WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:07.440 Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio network. Guardians Weekly is front 2 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:56.679 to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans save hundreds on car insurance. Hi, 3 00:00:56.679 --> 00:01:02.039 every one, Welcome to Guardians Weekly Chamber and house along with you at Progressive 4 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:07.159 Field in downtown Cleveland where the Guardians are playing the Miami Marlins this weekend, 5 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:12.519 unfortunately a postponement on Friday night, but doubleheader Saturday, with a traditional doubleheader 6 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:17.879 beginning with the first pitch of Game one scheduled for three ten, and then 7 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:23.239 a one forty first pitch on Sunday afternoon to wrap up what is now a 8 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:26.319 two day, three game series with a National League ball club, the Miami 9 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:30.159 Marlins, coming up a little bit later on on our show this week, 10 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:34.200 we will hear from Rob Sortfolio, he's the director of player development for the 11 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:40.599 Guardians the Farm Report. We'll also hear from Guardians Senior Vice president Bob di 12 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:44.560 Biasio, another edition of at the Ballpark with Bobby d. And we'll check 13 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:49.680 in with former Cleveland Indian and current Guardians broadcaster Pat Tabler, who's joining us 14 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:55.159 this weekend on the radio side and will relift some fun memories with Pat and 15 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:57.560 just a little bit. But first, in our first segment of the show 16 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:01.079 this week, we had a chance to visit with Sandy Alamar earlier this week 17 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:06.760 and talk base running as well as catching, and with three new catchers on 18 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:09.919 the Guardians roster this season, Sandy says, there's a lot of work to 19 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:14.439 do to get them up to speed with the pitching staff as quickly as possible. 20 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:17.039 Well, for number one, first of all, we had to understand 21 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:21.960 their bodies and how their body moved and stuff like that and teas they have 22 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:25.120 done in their past, and then we tried to accommodate them according to the 23 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:30.240 way our pitchers pitch. What do we do, how much how much spreen 24 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:32.800 do we throw? Because we are breaking ball pitching st that we do a 25 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:37.479 spin a lot of ball. So I kind of present that to them while 26 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:43.759 in the off season, how the our pitchers pitching profile is. And then 27 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:49.520 we start adapting to mechanically to how we can help them to do their best 28 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:53.159 to catch those guys. And it seems with keeping three catchers, all three 29 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:57.080 have different skill sets, don't they correct? You know, like you know 30 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.639 Son, you know, you know he lost a year, so he was 31 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:04.319 a little behind and many things. His heat mobility was lacking at first in 32 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.840 spring training. He's doing a lot better now. Slowly, small games, 33 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:12.039 but he's doing much better receiving, working under the ball and blocking. I 34 00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:15.360 had a rough time at the beginning, but he's kind of understanding how his 35 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:20.520 body is moving, the things he need to do to become a better blocker. 36 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:23.960 Gallaghy pretty much he's always been a defensive catcher. You know, you 37 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.319 tend to leave him alone a little bit and just kind of thinker here and 38 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:31.639 there and many things to to get him lower in the ground with a little 39 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:36.240 bit more hit mobility. But his receiving skills are good. And as long 40 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.159 as he worked under the ball and be able to be close to the ground 41 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:43.240 as the ball's coming to four balls in the dirt, he should be fine. 42 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.240 And Beloria is probably like a hot He has a lot of upside. 43 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:50.919 He just doesn't play that much. He has a good bat too. He's 44 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:54.800 he has a you know, like slightly above average arm, and he's always 45 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:59.639 been a catcher, so he's he has his mechanicals right to part and the 46 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:01.400 kid waiting in the wings bow Naylor, you had a chance to work with 47 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:04.639 him in this spring and what are your impressions as he grows into this game. 48 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:08.719 Yeah, Bob was learning so many things last year and this year and 49 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:14.120 spen training with he had a fantastic time and he was working basically kind of 50 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:16.879 like solidified. He's won the stands. He's pretty much a hybrid catcher. 51 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:20.360 He doesn't do it all the time in one knee. I mean, we're 52 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:27.600 still learning many things about that particular stance about We tend to analyze and look 53 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.399 at videos and look at the most efficient way that you can do things for 54 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:35.040 any particular catcher, not just dump stuff for the guy to do the same 55 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:40.120 the same way. So you know, we have a collaboration of people that 56 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:42.680 look at stuff like that. And boll did a good job in the all 57 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:46.480 season, brought it to spring training and done grateful for it. And all 58 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.839 these guys this season are dealing with some new rules that seeming they're making it 59 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:54.560 really tough on catchers. What are you seeing that the challenges for them as 60 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.439 they try and control the running games, Well, the challenges are going to 61 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:00.600 be more on the pictures. You know, at the end of the day, 62 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:05.639 the times this is about thresholds. You know, every every picture and 63 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:10.399 a catcher have a threshold. But start with the with the pictures, and 64 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:13.000 you have to get the catchers a good time to throw out what they're gonna 65 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.360 be rushing throws. But um yes, uh, you know, adding up 66 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:21.759 three inches and the limitations of throwing to disengagement and makes it very hard for 67 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:26.319 a catcher even though with a great arm to throw people out. Sandy Alamart 68 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:28.879 joining us and Sandy on the other side of it, you're the first base 69 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.600 coach of the team that has also a great start stealing basis. What do 70 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:34.839 you say, is it just the talent or the rules coming into play too? 71 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:41.399 We really, you know, the rules really help for a guy to 72 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:46.959 be more aggressive. This engagement is the part that I feel. And the 73 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:51.279 distance between bases. Now, so the picture dick state how much of a 74 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:55.759 lead you get. But if a picture doesn't have a good move to first 75 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:59.879 base, you can go out there fifteen feet lead. I mean that'll make 76 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.800 one three to one four on time. So, like I say before, 77 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:08.519 everybody has a threshold on time. Catcher picture combination and the distent the runner 78 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:12.279 have to cover. So the best thing to do for a pictures to have 79 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:15.000 a great move and work in a great move in that way, it's a 80 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.279 lot of it's more difficult for the for the runner to the things sail from 81 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:23.399 first base. Sandy has always thanks for the insight. Appreciate it. I 82 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:28.519 appreciate it. That's Guardians catching instructor and first base coach Sandy Alamar. On 83 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.680 the hitting side, Chris Felaka has been working with the hitters, trying to 84 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:35.519 get them going here early in the season. Cold weather has always been a 85 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:41.519 challenge for any season that Cleveland plays, and this year no different than with 86 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:45.839 that cold weather hanging around. Chris says that his experience as a player now 87 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:49.360 a hitting coach, well, there's a it's a lot more challenging when you're 88 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:55.959 trying to hit good major league pitching and the temperatures are not exactly where you'd 89 00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:59.600 like to see them. Yeah, I mean it's uncomfortable for everybody out there, 90 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:02.360 you know, not not the most enjoyable at bats. But you know, 91 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:05.040 things we talked about in spring training, we talk about with the cold 92 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:09.079 weather, you know, shortening up, choking up on the bat, you 93 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:12.079 know, just continuing to look for hard contact, but you know, the 94 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:15.160 damage is tough to come by, you know, in the weather. Normally 95 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:17.519 these games are are tight, you know, one run, two run games. 96 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:19.959 So you know, the more we can execute, we can play small 97 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.160 ball, get guys over, you know, put the ball in play, 98 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:25.319 make contact, get that guy in. You know, that's kind of the 99 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:29.279 focus for for these tough days. And you come here in these conditions after 100 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:31.560 a nice warm weekend in Washington. Does that make it even tougher? You 101 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:34.240 think, yeah, I mean that's what we signed up for. Though, 102 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:38.040 you know, we know the weather's different in all kinds of places. You 103 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.199 know, looking at the forecast, we knew it was gonna be nice in 104 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:42.879 DC, and then coming here the weather was gonna be a little cooler. 105 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:45.839 So you know, we'll have our meeting today, we'll go over it, 106 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:47.639 kind of go through the game plan. But you know, uh, you 107 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:49.920 know, hopefully look to you know, shorten up a little bit, you 108 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:53.319 know, continue to put the ball in play like we do, you know, 109 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:57.120 looking for hard contact, but you know, not really searching for damage 110 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.680 and big swings. Today, Chris said, you look at it these first 111 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:01.480 several weeks of this season. I know it takes a while for a lineup 112 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:05.199 to gel um. What are you seeing so far? Positives and some challenges 113 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:09.279 so far. Yeah, you know, I think we've seen guys at different 114 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.800 points already. You know, in the short, short start to this season. 115 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:13.120 Um, you know, guys have gotten off to pretty good starts. 116 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.079 Some guys got off a little colder than than we would have liked. But 117 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:20.160 you know, seeing seeing Josh Bell starting to turn a corner that's been um, 118 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:24.279 you know a positive. Quan has been solid early. You know, 119 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:26.920 we got to get him back on track. But you know that's that's the 120 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:28.439 way it is early in the season, trying not to put too much stock 121 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.959 into it until you know, guys get close to you know, a hundred 122 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:35.200 at bats, you know, with spring combined, so before we really start 123 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:39.399 digging into you know, see what's really going on. You mentioned Josh Bell 124 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:43.679 and he's new to you. How do you get up to speed to help 125 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:46.120 him, especially when he gets off to a slow start like he did. 126 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:48.360 Yeah, so doing doing a lot of you know background on him, you 127 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:52.159 know when he signed him, having some conversations this winner, you know, 128 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.360 trying to build build the relationship through spring training and a little bit of the 129 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:58.759 off season. Um, you know, so kind of just trying to understand 130 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:01.279 how he ticks and then you know, going through through the work, you 131 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.799 know, letting him lead a little bit. There are some things that we've 132 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:07.399 we've dug into um a little bit more of late um, you know. 133 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:09.720 But you turn his baseball card around. You know, at the end of 134 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:13.080 the year you see two sixty with thirty. You know, you know it's 135 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:15.600 going to be there. So you kind of ride the waves and the ups 136 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:18.080 and downs, but try to get him on track as soon as possible. 137 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:22.720 Miles Straw is off to a nice start. Is that a byproduct of some 138 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:24.679 of the work he did in Cleveland in the offseason? Yeah, I think 139 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.639 a big cooters to him. You know, he came to Cleveland, we 140 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:31.759 did some work this winter, and then you know he went back to Florida 141 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:33.480 and you know put the work in himself. So we saw it, you 142 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:37.840 know in spring training him really you know, kind of turning that corner and 143 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:39.879 then you know, getting off to a start like he has is nice. 144 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:43.840 You know, not only for the beginning of the season, but the whole 145 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:45.960 season. You know, you don't want to dig a hole too deep early 146 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:48.159 um, you know, so love him at the bottom of the lineup like 147 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:50.840 that, turning in around for the top of the lineup. You know, 148 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.759 he's been driving in runs, making hard contact. So that was really the 149 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:56.919 biggest point um you know, going into this season, was you know, 150 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:01.080 ramping up that intent, looking for him to take more chances and get his 151 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:03.279 swing off more a hitter. We haven't seen a whole lot of but it's 152 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:07.080 usually pretty good. Is Will Brennan. And what's impressed you about him as 153 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:09.639 you get to know him, you know, just the trust in his at 154 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:13.440 bats. You know, he goes up there, you see the confidence he 155 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.360 has. I think that gives us confidence in the dugout. You know, 156 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:18.720 his ability to hit righty's and lefties has been really good, at least to 157 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:22.320 start this season. I think he's got something like four doubles, you know, 158 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:24.519 right out of the gate. So it's nice to see him driving the 159 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:28.320 ball, you know, getting those extra basses. But you know he's been 160 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.120 a tough out, you know, through and through the first sixteen games. 161 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:33.279 How many layers do you go with today to to survive the dugout? I 162 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:37.000 got three right now, probably a PARKA for the game. Thanks Chris, 163 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:41.240 Thank you. That's Chris Placup Guardians Hitting coach, and stay tuned. We'll 164 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:46.399 have more to come after this time out on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. 165 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:52.200 Here's the payoff swung and drill the left ance ofa sit down. The 166 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:58.240 line that'll score Kuan. It goes all the way to the wall and into 167 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:03.200 second with a stand up Arbi double is Josh Bell. My goodness, Corbin 168 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:16.320 pitched him and pays the price. Those are sports sounds, and people have 169 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:20.519 sports so much it makes them pay attention. When I say, drivers who 170 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:26.679 switch and save with Progressive could save hundreds. And we all know how sports 171 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:31.080 fans feel about big saves. See what I did there. Save is also 172 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:35.840 a sports word, So save big when you switch to Progressive. Oh that's 173 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:50.720 a golf clup. Progressive Casualty insurance company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. 174 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:03.600 Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse back with you from Progressive Field 175 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:09.320 in downtown Cleveland, where the Guardians will play a double header on Saturday after 176 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:13.080 a rainout on Friday night the Marlins in town a rarity. It has been 177 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:18.600 a while since Cleveland played Miami here in Cleveland, but it'll be a three 178 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:24.480 ten first pitch for a traditional double header on Saturday afternoon. And we are 179 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:28.440 joined now by our special guest who is going to be filling in on the 180 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:33.679 broadcast this weekend, Pat Tabler, former Cleveland Indian, longtime broadcaster of Major 181 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:37.440 League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays and now a part of the Valley Sports 182 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:41.919 Crew and on this weekend part of the Guardians Radio Network. Great to see 183 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:45.120 a Pat, Rosie. It is so good to be here. And finally, 184 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:48.960 you and I've known each other for how many years? Something molose to 185 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.480 that. Yeah, and I've never worked with you, and now I got 186 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:56.519 a chance to work with you. I hope we're still friends after this weekend. 187 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:58.960 Oh we thought it was going to be last night, but boy, 188 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.960 it just didn't work out. Now we'll play two this afternoon and it should 189 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.639 be a lot of fun. I would think. Is the Guardians trying to 190 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:09.000 get it rolling. They're getting good at these doubleheaders early after last season when 191 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:13.600 they had a ton Yeah, you know, it's still April. It's Cleveland, 192 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:16.399 it's April. You have to expect these kind of things. We go 193 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.440 way back, you know, for the last thirty forty years. You can 194 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:26.240 get sunny and seventy five on one day in thirty and snow the next day. 195 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.480 So you just have to make those adjustments and go from there. And 196 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.559 you mentioned that, and gosh, you played over at the old place. 197 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:35.200 I don't know if there was a difference whether it was here or the old 198 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:39.799 place, which was colder. I imagine they were about the same, but 199 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:43.320 was it really mind over matter. On a lot of nights early in the 200 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:48.200 season, I was just having this discussion with Sandy all Alamar before Friday Night's 201 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:54.120 game about the difference between this ballpark in the old ballpark, and we kind 202 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.200 of like looked at each other, winked and said, you know what, 203 00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:03.759 they didn't have heaters in the dugout back then. It was just freezing down 204 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:07.519 on that lake. And again you would have snow on some days, you'd 205 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:11.080 have freezing rain on some days in April, and then some days it'd be 206 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:15.120 seventy degrees. But it was It was a lot of fun rehashing that I 207 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:20.759 can laugh about it now with Sandy Earlier this homestad. Some of my favorite 208 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:24.080 stories Rick Manning used to talk about in the fall, when they would line 209 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:28.200 the field for the Browns games. A lot of times the lines were still 210 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:31.840 there and on a flyball to center, he would do a fair catch like 211 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:35.279 he was a punt returner. I don't know if you if you remember that 212 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:41.559 playing with There are so many stories about the old stadium of things that went 213 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:46.799 wrong. A couple of them that come to mind for me is it was 214 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:50.919 during the football season when when the baseball seasons in the football season overlapped and 215 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.480 we were out of town, and they put a tarp across the football part 216 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.399 of the stadium. It rained, and they never took the tarp off to 217 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:03.080 dry the field. So when we came back then on a Monday to play, 218 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:07.600 they pulled the tart back and it was like a quagmire, one hundred 219 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:13.960 yards of quagmire right down the middle of the field that you would literally step 220 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.679 in it and you would sync down into your ankles. They had to call 221 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:22.799 the game. I guess so on that one. I remember that. I 222 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:26.480 remember the game that was a call because of the bugs down on the lake. 223 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.720 I remember we got fogged out of a game one night. We were 224 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.000 playing the Boston Red Sox and this fall came over the left field wall like 225 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:43.279 I'd never seen before, and you could not see the ball. Roger Clemens 226 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:46.039 was pitching for the Boston Red Sox, and you couldn't see the baseball. 227 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:50.200 That right there scared the heck out of me. But I remember Bobby Bonds 228 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:54.399 going out hitting fly balls to the outfield to see if they could see either 229 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.720 get up into the fog, couldn't see it. Game was called maybe about 230 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.279 the fourth or fifth innings. You were no longer with the Indians when this 231 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:03.600 place opened. When you first saw this place, did you think, now, 232 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:07.639 wait a minute, that would have been a nice place to play it. 233 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:11.960 I thought I was born ten years too early for sure. You know. 234 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:18.200 When I played here, we had some pretty decent ball clubs, and 235 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:22.519 we had some pretty decent ball players. And I always knew that if we 236 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:26.440 had a winner, and we had a stadium that we could call our own, 237 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:30.919 this place would get packed because it's a baseball it's a sports town. 238 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:34.960 Cleveland is a sports town, and unfortunately we were We were had some bad 239 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:41.120 teams too, And I always said, if we got a winning team here 240 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:45.080 and we played in our own ballpark, great things would happen. What is 241 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:49.879 that four hundred and fifty five consecutive sellouts here? The great teams that came 242 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:59.120 through here I'm not surprised that this has been such a success where this ballpark 243 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:02.679 is and it's still it's great today and now here you are back with the 244 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:06.680 organization again that that you started with. And I know a lot of people 245 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:10.920 were excited when they heard that news initially, and Tabby a great to have 246 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:15.160 you along this weekend. We'll enjoy the games. A bummer that Friday night 247 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:18.279 was postponed, but they'll play two Saturday and another one on Sunday. What 248 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:23.119 a pitching matchup we're going to have Al Kantara and Bieber. Yes, that's 249 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.440 gonna be a lot of fun. Yes it will. And we'll fill you 250 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:32.039 in on the pregame show prior to game one once we know which game that 251 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:34.279 will be. I imagine it will be the opener, but we'll see as 252 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:38.480 the teams were making decisions after the ball game last night, and we'll fill 253 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:42.720 you in on the Guardians warm up when we can. Well, Tabby, 254 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.799 I'll I'll see you on the broadcast. Thanks a lot for coming by Guardians 255 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:51.119 Weekly. Happy. I'm looking forward to teaming it up with you and teeming 256 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:55.559 it up. That is Pat Tabler who's filling in this weekend for Hammy on 257 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:59.400 the radio side. Stay tuned more to come after this on the Cleveland Clinic 258 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:10.200 Guardians Radio Network. We're going to be here a while today, folks. 259 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.480 Jim Rosen Now's back with you. It's Guardians Weekly. We're in downtown Cleveland 260 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:33.000 at Progressive Field as the Guardians will play the Marlins in a traditional doubleheader on 261 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:37.920 Saturday, starting at three ten in the afternoon for game one, a lot 262 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:40.759 of baseball two for the price of one. If you haven't made plans yet, 263 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.359 head on down to the ballpark, the best value in sports, and 264 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:48.960 you can pick up your tickets on the Ballpark app or cle guardians dot com. 265 00:18:49.079 --> 00:18:53.160 Rob Sorfolio is the director of player development for the Cleveland Guardians, and 266 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:56.720 we had a chance to visit with Rob earlier in the week. Man he's 267 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.359 finally having that chance to get out and about and see the minor league affiliates, 268 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.200 and he says, it's a great time of year to see some of 269 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:07.960 the younger players in action. Absolutely, it's it's that time of year where 270 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:12.400 the young guys are out competing and try and show what they can do and 271 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:17.960 see them in some game action versus we play against ourselves quite a bit in 272 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:22.599 spring training, So it's nice to see them go head to head and tow 273 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.279 them out or the plate with guys in different uniforms, which is which is 274 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:30.160 awesome, And I know our staff really enjoy it being back out there on 275 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.880 the road kind of going through the grind. But uh, yeah, it's 276 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:36.240 it's a fun time of year. Let's start with Columbus, and with some 277 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:40.960 pitching injuries here and and really some other injuries too, it's maybe at this 278 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:44.039 point in the season has been a little bit more busy than than you would 279 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:45.839 expect. Yeah, a little bit, especially early on, you know, 280 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.079 with the weather and the new travel schedule, playing all over the place, 281 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:56.039 there's some additional hurdles that are our major league team faces, and in the 282 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:59.839 minor leagues. We're here to support our major league team and so doing everything 283 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.599 we can in Triple A to make sure that we've got guys ready to come 284 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:07.440 up here and compete and help our team win, while also still trying to 285 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.920 work towards some of their developmental goals with such young teams across the board for 286 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:14.720 us as a fun dynamic to try and balance. All right, we're one 287 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:18.960 minute in. What about Tanner, Bobby We don't. You can't say when 288 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:23.240 he's coming up. We don't know, but very excited. I'm sure to 289 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:26.599 see the start that he's off to Tanner byby a good young prospect. Yeah, 290 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.119 I wish we had the crystal ball of when that day is going to 291 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:34.039 come. I feel pretty confident that it will come, and at least with 292 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:38.160 Tanner, you know, I think one of the exciting things for you know, 293 00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:41.880 the fans that will get to see him at some point or either are 294 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:45.000 seeing him now in Triple A is just the behind the scenes work ethic and 295 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:49.759 knowledge of craft and the way that he kind of is still learning and developing 296 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:52.640 as a young pitcher. I mean, we've only had him for one full 297 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.559 season in our organization, so it's pretty impressive that he's made to Triple A 298 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:00.880 this fast. And so again, like I mentioned, it's how do we 299 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.880 prepare him to come up here and have success. Tito's big thing is it's 300 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.880 not about making into the major leagues, about making the major leagues and helping 301 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:11.759 us win, And so that's kind of the mindset we're trying to really hammer 302 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:15.920 out with these guys in Triple A while also making sure that like hey, 303 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:19.480 they know these are their one to two highest leveraged things to keep working on. 304 00:21:19.559 --> 00:21:23.480 And one of the cool things about Vibes is just like his attention to 305 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:30.000 detail and how competitive he is, and our group in Columbus and our coordinator 306 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.160 staff that was in there with me this past week's doing a great job of 307 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.519 trying to zero in on the things that are going to allow him to have 308 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:40.480 success when he's hopefully out here in a progressive field with the Guardians uniform. 309 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:44.160 Monsoon. I thought it was interesting too. He's had some great lines and 310 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:48.880 his early starts, but the other night some struggles getting some strike calls it 311 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:52.200 I'm sure he thought were good. I know his teammates did, and the 312 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.000 bench did. How did he handle that some adversity there? Yeah, you 313 00:21:56.039 --> 00:22:00.160 know, it was great. Actually joked around with him once he was out 314 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:03.480 of the game and then the next day just of like all these opportunities, 315 00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:07.319 our development opportunities and trying to frame that like, yeah, I'm squeeze a 316 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:10.839 little bit. That's probably gonna happen again, whether you're in Triple A or 317 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:14.119 in the major leagues, Like, there are things that we can learn and 318 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:18.240 take away from those experiences to make you better next time, because that's certainly 319 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:22.799 going to happen again, and it was just great to see him have to 320 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:25.839 work through that. And like I said, our staff was, you know, 321 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:27.799 challenging him with, Okay, what are the takeaways for you both in 322 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:33.400 game or when that happens again, like how can you be better for that 323 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:37.839 experience next go around? And he did a great job navigating that, and 324 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:41.119 it wasn't his best line and he wasn't overly thrilled about his performance, especially 325 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:45.519 coming off what he did the week prior in Worcester, but great opportunity for 326 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:52.839 him to get pushed and to learn something and hopefully grow from that. Logan 327 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.039 Allen. We saw a fair amount of him in spring training as well, 328 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:57.359 and it seems like he's off to a good start on the mound too. 329 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:02.160 He has and you know, I think to la with just how hard he 330 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:04.039 worked and dedicated he was in the off season. You know, we talked 331 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:10.160 about him a lot last year. Rosie two of guy absolutely crushed HIGHA in 332 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.839 twenty twenty one, dominated double A at the end of that year, did 333 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.759 the same thing for the first half of last year and got to triple A 334 00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:19.319 and he'd be the first to tell you that, especially early on, like 335 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:22.640 he struggled a little bit more than he ever has as a pro, and 336 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:26.000 there were some things that we thought we could target in the off season that 337 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:30.359 would put him in a position to improve and go out there and succeed. 338 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:33.200 And to his credit, he put in the work, and I think we're 339 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:38.079 seeing some of that work shine through already with just his velocity and the quality 340 00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:42.319 of his stuff and how consistent some of his secondary has been. So another 341 00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:45.119 guy like you know, similar to Bobby, that we're really excited about, 342 00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:49.119 we think is not a finished product by any means. We got, you 343 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:52.079 know, all of our players, we try and come, you know, 344 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:55.599 instill that mindset if we're never at the finish line, but what are the 345 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:57.519 things you can do to go from good to great? And Logan's done a 346 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:02.920 tremendous job of digging into the details of those conversations. Now in the pen 347 00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:07.480 a little bit different in that you have some veteran arms down there, pictures 348 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.200 that we saw who were in major league spring training camp on the minor league 349 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:14.960 deals, and how are they doing to try and get themselves on the radar 350 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:18.000 here if there's a need. Yeah, like you said, it's it's spout 351 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:21.559 on. It's a little bit different than even especially towards the second half of 352 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:23.160 last year in Columbus, where had some younger guys that are now on the 353 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:26.920 forty men helping out our major league team, and especially different comparing it to 354 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:33.039 some of our other levels where it's mostly all in house players that we drafted 355 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:36.880 or acquired internationally, where we have a handful of guys that are, you 356 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:38.799 know, trying to make a case for a job in the major leagues. 357 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:42.880 And that's been really fun, both for our younger starters and younger relievers that 358 00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:47.559 kind of pick the brains of guys that have more experienced even some major league 359 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:51.960 time, and those guys are really working hard with Cody Bukel and O and 360 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:56.359 D to prepare themselves for an opportunity should have come up onto the position player 361 00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:00.880 front with Rob Sortfolio Brian Rokio. We saw him for a day and he 362 00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:03.559 did not get a chance to play, but he was up here because of 363 00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:07.839 some entry issues, but also off to a wonderful start at Columbus. Yeah, 364 00:25:07.880 --> 00:25:10.359 and he did blame me. I happened to be there the day he 365 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:14.079 came back down, as if I was the reason he came back down. 366 00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:17.480 But it was fun. It was fun to see Roque yesterday in Columbus and 367 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.480 just hear some of his even though it was only twenty four hours, some 368 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:22.839 of his takeaways of getting that first call up, which was cool. And 369 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:29.000 yeah, you know, another young another young kid position player that we pushed 370 00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:32.000 last year up there at the end of the year and to see him kind 371 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:36.160 of continue to slow the game down and really work on some of like the 372 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:40.359 he's a super talented player, we all know that, and continuing to grow 373 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:44.119 just as he gets older with the tactical side of the game. And I 374 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:48.440 know that Andy Tracy's talked to him a ton about that and saying with Junior 375 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.359 Patanzas on the hitting side, to like really have a plan and an approach 376 00:25:52.359 --> 00:25:56.119 and learn some of like the things that veteran players learn with more and more 377 00:25:56.160 --> 00:26:00.880 experience. And Rocchio's doing a great job and to you know, dig in 378 00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:06.359 and ask people's thoughts on those things. And yeah, I think we're really 379 00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:07.440 excited for what the rest of the year is going to look like for him. 380 00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:11.519 I wanted to touch on something that you talked about it. He's in 381 00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:15.599 Detroit on Wednesday, and then he's playing in Columbus on Thursday, and maybe 382 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:19.640 it's maybe it's not this, maybe it's not the same anymore. But the 383 00:26:19.720 --> 00:26:23.039 years I was in Triple A, you had seventy two hours to come back 384 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:26.400 and report. I don't know if that's still the case, but it doesn't 385 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:30.680 seem like that's ever on the radar for any of the players who go back 386 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:33.920 down to Columbus when they're here. And to even add to that, it 387 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:38.559 was a day game on Thursday yesterday, and from what I heard from from 388 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.759 Andy Tracy and he called him, I was sitting right next to them, 389 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:45.039 that there was no hesitation that Rokee was in the lineup the next day and 390 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:48.599 was I can't use the word excited to be sent back down to Triple A, 391 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:52.319 but there was not even a second thought that he was going to come 392 00:26:52.359 --> 00:26:56.359 down and play short stuff the next day. And then so we told Trace 393 00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:00.359 and he was in the lineup for a twelve or five start yesterday, which 394 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:04.160 was which was pretty cool. Tyler Freeman is here. Now, have you 395 00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:08.079 seen someone get off to or as as hot as stretch as he was on 396 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.119 at the time of his call up, Because it seemed like he really got 397 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:15.319 some things going offensively he did, and I think, you know, just 398 00:27:15.400 --> 00:27:18.920 the peeling back some of the layers of the onion on that one of like 399 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:23.319 he struggled in spring training a little bit, and you know, some of 400 00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:27.720 the things that just like all of our players were pushing them to take that 401 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:30.799 next step from how do you go from really good minor league or a really 402 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:34.920 good major league or like that gap is It's a really hard thing to do. 403 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:37.880 And with t Free, you know, there were some things, especially 404 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:41.640 on the offensive side of the ball, that the group was really pushing him 405 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:45.440 towards. And it takes time to gain confidence, and it takes time to 406 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:49.519 gain consistency, and I think we're starting to see some of that, especially 407 00:27:49.559 --> 00:27:52.960 that week where he just absolutely went off, and in Willston, there was 408 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:56.720 some some signals that it was starting to show through before that, which is 409 00:27:56.759 --> 00:28:00.559 what was really exciting, and then to see him have some performance results behind 410 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:03.720 that obviously makes it that much easier. And just you know, such a 411 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:07.960 great kid that everyone loves being around and just really works hard every time he 412 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.359 has an opportunity, and it's it's always fun to see that hard work really 413 00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:15.000 start to pay off, and you know, Hopefully he gets more and more 414 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:19.680 opportunities up here with the big league team to continue to show through. Oh, 415 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:22.799 Brob, I know a lot going on at Columbus. Thanks a lot 416 00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:23.880 for the time. Great to see you, and we'll catch up with you 417 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:27.000 again soon. Yeah. Black, It's good to be back as rops or 418 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:33.319 folio talking about some of the really good young prospects, especially on the pitching 419 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:37.440 side at Triple A Columbus. Stay with us. We'll have our final segment 420 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:48.039 after this time out on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Fu I wish 421 00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:51.559 I was a better golfer? Or is an odd word to yell? WHOA 422 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:53.440 where do you come from? It's me Flow, and I'm here to grant 423 00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:57.160 your wish of progressive taking fifty dollars off your deductibles. Just choose the Deductible 424 00:28:57.160 --> 00:29:00.640 Savings Bank feature and finish a policy period without filing a claim or having a 425 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:04.440 driving violation. Great, but um, what about my golf swing? Oh 426 00:29:04.519 --> 00:29:10.480 I just do insurance. Sorry, sign up for Progressive Enought into more seatings, 427 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:14.319 Propressive casualty interns company in affiliates say driver discount not available in all states 428 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:27.039 or situations. Welcome back to Guardian's weekly Jim Rosenhouse back with you a progressive 429 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:32.519 field in downtown Cleveland, and every now and again we check in with Guardians 430 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:37.160 Senior Vice President Bob de Biasio for another edition of At the Ballpark with Bobby 431 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:45.640 D. The perfectly manicured field, the unmistakable room of a ballpark, hot 432 00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:52.160 doctor, and the electricity celebrating another victory. This is at the Ballpark with 433 00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:59.119 Bobby D. Thank you, Hammy. Welcome to at the Ballpark, where 434 00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:03.880 we hope you and only our conversations with those involved in the wonderful game of 435 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:08.559 baseball, those who may be behind the scenes, or the colorful personalities who 436 00:30:08.599 --> 00:30:15.359 have provided so many exciting moments and memories. Today we are joined by Tom 437 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:21.799 Candiotti, who enjoyed a sixteen year big league career, seven in the Cleveland 438 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:29.200 uniform from nineteen eighty six through nineteen ninety one and then again in nineteen ninety 439 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:33.759 nine. Candy, thank you for joining us. Bobby de man I am 440 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:37.359 so happy to be here. Anything with the Cleveland Guardians is like just a 441 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:41.799 It's like going back to my youth again. I love it. Well. 442 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:45.160 We enjoyed you and Rosie on the air doing that ball game and spring training. 443 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:48.359 That was like coming home for you, wasn't it. It was. 444 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:52.359 It was so fun, you know, being able to go down and set 445 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:56.079 you know, give him a hug, you know, see Sandy Alamar one 446 00:30:56.119 --> 00:31:00.240 of my teammate, A lot of my teammates, you know, they're so 447 00:31:00.279 --> 00:31:03.680 it was It's always good to be kind of around that whole crowd, and 448 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:07.640 it's really amazing how they've kind of stuck together. You know, every time 449 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:10.880 we come into Cleveland play, we'll see I'll see Sandy, and I'll make 450 00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:14.279 sure I see Tito and stuff. You know, just ex teammates are always 451 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:17.799 fun to catch up with. Candy, I did all that come about you 452 00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:22.880 being specifically a knuckleball pitcher, Well, well it wasn't an easy route, 453 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:26.079 that's for sure. You know. I had always thrown a knuckleball since I 454 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.799 was a kid. It was just one of those things. So I'd played 455 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:32.920 catch my dad. I'd wait for him to get him home from work. 456 00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:34.240 You know, I had a couple of gloves out in the front yard, 457 00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:37.240 you know, and so before he could even get into the house, you 458 00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:41.359 know, we would play catch. So he had a knuckleball and I tried 459 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:44.240 to do what he did, and it just kind of developed that way. 460 00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:48.200 But then once I got into professional baseball, I would just a regular pitcher 461 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:53.279 that would throw an occasional knuckleball. And so one day in spring training. 462 00:31:53.319 --> 00:31:56.720 I've been, you know, fairly successful in major leagues as a regular pitcher. 463 00:31:57.000 --> 00:32:00.400 I think I was about six and six at that time, but it 464 00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:05.519 was probably a lucky six and six. I wasn't I wasn't dominating anybody. 465 00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:09.680 And I was throwing a bullpen to my double a roommate, Bill Schroeder, 466 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:14.680 who now does the color for the Milwaukee Brewers. And Bill had probably already 467 00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:19.240 caught about ten bullpins that day, a hot spring training day, and I 468 00:32:19.319 --> 00:32:22.200 thought I'd have some fun with him, and I started throwing knuckleballs and I 469 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:24.319 was beating them up, and he was taking them off his mask and off 470 00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:29.200 his protector and everything else. And hello and behold, I look behind me, 471 00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:31.640 and who do I see? I see Pat Dobson, a pitching coach 472 00:32:31.960 --> 00:32:37.200 sal Bando, who was think a special assistant at that time for the Brewers. 473 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:43.000 And they called me into the office that day and told me that my 474 00:32:43.079 --> 00:32:45.240 stuff wasn't good enough. And they didn't know I could throw a knuckleball like 475 00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:50.359 that, and they want me to become a knuckleball pitcher. And so, 476 00:32:50.680 --> 00:32:53.880 as a story goes, it's funny was sal because you know, God bless 477 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:58.039 him, you know, he said, look at if I'm hitting against you, 478 00:32:58.480 --> 00:33:00.559 I know you can't throw your assball by me, you know, so 479 00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:04.519 I'm gonna sit there and look for your best pitch, your curveball, and 480 00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:07.400 if I'm looking for it, I'm going to hit it. And I said, 481 00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:10.319 why don't we just go grab a bat right now and we'll see how 482 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:14.119 that a goat plays out. And he goes, oh, no, no, 483 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:15.000 I'm just come on, I'm just trying to you know, Da da 484 00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:20.759 dada dah, which is kind of ironic because Chris Bando, his brother, 485 00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:24.799 end catching me when I was with Cleveland, and so it just kind of 486 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:29.480 funny how that all comes around. Well, that it's nineteen eighty six, 487 00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:32.960 after winter Ball, you signed a free agent contract with Cleveland, and it's 488 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:38.039 nineteen eighty six, you hadn't thrown many innings in the big leagues, and 489 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:45.079 all of a sudden and eighty six you throw more than two hundred and fifty 490 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:50.920 innings, You win sixteen games, You lead the league with seventeen complete games, 491 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:53.039 and along the way, as you said, you were beating up Chris 492 00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:57.640 Bando, who became your personal catcher. I mean, it was really a 493 00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:00.319 storybook season, you know, it was really amazing. I had gone to 494 00:34:00.359 --> 00:34:06.079 win a ball, you know, before that season, started to work specifically 495 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:08.760 on a knuckleball. I started throwing it in eighty five in Triple A, 496 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:13.079 and I was getting some success with it. Actually, I was kind of 497 00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:15.400 buying into it, but I didn't want to be a knuckleball pitcher. I 498 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:20.519 wanted to be a pitcher that threw a knuckleball, and so that's the way 499 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:23.679 I kind of approached things a lot like Joe Negro had. So when I 500 00:34:23.800 --> 00:34:29.320 got you to Bigly Camped that year, Pat Corrales, who was the manager, 501 00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:32.280 he ended up telling me that you'll hurry up, just throw as many 502 00:34:32.360 --> 00:34:37.480 knuckleballs as you can, which I did, and then we acquired Phil Negro. 503 00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:40.480 Phil became like my pitching coach, and then we just kind of went 504 00:34:40.519 --> 00:34:45.000 on from there and then everything just developed. Yeah, let's finish up our 505 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:52.239 segment with that. How awesome was that for you to have Phil Negro as 506 00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:57.719 a teammate. A Hall of fame knuckleballer. As you're recreating your career and 507 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:00.960 then you have fell to Lena. Yeah, I think Phil was forty seven 508 00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:06.280 at that time. We played catch every single day. He developed games for 509 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:07.960 us to play. He said it was like playing catch with his brother. 510 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:12.920 Again. Yeah, we would throw knuckleballs from about you know, fifty sixty 511 00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:15.880 feet and then you know how many times they turned. We got points for 512 00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:20.039 all these different He had all these games. But what it was doing, 513 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:23.639 it was teaching me how to take spin off the ball. And that's what 514 00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:28.000 I loved about that. And so I was able to watch Bill pitch and 515 00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:30.920 then because of that, you know, I was able to develop my own 516 00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:35.440 game. That was remarkable because from eighty six through ninety one you tossed at 517 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:39.320 least two hundred plus innings every year. So obviously you got out a remarkable 518 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:44.159 role. And then you get to return in ninety nine. So just because 519 00:35:44.159 --> 00:35:47.599 I always loved the fact that guys who played at Cleveland Stadium, who were 520 00:35:47.639 --> 00:35:52.840 able to come back at Progressive Field and enjoy the brand new ballpark, there 521 00:35:52.920 --> 00:35:58.039 was something special about that. I had one of my most memorable games when 522 00:35:58.039 --> 00:36:01.320 I came back, coming into relief for Charles Naggy. Charlie had a rough 523 00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:05.280 outing against the Royals. I think give it up like eight runs and like 524 00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:07.159 two innings. They called me in the game, and I think I threw 525 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:10.599 five or six innings out of the bullpen. Gotta win that day. But 526 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:15.000 about after the second inning that I threw, I was getting a standing ovation 527 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:20.320 every time I came off the mound to the dugout, and I didn't want 528 00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:22.800 to come out of the game after that, and I told hardgrow, no, 529 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:27.000 this is great. I've never had ovations like this before, so you 530 00:36:27.039 --> 00:36:30.119 know, it was an appreciation, I think from the fans for me from 531 00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:32.239 all the previous years. But for me, you know, it brought like 532 00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:36.400 a tear to my eye every time, you know, I'd complete that inning 533 00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:38.440 and walk off the mound. It was amazing. Well, you were always 534 00:36:38.440 --> 00:36:43.440 a fan favorite, Candy, So can't thank you enough for visiting with us 535 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:46.800 today, Bobby anytime, man, thank you for having me as usual. 536 00:36:47.400 --> 00:36:52.519 Always fun, my friend, and we hope everyone out there enjoyed our visit 537 00:36:52.599 --> 00:36:58.719 and we look forward to connecting next time at the ballpark. That's at the 538 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:01.119 ballpark with Bobby d and that's going to put a wrap on this week's edition 539 00:37:01.400 --> 00:37:06.079 of Guardians Weekly. Thanks, as always going out to Brian Matsey for all 540 00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:08.320 of his help and putting together our show each and every week. We will 541 00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:14.079 join you next weekend from Boston and Fenway Park as the Guardians will be back 542 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:16.920 out on the road for a road swing through Boston and New York. Until 543 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:22.000 then, this is Jim Rosenhouse thanking you and reminding you that you've been listening 544 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:30.079 to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio at work. Guardians Weekly has 545 00:37:30.239 --> 00:38:01.039 been brought to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans save hundreds on car insurance were