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00:00Let's talk a little Royals baseball with Jake Eisenberg,
00:02who is down in Texas getting set for the Royals and the Rangers on 96.5.
00:08The fan also Jake Eisenberg,
00:10kind enough to give us a couple opportunities in our garage sale,
00:13the Jake Eisenberg experience.
00:15We're excited about that, man.
00:16So thanks so much for helping out with the garage sale.
00:19Yeah. I mean, I would,
00:20I would advise that if you really want to increase the bidding,
00:23definitely don't call it the Jake Eisenberg experience.
00:26That's probably going to, that's probably going to keep those bids low,
00:29but, but no, that, that'll be a really fun thing.
00:32It's always cool when we can have people come up into the booth for,
00:35for an inning to kind of see what it's like up there. I'm, I'm biased,
00:38but I think we've got one of the best seats in the house,
00:40if not the best seat in the house. And,
00:42and it's a pretty cool experience because we've got some,
00:44some wireless headsets up there that you can put on and you can hear what we
00:48hear while also seeing what we see from our perspective.
00:51I think it's a pretty cool experience.
00:52So Wednesday, June 10th coding go garage sale,
00:56all proceeds benefit the Negro leagues baseball museum. And again,
00:59Jake Eisenberg will give you guys an opportunity to go up to,
01:01to the Royals broadcast booth for an inning.
01:03You can bid on some of his, his old clothing too.
01:06If you want to dress like Jake, why do you see Jake?
01:08Yeah. Yeah. I dropped, I dropped off some stuff the other day,
01:11including I'll, I'll,
01:13I'll advertise them as game worn Valley sports and fan dual sports network
01:19polos.
01:20So they have also been, they have also been washed.
01:23I would like to make that clear too, but, but they were game worn.
01:26You know what it is now they're collector's items because it's Royals.
01:30They're vintage. Yeah.
01:31They're vintage.
01:32They're not printing up more of these that don't, you know,
01:34like this is, this is your opportunity to own them.
01:37I want to start with,
01:38before we get into the Royals specifically,
01:40the plans kicked between major league baseball and the major league
01:43baseball players association.
01:45Do you dig too deep into these?
01:47Are you just like, ah, this is the initial step of many.
01:49So you don't want to get too committed to one side or the other,
01:52I guess.
01:52How do you view these plans from both sides?
01:55Yeah, it's more of the latter.
01:57If I'm being totally honest,
01:58I actually didn't dig into either yesterday or the day before,
02:02just because it's so preliminary.
02:04And also there's nothing that I say or do that is going to impact any of
02:08this.
02:08Um, and so I kind of just stay very much on the outside and whatever the
02:13parties discussed and wherever they wind up meeting,
02:16I think we'll wind up being good for baseball one way or another,
02:20but it's not something that I'm going to dive in too deeply with or spend too
02:24much time thinking about.
02:27I think that you, yeah, I guess like from the, this perspective,
02:33the worry over losing baseball or just,
02:35let's just say the fight between one side, once one thing, one side,
02:39once the other, how do you, how do you balance the,
02:42like who's right or wrong?
02:43Or do you look at it from a, Hey, in the end,
02:45I just want the thing that's best for the sport.
02:48Yeah, it's that I want the thing that's best for the sport.
02:51And I think that ultimately that's what we're going to wind up getting.
02:55And hopefully we get there sooner rather than later.
02:57And we see the game continue, frankly,
03:00in the great place that it's operated over the last few years.
03:03I mean, we are currently, uh, whether we want to acknowledge it or not,
03:06I think in a golden age of this sport with some of the greatest players that
03:09this sport has ever seen, some of the greatest viewership,
03:12some of the greatest attendance, some of the greatest everything.
03:14And I think that there's an understanding of that on both sides of this
03:18issue that, you know, when we, when it's all said and done, look,
03:21my job and the thing that I love to do is go to the ballpark and
03:24share these baseball games with everybody that wants to enjoy them,
03:27whether it's on the radio or on TV.
03:29That's my primary secondary and tertiary concern.
03:32And so when we have baseball and whatever form that that takes,
03:36I'll be there to, to celebrate it.
03:38We're talking to Jake Eisenberg here on 96, five, the fan, all right,
03:41back on the field with the Royals.
03:42We all know an off day yesterday, this is two Fridays in a row.
03:45We've talked to you after an off day.
03:47We were hoping last week that off day would trigger something.
03:49Of course, it unfortunately did not.
03:51And it ended very, very poorly with the Yankees.
03:54I think you were talking about the stat throughout that series release of
03:57the last side of the series against the Yankees,
03:59where the Royals were outscored 50 to 10.
04:01I understand it goes in, in the record books as, as a loss,
04:04just like any other, but seeing that stretch, what,
04:07what has it been about the Yankees?
04:09I know Royals fans are frustrated by a lot right now,
04:11but the Yankees in general,
04:1314 straight wins going back to the post season.
04:17Yeah, I mean, I'll echo something that Q said the other day,
04:20and I think he's right about this, as I think he is about a lot of things.
04:24The Yankees are a really good team and good teams tend to win a lot of baseball games.
04:29And the Yankees have been consistently one of the best teams in baseball over the last few years.
04:33You know, when the Royals, you know, battled them in that division series,
04:36and it was a close series, that was still a Yankees team that went to the world series that year.
04:40And they fell far short of it last year, certainly their expectations,
04:43but they still have one of the best rotations in baseball.
04:46They have the best offense in baseball.
04:47They have the best overall hitter in baseball and Aaron judge.
04:51That is a tough thing to contend with.
04:52And I think what we've seen over the last couple of years in those specific matchups
04:57is that because of the talent, the Yankees have on all sides of the ball,
05:01they have a much larger margin for error.
05:05That one mistake is something that they are able to overcome because of their talent up and down
05:10the lineup.
05:10Denny and I were talking about this the other night, you know,
05:12as much as we like to boo jazz Chisholm and understandably so the dude still hit 30 homers
05:18and had 30 steals last year, and he's hitting seventh in their lineup.
05:22That's the kind of talent that we're talking about with them.
05:24And so they have a larger margin for error, especially given the way that they plan,
05:28especially when they have someone like Cam Schlittler or Garrett Cole on the mound.
05:32So when you look at that particular matchup, A, you're right.
05:36You know, you can be outscored a hundred to nothing and it's still six losses.
05:40It certainly feels differently though.
05:43And I think that's the part that is, that is so difficult to swallow about it is you're
05:47right there with them just a couple of years ago in the division series.
05:50And it has not really felt all that close since then.
05:53When you look at, I guess, what's next, do you think like, I guess if you were in charge
05:57or any version of this, is it better to say, Hey, here's a history of the teams who have
06:02had slow starts and still got the job accomplished or just say, Hey, pressure's off and let's
06:07just try to play good baseball the rest of the way.
06:09What, what's the right message to give a team that is off to a slow start, but had expectations.
06:14I think it's a little bit of both.
06:16I think it's understanding that this is a 162 game season and yes, we're a third of the
06:21way through it, but that also means there's still two thirds of the season left.
06:24And so many things can happen, both that you can foresee happening and also that you can't
06:30predict, I mean, that's the beauty of the sport, right?
06:32You can't predict baseball.
06:34You know, I was, I was trying to dig into this a little bit this morning and I was talking
06:36to a couple of people and I realized, you know, the Royals right now are 22 and 34, right?
06:42That's how you started this season.
06:43There are teams over the last couple of years that have had a 22 and 34 stretch at any point
06:50during the season and still found themselves in the playoffs.
06:53And what was eyeopening to me is that each of the last two years, there has been a team
06:57from the American league central that that has happened to last year, the guardians two
07:02years ago, the tigers, they both endured 22 and 34 stretches at some point through their
07:07year and still made it to the post season.
07:09That's all to say, like there is precedent for what the Royals have experienced that you
07:14can still have success come September and into October.
07:18That doesn't make it easy.
07:19That doesn't make it likely, but it does make it possible.
07:21And because of that possibility, there is a reason to sit in that clubhouse or sit in the
07:26stands and say, you know what, this has been a tough year.
07:29This has not been what we wanted or what we expected in any way, shape or form, but that
07:34doesn't mean game 56.
07:35It's time to time to punt time to reevaluate what our goals are.
07:40There's still very much enough runway where those goals can become a reality, especially
07:44in an American league where there's less than five teams with a record over 500.
07:49I think that's part of the sport that we haven't spent too much time thinking about that.
07:53It's not just the Royals that have gotten off to a slow start.
07:55And yes, their Royal slow start is slower than a lot of other teams, but there are a lot
08:00of other teams that are also trying to figure out what's been going wrong so far this season.
08:05You know, we sit, there are exactly five teams in the American league with a record above
08:09500.
08:10That's not a whole lot.
08:11Steven Cola goes tonight for the Royals.
08:13He's not a big strikeout guy.
08:14We know that is this as simple as like when you watch him pitch, is this just one of those
08:18like throw strikes?
08:20That's probably a good thing.
08:21Like he doesn't walk anybody, Jake.
08:22Is it, is it that simple, his success or what does he do?
08:25Well, I guess from your end.
08:27Yeah, he's in the strike zone.
08:28He's aggressive.
08:29He has enough late movement on his pitching, especially that sinker where he's going to
08:34miss the barrels.
08:35And that's what gives you the weak contact.
08:37In fact, I made this topic up a couple of days ago, his, the way that he pitches his
08:43mound presence.
08:44It reminds me a lot of Michael Walker where it's rhythmic.
08:48It's calm.
08:49It's not, you know, high octane, 99 mile an hour stuff, but man, is it effective and man,
08:55is it fun to watch?
08:56And maybe it's pure coincidence that they're both at a Texas A&M.
09:00I think that is more coincidence than, than correlation.
09:03But when I've, when we've watched even call it, these last few starts, I see a lot of
09:08the composure and presence that we've seen from Walker over the last few years.
09:12And Walker has been one of the best pitchers in the league so far this year.
09:16I don't know if anyone else has seen that similarity, but it's something that I noticed
09:19108 pitches last time out because of that, that complete game shut out and the masterful
09:23performance from Kolic.
09:24Do you think that, you know, they'll, they'll keep an eye on him tonight.
09:27Could this be a situation where, you know, fans maybe are wondering why, let's say he's
09:30pitching well, but he gets pulled a little early tonight just because it's still a guy
09:34doesn't have a ton of, ton of experience going, you know, back after 108 pitch outing and then
09:39following it up with, let's say a 90 plus pitch outing.
09:42Yeah, no, I don't think so.
09:44And, and I, I think if there was a reason for that, it'd be more about the ups, the nine
09:48ups in the last start than the 108 pitches.
09:50Cause he's thrown triple digit pitches before that said, and I'll, I'll talk about this on the
09:55broadcast tonight.
09:56Uh, I had a conversation with Steven, you know, just the other day, you know, we were
09:59kind of talking about the complete game shutout and, and how it had all gone.
10:03And I was asking him if between starts, his routine had been any different after throwing
10:09nine innings and 108 pitches.
10:11And, um, if he'd noticed any differences and, uh, he said something he said to me and he
10:16meant, let me be clear.
10:17He meant nothing by this.
10:19Uh, it was, cause he's, he's such a nice, humble, like character of a person.
10:24Um, but I said, you know, has there been anything different about, you know, between starts or
10:29anything different after a complete game shutout?
10:31And he goes, well, I've done it before.
10:34Uh, and it was just like the most perfect understanding.
10:38Like, oh yeah, actually, yeah, he has done it before.
10:41And like, how many pitchers can say that?
10:42And, you know, we both took a step back.
10:44I was like, dude, do you realize like what you just said?
10:46Like, what a cool thing that you can say, oh yeah, this is actually not new for me.
10:50I actually did this just last year when I threw a complete game shutout in Denver.
10:54So I know what this is like, which is all to say that he's done this before.
10:58There isn't something that is kind of new uncharted water for him here.
11:02He's experienced coming off of a complete game shutout before.
11:05And that was a complete game shutout of course field, no less, which is going to be taxing
11:09to different reasons.
11:10So I think he's going to be just fine.
11:11And I'm not so sure that the last start is going to have much of an impact, if any, on
11:15this start.
11:16Jake, before we let you get out of here, I've offered this to guests in the past.
11:19Would you like any future parenting advice knowing that now you guys are expecting your
11:23first kid?
11:25Yeah.
11:25Yeah.
11:26I'll take any and all parenting advice.
11:29I will say that one of the pieces of advice that I got from somebody over the last month
11:35or so, uh, he said, he said the bed, one of the best pieces of advice that I got was
11:40to
11:40not listen to anybody else's advice.
11:42Wow.
11:43So that was, they just said, don't, don't take anything.
11:45Honestly, it's all a crap shoot anyway.
11:48And to that, and to that, and to that, I said, well, it sounds like you listened to the
11:53advice to not take advice.
11:55It's a little bit oxymoronic.
11:56Don't you think?
11:56Um, no, I'm, I'm just joking.
11:58Yeah.
11:58I'll take, I'll take any and all, any and all parenting advice.
12:01We're, we're so excited.
12:03Um, Jen's Jen's doing great.
12:04Uh, everything's been, been going really well so far and we're just, we're really happy
12:07and excited.
12:08We'll get a Royals onesie in their future.
12:11I suppose.
12:12I love it.
12:13I'd love it.
12:13Jake.
12:14Appreciate it, man.
12:15Uh, have a great weekend down in Texas.
12:17I appreciate it guys.
12:18Take care.
12:19There you go.
12:19Jake Eisenberg with us here on 96, five, the fan.
12:21Yeah.
12:21I think we mentioned it a couple of weeks back.
12:23Congratulations again to him and his wife expecting their first child.
12:26Uh, and, uh, Cody, I remember when, when I think when Danny Welniak, you were trying
12:30to get you on every week, Danny Welniak, you were trying to give her parenting advice a
12:33couple of years back as well.
12:34She, she, she was, she was way too nice to you.
12:37And like, well, like week after week allowed you to continue to give her some parenting
12:42advice.
12:42So, uh, again, uh, when it comes to, when it comes to the Royals though, on the field,
12:46I look, Steven Kolick is, as we said earlier in the week, maybe one of the only big bright
12:50spots of the season.
12:51Otherwise it's just, it's just tough to, to be all that optimistic about where this thing is
12:55headed right now, 12 games, 12 games under 500.
12:58And you know what, like we, I'm not going to even have the conversation.
13:00Like, what do we think the road trip's going to turn out to be?
13:02Then you go six and three.
13:04That doesn't, I mean, that's going to take a month straight before we even start doing
13:08that.
13:09What evidence has anybody seen to suggest that they're capable of doing that?
13:13There's seven and 17 on the road this year.
13:15So none so far this season.
13:17That's what I was asking Jake.
13:18If you, if you're the person in charge, is the message, no, people have come back from worse.
13:23We can do it too.
13:24Or is the message pressures off, just play regular baseball and try to win.
13:28You know, like they always say like, try to win tonight, but I mean, be serious, like
13:30pressures off, whatever you're putting on yourself to like be a win the division before the season
13:35start.
13:35We don't need to think like that right now.
13:37We've got to figure out how to like win a baseball game tonight.
13:39Forget all the historic of the teams who you can give that speech to me two weeks from
13:44now, three weeks from now for playing good baseball.
13:46Then you can say, okay, we, there is still time.
13:49Look at all these other teams it was time for, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't even entertain
13:52that until at least passable baseball is being played.
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