RIP to Willie Mays (Hour 1)

Have you ever covered a carpet stain with a rug? Ignored a leaky faucet? Pretended your half-painted living room is supposed to look that way?

Well, you're not alone. We've all got unfinished home projects. Whether it's a door that sticks, or a disorganized closet, or an AC unit that only works half the time.

It all matters. You just haven't taken care of it yet. But there's an easier way. Just download the Thumbtack app. You can search for what you need done and find tons of highly rated pros right in your neighborhood.

Check prices, reviews, and book a pro right on the spot. Plus, you'll know what to tackle next. Because Thumbtack is the app that shows you what to do, who to hire, and when. Pull out your phone, and in just a few taps, say goodbye to all those unfinished home projects. And say hello to caring for your home the easier way.

Download Thumbtack and start a project today. Download Instacart for free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time. Minimum $10 per order. Excludes restaurants.

Additional terms and fees apply. Don't forget to pair Pampers diapers with new Pampers free and gentle wipes. They clean better and are five times stronger than Huggies natural care. For easy clean up without fear of tearing. No matter the... Mess. For trusted protection, trust Pampers.

The number one pediatrician recommended brand. Live from the Play Show. You're not overly ostentatious. Studios of the Infinity Sports Network here in beautiful New York City. Sitting on top of the 10th floor 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Wednesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local Infinity Sports Network affiliates. Sirius XM channel 158 the free Odyssey app and of course streaming live on YouTube.

855 212 4227 is the number to jump on in 855 212 4227. You can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter X at Zach Gelb. That's ZCHGELB got Ryan Botcher got Moist Mike and we're rocking and rolling all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern 3 p.m. Pacific time.

Steve Schirripa the great actor who obviously was a big time part in the Sopranos playing Bobby Bacala. He's going to stop by in studio at the top of the hour. Bart Winkler will stop on by as well at 440 p.m. Eastern 140 p.m. Pacific today for Winkler Wednesday. And we got a whole lot more to do. We have to start the show on a somber note. And obviously when someone passes away it's never an easy show to do. And when you had someone that is one of the greatest baseball players of all time in Willie Mays passing away that we found out last night at the age of 93. Clearly it is upsetting but you could also acknowledge and realize 93 years old is a heck of a run. You know this is not a tragic death.

This is not someone passing away at the age of like 40 or 50. I understand it is upsetting but I tend to use today more so of a day to look back and remember the greatness of someone rather than sit here and say hey you know it's a horrible day. It's a somber day. It's a sad day. And I think there's two different types of shows when someone passes away.

And you know obviously it's not a happy day. You know Willie Mays did pass away and for a lot of people right. That's the standard of a baseball player. But I like to look back and remember the great life of Willie Mays and you look at it from just a baseball standpoint like if I got in the air and told you someone was a 24 time All-Star. Hit 660 career home runs batted to an average of 301 had 12 gold gloves four times led the NL and stolen bases was a 1954 batting champion a World Series champion in 1994 a two time MVP and a rookie of the year.

And I keep on going and we probably run out of time. And if I just sat here and gave you the accolades of the now late great Willie Mays but it's almost like he didn't even exist. Like when you hear those numbers. It's almost as if it's a mythological person, except you knew right in all of our lifetime, even though none of us saw Willie Mays actually play, you know, unless if it's highlights and and movies and things like that and documentaries. And you just wonder with how much reverence and respect, and the way someone talks about someone like you wonder if that person was actually real, like that's the way that you know when you just hear the name of Willie Mays, you get told all these great stories throughout the years, and obviously you're able to see him, even though he wasn't playing because he was still alive like compared to Babe Ruth, who that to me is like the ultimate in my life like mythological creature just as if someone that you actually know that did exist because Babe Ruth passed away at 53 years old.

In August of 48, as you can hear all these stories you hear about the greatness, and you were never able to see him actually, you know, my lifetime, actually be living on this planet. And I say all that out of respect to a guy who had one of the more incredible baseball careers I've ever seen like last night, why it is so emotional for so many is because there's so many people that baseball is like their first true love and baseball, whether you played it in Little League or you went to the ballpark with your mom or your dad baseball's the first like live sporting event that most of us go to. A lot of us write our earlier sports memories are all about baseball. So for the people I got to see Willie Mays play. It's just like one of your heroes passed away last night after an incredible run of 93 years on this earth. And for so many others to what he meant for cultural impact and, you know, the road that he had to travel. He laid the foundation for so many others that look like him to follow. And, you know, I saw the tributes last night, and I saw what CC Sabathia posted and it was definitely moving. And I just, you know, could sit here for the next three hours, and we could talk about the greatness of Willie Mays.

And I think that's the way that you do it on on a day like today because 93 years on this planet and look at the impact that he made. I don't understand how seriously we take our sports, but it's more than just baseball with Willie Mays, and it's one of the greatest careers that you'll ever see in the history of Major League Baseball. And you see the range that he had in the outfield. The quickness that he had on the base paths, how he could be a contact hitter and a power hitter. It's like the perfect baseball player. If you were designing a baseball player, and you said Zack, you get to design a baseball player, and you get to take, you know, five tools or five characteristics, you design Willie Mays.

There's no other way around that. And you get told and passed down all of these stories, and all of these great memories from people that were alive to see him play, or even afterwards just when they get passed down generation to generation. You know, I don't like to use this word very freely in sports, but he was an icon. I can't just say Willie Mays was a great baseball player. Willie Mays was an icon. Willie Mays is an absolute legend.

And he's someone that there's only positive things to say. And you could sit here and talk across many different, you know, generations, and everyone, you know, from what decade or whatnot they were, they were born in could have a different memory but you all know who Willie Mays is. And, you know, we'll go through some of the sound here in just a second, and we'll play back some of those memories for you.

But last night there's no doubt about it. When I'm sitting on my couch and I'm watching the Mets game. And I see on Twitter that Willie Mays passed away, even though he's 93 years old right, and you never know how long someone's going to live, especially when you get up there in your 90s. And yes, it's a heck of a run and a life that is unbelievably live. But it is startling like even when you hear it, like it's like wow Willie Mays just died.

Yes, it's kind of unbelievable because when you're on that level of stardom and that level of fame. You're so invincible to us, like in the way that we view you that yes, you know, every life unfortunately does come to an end but what a tremendously and outstanding life that Willie Mays did live and once again if you are kind of modeling, the ideal and perfect baseball player. It's Willie Mays I don't care what happens in the rest of Major League Baseball, there's not going to be many better than say hey kid in Willie Mays who send their condolences to his family and all of the people that knew him or rooted for him or fans of him as he did pass away last night at the age of 93. This is Dave Fleming, the Giants play-by-play guy on KNBR. He announced to his audience on the unfortunate news last night that Willie Mays did pass away.

I'm having a hard time saying the words, but we found out just a little while ago on the Giants have now made an announcement. Here's a ground ball to second Estrada throws out Pete Crowe Armstrong the all-time greatest giant. And number 24 Willie Mays has passed away today at the age of 93 and right as we get ready to head to his hometown and honor great Willie Mays.

We have to say goodbye. So we'll step aside here for a moment and come back and the ballgame will continue. And obviously we're going to talk a lot more about Willie tonight and over the next many, many days. I hate to be the one to have to pass that news along, but Willie Mays today has died at the age of 93. And you read, and if you didn't know, this is via MLB.com. The center of baseball universe this week is Birmingham, Alabama, where Major League Baseball is paying tribute to the Negro Leagues with a series of games at Rickwood Field, the oldest ballpark in the United States and the site of the final Negro League World Series in October of 1948. It is the place where Willie Mays is from and the ballpark where he began his storied career in professional baseball as a 17 year old with the Birmingham Black Barons that same year. Willie Mays actually released a statement a few days ago where he said, I'm not able to get to Birmingham this year, but we'll follow the game back here in the Bay Area. May said in a statement to the paper on Monday, my heart will be with all of you who are honoring the Negro League ball players who should always be remembered, including all my teammates in the Black Barons. I wanted to thank Major League Baseball, the Giants, the Cardinals and all the fans who will be at Rickwood or watching the game. It will be a special day and I hope the kids will enjoy it and be inspired by it. And obviously this was already going to honor Willie Mays before we found out that he passed away. But it is fitting that this is going to happen tomorrow. And obviously it will be a day of sadness, remembrance and also celebration to celebrate the great life of Willie Mays. We all know there are singular plays in sports that it doesn't matter how old, how young you are.

And even when I'm long gone, they'll keep on talking about them. And you go to game one of the World Series in 54 when Willie Mays had the most iconic catch in the history of baseball. It's something that I wasn't even a thought back then.

None of us were. And how many times have we seen this throughout life? I was watching a sports science on it that aired years ago. He ran 90 feet to track down this baseball at more than 14 miles per hour. Think about that. And he was able to make this great catch that obviously none of us will never forget. So obviously when you see that, you know what that moment did mean in his one World Series victory back in 1954. And that was in the first game of that series.

And then, you know, Samter brings up a good point. And we all know another iconic moment in baseball history is the shot heard around the world. And that's when the Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant. Willie Mays was actually on deck as Rob Thompson hit that home run and we all Bobby Thompson hit that home run. And we all, you know, always have been told through time of Ralph Branca about that big home run. And it's something that just gets played over and over and over and over and over again. And Willie Mays was on deck and here was him describing the Bobby Thompson home run.

It's a three game playoff. Bobby just hit a home run off of Branca and Brooklyn did probably the day before. And I'm saying to myself, they're going to walk Bobby in to get to me. I wasn't nervous. I didn't get nervous or anything like that.

I was always kind of cool. So I wanted to go to the plate right quick. When Bobby hit the home run, I was the last guy to get the home plate. And I'm saying to myself, you're on deck, get up to the plate right away.

And so nobody can see you. But somebody caught it. And I was 24 coming up. And when everybody else was there shouting and I was the last guy. So I think I was a little nervous.

How about that? Yeah, I think I was a little nervous because you always try to play that down and then you see the video. He's he's on deck and how he was on the outside of the huddle right at the plate because of how locked in. He was preparing for that moment of him potentially getting up to bat next.

Now, Samter, Willie Mays, I want to play this because like to me, when I was living, you know, you know, in my life, I should say, excuse me, the two people, even though I never saw Willie Mays play that, I think like just signify baseball to me or Willie Mays and Vin Scully, like the legends of legends. This video from 2016, that's the first time they actually met. Is that right, Samter? I mean, according to this video, yeah.

Yeah. It's unbelievable. I saw that last night.

I'm like, maybe the date was just posted, but it says it's from 2016. And then you you see the video and you obviously know it's not Vin Scully when he was younger. It's not Willie Mays when he was younger. So I guess somehow that's true.

And you think about it, too. It's not like it was, you know, Vin Scully called games for the Cubs or for a team in Texas. Oh, the Dodgers. These were two teams. Well, these were two teams that started out in New York and moved to California. So the trajectory of these two teams, the Dodgers and the Giants, were so similar. And to have the legendary announcer of the Dodgers and the iconic outfielder for the Giants never, ever meeting or crossing paths in their decades around the sport is just unfathomable to me. It really is surreal. But here's an excerpt from that meeting of Willie Mays and Vin Scully, I believe, in 2016.

Buck, Vin Scully. I mean, so many people. Come on over here.

Just so we can. I am. Let me tell you something.

I am. First of all, you've always been my favorite player, even though you're wearing the wrong uniform. But as I have told everybody, you've also been a greatest player.

And I've said that for a long, long time. That ball that you caught that Vic works it in the World Series. That was probably 440 at least. That's how far out that was. I tell everybody, it's not the catch so much as the continuation. Yeah.

Getting the ball back, getting the ball back into the end. So that was just some of the conversation between Willie Mays and Vin Scully back in 2016. Still surreal.

That was the first time they actually met. It is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. As we remember, the life of Willie Mays, who passed away yesterday at the age of 93.

You know, I'm just wondering, let's go around the room here and this is how we'll tie up this this open. Who's one athlete that you wish you could have watched live? Like you could have been around focusing on sport when they were at their peak.

And for me, it's the greatest Muhammad Ali, right? Like boxing in my lifetime has never been the thing like it used to be. Like in my lifetime, you know, we had that obsession about the Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao fight and how many years Floyd tried to avoid Manny Pacquiao with the testing and all that stuff.

And then when it actually happened, it was way past when it should have happened and it was a letdown. Like Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury was awesome. Probably some of my best boxing memories of my lifetime. But you just hear about boxing back in the day and the importance. And then Muhammad Ali, like, do I need to say anything more?

No, I don't. Because just like Willie Mays, he's just one of those names that will just continue. Even way after he's been gone to just live in in the annals of greatness in sports history. So my answer there is Muhammad Ali. Santa, who is yours just one day. I mean, I'm I'm not going to be original in any way, shape or form. And you're also a lot older than all of us.

Yeah, I'm an old fart. It's Babe Ruth. I mean, this is a guy who in 1920 hit 54 home runs more than any other team team in the sport of baseball. He had 54 home runs more than any other team in the entire league. Babe Ruth was was a man among boys.

And we talk about the steroid era. He had the hot dog. This was not a guy who, like, took care of his body.

He's not putting millions of dollars into his body. Like the drug was like a hot dog, a mustard. Yeah. I mean, you would drink hot dogs and he would just go out there. He was just the most purely natural. And the fact that he was an all star caliber pitcher with the Red Sox before he went to the Yankees. There's so much lore around Babe Ruth, his pitching, his hitting, his titles, his home runs, the pointing at Wrigley Field, pointing to the to the bleachers. And he's actually requesting a hot dog in that, people say. Yeah.

There you go. I mean, there's so much about Babe Ruth. And the craziest thing is if you break it down, he won MVP one time. He's a one time MVP with all of the legend, with all of the, you know, historic everything about Babe Ruth. He won MVP one time.

Do you? Here's a trivia question. I think you'll know this. So sorry for putting you on the spot when he was when the Yankees got him from the Red Sox.

Harry Fruzzi was the owner of the Red Sox. You remember the play, why he needed the money. You remember what the play was called. When you say I'm going to hit myself, I know it.

What was it? No, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah. Just my random trivia fact. Now, a great trivia question. The Willie Mays being on deck of the Bobby Thompson home run was always one of my go to great trivia questions. And then my dad one up me was who was the pitcher? And now I'd forever know Frank.

Frank. Yeah. Anyway, the one more thing that I just want to say, like you say Babe Ruth, it's almost like he wasn't even real. Like I said that with Willie, like obviously we got to see Willie Mays.

They honor him all the time. And, you know, they used to do that because, you know, he lived up until yesterday at the age of ninety three with how early Babe Ruth passed away. And you hear all these stories still passed down. You're like, huh? Was this even like a real person? Even though. Right.

There's obviously video and things along those lines. So that's like that's the highest honor you give someone in sports when the resume is so impressive that you just think they're like a mythological human being and creature. Botcher, who's yours? Wayne Gretzky, actually. Yeah.

So I was three years removed from when he retired. So I wish I could see him just because how he's mythologically like the greatest person ever. Like you said, more assists than points anybody else has. And I kind of doubt how great someone can be like that when they double up everyone else. So I would have to see it for myself in person. But you don't believe that he's that great?

Well, I believe he's great because you see the numbers, but you don't actually believe it until you see it live. And honestly, like the only other people you could put that consideration like I got to see right the tail end of Jordan. But like Michael Jordan, too, is obviously another one. But I think the three that we just gave, you know, obviously botch will be a little bit younger. Wayne Gretzky, you know, yours truly.

Muhammad Ali and Sam there with Babe Ruth. It's kind of tough to top that. You know, you want to get into soccer, Santa. I think you'll be proud of me like pay like, you know, you weren't expecting that one. I was I was not secretary.

I would have loved to interview secretary. But anyway, we'll take a time out. Who's an athlete you wish you could have watched live is the question today as we honor Willie Mays, who passed away at the age of 93 yesterday.

Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. It is Zach Gelb show me. Come on back. Monty Williams fired by the Pistons.

Should JJ Redick be worried that he's not going to get the Lakers job? We'll discuss next. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. Have you ever covered a carpet stain with a rug, ignored a leaky faucet, pretended your half painted living room is supposed to look that way? Well, you're not alone. We've all got unfinished home projects, whether it's a door that sticks or a disorganized closet or an AC unit that only works half the time.

It all matters. You just haven't taken care of it yet. But there's an easier way. Just download the thumbtack app. You can search for what you need done and find tons of highly rated pros right in your neighborhood.

Check prices, reviews and book a pro right on the spot. Plus, you'll know what to tackle next, because thumbtack is the app that shows you what to do, who to hire and when. Pull out your phone and in just a few taps, say goodbye to all those unfinished home projects and say hello to caring for your home. The easier way.

Download thumbtack and start a project today. Call from mom. Answer it.

Call silenced. Instacart knows nothing gets between you and the game. That's why they make ordering from your couch easy. Stock up today and get all your groceries for the week delivered in as fast as 30 minutes without missing a minute of the game. You have 47 new voice mails. Download the app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last.

Minimum ten dollars per order. Additional terms apply. Tune in is the audio platform with something for everyone. News in order to secure convictions in a court of law is essential that we conclusively sports clock at four.

Doncic, the step back three. Music. And even podcasts. Whatever you love. Hear it right here on tune in.

Go to tune in dot com or download the tune in app to start listening. All right. It is the second show on the Infinity Sports Network as we honor the life of Willie Mays, who's an athlete you would have wished to love to see play live and you're around to see them play live. That's the question. Eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. Botcher did go with Wayne Gretzky. My answer was Muhammad Ali. And then you had Santer get paper. I think that one I was between Babe Ruth or Muhammad Ali. And I said, you know what? Let me give Santer Babe Ruth.

I'll take Muhammad. That's the way that I know you're a fan. You can't go, Babe Ruth. Why not? I respect. I don't live in this like petulant society that the rest of you dopey sports fans do where it's like, oh, just because you root for one team, you can't acknowledge the greatness of of another player.

I think that's just I'm a petty man, but I think that's like the definition of just being way too petty for for my liking. Let's go to Mike in California. Is this chef lawyer, Mike? No, no.

That's disappointing. I was wondering how your food was last week. But anyway, who do you got for me, Mike? So I mean, the easy answer was Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle, something like that. But I would say I grew up in the Hulk Hogan era and Bruno Sammartino is somebody I wish I had lived through.

Let me tell you, Mike, I'm not an old man, but I've been doing this long enough when I came up with this question today. I never thought someone was going to bring up Bruno and bring up a wrestler. I was just not thinking that. I thought we were going to get a lot of Babe Ruth and you know, Muhammad Ali.

And depending on how old you are, Wayne Gretzky. I was not thinking there. So that's a that's a good creative one. No doubt about it.

Yeah, well, he was champion eight years, so I mean, we'll never see anything like that again. Well, Mike, appreciate the phone call. Thanks so much. Patty Boyle is here. Let me ask Pat Boyle. Put him on the spot here in honor of Willie Mays, as he did pass away yesterday, as we know, at the age of 93, who is an athlete?

You would have loved to have seen really document his entire career and you could watch his entire career during your lifetime. So I was going to say watch in person or just be around. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I would say I'm not going to change the answer. Just an athlete you would have loved to wish you could have been around for their career.

I would say in person to watch Barry Bonds, but to be around. Well, I was around during that I was around during the end. OK, gotcha. All right.

So you put me on the spot. Somebody who I didn't watch. Oh, it's not that tough.

I mean, it is tough to answer. There's a lot of my answer is Muhammad Ali. Santa said Babe Ruth. Botcher said Wayne Gretzky.

I'm going. And again, very, very young. So it wasn't like I was around Jordan. Yeah.

That's it. Prime Jordan. I don't think there is anything tennis player in the annals of tennis history. Johnny McEnroe. OK. The bad boy of tennis.

I think you're kind of similar to McEnroe, if I'm going to be honest. Yeah. Well, not a temper. Yes. Not in skill, but yes.

And by the way, I didn't know this. Bill Ryder claims to be a great tennis player. I'm not doubting Bill claims tennis is a rich man's sport and Bill is definitely very loaded. There's no doubt about it. He definitely has a lot of dinero if you went into his wallet or if you hacked into his bank.

I mean, I saw his bank account. But you also are a big lover of tennis. I didn't know. Did you do you play tennis? Yeah. Did you play like in high school? No, no.

I only started playing during covid. But you played college. What? Baseball. Correct. OK. Which play college baseball?

Drew Division three in New Jersey. OK. I'm not going to pretend like that. I'm well familiar with who is Drew University.

Correct. And I'm not going to be familiar. Pretend to be familiar with your baseball career. What position you play. I was a pitcher. You're a pitcher. Were you good at the at the dish at the plate? Not good enough. Well, no, not really good enough to hit in college. OK. Gotcha. So you picked up tennis recently.

Correct. And you are never afraid to challenge someone and brag about your abilities. How would you rate your tennis abilities? And I hear that you are challenging Bill Ryder. And supposedly Bill's been talking to you a little bit, a little bit.

He's been talking to me for about two years now. I keep issuing the challenge. Hey, next time you come out to New York, bring your racket. Next time you come out to New York, I have a racket. I can bring you. We can play here.

We can get a court in the city. We can get an indoor court if it's, you know, in the winter or the fall months like Arthur Ashe. Right. I'll be there.

I'll be there this year. But I know. I mean, you can play on you can play on the outside on the outdoor courts. I know some people think I'm a jerk around here. I was that was a serious comment. There was no I was being condescending.

I wasn't being sarcastic. I don't know if they'll let you on the main stadium, Arthur Ashe, but the outdoor courts. Absolutely. We should make this a big day here on the net. We should get out to Long Island, your neck of the woods. I would be more than happy to do a tennis showdown on this show where we could broadcast it.

Patty Boyle and Bill Ryder head to head on the tennis court. But I think I'll have to sign on my next contract like a five year deal because Bill keeps on big time. He won't do it. You think he's afraid to play it? Yes.

I don't think so. I think Bill's just very busy. I think he's a busy man to the height of the NBA season.

Right. Just came to a close. Now he wants to probably get away for a little bit.

I think when Bill comes back in here and probably the fall when the NBA season starts back up, he'll play in tennis. He won't. He's been over a year where he's been talking. Yeah. Multiple times.

I said anywhere, anytime, any place on the newsroom. I don't think so. He brought in pizza, by the way. Yes, he did give me a slice of pizza. So he's not. He's a good man.

Hold on. But out of all the pizza places he went to, I don't think he went to the greatest pizza spot. And I gave him a good recommendation last time, which he enjoyed. But he offered up pizza, which I very nice thing that he did. But he has avocado on pizza. Yeah, that's that's how you know Bill is rich. Not only does he play tennis, but avocado on pizza.

What are we doing here? Not my first choice, but the place he went to is a group of pizza restaurants throughout the city. Thin crust, brick oven, delicious pizza places. Did he go to Spunto? He went to Spunto. It's actually pretty damn... Spunto, Pasto, Vezzo.

All those are all connected by the same ownership group. Because they gave us a gift card once during the pandemic. I think the first and last time they ever gave us a gift card around here. Now I'm just teasing. And it was to that place Spunto. And when you look at the pizza, it doesn't look like it's great pizza, but it actually is good pizza. So I take back my comments saying that the pizza isn't all that great, because that is good pizza. But avocado?

Usually people do the lame bit on the radio. Do you put pineapple on a pizza? Avocado on a pizza? I don't know.

I don't like that. It was avocado, spicy sausage, which was good. It would have been fine on its own. But he had avocado and then it was loaded with tomatoes. Oh yeah? I can understand a bruschetta slice, but come on.

Santa? And this spot has a spicy marinara, which is what he got also. So the actual base sauce is a spicy sauce too. So I just had the scraps that were left for me. It was the avocado slice that no one else had.

No, no, no. It was all the same slice. It was a spicy marinara with the avocado and the tomatoes and all that good stuff. Yeah. It looked like if I was trying to paint a pizza, it would be very, very messy.

That's what it looked like. Batra, are you big avocado on a pizza? No. What's your favorite topping on a pizza? What do you put? You can't mess up with pepperoni, but big on the, like, penne alla vodka on a slice.

Why do you? Batra goes, I'm big on the penne alla vodka. Well, we got Bobby Bacalot coming up in studio at the top of the hour, so you got to get all Italian on me. You can't say like penne alla vodka or anything Italian without doing it.

Yes I can. Rigatoni alla vodka. I eat a lot of it. I love it.

It's delicious. No, no, no. No, you do the Italian thing. If you're going to, mena gott. Instead of saying menacotti, you do mena gott.

Let me get some galamade. If you're going to over exaggerate, that's when you do the hand signal. But if you're just, you're saying it as normally as you did, I don't think you needed it. So most people say like calamari. I say calama. And I was at a restaurant last time and the lady was like, how Italian are you? Yeah, it's one. If you leave off the, if you leave off the last syllable, it's not a bad thing.

I just don't like when people go like way over the top. Like if you're, if you're, if you're direct parents, if your direct parents are from Italy, that's one thing. If you're first generation, if you were from actually from Italy, that's obviously another thing. You just have Italian heritage and you walk in and you go, let me get some galama.

I have some specific Italian heritage. All right. If you know what I mean. No, like I said, the way you said it, you're just leaving off the last syllable.

It's not, that's not a big deal. One of my dad's relatives once passed away, three or four men that they've never met before in suits, showed up, gave my grandmother a kiss on both sides, and then got back in the car and drove right away. Wow.

It was like a scene out of the Sopranos. There were some people that were hawking at that funeral and I don't know who they were associated. Let me know that. Remind me to never mess with you. You know, let me tell you, you're never supposed to admit that publicly.

You never, never, never supposed to admit that publicly. And you just did it on national radio. That's why Bobby Bacalas joined us in studio at the top of the hour. And tomorrow's going to be the Samtra Botcher and Boyle show as Zach Gale mysteriously disappears. Let me tell you, I could get whacked and they still would never put that, those three people hosted a show here on Infinity Sports Network. Sorry guys, that wasn't all that nice. I was being a big jerk. Monty Williams, fired by the Pistons.

We're going to learn a lot about people right now. Botcher, he is owed, I think it's $56 million. Sixty-five. Sixty-five, oh yeah, because yeah, $65 million for the next five years. Botcher, would you sit on that money or would you get back into coaching this upcoming season if you had the option?

Depends on the job. If it's the... Can you just give me an answer here? Well, it depends because if it's the Lakers, I'll say yeah. It's a lot of pressure, but it's the Lakers. You can't mess up there. But if it's the Cavs, I'll be like eh. Donald Mitchell wants out, probably.

Unless he signs the extension, but yeah, it's not a good spot. Samter, what would you be doing? You know, you have $65 million coming in one way or another. You enjoying that cash or you going to work?

I think you can do both. I think you can go to work and still enjoy the cash. Yeah, I'm going back to work. He would have been working anyway. Let me tell you, Samter's the biggest liar on this planet.

If Infinity signed him to a $65 million contract and they said after one year they want to get rid of him. There's no way Samter's taking another job. You've never seen him again. That beard's going to grow down to his belly button.

Yeah, Samter just got a new house. He would get a newer house and then he would add another barbecue. And he would just be cooking for the rest of his life. I'd hire somebody to barbecue for me. I'm not going to be out there. I don't know. I feel like you enjoy being like the big man on campus.

I actually do enjoy barbecuing a little bit, yeah. Boyle, what are you doing? Well, I don't want to be a Debbie Downer because Monty Williams was going to not coach last year because his wife got diagnosed with cancer. So I don't think he's going, I don't know if he'll coach because of that. If it was me and I had a normal, you know, nothing going on, I would probably still coach.

But I would like not be, I don't know if I'm, I'm probably mailing it in. I'm probably mailing it in because if I get fired again, I know I'm still getting paid an average of, what is that, $13 million a year for the next five years. You know what I'd do?

I'd take a year off. So many coaches are incapable of just taking one year off, you reset, you recharge your batteries, and then see if you want to get back into it a year from now. But I think there's a chance he's the next Lakers coach. And I would love, love to see J.J. Redick, poor J.J. Redick, just get left at the altar after thinking he's getting a Lakers job surviving the Hurley thing. If Monty Williams says, yeah, I want the Lakers job.

Who's been up for the Lakers job before, they were just too cheap with it. Yeah, I just, it's tough to judge because he was a great coach with Phoenix the first time around. But man, last year. He was good. They got to a finals. He was a good coach. You know, team one coach of the year. Last year I get Detroit's, I get Detroit's young and they're inexperienced and it was a rebuild. But man, that 28 game losing streak and just watching some of their basketball was so pathetic.

It's like how this guy is coaching the team and it looks like a G League team. Something, something was missed. Moist, moist pork says he would do volunteer work. What a nice guy, moist pork.

No more tailoring suits for folks. Actually, the night Mraz and I went to the Ranger game, there was a doppelganger and it was a guy that looked just like moist pork. And I said to Mraz, the guy was going to say, I'm like, did moist pork follow us into the suite?

It was a spitting image of him. I love moist pork. One of my favorite people I've ever met. Tremendous dude.

But I thought for sure moist pork was in the luxury box. We'll take a break. It is the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to debut this new segment when we come on back, Samter, or we run out of time. I'm going to follow you. You know what? We'll take a break. You, you tune back. You'll see if we debut a new segment when we come on back.

Here's Pat Boyle. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. All right. It is the Zach Gelb Show. How you doing right here on the Infinity Sports Network? Let me first tell you that it's time to ask the pros. Were you the listener gets asked us a question brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at INF Sports that are at Zach Gelb using the hashtag ask the pros. Be listening later in the show when we might answer your question.

Think around the auto parts where your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O We will introduce the poll question right now and we will give you an answer later on in the show. Out of the four major sports, who is the best player right now? McDavid, Connor McDavid, Shoei Otani, Nikola Jokic or Patrick Mahomes?

The early returns. Three point six percent say Nikola Jokic. Twenty six point four percent say Shoei Otani. Twenty eight point two percent Connor McDavid and forty one point eight percent going with Patrick Mahomes right now as he's running away with it. So I'll give you my answer on that and we'll break that down later on in the program.

I was reading this on CBS and it's an article from Cody Benjamin. With every new quarterback contract in the NFL, more eyebrows are raised at the inevitability of record setting dollar amounts at the position with even inconsistent and relatively unproven signal callers commanding historic calls. The league is well aware of the situation, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, with some team owners privately discussing the possibility of a separate cap on quarterback salaries.

So I'll give you my quick opinion on this, Mike. This will never happen. There is no way like even if the owners and I don't know if all the owners want this to happen. Because right now it's just some team owners. But even if there was enough to carry momentum to maybe bring this up in the next labor negotiations with the NFL and the NFLPA, why would the NFLPA say we're going to agree with this? A separate cap on quarterback salaries. Why would the NFLPA even agree to this? It's easy, because that means more money for everybody else who's not a quarterback. That means that the salary cap will still be $225 million and that way you're not having to give 75, you know, Joe Burrow makes 25% of his team's salary cap. That means that the team can only spend 75% of its cap on everybody else on the other 53-man roster, 52 guys. But do you think that's going to significantly increase those other salaries?

Huge! Does it? I mean, Joe Burrow, so basically Joe Burrow is making $50 million a year. You would think so, that's how they would dress it up, but when push comes to shove, would they actually, would the other players actually make that much more money? Well, so the reality is if Joe Burrow is making $55 million a year, that's a million dollars per player basically on a 53-man roster. So if you spread that out, if you still have the same salary cap and Joe Burrow is just on his own separate thing, the quarterbacks are their own separate thing, that's a million dollars per player that's left over.

But the question then becomes, hold on, the question then becomes how much does the salary cap go down? Because if you were saying this is going to not count against the cap, right? Or it's going to count separate, however they do this, then what is that going to bring the number down to when quarterback is the most expensive position? And then like I understand what you're saying, like the answer you just gave me is the logical answer. Oh, because then like running back to it will get more money, but is it actually going to make the owner spend more money or is it just getting dressed up like it's going to be?

And I think it's more so the latter than the former. Well I think what would happen is the way the NFLPA would agree to it is if the combined two salary caps of the QB plus everybody else ends up being more than what a singular salary cap would have been. So let's say the salary cap is 200 million dollars right now, if you're going to separate it then now it's maybe 215. So maybe you're not getting all that extra 53 million dollars but you're getting an extra 15, 20, 25 million per team to spend on the players. And for the NFL with the amount of money they're making on these TV deals, that's nothing, that's no skin off their back and the owners will still, the owners will win, the players will win, and everybody will be happy. Do you think this will ever actually happen?

Because I don't. I've been hearing about this kind of stuff for a long time. I heard it was running backs right?

Say it again? Even with the running back, they're like oh maybe we should have running backs not count against the cap so these running backs would actually go get money. I'm like why, that's never going to happen because once, like if it's going to happen to a position it would quarterback because quarterback is the outlier. All the other positions, like if offensive linemen start saying oh we want this to happen to us, or running backs, or wide receivers, there will never be exceptions made for those positions. The only exception for a running back position that makes sense to me is to slot, because you know how the draft has slotted salaries for every position, every draft pick. That running backs should get a higher slot value for wherever they're selected because their careers are basically that first contract and then after that they're just thrown off to the wolves. It's very rare for a running back to get a top level big dollar second contract unless you're the elite of the elite.

There's like four or five guys who get that deal otherwise everyone else, you can have two thousand yard seasons and then you get thrown to the wolves. Now the other thing is it's a separate cap on quarterback salaries. So that means they would set aside however many million dollars on your roster for a quarterback. Would even the quarterbacks agree to that? Because then it could potentially, like right now it's just going through the roof. A few years ago, what, forty-five million, forty million dollars, now it's fifty-five million, who knows how that continues to go up. Would the number be great enough where they would see the trends for like a ten year CBA agreement, let's just say, where the quarterbacks would feel comfortable agreeing to that number.

That's the other part. The other problem is that the quarterbacks would probably see the biggest negative impact on their salaries. So you're right, it would definitely impact but when you're a guy who's making fifty-five million dollars a year and now you're seeing your salary going down to forty-nine million a year. And you're complaining and everybody else's salary on your team can go up and you're complaining and you're supposed to be the leader of your team. It's not going to be a good look so I think a lot of quarterbacks will probably end up staying quiet because they know they're still getting a ton of money. And they're also, they don't want to hurt their fellow teammates.

You're not serious. How many times is there a labor dispute and everyone's like, we're on the same team. And then when push comes to shove, no one's actually on the same team. Selfish. It's not selfish, it's actually doing, I don't want to even call it selfish, that's a negative connotation. Go make as much money as you can, as long as you can when you play this lethal game. It's nice to put up this idea, oh you look for your teammates and all that, but in reality everyone's looking at what's in the best interest of themselves. Bobby Bacalal will join us in studio Steve Schirripa next.

Go to TuneIn.com or download the TuneIn app to start listening. You deserve this rich golden lager with a crisp and refreshing taste. Or if you overcame. Two more rings, two more. You deserve this ice cold reward. Madelon, the Markable Fighter. Freak responsibly, beer imported by Crime Report Chicago, Illinois.