0:01

From the Berkshars to the sound from

0:04

wherever you live in MLB America.

0:06

This is Inside the Parker.

0:08

You give us twenty two minutes and we'll give

0:10

you the scoop on major League Baseball.

0:13

Now here's Baseball Hall of

0:15

Fame voter number seventy, Rob

0:18

Parker.

0:21

Welcome into the podcast.

0:22

I'm your host, Rob Parker, with this very

0:24

special off season audition

0:27

of Inside the Parker. Coming up,

0:30

we're gonna talk with the newest member

0:32

of the Hall of Fame, manager Jim Leland.

0:35

He joins us and Malachi

0:38

Wore, a Major League Baseball

0:40

umpire was giving back to the community.

0:42

That plus much more. Let's

0:45

go.

0:47

Better to lead off, it's getting.

0:50

Robbed and keep them on.

0:51

Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories

0:54

in Major League Baseball Number

0:57

one.

0:58

It ain't done yet, but we're here in the we're

1:01

hearing that.

1:02

Yes, the Yankees are serious

1:04

about getting Juan Sodo on a trade from

1:06

the San Diego Padres.

1:07

This would make a lot of sense. The

1:10

Yankees need some star power.

1:12

They need to get Aaron Judge and

1:14

gian Carlos Dan some some help,

1:18

and Sodo would be playing for a contract

1:20

to the left the right

1:22

Field porch at Yankee Stadium.

1:25

This is a great opportunity for the Yankees

1:27

and for Sodo, who turned down that four

1:30

hundred and forty million dollar deal with

1:32

the Washington Nationals. He never really clicked

1:34

in San Diego. Played

1:36

better last year, made the All Star team, but

1:38

it just didn't seem like the same guy who

1:41

helped the Nationals win the World Series

1:44

and was offered the contract of a lifetime almost

1:46

a half a billion dollars. I

1:48

know he probably regrets taking it, but

1:51

the Yankees need Soto and Sodo

1:54

needs the Yankees. I think this is a perfect marriage,

1:56

and the Yankees should give up whatever they have to

1:59

the young players that the Padres are looking

2:01

for to make this happen. The

2:03

Padres are overloaded, and

2:06

they're not gonna re sign Soto

2:08

with the money that they've already shelled out, so

2:11

this makes total sense.

2:13

They have tattoos, they

2:15

have Bogarts, and.

2:17

They have.

2:19

Machado. They already have three guys.

2:21

Who all make over like three hundred million

2:24

dollars, So how they're gonna sign

2:26

Sodo to this makes one hundred sense,

2:29

and I expect this to happen.

2:31

Number two, of course, the show

2:34

Hey, Otani sweepsteaks

2:36

has started. This

2:38

will be interesting. It still feels like

2:41

he's the Dodgers to lose. And

2:44

we know that Dave Roberts

2:46

came out and announced

2:48

that he did meet with Shohy

2:50

and the Dodgers did and they spend some time together

2:52

at Dodgers Stadium a couple hours. And

2:55

he wants to play on the West coast, and the

2:57

Dodgers are a team that

3:00

is a blue blood in baseball and

3:02

has an unbelievable fan base and has

3:05

a ton of money. It all just

3:07

seems like he can easily slide from

3:09

Anaheim to Los

3:11

Angeles and not have too much of a change

3:13

in his life and lifestyle. And

3:16

it all makes sense. You

3:18

know, could San Francisco sneak in. Maybe

3:21

it doesn't seem like Seattle or

3:24

the Yankees or Mets are really involved

3:26

because he with the Yankees

3:28

and Mets.

3:28

He wants to be on the West Coast.

3:30

Kind of bummed out that Shohey

3:33

would not be interested in playing on the East

3:35

Coast. I think that's a little bit of a

3:38

mistake since most of the country

3:40

is on the East Coast, so a lot of

3:42

people won't get to see him play you

3:45

know, they go to bed at ten o'clock when the

3:47

games are starting out West. That's just the facts,

3:49

so you can see replays, but it

3:52

ain't the same as if he was playing on

3:54

the bigger stage or playing at Yankee Stadium.

3:57

And we saw Hadeki Matsui

3:59

come from Japan and be a star

4:01

and win a World Series MVP with the Yankees.

4:03

It was pretty exciting and

4:06

the Japanese people loved that he was in pinstripes.

4:09

But it looks like the Dodgers are

4:11

gonna wind up being able to grab.

4:13

Them, and this will be

4:15

interesting.

4:16

There's a lot to go a lot, still a lot to happen,

4:19

but it looks like Showhy

4:21

is gonna wind up with the Dodgers, like we've all

4:24

thought for most of this

4:27

time, ever since he decided he

4:29

was going to become a free agent.

4:31

Number three reports.

4:33

From the Athletics Kim Rosenthal

4:35

is that veteran closer Craig

4:37

Kimbrel and the Orioles are close

4:40

to an agreement on a free agent deal. That

4:44

would be interesting for the

4:47

Orioles to add a

4:49

closer to the mix after

4:53

their reigning ale reliever

4:56

of the Year Felix Bautista is

4:58

expected to miss the twenty twent season

5:00

after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

5:03

So absolutely the Orioles

5:05

need help in the bullpen. So that makes

5:08

a lot of sense if Kimbrel can

5:11

get a deal done there with the

5:13

Orioles. The Oriols don't expect to go anywhere.

5:16

They know that they won the division, but these

5:18

other teams and Yankees and Red Sox aren't going

5:20

anywhere, so I'm sure they realize

5:23

they need reinforcements. Kimbrole

5:26

last year played for the Phillies on a

5:28

one year, ten million dollar contract

5:30

and had a

5:33

really good season for the Phillies, of course,

5:36

and then came the postseason and he struggled

5:38

in the NLDS against the Diamondbacks

5:42

and was removed from.

5:43

That closer role.

5:44

So it looks like Kimbrole could wind up with

5:47

the Orioles on a deal, a free

5:49

agent deal, and we'll wait

5:51

to hear from that as the Winter meetings

5:54

continue in Nashville.

5:56

Here comes the Big Interview. Listen

5:59

and learn.

6:00

It's so good.

6:02

All right now, let's welcome into the podcast

6:04

Jim Leland, who's

6:06

going to be inducted into the Baseball

6:09

Hall of Fame. He got

6:11

in through the Veterans Committee almost ninety

6:13

four percent of the vote. Jim Leland,

6:16

congratulations from inside the

6:18

Parker. And for myself, Man, I'm so happy for

6:20

you.

6:21

Well, I really appreciate that. I couldn't

6:24

be happier. I'm very grateful. You know,

6:26

this is a place that you don't get alone. You

6:28

don't get there by yourself, so

6:30

there'll be a lot of people to thank, but I'm very, very

6:32

grateful.

6:34

And Jim, I mean, what a long run.

6:36

You were a coach with the Chicago White Sox.

6:38

White Sox dating back to nineteen

6:40

eighty two. Obviously we're pirates

6:43

manager for a long time. You won a World Series

6:45

with the Florida Marlins. You

6:47

manage the Rockies, that was

6:50

a short time. You bounce back

6:52

after a few years. You come to Detroit, you

6:55

get that team going. You were there for

6:58

a nice amount of time, almost

7:00

a World Series.

7:00

They had a couple of opportunities to

7:02

at least get there. Tell me.

7:06

Just about the whole ride and

7:08

being a major league manager, starting in

7:10

Pittsburgh and just some of your memories

7:12

and thoughts.

7:14

Well, it all starts with opportunity. That's

7:16

how I'll start somebody has to believe in you and

7:19

to be able to accomplish what I was fortunate

7:21

enough to do is because

7:23

I got the opportunity. And once

7:26

you get the opportunity, then you're

7:28

at the mercy of the players. When you get players

7:30

performance. That's another

7:32

reason why that I got to the Hall

7:34

of Fame. It belongs to the players.

7:37

I share this with so many people, frontal

7:39

office, ownership, general manager, presidents,

7:42

farm directors, but at the end

7:44

of the day, it comes down to the players.

7:46

Talk about you're a manager, that's true. You got

7:48

to have players.

7:49

You know that gym. Without players, you ain't winning

7:51

too many games. And you've had some great players.

7:53

We'll get to that. But you were a three time

7:56

Manager of the Year nineteen ninety, nineteen

7:58

ninety two, two and six.

8:00

I know they all got to be special. Deep

8:03

down, I want to feel like and I'm

8:05

just guessing, and I want to hear your opinion,

8:08

but the two thousand and six to one meant

8:11

a lot because you were away from the game.

8:13

You came back and you

8:16

didn't lose anything. You had a resurgence,

8:19

And you know, I

8:21

think that that time in Detroit

8:24

had to be special.

8:26

Oh there's no question about that. I think, you

8:28

know, come back to the Tigers, which is

8:30

the team that I signed with as a young kid, and

8:33

I signed with them in nineteen sixty three. So

8:35

I went to my first spring train in nineteen sixty

8:38

four, and I always kid everybody.

8:40

I said, I signed with the Tigers at sixty

8:42

four, but I never got to Detroit until two thousand

8:44

and six, So it took me a long long time

8:46

to get there, I can tell you that. But yeah,

8:49

that was a special moment. Maggie was home run,

8:51

but it was unbelievable in the crowd

8:53

of that day, you know, the electricity

8:55

in that stadium. You

8:57

just don't see things like that. It

9:00

was very, very very much unbelievable.

9:02

And you know, I was fortunate enough to the celebrated

9:05

World Series in Florida. That was the same thing. And

9:07

one of my finest moments of my careers were

9:09

in our first Division title in Pittsburgh, because

9:11

we were weren't very good to start with, but

9:13

we got good. We finally caught and passed

9:15

the Mets, and we won that first division

9:18

title. So you can make a case that there

9:20

were several moments that were very, very

9:22

very exciting.

9:24

Let's start and did, no doubt, but let's start

9:26

in Pittsburgh.

9:28

And you had some great players in Pittsburgh.

9:30

Obviously I Barry

9:33

Bonds was there, but Doug drey

9:35

Beck, Andy Vance, like Bobby

9:37

Benita.

9:38

You guys had a squad there.

9:40

How much fun was that you were there from nineteen eighty

9:42

six to nineteen ninety six.

9:45

It was great. Well, we had the right guys.

9:47

We had guys with great personalities. They played

9:49

hard each and every day. They gave me everything they had.

9:52

You know, it was exciting time because we weren't very good

9:54

to start with, but we caught and

9:56

passed quite a few people. So, you

9:58

know, just a little sad that we didn't get by Atlanta

10:01

a couple of times there where we had a chance. But hey,

10:04

great games. I'm a big boy. That's the way it is.

10:06

So you win some, you lose some, and you

10:08

know, maybe you should have done this, you should have done

10:11

that. But at the end of the day, that's just the way it

10:13

is.

10:14

And let's go to Florida with the Marlins

10:16

in that World Series. That

10:18

had to be special to nineteen ninety

10:20

seven. What a squad you had

10:23

there. That team was loaded. There was a lot of players

10:25

from all over, kind of like a

10:28

team that was put together, you know, from

10:30

so many different places.

10:33

How did that work out?

10:34

How were you able to make that all mesh together

10:36

and win that one?

10:38

Yeah, I think we just happened to Dave Don Browsei

10:40

did a great job of bringing the right players

10:42

in the right personalities, and that

10:44

team really meshed real quick. In fact,

10:46

in spring training that year, I think we were something like twenty

10:49

six and five, and I was nervous

10:51

as heck because I said, oh my god, they're going to expect

10:53

so much. But that club just got together

10:55

real quick, and it carried on throughout the year and

10:58

right up till the final game of the World There.

11:01

Our guest is Jim Leland, of course,

11:03

a former major league manager, on his way

11:05

to Cooperstown, New York, for the Hall

11:07

of Fame in twenty twenty four

11:10

off of his selection there,

11:12

which is just a great honor. And

11:15

tell us about Jim when you got the

11:17

call and just your reaction. And

11:20

you know, there were a lot of managers on that list,

11:23

Lou Panella, Pido

11:26

Gaston, Davy Johnson.

11:28

I mean, there was a list of guys

11:31

and they all had credentials. But

11:33

how were you feeling about, you know, waiting

11:35

to hear that call and whether you're going to get it, and

11:38

then when you did get it, Well,

11:40

the.

11:40

Whole day went really fast up until about

11:42

six o'clock and Leonard

11:45

just seemed to crawl. They told us we would hear

11:47

something between six thirty and seven fifteen,

11:50

and so that was the window. But about by

11:52

ten or seven I hadn't heard anything. So I told

11:55

my wife and my son and my daughter. I said, well, you

11:57

know, it's not going to happen, and they were I said,

12:00

oh, there's a window for a reason, you know, hanging

12:02

there. And so I just said, well, I'm going to go up

12:04

and light out from it and just kind of get my thoughts

12:06

together, you know. Disappointed,

12:09

obviously, I probably do make it. So about

12:11

that time I laid down, I know

12:13

more than laid down, and my son and my wife my daughter

12:16

walked up the stairs and when they hit

12:18

the top step, I got the call and I couldn't

12:20

believe it. So, you

12:22

know, they were all there to share it with me. It was just

12:24

a wonderful, unbelievable moment.

12:27

And for people who haven't been I've till

12:30

all people.

12:30

You know, I love the game of baseball, and

12:33

if you haven't been to Cooper's Town, you

12:35

just have to get there.

12:36

It's a magical. It's a special place.

12:39

And to be a mortalized

12:42

gym, you know, and have your plaque

12:44

in that place for people forever

12:48

to go up and look at the people who

12:50

had contributions to baseball and made

12:52

a difference.

12:53

What does that make you feel? Like?

12:56

Well, it's absolutely great. I

12:58

mean, you know, I've been to Cooper's on

13:00

a couple of times to honor some former

13:02

friends or man like Tony the Russa people

13:04

that got in Uh so I know

13:06

a little bit about it. But you're right in

13:09

that building. When you walk in there

13:11

and you see all that stuff that's

13:13

in there, all the plaques and everything, the bats

13:15

and the helmets and uniforms and stuff,

13:18

it's it's really mind bothering. And to think that

13:20

I'm going to have a plaque that will be there forever.

13:23

I just can't explain how how

13:25

great that feels.

13:27

And I know you probably your phone was ringing

13:30

off the hook, and I know with all the relationships

13:32

and players, I

13:34

mean, how was that just to to get

13:37

love and hear from so many people.

13:40

Who well I got I got called

13:42

some superstars, and I got called

13:44

some kids that play for me in the minor league.

13:46

So I got to cover

13:48

all bases and it was really nice. It was really

13:51

nice. And I can't tell you probably

13:53

four hundred text message I have, but I've I've

13:55

been able. I've been able to answer every one of them.

13:57

I've got every one of them answered, and you

14:00

know, not a long conversation, but just

14:03

generally a thank you so much, and

14:05

uh, you know, but like I said, I got them from

14:07

some kid that I released in a ball

14:09

and in nineteen seventy two, all

14:12

the way up to justin Verland, the very

14:14

Bonds and people like that, Bobby

14:17

right. Yeah, So I could go on and on.

14:19

And you and you were fortunate. We talked.

14:21

You talked about it earlier about

14:23

a manager, and you know, you're thankful

14:25

with the players that you had, and you have some big

14:28

time players. And I'm not trying to short change

14:31

anybody, but you know, when you manage

14:33

Barry Bonds and

14:37

you know a guy of that ILK and

14:39

then Miguel Cabrera, those are two

14:42

of like the greatest hitters the

14:44

baseball at see.

14:45

I mean how was that to have a front row seat

14:47

every night to see those two guys and

14:50

their careers.

14:52

Well, that's that's a great, great thing

14:54

about it. You know, I really enjoyed. I

14:56

talk about this all the time my career. I

14:59

had a good, fortunate managing against

15:02

some of the greatest players ever played the game.

15:04

And I really enjoyed that. I mean,

15:06

I enjoyed watching him thoroughly. I enjoyed

15:08

watching and then, as you say, to

15:10

manage guys like bos and Cabrera and

15:12

some of those guys, Larry Walker, to

15:15

manage some of those guys and actually be

15:17

their manager, I mean, it's

15:20

unbelievable. You realize, you marvel

15:22

at what those guys do on a daily basis,

15:24

and this is a really tough game to play, so

15:27

you know, to see those guys go up and throw

15:31

or hit a one hundred mile hour fastball, it's

15:34

hard to believe.

15:35

Last thing, Jim Baseball

15:38

changed a lot.

15:39

You know, a lot of guys front

15:41

office people want to manage and they want

15:43

to give the manager the score

15:45

car, you know, the lineup card and tell them

15:48

when to take people out and all kinds of stuff

15:50

like that. But there's been a resurgence

15:52

of older managers who have gotten in

15:56

and you know, had

15:58

some success. Where

16:00

are you on managing?

16:02

Can can? Can it be done from upstairs?

16:04

Or do you have to have be in the dugout?

16:07

We just saw Bruce Bochi come back and

16:09

win a World Series with the Rangers.

16:12

You know, more of an old school guy. Can

16:14

that?

16:15

Can can do you

16:17

have to have a feel for being the dugout?

16:19

Or can it be done from the front office?

16:22

No.

16:22

I think it's a combination of some things that you

16:24

know the front office. There are certain people in front office

16:26

will provide you with I call it

16:28

in information. A lot of people call it analytics,

16:31

but they can provide you with some valuable

16:33

information and you look at it

16:35

and some of u's absolutely very good.

16:37

Some of it has an impact on the game. Some of it's

16:40

kind of reading material. I'll be honest with you, But

16:42

you put all that into play. But at the end of the day,

16:45

it's about the players. It's about the pulse of the player.

16:47

It's about who can slow the game down in the biggest

16:49

moments. You know, you have to

16:51

understand all those things. Who can make a pitch at a

16:53

big time and the analytics

16:55

and that doesn't really have anything to do with that. But they

16:58

can tell you what pitch would be the best to throw, well,

17:00

but you still have to execute the pitch. You

17:02

still have to hit the pitcher's slider or

17:05

whatever picture may be. So no, you

17:08

have to be in the dugout to really get the pulse

17:10

of the players and to know what's going on. Like

17:12

I said, who can slow the game down?

17:13

Who can't last

17:15

thing? I was there, I

17:18

was in your office.

17:18

I don't know if you remember in two thousand and six,

17:23

after you guys went to

17:25

the World Series. In two thousand and six, you became

17:27

the seventh manager history to win a pennant

17:29

in both the National American League.

17:31

And I don't And I remember how emotion you

17:34

were. It was just me and you, all the other reporters

17:36

I think were in the clubhouse. Do you remember

17:38

that? And we did a TV interview for

17:40

Channel four.

17:42

I knew, yeah, And.

17:43

I remember that moment, and

17:46

just you know all that went

17:48

into it, and how much you care,

17:50

how much you love the game, how much you love your players,

17:53

And I again, I just want

17:55

to say how much I appreciate you, how

17:57

much you care about the game.

18:00

Guys like you that deserve.

18:01

To be in the Hall of Fame, and I'm thrilled

18:04

that you got in and couldn't

18:08

be happier.

18:09

Well, I appreciate that very much and thank you

18:11

for having me on.

18:13

All right, now, let's welcome into the podcast.

18:15

Malachi More, a Major

18:17

League Baseball umpire, just finished his

18:20

first full time season

18:22

with MLB.

18:24

Malachi, Welcome to the podcast.

18:27

How are you hey, Rob?

18:29

How you doing? Thanks for having me. First

18:32

of all, I want to say congratulations to

18:34

you for being inducted into

18:37

the National Association

18:39

of Black Journalist Hall of Fame. That's a tremendous

18:42

accomplishment, very well deserved.

18:44

Thank you for that.

18:45

I appreciate that for real. Thank you.

18:48

We look at what you're doing, man, tell

18:50

me about Let's got some stuff we want to

18:52

talk about about your umpire camp and

18:54

all that.

18:55

But just tell me about your first year.

18:56

You have been with Major League Baseball doing games,

18:58

but this was your first full time season, all

19:01

right, for the previous three years, but

19:03

tell me about your first year, the travels,

19:06

dealing with it, how how did it go for you?

19:09

The first year? Is a full time Major league gumpires

19:12

is your dream? You know, you work, you

19:14

work hard, you work your whole career. I'm

19:16

uh, you know, trying to pain that

19:18

that position. And I spent eleven years

19:21

in the minor leagues waiting for this opportunity.

19:23

I was blessed and fortunate enough to

19:26

get a call, and the first year was

19:28

awesome. I got to work with a

19:30

bunch of veterans and

19:33

you know, really getting to bond

19:35

and and form that crew

19:38

camaraderie. I think that was very important for me.

19:40

That was something that I didn't

19:42

really get to experience going up and down as

19:45

a major league umpire. You're bouncing around

19:47

crew to cruise, so that was something I really

19:49

look forward to. The travel is is rigorous.

19:52

You know, you're you're traveling, You're on a plane,

19:54

you know, three times a week. But

19:57

with being a full time major

19:59

gumpire and now you get now

20:03

you get benefits. You know, you

20:05

get vacation, so you get time at home.

20:07

So it's it was a very good

20:10

experience for me and I can't wait for next

20:12

season.

20:13

Our guest is Malachi Moore, major

20:15

League Baseball umpire, and

20:18

just pull a curtain back a little bit. As

20:20

a as an umpire, it's

20:22

got to be pretty cool. Sometimes Obviously

20:24

you're neutral, you don't care who wins and loses.

20:27

That's not your bag. But

20:29

to be in some moments and

20:31

some games and crowd

20:34

and you know, in just the atmosphere

20:37

and even though you know what I mean, you're just it's

20:39

got to be pretty amazing when

20:42

you see some of these players and some of the

20:44

feats that they do and the home runs and

20:46

the moments and the and the fans.

20:48

And all that. What is that like to have

20:51

that kind of seat for those

20:53

moments?

20:55

You know, I grew up

20:57

playing baseball. I wish I was,

21:00

you know, as talented as some of these players that

21:02

are out there, and God

21:04

has blessed me with another path

21:07

and umpiring is literally

21:10

the next best gig opposite

21:13

of playing baseball. I feel you're on

21:16

the field. You're not behind a screen.

21:18

Or like, in my case, the same thing. I

21:20

wanted to be a baseball player growing.

21:22

Up, and I was like, what else could

21:24

I do to stay close to the game, And

21:27

I became a baseball writer in a broadcast

21:30

and all that, but I'm not on the field.

21:32

You're on the field, And I agree,

21:34

like that is other than being a player, you

21:36

can't get any closer absolutely.

21:38

I sweat, you know, I get nervous,

21:41

I feel anxious, I get excited,

21:45

and it's so awesome. Umpiring

21:47

has taught me so much, not only

21:49

in baseball, but in life, just life lessons,

21:52

how to communicate, how to handle

21:54

situations, and just

21:56

really just how to enjoy baseball.

21:58

Really take a step back and a seatback

22:01

and look and enjoy the game for

22:03

what it is.

22:04

What about so far?

22:06

This is I know you're only thirty two and this is your

22:08

young and your major league umpiring career.

22:11

Biggest moment you were behind the plate

22:13

or or just in the ballpark

22:16

on one of the bases, What was the biggest

22:18

moment that you were at and you experienced.

22:22

I would have to say my first game ever,

22:24

me debut in the major leagues.

22:27

And it was so interesting because I debuted

22:29

during COVID and you

22:31

know, you grow up in your you know,

22:34

your whole career, you're thinking, oh snap, when

22:36

I get on a major league field, I'm

22:38

going to have forty fifty thousand

22:40

people screaming. And it was

22:42

a complete opposite. You know, there were cardboard,

22:45

cardboard cutouts out there, and so it

22:47

was it was something very different different

22:50

On top of the experience and exposure

22:53

within itself. So I think that

22:55

was just mind boy, and it'll

22:58

never happen hopefully not going. It'll never have and

23:00

again, and no other umpire

23:02

will get to experience that. So to be one of

23:04

the very few to ever get to experience

23:06

that, I think that was just unreal.

23:09

Yeah, that is during those times we almost

23:11

forget about that, those watching

23:13

those games with no fans and cut

23:15

out cardboard fans

23:17

in the stands and all kinds of stuff. But

23:20

last thing I want to get to is what you have coming

23:22

up. This is really great

23:25

and giving back to the community. You

23:27

have a free two

23:30

day umpire camp ages twelve

23:32

and up coming up on Saturday,

23:34

December ninth and Sunday December

23:37

tenth. The Compton Youth Academy

23:40

is the location. Just talk about that giving

23:42

back to the community. Why is this important to you?

23:45

It's very important to me, Rob, just

23:48

because of the fact that I

23:50

know how I got started and where I came from.

23:52

I was raised right way, raising

23:55

church, had a

23:57

great group of friends growing up, played played

24:00

football and baseball, played football with Richard

24:02

Sherman in high school, won some championship.

24:05

So I went to Comping College

24:09

under play baseball under the leadership of

24:11

Shannon Williams, attended the

24:13

Major League Baseball Youth Academy throughout

24:16

high school under the great Darryl

24:18

Miller, who was a tremendous leader

24:21

and pioneer in

24:23

youth baseball and youth development.

24:26

And if it wasn't for Daryl, I wouldn't be here, So

24:28

thank you to Darryl. But also

24:31

just for me, it was a way to

24:33

get involved and stay involved in baseball

24:35

and umpiring. I had the opportunity

24:38

to attend the umpire camp, and

24:41

they gave me the opportunity to go to umpire

24:43

school and to teach me the fundamentals

24:46

of how to umpire. And you

24:48

know, I'm a player, I was a former player. I never

24:50

wanted to umpire. You know, I never

24:52

had a I never had a bad moment with the umpire,

24:55

don't get me wrong. But at the same time,

24:57

I didn't want to umpire. I wanted I wanted to

24:59

slide and get dirty and try to stretch

25:01

a single into a double.

25:03

You know, that was my game And

25:06

for me, to umpire was something totally different,

25:08

something I never thought of. And

25:10

I went to umpire school, went to the Harry Windowstead

25:13

Umpire School in Daytona Beach, Florida, and it

25:15

changed my life forever. And so I

25:18

became a minor league umpire for eleven years

25:20

and now I'm a full time major league umpire. And

25:23

within that there's training that we have to

25:25

go through. We have to prepare just like the players.

25:27

We have to review film. We

25:30

have to keep our bodies and our minds

25:32

and good condition, get great

25:35

sleep, take care of ourselves and so

25:37

that we're able to go out there on the field and produce

25:40

and to run a fair game. And

25:42

it's something that's enjoyable for all fans.

25:45

And so baseball

25:47

umpiring is something that's very unique.

25:50

And this camp here is a free two day

25:52

camp, and it's something that is

25:56

going to allow a lot

25:58

of individuals, a lot. We have a lot of youth signed

26:00

up. They're going to get an opportunity

26:02

to go out there and call balls and strikes, get

26:05

back behind the catcher, call balls and

26:07

strikes, call someone

26:09

out at first base, learn about

26:11

the rules. This camp is not just

26:14

just for the youth. This camp is for

26:17

parents, those of you that have

26:19

kids that are in travel

26:21

ball or playing baseball. You want to learn the rules,

26:24

you want to know what's going on out there, be able

26:26

to help and assist when needed.

26:29

There's a shortage of umpires in

26:32

baseball and youth sports across the nation,

26:35

and to be out there on the field

26:38

helping out, I think that's

26:41

that's something that that you know, you

26:43

it's invaluable. It's a trade that you

26:45

can take with you forever. You can learn something

26:48

today or this weekend, and

26:50

it's going to stick with you for the rest of your

26:52

life. So we're very excited to give live

26:54

reps will have I'll

26:56

be I have to mention that we have an

26:58

annual toy drive that we're

27:01

participating in. All toys

27:04

that will be donated, we'll go to the Long

27:06

Beach Millard Children's Hospital and

27:09

we can't wait to just

27:12

show the love and just the spirit

27:14

of the holiday season right before

27:16

Christmas. So this is a way to give back

27:18

and we're very excited. We have raft

27:21

Fulls Prizes, major League gumpires

27:23

coming out. There's tons of opportunity.

27:25

This is for baseball players, softball

27:28

players, anyone that's interested,

27:30

please sign up, Please register and

27:33

you don't want to miss it.

27:34

And how where do they go to register?

27:36

Malacan You can go to the Comptent

27:38

Youth Academy dot com and

27:40

register online, and

27:43

we would love to have you sign

27:45

up and show up and help participate.

27:47

It's a great way to stay involved in baseball.

27:50

And you're going to help yourself and I guarantee you

27:52

you're going to learn something when you come out there this week.

27:55

All right, that sounds awesome, man, Thank

27:57

you for helping the community. Man.

27:59

That's stuff like that is invaluable.

28:01

Malachi Moore, major

28:03

League Baseball umpire, just finished his first

28:06

full time season last year with

28:09

Major League Baseball.

28:10

All right, appreciate you.

28:12

Good luck on the clinic and the two

28:14

day umpire

28:16

school.

28:17

Thanks Rob, I really do appreciate it. And

28:19

again I want to challenge each and every one of you

28:21

that sit back oftentimes that watch

28:23

a lot of our games and think that they can do a

28:25

better job than us. Come on out,

28:28

have fun. See what it's likes to call balls and strikes.

28:30

You'll enjoy it.

28:38

In the words of New York TV legend

28:40

the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you

28:42

for your time this time until next time,

28:44

Rob Parker out.

28:46

D can't gevin this could be an inside

28:48

of Parker.

28:49

See you next week, same bat time From

28:51

the same Matt's station,