Dodger Talk is sponsored by LA Care Health Plan, providing affordable healthcare insurance to millions of Angelinos for over twenty five years, and now your voice for Dodger Talk. Like the back Damn Cats, Dodgers had a chance to get a sweep in the Bronx, only lose in the finale eight six to four of the final, they lose to the Yankees on this Sunday night, everybody and welcome into Dodger Talk on AM five to seventy LA Sports Live Everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. The Dodgers will fly home tonight after taking two to three from the Yankees in New York. But they had a chance tonight to get the sweep over the Yankees after taking the first two games of this series. Tyler Glass now on the mound, they fell behind early. They tied it up thanks to Mookie Betts in the fifth. Ta Oscar Hernandez, who was absolutely on fire over the weekend in New York, gave the Dodgers the lead in the top the six, only to see Tyler Glass Now give it back.
In the bottom half of the six. Anny and the Dodgers would get to within one run only to see Aaron Judge give the Dodgers a two run deficit the chase they can get no closer, as the Yankees win the series finale tonight six to four eight six six nine eighty seven two five seventy eight six six nine eight seven two five seventy is the number A lot to talk about in this game tonight, Teoscar Hernandez red hot two for four, double,
a home run, and RBI hits three home runs in this series. This is a guy who's been absolutely on fire going into tonight's and this is a Dodger team that relied a lot on him in this three game series, and
the bottom of the lineup came through at times in this series. Tonight they had five of the Dodgers nine hits the Dodgers make that's seven of the nine hits the Dodgers had offensively tonight, So they picked up the slack when need be, and the Dodgers had a chance to tie or take the lead in the ninth inning, albeit with two outs, only to see Clay Holmes strikeout Mookie Betts into indie game and the Yankees get the series way finale six to
fourth. Dodgers still take two to three, another five hundred east coast road trip. They had a five hundred east coast road trip before coming home for three games against the Rockies, and they go back out on the road. They drop two of three to Pittsburgh, and then they take two of three against the New York Yankees. But the biggest thing that stock out to me
tonight was Andy Pajes. And I don't want to pile on a young man who has done really everything that's been asked of him in his brief time in the major leagues, and he's going to be a really good player and is a really good young player. I'm a big fan of Andy Pajes. But tonight he made two airs, and one of which was crucial. Both of them actually led to runs or one of them led to runs, and the other one cost the Dodgers runs. In the third inning, Andy paz misplayed
a ball in right center field. Now he's running towards the alley. He gets to the warning track, jumps, the ball goes off his glove, and Aaron Judges ruled an RBI double, and that gave the Yankees a to nothing lead. If that ball is caught ending is over, the only damage is the Oswaldo Cabrera solo home run, and it's a one nothing game in what is a tight series already, it's a one to nothing Yankees lead. Instead, he misplays it. They took about three or four minutes for the
official score at Yankee Stadium to make a decision. It kept saying, pending, pending, pending, Is it a double? Is it an E eight? They ruled it a double. Quite frankly, I thought it was an air. That ball needs to be caught in right center field at the major league level. That's not a routine play, But that's a play you need to make. It's not asking too much for a play like that to be
made in right center field. If he's leaping, crashing into the wall, reaching over bringing it back a lah Ken Griffy junior, then yeah, that's not a Rood team play. That's something that doesn't get made too often except from the elite outfielders. But to me, that's a play that you gotta make. That catch, Okay, that led to a run. In the third inning. Dodgers are down two to nothing. They come back and tie
it to Oscar Hernandez gives him to lead. In the top half of the sixth inning, Dodgers fall behind five to three on the Trent Grishram three run home run. We get to the seventh inning. Andy Pajez a great at bat. He walks to lead off the bottom of the top of the seventh. Gavin Lucks, a great at bat, goes the opposite way on a fastball to left field. Dodgers have runners on first and second. Nobody out, nobody out, five to three. Game seventh inning, Key Key Hernandez
makes a butt attempt, pops it up. The catcher Trevino tries to make the play and drops it. Okay, you avert disaster. Luckily you get out of it and you get another shot to lay out a punt kick. Arenandez puts down a bunt towards the third base line. Unfortunately, it doesn't get past the dirt cutout. It doesn't get to the grass and have a chance to roll. And if that dirt is still wet, it must have been because it just kind of died. It didn't go very far. Nonetheless,
it's picked up by the catcher Trevino. Runners on first and second are breaking for the bags. Trevino throws the third for the force play and pahes On. The initial play looks safe. He beat the ball to the third baseman. Dodgers immediately look at it. Dino Ebel, third base coach Andy Pajes are putting their hands to their ears, giving the old signal to let's look at it, let's review it. Dave Roberts and the replay staff and the Dodger's assistant coaches say Nope, we're not gonna do it. And at
first I'm like, he's safe. What are we doing? You gotta challenge that, And then the review came and the slide from Andy Pot has his left leg extended sliding into third base, the lead leg sliding in to third base, Andy Pot has his left leg, right legs tucked down by his butt, left leg extended out, and the left leg, instead of extending into the bag to be the first thing that you touch and being safe at
third, his left leg goes over the bag. So the first thing that Andy Poe has actually touches third base with is not his left leg that's extended. It's his right leg that's tucked under NAR's rear end. He gives up two and a half feet because he doesn't use his extending lead leg to touch third. That's like sliding one oh one to bang bang play. You need to get to third and get there safely on a bunt attempt. That lead leg is giving you an extension. That's why you're sliding to get an extension
with your left leg. And he goes over the bag and the tag put on Paz. He's out. I saw the first replay. I saw. I said, yeah, he's out, but that's unacceptable. You cannot make that slide and miss sliding to the third base as bad as he did, that just can't happen, because look what did happen. They ruled the he was out, no challenge first and second. Still different players. Mookie bets up and he hits into a double play, eating over. You have momentum
building, You've got an offense that's starting to tack together. At bats, Pahns walk, Gavin Luck's base hit, the key k bunt, the throw to third, he beat the throw a regular slide. He's safe. And what's the scenario? Bases loaded, nobody out for Mookie Bets. Maybe his approach is different at the plate. Maybe he's looking for a ball to drive, Maybe he hits a sack fly. Maybe he finds the hole in left
center and right center field. It changes everything as far as the approach for Mookie Bets because now there's one out, first and second instead of base is loaded, nobody out, and for somebody, he's already coming on Twitter like you're nitpicking. No, no, no no. When you're in a game like this, high leverage game against the Yankees, I know it's June, but if this were the postseason and a World Series game, every out is
in important, every base runner is important. Everything you do gets magnified, good and bad, good and bad. We look at everything that happens in the game. A bad pitch, Trent Grisham home run, a bad slide at third base, baseball one on one and it's the start of an over and raffling of an inning for the Dodgers. And the seventh inning when they're down to now this team doesn't fight and they came back in the eighth sack fly from Will Smith makes it a one run game. They had an opportunity
in the ninth. Yeah, they had opportunities after that. But when you're in the seventh inning, first and second, nobody out, you're chasing too. It's a big game. You that can't happen. That's a little mistake that gets magnified. Misplaying a ball in right center field leading to a run early in the game, that's getting it gets magnified. Those are little things you cannot do. You have to play a clean baseball, especially in the
postseason. And why do I bring this up because all we talk about here on Dodger Talk is it doesn't matter till we get to October what they do over one sixty two. We've seen what it does. They can win the division, but when they get to October, they don't do the little things right. Well. Tonight is a learning opportunity for Andy Piez. I love
the young kid. I think he's gonna be super talented moving forward. But tonight those are two blunders by Andy Paiz and he'll put it behind him, hopefully, and this Dodger team will put it behind him and get better. And it's again just something that needs to be mentioned because those are big moments. They really are. Trent Grisham's home run off of Tyler Glass, Now, it's gotta be a better pitch. It has to. Johan Ramirez has a falls me. It was a three to two in the count, throws
a slider to Aaron judge, it's gotta be a better slider. The old cement mixer slider that's just rotating over the mid plate eighty miles an hour. You're putting it on a tee for Major League Baseball's home run hitter who hits at four hundred and thirty feet and Rick Munday even Joke who still hadn't landed yet. That's gotta be a better pitch. These are just little things that the opponent will take advantage of if you give them opportunities. Jose Moda mentioned
it. These guys are big leaguers, whether they're hitting two eighty three, one to eighty three or eighty three. Like Trent Grisham was coming in, whether the fans a Yankee Stadium are saying we want Soto and chanting that because they'd rather have a banged up one Soda than Trent Grisham up and play in the outfield. Trent Grisham, you throw him at two to one fastball over the middle of the plate. He's a big league hitter, folks. He's
a big league hitter. Even though he's hitting O eighty three, he's stuck around at the big league level this long. He's in a lineup for the New York Yankees for a reason. He can play. Numbers just aren't there right now, but he can play. And you row a two to one fastball and make a mistake like that, they made him pay in Tyler Glass. Now. Now, the Dodgers took advantage of a lot of bad Yankee
play over the weekend, bad pitches. You tip your cap when when they do something and they beat you, but when you beat yourself, those things just can't happen if you want to be a championship team again. You tip your cap when another team beats you in a best effort, But when you make mistakes and you give him extra out and you're the one giving up those mistakes that are mental mistakes or physical mistakes, that this just can't happen again
when you get to October. And that's clearly what everybody seems to care about. This can not happen, so hopefully they learn from it. Eight sixty six nine eighty seven two five seventy eight six six nine eighty seven two five seventy. Before we get to your phone calls, let's go back to Yankee
Stadium. David devastating the media standing by with young Andy Pyas. First, just with the play in the seventh on the slide into third, just kind of foot was over the bag with what happened there, and I went, you, yeah, the foot that obviously should have been touching the base was the one that I had up and the one that touched it back was the one that was behind. So and then after watching the play that the ruled
or not ruled, but they saw the Bob beat me. There those little moments, especially in like this kind of series and that kind of atmosphere, you could learn from, you know, better execution and a spot like that and momentous cos I place up in there and this is and this is implemented. Yeah, you know, there's always learning experiences in every game. But you know you can't like those things like that happen, but you can't make excuses and just got to learn from him. Yeah, there's Andy Paiz.
I believe he will learn from this. You can hear in his voice he knows that can't happen. And it gets magnified when it's Sunday night baseball. It gets magnified when it's Dodgers Yankees. And then there's three sellout crowds in the Bronx all weekend long. But when you're in a close game like this,
you got to play clean baseball. You cannot make mistakes. And a base running missque like that from Andy Paiz, that's something that can't happen at the lower levels, and he knows that, and he's frustrated, and that just can't happen again. It just can't. Eight sixty six, nine eighty
seven two five seventy one. Mistake like that doesn't make a game, clearly, But you start having MISSQ after MISSQ and they add up, whether it's a defensive play, a base running play, maybe lack of execution on offense, lacks of execution pitching, whether it's glassed out to night to Grisham, whether it's Johann Ramirez who was back out there again tonight and got put back out there for a second inning in the eighth inning. That's something we can
get into Dodger fans. Colin he brought it up a one two three seventh inning for Johann Ramirez and the scoreboard said a five to three game. At that point, you're chasing two. You don't want the lead to get anymore, and then at the top of the eighth inning, Will Smith gets a sack fly scoring showey Otani, it's a one run game, it's five to four. You're back into it. You need to get a zero on that scoreboard for the New York Yankees, so you can go back out there chasing
one run with three outs to go in the ninth inning. You can't afford to have a second run. Oh yeh home run Aaron Judge. No, that can't happen. That cannot happen. And so people on social media bringing up the question, why go back to Johann Ramirez for an eighth inning? What about an Evan Phillips or a more high leverage reliever for the Dodgers that you go to to keep it a one run game? You know, knowing that Aaron Judge is leading off the eighth inning, is Johann Ramirez the right
guy, right situation? Right? Then? Obviously Dave Roberts in this coaching staff felt like it was. He gave up the home run and to his credit, was able to get out of it with the strikeout a walk in the double play, but in my opinion, the damage had been done. A one run game. You sort of got back the momentum. You're feeling good about it. Three outs to go, you can get back to the top of the lineup with a couple of guys getting on base, and that's
exactly what happened. They got guys on base. Po has lucks. You turn the line up over only to be chasing two and lose six to four. Again, little things that add up. You got to play clean baseball over twenty seven outs if you want to win games at the big league level, especially big games like this and especially in the postseason. Eight six, two, five, seventy. Let's go to it's got a Greg and west Chester starting things off here on this Sunday and high Greg. Hey, Tim,
I'm really glad you brought up the pie has thing. But then also the decision to keep Johan in the game. I was scratching my head thinking we brought Evan Phillipson in an eleven three game in Pittsburgh. This is curious stuff. I know he needs work, but dude, he can do that in the bullpen. I guess the intent is to get him work, like, let's not burn him for the Yankee series, which who knows it's a
hole in the basket for the whole of the day. Two points one, you brought up glass Now in the pitch that went out that kind of turned the game on its head after the powe has drop, then after that inning ended. If you were watching the game as close as I was, don't ask me why it was. Last Now turns and looks at him and just yelled a lot explosive, which we hear every time he throws this start these
days. I think that was like a sign like the Dodgers do care, like I think the fans and like we're all kind of we're COPI um, like, hey it's June, no one cares October. No dude, Glassnew hadn't had a run in his ledger to work with since May fourth, So yeah, it means a lot more to him. A I loved that guy, Like, give me that guy every day of the week. I don't care if he has thrown left handed. But secondly that you know Paz, it is what it is. He's here now. We need to we need
to work with him in to groom him and like build him up. But he cannot be a starting center fielder in a playoff series. We all know that he's overwhelmed by anything above ninety seven. That's all we're going to see if we play Philadelphia. Let's just be honest. Zach Wheeler, Aaronola, Ranger Suarez with the Sinkers, like there's no chance he's touching that guy looking forward, someone like a Harrison Vaders on a team going nowhere fast. Michael
Taylor. I think with the Pirates is one of the best defensive center fielders, and let's let's start to reach Jazz. Chisholm is not going anywhere in Miami, and they're trying to sell everything they have, Like do you think, Kate, because we do need somebody at the bottom of the lineup too to actually stabilize that piece like Chisholm at six or seven. Would change my outlook on the way not only we play defense, but the way we actually
approach the lineup. And for someone like Glass, now like we gotta we gotta throw everything we can because that guy gives us everything every start and routinely he's getting burned by his own team. I'll take your answer off their Yea. I appreciate a lot of good points. Greg. I don't know if the Dodgers first move is to go out there and get a new center fielder. I think James Altmans gets another chance at some point. I don't know
when that is. I know he's starting to heat up in TRIPLEA Oklahoma City. I don't know what Andy Pott has. The situation will be because he continues to play well. But you're right when they get to guys pumping ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven in the first couple of games of this series and again tonight with Eal, it's tough for Andy Pots. But I think I think he still is a guy who's gonna get every opportunity to keep that position. As far as the starter at center field, I just do.
I think the Dodgers could use in more another bullpen arm. I think that's priority number one. I think starting pitching is gonna come back. We had some bruised, dark gratterol news earlier today from Dave Roberts that he is
gonna start throwing. It doesn't look like he's gonna be back like soon, but he's progressing and taking that next step as far as throwing, and it sounds like he's going in to Camelback Ranch to kind of start ramping up and start that process of throwing off a mound again, and he's had a sore
arm and since the beginning of the season. We're gonna get Bobby Miller back here for the Dodgers rotation, probably on this homestand he pitched in the game over the weekend in Oklahoma City on Friday, and it sounds like all signs point to him joining this rotation and making it a six man rotation if necessary. Gavin Stone is not going anywhere. I mean, the guys who they
got in the rotation right now have done a really good job. James Paxson's getting to get another shot tomorrow night or Tuesday night when they start their series against the Texas Rangers. So arms are gonna start to come back. They're trickling back. As far as bullpen, Clayton Kershaw's on the road, not too far from returning and helping out this Dodgers team. You need to get him right for October. So I think they're gonna give James Allman and Andy
pach Has as much time. It's June's June ninth, so in reality, you don't have to make a decision for what another seven eight weeks here on what you're gonna do a center field now the asking price goes up and the way baseball is right now. And I was reading this over the weekend.
I just didn't realize looking at the standings because I don't really care about like the Al Central and other divisions like that, but you look at how competitive some of these divisions are and teams who aren't out of it because of the wild card. And I forgot the number, but it was more teams are still in the wild card or divisional race than out of it at this point.
And certainly nobody's really out of it except for the White Sox. You know, there's seventeen and a half games back, but probably the Rockies. But you know what I mean, there's there's more teams still in it and still alive and can make a run at a wild card if the division's not
in in their cards, so to speak. And would that be said supply and demand and teams looking to add to get over the hump and get to the wild card spot, teams looking to add to their roster to win a division or get to the postseason for the first time, or just get in the tournament so to speak. For the postseason and see what happens. Asking price to start going up, and not to say the Dodgers are gonna be
in the same category with everybody else and looking for the same needs. But you start talking about arms, you know, it's like the eighties arms race, you know, between the US and Russians, just keeps going up, and asking price goes up and you starts stockpiling and it gets tougher. So we'll see what happens. We're still kind of a ways away from that, and I think again, Altman and Paws are gonna get every opportunity as possible. Ken in Newport always great to hear you kid. How you doing,
Hey, Tam, how you I'm doing? Okay? Great series that was exciting. Hernanas was amazing. Their marriage should not have been in there. But I have a real concern for rookie Bets. Not the ten errors, but in his last ten games he's hitting one fifty, he's six for forty. I think it's time to let him go back to right field instead of spending two hours every day practicing ground balls. Port Rojas a phenomenal fielder who's
hitting good this year. It was a nice experiment, but I think it's hurting his offense, and I think he's spending too much time doing things that we don't need him to do. What's your thought. I appreciate it. Ken. I go back to the end of the Pittsburgh series when they got the win. You know, he was two for four, on base four times because he drew a couple of walks. First game on Friday Night, the extra inning game, he goes one for three, but he's on base
three times because he walked twice. Last night in the blowout win, he's one for four, but he's on base because he also drew a walk. Tonight. You know, Mookie Betts goes one for five but has a huge two run double in the fifth inning. You know, the old stands, superstars need to be superstars, and in that case, in the fifth inning, Dodges down two to nothing, facing a really good young right hander,
Mookie Bets delivered with that two run double. Now, he didn't deliver in the ninth inning with a hit, but I am not going to put it all on him with two outs in the ninth inning, facing one of the best closers in baseball, and the pressure on him. That's not fair at all. But maybe he's turned a corner, and Mooki has said at numerous times. He talked to David Vasse on the pregame show a couple days ago and said, it's not a problem. He feels good, his body's in
good health. He says, it's not, you know, hurting him at all. Right now, He's not getting worn down. So I trust Mookie when he says it himself. If he were like, oh, you know, it is what it is, and I'm just gonna keep plugging along and Dave Roberts or somebody else has to speak up for him and say no, no, we think he's healthy, then yeah, I might agree with you. But if it's coming straight from Mooki and he says it, you have to take him for his word when he says it, no, I'm good,
I haven't felt this good in a long time. My body's right, then I believe. And I don't think it's taking a toll on him. And I think, you know, he's still hitting three to nine on the season. He's not like he's hitting two nine with an ops of like five hundred. I mean, he's still producing at the top of the lineup, just not at the level he was doing the first three or four weeks of this season. We'll take a time out, we'll come back. We'll get
to your phone calls. Don't go anywhere. Got a special feature for you coming up here on Dodger Talk. Today's June ninth. You go back to December ninth, six months ago. That was the Saturday in which David Vasse broke into programming here on an FI seventy l A Sports and did a special Dodger Talk to let you know that Shoeyotani had signed with the Dodgers. He announced that he was gonna wear Dodger blue. It was a great day for
Dodger fans. But I remember the day before that Friday, the eight and a half nine hours of confusion, misspeak, misinformation tracking planes across the country. Where is show, hey Otani. We're gonna go back and relive that wild day leading up to a great day with shoey Otani signing with the Dodgers. Say lose tonight though in New York six to four of your phone calls
and that coming up, don't go anywhere. Thanks for being with us a FI seventy LA Sports Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app AM five seventy LA Sports be anywhere at any time, and you can hear past episodes of Dodger Talk all of those things. Search AM five seventy on the iHeartRadio app. We're streaming online. We stream every game too. Come find it. Back to Dodger Talk on AM five seventy LA Sports. Welcome up for the two to
one Tayo Tee's off left field hit deep again. Ti Oscar Hernandez hits Tayo time. Te Oscar Hernandez. What a weekend two for four to nights double a home run Dodgers oh loose to the Yankees six to four as the Yankees come back off of Tyler Glass Now with the three run home run from Trin Krisham the sixth inning. They attack on one more in the eighth on the Aaron Judge home run. He's twenty fourth of the season. As the Dodgers lose, they're now forty one and twenty six, but they they take two
or three in New York to finish five hundred on this road trip. And to see what the weekend that ta Oscar Hernandez had in New York is pretty remarkable. I mean, he goes six for twelve, two doubles, three home runs, and nine runs batted in in this series against the Yankees. Yeah, I said it earlier. There's probably one guy who doesn't want to get on the flight back to LA and stay in New York because he's that hot, and that's Taoscar Hernandez. All right, so go back out to
the phones, Brad mission Viejo. Thanks for being patient, Brad. How you doing man? Hi? Tim? Pretty good? How about you doing good? Thank you? Yeah. I agree with what Jose had to say about the eighth and ninth spot hitters. It goes back a few games, like Glasnow has had a problem with the home run ball going all the way back to the Padres series, and you know, even though he's got twelve strikeouts, that's wouldn't you say the home run ball is really kind of bitting
them a lot, even though there's not a lot of run support. Has bitten Glass Now? Yeah? Right? Because it was it was win Win Schwitz, his name is Win Swinsky on Pittsburgh hit one, yeah, and then Cabrera tonight at the bottom of the order. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Benson with the Reds in the home series with the Reds, that's right. The Dodgers took three out of four, so if he can just sure that up, it would be great. But the problem is they're not getting
runs for him, and then it just adds to the frustration. You know, the home run ball is kind of bitting them a little bit. Yeah, no doubt. Tyler Glass now has done really good the last audience before tonight and just gotten zero run support, and tonight he gives up a home run early to Cabrera. Can't do that to a guy at the bottom of the order. Then you get Trent Grisham, who it's a three run home run again. Hitting eighty three just cannot happen. Cannot happen. But Oscar
Hernandez he had a home run tonight. Brought to you by Daniels Jewelers, the official sponsor of the Trip around the Diamond. Stop by any Daniel's location and say home run for your free team bracelet. Hey I did that a couple of weekends ago at the Glendelle Galleria. Got a team bracelet blue and white bracelet for the Dodgers, and get a fifty dollars card towards any purchase of ninety nine dollars or more Daniels Jewelers own the Dream, Eddie and Paco
Pacomo. Your next up here, Eddie. How you doing? Hey, Tim, good good, Thank you for taking my call. I had a two quick points. I agree with you on the Andy Pajs slide. That was a little error that probably unseen by many, but it was huge. The other thing is, I think Mookie is trying his best at shortstop. You know, I'm one hundred percent behind it. I just think it's kind
of weighing on his office. I know you already talked about it, but my question is, Tim, does anybody know like the brace that O Tawny wears like on you know, on his pitching arm. It seems like he had justice that would have not. I could be wrong, yeah, but it seems like he pumps it or he adjusts would or not. But for that that was my question. I don't know if anybody else has noticed that,
but I have, yeah, no problem. Yeah, he like clicks it and adjusted and you do that, you're adjusting the degrees of the angle of that elbow brace. I don't know how it's affecting or not affecting his swing. I would imagine if it was a bother to him and it was affecting his swing, he wouldn't be playing or he wouldn't be using it. So I just would have to guess that. So I don't think there's anything more to it. I don't think it's If it was affecting him, he
wouldn't let it linger. The Dodgers wouldn't let him be out there four or five at bats every single night, even though he'd show Altani if he can swing one handed and he's got a brace on the elbow, that won't let him fully extend. I don't think that's the case at all. But you know we're seeing him tonight get on base, score a run, and Mookie Bett's a two run double, the top of the lineup getting it done, the bottom of the lineup getting it on. But tonight you just make a
couple of miscues. You don't play a clean game on defense, a base running miss cue by Andy Pajez. Those start to add up. You get three or four miscues in a game, you open the door give extra outs to your opponent. Team. Might the Yankees with Aaron Judge who capitalized with a RBI double and then a home run late in the game, and you're gonna lose, And the Dodgers lost tonight in the series finale a Yankee Stadium, six to four. They'd still take two of three. But they're now
forty one and twenty six on the season. All right, We're gonna go back in time. Not too far back, though, this past offseason. The biggest player to hit free agency in the history of baseball, Show Hey Otani. We know that. Literally for years we talked about Otani and where he might go once his contract with the Angels ended. For weeks after the World Series ended and free agency started, baseball insiders were starting to speculate who
is Otani gonna sign with? Nobody really knew his final destination. Remember the Baseball Winning Or Meetings, when Dave Roberts had press conference with the Beat writers let it be known that the Dodgers had met with Otani. Well, that was the real first insight we had gotten onto the free agent process for Show Hey Otani. Well, two days after the Winter Meetings wrapped up in Nashville,
the wheels started turning on Otani in his free agency. And then three days after the Winter Meetings concluded, we finally got a decision from Show Hey. It was certainly a wild twenty four hours if you go back six months tracking the biggest deal in MLB history. Today, June ninth, marks the six month anniversary of Showe Aotani announcing to the world on social media that he
had made his decision to sign with the Dodgers. Breaking news from Major League Baseball, Breaking news from Major League Baseball, show hey Otani Tani is signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sports changed forever that Saturday afternoon. Not only did Showe a Otani sign the largest contract in Major League Baseball history, but he inked the richest deal in the his of North American sports. Ten year, ten years, ten years, seven hundred, seven hundred, seven hundred
million dollars. The numbers are astronomical. It was December ninth, twenty twenty three, the day show Heyo Tani let it be known he was signing with the Dodgers. But remember the whirldwin. That was the day before internet rumors, false reports, amateur air traffic controllers following a plane across North America.
Baseball fans everywhere that day wondered where in the world is sho Heotani. Friday, December eighth, twenty twenty three, five point thirty nine am Pacific time, John Morosi of the MLB Network tweeted out source Shoeotani decision is imminent, possibly as early as today. That one note from a national baseball insider sent the sports world into a dizzy. This is getting a bit more real. Toronto is getting a little bit more momentum than I thought they were going to.
If he goes to Toronto, he owns it, and he owns Canada, he owns the United States, and he owns Japan, and he becomes an international star. Less than an hour after the initial news that Otani's decision was imminent six point thirty one am Pacific, a Toronto Blue Jays fan posted on a Reddit page that a private plane was charted to fly from Orange County
to Toronto. That same plane had flown to Florida five days earlier with Otani on it, so speculation was swirling now that sho Heyotani was headed to Toronto to sign with the Blue Jays. The buzz on social media was growing as fans tried to connect the dots. Instantly, fans became amateur air traffic controllers. They were tracking flight in six one six our ah as it made its way slowly across the country. Take a look at the radar right there.
It's a Bombardier Global five thousand. Is this show Heyo Tani's air? The mystery continued ten fifty three am Pacific, five hours after the report that Otani's signing was eminent, JP Hornstraw, a writer for a Dodgers blog, posted an article citing multiple sources that showey Otani was indeed planning on signing with the Toronto Blue Jays one oh one pm Pacific. Over two hours later, MLB network insider John Morosi updated everyone with a tweet sources shoey Otani is en route
to Toronto today. Things were changing quickly. Two eleven pm Pacific, the story took a new twist as Bob Nightingale of the USA Today posted on social media that Shoeotani was not on a flight to Toronto, it was actually at home here in southern California. Forty three minutes later, two fifty four pm Pacific, Evan Mitsui, a CBC photographer, was dispatched to the tarmac at Pearson Airport in Toronto. When he arrived, he got on the most talked
about plane in North America. So what did he discover? It was not show Heyo Tani. After all, it was Robert Hirschevich, the Canadian businessman and entrepreneur and one of the stars of the TV show Shark Tank. I had no idea. It was just me and my five and a half year old twins. We Land and there's a bunch of customs guys and go where's Otani? And then my text start coming in. I put two or two together. They didn't even ask for my passport. They were so disappointment.
It was me. I've never been more humbled in my life. A wild eight hours of reports, rumors, and speculation. Where in the world was Sho Heo Tani. Well he was not only not in Canada, he was never even on a flight to Toronto to sign with the Blue Jays, something that really upset fans north of the border. No, no, no way. I don't want to hear about how fans shouldn't believe things on social This rumor was awful. The idea that he would come up and be a Toronto
Blue Jay was going to change everything. Turns out nothing was changing. As the sunset ending a wild Friday Shoeyotani remained baseball's most sought after free agent. The next day, Saturday, December ninth, Otani broke his silence and made it official he was signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. And the signing of shoe Heyotani has proven to be really good for the Dodgers three ten average, fifteen home runs, forty five runs batted in, and a nine to forty
seven OPS which is top five by the way in the National League. Again, six months ago today, when sho Heyotani ended his free agency and announced on social media that he was signing with the Dodgers, it was kind of interesting that day before sports talk radio was a buzz, social media was a buzz. This station MFI seventy LA Sports You're a Home of the Dodgers, starting at the Dan Patrick Show and the reports from John Morosi It's five thirty
in the morning, through Colin Cowherd, through Rogan and Rodney. Things were then changing again through the Petchless and Money Show, and then we found out it wasn't even Otani on that flight going from John Wayne Airport to Toronto. And it ended oday in which I don't know about you there was a lot of emotions from all right, here we go it's imminent, to oh, wow, he's gonna sign with the Toronto Blue Jays. Is this Oh all
right? Fine, then if he's not gonna be the Dodgers, let's send him to a team that's so far away from Los Angeles that they all have to face him a couple of times a year in the Blue Jays too. Oh oh, he's not signing with the Blue Jays. Yes, yes, there's still a shot that he'll sign with the Dodgers. And then to go to bed that night and not knowing anything. Who knows how long was gonna
drag go. It could have been weeks, could have been after the holidays, after the first of the year, could have been right before spring training. But as it was twenty four hours after that crazy Friday decea number eighth, Saturday, December ninth, six months ago Today Show, Hey Otani announced on social media he was signing with the Dodgers, and then David Vasse broke
in. Right after a UCLA basketball game. I got wrapped up doing bruin talk and David Vasse sent me a text saying Otani signing with the Dodgers, we got to get on and Dodger Talk started. He took your phone calls and talked to different Dodger players who's chimed in and and think Joe Kelly was
on the show that day as well. So yeah, while twenty four hours, six months ago already, and still a few more months of this season before we get to October, which hopefully is Dodger fans we all hope will be a championship year, and the signing of shoey Otani has certainly given the Dodgers every chance to win another championship. Well, they still take two or three in New York despite losing tonight six to four to the Yankees. Cayler
Ferguson, a former Dodger, gets the win. Tyler Glass now he gets the loss. Glass now winless at his last six starts Dodgers forty one and twenty six. They head back home day off tomorrow. Then it's a three game series against the Texas Rangers, then three against the Kansas City Royals inter League play out at the Ravine for the next six for your first place LA Dodgers. Thanks to Colin ye Eat for everything. Appreciate it. Thanks to
you for listening, Thank you for podcasting. Can listen to the show anytime any Dodger programming for your post off Night Dodger Talk, whatever the case may be, on the iHeartRadio app wherever you download your podcast. Have a great, safe rest of your Sunday night. We're back at it tomorrow night with Off Night Dodger talking to them the start of a three game series against the Rangers on Tuesday. Thanks again, everybody. Soul