7-5-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

Why would you break into these apartments? For money, for drugs, whatever was in there. Weren't you ever afraid of getting caught at doing this?

No. Who's gonna catch us? We're the police. It was the early 1990s, the height of the crack era, and instead of locking up drug dealers, some New York City cops had become them. I would suit up in my uniform and we're gonna rob some drug dealers. And I know how to do it really well. This is the inside story of the biggest police corruption scandal in NYPD history and the investigation that uncovered it all. Did you consider yourself a rat? A hundred percent. I saved my soul just like everybody else does.

Listen to and follow The Set, an Odyssey Originals documentary podcast series available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your shows. I'm not a bad guy, man, but I loved being that dirty motherf***er. Introducing L2R Smarter, Safer, Faster.com. Your solution to combat the negative effects of sitting at a desk. Sitting at a desk eight hours a day is as harmful as smoking.

If you're stuck at a desk all day, you don't need to quit your job. You need to join our Desk to 5K program. No running experience is required. As a doctor of physical therapy, I'll be honored to guide you every step of the way to reach your running and fitness goals. Let's conquer running together and make it enjoyable.

Visit L2R Smarter, Safer, Faster.com and start moving today. Good morning to you. It is July 5th, post Independence Day. Are you feeling it?

Maybe you're still on vacation. Whatever the case, we are happy that you're with us here on this Wednesday. It's our home show, middle show of our work week. After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. If you missed Ask Amy Anything, it's part of our podcast, of course.

And I did notice, I will go back and answer as many of your questions as I can succinctly and briefly. I did notice someone asked whether or not I could eat the same number of hot dogs as Joey Chestnut. Are you kidding me? Ew. No, as in no, not in any realm would I even attempt to eat that many hot dogs. I don't eat any hot dogs. He eats more hot dogs in an hour than I'll eat the rest of my life.

Or not an hour, 10 minutes, 14 minutes, however long it goes. Gross. Literally no one on this planet can eat more hot dogs than Joey Chestnut.

He's won what, 17 out of 18 years? Right. My point is I don't eat hot dogs.

And actually I heard an interview with him. I did not watch it. I would never watch it. It's gross. In fact, it's been on TV a couple of times. The quote unquote highlights of the Nathan's hot dog eating contest from yesterday.

And I keep averting my eyes because it's gross. But I did hear an interview on the radio with him as I was coming in. I felt like it was safe to listen because they probably wouldn't put the sound effects of him spewing buns through his nose. But I heard an interview in which he was really disappointed.

They had some kind of a rain delay because of thunder and lightning. And so he was really disappointed with himself that he fell far short of his world record 76 hot dogs in, I don't know how long ago. Again, you're asking the wrong person because I am not interested in the hot dog eating contest. Not interested in any type of eating contest. I think it's icky.

It makes me want to throw up myself and I'm not even the one eating. So no, not only would I not be able to eat as many hot dogs as Joey, but I wouldn't attempt it. Jay, how many hot dogs did you have on Tuesday? Two. Just two. Just two. How many cupcakes did you have on Tuesday? Two and a half. Two. Who left you a half a cupcake? Well, there was three people and we had four. So I split one with my dad. That fourth one. That's nice of you. Yeah.

He wanted it too. So I was like, all right, you can have half. Did your family appreciate the chocolate frosted rainbow sprinkle funfetti cupcakes? They were great. They were so good and they were so festive for the night. The fireworks starting to go off.

You got the red, white and blue sprinkles on the cupcakes. It was a perfect scene. Good. I'm glad. I'm glad that you took some home.

Did they make it safely? Because I threatened you with your life if you did not keep the cupcakes upright. So they didn't smush on the frosting on the drive home. They were pristine on my seat. I had my hand on them anytime I hit my break.

Oh, OK. Good. You know how to take care of baked goods. I'm always worried that between here and Jay's home, the baked goods will somehow get smashed and wrecked. In fact, when I mail them, I put them in the mail a lot of times.

This is no joke. I put them not only in separate baggies or sometimes in Tupperware if I have a spare Tupperware. Then I wrap them in bubble wrap. I pack them in a box so they do not move.

Because you know what the U.S. Postal Service does with boxes? They chuck them, right? Unless it says fragile on it. And so I'm always freaked out. When I sent Bob baked goods last month, or maybe it was in May, for his family, because he's going to visit his family and I want to show off my baking prowess, I was so petrified that they were going to show up at his house and be all broken.

So I was a bit of a control freak. Made them open the box the second they got there, checked them, make sure they're not broken, now put them in the freezer immediately. Because that way they'll stay fresher longer and also I don't have to worry about you breaking anything. So yes, when Jay takes any type of baked good back to his family, I'm always worried he's going to ruin the effect somehow by dropping them on their heads. No, I'm very careful and very respectful because you make them and then you wanted them to be presented in a nice way, the way you want them to be.

So I respect that and I show them the way you want them to be presented. I could just see you flipping the cupcakes upside down. There were sprinkles everywhere. They're smushed. The frosting looks even worse than it did when I first put it on there. It was like my first born in that seat, I'm telling you. Great.

Good to know. I would say right now Jay does care more about his baked goods than his kids, future kids. Also, for those of you who tweeted us to tattle on the DA show, which on Monday was hosted by Sean Marash and Andrew Bogusch, two well-known personalities here on CBS Sports Radio, they were apparently bitching about the fact that they did not have any cupcakes or get a chance to preview the cupcakes ahead of time. If you missed it, here's what it sounded like when they were complaining that they were not in on the Funfetti cupcakes on, hold on, July 3rd. The cupcakes were for July 4th, but they jumped the gun on July 3rd.

I just had my cereal and I just saw Bogusch tweet this. Emmanuel, did anybody get a cupcake from Amy? No. No. I did not get one.

No. Okay, so Amy Lawrence, we'll continue your update in a second. Just bring me up as I'm looking at Twitter.

Lawrence tweeted as she came in that she baked Funfetti cupcakes and she had some to share. She works with exactly one person on our show, James Boccio. He's very important though.

He's very important. Not the nine we have. Bogusch, me, Emmanuel, Pete, Brian, E.J., and Brooker here. One, two, three, four, five.

There's seven. Not that Amy has to bake for any of us, but if I read somebody say that they're coming into work and they've baked and they have some to share and you work with exactly one person, I didn't see her leave with a thing of Tupperware. Nope.

I didn't see a single cream on anybody's lip. Nope, and Boomer's not here. She loves Boomer sometimes.

I do. She gives Boomer a little gift basket thing. Where are these cupcakes? I don't know.

I don't know. And if you say you have some to share, does that mean two? And she normally is- What is that normally considered? Right, and she's normally very generous. Usually there is a Tupperware or a pan somewhere and it's please have these. In fact, she wants us to try her baking normally. Amy's an unbelievable baker, which is why I kind of got excited. Me too. And look, if she only had a couple and I got- But how could you work with one other person, say you have some to share, and we don't see a single morsel?

It's literally the first thing I did. I walked in, put my bag down, stuck my head around the little corner where there was glass in the studio, looked for the Tupperware so I could grab one, didn't see it. Funny because I don't recall either Sean or Andrew asking me if the cupcakes were available. They were for July 4th. It's not my fault that you jumped the gun on July 3rd.

But do you want to know, as a- A bit of- How do I want to put this? As a bit of vindictiveness on my part, I decided I wouldn't bring the rest of the cupcakes on this morning. So they were not here on July 4th, 24 hours ago, when the cupcakes were for the holiday as part of our July 4th celebration here on After Hours. I brought extras, right? I brought a dozen cupcakes in.

I gave eight away. I had more at home, so I didn't take any home. Instead, since none of the morning show here was available, none of the DA show crew was in studio, I mean, too bad, so sad, I gave the rest to Jay. Now, as I was home on Tuesday evening, I looked at the remaining cupcakes, which have yet to get their frosting and their sprinkles, and I thought, well, if I was really nice, I would frost the rest of them, put the sprinkles on them, and bring them in for, presumably, the guys who will be following us in studio, the normal crew, will be following us in studio in an hour.

But then I thought, nah. They complained about it, rather than asking. No one said anything to me, either in person or on social media, hey, I'd like to try one of those cupcakes. They just took to the airwaves to register their complaints, falsely, I believe, and so for that reason, I left the other cupcakes at home. I didn't feel like it.

I didn't feel like frosting. I didn't feel like dragging them in on a second consecutive night, so maybe. We'll see if anybody dares to approach me, you, after the show and say, hey, got any leftover cupcakes? Now, the answer will be no, not presently, but maybe I'll bring you some tomorrow, if anyone dares to ask, or do you think they'll just complain about it again on the show?

I agree. On Monday, if it was an outrage and it was, they just went up to you and said, hey, I thought you were bringing cupcakes. Are there any cupcakes? And you could have explained, oh, no, they were actually for tomorrow, for the holiday, for the 4th. It would have been an issue. It would have been an understanding.

I don't see why you would take to complain first without getting the story first. Is it possible they had nothing better to talk about but me and my cupcakes and you and the fact that it's just the two of us on the show? Is it possible that they completely ran out of topics and in their laziness just decided that they would complain about cupcakes?

I don't know about that. I won't comment there, but I know your cupcakes are very conversational and they are hot topics, so. Well, my big goods, because that's only the second time in my life I've ever made cupcakes. The first time I made cupcakes, I also worked here at CBS Sports Radio, and I brought them in, again, for July 4th. And because Andrew Bogusz happened to be on vacation that week, I made lemon blueberry cupcakes, and they had cream cheese frosting.

They were so delicious. Again, the frosting was ugly, but there was a blueberry in the middle, so it didn't matter. Bogusz wasn't here to try the cupcakes when they were fresh. So six days later, I brought him in the last cupcake, and he refused to eat it because he thought it was going to be, the icing or the frosting was going to be spoiled. So I ate it instead. I mean, it was his opportunity to eat the cupcake. I ate it instead because he wouldn't.

He was a little bit nervous about food poisoning, so I ate it instead, and it was delicious, and I got no food poisoning. So I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't be wasting my funfetti cupcakes on the DA show.

We'll see. All I know is that if you were in the building yesterday, you got a cupcake. You did? You wanted one. You wanted one, and you wanted one. And I was standing around this floor, and actually, I gave two to the security guards who were working the desk on Monday night, and they loved them. I don't even know both of their names.

I only know one hell. And so I just was passing them out everywhere. Peter Schwartz got one. Amy got a cupcake. Paul got one. Chris got one, working for our New York affiliate. I was handing cupcakes to interns.

I don't even know. In fact, I said to one of them, Hey, I'm not sure what your name is. He said, I'm Ryan. Oh, hi. I'm Amy. Would you like a cupcake?

I was passing them out because I wanted to be generous. It's not my fault you took off the holiday. Too bad, so sad. You snooze, you lose. And certainly, they were snoozing instead of working. Big loss, too.

They were good. Thank you. So your family's gain.

Their loss was your family's gain. That's it. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Quite the fireworks display on the shores of Lake Erie between the Cleveland Guardians and the red hot Atlanta Braves. Trailing by a run here in the ninth. 0-2 pitch. Ozzie smokes one to right field.

Going back now is Brennan at the wall. Ozzie's out for blood. It's his second homer of the game. And we're tied up in the ninth. Ozzie leading the charge with his second homerun of the ballgame. And a 5-5 game here in the ninth.

I'm just going to say this. The Braves right now, it's inevitable. The Braves radio network.

That was the 22nd homerun of the season for Ozzie Albies. And boy do the Braves have a flair for the dramatic. But turns out the Guardians weren't quite done. Now this is a 1-2 punch for David Fry. I'm going to call it David Fry night. The Guardians twitter posted this, American Fry.

Fantastic. Defense in the top of the tenth. Offense in the bottom of the tenth.

Now it's up to De Los Santos. The pitch. Swing and a little blooper into center field.

Charging hard to straw. He'll make the catch. Tagging coming home.

Hilliard. Throw to the plate. On the fly.

Tag is made by a diving fry. They did it. What a great throw by straw. On the fly to the plate. And a diving tag by catcher David Fry. It doesn't get any better than that.

Wow. And the Guardians continue to go toe to toe with the Juggernaut Braves. We are tied at five. Going to the bottom of the tenth. The pitch. Fry with a line drive to left. Rosario going back toward the line.

He can't make the catch. Base hit. Game winner. Into scores.

Rosario. David Fry being mobbed at second base. A walk off. Two out.

Army ice single to left by David Fry. And Cleveland's got its fifth walk off win of the year. And they shocked the Atlanta Braves in ten innings tonight.

Six to five. Off the bat I was like oh yeah that's for sure a hit. And then I was watching Rosario run after her. I was like oh God he's going to catch this thing. I had my hand in the air. I was like I need to put my hand down because he's about to catch it. But yeah whenever I saw it land I was pretty fired up. So David Fry has this incredible heads up play. Generally you don't hear bang bang used in reference to a play at the plate.

But it was. The throw comes in from Miles Straw. It was a strike. And Fry catches it right in front of home plate. But in the instant that he catches the ball he's already diving to his left to tag a diving Sam Hilliard of the Braves. Who would have scored the go ahead run in the top of the tenth.

You hear the calls there with Tom Hamilton on the Guardians radio network. And then it's Fry who bloops the ball in front of. Shoot I forgot who was in front of Rosario. So it's in front of Rosario and he bloops it. He thinks Rosario is going to catch it.

Instead it falls in and so he drives in the walk off RBI. So yeah David Fry night. And even though the Guardians are still below 500 there's a lot of potential there.

And Fry sees that this could be the start of something special. Like today we got a complete team in there. Bieber gave us a good start. Bullpen came in did a really good job. Ahmed does an unbelievable job. Hitting the ball over the yard getting RBIs. And then really good defense helps us win the game.

And we got an awesome clubhouse. And whenever we're down we still feel like we got a good chance to win. Fry made a great play. You know it was kind of a little to the right a little bit. And you know he put his body on the line.

And you know dove and I mean that's what ball putters do. I mean he put his body on the line and you know I'm appreciative of him. To see Dale Santos and Fry fired up after that I mean that was huge. Especially for Fry to win the game.

So really cool it was David Fry night for the Guardians. And that ends the nine game win streak of the Atlanta Braves. Though they still have along with the Rays the most wins in Major League Baseball.

And obviously right now one of the teams to beat. Certainly in the National League as even with the Marlins playing great. And winning seven of their last ten. It's still a significant cushion for the Braves in the East Division up by eight actually. And who knows what the Phillies are doing. I don't know if you've given up on the New York Mets yet. They've actually won three in a row. Put their 18 games back.

Oh my gosh. That is one of the major surprises of the first half. So we're asking you here.

We're just past the midway point. The Mets winning 101 games and adding Justin Verlander. Having a record payroll. Not just for their franchise but in the history of baseball.

Nobody has spent more money. Committed more money to an annual payroll than the Mets. And they are 18 games back in their own division. They are seven games under.500. And that's with three consecutive wins.

That to me is one of the major surprises of the first half. There are others. I could rattle off a bunch. But we're asking you. So on Twitter, A Law Radio.

On our Facebook page. What are the surprises of the first half of the Major League Baseball season? Again, I could sit here and rattle off probably a dozen. Which is what I love about the 2023 campaign.

There's a lot that's still hanging out there. Some really cool possible storylines like what we got in the NBA. With the Nuggets winning their first ever championship.

Now coming up. It was a rough July 4th for the Angels. Mike Trout hits the IL. Third consecutive All-Star game he's going to miss. But how long will he be out?

That's a major question. Could be up to a month with a broken bone in his wrist. Otani leaves early after getting shelled by the Padres.

You don't hear that very often. Anthony Rendon on crutches. What does this mean for the Angels as they try to stay afloat and tread water through the All-Star break until they can get healthy again?

The question I asked of our insider Jeff Fletcher when he joined us from Sandy. AT&T Fiber presents a straightforward moment. Your wine? Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a good gillionaire?

Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too. Ugh, this wine. I'll fetch you a better one.

Straightforward is better. No equipment fees. No data caps.

No price increase at 12 months. Live like a gillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas.

Visit att.com slash hypergig for details. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. First pitch on the way sends this one in the air to deep right center. Renfro's going back into the gap.

Looking up. Going to one hop off the wall. Machado has scored. Bogard's being waved in behind him. He's going to score. It's a two-run double for Jake Cronenworth. And the 0-1 pitch hit hard in the air to deep left field. Guess what? He's done it again. Xander Bogard, a two-run homer.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Shohei Ohtani gave up back-to-back home runs to the Padres and five runs overall and then promptly left the game with what was described as a blister. This is on the same finger that had the cracked nail going back to last week. Remember, it actually postponed his start.

It's my understanding, you know, we're putting an acrylic nail on there because of where it's cracked. And that might have just irritated the skin on the side of the finger. Just felt like he didn't have command of his pitches going into the sixth. We talked before he went out and he said he felt good. He warmed up and he gave me a thumbs up out there. But, you know, obviously a few pitches in.

When you try to get on some balls, it probably feels a little bit different and it affected some pitches. There you go. So the Angels lose last night in San Diego. They're just above.500 now, and they've got mounting injuries. I had a chance to talk to Jeff Fletcher of the SoCal News Group, who is with the Angels covering them in San Diego, and he was listing off all the injuries. They've got more than half of their everyday starting roster, which is now either on the IL or not available. So Shohei lose early, Anthony Rendon on crutches after fouling a ball off his shin. Mike Trout the big one, though. The news on July 4th that he has a broken bone in his wrist and could be out for up to six weeks.

So this is a tough stretch. I think gut check time in Anaheim because of the trade deadline looming, right? If they don't stay part of the playoff race, what do they do about Otani?

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I want you to hear part of my conversation with Jeff Fletcher, and that's where we'll pick it up. If they drop back in the AOS race, if they lose a little more ground because of these injuries, Jeff, how does it impact what they do at the deadline? Well, I mean, the first question is Shohei Otani's question, and I think that they really do not want to trade him because they feel like they want to try to win this year no matter what, and if they're in striking distance, they want to hang on to him. And they also want to try to re-sign him after the season, and so obviously it's a lot easier to do that if you keep him until the end of the season. If they do fall back like seven games out of a playoff spot or so, then it starts to get kind of dicey to take that risk.

So we'll definitely see what happens. As for going the other direction and adding, I mean, I think that's what they would like to do. They would like to probably add a starting pitcher and a reliever maybe, and who knows, depending which of these position players are hurt, when they get to the deadline, that could affect what they need in that sense. They do have a lot of position players that can play multiple positions, so they could sort of take anybody who's available and fit them in.

So that's definitely something that they would look to do, I think, if they can play a little better and really show some reason to believe that they have the guys there to make a good run. How much does this hang over the heads of the organization, do you think, this looming decision about Ohtani, you mentioned the risk involved, but also this idea that they may lose him if they don't make the playoffs or if they don't finish strong and remain part of the equation in the AL? Well, I think it certainly is a thing that was talked about all the time around the organization. I don't know how much actually within the organization, because I think that if you're general manager Perry Manasian, you're just thinking we're keeping him. It's not really something that they probably talk about, trading him or any of that kind of thing, and they hope to be able to re-sign him. But certainly everybody else in the baseball world talks about it all the time, and it's certainly a big subject surrounding the Angels, even if they're not actually talking about it themselves. It's definitely a story that is not going to go away.

What do you think? Does it come up every day, every other day? Pretty much every day, especially every time they lose a game. People go crazy like, oh, that's it, season's over, great Ohtani. And then they win a couple games and it's like, oh, maybe we got a chance, maybe he's going to re-sign, whatever. It's quite a rollercoaster. Jeff Fletcher is the Angels beat writer for SoCal News Group.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. You wrote a book about Shohei Ohtani. It's the inside story of him and the greatest baseball season ever played. I think that a lot of American baseball fans want to know more about him because of the language barrier, maybe a little more of the culture barrier. What was it like to write a book about him?

Well, I mean, it's a great story. It's something that none of us alive have ever seen anybody do this. I mean, it's just so incredibly difficult to be a pitcher and a hitter at the level he's at, not just doing it as like kind of a sideshow where, you know, these guys like Michael Lorenz and it's like, oh, it's kind of neat. Look, you can play a little bit of outfield and he's a pitcher.

It's not like that. He's an elite at both. And it's so impossible to comprehend how he does it. The book really gives people a look at like what kind of person he is to be able to achieve that and what he had to do, you know, growing up in Japan to get there. And I think one of the most interesting parts is about how he went from Japan to the Angels.

It's a really great story. And I feel lucky that he basically showed up on my doorstep when I was already covering the Angels to give me the story to write. How much did you have access to him or did you talk to him about the book? I interviewed him, you know, hundreds of times during my daily coverage of the Angels and a lot of that is the content from him for the book.

And then, you know, I talked to a lot of other people around him to kind of fill in the gaps. On a day to day basis when he's not on the mound, what's his personality like? He's a pretty fun loving guy. I mean, you really see the way he hangs out with his teammates in the clubhouse and you can even see it on the field, the way he interacts with even players on other teams, that he's just having a really good time being Shoei Ohtani and playing baseball. He's got a great sense of humor. One of my favorite scenes was he was in a little bit of a hitting slump last year.

And so he was doing CPR on his back in the dugout. And that's just kind of a classic, you know, stress breaker sort of thing that he does. And, you know, he just really tries to have a good time as much as possible. How much does he communicate with his team or even with you reporters in English? Well, he doesn't really talk to the reporters in English, but he can communicate pretty well, I think with just about everybody in English.

He's been in the US long enough now. And I've had sort of some brief casual conversations with him just in the clubhouse, you know, passing by in English. So I know that he understands, but I think a lot of guys still prefer to use the interpreter when they're doing formal interviews, just because you don't want to be misquoted or misunderstand a question. And, you know, that's perfectly understandable that you can, you know, you can speak the language when you're just chit chatting or talking to your teammates, but when you're, you're going to be quoted, you want to make sure you have an interpreter. Are you ever still surprised by the reaction to him, the way that people are so excited to see him and to watch him play? Yeah, I mean, people really do. It's like appointment viewing, you know, I became kind of a popular thing on my Twitter feed as I took a little angel schedule and I circled all the days that he's pitching and just from sort of counting in advance, you know, for a month or six weeks in advance and people are always asking me for it. Like, where's the Otani calendar?

I want to go plan this trip to St. Louis and I want to know which day he's going to pitch. And that's just something that you don't hear with other players. It's a big deal. So I guess then when he has a start push back because of the cracked fingernail that throws everybody off. Oh yeah. People get very upset if they sort of plan trips around, you know, how he's going to pitch this certain game and then something changes or there's a rain out or something and it changes the schedule. And whenever I do the schedule, I'd be sure to put a little asterisk like don't blame me if it changes, but this is what it is right now.

One more question. I wouldn't expect that he would be tipping his hands at all, but as best you can tell, how does he like playing for the angels and being in LA? I think he loves everything about playing for the angels, except the fact that they haven't won. And I think if his perfect scenario would be that the angels would be a better team and he would just stay there because he's very comfortable with the people. He's comfortable with his teammates, the, you know, he has kind of a different schedule that other players don't have in terms of the way he pitches and the way he's used in the lineup. And, and it all kind of works together seamlessly. Even the way he deals with the media, it's all, it's very different. And he knows how it all works.

It's comfortable. So I think his best case would be to stay, but he also really wants to win. And so the angels really need to show him that they can win. And I think making the playoffs this year would be a very important step towards doing that if they don't make the playoffs, but at least show some encouraging signs and get close. I think they still might have a chance to resign him, but if, you know, if the second half goes terribly and they're, they're not even in it, then I think that that probably would, would be the end of his time. Oh man, there's so much that can happen in the second half for the angels and for Shohei. And I do want him to stay there, but I also want them to make the playoffs.

And this is what happens. Trout is getting injured. This is the third year in a row he'll miss the All-Star break. And I know typically the pattern has been that they fallen off before now.

So I'm glad they're still relevant, but they haven't made the playoffs since 2014 has been nearly a decade. And actually that was the next part of my conversation with Jeff of the SoCal news group. If you missed it, I talked to him about this playoff drought.

What's the number one reason why. And he actually had one significant reason why the angels have been unable to end this playoff drought, even with Otani and Trout together, the last several years. So find that on our podcast. The link is posted every weekday morning on our show, Twitter, After Hours, CBS, or on our Facebook page. And all of our interviews are posted separately. Coming up a really neat moment, courtesy of the Yankees on what is a significant anniversary for them.

And, oh, I don't know, maybe a little bit of Draymond Green just because. AT&T fiber, limited availability in select areas. Visit att.com slash hyper gig for details. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. And the pitch hit on the ground up the middle and through to centerfield to base it. Torres will easily go to third. Mullins fires into second. Here comes Torres home and he scores.

How do you like that? He stole a run. The Yankees do have a right hander up in the bullpen. Pitch hit in the air down the right field line.

Could be trouble and it is gone. How do you like that? And right field seats. Now the one one grounded fair over first down the right field line. It'll be an extra base hit.

Glaber scores. Stanton scores as the throw comes back in. It is a two run double off the bat. Harrison Bader and the Yankees have blown it open. They have a seven three lead.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The voice of John Sterling as the Yankees get more offense from Harrison Bader and managed to get by the Orioles yet again. And as much as the baseball itself matters and as much as the Yankees are locked in a battle now, in fact, have pulled within two games of the Orioles in the AL East and have got the Blue Jays on their heels two games behind that entire division. There's not one losing record, even the Red Sox, who are at the bottom of the division, everybody looking up at the Rays. Yes, the baseball is significant. They want to finish strong before the All-Star break, but far more significant than that. Hope Week for the Yankees, Yankee Stadium.

And on the 84th anniversary. Of Lou Gehrig's iconic speech. A group of special guests who are also battling ALS, which is the debilitating disease for which there is no current cure, which is what Lou Gehrig suffered from and ultimately died from.

Garrett Cole and other Yankees had special surprises form. One of their guests, a 30-year-old who you maybe have seen on Twitter. She's very active. She works for MLB.

She has a lot of stats that she'll put out there on social. You don't have to hear her, know her personally to recognize the joy and the passion she has for the game and for the baseball family as she puts it. Sarah Langs is her name, and she's been honored in multiple baseball stadiums this year.

The Yankees the latest to have her in and Garrett Cole got to make her smile in a gigantic way. The team signed this shirt for you, Sarah. So we'd like to present it to you on behalf of, we'll give you a good look at it, on behalf of the squad. Thank you. So this one's going to be yours.

Thank you. And then this one I believe we're going to auction. We're going to auction this off. Proceeds go to Project ALS. So that's pretty cool.

And then the third thing I have is Mr. and Mrs. Langs. You guys have turned out the first pitch today. Yes. So the training facility is all yours. We've got hot tub, we've got fans.

Hot tub, cold tub, whatever you need. But we've got to get it right, you know, we've got to get it right. This is so, so important to put a spotlight on young women with ALS to show them. Not everyone looks like Lou Gehrig, but even Lou Gehrig, as I've been saying a lot of last month, is not your typical case. He was much younger than the average ALS patient.

He is not in that normal demographic either. So anything we can do to shine a light on this disease, the funding it needs, and the incredible people who are involved in this community, I'm just so grateful, and again, so grateful to this organization. So thank you. Sarah Langs, despite everything that she is facing now as a 30-year-old woman, she continues to do her job. She continues to shine a light where she can on the plight of those who are diagnosed with ALS. She found out last October, and the baseball community has rallied around her, and that includes the Yankees. She and Erin Boone crossed paths at ESPN, her previous network, and if you would like to know more, the Yankees actually tweeted a photo of her with her parents.

Really neat. I guess it was on their bucket list to be able to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium, which they did yesterday in the Bronx, and they also included a website, starsforsarah.org. So Sarah is going to use every last minute that she has here on this earth to put her energy and her passion toward this new challenge, this new problem of finding a cure for ALS. And so I appreciate her because she may be in a wheelchair now, and she may be dealing with the effects of this disease, and yet she is indefatigable in her vision and her mission that has changed, certainly, since October.

So check that out on our show, Twitter, After Hours, CBS. Bravo to the Yankees and other teams who've had her in their stadiums. The Yankees are not the only one, but bravo to them for honoring Lou Gehrig, one of their all-time Yankees, by bringing in other ALS patients who continue that charge.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I want to mention this, and I should have yesterday and just got caught up in a lot of the other stuff that we were doing, but you may have seen, I did tweet it, Monday was the day that Foster Moreau, the veteran tight end for the Saints, made the announcement that he is completely cancer-free. His cancer is now in full remission. Remember, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. This was when he had his initial physical with the Saints is how he found out that he had cancer.

And so three months after he found out, he called him a tumultuous few months. He's been blessed with the news that he is in full remission from Hodgkin lymphoma, and a sweet message that he put out there on social media. You may remember there were photos of him and his wife, I think, going back to when he was going through treatment, but that's also a piece of news that needs to be celebrated. You can find us on Twitter always, show account or me, ALawRadio, Facebook too, and we have a latest video version, a some summertime edition of Ask Amy anything from a new location, if you will, something different. And so it was fun to be able to throw that up on our YouTube channel and to see your reaction over the past couple days, but it remains on YouTube and we'd love for you to check that out.

If you want to know my spirit animal, oh yeah, it's there. One of the stories that still has a major question mark, so no resolution to it, is that of Damian Lillard. So that's still kind of hanging over the NBA. Dame is reportedly, now this could just be speculation rumors, but reportedly forcing the issue with the Blazers and is willing to play hardball if they don't trade him to Miami.

But there's this debate going on about who has the upper hand and who has the leverage in this situation. Maybe think about some of the other trades we've seen recently, right? Like James Harden, he forced his way out of Houston by being a jerk. He goes to Brooklyn, doesn't want to be there after, what, a year and a half? Asked for a trade, then he goes to Philadelphia, where now his career has also got a question mark surrounding it. But I got to say, even though the Sixers didn't end up getting to the Eastern Conference Finals, the NBA Finals, they got the better end of that trade because Ben Simmons went the other direction to Brooklyn. And I don't know, Draymond Green, what the heck happened to Ben Simmons? You've seen people lose confidence in their game and you're like, yo, what happened to him? Right. Like Ben Simmons.

What happened? Ben Simmons is still the same Ben Simmons we watched dominate in Philly. You know the only difference between Ben Simmons in Philly and Ben Simmons now? It's confidence. Once you lose your confidence, and I feel bad for people who lose confidence in their game. I never lost confidence in my game, so I've still been able to have a really good career and be successful and do the things that I've done. But I feel bad, but I know how it feels to lose confidence because I lost confidence in my shot. I feel bad for people that lose their confidence in their game because you're still the same player. Like you're the same person that was going out there and would get 15 assists before someone blinked. And yet you don't feel that you can do that no more because your confidence is gone. And that's what happened with me in my shot.

Would that be a little bit like getting the yips? We hear that phrase sometimes when it comes to golf. My gosh, remember Chuck Knoblauch going back years ago? All of a sudden could not throw the ball from second base to first base to save his life. It wouldn't matter. He would pick up the ball and it would go flying over the head of the first baseman.

It would go left of him, right of him. All of a sudden he could not throw a ball from second to first base. Guys get the yips. And very often it is mental. Guys go through slumps regardless of the sport. Of course they haven't forgotten how to play. It's not like all of a sudden they lost all their skills, talents, and abilities.

I think sometimes we underestimate the mental component of being the best of the best in whatever craft you choose. In this case, sports. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. And even as we talk about surprises in the first half of the baseball season, Jay, I'm wondering if Alec Manoa is going through a confidence crisis, right? So that to me is one of the surprises of the first half of the baseball season. The fact that he all of a sudden cannot get guys out even at the minor leagues. But he's supposed to be starting against the Tigers in Detroit coming up Friday, I believe. So Alec Manoa, an all-star last year, we loved him last year. We saw him pitch at Fenway.

It was amazing. And he can't throw strikes right now. What are some of the other surprises of the first half? Just team-wise, I think how good the Miami Marlins are. What are they, like 16 games over.500 right now, something like that? I think also how poor the Royals are. The Royals? The Royals. They had a lot of good young talent. And they really finished off last season kind of playing good baseball, I thought.

And I thought their young kids would kind of ride that. They're horrible. And my last one, just how quick Eli De La Cruz has impacted the league for the Reds. He's taken over. I've never seen anyone come in and do it so fast. Adalise Garcia, as well, has had an incredible first half.

I would say, too, the Reds as a whole are a great surprise in the first half, as are the Rays, tied with the Braves for most wins in baseball. Have a great day. We're back tonight. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Boom!