Kent Mercker Pitched With Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine

Our hilarious guest is Kent Mercker, former MLB pitcher who spent 18 seasons in the big leagues and shared clubhouses with 17 Hall of Famers throughout his remarkable career. We dive into his experiences with Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine, getting an inside look at what made each of them such extraordinary players, competitors, and teammates.

Plus, we’re never going to pass up a great Bobby Cox story, and Mercker has plenty of them. He threw a no-hitter, was part of a combined no-hitter, and accomplished something else that makes him the only player in baseball history to achieve all three. Find out what that unique distinction is in the interview.

He’s also a proud girl dad, a role he considers one of his greatest accomplishments. He shares a memorable moment with Mark McGwire that we’re willing to bet you’ve never heard before, along with a Vin Scully story that absolutely gave us chills.

Thanks for listening or watching, and thank you always for being a part of our family!

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Is this a great game or what? And

Speaker 1: our special guest today is former Major league pitcher Kent Merker.

Speaker 1: Played on the championship team with the Braves in ninety five,

Speaker 1: pitched a no hitter, played for Bobby Cox, played for

Speaker 1: nine different teams. Kent, this is my son, Jeff Salo.

Speaker 2: Hello, Jeff, Hello Tim. Great to be on man, appreciate

Speaker 2: you having me.

Speaker 1: Yeah, Jeff, I have reconnected with Kent over the years here.

Speaker 1: He hadn't played a little while, but the other night

Speaker 1: he sent me a text because he listens to the

Speaker 1: show and he loves the alphabet that we do, so

Speaker 1: at the when it came up to the letter M,

Speaker 1: he sends me a text saying, Okay, I know there's

Speaker 1: a lot of competition for the M pitcher. You got Messina,

Speaker 1: you got Mareschal, you got Maddox, you got Christy Bathison,

Speaker 1: and you have Kent Murker. So I picked Maddox over Mercer,

Speaker 1: I picked I picked Maddox over Kent Murker. Kent, are

Speaker 1: you still want to do the show?

Speaker 2: Dude? I want to know why Jeff's laughing so hard

Speaker 2: about that. I mean, come on, dude, if hey without me,

Speaker 2: Maddox may not be the pitcher he is or was.

Speaker 2: I was a very supportive teammate. We worked on his

Speaker 2: change up a lot. You know. I'd go over and

Speaker 2: we'd throw, you know, in his driveway because Leo didn't

Speaker 2: know what he was doing, so we would go over

Speaker 2: and I would help him with a change up, literally

Speaker 2: in his driveway. No, I'm kidding. I didn't help Greg Maddicks.

Speaker 2: I got him coffee if he asked for That's the

Speaker 2: only thing I did to help Greg Maddicks.

Speaker 1: Wow, But but Kent, You threw a no hitter and

Speaker 1: Greg Maddox didn't. Isn't that one of the beauties of baseball.

Speaker 1: You had a good career, don't get me wrong. You

Speaker 1: won seventy four games whatever it was, pitched for a

Speaker 1: million teams. He did really well. But Maddix ever threw

Speaker 1: a no hitter and you did. Isn't that great about baseball?

Speaker 2: That's what I love about the games. It's not discriminate

Speaker 2: towards anyone, right Like you look at that rotation with

Speaker 2: obviously Avery Maddox, Smoltz Glave three Hall of Famers, and

Speaker 2: I was the only one to throw a no hitter,

Speaker 2: which it just doesn't make sense, But I'll tell you

Speaker 2: a funny story about that if you want to hear it. So, yes,

Speaker 2: I throw that Dodger Stadium April eighth, So it was

Speaker 2: my first start out of spring training. I ended up

Speaker 2: throwing one hundred and thirty one pitches, which would not

Speaker 2: even wouldn't happen today because the pitch counts and all that.

Speaker 2: But all the hooplaus over I do, all my interviews,

Speaker 2: Bobby calls me in that little office in Dodger Stadium. Tim,

Speaker 2: I'm sure you've seen it. Yeah, he goes, great game, kid.

Speaker 2: He goes, listen, we got an off day Monday, right,

Speaker 2: He goes, we're going to skip you. We're gonna skip

Speaker 2: your new start, but we can keep the other four

Speaker 2: guys on their normal day. And I'm like, I said, yes, sir,

Speaker 2: and I walk out going, Man, I throw a no

Speaker 2: hitter and I'm not even getting to make my next

Speaker 2: start because the other guys were that much better, and

Speaker 2: I'm probably the only guy to throw a no no

Speaker 2: and then not make their next start. I had to

Speaker 2: wait like ten days to pitch again. But you know

Speaker 2: what I understood? Why?

Speaker 1: Yeah, So Jeff I was at Kent Merker's no hitter.

Speaker 1: I was at Sports Illustrated. I wasn't there for any

Speaker 1: particular reason, just checking up on some teams and Kent

Speaker 1: Murker threw a no hitter when I was at the game,

Speaker 1: and I talked to him the next day and I said, so,

Speaker 1: how are you feeling today? And he told me back

Speaker 1: when CNN had like headline news, where the same thing

Speaker 1: would run, like the same stuff would run every twenty minutes.

Speaker 2: He likes stayed up all night watching the sport.

Speaker 1: Oh yeah, because he was a highlight. Can't you remember that, right? Uh?

Speaker 2: Oh absolutely? And it just like you said, it just rolled,

Speaker 2: it rolled, And I'm like, you know what, that may

Speaker 2: be the best game of my life. I'm going to

Speaker 2: watch as much as this as I can. And you

Speaker 2: know what was cool too, is is I was always

Speaker 2: a get up early guy. And so it was probably

Speaker 2: six in the morning. You know, I'm watching the news,

Speaker 2: but I go to get a coffee somewhere, and I'm

Speaker 2: remember they had the old paper machines, newspaper machines like

Speaker 2: on the yes where you put a corner fifty cents in. Dude,

Speaker 2: I'm walking down the street in the front page, there

Speaker 2: I am, and I'm like, dude, this is cool. I

Speaker 2: probably spent forty dollars. I went and got like two

Speaker 2: rolls of quarters and bought every newspaper I could find

Speaker 2: down there. And by the way, it's the worst city

Speaker 2: to throw a no hitter if you want to go

Speaker 2: out and have a beer afterwards, because it's just all

Speaker 2: clubs down there. So I just went back to my

Speaker 2: room and no one texted me because we didn't have

Speaker 2: cell phones yet. Like, it was just it was awesome though.

Speaker 2: And what the best part of that for me was

Speaker 2: someone sent me a tape and it was obviously TBS's

Speaker 2: video and they dubbed it to Vin Scully's audio. And

Speaker 2: I'm like, I felt fortunate one to pitch there, but

Speaker 2: to have Vin Scully call that game, who I think

Speaker 2: is one of the best that ever lived, if not

Speaker 2: the best. But it was just kind of cool. Oh

Speaker 2: that is but I missed, Yeah, and Bobby bench me.

Speaker 2: He benched me because I wasn't.

Speaker 1: I don't know now, Ken.

Speaker 3: First of all, the Bobby Cox is like one of

Speaker 3: our favorites of all time on this podcast. Anytime we

Speaker 3: have a chance to get a Bobby Cox story, obviously,

Speaker 3: you just opened up with that one. Do you have

Speaker 3: any other Bobby Cox stories you can share with us,

Speaker 3: because we just love him so much, his character, legendary manager.

Speaker 3: What do you want to share?

Speaker 2: You know what? Like Bobby was very simple. He had

Speaker 2: three rules. Show up early, play the game the right way,

Speaker 2: and don't arris the team right. It was pretty simple,

Speaker 2: and it didn't matter if you were me or if

Speaker 2: Maddox or if it was David Justice or Fred McGriff

Speaker 2: all had the same rules. But the one time, I'll

Speaker 2: never forget it. I was closing at the time. This

Speaker 2: was in the early nineties, and we had a one

Speaker 2: run lead, two run lead, and I come in and

Speaker 2: of course I get in trouble like I did a lot.

Speaker 2: And by the way, Bobby called me a top step.

Speaker 2: He goes, you're a top step, top flight reliever. And

Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, thanks, he goes, because every time I

Speaker 2: took you and I was on that top step waiting

Speaker 2: to come and get you out, and I'm like Jesus, Bobby.

Speaker 2: But I get into I get into a situation where

Speaker 2: again two run lead, I come in to pitch the ninth,

Speaker 2: I get in a little trouble I've got second, third,

Speaker 2: two outs, ground ball to first. I don't cover first.

Speaker 2: I'm late. I'm just like, oh my god, anyway, run scores. Now,

Speaker 2: I got first and third, I strike the next guy out.

Speaker 2: We win the game. He goes, hey, when we're doing

Speaker 2: the celebrations going through the line into the dugout, he goes, hey,

Speaker 2: I want to see in my office for a minute.

Speaker 2: And I'm thinking, I'm gonna get the closers shop like

Speaker 2: that's what he's getting ready to tell me, and he

Speaker 2: calls me in and he takes his glasses off and

Speaker 2: he just stares at me. I'm sitting across his desk.

Speaker 2: He just stares at me, and it felt like an

Speaker 2: hour and it was probably ten seconds. And he goes,

Speaker 2: you didn't cover first. I'm like, yeah, I know. He goes,

Speaker 2: That's not how we play baseball in Atlanta. I'm like,

Speaker 2: I'm sorry, skip, like it'll never happen again. And he's

Speaker 2: like okay, and then he's like, dude, great punch out.

Speaker 2: At the end, that slider was neat like complimenting me.

Speaker 2: And I covered first on fly balls to left field

Speaker 2: after that, anywhere the ball was hit, I was covering

Speaker 2: first base. On a strikeoun I was like, I'm never

Speaker 2: gonna just because you know what, Bobby had this aura

Speaker 2: about him. He defended his player is better than any

Speaker 2: manager I've ever played for. And that's not a slide

Speaker 2: on any other manager. But you didn't want to disappoint Bobby.

Speaker 2: You know. It was like he was your grandfather, and

Speaker 2: like you make your dad mad every now and then,

Speaker 2: but you don't want to disappoint grandpa. And and he

Speaker 2: was simple, but that's why he was so good because

Speaker 2: players would do anything for that man. And God rest

Speaker 2: his soul, obviously, but you knew what you got. He's

Speaker 2: going to give you every opportunity. And that was it.

Speaker 1: Do you know the jeff Frank or Tiger Woods golf

Speaker 1: story that Jeffrey was talking about is does that not

Speaker 1: sum up who Bobby Cox was as a manager better

Speaker 1: than any story.

Speaker 2: It's it's epitomizes who Bobby was. And you know, Bobby

Speaker 2: was really good at this too. Like even when I

Speaker 2: was a rookie ar my second year, like I'm a nobody,

Speaker 2: he would come over and make the time to go, hey,

Speaker 2: how's Julie my wife, how's Maddie? Mattie's your oldest right, Yeah,

Speaker 2: how she doing? Like he made everything personal and he

Speaker 2: knew everything about everybody and you felt and he also

Speaker 2: made you feel like you were the best player on

Speaker 2: the planet when you were actually playing. He just had

Speaker 2: a way of getting the best and personalizing stuff and

Speaker 2: you felt like you were part of this whole thing. Right.

Speaker 2: You weren't just someone that if you had two bad

Speaker 2: games in a row, he'd come over and show you

Speaker 2: more love. Like That's what was great about him. And

Speaker 2: the Frank Core story is epitomizes him. It really does, Jeff.

Speaker 1: We have to tell it real quickly for our listeners

Speaker 1: who haven't heard it before. I'll make it fast here.

Speaker 1: Frank Core is twenty two years old, it's spring training.

Speaker 1: He's got a chance to play with Tiger. Bobby goes

Speaker 1: to him before the game and says, I understand spring

Speaker 1: training game. I understand you have a chance to play

Speaker 1: with Tiger today and Frank cor goes, yes, I do,

Speaker 1: but I'm not playing. I'm staying here. Bobby says, I

Speaker 1: got a deal. You go playing bradon Ton in three days.

Speaker 1: Everyone hates going there. He said, if you do that,

Speaker 1: I will get you off the field after one at

Speaker 1: bat and get you onto the golf course. So he said,

Speaker 1: after you your first at bat, pretend as you run

Speaker 1: through first base that you tweaked your ankle or something,

Speaker 1: and I'll get you out of the gate. So that's

Speaker 1: exactly what Frank Coorr did. He plays twenty seven with

Speaker 1: Tiger and Frank Korr's wife calls him at four thirty

Speaker 1: in the afternoon and says, you're on the wire that

Speaker 1: you have a high ankle spray and when he was

Speaker 1: never hurt in the first place, Bobby set it up.

Speaker 2: And but yep, you're right.

Speaker 1: It personifies who Bobby is because if he did that

Speaker 1: for me, I would run through a wall for him

Speaker 1: for the rest of my life.

Speaker 2: Agreed, Yes, And that's and that's exactly. And by the way,

Speaker 2: he wasn't doing that, so Frank Korr would eventually run

Speaker 2: through a wall. It's just who Bobby was, right. You know.

Speaker 2: When I got called up, I got called up, he

Speaker 2: told me. He goes, listen, I was a starter of

Speaker 2: my whole life. I got called up as and they

Speaker 2: put me in the bullpen. He goes, listen, you're the

Speaker 2: best week option we have, right, And he goes, you're

Speaker 2: going to get a chance to fail up here, which

Speaker 2: immediately is like what, Like, it's not. It made me

Speaker 2: feel more comfortable. Like, listen, if you come in tonight

Speaker 2: and you don't get the job done, you're going to

Speaker 2: get the ball tomorrow. If you do again, you're going

Speaker 2: to get the ball the next day. Now, eventually you

Speaker 2: got to do your job. But it just put me

Speaker 2: at ease, and every player he's played for puts him

Speaker 2: at ease. Like it's tough enough to pitch in the

Speaker 2: big leagues, but if you know you're allowed to fail

Speaker 2: every now and then and you're going to get more opportunities,

Speaker 2: you end up pitching better and you fail less. And

Speaker 2: it was just his way of doing it. And again

Speaker 2: it goes back to like I don't want to disappoint it,

Speaker 2: you know. And we talked before we got on that

Speaker 2: I was early to this call. I'm like, Bobby talk,

Speaker 2: don't be late. Taught all of us don't be late.

Speaker 2: You know the old saying, if you're not fifteen minutes earlier,

Speaker 2: you're late. And it's just I've held down and he

Speaker 2: just was such a steward of teaching baseball and the

Speaker 2: right way to play it. And as good as he

Speaker 2: was and is accomplished. He's in the Hall of Fame.

Speaker 2: Obviously it won't. None of that does justice of how

Speaker 2: many players he truly affected in a positive way.

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Speaker 2: L Back to your no hitter.

Speaker 1: By the way, you you had a combined no hitter

Speaker 1: also September eleventh, nineteen ninety one, Wohlers and Alejandro pay

Speaker 1: You followed, tell us what happened on the combined no hitter.

Speaker 2: So I was in the bullpen and all year and

Speaker 2: maybe got to forty five fifty pitches is the most

Speaker 2: I probably ever threw coming out of the bullpen. And

Speaker 2: I show up to the field that day and Leo

Speaker 2: Mazzoni comes over and he goes, hey, and I think

Speaker 2: it was Mike by Lecky was supposed to start, and

Speaker 2: he goes, he's got something with his back or his

Speaker 2: lat or something. He doesn't know if he's going to

Speaker 2: be able to pitch. It might have been Charlie Lee Brandt.

Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I'm old and I forget stuff. But anyway,

Speaker 2: whoever was supposed to start said he just so I

Speaker 2: went down. As he warmed up, he threw like ten

Speaker 2: pitches and he said, I can't go. So I got

Speaker 2: the spot start and I end up it was against

Speaker 2: San Diego, and I end up going six innings no hit.

Speaker 2: I got to like seventy four or five pitches, and

Speaker 2: I come in after the sixth and Bobby just says, hey, listen,

Speaker 2: I know you got to no hit or going, but

Speaker 2: I don't want to hurt you. You're not built up

Speaker 2: to do this or strength wise. And it's Bobby, Okay,

Speaker 2: you got it skip, and then Wohlers comes in pitches too,

Speaker 2: Painia gets to save. By the way, Paine had no idea.

Speaker 2: He threw the ball from the last out to a

Speaker 2: fan and everyone's going, what are you doing, dude, Like

Speaker 2: that's a no hitter. It's the first combined no hitter

Speaker 2: in National League history. And he's like, I had it

Speaker 2: in Spanish but he said something like oh me mallow,

Speaker 2: and I'm like whatever, But yeah, that's how that's that's

Speaker 2: how it happened. And then, as fate would have it,

Speaker 2: two years ago or two years later in San Diego,

Speaker 2: same thing. Hey, so and so is supposed to start today.

Speaker 2: I don't know if he can start. And this was

Speaker 2: in ninety three and I go down waiting to see

Speaker 2: I was a caddy for all these guys apparently, and

Speaker 2: he can't go. So I start that game and goes

Speaker 2: six no hitting it and then Wollers comes in gives

Speaker 2: up a hit in the seventh I believe, so he

Speaker 2: takes me out because he's the same thing. Dude, you're

Speaker 2: not built up for this. So I went six no

Speaker 2: hit in that game. So then ninety four I was

Speaker 2: He told me on a spring training you're a starter.

Speaker 2: And in ninety four when I actually threw my no hitter,

Speaker 2: obviously went six no hit. I went in thinking, all right,

Speaker 2: I'm done again. This is Bobby's thing. He's going to

Speaker 2: pull me after six no hit innings. Every time I

Speaker 2: go out there. He didn't say a word. He didn't

Speaker 2: say a word, and I ended up finishing it and

Speaker 2: he was like, dude, I wasn't going to take you

Speaker 2: out again. So but yeah, it was it was just

Speaker 2: luck can't right.

Speaker 3: I was always so curious when when you're in that

Speaker 3: position as a reliever, who's getting spot starts, And both

Speaker 3: of those seemed extremely last minute. Are you running into

Speaker 3: the clubhouse early nineties, different time, calling your wife and saying, hey,

Speaker 3: I'm about to go start get to the ballpark if

Speaker 3: you're not here yet right like or because with that position,

Speaker 3: it's different when you're an everyday starter, which you had

Speaker 3: the uppertunity to.

Speaker 2: Be as well.

Speaker 3: The family knows, Okay, it's what day we're doing, unless

Speaker 3: you get skipped by Lobby Cox. But are you calling

Speaker 3: in the clubhouse? Hey, hey, make sure you get to

Speaker 3: the ballpark because I have starting.

Speaker 2: The dude, I didn't have a quarter for the payphone

Speaker 2: because there were no cell phones. Called me bout it,

Speaker 2: and my wife at the time probably wouldn't have answered

Speaker 2: if I did call, so we're not even gonna have

Speaker 2: that discussion. But no, she was there. That's that's I

Speaker 2: was still early enough in my career where the family

Speaker 2: came to every game, right, whether I got in or

Speaker 2: I didn't, they were there. It was it was all

Speaker 2: part of the excitement of being in the big league.

Speaker 2: So yeah, but it was. That was a fun night,

Speaker 2: It really was. And again I gave Bobby. I told Leo, like, really,

Speaker 2: you pulled me with two no hitters, now, like this

Speaker 2: is a joke, like joking with him. So then in

Speaker 2: ninety four I go in and I look at him

Speaker 2: and he just turns his head the other way, like

Speaker 2: I'm not even gonna say a word to him, and

Speaker 2: he and he tells the story. By the way Leo

Speaker 2: tells the story, and I don't believe it, but he

Speaker 2: said I came in after six and told him I

Speaker 2: was tired and I'm done, which I never would have

Speaker 2: said in my life. But he tells that story, and

Speaker 2: I still to this day, I'm like, dude, you're making

Speaker 2: me look bad man like coming out with a no hitter,

Speaker 2: And he's like, oh, I remember you. And I'm like, okay,

Speaker 2: we'll agree to disagree on this story. But anyway, it

Speaker 2: was fun. You know, the best part of my the

Speaker 2: best part of my no hitter when I watched it

Speaker 2: the replay is to see Smolsey and Avery and Maddox

Speaker 2: how excited they were for me. They were the first

Speaker 2: ones out, Like it was awesome. Man. Bobby created such

Speaker 2: a great chemistry within the clubhouse that everyone, no one

Speaker 2: was jealous that I threw the no hitter. They were

Speaker 2: couldn't have been more excited for me. And that's that.

Speaker 2: That was what was cool to me. Three events, Hall

Speaker 2: of famers were excited for me. It was great.

Speaker 1: All right, we'll get to the Three Hall of Famers

Speaker 1: in a minute. Ken, But Jeff, you know how much

Speaker 1: I love bizarre, quirky, arcane statistics. Yesterday, Kent Merker told

Speaker 1: me that he was told he's the only pitcher ever

Speaker 1: to throw a no hitter, be a part of a

Speaker 1: combined no hitter, and during his career hit a grand Slam.

Speaker 1: So I checked it out personally this morning at about

Speaker 1: four o'clock in the morning, and it's true. So, Ken,

Speaker 1: what isn't like to be a part of that triumphant

Speaker 1: there no hitter, combined no hitter and you hit a

Speaker 1: grand slam.

Speaker 2: Dude, I never would have thought about a buddy of mine.

Speaker 2: I've still got moronic buddies like me that just come

Speaker 2: up and now that AI and all that chat GPT

Speaker 2: that you can look up anything. They just randomly sent

Speaker 2: me that, and I'm like, ah, no big deal. But

Speaker 2: of course I copied it and sent it to all

Speaker 2: my girls to say, your dad is way cooler than

Speaker 2: you think he is, Like look at this, But I

Speaker 2: had no idea, you know, Like, I know Bob Gibson

Speaker 2: probably had a grand slam. I know he probably threw

Speaker 2: a no hitter, right, Like, I'm like I don't even

Speaker 2: know if that's a thing. And by the way, if

Speaker 2: you add from Dublin, Ohio, I definitely would be the

Speaker 2: only pitcher with those other three criteria. But yeah, he

Speaker 2: sent me that, and I'm like, dude, you know what,

Speaker 2: that's actually kind of cool, right like, And I wasn't

Speaker 2: playing the game for myself. It wasn't about individual achievements.

Speaker 2: It was about obviously getting to a World Series and

Speaker 2: winning a World Series, which we did lost to which

Speaker 2: God that ninety one World Series, by the way, was awesome.

Speaker 2: But yeah, I had no idea. And I'm like, girls,

Speaker 2: look at this. You think I'm the old guy with

Speaker 2: the gray beard. Look what your dad did fifty eight

Speaker 2: years ago, you know what I mean? And they actually

Speaker 2: thought it was cool, like dad, Dad's cool. Hey, can

Speaker 2: I borrow hundred bucks? That's the follow up. And I'm like, yeah, you.

Speaker 3: Know, my sister, My sister used to call my dad

Speaker 3: the ATM with nosehair sneak.

Speaker 2: Oh my god, that's hilarious.

Speaker 1: He knows a little bit about that.

Speaker 2: It happened.

Speaker 1: So can you hit one home run in your career

Speaker 1: and it was a grand slam?

Speaker 2: Tell us about that. I looked it up. I found it.

Speaker 1: Tell us what happened that day.

Speaker 2: So I'll send you the video if you want it.

Speaker 2: But yes, I so, here's Jeff and Tim. Here's the

Speaker 2: best part of that story. This is just like getting

Speaker 2: skipped in the rotation after a no hitter. So we're

Speaker 2: in Miami, we're obviously playing the Marlins. So Haesu Sanchez

Speaker 2: is a little lefty thrown like ninety four five. I

Speaker 2: closed my eyes at the right time it hit the

Speaker 2: barrel and hit a home run. And Mark McGuire was

Speaker 2: on that team that was in ninety eight. Mark McGuire

Speaker 2: happened to hit two that night and beat Hack Wilson's

Speaker 2: National League record of fifty eight home runs. That got

Speaker 2: Big Mac to fifty nine. I went seven. I think

Speaker 2: I gave up one run. Kot Say hit a solo

Speaker 2: shot off me, and I hit my grand slam, and

Speaker 2: Big Mac hits two. So he's now the all time

Speaker 2: National League hadn't caught marriage yet, but he's the all

Speaker 2: time National League home run lead single season. So after

Speaker 2: the game, the kid that caught my ball comes into

Speaker 2: the tunnel and they're like, hey, the kids outside, he's

Speaker 2: got your ball, you know, And normally if you do

Speaker 2: anything like that, like someone wants to trade off, like

Speaker 2: you sign a ball for him or sign a bat

Speaker 2: or whatever. So the kid goes out there is with

Speaker 2: his dad, and I go out and I'm like, oh, man, booty,

Speaker 2: and I go, what can I do for you? And

Speaker 2: he goes, can you get me Mark McGuire's autograph? And

Speaker 2: I was like, So I'm sitting there and I'm like yeah.

Speaker 2: So instead of just going in and getting it, I said,

Speaker 2: you know what, come with me. So I bring him

Speaker 2: and his dad into the clubhouse. Mark's over there in

Speaker 2: his locker with his beastly forearms in his underwear, and

Speaker 2: I walk him and his dad over and I said, hey, Mac,

Speaker 2: I want my grand Slam ball, but you've got to

Speaker 2: sign something because the kid doesn't want my autograph, he

Speaker 2: wants your. So Mark signed a bat for him. Mark

Speaker 2: signed a bat for him. And but the paper the

Speaker 2: next day wasn't tent Murker pitched seven to one run

Speaker 2: Gotta win. It was Mark McGuire breaks Pack Wilson's National

Speaker 2: League record. And then at the very end of the article,

Speaker 2: right down there at the bottom, oh, by the way,

Speaker 2: Kemp Merker hit his first career home run Grand Slam

Speaker 2: and pitched seven innings. It was like, what do I

Speaker 2: gotta do to get any kind of recognition this game? Right?

Speaker 2: So Ken, which which made me think maybe I should

Speaker 2: streak during the seventh any one game that would definitely mean.

Speaker 1: Ken.

Speaker 3: Uh.

Speaker 1: Derek Jeter hit one Grand Slam in his career, Pete

Speaker 1: Rose hit one Grand Slam. You have as many career

Speaker 1: Grand Slams as Pete Rose and Derek Jeter. Does that

Speaker 1: make you feel a little better?

Speaker 2: That's why I should have moved up on your end

Speaker 2: list tim as the best pitchers. It's a pitching just isn't.

Speaker 2: It's also includes offense. Matticks didn't having a great Christy

Speaker 2: doesn't have a no hitter.

Speaker 1: He doesn't have a no hitter either, or a Grand

Speaker 1: Slam or a combye no hitter. But no, all right,

Speaker 1: let's let's get to him for reals here.

Speaker 2: But but but but Maddox has two hundred and eighty

Speaker 2: more wins than I do, so that probably figured into

Speaker 2: your calculus, right.

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Speaker 1: So Ken, seriously, we'll get to Maddox the Crazy band

Speaker 1: in a minute, but tell me what it was like

Speaker 1: to watch him pitch in his prime.

Speaker 2: It was amazing, like and you know, this guy's nowadays,

Speaker 2: Like velocity is just it's the Holy Grail, right, Like,

Speaker 2: if you throw hard, you're gonna get opportunities. I would

Speaker 2: watch Greg Maddox dominate for nine innings and nothing flashy, right,

Speaker 2: there was no ooh ah, like there were no nothing

Speaker 2: that you look up and see a radar gun and

Speaker 2: go wow. I remember charting a game when but when

Speaker 2: back when we were with Atlanta, if you were starting

Speaker 2: the night after you went in, Bobby, let us stay

Speaker 2: in the clubhouse to watch it on television so we

Speaker 2: could chart the game. You know, you kept ball strikes,

Speaker 2: foul balls, like, you kept everything what the pitch was,

Speaker 2: and it was supposed to help us like game plan

Speaker 2: for when we were going to pitch against that team

Speaker 2: the next day. So I watched and this was in

Speaker 2: ninety man might have been ninety four, ninety five, and

Speaker 2: it was the Giants. Maddox was pitching in Atlanta August hot,

Speaker 2: you know, Atlanta and August. And I'm up there charting

Speaker 2: and the game's over and this is the Barry Bonds,

Speaker 2: J T. Snow Rich Aurelia, Jeff Kent, like this is

Speaker 2: a really good Giants lineup. He throws a shut out.

Speaker 2: I think he gave up three hits, maybe four, walk

Speaker 2: none like always, and struck out like maybe five. So

Speaker 2: I'm total in the pitches and you know, that's what

Speaker 2: I got to do. Eighty four total pitches. And I'm like, oh, man,

Speaker 2: I missed it any right, Like I must have got

Speaker 2: up to get a hot dog or I had to

Speaker 2: there's no way. And I look back and I'm panicking, going,

Speaker 2: oh my god, Leo is going to be pissed because

Speaker 2: I didn't get this right. No, I got it right.

Speaker 2: And the craziest thing about it, guys, he threw eighty

Speaker 2: four pitches in a complete game and threw seventy two strikes.

Speaker 2: He threw twelve ball in a nine inning game against

Speaker 2: a really really, really good lineup. And the best part

Speaker 2: of the story I'm going to add to it. I

Speaker 2: see him after the game. He's over in his locker

Speaker 2: doing his interviews and I'm in my locker and he

Speaker 2: gets done. He takes his uniform off, throws it in

Speaker 2: the bin, and immediately puts his dress clothes on, or

Speaker 2: his clothes he wore of the park, didn't shower, And

Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, I got to give him some crap

Speaker 2: about this. I go, bro, like, really, you're not going

Speaker 2: to shower. He goes, Dude, I didn't even sweat tonight.

Speaker 2: And he goes and I'm playing and he goes and

Speaker 2: I'm playing golf in the morning, so why would I shower? Now,

Speaker 2: go golf and sweat and then shower again. So he

Speaker 2: literally just put his street clothes on and left, and

Speaker 2: I just looked at him like, dude, I am never

Speaker 2: going to be one as cool as Greg Mannix and

Speaker 2: I have no chance playing this game if that's how.

Speaker 2: But it was hilarious. He literally did. He did like

Speaker 2: a sniff test. He was like, I'm good, and just

Speaker 2: put his golf shirt on and he's like, I'm playing

Speaker 2: golf in the morning, dude, I'll shower after golf. And

Speaker 2: I'm like, all right. He was dead. He's I could

Speaker 2: tell you a thousand Mattocks stories. That just why you

Speaker 2: knew he was the best at his job, because he

Speaker 2: I know you've seen the Chipper story. I was there

Speaker 2: when he told Bobby he was going to get the

Speaker 2: guy to pop up in foul territory at third base

Speaker 2: with a base open. You've heard all those, but yes,

Speaker 2: he told me one time. We were sitting in the dugout.

Speaker 2: He wasn't Glad was pitching, and this was back when

Speaker 2: sometimes you had back to back starts against the same team,

Speaker 2: just based on the schedule. We're facing the Cubs. He

Speaker 2: just taps me. When this hitter comes up. He goes

Speaker 2: watch this and I'm like what. He goes their first

Speaker 2: base coach may go to the hospital after this a battle,

Speaker 2: and I'm like what, I'm not on my kids' lives.

Speaker 2: The third or fourth pitch, this hitter hits a foul

Speaker 2: ball and it hits whoever. The first base coach was

Speaker 2: right in the chest. He goes down but gets back up.

Speaker 2: He was fine, and I just looked at him and

Speaker 2: I walked away. I'm like, I didn't even want to

Speaker 2: be around you. You're like, you scare me now. So

Speaker 2: then he explains to me the game. He's like, listen,

Speaker 2: this is how we approached this guy. We pitched him

Speaker 2: in the whole last series. That was the book on him.

Speaker 2: Fastballs in, fastballs in fastballs in. Glad obviously had a

Speaker 2: really good change up. He goes, he's going to be

Speaker 2: looking for the fastball in He's going to open early.

Speaker 2: Glad's going to throw the change up away. The only

Speaker 2: place he can hit it is foul towards first base,

Speaker 2: and sure enough he did it, and I was like, dude,

Speaker 2: how do you how do you even see these things?

Speaker 2: And it was just I always tell people I was

Speaker 2: never the smartest guy in the clubhouse, but I made

Speaker 2: sure to sit next to Greg Maddicks and just listen

Speaker 2: to him because that's how much he knew about pitching. Dad,

Speaker 2: you know how you're.

Speaker 3: Yeah, I was gonna say if I may kent pitch

Speaker 3: seventeen years in the majors and he's sitting next to

Speaker 3: somebody and you just said, I, I can't even be

Speaker 3: a part of this game. So if a major league

Speaker 3: pitcher is sitting next to another pitcher saying, I don't

Speaker 3: even I can't even understand what he's thinking, what do

Speaker 3: you think, Dad, even though you've covered this game your

Speaker 3: whole life and I love this game, we don't even

Speaker 3: know anything about it.

Speaker 1: If that's what Maddox is.

Speaker 3: Doing, it's incredible.

Speaker 2: It's incredible testament.

Speaker 1: This is why, when it comes to career value, he

Speaker 1: might be the greatest pitcher that we've seen in our lifetime.

Speaker 1: Career value given and Kent. As you may know, Maddox

Speaker 1: had nine hundred and ninety nine career walks with three

Speaker 1: starts to go because he knew he was retiring at

Speaker 1: the end of the season that season and he didn't

Speaker 1: walk anyone his last three starts because there's no way

Speaker 1: in the world that he was going to have a

Speaker 1: thousand walks in his group, even though he pitched well

Speaker 1: over five thousand innings. Does that sound like him.

Speaker 2: One hundred percent? I mean, the guy was off charts.

Speaker 2: Another thing about mad Dog, which I think is really cool,

Speaker 2: like if you look at his you know this was

Speaker 2: I work with players now as an agent, and you

Speaker 2: know this was three or four years ago. There were

Speaker 2: two guys in all Major League Baseball that had two

Speaker 2: hundred innings, right, and they're like, oh, these guys are workhorses,

Speaker 2: at which they are in today's game, right, Like it's

Speaker 2: not their fault they're being taken out. But Maddix had

Speaker 2: a streak of I forget how many years in a

Speaker 2: row where he threw at least two hundred innings. It

Speaker 2: was like eighteen years or seventeen years in a row,

Speaker 2: and then one year he pitched like one hundred and

Speaker 2: ninety nine and a third, and it was late in

Speaker 2: the year. Obviously Bobby was trying to set up the

Speaker 2: rotation and get bullpen work before the playoffs. So he

Speaker 2: goes to Maddox after five scoreless and he goes, hey,

Speaker 2: I'm gonna get I need a bullpen. So and so

Speaker 2: needs an inning, and so and so needs and inning.

Speaker 2: He's like, yeah, fine, but it would have been like

Speaker 2: twenty basically every year he pitched where he got to

Speaker 2: two hundred innings. But mad Dog didn't care about that stuff.

Speaker 2: He could care less. But he's, dude, I can't I

Speaker 2: could you know how you have your hat that has

Speaker 2: the little holes in the top, but those little islets.

Speaker 2: He would sit there and he would put dude, much better,

Speaker 2: do I look now, by the way, this is better

Speaker 2: for your audience. But he would sit there in the

Speaker 2: dugout during a game and he would be doing that

Speaker 2: and I'm like, what are you doing? And he's like

Speaker 2: he was just watching the picture only through that little

Speaker 2: people or whatever you call it islet ag lit But

Speaker 2: I don't know aglt's a shoestring. But anyway, he would

Speaker 2: sit there and he goes, all right, tell me what's

Speaker 2: going on. So he would look and he would watch

Speaker 2: the picture and he'd go, that's a fastball down in

Speaker 2: a way and I'm like yeah, And then the next

Speaker 2: one slider in the dirt inside. Yeah. He could tell.

Speaker 2: That's how much he studied this game where he's and

Speaker 2: again that's when I walked away. I'm like, bro, i

Speaker 2: am going to be horrible at this game if I'm

Speaker 2: not doing the things he's doing. But he just he

Speaker 2: just And when we would go back to the hotel,

Speaker 2: like after games and there were late games on, we

Speaker 2: would go to the hotel play cards or whatever, and

Speaker 2: he would put the game on someone else's game and

Speaker 2: put it on. He goes, put it on mute, and

Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, he goes, I don't want to hear

Speaker 2: what they're telling me about the game. I want to

Speaker 2: watch and see what they're doing in this game, like

Speaker 2: the third baseman's playing in or they're you know, all

Speaker 2: these little things. He paid attention to all that, and

Speaker 2: it was, it was, it was. I was very fortunate

Speaker 2: to play with him, along with a lot of the

Speaker 2: other guys, but he was the guy by the way.

Speaker 2: He was very approachable. He wouldn't come to you and

Speaker 2: tell you. But if you ask him something about pitching,

Speaker 2: he'd talk to you for ten hours about it.

Speaker 1: Amazing, and he was the greatest prankster ever. Kid, So

Speaker 1: let you have to tell us one. I mean, I

Speaker 1: know there are a million prankster stories from Greg maddox.

Speaker 1: Just tell us what.

Speaker 2: Well, I don't know what what? What is this? Rated?

Speaker 2: Is this like a you g rated?

Speaker 1: Tell the story you told me the other day. It'll

Speaker 1: it'll fly, don't worry.

Speaker 2: So Chipper Jones is a rookie nineteen ninety five. He's

Speaker 2: a rookie and he goes out he's like two for

Speaker 2: three or three for four, this and that. So we're

Speaker 2: in the shower after the game and Mad Dog's showering

Speaker 2: right next to him, and he turns and talks to Chipper.

Speaker 2: He goes, hey, man, I've played with a lot of rookies.

Speaker 2: You know this and that. That's so impressive, Like I

Speaker 2: can't believe you know you just you're poise, your this

Speaker 2: your approach to you know hitting. He goes, it's really good.

Speaker 2: You're going to have a great career. And Chipper's like,

Speaker 2: oh my god, I can't believe Greg maddox is talking

Speaker 2: to me. You know, I'm twenty years old and I

Speaker 2: got one of the best pitchers talking to me. Well

Speaker 2: ends up. Maddox didn't care. But he was peen on

Speaker 2: him the entire times he was telling this story and

Speaker 2: we're all we all see it. We're laughing and chippers.

Speaker 2: Oh my god, this is I'm like, dude, he's pissing

Speaker 2: on you. Like, but that's who Maddox was. That's that's

Speaker 2: who it was. And I'll tell you another And he

Speaker 2: may be mad for telling this, but in spring training,

Speaker 2: like we had our workouts and it was a little

Speaker 2: down in West Palm Beach. It was a little you

Speaker 2: couldn't even call it a weight room today, it would

Speaker 2: be a closet. But he would do the EFX machine

Speaker 2: and for him, he would wipe a bogger on the

Speaker 2: wall in front of the machine, so he knew if

Speaker 2: he worked out that day or not. So you'd go

Speaker 2: in there and you're like, dude, You've like, hey, I've

Speaker 2: done the FX the last six days, and I'm like,

Speaker 2: or coach whatever the strength coach, how do you know,

Speaker 2: look at my boogers? And I'm like And then you'd

Speaker 2: go out and throw a shut out you know what

Speaker 2: I mean, and then you're like, dude. It got to

Speaker 2: the point with Mad Dog in ninety three, nine, four,

Speaker 2: ninety five where if we were on the road and

Speaker 2: we scored a run in the first we were like,

Speaker 2: good game, feel bad for the other team they lost.

Speaker 2: He was that good, but he had fun with it.

Speaker 2: And if you asked him today, you talk about being humble,

Speaker 2: like he wouldn't brag about anything he did personally, nothing

Speaker 2: that he wasn't about that.

Speaker 1: Ken, you brought up Chipper Jones, one of the greatest

Speaker 1: players that I have ever covered. Tell us a Chipper

Speaker 1: Jones story about how great he was.

Speaker 2: You know what, Chipper. I don't really have any good

Speaker 2: Chipper stories because when I was with Chipper, he was

Speaker 2: he was a rookie, right, so he wasn't allowed to

Speaker 2: be Chipper yet I went back in O three for

Speaker 2: the playoffs, so I got to obviously revisit with Chipper. Dude.

Speaker 2: Chipper was that guy that we saw in spring training.

Speaker 2: Just he just walked different, he moved different, like before

Speaker 2: he got a big league get back. You could just

Speaker 2: look at him. JD drew a similar to this with me,

Speaker 2: but you could look at Chipper and go this, this

Speaker 2: kid's gonna be really really good, you know. And obviously,

Speaker 2: now how many years later, Hall of Famer. Maybe the

Speaker 2: best switch hitter, Tim, that's up to you. Maybe the

Speaker 2: best switch hitter of all time. I don't know. But

Speaker 2: Chipper was the guy that obviously started at third, moved

Speaker 2: or left. He was gonna do whatever the team needed

Speaker 2: him to do defensively, and obviously his offensive prowess is

Speaker 2: as good as anybody. I actually did pretty well against

Speaker 2: him once I got traded, which makes no sense, but

Speaker 2: Chipper was that guy, dude. And you know what, if

Speaker 2: if anybody that played for Bobby was like Bobby, it

Speaker 2: was Chipper, if that makes sense, Like he's I'm gonna

Speaker 2: be there early, I'm gonna work hard, I'm not gonna

Speaker 2: embarrass the team. I'm gonna help us win a game tonight.

Speaker 2: And that's and he did it. And he had a

Speaker 2: little arrogance to him, but I think anyone that's that

Speaker 2: good will, but dude, great teammate, supported everybody. If I

Speaker 2: threw a pitch it was stupid, and he'd tell me, dude,

Speaker 2: why'd you throw that pitch. Here's as a hitter, this

Speaker 2: is what I'm looking for in that situation that count

Speaker 2: like it was a two way street with him and

Speaker 2: obviously deserves what he got Hall of Fame and yeah,

Speaker 2: great player. And Bobby took him right out of the

Speaker 2: gate and made sure he knew how to play the game.

Speaker 2: And by the way, did you know this? Did you

Speaker 2: know the story that this was back when the draft

Speaker 2: that the Braves wonted Van poppel remember him from Texas?

Speaker 1: Yeah, I know the story, Ken, but you need to

Speaker 1: tell it. This is my favorite Chipper Jones story.

Speaker 2: Yeah, so the Braves are going to pick and they

Speaker 2: were going to take Van Poppol and Van Popple's agent

Speaker 2: at the time, we all know who he is. He

Speaker 2: said he's not signing, he's going to school, right and

Speaker 2: you know, committed and not knowing that apparently he had

Speaker 2: a deal with Oakland down the road. The rules have

Speaker 2: changed today, you can't do it. But so they pass

Speaker 2: on Van Poppole and they end up drafting Chipper Jones.

Speaker 2: And then Bobby tells the stories like you know what,

Speaker 2: efil I got the better player. It ended up working

Speaker 2: out for the Braves, obviously, you know, and nothing against

Speaker 2: Van Popa won fifty five games in the big leagues,

Speaker 2: but they weren't going to take Chipper. They needed pitching,

Speaker 2: which the Braves did back then. They drafted their pitcher.

Speaker 2: If we get the best pitchers, we're going to win games.

Speaker 2: Bobby always believed that. And they they missed out on

Speaker 2: Van Poppel because they didn't think they were going to

Speaker 2: sign him if they drafted him. He was going to

Speaker 2: go to school. And there's Chipper just sitting there, and

Speaker 2: Bobby love Chipper obviously, and they took Chipper. And then

Speaker 2: twenty years later, story wrote itself right.

Speaker 1: But the kicker to that story is the meeting that

Speaker 1: the Braves had with Chipper pre draft lasted thirty minutes,

Speaker 1: that's it. And he didn't have an agent. His dad

Speaker 1: was an agent. His dad said, Chipper, you can get

Speaker 1: more than this, but I'm not interested in making money here.

Speaker 2: He said.

Speaker 1: I am here because I want to be the number

Speaker 1: one pick. I want to play right away. And he said,

Speaker 1: and I'm going to make so much money in this game,

Speaker 1: I don't need to get it in the first contract.

Speaker 1: Does that not personify who Chipper is?

Speaker 2: One hundred percent? He knew he was a good player,

Speaker 2: He knew that the Braves were the perfect organization and

Speaker 2: that thirty minutes, I'm sure Bobby was involved. And if

Speaker 2: you spend thirty minutes in a recruiting meeting with Bobby,

Speaker 2: you're going to sign with Bobby, right Like you're going

Speaker 2: to leave there going. Okay, Florida, kid, Atlanta's kind of

Speaker 2: close to home if you can be close. At the time,

Speaker 2: there are no teams in Florida, and so it was

Speaker 2: just a perfect fit. But and you know what, Chipper

Speaker 2: probably could have made a lot more money playing this

Speaker 2: game had he gone free agency, but he wasn't going

Speaker 2: to leave Bobby right. And it again another compliment to

Speaker 2: Bobby is that you got the best players in the

Speaker 2: world and they don't want to leave you, even though

Speaker 2: they could make twice as much money. You know, he

Speaker 2: made play money, don't get me wrong, but probably could

Speaker 2: have made more. But I'm buying into the everything that

Speaker 2: goes on here in Atlanta. And you know, they end

Speaker 2: up winning fourteen consecutive divisions, which will I don't think

Speaker 2: it will ever be done in any sport again. But yeah, Chipper,

Speaker 2: Chipper is a great dude man. Like I know, He's

Speaker 2: had a couple off the field issues with marriages, but

Speaker 2: so what he was. He was there ready to hit

Speaker 2: third every day from the left on the right side.

Speaker 2: And where do you need me to play third left?

Speaker 2: I'll play anywhere. I just want to be part of

Speaker 2: this kent.

Speaker 3: You, in your career seventeen years, played for a number

Speaker 3: of teams, including the Braves twice, the Reds a couple times.

Speaker 3: And so for you, I mean the Braves, We've talked

Speaker 3: a lot about those teams in your years in Atlanta,

Speaker 3: But tell us a little bit about you know, bouncing around,

Speaker 3: whether it was you know, the then Indians or the

Speaker 3: Orioles or the Angels. I mean, you had quite a

Speaker 3: career on quite a few teams. And I always ask

Speaker 3: players this, especially ones who bounce around. Do you have

Speaker 3: a jersey in your home of every team you played for?

Speaker 2: I did. But by the way, if you ask me

Speaker 2: people that don't know me, or like, who'd you play for,

Speaker 2: I'm like, let's save some time. I'll tell you the

Speaker 2: teams I didn't play for, and we'll start from the right.

Speaker 2: But yeah, and you know what, like people ask me

Speaker 2: what's your favorite place? Atlanta will always be my favorite

Speaker 2: place to play. That's where I learned the game. At

Speaker 2: the big league level. Uh, you guys know Ryan Dempster, right,

Speaker 2: probably the funniest guy. Of course, he told me one time.

Speaker 2: He told me one time, and I can't do the

Speaker 2: math right now, nine times twenty five as what twenty five?

Speaker 2: He goes, Dude, you're you're one. You're somebody's top two

Speaker 2: hundred and twenty fifth best teammate ever. You know, like

Speaker 2: who's your favorite too, Well, you're definitely in my top

Speaker 2: two twenty five March and I'm like, thanks, buddy, But

Speaker 2: now you know what, Like I got to play for

Speaker 2: obviously Bobby, I got to play for Larusa. I played

Speaker 2: for some real Dusty Baker. I got to play for

Speaker 2: some really good managers with completely as much success, but

Speaker 2: just completely different styles of managing. And I feel blessed.

Speaker 2: And yeah, you'd rather play for one team your whole career.

Speaker 2: But a lot of the times when I got traded,

Speaker 2: it was you know, the deadline, it was we need

Speaker 2: a lefty, you know, So I always upgraded when I

Speaker 2: got traded, you know, like the one year I got

Speaker 2: traded from Cincinnati three we were like thirty games under

Speaker 2: five hundred or twenty five, and the Braves called and

Speaker 2: they traded me to the Braves, and I'm like, good,

Speaker 2: I'm going to the playoffs, you know what I mean. Like, so,

Speaker 2: I didn't mind moving around. I loved meeting all the

Speaker 2: guys I got to meet over the years. Like baseball,

Speaker 2: whether it's it's a fraternity, you know, like you'll immediately

Speaker 2: fit in, You'll immediately get along with guys. And that's

Speaker 2: what I love about that game. It's just you fit in.

Speaker 2: So I'm not going to say I wished I played

Speaker 2: for nine teams, but I appreciate it looking back that

Speaker 2: I got to meet a lot of different guys and

Speaker 2: the friendships I've made over the years from playing for

Speaker 2: those nine different teams was awesome. It was a little

Speaker 2: tough on my wife and you get a call and say, hey,

Speaker 2: you need to be in Atlanta tomorrow or you need

Speaker 2: to be in Cleveland tomorrow, and you know, I just

Speaker 2: had to go. It was my family that was tougher

Speaker 2: on that they got to unpack a condo somehow, get

Speaker 2: back to you know, here in Ohio, and then figure

Speaker 2: out where they're going to go from there. But for me,

Speaker 2: it was great.

Speaker 1: So Kent you played with seventeen Hall of Famers. You

Speaker 1: told me that this morning at four am. Off the

Speaker 1: top of my head, I went through all the teams

Speaker 1: you played and I tried to come up with all

Speaker 1: the Hall of Famers, and I think I'm missing somebody

Speaker 1: or two. Well do you know, do you remember all

Speaker 1: the Hall of famers you played with?

Speaker 2: I'm including managers in that.

Speaker 1: Oh okay, well, Bobby.

Speaker 2: That that might be why your list is short. So Bobby, right,

Speaker 2: larusa dusty like, so I'm including that. And by the way,

Speaker 2: if they have if they ever let the steroid era,

Speaker 2: in which I don't know if they will or not,

Speaker 2: obviously that's a debatable topic. But then my list jumps

Speaker 2: up like six more guys, and I always say it's

Speaker 2: because I was a supportive teammate. They wouldn't have got

Speaker 2: there without me. I'm kidding, obviously, but yeah, it seems

Speaker 2: like every other year when they do the induction, I'm like,

Speaker 2: oh man, I played with him, Yeah, I played with him.

Speaker 2: Oh man, I played with him too. Like it's just weird.

Speaker 2: And honestly, that's part of traveling around as much as

Speaker 2: I did from team to team. And I don't know

Speaker 2: if anyone can say they played with more. Maybe there is,

Speaker 2: but certainly, if you played with one team your whole career,

Speaker 2: you're not going to be able to say you played

Speaker 2: with seventeen Hall of Famers. I mean even a Yankee.

Speaker 1: How about this, Bobby Cox, Joe Tory, Tony La Russa

Speaker 1: all went into the Hall of Fame at the same

Speaker 1: in the same year, and Steve Carse played for all

Speaker 1: three of those guys. Kent, even you didn't do that.

Speaker 1: Isn't that pretty cool that I played with the three

Speaker 1: managers who were going in the same year.

Speaker 2: Yep, And didn't Maddix and glav go in that year

Speaker 2: as well or.

Speaker 1: Smolts I believe, yes, yeah, which I thought was cool.

Speaker 2: And you know what, and because of that, I didn't

Speaker 2: make your final end list. I get it, you went

Speaker 2: with the k Carse. I get that.

Speaker 1: That kid. We had John smolt On a couple of

Speaker 1: years ago. Just tell he forget that. He's one of

Speaker 1: the greatest pictures we've ever seen. Slider fastball combo was

Speaker 1: just breathtaking to watch. But tell us the story about

Speaker 1: how competitive John Smoltz was, not just in baseball, but

Speaker 1: in everything in life.

Speaker 2: Did it was golf, he was so competitive playing Remember

Speaker 2: the game five hundred where you would if you catch

Speaker 2: the ball in the air worth one hundred one hop

Speaker 2: seventy five. Dude, we were playing for money during batting practice.

Speaker 2: Bobby's in there going Jesus, these guys are gonna get

Speaker 2: hurt because they want to win seventy two dollars. Like

Speaker 2: he was competitive as anything. But I'll tell you one.

Speaker 2: I'll tell you one Smulty story that and this is

Speaker 2: what I love about John. And he may be mad

Speaker 2: if I tell you, but he's anyway. Smolty would come

Speaker 2: in his data pitch right, and let's say it's a Monday,

Speaker 2: he would come in with like a neck brace on,

Speaker 2: and he'd be like, oh, man, I tweaked my neck

Speaker 2: sleeping last night. And we're like, you know, Leo's like,

Speaker 2: can you pitch? He's like, I'll give it a shot,

Speaker 2: you know. And he'd go out and go eight, strikeout

Speaker 2: thirteen and you know, give up one run or no runs.

Speaker 2: And then the next day we're playing five hundred. He's

Speaker 2: jumping all over trying to rob home runs and VP

Speaker 2: and then four days later his day to start again

Speaker 2: or five days he'd come in like with a ankle

Speaker 2: bra song and he's like, ah, I tweaked it, you know.

Speaker 2: But it was almost like it got to the point

Speaker 2: where if Smoltzy didn't have one day, it was chiggers,

Speaker 2: chigger bites it, my arms swollen, like can you pitch? Yeah,

Speaker 2: and then you go eight scoreless. And it got to

Speaker 2: the point where I was in the bullpen. If Smolty

Speaker 2: came in his day to start and said he felt great,

Speaker 2: we were like, guys, we better get ready early, get

Speaker 2: down there early, because Smoltzy's probably not going to get

Speaker 2: out of a second any you know what I mean.

Speaker 2: Like he it was like we always timed it like

Speaker 2: it's like I don't know what it was, but dude,

Speaker 2: but you talk about a competitor, Oh my god, Smoltzy

Speaker 2: would bet you flip a coin and just bet you

Speaker 2: that he wins and you lose. Like he was that guy.

Speaker 2: Obviously a great pitcher, I mean, by far had the

Speaker 2: best stuff on that staff. And for what he did,

Speaker 2: I think what two hundred minimum, two hundred wins, one

Speaker 2: hundred and fifty saves, like just next level guy and

Speaker 2: unbelievable guy. And we would play like in the offseason,

Speaker 2: we would go play open I don't know if you

Speaker 2: know this about Smallcy, but he's from Michigan Lancing and

Speaker 2: he had a full ride to play basketball under jud

Speaker 2: Heathcote up at Michigan State. He was that good of

Speaker 2: an athlete and obviously he chose what he chose and

Speaker 2: the rest is history. But he was. He's the one

Speaker 2: guy that if you made a game up, like if

Speaker 2: the Kirchin family has a game that you guys made

Speaker 2: up and you do it during holidays, he would be

Speaker 2: better than you. In fifteen minutes. He would figure it out. Somebody,

Speaker 2: he would. It could be like, well, dude, here's what

Speaker 2: we do. We take a spoon and throw it against

Speaker 2: the wall and then you have to run around the car.

Speaker 2: He would beat you within fifteen minutes. And if he

Speaker 2: didn't believe it, would go practice and then he say, hey,

Speaker 2: I'm coming back next Christmas. I will beat all you

Speaker 2: guys in this game. So that's how Smoltzy was. And

Speaker 2: you know, the prod thing was guys like we had.

Speaker 2: Obviously we're facing our opponents, the Giants, the Yankees, whoever

Speaker 2: it was, but we built this kind of competition within

Speaker 2: our own pitching staff, right Like you didn't want to

Speaker 2: be the guy that didn't have the good game because

Speaker 2: Smoltzy goes out throws seven scorels, Glad goes and throws

Speaker 2: eight scorers, Maddix throws a shutout like you kind of

Speaker 2: it incentivized you and motivated us to not embarrass ourselves,

Speaker 2: you know what I mean. It was like a competition

Speaker 2: within the team, within the rotation that just made us

Speaker 2: all better. And it wasn't personal like everyone supported everybody,

Speaker 2: but it was just a really cool blend of guys

Speaker 2: that hey, let's go out and do this.

Speaker 1: Glavin told me once Kent that when they when they

Speaker 1: would do the you know, the March Madness pools, John

Speaker 1: was always in charge of collecting everything for the March

Speaker 1: Madness pool and Glavin looked at Smoltz and said, John,

Speaker 1: this is just going to be a donation to you.

Speaker 1: We already know that you're gonna win the NCAA basketball

Speaker 1: pool because you win at everything.

Speaker 2: Does that sound right? And honestly, it was annoying a

Speaker 2: lot of the times because you go out and play

Speaker 2: golf and I'm like, I'm pretty good at golf, and

Speaker 2: then you just we go to the parking lot after golf.

Speaker 2: It would be We had a built in four man

Speaker 2: force theme because the guy that pitched that night obviously

Speaker 2: didn't play golf that day, so the other four of

Speaker 2: us would go and play. Soul two had set all

Speaker 2: that up, and I just remember how many times play golf.

Speaker 2: I felt like I played good and and then we'd

Speaker 2: be in the parking lot getting ready to leave, and

Speaker 2: it was just us handing money to Smolts. What Murky

Speaker 2: owe me one twenty? Glad you owe me two? Ten

Speaker 2: if you owe eighty, And we were just sitting here

Speaker 2: going like an ATM machine, and we're like, this is

Speaker 2: annoying us, But you know what, we did it the

Speaker 2: next day. It wasn't that bad, but there we were again,

Speaker 2: sweating from playing eighteen holes flip flops on handing Smoltz money.

Speaker 1: That's how you know we had he had. He has

Speaker 1: eleven holes in one at least the last time I

Speaker 1: talked to him. Eleven. Does that sound low to you

Speaker 1: or high? Given it's John Smolts.

Speaker 2: That well, I think eleven's high for anybody. But he'll

Speaker 2: get twelve before this podcast airs, I promise you. But

Speaker 2: he because listen, he's he's out there. You know. The

Speaker 2: funny thing about Smoltzy too. Golf lies. So I don't

Speaker 2: know how many years ago. This was maybe eight or

Speaker 2: nine years ago. He got an exemption because he always said,

Speaker 2: when I turned fifty, I'm going to play on the

Speaker 2: senior Tour and I know some golfers. He knows golfers,

Speaker 2: and the PGA guys like rolled their eyes, like really,

Speaker 2: he doesn't realize that like the game at this level.

Speaker 2: But Smoltzy's winning his club championships every year and he

Speaker 2: got an exemption. It was somewhere Sugarloafs, maybe down in Georgia.

Speaker 2: He got an exemption to play in at the time

Speaker 2: was a nationwide tour, which is kind of like triple

Speaker 2: A to the PGA. So me and if I call,

Speaker 2: I text Dave, I go, dude, we got to watch Smoltzy.

Speaker 2: He shoots eighty seven eighty eight, finishes dead last, misses

Speaker 2: the cut. So a good teammate would would just let

Speaker 2: it go. But ME and A have texted him and said, really, dude,

Speaker 2: what the heck just happened to you? Bro, Like that's embarrassing, man,

Speaker 2: And he's like, oh well, and he was like the

Speaker 2: pace of play is horrible. I'm used to getting in

Speaker 2: the cart, driving right up to my ball, and it's

Speaker 2: what do we call it? Ready golf? Even if someone's

Speaker 2: ten yards behind you and they're not ready, if you're

Speaker 2: up there, you just hit. Well, He's like the pace

Speaker 2: of play was ridiculous, Like he was sitting there like

Speaker 2: getting nervous over shots because he had to wait so long.

Speaker 2: But we definitely made fun of him for probably well

Speaker 2: I still do, like twelve years later, ten years later,

Speaker 2: I'll still send him a text. Dude, remember that time

Speaker 2: he shot eighty seven eighty eight at sugar Ver, Like

Speaker 2: that's embarrassing and he's like, yeah, whatever, But now Smoltzy's

Speaker 2: dude you talk about and all of us were competitive,

Speaker 2: but Smoltzy had to win, you know what I mean? Uh?

Speaker 1: Ken, you know the story about the time that Frank

Speaker 1: Korr had a beat right and then something went wrong?

Speaker 1: Do you know that story?

Speaker 2: No, I haven't heard this.

Speaker 1: I can't believe. I'm going to tell you a story

Speaker 1: that you don't know. Frank Corr, who's a really good player,

Speaker 1: but he's not Smoltzy Great. He's five shots ahead going

Speaker 1: into eighteen, five shots ahead of Smoltz and says, finally, John,

Speaker 1: I finally beat you. They're going into eighteen and Smolty says, yes,

Speaker 1: you got me, Frenchie, you got me today. But let's

Speaker 1: just finish up. It's a par five. And to make

Speaker 1: a long story short, Frenchie is five shots ahead and

Speaker 1: he loses by five shots. He lost ten shots. On

Speaker 1: the eighteenth hole, he took a fourteen and Smoltzy birdied eighteen,

Speaker 1: made a four. Smoltze Frank Corer made a fourteen on

Speaker 1: the and a really good player because Smoltzy got inside

Speaker 1: his head and absolutely spooked him when he hit the

Speaker 1: first ball like in the water, like he had an

Speaker 1: opportunity to go place it down there. Smolty said, now

Speaker 1: you should probably hit another one from up here. So

Speaker 1: we hit another one in the water and ended up

Speaker 1: making a fourteen. So when they get to the ballpark,

Speaker 1: he doesn't tell a soul exactly what happened, but when

Speaker 1: he arranged it with every teammate and you can see

Speaker 1: Smoltzy doing this. Whatever question Frank core asked, the answer

Speaker 1: was fourteen, Like what time does the game start today?

Speaker 1: It starts at fourteen. He set up the entire team

Speaker 1: to do that. Does that sound like Frenchie and Smoltsy

Speaker 1: to you.

Speaker 2: One percent, one hundred percent. And you know what, guys,

Speaker 2: it's those stories and it's it's it's all. Part of

Speaker 2: that is why that team was so good for so long. Right,

Speaker 2: No one was better than anybody. Everyone could take it

Speaker 2: and dish it out. And that's what made that team

Speaker 2: so close and the years I played there, no one

Speaker 2: was off limits, right, Like I don't know if you

Speaker 2: saw a couple of years ago when Chipper and Glave

Speaker 2: Smoltzy were doing a game in Atlanta in the booth

Speaker 2: and they showed a video of Smoltzy getting hit. Did

Speaker 2: you see that where he got hit in the ribs? Yes,

Speaker 2: any dude, it was the worst go down ever. Like

Speaker 2: it looked like like a fish in the boat when

Speaker 2: you try to put him in. He was flopping. He

Speaker 2: went down, And dude, I listened to that broadcast and

Speaker 2: Chipper just and Frankor was in there as well. He

Speaker 2: was there too, and they were giving Smoltzy so much

Speaker 2: crap for that because it did like if you look

Speaker 2: at it, like part of it is I've been hit

Speaker 2: when I was hitting, and you kind of don't let

Speaker 2: him show it hurt, right, Like, don't rub it don't

Speaker 2: do any dude. Smoltzy went down like a sniper shot

Speaker 2: him from the rooftop of the building. And I listened

Speaker 2: to that broadcast and it didn't he just it was like,

Speaker 2: all right, we're gonna take a break. The inning's over.

Speaker 2: The next inning started and they were still giving small

Speaker 2: t craft for that, and he really couldn't defend himself

Speaker 2: because it's like, once you see it, you can't unsee it,

Speaker 2: like you're a grown man, dude. And he was like,

Speaker 2: he's like, well, you know, he was throwing ninety whatever

Speaker 2: and it took the wind out of me. And Chipper's

Speaker 2: just like, nah, dude, look you flop like a fish. Like,

Speaker 2: just look at that. And to hear four three Hall

Speaker 2: of famers ragging on each other was just awesome. That's

Speaker 2: what the game, right.

Speaker 1: We can't let you go without telling us a Tom

Speaker 1: Glavin story. We bit over Bobby, we bit over Chipper,

Speaker 1: we've bit over Maddex, We've been over Smold. Tom Glavin's

Speaker 1: a Hall of Famer. Also tell us a Tom Glavin

Speaker 1: story of any kind.

Speaker 2: Dude. You know, it's hard to tell a Glove story

Speaker 2: because that's the point Glad was. If he was an

Speaker 2: ice cream. He would be vanilla right, like there's no

Speaker 2: sparkle to it. He just went out did his job.

Speaker 2: The thing about Glad that impressed me was and and

Speaker 2: Leo would always preach this like he was about your

Speaker 2: composure on the mound, not only executing, but be composed.

Speaker 2: You could walk in in the fifth inning of a

Speaker 2: game with Matt or with Glad. Pitching power went out,

Speaker 2: so there's no scoreboard and you couldn't tell if Glad

Speaker 2: was winning three nothing or losing three nothing. He just

Speaker 2: They always said he had ice pumping through his veins,

Speaker 2: and he did. And I think his hockey background was

Speaker 2: was a lot of that, Like he was I think

Speaker 2: a fourth round overall picking up. I think the LA

Speaker 2: King's drafted him.

Speaker 1: Think they had of Brett Hole, Brett Hoole.

Speaker 3: Yeah, we had him on the podcast again and he

Speaker 3: said that kind of makes me a Hall of Fame

Speaker 3: hockey player as well.

Speaker 2: Yes, he's if you do it for hockey, he's on

Speaker 2: your list. But it just I wish I had a

Speaker 2: great story, but Glave was awesome, by the way, unbelievable teammate,

Speaker 2: willing to help anybody help me with my change up

Speaker 2: when I was trying to learn the change up. But

Speaker 2: he was boring in a great way, you know what

Speaker 2: I mean, Like there's no booger stories or no peeing

Speaker 2: on the shower stories. He was just he was just

Speaker 2: stoic and just you knew it was his day. He

Speaker 2: was going to pitch, and you knew probably what the

Speaker 2: results were going to be. And I wish I had

Speaker 2: some good glove stories. But he was boring in the

Speaker 2: most complimentary way I could give. But again, great teammate,

Speaker 2: part of that competition, and I mean it's hard to

Speaker 2: pick one of the three or four, but you won

Speaker 2: him on game seven. You know, when he closed out

Speaker 2: in Game six against Cleveland, gave up one hit to

Speaker 2: that lineup, You're like, yeah, that's Glad and you I

Speaker 2: don't even think he fist pumped after that game. He

Speaker 2: just kind of went in and said, that's my job, right, Like,

Speaker 2: why are you so excited that we won that game?

Speaker 2: That's my job. Like that's how glad was.

Speaker 3: He takes He takes me as one of those guys

Speaker 3: that if you had an Apple Watch on him during

Speaker 3: that game, his heart rate probably didn't go over like

Speaker 3: fifty one.

Speaker 1: He's just no I'm just here.

Speaker 3: I'm here to do my job game six or or July,

Speaker 3: Like it doesn't really matter to him, right, He just

Speaker 3: that's the same job.

Speaker 2: He probably would have gotten an alert saying your heart

Speaker 2: rate's low. Are you suffering chest pains? Right now? Like

Speaker 2: That's how Glad was. That's how he was, and it

Speaker 2: just it was fun to learn from him. I mean,

Speaker 2: he was just as competitive as all the other guys,

Speaker 2: trust me, Like out there golfing, like when I was

Speaker 2: paying Smoltz, I wasn't cussing. When Glad was playing Smoltz.

Speaker 2: He was cussing to him, right because he he didn't

Speaker 2: want to lose. And he's like, I'm doing it again,

Speaker 2: like blah blah blah blah blah. Like he was every

Speaker 2: bit as competitive. You just you couldn't see it. And

Speaker 2: and and I took a lot from that, like and

Speaker 2: and listen, not to be corny about this, but I

Speaker 2: learned a lot from all those guys, and I tried

Speaker 2: to fashion that into my game. Obviously wasn't as good

Speaker 2: as Maddics, as control, wasn't as all those things, but

Speaker 2: I tried to emulate them as much as I could,

Speaker 2: which is probably the only reason I made it seventeen

Speaker 2: years because well, if I was right handed after two,

Speaker 2: they would have called me coach marker because I wouldn't

Speaker 2: have been playing for with my stuff. But no, dude,

Speaker 2: it's and I'm sitting here trying to rattle my brain.

Speaker 2: Is there a great Madic or Glavin story? And I

Speaker 2: can't come up with one. That's that's how even keeled

Speaker 2: he was. Whether he was pitching that day or not

Speaker 2: pitching that day, he was the same dude. But I

Speaker 2: I'm fortunate to say I played with.

Speaker 3: If keen listeners or watchers saw my my near three

Speaker 3: year old daughter had interrupted our interview here, she's snuck

Speaker 3: in even though Grandma and my wife are upstairs with

Speaker 3: our newborn as well. She somehow escaped down to the

Speaker 3: basement into my office to say hi to Kent, Mrker.

Speaker 3: But Kent, I know because you referenced it. You even

Speaker 3: said that your girls will be watching to see who

Speaker 3: the alphabet M will be hoping it's a murder. So

Speaker 3: you are a girl dad. I am a girl dad.

Speaker 3: My dad is a girl dad as well. Tell us

Speaker 3: about raising those girls and how much that means to you,

Speaker 3: because at the end of the day Kent we can

Speaker 3: baseball is why we do this podcast.

Speaker 1: But it's a it's a father son show.

Speaker 3: It's about our love for you know. We talk about

Speaker 3: my dad's grandchildren, we talk about my kids, we talk

Speaker 3: about our relationship, me and my dad.

Speaker 1: This is what the podcast is about. So without yaout.

Speaker 3: Setting you up to get too emotional, tell us what

Speaker 3: these girls mean to you and being a girl dad,

Speaker 3: for it's such a special.

Speaker 2: Thing, you know what. I'm so blessed to have three girls,

Speaker 2: and now, giving my age, they're thirty two, twenty eight,

Speaker 2: and twenty five, so they're young women now. But you're

Speaker 2: gonna laugh at this. I raised them like they were boys,

Speaker 2: like my dad raised me like. I don't think values

Speaker 2: are how you should be as a human being, matter

Speaker 2: whether you're a girl or a boy. But I told

Speaker 2: them at young ages, and this is gonna sound stupid,

Speaker 2: but if you really think about it, it makes a

Speaker 2: lot of sense. I told them three rules. Don't whine,

Speaker 2: don't be a tattletale, and don't chew with your mouth open.

Speaker 2: That's what I told her. I said, because I hate

Speaker 2: whiny people. I hate the kid that tells on you

Speaker 2: and all that and if I'm sitting across from you

Speaker 2: guys and you're smacking your lips while you're eating, I'm

Speaker 2: getting up. I said, if you can do those three things,

Speaker 2: And to this day, they're like, Dad, the three rules,

Speaker 2: and they remember them and it's so simple. But it's

Speaker 2: kind of like the Bobby Cocks way of thinking. It's

Speaker 2: just simple, don't be an idiot, you know what I mean,

Speaker 2: and you'll get through life. And they're all doing very

Speaker 2: well in their own professions now. But dude. Everyone always said, dude,

Speaker 2: don't you wish you had a boy or you're going

Speaker 2: to try for a boy so he can be a

Speaker 2: baseball player. And I'm like, no, I'm so excited that

Speaker 2: I've got one three healthy, which is cliche, but I

Speaker 2: raised him as I would have raised any boy I had,

Speaker 2: and I think it's benefited them probably most of the time.

Speaker 2: Sometimes maybe my oldest is just like me, and I'm like,

Speaker 2: I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse,

Speaker 2: but she's she's yeah, And I wouldn't trade it. If

Speaker 2: you told me I could go back and have three

Speaker 2: boys instead of girls, I'd say, nope, I'm good. I

Speaker 2: love my girls. They taught me a lot to be

Speaker 2: a father, right, But you know, when they're all playing

Speaker 2: their sports. I remember one day my oldest daughter, she

Speaker 2: was playing softball. She was a good softball player, and

Speaker 2: it was a cloudy, overcastan Ohio, which we get three

Speaker 2: hundred and forty seven days out of the year.

Speaker 3: I lived in Cleveland for a long time.

Speaker 1: I know those days.

Speaker 2: Okay, So you know, so she's out there. I get

Speaker 2: to the game. She's out there playing first base, and

Speaker 2: she's got her Oakley's on her hat, right, and four

Speaker 2: or five of the other girls have their Oakley's on

Speaker 2: their hat. And it's literally, we don't even know if

Speaker 2: we're going to play because the rain's imminent. Right. So

Speaker 2: after the first thing, I go down. I was not

Speaker 2: the dad that yelled and screamed at the umpires or

Speaker 2: coaches for why, you know, but I went and pulled

Speaker 2: her aside. I said, take those Oakley's off your hat.

Speaker 2: You look like an idiot, right, And she's like, but

Speaker 2: I go, you're the only reason those are on your

Speaker 2: hat is because you want to look cool. I go,

Speaker 2: it's overcast, eighty two percent chance of rain, and you're

Speaker 2: wearing you got oak le's on your hat. I go

Speaker 2: take them off, take them off, put them in your bag,

Speaker 2: and she did. And then after the game she told me.

Speaker 2: And one time she threw her bat after a strikeout

Speaker 2: and the bat popped up and almost hit the catcher.

Speaker 2: I screamed at her from the stands. I said, you

Speaker 2: did not do that, Like, it's not the catcher's fault.

Speaker 2: You struck out. If you want to hurt someone, go

Speaker 2: punch the dugout wall and hurt yourself, but do not

Speaker 2: put And after the game, my wife was mad at

Speaker 2: me for yelling at her, and then she goes, I'm

Speaker 2: riding home with Dad and she goes, Dad, I totally

Speaker 2: get what you mean. And to this day she says

Speaker 2: the same thing. So I wasn't easy on him. I

Speaker 2: spoiled them, but I was like for me, when it

Speaker 2: came to how are you going to be a better

Speaker 2: person and productive, it was pretty simple and a lot

Speaker 2: of it, by the way, my mom and dad were great.

Speaker 2: But Bobby Cox, it goes back to had I done

Speaker 2: any of these things and Bobby Cox saw it, he

Speaker 2: would have been like, like Bobby had a rule you

Speaker 2: couldn't wear your hat backwards. He's like, if you're gonna

Speaker 2: wear a hat, you wear it the right way, or

Speaker 2: don't wear one at all. You couldn't wear a jewelry

Speaker 2: like things like that. Was like just basic things that

Speaker 2: don't be an idiot. And I instilled that in my girls,

Speaker 2: and I think it worked.

Speaker 3: I don't know, but Ken, I was a little league gumpied.

Speaker 2: And they by the way they know I wasn't one

Speaker 2: of the m's, by the way they knew there were

Speaker 2: six hund.

Speaker 3: Well, we can't wait for the girls to see this

Speaker 3: episode because genuinely, my dad was just so he called me. Listen, Ken,

Speaker 3: we do three episodes a week.

Speaker 1: Okay, he's my dad.

Speaker 3: We talk constantly, business and you know life. He called

Speaker 3: me to tell me about the text message you sent,

Speaker 3: and then we didn't all think about it in the episode.

Speaker 3: And here I haven't And it's not how's the baby,

Speaker 3: it's you're not gonna believe what Ken Murger's ex.

Speaker 2: Dude. I just thought Tim when we were at that

Speaker 2: molar event last year, right right, like i'd been around you,

Speaker 2: obviously met you. You if not the best, you're obviously

Speaker 2: When there's a k list for broadcasting and just sports

Speaker 2: coverage you're definitely going to be that one guy, uh

Speaker 2: for sure, and every player across the board would tell

Speaker 2: you that. But I had so much fun then I

Speaker 2: was gonna I was actually gonna open, but I didn't

Speaker 2: want to get personal with you. I was going to

Speaker 2: open because I spoke and I was going to say, hey,

Speaker 2: they told me to keep this short, and I was

Speaker 2: going to say, and Tim does a way better job

Speaker 2: at being short than me. So but I didn't know.

Speaker 2: I was like, it's too soon. I don't know him

Speaker 2: well enough. I don't want him to but anyway, I

Speaker 2: appreciate this. And by the way, the daughter thing, it's

Speaker 2: amazing how three girls growing up on this roof are

Speaker 2: three completely different personalities and you kind of have to

Speaker 2: coach him accordingly right. One needs tough love, one needs

Speaker 2: a pat on the back. Like it's probably a lot

Speaker 2: like managing. You know, every player is different. Some you

Speaker 2: need to yell at, some you need to give a

Speaker 2: hug to. So it's made me a better person having

Speaker 2: three daughters.

Speaker 1: That is so perfect. And this, of course, two days

Speaker 1: ago was Father's Day. This is a perfect way to

Speaker 1: end just a tremendous episode. Ken We've said that that

Speaker 1: you know, telling stories is not easy for Major League

Speaker 1: Baseball players, and Steve Sparks is one of the best

Speaker 1: we've ever had. But Jeff Ken Murger is right there

Speaker 1: with Steve Sparks. Am I wrong about that?

Speaker 2: Oh?

Speaker 1: My gosh.

Speaker 3: I mean, and the vast knowledge seventeen years in the league.

Speaker 3: But then the love of your children. I mean, we

Speaker 3: covered it all and as my dad says very often,

Speaker 3: we could go another hour with you, Ken, So we'll

Speaker 3: ask you to come back next season to do another episode.

Speaker 2: How does that sound, dude? I appreciate you having me on.

Speaker 1: All right, Well, thanks so much.

Speaker 2: Ket I'm telling you, I'm telling you t K. You

Speaker 2: are a Hall of Famer buddy. You know that.

Speaker 1: Well, there's my pleasure.

Speaker 2: There's if there's a player on this planet that doesn't

Speaker 2: like you, I need to meet that player, and I'm

Speaker 2: sure there isn't one. So you've done it the right

Speaker 2: way and honored to be on the show.

Speaker 3: Yeah, my dad's gonna ask me to cut that, but

Speaker 3: I'm not going so we are going to cut that.

Speaker 1: But thank you very much anyway, I appreciate it.