The Rusty George Podcast

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Rusty George
Sometimes as leaders, we think there's no way someone could do the job as well as we can. It can be easy to feel like we have to have our hands and everything for our church to succeed. But as we all know, that couldn't be further from the truth. No one accomplishes anything great alone. Great leaders delegate. And if you're listening to this podcast, I know you want to be a great leader at your church.

00;00;18;25 - 00;00;40;11
Rusty George
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00;00;40;23 - 00;00;59;03
Rusty George
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00;00;59;13 - 00;01;20;20
Rusty George
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00;01;20;25 - 00;01;35;14
Rusty George
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Intro/Outro
Welcome to Leading Simple with a rusty George. Our goal is to make following Jesus and leading others a bit more simple. Here's your host, Rusty George.

00;01;45;25 - 00;02;10;25
Rusty George
Hey, welcome to episode 248. Well, it is time for Dodger baseball. I know I don't sound like Vin Scully at all, but I gave it my best shot. Hey, listen. Whether you're a Dodgers fan or not, you might be curious. What's baseball going to look like for L.A. this year? They traded away some players. Some players walked away, and now they're trying to make their quest into the deep into the playoffs, into October, if possible.

00;02;11;11 - 00;02;33;18
Rusty George
Can they do it? Well, today we talk with an L.A. Dodgers scout by the name of Marty Lam. Marty has been on our show before and is kind enough to come back and tell us about this season of Dodger baseball. I want to thank Billy Solutions for sponsoring our podcast today. And I can't wait for you to hear my conversation with this great guy, a Christ follower and a great baseball scout named Marty LAMB.

00;02;33;22 - 00;02;57;06
Rusty George
Here we go. Okay, Marty, thank you so much for being back on the podcast. This is your second time, so I'm grateful for your time out here in California. Everybody's getting excited. It's almost time for Dodgers baseball again, as Vin Scully used to say. So you're a scout. I mean, is is there ever an off season? And if there is, what does the offseason look like for a scout?

00;02;57;20 - 00;03;39;21
Marty Lamb
Well, first of all, I appreciate you having me back. Second of all, it's changed a little bit over the years that I've done it. But now basically out here typically used to be done sort of middle of October, but now a lot of these teams shoot. They're even playing into November. So you do have some games and things going into November, but then sort of like November, December, January, there's not as much things going on, but there are more organization type stuff going on, like trying to prepare for the coming spring.

00;03;39;24 - 00;04;11;17
Marty Lamb
So, for example, biographical information, getting all your guys, you know, birth dates and addresses and all that kind of stuff that you need parents, you know, occupation since, you know, just different things like that. The other thing that we spend a lot of time doing is background information and meeting with players. So, for example, a lot of the bigger schools, they'll have a time where you can come and meet with their players.

00;04;12;02 - 00;04;53;13
Marty Lamb
So you might go in and let's say University of Louisville. Scott I don't know, seven guys and you will go and meet with those guys during that time, probably about 20 minutes, 30 minutes apiece. And just trying to get an idea and a feel for the player, maybe some makeup type stuff. Any injuries? You know who their advisor is, what they've been working on, you know, and just trying to get a feel for those kids.

00;04;55;06 - 00;05;26;04
Marty Lamb
And so you'll sort of do you might do Louisville as a group that way you might to Vanderbilt that way Tennessee's been that way Kentucky. And then you'll try to offshoot some of the other schools that might just have a player or two. So you know, it's just a time to be able to sit out the hitters. We have a how it's a neurological sort of assessment, reaction time and that kind of thing.

00;05;26;14 - 00;05;47;05
Marty Lamb
It's almost like a video game, you know. So you put them on this computer and you know, there's a pitch coming at them or they have to. First of all, I think they have to a ball pops up and react to when the ball pops up, then if the seams are turned and then they've got sort of a pitch coming at them.

00;05;47;20 - 00;06;18;10
Marty Lamb
So the hitters, you end up sitting them down and they get on your computer and then they do that test and then you'll meet with them. It's sort of neat meeting with them. One, I think you get a better feel, but to you get up close, personal to the body and see how big, strong or not big and strong, you know, that type of deal like that, that this guy was a little bigger than I thought.

00;06;19;25 - 00;06;45;28
Marty Lamb
And you get a handshake and then it's sort of old school deal. But, you know, especially for the hitters being able to grab a hold their hand and see how big their hand is, you know, sort of a big thing for one, just to be able to be able to swing a wood bat. But also, I think the power that the potentially would have because.

00;06;46;23 - 00;07;11;14
Marty Lamb
Well, I guess I did years ago. But if you went Mookie's not very big right. But my guess is if you grab this hand, his hands are going to be super thick and strong, you know, and he may not be that big of a guy, but and I think that's where it's sort of an old school scouting. And, you know, from there down to their fingertips, you know how strong they are and.

00;07;12;07 - 00;07;12;17
Rusty George
Mhm.

00;07;13;00 - 00;07;27;29
Marty Lamb
I talked to a guy, you know, Hank Aaron wasn't very big, very tall and sort of narrow and that and he said it's like shaking two hands, I mean just big thick hands, you know, that's why he ended up with those homeruns so.

00;07;28;14 - 00;07;50;04
Rusty George
Well, that's interesting. You would think it would just be massive all over. But you're saying strength from the elbow down. That's really where the where you began to kind of correct your swing. Tell me tell me who's you know, what over the schools you're scouting right now, Boy, who's got the best amount of prospects that you think, man, they've got a lot of potential Major league players.

00;07;50;14 - 00;08;24;26
Marty Lamb
Well, it's sort of the same ones, you know, over and over. Hmm. Louisville's always got a bunch of players. We've took advantage of that, I guess, and taken some of those players. Vanderbilt has always had, you know, quite a few guys. And Tennessee over the last, oh, I'd say three years since Vitello's gotten there, they've really, I mean, used to have to see them, but you know, they'd have a player or two, but now they've got multiple guys.

00;08;25;13 - 00;08;36;09
Marty Lamb
Kentucky will have their fair share. So that's typically, you know, the three, 3 to 4 main players in the area.

00;08;36;26 - 00;09;03;15
Rusty George
Mm. That's great. Let me ask you about this. I'm sure that if I were to say what's the hardest pitch to hit in baseball and everybody seems to say the curve ball, but some guys are just better at it than others. So let me ask you this of the current pitchers in the major leagues. Who's the best pitcher and what's their best pitch that you think, man, that's the hardest for somebody to face.

00;09;04;12 - 00;09;30;26
Marty Lamb
Boy, that's a good question. I don't know if there's one. I mean, there's so many guys. I here's what I think ends up happening is if they have multiple good pitches, their starter, you know, because you might have some relievers that won't have one knock out pitch and then, you know, it'd be hard for them to go through maybe a lineup two or three times.

00;09;31;08 - 00;10;00;09
Marty Lamb
So there might be a reliever that's got some, you know, virtually impossible pitch to hit. But then you go and look at some of the starters. I mean, I mean, you look at what Clayton Kershaw has done over time. I mean, it's ridiculous, you know, And but he's got multiple pitches and and he's sort of changed the way he uses some of the pitches as he's gotten older and that.

00;10;00;09 - 00;10;36;29
Marty Lamb
So I don't know if there's one you know, I mean and the thing is now is everybody's throwing so hard and they're throwing hard in college also. I mean, when I started, if you got a guy that was maybe hit a 94 or a three or something, that was pretty impressive. It was sort of like, you know, there used to be a guy with the Cardinals and if a player hit 90, he in the back, he'd go, ding, ding, ding, you know, like that was like, everybody pay attention.

00;10;36;29 - 00;11;09;12
Marty Lamb
This guy hit 90. Now that's like, you see it all the time. Yeah. You know, and and then even in the colleges, I mean, you can see guys 94, 96, 97. And the crazy part about that is the college hitters. It doesn't always faze them, you know? Now, some guys, it does. And just probably the way they release the ball, they hide the ball the life to the ball.

00;11;09;27 - 00;11;34;20
Marty Lamb
But you'll see some guys throwing 94 or five, six, whatever. And those guys are taking big swings up, you know, and it's bothering them. And I think part of that is the schools are able to train for velocity now, you know, with the machines that they've got and that kind of thing. I mean, the technology that they've got anymore is unbelievable.

00;11;34;24 - 00;12;00;04
Marty Lamb
I mean, it's they can set up those. They can set up some of these pitching machines to. Well, let me say it this way. Let's say let's just use this as an example. Chased all under University of Tennessee. Tennessee's got a machine that they can set up and the spin of all of his pitches will be similar to how he throws the ball.

00;12;00;15 - 00;12;28;29
Marty Lamb
So if I'm a young catcher or I'm a new guy to catching, I can sit there and they can set the machine up and catch basically Donner without him pitching. I mean, it's crazy. They had a catcher last year that haven't got much and he sat there in the off season and put all the metrics in of all the pictures that they had and cut thousands of pitches off of these guys trying to learn how to catch.

00;12;29;08 - 00;12;55;11
Marty Lamb
Wow. Pretty. Yeah. So I don't think velocity bothers them as much. I mean, yeah, you know, there was a guy last year that had a huge arm and guys are just I mean, it's 98, 99 and they're falling balls straight back to Smith's on a home run and you're like, I don't get it. So I think they're able to, to train for velocity.

00;12;55;11 - 00;13;01;02
Marty Lamb
So now it's the movement of the ball and if you've got secondary pitches to go with it.

00;13;01;23 - 00;13;17;27
Rusty George
So these guys that throw that hard, is it going to limit their career? Is it going to limit? You know, I mean, Chapman obviously was throwing in the hundreds and now he's you know, on a one year deal with the royals, which usually means you're on your way out. So so what does that look like for guys as far as longevity?

00;13;17;28 - 00;13;22;18
Rusty George
Well, we see people like Kershaw that go this long in the in the years to come.

00;13;22;25 - 00;13;51;17
Marty Lamb
That's a good question. I question if the way God made our bodies or if they're going to be able to withstand all that. To be honest with you, and I do think that's part of the reason why we're seeing so many injuries in Tommy John's and that kind of thing is, you know, I just don't know that the but especially on the younger kids, because let's say if you're a grown man and you've gotten your man strength and you're thrown 95, that's one thing.

00;13;51;25 - 00;14;18;22
Marty Lamb
But you got these high school kids, let's just say throwing 95. Hmm. I mean, they're tendons, ligaments, muscles, everything are strong enough, especially at that point, to be able with with withstand all that. I'll tell you a funny little funny quick story. So I don't know how I got at this table, but I'm sitting with Tommy Lasorda and I'm sitting with Dr. Jobe.

00;14;18;22 - 00;14;48;15
Marty Lamb
You know, the guy, the Dodgers physician that that created the Tommy John surgery. And everybody seemed to be throwing harder after the surgery. So I look at Dr. Jobe and I'm like, Dr. Jobe, why are these guys throwing harder? You know? And he had white hair and these big, bushy like Santa eyebrows, you know, And he looks at me sort of funny and he sort of raises his eyebrows a little bit.

00;14;48;15 - 00;15;10;29
Marty Lamb
And he goes, We like to think it's surgery, not the rehab. And I go to an orthopedic, but I think they've learned how to train the body better and strengthen the body to throw how they're throwing and what you're saying.

00;15;11;19 - 00;15;31;27
Rusty George
That's amazing. Tell me about Tommy Lasorda. You know, whether you hung out with him one on one or you just watched him from afar. What was he really good at? I mean, there's obviously so much that's been said about him, and he's legendary and and passed away here in not too long ago. But, you know, what do you think of when you think of Tommy Lasorda?

00;15;32;11 - 00;16;02;24
Marty Lamb
I think it's just well, one, just the loyalty and the I mean, that bleed Dodger blue, that wasn't like some, you know, thing that was just said that was true. I mean, that guy, it was all about the Dodgers. And I think that, you know, just the loyalty and the time that he spent with the Dodgers and then the motivation.

00;16;02;25 - 00;16;27;28
Marty Lamb
I mean, he was the ultimate multi motivator, you know, And I think that's why they had the success that they did. And, you know, when they were the underdogs and, you know, and here they come through and and win a World Series, He was just he was a motivator. He was loyal to the Dodgers and very loyal to those players.

00;16;28;08 - 00;16;57;20
Marty Lamb
And I my guess is would be and I've never even asked this to anybody but sort of a player's manager, you know, I mean, they it was a family. And especially when I started, you know, we would always talk about the Dodger family and that's all he talked about, you know, and so I had quite a few times the opportunity to to visit with them or be with them.

00;16;57;20 - 00;17;29;07
Marty Lamb
And I'll never forget we were in Chicago one time and we were going walking on the street to from a restaurant, going back to the hotel. And I mean, he's probably at that point 75 ish, probably somewhere in through there. Rusty He can't walk like three steps on the sidewalk in Chicago without somebody not recognizing him and wanting to talk to, you know, and, you know, I mean, it was unbelievable.

00;17;29;07 - 00;17;57;11
Marty Lamb
It's like three steps in, another three steps. I mean, they and this was in Chicago. Yeah. You know, so he was very good to me. There was no doubt he liked to eat and he I think with him one time when we ate like I ended up eating like three different meals within a span of 6 hours maybe, or something that was full.

00;17;57;16 - 00;18;17;12
Marty Lamb
And he wouldn't take no for an answer, you know. So but he was very good to me. And I don't know, I, I just I'm very appreciative that I had the opportunity to be with the Dodgers. And and no, Tommy Lasorda, no doubt.

00;18;18;29 - 00;18;40;28
Rusty George
Being a Dodger guy, I mean, you just can't think about the Dodgers and not think of Vin Scully, you know, what did he mean to the organization? I mean, having lived in L.A. now for for 20 years, I know what he means to the city of L.A. And even as a kid growing up in the Midwest, I'd listen to him every Saturday afternoon with, you know, the Saturday afternoon baseball game.

00;18;40;28 - 00;18;52;09
Rusty George
But I mean, obviously a golden voice, obviously a brilliant announcer. But what did his legacy mean to the Dodgers and how is he part of, you know, obviously part of the Dodger family, But the impact that he's had.

00;18;53;23 - 00;19;18;29
Marty Lamb
Sort of give me goosebumps thinking about him, you know, And I never met him. That was one guy that I did never meet. But you're right. Just the impact and the voice and the way he told stories, how he did it by himself, how he knows. I mean, to ask somebody at one point, like, how does he know all these stories?

00;19;19;03 - 00;19;47;05
Marty Lamb
You know, because I never really saw him in the clubhouse or anything beforehand, like his research and detailed everything. And like you said, sort of that Midwest homespun folklore, you know, the way he did the announcing was just and some of the things that he would say he would be like, how does he think of those things? You know, I mean, it was unbelievable.

00;19;47;19 - 00;20;18;10
Marty Lamb
But my wife and I were in L.A. and for the when they they did the big ceremony for him on the field. And it was really super cool. So I don't know, just that voice. I don't know. I think it's just it's such a recognizable voice. You know exactly who it is. I, I don't know if I'm right or not, but I always had this thing with my wife.

00;20;18;10 - 00;20;38;17
Marty Lamb
I said, Vin Scully's more well-known than Oprah, and she'd, you know, argue the other side. I'm like, look, the guy did these games for 50 plus years, you know, And all the people that knew you know, okay, maybe not now, but throughout, you know, he's got to be one of the most recognizable guys ever. Hmm. So, yeah, I don't know.

00;20;38;17 - 00;20;47;03
Marty Lamb
It was a thing of beauty. Joe Davis is pretty good, but I just don't know if you'll ever get. Yeah. Vin Scully again.

00;20;47;09 - 00;20;47;21
Rusty George
Wow.

00;20;47;25 - 00;20;48;08
Marty Lamb
You know.

00;20;48;21 - 00;21;06;04
Rusty George
Well, we don't listen to the radio like we used to, and we don't listen to it. We don't even watch baseball like we used to, which is to be able to, you know, to listen to a game and all of that, that that was a special thing. All right. Well, I know are all of our listeners want to know, what are the Dodgers going to be like this year?

00;21;06;04 - 00;21;30;10
Rusty George
I mean, we see the Mets spending all this money. We see, you know, obviously the Phillies were or contenders last year, the the obviously the Astros. But even the Braves, the Padres just signed Machado And they've got so many other people they've picked up. How are the Dodgers going to be? What moves have they made in the off season that you're excited about?

00;21;30;18 - 00;21;53;12
Rusty George
Hey, let me interrupt for just a second. You know, Easter is coming fast and we have put together a daily resource, 28 days to Easter that you can easily get at real life church dot org. You can check that out there. Also at my website, pastorrustygeorge.com and on our Real Life Church app, we'd love to have you follow with us because we have a reading every single day, which gets us ready for Easter.

00;21;53;18 - 00;21;54;24
Rusty George
All right, back to the show.

00;21;55;25 - 00;22;18;16
Marty Lamb
Well, it's funny because I've got a couple buddies on the West Coast, you know, and they're they're always they're huge fans, so they're always texting like, we'll move we are going to make now what we will if we're going to make now, you know, and they want like you to sign like every single all star player, you know, they don't even have any idea, you know, we can't do that.

00;22;18;20 - 00;22;55;00
Marty Lamb
You know, the first way over, you know, they're one judge and, you know, all these guys. And I'm like, Oh, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think it's a couple things. One, I do think a couple a few of these younger players have got a chance to sort of break through. And with the Dodgers this year and that's not typical in the sense of, you know, a lot of times we'll have this veteran type team.

00;22;55;14 - 00;23;21;08
Marty Lamb
But if you think, you know, there was a time when Will Smith had to start out and Bellinger had to start out and Seager had, you know what I mean? So I don't know. I know we haven't made that maybe the big splash moves that maybe some people are wanting, but I don't know. I'm going to bet on Andrew Friedman and his group to put together a good team.

00;23;21;17 - 00;23;46;00
Marty Lamb
You know, they've done it multiple times. You know, I think some of these young guys I mean, you look at Vargas struggle a little bit when they came up. But again, in today's society, we want you know, we want Vargas to hit 3040 his first time out and you know, and hit a bunch of home runs and that, you know, these guys, it takes them a little while to get their feet wet.

00;23;46;00 - 00;24;14;07
Marty Lamb
But from what I've seen of him, that looks like a really a good hitter. You know, now we all know until he gets plenty of at bats in the big leagues, but he's had success in the minor leagues. You know, he doesn't strike out of turn. He walks, you know, all those kind of things. And just the swings that he puts on balls, it looks like it ought to work, you know, And, you know, and sometimes it just takes a little bit of time.

00;24;14;07 - 00;24;39;11
Marty Lamb
I mean, we bring up you last year, you know, he's got a great change up. You know, plenty of fastball. His numbers were pretty good. I mean, innings and hits and strikeouts walked probably a little bit too many. But again, he got his feet wet. He sort of got acclimated to it a little bit. You know, just nothing different than, you know, some of these other guys.

00;24;39;11 - 00;25;15;10
Marty Lamb
So I don't know. I think I'm betting on Andrew and his crew of putting the right pieces in there. Then, you know, then you got a guy like for, you know, the Thunder Guard and it's like, this guy's been awful good in the past. Hurt. And we have done a heck of a job with it. I wouldn't call him a reclamation project necessarily because he did pitch last year, but being able to tweak some things and then him, you know, who knows what will happen?

00;25;15;10 - 00;25;37;10
Marty Lamb
I mean, you saw it last year with with couple of those starters. So, yeah, I don't know. I mean we've the player development, the the big league coaches, the things that they're able to look at maybe tweak a little bit. Maybe it's usage of a pitch. You know, we don't want to use that pitch. We want to use it this way.

00;25;37;29 - 00;26;04;12
Marty Lamb
And they're really good at all that stuff. So, you know, I think some of the moves or some of these young kids that might, you know, element, you know, I mean, he had a small taste, did pretty well, you know. So it's unique. I think this year just in a sense, maybe there's a few younger kids that are going to get an opportunity.

00;26;04;16 - 00;26;11;15
Marty Lamb
I mean, who knows, maybe we've got another Bellinger, Corey Seager, Will Smith, you know, in that in that line.

00;26;11;22 - 00;26;30;17
Rusty George
So, yeah, it is always interesting to me. The teams that spend the most money don't always win. And, you know, the the Yankees spend all that money on judge, but he only gets up there for times and at best. And then so I think that you're right that there's a good chance to see some of these younger guys you know they don't have a lot of film on them.

00;26;30;17 - 00;26;47;15
Rusty George
So you get a chance to kind of surprise some people. So I like the chemistry of this young group and kind of where they're going. Is there anybody in the minor leagues that you think, boy, they could probably get a shot before the end of the year? Anybody We should keep our eyes on?

00;26;47;15 - 00;27;23;20
Marty Lamb
Well, I'm going to have one of my own. Okay. Bobby Miller, you know, was from University of Louisville. It's a great looking body. I mean, big and strong and athletic. I saw somewhere last year that his average fastball in the minor leagues would have either been the top in the big leagues or maybe under one guy, you know, of average fastball, but he's got secondary pitches to go with it.

00;27;23;20 - 00;28;19;23
Marty Lamb
So, you know, I would think, you know, he's real close. You know, if he stays healthy. Pitches Well, I would think he's real close. You got Stone who you know was this one was a great one because it was COVID year we get stone out of I think it was central Arkansas in like the fifth round you know and shoot he is gone and pitched really well you know quick arm he was at three levels last year dominated that with all the levels 94 he's got a feel for multiple secondary pitches changeup breaking ball and you know he's really done a good job of pitching throwing strikes attacking guys and these cut out pitches

00;28;19;23 - 00;28;57;17
Marty Lamb
to go with it and you know, I think again, that's sort of a testament to the scouting and player development because you know here was that covered years was hard to scout because you only had really four weekends to scout Oh yeah. You know, so we saw we saw what we like, you know, so taking a guy from central Arkansas in the fifth round that doesn't have that much hits history and maybe not much film on him.

00;28;57;17 - 00;29;26;25
Marty Lamb
Like you saying, you know. But again, that's the eyes of the scouts and then they you know when you put him in the player development and now look what you got I think you know there's tertiles of really good looking kid. I remember seeing him. I think he was like 16 or something, you know, And we were at in Arizona watching him and it was like, who is this guy?

00;29;26;25 - 00;29;54;20
Marty Lamb
You know? But, you know, he was I think he I think his highest level last year was is was high. So he's a little bit away. I think Michael Bush, you know, has swung the bat really well throughout the minor leagues. And again, we liked when we drafted Bush, we like the bat. And it was a little bit of like, where's he going to play type of deal?

00;29;54;25 - 00;30;32;10
Marty Lamb
You know? And I think it was a little rough at second base, you know, But he's gotten with our player development people and and you know, it's a much better cleaner look defensively and again it's you know, hats off to the player development then and I think I heard I asked this to Jerry Rice many years ago because he was doing our infield stuff and said, can guys improve defensively probably more than any other tool?

00;30;32;19 - 00;30;54;01
Marty Lamb
And he said, absolutely. You know, they said if they've got hand-eye to hit, they should have had enough to catch ground balls, you know, And so it's now the feet moving them to get them in the right place. And, you know, because you go back and look at so you know they were talking about Wade Boggs was a horrible defender when he started, you know, now was a plus.

00;30;54;01 - 00;31;22;09
Marty Lamb
No, but you could really hit and he was you know, plenty of is I forget anything on Jeter I think it was like in the fifties or maybe sixties. AYRES You know, when he first started. Wow. Like his first full season, you know, but you got an athlete. Obviously, the hand-eye for Jeter was incredible, you know, and it just so I think defensively they can improve probably more than any other tool.

00;31;22;12 - 00;31;23;04
Rusty George
Interesting.

00;31;23;13 - 00;31;27;15
Marty Lamb
Those are I think probably the man you know but you never know. I mean.

00;31;28;04 - 00;31;28;14
Rusty George
Yeah.

00;31;28;26 - 00;31;36;09
Marty Lamb
Well there'll be some other some name that I've forgotten or left out that, you know, shocked the world coming in. So.

00;31;36;27 - 00;32;01;19
Rusty George
Okay. Several new rules in baseball this year. Some are designed to speed up the game. Some are designed to make it a little bit more interesting. You've got the no more shift rule with the infield. You've got the batter clock, the pitcher clock, all these different things. Can you explain to us just some of these rules and how they might change and the impact they might have on the game?

00;32;02;13 - 00;32;23;18
Marty Lamb
Well, to be honest with you, I have to look some of them up. I knew that was going to be a question potentially. So I thought I better look some of these up because I was talking to my boy the other day and he hit he's like and I said, I don't even know what you know, like and he started laughing, you know, like you've been doing this for like 50 years and you don't even know the rules of the game now.

00;32;23;19 - 00;32;54;25
Marty Lamb
You know, the the one I don't know that I guess because I've done it so long, I do. I call myself, I guess, or I would think of myself as more of a traditionalist. So, you know, the base is going to be instead of 15 inches, it's going to be 18 inches. So what that creates is like a four and a half inch difference from first to second, second to third.

00;32;56;06 - 00;33;34;11
Marty Lamb
Obviously a bigger base. I think they were worried about safety and collisions at first base. I don't know if that's valid or not, really, to be honest with you. I mean, there could still be a collision with their bigger base. I think they're wanting to try to create more stolen base opportunities with that bigger base. But my I guess my problem with that one is the base size is so bang bang plays that if you were out in the past and now you're safe house change records potentially.

00;33;34;11 - 00;33;54;08
Marty Lamb
Yeah. You know, along the way that have been set, I don't know that that's really a fair you know and there's not going to be that many I don't think but you know, maybe a guy gets a hit or a stolen base or whatever. I don't know. I don't I'm not totally I don't know about that one. You know, the shift now.

00;33;55;20 - 00;34;25;08
Marty Lamb
I don't know. I haven't I haven't talked to any big league hitters and really ask him about that. I did feel like just personally that the hitters were being very hardheaded and stubborn not to try to use the outfield, you know, like, you know, there's more guys in that area. You know, why not try to use more of the whole field or at least, oh, man, Bud balls down the third base.

00;34;25;08 - 00;34;26;04
Marty Lamb
You know, I mean.

00;34;26;13 - 00;34;36;03
Rusty George
You are speaking to the choir here because every game watch. I just say just But the ball down the third base line, no one's over there and no one would do it.

00;34;36;06 - 00;34;59;10
Marty Lamb
Yeah. So, I don't know. It seemed a little hard hat ish to me. But then again, I mean, I don't know. You have to realize, one, you're trying to win, obviously, Right? But this guy's trying to put up numbers to get these contracts, you know, and know that if they run the ball out of the ballpark, my contract might be big.

00;34;59;10 - 00;35;30;24
Marty Lamb
You know what I mean? And I'm not faulting him for that. It is what it is, you know? Right. And so I don't know. I mean, so be interesting to see. I think the advanced analytics, just the scouting and when where they position guys, they had it pretty dialed in, you know, where guys hit the ball, you know, could there be, you know, what you typically thought was a base hit and all of a sudden there's a guy standing right there.

00;35;30;24 - 00;36;09;00
Marty Lamb
So I do think it will affect a little bit the range of the players in the sense of that, because now without the shift, if let's just say a second baseman and I know I've got somebody back behind me to potentially be there, that standing out in the outfield as an infielder, you know, that we're going to need to sort of rethink a little bit because I think you could put not the same guys that didn't have the same range that necessarily they did in the past.

00;36;09;09 - 00;36;33;24
Marty Lamb
It's some different positions. I mean, if you think of like remember like Roberto Alomar, you know, he he'd catch those balls for thing, you know, And, you know, so I think that'll be a little bit different. So it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out with all this stuff. You know, I would assume batting averages and that kind of thing will go up.

00;36;34;22 - 00;36;56;24
Marty Lamb
I saw some stat the other day that it was pretty amazing, like it was I think it was like teams that were under as a team average under 240, you know, and it's sort of when I think back into the nineties and then it started going up into the 2000 to 10 and 22 whatever, and you know, it increased quite a bit.

00;36;56;27 - 00;37;09;19
Marty Lamb
The guys weren't hitting for anywhere close to the same average. So wow. But then you've got the analytic deal of, you know, does average even many thing anymore, you know. Right. They're trying to run them.

00;37;09;19 - 00;37;14;13
Rusty George
Well, it doesn't in Kansas City. So, you know, we just all hit 180.

00;37;14;13 - 00;37;40;12
Marty Lamb
I do think the pitch clock will be interesting because, you know, you've seen lately some of the clips and spring training and this and that. And, you know, and and I think the players will get used to it. I do think that I've had buddies through the minor leagues last year and say it cut off quite a bit of time.

00;37;40;12 - 00;38;00;22
Marty Lamb
And then I looked right before we got on here. I think the average big league game was like 3 hours and 3 minutes last year and in the minor leagues they were like 238. So it almost cut off a half an hour. Wow. Of a ballgame. And I mentioned this at the park, sitting with some scouts the other day.

00;38;01;05 - 00;38;20;14
Marty Lamb
And I said, it seems like and I'd have to go back and ask guys from that. But just watching on TV, the sixties and seventies, the eighties, you know, that kind of thing, they sort of played with their own speed up clock anyhow. I mean, if you think about watching those old games, the pitchers got it through it.

00;38;20;23 - 00;38;41;21
Marty Lamb
The guys stood and stood in the box. They didn't get out. You know, we used to like when you and I were growing up, we had that Mike Hargrove, they'd call them the human rain delay and you'd get out and just everything. But they sort of now everybody does that. And, you know, it's such a slower pace. So do think the players, hitters and pitchers will get used to it.

00;38;42;07 - 00;38;54;14
Marty Lamb
And I do think it's got a chance to speed things up. Colleges are doing it and they had to have good pitching, though I didn't see the game, but Louisville played a game in like an hour and 48 minutes or so.

00;38;54;14 - 00;38;56;20
Rusty George
Wow. Wow.

00;38;56;20 - 00;39;16;28
Marty Lamb
Yeah. Now both guys, you know, pitch really well, whatever. But even on the college level, you're saying like we were at a game the other day and it seemed just the way the offense and everything was working. It seemed like it would if when you looked up at the clock, it would have been three and a half hours and it was only a three game.

00;39;16;28 - 00;39;39;25
Marty Lamb
They are. So they're getting it going a little bit quicker. So I do think I don't know. Nobody wants to sit through four hour ball games and, you know, especially the college, I mean, it got really bad. You know, we're you know, for our game was I don't want to say the norm, but you had quite a few nights a long time.

00;39;39;29 - 00;39;46;15
Rusty George
It is. It is. If I take my family, they're checked out after two innings. They've eaten what they came to eat and we're done. So.

00;39;46;17 - 00;39;46;25
Marty Lamb
Right.

00;39;47;26 - 00;40;01;15
Rusty George
Hey, I want to ask you about Refuge for women. It's a great organization that you have been a part of for a number of years. And I know we have mutual friends that helped start this and get it going. It's an incredible organization. Tell our listeners a little bit about it.

00;40;01;24 - 00;40;36;26
Marty Lamb
Refuge for Women was created in Kentucky and it's basically to help get women out of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. And we've got long term houses across the country, different locations across the country. We've got transitional living, we've got emergency house, the long term living. We can bring in ladies and they can stay up to a year and go through a everything's paid for.

00;40;37;26 - 00;41;05;00
Marty Lamb
They're in more of a house setting than they are, you know, a dorm or anything like that. So it's the max. And these long term houses, it's only six ladies. So there it's a more of a family type situation. They go through therapy, counseling, Bible studies. They'll go through not AA, but what's the other one? Celebrate recovery. They go through several celebrate recovery.

00;41;05;00 - 00;41;32;02
Marty Lamb
They'll go through different Bible studies. You know, all this kind of things. You know, they're they're in charge of, you know, one night a week they'll be in charge of cooking a meal, you know, And some of these ladies that they've never had to do that, you know. So it's a really great program organization. We're seeing a lot of good things of these ladies that have gone through the program.

00;41;32;10 - 00;42;14;29
Marty Lamb
A lot of them will go for a second year through transitional living and it's just a way to, one, obviously get them off the streets and out of these bad situations that they've been that they've been in. And and, you know, we've seen a ton of baptisms. They've given their life to the Lord and and just sort of I don't know, to me, one of the biggest things is for them to see the value that God sees them in the you know, in fact, I think for a lot of them, they didn't ever see that value.

00;42;15;07 - 00;42;43;00
Marty Lamb
You know, And now being it for them to be able to see that, you know, somebody loves me, God loves me. You know, these people around me love me, They're serving me, they're helping me. And you see, you know, we've got ones that are now out working and in the community in different places. And, you know, a lot of them, they've never really had a regular paycheck.

00;42;43;13 - 00;43;05;10
Marty Lamb
You know. And so I don't know. There's a lot of great stories coming out of it, a lot of transformation of these these women's lives. And again, you know, them seeing the need for God and Jesus and and them acting on that and it changed in their lives, no doubt.

00;43;05;15 - 00;43;24;17
Rusty George
That's amazing. Well, the website is refugeforwomen.org. Encourage our listeners to check it out, maybe refer someone there, but also support the ministry. It's incredible. Marty, as always, it's a joy. Thank you so much for spending some time with us. I feel like at the time of recording, you've probably got better weather than we have here in LA.

00;43;24;17 - 00;43;35;07
Rusty George
It's rainy and cold, so and we don't get bluegrass out of the deal. You guys do. So enjoy it. Can enjoy Kentucky. Thanks so much for being a part of the podcast.

00;43;35;20 - 00;43;37;12
Marty Lamb
You betcha. Thank you for having me.

00;43;38;08 - 00;43;59;09
Rusty George
Well, Marty, thank you so much for being a part of the show. We are so grateful for your contribution for what it is that we're trying to do here, and we definitely want to encourage people to check out the refuge website and find out more about how you can sponsor this incredible organization that helps rescue women from sex trafficking and from that industry.

00;43;59;09 - 00;44;33;14
Rusty George
And I think you're really going to be blessed by blessing them. Well, next week, we're back with a conversation with our favorite criminologist, CSI detective Detective Jim Wallace Jay Warner. Wallace, as you may know him from his books, is back to help us process the crucifixion as a crime scene. As we get closer and closer to Easter, I want to encourage you to check out Real Life Church's online campus and specifically the resources that are provided during this particular Holy week.

00;44;33;21 - 00;44;45;25
Rusty George
Incredible stuff from the Holy Land's, incredible stuff from our online campus pastor and great resources for you as you move towards Easter. Thanks so much for joining us and we'll talk to you next time. As always, keep it simple.

00;44;46;11 - 00;45;09;14
Intro/Outro
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00;45;11;29 - 00;45;37;05
Rusty George
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00;45;37;19 - 00;45;46;15
Rusty George
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