00:00 I'm Robin Lundberg, joined now by Alex Rodriguez,
00:02 who you can catch on the World Series on Fox coverage
00:05 alongside Kevin Burkhardt, David Ortiz, and Derek Jeter.
00:09 And A-Rod, when it comes to this World Series,
00:11 one of your former teams is there.
00:13 You won an MVP on a last place Rangers team.
00:17 What's it like to see them in this position now?
00:20 - Well, it's great to see them.
00:22 There's such a great baseball town.
00:24 And I gotta tell you, I'm a little jealous
00:27 'cause that new stadium's beautiful.
00:30 And I wish I had a roof to play on there
00:32 'cause it's absolutely magnificent to watch.
00:36 It's exciting.
00:37 Look, they have a great team, a fun team to watch.
00:39 And the way they've built it
00:42 with Chris Young and Bruce Bochy,
00:44 not only are they favorites,
00:47 but I think they're also fan favorites across the country.
00:50 - You know, I recently saw you say
00:52 that they could almost, in a way,
00:53 serve as a blueprint for the rest of MLB
00:56 because they've got baseball people running things.
00:58 Can you elaborate on that a bit?
01:01 - Yeah, sure.
01:01 I think they have both, right?
01:02 You need a hybrid, and you need a hybrid
01:05 not only in baseball, but every other sport.
01:09 And I'm sure they have a really strong analytics team,
01:12 but they have baseball people.
01:14 And when you look at Chris Young,
01:16 he went to Princeton,
01:17 he pitched over 10 years in the big leagues.
01:20 He's a fantastic guy with high character.
01:24 And then he's got surrounded other great baseball people
01:27 around him, like my good friend, Michael Young.
01:30 They have a great ownership group.
01:32 And then they went out and got baseball people
01:35 in the dugout to lead the way.
01:36 And no one better than Bruce Bochy and Mike Maddox.
01:39 I mean, to think that Bruce Bochy was sitting on the couch
01:42 for two or three years without a job
01:44 after being pushed out of San Francisco,
01:47 it's pretty remarkable.
01:49 - You know, as far as the playoffs have gone,
01:53 some changes in MLB,
01:55 how do you think those have worked out in the postseason,
01:57 the pitch clock and everything else?
01:59 - Yeah, no pun intended, but it has been a home run.
02:01 I mean, it's been a great year for baseball.
02:05 We've had spikes in attendance, about 9%, viewership.
02:10 The quality of the game has improved
02:12 with eliminating of the shift and the time clock.
02:15 And the cadence of the game has gotten to be much better,
02:18 much more fun.
02:19 And I gotta tell you,
02:21 I read a stat, Robin, that there was about 395 games
02:26 that were over three and a half hours.
02:28 And there was something like five
02:30 that was over three hours this year.
02:31 It was an incredible stat.
02:33 And the numbers show, and it's been very exciting.
02:37 - You know, there's always people asking for more change.
02:39 One thing that went viral this week,
02:41 I saw Nate Silver had tweeted out
02:43 that perhaps the playoffs should be contracted
02:45 to give the regular season more meaning.
02:47 What do you make of that suggestion?
02:50 - Well, I think it's fluid right now.
02:51 I think that the game is, you know,
02:54 it was very resistant to make moves for decades and decades.
02:58 And then we've made a number of moves.
03:01 They've worked out and I would expect more.
03:03 But at the same time, you know,
03:06 part of being fluid and flexible is that
03:08 if something is trying and it doesn't work,
03:11 you can easily take it back
03:12 and you shouldn't be afraid of that.
03:14 - Now, you guys look like you're having fun.
03:16 You mentioned it being fun season on the broadcast.
03:20 With, you know, guys that you played with, right?
03:22 I mean, peers, somebody you went against,
03:25 against David Ortiz, a teammate in Derek Jeter.
03:28 What's that make the experience like for you
03:30 as far as getting to talk about the game with those guys?
03:33 - Well, it's been great.
03:34 And, you know, it helps that I have
03:37 almost a 30 year relationship with both Poppy and Derek.
03:40 And Kevin has been a dear friend for the last 10 years.
03:44 I can't believe it's my ninth year at Fox.
03:47 And of course I know Kevin Burkhardt
03:48 when he was doing interviews as a young stud prospect,
03:53 sidelines with the Mets.
03:55 And he built a young, great reputation.
03:57 And now he's one of the best in the game,
03:59 both in football and hosting and baseball.
04:02 So we have a blast.
04:03 It makes it easier that we have some talent
04:06 all over the place that we get to talk about.
04:08 And we get to highlight all the great things
04:09 that's good with Major League Baseball.
04:12 And we get to introduce it to a national fan base
04:15 and where for the next seven or eight days,
04:17 we're gonna be storytelling on what's great
04:19 about two great franchises,
04:20 the Diamondbacks and the Rangers.
04:22 - You know, as far as that goes,
04:25 those experiences obviously,
04:27 it probably leads to some reflecting
04:28 on your career a little bit.
04:30 Yankees, Red Sox.
04:31 I saw you recently talk about your desire
04:34 to have your jersey retired by the Yankees.
04:36 If that were to happen,
04:38 is there someone that you would want to enshrine you
04:41 or, you know, introduce you?
04:45 - Oh man, I guess those things are more emotional
04:49 'cause obviously you go through life
04:50 and you go through your ups and downs,
04:52 but those kinds of celebrations are good to share
04:55 with your family, my mother, my daughters,
04:58 and loved ones.
05:01 And my time in New York was great.
05:03 My time in Dallas, Texas,
05:05 and the Metroplex area here in Arlington was fantastic.
05:09 And then I had about seven good years in Seattle.
05:12 So, you know, I almost played 25 years
05:15 and played in only three markets.
05:18 And I take that as a pride of honor.
05:21 - Yeah, I guess, you know,
05:22 that opens you up to a lot of things, right?
05:24 It's why you could be a New Yorker with a cowboy hat.
05:26 (laughs)
05:29 - Yep.
05:30 - All right.
05:31 As far as baseball goes after this World Series,
05:34 Choheo Otani has been a storyline.
05:36 Do you have any advice for him
05:38 as far as how he should continue his career
05:40 given he was pitching and hitting and suffered that injury?
05:43 - Well, I can't give him any advice
05:46 'cause I don't have a lot of information.
05:48 I mean, the fact is I don't know how serious the injury is.
05:51 I'm not sure how he's recovering.
05:54 He's one of the brightest talents the game has ever seen.
05:58 And, you know, when you look at the history of the game,
06:00 that's well over 125 years,
06:03 is a two-man class with him and Babe Ruth.
06:06 And that's it.
06:08 So Babe's not around to give him advice.
06:11 I'm certainly not in a position to give him any advice.
06:14 The only thing I would say is, you know,
06:16 money's not the most important thing is, you know,
06:19 especially for a guy like him who has to pitch and hit.
06:23 And that's a routine that I can't relate with.
06:26 It was hard enough for me to be a shortstop,
06:29 third baseman and a hitter.
06:31 You know, to think that you have to pitch
06:33 is pretty incredible.
06:34 So I do think that the chances of him staying
06:37 with the Angels at least another year
06:39 increases by the injury because of familiarity
06:42 he has to that market.
06:44 - Now, obviously you really love the game.
06:46 So you're super excited for this World Series,
06:49 the Diamondbacks and the Rangers.
06:51 What would your message to fans be out there
06:53 who maybe haven't seen as much of these teams
06:56 or aren't as familiar as to why this World Series
06:59 is going to be one to really watch?
07:02 - Yeah, I mean, Rob, we just talked about it.
07:03 I think with the Rangers, an obvious story is you have
07:06 the epitome of what a 2023, excuse me, team looks like
07:11 with, you know, high octane power,
07:16 big time pitching at the front of the rotation
07:18 with Montgomery and Nathan, one righty, one lefty.
07:21 And then you have a front office that can play
07:24 both the analytics game and the field game.
07:27 And then you have a manager who's, you know,
07:30 on a one-way ticket to Cooperstown,
07:32 three-time world champion trying to bring home his fourth
07:34 and his first here to the Rangers.
07:37 And the Diamondbacks remind me
07:39 of the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals.
07:42 They're going to run you out of the building
07:43 like a track meet if you don't let them.
07:45 I think they've benefited tremendously
07:48 from the rule changes because now putting the ball in play,
07:52 athleticism and actually stealing bases
07:56 is something that's a great tool.
07:58 And most teams are not prepped because they don't bunt,
08:01 because they don't steal much.
08:03 They're also not prepped on the other side
08:04 to stop that type of thing.
08:07 And I would say this, with the Rangers,
08:08 the one trap you got to be careful for is, you know,
08:12 game five was one of the most emotional games
08:14 in World Series history.
08:15 And to go then go on the road
08:17 and beat the defending champions,
08:19 the question is, do they feel satisfied?
08:22 And is there a certain degree of like,
08:24 we already won the World Series
08:26 'cause we beat our arch rivals, Houston.
08:28 Don't sleep on the Diamondbacks because before you know it,
08:32 you can be down two-oh.
08:34 - Do you have a pick for the World Series?
08:36 - Yeah, but you got to tune in to Fox.
08:39 - All right, well, that's a good enough segue for me.
08:42 World Series coverage on Fox.
08:44 You can catch Alex Rodriguez there
08:46 alongside Derek Jeter, David Ortiz and Kevin Burkhardt.
08:50 A-Rod, appreciate the time.
08:52 - Thank you, Robin, continue the good work.
08:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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