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Speaker 1: From the Berkshires to the sound. From wherever you live in MLB America, this is Inside the Parker. You give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the scoop on Major League Baseball. Now, here's Baseball Hall of Fame voter number 57.
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Speaker 2: You have another hot take.
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Speaker 3: Will not N.O.T. make the playoffs. Don't hand me the money.
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Speaker 1: Rob Parker.
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Speaker 2: Come on!
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Speaker 4: I've been covering Major League Baseball for almost 40 years now.
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Speaker 3: In New York, in Cincinnati, in Detroit, in L.A. I love this game. Let's go!
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Speaker 4: Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker. What a show we have for you today. Former Major League Slugger, Demetri Young. He's managing in the Pioneer League, and guess what? He's got a terrible losing streak going. He'll explain how bad it is. Plus, from MLBBro.com, Cam Bryce, he's up there in Worcester, Mass., looking at the Red Sox and their minor leaguers and players coming through. He'll give us some insight on their postseason run, that, and much more.
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Speaker 3: Let's go.
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Speaker 1: To lead off, it's getting robbed. Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories in Major League Baseball.
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Speaker 3: Number one.
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Speaker 4: The new sheriff in town is Jacob Mizorowski.
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Speaker 3: With the Milwaukee Brewers. Can we stop?
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Speaker 4: I know Paul Skeens had the greatest start of a pitcher. It seemed like he was going to be unbelievable. He started his rookie year in the All-Star Game. Won a Cy Young, all that stuff. But Jacob Mizorowski with the Brewers. has had an unbelievable season. Coming into Thursday, he's going to start against the Mets at Citi Field.
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Speaker 5: 13-5.
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Speaker 3: You ready?
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Speaker 4: ERA 1.68.
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Speaker 3: A stingy 1.68. 216 strikeouts. He's been a monster. And if the Brewers are.
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Speaker 4: Going to break this postseason record, streak of futility. I mean, he's got to be a reason why if you pitch this guy every three games, I mean, I don't know.
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Speaker 3: He's been incredible. It's amazing to see.
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Speaker 4: Where someone can turn their career into lightning that quickly. And obviously he had a great rookie year, but man, this year he's taken another step and he's going to be the National League Cy Young hands down No competition, and people were talking about Shohei Ohtani to start the year. Maybe he would win the Cy Young. Jacob Mizorowski is the real deal and is going to be the Cy Young in the National League.
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Speaker 3: Number two. Yes, Kyle Rawley has hit some home runs.
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Speaker 4: He actually had three home runs in one game recently, and people are like, maybe, just maybe he's awake.
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Speaker 3: Coming into Thursday, he has 18 home runs. Think about this.
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Speaker 4: Last year, he had 60 as a catcher, the most by a catcher ever in a season. Bob Nightingale of USA Today put together some stats and numbers, and guess what? Kyle Raleigh's not going to make it to 32 in the month. You know, he needs a lot of home runs to get to that number.
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Speaker 3: And if he doesn't, he'll be the first player.
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Speaker 4: To have hit 60 home runs one season and not reach the 32 home run plateau in the following season. He'd have the lowest home run total of any player who had 60 home runs the following season. It almost reminds me of Brady Anderson with the Orioles. Do you remember Brady Anderson? He had 50 home runs one year to next year. He finished with 18. That's all Brady Anderson had. Is Kyle Raleigh the next Brady Anderson? I mean, it's unbelievable. He had 60 home runs last year. Coming into Thursday's action, only 59 total hits. Impossible. Batting 167. September's around the corner. How could this be? It's the biggest drop-off I've seen.
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Speaker 3: I mean, it's incredible. what has happened in one year's time.
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Speaker 1: Number three.
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Speaker 3: I've got to say it. I don't care what anybody said. Aaron Boone from the New York Yankees should be the manager of the year in the American League.
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Speaker 4: All the injuries, including Aaron Judge, John Carlos Stanton, just Cody Bellinger was hurt.
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Speaker 3: We could go on and on and on about all the injuries, even the pitchers.
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Speaker 4: Max Freed been hurt a couple times this year. Garrett Cole was on the injury list to start the year. I can just go on and on and on, and guess what? Coming into Thursday, three and a half games out of first place in the AL East, secured in a good spot in the wild card to make the postseason. And this is what Aaron Judge missing game since May. I mean, we're about to be in September. He's just going to come back. Most teams would have fallen by the wayside when you lose a player of Aaron Judge's caliber.
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Speaker 3: Like you can't maintain that.
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Speaker 4: Somehow Aaron Boone has been able to put the pieces parts together and hold this Yankee team together.
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Speaker 3: If Judge comes back, and can get his groove back.
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Speaker 4: And start hitting the way we know he's capable of hitting with the pitching staff that they have, the Yankees have the best pitching staff, best ERA in the whole game. That's lethal. If Judge and Stanton maybe and some other players who have been banged up can come back and put this team back together. But I really believe Aaron Boone should be the AL manager of the year.
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Speaker 3: Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn. Ooh, it's so good.
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Speaker 4: All right, now let's welcome into the podcast one of my favorite people, former Major League outfielder and first baseman, designated hitter, Demetri Young, who is now the manager in the Pioneer League of the Red Pocket Mobile.
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Speaker 3: And Demetri, first, how are you, buddy? And it's great to have you.
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Speaker 5: On the podcast. Hey, I'm doing wonderful, Rob. You know, we're out here playing ball. And, I mean, we can talk about the season, the record, and everything going on. But first and foremost, I've been mentoring these young men, you know, to learn how to play with adversity and things that just don't go your way. And for us... We don't have a home field. We don't have a home team. So, yeah, you didn't hear like a name in front of Red Pocket Mobile. We're just the Red Pocket Mobiles. No city name attached to it because we're not attached to a city.
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Speaker 4: Well, this is the part that's so interesting and why I wanted to get you on the podcast. So you play all your games on the road. And now coming into Thursday, you have lost 32 straight games in the Pioneer League. You're trying to snap that on Thursday night. And if you don't, if you lose three more games, you'd have the all-time record.
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Speaker 3: How has that been?
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Speaker 4: Obviously not being at home, but losing 32 games.
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Speaker 3: How are you keeping the guys' spirits up?
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Speaker 5: You know what, Rob? It goes back to 2003 with the Tigers when we lost 119 games and We're playing with a bunch of young players, and we have the ultimate in disadvantages, which I tell the guys that we still have to go out there and play. But when you have no home field, we had the lowest payroll in the league, so recruiting was tough. When we go to these stadiums, we're always the visitors. We're never the home team. So with saying all that, I think there's 18 walk-offs in this Pioneer League season, and we own 13 of them.
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Speaker 4: Oh, my.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, we've been walked off 13 times.
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Speaker 3: And you also.
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Speaker 4: Have a brutal record in one-run games, don't you? It's not like you're getting blown out every night.
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Speaker 5: No, four in 24 one-run games. We've lost over 30 games when leading in the seventh inning. And it just comes down to, I won't even say the recruiting process, because after the league starts, people start getting released left and right. And then you start filtering in some better players. But then we got to the point where we had so many of those one round losses that we've just been mathematically eliminated. So August 9th, we wound up trading eight players to different teams and So they can make the playoffs. And for me, now the outlook is we're bringing players in from a lesser league called the Pecos League and the Maverick League to kind of, you know, get your feet wet in the Pioneer League. Because right now, that's all we're doing. I'm not even focused on the losses. I'm more concerned with these guys getting their work in, you know, getting their feet wet, taking their bumps and bruises a la... The 2003 Tigers, because we know how it all turned out three years later. So we're going through that same type of process. with young men that, you know, want to play at a home field, want to have their car with them, you know, be with a host family. They have none of that.
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Speaker 3: Right.
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Speaker 4: And God knows we know because we went through that 2003 season together.
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Speaker 3: You as a player, me as a reporter.
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Speaker 4: We saw a ton of losses in Detroit during that time.
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Speaker 3: But you're right.
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Speaker 4: 2006, they're in the World Series. So things can happen. Our guest is former Major League slugger Demetri Young, who is the manager of the Red Pocket Mobiles of the Pioneer League, trying to avoid.
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Speaker 3: A date with.
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Speaker 4: Infamy and losing 32 games in a row coming into Thursday, but trying to avoid the all-time record, which is, what, 35 losses?
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Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
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Speaker 4: But, Dimitri, talk about your journey as a manager and what do you want to do with your career going forward? I mean, would you like to be a big league skipper? You know, what's your long-term goal for you doing this?
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Speaker 5: Well, first and foremost, I absolutely love independent ball, in particular the Pioneer League. I'm my own boss, pretty much. I have a GM to answer to, but the answers that we talk about is bringing in players and things of that nature. We're not talking about analytics and launch angle and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah that's going on and everything. major league baseball and minor league baseball. And to them, I'm a dinosaur. You know what I'm saying? It's like the stuff that, that I talk about with the hitters, I'm not talking about getting a 33 degree launch angle on the ball. It's like, get that damn head out. You know, you're catching the ball. Behind your contact point, you got to get that head out and you got to swing. And us old schoolers say swing down to the ball. And that's just your hands. We're not talking about your barrel going down because your barrel is going to have a Nike swoosh and kind of have like a slight uppercut. But the analytical people don't understand that kind of talk. So that's why I've never been hired by an organization. And, you know, we get these kids here that are yearning to go play in an organization. So we serve as a platform for those young players that we sign. And that's throughout our league, the Frontier League, American Association, and the Atlantic League, which we call the Core Four.
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Speaker 4: Dimitri, I know you love working with the mentoring and the young people, but I know you had to get a kick the other day the Little League World Series.
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Speaker 3: We're going to put this clip up. But a kid comes up.
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Speaker 4: And they looked at him and they said, he reminds me of Demetri Young, Demet Hook, your nickname. They gave you a beautiful shout out with your nickname and everything. I don't know if you were watching it or somebody sent it to you, saw it afterwards. But when you heard that, that had to be cool to see.
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Speaker 5: You know, it is very cool to see that my name is still randomly thrown out there. And I feel like I have a cult following. You know what I'm saying? When stuff is said like that. I was actually watching the game myself.
00:13:17
Speaker 3: I got a call here with the bat waggle.
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Speaker 2: See if you like this.
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Speaker 3: Dimitri Young.
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Speaker 5: Oh, yeah.
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Speaker 2: He's from Camarillo. Is he?
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Speaker 5: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: The meat hook.
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Speaker 2: That's what we call him.
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Speaker 1: That's right.
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Speaker 3: The meat hook.
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Speaker 2: Another one out of play.
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Speaker 1: Similar spot, but this time the bat stays intact. One of the great characters, too, which is a good guy.
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Speaker 3: The main hook, Demetri Young.
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Speaker 1: Couldn't break.
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Speaker 3: That's unbelievable. That's unbelievable.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm watching the game and fellow Camarillo and Jessica Mendoza brought it up. And I was like, oh, my goodness, you know. And I recorded the video and sent it to my teammates, sent it to you, sent it to my family. And yeah, it's always cool getting that little shout out because, you know, I get a little street cred with these kids now because most of them didn't see me play. They're all my kids age. Right. So they're not going to know who the meat hook is, but their favorite player knows who the meat hook is.
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Speaker 3: 100 percent. I appreciate you. Thanks what you're doing with the with the young people mentoring.
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Speaker 4: You know, that's a big part of my life as well.
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Speaker 3: So I appreciate that from you as well. And we'll talk down the road.
00:14:27
Speaker 4: Demetri Young, former Major League Slugger, joining us here on Inside the Parker.
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Speaker 3: All right, man, break that streak. We'll talk to you soon. Yes, sir. Peace.
00:14:38
Speaker 1: In case you missed Rob Parker on the MLB Network, here's his latest appearance on MLB Now.
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Speaker 2: Rob Parker's back in the showdown. Rob, good to see you again, my friend. How are you?
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Speaker 3: I'm great, BK. How are you?
00:14:51
Speaker 6: Excellent.
00:14:51
Speaker 2: We just had Brandon Gomes on, Dodgers general manager. I think it's the best roster of the whole run, which is saying something. They've won 111, they've won 107, they've won two straight World Series. Your take on that?
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Speaker 4: That sounds good on paper, but this isn't a good Dodger team right now. I mean, they just came off a nice six-game winning streak.
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Speaker 2: It's not a good Dodger team. No, it's not. I know you're giving to hyperbole. You don't really mean that. It's a very good team. They lead their division by eight and a half. It's a good team at least. Please.
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Speaker 4: The difference between me and you is I live in Los Angeles and I watch them every night and I'm mostly disappointed when I've watched them play. And I got to say this, they beat up on the Rockies, the Pirates, they had a six game winning streak. As soon as they go play a good team, they go back to where they are. They're like under 500 in August.
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Speaker 3: Guys aren't hitting consistently. I just, I watch it. I'm not impressed. They should not win the third world series with this team.
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Speaker 4: I will.
00:15:51
Speaker 2: Here's where you're right. Look, sometimes you're right. Look, I was look, I was like, didn't they just get swept by the Cubs?
00:15:55
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: Didn't they just get swept by the Red Sox? Yeah, they could get swept by the Braves. You're you're on to something. But they're so deep, Rob, they're not going to put together the Death Star until the end. And then their pitching is six, seven deep. It's insanely good at the top end. Their pitching alone is going to get them a World Series.
00:16:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, technically, I mean, most of the time you're right. Pitching is what you need in a postseason.
00:16:21
Speaker 4: But they're hitting and what's going on with Mookie and Freddie Freeman and some of the other guys is alarming.
00:16:28
Speaker 3: It just is.
00:16:29
Speaker 4: Kyle Tucker is batting 230 and we're about to turn the page to September. Yeah.
00:16:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's not been good. He has not been good.
00:16:37
Speaker 3: He's been awful, not good. You're being nice. He's been awful.
00:16:41
Speaker 4: And imagine paying that dude $ 60 million for this.
00:16:45
Speaker 3: Wow.
00:16:46
Speaker 2: You are correct on that.
00:16:47
Speaker 5: Right.
00:16:48
Speaker 2: I try to be kind. I'm here.
00:16:49
Speaker 3: Look.
00:16:50
Speaker 2: It's the money, right? So, like, once you get past the money, like, he's below league average. Diaz has been– that's a bad season. No two ways around it. But, again, out of nowhere, oh, here's Blake Snell. Now he's ready to go. Oh, here's Tyler Glasnow.
00:17:04
Speaker 3: He's ready to go.
00:17:04
Speaker 2: Oh, Shohei Otani will be pitching next week. Waves of guys coming out, superstars coming out of the woodwork.
00:17:11
Speaker 4: I hear you, but you just mentioned it. When they're playing better teams, they just haven't seemed.
00:17:16
Speaker 3: To be able to win. And when Milwaukee.
00:17:19
Speaker 4: Again crumbled last year, Milwaukee showed up in that series against the Dodgers, and I think they might have scored two runs in three games. They just couldn't hit to save their lives. Are we going to have a repeat of that? I just think too many things. Too many teams are better when they play better competition.
00:17:36
Speaker 3: And they might win. I don't see it. I'd be stunned if the Dodgers won the World Series. Stunned.
00:17:42
Speaker 2: Well, maybe you're stunned all the time. Kyle Schwarber ties the Phillies record with his fourth 40 home run season, building a Hall of Fame resume. Rob, your thoughts on Schwarber?
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Speaker 4: No, unless he gets to 500 home runs, he's not a Hall of Famer.
00:17:55
Speaker 3: I'm not buying into that. He's Dave Kingman with a left-handed swing. That's what he is.
00:18:00
Speaker 2: That's terrible. No, it's not. I've shown you the numbers on that. It's not true. It's simply not true. Now, your point is, and we're leading the witness here, You're saying Ryan Howard was a better hitter, which, okay, that's a comp. All right, I'll give you that because I know you threw that my way. Just I'll throw up here. Their six-year peak, right, which favors Howard, too. Schwarber's only had six years now, you know, where he's been fully healthy. The weighted runs created plus, that's right in the middle, is dead even. Howard is a little more productive runs created. That's RC at the bottom. He's got an edge. RBI's an edge. Home run's about the same. It's a good comp, and that's saying something. Go ahead.
00:18:36
Speaker 3: I'm going to tell you why. Ryan Howard, go look.
00:18:39
Speaker 4: Your stats didn't dig into the postseason, where if you look in the postseason, Ryan Howard has better postseason numbers.
00:18:48
Speaker 3: He had, I think, 34 RBIs. in 46 postseason games.
00:18:54
Speaker 7: If we go to Kyle Schwarber, he has 37 RBIs in 73 games, 23 of those RBIs being solo home runs and not knocking people in.
00:19:05
Speaker 2: He's benched 2,000 in the postseason. Ryan Howard had Chase Utley in front of him and Jimmy Rollins, two guys I tout for the Hall of Fame, and you don't. So, like, you know, he had great players in front of him. Howard was an outstanding player. I think Schwarber clearly is right there with him. And I haven't looked at the postseason numbers. I don't know if what you're saying is true. I have to actually look at it.
00:19:23
Speaker 3: What do you mean? You know they're true, BK.
00:19:25
Speaker 2: What do you mean? You're throwing RBIs at me in games, RBIs per game. It's a very specious thing. Like, who's on base? We don't know. Overall, hitting is fine.
00:19:34
Speaker 4: I'm giving you that he batted 234 in the postseason. I don't care who's on base. That's what he's batting. He's not a performer in the big in the clutch moment.
00:19:45
Speaker 2: He's not a clutch performer.
00:19:48
Speaker 5: No, no.
00:19:49
Speaker 2: 234.
00:19:49
Speaker 3: Is never good in any circumstance. And here's the other one.
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Speaker 4: 37 RBIs in 73 postseason games?
00:19:58
Speaker 3: That's not good. It's terrible.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: Don't have the numbers in front of me. I didn't prepare for that. I'll prepare. I'll come back. I'll do my homework. I'll come back, and I'll refute probably most everything you say. But okay, I'll buy what you're saying. How about this? All right, you and I, we've covered, we've been in this business for decades now. I saw the news, Rob, that the NFL was basically scrapping the Pro Bowl and everything around it. They're getting rid of their All-Star game, and they're not going back.
00:20:23
Speaker 3: I don't know.
00:20:23
Speaker 2: That bothered me. We know that every All-Star game has diminished. Baseball's the best, but is this a message for baseball, too, that you've got to keep these things relevant? NBA All-Star game? Nowhere near the same. And the NFL Pro Bowl is gone. Your thoughts?
00:20:41
Speaker 4: I think it's a testament to baseball that the players still play the game. No one's throwing the ball underhanded. No one's trying to let somebody hit home runs in their home ballpark or whatever it is, that they still play a real game. That's what happened to the demise of the Pro Bowl. Guys stopped playing. BK, look at the NHL All-Star Game.
00:21:04
Speaker 3: The final score is 16-14.
00:21:06
Speaker 4: There are no hockey games where you score.
00:21:09
Speaker 3: That many goals. Same thing in the NBA. A couple of years ago, we saw a score of 200.
00:21:14
Speaker 4: What basketball game.
00:21:17
Speaker 3: Has a score of 200?
00:21:19
Speaker 2: But NHL, to be fair, just the NHL also did an international.
00:21:23
Speaker 5: Right.
00:21:23
Speaker 2: They did it with nations versus nations. That was pretty good.
00:21:27
Speaker 3: Right.
00:21:27
Speaker 2: So that's an idea of like, hey, create an edge for this. That's what the NHL did a nice job on that.
00:21:33
Speaker 4: What I'm saying is baseball, bravo to the players who.
00:21:37
Speaker 3: Still take it seriously.
00:21:39
Speaker 4: They don't discount it or make it a nothing burger. And that's what the other sports and players have done. They made it a nothing burger.
00:21:47
Speaker 2: It needs a little edge. Again, the home field advantage thing was good, I thought. Give it a little more edge and then you have guys really playing. You got to keep it edgy or it can go away. That's my only point. All right, Rob, we'll let you go. I've yelled at you enough. Thank you, Rob.
00:22:01
Speaker 4: Hey, do your homework on Kyle Schwarber and you're going to be in my camp.
00:22:05
Speaker 2: See, like finding little things. Oh, did you see in this playoff series? He didn't.
00:22:08
Speaker 1: All right.
00:22:09
Speaker 2: Thank you, Rob.
00:22:09
Speaker 1: We'll see you next week. When Rob was a newspaper columnist, he lived by this motto. If I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in a writer or broadcaster, old or new.
00:22:21
Speaker 4: Now let's welcome into the podcast Cam Bryce. He's a reporter, content producer for MLBbro.com. Also, he works for the Worcester- Red Sox in their production handle unit there as well. Cam, welcome to the podcast, my man. I appreciate you.
00:22:39
Speaker 3: How are you?
00:22:41
Speaker 8: Thank you for having me on.
00:22:42
Speaker 3: I appreciate it. I'm good. You know what? Just living in another day. Nice day outside.
00:22:47
Speaker 8: It's not raining in the mass area.
00:22:49
Speaker 3: So I think we have a good day today. There you go. Hey, let's talk about one of the Red Sox young stars.
00:22:58
Speaker 4: Roman Anthony was in Worcester, right, getting ready to make his return to the Red Sox.
00:23:03
Speaker 3: Just talk about what that was like. People, I'm sure, were excited that he was in the ballpark.
00:23:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know.
00:23:10
Speaker 8: We became familiar with Roman. I mean, last year, Roman was here. He went through his struggles with Christian Campbell. You saw Marcelo Mayer, those big three that they used to have. Now Marcelo is in San Francisco. Christian Campbell's back still in Worcester, making his way back to the MLB. But seeing Roman Anthony... There was like nothing changed. Still the same baseball player. Clyde was in his own world, wanted to get his work in, but he was just happy to be back playing baseball. He had that wrist injury. And then they said they went at the rehab very hard. They wanted to get back as fast as he can. And then the wrist injury made some. over the last couple months and they had to be sent back down. Then he had a whole month where he was playing no baseball, no working out. They were like, just sit on.
00:23:58
Speaker 3: The couch, watch baseball.
00:24:00
Speaker 8: So now it's good to see him. Now the Red Sox are about five, six games ahead of that first wildcard spot. You get Roman Anthony back, you get Trevor Story back. It's opening ways for the Red Sox at the beginning of the year. At the All-Star break, we were like, hey, are they going to fire their whole staff they already got rid of alex cora was the gms going to go was it a president going to go let's talk about.
00:24:24
Speaker 4: That i mean let's talk about it because a lot of people thought the red socks were crazy go back and look at all the people who are mad that they got rid of alex cora oh they don't know what they're doing they blame the front office they went off and they turned their season around with an epic turnaround and you know they're poised to make it they haven't locked up a postseason spot, but they're in good shape, like you said, about five or six games in the wildcard.
00:24:51
Speaker 3: But there's still a lot of baseball to be played.
00:24:53
Speaker 4: Another month to go, the final month of the regular season. But how surprised are you about the turnaround?
00:25:02
Speaker 8: You know, I'm actually not surprised because baseball is that one game where it doesn't matter how many star players you got. It doesn't matter how many guys can hit 40 home runs. If you don't have the team chemistry and if everyone's not playing their role and everyone's not on the same page, then nothing's going to work out. We've seen it with so many great teams. Never make the posties. I mean, look at Mike Trout's career. All the good teams he's had. He's had Shohei Ohtani on his team. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani was on the same team. And they didn't sniffle playoffs. So it's like at that point, seeing what the Red Sox got in, they got in a guy named Caleb Durbin, who was shipped off. came back to the Red Sox. They thought he was just going to be a utility player. He was going down in triple A. No, he became their hottest hitter. And he kind of gained everyone else behind him. Then you started seeing Jaron Duran, who struggled earlier in the year, start to come back.
00:25:54
Speaker 2: Do you see a Roldis Chapman?
00:25:56
Speaker 8: Put him in the ninth inning. He's just lights out this year. He's probably had his best year in the past two to four years. So they're starting to have these young guys, these guys that's not highly talented, but they play baseball the right way.
00:26:09
Speaker 3: They get on base.
00:26:10
Speaker 8: They run, they steal a lot of bags and they're aggressive and they have a great bullpen and pitching staff.
00:26:15
Speaker 3: And that's the thing.
00:26:16
Speaker 8: The Red Sox can go as far as they want because they have the young talent. They have the guys that physically want to play baseball 100% effort every single play. They don't care if they strike out. They don't care if they get hit by a pitch. They'll take it. They'll risk their lives and their body. And then they also have a bunch of young guys that they can Possibly move up. I mean, they have one of the top prospects in baseball, Franklin Arias, who just got to AAA. He's already batting over 300, already had six home runs. So it's like they can have more help going come September. So I think the Red Sox are in a good spot. I'm not surprised. I am surprised how they did it and how they dominated against the top AL East teams. So this is a really interesting playoff for the Red Sox. And I think they might have a fighting chance.
00:27:04
Speaker 4: Do people think that they do have a fighting chance in the AL? The AL is not that strong, not that many great teams. All right. His name is Cam Bryce, MLBBro.com. And, of course, with the Worcester Red Sox in their production unit. Hey, Cam, thank you for your insight. We appreciate it.
00:27:21
Speaker 3: Thank you, buddy. Thank you, Rob.
00:27:23
Speaker 1: It's time for a trip down memory lane, here on Inside the Parker. Rob Parker has covered Major League Baseball for 40 years. Now, let's relive a memorable moment of his career.
00:27:35
Speaker 4: One of the most inspiring columns I ever wrote on baseball happened in 2006 for the Detroit News. During that 2006 season, Demetri Young went through a divorce, was treated for alcohol and substance abuse and depression, Enter June and Demetri Young comes out of a voluntary rehabilitation center and he heads to Florida to start the comeback trail. My paper, the Detroit News, tells me get on a plane and go to Florida and go try.
00:28:13
Speaker 3: To talk to Demetri Young.
00:28:15
Speaker 4: For sure, it's not an easy thing to get an athlete to open up and to talk about the trials and tribulations they've been through in their personal life. But Demetri Young and I had a good enough relationship that when I showed up to Florida as the only reporter there and approached him about telling his story, Demetri Young agreed to talk to me. The story ran on page one of the Detroit News.
00:28:47
Speaker 3: It was a big story in the city.
00:28:49
Speaker 6: And although Demetri Young came back to the Tigers, he was released in September of 2006. But in 2007, he joined the Washington Nationals and had a resurgence in his.
00:29:03
Speaker 3: Career, reaching the All-Star break with a.
00:29:07
Speaker 4: 340 batting average. And he was named to a second All-Star team in his career. He was also named the National League Comeback Player of the Year in 2007. So the story wound up with a happy ending. In the words of New York TV legend, the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time this time.
00:29:35
Speaker 3: Until next time, Rob Parker out. He can't get it. This could be an inside to Parker.
00:29:41
Speaker 2: See you next week. Same bat time, same bat station.
Speaker 1: From the Berkshires to the sound. From wherever you live in MLB America, this is Inside the Parker. You give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the scoop on Major League Baseball. Now, here's Baseball Hall of Fame voter number 57.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: You have another hot take.
00:00:18
Speaker 3: Will not N.O.T. make the playoffs. Don't hand me the money.
00:00:22
Speaker 1: Rob Parker.
00:00:25
Speaker 2: Come on!
00:00:26
Speaker 4: I've been covering Major League Baseball for almost 40 years now.
00:00:30
Speaker 3: In New York, in Cincinnati, in Detroit, in L.A. I love this game. Let's go!
00:00:42
Speaker 4: Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker. What a show we have for you today. Former Major League Slugger, Demetri Young. He's managing in the Pioneer League, and guess what? He's got a terrible losing streak going. He'll explain how bad it is. Plus, from MLBBro.com, Cam Bryce, he's up there in Worcester, Mass., looking at the Red Sox and their minor leaguers and players coming through. He'll give us some insight on their postseason run, that, and much more.
00:01:16
Speaker 3: Let's go.
00:01:18
Speaker 1: To lead off, it's getting robbed. Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories in Major League Baseball.
00:01:26
Speaker 3: Number one.
00:01:27
Speaker 4: The new sheriff in town is Jacob Mizorowski.
00:01:30
Speaker 3: With the Milwaukee Brewers. Can we stop?
00:01:33
Speaker 4: I know Paul Skeens had the greatest start of a pitcher. It seemed like he was going to be unbelievable. He started his rookie year in the All-Star Game. Won a Cy Young, all that stuff. But Jacob Mizorowski with the Brewers. has had an unbelievable season. Coming into Thursday, he's going to start against the Mets at Citi Field.
00:01:55
Speaker 5: 13-5.
00:01:56
Speaker 3: You ready?
00:01:57
Speaker 4: ERA 1.68.
00:01:57
Speaker 3: A stingy 1.68. 216 strikeouts. He's been a monster. And if the Brewers are.
00:02:00
Speaker 4: Going to break this postseason record, streak of futility. I mean, he's got to be a reason why if you pitch this guy every three games, I mean, I don't know.
00:02:22
Speaker 3: He's been incredible. It's amazing to see.
00:02:25
Speaker 4: Where someone can turn their career into lightning that quickly. And obviously he had a great rookie year, but man, this year he's taken another step and he's going to be the National League Cy Young hands down No competition, and people were talking about Shohei Ohtani to start the year. Maybe he would win the Cy Young. Jacob Mizorowski is the real deal and is going to be the Cy Young in the National League.
00:02:56
Speaker 3: Number two. Yes, Kyle Rawley has hit some home runs.
00:03:01
Speaker 4: He actually had three home runs in one game recently, and people are like, maybe, just maybe he's awake.
00:03:08
Speaker 3: Coming into Thursday, he has 18 home runs. Think about this.
00:03:13
Speaker 4: Last year, he had 60 as a catcher, the most by a catcher ever in a season. Bob Nightingale of USA Today put together some stats and numbers, and guess what? Kyle Raleigh's not going to make it to 32 in the month. You know, he needs a lot of home runs to get to that number.
00:03:35
Speaker 3: And if he doesn't, he'll be the first player.
00:03:38
Speaker 4: To have hit 60 home runs one season and not reach the 32 home run plateau in the following season. He'd have the lowest home run total of any player who had 60 home runs the following season. It almost reminds me of Brady Anderson with the Orioles. Do you remember Brady Anderson? He had 50 home runs one year to next year. He finished with 18. That's all Brady Anderson had. Is Kyle Raleigh the next Brady Anderson? I mean, it's unbelievable. He had 60 home runs last year. Coming into Thursday's action, only 59 total hits. Impossible. Batting 167. September's around the corner. How could this be? It's the biggest drop-off I've seen.
00:04:32
Speaker 3: I mean, it's incredible. what has happened in one year's time.
00:04:37
Speaker 1: Number three.
00:04:38
Speaker 3: I've got to say it. I don't care what anybody said. Aaron Boone from the New York Yankees should be the manager of the year in the American League.
00:04:50
Speaker 4: All the injuries, including Aaron Judge, John Carlos Stanton, just Cody Bellinger was hurt.
00:05:02
Speaker 3: We could go on and on and on about all the injuries, even the pitchers.
00:05:06
Speaker 4: Max Freed been hurt a couple times this year. Garrett Cole was on the injury list to start the year. I can just go on and on and on, and guess what? Coming into Thursday, three and a half games out of first place in the AL East, secured in a good spot in the wild card to make the postseason. And this is what Aaron Judge missing game since May. I mean, we're about to be in September. He's just going to come back. Most teams would have fallen by the wayside when you lose a player of Aaron Judge's caliber.
00:05:42
Speaker 3: Like you can't maintain that.
00:05:44
Speaker 4: Somehow Aaron Boone has been able to put the pieces parts together and hold this Yankee team together.
00:05:51
Speaker 3: If Judge comes back, and can get his groove back.
00:05:54
Speaker 4: And start hitting the way we know he's capable of hitting with the pitching staff that they have, the Yankees have the best pitching staff, best ERA in the whole game. That's lethal. If Judge and Stanton maybe and some other players who have been banged up can come back and put this team back together. But I really believe Aaron Boone should be the AL manager of the year.
00:06:20
Speaker 3: Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn. Ooh, it's so good.
00:06:24
Speaker 4: All right, now let's welcome into the podcast one of my favorite people, former Major League outfielder and first baseman, designated hitter, Demetri Young, who is now the manager in the Pioneer League of the Red Pocket Mobile.
00:06:43
Speaker 3: And Demetri, first, how are you, buddy? And it's great to have you.
00:06:48
Speaker 5: On the podcast. Hey, I'm doing wonderful, Rob. You know, we're out here playing ball. And, I mean, we can talk about the season, the record, and everything going on. But first and foremost, I've been mentoring these young men, you know, to learn how to play with adversity and things that just don't go your way. And for us... We don't have a home field. We don't have a home team. So, yeah, you didn't hear like a name in front of Red Pocket Mobile. We're just the Red Pocket Mobiles. No city name attached to it because we're not attached to a city.
00:07:26
Speaker 4: Well, this is the part that's so interesting and why I wanted to get you on the podcast. So you play all your games on the road. And now coming into Thursday, you have lost 32 straight games in the Pioneer League. You're trying to snap that on Thursday night. And if you don't, if you lose three more games, you'd have the all-time record.
00:07:51
Speaker 3: How has that been?
00:07:52
Speaker 4: Obviously not being at home, but losing 32 games.
00:07:55
Speaker 3: How are you keeping the guys' spirits up?
00:07:58
Speaker 5: You know what, Rob? It goes back to 2003 with the Tigers when we lost 119 games and We're playing with a bunch of young players, and we have the ultimate in disadvantages, which I tell the guys that we still have to go out there and play. But when you have no home field, we had the lowest payroll in the league, so recruiting was tough. When we go to these stadiums, we're always the visitors. We're never the home team. So with saying all that, I think there's 18 walk-offs in this Pioneer League season, and we own 13 of them.
00:08:39
Speaker 4: Oh, my.
00:08:40
Speaker 5: Yeah, we've been walked off 13 times.
00:08:43
Speaker 3: And you also.
00:08:43
Speaker 4: Have a brutal record in one-run games, don't you? It's not like you're getting blown out every night.
00:08:49
Speaker 5: No, four in 24 one-run games. We've lost over 30 games when leading in the seventh inning. And it just comes down to, I won't even say the recruiting process, because after the league starts, people start getting released left and right. And then you start filtering in some better players. But then we got to the point where we had so many of those one round losses that we've just been mathematically eliminated. So August 9th, we wound up trading eight players to different teams and So they can make the playoffs. And for me, now the outlook is we're bringing players in from a lesser league called the Pecos League and the Maverick League to kind of, you know, get your feet wet in the Pioneer League. Because right now, that's all we're doing. I'm not even focused on the losses. I'm more concerned with these guys getting their work in, you know, getting their feet wet, taking their bumps and bruises a la... The 2003 Tigers, because we know how it all turned out three years later. So we're going through that same type of process. with young men that, you know, want to play at a home field, want to have their car with them, you know, be with a host family. They have none of that.
00:10:10
Speaker 3: Right.
00:10:10
Speaker 4: And God knows we know because we went through that 2003 season together.
00:10:14
Speaker 3: You as a player, me as a reporter.
00:10:18
Speaker 4: We saw a ton of losses in Detroit during that time.
00:10:20
Speaker 3: But you're right.
00:10:21
Speaker 4: 2006, they're in the World Series. So things can happen. Our guest is former Major League slugger Demetri Young, who is the manager of the Red Pocket Mobiles of the Pioneer League, trying to avoid.
00:10:35
Speaker 3: A date with.
00:10:37
Speaker 4: Infamy and losing 32 games in a row coming into Thursday, but trying to avoid the all-time record, which is, what, 35 losses?
00:10:48
Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
00:10:49
Speaker 4: But, Dimitri, talk about your journey as a manager and what do you want to do with your career going forward? I mean, would you like to be a big league skipper? You know, what's your long-term goal for you doing this?
00:11:05
Speaker 5: Well, first and foremost, I absolutely love independent ball, in particular the Pioneer League. I'm my own boss, pretty much. I have a GM to answer to, but the answers that we talk about is bringing in players and things of that nature. We're not talking about analytics and launch angle and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah that's going on and everything. major league baseball and minor league baseball. And to them, I'm a dinosaur. You know what I'm saying? It's like the stuff that, that I talk about with the hitters, I'm not talking about getting a 33 degree launch angle on the ball. It's like, get that damn head out. You know, you're catching the ball. Behind your contact point, you got to get that head out and you got to swing. And us old schoolers say swing down to the ball. And that's just your hands. We're not talking about your barrel going down because your barrel is going to have a Nike swoosh and kind of have like a slight uppercut. But the analytical people don't understand that kind of talk. So that's why I've never been hired by an organization. And, you know, we get these kids here that are yearning to go play in an organization. So we serve as a platform for those young players that we sign. And that's throughout our league, the Frontier League, American Association, and the Atlantic League, which we call the Core Four.
00:12:32
Speaker 4: Dimitri, I know you love working with the mentoring and the young people, but I know you had to get a kick the other day the Little League World Series.
00:12:42
Speaker 3: We're going to put this clip up. But a kid comes up.
00:12:45
Speaker 4: And they looked at him and they said, he reminds me of Demetri Young, Demet Hook, your nickname. They gave you a beautiful shout out with your nickname and everything. I don't know if you were watching it or somebody sent it to you, saw it afterwards. But when you heard that, that had to be cool to see.
00:13:02
Speaker 5: You know, it is very cool to see that my name is still randomly thrown out there. And I feel like I have a cult following. You know what I'm saying? When stuff is said like that. I was actually watching the game myself.
00:13:17
Speaker 3: I got a call here with the bat waggle.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: See if you like this.
00:13:20
Speaker 3: Dimitri Young.
00:13:22
Speaker 5: Oh, yeah.
00:13:23
Speaker 2: He's from Camarillo. Is he?
00:13:25
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:13:26
Speaker 3: The meat hook.
00:13:26
Speaker 2: That's what we call him.
00:13:28
Speaker 1: That's right.
00:13:29
Speaker 3: The meat hook.
00:13:29
Speaker 2: Another one out of play.
00:13:31
Speaker 1: Similar spot, but this time the bat stays intact. One of the great characters, too, which is a good guy.
00:13:37
Speaker 3: The main hook, Demetri Young.
00:13:39
Speaker 1: Couldn't break.
00:13:40
Speaker 3: That's unbelievable. That's unbelievable.
00:13:43
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm watching the game and fellow Camarillo and Jessica Mendoza brought it up. And I was like, oh, my goodness, you know. And I recorded the video and sent it to my teammates, sent it to you, sent it to my family. And yeah, it's always cool getting that little shout out because, you know, I get a little street cred with these kids now because most of them didn't see me play. They're all my kids age. Right. So they're not going to know who the meat hook is, but their favorite player knows who the meat hook is.
00:14:15
Speaker 3: 100 percent. I appreciate you. Thanks what you're doing with the with the young people mentoring.
00:14:20
Speaker 4: You know, that's a big part of my life as well.
00:14:23
Speaker 3: So I appreciate that from you as well. And we'll talk down the road.
00:14:27
Speaker 4: Demetri Young, former Major League Slugger, joining us here on Inside the Parker.
00:14:31
Speaker 3: All right, man, break that streak. We'll talk to you soon. Yes, sir. Peace.
00:14:38
Speaker 1: In case you missed Rob Parker on the MLB Network, here's his latest appearance on MLB Now.
00:14:45
Speaker 2: Rob Parker's back in the showdown. Rob, good to see you again, my friend. How are you?
00:14:49
Speaker 3: I'm great, BK. How are you?
00:14:51
Speaker 6: Excellent.
00:14:51
Speaker 2: We just had Brandon Gomes on, Dodgers general manager. I think it's the best roster of the whole run, which is saying something. They've won 111, they've won 107, they've won two straight World Series. Your take on that?
00:15:03
Speaker 4: That sounds good on paper, but this isn't a good Dodger team right now. I mean, they just came off a nice six-game winning streak.
00:15:11
Speaker 2: It's not a good Dodger team. No, it's not. I know you're giving to hyperbole. You don't really mean that. It's a very good team. They lead their division by eight and a half. It's a good team at least. Please.
00:15:22
Speaker 4: The difference between me and you is I live in Los Angeles and I watch them every night and I'm mostly disappointed when I've watched them play. And I got to say this, they beat up on the Rockies, the Pirates, they had a six game winning streak. As soon as they go play a good team, they go back to where they are. They're like under 500 in August.
00:15:41
Speaker 3: Guys aren't hitting consistently. I just, I watch it. I'm not impressed. They should not win the third world series with this team.
00:15:50
Speaker 4: I will.
00:15:51
Speaker 2: Here's where you're right. Look, sometimes you're right. Look, I was look, I was like, didn't they just get swept by the Cubs?
00:15:55
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: Didn't they just get swept by the Red Sox? Yeah, they could get swept by the Braves. You're you're on to something. But they're so deep, Rob, they're not going to put together the Death Star until the end. And then their pitching is six, seven deep. It's insanely good at the top end. Their pitching alone is going to get them a World Series.
00:16:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, technically, I mean, most of the time you're right. Pitching is what you need in a postseason.
00:16:21
Speaker 4: But they're hitting and what's going on with Mookie and Freddie Freeman and some of the other guys is alarming.
00:16:28
Speaker 3: It just is.
00:16:29
Speaker 4: Kyle Tucker is batting 230 and we're about to turn the page to September. Yeah.
00:16:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's not been good. He has not been good.
00:16:37
Speaker 3: He's been awful, not good. You're being nice. He's been awful.
00:16:41
Speaker 4: And imagine paying that dude $ 60 million for this.
00:16:45
Speaker 3: Wow.
00:16:46
Speaker 2: You are correct on that.
00:16:47
Speaker 5: Right.
00:16:48
Speaker 2: I try to be kind. I'm here.
00:16:49
Speaker 3: Look.
00:16:50
Speaker 2: It's the money, right? So, like, once you get past the money, like, he's below league average. Diaz has been– that's a bad season. No two ways around it. But, again, out of nowhere, oh, here's Blake Snell. Now he's ready to go. Oh, here's Tyler Glasnow.
00:17:04
Speaker 3: He's ready to go.
00:17:04
Speaker 2: Oh, Shohei Otani will be pitching next week. Waves of guys coming out, superstars coming out of the woodwork.
00:17:11
Speaker 4: I hear you, but you just mentioned it. When they're playing better teams, they just haven't seemed.
00:17:16
Speaker 3: To be able to win. And when Milwaukee.
00:17:19
Speaker 4: Again crumbled last year, Milwaukee showed up in that series against the Dodgers, and I think they might have scored two runs in three games. They just couldn't hit to save their lives. Are we going to have a repeat of that? I just think too many things. Too many teams are better when they play better competition.
00:17:36
Speaker 3: And they might win. I don't see it. I'd be stunned if the Dodgers won the World Series. Stunned.
00:17:42
Speaker 2: Well, maybe you're stunned all the time. Kyle Schwarber ties the Phillies record with his fourth 40 home run season, building a Hall of Fame resume. Rob, your thoughts on Schwarber?
00:17:51
Speaker 4: No, unless he gets to 500 home runs, he's not a Hall of Famer.
00:17:55
Speaker 3: I'm not buying into that. He's Dave Kingman with a left-handed swing. That's what he is.
00:18:00
Speaker 2: That's terrible. No, it's not. I've shown you the numbers on that. It's not true. It's simply not true. Now, your point is, and we're leading the witness here, You're saying Ryan Howard was a better hitter, which, okay, that's a comp. All right, I'll give you that because I know you threw that my way. Just I'll throw up here. Their six-year peak, right, which favors Howard, too. Schwarber's only had six years now, you know, where he's been fully healthy. The weighted runs created plus, that's right in the middle, is dead even. Howard is a little more productive runs created. That's RC at the bottom. He's got an edge. RBI's an edge. Home run's about the same. It's a good comp, and that's saying something. Go ahead.
00:18:36
Speaker 3: I'm going to tell you why. Ryan Howard, go look.
00:18:39
Speaker 4: Your stats didn't dig into the postseason, where if you look in the postseason, Ryan Howard has better postseason numbers.
00:18:48
Speaker 3: He had, I think, 34 RBIs. in 46 postseason games.
00:18:54
Speaker 7: If we go to Kyle Schwarber, he has 37 RBIs in 73 games, 23 of those RBIs being solo home runs and not knocking people in.
00:19:05
Speaker 2: He's benched 2,000 in the postseason. Ryan Howard had Chase Utley in front of him and Jimmy Rollins, two guys I tout for the Hall of Fame, and you don't. So, like, you know, he had great players in front of him. Howard was an outstanding player. I think Schwarber clearly is right there with him. And I haven't looked at the postseason numbers. I don't know if what you're saying is true. I have to actually look at it.
00:19:23
Speaker 3: What do you mean? You know they're true, BK.
00:19:25
Speaker 2: What do you mean? You're throwing RBIs at me in games, RBIs per game. It's a very specious thing. Like, who's on base? We don't know. Overall, hitting is fine.
00:19:34
Speaker 4: I'm giving you that he batted 234 in the postseason. I don't care who's on base. That's what he's batting. He's not a performer in the big in the clutch moment.
00:19:45
Speaker 2: He's not a clutch performer.
00:19:48
Speaker 5: No, no.
00:19:49
Speaker 2: 234.
00:19:49
Speaker 3: Is never good in any circumstance. And here's the other one.
00:19:53
Speaker 4: 37 RBIs in 73 postseason games?
00:19:58
Speaker 3: That's not good. It's terrible.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: Don't have the numbers in front of me. I didn't prepare for that. I'll prepare. I'll come back. I'll do my homework. I'll come back, and I'll refute probably most everything you say. But okay, I'll buy what you're saying. How about this? All right, you and I, we've covered, we've been in this business for decades now. I saw the news, Rob, that the NFL was basically scrapping the Pro Bowl and everything around it. They're getting rid of their All-Star game, and they're not going back.
00:20:23
Speaker 3: I don't know.
00:20:23
Speaker 2: That bothered me. We know that every All-Star game has diminished. Baseball's the best, but is this a message for baseball, too, that you've got to keep these things relevant? NBA All-Star game? Nowhere near the same. And the NFL Pro Bowl is gone. Your thoughts?
00:20:41
Speaker 4: I think it's a testament to baseball that the players still play the game. No one's throwing the ball underhanded. No one's trying to let somebody hit home runs in their home ballpark or whatever it is, that they still play a real game. That's what happened to the demise of the Pro Bowl. Guys stopped playing. BK, look at the NHL All-Star Game.
00:21:04
Speaker 3: The final score is 16-14.
00:21:06
Speaker 4: There are no hockey games where you score.
00:21:09
Speaker 3: That many goals. Same thing in the NBA. A couple of years ago, we saw a score of 200.
00:21:14
Speaker 4: What basketball game.
00:21:17
Speaker 3: Has a score of 200?
00:21:19
Speaker 2: But NHL, to be fair, just the NHL also did an international.
00:21:23
Speaker 5: Right.
00:21:23
Speaker 2: They did it with nations versus nations. That was pretty good.
00:21:27
Speaker 3: Right.
00:21:27
Speaker 2: So that's an idea of like, hey, create an edge for this. That's what the NHL did a nice job on that.
00:21:33
Speaker 4: What I'm saying is baseball, bravo to the players who.
00:21:37
Speaker 3: Still take it seriously.
00:21:39
Speaker 4: They don't discount it or make it a nothing burger. And that's what the other sports and players have done. They made it a nothing burger.
00:21:47
Speaker 2: It needs a little edge. Again, the home field advantage thing was good, I thought. Give it a little more edge and then you have guys really playing. You got to keep it edgy or it can go away. That's my only point. All right, Rob, we'll let you go. I've yelled at you enough. Thank you, Rob.
00:22:01
Speaker 4: Hey, do your homework on Kyle Schwarber and you're going to be in my camp.
00:22:05
Speaker 2: See, like finding little things. Oh, did you see in this playoff series? He didn't.
00:22:08
Speaker 1: All right.
00:22:09
Speaker 2: Thank you, Rob.
00:22:09
Speaker 1: We'll see you next week. When Rob was a newspaper columnist, he lived by this motto. If I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in a writer or broadcaster, old or new.
00:22:21
Speaker 4: Now let's welcome into the podcast Cam Bryce. He's a reporter, content producer for MLBbro.com. Also, he works for the Worcester- Red Sox in their production handle unit there as well. Cam, welcome to the podcast, my man. I appreciate you.
00:22:39
Speaker 3: How are you?
00:22:41
Speaker 8: Thank you for having me on.
00:22:42
Speaker 3: I appreciate it. I'm good. You know what? Just living in another day. Nice day outside.
00:22:47
Speaker 8: It's not raining in the mass area.
00:22:49
Speaker 3: So I think we have a good day today. There you go. Hey, let's talk about one of the Red Sox young stars.
00:22:58
Speaker 4: Roman Anthony was in Worcester, right, getting ready to make his return to the Red Sox.
00:23:03
Speaker 3: Just talk about what that was like. People, I'm sure, were excited that he was in the ballpark.
00:23:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know.
00:23:10
Speaker 8: We became familiar with Roman. I mean, last year, Roman was here. He went through his struggles with Christian Campbell. You saw Marcelo Mayer, those big three that they used to have. Now Marcelo is in San Francisco. Christian Campbell's back still in Worcester, making his way back to the MLB. But seeing Roman Anthony... There was like nothing changed. Still the same baseball player. Clyde was in his own world, wanted to get his work in, but he was just happy to be back playing baseball. He had that wrist injury. And then they said they went at the rehab very hard. They wanted to get back as fast as he can. And then the wrist injury made some. over the last couple months and they had to be sent back down. Then he had a whole month where he was playing no baseball, no working out. They were like, just sit on.
00:23:58
Speaker 3: The couch, watch baseball.
00:24:00
Speaker 8: So now it's good to see him. Now the Red Sox are about five, six games ahead of that first wildcard spot. You get Roman Anthony back, you get Trevor Story back. It's opening ways for the Red Sox at the beginning of the year. At the All-Star break, we were like, hey, are they going to fire their whole staff they already got rid of alex cora was the gms going to go was it a president going to go let's talk about.
00:24:24
Speaker 4: That i mean let's talk about it because a lot of people thought the red socks were crazy go back and look at all the people who are mad that they got rid of alex cora oh they don't know what they're doing they blame the front office they went off and they turned their season around with an epic turnaround and you know they're poised to make it they haven't locked up a postseason spot, but they're in good shape, like you said, about five or six games in the wildcard.
00:24:51
Speaker 3: But there's still a lot of baseball to be played.
00:24:53
Speaker 4: Another month to go, the final month of the regular season. But how surprised are you about the turnaround?
00:25:02
Speaker 8: You know, I'm actually not surprised because baseball is that one game where it doesn't matter how many star players you got. It doesn't matter how many guys can hit 40 home runs. If you don't have the team chemistry and if everyone's not playing their role and everyone's not on the same page, then nothing's going to work out. We've seen it with so many great teams. Never make the posties. I mean, look at Mike Trout's career. All the good teams he's had. He's had Shohei Ohtani on his team. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani was on the same team. And they didn't sniffle playoffs. So it's like at that point, seeing what the Red Sox got in, they got in a guy named Caleb Durbin, who was shipped off. came back to the Red Sox. They thought he was just going to be a utility player. He was going down in triple A. No, he became their hottest hitter. And he kind of gained everyone else behind him. Then you started seeing Jaron Duran, who struggled earlier in the year, start to come back.
00:25:54
Speaker 2: Do you see a Roldis Chapman?
00:25:56
Speaker 8: Put him in the ninth inning. He's just lights out this year. He's probably had his best year in the past two to four years. So they're starting to have these young guys, these guys that's not highly talented, but they play baseball the right way.
00:26:09
Speaker 3: They get on base.
00:26:10
Speaker 8: They run, they steal a lot of bags and they're aggressive and they have a great bullpen and pitching staff.
00:26:15
Speaker 3: And that's the thing.
00:26:16
Speaker 8: The Red Sox can go as far as they want because they have the young talent. They have the guys that physically want to play baseball 100% effort every single play. They don't care if they strike out. They don't care if they get hit by a pitch. They'll take it. They'll risk their lives and their body. And then they also have a bunch of young guys that they can Possibly move up. I mean, they have one of the top prospects in baseball, Franklin Arias, who just got to AAA. He's already batting over 300, already had six home runs. So it's like they can have more help going come September. So I think the Red Sox are in a good spot. I'm not surprised. I am surprised how they did it and how they dominated against the top AL East teams. So this is a really interesting playoff for the Red Sox. And I think they might have a fighting chance.
00:27:04
Speaker 4: Do people think that they do have a fighting chance in the AL? The AL is not that strong, not that many great teams. All right. His name is Cam Bryce, MLBBro.com. And, of course, with the Worcester Red Sox in their production unit. Hey, Cam, thank you for your insight. We appreciate it.
00:27:21
Speaker 3: Thank you, buddy. Thank you, Rob.
00:27:23
Speaker 1: It's time for a trip down memory lane, here on Inside the Parker. Rob Parker has covered Major League Baseball for 40 years. Now, let's relive a memorable moment of his career.
00:27:35
Speaker 4: One of the most inspiring columns I ever wrote on baseball happened in 2006 for the Detroit News. During that 2006 season, Demetri Young went through a divorce, was treated for alcohol and substance abuse and depression, Enter June and Demetri Young comes out of a voluntary rehabilitation center and he heads to Florida to start the comeback trail. My paper, the Detroit News, tells me get on a plane and go to Florida and go try.
00:28:13
Speaker 3: To talk to Demetri Young.
00:28:15
Speaker 4: For sure, it's not an easy thing to get an athlete to open up and to talk about the trials and tribulations they've been through in their personal life. But Demetri Young and I had a good enough relationship that when I showed up to Florida as the only reporter there and approached him about telling his story, Demetri Young agreed to talk to me. The story ran on page one of the Detroit News.
00:28:47
Speaker 3: It was a big story in the city.
00:28:49
Speaker 6: And although Demetri Young came back to the Tigers, he was released in September of 2006. But in 2007, he joined the Washington Nationals and had a resurgence in his.
00:29:03
Speaker 3: Career, reaching the All-Star break with a.
00:29:07
Speaker 4: 340 batting average. And he was named to a second All-Star team in his career. He was also named the National League Comeback Player of the Year in 2007. So the story wound up with a happy ending. In the words of New York TV legend, the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time this time.
00:29:35
Speaker 3: Until next time, Rob Parker out. He can't get it. This could be an inside to Parker.
00:29:41
Speaker 2: See you next week. Same bat time, same bat station.
