After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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One year upgrade requires Go 5G Next plan, financing new qualifying device, and upgrading in good condition after six months with half paid off. It is no longer a theoretical, theoretical, it's not theological, it's theoretical question. It's no longer a question in theory. Man, I got 10 seconds in and I already ruined the perfect show. That was it. There it goes. It could have been the best night I've ever had on the air, but 10 seconds in, wah wah wah.

So much for that. Jay, there goes the perfect show. I might as well give up now. Can I go home? Can I go home? Just be done. Play some music.

No. Well, actually Jay has pretty good musical taste so I would probably trust him to do that. That's an old trick though for when there are technical difficulties. If that ever happens when you're listening to a radio show and all of a sudden there's random music, maybe we can be like the, I got this now, the Rangers and play some Creed in the clubhouse. No, that actually might chase some listeners. Anyway, I was, I was feeling it tonight. I was feeling like this could be the night.

There might actually be a perfect show or maybe a perfect hour or heck I would even settle for a perfect segment. Now I can't even get through two perfect minutes. Nevermind.

It's all better now. I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. You forget everything that I do good or bad. When we remind you that the holidays are, oh gosh, mere days away, Jay. Goodness. Have you made your plans yet?

Gosh, I haven't even thought about it. I'm getting married. What are you doing? I don't know.

Anyway. Not that anything exciting is that. Oh, we'll see.

We'll see how exciting it is. Maybe as people keep warning me, all kinds of things will go wrong. People keep telling me, just be prepared.

I'm telling you, that's what I keep getting from people. Just be prepared for stuff to go wrong. What kind of advice is that?

I don't know. Can you offer me something to do if something goes wrong? Maybe then like that would be, you know, sound advice, but people keep telling me something will go wrong. Maybe lots of things will go wrong. Just be ready for stuff to go wrong.

Oh no. I think everything's going to be perfect. So as long as I counteract that.

Thank you, Jay. As we could speak that into existence. Right. I mean, I can't get through one minute of the perfect show, but maybe the wedding itself will actually be perfect. Will. I only need 30 minutes. That's it. The ceremony won't take more than 30 minutes.

That's it. You'll settle for 30 minutes. I don't even care so much what happens during the reception because that's after party.

But what I care about is that the wedding itself can be perfect. Just 30 minutes. Is that too much to ask?

It's really not too much. Have you ever yourself, you kayak, you love to kayak. I'm sure in your life you felt like you've had 30 perfect minutes on the water while you're kayaking. Yeah. The perfect breeze.

The sun's in the right position. That's all I'm asking. I'm just asking for 30 minutes. That's it.

I think it's fair. Does that include no rain? Where?

And for the wedding? Yes. Yeah.

I don't know. Rain. No rain. No rain.

Okay. It doesn't rain too often in Houston, does it? What?

You know they're on the Gulf of Mexico, right? I totally just asked. I had no idea. I just thought it was hot. All right.

No, this summer, actually, they've had a pretty impressive drought, but it generally does rain a lot more. So all that to distract you from the fact that I messed up in the very first sentence that I used on the air. Theoretically, can I try this again?

Theoretically, we asked you the question on last night's show. What's more impressive, five straight AFC Championship games at home, that's the Chiefs, or seven straight appearances in the ALCS? Because that, my friends, is now the Astros. I gotta tell you, this is not what I expected in the division series in either the National League or the American League.

And I don't mean so much the outcomes. Certainly for the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros, they had to play the best baseball they could possibly muster over the past couple months of the season because they were battling each other. They had to. They had no choice if they wanted to get into the playoffs. They wanted to hold off the Mariners.

They were going toe-to-toe with each other. They had to play their best baseball. And they had to work through some adversity, injuries for both teams. That's a pretty standard part, especially when you get into August and September and there's a lot of games that are in the rearview mirror, more so than there are in front of them.

They both had to find a way to keep moving forward, to keep winning games, and their battle went down to the very last game and day of the regular season. So I'm not surprised that we end up with the Rangers and the Astros. You could have flipped a coin, really. I wasn't I wasn't going to give you any prediction for the ALCS. But what surprises me is that so far to this point we've had no winner-take-all games and we only have one division series left. This can't be what baseball had in mind. Not only are you shortening games and speeding up pace of play, but you're speeding up the division series and getting no winner-take-all games.

It's not good for baseball, I'll tell you that much. However, we've got some really cool storylines. We've got some awesome fresh blood, some teams that are on missions.

Yeah, we have to deliver eulogies and we'll do a couple more tonight. For instance, the Dodgers with a hundred wins and they're out. And the long faces for Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts, who was 0 for 11, I think, in the series against the Diamondbacks. Mookie Betts, an MVP candidate.

But you don't carry that forward into the regular season. There'll be a lot of talk about how and why for the Dodgers, same as there has been for the Orioles. And we talked about the Orioles on our last show, Final Hour.

If you missed it, the link is up on both Twitter and Facebook. Can the Orioles season still be deemed a success? I think it all depends upon where you're coming from, right? So for the Dodgers, it's an abject failure. It's a failure. For the Braves, it will be an abject failure if they do not make it past the Phillies in the division series again for a second straight year. Same thing with the Dodgers. These two teams are powerhouses in the regular season. Over a hundred wins for each of these teams in each of the last two years. And there's a good chance, once again, neither Atlanta or LA is still standing come championship series. Those are huge failures because for those two franchises, they're built to win the World Series and they had the regular seasons that were loud, obnoxious, dominating.

But it does not matter when you get into October. And so even though we haven't yet had a winner take all game, all four of the wildcard series were done in two. That was just odd. That was just odd. And now we've got three of the four division series that are done before game five, two of them in sweeps. That absolutely can't be what baseball had in mind. You may not think the drama is there.

I say look a little harder, but also really revel and relish the cool storylines. The newbies, if you will. It's been a long time. For the Rangers, not since 2011 have they been in the championship series. For the Diamondbacks, not since 2007 in the championship series. I know the Astros been there, done that the last seven years in a row.

Seven, seven. That's incredible to me. I go back and forth between what's more impressive. If the Chiefs had not hosted all five of these championship games, I think I would probably be on the side of the Astros. Especially since the rest of baseball hates the Astros or did just a couple years ago.

That's a legit question. What's more impressive? Five straight AFC championship games at home or seven straight appearances in the ALCS with a couple World Series to boot. Congratulations to Dusty Baker and the Astros, like it or not.

This is the part that cracks me up. Justin Verlander was the one giving the speech in the postgame locker room before they went nutso with their alcohol. So Justin Verlander's back. It's like he never left. He's got the champagne bottle in his hand, ready to uncork. It's him first. Wait till you hear what he had to say.

Oh, it's Hall of Flame material like we haven't had in a long time. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. It's no longer, I got this, theoretical. If I had just written it down, maybe if I hadn't written it down, I wouldn't have screwed it up, Jay. Are you still going to listen even though the perfect show is out the window? I'm locked in. That might be, that might be a record for the earliest I've ever ruined a show. It was quick, but I would say ruined. Hey, all right.

Let's not pile on the poor radio host. But see, you screw up at the beginning. I'm Bryce Harper, screw up royally for all the world to see. Come back in a loud, well, I am loud.

Come back in a powerful, impactful, unforgettable way the rest of this show. It's put up and shut up time. I'm putting up. I'm not shutting up, coach, but I'm putting up.

It's also the eve of week six in the NFL season, week six. Wow. Sounds weird to say out loud, but we're there. A couple of other, I would say more obscure, but worthy stories to cover on this edition of the show. I'm excited to hang with you, even though I can't promise there'll be any sort of perfection.

So on Twitter, a law radio on our Facebook page after hours with him. Now it's a thing. She just burst into laughter because you know, why not laugh at the poor host's plight? She can't speak.

Now she's nervous. Oh my gosh. I've got the shanks. I'm like a golfer with the shanks.

What do they call it in major league baseball? The yips. Oh, I'm Chuck Knoblauch.

That's what I am right now. I'm Chuck Knoblauch. I've got the yips. Is that what you call it in baseball? Yeah, the yips. I feel like there might be a more specific term, but I can't think of it. The yips work. Right.

The yips, the shanks. Seeing ghosts. I'm not seeing ghosts like Sam Darnold on Monday Night Football, though I am trying a new pair of contacts. So I have to try this new prescription. It's just a very small tweak from the ones I've been using for the last couple of years. But the eye doctor wanted me to try it to see if there was a bit of a correction, a course correction, if you will. So for five days, I have to try these new contacts and let her know if they're okay. It is a little weird, not a huge change, but I can tell. And so I was driving into work in the dark.

You know, a lot of times when you drive at night, vision issues are exacerbated. I know that. And so one of them is a little stronger. One of the contacts, the prescription has gotten a little stronger. So it was weird. It was, it definitely felt like everything was coming at me so fast.

Oh my gosh. I know it's a little like brighter or like, well, brighter, but just clearer sounds funny because it wasn't unclear with my last set of contacts. Like HD. Yeah. Just a little more. It just felt like everything was brighter, faster, clearer coming at me limitless. Yes.

Oh, maybe it's that I did not take any drugs that I'm willing to admit. Oh man. I'm a mess.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS portrait. Yes. We have a lot to get to love to connect with you on Twitter or on Facebook. And if you'd like to answer the question, I'm yeah, I'm not sure. It's a question that I think there is no wrong answer.

It's more a matter of what are you most impressed by? And so the post is there on Twitter. I think I'll throw it up on Facebook as well, just for debate purposes. And when we get back, we will, I'm not really going anywhere, but when we, although I might leave the room, when we return from our commercial break, we will dive into some of these really neat storylines as much as I like fresh and new and different because it keeps the job fresh and new and different. I got to tell you, the Deja view of Phillies and Braves, that one's, that one's spicy. So I don't mind it. Also, I like being right every now and then it happens. Not, not all the time.

Clearly these first few minutes I've botched more than I care to admit and I have to block it out of my brain. But every now and then Blind Squirrel finds a nut and I told you six weeks ago, I was worried about both the Dodgers and the Braves. I did not love how things were playing out for them.

If you haven't heard my theory, well, I'll explain. Phillies don't care. Phillies do not care. What fits? What's neat?

What's convenient? Who won the most games? How large the gap between the Braves and the Phillies in the regular season?

Nah. So much good stuff. Wait until you hear Bryce Harper rave about Philadelphia. It's, yeah, passion.

Passion with some pop. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Thanks for joining us, even though I let you down continually here on CBS Sports Radio.

I'll see you later. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. The 1-0 swing and a high drive deep left field and that one is gone. Castellanos ties it up. He's got three home runs off Bryce Elder this year.

It's 1-1. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. They were just getting warmed up along the way to tying the baseball postseason record for home runs in a game. The Phillies actually started down a run to the Atlanta Braves, but it did not last long.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The third inning turned to be a major power surge, fireworks, catalyst, whatever it is that you want to say about what we saw from the Phillies on this Wednesday night. They're trailing by a run. It's been relatively tepid. Now there's a lot of excitement and energy at the ballpark, of course, because these two teams are rivals and there's a lot of history there, even as recently as a year ago in the postseason. It just seemed to me kind of like I was talking about the volcano rumbling below the surface. You knew the Phillies would have a little something something, but when would it happen and how would it happen? I'm not sure it could have played out any better, almost as though this was some type of a movie script.

So it's Casianos who starts off the third inning scoring barrage, but little did we know there was so much more to come. Facts are facts, like how contributing to employees financial security makes them want to work harder for their company. In fact, according to a 2023 study by principle, 87% of employers say that better employee financial security means employees are more engaged and productive at work. The fact of the matter is that employees want to feel financially secure in their future. So consider this principle helps you invest in your employees by providing customized benefits and retirement plans to help keep your employees more engaged and productive. When you take care of your team, they take care of business.

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Actual range will vary with options, driving conditions and habits, vehicle and batteries condition and other factors available in limited quantities and select states only. To peak back at first base, the right haters pitch swung on belted deep right field and it's long gone for Harper. A second deck free run home run for Bryce Harper as he punishes that pitch from Bryce Elder and the Phillies take the four to one lead. At that point, Atlanta starter Bryce Elder had given up four runs.

So Bryce Harper demolishes a baseball. He gives Arcea the stare as he's going around second base. That time, Arcea didn't look at him. I didn't see Orlando look up. Maybe he saw him coming and put his head down, but he seemed to be fiddling with his glove. So he wasn't paying attention or he wasn't giving Bryce the satisfaction of knowing that he saw him. Maybe not thinking, oh, there might be a second time where Bryce will have a chance to give me the stare down.

But we didn't see the eye contact between the two of them at that point. Brian Snitker then leaves Elder on the mound to face two more batters. Both of them get on base. One was a hit.

I think the other may have been a walk. Still the third inning, still more to come. Boom out at second base. Stott aboard at first. The pitch swung off.

Hit in the air. Left center field. Rosario on the run to the gap.

Still going. He can't get it. It's down for a base hit at the base of the wall. Boom will score. Stott will score. And how about that? It's another six run bottom of the third inning in game three for the Phillies.

Incredible. JT with a two run double and it's six to one Phillies. Oh, punishing Bryce Elder and the bullpen. Punishing the baseball.

Lighting those fans up at the bank. I do love the atmosphere and whether or not you believe it's the best in baseball or Atlanta does this better, blah, blah, blah. Anytime your team scores six runs in an inning in the postseason, the atmosphere is going to be electric.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Aaron Nola doing his job. Cruising through nearly six full innings. Allows two runs on just a handful of hits. Does have nine strikeouts.

But it's a heck of a lot easier when the run support is more than enough. One ball, one strike. Breaking ball.

Hit in the air. Center field. Going back is Harris. Back toward the wall.

It is gone. He did it again. This time to center fields. Two one pitch. Swung on. Hit in the air. Left field.

Pretty well hit. Going back is Pilar. Back to the track. To the Xfinity side.

It is gone. Into the flower bed. Solo home run for Trey Turner. And the Phillies are lighting it up. Smith-Chauver with a pitch. Swung on.

Belted. Up the alley. Left center field. And Nick Castellanos has his second of the night.

Two one. And Marsh swings here. Hits one deep to left. Wall is back.

He's looking up. And it's gone. Back to back. And it's ten to two Phillies. The calls with Scott Fransky and Phillies radio.

And it was a barrage. As I say, the Phillies tied the record set by the Cubs back in 2015 for most home runs in a single playoff game. And as much as you could talk about Nick Castellanos, by the way, his son's expression on the second home run may have been my favorite. His son was down close to the wall and so he's a lower bowl, lower tier.

And just so cute to see his mouth wide open. Yes, it was a jaw-dropping performance by these Phillies. So Castellanos has two. Marsh gets in on the action. There's plenty of offense to go around. Trey Turner's well, but no.

What matters most? Bryce Harper. And the two home runs and the fact that he now, get this, has 10 in National League Division Series games. So 10 in this round of the playoffs. Most ever by a baseball hitter, slugger. No one's ever had 10 home runs in the Division Series before. And obviously don't mean this year. I mean over the course of his career.

On this night though, it was two that mattered. And it wasn't long before the whole topic came up of what Orlando Arcea had said in the Braves' locker room or clubhouse. Not in front of a microphone, but privately, sort of, in the Braves' clubhouse, after Harper's gaffe to end game two.

So you remember that, right? Bryce Harper's on first base. He gets on via a walk in the ninth inning. We get a deep ball, a deep shot.

Looks like it's gonna go off the wall, maybe. Bryce gets on his horse. He starts running. He goes around second base. Michael Harris makes this incredible leaping catch near the wall. Even made contact with the wall in the follow-through. And Bryce is caught in no man's land. With his pants around his ankles, essentially. He can't get back. Even though there was an errant throw by Harris, who didn't know that Bryce Harper had gone all the way around second base, they still get him.

They still double him off. And that's how the game ends. I've never seen a play like that! And certainly the Braves fans, broadcasters, and the clubhouse had fun with it.

Bryce gambled, and he lost. And in the clubhouse, following the game, so this is game number two in Atlanta, right? So it's in front of their own fans. Arcea makes the comment, attaboy Harper! Which to me seems so benign.

Doesn't even seem like it would be that big of a deal. But apparently it wasn't just Arcea who was yelling, attaboy Harper! They're laughing. Oh, you don't laugh at Bryce Harper.

No. Bryce Harper wants you to take him very seriously. So that somehow gets back. I mean, there were media members in the clubhouse. That somehow gets back to the Phillies quickly. It's like a game of telephone. Who even knows if the version of the story was accurate by the time it got back to the Phillies.

But it did. And he chooses to fixate on Orlando Arcea as he's rounding the bases. Now the second time, oh it's so obvious too. It's not like he just glances at him, winks at him.

That would have been fun. No, he is already pointed toward third base. His entire body is, but his head is still on a swivel, turned around looking back at Orlando Arcea.

The second time Arcea saw him. Now he kept a straight face. He was deadpan. He, I think he wasn't spitting at Harper, but he may have just spit, whatever. He didn't react.

But there was no way that the questions could be avoided after the game. Okay, so Bryce Harper, any extra motivation when you heard about the laughter and the attaboy Harper? Anytime anybody says something, right? I mean, that's what it's all about. Did you enjoy staring him down? Yeah, I mean, I stared right at him.

At least he acknowledges it. So what about finding out that that's what was happening following game two? Yeah, just my teammates. That's about it. You know, and they just kind of told me and they looked at me and they were like, what are you going to do?

What are you going to do? Well, he answered. Orlando Arcea using a translator following the game and he was asked about Bryce staring at him. I can't control where he looks. He can look wherever he wants to look.

That is the way to play it. I can't control where he looks. He can look wherever he wants to look.

I stared right at him. Okay, so Marco Belletti is here in studio. I want you to hear what Travis Darno had to say, because the Braves are a little bit annoyed. I think that's probably accurate. I wouldn't say they're angry, mad. Hey, if you don't want Bryce Harper staring at you, then how about don't give up two home runs? So you can't really blame the media for this, but Travis Darno is a little bit annoyed that this ever got back to Harper and the Phillies. It screws all the other reporters and everybody who comes in here and has been great with us all year and we feel like this is a sanctuary where we come to work every day and try to have fun and when things get out, which I'm sure other teams say things as well, it's not a good feeling and it makes nobody want to be in the clubhouse for all the people that are good people.

Well, okay, so I'm not really sure he meant good people, but he's annoyed at the very least that they were celebrating, dancing around, laughing, and it was history the way game two ended. I can imagine there was a ton of adrenaline in their clubhouse. They essentially saved their season for at least another couple nights and he's making the point that that was private. It was not in front of a microphone.

It shouldn't have gotten out. Now, my theory is this, Marco, if there are media people in the clubhouse and they're allowed to be there, if it's an open clubhouse, which is not always, I have covered teams before in the past. There are times when reporters are standing outside waiting because the clubhouse is not open yet. So if it's open and there are people in there that are not part of your team, isn't it on you to be careful of what you say?

Yeah, 100%. Look, I'm sorry, this whole thing, the Braves, you're soft. Every single one of you, soft.

You want to dance when you win a game, when you split it home. Congratulations. When you were able to get in that game and then you turn around and Bryce Harper shoves it up you and then you're going to turn around and complain, you're soft. Soft. You're soft. Every single one of you, soft. Yeah, it feels like the wrong way to be pointing, the wrong place to be pointing fingers.

How about don't give up the home runs and then you don't worry about it. You know who you're mad at? You're mad at you won 100 and something games and you left the Phillies in the dust and then you have to face them again after they disposed of you in the playoffs last year and now they came to town and took control and then you went to Philly and you got scared because Bryce Harper, homer twice, stared you down and you're looking at your toes and you're worried about the media instead of being able to go out there and beat on the field. If you had guts, your reaction would have been, he got us today, we'll get him tomorrow. That wasn't your reaction. Your reaction was that should have never got out there.

No, you wanted to dance. Now you got to pay for it. That's how it works. I'm cool with you. Look, I'm always, I'm not the guy to boast.

It's just not my personality, but if it is yours, I'm all for it. Do what you want to do and if you want to laugh it up and that's all great. You just got to back it up when people turn around and punch you in the face. That's what happens.

That's what they did. Do you remember what Steph Curry said a few years ago? If you shimmy, you better be ready to be shimmied on. Meaning if you're going to go out there and demonstrate and dance like you're talking about, you better be ready for someone to throw it back in your face, which coincidentally, but maybe it wasn't Chris Paul, but I feel like it might've been Chris Paul. No, he definitely did when he was at the Rockets. Now they lost that series, but yeah. And again, it happens and that's okay.

And then you got to laugh it off, but you can't get sensitive when you're the first person to dance in someone's face. It doesn't work like that. Okay. So I agree with all that, but larger point to my question, does the media have a responsibility when things are said as part of a celebration to allow it to stay in the clubhouse or if it's an open clubhouse, is it on the players and the manager coaches to not say anything they don't want reported? You've been through an entire season and this is not your first rodeo for any of these teams.

They're both playoff, you know, veteran playoff teams. Okay. You've been through all of this. You're telling me you don't know the difference between whether or not there are reporters in the clubhouse or whether reporters outside when the door is shut and you want to put the music on and dance and do whatever you want to do, you do that. Once they walk in the room, now you go into your cliche mode if that's what you want to do. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. I don't get on you again.

I'm not, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be cliche that you can't be like, do what you want to do, but when you open your mouth, whatever comes out is on you, not on the person that reported it, you control your words. They're set in front of somebody else. Well, I didn't mean to say that to them. Well, why are you telling a stranger? That doesn't make sense. Well, I think maybe the media just happened to hear because, you know, there's cameras in there yelling and screaming in the clubhouse.

No, I get it. I'm just saying there's media in there to record the celebration. And this is not like two people standing around whispering. You're yelling and screaming in a clubhouse and dancing and going, you know, I had a boy Bryce and laughing and joking it up.

So the media has to turn around and go, you know what? I don't think he wants Bryce Harper to know about that. I should probably take it upon myself, even though he's saying it three inches to my left to really kind of hold on. That's not that's not your responsibility.

That's really not anyone's responsibility. That would be like on the street and somebody hearing it. If you're yelling and screaming it on the street, the guy on the street that hears you from around the corner is supposed to say, well, you know what? He didn't want me to know that.

Why? He's yelling it. Why doesn't he want you to know it? This is not this was not like they're portraying this like there's two guys sitting at a locker and they're having like a private conversation. Did you see that play that Bryce Harper made? That's not how it was going. So don't make it like that.

Sanctuary, yes, in in some ways, not like this. Stop it. You're just soft. Those are the opinions of Marco Bolletti. Yeah. I do think that, like I said, with with Steph Curry's larger point, if you're going to demonstrate, you have to be ready for others to throw back in your face because you're out there, you're loud, you're proud, you're big, you're bold.

Well, and I say this full well. Look, let's say the Braves come back and win this series, which is possible, right? They turn around and win this series in five.

Are they now going to talk about how it's us against the world and how, look, see, we were able to back up? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You complain and then after you win, I'm going to watch you dance again, right? Stop it. Stop it.

Every one of you. Stop it. They will not be backing down.

Soft. On Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence, we will get through the reaction from both the Braves and the Phillies because that series is not done, but everything else is on to the championship series. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Elder takes a peek back at first base. The right-handers pitch swung on, melted, deep right field, and it's long gone for Harper. A second deck, three run home run for Bryce Harper as he punishes that pitch from Bryce Elder and the Phillies take the four to one lead. One ball, one strike, breaking ball, hit in the air, center field. Going back is Harris, back toward the wall.

It is gone. He did it again. This time to center fields. Harper looks at Arcea again as he goes around the second base bag. Fireworks are shooting out in right center field near the bell and the Phillies lead it seven to one. He is amazing.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Bryce Harper has more home runs in the National League Division Series, so this round in his career, than any other player in baseball history. Now 10 if you include two very loud home runs with a couple of stare downs on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, it's easier to stare down at an opponent when you've got a crowd that's losing its mind.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. So we know Bryce was making a point. He was targeting Orlando Arcea as he ran around second base because Arcea's laughter and comments got back to him. Okay, it's good for the game. I actually think as much as I was going back and forth with Marco about the media sharing this or letting this leak or reporting it, whatever, whatever, it's good for the game. Let's not take ourselves so seriously. It's baseball.

It's not life or death. It adds a layer and a level of spice and sex appeal to Phillies braves as if we needed any more. Tell you what, Bryce Harper, once he got done staring, he was beaming about where he is now and these Phillies. I love this place. Flat out. I love this place. There's nothing like coming into the bank and playing in front of these fans.

Blue collar mentality, tough fighting every single day. I get chills, man. I get so fired up. I love this place. I signed here for a reason. To do everything I could to bring back a trophy to this town, to Mr. Middleton, to this organization. I got chills thinking about it because that's what it's all about.

I absolutely love this place. I love every single person in this organization fighting, clawing every single day to get back to that moment. There were so many good times in 07, 08, 09, 2010, 11, and I wanted to get back to that moment. The Philadelphia Phillies brought Bryce Harper on for this reason. They paid him a ton of money, not just because of his talent, and we know he's supremely talented, but because of his attitude, because of his boldness, and because of the fact that he would provide kind of that swagger for their clubhouse, and you have to admit it has worked.

Now he's suffered through some injuries. He's also come back from some injuries a lot more quickly than what was anticipated, and I'm sure it still sticks with him that the year he leaves the Nationals they end up winning a World Series, and now he wants to restore that glory to the Phillies going back to what was 2008. Remember when they beat the Rays in the World Series? The following year in 2009, they lost to the Yankees in the World Series, so it's been a while in terms of them winning one.

They lost last year to the Astros, so they've been knocking on the door. It was a long-term investment in Bryce Harper, and this is how it's paying off. This is the culture now. He's bold, and he's loud, and he's in your face almost literally, but he also has a great passion that can really spread, and can be contagious. He's setting a tone, and the culture has changed there in Philadelphia. He's a big game player. He really is. These moments, he steps up, and I think that he, you know, he wanted to correct himself for the base running error, so that gets him going a little bit, but he wants to win, and he comes play every day, and when the lights are the brightest, he shows up. He's a Hall of Famer. I mean, he's one of those guys that loves that stage. You know, he's always been very, you know, just he's a special player. You put him in the spotlight, and he's going to shine.

Obviously, one of the biggest post-game topics. Bryce Harper, the stare, the again, the boldness, and the the two that he brings, and of course he feeds off that crowd at Citizens Bank Park. 10 runs on 11 hits for the Phillies, six dingers in this one, but the Braves can do that too. They just didn't. 11 men left on base, and big moments where they could have capitalized and couldn't come through. We didn't swing the bats that well today. Nola was really good again, and you know, it's been, we've been an offensive team, and in two of the three games in this series, we haven't been, so hopefully we come out tomorrow and swing the bats, score runs, and put ourselves in a position to get this thing to game five. And that's the deal. They are on the brink, so the Braves, who of course can win two games in a row.

No one's questioning that. They still have another game in Philadelphia though, and oddly enough, here we are. It's Thursday, October 12th, so tomorrow's Thursday, October 12th, and we've got one game.

That's it. We may not get any of these division series that go the distance. None of the four wildcard series. What was the point? Might as well make a winner take all games. At least we get the drama of that, and now here we are with two sweeps in the division series, another one that's already over, and now here we are talking about potentially no game fives or winner take all games in this round either. All right, we're going to switch gears, talk a little football NFL style straight ahead here after hours on CBS Sports Radio.