A's Cast - A's Unfiltered - Ep. 312 Ft. Brian Sabean

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This AESCast download is brought to you by LinkSol ORG. Go to linksole.com. And by Ness Betting ORG. Love where you sleep. Go to nestbedding.com. From baseball's top personalities.The Hall of Famer, one of the great TV broadcasters, Bob Kossis is here on A's ORG cast live.

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To the A ORG's legendary players.

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Five-time Major League Baseball ORG Home Run champ. Mark McGuire PERSON is with us here.

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You never know what stories you're going to hear. You're going to lunch and run with our shirts off. You would say. This is A's Unfiltered with Chris Townsend PERSON.

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On this edition of A's Unfiltered ORG with Chris Townsend. On this edition of A's Unfiltered, we're talking guys in management positions and some big time names. How about Brian Sabian, three-time World Series EVENT champion? He's going into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame ORG. He now is an advisor to the GM of the Yankees ORG. But Brian Sabian, one of the great baseball executives with the San Francisco Giants.He should, at some point, get into the Baseball Hall of Fame ORG. We'll join us. Derek Shelton, the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates ORG, and how about former Oakland A ORG draft pick and minor leaguer from Walnut Creek GPE? Now the director of coaching and player developmentfor the pirates, John Baker PERSON. But we're going to start out with a guy. He's had an unbelievable career, the great Brian Sabian PERSON. Well, now joining us here on A's Cast Live ORG. He's truly a Bay Area PERSON baseball legend, a career, absolutely unbelievable. He's going into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, led the Giants to three championships,but his tenure with the Giants ORG so much success. The great Brian Sabian PERSON joins us. Sabes, thank you so much for taking the time today, and congratulations on this wonderful honor.

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I really appreciate it. It's amazing to think that I'm going to be in such esteemed company with all the great teams and great players that have come through the barrier. It's just certainly humbling.

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Yeah, I mean, you think of, I mean, we're talking about Olympians, NFL, college, NBA ORG, some of the greatest athletes in the history of sports are in this Hall of Fame ORG. And I just think back to when I started my career I started at K&BR in 1996 it's when you kind of come rolling in and I'll never forget when you made the Matt Williams PERSON trade everybody freaked out did you ever think back then man I could be able to be a Bay Area Sports Hall of

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Famer well the irony was both Matt and Barry were making half our payroll. So unfortunately, we had to make a bold move, which he did.

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And, you know, I guess the blowback was understandable because Matt PERSON was, you know, brought up in the organization, fan favorite.

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And it was just the nature of the beast.

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You know, when you think about your time with the Giants ORG, you know, everybody obviously is going to gravitate to the three championships, but I do remember that time where you came in, you made that trade with Cleveland ORG. This thing turned around pretty quick and pretty much from 97 to 04. You had such great success. You got the team to the World Series against the Angels ORG.First time we'd ever seen two wildcard teams playing the World Series. So many playoff runs. Then you win the three World Series EVENT. Have you had time since being in San Francisco GPE to really sit back and reflect on how good your run was with the Giants ORG overall?

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Well, I said this earlier today in another interview. You know, looking back, the amazing thing is, first and foremost, the three managers, Dusty, Felipe, and Boch, and two of them are going to the Hall of Fame ORG. And then, you know, our franchise players being Barry and Bust are going to the Hall of Fame ORG. But, you know, those first eight years, we either finish first to second in the division. And, you know, we're still not over losing game 7th of the 2002 World Series EVENT,but that set the stage for future success and to be part of a rebirth going from worse to first, from 96 to 97, and then got in that window where we probably should have won one until, you know, we had a little bit of a time out there and didn't go back to the playoffs until 2010. The memories are mostly about the people, not so much the places and the series themselves, but each team, you know, had their own individual greatness. And also what I said earlier, one of my favorite teams of all time is that 97 team, because that's set the stage for the hard reset with the organization, where it's going through to go from a second division organization to a first division operation.

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Yeah, and in the process, before you know it, here came Packbell Park ORG, and it completely all changed. You know, we've had Ned Colletti a lot on this program, Bobby Evans PERSON also, and both of them will say when they talk about you and, you know, the World Series and everything, that no matter what, you never lost thatscout at heart. You've always been a scout. You were always true to that. And so many times you think about executives, how things change in their lives, and all of a sudden, you're managing people, and you're managing an organization. But talk about how you never lost that, that scout in you.Well, you know where I got lucky?

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I started as a college coach at the University of Tampa ORG. And I became the head coach for two years before I took a job with the Yankees ORG as the area scout in Florida GPE.And one thing led to another. And April 1st of 1986, I went into the front office with the Yankees ORG. So I was, you know, on a track career-wise to be scouting-centric. I got very lucky to be an assistant general manager in both the Yankee ORG organizationin the first couple years with the Giants ORG, but I also was vice president of player development and scouting in both organizations. So, you know, scouting is a big part of baseball. It really is a constant evaluation of, you know, your players, your place in time as an organization, the window you're in. Who's ready? Who's not?Who needs to be traded? Who needs to be untouchable? And, you know,, who's ready, who's not, who needs to be traded, who needs to be untouchable. And, you know, therein, I learned from the great ones. I mean, we had Gene Michael in New York, and of course, I teamed up with Dick Tidro PERSON, probably the best pitching guy at that time or during his tenure, not only with our organization, but in all of baseball.So I'm really appreciative of the relationships and the type of staff that we put together, the kitchen cabinet, you know, what drove our decisions. And it was a fun time because we got everybody involved in the first guest. And then we had to try to make the hard decision and go out in the limb what our decision was. But we also, you know, valued everybody's opinion. And there was a collaboration. And there was a lot of mutual respect. And within that, you gain a greatest sense of loyalty.

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You know, sometimes you don't know how good you have it until it's gone. And I think about that with Bay Area Baseball ORG. And all these years, you know, in all these different sports, we see general managers and now everybody's got fancy titles, VPs of this and everything. But the leaders of a franchise in all these different sports, it turns over so fast. To think how lucky we were in the Bay Area to have you and Billy Bean at the head of these two franchises and all the success that the Giants had and the A's ORG had.Just go back in that time because I know you've known Billy PERSON for a long time. What was that life from your perspective, what you guys were doing, Moneyball was starting, a book was written, a movie, A's ORG were having success. Just take us back in that time in your relationship with billy bean well i think the irony if you looked at the

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two organizations on balance we probably were overachieving against the field from year to year and of course our life changes you mentioned once we get into the new ballpark. I think what's interesting, I don't know that either organization perhaps got enough credit because of being on the West Coast LOC. And as you know, this sport tends to be East Coast-centric. But it was a special place in time. And I think both of us looked back at it fondly. You know, we weren't, you know, back when this all started, involved in, you know, the rivalry of Italy GPE play so much as paying attention to, you know, in respecting what each organization was able to do under tough circumstances.

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You know, there's a lot of people who have the debate of who the greatest player is of all time. There's quite a few guys out there. I just know for me watching baseball, I've never seen anybody like Barry Bonds, from Pittsburgh to San Francisco GPE. Barry Bonds PERSON is the best player I've ever seen. Obviously, dealing with Barry PERSON, he wasn't always easy to deal with. It's just a reality.But, you know, being a scout at heart, being around this game all these years, building championship teams, when you think back of your relationship with Barry Bonds PERSON and being around Barry Bonds PERSON, what do you think about your time with him who truly is one of the greats of all time?

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Well, first and foremost, I think you have to realize that his foundation of greatness in baseball really was the result of being an elite athlete. He probably could have played almost any sport at the highest level. And as we all know, he really had put himself on the map in Pittsburgh and was a 5-2 player and a budding superstar before the Giants ORG was lucky enough to sign him. I found that Barry PERSON respectfully needed space.He was very good at doing his own thing to get ready, not only for the season, but just his daily routine. And we all respected that. Like any superstar, you're facing different challenges on a day-to-day basis that I'm sure it wasn't easy being him or it wasn't easy dealing with stuff that he had to deal with as the result of his stardom. But I would say on balance, our relationship was very good, and it was built on mutual respect.

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You know, I think about the World Series EVENT teams. It's always hard to explain, you know, why do teams win? Why do different teams win? Because it's not always the same players. Things change. You had a different closer every single year.Obviously, the bullpen the defense was good. Same manager, pretty much the same staff. But, you know, what do you think truly was the reason why you guys were able to win three championships? Because you did do it at times with different guys. Right.

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Well, the roster did change, and that was out of necessity. But our secret sauce was we were pitching-centric. And we knew in our ballpark first pack bell, of course, as the surname went, but also in our division, if you could pitch when the games you were supposed to win, almost like the old Braves ORG, the Bobby Cox Braves, good things were going to happen. And I think by virtue of doing just that, once we got to the playoffs, you had to play baseballand really outpitch us to beat us. And if you look at the teams that we beat in the World Series, we certainly were underdogs. But I think, you know, each one of those teams that we faced, you know, found out in a hurry that, you know, they were going to be up against, you know, a day-to-day fight to win a series. And, you know, we had the great fortune because of that pitching to be very stout or verygood on the road, including in the playoffs and the World Series.

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Let's end on this. Where you are in your career now. Obviously, you're going into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame ORG. A lot of us think there's a good chance someday you're going to end up in Cooperstown for what you accomplish with the Giants ORG. But as we go back to the scout at heart, and you loved working for the Yankees ORG.I remember talking to you about this years ago in the early 90s. Now you're back with the Yankees ORG. You're back scouting. What's life like for Brian Sabian PERSON here? Well, I'm in a good lane.

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I'm an executive assistant to Cashman PERSON. I was in spring training the whole spring and was part of the roster building. Move forward in the baseball calendar. I have been doing a lot of work. Streaming college games and a list that they give to me weekly. I'll start getting out on theroad. I'm in New York GPE now, seeing the club. So I'm plugged in in all areas. And really, you know, if I had a way to go out, I want to be in a position to mentor, whether that's front office personnel or people in player development or especially scouting. Because I think I have a lot to give back. And, you know, I had so many experiences under so many great people. And I didn't get here, you know, without a lot of, you know, great home training or people really investing their time in me and I want to reciprocate.

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Well, thank you so much for the time. We truly appreciate it. Congratulations on going into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame ORG. Obviously, with Buster Posey PERSON will be a very big deal for you. But continued success, and let's do this again.Anytime, my friend.

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Thank you.

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Well, as I was just telling you, off the air, and I think over the years, you've gotten to know us a little bit where we've talked to you down at the winter meetings or when you guys are in town or we're playing you there. We talk about you all the time because of Cody.

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I mean, this is almost like the show. It's like Pirates West ORG. We're always following you. How are you? I love it. I'm doing great. I mean, it's always good to talk to you all the time because of Cody. I mean, this is almost like the show. It's like Pirates West. We're always following you. How are you? I love it. I'm doing great.I mean, it's always good to talk to you guys. I mean, I get you at the winter meetings every year, which is fun. But I appreciate the support. I mean, I know, Cody, being from Pittsburgh GPE, we get it. But appreciate it. Always like being on with you.

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And you mentioned somebody who means so much to us. You know, when you'd come to town, you'd talk to Ray Fossy PERSON. And obviously, Ray is someone that meant so much. I was with Ray every single day. That was like a, that was like a tradition for so many people who would come to Oakland GPE. You would be on the pregame show with Ray PERSON.

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Oh, yeah. It was one of the highlights. I mean, actually, it's the first time I've been back at the Coliseum FAC, you know, since his passing just with the way, you know, COVID has been and not being back. And, you know, the fact that Ray and my dad grew up playing against each other in Southern Illinois GPE, played Legion ORG ball against each other. Wow. But just being able to talk to him and learn from him, I mean, he was a special person.Not only in the game, I know in the A's ORG community, but to my family, because, you know, growing up, he was the one guy my dad always pointed at. It was like, hey, I played in, you know, high school against this guy. And, you know, he had a great career. Yeah, we miss the big guy my dad always pointed at. It was like, hey, I played in high school against this guy, and he had a great career.

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Yeah, we miss the big guy. We love Ray Fawsey PERSON.

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Well, here we go again with the Pirates.

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Got out to a hot start. It looked like a really good start. And now hovering around 500, interesting series against the Giants ORG. How you feel about your club right now?

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Yeah, I mean, we started out really well. We scored a ton of runs early. We're in a situation right now where we're scuffling to score runs a little bit. We've pitched well the entire year. We got to capitalize on some opportunities. It seemed like early in the year, every ball we put in play or every ball that we, you know,hit with runners in scoring position, found a hole. And now we're on the flip side of that right now, and we just have to keep grinding through it.

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A ORGnd it's such a tough question because I deal with you, you guys are very similar to the A's when you look at hitting with runners in scoring position. I ask Mark Cote PERSON, I mean, it's a tough question. How do you get better scoring with runners in position?

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It's such a fluid thing. You'll see guys one year that are really good at it, one year or not. I mean, there's very few guys that consistently, sometimes it has to do with luck. Sometimes it has to do with the situation of the game. Sometimes it's just how you're feeling. I think the biggest thing for us is we have to continue to create those opportunities because the more you create them, at some point something good is going

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to happen. Well, I look at your division and everybody's got a puncher's chance.

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It's one of the more interesting. Obviously, Cubs ORG out to a good start. They thought

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the turnover in Milwaukee, but they keep it going. Cardinals ORG are around there, you're around there. How do you feel about the division?

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Yeah, I think it is. I mean, people, you know, we need to realize it's not even May yet. So there's a lot. I mean, we've played in our division three games so far, four games so far. You know, we haven't played teams. Like you said, there's some teams that have gotten off to good starts,other teams that are scuffling, but it's going to be a fun division all summer long.

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Well, I think about the arms, too, you have for the future. The kid you threw yesterday in San Francisco GPE, the kid you got. I'm not going to ask you about asking you.

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I'm not going to ask you about the guy from LSUs ORG. But, I mean, you have to be pretty excited. You've got some dynamic arms that are going to be with you for a long time. We were really excited. I mean, like you said, you highlighted Jones who threw yesterday. We have schemes who's still in AAA ORG, and we have guys even below it. Bubba Chandler in AA and Anthony Solomed at AA, along with like you said, you highlighted Jones who threw yesterday. We have Skeens who's still in AAA, and we have guys even below it,Bubba Chandler in AA ORG and Anthony Solomelette's in AA, along with, you know, Keller, we'll get Oviedo back next year who had Tommy John PERSON. Pitching-wise, we're in a good spot. You know, we've done a really good job of building depth up. We just have to continue to develop them.

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And you mentioned being fickle when you talk about the offense. Bullpen's two. Year to year, you just never know. We've had some times where we've had lighted out bullpen. We thought the next season going in would be the same. It just doesn't happen.How do you feel about your bullpen right now?

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Feel good about it. I mean, it's young. We have a bunch of young guys. We have five rookies that are down there and they're getting thrown in some roles where they have to pitch and leverage. And that's only going to make them better.But your point is right. The bullpen is probably the most fickle place of anything. I mean, you know, having spent all those years in Tampa GPE as a hitting coach, they were probably the best builder of bullpins of anybody. But it was different people every year. So you have to, you know, kind of find the hot hand and ride them.

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It was all, it's been amazing what they've been doing. They're all these years in Tampa GPE. Let's end on this. You're on the road trip. A's ORG are coming off the road. We talk with Mark Cotsay PERSON.We talked with Bob Melvin over the years about it. There's something special being out on that road early where you guys are in the same plane. You're traveling together. It's buses. It's restaurants. Talk about what a road trip really can do for a team and bringing them together.

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Yeah, it's just camaraderie in general. I mean, we're on a strange one right now. Like you said, we just played the Giants ORG. Now we're playing the A ORG's. So we're in the same hotel for six days. So you get a lot of time together.

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You don't have to get on, you know, we didn't have to get on a plane last night to travel after the Giants ORG series, which is nice. So you get, you know, multiple day games. You get nights together where, you know, guys can go out and spend some time together,especially early in the season when, you know, the team's finding out those relationships.

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Do you encourage it or do you let it happen organically? No, I think we encourage guys to be together, but you can't force guys to hang out with each other. And I think the one thing that we have that's really cool is we have a lot of players that came up through our system together. And because of that,they've known each other for a long time. So it's good that they're able to you know kind of have

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that friendship well we're playing raised the Jolly Roger PRODUCT the cut all the time we will be following you we will be rooting for you throughout the entire season we always appreciate the time and good luck I appreciate it thank youJohn Baker PERSON now joins us John PERSON I think Rocco Baldelli makes a great point at At some point this plastic is going to give. The sausage has not been refrigerated for a long time. It's great what the twins are doing. This is fun, but as they say, it's not going to end well. No, I don't think so.

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I think that food safety is something that's important for us to carry out across Major League Baseball, and I'm a bit suspicious of what's going

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on in minnesota i mean do you want to be that guy on the on deck circle when he catches it and it just

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goes all over you it's not going to be did i hit a homer you probably did yeah then i'm good you'll wear

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it yeah absolutely it is good to see you i think the last time i interviewed you you're with the marlins

Speaker 41260.66s - 1266.68s

in some capacity yeah well playing playing for the marlins uh marlins padres cubs worked for the cubs for a while and uh been in this this is my, well, playing for the Marlins, Marlins, Padres, Cubs ORG, worked for the Cubs for a while,

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and been in this.

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This is my fourth year here working for the Pirates.

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How are you liking it?

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It's great.

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It's great, man.

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You know, it's, I think similar to some of the stuff in Oakland GPE, building the team from within, developing players, and getting to see some kids that I had in A-ball out here on the field today is really fun.

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All right, so I was trying to figure it. Your name was in Moneyball WORK_OF_ART. Yeah.

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A lot of people remember, he's from the East Bay, grew up in Walnut Creek GPE.

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You went to what, De LaSalle ORG?

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De LaSalle High School, went to Berkeley ORG.

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Yeah, you're drafted by the A ORG's.

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Oh, 2. You're in the book Moneyball WORK_OF_ART. Yeah, I was one of the hitters that had either walked or gotten hit by enough pitches to catch the radar of on-case percentage.

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Yeah, I ended up here. My hometown team, I've been telling some stories about the Coliseum FAC to these guys. I played my NCS championship game. We lost here the day I graduated high school. We lost to San Ramon High School ORG.

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My grandfather used to manage concessions here at the Coliseum FAC. I went to every dollar Wednesday game for a long time here when I was in high school. So tons of memories in this place. And I had to, when they asked me what trip I wanted to go on in the first half, because I'm usually touring our minor league system, I said, I got to come back to the Coliseum. Yeah, one last time.

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It means a lot. I think there's a lot of questions. I mean, talking to Derek Shelton yesterday,

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we had him on the program. We've had him on a lot. And like for like him coming here was talking to Ray Fossi PERSON, who's no longer with us. He'd always be on the pregame show for Ray Fossi. I think for you and a lot of people this year who are in Major League Baseball, who grew up in the Bay Area LOC, the last time

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now that we know this really is the last time, he'll mean a lot. Yeah, it means a lot.

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I mean, my first memory of seeing professional baseball was sitting up there in the third deck in 1987 at the All-Star EVENT game. And then I remember being a kid here. I was at the game that Dodgers clinched in 88 when they won the World Series. And we were trying to get back to Bart PERSON. And I remember my feet being lifted off the ground and pushed like in the throng of people.But yeah, most of my childhood memories, most of what I think about Major League Baseball ORG took place in this stadium. So I think that it's tough in a lot of ways. You know, I was sometimes hard to talk about. My grandfather retired from San Leandro, retired from the phone company in 1985, and he started managing concession stands here so that we could come to games.

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I mean, we came to so many A's ORG games that my dad's car once got stolen out of the parking lot.

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That's how many A's ORG games we came to when I was a kid. That's when you know you're official. Yeah, your official when you're walking around and there's glass all over the ground and your dad's car once got stolen out of the parking lot. That's how many of these games we came to when I was a kid. That's when you know you're official.

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Yeah, you're official when you're walking around and there's glass all over the ground and your dad's going, I swear it was parked here.

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You either got broken into or it's just gone.

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I'll never forget.

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We all have these stories, right?

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So I used to work for the Raiders ORG too. I did the sidelines. I did the pre-imposed. So when I would come out to my car, all the cars would be gone, right? The police eventually would get everybody out, and I would be one of the last guys to leave. So I leave the Raider ORG game. I'm walking out the parking lot, and my mirroris just hanging. The wires, someone literally ran just a huge scratch on my car and my window just and I'm like yeah

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yeah yeah call it's seen baby but you know what's funny we we always came back didn't we we all we

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always came back and so yeah it's a you know growing up around here and and being an ace fan you know

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I grew up in Grew up in Walnut Creek it's mostly Giants ORG fans of Wall of the Creek there's not a lot of aes fans but I was always I was very disappointed when the giants let Will Clark go to the Texas Rangers ORG and I swore full allegiance to Creek. It's mostly Giants fans of Wall and the Creek. There's not a lot of A's fans, but I was always, I was very disappointed when the Giants let Will Clark go to the Texas Rangers, and I swore full allegiance to the Oakland A's ORG at that time. But, yeah, I mean, I came here to sign my professional contract when I got drafted by the A's, and it was an A's Giants game in July. And I remember Miguel Tahatta PERSON giving me a bunch of batting gloves,and Mark Mulder PERSON giving me a pair of shoes.

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And I was asking Mulder, what's he going to do against Barry Bonds PERSON? And he said, I'm just going to probably throw it right down the middle. It doesn't matter what you do. He's going to hit it somewhere. But this environment's been electric. I mean, I think back to a lot of these, a lot of experiences here.One of them that really stands out to me, I've been watching. And I recommend everybody that loves baseball go do this. But end of the 2012 season, Metallica ORG plan, Grant Balfour Cussin, throwing his Gatorade Cup WORK_OF_ART, everybody raging out here, just tons of memories. And it's going to be tough to say goodbye when we leave tomorrow.

Speaker 21516.88s - 1564.4s

No doubt about it. With the Pittsburgh Pirates ORG now, just in your travels of think about when, because I've kind of been doing a research project that we're going to unveil once the team goes on the road. And I've just been looking at the way baseball, as we're starting to look at 99, 2000, when we really start thinking about the money ball era is about to start, we're still in the height of the steroid era,and how baseball statistics are start to, we're going to start changing how we value things, look at things. You're in the book Moneyball WORK_OF_ART, for God's sakes, right? And then now where you are, just talk about your journey as a player, front office, just what you have seen in baseballand the changes since you were obviously very successful as a young player than to where you are now, just how the game has changed.

Speaker 41564.56s - 1636.44s

So I think that when you think back to like 2002 and what Paul and Billy PERSON, the way they were thinking about baseball, in any sort of competition, there is some sense of novelty that can be a huge advantage. And I think that they hit on an advantage before everybody else hit on it. The difference in baseball now 22 years later is that everybody understands that. Everybody knows what those statistics are. Everybody has different information. Everybody has, or the same information, everybody has all of these ways of evaluating the events that have happened on thefield. And the teams that are going to push themselves ahead are the teams that can apply that the most effectively and the most simply. At the end of the day, we're still playing the same game, 60 feet, six inches. Home plate's still the same width. There's a couple new rules on the bases that are a little funny for me to watch. But at the end of the day, we're playing baseball. And so our responsibility in player development or major league coaching is to set guys up to be successful on the field,to deploy them in the right way, to continue their development. So the teams that can use the information they have and actually apply that more effectively, I think that is where the game is headed. I remember coming into the A ORG's organization, and one of the things I appreciate about here, you had people like Keith Lipman PERSON and Dave Hudgens

Speaker 21636.44s - 1644.32s

and Ron Romantic PERSON, and you had this player development staff, and a lot of them are still here. Lipp PERSON just retired. Brad Fisher. Isn't that crazy, by the way, 54 years?

Speaker 41644.32s - 1689.5s

Yeah, I mean, one of my heroes. Incredibly thoughtful ahead of time about all. Try every different possible thing to quarantine and develop you. And when I got this job, he was one of the first phone calls I got. You know, let me know anything you need. You're doing the job that I did for the A ORG's for a long time.Anything that you need, let me know. Lean on Brad Fisher PERSON, who's an organization as well. Long-time A's coach. I mean, long-time A's for a long time. Anything that you need, let me know. Lean on Brad Fisher, who's an organization as well. Long-time A's ORG coach. I mean, long-time A's ORG coach. But, yeah, it's about how do you apply it? Because everything is public.You know, you can go on fan graphs. You can go on all these different websites and all the information's out there. It's not some secret sauce that you can put together. So can you apply it? Can you keep players calm? Can you keep them in can put together. So can you apply it? Can youkeep players calm? Can you keep them in the present moment? And can you keep them competing? Do you

Speaker 21689.5s - 1694.36s

want to be a GM? You know, I don't like dealing with the business side of things too much.

Speaker 41694.64s - 1697.78s

Yeah, because you've got to manage up to the owner. I don't like that money. And ownership.

Speaker 21698.68s - 1704.04s

I like, for me personally, the thing I get the most out of this, you know, I was a college

Speaker 41704.04s - 1705.68s

walk on. I didn't think I was going to play a day of this, you know, I was a college walk on.

Speaker 21709.16s - 1709.4s

I didn't think I was going to play a day of baseball after high school.

Speaker 41710.36s - 1715.6s

I was going to go to UCLA ORG. I wanted to become an attorney. I had all these plans planned out ahead of time. You had big plans.

Speaker 21715.88s - 1716.68s

I had big plans.

Speaker 41716.98s - 1726.66s

And now you're sitting next to me. What the hell happened? I don't know. I somehow figured out how to hit. And, like, then, you know, my mom always jokes baseball is a disease. The longer you're in it, the sicker you get. And I think that I kind of feel that way. But I see the people, you know, my mom always jokes baseball is disease. The longer you're in it, the sicker you get.

Speaker 01726.7s - 1737.04s

And I think that I kind of feel that way. But I see the people, you know, this game has a big effect on people. It can unite a community. We're so blessed in Pittsburgh GPE to have the fan base that we have and all the history that we have there as well.

Speaker 41738.28s - 1794.62s

But I just want to pass on the experiences that I had to other players. You know, help them make one less mistake that I made on their way to the big league. Because I still, I consider every day that I played after high school a bonus, a bonus, you know, and I got a lot of appreciation for baseball. I think that it can teach you a lot of different lessons, mainly that you fail so muchthat you have to figure out how to pick yourself back up and go out there again and that, like, constant striving and the impossible problems to solve that, man, look at hitting now. Look at the guys the Giants were running out, or the A's ORG were running out there yesterday or the Giants were running out against us last week. We've got Jordan Hicks throwing 97 moniker sinkers and splitters for strikes. You got Kyle Harrison, Dale Salkit PERSON.I'm up there watching the game, like half rooting for him, but also rooting for our team because I do have Spartan NORP pride still. But pitching has never been better. It's never been nastier. It's never been more difficult to hit. And so it's our job as the guys that came before to do whatever we can to help these kids stay successful, be successful.

Speaker 21794.88s - 1838.98s

All right, let's end on this. By the way, when you talk about success of Pittsburgh GPE and everything, I'm a lot older than you. Whenever I see the piping in that hat, I was a little kid in 79 when it's Willie Sturgel and Dave Parker and Kenta Colby PERSON. Whenever I see that hat, I go, yeah, it reminds me of the 70s and the greatness of their pirates. But let's end on this. All right, you're not going to be a GM, but I'm going to call you up.I am the GM. Okay. What is the number one thing for pitching, number one thing for position players that you want to see, we're going to develop them, we're going to make, we're going to get them to be big leaguers. Is it a data point?What is it? What, give me one thing for pitching, one thing for position players?

Speaker 41839.16s - 1857.4s

So the one thing I would say for pitching is that strikes are the floor. You've got to throw the baseball over the plate. Successful teams win. When you watch a baseball game, and this is a fun thing to do to track over the course of a series, the teams that throw the most pitchestend to lose. I learned that from Billy Bean and Paul Theobotesson PERSON.

Speaker 21860.56s - 1862.62s

2002 is on the phone.

Speaker 41862.62s - 1863.74s

The teams that throw the most pitches lose.

Speaker 21863.9s - 1866.8s

And so if you're a pitcher, if you're out there, if you're developing as a pitcher, I don't care.

Speaker 41867.04s - 1939.44s

The popular thing now is you see these videos of kids running and crow hopping and throwing a ball as hard as they can into a net with five shirtless guys scream behind him and 107 pops up there. That's all well and good. That's all well and good. And Rob Friedman PERSON, he has a great job with pitching ninja and they throw the slider and the guy swings and misses and he falls down and they send his soul out of the video. That is all well and good. But throwing the ball in the strike zone has never been more valuable. Make people swing the bat. And then I would say if you're a kid that's developing as a baseball player, number one, understand the hitting's hard.But number two, the way lineups work now, the more options that you can give a coach or a manager, the more places that you can be on the field, the longer you're going to keep playing baseball. So don't be afraid to move off the infield and play the outfield, get behind the plate, take those risks, go out and play as much as possible. As many baseball games, not as possible too much because kids are playing 200 games, as many positions as possible.I think that's the way you really develop as an athlete and you really see the game. And it's not so much about your statistics. It's not all that. The last thing I'll say that applies to both of them is how many times can you be present for every single pitch in a game? Can you just be there? Be there, be aware, and be open, and be ready to play every single pitch. So throw strikes, play a lot of positions and be present. You can be all right.

Speaker 21939.62s - 1951.56s

A lot of what you're talking about, we just had Tyler Nevin PERSON on. Tyler Nevin obviously was like the top dude in San Diego. He's going to be a first round draft pick. We're laughing going, man, you never saw right field growing up. And now all of a sudden he's got to play right field in the big leagues.

Speaker 41951.88s - 1956.54s

Yeah, wouldn't it be easier for him if when he was a kid, it wasn't just third base and shortstop or first base.

Speaker 21956.66s - 1961.56s

A couple times he ran some shagged some fly balls. That's what I mean, it's just really important. We see it all the time.

Speaker 41962.14s - 1975.26s

You get to high school players go to college. Everyone's a shortstop. College players come to professional baseball. Everybody's a shortstop. College players come to professional baseball. Everybody's a shortstop. You got to be able to be versatile. That gets you in the lineup. The best way to become a better hitter is to get as many as bats as possible.

Speaker 21975.48s - 1994.58s

I guarantee you there's going to be a lot of people listening to this, watching this. A lot of people go back onto YouTube ORG and to X and all these places and watch this. There's a lot of people that are going to watch us that either played with you, played against you, or watched you played. So it's big to have you on the show. We truly appreciate it.I know it's going to be emotional. It's going to be emotional for a lot of people.

Speaker 41994.82s - 2010.08s

So enjoy the last times at the Coliseum FAC because the Coliseum did well for a lot of people. Yeah, thank you. I'm going to do a couple tours. And again, yeah, appreciate coming here, the fans of Oakland GPE. I know it's hard for everybody to deal with this. And I can just say I sympathize because I feel exactly the same way.

Speaker 22010.24s - 2023s

Be well. Thank you. We thank Brian Sabian, the manager of the Pirates, Derek Sheldon, and Bay Area PERSON Zone, John Baker for stopping by A's Cast Live. Now back to A's Cast powered by IHeart Radio.

Speaker 12023.5s - 2026.48s

This has been a presentation of the Oakland Athletics ORG.