Cam to the Patriots

What's up? Welcome back into The Drive. Darren Vaught in for Josh Graham today. And as we welcome our first guest of the evening, Joe Person of The Athletic, a reminder in about 45 minutes, we'll be joined by Hall of Famer Rod Carew to talk some baseball, talk about his life, his new memoir, One Talk.

And then Brian Geisinger of ACCSports.com will drop in in the five o'clock hour, but we let it off with Cam Newton to the Patriots. We're going to continue to talk about that now with our friend Joe Person of The Athletic. Joe, I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever, man. How are you?

I'm doing good, man. And if you would, just kind of as a kind of a guest question, please ask Hall of Famer Rod Carew about being in Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song. We talked about it before we went to break.

I'm going to leave no stone unturned about the Hanukkah song, Joe. Trust me. Very good. That's journal, hashtag journal. Well, Joe, obviously the news coming into this week for our listeners in North Carolina and the Triad and beyond is Cam Newton signing with the Patriots. Best we know, it's by reports, a one year deal that's going to be widely incentive laden. What do you make of it? Was this sort of an inevitability? Because the Patriots were, as reports say, also mainly the only team that had significant interest. You know what, I think we probably should have seen this all along.

I did a couple stories over the last couple months leading up to this and one of them I kind of polled our other athletic writers in cities where I thought Cam could be a fit and our Boston guy said, you know, I don't think so. Right now they're not showing a ton of interest. Well, guess what changed? Just what you talked about, Darren. The price dropped and the Patriots didn't have a lot of money under the cap.

You can always create some with restructures and stuff. But, you know, they were able to sit back. According to Schefter, the Browns kicked the tires on Cam and then that was about it. So they really are getting kind of a bargain basement type of deal here. I mean, they're getting a former MVP, a game played in Super Bowl 50 and had just about every rushing record you can think of in terms of NFL quarterbacks and they're getting them for like the league minimum plus incentive. So, you know, that's what changed and I think probably Belichick, the evil genius, probably all through the draft and this whole virtual offseason was telling people, yes, Jared Stidham's our man and had to kind of been looking at his rosters. If we want to keep this championship window open, Jared Stidham can't be the man necessarily right away. Now, I do think, I like Jared Stidham and I think down the road he'd be a good player, but Cam Newton's better than Jared Stidham, a lot better right now. Yeah, and that leads to my next question. Assuming he's healthy and Cam is, you know, he doesn't have to be physically what he was in 2015, but if he's something closer to that, do you think he's the guaranteed starter from day one in New England?

For sure. Yeah, I mean, Cam could have waited to see if someone got hurt somewhere, you know, because that would have happened, right? If they see them, then there are going to be quarterbacks that get injured.

And the problem with that is twofold. You don't really get to pick your team. You're going to potentially the Bengals or whomever, you know, Bengals are a bad example, but Jacksonville, somebody that's not of your choosing and oh, by the way, you get to go try to learn the offense in four days. So this way he goes to the team that has become kind of surpassed the old 80s, 49ers teams as the prototypical team of dominance in our lifetime in the NFL.

And he gets to go, gets to more than likely, as you said, you know, the caveat being his health, but, you know, he will start and he gets to prove himself. And, you know, hopefully if, you know, if you're Cam Newton, you get put, you put yourself in a position to make a whole bunch, a lot more money next spring. Joe Person of the Athletic is with us. Joe, I want to plug one of your stories because you put it out, I think today on the site, you spoke to a lot of former Cam Newton teammates and asked them about his signing with New England, his, the fit, where they think he is mentally and physically both. Just to give the listeners a taste of that, what in particular stood out from the consensus of all of their opinions about Cam?

Yeah, I appreciate you asking. Here's the thing, most of them thought that it would be a good fit because Cam's sort of humble, Cam's hungry and, you know, that he might not be going up there as brash, as flamboyant as he might typically. Roman Harper, though, he did offer one caveat that I found kind of interesting. He said, you know, the one thing about this is I'm interested to see how Belichick reacts. Harper said he has a friend he used to play for the Patriots and told him that Belichick is not the kind of guy that's just like building you up all for him.

We know this, but interesting to hear it from someone behind the scenes. Like, he's not patting you on the back. I mean, if anything, he's kind of tearing you down in film study.

And Harper's suggestion was like, that didn't go on here. You know, Cam, we've heard talk and there's been critics that say the Panthers coddled Cam from time to time, and that won't be the case in New England. So it'll be interesting how he does with some tough love, so to speak. And, you know, you can't help but wonder like how Belichick's going to handle all that exuberance when he's such a steadfast, stodgy type dude. But, you know, they kind of need each other. And so it really has become, in an off-season full of fascinating storylines, certainly Tom Brady and Tampa, this is right there beneath it, 1 and 1A, if you will. And in terms of the AFC East, I think that the Buffalo-New England matchups just became captivating theater because of all the Panther ties in Buffalo, starting with Sean McDermott, who went against Cam, whose defenses went against Cam at Walker to train at Camp Everett.

Yeah, no, that's a great point. Joe Person of the Athletic is with us. And if I can, I'm going to get you to elaborate on and maybe editorialize yourself. You talked to Cam's former teammates. But, you know, I want to know what you think of that marriage, Bill Belichick and Cam Newton, because like you said, Belichick and the Patriots as an organization like things a certain way, such as limited media availability. But we just saw, even today, Cam Newton's got a new vlog out per his own people. And these are both guys, as you said, need each other. I think they both, to whatever degree, have something to prove. So, yeah, anything else that you have, just from your observations, Joe, about the Bill Belichick-Cam Newton marriage? Well, like I say, Cam has been humbled through this process.

I mean, you can't help but be. I mean, he sat on the sidelines, albeit with, you know, during this COVID deal where teams couldn't get doctors to go see him in Atlanta because no NFL teams were traveling. But he still sat idle for three months.

Ninety-six days, I think it was. And now we come to find out, I don't even know that COVID was really the issue. It's just teams think he's broken down and he's old, and they were looking for younger, more efficient players. And so he's going to settle up a new angle with a huge chip on his shoulder, maybe like we haven't seen since he broke into this league, you know, on the heels of people and media folks lobbying Marty Hurney to draft Blaine Gabbard instead of Cam Newton, number one overall in 2011. But Cam didn't forget that.

He always would remind folks of things like that. And I think an only key is going to have, as I said, a big-time chip on his shoulder when he gets to Foxboro. And same thing with Belichick. You know, it's like, oh, well, you know, he's going to be able to win without Brady.

Well, we're going to find out. And as I said, I don't think he's able and willing to rule this first year rolling to post Brady with Jarrett Stidham under center. And so it's sort of certainly an odd couple, but maybe a necessary marriage also. Joe Person of The Athletic is with us. He's at Joseph Person on Twitter. Joe, one last thing for you before I let you go, and I'll tell Rod Carew you said hi a bit later. We've seen Steve Smith make up with the organization, the Panthers, in recent years after being let walk unceremoniously. Give it a handful of years, however long it might be.

Will it be easy for the Panthers to bring Cam back for induction into the Hall of Honor? Watching that vlog that you referenced, Cam went out of his way to say, first of all, he said, look, the only reason I asked for a K is because they were going to cut me. And so this was never anything I wanted. But then he said, you're not going to get a bunch of sour grapes from me. And I think, you know, honestly, I think it was a reference to someone like Steve Smith or D'Angelo Williams who left him a kind of guns blazing. And he said, I've got like nothing but love. And he did his one love, you know, hand gesture.

So, no, I think it's going to be pretty easy based on that, unless some things change. Yeah, he mentioned that rule and Marty Hurney and David Tepper all by name as guys he had no problem with. So, yeah, that Ring of Honor ceremony, that Hall of Honor ceremony, whenever that day comes, it'll be an interesting day. You might have Cam out there dabbing and doing the Superman pose. And there are a whole bunch of people who are going to fill that stadium post-COVID to see it too. And depending on what happens between now and then, in his stint with the Patriots or afterward, it could be pretty interesting to have him have him come home using my air quotes.

But great stuff. Make sure you guys find that piece. It's Cam's former teammates talking about Cam joining the New England Patriots at the Athletic Carolina. He's at Joseph Person on Twitter.

He tweeted it there. Joe, good to hear your voice, man. I hope you're doing well otherwise. And take care. We'll talk again soon. Appreciate you, Daniel. Have a good summer. Stay healthy. Will do. That's Joe Person of the Athletic at Joseph Person on Twitter.

Some interesting stuff there. You know, Robert, you and I, prior to having him on, discussed off the air the idea that he could have waited for an injury, Cam Newton, and waited for another team's starting quarterback. I think because it was the Patriots who were in need, that was a pretty easy decision for him to make. Now, if it was only the Browns that were interested, do you jump at the chance to be the Browns quarterback from day one? Or do you maybe take a calculated risk that a more competitive team, an even Super Bowl contending team, at some point is going to suffer an injury?

But Joe's point was, even in that instance, you've got to go in and learn a playbook in four days. And with New England especially, to have this kind of extended time with Bill Belichick and that coaching staff, and by all other accounts, a good team around him. I've seen people talk about their wide receiving core and it not being good, but what did he do in 2015?

Ted Ginn Jr. was his best receiver in 2015, and we love or hate Ted Ginn Jr. it seems, it's one or the other, but not a number one wideout in the NFL. So it's clearly about Cam, and if Cam's right, he's going to do right. So given the time to study and learn the playbook, given the time to practice with Belichick and the rest of the coaching staff, and get familiar with his team, I think this was clearly and obviously the right choice for Cam. And look, he's taking a risk. Bill Belichick's taking a risk. The Patriots are taking a risk. But if Cam Newton delivers, he's going to be able to make the kind of money closer to what would have been his price prior to the pandemic halting things and NFL teams not traveling. And he's going to have the kind of consistent success that he would have liked to have had more of in Carolina.

I think it's going to be interesting, the most fascinating storyline of the NFL season. On the other side, Robert, do you want to do comparing? Do you want to do some comparing on the other side?

Oh, absolutely. I'd love to compare. We do these bits.

That's the best way to describe them, bits. When I'm on with Josh, we just find words that rhyme with my name, Darren, such as Sharon with Darren. We're going to do some comparing with Darren, me in parentheses, next on The Drive. Welcome back into The Drive.

Darren Vaught in for Josh Graham. Happy to do so over these next two days. And extremely happy to be welcoming in our next guest. You guys all know me as through and through a baseball guy. I do a lot of work with USA Baseball, which is based here in North Carolina.

In addition to my basketball work with various affiliates, including High Point University. And I was a baseball player growing up. I am not of an age that got to watch Rod Carew as a player.

But being a student of the game, you learn pretty quickly. He was one of the greatest contact hitters to ever live. And it's not every day you get to talk for an extended period of time with a Hall of Famer. So as I welcome in Rod Carew, who has his new book out, One Tough Out Fighting Off Life's Curveballs.

It's his memoir. I'll just say three thousand hits, 18 consecutive All-Star appearances, seven batting titles. Few players in baseball history measure up to what Rod Carew accomplished. And even though life isn't measured by statistics alone, he was sensational by that measure.

And in the other categories, we all know him for things off the field that are certainly admirable and worth celebrating and discussing. So I'm very glad I got to pour through this book. I did it in about a day.

It's close to 400 pages. So I flew through it and was consumed by it. And I'm happy to welcome on. I'm thrilled to have Rod Carew, Hall of Famer. A pleasure to have you. How are you? Pretty good, Darren. Thanks so much for having me on.

Yeah, absolutely. It's it's an honor and a pleasure, Rod. I want to ask what compelled you to write this book because you opened up about a lot of things, including growing up in an abusive home with an abusive father, things that are a little bit more public or were at the time that they happened, such as the the passing of your 18 year old daughter, Michelle, to leukemia.

Some things that were have been made more public, some things that have been made not so public over the years. What made you decide to to tell it all? Well, I think it was Michelle telling me when we were checking in, checking her into Children's Hospital, that she wanted me to continue helping these other kids if she doesn't make it. And she wanted me to promise her. She said, that don't hold back.

You don't tell your whole story. And, you know, you draw more people to you and more people to the to the merit program. So it was all due because of her, you know, and I promised her I would do it. I promised her that until the day I leave this earth, that I will continue trying to help kids and other people with these different blood diseases that that they're trying to find a cure for.

Yeah. And even at the time that all of this was going on, you were very vocal about advocating that people donate bone marrow and things like that. There's a lot in here. I mean, you yourself are a cancer survivor. You've had a heart transplant that you've come through on the other side of better than ever by by all estimations.

What kind of feedback have you gotten on the book so far? What is what has resonated with people the most? Well, the same thing, the same question that you just asked. You know, why did I dig so deep to bring back those memories? You know, people only know us as baseball players, but they don't understand the problems that each and every one of us went through in our lives. So I just wanted them to see that I'm just a normal guy, you know, had a normal family. I was blessed by God to have a talent that a lot of guys, a lot of people didn't have. And, you know, why not? My promise, I kept my promise to Michelle. And that's what I'll keep doing.

You know, it has given me a platform to help people. Well, you are very vocal and have been outright in the idea that Jackie Robinson was one of your baseball idols, if not the guy that you looked up to growing up as a young baseball player. What about Jackie?

I mean, maybe these are the more maybe it is the more obvious reasons that that I can think of. But what about Jackie stood out to you as a young baseball player, as someone you wanted to emulate? Well, you know, I think from his mannerisms and his promise to Branch Rickey that he will sustain himself during the whole course of the process of trying to get him to play with the Dodgers. And he went through a lot, you know, so I used to paint his name on my broomstick bats. You know, I had different colors and I always admire him.

So, you know, if you can't admire a man like that, then something is wrong. And, you know, Jackie was all about people. He always said, you know, there is a chance that if you have to help someone, you know, why not go out there and do it.

So that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to let people be aware of heart problems and all these different cancer bloods that we have that we have to find a cure for. It's similar to the same vein as Jackie, although there were Latin American players in the bigs by the time you reached that point. But there are a lot of of Latin American players today that would say, hey, Rod Carew or Roberto Clemente is that person that I look up to as inspiration. You've gotten the chance to mentor a lot of young Latin American players in your roles with the Twins and the Angels more contemporarily as you have gone on after your playing career.

What is it about that fraternity? Because I think, you know, you were a winner once of the Roberto Clemente award. And I would imagine he had some some mentor like qualities for you when you were a young professional. And that just seems to be something that Latin American players take a lot of pride in passing to one generation after the other. Yeah, well, you know, Roberto was the type of person that he always looked out for the younger Latin players, always tried to teach them how to handle themselves on and off the field.

And I was fortunate to have a roommate like that for 11 years, Antonio Viva. And Tony was the one that introduced me to Roberto in the All-Star game in Houston. And he came up to me and we were talking and he said, Tony has told me that you're going to be a great player. And he says, all that I ask you to do is take care of the young Latin players that are coming up. So that was my introduction to Roberto Clemente and I told him that I will. So I used to invite the kids over for lunch or, you know, when they could come to my home and then we'll just sit down and talk. And I would tell them about Roberto, you know, and what kind of human being he was.

So I was trying to help someone. So, you know, that Roberto Clemente award is very important to me and it's the center of all the things that I was able to do in the game because I've tried to live my life that way, you know, helping people and helping the young Latin players that come to the Big League. And there's one guy that I've got to commend that I see doing the same things and that's Nelson Cruz. You know, he spends a lot of time with the young Latin players and, you know, in spring training he would cook and bring the meals in so everybody could taste his cooking and stuff like that.

You know, I was right there at the table with all the other young kids. Well, we know he's a fine power hitter. What kind of cook is Nelly Cruz?

Was it any good? Oh, he's a good cook. He's a good cook. He'd bring in rice and beans and chicken and a lot of different Latin foods and it all tasted good.

You know, in about 15 or 20 minutes the bowls are empty, you know, because the guys loved the food and they enjoyed it very much. Good life lessons and mentorship is one thing, but man, if you get some good eats out of it as well, you cannot beat that out of Nelson Cruz, Rod. That's true.

That is true. Rod Carew, the Hall of Famer, is with us. You mentioned the Roberto Clemente award and what it means to you. According to Major League Baseball, it is given annually to the player who, quote, best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement, and the individual's contribution to his team.

One of the higher honors, of course. What can you tell me, Rod, about that first time you met Roberto at the All-Star game? I would imagine that was one of your very first years in the league. Yes, you know, I was excited, you know, because I wanted to meet Roberto. I wanted to meet Luis Aparicio and some of the well-known Latin players, you know, because as a kid growing up in Panama, I used to listen to Armed Forces radio and I heard about these guys.

So now I had the opportunity to see them, meet them, and maybe, you know, get some thoughts from them. Just like I did with Tony Oliva, you know. For 11 years, we roomed together as teammates. And for 11 years, he taught me a lot about handling myself on and off the field. And I think that's what made me stay within myself and stay a good person, because Tony today is still the same person that I met in 1964. And the other guy, the other guy, Darren, is Harman Teller. You know, the one thing that I learned from Harman is he used to call me Junior, so he always says, Junior, it doesn't cost anything to be nice, you know. And those are great words because, you know, we have to be. No matter who we are, what we do, we have to treat people in a very nice way.

Harman Killebrew, that's fantastic. Well, Rod, I'm curious, at what point did you burden yourself? You said early on it was told by Tony and Roberto that, you know, you should make sure you give back to the younger Latin players in the league. You at the time were in your early 20s. At what point in your career did you really put some onus on yourself to start, you know, taking younger players under your wing? Was it, you know, by your year 30 season? Because you played for 19 years and started making All-Star games right away, and 18 consecutive years there. I'm sure you had something to offer to Latin American players that maybe were your same age.

At what point did you start to look toward the younger generation and think in terms of giving back? Well, you know, I thought it was my third season in the big leagues after I won my first batting title. And it was a recognition to all these young players that, you know, they can come off the boats from Latin America and they can establish themselves here and they can do exactly what I did.

Because, you know, as a young 14-year-old kid coming here to this country and trying to establish myself by being a major league player maybe would give them some kind of help in handling themselves on and off the field and to be good persons and not good people and not worry about, you know, because I'm a big league player I can't take the time to sit and chat with the fans or with anyone else out there. And you mentioned your AL batting title. That's one of seven, an award which is now named for you, which I'm sure is quite the honor. Rod Carew is going to stick around to further talk about his memoir One Toughout, Fighting Off Life's Curveballs. And we're going to take a quick break in order to keep him just a little bit longer. So we're going to take a break. Rod Carew, the Hall of Famer, continues with us here on the drive on the other side. Stand by as we continue our dig for the truth and the toy at the bottom of the cereal box.

Oh, got it. You're on the drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad. Welcome back into the drive.

Darren Vaught in for Josh Graham. My thanks to Robert Walsh on the other side of the glass as we continue our conversation with Hall of Famer Rod Carew. He's got a new memoir out, One Toughout, Fighting Off Life's Curveballs.

It's available everywhere. And as we continue this discussion, Rod, you work with both the Angels and the Twins, your former teams, mentoring younger players. So you're around the current iteration of baseball a lot. What are the biggest differences between today's version here in 2020 and the time when you played?

Well, you're making a lot of money because I remember when I came up, I made $6,000 a year, which to me was like, you know, a million dollars. And I think the kids today, they can get what they want and spend and not worry about the money that's coming in. But there's that little bit of knowing that this game doesn't last forever and that you have to save so that in the long run, when you're out of the game, you can live very comfortably and not worry about things, you know.

So some of the things that I talk to kids, the Latin kids about is that, you know, send your money on the banks, take something to live off of and be thankful, thankful to God that you're in this position now where you can help, you know, your family and friends maybe lead better lives. What about on the field? I think you would agree it's a much different game than it was in your time. I don't even know, Rod, that a Rod Carew-style hitter would be as successful.

You said you don't enjoy it. I'm of course speaking, you know, emphasis on or less emphasis on things like making contact and, you know, strikeouts are more prevalent than ever. It's all about launch angles so guys are swinging for the fences no matter what. Fewer stolen bases.

All of these things that are de-emphasized, things that you really specialized in, what else maybe irks you or gives you hope for the game? Well, the way the game was taught to us was to play by the thirds, you know, the first three innings, the second three innings, the last two. What you would do at the start maybe you wouldn't do at the second three innings. But in the last three innings, there are a lot of things that you have to think about and giving up yourself for the other 24 guys around you. And that means if the guy starts an in and out with a double, you've got to get him in or get him to third so the next guy can drive you in.

But they don't do that, you know. Everybody's trying to hit home runs because today's game is all about the launch angle, getting under the ball, hitting home runs. And there are a lot of guys that can't hit home runs. You know, I could have hit home runs if I wanted to. You know, I could have hit maybe, you know, 25 home runs a year. But then it would have cut down on my consistency at the plate which was to get on base, steal some bases, score some runs for the team. And that's where my importance was because I played with five or six guys that could hit home runs very, very easily so they didn't need me to do that.

But it seems like today everybody, you know, wants to do it. And some guys end up with four or five home runs and I, you know, in over 150 strikeouts and I'm like, I wouldn't have been satisfied with that. And I was less satisfied with the longest walk in the baseball field, walking from home plate back to the dugout, you know, dragging my bat.

So they need to still play, we call it billy ball, you know. Do the little things that each player in the club is there to do and don't put the pressure on the low guys to start hitting home runs because they can't do it. If, for instance, Rod Carew was trying to swing for the fences more and hit more home runs, he might not have gotten to 3,053 hits. With that in mind, Rod, you became a member of the Elusive 3000 Hit Club against someone we actually know well in our backyard. He's actually the pitching coach for the local High Point Rockers, independent baseball team, Frank Viola. What do you remember about that 3,000th hit?

Oh, Frank, he had great stuff, you know, and I knew Frank. And he threw me one heck of a slider. If I had taken that pitch, I would have struck out. But I was able to just, you know, stay on it all the way and dump it into left field. But if I had taken the strike, I would have been walking back to the dugout talking to myself, why did you swing at that pitch?

But he was a great pitcher. He had great stuff and he challenged you. He came right at you. He didn't just play games like some guys do today. What was the moment like after the hit? Was there much fanfare or was it just like, you know, some of the other 2,999?

That's it. It was just like another ballgame for me. Did it over and done with and continued trying to get more base hits because that's what my job was for me to do. Every time I step up to the plate, it's try to put the ball in play and hopefully, you know, hit the green grass and get hit. So, you know, after that, you know, to me, I was right back to playing the game that I've always played. Rod Carew is with us, member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, member of the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame, the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame, and the Angels Hall of Fame.

Rod, these are a bit off the board and I don't want to ask the same question that I'm sure you get all over the place. You're known for a pop culture reference to people that might not even be baseball fans from the Hanukkah song as written by Adam Sandler. I don't want to get into the you clarifying as you've done time and time again that you never converted to Judaism, but there's also, you know, Neil Diamond puts you in his version of the song later on. You are used in a song by the Beastie Boys, got mad hits like I'm Rod Carew, as that one said. I'm just curious from the perspective of a guy who, you know, moved to the United States at, what, 14 years old to eventually become a piece of pop culture like that. I would just imagine hearing your name mentioned in a popular song like that just hits your radar as funny because I know you two to have been a humble player.

You seem so far in this conversation that you're still very much a humble person overall. What was it like hearing yourself referenced in things like that in pop culture for the first time? Never thought that I would. You know, it's just like I never thought that I would get 3,000 hits and be in the company like, you know, Ty Cobb and Jackie Robinson and Mickey Mantle and all these guys that have done that. You know, my dream is to play in front of 50,000 people. When I was about 8 years old, I told my mom, you know, maybe one of these days I'll play in front of 40 or 50,000 people because I thought it was like a record that they'd play in the background after first hit home run and stuff like that, you know. Because I saw that in, not Seabiscuit, yeah, in Seabiscuit with the guy doing that, you know.

Yeah, yup. And so, you know, to hear your name used like that, to me it was an honor. You know, I went to Adam and I told him, I says, you know, I haven't converted. I was doing the process of converting, but I never went through it all the way.

So he came back, I think, the following year, you know, where he says, and Rod Carew isn't a Jew. So I got a big kick out of that. But, you know, the Beastie Boys had invited me to be on the show with them when they sang the song.

I was headed out of the country, so I couldn't do that. But it is a tremendous honor, you know, when people use you. It's just like the Joe DiMaggio song.

Yeah, yup. It's a tremendous honor. That's very cool to hear you talk about that. I would imagine if being mentioned in a Beastie Boys song is what you would consider an honor, what happened to you in 1991 would be even more so, right? I mean, you were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. What was it like when you heard your name in that regard? Well, you know, on that day, before the day started, the ceremony started, Bobby Dore, the second baseman who was also in the Hall of Fame, came up to me and he says, Rod, welcome to one of the greatest fraternities in the world. And I looked at him, I shook his hands and I says, Bobby, thank you. It's great to be here.

I never thought that as a kid that I would end up being here with all your great players. So, you know, and then to get up there and make a speech and thank everyone that has, or almost everyone that has helped you throughout your career, that's, it was just fascinating. Do you remember anything from your speech or did you just go blank? No, you know, I wrote my speech the night before, you know, I sat in the, in the bathroom with my advisor and we just kind of put your names and put them in different spots. And then I had a speech, very short.

And I think the guys liked that because they were hoping that I wouldn't take 20 minutes and let them fall asleep on the stage. So the one thing that was funny that happened is that, you know, we started to get thunder and lightning. And as soon as that did, I just kind of, you know, said, oh, there's Billy Martin up there saying that he likes what's going on down here, you know, because that's the way Billy was.

That's funny. And, and I, uh, Rod, just so you know, in my affiliation with USA baseball have gotten to know George grand pretty well. And he was the master of ceremonies there in Cooperstown for a number of years. He always, always raved about the chemistry that when a guy is making his speech, as he enters the hall of fame, there's that fraternity that you mentioned all seated behind him.

And to whatever degree there's, there's always a little bit of razzing, right? Like if somebody is taking too long, the guys, the guys already in are going to let him hear it. Uh, what do you remember from the chatter from the peanut gallery, uh, from, from your time?

I turned around, not during mine, but, uh, during some of them, uh, most of them that I've gone to and I see guys, their heads start to pop. They start putting their sunglasses on, they're getting ready to nap out, you know, it was so funny that we, we all expected that. But the greatest time that, that I had on that day was the dinner that we had that night strictly for hall of famers. And as an incoming hall of fame, you're once you're receiving your ring, you're not allowed to get up there and make a speech.

You get, you get your ring and you go right back to your table because if you start to say something, they're going to start throwing napkins and all kinds of stuff at you. And you know, it's such a playful group, you know, that, um, we, we have a lot of fun because we start talking about, you know, who got you out and who couldn't get you out and things like that. And then we had our tables, we had the line drive hitter table, the, uh, 500 omen tables, pitchers, 300 tables, you know, so we broke up, but we were one unit that night, just having a great time. Uh, that's wonderful stuff.

Rod Carew, the hall of famer is with us and, uh, you can find his book One Tough Out anywhere where you, you purchase your books. I mentioned it earlier in the show, Rod, but, uh, I think that'll do it for our time, but I cannot express to you enough what an honor it is to talk this afternoon. And, uh, it's been, it's been a lot of fun, so I really appreciate your time. Well, thanks so much, Darren. And I hope the people read the end of the book to understand what I went through with my heart transplant, who gave me a new heart and how I met this young man and to take care of their hearts, get checkups and things like that. And if we can save one life, then we're all doing, you know, a good job. That's well said, well said.

For the record, it was former Ravens tight end Conrad Ruland. And I'll, I'll save the remainder of the story, Rod, in hopes that people will pick up the book and, and read it there. How about that? We'll, we'll, we'll tease it appropriate there. So, uh, Rod Carew, uh, congrats on the success of the book and, uh, uh, really a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you, sir. It's great talking with you and okay, Darren, thanks so much for having me on and giving us the publicity that will hopefully do some good. Stay safe. That's Rod Carew, the hall of Famer for the Minnesota Twins and California Angels as they were then.

Now the Anaheim Angels, of course. Um, man, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going to need a quick break. We're behind on the clock anyways, Robert.

So it's a good thing we have to take one. I just need to recollect myself. That's a good 30 minutes with hall of Famer Rod Carew. So I need to recover and let's do baseball for dummies on the other side. It's something geared toward, you know, people like Robert and our audience who don't, who don't, who don't maybe know as much about baseball, but it's coming back and you want to get into it, right? So you want, you want to be able to root for a team or, or have a vested interest in a game. You want to be able to find it interesting and be engaged by this because you've been without sport for so long.

So baseball for dummies is up next. That's on the other side. This is The Drive. Welcome back in.

It's The Drive. Darren Vaught with you instead of Josh Graham. He'll be back next week. I'm here tomorrow though. And then if I'm not mistaken, Stan Cotton and Larry Sorensen will be in Thursday, sort of a Wake Forest takeover day.

But in the meantime, I've got one remaining guest of our three. Again, our thanks to the hall of Famer Rod Carew, as well as Joe Person of The Athletic for dropping in earlier. And now one of my favorite people on the planet, my dude, who I haven't seen in entirely too long because, you know, Coronavirus.

Brian Geisinger of accsports.com and the ACC Sports Journal, as well as Sports Channel Eight and the Buzzbeat Podcast. BG, what's up, man? How are you? I'm hanging in there, man.

How about your how about yourself? It has been too long. Far too long.

Yeah. You know, the end of basketball season, it really wasn't like that long ago, about 100 days ago. But as everyone has certainly been joking about the last three months, it feels like 100 years ago. So, yeah, it's been too long, man.

It does. It feels like 100 years ago, the last time we saw Cam Newton live in a Panthers uniform, actually. So we talked earlier and we want to talk NBA with you because that's your expertise. But and I know you're not as as passionate a fan, but growing up in North Carolina, you at times in your life have been a very, very avid Panthers fan in the NFL and Cam Newton, their best player, at least offensively for the past decade, now of the Patriots. I don't want you to break down like the fit in New England or anything like that, BG.

But we talked earlier about the Photoshop edits. When a player gets signed, they just get better and better and more accurate and more real and more real. So when you see an image of Cam Newton photoshopped into a Patriots jersey as a guy who for a long time rooted for him and grew up loving the Panthers, how does it make you feel? Not great, to be totally honest with you, to see, you know, one of my favorite athletes growing up. And it's certainly one of the most important athletes, certainly in terms of professional sports in the history of North Carolina. And to see him wearing of all uniforms, the Patriots jersey is not is not great.

Yeah. I mean, the last the last year, really last probably a year and a half, two years have obviously been tough in Carolina with Cam. And there's been coaching changes and a variety of different new ownership, all this stuff. So like everything looks different in North Carolina with the Panthers specifically. But it's been a little bit it bothered me a little bit because say what you will about the struggles the franchise had sort of like surrounding Cam Newton with with proper protection and talent over the last decade.

Say what you will about that. But now that they you know, they they sort of pushed him out the door and while they were doing that, tried to sort of make it look like it was it was Cam's idea and that they've tried to sort of almost like whitewash him out out of the franchise since then, you know, putting out tweets about the greatest players in franchise history without mentioning him or not having any sort of like tribute goodbye video to this guy. And it's a little bit it's a little bit frustrating because this is a guy that was like essentially a combination between Santa Claus and Superman the last decade.

And he's gone. And, you know, look, he'll eventually come back and be honored and probably have a jersey retired and stuff. But it's tough because this guy really did sort of along with Luke equally, you know, sort of carried this team and this franchise out of the doldrums of the NFL into into prominence and made them a big entertainment property in Charlotte and a contending team on a semi annual, you know, once you know, once every two year basis or whatever. And along with that, raising the profile and value of the franchise.

And so, yeah, it's not it's for a guy that brought a lot of people joy. I'm certain I wasn't alone in getting having my stomach turned and not a little bit seeing Kim Newton in the Photoshop Patriots jersey. I get it.

I get it. Brian Geisinger at big guys underscore bird on Twitter is with us. Let's talk NBA.

And look, last time I filled in for Josh, I had you on. We talked about the tentative plans to resume the NBA season. They are exactly the same as they were. Not much has happened, honestly, in in the lead up. But things are constantly happening in that when they initially tested three hundred and two NBA players, what were their 16 positive tests for coronavirus? Some players have have signed with teams in this stretch just in the recent weeks. Is there an acquisition that sticks out to you as something that could be impactful? I think I mean, perhaps the J.R. Smith one with the Lakers.

I mean, you can laugh if you will. J.R. Smith has made more three pointers in NBA finals history than anyone else. He's a 40 percent shooter off the catch from from distance in the NBA finals. He hasn't played a lot of competitive basketball the the last couple of years.

But, you know, look, there's a bunch of different guys that are sitting out. Dobbs, Bertans from the Wizards. Trevor Reza from the Blazers. Marcus Aldridge and Kyrie Durant with Brooklyn.

Chandler also with Brooklyn, Boyac Ben Donovitch with the Jazz. That's for an injury similar to the Aldridge. But Avery Bradley is another guy who can be sitting out is an important rotation piece of the Lakers, which are one of the three or four teams heading into this that that people probably think has a chance to win a title.

And maybe because of the unique circumstance, more teams will have the ability to sort of, you know, maybe make a run depending on health and all this other jazz, too. But Smith is sort of like the one guy that's going to come in and perhaps replace Avery Bradley. And the Lakers have some depth already on the roster that they can sort of absorb that.

But that's sort of the one potentially obvious one. And I know right now, too, Dwight Howard is lowing the possibility of not of not going down to Orlando as well, too, which would be an important piece, I mean, that the Lakers have really used the center position with Dwight and Javel McGee as a position of strength for them this year. And they lose one of those guys. I mean, they also have Javel and Anthony Davis can play center, too. But, you know, then they still have LeBron, which is maybe all that really matters. But I think of guys that have been signed, you know, for contending teams right now, J.R. is the most sort of obvious guy.

And again, more players are sitting out, but they're on sort of fringier teams or teams that may not even actually make the 16 team playoff down in Orlando. Brian Geisinger with us of accsports.com, ACC Sports Journal. That's not a dot com. That's a physical thing. And Sports Channel 8, Buzzbeat, podcast, all great stuff.

He contributes frantically to all of them. I don't know how you do it, but. Yeah. Let's talk because this is something that's come up and it's been batted around a lot with various sports trying to return to action and crown a champion in their respective leagues. Do you see the NBA champion, whoever it ultimately is, requiring like an asterisk next to the name or do you view it differently other than you do by nature of it's it's a very different season? I guess the hardier question there, does it diminish the prize having to stop and restart the way that the NBA has for whomever wins the NBA championship? I acknowledge that it may for some. It doesn't for me on sort of one big condition and that's like assuming, let's just say hypothetically, best case scenario, everyone goes down to Orlando and everyone stays healthy, right?

You know, let's just say best case scenario, there are no positive tests in Orlando. I don't know how realistic that is or not. But if that's the case, at least for me, I'm not putting an asterisk next to the season. They've played, every team played about 65 to 70 games this season.

It's almost a full year. You're going to be going into a set of circumstances that are far more difficult than any other sort of playoff scenario. I mean, you know, off for three to four months amid a global pandemic, like it doesn't diminish the accomplishment of winning the championship.

Again, assuming people stay healthy and this plan that's been put to pieces, this actually works out. For me, it does get a little wobbly if, let's say, you know, half the Bucks or half the Lakers or the Clippers, if one of those teams, you know, they have a handful of guys, important players, LeBron, Anthony Davis or Giannis or Kawhi or whatever. Those guys test positive and have to then sit out. And maybe this is an unfair, you know, set of standards to use. But if one of these contending teams loses half of its rotation pieces in the middle of this and has to have those guys sit out or because it's not time to wait two weeks for those guys to quarantine and come back, you know. And if that's the case, then, yeah, maybe you do sort of look at this a little bit differently. But no, for me, I'm not really an asterisk guy to begin with in terms of finding, feeling compelled to bend these accomplishments in different ways with a, you know, a side note or whatever. I think maybe in baseball, there's a little bit more of an argument for this year just because, you know, the season is so short and this is the first time in the history of the sport, you know, you're not going to have an entire season sort of sussed out who the best team is. In the NBA, I think you've still had that opportunity.

It's not going to be quite as noisy as a season that's 40% of your normal length. So, no, I don't buy the asterisk argument. It's not 20 years from now, think about the champion of the, if there is one in 2020 of the NBA as having accomplished something less than a normal NBA champion. In fact, they've accomplished something even greater. In my opinion, I mean, do you look back on the 99 Spurs as like a team that did something less?

You can say that maybe they deserve an asterisk, but like, I don't think a lot of people are going to even think about it like that. It'll just go in the record books. You'll remember what 2020 was because how did you forget? But it's not going to, you know, the ring will still count, in my opinion, but the title still counts. And if nothing else, if nothing else, it's just going to be different. Maybe not lesser, maybe not even better or more difficult, but it's just, it's going to be something different.

And you don't need an asterisk for a reminder that you need to apply context. So like given the baseball example, if you're pouring through someone's baseball reference, looking at their stats and you come to 1994 and a number seems small. Oh, you just remember if you're a baseball fan, that was the strike shortened season. And this is 2020 is just going to be another one of those years. Where you look at anything contextually in the span of history, in sports otherwise, whatever, you're just going to have to keep your radar up for when you see 2020.

Things are going to be a little bit different. But I love this scenario in which, as you said, if we get to this point and there are full on playoffs, the resumption of the season, we have an NBA Finals. We joked earlier that Major League Baseball is going to wrap up if they get all the way through this proposed season.

They're going to wrap up around the same time they normally do. And October is the time to shine for playoff baseball. This will be the first time we'll ever be able to deem someone Mr. October for the sport of basketball. What's your best guess as who that would be? Yeah, it could also be the person who goes number one in the NBA draft, too.

Right. Mr. October for the first time ever. Are you saying, like, who do I think is going to, what team do I think is going to win the title here? I mean, if you had to wager it, you know, who's going to be Mr. October? And we're likely not even going to refer to this person this way because it's probably going to be someone who's accomplished far more.

But Mr. October playing with the narrative. So I've been on the, since October, I've been on, like, the Clippers as, I've just had the Clippers sort of penciled in as my title favorite, while acknowledging that Milwaukee and obviously the Lakers, like, either of those two teams could win it. And maybe it feels a little risky to pick a team in the Western Conference because, you know, perhaps we will get, we'll still get the Clippers and Lakers in the Conference Finals like we've been, we've been dreaming about since Paul George went to the Clippers and Anthony Davis went to the Lakers.

Like, everyone's been sort of drooling over this possibility. So I'll take, I'll take, seeing how so far a lot of these projection models that are trying to forecast a 2020 playoff in the NBA, again, assuming good health, they haven't changed all that much. So I'm going to say Kawhi Leonard in the Clippers for the possibility to be this Mr. October type, you know, the A1 star of the first NBA champion crowned, hopefully in October. And I mean, obviously, you know, LeBron and Giannis are sort of 1B and 1C in that category as well, too. But I've been on the Clippers as the champion, my predicted champion of the NBA for about eight months now. So I'm not going to, I'm not going to move off of it.

But perhaps, you know, you never know. Maybe if we are going to get some sort of, you know, drama filled ending to what has been certainly a topsy turvy season, you know, LeBron is sort of, I feel like just in terms of feel, is the main guy for that as, you know, arguably the greatest player in league history. But no, I'll stick with Kawhi and the Clippers here.

Man, that's I love it. That's integrity at its finest, sticking eight months with your championship pick, Brian Geisinger. That's what Robert said earlier was Kawhi. I just I have a hard time believing LeBron is not going to be more ready than ever with these three months to sort of regain himself.

And I mean, he's assumedly going to be fresh. And it's when he's not, it's always hurt me in the end to bet against him. So it's just a it's a tough bet.

But, you know, hopefully we get to see a fun matchup along those lines. Kawhi and LeBron. Yeah, it's usually a losing bet to vote to bet against LeBron. The finals record is not perfect, given some, you know, once you fill it in with a little more context, it makes a little bit more sense. But yeah, usually betting with LeBron is a safe bet when it comes to basketball the last two decades. No doubt about it.

It feels like almost a fool's errand to assume anything about this season as well, for what it's worth. But my guy, BG, appreciate you coming on again. Glad to hear you're doing well. It's good to hear your voice. Hope to catch up as friends soon and we'll make that happen. But thanks for the time today on the drive. Yeah, will do.

We'll be safe, OK? Cool. That's BG Brian Geisinger of ACC Sports dot com, the ACC Sports Journal, also Sports Channel 8 and the Buzzbeat Podcast.

He's at BGEIS underscore bird on Twitter. Man, that's a show. We're we're like done for the day. Robert, what's what do you have cooking for Take it to the House? You ever wonder what space smelled like? No.