Speaker 1: Okay, one hour.
Speaker 2: The sprint is on fred Rogan, Rodney Pete A five
Speaker 2: seventy LA Sports. We were off yesterday for Memorial Days,
Speaker 2: so why we are refreshed for our sixty minute presentation?
Speaker 1: Rodney? How are you?
Speaker 3: Oh, Freddy Retty, Reddy, Freddy, Freddy, I'm good. I had
Speaker 3: a great weekend. I had a great weekend. Did you
Speaker 3: have a great weekend? I did a whole lot of nothing,
Speaker 3: went to a couple of little barbecues and just hung
Speaker 3: out and like you said, batcat did all weekend, Freddy.
Speaker 3: And now ready for this sixty minute spread.
Speaker 2: Okay, So while we were away, the Dodgers not so
Speaker 2: good against the Mets, really good yesterday against the Indians.
Speaker 2: The Guardians, I'm a Guardian, right right, Old habits die hard,
Speaker 2: I know I do the same thing, Old habits die hard.
Speaker 2: Against the Mets, they couldn't hit. Let's just be honest.
Speaker 2: They just didn't hit, and that came back to haunt.
Speaker 2: I'm Tony Gonsolin got tagged there pretty good. And against
Speaker 2: the Mets, Tanner Scott blow another save on Friday. Now,
Speaker 2: let's be really honest about this. It's not like when
Speaker 2: they signed him. You didn't think, well, you've got the
Speaker 2: guy now. I mean, this is the guy who's gonna
Speaker 2: shut the door every time, and he hasn't quite Frankly,
Speaker 2: he hasn't looked really crisp Rodney.
Speaker 1: So first, what do you think of what he's going through?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't want to. You know, look, we're not
Speaker 3: making excuses. He's got a job to do, right, He's
Speaker 3: got to come in and shut it down, or at
Speaker 3: least stop all the bleeding and hold the lead, hold
Speaker 3: the line when he comes in the game, and he
Speaker 3: struggled to do that here lately. You know, the different
Speaker 3: guys go through different stretches during the course of the season.
Speaker 3: He obviously comes in in high leverage situation. So it's
Speaker 3: not easy mentally, but that's what they brought him in for,
Speaker 3: that's what they're paying him for. He's got to get
Speaker 3: it going, no doubt. I mean, the Dodgers, as much
Speaker 3: as we'd love to see them, you know, win games
Speaker 3: by seven eight runs, it's not gonna happen. They're going
Speaker 3: to be in a lot of tight ball games one
Speaker 3: two run ball games. Uh, And he's got to be
Speaker 3: able to keep it there. And so he's got to
Speaker 3: get better, but he is. He certainly has struggled. And
Speaker 3: and you know, I know, you know, Mark Pryor said
Speaker 3: that he's throwing way too many pitches right down the
Speaker 3: middle of the play for it, and that is something
Speaker 3: when you give that to big league hitters, that they
Speaker 3: are going to make you pay for it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it's pretty simple because that's exactly what Mark
Speaker 2: Pryor said. All right, we identified the problem. What is
Speaker 2: that he's just throwing the ball down the middle? All right, Well,
Speaker 2: to me, that's a pretty simple problem to identify. He's
Speaker 2: just throwing the ball down the middle. And even he
Speaker 2: will admit he's not getting the swing and missing once.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing.
Speaker 2: Of course, he has time to work it out, and
Speaker 2: he will work it out. But honestly, it's not what
Speaker 2: you expect from a guy to sign that kind of
Speaker 2: deal that comes in here as the top closer in
Speaker 2: baseball and he's throwing too many pitches down the middle
Speaker 2: of the play. They'll fix it. They'll fix it because
Speaker 2: they don't have the luxury of not fixing it. And
Speaker 2: he brought Vesiga in to relieve Tanner. Scott. That can't
Speaker 2: be the last guy that needs to pitch is Tanner Scott.
Speaker 2: If he's in the game, nobody can come in after him.
Speaker 2: He's got to shut it down. So that is a
Speaker 2: tad bit concerning a tad bit, but I think they'll
Speaker 2: get that fixed. Oh, they didn't hit very well against
Speaker 2: the Mets. Tony gallanst allowed four runs in five innings Saturday,
Speaker 2: and Max Munsey wooted a ball that hurt him as well.
Speaker 2: But you put that behind you because it was off
Speaker 2: to Cleveland. You had Yamamoto on the hill last night
Speaker 2: that it was a whole new ball game.
Speaker 3: Yes, the thing, I don't think he's been the rock
Speaker 3: for this team, Yamamoto, I can gets enough credit credit
Speaker 3: for doing what he's done, you know, coming in here
Speaker 3: last year with all that pressure on him, and then
Speaker 3: you know we saw him be deliver in the in
Speaker 3: the postseason last year, but even the year with all
Speaker 3: the injuries, with all the things going on, and he's
Speaker 3: done this the multiple times this year where the Dodgers
Speaker 3: need just they just need a good outing by their
Speaker 3: starting pitcher, and he comes in and he gives it
Speaker 3: to him and he delivers. And this is the multiple
Speaker 3: times lately that they desperately need a guy to be
Speaker 3: dominant on the hill, and Yamamoto has done that time
Speaker 3: and time and again. So I'm giving him as props
Speaker 3: Fred because I think he definitely deserves it, more so
Speaker 3: than anybody right now with the injury factor to the
Speaker 3: pitching staff. Well, and that's why they gave him that
Speaker 3: long term deal for all that money, because they knew
Speaker 3: that would be the guy that eventually would be their race.
Speaker 3: I don't think they believe it would happen this year,
Speaker 3: but it's certainly on the version happening given the injuries.
Speaker 3: So he pitched well, they hit the ball. Every year
Speaker 3: we have the same conversation. It's something I can't understand
Speaker 3: and perhaps you can shed some light on it. What
Speaker 3: is this feast or famine?
Speaker 2: Offensively, it's either tear the cover off the ball or nothing.
Speaker 2: And we talk about it every single year. And you
Speaker 2: would think with a roster like the Dodgers have and
Speaker 2: a lineup like they have, that would be preventable. Somebody's
Speaker 2: always got to be on with that many guys that
Speaker 2: can play, But it's not the case. It's the same
Speaker 2: thing famine in New York, feast yesterday in Cleveland, Rodney. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, it's hard to put your finger on it
Speaker 2: because when it happens to an entire team, you usually
Speaker 2: don't see that much.
Speaker 3: You usually see it with individuals, like you know, a
Speaker 3: guy will get on a hot streak you know, hit
Speaker 3: you know, and have a weekend where he you know, hits,
Speaker 3: goes ten for fifteen one series and then comes back
Speaker 3: and goes one for twenty one three days later. So
Speaker 3: it usually happens. But when it happens to the entire team,
Speaker 3: especially with the lineup like the Dodgers have and all
Speaker 3: the firepower that the Dodgers have.
Speaker 1: It really is unusual.
Speaker 3: And you know, it can't continue all season long because
Speaker 3: that is that is not a good recipe for sustained
Speaker 3: success because in a series, especially in the postseason, you
Speaker 3: got to put together consistant multiple games where you're scoring
Speaker 3: runs and hitting the ball, but his feast of famine.
Speaker 3: You better have home field advantage if you don't, if
Speaker 3: you live like that for it, otherwise you're in real,
Speaker 3: real trouble. But again, they're too talent. There's too many
Speaker 3: guys up and down that lineup for them to have
Speaker 3: multiple games like this.
Speaker 2: Okay, justin Mago's tonight, look good in his last outing,
Speaker 2: had struggled during May prior to that, but look good
Speaker 2: in his last outing. So he'll get a crack at
Speaker 2: the Guardians tonight. It's an East Coast game or East
Speaker 2: time Zone game, and that means you will hear the
Speaker 2: game here at about three thirty. Okay, how about Chris
Speaker 2: Taylor found a job. Yes, he did, got himself a
Speaker 2: Johnsy did.
Speaker 3: We're happy for Chris Taylor, you know, as we talked
Speaker 3: about it a lot last week about you know, what
Speaker 3: he meant to this team and how many years he
Speaker 3: was here. They delivered some big, gigantic moments for the
Speaker 3: Dodgers in their road to multiple playoff, first and World Series.
Speaker 3: It was just sad to see him, see him go
Speaker 3: out like that and see him leave, but it was
Speaker 3: really nice to see that he landed on his feet
Speaker 3: and he's not too.
Speaker 1: Far away for it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's gonna play three or four times a week
Speaker 2: with the Angels. When I heard he signed, I had
Speaker 2: to watch. I had to watch, and you know, good
Speaker 2: for him. He got what he wanted. He's certainly going
Speaker 2: to play more consistently than he would have with the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: But what a bizarre site.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what a weird site that was to see him
Speaker 3: wearing an Angel uniform. Yeah, it didn't honestly, and good
Speaker 3: for him, Good for him. It didn't even look like
Speaker 3: he belonged there. But then again, does anybody want to
Speaker 3: be there?
Speaker 1: Cheap shot?
Speaker 3: Hey?
Speaker 1: Hey, sorry hey, cheap shot Angels?
Speaker 3: Angels are turning it around right talking about are you
Speaker 3: saying it looks odd because he's like, it is the
Speaker 3: Angels or that just seeing him in a different uniform
Speaker 3: because it was odd. I guess it was odd to see,
Speaker 3: you know, a guy like Justin Turner when he left
Speaker 3: and we had to see him basically him coming back
Speaker 3: to town. But certainly would have been worse or different
Speaker 3: or weirder if he was playing for the Angels and
Speaker 3: we saw him, you know, so, I think it definitely
Speaker 3: to your point, I think it's something odd to see
Speaker 3: a Dodger go play for the Angels.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was just if he had played for anybody,
Speaker 2: it would have seemed strange to see that. It was
Speaker 2: weird and watching him again and good, he's got a job.
Speaker 2: But it's like, when I saw him.
Speaker 1: What are you doing there? Yeah? Well, how are you
Speaker 1: doing there? And on top of it. It kind of
Speaker 1: looked like he was saying, what am I doing here? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Why am I here? I mean, how did this happen?
Speaker 2: He didn't get Miguel Vargus. You know, that didn't happen
Speaker 2: to him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank god, I means, and gay he's into the
Speaker 3: wilderness and think, oh my god, what happened to me? No,
Speaker 3: that didn't happen the Abyss, Fred Steer into the Abyss.
Speaker 3: Jesus Chicago White Sox. I mean, only the Rocky is
Speaker 3: probably worse than that team. But no, it's a it's
Speaker 3: a gig. And you know, he said it. It came
Speaker 3: out after he was he was released that you know,
Speaker 3: one of the things that he wanted to do was
Speaker 3: to play. You know, and as you get to a
Speaker 3: certain part in your career and you still believe as
Speaker 3: a veteran, you still believe that you've got some gas
Speaker 3: in the tank and you can still play. And yes,
Speaker 3: you you fell into circumstances with the Dodgers where you
Speaker 3: were struggling to hit and struggling to find playing time,
Speaker 3: and you still believe that you can do it. So
Speaker 3: it's sometimes better to find a a new scenery and
Speaker 3: and hopefully that turned yourself around. But he's got what
Speaker 3: he what he's you know, he's got the hardware. So
Speaker 3: he's got World Series appearances. He's got two World Series
Speaker 3: rings at this stage time. Now I want to go play.
Speaker 3: I want to play and see if I still got it,
Speaker 3: to see how many years left I can play, And
Speaker 3: I got to find out otherwise I can't keep going
Speaker 3: through the same situations with the Dodgers where I play
Speaker 3: every fifth day or you know, play in a in
Speaker 3: a late inning situation. I want to see if I
Speaker 3: can play. And you got to hand it to him
Speaker 3: for stepping up like that, and for the Dodgers for saying, listen,
Speaker 3: all right, it didn't look good for you anyway. So
Speaker 3: we're gonna have to We're gonna let you go go
Speaker 3: do your thing.
Speaker 1: We're rooting you.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, but when when you were when you were
Speaker 2: playing and uh, you know, you played for a number
Speaker 2: of teams, was there a point where you wanted to
Speaker 2: prove to yourself you could still do it when you
Speaker 2: weren't a starter. Did that matter? Oh yeah, it definitely mattered.
Speaker 2: It definitely mattered. I you know, I spent five years
Speaker 2: in Detroit and got out of Detroit got out of
Speaker 2: jail basically, and I went to Dallas as a backup.
Speaker 2: And you know, one of one of the reasons I
Speaker 2: went to Dallas in the first place. First of all,
Speaker 2: you know, foy Iigman was not going anywhere. They just
Speaker 2: came back and winning back to back Super Bowls.
Speaker 3: But there was an opportunity for me in Dallas to
Speaker 3: probably start three to four games because it's you know,
Speaker 3: especially at that time, when quarterbacks could get hit. There
Speaker 3: were gonna be periods of time during a sixteen game
Speaker 3: season that the quarterback was rarely going.
Speaker 1: To play all sixteen games.
Speaker 3: And so I knew I was going to get a
Speaker 3: chance to play, and then to go there and play
Speaker 3: with that offensive line and EMITTT Smith and Irvin and
Speaker 3: Alvin harp Brow, I say, I'm I'm gonna go down
Speaker 3: here and and look good and then I'll get another shot,
Speaker 3: because that's what I wanted. And I could have stayed
Speaker 3: at Dallas and just been there as a backup for
Speaker 3: a number of years and rolled it out, but I
Speaker 3: wanted to go play, and and thank god, I was
Speaker 3: able to play in four games in Dallas and played
Speaker 3: well enough that Philadelphia decided they wanted to sign me
Speaker 3: as a free agent, and I went to Philadelphia and
Speaker 3: became a starter. So there was not a question in
Speaker 3: your mind because you mentioned with Chris Taylor he still
Speaker 3: got to prove that he can do it. You believed
Speaker 3: you could do it, You knew you could do it,
Speaker 3: and then you went to Philadelphia. But as you continued
Speaker 3: through your journey, was there ever a point you thought
Speaker 3: you still had to prove it to yourself or did
Speaker 3: you just go to you you couldn't go anymore. Now,
Speaker 3: as I got I got into my what eleventh, twelfth year,
Speaker 3: I felt pretty good. I had started more more years
Speaker 3: than I didn't. And you know, sometimes at the quarterback
Speaker 3: you go from backup to starter started to backup depends
Speaker 3: on the team and depends on the opportunity. But later
Speaker 3: on I when I went to Oakland and rejoined John Gruden,
Speaker 3: I it was my I think it was my eleventh year,
Speaker 3: and so I knew that, you know, the days of
Speaker 3: me getting another starting gig were probably behind me, unless
Speaker 3: it kind of fell into my lap or somebody got
Speaker 3: hurt or something like that. And because it was in
Speaker 3: my you know, mid thirty, so it was it was
Speaker 3: going to be a stretch for me to do that,
Speaker 3: and so I went there knowing full well that was
Speaker 3: going to be a backup. And then Carolina called and
Speaker 3: wanted to sign me, and I initially went there as
Speaker 3: a backup, but I didn't go to Carolina to go
Speaker 3: try to prove anything because I felt that I had
Speaker 3: proven enough and played long enough that I didn't need
Speaker 3: to go there to prove anything to myself or anybody else.
Speaker 3: It just so happened that Chris Winki was not ready
Speaker 3: to play and he was struggling, and they put me
Speaker 3: in there, and part of.
Speaker 1: Me was like, hey, wait a minute.
Speaker 3: I went there to just be a backup and then
Speaker 3: ride this thing out for the last two years of
Speaker 3: my career, and and now I got to play every week.
Speaker 1: But it was exciting. It was fun because those used
Speaker 1: to start to flow again.
Speaker 3: But I went there knowing that I was going to
Speaker 3: be the backup, and it was kind of a surprise
Speaker 3: that it ended up starting.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this, so, mid thirties, you're playing
Speaker 2: quarterback in the NFL. Did it hurt more when you
Speaker 2: got hit in your mid thirties than you did in
Speaker 2: your late twenties.
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: One?
Speaker 3: Hundred percent, but one thing it would happen. First of all, yes,
Speaker 3: it did it. You know your bones and you know
Speaker 3: the wear and tear on your body. After being in
Speaker 3: the league for ten years, it definitely you have those
Speaker 3: effects and you feel it. Definitely feel it more because
Speaker 3: certain things never really totally heal. You know, you you
Speaker 3: you've got that you know you feel like you got
Speaker 3: gravel in your knees or your that hip that has
Speaker 3: been bothering you. All it takes is one little tidy
Speaker 3: hit and all of a sudden, there's that hip again,
Speaker 3: or those those ribs again, or there's my my ankle again.
Speaker 3: So it definitely hurt. But you're smarter when you get older.
Speaker 3: When you're young, you know, you think you're more invincible,
Speaker 3: so you take some unnecessary hits. The older you get,
Speaker 3: the quicker you figure out how to run out of
Speaker 3: bounds or how to slide, or how to get down
Speaker 3: when you know the pocket is collapsing around you. When
Speaker 3: you're young, you know you're trying to fight for that
Speaker 3: extra yard, and that's when you take a lot of shots.
Speaker 1: I remember getting my bell rung a.
Speaker 3: Couple of times, thinking I can get the first down
Speaker 3: and didn't quite get there, but I paid the price.
Speaker 3: Whereas in my older years, I was like, it's okay
Speaker 3: to punt, Fred, it's okay to punt and play.
Speaker 1: It's okay to punt and play defense.
Speaker 3: You start making business decisions red at that point, it's okay.
Speaker 1: So just punishment you took.
Speaker 3: You changed your game, absolutely, absolutely, your mentality changes. And
Speaker 3: it's amazing how those things in a split second start
Speaker 3: entering your brain. It's like, go for running. When you're
Speaker 3: twenty five, go for it, go for it.
Speaker 1: You got it.
Speaker 3: And then when you're thirty five, it's like, hey boy,
Speaker 3: you better get out of bounds. That's that voice in
Speaker 3: your head. Get out of bound. Get down, get down,
Speaker 3: get down. No, no, your time is up. You gotta
Speaker 3: go down, get out of here. So yeah, it definitely
Speaker 3: had time clock changes. Do you remember a specific one.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I remember, speaking of Philadelphia. I am. We're
Speaker 3: in the playoffs and playing, actually playing Dallas, and it's
Speaker 3: in second quarter.
Speaker 1: We're playing them.
Speaker 3: It's tight, you know, we're they're up by three, but
Speaker 3: we're going in to try to take the lead or
Speaker 3: at least tie it up. And it was like a
Speaker 3: third down and I was a scramble to the right,
Speaker 3: and I had about six yards to make the first
Speaker 3: down and I was running. I could see it and
Speaker 3: feel it. I was like, Okay, I'm just going to
Speaker 3: go for it. And I went for it right on
Speaker 3: the sideline and I hit by Darren who for Dallas,
Speaker 3: and we went helmet to helmet red and his helmet
Speaker 3: was harder than my helmet, and I I got up
Speaker 3: and damn near went to the wrong sideline.
Speaker 1: Yeah it was.
Speaker 3: I was out for the rest of the game after that.
Speaker 3: But that was an unnecessary hit that I didn't have
Speaker 3: to take because it was the second quarter and we
Speaker 3: were only down by three and we ended up kicking
Speaker 3: a field goal to tie it up. I believe, and
Speaker 3: and but yet I was done for the game because
Speaker 3: I tried to go for the first down and yeah,
Speaker 3: he he hit me pretty good, got the best of
Speaker 3: me that day, but it just came full speed. Didn't
Speaker 3: really see him till it was too late, and helmet
Speaker 3: to helmet at those days was not being called as
Speaker 3: a penalty, and so he went right at it and boom.
Speaker 1: I was.
Speaker 3: I was seeing stars for the rest of the game.
Speaker 2: Did you know immediately there was a problem. I didn't
Speaker 2: know because you think you can. You know, when you
Speaker 2: have those kind of hits and concussion, sometimes you you
Speaker 2: sometimes they you can shake them off, or it just
Speaker 2: takes a few minutes before you kind of get your
Speaker 2: bearings back. But when I got to the sideline, uh,
Speaker 2: and I wasn't completely out and I wasn't stumbling. I
Speaker 2: didn't stumble like like Tua did. But when I got
Speaker 2: to the sidelines after a couple of minutes, I just
Speaker 2: I couldn't. I couldn't remember what happened in.
Speaker 3: The first quarter, and then I had to really fight
Speaker 3: you know, what certain plays were and moments of the game,
Speaker 3: and you know, you know, they give you, you know,
Speaker 3: the coaches start testing you, and the trainers start testing you. Okay,
Speaker 3: what did we uh, what's the formation of this particular
Speaker 3: play and you have a hard time remembering that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I knew it was I knew it was time
Speaker 1: to go.
Speaker 3: I couldn't. I couldn't function anymore at that point. And
Speaker 3: then you're doing your team of disservice because there's times
Speaker 3: where I did stay in the game and did try
Speaker 3: to fight it off for a series or two and
Speaker 3: say I'm going to get it back, I'll get my
Speaker 3: bearings back, and sometimes I did, and sometimes it just
Speaker 3: it just kept, you know, lingering on and eventually had
Speaker 3: to come out. But yeah, that time I just knew
Speaker 3: it was I was done. There was no way I
Speaker 3: could go back.
Speaker 1: So you told them they didn't tell you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I told them. I said, listen, I can't
Speaker 3: And they knew. They knew, just you know, looking in
Speaker 3: my eyes. And then like I said, doing those those
Speaker 3: tests that they give you in terms of verbiage of
Speaker 3: you know what day of the week, and you know,
Speaker 3: what's this play and who you know, what does this
Speaker 3: receiver do on this particular route, just to try to
Speaker 3: be focused, and I couldn't answer the question.
Speaker 1: So they knew. They knew as well.
Speaker 3: It was it was a mutual thing at the same
Speaker 3: time that they knew I couldn't play, and I knew
Speaker 3: I couldn't play.
Speaker 1: So then you just sit there and go damn. Yeah.
Speaker 3: You sit there and you just you just try to
Speaker 3: figure you know at that time too, if you know,
Speaker 3: you sit there for a moment. But but if you
Speaker 3: start to feel good, and this has happened to me before,
Speaker 3: where you start to feel okay and you're like, okay,
Speaker 3: I can go play in the second half, or you know,
Speaker 3: I can go back in the game.
Speaker 1: I just needed a you know, five to ten minutes
Speaker 1: to kind of get my my head right.
Speaker 3: But my head never got right in that game, and
Speaker 3: so I could not even focus throughout the whole second half.
Speaker 3: And you start trying too hard to remember things and
Speaker 3: you can't do it, and you know, you just no
Speaker 3: way you can go back in the game. And then
Speaker 3: other times where I get hit it was out for
Speaker 3: a few series, and you go, okay, now I'm good,
Speaker 3: I'm good, I feel myself again, I'm good. But really,
Speaker 3: in essence, which is why you don't go back in today,
Speaker 3: is that you're not good. Once your brain takes that
Speaker 3: kind of hit and that kind of trauma, you're really
Speaker 3: not good. Even though you may feel that way. All
Speaker 3: it takes is one more hit and it doesn't even
Speaker 3: have to be hard to that head, and it becomes
Speaker 3: much worse. If you had told them I'm good, would
Speaker 3: they put your back in the game?
Speaker 1: Yep?
Speaker 2: Even with the testing everything, if not well, if I
Speaker 2: could have somewhat, but in this way, if I could
Speaker 2: have fifty to fifty the test, I probab have went
Speaker 2: back in the game.
Speaker 1: But I basically flunked that test.
Speaker 3: So but if I would have got half of them
Speaker 3: right and and told them, look, I'm good, I'm ready
Speaker 3: to go, I'm ready to go, I would have went
Speaker 3: back in the game. They would have let me go
Speaker 3: back in the game. Yeah, think about that. Wow, yeah crazy. Now,
Speaker 3: So that's the way it was when you played back
Speaker 3: in the day. Exactly, it really was. They left it
Speaker 3: more up to the player than it was the training
Speaker 3: staff or anybody else or the doctors that are on
Speaker 3: the sidelines. Now they take it out. They even take
Speaker 3: it out of the team stands. They're a specialist on
Speaker 3: the sideline that says concussion protocol. He can't go back
Speaker 3: in and they take your helmet away. You can't talk
Speaker 3: your way back into the game after you go out.
Speaker 3: And but back then, yeah, you know, just give me
Speaker 3: a series. I'll be all right again. I'll be good.
Speaker 3: I'm just gonna take some smelling salt and I'll be uh.
Speaker 3: I'll be good in about two series. And guys would
Speaker 3: go back in the game. And sometimes, you know, quarterback
Speaker 3: is a tough one because you got to be so
Speaker 3: cognitive and you gotta think, and you got to you
Speaker 3: got to call plays, and you got to react. Whereas
Speaker 3: there's been other guys that played different positions, like on
Speaker 3: defense or even offensive linemen, that they've had it and
Speaker 3: still are having trouble. And then guys have had to
Speaker 3: tell him where to line up and do different things.
Speaker 3: And they stayed in the game say oh, no, line
Speaker 3: up over here, line up, and and they would say
Speaker 3: block this guy, block that guy, and and guys would
Speaker 3: not come out of the game. And and you didn't
Speaker 3: find out until you're watching the film the next day.
Speaker 3: You look him and go, where the hell is Eric going?
Speaker 3: Where did he who was he blocking on this play?
Speaker 3: And then you find out, yeah, he got he had
Speaker 3: a concussion in the second quarter. Why didn't he tell anybody? Oh,
Speaker 3: he didn't want to come out of the game. He
Speaker 3: trying to be a tough guy, and he's going the
Speaker 3: wrong way. You look up, it's just like Ugly on
Speaker 3: the film. He's going the wrong way, he's blocking the
Speaker 3: wrong guy. He's just lost out there. And the only
Speaker 3: explanation is, yeah, he didn't know where he was. That's
Speaker 3: how it was.
Speaker 1: That's what he's gonna ask you. Did you know guys.
Speaker 2: Did you play with guys that you realized had gone
Speaker 2: through that but wouldn't come out, so you observed what
Speaker 2: was going on and they were in the wrong place
Speaker 2: or went moved on the wrong count.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, No, there's there's a number of guys that
Speaker 3: A lot of times it's it's because the concussion is
Speaker 3: such a spectrum. Some of them are very severe and
Speaker 3: some of them are just mild and you just kind
Speaker 3: of I just got to shake it out or I'm
Speaker 3: seeing stars like they used to say. But then there's
Speaker 3: other times where I've I've kicked guys out of the
Speaker 3: huddle because they they couldn't focus, they were wandering around.
Speaker 3: A lot of times there's running backs when they take
Speaker 3: a hit and they come back to the huddle. Sometimes
Speaker 3: they went they started off going to the wrong huddle,
Speaker 3: and then they come into your huddle and you look
Speaker 3: at them and you're like, especially if you see the
Speaker 3: hit that they took, you go check them right away
Speaker 3: and go okay, you all right, and you look them
Speaker 3: in the eye and then you can tell as a teammate,
Speaker 3: oh he not right, he's not right. Get him out
Speaker 3: of here, Get him out. But a lot of times
Speaker 3: when of its offensive lineman. You don't always know those
Speaker 3: guys are crazy anyway, So you don't always know until
Speaker 3: it's too late and they played a series or two
Speaker 3: or rest of a half being you know, having a concussion,
Speaker 3: just kind of doing some things or messing up. But
Speaker 3: you don't really you don't really know it. But like
Speaker 3: I said, there's there's been times where I've kicked guys
Speaker 3: out at huddle because they've been just out of it,
Speaker 3: out of it and trying to stay in the game.
Speaker 2: All right, So they're not really college college athletes, are
Speaker 2: they No, they're not student athletes. They're athletes students. Is
Speaker 2: that the same thing in high school? Now, let's talk
Speaker 2: about it. Fred Rogan Rodney Pete on a five to
Speaker 2: seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 3: Oh, come on back, short one hour show for us today,
Speaker 3: Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan again, we hope you had a
Speaker 3: great Memorial weekend. Now it's time to go back to work.
Speaker 3: Come on, let's go, Freddy.
Speaker 2: You know, Rodney, I was just thinking back to what
Speaker 2: we talked about at the top of the show. Real quick,
Speaker 2: Tanner Scott his struggles. Dave Roberts made an interesting point
Speaker 2: right now Evan Phillips has forearms discomfort like Trining forearm spring,
Speaker 2: Kirby Yates hamstring strain, Michael Klepek shoulder impingement.
Speaker 1: They're all injured.
Speaker 2: Colepec's in a minor league rehab program, Yates and Trinon
Speaker 2: are both beginning throwing programs. That's good, but Evan phillips
Speaker 2: absence is starting to become concerning. According to Dave Roberts,
Speaker 2: he's getting a little bit concerned but hoping for the best.
Speaker 2: That doesn't sound good.
Speaker 3: Concerned about his return, Concerned about him ever even coming
Speaker 3: back anytime soon because they thought he was going to
Speaker 3: come back along with the other guys, but it's taken longer.
Speaker 3: And then you know a guy we haven't talked about
Speaker 3: for almost a year and a half, Fred is we
Speaker 3: star Gradiraul Right, who was a prominent player in terms
Speaker 3: of their bullpen just a couple of years ago, a
Speaker 3: year and a half ago, and yet we don't talk
Speaker 3: about him at all and his return. But they have
Speaker 3: been I mean decimated, decimated and the fact that they
Speaker 3: are still where they are, I know, people don't want
Speaker 3: to hear it, and nobody cares because the Dodgy spends
Speaker 3: so much money, but for them to be where they
Speaker 3: are with the injuries to their picking staff, it is
Speaker 3: pretty remarkable. If you just take away the Dodgers out
Speaker 3: of it, and take away the names and the money
Speaker 3: out of it, it's pretty remarkable that they're still there.
Speaker 1: It really is.
Speaker 2: But this Evan Phillips thing now kind of rears its
Speaker 2: ugly head. That's going to be a problem. If Dave
Speaker 2: Roberts says he's getting concerned, that doesn't mean Evan Phillips
Speaker 2: is coming back next week. It really makes you think,
Speaker 2: is he coming back? And if he doesn't come back,
Speaker 2: what does that lead to? What could happen? Anytime you
Speaker 2: hear this kind of thing with a Dodger pitcher, what
Speaker 2: do you think? Yeah, that's exactly what you think. So
Speaker 2: you've got to wonder could that be down the road?
Speaker 2: That is concerning? All Right, I want to talk about
Speaker 2: this athlete students, students athletes in college Division one, there
Speaker 2: are no more student athletes. They're athletes, students, they get paid,
Speaker 2: they go to the highest bidder.
Speaker 1: They're pros. They're pros. That's what they are.
Speaker 2: But nil also extends to high school sports as well.
Speaker 2: And now there's a concern about what NIL is going
Speaker 2: to do to high school sports in southern California. Eric
Speaker 2: Sotdenheimer wrote about it. There's a major concern. Now they'll
Speaker 2: just start paying the high school kids. Look, to be
Speaker 2: honest with you, it's not like in the past, guys
Speaker 2: that weren't living in a certain district somehow miraculously ended
Speaker 2: up in that district. I mean, I know something to happen.
Speaker 2: Calabasas High School years ago. Mm hm, a guy bought
Speaker 2: a I shouldn't even say it, no Calabasas. And let's
Speaker 2: put it like this, there were guys there that weren't
Speaker 2: from there, but if the CIF checked, it looked like
Speaker 2: they were there.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know guys that are button you know, whole
Speaker 3: apartment complexes.
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, similar to what you're saying that that Wow,
Speaker 3: there's fifteen fifteen kids on the team living at that
Speaker 3: same complex.
Speaker 1: Wow. There, it's all moved.
Speaker 3: Huh, everybody moved to that same complex. Interesting, Wait a minute,
Speaker 3: let's who owns that Oh, that's who owns that complex. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it was that kind of thing. Yeah, that's how they
Speaker 3: got to ride it. Back in the day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it's a new day now, and nil extends
Speaker 1: to high school kids. You can pay them.
Speaker 3: Toll before you get you know, that extended to Little
Speaker 3: League Fred. That extended to Little League when I remember
Speaker 3: I was coaching my son in Little League at twelve
Speaker 3: years old. When you're you know that age where you
Speaker 3: can go to the college World Series. There are a
Speaker 3: number of district kids that would miraculously not be there
Speaker 3: when they were eleven, but at twelve, all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: there was an there was a whole new team that
Speaker 3: we would face, and like, woo, where did these kids
Speaker 3: come from? And then we five to six kids that
Speaker 3: miraculously moved into the district that are playing that are
Speaker 3: now twelve, that weren't there the year before, and all
Speaker 3: because they wanted to figure out a way to boost
Speaker 3: that roster to go to the Little League World Series. Man,
Speaker 3: so it extended far beyond just a high school level.
Speaker 3: But now that the pain of it is just going
Speaker 3: to make it even worse, I believe. So if you
Speaker 3: have a school that can pay, you're getting a pretty
Speaker 3: good team.
Speaker 1: Pretty simple. But here's what's.
Speaker 2: Interesting, And I don't know if you have the answer
Speaker 2: to this, because my kids are out of high school.
Speaker 1: Now, what's more important.
Speaker 2: A kid goes to a school where it has an
Speaker 2: opportunity to play, grow and develop and maybe get a
Speaker 2: Division I scholarship.
Speaker 1: There's that side of it.
Speaker 2: Or is it more important that a kid goes to
Speaker 2: a school that pays him? What's more important at that time?
Speaker 2: If the objective is every day in my life, I
Speaker 2: want to make money. So if I'm seventeen, twenty seven,
Speaker 2: thirty seven, forty seven, I want.
Speaker 1: To make money.
Speaker 2: So it's seventeen, I'm going to get paid this to
Speaker 2: go to school.
Speaker 1: Here.
Speaker 2: Now, you can make the argument that's the last time
Speaker 2: anybody's ever going to pay you to play too, because
Speaker 2: you might not get to the Division one level. But
Speaker 2: what's more important at that time, Rodney? Getting paid and going.
Speaker 1: To school.
Speaker 2: Thirty miles from your house, are going to school closer
Speaker 2: still being good with a chance for a college opportunity.
Speaker 3: Okay, But so so my question is why can't it
Speaker 3: Why can't it be both? Why can't you go get
Speaker 3: paid and still go to a good school and learn
Speaker 3: camaraderie and and and good you know, a good education
Speaker 3: at that school. Why can't it be both? I mean,
Speaker 3: because just because the school can pay you doesn't mean
Speaker 3: your quality of education or that the you know, teaching
Speaker 3: fundamentals is going to diminish. It could be both. Unfortunately
Speaker 3: some some schools can do it and some schools can't.
Speaker 3: But I don't think it's either or like, you know,
Speaker 3: getting paid versus you know, a character building school.
Speaker 1: No, you know, don't. Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 3: Guys do chase the money, and there are schools that
Speaker 3: don't really care when it comes to their athletes about
Speaker 3: you know, the education piece of it. But there are
Speaker 3: schools that are educational schools and also pay.
Speaker 1: So I mean, it can be both, it can be both.
Speaker 3: I just think it's bad at that level to start
Speaker 3: teaching kids that I'm just going to chase the money.
Speaker 1: With no consequences to it, you know, I'm just.
Speaker 3: Gonna up and and and transfer and and then a
Speaker 3: school can poach their their best players as they're building,
Speaker 3: you know, kids from the time that their freshman sophomore,
Speaker 3: and then that kid shows signs at a sophomore that
Speaker 3: he's pretty good. Now here comes to big schools to
Speaker 3: go poach them, and all of a sudden, those kids
Speaker 3: that were trying to build to their senior year to
Speaker 3: be pretty good. All of a sudden got stripped to
Speaker 3: their four best players. You know that that just that
Speaker 3: that really sucks. It's not really cool. I can remember,
Speaker 3: you know, and I know it's a long time ago,
Speaker 3: but in high school knowing that, man, when we're seniors,
Speaker 3: we're gonna be.
Speaker 1: Pretty good, you know.
Speaker 3: And and you grew together, and then you got to
Speaker 3: be seniors, and you were good because you played together
Speaker 3: all these years, and and you look forward to it now,
Speaker 3: you know, you don't know if those same guys that
Speaker 3: you play with as a freshman a sophomore are going
Speaker 3: to even be there when you're a senior.
Speaker 1: You don't know if they'll be there as a sophomore. No,
Speaker 1: you don't.
Speaker 3: He gets younger and younger. It's it is. It's a
Speaker 3: it's a real slippery slope. I don't know if you
Speaker 3: can fix it, though, What do you do? I know
Speaker 3: they open that gate.
Speaker 1: Here. Here's the thing.
Speaker 2: You're really good in middle school and you're really good
Speaker 2: in high school.
Speaker 1: Let's say in middle.
Speaker 3: School you were bigger than everybody. When you get to
Speaker 3: high school, you were still bigger than everybody.
Speaker 1: So let's also.
Speaker 2: Assume that for the sake of the conversation, you're bigger
Speaker 2: than everybody, but you're not going to grow much more.
Speaker 1: But everybody else is going to grow.
Speaker 2: So you go to high school and let's say by
Speaker 2: your junior year, you had a little nil money, so
Speaker 2: you think you're pretty cool. You're still good, by the way,
Speaker 2: but all of a sudden, guys are like, you're not
Speaker 2: that far ahead of them.
Speaker 1: You still are.
Speaker 2: You got a little nil money, so you're cool and
Speaker 2: you're an athlete. Now we go to your senior year
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden, you're not the biggest one anymore,
Speaker 2: and you're not the fastest one anymore. For the first
Speaker 2: time in your life, you're still going to get that
Speaker 2: nil money and think you're pretty cool. I'm wondering if
Speaker 2: at that age you understand if you're getting paid, that
Speaker 2: you're not going to get paid forever to do that.
Speaker 2: You're not going to make that money because there's a
Speaker 2: chance you may not even get a deal in high
Speaker 2: school now because the other guys are as big and
Speaker 2: as fast. I wonder if you start paying kids in
Speaker 2: high school to play, if they come up or they're
Speaker 2: capable of understanding that's for right now, this second. But
Speaker 2: you have a long life ahead of you, so you
Speaker 2: better prepare to make a living and be employed doing
Speaker 2: something because this may not last and probably won't. I
Speaker 2: wonder if you give kids money at that age to play,
Speaker 2: if it kind of messes with them. Yeah, but I
Speaker 2: would say, how does that change from the way it
Speaker 2: was before?
Speaker 3: You know, you're adding money to it. But that was
Speaker 3: something that everybody preached forever was you're not necessarily going
Speaker 3: to go and get a college scholarship, or you're not
Speaker 3: necessarily going to go to the pros, so you better
Speaker 3: plan for something else. I mean that was always preached,
Speaker 3: you know, especially in college. You know, don't you know
Speaker 3: there's going to be one of one percent of you
Speaker 3: that will play professional sports, so the rest of you
Speaker 3: better prepare for something else. Now that's the same speech,
Speaker 3: but kids are getting paid. I think it's harder to
Speaker 3: take that to heart than Rodney. If you're getting paid,
Speaker 3: you know, you might have prepared to prepare for something
Speaker 3: else because we don't know what will happen.
Speaker 2: Okay, I get it. Now I'm getting paid. What do
Speaker 2: you mean I have to prepare for something else. I'm
Speaker 2: already getting paid. I think it makes that speech harder. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I agree, because it was hard. It was hard when
Speaker 2: you weren't.
Speaker 3: Getting paid to tell someone, hey, you're not going to
Speaker 3: the NBA, or you're not going to the NFL, you're
Speaker 3: not going to be in Major League Baseball. You're not
Speaker 3: going to get drafted to go here. It was hard
Speaker 3: back then. And then yeah, on top of you know,
Speaker 3: somebody paying you in high school and then paying you
Speaker 3: in college, You're going to go, what do you mean
Speaker 3: this is just going to continue? What what do I
Speaker 3: gotta do something else for? Because I've been getting paid
Speaker 3: for so many years right now. That's that's that's what
Speaker 3: I know. And so the reality check for kids, they're
Speaker 3: surrounded with my coaches, parents and people.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be hard for the hard working. It's happened
Speaker 1: for a long time.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm a prodigy at fifteen. I'm so much
Speaker 3: better than everybody else because they're payingy and.
Speaker 1: Gonna make it all right.
Speaker 2: Angel CITYFC hosts the Chicago Stars Saturday, June seventeenth at
Speaker 2: Bemo Stadium for Pride Night. All fans at attendant receive
Speaker 2: an Angel City Pride Man Dan Up. Get your tickets
Speaker 2: now at angelcity dot com and listen to all games
Speaker 2: on the iHeartRadio. I have the keyword angel CITYFC, Fred Rogan,
Speaker 2: Rodney Pete and five to seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 3: Yes, get down on it, Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan, come
Speaker 3: on now, Freddie, wrap it up. Okay, So back at
Speaker 3: it in Cleveland today, Dustin May on the hill importantly
Speaker 3: is a good outing.
Speaker 2: Had one last time out? Look good, look very good,
Speaker 2: actually all due respects, surprisingly good. Give him what had
Speaker 2: happened before that?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 2: So, I hope he's solid again today, Rodney. And that
Speaker 2: would indicate to me that whatever he was going through
Speaker 2: is done.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you hope, so, YopE.
Speaker 3: So I think it's it's he's had, uh you know,
Speaker 3: enough time back now. I think that he hopefully starts
Speaker 3: to hit his stride. And that's what you're hoping is that,
Speaker 3: you know, he's he's had enough outings thrown enough innings
Speaker 3: where he should start to feel pretty comfortable on the
Speaker 3: hill again. And and this is where you want him
Speaker 3: to start hitting his stride because they certainly certainly need
Speaker 3: him to. They need somebody other than Yamamoto to give
Speaker 3: him a good lengthy starts. So hopefully he can have
Speaker 3: a good outing to there.
Speaker 2: You think it's interesting that all of a sudden people
Speaker 2: are talking more and more about Otani always throwing the
Speaker 2: live hitters.
Speaker 3: Well, I think everybody's been, you know, anticipating it.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: DoD just got to be very careful how they they
Speaker 3: handle this though, you know, because they don't want to
Speaker 3: fall under the pressure of because the injury situation to
Speaker 3: the pitching staff that they are using him and forced
Speaker 3: to use him more than they originally plan or more
Speaker 3: than they need to. He's got to be still, he's
Speaker 3: still got to be a luxury for them to use
Speaker 3: him and not to get overworked, because the last thing
Speaker 3: you want is him to suffer something with his arm
Speaker 3: and then you lose him as a bat as well.
Speaker 3: That's the dangerous part about him pitching, especially this year
Speaker 3: where you know they're struggling with the pitching staff, so
Speaker 3: you know they're going to get a taste of him going,
Speaker 3: oh my god, we need to try him out there
Speaker 3: every fifth day.
Speaker 1: We got we gotta keep this guy going. He's still
Speaker 1: he's dominant.
Speaker 3: Imagine if he's dominant in his first outing or second outing,
Speaker 3: then then Dodge. It's like a tease because you can't
Speaker 3: use him. Is his bat right now? Even if he
Speaker 3: does come back, his bat is more valuable than him pitching.
Speaker 3: Him leading off games is more valuable than him pitching
Speaker 3: right now.
Speaker 2: I agree, And that's why you can't get crazy here
Speaker 2: and start rushing things, get excited. Just you know, it's
Speaker 2: hard to be patient, but I just have a lot
Speaker 2: of patience. Dave Roberts has patience to a fault. He'd
Speaker 2: tell you that. So you don't want to rush it easy,
Speaker 2: settle in, take your time. You can't afford to get
Speaker 2: him hurt. And also, really, at this point, no matter
Speaker 2: how injured the pitching staff is, Yeah, another guy would help,
Speaker 2: but they're sticking it together, they're moving, they're okay.
Speaker 1: So I'm saying, don't.
Speaker 2: Rush something that doesn't need to be rushed. All right, Katie,
Speaker 2: thank you for filling in for Ranie today. Great job,
Speaker 2: which could have been longer.
Speaker 1: Katie. We just love having on the show. Yes we do.
Speaker 2: Kevin, thank you, and Rodney tomorrow we're on after the game,
Speaker 2: so we're on standby right now,