Grant Paulson breaks down why he liked changes to MLB Home Run Derby

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Rahimi & Grote Show 14 min 4 speakers 5 chapters transcribed 2 months ago

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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Unknown 0:01

Seuraa Kariniemen koko kesän säätiedotus. Aurinkoa luvassa koko maahan. Tuulesta ei tietoakaan. Etelässä tiristellään minuuttipihviä makuna hot honey. Kun lännessämme hevöityy minuuttipihvi grilli hillo. Ei tarvitse kiristellä, kun voi tiristellä. Kariniemen, omasta mielestämme parasta kananpoikaa grilliin.

Rahimi Harrison-Grody 0:26

Rahimi Harrison-Grody. I love being here. Middays 10 to 2 on 104.3 The Score. A homer wins it, a non-homer, and we're going to a swing off. Baseball is not afraid.

Rahimi Harrison-Grody 0:48

Wow. It's in and out. It's in and out. Jordan Walker wins it. Sunday night.

Vinny Rotino 0:52

That is courtesy of Netflix. Matt Vaskirjan on the call. Jordan Walker, the St. Louis Cardinal, beat Kyle Schwarber. To win the All-Star Home Run Derby. How many different ways is that statement going to hurt? A Cardinal beat a former Cub to win the Home Run Derby. Good times. We go live to our hotline, and that is where we find Grant Paulson. He is the co-host of Grant and Danny on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., host of the Bustin' Loose Baseball Podcast and the Take Command Podcast. He was also part of our podcast. Odyssey special that we had on earlier this week, premiering the Midsummer Classic. Grant, thanks for joining us.

Grant Paulson 1:34

Yeah, thank you guys. How's it going?

Vinny Rotino 1:36

We're good. We were laughing about how Kyle Schwarber's head-to-head with Wilson Contreras, two former Cubs, and then we see Jordan Walker in the division take the home run derby last night.

What changed in the MLB Home Run Derby format this year and why does it matter?

Vinny Rotino 1:49

A fun format, but also one that did remind me I still miss Schwarber's home runs here.

Grant Paulson 1:56

Yeah, that's relatable content. He got his career back on track after he was just about out of big league opportunities with the Nationals. He got a one-year deal in Washington where I cover the Nats, and he basically came chasing Kevin Long, the hitting instructor he thought would help him get the ball in the air with more authority, better launch angle with exit velocity, and he subsequently would follow him. He's with him in Philadelphia now. But I've talked to him about it, and Schwarber said, yeah, that was the one opportunity to play every day where I got any – Decent money. He knew he was going to a bad-nats team to basically be a rental and traded. So that was relatable watching him longing for that power in your own lineup for sure.

Grant Paulson 2:34

But what an event last night. I will say I was pretty loudly against the changes of the Derby because we were going back to the pre-2015 switch to the clock that was altered for a reason. I think the clock actually works, especially in the ballpark where I've been every year. at these all-star festivities for some time. It's a little tougher to track the distances or to enjoy and marvel at the prodigiousness of the home runs, maybe, when they're rapid fire. That said, I thought, while I still am probably partial to the previous format, I thought the finals last night was better than anything we had with the clock. Because you do take a couple pitches, there's a build-up, there's some drama to it, and I thought it really, really worked.

Grant Paulson 3:15

So what a scene. Jordan Walker had the entire city of Philadelphia against him, guys. It was amazing. He's getting booed like a WWE villain, and he ends up homering on his last half dozen swings. It was pretty epic.

Marshall Harris 3:26

You could tell he really relished the boos. Granted, it made for, like you said, a dramatic scene. Does this mean they've converted you, though, with the swings and the new format?

Grant Paulson 3:35

Good question. I'm still kind of workshopping and working through that. I thought the final round was tremendous, and I would be willing to say that that was better than the previous way of doing it. I don't know if the entirety of the event was. And again, my perspective is always a bit flawed because tens of millions of people are watching at home. I think in the ballpark, the rapid-fire pitches with a clock is better because it's more home runs. I think the brilliance and the beauty of the home run derby, when I think about Josh Hamilton or Bobby Abreu or some of the guys that have put on really epic shows, is A, the number of home runs, but B, the quickness with which they're hitting them.