Hour 3: Game 3 & Damien Woody

Summary

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Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 3: Game 3 & Damien Woody

ESPN New York | October 2, 2025
Hosts: Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg, Don La Greca (rotating/occasional voice)
Special Guest: Damien Woody

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Episode Overview

This episode is all about anticipation and nerves ahead of Yankees-Red Sox Game 3, the deciding game in the MLB playoff series. Alan Hahn and Peter Rosenberg break down the pitching matchups, bullpen exhaustion, managerial strategies, and the pressure on key Yankee players—most notably Aaron Judge. The hour also features a lively conversation with Damien Woody about fandom, New York Giants rookie energy, and the frustration enveloping the New York Jets. Listeners weigh in on Yankees lineup decisions and the emotional stakes of the game.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Yankees vs. Red Sox: Game 3 Preview

Pitching Strategies, Pressure, and Bullpen Dynamics

• Both teams face uncertain starting pitching: Yankees turn to Cam Schlitler (local Boston kid but lifelong Yankees fan), while Red Sox hand the ball to young lefty Connolly Early.
• Discussed the “opener” strategy for both sides with potential quick hooks if pitchers get into trouble.
  • “Schlitler's not going to be allowed to get out of a, you know, bases loaded jam…he’s gone.” — Alan Hahn [02:00]
  • Boston's bullpen is "pretty spent." Chapman is their freshest big-name reliever.
• Analysis of potential bullpen order: Warren, Cruz, Bednar, Williams, and pitching on three straight days ("blow it all up" approach for elimination).
• Score projections vary: Rosenberg expects more offense, Hahn leans towards another close game given how managers will pull pitchers before things get away.

Notable Quote:
"You gave up four runs, I'm taking...you're not gonna get to that point." — Alan Hahn [07:28]

2. The Young Starters’ Backstories & Poise

• Both Schlitler and Early are young, without postseason experience—but Schlitler has given length and quality starts late in the season, and there's emotional subtext as a Boston kid facing the Red Sox.
  • “It’s a kind of cool story…how he’s got a chance to eliminate the Red Sox.” — Peter Rosenberg [04:31]
• Early’s poise is highlighted—despite inexperience, Boston trusts him in a massive spot.
  • “They have been most impressed with...the ability to show some poise.” — Rosenberg [08:41]
• Both haven't faced tonight’s opponents, which could briefly tilt things in pitchers’ favor due to unfamiliarity.

3. Yankees Lineup Decisions and Judge’s Moment

• Discussion on Yankees sticking with Ben Rice and Jazz in the lineup against a lefty due to the likelihood of Early’s early exit.
  • “I like this lineup. I didn't like the lineup in game one, but again that was against the lefty that was one of the best in baseball…” — Alan Hahn [43:06]
• Stat breakdowns and psychological readiness for both sides’ hitters.
• Focused debate on Aaron Judge, his performance (batting .500 in series, 1 RBI), and the looming sense this could be his “moment.”
  • “This is that first chance for him to have a moment that everybody’s been waiting for.” — Peter Rosenberg [14:05]
• Discussion about the legendary Bucky Dent homer anniversary and its poetic symmetry.

Memorable Segment:
“Doesn't tonight feel like that tone setting? … Judge hitting it out of the park is what you're waiting for.” — Peter Rosenberg [13:24]

4. Listener Calls: Defensive Strategy and Stakes

• Caller Steve suggests using Caballero to defensively replace Judge if Yankees have a late-inning lead — hosts firmly disagree.
  • “There's no scenario in which you're gonna take him out of the game.” — Alan Hahn [20:48]
• Anxiety about Alex Cora’s creativity as Red Sox manager and potential for late-game trickery.
• Another caller, Mike, articulates the embarrassment and failure if the Yankees lose after all the trash talk about the Mets.
  • “It would be like getting dumped by the beautiful girl…then the new girl you’re with slaps you in the face right in front of her.” — Don Hahn (caller, not host) [37:32]
• Debate about bullpen management: Should relievers like Bednar and Williams be used three days in a row in an elimination game? (Consensus: You have no choice.)

5. Damien Woody Interview — Fandom and Football

• Damian Woody surprises everyone: despite assumptions, he’s a Red Sox fan (due to Boston College), not a Yankees fan.
  • “If y'all want to cut the interview short, I completely understand.” — Damien Woody, joking [23:48]
• Reflects on what makes college baseball and Fenway unique from a fan perspective—roots for the ‘vibe.’
• Football talk: Raves about the infusion of “new juice” with Giants rookies (Jackson Dart at QB, Cam Scatter Boo at RB), crediting energy for the team’s best defensive outing.
  • “You introduce new energy, new juice, it permeates throughout the whole organization.” — Damien Woody [25:13]
• Warns about the risk of young QBs taking unnecessary hits, echoing advice from O-linemen to “just slide.”
  • “Get down. Like, get down. Like, he…he was fearless out there.” — Woody [27:45]
• Praises Giants’ rookie LB Abdul Carter, highlights the need for consistent defensive play.
• Frustration over the Jets’ inability to play smart and disciplined football, highlighting the psychological toll of being “that” team that always finds ways to lose.

Notable Quote:
“I damn near punched a hole in my TV…They are absolutely finding ways to lose games and not giving themselves a chance.” — Damien Woody [30:03]

• Storytime: Woody on playing for perpetually losing teams (Detroit), contrasting with his New England days.
  • “I literally went from the mountaintop to the valley low.” — Woody [31:57]
  • “All guys want to see is…we put all this work in during the week…we just want it to pay off. But it can only pay off if you give yourself a chance by not committing stupid penalties and crazy turnovers.” — Woody [32:55]

6. Live MLB Updates and Rapid-Fire Observations

• Frequent check-ins on other playoff games (Tigers-Guardians, Cubs-Padres) and quick baseball insights as action unfolds.
• Playoff atmosphere, short leashes for starting pitchers, and tough late-inning decisions are constant topics.

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Noteworthy Quotes & Moments

• "You just know that [Chapman] can be overpowering, but he also can lose control fast." — Peter Rosenberg [03:56]
• “I think the first sign of trouble…he’s not going to let him get out of it.” — Alan Hahn on Schlitler’s leash [05:40]
• “You’d be using Williams three days in a row as well...He ended up going two innings. But...it’s three straight days.” — Alan Hahn [40:44]
• “Cora went all for it in game two...that is a weakened staff.” — Peter Rosenberg [40:26]
• “You can't do it, man...[taking out Judge for defense]...There's no scenario in which you're going to take him out of the game.” — Alan Hahn [19:05, 20:48]
• “It’s almost worse than going to the World Series and blowing it there again. Like we need to win this.” — Don Hahn (caller) [38:04]
• On the pain of being on losing teams: “Any little…thing that happens in a negative tone, guys are already starting to check out. They're already like, oh, here we go again.” — Damien Woody [32:20]

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 01:12 | Game 3 anticipation—quick-start stories | | 02:00 | Breakdown of pitching matchups and bullpen plans | | 04:30 | Schlitler’s Boston ties and emotional angle | | 08:41 | Early’s poise, Yankees’ struggles vs. lefties | | 13:24 | Is tonight Judge’s “moment”? | | 14:16 | Bucky Dent home run anniversary | | 17:07 | Caller Steve on defensive replacement for Judge | | 22:35 | Damien Woody joins, reveals Red Sox fandom | | 25:13 | Woody on Giants’ rookie energy giving team new life | | 30:03 | Woody’s frustration over Jets’ self-inflicted wounds | | 31:57 | Woody on being part of losing vs. winning franchises | | 37:32 | Caller Mike: emotional humiliation if Yankees lose | | 40:26 | Discussion of bullpen usage on three straight days | | 43:06 | Yankees lineup choices and game variables |

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Tone, Flow, and Takeaways

The energy is a mix of anxious and excited—a true playoff atmosphere. Alan and Peter toggle between strategic baseball analysis, lived New York sports lore, and trademark banter, while callers bring authentic fan anxiety. The interview with Damien Woody adds depth—switching gears from baseball to football but maintaining the episode's theme: how team “juice,” leadership, and psychological scars play into big moments.

If you missed this episode, you’d come away understanding:

• Why Yankees fans are so invested and nervous ahead of Game 3
• The strategic chess match facing both managers with tired bullpens and rookie starters
• The continued elevation of Aaron Judge as the face of October expectations
• That in New York, emotional stakes—both in baseball and football—are always sky-high, intensified by history and public trash talk

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For more: Listen to Don, Hahn & Rosenberg weekdays at 3pm on ESPN New York or catch the podcast on demand.

Transcript

[Don Hahn]

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[Alan Hahn]

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[Don Hahn]

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[Alan Hahn]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Don Hahn]

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[Alan Hahn]

It's the ultimate fan experience. Level up. For More on the ESPN app or at stream.espn.com sign up now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.

[Alan Hahn]

Game time is brought to you by Tullimore Dew Irish Whiskey. Because when it's game time, Alan, it's Tolly time. It's Tolly time. Yankees Red Sox, Game three is three hours away. Follows Ty Butler at eight on ESPN New York.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You make that sound like it's still a waste to go.

[Alan Hahn]

It's three hours.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, it's. Excited six o'. Clock so much. You don't have to wait. Just get into it. Let's go.

[Alan Hahn]

Dave and I used to have a thing like, because we'd always get to the arena early for like Ranger games and we're like, let's just drop the puck already. We're ready. Let's go.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right.

[Alan Hahn]

There's nobody in the building.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So true.

[Alan Hahn]

Let's just drop the puck. Let's go. It's like 5:30 and we're doing our work in the booth. We've already eaten and it's like, all right, listen. We got to wait another hour and a half. Half. Drop the puck. They're going to the seventh inning in Cleveland. Tigers have a 2 to 1 lead on the Guardians. That game's on ABC. And you can also hear it on 1050. They're just getting underway in Chicago. The Cubs and the Padres. So one of three game threes tonight, along with the Yankees and the Red Sox. Dodgers have already moved on to take on the Philadelphia Phillies. And that'll be coming up on Saturday. After they swept the Reds, we had a chance for this game to be at six. At the Reds one. And I guess it was the fifth inning last night. They're down three two, bases loaded, nobody out. Reds didn't score. And then I think the next inning of the inning after banging.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sorry. The Angels did that.

[Alan Hahn]

Dodgers put up four runs with seven two and lights out. Game over.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The Ohtani looks locked in.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it's. That's a scary team, right? That should be a great series with Philadelphia. Oh, yeah, they're pretty locked in as well, we also have some preseason hockey over at the Garden Rangers and the Devils and the Islanders are in Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. Tullamore Dew, the original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cast matured Iris whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore Dew or try the new Tullamore Dew Honey during today's action. Glasses up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly. So the Yankees have a starting pitcher tonight in schlitler who's made 15 starts all this year, never pitched in the postseason. And Early's going to go for Boston, he's got five starts now he's an opener so he might be one and done. Where the Yankees are hoping that they get a quality start, but I believe it's almost as if they both have openers in the sense that it's gonna be a quick hook. Schlitler's not going to be allowed to get out of a, you know, bases loaded jam, two nothing, one out, he's gone. You're probably going to go to Warren at that point, right? Because you don't want it. You want to stop the bleeding. So it's not like Rodin who got a second chance, got a reprieve. He wanted the ball. What was it, the first, fifth inning when Boone came out. It's not freed who's your ace, so. But still you have an advantage of a guy that can go out there, give you five, six quality innings. He was a good pitcher. He pitched under a 3 earn run average this year. And the Red Sox, if they've got to go to their bullpen, it's a pretty spent bullpen. The only guy they didn't really use of, of that of name was Chapman, right. But he was up twice. Now Cora said after the game he really wasn't. He gets in his routine, kind of warm up. He wasn't throwing in anger so he's fine. Now that might be just a lie, but he didn't pitch in the game. So they've got a closer than go out and he listen, he got a four out save in game one. I would think that he wouldn't hesitate to use him for a six out save tonight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If you're, if you're the Yankees, you want to see him, but yeah, without question you want to see, you want to see him because you just know that he can be overpowering, but he also can lose control fast. And so that's fine. You'd love to see him come in and have to do four outs, five outs or whatever it is. But it is an interesting strategy though if you think about what. Because we always keep talking about what Core is going to do and what he's going to script. How do the Yankees script this? It's a kind of cool story that we haven't mentioned yet. But you know, Cam Schlitler is a Boston kid, but he Yankee fan but he was a Boston kid.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And when you think about his story and how he's got a chance to eliminate the Red Sox, you know Ben Rice, the same kind of story. Right. Wonder what his emotions are going to be for this game.

[Alan Hahn]

No, they're going to be through the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Roof and so do you. He's a guy that actually has given them length. He has had good performances. And so is Warren a only break glass in case of emergency type guy or do you want to keep messing with Boston more almost like what Core was trying to do yesterday and just keep changing the look and so you're going to go. We'll go one time through the order with Schlitler and then give Warren one time through the order and do it that way or if, if the kids dealing stay with it. I, I wonder if they'll have an approach or a plan. You know what they call them lanes. I wonder if they'll have that because of what you said. Devin Williams has pitched already two games. Weaver did not look good in game one and I don't know if. Can you trust him? Would you really put him in this game after what you saw in game one and he had not. He really has not pitched well down the stretch.

[Alan Hahn]

I have no choice. But I don't think it's a lane for him. But Cruz gave you a lot but.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He gave you two games. So can you really go back to him?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, you might have to use Bednar 3 straight. You might have to use Cruz 3 straight can William is like there's listen. But you're going to have no choice right now for the last five games for Cam, you know, seven quality seven innings, two hits, no runs against Baltimore and then before that five and a third at Baltimore, three hits, one run, one run at Minnesota only went four and two thirds the law. The win against Detroit, six innings, five hits, one run and the last stinker he had, he didn't get out of the second inning against Toronto and that 71 loss. He allowed four runs. Yeah. So I really. You're gonna have a quick hook. I think the only way that he gives you more than five is if he's dealing. I think the, the first sign of trouble Depending on the score is like the Yankees put up a five spot. They'll live, they'll. But if you're, if, if you're score, like I said, if you're, you go into the third inning, it's scoreless and the Red Sox get a couple of runs, load the bases, one out. He's not going to let him get out of it, you know, but he'll, he'll stay in the game for. I think, I think when you ask what the plan is, you'd like to get five, then I can get, I can get 12 outs out of my bullpen. There's 12 outs in that bullpen. It's just a matter of what order you want to get into. They're going to have to use Bednar a third straight night, right? They're going to have to.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But that's, that's.

[Alan Hahn]

He's the only guy you trust to close.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Do you agree with me that this is a game you take the over when it comes to total runs. Do you think this is going to be one of those games where it's going to be like a 6, 4 kind of score?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, outside of Threads, which again, no disrespect to Cincinnati, that was playoff adjacent, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

All these games have been what it was. The 61 game, Padres put up six.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, 6 1, but the six was five runs in the eighth inning.

[Alan Hahn]

They've all been close because again, you're, Most of the time when you get blowouts is because you leave a pitcher in and he's just getting rocked. You're not going to allow that to happen here because there's a point of no return for both of these teams.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

Because it works the other way too. When you talk about, I keep bringing in pitchers, eventually somebody might not have it. Keep bringing in pictures, eventually somebody's gonna have it and to kind of stop the bleeding. So there's never gonna be a point. You gave up four runs I'm taking, you know, you're not gonna get to that point, you know, so I think it stays relatively low scoring based on that, but could be high scoring compared to the first two games. Right. What do we get? The game one was three. One last night was four three. So could it be a five four game? It could be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're looking more like that. Well, look, look. Early is the kid again, Connolly. Early is a, he's a Lefty now. He's 23, so he's young, but he's a lefty. And they, they love me. He made his MLB debut on September 9th. Like he's literally wet behind the ears. Right. He's in diapers. But the one thing they have talked about in Boston about him is his poise. That's the thing that they have been most impressed with with him is the ability to show some poise.

[Don Hahn]

He.

[Peter Rosenberg]

His first outing against the Athletics, he struck out 11. Now he's had trouble here and there, but he never gets rattled. How important is that when you're on the mound at Yankee Stadium in elimination game? It's very important. But he's a lefty. And the Yankees do struggle against lefties. And game one, they wouldn't play. They played their lefty hit lefty pitcher lineup, which meant no Ben Rice, which meant. And they took Jazz out. That that upset a lot of people. But in this game, Jazz is in, Rice is in. And what's the reasoning? Well, obviously Crochet is an elite pitcher who's probably going to win the Cy Young and he'll probably, as he did, go to the distance. He's not going to be a guy you bring out first sign of trouble. So I imagine the reasoning here is not we learned our lesson from game one. I believe it is. We know, like you said, that early is probably not going to pitch more than an inning or two.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And why would we want to have to adjust our lineup accordingly? Right. This isn't, this is all. They learned their lesson. They know better. No, I think this is all scripted. They knew exactly how to handle this and they weren't going to overreact to having a lefty on the mound. Agree or disagree?

[Alan Hahn]

Absolutely. 100%. Because nobody, I don't think you're going. He's not going to get a second time through the lineup.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. Okay, so he might go two and two and change.

[Alan Hahn]

Right. He'll probably go two and change. And just looking at his, his game logs of the game that he started, only four. This only his fifth start. I misspoke. I said at five, he had four. He. So this, this is what he gave you in his last outing. Five innings against Detroit, four hits, two runs, four innings against Tampa, five and a third against the Athletics, five again. So he has given you, you know, for, for a kid, he's giving you some length. 33 times he has pitched five innings and one time he pitched into the sixth inning. Yeah, he's not perfect game. And the, and the Red Sox are up six, seven, nothing. I'd be very, very surprised if he gets a second time through the. Or definitely not a third time through so he's probably only going to give you two, maybe three.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And you know, I. That's interesting. It's first time through the order. It's the first time anybody seeing either one of these pitchers, they're both young, right. And neither one of them has faced the, you know, the. Early didn't face the Yankees and Schlitler hasn't faced the Red Sox. So other than film, there's nothing. There's no like, you see it all the time. First time through the order of picture a lot of the guys have never seen before. What do they do? No, the first thing they do is like the next guy that you whisper in his ear, right? They go to the dog out there, watch it. Like it's incredible how much the first time I see him throw, which is why what Judge said about Chapman in game one, he's like, the good thing is we got to see him. How important. You know, it's amazing too because a guy like Chapman, you would think he's been in the league forever, you still need to see him. But it is something, it does matter. So the advantage of. I've never seen this guy before works early in a lot of these starts, no pun intended. So we'll see out of the two of them which one has that advantage of. You've never seen my stuff. And we know that Schlitler can get to triple digits if he's feeling it. And you got to feel like he's going to be jacked up on Mountain Dew.

[Alan Hahn]

Now here's what's interesting with his splits. All right, so you figure against righties, five 1.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Detroit, by the way, top seven. They just broke it open.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay. So it looks like Detroit is advancing here now 57 at bats against righties. They're batting.259 against him. Three walks, 16 strikeouts in 22 at bats against lefties. All right, 150 batting average. And he's got 13 strikeouts. One walk like. But still his numbers, the numbers against righties aren't bad. But clearly he's better against the lefties. So at least in the early going it looks like he will have an advantage against left handed batters. But Boone's thinking long term after Early's way gone from this game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

Who's coming out of the bullpen and wanting to have those guys ready. So he's got. That's why the lineup is different.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now let's have the judge conversation, right. First opportunity for him to have a moment because he's 4 for 8 so far, which is good. He's been good, right? He's been good.

[Alan Hahn]

Batting.500. I know he doesn't have any home runs, but no.

[Peter Rosenberg]

4 for 8.

[Alan Hahn]

That was a. That you could have charged an error on that, right? Would you. Would you have blinked?

[Peter Rosenberg]

It is feet.

[Alan Hahn]

I can get it. But that she should have made that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was it. Was it because he was trying to dive for it? Is that why he just gave it.

[Alan Hahn]

Gotten fooled on it? I'm not sure.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's like a hump. Wasn't it the way that thing came down?

[Alan Hahn]

But still he got the hit, got the RB right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But this is obviously elimination game because Stanton, by the way, has been garbage.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like he looks lost again, which is concerning, but we all know it. All it takes is one for him and then he goes on a heater. But it does feel like. Doesn't tonight feel like that tone setting? Just like in game one when his first at bat, he had a great at bat, right? Boom. Right on base. Set that tone. I think this is one of those games where you're wondering is there going to be a moment for him where it's either a break the game open or put the team ahead or something because the singles have been great, but we all know it. Judge hitting it out of the park is what you're waiting for. Would you agree? Like this is that first chance for him to have a moment that everybody's been waiting for. Is this the judge October that we've been waiting for?

[Alan Hahn]

I mean, this is the 40. What is this? What's today? It's. Yeah. 47 years ago today was the Bucky Den home run.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Really?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't know that.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, 47 years ago. So this is the anniversary play in game. You were probably too young, right? No. You do remember.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Absolutely. I remember it.

[Alan Hahn]

I was 10. I remember the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I want to say October 78, I was seven years old.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay. And I was. I was 10. I remember, if I'm not mistaken, I go look it up. Maybe Anthony. I believe it was a 3 o' clock first pitch because I remember hustling home from school to see the start of the game and what a big deal that was. So there is some symmetry there, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep. I like that.

[Alan Hahn]

Bucky Dense three run home run. It wasn't a walk off but made a two nothing game, a three nothing game. And they eventually win the game and they go on and. And win the World Series. But so there is that symmetry there. It doesn't have to be a home run. Home runs are sexy. But have that Quintessential moment. I think he's been. But it just shows you he has set such a standard. He's batting.500 so far in the series. Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But he has won rbi, he's had.

[Alan Hahn]

Big hits and that. But that was a big RBI last night.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Two strikeouts by the way also. So he's not like, you know, he's not impressed. He looked fooled. Only that crochet. He was absolutely fooled.

[Alan Hahn]

But.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But it was a great at bat. But he was fooled.

[Alan Hahn]

Was that was that. That was. I think that was three pitches too, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

That strike? Yeah, it felt. I think you're right. That might have been a three pitch.

[Alan Hahn]

He got looking.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes. Because the first two were low and away and then the other one, he.

[Alan Hahn]

Just, it kind of like that was the only. Like not the really non. Because that's the one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Didn't he like kind of grin like the mini strike. He was like, kind of grinned like.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, that's a world class pitcher.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Alan Hahn]

You're not facing any of that tonight. I was wrong. It was a 231st pitch. I probably got out of school at three. But I, you know, I probably got home in time for my second inning.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know. Because my mom is such a baseball fan. I know it was. I, I gotta be honest, I don't think I saw that live again. I'm seven years old. Like I don't think I saw that live well. Second grade. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

With seven you're easily distracted. You probably had homework.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I wasn't even home by then. You start at 2:30?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. What time?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I wouldn't have been home by then. I don't know. St. Joseph's School in Ronkonkoma.

[Alan Hahn]

How far?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Doesn't exist anymore.

[Alan Hahn]

Did you walk home? I remember walking.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I was 10. Too far to walk. I was on a bus. So that's why I got home later. But I know I, I know I, I'm trying to remember because I mean the, the play was like everybody talked about it, everybody talked about it. But I don't, I don't have like that. My mother, anytime something big was happening she would always tell me, come in here and watch this.

[Alan Hahn]

That's good with baseball.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that was her. She was always. Come in and watch this. Come in and watch this. No matter what it was. Which is why I remember random things that aren't even New York related when it comes to baseball. Come in and watch this. You got to come in and watch this. Game of the week, stuff like that.

[Alan Hahn]

1-800-91937, 7, 6. Let's go to the phones. Everybody's hot to talk about this game and of course this series. Let's go to Stephen Boot and you're on espn, New York. What's up, Steve?

[Don Hahn]

Hey, guys, thanks for taking the call. I'm just nervous about tonight because I still think Boone's going to be out managed. I think last night Wells should have been on second base after that hit. And here's my question. If the Yankees get up maybe two or three runs late, would you think about having a defensive replacement for Judge so that the Red Sox don't try and do something like last night? It would have been rough because Judges do up first in the ninth. But if they squeeze across that second run, would you. Would you put Caballero in?

[Peter Rosenberg]

How many runs would it take of a lead?

[Alan Hahn]

Question.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's to me like, I think it had to be three to four runs. Three because what you. Yeah, it's like almost like if it's three, I can live without a Judge at bat if I, if I know he's getting the bat one more time. But keep in mind, if they tie.

[Don Hahn]

It last night, he would have been coming up. He would have coming up first.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But that's a hard.

[Don Hahn]

Let's say Wells gets the second there. You pinch run for Wells. The next person gets a hit, we score that run. You go up and you know the Red Sox because you know Cooler is looking to run on him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, but you got to think to yourself, if they tie it, he's not. And you go to extras, he's. He's gone.

[Alan Hahn]

I know you can't. Did Steve. The answer is you can't do it. I'll tell you why you can't do it. Because whatever runs I see, what three runs.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Can you double switch and put him at the age? Is there a way to do that?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, there's no more pitchers anymore. So you could do that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The only way I think I'd survive that, but. Because I could live without Stephen if I keep him in a lineup.

[Alan Hahn]

But no, you can't do it because if it's a three run lead, how many times are they going to run on his arm? That's going to amount to three runs, Right. If it's a one run game, all it takes is think about defensive replacement. Because that one play could change its bases loaded. I can't do it, man.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I agree with you, but it's a.

[Alan Hahn]

Because our bases loaded, I take them out because they might take the extra base. Right. But they also might hit A grand slam home run. Now I'm down to run and I don't have Aaron Judge in a game that I might tie. And we're in the 15th inning. There's no more man for man anymore. How much would you get killed if it's a long extra inning game and the best player on the planet sitting on the bench because you were afraid that his arm might blow a three run lead.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Didn't that happen recently in the playoffs? Maybe a couple of years ago? I swear that happened where like a big bat was taken out of lineup for deep Stan and they looked. No, not the Yankees. It was like some, somewhere else in the league.

[Alan Hahn]

I remember it happened. I remember something happened where it was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like he, he's, he was. They come out of the game and they needed him.

[Alan Hahn]

Because usually that, usually that conversation happens when you're slow. Like let's say Judge was really good and he's slow. It's a one, one game and it's the ninth inning and you want to pinch run for him and you're like, I don't know if I could do it. But you don't have to worry about that because he's got wheels. I can't imagine his lack of an arm is going to result in a big inning. If I'm trying to protect one run, then maybe. But then you don't do it because it's a one run lead and they might tie it. I need the big bat. There's no scenario which you do it plus you embarrass him. Like imagine taking Aaron Judge out of the biggest game of the season. Can't do it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Can't do it. No. But if you're Cora, you gotta know, like, you gotta know they're gonna have some type of mindset of find a way to get right to hit.

[Alan Hahn]

You gotta get runners in scoring position. It's something you can take advantage of, of the opportunity presents itself, but you can't steal first, right? So as long as you don't give up hits to him, as long as you don't have guys in running scoring position, it's not gonna matter. The answer is no. There's no scenario in which you're gonna.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Take him out of the game. So Guard put a scare in them in the first game when he did what he did. Cause it turned the whole game.

[Alan Hahn]

It did.

[Peter Rosenberg]

When he just decided, I'm not stopping at first, I'm testing his arm. And then he said after the game, oh yeah, we talked about doing that. So the opportunity was there and he Took it and that turned the game.

[Alan Hahn]

Are you. You're a Yankee fan?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Six, three Yankees in the eighth. Are you looking at the game and going, all right, take judge out?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

So right there you're not doing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, but am I if it's too on. Am I worried, like, they're going to find a way?

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, no.

[Don Hahn]

So you're going to have him jog.

[Alan Hahn]

Out of the home?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no, I'm not. Just. I'm just. I'm just saying. He says no, no, no, no.

[Alan Hahn]

Like Bill Hodges.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no, no. Like. Like Reggie. Like when Billy. Billy brought Reggie. No, no, no. I'm not saying. What I'm saying is, will I be a little nervous?

[Alan Hahn]

Not. Not enough to take him out.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know what it is? Alex Cora is just one of those managers. It's like Red Auerbach. It's. He's reached that level where you're like, what's he going to pull? He's going to pull something if you. He's become that.

[Alan Hahn]

He's shot out to right field and went and got judged and took him out. I. I don't know. Honestly, Paul, I don't. I don't think Boone makes it back to the dugout line. The only reason Doug would. The only reason he would survive the walk back to the dugout is me walking with Judge. Unless it was Judge who killed him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Remember, it was Paul Blair, wasn't it, that went out to Reggie, and Reggie went me.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, the.

[Alan Hahn]

Gil Hodges.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What are you doing out here?

[Alan Hahn]

Nine. You can't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You just can't. Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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

[Alan Hahn]

Of course, the Yankees, the big topic of conversation. But our next guest is a Yankee fan. He's Damen Woody, and he joins us here. His weekly spot on Don Hun and Rosenberg. How are you, Dean? Good. Everything good.

[Don Hahn]

I'm good. But you made one critical error, my friend. Red Sox f. Wait a minute, wait a minute.

[Alan Hahn]

I was told by.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I have no. I made an egregious error there.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, then we're going to let you go. We'll talk to you next time.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, yeah. We're done. All right. That's even better, though. Take the temperature. D. Wood. Are you. Are you. Are you a little nervous about tonight?

[Don Hahn]

No, I feel. I feel good, man. Like. Like, listen, man, they. The Yankees stole one last night, you know, took my hat to him. But we got it, man. We good. We good. I'm not worried about anything. We are good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know? Do you want. He's all over the map. He's a Lakers fan, he's an Islanders fan, and now I find out he's a Red Sox fan.

[Alan Hahn]

Was that just because of Boston College?

[Don Hahn]

Well, that's what I really like. That's when I really started, you know, following the Red Sox when I was. When I went to school at bc, so. Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sorry to hear that.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm sorry. I believe everything that I'm told.

[Don Hahn]

If y' all want to cut the interview short, I completely understand. I get it.

[Alan Hahn]

Now, outside of football, what's your favorite sport?

[Don Hahn]

Basketball.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

The right call, but it sounds like you're into all of them.

[Peter Rosenberg]

How would you be a.

[Don Hahn]

Very much so.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's the. It. It's the late night. Like, you were. Where would you be? Say you were like, 95, 96.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, 95.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, 90. Can you imagine being a Red Sox fan in 1996? The Yankees going back, turning back into the Yankees. Derek Jeter.

[Alan Hahn]

I know. Let's. Listen. If I. If I know Damian, he was just, you know, Fenway park having a good time, it was probably less about the baseball and more just the vibe of Fenway and all that. Right? I got you. Right.

[Don Hahn]

See you. You understand me. You understand me. And listen, I live in a house full of Yankees fans, so, you know, I love that energy back and forth.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So now, so that I. I had something. I knew I had something, right? Anyway, speaking of vibes. Speaking of vibes, you called it, so I'll give you credit. Jackson Dart. You talk about vibes. What did you see and how much of this was, you know, pissing vinegar from a kid, you know, who was just so fired up for his first start in a building that was just ravenous from the beginning, and he fed off. Or did you watch and think to yourself, you know, they got something here?

[Don Hahn]

I think it was both. I really did. You know, Don. Listen, Alan, there's one thing you can't underestimate is when you introduce new energy, new juice, it permeates throughout the whole organization, through the whole team. That was the thing when I was watching the game that jumped out from the screen was just how much energy both sides of the ball played with. Think about this. That was probably the best defense the Giants defense played all season long. And I think some of that has to do with the youthful energy with Jackson Dart at quarterback and Cam Scatter Boo at running back. Like you introduced those two Young guys and the way they were playing. And I love how Brian Dabo called the game. He utilized, you know, he utilized their athletic ability. He utilized Jackson Dart's legs. That was the aspect in the offense that that was sorely missing because we all know Russell Wilson is. Listen, he's a very accomplished quarterback. He's had a great career, but his athletic ability has been diminished. And so now you have a young kid that's able to do a lot more from. From a legs perspective.

[Alan Hahn]

Now when you see what you can do with him now, it's only three weeks ago that they didn't think he could start, but he could back up. You just wonder, Damian, and you know, deals like this are made all the time. Was there some sort of a promise to Wilson that he'd get a chance to start the season? Because looking at the way Dart played, could it have made sense to have him start opening night?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, you know what, Don? You know, the one thing is you never know what was being said behind the scenes and stuff like that. I think most coaches want to go into the thing saying, you know what, we want to make sure that we don't screw this young kid up. We want to make sure that we develop him and put them in at the, at the most optimal, you know, time. But we all know, like, the great Mike Tyson, you know, every, you know, everyone has a plan until he gets punched in the face. And we clearly had been watching this Giants team, particularly on offense, you know, look lackadaisical out there. And so you enter a young, youthful quarterback, and all of a sudden the juice and the vibes and the aura and everything really picks up. Now the biggest question is, okay, you got the. Got the big victory at home against a very good Los Angeles Charger team. Can you continue that? Can these quote unquote vibes continue? We'll see.

[Peter Rosenberg]

As an offensive lineman, do you have to pull Dart aside and say, hey, just slide. You need to slide. Like, we get it. You want to run through people, but why don't you slide?

[Don Hahn]

That was the one. That was the one thing. I'm watching the game. I'm like, holy smokes. Get down. Like, get down. Like, he. He had, like, he was fearless out there. And I think NFL Countdown had Lane Kiffin on and. And before the game. And the one thing he talked about was how sometimes he had to calm Jackson Dart down before games. And I think that's what you have to do because this dude has so much juice that you gotta understand, hey, hey, bro, you are the quarterback we need you out here for the long haul.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He, I mean he was, he was like, he was throwing punches. He was like Derrick Henry, you know, like the stiff arming and stuff. Like it, just watching him and I was thinking like, I love it on the first run, but after a while you would think that his own lineman, the veterans would come over to him and pick him up and just take him down gently like bud, like we cannot lose you right now. I wanted to also ask about the other first round pick that nobody seems to want to talk about with the Giants, who I also thought jumped off the page and that's Abdul Carter. He was getting to the quarterback. He was, he was causing a ruckus as we like to say. Did you see him also? Did he, did your eyes move to him a lot in that game? Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Don Hahn]

He's, he's not, he's not hard to find, I can tell you that. I mean, you know, the way the Giants are utilizing him, obviously playing them on the edge, but when they get into their, you know, third down package and they lining them up inside over guard, he's kind of, he's causing all types of havoc. And when you got the array of players that they have that they can rush the passer with, that's a difficult package for any, any team, any offense to deal with. And so they, they young guy, he, he has a lot of juice, a lot of energy as far as pass rushes concerned. Now they just got to be consistent. That's got to be the biggest thing. Don't just do it one week. We just got to have it consistently every week.

[Alan Hahn]

Now talking to Damian Woody, his weekly spot here in Don Han in Rosenberg on the other side. Jets 04, another one of those. Maybe here, maybe there, they could have picked up a win, but at the end of the day, just too many penalties, too many self inflicted wounds. How frustrating does that have to be for Aaron Glenn considering that that was his mantra coming in to stop all that?

[Don Hahn]

Hell, it's frustrating for me watching it. I damn near punched a hole in my, in my TV because it's like there's some positive things going on there, but you are just killing yourselves with killer turnovers, penalties, extending drives. You know, you listen, every, every great coach I play for, you got to be two things. You got to be, you got to be tough and you gotta be smart. Because more teams find ways to lose games than win them. And that's. No team can speak more, more to that than the New York jets right now. They are absolutely finding Ways to lose games and not giving themselves a chance with all these killer penalties and stupid turnovers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm sorry.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, go ahead.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I remember you telling, telling me the story about when you left New England, you went to Detroit. You want to tell Don why you went to Detroit?

[Don Hahn]

Well, I mean, listen, outside of what the, the bag.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that was it. I didn't want to say. But the way. Because it was before the Lions were all. The Lions now. Right. The Lions were one of these places that you only go there if you get the bag. That's what D. Wood would always say. Well, it was a very big check. So you have lived kind of through going through this, right? When you got to the jets, it was kind of almost ready made at that point. And then you guys had great success. But what is that like when you're, when you, when you're on a team that is perpetually bad year after year, the league looks and just looks at you as that bad team. And you're trying to say, nope, we're not going to be the same old Jets. We're not going to be that. We're going to change our ways. And then you get about three games in and you go, oh, no. Yeah. No, that's, that's, that's. This. Did you, did you experience that in Detroit where you, you got there and said, we're not going to be that. And then you said, no, yeah, we are.

[Don Hahn]

Absolutely. You know, number one, it gave me a whole new appreciation for what we were doing in New England because it was like night and day. You went. I literally went from the mountaintop to the valley low. Again, just the way the organizations were ran, the coaching, it was, it was so stark. And when you're in, when you're in a situation where you're perpetually losing all the time, it's hard to have guys buy in because any, any little, you know, anything that happens in a negative tone, guys are already starting to check out. They're already like, oh, here we go again. And so that's what Aaron Glenn has got like. That's what he's trying to get these guys. He's trying to get these guys to buy into what he's talking about. Being disciplined, being smart, being tough. Because if you can do those things, you can flip this thing. Because at the end of the day, Don and Allen, all guys want to see is, you know what we put all this work in during the week. We just wanted to pay off. But it can only pay off if you give yourself a chance by not committing stupid penalties and crazy turnovers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, think about it. You went from a Super bowl to 14 and 2, then you went to Detroit 6 and 10, 5 and 11.

[Alan Hahn]

3 and 13, and 7 and 9.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, what a. Oh, my God.

[Alan Hahn]

And then you left, and without you, they went 0 and 16.

[Don Hahn]

That is correct. I got out. I got out. Right before the bottom fell off.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

Or the bottom fell out because you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Left, or the bottom fell out because.

[Alan Hahn]

You run out of the end zone.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If you're blocking for him, if we.

[Don Hahn]

Want to put it that way, then so be it, but I got the hell out of this.

[Alan Hahn]

Damien, man, you're the best. We'll talk to you next week.

[Don Hahn]

All right, Take it easy, guys.

[Alan Hahn]

All right? Yeah, you. You. You messed me up, man. I was, like, all set up.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You were set up.

[Alan Hahn]

Yankee fan, Always a Red Sox fan.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I knew that his family. There was something about Yankees with him.

[Alan Hahn]

That I remember the whole family, because we've talked.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I see him a lot at the studios, you know, down the block. And so we talk a lot about anything but NFL, which is what I love about D. Wood. When he sees you, it's not straight to jets or straight to NFL. His first thing is usually NBA stuff. And then we were talking Yankees. I remember this last year, but I forgot. Like, his family, they're all Yankee fans, but Red Sox fan because he went to bc.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, I guess. Let's see, he's from Virginia, so there's no baseball team. No team, Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And so he was a kid. So he was there, what, 99? 95 to 99. He drafted in 99.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

So it wasn't like the Red Sox were bad and he's going to Boston College and he's eating his. How many. What was it, like, 100 buffalo wings, I think was his record. And. And going. That's why I knew the vibe of Fenway and the hot dogs and the beer and just. And then he. Then he goes to the Patriots. So obviously you're going to be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That worked well for him, you know.

[Alan Hahn]

And then by the time he came to the Jets. I'll tell you what, though, it was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Already ingrained chapter and verse on the Islanders. He's not one of these dudes that, like, when you say, oh, what do you think of the Islanders? He's just like, you know, I think they'll be pretty good. Like, he will start talking to you about the power play.

[Alan Hahn]

And even that was like that playoff run.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, chugging the beers on the jumbotron he's all in, though. He's in for the party, but I think he could be had. I'm going to be like Michael now. I'm going to try to recruit people to become Devil fans. He's. Jerry's in Jersey.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're not taking him from the Islanders. There's no way.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, he shows up at ubs, everybody goes crazy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They love him.

[Alan Hahn]

No, don't you dare take him away. Well, listen, he's a grown man. He got to do what he wants to do.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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

[Alan Hahn]

Keeping an eye on the other games. Guardians just put up a two spot.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's not over.

[Alan Hahn]

Bottom of the eighth inning off an error, so it's now six three with a runner in scoring position at second base.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Two outs. Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

And the Cubs trying to break this game open. Bottom two, they're up two nothing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Ramirez at the plate, too.

[Alan Hahn]

Bases loaded, walk. But they just got a strikeout. So bases loaded, one out for the Cubs in the bottom of the second inning. Already have two nothings of the Padres already in the bullpen. Guardians trying to fight back these. The playoffs have been great, and I think Ramirez is going to be out at second. I think they're going to review that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's out.

[Alan Hahn]

It looks like he's out. Yeah, they called him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Say that's the inning.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay, so that runs you out of the inning. So they'll go to the ninth inning unless something changes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right. You got to run there, don't you?

[Alan Hahn]

I get you need baserunners, but listen, you're down 3. So is there a big difference between being on first and second? I don't know. Tough spot. Let's see if the Cubs can break this open. And the Yankees. Right now. It's on Everybody's Mind at 1-800-919-3776. Let's go to Mike. He's in Georgia. You're on ESPN. New York. What's up, Mike?

[Don Hahn]

How's it going, fellas? So I'm calling for two reasons. First, I want to rebut what Hans said earlier. You can't switch Judge out for Stanton.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, I didn't say that.

[Alan Hahn]

He just asked.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Just to be. Yeah, Just to be. To be fair. I was just. No, no. Just so you know, I was spitballing. I wasn't saying it seriously. I was more just wondering how things work. I was. I was Thinking out loud. This was not like a statement I would do. Just to be clear. I'm just spilling out there.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. I was just given the postseason. Stanton's like our most clutch player.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Completely agree.

[Don Hahn]

But the first. The reason I called actually was about the guy who was talking about if we lose, it's not a big deal.

[Alan Hahn]

It's not a failure.

[Don Hahn]

It's not a failure. I called in last week to talk about how much I image ecstatic about the Mets not making the playoffs. If we lost tonight after all the crap we have talked about the Mets missing the playoffs, it would be like getting dumped by the beautiful girl going out to dinner and then the new girl you're with slaps you in the face right in front of her. We will talk. So we have talked. So much crap.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Don Hahn]

If we blow this, it's a. It's a failure.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

It's almost worse than going to the World Series and blowing it there again. Like we need to win this. We can't lose the socks after losing Soto. We need to win it in the path to victory. If you give nine batters the Schlitler nine batters for one, you go Cruise Devin Bednar, you close it out and you move on. We cannot lose this series.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

I let my kids stay up late to watch this game. Absolutely.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Great point. Like the last two nights we've been spoiled because even three hours, you're done at nine. This is different. If this goes three, we're going into the night. So you would still three days in.

[Alan Hahn]

A row of Cruise, you got no choice. Three in a row.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're just gonna just. They've seen him twice already. And the same thing with Devin Williams, who's been good now.

[Alan Hahn]

K brought up a great point elimination. You blow it all up. Yankees do not like to use relievers three days in a row. But you got to change that. But you're obviously taking a chance. Right. You know, Bednar goes for never pitching in the postseason before and all of a sudden appearing in all three playoff games. And he's been good. But will he be as effective that second that that third time around to possibly close it out? And how. When do you do that? Because. Because I could totally see Chapman who did not pitch last night and had a four out save the night before that. They might eighth inning. They might bring him in the eighth inning depending on how it works out. Could you do that with Bednar? You don't like using a guy on a third consecutive day. Are you going to try to get more than a Three out, save out of him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, that's not what he's about. He does. He rarely does that. I wouldn't do that with him.

[Alan Hahn]

I know. It really depends on what the score is. There's a lot of things.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You have closer, Devin Williams, a closer by trade.

[Alan Hahn]

He is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He just lost the job. But, you know, he's also a guy that I want to see in a pressure situation. Can he, can he make, you know, can he get big outs? But you know what I really want, Don. And again, because of what the Red Sox are going to be using, what they're going to be utilizing a bullpen. They're going to be playing a lot of different. Like, I don't want this eighth or ninth inning to be a pressure. Pressure innings.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, you know, in all. In reality it shouldn't be.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The offense.

[Alan Hahn]

Thank you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They have had an unreal offense, also the best in the league. This is a game against a weakened. And this is true. I'm not. This is not fan talk even they're saying it in Boston, reading all the stuff up in Boston. Cora went all for it in game two.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That is a weakened staff. Now they have guys that are going to be leaking oil, but they got to use them and all that stuff and they got a kid on the mound. There is a situation here that if you're the Yankee offense, you got to flex. You have got to get good. This has got to be a flex. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Because you're talking about don't use three guys three days in a row. Well, you'd be using Williams three days in a row as well.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that's right.

[Alan Hahn]

Right. Because he pitched in game one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. I don't see his total pitches here, but you know, he did.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What do you, what do you.

[Alan Hahn]

Only allowed the one. He ended up going the two innings. But I don't, I don't know how many pitches he threw in the. In the two. But still it's three straight days. You might have to go to Williams in the eighth, Bednar in the ninth. Both of them. Three days in a row.

[Peter Rosenberg]

19 pitches in game two.

[Alan Hahn]

Probably not much in game one. He did well. He did walk a batter 11, so 30 pitches.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's not bad.

[Alan Hahn]

But that's also the ups and all that stuff that you got to get into as well with him. But you're right, this is supposed to be a great offensive team making a move point. Right. We're not worried about lanes and matchups. And you know, if you, if you win the game 10, 3 it's not going to matter.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If you get shut down by a 23 year old kid, then your office.

[Alan Hahn]

I mean, listen, like I said, I don't think he's going to be in there that long. If you get shut down by a kid and a bullpen that was really taxed yesterday in the loss, that's on the offense because the opportunities really should be there. All right, the Padres got out of it, a strikeout and a double play. So the game stays two nothing as they go to the third and they're going to the bottom of the ninth inning now with the Guardians and the tigers and that's a 63 Detroit lead. So that's where we stand with the baseball that's going on right now. Dodgers already advanced to take on the Phillies and that series will start coming up on Saturday.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This is fun.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, let's go to Bobby in Hawthorne. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Bobby?

[Don Hahn]

Hi, good afternoon, Don. It's Bobby from Hawthorne. I actually know Dorothy Moore. I wanted to tell you that too.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, cool. Thank you, man.

[Don Hahn]

I just wanted to say about the Yankees lineup tonight, I'm glad they went off the analytics and put Ben Rice in the lineup, but do you think they should have also had McMahon start at third instead of Rosario since he did have a hit last night? He plays very good defense at third.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, outstanding defense, but not much of a hitter. Rosario, especially against what they anticipate are going to be the righties coming out of the bullpen. That's probably the better move. And you can always bring McMahon in later on defense.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Absolutely.

[Alan Hahn]

So I like this lineup. I didn't like the lineup in game one, but again that was against the lefty that was one of the best in baseball that you might see for 7, 8 innings. This is a pitcher that I, I'd be. Unless he's totally on. I'd be shocked if he's pitching in the third inning. If he's pitching in the third inning. Allen, the Yankees are in a little trouble.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but yeah, yeah, you would say like that the kid gets into a groove or whatever. We don't know. That's. That's the wild thing about that. There is a great unknown about this. You really don't know. You don't know how to feel about this game from either side. You know what is slit they're going to give you and if he doesn't have it, do they go to Warren? And what is Warren going to give you? You don't know. There's such A variable to this game because it's basically two and possibly three inexperienced pitchers that are going to be getting the ball.

[Alan Hahn]

Because, like I said, I don't. It's not fair to call Schlittler an opener because he made 15 stars. He's been great, but I think the leash is going to be so short with him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Do you think they would question Boone, which they'll always do by not having heel in this situation because at least he's experienced?

[Alan Hahn]

Or did they just see experience, but not a ton, A little bit more.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, but he did pitch last year.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, he did. But this kid's been so good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, he has been.

[Alan Hahn]

It's really just the lack of experience and how he's going to be able to handle.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I think it'll be a mood point. I really like, honestly, if you're asking how I feel just based off feel, because I was game one, I was looking forward to seeing, okay, the pitching duel and how this will work out. And game one was still very winnable. We act like it was like they got blown out. It really was one baseball, nobody out. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Down the three.

[Peter Rosenberg]

One. Yeah. And you can't have that happen tonight, obviously. Right. But Game two, I was. I went into game two with a lot of anxiety and concern. I am not feeling that going into tonight's game, which is kind of weird because last night was an elimination. Tonight is. And yet I feel a lot more relaxed about tonight than I did about game two. Am I crazy?

[Alan Hahn]

I think the matchup favors you, but that doesn't mean you can't take advantage of it. We'll see.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn 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.