00:00I thought the broadcast was a lot better than it was for the ALDS.
00:05I thought some people might run and hide.
00:06There's some people who want to get in.
00:072-1-6-4-7-4-0-0-92.
00:09Do fans owe Jose Ramirez an apology?
00:13Not all fans.
00:14I think the vast majority, I do think the majority of fans were still very pro-Jose
00:21through the first couple of games of the White Sox series.
00:23But there was some strong criticism that was going on.
00:26And there was more of what's his entire legacy been in the postseason.
00:31It wasn't just him in this series.
00:33And there were a lot of people who were nasty about his entire legacy in the postseason.
00:37And we obviously became defensive of that, defensive of him.
00:42And he has reciprocated in spades here over these last four games.
00:48And has been the catalyst, or one of the catalysts.
00:52I mean, you can give credit to multiple things.
00:53But have been one of the reasons why they went and they won three straight.
00:58And beat the White Sox in the series.
01:00And then he's one of the bigger reasons that they're up 1-0 in this series.
01:03And why, I gotta tell you, I'm feeling as confident as I have about a series after game one
01:08than I think I ever have in my life.
01:12We tend to get tough.
01:13And we tend to get nasty and mean when things aren't going our way.
01:17We're sports fans.
01:19And I don't think, I just think, like, listen, he's a professional baseball player.
01:26He's not above criticism.
01:28However, when I look at the entire history of it, he's as close to above criticism as you can find
01:33for a professional baseball player.
01:36Like, the solid he's done the fan base, the love he's had for the area,
01:41it's about as close to above criticism as you're gonna find for a professional athlete in this city.
01:47Or any city, for that matter.
01:49Well, can you imagine if they cap this off and they get to the World Series and then who knows?
01:54I mean, the stories, the heroic things that, you know, he might dazzle us with.
02:03The way we would talk about him would just, he's already, like, up there for sainthood in this city.
02:10But if he were to do something like that and put this team on his shoulders for an all-time
02:15run
02:15and break the drought and all that stuff, I don't even know I'd run out of platitudes.
02:20I mean, I would just, I'd be run out of the stellar things to say about him.
02:24And I'll be more, you know what, I'll be inviting to some of the people who are naysayers here.
02:28Because I'll say this, I'll admit this.
02:29Now, this isn't what I wanted to say.
02:31This is what I, it's not what I said yesterday that I think I might already have to flip-flop
02:35on that.
02:35That's coming up here in a bit.
02:36However, I did ask myself, I remember I was driving down Route 14.
02:41This was a few weeks ago.
02:44And I did ask myself, you know, he's 34?
02:50Jose's 34, 33?
02:51Somewhere in there?
02:53I go, am I going to be able to recognize when things do start to fall off?
02:56Because I, I, I've said injury, injury, injury, injury, injury, loss season because of the injury.
03:01You lose how many weeks there, right in the middle of it.
03:03It's a loss season because of that.
03:05But I'm going, well, it didn't start out very good.
03:07And I did.
03:08I had a private moment driving where I'm going, am I too much of a fanboy to recognize maybe the
03:14truth?
03:16Because father time catches up with everybody.
03:19And I remembered you and me fighting in 2013, 14, no, it was 2014 when LeBron had came back.
03:27And I don't even think, I don't even know if we were together at the time.
03:29And you and I were having arguments over LeBron, quote unquote, losing a step.
03:34Because you had thought for a while that maybe Miami got the best version of LeBron and we were getting
03:39the remnants.
03:39Here we are over a decade later.
03:41Yeah.
03:42But, you know, you had said he didn't have the type of lift.
03:44And there were several people, by the way, who agreed with you about that.
03:47Several.
03:48Hosts, everything.
03:48I didn't.
03:49But again, I go, well, am I just not seeing the truth?
03:52Like, I did.
03:52I wondered that.
03:53And here you have a guy playing through injury now.
03:55And it's made me feel better about the near future with Jose.
03:59Because eventually, yeah, like, age is going to catch up.
04:01Things are going to catch up.
04:02It has to happen.
04:03We all know that.
04:04There were people flashing his contract, which, you know, were like an all-time discount.
04:09You didn't do that.
04:09And then people were like, not only is it not a discount, if this is who he is.
04:14You didn't do that.
04:15Like, the Guardians are going to suffer big time.
04:17Yep.
04:17There were a lot of people starting to say that in those first couple of games.
04:20So, I mean, I'll admit.
04:22Like, I had a moment driving right down the road.
04:24And maybe I should have got on the air and said it.
04:26Maybe I was pussyfooting around the situation.
04:28Maybe I should have went on the next morning and wondered it.
04:31But I did.
04:32I thought about it.
04:33And I go, am I just not seeing it because I'm a fan?
04:36Do I refuse to see it because I'm a fan?
04:38Again, makes it tough.
04:41And thank goodness he's done what he's done here over the last four games to change that
04:46conversation with the fan base.
04:48Let's go to the phone.
04:49It's Matt in Bay Village.
04:49He's first up on the fan.
04:50Hello, Matt.
04:52What's going on, Ken?
04:53Oh, Matt.
04:54You know, just doing the show.
04:56Heck yeah.
04:57Shout out to my Uncle Tom, who's very jealous that I get to live in Bay Village.
05:02Oh, gosh, I forgot.
05:04Congratulations on all your success.
05:05I apologize.
05:06I forgot I was talking to a Bay Village person.
05:09Lima, please.
05:10Spank me later.
05:11I apologize.
05:11Go right on ahead, Matt.
05:13Thanks, Ken.
05:13Go Rockets.
05:14Yes.
05:15I just want to say I was tough on Jose all year, too.
05:18And what he's been doing this postseason has been awesome.
05:21I take it all back.
05:23I feel like, yeah, this guy is the leader of our team.
05:27He's going to get us the World Series.
05:30I got a text here.
05:32And, Matt, thank you very much for the call.
05:35And I got to agree with our boss here because he sent a text, and maybe he didn't want me
05:39to read it, but he did.
05:40But he says there's a chunk of the fans that if they win a title this year, and obviously
05:46Jose would be on that team, would they hold Jose in higher regard than LeBron?
05:50Yeah, there would be people that would do that.
05:51Because he never left.
05:52Yeah.
05:53He's not from here.
05:54Yeah.
05:54And then took a discount.
05:56Yeah.
05:56We never got a discounted rate.
05:58We never got a discounted rate.
05:59Well, he would probably see it otherwise.
06:02LeBron would.
06:03But I think that there's, like, I don't have to demean the 2016 championship by the Cavs
06:09if the Guardians win the 2026 World Series.
06:13Like, I don't need to demean that, but I think that we know, like, LeBron is an icon.
06:19Jose is beloved here.
06:20Yeah, I mean, if you're just having a discussion at a bar, and you have to pick one or the
06:25other, you know, what's more?
06:26And, you know, there are always people I run into that are like, ah, you know, baseball
06:30would have been my breakthrough, or football would have been, if you could pick which one
06:34to be the breakthrough sport that would have, you know, exercised all the demons.
06:39All Keith did was ask the question, but I'm like, well, I think hands down, I think to
06:43a vast majority of fans in the area, like, he never left.
06:47He's not even from here.
06:49I mean, what really holds on to a guy who's not from here in Cleveland, Ohio?
06:54Well, I mean, the city has a way to dig their hooks into you.
06:56There is that way.
06:57Again, I said to John, I go, yeah, you're going to end up dating somebody here, and 10
07:01years is going to go by real quick, and all of a sudden, you're going to be a Cleveland
07:04guy.
07:05Now, all of a sudden, what is he doing?
07:06He's wearing these bronze leather jackets and stuff like that.
07:10I think that, again, there's a difference between beloved and iconic, and I do think there's,
07:15like, iconic figures in a city, but I do think there's iconic figures to a sport.
07:19I think Miles is iconic to the NFL.
07:22I think that LeBron is certainly an icon in the NBA, one of the greatest figures to ever
07:27play the game in the NBA, but I think when it comes to a city, especially one like Cleveland
07:31and the Midwest, there's guys that are beloved.
07:33And Jose, if they win a World Series, Jose, I think, is in a more special, he may already
07:39be to a lot of other fans, but I'm just saying, if they win a World Series, he's in a
07:43different
07:43category than either of the other two could even dream of.
07:46And LeBron even won a championship here.
07:48Yeah, there were times in Jose's career where the language barrier was something that kind
07:54of, I would say in some ways, neutered his superstardom, right?
08:00Because you're just not speaking the language fluently, then people can't, they can't relate
08:05to you in the same way some people would say that, and people did say that.
08:09I remember that was a big criticism.
08:11Yeah, we had calls about that.
08:12Oh, yeah.
08:13Oh, yeah.
08:13But I think over time, and I think you're about to say this, so go right on ahead.
08:17Yeah, but I just think you're seeing him, and even him attempting, like, you've seen him
08:23try to communicate a little more in English, and I think people just absolutely love that.
08:28Yeah, it endears, it endears to say, no, it just doesn't come as natural to him, but
08:33you can see the enthusiasm pouring over and how much he loves this team and this city.
08:37Well, honestly, he doesn't need to say anything.
08:39If he wants to, we'll just get him anything he wants, because the city loves him that much.
08:422-1-6-4-7-4-0-0-92.
08:44Frank in a truck, you're next up in the fan.
08:45Hello, Frank.
08:46What's going on, fellas?
08:47How y'all feeling?
08:48Frank, we're doing wonderful.
08:49Go right on ahead.
08:50All right.
08:51Now, I love Jose.
08:52You know, everybody else loves everybody else.
08:54Here comes the but.
08:55Here comes the but.
08:56No, it ain't no but.
08:57I don't think we owe him an apology.
08:59I think we owe him a thank you, because he finally gave us a moment to finally, like,
09:03combat all the stuff he didn't do.
09:05You know what I mean?
09:06Because call a spade a spade.
09:07Like, he just wasn't getting it done in the postseason.
09:09But thank you for finally giving us something so we can talk to the haters back to him.
09:13You know what I mean?
09:14Okay.
09:14I can see it that way.
09:16You know what I mean?
09:17You know, like, we just like, it's like taking your kid to the pool for the first time.
09:21Like, you got him around the house in the slip and slide and the water hold, stuff like that.
09:25Like, you know, he'll probably like the pool.
09:26But once you finally get him there, kind of hesitant to jump in.
09:29But once he finally jump in, he happy.
09:31I'm happy.
09:32We all happy.
09:32I'm surprised there's, Frank, thank you very much for the call.
09:35Yeah, I've gotten pretty nasty in my defense of him.
09:37But there is something to be said there where it's like, well, now you have the stats that
09:42back up any sort of argument I want to make.
09:43Like, instead, like, remember we had the call.
09:45You weren't here yesterday.
09:46We had the caller yesterday.
09:47And I think you heard it, Jeff, in Cincinnati, who just came in barrels firing out of both
09:53hands right after me about Deshaun Watson.
09:56I said, all you're giving me is excuses to why he wasn't bad.
09:59You're not telling me why he was good on Sunday.
10:03And I kind of think back to that call.
10:04I go, well, I've given a bunch of excuses why Jose wasn't Jose in the postseason.
10:08I'm not giving reasons before why he's great in the postseason, because I couldn't.
10:14This is different.
10:16This is different.
10:17This is proof positive right here.
10:19And again, the defense, like I said, Aaron, I could talk about defense and gold gloves
10:22and things like that.
10:23Most fans don't care.
10:24They want to see what you do at the plate, especially when you have struggled to score
10:27runs in the postseason.
10:29Before all this, I mean, they're swinging a hot bat.
10:31And just like what we observed right at 6 o'clock this morning, I mean, they pounded.
10:35They were hitting lasers off Rasmussen and then finally got it through.
10:38Will and Medina, you're next up on the fan.
10:40Hello.
10:41Hey, what's going on, guys?
10:42Good morning to you.
10:43Hello, Will.
10:45Hey, you know, you guys are talking about beloved athletes.
10:47And I think the one thing about Cleveland is if you put Cleveland first and you make Cleveland
10:51your home, everybody could be a beloved athlete.
10:53There's probably more people that like Kevin Love than LeBron James, just because of the
10:57fact that he stayed through the dismal seasons after.
11:02Jose's never did anything to make anybody hate him either.
11:04Same thing with like a Nick Chubb or a Bernie Cozart.
11:07Like those players will always be above a LeBron because they didn't do anything to despise
11:13the city.
11:14They didn't do anything to make anybody hate them.
11:15Does that make sense?
11:18Begrudgingly, it does.
11:20Begrudgingly, it does.
11:20I think Lyman's about to get upset.
11:22No, I'm not upset.
11:24I do know there's a distinct...
11:25People in Akron do not feel that way.
11:27There are people in Akron...
11:28But he still won a championship.
11:29He still won a championship.
11:30Yeah.
11:31But I'm just saying there are people in Akron that even supported him leaving.
11:35Like they took his side on that because, you know, it's somebody who is trying to do
11:39everything he could to win a championship and it wasn't going to happen in Cleveland at
11:42that time.
11:42If you've done all that charity work, which he has, it does find it hard for me to say
11:48nasty things about you as a person, even if you did leave and then left again.
11:52It's like, well, that's sports.
11:53I can differentiate that.
11:55And LeBron, there's a ton of stuff behind the scenes people don't even know about.
11:57I understand that.
11:58So there will always be more of a connection there with people in Akron.
12:03What's tough is that, you know, what we do, we argue with each other.
12:06And so the natural thing to argue is, like, if the Guardians were to win a World Series,
12:11it's like, oh, we've got to take it one step at a time.
12:12And I'm trying to be arrogant here.
12:13But if the Guardians do win the World Series, I'm not going to try to make an argument
12:17against the 2016 NBA Finals.
12:19I think they can both be held in high regard.
12:21But I think the proof is, in a lot of people's hearts, that if the Guardians were to win the
12:26World Series, and I think there's probably some people going, eh, even still, which is
12:30a hell of an argument.
12:32But I think if they definitely win a World Series, there's a lot of people who are going
12:35to hold Jose in a higher regard than they would LeBron, because he never left.
12:38And also, the feeling that you're going to get where a guy, I mean, let's call it what
12:42it is.
12:42You leave $100 million, reportedly, on the table over the course of two contracts, which,
12:48I mean, good God, you're probably looking at $150 million over the course of two contracts.
12:51You leave that much money on the table.
12:53No one is ever going to do it yet.
12:54To stay here.
12:55That's why the Union was so mad at him.
12:56Exactly.
12:56And you win the World Series while you're here, a lot of people are going to be in some real
13:02strong emotions.
13:03They are going to be having some very strong emotions about this team and about that man,
13:08because they ain't doing any of this if it's not for that guy.
13:11I don't think that they win those final three games against Chicago if he doesn't wake up.
13:15I can't say that they win last night if he doesn't wake up.
13:17Oh, there's a lot of guys who were really good last night, so I don't know if I can go
13:19that far.
13:20But I don't know if we're talking about last night's game.
13:22I don't know if it weren't for him heating up.
13:25216-474-0092.
13:26All right.
13:27It's 845, the neutral zone with Rat Boy and the Hog.
13:29Coming up next and about last night, the Gardo's big winners, the big bad Dodgers, big losers.
13:37Ken Carman, Anthony Lyman takes us with you to work on that absolutely free Odyssey.
