Transcript of Hour 2: Emmy Winners (feat. Rachel Nichols and Adnan Virk)

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This is the Dan Levatore Show with the Stugats podcast.

After all these years, it's still incredibly soothing to see Roy shovel giant Doritos into his mouth.

It's 11: 15. I'm hungry, man.

I'm sorry. He has been eating Doritos from vending machines for 20 years. His main nourishment is just Doritos. You eat nothing more than Doritos. It's nice to see, is all I'm saying.

Now it's just a drawer, though. It used to be a vending machine.

We've moved up. I know. He's got endless access to Doritos. I've heard it's hard to keep the Doritos in stock. Before we get to Rachel Nichols, one of our favorites, the Emmy Award-winning journalist. She's now with Fox Sports and Sports Illustrated. Before we do that, though, we've had some complicated subject matter in the morning. Jeremy is here to simplify it at the whiteboard. Let's go to Jeremy real quick. Jeremy, catch Rachel up to date. Catch everyone up to date on everything that happened with the unusual FBI probe into basketball this morning.

Thank you for also introducing me as a rightful Emmy Award-winning journalist, Dan. We have Terry Rozier Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones implicated by the FBI, arrested by the FBI. We've got some interesting ties here of different people to these folks that we think may or may not potentially, allegedly be implicated. We look at Rick Patino first. Rick Patino, of of course, coached both Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups. He also looks like a Mafia member. His son, Richard, coached at FIU. Now, who else is a prominent FIU face? That's right. One Billy Gill, who recently left our show. Then, of course, we could look at who Billy has a jersey of. We're talking about the ever eloquent to a tag of Iloa. Could he potentially be involved? But when we look at Terry and Chauncey, those are both former Boston Celtics. How is Paul pierce potentially involved? Mike Ryan's best friend. That's the question that we have to ask, of course, maybe even Kendrick Perkins. We know that Paul pierce has a mutual hatred with one LeBron James, and we all remember what was going on in the 2010-11 finals. What happened there with LeBron? Could questions potentially be answered?

Of course, he's former Cavs' teammates with Damon Jones. That ties everything together there. Of course, Damon Jones was not in a system with the Los Angeles Lakers as I insinuated last hour. Can you start fading him out, please?

These are all tenuous connections.

He was just about to get to- Ipe, Ipe, Ipe, L. A, Ipe. There's a tie there. And of course, the ever loved by this show, Sydney I don't remember- No, man.

Chauncey Billups's- Sydney Cosby. Boston Celtics career. Was that before everything?

That was before it was drafted there.

Drafted by a Celtic.

Yeah, thought to be a bust.

Rachel Nichols is with us now. I should tell people, if you want more, Jeremy, generally not a sentence we around here. Pitch clock is coming up at the end of the hour, but there's plenty to talk with Rachel about. I want to start with the news of the day. Hello, Rachel. Can you tell us what your reaction was? I know that you've got something of a relationship with Chauncey. I don't know the depth of it. So what can you tell us about the news this morning?

Well, I don't gamble with him, apparently. So there's that. He's been leaving me out of that. Is the allegation that Chauncey knew the games were rigged? Because that's the thing about the gambling, the poker stuff, that they're rigged and that the crime families brought rubes in saying, You're going to gamble with a professional athlete. Fish. Fish. Thank you. Jeremy, is that on your board? Fish? Because I think that will be nice.

Well, the Miami Dolphins, of course. Now, Dolphins, we all know, are mammals, not fish, but it's an interesting tie.

Not helpful.

Just saying. The allegation is that people were brought in being like, You, too, can gamble with an NBA A Hall of Famer. So it was the idea that he knew that the games were rigged?

Yes. Okay. Yeah, that you're basically just stealing money from suckers.

I mean, professional athletes do that all the time.

That's right. What How would you think of it as far as crimes go? Because everyone's saying he's going to lose his job. He's going to immediately lose his job. Yeah.

I mean, look, he's not coaching tonight. I know that. I'm pretty surprised. Chauncey is a pretty stand-up guy. I mean, that's really why he's in the Hall of as a leader, not necessarily as the greatest basketball player on Earth. He led those Detroit Pistons to a title no one expected them to get and had a long career where he was in a lot of stops as one of the better leaders in all of sports, which is why he got his job. So I'm pretty surprised at him. I got to tell you guys, not surprised at Terry Rozier or Damon Jones being involved in either one of these things, as I'm sure neither are you.

Yeah, not terribly. No, that's correct.

No, it is not. I mean, I don't know if this is also connected to the Gilbert Arena's arrest that happened just a couple of months ago here in Los Angeles, that Gilbert has taken so seriously that he filmed a video of himself dancing down the steps, coming out of federal jail to beat the charge. So I don't know. I mean, he hasn't beaten it yet. I just mean that he says he's going to because it wasn't me, that situation.

He was not named or implicated today. Were you surprised at all by the story this week that was making the rounds? I think most people think of Russell Westbrook as authentic, as always real, always raw. The reporting around him suggesting that Westbrook thought that LeBron was a pretty total phony. Were you surprised by that?

Who could be surprised by that if you paid attention to the NBA in the last, what, 10, 15, 20 years at this point? I mean, that's definitely one of LeBron's raps, right?

Yeah, but I just don't hear a lot of journalists saying it, right? Well, yeah.

I mean, I'm not saying it, Dan. Am I I'm surprised that Russell Westbrook is saying it? No, I am not. First of all, no love lost between those guys, right? And so Russ given an opportunity to twist the knife. I mean, it's funny with these books, right? So when you make your calls, which I know when you make calls, it's a big deal, Dan. When you make your calls, you know that when you're calling someone to talk about someone else, you're basically saying, Hey, will you talk about this guy? And I'm I'm always shocked at how many people say yes, right? Because then afterwards, the quote comes out, the story comes out, and we get that Hallelujah round of, I was misquoted, and I was taken out of context. You know what the hell they were calling for? Let's be real here. And Russell Westbrook, when given this opportunity, Hey, will you maybe talk some more about LeBron?

I said, Sure.

Why not? Absolutely. Let's go. So the only thing that I misunderstood a little bit, or I can't quite understand why it's the the smoking gun anecdote. I don't get why the Will Smith stuff is so crazy. Why is that Russell Westbrook holding that up?

Because it's so fraudulent, because you hog the time with Will Smith when you didn't want to be around Will Smith. It's just a quintessential, symbolically Hollywood fraud.

He got up, said, You all got this. Anthony Davis followed him. Russell Westbrook is like, Well, I'm a future Hall of Famer, and I'll be right on my way. And then he found where he was in the pecking order. And then this sparked a fight, a fight that Darvin Ham, the head coach, stayed out of, only to get up, go retrieve the star that started this whole argument. And then he hogged the entire time with Will Smith, shouting out movie quotes and turning a 30-minute meeting into 60, which Russ was just picking angrily at a bowl of fruit, can't believe that this guy did this to me.

I mean, that's a good amount of color in the story. I'd like to know what fruit, but whatever. In the list of fake things LeBron supposedly did, to me, going around telling people that The Godfather is your favorite movie, but you can't repeat a line or carrying a fake book around to make you look smart when you haven't read it, that's more fake to me than, yeah, I mean, my kids do that. I don't want to sit at dinner with this person, and then we make them, and then they're nice at dinner. That's not crazy to me. It's the other stuff to me that I was like, oh, yeah, okay.

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Don Levatard.

There's sunglasses and boxes today, but in my bed in the hospital, ending our lives all the same. Stugatz. It's the final nightgown.

This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats.

Rachel, sciatica. That's the best LeBron could come up with for his passive-aggressive holdout.

Okay, so which one of you guys just had a baby or is about to have a baby or there's a baby coming?

I had a baby recently.

Okay. Was your wife... Did she have sciatica or any back issues?

She had a little We have back issues, but we got a firmer bed.

Oh, oh, oh. Fixed it. Are you special? I don't need to hear about your bed with your wife. No, no, no.

I'm saying I got the bed that fixes sciatica, is what I'm saying.

The question was not about how you and your wife sleep together. The question was, Did she have back problems? She did. I had twins. My two children are twins. And when you have twins, they really... I mean, there's a lot in there, right? There's two people in a space for one person, and they press on your back and your spine. I had really bad sciatica for part of my pregnancy. It sucks. It is literally one of the most painful things I have ever been through. So I don't know if he actually has sciatica. I assume he does because it's such an old man injury that it makes them... It's just the jokes right themselves. But it does suck. It is really, really unpleasant. And there's not much of a cure. There's not much they can do for you. You have to basically stretch a lot. They give you a lot of PT stuff and massages and whatever, but you just have to wait for it to go away. So I'm with him on the sciatica. If he really has sciatica, which I assume he does, guys, why would he want to fake missing the beginning of the season?

He's in a little bit of a pissing contest with the Lakers about how valuable he is, him saying he's more valuable than they think he is, which, by the way, is the first time in his career that's happened. And so I don't think he's faking not being available.

No, but, Rachel, you questioned why he would not want to be available and then totally explained why he would not want to be available.

But not for an injury. So they're basically He's basically saying, You old, and he's going to come up with the most old man injury ever to prove their point and why they shouldn't pay him for the future next year or two. I mean, come on, man. You'd fake something else. I don't think he'd taken- It would have been a cooler injury. Yeah. You're like, Oh, my God, I can't play. I've got whooping cough. Like, whatever.

But this one seems awfully manufactured in terms of a resentment. Because you can't see it? No. In terms of a resentment for a franchise, because this is how it always It feels like having viewed a couple of these LeBron breakups with the teams that he's on, he always holds on to something, some bit of resentment with Miami was, You aim to see Mike Miller. And these things end up coming back. But with the Luca one, This one is hard to follow because The New York Post had an article about this where LeBron pretended to react WTF to the Trade News as Anthony Davis leaves the group chat. All the reporting on this was LeBron knew that Rich Paul's client He was leaving.

Yeah, knew, but it's what Chris Bosh says about you don't know the sacrifices you're making until you make them. He thought Luca was coming over to be Kyrie, not to be LeBron. He was coming over to be his running mate.

He's a smart basketball guy. Is this just LeBron being married to have some resentment, doesn't want to be the bad guy on the way out, and it's just a particularly lazy in terms of resentments that he holds on the way out?

He doesn't want to leave. I don't know if it's the same situation. I think this is totally new in LeBron land. I I really do. I think this is him coming to terms or probably not at the moment yet, coming to terms with the fact that it is not all about him. And by the way, it's been all about him since he was 10. So if your entire life, when you're 10, by the way, you've been conscious of the world for maybe three years. So except for three or four years of his conscious existence, he's been about him, and everybody has wanted him, and everybody has wanted to do whatever he wants them to do. And for the first time, literally, for the first time, certainly in his adult life, but even before that, the Lakers are not interested in doing what he wants to do. And whether he knew about the AD trade for Luca or not, I promise you he had no say in it because they are definitely not planning around him. And the thing he's most upset about and the reason we saw all these ridiculous, I'm wearing a Cleveland hat that says home, and I'm practicing on the Cavaliers practice court because I may leave.

And also, when I come back to LA, I'm practicing on the Clippers old Practice Court And I'm taking a picture with so and so. All of that ridiculousness is about him trying to do what he has done to teams over and over again, which has caused a fuss being like, I might leave, I might leave. And the difference this time was that the team was like, meh, okay. Sure, if you want to, we've got the other guy. And I think that that is something he even right now can't quite come to terms with because it's never happened to him before in his entire life with anything Everything. Imagine, if you're Dan Lebitard, it's probably the same way, right? Imagine that everywhere you went all the time, people just wanted to give you everything you want. And then all of a sudden, that stopped. That's your life? The most important public thing.

It's wonderful.

Isn't Isn't that amazing, Dan?

You've mentioned your twins here. You talked about the idea of since 10 years old. I've been curious, and I've not asked you this question before, what it's like for you to go to your kids' games. I would I would imagine the parents are always asking you for information.

Well, yeah. The coaches, by the way, weirdly. So my kids' coaches are the ones who ask a lot, and I never know what to say. I'm like, Hey, aren't you supposed to be coaching the team here? But it's weird because the etiquette is strange at kids' sporting events. I don't know if any of you guys have been to a kid relative sporting event, but do you cheer? So my kid plays tennis. Let me put this to group. Do you cheer when the other kid hits the ball out? That's a good question. No. And my kid wins the point.

You got to give a fist pump.

It's like a big point. Yeah.

Give a fist pump. Was it a tricky shot that forced the air? No. No. It was an unforced air.

Unforced error by a young person on the hands.

No, it's just another child who has hopes and dreams messing up.

Yeah, but it's not your kid, though.

Leading the witness. Unforced error? No, my kid- We sit on the hands. We clap that up.

I'm a mic.

It's a big It's a big thing. Then the other parents, if they're cheering your kid hitting out, suddenly it becomes very loud in our section. That's fair game.

That's fair game. Then you can start doing it. If they draw first blood, then it's fair.

I know, but then someone new will come over and be like, You're cheering a 12-year-old making a mistake?

Well, allow me to catch you up. They drew first blood. Exactly. That's how this works.

I'm a gas demagog. I'm just saying it's a lot of tricky etiquette going on here. There's Also a lot of politics over snacks because each parent is supposed to bring certain snacks. I know that Doritos, apparently, are what I should be bringing, but what flavor are the Doritos, by the way? Nacho cheese. Nacho cheese? Not your Doritos? Got to go Cool Ranch. Cool Ranch is the only possible acceptable flavor.

Thank you.

Put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Better Dorito, Cool Ranch, or Nacho Cheese.

How would this even be? I'm sorry. That is going to be like a 90% to one goal.

It's actually neither. That might the most common poll we've ever had in show history. Neither? Neither.

Dan, have you seen the purple bag?

Sweet Thai Chili.

Sweet Thai Chili, Zazlo.

I don't know why you're saying it like that.

Rachel, I wanted to ask you something that I felt last night that I can say that in my life, I have not felt very often when it comes to sports.

This is not going to be about your bed with your wife, is it?

No, it is not. About basketball. When Shaquille O'Neill played, I was like, That's not fair. It's just not fair. I haven't felt that since, but Wemby makes me feel that. Wemby makes me feel like, That's not fair. That should be like another division. The humans play in this division, and then this thing shouldn't be legal.

It's not fair. Well, that's why they call him the Alien. That's why his nickname is the Alien. That exact reason. There's the human division, and then there's the Alien. I don't know, man. I saw this kid when he was still in France playing before he was drafted, and I was like, okay, that's it. That's it. He's the next thing. And not just the next thing the way Cooper Flag or LeBron or any of this, but he's the next, basketball player, not the next good one, the next,. And I said before he was drafted, This kid is going to be a top 10 ever player. And I was laughed at on national television. And then I said it his rookie year, and I was laughed at on national television. Top 10 all time. Come on, look at the list. Who are you knocking out? All that stuff. I think I Maybe he untershot it, right?

I mean, it's just not fair. Twice, it's only happened with two basketball players. Two athletes, I'd say. Two athletes where I'm like, what's happening there isn't fair.

I mean, it's not just that he's so tall and the fact that he grew between last season and this season, which is insane. He's now 7'4 after being 7'2. But that his mentality, it's like sticking... Who's your example of the best mentality athlete? Who's the guy who you'd be like, Man, that guy, it's his mentality that's got him where he is.

Dan, I got him as MVP front runner now.

I changed my vote. No, hold on.

No, stop that.

Stop that. It's Luca, and you know it.

If we're talking MVP, you got to have Wemba N'Yam at the top right now.

No. I got Luca.

Ray Lewis?

Ray Lewis.

I don't have him at the top of my MVP ballot. So he's got a Ray Lewis mindset and a 7'4 body and growing up playing a version of guard. I mean, it's not beatable. And if he doesn't win MVP this year, which I don't think he probably will, it will be because the Spurs won't be high enough in the stands.

He's a front runner, Dan.

Front runner after two days of games. Rachel, good seeing you. Always nice seeing you. We will talk soon.

See you. Don't get arrested until I see you next.

Okay, I'll try not to. Pitch clock is next. No more bed information. No one needs your bed information.

Billy's implicated. Dan might be, too.

Don Levatard.

Can I tell you something?

I don't know, maybe a month ago, and I decided to watch Pitch Clock, and I told Jeremy, Stugatz.

This is a good show you're doing.

This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugatz.

This is the Pitch Clock. Welcome to the Pitch Clock. Here's the pitch, a two Art, baseball segment. Combining a nostalgic baseball trivia game and an interview with an expert. This is the Pitch Clock. The World Series is tomorrow, and the Pitch Clock is back. However, buddy, it's World Series time. That was actually... That's the first time that you've done a Harry-Cerry beyond high, everybody. That's when you busted out, when the W. S. Is here. I like to call the World Series the W. S. No one else is doing that. Make it a thing. Yeah, all right. So the W. S. Is here. Pc is back. It makes sense that I host something called PC. It's honestly quicker to say World Series. Ethan Badowski, what is our game for this week?

Last week, we played a game involving World Series MVPs from 2024 to 2009. And Chris Cody said, This is out of my wheelhouse, so let's get into my wheelhouse. And I thought, That is a dangerous game for Chris Cody. So open your folder. Behind the blank piece of paper, there is a sheet with logos it. It's simple. It's three strikes and you're out, and it's just the same as last week. These are the World Series MVPs from 2008 when the Philadelphia Affiliies won to 1992 when the Toronto Blue Jays won their first of back-to-back World Series. And just so everybody is reminded at home, there was no 1994 World Series. So it's '92, '93, then it jumps to '95, and then the rest of the way to 2000.

Yeah, of course, we definitely remembered that. So thank you for letting the audience know.

Chris Cody struck out on the World Series MVPs. So, Jeremy, actually, it is your honor. You are going to go first on these World Series MVPs. Okay.

I'm going to go ahead and start with the 2004 World Series MVP, David Ortiz.

That is incorrect. How would you do that?

Why would I do that? Why don't you take the ones that you know I know? Because I'm bad at this.

Simple Real explanation, I guess.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. All right, I'm going to go '03, Josh Beckett.

That is correct.

Yeah, I know. 1992, Joe Carter. Nice.

That is incorrect. Are you correct? Even though he hit the home run, I I believe. No, he hit the home run in '93.

That's two strikes. Oh, good. Thank you. Nice couple. Why would you say that? I swear I was doing... I was about to do it regardless. I'm doing it. Okay, do it. '93, Joe Carter. Incorrect.

Thank God.

I have one strike. You have two already. Everybody needs to relax. All right, it's time for World Series coverage. And of course, it has to be Adnan Virk of MLB Network joining us as our 2025 MLB expert, Adnan. I'm going to ask you to, despite your maple leaf on your hat, put your biases aside after the first question, because the first question goes back to the ALCS. I want to talk to you about everything going on here in what was an unbelievable unbelievable American League Championship Series because we did only four minutes of it on the main show. So what did you think of the Toronto Blue Jays coming through in that epic series in the ALCS in game seven with what George Springer was able to do with the biggest homer since Joe Carter for Toronto? And of course, what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Was able to do offensively as well.

Yeah, we might as well start calling the Cardiac Kids, Jeremy. What these guys are able to do with these comebacks is remarkable. When the Jays went down 0-2, and I was at that game to the ALCS, it was just a lead balloon. You lose two games at home, you're pretty much cooked. The stats suggests 11% chance of coming back down from an 0-2 hole, and particularly lose at home the way they did. You thought it was over. But this series was so unpredictable. Game one, the Blue Jays were supposed to win because the Mariners were coming off a 15-inning marathon. The Jays were at home, well-rested at Kevin Gossman, but they lost. Game two, the Mariners were up 2-0. This is it. Might be a sweep. Jays come roaring back to win two games, and their offense is alive. Game five, they have all the momentum, but Gino Suarez goes deep. And then in game six, Trey Usavage is fantastic. And in game seven, you mentioned the Springer Dinger, which will be forever memorialized from Vancouver to Halifax as they're going wild throughout Canada. It's amazing because this Blue Jays team really has captured the attention of my entire home and native land.

At the Flames game, they're literally announcing the goal and the home run, and people start cheering. I was in Montreal for that game, and it was amazing. The savers, Canadians, people watching the Blue Jays game being wrapped with attention. And I just think this team has shown incredible resolve, incredible character coming back from these deficits, down 2-0, down 3-2. And Springer, specifically, that was a brutal injury. That knee contusion after getting drilled by that ball. It looked like when Tiger Woods would swing and he just crumpled. He just had No strength on his legs in game 6, but Springer was willing to do it. He just will himself to it. Game 7 looked a little bit better, and that swing-up, Eddie Bastard. Edward Bizzardo, will be forever remembered by Blue Jay's fans. As he said, the most important one since Carter. Vlad has a serious to remember, 4: 42. He hit a 9: 30 slugging 1440 OPS is the seventh-highest ever in a single postseason. He's been monstrous, and the Jays were able to come through. Just one last thought as far as how much it's captured Canadians. 6. 8 million viewers watch Game 7 on Sportsnet, at least 11.

8 at least watch part of it. That's a country of 41 million. So do the extrapolation. In a country of 330 million like America, that's 85 million people watching a baseball game.

That's unbelievable. That's amazing. And it's in part because Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Put on that Superman cape. It makes all the sense in the world that in game one against the Yankees, I believe that was where he dove and literally looked like Superman. All right, it's time to put the Canadian biases aside, okay? I know that's going to be difficult for you. We got to actually break down this series. And you know It feels like the Dodgers bats can come alive at any given moment, right? We saw it with Shoheya O'Tani in game four as they clenched against the brewers. But the storyline is really going into this World Series. It's the Dodgers pitching against those Blue Jay's bats led by Vladdy. And Really, the question I have for you here, with that starting pitching being as dominant as it is, how do the Blue Jays bats compete with that Dodgers pitching and make this a series?

Yeah, LA has the advantage, no doubt about it, Jeremy, because that starting pitching. They literally have four aces on that team. They're starting pitching as a one and a half VRA, and they pitch deep into games. Snell got 24 outs against the brewers. Yamamoto got 27 outs. Glassnell, 17. O'tani, 18. So they're pitching at least into the sixth inning, which is a huge recipe for success for this Los Angeles team, and they just have dominant wipeout stuff. So for the Blue Jays, the good news for them is, and you're right, that is the match. It's Jay's offense against Dodgers pitching. The Jays have great contact skills. These guys don't strike out, and they put the ball in play. They put pressure on the defense. That's what's really important for this Blue Jays team, and they have length. The Mariniers, they really only had three guys to get hit. It was Josh Daler, Cal Raleigh, and Julio Rodriguez. Rose Rean didn't hit. And the bottom of their order was Leo Rivas and Dominic Canzonia. This is awful. So for the Blue Jays, That's what they have. Andres Ameana is going to hit ninth and go deep.

Ernie Clement is slugging over 600 in this playoff. He's been like a modern day Mark Lemke. Pick whichever baseball star of years past you like as far as an understanding. That's a good name.

That's what the pitch clock is for, is to hear names like Mark Lemke.

But I think ultimately, Jeremy, these guys throw strikes. They're not going to nibble. So they're going to attack the zone. You attack the zone as well. And Blake Snell is a guy who's unafraid to have a few walks because he's like, I trust my stuff. So three, two, I may waste a pitch. So the Bluejia's have to have that discipline and not He chases those pitches. Yamamoto throws an incredible splitter. Watch out for that, as does Ohtani. And Glassdell is the ugly ducking of the four. But like I said, he could be an ace on most teams. So I think the biggest thing is this Dodgers rotation, throw strikes. The Jays just have to hope they can catch up to 97, 98, and wipe out stuff. The good news for us, Toronto, is that they have hit good pitching. Fried was the only 19-game winner in baseball, and they crushed him. Seven runs in the three innings. They beat up Carlos Rodan. They beat up George Kirby, gave him eight runs in that one start. So they proved they can beat good pitching.

They were one of the best contact hitting teams in baseball all season long. They don't strike out a lot, and they're going to add Bo Bichette. Don't know if he'll start, but a guy that they can bring off the bench who they know will give them a competitive at bat, or maybe he ends up starting. We'll see. But Andre Simenez, that's my guy. He's been great at shortstop for them thus far. Should we, because we're so terrible at this, take away the rule that you have to pick the year for the rest of this game? I'm willing to do that for you.

For the Yankees, I'll give you guys some leeway there. If you get the name, I'll give you the year. It is four different Yankees. So if you get the name right, I'll give you the year.

I am going to throw up.

This is really, really difficult.

Okay.

And another thing, there are two names for the Arizona Diamondbacks. If you get one of them, I'll give it to you.

All right, just for everyone listening at home and for me to stall, I'm going to read you the name of every single year of this. So 92 and 93 are the Blue Jays. Skip 94, 95, you have the Atlanta Braves, 96, the Yankees, 97, of course, the Marlins, 98, 99, 2000, that's the Yankees, 2001, the Diamondbacks, 2002, the Angels. Then we've got the Marlins, again in '03, the Red Sox, where it was not David Ortiz in '04, the White Sox in '05, the Cardinals in '06, the Red Sox again in '07, and the Phillies in 2008. Guys, I am not feeling confident about a single one of these now. There's two of these that I can't believe I didn't just take Beckett and get on the board. Yeah, it was wild. Okay. You were ahead. So if you just get one right, then I can start the trend of getting strikes. We all decided together that the rule is just if you name a Yankee for the Yankee, it doesn't matter what year.

It doesn't matter what year. There are four Yankees, and they're all different.

One of them has to be Derek Jeter.

Correct. Derek Jeter was the World Series MVP in 2000. Okay, thank God.

I made that rule. I'm going to get crazy. I'm going to get crazy here. Darren Irstad, Angels.

It is not Darren Irstad.

I'm I'm going to try it. I'm going to say that the 2007 World Series MVP was David Ortiz.

That is incorrect. You got to be.

So he loses.

So I got to get one here? Cody, here's what we'll do.

Here's what we'll do. If you get this right, you clinch. If not, we'll go to first to three. In that case, I'll- Because you're both on the board, so it'll be first to three right. Okay. So if you get this right, Cody, the game is over, you win. But if you get it wrong, then we're going to go first to three.

That's a great idea. It's such a boring thing to I guess, the Cardinal. So I'm going to go for the one here. I'm going to go for the one. Another, it's like Darren Irstad. I think I just can picture the White Sox and the MVP, Paul Konerko.

It was not Paul Konerko, so we are still alive. I knew it wasn't Paul.

Go ahead. No, I didn't know it. I didn't know it wasn't. Guys, folks at home. I'm so sorry. It proves that we're not cheating. All right, Adnan, I want to get to some of the key factors here. So we'll just start. Both the Dodgers and the Blue Jays. Who's going to be the most important pitcher and the most important hitter on each of these teams in the World Series?

Well, I think obviously for the Blue Jays, it's Vlad. He's been carrying this offense so far. He's been remarkable. There's no reason that shouldn't continue. If the Dodgers slow him down, that's a problem. But he's the one guy that can flip this entire script, this entire series. He's been that unstoppable. He's been judged like Ruthie and Barry Bonds, et cetera. Pitching-wise, I think, you're Savage critical for them. I mean, he might start game one. Think about that. Kevin Goss will be starting a three days rest. We only threw 19 pitches in that game seven. I personally would start Gossman. But I think you're Savage, a 22-year-old who started at single aid, Dunedin, could be starting game one of the World Series, and again, game five, 22 years of age. He's absolutely critical for this Blue Jay's team. If you Savage pitch as well, that will really set the tone for this Blue Jay's team.

He's a guy, by the way, for everyone to understand who hasn't been following this, he had three starts in the regular season in the Major Leagues. He's made three starts in the postseason. Game one of the World Series could be his fourth. That's nuts.

The fact he's pitched 14 innings is absolutely bananas prior to the postseason, and now he's going to eclipsed that in the postseason is crazy. I'm with you. For the Dodgers, there's a myriad of choices you can take. I'll take Blake Snelgling because I think he's going to be pitch in game one. So he's the guy that will get two starts. He's been critical to his Dodgers team instead of wipe out stuff so far. You could pick any one of those starters if you like. Maybe Rocky Saisaki is actually a better option because as a reliever, he could be critical. That's right. That's how they short up their bullpen is with Saisaki, just making him the closer. So I think Saisaki could be really important. It's far an important pitcher for the Dodgers. And offensively, we'd like to see Freddie Freeman get rolling. He's been great at Roger Center. Historically, he's at 357 there. His mom was from Peterborough, dad from Windsor. He's really proud of his Canadian heritage. His parents moved when they were young for work. They moved to Los Angeles. But every time the Jays were playing the Dodgers or the Angels, his parents would take him to those games.

He lost his mom, Rose Bear, when he was 10. But he has vivid memories of her telling him, Hey, stand up for the Canadian Anthem when they were at those games in Los Angeles. So he's very proud of his Canadian roots. I'd love to see Freddie Freeman go off. Hasn't really had a great play off so far. Was an MVP a year ago. I remember that. There's never been a player to go back to back World Series MVPs. So I'll take Saisaki and Freeman for the Dodgers. I'll take you Savage and Vladi for the Jays.

I love that. This is why we have a Canadian expert with us so that we can get Peterborough, Windsborough, Halifax. We're getting all of those here on the pitch clock. All right, Adnan. We're going to do a little rapid fire to finish this off. In honor of the show being called The Pitch Clock, we're actually going to have some pace for the very first in our lives. We're going to pick it up. We're going to go rapid fire. I'm just looking for your quick answers here. So the first four of these are take your pick. Dodgers defense, Blue Jay's defense.

I'll take the Dodgers defense. They're a third in defensive run, say.

Dodgers lineup or Blue Jay's lineup?

I mean, I'll take Dodgers lineup. The Blue Jay's lineup has been really impressive. They're a fourth of the majors in run score. But if this Dodgers offense is rolling, watch out.

Dodgers starting pitching, Blue Jay starting pitching.

Easiest one you give me. Dodgers starting pitching. They've got four aces.

Dodgers relievers, Blue Jay's relievers.

This is a funny one because the Blue Jay's relievers haven't been great this season. They've been much maligned, but Hoffman has been outstanding. He was great. All right.

A role player who will have the biggest impact in this series.

I think Tommy Edmund for the Dodgers has been great all playoffs long. I think he'll continue to be that guy for Los Angeles. And why not? I'll take Ernie Clement. He's been a great story for the Blue Jays.

Player with the coolest story that's maybe going under the radar for the common fan.

Addison Barger is a great story for the Blue Jays for this Toronto team. And as far as Los Angeles is concerned, there's not one specifically. I would say I think Kike Hernández is always a great story. I mean, this guy, every time, Jeremy, the play-off is awesome. He's a play-off monster. I should say the best overall story, though, this goes for both, is Don Mattingly. All this time in baseball as a player for the Yankees, manager for the Dodgers, now bench coach for the Jays, first World Series ever for Donny baseball. Awesome.

What is a storyline to watch out for that people might not be focused on?

Well, I think the other part of it is that the Blue Jay is having home field. How important is that? And this whole rust versus rest conundrum.

Who's the reliever who will have the biggest role in this Series.

Well, it's Hoffman for the Blue Jays, no doubt about it.

Who will win this World Series and in how many games?

We haven't seen a World Series champion in Toronto since 1993. We're going to get one this year, and no less authority than David Samson. I don't know if he's actually picking the Jays, but he thinks it's going to be a lot more competitive series than people may think.

Your bias isn't showing at all. Who wins the MVP for the Blue Jays?

It's going to be Vlad.

Of course it is. The Canadian wins it for Canada. We love it, Adnan. You can watch him on MLB Network. You should buy his book, Cinefile. And we'll see him back here after Game 5. He says it's going to be a long series, so we're looking forward to previewing that Halloween night showdown in Game 6. Thank you, Adnan. Now, let's get back to this garbage of a game between me and Chris.

So let me just set this up here. We're going to go first to three. You can obviously re-guess. And again, the rule is with the Yankees, if you get the player right, I'll give it to you because there's so many Yankees on here.

I'm going to go... You know what? I'm going to go for one of those Diamondbacks, and I'm going to go ahead and guess Randy Johnson.

That is correct. Randy Johnson and Kurt Schilling were co-World Series MVPs in the 2001 World Series. Yeah.

We're doing the thing where I can just say Yankee, right? Yeah, just say-Correct. Bernie Williams.

Bernie Williams was not a World Series MVP in any of these years.

Which is so crazy, right? This is what I'm saying. This is an exhausting exercise. I'm going to guess it, and it's going to be wrong. Is Is the 2006 World Series MVP Albert Pujos?

It was not Albert Pujos.

Of course it wasn't. Of course, it wasn't, because why would it be the best player on the team? You have a chance to- Kevin Brown, Marlins, '97.

That is incorrect.

This is maybe the worst we've ever done. I like it because it humanizes us. Yeah, because we clearly weren't humanized enough from how poorly we've done in episodes before. I've been awesome in almost every episode. Just because we're having fun now, I'm going to say the name that I want to. Is the 2006 Cardinals World Series MVP David Einstein? It is.

Jeremy, you are the winner. You are the winner. David Einstein. I don't get a rebuttal.

He's surprising non-Jew, David Einstein.

He's at three already, and it was first to three.

Cody, if you have- If you can get two in a row.

Yeah, I'll You know what?

If you get two in a row, we'll call it a draw.

We'll call it a draw.

Marlin's Edgar Renteria.

Not Edgar Renteria.

Classic.

Who the fuck was the Marlin's MVP? It was Libon Hernandez. I love you, Miami. Come on, man. Man, that was obvious. Come guys.

I was just thinking the NLCS. All right, please tell us from '92 up through 2008.

All right, so the 92 Blue Jays won their first of two titles. The World Series MVP was a man by the name of Pat Borders. The next year, it was Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.

Okay, obviously, I didn't guess it, but after the name Joe Carter, the only other name I had here was Molitor.

I figured it would be Joe Carter because I think that was the year he hit the back-to-back or the walk-off.

Molitor, I must have a very special life. Is it Larry?

Chipper? It was Tom Glavin in '95. '96 was a man by the name of John Wettelland. We mentioned '97 was LeVon Hernández. Scott Brocious was in '98. Mariano Rovero was in '99. We got Jeter, Schilling and Randy Johnson in '01. Troy Gloss was the World Series MVP in 2002. Beckett, Manny Ramirez was '04. Was it Jermaine Die? Jermaine Die was '05. David Einstein, Florida Gator, was '06. A name you guys are going to be so happy about in '07. Bill Miller. Mike Lohl was the World Series MVP. He won a truck that year. I can see it as clear as day. Chris Cody just ripped his paper and pulled it up and threw it. Cole Hamels was Walsh's end of the day in 2008. Hamels. Cole Hamels. That pitching staff carried them in 2008. Yeah, of course.

Mike Lohl and Scott Brocious are the two that got away. And the one, obviously not going to... Manny was the obvious next thought after Papy, but I was just in a state of panic from there. Wow. So we were terrible. But I won, and that feels good. Back to back wins? Back to back wins for your boy?

Back to back wins for Jare Bear. Let's see how you do next week. All right.

I'm going to make a three-peat. I'm going to wear the same clothes. Me, too.

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