Hour 3: Giannis’ Trade Request, Clippers Cut CP3, plus Savannah Bananas LF Coach RAC

24:31Rich Eisen:So if somebody had told you right then and there, hey, you're going to play in Angel Stadium one day, but. Yeah, the but. I never would have expected. But it's going to be, and it's going to be in front of. Sold out. Sold out. Angel Stadium actually sold out. Otani's not involved. Yeah, yeah. You know? But it's going to be with the Savannah Bananas. And it's going to be in front of a crowd that is fully delighted by watching your son play or watching you play, right? Were your folks in Angel Stadium? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They were there, man. Of course that'd be. Yeah. This thing has been so special.

25:11And I think that so many of the players realize, Like we've got a second chance at playing again. Otherwise we wouldn't still be playing ball. And so we, we try to keep a good perspective and real, like not take it for granted because yeah, we were just, we sold out angel stadium. I grew up going to games there all the time. My neighbor had season tickets. So yeah, man, such a, such a blessing. I feel, feel very blessed.

25:31Rich Eisen:And you are entertaining and your colleagues are entertaining beyond expectation. And it's, it's, it's so much fun to watch you guys play how what goes into preparing for a game a lot more than people realize i said oh yeah we've got we've got this guy maceo he's our dance instructor um yeah we got one of those uh zach frangelo is our director of entertainment yes um what this practically looks like on a game day you show up and uh before you even touch a baseball we got rehearsals yeah there's stilts pitching love that we have rehearsals and so they will tell us what the plans are what dances we're doing that day so when you see us performing a dance you know in front of 45 50 ,000 people making a fool of ourselves we learned that dance you know like that morning my question when do you practice the dances yeah I know the day of yeah there are certain dances that we repeat like when we when we win we have our like you know victory dance i guess it's silly to say that but yeah it's basically what it is um so we have a couple dances that we repeat other than that the run scoring celebrations the you know special walks up to home plate all of those uh those we learned that day so uh have some have some grace with us out there we're trying you don't get heckled do you oh no no just on just on just on like you Social media, I'd say.

26:59Rich Eisen:Oh, well, forget that. That's everybody. Sure, sure. Who's trolling a Savannah banana on social media? What is your malfunction? A sad, sad person. That's true. That's an understatement. Party animal diehard, maybe. I don't know. I'm sick and tired of this, too. What the hell? So has something happened on a diamond that wasn't planned completely that even surprised you? wow, I just made that play, I just made that hit, I just hit that ball or something like that. How often does something like that happen? Oh, all the time. I bet. Again, we're playing baseball. I mean, we're competing. We're trying to win.

27:36Rich Eisen:You know how the ball's going to come off the bat, right? No, no, there's no way. You could get the best hitter in the world. I mean, who knows? Otani might not hit a home run, even if they throw you a fastball right down the middle. Baseball is hard. And probably the moment that stands out for me that blew my mind, and I'm just saying, God, I got to even experience this. I always dreamed of just rounding the bases, hitting a home run in a major league stadium, a bunch of people. Like Fenway Park? Sure, yeah. Yeah, I like that. Exactly. Yeah, we've played there a couple times. The three-year anniversary of me getting signed by the Nationals.

28:11So I got signed July 13th of 2021. um july 13th of last year 2024 i'm at nationals park we just so happen to be playing at nationals park our one game of the year wow that we play at nationals park uh was on the three-year anniversary of me getting signed so the owner jesse cole's bananas was like uh we were sitting on a plane next to each other actually the week before and he was like hey did you know that uh when we play at nationals park next week that's like the anniversary of you getting signed by them i was like, wow, I didn't even realize that. You didn't even realize that? I didn't realize that.

28:44He wanted to see the video on my phone and we pulled it up and it was, it was July 13th. So, um, he was like, are your parents coming to this game? And, and, uh, they weren't planning on it initially. Um, but he was like, you know what? I think we should have your dad walk with you up to home plate again. Um, and you know, kind of recreate that moment initially of, you know, you getting signed by the nationals and you telling your dad. And so we'll have him walk up to home plate with you um share a moment we'll play your video on the video board we'll give you a standing ovation you know at Nats Park and and go from there and uh wouldn't you know it my last at bat at Nationals Park home run come on like I mean it was like I just never I'll never forget like the ball leaving the yard and it was just I was euphoric it was it was so so cool you jacked it out yeah yeah to pull i got somewhere on youtube i don't know well i mean wow find it yeah yeah uh but you go did you go to the plate thinking like i want to jack one out here oh of course yeah i mean of course that's the idea but you know at that point in the game i think that was my third at bat and and i was like all right i just want to i already had a triple earlier in that game and i was like all right let's i wasn't specifically i'm always trying to hit a home run you know of course but um but i wasn't even it thought it even crossed my mind it would have been like too good to be true in my head um but there's moments like that a lot that happen dude basically

30:03Rich Eisen:every game uh is uh is too good to be true right now yeah i mean you're selling out football stadiums football you got oregon stadium next year you got wrigley field next year yeah you're back on the bananas again next year um right i mean raymond james stadium three million fans on the ticket wait list across the United States. This is a phenomenon. And it just also speaks again about how baseball's a kid's game and you're acting like kids and kids can't wait to watch adults act like kids and maybe see somebody throw a fastball on stilts. You know what I mean? Yeah, sure. Who comes up with this stuff?

30:41Man, well, you got to give a lot of props to Jesse Cole, the owner. I mean, his vision for the sport of banana ball was birthed out of this collegiate summer team that he's running in Savannah, Georgia. and collegiate summer teams will try to get creative with their mid-inning promotions and try to get the fans involved. But you never see more than a couple thousand people show up. And Jesse Cole started, rather than looking at the field, he started looking at the fans and was like, okay, what parts of the game are they getting disengaged? And he basically crafted the sport of banana ball to just keep the audience attention the whole time and make it interactive.

31:19As we're playing in these stadiums, We have players going up into the third deck and giving roses to little girls. And the stuff that we do makes it feel like even if you're sitting way up at the top, you're still included as part of the show. So got to give props to Jesse Cole. So many of the amazing ideas that you see us doing on the field, a lot of it originated with him. Is there a spot you want to play in that you haven't been? Like a place I want to play? Oh, I would love to play at Dodger Stadium. That's like, we're not going there next year. I grew up a Dodger fan. I'm sure you're okay.

31:53Yeah, I would love to play there. Dodger Stadium. Yeah. What about a football stadium? You're a football guy in any way, shape, or form? Dude, I have a fantasy football team, and I think I'm in third now out of ten. Okay. I did auto-draft, and I know nothing about football. Yeah. Listen, you're kind of what's wrong with fantasy football. I've heard that, yeah.

32:13Rich Eisen:You know what I mean? I know, and I'm doing well, too. That's just the tough part. That's how it works, right? That's him over there, too. That's Jason Feller. Is it? What's up, buddy? Is that you, too? Jason Feller meet Coach Rack. Hi. Coach Rack, that's Jason Feller. Yep. Oh, I have Rico Dotto? Well, geez, let me start him. Oh, he gets 200 yards rushing. Oh, okay. Nice and fast guys. That's the guy. That's my guy right there. Oh, so who did you auto-draft? Oh, man. So I got, let's see, I got Bijan. Yeah, you did. Yeah, I got Jalen Hurst. He's my quarterback. You know, I don't even know too many names, you know.

32:45I just.

32:47Rich Eisen:Oh, my God. Yeah, I just see this guy here, and I'm like, oh, he's projected for 13. All right, cool. Let's put him in the lineup, you know? Oh, my God. That's me. This is great. This Nationals home run is incredible. You get an American flag on your way to first base, and you're like running around the bases with this flag. You love that part. It's amazing. So that was the funny thing. Before the game, as we're rehearsing, they were like, okay, we're in D.C. One of our celebrations will be if anyone hits a home run, the celebration will be we're going to run the American flag out to you, and you run around the bases with it.

33:18And so, yeah, I mean, I hit the home run, and I start running to first base, and then my teammate Kyle runs up to me with the flag, and I was like, oh, yeah, I got to run around the bases with the flag. So, you know, Toby Keith's rolling, and I'm just running around the bases. It was probably one of the, you know, top five American moments in the past couple years, I'd say, self-proclaimed.

33:37Rich Eisen:The whole team comes down to home plate. It's a giant celebration. The only thing missing is you didn't hit it in a light tower with the natural, but the balls are flying down. I've seen that movie. I've seen that movie. Okay, good. I'm glad you get that pop culture reference I don't get too many I'm homeschooled You said that but you're also 27 and I didn't want to show my age here Oh my gosh that is so cool brother And part of that story too what's the most amazing part of that story is there were actual Washington National lids and Riverside lids What is that? For the Howard Kendrick fans? Pretty random The two Howard Kendrick fans who were from the Angels and the Nationals Is that what it is?

34:14Rich Eisen:I think those were those two. Some poor Howie Kendrick fan goes, why are we sold out of national hats? Because Coach Rack grabbed him for a viral video. You know, fun fact, my first ever professional hit was with Howie Kendrick's bat, actually, because he was in the Nats org. Yeah, man. I just remembered that. Yeah, I still have that bat. The only thing better is you got maybe one of Juan Soto's bags. Yeah, don't have that. No? Yeah. Well, he's a Met fan over there. He knows all about Juan Soto taking the bag. That's what that guy knows right there. Lover of the game, my ass. That's what we got this guy here.

34:50Rich Eisen:I was a Yankees fan right there, Rack. He's just upset. That's all right. I'm bitter. One thing I love about you guys, though, too, is can you tell me a little bit about the umpire? Yes. Oh, yeah. The umpire is the man. He's the man. Vincent Chapman, he can move a little bit. Yeah, the dancing umpire, the twerking umpire, I mean, he can move. There's no doubt about that. I'd say probably the fourth inning every game, he'll go dust off the plate, and then they play his song and chucks his mask way up in the air, and people lose their mind. They love that guy. Like Enrico Palazzo? I don't know who that is.

35:24I know, I know.

35:24Rich Eisen:I was like two for two before that, though, so I'm still batting like 667. I don't think he'd know who Enrico Palazzo is. You've never seen the naked gun is what you're saying. No idea what you're talking about. Two things. Two things. First of all, shot at Dodger Stadium. Okay. Okay, so that's number one. Pretending to be angels. Pretending to be the Angels. Reggie Jackson comes out of right field. Okay. No, this doesn't ring a bell. I know Reggie Jackson. Okay, good. I know right field. He's part of a plot to kill the queen of England. Okay. Let me see what else I can do. See, I feel like you're just making this up.

35:54Rich Eisen:This doesn't sound real. No, no, no. Lieutenant Frank. No, no, no. Lieutenant Frank. This is one of my favorite parts in the history of this show is explaining police squad to Coach Rack of Savannah Bananas right now. Now, Lieutenant Frank Drebin, our police squad, goes undercover as an umpire to try and uncover the plot in time to save the queen. This does sound good. And he is a dancing umpire at one point in time. Really? Yes. No. Trust me on all of this. I trust you, but like, kind of. I feel like this isn't a real thing. I am not. Am I trolling? No, no, no. This is great. This is great. This is real?

36:30Rich Eisen:It's a great movie. It's like one of those spoof movies. Have you seen Major League? Yeah, I have seen that. Okay, you've seen Major League? Yes, that's a classic. Field of Dreams? Field of Dreams, yeah. I've seen that. Sam Lott, yeah. Met Ham Porter in the batting cage at the Angels Stadium, actually. Hambino played in the game. Yeah, he did. It was a miracle that he made contact, because I'll tell you what, I was giving him soft toss in the cage down before, and brother could not make contact on underhand. And then he gets in the game and made contact. I was like, there's no way he just did that.

36:56It's amazing. It was a miracle.

36:58Rich Eisen:Any special new rule changes? Because that's kind of one of the unique aspects of Savannah Ball or the unique rules. Anything new for 2026? Yes, this is not confirmed. But we tried this out in playoffs a couple months ago, and I kind of like it. So the one element of banana ball that was not competitive is the trick plays. There was no incentive to do it other than it looks cool. I'd do a backflip catch in left field, looks sweet, but it doesn't really give us any competitive advantage. If we're like the game's on the line, generally speaking, I'm just catching it normally. Okay. They added this rule where you get an extra point.

37:34They call it an equalizer point if you have more trick plays than the other team. However, the home team often has, I don't want to get too into the weeds here. The home team often has more opportunities to make outs on defense because they can walk off innings. Correct. So let's say in the first inning, leadoff batter hits a home run. The away team didn't get a single out because the home team walked off the inning. So what they added was this equalizer point. where if the visiting team gets more trick plays than the home team, then they get one point. And it's very simple, but we tried it in playoffs, and it made it so that people were trying trick plays in pressure situations because you wanted to make sure you had more trick plays than the other team so that the visiting team doesn't get the equalizer point.

38:15So that's like the one rule change that is up in the air. I don't know if they're going to do it for next year, but I think it'll add more of a competitive balance, I guess, to the game. and give incentive for people to do trick plays and innovate.

38:30Rich Eisen:How many points for the trick play in a championship game by having a ball hit directly into the crease of the fence and the warning track? How many points would the Blue Jays have gotten? Right, right. I don't think they would have gotten any. If, you know, Quique Hernandez would have done like a backflip catch or something, then maybe. Were you jealous? Were you jealous with that moment? Like, I could do that. I could do that. Oh, yeah. Mookie goes around the back on the game winning double play. I could do that. I can have Pahez come and hit me. How many points for that right there on the screen?

39:05Rich Eisen:How many points for that? Yeah, I don't think any personally. But, yeah, gosh, that was such a fun World Series. That restored my faith in playoff baseball. Really? Well, it was just so fun. It was incredible. It was cinema. Like, I was sitting there, like, watching. And my wife was like, what's going on? I'm like, Gigi, Gigi. He just hit a home run. Of all people. Unreal. Rojas making the play at second to home plate. Oh my gosh, but I like this much. You're a Dodger fan, so you were probably living and dying. I was. The season was for an instant in an instant replay machine. Yes. Did Will Smith's toe hit it?

39:43Rich Eisen:And then the Pahez moment catching the ball over Kike Hernandez. Yeah. That was a Savannah Bananas moment right there. You got me nervous just thinking about that again. Dude. Yeah. Hey, what a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations on everything going down with you and your baseball career. And I love that you confirmed that the competition, the competitor, outranks the entertainer when the game's on the line. You're not backflipping. Oh, yeah. You're going to make the catch. I'll backflip if I know I'll catch it. Ah, I love it. Sometimes that's the case. Coach rec, everybody. And you're the co-founder of the Not Your Average Baseball Camp.

40:19Rich Eisen:Tell me about that before I let you go here. Sure, yeah. Yeah. My friend Ange and I got that idea in 2022. I was making content online and I was like, you know, I want to make a difference in these kids lives. Yes. So we hosted a camp. We actually had it out here in Orange County and and we loved it. What we learned there was like, OK, the coaches might have had even more fun than the kids. And, you know, you said this earlier. Kids want to see adults act like kids. And so at these camps, we got one of our coaches, Coach Ballgame, and he'll put a coach against a kid in an attaboy challenge where you have to yell attaboy louder than the previous yell.

40:55So you have a coach yelling attaboy at a kid's face and a kid yelling attaboy back. We have so much fun. We play banana ball. We teach baseball and the fundamentals, like the legitimate stuff. But more than anything, we want the kids to have permission to be kids again. We had our most recent camp in Texas, and between our two camps, we had 1 ,000 kids out. So we're planning next year's right now, but we just want to make the game fun and really pour into the next generation. Attendance through the roof.

41:25Rich Eisen:You have a spot here any time you want to come in, man. Congrats. Honestly, normally I'd like to make sure I'm beyond locked out, 100 % prepped. I had no idea that was you in that video with your dad, but I do remember seeing it when it came out, And I'm like, this is just what it's all about. Yeah. And it's such a pleasure to meet you and hearing your stories. And congrats on your baby on the way. Yeah. Oh, thanks, brother. Praise God. You won't be acting like a kid anymore. Coach back here on the Rich Eisen Show. We're back to wrap this up in a second.

42:00Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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43:10Rich Eisen:B.O. B.O. Tan before Otani. Okay, we're brought to you by Sonos. The holiday sounds better with Sonos speakers. Trust me, whether it's a movie night that feels larger than life or the roar of the crowd as your team takes the field, Sonos helps create the moments you'll remember. Susie and I have Sonos in our house. We love it. The kids love it. It's so easy. We all use it and you will love it. Also, discover how easy it is to bring every room to life with incredible sound. Explore Sonos speakers, sound bars and more at Sonos.com. Aaron on ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance for a few more minutes to wrap up the show.

43:43Rich Eisen:Ladies and gentlemen, O'Shea Jackson Jr. Thank you. How annoying that literally the next October it was Dodgers versus Yankees in the world. I know. And then Dodgers, Blue Jays again. I've won every single time since I had that argument with that guy. Praise O'Ton. Praise O'Ton. In the streets of Studio City. Good to see you. Good to see you, man. Can you see me through those? Oh, absolutely. They're cheap. But, you know, you're a certain echelon. They make everything look expensive. Listen to me. Who's on no contest wrestling? Oh, it's just me and TJ yapping away. But we got a lot to yap about.

44:29Rich Eisen:And we have our fan base that likes us yapping. So thank goodness for them. We like that. We like that. Also, today is my big brother Daryl's birthday. So I want to give a shout out to my big brother Daryl, the coolest man on the face of the earth. Okay. Happy birthday, man. I love you. Outstanding. My favorite Daryl story of all time is one day he told a 13-year-old O'Shea Jackson Jr. you're, hey, you know Dad was in a group before West Side Connection, right? To which he replied, no, I didn't. Is that right? And tell me about NWA and all of the shenanigans of young Dad, which is scary. You should guess 13.

45:07Rich Eisen:You had no idea. I mean, I'm very biased still to this day. I got a favorite member. But, yeah, I mean, like I knew whispers, but, you know, you don't really care. You're a kid. You know, I didn't realize how cool my dad was until my teenager. Well, it's a credit to your dad. Yeah, actually. Yeah, because if I was in NWA, my kids would know it. That's it. They would know it. Yeah, man. That's a credit to Pops. That's awesome. You know what you should get your brother for his birthday is a huge-ass tortoise. You can find one of those? Oh, man. Bro, he's the tortoise giver. Oh, you mean, oh, he doesn't need one.

45:46Rich Eisen:No, no, no, no. He's got that on lock. He's about to have a baby in 17 days. 17 days? The tortoise? No, no, no. My niece will be here. So he's stressed. Not like me, though. Is it his first? No, it was his second. It's like a year apart. What's he stressed about? Because now he's going to have the two-year-old with the brand-new baby, and it's going to be crazy in there. I'm around kids all the time in this studio. Yeah, look at him. I mean, you know. Seriously. We don't need change, though. What? He just called us a family, guys. Relax. Everybody relax. Whoa, he got so tense. I know. It's the holidays.

46:30Rich Eisen:It's the holidays, man. People get stressed. I guess this work environment is hostile after all. I heard you guys had a, the chair feels like a liar was sitting in. The host of the liar, liar, pants on fire edition of the Rich Eisenchair referring to Seth Rollins. Yeah, man. We'll be discussing that. Okay. In a few hours. Okay. There's a wrestler looking for you, but I wouldn't let him find you. All right. Well, we're out of time. That's a cliffhanger. Okay. We're going to have to talk about that on the Disney Plus only segment. The radio. And hopefully, to wrap up the show, you'll see me tomorrow.

47:08Rich Eisen:I got to have my head on a swivel. I had no idea. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

47:48Rich Eisen:your summer at columbia.com to spend more time outside and less time slathering on aloe lotion you're welcome columbia engineered for whatever