It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to super producer and host Ryan Hickey holding it down for us in New York City. And thank you to Connor.
Connor's helping out too. Yeah, they're in New York. I'm here in Georgia.
Technology's great. I'll be hanging out with you for the next three hours. One hour down and three more to go.
That's math. This show gets started every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Where have you been? We've talked about Devante Adams. It looks like he's going to be traded from the Raiders. It's just a matter of when. It's just a matter of where.
It's just a matter of the compensation. This story is already messy. It involves social media usage from the coach, a player who doesn't know what's going on.
It sounds like the Raiders. We talked about Von Miller. He is going to be gone. This man will be suspended for the next four games, violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. Don't put your hands on nobody, allegedly. Don't do it.
Keep your hands to your damn self. Anyway, we got so much more to get into. In about 20 minutes, we're going to be joined by former Major League Baseball All-Star Brett Boone. Brett Boone is going to come through and join us to talk about the start of the Major League Baseball playoffs, as well as the legacy and the legend that is Pete Rose. We know yesterday was a wild day. Pete Rose passing at 83 years old. We also learned earlier in the day that Dikembe Mutombo, he passed away due to brain cancer at 58.
Yesterday was a wild day. And so we're going to have Brett Boone joining us in about 20 minutes. And if you know anything about Brett Boone, he comes from a long, long family of Boons. And his dad, Bob, played with Pete Rose on the Phillies and they didn't just play. They won themselves a World Series. And so I'm looking forward to that conversation with Brett Boone. So don't go anywhere. If you've missed any of the show so far, you can go ahead and hit rewind on the free Odyssey app.
That's A U D A C Y. Thank you to everybody listening live on their local Infinity Sports Network affiliate. If you got yourself Sirius XM, it's 158.
And if you got a smart speaker, good for you. Ask the speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network. You know, we talked a lot of football between the Devante Adams trade, Von Miller suspension, the terrible suspension.
The reason why he got suspended is terrible. And later on in the show, we'll have a chat with Jared Dubin from CBS Sports. We'll talk some more NFL.
And it's a lot to get into a lot, a lot, a lot more football and what have you. But we got some Major League Baseball playoffs that are going on right now. First of all, congratulations to the Tigers of all teams, because the Tigers won their first playoff game since 2013. The Tigers defeated the Astros down in Houston, three to one. If you are a Tigers fan, this is not something that you are used to.
Not a bit. You got some expectations from the Lions here. You got the Tigers in the postseason. Tarek Scubel went out there and pitched six innings and struck out six. They win three, two, one.
Good for them. Any day that the Astros lose is a good day. Now, having said that, we have additional games that are going on right now this second. New York Mets and the Brewers, they're tied at four all. It's the top of the fifth. You got to wait for the Padres and the Braves later on tonight.
There is no Chris Sale. You will not see him here in this wild card round. And then the Royals, they beat the Orioles one to nothing, blank them one to nothing. And so in this round, best two out of three before we move on to three out of five. And so looking forward to seeing what the rest of the playoffs look like here right now. Matter of fact, to show some love to the Tigers.
This is something that they haven't done since 2013. Let's take a listen to the final call from the Tigers radio network. Risky sets the 2-2 line drive. Caught by Spencer Torkelson at first.
Oh, man. A little higher. It's into the corner, but Spencer Torkelson grabs it, pumps his fist, and the Tigers take game one in Houston. That's exciting for them, right? Tigers have lost five straight playoff games. There's a second longest streak in Tigers history. Good for them. Congratulations. Anyway, I got to mention this because we're going to have plenty of time to talk about the teams that are playing right now, the teams that will advance, the teams that end up in the division around the teams that want to buy the Yankees, the Dodgers.
We got time for all of that. We got one guy whose team did not make the postseason. He is complaining his ass off.
We got one guy representative of a team. He's the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks whining and crying about his own squad. He's blaming himself. He's blaming baseball. And he just I'm like, man, this is not how the world works. I guess when you got a lot of money, you just got to find somebody else to blame.
Most of the time, you can never just take full responsibility. I'm talking to you about Ken Kendrick, because we learned this scenario yesterday in the National League. You had the New York Mets and you had the Atlanta Braves, both the Braves and the Mets would have an opportunity to get into the postseason if they split the series. Now, somehow one or the other would have swept, then the winner obviously would have advanced and the Diamondbacks would have gotten in. And so even on social media, the Arizona Diamondbacks were rooting after the New York Mets won the first game, cemented their spot in the postseason. The Diamondbacks, even as an organization, were openly rooting for the Mets to kick out the Braves, allowing the Diamondbacks to get into the postseason.
Well, that didn't happen. The Diamondbacks on the outside looking in and they finished third in a stacked National League West. They had a record of eighty nine and seventy three behind the Padres, behind the Padres, behind the Dodgers.
Yes, that's difficult to meet. And the Diamondbacks, they had the most runs, most runs scored in Major League Baseball this year with eight hundred and eighty six. And they still didn't make the postseason. And their owner, Ken Kendrick, he was on ninety eight point seven Arizona. Nice place. I've been there. Hello, guys.
Ken Kendrick. He actually sat on a radio and he wasn't happy with how baseball schedule the Mets and Braves. Listen to this man complain. You know, I was ill advised. I'm disappointed that MLB did not take a more aggressive posture to insist on those games being played earlier.
One, you know, you can say, oh, well hindsight. No, I had early on those teams didn't have a game scheduled last Monday. You know, they they played they were to play three games, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They played the game on Tuesday. They could have played either two games on last Monday or two games on last Tuesday and then not been involved in the middle of getting canceled and scheduling games that played after the season.
That decision would have changed how the week would have unfolded for a lot of teams, whether it's us playing or them playing. I'm disappointed that Major League Baseball didn't take a more active role in making sure that we didn't have what occurred today. All right. All right. Whatever. He's disappointed.
He's not blaming them, but he's disappointed. Well, don't even bother talking about that, man. Just complain about yourself, complain about your team, complain about what y'all did, complain about your pitching that sucked and that was hurt and wasn't available. Like just leave it there. Like Major League Baseball didn't go out and play 162 games.
Hey, how about this? The Diamondbacks, you want to know what happened at the end of the year? They lost five or seven games.
Did Major League Baseball do that with scheduling? How about, you know, two weeks ago, almost two weeks ago, these hours on the Diamondbacks, they took on the Brewers. They had an 8-0 lead and they blew it. Come on.
They ended up losing, I think, like 10 to 9. Is that Major League Baseball's fault when it comes to the scheduling? Put the excuses away. He didn't blame Major League Baseball for keeping the Diamondbacks out, but he was disappointing in the scheduling because it would help them out. Well, tell your team to help itself out.
Tell them to win some games. This is a team that was hot after the All-Star break and then they cratered to end the year. Are you more disappointed in the stupid scheduling of the Mets and the Braves? Are you more disappointed in your own team?
Like, what are we doing here? Like, don't even bring it up. It shouldn't even be a topic of conversation. Well, are you sad? Hey, Ken, are you sad that they they scheduled the game and it had an impact on whether the Diamondbacks got in? That doesn't have anything to do with us.
We had a chance to win and we blew it. We didn't do it. There's nobody else to blame. Blame me.
Leave it there. Everybody else, everybody is always like, everybody else, everybody is always looking for a scapegoat, somebody else to blame. Blame yourself.
And you know what? I do have to give him credit just a little bit because he did take full responsibility in the disaster this past season for the Diamondbacks. That was Jordan Montgomery. This is the same man who helped the Rangers win a World Series last year. By the way, the Rangers also are not in the postseason this year. Jordan Montgomery signed late and then he fired Scott Boris.
Must be glorious. Jordan Montgomery has an ERA of 6.2 for this season. He had 21 starts before they said, no, that's OK. Sit your ass down. We don't need you. What are you going to do? We're going to put you on the mound for you to give up six runs?
What is this about? They gave this man $25 million to show up and pitch. He has an option for about $20 million next year. You want to know, I guess Ken Kendrick doesn't want him to pitch for the Diamondbacks. I guess he wants to run him out of town because he basically said he sucked today on the radio. This is what he also told 98.7. At least he took responsibility for this one.
Let me say it the best way I can say it. If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you're talking to the guy that should be blamed because I brought it to their attention. I pushed for it. They agreed to it. It wasn't in our game plan. You know, when he was signed right at the end of spring training and looking back in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did.
It's our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I'm the perpetrator of that. OK. You could have just just taken all the blame, man, and left it there. Picky, is this destroy your own players day? Is that what this is? I guess so, man.
You got to ramp it across sports. Yes. Something going on in the desert or something like that.
Las Vegas. You got Antonio Pierce liking posts about Devante Adams, you know, playing his last game as a raider. Oh, I like this. Let me tap. Yes, I like it.
Give it a heart. And here you have the owner of the Diamondback saying, yeah, that guy who sucked this year. Yeah, I'm the one who wanted to sign him. And if you're Jordan, if you're Jordan Montgomery, you're just walking through your house, you know, and the season is over, getting ready to opt into your 20 million dollars, trying to collect your check and pay for next year, trying to fix yourself, get ready. And your phone starts blowing up and it's just like the owner says you suck and you can blame him.
What are you doing if you're Jordan Montgomery? Well, he said you had an option. Do you now opt in for spite?
You thought it was a mistake. Screw you. I'm coming back next year. Yeah. What what do you do? Like, yeah, I'm opting in.
Come on now. Does he is he going to have options? What options is he going to get after the crappier six to era?
Not many, not many. You got to take that money. Like the owners probably saying he sucks to probably give him the boot. Maybe if I diss him enough over the next bunch of days, he'll just leave. Man, I'm taking that money.
And if you want to demote me, then so what are they going to do? Pay him 20 million dollars to sit in the minors? I got to play him, right? You're right. My chance got to give him a chance.
Otherwise, you look like the jackass, man. Did he what is it? And sure, what's a drink that makes let me see, there's an 83 year old billionaire.
Let me see. I don't know what makes that other one happy. Jerry Jones, what could possibly make Ken Kendrick happy?
Oh, another billion. I don't know. The Diamondbacks winning more games.
I appreciate his passion. I'm thinking about like something cough, but he's blaming every. Why are you blaming baseball? Why are you blaming baseball?
The team fell apart at the end of the year. Is that not more important than the stupid scheduling for the Mets and Braves? Come on. And it's easy.
I guess maybe that's part of the reason why he's a billionaire, right? It's everyone else's fault. It's not my fault. It's your fault and your fault and your fault. And you're the reason why you're taking me down.
Not me. Not my doing man in sports. We got to blame.
Hey, I lost the game. Who am I going to blame the referees? What about the other 60 or 59 minutes?
What about the other 59 minutes? Got to blame the ref. Got to blame the coach. You know, just everybody's to blame first.
Except for you. Come on now, do better than that. Learn. Hey, Ken Kendrick, that's not pointing a finger.
Don't point it halfway at baseball and pointed halfway. Don't do any of that. Just say it was me, it was us and we can do better. As simple as that. Everybody looking to point the finger, point the finger at yourself.
Do that. It's the JR sport re-show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, it's time to have a conversation with someone who played many years in Major League Baseball. He's a former All-Star. He is a Mariners legend.
His family name is family name goes long throughout the history of baseball. We're going to have a conversation with Brett Boone on the other side of the break. We're going to talk about the Major League Baseball playoffs.
We'll get into his relationship with Pete Rose, the relationship his dad had with Pete Rose and whether or not he thinks he is ultimately going to go into the Hall of Fame. Brett Boone is going to join us on the other side. You're locked in. It's the JR sport re-show coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR sport brief. It is the JR sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. The Major League Baseball playoffs are underway. We've got a couple of games that are already in the books. And now to talk about what we have seen today, what continues to go on.
And then some of the news that we got yesterday involving the passing of one of baseball's greatest players, Pete Rose, joining us right now is an Odyssey insider. All things Major League Baseball is Brett Boone. Insider calls are presented by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
You can call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Not only is this man a multiple time All-Star slick with the glove, Brett is also the host of the Brett Boone podcast featuring the most notable names in Major League Baseball and everywhere around sports. Brett, how are you? How you doing? I'm good.
I know it's been a difficult 24 hours. I really appreciate the time. You got it.
You got it. And I understand and I know and I've shared this with the audience for anyone who is not familiar. We all know about your family lineage when it comes down to Major League Baseball and also your dad having played and been on those Phillies that won a World Series with Pete Rose and actually won in 81. Tell us about that experience growing up as a kid and being in the presence of Pete Rose and and even being around the clubhouse, his house.
Fill us in. Yeah, it was, you know, that's that was my relationship with Pete. I had him on my podcast a couple months ago. The last time I talked to him, we had a chance to catch up. But our relationship was, you know, when I was a little kid running around the clubhouse with a snotty nose kid that had his Philly uniform on, just wanted to shag and be around the guys.
But, you know, those Phillies teams in the 70s and early 80s, when Pete came home from the Big Red Machine, he was just he brought a he brought a presence that I think that Philly team and they had some great teams back then and finally got him over the hump and they won that World Series in 1980. But I just remember, you know, I was friendly with his son, Pete Junior, who is we're similar ages. So we'd be at the ballpark every day, you know, we could and running around and I, you know, I had a relationship with Pete, but I had a relationship with all the players.
Back then it was, that's what I did. I went to the ballpark with my dad, just like other kids go to work with their dad. Mine just happened to be Veterans Stadium. And Pete was different. You know, there's two guys that you run into your journey and my journey through this life of baseball, is that you kind of step back and go, they broke the mold when they made that man. There's been a couple guys in my life, the Lou Piniella being one, Pete being another one.
There'll never be another guy like him. It's just, he loved baseball more than life itself. Everything was baseball with Pete. It wasn't about getting three hits, it was about getting five hits if you had three.
I've never seen somebody that aggressive, you know. Most of us, when we go three for four, maybe hit a two-run home or win the game, we're fine with going three for four, not Pete. He had to be four for four.
If he was four for four, he had to be five for five. That's just the way he was. He, you know, and just talking, I was a kid at the time, but talking to the players now as an adult, as peers, especially my dad, he said what a big difference he made when he came over there, just changing the complexity of the clubhouse and bringing that. You know, he had won a couple World Series big red machine. They said he turned Mike Schmidt from an MVP to the best player in baseball, just having his presence there. So I have nothing but fond memories of Pete. He was a character of all characters. I used to stay at his house. You know, we'd have sleepovers and he was just a lot of fun. He was a big kid and, you know, I know sometimes, you know, off the field since then, he hasn't made the best choices, but as far as a player between the lines, when it comes down to it, all the people I've run into, my teammates, my peers, ex-players, players I grew up watching, if you just want, what embodies the game of baseball, once the national anthem ends and we get between the lines, I think Pete Rose is the epitome of how you should play the game at the big red level.
Mariner's legend Brett Boone is joining us here on the JR Sportbreeze show Coast to Coast. 24 years, 17 all-star games, three-time World Series champ. He's the hits king. We saw what he did in between the lines and you referenced some of his actions outside of that, but forget that for a minute. What doesn't the public know or understand about the man, Pete Rose?
What didn't we see? Well, he was a kind man. He was a off-the-cuff.
I mean, he had a joke for you. It didn't matter if it was five in the morning, didn't matter if it was one in the morning after a game. He was always, I never saw Pete in a bad mood. He always would go out of his way to, and at the time, you got to realize Pete Rose in the 70s. I mean, he was as big a figure as there was back then. This is way before internet, so there were just certain superstars from each sport that transcended the game and Pete was one of those.
And I was out in public with him all the time and he would interact. I mean, if he took us miniature golf as kids and there was a batting KJ, I don't care if it's the fourth game of the World Series that night and there's kids around and they want to see Pete hit, he'd jump in the cage and hit and kind of show him something and then have some quip and move on. But that's just the type of guy he was.
He engaged everybody. He loved life and he liked to gamble, obviously. And he had his niches that he liked to go to, but the guy I saw, he was the fun dad. You know when you were a kid and you went down the street and go, we're going to go to the fun dad's house. That was Pete. Pete was cool.
You could push the envelope with him. I mean, if you went over the top of the young kid and you weren't doing something you're supposed to do, he'd shut you down. But for the most part, he was just like a big kid hanging out with you. So I have nothing but great memories. I have one story that kind of sums up. And my dad tells the story.
My dad being the polar opposite, he's the valedictorian, you know, straight arrow guy is my dad. And he said he went up to Pete. It was 1979 and he just got traded over.
And they said he was going through a real messy divorce with his first wife, Carolyn, who's Pete Junior's mom. And it was headlines in Philadelphia, you know, every day in the sports page. And the Phillies were in a pennant.
They were in a pennant race. And Pete was having a great year. And my dad said, I couldn't believe that with everything, every question, every day, everybody was about Pete's divorce and his personal life. And he said he just went up to him casually and eradicated. He said, hey, Pete, how do you do it?
What are you talking about? And he called him Bobby. He goes, what are you talking about, Bobby? He said, probably the only guy I know besides my mom, my dad's mother, my grandmother is the only other person I knew that called my dad Bobby. He said, Bobby, I'll tell you what. He goes, well, no, back to my dad's story. He says, Pete, how are you doing with everything going on?
Like, how can you handle it? And he said, Bobby, I'll tell you what, it's a hell of a lot easier to go through for than over for. And he just kind of said it jumped in the cage and went on with his dad. That was Pete Rose.
Everything. He had the uncanny ability when he entered that locker room. It was all baseball until the time he left.
And then we'll get ready to do it again tomorrow. But I have nothing but great memories of him as a huge part of my childhood. And like I said, you talk about how do you play the game correctly? No, look no further than Pete Rose. Multiple time All-Star and Gold Glove winner. Brett Boone is joining us here on the JR Sport Reshow.
You mentioned the gambling. We know that's what's kept him out of full recognition in Cooperstown. Do you think, and he said this is probably not going to happen, unfortunately, until he's gone. Do you think he'll ultimately get in now?
Well, I here's here's what I think. You've got to get down a couple of barriers, because as of right now, what's in place is he's banned from the game of baseball. So even if, say, a veterans committee wanted to induct Pete because he's not allowed on the ballot. So I think there has to be several steps taken to get him off that ban list to even come up for a vote. What I hear around baseball in the baseball world from players, ex-players, people in the organization, it's about a 60-40-70-30 split, I'm hearing, and 60 and 70 percent being to the affirmative, that they think it's time for Pete to be back in.
I think eventually one day it will happen. The sad thing for me, and I mentioned a couple months ago, I had him on my show. The one thing that I really heard from him when he was talking to me was he said, you know what, Brett? He said, the sad part is I've kind of gotten over that I'm not going to go into the Hall of Fame.
I had hope for a long time. He said, but what good does it do if I'm buried and gone? And he said that the whole reason for the Hall of Fame was for my family, and the loved ones, and the people that love me, and the people I love to be around me, and partake in getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.
If I'm dead and gone, is it really worth it? And it was kind of a weird, because I don't see Pete too much in that sentimental or somber mode. He's always funny, and never a negative word. And that was kind of the human side of, you know, he's getting older. He's 83 when he passed away. And he just had that for the first time in my life. You know, I've never seen Pete like that. There was kind of a sadness in his eyes, like, you know, kind of a realization, like, I don't think it's going to happen, at least while I have time left on this earth.
And that was kind of a sad moment, because I'd never seen that side of Pete. But I think that's what he, I think he was very remorseful. I think as we all move on from our career, from young kids to our heyday, when our egos are a bit out there, but then life takes over, and you retire, and you go, and the older you get, and the wiser you get. It seems, life seems to humble you a little bit. I think life has really humbled Pete. And I think he's genuinely, when he looks back on his life, he's genuinely remorseful of the decisions he's made. But he also said, hey, I can't do anything about it now. I've come clean with everybody.
I've got a clean conscience. I wish I'd go back and change it. But it was just sad when I heard him talking about, you know, I don't think I'm going to be here if I ever am put in a hall of fame to enjoy it with people that I care about. MLB insider, former All-Star Brett Boone is joining us here on the JR Sport Brief Show. But thank you for sharing so much on Pete Rose and your experiences and conversations.
And what may happen, I think ultimately, I don't know if it's five years, 10 years, 15 years, what have you, I ultimately think he's going to get in. When you take a look at the game today and how it's changed, we know that they've changed so many rules and implemented pitch clocks and ghost runners. Thank God they're not here in the postseason. What are your thoughts on the current format of let's get 12 in and then we had a whole disaster kind of sort of yesterday with the Braves and the Mets? What are your thoughts on the current format? The current format of the postseason?
Yes. Well, the current format, I'll tell you, as a player, I hate it because it doesn't reward you for that 162-day grind. I think that's what really needs to be rewarded because those are the true great teams every year, the teams that are standing at the top of the mountain on 162 or over.
So as a player, I don't like it. I think it waters down past generations and postseason accolades. Now, anybody can get to the postseason.
It's as easy as it's ever been. I hate the three-game series to start. I think you play a full season, you earn a right in the postseason. And per case and point, a guy like Scubel pitching for the Detroit Tigers can have you one game away from elimination in a 24-hour period. I don't think that's right.
But the problem is, where do you squeeze in that series of five to start? That's something for me with baseball to check out going forward. Now, that's the baseball player. Now, I take the baseball player hat on and I put the analyst, I put the fan hat on.
I'll tell you what, I love it. I think there's so much excitement. I think it's great for the game of baseball down the stretch, having so many spots in the postseason, 12 now more than there's ever been, because you get cities and gates longer. When in years past, at the All-Star break in Pittsburgh, they'd be talking about the Steelers already.
Well, now you have a chance all the way into September. People are still talking about there's a chance in one of those wildcard spots. So I think for the game, for the good of the game, for more eyeballs coming to the game of baseball, I think it's a great format. I think they've gone the way of the NFL, the NBA. And that's just the way it is in 2024. It's not 1990 anymore.
It's not 1985 anymore. And we have to move on with the times. Everybody wants it now.
Everybody wants fast, exciting. As a fan, I love these games because they're unpredictable. I look at the games today, it's like Casey and the Orioles. Orioles had a great run to get in, but I don't think they have any business beating Burns that goes nine innings today. They beat them one nothing. They're one game away from moving on. Detroit beats the mighty Houston Astros.
Who thought that was going to happen? They're one game away. And now you have the Mets that are fighting and clawing to get in.
Everybody had them written off and June is dead and buried. They're about to beat the Brewers in game one and be in one game away from going on to the next round. So I think the excitement's at an all-time high. I think the predictability of what's going to happen is the toughest it's ever been.
I can tell you what should happen on paper, but as I've found out since I've been doing this the last three or four years, I've got no clue. I just look when the game is in and I say, how does that happen? That's the way the game is now. So I really like the excitement of it, the changes they've made.
And history will decide on if this was the right choice. But for me, the fan now that loves baseball, I love the unknown and nobody knows what's going to happen. It's a lot of excitement and a lot more cities involved. Absolutely, Brett Boone is joining us here on the JR Sport Breeze Show Coast to Coast. I mean, the two teams that were representative of the AL and the NL are not even in the postseason this year. In the Diamondbacks and then also the Rangers. Is there a team that you'd look at this year and say, I think they have what it takes or has nobody got that hot yet? After that whole spiel. I'm saying, I'm saying, Brett, come on.
I'll tell you my thoughts. My thoughts are Atlanta sneaking in at the last minute. They're always dangerous with that pitching staff, but I don't know. I think they would have had a bigger streak coming down the stretch.
The L.A. Dodgers or the L.A. Dodgers. When you got a T. Oscar Hernandez, who's having an MVP season, he's probably fifth best player on the team. Your offense is pretty darn good. The pitching, I question it. You got Flaherty at the top of that rotation.
It's not the glass now they expected to have. It's not the Walker Bueller of two years ago, that dominant front end, frontline starter. He's not Walker Bueller. Yamamoto, how's he going to be?
You got young kids, Knack. Stone is hurt. He's not coming back. So I think L.A. is going to be really challenged from a starting pitching. The most complete team, I think, in the National League, and it's close, but I'm going to go with the San Diego Padres. San Diego Padres, top to bottom, some kind of aura they got going on. Team chemistry, it's very noticeable.
I live in San Diego. I keep a close eye on those guys, and the additions they made at the trade deadline to really bolster that bullpen. I think they got the best bullpen in game in the game, with the exception maybe of the Cleveland Indians, who have Classe at the end of that end of the game for them.
I think San Diego Padres have the best bullpen. I think offensive, they've got something special. They genuinely are pulling for one another.
They have that chemistry that's real that you can't fabricate. It just happens. I see that with the Padres. The only team to look out for is the Phillies.
They're complete top to bottom. I question the bullpen a little bit, but that's a grizzled team. They got a huge home field advantage in Philly. But for me, I'm going to go San Diego Padres in the National League, and if I got to pick the American League, man, Cleveland's scary with that bullpen. As of today, before the games were played, I would have picked the Houston Astros. But now them being one down, I got to go with the Yankees. Yankees are just, they're ready. If the next series is Detroit and Kansas City coming up, I think the Yankees handle that. Yankees have questions as well with their defense, with the home situation in the bullpen. Nestor Cortez not being in the series, probably.
They've got a lot of question marks for that. But I think top to bottom, I think Yankees have more than the rest of the American League, maybe Cleveland an exception. Right now, okay, if you had to talk to me two hours ago, I'd have picked the Houston Astros. But now that I've got the, I'm looking, I know that they've got a loss under the belt, I'm going to go with the Yankees. So I'm gonna go Padres, Yankees.
Okay. I mean, well, Brent, I know, you know, the last time we had that World Series, it didn't work out for them Padres. It didn't work out for the Padres. And you know what? Probably after all that, wasting all that breath going over all those stats, I'll probably be dead wrong.
And those two will get eliminated the first time they play. Hey, this is, hey, this is the new world of Major League Baseball. Brett, final question for you. We see that the average time on the games is down. The batting averages continue to fall. And you know, we have this conversation and offices and barbershops and all over the place.
Is the pitching that damn good or the hitters just not have not caught up? Well, like, why are we here? No, because I, you know, I have this conversation with my brother all the time. And I simplify it for him. Because, you know, I know he's the manager of the Yankees now, but I'm the older brother, and I'm always a little bit wiser than him. And he knows it. But it comes down to this. I said, Aaron, at the end of the day, in 1950, when my grandfather was playing, it was the best hitters against the best pitchers.
My dad played same thing. When I played, you know, early 2000s, the best pitchers in the world against the best hitters. That's changed.
Best pitchers in the world against best hitters in the world. The culture has changed. The approach has changed. The thought process has changed with all the data and the analytics. And I think they're good in a lot of circumstances, but you can't overdo it.
And I think what we've gotten away from is what's important. These guys are being paid now for OPS. They're being paid for hitting home runs and getting on base.
They're not being paid for average. In my day, it was, how many would you hit? How many homers you hit?
How many did you drive in? That's what I got paid on. And I played my game accordingly. Today, they don't care about average. They don't, because that's not what brings them the dollars. It's all about OPS. I think it's a detriment to the game. I think the game isn't played correctly. I don't see people moving runners. The runner on third, less than two outs.
I used to use, I used to lose sleep when I didn't get that runner in third. Today, it seems not like a big deal. The strikeout is just not a big deal. It's throw as hard as you can for as short a time as you can and give it to the next guy.
You get to see a lot of guys blowing out. No, I think there's a lot of negative things in the game that I'd like to see change. I think the pitch clock, shortening the games, I think that's been great. And all that did is bring us back to where the game used to be. They used to play games in two hours and 45 minutes. We got away from it.
And my generation is partially to blame. We took our time. This was just getting them back on the right track. I think with the two disengagements, you're seeing people steal bases more. Now, I think you're going to have to reel that rule in a little bit because now you got the real base runners.
They're starting to steal bases again. So you got to even the playing field for the pitcher and the catcher. I think those are good things that have been implemented, but I'd love to see them get back to the basics of the game, playing the game right. You'd be amazed when you play the game correctly, how that just goes down to the next guy and the next guy, all the way down to the 26 man on the roster. And now you've got a real team pulling on the same end. I don't see that in today's game too often.
And when I do see it, I think it's a really good formula to win a World Series, but you just don't see it that often until they start getting back to the basics. I think this is the game that it is right now. And like I said, it's not my game anymore. It's their game.
History will judge each and one of our generations. So I don't want to be that old man on the couch yelling, it's better when I play, because I still love this game. It's all I've ever known and it's been a huge part of my life.
So I still love the modern game. Yeah, I wouldn't do some of the things they do, but it's not my time. It's their time. And one day they'll be sitting here my age, looking at their kids going, I don't like the way you guys play the game.
That's just the way it is. I remember those conversations with my grandfather before he passed and he'd come to me and say, Brett, what about tonight? Now that Randy Johnson, he's not that good. He's Bob Feltler. And I said, Gramps, Randy Johnson's pretty good.
And he's like, he ain't nothing compared to Feller. That was just Gramps being Gramps. That's what makes this game great, because it's generational. And you can have conversations like that with your dad, with your grandpa, with your son.
I got a son playing in the minor leagues right now. It's a different world for him. And he has questions for me and I can give him what I can give him, but you know what's cool about it?
He gives me stuff from his generation to dad. What do you think about this? And I said, that's a great point. I wish I would have had that at my disposal when I was, when I was your age coming up in the game. So there is good things to learn. I think what we can do as a culture is learn from these current players because they've got stuff to give, but also current players learn from the ex-players.
That's the best combination. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief, the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank you.
Thank you all so much. Brett Boone joining us in the last break. He's an MLB Insider here with us at Odyssey. Insider calls are presented by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
You can call click grainger.com or just stop by. If you missed that conversation with Brett Boone, go ahead and hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. Great personal stories that Brett just shared that involve Pete Rose. He gave his thoughts on the current post season, who he thinks is going to come out on top. Talked about some of the changes in the game, gave some insights into some of the conversations he would have with his dad in regards to the game. You know, staying at Pete Rose's house, talked about some of the conversations he has with his brother right now, Aaron, who is managing the New York Yankees.
The Yankees are waiting to see who they're going to face later on this week as this first round of the postseason continues on. So thank you again to Brett Boone for coming through to join us and make sure you go ahead and check out his podcast, The Brett Boone Show. That's that's a lot of lineage. Got a brother played the game. A daddy played the game.
Grandfather played the game. Hickey, are you a boon? You're not a boon, are you right? You're a hickey? Oh, no. He saw my swing.
He would. No, I'm not a boon. Not a me neither. I'm definitely not a boon.
I suck, too. Anyway, it's the J.R. Sportbreeze Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about someone who has football in his blood. And I think he's itching to take somebody's job. Bill Belichick looks like he's plotting. I will explain on the other side. It's the J.R. Sportbreeze Show, the Infinity Sports Network.
