REShow: John Sadak - Hour 2

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Let's go! Julio, how did you do that? Swinging. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. What did we tell you about this kid, Elie Dela Cruz? He's so hot! It looks like he was created by artificial intelligence. Yes. 99 speed, 99 power, 6 foot 5.

All of it. Earlier on the show, Yahoo! sports columnist Dan Wetzel. Coming up, Reds play-by-play announcer John Sadak, Baseball Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Can't confirm it's me. It's our number two of the Rich Eisen Show. Live on the air here on the Roku Channel, which is free on all Roku devices. Select Samsung Smart TV. We are free on Amazon Fire TV. We're also free on the Roku app because the Roku Channel is on that. And then you got the rokuchannel.com.

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We say hello to our podcast listening audience, listening to us whenever they darn well please. Maybe just before the first pitch of tonight's all-star game in Seattle, Washington. Fun home run derby last night. And it was just great to see a lot of baseballs leave the arts. I did love the touch of Pete Alonso autographing the baseballs that he was sending into left center and right fields. That's my guy. Very cool. I thought that was really neat.

We'll talk a little bit more about that later on. Pedro Martinez is on in hour number three. We'll talk about what he thinks show Aotani should be doing. Thursday is the 34-year anniversary of him delighting the Fenway faithful and starting the 1999 all-star game with four strikeouts of the six batters he faced on that night.

And the win that he amassed in that all-star game. He's in hour number three. We've been talking a lot about L.A. Dela Cruz here pretty much since he started hitting baseballs for the Cincinnati Reds this year. You were on him in your fantasy coming up, right?

Oh yeah, I stashed him a month out. And so you were on it. I knew about him in many ways the way I know about a lot of things in sports. My 12-year-old, Cooper, was on all over him. And I'm like, let me see what this kid's all about.

I'm like, oh my gosh. And then the home run call, the home run that he hit on June 7th, my anniversary. Second game. With Suess. His second game also put the man who's been meeting every moment that L.A. Dela Cruz has given us with perfection, John Sadak of the Cincinnati Reds with this call.

Anticipation to see what we have. Oh goodness! That ball had a family! In Game 2, his first home run!

A two-run bomb! Just so much fun stuff from L.A. Dela Cruz and the man who's been describing it. So we're thrilled to have him here on the Rich Eisen Show after playing all of his greatest hits over the last month.

John Sadak, the announcer of the Cincinnati Reds for a third year running. Good to speak with you, John. Great to be with you, Rich. Thank you for having me.

You bet. I told this story on the air, John. Again, my 12-year-old son, he's been playing me all these highlights for, you know, nonstop.

He's on the MLB app and he played that one for me. And he asked me, Dad, what does he mean by that ball had a family? So you forced me to have a conversation about humor and mortality with my 12-year-old, John.

So thank you for that. That's what we're looking for. The greatest depth as possible as the celebratory antics of the Reds baseball season goes on. So what has this been like for you? Because obviously this isn't, you know, new with Cincinnati having young players be fascinating and fun to watch.

But he just stands out. I'm wondering what this has been like from your perspective behind the microphone, John. It's been incredibly engaging and thrilling. This is my favorite year at baseball by far.

But, you know, Rich, I've been personally very fortunate to be right place, right time at a lot of places over the years. I did women's basketball at the University of Delaware when Elena Deladon played there. And she dropped 54 in a game against James Madison, went on to become a gold medal winner in the WNBA MVP. My Division 3 alma mater snapped the longest win streak in college football history, beating their nemesis to go to a championship.

UConn's run that came to a close in the Final Four. I covered Aaron Judge during his rise with the Yankees in AAA. I've been really, really fortunate to be around greatness and to be able to watch it and describe it. And Ellie is such a unique talent because he does everything.

He has not just the physical tools, but the awareness of how to best utilize those tools and that dramatic flair of showmanship that just makes him so engaging. And I just, you know, your calls have just been so filled with excitement and joy of you meeting the moment. And, you know, the moment that he got that cycle, John, and then the pictures of your of the broadcast, you know, the broadcast team that you work with showing this like little girl.

She must have been like 14 or 13 or 15, who knows, 12, just jumping up and down with excitement, just seeing the folks in the stands respond to his his achievements so quickly. And the joy that it has brought is I love seeing it, man. I just I just love watching it. It's just been so much fun. Yeah, it's contagious. You know, I've described it on the air like this a few times, and I sincerely mean it. Reds baseball has become like a rock concert. It has become like the NCAA tournament. The hair stands up on your arms.

You get goosebumps. There's a contagious energy that is indescribable. And his single effect that this is a deep team with a lot of good young talent, but his single effect is so significant in how it's moved the needle among the fan base. They went from 19000 fans a game Crielli and the worst single game attendance in the 20 year history of the ballpark, coming off 100 loss season to over 30000 fans a game and the best three game draw in the 20 year history of the stadium almost overnight. Was that the Braves series, John, that you're referring to? It was.

Yeah. And that was the zenith moment was, you know, that was their lone win. They lost the other two games. They were one run games. They were thrilling, but that was the win.

And that was kind of the formal they had arrived moment. That was their 12 straight win. It was a top five win streak in team history. You have to go back to the 50s, the last time they had had a surge like that.

And they have the longest drought of a cycle in baseball. And the last man to achieve it was Eric Davis, who is a longtime mentor and inspiration to Ellie. He's the reason why he wears 44 for the Reds. I did not know that John Sadak here on the Rich Eisen Show.

So walk me through who Ellie is and walk people through what you've learned about this young man so far. John, the youngest of nine kids taken away from his family by family choice at age six to focus on baseball. His hometown in the Dominican just did not have facilities or coaching to be able to actualize his talent.

By later in his childhood, he moved an hour away from his family to be in the capital. And all along the way was often overlooked was an also ran. The fulcrum moment for him came when there was another shortstop that was nicknamed Lindor because he was viewed as so skilled and so beloved. And he was asked to try out along with this other young man essentially to make the other kid look good. He was supposed to be the sparring partner for this workout.

And he instead caught the eye of the Reds, who inked him for $65,000. He is a very soft-spoken, blue collar young man. You know, he wears the chains. He has the dread extensions. He does play with a lot of flair. But that's just him having fun.

There's no showing up of anybody. He is a super hard worker. He looks at the game in a very intelligent way. Some of my favorite moments, Rich, have come when our cameras are able to spy him alongside Joey Votto. And that generational conjoining as they're looking at an iPad of each man's respective at bat and talking through what happened. So basically you're saying when he was trying out, he was supposed to be the Washington Generals for this shortstop nicknamed Lindor. And he turns out to be the Harlem Globetrotters for the Cincinnati Reds pretty much in that moment. That's exactly it. And he's got the emotional intelligence to seek out people like Votto and Eric Davis?

That's what's happening? That's how he's being formed as a professional right now? Yeah, and make no mistake, he knows he's good. And he wants to maximize his ability. He's had quotes along his rise saying that he wants to be the best player at each level. And the crazy thing is, look at his stats. He was in the Complex League, the lowest level of stateside baseball, two years ago. In 2021, he wasn't there long, but to go two years from that to what he's achieved.

And I can argue, you look at his numbers, he's gotten better at each level he's moved up. I just love the way he plays the game too, John Sadak, the voice of the Cincinnati Reds here on the Rich Eisen Show. And how he stole for the cycle in two pitches the other day against Milwaukee. And how he reached third, and he had the gumption to obviously steal second and third with two outs. After, by the way, providing the lead with a two-out base hit to get on. And then has the temerity to steal home, but also the smartness to realize what's going on.

But to also have that sort of kid mentality and go, damn right I'm stealing home. I'm taking it. I'm going. And I loved it. I loved the reaction in the dugout.

I loved all of it. It's awesome, man. It's so infectious to watch.

It's great. The really cool layering to that, Rich, is that third base coach, JR House, who does an excellent job. And he's been one of the strong advocates for the entire team approach of being far more aggressive on the bases.

Big reason why the Reds have achieved what they have to this point. He kind of pulled the curtain back after the game and said he went to go high five Ellie after he stole third. And Ellie wanted no part of it. He looked away from it. And he thought, that's kind of weird.

What's going on? And he also confessed that over the course of the year, he would notice every time Ellie went to third base, he would change that oven mitt that says absolutely ridiculous in an ice cream font on it to his other hand. And he asked, why do you do that? He's like, well, so when I steal home, I want to use my other hand to go into the foul side of the plate. Like he's been thinking that all year. He's always thinking steal home. We're showing that photograph right now of him taking it, too.

I know. It looks like he's flying. It looks like he's Superman.

It's so incredible. And obviously he's young and he's taken things by storm right now. What dare we ask? Can he improve? What are his areas of improvement, John?

You know, the ludicrous element to all of this. And I've said this on and off air to my partners, to our production crew, to coaches. We haven't seen him get hot yet. Like he hasn't gotten hot. He's had great games. He's had great series. I mean, he was hitting 500 on the road trip going into that finale.

Right. I don't think we've seen him hot. Like, I think he could have like two inside the park homers in a game. He still gets pitched backwards a lot. He sees the highest rate of breaking balls in all of baseball of men who have as many at bats as he does. He sees the lowest rate of fastballs of anyone in baseball.

I think we'll see him. He's already made adjustments. I think we'll see him adjust to the quality delivered for strike off speed that is not as present in the minor leagues. That's part of the learning curve. And Rich, he's learning and he's hitting 325.

He's learning and he's like winning games single-handedly at times. Well, I'm looking here. I'm seeing when you go to Atlanta in the second half. I don't know if you do.

I'm looking right now, which is too bad. Because I would love to see him run against the freeze. You know, like that's the last thing I want to see him do. You know, I want him to basically during mid-inning run out to a left field pole and beat the freeze. I think he could. I think he could.

I think he could too. And unfortunately, we were there in the infancy of the season. That was the opening road trip and he was still in AAA at that point. And the other crazy element to this, Rich, is you talk to his teammates. Because there are a lot of rookies on this team of young players that were teammates with him for long stretches in the minors.

And Andrew Abbott has said this several times. He's having a phenomenal rookie year. The lefty from Virginia who's kind of become the de facto ace in the wake of some injuries. He said the ball had a family home run that nearly left the stadium. He said that's not a top five homer he's hit this year.

You can find a lot of these highlights on Twitter and on YouTube of what he achieved at AAA. He said that of all the moments that have occurred, we're still seeing the scratching of the surface of the truly otherworldly amazing play. And I can't wait to watch this young man's career unfold. But the second half of the season though, Jon. I mean this team's got playoff potential written all over it.

And a run too, right? I mean like I imagine that is being discussed in that clubhouse right now, correct? Their running turn of phrase is, why not us?

It's something they have said from the beginning. And there have been a ton of doubters and fairly so. They lost 100 games last year. A lot of the needle moving players were in the minors. We did a full page graphic the other day about where the Reds in the lineup this last series in Milwaukee were a calendar year earlier.

And many of them are either in the minors, injured, some of them at very low levels in the minor leagues or in other organizations. And what this team has done in a compressed span of time is just, it's fantastical. It's the ultimate American kind of story to go from underdog to top dog.

And what's emerged essentially is a two-team race. And they're going to get the Brewers again out of the break. And then they'll see them again in Milwaukee just a week and a half later. And those head-to-head games will have major say along with the rest of this long home stand out of the break. They get the Giants a good team. They get the Diamondbacks another great young team that plays like Cincinnati. But yes, they're very much in the playoff chase.

And most are curious how or if they're going to add particularly to pitching as the trade deadline approaches. So rank it for me right now, John Sadak. It's burrow one, what is it, Stilvato two in that town right now?

Or Ellie De La Cruz? Or what do we got? Or burrows not number one? What do you got for me right now in Cincinnati, Ohio? I think it's the success of Cincinnati of the Bengals, I should say. Joe Burrow has definitely grabbed the hearts of the city in a convincing way.

As he should. I mean, he is Joe Cool. And they have become a premier destination for people in the greater Cincinnati area. But I think Joey Botto has a loyalty from a large majority of the stand base.

He is so beloved. Because he spent his whole career there. And part of it is because the team was so bad during a chunk of that time. And he still performed at a very high level. And now he leads the team in O.P.S. and slugging.

He's 39. That's awesome. I think the city loves this story and loves it. Well, and again, you are meeting the moment, John. I'm enjoying your calls immensely. So keep on having a blast.

Really. You're making it fun for me and everybody who's watching the fun unfold in Cincinnati. Well, thank you kindly. And if I may share with you, I want to say thank you to you. When I wanted to do this, when I wanted to work in this industry, my original aspiration was inspired by you and your peers to be a SportsCenter anchor. And it was I was a senior in the class of 96, growing up in New Jersey from Greater New York. And all of your email addresses at the time were public on my dial up AOL connection. And I wrote you and a number of the other anchors and almost all of you, including you, wrote back. I shared your story. Yes. Really?

OK. And that was a huge help to me to kind of get a picture of the diversity of the paths. And I love sports. I love sports.

I may love sports media even more. And getting to talk to people like you is even more of a pinch me moment. And I'll never forget that. And I'm deeply appreciative. Wow, John, that's I appreciate that. I appreciate you sharing that as well. And it's kind of an honor for me to receive an email from you back in that day and not even know what it might have impacted or that you even received it.

And now here we are all this time later chit chatting about a major sports baseball story going on and and you crushing it. I'm thrilled. I couldn't be happier for you. And I appreciate you sharing. That's pretty cool. Thanks. You got it.

Life is great. It's second, but man. All right. We'll see you here in Los Angeles.

I mean, I'm definitely I definitely want to go to those games. You know, that's for sure. Thank you for the call, John. Appreciate it. You got it. That's John Sada.

We'd love to have you. OK, sounds good. OK, very good. John Sada right here on The Rich Eisen Show.

Yeah. End of July. Reds at Dodgers Friday night, Saturday night and a Sunday day game. One ten. Let's go. Why wouldn't why wouldn't they flex that to ESPN Sunday night? Sunday night camps. I mean, I know you don't talk about it, but that's what we should do.

They should. Reds Dodgers because it put it put up the standings again one more time. This is why how remarkable what Ellie Dela Cruz did the other day, because he stole second third.

He gets on first with a two out base hit to knock in the go ahead run in the eighth inning. OK. And then still second, third and home to provide the insurance run on just two pitches against the team that's chasing them. Just a half game behind them. And if you're not in first in the central, you're not in the wildcard at present. Oh, yeah. So that's the difference between playoff positioning where you're in and when you're chasing. And so he did it against the team that they're battling in that division on the road at Milwaukee. Tough. Yeah, absolutely.

So that's these are crucial sequences. And also what John said, that wasn't just like a random thing he is looking to take home. I love that. Yeah, that he ever hit the mitt on his left hand, because if I'm stealing home, I want to slide in on the first base side. I want to I want to slide in with my left hand. I don't want to reach from foul territory.

And I want to I want to slide in. That's insanely like observational from a guy so young. Yeah. Twenty one. Twenty one.

He's born at 2000. And I love that photograph. Baseball put it up on on their on their Twitter account. Yeah. Photograph of the year. It is from from all the way up top down.

Oh, it's incredible. That was like he's still home. Did you see the Russell Westbrook post? And you can see the ball in the in the picture, too, next to the umpire.

This looks like something like if it was in black and white, something from like the 1950s, except nobody looked like Elie de la Cruz in the 1950s. I mean, did you see that Westbrook picture where he took a charge and the camera was above? Yeah. Like those tell the NBA does a great job with those types of shots.

They have the camera, you know, above the rim right now made seeing Major League Baseball do it. This is the moment why you do it. Yeah. How about us having a whole conversation about one team and one player in Major League Baseball? It's not about the rules. Not about this.

Not about that. Well, it's fun. It's just the emotion that he plays with. It's fun. That's why it's infectious.

Why you play the game. And John Sadak. How about that? Glad I didn't blow off his email years ago. John said Elie had dread extensions. Like, so is he saying his locks aren't real? Like, I'm concerned about that.

Yeah. I mean, TJ, as an as a as a dreads guy. Well, you're the only one on this show that can talk about hair pretty much because you got two guys who don't and one guy who's dying is.

Yeah, it's true. But it's still all his, though. It's still my hair.

It's just it's not their color. I have hair. But you're one step away from mine today. Because the bottom line is if you if because that's the thing.

Also, that that whole that's the Seinfeld line, you know. You're bald. No, I was bald. I was gray. Yeah. I was bald.

No. It's like Kill Bill 2 where one guy was like, by the way, I'm not bald. That's the whole thing. Like any politician that any politician that wears a toupee or has a fake hair. How can I trust you as a politician?

Maybe their head gets cold. How can I trust you as a politician? You can't even be straight up about your hairline. That's a bald brotherhood way of talking politics.

You understand? I like where you're going with that. You're going to go through with Dion. I know Dion's like, you know, you're going to go through with that one day and now you're going to go back player of the year. That's what he calls himself with his new hair.

It's going to. I told you one day I had a dream. You did that right now. I told him and her locker. He left us on the battlefield.

Was that what you were just like, was that. Well, you mentioned what's out. That's easily in the top five.

Eight, four, four, two or four rich numbers. Al Pedro is going to be joining us. Are you currently enjoying the show on the Stitcher app? Then you need to know Stitcher is going away on August twenty ninth.

Yep. Going away as in Kaput gone dead. Rest in peace, Stitcher. And thanks for 15 years of service to the podcast community. So switch to another podcast app and follow this show there.

Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. You know, just watching the old century team to me was great. It's unbelievable. I remember Hank Aaron coming over and wanting to shake my hand. To me, that was like, oh, my God, this is it. But it got even better because after the game, the game, I knew what I could do.

I was facing those guys during that era. What I was able to do and have Ted Williams come bring me over to his suite where he was. Actually, there's a little video.

I don't know where it is. The Red Sox have it where he says, you one hell of a pitcher. And he shook my hand and he signed the program. That was pretty much my trophy. That that capped it up. Just being part of the most unique old star game that I that I can think of. Have the old century players, something we might not see in this lifetime is probably the most amazing gift I could ever get in an all star game. Forget about the strikeouts.

Forget about the performance. An all star game like that deserves that. And probably even better, because I just remember that after the all century team had been announced and then the the players had been announced, I'm assuming you're warming up in the bullpen. Is that where you were? It was just about it was always delayed. Remember how everybody mopped over?

Well, that was it. I was already in and, you know, walking to the bullpen. But it was so delayed because everybody wanted to hug Ted Williams that I had to actually hold myself from pitching something I did not like. And if it was in a regular game, I'd be pissed.

I'd be really angry at everybody, TV and everybody. But it was the all century team. It was dedicated to Ted Williams. To me, it was an honor to just be part of anything that that happened that day. That was an incredible night.

The 34th anniversary of that night is coming up on Thursday. Pedro's coming up in about a half an hour right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Back here on The Rich Eisen Show Radio Network. I'm sitting at The Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. Pedro Martinez in about a half an hour. The 34 year anniversary of one of the greatest moments in the history of the All-Star Game is today. It was 34 years ago. Number 34 of Auburn University football and number 34 of Oakland Raiders football. Or Los Angeles Raiders football.

LA Raiders at that point, yeah. Appeared in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It was the night Bo Jackson stepped in the batter's box of an All-Star Game in his first at bat. Only All-Star Game appearance of Bo Jackson's career, by the way. Was it Ronald Reagan in the booth? With Vince Scully.

And we have the call on the 34 year anniversary of this moment. But that Bo down there, that's a pretty interesting hobby he has for his vacation. When baseball ends, he winds up playing football.

I just, I don't know if there's ever going to be one. He's remarkable and look at that one. Bo Jackson says hello. Just the sound of the... And then that photograph of him off the bat. Breton Wade Boggs, Benito Santiago behind home plate.

Wow. Nothing in the, you know, we just talked to John Sadak about Elie De La Cruz currently at the Reds. And nothing quite is great in sports than meeting the moment when you're expecting it.

Just a few times just off the top of my head, right? The kickoff of the Super Bowl between the Bears and the Colts and Devin Hester receiving it. And you're like, OK, I'm not going to kick to him.

And if they do, he's not returning it for a touchdown. And he does like, well, what? Oh, gosh. Meeting the moment. Bo Jackson steps to the plate. He's not going to homer, right? Ronald Reagan's in the booth with Vince Scully just chit chatting about. It's a heck of a career he's having.

I don't think we've ever seen somebody play football as well. See you out the door, out the gate. See you later. Homers.

I get goosebumps talking about him. And another moment. Like we're talking again, where you're meeting the moment. And it's so tough to do, honestly, because we're expecting it. We want it as fans.

So bad. And so the athlete must know it, too. Right.

Must want it as well. You know. Jimmy Connors, Serena, keep naming people who have had big moments in tennis tournaments, majors, golf, right? Tiger.

Every time we want a tiger, we need that comeback or we need you to win that jacket. And he does. I mean, goats who do this and Hall of Famers who do it or people make the Hall of Fame because they do it, they can do it. Reggiating that third home run. He talked about that the other day when he was here on this program. He's like, yeah, I was trying to hit a homer. And he does it. My God, he does it. First guy since Babe Ruth to homer three times in a World Series game. And he does it in a Yankee uniform to wrap up the World Series.

That's what I wanted when I was watching it as an eight year old kid. It's so tough to do. Kobe in his final game. Come on. Right.

Yeah. His final game. Home game. Everyone knows, hey, is he going to try to score? Yeah, he's going to try to score. He gets 60.

60. It's awesome. We want to see it. We get it.

Yeah, it's they stand out. And, you know, Pedro coming on the 1999 All-Star Game in Fenway Park. I talk about this with him all the time. We just showed on our Roku only segment for our radio audience an appearance he made when we were in D.C. for the All-Star Game in 2018. And so he knows what's coming when when he comes on the show, certainly on an All-Star Game day is we're going to talk about this again, because in Fenway Park in 1999, 34 years ago, Thursday. He is the starting pitcher of the All-Star Game, the last one of the 20th century, and baseball has Kevin Costner emcee. A moment before the game, the all century team is announced and they come strolling out of the garage in center field like it's the corn in Iowa.

I'm serious. And Costner standing on the mound and he is emceeing the announcement of these players standing from first to second and second, third. And then the Major League Baseball all stars playing in that game lined up from home plate to the corner bases. And it's a true constellation of current greats and all time greats. And some of the current greats are all time greats. Ripken, Gwin, Griffey, just to name three off the top of my head. OK. And and it's unbelievable. The energy in the building is through the roof when Ted Williams throws out the first pitch.

Tony Gwin helping him steady himself. I believe Griffey was the other one with Stan Musials out there. I mean, get the hell out of here of what we saw that night. Yeah. OK. And the place is electric because I believe Williams threw the first pitch to Carlton Fisk. I was standing behind home plate as the announcer of the coverage on ESPN radio. I mean, talk about a front row seat. Insane.

And Ted Williams wearing a hitter dot net hat, by the way, you thank his son for that, I believe. And so. Place is insane.

It's going nuts. And Pedro takes the mound and he strikes out the first three batters named Barry Larkin, Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa. They were all pretty good. OK. Two of them make the Hall of Fame.

So says we all know the reason why he's not in. And then the Red Sox fans watch. The American League take the lead in the first inning, so that's what happens. Pedro delivers what everybody was hoping to see.

Yeah. Three strike a strikes out the side. And then they score two in the bottom of the first, interestingly enough, if I may just inject. Off of Curt Schilling, a Philadelphia Phillies starter for the National League that night. And one of the runs that got knocked in was Manny Ramirez as an Indian at the time. It was Lofton and Ramirez and Jim Tommy knocked in Lofton. It was like a Cleveland Indians moment. Ripken knocked in Ramirez to give a two run lead to Pedro, who steps out on the mound for the second inning, strikes out Maguire.

Matt Williams reaches on an error on an error. And then Jeff Bagwell, future Hall of Famer strikes out. Williams tries to take second and future Hall of Famer Pudge Rodriguez throws him out, strike him out, throw him out.

Place goes nuts. Honestly could have ended the game there. Game was over because Pedro didn't come like, will he come out for a third inning? Like, can we see him strike out three more? I was sitting there saying, can we please see him just retire the the entire National League batting order? In one three inning stint, nine up, nine down and, you know.

I mean, I'm watching it right now. What's wild is Pedro is throwing absolute gas and it's only 97. You think about, you know, guys throwing gas today.

It's 101, 102. Nothing in sports is the meeting the moment. Obviously, the only thing that surpasses Hall of Famers like this meeting the moment is individuals who are making their first opportunity, getting their first opportunity, going from nobody knowing like the Rocky story, Buster Douglas type stuff. You know what I mean? That's maybe the only thing that surpasses this is just like we don't expect it.

And then somebody turns their life around with one performance, which is what sports can do. I just wanted to mention that in advance of Pedro joining. I'll never forget it that night.

Ever. And, you know, you take a look at the lineups of those 99 All-Stars. Cool. Got him right here.

I mean. Larkin, Walker, Sosa, Maguire, Williams, Bagwell had Pedro come out as the next guy face was Piazza from the Mets. Jeremy Bernitz was in the All-Star game starter.

J. Bell. Was the second baseman, the American League All-Stars. Lofton, Nomar got the start over Jeter. Don't get me started. It's Boston. I get it.

Nomar. Everybody was punching the hanging chads. Stop it.

Stop it. I know Nomar was good when he in his day, but really hit 370, bro. Ken Griffey Jr. Manny Ramirez, Jim Tomy, Cal Ripken Jr. Rafael Palmeiro, Pudge Rodriguez, Roberto Alomar hit ninth that night. On the bench, Tony Fernandez, Jeter, Omar Visquel. How about Jose Canseco is on the bench? Bernie Williams, Harold Baines. I mean, Hall of Famers.

Wow. Mike Messina, Rivera in the pen. Troy Percival in the pen. Canseco on Tampa that year. And the All-Star on the bench for the National League. Jeff Kent, Tony Gwynn, Vlady, Sheffield. Come on. You know, Vlady. Right.

How about this? Sean Casey, your current Yankee hitting coach, was on the bench there. Bruce Bochy is the manager.

Tory is the manager. And again, so tonight, you know, these All-Stars, you've got some heavy lifting to do here. I mean, how many Hall of Famers do you think are in the lineup tonight? You know, Rich, that's a great question. We were talking about that. I mean, because. And again, I know when I mention names like Palmeiro.

You know, I mean, he's got the five hundred and three thousand. I get it. You know, and I mentioned other people who have been suspected. It's a different time, different era. Yeah.

And I know that there's a lot of asterisks for a lot of people here. But by the way, Randy Johnson was in the bullpen. Lima time. I loved him. Lima time. Believe it. I loved Jose Lima.

God, did I love him. I mean, if you were going to. Speaking of a two way player, you know, projecting if guys could be Hall of Famers. I mean, I think Mike Trout and Otani will probably make it. Eric Judge is on a nice trajectory. Just going to get him healthy. Randy Rosarina, if he stays on.

Really? You're going to mention him as a Hall of Famer? Not a pretty good pace so far. I mean, I was like three years into his career, but he's got a Rookie of the Year. Corey Seager.

Keep going. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jose Ramirez, Luis Robert, Julio Rodriguez, Jordaan. You think these are Hall of Fame potential players? I'm talking about guys like maybe in a decade we're thinking about.

OK, OK, they're these guys were established, though, when they were playing these ways were just you knew it when in the game. You're like, OK, well, this is also a new era Major League Baseball where we have a lot of young Ken Griffey. Dynamic talent in Major League Baseball right now.

It's a really young game at the moment. Right. Aside from a handful of, you know, kind of aging pitchers.

I don't know, Matt. Garret Cole's on his way. Shane Mclanahan, if he stays, you know, we're obviously three, four years, five years in for a lot of these guys.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, Mike Trout's probably the only guy you can say with 100 percent certainty. You didn't mention him.

Ronald Cunha, absolutely. Ozzy Albies. I think right now, if you're talking about one guy who's in it, Mike Trout, and then everyone else is just kind of you're on your way. I looked at Pedro when he took the mound that night on the All-Star game. He had one hundred eighty two strikeouts on the season already.

I looked it up. He had 15 wins. A current current strikeout leader in a sport where people just they don't care. It's Strider.

It's Strider with one hundred sixty six. So he's not I mean. But nobody's close to 15 wins. Pedro was 15 and three at the break that year. He was insane.

And just a little bit of a guy. Honestly, you look at him, you're like, OK, really? Yeah.

Five, ten, five, eleven, Buck, sixty. Oh, my God. Alan Iverson type. That place. Honestly, when he came out of the game, they could have stopped it. It was over. That game was over.

It was over. We see who even came in. I think I think Mookie is the guy.

Mookie and Freddie Freeman will be all famous, probably. Hold on. Here we go. Let me get the box score here. Who did Tory put in after?

Oh, I got it. David Cohen. Damn, we got to speak to Cohen. And he gave up four hits and a run immediately. He put in Cohen. I got to talk to Cohen. John Whelan got the save. It was tight.

But isn't that great? Like how you take the mound. You're a Yankee taking the mound in Fenway Park after Pedro did that.

Boo. Get out of the game. He gives up. He gives up a run. I forgot about that. When was Cohen's perfect game? Was it 98 or 99? I don't know.

Because it would have been either, you know, shortly thereafter. Oh, my gosh. That's funny. Very good. Hey, David, what was it like when you took the mound after Pedro did what he did in Fenway Park?

We're going to take the air out of the stadium, David. By the way, July of 99. Which date in July?

Was it before 18th, just after, like a couple days later? His probably next appearance was his perfect game. That's unreal.

He got out of his system. That's unreal. Oh, gosh. Fun stuff. We'll take a break.

Pedro, top of the hour right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Don't go anywhere. This is a fun time. Back here on the program, everybody. Fun little memory lane stuff. I love it.

Right here. Obviously Mookie and Freddie Freeman are Hall of Famers, too. Oh, yeah. I would agree with that. They are. That's about it, right? That's about it.

That you can say for sure. Who are the Red Sox playing tonight? Kelly Jansen made it. He did. He was our only rep, which is kind of BS. Like Yoshida and Verdugo kind of got screwed. Well, Verdugo's had a really good year. Those guys kind of got hosed. It would have been nice to have seen both those guys. He's had a good year.

I honestly have not paid as strict enough. Is Devers not Raiken or what? He is. His batting average is about 240. He's not really hitting that well. That's because he's only played the Yankees six times.

Right. At this point in time, he'd probably be playing about nine. His batting average would be up around 400 if he played. How do Yankees not know how to pitch this guy? Ever since he was 18.

Him. They don't know how to pitch him. They don't know how to pitch Bregman. They don't know how to pitch Altuve.

Like it is as the day starts in the morning and ends at night. It is as as death and taxes as anything else that the Yankees do not know how to pitch these guys consistently. What the hell? See, I say this. I find this interesting. And who keep bets too when the Yankees played them against the Dodgers?

It's like the good times rolled again. Chris, you're very hard on like NFL's players making the Hall of Fame. And it just seemed like everyone you listed, you're doing a lot of guys in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Because the Baseball Hall of Fame is tougher to get into. Yeah, it's much tougher. I said trajectory. We're talking about a lot of guys who are only five years into their career.

I'm just saying, though. But you don't think Mike Trout? Trout's obvious.

I don't know. Is Freddie Freeman a guaranteed Hall of Famer? Oh, he's going to finish with almost 3,000 hits. Yeah, I think you could sit here and say one day.

Yeah, I think you could sit here. Also, Deverts got screwed. He has 20 bombs. Freddie Freeman has 2,000 hits and he's in his 13th season. I mean, he plays five more years. He'll be at 2,800.

Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204 Rich, number to dial. So, you know what? Can somebody make a video of Victor Wambunyama's 2023 Summer League? Two games and done, huh? Well, it's more than two games, Chris. Forget about the first moment of his NBA career.

Do we have to pay TMZ for the video rights as I work? Strolling into catch? He caught something, all right.

Caught some Britney streaks. Guy's just looking for a piece of fish. That's it. I've never been there.

What do you do for a crutch? Is it all seafood? Wait a minute. Hold on a second. Have you never been to catch here in Los Angeles? I have not.

Neither have I. Let me just tell you something. It's seafood, yeah?

No. You're seeing a lot at catch. Oh, I understand. Dude.

Joe Rogan, I understand. If you go to catch in Los Angeles. You're going to see a bunch of things. There's a head and it's on a swivel. I understand. And you've got to be careful.

Right. It's like Seinfeld. You've got to glance and look away.

I don't know, Rick. Just glance and look away. The person you're with, there's prize things there that might make them want to put their head on a swivel, too. I'm not just saying it's a me thing.

No, I'm just saying you might not have to worry about that because the person you're with might be looking the other way, too. It's another reason we send Wimby home. There's no catch in San Antonio. I'm not sure there's a catch-like place in San Antonio. Probably. What does Wendy say he likes Steve?

He can get fish in San Antonio. Truffles. You know what I mean? Yeah, he likes truffles.

He likes truffles. He's done. So he went from, I guess, draft sensation to paparazzi superstar. Yeah. Right?

Yep. To... Bust. Complete bust.

Complete bust. To... Superstar. Number one overall pick superstar sensation. Hall of Famer. defensive player of the year, candidate 2023 at least. And a must-see NBA in-season tournament player.

And that was... I mean, he ran the gamut in Vegas. Did we put him in the Hall of Fame yet? It's easy to make the basketball Hall of Fame. My gosh, they let like 15 people in every year. Everybody gets in that one. I know. And everybody who gets in, they're like, they haven't gotten in yet. Right.

That's the... I thought he was in. That's the leader of... I can't believe that person's not in yet. And you can coach.

Be an active coach and be in the Hall of Fame. Yeah. They don't care. They don't care. Why do they care? Still coaching. We don't care.

Put them all in. Victor Wambunyama. What a... I mean, what a whirlwind. What happened in Vegas?

And he can't legally gamble while in Vegas, so he wasn't playing the tables after. Right. You know what? And that's one of those things you can't sneak in with a fake ID.

Because you're 75. You know who you are. Even Britney Spears knows who you are. Do we know what her purpose was? She was a fan. She likes him.

Which I find weird. Wait a minute. Britney Spears knows who... Sounds like... Wait.

What was her purpose? Is it like my kid loves you? Or...

I don't mean to denigrate like she could be a diehard NBA. Maybe it was to warn him about the trappings of young celebrities. I don't think it was a warning tap warning. Like, hey, this happened to me. I don't want you to... No, no, no.

I don't think that was a rope-showing gambit. She apparently is a fan. Which, who knew?

That's awesome. I mean, she's got a young boy. I mean, teenage boys. Why not? Hey, I don't know. I don't keep track.

That's why I need a video. Jimmy in San Antonio. Jimmy. Jimmy, how's this all landing there? Jimmy? What's going on?

How's it all landing there? Y'all are the reason I drink in the afternoon, setting me up like that. I heard what you were doing. Picking on Wimby. I'm not picking.

What? I'm not picking. We're fans here. I know. I'm not picking on him.

I wanted a piece of fish. We're big fans of him. No Spurs fans are upset that they pulled him and cut it. Of course. We saw enough.

That's it. He's got to learn how to play. He knows what's coming. Check out French Yahoo.

Check out French YouTube if you're curious. He's got to learn how to play NBA ball. That was the most obvious thing that I saw.

He can't dribble in the middle. They'll collapse and steal the ball. But I'm also excited about tomorrow night, USA versus Panama for the big soccer World Cup. Hey. Now you know Del Tufo's not paying attention that he doesn't say anything right now. What are you texting? You texting somebody right now?

No, I'm checking an email about something. Of course. So a couple of my buddies flew out. They went to the second game.

So we got to see them play well. And then they were going out to gamble and went downtown to Binion's. Binion's horseshoe. There we go. A little Doyle Brunson.

Why not? De'al walks in and out of nowhere Selena Gomez picked Bobo in the ding ding. There you go. That's the end of the hour. What a great way to end hour two. You get the show.

Very good. You just cut him off. Yeah. He's got 10 seconds left in the air. And Pedro Martinez is coming up.

No offense. It's just what's called a hard out. And by the way, that's what Brittany ran into with security. A hard out. That was a hard out. Yeah. Get out. Get out of here.

She hit herself. This is insane. You know, the crazy thing is, right?

I didn't realize that until you guys told me yesterday. Yes. So then I was contacted and her hand was up. And the guy on YouTube was like, you guys are crazy saying she hit herself.

I'm like, no, bro. Look at the video. Actually, the Vegas Police Department. Confirmed by local authorities.

So, hey, YouTube guy. By the way, what's worse than hitting yourself is having it confirmed by local authorities that you did. Not much worse. Nothing worse. Why? Sometimes you do hit yourself. Could you imagine if you did that here and it's like El Segundo police confirms in a statement. No.

My friends probably hit himself in the face. While a catch. It's like the thing you do. But you've never been to. I'm telling you. It's like that thing you do with your siblings when you're little. You take their hand and you whack them with it. Stop hitting yourself in the face. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. I know.

Imagine the police confirms that. All right. So she did it again. Pedro in 99. His 18 starts before the break.

He had a decision in everything. He was 15 and three. Didn't throw fewer than six innings. All but two of the starts. He did seven innings. There was no, there was no analytics. His 99 season is just insane.

Stupid. Did he win Cy Young that year? He had to. Was he Cy Young of 99? He should have won MVP probably too. We'll see what we got.

I don't know. I mean the Yankees won the World Series that year I know because they won several in a row. Cy Young in 99.

He was second in MVP to Pudge. He is joining us next right here on the Rich Isaac Show. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings. Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks. Collision has been struggling a little bit out of the gate with these ticket sales. A little bit out of the gate. This was a major show announced on a major network with what everybody thought was this huge star, CM Punk. I said he was going to be the biggest financial flop in wrestling history and I think I'm being proven right every minute of the day. 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.