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Speaker 1: Wednesday edition of the huddle from headquarters. Drew Olson, Bill Schmidt, Armin Sarian, bringing it to you. Hot take hump day. Well underway.
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Speaker 2: 877-794-1973.
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Speaker 1: Welcome to all members of the seven o'clock club. Say hi to the six o'clock clubbers and the five o'clock clubbers who were here right with us at 5 a.m. Psychos that they were. It's hot take hump day. Get them to us. 877-794-1973. Got anything holstered up? Armin, got any takes? I mean, You went viral yesterday for venting against Cubs fans. That was phenomenal.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know if I can repeat that, although I guess my hot take is I don't know where all the Cubs fans are at. I had my binoculars out looking last night for all those mouthy Cubs fans that were so excited. Two nights ago, and they weren't there last night. So nice win for the Brewers last night, guys.
00:00:48
Speaker 1: That was pretty awesome. It was a nice win for the Brewers.
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Speaker 3: And my other hot take is, I don't know if you guys saw it on TV. We're watching it on the TVs out in the studios. Man, Bryce Terang looking good in that new commercial for one of the law firms in town.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I saw your boy over here. Armin's saying that he looked like a lawyer. That would have been a real stretch for Bryce Durang to be looking like a lawyer to me.
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Speaker 1: Well, he had the suit on. Sport coat and a t-shirt.
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Speaker 3: Well, yeah, but it was navy blue. They were sitting around the boardroom. That table looked like maybe oak or something like that.
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Speaker 4: Looked like the out-of-town cousin or brother that comes into town and you want to bring him in, but you're like, hey, man.
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Speaker 1: You're going to have to put on some nice clothes. But this is all I got. This is the nice stuff I got.
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Speaker 3: Like he's there for the retirement party or for the engagement party or maybe the guy that... Hey, we brought in our new associate, our paralegal. He's the ringer for the company softball team.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, he's going to be on the company softball team. That's where you're going to find him. Pretty good stuff right there. We want your hot takes. Here's one for you.
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Speaker 1: Hot takes. Sometimes you have to dive in amongst the tire and strip club ads to find... To get where the real good stuff is.
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Speaker 3: Yeah. Yes.
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Speaker 2: Like.
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Speaker 1: The best game in baseball last night was the Pirates and the Giants. Nuts, wasn't it? Unbelievable. Pirates scored nine runs in the third. They puked away a six-run lead and then won on a walk-off error in Pittsburgh. They won 13-12.
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Speaker 4: They were up 11-5 at one point after that, and then slowly come back on. And also, the headliner of that, Drew, is two starters from Team USA, the two starters in the game. Because we're used to now skeins getting roughed up. Logan Webb giving up nine in an inning and not getting out of the third?
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Speaker 1: That we're not as used to. Pirates, half of the third inning, they scored nine runs, and it took 30 minutes of time.
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Speaker 2: Yikes.
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Speaker 1: Thank God for the pitch. And much like the Brewers, it was a small market rally. They scored nine runs with no extra base hits. Just a bunch of singles and walks.
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Speaker 2: Wow.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: Two bases loaded walks that drew in runs and just punted the ball around the yard.
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Speaker 1: He hasn't done that many consecutive outcomes. I mean, that's just wild. The Pirates bullpen allowed seven runs across the sixth and the eighth innings.
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Speaker 2: Yikes.
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Speaker 1: My goodness.
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Speaker 4: Well, in the, the, the pirates had were one of the teams that ended up bolstering at the deadline, beefing up thinking we're going to make this run. We're going to try for it. We're going to do everything we can. And Luke Weaver was one of the big guys that they ended up bringing in from the Yankees, more money committed.
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Speaker 1: To him next year.
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Speaker 4: He was so good with New York and, uh, They're kind of flat since they've got him there in Pittsburgh. Haven't given him a whole lot of save opportunities until yesterday and then give him two runs and blow that son of a gun there in the ninth.
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Speaker 1: Sometimes it's like that. You never know when you get a guy in the trade.
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Speaker 3: Sometimes they're better than you expected. Sometimes they're worse than you expected. Sometimes they're about the same. Well, and pitching is one that's got a lot more variables to it, doesn't it? Like you can not say that you can just hit everywhere, but that to me is like a defense in football.
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Speaker 4: Defense will travel. That bat will travel. You go in to a pitching staff and you are working with a whole new operation, new catchers, new pitch selection process, right? Because, I mean, at some point you're not calling your own pitches. And there's some teams that are trying to emphasize that, but there's a lot of variables when acquiring guys at the deadline, especially there. The other interesting one drew stories around baseball yesterday was this young man who made his debut on, Lazaro Montes for the Seattle Mariners, 21 years old, out of Cuba. He had a great reaction video to him calling his family, calling his family back home that he was making it to the big leagues. Emotional video. And all he does in his debut, go two for four with a bomb at Fenway Park.
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Speaker 1: Giddy up. Dead center.
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Speaker 2: Huge.
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Speaker 1: I mean, straight away.
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Speaker 4: And that is a shot there at Fenway to go straight away. Is that worthy of our current electric superhero of the day? I think it, I think it definitely would be, but I was going to give it to Christian Yelich. I was going to give the, I was going to give the superhero of the day to Christian Yelich for the two run shot that flips the scoreboard changes the game. Joey Ortiz probably also deserves it to hit night as well. Two hit nights for Jackson Churio, Bryce Durang, William Contreras. Uh, but we're giving it to Yelich after that two run shot that, uh, I mean, it ends up being the difference. As it went up 5-3, they tack on and change the outcome, make it look a whole lot different.
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Speaker 1: But that ballpark was silent.
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Speaker 4: Outside of the smattering of Brewers fans there that were able to celebrate, but Drew, the air was taken out of that balloon pretty quick with that swing.
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Speaker 1: Callcurrent.com, the website, superheroes on the side of the van, superheroes inside the trucks that do the work for you. Check them out. Always got deals going and stuff. Whatever you may need in terms of keeping your family safe. Right, Billy? Keep your family safe, especially because the storms are not ending.
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Speaker 4: We talked to our friends up in the Fox Valley. Hope everyone's doing better a little later into the morning. I know we were getting pounded earlier on. Our 5 o'clock clubbers were waking up with us. But you do not want to be left out in the cold, or as it would be this week, the heat when your power goes out. So go and call Current Electric. Callcurrent.com is the place to go.
00:06:04
Speaker 1: Check them out.
00:06:05
Speaker 4: They will do a full home assessment, figure out which one of their generators would be best for your home. Whole home standby generator. You hope you never need it, but odds are in Wisconsin, especially in the summers, you will need it.
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Speaker 1: Current Electric. Callcurrent.com. All right, hot take for you. Again, 877-794-1973. Hot take. You can't make a fashion statement and then deny the fashion statement. Cattell Marte's hat in Phoenix is a big story. The hat he wore the other night with the neon trucker hat that said, let the bridges I burn light the way. I found it online. When you just went AWOL for a while. For a week. And you're going to wear that. And people asked him, you know, what does that hat mean? He said, I didn't know what it was. Just a hat. Just a cool hat.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Just a hat, dude. Just one of the many hats you just slapped on.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: That's hard to believe.
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Speaker 3: I get guys are getting stuff from different, you know, maybe merchandisers and collaborations and they're getting free stuff.
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Speaker 1: Maybe they just throw one on.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: You can't tell me you just threw that on by accident.
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Speaker 4: Is he in a contract deal, or is there some kind of struggle that we know of that they're going through? Because Lovolo did a great job caping up for him, but he also did let the cat out of the bag. I think it was this weekend where he's like, I think it's been three or four years now that we've had him miss a game, but we didn't know where he was.
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Speaker 1: In addition to talking throughout and explaining his 13-game absence, Torrey Lovolo was asked about the hat. His quote was, I want to move past this Cattell stuff as quickly as possible. I think if you chop up those words, maybe he's taking some accountability. He feels like he's done some things and he wants to get better. That's how I read it. You want to read that? That's like, whew. What a great guy. That's a great read. Some rose-colored reading glasses you're wearing there, Torrey. And I like Torrey Lavelle. He extended it. He's been getting put into the hornet's nest with this thing. So then Marte said he didn't know. He just put it on. And because he's from the Dominican and Spanish is his main language and stuff. He, he was then someone read him a translation of, of that, of the hat. And he just said, yeah, I didn't, I don't know. Don't know what it meant. I just, I just put it on.
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Speaker 2: I just put it on.
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Speaker 3: Maybe that's his excuses, that language thing. And I guess it's possible. I mean, but it's just hard to believe.
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Speaker 4: That's a tough, that's a tough one to, uh, to get past. I like the, let the bridges that I burn light the way, light the way to the talking stick casino.
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Speaker 3: I mean, I just, He's making six years, $ 116 million. He extended last April in 2025. April 2025, he extended to six year, $ 116. 5 million that added $ 64 more million in new guaranteed money.
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Speaker 1: So I can't be... Sounds like there's a lot of reasons to be happy.
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Speaker 3: I don't... He just did the deal, so I can't imagine he's mad again, but maybe he.
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Speaker 1: About the money... Who knows? Maybe he's just a different kind of guy. Very different.
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Speaker 4: It's tough because you then also, and I heard a lot of different baseball guys talking about this. Drew, you saw a lot of things in baseball. I don't know that you saw a guy just go AWOL for two weeks from the team.
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Speaker 1: No, generally not.
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Speaker 4: But being able to come back into the dugout, into the clubhouse, and then like You have to address it.
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Speaker 1: You can't not.
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Speaker 4: It sounds like obviously he did and he was urged to and said some of the right things. But there's only so many times I think that pro athletes are extremely good at a couple of different things.
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Speaker 1: Obviously the athletic parts. They are very, very good at spotting phoniness.
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Speaker 4: And especially from somebody that's in the clubhouse that they're supposed to be respecting and following and playing with. If they found any bit of that as not being genuine, I think his time in Arizona is going to be hard for him not to be done at that point.
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Speaker 1: Absolutely. There was another story. There's much rejoicing in Anaheim because Stan Kroenke purchased the Angels. Talk about it. The Artie Moreno era is over, right? And that's going to be Kroenke. Was that $ 4 billion? Felt like a deal to me. Baseball team in Anaheim?
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Speaker 4: That's a record deal for Major League Baseball, too. So hot take, Major League Baseball owners not happy about the Artie Moreno news.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: As our franchise value valuations, not skyrocketing as we want being one of the main impetuses for the labor strike that happens in the off season. 3.9 for San Diego, 4 million for the second team in L.A. that hasn't done anything in the last 20 years.
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Speaker 1: Interesting. Sounds like they're kind of going up. It sounds like a lot of money, and it is. They're not going up.
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Speaker 4: They're not tenfolding like the NFL valuations at the NBA ones.
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Speaker 1: The Padres closed their sale for 3.9.
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Speaker 3: 3.9 billion.
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Speaker 1: The Angels are 4 million now.
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Speaker 4: $ 4.
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Speaker 1: Billion, and the Angels have 11 straight losing seasons. That's what I'm saying. 11 straight losing seasons. They've had great players.
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Speaker 4: Two of the best players in the last 25 years playing there for an extended period of time.
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Speaker 3: I think for Angels fans, they probably consider this good news because Moreno's kind of.
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Speaker 1: Been the anchor. They're dancing in the streets.
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Speaker 3: I just think, yeah, it's interesting how the NBA, obviously NFL, and then the NBA, the franchise valuations are skyrocketing.
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Speaker 1: And obviously.
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Speaker 3: MLB going up, but maybe not at the same pace and what that means for a.
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Speaker 2: Lot of things. I don't know.
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Speaker 1: Kroenke now owns the Rams. He'll own the Angels when they close in the first quarter of next year. The Nuggets, the Avalanche, and Arsenal. And Arsenal. Just won the Premier League.
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Speaker 2: Man.
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Speaker 4: Odds on favor to go to the Super Bowl. Set almost 70% chance to go undefeated, apparently. Colorado was the best team in hockey last year until they lost in the Western Conference Finals because they lost their best player before the series against Vegas.
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Speaker 1: And Denver just won it, what, three, four years ago? Yeah, three years ago with Jokic.
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Speaker 4: If you're looking at this as an Angels fan, and there are them out there, right?
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Speaker 1: They do exist. They do exist.
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Speaker 4: It's not the barren fan base. Yeah, you're dancing in the streets. This is the best news that you possibly could have seen. But this is also going to be into the hot take hump day variety. He's one of the only owners that's in this new wave of owners that you do want to have. Because Stan Kroenke, I think, is about making money, but clearly about winning. And you're going to start seeing this with a number of different private equity firms coming through into Major League Baseball, NBA, NFL. Just watch it with Mark Walter. Now he's in some hot water. He's in some different kinds of things. Wherever that money was potentially coming from, that will be a fascinating deal to be played out in real time. But to watch one of the touchstone franchises in all of professional sports flip for $ 2.
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Speaker 1: 5 billion... in a year signals, I think a little bit of a shift.
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Speaker 4: This is no longer drew you finding an owner that has a vested interest, loves the team, loves ball.
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Speaker 1: This is a hobby.
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Speaker 4: This is my, this is as much of my status logo as possible of I'm going to be here.
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Speaker 1: I run the team.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: I got the money. If we make money is what it is.
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Speaker 4: This is all about making money because it is the, there's some of the biggest businesses in the world and that shift over the next five to 10 years of how business operates under these ownership groups, I think is going to be interesting.
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Speaker 1: To watch private equity, get involved that they don't make anything better.
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Speaker 4: They don't make anything better, but you know what they do? They make a lot of money doing it. They do a lot of money doing it. It's a churn and burn thing. Like it's like private equity. You'll see a lot of these teams probably getting flipped just because the number hits the threshold as to where you're supposed to go with the investment.
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Speaker 1: Now, Artie Moreno was not cheap. He was not successful, but he was not cheap. That's true. That is true. They did not win despite having Otani and Trout, which is unfathomable. But they had Otani and Trout. Otani bolted. Okay, so that franchise just sold for $ 4 billion. Otani left and made $ 700 million. Yeah, I mean, that's based on what we know. If you'll get that money, we don't know. But in 2019, Moreno stepped up to keep Mike Trout there, their generational player. That was $ 426. 5 million. At the time, I was like, oh, my God, that's ridiculous. To keep him there for his entire career. They also brought in Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and Anthony Rendon, and they spent $ 625 million on that trio of underachievers. They've tried. So they tried. They've dumped money. They just didn't spend it wisely. And I think the idea was that he was too involved in baseball decisions. And that begs the question, how was David Stern so good in Milwaukee, and then he got to New York with unlimited resources and not going to make the playoffs? That's how. He's spending the money on guys like that, whereas the Brewers have to be on the margins, have to be right, have to have a guy like Jake Bowers.
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Speaker 3: Right.
00:14:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: And sometimes players let you down.
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Speaker 2: Facts.
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Speaker 3: Well, yeah.
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Speaker 1: I mean, sometimes you sign a guy that's done really well. Hamilton or Rendon. $ 625 million for that trio that didn't do much. Did nothing. Especially Rendon. Was it? I was going to say who basically quit halfway through it. It's just like the worst. And was it counsel a couple of months ago made the quote of in some form or fashion?
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Speaker 4: I'm going to be misquoting it, but I think I'm paraphrasing in it of like it can be an it's an advantage for them to not have as many mainstay guys talking about the Brewers. like not have as many big contract guys where in that same vein, they live on the margins. They also live on, as Murphy would talk about it, the threat of that pink slip coming in your locker, right? Like when you have seven, six years, seven years, you're going to have to play that guy throughout. And there's never going to be an adjustment that you can have. And once you start spending big time cash, you realize that like Stearns did for, for Moreno.
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Speaker 1: That's the tough thing.
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Speaker 4: Cause he definitely, you would think tried, but it also sounds like from people in the know, it's like, we're going to spend big money on this contract. And then we're going to cut costs everywhere else. Hey, Artie, can we get a new pitching machine down in Arizona?
00:15:50
Speaker 1: This one's good.
00:15:50
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:15:50
Speaker 1: You're talking about this one doesn't work. This one works.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: This one works.
00:15:53
Speaker 1: Let's use this one still.
00:15:55
Speaker 4: So there's a weird back and forth of when you get teams, people only look at the spending on players where the Brewers don't spend notably. So on a ton of players where they did spend their money. was on their infrastructure and things around that can supplement it. And that can be your way of being able to play around the margins.
00:16:16
Speaker 1: And 25 years ago, the angels were drawn 3 million fans. Like they're always kind of like second to the Dodgers in that market, but that's a big, and again, it's almost like two different worlds, Orange County and LA, two different worlds. And they were drawn 3 million there and they haven't been good. 11 straight losing seasons will dampen your attendance. Now, again, attendance isn't everything in MLB anymore. It's all about TV deals and stuff, but, hard to generate much TV heat. When you're in 11 straight losing seasons, you have the second worst record in all of ball again with a generational player. Mike Trout is one of the great players of this or any generation who's never gotten any juice because they've been so bad. He's been mired on such bad teams for so long. Just hanging out there in the middle of mediocrity.
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Speaker 4: And the tough thing is, I've heard, again, there's been a lot of people that have said a lot of different things about Artie as the owner, but one, I remember when the Brewers went out there, maybe it was this year or a couple of years ago, they played a week day series, like a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whatever it was.
00:17:13
Speaker 1: And had the getaway game at night on Wednesday. What are they doing? Why are they hosing people?
00:17:19
Speaker 4: Well, it's also a getaway game for his own team, but he's not going to deal with the day gate because we're not going to draw anything.
00:17:25
Speaker 1: They just watched that happen at USC.
00:17:27
Speaker 4: If it's 100 degrees in the middle of the day, nobody's doing anything in LA.
00:17:31
Speaker 2: Right?
00:17:31
Speaker 4: So they try to do everything they can to get some folks in there. And over the last decade, it has been as barren as it possibly could be for that team.
00:17:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: But a good day for him yesterday. You just lived through all that suck.
00:17:44
Speaker 4: Now you got a wild amount of positivity and optimism if you're an Angels fan.
00:17:48
Speaker 1: And hope. You know, that's the main thing. So Kroenke helped deliver SoFi Stadium. Angel Stadium needs kind of a reboot or... They need a new one. Either a new one or, yeah. You think he moves it out to Englewood and to the complex? Good question. Not sure. Become the California Angels again? I'm not sure. I think he's going to spend money on players. And the other thing is, in addition to a quarter billion dollars on Anthony Rendon, who sucks, they had to pay that Tyler Skaggs, you know, the... Oh, they had to pay out that deal? That was an undisclosed amount of cash that they had to pay a lot of money out on that settlement. So, yeah, like I said, they spent $ 625 million on three guys who didn't do much for them.
00:18:30
Speaker 4: They didn't do anything for them, but you know what they wouldn't spend on? A manager's second year on his contract. Kurt Suzuki is working on a one-year deal as the manager. Now, maybe it was because he knew that they were going to get sold. Maybe that was part of the deal.
00:18:43
Speaker 1: I don't believe so.
00:18:44
Speaker 4: I think it was already said, let's give them a one-year deal.
00:18:47
Speaker 1: Give somebody a one-year deal that'll take it. Crockey's good at facilities, so they'll either get Angel Stadium renovated or build a new one somewhere. Would that be a good location? I would think they would stay in Orange County. Stay right down there? I would think they would because that's kind of where their history and their roots are. I also don't know that he owns the land that SoFi's on.
00:19:02
Speaker 4: I know he owns the stadium, but that's another.
00:19:05
Speaker 1: That's another one, yeah. I'm not sure.
00:19:06
Speaker 4: Because then if they did, it'd be a heck of a complex because out there in that Englewood area, they got SoFi.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: They just built the Intuit Dome.
00:19:13
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:19:14
Speaker 4: Which is apparently supposed to be a marvel of sport and potentially that one too. This is just an interesting day, especially when you talk about the labor negotiations. I've heard it's a fire up right now, and this team that a lot of people would not have thought of goes for what ends up being a record amount of money. It fires up and keeps that conversation hot. A couple of hot takes quickly from the talking text line. Bill from Madison. Hot take.
00:19:38
Speaker 1: Ortiz hitting so well.
00:19:39
Speaker 4: Murphy leave Hamilton on the bench for a week. and let Ortiz rake. I don't know that it'll be a week, but Joey Ortiz is playing himself, Drew, into... he's going to be starting potentially a third base or shortstop.
00:19:52
Speaker 1: I think in the playoffs. Yeah. He's playing himself into one of those spots.
00:19:56
Speaker 4: He's playing in the playoffs and it might just be from what we ended up watching last night that you don't get a 21 year old, 22 year old Cooper Pratt in there. We don't want our, we can't be hurting ourselves in a playoff game last night. That's an atmosphere of the playoff. Like down there at Wrigley.
00:20:09
Speaker 3: Nope.
00:20:10
Speaker 1: When we come back, Bill Schroeder is going to join the party from Brewers TV, friend of the program. He actually played for the Angels back in the day when they were owned by Gene Autry and his family. The Rock is next. You're in the huddle, Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin. Continuing the huddle, Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin. Drew Olson, Bill Schmidt, Armin Sarian. Brewers beat the Cubs last night. There was just a noticeable exhalation, a sigh of relief. The sky seems bluer and the sun is shining and birds are happier in the good land. And we're happy to be joined by our pal from Brewers TV, Bill Schroeder. Rock, welcome to the program. Timing is everything, my friend. I'm glad we're talking to you today after a victory rather than a 17-3 setback.
00:20:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, I get a sense that you guys are still a little bit uncomfortable with an eight-game lead. No.
00:21:04
Speaker 1: No, not too comfortable.
00:21:06
Speaker 4: I don't have my feet totally kicked up here yet, Rock, but I do have my shoes off. I'm getting very close to kicking them up on the ottoman with that eight-game lead.
00:21:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, I will say this. I mean, you know, Brewers pitching has been just phenomenal all season long. You know, Harrison... Had a rough outing a couple days ago, but it was good to see the Brewers' offense get going last night. I mean, some bottom of the order getting it done early on, and then the big boys taking over, you know, Contreras with that big double, and Yelly with the homer. And how about Joey O? I mean, he's been phenomenal since the All-Star break, or since July 4th, I think it is.
00:21:44
Speaker 1: Rock, these games feel like playoff games, and it's a good preview, and to see Pratt and... Those guys and Lara and those guys get this exposure. It's fun, isn't it? It's just like this is as good as regular season baseball can get in September.
00:21:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, any time you get into Wrigley Field. I don't care what the records of the two teams are. It does give you kind of an exalted sense of the game, right? I mean, it's a playoff atmosphere. I mean, the Brewers fell behind once again yesterday. And then all of a sudden, And, you know, the Brewers are able to take advantage of a struggling Cubs bullpen this year. That's the big difference between these two teams. I know Cubs hit a lot of dingers. They hit a lot of homers. They score a lot of runs. But starting rotation has been really good for them. But, you know, you can tell that, you know, the bullpen, it's a big difference. I mean, the Brewers' bullpen has been great. You know, the Cubs have not. But, yeah, it's good to see a team that is so young to be able to handle the pressure and all of that. At Wrigley Field last night, you've got 21, 22-year-old kids playing in huge games against teams that are very, very experienced. The Cubs have got a team that's been around a while. These guys know what they're doing, and the Brewers have been able to handle it pretty well.
00:23:05
Speaker 1: And you look at it.
00:23:07
Speaker 4: Bill, and you've called so many of these games last night and enjoying it like us on the couch. These games are stressful. These Brewer-Cub games are a different kind of stress, and there's such a heightened importance on seemingly every pitch. It feels like a playoff game, but is it as exhausting to call as it is sitting on the couch to watch? These games are never over, and last night was another great example of it. They just play some thrilling games.
00:23:32
Speaker 2: I find that, you know, doing the games, I mean, it can be a little bit more, you know, straight down the line. You know, you don't get as emotional. Sometimes I have. I get upset sometimes, you know, but, you know, you don't want to watch, you don't want to sit with me watching a game on television at my house because I, you know, say things, I do things that normally I would never do. I'm a fan. The Brewers, that's my life. I get emotional. But yes, I just get a sense that you win the Wrigley Field, you have an eight-game lead. I mean, all the pressure, every bit of the pressure is on the Cubs. And the guys responded extremely well. But you're right. I mean, every pitch. I thought B.A. and Vinny did a great job setting the scene yesterday and talking about the importance of of these games and the importance of the experience that these young brewers are getting through all this. And, um, you know, it's good to have a, an eight game cushion. I mean, I think that every time you beat the Cubs now, they knock two games off the magic number. What was it? I think I heard it was like, what is it? 16 right now is the magic number for the brewers. I mean, the brewers, uh, you know, every time they win a game goes down, every time the Cubs lose another game goes down. So they knocked off two games yesterday. So, uh, I think the Brewers are in great shape. Maybe they've got a month left. Anytime you beat the Cubs, it's always a big deal. I don't care what the records of the two teams are. It could be last place and next to last. They're always more intense when you're playing the Cubs.
00:25:10
Speaker 1: It's always fun. You're telling us that when things get really intense and you're sitting at home, Kate and Rupert have to go to a different room?
00:25:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, Kate will just look at me and start waving her finger at me and say, that's enough. That's enough. And then Rupert goes right into his bed and covers his head up. He's out. Rupert.
00:25:30
Speaker 1: I like it when Daggett's mad. Rupert the super doxer goes nuts.
00:25:34
Speaker 2: It's amazing. I turn from broadcaster that has been doing it for a long, long time. and try to maintain composure and be kind of down the middle a little bit. So if I'm in my house and I'm watching a game, that is all gone. Every bit of it is gone. I am just a big fan, and I get crazy. Not that I'm screaming and yelling the whole night, but, I mean, it's a different mentality when I'm in my basement.
00:26:03
Speaker 1: When stuff goes bad.
00:26:03
Speaker 2: One of us.
00:26:04
Speaker 1: All right. Yeah. Rock, to have that last night's game, a total bounce back. And our buddy Todd Rosiak asked Murph on Monday, are you confident your team has the resilience to come back? And Murph's like, why wouldn't I be? And Murph brought that back last night. I was asked last night. And the Brewers to come back from 3-0 and win that game was huge. And then today you're rolling Miz out there. So now you feel like you totally have the upper hand. The psychological impact of having Miz and rolling out that big gun is huge.
00:26:32
Speaker 2: Isn't it? Yeah, especially if you just won a big game. I mean, you know, it's one of those things where you've got Miz out there, and then you've got Peterson for the Cubs, who has had kind of a rough season from time to time, but he's always pitched well against the Brewers, even when he was with the Mets. I mean, he really came up with some pretty good starts. You've got Miz tonight, and then you've got Logan Henderson, who has been unbelievable where it starts. You can understand why the Brewers did not want to give up Logan Henderson in all those trade talks with Scooble and the rest of those guys. This guy's going to be a good one for a long time. You win yesterday. I thought Gasser was really good. Brewers bullpen once again. dynamite, and now you've got the Miz and Logan Henderson, a chance to win three out of four at Wrigley and pretty much put this thing away.
00:27:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, you can put it to bed. You win three of four, and you can put the kids to bed and be safe for the rest of the month. When you see a guy like Joey Ortiz, you mentioned him off the.
00:27:36
Speaker 1: Rip, Rock.
00:27:38
Speaker 4: When he has the shot to the bow of Cooper Pratt coming up, he signs the contract, knows what's going on, understands it, but then doesn't flinch and goes and takes a new position and just takes off with it. What can that be for not only his career, but for the team? Because it does feel like he's primed to come through in a huge moment in October because he's now just become the guy that's come through for the last two months.
00:28:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a big home run that he hit yesterday. I mean, that gave him a nice little cushion, the fibrin cushion, and you could see how excited he is. He was, but you know what? One guy that isn't getting enough credit for what Ortiz has been able to do is Pat Murphy. I mean, when that all happened, when Joe was really struggling at the plate, but this guy's a wizard in the infield. He said play made at third base yesterday. I mean, incredible job for him. But Murph told him when Pratt came up, he said, look, you're still going to be an important part of this team. Keep working. I mean, he's a tireless worker. Anything you do offensively is going to be a bonus for us because of how good you are defensively. But all of a sudden, then, he gets that confidence just because Pratt is up there that he's not going to be sitting on the bench the whole time. So, or getting sent down or getting traded or anything like that, Merck showed confidence in him even when Pratt came up. And I think it had a big impact on how he's been able to play.
00:29:01
Speaker 1: Talking to Bill Schroeder, Brewers TV here on the huddle, Drew, Billy, and Armin. Okay, Rock, got to take you back. One of the controversies yesterday, it's nice that we don't have to talk about it, but Andrew Vaughn pitching two innings. It used to be funny, and I've always been a fan of position players pitching, but it's happening now across baseball almost on a nightly basis. Is it too much? Is there anything anybody can do?
00:29:22
Speaker 2: I hate it. I don't like it. I mean, you know, if you need to add another pitcher to the roster, go ahead. But, I mean, you know, when the Brewers won that game 22-0, you know, you had– it was like slow pitch, no limit softball, no pitching arc. I can't stand it. I don't like it. I don't think the teams like doing it, but you've got to protect your pitching. But two innings is a bit much. I think that if you're going to throw a pitcher out there or a position player, I should say, Make it be the eighth inning. I mean, it kind of makes a mockery of the game. I don't like it. Nobody likes it. Murph doesn't like it when he has to do it. I know no manager does, but it's the way it is. If you've got a 15-run lead, down by 15 runs, I mean, what other choice do you have? You don't want to blow out all your pitching for the rest of the series.
00:30:17
Speaker 4: And the game is just so analytically driven and numbers driven that we were talking about it, and Drew mentioned it in the accounts, you say, like, The numbers guys would tell you to do it when you're down four in the seventh inning because you're like, coming.
00:30:29
Speaker 1: Back is so low. But it does. It gives you such a weird thought.
00:30:33
Speaker 4: Mine was that, like you said, add another pitcher or if somebody's got to wear it, you have the opportunity to bring somebody up at a certain point the next day. They've got to be able to find something to it because these games are too entertaining to all of a sudden have that thing stunted right there at the back end. And the game's so good right now, Rock, that there's no reason to have. Now, listen, if Gary Sanchez is going to pitch more, I am going to be interested to watch because.
00:30:55
Speaker 1: I want to see Al Crackett fire that thing. Well, that's true. But, Rock, we were talking about one of the things that's missing is a knuckleballer that can pitch every day. Remember Steve Sparks back when there were knuckleballers? Ashby's the closest thing to it. When there were knuckleballers, those guys could pitch every day and eat up those innings.
00:31:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, how about a knuckleballer every day, but if you're a catcher, you hate that. Yeah, true. You see the umpire last night wear one right in the mask yesterday, tipped off of Contreras' glove, but that happens quite a bit with a knuckleballer. Yeah, you're right. I mean, you know, the game is the game. The game is doing so well right now. And, you know, runs sometimes are hard to come by, but then all of a sudden you've got stretches like now where, I mean, teams are racking up, you know, 10, 15, you know, 20 runs. I mean, it's been kind of crazy the last month, hasn't it? Yeah.
00:31:48
Speaker 1: You're seeing it on the regular and this is, It's not the 40-man roster debacle we used to have in September's past when you'd have a whole bunch of guys, unlimited pitching. A bunch of dudes no one's heard of, too. But that was almost better in a way.
00:32:01
Speaker 2: I wouldn't mind expanding the rosters for pitching, but the three-batter rule will kind of eliminate the whole Tony La Russa. Have a guy come in for one hit or do that three, four times in a row. That kind of gets crazy in September, but... I mean, you've got to protect your pitching, especially teams that are going into the postseason.
00:32:22
Speaker 1: Rock, one of the things I want to ask you, because you're on the record on this program telling us you'll never refer to the Cubs' presumptive MVPs by his initials, but the Brewers.
00:32:33
Speaker 2: Have done a good job. Never, never. Never, never.
00:32:35
Speaker 1: Thank you. 0-4 with three punch-outs last night, and I think one of the keys to beating the Cubs, if I had Rock's keys to the game on a graphic, is hold down the blue-haired kid.
00:32:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that's what Vinny was saying in his scouting report yesterday. But don't say that too soon, Drew. I mean, we've still got five games left with these guys. And he can turn things around, you know. I think that, I mean, the way the Brewers have been able to handle Pete Crow Armstrong. And, you know, I texted VA yesterday. Enough with the PCA. Enough with the PCA. He didn't listen to me.
00:33:15
Speaker 1: I love it.
00:33:16
Speaker 2: I'm not going to tell you the emoji he sent back to me, but anyway.
00:33:24
Speaker 1: I love it. He's one of us.
00:33:26
Speaker 2: I love it.
00:33:26
Speaker 1: The partners getting after each other. Oh, my goodness. That's incredible. Absolutely incredible. He's a good player. They've got to hold him down.
00:33:34
Speaker 4: I'd enjoy him if he was on any other team, but he's got that damn blue and red on.
00:33:38
Speaker 1: I can't stand him. If he goes over, you like your chances because he's such an engine for them.
00:33:42
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you keep the big boys down. You know, Seiya Suzuki and Bregman now has been knocking the cover off the ball. When the Brewers played these guys early in the year, none of those guys were hitting. Now they are, and they're hitting in a big way. But, you know, you've got to take advantage of the bullpen for the Cubs when they come in. That's their Achilles heel.
00:34:05
Speaker 1: And that's the secret, get in the bullpen. Rock, thanks for joining us. Have a great day. We know you're chomping at the bit to get in the booth for Brewers Cubs on Labor Day.
00:34:14
Speaker 2: No, I can't wait. I mean, Labor Day, Cubs, Brewers, yeah, it's going to be great. Hopefully I see you guys in the ballpark.
00:34:22
Speaker 1: We'll see you there, bud. Take care.
00:34:23
Speaker 2: All right. Thanks, guys.
00:34:25
Speaker 1: The great Bill Schroeder joining us here.
00:34:28
Speaker 4: He says you don't want to see me watching a Brewers-Cubs game.
00:34:32
Speaker 1: No, I disagree.
00:34:33
Speaker 4: I think everybody wants to watch a game with Bill Schroeder.
00:34:37
Speaker 1: That's why we love you, Rob. I'm going to FaceTime Kate and have her put the camera on and turn the phone towards Rob so I can watch him in his Barca lounger. Get some reaction on that. With his libations. What an absolute classic. Absolute classic. This portion of the program has been brought to you in part by Game Day Men's Health. Check them out. I was there yesterday. GameDayMensHealth.com, the website. Clinics are all over the area. Find one near you. Go in for the consult. See if they can change your life. GameDayMensHealth.com. When we come back, we'll be waking and baking and closing up shop on a robust Wednesday edition of The Huddle on Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin. Baby, time to close up shop for the Wednesday edition of The Huddle. Fox Sports, Radio Wisconsin, 920 Milwaukee, 1070 Madison, everywhere on the iHeart app, Facebook, X, and YouTube. Robust numbers on the streams today. Thank you to everybody, 5 o'clock clubbers especially, and those who joined at 6, 7. We don't care when you join. We don't care if you watch this show back at 3 in the morning. Which many do. 2 in the afternoon. Stream it, watch it, learn it, know it, live it. We're doing good numbers. We appreciate everybody out there. Time for a little wake and bake story to close things out. Kind of cleanse the palate a little bit as we go into a Wednesday and get ready for Brewers Cubs game three with Miz on the mound. Oh, nothing better. That is some sweet, sweet taste of victory maybe tonight. All right. I got you here for this one, Drew.
00:35:58
Speaker 4: Now, I don't know that there was any waking and baking going on, but I do know there was some good work, some good camaraderie, and potentially way too many dudes on a Malibu boat over the weekend for the Milwaukee Bucks hanging out in Austin, Texas. Miles Turner put it out online. It looked like they might have been doing some swimming.
00:36:17
Speaker 1: Well, why not? I hope some guys get out of that boat. Miles Turner had the fellas down for a players camp. Got some good workouts in. Pretty cool.
00:36:25
Speaker 4: Everybody had their gear, doing some stretching, doing some five-on-five, little shooting drills, and a lot of good hanging. Now, like a lot of, you know, good guys weekends. There's a really, really sweet 45 second cinematically shot video of the entire thing.
00:36:43
Speaker 1: Recapping it, edit video, edit a lot of good clips. It's like, yeah, we're.
00:36:47
Speaker 4: Putting, there's a wildly well-timed shot of, uh, Yaka Jonas. Am I pronouncing that correctly?
00:36:54
Speaker 1: Yaka Jonas. I think so.
00:36:56
Speaker 4: The young man, they got formerly of Illinois from Miami shooting some pool.
00:37:01
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:37:01
Speaker 4: Hitting it in the corner pocket. Some really nice little hat tips for the boys down in Texas. They're spinning the paddle, playing some ping pong, big old tomahawk steaks.
00:37:11
Speaker 1: And then a.
00:37:13
Speaker 4: Shot that is only going to be rivaled by potentially the New York football giants going out on the boat the week between the Packers game to Lambeau for the wildcard round. Where we got, like, the whole team on a 28-foot Malibu. This is not a, like, it's a nice boat, but it's not that huge. That's a very expensive boat. I mean, it's very nice. The little bit that I know about boating, a Malibu ski boat is nothing to sneeze at.
00:37:42
Speaker 3: But this isn't like, you know, the Queen Mary boat. Like, this isn't like the Wisconsin river boats.
00:37:47
Speaker 4: We got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, at least 11 dudes.
00:37:55
Speaker 1: All on this boat. Not one wearing a shirt. I also wouldn't if I looked like this.
00:38:00
Speaker 2: Oh, wow. No.
00:38:01
Speaker 1: It's probably hot down there. You might jump in the water. There's no swim shirts going on.
00:38:05
Speaker 4: But I think it's just a fair question to ask on a hot take hump day Wednesday. 11 shirtless dudes on boats.
00:38:14
Speaker 1: Too many dudes. How many guys on a boat? Too many dudes.
00:38:17
Speaker 4: How many dudes do you feel comfortable with hanging out on one boat?
00:38:20
Speaker 1: Again, this isn't a yacht. This is like a, again, max 30 foot ski boat. This is not like the, the, the Vikings love boat. This is not even like, we don't know. It could have been, there could have been two boats.
00:38:32
Speaker 4: This isn't because there was, there were two boats for the Minnesota love boat situation. One where it was really going down. And one where, you know, Nate Burleson famously tells a story. He was just hanging out, having a nice drink, hanging out, looking at the views. Even the Stefan digs daddy on the boat was.
00:38:47
Speaker 1: A bigger boat. right? Much larger, much larger, much larger. This is great.
00:38:52
Speaker 4: Cause this is team building bonding. I love, we probably had some sick wake surfing going on here. I see the wake boards over on the side.
00:38:58
Speaker 3: I mean, there's gotta be a couple of bags of sun chips in the bottom there somewhere.
00:39:01
Speaker 1: But even the, the boat is the pizza, the pool, the shots up.
00:39:07
Speaker 3: Basically when you're a kid, what you wanted your birthday party sleep over to St.
00:39:11
Speaker 1: Edwards university is where they were working out and, and hooping and hooping. Like, Great. It's great to see this. I'm interested. Did the Bucks social team accompany them? Who put this together? Because it was very well crafted, and the video was amazing. That's what I was going to say, because it comes out on Miles Turner.
00:39:27
Speaker 4: I didn't know if Miles booked the video crew to be like, hey, man, come film this. Let's make sure Bucs fans know that I'm about that action.
00:39:34
Speaker 3: He had the private chef cooking for him. I think that guy wasn't on the Bucs that was cooking all those tomahawks.
00:39:39
Speaker 4: That guy is definitely not on the Bucs. Now they probably should have had Chef Adam Pavlak.
00:39:43
Speaker 1: They should have. Let's be honest, if Adam would have been there, the boys would have been eating. No doubt. And Miles Turner, earlier this offseason, got engaged, right?
00:39:52
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:39:52
Speaker 1: In Italy. He's having quite a time. Having a good offseason. And you know what? He was on a boat during that engagement. Whatever it ends up being, Cam Jones, Armand's boy, is in there.
00:40:02
Speaker 4: He's doing some sweet lunges.
00:40:07
Speaker 1: I don't know they're going to hit the.
00:40:08
Speaker 4: I don't know they're going to win 25 games. But these vibes are a lot better. These are fun vibes for a young team. I like the feeling that we're all hanging out, getting together. Teams bond a lot more around steaks and kegs than they do kale. And this one feels like a good one.
00:40:25
Speaker 1: My final hot take is that the Bugs will exceed expectations. Damning by faint praise, I know, because there are virtually no expectations for them this year. Very low expectations. it's the flip side of when Wendy Seligpreep told Hardcore, Tom, we're not as bad as you think you, we are. And he said, Wendy, you couldn't possibly be as bad as I think you are. So bucks will be better. Bucks will be better. Hey, better than that. Join us at five a.m.
00:40:49
Speaker 2: Tomorrow.
00:40:49
Speaker 1: We'll be talking Ms.
00:40:50
Speaker 2: Cubs.
00:40:50
Speaker 1: It's going to be a blast. We'll see you then.
00:40:52
Speaker 2: Peace.
Speaker 1: Wednesday edition of the huddle from headquarters. Drew Olson, Bill Schmidt, Armin Sarian, bringing it to you. Hot take hump day. Well underway.
00:00:12
Speaker 2: 877-794-1973.
00:00:12
Speaker 1: Welcome to all members of the seven o'clock club. Say hi to the six o'clock clubbers and the five o'clock clubbers who were here right with us at 5 a.m. Psychos that they were. It's hot take hump day. Get them to us. 877-794-1973. Got anything holstered up? Armin, got any takes? I mean, You went viral yesterday for venting against Cubs fans. That was phenomenal.
00:00:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know if I can repeat that, although I guess my hot take is I don't know where all the Cubs fans are at. I had my binoculars out looking last night for all those mouthy Cubs fans that were so excited. Two nights ago, and they weren't there last night. So nice win for the Brewers last night, guys.
00:00:48
Speaker 1: That was pretty awesome. It was a nice win for the Brewers.
00:00:50
Speaker 3: And my other hot take is, I don't know if you guys saw it on TV. We're watching it on the TVs out in the studios. Man, Bryce Terang looking good in that new commercial for one of the law firms in town.
00:01:00
Speaker 4: Yeah, I saw your boy over here. Armin's saying that he looked like a lawyer. That would have been a real stretch for Bryce Durang to be looking like a lawyer to me.
00:01:10
Speaker 1: Well, he had the suit on. Sport coat and a t-shirt.
00:01:13
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, but it was navy blue. They were sitting around the boardroom. That table looked like maybe oak or something like that.
00:01:21
Speaker 4: Looked like the out-of-town cousin or brother that comes into town and you want to bring him in, but you're like, hey, man.
00:01:27
Speaker 1: You're going to have to put on some nice clothes. But this is all I got. This is the nice stuff I got.
00:01:31
Speaker 3: Like he's there for the retirement party or for the engagement party or maybe the guy that... Hey, we brought in our new associate, our paralegal. He's the ringer for the company softball team.
00:01:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's going to be on the company softball team. That's where you're going to find him. Pretty good stuff right there. We want your hot takes. Here's one for you.
00:01:48
Speaker 1: Hot takes. Sometimes you have to dive in amongst the tire and strip club ads to find... To get where the real good stuff is.
00:01:55
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yes.
00:01:56
Speaker 2: Like.
00:01:57
Speaker 1: The best game in baseball last night was the Pirates and the Giants. Nuts, wasn't it? Unbelievable. Pirates scored nine runs in the third. They puked away a six-run lead and then won on a walk-off error in Pittsburgh. They won 13-12.
00:02:12
Speaker 4: They were up 11-5 at one point after that, and then slowly come back on. And also, the headliner of that, Drew, is two starters from Team USA, the two starters in the game. Because we're used to now skeins getting roughed up. Logan Webb giving up nine in an inning and not getting out of the third?
00:02:33
Speaker 1: That we're not as used to. Pirates, half of the third inning, they scored nine runs, and it took 30 minutes of time.
00:02:41
Speaker 2: Yikes.
00:02:42
Speaker 1: Thank God for the pitch. And much like the Brewers, it was a small market rally. They scored nine runs with no extra base hits. Just a bunch of singles and walks.
00:02:52
Speaker 2: Wow.
00:02:52
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:02:53
Speaker 4: Two bases loaded walks that drew in runs and just punted the ball around the yard.
00:02:58
Speaker 1: He hasn't done that many consecutive outcomes. I mean, that's just wild. The Pirates bullpen allowed seven runs across the sixth and the eighth innings.
00:03:06
Speaker 2: Yikes.
00:03:07
Speaker 1: My goodness.
00:03:08
Speaker 4: Well, in the, the, the pirates had were one of the teams that ended up bolstering at the deadline, beefing up thinking we're going to make this run. We're going to try for it. We're going to do everything we can. And Luke Weaver was one of the big guys that they ended up bringing in from the Yankees, more money committed.
00:03:23
Speaker 1: To him next year.
00:03:24
Speaker 4: He was so good with New York and, uh, They're kind of flat since they've got him there in Pittsburgh. Haven't given him a whole lot of save opportunities until yesterday and then give him two runs and blow that son of a gun there in the ninth.
00:03:36
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's like that. You never know when you get a guy in the trade.
00:03:40
Speaker 3: Sometimes they're better than you expected. Sometimes they're worse than you expected. Sometimes they're about the same. Well, and pitching is one that's got a lot more variables to it, doesn't it? Like you can not say that you can just hit everywhere, but that to me is like a defense in football.
00:03:55
Speaker 4: Defense will travel. That bat will travel. You go in to a pitching staff and you are working with a whole new operation, new catchers, new pitch selection process, right? Because, I mean, at some point you're not calling your own pitches. And there's some teams that are trying to emphasize that, but there's a lot of variables when acquiring guys at the deadline, especially there. The other interesting one drew stories around baseball yesterday was this young man who made his debut on, Lazaro Montes for the Seattle Mariners, 21 years old, out of Cuba. He had a great reaction video to him calling his family, calling his family back home that he was making it to the big leagues. Emotional video. And all he does in his debut, go two for four with a bomb at Fenway Park.
00:04:43
Speaker 1: Giddy up. Dead center.
00:04:45
Speaker 2: Huge.
00:04:46
Speaker 1: I mean, straight away.
00:04:47
Speaker 4: And that is a shot there at Fenway to go straight away. Is that worthy of our current electric superhero of the day? I think it, I think it definitely would be, but I was going to give it to Christian Yelich. I was going to give the, I was going to give the superhero of the day to Christian Yelich for the two run shot that flips the scoreboard changes the game. Joey Ortiz probably also deserves it to hit night as well. Two hit nights for Jackson Churio, Bryce Durang, William Contreras. Uh, but we're giving it to Yelich after that two run shot that, uh, I mean, it ends up being the difference. As it went up 5-3, they tack on and change the outcome, make it look a whole lot different.
00:05:19
Speaker 1: But that ballpark was silent.
00:05:22
Speaker 4: Outside of the smattering of Brewers fans there that were able to celebrate, but Drew, the air was taken out of that balloon pretty quick with that swing.
00:05:29
Speaker 1: Callcurrent.com, the website, superheroes on the side of the van, superheroes inside the trucks that do the work for you. Check them out. Always got deals going and stuff. Whatever you may need in terms of keeping your family safe. Right, Billy? Keep your family safe, especially because the storms are not ending.
00:05:44
Speaker 4: We talked to our friends up in the Fox Valley. Hope everyone's doing better a little later into the morning. I know we were getting pounded earlier on. Our 5 o'clock clubbers were waking up with us. But you do not want to be left out in the cold, or as it would be this week, the heat when your power goes out. So go and call Current Electric. Callcurrent.com is the place to go.
00:06:04
Speaker 1: Check them out.
00:06:05
Speaker 4: They will do a full home assessment, figure out which one of their generators would be best for your home. Whole home standby generator. You hope you never need it, but odds are in Wisconsin, especially in the summers, you will need it.
00:06:16
Speaker 1: Current Electric. Callcurrent.com. All right, hot take for you. Again, 877-794-1973. Hot take. You can't make a fashion statement and then deny the fashion statement. Cattell Marte's hat in Phoenix is a big story. The hat he wore the other night with the neon trucker hat that said, let the bridges I burn light the way. I found it online. When you just went AWOL for a while. For a week. And you're going to wear that. And people asked him, you know, what does that hat mean? He said, I didn't know what it was. Just a hat. Just a cool hat.
00:06:46
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:06:46
Speaker 1: Just a hat, dude. Just one of the many hats you just slapped on.
00:06:50
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:06:51
Speaker 1: That's hard to believe.
00:06:51
Speaker 3: I get guys are getting stuff from different, you know, maybe merchandisers and collaborations and they're getting free stuff.
00:06:57
Speaker 1: Maybe they just throw one on.
00:06:58
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: You can't tell me you just threw that on by accident.
00:07:01
Speaker 4: Is he in a contract deal, or is there some kind of struggle that we know of that they're going through? Because Lovolo did a great job caping up for him, but he also did let the cat out of the bag. I think it was this weekend where he's like, I think it's been three or four years now that we've had him miss a game, but we didn't know where he was.
00:07:18
Speaker 1: In addition to talking throughout and explaining his 13-game absence, Torrey Lovolo was asked about the hat. His quote was, I want to move past this Cattell stuff as quickly as possible. I think if you chop up those words, maybe he's taking some accountability. He feels like he's done some things and he wants to get better. That's how I read it. You want to read that? That's like, whew. What a great guy. That's a great read. Some rose-colored reading glasses you're wearing there, Torrey. And I like Torrey Lavelle. He extended it. He's been getting put into the hornet's nest with this thing. So then Marte said he didn't know. He just put it on. And because he's from the Dominican and Spanish is his main language and stuff. He, he was then someone read him a translation of, of that, of the hat. And he just said, yeah, I didn't, I don't know. Don't know what it meant. I just, I just put it on.
00:08:10
Speaker 2: I just put it on.
00:08:10
Speaker 3: Maybe that's his excuses, that language thing. And I guess it's possible. I mean, but it's just hard to believe.
00:08:17
Speaker 4: That's a tough, that's a tough one to, uh, to get past. I like the, let the bridges that I burn light the way, light the way to the talking stick casino.
00:08:27
Speaker 3: I mean, I just, He's making six years, $ 116 million. He extended last April in 2025. April 2025, he extended to six year, $ 116. 5 million that added $ 64 more million in new guaranteed money.
00:08:42
Speaker 1: So I can't be... Sounds like there's a lot of reasons to be happy.
00:08:45
Speaker 3: I don't... He just did the deal, so I can't imagine he's mad again, but maybe he.
00:08:49
Speaker 1: About the money... Who knows? Maybe he's just a different kind of guy. Very different.
00:08:55
Speaker 4: It's tough because you then also, and I heard a lot of different baseball guys talking about this. Drew, you saw a lot of things in baseball. I don't know that you saw a guy just go AWOL for two weeks from the team.
00:09:05
Speaker 1: No, generally not.
00:09:07
Speaker 4: But being able to come back into the dugout, into the clubhouse, and then like You have to address it.
00:09:14
Speaker 1: You can't not.
00:09:15
Speaker 4: It sounds like obviously he did and he was urged to and said some of the right things. But there's only so many times I think that pro athletes are extremely good at a couple of different things.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: Obviously the athletic parts. They are very, very good at spotting phoniness.
00:09:32
Speaker 4: And especially from somebody that's in the clubhouse that they're supposed to be respecting and following and playing with. If they found any bit of that as not being genuine, I think his time in Arizona is going to be hard for him not to be done at that point.
00:09:47
Speaker 1: Absolutely. There was another story. There's much rejoicing in Anaheim because Stan Kroenke purchased the Angels. Talk about it. The Artie Moreno era is over, right? And that's going to be Kroenke. Was that $ 4 billion? Felt like a deal to me. Baseball team in Anaheim?
00:10:06
Speaker 4: That's a record deal for Major League Baseball, too. So hot take, Major League Baseball owners not happy about the Artie Moreno news.
00:10:14
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:10:14
Speaker 4: As our franchise value valuations, not skyrocketing as we want being one of the main impetuses for the labor strike that happens in the off season. 3.9 for San Diego, 4 million for the second team in L.A. that hasn't done anything in the last 20 years.
00:10:31
Speaker 1: Interesting. Sounds like they're kind of going up. It sounds like a lot of money, and it is. They're not going up.
00:10:36
Speaker 4: They're not tenfolding like the NFL valuations at the NBA ones.
00:10:40
Speaker 1: The Padres closed their sale for 3.9.
00:10:41
Speaker 3: 3.9 billion.
00:10:41
Speaker 1: The Angels are 4 million now.
00:10:42
Speaker 4: $ 4.
00:10:46
Speaker 1: Billion, and the Angels have 11 straight losing seasons. That's what I'm saying. 11 straight losing seasons. They've had great players.
00:10:53
Speaker 4: Two of the best players in the last 25 years playing there for an extended period of time.
00:10:59
Speaker 3: I think for Angels fans, they probably consider this good news because Moreno's kind of.
00:11:03
Speaker 1: Been the anchor. They're dancing in the streets.
00:11:05
Speaker 3: I just think, yeah, it's interesting how the NBA, obviously NFL, and then the NBA, the franchise valuations are skyrocketing.
00:11:12
Speaker 1: And obviously.
00:11:13
Speaker 3: MLB going up, but maybe not at the same pace and what that means for a.
00:11:16
Speaker 2: Lot of things. I don't know.
00:11:17
Speaker 1: Kroenke now owns the Rams. He'll own the Angels when they close in the first quarter of next year. The Nuggets, the Avalanche, and Arsenal. And Arsenal. Just won the Premier League.
00:11:29
Speaker 2: Man.
00:11:30
Speaker 4: Odds on favor to go to the Super Bowl. Set almost 70% chance to go undefeated, apparently. Colorado was the best team in hockey last year until they lost in the Western Conference Finals because they lost their best player before the series against Vegas.
00:11:44
Speaker 1: And Denver just won it, what, three, four years ago? Yeah, three years ago with Jokic.
00:11:49
Speaker 4: If you're looking at this as an Angels fan, and there are them out there, right?
00:11:54
Speaker 1: They do exist. They do exist.
00:11:56
Speaker 4: It's not the barren fan base. Yeah, you're dancing in the streets. This is the best news that you possibly could have seen. But this is also going to be into the hot take hump day variety. He's one of the only owners that's in this new wave of owners that you do want to have. Because Stan Kroenke, I think, is about making money, but clearly about winning. And you're going to start seeing this with a number of different private equity firms coming through into Major League Baseball, NBA, NFL. Just watch it with Mark Walter. Now he's in some hot water. He's in some different kinds of things. Wherever that money was potentially coming from, that will be a fascinating deal to be played out in real time. But to watch one of the touchstone franchises in all of professional sports flip for $ 2.
00:12:41
Speaker 1: 5 billion... in a year signals, I think a little bit of a shift.
00:12:45
Speaker 4: This is no longer drew you finding an owner that has a vested interest, loves the team, loves ball.
00:12:51
Speaker 1: This is a hobby.
00:12:53
Speaker 4: This is my, this is as much of my status logo as possible of I'm going to be here.
00:12:59
Speaker 1: I run the team.
00:13:00
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:13:00
Speaker 1: I got the money. If we make money is what it is.
00:13:03
Speaker 4: This is all about making money because it is the, there's some of the biggest businesses in the world and that shift over the next five to 10 years of how business operates under these ownership groups, I think is going to be interesting.
00:13:13
Speaker 1: To watch private equity, get involved that they don't make anything better.
00:13:17
Speaker 4: They don't make anything better, but you know what they do? They make a lot of money doing it. They do a lot of money doing it. It's a churn and burn thing. Like it's like private equity. You'll see a lot of these teams probably getting flipped just because the number hits the threshold as to where you're supposed to go with the investment.
00:13:32
Speaker 1: Now, Artie Moreno was not cheap. He was not successful, but he was not cheap. That's true. That is true. They did not win despite having Otani and Trout, which is unfathomable. But they had Otani and Trout. Otani bolted. Okay, so that franchise just sold for $ 4 billion. Otani left and made $ 700 million. Yeah, I mean, that's based on what we know. If you'll get that money, we don't know. But in 2019, Moreno stepped up to keep Mike Trout there, their generational player. That was $ 426. 5 million. At the time, I was like, oh, my God, that's ridiculous. To keep him there for his entire career. They also brought in Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and Anthony Rendon, and they spent $ 625 million on that trio of underachievers. They've tried. So they tried. They've dumped money. They just didn't spend it wisely. And I think the idea was that he was too involved in baseball decisions. And that begs the question, how was David Stern so good in Milwaukee, and then he got to New York with unlimited resources and not going to make the playoffs? That's how. He's spending the money on guys like that, whereas the Brewers have to be on the margins, have to be right, have to have a guy like Jake Bowers.
00:14:40
Speaker 3: Right.
00:14:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:14:41
Speaker 1: And sometimes players let you down.
00:14:43
Speaker 2: Facts.
00:14:43
Speaker 3: Well, yeah.
00:14:44
Speaker 1: I mean, sometimes you sign a guy that's done really well. Hamilton or Rendon. $ 625 million for that trio that didn't do much. Did nothing. Especially Rendon. Was it? I was going to say who basically quit halfway through it. It's just like the worst. And was it counsel a couple of months ago made the quote of in some form or fashion?
00:15:03
Speaker 4: I'm going to be misquoting it, but I think I'm paraphrasing in it of like it can be an it's an advantage for them to not have as many mainstay guys talking about the Brewers. like not have as many big contract guys where in that same vein, they live on the margins. They also live on, as Murphy would talk about it, the threat of that pink slip coming in your locker, right? Like when you have seven, six years, seven years, you're going to have to play that guy throughout. And there's never going to be an adjustment that you can have. And once you start spending big time cash, you realize that like Stearns did for, for Moreno.
00:15:34
Speaker 1: That's the tough thing.
00:15:35
Speaker 4: Cause he definitely, you would think tried, but it also sounds like from people in the know, it's like, we're going to spend big money on this contract. And then we're going to cut costs everywhere else. Hey, Artie, can we get a new pitching machine down in Arizona?
00:15:50
Speaker 1: This one's good.
00:15:50
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:15:50
Speaker 1: You're talking about this one doesn't work. This one works.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: This one works.
00:15:53
Speaker 1: Let's use this one still.
00:15:55
Speaker 4: So there's a weird back and forth of when you get teams, people only look at the spending on players where the Brewers don't spend notably. So on a ton of players where they did spend their money. was on their infrastructure and things around that can supplement it. And that can be your way of being able to play around the margins.
00:16:16
Speaker 1: And 25 years ago, the angels were drawn 3 million fans. Like they're always kind of like second to the Dodgers in that market, but that's a big, and again, it's almost like two different worlds, Orange County and LA, two different worlds. And they were drawn 3 million there and they haven't been good. 11 straight losing seasons will dampen your attendance. Now, again, attendance isn't everything in MLB anymore. It's all about TV deals and stuff, but, hard to generate much TV heat. When you're in 11 straight losing seasons, you have the second worst record in all of ball again with a generational player. Mike Trout is one of the great players of this or any generation who's never gotten any juice because they've been so bad. He's been mired on such bad teams for so long. Just hanging out there in the middle of mediocrity.
00:16:58
Speaker 4: And the tough thing is, I've heard, again, there's been a lot of people that have said a lot of different things about Artie as the owner, but one, I remember when the Brewers went out there, maybe it was this year or a couple of years ago, they played a week day series, like a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whatever it was.
00:17:13
Speaker 1: And had the getaway game at night on Wednesday. What are they doing? Why are they hosing people?
00:17:19
Speaker 4: Well, it's also a getaway game for his own team, but he's not going to deal with the day gate because we're not going to draw anything.
00:17:25
Speaker 1: They just watched that happen at USC.
00:17:27
Speaker 4: If it's 100 degrees in the middle of the day, nobody's doing anything in LA.
00:17:31
Speaker 2: Right?
00:17:31
Speaker 4: So they try to do everything they can to get some folks in there. And over the last decade, it has been as barren as it possibly could be for that team.
00:17:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: But a good day for him yesterday. You just lived through all that suck.
00:17:44
Speaker 4: Now you got a wild amount of positivity and optimism if you're an Angels fan.
00:17:48
Speaker 1: And hope. You know, that's the main thing. So Kroenke helped deliver SoFi Stadium. Angel Stadium needs kind of a reboot or... They need a new one. Either a new one or, yeah. You think he moves it out to Englewood and to the complex? Good question. Not sure. Become the California Angels again? I'm not sure. I think he's going to spend money on players. And the other thing is, in addition to a quarter billion dollars on Anthony Rendon, who sucks, they had to pay that Tyler Skaggs, you know, the... Oh, they had to pay out that deal? That was an undisclosed amount of cash that they had to pay a lot of money out on that settlement. So, yeah, like I said, they spent $ 625 million on three guys who didn't do much for them.
00:18:30
Speaker 4: They didn't do anything for them, but you know what they wouldn't spend on? A manager's second year on his contract. Kurt Suzuki is working on a one-year deal as the manager. Now, maybe it was because he knew that they were going to get sold. Maybe that was part of the deal.
00:18:43
Speaker 1: I don't believe so.
00:18:44
Speaker 4: I think it was already said, let's give them a one-year deal.
00:18:47
Speaker 1: Give somebody a one-year deal that'll take it. Crockey's good at facilities, so they'll either get Angel Stadium renovated or build a new one somewhere. Would that be a good location? I would think they would stay in Orange County. Stay right down there? I would think they would because that's kind of where their history and their roots are. I also don't know that he owns the land that SoFi's on.
00:19:02
Speaker 4: I know he owns the stadium, but that's another.
00:19:05
Speaker 1: That's another one, yeah. I'm not sure.
00:19:06
Speaker 4: Because then if they did, it'd be a heck of a complex because out there in that Englewood area, they got SoFi.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: They just built the Intuit Dome.
00:19:13
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:19:14
Speaker 4: Which is apparently supposed to be a marvel of sport and potentially that one too. This is just an interesting day, especially when you talk about the labor negotiations. I've heard it's a fire up right now, and this team that a lot of people would not have thought of goes for what ends up being a record amount of money. It fires up and keeps that conversation hot. A couple of hot takes quickly from the talking text line. Bill from Madison. Hot take.
00:19:38
Speaker 1: Ortiz hitting so well.
00:19:39
Speaker 4: Murphy leave Hamilton on the bench for a week. and let Ortiz rake. I don't know that it'll be a week, but Joey Ortiz is playing himself, Drew, into... he's going to be starting potentially a third base or shortstop.
00:19:52
Speaker 1: I think in the playoffs. Yeah. He's playing himself into one of those spots.
00:19:56
Speaker 4: He's playing in the playoffs and it might just be from what we ended up watching last night that you don't get a 21 year old, 22 year old Cooper Pratt in there. We don't want our, we can't be hurting ourselves in a playoff game last night. That's an atmosphere of the playoff. Like down there at Wrigley.
00:20:09
Speaker 3: Nope.
00:20:10
Speaker 1: When we come back, Bill Schroeder is going to join the party from Brewers TV, friend of the program. He actually played for the Angels back in the day when they were owned by Gene Autry and his family. The Rock is next. You're in the huddle, Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin. Continuing the huddle, Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin. Drew Olson, Bill Schmidt, Armin Sarian. Brewers beat the Cubs last night. There was just a noticeable exhalation, a sigh of relief. The sky seems bluer and the sun is shining and birds are happier in the good land. And we're happy to be joined by our pal from Brewers TV, Bill Schroeder. Rock, welcome to the program. Timing is everything, my friend. I'm glad we're talking to you today after a victory rather than a 17-3 setback.
00:20:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, I get a sense that you guys are still a little bit uncomfortable with an eight-game lead. No.
00:21:04
Speaker 1: No, not too comfortable.
00:21:06
Speaker 4: I don't have my feet totally kicked up here yet, Rock, but I do have my shoes off. I'm getting very close to kicking them up on the ottoman with that eight-game lead.
00:21:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, I will say this. I mean, you know, Brewers pitching has been just phenomenal all season long. You know, Harrison... Had a rough outing a couple days ago, but it was good to see the Brewers' offense get going last night. I mean, some bottom of the order getting it done early on, and then the big boys taking over, you know, Contreras with that big double, and Yelly with the homer. And how about Joey O? I mean, he's been phenomenal since the All-Star break, or since July 4th, I think it is.
00:21:44
Speaker 1: Rock, these games feel like playoff games, and it's a good preview, and to see Pratt and... Those guys and Lara and those guys get this exposure. It's fun, isn't it? It's just like this is as good as regular season baseball can get in September.
00:21:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, any time you get into Wrigley Field. I don't care what the records of the two teams are. It does give you kind of an exalted sense of the game, right? I mean, it's a playoff atmosphere. I mean, the Brewers fell behind once again yesterday. And then all of a sudden, And, you know, the Brewers are able to take advantage of a struggling Cubs bullpen this year. That's the big difference between these two teams. I know Cubs hit a lot of dingers. They hit a lot of homers. They score a lot of runs. But starting rotation has been really good for them. But, you know, you can tell that, you know, the bullpen, it's a big difference. I mean, the Brewers' bullpen has been great. You know, the Cubs have not. But, yeah, it's good to see a team that is so young to be able to handle the pressure and all of that. At Wrigley Field last night, you've got 21, 22-year-old kids playing in huge games against teams that are very, very experienced. The Cubs have got a team that's been around a while. These guys know what they're doing, and the Brewers have been able to handle it pretty well.
00:23:05
Speaker 1: And you look at it.
00:23:07
Speaker 4: Bill, and you've called so many of these games last night and enjoying it like us on the couch. These games are stressful. These Brewer-Cub games are a different kind of stress, and there's such a heightened importance on seemingly every pitch. It feels like a playoff game, but is it as exhausting to call as it is sitting on the couch to watch? These games are never over, and last night was another great example of it. They just play some thrilling games.
00:23:32
Speaker 2: I find that, you know, doing the games, I mean, it can be a little bit more, you know, straight down the line. You know, you don't get as emotional. Sometimes I have. I get upset sometimes, you know, but, you know, you don't want to watch, you don't want to sit with me watching a game on television at my house because I, you know, say things, I do things that normally I would never do. I'm a fan. The Brewers, that's my life. I get emotional. But yes, I just get a sense that you win the Wrigley Field, you have an eight-game lead. I mean, all the pressure, every bit of the pressure is on the Cubs. And the guys responded extremely well. But you're right. I mean, every pitch. I thought B.A. and Vinny did a great job setting the scene yesterday and talking about the importance of of these games and the importance of the experience that these young brewers are getting through all this. And, um, you know, it's good to have a, an eight game cushion. I mean, I think that every time you beat the Cubs now, they knock two games off the magic number. What was it? I think I heard it was like, what is it? 16 right now is the magic number for the brewers. I mean, the brewers, uh, you know, every time they win a game goes down, every time the Cubs lose another game goes down. So they knocked off two games yesterday. So, uh, I think the Brewers are in great shape. Maybe they've got a month left. Anytime you beat the Cubs, it's always a big deal. I don't care what the records of the two teams are. It could be last place and next to last. They're always more intense when you're playing the Cubs.
00:25:10
Speaker 1: It's always fun. You're telling us that when things get really intense and you're sitting at home, Kate and Rupert have to go to a different room?
00:25:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, Kate will just look at me and start waving her finger at me and say, that's enough. That's enough. And then Rupert goes right into his bed and covers his head up. He's out. Rupert.
00:25:30
Speaker 1: I like it when Daggett's mad. Rupert the super doxer goes nuts.
00:25:34
Speaker 2: It's amazing. I turn from broadcaster that has been doing it for a long, long time. and try to maintain composure and be kind of down the middle a little bit. So if I'm in my house and I'm watching a game, that is all gone. Every bit of it is gone. I am just a big fan, and I get crazy. Not that I'm screaming and yelling the whole night, but, I mean, it's a different mentality when I'm in my basement.
00:26:03
Speaker 1: When stuff goes bad.
00:26:03
Speaker 2: One of us.
00:26:04
Speaker 1: All right. Yeah. Rock, to have that last night's game, a total bounce back. And our buddy Todd Rosiak asked Murph on Monday, are you confident your team has the resilience to come back? And Murph's like, why wouldn't I be? And Murph brought that back last night. I was asked last night. And the Brewers to come back from 3-0 and win that game was huge. And then today you're rolling Miz out there. So now you feel like you totally have the upper hand. The psychological impact of having Miz and rolling out that big gun is huge.
00:26:32
Speaker 2: Isn't it? Yeah, especially if you just won a big game. I mean, you know, it's one of those things where you've got Miz out there, and then you've got Peterson for the Cubs, who has had kind of a rough season from time to time, but he's always pitched well against the Brewers, even when he was with the Mets. I mean, he really came up with some pretty good starts. You've got Miz tonight, and then you've got Logan Henderson, who has been unbelievable where it starts. You can understand why the Brewers did not want to give up Logan Henderson in all those trade talks with Scooble and the rest of those guys. This guy's going to be a good one for a long time. You win yesterday. I thought Gasser was really good. Brewers bullpen once again. dynamite, and now you've got the Miz and Logan Henderson, a chance to win three out of four at Wrigley and pretty much put this thing away.
00:27:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, you can put it to bed. You win three of four, and you can put the kids to bed and be safe for the rest of the month. When you see a guy like Joey Ortiz, you mentioned him off the.
00:27:36
Speaker 1: Rip, Rock.
00:27:38
Speaker 4: When he has the shot to the bow of Cooper Pratt coming up, he signs the contract, knows what's going on, understands it, but then doesn't flinch and goes and takes a new position and just takes off with it. What can that be for not only his career, but for the team? Because it does feel like he's primed to come through in a huge moment in October because he's now just become the guy that's come through for the last two months.
00:28:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a big home run that he hit yesterday. I mean, that gave him a nice little cushion, the fibrin cushion, and you could see how excited he is. He was, but you know what? One guy that isn't getting enough credit for what Ortiz has been able to do is Pat Murphy. I mean, when that all happened, when Joe was really struggling at the plate, but this guy's a wizard in the infield. He said play made at third base yesterday. I mean, incredible job for him. But Murph told him when Pratt came up, he said, look, you're still going to be an important part of this team. Keep working. I mean, he's a tireless worker. Anything you do offensively is going to be a bonus for us because of how good you are defensively. But all of a sudden, then, he gets that confidence just because Pratt is up there that he's not going to be sitting on the bench the whole time. So, or getting sent down or getting traded or anything like that, Merck showed confidence in him even when Pratt came up. And I think it had a big impact on how he's been able to play.
00:29:01
Speaker 1: Talking to Bill Schroeder, Brewers TV here on the huddle, Drew, Billy, and Armin. Okay, Rock, got to take you back. One of the controversies yesterday, it's nice that we don't have to talk about it, but Andrew Vaughn pitching two innings. It used to be funny, and I've always been a fan of position players pitching, but it's happening now across baseball almost on a nightly basis. Is it too much? Is there anything anybody can do?
00:29:22
Speaker 2: I hate it. I don't like it. I mean, you know, if you need to add another pitcher to the roster, go ahead. But, I mean, you know, when the Brewers won that game 22-0, you know, you had– it was like slow pitch, no limit softball, no pitching arc. I can't stand it. I don't like it. I don't think the teams like doing it, but you've got to protect your pitching. But two innings is a bit much. I think that if you're going to throw a pitcher out there or a position player, I should say, Make it be the eighth inning. I mean, it kind of makes a mockery of the game. I don't like it. Nobody likes it. Murph doesn't like it when he has to do it. I know no manager does, but it's the way it is. If you've got a 15-run lead, down by 15 runs, I mean, what other choice do you have? You don't want to blow out all your pitching for the rest of the series.
00:30:17
Speaker 4: And the game is just so analytically driven and numbers driven that we were talking about it, and Drew mentioned it in the accounts, you say, like, The numbers guys would tell you to do it when you're down four in the seventh inning because you're like, coming.
00:30:29
Speaker 1: Back is so low. But it does. It gives you such a weird thought.
00:30:33
Speaker 4: Mine was that, like you said, add another pitcher or if somebody's got to wear it, you have the opportunity to bring somebody up at a certain point the next day. They've got to be able to find something to it because these games are too entertaining to all of a sudden have that thing stunted right there at the back end. And the game's so good right now, Rock, that there's no reason to have. Now, listen, if Gary Sanchez is going to pitch more, I am going to be interested to watch because.
00:30:55
Speaker 1: I want to see Al Crackett fire that thing. Well, that's true. But, Rock, we were talking about one of the things that's missing is a knuckleballer that can pitch every day. Remember Steve Sparks back when there were knuckleballers? Ashby's the closest thing to it. When there were knuckleballers, those guys could pitch every day and eat up those innings.
00:31:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, how about a knuckleballer every day, but if you're a catcher, you hate that. Yeah, true. You see the umpire last night wear one right in the mask yesterday, tipped off of Contreras' glove, but that happens quite a bit with a knuckleballer. Yeah, you're right. I mean, you know, the game is the game. The game is doing so well right now. And, you know, runs sometimes are hard to come by, but then all of a sudden you've got stretches like now where, I mean, teams are racking up, you know, 10, 15, you know, 20 runs. I mean, it's been kind of crazy the last month, hasn't it? Yeah.
00:31:48
Speaker 1: You're seeing it on the regular and this is, It's not the 40-man roster debacle we used to have in September's past when you'd have a whole bunch of guys, unlimited pitching. A bunch of dudes no one's heard of, too. But that was almost better in a way.
00:32:01
Speaker 2: I wouldn't mind expanding the rosters for pitching, but the three-batter rule will kind of eliminate the whole Tony La Russa. Have a guy come in for one hit or do that three, four times in a row. That kind of gets crazy in September, but... I mean, you've got to protect your pitching, especially teams that are going into the postseason.
00:32:22
Speaker 1: Rock, one of the things I want to ask you, because you're on the record on this program telling us you'll never refer to the Cubs' presumptive MVPs by his initials, but the Brewers.
00:32:33
Speaker 2: Have done a good job. Never, never. Never, never.
00:32:35
Speaker 1: Thank you. 0-4 with three punch-outs last night, and I think one of the keys to beating the Cubs, if I had Rock's keys to the game on a graphic, is hold down the blue-haired kid.
00:32:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that's what Vinny was saying in his scouting report yesterday. But don't say that too soon, Drew. I mean, we've still got five games left with these guys. And he can turn things around, you know. I think that, I mean, the way the Brewers have been able to handle Pete Crow Armstrong. And, you know, I texted VA yesterday. Enough with the PCA. Enough with the PCA. He didn't listen to me.
00:33:15
Speaker 1: I love it.
00:33:16
Speaker 2: I'm not going to tell you the emoji he sent back to me, but anyway.
00:33:24
Speaker 1: I love it. He's one of us.
00:33:26
Speaker 2: I love it.
00:33:26
Speaker 1: The partners getting after each other. Oh, my goodness. That's incredible. Absolutely incredible. He's a good player. They've got to hold him down.
00:33:34
Speaker 4: I'd enjoy him if he was on any other team, but he's got that damn blue and red on.
00:33:38
Speaker 1: I can't stand him. If he goes over, you like your chances because he's such an engine for them.
00:33:42
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you keep the big boys down. You know, Seiya Suzuki and Bregman now has been knocking the cover off the ball. When the Brewers played these guys early in the year, none of those guys were hitting. Now they are, and they're hitting in a big way. But, you know, you've got to take advantage of the bullpen for the Cubs when they come in. That's their Achilles heel.
00:34:05
Speaker 1: And that's the secret, get in the bullpen. Rock, thanks for joining us. Have a great day. We know you're chomping at the bit to get in the booth for Brewers Cubs on Labor Day.
00:34:14
Speaker 2: No, I can't wait. I mean, Labor Day, Cubs, Brewers, yeah, it's going to be great. Hopefully I see you guys in the ballpark.
00:34:22
Speaker 1: We'll see you there, bud. Take care.
00:34:23
Speaker 2: All right. Thanks, guys.
00:34:25
Speaker 1: The great Bill Schroeder joining us here.
00:34:28
Speaker 4: He says you don't want to see me watching a Brewers-Cubs game.
00:34:32
Speaker 1: No, I disagree.
00:34:33
Speaker 4: I think everybody wants to watch a game with Bill Schroeder.
00:34:37
Speaker 1: That's why we love you, Rob. I'm going to FaceTime Kate and have her put the camera on and turn the phone towards Rob so I can watch him in his Barca lounger. Get some reaction on that. With his libations. What an absolute classic. Absolute classic. This portion of the program has been brought to you in part by Game Day Men's Health. Check them out. I was there yesterday. GameDayMensHealth.com, the website. Clinics are all over the area. Find one near you. Go in for the consult. See if they can change your life. GameDayMensHealth.com. When we come back, we'll be waking and baking and closing up shop on a robust Wednesday edition of The Huddle on Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin. Baby, time to close up shop for the Wednesday edition of The Huddle. Fox Sports, Radio Wisconsin, 920 Milwaukee, 1070 Madison, everywhere on the iHeart app, Facebook, X, and YouTube. Robust numbers on the streams today. Thank you to everybody, 5 o'clock clubbers especially, and those who joined at 6, 7. We don't care when you join. We don't care if you watch this show back at 3 in the morning. Which many do. 2 in the afternoon. Stream it, watch it, learn it, know it, live it. We're doing good numbers. We appreciate everybody out there. Time for a little wake and bake story to close things out. Kind of cleanse the palate a little bit as we go into a Wednesday and get ready for Brewers Cubs game three with Miz on the mound. Oh, nothing better. That is some sweet, sweet taste of victory maybe tonight. All right. I got you here for this one, Drew.
00:35:58
Speaker 4: Now, I don't know that there was any waking and baking going on, but I do know there was some good work, some good camaraderie, and potentially way too many dudes on a Malibu boat over the weekend for the Milwaukee Bucks hanging out in Austin, Texas. Miles Turner put it out online. It looked like they might have been doing some swimming.
00:36:17
Speaker 1: Well, why not? I hope some guys get out of that boat. Miles Turner had the fellas down for a players camp. Got some good workouts in. Pretty cool.
00:36:25
Speaker 4: Everybody had their gear, doing some stretching, doing some five-on-five, little shooting drills, and a lot of good hanging. Now, like a lot of, you know, good guys weekends. There's a really, really sweet 45 second cinematically shot video of the entire thing.
00:36:43
Speaker 1: Recapping it, edit video, edit a lot of good clips. It's like, yeah, we're.
00:36:47
Speaker 4: Putting, there's a wildly well-timed shot of, uh, Yaka Jonas. Am I pronouncing that correctly?
00:36:54
Speaker 1: Yaka Jonas. I think so.
00:36:56
Speaker 4: The young man, they got formerly of Illinois from Miami shooting some pool.
00:37:01
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:37:01
Speaker 4: Hitting it in the corner pocket. Some really nice little hat tips for the boys down in Texas. They're spinning the paddle, playing some ping pong, big old tomahawk steaks.
00:37:11
Speaker 1: And then a.
00:37:13
Speaker 4: Shot that is only going to be rivaled by potentially the New York football giants going out on the boat the week between the Packers game to Lambeau for the wildcard round. Where we got, like, the whole team on a 28-foot Malibu. This is not a, like, it's a nice boat, but it's not that huge. That's a very expensive boat. I mean, it's very nice. The little bit that I know about boating, a Malibu ski boat is nothing to sneeze at.
00:37:42
Speaker 3: But this isn't like, you know, the Queen Mary boat. Like, this isn't like the Wisconsin river boats.
00:37:47
Speaker 4: We got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, at least 11 dudes.
00:37:55
Speaker 1: All on this boat. Not one wearing a shirt. I also wouldn't if I looked like this.
00:38:00
Speaker 2: Oh, wow. No.
00:38:01
Speaker 1: It's probably hot down there. You might jump in the water. There's no swim shirts going on.
00:38:05
Speaker 4: But I think it's just a fair question to ask on a hot take hump day Wednesday. 11 shirtless dudes on boats.
00:38:14
Speaker 1: Too many dudes. How many guys on a boat? Too many dudes.
00:38:17
Speaker 4: How many dudes do you feel comfortable with hanging out on one boat?
00:38:20
Speaker 1: Again, this isn't a yacht. This is like a, again, max 30 foot ski boat. This is not like the, the, the Vikings love boat. This is not even like, we don't know. It could have been, there could have been two boats.
00:38:32
Speaker 4: This isn't because there was, there were two boats for the Minnesota love boat situation. One where it was really going down. And one where, you know, Nate Burleson famously tells a story. He was just hanging out, having a nice drink, hanging out, looking at the views. Even the Stefan digs daddy on the boat was.
00:38:47
Speaker 1: A bigger boat. right? Much larger, much larger, much larger. This is great.
00:38:52
Speaker 4: Cause this is team building bonding. I love, we probably had some sick wake surfing going on here. I see the wake boards over on the side.
00:38:58
Speaker 3: I mean, there's gotta be a couple of bags of sun chips in the bottom there somewhere.
00:39:01
Speaker 1: But even the, the boat is the pizza, the pool, the shots up.
00:39:07
Speaker 3: Basically when you're a kid, what you wanted your birthday party sleep over to St.
00:39:11
Speaker 1: Edwards university is where they were working out and, and hooping and hooping. Like, Great. It's great to see this. I'm interested. Did the Bucks social team accompany them? Who put this together? Because it was very well crafted, and the video was amazing. That's what I was going to say, because it comes out on Miles Turner.
00:39:27
Speaker 4: I didn't know if Miles booked the video crew to be like, hey, man, come film this. Let's make sure Bucs fans know that I'm about that action.
00:39:34
Speaker 3: He had the private chef cooking for him. I think that guy wasn't on the Bucs that was cooking all those tomahawks.
00:39:39
Speaker 4: That guy is definitely not on the Bucs. Now they probably should have had Chef Adam Pavlak.
00:39:43
Speaker 1: They should have. Let's be honest, if Adam would have been there, the boys would have been eating. No doubt. And Miles Turner, earlier this offseason, got engaged, right?
00:39:52
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:39:52
Speaker 1: In Italy. He's having quite a time. Having a good offseason. And you know what? He was on a boat during that engagement. Whatever it ends up being, Cam Jones, Armand's boy, is in there.
00:40:02
Speaker 4: He's doing some sweet lunges.
00:40:07
Speaker 1: I don't know they're going to hit the.
00:40:08
Speaker 4: I don't know they're going to win 25 games. But these vibes are a lot better. These are fun vibes for a young team. I like the feeling that we're all hanging out, getting together. Teams bond a lot more around steaks and kegs than they do kale. And this one feels like a good one.
00:40:25
Speaker 1: My final hot take is that the Bugs will exceed expectations. Damning by faint praise, I know, because there are virtually no expectations for them this year. Very low expectations. it's the flip side of when Wendy Seligpreep told Hardcore, Tom, we're not as bad as you think you, we are. And he said, Wendy, you couldn't possibly be as bad as I think you are. So bucks will be better. Bucks will be better. Hey, better than that. Join us at five a.m.
00:40:49
Speaker 2: Tomorrow.
00:40:49
Speaker 1: We'll be talking Ms.
00:40:50
Speaker 2: Cubs.
00:40:50
Speaker 1: It's going to be a blast. We'll see you then.
00:40:52
Speaker 2: Peace.
