This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody! Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck! You can find us everywhere.
Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show. We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel.
Subscribe at youtube.com slash rich eisen show and you'll never miss a moment.
Now. On with the show. Yeah. Bonnie Freeman has ended it! This is the Rich Eisen Show.
This game is incredible. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles, Kelsey ties Priest Holmes earlier on the show. Sports NFL analyst Mark Schlarett coming up. ESPN MLB columnist Buster Olney. Host of the Paul Feinbaum Show, Paul Feinbaum.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. Joining us right now, fresh back from Dodger Stadium, and I hope it is fresh. Ladies and gentlemen, Buster Olney of the SPN, good to see you. How are you, Buster? I'm doing great.
Great to see you again. I did not see you. Great to see you again, too. I did not see a photograph of you in Dodger Stadium, so I don't know if you're wearing the same clothes. I'm assuming you have gone back.
I don't even know if I'm wearing the same clothes, right? I just rolled out and I came to see you. I asked you before, but Sherry, there, when did you get back to your hotel room? At 1:30 last night, and then my first radio hit today was at 5 o'clock, and so I was up at 4:45. And then you know how it goes, you just roll through.
I know. Also, we're part of the car wash. Fantastic. We'll take it. We'll take it.
I love that. No, no, no. And I turned on other shows. They were like, hey, can you do this? Can you do that?
And then I'm like, nope. I'm committed to go see Rich. Thank you. I appreciate you honoring your commitment. Listen, man, how many World Series have you covered now?
Oh, God. Who numbers is for you? Tim Kirchin keeps a count. I don't. It's somewhere in the 20s.
Okay. Where does game three of the 2025 World Series rank? Probably, for the games that I've covered, probably the second best game ever. 2011, game six, David Freese ties the game, two outs ninth inning. That's the best game I've ever seen.
That was the Joe Buck famous. We'll see you tomorrow night in honor of his dad. It was phenomenal. Sure. Last night was amazing.
Look, we had an 18-inch game in the 2018 World Series. That was bad baseball. It was seven hours plus. And there was no traffic in extra innings. There were two teams.
Everyone was trying to hit home runs. Last night, It was traffic all over the place. Yeah, I I was I even threaded out um that uh That the Blue Jays got thrown out for the cycle, you know, like at every base, you know what I mean? Yeah. And and and then, but no, I mean, good Lord, there's so many ways to go here, but since you mentioned extra innings, 12th inning.
bases full of Blue Jays. And Dave Roberts, wanting to go lefty, lefty, brings in Clayton Kershaw. For his first ever career extra innings appearance with Sandy Colfax. in the crowd. And he gets Lucas to dr to ground uh ground out to Edmund, who flips the ball with his glove, I was just screaming from the couch.
Unbelievable. That was unbelievable. It was. And by the way, Sandy Kofax, 89 years old, stayed for the whole game.
So before the game, uh I saw Clayton in the Dodger Clubhouse and I'm like.
So, what are you gonna do in retirement? He's like, I'm gonna be a dad. And I mentioned to him, he is just having so much fun. Like, when he was a young player, if he had a bad game, he could be super grumpy. He's just enjoying the experience.
And so, to see him, when Edmund flips the ball with his glove, I don't know if the camera's caught this, but he turns around and sort of a silent, like, yes. And he goes into the dugout, Dodger dugout, and he's clearly making jokes at his own expense because his teammates around him are just cracking up the whole time. And I interviewed him after the game on the field, and he was just so happy. Like Having had that experience, perhaps the last one in his major league career, what a moment. I mean, For him to be put in the highest of leverage situations, right?
No room for error. That. And for him to make the pitches and execute and then. You know. Yada yada yada.
Six more innings after that. It was truly unbelievable. But all that said, There's only one unicorn in that stadium. And what is it like to be in a World Series stadium? Explain to everybody.
listening to us on ESPN radio or at home. Um on Disney Plus, ESPN, and everywhere else. What is it like to be in a World Series stadium watching Sho Heo Tani be One. Stoppable. What is that like?
You have to remind yourself that you're watching the greatest player ever played baseball. And I think he's in the conversation for the greatest athlete ever. And what has especially come out in this postseason is for the first time is Shohei, I mean, wildly talented. But in this postseason, for the first time, we're seeing competitive rage. Like we saw it in Tiger Woods, we saw it in Michael Jordan, we've seen it in Tom Brady.
But there was a game against Milwaukee, game two of that series. He strikes out with the bases loaded, and he's going back to the dugout, and you could see in his face he was so angry. And the next day, he goes out on the field and takes batting practice in Dodger Stadium, which he never does. And it's clear. He's angry.
And Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager, told us that he's asked, How much is Shohei aware of the narrative around him? And by that time, there were conversations about, you know, is the pitching takeaway from his hitting, and vice versa. And His interpreter told Dave, he hears it all. Like he absorbs it all. Like we always heard about Jordan.
And I think that's what we're seeing right now: is that the talent and now with this hyper-focus, understanding how people are watching him. It's so cool. And I mean, to have a major league manager after the game basically say, yeah, we're not pitching to him anymore. He's that good. John Snyder, the Blue Jays manager, after walking him five times intentionally, saying going forward that's how he's going to deal with him, that's incredible.
Yeah, it's not like there's a 200-hitter behind it. There's Beth, Freeman, and Smith behind it. Hall of Famer.
So you are intentionally. Walking into an individual to potentially set up a beginning. And also Forget a big inning. Half the time that they did that last night. It was in a.
All you need is one run situation. Yeah. I've never seen anything like it. I mean, I've seen bonds. I know Buck Schoolter walked bonds with the bases loaded with.
I mean, that's the only thing you can compare it to. And it's interesting, though, too, Buster Olney from ESPN Radio and ESPN here on the Rich Isen Show, that you mention. Because I would also use the words effortless joy. Yes. As well.
And so you've got a combination of effortless joy and competitive rage. Holy cow. Honestly, I'm now out of words. To describe it. I look when, you know, a lot of times the producers on Sports Center will say, hey, we want to talk about Otani.
What do you want to say? And I'm just like, it's simple. He's the greatest we've ever seen, and no one's close. And look, forget what idiot sports writers like myself think, okay?
Okay. When you see the reaction from other athletes to Otani, right? LeBron James tweeting out about him, J.J. Watt tweeting out about him, people who understand how phenomenal and the range of skills he has as an athlete, and he's impressing them. That tells me everything.
And then the video, I don't know if you saw this because you're running around sleeping and then talking of Dave Roberts addressing the team in the clubhouse afterwards. Did you see that? I heard about it.
Well, yeah, where he's addressing the team in the clubhouse afterwards.
Sort of like a football Head coach and NFL head coach after a big win. Um and You could see how he says that we've got a game later today, and he points to his watch after commending everybody. That you hear it from managers and coaches all the time: we need everyone in here to win. And last night, they actually did, right? Both teams, I'm getting goosebumps even talking about it.
It's so rare in sports that these moments get met that you want to see an epic game and you actually witness one. that he he says we got a game later today. And in the background, you see Otani. Mimic. being a pitcher, like he's warming up and he's throwing, like an eight-year-old would.
An eight-year-old would, and somebody off-camera screens, and our picture. Just reached base nine times. Freddie Freeman was the one I yelled at, yes. I mean the guy who won it, you know?
So he's even... taking a queue or technically, if you will, a back seat. Unreal. It is like something you see in Williamsport, except these are the greatest baseball players in the world doing this. And that's the response of other players to Shohei that you see right there.
To go into tonight's game, I'm just fascinated by the pitching situation. Sure. Right? What will Shohei bring to the table? Because not only, I mean, when he was with the Angels, they would give him the day off before he made his starts to rest him up and to get him ready.
Well, last night he played 18 innings. He was on base nine times. He had this all-time great game as a designated hitter. And tonight he's going to come back and pitch. And it feels like there's a chance he might top himself.
Well, you need also length from your starters tonight. I mean, the Blue Jays are starting. Everything is in rubble. That's what I'm saying. For both teams, and Shane Bieber, a.
Former Cy Young Award winner that was acquired from the Guardians at the trade deadline by the Blue Jays coming back from injury. From previous seasons. You need length tonight, man, from both of these guys. And Bieber was just chilling out in his, you know. is jacket And Otani, I mean, I guess he was chilling out because he would just grab a bat and see four fingers held up.
And so that leads me to my next question that a lot of people are talking about today. is is should baseball do something About the number of times you can intentionally walk someone. And I know. We won't have a conversation about this about anyone else. Maybe Judge, if he gets his hot.
Uh as Otani. Um And You want to see somebody like that hit for the fans who are staying up till two in the morning, fans who are at the game. What do you think about that idea? You can't do anything about it because in the end, even if you made that rule, then they would just throw four wide ones and he would walk to first base. I mean, we always have those situations where the manager or the pitching coach goes out to the mountain and says, Don't let the guy beat you.
And so you could take away the intentional walk and alter that rule, but in the end, they're not going to pitch to them if they don't want to. I guess that's That's true. That would just be like an older. Don't give him anything to hit, which I think they they told Sir Anthony Dominguez when he gave up before he gave up the game timing home run, don't give him anything to hit. And he did.
And that was it. And the Blue Jays were done at that point. They're like, we're not pitching to him anymore. Do you think? John Schneider is going to intentionally welcome the lead off the game.
tonight? Do you really think that's going to happen? I don't believe that it's going to happen, but to hear John Schneider's answer post-game last night, where he's like, yep, you can count on this going forward. That was eye-opening to hear that. Like, he's that open about it.
Because most of the time, they play coy, they're a little competitive, they don't want you to think that they're being wimps about it. But to hear John Shri, I mean, he's waving the white flag. Like, nope, we're not dealing with this guy because he's playing in another stratosphere. Yeah, but you can't tell Shane Bieber before his first. Is it his first career World Series starter?
It's going to be, yeah, obviously, right? Right. Because I don't think that, you know, he wasn't on the 16th. Right, exactly.
So, what are you going to tell him? First World Series batter? is is on first. And you gotta get it. And then you gotta start to work.
And Shane would get it. Like, really? Because I would think the competitive spirit in him would be like, to hell with that. I didn't wait my entire life for this moment to just. Have the second guy, right?
I mean, am I wrong? Don't you think? You can't want to be. Do you want to be have a guy in first, or you want to be down one nothing? Right.
It's that simple. You think, TJ, they should walk him to start the game tonight?
Well, I mean, it all depends. Do they want to win?
Okay. That's the perfect way to describe it, right? That's what John Snyder said last night. We're trying to win the game. We're not letting this guy swing the bat against us.
What about you, Felly? You wanna war use the Dodger fan here? I mean, I wanna see him, but I can't blame him. Guys getting home right now. And what do you think Bets feels about that?
Does that. I'd love for you to ask him. Hey, what do you think about I mean, this Mookie freaking bats that you're saying. Yeah, but he's not played well this year. And he has not hit well this year.
And he certainly, I mean, the telltale sign with Mookie is if he's popping the ball up to the right side, it means his timing is off. I think Mookie would be the type of person who would say, I totally get it. Like, this guy is so good right now. I'd rather pitch to me than that guy.
Okay. Does Dave shake up the lineup because of that? Do you have Freddy bat second? You can't back up. No, you can't back up lefties.
You don't want to back up lefties on that. I guess you could. We've always talked about the Tayasker attacks. That way you bring in, but not with a right-hander going tonight. I don't think they would do that.
Who would you put second? No, I don't think you can. I think you just have to hope that at some point the Mookie starts to hit and respond. Is Will Smith going to play tonight? That is a great question.
So, I was watching two people during the game, late in the game. One was the home plate umpire, Mark Wegner. My God. I thought he did a great job last night. I thought he was a good player.
He actually rated well. That play early in the game when he was slow with the strike call. That one, yeah. That wasn't good. But generally speaking, he had an excellent game in balls and strikes.
Right. 609 pitches out there for six hours and 39 minutes. Mark Wegner, what a great job. Do you know what his rating was? Have you looked that up yet?
Reguardo Perez and I talked about that this morning. It was good. I can't remember the exact number. I think it was only out of 609 pitches, I think he missed only 18. That's pretty good.
That's great. Pretty good. That's good. Thank goodness for that because that's the last thing you'd want to be talking about this morning, even though that was the first thing we were talking about last night. Was like, you know, hey, can you call strike two on a 3-1 pitch a little faster?
I mean, to answer the question, sorry. Yes, Will Smith. I think he'll play. I mean, it's that sort of thing where it's the time of year where they understand you got to be out there. It reminds me of a story.
A World Series ended, I think it was 2017, and Brian McCann was catching. And he told A.J. Hinch, the manager, he said, leave Charlie Morton in the game for the bottom of the ninth inning. Yes. Because.
I'm done. This is the last inning I can catch. I am so tired. Let's get Charlie in there until we finish the game here. And then what do you think, the Blue Jays, how they respond and bounce back?
What are your two cents on that? Because you know, Dodger fans here think this is a wrap. The last time You know, Freeman homered in the World Series home game. It was essentially a wrap. And certainly, if they bring out Cube tonight to start the second home game of the World Series, that thing could be a wrap.
You know, what do you think about this? I think home crowd hasn't mattered at all in this postseason.
So I think the energy of the building doesn't matter. And it was interesting. I saw a lot of people say, well, Dodgers have a clear advantage now. I don't necessarily agree because the pitching staffs are so screwed up by what happened last night. But the whole thing about the Dodgers bullpen being their biggest problem and Achilles healing, good luck trying to get through the playoffs on that front.
They were dynamite last night. They were good last night, for sure. But Roki Sasaki, can you bring him back? Right? Hoffman pitched two innings, too.
I mean, both sides.
So you don't know what's going to come out of that. And I am curious about Shohei. Like, we know that he is physically going to try to give it a go, but you do wonder what his stuff is going to be like. And what about Springer? I mean, obliques usually take weeks to overcome sometimes, you know.
You would assume he's done. You would assume, and that is a huge loss. Maybe the most significant competitive issue coming out of the game last night with Springer being out. They do have an easy pivot point. They've been sort of shoehorning Beaubuchet into their lineup to play second with this injury.
He can go to DH.
Now you put Isaiah Kiner Falefa at second base or go with some other way. I'm guessing Ernie Clement has been so good in this postseason. He could lead off for them. But, I mean, George Springer is one of the best World Series hitters of all time. Yeah, that's why they were booed lustily.
Last night, although they also in Los Angeles think there might have been a buzzer or a trash can back in that day, but that's for another day. Buster Olney here. Can you stick around one more segment? I want to talk about the rest of everything going on in Major League Baseball with one of the best right here, Buster Olney.
Next on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204, Rich is the number to dial. Your phone call is still to come as well. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. As many of you know, supporting pediatric cancer research is something I care deeply about. That's why I'm proud to share what Hyundai is doing through Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
For over 27 years, with every Hyundai sold, they've helped fund pediatric cancer research. Alongside over 850 dealers, they've raised more than $277 million, helping over 25,000 kids and supporting more than 1,400 research grants at 175 institutions nationwide. This year alone, they've committed another $27 million in honor of the 27th anniversary of the program. And they're proud to have national youth ambassadors like Jackson Trin and Emmy Cole. hope to kids across the country by sharing their stories.
Because at Hyundai, hope is our greatest feature. And it comes standard. Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more. We're back here with Buster One. We're on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance.
844-204-rich is the number to dial on the program. The other stories to talk about in Major League Baseball: let's start with the Philadelphia Phillies. Schwarber is a free agent, and Bryce Harper. Uh appears to be a bit pissed off. of the play of his assessment.
From Dave Dombrowski, basically saying, well, he didn't play elite.
Well, it's up to him to see if he can still be an elite player, which was a.
Well, let's start with that one first. What was that all about? It was shocking that he said that out loud. I mean, what he said was absolutely the truth. I mean, you get in your early 30s and you wonder: can a player continue to ascend, or is that we've seen the slow descent?
But for the head of baseball operations for the Phillies to say that out loud, that was an eye-opener. And you're wondering what that's about.
Now, in recent years, Bryce signed this 13-year contract without any opt-outs. He made it very clear from the first day he signed: I want this to be like a long-term marriage. I don't want to think about leaving the team. But in recent years, he's mentioned, you know, I'd be open to an extension. Can we talk about an extension?
And so the perception within the sport is that Dave was trying to get ahead of that.
Okay, enough of the extension talk. You're halfway through your contract. You were starting to see some production slide a little bit. It's something that they're going to have to sort through as they go through this wintertime. People around baseball think that the Phillies in the end will sign Schwarber because he's so important to the team, not only for the home run production, but for me, if I were to draw up a list of 10 best teammates that I've ever witnessed and heard stories about, Kyle Schwarber would be one, two, or three.
Sabathia would be in there for sure. Kyle Schwarber is worth every nickel, whatever they pay him.
Well, and so. And he might actually help smooth over this situation with Bryce. You think so? Because. When Bryce Harper is called out like that, that's why I asked you, what's that all about?
Because it sounds like there's an iceberg, just like everything in Philadelphia with A.J. Brown, right? Like that there's a tip, and underneath there's a massive piece of ice that Why would Dave Dombrowski? He knows, I mean, he's been around the block. He knows when he says something like that.
Yep. In Philadelphia or wherever he's been, that everyone's going to be like, What's up with that? And he just willingly said that. Is there some sort of friction that's happening there? Not my sense.
The interesting thing is that Bryce has done everything that they've asked him to do. Like he embraced Philadelphia, he's got the Philly Fanatic Sox, he's got it on the bat. I know that when we've gone in there, because you know, when these teams pay these guys $300, $400, $500 million, they want him to do other stuff to be the face of the franchise. I tell you, like. Bryce has been so great at wearing the microphone.
If we ask him to do something, he always does it. He's embraced that part of it. But I do think that this effort to extend his contract. This might be where Dave drew a line in the sand. And I agree with your assessment of him, he's been around forever.
He knows what he's saying. And there's a purpose behind it. We don't know exactly what it is yet, but man, they got to work that out. On behalf of all Yankee fans, Buster Olney, why do the Yankees keep running it back? Why do they keep saying, okay, we're close, we just need to tinker here?
Tinker there rather than just getting a completely new way of looking at everything. Why does that? Seem to be the modus apparandi of Hal Steinbrenner, best you can tell.
So, the first time I met you, I remember at Legends Field, you were at a Yankees exhibition game, and I could pick up right away that you were a big Yankees fan. Correct. You grew up with the Steinbrenner doctrine, which is if you don't win the World Series and your season is a failure, right? That comes from George Steinbrenner.
Well, the person who doesn't believe in the Steinbrenner Doctrine is Hal Steinbrenner. The sun. He doesn't operate that way. He gives them credit for the fact that they haven't had a losing season since 1992. He gives them credit for the fact that last year they played in the World Series, that this year they had the second best record in the American League in a way that Yankee fans don't.
Well, I mean, I I Just to just to, I guess, broaden this out a little bit, I don't believe fully in the George M. Steinbrenner of the Third Doctrine, because that on occasion was extremely unhealthy. You know, it put undue pressure on a lot of people. It made things ugly. It wasn't the way I would run a franchise.
But I'm just saying a little bit of that is something that Hal could actually take here. Because at this point in time, it looks like I'm genuinely concerned that Aaron judges talent. Is being ultimately wasted right now. Right. Because he's surrounded by a lineup.
that doesn't get on base for him enough. It's just all hit or miss. I thought what Buck Martinez said about the Yankees that Aaron Boone pushed back on, that they. If they don't hit home runs, they don't win. They strike out too much, they don't put the ball in play, and they don't defend very well.
I thought that was. 100% spot on. I also love Buck Martinez, one of my Of my old ESPN colleagues that I used to hang out with and broadcast with. He was 100% spot on. And yet they don't They don't change.
They just keep the roster pretty much formed the way they do. And I thought they did very well putting a roster together this year based on the circumstances. But I don't understand why they're just going to run it back again, right? They're changing, but glacially.
Okay, you remember the years, three, four years ago, they constantly had those right-handed hitting lineups that you're like, that is not going to play in Yankee Stadium. And that was an all-or-nothing lineup. They gradually, by adding Jazz Chisholm, last year they traded for Cody Bellinger. They have become a little bit more versatile, a little bit more speed. But I think as they move forward, they're going to take more examples from teams like the Blue Jays, like the Milwaukee Brewers, where they'll add more players who are versatile, can play different positions.
And let's face it, they have to figure out shortstop. Anthony Volpe, you know, it's three years now. They've been waiting and waiting and waiting. He seemed to be in absolute regression last season. I know he was injured.
They need to get a plan B in place. Wasn't Lombard coming up? He's too young. He's too young now. But he is considered to be a superstar prospect.
He could be up at the end of next year, beginning of 2027. But he's not ready for the start of 2026. I do think that they will have some changes. And man, they are loaded with pitching. Buster only here on The Rich Eisen Show.
Map out the next. Two to three years for Paul Skeens.
So, this is fascinating. And I have not, I want to make this clear, I have not talked to Skeens about this. But we see in the NBA, in the NFL, players will use their equity. To force their way out of situations. James Harden most famously, Paul Skeens is the rare baseball player who could make a serious problem.
for the Pittsburgh Pirates. If he wants to, and my God, where his situation is now, why wouldn't you want to? Where if he went to the Pirates as winner and said to them, I'm not signing here long term, I'm going to be a problem, I'm going to talk out loud about how you guys don't spend and you don't try to win, you need to get me out of here. I mean, to me, he has a stature to do that in a rare way in baseball. And I kind of hope as a baseball fan that he does.
Does that make sense? I mean, you don't see it happen at baseball that often. Yeah. I mean, it's an interesting way that you attack that. Um and that's you know, I'm I'm glad I asked you the question.
So What's he I mean we We haven't had him on. He seems to have the world by whatever he wants. Um what do you think he's gonna do? What's his makeup like? Do you think he'll do that?
It would be against his nature to do that because he's pretty much one of those guys who puts his head down and does the work and he dominates. But he also is, because he's incredibly competitive, you assume at some point that's going to bubble up and he's going to be like, look, we don't have a chance to win here. I want to be out of here and my God. If it came out that the Pirates were willing to take offers for Paul Skeens, All these teams would basically be backing up their prospect trucks and saying, whatever you want. Come and get this guy.
Well, I mean, there's four people here who want them on their teams. That's correct. The question is: is Skeens willing to defer all of his money into a retirement plan for 2025, 2055, so he can come here to Los Angeles? I mean, let's discuss that too. Is baseball willing to.
Change the rules. based on what the Dodgers have done. where they're signing all these players and saying Luxury tax-wise, help us out. We'll pay you down the road. Will pay you when you're retired.
And the players who are willing to say yes to that is baseball. Seeing this and saying We're going to change this rule.
So, I don't think they're going to change it for this. I mean, as you know, there's tons of examples of teams deferring salaries. The Dodgers have done it better than anybody. And players now, the Dodgers have become a destination, much in the way the Yankees were in the late 90s. Guys wanted to go and play for that team.
Guys want to go and play for the Dodgers, and so they'll defer money or they'll work out contracts to do that. I think the larger question is: will the Dodgers' financial advantage, how much will that drive the owners to push for the salary cap in the next labor agreement? Oh, boy. Yeah. And I don't think you can't.
Well, you can't have a pure cap. There'd have to be something grandfathered in because there's such a disparity.
Well, with a cap, there needs to be a floor. Exactly. There would have to be a floor, and they're also, and the players would have to agree to it, so it's incredibly difficult. That's never going to happen. Really?
Yeah. I mean, we'd get into the weeds. What would the players get? What would the players get? If you told the players, and I know this for a fact, there are players who are interested to hear what this would entail because the message from the commissioner has been this could mean more money for more players.
Okay? If they get 47% of the pie now, and that goes up to 50% of the pie, and if you're a zero service time to two-year service time player, and you're suddenly making two and a half times what you... Would have made That's going to interest a lot of players. This issue actually reminds me a lot of the PED issues back in the 90s, where you remember the union leadership was like, we'll never do testing. Absolutely not.
Privacy rights will never do testing. And yet, when you go to the rank and file at that time, some of them whisper: we need testing. Like we want to be protected from this. It's a similar situation now where the union leadership is: never will we have a salary cap, never will agree to anything remotely like that. And you go to individual players.
agents and they'll go If it's more money for more players. Why aren't we talking about it? And then I guess returning to what you said about Skeens, that he has the ability to say, I want out, and he could force his way out based on, you know. I'm going to be a pain in the butt unless you guys move me out of here. What about Mike Trout here in Southern California?
I mean, will he ever just basically say? Um it's time for me to ring chase. And obviously Philadelphia would take him in a heartbeat. We all know. his ties to the area through New Jersey.
So what do you think? With the amount of money owed to him, I think that it would be a case where the Angels would have to eat a lot of his contract. He's been hurt, as you know, a lot in recent years. His performance has gone down in recent years. I don't think he has the leverage to force his way out in the same way because the Angels would have to eat so much money.
Um now Would Artie Moreno do that at some point? Maybe, but I think he's too far out on the end of his contract to actually. For them to consider that. And as you know, Artie doesn't, you know, Artie Moreno is an unusual baseball owner in these times. All right, last one for you.
Again, Buster, I apologize for dragging you down to my level. The thing I love about you is you love baseball.
So much.
So Tell me. The amount that you love baseball. Is it greater? or less than the amount that wants soda, loves money. Oh man.
What? What? It's a legit question. This man loves baseball. Once so, it's established.
The Met fan over here knows he loves money. Oh, my God. He loves money. Man, you love baseball? Bingo.
More or less than Monsoto loves money. Oh, man. Uh Okay, I'll answer it this way. I'll answer it this way. Juan Soto loves money for sure because I have left baseball on the table, right?
If I'm watching a fascinating 15-inning game, I will go to bed.
Okay. Okay? Okay. Juan Soto, on the other hand, He left nothing on the table during those negotiations. Is that fair to say?
Yep. Why would he? No, why would he, right? Why would he? Why would he?
Yeah, you're saying this like it's a bad thing or something. No, it's not. It's his choice. No, not you, Buster. Definitely.
I'm talking about Raj. Like, he's got the problem with it because you worked for the New York Times as long as Yankees. Or Mets. New York.
So, which town is it? Yankee or Mettown? Huh? Yankee Town.
Okay. I was promoted from the Mets beat to the Yankees beat. Put it that way. By the New York Times. From the Mets beat to the Yankees beat.
For more money, Buster? Is that it? I'll leave him there. Not Buster's love for money. Sure, Buster got a little boost in the paycheck, too.
I'm just saying. The New York Times paper of record, the old gray lady says you want to cover the Mets and the Yankees. And which one is a better job? early. I sorta didn't say it was better town.
Soto's a Yankee town. We know it. Yo, Soto says it's a Mets town. That's what sent me up to you. I covered the 97 Mets to prepare me to cover the Yankees.
That would be the way to answer that question. Ladies and gentlemen, buster and all. Enjoy the rest of this World Series. Yay or nay, your best thoughts. Does this go back to Toronto?
Yes, I think it does.
Okay, so keep your passports ready, everybody. And this is my favorite thing, and we'll leave you with this. I'm wondering what a scorecard for an 18-inning World Series game looks like. And that's it right there. Is that your scorecard?
You have it on you, Brock. I had MacGyver that while I was waiting to run on the field, I'm standing there, and you see I've extended the columns to build the 18th inning on the left-hand side because I had used up all the columns on the right-hand side. I love it. This looks like Sanskrit, Hieroclots. No one can translate that.
No one can translate it. You stop putting the pitcher stats in, right? You're just dead, right? Oh, well, at that point, I mean, you're having 15,000 pitchers coming in and out. Podgers used 10, the first to ever use 10 is unbelievable.
Do you have it on you right now? Yeah, I do.
Okay. Oh. What are you gonna do with this? Piece of paper. Jessica Mendoza says I need to keep it.
And I'm like, what in the world would I do with that? We'll keep it. Yeah, we'll keep it. We'll do it. You want to autograph it, frame it highlighting?
I will do that. Thanks for asking. No, please. Great idea. This is an epic game, like one of the greatest World Series games, and Buster Walmart covering a free SPN radio.
Yeah, I'll be right back. Sign it, and we'll keep it here. Awesome. Thank you for being here, Buster.
Well, it was great to see you. Thank you for having me. Buster Oning, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Check out. The World Series on ESPN Radio will return to this show on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance and more in a moment.
The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. Back here in the Rich Eisen show here on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance. Not only does Progressive Let you bundle your insurance. They also give you round-the-clock protection. Quote today at progressive.com.
Great stuff, everybody. Lots of fun. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Tony in Toronto. Is here on the Red Chaz Show.
Tony, were you up till two in the morning? Three in the morning? 3 a.m. Oh, man. Me and the wife went to bed, but me and my kids, we stayed up to watch it.
How old are your kids?
Well, they're university students.
Okay. 19, 18. But my daughter, she's in a tough program, like a pre-med kind of program. And she stayed up and had to get up at six in the morning. Oh, my God.
Yada, yada, yada. She's now an accountant. I'm sorry. But I mean, wow. Staying all.
I'm Sorry about the result for you, Tony.
Sorry about that. Yeah, you know what? It was a great game to watch.
Okay. Okay. Because the level of play on the field was.
so entertaining. back and forth. Either team could have won it many a time. More so did Jays. We wasted opportunities, you know, bases loaded and When I saw Kershaw come up, God bless him, fantastic.
Hall of Fame or first ballot. But his pitching was pathetic. We couldn't put you across the run. Yeah. Right.
Anyway, that's part of the game. The thing is what bothers me, Rich, is the incompetence of our manager. We lost it. As his decision making and choice of what he did put us in a position where we were so handicapped. Imagine how the Dodgers losing all of basically at the same time.
four of their better pairs. How can you lose so much? Springer. Bishop And you substituted Addison Bargre. I don't know if you're familiar with the player.
Not very. No, no, I know. And Kirk, too, for a pinch runner. Exactly. And you put in.
Straw. For what purpose? Straw is not that much faster than Barger. but does not have the capacity hit the home runs, as you recall, with Seattle the the play of Barger from that and with the Dodgers, the Grand Slam. You saw his throw.
What an arm. He has a cannon of an arm reminiscent of like Dave Winfield and Jesse Barfield here with the Jays. And you take him out? And Kirk as well? But come on, my friend.
Like really. He should be second guess. And next year, I don't know, you're going to bring him back based on what you see?
Well, they are playing their they've been playing their heads off, Tony, um, you know, pretty much since May and and so so yeah, they'll they'll definitely bring them back but All right. I appreciate the call. Callback. Maybe tomorrow, right? That's the beauty of baseball.
There's a game later on tonight. Buster only thinks that the games go back to Toronto, which means they have to win either tonight or tomorrow to force that one. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial here on the program. The Washington Commanders, let's talk about them a little bit. Paul Feinbaum talking college football, top of the next hour, overreaction Monday on a Tuesday.
Tony in Toronto might be able to. include us in that, although there were some interesting points he made about the The lack of hitting that was going down at the end of the game last night because of who was not in the lineup anymore. Um Let's talk about Washington commanders a little bit here. They're in trouble. I was mentioning about how deep in trouble that they are.
Because how deep the NFC is. You've got the five one-in-one Green Bay Packers, and then you look at the rest of the NFC standings, and there are a host. of six and two and five and two teams. That are Right there in positions two through six, the niners at five and three. And the commanders at 3 and 5 are currently in 13th place in conference.
And Jaden Daniels can't stay healthy. And nor can Terry McLaurin. I mean, that's what happens, right? When you hold out, I mean uh This may be an oversimplification. You're 30, you're holding out.
You got a quad injury that knocks you out for a month, then you come back and make some great plays. Boom. All of a sudden, the quad injury crops up again. He says he's day-to-day right now, which doesn't sound great. Their next game is against Seattle, and that is 100%.
on ANBC. At home. Must When territory. You cannot lose to the Seattle Seahawks. If you are going to have a wild card route to the playoffs, That's your route.
I'll use that way to say the word.
Okay. That's your route to the playoffs. Because the Eagles are sitting there at 6-2. And the way you're playing, you're not you're not beating the Eagles in the the two times that you see him and The last three games of the season. Wrapped around a A trip to As you can see with the Washington commanders.
Uh we got Dallas coming in. Those are the last three games of the year.
So, you've got to beat Seattle. You cannot not have a tiebreak situation there.
So beating Seattle would be huge. Then you're four and five. And you can maybe make some hay with some other games that are somewhat winnable. Home from Miami. Not home third.
You're in Spain against Miami. Giants, you can take care of them, maybe. Got Denver. There's some tough games ahead. You're 3-5.
Got to win this game against Seattle. Certainly, if your offense is sputtering, I understand Daniels is out. Um Bud. The seven points, the fewest scored under Dan Quinn, who had this to say after the game. Did we leave a lot of opportunities out there tonight?
And you cannot leave that many chances out there and expect to win. Especially against this team, not capitalized on the turnovers, not winning our fourth downs. They did. It was great to see us get in some of the takeaways. You know, that's been an emphasis of what we've been hitting on, but.
You know, leaving here, you cannot leave that many opportunities out there and walk away from this place with a win. I guess some of the positives, Lattimore came up with his first interception as a commander. They've been waiting on that. Bobby Wagner is still Bobby friggin' Wagner. How about this one?
He became the 11th player. who's intercepted both Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. That's a first ballot Hall of Famer when he hangs it up. I've already. Stated my case about Bobby, but the run game disappeared last night.
Bill Krosky, Merritt, nice to meet you. Nine carries. For 25 rushing yards, that's his fewest amount on his. Rookie season. Mariota led the commanders in rushing.
I mean, they started well. And the interception. That Mariota had when it went right off of Debo's hands. They were marching down the field. The first 15 scripted looked beautiful.
Too many mistakes, and now they're in. They're in a hole. You are 3-5, and let's get this correct. And we held it closer here. You're 3-5.
1-4 in conference. They have to win this game against Seattle. It's a must-win. To fall to 3-6 and 1-5 in conference, and no longer now have a tiebreak against Seattle, which might not win its division, but be. good enough to be a wildcard team.
This is it. You want to make the playoffs? You want to follow up last year's remarkable run to the NFC Championship game with your unicorn of a quarterback?
Well, that unicorn's got to stay healthy. You got to still win games, and Sunday night is must. When Territory in week nine, and if it's not, you're three and six. And um And then you've got games. Against Denver.
Detroit. and two against Philadelphia and one against Dallas still to go. That is not the position you want to be in. Certainly when you're not playing like last year when you could have won a lot of those games against the elite competition, they're not looking elite at all. They are what they are, which is a three and five team that makes too many mistakes and has a quarterback that is not staying healthy enough for him.
for whatever reason. Paul Feinbaum College Football Company. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
