Speaker 1: Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
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Speaker 2: Hi, everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse along with
Speaker 2: you from Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles this week, where
Speaker 2: the Guardians are taking on the Dodgers in a three
Speaker 2: game series. This road trip continuing. The Guardians heading into
Speaker 2: play on Saturday three and one on a key nine game,
Speaker 2: three city road trip. But they're off to a good
Speaker 2: start so far, and the series started well here in
Speaker 2: Los Angeles on Friday night. We'll get to that in
Speaker 2: a minute. Coming up on our show, Closer Emmanuel Classe,
Speaker 2: starting pitcher Alex Cobb, designated hitter Kyle Manzardo, and reliever
Speaker 2: Eric Sabrowski. We'll all join us on this week's edition
Speaker 2: of Guardians Weekly. But first I'll look at the week
Speaker 2: in review, and we begin on Monday night, the road
Speaker 2: trip beginning in Kansas City. Guardians trying to put some
Speaker 2: distance between themselves and the Royals in the American League
Speaker 2: Central Division standings, and it was KC that jumped on
Speaker 2: top with a run in the second inning. Then the
Speaker 2: Guardians off fence got it going in the fifth with
Speaker 2: a man aboard and Lean Thomas at the plate. Here's
Speaker 2: the one to zero swung on and that's blasted high
Speaker 2: and deep left center field, way back there, Homron Thomas
Speaker 2: and the Guardians have turned it around two to one Cleveland.
Speaker 2: In the sixth inning, Jose Ramirez began the inning with
Speaker 2: a single. Then Josh Naylor stepped in, sitting at ninety
Speaker 2: eight runs driven in on the season, and here comes
Speaker 2: his pitch and Naylor crushes one high and deep right
Speaker 2: center field, way back there, home Ron Josh Naylor. Number
Speaker 2: twenty nine for Naylor and the long ball strikes again
Speaker 2: for Cleveland. The Guardians now lead it four to one
Speaker 2: and for Josh Naylor, one hundred runs batted in first
Speaker 2: time in his career. And on the mound, Yavin Williams
Speaker 2: continued his strong stretch of recent starts. Julie gurry L
Speaker 2: waits on deck for the Royals, who still only have
Speaker 2: one hit. Williams delivers and it's swung on and drilled
Speaker 2: high and deep to dead center. Back Is Thomas at
Speaker 2: the track makes the catch and another quick inning for
Speaker 2: Gavin Williams. He retires the final sixteen he faces. We
Speaker 2: head to the eighth four to one, Guardians in front
Speaker 2: of the Royals. Kansas City got a run in the
Speaker 2: eighth inning to make it a four to two game,
Speaker 2: so it was a manual Class A on in the
Speaker 2: ninth trying to nail down another save. Here comes the
Speaker 2: one two pitch, swung on and lifted high in the air,
Speaker 2: deep right center back on. It is Thomas and he
Speaker 2: makes the running catch just Shia the warning track classe
Speaker 2: A gets it done again and the Guardians take this
Speaker 2: crucial opening game of the three game series here in
Speaker 2: Kansas City. Final score four to two. Nice way to
Speaker 2: start the trip for the Guardians, and they kept it
Speaker 2: going Tuesday night in Kansas City. They scored the game's
Speaker 2: first run in the second inning on a sackfly by
Speaker 2: Brian Rochio and then added to the lead in the
Speaker 2: fifth with a runner in scoring position for Andre se Menez.
Speaker 2: Here's the pitch and it swung on, looped a shallow left.
Speaker 2: It gets down for a base hit, racing around third,
Speaker 2: heading for home and scoring. He is Rochio on the
Speaker 2: RBI single by Andre si Menez and the running game
Speaker 2: works for the Guardians, who lead it to nothing. In
Speaker 2: the seventh, bo Naylor led off with a base hit.
Speaker 2: Brian Rochio followed but couldn't get a bunt down, so
Speaker 2: he was swinging away with two strikes. Here's the one
Speaker 2: two swung on and drilled high and deep down the
Speaker 2: left field line, hooking fair ball home run. Brian Rochio
Speaker 2: with a a two run home run extends the lead
Speaker 2: for the Guardians. It's now four to one. The Guardians
Speaker 2: padded the lead a little more in the eighth inning
Speaker 2: on a basis loaded walk to Rokio that made it
Speaker 2: five to one Cleveland, and then Stephen Kwan delivered the
Speaker 2: knockout blow with two outs. Here comes the two to
Speaker 2: two swung online right center field base it for Kwan.
Speaker 2: That's gonna score two. Brennan's across right behind him is Thomas.
Speaker 2: The throw comes to third, not in time to retire
Speaker 2: Rochio and into second with a two run double is
Speaker 2: Stephen Kwan, and that lead would be more than enough
Speaker 2: in the night that Scott Barlow came on to face
Speaker 2: his former club and finish the job. Barlow delivers and
Speaker 2: it's tapped to third. Ramirez has it he'll throw to
Speaker 2: first in time and the Guardians win again two for
Speaker 2: two here in Kansas City is the outstanding pitching continues
Speaker 2: and plenty of offense, especially late, and it all adds
Speaker 2: up to a seven to one victory. Wednesday, series finale
Speaker 2: went to KC four to one, and after an off
Speaker 2: day Thursday, the Guardians began their series here in LA
Speaker 2: on Friday night. Good pitching on both sides in this one,
Speaker 2: as rookie Land and Knack for the Dodgers and Matthew Boyd.
Speaker 2: They were terrific both pitchers during the game and the
Speaker 2: game was still scoreless into the sixth. That's when Brian
Speaker 2: Rochio singled and set the table for Andre Siemenez. Here's
Speaker 2: the pitch and he swings and skies it high in
Speaker 2: the air to deep rite. Does it have enough at
Speaker 2: the wall? Is Betsy leaps? It's gone home run, Emnes
Speaker 2: and the Guardians have taken the lead to nothing Cleveland,
Speaker 2: and it wouldn't be a game with the Dodgers unless
Speaker 2: show Hey Otani did something special and he hit a
Speaker 2: home run of his own in the bottom of the sixth,
Speaker 2: this forty fifth on the season, that cut the lead
Speaker 2: in half, making it two to one, but the Guardians
Speaker 2: went back up by two in the eighth inning thanks
Speaker 2: to Brian Rocchio. Bonda lets it fly and it swung
Speaker 2: on and drilled high and deep to left. Way back there,
Speaker 2: home run Rocchio, Oh my, deep into the bullpen. Rocchio
Speaker 2: has given the Guardians a two run lead once again.
Speaker 2: Hunter Gadis got a huge double play to get out
Speaker 2: of a basis loaded jam in the eighth inning that
Speaker 2: kept the Guardians up three to one. And then it
Speaker 2: was a Manuel Classe in the ninth trying to save
Speaker 2: another one. Here's the one. One swung on and here's
Speaker 2: a high fly ball to deep center. Tracking it his
Speaker 2: Thomas still going. He makes the catch just as he
Speaker 2: got to the warning track, and Classe has done it again.
Speaker 2: The Guardians win it three to one here at Dodgers Stadium.
Speaker 2: So a nice win for the Guardians to start the
Speaker 2: series in Los Angeles. They'll take on the Dodgers once
Speaker 2: again Saturday night and then Sunday afternoon as well. Stay
Speaker 2: with us when we come back. We'll hear from Emmanuel
Speaker 2: class A and Alex Cobb. That's next.
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Speaker 4: and there it is.
Speaker 2: Career save number one fifty Emmanuel Class A, the old
Speaker 2: time saves leader in Cleveland franchise history. Welcome back to
Speaker 2: Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosenhaus back with you from Dodgers Stadium
Speaker 2: in Los Angeles, where the Guardians are taking on the
Speaker 2: Dodgers this weekend. Another game tonight with a nine to
Speaker 2: ten first pitch, and then the series finale tomorrow afternoon,
Speaker 2: four ten Cleveland time. Last weekend back home, a big
Speaker 2: weekend for a Manuel classe. The Guardians also our closer
Speaker 2: surpassed Cody Allen on Cleveland's franchise all time saves list
Speaker 2: for the top spot. He saved his one hundred and
Speaker 2: fiftieth game, and we had a chance to visit with
Speaker 2: him shortly after with translation help from Augi Rafero as always,
Speaker 2: and we asked the manual what the saves record means
Speaker 2: to him?
Speaker 5: And now I'm belamas and.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I'm very thankful to my team is
Speaker 6: and especially thankful to God for that opportunity. And you know,
Speaker 6: there's really a lot of anticipation before that happened, and
Speaker 6: then when we got the last it was really happy.
Speaker 6: When we're able to achieve that accomplishment.
Speaker 2: And you've been to multiple All Star Games, I know
Speaker 2: that's a big deal for you. How does this fit
Speaker 2: into all that? Surpassing a franchise record?
Speaker 6: For says now, in my lesson, it's just very very
Speaker 6: fulfilled to accomplish that. You know, to get to those
Speaker 6: points is a very important accompanyent for me for my
Speaker 6: career and also for my family. And those are this,
Speaker 6: like I said in the past, so the goals that
Speaker 6: I set myself every season, try to improve, get better,
Speaker 6: better numbers for the team, and I'm really lucky that
Speaker 6: we got to the point where we overcame that record.
Speaker 2: And this year especially impressive numbers off the charts across
Speaker 2: the board. Uh, how are you different from when you
Speaker 2: first started closing games here three years ago to where
Speaker 2: you are today? What would have been some of the
Speaker 2: biggest improvements you think?
Speaker 7: Now, I'm belies.
Speaker 6: Opponent in the same focus, you know, trying to improve
Speaker 6: every year, every game and get the best that I can.
Speaker 6: You know, be the best closer every single game, from
Speaker 6: from that first time that I came up, but also
Speaker 6: to the last pitch. So's he's been all with the
Speaker 6: same mindset. Try to be the best pitcher every year
Speaker 6: and every outing as possible.
Speaker 2: A manual for a young picture. I feel like most
Speaker 2: pictures they think about being a starting pitcher, And when
Speaker 2: did that shift for you? When did you start thinking, Hey,
Speaker 2: a relief role and closing games is what I could
Speaker 2: really excel at.
Speaker 5: Now I'm belive w Vietnam.
Speaker 6: I mean, those are the odd casualties of life. I mean,
Speaker 6: at some point I got injured in my leg, and
Speaker 6: obviously when I was with them, they suggested to start
Speaker 6: building up as a reliever, and then I did it
Speaker 6: a couple of times, and I really enjoyed the adrenaline,
Speaker 6: the motions of closing games, and after that, I was
Speaker 6: kind of like love at first sight. I wanted to
Speaker 6: be closer after that, and from then I started watching
Speaker 6: more videos of you know, important closes, and I started
Speaker 6: watching a lot of videos of Mariano Rivera because there
Speaker 6: was a lot of comparisons to them and to him
Speaker 6: what they were he was pitching. So I really enjoy that.
Speaker 6: And after that, that's when I realized I wanted to
Speaker 6: continue being a closer.
Speaker 2: And the season you've had, you're part of the best
Speaker 2: bullpen in baseball. How important are those other guys who
Speaker 2: get the game to you at the end and helping
Speaker 2: you do your job.
Speaker 5: And I'm a lamafe and I'm just very happy to
Speaker 5: be part of that group of guys. We're always rooting
Speaker 5: for each other, helping each other, and it makes me
Speaker 5: really happy to be part of that group that makes,
Speaker 5: you know, root for each other, which is the best.
Speaker 6: So I mad that makes my job a lot easier.
Speaker 2: Am Annual, congratulations, great record, appreciate you coming back, Thank you, Aggie, Thanks,
Speaker 2: thank you guys. Always nice to visit with the Manuel
Speaker 2: Classe and always appreciate the help from Augi Rivero. Staying
Speaker 2: on the pitching side of things, Alex Cobb has been
Speaker 2: a nice boost to the starting rotation when healthy, and
Speaker 2: obviously that's been a challenge for him. More on that
Speaker 2: in just a little bit, but we can tell you
Speaker 2: that last Sunday back home, Cobb was absolutely terrific, as
Speaker 2: he had a perfect game through six innings before it
Speaker 2: got away from him in the seventh. And when we
Speaker 2: caught up with him later on during the week in
Speaker 2: the homestand he talked about those six perfect innings and
Speaker 2: if he was surprised that his stuff was that good
Speaker 2: considering the amount of time that he has missed.
Speaker 8: I think that particular day, I was, you know, obviously,
Speaker 8: having all the setbacks that I've had throughout the course
Speaker 8: of the season, it's been tough to get onto the field.
Speaker 8: And then you finally do get you know, you have
Speaker 8: your first auding in Minnesota, you just kind of rusty,
Speaker 8: and then you get another start. I pitched against the
Speaker 8: the Cubs at home and started to feel like I
Speaker 8: was starting to get a little bit of a groove,
Speaker 8: and then broke the fingernail and had another two week layoff,
Speaker 8: and so you don't know how you're going to feel
Speaker 8: going into that start, and probably, to be honest, didn't
Speaker 8: feel great until you know, I got on the on
Speaker 8: the mound and warm ups and even late into those
Speaker 8: warm ups where I started to figure some things out.
Speaker 8: So I was very happy that the pitches were moving
Speaker 8: the way they were and I was able to work
Speaker 8: pretty deep into the game after being off for so long.
Speaker 2: You've been down the no hit road before deep into
Speaker 2: a game, when does it start to hit home for
Speaker 2: you that that something special is going on? And is
Speaker 2: it you or your teammates who kind of alerted to that.
Speaker 8: I mean, I've heard pictures say they're never aware. I
Speaker 8: mean I set out the game trying to throw no hitter,
Speaker 8: so I'm very well aware as it's going on. But
Speaker 8: you know, I would say in the past, it's probably
Speaker 8: once you get through the sixth or seventh, you know
Speaker 8: you're really like, all right, I I can get this
Speaker 8: bear down for another you know, nine outs, and you know,
Speaker 8: see what you can do. But in this particular case,
Speaker 8: you know, I knew that there was probably a very
Speaker 8: very slim to zero chance that I was ever going
Speaker 8: to be able to see the eighth or ninth inning
Speaker 8: because of the layoffs. So you know, I'm not going
Speaker 8: to say I didn't want to turn it over to
Speaker 8: the bullpen and let them try to finish it off.
Speaker 8: But it wasn't something in my back of my mind
Speaker 8: where I thought I would be able to go out
Speaker 8: there and finish throughout the ninth.
Speaker 2: When you look at how it ended, I'll come back
Speaker 2: or to the mount and you hit the deck when
Speaker 2: you're laying there just for that little bit of time,
Speaker 2: maybe it seemed like longer to you. What's going through
Speaker 2: your head as you're trying to assess what happened.
Speaker 8: I'm just doing as systems check. You know, if obviously
Speaker 8: I hit pretty hard on the on the wrist area,
Speaker 8: so you know, letting the initial pain kind of settle
Speaker 8: down a little bit and you know, assess if it
Speaker 8: was just a bad hit or you know, hopefully not
Speaker 8: a anything broken. But and then you know that happens
Speaker 8: pretty quick, and then you're just kind of upset with
Speaker 8: yourself for not catching the ball and uh and making
Speaker 8: the play. But you know, just a lot of emotions
Speaker 8: rolled into one in a quick moment.
Speaker 2: You and Matthew Boyd. And this is from the outside
Speaker 2: looking in, seems like you've been here all season. It
Speaker 2: just seems like you fit in so well. Is that
Speaker 2: surprised you at all? Or is there something good happening
Speaker 2: here that's allowed that to happen, maybe on your side
Speaker 2: and or maybe on the guys who were here already.
Speaker 8: Well, I've told a lot of my friends and family
Speaker 8: that this is the you know, funnest team I've been
Speaker 8: on in a long time. You know, no offense to
Speaker 8: the other teams I've been on, I've I've loved all
Speaker 8: the guys, but this is such a young group of guys,
Speaker 8: a lot of guys that came up together, and they're
Speaker 8: just they're just fun to be around. The energy obviously,
Speaker 8: you know, being first in the division helps that. Winning
Speaker 8: always helps that. But the energy that they bring every
Speaker 8: single day has been refreshing to me, a little bit
Speaker 8: older guy, and you know sometimes August and September can
Speaker 8: can drag a little bit. So they've they've given me
Speaker 8: a shot in the arm, and you know, they accepted me.
Speaker 8: Mattie Lane, you know, all the all the new guys
Speaker 8: just so well and it's it's been it's been an
Speaker 8: incredible to get as close as we have, and you
Speaker 8: know what, four weeks or so. So I'm very very
Speaker 8: thankful for my time here, Thankful that I, you know,
Speaker 8: I've been able to experience this, and very excited to
Speaker 8: see how far.
Speaker 2: We can take it, keep it rolling. Thanks for coming back,
Speaker 2: all right, my pleasure.
Speaker 7: Thank you.
Speaker 2: And just in addendum to our visit with Alex Cobb,
Speaker 2: he was scheduled to throw on Saturday night here in
Speaker 2: Los Angeles against the Dodgers, but a slight blister issue
Speaker 2: is cropped up, and while it's not deemed serious, they
Speaker 2: are going to hold him back because of the heat
Speaker 2: and hot weather. They feel that might not be really
Speaker 2: conducive to helping that bliss heel and stay effective. So
Speaker 2: they're going to bump them back a little bit, and
Speaker 2: the hope is that he'll pitch against the White Sox
Speaker 2: in Chicago the first of next week. Stay with us
Speaker 2: when we come back, we'll hear from a couple of youngsters,
Speaker 2: Kyle Manzarto and Eric Sabrowski, both recently called up from
Speaker 2: Triple A Columbus. That's next on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians
Speaker 2: Radio Network. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Chim Rosen House
Speaker 2: along with you from Dodgers Stadium, where the Guardians are
Speaker 2: taking on the Dodgers this weekend. Kyle Manzarto has been
Speaker 2: a big part of it since coming up from Triple
Speaker 2: A Columbus. He was part of the roster expansion last Sunday,
Speaker 2: September First. He was in the major leagues earlier this
Speaker 2: season and then was sent back to work on some things,
Speaker 2: and work on them he did. He had a very
Speaker 2: successful season at Triple A, and when he came back
Speaker 2: a big Sunday for him with his first two major
Speaker 2: league home runs. The audience beat the Pirates six to one,
Speaker 2: thanks in large parts the big day for Manzarto. And
Speaker 2: we caught up with him the following day and he
Speaker 2: talked about why things are a little different this time
Speaker 2: around in the big leagues compared to his first go
Speaker 2: round earlier this season.
Speaker 9: It's been a lot different. I feel like I'm showing
Speaker 9: up and I already kind of know everybody I know
Speaker 9: kind of uh, you know, the day to day operations
Speaker 9: and stuff like that, how everything goes. It's kind of
Speaker 9: made for a much smoother transition that go around and.
Speaker 2: Are you not a different hitter, but are there some
Speaker 2: things that you felt you improved in during your time
Speaker 2: at Triple A that you can put into play now.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean I focus focused a lot on just
Speaker 9: trying to control the strike zone. Uh, just make make
Speaker 9: good swing decisions something I'm still trying to to bring
Speaker 9: here now.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So you hit a home run and it's your
Speaker 2: first in the major leagues? What was that trip around
Speaker 2: the basis?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 9: Uh, man, I mean I had enough time to to
Speaker 9: really you know, really wanted. It took me a little while,
Speaker 9: so it felt great. I don't really remember like the
Speaker 9: run two second, I would say once I once I
Speaker 9: rounded second, I kind of came to a little bit
Speaker 9: and you know picked up the dugout and stuff like that,
Speaker 9: which was It was fun.
Speaker 2: It was cool and it looked like you had the
Speaker 2: celebration that you're supposed to do down path.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I'm only I mean, I've only ever done it
Speaker 9: like stationary standing on second, so it's a little bit
Speaker 9: different when you're like still running.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it was cool and you got both baseballs back.
Speaker 7: What are you gonna do with those?
Speaker 9: I'll probably give the first one to my dad and
Speaker 9: maybe the second one to my grandfather. I'm not sure yet.
Speaker 9: I haven't decided. I gotta get I'm gonna get him
Speaker 9: like painted up and stuff, and I'll figure out out
Speaker 9: what I'm gonna do with them from their.
Speaker 2: Kyle Manzardo's joining us back in the major leagues, and
Speaker 2: you hit your first two home runs as a designated
Speaker 2: hitter and as a young player, that's not easy to
Speaker 2: learn that position. And it's something just with the situation
Speaker 2: right now that most of your time seems there.
Speaker 7: What did you learn maybe.
Speaker 2: At Triple A Columbus that that's helped you in that
Speaker 2: regard to try and be successful.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean it's something I worked on while I
Speaker 9: was down, trying to figure out kind of a routine,
Speaker 9: a different different things I can do to kind of
Speaker 9: get ready for each each at bat. I don't know,
Speaker 9: just not trying not to overcook it, just keeping my
Speaker 9: body loose and warm, and you know, treating each at bat,
Speaker 9: you know, as its own separate thing.
Speaker 2: When you play at a position, how different is that
Speaker 2: day for you in terms of what you're thinking and
Speaker 2: how much you're thinking, which sometimes can be a hard thing.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean, it's it's just different because you're you're
Speaker 9: always in the field. You're either in the field or
Speaker 9: the dugout, so you don't really have time to sit
Speaker 9: with your thoughts after and at bat. So trying to
Speaker 9: put myself in a spot where I can learn from
Speaker 9: each at bat but not let any negative or positive
Speaker 9: outcomes leak into the next at bat, just kind of
Speaker 9: separating each at bat is its own thing.
Speaker 2: When you were up earlier this season, the team was
Speaker 2: playing really well, and here we are in September and
Speaker 2: they're still in first place, trying to nail down a
Speaker 2: division and a postseason spot. What have you noticed coming
Speaker 2: back anything different or is it pretty much the same
Speaker 2: as it was way back then.
Speaker 9: It feels, I mean, it feels a lot a lot
Speaker 9: the same. Everybody, like nobody's goals or mentality has really
Speaker 9: seemed to change. Everybody's goal is still to just show
Speaker 9: up every day and win today's game and worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow. Yeah,
Speaker 9: it's it's it's been cool special to see.
Speaker 2: Well, you're a big part of another win on Sunday, Kyle,
Speaker 2: Thanks for coming b I appreciate it.
Speaker 6: Thank you.
Speaker 2: It's designated hitter Kyle Manzardo, and from one rookie to another,
Speaker 2: we take you to the story of Eric Sabrowski, the
Speaker 2: left handed reliever who was called up and made his
Speaker 2: major league debut on Wednesday in Kansas City. He pitched
Speaker 2: a scoreless inning, and when we caught up with him
Speaker 2: later on in the week, he talked about the long
Speaker 2: road to get here and what it was like to
Speaker 2: finally get that chance to pitch in a major league game.
Speaker 10: Well, first off, it was a ton of fun. It
Speaker 10: was really cool to see how many people reached out
Speaker 10: after that night, you know, people that have stayed in
Speaker 10: touch with people I haven't. Just lots of people from
Speaker 10: back home just reaching out, you know, sharing thoughts of excitement,
Speaker 10: and they were all really happy for me.
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting you mention that because I talked
Speaker 2: to Rob Serfolio, the farm director for the Guardians, and
Speaker 2: he said his phone was blowing up when you got
Speaker 2: in the game because so many people in player development
Speaker 2: were excited for you. And when you hear things like that,
Speaker 2: and then, as you mentioned, so many people reaching out,
Speaker 2: Number one, why do you think that is? Is it
Speaker 2: your story that really has people excited for you?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 10: Yeah, I guess I have a bit of an unconventional story,
Speaker 10: but when I hear things like that about Surf and
Speaker 10: the rest of the player development group, it really makes
Speaker 10: it all worth it. Like it took me a long
Speaker 10: time to even get to the point where I could
Speaker 10: pitch regularly in games and stuff, and you know, I'd
Speaker 10: do it all over again if to relive that moment
Speaker 10: from Wednesday and.
Speaker 2: When you come off the mound after the full inning,
Speaker 2: what were the thoughts on the dugout? And once you
Speaker 2: got finished and completed everything, I could finally say I
Speaker 2: was a big leader. It just felt amazing. It was
Speaker 2: really cool to be up here for about the week
Speaker 2: before I got in.
Speaker 10: It was awesome to see how the guys do their
Speaker 10: work and see how the team carries itself. But it
Speaker 10: it almost felt like a really cool vacation because because
Speaker 10: I wasn't pitching yet. But once, you know, I finally
Speaker 10: got the chances to get in. Once I got the
Speaker 10: chance to get in, it was it was like, yeah,
Speaker 10: I've made it. This this finally happened.
Speaker 2: Eric Sabrowski, joining US relief pitcher for the Guardians, made
Speaker 2: his Major League debut on Wednesday, and we talked about
Speaker 2: your story for fans who don't know two Tommy John surgeries,
Speaker 2: from the time you were drafted until you're really able
Speaker 2: to get your pro career going in and we were
Speaker 2: trying to figure it out. I think eight appearances in
Speaker 2: three plus years. Did it cross your mind that, hey,
Speaker 2: maybe it's just not going to work out? And if not,
Speaker 2: what kept you going on that right path?
Speaker 7: It definitely crossed my mind.
Speaker 10: Right in the right Near the end of my second rehab, actually,
Speaker 10: I had a setback which probably extended the whole rehab
Speaker 10: process by five or six months. And it was kind
Speaker 10: of during that setback where I was like, you know,
Speaker 10: maybe this is maybe my elbows was telling me I'm
Speaker 10: not cut out for this. And there were some hard
Speaker 10: moments during it, but I had a great group around
Speaker 10: around me of people who were just like, no, man,
Speaker 10: you can't.
Speaker 7: You can't hang it up. You can't. You got to
Speaker 7: see this through. You've worked too hard, too long to
Speaker 7: not not see it through.
Speaker 2: And when did you start to feel like, all right,
Speaker 2: I'm getting some momentum here, and I think anybody who's
Speaker 2: at triple A certainly is you're that one step away.
Speaker 2: But when did you feel that momentum building that maybe,
Speaker 2: just maybe you could have that major league dream come true.
Speaker 7: When you're in Triple A, you're really just one call away.
Speaker 10: And that's something that I had to remind myself through
Speaker 10: good outings and bad outings, because there's been plenty of
Speaker 10: both this year to where it's just like everyone goes
Speaker 10: through struggles, everyone goes through the roller coaster.
Speaker 7: You're never that far away.
Speaker 10: And really I gained some momentum in the last in
Speaker 10: the second half down in Columbus, and that's when I
Speaker 10: really thought this could happen. I could make this work,
Speaker 10: and and I just tried to ride that momentum into
Speaker 10: you know what, I guess was a successful baby.
Speaker 2: You mentioned earlier you waited a week. First pitch you
Speaker 2: throw right back to the screen. But there was a plan, huh.
Speaker 10: I felt like Bobby Witt was going to steal third
Speaker 10: base anyways, ear least try to, so I gave it
Speaker 10: up for him.
Speaker 7: So that's my story and I'm gonna stick with it
Speaker 7: fair enough.
Speaker 2: And you were the group of guys down there, what
Speaker 2: are you learning so far that maybe you didn't know
Speaker 2: as you've been around some veteran guys who have been
Speaker 2: around the block.
Speaker 7: It's really cool to see how they're they're able to
Speaker 7: stay loose for the first few.
Speaker 10: Innings of a game and then and then once we
Speaker 10: we think a bullpen guy might get up soon, how
Speaker 10: they can just flip that switch and and it goes
Speaker 10: from you know, fun and games while watching the game,
Speaker 10: to laser focus on the game.
Speaker 2: Well, it was good stuff the other night. I know
Speaker 2: a lot of people happy for you, Eric, Thanks a
Speaker 2: lot for coming by, Thanks for having me. What a
Speaker 2: great story Eric Sabrowski is And certainly tip of the
Speaker 2: cap for him for perseverance to Tommy John surgeries and
Speaker 2: very limited time four straight eight years on a game mound,
Speaker 2: but he stayed with it and now he's in the
Speaker 2: big leads. Hey, stay with us. We'll have our final
Speaker 2: segment when we come back with Guardian Senior Vice President
Speaker 2: Bob Dy Biassio at the ballpark with Bobby d coming
Speaker 2: your way shortly.
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Speaker 2: Welcome back to Guardian's weekly Jim Rosen House along with
Speaker 2: you from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. It's our final segment,
Speaker 2: and every now and again we'd like to catch up
Speaker 2: with Guardian Senior Vice President Bob D Biassio for another
Speaker 2: at the Ballpark with Bobby D.
Speaker 1: The perfectly manicured field, the unmistakable aroma of a ballpark
Speaker 1: hot dog, and the electricity celebrating another victory. This is
Speaker 1: at the Ballpark with Bobby D.
Speaker 12: The ballpark is home to many stories, many memorable moments,
Speaker 12: and colorful personalities. Joining me now at the ballpark is
Speaker 12: thirty year veteran of the organization, a man behind the scenes,
Speaker 12: Frank Mancini, who has spent those three decades working in
Speaker 12: the clubhouse closely with our players.
Speaker 13: Frank, thanks for joining me.
Speaker 6: Probby d.
Speaker 14: Thanks for having me. This is an incredible honor anything
Speaker 14: has to do with the tribe or the Guardians, especially
Speaker 14: coming from you because you're a senior memory or it
Speaker 14: is an honor for me. Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 13: We're gonna talk two things inside the clubhouse, baseballs.
Speaker 14: And batso of my favorite things.
Speaker 13: Let's talk baseballs first. All I saw you do this
Speaker 13: spring training was rubbed down baseballs with a special mud
Speaker 13: that is provided by Major League Baseball. How your hand's feeling.
Speaker 14: I make sure you use gloves when I'm doing it,
Speaker 14: because it takes forever to get that out of here
Speaker 14: underneath your nails and the cracks of your hands. Now,
Speaker 14: my hands are fine.
Speaker 12: How many dozen did you rub up?
Speaker 14: I usually did two cases a day, so let's see,
Speaker 14: there is seventy two balls in a case, so about
Speaker 14: one hundred and forty four a day just for spring training.
Speaker 13: And how many weeks, Well, I would do it every day.
Speaker 14: We had fifteen games, so I try to get thirty
Speaker 14: cases done for spring every year. I do it in
Speaker 14: spring training, and that's strictly to get the sheen off
Speaker 14: the ball correct, so make the ball a little tackier
Speaker 14: for the guys to grip otherwise they have a hard
Speaker 14: time gripping it, especially on breaking pitches.
Speaker 13: The most important aspect, though, is twenty twenty. You were
Speaker 13: in charge of rubbing up the balls and we had
Speaker 13: a certain pitcher when the Cy Young Awards, so he
Speaker 13: was tossing the baseballs that you played around with.
Speaker 14: Yeah, that was my one claim to fame, I guess
Speaker 14: is that the one year they asked me to assist
Speaker 14: in the Empire's room, and because I'd done the spring
Speaker 14: training baseball for so many years, they asked me if
Speaker 14: i'd do it for the regular season and during COVID
Speaker 14: they needed someone to do it, so I volunteered to
Speaker 14: do it. And yeah, I was doing sometimes three cases
Speaker 14: a day because umpires or quirky pitchers would be throwing
Speaker 14: balls out left and right. The bat boy had to
Speaker 14: use gloves on his hands, so that added to the workload.
Speaker 14: And yeah, my claim to fame is the one year
Speaker 14: I did it. Shaaneber won the Signing Award, so I've
Speaker 14: got that to put on my tombstone someday.
Speaker 13: Well, congratulations, thank you for doing that, and I'm sure
Speaker 13: Shane thanked you as well. Now let's shift to bats.
Speaker 13: Players treat their bats like they are absolute pressure.
Speaker 7: Still do.
Speaker 14: It's changed over the years. Some of it is just
Speaker 14: out of the differences in bats depending on the field.
Speaker 14: Others guys are looking for an edge. So yeah, there's
Speaker 14: multiple ways that it's changing. I could speak for hours
Speaker 14: on it, but we only have a few minutes.
Speaker 7: Yea, I'll start.
Speaker 13: I was just on the phone about a week ago.
Speaker 13: Rocky Colavidow always a treat to I should chat with Rocky,
Speaker 13: and he told me a story about how he cared
Speaker 13: for his bats when he was with the Indianapolis Indians
Speaker 13: and Triple A and they would go to Louisville. He'd
Speaker 13: always stop in the Louisville Slugger factory and then there
Speaker 13: was an Italian man craftsman yes on the lathe making bats,
Speaker 13: and he would make Rocky's bats, and he wanted wide
Speaker 13: grain bats, so when he would send a dozen, especially
Speaker 13: when he made it to the Cleveland and in the
Speaker 13: equipment room at Cleveland Stadium, it was a cement floor,
Speaker 13: so he would hold out his bat, holding the handle
Speaker 13: with the barrel closer to the floor, and he would
Speaker 13: drop it according to the sound of the bat hitting
Speaker 13: the cement and how high it bounced, determine whether that
Speaker 13: was a game or not. So power hitters easily treated
Speaker 13: their bats with so much care and pride. Tell me
Speaker 13: about Albert Bell, I mean, he's a guy again. To me,
Speaker 13: it's a lot of power hitters who treated their Jimmy
Speaker 13: told me, treated their bats with special care.
Speaker 14: No question about it. Albert was the most particular of all.
Speaker 14: I mean each guy, whether it was Kenny Lofton who
Speaker 14: wanted his handle a particular way so it was easy
Speaker 14: for him to flick his wrists because he was more
Speaker 14: of a slap hitter. Jim told me who had our
Speaker 14: former trainer, Jimmy Warfield, after he got nailed in the
Speaker 14: hand one time on a pitch, he created this spongy
Speaker 14: grip for him at the end was kind of like
Speaker 14: a triangle that allowed Jimmy, even after his wrist healed up,
Speaker 14: to grip the bat securely and he just took off
Speaker 14: home run wise after that. And then there was Albert
Speaker 14: Aburn and I would play golf together, and one time
Speaker 14: he got from Louisville slugger bats that the handles were
Speaker 14: too thick. He said, Frank, you do me a favor
Speaker 14: and shave this down a little bit, so I spent
Speaker 14: a few minutes shaving it down. He went out and
Speaker 14: destroyed the ball, and he goes, Frank, well that felt great.
Speaker 10: Why do you think that was?
Speaker 14: I said, well, you and I go golfing together. You
Speaker 14: see with a thin handle the whip that you get,
Speaker 14: so it only makes sense and not a bat, the
Speaker 14: same thing's going to happen. He goes, yeah, shave it
Speaker 14: out some more. Well, that was the year he hit
Speaker 14: fifty home runs. So I would shave it down and
Speaker 14: it would take me two to three hours per bat
Speaker 14: to get her batack per bat, and what would just
Speaker 14: shave it with sandpaper and these wood craftsmen tools that
Speaker 14: had steel blades at the end. That I would just
Speaker 14: do it patiently because I didn't want to lose the
Speaker 14: roundness of the bat. And then he liked his handle
Speaker 14: where when he gripped the bat at the end, it
Speaker 14: was firm and secure, so he got more leverage where
Speaker 14: other guys, like I said with Kenny, he had no
Speaker 14: knob on it. Albert wanted that to stick knob. But
Speaker 14: I would shave his bat so thin that they would
Speaker 14: be the same thickness as a golf club I've never
Speaker 14: seen another player like that ever. Did he ever crack
Speaker 14: or he did one time that's another story.
Speaker 12: Yeah, one time swing.
Speaker 14: He got upset, so he threw his bat. He put
Speaker 14: a big nick in the bat. He says, front, get
Speaker 14: this nick out quick. Well, I only had three innings
Speaker 14: to get it done, so I'm shaving.
Speaker 8: I'm shaving.
Speaker 14: I got the nick out as best as I could. Well,
Speaker 14: in the middle of his swing, he's about to launch one,
Speaker 14: the bat went keeled over on me. You could even
Speaker 14: complete the swing. So that's the only time it ever happened.
Speaker 13: Yeah, and I'm sure he took it well.
Speaker 7: He did not take it well.
Speaker 14: I got to blame for that.
Speaker 13: One, and Jimmy as well.
Speaker 7: Wide grain is something that they.
Speaker 14: All believed in that back then in the nineties. That's
Speaker 14: one of the quirky things back in the nineties. Yeah,
Speaker 14: they would look at a bat and say that's a
Speaker 14: BP bat, that's a junk back, because there's if you
Speaker 14: looked at them just by just by looking on the knob.
Speaker 14: This one, for example, has one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Speaker 14: eleven lines on the bat for the grain. I've seen
Speaker 14: some as is four those are the highest quality. They're
Speaker 14: hard to find. But yeah, if there's too much grain
Speaker 14: on the bat, guy would just put off this side
Speaker 14: or just use it for VP.
Speaker 13: Well, a guy like Albert would put his bats in
Speaker 13: sanitary socks.
Speaker 6: So no one want to touch him, right, every one
Speaker 6: of them.
Speaker 14: If you touched his bat, you were stuck out with
Speaker 14: that bat, you.
Speaker 7: Were in a lot of trouble.
Speaker 14: Tell you, don't you ever touch my bat again?
Speaker 13: Anybody else with real superstitions and turn.
Speaker 11: Well.
Speaker 14: Once again, we go back to Albert, because Albert believed
Speaker 14: we had a video guy, uh video Joe Cavaliatti. And
Speaker 14: when I was windling Albert's bats to get him to
Speaker 14: be so thin like a golf club, he would say, Frank.
Speaker 7: Curry up with that bat.
Speaker 14: Video Joe still has to rub his soul into that bat.
Speaker 14: So Video Joe would take his bats before every game
Speaker 14: and do a little chant and he would put his
Speaker 14: soul into Albert's bats. And if Video Joe wasn't around,
Speaker 14: Albert would be very upset.
Speaker 13: And it was because he was Italian.
Speaker 14: He believed in the spiritual uh powers of the Italians.
Speaker 14: For whatever reason, we're.
Speaker 13: Coming from Louisiana.
Speaker 7: That was part of the uh there was a little
Speaker 7: bit of looting going on there.
Speaker 13: Well, it certainly worked for him, one of the great
Speaker 13: power hitters in the game of baseball. As you said,
Speaker 13: you and I could talk forever about and we may
Speaker 13: have to revisit some other things that happened in the
Speaker 13: clubhouse with our guys, as superstitions and such, because you
Speaker 13: were with them every day for thirty plus years. And
Speaker 13: can't thank you enough for all the hard work you've put.
Speaker 14: In an honorser.
Speaker 13: Here's hoping you enjoyed today's visit with Frank Mancini. We
Speaker 13: look forward to sharing more stories at the ballpark on
Speaker 13: the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Man that's at the ballpark with Bobby d and that's
Speaker 2: going to do it for this week's edition of Guardian's Weekly.
Speaker 2: As always, thanks to Brian Matse for all of his
Speaker 2: help and putting together our show each week. We will
Speaker 2: join you once again next weekend when the team is
Speaker 2: back home taking on the Tampa Bay Rays. Until then,
Speaker 2: this is Jim rosen House reminding you that you've been
Speaker 2: listening to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Guardians Weekly has been brought to you by Progressive helping
Speaker 1: Guardians fans save hundreds on car insurance.
Speaker 2: Yeah.