Hour 1: Guest Host Andrew Siciliano Talks World, plus The Athletic’s MLB Writer Tyler Kepner

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1:22Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. And you don't stop. With guest host, Andrew Siciliano. Andrew Siciliano. From the Rich Eisen Show's studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests. Senior baseball writer for The Athletic, Tyler Kepner. Long-time golf writer, Alan Shipnock. Pro Football Hall of Famer, Joe Thomas. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Andrew Siciliano. Is this thing on? I think it is. Hi, everybody. Welcome to a Friday. It is the summer. Everybody is on vacation, but us. We're happy to be here. Edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Today, not starring Rich Eisen. Fear not, he is back soon in his place, the substitute teacher.

2:17Hi, my name is Andrew. I'm happy to be back. It has been a while. I apologize in advance, which is kind of how my brain works in every relationship in my life. I apologize. I apologize in advance for being a little rusty. But I'm happy to be here, and I'm happy that you are here because there are actually things to talk about today. There's football. There's also football. There's golf. Baseball's kind of fun again. And, like, you can call and join us as well. 844-204-RICH you can watch us on Disney Plus the ESPN app, ESPN Radio Sirius XM, Channel 80 The X, The Insta Face at Rich Eisen Show there's the YouTube channel as well Rich Eisen Show there's our normal cast of characters this this motley crew of friends and family weird crew on the Rich Eisen Show including including my fellow orange man he's a man he's 40 yes hi chris brockman how the heck are you 45 actually okay which means you're 40 great to see you dude likewise been a while what's yes what's new um lots of things some of which i could tell you some of which i can't great okay but we'll tell you the things i can tell you thank you what's new uh just got back from a great trip trying to plan another one was just in seoul and hong kong that was amazing came back to a little minicamp might go to sicily or lisbon next week haven't figured it out yet why not yeah trying to make it up as i go figure out places to eat off like bourdain blogs and instagram in the moment yeah how about you nothing nothing getting married in a couple weeks wait a minute i heard a rumor about that yeah say hi to everyone else okay jason how are you what's up andrew let's go back to that did have you said this on the air yeah everyone knows okay yeah got it just to make sure because Because I had not heard it.

4:15Jason, not to get away from me. No, no, no, you did. Back to this real quick. I had not heard it. I heard it from a mutual friend. Oh. Not surprisingly, that mutual friend said, oh, I guess I'm not getting invited thing. You could guess who the mutual friend. Well, it's a very small thing. Yes, exactly. And he said, it's not a big deal. It's a very small thing. And my first reaction was, I didn't know he wasn't married. Yeah, right. That's a lot of people's reaction. Okay. Or maybe I did know, but either way. Totally fine. You guys have been together forever. Forever, yeah. For all intents and purposes, and maybe even in the eyes of the state of California, although that is overblown.

4:44That's not actually a real thing. Oh, nice. Yeah, because my buddy and his wife had been together for like 20-something years. And I said, aren't you legally married now? He said, no, technically we're not. Like even in the eyes of the state of California, you're not. So she don't get half? And I said, try leaving because I don't think it is what you think it is. Either way, I'm happy for you. Oh, thanks. Okay, very small? Very small. Okay. Las Vegas. Wonderful. Beautiful. What are the odds that you would want something like that? At minus 5 ,000. TJ, are you getting married anytime soon? I am not.

5:24Happy Friday, everyone. Happy Friday to you. Happy Juneteenth. And we're not in any way planning a secret nuptials. Not until Hallie returns to the defense. Oh, man. Then it'd be go time. She's on her way. That would be incredible, by the way. That's great. Sneakily engaged to Halle Berry. It would be amazing. We didn't know, unlike Vegas, you're going to do your wedding at the Star, the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas. Well, where else? Okay. There'd be nowhere else to do it. Well, that's the rumor, right? MSG's hosting maybe a wedding in a couple weeks. TJ, you'd get married at the Star. That would be sick.

6:04Not at the Star, though, at the actual stadium. Not at the practice. Because the star is like rentable. Like bar mitzvahs, everything. I think Unc would let me do it for free. And I need all that space. I need all those people. In all seriousness, go ask Jason Garrett. There were times when it would be like, hey, y 'all are practicing outside today. You're like, excuse me? It's like, oh yeah, there's a bar mitzvah. What? Really? Oh, no, no. We rented it out. Okay, we ain't doing that. Excuse me? Like, yeah, you guys got to practice outside. It's 109. Oh, no, no. There's a wedding. It's rented out.

6:37Those days better be long gone. We got a whole new system in place, Andrew. All right. By the way, it is hot in Dallas. Feli and I were there a few Augusts ago. It's like living in a furnace. Breaking news. It's hot in Dallas. Thank you. Who knew? I was in Phoenix two days ago. No, there is hot. It was like 109 or whatever it was. At 8 a.m. Yes. Hey, how's the weather out there? There's no reason to do that. And my nephew looks at me. He's like, well, how do people live here? I don't know. he's 11 he figured it out like i don't know how people live here i just don't get it then we look up we're at the airport and we see here's carson back outside at minicamp like what we can't practice inside today did they rent that building out too maybe it makes no sense anyway again happy to be here there is so much going on it is just did six minutes about nothing it's a show about wait till i tell you about my last three days um let's lay out what is going on tyler keppner from The Athletic is going to be here in about 15 minutes.

7:37It is. Honestly, I know people don't pay attention to baseball really until the All-Star break. Baseball has been awesome. Like the rookies are ridiculous. I just went to two baseball games with back-to-back days. Shohei is ridiculous. He's bleeding. Oh, my God. He's a man. He bleeds like Superman, too, when he, you know, he punches the guy in the diner. He's human. Yes, he'll be okay. When is Aaron Judge coming back? How good is this rookie class? Is Jacob Mizerowski the most talented arm we have ever seen in Major League Baseball? It's a bold stat. Nolan Ryan, amazing arm. Pedro. Okay, Bob Feller.

8:07Pedro. Amazing arms. That's my uncle. Has anyone had a better arm? I'd have to imagine Cy Young's arm was pretty good. My nephew asked me yesterday, two days ago, how many Cy Youngs did Cy Young win? None. None. None. Really? No. I didn't know that. It wasn't a thing. It's named after him. We named it after him. It's the most unbreakable record in sports. I get it now. Wow. Good job, Felly. What, the 700 wins? I do audio. I'm kidding. 5-11. 5-11. 5-11. Yeah. 5-11. How about this? That's just so ridiculous. Will any two players combine for 5-11? No. From now until the end of baseball? Yes. Yes.

8:49No way. Absolutely. Definitely not. So, to your point, no one's ever going to win 300 again? No. Okay. What's Verlander? I mean, starting now. I mean, we're counting Verlander. Okay, like kids that have yet to pitch in the majors? Take out the guys who are over 40, which is what? Scherzer, Verlander, right? Those are the two active win leaders right now, I believe, because Kershaw retired. Kershaw's retired. Verlander, live Googling, is at 266. They're not even going to combine for 511. No. Scherzer. 222. Yeah. 222. So that's what, almost 490? They're not even at five. Yeah, they're not going to get there.

9:37They'll get five. Those two will. All right, we'll do baseball in 20 minutes. There is a U.S. Open as well. I was at the soccer game yesterday. That was the Switzerland win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. That was at Los Angeles Stadium. And Los Angeles Stadium cleans up very nicely. It does. It was absolutely beautiful to the point where you were on the freeway driving to the game. and the freeway signs, like from LA Store, you know, the ones that talk to you, on the 105, they don't say SoFi. They say Los Angeles Stadium, please use Crenshaw or please use Prairie or whatever. So I was not watching Wyndham Clark rip up Shinnecock for a 64 yesterday.

10:19Brockman, what is your U.S. Open Day 2 update, please? Yeah, you know, Wyndham Clark, the Open champion in 2023 when he was at LACC, He is your leader right now, seven under, one under on his round today. He is four shots clear of Xander Shoffley, who currently has the second-best round going. He's four under today, three under for the tournament. Colin Morikawa, TJ's guy, is five under. He has the best round going today through 15. He is five back of Wyndham at two under. Sam Stevens has yet to tee off. He's two under. And then we got a host of guys at one under, including Maddie Fitz, Justin Rose, back-to-back Masters champ Roy McIlroy and Ludwig Oberg are also at one under par.

11:05Only 13 players under par for the tournament. The course is definitely winning the conditions, winning out there in the Hamptons at Shinnecock Hills. It's going to shape up to be a phenomenal weekend. But right now, Wyndham Clark is a big leader right now, Jay, with a phenomenal seven under round. So I am looking at PGAtour.com right now. And in light of the Brendan Soresby thing and anything else going on, this is not a shot at PGAtour.com. Or the fact that Brockman is getting married in Vegas. There's a shocker. but the idea that we live in a day and age where on pgatour.com on the leaderboard on on their main official branded site the column on the far right odds to win like here it is we we are telling you here's who's winning and here are the odds i know this that isn't breaking news not getting into some deep societal conversation windham clark plus 210 yeah a windham clark on my leaderboard plus 170.

12:07Yeah. Plus 170. Xander plus 650. I don't know what out of date odds you're looking at, buddy. Plus 1 ,800 for Murakawa. And then Sam Stevens who is yet to tee off. Tee off. Plus 7 ,000. Value. Value. Like watching SportsCenter last night. Right? It showing me all the odds for U.S. men's national team. They kick at noon. it isn't, hey, is Christian Pulisic playing? And they did, to be fair. They had a reporter in Seattle, lovely shot with the stadium, Seattle Stadium in the background, but then immediately went to the odds. Like, sitting here watching with kids, like, do we need to see this? I'm not trying to be that dad, because I'm not that dad, it's not my kid.

12:58But, do we need this immediately? Hey, we just got done with the report. Here are the odds. Favorite American soccer player, Can he fight through injury to get out there talking heads? Former U.S. players. Should they play him? Do they risk it? Can they win without him? By the way, team, I'm sorry, U.S. men's national team, the Americans, playing Australia. Game they probably should win and could win without Christian Pulisic. But then, bam, right to the odds. Don't love it. Don't love it? I don't love it. You're the guy logged in on how many accounts right now? Just one at the moment where I'm keeping an eye on things.

13:36Not to cast aspersions. Like most things, gambling was way cooler when it was done in the shadows. Okay. You're that guy. You'd rather make it illegal. No. I like it legal in two states, not all 50. The one that you live in in Nevada. I'm not getting into soapbox. Let's talk about soccer. Because the game yesterday, again, the Switzerland-Bosna-Herzegovina game at Los Angeles Stadium was fantastic. It was my first World Cup game, FIFA game, World Cup game that I have ever gone to. I've gone to other cool soccer venues. I was lucky enough to see Arsenal last year when the Browns played the Vikings in London.

14:17Week five went to the Arsenal game the day before on Saturday afternoon. That was amazing. I've seen a game in Argentina, saw Boca Juniors play in Buenos Aires years ago. That was ridiculous. like Independiente scored six goals, including two in stoppage time to win at Boca, ending like a 20 game unbeaten streak at home. That was insane. Lucky nobody got stabbed that day, but the Independiente fans were up in the upper deck in a cage. That's where they were held and people were throwing flares at the cage. Never seen anything like that in the US. But I digress. what I saw yesterday at the stadium formerly known as SoFi was as cool a thing as I've ever been to and I didn't go to the US opener on Friday I actually blew a chance at a last second ticket that's an entirely another story about whether or not you stick with the friends you made plans with or you bolt out to get a last second ticket that somebody kind of offered you but didn't have two but tried to get two but they definitely had one if you wanted to bail on your friends and I didn't bail on my friends I should have gone to the game

15:25the togetherness and I'd say it was like a 70-30 crowd Bosnia-Herzegovina as compared to Switzerland so it felt like a Rams game with all the blue and yellow in there but the togetherness the singing the look of sheer joy on the faces of the fans not only because a lot of them had never been in that venue and they look up and like the Paraguay coach said last week Like, this is the most amazing football stadium I have ever been to. SoFi is great for football. And I've been at some amazingly memorable games in that building where the place shook. Whether it is a Super Bowl, whether it is an NFC championship game where the Rams beat the 49ers in their own building to go to said Super Bowl.

16:13Monday night games, Thursday night games. Baker Mayfield, I just got here Wednesday, come from behind fourth quarter performances to beat the Raiders. Like, I've been to some very fortunate, amazing games at SoFi. Also been to an empty stadium COVID Monday night game. Literally empty. Saw that as well. But man, does she clean up nicely for the World Cup. It just felt different in there. The sun shining through the roof. The breeze blowing through the north and south end zones. she's the best stadium in the world for this. Like it was absolutely fantastic. And my brother and I are there with his 11 year old son.

17:03And so backstory here, my brother months ago is a massive, there we got Henry in the middle, my brother Seth on the right. My brother is a massive Italian soccer fan, massive. So months ago we did the math. All right. That's going to be Italy, Switzerland. okay so i called in as many favors as i can get no one's getting these things for free like got hey here you go like face value bam we got amazing seats bam and then we're at the nfl owners meetings the annual meeting in phoenix at the biltmore and all of a sudden my phone ping ping ping ping ping italy blows a second half lead loses to bosnia on pks italy is out of the World Cup yet again.

17:50Either way, we promised Henry we're going to the World Cup, buddy. So they got on the plane and they came out to the game and we had a blast. But as my brother said to his son, the energy, and you've been lucky enough to go to NFL playoff games. I have said that there is no energy like an NFL playoff game in a home building. Are there comparable? Yes, I've been to World Series. Been lucky enough to go to those. In your home building, it's unbelievable. Like, I can't put it into words, but that energy that you feel at World Series games or NFL playoff games is the energy you feel in the building for every single one of these World Cup games.

18:34It's that good. So that's why the cheapest ticket for Seattle today is$1 ,500 to get in at noon to see Australia. I mean, I know people who flew out this morning to go to the game, and then they're going to fly back tonight just because they want to be part of the spectacle. Yeah. Like, if I were not here today, and I'm happy to be here, by the way. I'm not that big of a soccer fan. I'm not. But the energy in the building, like, if somebody offered me a ticket, I would have hopped on a plane this morning and flown to Seattle. It's that cool. And also, let's say this. Seattle's the best outdoor venue in the NFL.

19:11Ooh. Wow. Now, for a Seahawks home game, now, I love me some Huntington Bank Field. I love me some Lambeau Field. In terms of the noise level, and Seattle has amazing soccer fans up there. Amazing the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Seattle, they love their soccer. They know how to support their team. But there is no louder NFL home outdoor venue than Seattle. the way it is built it's straight up it's not out it's up yes there's some curve there's there's some angle right you're not you're not free soloing copy ton to get up to the copy time to get up to the upper deck but it's loud man that i don't know if they do the sound test check thing whatever but there's a reason the beast quake happened in that building obviously marshawn lynch is the reason but yeah it is that loud there so that's going to be amazingly cool all right is jacob iserowski the greatest arm we've ever seen in baseball can we actually debate that i don't know do we believe when the radar gun says 104.5 do you yes it's more like a radio station yeah I think it's a little pumped up for TV, but there you go.

20:38I'm not trying to be the conspiracy theorist. He does throw fast. He does throw very hard. I don't want to stand in. I don't want to be there. I do not want to. But Tyler Kepner is going to join us coming up next from The Athletic. It's Andrew sitting in for Rich. It's the Rich Eisen Show, friends.

20:58While the world watches the stars of the FIFA World Cup, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. And we're still doing it every day because the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Rich Eisen here. And Summer's here, too. And that means it's travel season.

21:33My favorite summer trip last year was to Sao Paulo, Brazil. With so many fans traveling for the Los Angeles against Kansas City game, they got to see how lively the city is. I love the culture and the amazing food that I'm still craving. Those memories remind everyone that it's that time of year to plan a little getaway. And that's why summer has a way of turning weekends into big events. One minute, it's a normal week. And then all of a sudden, a huge concert, sporting event, or festival brings people in from all over. And when that happens, visitors start looking for places to stay all across your city.

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22:41The Rich Eisen Show podcast. And it is the Rich Eisen Show, everybody. Hope you're having a fantastic holiday weekend Friday. We got the U.S. Open going on. Getting closer and closer to baseball's all-star break, which means we're getting closer and closer to baseball's trade deadline. It's not that close, but, you know, we'll throw that out there because we'll talk about Tarek Skubal. We'll talk about a lot of things. Let's talk baseball. Tyler Kepner now joins us from The Athletic. Tyler, good to see you. How are you? Doing great. How are you? Hanging in there. Thank you. Watch Shohei hit the homer on Tuesday, missed the bloody pants game on Wednesday.

23:22I find it hysterical the way that, you know, anytime someone gets a boo-boo, we got to cover it these days. But Shohei's fine, right? Anything dramatic that we know from a bloody finger? I think he's going to be all right. I think if there's anybody who's superhuman who can overcome a bloody finger, I think it's Mr. Otani. Yeah, we're on the same page. Speaking of superhuman, let's talk Jacob Isrowski because we were talking off the air before you came on about the 104.5 last week. It is ridiculous, and there's no doubt he's the most talented arm in the game. Do you believe the radar gun stats?

24:01Do you think there is any part of this that is, let's say these numbers are inflated for television? I mean, the hitters would show you that it's not, right? I mean, the hitters can't do anything with it. So, you know, I think it's not as if it's, you know, they're hitting it and they're showing that it's 104. I don't get into that whole, like, you know, are they doctoring the miles per hour for Mizorowski? I think, you know, where they measure the ball from is a little bit different than previous generations. but it's been I think it's been pretty consistent now for for 15 years or so so I don't I don't think they've changed fundamentally from maybe 2010 or so yeah I'm not trying to suggest that we should all wear tinfoil hats when looking at numbers I remember a game I and this was a long long time ago where I was in San Diego and her oldest Chapman was there with the Reds and they were putting up 102 103 103 consistently and I remember my brother and I were sitting in the stands going, come on.

25:12But that was a different era. And Mizorowski's talent is so blatantly obvious. It's hard to compare eras, Tyler. Where would you put him in terms of just pure arm talent, which is more of a football term than a baseball term, but just pure arm talent from anyone that you have ever seen. Yeah, I mean, he's way up there. You know, we have to see it over a little bit longer period of time. I mean, there's, I think, Kerry Wood, right? He had a game like this with 20 strikeouts and one little scratch infield hit. I was there. Were you really? I was there as a young reporter in Chicago, yeah. Oh, wow.

25:58That may be one of the greatest games of all time. I mean, you saw it. Wow. That's one to be at. You know, Scherzer has had a couple of those kind of games. But certainly, I mean, I don't know. When you look at the scope of history, you look at guys like Bob Feller or Walter Johnson, you want to go way back, or Satchel Paige. I mean, there's a lot of, like, great guys on that list who did it for a very long time. But in terms of what we've seen in modern times, I mean, you mentioned Chapman. And that's a guy I think of because when Chapman came onto the scene, that was kind of a new level of velocity and power that we hadn't seen.

26:38And Mizorowski is doing it as a starter, which is even more impressive. So I'd put him up there for sure. But it's still a pretty small sample that we've seen. And you just hope, I mean, in this day and age that he stays healthy because most guys don't. you know, Chapman has in a relief role, but most guys will break down. So let's just hope that he avoids that. And he has a contender in Mason Miller, doesn't he? Isn't that fair to say? Yeah. I mean, Mason Miller's, you know, been just incredible. I mean, I think of, I remember when Craig Kimbrell was at his height when he was very young in 2012, I think he's, I'm pretty sure he struck out 50 % of the batters that he faced, which was mind blowing.

27:21And then that's the area where Miller is now. And even in relief, you know, to strike out half the batters who come to the plate is pretty wild. It's like you're almost like you're breaking the game. Right. And there's something to be said, too, is like pitch to contact a little bit as well. And you shouldn't be having to strike everyone out and save your arm a little bit. But that's another conversation. Talking to Tyler Kepner here from The Athletic. Tyler, what do you make of what Tarek Skubal said? The Tigers are 30 and 44 right now as they open up on Friday. They're nine and a half games back of the White Sox and the Guardians are now tied atop the AL Central.

27:56Quote, the future for a lot of people in this room, not just myself, the outlook could look very much different in two months. And it all comes to an abrupt end. Is that a message to the clubhouse or is that a message to the front office?

28:16I think it's probably more of a message to the clubhouse not being there. I don't know for sure. But, you know, I think they they need to prove that they deserve some reinforcements. Otherwise, they're going to go the other way and start trading guys. They need to get hot now and then get the front office to to get on board, because right now there's no point in augmenting this group because they haven't shown that they can do it. I mean, just to get in or just to have a little slightly better chance, they haven't really proven yet that they deserve that. So I think, you know, in Scoogle's case, I mean, unless the Tigers go on a real heater real quick, they probably will trade him and should trade him because if they want to get him back, just be the highest bidder in free agency.

29:06I mean, that's what it's going to take. I think that's what it almost always comes down to anyway. So they'll have just as much of a chance as any other team as long as they write the biggest check in the offseason. So might as well get something for them now if the team doesn't turn it around immediately. Do we know yet are teams calling? Have they called? Oh, I'm sure, but it's still a little early. I mean, if you can swing a deal for them now, obviously you'll get more starts out of them. So the price would go up. But I don't know if Detroit is ready quite yet to cash in. And would it be the usual suspects if and when he does get traded?

29:50I think any team, you know, because he's making, what,$32 million this year. So that's a lot. But that can always be negotiated based on the quality of the prospects, you know, like how much money you throw in. And if you get better prospects in return, you'll pay more of the salary down. So I don't think the salary makes that much difference to a team that would want him. And he's so good when he's healthy and doing his thing that you could put him on top of any rotation. Even the really good ones could use a guy who's a number one. So I think anybody would be on the table. Well, certainly some teams have greater needs, but yeah, I mean, who wouldn't want him?