00:00ESPN baseball analyst host of this. Is this a great game or what? You know who it is. It's Tim
00:07Kirkjian. Good morning, sir, and happy opening day.
00:12Yeah, same to you guys. This is number 45 for me, and number one, at least as an official beat
00:19writer, was 1982 covering the Rangers for the Dallas Morning News.
00:24So, it's been a long time, and I still love opening day now as much as I ever have, and
00:30I don't care how corny that sounds.
00:32What do you remember about opening day for the 1982 Texas Rangers, or just you personally?
00:42Well, the first three games were supposed to be in New York, and all three of them got snowed out,
00:48and I mean two feet of snow.
00:50So, we finally opened in Cleveland. There were like 75,000 people there on opening day, and the Rangers won.
00:59I think it was 8-3, Charlie Huff pitched. But my favorite story is that George Wright was the rookie
01:05center fielder for the Rangers that day,
01:08and he went three for five, and after the game, I said to George, hey, George, did you have fun
01:13today?
01:13Yeah, I've never been to a major league game before. So, the first major league game he had ever attended,
01:21he got three hits.
01:23Think about that for a second. And then I found out not too long ago that Mickey Rivers, the colorful,
01:31hilarious center fielder for the Rangers,
01:33kind of faked an injury to start the season on the disabled list, so George Wright could make his major
01:41league debut,
01:42and then he made like a several-year career out of it. So, yes, that's what I remember most about
01:49opening day,
01:51George Wright's first major league game, and he got three hits.
01:54So, your memory is astonishingly accurate. I did look up the score. It was 8-3, so you were right
02:04about that.
02:05And, of course, all of the other details check out. What is it about baseball opening day that seems to,
02:11like, by far set it ahead of the other major sports?
02:16Yeah, I think it's in part because it's the greatest game ever. Sorry, I'm hopelessly biased about this.
02:24And when it starts, you know, March now, but usually April, warm weather is starting to come, kids are going
02:31to get out of school,
02:32summer is here, all of that stuff, and we're going to play the entire season within a calendar year,
02:39as opposed to the other sports, which I always get confused. Was it the 84 Mavericks or the 85 Mavericks
02:46or something like that?
02:47Never a doubt about baseball, and I just think it's the best game, and it should be a national holiday
02:54on opening day.
02:55You know, parents take their children out of school to go to opening day.
03:00They still have a parade in Cincinnati every opening day. It's the best day of the year,
03:06and I can't wait to, among other things, get up tomorrow morning and look at all the lineups on opening
03:13days when they really count.
03:15I always say, Tim, that, like, at spring training, hearing the cleats hitting the concrete, hearing the bats is always
03:22one of my favorite sounds.
03:24For us, obviously, we have Chuck Morgan, and, you know, that bellows throughout the entire Globe Live field.
03:30What is that favorite sound that you're like, that's the sound of baseball right there?
03:34Yeah, I know it's corny, but it's the crack of the bat, which we hear in spring training,
03:41and it's just how green the ballpark is when you walk in there.
03:46Like, I am at Camden Yards right now in Baltimore.
03:48I have been here a thousand times, but I stepped on the field about a half an hour ago for
03:56the first time
03:56for a game that actually matters, and it's just so green here.
04:01It's so beautiful here, and amazingly, it's going to be 75 degrees here, not 35 degrees.
04:08So, just walking out on the field.
04:10I've covered a game in 59 different ballparks in my baseball writing career,
04:15and I still step on the field after all these years and say, look at this, opening day,
04:21and I'm at a Major League game.
04:23How spectacular is that new video board they have out there?
04:28Yeah, it's amazing, but they've moved the press box.
04:31I'm not angry about this, but they've moved the press box from right behind the whole plate
04:36to a little bit more on the third baseline.
04:39So, I'm going to check that out now for the first time.
04:42But the video screen, this ballpark, has really, really aged very, very well.
04:50It started the whole process, you know, cozier, you know, old-timey ballparks.
04:56I still love coming here every day.
04:58I know it's been around for a while, or we've seen variations of it for a while,
05:03but how do you feel about opening night?
05:05It still feels wrong to me to have this separated baseball game from the rest of opening day.
05:12Yeah, and again, you're talking to the wrong guy.
05:15I'm almost 70 years old, so I grew up at a time where the season always began in Cincinnati
05:22with a day game, and everybody else played on the same day,
05:27but nothing started until things started in Cincinnati.
05:32We have changed that so dramatically, and it's just, you know,
05:36now I'm just not sure what to call everything anymore, because last night, what was that?
05:41That was opening night, so that's what I'm calling it.
05:44Today is opening day, but not everybody plays today.
05:48Like the game I'm covering this weekend, doing the radio on Saturday,
05:52the A's and the J's in Toronto, their opening day isn't until tomorrow.
05:58So it's a little bit confusing, but I understand it's what we're doing.
06:02It's about growing the game globally.
06:04It's all about money.
06:06We all understand that.
06:07But I enjoyed it more when every team played on the same day,
06:12and almost all of the games were played in the sunshine.
06:16Now looking at opening night last night, it pretty much seems like Aaron Judge is done, huh?
06:23Yeah, I actually got asked today on a radio show, are you worried about Aaron Judge?
06:31Wow, this is unbelievable.
06:33It's five at-bats.
06:35Granted, it's four strikeouts.
06:37A bunch of guys strike out four times in a game now.
06:40He's done it many times.
06:42So I am not shocked.
06:44I am not surprised.
06:45I am not worried.
06:47We're playing 162 games.
06:50This would be like Kyrie Irving, boy, I'm so wrong on these things,
06:55turning it over on the first possession of a game and saying,
06:58can he still handle the ball?
07:01Is he all right?
07:02I don't think we should worry after one game with a talent like Aaron Judge.
07:07And I don't think, none of us are actually worried about Aaron Judge,
07:12but one still superstar name that I am curious about,
07:16what are your expectations for Mike Trout this year?
07:19Because I know injuries have slowed him down,
07:22but even when he wasn't hurt, he's slowed down.
07:24What are we thinking he'll look like this season?
07:28Yeah, I think he'll be a good player this season.
07:32Because as long as he is healthy enough to go out there,
07:35he's always going to be a good player.
07:37But he's obviously not the player he used to be when,
07:42for about seven or eight years there,
07:44people were saying he's the best player they've ever seen.
07:47His body has taken its toll of injuries.
07:51He can't stay out there nearly as often.
07:54You know, he played so hard, stealing bases, jumping into fences,
07:58swinging at, you know, so many pitches that it's worn him down.
08:02But I refuse to believe that Mike Trout,
08:06with that skill, with that talent inside him,
08:09is going to be anything like a subpar player.
08:12He'll be a good player this year.
08:14He just won't be a great player like he used to be,
08:17because age catches up to everyone,
08:20including anyone as great as him.
08:22Well, I want to stick in the American League.
08:24We know Julio Rodriguez is already a big deal,
08:27but is this the season he becomes maybe a megastar AL MVP?
08:31What do you think about that?
08:35Yeah, I think so.
08:37But it's going to take a fast start by him,
08:39and he has been a historically slow starter,
08:43and one of the great finishers we've ever seen.
08:47And there's no explanation for that either,
08:51but he has to get off to a quicker start,
08:53because he's always hitting, you know, 200 seemingly at the end of April.
08:58But he has everything else.
08:59He's really smart.
09:01He understands the game, and his physical gifts are ridiculous.
09:05So, yeah, this is the year I think he really becomes the star, star player
09:10for six months that we expect him to be.
09:12I think in the next, like, six years,
09:15I predicted that Paul Skeens would have four more Cy Youngs the other day.
09:19How unique of an experience is it watching Paul Skeens pitch in big moments, too?
09:26Yeah, he's appointment television.
09:28You could make a case that the day he got to the big league last year,
09:35or two years ago, he was the best pitcher,
09:37and is still the best pitcher in the game right now.
09:40Wow.
09:41You know, he and Dwight Gooden are the two pitchers that I can remember
09:45who had this kind of impact in each of his first two seasons in the major leagues.
09:51Fernando Valenzuela was amazing the first year and the second year,
09:55and he had an amazing start,
09:57but not quite like Paul Skeens has dominated or Dwight Gooden dominated.
10:02We really haven't seen anybody like this in a really long time,
10:06and he's huge, he's strong, he's wildly competitive,
10:10his stuff is absurdly good,
10:13and I think he's going to win multiple Cy Youngs.
10:17He's already won one.
10:18If he wins four, I won't be surprised at all.
10:21Now, to go along with that,
10:23I know he's starting the season in AAA,
10:26but the excitement level for Connor Griffin,
10:28and then expectations for the Pirates in general.
10:32Yeah, things are finally looking up there
10:34with the young kids that they have in the minor leagues.
10:38I saw Connor Griffin this spring.
10:39He's 19 years old.
10:41He has tremendous power,
10:44and this is important.
10:45He has tremendous poise and maturity for a kid that young.
10:50I know he told a coach that I was speaking to one day
10:54that he said,
10:54just make this as difficult as you can for me,
10:59and I will find a way to succeed.
11:02That's kind of the way he goes about these things,
11:04is set it up to make it hard for me,
11:07as hard as you possibly can,
11:09because that's when I'm at my best.
11:12So they sent him out.
11:13I'm not surprised,
11:15but when he comes up,
11:17and that could be in a week,
11:18it could be in a year,
11:20I don't think he's going to go back
11:21once he gets to the big leagues.
11:23He's that good.
11:24Talk with Tim Kirkson right here on 105.3 The Fan.
11:27There's plenty of hype for Christopher Sanchez,
11:30and rightfully so,
11:32but does it feel like the other half of that pitching matchup,
11:35Nathan Evaldi,
11:36doesn't really get his due on the national stage?
11:40I agree,
11:41and just go look at the season he had last year.
11:44Granted,
11:45I know it was cut by injuries,
11:47but that was an amazing year by,
11:51and I don't want to say an aging pitcher,
11:52but he's thrown a lot of pitches,
11:55and to be that effective after all these years is amazing.
11:58I think this is his fourth opening day start,
12:02and he showed last year he's still got four pitches
12:05that he can get you out with,
12:07and that's so impressive,
12:09and just another reminder
12:11that when you understand what you're doing on the mound,
12:15you have a chance to get hitters out every single night,
12:19and then you add in that his stuff is still really good.
12:23That combination,
12:24a lot of guys have great,
12:26great stuff,
12:26better stuff even than him,
12:28but they're not sure what to do with it.
12:30He has great stuff,
12:31and he knows how to use it with four different pitches.
12:34These Rangers' first four batters,
12:37looks like Nemo,
12:38Wyatt Langford,
12:39Corey Seager,
12:40and then Berger to follow up there.
12:42That group right there could put a lot of runs on the board.
12:46What's your expectation for what those guys can do?
12:50Yeah,
12:50Nemo's going to be a really important guy for them,
12:54and I think he'll have a really good year.
12:56Jake Berger seems to be getting better all the time,
12:59and Corey Seager is healthy.
13:02He's one of the best players in the game,
13:04and Wyatt Langford just fascinates me with that power-speed combination,
13:09and I'm just waiting,
13:11and it's only been a short time for him in the big league,
13:14for him to completely turn the corner and become a great player for 162 games.
13:21I did a bunch of Ranger games during the summer last year when they played in San Diego,
13:26and I did a game from the booth on TV with ESPN,
13:29and so I got a good look at Wyatt Langford for like a week,
13:33and Corey Seager looked at me,
13:35and I said,
13:35what do you make of this guy?
13:37And he goes,
13:38he runs angry.
13:39That's how he put it,
13:41and I love that expression,
13:42because it seems like Wyatt Langford does everything angry,
13:46meaning he's so aggressive at the plate,
13:49in the field,
13:49and on the bases,
13:50and that's what you're looking for from a young player.
13:53And then that last addition,
13:55we saw the Rangers make pretty late in spring training,
13:58but it did happen.
13:59Adding Andrew McCutcheon,
14:00what kind of person comes into that clubhouse,
14:02and how can he help this club?
14:05Yeah,
14:05he's one of the great pros that I've ever met.
14:09He can still hit,
14:10which he's been able to do his entire life.
14:13Yeah.
14:13You know,
14:14he won a batting championship in high school when he was in the eighth grade.
14:19The eighth grade.
14:20He went over to the JV team,
14:23and the varsity coach said,
14:24no,
14:25son,
14:25you're with us.
14:26And he won a batting title in high school as an eighth grader,
14:30which is almost impossible to do.
14:33And Matt Diaz,
14:34former Major League player,
14:35was in AA,
14:36and he got to know Andrew McCutcheon,
14:39age 13,
14:40and Matt told me he worked with Andrew three times,
14:43on hitting.
14:45And finally,
14:46Matt had to tell him,
14:47Andrew,
14:47I can't help you anymore.
14:48You're a better hitter than I am.
14:50And he was 13 years old,
14:52and Matt was a AA player.
14:54That's how advanced he is.
14:56Plus,
14:56he is a great clubhouse guy,
14:59a team leader,
15:00and he can,
15:01he might be the most talented.
15:03If there's a talent show in the Major League,
15:06either he or Stephen Boat's going to win,
15:08because he can do impersonations,
15:11he can sing,
15:12he can do just about anything.
15:13Oh,
15:14this is brand new,
15:15great information.
15:16If you love this conversation,
15:18you can get this,
15:19and so much more on the,
15:21is this a great game,
15:22or what podcast,
15:24that Tim hosts with his son,
15:26Jeff,
15:26man,
15:26thank you so much for the time today.
15:29All right,
15:30fellas,
15:31happy opening day.
15:32Talk to you later.
15:32There you go.
15:33Tim Kirchhen right here on 105.3 The Fan.
Comments