00:00Doug Karsh, Scott Anderson, thanks everybody for listening on a Friday.
00:03We'll talk some Lions next hour.
00:06Birch Kid's going to join us at 1 o'clock.
00:07Dan Campbell met with the media this morning,
00:10gave the very latest on his football team as they get set to take on the Jets.
00:15Additionally, we'll have injury updates, practices open for a brief period.
00:20So Birch Kid will have all the latest as the Lions play a bounce-back game,
00:25maybe a reassurance game, reinstill some faith kind of game.
00:30One that the people want to see them respond
00:35after being put on a bit of the Russian front here by our friends in Buffalo.
00:42Wednesday, we're talking about Justin Verlander's last start tomorrow at Comerica Park,
00:47and they sold the place out, and it's going to be fun.
00:50I mean, it's unfortunate that the game doesn't mean anything.
00:52It's unfortunate they had the season he had.
00:54That's a bummer.
00:55It's unfortunate that the Tigers faded and ended up selling is what it is.
01:02And that's something that's always worthy of discussion,
01:05but we're shelving that over here.
01:07We're going to put it over here for a minute just to talk about what could be a fun day
01:10at Comerica Park.
01:12Wednesday, Max Scherzer made a start for Toronto.
01:17Right.
01:18He went five innings and he struck out seven.
01:22He now trails Justin Verlander by four strikeouts.
01:30In his career, yep.
01:31In his career.
01:34There is a rumor out there, and people are reporting that Scherzer is talking about pitching
01:40on short rest on Sunday so that he can get more strikeouts than Justin Verlander.
01:51What do we say?
01:52Verlander has 3,554 strikeouts.
01:56Scherzer has 3,550.
02:02Scherzer wants to see JV pitch, see how many strikeouts he has, and then come back on short
02:12rest to try and pass Verlander.
02:19This is a weird, petty bitterness.
02:22What?
02:25JV has announced his retirement.
02:30Am I correct?
02:31Max Scherzer has not, right?
02:33I don't think Max has, but the writing is on the wall for Max.
02:36His last two seasons, last year, he, in 17 starts, had a 5.19 earn run average, and this
02:44year, he's had 17 starts, and his earn run average has jumped up to 6.14.
02:49Writing's on the wall that he's probably not going to pitch for anybody next year.
02:53Who's going to want to sign him as a free agent?
02:57So, maybe he sees it coming.
02:58Maybe he sees it.
02:59He's 42 years old.
03:01Don't tempt Scott Harris, by the way, Gator, with that.
03:03Sorry, you're a good point.
03:04Good point.
03:09So, I didn't realize his numbers were that bad until I just saw them, but yes.
03:14I mean, what?
03:16It's that deep?
03:20That sounds like some petty hatred.
03:24I don't know if it's hatred.
03:26I think it's just competitiveness.
03:27You think?
03:29Yeah, that's all.
03:30He's competitive.
03:32I think he is.
03:33Remember when they tried to pull him out of that playoff game a few years ago?
03:36He was not having it.
03:37Scherzer, kudos to him, he's very competitive.
03:42I don't know, man.
03:44I love this level, by the way.
03:45Whatever it is, spite competitiveness.
03:47It's fantastic.
03:47Yes, it is.
03:48It's fantastic.
03:49It's so good.
03:50Looking at Max's game log to see, like, you got strikeout totals, right?
03:56Mm-hmm.
03:56So, his last game, he struck out seven in the five innings.
04:02Prior to that, his strikeout totals were three, three, and two.
04:06And then he had a 10-strikeout performance in seven innings against Seattle at the end
04:12of August, which was his best start of the season.
04:16Wow.
04:16He went seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts.
04:19That's what he's holding on to, is thinking he can still recapture that moment where literally
04:25every other game has been so much worse than that.
04:30So, if I'm JV, and I'm aware of this.
04:35Oh, he's aware.
04:37Okay, you are then doing everything in your power to strike out as many as you can.
04:42Listen, this is the type of thing that if it were me, okay, and this is how I've operated
04:46my entire life, I wouldn't care until I find out that that guy cared enough to pass me.
04:55And this happened to me when I was coaching baseball.
04:59I seriously went into games saying, I want to play a good game.
05:03I want our team to play well.
05:04And if the other kids on the other team make great plays, that's awesome, too.
05:08I was a high-five the other kid when he makes a great play, you know, shake their hands
05:13when you're going through the handshake line, great outing, son, that kind of thing.
05:16Where if both teams played well and they beat us, that's fine.
05:19And the winning and losing, the winning was important.
05:22We were trying to win, but I didn't care that much until the other coach turned into a DB.
05:30If the guy we were coaching against or the parents cared way too much and were way over
05:36the top, then it was like, F these people, let's beat their ass.
05:39Yeah, sure.
05:39And so if I'm JV, I pitch as long as I can, strike out as many people as I can,
05:47then I
05:48walk off the field, and Sunday, I'm watching the Blue Jays rooting against Max Scherzer.
05:55If Scherzer hadn't said anything, I wouldn't care.
05:58And I guess Scherzer hasn't said anything other than the stories and reporting's out
06:03there, but then I would care, because that petty SOB, he only wants to do it to beat me,
06:12so F that guy.
06:14I mean, it's funny to me, because the two pitchers have been, I mean, they're two Hall
06:19of Fame pitchers, right?
06:20Mm-hmm.
06:22Scherzer has pitched 500 innings less than Verlander.
06:28It's like, dude, you've already better at striking guys out than Justin Verlander was.
06:32I know he's got more than you.
06:33Yeah.
06:34But I wouldn't make this a big thing just so that you can be ahead of Verlander in the
06:38all-time list, and you've been better.
06:40More strikeouts per nine.
06:43But that's not how different guys, guys are wired differently, and we know that Scherzer
06:47for sure is wired differently.
06:49NAROC writes in on Twitter, or Twitch, rather, I wouldn't be surprised if Scherzer and JV
06:53joke around with each other about it as well.
06:57Do you think they joke around about it, or do you think this is actually a rivalry?
07:03The way I interpret it is I think that Justin Verlander can joke around about it, but I think
07:08Scherzer takes it more seriously.
07:10That's just the way it looks, or the way it seems.
07:13I don't know if Max takes things way more seriously or not, or if that's just the persona in front
07:17of cameras and microphones.
07:19But I don't know.
07:20This is a fun little story, though.
07:23Evan, we were talking about this in the office.
07:25Evan, our webmaster.
07:26Do you think they like each other?
07:28Not at all.
07:29And I think it's the greatest rivalry that helped the Tigers, because they each wanted
07:34to outperform one another, but they don't like each other.
07:38That it was very evident when they were on the Tigers.
07:41You never saw them talking with one another.
07:44They always made, what did you guys call Max when he was here?
07:48Self-gratifying Max or something like that?
07:50Something like that, yeah.
07:51They were both like that.
07:52They cared about their stats, and was their stat better than the others?
07:56And I love it.
07:58And I wonder how many teams have this rivalry going on that pushes their players to be that
08:03good.
08:04Yeah.
08:04Yeah.
08:05The fact that if Scherzer comes back on short rest, then we'll know, obviously we'll know
08:10that it's true.
08:11And I'm rooting against Max.
08:13I'm rooting for JV.
08:14I don't know what to root for, because I like them both, and they both left.
08:20And it did really great on their other teams.
08:22Now, I know Verlander's here.
08:24I am going to go Saturday.
08:25I'm going to be happy seeing him waving his hat.
08:27But boy, I love this rivalry.
08:29And the fact that they've talked about it for a week now, well, he's going to come back
08:32on short rest.
08:34At 40?
08:3542?
08:36Yeah, he's at 40.
08:37He's over there.
08:38I think this is a no-brainer who you root for.
08:42You're rooting for JV.
08:43A, he's a Tiger.
08:44And the bigger reason is, Max chose to leave.
08:48You know, Max was only a Tiger for a few seasons.
08:51He had two really good seasons with the Tigers, one a Cy Young with him, and then said, you
08:55know, kudos to me.
08:58I'm better myself.
08:59I'm getting out of here.
09:00JV never wanted to leave.
09:02And he went on to some better things when he left, but he had a great career as a Tiger.
09:07Yeah, but it also took him to be 43 to come back to the Tigers.
09:10It's not like he came back when he was a Met or Giant or Astro again.
09:14Who knows if Scott Harris is trying to get that done earlier or not.
09:17But I think JV never wanted to leave.
09:20All right.
09:20We got some good news on the Lions as far as who is expected to play on Sunday.
09:26Also coming up next hour, actually at 1 o'clock, we'll hear from the Birchie kid, boots on the
09:31ground at Allen Park.
09:32Very latest, Lions-Jets coming up on Sunday.
09:34We'll talk plenty of Lions next hour.
09:35Here on Carson Anderson, 248-539-9797.
09:39971.
09:40971.
