Hour 3: Subway Series Lookahead

Summary

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Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 3: Subway Series Lookahead (May 14, 2026)

Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
Podcast: ESPN New York

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Episode Overview

This lively hour dives deep into New York baseball as anticipation builds for the upcoming Subway Series between the Mets and Yankees. The trio dissects the recent fortunes of both teams, with the Mets rebounding and the Yankees reeling, and what the series could mean for both clubs' seasons. The hosts also explore the pressures and pitfalls of being a hyped prospect in New York, compare memorable rookie debuts (and disappointments) across sports, riff on fan expectations, and close with a playful debate about NFL scheduling overload and their love of odd hockey name-drops.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Mets’ Recent Surge and Subway Series Preview

• Mets Sweep Tigers, Enter Subway Series on a Hot Streak
  • Mets won three straight and eight of their last 12, but are still under .500 (18-25).
  • Despite the weak Tigers, the Mets showed resilience, coming from behind in every game of the series.
  • Notable contributions from new faces, especially Ewing, whose call-up seems to have energized the squad.
  • Discussion on whether this run means the Mets are back in playoff contention, or if it’s just encouraging progress.

“You can’t apologize for that. If the Mets are going to be able to make up ground, they’ve got to take care of business … Don’t talk about how many games you’re out. Don’t talk about postseason. Get me to 500.”
— Peter Rosenberg (06:15)

• Yankees’ Slump and Weekend Expectations
  • Yankees have lost five of six, including a sweep by Milwaukee and a poor showing against the Orioles.
  • Pitching questions abound, including injury updates and rotation changes (Freed’s MRI status, Cole nearing return).
  • The Subway Series is a chance for both teams to reset narratives—Mets as possible buyers versus sellers, Yankees needing a bounce-back.

“The mortality of this particular team in this season lies in the next couple of weeks.”
— Alan Hahn (07:45)

The Prospect Hype Machine in New York

• Hyped vs. Unsung Prospects: The Spotlight & Weight of Expectations
  • Extended comparison of hyped Yankees/Mets prospects who fizzled (e.g., Volpe, Greg Jeffries) versus surprise stars (Ben Rice).
  • Addressing the “New York fishbowl” effect: how local roots and media scrutiny can hinder a young player’s growth.
  • Notable quote from Buster Olney (15:54) via Michael Kay Show on what’s best for Volpe: “He would benefit from going and playing other places…he hasn’t talked about, ‘let me take reps at second base, let me go play the outfield…’”

“At some point, it’s going to be: he needs a fresh start somewhere else. He needs to get out of the fishbowl, because he’s not comfortable in the fishbowl … when you’re from here and you know how fans are here in New York, it’s exactly what Nimmo said: he had no idea until he left just how intense it is around here.”
— Alan Hahn (17:15)

• Prospect Roller Coaster & Media Cycles
  • Discussion of how even successful debuts (Ewing, Ben Rice) risk setting unreachable bars, followed by inevitable backlash.
  • Recalls “Linsanity” in Knicks history as a perfect storm: surprise sensation combined with citywide attention.

“These last two days could be a blessing or a curse. Because now we set a bar that I don’t know if he could even possibly keep up…Next ‘Oh for four,’ it’s ‘Ah, he sucks, send him back down!’”
— Alan Hahn (33:12)

• Fan Behavior: Always Looking for the Next Star
  • Weekend series as a litmus test for the trajectory of both teams.
  • The “backup quarterback” syndrome: constant anticipation for the next guy up.

Notable Segment: Call-In Conversation on Prospect Busts and Surprise Stars

(27:40–35:28)

• Callers recall the letdowns of “can’t miss” players (Anthony Bennett, Greg Jeffries) and celebrate unsung heroes making it big.
• Rapid-fire reminiscing about infamous and forgotten New York prospects.
• Solidifies theme: most hyped prospects disappoint; pleasant surprises happen quietly.

“It’s usually those guys you don’t hear about…that kind of catch you by surprise.”
— Alan Hahn (28:18)

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Around the Horn: Quick Hit Topics

• Yankees Shortstop Situation
  • Volpe might soon be the odd man out, with new blood like Lombard Jr. on the rise and Cashman’s tune changing.
  • Pressure compounded by following Derek Jeter in New York and being local.

“Not everybody can handle that...A coveted position. New York Yankees, Derek Jeter’s former position. Young kid, expectations. And oh by the way, you’re from Jersey.”
— Peter Rosenberg (19:03)

• Baseball’s Unique Hype-Development Gap
  • Unlike other sports, MLB prospects linger—media and fan anticipation build pressure well before a player debuts.

“In football and basketball, you draft them and they’re immediately on your team…In baseball, you don’t see them for a few years. The legend builds in the minors.”
— Peter Rosenberg (22:36)

• Comparing “One That Got Away” Stories Across Sports
  • The group discusses memorable busts and disappointments across baseball and basketball, e.g., Anthony Bennett and the 2013 NBA draft, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s under-the-radar rise.
  • Extended fun with hockey player “strange pulls” (Bobby Holik, Perry Anderson).

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Playful Banter & Memorable Moments

• Iconic Laughter Over Home Phone Interruptions

  • Alan’s home phone rings live, spiral into nostalgic jokes about old-school answering machines.
    [04:04–04:53]

• Dissecting NFL Over-Scheduling

  • The guys lampoon the NFL’s relentless expansion into more days of the week.
  • Is five out of six days of NFL during Thanksgiving or Christmas “too much of a good thing?”
    [45:17–50:10]

“People don’t realize this—Red Zone, it’s dead zone day…The thing that’s untouchable in life is one o’clock on Sunday…With all these games you’re gonna get a bunch of, you know, Jaguars-Titans.”
— Peter Rosenberg (47:13)

• Hockey Nostalgia and In-Jokes
  • Extended playful debate on whether “Bobby Holik” was already mentioned that week.
  • Alan and Don riffing on deep-cut hockey moments and outdated players’ names.
  • Quick quiz: where Sean Burke spent most of his career, and reliving emotional fan moments like David Volek in 1993.

“I think we mention Holik more than any other sports talk show in the nation.”
— Don LaGreca (38:39)

• Personal Memories & Fan Trauma
  • Rosenberg recalls, “I think you crippled emotionally a young Peter Rosenberg in 1993. A 14-year-old Peter Rosenberg excited about Game 7…”
    [43:06]

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Home runs in this one by the new kid. Ewing hit a home run. Soto hit a home run. Benj hit a home run. Great series for the Mets … The vibe has completely changed over the last seven to 10 days with these two teams.”
  — Peter Rosenberg (01:29)

• “The house phone is crazy…What are you calling me for? Unless it’s the Long Island Railroad…”
  — Alan & Don LaGreca (04:04)

• “The mortality of this particular team in this season lies in the next couple of weeks. It really does and really could start…with right here this week and then into this weekend.”
  — Alan Hahn (07:45)

• “It’s a tough proposition for a young kid, especially a kid from the area...”
  — Peter Rosenberg (20:10)

• “The prospect roller coaster…the cars are going to be going by, just don’t get on it. Because it’s going to happen. The emotional roller coaster the fans go through—players just gotta learn not to get on it.”
  — Peter Rosenberg (34:20)

• “We keep hearing about all these players, but Volpe was one of the few that came up, caught your attention and performed well…and then they babied him.”
  — Alan Hahn (17:15)

• “That's usually those, right? It's generally been the ones you don't hear about that much that kind of catch you by surprise…”
  — Alan Hahn (28:16)

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Conclusion

This episode masterfully balances deep baseball analysis, fan psychology, and inside-baseball chatter with the signature irreverent banter of Don, Hahn & Rosenberg. The hosts capture the anxiety and excitement swirling around the upcoming Subway Series, probe what it means for the future of both franchises, and offer candid, often humorous perspectives on the New York sports hype machine. With memorable calls, witty asides, and authentic emotion, this hour is a must-listen for any New York sports fan—especially those bracing for the emotional highs and lows of the next Mets-Yankees clash.

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Transcript

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

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[Don Hahn]

This is the Don Hahn at Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Don Hahn]

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

[Peter Rosenberg]

Game time is brought to you by Tullimore du Irish Whiskey. Because when it's game time, guys, yeah,

[Don LaGreca]

it's Tommy time. It's tolly time.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Mets Defeat the Tigers 9 4. They sweep the series. Home runs in this one by the new kid. Ewing hit a home run. Soto hit a home run. Benj hit a home run. Great series for the Mets and they win 9 4. Yankees are off. Tullamore, do the original triple distilled triple blend in triple cast matured Irish whiskey. Be sure to grab a telemore do or try the new Telemore. Dew honey, during today's action, glasses up to enjoying. Tullamore do responsibly. So baseball on the table. Mets go into the subway series tomorrow hot. They won three in a row, eight of their last 12 still significantly under.500. Still a lot of work to do, but at least they seem like they're moving in the right direction. Yankees, on the other hand, not great, Bob. They got one hit yesterday by the Orioles and they lost two out of three there after getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewer. So they've dropped five of six. So we were talking about a way randazzo earlier, guys. Like how things change. Like a week ago. God, the Mets are going to get killed. Yankees are hot. Mets Just can't do anything. And now all of a sudden, the Mets are flying high and the Yankees are kind of a mess a bit. I still like the Yankee matchup. I mean, Cam's going to pitch and you know, the Mets pitching. I guess we'll see Peralta on Sunday. Although they still have a TBD on the starting pitcher for the weekend. But it's amazing how things can change now. Does it mean the Mets are back? The Mets are going to the playoffs. There's still a tremendous amount of work to be done. But the vibe has completely changed over the last seven to 10 days with these two teams.

[Alan]

And the Tigers are just a bad team right now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, the Mets are only one game back of Detroit. Like, the Tigers are 19 and 25. The Mets are 18 and 25. So I'm. Listen, a win's a win. I'm not throwing them back. Okay. This is the same thing that got swept by the Rockies at Citi Field.

[Alan]

Yeah, that wasn't the point of why I said that. What I'm pointing out to is that like they're going, going through it and the Mets took advantage of it, which is, that's how you get right, is you start playing some teams that are also struggling like you are. Five home runs and two strikeouts, that's pretty impressive, right? You don't normally see anything like that, so that's good to see. And if you're the Mets, we talked about this earlier in the show. You lost 12 in a row. It's hard to make up for something like that. Like you can't just say, well, just win 12 in a row and now you're back to even. It rarely happens, almost never happens. Probably won't. So instead you've got to go over a stretch of 20 games. Make it up in that kind of a stretch. Oh no, let me get that real quick. I always forget to turn it off.

[Don LaGreca]

The house phone is crazy.

[Alan]

They got a call.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's crazy.

[Alan]

What do you. Who's calling at 5:00 clock on the third? Like, what are you calling me for? Unless it's the Long Island Railroad to finally have my.

[Don LaGreca]

No, no, no ticket.

[Alan]

That was not usable. Have you guys seen the pictures at Grand Central?

[Don LaGreca]

By the way, dear, the Hannah.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

Answering machine.

[Alan]

Yeah, it's. It's.

[Don LaGreca]

Wait, you have, you have an out loud answering machine? It's not like.

[Alan]

No, no, it's. It's just a regular digital phone. Like it's not. But didn't you old.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I did hear something, but I heard something.

[Don LaGreca]

Like, hey, you've reached the Hans.

[Alan]

No, no, that's not what it said.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Are you sure?

[Alan]

Yeah, no, it's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I want to hear what it said.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

What was it? Because it was out loud.

[Alan]

We used to have. It was Gracie who used to leave a message. See, she was the one. But that's in our old one that we threw out. This one was strictly just some kind of robotic voice. No one can take your call. That's all it said. So sorry to disappoint.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, we heard something, but interesting.

[Alan]

The point I was trying to make was interesting that they took advantage of the schedule and now they've got to see if they can. Like, this is a more significant weekend for them these last couple of games. What is it? What do we say, eight? And was it eight and four?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, eight and four over the last.

[Alan]

Okay, so that eight and four run meeting a Yankee team that's kind of going through it right now with lots of injuries. They're a much different looking team right now is what can you do? Right? What do you got? And that's kind of come out of the weekend on Monday. How will you feel about the Mets by Monday versus how you feel about them right now after this pretty significant win and a sweep?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, because. Well, I don't want to hear like, let's say they take two out of three from the Yankees.

[Alan]

That's good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That would be good. But I also don't want to hear, well, you also caught the Yankees at the right time. Doesn't matter. Struggle. It doesn't matter.

[Alan]

Doesn't matter.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right now, everybody in baseball is going through it. The Giants just took two out of three from the Dodgers. You know, take a look at the Dodgers. They started with a 15 and 4. They started the season.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. Take a, take a look at what their record is now. The dodgers, as we.

[Alan]

Second place.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They're in second place near 25 and 18.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So they're under five. So that. So by my math, I think they're 10 and 14 over their last 24 games. All right.

[Alan]

They're still a good team. Split the last 10 games are five and five. So they're playing.500 ball right now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but they're, they're, they're, they're going through it. Right? I mean, they just, there's some certain teams that just seem to be really odd. The Cubs off to a tremendous start. They've dropped four consecutive games. Right. So there's teams that go through it, but you can't apologize for that. If the Mets are going to be able to make up ground. They've got to take care of business. Their home, you like that, too. Not just a sweep, but they played well at home, getting it done there. And we'll see. We'll see what it amounts to right now. Maybe it's just a coincidence that they call up Ewing and they win three in a row, but he's contributed in all three games. He gets on base, he's got speed, got a little pop as he had a home run tripled in his first at bat. Again, it's baby steps, but Allen made the point yesterday. You're going to have to go on a run to make up for the 12 straight losses. You just. You can't take two out of three, then lose two out of three. One step forward, one step back. You have to take three, four, five, six, seven steps forward, one step back, then three, four, five more to be able to make up for the slow start. I always look at any team struggling, any sport. Get me back to.500. Don't talk about how many games you're out. Don't talk about postseason. Get me to 500. And if the Mets are able to take, you know, two out of three against the Yankees, you'd be 25 and 26. You'd be still six games under, but you're starting to make inroads. Get back to.500. Then we can have a conversation about building off of that and getting to

[Alan]

the postseason and then what, you know, and then being buyers instead of sellers and then fixing what you've got. Because if you fall 10 games down, if you fall, you know, any further at this point now, you're, you're, you're kind of thinking about it, of taking offers for different players, especially Peralta, you know, who you know you're going to get something for. Like, it's a, It's a big difference. Like, think about it. The, the, the mortality of this particular team in this season lies in the next couple of weeks. It really does and really could start, you know, with right here this week and then into this weekend. It's just too bad. I know McLean pitched today, and he pitched very well, and he's very good, but wouldn't it have been more fun if he. Just one more day, and instead of Clay Holmes, you got Schlitler versus McLean.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

You know what I mean? There's just something cool about that. But they need.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm glad he pitched today, though, because they haven't won the games. He's pitched well in because the Offense has been putrid. But what I like, you know they scored what, 22 runs in the series, right. And they won the game in the 10th inning last night.

[Alan]

Yep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Is that in all three games they were down. They were down two nothing on Tuesday, came back and won 10 two, didn't allow another run. They were down two nothing last night. Scored all three of the runs the rest of the game, winning 10 three to two. They were down three nothing in the game today. Three run home run in the first inning, come back, win the game 9 four. So they're showing you some heart. I understand Detroit's not good right now. They're going through it. So what?

[Alan]

Who cares?

[Peter Rosenberg]

They fell behind. They. So they're showing some heart. They're showing some gumption. They caught a break with Soto, looked like he might be out after fouling a ball off his ankle. He DH today, had a couple of hits, couple of RBIs, a home run. They're going to have to try to survive right now without Alvarez. That's a bit of a problem. But they've pitched well. Even in their struggles, they pitched well. So they got the Yankees coming up. Then they hit the road four against the Nationals, three against the Marlins. So you're looking at it. If they can find a way to win this series against the Yankees, they. The road looks like it can be pretty conducive to going a bit of a run here. Let's see.

[Alan]

Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Now, on the other side of things, it's. So Freed is probably. He's probably got the MRI by now. Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I would, I would think.

[Alan]

I believe they were scheduling it for today and so we should hear something now. Will we not know until tomorrow pregame. But we've. We will know something, I would imagine by, by during the show tomorrow. Right. Is to me that like a lot of things hinge on that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I would. With the day off, I would think you'll hear an announcement probably before the game tomorrow. Yeah, he was something or whatever. He's not pitching this series anyway, even if he wasn't hurt.

[Alan]

But then they got to decide because after the weekend. Right. You got weather's on Sunday. So yeah, you're coming back around. You're going to need to fill his spot anyway in the next series. So that's when, you know, I would imagine we'll look they'll have something to say tomorrow. I'm really curious about it and I do think there's, you know, there's a lot of curiosity riding on this. It's so it's amazing because Cole is close, right? We're going to see him very soon. And they have never been in the rotation together, obviously. Right. And so if, if, if they lose free, like, let's just go worst case scenario. And I hate doing that because I suffer, but with optimism. But if it's, if it's worst case scenario, something bad, they had to shut them down. We don't see the rest of the season. It's like these two guys in the same rotation. That's a. It just makes you elite. How long is it going to be before we see them both in the same rotation? Like at least one time around.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right?

[Alan]

It reminds me of Bernard King and Ewing never played together. They were teammates. Never played together.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That is crazy. Right?

[Don LaGreca]

I'll just say this. It's feeling better today than it was one week ago, two weeks ago, three weeks ago. It's baseball season. Things keep turning around. I mean, literally. I mean, listen, the Mets are far from being in a good spot, Don. And I know you were saying you were using 500 as the metric given what this league looks like right now and the National League is better than the al, which is just a complete joke. You applying the idea of like 500 is the conversation point. Could we say Today is what, the 14th of May? The 14th of May. Don? I'm sort of good. If they could get to 500 or a little bit better by the break. That's a long time for even five weeks. They can make this up. Alan, am I off?

[Alan]

Like, no.

[Don LaGreca]

Get to 500 at the break, which after today, today it's seven now after the win. Today it's seven.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, they're 18 and 25.

[Don LaGreca]

18, 25. So, so get, get me, if you want to be serious, get me two of three over the weekend. So get me to 20. Get me to 19 and 26. Is that right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, it'll be 20 and 26. Right. Because they're getting two out of three.

[Don LaGreca]

So give me the 20 and 26 by the end of the weekend. Let's have a conversation.

[Alan]

And with that schedule coming up now, you got good reason to think you could be by next. By, by that. By this day or even by next Friday.

[Don LaGreca]

Friday.

[Alan]

Next Friday, knicks could be up 30 in their series and the Mets could be 500. Not crazy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Keep winning series. Now, the thing I'll caution is because you started off with such a slow beginning to the season, I don't think it was ever on the table that the Mets are going to be the worst team in baseball. So you knew eventually they'd start winning some games.

[Alan]

Passing had them at what, 70, between 70 and 80, like in that. Yeah, 75 to 85 was his range. Wasn't that 75 to 85? That's not great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But they were on pace to lose 100 games.

[Alan]

Yeah, right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So you knew that they were going to start to play better because they're too talented to lose 100 games. But that doesn't mean they turn it around to the point where they make the playoffs. They're going to play better because they're not the worst team in baseball. But we, we went into the season open, they'd be competing to win the division and possibly compete for a championship now. So that's how much they've got to turn it around. Allen, it's not turning it around to just finish 500. It's not turning it around to not be the worst team in baseball. It's turning it around for them to be at least an upper 80s win team. And that means you're going to have to play some tremendous baseball to get there.

[Alan]

Now, if I could also now flip it in the other side for the Yankees and what this weekend means for them because you do have like, you need to see Radon give you a better start. Even he, he said it. He has to be better. So that's important. Weather's building off his last start and then you have slit. You should feel good about that tomorrow night. But you can't have even with all the issues. Volpe's got a. He's in right now. I know he booted the ball around. He's not hitting the ball. He's got to be better. Jazz gotta be better. Wells gotta be better. You're not bringing back Caballero yet. You're not going to see him for a while even though he keeps counting the days down. So you're not getting him this weekend. You are what you are when it comes to the injuries, but you still have a lineup that does. Despite the one hit in the last game, that lineup does mash. You still have Judge, you still have Rice. Two guys that should be able to like you should be good enough to win this year. You should be to get two out of three or sweep the weekend. But you got to do something. You got to have a response after what you just went through. That was pretty embarrassing, especially that last game. So for the Yankees, this is also of equal importance. There should be sizzle in this weekend. And speaking of which, 62 tomorrow night for that game. Nice Night, little chill, but not too bad. High 70s on Saturday. 80s Sunday afternoon. You talk about a day to be at the ballpark or a weekend to be at the ballpark. Couldn't ask for anything better. We don't to worry about the weather, nothing. It's gonna be gorgeous. Just good luck getting it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now you brought up Volpe. Buster only was on TMK s earlier today.

[Don LaGreca]

That's the Michael K Show.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What is the best for Volpe right now?

[Michael K]

I reached out to a bunch of other people and I asked them, you know, about Volpe, what's best for him in his career right now. And every person I talked to, evaluators of the team, said, yeah, he would benefit from going and playing other places. To this point, as far as I know, he has not asked the Yankees to do that. You know, he hasn't talked about, hey, let me take reps at second base, let me go play the outfield, let me go play third base. I'll move around.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Are we going to have a conversation, Alan, where we bring up, you know, the players that didn't live up to the expectations and Volpe is going to be an answer in a few years.

[Alan]

It feels like he's one of many of Cashman's kids that just you hear about and hear about now. He's one of the few that actually came up and it first gave you like, a little bit of like, you, like, he caught my attention. He caught everybody's attention and. But it fizzled out real fast. But how many names have we heard along the way? This guy's coming. That guy's coming. Wait till you see this guy. And like, like, Jones is up right now. Is anybody excited? Been hearing about Jones forever. Is anybody, like, gushing right now, or is it everything they said about him? Yeah, that's what you're seeing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A lot of strikeouts. One for 12 with seven strikeouts, whatever it is. Yeah, so.

[Alan]

So we keep hearing about all these players, but Volpe was one of the few that came up, caught your attention and performed well. And then they really started. But they babied him, which they did the same thing to Sanchez. That didn't work out. And now it's become too I I what Buster said, there's I firmly believe in. At some point it's going to be. He needs a fresh start somewhere else. And it's the nimmo thing. He needs to get out of the fishbowl because he's not comfortable in the fishbowl. You know, a young player is going to pay attention to everything being said about him going to hear everything that's yelled at him in the stands. And his family, probably because he's young and he's from the area, they're going to pay attention to all of it, too. His family, they're all, they all Yankee fans. They all know what's going on. They're paying attention. And that gets everybody fired up and gets everybody frustrated and everybody talking about it. You got. He. I think Volpe needs to get out of the fishbowl and unfortunately that that means obviously moving on from him. Having Lombard Jr. Helps because it allows you to do it. Having Caballero play as well as he's played a plus defender, it's almost like you stumbled upon something you didn't know you had. It allows you to do this. And I think it's a matter of time.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. It's the perfect storm for Volpe. Right. He's a. He's a young kid with expectations high.

[Alan]

Yep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

To try to play the position that Derek Jeter made so attractive.

[Alan]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, they've had guys that have played shortstop since Jeter. You go back to Dee Dee and all that, but still a kid coming up. You're going to get that label. Are you the next cheater? The team is winning, so it's really hard to develop a young player. And oh, by the way, also try to win a World Series.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, and he's. And he's local. Like, it's, It's a, It's a lot. Right.

[Don LaGreca]

It is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's just. And not everybody can handle that. And not everybody's in that situation. Play a coveted position. New York Yankees, Derek Jeter's former position. Young kid, expectations. And oh, by the way, you're from Jersey.

[Alan]

Yeah. And your whole family is probably all caught up in it, too. And so when the criticism came, it's impossible. Like, again, you gotta, you know, how this, if, if you understand it, I think Rick probably could. Could relate to it more than anybody of everybody at the station because, you know, again, when he was going through, he was going through with the island as you, you know, his brother, his dad, like, they all paid attention. They all. Because you want to protect them. Like, the criticism comes and the first thing that the family does is step in front of it and try to, and try to defend him and protect him from it. But all it does is create more of that tension because you're just so aware of it. And I think, you know, you're going to get that when you're from here and you know, how. You know, how fans are here in New York. It's exactly what Nimmo said. He had no idea until he left just how intense it is around here.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, it's. It's intense. There's just so many people and so many people that care and so many media outlets. It's a. It's a tough proposition for a young kid, especially a kid from the area. Let's go to Larry in center reach. You're on. Don Hahn and Rosenberg.

[Caller]

Good evening. Don, Allen and Peter. You guys do a great job.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, thank you.

[Caller]

I wanted to talk about. Yes. Was it yesterday that you was talking about a guy who on the first. Whether in any sport that comes up and he did something, hit a home run.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The best of the best debut games. Yeah, that was my top five yesterday.

[Caller]

Hey, Donna, what about this guy named Greg Jeffries?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, Jeffries was. Well, he was very good and he would. And he had a high impact. He helped the Mets win in 88. I don't remember his first game being as impactful as the ones that I had on the list, but amazing start and he ain't. That's why I brought him up. Alan, when I was asked the question earlier by a caller of a guy that disappointed.

[Alan]

Yeah, we waited.

[Peter Rosenberg]

As Met fan, we waited for him. David west was a guy we waited for forever. And boy, when the expectations are high and those guys don't live up to them, it's devastating and it's crazy. Didn't hear a peep about DeGrom. It was all Weaver, it was all Harvey. And then deGrom comes up and end up being better than all of them.

[Alan]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, was Ewing somebody that we're all anticipating got called up. We knew he was a high prospect, but it's so. That just shows you that sometimes when they're talking about you or they're whispered about, you know, there's a guy down there in the minor leagues, man, when they call him up. That's why when you look at a strawberry, you look at a good un, you say, God, those guys with all those expectations and live up to the expectations. That's amazing.

[Don LaGreca]

It's so rare. It's so. It's so rare. I mean, look, Judge, we've been looking at it with the Martian, though.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, the Martian waiting on him, waiting on Jones.

[Don LaGreca]

It's already starting to feel like it's unlikely the Martian is going to be like with. They're going to live up to the nickname that he's literally from another planet. So it's Very hard. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You start getting nicknames before you even play.

[Don LaGreca]

Dude, it's only a baseball that it's. That it's this crazy like you could be. Unless you are the top drafted quarterback in football. Like unless you're a top 10 to 15 quarterback pick. You're basically someone everyone's hoping works out but no one's sure it's going to work out.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The difference. You might come with a nickname because they gave you one in college. The thing is you don't possess the player until you draft them. Right. They. You draft them and then they're immediately on your team. They show up to camp, they're in your team. You draft these ball players in baseball and you don't see them for a few years.

[Alan]

And the region builds in the minors.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, and especially now Somerset, the double A team's right down the road so people can go to the games now. You get a nickname. The organization start talking about you.

[Don LaGreca]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Has a show. You know, in the minors and you know, down on the farm. Right. To take a look. This guy's coming, that guy's coming. You know, you don't even have a chance. Right. You get drafted in the NFL, get drafted in the NBA, NHL, really highly tatted. Bang. You're on the ice, on the court, on the field immediately. Unless you're Soto who plays at 18 years old or Harper. You sit around for a few years and you only. National builds up the talk.

[Don LaGreca]

You only can be on the national and Stroudsman too in the team.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's a guy that you live up.

[Don LaGreca]

Well, no, but. Oh, that's not fair. I mean I guess he didn't live up, but he had a great career.

[Alan]

His arm gave out.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but he still had.

[Don LaGreca]

But he had a long.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but really good career. We thought he was.

[Don LaGreca]

We thought he'd be deGrom.

[Alan]

He had a chance to be better all time.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, we were. You were talking about him.

[Don LaGreca]

He's even deGrom. It ends up being short lived. That's another thing too. That's a whole other conversation.

[Alan]

If you can win multiple Cy Youngs, that's a pretty good short lived.

[Don LaGreca]

No, no, it is a good short lived. But then there's a next they're like. Then there's the Kershaws. Then there's like you're an ace for 15 years. Like there's that highest level ace in pitcher, ace in baseball. That deGrom that he came.

[Alan]

Verlander did it right.

[Don LaGreca]

DeGrom just came short of that. He was, he was really great for six years. But then there's like really great for 10 plus.

[Alan]

Right.

[Don LaGreca]

Is a different kind of Scherzer, you

[Alan]

know, doing it like Cole's doing it. That can. That just every year you could just bank on them. Yeah, no, it's, it is interesting. But for, for, for Volpe, it is as simple as I think a fresh start is needed as much as the Yankees probably are. And you could, it's, you could hear it in the way they talk now versus months ago. Cashmere only a few months ago, a few weeks ago. You know that that's been always been the plan is that when he got healthy he was back at shortstop and then Caballero showed you something that maybe you didn't know and all of a sudden that message changed. Well, we have Lombard and this kid's really, you know, he's proven every year he's getting closer and closer and Caballero can hold the four for right now. So you know what? Maybe Volpe is the odd man out.

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[Alan]

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[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don LaGreca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

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

[Peter Rosenberg]

Subscribe to ESPN New York on YouTube. Stream the full weekday lineup live. Watch complete replays or catch up fast with can't miss highlights. Jump into the live chat, react in real time and make your voice part of the Show. Subscribe to ESPN New York on YouTube now and stay locked in so you never miss a moment. So many different ways to consume YouTube app 880. Really appreciate everybody that finds us in any of those three avenues. 1-800-919-3776 Always a pleasure to talk to Griffin in Connecticut. You're on ESPN New York.

[Caller]

Hey guys, you know when you talked about, when you talked about guys at baseball that you don't hear of and then all of a sudden they come out and they do something. Did we hear anything about Ben Rice at all?

[Alan]

That's a great point.

[Caller]

We heard nothing about him at all. And then he got came up because they had the injury at first and they needed a first baseman. They moved him into first, he comes up, next thing you know he's this superstar around Judge. No one even knew who he was at all.

[Alan]

It's a really good point.

[Caller]

Here he is.

[Alan]

Yeah, it's usually those, right? It's generally been the ones you don't hear about that much that kind of catch you by surprise. And it's always been these, these, these diamonds that they keep talking about that you're waiting for them to be.

[Caller]

I was getting live up to the

[Alan]

name and they don't. And I feel like that that kind of works against them because there's just so much intensity with the coverage of the team.

[Caller]

Yeah, the one of the guys who I was thinking of when you talked about that didn't live up to the exposition. I don't know if he had high expectations, but he's probably the one of the bus number one overall picks ever. Anthony Bennett. He got dropped the number one in 2013. We heard, we saw. He did nothing now. Where is he now?

[Alan]

It was a, it was a bad pick. He was, he was at UNLV and it was him. And I'm trying to think of who went number two that year who ended up being pretty good but not great in 13. Yeah, I'm trying to remember who it was. It. It was. Not again is. Whoever it was, I don't think was a great. It was. Oladipo was the second pick that year. Oladipo was second.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Otto Porter Jr, Cody Zeller.

[Alan]

Wow. Well, Bennett, like you dream about. Bennett was a really good college player at unlv and he had like a good finish to his year, but no one saw him as number one pick. It shocked everybody that he went number one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

God, the draft is just so.

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

Best player in that draft was Rudy Gobert.

[Don LaGreca]

Woof.

[Alan]

Wow. Yeah, that's. That's.

[Don LaGreca]

I got news for you.

[Alan]

That's when you remember you could do. You could do a whole strange pulls probably from that draft.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Take it back.

[Don LaGreca]

Who was it? Jacob.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I overlooked the. The Greek guy.

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

Giannis.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, he's good.

[Alan]

Well, giannis wouldn't want 15, right? Yeah, that's a good one. But

[Don LaGreca]

didn't feel sexy at the time.

[Alan]

No, but that's a good one. That's good. That's one of those, you know. Who saw that coming? Nobody.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Maybe they just didn't pick him because they didn't know how to pronounce his name. So, you know, let's. Let's just kick it down the road. Unbelievable. It's just how you like him. Curry, who's another one that went like the middle of the first round that ended up being great.

[Alan]

Kawhi Leonard.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. Crazy.

[Alan]

Some of the. I'm just looking at some of the names that we heard about for years from the Yankee perspective, like Loisa and Florial and like Floral felt like he was in the minors for 15 years.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, that's what, that's what it felt like.

[Alan]

Garcia, Debbie Garcia.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, well, he came up and was good for a while. And a lot of pitchers, a lot of pitchers had the potential.

[Alan]

Yeah. Like, you kept hearing about guys and you're like, oh, he's going to be a stud, this guy. This guy's going to be a stud. At least, like, Glaber came up, did something for a minute. Judge was great. Greg Bird got hurt. I don't think you can blame them for Greg Bird.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan]

He was going to be good. He just got hurt.

[Don LaGreca]

Well, there's also a problem of just too many Yankees prospects become a thing. They probably shouldn't even be a thing to start out with. Like, if they were in Cleveland, it wouldn't be a thing. They would just be another person. But Yankee fans are so passionate and they study the system so much that everybody gets a lot of noise. It's just. I'M seeing some people just posting some Pete Alonso, like historical stuff. Being like, yeah, yeah, big conservative, huh? Like suggesting that not Cindergard may have also just been making it up. So it's gonna be interesting to see how Pete now gets forced into responding in Baltimore after Oppressor, which I'm sure

[Alan]

he'd love to do.

[Don LaGreca]

As you're building your. As you're building your guy, there's a guy that looked.

[Alan]

He's very comfortable talking about anything other than baseball.

[Don LaGreca]

He's always looking at.

[Alan]

Right now, just getting back to the Yankee part of the top 100 prospects list was updated because this is where Yankee fans get all caught up in it. Right. Nobody can live in the now. It's always like who's coming next, right? Because I can't wait to get rid of that guy. So who's coming up that I could start complaining? Why don't they bring him up? So I'm trying to find the first Yankee that. That comes up on this list and there isn't anyone in the top 15. Everyone. I'll say that much. And probably whoever. Whoever it is is probably either been traded or already up. Right. But as I scroll through the list, Lombard is 21 and he's. He's what everybody's gushing about, right? And he's listed. He's at 21 on the ranking list

[Peter Rosenberg]

and he'll be here sooner than later. And that's another.

[Alan]

Ewing was 34, by the way. That's where he is. But we. I do think, and it's probably. Look, fans are always looking for the next one and they always want the next. It's always the backup quarterback thing, as we know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

I do think that's also part of this, is that you become a prospect like for. For A.J. ewing. This, these last two days could be a blessing or curse, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah.

[Alan]

Because now we set a bar that I don't know if he could even possibly keep up what he's doing. How could you possibly keep that up? Because he set a bar. Now the next if the first, oh for four, it's like, ah, he sucks. Send him back down. He's not ready.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's got a lot of outs in that bat.

[Alan]

But.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But the more he can, the more they continue to win and the more he continues to contribute to those wins. It'll build. It'll build. Now he becomes the reason why they turned it around. Right here's because what. Let's say. Let's say they beat the Yankees tomorrow And Ewing goes 3 for 4 with a home run.

[Alan]

Yeah. 1 for 3 with a wall.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, guess what? On Saturday Fox in their open. Oh, is going to feature him. Maybe have an interview with him. Now the nation's being introduced to him. Hey, there's this kid. Five games. Mets are five. You know, Mets are four. No, he's played four games. He's got a four game hitting streak, you know, and then it just starts to. And then what do we do?

[Alan]

Wait.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wait for that moment where he's get, you know, for 12 and it's like, I'll bust. It's. Yeah, you just got to stay off the roller coaster. There's. The cars are going to still be, you know, going by on the roller coaster. Just don't get on it, you know, because it's going to happen. The emotional roller coaster the fans go through. Players just got to learn not to get on it.

[Alan]

Steve, did you see that? The reporters did ask him if he knew who Patrick Ewing was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. And you know, and here's the other thing too, because. And it's also, listen, it hasn't happened yet because it's only been three games. But isn't it coincidental that like it's happening while the Knicks aren't playing so everybody's paying attention to it just like, you know, Lynn, Sanity happened like I think literally the day after the Giants won the Super Bowl. So we're all, we're all focused on. They played the Nets. Right. I think it was the Tuesday after the Super Bowl.

[Alan]

Correct.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And that's when it all started because football season was over. All right, let's pay attention. What's going on? Basketball. Hey, this is kid playing out of his mind. Like would it have happened say if he was playing that way between the divisional round and the championship game where, oh, we're a little bit too focused on the Giants right now.

[Alan]

Sorry. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, but right now the Knicks haven't played at all during this run, you know, and so now we need something to kind of sink our teeth into. And now this is it. So it is kind of a perfect storm A bit. Let's go to Steve in Maplewood. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Steve?

[Alan]

Steve.

[Caller]

Hey, guys, how are you? Good. Big fan. Love the show. You know, you turn into Don, you turn into Mike Vale. That's who you turn into. If you start out and then totally.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's a good one. That's an old school.

[Caller]

Yeah, I'm a big method, but a big bigger Devils fan. Don. I think doing a trend job.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thank you.

[Caller]

You're doing a tremendous job, by the way. It's great to have somebody who really cares about the team that's announcing for us. I used to work for NHL Productions, actually, in old Japan, so I was kind of close to the league for a. But I have a couple old Devil polls for you, Don. Craig Wolan, Joe Sorella I used to love. Dano knows those guys. Obviously. Perry Anderson was my. My favorite from back then. Quite.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Quite the nose on Perry, if I remember.

[Alan]

Yes, yes.

[Caller]

I'm Italian, so I know how that feels.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He had a Roman nose. It was Roman all over his face.

[Alan]

Yeah, exactly.

[Caller]

And the last one, Don, I want to tell you about a player for the Devils that started out like gangbusters and then just phased out was Sean Burke in 88. Came up and was just off the charts. Good. I think he won 12 or 13. He was 13 and one or something. And then I was like, wow, we got our goalie. And then he just never. It never panned out.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, it's crazy. I don't know if he had a

[Don LaGreca]

run, though he did have a right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Played in the league for a long time. He was hot in 88. Came out of the Olympics. Lou put him in the lineup, and I guess it was, you know, Schoenfeld put him in the lineup, but Lou brought him to the Devils after the Olympics. He played for Team Canada. They get hot, they go to the conference finals, losing Game 7 to Boston. But then the team kind of. I know Peter hates it. Petered out.

[Alan]

Oh, wow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And I think he suffered from it. But you know what? He.

[Alan]

He played. He played 18 years in the NHL.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, he won. He won 324 games. Now. He lost 304, 41 of them. But he had a longer played. He played until, oh, seven. He was 40 years old playing for the Kings. So I don't know what my expectation was of him when he got called up, but obviously you're playing in the conference final, a kid that you're thinking, all right, this is going to be the goaltender for the next hundred years. And it didn't work out to that point, but he had a hell of a career.

[Alan]

He played. He played for seven NHL teams. I won't ask you to name him, but can you name the team he spent the most time with? It's a bit of a surprise. I did not expect this answer.

[Don LaGreca]

Huh? Sean Burke.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

And it wasn't the Devils.

[Alan]

It's not the Devils.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The Devils were quick.

[Alan]

Four years with the Devils. So he spent more time with two other Franchises and one is. Is longer than even the other

[Peter Rosenberg]

Carolina.

[Alan]

Correct.

[Don LaGreca]

Wow. Wow.

[Alan]

Don McGregor. Are you kidding me?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Trade it to Hartford for Bobby Holik. I think that worked out of whole

[Don LaGreca]

leak talk on this show. I'm gonna say right now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A lot of whole leak.

[Michael K]

Really?

[Don LaGreca]

I'm gonna say we mentioned whole leak more than any other sports talk show in the nation. How about that?

[Alan]

We mentioned twice in the last.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What he's trying to say is that there's not a lot of Bobby Holik talk.

[Alan]

Twice is twice as double the amount.

[Don LaGreca]

I think it's back to back days for Holique. It's back to back when they did Holi.

[Alan]

Yesterday.

[Don LaGreca]

I think it was yesterday.

[Alan]

Yeah, yesterday.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I would remember bringing up Bobby Holz.

[Alan]

I thought whole leak was maybe like Monday.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Monday.

[Don LaGreca]

No, it was yesterday. Maybe the day before.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why would I have broken.

[Don LaGreca]

I don't know. Listen, I. I just sit here and hear the.

[Alan]

What were we talking about? That we would have gone holy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What the Derek step on hat trick. That's the only hockey we talk and wait, was.

[Alan]

HOLY wasn't on your. No, he wasn't on your list.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wasn't on my list. He wasn't on the Sabers when. When he. When he was rattling off the people on the sabers at the time. No, Bobby Holik was not.

[Alan]

We weren't mentioning on the show. You were playing your silly game and you had to have a player played.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah, see?

[Alan]

Rangers and Devils. That was in our meeting.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That was in our meeting.

[Don LaGreca]

No, no, I promise you. Holy made it to air.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No way. You know what? If. If you can.

[Don LaGreca]

You were sitting in that seat.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If you can prove that I said Bobby Holy this week, I'll.

[Don LaGreca]

I'll.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'll walk.

[Alan]

We were sitting in the room because

[Don LaGreca]

I came leak, but it was sitting.

[Alan]

You needed a Ranger and a Devil and I threw that name out there.

[Don LaGreca]

Got it. Got it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

We were playing Puck Doku. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now we don't play Puck Doku on the air.

[Alan]

Not on the air.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not yet.

[Don LaGreca]

But you were sitting right there. Correct.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because it was. Because, you know, if there's the day.

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[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, yeah, who knows?

[Alan]

You never know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, we used to have the 630 authors. Maybe we'll have the 630 puck doku.

[Alan]

Can we get it sponsored?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Listen, if we get it sponsored, all of a sudden, they won't have a problem with it.

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[Don Hahn]

o'reillyauto.com thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don LaGreca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

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

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, Alan.

[Alan]

Yes, sir.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Alan.

[Alan]

Yes, sir.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What happened of significance in your life 33 years ago today?

[Alan]

33 would be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

When you do the math and figure out the year, you'll know.

[Alan]

Okay, I got two choices.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Alan]

Don't know. It's. It could be Nicks or Islanders related.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It is Islander related.

[Alan]

Okay. So this. This has to be. It's not David Vollik, is it?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, it certainly is.

[Alan]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I think you crippled emotionally a young Peter Rosenberg in 1993. A 14 year old Peter Rosenberg excited about game seven Penguins and the Islanders. A nice game seven win is the Penguins would be on their way where he hoped would be a third consecutive Stanley cup championship, derailed by David Volek at overtime.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, my God.

[Peter Rosenberg]

33 years ago.

[Alan]

It's Glenn Healey, baby.

[Don LaGreca]

Glenn, what year is that?

[Peter Rosenberg]

33 years ago, 93. They'd won the cup in 91 and 92 on their way to doing it again a third straight year.

[Don LaGreca]

I'll be honest, I could care less that time.

[Alan]

Darius Cassidy. No one expects three Mario Lemieux in that series was something to behold.

[Don LaGreca]

Wait, versus Casperis had left.

[Alan]

Casperitis was an Islander.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

That year was the year he left.

[Alan]

What do you mean? He was with the Islanders.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, I know, I know. But he was also a Penguin.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know, but that was later.

[Alan]

He was later. No, he was a Ram Charger. Also a Ranger.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, wait, this was young cast Britus. And he came to the Penguins later.

[Alan]

They had him and Vladimir Malakov and these two young defenders, they changed everything for them. That was a hell of a team. You know who's on that team? Don Lagreca, Fitzy, Tom Fitzgerald.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, how about that?

[Alan]

An excellent piece of that team, by the way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And that was also the series in which Kevin Stevens broke his face.

[Don LaGreca]

Seriously?

[Peter Rosenberg]

He broke his face? Yeah, like those sinus cat. I think they had to peel his face off, like, fix everything and then put it back on. It was like, so. It was so terrible. Who hit him again? And he just, he just, he couldn't. He couldn't brace himself and just landed face first on the ice. Who was it that hit him?

[Alan]

I, I.

[Peter Rosenberg]

God. It's not. It's going to bother me. I'm sure some Islander fan or Kofi will send us the information on that.

[Alan]

Now, you said you had video.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You said you had a question for us.

[Alan]

I did. It has to do with how much is too much. Okay, so we don't know the schedule, but we kind of know an idea of. Of schedule. And we know the game, like, the dates of a lot. And we already know that Christmas, they're going to take over again. Thanksgiving, they're going to take over.

[Don LaGreca]

Thanksgiving Eve like you dream about.

[Alan]

Giving Eve like you dream about. And so Thanksgiving week, we could see five out of six days of NFL football.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

With Saturday being the only day where they will leave that to the college. But Wednesday, Thanksgiving, good. I was gonna say good Friday, Black Friday, and then obviously Sunday and then Monday night.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

Christmas week, Don. We could have five straight days of football because Christmas is on a Friday, so a Thursday night game, Christmas day games Saturday, because college football's over, right? So you'll take the Saturday, Sunday and then Monday night does it get diluted to a point where you're like I can't watch every day, five days in a row, five out of six days. Can that be a bad thing for the product?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I've been saying this is how you end up chipping away at the golden goose because you're just overdoing it. Now 18 year old Don Legca with his giant Zubaz pants on would eat this up.

[Don LaGreca]

Not only would he eat it up, Alan, not only would he eat it up, pieces of it. Would screw it out of the sandwich

[Peter Rosenberg]

with boxes of empty Pizza Hut box. But you know, 58 year old Don Lagreco with 8 year old twin. I mean if I do that to my, she'll, she'll just leave me. By the time he got to day three of this five day extravaganza, I'd look around and nobody's home.

[Alan]

Well, let me ask you, let me add to it because Sunday's your football day. Sunday, right? You're just, it's all day football. How can it be? If I'm giving you a game on Christmas Eve, I'm giving you three on Christmas day. Saturday and then Sunday and Monday. So I got a Sunday night game and a Monday night game to take those two away. What's left on Saturday and Sunday and how many games are you going to have?

[Peter Rosenberg]

The thing is, is that people don't realize this red zone, it's dead zone day. The thing that's untouchable in life is one o' clock on Sunday, right? I mean that, that's supposed to be football. One o' clock Sunday, the majority of the games are being played. Maybe your team's playing at four. Maybe they've got a Sunday night game or a Monday night game. We were growing up, but Monday, one o', clock, that was sacrosanct. That's. It's with all these games you're getting down to like you'll have like five or six one o' clock games and they're all dogs because all the other, that feature that all the other ones are being featured. So the apps and the primetime games are all going to be the great games. You're just going to get a bunch of, you know, Jaguars, Titans, you know about it.

[Alan]

I'll give it to you because we at least know the networks. Okay, so, so Christmas Eve is going to be an Amazon game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Amazon, you said Amazon.

[Alan]

Friday is going to be to Netflix and then a Fox game Christmas Day 2. Netflix and a Fox. We know Monday night ESPN, we know Sunday night, NBC. Yeah, we're all over the map now. So what do we got? Saturday and Sunday

[Peter Rosenberg]

that. Well, think about it.

[Alan]

I'm getting Amazon, which means they're gonna have a good. You're gonna have some. Two good teams or at least one. Right, right. So two Netflix and a Fox on Christmas Day. You're not. I'm sorry, you're not getting Panthers. You know, give me another.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, you're going to get.

[Alan]

There's Cardinals is not going to happen on that day.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, but that'll be if it's in Carolina. That's one of your one o' clock games. You know, Jets, Titans will be one of your one o' clock games. Right. Raiders, Jaguars, you know, and that's. That's what that you think the Sunday

[Alan]

night game or the Monday night game is going to be two dogs.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's.

[Don LaGreca]

It's.

[Alan]

So you're going to get the time of day, the time of the weekend that you expect football. You're going to be forced to watch

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the AFC and NFC South. Yeah, that'll be the exclusive window of.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's going to be the thing is that an ENN during football season you're going to hear Peter go smells like one o' clock Sunday.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, that's going to be the rare thing. Now I'm going to push back on one thing. I'll push back on one piece.

[Alan]

What's that?

[Don LaGreca]

I do think that if they're not greedy pigs, which they will be and try to do this everywhere, it's probably too late or let me maybe should be almost in retrospect, had they not been greedy pigs and done it everywhere. I think there is a world where them completely doing every day of the week, Thanksgiving week and being like this is our week, like it's a special week. We play every day on that week. I think that could have worked. However, between the Christmas stuff and the international stuff and the other stuff, you

[Alan]

know they're going to do nine international.

[Don LaGreca]

It's just going to be too much. Yeah, but I could have seen them just owning that Thanksgiving week and it working.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

People are on hold. Anthony thinks I'm a bad guy. Well.

[Don LaGreca]

And you lied about Bobby Holy because.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, I'm telling you that's not confirmed. No, nobody. Nobody said was mentioned it was odd seeing Bobby Holy get another what? Another jersey.

[Don LaGreca]

I don't Devil.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He was a Thrasher. He was a Ranger. That never happened. It's imaginary. I'm telling you. Jacob, find it.

[Caller]

I'LL walk.

[Don LaGreca]

You'll walk.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It'll be just Peter by himself tomorrow.

[Caller]

Wow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It didn't happen.

[Don LaGreca]

You don't. You don't think it's possible we mentioned so much hockey, just not that holy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So much hockey we mentioned as references.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, don't even act like since Alan. Since we started doing a show with Alan, a lot of hockey references.

[Alan]

I apologize to no one.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh no. As you shouldn't. But I'm just saying a whole leak or a Nolan or a Salani gets thrown out.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Lonnie.

[Don LaGreca]

I remember.

[Alan]

So you've had more strange pulls in hockey than anybody.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Whole league was not mentioned. 80s Penguin next.

[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don, Han and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan]

I don't want to know how the sausage is made, but I just want to know it's good.

[Don Hahn]

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.

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