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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen show. He took a home run away from Manny Machado from the Rich Eisen show studio in Los Angeles. There's no more talented team than the Los Angeles Dodgers. Earlier on the show, ESPN NFL analyst Jeff Saturday.
Coming up, CBS Sports NFL analyst Kyle Long, Royals first baseman Vinny Pespanitino, and now is. It's Rich Eisen. Hour number two, the Rich Eisen show is on the air. Here, listen, just to let you in on how things sometimes operate in a show like this one. We talk about having a guest on the program.
Sometimes the timing works out.
Sometimes the timing doesn't work out, and then you try and find a time in the future where the guest can join. And sometimes that works out even better than one can expect. Because talk about perfectly timed, Kyle Long, who's doing a terrific job on CBS, is joining us here on the program as planned on this very day to talk about something called Generation Fine and how one in ten United States men, six million, experience depression or anxiety, but only less than half. Go ahead and receive treatment. It is a pleasure to see you on my screen here, Kyle Long.
How are you, sir? Legend. What's going on, Rich? Huge fan of yours. Thanks for having me.
No, and congrats on everything that's going on right now in your in your professional career. And again, like I said, perfectly timed. I'd love to give you the floor and your thoughts about when you heard Lane Johnson was retiring and talking about his mental health.
Well, I think I'll get this part out of the way. The reason that you and I were on the books originally is because I'm part of this Johnson and Johnson campaign where we've partnered together on the Generation Fine movement, and the topic has been all things mental health, dealing with depression. Fine, not being the finish line. You know, so often we get stuck as men in the rut of saying I'm fine, all good, but fine is in the finish line, right? We want to be great, and that's what we strive to do.
And like I've been. Explaining to some of my colleagues and friends over the course of the last few days with the Lane Johnson news, look: if you get a hamstring, you go into the training room and you take care of it. Your high ankle sprain, you do all the things you're supposed to do. If you want better cardio health, you get on the stairmaster and you go and you get your butt on there for five days a week or whatever it is.
Well, mental health has been something where we don't have that immediate, you know, itch that you can scratch or at least the know-how to. And I think that partnering with Johnson and Johnson has been great because with the Generation Fine movement, it gives people a place to go. It's Generation Dash Fine dot com for stories, information. To get connected with the the right people, places, and things to get you out of your rut, and mental health is so important right now. Rich, no question about it, Kyle.
And I was talking about it on on on the Wednesday show that there is no crutch, there's no brace, there's no bandage, there's nothing except you're looking at somebody who plays the National Football League for a living, which is a dream for so many others. That it's difficult for folks to comprehend. How can somebody who's generationally enriched and generationally talented like Lane Johnson wake up with a gray day to the point where he says, "I can't do this anymore" or "I shouldn't do this anymore"? Can you help with that, Kyle?
Well, it's important to understand the position that Lane plays, and it's the most selfless position in the most selfless sport. On the planet, and he has been at the very top of the game for 14 years now, and it's a pressure cooker, the NFL. I don't care if you're a punter, kicker, long snapper, linebacker, safety, or an offensive lineman. And Lane, Lane did the most selfless one, and I just commend him for being selfish in this instance in a good way. And I don't mean that as a bad thing, and taking care of himself and deeming this to be the most important thing right now.
Look, I mean, you can't imagine. Imagine. the the difficulty it is you have trying to go to sleep the night before a game or picture good things happening because as an offensive lineman we don't have stats right the only stat we have is holding and false starts the only time you really get circled is when your quarterback's on the ground so if you can imagine for Lane Johnson 14 years of that and then we're also human beings right you go home and you've got family you've got all these things so Lane weighed his his His decision, and he made it, and you know he will go down as the greatest eagle of all time. And if anybody has anything to say about that, just go watch the tape. Yeah, and again, just to you know add a little bit more of the humanity to it.
Years ago, I don't remember what year it was, but I was interviewing your dad for this show. And the Bears were playing the Eagles, I think. Right, Chris? Is that what them? It could have been the Patriots too.
I don't know what, what whichever team your brother Chris was on at the time. And we were at the Hall of Fame, and I was interviewing your dad, and I am like, boy, you know, you and your your wife, you know, when Kyle and Chris are playing against each other, this is going to be a great day for you, and he's like. Not so much because every snap between the offensive and defensive line, he called it a car crash. He goes, "It's a car crash every time." Yeah, and your, you know, my, my, you know, you and your mom, you know, you and Diane's heart. He said, "Our hearts are going to be our throats for every snap." Yeah, you know, and I'll that always sticks with me.
Whenever I, it's a it's a very real thing.
Sometimes there's so many superhuman things happening on screen, and you know, the National Football League. We do such a great job of presenting this product as shiny and clean, but you and I both know, having been around it, how nasty and and raw this thing is. And along with the physicality and sheer size of these people, there's there's a lot of fear in there. There's a lot of anxiety that can come up, and clearly, all across the league, not just. Lane Johnson, you know, guys like Joe Thomas have spoken up.
Who was seemingly invincible in Cleveland at a very tough time for that franchise? Even he speaks up on, you know, his inability and ability to kind of navigate through some of the throws of the difficult times in the National Football League. Kyle Long here on the Rich Eisen show. How you how you liking the Sunday morning TV game? It is it is my dream, and you know you mentioned talking to my dad, and it's it's not lost on me how lucky I am to have grown up in this business.
And for so many guys, they saw football as the finish line. I always knew that I wanted to get into the media, and just like quarterback, one seats in the National Football League. There's only thirty thirty two. I couldn't tell you how many seats there are for pregame shows. There ain't many, and I've got one, and I've got fantastic guys that I sit with.
Russell Wilson's a rookie, and he is going to win Rookie of the Year, no doubt. Nate Burleson is like, what can he do? Coach Cower reminds me a lot of my dad, so when me and him are on the desk together, I feel really comfortable with that chemistry. And then obviously James Brown, he is triple OG certified, and he worked at Fox for a long time with my dad, so I'm plugged in with him. I'm really.
Lucky to have that crew to work with every Sunday.
So it's either that or Firestorm Two. Is that what it would have been, Kyle? They said they said that my hair follicles weren't quite up to par for the casting. Rich, you know, we've been left out of a lot of leading roles because of our. Listen, it's beautiful, Kyle.
You know, situation. You know, and that's why I'm rooting for the Titans. They're all. It's it's not going well for the follicly challenge right now. That entire that entire coaching staff.
Either needs to win a game or go to Turkey. You know what I mean? Like, let's go, and maybe a combination of both. But like, when I think about you know zero and four. And oh, and four isn't all the same, right?
So Titans, Texans, this Texans team's got to figure some stuff out too, brother, because this was a championship defense on paper and in conversation, right? And now we've got Domico Ryan's gonna be taking over play calling. There's a lot of that passing of the sticks, as it were. Davis Webb doing the same thing with Sean Payton, allegedly, and you never know. I guess Sean, I'm changing gears a lot.
No, go for it. No, no, Sean. Sean Payton said, "I'm going to go with more of a collaborative approach," and you and I know what that means with Sean Payton. Sean Payton's like, "That's my PlayStation controller, buddy. You're just you're going to have a say in it.
I'll be pressing the buttons." Which is why, listen, and everybody who knows him was, you know, somewhat surprised. Because in the same way that we were talking about mental health and stuff like that, and it's true that you know, I think Sean Payton's like taking stock, like that. At the end of the day, the pressure of the calling the plays and whatever—if I'm removing that, I could be a better coach to everybody. And but at the end of the day, when you know. One way to do, like, sort of like the only way I, I run the forty yard dash, Kyle.
I only know one speed. You know what I mean? Yeah. Don't let your job get in the way of your superpower for Sean Payton, right? Like, sure, you have a like.
What do you want to shake hands and kiss more babies? Like, just all the plays that let your super clutch quarterback Bo Nix go win the football game, and obviously if they lean on that defense. But at the end of the day, you look at their wins and losses, and most of their wins have come on the backs of. Bo Nix performances late in the fourth quarter, and Sean Payton dialing up some smart stuff. Did the Patriots save their season last week?
Was that too strong? You got to think the Patriots are feeling pretty good, but at the end of the day, that was the stress test for Drake May. Right now, this week will be the stress test for that offensive line because Malcolm Kuntz, Nakobe Dean, Max Crosby, and the boys—they're not quite licking their chops after last week. They're not licking their wounds. I think they're licking their chops.
You know what I'm saying? They're fired up for this opportunity to get after Drake May. You know, if we couldn't kill Patrick Mahomes, let's go after the other guy. But it's that defense for the Patriots that really has been showing me stuff. Gabe Jackson's on the outside, and obviously a number of guys.
Christian Gonzalez's health is going to be an issue moving forward. But it's the Patriot way, right? You get a guy that can do like six things, line him up everywhere, make him do everything. I think you just made an interesting point about the Raiders, Kyle Long, because we're all focused on Kubiak being the guy bringing his offense, and look at Kirk Cousins keeping Fernando Mendoza in mentor E mode, right? As opposed to the guy who's going to come out and be the rookie of the year type of season, and that's totally cool, right?
And Ashton Gentry looking the way he looks, and Bowers looking the way he looks, but it's the defense. Is making the Raiders "quote unquote" for real. Right, I mean, absolutely, but it's like driving a Toyota. When you have Kirk Cousins in the lineup, it's like driving a Toyota. You don't even have to think about it.
You know, it's going to start. You know, it's going to run. You're just going to get you to point. This is a Hyundai show, Kyle. This is a Hyundai show.
Can you make that analogy? I'm sorry, you know, it's like the Hyundai Elantra. You know, you get in that thing and it gets you from A to B as quickly and safely as possible. And then you can worry about you know where do we get our teeth? You can throw some rims on that bad boy too, and that's what they've done.
Max Crosby, Malcolm. Kunis, Nickobe, Dean. The list goes on and on and on. But this Raiders team isn't just a a gritty bunch punching up anymore. They're they're in the same weight class now as these bigger teams, and they're out to prove it.
They got to do it against the Patriots, best team in the NFL through four weeks. Is. My goodness! Is that substation still going in San Francisco? I think the San Francisco Forty Nineers are a pretty damn complete football team.
But then again, that team in Chicago has showed me some stuff, man. I had real concerns about the defense, but they're above and beyond, in my opinion, the best third down defense in the National Football League. And they're still finding their feet. They get their guy Kyler Gordon back there roaming the secondary. He's a blitz package guy as well.
And then obviously everybody and their mama has talked about. Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, Case Keenum, and Tyson Bajen.
So, can Tyson Bajen go out there and beat up on the Packers at Lambeau? That'll be fun to watch. This team, this team is, you know, feels like destiny, man. Feels like destiny. There's the guy right there, Tyson Bajen.
Selfless, didn't complain when Case Keenum went out there, got the got the start and the one play, second start. For Tyson Bayon's game, which is so Ben Johnson psychopath move behavior, I love it. He just wanted to prove, right? Like everybody says, who's starting this week? And guess what?
I'm going to put two quarterbacks out there and make a mockery of the win loss record stuff. I think I'm going to do what I want. I think I'm going to do exactly what I want. That's Ben Johnson, right? Yeah, I don't know with the with the pen clicking and and all of that, but but but in all seriousness, to your point here, do you?
Think because last year it was like Caleb Williams drinking out of a fire hose all summer. What's he going to look like? And is this going to really work? Remember all that, and then and then they start winning games by pulling it out of their orifice every single week. And Caleb is the ice man, and now this year's supposed to be a different ball of wax because he's coming in in a certain way, and then they come up and put sixty points on the board, and off he goes now with a hamstring injury.
Do you think in the long run though this could be helpful? Right, I think what could be helpful is seeing how efficient and on time the trains are running with these backup quarterbacks, and for him to see Case Keenum work in rhythm, on time, within the structure of the offense. Obviously, everybody knows Caleb Williams can do things once the expiration date runs out in the pocket. He can pirouette like Russell Wilson, going to his left. He can go right, make any throw in the field.
But the thing that has been in doubt is his ability to drop back. And when that back foot hits the ground at the top of his drop, deliver the strike on time in rhythm. Maybe he's learned some from these guys. Look, and if he has, look out, everybody, because the Bears are going to be scoring sixty-five points every week. All right, Kyle Long.
Before I let you go, how can people get involved with Generation Fine? Please go check out generation-find.com. Obviously, Johnson and Johnson and myself—we've partnered on this thing, and it hits really close to home for me. And I think it may hit close to home for you and people you know. I can almost guarantee it.
Thanks so much, Rich. Of course, Kyle. Because again, I imagine it's called Fine because so many people like I'm fine. You know, they just kind of just brush it aside. Fine is not the finish line, dude.
You know, well, when you see Russell Wilson, ask him who the and with all due respect to James Brown, who as you pointed out is a goat, and I love the guy, right? Ask him who who the first host of a Sunday morning show that he ever did in his career was.
Okay, because okay, and I guess you know what the answer is. And ask Nate Burleson who the first interview he did on NFL Network with when he showed off his chops for the first time. Chops of which he has many. He has many. Oh my God, does he ever?
Ask, ask, ask them both. Don't do it in front of JB, you know, because I don't want to make it seem like I'm, I'm, I'm rich. I got to pinch myself sometimes. I'm talking to Rich Eisen, the fat, the fastest guy in the media. That is right.
That is right. The fast. You know what? Longevity. Lane Johnson did it for 14 years.
How long you been running? Running the 40 yard dash? Yeah. Oh, twenty.
So like you are like Bruce Matthews now. Oh, I'll take it. Yeah, man, I'll take it. Shout out to Jake Matthews. I hope he can play.
He got dinged up last week. He's at like one eighty nine. We got to get him to. We got to get him to catch his pops. I'm all about kids catching their dad.
That's it. Last one for you. I don't know if you have to run, but just last one. Did did your dad ever sit you and Chris down and watch fire? Firestorm with you?
Yeah, he he locked us in a room and firestorm on. Do you ever most seriously like sit down and watch Broken Arrow with your dad? You know what? Of course. I mean, my dad is our he's our hero, dude.
And growing up, it's you know, my dad's an action hero. Watch, he kicks this guy's ass in the movie. People are like, "That's just the movies." I'm like, "No, no, no." Trust this guy; knows what he's doing. See, I know that's pretty cool. With me, it's like, "Hey, kids, sit down and watch Dad on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune." Doesn't have the same.
Kick to it, you know what I mean? Yeah, no, no, no. You you do much better in a hosting role than than he does. That's my firestorm. He's more security.
Okay, I love it. Thanks a lot, Rich. I know you got stuff to do. No, you too. Good to see you, man.
Enjoy. I'm gonna go take my daughter to tennis. We both get tennis lessons together in the same building, and it's been fun.
Okay, what's your game look like? What do we got? Big power fore. I like to go cross court with the forehand. I don't like to do doubles.
I like singles.
Okay, gives some good gaps to hit it into. Takes me back to baseball. Little left center, right center action.
Okay, very good. Enjoy that. Enjoy being father of the year, Kyle. You all right, Rich? Take it easy.
Come along, everybody. Yes, sir. Yeah, it was a delightful first foray here on the Rich Eisen show. There he goes. You know the answer to the questions about the Russell Wilson and the Nate Burleson, who the first?
Yeah. I might have been there that day. What for Russ? Yeah, I forget. It was the year again.
He was he was it his rookie year because he was the first one there, right? He beat me. He beat me to the studio. Yeah, and then I feel like I remember that. And then we were going to ask him to do the next week as well, but I think he had to go because he made the Pro Bowl because Matt Ryan made the NFC Championship game.
That's my memory. If it serves, or Matt Ryan made the Super Bowl—that's what it was. He came in to do the championship Sunday after he won. Um, he won in his rookie season, a playoff game.
So twenty twelve, twenty twelve. I think so. That's what memory serves. Because I remember he had to run out because he had to go to the. He had to go to the.
He had to go to Hawaii. I'm almost sure of it. Yeah, he was a Pro Bowl pick that year, his rookie year. Right. I don't know.
Whatever. Oh, I. One thing I definitely remember is that he beat me to the studio, and then he sent me a jersey, a Seattle Seahawks signed jersey, as a thank you. I guess high class as it comes. Same thing with James Brown, which is why I'm pointing out.
You know, I beat James to the punch with Russell. Yeah, because I'm low class. What's Eisen? Thank you, Kai Long. Really good baseball player drafted by the White Sox.
How about that? Oh, I should ask him. Yes. Ah, we'll leave baseball to get him back on. We'll stay in the lane.
Turn the machines back on. Baseball. I'd love to turn the machines back on in the American League Divisional Series. I bet. I love to turn the clocks back to maybe May.
Or or or 1986. That part. DJ wants spring chicken. Get in Delorean. Letting Alonso walk.
Eight four four two zero four. Rich number to dial here on the Rich Eisen show. We'll take some phone calls. Come back, talk a little bit more of our our baseball world for sure. A SoFi personal loan is here to help you achieve something once thought impossible: overcoming high interest credit card debt.
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Get started by posting a free job at LinkedIn dot com slash Eisen. There are many in New York City that would love to see a a posting on LinkedIn for new Yankee general manager, hundred percent regular manager, regular manager, both. I'll say this, man, Aaron. Aaron Boone. I I understand the results.
It's a results-oriented business. But the guy didn't have Aaron Judge for two-thirds of the season. Didn't have Stanton for most of the season, and didn't have Radone. Didn't have Freed. You know, I mean, it's not the first time.
Didn't have Cole. Like it. It just again, the fact that the Yankees. Performed as well as they did during the regular season. You're not allowed.
Turn your microphone off, Dodger fan. I was a Yankee fan, and you was was was. I was. I'm the real Yankee fan here. The guy on the screen in the middle in the hoodie, and Aaron Judge didn't take a single swing in the postseason, except in the cage to see if he could come back from an injury that he suffered after he came back from the injury that kept him out most of the year.
And the guy on the left on the screen is George Lombard Jr., who is one thousand percent the Yankee shortstop of the future. And the guy on the right is also part and parcel of the Yankees' current roster. It's Paul Goldschmidt, who I think is a baseball Hall of Famer at the end of his career, who's only playing first base when there's a lefty. He's a platoon guy now, and. You know the problem is when Goldschmidt is at first.
Now you got Luis Garcia, who's your left-handed hitting first baseman, and what does that mean with Ben Rice? Because you're not going to put him behind home plate anymore.
So that's the way they used to get Ben Rice in to the lineup before he became knocking on wood for Yankee fans here. Aaron Judge 2.0, a left-handed hitting Judge. This kid just crushed it in the postseason. Crushed it was forget about a pulse; he was a heartbeat of the team against the Red Sox. And the only guy who showed up offensively with consistency against the Rays, who were just basically pitching around him to get to Cody Bellinger, which is nuts.
So, and then if Stanton was even healthy, how do you work him in? Because he's not playing the field, how? What? What would Ben Reis have played? The roster, the way it is put together for the Yankees, is a big, huge ass mystery.
And you're throwing that on Boone's lap.
Okay. You also found Spencer Jones. You're going to put him in the outfield. What happens when Judge is healthy? And you know the the fact that they made the proper maneuvers to get Trent Grisham.
Or to get a draft choice for Trent Grisham, who they thought was going to take a, I think, a deal elsewhere. He comes back, and it's only fitting. He made the last out against the Rays by swinging and missing because this lineup just doesn't put the ball in play enough. When they did against the Red Sox, they looked like world beaters. When the Rays came in, they were a totally different team.
Totally different against the team and the Rays that puts the ball in play and has pitching that is not as well decorated or paid as the Yankee staff, but it's damn good. It's damn good, and the Yankees go down in the divisional series without winning a game. I don't believe they had a lead at all, and it doesn't matter that if your lead is essentially in payroll when you are currently the third highest payroll in Major League Baseball at three hundred and eight million dollars, and the Tampa Bay Rays are all down at the twenty eighth highest payroll. At ninety-five million, it doesn't matter if you have that advantage. If you see them, and Judge isn't playing because he's hurt, and you only get listen, Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodon together in twenty twenty-six, their salaries combined fifty-six million dollars.
Those two players, you can do the math. More than half of the Rays' entire payroll, and all they got from those two guys in this series was two pinch-hit at bats from Stanton. Because how are you going to work him in the lineup if he's healthy enough? He struck out both times because it was the only times he swung a bat since April twenty fourth. He didn't get even an at bat against the Red Sox because they didn't need him.
I guess. I guess you could have gotten his feet wet. And Radone didn't throw a single pitch because you're starting Cole and you're starting Schlitter and you're starting Freed. That I understand, makes sense. But if you are constructing a roster to get you to the World Series, Doesn't matter.
You got swept. Radone didn't throw a pitch. Stanton only hit twice. And how? Even if he was healthy, you're going to work him in because Ben Rice has got to be the DH the way that everything is set up on your roster.
So whose feet do you lay that on? And don't. Lay it at the arms of the guy who leaned over, like Jeffrey Mayer. Could you imagine if that was, in fact, Jeffrey Mayer as an older man, or his kids? This dude is getting lit up.
He should. Why? Because he leaned over. First of all, what do you mean he should? We just earlier said that's natural instinct.
Now he's trying to stir it up over here. I know, but it wouldn't have been a home run anyway off the bat of Volpe, because again, the bottom line is the Rays. They get a guy. Invalade, who's on what, like team six? He's the guy who comes in because they're starting a lefty.
He's the one who connects off of Max Freed to give the Yankees a lead, and the Yankees did get to tie the game again. Volpe hits a fly ball to right. It doesn't go three rows in. It goes barely to the wall, and. Fan interference—that would have been a double.
I just don't know. Could it could have hit the wall in a certain way and bounced away, and Volpe could have advanced? I don't. I don't know. But the Yankees don't hit very well with runners in scoring position in games against really terrific pitching.
I mean, you could say that's the case for most teams, but the Rays did against terrific pitching for the Yankees.
So, why does your GM have a lifetime contract? Great question, Cash. Because Cashman had some great years, and there are, I guess, there is enough to hang your hat on. And how Steinbrenner has a different approach than his dad, which is on occasion really good because his dad was a lunatic; he was out of his mind. You know, his dad was a lunatic, but he did tell.
I think it was Ed Bradley on sixty Minutes. You show me a guy who enjoys losing, and I'll show you a loser. And he could have been describing his son right now to be straight up, but he's also how's winning on on the revenue side of things, and they are spending three hundred million dollars on players, and the Dodgers are just one above them, and they're doing everything right because they're spending the money on surefire Hall of Famers who aren't getting hurt and can put the ball in play or hit it out of the park. For a manager who's just turned into a wizard, Dave Roberts.
Now it helped to get Freeman and Betts and Ohtani added to the mix, but he's he's the one who puts Pujols in out of nowhere in a World Series Game Seven and gets results. He's the one who puts Miguel Rojas in and he gets results. You know, Boone puts Jazz Chisholm in and Chisholm basically. You know, turned into Knoblock two point oh on that play, and says I would throw it again the same. You know, I'd do it again, and it's just like no, you should not do it again.
It's just infuriating because it's another year where Aaron Judge is saying stuff like this after he doesn't even play a game because his body wasn't either ready or the Yankees decided we're not running the risk. He did sound like a guy who needed to blink twice to make sure that there's proof of life, because it sounds like he he wanted to play. I don't blame him. This is a killer for Yankee fans to see and hear him like this. We're the Yankees.
I feel like they should go all in and do what they need to do, and find if we got holes, if it's finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you got to go out there and get it. That's why I signed back here to play with the Yankees is to fight for a championship every single year and to go all in. That's what I do every offseason is get ready to you know give this team and the city everything I got.
So I expect them to do the same. Back page of the post. Pop it up if you want. I could see you got it ready. There it is.
It's wall over. No mayor miracle this time as Yanks get swept away. Hey, listen, it's funny, right? You showing a picture of. That kid Jeffrey Mayer back in the day, because Richie Garcia blew the call in a Hall of Fame type blowing a call, like it's a Mount Rushmore of blown calls in the history of Major League Baseball.
And I don't understand why Yankee fans were fetting that moment because it was a, is embarrassing, embarrassing. And if we're hoping that Yankees are rooting for a blown call to get to a game four, that ain't it. Here's what they need to do. They need to find people, at because they found a shortstop, and first base is handled. I mean, Garcia is going to come back, and I, you know, I mean, Rice has got to get in somehow.
If Stanton is going to still be there and he's going to be there, there's like a an option for 2028. He's going to be there. Judge is going to be there. Spencer Jones is going to be there, and Bellinger is going to be there. And Bellinger can play first too.
So you got to get Rice in. You're not going to put him behind home plate. That's for sure.
So you got to find people who put the ball in play at second base, and if that's Volpe, so be it. And third base, I don't care. Give me somebody who doesn't hit home runs at third base. I don't care. I know you're supposed to get some pop out of third base.
Somebody who gets on base for all of these guys. Put the ball in play for crying out loud. The Yankees got productive outs against the Red Sox. They were unbeatable. Oh, good lord!
So shame. I know Met fan is crying a river. My brother, if he's listening right now, the the the tiny violin. I can hear it. The Red Sox fan, I get it.
I understand. I'm just giving you a voice of of of what I've seen all year. What I see all the time. It's very frustrating. You know, and the only way I can get back at the Met Fantasy, they're like the Dallas Cowboys, but we've been to the World Series.
When? Two years ago. Did you win it? Nope.
So you didn't go, essentially. Got it. Says the guy can't wait to get that thirty-year drought conversation done.
Well, Forty Niners haven't won at all. Am I lying? You are not.
Okay, then.
So what are we talking about here?
Okay. Let's take a break here on the Rich Eisen show because Major League Baseball just came up with a proposal. Yeah, in the middle of future Yankee stuff playoff formats, and it's wild. It's it's great, and base you like it, huh? I do.
Okay, we're gonna unpack it. We're gonna unpack it. And Vinny Pasquantino is going to be on the Rich Eisen Show in hour number three eight four four two zero four. Rich number to dial on the program, the Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen here for Gusto.
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What's up, Cameron? How's it going, Rich? I'm doing fine there. What's going on?
Well, I got a question. With the game being tonight in Dallas, playing, and it's been quiet on the off season, and I thought the defense is going to be squared away, and it's such a mess right now. In my opinion, do you think it's the staff or the coaching, or do you think it's the players, or what's the missing piece to get that going? Oh man. I I don't know.
Everybody says it's the scheme and the way that they're the way everything's been dialing it up. That's what Gerald McCoy is telling me on NFL Game Day morning all the time, and that and that you know the the new GC has got to just put the the the the scheme that he's jamming down the throats of guys who don't fit it. He's got to. He's got to change that. Is basically, I am paraphrasing what Gerald's saying because they're really talented, man.
Yeah, for sure.
So, how long? How long you been living in Reading, Cameron? I've been here my whole life. You actually used to cover. I played Anderson, and you covered our twelve and O team with Raymond Matiller.
We played Orrville in the sections, and used to love hearing on. You know, Child Seven. With your comments, I've always, anytime Raymond broke a touchdown, he'd be like, "Looking for daylight." That was it. Did you play? Did you play for Coach Reed?
I sure did. Both of my dad and my uncle. He was. He was the first. Remember, I told you my first day on the job.
It was go and cover a high school playoff game, right? And I had to interview the two coaches live during. During the half, during in between the two games, I had to go record the first one, then interview these coaches live for the second one. Record some of the first half of that one, then run back and edit it all together and put it on the air. And then the live truck, just the guy who was not happy that there was a new guy there and just didn't respect me enough at all to basically say I can't get a signal, he drove off without even telling me.
And I had to stand there and interview. I had to interview a coach anyway. And you know, ask someone to record it for me, or put it on a put it on a tripod. And he was kind enough to do it, even though it wasn't live. That was Coach Reed.
This guy's head high school coach.
So cool! That's who it was. Talk about old school coach, man. He was one to play for. He was.
He couldn't have been nicer to me. I'm some guy from New York, sweating my my ass off on that day, and and he couldn't have been nicer to me. And he he was. He's a legend. A legend.
You know, he just passed away. Right? Did he just pass away? He did, yes, he did about two years ago. Yep.
Thanks for the call, Cameron. In the memory lane, there you go. There's a wow. Yeah, we appreciate you up here.
So appreciate appreciate everything you did up here. And I appreciate everybody there. Gave me a great start. Welcome me. It was incredible.
That was fun, right there. A little memory lane. It's a small world, huh? All right. Yeah.
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You know, got to be best. Great, and and the Dodgers will be taking on the Brewers, which has currently the second highest payroll remaining, nineteenth out of the thirty major league baseball teams. The White Sox are twenty fourth, the Rays are twenty eighth, and the Guardians are DFL in this category.
So it's entirely possible that the Guardians they make the World Series. It'll be the thirtieth payroll against two. That's and you know, you know, if it's the Major League Baseball's Players Association, I'd imagine is rooting for the Brewers the hardest and the Guardians.
So it can be like, hey, you think we got to redo the financial system because it's nineteen versus thirty in the World Series? Where all these teams that are you need a salary cap for? Where are they? Oh, okay. You know that would be certainly because the winter is coming and it's nuclear and whatever.
Yep. So any proposal that baseball makes has got to be seen through the prism of this is part of the collective bargaining conversation that's to come that hopefully will result with games being played next year. And in that regard, I haven't seen this yet. This just got popped up here. Pop it up on the screen if you don't.
Yeah, MLB posted this. Baseballs were proposing returning to 154 game regular season, proposing it. Right, right. Best of seven division series.
So this would still be going on right now. And opponent selection in the wild card and division series. What does that mean? Starting in 2029, shortening the season would create a weekly. Standard off day benefiting player health.
It would allow the addition of up to eight more postseason games by removing, by moving to a best of seven divisions format.
Okay, and beginning in twenty twenty seven, higher seeded clubs in the wild card and division series would select their opponents. That's fun.
So the Rays would select somebody that they think that they could beat. I think they would choose the Yankees anyway. What does that accomplish? That's weird. It just takes away the bracket of it, and you know, so they would choose it.
Yeah, so the one seed says, "Hey, I want, I want." So the team that, so the team that that that that that gets chosen. Would be able to put the disrespect mantra in full display. Sure. Yes. Oh, you want to play us?
The question has always been asked of of teams that have advanced in a playoff round. Who would you rather play? Who would you rather play of the teams that?
So right now, the question would be asked of the Rays: Who would you rather play? And no Ray would ever give an answer to that question. But now the organizations would be forced to give an answer to that question. Yeah, and provide. But oh, you want us?
You got us. Right. And in the wild card too, the three seed would select to play the five or six. I like this. What does it accomplish?
Just spices it up.
Okay, I do like shortening the season to one fifty four. That's fine, but that's great. It probably and now we're we're we're extending the baseball playoffs series. We're making the division series best of seven and right.
So so in this time, the Yankees would be choosing who they want to play, and the um. The Astros have chosen who they want to play, and I imagine what who gets to go first to choose team with the better record or team with the better higher seed higher seed.
So the Astros would be able to choose an opponent, and leaving the Yankees to you know what I'm saying. Like so, only one team would choose an opponent, yeah, because that would leave the other two.
So it would be up to the Astros barely made the playoffs to decide who the Yankees play in the in the wild card round. You think that's fair? The one seed in the division in the division round. What I'm saying in the wild card round is where it would start.
So this year, the Astros who barely made it, but they're above a seeded better than the Yankees because they won the division. They would get to choose who to play.
So the Yankees would would be completely random based on who the Astros would rather play. That's who the Yankees play in your division. Dumb. Stupid idea! Already, I reject it.
Oh, why? Because it didn't benefit the Yankees? No, because it wouldn't benefit any team. Just fill in a blank. Yeah, doesn't have to be the.
I am just giving that as an example. This year, the second best team in the American League, it would be up to the worst team that made the playoffs to decide who the other best team in the American League gets to play. They won their division. Do we not respect division?
So, you want to just get rid of the divisions? That's been part of the conversation we've had over the last few weeks. I get it, but this—that's not a proposal. No, the better proposal is you stack the teams based on record at the end of the day.
So no division winning a division does not matter. Yeah, it doesn't matter. Correct. But it would it would it would affect you. At this point, it's a balanced schedule pretty much anyway.
I mean, the Yankees. Just as an example, I I constantly use the Yankees for an example. Two reasons: because this is the team that I know the best in the schedule, and two, it's the team that everybody cares about the most. The varsity, no, but in all seriousness, people care about the Yankees. Didn't play the Red Sox appreciably much more than they played the Rockies.
At the end of the day, which is kind of dumb. I liked it when the division.
So there's ways to go about it, but to basically tell a team that barely made the playoffs, you get to choose who you play, and the second best team in the entire league has to then sit back, totally random, because you didn't win your division. You're using this season as your as an example, exactly. But it's it's not going to always be the case that there the third division always got to take as one for me to tell you it stinks. Play baseball next year. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast.
You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to three Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Today's forecast: falling leaves, football, and an eighty percent chance you're going to need a few more things for that backyard project. Running low on yard bags? Need a leaf blower?
Let Express Delivery from the Home Depot bring them right to you. Get fall project essentials delivered fast, so you can get it done with plenty of time left for the game. Get what you need in two hours or less with Express Delivery from the Home Depot. Subject to availability. Order select in-stock items by 4 p.m.
Restrictions and fees apply.
