Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network. Guardians Weekly is brought
to you by Progressive helping Guardians fans save hundreds on car insurance. Hi,
everyone, welcome to Guardian's Weekly. Him rosen House along with you from Goodyear,
Arizona and Guardians Spring Training. Great to have you with us for baseball
talk on the radio. We will have baseball on the radio if you're listening
to this on Saturday. We'll have our next broadcast tomorrow when the Guardians take
on the Cincinnati Reds right here in Goodyear, but coming up a little bit
later on on this week's show. We had a great chance to spend a
fair amount of time with pitching coach Carl Willis earlier this week and talk to
him not only about the pitching staff and how it's coming together this spring,
but also his return to the dugout, as it was not a given that
he would continue as Guardians pitching coach after the retirement of Terry Francona at the
end of last season, but Carl, after it was all said and done,
decided to return. He had that option, and certainly the Guardian's glad
to have him so we'll hear from Carl in the second half of our show
coming up a little bit later on. In the first half of our show,
we will replay an interview during our game broadcast on Thursday between Hammy and
also general manager Mike Chernoff, as the Guardians had a lot of news during
the day on Thursday on the injury front, so we'll hear from Tom and
Cherney on that in just a little bit. But first we had a chance
to visit with Miles Straw earlier this week. He's back in the lineup after
a long battle with a virus that's been going around the ball club and he
had it probably worse than anybody, but he's back in there looking to pick
things up offensively this season. It's been a couple of years where it's been
a challenge offensively for Straw, who swum the bat really well when he was
first acquired via trade from the Houston Astros a couple of years back, just
hasn't been able to duplicate that in the past two seasons. So what did
he do. He went to work this offseason to try and find it.
A couple of different ways to do that, and when we talked to him.
He filled us in on how he went about it to try and get
better offensively this season. Yeah, you know kind of you know, had
my end of the year meeting with the front office and hitting coaches, and
you know, got early on with Val up in Columbus where he's from.
So we got to go to Ohio State University to hit for a couple of
days and just kind of come up with a plan for the off season what
I should work on and stuff to you know, just follow up throughout the
whole off season. So Val did a really good job of put me in
a good place where I feel like, uh, you know, I made
a pretty good adjustment, you know to look forward to the next season,
and you know, sure enough just kind of you know, still rolling with
that same you know, adjustment and feeling good about it in spring. So
your off season home is in Florida. Tell us about that visit though,
you and your family that you came up and spend some time in his house,
Chris Palake's house. Yeah, I know, it was. It was
awesome to go up there and just see his you know, he's got a
young daughter now. Just to see their family was great. Got to hang
out a little bit, and yeah, it's always nice to spend time,
you know, with people here around all the time. So you know,
it was nice to you know to have that facility up there. You know,
it was freezing at the time obviously, so uh we got to go
inside the cages at Ohio State and kind of work a little bit, and
uh, you know, like I said, it's just it's a good adjustment
I feel like was made and uh, you know, looking forward to keep
keep that going. Spring training is uh, it's a great time of year,
but everyone gets together and you see teammates and things like that. You
had to miss a little time because of an illness that's going through the clubhouse.
What is that like when you're at spring training and they say, hey,
you gotta go home today. Yeah, it's a pretty helpless feeling.
You know. I tried to look at it in a positive way to kind
of rest my body for a few days, but uh, you know,
kind of with what I was dealing with, wasn't really allowing me to feel
like it was really resting. And it was pretty boring. I mean,
you sent in an apartment for like five six or whatever about a day is
it just it gets old? And you start walking around the neighborhood, which
at the time I could barely even walk, so it's like, couldn't do
really a whole lot. So I I was pretty miserable at the time.
So you know, honestly, I feel like, you know, spring training
can get kind of you know, the days rolling to another you know,
you feel fatigued and stuff. So I feel like just coming back from that
just put me in a good spot mentally and physically. So you know,
obviously still kind of battling through some things on the on the body, but
uh, I like where I'm at right now. You know, I'm excited
to be here every single day, and you know, I'm out there running
sprints, smiling and stuff just to feels good to be back. And you
don't realize how much you really miss the game until you're not around it for
a few days. And you're part of a core here that that had some
real good success in twenty twenty two, and there's still a lot of those
players still here. What are you seeing that that has you excited as you
as you get deeper into spring training here for the season to come. Oh
yeah, I mean you said it. I mean we got this a lot
of the boys coming back. We know, you know, we got the
same mindset. We know how to play with each other, we know who
you know, who does what well. And it's a great group here.
Man. I love everybody here and I feel like everyone feels the same.
So I mean, it's just fun to show to work every day with these
guys and to compete, and that's all you can really ask for. I
mean, there's not a lot of there's not any problems in the clubhouse,
so it's a very fun atmosphere and it's something somewhere you know, you look
forward to showing up every day. That's Miles Straw and maybe I'll tell he's
still kind of battling some stuff in terms of congestion, and that's what guys
have had. They've had the funk for lack of a better word, where
there's some congestion there just not feeling good. And Miles talked about you'd never
want to be confined to your apartment in spring training when the weather's so good
and everyone's feeling good and getting ready for the season and you can't be out
there doing the same thing. But it looks like he's just fine. He
swung the bat really well this week in a couple of games he played toward
the tail end of the week, so that's good news there a gold Glove
caliber center fielder. Stay with us while we come back. We'll hear from
general manager Mike Chernoff some tough news injury wise this week, and he'll fill
us in after this the Cleveland, Glennic Guardians Radio Network. At Progressive.
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seats. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse back with you from Goodyear,
Arizona and Guardians Spring Training. Thanks so much for tuning into our show
this weekend. A little bit earlier this week On Thursday, the Guardians took
down the Colorado Rockies. That was a radio game for US and during the
third inning that day, Mike Churnoff joined Tom Hamilton and they talked about a
big news day, unfortunate news day in terms of injuries, but some other
things too, as the roster continues to develop toward the tail end of spring
training. So here's Tom and Mike Churnoff, the general manager for the Cleveland
Guardians. Journey will start off with a couple of easy ones, like who
the first pick is going to be? We're going to take me to this
chair until I tell you that right that in the opening day lineup, we'll
go through the twenty six man roster here with let's start with the easy questions,
hebby, have you ever watched more college baseball outside of when you were
playing? I'm not sure. I watched this a much team when I played,
And I know we're getting ahead of ourselves, but it really is exciting
to think about, isn't it. Yeah, it's exciting. I mean,
that was such an unexpected day when that happened. During winter meetings, we
were going crazy and now it's the reality of it. Of like, okay,
We've got to prepare for this. It's a great opportunity, but we
want to make sure we try to get it right. How big a deal
is it to have the number one pick? It's huge. I mean there's
two aspects of it. In baseball, it's not exactly like other sports.
Getting the number one pick is hugely important, but it also increases the amount
of pool space that you have to be able to potentially even maximize your pool
and get more players. Does that come into play like more so with having
a second first round pick a comp I think that's that's exactly right. With
the opportunity of having the first pick in the draft and that comp a pick,
which I think is pick thirty seven, you hope to be able to
really get, you know, a couple of players and maybe even spread it
out further into the draft to maximize what you get in all of the spots
that you're picking in the draft. Isn't until is it All Star Week?
Again? Yes, it's All Start Week. It's the Sunday of the All
Star But you know, right before the All Start break is the first day.
Would you like there to be a clear cut, no doubt about it
number one pick? Because in all likelihood, we're talking at college kid this
year, or would you like it to be those five guys we all talk
about. I think, look, it sort of makes your job easier when
there's that clear cut number one, that's it only one guy and he separates
himself. But I don't know that that's better. I think having hard decisions
is good, and you sort of want to have a lot of options,
especially as the college season plays out, or any high school players in the
mix. As it plays out, somebody could get injured. Like you want
to have options. And I think this is a year where we feel like
there actually are a number of guys that are factoring in that we feel really
good about. Now. That makes our lives harder. It makes us feel
the pressure and the anxiety of hoping to get it right. But like we
saw last year, I think there could be a lot of players in the
first few picks that are really good players. We're joined by Mike Chernoff,
general manager of the Cleveland Guardians. All Right, we told the fans the
bad news we know with Trevor Stephen, Tommy John upcoming reconstructive elbows surgery.
Can a reliever make it back quicker? Than a starter with that surgery,
oh no doubt. Yeah. I mean it doesn't change the time frame drastically,
but with a reliever, you don't have to build a guy back up
to five or six innings, So it changes it by at least about a
month, right, It takes about a month to build a guy up from
one or two innings up to the five or six innings. So on the
back end of this, once he's in rehab games, that is a shorter
recovery time for him. But Daniel a Spinel, as crushing as it was
for him, it had to be for you guys. It was awful just
with everything he's been through. I mean, this is going to be at
least another year of rehab for him. And you couldn't find a better kid.
I mean from the day we drafted him, he had a maturity beyond
his years, and he is he's the guy you pull for, not just
because of the talent on the field, but because of everything that he is
as a person. So this was really hard for all of us, and
obviously especially for him. We just want to find ways to support him through
this and hope he comes out the other side of this. Are you worried
his career is in jeopardy. I mean really any surgery of course, and
now a second surgery, Yeah, you have to think about that. But
we're going to do absolutely everything in our power to help him get back on
the field and tap into that talent that he has, and I know he'll
do the same. I mean what's stunning is he hadn't even thrown a baseball,
yeah, since the last surgery. Right, Well, he had started
to throw a little bit. He was your light throwing, but it wasn't
like an acute thing that he felt on a throw. Yeah. I know.
It's a really unfortunate thing. And this we knew. The first surgery
was a complicated surgery and so it had some chance of this happening, but
it is. It's really unfortunate based on the news with those guys and Garrett
Cole, what's your level of concern with Gavin Williams, Well, Gavin,
thankfully, you know, when we had the imaging done, structurally, everything
looks good. So this we're thinking is just a short term thing. Again,
you have to build these guys up, and in Gavin's case, he
hadn't gotten up to the four or five innings that. You know, you
want to get a guy up too, so it's going to slow him down
some. He's got to get through this. We have to have this calm
down in the back of his elbow, and then at that point we'll start
the build up again. So it does add a little bit of time,
but from a level of concern, it's not the same type of concerns as
when you see something structurally on the MRIs. But he won't be there opening
day. I doubt that that would be a possibility. At this point,
we are joined by general manager Mike Chernoff here in the bottom of the third
from Goodyear Journey. We know there are multiple people in the hunt yet for
the shortstop spot. But is it safe to say it comes down to Arius
and Rocchio or am I making too big of an assumption. Nothing is safe
to say. I mean, you know, we can. We have to
see how things go. I think we have a lot of players that we're
excited about to play the middle of lean field. You're seeing the majority of
playing time right now go to Rokio on Arius. Those are the guys who've
had the most time in Triple A or the big leagues that we feel are
really truly in contention for that spot. But I think whether it's opening Day
or other times in the year, we certainly can reevaluate and consider some of
the other players who have made a great impression here so far. Well,
like, for instance, we talked about it before you came in. I
mean, Estevan flori All two more strikeouts. He's not had a good spring
as far as the numbers, but you're looking beyond that. I mean,
Hammy, you know, you probably remember last year Mike Capriz the spring that
he had, right, and that's a wonderful thing. You want a guy
to have a great spring and not have a really poor spring. It looks
to me like Florie's just pressing. I mean, this is a hard situation
to come in in the offseason. He's coming in from the Yankees, where
I think he felt all the pressure in the world there, and I think
he was hoping for a fresh start. I mean, he had no future
outlook there because of the guys they had in their outfield. This was a
fresh start for him, and I think he wanted to make a good impression
so bad that he's such a great guy. I'm sure you've had time with
him. He is a wonderful kid, and I think he just so badly
wanted to make a good impression that you see him pressing up there. I
don't think this is who he is as a player, So we have to
figure out, Okay, how do we assess that and figure out, you
know, what this could look like in season potentially. Do you look at
Rokio and Arius under the same scope, do you think they're pressing? Yes?
Absolutely, I mean I could. You could see it right when they
came in. They also felt like it was a great opportunity, but I
think they felt a lot of pressure, and they're so young, they haven't
been through this before, so there's no doubt that. I think all these
guys that feel like they're in competition have some of that going on. That
doesn't mean that we don't want to see them handle that. I mean,
they have to handle adversity as big leaguers. But we also have to just
keep that in the back of our mind as we're looking at twenty or thirty
spring training plate appearances, and that we're evaluating underneath the hood a little bit
more at the process of how they're going about their work and how their swing
looks and all of that, would you And again I'm assuming, but you
don't want all these guys up here sitting I'm assuming one of them when's the
shortstop job and the other guys have to go and play every day? Right?
Are these the sneaky kind of questions that you asked Foreman when he was
on the other day? You know what, Brody was busy, your oldest
son, and Sarah's banned me from you got that. That's exactly right.
Well, you're you're hitting on an important point. I mean, there's a
couple factors. One, You're right, we don't want some of our top
guys sitting right. You want those guys playing every day and continuing to get
better. These are young players that have to improve you also, you know,
I think with any young player, you want to make sure that you
help them not just focus on opening day. The pressure isn't just to make
the opening day roster. And that's it. You're seeing it. With our
pitching, we're going to need to tap into our depth, and so you
want players to be ready for it whenever that everyday opportunity comes up to be
ready for it, and often that means going back to Triple A and playing
every day so that you are prepared. All right, The last easy question
when will Chase still latter be here? This is breaking up a little bit,
how I mean, you and I were talking off the off mike for
we went on the air and talked to Chris about it this morning. You
ever remember a younger player with so little experience still here this deep into camp.
Yeah, I mean, he's been a delight for us to watch.
I think he's got about three hundred and fifty play appearance in the minor league,
so you have to remember that. And he's got a lot of things
that he just hasn't experienced yet, and so you want a player to experience
those things, usually at the minor league level first to figure out how to
get through it. But at the same time, you don't set time tables
on guys. I mean, he's been so impressive offensively, defensively on the
basis we're really excited about his future. Well, Charney, we really appreciate
the time, Thanks so much and continued success. This is going to be
fun. Thanks, Amy, were excited for well. A lot of good
stuff there from Cherney regarding the roster entry issues, how they're trying to get
to a certain place with certain positions. A lot going on here and there
is not much time left in the spring training. We're under two weeks to
go now until opening day in Oakland on March the twenty eight. Stay with
us when we came back. We'll hear from pitching coach Carl Willis. That's
next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Don't go away, folks,
Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse along with you from Goodyear, Arizona
and Guardians spring training as we get deeper into it. Less than two weeks
to go now until opening night in Oakland, and the Guardians will break camp
a week from Tuesday, so we are not that far away. They'll wrap
up with a couple of games down at Chase Field and then jet off to
the San Francisco area where they stay when they play the Oakland Athletics, and
that's where they open the season with four against Oakland. Carl Willis is back
for another season as the Guardians pitching coach, and that was not a given
with the retirement of Terry Francona at the end of last season, but certainly
Cleveland happy to have him back. He's one of the best in the game
at what he does. He has overseen four different cy Young Award winners,
and who knows, maybe there's another one in the mix on this year's staff
for the Cleveland Guardians. When we caught up with Carl earlier this week for
a wide ranging interview about the current staff and also where he's at in terms
of his career, he talked about his reasoning for coming back and some of
the things that factored into that decision. Well, Rosie, you know,
first and foremost, just you know, at stage of life, I'm sixty
three years old, as not old by any means, but I've been around
the game for forty one years now, and obviously you spent a lot of
time away from my family and my kids now my grandkids. Still am blessed
to have my mother, So you know, those factors, the family factor
weighs in, But certainly it also weighs in that I still have a passion
for this game. I have a big passion for our pictures, uh,
you know, and I want them them all. But you know, Shane
Bieber, Tristan McKenzie, Carlos Carrasco being back in camp. But but also
the the young three that that we saw a glimpse of last year. You
know, that's very exciting and they're exciting to work with and quite frankly a
passion for the Cleveland Guardians. You know, this organization has been so very,
very good to me and my family. And you know, when when
they asked me if I'd like to come back, if I was open to
coming back, you know that that that's actually a big honor for me.
I mean, I I appreciated that, and that's when I really had to
seetually consider, you know, what was best for you know, mainly my
family right now, and if they can handle it, then I wanted to
not fulfill the obligation, but I guess fulfill the request. And you know,
I'm just honored they feel that way about me. And you're working under
a new manager for the first time in a long time. How do you
bridge that gap relationship wise with Steven Vote? And I know it's still early
yet the games are underway, but how much goes into that to make sure
that you guys can hit the ground running when the regular season begins. Well,
you know, we're trying to spend as much time as we can together
on the field. At the field, it's difficult because you know, he
is not only building new relationships, you know, with a staff and an
organization, but he's in a position he hasn't been in before. So you
know, there's an awful lot on his plate. And as much times is
I would like to to, you know, be the only one sitting talking
with him, that's just not possible. But I think that, you know,
so far our time together has been good. You know, it's it's
it's somewhat challenging, or it's just it's just different spring training. You know,
the games, the outcome of the game, certainly, you you know,
it's important to shake hands and win games, but but getting the guys
ready that you're counting on is more important. So at the end of the
day, the outcome of the game and really the most important thing. And
I feel like, you know, we're not gonna learn how each other operates
when it matters until it really matters, and I'm looking forward to that.
But I I feel like, you know, he's a guy that's two years
removed from playing, so he's gonna definitely be able to relate to the players,
understand what makes those guys tick and you know, he was a catcher,
so he understands the pitching aspects of the game and he unders been he's
been exposed to a lot of the analytical side of the game that I think,
I feel like like myself, he knows how to use and he knows
how to push aside when maybe it's not pertinent to the moment. So I'm
really looking forward to it and I think it's off to a good start.
So along those lines in terms of what you bring to this organization and have
for a long time, Uh, the game's changing. There's so much now,
and the Guardians are at the forefront. It's part of what has made
them such a good pitching organization. That blend of technology and analytics and how
have you been able to bring what you're so good at, those relationships and
things that you grew up with and blend all that together, because it seems
like you've done that, at least from the outside. Well, I think,
you know, being open minded and open to change is not to say
that it's not difficult at times, is not to say it's not very frustrating
at times times. But I think the most important aspect is again to be
open minded and to to give it its due respect. And and so when
you do have things that are important, and it's not that it's all not
important, but when things specifically matter right now and can make a difference,
I think it's how to communicate those things that and and the timing, your
timing of communication, and and then your language. And you know, certainly,
having been out there on the mound competing, even though it was a
long time ago, I know all the things that go through a picture's mind.
And so it's just again, I think communication and the timeliness of that
communication to communicate, whether it be analytics or something old school, that it's
most important. All right, let's get to the good stuff with Carl Willis
in terms of the pictures at hand, as we get in a deeper into
March, Carl, you look at the starting rotation and the potential is narrative
for it to be extremely good. With the five pictures that look like they're
going to be in there right at the top, Shane Bieber looks phenomenal of
what's he done in the off season to get so much better? Well,
you know, first and foremost, he ended the season healthy, and I
think he you know, in his mind, he knew he was healthy,
he was paying free, and you know, two seasons, two off seasons
ago, it was kind of a rehab type of an off season that took
a lot out of him. And then the next off season, you know,
he tried to treat it normal and give his body a bit of a
break from all the work he'd done the previous eighteen months. But this season,
getting to the end, feeling healthy, not having a big workload,
he was really able to focus solely on, you know, what he wanted
to accomplish, and and quite frankly, that was to see if there was
anything whether it be delivery wise or if he could just get back into the
mindset to possibly pick up a couple miles an hour again. So he took
the opportunity, he went to drive line out here in Arizona, and in
that focus, you know, he was able to accomplish that goal. And
we've seen more velo, we've seen a little better life to the fastball,
and it's brought some power back to the curveball, which if you go back
to twenty twenty, which is hard to believe that's four years ago, but
you know, that was his pitch and there was a lot of power to
it, and and he had lost some of that power. So I think
we're going to see a version of Shane Bieber that is much closer to what
we saw in twenty and twenty one. The three kids, and let's lump
them all together. I know you can't really do that, but what do
you keep in the eye on this spring as they as you get them prepared
for what hopefully is is a first full season for them in the big leagues.
Well, the first thing we're cuban ie on, particularly with Gavin and
Tanner. So these two guys never they haven't been to major league spring training
before, so I'm kind of trying to protect them from themselves a little bit.
You know, we had them pitching simulating games prior to getting into major
league games. We did that actually with all five of our starters, but
there were different reasons behind Shane and Tristan. But to just each time out
take one step forward and not try to take two. And you know,
those guys are still young in their careers and they've already proven their winners at
the major league level. But again, it kind of goes back to that
understanding of you know, the outcomes of your outings in spring training are less
important than the process and what you did on the mound that day, and
are you building towards being that complete package that you can be or close to
it by opening day. Sometimes that means going out and pitching the game and
really focusing on one particular pitch. When you do that, that pitch gets
better. But if you're only throwing that one pitch, it probably gets hit
a little more often, so the outcome is not great. Yet your process
is good because you improve the pitch, and when the season starts, you're
going to mix it with your others. So really trying to manage I guess
their intensity, their effort, get them built up, and try to balance
not getting complacent because all three of them had success during their rookie seasons last
year. The game doesn't get any easier just because you've arrived and had some
As a matter of fact, gets much more difficult because you know the opposition
starts to study a little harder now. So the biggest thing is to prepare
them, to keep them on a good path and knock on wood, but
to keep them healthy. You mentioned a name earlier, Carlos Carrasco back in
camp, first time in a while with the Guardians. What's his path to
make this team? How do you see this working out for him if he's
to make this team and help well, you know, Carlos has has some
versatility. I'm sure most folks in Cleveland remember several years ago when you know,
he went out to the bullpen and pitched out of the bullpen and he
kind of found himself there and transitioned back into a starter role. So I
think Number one have that versatility to to not just be locked into a starting
position, but he could potentially help our bullpen, which you know right now
is a little bit up in the air in terms of you know, filling
out eight guys in that in that bullpen, but certainly, you know,
seeing what kind of power is left in his arsenal. He knows how to
pitch, he knows how to shape the baseball, so you know, getting
back to some basics of his delivery that you know, we're very familiar with
due to his time here and and just to go out and compete and see
again how he's able to recover, you know, whether it be every fifth
day or every third day, if it's a bullpen or something like that,
and just let him go out and compete. If he can do the things
he can do, he's gonna force us to make a decision because you know,
we could very well be a better club and a better pitching staff with
him on it bullpen. You mentioned some things up in the air, but
let's at least touch on the back end. Emmanuel class a tremendous two seasons,
a lot of work in there. What are you saying so far this
spring from him? And what do you try and keep an eye on for
him to make sure that that he can give you as many outings as he
needs to. Well, you know, we're very pleased with Emmanual and how
he came into spring training. You know, I think in twenty twenty two,
having kind of a breakout season, got a lot of accolades in the
off season. You know, came to spring training last year in a good
place, but maybe not in the best place he could be in. I
think he'd tell you that, you know what we're seeing right now in early
March, he's where he was last year in the latter part of March.
I mean he came in that far ahead, and it's obvious that he did
his work in the off season. We're seeing velocities at spring training right now.
Ninety seven ninety eight were last year. We're seeing ninety three ninety four.
We're seeing the depth of the slider. You know, saw fundamental play
yesterday where he was standing at first base waiting for the relay throw on the
back end of double play. So it tells you that he's mentally locked in.
So I think that, you know, while he saved forty five games
last year, we saw bump up in his ra We saw, you know,
a few blown saves that obviously everybody is well documented. But I think
that you know, he's challenged himself to be the to go out and be
the best he can be this year and continue to be one of the best
closers in the game, if not the best. I will close with this
with Carl Willis. You made a million mound visits in your pitching coach career.
Obviously some are different than others, the funny ones. What's going on
out there on the mound when you have to go out to the mount and
maybe on your way back, we see the pitcher snickering, or the catcher
or even yourself. Well, you know, sometimes you just need to break
the tension. I mean, everyone knows the situation, everyone knows what's you
know on the line. I you know, one of the funnier ones actually
happened in Cleveland. I can't recall the year. May have been two thousand
and five or six. I'm going back aways now I have been nine.
We had a Masa Kobayashi, and we had an interpreter and I asked him
for a interpretation. It was a word. I wanted to know how to
say something in Japanese. And so he told me, and I ran to
the mound, repeating it over and over and over so I wouldn't forget how
to say it. And and when I got out there, and when I
said it, uh, Massa's eyes got wide open and he looked at me
and he kind of smiled. And Tim Laker was a catcher and he's like,
Carl, I didn't know you spoke Japanese, and you know, And
so I just repeated the phrase, and so then he repeated the phrase,
and then kobe Yashi repeated the phrase, and so we were all standing out
there kind of chuckling, and the home plate umpire came out and he goes,
Carl, what's going on out here? And I said, oh,
we're just talking about and you know, whatever the phrase was, I don't
know, and he goes, oh, and then he said it, and
so we all just stood there laughing, and then we we came back into
the dugout, or I came back into the dugout, and I can tell
you that I remember Derek Jeter was the hitter, and I believe the bases
were loaded and he hit a line drive. It was a missile right at
the second basement that we turned a double play on. And Laker came in
the dugout and he yells out whatever the word was in Japanese, and I
yelled it back at him, and the next thing, you know, everybody
at the dugouts yelled and Kobe Yashi's laughing, and it made for a good
story. You know. It's something that you know, I've never forgotten,
and a couple of guys you know, have heard the story and we'll bring
it up on occasion. But you know, sometimes you have to you have
to light in the moment. But again it goes back to to communication,
and hey, sometimes they may snicker when I leave because they think I'm full
of it. You know, I don't know, but I think you don't
really like going out there, you know so, but you have to.
You have to at times, and you have to make the best of it.
It's Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis always a wealth of information and enjoyable interview
every time, and we certainly thank his him for his time this week's show.
Stay with us. We'll have some final thoughts after this time out on
the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network. Not to brag, but Progressives Name your
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Lawn Notevlinos States, Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Our final segment. Jim
Rosenhouse back with you for just a couple of moments now to wrap up our
show, just a reminder you can listen to our show each week on participating
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