Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio network. Guardians Weekly is brought
to you by Progressive Helping Guardians Fans say hundreds on car Insurance. Hi,
everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosen House along with you from Progressive
Field in downtown Cleveland. As we get closer to the start of spring training
twenty twenty four, as pitchers and catchers will report to Goodyear, Arizona with
their first workouts on February the thirteenth, the full squad a little bit less
than a week later, and our first broadcast is three weeks from today,
February the twenty fourth, as the Guardians will take on the Cincinnati Reds in
Goodyear. Good show lined up for you. Today, we will begin our
look around the American League central at the Guardian's opponents for a postseason birth and
a division crown, beginning with the Detroit Tigers in their longtime radio voice Dan
Dickerson. He'll join us in the second half of the show, and in
just a little bit we'll hear from Guardians Director of player Development, Rob Sirfolio.
Always good to check in with Rob on the farm system and the coaching
staff. Assignments have been announced forward Cleveland throughout their minor league system, and
Rob will fill us in on that and what that means heading into the new
season. But first, a quick visit with Triston McKenzie, who was in
town for Guards Fest a couple of weeks back. Always fun to catch up
with t mack and he's coming off a season where he was limited to just
the four starts due to two separate injuries that really cost him most of the
season. But things are looking up as he heads into spring training. And
if you look back to twenty twenty two, an eleven game winner, pitched
almost two hundred innings and his ERA was under three. All the other peripheral
numbers across the board were excellent. You have to feel if he's healthy,
what a boost that will be to an already strong guardian's rotation. And when
we caught up with t mac a couple of weeks ago, he talked about
being ready to roll for spring training. Yeah, I mean the off season
has been really good, really kind to me, and so far I'm feeling
ready for spring. I mean it was a little bit of a different offseason
in terms of my ramp up, but a normal offseason in terms of working
out and throwing. And I think right now I'm in line to be able
to go out the spring training and treat it as such and then get in
the season and roll normally. What did it mean to be able to make
a starter or two at the end of the season just for your peace of
mind? Yeah, I mean, I think that kind of sums it up
perfectly. Peace of mind. It allowed me to kind of go out there
and know that I could still compete, know that I wasn't hurt, and
be able to go into the off season with a positive mindset, knowing that
I had to just work and I'd be able to be fresh and ready for
this season. I'd obviously, workouts and preparing yourself physically is good off season.
Though I'm sure you like to do some different things. I know you
work with kids camps things like that. But you also had a unique experience
in Bermuda. No, the Bahamas, Bahamas, the Bahamas. We go
down there for the Dumpling, Homer and Derby and Paradise. It's a beautiful
event. I mean, who doesn't want to love and go to Bahamas?
But I like to go over there. They do a kids camp, there's
a charity golf tournament. A bunch of retired guys come down there from the
players on line, so CC Sabbathie was down there, Derek Jeter was down
there, Michael Bourne was down there, Chris Young was down there. There's
a bunch of guys that come down to support the event. And then on
top of that, I held my own kids camp several weeks ago or last
weekend. I guess where I get back to my community. So just being
able to give back in the off season and know that all the stuff that
we're doing in season provides us a platform to help others and bring others up
with us is huge to me. It's hard to believe it. You're a
major league veteran, now, do you feel that way heading into this new
season? No, I feel I mean the rookie end the vet. I
feel like the old guy in the clubhouse. But I still feel young at
hard. I still feel like I'm still finding my I wouldn't say finding my
way in the league. I feel like I'm comfortable, but I feel like
there's still so much for me to learn. There's so much for me to
get information from. But I also think there's a lot of guys that are
in the clubhouse that are a lot younger than me that I can definitely help
and kind of guide through. And you mentioned that, And we had a
chance to visit with Daniel Espino a little bit earlier, and he's had injury
issues on his way to making it to the major leagues. He's not there
yet. You had the same thing. What have you shared with him to
help him get through that. I think the biggest thing is trust in the
process. It sounds kind of eyewashed to say as a baseball player would say.
It sounds kind of like the regular thing to say, but I think
truly understanding that every day that you put in the work is providing you a
better tomorrow. And he has a great head on his shoulders, and he
definitely does a good job of just being where his feet are and trying to
take each day as it is the team from the standpoint of the manager's office.
First time in a long time there's a new manager here. Transition wise,
As a player, how do you look at that? Yeah, I
mean it's exciting. I'm definitely sad to see Tito go, but I'm excited
to have Vogue with us. I think he's gonna bring a ton of energy
into the clubhouse, a ton of positive energy, and I definitely gonna think
he's going to impact a lot of the young guys. Very good starting pitching
always a big deal for this organization. You look around and it looks pretty
strong again. How exciting is that when you head into a new season thinking
that way. I mean, it's exciting to know that I'll have a guy
like Bieber right next to me, as well as having guys that were really
good last year but they were still kind of trying to find their footing in
the league, like Biby and Gavin Williams. Logan Allen. We have a
lot of guys that are gonna come in and provide for us this year,
and I'm excited for it. Good to see you, Good to see Rosie.
That is Tristan McKenzie figures to be a big key to this season starting
rotation. And how about this, It seems like he's been around for a
while. This will be his fifth major league season coming up, and it's
his age twenty sixth season, so he got to the big leagues at a
young age, has had good success at a young age. And is still
a relatively young pitcher by Major League Baseball standards. Stay with us when we
come back. We'll hear from Rob Sirfolio, the director of player Development.
That's after this timeout. On the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network, Tom Severt
holds the major league record he's struck out ten padres in a row in nineteen
seventy. Now the payoff pitch straight, three call curveball, and a new
club record eight consecutive strikeouts for Tristan McKenzie. Progressive. We love sports and
saving you money, so we bundled them together. The final horse now in
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Here comes the actual jump. They bundled their home a auto insurance with Progressive
Win Strike Savings, Gold, Progressive, keshal Tea Inshuremance Company affiliates and other
insurers not available in all states are situations. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly and
our good buddy of the program. Rob Serfolio, the director of player development
for the Cleveland Guardians, has joined us as the Guardians have announced their minor
league managerial and coaching staff assignments. Also trainers in there too, But Rob,
basically, I know it. Sometimes it takes some time because there's a
domino effect based on whether certain coaches are promoted or maybe leave the organization for
a better opportunity elsewhere. And you've gotten to a point though I imagine there's
some relief there with with spring training bearing down on us. YEA relief is
a great word. This is a fun yet really challenging exercise. Every year,
you know, you hit on some of the things that you know,
I'm most proud of personally, Like, yes, when we get players in
the major leagues and they have success, that's right at the top of the
list. But also the opportunity to help some of our coaches reach their lifelong
dreams of being major league major league coaches and part of the major league coaching
staff, and you know, it was it was an honor to have a
couple of those guys get that opportunity this past hiring cycle with us, and
that creates some holes as you alluded to with os that fall behind it in
the minor leagues and some hiring of new staff and welcome to the the opportunity
to provide new challenges for staff that's coming back. It is always really fun
and there's a there's a thousand ways that you could you could land in terms
of who goes where. But you know, we're really excited to have the
group that we have and some some people with experience that have been at these
levels in the past, but also some uh, some new faces at each
level, which which will be a great opportunity for these guys to to lead
and learn along the way. And before we get to some of the staff
positions, just to touch on the two promotions to the major league staff.
With with Terry Francona having been here eleven years and not a whole lot of
staff turnover, there really haven't been many opportunities over the last decade for for
in house candidates to move up. But for Rugless o'door and also Brad Goldberg,
both off of that double A staff, I imagine those conversations were really
fulfilling for you incredibly, and you know, just the quality of people that
both of those guys are. Obviously they're quite skilled as as coaches when it
comes to helping our players get better and maximize their career out on the field,
but they're you know, even better human beings. And some of those
phone calls were as fun of phone calls that I've had the pleasure of being
a part of, and just really excited for both Rugi and BG to get
that opportunity, and I know they're going to you know, fit in with
that staff really well and getting the no vote a little bit, and you
know some of the guys that he's brought in as well. Just really excited
for what that group looks like and hopefully supporting our players towards our goal when
in the World Series. And there is a third coach that you count as
a promotion from the Guardians player development system, And since you know you're the
commissioner of all these things, we'll let that count. But Kaile Correa also
could be considered a promotion from within. And tell us about that and why
you feel so strongly about him. Well, you know, first off,
clearly I'm far from the commissioner on anything, but on this one, you
know, guy's a good buddy that we hired out of coaching in college back
in twenty eighteen and our twenty seventeen and came to US and really his first
opportunities as a bench coach in rookie ball and eventually became an infield coordinator for
US, and then got an awesome opportunity to pop over to San Francisco and
be the bench coach with their major league team. And we're really thankful to
have that guy back. Is you know, he is a fantastic coach that's
going to really help a lot of fastsets in his role on the major league
staff, but also you know, has incredible content knowledge on the infield and
defensive side of the ball and just going to be a great resource for not
only our major league coaches, but given the relationships he has, you know,
with people all throughout our minor league system. You know, a guy
that we're hoping and can impact our players beyond just the big leagues. Rob
so folios joining us. He's the director of player development for the Cleveland Guardians.
And let's get to those names on the coaching staffs in the minor leagues,
and again, this player development the lifeblood of this organization and these men
and women, this year in charge of trying to get the most out of
the players and see them move quickly. Andy Tracy is back as the manager
for Triple A Columbus's fourth season. Now, why is that important Rob to
have him back? Well, first off, we're just so lucky to have
Trace at the helm. I don't know if there's a more difficult job in
baseball being the manager of the Triple A team. There are so many There
are so many things that go on throughout the course of the year at that
level, whether it's thirty minutes before the game, getting called and told that
you're starting pitchers, getting called up for the big leagues and trying to manage,
Okay, how do I get through nine innings with the guys that I
have available to just you know, some of the player conversations that that level
of guys that you know obviously want to be in the big leagues and they're
not at that time, and that comes with some really challenging at time conversations,
but also great opportunities to help guys try and become better versions of themselves
as older players. And Trace, just with his experience as a player going
through a lot of those situations himself, and then his experience at that level
the last couple of years is just you know, we're really lucky to have
that both you know, in my shoes and also the staff that he's going
to be working with this year and obviously our players. So a no brainer
to have someone like Trace, you know, in that job, and he
just just does such a great job at it and continuity prevails as well,
pitching coach wise and hitting coach wise with Olin Dowan, Junior Betansis, and
you have some others in there too helping out an assistant roles. He kind
of like that staff at Triple A looks like, yeah, it'll be a
good one. And you know Daniel Robertson, former player to be league level
for us and he was in Double A last year popping in there a new
hire and Andrew Moore and the assistant pitching coach role, that cup of coffee
in the big leagues, you know, has experience in player shoes that I
think will be really able to support Owen through a lot of those conversations you're
just talking about. So a group that has has experienced both as a coach
in the upper levels and also on the field. So we're excited about that
group at the Double A level. Big shoes to fill with rootless odor moving
to the major leagues after a lengthy stay at Akron. But Greg Decenzo's back
in the dugout as a manager after stepping away from that for just a little
bit. And what does Greg bring the table based on what you've seen in
the past. Yeah, well, you know, one of the things about
d is just he was a college head coach for twenty plus years, so
the number of trips around the sun in which he's had to lead a group
of players and a staff is an is an advantage for us to have that
type of experience in our organization, and obviously a couple of years of experience
managing in Lake County before you got to taste the Triple A as Tracy's right
hand man last year. And you know, like you said, incredibly big
shoes to fill and Rugie, I'm not sure anyone in baseball could do it,
but I think d would be on the short list of people that's going
to come in there and and really get our you know, our group of
players at that level. It's it's kind of a make or break level.
A lot of people say and I think D's gonna bring the right energy and
just overall mindset to help those guys both on field and then the staff that's
working with them do everything they can to help these guys continue to progress.
And Cody Bukel will be the pitching coach there, Jordan Becker the hitting coach,
and a person we had a chance to meet last spring, Amanda Kama
Kona was just getting started in the organization as a hitting coach, spender time
in Arizona a season ago. Man, she must have made a a really
good impression last year because we really she wasn't sure how how it would go.
She was hoping it would go well and certainly wanted to learn, but
was at the bottom rung of the ladder and now moves up to double A
as an assistant hitting coach. And what did she show last year in the
last calendar year. That's really been impressive. Yeah, well that's you know,
that's cool to hear that story. First of f ak, it has
probably been too modest on her own skills right there. You know, we
brought her in it really excited about what she could do to help our players,
and you know, you know, one of the things about the minor
leagues is whether it's triple A, whether it's Double A, whether it's high
A. You know, really, at the end of the day, you're
trying to help minor league players get better. So we look at all of
these jobs, regardless of level, as like, this is an opportunity to
learn skills and be exposed to experiences. They are going to help you on
your journey of whatever your ultimate end state is as a coach. And Ak
is, you know, someone that we're lucky to have, and you know,
we think this is going to be a great opportunity for her to get
exposure to the affiliate lifestyle and then obviously impact our players, working right side
by side with Jordan Becker, who you know was our high hitting coach last
year and has some experience to be able to team up and use each other
as you know, an advantageous person on their own learning journey. So this
is a really exciting one for us. You know, Ak did a great
job just building relationships with players coming into our organization and learning, which is
what we ask any new staff member to try and do. And you know,
we're really really excited about how she's not just going to impact our players,
but also help the rest of that staff as well. Hey, every
time we have you on, I got to believe our fans get fired up
for baseball because of just the good news and good things that are happening in
the organization at the player development side, and certainly this time around no different.
As we get closer to spring training, We'll see out there soon.
And thanks so much as always for coming back. Looking forward to it,
Rosie, thanks for having me. Always fun to catch up with. Rob
ser Folio, the director of player development for the Cleveland Guardians. Stay with
us when we come back. We will begin our look around the American League
Central Division and the teams that are in the way of a division crown for
the Guardians, including the Detroit Tigers. Their fine radio voice Dan Dickerson joins
us next Detroit. On this spectacular day, seventy eight degrees under sunshine,
the city rises to its feet, maybe for the final time ever for Miguel
Cabrera, bottom of the seventh as Detroit has the lead and Miguel Cabrera will
face new right handed reliever Ango Dela Santos Cabrera OZ for three to day two
strike out sent a pop up the set, the pitch, and it's inside
a ball. Fans unison, meg Gie, Megie, pretty good chance.
This is his last ever Major League at ban the pitch and it's down and
away. Ball two. He's had three doubles and a single on Friday and
Saturday, but today to strikeouts in a pomp up. He's in a hitter's
count. Now here's the set. Here's the pitch inside three and oh,
well, you know why these fans are booing if they are buying at three?
And oh, can you imagine what it'll sound like if he gets walked.
Here here's the pitch, ball four. It's high. That was rather
anti climatic. Meggie goes to first. Fans they don't care. They're roaring.
Welcome back to Guardian's weekly Rosenhouse. Back with you from Progressive Field in
downtown Cleveland, and we begin our look around the American League Central Division at
the Guardian's opponents, who will vie for the top spot and the playoff spot
that goes along with it. We begin with the Tigers, just a little
bit west north of Toledo to the Motor City and Dan Dickerson, their longtime
radio voice twenty five years in now as the radio voice of the Detroit Tigers,
and Dan always great to have you along this time of year to kind
of preview the season. And boy, based on last year, a twelve
win improvement for the Tigers, and things really seem to be on the upswing,
especially in terms of good young prospects, both both pitching wise and hitting
wise. There has to be some good excitement there in Detroit. I would
think, I think there really is. And you know, the finish of
the last season strong. That doesn't always carry over to the next year,
as you know, but when you did it with a good young core.
I mean, last year was all about finding out about some guys. Scott
Harris's first year as president of Baseball Operations and they found out about Carpenter Green,
Torkulsen is you know, legitimate middle of the order bats. It's all
about keeping you know them healthy, especially Riley Green, who had two different
injuries that kept him out for a while coming back now from Tommy John but
Jake Rogers looks like he established himself as Number one catcher. Parker Meadows,
to me, is arguably the best centerfielder I've seen in you know, my
twenty four years of calling games at co America Park and centerfield such an important
position defensively in terms of covering all that acreage, and he was terrific.
And then you'll watch schoolbl come back from the forearm injury and the surgery and
he became a dominant ace. So it was a lot about finding out about
young guys and they're more coming. It's it's probably Rosie a period like we
haven't seen in a long time. I would argue maybe back to eighty four
in terms of the development of a young core of everyday position players. You
know, the course of three seasons, we're going to probably add five six
young bats to this lineup that are going to be everyday guys. Three last
year and you've got several more on the way, and Jase Young, Cole
Keith they just signed to an extension, and maybe even justin Henry molloy and
one player who is not back, Miguel Cabrera who retired at the end of
last season, and I know they were trying to fit him in the last
couple of years as he worked through injuries and his career was winding down,
and you kind of touched on the young lineup and they can really take off
now where they don't have to work him in. But take us back to
that last day of the regular season last year, which I think turned out
it was storybook Hollywood. I don't think could have come up with anything better
than the way they sent off Miguel Cabrera on the last day of his major
league career in Detroit. It could not have worked out better. Sunny Day
forty thousand plus the last two days. AJ had been thinking about it for
so long and talking with Miguil. You know, he gets on base,
he walks, and then you know, he gets raised on a double play
and he's coming off the field and a lot of people are wondering, is
this the last time we're going to see him. I'm thinking, I know
that AJ hadn't told me, but I knew there was something. We're going
to see him again. I didn't know if it was going to be with
the glove or not. And literally, we're going to break and I have
one word away from saying, you know on the Detroit Tigers radio network calling
for the break, and before the word network gets out, I see him
pop out of the dugout with the glove. I'm like, wait a minute,
wait a minute, and to see him go out there. Team was
told to stay in the dugout. That was a moment Stephen Kwan hitting him
a perfect ground ball, so he makes the play the first batter. He
had to stay out there for at least two batters. AJ said later,
it's like he's got to get the best chance of getting a ground ball,
and then that being the end was it was. It was magical. I
don't use that word very often, but it was. It was incredible and
such a great feel good weekend. I think the thing it did for the
young Tigers. They haven't seen big crowds a lot at co America Park,
and it just experience that. It's like, oh, these fans will come
out. You give them something to come out for to watch what the Lions
did this fall into January. I think again, if you're a young Tiger,
you look at that and go, well, I want to see some
of that. I want to be walking through the grocery store and hearing people
chant my name like they did with Jared Goff. So anyway, it's yeah,
that was That was an incredible weekend and I do think it will kind
of carry over into this year in terms of the young players realizing just what
a baseball sportstown Detroit is. It's been a little while, but it is
no secret Detroit is a really good baseball town, and if the Tigers get
it rolling again, I'm sure it will be again. We're joined by Dan
Dickerson, longtime broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers, and Dan, you look at
at supplementing all these good young players, some nice moves made by the Tigers
in the offseason, especially pitching wise. What do you think of what they
did to kind of supplement the starting rotation and what do you see them maybe
still trying to do before the season begins. Yeah, I love the moves
in the rotation. Ken Semata, we saw him four times after he came
back. Started the year when on the IL and came back and we saw
him I think four times after that. He was really good and he just
looks like a guy who can easily pitch in mid to late thirties and be
very effective. That splitter is still devastating when it's on. So I really
like that signing. And then Jack Flirty they signed has not had a good
couple of seasons. He's been very hittable, but he's back to good hell,
the injuries that he had were kind of oblique and non elbow related,
So I think the Tigers realized, you know, okay, this is what
they look at. What was his peak earlier, What's caused him from getting
that peak? Can we take that guy now that he's healthy and get him
back to that level? And I think with the staff they have, you
know, you added Robin Lund, a kinesiology professor from Iowa this past year,
and he was very helpful with pictures, just learning about not the proper
mechanics, but how their body moves best. And you know, you figure,
all right, what's going wrong with Jack Flaerty. He's back to good
health. Can we get him to eighteen nineteen levels when he was one of
the best five six pitchers in the National League. So I really like those
two signings. School was great down the stretch, an absolute dominant ace over
his last seven eight nine starts. So you've got him at the top of
the rotation case. He my is coming back from Tommy John the former one
to one. He's I mean, he was throwing ninety five in bullpens in
August and he had a little bit of a setback after Tommy John, but
I really liked him slotting into that number four spot. And then rees Olsen
had a under the radar twenty start terrific rookie season in the rotation. And
then you've got Matt Manning as well, probably a little battle there at the
back end of the bullpen. So rotation looks strong. In the bullpen.
You've had Andrew Chaffin coming back after a very good year two years ago,
and Shelby Miller's intriguing. I mean, he's heading into his late thirties and
Dodgers, as they always seem to do, made him better, you know,
developed a split and all of a sudden, the bullpen when playing in
Foley in best is looking at Holton, who was the MVP last year,
suddenly looks like it's quite a strength. And then the one thing I would
say, you want to add before the season maybe is another, But I
just think that they're balancing. I keep looking at JD. Martinez just sitting
out there be a perfect addition. I know that they'd like the idea of
having a DH where it's not committed to one guy now that mcguel is retired,
But man, if you get him on a one year deal, that
he would help those young hitters. Added Canna, a veteran who is going
to definitely help with his presence and is just the knowledge he can pass on
from his years in the major leagues. They've got a length in this lineup.
It was, you know, third worst at run scoring in the American
League, and to rely solely on young kids to make it a middle of
the pack offense, which I think it has to get to. If you
really want to contend for the central title, you probably need more than just
Mark Canna. He lengthens the lineup, but I think that other bat probably
won't happen. But if there was one need, I would say I would
love to see that. Scott Harris talks about he wants it to make the
hardest possible on AJ Hintch to make his lineup decisions and roster decisions. Well,
make a little bit harder at JD and see, you know, see
what the competition, how it shakes out. Hey, you mentioned those two,
Scott Harris the general manager and at the top of the Baseball operations department
and AJ Hinch. You've been there long enough where you've seen a build up
and then a great stretch and now another rebuild, but getting to a good
spot. They have they been there long enough now and it's not that long,
but have they been there long enough where things are starting to get implemented
and they're getting to that sweet spot where it's really starting to build and take
off. You think, oh, I do I think? You know?
Scott had a very clear vision of the type of player he wanted, not
only the skills, but the person, and I think he showed with almost
all the moves he made, not just on the margins, but picking up
a Tyler Holton off waivers and he ends up pitching eighty five innings out of
the bullpen, and the bullpen MVP or Zach McKinstry, who I think is
going to one of the most valuable Tigers this year for his position flexibility and
his ability to play six different positions really well. He got him for nothing
at the end of spring training. So he's always trying to add these guys.
And when you have a clear vision from the head guy about how you
want to build a winner, it just ripples to the entire organization. And
then you build the staff at the major league level that's very diverse, three
hitting coaches, three pitching coaches. You know, they've kind of rethought the
whole strength and conditioning plus training plus coaching. They all talk to each other
so that when a guy is maybe changing something in a swing that mechanical adjustment
starts in the weight room, that you're talking with the strength and conditioning guys
about how, okay, every movement that he makes has to reflect this change
we've made in his mechanics. That type of thing. I just think it's
all very well coordinated. There's a lot of stuff going on in the minor
leagues at the major league level that aren't obvious, but I do think they
are about the hit that sweet spot, as you said, of developing talent,
adding talent, and getting the most out of it. Dan Dickerson joining
us long time radio voice for the Detroit Tigers. Damn, when you say
you've been there a quarter century now as part of that broadcast team, and
for fans who don't know you, you had a chance to work with Ernie
Harwell at the tail end of his career and then you took over the lead
voice. And what was that like for you as someone who grew up listening
to and just enjoying Ernie Harwell for so many years in that part of the
country. Yeah, it's every time I think about it, it's you know,
it's just kind of incredible that because there aren't many as you know,
doing what we do and doing it for the team that grew up watching,
and that's really special to me. Ernie was such a great mentor. He
helped me when I would go to Tiger Stadium in the nineties. I'd never
called play by play and I was working on my baseball play by play,
and you know, he invited me over to his house to listen when I
contacted him, because that was Ernie Harwell, So we did, and he
was always very encouraging, sent me little notes, you know, after hearing
a broadcast, so I did Michigan football. He sent me a little two
line note after hearing the broadcast my first Michigan game, which was a big
moment of my career. But his support and then working with him and you
realized how he stayed fresh and sounded so good right to the very last game
he called in Toronto because he just enjoyed the people in the game. And
always I'm a stats guy, I like people too, but I love stats
in baseball again, but you always remind us the story behind the numbers,
and just watching how he would walk around the ballpark and talk to so many
people every day. It was just like such a great thing to watch and
learn from my first three years as the middle innings guy, and when he
retired to be able to take over, I just felt like, Okay,
I'm ready for this. But every time I think about it how special it
is, it gives me chills sometimes that it all worked out the way it
did, you know, it's amazing. There's some franchises where they've had quite
a few broadcasters over the years, but the Tigers are one of those that
when you think about it, how long Ernie was there and now you're on
the twenty five year plateau, that's pretty impressive and some I think fans appreciate
continuity in their broadcast booth, and the Tigers certainly have had that. Yeah
you think, I mean literally you can go ty Tyson, Harry Howman,
Ernie Harwell and now as I approached my twenty fifth year, I mean those
are that those the four with me being the fourth, that covers over one
hundred years. Just about it. I don't know, not quite a hundred,
but it's a lot. It's like eighty years between the four in terms
of how often how long the broadcast. So it is kind of cool.
It is a tradition and it's it's a lot of fun to be a part
of that. That's all part of the fabric of Detroit Tigers baseball, and
they will be a I think a prime challenger as the Guardians hope to get
back to the postseason. The Tigers a much longer stretch without postseason play.
They're trying to get there too, and it should shape up to be an
interesting division. This year seems wide open, doesn't it. Oh, it
really does. You know, you feel like finishing second did mean something.
But Aj always points out he never gets carried away. You're still below five
hundred talking about the Tigers. It's like, all right, this division looks
like it's wide open because Minnesota didn't get stronger. It doesn't appear, but
there's still the team to chase. And you never count out Cleveland because I
mean, you talk about a system in place there, developing pitching and understanding
how you went with pitching and defense and paying attention to detail. You know
we'll miss Terry Frankcona. I will say that, but I always look at
Cleveland as a team that's like, never count them out, and it should
be a wide open race. And I think Chicago in case he are behind
Minnesota, Detroit and Cleveland. But it's going to be a heck of a
year. Well, you enjoy spring training in Lakeland, Florida, and we
will look forward to seeing you in the first meeting of the regular season between
these two clubs. Dan, always nice to have you along. I appreciate
it. Thanks, Rosie, always good talking with you. It's Dan Dickerson,
long time broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers. Stay tuned, we'll have more
to come after this time out on the Cleveland Clinic. Guardians Radio Network,
Progressive News. We're all trying to save right now. So no pick sixes,
no blitzes, no sacks, nope, none of that. But there's
this cool move called a bilestra. Oh I think that was it, or
maybe it was that. I don't know. I'm still learning. So fancy
tickets are cheaper than football huh. Yeah, but hey, now we know
what a counter pairry is. Dew We Progressive offers you savings without sacrifice,
So save big Win you Bundle, Holmonado, Progressi, Keshlteen, Chermans Company
affilias and other injuries not available in the estates. Well the back. It's
our final segment of Guardians Weekly. Chim Rosenhause back with you from Progressive Field
in downtown Cleveland, and we leave you with this note on this week's show.
A feel good signing for the Guardians this week is they welcome back Carlos
Carrasco to the organization Cookies. Now thirty six years of age, he spent
eleven seasons in the major leagues with Cleveland from two thousand and nine through the
twenty twenty season. At times dominant. Won eighty eight games over those eleven
seasons and pitch to an era under four runs a game during that time,
and a lot of big wins for Carrasco along the way. He's been with
the Mets the past three seasons, but now returns after a down year for
him in twenty twenty three. We'll see if he's healthy, what role he
fills, and if he can make the ball club. As he's in on
a minor league contract with a major league invite. That's going to do it
for this week's show. Thanks so much for joining us. As always,
thanks to Brian Motsee for helping to put together the show each and every week.
We will join you again next week for another edition of Guardian's Weekly on
the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Guardians Weekly has been brought to you by
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