Michael Kay: Juan Soto Is A Great Player

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bluenile.com See you around. Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. This is the Rich Eisen Show. I think Angel Hernandez should have announced he's retiring where he would show up in every stadium and somebody would give him a gift. You know?

Free LASIK. The Rich Eisen Show. Earlier on the show ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Villas. Coming up, Yes Network Yankees broadcaster Michael K, CEO and general manager of All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Oh yes, our number two, the Rich Eisen Show is on the air right here on the Roku channel Sirius XM Odyssey. This terrestrial radio outfit 844204rich is the number to dial on the show. Love doing this show every single day. Growing up in Staten Island, New York though one of the dream jobs I ever thought that possibly I could ever have would be being the voice of the New York Yankees. And the man who is exactly that and has been so awesomely and so expertly for as long as he has done it is kind enough to be sitting right here on the Rich Eisen Show from Yes Network. Also the host of the Michael K Show, Michael K is right here. Good to see you sir. Good to see you Rich.

How are you? I didn't know that was your dream. We could switch right now. Dude, I'm telling you, growing up in Staten Island, New York, are you kidding me? Listening to Rizzuto and Bill White and Frank Messer. All those games, those are the three right? Yep. Absolutely. Rizzuto would always be out the door in the seventh inning because he wanted to beat the traffic on the George Washington Bridge. And now I have a Rizzuto and that's Paul O'Neill. O'Neill doesn't beat the traffic though, does he? No, but he complains about it.

Does he really? Yeah, I mean he's out. Once we say goodbye, he's out. Let me tell you a Paul O'Neill story real quick. I'm going to out somebody here too. Uh oh.

You like this sort of stuff. So I think it was the 2000 World Series, the Subway Series. O'Neill was on fire in that series. On fire in that series. And I was doing the post-game interviews for ESPN Radio.

And ESPN TV had the pole position though. Sometimes they'd give me two microphones and I'd hold two microphones, one for each. And Charlie Steiner went right before me. And O'Neill said, Charlie didn't hear it though, unfortunately for Charlie. O'Neill said, I'll do it, but just don't talk about my stats. Don't do it.

Don't ask me about my stats. And Charlie started the interview, Paul, you're six for your first 11 in this World Series. Paul went like this, just like this whole, like, what are you doing?

You know? And then I had to go next. I had to go next after that. Remember the year you won the batting title. Yeah. So he was hitting 400 in June. Yeah. And you know, I was doing the radio then. Yes.

Do pre and post. And I said, can I talk to me when I'm hitting 400? Like, you know, on June 20th.

Yes. And he was hitting 400 on June 20th. So I did an interview. And he ended at 350. He still blames me.

All these years later, it's because he did the interview. That's why. You guys are great together, man. My son and I, the whole family, we sit down, we watch as much Yankee baseball as we possibly can, because I'm sitting in a New England household. Otherwise, we have to have, I've got to have my one island. I've got my one preemptory. I put it on the Yankees. My son and I were going tonight to the game.

We're psyched to go down to see this game tonight. And, you know, I love listening to you guys. When was the first game you called? Because I remember you were, you were an instant retch first, right? You were writing for the Daily News, were you? I wrote for the post and then the news. And then from the news, I got this gig. But I, the first year was 92. It was Yankees Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. And I couldn't have been more nervous because my dream since I was nine was to be the Yankee announcer.

Right. And I'm sitting there with John Sterling. And he turns to me with about 15 seconds left before we go on the air. He goes, before you embark on this career, I've got two bits of advice for you. And I'm thinking good, you can talk from the sternum, save your voice. He said, never asked me my age on the air.

Sometimes I talk to myself, don't be alarmed. Those were the two bits of advice. And I go, you're on the air. And that was the beginning of my broadcasting career. And you know what? They served me well because he would occasionally, you know, have conversations with himself.

You know, Michael, it'll be a two one. You didn't do both. You never, you never were still writing and then did the radio overlap?

I did the pre and post game for MSG. Okay. When I wrote. So you were writing for the late 80s, mid 80s. I was in that 19, you know, if you saw the documentary, I was in the 1990 Yankees. Yeah, I covered that right in the middle of it. Why the hell do they do a documentary in the 90 Yankees?

Is that the worst Yankee team of all time? Is that what? You just answered the question. Wow. Yeah. Well, they built it around, you know, you know, Mel Hall, you know, brought Cougars, not old women. You brought actual actual Cougars. Yes.

Into the clubhouse. And that's just part of the story. But pretty amazing stuff. Because you can't the way the Yankees are so buttoned up now.

And they do everything first rate. Yes. 1990 was not that. Because, you know, George Steinberger was suspended from baseball at that point. And in the middle of that year, he got suspended.

So things just spiral out of control. Well, I mean, and I just remember in the 80s as well, you know, I went to I went to Michigan, and I remember Mattingly coming through. And, and this is in his heyday, and the Yankees were post, you know, the five, six years removed from their World Series with Mr. May, Dave Winfield, right. And, and Mattingly Steinbrenner got on him for his hair. And I remember going to Tiger Stadium.

And I got in a car, I don't know how the hell I got a car, I asked somebody to borrow a car. Staten Island kid sitting there in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a freshman. I'm like, I'm going to go to Tiger Stadium. And I'm going to tell Don Mattingly how much I love him. And he should not listen to George Steinbrenner.

He should not listen to George Steinbrenner. He should not listen to Georgia Tech, because I think you pursue women like this ever. And you know, you know me, well, we should go there. I've known you since my career started in 96.

So yeah, wow. Now I'm realizing I'm regretting inviting you to a live radio and television broadcast. But so I'm getting in a car, I got in a car, and I'm like, I'm gonna be the first guy in Tiger Stadium. And I got to Tiger Stadium, and it was like, gated, locked up.

I truly was the first one. I was the first one belly up to the Yankee away, dug out. And the first guy out was Mattingly. And my entire speech to Don Mattingly went like this. Donny Baseball!

That's it. And he turned around, and he walked right out the door. And he didn't say I didn't get anything off my chest.

And everything thankfully stayed put. You know, Mattingly brings that up to me every day. And I see him, he goes, it was this kid who screamed out Donny Baseball. He, you know, he's one of the few that just absolutely makes me just go right back to being a 10-year-old.

I agree. That was the last guy that I rooted for before I came into the business. And you know, they always, the old cliche, don't meet your heroes, meet him. He lives up to everything you'd want him to live up to. Sweetheart, right? The real deal. Terrific person. Exactly right. Oh, my gosh. So that was your first game in 1992.

Yep. And then, so what would you say was the biggest change that, the sea change? Was it Jeter? Was it George being suspended so Gene Michael could do his work with Bob Watson and keep sending people to Seattle, you know? At the time, I think the sea change was that, you know, Gene Michael, I think George Steinbrenner was smart to give it to Gene because Gene was selfless. He was going to do things that are only good for the Yankees, not good for him. And you know, he held onto these players. And then they matured and they became who they became. And you know, people underplay the fact when George came back, he was willing to spend the money to keep them together. Not many owners could have kept all of them together and then bring in other pieces. And it was just a perfect storm that they went on that roll from, you know, 94.

They were in first place at the strike. Oh, my God. Don't remind me.

95. Buck. Buck was the manager. Buck was amazing. Buck was a big part of it. He sure was.

He doesn't have a ring, but he kind of should. There's no question about that. Yeah.

And then it went right through, you know, still rolling, really. I mean, they've had very few bad years last year and they still over 500. Right. So it's been since 92, I've been broadcasting and 92 and 93, the only losing seasons I ever broadcast.

That's amazing. Yeah. And then I look at across town at Gary Cohen, who's just great at what he does and what he has to see so often. I mean, they've had runs through the World Series and all.

Yes. But Gary's, you know, had to broadcast a lot of bad teams. There's no doubt.

That's TJ behind your right shoulder is the resident Met fan of this. You ain't never lied about that. Why don't you come over to the dark side? Yeah.

Did you ever consider that? I mean, you know, it was at 96. You guys had Cone and Strawberry and Gooden. So I was low key rooting for the Yankees back then because you had some of the ex-Mets. Oh, that's true. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. My brother, two years older than me, was the Met Jet, Nick Ranger fan of the household. And I, you know, like a younger brother would, I followed him into this sports world. But when Catfish Hunter arrived in 1976, I realized that I needed to jump off the Met train.

And then Reggie showed up and I've been a Yankee fan ever since. Well, wasn't there an opportunity for you to jump off the jet train too? Oh, every year.

Every year. And still, I just jump in front of the train now. Nice. That's what I do. Sweet.

It's never too late. You know, man, I just, when I first started at ESPN and the Yankees were going to the World Series, I think that's how we first connected. I think that's where, you know, when I started showing up at Yankee Stadium for ESPN Radio and that's how we first connected. You were so cool and so kind. You invited me to your famed Christmas parties.

Yes. Dude, you had, this man had some of the greatest Christmas parties, the Michael K. Christmas party. Did you have like 250 people in this small spot?

Come on, it was 300. I lived in a townhouse and I would have this Christmas party every year. And it was from people from the business and actually, you know, Gene Michael.

I mean, people showed up and it was a blast. I just remember being at the first one, I'm like, what the hell is Danny Aiello doing here? And he's, yeah, he's my uncle. He's your uncle, right?

Yeah, there was a cross-section of people, that's for sure. Sounds famous. This is pre, you know, wife and kids, Michael K. since we're talking about... Yeah, somebody actually brought it up last night at the ballpark. You see me at a great party. How come you don't have it anymore? I said, it's called marriage. What's the purpose of having it now?

You're trying to meet women. That's why you throw parties. I've got a woman now and I don't need to do it. Exactly. We've checked that whole box in the resume of life.

No more parties. It was a rager, man. I remember, I was shoulder to shoulder with people. Yeah, Chris Russo showed up, everybody, it was fun. You're making me nostalgic for it now.

This is great. Was Breen there? You went to college with him, didn't you go to college? Best friends, yeah. Breen and I, Breen was a junior when I was a senior. So we got to know each other when he was a freshman. I was a sophomore.

At Fordham. We're the same age, but I skipped a grade. Yes, humble brag. You're smart. You're very smart.

You're smarter than Breen, you've established this now. And we would sit in the campus center. I wore a snorkel jacket. Remember those with the hood around there? Yeah. And I would actually have it indoors, I would have it up. And Breen wore this hideous reindeer sweater all the time.

Really? Yeah, I think he still has it. And we would sit in the campus center like two geeks, and he would sit there and say, wow, all I want to be is a Nick announcer. And I would sit there and go, all I want to be is a Yankee announcer.

And we talk about it all the time, like, can you believe these two lunatic kids ended up doing it? I mean, Breen's obviously much bigger because he's the voice of the NBA, but we both live in our dreams. Well, you're calling the London game free SPN. I've seen you on the worldwide leader quite a bit. Unless I knock off Joe Davis, it's not really going to happen. Well, he's here in a couple of weeks.

It's late at being in that chair, whatever you need, Michael. I mean, you invited me to your parties. Who the hell is Joe Davis anyway? Good guy. He's very sweet. Yes, I have to say that. No, he's terrific.

He really is. So you and Breen would really say that? Yeah. True story.

We would. And to this day, he's probably my closest friend in the world. He just won the Emmy Award, too. And oh, my God. Yeah. That is so cool. Voice of the Knicks, voice of the Yankees.

And you actually went ahead and spoke it into existence. Yeah, he's a terrific guy, too. The one thing that's great about Mike and you've been in this business a long time. There are people that are really good at what they do, and they're really awful human beings. But they keep that hidden. Mike, as great as he is on the air, might be a better person off the air.

I don't think there's anybody in the business that you could talk to that has a bad word to say about Mike Breen. Including the reindeer sweater is what you're saying? I mean, you know, that's sartorially not great, but understood. He's graduated. Yeah, that is awesome. Michael Kay here on the Rich Eisen Show. All right. So while we're going down the memory lane a little bit here, where did Sia come from? Where did that come from? I was dating a young lady at the time. Yes, I like the way this is started. She lived in Suffern.

Suffern, New York. Yeah. So I would, you know, we go out on a date and I would drive her home.

She'd open the door and she'd jump out and go, see you wouldn't want to be. That's it. Which is, you know, a line from New Jack City where they threw the guy off the bridge. Yeah.

And so shortly after the dating, I ended up getting the job. I said, I got to have a home run call. And I kept hearing this girl's voice. Sia wouldn't want to be. I said, wouldn't want to be.

It doesn't work. Right. So I just narrowed it down to Sia. And that's it.

So Wesley Snipes got you your home run call. Through some young lass from Suffern, New York. She'll occasionally get in touch. You go, should I get some money for this? No, I don't get any money for it. That's amazing. Sia. That is fantastic. Because it's it's a great home run call.

Thank you. Although, you know, I think teams on the business and the wrong end of that, the fans are probably like, you know, that's a little bit harsh to say Sia. Yankee fans get upset because I say Sia for the other team, too. Huh? Why should you celebrate the other home?

I'm not celebrating. It's just a home run. Well, there's this thing, too, about your broadcast is that you you talk about what's what about the team. And you can be I'm sure you that by the way, that that laugh is of somebody who might hear it from, say, somebody in management about that whole concept of, you know, talking about something they don't want talked about. I'll tell you what, it's the only way to do it in New York. It's the only way it would be accepted. First of all, you've got radio and TV columnists there. Yeah.

And if you're not right down the line, you know, you call the home. I mean, my nickname on my radio show with fans is Yankee boy, because I'll just explain why the Yankees are doing things not like advocating for it, but explaining because I know some things that they might not know. Right.

So they think that I'm defending everything that they do. I get that as NFL boy. Yeah, I get I actually had shirts made Yankee boy. Do you really? Yeah, my face. And it says Yankee boy with the TMKS logo on it or something.

No, just private enterprise. I have five of them. I'll send you one. Would you wear it on the air? I would, indeed.

I'll give it to one of my son would wear a Yankee boy shirt. There you go. Are you kidding me? There you go. Yeah. If you've got it in a size medium, we can wear it tonight. They're all XLs.

I don't carry all those shirts with me on the road. Well, I happen to have one right here. Yeah.

Okay, very good. Michael Kay here on The Rich Dad Show. We'll take a break. We'll talk a little bit about the here and now. And maybe a little more old Lang Syne with an old friend right here.

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Bluenile.com By the way, that wasn't a foul. Oh, Romeo Robinson, you're talking about Michigan City Hall? Um, I don't recall. I just recall.

No, I don't recall. But I do believe those two free throws that he made in succession, Romeo Robinson, were the first two free throws he made in succession in like weeks. It's called clutch.

That's what it is, right? Who's the most clutch player you've seen? Michael K. I've got a guess. Give me your guess and I'll think along.

And it's not the one that you would maybe think. A-Rod. No, stop it. This guy. A-Rod in 09.

All right. Bernie Williams. That wouldn't be him.

No. No, but he was pretty clutch. I mean, Matt Sui was so clutch.

Matt Sui. Yeah, he was really clutch too. Brocious.

Yeah. Brocious hitting that home run in San Diego. Brocious was pretty clutch. Where you just were last night?

What, two nights ago? Um, Brocious. Really, he's the most clutch player? I'm sure people would think he would be Jeter. The most clutch is Mariano. Oh my gosh.

Yeah. I mean, I remember, and I say this again to my kid, who I'm sitting here watching Yankee games, and we watched you again. Clay Holmes last night blew his save, which is somewhat uncharacteristic from this year. I told him, you know, because he doesn't remember Mariano. Like, him coming out of the pen, game over.

Literally 99% of the time. Well, it's strange because an entire fan base has Mariano derangement syndrome. Clay Holmes is really good. He's one of the best closers in baseball. He's going to blow a game every now and then. Mariano, in people's minds, never blew a game.

That's right. But, you know, he blew a 97 playoff game. He blew the seventh game of the World Series, 2004. I mean, they're all human. Mariano is the greatest of all time.

No one should be compared to him, because nobody could live up to that. Now, he was a starter, right, first, Mariano? Yes.

Yeah. And, um, did, who was the manager? Was it Billy Martin who didn't win?

Who didn't want him? No, it was Buck. It's Buck. Yeah. Because Buck didn't, Buck and the Yankees didn't know what they had, because they kept David Cone in game five in 1995. Right. And pitched to Doug Strange, and David Cone's arm was hanging off. It was 142 pitches.

Right. They walked him. Then, out of, like, just sheer necessity, they had to bring in this kid, Mariano, who just blew them away the rest of the time. If they had brought him in earlier, there might not have been a Joe Torre. Buck, Mariano, the World Series.

I mean, so many things, like the butterfly effect, but they just didn't know what they had yet. Unreal. Seriously, did, I think Torre told us once, did they have a trade in line to send him to Seattle, right? Yeah. Or something like that? But Felix Vermeen, because they weren't sure if this kid, Derek Jeter, was good enough to play shortstop yet. Could you imagine? Yeah.

They tried to win Mariano, or for Felix Vermeen to not play Jeter. Right. The whole thing changes. The whole thing changes. Yes.

Yeah, the whole thing changes. Felix Vermeen has a career war of 1.8 guys. Come on, now. So he's good. Show some respect. Yeah.

He wasn't a bad player, but he obviously wasn't Derek Jeter. Understood, for sure. You were at the mic for Mr. November as well, right?

Yes. I know where I was for that moment. You were at the mic. I was underneath the stadium, getting ready to run out on the field with the entirety of the national media. Again, I was doing ESPN radio, which meant I was third in line behind the ESPN rights holder and the Fox rights holder. So you were getting the Yankee bat boy. Well, I was basically right there. Honestly, I remember I was in this tunnel, and to my left, this is the old Yankee Stadium, there was this small room that looked like Babe Ruth probably had a beer inside at one point in time.

There's a small TV that we couldn't see what was on it. And we had to change locations each half inning because there was only one entrance to the field, as you know, and it would be through the dugout of the winning team because the losing team needed to use that egress to get back to their locker room. So with each half inning, we were running from one side of the stadium to the other. And it looked like the Benny Hill Show, where we were all running with cameras and lights and EMT technicians and running from one thing to another. And I just remember hearing, go, go, go a rumble above me.

I'm getting goosebumps talking about it. They said Jeter just hit a home run and I get back. I get out there. Finally, just people behind me pushing me out onto the field. And I remember getting out there and looking up the stadium that I grew up in at the very top.

People are just throwing things and jumping up and down as Jeter's rounding third. I'll never forget it. Now, please tell me your perspective of that moment. Well, I actually have a story about being in the bowels of a stadium and not knowing what's going on.

OK. I was covering for the New York Post, the 1986 World Series. So we're underneath Shea Stadium.

Oh, boy. And there's no TV. And we're waiting outside the Red Sox clubhouse to go in for the celebration. And we just feel the stadium shaking and shaking, and we have no idea what's going on. Then, in an instant, we see three men carrying Mrs. Yawkey out horizontally to the ground, the owner, the owner of the Red Sox, who was there to receive the trophy.

Well, there was not any trophy that day. So my job for the post was to get sidebars on the Red Sox. What do you mean she's being carried out like she was carried out? What do you mean she's being carried out like she was carried out, like she was very old and they literally carried her out of the because we're watching the owner of the Red Sox being carried out. And then the Red Sox are trudging in. And we just know that they lost.

We have no idea how they lost. And now we have to go and ask questions. Oh, my God.

So we're standing there. What happened to Bob Stanley? Calvin. We had no idea. You didn't go up to Buckner, did you?

Yeah, we talked to Buckner eventually. Yeah. And we talk about flying blind. You know, you're in a plane and they've shut the radar off and all. Go land the plane. Oh, my God.

I've never heard that story. Yeah. And the Mr. November angle. Yes. That's the you know, Mike Green is famous for like double bangs.

He's only had five of them. That was my only triple C. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I'm so clever. The only thing I could scream was, see ya, see ya, see ya, Mr. You know, he is Mr. November because it was like 1201 or something like that. Yeah. I looked up at the clock and I said, oh, it's November. This is in my head.

Yes. If it's a home run, I'll say Mr. November. And then there was a guy in the stands who, as I said, who held up a sign that said Mr. November. How the hell did that happen? I don't know.

Somebody brings like their their own arts and crafts set up to Yankee Stadium. Maybe people just assume that it was going to happen. It was going to be November. But who knew it would be an extra inning game?

What a game that was. Who did you interview then? I didn't get Jeter. I don't recall who I interviewed. I don't remember that. I wish I did. I'm sure it's archived somewhere, but I didn't. I definitely didn't get Jeter. I would I would have remembered that. Well, you were third in line. I was third in line. Hey, man, that's the way it works, right?

Rights holders get first crack and then then so on and so forth. But young, young Kim, I could definitely get him. Well, the Yankees got him again the next night. Yeah, those those two nights were just amazing. That's the only time I hit John Sterling.

What do you mean? The second night that who was it? Tino or the second night was Tino or Brochas? Well, the first night was Tino.

All right. So tonight, wasn't it? Was it wasn't Posada? Was I think it was Brochas Brochas. All right, so he hits and like we never cheered in the booth or anything like that.

But just a sheer. Like, unlikeliness of it all happening, right? Have you listened to John's call? He stands up and goes, it is all right. And we see it's going out.

We see, wow, this is all happening again. And I just start punching him in the ribs and you'll hear him because he doesn't skip a beat. But like he's getting hit.

That wasn't one of his rules. No, don't ask me my age. Don't punch me in the ribs. And don't be alarmed.

I sometimes talk to myself. Don't hit me in the chops during a game five moment for the ages. Yeah, man. In game three was when George Bush threw up the first pitch. I say that. Unbelievable. Yankee fans don't want to hear this.

And I understand why that might be the greatest World Series ever played because you have three forever games. And then, as you mentioned, when George, I found out, you know, right before the game that there were snipers in the buildings. I saw like that. I saw them get into position.

And then we find out later that the president is from the neck to the ankles in Kevlar. And for him to throw that pitch, I think is still one of the most amazing things of all time. A dart. Yeah.

Yeah. Spurred on by Jeter. Don't bounce it.

They'll boo you. And nobody, he steps on the line walking to the mound. Yeah. If you watch the video again. If you watch the video again, which obviously no one.

It was the greatest like bleep you to the world. Right. Exactly. I'm gonna stand out here at the World Series like this is the juiciest target imaginable. Right.

Go ahead. Get me. At the World Series between the Yankees and the Diamondbacks. And I'm gonna throw this dart right down the middle of the plate. And I remember that night. It was wild.

And you'd see the four train pass by in right field. And every single time it came by, I like shook. It was jittery. It was scary. It was jittery. It was a jittery moment in time, obviously. It was joyless at the beginning.

Then once the game started, I think it was a tonic for everybody. Yeah. Yeah. And then in all honesty, the big moment for the Met fan in the corner was when the Mets came back and played right after 9-11, though. Right. And Piazza hit that home run against the Braves. Mm-hmm.

Incredible call by Howie Rose, too. Right. That was amazing. Yeah. That was truly unbelievable. Michael Kay here on the Rich Eisen Show.

All right, the here and now. Juan Soto, I've been joking that the Steinbrenner should just adopt him. It might be cheaper for the family to just make him a member of the family. I think it's gonna be the most interesting November that we've had in a long time. Because I think it was smarter for them to make the trade. He's a great player. He might win the MVP.

He's been that good. But, you know, I like Scott Boris. I think Scott's unbelievable at what he does. But you don't hire Scott Boris unless you're looking for the last dollar.

Going to the mattresses. Right. I mean, that's what you want.

You know, you're trying to get top dollar. So I think whoever gives them top dollar, he's gonna go. Now, I think the Yankees want him terribly, and they will play in that arena.

But the thing that I like about Hal Steinbrenner, he's very rational. There is not... There's a hill that he will not die on.

So everybody can, you know, people call onto my radio show. Oh, they should just give him a blank check. No, that's not the way it works. Nobody gets a blank check, except maybe Otani. But I don't think that you're gonna get a blank check. I think he's gonna make him a really competitive offer. And if the guy across town gives him more, it's gonna be very interesting to see how far the Yankees will go. But I think that there is a point of no return.

Like if Steve Cohen goes, we'll give you $65 million a year. That could be, you know, we're okay. So I'm not quite sure how it's gonna work out.

That's why I find it so fascinating. I do know he wants to keep him terribly. So you think it does go to November? Like nothing gets done during the season? Well, it'd be lunacy if they did anything during the season, his side.

Off Soto's side. Because, you know, now you're three months away from 29 other teams bidding with the Yankees. You turn down $440 million from the Nationals, you're not gonna do it now. I mean, unless House Steinbrenner comes in and gives you $70 million a year, then they could do it. But I just, I don't think that House is too smart to do that. And I don't think, I think that, you know, Boris will listen. But it just doesn't make fiscal sense to do that right now. Oh, and I guess from the Yankee side of things, too, just let him go through the season.

And if things do go the way I'm hoping they go. You know, just see what it's like to play in October in New York City in pinstripes. That that is obviously, you could play in Philadelphia in their pinstripes, and it's incredible, that atmosphere is incredible there. I'm clearly biased when I'm talking about Yankee Stadium in New York. But it is, it is a certain way that I don't think he's gone through it, even with the Nationals. No, I think, I'll tell you what, Rich, he loves, so far, the Yankee experience. Which is, it's obvious by his play, the number of times I've said from here over and over again, New York City is littered with star athletes who get a ton of money who can't hack it. Right. They can't hack it.

They just get chewed up and spat out. That's why I was also talking about Jalen Brown, what he's doing in Boston, 300 million dollars supermax contract and how he's performing unreal. Because in the Northeast and that Amtrak corridor, it's a different, it's a different cat. It really is. So it's obvious to him. And there's a love affair in right field between the fans and Soto. Yeah. And there's a big Dominican population that follows the Yankees. So, I mean, everything is there for him. It's a perfect spot for him.

Yeah. But it's going to be interesting. Now, I said all 29 other teams will bid. There's only a few teams that can play in that, you know, arena, the Dodgers. I don't know if there's room for him on the Dodgers.

I that's the, but that's the thing while you're getting, I'm sure I don't want to speak for your callers. You're getting calls from Yankee fans who are used to the old days of George just stroking whatever check that's unrivaled or nobody can match him. The Dodgers are now that. Dodgers and the Cubs, the Phillies, the Mets, the Yankees, I guess one of the Texas teams if they want to play, they have the money. But I mean, it's not like 29 teams are going to bid for him.

And by the way, I'm not doing this just to poke at you. I mean, you didn't mention Boston. Oh, we're not.

But you know what? Boston should be in that arena, but they've stopped spending money. Yeah, it's stopped. But maybe this is where they make a statement to their fans. We're back.

We're back. But I would be stunned. I'd be stunned if we were on Soto. Stunned.

Yeah, that's not what they've been doing recently. He is a difference maker. Putting him right there in that two hole.

He's unbelievable. It helps Volpe in front of him. It helps, obviously, with Judge right behind him. It's funny because we were just in San Diego, as you mentioned. I was talking to a lot of people there, and he was not beloved in that clubhouse.

It just wasn't. Really? And he's beloved in that club. Maybe it's the Judge influence, because Judge really is the captain. And he sets the tone for the whole room. And he's very inclusive. And I think he's one of the guys. He loves being there. They love him there.

There's none of that friction. So when I was in San Diego, I was like, this guy? Really? He's not that guy. He plays hard. He runs hard. He seems like he's having a blast. And he's having an MVP season. It's going to be amazing. So the highest salary right now in baseball is $46 million in present day value.

That's Otani. I think he'll blow by that. He starts with a five or a six?

I'd say five. OK. Yeah. And the best team, though, that you've seen in front of you, is it the Yankees? I mean, or is it the Orioles? The Orioles took care of the Yankees when you saw them. The Orioles have won three out of four. I still think the Yankees are better because of their bullpen. I think the Orioles, if they're smart, they have such a great farm system, they've got to go out and get a closer.

I don't know if it's Kimbrel. So if they get a closer, then they're right there. But in the American League, it's the Yankees and the Orioles. And I'm shocked at what the Guardians are doing.

Great job by Stephen Vogt. Yeah. Yankees handled the the Astros six out of seven games they won. You haven't seen the Dodgers yet. I've not seen. We'll see them next week.

Right. That they're coming to Yankee Stadium. I hate this new schedule, though. I think it's ridiculous that the Red Sox and the Yankees haven't played yet. It's crazy. And then they only play 13 times.

Is it that many? So I just think two home, two road series. I don't I don't like the new schedule. I just think I don't like it at all. Fewer, fewer rivalry games is not the way to go about it.

I just don't I don't dig it. We don't need to play everybody. Yeah. I mean, they should take a look at the NFL. They don't play everybody. That's right. And you know what?

I think it's doing OK. I mean, you know better than I am. Well, I'm NFL boy. Yeah, and I'm Yankee boy.

Yankee boy is here. Can I get you for a few more minutes here? Whatever you want. I've already made the trip. Only for rich would I go an hour and a half in the car.

Only for rich. And get up as early as you did to do it. That's not usual.

Yeah. What I do at home is I get up at like 730, get the kids ready for school, and then I go back to bed. My wife gets furious because I can go back to sleep. Once she's up, she can't.

Yeah, like most human beings. No, I can give you another five easy. Five? I can do five hours easy.

Kids get on the bus at 830. I usually roll out of bed at like 1230. And Jody goes, what are you doing? I said, I could sleep more if you want.

More of that and you're going to have your Christmas party again. Michael Kay here on The Rich Eyes, and we'll be back with more in a sec. Afford Anything talks about how to avoid common pitfalls, how to refine your mental models, and how to think about how to think. Paula, while certainly you can mess up on a million dollars a year, it is far less likely than it is on $30,000 a year. I would meet wonderful people that were struggling with a budget that was super tight. It was 100% you need to make more money. Make smarter choices and build a better life.

Afford anything wherever you listen. What's up, everyone? It's Reality Steve, your number one source for all things Bachelor Nation and reality TV. Every day, I'm giving you the behind the scenes juice and your info on all your Bachelor Nation stories and also interviewing some of your favorite reality stars.

My name has been synonymous with spoilers, but I'm so much more than that. Give me a listen. The Reality Steve podcast, part of the Believe Network.

Just search BLEAV on YouTube or wherever you listen. My wife has almost talked like, you know, I'm like the strange child. Dress. He doesn't really eat. You don't eat eggs. You don't eat fish. Michael K does not eat a condiment ever. No, no. I'm the kid that used to our family would go to McDonald's.

Yes. And I have to stay on the side while they made hamburgers without ketchup, which I never understood why you just don't make hamburgers plain and that people could put what they want on it. Like Burger King does. Jeez. Michael K. Have it your way. On The Rich Guys.

Have it Michael's way. Yeah, I'm sitting at The Rich Guys and show desk, by the way, furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you. Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. It's a beautiful desk. Thank you, sir. Your folks calling in your show talking football are more depressed about the Giants or the Jets.

What do you got? I think they're very nervous about the Jets because you just don't know what's going to come out of Roger's mouth and that. Why was that playing in New York? Not playing great.

Really? Not playing great. Not playing great. So he says some odd things and it's like the Jets let him do whatever he wants. He pretty much owns the team. He and Woody Johnson on the team. I think Johnson has adopted Aaron Rodgers.

Maybe so. Yeah, but he's a great player, so we'll see. But I think the Jets are going to be OK.

The Giants, it's a question mark. Who's going to be the quarterback? How's Daniel Jones going to play? Well, they made it sound like Jones has a shot to play week one now.

Yeah, I think that's the plan. And when you look at the fact that he's overpaid, well, he's middle of the road now. He is have 40 million dollars. So I mean, they should be rooting for him to be good because they still have two more years. I know they're not guaranteed, but if the Giants want it to be, they'll be guaranteed and he'd be a very reasonable quarterback. I just Brian Burns is going to be an outstanding addition like him and Kayvon Thibodeau. They're going to hope that I imagine just get a couple touchdowns out of their offense and maybe get something out of their defense to put a point on the board, whether it's good field position for more field goals or an easier touchdown. That might be their way of trying to win football games. But Daniel Jones, man, in against the Vikings in that wildcard playoff game, he looked like Kaepernick.

He looked he was just running and throwing and unstoppable, but he had Saquon at his side. He teases you. That's what's frustrating because you see little glimpses and then there's five or six games you go, what? Right.

What's going on? Right. So but but Rogers is, is you say? I mean, we could talk Rogers forever. You know, he goes he goes on, you know, he goes on with McAfee for an hour and then he says stuff and then we play the cuts. I mean, it's almost like giving us a show every Tuesday.

But I wonder without him being injured this year, if he's going to be as chatty about other things. You're talking about politics. Well, it's a presidential election year.

I don't know how. But he also said that anything that has nothing to do with football needs to get out of this building because he was talking and he was talking about at the end of last year, I believe, tiptoeing around, which is not really his style, but what was going on with Zach Wilson. Right. That that there is a lot of crazy stuff that happened with Zach. You know, with Zach being told something, Zach being told to be putting in a certain position offensively that wasn't suitable for him. And then Zach being asked to get back out there, which is. Nuts that they asked him to get back out there. I guess they were out of options. Yeah, absolutely. But clearly, I mean, if you tell a guy basically, you're not going to be with us next year.

Why ask him to go out there with two weeks ago so you can get hurt before we were giving you the exit for both sides? So I think he was saying something without saying something, but it also doesn't fit the narrative of I can go on any podcast talking about things that might be politically difficult for some on the other side of the aisle and the fan base to swallow and then show up at work and saying root for me. You know, like that's that's the conundrum in New York City. It is odd.

It is odd. And he does say things that problem. But but you also you've been around sports fans forever and you're a sports fan. They don't care what he does off the field. We just win as long as he plays great.

And I actually have spoken to Robert Sala off the air. He goes, this stuff that you think is a distraction doesn't get through the walls. Players don't care about that stuff. Right. They love this guy as a teammate, and they do. Right. He's a great teammate.

I think he was voted the the leader or something like that or whatever, whatever. So if he wants to like opine on vaccines and darkness retreat, they don't care. Players don't care. And that's all that matters. And and really, sometimes fans root for the worst person in the world.

I'm not saying that that's Aaron. Right. But they'll root for the worst person in the world as long as he produces for their team. So I don't think the fans, even though they might be on the other side of what they believe is a political spectrum, that doesn't bother them as long as he plays. It's like Seinfeld saying they root for laundry. Yeah, they do. You know, never, never true a word spoken.

They root for the laundry. You got a good Larry David story from the times you interviewed center stage. Right. And you also speaking of politics, we need to get into what he said. But there's an exchange that he had. That was at the Y. That from the 92nd Street Y, where that's gone viral.

I see that every now and then. I have a great Larry story. OK, you ready? Yeah. So we did center stage with my interview show on Yes.

Yes. And then he called me up like maybe eight months later. He said, I promise to do a thing at my daughter's college in Boston. Would you come and interview me?

I don't like to just talk alone. Just do center stage with me. I said, sure, I did that. And then he asked me to do the 92nd Street Y, the premiere. And I did that. And it was wonderful.

I had a wonderful time just to be able to, like, interact with him is terrific, as you know. So then I had the book center stage and I texted him. I said, would you be willing to write the forward to it? And he wrote back, No, I don't think so. And I wrote back, I said, what? He goes, no, I don't like to do those things. I said, Larry, I mean, I need 500 words.

It should take five minutes. He goes, no, I'm good. And it was so Larry David. And so there was this whole exchange. I'm not even doing it justice, this whole exchange. And my wife, Jody, said, just make that the forward. The whole exchange. And I said, well, that's not fair to him.

But just the way he said it. No, I don't think so. That's right. Yeah. Well, you traveled to Boston. You drove there for four hours. You ran out of your radio show to do the 90. No, I'm good. Wow. Didn't expect that one. Wow. And you know what?

And I love him because he's living up to what he is. That's right. He doesn't do forwards. He doesn't do forwards. Well, I hate to tell you who's doing the forward of my next book.

No, I'm just kidding. Dude. Bob Costas did the forward, though. He was great.

I was going to have two forwards with Bob Costas and Larry. You came on to promote this. Yeah. So, yeah. It's great to see you, sir. Good to see you.

Thank you for schlepping all the way up here from Southern California. So if I have the party this, would you fly? Yes. Back to the house? Sure. Um, would you but you're not really going to do it, are you? It's not the commitment.

It's not going to be the level of debauchery. It used to be. I think Susie. Susie came to some a couple of your parties as well. Yeah.

So she knows. I'm just happy that people still remember. Are you kidding me? Yeah. It was an event. You want to know the last one? Like we used to have like different deliveries of food. Yes, sir. And the second delivery was all finger food and wings and stuff like that. That was in the basement. From blondies? Yes.

Yeah. And I, um, I got up the next morning after the party's over and it looked like a scene from Jurassic Park. People just threw their bones on the floor. I said, this is my house. Who put up their coals on my carpet? So that ended the party. That was the last party.

I said, I can't do this. I mean, people are just throwing food on the floor like it's a ballpark. Yeah. Like it's like you're under the seats at the stadium. Throwing the peanut shells just right down on the ground. Yeah.

They thought they were ground round. Just dated ourselves there. Hey, there were free drinks there. John brings his skewed sense of humor. Jeff brings tips to cut strokes off your next round. Together, it's those weekend golf guys.

They'll pay a lot of money to PXG and Tylus and Calloway. How many yards do you think you're going to pick up with that extra? I think I can get an extra five to 10. What if I give you 15 to 20?

You pay me more. Jeff Smith teaches on a sliding scale. Those weekend golf guys, the podcast part of the Believe Network. Just search BLEAV on YouTube or wherever you listen.