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 seven, Rob

0:18

Parker.

0:21

Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob

0:23

Parker. What an exciting

0:25

show we have for you today. Mets

0:28

shortstop Francisco Lindor.

0:30

He drops by he had two big

0:32

home runs in San Francisco

0:34

on Wednesday, talks about how much he likes

0:36

that ball park, and about the Meds

0:39

and how they've turned things around. Will do that

0:41

plus author Molly Knight

0:44

all that and more.

0:45

Let's go.

0:48

Better to lead off it's getting

0:50

robbed and keep them on. Rob's hot

0:52

take on the three biggest stories in Major

0:55

League Baseball.

0:57

Number one, longtime

0:59

New York Yankees play by play

1:01

radio man John Sterling called

1:03

it quits.

1:05

This past week.

1:06

On Saturday, the Yankees honored him

1:08

at Yankee Stadium, and

1:10

it will be a big loss for major League

1:12

Baseball. We remember

1:14

when Vince Scully retired from

1:16

the Dodgers. These guys are iconic voices

1:19

and for me, this is personal because

1:22

I grew up in New York listening to John Sterling

1:24

on the old WMCA AM

1:27

radio in New York. He had a talk show

1:29

that I listened to every night when I was

1:32

in the seventh or eighth grade. Who's listening to sports

1:34

talk radio then? But I was because

1:36

John Sterling was that dude. He was

1:39

and on the radio doing Yankee since

1:41

nineteen eighty nine. He was fantastic,

1:44

always creative, great pipes,

1:47

so much excitement. He was a pleasure

1:50

to listen to. You know what, Let's

1:52

take a listen to John Sterling

1:54

and some of his best work with the

1:56

New York Yankees.

1:58

It's an ave th ro Oh,

2:01

you can bank on, Chase Headly,

2:04

Liz Jedly, you're

2:06

on a mark to Shriff, Brian

2:09

McCann.

2:10

Oh, McCann can, I

2:12

guess McCann can Garrett keeping

2:15

up with the Joneses.

2:16

Stephen Drew, he serves

2:18

as Drew.

2:19

Skie and the second deck and right

2:21

number two.

2:23

What a shame.

2:25

San Francisco Giants lefty Blake

2:27

Snell is having a bad

2:29

season and just got put on a fifteen day

2:31

I l you know, remember

2:34

after turning down more than one hundred and fifty million

2:37

dollars this past offseason he

2:39

signed with the Giants. Of course, he didn't have a

2:41

spring training. He came to the party

2:44

late, and now he's banged

2:46

up and gonna be sidelined for a little bit. And

2:48

this is the guy who last year

2:51

won the National League Cy Young. He was

2:54

special, spectacular with

2:56

the Padres. It's a shame. He'll

2:58

get it together. I mean, Scott

3:01

Boris is his agent. A lot of their guys held

3:03

out, didn't go to spring training and got

3:06

signed late. But Blake

3:08

Snell, I understand why the Giants wanted

3:10

them, but it would have been better had he signed

3:13

earlier, been with the team and hopefully

3:15

could have stayed healthy. It's a shame because the

3:18

Giants with him

3:20

and Webb and their rotation are definitely

3:22

viable when you have two studs like that at the

3:24

top of your rotation. So Blake Snell's sideline

3:27

on the fifteen day.

3:29

I l number three.

3:32

We already knew that Mike Trout

3:34

is a stud and one of the greatest players who ever played

3:37

in baseball. But the problem

3:39

is his team just can't seem

3:41

to win. Coming into Wednesday

3:44

night, Mike Trout

3:47

had an MLB best ten home

3:49

runs already. We're still in

3:51

April. He has ten home runs already.

3:54

There's no moral tany It's

3:56

not like people can pitch

3:59

around him or some or have to throw

4:01

him pitchers because Otani's batting behind

4:03

him and he's still producing. When

4:05

he's healthy, he's one of the best players

4:07

we know. He hasn't been healthy of late. It's

4:10

great that he's healthy and with the Angels,

4:12

and right now the season is not over for

4:14

the Angels coming into Wednesday

4:17

night ten and fifteen on the

4:19

season, so it hasn't crashed and burned

4:21

totally. There still

4:24

hopefully can play close to the five hundred.

4:26

But Mike Trout, we shouldn't be shocked

4:29

by what he's doing.

4:30

The guy is.

4:31

Going to retire as one of the greatest guys

4:34

who ever played this game. But off to ten

4:36

home runs here in April thus

4:38

far speaks volumes about how good

4:40

he is when he's healthy. Mike Trout

4:43

is one of the ten

4:45

best players in baseball, without question.

4:49

It's the gambler here.

4:51

Vice president of operations for mlbbro

4:53

dot Com, an executive producer

4:56

of the MLB bro Show podcast

4:59

for Mixtape every.

5:00

Friday, you heard that right.

5:02

Every Friday, we bring you the

5:05

best from the world of Black and Brown

5:07

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5:11

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Walk Off, and Going Deep,

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just to name a few of the segments that

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truly capture the voice of black

5:52

baseball. If things get out of hand,

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as the Boss Rob Parker, he's

5:56

kicking up dust, we will gladly pay

5:58

you on Tuesday from an MLB

6:01

bro doubleheader today. Remember

6:03

the heart of the game lies in the diversity

6:05

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6:08

that dates back to the Negro leaguess. I

6:11

the Gambler, your friendly neighborhood

6:13

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6:15

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Listen to the MLB bro Show podcast

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6:45

wherever you get your podcasts.

6:50

Here comes the big Interview. Listen

6:53

and learn what's so good

6:56

Now?

6:56

Let's welcome into the podcast met

6:58

Shortstyle Francisco, Lin, Door, Francisco.

7:01

Thanks for joining us.

7:02

Yeah yeah, thank you for having them.

7:04

No doubt.

7:06

Let's talk about the New York Metropolitans

7:08

and uh, what a turnaround it

7:10

has been off to an zero to five

7:12

start. Of course, people want

7:15

a little overreaction to the

7:17

skies falling. What did you guys do to

7:20

just keep even killing get things

7:22

turned around?

7:23

I mean, we we believing what we

7:25

have and we just gotta stay the course.

7:27

You know.

7:27

It's one of those where

7:31

you got to protect our sanity and stay

7:34

within themselves day in and day out and and

7:36

and yeah it was rough

7:38

at the beginning, but you know it's

7:41

far if part of the process and

7:43

baseball.

7:44

I know it's a cliche, but

7:47

it's a marathon, not a spread. And

7:49

you know where you have a bad week and then you could

7:51

have a greade.

7:51

Two weeks.

7:54

Is extremely long a year. You

7:57

just want to play consistent baseball all year

7:59

round, you know, Hoefully that puts you in a place where

8:01

you are in the playoff contention.

8:04

How about for you playing in New

8:06

York.

8:07

It's been a number of years now, and

8:10

are you enjoying it more and more? I mean,

8:12

obviously you've seen this team has had some real

8:15

success a couple of years ago. You guys won over one hundred

8:17

games. How is it playing in New

8:19

York?

8:19

Man?

8:20

I love it. I love it. It keeps

8:22

me on my toes, It makes me better, It keeps

8:24

me accountable, and it's

8:26

one of those places where you

8:29

gotta stay with yourself day in and they out. You can't

8:31

get too big or you can't get too low, otherwise

8:33

it's going to be a long year.

8:35

And the fans knowledgeable,

8:37

they know baseball. That's

8:40

what people say all the time. Do you get that feel

8:43

yeah.

8:43

I mean, they definitely understand what's happening, and

8:47

it's it's it's a fan base that's

8:49

that's there day in and day out.

8:51

There's a lot of.

8:51

Them, and and uh there

8:53

they come out and they want the best for their for

8:56

the team. What we're

8:58

playing, good or bad, They're gonna demand the best

9:00

out of all of us, which is which

9:03

is great.

9:05

Our guest is Mets short stuff, Francisco

9:07

Lindor joining us here on inside the

9:09

Parker long

9:11

term. Looking at the team and where

9:13

you are and the division a very tough

9:16

division. Obviously, the Braves are

9:18

loaded, Phillies have had a lot of success

9:20

in the last few years, but so have you

9:23

on this team. You

9:25

expect to be the postseason, expect to be in

9:28

a hunt with these other two teams in the

9:30

division.

9:30

One hundred percent. That's how it starts. You know, you got

9:32

to expect yourself to be there, and you

9:34

got to see yourself there before

9:37

you are actually there. So one hundred

9:39

percent, I think I know we have

9:41

what it takes. I know we have good

9:44

players and

9:47

and it's just amount of like I said, it's just a matter

9:49

of playing consistent baseball. You know it don't

9:51

matter who's on the other side with it. It's the

9:53

best team in the league or the

9:56

worst team in the league. At

9:58

the end of the day, they're big leaguers and and we

10:00

got to go out there and play the

10:02

game the right way.

10:03

Coming into the series against the Dodgers,

10:06

did you look at the series as

10:09

a little bit of a measuring stick, Not that

10:12

you know you can't compete with them, but we know what

10:14

the Dodgers have. They're loaded with a lineup,

10:17

they spent over a billion dollars on players

10:19

in the offseason.

10:21

Could you look at it like that as a measuring stick.

10:23

I look at it a great opponent, a

10:27

team that's going to bring their a game

10:29

and we have to bring our a game. Yeah,

10:32

and it's one of those games that we can't make too

10:34

many mistakes because they capitalized

10:37

it. That's what good teams do, They capitalize

10:39

some mistakes. And yeah,

10:42

we knew coming in it was gonna be a good a good

10:44

serious. Same thing with San Francisco. You know, it's

10:47

we knew this road trip it's going to be a

10:49

big one. So we just got to stay stay

10:52

the course, stay with it ourselves, and go out there

10:54

day and they out and played the way the

10:56

New Year Mets play.

10:57

When we talk about the Dodgers,

10:59

just the Tawny contract

11:01

obviously for baseball players

11:04

and all professional athletes, what

11:06

was your initial reaction when you saw

11:08

the number that he signed for? Seven hundred

11:11

million dollars, even as a guy who's

11:13

you know, signed your own big contract, was that the

11:15

number kind of mind boggling?

11:17

It was?

11:18

It brought a big smile to my face

11:20

and a big wow. You know,

11:22

it don't matter how much money I made in my career.

11:24

When somebody signs that contract seven

11:26

hundred million dollars, it's like, that's

11:29

that's a big wow, you know. I I

11:32

was happy for him.

11:32

He deserves it.

11:34

He seems like you found a great home for him.

11:38

So I was frail for him.

11:40

You know.

11:40

It's it's it's he is the

11:43

best game in our game and they

11:45

be best player in our game, and

11:49

he deserved every bit of it.

11:51

For you.

11:52

Do you as this part of your career

11:54

are the things that you just try to work

11:57

on? Or is there nothing you know what I mean, just to get

11:59

better every day? Is there something like, hey,

12:01

I would love to add more power, I'd like to do this

12:03

through that or that's not where you are.

12:05

You just play every day.

12:06

I'm working on trying to be as consistent as I can.

12:09

You know, I'm trying to be the best player I

12:11

can be. I can run, I can throw, I can feel, I

12:13

can hit, I can hit for power. I just got

12:15

to be consistent with it, you know, and get

12:17

better. The game continues to get better. I got

12:19

to continue to innovate as a player because

12:21

the game continues to innovate and I'm getting

12:23

older, players are getting younger, so

12:26

the competition is always going to stay at a

12:28

very high level from here on. So

12:30

I got to go out there and just, you know, just

12:33

give everything.

12:34

I got last question.

12:37

There's a lot of great ballparks in the major leagues.

12:39

Obviously you play at Dodgers Stadium,

12:43

the oldest park in the National League, which people

12:45

some people might not know, but it

12:47

is. What's your favorite park

12:49

to play other than City Field? Just as

12:51

a visiting ballplayer.

12:53

I love to run them to Rounto and Seattle.

12:55

I think they're great great ballparks

13:00

in Minnesota is a beautiful ballpark,

13:02

you know. It's just uh,

13:05

I love those three parks. I mean, if

13:07

we want to include Cleveland, but Cleveland was

13:09

home for a bit, so I'm wanted to buyas there.

13:12

But those three ballparks I mentioned, it's

13:14

they they

13:16

have great atmosphere, great atmosphere.

13:19

I love playing there.

13:20

All right, Francisco Lindor, thank you so

13:22

much for joining us here on inside

13:25

the Parker.

13:27

That ball. It was a big

13:30

week in the big leagues.

13:31

Who's a Who's a believer?

13:36

Is it foul? Or is it fair?

13:39

And now from mlbdbro

13:41

dot com, here's Jrgamball.

13:46

Jr.

13:48

The Saint Louis Cardinals sent down

13:50

starting right fielder Jordan Walker

13:52

to triple A this week. The twenty

13:55

two year old was struggling. Is

13:57

it foul or fair to

14:00

say that Saint Louis made the right

14:02

move by not letting Walker

14:05

hit through a slump?

14:06

Fair? It's a fair ball.

14:09

Jordan Walker has the talent And

14:11

how excited were we when the Saint Louis

14:13

Cardinals started three bros in their early

14:15

twenties and Walker, Shaw,

14:17

stop, Mason Win and speedy outfield.

14:20

The Victors got the second on opening day.

14:22

While Winn has been productive, batting three thirteen

14:25

and fielding his position with precision,

14:27

Scott was sent down after batting

14:30

below one hundred and fifty nine

14:32

at bats. Jordan

14:34

Walker was a breakout star last season, beginning

14:36

the season with the rookie record hitting streak

14:38

and then getting sent down, coming

14:41

back and finishing off with the solid

14:43

sixteen home runs.

14:44

Walker was batting just one p fifty

14:47

five.

14:47

This season and the six foot five,

14:49

two hundred and thirty pound frame couldn't

14:52

generate any homers. That

14:54

was a part of the reason Saint Louis Brass

14:56

sent him down last season. The Cardinals

14:59

feel he should produce more power.

15:01

It wasn't as big as an issue because

15:03

he was hitting for average and getting on base.

15:06

Now, what we thought would become a

15:08

breakout season for Jordan sky Walker

15:11

is becoming a sophomore slump, the likes

15:13

of which he's never experienced. Going

15:16

down to the minors and getting his swing

15:18

corrected might be the best thing.

15:21

Saint Louis's manager, Ali's been there three

15:23

years and has a five hundred record, so

15:26

he's on the hot.

15:26

Seat to turn this thing around.

15:28

Sitting out eleven and fourteen, he has to make

15:30

some drastic moves, and I guess he figured

15:32

he didn't have the right time, the

15:35

leeway to develop talent on

15:38

the fly Walker will be back

15:40

though he's too good. But it's

15:42

just another example of how hard the game

15:44

really is and how quick your

15:46

fortunes can change.

15:50

It's time for the pocket protector centro,

15:53

the analytic numbers you need to know?

15:56

Well, maybe Anthony Masterson

15:59

is his name, BS

16:01

analytics is his game.

16:02

What do you got for me, Anthony?

16:04

Even if pitching is in the news for all the wrong reasons

16:06

lately, namely injuries, it's fun

16:08

to talk about hurlers at the top of their game, and

16:11

not just with gaudy strikeout numbers. Sometimes

16:13

the most satisfying outings are the ones that are the most

16:16

democratic. To borrow a turner phrase from Bull

16:18

Durham. In twenty twelve, baseball

16:20

writer Jason Lukart invented a new term,

16:22

the maddox, named after the Hall of Famer

16:25

Greg The stat was any

16:27

nine inning shutout thrown in fewer than one

16:29

hundred pitches. On Tuesday,

16:31

the Braves max freed through the second

16:34

Mattix of the season, blanking the Marlins

16:36

on just ninety two pitches in a tidy one hour

16:38

and fifty four minutes. That's already matching

16:40

the number of maddoxes in each of the last two

16:42

seasons. We haven't seen more than five in a

16:44

season since twenty fifteen. For what it's

16:46

worth, if you're wondering the leaderboard

16:48

on Maddox's since they started tracking

16:50

pitches back in nineteen eighty eight, no surprise,

16:53

Greg is the runaway leader in the category,

16:55

with thirteen Following him

16:57

are two great names for your next immaculate

16:59

grid, Zane Smith and

17:02

Bob Tewksbury with seven and

17:04

six respectively, two pitchers who made

17:06

one combined All Star Game. By

17:09

the way, the third for Freed is

17:11

tops among active pitchers, and the only

17:13

other active pitcher with more than one is

17:15

Tiger's reliever Shelby Miller, both

17:17

of his coming in twenty fifteen. It's

17:20

a lost art that's off to a hot start in

17:22

twenty twenty four.

17:24

Turn money into more money. Now

17:26

it's time for betting on the basis with

17:29

Dave Gascott. Love that money, Love that

17:31

money. Rob. What's up man.

17:32

We're in the middle of the NBA playoffs and the Stanley

17:34

Cup playoffs, so hope you're enjoying both of those. But plenty

17:37

of chatter around Major League Baseball right

17:39

now, and we'll look at three games over

17:41

the weekend. Rays are going to be in Chicago, getst

17:44

the White Sox, who are straight up dreadful.

17:46

Friday Night, first pitch is.

17:49

Going to be at seven to forty Eastern four

17:51

forty Pacific on Apple TV. I'm gonna

17:53

take Tampa and this affair of the White

17:55

Sox. It's hard to believe. They're thirteen

17:57

fourteen, fifty seventeen

18:00

games under five hundred heading into the weekend

18:02

and then includes a two and nine record at

18:04

home. Meanwhile, Yankees and Brewers

18:07

also go to to toe from Milwaukee. First pitches

18:09

at eight ten in that contest. Look at

18:11

the pitching matchup in this affair. Colin

18:13

Ray two and oh record with an ERA at two oh

18:16

eight. Luis Gill one in

18:18

one two seventy five ERA. Both these

18:20

pitchess have played well so far to open up the season.

18:22

I will take the under. The under in this

18:24

one will be eight and a half runs. San

18:27

Francisco Giants take on the Pittsburgh Pirates

18:29

in that affair from Oracle Park.

18:32

Look at the pitching matchup, not too bad either.

18:34

Kyle Harrison will go up against

18:37

Martine Perez. Looking at the pitcher's numbers

18:39

so far, Harrison two and one record,

18:41

but the era is a little alarming. It's at five, but

18:43

again small sample size, present

18:45

the r side of things one on one record with the era

18:47

at three forty five. I'm gonna

18:49

take the Buccos to win this one

18:51

at San Francisco.

18:54

When Rob was a newspaper columnist,

18:56

he lived by this motto, if

18:58

I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's

19:00

bring in a writer or broadcaster, old

19:03

or new.

19:04

Now let's welcome into the podcast.

19:05

Molly Knight, distributor of The Long

19:08

Game, newsletter on baseball

19:10

and mental health, also author of The

19:12

Best Team Money Can Buy on the twenty

19:15

thirteen twenty fourteen Los

19:17

Angeles Dodgers.

19:18

Molly, welcome to the podcast. How are you

19:20

good, Rob, Thanks for having me, no

19:23

doubt. Well, it's funny.

19:25

Let's just start here off of your book

19:27

about the Dodgers, and the

19:29

Dodgers spent one point one billion dollars

19:31

in the off season on Yamamoto and Otani,

19:34

and obviously they're off to a really

19:37

good start on the baseball season. But

19:39

Molly, as you know, in

19:41

baseball, the best team on

19:44

paper doesn't always win. How

19:46

much pressure is on the Dodgers for them to win.

19:48

Yeah, that's that's what my book was really about.

19:52

When these new owners came in ten years ago, they

19:54

said about, I don't want

19:56

to say trying to buy a championship, but the team had

19:58

been bankrupt before. We're going to spend money

20:01

and we're going to try to thrill our fans

20:04

and build a great farm system and all that. And they've

20:06

done that, and they've gotten to the playoffs

20:08

every single year, but they've only won one

20:10

championship, and frankly, they all see that as

20:12

a failure, which I think is one

20:15

of the reasons why Otani himself was drawn

20:17

to playing with the Dodgers, because they're

20:19

like, we're we're not satisfied

20:22

with this, and it's frustrating for fans,

20:24

and honestly, there's a ton of pressure, I

20:27

think with the money they've spent, like you said, over

20:29

a billion dollars they've pledged and granted that's

20:31

spread out over the next decade and then some

20:34

it's a lot of money. And I

20:37

just feel like if they don't win at

20:39

least make the World Series this year, it's

20:41

going to be rough and I don't know how safe

20:43

Dave Robert's job will be.

20:45

I'm with you. They'll be hell to pay for sure.

20:48

If they don't make the World Series, they might not win

20:50

it, but they have to make it for sure.

20:52

The last two years in the postseason have been disasters

20:56

on teams where they won over one hundred

20:58

games both years. Last year against

21:01

the Diamondbacks, they didn't even lead in

21:03

one of the games. They didn't even lead in

21:05

one single game, which is unbelievable.

21:08

Let's wich to the other coast a

21:10

team that didn't make the playoffs last.

21:12

Year, the New York Yankees.

21:14

Yeah, put off to a great start,

21:16

and I gotta admit, Juan

21:19

Soto fits in the

21:21

Bronx. He's embraced

21:23

you know, New York and the pressure of it

21:25

and the fans. He seems to be having

21:28

fun. He's off to a great start, he's playing well.

21:31

Could he wind up there, Molly like long

21:33

term?

21:35

I think so.

21:36

But here's another wrinkle. Wa Soto clearly

21:38

needs. He's the kid who needs the

21:40

disciplinarian parent. That's like what the Yankee

21:43

fans are. I mean, they will ride you and boo

21:45

you and all that, and some people need that kick in the

21:47

butt.

21:47

Right.

21:49

It seems like he's going to have a great year and the Yankees

21:52

brass. It's going to be so pressured into re signing

21:54

him. But I'm like, yo, Steve Cohen

21:57

with the Mets, he could make a run for

21:59

him and that beat like we would

22:01

We would never hear the end of it. Like Jan Soto

22:03

wins the MVP, all this stuff and then Steve

22:06

Cohen outbids the Yankees and he goes there.

22:08

Now, just because Cohen out bids

22:10

the Yankees doesn't mean that Soto

22:12

would choose it. I think

22:14

the Mets outbit the Dodgers on Ya

22:17

Momoto, but he chose Los Angeles.

22:19

I think a lot of Japanese players prefer

22:21

the West Coast. Maybe he wanted to play with Otani.

22:23

I don't know, but wouldn't that be something? Man?

22:25

If he went to left the Bronx somewhe to Queens,

22:28

that would be an amazing storyline for those

22:30

of us who love.

22:31

Mess It certainly would

22:33

be.

22:33

Our guest is Molly Knight, author

22:37

who's written baseball books.

22:40

Molly, let's go here.

22:42

The Baltimore Orioles. We talked about the Yankees

22:44

and their fantastic start. The Orioles

22:46

are right there, right breathing down their necks.

22:49

But a lot of people like the team that's constructed.

22:51

Who's going to win the al least? Is

22:53

it going to beat the Orioles or the Yankees.

22:56

I still I love the Orioles.

22:58

They're so young and good,

23:00

and they got all these dudes. They all look alike.

23:03

They look like a set of quintuplets. Adley

23:06

Rutchman and Gunnar Henderson and Jackson

23:08

Holiday and Heston Kirstad

23:10

whose name I'm still learning how to pronounce. They

23:13

got to get some pitching though with the deadline. They got Corbyn

23:16

Burns in the offseason, which was great.

23:18

I'd love to see them trade for

23:21

another ace just to be able to

23:23

compete in the playoffs. I'm taking

23:25

them to win the division. I guess if Garrett

23:27

Hole comes back and isn't hurt, the

23:30

Yankees will be much better than people thought. But

23:32

I still love the Oils. They're probably

23:34

my favorite team to watch right now.

23:37

Yeah, they are fun bunch, There's no doubt

23:39

about it. Early in the season, I

23:41

was on the Baseball MLB Network

23:44

and I told Brian Kenny that

23:48

the Astros were dead, and of course he

23:50

got on me and said it's too early and whatnot.

23:53

But coming into Thursday.

23:56

Seven and eighteen

24:00

three and seven four to none, I should

24:02

say at home.

24:03

And it's been a disaster.

24:05

I mean, I know their pitching has been banged up, the

24:08

lost of Dusty Baker.

24:09

Where are you on the Astros? They'reing last

24:11

place?

24:12

And you got the Rangers who were strugg you know, five

24:15

hundred Mariners, five hundred, Where

24:17

are you on them? Even the Oakland A's have a better

24:19

record than the Astros.

24:21

Listen, I'm with you. I I kind

24:24

of sensed that the end was coming because

24:26

they got so good. I mean, yeah, the cheating

24:29

scandal, but whatever. I

24:31

mean, it's important. But it's also like they built

24:33

an amazing organization based

24:35

on analytics, and then they even

24:37

won a title that way, and then they ran their

24:39

GM out James Klick, and then they were sort

24:41

of like, oh, we're gonna let Jeff

24:44

Backwell, yeah, I let Dusty go, and

24:47

we're gonna we're gonna go to the completely

24:49

opposite direction. It's like you

24:51

had a winning formula and now you're going a

24:53

different, different way. And I didn't

24:55

like it. And I thought they were going to be like,

24:58

come back down to earth maybe in two three

25:00

years, but this is not good

25:02

and other teams have had devastating

25:06

injuries to their rotations, the Rays and

25:08

the Dodgers, and they're not, you know, playing

25:11

worset ball than the Oakland A's. I

25:13

just it's it's not good.

25:16

And this, this could be the end

25:18

of their their I guess it's a dynasty.

25:21

Since they won two titles. We'll call it a we'll call

25:23

it a a run

25:25

of dominance. It's certainly in that division, and

25:28

we could be at the end, which is honestly,

25:31

you were right. The rest of us were wrong

25:33

about that.

25:34

Yeah, I just I just thought it was

25:36

going to crash and burn. I know it's still April,

25:39

so I'm not patting myself on the back that

25:42

firmly yet, but I just didn't

25:45

like what I was seeing.

25:45

All Right.

25:46

How about CJ. Abrams

25:49

with the Nationals, who's had to break out? You

25:51

I think he's slugging over six hundred, batting

25:54

average around three hundred, and I

25:56

have can I say that the Nationals?

25:59

Actually he won the Wan Soto trade.

26:01

Since Wan Soto isn't in San

26:03

Diego anymore, you can.

26:05

And and they got another kid. I believe James

26:08

Wood was in that trade too, and

26:11

he's he's an unbelievable prospect.

26:13

He's coming up.

26:14

I spoke with him a

26:16

couple of weeks ago, and he's a really

26:18

good kid, level head on his shoulders. He'll

26:21

be up this year too. They're

26:23

they're better than people thought they would be. They're still

26:25

rebuilding, but I've gotten a chance

26:27

to see them. I saw them when they were in Los Angeles

26:29

last week. They've got some good young

26:31

players, and Abrams is a stud. I

26:33

mean, he's he's he's

26:36

quite slight. He

26:38

looks small, which I mean looks like he wouldn't

26:41

be have as much power as he does. But

26:44

he's good, and uh, that's a

26:47

that's a wonderful player to build a to build

26:50

a franchise around.

26:50

If he can keep it going, Yeah, I really

26:53

think that he Uh, he's

26:55

he's having a breakout year and he looks like

26:58

a really good playoffously got a long way to go, and

27:00

but but for right now, he's doing tremendously.

27:02

And last but not least, Ellie

27:05

de la Cruz, let's talk about him and what he's

27:08

doing this year. Coming into Thursday,

27:10

batting three thirteen, got seven home

27:12

runs and it's

27:14

playing tremendously.

27:16

Last year, people were a little

27:18

too quick.

27:19

They wanted to put him in the All Star Game a month

27:22

into him coming up, and obviously he went

27:24

after his great start and batted two thirty

27:26

five and struck out a ton if you remember

27:28

the second half of the season. But it looks

27:30

like he's made some adjustments and that that's

27:33

what baseball is all about.

27:34

And Molly, he's playing, he's playing

27:37

great for them. What do you where's your take on?

27:40

I just, I just it

27:42

was a big question mark. You're right, the strikeouts. I was

27:44

wondering coming into this year if he was gonna like

27:46

set all times strikeout records. But

27:50

he's He's been amazing,

27:52

and honestly, like it is just wonderful

27:54

to see someone who is blessed with

27:57

so many natural gifts seem

27:59

to want it as much as as

28:02

much as he's blessed with those gifts. You know, sometimes

28:04

those guys can can get lazy because they're

28:06

so good they don't have to try as

28:08

hard. And he's out there busting it down the line

28:10

every every play. This guy had

28:12

a regular home run and then an inside

28:15

the park home run in the same game. I

28:17

mean, he is the most exciting player

28:19

non show. Hey O Tani division in

28:22

all of MLB. I want to see him steal home

28:24

more. It's awesome

28:26

for the game that he is probably

28:29

the best player in the

28:31

game right now. It's it's yes, it's early, it's

28:34

April twenty fifth, but it's uh,

28:36

he's incredible.

28:38

No doubt.

28:38

And Molly, just to correct you, remember it's always

28:40

an inside the Rob Parker home run,

28:43

Okay, I just want.

28:44

You to know that inside the Rob Parker.

28:47

Thanks, Molly, we appreciate you. Thanks

28:49

for joining us here inside the Parker. We'll

28:52

talk to you soon.

28:54

Now bring in the closer.

28:59

Here's why I m L is better than the NFL

29:02

or NBA, and it isn't even

29:04

close.

29:07

Reason number three hundred and fifty five

29:09

where Major League Baseball is better than the

29:11

NBA and better than the NFL. While

29:14

those leagues still struggle with attendance.

29:17

Even the NFL doesn't sell out all the games

29:19

and whatnot, major League Baseball's

29:22

busting at the seams. In fact,

29:25

Major League Baseball on Monday announced

29:28

that Saturday accounted for the

29:30

largest non opening week,

29:32

single day April attendance in

29:35

eight years. Saturday

29:38

sixteen games drew over

29:40

five hundred and forty thousand

29:43

fans, the highest total since five

29:45

hundred and fifty five thousand fans attended

29:48

sixteen games on April

29:50

twenty third, twenty sixteen.

29:53

The rule changes the young Stars,

29:57

I mean all of it is working. Streaming

30:00

is up, social media

30:03

interactions up. Everything is up,

30:05

and especially attendance. It

30:08

tells you where the game is, it tells

30:10

you how healthy. And we already know Altani

30:13

selling out every ballpark they go to. There

30:15

are a lot of good teams this year, baseball.

30:19

Is kigging the world.

30:28

In the words of New York TV legend

30:30

the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you

30:32

for your time this time until next time.

30:35

Rob Parker out d can't

30:37

Davin. This could be an inside the

30:39

Parker See you next week, same bat

30:41

time, from same Matt's station.