00:00Eric, you come in some nights and you might see something a little bit different, but
00:03today is the day so far that I haven't seen anything but jerseys, shirts, hats.
00:08It is Rangers fans.
00:09Ties.
00:10Ties that go along with it.
00:11I always love a home opener opening day for us.
00:15Eric, how's it going, man?
00:16It's going great.
00:17I'm so excited.
00:18It's wonderful.
00:19I love when the crowd is filing in here and you just feel the electricity on opening day.
00:24It's really about the only time that I get to do that.
00:27I get here super early, get my book filled out, and then just kind of experience what
00:32the ballpark is like.
00:34And it's the start of another great season.
00:37When you say get your book filled out, are you talking about your scoring book?
00:42Just want to make sure?
00:43My scoring book.
00:45Yeah.
00:46I still actually use a book.
00:47I love that.
00:48Matt and I both use books.
00:50I know Dave doesn't.
00:51Jared doesn't.
00:52They use iPads.
00:54But we actually use scorebooks and I've got all of mine going back to like 1980 and recently
01:02moved and didn't know what to do with all the scorebooks.
01:05And a guy who's a collector who collects Ford Frick Award memorabilia.
01:12Really?
01:13Wanted all of my scorebooks.
01:15Wow.
01:16Really?
01:16And so I was wondering, what am I going to do with all these scorebooks?
01:20And he was very happy to take them.
01:22He's actually got a man cave that has memorabilia from lots of different Ford Frick Award winners.
01:28That's so freaking cool.
01:29Do you have every media guide going back too?
01:32Yeah, I did.
01:33Wow.
01:33I did.
01:34I actually donated them back to the Rangers who wanted some extras.
01:39Now, I know you said you love seeing the fans file in and we do too.
01:43Does it feel odd at all when the home opener is not opening day?
01:47I know that happens, but it still feels a little weird to me.
01:51It is, especially since we did the six games.
01:54If we hadn't broadcast the six games or if I hadn't gone on the trip, I think this would
01:58seem like an even more special day.
02:00Right.
02:01Since the season's already been going on for a week, I don't have that same level of
02:06butterflies in my stomach that I normally would have if the opener were here.
02:11Do you feel like, I know it's only six games, but do you feel like, hey, I love the rhythm
02:16we've gotten off to and I think a lot of this good stuff they're doing is pretty sustainable.
02:20I think so.
02:21The approach at the plate certainly is.
02:23You know, Brandon Nimmo is certainly setting an example for the rest of the guys on how to
02:28work a count and, you know, how to not chase pitches.
02:31I think that, I think the message got through that scoring 4.2 runs a game, which they did
02:38last year, is not good enough and you have to find different ways to score other than
02:42hitting home runs and Nimmo is going to go a long way, I think, towards solving that problem.
02:47That idea, though, of hitting home runs is how we score runs has kind of, it kind of took
02:52over for a 10, 15 year period of time, it felt like.
02:56Especially here.
02:57Yeah, that was the mindset was home runs are the way and home runs are great.
03:01I love them, but when we talked to Skip the first time, he was like, no, there's so many
03:06ways to win and we got to figure out on that day how to do that and having a lineup
03:11full
03:11of a variety of guys that can do a lot of different things I've always thought was more important.
03:16Even more important, now that we know how this ballpark plays, now that we know this is a
03:21pitcher's park and a lot of balls that are home runs in other parts are not going to be
03:26home runs here, you know, that certainly is a deterrent to just going for the home run
03:31and probably a stimulant, if you will, to the players taking a little different approach.
03:36I also think the fact that Toronto, you know, made it all the way to the World Series and
03:40almost beat the Dodgers in the World Series using a put the ball in play approach definitely
03:45carries over to a lot of other teams.
03:47You know, we've seen that you can go a long way without relying just on the home run for
03:52your offense.
03:53Now, on the pitching side, I think we all know, and you discussed it just the other
03:58day, how good Ivaldi and DeGrom have been in their careers, have been for the Rangers,
04:03but it also feels like we're in this hopefully exciting place where Gore and Leiter can level
04:09up and maybe we'll see about Rocker as well.
04:14Yeah, Rocker in spring training, his stuff was just filthy.
04:16You know, if he can command it, you know, you're looking at another possible, you know,
04:21top of the rotation guy.
04:23Leiter has shown it already, you know, getting 21 swings and misses the other day.
04:27Career high.
04:27And just throwing all those change-ups, a career high in change-ups, you know, as well
04:31as a 98 mile an hour fastball and all the other pitches he has.
04:34Very excited about him.
04:36You know, and Mackenzie Gore has elite stuff.
04:39He just needs to improve his command a little bit.
04:42Maybe a change in coaches, change of scenery, playing for a winning team, having DeGromeda,
04:46DeValdi to talk to, maybe all of those things are going to combine and he can take the next
04:51step from being basically an average starting pitcher last year over the course of the whole
04:57year to being a premier starting pitcher, which he was the first half of last year.
05:02Do you think people ever underrate how tough the slog through the season can be if your team
05:08is just awful?
05:09Because, I mean, not to say that Washington will be that way, but it sure looks like they
05:13could be like, I have to imagine that takes a huge toll on you.
05:17Yeah, I mean, the guy had an ERA, what, 402, I think, and a record of 5-15.
05:24Gross.
05:25And as an indication of just how bad their team was, he was their most valuable pitcher
05:30with a 5-15 record.
05:34And, you know, that pretty much tells the story.
05:36But you're right, it's very tough to get through a season when you're out of it, you
05:40know, by the all-star break or by the training deadline.
05:42It's hard on everybody, certainly hard on us.
05:44Okay, we have a chance to ask him our hypothetical now because of that.
05:48Let's say, because obviously it's fun to, like, project out these numbers at this absurdly
05:54early pace.
05:55It's, if Jack Leiter went 32-0 with an ERA of 3, does he get your Cy Young over Tarek
06:05Skubel, who goes 7-9 with a 1-8 ERA?
06:10That's a really good question.
06:11Part of it depends on whether the teams were in the race or not.
06:14Okay.
06:15Who was pitching in important games and who wasn't pitching in important games.
06:20A 32-0.
06:21I know, it's absurd.
06:23So, you know, one loss record isn't that important.
06:27But if a guy goes 32-0, I think it would be pretty hard to not give him the sign.
06:31Okay.
06:31Yeah.
06:32Because Corey jokes, he goes, oh, that 3 ERA, we got to work on.
06:35Now, what if he's 20-10?
06:37See, then I think he's not going to get it.
06:39I think, obviously.
06:40I mean, at what point do you not get it?
06:42Does 20-10 do it?
06:44If it does, does 18-12 do it?
06:46Yeah.
06:47I don't, if you creep up to, like, 23, then I think that might swing it back in your direction.
06:52But otherwise, that is a huge ERA.
06:54You know, I'd kind of like to look back at the years that Zach Greinke and Felix Hernandez won the
06:59Cyan Award and see who had the best winning records when those guys had the best ERAs, but not the
07:04best winning records.
07:05I wonder if there was anything overwhelming in the one loss record.
07:08Right.
07:08Well, I'm so glad you engaged with us on that because we brought it up yesterday just having a little
07:12bit of fun.
07:12Yeah, it's an interesting hypothetical.
07:14What year was it?
07:15Aaron Seeley and a handful of Rangers pitchers, was it 10 or 20 wins that they all, I can't remember
07:21where we were on that.
07:22Probably 10, right?
07:23Yeah.
07:24Yeah.
07:24Yeah, it was, it happened in 96 with Ken Hill, John Burkett, Darren Oliver, Bobby Witt, and Roger Pavlik.
07:34Okay, all right.
07:35I think that was...
07:36First playoff year.
07:36That was the first playoff year in the year that the Rangers had, you know, had a starting rotation that
07:41deep.
07:42They did have the Rick Helling and Aaron Seeley year.
07:45Yes, that's right.
07:46Helling won 20, and Seeley almost did.
07:48He didn't quite make it, and Seeley actually had an ERA that was lower than Helling's, I believe, but it
07:54was Helling who got more run support.
07:56Oh, man, those are the things that go through my mind, Kevin.
07:59I don't have them all shuffled together the way Eric Nadel does, though.
08:03That's why he's the best.
08:04You've been around a variety of clubs that have come through Texas.
08:08You got to see and experience the group that did win the World Series.
08:12What kind of personality does this clubhouse have right now, and what kind of personality do you think helps them
08:19win and be competitive in a World Series?
08:21Yeah, I think it's a little tough for us to tell after, you know, just six games, but right now
08:25it's very lighthearted in there.
08:28You know, on the road, you know, guys who are playing a lot of ping pong in the clubhouse prior
08:32to games, they were very accessible to us.
08:36And as the season goes on, they often become less accessible and may be a little grumpier if they're not
08:44doing well.
08:44Does that go proportionately to the record?
08:47Like, if things are rocking along, are they like, yeah, Eric, come on?
08:50I think so.
08:50Okay.
08:51I think so, yeah.
08:52I would probably be the same way.
08:54That makes sense to me.
08:55But, you know, you talk about the guys who the team has added, and, you know, when you talk about
08:59Nimmo and Danny Jansen in particular, those are guys who really engage when a guy like me goes to talk
09:08to them.
09:08Yes.
09:08You know, they're not just giving me the shortest possible answers or the cliched answers.
09:13You know, they actually think about what the question was and give you a really well-thought-out answer.
09:21And, you know, I'm talking to Mackenzie Gore, too, and just painfully honest, you know, when we were in Philadelphia
09:26in advance of Mackenzie's start, I asked him about his poor record pitching in the Phillies Park and the fact
09:33he'd given up seven home runs in 28 innings.
09:35I figured there had to be some cheap ones in there, and he said, no.
09:39He says, I earned every one of them.
09:41Oh, man.
09:42You know, and for a guy to say that, you know, is, you know, refreshing.
09:46Yeah.
09:46No, absolutely.
09:47Eric, I'm sorry.
09:48I wanted to – this is just a broadcast question.
09:51One of my favorite thing, compliments we get is people say, I feel like I'm at a bar listening to
09:58you guys talk, and I just kind of want to be around.
10:00I was watching – at home, I was watching Mike the other night, and I was like, it's good to
10:04watch a game with Mike.
10:05That's how it felt.
10:06Like, I was just watching a game with Mike.
10:07And then I was in the car listening, and I was like, Eric has been telling me the game for
10:11so long.
10:12What is the way that you've always tried to give that picture?
10:16What do you think of the bar, whatever it is?
10:19You know, I think of blind listeners and painting the word picture for them, and then I think about all
10:28of the listeners who hopefully want to watch the game and listen to me at the same time, or just
10:37listen to me at the same time.
10:38You know, it's twofold, the description, and then the ease with which people digest your broadcast.
10:45Yeah, yeah.
10:45The personality aspect of it.
10:47You know, I tell young announcers all the time they need to have a smile on their voice.
10:51People need to know they're having fun at the ballpark.
10:54And if they do, and if people start to like them as a person, they've already won the battle.
10:59At that point, it doesn't matter that much how they describe a home run, or if they make a mistake
11:04and they get the score wrong one time, or something like that.
11:07If they already like you, because they can tell that you're a good guy, you've won the battle already.
11:14How much have you enjoyed the pitch clock?
11:17Because several years ago, in the leaner years for the Rangers, we would actively enjoy, when we came on after
11:24the game, here's like, oh man, it's the seventh inning, and Eric has had it with this pace of play.
11:29Like, is that fair?
11:31And how much have you enjoyed the span of pace of the game?
11:34It's fair, and I tell you, I've enjoyed it enough that the pitch clock probably is responsible for my still
11:40work.
11:41Yeah, wow.
11:41I really don't think I'd still be doing this.
11:43This is my 48th year, and I don't think I would have made it to 47 if it hadn't been
11:50for the pitch clock.
11:51The games became really hard to watch.
11:53I just wasn't enjoying the games anymore, and now I do.
11:58Now, it's not so much that they only take 240, it's that there's a rhythm again.
12:03Yeah.
12:03And they're fun to watch.
12:05You don't have to wait around for some relief pitcher who throws 100 miles an hour to regain his breath
12:11and everything else so that he can throw it at 100 miles an hour again.
12:15You don't have to do that.
12:16The whole enjoyment level of watching the game has increased exponentially.
12:22Have we sold out the birthday benefit concert?
12:25No, we need to sell more tickets.
12:27Thanks.
12:27The Longhorn Ballroom's a big room.
12:30It's May 14th this year, which is a Ranger Off Day.
12:33It's at the Longhorn Ballroom.
12:34The tickets are at longhornballroom.com.
12:36I'm bringing in two bands that people probably are unfamiliar with, Sammy Ray and the Friends, who are really popular
12:42in the Northeast.
12:43They're from Brooklyn, New York, and they're a big, live, high-energy band with a very charismatic female singer.
12:51And Chuck Proffitt and his cumbia shoes.
12:53Chuck is a Bay Area legend.
12:55Yeah.
12:56He's in his 60s.
12:57And he has a band now that plays cumbia music, which is Colombian Latin rock.
13:03Yes.
13:03And it's really interesting stuff, really fun.
13:06And all the proceeds go to the Grant Halliburton Foundation, which supplies mental health education programs in schools.
13:12So get your tickets at longhornballroom.com.
13:15It's really going to be fun.
13:16Thursday, May 14th.
13:17And, Eric, thank you so much for the time.
13:19We don't mean to rush you off, but Chris Young's coming up next.
13:22Oh, right.
13:23He's a lot bigger than me.
13:25All right.
13:25He's a tall man.
13:26Eric Nadel.
Comments