Hour 3: MLB Playoff Picture Comings into Focus, plus Actor Jonathan Tucker In-Studio

0:00Rich Eisen:Hey, let's chat about choosing the best tool for the job. When the pressure's on, you find out what's really built for the moment. That's true late in the fourth quarter of a big game. And it's true when there's work to get done on a deadline. On the job site, conditions change. The clock keeps moving. And the tools you reach for have to be ready to handle it again and again. That's why DeWalt tests its tools under real-world conditions that push even the best tools to their limit. Only then does a tool earn the DeWalt badge. So when the pressure is high and the work needs to get done, DeWalt tools are built to perform, built to last, and built to finish strong.

0:39Rich Eisen:DeWalt. Guaranteed tough. Available at the Home Depot. How doers get more done. ESPN's going to Super Bowl 61 and so can you. Enter for a chance to win the trip of a lifetime. Four tickets to Super Bowl 61, plus a three-night stay at Disneyland Resort where you and up to three guests can enjoy the magic of Disney plus the Super Bowl champion cavalcade. Enter at www.espn.com slash sblxi by December 31st, 2026 for your chance to win. No purchase necessary. Ends 12-31-26 at 11-59 p.m. Eastern. Open only to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. who are 18 plus at time of entry.

1:12Rich Eisen:For odds of winning and full official rules, visit www.espn.com slash sblxi. Void where prohibited. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. And Jackson Dart took a shot. This is the Rich Eisen Show. If you get punched in the gut, Ian, are you going down?

1:53Rich Eisen:Ian O 'Connor, are you going down? From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. No one's going to trade anybody for the Giants. No one. Earlier on the show, Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding, ESPN college football analyst Chase Daniel. Coming up, actor Jonathan Tucker. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Chase, Daniel, hour two. Pete Golding of Ole Miss football, an hour number one. Great stuff. Ohio Register Thursday. We played a game called For Real or For Gaze? That was fun. To start the show about which teams entering week three are for real or have been for Gaze.

2:36Rich Eisen:That's for Gaze. Thank you very much. We're now, we're growing. We're growing. When we come up with an idea an hour before the show, then an hour to go for the show, we've got production material. I mean, that even brought walk-ins. for real who you pitched in a fugazi very good ladies and gentlemen TJ Jefferson Jack of all trades including no contest wrestling yeah man we had a good one yesterday fantastic and it's out there for everybody to check out whether you listen to your podcasts or you watch them on the Rich Eisen Show YouTube channel youtube.com slash richeisenshow which is a way you can catch up on whatever you've missed here our podcast as well and there's our shop page richeisenshop.com for all of your desires, hats and shirts and so much more.

3:24Rich Eisen:Mugs, the mug that's usually sitting on my desk. I don't have one here today. It's going to be the holidays before you know it. Oh, that Rich Eisen show Michigan man t-shirt that's right up there. That's exactly what I'm sending in an XL to San Francisco, Santa Clara. Pardon me. Maybe two X for Kittle. No, actually, I reached out to him. I said, what's your son? Oh, well, Shmedia. He said XL. You know George wants a little tight on the bicycle. That's what I said. Oh, yeah, yeah. XL. He's like 6 '4". Yep. That's what I'll be sending him. And I've already reached out to Michigan saying I may need a hat being sent there.

3:52Rich Eisen:Or I'm going to be wearing a helmet. You're getting ahead of yourself a little bit? Yeah. You might be an Iowa helmet. Excuse me. Guys, guys. It's called preparation. It's not called jinxing anything. It's called prepping. I'm just saying. It's called preparing. Having a plan. Having a pressure plan. That's what Kurt Warner always says. Teams need to have a pressure plan every down. That's what Coach Wooden said. Prior proper preparation prevents poor performance. Oh, my goodness. Look at you. Michigan, five and a half point favorites. That one is a large amount of points. That's a large number.

4:19Rich Eisen:I know. So is this a spread bet, by the way, or is this just a straight up? Straight up. Straight up. Straight up. Okay. I like that. Spreads. I love it. Baseball. Baseball. You do realize that this time next week, it could be a game three. I know. Locked in. It could be a game three of that wild card series between the Yankees and the Red Sox because this is what should happen. The Yankees and the Red Sox, after being the two best teams not named the Devil Rays, pardon me, the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East, they should have to play one another while not one but two teams. Currently, two games under 500 are fighting it out over the final four days of this season for the right to host a playoff series, host a playoff series against whoever finishes second in the second best division of the American League.

5:10Rich Eisen:so let's come up with a system where the three best teams are going to have to go through one another while the three worst teams get a chance to just get a just play against one another and then the winner of that you go to the american league championship series against whichever team just beat up on each other the socks and guards were on espn last night i forget who was doing the game but they were talking about like is it time to to have throughout the divisions no seating like the NBA. So that would be the Rays and the Yankees would get the bye. By the way, the Yankees could use the bye that the Guardians are going to get.

5:46Rich Eisen:Unless the White Sox get... Honestly, the fact that two teams get a bye and it's one that clearly has the best record and then the team that gets the second best gets the bye is who's got the second best record most likely of the other division winners. potentially not even the wildcard teams. Now, obviously, if this was when we were growing up, it would just be, we're Yankees, great season, you're out. Right. You're done. You're finished. A lot tougher back then. No doubt. And there were only two divisions per league. Yeah. So that's what it used to be. But the wildcard system has been a boon.

6:27Rich Eisen:There's no question about it. It's better that more teams involved, but have we've seen in recent years, the teams that get the bye, best record in the league, often lose immediately. Well, I'll tell you what. If Aaron Judge might not answer the bell next Tuesday night, I think it would behoove the Yankees to have a week off. If they could, they can't anymore. So I think it's just absurd. It's absurd. This team would be fourth place in the AL East, but they get home field advantage and one of them gets a bye. And a week off. A week off and home field advantage. And they're barely 500.

7:01Rich Eisen:I don't know what to say, pal. It's dumb. But two teams currently, the Rangers and the Astros, you know, and trust me, you know, if the Astros make it, we might, you know, the Yankees might have to send George Costanza down there. Give him a what for. I mean, look, I know you got your concerns as a Yankee fan for the Sox perspective right now. Can't score any runs. I mean, last night. Well, neither can the Yankees. Twelve hits, one run. All singles. Brother, Tully versus Schlittler. And there might be 20. Gray versus Cole, I'm assuming. And then what? Freed against who would be your third guy?

7:37Rich Eisen:Who would you go with? Whoever that's going to be. It's not going to be. You know, I don't know. How many runs are going to get scored in this entire series? Not a lot. Although Stanton is taking swings in the minors right now. Maybe Judd should have done that. Brother, I don't know what's going on there because he just sounds like the number of times that Boone says something that irks him, To the point where he says something to the media. That's now twice in the last month. We did it again yesterday. Like, why would he say that I have a moderate strain? Yeah, like, why would he even bring that up?

8:15Rich Eisen:Just tell me the type of strain you want to have. It's like movie phone. Press one. Press one for a minor strain. But he says he's going to play, which is great. Unless he turns into the next Durant, then not. But the whole system just stinks. Rangers-Suarez. Oh, there you go. Yeah. Yankees had a good game against them recently, against him recently. So it's going to be on. You know, Yankees and Red Sox, of course, you know, I don't know who has that series, which broadcast partner, but that is a bonus. A bonus, to say the least. Yankees-Red Sox. You know, hey, you get Yankees-Red Sox, and you get Guardians-White Sox.

9:02Rich Eisen:all due respect might be nbc nbc nbc nbc say it right that's it um meanwhile in chicago um so it looks like the white socks are gonna make it right put it up one more time yeah because the loser of the west is going to be under 500 so yeah the white socks are going to make it after all unless they bottom out never somebody else wins out they lose the last four games you know yeah the white socks magic numbers that won yeah they would have to lose out so on monday night hey most likely the white socks are going to be in the playoffs and the cubs are going to be in the playoffs and you got pca finishing what what uh pc mvp for 40 40 most likely mvp and uh and case keenum may be front and center how about that for chicago sports chicago huh it's like the dragon meme of the of the two serious ones and the other one's like hey hey listen case keenum's gonna get this start unless tyson bajant clears concussion protocol or kayla williams somehow shows up like the undertaker don't know uh i i i think it's going to be case keenum yeah and um this i mean he has full faith and credit and the man who's calling the plays which is um half the battle you know yes it's no surprise either but i just uh i kind of dig this sound bite hit it i've been around a lot of great coaches in my lifetime um my dad being my first one um and uh i see i see just about every coach i've i've ever had like kind of like a father figure now we're a little closer to brothers i think we are fathers but that respect i have for great coaches man um you know you just you want to run through a brick wall for the man um and if i get a chance to like to have that guy in my ear like golly man i mean he's he's he's gonna go down as probably the best play caller play designer um coach all all of the above when it when it's all said and done i mean some of the stuff that that man does is unbelievable um and the way he sees the game the way he's able to prepare guys the way he's able to lead um man i am i'm the biggest ben johnson fan i'm here right now because of him i was i was retired and he called me uh two years ago basically in my in my own head i i had uh prepared you know to be ready but you know there weren't a lot of phone calls coming and he called and we met and uh supposed to meet for like 15 minutes and wound up talking for two and a half hours and i'm like okay I want to do it with this guy.

12:06Rich Eisen:It has been just such a pleasure. I've found the love of football again working with him. I can't say enough good things about Ben. There you go. I just love that. I don't know why I wanted to play that. It's pretty cool. Certainly when this is the guy who is going to be the avatar of Ben Johnson's offense And the first one that Ben Johnson sends out on the field is an offensive coordinator or head coach that wasn't a first overall selected quarterback in the draft. Goff those years in Detroit and obviously Caleb in Chicago. And it's going to be Case Keenum. Most likely. Because with each passing day that Baygent does not come out of the protocol.

12:57Rich Eisen:it's a day that he doesn't take any snaps with the ones prior to taking on Jalen Carter the Eagles defense which is kind of not optimum so the idea that Bajan oh yeah Bajan will get out of the protocol on Saturday and they're going to throw him out there on Monday it's not the way it works in the NFL so here we are on Thursday and if Bajan's still in that protocol it sure looks like that's going to be your starting quarterback on Monday night. And what a spot for him. What a spot for him and for Ben Johnson and for Keenum, who, as we all know, played an NFC championship game against the Eagles.

13:41Rich Eisen:And that game was 7-all before the roof caved in on Minnesota after they had the Minnesota miracle that got them there. Everyone thought it was going to be Breeze taking on Nick Foles and the Eagles. But instead it wasn't. And we all know what happened after that. They went and got Kirk Cousins. So Keenum had this opportunity and he makes an NFC championship game. And they're like, yeah, we're going to go with another guy. And here he is now for the Bears years later for Ben Johnson in a big spot in front of the whole country. and first things first is he believes in the guy and he thinks he's great best play caller ever that's a bold statement certainly here in los angeles california where a lot of fans are might be saying who's that all-time leader in college football passing yards and touchdowns yeah man there's kyle shanahan there's a bunch of people and the fact again that the The Bears got this guy, right?

14:43Rich Eisen:The Bears are the ones who've got a quarterback whisperer and a demon of a play caller. Normally you have not associated the Bears with that. You've got Fire and Brimstone, and you've got Lovey Smith, who basically never said a word, was a defensive-minded coach. And then you have Eberflus on top of it. Now here comes Ben Johnson, who said yes to the Bears and no to everyone else for years. Stayed one more year with Detroit. Yep. The Washington plane was in the air, right, going to get them. Right. Pretty cool, man. I just kind of want to bring that to everyone's attention. Let's take a phone call, and then we'll take a break here.

15:22Rich Eisen:Justin in Inland Empire, California, right? It's inland, right? It's not Inland Empire, right? Inland. It's whatever. It's whatever. Oh, is it really? I had no idea. I don't know. It depends. Because normally, you know, having lived here for 25 years, Inland Empire, I just know traffic's never good there. No. Ever. Never. I hear it every now. There's somewhat the old Sig alert is usually we're in the Inland Empire. But anyway, Justin, I digress. What's your thoughts here? No, you're good. I'm just, I'm so happy to be on the Rich Eisen Show. Okay. God has blessed me with the opportunity to call in on a Thursday.

16:03Rich Eisen:Wow. And let Giants fans know, cut off the phone cord. You don't need to reach out for another quarterback. What do you got? Jameis has a whole week to prepare this week. And we all know, horses prepare for battle, but victory comes from the Lord. Have a great day. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Right on. With that. See, buddy. Did Homer write that? Doesn't that sound like something out of The Odyssey? The Odyssey. That was good. I like that. He waited that entire time to say that. That was great. He said it with his chest. Okay. Tomorrow's what's more likely. I'm going to give you what's more likely right now, Jens.

16:38Rich Eisen:Oh, man. What's more likely? I know where you're going. What's more likely? Obviously, Giants beating Titans at home, Chargers beating Bills on the road are opposite ends of what's more likely. Not the same, yeah, not the same. But I'm going to say what's more likely? Chargers do what I manifested at the end of hour two. Giants beat the Titans because Jameis looks so good. totally different guy from six days before and that's why the giants win and again you saw last week the titans at home against philadelphia they were not homecoming they weren't like the get right team right okay they're starting to get something a little bit what is more likely the headline coming out of week three sunday a monday morning when we come on the air here on the West Coast.

17:28Rich Eisen:We're talking about Herbert out-dueled Josh Allen or looked him straight in the eye and they had the ball last and they won. And the Giants beat the Titans because Jameis just lit him up for 350, three tutties, offense looked great, and literally hold the phone on all the trade talk and conversation. What's more likely? TJ Jefferson, you're first. Brother, I would love it as a Jameis Winston, Florida State fan for the case to be. Crab loves for everybody. He did it. But I also believe there's a better chance of Jameis Winston, and I hate the quarterback out-dueling the other quarterback, but there's a better chance of him out-dueling Cam Ward than there is for Justin Herbert to out-duel Josh Allen.

18:10Rich Eisen:So I'm going to say it's more likely that we say Jameis leads the Giants to a win. No. Herbert. You saw Jameis with your own two eyes, and you're so turned off, huh? It was pretty brutal. And again, I know, look, running scout team all week. You don't think you're going to play for an offensive plan. You're kind of just thrown in, but it wasn't just like, it would have been one thing if he was air mailing throws, then it's like, okay, that's a timing thing. Uh, that's a, you know, working with the receivers, not a lot of reps, et cetera, et cetera, short hopping. Everything was under thrown short hop.

18:47Rich Eisen:He was getting pressured. It's more likely that the chargers go in and on Monday we're like, okay, hey, they're back. First two weeks, throw it out. Yeah, things clicked. Herbert's still Herbert. Yeah. Bring the Sherbert to Herbert. That's more likely. Bring the Sherbert to Herbert. I just feel, and I know we all love stories, right? Jameis, the world fell in love with Jameis this summer during the World Cup. I was watching the video live. Before that. I'm just saying the world, though, everybody, all these countries have like this, you know, he's in the stands cleaning up the stands with the Japanese team.

19:22Rich Eisen:And I don't know, it would just make such a great worldwide story if Jameis could get it together. He lit it up against Cleveland as a Cleveland Brown in the snow. Remember that? Yeah. And so you're saying that guy's not walking through the door. I have more faith in the... How about that? What's more likely Friday? Did I give you an idea? A little Colonel? Well, let's see what you get. Sanders? We'll cook something up. Did you know every 36 minutes in this country, the worst. a child is diagnosed with cancer. That means some of the bravest warriors you'll ever meet aren't professional athletes, superheroes that you see on the screen.

19:59Rich Eisen:They're the kids in this fight, which is why I'm proud to support Hyundai Hope on Wheels, because for the last 28 years, 28 years, almost three decades, with support from Hyundai, their dealers, and every new Hyundai sold, Hope on Wheels has contributed over$300 million to childhood cancer research, which has helped save more than 40 ,000 kids. join our fight at HyundaiWarriors.com when we come back the great Jonathan Tucker is here man steals every seat and the next segment coming up

20:36Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here for gusto after all these years talking to athletes, coaches, entertainers and people at the top of what they do one thing is pretty clear success usually depends on getting the details right For small business owners, that includes payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, you know, the work that keeps everything moving, even if it's not the reason you started the business in the first place. That's why there's Gusto. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all-in-one, remote-friendly, and incredibly easy to use, so you can pay, hire, onboard, and support your team from anywhere.

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22:41the rich is a show podcast audience has just returned we just saw a clip of american hostage

22:47Rich Eisen:that airs sundays on mgm plus john ham is in it giovanni rabisi is in it and you sir jonathan tucker in it as well based on a true story in 1977 where um giovanni rabisi's character a guy named Tony Kiritsis, Kiritsis, pardon me, takes someone hostage and then demands to be interviewed live on a popular radio station. Yeah, you guys might know a little something like that. Well, I mean, we have a dump button now. Right. But some stations did not have, like that's what's discussed at the top of the show is that not every radio station had that sort of ability. So if you're interviewing somebody who's holding a gun to somebody's head live, you never know what's about to be broadcast to a whole bunch of people.

23:35Yeah. I'm sure you guys could use the dump button for lots of things on this show. That's right. Yeah. There's a lot of opportunities to just be bleeping people out.

23:44Rich Eisen:Well, we had that opportunity in hour one with Pete Golding dropped an S-bomb, the head coach of Ole Miss. Well, I mean, we're talking about the Yankees-Sox series. Ah, okay. These are the sort of opportunities I'm talking about. Would you like to transition? I'm happy to transition to that. It's just an extraordinary year because Boston, like, I think there's three stories. This is my thesis. Please. I was driving down here in El Segundo. You've got this great story, the Boston Red Sox, this extraordinary, almost historic, maybe actually historic comeback. Yes. You know, they lost like 50 of their first 70 games, 75 games.

24:14They were terrible. And now it looks like, you know, they're going to lock this playoffs. They locked it. I think they locked the playoffs.

24:20Rich Eisen:They will be in Yankee Stadium next Tuesday night. For these three games. For three games. Just like last year where they were unsuccessful and moving on from that. Okay. Okay. A great story with the Boston Red Sox. And then we've got kind of a scary story. What's a scary story? With the Patriots. Who knows what's going to happen there with Drake May. Okay. I mean, you know, it's uncertain. I'll just say it's uncertain. Well, let's put it this way. The first two games have been... Not great. Uncertain. Uncertain. Yeah, uncertain. Okay, good. I like the word choice. Very good. What's the third story?

24:50And then like the new era story with the Celtics. Oh.

24:53Rich Eisen:People are paying attention to them because the Knicks won the championship. Right, right, right. But I think we're... By the way, I don't... For the first time in quite some... I mean, is Jalen Brown hosting Saturday Night Live this week? Oh, that's right. He's not even on the Celtics. As I say, New Era. For a bag of basketball. New Era. Sorry, pardon me. I'm coming in with positivity. Pardon? Trader and Paul. Oh, that's right. I forgot to write that information down. I'll remind you. See, you have top stories. I've got other ideas of what the top stories are. Sure. The top story in the NBA is the New York Knickerbockers and how they won the championship.

25:28Rich Eisen:It is amazing how unexcited I was. I just couldn't have cared less. Why? I don't know. I think part of like, I think people who talk about, I don't know why, but I feel like when I hear other people talk passionately about their teams. Yes. I have no, I feel like they're just dumb. I'm like, you're just like, no, but I don't mean dumb. Like, I just feel like I'm like, well, what do you care? Like, who cares? Who cares? Because you don't care about their team. I don't care at all about it. And I feel like sometimes how my wife feels how I, she just doesn't appreciate sports much in general. I mean, now she does because we have a son who's gotten a lot out of team sports.

26:02Very good. She's starting to understand the value of this. However, I just think someone else, I just hear them talking passionately about other teams and I'm just like, I think you sound like an idiot. And yet I say, and then I talk about that way with my teams. I'm like, people might think I'm an idiot, but I watched the Yankees, the Knicks, and I'm like, all right, cool. Everyone's so excited. I'm like, all right, cool. Good luck. I couldn't have cared less.