Transcript of Hour 2: Whatever Happened To The Alleys?

This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugatz podcast. This episode of the Dan Levatard Show with Stugatz is presented by DraftKings.

Draftkings, the Crown is yours.

Yo, Dan, you know about cruises?

I like cruises. My brother was somebody who was always traveling the world on cruises. He had one of the greatest gigs there can be, and that he was always working and traveling the world that way.

Cruises are great. The Zazlo family, we cruise. We at least once a year. You know about Royal Caribbean?

Yes. Why are you asking me questions this way? Is it somebody who- Want to make sure that I'm not talking about a story.

You're like, What are all these things? Never heard of them. You know the basics, all right? That's good. You'll keep up. There are casinos on a lot of these cruises, and sometimes you could lose money in the casino. You don't always win in the casino. Sometimes you could lose money. Well, there was a gentleman called Jay Gonzales Dias, which turns out is not even his real name, but that's what he was registered as on the cruiseship. Well, apparently, he racked up over $16,000 in casino debt on this Royal Caribbean cruiseship, and In order to get out of paying it, would you like to guess what happened?

How do you get out of paying a $16,000?

Glad you asked. You say, Please forgive me? Or you jump off the Rhaps of the seas. You jump off. You bail. He jumped off into the seas near Puerto Rico because he didn't want to pay the rest of his debt. The boat was docked. They were disembarking, and he just, You know what? I'm out of here.

Okay, but the way you guys described it made me think that that man jumped into an open ocean that wasn't docked.

Okay, it gets better because now you may be saying, Well, all right, what's he going to do? I hope it gets better. Right now, I fear for the person. Well, what he's going to do is there was a jet ski apparently waiting for him.

Oh, that's a getaway jet ski.

Inside job, wow. A boss move. A getaway jet ski, which was also pulling someone on an inflatable boat. And he jumped on the jet ski and away they go.

It's a good plan. It's a good plan. If you're losing, I think that's a good move.

Now, he did get caught.

Well, yeah. I imagine that the authorities might be able to catch up to a jet ski.

Because usually when you gamble, you got to put the money up front. On cruisehips, they give you this room key that turns into a little credit card. All of a sudden, I'm chasing The whole week. I'm not going to say I've come close to jumping off the boat, but I've gotten to the end of a cruise before where I'm worried about the total that I'm looking at. Now, he told them one name. He gave them his passport after he was captured, and they asked him The investigators, they asked him what his real name is. His response, Dan, was, If you guys were good at your job, you would know that. He's not wrong. He's right about that.

This story that you were telling me as you went through the very remedial basics of what cruise ship gambling is.

Well, you may not have been able to follow along if I didn't confirm what you know. Yeah.

Reminds me of the story of when it is one time that I felt really dumb leaving a show because I was talking about that wonderful plot of land where the Miami Harold had a building a long time ago. The Miami Harold sold that building and kept the business afloat because of how valuable that land was Bayeside. We were talking on air here, and I was saying how a Chinese ownership group that wanted gambling to come to Florida had bought that land, and they wanted to build a casino on that land. And I was explaining why I thought Mickey Arison objected to that casino being on that land, because he had ships nearby where he had gambling, and he wanted to have that to himself, I said. And I got a call afterward from Mickey Arison himself after I had done that show, saying, Do Do you know how little money that is compared to the rest of what we do that you would suggest that I wouldn't want gambling because of our little seven blackjack tables or whatever it is that we have? A couple of slot machines. Do you realize how ignorant you sounded saying that I would want that block because I wouldn't want gambling in town?

So I know what a cruise ship is.

What do you think the game was that he was playing? You think it was the claw machine that you go and you pick up all the bills? Can I tell you something? You know what's the underrated machine now in these cruise casinos? I like playing the game where you got to line up the key. It has to fit in the hole. The slot. Yeah, I've seen that. You get great prizes. They're like an iPad in there sometimes. Yes. It'd be like a stack of $1,000 cash. I want that stack. Have you seen the game that it's just a hole cut into plexiglas and you stick your hand and you have to take out a gold bar? Yes. Very heavy goes gold bar. Have not We haven't figured out how to win that one yet, though. Be strong. How did it go with Mickey when you hung up? You're like, 17 years from now, I'm going to take it incredibly easy on you in an interview. That'll leave no one, especially our audience, satisfied.

Jane Levy is with us now. She's the award-winning former sports writer and feature writer for the Washington Post. She's the best-selling author of multiple books. She's got a new one here, Make Me Commissioner. I know what's wrong with baseball and how to fix it. She's been following baseball all of her life. And I thought baseball got some things fixed here recently after many people objected to them making any changes at all. So I'm looking forward to talking to her about what changes she would make. I know Bob Kostas and others, Jane, thank you for joining us. Appreciate the time.

Absolutely.

I know that Bob Kostas and others were very reluctant to change, for example, the wild card, which has been a big hit because there are so many purists that didn't want baseball to change. But I feel over the objection of others, baseball has gotten a whole lot fixed. So you are in disagreement?

Oh, no. They fixed a lot of stuff. It took them a long time to get to it. I mean, the pitch clock was inevitable. And they used to have a pitch clock, and it was called the sun. And when the Sun went down, that's when games ended, and umpires would hurry you along. But when lights came in, they forgot that they had to hasten things along. And the problem with baseball is that it basically decided how to do things in the 1880s, it never changed. And so the changes they made, absolutely necessary. The pitch clock. Thank you, Rob Madford. Thank you, Theo Epstein. The idea that timelessness was something that integral to baseball as opposed to sonnets was just a mistake. I don't like the Ghost Runner. I hate the Ghost Runner. I think as some of the old-time managers will tell you, if people were taught how to steal a base the right way, they wouldn't have needed to change the geometry that Red Smith, my hero, said was the closest thing to godliness. The extra four inches changes that 90 feet thing. But I think there's more that they have to do. I assume I can quote people directly here.

I mean, what Bill Lee said to me, the Spaceman, is, You know why it's so fucking boring?

Why was it boring?

It was so boring because everybody knows what's going to happen. Somebody's going to hit a home run, and somebody's going to strike out the side in the ninth evening. It's become far too homogenized and predictable. And so while, yes, the pace is better, the games are shorter, Thank you. It's still flat because three true outcomes, the walk, the strike out, the home run, still decide a third of all games. And because for the last seven years, strikeouts of outnumbered hits. So they have some fundamental things that they need to change still, none of which is going to be easy. That's why you need me.

Put it on the poll, please, @LebitardShow. Did you like it better when the pitch clock was the sun? Because that is something. The timelessness of baseball, it's funny to think in the modern age, baseball has actually been better at changing than the other sports recently. They were ahead of the whole media game in terms of owning their stuff in a way that was progressive. You stand where, Jane, on the worst of all the changes. You think the Ghost Runner is the worst, or is there something else that makes you angrier than that?

The Ghost Runner really gets me. Really, really gets me. Look, I know, looking at your screen and listening to the last bit and knowing that my my grandfather was a bookie and a rum runner who serviced the Polo grounds. I'm not exactly moralistic about gambling, but you can't say for a hundred years, where the team, where the sport, where the Hall of Fame that's not going to tolerate gambling, and then turn on a time and not expect there to be trouble. I mean, the fact that the top closer for the guardians has been suspended, the fact that players are getting death threats because they struck out five people and not the four that whatever better wanted them to strike out. I mean, it's courting danger in baseball. And so I have a plan. Isn't that what politicians say? I have a plan. My plan would be, yeah, they really didn't have any choice once the Supreme Court legalized gambling in 2018 to go along with it. But why can't they take some of that money that they're making off selling their data and disseminating it to sportsbooks and buying a piece of sports books and buying a piece of sports radar?

Why can't they use some of that to fund what is desperately needed here, the same inner city training centers that they have all that they've all built in the DR? Why can't they give American Black kids or Hispanic kids or even disadvantaged White kids a chance to learn the game the way those kids get?

Don't they still do John Young's RBI program? Is that not something they do, or is that just an eyewash?

I think that's minimal.

Make me, Commissioner. I know what's wrong with baseball and how to fix it. What would you say is your best idea in here, the one that would really wow people?

Well, somebody said to me not long ago, no offense meant, but you're not going to live that much longer. We need a due generation of fans. My best idea, the one that everybody likes, is let all kids aged 10 and under in free. Fill up those swaths of empty seats in the upper deck.

That's a good idea. Great idea. That's a good idea. That's very good.

Jane, can I run an idea by Sure, please. What would you say is the third or fourth most exciting play in baseball?

Third or fourth? Yeah.

He's an asshole.

Hold on a second. Hold on a second. I'm just trying to get... Yeah, I'm not going to say that- Okay.

Squeeze play, stealing home, a triple. And somebody with an actual outfield arm who could throw said runner out at third base before he achieves a triple.

The triple is not better than the robbing of a home run.

That's what I was We're getting to. Let's say the fifth is robbing a home run, right? So what if we increase the odds of robbed home runs by doing something... Some people might think it's a bit extreme, like replacing the warning tracks with trampolines so that you can run, jump onto the warning track and rob more home runs. That would be a more fun game, wouldn't you agree? But Jane, there will be a ball pit on the other side of the wall for a safe landing for safety purposes.

So you're going to hate this one because it's antithetical. Yes, I know fans like to see guys bringing the ball back over the fence. However, it's becoming as ubiquitous as home runs. It is. Is that bad? I don't even look up. I don't look up anymore when somebody hits a home run. Big smear, as my grandmother would have said. My idea is to put plexiglas walls 18 feet high along the outfield walls so that... Think of this seating there. Think of what you could get for a seat to be on the other side. It's like a hockey rig. On the other side of that glass, when Aaron Judge goes barreling into it, okay? It eliminates cheap home runs. It increases doubles and triples, which is what fans say they want to see most. And it makes them develop players with actual skills in the outfield, which no one has right now, to it my Yankees last year.

So should we put clear padding just so that you could still see through it, but there's safety involved? Yeah. Okay, great. This episode is supported by FX's The The Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawk. Allow us to introduce you to Lee Raybon, a quirky journalist/ rare Bookstore owner/ unofficial truth seeker who's always on the tail of his latest conspiracy. This time, his most recent exposé puts him head to head with a powerful family that rules Tulsa. Meaning only one thing, he must be onto something big. Fx is the low down. Premiere September 23rd on FX. Stream on Hulu. Oh, folks, football season is here. It's your season, your shot. The NFL is rolling, and every countdown brings you closer to a payout with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. From first TD scores to anytime props or even the rush of live in-game betting, every snap is a chance to win. New customers, this is for you. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Use code Dan. That's code Dan to get $200 in bonus bets instantly when you place just a $5 bet. Plus, over $200 off NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV.

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Don Hard. Punctuate this segment with what is your strike three calls.

Strike one would be, strike. And then you stand up and you give a good point to the right. Stugatz. That's the same for strike two. But strike three, you get down low. You got your hands behind the catcher. The right arm goes up into the air. Ha! And then you finish it with the punch. The right arm flings way up into the air. Ha!

Ha!

I wish I could see that.

It's terrible.

The audio is great. This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugats.

What would you say is your most controversial opinion in here, Jane? The one that's got people yelling at you?

Well, nobody's yelled at me yet, but okay. I want to reconfigure the pitching staff. I think that watching a starter go 5. 2 innings, which is what the average is now, is incredibly boring. And watching a parade of guys come in to throw 100 miles an hour and tear their UCLs as quickly as possible is also boring. I want to see matchups between between aces. I want to see whether Clayton Kershaw was going to beat Bumgarner in their 12th encounter. There were only 11 before Bumgarner is retired. So what I would do is make the pitching staff 15 guys and have a healthy scratch list as in hockey. So you take your starter from the day before who's not going to throw the next day, and you put three other guys there, and you say, take care of your arms for a of days. These relievers, they're fried by July. And then everybody's busy scouring the waiver wire to see who can throw when there's been just released from some other team whose relievers are shot. It's boring. It's absolutely boring. Let's give baseball a chance to have the parts of it that were so good be relevant again.

Why was Clayton Kershaw taken out by Davy Roberts after throwing seven innings at a perfect game? Because they had to worry about his arm. But there's no what A. J. Ellis's his catcher always for years at the Dodgers called situational dexterity. There's no exception made. It's by the book, it's by the odds, it's by the analytics, and it has ruined, it has broken all the narratives that baseball used to tell which were the best part of it. And if If you make every decision based on probabilities, what will happen, what has happened nine times out of 10, what you do is you prevent the improbabilities. And if there was ever a guy who was going to do the improbable, it was Clayton Kershaw in Minnesota in his first start back in 2022 because he hadn't pitched for God knows how long he had been injured. That headline the next day would have been a reason to come out to the ballpark, as opposed goes to Clayton Kershaw taken out after seven perfect innings, which says to people, why bother? That whole thing, you might see something that you've never seen before. They've eliminated so many of those things.

And that's my fiercest objection.

The name of her book is Make Me, Commissioner: I know What's Wrong with Base and How to Fix It. She's been covering baseball all her life, and I love talking to baseball people who really get into the minutiae of the numbers and asking them some form of the question that will give you plenty of time here to filibuster in your thoughts because it's a difficult question. I'll give you some music, too, in order to give you time to think about what I'm about to ask you, which is your favorite baseball stat. And the reason I say this is to give you time to think. My favorite recently has been that if you take away all seven of Barry Bonds' MVPs, all of the stats from those seven seasons, all of them, he'd still have 400 home and 400 stolen bases, which no other player has ever been able to do. If I take away all his MVP seasons, give me the stat of the day music so that somebody who's a real expert on baseball can give me her favorite stat of all the stats. Start of the day, start of the day.

This is start of the day.

Start of the day, start of the day. This is start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day.

This is start of the day.

You don't like the new music, Mike? You don't like the new music?

We've been thinking about it. Me and Mike, every time we hear it, we're like, Do you like it? Do you like it now? Chris keeps telling me to keep my opinion to myself, which I feel like that's not in the name of this good discourse.

It doesn't sound right. It doesn't sound right. James, you didn't seem like you were too pressurized by this. You shrugged your shoulders at me. This wasn't even a challenge for you.

You know why? You stole my answer.

You Second best stat, you dick.

I thought you were asking what's my favorite metric, all those fun names, UZR, DZR, all that stuff. I actually was going to answer FIP, which was created by Tom Tango, the senior architect of data for MLB. It's fielding independent pitching. And it's a perfect example of how brilliant these guys are and how screwed the game is because of it. So Granky, it was his favorite stat, because what does it do? It takes away from a pitcher all the things that they're not in control of, like a bad bounce like a pebble on the infield dirt, like a left fielder who's a moron. All sorts of stuff is gone, and it distills just what the pitcher did and is responsible for. Great thing for agents and free agency. But what it does is it completely subverts the idea of what it means to be a teammate and to pick each other up after you fall down. And so I have long conversations with Tom Tango about this. I understand that the human mind has a relentless desire to put itself out of business. But if we lose completely the human element, which is what players now refer to as what's missing in baseball, it's just going to be not worth watching, even for me.

Jane, what is the most overrated feat in baseball these days? Something that happens that is not impressive.

She didn't come close to answering my question, by the way. She said, My stat was the best, and then talked about FIP. Like, didn't even come close to answering my question. She was dancing.

Well, you stole her stat, Dan.

Tap dance, babe. I was tap dancing.

How are you, babe?

You got me.

Put it on the poll, please. Does the human mind have a relentless drive to put itself out of his dance? That was a bar, by the way.

That was a bar.

I'm sorry. Answer his question, please, Jane.

What's the most overrated stat? Feet. Frankly, at this point, home runs.

Wow. Shocking take by Jane right there. The home run-Swarber's a bum.

Say it, Jane. Swarber's a bum.

Is Swarber a bum? She's not going to say Swarber's a bum.

Well, come on, guys. I mean, that you can hit four home runs in a real game? Great. The fact that people went nuts over doing it off batting practice, slop, at the home run derby made me nuts. I mean, really? Is that what it's come to? I understand why they do it. It's one of their most valuable properties. People love it. That's great. But come on. It's like two-thirds of the game are missing. Whatever happened to the alleys?

The alleys. What happened to the alleys? Billy was in one of those on the phone when the police pulled him over the other day.

Jane, just say it. That O'Tani 50-50 game, overrated. He's impressive, right? That 50-50 game, ridiculous. End of the game. I mean, jeez, Louise. 50-50 game would be impressive. No, the game that he got the 50-50 in where he had the 10 RBI, he had the 4 home run. I mean, the last couple of pitch was ridiculous.

Let me ask you a question, okay? I turned it. Ask away. I saw him pitch for-Probably 25 pitches. Last now. I saw him at the 3. 2 innings in Baltimore the other night. Here was a guy who basically said the old-fashioned thing, Send me in, coach. I put the ball in my shoe, which Dave Roberts did not actually do. But he stepped forward, and he said... He's old fashioned in that way, which I love about him. And I was sitting right in the press box, which is no longer going to be the press box in Baltimore because they're making a party space, which tells you what the priorities are. But I watched him throw 11 100-mile-an-hour pitches in 3. 2 innings, and they look effortless for him, right? I mean, it's a thing to behold But I actually asked Dave Roberts, should anybody want to pitch for the Dodgers right now? Look at what their rate of attrition has been in pitching this year. It's not just them, mind you, but the Yankees have had more money sitting on the IL for pitchers. The Dodgers have had more people sitting on the IL who are pitchers.

You're taking your life in your hands. And if I were O'Tani, I would say, You know what? I've done it. I've shown I can do it. He's had two Tommy John surgeries already. Tommy John, excuse me, in an internal brace. I understand Dave said he wants to be the guy that shows that he can throw a World Series game and hit in a World Series game. Yes, that is legendary. But wouldn't it be okay to say one side of that is enough after doing that? I'd rather have him around to see for the next God knows how many years running the bases and hitting the way he does, then have him do both.

Jane, we appreciate your time. Appreciate the book, Make Me, Commissioner. I know what's wrong with baseball and how to fix it. Clearly knows a ton about Please join us more.

We love you.

Yeah, can she replace Jeremy? But it's also a bit of a fraud.

Hey, I'm game. I'm here. Did you see my call, by the way?

No, let me see it. Yeah, you got it. To the right, right, right, right, down. You're right, you're right. Other way, the other way.

Other way, the other way.

Yeah!

Social relations. You know what My orthopedist said, my sportsman.

What did he say? I would love to know.

He said, You have the soul of an athlete and a heart of an athlete in the worst possible body for an athlete. That's not true.

Pablo Sandoval. Way worse.

You know what Terry Pendleton said? What? Go on. This is where we have a conga line of fit bodies.

Stop stepping on the-What is that about? We're talking about Terry Pendleton.

You were name dropping. You were name dropping. Stop.

Let her answer. She's a guest. The Hot Corner Houdini.

The Hot Corner. He said, We were better off fat. You can't tear fat.

Yeah. Thank you. That's what I live by.

That was good stuff. I know, but in the middle of all of that, though, you're saying, Stop interrupting her. I called her a fraud in the middle of that. None of you heard it because everybody was just- You're talking basement.

You expect me to pay attention the whole time?

I called her a fraud because instead of three and two-thirds, she says 3. 2 innings. No one pitches 3.

2 innings. That's how it shows up on the statue. Are you trying to explain something to Jane? Yeah, how dare you, sir?

Dan-splaining.

He's right. You said FIP.

Dan-splaining.

Dan-splaining. You said it. Dan-splaining. Thank you for the time, Jane. Appreciate it. We'll tell everybody again, make me Commissioner. I know what's wrong with baseball and to fix it. Thank you.

I do. It's Levie Jane. I want your designer to come redo my dining room. No, it's perfect. I do.

Homely.

Jane, thank you. Appreciate you being on with us. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys. Mike, I believe homely is an insult. I don't think you meant it. What does homely mean? I don't think you meant it. No, wait, no. I'm sorry. Like plain. No. I think homely is plain. No.

Like cozy. Homely is worse. It was like homely. Homely is bad.

I mean, it's both those things, no. No. Homely, I think it's negative. Well, Jane's a writer. Jane, if he says your home- Can you call me Homely? No, your home. He said your home was homely.

Did I offend you when I have your back more than anybody?

Don't make me unfollow. He meant it as a compliment.

What I said was I I want your designer to come back, to come up here, and redo my dining room in the expressive colors of your set. I love it.

Thank you.

Are those hummingbirds? Can I just say your glasses are dope.

Thank you. You know what? They were made by LA iWorks, and they quit making them, so I had to have somebody go to Barthalona and buy this set.

Barthalona. I love you. You're the best.

She needs to replace you. I love you, too. Jeremy, on this show talking baseball. Jeremy's segregated again. He's at the back of the show. Baseball's over there, but Jane's welcome on the show. I'm adding you to close friends. Jane, thank you for being on with us. I love you guys.

Do you like pictures of dogs?

Oh, wait a minute. She's got one on the back of the book.

Go get your dog. You've got Bet the Dog. Infielder, Bet the Dog. We would love to see your dog. Let's go ahead. We'll wait for you. I don't see the dog.

Betty, where are you?

Oh, Betty. It's not Bet the Dog, it's Betty. I pronounced it Betty, but she's got Betty Davis' Eyes.

She's got BettyI want you to know nothing gets past her. Yeah, she's not. I said...

She was playing with... She's the mascot for the Cape Cod League Orleans Firebird.

No, she's not. An infielder.

Yes, she is. She's an infielder. She had decent-Wow, nothing gets past her.

Like Yadie Molina.

Yeah, nothing gets past her. So the coach, a cool guy named Kelly Nicholson, has been doing it since 2005. The players decided they would play with her during infield and practice. So they started throwing balls to the outfield. She chased every single one down. She does over the shoulder. I can send you. She's got tape.

Send it. I can show you. Talk about shag and bowls.

Yeah, she goes, she gets everything. So Kelly looks at these guys and we're like, they're playing shallow. And he goes, Oh, no, you got to go deep for this dog. Betty can get anything. Where are you, Betty?

Throw your ball. Throw your ball for Betty to get it. Good camera. Yeah, throw the ball. Throw the ball, Betty.

If I throw this one in the house, they're cheap baseball.

Yeah, you don't play ball in that.

I won't break anything. But I can do it. I can send you a tape.

Please, dude. Jane, thank you for being on with us. We appreciate it.

What's for lunch, Jane?

Put it on IG. Billy, that's it. That's enough of you, okay? I've had enough of you. That's too strong everything you've been doing. I've been trying to end this segment for about 10 minutes, and you won't let me end it. I'm going to-Find it, Dan.

Find it. There it is.

Billy's got a major penalty, five minutes for being Billy.

Me? I thought Dan was going to pick himself out for Dan-Splaining.

I support you. I'm going with. Thank you, Jane. You can go with him. That's fine. Where do I send Betty's tape? Okay, well, you can connect with Billy-I'll send you Billy's number. Who keeps doing this, even though he doesn't want it, and he's pretending like he wants it, and he's an asshole, so he's getting out of here. Follow for follow. Both of you get out of here. Follow for follow. But get out of here and get that... Now, get that video from it, and we're going to play it during Ray Hudson sound every day during the World Cup. Every day until the World Cup, we're going to play both the video of her dog chasing balls and Ray Hudson Sound.

Must be confusing to her. Tony.

Perfect. See, she understands. She gets it. I get it. Thank you. I'm there. That's fine. All right. We will connect with you, and we will get you the information so you can send It says, your dog, the infielder. Don Lebetard. You don't remember the idea for a home run call?

I was probably like, That thing. Something? Okay, no. The home run call was, That swing, that thing.

Stugatz.

Oh, it's a good call.

Thank you. And plus, it doesn't matter who's hitting it. You're not tailing it to a particular name.

Correct. All that jazz.

You don't got to do that.

That would be a great call. That swing, that thing. This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats. All right, this show is sponsored by Liquid IV transitioning from an interview like that. A great interview. It's almost like transitioning from summer to fall, and it takes focus. You got to power through with Liquid IV's new sugar-free energy multiplier, hydration and energy in one. Each stick has a two to one ratio of alfianine and caffeine. For Balanced? That's how I said it last week.

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I did not think, out of nowhere, we were going to have a How do you Fix Baseball segment from someone who loves baseball, but it was delightful. We will have more with Jeremy Teshe and pitch clock, which has been segregated, which will be after Juju Gatti. I don't know if you guys have seen the last couple of nights. In the late innings, the Yankees have been outscored by the Detroit Tigres in the last two games in the 7, 8, and ninth inning, 17 to 1. That's bad, right? Well, the Tigres are exceptional without the payroll that the Yankees have. The Dodgers are hanging on at the top of division, but the Padres could have beaten them in a series last year and could beat them again in a series this year because the Dodgers... I remember, I'm going to say, whenever we were at 30 games from the end of the season, The Dodger over under for the season, I've never seen anything like this before because of where their payroll was, because they won the Championship, because they got all the players, because Moukibets has five RBI last night, and they don't need Moukibets.

The Dodgers over under on the season was 104. 5. And with 30 games left in the season, they would have had to win all 30 of them to get to 105. The Dodgers don't look like what you thought they were going to look like this season, but I can't get anybody around here to talk about baseball. And another thing I can't get anyone around here to talk about. We've been talking about Jake Paul in boxing. We've got a monster fight this weekend, okay? Terrence Crawford and Canelo. Crawford coming up on defeated three weight classes to fight Canelo. In boxing in my lifetime, there's really been only one time that it's not about the heavyweights, and it's when Marvin Haggler and Roberto Durán and Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Burns were just great fighters. Floyd Mayweather is in an argument here recently with Mike Tyson over the greatest ever. Floyd can't be the greatest ever, even though he wins all the time, because it was all about defense, and nobody watches fights to not see people get hit. The heavyweights and the big boys are always the ones that dominate the conversation. However, this fight, if you care about combat sports, Canelo not having to come down at all and making Crawford come up three weight classes to fight him is super interesting.

A lot of people who love boxing are going to be watching this on Netflix as Netflix gets into the live sports game, and you essentially get this fight for free, and you never get Canelo. Canelo doesn't fight for free. That's not how that one works. None of them do. But Canelo, specifically, when you get the Race Wars that boxing are trafficking, Black Guys Against Mexicans is the one that is the most trafficked in. And this one's going to be a monster this week.

It's going to be an incredible fight, Dan. This is a fight that you look at. There's been a lot of fights in boxing, where outside of these big fights with Usik and with Fury, there's guys that are in their prime, and there's guys that are legends. And Bud Crawfer versus Canelo is going to be a monster, monster fight. Canelo, I would say back end of his prime, right? I don't think you can call him his prime right now.

He's still an excellent fighter. But what you can say, though, the thing that you can say, though, now that Floyd and Pacquiao are done, is these are the two fighters of this era. These are the two guys you're talking about dominating an era. I can't wait for this.