Historical Sports Moments on June Fourth

I can't do it. We'll do it live. Okay. Well do it live! Do it live! I can do I'll write it and we'll do it live! Thing sucks! I remember the moment I fell in love with football. Waking up before sunrise with my dad and brother. Deep post routes and moon balls. Yeah, that's where it all began. But somewhere along the way, my love for football turned to more than just passion. To Coach Carroll. Thanks again a chance on the young 511 black kid from Richmond, Virginia, that was told he was too small to ever make it in info to Seattle. You raised me. Not just all the wins and crazy loud games, but also the forever memories after we won the Super Bowl. Your Seahawks, Super Bowl 48 champion! But even more important. kids at Seattle Children's Hospital, you gave me hope and belief in a better tomorrow. Hopefully I did the same for you. This is actually happening. This is awesome. This is awesome. Thank you, football. Thank you, I thank you, I thank you. I am forever grateful. Let's play for these players tonight, dog. Three. And here we go. It's another edition of the Daily Punch Up. It is your daily sports podcast, wowing you across the Pacific Northwest. It's Thursday, June 4th. We welcome you in, kiddos. Thank you for checking in on today's. Episode We'll get into Russell Wilson. Is he a hall of famer? His career comes to an end making that announcement yesterday. Coming up momentarily, I believe, from Rome. I have not checked in with him, but it's another live edition of KJ Arns with Mitchie the kid. Jim Duquet will stop on by our GM here at Puck Sports, MLB Network Radio Serious uh Channel eighty nine. He'll is coming up later to talk uh all things Mariner, C BA, and we'll cover everything. Uh, there in major league baseball with Jim Duquet. And then Ryan Davish will give a little snippet of Ryan Davish inside pitch uh from a show that we recorded. It was a day late. We tried I tr I ran into some issues last night, all right? My fault. It was E1 on me. So inside pitch usually comes out on Wednesday. It's out this morning. It's out right now, by the way, if you want to go check it out there. Become a member of the Pucse. Go to PuckSports.com and you'll get the full Ryan Divish treatment. Inside Pitch. We are all over the map. I'll tell you that. Talking M's, talking the bets he's lost. It's just it's a it's a random show. We do talk mariners. Believe me. We'll get into all of that uh coming up on today's Daily Puck Trop. As always, we broadcast uh from the Lemback Lumber Studios. Uh contractors, they offer free deliveries, everything from whole house packages to homeowner do-it-yourself projects. They got the largest stock moldings in the Northwest. They got old school service. Why? Because they've been doing business since 1930. Give them a call, 206-782-3487, or visit them at LimbackLumber.com. You can visit me on social media. By the way, a place of open thought and dialogue where we can agree to disagree. Puck sports everywhere except for TikTok, Puck underscore sports. Also, you can go to PuckSports.com. Once again become a member there of the Puck's Posse. All right, so we start the open of today's show. We'll get into the mariners a little bit later. Uh with Mitch of the Kid and then and then with Jim Duquet. We started off the show today playing the video, the intro that Russell Wilson released. On Wednesday. Effectively, I guess. Didn't quite say it. Didn't say I'm retiring, but effectively announcing his retirement from the National Football League and headed off now uh to do uh NFL pre-game work uh for CBS. He ends a very, very distinguished career, uh did Russell Wilson. And People view Russell Wilson I I guess in any way that they want to view him. And how they want to remember Russell Wilson and all of that. And you know what? That's up to I think everyone's interpretation, and it doesn't matter. I have long stopped worrying about Having what people do off the field, off the court, influence how I feel about them when they were actually playing. Uh, because I've got several players I grew up. loving that if I was going to be enamored by what happened off the court or off the field and what have you, then it's certainly going to skew how you remember them. This guy is there is zero debate he's the best quarterback in franchise history. I mean zero. And I don't think Maybe there's people that want to argue. I mean, like the twelve year old heart and me will always have a soft spot for Dave Craig. But he's the he's the greatest. He's the greatest, he's most the most electric, most ex one of the most exciting players that's ever put on a Seahawks uniform. And as I put in the rundown, is he a Hall of Famer? Because I think that that is the next kind of step Not so much here, 'cause I I think here in Seattle it's more about how is he gonna be remembered, how should we look upon his career and all that. I think nationally is going to be the the dialogue and conversation as whether or not Russell Wilson is a hall of famer. If I asked you this question. Is Russell Wilson a Hall of Famer? Yes or no? And I and I and I believe this is one of those where you kinda have to know right away. You gotta answer it right away. That's how I always feel about Hall of Famers. And I would just ask you, would do you think he's a hall of famer? Now if you would answer no, I would present a case. I believe he is. I believe Wilson should be a member of the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame. And I and I think there's a lot of That's And information that honestly back it up. And yes, there there's been a sport in which you know he played a different time than than other quarterbacks have played. There are thirty six quarterbacks currently in the pro football hall of fame. His resume includes he's the only quarterback in NFL history with forty thousand plus passing yards, five thousand plus rushing yards. He's fourth all time. rushing yards as a quarterback. His ninety eight regular season wins in his first nine years are are the most of any quarterback in NFL history. And I know they're gonna be p people that they're gonna debate and argue against NFL wins. But then if they do, I'm going to bring up a quarterback that that people say, well, he was he was a winner and he's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He's the first quarterback to start his career with nine consecutive winning seasons. He's ninth all time. with forty game winning drives. 10 years with Seattle, his prime years. His his why he would be a Hall of Famer. Thirty seven thousand yards. 292 touchdowns, and he passed a rating of 101.8. His all time numbers When you compare him with the other quarterbacks in the history of the league. He's sixteenth in career passing yards. He's twelfth in touchdowns. Which by the way is more than El Way. Warren Moon. Joe Montana. Fran Tarkinton. He's got the fifth best passer rating of all time. Now, passer rating, and I acknowledge, can be skewed because of The style of play they they play now opposed to fifteen, twenty years ago. Passing back then when Montana and others played was more downfield. There wasn't a lot of these bubble screens and dump passes, which can which raises your passer rating. So you gotta acknowledge that. If anyone brings up wins, I will I'm gonna I'm gonna present the case for this player. So if you don't think Russell Wilson is a Hall of Famer, and a fine Okay, if you don't You gotta come up with something to tell me why he's not a hall of famer. Because I'll present a player. Who is in the hall of fame. And they will use wins. Because he was a winner more than anything to justify him being in the Hall of Fame. This quarterback in the Hall of Fame spent twelve years in the league. He was twelve twelve years. That was his run. 32,000 yards. 32,942 yards. In his career. Hundred and sixty five touchdowns. A hundred and forty one interceptions. This quarterback is forty seventh. All time. In passing. He's eighty second all time in passing T D's eighty fifth. In pass a rating. And I would just ask, is that quarterback a hall of famer? If I just those numbers I just read off in twelve years. Someone that is forty seventh all time in passing, eighty second all time in passing T Ds, and eighty fifth in passer ratings. That person hall of fame. People got to answer that. All right. He's on the streets in Rome. Ladies and gentlemen, coming up next after a word from Georgetown Brewery, we talk. To Mitch Levy of Mitch Unfiltered, KJ Arms, from the streets of Rome next. Drink Georgetown Tavern Gear. Your new locally brewed domestic style lager. 4.2% alcohol. Cheap, good, local. journal Kid KJ Arming from Rome. Can I come home, please? Is it possible that I come home? You can come home now, as many have pointed out, if the Mariners kept winning, you would have had to stay in Europe. That were those were the rules, but they lost. You can now come home, Griswold. Your trip is over. Ah tomorrow. I'm on a plane. I'd never be so excited to get on a plane for eleven and a half hours to come home. I'm ready. How is Italy how many day what day is this in Italy? What a fabulous country. If you people have never been there, you gotta go. It's great. Everybody's told me all these years that I look Italian. Do you think I look Italian? You do look Italian, very much. You got a very Mediterranean look to you. I I've been told that I I look Italian. I've been told that I look like I'm in the mob. Yeah. Um So I guess I'm in my home country. This is our What, our fourth night? Yeah, this was our fourth and final night here in Rome. We spent uh the day in Florence yesterday. We did a little training. We did the Coliseum. We've done a lot. A lot. Too much I don't like any of it. Really, for all intents and purposes. So Here I am. I'm coming home tomorrow. Coming home to see the Mariners weekend series against the Tigers. Yeah, someone who doesn't like crowds and probably small spaces. When you were in Florence, did you walk up the steps inside the domo? I did not walk up the steps. I went and saw Uh de uh David. David. Yeah. I went and saw David. Uh and I stood in front of David Say again. Envious like me? Envious like you? Yeah, when you saw it, when you looked at it. I don't know what we're talking about, but I think I know what we're talking about. Yeah. When I when I w did you phenona Lisa when I went Yeah, I'm s I'm sick. When I went to uh When I went to see the Mona Lisa and when I went to see the statue, Dave Had the same exact reaction. Which was How long do I have to stand here and look at this? Like if I walked away in five seconds, would that be Would that be offensive to somebody? Or I mean, do you have to stand and study it for a while? Oh my God. My wife I think stood there in awe for like Ten minutes. Pictures. You know, all different angles. Closing. I just, you know, I I go to these places and I'm like, all right, I was in the Coliseum. It was very cool to be in the Coliseum today. And uh I'm ready to leave. I I I don't need to be there for an hour and a half. I don't need a five hour tour. Oh, the policy. I need to go in. Take a look. out and go get some pasta. I will tell you this. That I was in a pasta cooking class today. That was fun. Enjoyed that. Yeah, we did that. We did that in Florence in one of those like villas up in the mountains. And that was the highlight of the trip. It was like a six hour thing where you went and shopped for all the ingredients, brought it back and made it. It was insane. No, I didn't do I didn't do the six hour version. I did a short version. I like the short versions of all these things. We went for an hour. They had it ready for us. We you know, we did the dough, we did the whole thing. They prepared it in an hour. We were eating our own pasta for lunch. It was fabulous. And a little bruchetta and then I'm off to the Next thing. Yeah. I I can't do I don't know, maybe I j I just can't do the The four and five hour and six hour tours. I'm gonna you probably you've seen the news. Well, Russell Wilson has announced his retirement from the NFL. He's headed off to do now. Uh, television, they're for CBS. Everyone has their opinion of Russell Wilson, how he should be remembered, right? I you know, how how do you when you sit back and and think of his career Obviously in Seattle. Mitchie the kid remembers Russell Wilson as one I remember Russell Wilson as a uh A really Good. player on a great team. Great defense. It was exactly what the Seahawks needed. I remember I will remember him as His salary being as important as his play, remember. first several years. They were able to build around him and spend money elsewhere because they paid their quarterback nothing. And he was giving them all that they needed. I'll remember that. Um, I think he deserves a lot of credit for Winning a Super Bowl and damn near winning a second one. I think he became a little bit uh self important. Vicky took a little bit of the Hollywood route. He made himself he He opened doors for criticism and Punch lines of jokes. Um Yeah, I think he was a good football play uh he was a very good football player for a a short period. And um The Seahawks probably wouldn't have won a Super Bowl without him. So I think uh that's the way I view him. As for the CBS job. I'll ask you the question that everybody seems to want to know the answer to, and that is, have you ever seen Has he ever said anything interesting in? In your memory of Russell Wilson. What do you think? I mean I think he's gonna do fine in the rule. I mean I I've seen him do it. He filled in last year and did it and it was fine. It was good. Um yeah, I mean he's he's very cliche. He was he was always in the in the postgame. He certainly was not as cliche when he first came in, but he he got more and more cliche and more and more polish and all that. And so yeah, you don't you weren't blown away with what he said. Is he gonna be the most dynamic and and you know um analyst in the world. Probably not. But I I don't I think for that role in the studio, which you don't gotta I mean he what does he have? 15, 20 seconds max to get a a point across? I think he'll be fine. I think he's doing it more to raise his resume for the Hall of Fame. That's why I think he's doing it. Do you think that being on the C B S Pre game show raises his resume for the Hall of Fame. It worked for Bill Cower. You think Bill Cower is the Hall of Fame coach? Bill Cower went to TV. So Bill Cower. is is in everyone's living room every single week. So when it comes to voting for a hall of fame, he gets in. I think it works for all these guys. I think it's the reason Mike Holmgun's not in the Hall of Fame. Mike Holmgun never went on T V. Mike Holmgun was a studio analyst for one of these networks. I think he's in the Hall of Fame. I think it helps a lot of these guys. I think it's gonna help him. Danny O'Neill said to me that he thinks that uh Russell Wilson will be back on the playing field next year or the year following. You agree with that or not? I think if there's an injury to a starting quarterback, I mean the the retirement video, he never officially says like I'm dun done. I mean, and he hasn't filed To my knowledge, he hasn't filed any paperwork yet. So Could he possibly come back if someone gets hurt? Yeah. I see that. Is it terrible is it terrible that I haven't watched the retirement video? I've seen it like start to play a hundred times on my computer and on my phone when I'm scrolling through Twitter. And just as soon as it starts to play, I I quickly off and go to the next thing. And I haven't seen it yet. No, I'm putting on it. I think it's it's it's we played at the beginning of the show. I like it. It's well done. It's it's everything that yeah, it's everything you would expect probably from his Russell Wilson production team. I mean it hits all the right notes, but I like it. I think it's it's really it's really well done and Um, you know, he th he thinks he does a good job of kind of thanking everyone. He goes out of his way to specifically thank. Pete Carroll. He goes out of his way to specifically think. Uh the fans of of Seattle and Um yeah, I mean it's It's fine. It's it's not the greatest thing you've ever seen, but it's it's it's broken. Anything on golden tape? He did not thank Golden Tate. That was there was a there were some players that he did name. but he did not name a golden tape. Let me ask you this question right before you came on. I was going over uh there are 36 quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And I was currently going over the numbers of one. And the reason this quarterback is in the NFL because he has been deemed, quote, a winner. That's why he's in the Hall of Fame. And his numbers in twelve years in the league. Are thirty two thousand Little over thirty two thousand passing yards, a hundred and sixty five touchdowns, one hundred and forty one picks. He ranks 47th all time in passing numbers, 82nd in passing touchdowns, 85th in passer ratings. Now I think most people they'd hear that and they go, uh that's not a hall of famer, but when I tell you the name, you're like oh yeah, no doubt. He should be a Hall of Famer. Because a winner. And that quarterback was Troy Aikman. And I think most people would would acknowledge yeah, Troy Aikman was a Hall of Fame quarterback. But if you look at those numbers, Russell Wilson dwarfs him in every single category. I mean, by miles, he dwarfs him. So He gets in a lot because of what those teams that he was a part of, right? He won three championships. He was always deemed a winner. More so than just being like Dan Marino. I would take Dan Marino over Troy Aikman. If I'm picking a quarterback. Right? I think most people would. How many world championships did Troy Aikman win? I think it's three. It's a huge difference. There's a big difference between Troy Aikman's three and Russell Wilson's one. Huge difference. Yeah, but uh you could I could I could tilt it the other way and say if we have a a player who actually makes the proper block on a play, then he's got two. That's not Russell Wilson's fault they lost the Super Bowl. The only reason they're in the game is because of him. Yeah, but you can't You can't uh what you're trying to do is give him a second Super Bowl. He doesn't doesn't have a said consumable. Whatever the reasons. I'm not saying he's at fault. He doesn't have a second Superbowl. He's a he's a one Superbowl winning quarterback who is really good. I would say Decent amount of time. I was gonna say short, maybe not short. Uh I look I I I just don't I I I I don't I do not look at Russell Wilson as a Hall of Fame quarterback. I just don't. Um I do think of Troy Aikman as a Hall of Fame quarterback, but but barely. I would say barely. And I think, you know, I can't remember Troy Aikman's final years. But I think what Russell Wilson did to himself. These last few years. Just how bad he was from the moment he left Seattle. The moment he stepped down in Denver and then all these other stops at the end of his career, I just I think it's just played him he's played his own way out of the hall of fame. To me. I'm just one person. I'm not a voter no if I had a vote, I would not vote for Russell Wilson. I I I don't look at I look at R I look at Russell as a guy who had a really nice career. won a world championship, was one of the better quarterbacks in the league for a short period of time. Who then toiled on different teams his final few years like a lot of other guys before him. To me, to me, Russell Wilson is not a Hall of Fame quarterback. Okay. That's me. I will I will present one more thing and we can move on. We can talk about the Mariners and then our love affair with Colt Emerson that's growing by the day. Steve Young is in the Hall of Fame. He had a shorter run of dominance than Russell Wilson. Ca Wilson's run really is ten years with Seattle, opposed to seven years for Steve Young. They each only have one championship as a core. He's got multiple rings, but he was the backup. They each have one ring. And in that in those spans where they were dominant. His per game average everything is better than Steve Young. Everything. But Steve Young was just a no brainer hall of famer. So That would be my the only other counter to that, it just my case for Russell. And I do believe that like he's gonna go into television I think uh to your point, 'cause I think it's right. I think his image in the last few years how it ended in d how it ended in Seattle. Denver, Pittsburgh all of it. Giants. But I think he's trying to do some P R and some Uh some media rehab. I would just say about Steve Young that he was a different type of quarterback. Um I think the other thing about numbers when it comes to quarterbacks is As the years have gone on, the numbers and the passing game has changed. You know, everybody's throwing for four thousand yards these days. When Steve Young was playing, nobody was throwing. You know, Marino was throwing. I remember when Marino threw for five thousand at eighty four yards and nineteen, whatever it was, eighty four. And it was like something you never it was from outer space. I just think that the numbers it's hard to compare numbers of quarterbacks played 15 years or 20 years apart when everybody's thrown for 300 yards and the rules have changed and pass interferences change. Look. Somebody could argue if you really want to argue my point, somebody could say to you Okay, he's got one title. And he's got that one title because he had one of the greatest defenses of all time. If he doesn't have one of the greatest defenses of all time, he wins zero titles and he's just a good quarterback who's won very little. Some might say he was asked to do very little in those days. I wouldn't agree with that, by the way. I used to think that when people ragged on 'em. And said he didn't really do much for those Super Bowl teams. Like the Richard Sherman comment of a Of a few months ago and all that stuff. I laugh at that stuff because anybody who lived through it knows that Russell Wilson was damn good. He was damn good in those years and they probably would not have won a title without him. Being said. He won one. And he had the gr maybe the best defense of all time. And he never got an MVP vote. Did he? I I don't think he ended up ever getting an MVP vote. And then he was the punchline of everybody's jokes. And then he went to these other places and he was terrible. I mean, terrible. And so I you know, I think it goes down to a guy who made a lot of money. Good for him. Had a nice career, good for him. He was a good quarterback. He was a very good quarterback at a point, but I don't think he's To me, I I I just it's not a hard decision for me. Maybe for you it's different. When you're walking around the streets of Italy, are are you doing the Dom Canzone to to the people there? Would they know what your this is? Would they would they would they get that? Uh I just want to I just want to compone. I really just want to come. Well Give me before before you go, before you go, 'cause it's it's it's really breaking up, have you been able to watch the Mariners? I watched one game. I the game that I told you that I watched, it was a Sunday game there, which was a late evening game here. I forgot yesterday that they were gonna play a getaway game that was gonna be during the day that I could watch. I I I I was tempted to get up at three o'clock in the morning to watch the NBA Finals, but I didn't do that either. It's just been, you know, it's this you know, I'm fortunate to be able to go on this trip. It was fun. We did a lot of sightseeing, we did some fun stuff, we got the the family together, but enough's enough. Real reality to come home. It's just it's I'm ready to come home. I'm ready to send my kid wherever he needs to go and get a little distance from the family. I mean, I I just it's just enough. It really is enough. Okay. All right. We are gonna let you go and we're gonna see you next week. Okay? You enjoy the rest of your trip and can't wait. Yeah. I'm going home tomorrow morning. I'm I'll be in Seattle tomorrow. Actually I get on a plane and like two hours later, even though it's eleven hours later, I'm in Seattle. I'm touching down at Seattle. I'm watching Seattle, Marit or Detroit Tiger baseball. I'm gonna be happy. Godspeed, save travel. Sam Edgey. Pye Punk. If it's fun you desire it's fun you're gonna get at Flat Stick Pub. It doesn't matter what the occasion is, whether it's date night, guys' night, lady's night, or large group event, Flat Stick Pub's got you covered. They have six great locations across the Pacific Northwest from Pineyer Square to Kirkland, South Lake Union, Spokane, Bellingham, and Redmond. All locations offer the best pub experience in Washington. Two rules at Flatstick Pub, drink local and have fun. Pretty simple. So if you like to have fun, love local beer and great tasting food, make FlatstickPub your next spot. Visit them at flatstickpub.com. The you know that where are you still there? Why are you still on my screen? You know the irony of this? Can you imagine back in the day when he wouldn't let cell phones? He wouldn't let cell phones on his show. He's trying to do a show from Rome on his cell phone. What a butts. What an absolute butts. This next week's show is gonna be a complete. Uh thorough dismantling. Of him and him trying to pull off this show. Uh from Rome. All right. Uh, joining us here. Coming up in just a quick second, we will revisit the Russell Wilson conversation. Also, we're gonna give you a little bit of Ryan Davis from inside pitch. uh our uh show of course for uh pucks posse members you can join today at pucksports.com we recorded this morning talking all things mayorist baseball brought to you by shelle bull we'll give you a little bit of a snippet of that but joining us right now brought to you by Flat Stick Bubba he is our GM here sports. A former GM of the Mets and Orioles. Of course, now you can listen to him daily, The Power Alley on Series XM, channel eighty nine. Also on Sunday's the front office show with his good buddy, Jim Bowden. It is Jim Duquet. of MLB network. Radio. All right, we're gonna talk Mariners. We're gonna talk uh sh the brilliance of Shohe Otani. I wanna get into some trades. Obviously Terek Scobel's name has been in the news here in the last few days. There's some other interesting names I think that have popped up here recently. Jordan Alvarez. I want to ask you about Mike Trout, but let's uh let's start with the CBA. We we we saw what the league came out with, the cap, the floor, all of it. Then the then as expected, the union responds like, yeah, no, this is not happening. Like none of this is happening. Is there any compromise at all anywhere, or are we too early in the negotiations for that? Yeah, I think we're I think we're too early in the negotiations. I think um Yeah, the big uh they had owners' meetings w recently, uh just the other day, Commissioner Manfred came out and spoke after that. Um, you know, I think there was conversation about the you know, the potential of a of a strike or a work stoppage and he w couldn't sit there and and say that that was not a possibility. Um neither side came out was willing to say, no no, we you know, we're not We're not willing to miss games. We'll work work out a deal without that. You would like to see both sides uh come out and say that. I don't think you're gonna see that. But I I do think that because the this was just the first round of negotiations and you saw a lot of posturing on both sides too. Well, I thought actually more posturing on the player side this time around. Um than than uh you know and then um then I on the owner's side. And there is, you know, there was on the owner's side too, but I think from the for the most part. Um Because it's so so early. I mean December first is when this expires. I like I like that they're negotiating. We talked about this last week. We're five months out. Um from fr uh six months out at least from any type of idea that we're gonna, you know, come to an agreement. And I don't think even December first comes around. I don't see I don't see there being an agreement at that point. I think we're gonna have to stretch this into the winter. Do you think there'll be a work stoppage? Yeah, I I talked to a lot of people about this. I'm in the minority. I do not think we're gonna have a work stoppage. I think when you're I mean, we're talking about 13 billion dollar industry. It probably by the end of the year. It is just hard to fathom. Either side would be dumb enough to think that it wouldn't affect the game. in the short term and over the la over the next couple of years. And that it would be worth uh you know s uh the downturn that we would have in you know in in terms of the popularity that we're starting, you know, we're start we're finally starting to see the the turn of attendance and and um and popularity among uh the the youth, which is something that Major League Baseball has been struggling to get to for so long, right? Now all of a sudden we've got it. We've got international exposure at the highest level. And we're gonna throw that all away for 'Cause we're gonna be fighting over stuff that you uh just it's meaningless stuff. I I think the thing that bothers me a little bit this listening to Manfred talk yesterday. He's gonna sit there and say, Well, I think we've come to the agreement that we were wrong that ta the taxation on payroll didn't work. That's a bunch of garbage. It's worked for pretty much everybody except for about three teams. And you can tax them more. Maybe maybe they don't curb their spending, but tax them at a higher rate. Then anybody else, anybody that's over the third threshold, give them a 200% tax. Who cares? Make sure and make sure that money goes back to the small market clubs. I think he yeah, again, I feel like it's just posturing more than anything else, but He he's just he's just dead wrong in some of these some of these things that he says and it drives me. Freaking bananas. If if you look at they want to raise the floor and correct me if I'm wrong, is around one seventy five. That's correct. You've got so many teams. I mean there's a I mean, there's just a handful of teams that are that are actually under that right now. I'm looking at I mean Miami, Cleveland, Chicago, Washington, Saint Louis. Oakland. Well, athletics. Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Colorado. Yeah, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Kansas City, even Seattle's underneath it. Baltimore's underneath it. The Angels that are underneath it. I mean, you know, that that's half the league. That's fifteen teams that that that are currently under what the floor would be. I guess my question If they were to do it. Wouldn't the players be somewhat happy because you get now you got half the league that's got to at least spend $174 million? Doesn't that raise their contracts it well it should you know i think that's the thing that you i wonder about like why wouldn't they you know what i mean like i i don't i don't understand um from that stand but here's the thing Because of the salary cap, it restricts movement, player movement. That's where they have the issue, right? And you see that in the NFL a lot of times. Like, you know, and even in the NBA, you see star players accepting a lesser contract to go where they want to go. You know, you have some of the used to have those super teams, right? I think and and I said and I argued this too. The salary cap isn't gonna improve In like whether a high profile player is going to go play in Cleveland as an example. He's still not going to do it. He's gonna go. to LA or New York or so you know and and be a part of those teams. What it allows these small market clubs to do is retain their own star players. Which is what they've had a hard time with. is is keeping their own players. So I think like there's a kind of a misnomer like, oh okay, well we're gonna see Uh, you know, for example, this year, Kyle Tucker. Oh, Kyle Tucker was would sign in uh Minnesota or Cleveland. No, no, no. He he's he's gonna go where he wants to go. He's just gonna be taking he's gonna be willing to take less. Um and so that's where like We we have to call spade a spade, right? Like the the the salary cap will help to some degree, yeah um with the other teams in their spending, but it's not gonna it's not gonna overall um it's gonna restrict more movement than I think help it. Would you think maybe owners or excuse me, players would be willing to talk about You know, the service time lowering that, or but you know, getting what is it? What's six years down to three? Or just whatever whatever number they come up with. I just wonder if that would be Yeah, players with like five. Players would like five instead of six. Um and they proposed it for guys that become free agents after the age th after the age thirty. Um So if you get be if you're if you become a free agent you know, thirty years older or older. Okay. Um you you would be able to get out s uh get out sooner, which You know, and we've seen the change in the in the s uh spending habits of teams. Like the th it's like that's the threshold. When you're at thirty years old, if you saw so like starting pitchers were at thirty years old. They got five year deals. If you were thirty two, you got offered three year deals. You know, stuff like that. So so I think that, you know, there's a clear uh situation delineation from the m uh from this past year's marketplace that you know you can kind of look at it and go, Yeah. All right. I understand where they're coming from. I I don't see the owners willing to change that aspect of it either. Um the free or the free agency side. Um, but I think it's worth a shot. I you know, there's our uh arbitration. I'm in favor of getting rid of arbitration. We don't need it. We really don't. I think you could create a tier. uh for the three plus, four plus, five plus guys. Where they're it's based off of we know pr we already do it to some degree, based off of prior um Comparables, guys who have come later, you can you can build in a a raise each year, certain percentage raise, you know, if at the high end or all the way, you know, they the uh players association, they inst uh they proposed three million dollars base for anybody that's offered arbitration. Well, you got a bunch of relief pitchers. That are making A million and a half dollars. You know, teams aren't gonna yeah, I think what'll end up happening is teams will non tender players and flood the market with more free agents. I think that's where you'll end up. They'll be impacted more, I think adversely. So the players who made that proposal, I don't think they understood um the ramifications of it long term. I think that's what you'll see the teams do. Well let's get into where the Mariners are at right now. Then I want to ask you about a about a few other teams. This is the team that we thought we would get in the beginning of the season. They're starting to play better. There's not has there hasn't been this moment, this great turnaround. They're just playing better baseball now. And starting to kind of, you know, stretch their legs out a little bit. We've talked about this before. This is a great stretch for them in terms of the opponent, uh, but you know, pitch starting to come together, the offense is coming together, and they're still missing two of the biggest weapons in Cal Raleigh and Brendan Donovan. And I can't believe how well they have scored and swung to bat without those two. Like it just almost doesn't even Make sense to me. how good the offense has been here, certainly lately, right? And with eight eight of 10, nine of 1, you know, in that but somewhere in that range where they are. Um, you know, and and I think when, you know, it gets me excited to think about the offense, because I wasn't sure how good it was going to be. I you know I felt like it was better than let's say this time last year before they traded for Naylor and Suarez. Now they have Nailer. I'm like, all right, that's gonna help a little bit. I still didn't feel good about their offense. I felt it was better. Maybe maybe it's better than we or at least that I thought. You know, I don't know. We'll have to we'll have to wait and see when once Raleigh comes back, um, once Donovan comes back. I I I really feel like Donovan is such a good and valuable acquisition because Now that you have Emerson up, you got Young up, like you can put him in the outfield. That's where I think their biggest need is like right field. Donovan can play right field. I'm not worried about you know he he can play all over the place, but you could put him in right field until you go out and make a make a trade of some kind. You know, so uh you know, we'll see what they decide to do uh once those guys come back healthy, but they have way more, I think, roster flexibility. Let's talk about somebody we we're in June now, but as we ra we wrap up, look back at May and s in some good storylines. We've talked about Seattle, but there's Pittsburgh where the pirates are at right now. There's the Tampa Bay story, there's the Saint Louis story, and the W and the Washington Nationals uh uh story. W what what's what stands out to you about those teams in particular? Well, uh w with the I would say with The I think you you mentioned the four well, take Tampa, put them aside. The other the other teams, the other four teams. They all finish last. Except for St. Louis. It finished fourth last year. The the combined average losses is like ninety-four losses last year. Two of those teams had uh uh White Sox were over a hundred. I I didn't even put the White Sox on there. White Sox you had them in there too. Um the Nationals had ninety six losses last year. Um Yeah, well pirates were in the nine uh the mid low nineties. Yeah. And so I think what stands out to me for for those teams is their Cast. For the most part, they're past their rebuild. They're starting to trend. I think The team that stands out mostly for me, that's for real, is Pittsburgh. I'm not sure Washington because they don't have the pitching as good as their offense has been. They're like number one in the league in offense. Saint Louis has been a huge surprise. They're starting to come back to the pack because of their pitching. Um in the white sacks. They're the I think the biggest surprise because they have depth in their system that might come up in the second half and could help them on the pitching side. I'm still not sure they're for real either. Tampa, I've I've now bought in. And they're starting to fade a little bit. They're pitch over the last stretch. They've lost eight of ten. uh they've given up 21, 22 home runs as a pitching staff. They're still they're they're a really good team and and I think they're gonna be in it, you know, in the long haul. But I like when we get new teams that are, you know, kind of started to turn the corner and are stop they're they stop trying to lose and rebuild. I think that to me is bet is better for the league. The I'm we'll wrap up with Otani. Let's get to trades. Derek Scobel's name has been in in the news a lot in this last week. A bunch of different reports coming out from a bunch of different people that Detroit, they just can't hold on to them. They're gonna trade them. They have to trade 'em. Where is his likely destination or what teams or do you think, Jim, are most in pursuit for Terek Scuble? So the surprise team in that mix I think is Tampa. Um, and the reason why I say that is Um, and it was recently came out in a story, I forget who wrote it, but um they were and they made a really aggressive offer on Otani to kind of full circle you you mentioned about O'Tani. They made a aggressive offer when he was with the Angels. Um, it would have involved Junior Camanero, their young superstar, uh third base hit, you know, third baseman and power hitter, plus another prospect for Shohei Atani at the time. They should, you know, that that was showing me a willingness to give up some of their system. They have a pretty strong farm system, although there's some ups and downs there, like anybody's, but they're a sleeper, I think, in this scuble. Um Uh trade, uh communication and talks. I think The typical ones you're gonna hear the Dodgers already. We already have heard that. You'll hear the Yankees. I don't think they're going to be as involved, but any team that's in a postseason, you have to at least put throw your name in the hat. there and see where the price tag goes. It's gonna be really high. You got to have a top. you know, top five pick, probably a top fifty overall. And the in the game prospect. So if you have one of those and you're willing to part with them. then you have a good chance of getting them. I'm a little skeptical, I'll be I'll be honest with you, because if we're gonna have labor unrest next year, do you really want in or and or we're gonna have a salary cap? Say we're gonna have a salary cap. You want to give up controllable young players? For two months rental of Terry's Gouble? I don't. And I don't I think a lot of executives feel that way too. So that's a great point. I don't know. I'm really I'm really interested to see where it goes. All right, where are we at? How about Yordan Alvarez? I I mean I does Houston still think they've got a shot at it, or does should Houston pull Pull the ripcord and just start the rebuild now. I think they're so I had Dana Brown, their general manager, on my show on Sunday, J Jim Bowen and I. He is optimistic because they're starting to get healthy and they're and they were starting to play a little bit better here as of late. I'm very skeptical. Um, I think they need to at some point in in a month or so. Plug. I know that ownership group. We've seen it over the last couple of years. There's been an unwillingness to rebuild at all. I don't think Elvrez will be uh available at all. I mean he's he's at seventeen million dollars in average annual value. That is one of the best bargains out there in the game. So I think it's gonna be hard to to to get him out of Houston. But I think they'll they'll make some deals. Like Josh Hayter, if you want Josh Hader, a couple more years with him. He'll be available. They've got a couple pitchers. in particular, but I don't think it's gonna be over us. Mike Trout has got a um still a massive contract that is still Uh, and it still has years to go. He's got one, two, three, four more years on a contract. Thirty seven a year. That pays him thirty seven million dollars a year. Someone would have to be like Okay, we'll take it. I don't know if Artie Morena would pay some of it. What point does Mike Trout just go to them and say, Just trade me. He I have a full no trade clause, but we're not going anywhere. See if you can get something out of me. Maybe you guys eat some of the money. I don't know. But I'm what, thirty five years old, thirty four, thirty five. I'd I'd like to try and win something. Do you think it's a possibility at all that he's m moved this summer? I don't. I don't. And we've had a lot of conversation with this. I I would love to see it for him. I I think there's you know if you if Mike Trout is was and has been such a good player for so long. He's a stand up guy, you know, and he's really a humble guy, even as good as he's been. And I know he's had injuries and all that, but the $37 million price tag. for the owner to to trade him. Like he's never never shown any willingness, even in with with Otani's prime. He didn't move him and he had some unbelievable, like Tampa, I just mentioned to you, San Diego had a huge offer for Otani, and he wasn't willing to do it. Can I imagine? that he would be willing to take back money on Mike Trout. And in because he's gonna expect, you know, a pr a good return as well. That's why I think it's there's so many complicating factors there, but the main one is their ownership group there. All right. Thank you, sir. Uh, Jim Ducat for the GM of the Mets and Orioles. You can follow him on social media, Jim Duquet GM. You can listen to him daily, Power Alley on Sirius XM channel eighty nine, also the front office show, Sundays with Jim Bowden. He's with us every single Thursday, brought to you by Flat Stick Pub. We'll see you next week. Thanks, Jim. Talk to you next week. Thanks, butt If it's fun you desire it's fun you're gonna get at Flat Stick Pub. It doesn't matter what the occasion is, whether it's date night, guys' night, ladies' night, or large group event, Flat Stick Pub's got you covered. They have six great locations across the Pacific Northwest from Pineere Square to Kirkland, South Lake Unions, Spokane, Bellingham, and Redmond. All locations offer the best pub experience in Washington. Two rules at Flatstick Pub, drink local and have fun. Pretty simple. So if you like to have fun, love local beer, and great tasting food, make Flatstick Pub your next spot. Visit them at flatstickpub.com. Hi, I'm Bo with All Aces Concrete Coatings. Garages are my favorite part of the house. I chose to partner with Pentecost because they give me the proper tools and support to do my job right. My favorite part of doing the garages and any flake system is the transformation that happens in one day. A big thanks again to Jim Ducat for uh joining us here, as he always does on a Thursday. Normally we give you Ryan Divish light on a Wednesday, but because this guy had an E one. And uh I had some uh malfunctions. We had to record it early this morning. The full Ryan Divish inside pitch is out now for everyone to enjoy. You gotta be a Puck Sposs member to get all of it. Just go to PuckSports.com to sign up. But every week we give you a Divish light version. Uh we talked about a number of things. We were kind of all over the map. Uh we in this uh light version we talked a lot about. What a great start so far for Colt Emerson. How surprised have you been? It's gotta be a little bit. I mean, there's gotta be a level of surprise from you and others. that he's come up here, we knew what he was probably gonna do defensively. Divish offensively, he he does not look overmatched at all. And this was kind of the worry right down in Triple A. It was like, Oh, he's striking out too much. It's not really putting up the numbers you want, but he's come up here and he's been Unbelievable. Yeah, I mean like Was he rolling a nine hundred OP S right now? Yeah. Close to a thousand OPS. You know what I like? What he does, he has doubles. I mean I know he hit some bombs. Well he hit you know what he do the other day. What did he do the other day? Yeah. Sure. Uh no no no no. Three doubles what? No, what what gets what gets this guy excited? Base hit? I don't know. The butt base hit. Oh. He has a I got up from my couch outside on the deck and I walked around a little bit. It was right after the Pareto Homer, wasn't it? He did the Mont B. I got up and walked around and just kind of you know what I thought to myself. Did you get a cigarette? I I would have if it was there. I just I I kind of looked up and I said, You know what? Kid's gonna be all right. You know, the future of this sport's gonna be all right. It's like the other day when I'm sitting down with my with the with the vampire and we're having uh um a soft served yogurt over in Queen Anne and I heard a teenager, this is the best story. But you're gonna get a kick out of this. He's obviously on a first date, I'm gonna say, or a first few dates. He's probably sixteen or seventeen. And he's talking to this girl. Okay. And he starts getting into hey. Have you ever watched the NFL Combine? And he's describing the NFL combine to this girl. I dying laughing, but all I thought, Dimish, was We're okay. The future of our youth is okay. This kid is all in on the NFL combine and she's looking around like I don't what are you talking about? I don't care. Anyway, I digress about the button. I'm surprised they had a date that didn't involve them texting each other in the same place. You know what? And to my to my happiness, neither of them was on were on their phone. The the phones were out. They're just enjoying the the outside and lovely Queen Anne. It was wonderful to see. Yeah. Phones phones were away. The buttons, everything. The defense, offense, getting back to getting back to Emerson. I like the intensity that he plays with. There is a You know, he doesn't smile on the field, you know. He does not. The intensity like he goes You know, it's funny now. I mean, like Randy Roserin has gotta be in heaven. Because he don't have to go for any balls in the outfield. I mean, like he's like. He's got like a ten foot radius that he has to cover. So it's usually just straight back. It's like he's it's like he's playing in Finley. You know, this the reverse though. Hey, stand here. Anything behind you you go get. Anything to our de Sulio's side, you let him get it. Anything shallow, just let Colt run and get it, Colton J P. And they he just He attacks every play. There is a he's got that old school gamer quality to him, you know, the way he runs the bases, the the seriousness with which he plays, like He's like he's like Viagger for all those old baseball guys that are just out there that complain about the game not being good anymore. Not playing it the right way. And you have the fundamentals being lost. I mean, and like so like if you're taking Owen there and you're like Hey, watch this kid. Yeah. Watch how he does every little thing, because he's 2 years old. He's you know six years older than you are. Seven or five years older. That just doesn't it it's it's crazy to think about it. That he's I'm sure Mary Lou has no problem with Cole Gemerson either. No, no. She's no, she would be more. She's more of a fan of the second baseman. Cole. She's into the bro, dude. Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, just all I mean but think about that, like They got. Twenty two? Just turn twenty two? Yep. Cold Emerson turns twenty one in July. Think about what's Julio. What's Julio? Yeah, Julio's twenty three or twenty four. Twenty four. Twenty four twenty twenty four, twenty five, maybe. Oh, and then they might have the best shortstop prospect in all of baseball right now. It's only in Celestin. I mean, like that guy's putting up a he's putting up over a thousand OPS. Now he's gonna go to Arkansas and struggle. 'Cause he'll be the youngest player in Arkansas by a long ways. You're talking about a switch hitting second baseman with a body that moves like Alfonso Soriano without sort of power. Do you think do you think full I mean we've talked about this before, the but project out in a couple years, do they keep him there and just keep Emerson in third? I don't know maybe. They could. They can move coal. They can move coal to shortstop next year and then Kinda ride it out. 'Cause I don't think Feline will be ready for a couple of years. Yeah, yeah. You know, he missed a lot because of the the injuries. And and you know what? They could trade him too. I mean, like that's a thing that could really you know like You know, you're looking to bring in a a s a horse or a superstar. That's Tommy and Sellison helps you get a superstar and a train. What and then and we have an We're getting sidetracked but Montes. Montez is having a great r stretch right now with with our like the whole Cold Emerson Again, like When the Maryers were winning games earlier this year when Brandon was healthy and cows. Cole Cole Young was batting nine and putting up crazy numbers. Now you got Colt Emerson batting nine. Like the think about that. You got a kid rolling a nine hundred OPS batting ninth in your lineup and is a good quality base runner. Yep. You know, that's it's a and doesn't strike out a ton. Like there have been times there have been at bats where he's overmatched, you know, like what fastball Freddy did to him yesterday a couple of times. And I think that's what we may see is they're gonna try and elevate velocity on him to get 'cause that's what the how they got Cole Young last year. So how he adjusts I don't know that the adjustment period will be as long for him as maybe it was for Cole. It took Cole a little while to understand it. I think cult processes quicker. And he might be just a little bit more athletic to make changes quicker. Than maybe Cold, but yeah, that that's what I'll you'll be watching out. Like when he does make strikeouts or when he does make outs, like it's really weak contact, how did they get him out? Was it his decision or was it a properly executed pitch? And that will tell you whether or not slumps are coming or whether or not what he's doing is sustainable. Welcome to Hive Social, the social network that brings your real world proximity to life. Tired of endless scrolling and fake connections, privacy is built into the heart of Hive with easy to set up safety fences and visibility controls. Whether you're here to hang out, network, or meet someone new, create events, share photos and videos, and keep the conversation going with built-in chats for every connection and every moment. Download now and see what's happening around you. about I put myself up on the screen. Can you see how bad my eyes are? Does anybody else suffer from allergies? This has been terrible. This whole month. Awful. Good Lord. I'm watching that Divish. Sho we did earlier today looked like it freaking got punched in both eyes. It's terrible. All right. On this day, of course, uh brought to you by Hive Social, the official Buck Sports social meetup app is uh, of course, on this day uh brought to you by them. You can download it, iOS and Google Play. Uh June fourth. Uh Randy Johnson, June 4th, 2009, at the ripe old age of forty-five, playing for the San Francisco Giants, which I totally forgot that he played for the Giants. Uh wins his three hundredth career uh victory, uh becoming just the twenty fourth pitcher in major league history to do so and Probably likely one of the last, if not the last, to ever do it. All that happening in two thousand nine. What a promotion to major league baseball, nineteen seventy four by the Cleveland Indians. They hosted Ten Cent beer night. Uh fans consumed uh ten ounce beers for ten cents. The crowd over twenty five thousand became overly intoxicated and aggressive. You've seen the videos by now. They rioted and stormed the field, started attacking players, and it forced The umpires to call the game. That happened on june fourth, nineteen seventy four. Also Happening in nineteen seventy four. Right there, the world champions. They were formed. Nineteen seventy four, the Seattle Seahawks were born. Uh the NFL officially granted The expansion expansion franchise to the city of Seattle in nineteen seventy four. on June fourth. All of that happening on this day, June fourth. Brought to you by Hive Social. Our final word. Of the day before we wrap it up. We call hey what the puck, restoring what matters and building what's next. Uh Tursula construction is gonna do it all for you. Emergency response to full scale rebuilds and remodels. Give him a call two zero six. 793-3744. Visit them at truthjuli.com. I'll just Wrap up how we started the show. I think he's a hall I think Russell Wilson's a hall of famer. I think he should get in. Yes, I think the numbers do skew because and Mitch is right, and we and I said it in the beginning, numbers skew differently when Today's quarterbacks and how they throw the football. I don't care that Troy Aikman won three Super Bowls he won two more than Russell and Okay. He had a hall of fame offensive line, a hall of fame defense. He had a hall of fame. He had the number one running back statistic in the history of the NFL. It's n and he had a unbelievable wide receiver, Michael Evan, Hall of Famer. Russell Wilson didn't have that. Any of that. Certainly didn't have a hall of fame offensive line. Did he have a hall of fame running back? You can make an argument. I would I would say that he is. Probably not going to get in. Certainly didn't have a Hall of Fame wide receiver. Tell you that. Never. Never played with a Hall of Fame wide receiver, ever. In his entire career. But the argument for Troy Aikman's always been, well, he's a winner. He's a winner. I mean, but he doesn't have the stats to remotely back it up. The better comp to me is Steve Young. You cannot tell me that Steve Young's a hall of famer and then tell me Russell Wilson's not a hall of famer. It just it doesn't he had a better career. Russell Wilson flat out had a better career than Steve Young. It and to me, it's not even close. that he had a better career. But that's for the national people to debate. Locally here is this. You can remember him any way you want. I I have to get past of what these guys do on and off the field. I don't know how it ended. In fact, when I hear people say that he tried to get so and so fired. I don't know if that's true or not. I'm not in those conversations. I have never had a one-on-one conversation with John Schneider or Pete Carroll or Paul Allen's sister. Never once. And if people out there have not had those one on one conversations with those Jody Allen and Pete Carroll and John Schneider, I would advise them to stop saying it. Unless they have got it firsthand that he tried to do it. Firsthand, not secondhand, not third hand, firsthand. I don't know. So I'm not gonna ever say, Well, you try to get these guys fired 'cause I have zero clue. Because I've talked to those people. And 99.9% of the people that say that haven't talked to them either. Um Was he weird off the field? Yeah. Okay, he was. Like I will use the example of Richard Sherman. I don't person and even though I don't know him, I don't personally like Richard Sherman. I don't like the way he conducts himself. Certainly don't like how he has constantly been in trouble off the field constantly. Putting other people's lives in danger. But Richard Sherman is one of the best defensive players, and he's the best cornerback that's ever put on a uniform in Seattle sports history. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. And so for Russell Wilson, I just you know what, these players, they're they're widgets to me, in a way. He's the best quarterback I've ever seen. That's put on a uniform there. Most exciting player I've ever seen put on a uniform there. And he gave me and you A thousand memories. Of watching Seahawks football. And for those who say, Oh, they would have won it with another quarterback, no, they wouldn't have. No, they wouldn't have. They wouldn't. He saved that team for years over and over again in big games. He did. His defense was great, historically great. There's so many games in which he put that team on his back and carried them. They would not have won the Super Bowl with another quarterback. It's ridiculous when people say that. And he should be remembered as an all time great. And he will when he's honored. Uh he'll be recognized uh by the faithful. So uh kudos there, uh to Russell Wilson calling it a uh career. Uh it was a a good career, very good career, ten year span, that was great. Uh, that's a What the Puck brought to you by Tersuli Construction, restoring what matters, building what's next. Visit them at Tersuli.com, and of course uh check out and give them a call and ask for our buddy Trent. He's available. He's gonna reach out to you, 206-793-3744. Thank you for watching and listening to today's show. Check the daily puck job on YouTube. Please subscribe to the channel. Hit that like button. Leave a comment. Try to get to as many as we possibly can. Also find it on your favorite podcast platforms. When you're an Apple and Spotify, if you can, please write a review. Takes 30 seconds. Rate the show. That would be great. Also find everything up at PuckSports.com, including signing up to become a Puck Sponsor member. And we give you sports pit with Matt Stretch Johnson on Tuesdays. Inside pitch with Divish on Wednesdays. It's out now. KJ Arts of Mitch, I don't know if we'll post today's show. That was a train wreck. It was it was frankly terrible, to be honest. Um but yeah. Also check out the Gross with Gas Take Five podcast. We now produce that here at Puck Sports New Episodes every Monday. All right, Friday's show we'll do the PME after dark show. Myself, Jim Moore, Chris Egan coming up. Uh tomorrow we'll see you then as always we promise to be better. Shirt, no shoes, no small I will bow your face I want you When you were born to my best for. Percy I don't speak Japanese!