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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Kyle Stowers and you're listening to Fish On First.
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Speaker 2: Fish Unfiltered, episode 121. We are back with a really, really exciting episode here today.
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Speaker 1: Where Joined by the man of the hour, Mr. Tommy Hutton, the color analyst of your Miami Marlins for as long as I've been alive, actually. Tommy, thank you for spending your off day with us. How's it going?
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Speaker 3: You know, I'm impressed. Episode 121, you guys must be doing okay.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, not too bad, unfortunately. Lots of content matter to discuss.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm ready to talk. You know, it's happy to... It's been.
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Speaker 3: A fun weekend for me and my family and everything, so... happy to talk a little baseball with you guys.
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Speaker 1: Excellent we look forward to it and yeah we'll get into that very shortly but first i want to get your thoughts on the series that the marlins just completed a three game set with the boston red sox and you know from our vantage point it was nice to see them be so competitive with one of the better teams in the american league if not all of major league baseball and in my opinion they could have won all three they were in every single one of them they ended up winning just the finale yesterday um but what were your overall thoughts on the series.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the way they played aggressively, and especially on the final game, the Sunday game. Well, it wasn't Sunday. The final game of the series. Your baseball mode, it seems like a final game of a series is always Sunday, but it wasn't.
00:01:44
Speaker 2: It was Wednesday.
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Speaker 3: But, yeah, they played aggressively and against a guy 16-3, a guy who's in the Cy Young talk for the American League in Sonny Gray.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: I like the way they came out, and you're right. They could have at least won two out of three, and who knows, maybe.
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Speaker 2: Three out of three.
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Speaker 3: But the fact that they lost the first two games and still came back, I think they stole six bases, and as I said, beat Sonny Gray, and got some tremendous pitching. I mean, I heard Clayton McCullough talking about Ryan Gusto after the game, and what a job he did. To start things out and give them more, probably more innings than they had expected. So, yeah, the pitching was great. Shutting out the Red Sox, probably the, or if not the, one of the hottest teams in the game right now.
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Speaker 1: On a related note, it was kind of cool. I know there were some guys in the bullpen that were down no matter what. But still to see, you know, one of your starting pitchers that just threw on Sunday pitch out of the bullpen. It sort of gave it a playoff feel a little bit. So, again, how cool is it that this team? very much in the thick of things. And here we are approaching September very quickly.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: Kyle Seeloff and I were up in the booth and we're trying to figure out who's going to close this game.
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Speaker 2: Who's going to come in late in the game.
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Speaker 3: And all of a sudden in the eighth inning, we see Jansen junk coming out and that surprised us. But it was interesting because if you know what the, what the Marlins do with their pitchers, their starting pitchers in between starts.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: They don't go down and throw in the bullpen. They throw what they call a pitch design. And they do it on the field, on the regular mound with no screen, with some iPads and cameras behind them. So in essence, for Jansen Junk, it was his pitch design with a few more people in the stands.
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Speaker 1: Right. It must have been pretty surreal for Mr. Jansen, one of the better pitch designs of his major league career. But with that, I'd like to segue over to why we're here. We had a thank you for the Marlins, had a thank you Tommy Day at Lone Depot Park. You had your family, former colleagues, players, and fans get to celebrate you. Marlins ended up sweeping the Nationals on that day as well. What was that day like for you, and has it fully sunk in yet?
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Speaker 3: It really hasn't sunk in yet, but the day was great, number one, because the Marlins were able to sweep. They took care of business against a team that they should have won three games, and they did. To have my family out there, I thought, Bruce Sherman and Caroline O'Connor. I thank them so many times for number one, for bringing me back because I had a couple of years hiatus with the previous ownership. And so I, I thank them for bringing me back and, and I thank them for, for really making my family feel so, so at home, so comfortable in, in a great ceremony.
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Speaker 2: We had, we had fun out there.
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Speaker 3: My granddaughters had a blast throwing out the first pitch and, My wife enjoyed it.
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Speaker 2: My two sons were able to be there.
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Speaker 3: And they've enjoyed a lot of Marlins baseball over the years because they've grown up in this. And so they've got their favorite players over the years. And yeah, it was a great day for me and also for my family.
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Speaker 4: That's awesome, Tommy. It was really cool to see your granddaughters out there really enjoying it. They really understood what was going on. They looked like they were really appreciating all the pomp and circumstance of it. It was very wholesome to watch. You said you're at peace with your decision to retire, but that it might really hit you next spring when things start going up again. What do you think you're going to miss the most about the game?
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Speaker 3: Well, first of all, if there's a lockout next spring, I won't miss a thing. But yeah, I've told people, I honestly feel what I'll miss the most is getting to the ballpark, getting upstairs to getting my stuff situated in the broadcast booth, going and grabbing my cup of coffee, just hooking up with different people, other broadcasters, the visiting broadcasters. I'll miss talking to those guys. And there are certain ones I I'll miss more than others. I'll miss going down on the field in the little media scrum and listening to the manager, whoever it might be, talk about what's going on with the ball club. So it's things like that that I'll miss the most. I'm not going to miss, let's see, the last two nights it took me an hour and 50 minutes to drive home. So I'm not going to miss that with all the construction on 95 and the turnpike. Those are things I will not miss. But the game itself, yeah, I'll still watch because I've grown up in the game of baseball. It's been a huge part of my life. So I'll still keep in touch with guys. But yeah, I think just, and it's the same thing that players talk about too, when they are out of the game, when they retire, when they get released, they miss the clubhouse, the camaraderie of teammates. So yeah, I'll miss the camaraderie of the talking to our camera guys and the guys upstairs and, and, uh, broadcasters. And so that, that's probably the main thing.
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Speaker 4: I feel like you, you hit it right on the nose there towards the end. It's universal. Like there's, there's in a 162 game season, there's nights where it's more fun to just, you know, gab around with everyone than the game itself. Um, so you've been in the booth for some of the most memorable moments in franchise history on the field, of course, um, two world series runs, no hitters walk-offs. Um, is there one call or one moment that immediately comes to mind that you'll cherish the most?
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Speaker 3: Oh man, I don't know if there's one call because honestly, as a, as an analyst, I'm not making the call. That's usually the play by play guy. Uh, you know, I think about the no hitters, uh, And I'll give you this one because they were just in town. Dave O'Brien was my partner for A.J. Burnett's no-hitter in San Diego. And Dave was in town with the Red Sox. He does the games on Nessun. And we were talking about it, and I said, you remember when I looked over at you about the fifth inning?
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Speaker 2: And I said, it's unbelievable.
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Speaker 3: He's got a no-hitter going because there are base runners every inning. He walked nine guys. And we both laughed. We couldn't believe he had the no-hitter with all the guys on base. So things like that. I mean, being a part of the clinching games that took the Marlins into postseason. I do remember in 2003, because once it gets to postseason, it goes to national television. But in 2003, the club had Len Casper and myself. Len was my partner at the time. they had us come on the radio and do some pregame and postgame stuff. So being able to be in New York at Yankee Stadium when Beckett pitched that game and they clinched it there and being a part of that, getting to go down on the field after the World Series, things like that, I certainly remember.
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Speaker 1: That is always one of the downsides that I think of when and if the Miles make the postseason, which it has happened, that you're not going to be able to listen to your hometown guys on the call rather than national televised guys who maybe don't know the team as well as you guys, but nevertheless, you mentioned Dave O'Brien. You have worked with a ton of play-by-play men over your illustrious career. Dave, Rich Waltz, Paul Severino, Len Casper, and now most recently, Kyle Seeloff. Which partnership do you think brought out the best in you, and what made those relationships work so well?
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Speaker 3: Well, I enjoyed all of them, and they all were and are very professional in what they do.
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Speaker 2: In their job.
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Speaker 3: I think because we were together the longest, uh, we were together 11 years, uh, Rich Waltz probably, uh, he would, he would, I don't know if you guys realize this, he would egg me on. I don't, I'm a, I'm a real peaceful, quiet guy. I don't like to rant.
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Speaker 2: I don't like to rant.
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Speaker 3: And Rich, would just kind of stick the needle in a little bit and get me going. But yeah, I would say Rich, mainly because we worked so many years together. But Paul Severino, a tremendous sense of humor. I love working with Paul and Kyle. Just seeing Kyle grow as a play-by-play broadcaster, that's been fun for me. Certainly with Dave and Len Casper is a true professional working with the White Sox now.
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Speaker 2: I think I got used to.
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Speaker 3: Working with a lot of different partners because in the 90s, I did a game a week for about six, seven years with ESPN. You would get paired with different people. I've worked a lot of games with Chris Berman, so I got used to him. There were other guys that I would get paired with, a Bob Carpenter, a Steve Zabriskie. different guys like that. And so when you work with somebody different, you kind of learn how to quickly identify their cadence and how they're going to do a game. And so I think that helped me along the years working with different people.
00:11:04
Speaker 1: Earlier in the show, Tommy, you mentioned the hiatus you took. I'm curious because you are very honest on your broadcast, and that's how I feel most broadcasts should be. So how do you balance the objective, honest announcing that you make while maintaining a good relationship with your employer, which nowadays happens to be the Marlins.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not easy.
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Speaker 3: And I think you have to have an employee or whoever is writing the checks for you, or in this day and age, direct depositing the checks. So I think you have to have rapport with them. And I think they.
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Speaker 2: Have to realize that if you.
00:11:43
Speaker 3: Are working for ownership people who don't want to hear anything negative, then you're going to get let go because there are things that happen on, on the field and especially doing TV fans see that stuff on the radio. You don't see it on TV.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: You see it.
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Speaker 3: And if I'm as a broadcaster, not honest about what's being seen, then what, what good am I up there? So I think, The way I always approached broadcasting from when I started, and I learned it from a few people, is that I always hoped that people who watched a game that I was involved in and knew that I had passion for the game and would learn something during the game, maybe a play or something that happened that they didn't know, and had a chuckle or two during the game. So if they watched the game I was involved in, those three things happened, then it was a good broadcast.
00:12:42
Speaker 1: Right.
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Speaker 4: Over the last six decades, you've seen a lot of change in baseball from players, equipment, analytics, rule changes. So kind of a two-parter, what change do you think has made baseball better? And what's one that you wish the game would reconsider?
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Speaker 3: Well, I actually don't mind the ABS change.
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Speaker 1: System.
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Speaker 2: Um, it's okay.
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Speaker 3: It doesn't interfere too much with the game. The one that I never liked was the, uh, all of a sudden protecting everybody and the catcher can't, uh, has to give you a lane at the plate and short stops and second baseman can't get, uh, bowled over by a runner.
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Speaker 2: Um, that's the way the game used to be played.
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Speaker 3: And I, I, I would like to see those back, but they probably won't be because I understand they're trying to protect the players and keep them healthy and keep them in games. But it's a different style of baseball when it's played that way.
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Speaker 4: No, absolutely. And some of those, it's funny enough, some of those rule changes have been either at the expense of or included the Marlins in one way or the other, the Scott Cousins and Scott Posey incident. And there was, of course, you mentioned the rants before. One of the most iconic rants was, I believe it was against Cincinnati.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, Jeff Mathis was a catcher, yeah.
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Speaker 5: Yes.
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Speaker 4: Exactly. No, I totally agree. It's stuff like that. Baseball's not a contact sport 99% of the time. Let's let them have like 1% of the contact.
00:14:20
Speaker 6: One of the things that I wasn't very good at was playing Major League Baseball. One of the things that I'm really good at is sweating. Even now when I'm not playing, I need hydration. I need to make sure it's convenient. That's why I choose Quince.
00:14:35
Speaker 5: Yep.
00:14:36
Speaker 7: Quince electrolyte stick packs to the rescue, Kratts. They taste great and the zero sugar options are stevia free. They're keto approved, naturally sweetened with fermented rice. And like everything Quince does, they're thoughtfully made and priced well at $ 20 for 30 servings. They're less than half of the leading brand. Give your body what it really needs to stay hydrated. Go to quince.com slash foul for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E The ballparks that you most enjoyed visiting and least enjoyed visiting. Let's see, as a player or as a broadcaster?
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Speaker 2: Let's do both.
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Speaker 4: If you feel strongly one way or the other.
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Speaker 3: Well, yeah, as a player, I enjoyed because I had success. I can look back and I can remember I had success at Wrigley Field. I had success at Shea Stadium against the Mets. I loved playing in my home ballpark for six years when I was with the Phillies, Veterans Stadium, because it was my home ballpark.
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Speaker 2: Now, as a broadcaster....
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Speaker 3: I didn't care going to Shea Stadium too much because the booth, if you stood up, there were pipes right above your head. And if you stood up too fast, even me at 5'9, 5'10, I would ram my head into one of those pipes. So I didn't enjoy that too much. I always enjoyed going to Dodger Stadium because it was, I grew up in Los Angeles and it was the ballpark I went to when I was in junior high and high school, went to games there.
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Speaker 2: So I enjoyed there.
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Speaker 3: I enjoyed as a broadcaster, even though the booth was probably the worst of all the major league booths at Wrigley Field.
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Speaker 2: I enjoyed going to Wrigley Field.
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Speaker 3: Some of the newer ballparks, San Francisco was beautiful to do games from. Now, I did not enjoy candlestick playing or broadcasting because you never knew what the weather was going to be. playing with the wind swirling around.
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Speaker 2: So those are just a few.
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Speaker 3: San Diego is a beautiful place, player or broadcasting to do games from. I remember, oh, I think about, I'm thinking about a little American League because I didn't spend a lot of time in the American League, but Old Tiger Stadium, you were so on top broadcasting, you could hear the home plate umpire almost talking. You were that close. So Old Tiger Stadium was fun to do a game from.
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Speaker 1: On a similar note, sorry, Kruchik, but on a similar note, I'm curious, if you're anything like Alex or I, we really have nostalgia about pro player Sun Life Stadium. Nowadays, I couldn't imagine how many games would have been delayed because of those week-long thunderstorms or just the fact that it's 95 degrees in the dog days of August. But do you also miss calling games in that stadium, not knowing whether baseball will be played or when it'll be played again? Because I sure as heck do.
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Speaker 2: No, I don't.
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Speaker 3: Well, the funny thing about it is very few games were rained out.
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Speaker 2: There were just all the delays.
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Speaker 3: And we'd get to the ballpark and you didn't get a chance to watch batting practice because most of the time, here came that afternoon thunderstorm and batting practice would be canceled.
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Speaker 2: So the ball club always hit inside.
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Speaker 3: I always thought it was a situation where the, the Marlins, the home team should have really used that to their advantage because you'd have other teams come into town, not be able to get used to the field and take batting practice and.
00:18:35
Speaker 2: Things like that.
00:18:36
Speaker 3: And, but yeah, they're, they're, waiting and the delays that it would get frustrating. And we, we, and it was before you even had a radar. You couldn't look at your phone, but the, but you knew something was coming and sure enough, it would delay the game. But as I said, rarely were the games called, right? We, we somehow got them in and I admired, I, I couldn't believe the fans that would stay there. We would see people sitting out there and when it was raining, we'd go and, How are they doing that? I mean, these are true fans. And so I was always amazed at that.
00:19:13
Speaker 4: I remember visiting my family up in New York. We were supposed to go to a Mets game. I must have been like 10 years old. And they said, we're not going to the game today. It's going to be postponed. It's raining. It was like 10 in the morning. I'm like, yeah, but the rain will be over in like an hour, right? And they're like, that's not how it works up here.
00:19:28
Speaker 1: Yeah. Also on a similar note, there is this game that started at 10 o'clock at Sun Life Stadium because of a four-hour rain delay. So it started at 6 o'clock. And against the Nationals, the game did not start until 10-10 first pitch, which was just, I can't believe you guys were working until 1 a.m. on the East Coast, which was just unfortunate. But to quickly pivot to your playing career very briefly, I know this has been well documented, but you just had a knack for crushing Tom Seaver, the great Hall of Famer who won three Cy Young Awards. He went 320 with three home runs off him. What was it about Tom Seaver that you saw so well that other hitters just couldn't pick up?
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Speaker 3: You know, there was a mystique about it. I think most of it was, Baseball is such a mental game and I wasn't an everyday player and we would play the Mets if the Phillies had a series against the Mets and Seaver, let's say, was pitching game two. I'd have guys come up to me in the clubhouse the day before and they'd go, hey, tomorrow Seaver's pitching.
00:20:28
Speaker 2: You'll be in there. You'll probably get two or three hits.
00:20:31
Speaker 3: So all of a sudden I'm thinking positively and it's so much a mental game. The funny part about that whole thing. I always hate to mention this cause I was terrible when he, when he got traded to the reds and I ended up in Montreal, I want to say that period of time, I was probably about one for 15 against him, but the six year Philly years, I hit well over 400 against him.
00:21:02
Speaker 1: Right.
00:21:03
Speaker 3: So it was, it was a mystique that just was with the Phillies and the Mets. Um, There was a situation one time, I think it was 73 or 74. We opened the season, the Phillies did, in New York at Shea Stadium. Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, great opening day matchup. I wasn't the everyday first baseman, but all of a sudden I played opening day and hit cleanup against Seaver.
00:21:31
Speaker 1: Wow.
00:21:31
Speaker 2: How about that? So that's how crazy it was.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: Did he ever say anything to you about the fact that you had his number?
00:21:39
Speaker 3: Not in person.
00:21:41
Speaker 2: I was always afraid.
00:21:42
Speaker 3: To speak to him, to mess up the mystique. But I did, on a couple of occasions, hear him doing interviews when people asked him who the toughest hitters were that he had to face. And I will say, in the group, he always mentioned me.
00:22:03
Speaker 2: So that was good.
00:22:06
Speaker 1: That's pretty excellent, man. Hall of Famer, mentioning your name and toughest guys to get out.
00:22:15
Speaker 3: Bella, Bella, Bella, where?
00:22:18
Speaker 6: I don't know where Bella is, but I know how to take care of my pup.
00:22:22
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00:23:14
Speaker 1: A little bit of a tougher one, I guess, for you because this organization, this franchise industry, just since you've been with them, a lot of team success and a lot of individual success. So I'm going to ask you, if you can, to name your Mount Rushmore of Marlins players, the four most iconic names in Marlins franchise history, player-wise, since 97. Or if you want to go its entire history, that's good, too.
00:23:38
Speaker 2: Well, I think if you.
00:23:40
Speaker 3: See, you've got to pick some guys on the World Series teams. And it would be hard... Well, you've got to have Niner on there. You've got to have Mr.
00:23:53
Speaker 2: Marlins. Definitely.
00:23:56
Speaker 3: And we're just talking players. Cause I think if you include everybody, you'd have to include Jack and Leland.
00:24:01
Speaker 2: So we'll, we'll just stick with the players.
00:24:06
Speaker 3: Man, this is a tough one because we we've been doing this in the booth, trying to go before the game, sitting around Kyle and I talking about who was the best Marlins reliever starters. I would have to throw Jose Fernandez in that Mount Rushmore because of what he meant to the franchise.
00:24:30
Speaker 2: Maybe a LaVon Hernandez, a Dontrell. Okay.
00:24:34
Speaker 3: Guys who brought it and the fans really related to. And there were other guys that just weren't around long enough, like Pudge, you know, behind the plate in 03. Mikey Lowell, always one of my favorites. So Mount Rushmore is going to be a lot more than four. Let me just put it that way.
00:24:55
Speaker 1: It's tough to pick two. And you didn't even mention the only Cy Young Award winner in franchise history and the only MVP. And I was like, I don't want to play recency bias, but it'd be hard to omit those two as well. And Giancarlo Stanton and Sandy Alcantara at this point, no?
00:25:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would have to throw.
00:25:10
Speaker 3: And yeah, I'm thinking in the past, but certainly what Sandy has done, he's on it. Giancarlo, yeah, that's the MVP. I don't think I worked that year, the year he hit 59. I think I sat and watched at home on that one.
00:25:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do recall, I guess, yeah, that season. I forget who was doing color with Rich, but you're right. You were not on there. And I guess Luis Casillo is another one.
00:25:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. It's a bunch of guys. It's incredible.
00:25:38
Speaker 3: And I'll ask you guys, because we had this conversation the other day. All-time, who's maybe not with the most? Who's the all-time closer?
00:25:48
Speaker 7: Right.
00:25:48
Speaker 2: In Marlins history.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: It's tough.
00:25:50
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:25:52
Speaker 3: Because even on the World Series teams, guys were there. Like, Ugether Bina was not there that long. But he certainly helped them.
00:25:58
Speaker 4: Mariano Rivera's or Trevor Hoffman's that were just here for 10, 15 years.
00:26:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, we came up with Antonio Alfonseca and Steve Ciszek.
00:26:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:26:11
Speaker 2: Those are the ones we came up with.
00:26:14
Speaker 4: Steve C-Sheck was also just a cult hero because he came in in relief of Heath Bell that year, which I think also gave himself to the fans a lot. If you're going by peak, Tanner Scott's 2023 was incredible. Yeah, Ugas Urbina was very good, and Tony Alphonsega.
00:26:33
Speaker 2: But see, so many guys weren't there that long.
00:26:36
Speaker 5: Right.
00:26:37
Speaker 1: Well, I think the one name also is A.J. Ramos, who I think was I think he was the closer for longer than Stiszek. Anyway, our co-host, AJ Ramos, all-star.
00:26:48
Speaker 3: AJ was similar with Alphonseka.
00:26:50
Speaker 1: Right.
00:26:51
Speaker 2: For like three or four years.
00:26:52
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:26:52
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:26:53
Speaker 1: Let me ask, where did Leo Nunez fall in that category, Tommy?
00:27:00
Speaker 2: He fell out of that category. That's where he fell.
00:27:03
Speaker 1: And then the only other like sort of one-year guys, Brad Ziegler was a closer. Brandon Kintzler was a closer. Yeah. And then during the late.
00:27:11
Speaker 2: Benitez. Armando Benitez.
00:27:13
Speaker 1: Armando Benitez, another closer.
00:27:15
Speaker 4: That's what I was thinking of in 2004. Yeah.
00:27:18
Speaker 1: Nowadays, Pete Ferry. You're right, Tommy. It's a good question. The all-time best reliever in franchise history.
00:27:24
Speaker 2: Wow.
00:27:24
Speaker 1: Who will be the first reliever on the Marlins Museum? That's a good question.
00:27:28
Speaker 2: See, there's a good one for you.
00:27:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, indeed. I don't know who we'd go with unless Crutchick has any other guess, but.
00:27:36
Speaker 4: No, I'm trying to– I'm on baseball reference to jog my memory of all these one-year wonders. And, yeah, I think we might have named all of them.
00:27:46
Speaker 1: We might have named all of them.
00:27:47
Speaker 4: I'll always remember Matt Lindstrom because that was at a time where not a lot of guys were throwing triple digits.
00:27:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was hitting 100, yeah.
00:27:55
Speaker 4: Yes, he was. That was back when you can name every single pitcher that was throwing 100. Right.
00:28:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, now they all do. Now they all do.
00:28:04
Speaker 5: Exactly.
00:28:07
Speaker 4: Um, Tommy, so, so actually this is a great segue to this question. And if it's too broad of a question, I'll even let you pick between the pro player era and the Marlins park era, which were your favorite non-championship teams to cover?
00:28:24
Speaker 3: Well, I, I'll be honest, the years all kind of come together. So you, you guys help me out probably the, the, uh, in the pro player era, the, Cantu, Hanley.
00:28:39
Speaker 2: Ugla, Jacobs, that group.
00:28:42
Speaker 4: 2008.
00:28:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, 2008.
00:28:44
Speaker 2: Cody Ross.
00:28:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a good group of guys, some fun guys, but didn't win a championship.
00:28:55
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:28:55
Speaker 2: And I would say in the.
00:28:58
Speaker 3: Lone Depot era, The very first, when Jose Reyes came and all those guys came, that was kind of fun.
00:29:11
Speaker 2: Didn't work out.
00:29:13
Speaker 3: And even the guys, when, again, help me out with years, Stanton, Yellich, Ozuna, Real Muto, didn't win anything. Didn't win a championship and certainly had guys that were capable to take you the whole way.
00:29:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the pro player era, the 2009 season, although the 2008 season is when all four infielders hit the 25 home runs, 2009 was when Coghlan won Rookie of the Year, Hanley won the batting title, and that was probably the best team, non-championship team of that era. And then in the 20, I guess the new ballpark era, the 2017 team, when Stanton hit one MVP, Ozuna hit 37 home runs, Yelich was doing well. It was so surprising to me that that team just couldn't come up with not even a playoff spot, not, they still haven't hosted a playoff game at Lone Depot park. Unfortunately, just how, how, how is that possible?
00:30:07
Speaker 3: Well, you talk to other organizations and they'll tell you it's possible or other organizations that have been around 50 years and haven't won a world series. So it's a tough thing to do. The, the number one thing.
00:30:20
Speaker 2: Is just get there.
00:30:21
Speaker 3: And that's why even this year, the Marlins still they're, they're, Four games back, I think, right now in the wild card, the third wild card. But you still have a chance. And if you get there, you never know because the game is so crazy. You can run up against a team that's cold. Your guys can get hot all of a sudden. So that's the whole key is just to try to get there.
00:30:45
Speaker 4: Indeed.
00:30:45
Speaker 1: Anything can happen once you're in.
00:30:47
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00:31:37
Speaker 1: Tommy, really appreciate the time. We got one last one for you before we let you go and enjoy your off day. Your all-time favorite rant?
00:31:49
Speaker 3: Probably the play at the plate with Jeff Mathis when Mike Redman got thrown out.
00:31:56
Speaker 2: Here's the call.
00:31:58
Speaker 5: He's safe.
00:32:00
Speaker 2: Game's going to change from this day on. And mark down the date, July 31st, 2014.
00:32:05
Speaker 1: Mike Redman right now rips his shirt off, throws his hat.
00:32:10
Speaker 2: I feel like doing the same thing.
00:32:22
Speaker 1: A major league catcher himself.
00:32:24
Speaker 5: Get your money's worth, get your money's worth.
00:32:28
Speaker 3: The rule was new at that point and it really did change everything. And I think I said something to that effect that, you know, from this day on the game's going to be changed and it has been, uh, that's probably a good, we had a good one on the, uh, Niger Morgan, the Gabby Sanchez, Gabby Sanchez, Niger Morgan.
00:32:48
Speaker 2: That wasn't a rant though. That was just fun.
00:32:50
Speaker 3: Uh, Also, Gabby involved on that ground ball he hit because this came to play the other day after the ball that Sonoha.
00:32:59
Speaker 2: Hit was called foul.
00:33:01
Speaker 3: The ball that Gabby hit and Bob Davidson was the third base umpire. That was a pretty good rant, especially when Rich and I saw the replay back. There was no doubt that ball was fair, and Davidson just missed it.
00:33:15
Speaker 1: And he wasn't even looking. He was looking toward the play. The ball was behind him, landing in fair ground on left field. And yeah, that's the one that I can remember. And the Nigel Morgan one was tough. There was another one where Reyes was charged with an error, which was just unjustified. And I think you had to leave the microphone for a bit.
00:33:35
Speaker 3: I think I left the microphone to go over and say a few words to the scorekeeper, the official scorekeeper.
00:33:41
Speaker 1: That's... Well, that's just awesome. So I don't think there's a better way to end it. Tommy, again, we really appreciate the time. And for everyone listening, thank you. For Alex, for Mr. Tommy Hunt and myself, thank you all for listening. And as always, go fish.
00:33:58
Speaker 3: Hey, you guys have been great for the Marlins. Thanks for having me on. And I still have some games left, so I'll see you at the ballpark.
00:34:05
Speaker 2: I got nine games left.
00:34:06
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Only a few homestands left to go catch your Miami Marlins push for a postseason spot. So we hope we don't see What we saw this week with their ballpark completely flooded with the opposing team's fans. Hopefully the fans come out and show up for a lot of fun matchups coming up with the Cubs and Dodgers.
00:34:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
00:34:22
Speaker 3: Dodgers always bring a boatload of fans, so they'll have theirs. But if you remember, it was last year when the Dodgers were in town. It was when Shohei went crazy and hit all those home runs and sold some bases.
00:34:35
Speaker 1: Yeah. 50-50, the six for six with three home runs for Shohei Otani. We'll never forget it. Thank you so much again, Tommy. We really appreciate it.
00:34:43
Speaker 2: All right, guys. Thanks a lot. Take care.
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Kyle Stowers and you're listening to Fish On First.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: Fish Unfiltered, episode 121. We are back with a really, really exciting episode here today.
00:00:20
Speaker 1: Where Joined by the man of the hour, Mr. Tommy Hutton, the color analyst of your Miami Marlins for as long as I've been alive, actually. Tommy, thank you for spending your off day with us. How's it going?
00:00:41
Speaker 3: You know, I'm impressed. Episode 121, you guys must be doing okay.
00:00:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, not too bad, unfortunately. Lots of content matter to discuss.
00:00:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm ready to talk. You know, it's happy to... It's been.
00:00:54
Speaker 3: A fun weekend for me and my family and everything, so... happy to talk a little baseball with you guys.
00:01:01
Speaker 1: Excellent we look forward to it and yeah we'll get into that very shortly but first i want to get your thoughts on the series that the marlins just completed a three game set with the boston red sox and you know from our vantage point it was nice to see them be so competitive with one of the better teams in the american league if not all of major league baseball and in my opinion they could have won all three they were in every single one of them they ended up winning just the finale yesterday um but what were your overall thoughts on the series.
00:01:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the way they played aggressively, and especially on the final game, the Sunday game. Well, it wasn't Sunday. The final game of the series. Your baseball mode, it seems like a final game of a series is always Sunday, but it wasn't.
00:01:44
Speaker 2: It was Wednesday.
00:01:45
Speaker 3: But, yeah, they played aggressively and against a guy 16-3, a guy who's in the Cy Young talk for the American League in Sonny Gray.
00:01:56
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:01:57
Speaker 3: I like the way they came out, and you're right. They could have at least won two out of three, and who knows, maybe.
00:02:03
Speaker 2: Three out of three.
00:02:04
Speaker 3: But the fact that they lost the first two games and still came back, I think they stole six bases, and as I said, beat Sonny Gray, and got some tremendous pitching. I mean, I heard Clayton McCullough talking about Ryan Gusto after the game, and what a job he did. To start things out and give them more, probably more innings than they had expected. So, yeah, the pitching was great. Shutting out the Red Sox, probably the, or if not the, one of the hottest teams in the game right now.
00:02:37
Speaker 1: On a related note, it was kind of cool. I know there were some guys in the bullpen that were down no matter what. But still to see, you know, one of your starting pitchers that just threw on Sunday pitch out of the bullpen. It sort of gave it a playoff feel a little bit. So, again, how cool is it that this team? very much in the thick of things. And here we are approaching September very quickly.
00:02:55
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:02:56
Speaker 3: Kyle Seeloff and I were up in the booth and we're trying to figure out who's going to close this game.
00:03:00
Speaker 2: Who's going to come in late in the game.
00:03:02
Speaker 3: And all of a sudden in the eighth inning, we see Jansen junk coming out and that surprised us. But it was interesting because if you know what the, what the Marlins do with their pitchers, their starting pitchers in between starts.
00:03:17
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:03:17
Speaker 3: They don't go down and throw in the bullpen. They throw what they call a pitch design. And they do it on the field, on the regular mound with no screen, with some iPads and cameras behind them. So in essence, for Jansen Junk, it was his pitch design with a few more people in the stands.
00:03:33
Speaker 1: Right. It must have been pretty surreal for Mr. Jansen, one of the better pitch designs of his major league career. But with that, I'd like to segue over to why we're here. We had a thank you for the Marlins, had a thank you Tommy Day at Lone Depot Park. You had your family, former colleagues, players, and fans get to celebrate you. Marlins ended up sweeping the Nationals on that day as well. What was that day like for you, and has it fully sunk in yet?
00:03:58
Speaker 3: It really hasn't sunk in yet, but the day was great, number one, because the Marlins were able to sweep. They took care of business against a team that they should have won three games, and they did. To have my family out there, I thought, Bruce Sherman and Caroline O'Connor. I thank them so many times for number one, for bringing me back because I had a couple of years hiatus with the previous ownership. And so I, I thank them for bringing me back and, and I thank them for, for really making my family feel so, so at home, so comfortable in, in a great ceremony.
00:04:37
Speaker 2: We had, we had fun out there.
00:04:39
Speaker 3: My granddaughters had a blast throwing out the first pitch and, My wife enjoyed it.
00:04:46
Speaker 2: My two sons were able to be there.
00:04:48
Speaker 3: And they've enjoyed a lot of Marlins baseball over the years because they've grown up in this. And so they've got their favorite players over the years. And yeah, it was a great day for me and also for my family.
00:05:03
Speaker 4: That's awesome, Tommy. It was really cool to see your granddaughters out there really enjoying it. They really understood what was going on. They looked like they were really appreciating all the pomp and circumstance of it. It was very wholesome to watch. You said you're at peace with your decision to retire, but that it might really hit you next spring when things start going up again. What do you think you're going to miss the most about the game?
00:05:29
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, if there's a lockout next spring, I won't miss a thing. But yeah, I've told people, I honestly feel what I'll miss the most is getting to the ballpark, getting upstairs to getting my stuff situated in the broadcast booth, going and grabbing my cup of coffee, just hooking up with different people, other broadcasters, the visiting broadcasters. I'll miss talking to those guys. And there are certain ones I I'll miss more than others. I'll miss going down on the field in the little media scrum and listening to the manager, whoever it might be, talk about what's going on with the ball club. So it's things like that that I'll miss the most. I'm not going to miss, let's see, the last two nights it took me an hour and 50 minutes to drive home. So I'm not going to miss that with all the construction on 95 and the turnpike. Those are things I will not miss. But the game itself, yeah, I'll still watch because I've grown up in the game of baseball. It's been a huge part of my life. So I'll still keep in touch with guys. But yeah, I think just, and it's the same thing that players talk about too, when they are out of the game, when they retire, when they get released, they miss the clubhouse, the camaraderie of teammates. So yeah, I'll miss the camaraderie of the talking to our camera guys and the guys upstairs and, and, uh, broadcasters. And so that, that's probably the main thing.
00:07:04
Speaker 4: I feel like you, you hit it right on the nose there towards the end. It's universal. Like there's, there's in a 162 game season, there's nights where it's more fun to just, you know, gab around with everyone than the game itself. Um, so you've been in the booth for some of the most memorable moments in franchise history on the field, of course, um, two world series runs, no hitters walk-offs. Um, is there one call or one moment that immediately comes to mind that you'll cherish the most?
00:07:33
Speaker 3: Oh man, I don't know if there's one call because honestly, as a, as an analyst, I'm not making the call. That's usually the play by play guy. Uh, you know, I think about the no hitters, uh, And I'll give you this one because they were just in town. Dave O'Brien was my partner for A.J. Burnett's no-hitter in San Diego. And Dave was in town with the Red Sox. He does the games on Nessun. And we were talking about it, and I said, you remember when I looked over at you about the fifth inning?
00:08:06
Speaker 2: And I said, it's unbelievable.
00:08:08
Speaker 3: He's got a no-hitter going because there are base runners every inning. He walked nine guys. And we both laughed. We couldn't believe he had the no-hitter with all the guys on base. So things like that. I mean, being a part of the clinching games that took the Marlins into postseason. I do remember in 2003, because once it gets to postseason, it goes to national television. But in 2003, the club had Len Casper and myself. Len was my partner at the time. they had us come on the radio and do some pregame and postgame stuff. So being able to be in New York at Yankee Stadium when Beckett pitched that game and they clinched it there and being a part of that, getting to go down on the field after the World Series, things like that, I certainly remember.
00:09:00
Speaker 1: That is always one of the downsides that I think of when and if the Miles make the postseason, which it has happened, that you're not going to be able to listen to your hometown guys on the call rather than national televised guys who maybe don't know the team as well as you guys, but nevertheless, you mentioned Dave O'Brien. You have worked with a ton of play-by-play men over your illustrious career. Dave, Rich Waltz, Paul Severino, Len Casper, and now most recently, Kyle Seeloff. Which partnership do you think brought out the best in you, and what made those relationships work so well?
00:09:31
Speaker 3: Well, I enjoyed all of them, and they all were and are very professional in what they do.
00:09:41
Speaker 2: In their job.
00:09:43
Speaker 3: I think because we were together the longest, uh, we were together 11 years, uh, Rich Waltz probably, uh, he would, he would, I don't know if you guys realize this, he would egg me on. I don't, I'm a, I'm a real peaceful, quiet guy. I don't like to rant.
00:09:58
Speaker 2: I don't like to rant.
00:09:59
Speaker 3: And Rich, would just kind of stick the needle in a little bit and get me going. But yeah, I would say Rich, mainly because we worked so many years together. But Paul Severino, a tremendous sense of humor. I love working with Paul and Kyle. Just seeing Kyle grow as a play-by-play broadcaster, that's been fun for me. Certainly with Dave and Len Casper is a true professional working with the White Sox now.
00:10:26
Speaker 2: I think I got used to.
00:10:28
Speaker 3: Working with a lot of different partners because in the 90s, I did a game a week for about six, seven years with ESPN. You would get paired with different people. I've worked a lot of games with Chris Berman, so I got used to him. There were other guys that I would get paired with, a Bob Carpenter, a Steve Zabriskie. different guys like that. And so when you work with somebody different, you kind of learn how to quickly identify their cadence and how they're going to do a game. And so I think that helped me along the years working with different people.
00:11:04
Speaker 1: Earlier in the show, Tommy, you mentioned the hiatus you took. I'm curious because you are very honest on your broadcast, and that's how I feel most broadcasts should be. So how do you balance the objective, honest announcing that you make while maintaining a good relationship with your employer, which nowadays happens to be the Marlins.
00:11:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not easy.
00:11:27
Speaker 3: And I think you have to have an employee or whoever is writing the checks for you, or in this day and age, direct depositing the checks. So I think you have to have rapport with them. And I think they.
00:11:41
Speaker 2: Have to realize that if you.
00:11:43
Speaker 3: Are working for ownership people who don't want to hear anything negative, then you're going to get let go because there are things that happen on, on the field and especially doing TV fans see that stuff on the radio. You don't see it on TV.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: You see it.
00:12:02
Speaker 3: And if I'm as a broadcaster, not honest about what's being seen, then what, what good am I up there? So I think, The way I always approached broadcasting from when I started, and I learned it from a few people, is that I always hoped that people who watched a game that I was involved in and knew that I had passion for the game and would learn something during the game, maybe a play or something that happened that they didn't know, and had a chuckle or two during the game. So if they watched the game I was involved in, those three things happened, then it was a good broadcast.
00:12:42
Speaker 1: Right.
00:12:45
Speaker 4: Over the last six decades, you've seen a lot of change in baseball from players, equipment, analytics, rule changes. So kind of a two-parter, what change do you think has made baseball better? And what's one that you wish the game would reconsider?
00:13:03
Speaker 3: Well, I actually don't mind the ABS change.
00:13:07
Speaker 1: System.
00:13:09
Speaker 2: Um, it's okay.
00:13:11
Speaker 3: It doesn't interfere too much with the game. The one that I never liked was the, uh, all of a sudden protecting everybody and the catcher can't, uh, has to give you a lane at the plate and short stops and second baseman can't get, uh, bowled over by a runner.
00:13:30
Speaker 2: Um, that's the way the game used to be played.
00:13:32
Speaker 3: And I, I, I would like to see those back, but they probably won't be because I understand they're trying to protect the players and keep them healthy and keep them in games. But it's a different style of baseball when it's played that way.
00:13:45
Speaker 4: No, absolutely. And some of those, it's funny enough, some of those rule changes have been either at the expense of or included the Marlins in one way or the other, the Scott Cousins and Scott Posey incident. And there was, of course, you mentioned the rants before. One of the most iconic rants was, I believe it was against Cincinnati.
00:14:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jeff Mathis was a catcher, yeah.
00:14:06
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:14:07
Speaker 4: Exactly. No, I totally agree. It's stuff like that. Baseball's not a contact sport 99% of the time. Let's let them have like 1% of the contact.
00:14:20
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00:14:35
Speaker 5: Yep.
00:14:36
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00:15:08
Speaker 2: Let's do both.
00:15:29
Speaker 4: If you feel strongly one way or the other.
00:15:31
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, as a player, I enjoyed because I had success. I can look back and I can remember I had success at Wrigley Field. I had success at Shea Stadium against the Mets. I loved playing in my home ballpark for six years when I was with the Phillies, Veterans Stadium, because it was my home ballpark.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: Now, as a broadcaster....
00:15:58
Speaker 3: I didn't care going to Shea Stadium too much because the booth, if you stood up, there were pipes right above your head. And if you stood up too fast, even me at 5'9, 5'10, I would ram my head into one of those pipes. So I didn't enjoy that too much. I always enjoyed going to Dodger Stadium because it was, I grew up in Los Angeles and it was the ballpark I went to when I was in junior high and high school, went to games there.
00:16:26
Speaker 2: So I enjoyed there.
00:16:27
Speaker 3: I enjoyed as a broadcaster, even though the booth was probably the worst of all the major league booths at Wrigley Field.
00:16:37
Speaker 2: I enjoyed going to Wrigley Field.
00:16:39
Speaker 3: Some of the newer ballparks, San Francisco was beautiful to do games from. Now, I did not enjoy candlestick playing or broadcasting because you never knew what the weather was going to be. playing with the wind swirling around.
00:16:56
Speaker 2: So those are just a few.
00:16:57
Speaker 3: San Diego is a beautiful place, player or broadcasting to do games from. I remember, oh, I think about, I'm thinking about a little American League because I didn't spend a lot of time in the American League, but Old Tiger Stadium, you were so on top broadcasting, you could hear the home plate umpire almost talking. You were that close. So Old Tiger Stadium was fun to do a game from.
00:17:24
Speaker 1: On a similar note, sorry, Kruchik, but on a similar note, I'm curious, if you're anything like Alex or I, we really have nostalgia about pro player Sun Life Stadium. Nowadays, I couldn't imagine how many games would have been delayed because of those week-long thunderstorms or just the fact that it's 95 degrees in the dog days of August. But do you also miss calling games in that stadium, not knowing whether baseball will be played or when it'll be played again? Because I sure as heck do.
00:17:53
Speaker 2: No, I don't.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: Well, the funny thing about it is very few games were rained out.
00:18:02
Speaker 2: There were just all the delays.
00:18:04
Speaker 3: And we'd get to the ballpark and you didn't get a chance to watch batting practice because most of the time, here came that afternoon thunderstorm and batting practice would be canceled.
00:18:16
Speaker 2: So the ball club always hit inside.
00:18:18
Speaker 3: I always thought it was a situation where the, the Marlins, the home team should have really used that to their advantage because you'd have other teams come into town, not be able to get used to the field and take batting practice and.
00:18:35
Speaker 2: Things like that.
00:18:36
Speaker 3: And, but yeah, they're, they're, waiting and the delays that it would get frustrating. And we, we, and it was before you even had a radar. You couldn't look at your phone, but the, but you knew something was coming and sure enough, it would delay the game. But as I said, rarely were the games called, right? We, we somehow got them in and I admired, I, I couldn't believe the fans that would stay there. We would see people sitting out there and when it was raining, we'd go and, How are they doing that? I mean, these are true fans. And so I was always amazed at that.
00:19:13
Speaker 4: I remember visiting my family up in New York. We were supposed to go to a Mets game. I must have been like 10 years old. And they said, we're not going to the game today. It's going to be postponed. It's raining. It was like 10 in the morning. I'm like, yeah, but the rain will be over in like an hour, right? And they're like, that's not how it works up here.
00:19:28
Speaker 1: Yeah. Also on a similar note, there is this game that started at 10 o'clock at Sun Life Stadium because of a four-hour rain delay. So it started at 6 o'clock. And against the Nationals, the game did not start until 10-10 first pitch, which was just, I can't believe you guys were working until 1 a.m. on the East Coast, which was just unfortunate. But to quickly pivot to your playing career very briefly, I know this has been well documented, but you just had a knack for crushing Tom Seaver, the great Hall of Famer who won three Cy Young Awards. He went 320 with three home runs off him. What was it about Tom Seaver that you saw so well that other hitters just couldn't pick up?
00:20:04
Speaker 3: You know, there was a mystique about it. I think most of it was, Baseball is such a mental game and I wasn't an everyday player and we would play the Mets if the Phillies had a series against the Mets and Seaver, let's say, was pitching game two. I'd have guys come up to me in the clubhouse the day before and they'd go, hey, tomorrow Seaver's pitching.
00:20:28
Speaker 2: You'll be in there. You'll probably get two or three hits.
00:20:31
Speaker 3: So all of a sudden I'm thinking positively and it's so much a mental game. The funny part about that whole thing. I always hate to mention this cause I was terrible when he, when he got traded to the reds and I ended up in Montreal, I want to say that period of time, I was probably about one for 15 against him, but the six year Philly years, I hit well over 400 against him.
00:21:02
Speaker 1: Right.
00:21:03
Speaker 3: So it was, it was a mystique that just was with the Phillies and the Mets. Um, There was a situation one time, I think it was 73 or 74. We opened the season, the Phillies did, in New York at Shea Stadium. Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, great opening day matchup. I wasn't the everyday first baseman, but all of a sudden I played opening day and hit cleanup against Seaver.
00:21:31
Speaker 1: Wow.
00:21:31
Speaker 2: How about that? So that's how crazy it was.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: Did he ever say anything to you about the fact that you had his number?
00:21:39
Speaker 3: Not in person.
00:21:41
Speaker 2: I was always afraid.
00:21:42
Speaker 3: To speak to him, to mess up the mystique. But I did, on a couple of occasions, hear him doing interviews when people asked him who the toughest hitters were that he had to face. And I will say, in the group, he always mentioned me.
00:22:03
Speaker 2: So that was good.
00:22:06
Speaker 1: That's pretty excellent, man. Hall of Famer, mentioning your name and toughest guys to get out.
00:22:15
Speaker 3: Bella, Bella, Bella, where?
00:22:18
Speaker 6: I don't know where Bella is, but I know how to take care of my pup.
00:22:22
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00:23:14
Speaker 1: A little bit of a tougher one, I guess, for you because this organization, this franchise industry, just since you've been with them, a lot of team success and a lot of individual success. So I'm going to ask you, if you can, to name your Mount Rushmore of Marlins players, the four most iconic names in Marlins franchise history, player-wise, since 97. Or if you want to go its entire history, that's good, too.
00:23:38
Speaker 2: Well, I think if you.
00:23:40
Speaker 3: See, you've got to pick some guys on the World Series teams. And it would be hard... Well, you've got to have Niner on there. You've got to have Mr.
00:23:53
Speaker 2: Marlins. Definitely.
00:23:56
Speaker 3: And we're just talking players. Cause I think if you include everybody, you'd have to include Jack and Leland.
00:24:01
Speaker 2: So we'll, we'll just stick with the players.
00:24:06
Speaker 3: Man, this is a tough one because we we've been doing this in the booth, trying to go before the game, sitting around Kyle and I talking about who was the best Marlins reliever starters. I would have to throw Jose Fernandez in that Mount Rushmore because of what he meant to the franchise.
00:24:30
Speaker 2: Maybe a LaVon Hernandez, a Dontrell. Okay.
00:24:34
Speaker 3: Guys who brought it and the fans really related to. And there were other guys that just weren't around long enough, like Pudge, you know, behind the plate in 03. Mikey Lowell, always one of my favorites. So Mount Rushmore is going to be a lot more than four. Let me just put it that way.
00:24:55
Speaker 1: It's tough to pick two. And you didn't even mention the only Cy Young Award winner in franchise history and the only MVP. And I was like, I don't want to play recency bias, but it'd be hard to omit those two as well. And Giancarlo Stanton and Sandy Alcantara at this point, no?
00:25:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would have to throw.
00:25:10
Speaker 3: And yeah, I'm thinking in the past, but certainly what Sandy has done, he's on it. Giancarlo, yeah, that's the MVP. I don't think I worked that year, the year he hit 59. I think I sat and watched at home on that one.
00:25:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do recall, I guess, yeah, that season. I forget who was doing color with Rich, but you're right. You were not on there. And I guess Luis Casillo is another one.
00:25:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. It's a bunch of guys. It's incredible.
00:25:38
Speaker 3: And I'll ask you guys, because we had this conversation the other day. All-time, who's maybe not with the most? Who's the all-time closer?
00:25:48
Speaker 7: Right.
00:25:48
Speaker 2: In Marlins history.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: It's tough.
00:25:50
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:25:52
Speaker 3: Because even on the World Series teams, guys were there. Like, Ugether Bina was not there that long. But he certainly helped them.
00:25:58
Speaker 4: Mariano Rivera's or Trevor Hoffman's that were just here for 10, 15 years.
00:26:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, we came up with Antonio Alfonseca and Steve Ciszek.
00:26:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:26:11
Speaker 2: Those are the ones we came up with.
00:26:14
Speaker 4: Steve C-Sheck was also just a cult hero because he came in in relief of Heath Bell that year, which I think also gave himself to the fans a lot. If you're going by peak, Tanner Scott's 2023 was incredible. Yeah, Ugas Urbina was very good, and Tony Alphonsega.
00:26:33
Speaker 2: But see, so many guys weren't there that long.
00:26:36
Speaker 5: Right.
00:26:37
Speaker 1: Well, I think the one name also is A.J. Ramos, who I think was I think he was the closer for longer than Stiszek. Anyway, our co-host, AJ Ramos, all-star.
00:26:48
Speaker 3: AJ was similar with Alphonseka.
00:26:50
Speaker 1: Right.
00:26:51
Speaker 2: For like three or four years.
00:26:52
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:26:52
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:26:53
Speaker 1: Let me ask, where did Leo Nunez fall in that category, Tommy?
00:27:00
Speaker 2: He fell out of that category. That's where he fell.
00:27:03
Speaker 1: And then the only other like sort of one-year guys, Brad Ziegler was a closer. Brandon Kintzler was a closer. Yeah. And then during the late.
00:27:11
Speaker 2: Benitez. Armando Benitez.
00:27:13
Speaker 1: Armando Benitez, another closer.
00:27:15
Speaker 4: That's what I was thinking of in 2004. Yeah.
00:27:18
Speaker 1: Nowadays, Pete Ferry. You're right, Tommy. It's a good question. The all-time best reliever in franchise history.
00:27:24
Speaker 2: Wow.
00:27:24
Speaker 1: Who will be the first reliever on the Marlins Museum? That's a good question.
00:27:28
Speaker 2: See, there's a good one for you.
00:27:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, indeed. I don't know who we'd go with unless Crutchick has any other guess, but.
00:27:36
Speaker 4: No, I'm trying to– I'm on baseball reference to jog my memory of all these one-year wonders. And, yeah, I think we might have named all of them.
00:27:46
Speaker 1: We might have named all of them.
00:27:47
Speaker 4: I'll always remember Matt Lindstrom because that was at a time where not a lot of guys were throwing triple digits.
00:27:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was hitting 100, yeah.
00:27:55
Speaker 4: Yes, he was. That was back when you can name every single pitcher that was throwing 100. Right.
00:28:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, now they all do. Now they all do.
00:28:04
Speaker 5: Exactly.
00:28:07
Speaker 4: Um, Tommy, so, so actually this is a great segue to this question. And if it's too broad of a question, I'll even let you pick between the pro player era and the Marlins park era, which were your favorite non-championship teams to cover?
00:28:24
Speaker 3: Well, I, I'll be honest, the years all kind of come together. So you, you guys help me out probably the, the, uh, in the pro player era, the, Cantu, Hanley.
00:28:39
Speaker 2: Ugla, Jacobs, that group.
00:28:42
Speaker 4: 2008.
00:28:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, 2008.
00:28:44
Speaker 2: Cody Ross.
00:28:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a good group of guys, some fun guys, but didn't win a championship.
00:28:55
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:28:55
Speaker 2: And I would say in the.
00:28:58
Speaker 3: Lone Depot era, The very first, when Jose Reyes came and all those guys came, that was kind of fun.
00:29:11
Speaker 2: Didn't work out.
00:29:13
Speaker 3: And even the guys, when, again, help me out with years, Stanton, Yellich, Ozuna, Real Muto, didn't win anything. Didn't win a championship and certainly had guys that were capable to take you the whole way.
00:29:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the pro player era, the 2009 season, although the 2008 season is when all four infielders hit the 25 home runs, 2009 was when Coghlan won Rookie of the Year, Hanley won the batting title, and that was probably the best team, non-championship team of that era. And then in the 20, I guess the new ballpark era, the 2017 team, when Stanton hit one MVP, Ozuna hit 37 home runs, Yelich was doing well. It was so surprising to me that that team just couldn't come up with not even a playoff spot, not, they still haven't hosted a playoff game at Lone Depot park. Unfortunately, just how, how, how is that possible?
00:30:07
Speaker 3: Well, you talk to other organizations and they'll tell you it's possible or other organizations that have been around 50 years and haven't won a world series. So it's a tough thing to do. The, the number one thing.
00:30:20
Speaker 2: Is just get there.
00:30:21
Speaker 3: And that's why even this year, the Marlins still they're, they're, Four games back, I think, right now in the wild card, the third wild card. But you still have a chance. And if you get there, you never know because the game is so crazy. You can run up against a team that's cold. Your guys can get hot all of a sudden. So that's the whole key is just to try to get there.
00:30:45
Speaker 4: Indeed.
00:30:45
Speaker 1: Anything can happen once you're in.
00:30:47
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00:31:37
Speaker 1: Tommy, really appreciate the time. We got one last one for you before we let you go and enjoy your off day. Your all-time favorite rant?
00:31:49
Speaker 3: Probably the play at the plate with Jeff Mathis when Mike Redman got thrown out.
00:31:56
Speaker 2: Here's the call.
00:31:58
Speaker 5: He's safe.
00:32:00
Speaker 2: Game's going to change from this day on. And mark down the date, July 31st, 2014.
00:32:05
Speaker 1: Mike Redman right now rips his shirt off, throws his hat.
00:32:10
Speaker 2: I feel like doing the same thing.
00:32:22
Speaker 1: A major league catcher himself.
00:32:24
Speaker 5: Get your money's worth, get your money's worth.
00:32:28
Speaker 3: The rule was new at that point and it really did change everything. And I think I said something to that effect that, you know, from this day on the game's going to be changed and it has been, uh, that's probably a good, we had a good one on the, uh, Niger Morgan, the Gabby Sanchez, Gabby Sanchez, Niger Morgan.
00:32:48
Speaker 2: That wasn't a rant though. That was just fun.
00:32:50
Speaker 3: Uh, Also, Gabby involved on that ground ball he hit because this came to play the other day after the ball that Sonoha.
00:32:59
Speaker 2: Hit was called foul.
00:33:01
Speaker 3: The ball that Gabby hit and Bob Davidson was the third base umpire. That was a pretty good rant, especially when Rich and I saw the replay back. There was no doubt that ball was fair, and Davidson just missed it.
00:33:15
Speaker 1: And he wasn't even looking. He was looking toward the play. The ball was behind him, landing in fair ground on left field. And yeah, that's the one that I can remember. And the Nigel Morgan one was tough. There was another one where Reyes was charged with an error, which was just unjustified. And I think you had to leave the microphone for a bit.
00:33:35
Speaker 3: I think I left the microphone to go over and say a few words to the scorekeeper, the official scorekeeper.
00:33:41
Speaker 1: That's... Well, that's just awesome. So I don't think there's a better way to end it. Tommy, again, we really appreciate the time. And for everyone listening, thank you. For Alex, for Mr. Tommy Hunt and myself, thank you all for listening. And as always, go fish.
00:33:58
Speaker 3: Hey, you guys have been great for the Marlins. Thanks for having me on. And I still have some games left, so I'll see you at the ballpark.
00:34:05
Speaker 2: I got nine games left.
00:34:06
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Only a few homestands left to go catch your Miami Marlins push for a postseason spot. So we hope we don't see What we saw this week with their ballpark completely flooded with the opposing team's fans. Hopefully the fans come out and show up for a lot of fun matchups coming up with the Cubs and Dodgers.
00:34:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
00:34:22
Speaker 3: Dodgers always bring a boatload of fans, so they'll have theirs. But if you remember, it was last year when the Dodgers were in town. It was when Shohei went crazy and hit all those home runs and sold some bases.
00:34:35
Speaker 1: Yeah. 50-50, the six for six with three home runs for Shohei Otani. We'll never forget it. Thank you so much again, Tommy. We really appreciate it.
00:34:43
Speaker 2: All right, guys. Thanks a lot. Take care.
