The right quiet.
Dodgers Playoff Baseball is back, and with it an annual postseason tradition.
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This is Sax and Cakes in the A app BA Go with Proway. Dodger legend Steve Sacks is joined by your favorite Dodger pregame host, Tim Kates. If you want to talk Dodgers, get in on the show on eighty six six nine, eighty seven two five seven now while the Dan Patrick Show streams on the Ihearts radio app. We've been banished to the internet until this Dodgers playoff run concludes. Here they are broadcasting live on AM five to seven LA Sports. It's Tim Kates and Steve Sacks.
Sax and Kate's and am here on this Tuesday morning, October fifteenth. Thanks for being with us. We're live and local. Are your home of the Dodgers A five seventy LA Sports here with you until nine o'clock this morning. Coming up at the bottom of the hour. Mike Marshall, former teammate at Saxy's part of the nineteen eighty eight World
Series championship team in mainstay in that outfield. They're in the nineteen eighties an all Star two time World Series champ Mike Marshall will join us at the bottom of the hour. An hour from now, Mike Stanton from MLB Network Radio will join us. Won three World Series rings with the New York Yankees. He is gonna help us break down what happened in this bullpen game and the pitching so far in the first two games to look ahead to the next three games in New York at
City Field. Game three is tomorrow night. Both teams will have a workout later on this afternoon in New York as they traveled after the game yesterday to the East Coast to get ready for the next three games, so we know it won't be as sweep. We certainly talked a lot about what happened yesterday in the bullpen game, landon Na getting roughed up in that second inning, Ryan Brasier giving up the home run to Francisco Lindor to
start off the game. But the offense Saxy you mentioned it the numbers yesterday from what the time five hitters in the Dodgers offense show, Hey, O Tani all the way down, oh for nineteen with nine strikeouts or the top five batters yesterday, O Tani Bets, ta Oscar Freddie and Will Smith oh for nineteen with nine strikeouts. I don't care if you lose a game two nothing or
you lose seven to three. Most times out of night, you're gonna lose a game when all five of those guys aren't producing a single thing.
Yep, that's called the collective letdown. You can say a team you know, to team bomb, whatever you want, it's it's part of the process as far as I'm concerned. I mean, this is just how people refer to this. And you know it's not all the time that you see when your team loses that you have the whole top of the order where nobody does anything. I mean, you're talking oh for nineteen with nine k's. That's a beatdown, right. It doesn't happen much with the Dodgers. This was the
most prolific offensive juggernaut in all of baseball. One fifty seven run differential to the plus side for this team. Okay. That means that this team when they go out and play other clubs, they outscored them this season by one hundred and fifty seven runs. Okay, that is a smack beat down, like you can't believe this is a this is a dangerous, dangerous team that can turn it around at the flip of a switch. That's how fast this
thing can happen. So you never count the Dodgers out, including yesterday's game when they lost, you pointed out the numerous times where they had chances to do it. It doesn't happen all the time. But you know what, that's why you play a series of games so you can find out, you know, in that sample size, who might be the better team. And I think the Dodgers have the advantage. Look when they go on the road to the Dodgers record on the road this year was forty
six and thirty five. And if you go over to the Mets their home record, guess what, forty six and thirty five and absolute and an absolute draw. You know, here's the Dodgers traveling around all across United States up in that terrible, terrible environment as far as the fans go, because they are very partisan in New York. Even though the Dodgers come from New York, it's not the same. They're playing against a team that's very partisan in their
fan base. And they had the same record on the road as the Mets do at home, so the fans, the fans should gain some solace and knowing that they're going to go into an environment where they're very adept to winning. And now here's here's another little trinket that you might want to know. And you know this is just just for talk. You know the Mets uniforms, right, you have the orange and the blue, and you know where that their colors come from.
I think I have an idea.
Yeah, they they come They come from the fact that the Dodgers they're blue and the Giants their orange. All resided in New York before they came west in nineteen fifty eight to the you know, to the West coast at San Francisco and La respectively. By the way, the Dodgers almost were in San Francisco and the Giants were almost in Los Angeles. But that's another story. But their team colors of orange and blue are a derivative of
the Dodgers and Giants in New York. When they left, the Mets came in and the Mets took both those colors, and that's why they're orange and blue.
So a little bit of the Mets DNA is Dodger blue. It interesting, interesting, like doing it's like doing a an ancestry dot com DNA thing here to find out who who the parents are and where your lineage is. That's right. And we find out that the Dodgers are a great uncle or a great that's.
Right, right, do a DNA right the money dads are.
That is amazing. Eight six, seven, two, five seventy is our number as the Dodgers of Mets are even up at a game of peace. The offense yesterday struggled Mookie Betts in this NLCS, So the first couple of games have struggled, hitting one ninety two the first two games. Yesterday goes oh for four with three punch outs. Did get on base with the walk and score a run off of that walk. But here's Mookie Betts after the game yesterday. Nobody's went eleven to No.
One postseason, all the team, my bats, all the team's four teams left, they're all good. You're not going to just run through everybody in the postseason. That doesn't I've never seen it, and I'd imagine you never will see anything like that.
Seum and I I think, I mean, you guys have seen him a lot in the last few years and you had like almost an eight a arra against you guys. But obviously the arm changle change. What was he doing well today? And was it just as simple as the arm angle change that was.
Throwing you guys on?
I mean, been pitching really well lately and a lot of confidence there, and he threw the ball well again. I mean, I mean, there's no U, there's no other words are gonna be lost. I mean it sucks, and but you can't expect us to just move got I don't think anybody here is expecting them to just roll over. You know, we know it's gonna be tough. We know, I mean, it is one of the other we lost. We gotta turn the page and get ready to seven games. We gotta go and prepare for game three.
Now, how much story confidences give you that?
You guys kind of want to say a spot last round, but obviously when one going into San Diego and Turkey up with that.
Sort, I mean last round was last round.
You know, we gotta focus on game three right now.
Split one on one.
We're going to New York.
We know it's gonna be hectic there. We know they're gonna be ah that when they're just obviously is gonna give them a lot of confidence. So we have to come out ready to play.
Weird to split this postseason six or eight for thrunners on, but hasn't had a hit? Keep the base? Is it? Is? It just one of those as our baseball numbers.
I guess, I mean shore he he'll be fine, he'll be fine.
Missed opportunities, but you have a lot of opportunities.
It was a nice to kind of scratch back against them after that start.
Oh yeah, I mean, but it's a loss, so it doesn't matter.
Today is over with.
We have to uh flush it, figure out what we need to do going forward and prepare for Game three.
All right, Saxy, is there anything you can take away as a hitter in a loss? Knowing that you face Edwin Diaz, you face the high end stantic was the guy they faced in the seventh and eighth inning, Since you face their high end relievers, the back end guys who are gonna be pitching in a tight game later on this series multiple times, the fact that you got eyes on them in Game two like you did. Can you take anything away from this and a loss?
Well, their pitchers are subject to the laws of inevitability as well, So they're not going to go up there and just you know, shove every single time. They're gonna have challenges as well. And so yeah, you take that and you say, okay, you know what, we got to look at him. We got into that bullpen. We got to expose and put them on display. If that's that's as rough as it's going to get in this series. So you got to get into the depths of the bullpen,
which is what you want to do. And so you take that, come to game three and I like Mookie's analogy where we had to flush this game. I like that. I like the analogy. It's gone. And now you come up in game three, take what you learn from game two in game one, and you put that together and you put a thumping on these guys, and that's what they are definitely planning to do. Mookie's perspective was spot on. Nobody expected to go oh eleven and zero show.
Hey Otani goes oh for three yesterday with a couple of strikeouts in two walks. Clearly when nobody is on base, they are pitching around him. The blueprint is out there that if there's nobody on baits, pitch away, pitch away, pitch away, make him get himself out by chasing pitches out of the strike zone, And that's exactly what he's done. When runners are on base, he is six for eight in this postseason. When there's nobody on base, he is
oh for the postseason. Here's Dave Roberts after the game yesterday sack see when asked maybe move Otani and change up the lineup moving forward here, he.
Is not really, you know, I think that, you know, as far as on the offensive side, I think we've been pretty good offensively. I think the guys at the bottom have been doing a nice job of getting on base, you know. And as far as moving him down, I just don't want to be too reactive. I don't really see the benefit. We got to just make sure that our guys are just still swinging the bat well, and quite frankly, I want Showhy to get fined at that's
a game, you know. So I think he's our best here and I want him up there five times.
There's no sense in panicking, right, I mean, it's two games of the NLCS. You're not going to panic and started shuffling the lineup. That You've had pretty much set this way for the entire regular season.
No, chemistry means a lot, Familiarity means a lot. You won ninety eight games this year. Let's say you put Mooki or you put show Hey in the third spot and the Dodgers get blown out and shut down and he doesn't have a good game. Now what are you going to do? Oh, We're going to rush him back to the first spot. No, it doesn't work that way. You won ninety eight games this year, you dominated p Bowl and the run differential. You just keep what's going on.
You take the loss, take it stride. You come up and put a big crooked number up there early, and you'll change the perspective quickly.
I mean, the odds are you're not gonna have your top five hitters go oh for nineteen yeah with nine Yeah, over the course of a seven game series. It happens once, it probably doesn't happen again.
You got three, you got three former MVPs. Well another one coming up in the uh you know, in the top three spots. You just you just it's been golden for you. You hope to get the most out of Freddy because of the ankle, but you just ride that thing and you know you're gonna have some losses in there, and that's this is one of them that we just had previous. But you know what, I'll take my shot with this club any day of the week. If the
pitching holds up, they're gonna score runs. And I bet you if you know, I'm not a bet man, but you go down to Vegas, I'm sure and you look at the the the odds, the odds are they're betting on the Dodgers. I would I would guess that for sure.
Roman and wit Hears next up on Saxon Kate to the am here on am FI seventy LA Sports.
Good morning, Roman, Hey, good morning gentlemen. I wish Honeywell would have started the game yesterday, first of all, but I just wanted to suggest maybe Freeman. I see him struggling on the bases and stuff. Is there any possibility that they could put Freeman as a designated hitter put Otani.
As a position player.
That way, Freeman is not on his feet the whole game, Because I mean, this is the playoffs and in the World Series, I'm expecting Otani to pitch a game, So well, give me your feedback on all this.
We'll see.
If there's one position the guy with a bad ankle can play, it's first base, right saxon me tape it and cut it. Yeah, I mean he's spatting it up like a football player does with tape on the outside. H He's trying everything he can and doing everything he can to be out there, and he has so far the last couple of games with this NLCS. I don't worry about that. It's going to continue to give. He's
getting the treatment every day. The further and further we get away from that initial spring is only a good thing.
And I've never heard Freddy complain about it once. No, not one time, And you won't because he's a pro, and you know what you do. He's playing first base, he doesn't have to run as much. You tape it and you gut it out. That's what you do, and he'll do it. I would bet he'll be there in every game. You know what, if he if he can possibly get on the field, he'll be there.
Sean Man and Naya was like one and six against the Dodgers, one in five against the Dodgers in his career going into the game two yesterday, and he goes out there and pitches five innings, three runs, two hit, seven strikeouts and ends up walking for late in that outing, they started comparing him to Chris Sale last night in the broadcast. And while he's redone his mechanics and he's now dropped his arm slot down a little bit so
he's more three quarters rather than over the top. He's got a wide delivery, so against the left hander, it feels like he's coming right at you and then the ball ben breaks over the the plate. It seemed to have Freddie Freeman mookie bats and more importantly, Showy Otani on roller skates yesterday. What did you see in Shan Manaya in his new mechanics that was so good for him? Yes, Shane working.
First of all, that's a different picture. It's not the former Sean Manaya. Oh I guess you say it is the former Sean Manaiah because you won't see that guy anymore. This transformation that he's made is just shocking to me that a guy this you know, on in his career can make a massive change. Because what those numbers they were posting before were with Shan and Iyah with a
three quarter arm delivery. Now you have a side arm guy that's throwing cross bodied, which is you know, voodoo for a young picture, because oh it'll tear up your arm and you can't do it. This is a mature man with that big, big dude. You want to compare him with Chris Sale. You got to first shed one hundred pounds off his back. But this is a guy that can take it.
Now.
He's a grown he's a grown man. He's a big dude. He can take a lot of punishment, and that delivery that he has is just devastating. It's not easy for right handers either, and the ball gets on you a lot quicker than you think. First of all, he's got over a seven foot stretch when he's delivering the ball out of his hand because he's a real tall guy and they were saved seven point one feet from the rubber till when he delivers the ball out of his hand,
So it gets on you a little bit quicker. And the fact that he's got a great change up makes the ninety two fastball look ninety seven and devastating. For left handers, they just they think that thing's coming out of Australia somewhere that's way down and over there. So brilliant move to do it. It's a gutsy, ballsy move to completely transform your delivery. But man did it work. Look at the splits before he did this, where he was just an average guy. Now he's way above average.
This is a major transformation that really worked out for him.
Yeah, he completely looks like a new pitcher out there and had the Dodger hitters on roller skates for a lot of that game yesterday out of Dodgers Stadium. Dodgers had their chances even against the Mets, bullpen couldn't come through when they needed that big hit eight six, six, nine, eighty seven to two, five seventy year phone calls coming up.
We'll also hear from former Dodger Mike Marshall. In about forty five minutes, we'll check in with MLB Network Radios Mike Stanton, former reliever won three World Series with the Yankees. Get his thoughts on this pitching staff, this Dodger bullpen, the bullpen game that was at Game two yesterday, and if the Dodgers able to piece it together with a bullpen game in New York, which they're probably gonna have to do at some point in games three, four, and five.
He is Steve Sacks. I'm Tim Kates. Thanks for being with us on this Tuesday morning on a FI seventy LA sports Sax and Kate's in the am on this Tuesday morning, October fifteenth. Thanks for being with this. You make your way to work, your commute, taking the kids to school, or just out and about. We appreciate you letting us be a part of your morning here on a five seventy LA sports. Dodgers and Mets all tied up at a game apiece and this best is seven NLCS.
Dodgers won Game one on Sunday night. Game two goes to the Mets yesterday after they jumped on the Dodgers' bullpen early. The Dodgers had a chance six seventh and eighth inning they had runners on base, could not get that big hit they needed to get back into the game, and now the series tied at the game of piece, going to New York. Game three will be tomorrow night, five oh eight. First pitch walker Bueller and Luis Severino. The pitching matchup that is coming up again tomorrow night
at City Field in New York. Coming up in just a couple of minutes, Mike Marshall, your former teammate there with the Dodgers, will join us, get his thoughts on this NLCS and look back to nineteen eighty eight and the magical run you guys had. Of course, the NLCS you guys had against the New York Mets and Darryl Strawberry Doc Gooden in that eighty eight Mets sevens. Go back out to the phones, Mike and Torrens. Thanks for being patient. Mike.
How you doing Gerick?
Thanks? How are you doing good?
What do you think?
Well?
I was out of the game yesterday at ten thirty, and given it was a short day from the great victory on Sunday, I noticed something that the Mets were out there for an hour and a half doing batting practice, and there wasn't one Dodger that hit batting practice. And I'll tell you, they were rocketing and they were hitting. They were you could see they were kind of sharpening the sword. And that's how the game started. The Mets came out, beryln and the Dodgers were cold and dead and lifeless.
So I'm just out of that.
Steve Sachs, I mean, I played sports for years I just played baseball with and I was listening to Pete Rose recently. He just talked about playing Pepper. You know, even before games looking at the ball. How important is it, Steve to have that that that batting practice, especially in a short season or a short night like that where you're kind of over You're like, oh, well, we're good, we're good. Is it really important to get out there and kind of sharpen the saw before a game like that?
Yeah, thanks for your call, And you know what, I like it. I love take batting practice a lot. But these guys are hitting. You can bet that they're hitting underneath the stadium and the big beautiful cages that they have there. I liked hitting on the field. I'm with you. I like to watch the ball and see where how it comes off the bat. But they're hitting. They're doing soft toss or hitting in the cage, or taking live batting practice and whatnot. I do agree with you with Pepper.
They don't even put the signs up there behind the backstops anymore. That says no Pepper games because nobody does it anymore. But I love Pepper. If I was a manager, that would be a staple as far as my warm ups. It's good for the infielders, then it's good for the hitters.
They also do virtual baseball. They put the goggles on and oh man, I mean.
That's that's just so I don't know, I gotta have something organic. I mean a little bit, yeah, you know, even the crack of the bad I mean, even whatever. I mean. I know people do it, and I know there's all these different ways and new found ways too, but I don't know. I just think the old fashion way is pretty good.
It's a way to see the picture beforehand. You can see the different arm slots. You can kind of get a read because they can program in what pitches he throws, how he throws them, different spots they land, and you can kind of go through a bad after a bad before the game even starts, and simulate what it's going to look like when you face that picture that day. I know that's something that they've started using in the last couple of years. You know, there's everything out there now.
Technology has allowed so much for these guys to have the tools before you even step in the batter's box, to go out there and maybe have an advantage or disadvantage. However you look at it against the pitcher. Angie in la is next up here on Saxon Kate's and am on this Tuesday morning. How you doing Angie?
Good morning guys. I'm doing great. And Saxe before I even start, my best friend would never forgive me if I don't tell you that she loves you.
Oh, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you Angie.
Please if you can say hi to Cynthia for me.
Cynthia, how you doing.
You so much?
You know, guys, I'm just calling because it's so frustrating people. Oh why did they have a bullpen game? Why would they want to bullpen game for the first game in hostile territory? It makes no sense to me. I feel that Bueller is getting better his last outing. I always worry about the first inning because that's his achilles.
He got out of.
The first inning, but then second inning said here hold my beer, and it wasn't even him, you know what I mean. So, guys, everybody relaxed. It's game two. Like Moukie said in the interview, we weren't going to sweep the Mets. They're here for a reason. We're here for a reason. All the injuries we've had throughout the season, and we had the best record in the MLB, not the West, not the NL in MLB. So guys really need to stop balllyaching about oh, why this or why that?
You know, when the team does great, Roberts is the best. When something goes wrong, why is Robert still here? It's a bipolar relationship. If you're not strong enough, then, like I told my daughter, I told my daughter this yesterday, Hey, bandwagon go sit over there. You don't got to leave, but just keep it down.
All right, Ange, You're tough there throwing it down on her daughter for being a bandwagon field.
I think there's a good perspective there, you know. Yeah, sometimes we I mean we can question moves that you know, managers and all that make it's easy to do that. But I mean the overall is she had it right. I mean, Dave Roberts is a great manager. He's great with the with the players. He sets the tone in the clubhouse, and that's what managers do. Good managers do. That's he's really great at it.
Well.
Saxy joining us now a former teammate of yours, A fixture in the outfield for the Dodgers in the nineteen eighties, two time World Series champ and All Star. He is Mike Marshall and he joins us now here on a five seventy LA Sports. You'r home of the Dodgers. Mike, Good morning. How you doing, I'm doing, appreciate you coming on this morning. Here we are the NLCS like nineteen eighty eight, to the Dodgers and Meds squaring off, and you got a Dodgers team that's the favorite. Back in
nineteen eighty eight, you and Saxy were playing. You guys were the serious underdogs in that series. When you see these two teams squaring off here in twenty twenty four in the National League Championship Series, what kind of memories do you remember from nineteen eighty eight and that series that you guys played in.
Oh gosh, As SAXI will tell you, you probably don't go. You probably don't go during the day. Anytime during the day. You have flashbacks of your career and certain things that happened in your baseball life. And you know, after I got a call from Brent or saying that's going to be on the radio today, I can just never I
never forgot. Everybody talks about Gibbe's home run in the World Series, but I just never forgot watching so shit the home run off of Good I mean yeah, I mean we're we're a couple outs away from being down three to one and have to come back the next day. I think, play like a noon game and hit the home run, and then Ghibbee follows up and hits a home run and extra innings. I mean, yeah, those are the things that happened. And in postseason play in the playoffs,
it's just you just never know. And it's a big reward.
You know.
You start in January and you go through the one hundred and sixty games and playoffs and spring training and ups and downs and then to get that reward to play in the postseason. These guys are just having a great time. And it's it really is two different seasons. Steve will tell you. It's it's it's it's a regular season in postseason. It's just two different things, and you just never know what's going to happen.
Yeah, he's right, Mike, good to be with you. How you doing, my friend, you too, Yeah, it's great to hear from you, you too, And a lot I want to tell our fans and Tim that Mike and I were really good friends. We still are. And the first time I ever saw Mike Marshall take batting practice was
in Lethbridge, Alberta. And he gets in the cage with the double ear flaps on, and I'm at shortstop and I see Mike hit the first couple of balls that are going up as they leave Henderson Stadium in Lethbridge, and they're going up to left center field and then they're going up to right center field as they leave, and or in the in the lights, and I said, Okay, this is what big league power is. I've never seen
anything like this. And this guy, Mike Marshall had some of the most dynamic, unbelievable power in the game and battie practice whatever. He could hit some missiles, I mean absolute howitzers, and I just marveled at his power. So, Mike, anyway, it's good to be with you, Mike.
And hey, you very very kind, Steven. You still exaggerate, So no.
I'm not exaggerating at all, not at all. Well, listen, I do you believe this?
I mean, could you believe this? I mean I know, I mean, we're we're in our mid sixties.
Year.
I mean eighteen, we're eighteen years old. Yeah, both of us don't even know, you know, what the heck's going on with life? Eighteen years old than left Bridge Upbird of Canada and here we are whatever years Yeah, talking about it again and the and the life experiences that we've had. So that's pretty cool. But you know, another thing I was thinking about is, you know, with all the crazy, you guys experience it more than I do
because you watch it every day. I don't. But the crazy rules that they've implemented, I'm like, se sex would have sexy, you would have stolen hundred bases.
I mean, I'm serious, I'm serious.
You guys. They can't throw over, not more than they can't. They can't freeze you, I know they can't. They can't make you stop because the clock's going whatever the heck the clock is doing. They gotta throw. I mean, you had stolen a hundred bases.
I mean, fine, who knows, but it's Mike. I agree. And that's another conversation we could have about this, about all these different rules are crazy and all that. But anyway, Mike, how about this series now? I mean you kind of make comparison to where the way we had it ours was just so crazy with everything was going on, and you know, here comes Oral out of the out of the bullpen that didn't even know he was down there.
I mean, maybe you can you can lend a little bit to the fact that so she used to tell Tommy, Hey, tom you gotta you gotta, you know, hit and run on this pitch. Right, Oh yes, Oh go ahead, tell them to hit run. How about that? How crazy was it with our team? I mean compare that kind of to now, where it's more structured and whatnot. Back then, we were kind of gunslinging and doing what we could, taping things together. And we we put together that unbelievable team in eighty eight.
Yeah, we we did. I mean you think about well, as we all know, I mean, the home run that Gibby hit in the World Series, I mean, you know, it'll go on forever and ever. But I think that all of us needed. We just needed that guy. You know, we just kind of needed that dirt bag, yeah, you know, no nonsense football mentality to come in and to put the guys together. And I thought that was Gibby. You know, I mean, you look at his MVP numbers, I mean that, you know, they just they weren't that special.
Right, that was a great half for Miggy in his first half.
Yeah, yeah, and and so you're just like, but he was. He just he brought out the best in all of us. And you know, scoring from second to second base on a wild pitch, and love that Kim Leary pinch hitting as a pitcher and winning a game with a game winning hit and bringing bringing guys in out of the bullpen that you're like, you know, what the heck? You know? So, yeah, it really was. It was. It was a little bit
different game, different mentality. And I thought that Gibby, you know, you and me and and and a lot of the guys on the team, we just needed that guy to be able to say, hey, the way that we play is okay. You know it was a little ugly at Todds, but but the way we play is okay, We're not the you know, we're not going to be very pretty at this, but gonna win ball game. I'm gonna catch everything somehow, I'll catch it.
Right, keeping it as pg as we can. Mike Marshall, what was it like for you and Steve Sachson that eighties Dodgers team. I mean, you guys were were it. It was showtimelakers, it was the Dodgers in the eighties. We got other things to distract us now and whatnot, but man, Los Angeles is still a Dodgers town. And when you guys are winning, and you guys are winning in eighty eight and riding high, you guys are the king of the castle in the city.
Yeah, it was, I think, Steve, for me, it was such an honor. You know, I remember going back. Even Steve will tell you a little bit about the way the O'Malleys ran even spring training and uh, you know, the Sandy Colfaxes and the Roy Campanella's and all the guys from the fifties and sixties are at camp and they're there and it's just a I mean, there was such a pride in wearing that uniform and such an
honor to be able to play at that time. And then the guys I got to play with and against, so uh, you know, at times I was almost in awe. I think I I almost didn't play as well as I could have because I almost didn't feel like not that I didn't belong, but it was just this pretty special time. It was very, very very special to wear that uniform.
Yeah. Well, Micah. Also, I know I was recently in Chicago, and believe me, I had a conversation with the guys. Some guys there that knew you very well, knew you were from Buffalo. Grove knew that you broke Dave Kingman's home run records and broke his records in high school. And you're still a huge legend back in Chicago as well. Uh, But I wanted to I wanted to ask you a little bit about the starting pitching today. Okay, like we just recently had a bullpen game. We never heard of
a bullpen game. When we played. The starters were there, they were expected to go. I mean Nolan Ryan pitching three hundred innings, Don Sutton pitching three hundred innings. You know during the season. Today it's one hundred and fly and that's it. How about the starting pitching today versus the way it was back then?
Well again, another one of those about the about the base stealing. We could spend about an hour on this, but I've heard I've heard Oral, I've heard John Smoltz, you know, two highly intelligent guys, and again you would know more than I. But I just think the strike box has really affected the game. I don't like I don't like how high they've moved the strike zone. And because of the moving of the strike zone up, they've created the ninety seven ninety eight mile an hour fastball
up in the zone. And so you're just putting so much stress on these pitchers to be power guys, and they just don't get the they don't get the low strike. I mean, you don't see anybody breaking bats anymore. You don't see anybody pitching in the bottom of the zone with movement like oral. Did you know Smoltz was a power guy, but he had incredible movement on both sides of the plate and down you know. I mean when you got to the when you got to the big leagues,
everybody pitched down, down, down. You know, you want to ground balls, you wanted action. And now it's a lot of strikeouts, a lot of walks, and a lot of home runs because guys are elevating pitches. But I think we just go back. I mean, look at the amount of pitchers in the in the big leagues that are that are having surgery and not being able to go long into games and it's just it's a different game. I understand it, but I just don't know if it's
in the best interest of these guys' arms too. And again I wish that they would lower the strike zone. I just I just think the high strike has really hurt guys.
Yeah, Mike, Mike, And another thing I wanted to ask you quickly is that you know when they were video and guys back when we play, I'm sorry, when the ball was coming out of the hand, as far as the speed machines, a jugs machine, they would clock that coming over the plate. Today they clock it coming out of the hand. I've heard that they recently did a mock up of Nolan Ryan, a life sized version of him on his video and they clocked him coming out of the hand as opposed to coming over the plate.
And it was between one toweight and one ten. And there's nobody that throws close to that today. There's nobody that threw close to that when we played. So I want to get your assessment kind of are they really throwing ninety eight? Has the evolution of the human body and the ability to throw from ninety ninety two ninety three years ninety three miles an hour to all of a sudden, everybody's throwing a hundred. Is it really a hundred? Or is it maybe the way that they're detecting the speed.
I think you're onto something, I really do. I don't think, yeah, it's incredible. I mean, how about the ninety two ninety three mile an hour change ups?
Yeah?
Holy god?
The other day, whoa, he's doing a ninety change up.
Mike.
And I've been down in the pits in spring training. I've seen these guys throw. I've been right next to them, and I'm thinking, it's been a long time. I don't notice any difference. No, I think the breadth of all of them together maybe a little bit. But right, they're not throwing ninety two. I remember Steve Howe was instructurally you saw in ninety two and they were like, whoa, this guy's so yeah, righty two ninety three and now
that's a slow one. Today it's a change up. Like you said, I can't believe that the human bodies evolve that fast.
Yeah, No, I think you're right. I think it's I think it's for the fans. I think you know, you sit there and you're like wow. You know, there is a wow factor to seeing one oh one or ninety eight to consistently being thrown. But I but I agree with you. I don't think it's uh but I mean I kind of you know, you guys asking me questions. I'm asking you what the heck is going on with the with the Tommy John surgeries and losing five starting pitchers in the season. What do you what do you
attribute it to? Watching it every day?
You know, it's uh, it's it's I'm befuddled with this whole thing. I I I mean, I see all these guys. I mean, look at the laundry list of Dodgers of got I mean we have Walker Buller's had two, you got, you got, Dustin May you got. I mean all the way down there's the Dodger of the Dodger and teams other teams as well. I don't know. I don't get it.
Weight training, I mean, is it may training? Is it the is it the weighted balls? Is it? H what do they call that? The skyline or whatever? The heck? People know these guys and yeah, yeah, the yeah, I mean I hear about it.
I don't know, I don't know why why we have so many, But maybe it's the.
When I heard law, when I heard launch Agle, I turned the TV off.
Hey, Mike, when you get a home run, I would guess that the Mike Marshall launch angle was pretty good, you know what I mean, when you run, you have to check the angle. I mean really, but I think I think some of these injuries to you guys is because that pitchers don't know how to ratchet it down a little bit. I can. I can promise you did the great Madus. These guys didn't go you know, one
hundred percent every single pitch. You can pitch it ninety velocity and still get guys out big time by putting some on.
The taking off right, Absolutely absolutely, And it's just it's such yeah, and it's such a better game when you when you see the action in the infield and the guys getting ground balls and plays are being made and and uh, I mean, heck, I'm talking to a guy. I mean, when was the last time you saw somebody slash?
You know?
I mean I saw the Dodgers bunt the other day. That was kind of fun. But I mean I'm talking to a guy that could I mean, you could put it out there and pull it back and slash. I mean, just a lot of fun stuff that the game is, but it's still it's still a great game. I mean, I I mean this this thing, the ball I hadn't seen since Bonds, Since Barry Bonds, I haven't seen a ball come off a bat like this. Uh. This kid
with the Dodgers, the Atonic kid. That is unbelievable, the way the sound and the way the ball comes off the bat. So there's just some incredible athletes. I mean, I don't want to be that guy that says back in the day it was such you know, we were so much better now these guys are incredible.
Yeah, spin top spin, over overspin, line drives that are hitting the wall, that plus power. You know that all the time.
I do I do want some of their whatever made ball or whatever. I do want some of their bats, though I don't think we got.
The bats that they got a different for sure.
Mike.
We appreciate your time this morning. Uh, thanks for joining us. It's been too long since we talked, and I look forward.
To doing it in Stevie. I love you, brother man, love you, buddy.
Mike. Lit'sten call me. I'm gonna we want to talk to you.
We got right here.
I think you ain't sack. You still got still is still in Sacramento.
I am indeed, buddy.
Okay, yeah, I'm in Paulo, Alto. So a car ride. Let's do it.
That's good, Okay, but take care Mike.
All right, there he goes the great Mike Marshall him, how is that.
Guy not in the front office or something with some team?
Absolutely so much knowledge, love hearing from him, and my ten year old Tim Kats is geeking out right now having Steve Saxon Mike Marshall talk baseball. I just sat back here and listened to you guys talk. It was fantastic.
I love it.
Hope you enjoyed that. Dodger fans, Thanks to Mike Marshall for joining us. Coming up the top of the r Mike Stanton from MLB Network Radio join us talk about the bullpen game, Dodgers Mets tied at a game of
peace in the NLCS. It's Sacks and Kate to the am right here on your home with the Dodgers a FI seventy l A Sports, Sax and kateson am FI seventy LA Sports Live and Local as the Dodgers and Mets are all even in a game of piece in the NLCS after the Mets stole the whole field of advantage with a seventy three win over the Dodgers yesterday
thanks to Mike Marshall. So cool to catch up with your former teammates, But at dude, unbelievable and U the wealth of knowledge that he has for baseball, current past, the game, how it should be played is truly off you as well, Sexy, I mean, around the game still as much as you are. And to have that fountain of knowledge that you guys have having been successful winners on the field, it's so it's so fun.
I mean, I look at this guy and I think what team wouldn't benefit from Mike Marshall that. I mean, I'm surprised he's not with the club's doing something like a you know, advanced scout, you know, being an assistant the GM or something. This guy's like a wealth of knowledge.
I mean, there's so many people who work in the front offices nowadays for all these teams, and there's a collective group that come up with these brain trusts. It's not just the GM and the assistant GM anymore. I mean, there's advisors and assistance to this person, and you know, there's got to be a role. The Dodgers need to find a role for Mike Marshall, bring him back, a roving instructor, somebody that can help out at different levels and instruct these young players and how to play the
game of baseball. Maybe, as you mentioned, an advanced scout, since he lives in the Bay area up there and scouting the different teams up there and just being around the dodge. How happened already, I don't know. I don't know, but I know one thing.
That guy on the bench would consistently talk strategy, talk about breaking down. He would break down at bats and pitches as they were going along, you know what I mean. You could just work with them and we would talk like that a lot in the bench. The guy's count he's a baseball encyclopedia. You guys came up to God right talking baseball. What's that?
You guys came up.
Together right same time. We were born, just days apart, both in January his birthdays January twelfth and minds of twenty ninth, same year.
Up through the minors in eighty one, you guys both major debuts with this Dodgers team and then we're off and running throughout the eighties. Of course, the championship team in eighty eight. But yeah, that's that's cool.
You guys came up together recently, well, you know, within a couple of years, and he looks exactly the same as he did back then. He's in great shape. I mean, it's one of these guys that like, you think, wow, where did time go? You know, So he's he's doing it right, But man, I just love to see him in the big way. He should be there.
Yeah, absolutely, It's squeeze in one call Roque Raquel in Santa Clarina, Good morning, Good morning, Hi Raquel.
I just want to say it's only game two. We've been in this position before. Physically we played better when we're not home field advantage this season, so it's only game two. We can do it, and I believe in our Dodgers And thank you for all the information you gave us every morning.
All right, appreciate it, Thank you, rock hell. Appreciate that. Let's squeeze in Alfred in La Real quick before the top of the hour. Alfred, good morning, how you doing. Welcome to Amphi seventy.
Good morning, Hey Saxy. A quick note. I spent about five years with Mike Marshall at New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, New Mexico, when he was coaching baseball, and I spent a lot of time in his office. I learned a lot of stories, a lot of backstories behind Kurt gets his stuff and all his minor league things. I learned a lot of knowledge from Mike Marshall. That was great, man, great. Yeah, I agree with you.
He's got he's a wealth of knowledge and he's he's like a baseball rat. He's he's constantly in the game and he just loves it. That's why he's still in it.
He even cuts me out one time because I said the Dodgers' pitching was struggling, and he said, I didn't know what I was talking about. That's great, dude, man. I love Mike Marshall.
I love that.
I'll tell you thank you, Alfred. Appreciate you checking in and saying that about Mike mar Yeah, that's great to hear from him. Great to hear you guys reconnect and talking about the eighty eight team, which is in the same situation NLCS against the New York met We went to a game seven. We're going to a game three tomorrow night. One more hour to go, Sax and Kates and am yeah.
Can you hear me grooving? I do listen, hang on, hang on this ready boom boom.
Dodgers were grooving after game one, lost to groove in game two. We need to get it back for game three, which is tomorrow night in New York. Mike Stanton will join US World Series champion, former reliever for the Yankees, now MLB Series XM Radio will join us. Get his thoughts on this series, this bullpen game that happened yesterday, and your phone calls, thanks for being with us on this Tuesday morning, and Saxon Kate's.
And to him, I'm chimmying right now. I'm shimmying.
Seventy l a sports boom