- 1 day ago
After a 15 game winning streak, the Red Sox finally lost a game and the guys reacted to all the wins, the loss, and how they feel about the team for the rest of the season.
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00:00It is Rich Shirtley, Ken Laird, three-time Super Bowl champion Ted Johnson here on 93.7 WEEI.
00:07And just like that, gentlemen, you can give us your opinions and your greatness here at 617-779-7937.
00:15You can also listen to us on the old Odyssey app.
00:17You just press that microphone button and you can leave us a message.
00:20We play it later on the show.
00:22We launch them, take grenades, probably around like 5, 15 or so.
00:24Gentlemen, how are we feeling today after the big crash of a streak finally broken?
00:29Gentlemen, how are we doing?
00:31Look, I'm optimistic.
00:33You know, I know they eventually had to lose, right?
00:35I mean, they did.
00:35No, they didn't have to.
00:36They didn't?
00:37Wasted it.
00:37Should have been Baio.
00:38Should have gone baby Pedro right out of the chute.
00:40Well, I mean, look, but that's something we got to talk about is Baio going to be their undoing.
00:45I mean, they should still be fine without Brian Baio, but this starter thing for Brian Baio, it's crazy.
00:50But anyway, nonetheless, it's over.
00:52And what I like is there's a really good article from Alex Spear kind of maybe giving a little bit
00:58more explanation,
00:58more clarity into maybe, just maybe, what was the more reason for this turnaround?
01:05And it really highlights your guy, Rich, Chad Tracy.
01:09So we got to get into that article and maybe give him some flowers.
01:13I needed more concrete kind of evidence or reasons for why Chad Tracy is responsible for this turnaround.
01:21And we're starting to maybe get that in this article.
01:23So that's exciting.
01:25It'll be good to talk about.
01:26But, hey, it's a great run.
01:28Now what?
01:29Now what do they do with getting back into the game?
01:33Can they handle being now the hunted as opposed to the hunter?
01:37That's what I'm curious about.
01:38And by the way, Ted, you said my guy.
01:40Listen, it's our guy.
01:41I'm not going to take all the credit on that.
01:43I think all three of us knew when that guy walked in studio the first time.
01:46We're like, he's got it.
01:47He's got that thing.
01:48He's got that moxie.
01:49We wavered, though.
01:50I mean, let's be honest.
01:51I had him traded to the Yankees.
01:53Bradford's right about that.
01:54And we have to play this Contreras audio.
01:56I didn't want to, like, sully the winning streak.
01:58But when Contreras is asked about Tracy, his reaction, I think, is fascinating.
02:03So maybe later in the show we'll get to that.
02:04Was this postgame?
02:05This was a couple days ago.
02:06I mean, everybody's been asked, you know, what was the turnaround?
02:09And what do you think of this?
02:10What do you think of that?
02:10So Contreras was asked what he thinks of Chad Tracy.
02:14And his – do you want to just play it now?
02:16I've got to interrupt the show.
02:18Yeah, if you want to play it now, we can.
02:20Or you want to go in.
02:20You know what?
02:20Let's get some sports that happened, shall we?
02:22Let's see.
02:23What just happened?
02:24Sports happened.
02:26Oh, yes.
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02:40The streak is dead.
02:41Long live the streak, Stiz.
02:44Here's Duran, who lines one to second.
02:46Caught by Holiday.
02:47And the ball game is over.
02:49So the win streak ends at 15.
02:53And they do.
02:55A lot of these fans are clapping as the Red Sox come off the field.
02:58And they should.
03:00What a run it's been.
03:02And we've got a season again.
03:05Yep.
03:05With Chad Tracy turnaround, one hell of a ride from 10th place in the AL wild card.
03:10Six games out to third place and two games up.
03:13Listen, last night, as you guys were saying, sucked.
03:15I mean, there's no doubt about it.
03:16But I kept thinking about it, too.
03:18Like, how awful would it be to be Eduardo Rivera?
03:22You're this, like, rookie who started the year in Portland with history on the line.
03:28It depends on whether you choke or not out there.
03:31Well, he choked.
03:32Four runs.
03:33Didn't make it to the end of the first inning.
03:35And now, sadly, he's back in Worcester.
03:38I mean, just what a huge thing to put on this guy's shoulders.
03:41But, you know, they thought that he could take it.
03:43Was it Eduardo Rivera that was also kind of the fluffer for him the last time?
03:47Yeah.
03:48And that didn't go so well the last time they tried this.
03:51His first outing in this stretch, he had three scoreless.
03:54And then they trotted him out, and Baio had to bail him out in one start.
03:57And this one didn't work.
03:58This one didn't work.
03:59Okay.
03:59Well, it was nice to see Baio bail him out this time.
04:02I mean, he was – I mean, listen, it was one of the things that you see all the time.
04:06Someone started the game and put in a big hole.
04:08This is where the guy shines the most.
04:09This is five scoreless in relief, but no help from the usually explosive bats.
04:14But, you know what, this was – and kind of getting to what you were talking about, Ted,
04:18I think that the coolest thing about the game last night was that reportedly
04:22Chad Tracy went in to address the team postgame
04:25and found Contreras and Gray already giving the speech.
04:30So he stepped back and let the veterans run it.
04:33And I guess Gray's point was to appreciate how rare a run like this is.
04:36And Contreras did the we can beat anybody theme, which really, to be quite honest,
04:41fits both of their personalities.
04:42I like that the players realized that that was an opportunity to kind of put a bow on it.
04:47Like, it's over, all right?
04:49Like, just kind of encapsulate it, acknowledge it, and then what do we do from here?
04:54I like – that's awareness from those veteran guys.
04:56Yeah, that was cool when I read about that.
04:59But here is – here's Chad Tracy afterwards talking about the end of the streak.
05:04We just won 15 games in a row, and I think all of us knew that, like,
05:10that's going to end at some point.
05:12It just happened to end tonight.
05:14So they're already refocused.
05:17I wanted to go in and talk to the team, and Sonny and Wilson were already handling it.
05:21I'll leave that message for in there.
05:23The focus is there now on – you know, that's behind us.
05:27And the big thing is if we continue to play baseball that way,
05:30regardless of how many wins in a row, like, we're going to win a heck of a lot more than
05:33we lose.
05:33So that's the focus now.
05:35But, no, I think everybody knew, like, it's going to end at some point.
05:39It happened to end tonight, and now we've got to refocus.
05:41Okay.
05:42There was something that was bugging me last night,
05:44and maybe either of you two can explain this to me.
05:46They kept saying that Fenway last evening drew the biggest regular season home crowd since 2016,
05:5438,005 people.
05:55That was in the Sox post-game notes.
05:57Wow.
05:58Does that mean that Fenway has not sold out since 2016?
06:01Because isn't there a finite number of tickets in a sold-out game?
06:05You can't sell more than sold out, can you?
06:07I think they call it sell-outs even when there's, like, 36.
06:10I think it's 37055 is an official sell-out, but they have extra standing room or, you know,
06:15they work people in, and there's different night and day attendance, too.
06:18So a sell-out isn't a sell-out?
06:20Right.
06:20There are various shades of sell-out.
06:22Unless you sell-out, Rich, then you did sell-out.
06:25Okay.
06:26Then stop calling it a sell-out.
06:27Like, that drove me crazy.
06:28It's just like, since 2016, this is the most we've had.
06:31I'm like, hang on.
06:32I know you've said you've sold out a bunch of times.
06:35You can't credit for that.
06:36You're not sold out.
06:38You can fit people in there.
06:39Yeah, you round it up.
06:39You know, sometimes you get to round it up.
06:41Oh, right.
06:42Sure.
06:42They just stack people on top of each other in the bathroom.
06:45Right.
06:45I guess to get in there.
06:46By the way, tickets on the secondary market for last night's game,
06:48if you guys saw that, were stupid.
06:50Like, it was like not even great seats were like $260.
06:54Yeah.
06:55Like, in the bleachers.
06:56Witness history, yeah.
06:57They had a chance, man.
06:58They fell short.
06:59But doesn't that give you a little insight into the Boston populace,
07:02the fan base?
07:02I mean, they will come.
07:03If you put a good product out there, they show up.
07:05They're not going to necessarily tolerate losers anymore.
07:08I mean, that era is over, even for the Red Sox or probably the Patriots.
07:11You know, we saw that in their lull.
07:12But it's a, we'll support you if you're a winter town.
07:14And you've got to respect that.
07:16Well, you're trying to win.
07:17Or just giving the appearance that you're trying to win.
07:18Or just showing, like, you've got some heart and that you care.
07:21You don't have to blow us away.
07:23Just give us the best you've got.
07:25And we know when you're playing at your best and when you're not.
07:28Right.
07:28And when you're trying to, you know, position yourself to be the best.
07:32This team finally was starting to play at a level which people can appreciate in this town.
07:36And you know what's funny, Ted, is that that was one of the first things that I remember we talked
07:40to Chad Tracy about.
07:41We said, you know, these guys, you know, a lot of them don't even know what it's like to win
07:45at Fenway Park and how unbelievable it can be.
07:47And I heard Chad Tracy talking about that with Greg Hill yesterday morning.
07:52And he was basically saying, yeah, at the beginning of the season, you know, these guys just couldn't understand what
07:59they're seeing right now.
08:00Like, this was something that was possible.
08:01And now that it's there, and you know this, Ted, when you're on a winning team, it's a drug.
08:05You get addicted to this kind of feeling when the crowd is behind you.
08:09It is that, you know what it is?
08:10It is the payoff.
08:12It's your paycheck for having to suffer through the scrutiny, the intense scrutiny when you're not doing well.
08:20The paycheck is, on the other side, is that if you're winning, there ain't nothing like it in a town
08:25like this.
08:25Man, it's the perfect way to put it is if athletes that come in here,
08:29if they just can get a taste of what it's like to win, it is a drug.
08:33Just like you said, it is addicting.
08:35You never want to go back to that.
08:36And so this, what they experienced these last 15 games should be a huge lesson for them
08:44and for what's to come in front of them, that they do not want to go back to where they
08:48were
08:49because it was awful to start the season.
08:51And then they got a taste of what it's like around here, these last 15 games.
08:55And you know what, the cool thing is, is that these guys, they're all kind of getting a lot of
09:00them,
09:01the opportunities for the first time, especially in Fenway, but even just in the bigs.
09:05It was a little taste of what it will feel like if and when they make it to the playoffs,
09:10right?
09:10So they kind of got a precursor to what the intensity is like here if and when they get to
09:16the playoffs.
09:17Do you see Brez on TV after game one?
09:20They're just feeling good.
09:21Very emotional.
09:23He tried to be a little more restrained than he was the night before.
09:25The night before, as I said, he was like, wow, the crazy guy.
09:27He was like, I have the time of his life.
09:29But yesterday was a little more restrained.
09:31You know who's driving me crazy?
09:32We'll talk about it later.
09:33I hate that Tom Warner's like all over the place now.
09:35Why?
09:36This is what you've been calling for in order to speak to the media.
09:38No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
09:41You've said that literally every show since we've been on the air.
09:43Why doesn't John Henry speak to the media?
09:44He's right, Rich.
09:45You have said that.
09:46Now he talks and you're bitching at him.
09:47No, here's what I'm bitching at, is that he hid his face when this team stunk.
09:52And now that they're doing great, he's getting in front of the camera.
09:55And that's yellow to me.
09:57Like, that is something that is so cowardly.
09:59You don't do that.
10:00And not only get in front of the camera, but, you know, basically, you know,
10:02tooting his own horn.
10:04Yes, exactly.
10:04We knew the whole time.
10:06Yeah, sure.
10:06It was great.
10:06Yeah, you were the guy that knew when they were in the toilet.
10:09Because I'll tell you what, Sam Kennedy didn't think that.
10:12Sam Kennedy came on here and was just like, nah, man, we may have to pivot.
10:14But Craig Breslow even didn't feel that way after a while.
10:17And so that's why when I see Breslow feeling good, I feel I'm okay with that.
10:21I'm like, you know what?
10:22You dealt with a, just like I said, Ted, the paycheck to being in this town is that
10:28if you take all of the crap, you're going to take all the bullets,
10:31but you're going to get all the praise when you end up winning or you start doing well.
10:35Right, man.
10:36So I got no problem with Breslow feeling that way.
10:38But that's not happening.
10:39I mean, Tracy is getting way more credit than Breslow.
10:41And it's led by Rich.
10:43And I don't know that he should, especially after this Alex Spear article.
10:47So I want to get into this later.
10:48Yeah, okay.
10:48So let's do that next.
10:50Because Chad Tracy, it is an interesting, it really is interesting how different he is
10:56than Alex Cora.
10:57And just how it truly seems like these guys, this team, needed a coach like Chad Tracy.
11:05And not someone who was more veteran-focused and would call out guys in press conferences
11:11the way Alex Cora did.
11:12Who I think Alex Cora is a great manager and will be a great manager next season for a team.
11:16But this just seemed to fit so well.
11:19So yeah, points to Craig Breslow on this move.
11:22And I just, now I'm starting to think it's inevitable.
11:24Even like if this team disappoints through the rest of the season,
11:29I think that you've at least got a really,
11:31you're going to have to make a really tough case to not make this guy the manager now.
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