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Welcome to another episode of Splash Considerations.
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My name is Justice Delos Santos, San Francisco Giants B reporter for the Bay Area News Group, San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Times, whatever you want to call us, as long as you read, as long as you subscribe.
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And speaking of subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel, follow us on Apple, follow us on Spotify.
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A lot of things in this world cost a lot of money, but subscribing and following those things remain free 99 and just a moment of your time.
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And I'm joined once again by Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Shayna, how we doing?
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Good.
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How are you?
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I'm here.
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I'm here.
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It was it was a long lead up to the the trade deadline after.
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I feel like I need like another week to recover from a seven-story day, but we're here.
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Seven story, that's right.
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Yeah.
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Feels like so long ago, and yet it wasn't.
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Yeah, it was it was a week ago exactly.
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The trades hadn't even been made a week ago exactly.
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That was one of the most tiring days I've had since joining this beat just this wild.
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It was like bam, bam, bam.
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Bam, bam, bam.
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But we're not here to talk about the trade deadline.
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We talked about that last week.
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If you're curious to hear uh me and Matthew Canower's thoughts on the deadline, go listen to the last week's episode.
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But uh this is gonna be a very different episode in tone compared to what we typically do.
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And Shane, this is gonna be a very emotional podcast for a lot of reasons, at least the first half of this.
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We'll get to just some Giants baseball in the latter half of this.
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But uh, as many of you who are listening know, maybe you've seen it on Twitter, maybe you've seen it on the news.
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Uh, obviously on Thursday, Mike Kruko announced he's gonna be retiring, and that was a lot, you know, for a lot of Giants fans in and of itself.
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But then for us personally, on Saturday, we get the news uh that Mike Waggeman, more affectionately known as Wags, uh, passed away 59, and then I think it was yesterday, uh Don Nelson uh passed away as well.
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Just one of the key fixtures of those We Believe warriors.
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So uh just a lot happening uh in the last four days.
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It's been a lot to process, a lot to take in.
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And Shane, I think the place that I want to start with, and I kind of want to focus more, you know, on Wags and Kruko uh with respect to the late Don Nelson.
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I'm sure you'll agree with this.
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They were very different in their personalities, but they were incredibly similar in just how funny they were, how they could light up a room, and just you know, they walk into a room and the room just automatically becomes better because of their presence.
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Yeah, it it feels like I mean, like it's endings in different ways.
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I mean, Kruko is um it's hard for me to this day, no matter how many years I cover baseball and the Giants, to separate uh my emotions towards Kruko as sort of a Bay Area kid and then my my uh relationship with Kruko as a reporter, because it's one of those things that when you hear his any announcer's voice out of the context in which you're used to hearing it, it's just it's almost jarring.
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Um but I one of the greatest pleasures I've had is getting to experience Mike Kruko um outside of my gro my uh understanding of him growing up listening to him.
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And I've since he announced his his retirement, um, I've texted him and and messaged him a couple of times to just say because I felt it was necessary almost just to say to add on to the sentiment that like I don't love baseball without you, and I you are the sound of my childhood, and you are the the narration of of a lot of everything that I've grew up on.
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And uh I can't I can say probably confidently the same for a lot of a lot of people that grew up here, and he uh he's he's heard that a ton, so I think he's just but he appreciates it.
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Um and that's but it's true.
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It's um it's one of those days that you fear forever that it's going to come, that he's going to announce his retirement.
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And uh we know for a long time, more than a decade, that his body was not keeping up with his mind um in terms of what he was able to.
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And I think that if you see him around the ballpark, especially the last couple of years and in his wheelchair, you think, oh, this guy is he's gonna do this forever.
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He's he's just so enthused and bright and um uh happy to to you you just got this feeling that he was he wasn't gonna stop ever.
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Um so when the news hit, it was just like, oh, that's reality.
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We we can dream up this dream that he was gonna keep going as long as possible.
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And then we didn't realize how long that actually was.
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So it's just it's it's hard to imagine a day where he's um it's hard to imagine next year when or whenever the lockout, whatever.
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It's hard to imagine him not being there um in the booth.
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So I'm sure he'll be around the ballpark though.
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Because that that guy can't stay away from the ballpark.
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Thank God.
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I mean, every time I see him, there's a baseball in his hand.
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Like I think if if you if you said if somebody said, Hey, we need a couple innings tonight, he would throw, I think he'd do the best of his ability to throw them.
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But you know, to to echo the point that you said, it's you know, I talked to Dwayne the day the news happened, and he said it's it's kind of like a meal you never want to end or a vacation you never want to end.
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Like it you know that eventually like the end is gonna come, but you know, both the combination of both of them, Kruok and Kype, they've just been they've been in our lives our entire life.
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Like it's there has never been a year in my existence, which kind of just speaks to I guess how young both of us are that that we don't know a Giants baseball without both of them.
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And to echo your point, you know, I've obviously had the privilege as well of talking to him in a non-broadcast capacity and just like hearing him him and Dwayne and John Miller as well.
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This is a quick aside, because I talked to John Miller as well the day of it happened, and we were just kind of talking after the recorders were over, and he was saying, like, yeah, I go I went to this gas station across the street and I grabbed some Celsius.
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I'm like, John, you're a Celsius guy?
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I did not know that.
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Just to like hear him like talking, like just it's the the vo it's he's not putting up a front.
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That's their voices, it's crazy.
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Yeah.
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Um, but got to talk to them uh when I did the MVP baseball 2005 story last year.
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I remember did doing a story leading up to them both being on uh the f up for the 4C Frick Award.
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I think it was the 2024 winter meetings, and uh you know, this point's been echoed so many times, but it was the way that both Krug and Kype just like they we kind of invited them into our living room into like this very you know it's a it's a safe space for a lot of us, and to you know, they they were the voice of because you know, and and baseball's the beautiful beauty of baseball is you don't necessarily have to like pay attention, like locked in, like it's a very good like just you can be doing stuff around the house voice and just like have them be the narrators of not just the baseball you're watching, but the life you're living more broadly.
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And so it's it's the one thing I do I am happy about is that you know I I'm reminded of this this one line by a rapper who unfortunately has kind of lost his mind in the last couple years.
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Um if you admire somebody, you should go ahead and tell them because people never get the flowers while they can still smell them.
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And it's gonna be a lot of flowers, it already has been, and it's gonna be a lot more over the last or the next couple weeks, and I can imagine just that final day at Oracle, September 27th.
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It's it's gonna be a lot.
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Like final games of the season are already a lot, but it's it's gonna be a lot.
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And I I think John Shea mentioned this in his story that you know Kruko grew up listening to Vin Scully.
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His final game was almost 10 years to would basically be 10 years to the day of when Kruko's last game is gonna be.
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So it's kind of a very poetic moment there that he gets to kind of go out in the same place where his own voice of childhood went out.
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Yeah, I might go full boomer and record all the last games or something like that just for preservation.
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I don't know.
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I don't know what I would do with those.
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I'm I don't know if I plan on like going back and listening to them just to like feel something, but I kind of just want to do that.
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I don't know.
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I mean, the beauty of the beauty of m modern technology is that if you go to YouTube, there's like a very specific way you can like punch in games.
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And like not just like because there's like the MLB Vault account and it's like, oh yeah, here's game five of the 2010 World Series.
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Like, no, if you want to watch like a game in June in 2009, there's like a very specific set of code that you can punch in.
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I think for the Giants, it's like SFN, and then you type in the other team, and then like you type in the date.
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So, like, if you want to watch like a uh I I don't know, uh who is the name of the dude that Madison Baumgarner like replaced in the rotation?
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What was his name?
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Why am I forgetting his name?
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Anyway, if you want to watch like a rookie Madison Baumgarner start with Kruko on the mic, like you can do that.
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There's like so much that's that's out there.
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And I think this is a this is a fun question to to lead you with.
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What is your favorite Krukoism?
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Because there's so many of them.
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Yeah.
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There are so many.
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Or moment.
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It doesn't have to be like the the phrases.
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Like, is there a moment?
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Because there are all all the Krukoisms are just like when they happen, I'm like, yeah, that's good.
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Yeah, that runs.
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My favorite moment.
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Ooh.
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I mean, we talked about one earlier this year with the Bryce Eldridge walk-off grant.
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Yeah, drop trout.
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Yeah.
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That was like that's just like a piece de resistance for him.
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That is just like the like still can paint the corners, still gets still hitting 95.
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I don't know if like this counts because it's not one specific moment, but I love it when he makes fun of people.
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Because it's just like it's such an art to be able to poke fun at people without it feeling like mean spirited.
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And it's just like I feel like the way that he did it with in symphony with like the broadcast was very much sort of like pure entertainment where you're capturing the spirit of the I mean like you make fun of fans, but players sometimes a little bit, or mostly just like if you felt like you were you felt like you were part of the show or that it was more of like a production and and entertainment as opposed to just watching a baseball game.
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Like just the way that just the way that he um it was almost like an honor.
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It's like I wish that Kruka would make fun of me a little bit.
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I wish that I wish that I was in that that chair and you probably could have the way that I was feeding a hot dog, or yeah, or uh or that I he catches me yawning and he makes me sound like a like a you know a Tarzan or whatever it is.
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That's like a such a good one too, because again, it's not a specific moment, but like some of the sounds it would make, just like it's so good.
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And it cracks me up every time when he does that.
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Every time.
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It's so simple, but I crack it up every single time.
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And I think it like I've always felt like Kruok and Kyle, and I think it's a known thing.
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They just capture the the humor of the Bay Area too.
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Like there's sort of just a dryness and like a punchy sort of um sarcasm and everything that they do and say, and like their tone is always very not monotone, but it's so consistent um that the sarcasm really always hits for me.
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And the way that they poke fun always hits for me.
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And he was just such a such a genius at making everything, making the right moments funny while also sort of coming the other side and and hitting me with just this insane, astute analysis about the picture, about the umpires, about the things behind the game, behind the game, behind the game that like maybe none of us even noticed, but he just sort of like said it so casually without it feeling like he was reciting a piece of knowledge.
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Uh it's just it's just so genius.
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And I I I I hope that we all can appreciate like just how amazing that talent is that he has.
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And I know that's oversimplic, but it it really is amazing.
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Yeah, I so one of the things that's tough for us, it's hard to listen to the broadcast while covering a game just because there's like a about a 15-second delay, and like that could just it messes with my head.
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And as much as I want to listen to them, it's like it's just weird, like it's it's hard to process like 15 seconds behind.
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But I tuned in yesterday for you know just the I think it was the the top of the second inning, and he was talking about Troy Melton, and Troy Melton has like 12 major league starts under his belt, and he's just like, Yeah, Melton's like whip is like 0.9, and like when you can get it under that, like you're like especially if you're a starter, like you're dealing with like really elite territory, and just like the way that it's like this is a guy like Kruk does not have to like he's at a point where he could just add lip, like he does not have to do his homework on a on a rookie with 13 starts under his belt.
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But that was kind of his commitment to the game, and that was the one of the things that you know again, talking with John Miller a couple days, he said that he made the argument that Kruk is probably at the top of his game right now, and that's come that's very high praise coming from someone like John Miller that's been around him for so long.
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And you know, you mentioned you know just the interplay of Kruok and Kype, and again, one of the beautiful things that's been said that Kype has said is you know, how often do broadcasters not just get to say, like, that's a partner I work with really well, but that's my best friend.
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And that's one of those things like when you hear him say it, it's just like it hits here.
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And you know, you spoke to the you know Kruk being in a wheelchair for the last couple of years, uh just to provide additional context, people who may not know the the entirety of the reason why he has a wheelchair.
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He's had uh the body myositis, I think that's how it's pronounced since he revealed it in 2014.
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He had been dealing for it with it four years prior.
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And it was basically Kype who, you know, found a not found the way, but was willing to find a mechanism to get his lifelong friend, not lifelong, but you know, since you know, working with the Giants, like in the booth together.
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That's how they do the split cast, that's how they're able to be in the it appears to be in the same place, and that's all that's a testament to just their friendship as uh overall.
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And again, like that always would bleed into the broadcast.
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Like it always felt like you were just kind of in on an inside joke all of the time.
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And again, it's it's not gonna be the first time that like after this season that Kype has worked with another color analyst.
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Like even this year, he's worked with like Sean Estes and I think Hunter Pence, but it's he said it, and we all know it, it's gonna be different because again, like so much of the beauty is like it's never feels like it's staged.
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It never feels like there's like these pre-cut lines.
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It is just very reactionary.
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Like the one, the one that I quote all the time is the uh guys down on a boardwalk having a schmag.
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I'm like, I would never even I'm like, I've never heard of a cigarette refer to that before like before that.
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And maybe that's just like me, but it's just like these small things where you're like, Did he just say that?
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And then there's obviously like the main ones when it's like ownage ownage, grab some pine meat in the squat.
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Like, those are just the things like we're gonna miss.
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I like ownage ownage because it's like, yeah, that's all sometimes I just that's what it is.
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Ownage ownage.
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It says so much and so well at the same time.
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Some yeah, sometimes it's just like this guy's got me.
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Sometimes this guy's got me.
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So yeah, it's gonna on on Friday, there was a he got a very loud ovation during uh the game.
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I'm sure there's gonna be a lot there he also got an ovation during the Wall of Fame ceremony on Saturday as well, as they were as uh Kruk and Kype were making their way onto the field.
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Uh Kype Kuipe had a lion.
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They both talked during the ceremony, but Kype had a line's like, uh, he's gonna blow you guys kisses and I actually have to work.
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Which that's just that's just them uh in a nutshell.
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And I think one last point that I want to make, and everybody's made it.
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They gotta go in together.
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Like they can't, they're not eligible this year because of the way that the cycles work, they'll be eligible again in 2027, but they have to go into the Hall of Fame together.
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Like there's there's I have yet to hear a good counter-argument as to why they shouldn't.
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And like it's it's the idea that like individually they're really good, but together like they make something that we've never seen before.
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And for if no other reason than that.
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Like, if we're if we're not inducting them into the hall of fame together as a tandem, it's like what are we doing?
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What are we doing?
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Yeah, it's like you say, they they're they are uh Hall of Famers on their individual merit, but they are exceptional, uh otherworldly as a pair.
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So might as well just induct them on the on on at when they're at their best, which is when they're riffing off of each other.
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It just makes so much sense.
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That that if that does happen, that's gonna be like an all-time like hall of fame speech or like induction ceremony.
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Like you just rolled is like you just rolled.
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Yeah.
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Like they it would be unreal.
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And I can imagine like like current it might be tough for like current broadcasters, but I can only imagine like the people that they would be able to bring out for a ceremony like that just because of how much that they were both universally adored.
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Yeah.
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I can see that.
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And you know, I I mentioned Wags as well.
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Um there's there's gonna be no easy transitions with this podcast because I you know, I I think Wags is similar to Kruko in that everybody that's been around Wags for like any period of time has a WAG story.
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And I I put this on social media yesterday, but I can't remember like the way that Mike and I like introduced ourselves, but over like the last two years, like whenever I saw him, it wouldn't be hi, it wouldn't be hey, it wouldn't be hello, it wouldn't be what's happening.
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I would say to him, 707, say it backwards, and he respond, tell him if they ask.
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Like that was like Wags, man.
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Like he was so effortless effortlessly cool all the time.
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Valeo is hell.
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I don't think I've ever met somebody that like rep their hometown as much as Wags.
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Rep Vileo.
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And again, he's he every time I saw him in the press box, like that's such a great attitude.
00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:20.960
Everything that he had been through, you know, after having the surgeries remove the tumor from his brain.
00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:26.960
Um Monty Pool wrote a fantastic story, you know, in tribute to him the other day.
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:44.160
And in c in kind of Wag's form, like it is it's very it's it's objectively true to say that you know, after the surgery, he was, you know, a little like he wasn't as quite as sharp as he was, you know, prior, but he would also like point like playing like make fun of it all the time, too.
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:49.680
He's like he he would you'd forget something, like, yeah, you know, point to his head, you know, I have the you know, something happened up here.
00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:53.680
Or he'd always say to me, he's like, if I ever had a podcast, I call it it's not brain surgery.
00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:54.880
I'm like, wax.
00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:58.559
So our RFP to Wags, man.
00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:00.960
It's he always told me like how proud he was of me.
00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:08.960
And he'd always give me like those uh put the hand on the shoulder, like uncle speeches, and I just I it still hasn't fully hit me that he's gone.
00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:10.720
It just felt so sudden.
00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.799
And I'm gonna miss him, man.
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:13.759
And shout out to the Giants.
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:21.119
They they had the memorial in the press box, they put him up on the board yesterday, so it was just very touching that the Giants went that extra step to pay tribute to Wags.
00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:30.079
Yeah, it was it was really hard to be in the press box the day after, days after it happened because uh I'm gonna cry.
00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:51.039
It's um I think like he said he just the first thing I thought of when I heard is just thinking about the way in which he came back from brain surgery and how grateful he was to not just have survived the ordeal that he survived because it was such an ordeal and he would share so much about it.
00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:58.240
Not in a field star free me way, but in a holy shit, I can't believe we are capable of that type of way.
00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.599
But it was in a in a grateful way.
00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:10.640
And he was so grateful to be writing about sports, and he would just say, you know, this is this is the this is this job is a scam.
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:11.839
We get paid to do this.
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:13.279
I'm here to get paid.
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:16.559
I just get to sit here and watch sports, and they're calling this a job.
00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:49.359
And just the his his perspective on life and his perspective on on the the work that we do and and and everything after going through such an ordeal just made it was it was just it was so special, and then and then hearing about the just the the sudden way in which he died and and thinking about how much he celebrated surviving how he did just really hurt me and hurt everybody.
00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:56.960
It was it was just it was just a really painful realization or um feeling.
00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:01.119
Um and he's just just such a Joy of a human.
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:17.839
And then obviously, I think when anything like this happens, you think about, I can't believe I didn't do everything I could to tell him how much I appreciated everything, the way that he was, and everything that he said, and the encouragement that he provided everybody around him.
00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:24.720
And he went out of his way to be that person for everyone else.
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:30.559
He was always looking out for everyone else in his own sort of sarcastic, sometimes dark humorous way.
00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.519
And he was always, he couldn't help but laugh.
00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:51.599
And it's such a cliche to say he lights up the room when he walks in, but it was so true because you could feel him miles away coming in, but coming into the room that you were in because he was just so happy to be there in your presence, in everyone's presence all the time.
00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:57.359
And it's just, I I wish that I got to tell him that at some point.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:07.920
I just I wish that I wish that I was I wish that he I hope that he knows how grateful we were for the type of person he was uh before and after the surgery.
00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.759
Because he's just uh he's a rare type of type of human.
00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:23.519
Yeah, I think there's been I I think I can speak for both of us, like from that element of just how he the joy that he had and just how much he would be able to, again, like you said, light up a room.
00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:30.640
Like it just made me take a step back and it's very easy to be jaded in this job.
00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:44.240
Like I know that Wags made it look he made it look so effortless, but like it's so easy to succumb to the day-to-day and be like, I gotta do X, Y, and Z, that it's easy to miss the forest for the trees.
00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:47.839
And Wags never missed the forest for the trees.
00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:50.640
He was he was always grateful before the surgery even happened.
00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:53.279
He was always eternally grateful to be at the ballpark.
00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:54.559
He was always a joy.
00:23:55.680 --> 00:24:01.200
And even more so, you know, after just like this aura of appreciation.
00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:04.480
And you know, you Shana, you know this more than anyone.
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.279
I tell I love taking pictures of everybody.
00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:13.359
And I was, you know, I looked through my hard drive the other day, and uh, because I know I'd taken a couple photos of Wags.
00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:22.079
There's some in there that I actually there was one of him and Jamie McCauley that I completely forgot that I took, and in every single one of those photos, he just had this like ear-to-ear smile.
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:34.240
The one with him and Manolo, that the one I posted the other day, it just like encapsulated him so well, like this beautiful spirit, and he just had this way of making you feel better about yourself, too.
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:43.920
Like he it's funny, with like a name like mine, like it kind of just lends itself to having variants of nicknames, and he's the only person that ever called me Los.
00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:45.279
He's like, What's up, Los?
00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:46.799
I'm like, no one's ever called me that.
00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:47.599
I feel so cool.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:48.799
You call Los.
00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:50.000
Los.
00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.599
Like he just always had this way to like make you feel good about yourself.
00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:59.440
And he he'd never and the one thing I want to mention too is like he never it didn't matter how long you've been doing this.
00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:05.279
It could be it could be us, it could be some of the new kids on the block, it could be folks like Susan or John Shaq.
00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:06.319
Like it didn't really didn't matter.
00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:09.119
Like he was gonna treat you with respect regardless of who you were.
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:10.079
Yeah.
00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:18.160
He was um and he had this funny way of treating everyone with respect, but also doing sort of like a light roast at the same time.
00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:30.000
He was he had such a such a good sense of humor about like, hey, we all love each other, but let's also let's not let's be real, but like he was just he was just so real about everything.
00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:38.400
He he he wasn't he wasn't he was such a light spirit, but also that he brought that to sort of like being able to jab us a little bit and jab everyone a little bit.
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:46.160
So he was just he was always observing everyone else and letting everyone else know what he was observing about them.
00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:55.200
And that's uh it's such a privilege to be around someone that is actively so uh extroverted like that.
00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:56.960
Um yeah.
00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:08.319
I think because I think we do need a laugh, I'm I'm gonna spare the specific details of this, but the past two years, both back-to-back seasons, these I'm not gonna say exactly what happens.
00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:22.079
I think you know both of these stories, but there's been the the thing about Wags is like as beautiful as a spirit he is, he is Vallejo as hell, and he does not take kindly to disrespect.
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:27.519
So there's been like there's been again, I'm gonna keep this in-house for both of us.
00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:38.160
But it was it was in Sacramento back last year and this year, and somebody tried to disrespect Wags and he a flip switch, and like he's like, I I don't play that.
00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:39.119
That's all I'll say.
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:44.559
He does not play that, and like I'll hear these stories of like Wags, I love you, dude.
00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:49.599
I kind of like Agamon too, like, yeah, get him Wags, get him Wags.
00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:53.440
Like, and also like hearing him like explain his side of the story too.
00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:56.160
I'm like, Yeah, I get what you're coming for.
00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:02.480
He doesn't suffer any fools, he's just like, if you don't, you're gonna know.
00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:07.359
Yeah, don't don't take the the playfulness and the joy for being a punk.
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:09.039
You can't punk Mike Wagabin.
00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:10.960
You you can't punk him.
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:11.759
That's true.
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:12.640
You can't punk him.
00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:26.160
And you know, the other thing I was thinking about, and the one the place I kind of want to, you know, end off here is you know, I was thinking of very symbolically, is you know, obviously the very journalistic thing is at the end of a story, you have the dash 30 dash.
00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:34.240
And you know, when I think of Mike's story, and I I I I think I thought about this when I saw Monty's story.
00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:51.759
Like there is no third there is no 30 at the end of his story, because if we take that element of wags and like we carry within ourselves like being who we are, like not letting ourselves be jaded, uh finding the joy in the fact that we get to watch sports for a living.
00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:53.279
The way he said, it was robbery.
00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:54.880
It was robbery, the fact that we got to do this.
00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:59.680
If we carry that within, then the spirit of Mike Wagman that never goes away.
00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:00.720
Oh, yeah.
00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:01.599
That never goes away.
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:02.160
Okay.
00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.000
Let's stay on memory lane a little more right here.
00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.839
Uh, because the Giants did have the Wall of Fame ceremony over the weekend as well.
00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:24.160
Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval, and Joe Panic were all inducted into the team's Wall of Fame.
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:29.599
That's the 61st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th plaques uh that have been unveiled.
00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:35.279
And, you know, it was a fun time for you know both of us growing up in the bay, watching both of those teams to go down memory lane.
00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:51.200
And, you know, Buster's probably gonna be part of a bigger celebration uh next year, assuming he is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as expected, potentially with Bruce Bochi, potentially with Dusty Baker, and you know, we don't have to wax poetic about these guys.
00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:56.240
I feel like we've done that before, but I do want to bring up this point super quickly.
00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:05.039
They were asked because one of the one of the guys that is eligible for the Wall of Fame that hasn't been inducted is Tim Linsigum.
00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:12.400
And Linsicum hasn't been at Oracle since I don't even know if it was called Oracle yet.
00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.200
He hasn't been there since Bruce Bochi's final game in 2019.
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:16.799
I think it was still like TNT.
00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:33.599
And, you know, the house just like when he made that appearance, like the house came down, and you know, it's funny because like Linsigum kind of has like this Bigfoot-esque like reputation now, where like anytime somebody sees him or it's like, oh my god, Tim Linsigum out in the wild.
00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:37.920
And like I think part of the allure is like he is so mysterious.
00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:42.400
And I think if he ever did decide I don't know like what it I don't think it would take a lot.
00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:50.240
I I think he'd have to be willing to come back to the ballpark for the ceremony to happen, but if that happens, like I think the place is gonna explode.
00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:59.680
Like with no disrespect to any other active Bay Area athlete, that includes like Steph and even Clay, if you want to put lump him in there.
00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.240
No one gets the live the love that he does.
00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:05.119
Yeah.
00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:08.160
Yeah, I mean, um sorry.
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:32.480
I think I I would imagine that see my take on Tim Woodsigam is that part of there's something really special about like the mythicism that he has now, like the Bigfoot factor, where he had such a like sharp peak and abrupt fall.
00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:37.279
And the peak was so high that it's just like it left a lasting imprint on everybody.
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:49.519
And then after that, he after his career kind of when where it went that he is basically um nowhere to be found is kind of like a special sports story in a way.
00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:51.759
Like it's it's kind of crazy, it's not special in a good way.
00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:59.920
I wish we could see Timothy him all the time, but like it makes the anticipation of seeing him at the ballpark again, like, oh my god, that's an event, right?
00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:06.960
Um, and I think there's something kind of like cool about the way that he's gone about everything.
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:12.000
He I wish he was more available, but I also think it's it's just so interesting that he's not available.
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:14.319
Um, he's playing hard to get.
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:26.400
But um, yeah, I it's hard to also hard to imagine a wall of fame without him because he's the most in a very unique way.
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:52.400
Like there's so many beloved giants, but he is beloved in such a unique way that it's just and he was part of sort of this this like perfect time in recent Giants history of bridging the gap between the post-Bonds years and the the dynastic years, but it was with such a one of the the best pitching performances that we've seen in baseball over the last 20 years or whatever.
00:31:52.640 --> 00:32:03.119
Um and it's it's it would be it would be it would feel wrong for him not to be on the wall because he is fame, he is the giant, he is the wall of fame.
00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:09.519
Like that's he's emblematic, representative of everything that I feel like that whole uh situation is supposed to be.
00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:17.519
So it'd be great if he could come back and and just that could be his uh entryway to reminding fans of his his existence.
00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:26.400
And I know he's been through a lot lately uh in his personal life, so I can imagine that it might, I don't know, have something to do with the fact that he's laying low.
00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:27.119
Who knows?
00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:33.359
But um it'd be tight if he came back and uh be cool to see how he is.
00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:47.920
Yeah, it was interesting timing the Wall of Fame because I think Jeff Passon went on all the smoke and was talking about how he first saw Linskum and was talking about how this probably probably I don't want to say never, but he was so unique.
00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:59.680
Like his like nobody had the mechanics that he did and how he was able to kind of extract every ounce of velocity from a very pretty frail frame.
00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:01.440
He was like 5'11, 170.
00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:10.400
I mean, and it's kind of everything that part of the reason pet people love him is he was like he's kind of like Steph, in that he was you know, Steph is a lure, is like he's a tinier dude.
00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:12.480
Like Linskum was just like a dude.
00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:19.200
Like the the famous In N Out order is like what like the three double doubles and like the shakes and the two fries.
00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:39.920
I mean, like the like when he got pulled over and everyone, like I think he was probably like the bet like that was the best like merging of a city and person because everyone was like, Hell yeah, bro, like in the like the let Timmy smoke shirts, and it it's like the epitome of the you know, the the candle that burns twice as bright goes out twice as fast.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:46.880
And I don't know if you've ever had these debates, but I I've heard you know these debates of you know, would you rather had a career like Linsk's or Canes?
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:50.079
Like the longevity versus like the kind of shooting star.
00:33:50.880 --> 00:34:05.680
And I think there is something extra to be said that you know he is laying so low in like the social media era where everybody is so constantly available, it's so like because again, like every time someone sees him, like you see it on Giants Reddit, you see it on Twitter, it's like, oh my god, Linskum was here.
00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:10.000
It's like I it's he's just kind of you know doing whatever he wants to do.
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:15.679
And I think that you know it would just be so much fun, even if it's for one day to see him out the ballpark.
00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:19.920
I could guarantee that that place will be packed out like no other.
00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:38.320
Like, with all due respect to you know, Jeff Kent, who's his number's gonna be retired and Buster Pose when he has a celebration next year, and same thing with Bochi, and same thing with Dusty, they are not gonna be able to hold a candle to whatever reception that Lynts can get whenever he decides to come out, just because he would he was the guy.
00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:40.960
He he was he was the he was a guy because he was a dude.
00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:44.480
He was just a dude that happened to be really damn good at baseball.
00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:46.159
He was a dude that was really good.
00:34:46.320 --> 00:35:00.079
Yeah, it's just it's not to take away from what everyone else, the kind of reception that everyone else would get, but it's he's just he's just in a different sort of tier of different just he's a different type of person, he's a different type of alum, he's a different type of former giant.
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:03.599
There's just a he's in his own category, I'd say.
00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:07.039
And it's you could put a finger on it or not.
00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:17.119
I think that but I think the the overwhelming thing is an impuster even or someone, one of the five said it was just like, yeah, the roof's gonna absolutely blow off this place when he's here.
00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:25.599
Everybody knows that everyone in San Francisco, the Bay Area, etc., is just waiting with bated breath to see him again.
00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:31.840
So it's uh yeah, he's uh he's a unique type of legend for sure.
00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:33.840
Unique type of legend for sure.
00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:35.199
All right, Shane, I think we've done it.
00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:37.519
I think it's time to talk about actual Giants baseball now.
00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:38.320
Let's do it.
00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:54.880
Uh Shana, you will be shocked to learn that after trading Robbie Ray, Louisa Rias, Tyler Malley, Elliott Ramos, Caleb Killian, and Eric Miller, that the Giants are significantly worse than they are about a week ago before all these trades were made.
00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:55.519
Wow.
00:35:55.599 --> 00:36:00.559
Uh they dropped two or three to the Texas Rangers, they dropped two or three to the Detroit Tigers.
00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:05.519
Both of those series kind of played out the same way in that they won the first game, they dropped the latter two.
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:08.960
They are currently sitting at 49 and 69.
00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:14.800
This is the first time they've been under or 20 games under 500 since 2017.
00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:17.119
Uh that team lost 98 games.
00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:22.159
They're currently on pace to win 95 games, winning percentage of 415.
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:36.960
Uh but uh as we'll get into this this roster looks signific it is significantly more depleted, and I don't think it's you know outlandish to say like the 100 loss question is definitely going to be in play.
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:41.760
And I think just generally speaking, I think it, you know, we've kind of seen it with some of the lineups over the last couple days.
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:52.559
I think you know, if you want to be really mean and crack fun, it has been some guys that you do need to Google because you know, Oslevis Basabe and Buddy Kennedy, like they're not household names.
00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:58.000
Like this is with all Eddie's Leonard, like these with all due respect, like these are not household names.
00:36:58.079 --> 00:36:59.760
And there are gonna be opportunities there.
00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:07.760
We're gonna get to that in a second, but it's it's gonna be some rough baseball for the last for the next 45 games, wherever they're at.
00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:17.920
Yeah, I think part of the is I don't know if it's an issue, but what's happening now is this isn't really a rebuild.
00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:21.599
It isn't really uh a tank.
00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:25.199
It's more just an odd transitional period.
00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:34.159
Uh you don't have a lot of a lot of their their their farm system is way more valuable now than it was even two years ago, maybe even last year.
00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:43.840
Um, and has a lot to do with the fact that their top prospects are all like teenagers and they're all like they're all they're all in the lower levels of the minor leagues.
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:54.639
Um this isn't sort of a a phase or a period where you can sort of flip all these players that you were getting to to buy and win now and go for it with the veterans you have.
00:37:54.960 --> 00:38:07.679
It's um it's it's more of a time where they've given up on the the rush that they built to win, and then they're in this, okay, how do we fill the gaps with the players that are available to us?
00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:15.199
Um, and that's not to slight everyone that's playing right now, but it just feels a little bit of a patchwork team right now.
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:31.039
Um, which is to say there aren't a bunch of top prospects that we're going to see on the pitching side or the position player side that um are going to sort of give us this full picture of what's to come in the next years and maybe next year after the lockout or whatever the heck is going to happen.
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:35.360
Um, so it just feels a little bit like, okay, this what are we looking at here?
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:38.239
This is um, these are some guys that were in triple A this year.
00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:51.760
These guys, it's really great that they're getting their shot and seeing guys like Leonard make their debut, and they're just that that's a lot of the times that's what this is all about, these sort of awkward last few months after the deadline is guys getting their shot.
00:38:52.000 --> 00:39:12.800
But I think when it comes to satisfying this idea that um we need to see the giants move on um from one sort of build of the roster to something that leaves a little bit more young, it's hard to it's hard to picture that forming right now in the last few months.
00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:30.239
I mean, we're getting a look at some of the pictures like Blade said while like Carson was in hunt um to see, in essence, if those guys can be starters, I think that they need to start thinking about how they're gonna fill the rotation next year in a real way that isn't just patchwork free agent signings that didn't work out this year.
00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:35.760
Um and it's hard to say with any certainty that the guys that we've seen fill that those roles.
00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:37.760
It's hard to say that Wizen Hunt's gonna fill that role.
00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:41.440
It's hard to say that Blade Tidwell's gonna fill that role, although he's he's looked pretty good.
00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:49.760
Um, but it's there's an opportunity for those guys, and it's it that's the the case within situations like this to have a little runway and make their case.
00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:54.880
So uh nothing super um thrilling to watch, I'd say.
00:39:55.039 --> 00:39:58.320
Just just a lot of weird transitional baseball.
00:39:58.880 --> 00:40:11.840
Yeah, if you're looking ahead to 2027, which again, lockout permitting, like you can start, you know, if you assume that Matt Chapman returns from the core injury, he's probably gonna undergo season ending surgery uh sometime.
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:13.280
It's either this week.
00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:20.320
Um he's gonna fly to Philadelphia, and Casey Schmidt's obviously out for the remainder of the season, or probably gonna be out due to the torn meniscus.
00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:22.079
Um, we might see Marcelo Mayer.
00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:26.000
Um, he's you know, he flew to Arizona yesterday.
00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:28.880
He's gonna get in some rehab games with Sacramento.
00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:33.840
Uh, we're probably gonna see him on that upcoming road trip, which you know that's gonna be fun for him to return to Boston.
00:40:33.920 --> 00:40:36.800
So Meyer's gonna be one of the guys to watch going forward.
00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:48.400
But, you know, I think the biggest overall question going into these final 40-ish games is you know, who can play on a competitive 2027 Giants team?
00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:57.599
And again, when you start like looking forward like towards next year, it's like okay, third base should hypothetically be Casey Schmidt, second base, hypothetically, Matt Chat or not, Matt.
00:40:57.840 --> 00:40:58.800
No, flip that.
00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:02.000
Third base, Matt Chapman, second base, Casey Schmidt.
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:07.199
Then you got Rafi and Bryce and Willie, and then probably Jung Hoo and Wright.
00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:15.119
So then now it's a question, like there's a couple spots, there's a couple areas, and it's like, okay, like who these guys are gonna get opportunities.
00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:23.920
And some of these opportunities might not be as stars, they might be guys off the bench, but like who can you know be on a realistically a team that contends?
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:27.440
And you know, Carson Wizenhunt has struggled since kind of getting these opportunities.
00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:37.360
Blade said well, rough first inning in his last outing against the Rangers, but five innings, two earned runs, he ditched the splitter, uh, add more of a traditional changeup.
00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:38.639
He's playing with the curveball.
00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:42.559
He is if depending on your perspective, it's either a five or a six-pitch mix.
00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:48.800
You got some guys in the bullpen that are, you know, despite the bullpen not being great, we've talked about that a lot, that are still intriguing.
00:41:48.880 --> 00:41:56.400
And, you know, how do they fit into a bullpen that might have Randy Rodriguez and Rowan Wick and there's another name, Jose Butto.
00:41:56.480 --> 00:42:02.880
Like you're starting to get like a framework of what next year's team is, but it's like who among this current team could actually be effective?
00:42:03.039 --> 00:42:06.159
And they are gonna get their opportunities.
00:42:06.239 --> 00:42:09.679
Like Nate Furman made his debut as well, Trent Harris made his debut as well.
00:42:09.760 --> 00:42:17.679
And so if you're looking for the optimistic lens, is that you know these guys are gonna get runway that they wouldn't have had if this was a competitive team.
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:24.400
The opposite point of view is that it's just gonna be some very it's gonna be some growing pains with a lot of these guys.
00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:25.119
It's gonna be rough.
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:34.639
You're gonna get games like Saturday where they lost eight to nothing and there's some sloppy play, and it's kind of just one of those shrug your shoulder games, and then you go from there.
00:42:35.599 --> 00:42:38.880
Yep, that's uh thrilling baseball to come.
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:40.159
Very excited to watch it.
00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:41.760
Thrilling baseball to come.
00:42:41.920 --> 00:42:46.159
And as you mentioned, though, you know, a lot of the top prospects in this organization, they're teenagers.
00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:49.039
Uh we're not, or they're in their early 20s.
00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:55.119
Like you think of guys like Jasmuar Gonzalez, Luis Hernandez, Yoniel Hernandez, even he's in the DSL.
00:42:55.199 --> 00:43:00.960
He was acquired in the Robbie Ray trade, Bresnayan, Canner Martinez, Kayama, like these guys are all very young.
00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:05.679
We you might get a Bo Davidson or a Parks Harbor, but a lot of these guys are still coming through the system.
00:43:05.840 --> 00:43:12.559
So it is this really weird transition period, and it'll be very interesting to see how the Giants kind of bridge the gap in the offseason.
00:43:12.639 --> 00:43:19.360
Like, how do they get guys that are competent while also not logging up these positions going forward?
00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:22.079
So uh, but that's a question for the offseason.
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:24.719
Shana, any parting thoughts before we get out of here?
00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:30.000
Um RIP Wags.
00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:31.280
I miss you, dude.
00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:32.320
R.I.P.
00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:32.960
Wags.
00:43:33.199 --> 00:43:34.000
RIP Wags.
00:43:34.079 --> 00:43:38.480
If you are in Vallejo, go get some tacos jaliscos on his behalf because I don't think.
00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:42.400
And if you have a chocolate chip cookie, you microwave it for a couple seconds.
00:43:42.480 --> 00:43:43.440
That was his favorite.
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:44.880
That was the move.
00:43:45.039 --> 00:43:49.039
That was always the move for Mike Wagaman, more affectionately known as Wags.
00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:50.559
Wags, we miss you so much.
00:43:50.719 --> 00:43:56.960
And you know, hopefully we have an opportunity to pay more respects to him in the coming weeks uh and months.
00:43:57.039 --> 00:44:01.440
Um, but Justice Delos Santos, Shana Rubin, Splash Considerations Podcast, thank you for listening.
00:44:01.760 --> 00:44:06.000
Subscribe if you do feel so inclined, and we will catch you in the next one
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:31.120
Welcome to another episode of Splash Considerations.
00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:43.200
My name is Justice Delos Santos, San Francisco Giants B reporter for the Bay Area News Group, San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Times, whatever you want to call us, as long as you read, as long as you subscribe.
00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:47.920
And speaking of subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel, follow us on Apple, follow us on Spotify.
00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:54.479
A lot of things in this world cost a lot of money, but subscribing and following those things remain free 99 and just a moment of your time.
00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.600
And I'm joined once again by Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Shayna, how we doing?
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Good.
00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:00.880
How are you?
00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:03.439
I'm here.
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:04.319
I'm here.
00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:08.799
It was it was a long lead up to the the trade deadline after.
00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:15.599
I feel like I need like another week to recover from a seven-story day, but we're here.
00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:17.359
Seven story, that's right.
00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:17.680
Yeah.
00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:21.120
Feels like so long ago, and yet it wasn't.
00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:24.000
Yeah, it was it was a week ago exactly.
00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:26.799
The trades hadn't even been made a week ago exactly.
00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:32.000
That was one of the most tiring days I've had since joining this beat just this wild.
00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:33.680
It was like bam, bam, bam.
00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:34.879
Bam, bam, bam.
00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:36.640
But we're not here to talk about the trade deadline.
00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:37.680
We talked about that last week.
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:43.280
If you're curious to hear uh me and Matthew Canower's thoughts on the deadline, go listen to the last week's episode.
00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:48.640
But uh this is gonna be a very different episode in tone compared to what we typically do.
00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:54.239
And Shane, this is gonna be a very emotional podcast for a lot of reasons, at least the first half of this.
00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:56.719
We'll get to just some Giants baseball in the latter half of this.
00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:02.079
But uh, as many of you who are listening know, maybe you've seen it on Twitter, maybe you've seen it on the news.
00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:11.680
Uh, obviously on Thursday, Mike Kruko announced he's gonna be retiring, and that was a lot, you know, for a lot of Giants fans in and of itself.
00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:24.879
But then for us personally, on Saturday, we get the news uh that Mike Waggeman, more affectionately known as Wags, uh, passed away 59, and then I think it was yesterday, uh Don Nelson uh passed away as well.
00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:27.439
Just one of the key fixtures of those We Believe warriors.
00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:32.879
So uh just a lot happening uh in the last four days.
00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.759
It's been a lot to process, a lot to take in.
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And Shane, I think the place that I want to start with, and I kind of want to focus more, you know, on Wags and Kruko uh with respect to the late Don Nelson.
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.319
I'm sure you'll agree with this.
00:02:46.479 --> 00:03:02.960
They were very different in their personalities, but they were incredibly similar in just how funny they were, how they could light up a room, and just you know, they walk into a room and the room just automatically becomes better because of their presence.
00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.560
Yeah, it it feels like I mean, like it's endings in different ways.
00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:34.400
I mean, Kruko is um it's hard for me to this day, no matter how many years I cover baseball and the Giants, to separate uh my emotions towards Kruko as sort of a Bay Area kid and then my my uh relationship with Kruko as a reporter, because it's one of those things that when you hear his any announcer's voice out of the context in which you're used to hearing it, it's just it's almost jarring.
00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:48.879
Um but I one of the greatest pleasures I've had is getting to experience Mike Kruko um outside of my gro my uh understanding of him growing up listening to him.
00:03:48.960 --> 00:04:11.439
And I've since he announced his his retirement, um, I've texted him and and messaged him a couple of times to just say because I felt it was necessary almost just to say to add on to the sentiment that like I don't love baseball without you, and I you are the sound of my childhood, and you are the the narration of of a lot of everything that I've grew up on.
00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:22.000
And uh I can't I can say probably confidently the same for a lot of a lot of people that grew up here, and he uh he's he's heard that a ton, so I think he's just but he appreciates it.
00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:23.519
Um and that's but it's true.
00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:32.480
It's um it's one of those days that you fear forever that it's going to come, that he's going to announce his retirement.
00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:41.759
And uh we know for a long time, more than a decade, that his body was not keeping up with his mind um in terms of what he was able to.
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:50.800
And I think that if you see him around the ballpark, especially the last couple of years and in his wheelchair, you think, oh, this guy is he's gonna do this forever.
00:04:51.120 --> 00:05:08.079
He's he's just so enthused and bright and um uh happy to to you you just got this feeling that he was he wasn't gonna stop ever.
00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:12.720
Um so when the news hit, it was just like, oh, that's reality.
00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:18.000
We we can dream up this dream that he was gonna keep going as long as possible.
00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:20.480
And then we didn't realize how long that actually was.
00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:27.519
So it's just it's it's hard to imagine a day where he's um it's hard to imagine next year when or whenever the lockout, whatever.
00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.879
It's hard to imagine him not being there um in the booth.
00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.360
So I'm sure he'll be around the ballpark though.
00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.480
Because that that guy can't stay away from the ballpark.
00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:37.279
Thank God.
00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:40.000
I mean, every time I see him, there's a baseball in his hand.
00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:48.800
Like I think if if you if you said if somebody said, Hey, we need a couple innings tonight, he would throw, I think he'd do the best of his ability to throw them.
00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:58.639
But you know, to to echo the point that you said, it's you know, I talked to Dwayne the day the news happened, and he said it's it's kind of like a meal you never want to end or a vacation you never want to end.
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:07.759
Like it you know that eventually like the end is gonna come, but you know, both the combination of both of them, Kruok and Kype, they've just been they've been in our lives our entire life.
00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:19.680
Like it's there has never been a year in my existence, which kind of just speaks to I guess how young both of us are that that we don't know a Giants baseball without both of them.
00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:32.560
And to echo your point, you know, I've obviously had the privilege as well of talking to him in a non-broadcast capacity and just like hearing him him and Dwayne and John Miller as well.
00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:42.959
This is a quick aside, because I talked to John Miller as well the day of it happened, and we were just kind of talking after the recorders were over, and he was saying, like, yeah, I go I went to this gas station across the street and I grabbed some Celsius.
00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:44.480
I'm like, John, you're a Celsius guy?
00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:45.519
I did not know that.
00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:50.879
Just to like hear him like talking, like just it's the the vo it's he's not putting up a front.
00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.560
That's their voices, it's crazy.
00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:53.360
Yeah.
00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:59.519
Um, but got to talk to them uh when I did the MVP baseball 2005 story last year.
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:05.839
I remember did doing a story leading up to them both being on uh the f up for the 4C Frick Award.
00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:40.639
I think it was the 2024 winter meetings, and uh you know, this point's been echoed so many times, but it was the way that both Krug and Kype just like they we kind of invited them into our living room into like this very you know it's a it's a safe space for a lot of us, and to you know, they they were the voice of because you know, and and baseball's the beautiful beauty of baseball is you don't necessarily have to like pay attention, like locked in, like it's a very good like just you can be doing stuff around the house voice and just like have them be the narrators of not just the baseball you're watching, but the life you're living more broadly.
00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:54.319
And so it's it's the one thing I do I am happy about is that you know I I'm reminded of this this one line by a rapper who unfortunately has kind of lost his mind in the last couple years.
00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:59.759
Um if you admire somebody, you should go ahead and tell them because people never get the flowers while they can still smell them.
00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:09.600
And it's gonna be a lot of flowers, it already has been, and it's gonna be a lot more over the last or the next couple weeks, and I can imagine just that final day at Oracle, September 27th.
00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:11.759
It's it's gonna be a lot.
00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.519
Like final games of the season are already a lot, but it's it's gonna be a lot.
00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:21.120
And I I think John Shea mentioned this in his story that you know Kruko grew up listening to Vin Scully.
00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:27.360
His final game was almost 10 years to would basically be 10 years to the day of when Kruko's last game is gonna be.
00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:34.559
So it's kind of a very poetic moment there that he gets to kind of go out in the same place where his own voice of childhood went out.
00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:42.080
Yeah, I might go full boomer and record all the last games or something like that just for preservation.
00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:42.559
I don't know.
00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:43.519
I don't know what I would do with those.
00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:49.519
I'm I don't know if I plan on like going back and listening to them just to like feel something, but I kind of just want to do that.
00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:50.399
I don't know.
00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:59.440
I mean, the beauty of the beauty of m modern technology is that if you go to YouTube, there's like a very specific way you can like punch in games.
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:05.200
And like not just like because there's like the MLB Vault account and it's like, oh yeah, here's game five of the 2010 World Series.
00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:14.480
Like, no, if you want to watch like a game in June in 2009, there's like a very specific set of code that you can punch in.
00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:19.519
I think for the Giants, it's like SFN, and then you type in the other team, and then like you type in the date.
00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:27.759
So, like, if you want to watch like a uh I I don't know, uh who is the name of the dude that Madison Baumgarner like replaced in the rotation?
00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:28.639
What was his name?
00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:30.320
Why am I forgetting his name?
00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:37.200
Anyway, if you want to watch like a rookie Madison Baumgarner start with Kruko on the mic, like you can do that.
00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:39.279
There's like so much that's that's out there.
00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:42.639
And I think this is a this is a fun question to to lead you with.
00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:44.240
What is your favorite Krukoism?
00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:46.000
Because there's so many of them.
00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:46.960
Yeah.
00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:49.679
There are so many.
00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:51.120
Or moment.
00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:53.360
It doesn't have to be like the the phrases.
00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:54.159
Like, is there a moment?
00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:58.320
Because there are all all the Krukoisms are just like when they happen, I'm like, yeah, that's good.
00:09:58.399 --> 00:09:59.039
Yeah, that runs.
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:01.840
My favorite moment.
00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:02.879
Ooh.
00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:08.240
I mean, we talked about one earlier this year with the Bryce Eldridge walk-off grant.
00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:10.080
Yeah, drop trout.
00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:10.799
Yeah.
00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:16.320
That was like that's just like a piece de resistance for him.
00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:23.519
That is just like the like still can paint the corners, still gets still hitting 95.
00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:31.440
I don't know if like this counts because it's not one specific moment, but I love it when he makes fun of people.
00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:42.240
Because it's just like it's such an art to be able to poke fun at people without it feeling like mean spirited.
00:10:42.559 --> 00:11:08.240
And it's just like I feel like the way that he did it with in symphony with like the broadcast was very much sort of like pure entertainment where you're capturing the spirit of the I mean like you make fun of fans, but players sometimes a little bit, or mostly just like if you felt like you were you felt like you were part of the show or that it was more of like a production and and entertainment as opposed to just watching a baseball game.
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:13.679
Like just the way that just the way that he um it was almost like an honor.
00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:16.159
It's like I wish that Kruka would make fun of me a little bit.
00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:29.279
I wish that I wish that I was in that that chair and you probably could have the way that I was feeding a hot dog, or yeah, or uh or that I he catches me yawning and he makes me sound like a like a you know a Tarzan or whatever it is.
00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:38.000
That's like a such a good one too, because again, it's not a specific moment, but like some of the sounds it would make, just like it's so good.
00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.240
And it cracks me up every time when he does that.
00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:40.879
Every time.
00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:43.440
It's so simple, but I crack it up every single time.
00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:48.080
And I think it like I've always felt like Kruok and Kyle, and I think it's a known thing.
00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:51.200
They just capture the the humor of the Bay Area too.
00:11:51.360 --> 00:12:06.720
Like there's sort of just a dryness and like a punchy sort of um sarcasm and everything that they do and say, and like their tone is always very not monotone, but it's so consistent um that the sarcasm really always hits for me.
00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.039
And the way that they poke fun always hits for me.
00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:37.919
And he was just such a such a genius at making everything, making the right moments funny while also sort of coming the other side and and hitting me with just this insane, astute analysis about the picture, about the umpires, about the things behind the game, behind the game, behind the game that like maybe none of us even noticed, but he just sort of like said it so casually without it feeling like he was reciting a piece of knowledge.
00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:40.879
Uh it's just it's just so genius.
00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:49.120
And I I I I hope that we all can appreciate like just how amazing that talent is that he has.
00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:52.240
And I know that's oversimplic, but it it really is amazing.
00:12:52.799 --> 00:13:04.720
Yeah, I so one of the things that's tough for us, it's hard to listen to the broadcast while covering a game just because there's like a about a 15-second delay, and like that could just it messes with my head.
00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:09.840
And as much as I want to listen to them, it's like it's just weird, like it's it's hard to process like 15 seconds behind.
00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:42.399
But I tuned in yesterday for you know just the I think it was the the top of the second inning, and he was talking about Troy Melton, and Troy Melton has like 12 major league starts under his belt, and he's just like, Yeah, Melton's like whip is like 0.9, and like when you can get it under that, like you're like especially if you're a starter, like you're dealing with like really elite territory, and just like the way that it's like this is a guy like Kruk does not have to like he's at a point where he could just add lip, like he does not have to do his homework on a on a rookie with 13 starts under his belt.
00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:59.679
But that was kind of his commitment to the game, and that was the one of the things that you know again, talking with John Miller a couple days, he said that he made the argument that Kruk is probably at the top of his game right now, and that's come that's very high praise coming from someone like John Miller that's been around him for so long.
00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:14.799
And you know, you mentioned you know just the interplay of Kruok and Kype, and again, one of the beautiful things that's been said that Kype has said is you know, how often do broadcasters not just get to say, like, that's a partner I work with really well, but that's my best friend.
00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.240
And that's one of those things like when you hear him say it, it's just like it hits here.
00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:30.000
And you know, you spoke to the you know Kruk being in a wheelchair for the last couple of years, uh just to provide additional context, people who may not know the the entirety of the reason why he has a wheelchair.
00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:35.120
He's had uh the body myositis, I think that's how it's pronounced since he revealed it in 2014.
00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.759
He had been dealing for it with it four years prior.
00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:52.799
And it was basically Kype who, you know, found a not found the way, but was willing to find a mechanism to get his lifelong friend, not lifelong, but you know, since you know, working with the Giants, like in the booth together.
00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:02.559
That's how they do the split cast, that's how they're able to be in the it appears to be in the same place, and that's all that's a testament to just their friendship as uh overall.
00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:06.879
And again, like that always would bleed into the broadcast.
00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:11.200
Like it always felt like you were just kind of in on an inside joke all of the time.
00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:20.159
And again, it's it's not gonna be the first time that like after this season that Kype has worked with another color analyst.
00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:32.879
Like even this year, he's worked with like Sean Estes and I think Hunter Pence, but it's he said it, and we all know it, it's gonna be different because again, like so much of the beauty is like it's never feels like it's staged.
00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.120
It never feels like there's like these pre-cut lines.
00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:36.720
It is just very reactionary.
00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:45.200
Like the one, the one that I quote all the time is the uh guys down on a boardwalk having a schmag.
00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:51.600
I'm like, I would never even I'm like, I've never heard of a cigarette refer to that before like before that.
00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:56.799
And maybe that's just like me, but it's just like these small things where you're like, Did he just say that?
00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:02.159
And then there's obviously like the main ones when it's like ownage ownage, grab some pine meat in the squat.
00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:04.799
Like, those are just the things like we're gonna miss.
00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:10.080
I like ownage ownage because it's like, yeah, that's all sometimes I just that's what it is.
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:11.200
Ownage ownage.
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:13.200
It says so much and so well at the same time.
00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.919
Some yeah, sometimes it's just like this guy's got me.
00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:17.919
Sometimes this guy's got me.
00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:23.600
So yeah, it's gonna on on Friday, there was a he got a very loud ovation during uh the game.
00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:33.679
I'm sure there's gonna be a lot there he also got an ovation during the Wall of Fame ceremony on Saturday as well, as they were as uh Kruk and Kype were making their way onto the field.
00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:35.840
Uh Kype Kuipe had a lion.
00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:41.279
They both talked during the ceremony, but Kype had a line's like, uh, he's gonna blow you guys kisses and I actually have to work.
00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:46.080
Which that's just that's just them uh in a nutshell.
00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:51.919
And I think one last point that I want to make, and everybody's made it.
00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:54.639
They gotta go in together.
00:16:54.879 --> 00:17:04.000
Like they can't, they're not eligible this year because of the way that the cycles work, they'll be eligible again in 2027, but they have to go into the Hall of Fame together.
00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:09.279
Like there's there's I have yet to hear a good counter-argument as to why they shouldn't.
00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:18.319
And like it's it's the idea that like individually they're really good, but together like they make something that we've never seen before.
00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:20.400
And for if no other reason than that.
00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:24.720
Like, if we're if we're not inducting them into the hall of fame together as a tandem, it's like what are we doing?
00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:25.519
What are we doing?
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:36.799
Yeah, it's like you say, they they're they are uh Hall of Famers on their individual merit, but they are exceptional, uh otherworldly as a pair.
00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:43.359
So might as well just induct them on the on on at when they're at their best, which is when they're riffing off of each other.
00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:44.960
It just makes so much sense.
00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:53.359
That that if that does happen, that's gonna be like an all-time like hall of fame speech or like induction ceremony.
00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:55.200
Like you just rolled is like you just rolled.
00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:56.960
Yeah.
00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:59.359
Like they it would be unreal.
00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:10.319
And I can imagine like like current it might be tough for like current broadcasters, but I can only imagine like the people that they would be able to bring out for a ceremony like that just because of how much that they were both universally adored.
00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:11.359
Yeah.
00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:12.799
I can see that.
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:17.359
And you know, I I mentioned Wags as well.
00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:33.759
Um there's there's gonna be no easy transitions with this podcast because I you know, I I think Wags is similar to Kruko in that everybody that's been around Wags for like any period of time has a WAG story.
00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:53.519
And I I put this on social media yesterday, but I can't remember like the way that Mike and I like introduced ourselves, but over like the last two years, like whenever I saw him, it wouldn't be hi, it wouldn't be hey, it wouldn't be hello, it wouldn't be what's happening.
00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:59.359
I would say to him, 707, say it backwards, and he respond, tell him if they ask.
00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:00.799
Like that was like Wags, man.
00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.480
Like he was so effortless effortlessly cool all the time.
00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:06.240
Valeo is hell.
00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.240
I don't think I've ever met somebody that like rep their hometown as much as Wags.
00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:11.440
Rep Vileo.
00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:15.839
And again, he's he every time I saw him in the press box, like that's such a great attitude.
00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:20.960
Everything that he had been through, you know, after having the surgeries remove the tumor from his brain.
00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:26.960
Um Monty Pool wrote a fantastic story, you know, in tribute to him the other day.
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:44.160
And in c in kind of Wag's form, like it is it's very it's it's objectively true to say that you know, after the surgery, he was, you know, a little like he wasn't as quite as sharp as he was, you know, prior, but he would also like point like playing like make fun of it all the time, too.
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:49.680
He's like he he would you'd forget something, like, yeah, you know, point to his head, you know, I have the you know, something happened up here.
00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:53.680
Or he'd always say to me, he's like, if I ever had a podcast, I call it it's not brain surgery.
00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:54.880
I'm like, wax.
00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:58.559
So our RFP to Wags, man.
00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:00.960
It's he always told me like how proud he was of me.
00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:08.960
And he'd always give me like those uh put the hand on the shoulder, like uncle speeches, and I just I it still hasn't fully hit me that he's gone.
00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:10.720
It just felt so sudden.
00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.799
And I'm gonna miss him, man.
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:13.759
And shout out to the Giants.
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:21.119
They they had the memorial in the press box, they put him up on the board yesterday, so it was just very touching that the Giants went that extra step to pay tribute to Wags.
00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:30.079
Yeah, it was it was really hard to be in the press box the day after, days after it happened because uh I'm gonna cry.
00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:51.039
It's um I think like he said he just the first thing I thought of when I heard is just thinking about the way in which he came back from brain surgery and how grateful he was to not just have survived the ordeal that he survived because it was such an ordeal and he would share so much about it.
00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:58.240
Not in a field star free me way, but in a holy shit, I can't believe we are capable of that type of way.
00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.599
But it was in a in a grateful way.
00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:10.640
And he was so grateful to be writing about sports, and he would just say, you know, this is this is the this is this job is a scam.
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:11.839
We get paid to do this.
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:13.279
I'm here to get paid.
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:16.559
I just get to sit here and watch sports, and they're calling this a job.
00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:49.359
And just the his his perspective on life and his perspective on on the the work that we do and and and everything after going through such an ordeal just made it was it was just it was so special, and then and then hearing about the just the the sudden way in which he died and and thinking about how much he celebrated surviving how he did just really hurt me and hurt everybody.
00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:56.960
It was it was just it was just a really painful realization or um feeling.
00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:01.119
Um and he's just just such a Joy of a human.
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:17.839
And then obviously, I think when anything like this happens, you think about, I can't believe I didn't do everything I could to tell him how much I appreciated everything, the way that he was, and everything that he said, and the encouragement that he provided everybody around him.
00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:24.720
And he went out of his way to be that person for everyone else.
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:30.559
He was always looking out for everyone else in his own sort of sarcastic, sometimes dark humorous way.
00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.519
And he was always, he couldn't help but laugh.
00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:51.599
And it's such a cliche to say he lights up the room when he walks in, but it was so true because you could feel him miles away coming in, but coming into the room that you were in because he was just so happy to be there in your presence, in everyone's presence all the time.
00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:57.359
And it's just, I I wish that I got to tell him that at some point.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:07.920
I just I wish that I wish that I was I wish that he I hope that he knows how grateful we were for the type of person he was uh before and after the surgery.
00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.759
Because he's just uh he's a rare type of type of human.
00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:23.519
Yeah, I think there's been I I think I can speak for both of us, like from that element of just how he the joy that he had and just how much he would be able to, again, like you said, light up a room.
00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:30.640
Like it just made me take a step back and it's very easy to be jaded in this job.
00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:44.240
Like I know that Wags made it look he made it look so effortless, but like it's so easy to succumb to the day-to-day and be like, I gotta do X, Y, and Z, that it's easy to miss the forest for the trees.
00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:47.839
And Wags never missed the forest for the trees.
00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:50.640
He was he was always grateful before the surgery even happened.
00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:53.279
He was always eternally grateful to be at the ballpark.
00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:54.559
He was always a joy.
00:23:55.680 --> 00:24:01.200
And even more so, you know, after just like this aura of appreciation.
00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:04.480
And you know, you Shana, you know this more than anyone.
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.279
I tell I love taking pictures of everybody.
00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:13.359
And I was, you know, I looked through my hard drive the other day, and uh, because I know I'd taken a couple photos of Wags.
00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:22.079
There's some in there that I actually there was one of him and Jamie McCauley that I completely forgot that I took, and in every single one of those photos, he just had this like ear-to-ear smile.
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:34.240
The one with him and Manolo, that the one I posted the other day, it just like encapsulated him so well, like this beautiful spirit, and he just had this way of making you feel better about yourself, too.
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:43.920
Like he it's funny, with like a name like mine, like it kind of just lends itself to having variants of nicknames, and he's the only person that ever called me Los.
00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:45.279
He's like, What's up, Los?
00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:46.799
I'm like, no one's ever called me that.
00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:47.599
I feel so cool.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:48.799
You call Los.
00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:50.000
Los.
00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.599
Like he just always had this way to like make you feel good about yourself.
00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:59.440
And he he'd never and the one thing I want to mention too is like he never it didn't matter how long you've been doing this.
00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:05.279
It could be it could be us, it could be some of the new kids on the block, it could be folks like Susan or John Shaq.
00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:06.319
Like it didn't really didn't matter.
00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:09.119
Like he was gonna treat you with respect regardless of who you were.
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:10.079
Yeah.
00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:18.160
He was um and he had this funny way of treating everyone with respect, but also doing sort of like a light roast at the same time.
00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:30.000
He was he had such a such a good sense of humor about like, hey, we all love each other, but let's also let's not let's be real, but like he was just he was just so real about everything.
00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:38.400
He he he wasn't he wasn't he was such a light spirit, but also that he brought that to sort of like being able to jab us a little bit and jab everyone a little bit.
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:46.160
So he was just he was always observing everyone else and letting everyone else know what he was observing about them.
00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:55.200
And that's uh it's such a privilege to be around someone that is actively so uh extroverted like that.
00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:56.960
Um yeah.
00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:08.319
I think because I think we do need a laugh, I'm I'm gonna spare the specific details of this, but the past two years, both back-to-back seasons, these I'm not gonna say exactly what happens.
00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:22.079
I think you know both of these stories, but there's been the the thing about Wags is like as beautiful as a spirit he is, he is Vallejo as hell, and he does not take kindly to disrespect.
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:27.519
So there's been like there's been again, I'm gonna keep this in-house for both of us.
00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:38.160
But it was it was in Sacramento back last year and this year, and somebody tried to disrespect Wags and he a flip switch, and like he's like, I I don't play that.
00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:39.119
That's all I'll say.
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:44.559
He does not play that, and like I'll hear these stories of like Wags, I love you, dude.
00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:49.599
I kind of like Agamon too, like, yeah, get him Wags, get him Wags.
00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:53.440
Like, and also like hearing him like explain his side of the story too.
00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:56.160
I'm like, Yeah, I get what you're coming for.
00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:02.480
He doesn't suffer any fools, he's just like, if you don't, you're gonna know.
00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:07.359
Yeah, don't don't take the the playfulness and the joy for being a punk.
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:09.039
You can't punk Mike Wagabin.
00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:10.960
You you can't punk him.
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:11.759
That's true.
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:12.640
You can't punk him.
00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:26.160
And you know, the other thing I was thinking about, and the one the place I kind of want to, you know, end off here is you know, I was thinking of very symbolically, is you know, obviously the very journalistic thing is at the end of a story, you have the dash 30 dash.
00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:34.240
And you know, when I think of Mike's story, and I I I I think I thought about this when I saw Monty's story.
00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:51.759
Like there is no third there is no 30 at the end of his story, because if we take that element of wags and like we carry within ourselves like being who we are, like not letting ourselves be jaded, uh finding the joy in the fact that we get to watch sports for a living.
00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:53.279
The way he said, it was robbery.
00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:54.880
It was robbery, the fact that we got to do this.
00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:59.680
If we carry that within, then the spirit of Mike Wagman that never goes away.
00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:00.720
Oh, yeah.
00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:01.599
That never goes away.
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:02.160
Okay.
00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.000
Let's stay on memory lane a little more right here.
00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.839
Uh, because the Giants did have the Wall of Fame ceremony over the weekend as well.
00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:24.160
Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval, and Joe Panic were all inducted into the team's Wall of Fame.
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:29.599
That's the 61st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th plaques uh that have been unveiled.
00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:35.279
And, you know, it was a fun time for you know both of us growing up in the bay, watching both of those teams to go down memory lane.
00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:51.200
And, you know, Buster's probably gonna be part of a bigger celebration uh next year, assuming he is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as expected, potentially with Bruce Bochi, potentially with Dusty Baker, and you know, we don't have to wax poetic about these guys.
00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:56.240
I feel like we've done that before, but I do want to bring up this point super quickly.
00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:05.039
They were asked because one of the one of the guys that is eligible for the Wall of Fame that hasn't been inducted is Tim Linsigum.
00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:12.400
And Linsicum hasn't been at Oracle since I don't even know if it was called Oracle yet.
00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.200
He hasn't been there since Bruce Bochi's final game in 2019.
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:16.799
I think it was still like TNT.
00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:33.599
And, you know, the house just like when he made that appearance, like the house came down, and you know, it's funny because like Linsigum kind of has like this Bigfoot-esque like reputation now, where like anytime somebody sees him or it's like, oh my god, Tim Linsigum out in the wild.
00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:37.920
And like I think part of the allure is like he is so mysterious.
00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:42.400
And I think if he ever did decide I don't know like what it I don't think it would take a lot.
00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:50.240
I I think he'd have to be willing to come back to the ballpark for the ceremony to happen, but if that happens, like I think the place is gonna explode.
00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:59.680
Like with no disrespect to any other active Bay Area athlete, that includes like Steph and even Clay, if you want to put lump him in there.
00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.240
No one gets the live the love that he does.
00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:05.119
Yeah.
00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:08.160
Yeah, I mean, um sorry.
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:32.480
I think I I would imagine that see my take on Tim Woodsigam is that part of there's something really special about like the mythicism that he has now, like the Bigfoot factor, where he had such a like sharp peak and abrupt fall.
00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:37.279
And the peak was so high that it's just like it left a lasting imprint on everybody.
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:49.519
And then after that, he after his career kind of when where it went that he is basically um nowhere to be found is kind of like a special sports story in a way.
00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:51.759
Like it's it's kind of crazy, it's not special in a good way.
00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:59.920
I wish we could see Timothy him all the time, but like it makes the anticipation of seeing him at the ballpark again, like, oh my god, that's an event, right?
00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:06.960
Um, and I think there's something kind of like cool about the way that he's gone about everything.
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:12.000
He I wish he was more available, but I also think it's it's just so interesting that he's not available.
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:14.319
Um, he's playing hard to get.
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:26.400
But um, yeah, I it's hard to also hard to imagine a wall of fame without him because he's the most in a very unique way.
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:52.400
Like there's so many beloved giants, but he is beloved in such a unique way that it's just and he was part of sort of this this like perfect time in recent Giants history of bridging the gap between the post-Bonds years and the the dynastic years, but it was with such a one of the the best pitching performances that we've seen in baseball over the last 20 years or whatever.
00:31:52.640 --> 00:32:03.119
Um and it's it's it would be it would be it would feel wrong for him not to be on the wall because he is fame, he is the giant, he is the wall of fame.
00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:09.519
Like that's he's emblematic, representative of everything that I feel like that whole uh situation is supposed to be.
00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:17.519
So it'd be great if he could come back and and just that could be his uh entryway to reminding fans of his his existence.
00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:26.400
And I know he's been through a lot lately uh in his personal life, so I can imagine that it might, I don't know, have something to do with the fact that he's laying low.
00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:27.119
Who knows?
00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:33.359
But um it'd be tight if he came back and uh be cool to see how he is.
00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:47.920
Yeah, it was interesting timing the Wall of Fame because I think Jeff Passon went on all the smoke and was talking about how he first saw Linskum and was talking about how this probably probably I don't want to say never, but he was so unique.
00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:59.680
Like his like nobody had the mechanics that he did and how he was able to kind of extract every ounce of velocity from a very pretty frail frame.
00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:01.440
He was like 5'11, 170.
00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:10.400
I mean, and it's kind of everything that part of the reason pet people love him is he was like he's kind of like Steph, in that he was you know, Steph is a lure, is like he's a tinier dude.
00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:12.480
Like Linskum was just like a dude.
00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:19.200
Like the the famous In N Out order is like what like the three double doubles and like the shakes and the two fries.
00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:39.920
I mean, like the like when he got pulled over and everyone, like I think he was probably like the bet like that was the best like merging of a city and person because everyone was like, Hell yeah, bro, like in the like the let Timmy smoke shirts, and it it's like the epitome of the you know, the the candle that burns twice as bright goes out twice as fast.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:46.880
And I don't know if you've ever had these debates, but I I've heard you know these debates of you know, would you rather had a career like Linsk's or Canes?
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:50.079
Like the longevity versus like the kind of shooting star.
00:33:50.880 --> 00:34:05.680
And I think there is something extra to be said that you know he is laying so low in like the social media era where everybody is so constantly available, it's so like because again, like every time someone sees him, like you see it on Giants Reddit, you see it on Twitter, it's like, oh my god, Linskum was here.
00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:10.000
It's like I it's he's just kind of you know doing whatever he wants to do.
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:15.679
And I think that you know it would just be so much fun, even if it's for one day to see him out the ballpark.
00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:19.920
I could guarantee that that place will be packed out like no other.
00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:38.320
Like, with all due respect to you know, Jeff Kent, who's his number's gonna be retired and Buster Pose when he has a celebration next year, and same thing with Bochi, and same thing with Dusty, they are not gonna be able to hold a candle to whatever reception that Lynts can get whenever he decides to come out, just because he would he was the guy.
00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:40.960
He he was he was the he was a guy because he was a dude.
00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:44.480
He was just a dude that happened to be really damn good at baseball.
00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:46.159
He was a dude that was really good.
00:34:46.320 --> 00:35:00.079
Yeah, it's just it's not to take away from what everyone else, the kind of reception that everyone else would get, but it's he's just he's just in a different sort of tier of different just he's a different type of person, he's a different type of alum, he's a different type of former giant.
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:03.599
There's just a he's in his own category, I'd say.
00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:07.039
And it's you could put a finger on it or not.
00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:17.119
I think that but I think the the overwhelming thing is an impuster even or someone, one of the five said it was just like, yeah, the roof's gonna absolutely blow off this place when he's here.
00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:25.599
Everybody knows that everyone in San Francisco, the Bay Area, etc., is just waiting with bated breath to see him again.
00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:31.840
So it's uh yeah, he's uh he's a unique type of legend for sure.
00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:33.840
Unique type of legend for sure.
00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:35.199
All right, Shane, I think we've done it.
00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:37.519
I think it's time to talk about actual Giants baseball now.
00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:38.320
Let's do it.
00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:54.880
Uh Shana, you will be shocked to learn that after trading Robbie Ray, Louisa Rias, Tyler Malley, Elliott Ramos, Caleb Killian, and Eric Miller, that the Giants are significantly worse than they are about a week ago before all these trades were made.
00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:55.519
Wow.
00:35:55.599 --> 00:36:00.559
Uh they dropped two or three to the Texas Rangers, they dropped two or three to the Detroit Tigers.
00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:05.519
Both of those series kind of played out the same way in that they won the first game, they dropped the latter two.
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:08.960
They are currently sitting at 49 and 69.
00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:14.800
This is the first time they've been under or 20 games under 500 since 2017.
00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:17.119
Uh that team lost 98 games.
00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:22.159
They're currently on pace to win 95 games, winning percentage of 415.
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:36.960
Uh but uh as we'll get into this this roster looks signific it is significantly more depleted, and I don't think it's you know outlandish to say like the 100 loss question is definitely going to be in play.
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:41.760
And I think just generally speaking, I think it, you know, we've kind of seen it with some of the lineups over the last couple days.
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:52.559
I think you know, if you want to be really mean and crack fun, it has been some guys that you do need to Google because you know, Oslevis Basabe and Buddy Kennedy, like they're not household names.
00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:58.000
Like this is with all Eddie's Leonard, like these with all due respect, like these are not household names.
00:36:58.079 --> 00:36:59.760
And there are gonna be opportunities there.
00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:07.760
We're gonna get to that in a second, but it's it's gonna be some rough baseball for the last for the next 45 games, wherever they're at.
00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:17.920
Yeah, I think part of the is I don't know if it's an issue, but what's happening now is this isn't really a rebuild.
00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:21.599
It isn't really uh a tank.
00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:25.199
It's more just an odd transitional period.
00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:34.159
Uh you don't have a lot of a lot of their their their farm system is way more valuable now than it was even two years ago, maybe even last year.
00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:43.840
Um, and has a lot to do with the fact that their top prospects are all like teenagers and they're all like they're all they're all in the lower levels of the minor leagues.
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:54.639
Um this isn't sort of a a phase or a period where you can sort of flip all these players that you were getting to to buy and win now and go for it with the veterans you have.
00:37:54.960 --> 00:38:07.679
It's um it's it's more of a time where they've given up on the the rush that they built to win, and then they're in this, okay, how do we fill the gaps with the players that are available to us?
00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:15.199
Um, and that's not to slight everyone that's playing right now, but it just feels a little bit of a patchwork team right now.
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:31.039
Um, which is to say there aren't a bunch of top prospects that we're going to see on the pitching side or the position player side that um are going to sort of give us this full picture of what's to come in the next years and maybe next year after the lockout or whatever the heck is going to happen.
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:35.360
Um, so it just feels a little bit like, okay, this what are we looking at here?
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:38.239
This is um, these are some guys that were in triple A this year.
00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:51.760
These guys, it's really great that they're getting their shot and seeing guys like Leonard make their debut, and they're just that that's a lot of the times that's what this is all about, these sort of awkward last few months after the deadline is guys getting their shot.
00:38:52.000 --> 00:39:12.800
But I think when it comes to satisfying this idea that um we need to see the giants move on um from one sort of build of the roster to something that leaves a little bit more young, it's hard to it's hard to picture that forming right now in the last few months.
00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:30.239
I mean, we're getting a look at some of the pictures like Blade said while like Carson was in hunt um to see, in essence, if those guys can be starters, I think that they need to start thinking about how they're gonna fill the rotation next year in a real way that isn't just patchwork free agent signings that didn't work out this year.
00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:35.760
Um and it's hard to say with any certainty that the guys that we've seen fill that those roles.
00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:37.760
It's hard to say that Wizen Hunt's gonna fill that role.
00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:41.440
It's hard to say that Blade Tidwell's gonna fill that role, although he's he's looked pretty good.
00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:49.760
Um, but it's there's an opportunity for those guys, and it's it that's the the case within situations like this to have a little runway and make their case.
00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:54.880
So uh nothing super um thrilling to watch, I'd say.
00:39:55.039 --> 00:39:58.320
Just just a lot of weird transitional baseball.
00:39:58.880 --> 00:40:11.840
Yeah, if you're looking ahead to 2027, which again, lockout permitting, like you can start, you know, if you assume that Matt Chapman returns from the core injury, he's probably gonna undergo season ending surgery uh sometime.
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:13.280
It's either this week.
00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:20.320
Um he's gonna fly to Philadelphia, and Casey Schmidt's obviously out for the remainder of the season, or probably gonna be out due to the torn meniscus.
00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:22.079
Um, we might see Marcelo Mayer.
00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:26.000
Um, he's you know, he flew to Arizona yesterday.
00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:28.880
He's gonna get in some rehab games with Sacramento.
00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:33.840
Uh, we're probably gonna see him on that upcoming road trip, which you know that's gonna be fun for him to return to Boston.
00:40:33.920 --> 00:40:36.800
So Meyer's gonna be one of the guys to watch going forward.
00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:48.400
But, you know, I think the biggest overall question going into these final 40-ish games is you know, who can play on a competitive 2027 Giants team?
00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:57.599
And again, when you start like looking forward like towards next year, it's like okay, third base should hypothetically be Casey Schmidt, second base, hypothetically, Matt Chat or not, Matt.
00:40:57.840 --> 00:40:58.800
No, flip that.
00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:02.000
Third base, Matt Chapman, second base, Casey Schmidt.
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:07.199
Then you got Rafi and Bryce and Willie, and then probably Jung Hoo and Wright.
00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:15.119
So then now it's a question, like there's a couple spots, there's a couple areas, and it's like, okay, like who these guys are gonna get opportunities.
00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:23.920
And some of these opportunities might not be as stars, they might be guys off the bench, but like who can you know be on a realistically a team that contends?
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:27.440
And you know, Carson Wizenhunt has struggled since kind of getting these opportunities.
00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:37.360
Blade said well, rough first inning in his last outing against the Rangers, but five innings, two earned runs, he ditched the splitter, uh, add more of a traditional changeup.
00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:38.639
He's playing with the curveball.
00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:42.559
He is if depending on your perspective, it's either a five or a six-pitch mix.
00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:48.800
You got some guys in the bullpen that are, you know, despite the bullpen not being great, we've talked about that a lot, that are still intriguing.
00:41:48.880 --> 00:41:56.400
And, you know, how do they fit into a bullpen that might have Randy Rodriguez and Rowan Wick and there's another name, Jose Butto.
00:41:56.480 --> 00:42:02.880
Like you're starting to get like a framework of what next year's team is, but it's like who among this current team could actually be effective?
00:42:03.039 --> 00:42:06.159
And they are gonna get their opportunities.
00:42:06.239 --> 00:42:09.679
Like Nate Furman made his debut as well, Trent Harris made his debut as well.
00:42:09.760 --> 00:42:17.679
And so if you're looking for the optimistic lens, is that you know these guys are gonna get runway that they wouldn't have had if this was a competitive team.
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:24.400
The opposite point of view is that it's just gonna be some very it's gonna be some growing pains with a lot of these guys.
00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:25.119
It's gonna be rough.
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:34.639
You're gonna get games like Saturday where they lost eight to nothing and there's some sloppy play, and it's kind of just one of those shrug your shoulder games, and then you go from there.
00:42:35.599 --> 00:42:38.880
Yep, that's uh thrilling baseball to come.
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:40.159
Very excited to watch it.
00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:41.760
Thrilling baseball to come.
00:42:41.920 --> 00:42:46.159
And as you mentioned, though, you know, a lot of the top prospects in this organization, they're teenagers.
00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:49.039
Uh we're not, or they're in their early 20s.
00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:55.119
Like you think of guys like Jasmuar Gonzalez, Luis Hernandez, Yoniel Hernandez, even he's in the DSL.
00:42:55.199 --> 00:43:00.960
He was acquired in the Robbie Ray trade, Bresnayan, Canner Martinez, Kayama, like these guys are all very young.
00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:05.679
We you might get a Bo Davidson or a Parks Harbor, but a lot of these guys are still coming through the system.
00:43:05.840 --> 00:43:12.559
So it is this really weird transition period, and it'll be very interesting to see how the Giants kind of bridge the gap in the offseason.
00:43:12.639 --> 00:43:19.360
Like, how do they get guys that are competent while also not logging up these positions going forward?
00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:22.079
So uh, but that's a question for the offseason.
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:24.719
Shana, any parting thoughts before we get out of here?
00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:30.000
Um RIP Wags.
00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:31.280
I miss you, dude.
00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:32.320
R.I.P.
00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:32.960
Wags.
00:43:33.199 --> 00:43:34.000
RIP Wags.
00:43:34.079 --> 00:43:38.480
If you are in Vallejo, go get some tacos jaliscos on his behalf because I don't think.
00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:42.400
And if you have a chocolate chip cookie, you microwave it for a couple seconds.
00:43:42.480 --> 00:43:43.440
That was his favorite.
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:44.880
That was the move.
00:43:45.039 --> 00:43:49.039
That was always the move for Mike Wagaman, more affectionately known as Wags.
00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:50.559
Wags, we miss you so much.
00:43:50.719 --> 00:43:56.960
And you know, hopefully we have an opportunity to pay more respects to him in the coming weeks uh and months.
00:43:57.039 --> 00:44:01.440
Um, but Justice Delos Santos, Shana Rubin, Splash Considerations Podcast, thank you for listening.
00:44:01.760 --> 00:44:06.000
Subscribe if you do feel so inclined, and we will catch you in the next one
