Hey everybody, it’s that time again, Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips with Laura, with Art, with Mark, and with you. You can email us at [email protected], [email protected]. Anything and everything in sports, and a little bit more. Hard to believe 65 years ago this week, Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. He retired after the next year, ’66. It’s hard to believe it’s almost 60 years since the man has retired. And Laura, you’re a big Dodger fan. Is he the best pitcher you’ve ever seen?

He is the best pitcher I’ve ever seen, and I still have my Sandy Koufax scrapbook from when I was a kid.

You loved him.

Because he was my favorite player and I only went to games when he was pitching when I was a kid, and I used to force my dad to take me, and we used to sit in general admission. So we knew when he was pitching, and I would go really early because I wanted to see batting practice. And I just feel so blessed to have seen him in person so many times. And, you know, I don’t remember that game being on TV, at least because I remember listening to it on the floor, on my kitchen floor, on this little clock radio.

Didn’t he strike out Mitchell for the last out, or was it Harvey Kuenn?

Harvey Kuenn.

It was just, I mean, we were screaming. I mean, my next-door neighbor was over, and we were all listening to it in the kitchen, and we were just like screaming. It was,

But if you think about that for a second, the family together in the kitchen, listening to the game on the radio, that was what made the halcyon days of baseball. And Fred and I have talked about 50,000-watt stations, super stations like KOMX, KMOX, KFI, you could pick up games from all over the country in those days. Late at night, I’d be driving, and I mean, it was just it was a wonderful time. And I think the saturation of television, there’s so many games on, I think it takes away from the lure of, you know, the great masters who described the game, you know, with the word’s eye view, as Vin used to say.

Well, we’re so lucky to be in L.A. and have two of the greatest announcers ever.

Right.

Which is Vin Scully and Chick Hearn. I mean,

And then you had Dick Enberg in there.

And Dick Enberg and,

Bob Miller, doing the hockey games. I mean, yeah, we were very blessed.

Sixty years ago, Koufax does his thing. On a personal basis, two weeks before, I lost my brother to leukemia, my seven-year-old brother to leukemia. So that game picked me up a little bit, and listening to it, it wasn’t on TV, listening to it. The Dodgers only got one hit in that game. And,

Hey, Fred, let me ask you about something that really blew my mind. Aroldis Chapman, who’s been a great closer, a great reliever for many years. I think he’s 38 years old. Can you imagine him not giving up a hit for, like, 50 consecutive batters in Major League Baseball? And finally, I guess Shea Langeliers, who’s having a great year for the A’s, he got a double off of him the other night. And I mean, it was the first hit since July 23rd? That’s unbelievable.

Yeah.

No, no question about that. You know, the Dodgers almost had him years ago, but he was found,

How would he look in the Dodger bullpen right now?

But he was picked up for beating up his wife, and we had enough of those, so

I’m surprised Julio Urias hasn’t been picked up.

No, I mean, again, who’s gonna touch him right now?

He’s with our favorite right-hander, Bauer, they’re at the bar together,

Trevor Bauer. All right, Mark, make your case that Paul Skenes was better than Sandy Koufax. Go ahead.

Ooh,

Well, I don’t know how Sandy Koufax prepared for a game, but I think when you look at Paul Skenes, he’s a generational talent.

Does he stretch with Livvy Dunn?

Well, he comes in with the scuba gear to warm up, he throws the football.

What’s with the scuba gear?

Well, you know, talking with the Pirates, this guy blocks out the noise, doesn’t really get on social media, nothing really rattles him, just goes about his business. And imagine, starting the All-Star game two straight years, Rookie of the Year. He’s gonna win the Cy Young this year. First 50 starts, only second to Vida Blue. His ERA’s under two, and people can say anything they want, with Freddy Peralta being like, 15 and five.

That’s what I was gonna say.

But how do you not give it to this kid? I mean, yeah, the Pirates will probably finish in the cellar, but he’s been the bright spot on a pirate ship, you know?

Art, Art,

But that five-year period, nobody pitched better than Koufax for that five-year period.

I mean, Nolan Ryan had a couple of great years.

Well, here’s the thing, you know, and I was, you know, a little boy in the 60s, but I always say this to everybody, and a lot of people will agree with me on this. The ’70s of baseball were probably the best; I don’t know about the ’60s and ’50s. Because to me, I don’t know if there were watered-down leagues, I don’t know if there was like eight, nine teams in the league.

But in the 70s,

They were far from watered down.

Well, Artie, you will not find another decade. If you look at the ’70s, that had about 12 teams that could have won a World Series. Show me another decade.

Mark, let me interrupt you. The book “Boys of Summer,” Roger Kahn. Was he talking about the ’50s or the ’70s, Mark? Tell us.

Well, he was probably talking about the ’50s, but I’m telling you, the ’70s, you will not find any other decade that had 12 teams that could have probably won the World Series. What other decade can you show me? Even up till now,

That doesn’t make it better than what the Yankees did in the ’50s,

Yeah, or what the Dodgers, and Yankees, and Cardinals did in the ’60s.

You wouldn’t match that ’76 Reds team that had eight guys that went through the whole,

You’d have a hard time doing better than Snider, Mantle and Mays in center field in the ’70s, ’80s.

In New York, yeah.

I mean, so the bottom line is, how about we just say that the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and even part of the ’80s were a great time for baseball?

All right, we’re going to take a break, we’re going to come back and put Laura on the spot as her Raiders face the Chargers on Monday night. And we’ll talk to her about,

Pete, Pete, Pete, Pete, Pete!

On Fred and the Fantastics. Back with more after this.

Welcome back to Fred and the Fantastics with Art, with Laura, and with Mark, on BLEAV and on PodClips. And as I indicated, we talk anything and everything in sports. And Laura is a big-time Raiders fan, and this Monday night, Raiders – Chargers. Laura, make your case for the Raiders.

No.

Well, the Raiders played great, I thought, in their opening game on the road. They’re playing at home, to the extent Vegas is home to any team, since almost all the fans are coming from somewhere else. But yeah, we’ll see. I mean, I think the Raiders have a really good chance. I love their coaching, I love Ashton Jeanty, I thought he played a great game. Maxx Crosby was his usual crazy self. So we’ll see. You know, I don’t know what the odds are, but I wouldn’t bet against the Raiders in that game.

Art, you bet a shekel or two. Who do you like?

I actually like the Raiders in a low-scoring game. I think their defense is the key right now. But what Pete Carroll has done to transform the culture of that program in a very short period of time. I don’t know if you guys have been on the internet watching some of the things he does in practice while the guys are running through the bags and he’s right there with them. I mean, the guy is the Energizer Bunny, and he’s got nothing but positivism. Now, I don’t know how long that lasts. He seemed to wear out his welcome at USC after eight, nine, 10 years. Same thing happened in Seattle. But boy, he comes on strong, he gets the guys believing, he believes in the Kool-Aid, he gets them pulling together. I just think he’s done a fabulous job. Now, I gotta tell you, this Charger team is far underrated, so they’re a tough team to have to deal with. But my also question is, how well do you respond? From going to São Paolo, Brazil, come home and then boom, you gotta play a game on Monday night. They gave them an extra day, which is Monday, but it’s still gonna be a tough haul for Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers.

Now, Mark, you are the world’s sports handicapper, so whatever you say now, folks, call your bookie and go the other way. The Chargers against the Raiders on Monday night on ESPN or ABC. Mark, take it away.

Well, I’ll take it two steps on this one. I love John Harbaugh. I love Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers are gonna win this game. And then if you look at that schedule, the Raiders go to Washington, and that’s my favorite NFC team, so I’m looking at the Raiders one and two heading into Week Four.

Wow, Chargers didn’t look so good for the tie.

All right,

You know, here’s the deal. The Chargers are favored by three and a half going into Allegiant Stadium. All right, now, to me, I think if the Chargers win, they win by a field goal. And I look at the over and under, 47 and a half. That’s a lot of points, because both teams wanna run the ball especially. I was gonna say San Diego, but I caught myself, especially the Los Angeles Chargers. That’s a double Monday Night Football game. So if you’re on the East Coast, I have to be up at one o’clock to watch the end of this game in the morning.

Let me tell you something I don’t usually pull for the L.A. teams, but I’m high on the Rams. Week three, they go to Philadelphia. I like Sean McVay; they’ll wear you down. The Rams are looking really good.

I agree.

And the Eagles are not?

Well, Mahomes might have a problem with the Eagles this week because they have a, six times,

They have a disappearing wide receiver who wears number 11, who you might not see for a few weeks, and then they’ll come out and have five or six catches and two touchdowns. They need to be a little more consistent getting the ball down the field, the Eagles. I’ll tell you, Green Bay, that trade where they got Micah Parsons has transformed that entire franchise. Their defense looks like they’re playing with their hair on fire, that whole team. I watched it last night, and I’m a big Washington fan, much like you are, Markey. But I gotta tell you, they absolutely, Hafley, the defensive coordinator. He baffled Jaden Daniels last night.

Okay, right here on Sports Overnight America. So much to talk about. The Cowboys on Sunday against the Giants, and again, I think the Cowboys are like a nine-point favorite, Art?

Yeah.

Who do you like?

I think it’s the Giants’ last stand there, you know? I mean, it’s gonna be tough to go into Jerry’s house and do this. But anytime I get more than eight points, seven-and-a-half in the NFL, I always lean toward the underdog.

All right, we’re taping, folks, we’re taping this show, Fred and the Fantastics, about one o’clock on Friday afternoon, and, of course, tonight, in six hours at the Rose Bowl, about 12,000 fans will show up to watch the,

The Lobos!

We’ll watch UCLA versus New Mexico.

Oh my god.

And of course, the game’s not on Fox, folks, it’s not on CBS, it’s not on ABC.

It’s not on the Pac-12 Network; it’s on the Big Ten Network.

It’s on the Big Ten Network, and if UCLA loses tonight, then next week it’ll be on the Big Ten Plus network, so nobody will have it. Art, UCLA, New Mexico. If they lose, is there any chance Foster will get canned?

I gotta tell you something. New Mexico went to Michigan in Week One and played Michigan very, very physically. So I look at this spread, which, you know, they’re talking 16 points, I might have to take the Lobos and take the 16 points. I think UCLA needs to win because DeShaun Foster and that program need to put a W, you know, a curly W in the column. But don’t sell New Mexico short. Their coach, who they had last year, rebuilt the program a little bit before he went on to broader horizons. So that’s gonna be a heck of a game. There’s also another one on the schedule I like. You’ve got Deion Sanders in Colorado going to Houston tonight, getting points, and they have three potential quarterbacks who could play in that game. We don’t know who’s gonna play, but that’s, it’s a good night for college football, which bothers me because I’m a high school football fan. And I wanna watch a little bit of Mater Dei and Centennial tonight. And they keep going to,

Art, we talked about this before. There used to be a rule that college couldn’t play on Friday, or the NFL couldn’t play on Friday. The NFL couldn’t play on Sunday. But I guess that’s gone awry. And Laura, who do you like? You like New Mexico or UCLA tonight?

Well, I think if UCLA doesn’t win tonight, it’s gonna give grist to the rumors that they should just quit the Big Ten and go back to the Pac-12.

Oh my gosh,

How about their athletic director, man? What is going on with that program? You had a chance to get a guy like Eric Bieniemy, who’s learned at the footstool of Andy Reid. And he’s the running back coach. They bring in a guy who’s never been anything but a position coach to be the head of the program. I mean, there’s so many great coaches out there that you could have made the move with, and nothing against DeShaun Foster. He may turn in to be a great coach someday, but I don’t think he was ready to take that job. And Martin Jarmond, to me, was the worst hire since Guerrero.

Well, you know what,

What about the now Tennessee quarterback versus the now UCLA quarterback, Art?

Iamaleava?

What do you think?

He better have a big game; he really better have a big game. And you know, we looked down the list of the games this weekend, there’s some great college games.

Georgia and Tennessee.

You got Georgia and Tennessee. Yeah, I mean,

I wanna go back. I saw Tennessee play twice now. Aguilar is better than Iamaleava, or he certainly played a whole lot better.

I agree with you.

Why would you say they have done that?

I don’t know, maybe they have nobody who understands what talent is?

All right. One more game, Art. Give us one more game this weekend in college football.

Well, Pitt will probably be three and 0, but,

The Backyard Brawl!

But the problem I have with college football is I don’t get excited laying $300 to go see USC whack Southern Missouri or whatever, 85 to 10,

But they’re saving,

People get excited. No, you gotta, you know,

Last week was all about saving football programs.

Here’s the thing. Yeah, but,

A million-dollar payday pays your whole program.

Artie,

Do you think Grambling wanted to go to Ohio State?

Well, here’s the thing,

To see you handed a 69 to nothing loss?

If you want teams to take you serious and you wanna be a top 10 team, then you start wiping out all these bottom feeders and stop taking the cash from these small schools and play a top 10 schedule.

Oh, so you’re saying that the FBS should be 72 teams, basically?

Well, I think if you’re a top if you, it’s kind of like in soccer, if you don’t make the playoffs, you drop down and you’re out of the thing. So in football, if you’re a top 10 team at the beginning of the year, then you should have a top 10 schedule. There’s nothing wrong with that.

But that’s how you become a top 10 team.

Well, yeah, but,

By playing the Sisters of the Poor.

I love USC, but if you’re gonna cram a couple cream puffs in your schedule and whack up, you’re not gonna play anybody until you play Michigan and Notre Dame in successive weeks in the middle of October.

It comes down to money, you gotta have, these programs need to, you don’t wanna. Would you wanna take your team, a Grambling team, to Ohio Stadium to play the Buckeyes, not knowing that you’re gonna walk out of there with $1.6 million that you could pay for your program and other programs at the university?

No, Grambling should be playing Bowling Green, and everybody in those cities should get giddy about it.

But nobody’s gonna give them $1.6, as Ohio State did. That’s what Art’s point is,

That’s my point. Well, that’s why they do it.

They fatten up on these teams. I mean, it’s just ridiculous.

Well, look at the writer, the writer from the AP who actually gave Florida two places ahead of where they were after they got beat by USF. And I mean, she’s a USC Beat writer for Freedom Newspapers, Southern California, and I’m like, how does she actually justify that, Fred?

All right for Art, for Laura, for Mark, for Mario, thank you guys and gals for listening to Fred and the Fantastics. Back with more next week, right here across America. Bye, everybody.