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Download Thumbtack and start a project today. It is the JR Sportbrief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Much love and many thanks to people tuned in and locked in all over the country. This is where I'm going to be for the next four hours. Wherever you're at, whatever you're doing, I hope you're good, I hope you're safe, I hope you are well. People drive like maniacs outside. I hope you're not one of those maniacs. Please be safe.
Shoutouts to people on the road, the highways, the byways, people at home, people at work, people getting to the money, and my people holding it down. This is when the show gets started every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. I might be in Atlanta, Georgia, but super producer and host Ryan Hickey, he's in New York City holding it down on the boards. You can always listen to this show on the free Odyssey app. You can always listen to this show on your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate. You can always listen to this show on Sirius XM Channel 158. You can always listen to the show on a smart speaker if you ask it to play the Infinity Sports Network. It's Wednesday.
You know what that means. I'm bringing you a new top six list. That list is coming two hours from now.
Congratulations again to the Boston Celtics, your NBA champions for the year 2024. For today's top six list, we're going to take a look at some of the top duos that we've ever seen in the world of sports. We're going to take a look at the top combinations, like who are the best of the best? Who is the creme de la creme? Who's the cream of the crop?
When it comes down to the best two way or not two way, the best duos, one and two guys in NBA history. I'm going to share that list with you all in two hours. You don't have to wait too much longer. We also have some guests that are going to come through and join us. Speaking of the NBA, James Herbert from CBS Sports is going to come through next hour and talk to us about what happens next. Now that the NBA season is over, what's going to take place with the draft? What can we look forward to when it comes down to free agency? We have word about where Bronny James will go or not go. I assume we're going to find out in exactly a week. Maybe it'll take a little more than a week. NBA draft is next Wednesday and Thursday.
And then also, how about this? In about 40 minutes, last night, live on the air, I had to share with you the unfortunate passing of Willie Mays. Well, Andrew Bagley is going to come through and join us from the Athletic.
He's going to be here in about 40 minutes from now. We had a great Stanley Cup Finals matchup last night. Hickey and I were talking about it as we were concluding the show. I want to talk about that.
There's some interesting elements when it comes down to flying from Miami back to damn Edmonton. I don't think anybody wants to do that. The Steelers, I know what they want to do. They want to see both of their quarterbacks go out there and play. I don't know why anybody would say that at all. Chiefs rings all messed up.
Nothing wrong with that. And then early this morning, absolutely hilarious. The Detroit Pistons fired their head coach, Monty Williams. Nothing hilarious about this man getting fired. He doesn't have to coach a day in his life.
He didn't have to coach a day in his life before he got the damn job. We'll talk about that in a second. If you want to participate in the show, if you're a sad individual in Detroit, Michigan, you can call up. It's 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. You can also find me online. I am everywhere. I am at JR Sport Brief.
Super producer and host, Ryan Hickey. How the hell you doing, man? You good? I'm good today, JR.
Thank you. Quick question for you, actually. This just sparked a thought when you said Miami going to Edmonton, referring obviously to the Panthers and Oilers going for Game 6. With the Celtics flying down to Miami to celebrate their championship, if the Panthers won last night, do you think those two teams link up to celebrate?
That's a good question. I mean, why not, right? Who's Jason Tatum friends with?
Is it one of the guys on the Panthers or is it somebody on the Oilers? Yes, Matthew Kachuck. Yeah, so why not, right? Isn't that what the world wants to see? A mash-up? Unlikely friends?
Where are they from? St. Louis, right? Yes, sir. Yeah, why not? Why not party together? Probably been a first, right? What, two NHL team and NBA team getting together to party at the same time?
Yeah, two champs who literally just won a championship within 48 hours of each other, throwing down? It would have been kind of cool. Yeah, it would have been cool. That's an interesting question. You know, I mean, if we look back in the past, I would say maybe 20 or so-ish years, you think it might have happened before, right? Maybe, possibly. Vegas, I don't know. But you know what, maybe not. Because it feels like this is a more recent thing.
At least with the advent of social media, everything is so documented. Team on the West Coast wins a championship, they go to Vegas. I mean, we got a team on the East Coast wins a championship, they go down to Miami. Well, I mean, that's a good question. Hickey, that's some interesting investigative journalism that we're going to have to do here, okay?
And unfortunately, we will never find out the answer. I think we will, maybe. Maybe. How difficult is it to go, hey, an NBA, NHL team celebrate together, right? Party together? Yeah, I guess you're right.
There probably would have been pictures somewhere. Yeah, we'll look it up. Well, you in a partying mood? You Monty Williams?
I actually, yes. When I saw that news, I said, oh boy, I am jealous. Oh my God. You know, Monty, yesterday we talked about how Jeff Van Gundy has had such a tough time, just over the past year, in regards to losing his job at ESPN, not having his contract renewed there, his sister-in-law passing away, one of his best friend's passing of cancer, and Jeff Van Gundy said that being a part of the Boston Celtics as a consultant, it really helped him, you know, just get through a tough time. I mean, there's nothing worse than going through a difficult time and being idle and having nothing but time to think about it. I'm speaking from experience.
I'm speaking better than being busy because the focus and what you need to do can just get you through a difficult time. And that came out of the mouth of Jeff Van Gundy after the Celtics won this championship. Well, Monty Williams was not in any more or less of a difficult situation. We know Monty Williams a few years ago helped take the Phoenix Suns to an NBA championship.
That's successful. You can go ahead and thank the Milwaukee Bucks for that. But then ultimately, Monty Williams was given the boot for not necessarily having the greatest relationship with his players, primarily DeAndre Ayton. And so ultimately, if we go back to May of last year, Monty Williams was let go by the Suns.
After four seasons, after that Finals appearance, he's been a multiple-time coach of the year. They fired him. And as a result, Monty Williams got a $20 million buyout.
They give him $20 million to disappear. Monty Williams before that, unfortunately, his wife had passed away due to cancer. Monty Williams has a whole family. He has kids.
I can't imagine having to go through that. Monty Williams had no intention, none, of coaching. He was going to take his $20 million.
He was going to sit at home with his family. That makes all the sense in the world, right? Wrong.
There's a sucker born every day. The Detroit Pistons, the Gores, I don't know what the hell their problem is. They wanted Monty Williams so bad to try to dig them out of the toilet.
In 2022, 2023, they won 17 games. I guess they thought bringing in Monty Williams was going to save them. I didn't know if that was going to help Cade Cunningham be healthy. Probably not. But they lured this man basically out of quasi, just to say, relaxation.
No, we really need you. We're going to give you the biggest coaching contract in NBA history. Just exactly 12 months ago, Monty Williams got a six-year deal, $78 million. Monty Williams has never won a championship.
Monty Williams has been to one. He's been a multiple-time coach of the year, from his time with the Pelicans and then with the Suns. They just threw all this money at him.
And when someone says, hey, here's $80 million, did Monty Williams going to say no? Monty Williams didn't want to coach, but he took the money and said yes. The Detroit Pistons sucked this year. The Pistons were worse with him than they were the year before. Instead of winning 17 games, they won 14 games. They went through a ridiculous losing streak. Monty Williams was getting destroyed by fans about who he played and who he didn't play. And don't ask me about guys like Killian Hayes, because why would I, J.R., while I'm here on the radio, you know, sitting down and putting the Pistons on in the background isn't necessarily my entertainment of choice.
They sucked. Last week, they bring in Trajan Langdon, who's been a longtime executive now in the NBA. You might remember him for playing for the Duke Blue Devils, had a cup of coffee in the NBA. This man has been all over the places, helping run the Hornets, you know, cut his teeth a little bit with the Spurs. And now he's running the whole thing up in Detroit. And one of the first things that he did following the conclusion of the NBA Finals.
He fired Monty Williams. After one season, they have to pay this man $65 million over the next five years not to coach. The NBA, the NFL, all these leagues, they are playing with and in funny money.
You can bring somebody in and then tell me where the financial health is. We got teams that won't pay for stadiums, OK? I don't want to put in $300 million for my own stadium. I don't want to pay billions for a stadium. I know there's a difference between $65 million and, I don't know, $2 billion for a stadium.
But come on now. We can allocate all of this money to the players and a coach that we won't pay? And we're just going to fire them after one year? If I were the other owners in the NBA, I would be smacking the living hell out of the Gore family and the Pistons. What are you all doing?
Why are you making the price go up? Just to fire a guy? If I'm Adam Silver, I'm going, oh my God, these owners that I work for, they are absolute idiots.
Monty Williams, he's no idiot. He took the money and he said, I'm good. You mean to tell me all I had to do was coach one more year and secure another $65 million to do nothing? Now I can really focus in on my kids and mourn the death of my wife? Oh, thank you for the $65 million. Thank you. Bye.
God bless him. But the Pistons are idiots. I don't know what's a dumber franchise in the NBA right now, the Pistons or the what are these idiots called?
The Bulls. We're a long way from the 90s, huh? Maybe there's something in the water.
Maybe the proximity is stupefying both of them. Monty Williams, I guess thinking that he was going to return right after the season ended. He said, yeah, yeah, yeah, the future is good.
Yeah, he won't be a part of it. In my opinion, we have dug the trenches for the foundation this summer. We got to pour the cement and see whose fingerprints are going to be in it.
And that's something that we're intentional about going forward. Not not you. Not you. You were there. They were bad before you.
They were bad with you. And let's be real. Can the Pistons be this bad next year?
Come on. Seventeen wins before Monty Williams. Fourteen wins with him.
They got to win like 20 to 30 games next year, right? Hickey, I actually remember maybe not a lot of it. I don't know if that's good or bad. Probably because they suck.
Hickey, I believe I saw the Pistons play in person this past year. I don't remember anything. Nothing. You paid money to watch that? Or did they pay you?
Paid money? I got credentials, Hickey. Come on. Okay, okay. So it's neutral. I was going to say, I would not spend your hard-earned money to watch that product on the court.
That would have been rough. No, I don't spend money. No. Just making sure.
I was going to say, if you need a money manager, I can be here for hire. You're thinking, should I watch the Hawks? No. Pistons?
No. If you want to manage money, you might want to talk to Monty Williams. You're right about that.
Yeah, he got money to manage. How would you diversify that 65? What would you do with it? Oh, I don't know.
I could tell you what games not to spend money on to watch. I can't tell you portfolios, CDs. Are those the things?
CDs? I don't know. Investments? Hedge funds?
Yeah, you got me there. I don't know. I wouldn't trust myself. Monty Williams, is this man even going to watch basketball over the next year?
I would have watched basketball again. What, him? Yeah. He got $100 million in the bank.
Live life. Yeah. There are people saying, oh, you're going to coach the Lakers. For what? Why would Monty Williams want to wake up and coach the Lakers?
For what? This man hit the lottery, OK? He basically helped take a team to the finals. He got fired because he didn't want to talk to the center. He then said, I don't want to coach. An idiot team, the Pistons, decided to give him a crap ton of money.
He got fired after one year. And he's making money after money after money for doing absolutely nothing. Nothing. Zero. Congratulations to Monty Williams, living the life that we all want to live.
Fire me today if I can get 100 mil right out of the gate. Do it. Monty Williams is living the American dream. That man should go out.
You know, forget these 80-something-year-old guys. Monty Williams is living the dream. Let Monty Williams run for office. The man's a genius.
Either that or the Pistons are that damn stupid. Let's see what Trajan Langdon does. At least he has a head on his shoulders. That man is not an idiot.
They needed somebody with a brain. At least he's in there. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. Hickey asked a great question. If the Panthers would have won last night, would they be celebrating in Miami with the Celtics?
To borrow a phrase from Jason Tatum, I guess we'll never know. Because these Panthers, they lost last night. It looked like they were going to get close. It was 4-3 at the end of the third period. They had an empty net goal. Oilers said it's done. They went 5-3. And what is the Panthers' prize? Not a Stanley Cup.
They had to get back on a plane and fly to Edmonton. That's not fun. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm here.
I don't know about you. I'm going to have me some fun. We're going to talk about the Oilers and the Panthers on the other side of the break.
And if you wanted to fly up there, how much do you think it would cost? If you were a fan, how long do you think it would take? I'm going to tell you on the other side of the break. If you're a Panthers fan, flying to Edmonton, man, they need to give you money. We'll talk about that on the other side. We're going to show love to Willie Mays at the end of this hour. We'll get into Bronny James and where he doesn't want to go. But there's a lot to do.
And in the top six list, the best NBA duos of all time. Congratulations. You're listening to the JR Sport Reshow on the Infinity Sports Network. You can search for what you need done and find tons of highly rated pros right in your neighborhood. Check prices, reviews, and book a pro right on the spot. Plus, you'll know what to tackle next. Because Thumbtack is the app that shows you what to do, who to hire, and when. Pull out your phone and in just a few taps, say goodbye to all those unfinished home projects. And say hello to caring for your home the easier way.
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It's 855-212-4227. NBA Finals, over. Celtics parade, Friday. Last night, again, for the third damn time, the Panthers, the Florida Panthers, had an opportunity to do the same thing the Celtics did two nights ago.
And that's secure a championship. But the Florida Panthers failed last night because they lost again to the Edmonton Oilers. We were watching this game last night. We were checking out this game on the air before we left. Hickey, what was the score when we called it a wrap?
What was it like? Like four to one, four to two? Four to two, right? It was four to one, and as we're saying the game is over, Panthers scored to make it four to two. Yeah, and I felt that the game was still going to be close. And then it was four to three. And then in the third period, I'm like, come on, Carolina. Not Carolina, I'm mixing up my Panthers. I'm like, come on, Florida, just tie the game, please.
Get us the overtime and just get this over with. I love watching the conclusion of the Stanley Cup. They skate around with the cup. They take their pictures.
Nobody has teeth. They lift it up. They drink out of it. And then they party. It's good.
I love it. They're so happy. So coordinated on the ice, strong and coordinated hockey players, underrated athletes that bust your ass.
Guys are built like tanks. The Oilers end up winning five to three. And my hopes were dashed at the end of the game. Panthers were able to save on an empty netter. Amazing stop.
And then Connor McDavid said, I know he is five. That was it. That was it.
All she wrote. A matter of fact, let's take a listen to the conclusion of this game last night. What the hell this broadcast on? Hey, this is from the Oilers radio network.
Listen to this. And they'll have a third track at winning the franchise's Stanley Cup. The first time ever. But Edmonton has denied Florida again. The Panthers won't clinch on home ice. And now the mood and the entire atmosphere of this Stanley Cup final has decidedly swung in Edmonton's favor.
Oh, come on, man. Florida led the Stanley Cup three to nothing. Don't choke this away.
What are you doing? They led three to nothing. And then all of a sudden. Over the weekend on Saturday, the Oilers spank them eight to one. Then last night they beat them five to three. And let me tell you, the look on these guys faces, it wasn't on the Panthers faces. It wasn't just the look of crap we lost. Man, we we just missed an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup. That was all part of the look on their face.
Hickey. These guys had a look on their face like. We got to get back on the plane and fly six out. We have to get back on the plane and leave Miami sunrise to go back to Edmonton. These guys look ticked off, man. Ticked off. I'll be too. I'm sure they texted the Celtics.
Hey, leave a few drinks for us to meet you in a few hours. Oh, I thought we got it. We got to cancel. Oh, my God. I'd be picky.
I'd be I'd be I'd be mad, too. It's that's a sick. That's six hours private. Do you know this is the furthest distance. Between two teams in any championship, in any major sport here in North America, did you know that?
I did see that before the series started. Pretty crazy. That's why ever, ever like you don't get any further away than than than than Miami. That's the end of the country.
Damn it. And you got to go northwest towards towards Edmondson. A six hours. I mean, typically people think about distance here in the states. You go west coast, east coast.
OK, that's far five hours, you know, but six hours. They might as well. Not not as much. I'm exaggerating. Send them to Anchorage. Damn.
And then I looked it up even further. They're flying commercial. And after a loss, they got to take a six hour flight to try to win. Imagine if they lose and they got to go back to Florida to play again.
Oh, my God. If you're a fan. If you're a Panthers fan in Miami, first of all, why are you hockey in Miami and sunrise?
OK, whatever. But if you're a fan and you want to go, the game is tomorrow. You'd have to catch a flight like today. The flights are like eleven hundred, twelve hundred, thirteen hundred bucks.
The flights are anywhere from eight to eleven hours long. I mean, if you got all that money and you can charter it and God bless you. But I mean, sheesh. I didn't even bother looking at the tickets. But I know there's a hard pick. Hickey, there's a hardcore fan somewhere out there. There's a hardcore Panthers fan who spent, I don't know, twelve thousand bucks to fly from southern Florida to Edmonton. And you got it. Hey, Hickey, by the way, it's no direct flight, man.
That's not direct. You got to stop. You got to stop in either Denver, Colorado, I believe, or Toronto. And then you still got to go over to Edmonton. Is all of that worth it? Yes. To see your team win a championship. Absolutely. Oh, no. I think you can't put a price on in-person being there when your team wins a title, but let alone their first title.
Now you talk about scary. Look, it's bad enough for the players, right? I mean, look, they are probably flying private.
So, you know, how bad can you really feel for them? But in this scenario, like you said, imagine you're a Panthers fan. You spend that money. You spend that long on a flight.
You have to transfer. You're going to Edmonton and imagine they lose. And now Game 7 is back in Miami and you have to spend all that money and spend all that time in a flight to go back to where you started from. And there's a chance your team loses a cup overall, but you definitely at least are not going to see it in person.
That's brutal. If that happens, you just if you spend all that money and all that time to go to Edmonton, you just you just live. You just stay there. That's it.
Like, I don't know. I'm an Edmonton resident now. Yeah, I don't know how they do that up in Canada.
I don't know what they do for residency and things like that. Maybe you need a job. Maybe you don't want one. Maybe you can live off the grid.
I have no idea. But if you spend all that money to fly from southern Florida to go up to Edmonton and then they lose, just stay. Don't go back home. Just stay.
I'm looking at it right now. It's not too late, Hickey, OK? Anybody who wants to leave in southern Florida to fly up from Miami, you can get on a 925 flight eastern tonight. And you could get to Edmonton by 11 a.m. There are two hours behind the East Coast. You get there at 11 a.m. Fifteen and a half hours.
You stop in Toronto. Eleven hundred bucks. Twelve hundred bucks. Wow. And then to get in the building, I can only imagine what that's going to cost.
Oh, my. To get in? You want to know? Edmondson Oilers tickets. I would say at least three hundred dollars, bare minimum. Minimum. Dollars?
To be scraping the ceiling. American dollars. American dollars, which I don't know how it translates over to. What the hell? What do they got over there?
What am I looking at? Canadian dollar. They got their own dollar, Hickey. They do, right? Yeah. What's it called?
Do you know? Canadian dollar. Oh, that's it?
There's no. It's like I guess it is the euro. So what do you what do you want to call it? A moose? Like a moose dollar?
Moose dollar would be kind of cool. Here we go. What is this Friday? Friday. The game is Friday. Friday. Eight o'clock Eastern. Oh, OK.
I thought it was tomorrow. More time to buy your flights. One thousand dollars. No, no, no, no. I mean, look, if you're spending twelve hundred. Oh, my God. Wow. Flight, then what's a thousand dollars extra?
These are the worst seats. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Two thousand dollars.
Center ice at the top. Oh, my. I'm going to pass out from looking at this.
Oh, my God. Eight thousand dollars. Eight thousand dollars in a box. Four thousand dollars in a box. Two thousand dollars closer to the ice. OK, so this is going to cost you about three twenty five hundred. Twenty five to three thousand dollars.
That's not including food or lodging, transportation. You go up there and you live on the land. You get a cup from Tim Hortons and you beg.
It's that simple. Can I have some change? Can I have a bagel? What's that thing they eat up there?
Can I have some poutine? Oh, yeah. The dip, right? Yeah. Well, it's gravy.
It's like like French fries and gravy. Right. Thank you.
Thanks. I'll fill you up for a little bit, though. And I'm sure Canadians are nice. Give you free beer. I'm sure they give you free beer if you ask for it. Canadians are nice.
Canadian hospitality. Couple of Molsons. Well, what the real beer is that isn't that what they say about Molsons? Real beer, right?
Is that what the oh, really? Interesting. I don't know that commercial from a long time ago. I like Foster's Australian for beer. I know that one. I don't get Molsons commercial.
Maybe I'm I'm mixing it to Foster's Australian for beer. Yeah. Look, they did a great marketing job. You remember? That's true.
Never had one, but I do know the commercial. Listen, maybe we need to do an international taste test on beer. I'd be down for that. Wouldn't hate that at all. Oh, we take the show on the road. We could do the show in Australia. It would be six in the morning. Why not? Be early.
So what? We start the first international show Friday from Edmonton. Buck your flight. No, you're a little closer in Atlanta.
You got like a two hour head start. No, no. You know, Todd is here from Indiana. You're on the J.R. sport. We show us upside J.R. I heard this news report about this guy who plays a big enough bet for the Chiefs and the Celtics and the Oilers to win the three major league championships.
All right. Can you imagine the look on his face when the Oilers won last night just after the Celtics won? Well, he's still got a chance to win. I hope he I hope he doesn't win. I hope he takes a flight. I hope he I hope he if he really want to hedge his bets. I hope he takes a flight up to Edmonton.
And I hope they lose. All right. Thank you, Todd. And hey, I got one more thing for you. Please, quickly.
I know NBA duo Jam are the best. No, no, no, no, no. Todd, we're not doing that. The top six is in another 90 minutes. Call me back later.
It doesn't matter. You think you slick? You said Alonzo morning. Guess what?
Never talking to you again. It's the J.R. sport. We show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. We come back. We're going to show some love. Andrew Bagley is going to join us from the athletic. We're going to talk about the say, hey, kid. God bless his soul.
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I know this is not a fun plane ride from Miami, Florida to Edmonton. But last night, we know here on the air, we unfortunately had to announce the passing of one of the greatest ballplayers of all time in Willie Mays. Never good to have to share that news and report it here on the air, but to provide proper context for what this man meant to baseball, to the Bay, to New York, to society.
I think a lot of people are lost on how big of a figure he was at one point in time and then also talk about how he's going to be honored just for the rest of the season, including tomorrow out in Birmingham. We got a guest joining us right now. It's Andrew Baggerly joining us from the athletic covers everything Bay Area sports with these Giants. Andrew, thank you for taking the time. Yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Absolutely. We know it's been a tough couple of days for the Giants, especially as they were getting ready to honor the Negro Leagues as well as Willie tomorrow in Birmingham. Another loss today, not a great season for the Giants. What have the past 24 hours been like? Yeah, you know, he's 93 years old.
He's been in hospice for a while. You know, we knew that this day was going to come and probably come in the very near future, but it still was just a shock. You know, we all kind of learned about it, you know, just as the game was about to start here at Wrigley Field yesterday. You know, Bob Melvin, the Giants manager, found out just before the game wasn't even enough time to call any kind of team meeting. So players were just kind of finding out through the grapevine.
You know, Logan Webb, who's, you know, starting pitchers mind is totally locked into the game. He didn't find out until they announced it to the crowd here at Wrigley Field in the sixth inning. And he had to, you know, gesture to the umpire and say, look, I need you to turn the pitch clock off here because I need a second to, you know, just think about Willie and, you know, have a moment to feel some pride about, you know, the cap he's wearing, the jersey he's wearing, knowing that he's representing not only the Giants, but the team of Willie Mason. You know, it's, I think it's still shocking, even though he was 93 and we knew that this was going to come because, you know, this has been a year in the works to celebrate the Negro Leagues. At Rickwood, the Giants were were selected to take part in that game because they are the franchise of Willie Mays and Willie Mays played there, got his professional start.
There's a 17 year old with the Birmingham Black Barons. And and so, you know, this was going to be a celebration of Willie regardless. And now obviously it takes on a little more heft. And we knew he wasn't going to be there for the game. And I one of the things that someone from the organization said was, you know, now he can be he wasn't going to be there for the game.
And now in spirit, he will be. And I think a lot of people are really feeling very touched and very vulnerable by as they process their emotions, you know, with losing Willie Mays. Andrew Bagley is joining us from the athletic covers, the San Francisco Giants. He had I guess we can consider it fortune of having played for the Giants in both New York and then also San Francisco had to be embraced a little bit more by the fans before people said, hey, he's our guy. When it comes down to the city in the Bay Area, what did Willie Mays mean to the area?
You know, it's kind of complicated. And you you you hinted at it, you know, he was sort of seen as New York's guy when he came to San Francisco. And, you know, they had Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey shortly thereafter and Giants fans.
You know, you talk to people of that era of that time. They really latched onto those players as sort of their San Francisco Giants first. Plus, don't forget that that Joe DiMaggio was a San Francisco seal. And so, you know, they sort of identify with him as their center fielder, even though he was a Yankee. So and then, you know, it was not all, you know, roses for Willie Mays, even in San Francisco, which we know is a very progressive city now. Back then, you know, he was redlined and he couldn't buy a house in certain neighborhoods.
He had a bottle thrown through his house and had to move. And, you know, he was subject to as much of the ugliness of that time as anyone in his situation. And so, you know, he really is a figure that transcends baseball in a lot of ways. He's a figure that I think is he's a part of American history and he's a part of Bay Area sports history, of course. And, you know, if you look at him as a baseball player, you know, you think about his numbers as great as they were. They would have been even better if he didn't play a candlestick park, which was just a very inhospitable ballpark.
In fact, you know, I was kind of curious. So I looked it up and I wonder, what did he hit at Wrigley Field? Because we're getting this news here at Wrigley, which is one of two ballparks that are still major league parks where he played regular season games. You know, played an All-Star game in Fenway, played in a World Series in Oakland at the Coliseum.
But really, it's just Wrigley and Dodger Stadium are the only regular season parks left that are still in use. I thought, well, what did he hit at Wrigley? And Saturday, I'll tell you this, Saturday is the 73rd anniversary of his first game at Wrigley Field. He was a 20-year-old rookie hitting seventh, if you can imagine that, seventh in the Giants lineup for his first game.
And he hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning to give him a 9-6 victory. Even from the very get-go, Willie Mays was making an impact. Still, 54 home runs at Wrigley Field are the most by a visitor ever. And for that record to survive the steroid era and everything, that just tells you Willie was great all the time.
He was great when he was young, he was great when he was old, he was great in a clutch, he was great in a humdrum game in May. And you look back at that 1951 season when there was a 20-year-old Willie Mays who hit that homer in his first game at Wrigley. And that might have changed history because the Giants needed to win every one of those games that season to get into a playoff with the Dodgers. And that, of course, was the platform for Bobby Thompson's shot heard round the world. So Willie Mays just touched so much of baseball history and American history.
And I think it's just there's been so many wonderful tributes and things written to him and about him in the last 24 hours. And it's going to continue tomorrow and there probably won't be a dry eye there at Wrigley Field. Andrew Bagley is here with us from the Athletic. When you talk about the team, they haven't been all that well. Sitting at around 500 three games under right now, a big free agent acquisition, and Blake Snell is out.
I mean, outside of tomorrow, is there any lifting this team up, lifting its spirits in any type of way for the rest of the season? Yeah, they're just kind of another National League team in that sort of big pile of the standings here. They're doing some things well, not doing other things well. You know, one thing is they're not a dynamic team. This is not a Willie Mays team. They have the fewest stolen bases in the major leagues. You know, they botched a rundown play today that allowed the Cubs to score an extra run. And then Jorge Soler hits a grand slam that makes it a one-run loss.
So you look back at a mistake they made there that otherwise might have cost them the game. And, you know, they do have a lot to look forward to. Robbie Ray's rehab is coming along really well. They do feel like once Blake Snell gets back healthy, which may be in another couple of weeks, that he'll be the second half pitcher that he was last year. That's getting two guys back who've won Cy Young awards in the recent past.
And they really feel like they are sort of the team's best position to get a real boost and maybe put together a surge. Because right now, I mean, there's nobody that separated themselves in this National League wildcard chase. You've got the Braves and then you've got, you know, about four or five games down. You've got the Cardinals, Giants, and everybody else. I mean, everybody's only like two games out of a wildcard spot right now. So, you know, the Giants would like to have created a little more separation, played some better baseball, you know, gotten over.500 and won some more series and climbed from there. You know, sometimes that's how you get in the playoffs is you bank those wins early. And then, you know, if you hit turbulence in the second half, you can withstand it. But this is going to have to be a second-half team. I think they knew all along that they were probably had a better chance of being a successful second-half team.
And now they gosh darn better be because they haven't really been able to separate themselves. The good news is that nobody really has in the National League. And still early enough in the season.
Andrew, I want to thank you for taking the time to set some information and perspective on Willie Mays, the baseball player, as well as Willie Mays, the person. Man, I wish I was driving right down the road to Birmingham. I know it's going to be an amazing time.
I'm not a Giants fan, but I certainly will be rooting for them tomorrow out in Birmingham against the Cards. Where can people follow you in all of your work? Yeah, just at the Athletic, theathletics.com. You know, obviously, if you're a New York Times subscriber, subscribe to the Times bundle. Then you're able to access all of our work. And I still do it Twitter. I try not to post too much on there anymore, but I'm on ExtraBags, E-X-T-R-A-B-A-G-G-S. And yeah, I've covered the Giants for the last 21 years. I've known Willie just from seeing him in the clubhouse. I've never got my picture taken with him, never wanted to bother him. But I can tell you that he would cut it up with us sports writers as much as he would with anyone else. He loved knowing what our per diem was on the road. He loved knowing what rental cars we were driving. He'd make fun of us if he didn't think it was a fancy enough car. So I'm happy to say I have those personal memories of Willie.
I just wish that I'd been born earlier and could have watched him play. Hey, I'm in a sane boat. Well, thank you for sharing, Andrew. And hey, enjoy the game tomorrow, man.
This should be a good one, okay? Right. Appreciate it. Good talking with you.
Thank you so much. That Andrew Baggerly of The Athletic coming through and sharing some first-hand experiences and know-it-all. Well, know how, I guess, when it comes down to Willie Mays. Thank you, Andrew. I really appreciate that. And rest in peace to Willie Mays, as he said. You know, it's for me, as a black man, it's always interesting to hear about some of the black players and what they did when baseball was so much more popular, what they meant to America and how they persevered, especially in a lot of places where they were not wanted. It's quite admirable. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network, 855-212-4227.
That's 855-212-4227. We're going to take a break when we come back. Yeah, in an hour I'm going to give you a top six list.
Best duos in the NBA? Well, we're going to talk about Bronny James, Pascal Siakam, and a salary cap in the NFL for QBs? Don't move, it might happen. It's the J.R. Sportbree show. Don't move, it might happen. Don't move, it might happen.
