Michael Tucker Talks MLB and Braves Challenges on Newswire

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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on SportsCritic, time to talk a little Major League Baseball.

00:07Former big leaguer Michael Tucker with us here on the show, of course, played a very

00:10high level Kansas City, San Francisco, Atlanta, played a number of different teams, also watches

00:15the game, very busy with his schedule, a son playing football at FAU this year, his other

00:19son playing baseball, hard to keep up with Tuck, but he's kind enough to give us a few

00:24minutes here on the show, also trains youth baseball as well, so I thought it'd be a good

00:28conversation to have.

00:29Tuck, thank you for coming on Newswire, it is great to see you, my friend, thanks for

00:34coming on.

00:35Thank you for having me.

00:37All right, let's get started here, talk about one of the teams you used to play for, you're

00:40actually in Georgia right now, the Atlanta Braves, Braves have had, Tuck, what we would

00:45call a very interesting season, they lost their best pitcher in Spencer Strider, they

00:49lost their best hitter in Ronald Cooney Jr., but yet it's kind of been the pitching that's

00:54kept them in it, the hitting has been so-so, to say the least, what have you seen with

00:59the Braves this year?

01:00Well, you know, the injuries are the things that kind of bother you the most, is when

01:06you have the big guys in your lineup not being able to perform because of injury, there was

01:13an injury, Michael Harris II got injured, so you're trying to fill in spots, and they've

01:20done a great job with that, and I think a lot of times they're, with them being seven

01:25games back, they have a potential to probably make a trade for a pitcher and try to bring

01:29in a guy that helped bolster their rotation.

01:33And I think that that's really the thing, Tuck, is that when you look at the Braves,

01:37they've had so much success getting to the postseason, what they haven't been able to

01:42do outside of once is win it all, and I know that you've had certainly a lot of experience

01:47playing, why do you think it has been that the Braves have been able to win these divisions

01:51so many times, and then they get to the postseason and they find somebody else, like Arizona

01:55or Philadelphia or just some other team, getting hot at the right time?

02:00Well, I think you just talked about it, being hot at the right time makes a big difference.

02:05I remember when we were playing with the Braves, it was 97-98, we had to pick a staff with

02:12four-side young winners or three-side young winners in a closer, and all of a sudden you

02:17get to the playoffs, the bats kind of cooled off just a little bit, other teams are hot,

02:24and you put yourself in a position where one run makes a big difference in the game.

02:29Yeah, and it has for the Braves, they've won a ton of one-run games this year too.

02:34All right, let's go around the league a little bit, Cincinnati Reds, another team you're

02:38quite familiar with.

02:41Before the season, projected potentially to win the division, they're having a hard time

02:44doing that, but one of the leaders of that team has been this player named Elie De La

02:48Cruz.

02:49I'm sure anybody watching baseball is familiar with him.

02:51Talk a little up for him at the beginning, a little down.

02:53It's baseball, right, over the course of the season, but he's going to end up leading Major

02:57League Baseball in stolen bases, he plays a premium position at shortstop.

03:01What have you seen from him?

03:02Well, Elie De La Cruz, he reminds me of players when we played, during my era.

03:10You come in, you're going to hit for a little bit of power, you have the speed, the arm,

03:15the arm is exceptional.

03:17I think everything he's doing this year, he's still in that learning phase where he's trying

03:23to figure out the game for himself, but he's an exciting player to watch.

03:27I think he's the guy that's going to probably be the face of Major League Baseball here

03:33in the future.

03:34Yeah, and look, the stolen bases are now moving up this year a little bit down from where

03:39it was last year, but with the bases being bigger and not being able to throw over to

03:42first base at will, that's definitely changed the game.

03:45Now, another team that you played for and quite familiar with the ballpark, we have

03:48a number of subjects to touch on here.

03:51Talk to San Francisco Giants, another one of those teams that made significant moves

03:55in the offseason, and over the last couple of years, they've really tried to hit a home

04:00run, so to speak, by trying to get Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa.

04:03They landed on Michael Conforto and Jorge Soler and Matt Chapman.

04:06They're competing against those players, but the Giants certainly have not been as

04:11good as they would like to be, and there's certainly some pressure on them to win this

04:14year, too.

04:15You played in that ballpark.

04:16You understand what it's like to have to play there.

04:19I mean, you had success hitting there.

04:21Is there just something about the city or the park, why they can't land these mega-free

04:26agents?

04:27Well, I think they tried to help out by bringing defenses in.

04:33When I played there, the defenses were a little bit bigger.

04:36You brought defenses in, changed the bullpens from being down the third base and first baselines

04:41to in the outfield.

04:43Those are things that kind of helped, but the ballpark itself is an intricate ballpark.

04:48The wind, when I was there, would always blow in from right across the field, so the lefties

04:54would have a—except for Barry, of course—would have a hard time trying to get that ball to

05:00carry for them in the right direction because the wind would always push it out towards

05:03the field.

05:05So you would get more guys that would hit those triples, and trying to bring in a lefty

05:11power hitter is going to be tough there in that ballpark.

05:14Yeah, and again, I mean, you were lucky, so you know you played there, and they just haven't

05:19had the best time having success there.

05:22Now, one player in the history of the game passed away last week at the age of 93, Tuck,

05:27and that, of course, is Willie Mays.

05:28They had a great event in Birmingham celebrating his life.

05:32I know that you got a chance to get up close and personal with Willie many times, a lot

05:36of opening days there that you spent with him being there, and I'm sure it was probably

05:42emotional to see him pass away last week.

05:45Any good memories that you have there that you could share with us?

05:47Yeah, that was a tough week last week.

05:52When I first found out about it, I'd take a couple days to myself to just kind of get

05:59my head together, get my thoughts together, because I remember when I was playing there,

06:05I had grounded out to the shortstop probably four times.

06:10I came upstairs.

06:11I ripped off my bag gloves, and Willie was sitting in the office, and he sees me, and

06:17he calls me and goes, hey, what are you doing?

06:19I said, I'm getting new bag gloves.

06:21The bag gloves aren't working.

06:22He goes, no, they're throwing you that pitch.

06:24You got to hit that ball to the left center.

06:26I said, Willie, I'm trying.

06:28He said, don't try.

06:29Just do it, and that was the type of guy he was.

06:32He was direct about it.

06:34He had no bones about it.

06:35They're going to throw you that pitch.

06:37Just hit it to the left center.

06:38Just hit it and let it go there, and I go up next to the bat, didn't think about it.

06:41I hit it.

06:42The ball goes to the left center.

06:43I get a double, and I'm just sitting there going, man, if it's that easy, wow, I should

06:49be doing this all the time.

06:53Stories like that are what we're hearing around the league, and people forget that he did

06:56have an office at the park that he used to attend and talk to players like you.

07:00Great stuff, Tuck.

07:01Thanks again for coming on.

07:02I hope to see you in person soon here in South Florida.

07:04Thanks again, and enjoy the time that you're spending with your family.

07:07Thanks again.

07:08Yes, sir.

07:09Thank you.

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