.

[B]

Just. Just because we were talking about Guerrero before. Just an observer. I don't know if anybody else picked it up.

[A]

What, What?

[B]

Now, as a guy with a beard, I'm always conscious of it. If you're gonna spit, make sure it clears the beard. Every time he spit, it ended up.

[A]

He's like sitting right there. He had a little loogie right there.

[B]

It was so cross.

[A]

So true.

[B]

So he was probably irritating Yankee fans to begin with. Like, that was it. Like, I don't know if he had sunflower seeds, but whatever it was, he spit and like, it. It didn't clear.

[A]

There was one time I really. I got so sick of Fernando Valenzuela's face.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

Because they. They did a close up on him. Like, the Yankees couldn't touch him in that World series. Right.

[B]

In 81.

[A]

Yeah. And they did a close up of him. And just as they did the close up, he like, hawked a loogie and then he. He had it on his tongue for a second before he spit.

[B]

Yeah, I. I remember that.

[A]

I'll never forget that. And just being like, this guy's disgusting.

[B]

Like, I was so mad, you know, not in a bad way, but, like, because watching all those Giant games, Madison Bumgardner with the Snot rockets, where he would. He would hold in the one nostril.

[A]

And just like, yeah, just let one.

[B]

Listen. I respect you, man. You're a hell of a pitcher, but I don't need to see that right.

[A]

On the field television.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, but 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.