Yankees Win, Mets Shutout , NBA Playoffs

0:00It's the Mike Francesca podcast on the Bet River's network. Hello again everybody and welcome to the Mike Francesca podcast part of the Bet River's network on this beautiful and I mean beautiful April day. I mean this is one of those days where you know that it's the good weather is right around the corner. It is just a perfect day. Get outside and enjoy it. Like I said, it is a beautiful day. The NBA playing games which I'm not a big fan of. Those teams are not going to spend a whole lot of time in the playoffs. But it gives you a little action before the action. Remember the next thought on Saturday night. We'll do our NBA later in the week and give you the predictions and everything. More on the NBA in a couple of minutes. Let me first start with baseball. You know, I was thinking about this. It's a Monday night. Good crowd at the stadium. There's always is. I mean, so they announced 35,000 last night for

1:02the crowd. What a decent Monday night crowd. And in that building last night was a kid who was at his first game. I guarantee it. I don't know where he was sitting. I don't know who he went with. Maybe when his dad, maybe he went with somebody's friend. Maybe went with a friend and a father. Maybe he went with a group who knows, but he was in that building for the first time last night. And he's going to wind up doing what I do 15, 20 years from now. And he's going to tell a story. And he's going to say, I went to my first game at Yankee Stadium. And I'll never forget it. I was so excited. The grass was so green. The colors was so vibrant. The players right in front of you for the first time. It's something you never forget. And then he's going to say, I got a chance to see two, two, lock first ball at Hall of Famers. Both at

2:12the top of their game that night. One who dominated the game and dominated the league, who burst on the scene at 19 years of age and was a star of 20. The other got there late. He didn't break into 24. He didn't become a big time play until 25. But they're both in their own dominant players. One aging beat up has spent the last four or five years. Just trying to get on the field and not doing a good job of it. Only playing a hundred games, I think once in the last four or five years. Not dominating the way he did. You know, trout had a trout had a run. That was very reminiscent of the mantle run. He did not have the numbers that mantle had. I'm not saying he did. And he's great, but he's not a key man. But he dominated the MVP in the American League. The same way, man,

3:16did in that run. He was there every single year. You know, trout has won three MVP's. So was judge. Trout has finished second in the MVP four times. Man, won three MVP's. He was in the top three every year. He lost two others by one vote, including 60, which was the closest vote of all time. When Maris beat him in the MVP two years in a row and 61, he knew he was going to beat him, but in 60, he beat him and beat him by one vote. But every single year, year after the year, those guys are right there in the MVP judges finished second ones and has now become this dominant figure. And now he's on a different level than trout. Trout's not going to have any more of those years. And trout never hit 50 and 60 home runs. I think, I think it's a different game

4:20than it was when trout was early in his career, because I think then he was hitting 40. I think the balls a lot lively. I'm not saying a judge can hit 50 and 60, but other guys are hitting 50 also. In those days, guys didn't hit 50. Now there are a lot of them are hitting 50. 60 depends what year of the ball goes back and forth a little bit. But be that as it may, it's talking about premium sluggers. And they came and last night they both hit two home runs in the game. The Yankees come back and win in the bottom of the ninth slappy fashion on a walk off wild pitch. Probably the only way man's going to contribute these days is to play, get a walk and get a wild pitch. Grisham who had done nothing all year hits two home runs coming in the game as a pinch hitter and then hits two home runs, including a two run home run in the ninth that tied the game up and then the Yankees get the winning run home. But they each hit two home runs. These two great players. The guy who was the goat and the guy who was the goat. So trouts obviously not trout anymore.

5:30He's never going to be the trout of 15 years ago. Judges still there, 133, 134. Like I said, one got started late, one was in early. You look at their numbers. Trout has hit 408 home runs. He's knocked in a thousand 82 runs. He's played more years than judge. But he hasn't played a lot more games because he's missed so many games and recent years. His lifetime batting average ironically is 293. Judges lifetime batting average is 293. Judges hit three on a 74 home runs, knocked in 842. He has an OPS over one. Trout has an OPS. Anytime you see lifetime OPS is in the 900s. But in the high 900s, those are big time players. Those are the mammals and mazes and Aaron. I mean, those are the great players who have those kind

6:32of OPSs. He has a 976 OPS. Judges has a 0, a 1.026 OPS. Two guys, not just Hall of Famous. These guys are both going into the Hall of Fam on roller skates. They're going in his first ballot, Hall of Famous. They are big time stars. Now, Trout, because of the injuries, people were expecting Trout to be around to put up a rod type numbers. It hasn't happened with all the injuries. He's had years where he's played 20 games and 30 games and missed almost entire season. He's obviously had all kinds of issues. He's had a great career, three time MVP, Judges, three time MVP, dominant, the player. There was no doubt who the best player in the league was, just like there's no doubt now who the best player in the league was. They both very comfortable

7:38in every way. And you saw both of them last night at their best, each hitting two home runs in the game. Just think about it. That night for some 10-year-old kid who's in the stands, getting to see Judges for the first time in person, getting to see the mic Trout that he's heard about. I'm heard at first time Harrison always liked mic Trout growing up. So I took him to City Field to see mic Trout when we had good seats and Trout came up and he was right in front of us and he stepped to the plate the first time and hit a monster shot. And I'm saying he's never going to forget that. He got to see his guy right in front of him, hit the big home run, just like I did when I was a kid in the first game I ever went to. Manel and Maris and Johnny

8:39Blanchard, 1961, hit home runs against the Cleveland Indians. That was the first game I ever went to. Never forgot it. Manel, Maris, Johnny Blanchard in a year where they hit a million home runs. 240 at the time, a record. I think it's at the time. I've been broken many times, but at the time, 240 home runs for the great 61 team, which is one of the great teams of all time. But I thought about that last night because it was a nothing one day night. Yankees coming off a losing streak, playing terrible baseball. And in last night's game, blowing four nothing leads, blowing seven four leads. Going to lose the game to the angels because of Trout. And then they tie it up in the bottom. And I thought, oh, for reliever who hadn't even given up a hit this year, but really got beat up last night. And the Yankees broke there, losing streak and win the game 11-10.

9:47Not the same for the Mets. Another night. Another shutout. Six straight losses. They lose game one to the Dodgers. They're now seven and ten on the season. And they're going to face Yamamoto today. And they're going to face Otani tomorrow. They've been shut out back to back games. They've been shut out three of the last four games. They have scored nine runs in their last six losses. And in only one of those games, did they score more than two runs? They scored two, one, three zeroes and a six. Completely anemic. Nothing in the lineup to scare anybody. Obviously no Soto. Obviously no power. Obviously nothing going on right now. And yes, it's early.

10:52But the Mets could come out of this week with what they're going to face on the mound tonight and tomorrow. And then a trip to Chicago for the weekend. The Mets could be in a bad way. They don't want to start. They don't want to hit April. They don't want to say goodbye to April and say hello to May eight games on the 500. Because something like that takes months, months, multiple months to wash away. And that's where they're headed right now. They can't do anything right. They can't get out of their way. We all talked about how the Mets needed with this group to get off to a fair start. Obviously, it hasn't happened. Guys is slumping. Did Lendor come back to a fair start of the injury? I don't know. He never hits early in the season anyway. The shed has only gotten off to a pedestrian start at best.

11:59Then those hit, the end those hit out in San Francisco, but he hasn't hit since he's two of his last 24. They don't have so though. Palonco's hurt. Robert Alvarez, the only two have hit it all. And they can't get out of their own way. And you wonder how does the hierarchy react and when does the hierarchy react? They gave this team a complete facelift after a incredibly disappointing second half last year. And now they have gotten off to an equally awful 17 game start. Boring, bad baseball, anemic, anything you want to name it. Nothing positive. Is the manager in trouble? Is it all his fault? Absolutely not.

13:05Does the guy who put the team together have to take a hit here? He owns this. Now again, it's only mid-April. But if you notice, the braves have gotten off to a pretty good start. They're winning and they're winning the right way because you look at their run differential. They're winning and they're winning impressively. Now again, you're not going to panic. But they're 10 and 7 and the meds are 7 and 10. That's only three games. But that can become seven and 8 games in a blink if you don't turn it around. And all of a sudden, you're looking up at the braves for a long time. And you're wondering exactly where is the things they hope for going to come from.

14:11So it's got to get back. We know that. The shit's going to hit. I don't have any question about that. Lindor's going to hit. You don't question Lindor and they shut their players. They're big-time players. But they sent a lot of guys packing and where's the production going to come from? Is there any guaranteed production other than from the three players we mentioned? Anything they can count on. They're going to get it from the guys they brought in. And when does everybody there really start to press? I would think they're getting to the point now where they're starting to feel it. The 7 and 10 looking up at a great dodged team that obviously is the class of baseball. And not only that, they can't hit

15:12at all right now. And they're going to face two of the best pitches in the game in the next 24 hours. Maybe that's what it's going to take for them to break out. Short and look way last night. This thing, listen, we can all say it's early and it is. But if you're a met fan right now and you're not concerned, it's time to start getting a little concerned. Because this does not look like it's going to get a whole lot better any time soon. I don't just see this just one day at the ballpark, one big eight run outing and all of a sudden things are all fixed. I don't see that happening with this group. There's a lot of things to fix here. There's a lot of things to be worried about right now with this team. There's a reason to be concerned with this group. Not just in the offense, which is incredibly

16:20anemic, but in the defense, which hasn't been what they expected and especially in the pitching. Yes, it's April the 14th. But it hasn't been a pretty 17 games. That's for sure. Now, if you're looking for a betting angle, check out the top picks, newsfeed, and you're a bitrivers app. The bitrivers banter newsfeed is filled with all kinds of goodies, you know, all kinds of observations, picks, etc. From folks on the bitrivers network and obviously handicapped is and well, listen, the whole idea is is get some good information, check out some point of views that you respect, and then make your own selection. That's the fun part. That's what this is supposed to be. It's supposed to be entertainment. Not life and death. You don't wage it in mortgage money. You have a little fun. It's entertainment.

17:25And don't write and don't in the right perspective. It's very enjoyable. Tap the top picks in your bitrivers app to get the latest tips and the way we go. Now, we got some NBA tonight. If you can't wait for the NBA playoffs and hey, the way the regular season finished, what I've been, you know, I've been really down on the NBA's regular season. I mean, seriously down to what people have said, you just keep killing it. I said, I'm really disappointed with what the NBA's produced as a product. It's embarrassing. How? What was more embarrassing than this weekend where everybody, everywhere sat out and then Santa Antonio, which has had a great year and has a one, probably the next great, great player has a chance to improve their playoff

18:38path so dramatically where they can eliminate Denver. A team that gives them trouble. A team that obviously has quality and a great talent that you know can beat anybody. Everyone's looking for that okay, see San Antonio confrontation and San Antonio has played them so well all season. I agree, but it's not a given and all they had to do was play their game and compete and try to win that game that would have eliminated Denver as an obstacle that it would have been on the other side of the bracket and instead, as you hear Taylor now, instead, they will have to play Denver, although something extreme happens and O.K.C. to get to the championship round.

19:40It could have been that they only had to beat O.K.C., that they weren't going to have to face Denver and instead they had no interest. Zero. We don't care. We don't care. We're not playing all players. We're taking a pass. We're putting our feet up. We'll deal with the playoffs as the playoffs. Who cares who's in front of us? You play all year to make the playoffs. You play all year to give yourself a shot to get to a championship level. Get to the finals. Be okay, see. Get to the finals. Give yourself a chance to win a championship and instead, where you can really improve your chances dramatically. You have no interest in doing it. None. I'm not playing. Sorry, we're done. We're done. We're resting. Sorry, we're resting. Should be the NBA slogan now in the regular

20:40season. Sorry, we're resting. Sorry, it's our night off. Oh, you paid big money and circled the calendar for three months because your kid is just more than anything in the world wanted to see this star player in his city. Sorry, we're resting. We don't care about how much you pay for tickets, even though that's how you get paid. We don't care about the regular season products. We have no interest. The second to last day of the season, 164 players sat out. 164. Are you kidding me? And they charge money for these games. I mean, and listen, I know going to madness is a square

21:46garden as an experience. And nobody loves the garden more than I do. Nobody. I love the garden. It's my favorite place. My favorite place in the orchid always has been. There's nothing better. I've said this a million times. There's nothing better than going to a Nick Playoff game on a main night. We're on even a weekend. Big Playoff game. Nick Celtics. Okay. I mean, something like that. Hey, you're pumped to get in that building. And let's be honest, it's going to cost you basically your first point to get in there. I mean, the ticket prices are insane. NBA ticket prices are nuts. Now, I'm not saying there's not expensive seats in every building. The Yankees, if you want to go sit in legends, those seats cost a lot of money. You want to go sit in the front row for the meds or the second row. The ticket's going to cost you

22:50bundle. I understand it, but that's for the first couple of rows in the whole building. There are some seats that are at least reasonable. There are very few reasonable seats in the palace. We're gone. And they don't care. One I order, whether you see the player or see anybody or anything else, that's why let's be honest. They aren't worth your time. I'm going to be honest. I'm going to say this. They're not worth my time in the regular season. The NBA has watered down and destroyed its regular season product to the point where it is not worth my time. So, I'm going to do something together yesterday that's going to play out, you know, for Major League Baseball in the fall. And we were talking about it. He said, I don't think I watched hardly any regular season NBA this year. I said, need the night. We were talking about what a joke

23:52it is. You look at the two of us aren't together on the air. We'd be just destroying this product to the end of the earth. It really, it's something. If you're to brain trust, if you're ownership, if you're out of silver, you need to sit down and discuss this. You got to get to players, union involved, and you got to sit down and discuss this and say, guys, we've got to fix all the products. Unless the only thing we're going to have to care about. Now listen, will I be there for the postseason? I wouldn't miss a game. I love it. I watch the NBA, I watch playoff games till the cows come home. I love playoff basketball. Well, I'm asking for the players to care or to try. Is that too much to ask? I don't get that in the regular season. I don't get either. There was San Antonio with a chance to improve their playoff chances immeasurably. And they said, I don't care. I don't care.

24:55It's not worth my trouble. And they say that to the fans in every city, every single night. Oh, sorry. You paid big money to see this player play. Sorry, he doesn't play. Michael Jordan didn't take nights off. Will Chamberlain never took a minute off. No, unless a game off. He not only played, he played 48 minutes, most nights. Charles Barkley didn't take games off. Kim Lajraman didn't take games off. Patrick, you didn't take games off. This load management is a load of crap. That's what it is. And it's ruined the league. They should be embarrassed by their product that they're putting forth right now in the regular

25:56season. Embarrassed. That's how bad it is. But now it's the playoffs. So now we can care because they care. Because they're going to show up and play and play with an injury and play when they're tired. Something they would never think of doing in the regular season anymore, even once. Now it's the playoffs. So you've turned it into a two and one sport. You've turned it into the Collins fanscumon. And at least in Collins' red school, I understand we know from day one that Duke and St. John's and Eucon and 25 other schools were all going to the NCAA term before the season ever starts. We understand that. Does that take away some of the intensity a little?

26:58But you know, when they're out there, during the games, those kids are trying their hearts out. They don't give you a hit whenever. So when you go to a game, it still feels like a game. It's still exciting because those kids care and the coaches care and they play hard. I understand that it doesn't matter if when Duke plays Michigan in February, it doesn't matter who wins. Understand that. That's part of what they deal with, which is why it's from an essence of three weeks one. It's a great three weeks, but it's a three weeks one. And I understand if it's a die-hard, you find that offensive, but it's true. Pretty average fan. What meaning are you giving them for the regular season? You know that St. John's is going to lose to a pair of teams. You know they're only going to be tested by a couple of teams on their schedule and they lose half those games. So what they're still going to get in the NCAA tournament easily and away they go. Yeah, you can lift the conference championship and stuff like that.

28:02I didn't end up beginning that matters, but then again, it doesn't matter. You think you can't care if they didn't win the conference championship when they wound up going to the final four. If they won a national championship, you think Michigan is we lost that big 10 title. I don't know what we're going to do. Oh, we won a national championship. Yeah, you think they care that they didn't win the big 10 title that produced it? No one will even remember that in a week. No one probably even remembers it now. If I hear people walking down the street who won the big 10 title in basketball, then I'll probably say Michigan. Oh, they're national teams. Yeah. Didn't they win the big 10 title? No. Doesn't matter. I hate what the NBA has done to itself, but it has. And never was it more offensive than this past weekend. It just drove home everything we've been saying all year. And then to have San Antonio just treat that opportunity with that kind

29:06of utter disdain. What the hell are they thinking? I hope it comes back to bite them in a rear end. Didn't but beat them. They'll say, oh, you know, we played didn't but hot. Yeah, you that's a play them at all. Just crazy. So the end of the end came tonight. It's a beautiful night for it. Enjoy that you get a chance to see two great players on the field at the same time. And last night they gave you a show. Maybe they'll give you another one tonight. And for the meds, who knows? Maybe they'll even score a run tonight. Hey, hope springs eternal. Maybe they'll even score a run tonight. It's possible. It's possible. You got a great pitching matchup tonight.

30:10The kid against Yamamoto can't beat it. He can get any run support. Wouldn't count on it. We'll see you later. Thanks for listening to the Mike Princess of Podcast on the Bet Rivers Network.