Speaker 1: Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
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Speaker 3: Hi, everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosen House along
Speaker 3: with you as we join you for another of our
Speaker 3: hot Stove shows from our Mote broadcast studio away from
Speaker 3: Progressive Field as the renovation project continues Phase two year
Speaker 3: or two that should be completed in time for opening days,
Speaker 3: so the ballpark off limits for now, but we still
Speaker 3: bring you our show each and every week, and a
Speaker 3: good show lined up for you this week, including the
Speaker 3: return of our Game of the Week segment that we
Speaker 3: produce each off season on a weekly basis, looking back
Speaker 3: at some of the great games of the season, and
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty four there were plenty, to be sure,
Speaker 3: and we'll take you back to opening night, the first
Speaker 3: win in the managerial career of new manager Stephen Vote,
Speaker 3: and it was a big night for Shane Bieber as
Speaker 3: well in Oakland, way back in late March. That kicked
Speaker 3: off a season that turned out to be a special
Speaker 3: one for the Guardians that took them all the way
Speaker 3: to the American League Championship Series. We will also have
Speaker 3: some special guest stopping by shortly to talk about a
Speaker 3: memorable moment for them, as they were part of one
Speaker 3: of the great moments of the season in Game five
Speaker 3: of the American League Division Series. Much more on that
Speaker 3: after our break, but for some news and notes before
Speaker 3: we get to that.
Speaker 4: Earlier this week, it was.
Speaker 3: Announced that both Andre Simenez, the guardians outstanding second basement
Speaker 3: and left fielder Stephen Kwan, had won Gold Glove Awards,
Speaker 3: and for each that means three consecutive years they have
Speaker 3: done that, which is absolutely remarkable, and of course for Jimenez,
Speaker 3: he has an opportunity now with an announcement forthcoming soon,
Speaker 3: to win a second consecutive Platinum Glove for the best
Speaker 3: overall defender in the league, regardless of positions. So congratulations
Speaker 3: to both of those young men. Second basement Andre Cimenez,
Speaker 3: who if you watch him, he passes the eye test
Speaker 3: as well as all of the numbers that determine a
Speaker 3: Gold Glove award, and of course Stephen Kwan very much
Speaker 3: the same out there in left field. Also earlier this week,
Speaker 3: Austin Hedges was re signed by the Guardians to a
Speaker 3: one year major league contract. He'll be back with the team.
Speaker 3: He's been with Cleveland in two of the last three seasons,
Speaker 3: the two seasons that the Guardians won the American League
Speaker 3: Central Division twenty twenty two and twenty twenty four. So
Speaker 3: no coincidence there, And we hope to catch up with
Speaker 3: Austin and have him on for an interview sometime in
Speaker 3: a future show. But certainly did some great things and
Speaker 3: talked with the Cleveland media earlier this week and explain
Speaker 3: why he's back and what it means to him to
Speaker 3: be back with Cleveland.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's really about the day to day. Like you know,
Speaker 5: throughout my career, you know, there's been some good situations
Speaker 5: and some bad situations. And the thing that made the
Speaker 5: most sense to me of like what I wanted most,
Speaker 5: you know in my career kind of started in Cleveland
Speaker 5: in like twenty twenty into twenty twenty one, and I
Speaker 5: just never really experienced what it's like to have, you know,
Speaker 5: look forward to going to work every day and you know,
Speaker 5: just be with a group of guys that that you
Speaker 5: really couldn't wait to get back to the field, get
Speaker 5: back to the grind with and you know, in leaving
Speaker 5: in twenty three. You know, there was some some bad
Speaker 5: things and some good things that happened, but the thing
Speaker 5: that stood out the most was how much I missed
Speaker 5: that group. And then you know, everything that we accomplished
Speaker 5: and went through together last year just made it even
Speaker 5: more obvious that, you know, we had to run it back.
Speaker 1: You mentioned after after Game five that you felt like
Speaker 1: a Cleveland guy.
Speaker 6: Do you do you feel like that even more right now?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: It's uh, you know, obviously, like I love being in Cleveland,
Speaker 5: but the thing that makes me love being in Cleveland
Speaker 5: was more is I feel the love from everybody else.
Speaker 6: The people in the organization, the fans, the city.
Speaker 5: Have have so embraced me, and I just I feel
Speaker 5: like a Cleveland guy. Like That's that. That's the best
Speaker 5: way I could put it. Like it feels like home
Speaker 5: to me. And I know I signed a one year contract,
Speaker 5: but as long as they as long as they want me,
Speaker 5: I don't plan on going anywhere.
Speaker 3: It's Austin Hedges back in the fold for another season,
Speaker 3: as he signed a contract for the twenty twenty five campaign. Well,
Speaker 3: it was a memorable postseason for all Guardians fans, certainly,
Speaker 3: and two in particular, and we will meet them when
Speaker 3: we come back and relive a special moment for them
Speaker 3: that took place in Game five of the American League
Speaker 3: Division Series. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio netword.
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Speaker 7: at the game, rendering your excellency. It's just okay.
Speaker 3: Thomas digs in hole for two. But he's been one
Speaker 3: of the hottest hitters for the Guardians for a month.
Speaker 3: Here's the pitch to him. He swings and drives it
Speaker 3: high in the air left field.
Speaker 4: Will it make the bleachers grand? Sad? Lame? Thomas has
Speaker 4: put the Guardians in front with a grand slam.
Speaker 3: Five to one Cleveland, and this place is shaking. Welcome
Speaker 3: back to Guardians Weekly, and we are getting deeper into
Speaker 3: the off season, which is always kind of a sad
Speaker 3: time of a year for folks who love baseball. And
Speaker 3: we are joined in our next segment by two people
Speaker 3: who love the game and were a big part of
Speaker 3: some great games this past postseason for the Guardians. Matt Coleman,
Speaker 3: who's the head baseball coach at Calvert High School in Tiffin,
Speaker 3: and his good friend and cousin Patrick Steyer, who also
Speaker 3: lives in Tiffin, And they had an opportunity to be
Speaker 3: a part of one of the great moments in this
Speaker 3: year's postseason, and really any postseason, the Laine Thomas grand
Speaker 3: Slam home run in the deciding Game five against the
Speaker 3: Tigers in the American League Division Series. And Matt, why
Speaker 3: don't we start with you. Let's take it right to
Speaker 3: that fifth inning in Game five on a beautiful Saturday
Speaker 3: afternoon here in Cleveland. You and Patrick had pretty good
Speaker 3: seats in the bleachers that are familiar to you guys,
Speaker 3: and what happened. Let's take it to where Jose Ramirez
Speaker 3: was at the plate and what you were hoping would
Speaker 3: happen at that point.
Speaker 8: Yeah, first off, thanks Jim for having us on. It's
Speaker 8: been a special month. And yeah, basically at that moment
Speaker 8: in game five, Jose steps to the plate and Glove's
Speaker 8: sitting beside me along with Patrick, who's a good friend
Speaker 8: and cousin of mine, special seats where my dad had
Speaker 8: sat for numerous games, and thinking bases loaded against Trek Scouble.
Speaker 6: We were in a tough spot.
Speaker 8: I think earlier in the inning we gave up a
Speaker 8: run to make it one to nothing, and that you know,
Speaker 8: with with Scooba on the mound, that's it's a tough battle.
Speaker 6: But I looked over it at Patrick and he's like,
Speaker 6: we got this. Don't worry Matt. You know, he's just
Speaker 6: he's just a beacon.
Speaker 8: Of hope and positivity.
Speaker 6: And that being said, we go and load the bases.
Speaker 8: Jose comes up to the plate and I had my
Speaker 8: glove ready, he had his, you know, Patrick had his
Speaker 8: towel that he was swinging.
Speaker 6: You know, most of the game sat on it.
Speaker 8: I did move that towel, but I was like hoping
Speaker 8: that was the moment, and then obviously they hit Jose
Speaker 8: hit him in the forearm. Were at that point just
Speaker 8: hoping he was healthy. And fast forward, It's one to one.
Speaker 8: First pitch to Laine Thomas. Felt like it stayed in
Speaker 8: the air for about a day, maybe fifteen seconds, and
Speaker 8: I knew I couldn't drop it, but when I caught it,
Speaker 8: just kind of gave a pump of the fifth and
Speaker 8: gave it to Patrick, and thank God for the moment
Speaker 8: and the memory. Knowing that both our dads were probably
Speaker 8: there in that moment and Cleveland celebrated, felt like erupted
Speaker 8: and it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: Just a great memory. And Patrick, let's go right to
Speaker 3: you first off, before we even talk about getting that ball,
Speaker 3: right in that moment and what it meant to you
Speaker 3: just being able to go to a game. I know
Speaker 3: you've battled leukemia and you're on the tail end of
Speaker 3: that and things are looking really positive, but how long
Speaker 3: had it been since you had been to a game?
Speaker 3: And how special was it just to be at a
Speaker 3: post season game with your cousin or with your uncle the.
Speaker 9: Last game I've been to was twolsand and nineteen, so
Speaker 9: it has been before COVID hit and then after that,
Speaker 9: I went through nursing homes and hospitals and now I'm
Speaker 9: in an apartment now. So has been quite an his
Speaker 9: parents for everything.
Speaker 3: And when Matt gave you the ball, what did that
Speaker 3: mean to you? Especially the way the stadium was just
Speaker 3: going bananas at that particular time. It was very toughing,
Speaker 3: and you had a chance to go back to another
Speaker 3: game and meet someone who turned out to be pretty special.
Speaker 3: Fast forward to Game three of the American League Championship
Speaker 3: Series against the Yankees, a game that will always be
Speaker 3: remembered for the game tying home run by John Kenzie
Speaker 3: Nowell and the walk off by David Frye. Who did
Speaker 3: you meet before the game that Game three against the Yankees?
Speaker 9: Yes, you see, given why I stay out as a game, Yeah,
Speaker 9: it was a pretty special moment.
Speaker 8: He got to meet David Fry's dad, who just happened
Speaker 8: to recognize us, congratulated Patrick, you know, on the ball,
Speaker 8: and he told us he was David's dad. I, you know,
Speaker 8: I just had the moment to get a picture with
Speaker 8: with Patrick and mister fry I think j Fry, so
Speaker 8: it was it was pretty special. We kind of joked
Speaker 8: I thanked him for sharing his son with the city
Speaker 8: and the grittiness that he he displays, and it, Yeah,
Speaker 8: it was just just really neat. I actually we joked that, hey,
Speaker 8: when Patrick catches us one tonight, that the game winner.
Speaker 6: I didn't say game winner.
Speaker 8: I think it was more just if we catch his
Speaker 8: home run ball in joking manner, we would make sure
Speaker 8: we got it to him. Little did we know it
Speaker 8: would fly after Patrick put the rally caps on us
Speaker 8: about three rows over our head in section eighty two.
Speaker 8: Just a little bit of divine intervention, and it felt
Speaker 8: like And then I when I got home, I read
Speaker 8: the postgame quotes of Fry and how he'd let God
Speaker 8: take the bat, and it was amazing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and both of you had mentioned why it was
Speaker 3: so special because of your dad's Explain that and what
Speaker 3: baseball meant to both of them and how that comes
Speaker 3: into play here.
Speaker 8: Yeah, Baseball has been a big, big part of a life.
Speaker 6: Sports have been a big part of both of our lives.
Speaker 8: You know, Patrick plays basketball himself still, but he you know,
Speaker 8: in terms of baseball and our father's actually His father
Speaker 8: is my dad's godfather. My dad was a Vietnam veteran
Speaker 8: who lost his leg over in Vietnam and some enemy fire,
Speaker 8: came back, suffered some Parkinson's and Louis body dementia, but
Speaker 8: actually had a moment with him in the twenty sixteen
Speaker 8: World Series where Jason Kitness delivered a home run to US,
Speaker 8: unfortunately in Game six where they were behind seven to
Speaker 8: two at the time, but it was a special memory.
Speaker 8: My dad's always coached, uh, myself, my brother, and my
Speaker 8: sister in sports and baseball. Really, you know, never never
Speaker 8: really saw challenges with the wooden leg or having an
Speaker 8: artificial leg.
Speaker 6: You know, it was obviously special.
Speaker 8: And then Patrick overcoming his his challenges with with down
Speaker 8: Syndroman with with leukemia. Similar his dad passed away two
Speaker 8: years ago. My dad passed away seven years ago. His
Speaker 8: dad just passed away right before he was diagnosed with
Speaker 8: the cancer. And just two great men that we're so
Speaker 8: thankful for and felt like were with us that day.
Speaker 3: And Patrick, what what makes the game so special to you?
Speaker 3: As you developed into just a great fan over the years.
Speaker 6: It was always clean watched Cleveland Rocks.
Speaker 8: He says, you just you just you just love Cleveland
Speaker 8: and you Cleveland sports.
Speaker 10: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Matt, I know it's not baseball season right now,
Speaker 3: but I'm sure you see your players at the high school.
Speaker 3: And we're joined by Matt Coleman, the head coach at
Speaker 3: Calvert High School in Tiffin, and his cousin Patrick Steyer.
Speaker 3: And Matt made a great catch of the Grand Slam
Speaker 3: home run hit by Lane Thomas in Game five of
Speaker 3: the Division Series against the Tigers, and right away gave
Speaker 3: it to Patrick in that first or second row of
Speaker 3: the bleachers, right near the front. And Matt, have your
Speaker 3: players said, hey, you know, nice going with the catches.
Speaker 2: I mean, these are not easy.
Speaker 3: People take it for granted that you just make a
Speaker 3: catch of a home run, but it's not easy.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 8: I think I probably probably had some help on that
Speaker 8: one somehow, some divine intervention, but I, you know.
Speaker 6: Made sure I had my glove. I had.
Speaker 8: My two sons will play on the team with me.
Speaker 8: So my oldest son is a senior and he hasn't
Speaker 8: played much outfield for us, but I took his outfitter, Mitch,
Speaker 8: which you passed on to my freshman son.
Speaker 6: We'll see if he needs it. This year.
Speaker 8: But yeah, it's I mean, it's just it's been incredible.
Speaker 8: We have a great group of guys that work hard,
Speaker 8: and we're getting into open fields now and hoping, you know,
Speaker 8: we've had some special memories with the team. You know,
Speaker 8: just two and three years ago we had the opportunity
Speaker 8: to play in Rubber Duck Stadium and you know, unfortunately
Speaker 8: things didn't work out for us there.
Speaker 6: But day by day we're working.
Speaker 8: To hopefully, you know, put a good team on the
Speaker 8: field and good product that works hard. But yeah, it's
Speaker 8: been some topic of discussion, and thankfully I didn't have
Speaker 8: to go back and hear a bunch of grief from
Speaker 8: my players that I didn't use two hands or I
Speaker 8: didn't have voluntary release of the ball.
Speaker 3: So and just to put a rap on it, all right,
Speaker 3: So there's the catch you made of the Grand Slam,
Speaker 3: and then the Kipness catch in twenty sixteen talking to
Speaker 3: David Fry's dad before the game that he hit, so
Speaker 3: walk off the John Kenzie Noel home run not hit
Speaker 3: too far from where you were, but you actually knew
Speaker 3: the people who were in those seats and grab that baseball.
Speaker 2: Yeah true.
Speaker 6: Actually the game I took Patrick to my kids.
Speaker 8: I have three high schoolers, a senior, a sophomore daughter,
Speaker 8: and then a freshman son. And they had homecoming and
Speaker 8: actually my son went to homecoming with the.
Speaker 6: Granddaughter of the girl that got the ball.
Speaker 8: She actually listens to all the grand Grandma missus Favor
Speaker 8: Kathy Favor, listens to one hundred and sixty two games
Speaker 8: on the radio list watches on TV, and had to
Speaker 8: be coaxed to going with her grandson.
Speaker 6: The ball landed next to her, she.
Speaker 8: Picks it up and it was pretty neat from that
Speaker 8: perspective too. In my thinking though, Patrick is kind of
Speaker 8: the lucky charm. I mean, I went to a couple
Speaker 8: more game Game four, in Game five, wasn't able to
Speaker 8: pull it off, but he was there in Game five
Speaker 8: and in Game three. So but he's battling through some
Speaker 8: things right now. We're excited to uh, We're hoping to
Speaker 8: get him back to some more games next year.
Speaker 6: His love of.
Speaker 8: Baseball and then hopefully he's a celebrity here in Seneca County.
Speaker 6: He's played a lot of basketball. They want him, We
Speaker 6: want him to.
Speaker 8: Get back on the court and shoot some three pointers,
Speaker 8: right you Patrick?
Speaker 5: Yes?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Are you a Cavaliers fan too. There you go. Yes, yeah, well.
Speaker 3: They'll have to go through and through and a buck guy,
Speaker 3: they'll have to get you out to some of their
Speaker 3: playoff games because it looks like they're heading that way too,
Speaker 3: so maybe they could use your help as well. Yeah, guys,
Speaker 3: thanks so much for the time. Uh Mac, great to
Speaker 3: talk to you, Patrick, pleasure to meet you and and
Speaker 3: hopefully we'll see at the ballpark next summer.
Speaker 6: Okay, we appreciate it. Take care of Jim.
Speaker 3: As Matt Coleman, who made a great the Grand Slam
Speaker 3: home run from Lane Thomas in the postseason. He's the
Speaker 3: head coach at Calvert High School in Tiffin and his
Speaker 3: cousin Patrick Steyer. Great story of I don't know, it's
Speaker 3: got to be more than coincidences of being in the
Speaker 3: right place at the right time, but some great memories
Speaker 3: through the Guardians postseason run this past ball Stay with us.
Speaker 2: We'll have more to come after this.
Speaker 4: Don't you just love this game?
Speaker 3: Welcome back to Guardian's Weekly Jim Rosenhouse back with you
Speaker 3: as we join you from our remote location. With the
Speaker 3: renovation projects still going on in downtown Cleveland aft Progressive Field,
Speaker 3: we continue with our Hot Stove shows throughout the off season,
Speaker 3: and it's time now for the first installment of our
Speaker 3: Game of the Week, a tradition that we have instituted
Speaker 3: here during the off season shows of Guardian's Weekly, where
Speaker 3: we take a look back at some of the fun
Speaker 3: games from the prior season and well, of course we'll
Speaker 3: have some of the playoff games coming up in weeks
Speaker 3: to come, but this week we take a look back
Speaker 3: at the season opener for the Guardians. With so much
Speaker 3: change involving the ball club heading into the season, most
Speaker 3: notably a new manager for the first time since twenty
Speaker 3: thirteen began with Terry Francona at the Helm. Rookie manager
Speaker 3: Steven Vote had gotten the team through spring training and
Speaker 3: was ready to begin his career as a manager in
Speaker 3: the big leagues just two years after he retired as
Speaker 3: a player, only one season as a coach on the
Speaker 3: Seattle Mariners' staff, and then here he was managing the
Speaker 3: Guardians on opening night in Oakland back in late March,
Speaker 3: and prior to the game, Tom Hamilton talked with Steven
Speaker 3: Vote as he prepared to make his managerial debut.
Speaker 1: Well hi again, everybody with Steven vote the new manager
Speaker 1: of the Cleveland Guardians. This is Tom Hamilton and welcome
Speaker 1: to the Manager Show before the season opener here at
Speaker 1: the Oakland Coliseum. They're magical words when we say the
Speaker 1: season opener. But for you, Stephen, to come back to
Speaker 1: Oakland where you were a two time All Star? Did
Speaker 1: this be your first Major League game as a manager?
Speaker 1: Is there any way to put it into words?
Speaker 2: No, there's really not.
Speaker 11: I mean, I couldn't be more thrilled to be in
Speaker 11: this position and be honored to get the chance to
Speaker 11: lead the Guardians organization on the field, and to have
Speaker 11: this first game an opening day in Oakland, where I
Speaker 11: spent six years of my playing career, where my family
Speaker 11: went from one to three kids, and we just have
Speaker 11: so much history here. It just feels right to be
Speaker 11: here tonight. You know, to be successful, you have to
Speaker 11: have a great partner. You obviously do an Alyssa who
Speaker 11: at one time was a college basketball coach. How big
Speaker 11: of an asset is that to bounce things off a
Speaker 11: fellow coach?
Speaker 2: It's huge. I mean she's my best friend.
Speaker 11: She's my biggest support system and has been for now
Speaker 11: sixteen seventeen years.
Speaker 2: So to have her support.
Speaker 11: She one hundred percent has my back and wants me
Speaker 11: to be doing this, and she wears it with the family.
Speaker 11: You know, she's by herself up a home in Washington,
Speaker 11: getting kids to sports and activities and all those things.
Speaker 11: But and then she still has time on the phone
Speaker 11: at night to talk to me through talk me off
Speaker 11: the ledge.
Speaker 2: So to speak.
Speaker 11: But she's she's such a great support system and has
Speaker 11: great ideas for coaching and communicating with players and that stuff.
Speaker 11: So she's a she's a huge, huge partner in this.
Speaker 1: Stephen, how is this different now? Obviously haven't managed a
Speaker 1: real game, so to speak, But compared to when you
Speaker 1: were getting ready for the opener the first time is
Speaker 1: a major league player.
Speaker 2: It's very different.
Speaker 11: You know, when you're a player, it's all about you.
Speaker 11: It's about preparing yourself to go out and do your
Speaker 11: job because if you contribute what you do for the.
Speaker 2: Team, that's being a good teammate.
Speaker 11: Now in this position, it's okay, are we ready in
Speaker 11: this area, are we ready in that area? Are the
Speaker 11: players happy?
Speaker 2: Are they ready?
Speaker 11: And it's really just making sure that everything's running smoothly,
Speaker 11: that you know, we have our game plan ready to go.
Speaker 2: We've got the players in place.
Speaker 11: We're gonna we know where, we're gonna make moves, This
Speaker 11: and this happens, and it's really just thinking through scenarios.
Speaker 11: But at the end of the day, it's baseball, and
Speaker 11: I think that's the beauty of it.
Speaker 2: What I've really learned in this.
Speaker 11: Job is we can overcomplicate this really really quickly. And
Speaker 11: a lot of my mentors that I've talked to, and
Speaker 11: Tito himself has told me, He's like, hey, just go
Speaker 11: out there and be you watch the game, make decisions.
Speaker 1: Is you look ahead to this season, what makes you
Speaker 1: feel good? What makes you say, hey, this is going
Speaker 1: to be a good year. I know we can compete, contend,
Speaker 1: and who knows what October brings.
Speaker 11: I think one of the things is our versatility, you know,
Speaker 11: whether that be from position, player wise or in the bullpen.
Speaker 11: We can throw the ball and we.
Speaker 2: Can catch the ball.
Speaker 11: And yeah, our offense is probably our biggest question mark.
Speaker 2: We know that and we've talked about.
Speaker 11: That, but I think that's also one of the things
Speaker 11: that has me really excited is a lot of people
Speaker 11: are saying we can't do this, we can't do that,
Speaker 11: and what we've been focusing on is what we can do.
Speaker 11: And I know it sounds cliche, but it's the truth.
Speaker 11: And we know we got to do the little things
Speaker 11: right in order to put ourselves into a position to win.
Speaker 11: And our coaching staff hammered that into our players this
Speaker 11: spring and they really embraced it. It's always great when
Speaker 11: players own what we're trying to accomplish as a group,
Speaker 11: and they've owned it. They know how important it is
Speaker 11: for us to control each ninety feet. They know how
Speaker 11: important it is for us to take our walks and
Speaker 11: drive runners in and we've worked really hard at that
Speaker 11: all spring. And I'm most excited about the fact that
Speaker 11: everyone says what we're not and no one's talking about
Speaker 11: what we are.
Speaker 1: I hope you can enjoy this, but congratulations, good luck tonight.
Speaker 2: It's going to be fun. Thank you.
Speaker 11: I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 3: Cleveland Ace pitcher Shane Bieber was on the mound. He
Speaker 3: was making his fifth consecutive opening day start, and after
Speaker 3: a tremendous spring, he looked sharp early.
Speaker 1: The pitch swing and a miss and notice strikes out
Speaker 1: to start his season, and Shane Bieber with a strike
Speaker 1: out to start his on a good cutter. Here's the
Speaker 1: payoff swing and a miss got him again. So Bieber
Speaker 1: strikes out the side, don't click, gets some acit but
Speaker 1: no damage.
Speaker 4: Now the two two swing and a miss.
Speaker 1: Sunday, Peter Bieber has struck out six or through two,
Speaker 1: one nothing Cleveland.
Speaker 3: The Guardians got the scoring started in the second inning
Speaker 3: thanks to a pair of doubles, first from David Frye
Speaker 3: and then center fielder Tyler Freeman. The pitch a swing
Speaker 3: of the line, right base hit to left center. That'll
Speaker 3: score David fry It's in the gap, cutoff by bla
Speaker 3: Day throws to second head first slide safe for the
Speaker 3: doublest Tyler Freeman, and the Guardians take a one nothing lead,
Speaker 3: and Freeman literally beating out Miles Straw for the center
Speaker 3: field job at least part of the time, comes through
Speaker 3: with an RBI double in his first at bat.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 3: Freeman won the center field job coming out of spring
Speaker 3: training after not having played in the outfield prior to
Speaker 3: this season, and this spring he won that job in
Speaker 3: center and contributed greatly to the first month of the
Speaker 3: season when the Guardians got off to the hot start
Speaker 3: and he got a going right away on opening night.
Speaker 3: Now the offense really got going in the fourth inning
Speaker 3: in Oakland, with the bases loaded and Andres Semenez at
Speaker 3: the plate. Here's the pitch swung on line drive center
Speaker 3: field that gets down for a base it one run
Speaker 3: will score. That's it coming across as Nailer Fry advances
Speaker 3: to third. Everyone else moves up and it's an RBI
Speaker 3: single from Andreas Semenez, his first hit on the season.
Speaker 3: Drives in a run and the Guardians now lead it
Speaker 3: to nothing. And then Austin Hedges delivered big pitch in
Speaker 3: this game. Payoff pitch coming to Hedges. Here it is
Speaker 3: swung on ground ball to short backhand pick up Allen
Speaker 3: one play, it's at first and he pulls the first
Speaker 3: basement off the bag. All hands are safe and two
Speaker 3: runs will score. It was a slow roller in the
Speaker 3: hole between third and short. Allen got to it the
Speaker 3: shortstop charging in, but his throat to first pulled Noda
Speaker 3: off the bag and he couldn't control it, and Hedges
Speaker 3: is safe at first base. After that, it was Brian Rochio,
Speaker 3: the rookie shortstop, capping off the biginning. Here's the pitch
Speaker 3: to Rochio. He swings and grounds it.
Speaker 1: To third, over the bag, fairball down into the left
Speaker 1: field corner.
Speaker 4: It goes grounding third, heading for home and scoring.
Speaker 3: As he Meantez Hedges will try and score two, and
Speaker 3: he will without a throw. It's a two run double
Speaker 3: for Brian Rocchio and the big inning is on for
Speaker 3: the Guardians. It is now six nothing Cleveland, and here
Speaker 3: comes Mark Kotsey.
Speaker 4: That is it for Wood. Wow did that blow.
Speaker 2: Up in a hurry?
Speaker 3: Meanwhile, Bieber continued to shut down the Oakland bats. Here
Speaker 3: comes Bieber's pitch, swinging in a minute US strike three.
Speaker 3: Davis becomes the ninth strikeout for Shan Bieber.
Speaker 1: Six nothing Cleveland. The kick and delivery and a swing
Speaker 1: and a mess and a slider away. Bieber has struck
Speaker 1: out eleven. Remember he has the club record for opening
Speaker 1: day fourteen strikeouts against Kansas City in six innings in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty. Brent Rooker the batter as Shane Bieber not
Speaker 1: eighty two pitches, lets it fly and the pitch hit
Speaker 1: high in the air, fairly deep center Freeman drifting back,
Speaker 1: plenty of room. He'll squeeze it. Bieber has been brilliant tonight.
Speaker 1: We talked about it all spring, and he has followed
Speaker 1: up that talk with the way he's pitched tonight.
Speaker 2: Man does he look good.
Speaker 3: The Guardians added to the lead in the ninth thanks
Speaker 3: to Jose Ramirez.
Speaker 4: The cent, the pitch swung on Pilton deep, bright field,
Speaker 4: It's got.
Speaker 1: A chance off the wall, caves back toward the infield.
Speaker 1: Kwan hits thirties coming home. Ramirez makes the turn on
Speaker 1: his way to third with a stand up triple. He
Speaker 1: hammered it halfway up the fifteen foot wall in right,
Speaker 1: and an RBI triple by Jose Ramirez makes it seven
Speaker 1: to nothing Cleveland here in the ninth inning, and boy,
Speaker 1: everybody is getting into the act and the Guardians.
Speaker 2: If you wanted to.
Speaker 1: Draw up a near perfect scenario for opening night, this
Speaker 1: would be it.
Speaker 3: And in the night thenning, with the Guardians comfortably in front,
Speaker 3: it was Nick Sandler who came on to try and
Speaker 3: preserve the shutout. So the A's are down to their
Speaker 3: last strength and Stephen votes one strength away from winning
Speaker 3: in his major league managerial debut. Into the motion, here's
Speaker 3: the two to two check swings straight three called ballgame
Speaker 3: and game number one belongs to the Cleveland Guardians as
Speaker 3: they dominate the Oaklanes here tonight in the season opener,
Speaker 3: eight to nothing. What a start for the Guardians, What
Speaker 3: a start for Shane Bieber with six shutout innings. Bieber
Speaker 3: would pitch five days later in Seattle six more scoreless innings,
Speaker 3: but that would be the end of his season, as
Speaker 3: he left that start after the sixth inning with a
Speaker 3: very low pitch count, and you wondered was there something
Speaker 3: wrong with Bieber? And there certainly was. Tommy John surgery
Speaker 3: would follow a short while later. His season was done.
Speaker 3: Now we did have a chance to visit with Bieber.
Speaker 3: In late May, he joined the ball club in California
Speaker 3: while the Guardians were in Anaheim to take on the Angels,
Speaker 3: and at the time he was six weeks out from
Speaker 3: the Tommy John surgery, and he gave us an update
Speaker 3: on how things were going at the time.
Speaker 10: I'm doing great, progressing really smooth.
Speaker 12: And relatively quickly so, hitting all my check marks, just
Speaker 12: staying positive.
Speaker 10: I'm thankful to have a teammate to go through it with.
Speaker 12: Although it's an unfortunate circumstance, you know, Trevor and I
Speaker 12: are able to lean on each other and keep each
Speaker 12: other accountable. Push each other, and it's nice that we
Speaker 12: we'll have each other to bounce ideas off of and
Speaker 12: and kind of just go through this together. So everything's
Speaker 12: going well.
Speaker 3: As a picture, you are in a part of the
Speaker 3: business where Tommy John surgery is a common thing for
Speaker 3: so many pictures, and now you're going through it. Anything
Speaker 3: surprising to you about the process and how it goes.
Speaker 10: Yeah, a couple of things.
Speaker 12: I was a little bit upset and surprise that my
Speaker 12: first throat doesn't come for six months, and then you know,
Speaker 12: bullpens around nine or ten months, and you know, it's
Speaker 12: a long process.
Speaker 10: But that's the reason that.
Speaker 12: It's such a successful one, especially as of late. Like
Speaker 12: I said, another unfortunate circumstances. They they they've had so
Speaker 12: many of these that they've kind of perfected the rehabilitation
Speaker 12: aspect post surgery. So other than that, not too many surprises.
Speaker 12: It's just been a blast to be able to watch
Speaker 12: the guys from a different lens, cheer them on and
Speaker 12: and try and just turn into a big fan. And
Speaker 12: I just happen to have their phone numbers and I
Speaker 12: can text them and critique them and congratulate them and
Speaker 12: all all the same.
Speaker 3: So yeah, is that sometimes harder than the physical part
Speaker 3: of it, just the amount of time you invested in
Speaker 3: getting ready for a season and being a part of
Speaker 3: this team that that really has grown into a fine
Speaker 3: ball club here in the early season. Is that hard
Speaker 3: to not be a part of that maybe the hardest part.
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, it'sicult.
Speaker 12: I've done a decent job processing that. But that's why
Speaker 12: it's so good to be here and to see the
Speaker 12: guys and reconnect and it's like, didn't skip a beat,
Speaker 12: you know, So, yeah, that's that's definitely one of the
Speaker 12: more difficult things is the amount of work that you
Speaker 12: put in, the investment not in not just into yourself
Speaker 12: and your craft, but your teammates and everybody as well.
Speaker 10: And that's not going anywhere.
Speaker 12: So I'll continue to invest myself into them and try
Speaker 12: and be of help and service any which way I can.
Speaker 2: The bulk of your rehab happens in goodyear.
Speaker 3: What makes that a good spot and what makes them
Speaker 3: so good at at bringing pictures back from from a
Speaker 3: major surgery.
Speaker 12: I think they work extremely well with whoever the surgeon is.
Speaker 12: For me and for Trevor, it was doctor Keith Meister
Speaker 12: out in Dallas. They've developed a great rapport with him
Speaker 12: and kind of developed their plan alongside of his plan.
Speaker 12: And you know, they have a little bit more experience
Speaker 12: with with the Tommy John recovery, being that that's where
Speaker 12: we send most of our guys, and you know, ultimately
Speaker 12: that's where the team and I felt we would get
Speaker 12: the best care.
Speaker 10: And I didn't need much more.
Speaker 12: Than that to to be able to make that decision.
Speaker 12: So as hard as it is being away from the guys, uh,
Speaker 12: you know, I know that that's where I'm going to
Speaker 12: get the best care. And uh, you know, there's some
Speaker 12: silver linings. I get to watch the game from a
Speaker 12: different lens and you know, cheer them on from from Afar,
Speaker 12: but you know, pop in every every couple of weeks
Speaker 12: and see them, and it's been a it's been a
Speaker 12: great weekend so.
Speaker 3: Far along those lines. Having gone through spring training and
Speaker 3: seeing this team developed, then, Uh, has it surprised you
Speaker 3: in any way to see what they've done here early
Speaker 3: in the season, even with some injury issues.
Speaker 10: No, it hasn't. It hasn't been a surprise.
Speaker 12: I think we we've preached for a few years now,
Speaker 12: and and how important being won and and pulling in
Speaker 12: the same direction and and pulling together has been and
Speaker 12: and this group's no different. They'd a phenomenal job of that,
Speaker 12: including the coaching staff kind of just feels like picking
Speaker 12: up where where where we left off both as a
Speaker 12: coaching staff and a team last year, and and building
Speaker 12: off of that has been paramount for this team's success.
Speaker 10: So on paper, you know, I.
Speaker 12: Know some people still wanna knock us a little bit,
Speaker 12: but but especially when I throw that game on at
Speaker 12: four o'clock PSC or whatever it is it's and for
Speaker 12: the first pitch is thrown, there's not really any much doubt.
Speaker 12: There's not much doubt that you know, we're gonna play
Speaker 12: our brand of baseball and play a great game and
Speaker 12: and probably come.
Speaker 10: Out on top.
Speaker 12: And you know that's me and I'm getting a little
Speaker 12: bit overconfident maybe at home, but then this this group
Speaker 12: feels the same way. When the camera hits the dugout
Speaker 12: and there's they're never panicking.
Speaker 10: It's been a joy to watch.
Speaker 3: So you're seeing all this from a distance, and then
Speaker 3: you show up in Anaheim here, what was it like
Speaker 3: walking into the clubhouse? Did they just picked up with
Speaker 3: the Shenanigans and stuff like that?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: Where they left off.
Speaker 10: Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 12: After we exchanged pleasantries and everybody's like, oh, six weeks,
Speaker 12: that's so quick.
Speaker 10: I'm like, oh, it's quick for you, a little slower
Speaker 10: for me.
Speaker 12: Yeah yeah, and then we just picked up right where
Speaker 12: we left off.
Speaker 10: It's been a blast.
Speaker 12: So Trevor and I discussed prior to flying out here,
Speaker 12: let's just not mess up what they got going on
Speaker 12: right now because the boys are playing great baseball, and
Speaker 12: you know, we're just happy to pop in, check in
Speaker 12: and conduct our rehab while we're here and enjoy some
Speaker 12: good weather and some great baseball.
Speaker 3: It's great to see if Shane, thanks for coming by,
Speaker 3: Thanks for roside man. It was great to see Shane
Speaker 3: Bieber at various points in times during the course of
Speaker 3: the regular season, and he was with the ball Cup
Speaker 3: during the playoffs. And one of the really neat moments
Speaker 3: during the postseason was prior to Game one of the
Speaker 3: American League Division Series when the entire roster was introduced
Speaker 3: to the baselines prior to the game Game one, and
Speaker 3: Bieber got one of the biggest hands of anybody from
Speaker 3: the anti progressive field, and that was really nice to
Speaker 3: see for someone who's meant so much to this franchise,
Speaker 3: and boy, you wonder what might have been different if
Speaker 3: the Guardians could have taken one more step further in
Speaker 3: the postseason had they had a healthy Shane Bieber throughout
Speaker 3: the year. We'll never know, and we'll see what happens
Speaker 3: in terms of the future for Shane Bieber. Will it
Speaker 3: be with Cleveland or someone else as he is currently
Speaker 3: a free agent?
Speaker 2: Stay with us when we come back.
Speaker 3: We have some final thoughts as Guardians Weekly continues after
Speaker 3: this time out on the Cleveland Planet. Guardians Radio Network,
Speaker 3: Progressive Nos.
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Speaker 2: Welcome back to Guardians Weekly.
Speaker 3: Jim Rosenhouse back with you from Progressive Field in downtown
Speaker 3: Cleveland and just a couple of reminders programming wise for
Speaker 3: our show. You can listen to it each week on
Speaker 3: the radio network on WTAM and Cleveland, our flagship station
Speaker 3: that means Saturday mornings at seven am, and check your
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Speaker 3: different time. You can also hear it in podcast form
Speaker 3: shortly after it drops on the radio broadcasts, and you
Speaker 3: can listen to that whenever you like, of course, and
Speaker 3: you can also hear it online at cl Guardians dot com.
Speaker 3: So a lot of different ways to listen to our show.
Speaker 3: That's going to do it for this week's show. Always
Speaker 3: thanks to Brian Motsee for helping to put together our
Speaker 3: shows each and every week. Until next week, let me
Speaker 3: join you once again. This is Jim Rosenhouse reminding you
Speaker 3: that you've been listening to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland
Speaker 3: Clinic Guardians Radio network.
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