- 23 hours ago
Red Sox play-by-play announcer Will Flemming joins the show to talk about the team’s historic winning streak and his excitement about the team’s recent turnaround is palpable!
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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, with us right now is Will Fleming, who, by the way, as I said, Will, I don't
00:05know if you heard my intro.
00:06I was in the car when you made the Durbin home run call, and it just felt right.
00:12It just felt right, sir.
00:14Well, I appreciate that very much.
00:16It felt right to me, too.
00:17Doug Lane, by the way, just threw me a bottle of pickle juice.
00:20We're going to be slamming it all night.
00:23I appreciate the things you guys have said today.
00:25It's a delight to be in this ballpark with this team doing the things that it needs to do.
00:30And, by the way, the reason I was a little bit late, not only is Doug Lane tinkering with the
00:34new studio and all the things that hook up,
00:36but we got Jim Rice and Jim Palmer in the booth.
00:39And, I mean, honestly, these are the things that happen when you're around big league baseball.
00:44It makes it such a delight for me.
00:45You get these guys who, I mean, Jim Palmer is now recounting the nine home runs that Jim Rice ever
00:50hit off of him.
00:51And to be a little, you know, just to be a little birdie and a fly on the wall is
00:56such a cool thing.
00:57But there's nothing cooler than being at Fenway these days with everything that's going on.
01:02Yeah.
01:02Can you kind of just, like, look back, and was there a moment that you remember thinking to yourself, this
01:09might be real.
01:10This might not just be, you know, the sun shining on a dog's ass every once in a while.
01:15This team might actually be good.
01:19I think it was this last road trip heading into the All-Star break.
01:22I mean, you sweep the Yankees, and I think the one trouble with everything that had gone on in the
01:27first two months was you had to see it to believe it.
01:31I mean, I was always sort of confused as to why they lost so many games because the pitching was
01:36so good, and they just found ways to lose.
01:39And when they pitched, they didn't hit, and when they hit, they didn't pitch, and the bullpen gave it up.
01:43And it was just one of those weird baseball times, but they had, you know, like a top five ERA
01:49for these long stretches.
01:51So they sweep the Yankees, and you say, all right, maybe we got a little something going.
01:56And then, as you guys know, you know, you do a great job in Seattle, but then it's a debacle
02:01in Colorado.
02:02And I think that's the wild thing about this is we left Colorado, and then you got the terrible flight
02:07situation.
02:08Actually, Colorado's going into the Yankees, but you just – it's one step forward, three steps back.
02:14This most recent road trip heading into the All-Star break was the time where you just thought, you know
02:19what?
02:19You're beating good teams.
02:20You're sweeping everybody.
02:22And the thing that happened last night has kind of been a common thread of all these wins, which is
02:28it doesn't matter how the game starts anymore.
02:30It used to be a death sentence if you fell behind one, two, especially three runs, not anymore.
02:36So I think the road trip going into the break with the sweep of the Mets was the one that
02:39really kind of convinced me this thing could really become something special.
02:43Well, are you surprised to see, I mean, the impact that Wilson Contreras is having on this team?
02:48I mean, he's obviously the engine driving this bus, but, I mean, did anybody see this coming, the leadership, the
02:54buy-in?
02:55I mean, it feels as if he's having more fun playing baseball in his 11 years than he's ever had.
03:01What are your thoughts on him, and are you surprised to see him having the leadership impact that he's having?
03:06I will tell you this.
03:07So Lou Maloney went down with Nesson like on February 10th.
03:12You know, like the spring training started – the game started anyway, like that third week of February.
03:17And I'll never forget it.
03:19Lou sent me a text like 20 minutes after being in the clubhouse that said, you're going to love Wilson
03:24Contreras.
03:25And, yeah, I'd heard from people with the Cubs that he was their favorite guy and that he's the typical,
03:33you know, when he's with you, you love him.
03:35When he's against you, you hate him.
03:37But he's a competitor.
03:39He's a gamer.
03:41Ted, you've been in locker rooms before.
03:43I don't think you can ever necessarily predict what a guy is going to look like with a mix of
03:49players until he's in there.
03:52I just think that the tenacity that he brings every day, the professionalism.
03:58But I think the one thing that people are starting to see now that the Red Sox are winning, which
04:02I love so much, is there is an absolute joy in him.
04:06And he loves this game so much.
04:08We've had him on so many times because he's had so many big hits.
04:11There was a time three weeks ago where I just asked him straight up.
04:14I said, Wilson, how do you find a way to dig this deep?
04:18And he basically said, because I came from absolutely nothing.
04:22I mean, I really – I was in the most poor town in Venezuela.
04:27And so because of that, I appreciate every single moment.
04:31And I think that that mentality kind of percolates through this whole Red Sox clubhouse.
04:36And I think the addition of Chad Tracy, a longtime minor league manager, the addition of all these guys who've
04:43ridden the buses, Anthony Siegler, and all these guys come up there.
04:47It's just a different level of appreciation.
04:49And I think that's where it pairs so well with Wilson's personality because he just – he leads this group
04:57with tenacity and fire.
04:59And I just think it's a perfect marriage.
05:01Have you noticed, Will, this team carrying themselves any differently now that Chad Tracy is the manager?
05:08Can you feel a difference in the way they, I guess, conduct themselves, act?
05:15Does it just seem like a completely different environment?
05:18Well, I mean, I think winning makes that happen a little bit.
05:21But I will say that just speaking about Chad himself, like I was so impressed.
05:26His first press conference, you guys remember the whirlwind that that was.
05:30I mean, the idea that you're going to fire Alex Cora and Jason Veritek and all these people, it was
05:35just like a knockout punch.
05:37You're like, did that really just happen?
05:39And we were in the press room in Baltimore.
05:42And the way that Chad carried himself in that very first press conference, to me, just spoke volumes to the
05:50idea that he's just going to be a steadying force.
05:52And I think that he has been that way.
05:56Wilson told me yesterday that he – there's nothing like too high or too low about Chad Tracy and that
06:04he appreciates that so much.
06:06Wilson said, look, I'm the guy who's like up and down and 12 to 6, and Chad, no matter what,
06:12he's just happy and positive.
06:14I just think that there's something about the calming influence of a manager.
06:19And this is not – this has nothing to do with the people who were here before.
06:24Nothing at all.
06:25Because I think some of this is just people have started to hit and people have started to be what
06:29they are.
06:29But there's no question in my mind that Chad Tracy has been a perfect fit for this group.
06:35Well, Chad, I've been saying for a little bit now that I think Alex Corr is a great manager, but
06:40sometimes you can be a great manager and not be the right manager for a certain team.
06:45And I think that Chad Tracy, because of his experience with the youth and the way that he seems to
06:51protect guys in the media and, like, you know, basically makes them feel safe while they're going through what was
06:57the worst of the worst,
06:58I think that that was perfect for the personality of this team at the time.
07:02Yeah, I agree with you, Rich.
07:03And, I mean, I think – look, Alex was a utility player in his career in the big leagues, and
07:08I think that was part of how he was able to relate to so many Red Sox players.
07:12Like, look, I'm not the guy to tell you how to do your job.
07:15I mean, I wasn't a great player.
07:17He said that over and over again.
07:19I think the difference with Chad Tracy is that – and I'm someone, by the way.
07:24This is part of why I relate so well with Chad Tracy is that I took kind of a long
07:29road to the big leagues,
07:30and that's probably why I lose my mind in these big moments because I appreciate what Fenway Park is, and
07:36so does Chad.
07:37And I think that the players feel that, right?
07:40It's like, okay, we just sat on the runway for 10 hours.
07:44F this.
07:45We're just going to win today.
07:46And I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting next to Chad, and he's said things like that.
07:51You watch.
07:52We're going to go get him.
07:53And I think the players sort of feed off of that mentality of, hey, guys, just block out all the
08:01noise.
08:02We are going to just take it to these guys.
08:05And over and over again, they have.
08:06In reference to your earlier comments kind of about Wilson Contreras, coming from humble beginnings,
08:11and that's maybe what is the motivator for him, do you think that's kind of maybe the secret sauce to
08:15this whole team
08:16is that you have a lot of guys – Rich used the word hungry – that are hungry, that have
08:20come from –
08:21that are getting their opportunities for the first time, and they're seizing it,
08:24and that is kind of what is welding this team together and is maybe the key to why they're playing
08:31as well as they are?
08:32I mean, it's certainly a huge part of it, Ted.
08:34There's no doubt about it.
08:35I mean, think about Aroldis Chapman, right?
08:37He had one attempt to flee Cuba thwarted by the government.
08:42Somehow they got word of it, and they, like, stopped him at the shores of the sea to go.
08:48And so then he's off with Cuba in Barcelona on, like, an international tournament,
08:53and he can't even tell his fiancée, who's pregnant with his baby, that he's got to go,
08:58and there's another boat to another plane that takes him out of there.
09:02And he tells that story to his teammates a lot,
09:05and I think that that's where you've got this common thread of guys who just are bootstrappers, period, full stop.
09:12And I know you guys have talked a lot about Caleb Durbin.
09:16To me, he is with Contreras.
09:19Like, those are the symbols of what's going on here this year,
09:22where you've got a guy who I think two things are the most important about Caleb.
09:27Number one, he dislocates his finger.
09:29I've seen the pictures from the trainers.
09:31It was pointed 90 degrees the other way, right?
09:34So, and he demanded to play the next day.
09:37Talk about a tone setter, right?
09:39Then there's the comment he makes of, what are you talking about?
09:43I have no self-doubt right now.
09:45I've put the work in.
09:46I'm going to be good.
09:47I mean, like, that's the kind of guy you want to go in a foxhole with,
09:51and I think the Red Sox roster right now has a lot of people like that.
09:55All right, Will, tell me the difference between going to work a month ago
09:57and going to work today.
10:00Well, it's rainier today, although it was pretty rainy a month ago.
10:04So, you know, the difference is that we're now part of something
10:09that feels like total magic, where, you know, I've been here now for nine years,
10:16and yet I've not been able to feel what Fenway can be like.
10:22And I keep hearing from Middlebrooks and Sam Kennedy
10:25and all these people around this team of just wait and see.
10:29Well, now all of a sudden I do wait and see, and I feel it every day.
10:33And, you know, it's the best place to work when they're good, period.
10:39There's no better place.
10:40And here's the thing.
10:41I mean, you guys know this.
10:42I travel the whole country and go to all these ballparks,
10:46and there are some really pretty ones, and there are a lot of good ones.
10:49And when people ask me, you know, what are your favorite yards?
10:53I think about the West Coast ones because the weather's pretty good.
10:55They're new, they're beautiful, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco.
10:59And I always come back to this.
11:02The place where I sit right now and look out, it's not even close.
11:07This is the best place.
11:09Not even close.
11:10And especially when they're winning.
11:12Like, just the feeling of being in this place when the team is winning.
11:18And by the way, I would just say this last little stretch here
11:21has been even more fun because both the team and the fans believe you fall
11:27behind, we're coming back.
11:29And when that happens, when there's this collective sort of community spirit
11:34behind the whole thing.
11:35And by the way, that's the thing I love about doing baseball every day is that
11:41it's the only game where people depend on it and rely on it
11:45and can listen to it and watch it every day.
11:47And so when you're on a run like this, you know, the Patriots win a big game.
11:51You've got to wait a week for them to do it again.
11:54Right now, we come every single day to try to continue to make history.
11:58It's the coolest thing ever.
11:59Are they playing this game tonight there, Will?
12:01I can't tell.
12:02It looks pretty awful, but who knows?
12:04I'd be surprised.
12:06I mean, the TARP is on right now.
12:07I've heard some reports that maybe around 8, 15, there's some windows.
12:14I'm always reluctant to play meteorologist.
12:16But betting man, if I were on Kalshi with Ken, I would say probably double-headed
12:23tomorrow.
12:23Who knows?
12:24Well, here's to more pickle juice and to more calls, as I said.
12:29You know, we were with you through the bad times.
12:32It's nice to be hearing you through the not-so-bad times.
12:36Listen, I've always, you know, it's funny.
12:39I can't help myself.
12:40And as part of this minor league thing, right, like where you just ride all these buses and
12:46have all these bad games and stadiums of the 500 people, part of what I realized is the
12:52only way to do this thing is to just be you.
12:54I mean, it's just the only way to do it.
12:56And I'm not trying to be anybody else.
12:59I'm not trying to hide my emotions.
13:00I'm not trying to sound like anybody else.
13:03And that might rub some people the wrong way, but for me, that's the only way to do
13:07it.
13:07We're better for it, man.
13:08Yeah.
13:08I appreciate it.
13:09Absolutely.
13:10All right.
13:11So, by the way, I thought you were going to go full soccer goal last night.
13:16You held that note out pretty good.
13:18And I was like, oh, is he going to get-
13:20I kind of lost my voice, which I almost never do.
13:22But you know what?
13:23You know, if I went full Telemundo, which by the way, I found those games so captivating on
13:30the Spanish telecasts, like, and I speak Spanish so I can understand it.
13:35But even if I didn't, I've heard from so many friends who just watched it.
13:38And I, again, like not to get too deep in the weeds, I just think it's like the whole
13:43point of it is to give emotion through your voice.
13:46And God knows they did.
13:47Yep.
13:47Yeah.
13:47Yeah.
13:47Well, you never go full Telemundo.
13:49You can't do it as a brother.
13:50It'd be like, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.
13:56If you pull one of those off, it will be a clip for the ages.
13:59We'll be waiting.
14:00All right.
14:00Will Fleming, great stuff.
14:02Hopefully they pull this off tonight.
14:03But what a ride it's been so far.
14:04We love playing your calls.
14:05Yeah.
14:05Thanks, Will.
14:05Thanks so much, guys.
14:06Appreciate it.
14:07See you.
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