Terminello's Take on Aaron Judge's 2024 Season; MLB Playoff Picture AND Breaking News With UCONN 8-2

[Music] here's your host Alex Garrett all right well L terminello it's back to Tel's take and uh first of all tonight's going to be very interesting first game as Mets radio 880 aren't you interested to know how uh how how's gonna address that will they address that change at all or no uh I don't I doubt it and Alex thank you for having me back uh but I I doubt it I mean I already was listening um since the announcement was made uh when they were talking about the uh switch over they when they went to commercial breaks uh how we did not identify it as WCBS radio network for the last uh 10 days it's it's the Audy radio Mets Network so I I don't I don't think he'll change it tonight with the new call letters which I think are are W um h yep yep so you know it's it's been a burden on my heart that this has gone to the D me to Alex I agree I was a WCBS 880 uh listener it I agree it's just another another tradition that has been but guess what whenever you post a show with me you get on Odyssey anyway so it kind of you know we can carry the torch if you will in that regard so I'm I'm excited that we are on Odyssey together through these terminal takes I'm not sure if you were aware of that or not um I guess yeah I guess I was I was aware of that but now that you brought brought my attention to it uh yeah I I'm thinking about it again so that's good like that it is a good it is a good thing all right the other thing about tonight I mean yeah judge has a thousand hits that's great and uh the Mets in Arizona for a big series people probably don't realize how big of a deal this is because you know Arizona's hot again but Lou in Somerset tonight in Italian Heritage night Anthony Rizzo's making and making a rehab start I mean what a perfect timing for really Italian Heritage night at Somerset yeah and he's gonna be there and you've told me time and time again he has a bakery or something like that down in New Jersey tell us more about that well uh Linhurst Bakery in Linhurst New Jersey Anthony Rizzo is related to the owners of uh Linhart Bakery and they have great obviously Italian pastries but they also have the best Italian Ice uh anywhere and um Anthony Rizzo has a has a an Italian ice named after him it's the ones that is half yum yum which is which is vanilla half yum yum and half chocolate Italian I it's called the Anthony Rizzo so if you go go in there and ask for NY Rizzo you'll get a you'll get half a chocolate half a yum yum and it's delicious I think they gotta go do that before the game tonight if they're going out to sumerset but how funny is that Anthony Rizzo um coming back to do some rehab starts played in Portland with the Patriots comes back in the first game home is Italian Heritage night isn't baseball in life funny like that I mean yeah uh it it really is it really is how sometimes these things syn up and the Yankees need him the Yankees need him to uh to get his hitting eye back you know as as they approach the playoffs because Alex I think the playoff teams are set in each league we talked about that a couple of weeks ago I think the only thing that unless somebody just takes a huge nose dive um I think really the only thing that will be playing for the rest of the year is are playoff seatings um but um I mean I think uh in the AL Yankees Baltimore uh Houston I know Seattle's only three and a half games out and Houston still banged up but I think they'll get there and uh Kansas City Cleveland Minnesota in the in the central it just depends on where they're gonna end up but that was a big double header win by by Kansas City yesterday yeah tell let talk about that because I actually feel like the Yankees Orioles it seems to be hammering itself out now the Yanks have a two- game lead and they may not look back I don't want to jinx anything but they look stronger than the Orioles right now which is we didn't know if that was going to be possible in July but here we are two games up the Yanks are two games up uh against the Orioles but the central one game out for Kansas City and yes Bobby wood Junior's leading the charge but the collapse of the Guardians so to speak are they injured what is they were up there for a while yeah yeah but the lead was never insurmountable um they're good they're not great you know like a lot of teams in Major League Baseball nowadays they go they go through scoring droughts um the thing with Kansas City it's remarkable they were 50 games under 500 last year 56 and 106 and they're led by baseball's next Superstar Bobby Wood Jr I mean the guy's batting 347 27 home runs 96 RBI a 400 on base percentage he already has 182 hits 182 hits that's remarkable and and he's added 27 stolen bases and he plays a brilliant shortstop so if Aaron judge wasn't having one of these historic years Bobby Wood Jr would be their front runner for MVP and uh he is as valuable a player as there is in the American League along with judge but judge is gonna win the MVP by by a good margin and deservingly so um you know the Royals also have a guy who has been I wouldn't say I don't want to say Mr Royal but he was he's close to it and catcher you know Salvador Perez you know he's been with them since they went to the World Series back to back winning it in 15 um having a great year 25 home runs 94 RBI 282 batting average I think he's a a career that is vastly underrated I mean this guy is a star and this guy is more than a borderline Hall of Fame candidate I mean he's the heart and soul the guts of the Royals yes along with with Bobby with junor but Salvatore Perez is the leader of that team and all these young guys can look at well he has experience look he W he won the world series I mean he's been on both sides of that coin he won the World Series year after losing I mean the guy has led the team through so much and uh I'm I'm sure now has he announced his retirement have we heard that yet I have I have not heard that yet I mean I mean I would doubt it having a year that he's having this year he's going to drive in over a hundred runs um the CH the uh Royals are ahead of schedule I don't think I think they thought if they went from 56 wins to 71 they would have been happy but they're already at 74 and uh you know they with Cole Reagan and uh Seth lugos done a great job that was a great 300 free agent pickup for the Royals so they're they're ahead of schedule uh just like the Orioles were um two years ago and uh um or last year when they won 101 games so it you know uh it's going to be interesting an interesting September but I just think it's for seeding I think in both leagues we have the we have the playoff teams yeah I know the Mets are only three out but they have a very tough schedule they got a couple of series with the Phillies they gota they have to play even though the Red Sox are heading south and have no chance for the playoff they do have to play a Red Sox team and um uh you know that uh won't be easy got couple of series with the Braves they have to finish up at Milwaukee but Milwaukee by that time they're up by 10 games so they should have everything locked up I think I think the Mets I'm gonna you know are done um they have a big Series tonight yeah they gota win two out of three they almost they almost uh did something fantastic by beating the Padres three out of four and unfortunately they they couldn't hold on to that two nothing eigh eighth inning lead um but really the Mets problem of the last month and they've been okay I mean I mean they I'm not they haven't collapsed or anything but the guys that were hitting at a great rate when they were on that great push Lindor still hitting but Martinez has come back to earth he has not been The Hitter he was uh during that streak Alvarez hasn't nmo has had a terrible uh second half of the years post Allstar break after you know having a great first half year looked like he was going to drive in over a 100 runs and uh so that that's really set them back but that's where they are I mean they're still in it they're three out behind Atlanta I just don't I just think when the season ends we have the we have the uh all the playoff teams I think are set like I said we just have to look at um seating that's what they'll be playing for in September yeah and the Phil you know the other thing about these shaky teams I mean I noted to you this morning man nobody's over 80 wins yet everybody's sort of in that 77 and 78 you know 77 79 win Plateau it's very strange because you would think in the in August all these teams would be up but those shaky kind of stretches here are going to show themselves in the postseason it's one way form or another right no you're correct and just about every team that is in the playoff position has had has had a down stretch the Yankees the Phillies the Orioles are going through it now the Indians um Minnesota Cleveland lost like nine out of 10 you know a couple of weeks ago so everybody's gone through Atlanta has it remember the Atlanta was 10 games up on the Mets and the Mets actually passed them for a while so um you know Seattle and Seattle has the best starting pitching in the major leagues but they don't score enough and that's why they're three and a half games out and they blew that 10 game lead that they had over the Astros and the Astros you gota give them credit yes they have the experience they've gone through the championship challenges but they've had so many injuries to their pitching staff and Kyle Tucker is still out they don't know if he's gonna come back before the end of the regular season he's a terrific player again he's underrated my opinion um but if you hou's healthy uh they'll be they'll be uh a problem for whoever plays them in the American League but as we said a couple of weeks ago right now the race for the World Series is wide open and I'm so focused on the three- game set like I just think the Yankees cannot afford to be in the three- game set I don't know how that's going to work in a wild card situation because yes they can win um you know they can probably win in an extended you know three out of five or four out of seven but they in a three- game set against say the ashers or whoever I'm a little concerned about that Am I Wrong to be concerned about the Yankees specifically and even the Phillies in a three- game set that's that's a wild card for sure well you're playing Russian roulette as they say it's better than a you know one game uh playoff like they had with the Wild Card a couple of years ago but yes you should try to win the division try to avoid the two out of three get those four days off get healthy get you know have those little Nicks that that you might have from the end of the regular season um all cleaned up and be ready to go but um you know the Yankees are going to go as far as their complimentary hitting takes them in in the postseason obviously Aaron judge is just having another historic season um he's going to be around 60 home runs one way or the other I mean the guy has had a tremendous year um which is amazing he because of the year he had two years ago I don't know if you has ever been without steroid usage and and uh can you imagine if Aaron judge took steroids what would he hit 90 home runs that's very true because you you think if he was on something he'd hit more than 52 51 right now but you make a very good point and actually speaking of steroids um the fact that Barry Bonds did do steroids not bother pirate the Pirates organization he's in the Hall of Fame with the Pirates and the Giants and you know to me that's okay maybe not to you but to me it's fine but what do you thoughts on Barry Bonds going in to the Pirates Hall of Fame where actually was a skinny kind of stick back in those years the thing is when he was with the Pirates he certainly wasn't on steroids at that point uh he started his steroid usage when he uh when he signed with the Giants he didn't need to do that that and if he didn't do that if he didn't take steroids he would be in the Baseball Hall of Fame right now he's one of the best players that I I ever saw I mean he's a seven time MVP yes some of those MVPs were with steroids some were without um but I H I really have no problem I guess the Pirates putting him in especially since he wasn't on the stuff when he was with Pittsburg um for the most part so but you got but again getting back to Mr judge I mean you got just the guy leads the Al and home runs rbi's on base percentage slugging Ops Ops plus he leads the American League in h intentional Bas on balls ironically he only has 16 intentional bases on balls so uh you think he would have more and uh you know you think about you think about his his career he won the rookie year in 2017 uh MVP in 2022 signed a huge deal he became captain of the Yankees uh he W he he won Home Run Derby in college and I and as you know Alex I think these home run deres are a joke but just a little tidbit here he won the college Home Run Derby in 2012 and he won the major league Home Run Derby in 2017 as a rookie um so hitting Co you know who his hitting instructor was when he started that whole thing was Richard skank was actually his hitting instructor during the 2017 Derby how about that yep no uh and like I said to anybody who hasn't heard that interview that you did with him that's a must listen on the art of hitting but you know the most important part to me about Aaron judge is the home runs are great but if he can get his doubles and singles that's even more important that shows he's got a rhythm I keep saying the last two weeks of 2022 when he did not even get a hit of a single or a double and he was pressing so much finally I think he just relaxed his body and was able to just do those hits when he can hit doubles and singles that's how he knows he's on not just the homers but when he can go those other Basit that's a very important sign especially for Aaron judge well um the other thing about Judge obviously he is clearly the best player in baseball and uh you know the Yankees were a lot of people question the Yankees when they moved into center field and really since they won in center field he's done a tremendous job and not I'm not talking about the two great catches and and the one throw that he made last night in Washington but he since he's played uh center field on a consistent basis he's terrific I mean he's no problem to to management and uh he's a he's one of these perfect uh professional players he's totally professional and you know you know what he has Skippers back he actually has Boon back back a lot more than people realize and that holds weight when Aaron judge has that opinion of a manager then that means you know the manager is doing something right and I will say Aron Boone has his team on a trajectory of a 100 wins again they haven't gotten there in a little bit but I I I know people get pissed at him I can't be because I think he's doing the best he can with what he's got right now well I mean he has two of the top five players in baseball in in Aaron judge and Juan SoDo and just think Aaron judge the an he's drafted with a compensation pick for losing Nick swisser in free agency that was a pretty good trade for the Yankees Aaron judge for Nick swier that's for sure that was fun see him you know a lot of those guys were back for the weekend at Old Timer Zing they had a lot of fun that was fun but yeah uh Aaron judge that that trade certainly paid off now Lou I know you want to talk about some other things obviously we got the US Open coming on as well but we'll we'll get to that as the weeks progress um with with baseball though I want to stick with this because the Yankees did something very important last night so you had so sto Stanton and judge basically go cold for a game and normally when that happens nobody else produces but finally you have a bottom of the order that actually came through I'm sure you saw some of that and I think that that's going to be vital too you cannot rely on those three every night so to see the bottom of the order coming through in the top of the order was wasn't although glaber had that great lead off Homer the point is you need all nine guys not just three or two of them every game and I think that was a well-rounded win last night and and can we expect more of those do you think down the road here as you know Austin wild coming to his own with the bad and buy another Italian right he's been doing really well again and of course last time with that big double you need those guys to come through though you can't rely on Judge Stanton and Soto every night you cannot and that's going to be that that's going to be the pressure that the Yankee batting order will face when they when they get to the playoffs um let's face it these teams aren't going to get beat most of the time unless they were the situation is where they're they're they're uh just uh caught in a corner and can't get out of you know and this is a b this is a big postseason for Aaron judge I mean his lifetime batting average postseason is 211 yes he has 13 home runs but with those 13 home runs he only has 25 RB he has a high strikeout rate in postseason so for all his amazing greatness and it is amazing there's gonna be and he knows it these Alex don't think these guys don't know it that's so they don't have to hear it from a reporter or watch a baseball tonight or quick pitch on MLB Network these guys know it so uh how they handle that pressure um for I don't want to say past failures but where they might have they think they've left their team down that's real pressure whether it's Stanton who they're going to look at um but you know like I said judge can't back to 11 so um you know one last thing here before we sorry let you finish um no but last night a couple of those little things came came through for the Yankees lameu had two sacrifice flies something as as simple as that just making contact when you have a chance to score run on on the out could be the difference between winning and losing and helps alleviate the pressure of putting the burden on Judge stto Stanton yeah and it was great to see Soto get the thing and by the way DJ a healthy DJ or even a guy hitting above 195 the Mendoza Line DJ would be nice right now because he's been having his moments then he gets cold uh I'd love to see him to go over Mundo L that should be a goal for him uh In This Moment before we hit September all right Lou I told you this off air I'm gonna say it here while we didn't report this earlier it could still be breaking news because as we both know the digital space people just find out things like they found out from WCBS was closing from my Tik Tok I mean what of all the things right anyway the point is in the digital space this could be breaking news you're delivering because someone might not have heard what Yukon just did before the you know the college sports world gets underway again what happened with Yukon well um I I was talking to somebody last week very close to the Yukon Big 12 situation and uh Yukon has agreed to come to the Big 12 they've they they agreed with the big 12 management team commissioner Brett Yark and uh the Big 12 uh conference Administration uh to join the uh Big 12 in in all sports there's a 27 month um out so the in the Big East you have to give the Big E 27 months notice if if you're leaving the conference so if that holds up uh and Ukon is voted in by the uh the presidents of the Big 12 it would be 20 the 26 27 season so they have two more years in the Big East in all sports OB as you know they're independent in football and uh the Big 12 is very the presidents are very skeptical about the future of of the Yukon football program so uh what Yukon has proposed we won't join until 2031 in football giving them six or seven years prob basically their own probationary period right Pro well again they what what the big 12 presidents are afraid that they're not going to be competitive if they join right away and they're not going to get the media money right away neither is bet or basket is the basketball program but uh What uh what they're trying to do what the big 12 is trying to do and I know that uh the commissioner y Mark thinks that basketball is undervalued and uh the Big 12 being a small basketball a strong basketball conference he believes they can they can almost have their own separate uh meteorites deal when uh the new meteorites deal ends in 2031 so they can have a basketball meteor right steal and they can have a football meteor right steal and I think that's something that that that can happen and uh remember you're not only have going to take the great men's basketball program in you're going to take the great women basketball program in so that would be a bonus for the uh uh the Big 12 obviously the Big 12 presidents say well uh Yukon is in Connecticut we have schools in in in Arizona and in in Utah and in Kansas that's that that's you know that adds to the uh travel expenses for all these athletic programs so we'll see now I I know that six so is this official is this a sort of an official thing Lou like when the Big East when the college basketball world starts Danny H will be coaching the Big 12 is this official or is this what where are we with it now here here's where here's where we are with it they they met they met yesterday uh six schools I don't know which six in the big 12s have accepted Yukon into the Big 12 two have already have already uh voted against it they need 12 out of the 16 Big 12 uh presidents to uh uh give him a yay so they need six more eight schools did not vote yesterday so while I don't know if this gonna happen in the next week last week I heard it was going to happen in two three weeks or it's or they're going to slow it down but only thing that that can hold Connecticut from joining the Big 12 is if the presidents who are very skeptical vote against it they need five negative votes and right now they got they have six positives two negative and eight are still undecided well this is very much a developing story and I'm glad we're ahead of it in the end of summer here because imagine we weren't and and all of a sudden the yukon's in the in the Big 12 and everybody be like well we didn't hear about that well now you did now you hear there's a possibility of Yukon during the Big 12 thanks to who else Lou terminello termina's take Lou I hope you get the Somerset and take an Italian Heritage night and watch Rizzo I know you're a Met fan but come on make the drive tonight Louie I would like to drive to Linhurst and get some Italian I a nice a nice big cup of of uh chocolate Italian eyes it's fantastic Alex they have great great great Italian eyes well I will uh I will I will take up on that maybe we'll go together and do a live show from there that would be kind of cool that's great yeah BL terminello terel take once again thanks for breaking some news with us and for giving us your take on Mr 1000 Aaron judge 1000th hit in about eight-year span that feels like a fast pace right Lou well it comes out to about and again we'll say and I'm G let's give him seven years because that Co year of 60 games it wasn't really a full year so that's 143 145 hits a year um obviously he gets pitched around a lot that that's that's that's pretty good uh he's not going to get 3,000 hits unless he plays until he's 45 and he's effective until he's 45 but he's a slogger he's a run producer you you can't ask for a better run producer than than Aaron judge I mean I don't know if he's going to win the MVP unanimously because there might be uh one or two votes especially from the AL Central that might uh give uh Bobby W Jr a vote but that doesn't matter the guy's the best player in baseball and he's the best player in baseball by by a pretty good margin yes shy Otani has the opportunity to achieve 50 home runs and 50 Steals and uh he leads you know the National League in home runs he was leading the national league in RB up until last night when Osuna passed but he could still lead there he has a 379 on base percentage uh he has 100 runs scored judge has 104 runs scored I mean this guy this guy might have 135 runs scored by the end of the year but both of these guys are having tremendous uh tremendous offensive Seasons the difference is Judge plays the field and he plays the field well he's an excellent outfielder oh yes I think him in Center is just it's a perfect fit for the Yankees and also it's like your captain out there leading the team in in Center I I I love it I love what he does out there and it's great hey one last thing well two things really before we sign out firstly some breaking news here with youou Naomi Asaka beating 10 ranked AA penka today in straight sets so Naomi Asaka moving on at the US Open I love to see that she's she's a success story in her own right and then of course um so you have that and then last night Danny Jansen becoming a first in baseball playing for the same two different teams in the same game uh what a year actually was watching that yesterday afternoon it was really I mean it's not it's it's weird but obviously I don't know how big a deal it is but when they suspended the game Danny jansman was at bat for Toronto and he took a strike or or he fouled it off he had he was had an 01 count so then they called the game they suspended the game that was back in May so then he gets traded so then he's catching in the same game for the Red Sox and he was supposed to be up uh at the plate for the for the Blue Jays when the game resumed so they had to put a pinch hitter up with for him that had an 0 and one count it really is bizarre but uh that's baseball Alex that's baseball that's tennis to Osaka straight sets over the 10th ranked I mean remember she had some off time because of what happened at the US Open I think yes she had to take a mental health break and maybe she's back at it luk yep but we'll see um you know I was surprised last night I was watching a Sloan Stevens and looked like she had she had the uh her match set and then she just she won the first nine games and it looked like she was going to Breeze to a two set Victory and she fell apart so uh but jokovic he won in straight sets bad knee and all that guy's competitive oh yeah I asked Ted toan this I'm gonna ask you are we done will there be a big you know Encore at the at the French Open for nll or is he done what what's your take on all of that I would you mean at the US Open or or well the prediction that Ted tell me he's a professional player we just talked to he thinks going to do one more harah for him at in the in the French Open next year but that maybe that's it I mean do you see him continuing on later I think he's I think Alex I think he's physically broken down I mean you saw how he uh lost uh quickly initi his French Open and he lost in the first round of the Olympics um they might do something since he is the King of Clay uh next year you know at Roland gas in Paris uh but uh you know we'll have to see May again if he still has the competitive juices and if he can get himself to a point physically where he thinks he can compete you know Andy Murray tried that with his you know with those hip injuries that he had and he tried it's tough you know and now especially when you're at that age and then you're in a movement sport where you're going diagonally horizontally um it's you know it's it's not easy and you got these young these young guys that are just incredible athletes so we'll see I mean I would doubt it I think this is it I think the Dell is is done from playing any M any major tennis events wow well L ter manelo on that note um what a career he had and we'll have to track that with with you in the upcoming weeks you know in that coming months with Nadal but right now we got to track the rest of the US Open so we'll see what happens and enjoy it and hopefully get to see you soon Louie maybe at that Bakery I don't know yet we'll see okay all right Alex thank you yes a lot of good sports coming up now as you go past Labor Day NFL college football uh the two weeks of the US Open the beginning of the hockey and basketball Seasons it's gonna be it's gonna be fun one leg up on sports with terminel take L terminello on the Alex Garrett podcast Network