JR SportBrief Hour 1

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Happy Tuesday night to you. Coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Super producer and host Dave Shepherd is holding it down in New York City in a busy, busy Tuesday night it is. The National League Championship Series is going on right now in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, excuse me, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

There's a lot of P's, a lot of H's, long ass names of a city and a state. Right now, the Arizona Diamondbacks lead the Phillies 3-2. It's the bottom of the 6th. It's also the start of the NBA regular season and the Nuggets beat the Lakers.

Sounds familiar, right? The last time we saw these two teams, Denver Nuggets were eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers, winning their way to an NBA championship. We got managers switching places in Major League Baseball. Bob Melvin is, he's left the Padres and going to the Giants. Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker on the receiving end of A Lot of Love. Deion Sanders was at the Denver Nuggets game tonight.

Deion Sanders had some words on cheating. We're getting ready for the next NBA game. The Phoenix Suns are going to be playing the new look Golden State Warriors. There's a Chris Paul who will be playing. There's a Draymond Green who won't be playing. There's a Bradley Beal who is already missing his first game as a Phoenix Sun. And so yeah, it's game one or day one of the NBA season.

And there are a lot of things that sound very familiar and that didn't change all that much. And so we're going to keep you up to date on everything going on tonight, especially the national league championship series with a chance at the World Series at stake. It's game seven. Arizona leads the Phillies. The score right now is 3-2-2.

It's the bottom of the sixth. Thank you to everybody tuned in all over North America. People listening on the free Odyssey app, your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate, Sirius XM channel 158.

And if you own a smart speaker, consider yourself to be smart. And if you're not, just ask your speaker to play CBS Sports Radio. If you want to talk to me at any point throughout the course of the show, it's real simple. The number here is 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. You can also find me. I'm on the internet. I am everywhere at JR Sport Brief.

That's Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Shep, how you doing, man? You feeling good? Yeah, I got no complaints, JR.

I appreciate you asking. How are you, man? Good.

Good to hear. I am happy, happy, happy, ready to see what's going to happen with this national league championship series. The score is currently 3-2. They are now heading into the seventh. And the Arizona Cardinals are, excuse me, I'm just, Hey Shep, how many teams in Arizona? We got the Cardinals. We got Sun Devils.

Right. We got Diamondbacks. Wildcats. Wildcats and Suns.

Yes. These are the snakes. Coyotes. We, well, I don't know how much longer them coyotes are going to be in Arizona. Coyotes stink.

They be maybe moving them out of town sooner than later. But the Diamondbacks leading 3-2. Corbin Carroll is already 3-3 from the field, from the plate. He has an RBI on the night. I don't want to say he's going to end up being the MVP if they hold on. But we still got plenty of time.

And meanwhile, I know we talked about this last night. Trey Turner, 0 for 3. Bryce Harper, 0 for 3. People are going to look for some type of noise from Bryce Harper, specifically. Alec Baum got the Phillies on a board early with a home run. And that's been about the only noise that they've been able to generate in this series.

And about the only noise that they've been able to generate and muster up until now. And so we got Game 1 of the World Series. It's going to take place either way on Friday at GlobeLife in Arlington, Texas. And it'd be a hell of a shock if the Arizona Diamondbacks are the team that moves on. And so we'll keep you up to date on that. I told you that the NBA is underway. And how about the Los Angeles Lakers? They take the first L of the season out of every NBA team.

We only have two games tonight, four teams in action. The Lakers lose 119 to 107 in Denver, Colorado. And to the surprise of probably no one, Nikola Jokic is pretty good at basketball. He finishes tonight another triple-double.

I feel like we just walked back into the NBA Finals. 29 points for Nikola Jokic to go along with 13 rebounds and 11 assists. He was even 3 of 5 from downtown. Jamal Murray chips in 21.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a former Los Angeles Laker, won that championship with them. He had 20. Aaron Gordon had 15. Michael Porter was shooting his life away, 2 of 9 from deep, still finished with 12.

And this is just business as usual for the Denver Nuggets. And even looking at halftime, you just knew what it was going to be. Nikola Jokic had 19 points and 9 rebounds at the half. He basically had a 2010 game at the half. Nikola Jokic is an animal. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James leading the way, which he shouldn't have to do anymore, 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Anthony Davis, a poor game on his part, only 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists.

He was 6 of 17 from the field. And so LeBron James probably already thinking about vacation and it's only game 1. What a shock. What a surprise, right? LeBron having to carry this squad in his 21st year.

Let me say that again. LeBron James is playing his 21st season of NBA basketball. And to start the year off, he's already like, I got you 21 points and 8 rebounds. If LeBron James averages 7.5 points, that will be the most ever by any NBA player who's ever played in his 21st season. If Vince Carter had one of those 21st season, he averaged 7.4 points a game.

LeBron James, likely averaging in the 20 point per game range. A matter of fact, before the Los Angeles Lakers took this L, LeBron James, he spoke yesterday on what the hell is motivating him to keep going in year number 21. My motivation to continue to be as great as I can be and solidify what I want to do with my career and still seeing that Larry O'Brien trophy in my mind on a daily basis.

So it's one of the best four moments of my career being able to host up that trophy. So that motivation alone, but also wanting to be legendary in this game and let my game speak for itself long after I play. But this team has motivated me as well. I'm coming to practice every day and seeing the guys go to work every day, challenging each other, trying to get better every day, implement what we want to do.

And so that's been motivating as well. You already there man? LeBron James is already legendary. I mean, the only thing he can do is tack on more points. The only thing he can do is obviously win more championships. And the other thing that he can do, and we heard this in a Beats by Dre commercial narrated by his wife, is play with both of his sons.

One of his sons, unfortunately, had to deal with a heart ailment. Bronny did earlier this season, has yet to pick up a ball yet for USC. We don't know how long that's going to take, but God bless LeBron James.

He is, he's still rolling at a high level. Let's just see how many games he can go ahead and play throughout the course of the season. Because when LeBron James sits down, the Lakers go down.

Just the facts. Denver Nuggets not just winning tonight's game against the Los Angeles Lakers to open up the season. The Denver Nuggets, they had a chance to hoist their banner, their championship banner. The Denver Nuggets also had an opportunity to get their championship rings.

These things are built like bricks. They're obnoxious now, at this point in time. Even looking at Jokic wearing his ring, Jokic is like, what the hell am I even wearing this for? The ring slides out.

I don't even know how to describe it. Like the centerpiece of the ring slides out. And I guess it's a nod to the Denver Nuggets and the gold rush because it slides out and it's just like gold. Shep, did you see the Nuggets ring?

They were pretty nice. Yeah. I mean, all these rings are nice, but are we going to scale back down ever? Are we going to move toward like a four finger ring? The rings are getting nuts though. Listen, if you are a world champion, despite whatever former great track athletes might feel about that, either works, JR. Oh, we going to have the world champion conversation again?

No, but you know what? I was surprised that Aaron Gordon spoke. For two guys that have been so embedded in that franchise, Jamal Murray and Nikolai Jokic, both obviously have been there their entire career for more than half a decade. AG has been a nice addition, but he's been there for two years. I was surprised at who they had represent them at that time.

I don't know how you feel about that. Nikolai Jokic would probably still be, he'd rather still be in Serbia somewhere. And Jamal Murray is the one who always talks because Nikolai Jokic doesn't.

It's true. And so Aaron Gordon, he's a fan favorite. He's the one flying all over the place and dunking. Jokic doesn't want to say, if you asked Jokic, hey man, address the crowd, the crowd right away after winning the rings. What would he say?

Thank you. Right. And they just put the microphone down and say, let's play basketball. He doesn't care.

You know what? Let's listen to Aaron Gordon. He is the fan favorite and he was very thankful to all of the fans. This is courtesy of TNT. On behalf of my teammates, my training staff, my coaching staff, the management and Kroenke Sports, we just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for experiencing this journey with us. It's only right since last season ended in Denver.

Only makes sense that this season starts in Denver too baby. Oh, see, see that was, it made sense Shep right. It made sense.

Did not right. He's a really well-spoken guy. I mean, by that logic, you should have had RJ or DJ Reggie Jackson and Deandre Jordan speak. My thinking is the guys that have been there in the downtimes, when fans weren't showing up to, you know, these games, the Pepsi standard, like that, to me, it would have been nice to have heard from Jamal Murray and Nikolay Jokic in some way, shape or form, Jr.

I mean, I'd like to see more than just their game on display. I'd like to see them address the fans beforehand. I mean, Aaron Gordon can speak too. Didn't they speak? Did Jamal Murray talk? No, I didn't. I didn't see it. I didn't hear anything. If he spoke, it was the quiz.

It was the absolute quickest pregame trophy ceremony speech I've ever heard. Oh, wow. Okay.

All right. Well, was there anything else from TNT that we could share or just Aaron Gordon? So I just saw Aaron Gordon. I will say this, the fans, despite Jamal and Nikolay Jokic, the reigning finals MVP, not speaking, the fans certainly spoke to them and their appreciation when they were introduced before the rink ceremony. Well, what is a fan's going to scream in Denver? Well, yeah, they got very loud when they were the final two members introduced for the ceremony.

Yeah. Well, the fans care. They don't need to hear them speak. Let's listen. Let's listen to the fans show their appreciation. Number 27, the heartbeat, Jamal Murray! And finally, the man in the middle, the two-time MVP, Nikolay Jokic!

All right. Shep, nobody wants to hear Nikolay Jokic speak. That's the point. Nobody wants to hear that man talk. And Jamal Murray talks all the time, so we ain't missing nothing. And the fans get a chance to show up and watch their team beat the Los Angeles Lakers. That's a victory. They get a banner raising. That may be the only time people see that in their lifetime. The guys get their championship rings.

They see LeBron James and God knows who knows how much longer that's going to be. And so tonight's a win. And then, I mean, just from an entertainment perspective, Deion Sanders was there at the game. His son Chador was there. His teammate Travis Hunter was also there. No sign of Taylor Swift.

I heard she only shows up to Chiefs games. And so all things being considered, it was a good day for these nuggets. As the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors get ready to tip off in San Francisco, it's going to take some adjusting to see Chris Paul running around in this jersey. Golden State Warriors will be an interesting team.

They're relatively small, short. They don't have Draymond right now. Chris Paul is running point, running to the basket and throwing up a shot that misses right away. And so we'll see what happens with these teams.

I'm expecting, well, I don't know what to expect. It's just game one of the season. But the Denver Nuggets, I told you they just won. And Jamal Murray, he let the basketball do all the talking, helping to keep the Los Angeles Lakers at bay. Let's listen to a couple of plays courtesy of the Nuggets Radio Network. This is Jamal Murray knocking down a three to extend the lead to 106-96. Lobs it off to Nicole Yocut to the high post. Hands off behind him to Murray for three.

Jumper's good. Jamal Murray now with 21 in the game. Jamal Murray with 21 in the game at that point.

And that's exactly where he finished. Let's take a listen to the final call, first game of the NBA season, courtesy of the Nuggets Radio Network. Picking at the mid-court circle.

Two, one, horn. Well, the Denver Nuggets won the last game of the year here at Ball Arena. They win the first game of the year this season. Denver with a triple double from Nicole Yocut. Take care of the LA Lakers, 119-107.

Yep, 119-107, the final score there. And in San Francisco right now, the Suns and the Warriors, they are underway. About two minutes pass by in the game. They're tied at five all. I don't know how many people in Arizona right now are paying attention to the Phoenix Suns because the Diamondbacks are still in the lead, four to two.

They just put another run onto the board. Arizona getting closer to its first World Series appearance since they won it all against the Yankees in 2001. 855-2124 CBS. Let's talk to Mark. He's calling from Arizona.

I don't know if he's watching the Suns or the Diamondbacks. You're on the JR Sportbreeze Show. What's up, Mark? Hey, JR. Man, I'm, I got goosebumps.

I'm, I'm excited. Uh, Carroll is amazing. Three for three. Um, wow. It's crazy. Just hit that sacrifice fly to push the lead to four to two. Yeah, he's having himself a hell of a game in a game seven for a guy who's only 23 years old. JR, would you imagine, please, would you imagine that the Diamondbacks are, are actually not going away?

Come on, man. I thought the Diamondbacks would be at, at, I thought that they'd be a below 500 team. I mean, they're barely above 500 this season.

84-78. But you didn't think they were going to play like this, did you? No, who didn't?

No, who did? Did you think they were going to play like this? Oh, hell no. But I had my hopes. I'm excited.

I got, I don't know. I haven't been able to root for the Diamondbacks, but we still watch them. You know what my wife does?

She takes scores from every single game. I'm excited. I can't believe it. I mean, I'm listening to you and your updates and it's just like, come on, Diamondbacks, you can't let us down.

We want to go to World Series. You might be more excited in another 40 minutes or so. So just stay tuned. Okay. But in the meantime, thanks for taking my call and maybe a little more input on the game later on if you would.

Absolutely. I got to wait for the game to end. I can't listen. Let me tell you, Mark, if I do play by play, Mark, hold on. Listen to me.

I want you to be a little less excited for a minute. I'm trying. If I do play by play, you know who gets in trouble? You do. Yeah. So just stay tuned, Mark. Okay. I can't help it. I'm just like, I'm like, I got goosebumps right now. I can't believe it.

Take a, take a cold shower, Mark. Stay tuned. All right. I'll catch you later. Okay.

Thank you, sir. Bye-bye. Yeah. Nothing wrong with being, Hey Shep, you wanted excitement last night with the Texas Rangers announcer, right? Yeah.

Mark should transfer to Arizona and be their announcer. Excuse me, Texas. Yeah. You should go to Texas.

Yeah. Well, the way his team is performing, I don't know if he wants to. He might, he might go. It looks like the Arizona Diamondbacks, if they hold on, who knows?

They might be going down to Texas anyway. They got a couple of innings to try to hold onto this. The Diamondbacks lead the Phillies game seven of the NLCS. The score is currently four to two. The Phillies have thrown Zach Wheeler out on the mound. This is his first relief appearance of his career. They're trying to put him out there to stop the bleeding. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

855-212-4CBS is the number. The NBA finally underway. Major League Baseball trying to set things up for its World Series.

And when we come back, there's a manager who failed to get to the playoffs and he's switching teams? This is weird. I'm going to tell you what took place today in Major League Baseball. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here on CBS Sports Radio.

Don't move. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. JR wants to hear from you. Call him now at 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4227. The Arizona Diamondbacks are leading the Philadelphia Phillies four to two. It's the bottom of the seventh. Arizona Diamondbacks, if they hold on, they move ahead to the World Series that starts this Friday in Arlington against the Texas Rangers. Let's see if the Philadelphia Phillies can go ahead and bounce back. Phillies not having a lot of fun right now. The Denver Nuggets, they open up their season against the Los Angeles Lakers.

They have fun. The Denver Nuggets beat Los Angeles. The final score there 119-107. Nikolay Jokic not wasting any time here to start the season. He opens things up with a triple double. 29 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists. LeBron James, 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists. Anthony Davis, 17 and 8. After the game, I told you who the hell wants to speak to Nikolay Jokic?

I found somebody. Shaquille O'Neal. Nikolay Jokic and Shaq had an interesting conversation on TNT after the Denver Nuggets' victory. I just want to say brother Volante. Volante, good job Shaq. I like the suit.

Really good suit. What did he say? He says I love you. Volante! Volante! Next time something different. Next time something different. Come on. We'll give him plenty of time to prepare. Nikolay Jokic, man, we appreciate you. Okay, well it sounds like it sounds like Nikolay Jokic was having fun, I guess, right? I've never met and it's, I don't know if it's a gag at this point, but Nikolay Jokic is just so uninterested. I don't know if he's uninterested in the fame.

He's just, he shows up like basketball is, like it's, it's really work. Like somebody is forcing him to sit around and make, I don't know, 50 million dollars a year. Like they're worse things, Nikolay.

I know you want to be back home with your horses. Nobody forcing you to play. Jared, what do you think of this comparison?

Tim fundamental Duncan. A comparison in how? They cannot stand the attention. They don't want it. They don't need it. They want anything in spite of it.

They just go out and they dominate and they let their game do all the talking. Yes, I would say that. Yeah, absolutely. Tim Duncan wasn't anyone who, who's, he didn't seek attention. They want to be bothered. Didn't care about sitting around doing media.

He just showed up and went to work. So I agree with you in that regard. But Jokic is, is unlike any, any star that the league has seen is that he's, I don't know. I don't even think it's an act. There's, there's no reason to believe it's an act.

It's almost become tired where, where, where people are just like, okay, we get it. Like you're just playing basketball. It's not, I guess your first love. I heard him in a Denver Nuggets piece the other day say basketball is and was his first love. So I don't know. I mean, is he Bella checking us?

I don't think so. He's a hard dude. I think he, he likes basketball. He loves it. But it's, it's not the end all be all for him. And I think it just rubs, rubs some people the wrong way when he's just like, oh yeah, I want to go home.

Don't want to do no parade. He's just, just a different cat, different strokes for different folks. And Nikolai Jokic is certainly moving to the beat of his own drum. And let's be real at the same time, there's nothing wrong with it. Like we, we got enough players in the league, guys who want the money, but they don't want to show up to play. We got dudes who have bad attitudes a la James Harden. We have enough wild personalities. I mean, we have more Kyrie Irving's and more James Harden's than we do Giannis Atteracumpos and Nikolai Jokic's. And so it'd be nice maybe if we had more players in the NBA, maybe follow the behavior of a Giannis, follow the behavior of a Jokic. And dare I say, it's not a shock. It's not a surprise that these guys are not American.

Okay. This dude Giannis was selling watches on the street and Nikolai Jokic, there was no expectation for him to be anything but a professional, I don't know, light bulb Turner. Nikolai Jokic came to the NBA drinking, drinking Pepsi all the damn time. And so it's nice that we have a star like this who, you know, who cares if he doesn't want to speak or like, whatever.

We need more folks who follow in his rank rather than a bunch of just ungrateful, pain in the ass basketball players. 855-212-4CBS. It's 855-212-4CBS.

Rick is here from Colorado. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. Hello, JR. Thanks for taking my call. Hope you're doing well. You too, man. What's up? Well, I just turned you on.

I've got the Phillies on TV and I've watched some nuggets tonight. And as far as Joker and his reception to all this media attention, yeah, I think it's part of where he comes from. He comes from a country that doesn't really enjoy all the things we take for granted here. You see, his country was at war in the 90s. So he grew up a child of that war.

And so they don't have all the luxuries and things we take for granted here in America. So I think he's just accustomed to not really celebrating all of that media attention. I don't know. That's just kind of what I think. No, it's not what you think. I think it's factual. I didn't get into the depths of where he came from in Serbia. No different than I went into the depths of Giannis and his family coming out of Nigeria, going up into Greece. But in a general sense, yes, absolutely.

I said it. A lot of it has to do with the fact that they are not American and that there is a different appreciation for what they do. And I mean, yeah, different strokes of different folks.

Everybody has a different experience. Yeah, but Jokic has been here. He's been here long enough and he doesn't have to play the game.

He's coming and he's making the money. And I'm not saying he needs to be anybody different. But I think in some of his interactions, it's just like, OK, we get it.

We understand it. If you're that miserable, then stop playing, you know? Well, I don't think he's so miserable. I think that he's just not a braggart kind of guy.

You know, I think he's just not. It's not about being a braggart. It's hey, when you're asked, you know, do you enjoy this?

And he's like, I want to go home. It's like, OK, that has nothing to do with being a braggart or being an ass or being pompous or being arrogant or being selfish. There just have been times over the past six and seven months as the country has learned more about him where, yeah, sure, maybe he doesn't want to deal with the media media attention. That's fine. You know, I just gave an example of Tim Duncan or Shep asked about Tim Duncan.

And I asked, what are you comparing them? And Shep said, hey, it's not wanting the attention. And that was understood. But there wasn't a day that went by where I felt that Tim Duncan felt like what he was doing was a chore. And sometimes Nikolay Jokic comes across like what he is doing is someone is forcing him to go play basketball. And, you know, I see a clip this week that says the opposite. He goes, basketball is my first love.

And every comment associated with it was just like, they must have held a gun to one of his horse's head to make him say that because we've heard the opposite now for months. That's my only point. Well, I don't know if I agree completely with all that. I think you make some valid points, but I think that for him to come out on the season opener tonight with a triple jump, the triple double does show his enthusiasm for the game. And we fans here in Colorado really do appreciate that he's here and we are firm believers that he is the best player on the planet. And I think he can be whoever he wants, you know? Yeah.

Well, of course he can. I think that that goes without saying. There's no doubt about that. And I don't think anything I delivered and thank you, Rick, for calling from Colorado. I ain't saying nothing that wasn't factual. I'm telling you what I know to be the case.

Okay. When the man is, hey, did you enjoy this? He's like, nah, I hated, I hated how long we played. Like, oh, well you won a championship as a result. It's like, oh, well you love this. No, no.

I'm like, it's a job. Okay. I get it. Fine.

We get it. That's what's come out of his own mouth. That has nothing to do with his basketball ability.

None. And you're right, man. If he, if him going out there getting triple doubles shows you how enthusiastic he is about basketball, then tell him to shut up on the other end. And tell him don't say nothing. Make it make sense. Don't go get triple doubles and then get asked about it afterwards and just go, I hated my performance tonight.

I hated to play basketball. Like, man, we don't want that, man. Me personally, I don't care.

But I do like, man, make it make sense, that part. I like watching him. He's amazing to see. I still can't get over what he looks like tonight. They talk about how he looks like he lost weight and I'm looking at him and go, he looks, he looks like a fat guy to me and he's still out there beating everybody up 20 and 10 in the first half. I mean, sheesh.

Damn. Hey Marco, have you ever seen an NBA player so successful who at times is just looks, he looks like he's miserable. It's like, what are we doing here? He's different because I've seen surly. You've seen guys that were just surly.

They were angry all the time, but it had nothing to do with the game. He, yeah, it strikes you that it's almost like I have to do this so that my family can survive, but I really do have no interest in being here. It does feel like that. Yeah.

I mean, he's making 50 per now. Like, so quit tomorrow, bruh. He's like, man, I'm going to make the next, he's building an empire. So I get it. He's like, man, I'm doing this. This is work.

I'm going to take care of the next 20 generations of my family. And for that, God bless him. I get it. But man, do you, he says he enjoys it.

I heard him in the commercial the other day. I love it. I love basketball is my first love. And I don't know, complicated fellow fun to watch.

He's just busting people's ass makes it look too easy. It's the JR sport pre-show here on CBS sports radio eight five five two one two four CBS. We're going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, I think these guys love what they do.

Absolutely love what they do. We're going to talk about Bruce Bochy. We're going to talk about dusty Baker and there's a guy who loves managing in California so much. He's going back home to coach for another team.

I'm going to tell you about it. You're listening to the JR sport brief on CBS sports radio. You're listening to the JR sport brief on CBS sports radio. Hey, what's up, JR?

I agree with you. I like your show because I tend to disagree but tonight I agree. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial.

Stuck in a timeshare and want out, contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at wesleyfinancialgroup.com. Eight five five two one two four CBS right now, the national league championship series, the Arizona Diamondbacks, they still have a lead. It is the top of the eighth. They lead the Phillies four to two. Getting closer to that world series appearance and today was an interesting day in the national league because we got some some movement going on. The Arizona Diamondbacks, it's a surprise that they are even here in the postseason and a team that we did not see here in the postseason happens to be the San Diego Padres. Bob Melvin in his second year, the Padres only went 82 and 80 and we heard a lot, a lot of uh let's just say dissension existed between the manager Bob Melvin and the GM, the man who runs the show, AJ Preller.

Now this is now this was like a tale of of two teams. Last year the Padres make it all the way to the national league championship series and they lose to these same Philadelphia Phillies. In this season they go 82 and 80 and things just kind of flipped around. Every game that was a close game they pretty much lost. This season, this past season and all my folks listening in San Diego right now they know this, the Padres were 2 and 14 in extra innings.

In 2022 they were 12 and 5. They participated in 32 one-run games. They had a record of nine wins and 23 losses. They had a payroll of about 260 million dollars and they did not make the postseason and so what does this mean? At the end of the year we heard that Bob Melvin was gonna stick around and then about a week ago we heard that Bob Melvin was granted an opportunity to go back up to the bay. This is somebody who was a three-time manager of the year with the Oakland Athletics. He played up there and instead of now playing for the or he used to play instead of managing the Oakland Athletics. This dude is replacing Gabe Kapler as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants and so he's he's switching roles. He's just trying to manage every team in California now at this place and it's crazy how fast things can change because it was only a year ago, a calendar year and change, that he was introduced and AJ Preller sat on the stage and told everybody how much he loves Bob Melvin.

Listen to this. This is when they hired the man in 2022. The number one thing that stood out to me personally was Bob's burning desire to win a championship as a major league manager which is probably about the only thing he hasn't done yet in this game.

Well that was that was early last year. He coached you to the National League Championship Series and then y'all completely crapped the bed this year and between Bob Melvin and AJ Preller they basically lied to everybody about how much they liked each other. AJ Preller is like I consider him a friend we talk every day. Bob Melvin is like yeah yeah yeah and then there are reports that they only talk a couple of times a week and the first chance and opportunity that Bob Melvin could go back up to the bay he does so. Makes no sense to go to Oakland because well you know the baseball team is not existing in Oakland and so now he goes to San Francisco. Good on Bob Melvin and so now the Padres got to continue to clean things up as they they look for another manager. This is going to be manager number six or seven since AJ Preller took over. So is it AJ Preller or are we looking at all the managers? 8-5-5-2-1-2 for CBS.

It's 8-5-5-2-1-2 for CBS. At least we got Bruce Bochy here. Bruce Bochy having success. He also someone who managed the Padres. Actually won manager of the year back in 96. We know that they went to that World Series against the Yankees in 98.

Unfortunately didn't work out for him. Bruce Bochy was the Giants manager. Won all those championships. Retired. Worked in the front office. Came out of retirement to to manage the Rangers and now he's he's going to the the World Series and whatever Bruce Bochy actually quits for real and retires. Hall of Fame is staring him right in the face. The only manager to take three different teams to the World Series and so last night Bruce Bochy said man if I win a fourth World Series it ain't about me.

It's about the guys who've never won one. Listen to this man. The voice of God. I'll be honest it's it's not I don't think about me. I'm I'm riding their backs.

Trust me. This team as I said it's it's been an honor to watch him and so it's it's great to be here. It's unreal that I'm here to be honest. I mean I'm just sitting at the house for three years and to think here I am going to the World Series.

Yeah yeah that's special but it's more about them and you know trying to find a way to get a ring for those guys. Oh he's so awesome man. It's like hey Shep every time he speaks it's like story time with grandpa. He's awesome. I like him. Seems like a real genuinely kind person. Has everyone's best interests at heart and there's a reason why the Rangers are playing out of their mind right now.

It's because of one individual. I mean you can look at the players all you want but he has shifted this culture and he's done 180. Forget all of that. Can we get him to read an e-book? Well if Morgan Freeman is not available let's put Bruce Bochy at number two.

Oh well what what would I have him. Hey you know what I need. I need Bruce Bochy to read the New Testament. No you know what we need him to start with the Old Testament. Let's start from what's the Genesis. Let him start a Genesis from the beginning.

You know what he should because you talk about religion. You talk about spirituality. It's all about being humble.

It's all about being thankful. That's all Bruce Bochy is. There is not any ego with this guy. I mean JR when is the last time you've ever heard this guy say something critical about anybody? When is the last time you heard him give himself any semblance of credit? Well you know when we when we get to uh the commercial break I'm gonna Google or I'm gonna go on YouTube and go Bruce Bochy ejected and I'm gonna look for him to lose his mind okay.

Well that I mean but that's more sticking up for your guys than it is him actually losing his mind but I get your point. No I need to see this. I need to hear him read the Old Testament. How does it start in the beginning?

God created the heavens and the earth. Hey for my own satisfaction let me hear Bruce Bochy speaking in for a few seconds. I'll be honest it's it's not I don't think about me.

I'm riding their backs trust me. This team as I said it's it's been an honor to watch him and uh so it's it's great to be here. It's unreal that I'm here to be honest.

I mean I'm just sitting at the house for three years. Okay okay okay okay he's great and Shep as you talked about him being oh so nice I have found multiple instances of him being ejected from games eight years ago, a month ago, four months ago. I'd love to hear him curse somebody out too. But JR he's the ultimate player's manager so that's more about sticking up for his guys than it is about him on the surface losing his cool.

He's doing that for a fact. I just need to hear him. Okay well we'll try to find sound. I'd be curious to hear what that sounds like.

Is audio with him cursing somebody out? If there's audio of Earl Weaver from 40 years ago there's got to be something on Bochy cursing someone out. Well let's get Terry Collins while we're at it okay. Or Wally Backman. No no Terry Collins was classic.

Wally's was good too man. Mother bleeped this and bleeped that. It sounded like uh Becky Hammond during the parade yesterday. What a wild lady. We'll play that too.

It's the JR Sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. Don't move. Let's face the facts. Everyone wants to feel valued, especially your employees. In fact a 2023 study found 78% of business owners say benefits and retirement plans improve employee retention. Employees want to feel secure in their jobs and their finances. At Principal we help you invest in your people because investing in your people is investing in your business. Learn more at principal.com benefits. Products and services offered by member companies of the Principal Financial Group Des Moines, Iowa.

For important information visit principal.com disclosures. This episode is brought to you by FX's A Murder at the End of the World. Starring Emma Corrin, Clive Owen, and Britt Marling. Emma plays Darby Hart, a sleuth and tech savvy hacker. She joins an exclusive group invited to a retreat. When one of the guests is found dead Darby must prove it was murder before the killer takes another life. FX's A Murder at the End of the World.

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