Tom Glavine joins Mad Dog to talk about the Braves

Here we go now with our pal Tommy Glavin, the Hall of Famer who won 300 and some odd games for the Braves, gonna be part of that broadcast, that special broadcast for all the Hall of Famers, August 20 and 30, did it already, and that was a big hit, we're gonna try it again, Smoltz and Francois and of course Chipper and everything else, but I wanna start with Tommy today, I've interviewed him, what, about 100 times, Mr. Glavin, over the years, but I wanna start today with your debut, which happened on this date in 1987 against the Astros, and you gave up some runs early, you must have been a nervous nelly, let me hear, go ahead, talk about that for a sec. 100%, certainly didn't go the way that I wanted, but I think the, I guess I took solace in realizing that I fulfilled a dream, so to speak, I mean, I always dreamed of playing in the major leagues when I was a kid and to get drafted and get the opportunity to try to get there and then ultimately get there, it's surreal, you spend so much time, at least I did, kinda going through the path and how you got there and the people that helped you and then you're on the mound and it's a little surreal and you're trying to focus on pitching, but you're probably spending as much time reveling in the fact that you're in the big leagues and then when guys come up to the plate and you're thinking, oh my God, I was just watching this guy on TV a couple weeks ago, how did I get here? It's a lot to handle, but it didn't go well, thankfully the second one was a lot better. Yeah, indeed, and remember, 86, the Astros almost beat the Mets to win the pennant. You know, that first year and a half, you had a lot of growing pains, Tommy. Did you doubt yourself 87, 88 and wonder if you could be a big league pitcher? Nobody would have thought Hall of Fame, 305 wins, but how about those first two years? Did Mr. Glavine doubt himself as a major leaguer? I mean, I don't know how you don't have doubts when you're not winning, I mean, that's what you're paid to do, right, I mean, you go out there and you win. Now, there were a couple things and I say this somewhat jokingly, but there is some truth in it, right? In my second year, my first full year in the big leagues in 1987, I lost 17 games. Now, on the one hand, yeah, I lost 17 games. On the other hand, I truly did believe in my heart that if the Braves didn't like something they were seeing in me, they wouldn't have kept sending me out there to lose 17 games. So, there was clear, clearly there was something in me that they saw that they liked. I think it was more of an exercise for me of really trying to be honest and assess, was I getting better? I mean, we weren't a good team, so for me to expect to go out there and individually win a lot of games probably wasn't realistic. So, fortunately for me, because we weren't a great team, I was able to go out there and pitch and get better and I felt like I did, I think the club felt like I was getting better every time I went out there. So, that was what I kind of hung my hat on. Now, again, statistically, no, I wasn't winning a lot of ball games, but I could see that when I was on my game, I was good. It was just a question of either A, getting on my game more often, or B, figuring out how to win when I didn't have my good stuff. And that took a couple of years to learn how to do. 17 losses there, Tommy, then he had 14 wins that third year and away he went, as far as his career goes. All right, how about this Brave team currently, Tom? I mean, listen, their pitching is, I don't wanna say it, say they have good pitching. It's not dominant pitching, it's good pitching, but this offense, my goodness, they're gonna hit a million home runs, Acuna and Riley and obviously Olsen and Albies, who's hurt now, but we know how good he is. Harris and the shortstop, I mean, the catching. I mean, there was Rosario last night. One through nine, this is as good an offensive team as we've seen in a long time. We'll see if they can keep it up against the great pitching, but boy, dominant. Let me hear your thoughts on that for a sec, go ahead. No, they are, look, I mean, they're on the cusp of doing some historic things in the game, offensively. Certainly the all-time home run record is within reach for them, but they just, they put a lot of pressure on opposing pitchers. And it's like I always say, when I do the games or I look at this team, obviously I tend to break things down from a pitcher standpoint. And when you start breaking down lineups, you start trying to find one or two guys in a lineup that you're gonna eliminate to not let them beat you. And then you're gonna start hunting for outs in other places in the lineup. And you can't do this with this lineup, right? I mean, you might say, hey, I'm gonna not let Ronald beat me here, I'm gonna not let Matt Olson beat me. All right, well, you got seven other guys in the lineup that can beat you. So it's a tough lineup to navigate through. Now, to your point, do you expect this kind of crazy production in the postseason when you're seeing better pitching night in and night out? Maybe not, but I still contend this is not a lineup that is reliant on the home run. They're a lineup that hits a lot of home runs and it's a byproduct of what they are, but they don't rely on it. And I think that's what makes them such a dangerous team from the standpoint of they can put together big innings in a hurry. And a lot of times they do it early in the game and get the other team behind the eight ball early, but they also have the ability with the home run ball to come back in game. So games are never over against them either. So, you know, look, they're like a lot of teams, right? If they could improve their pitching, they probably would love to, but I think this offense is so good, it makes up for whatever inadequacies they have on the pitching staff. And their first inning prowess is superb. So their pitching is good in the first inning and they do nothing but hit homers in inning number one. Freed reminds me a little bit of you, Tom. You know, I mean, he's got that kind of, you know, I know he's a lefty and everything, but he's not overpowering the fastballs. He knows how to pitch. He's a thinking man's pitcher. He's been in some big games already. He reminds me a little bit of you. I mean, a different kind, but there are some similarities. Let me hear you take about that for a sec. Go ahead. Yeah, I think there are some similarities. I think when I look at him, when I talk to him, when I watch him, I think he's a lot like me in the sense that he thinks his way through the game. He's not a guy that's gonna go out there and overpower people, but having said that, he's got good stuff. I mean, he's got a, certainly an average to a slightly above average fastball. He's got a great break in ball and he knows how to move the ball around. He's gotten a whole lot better as he's matured at the big league level at sequencing pitches, using both sides of the plate and really going to all quadrants of the strike zone, whether, you know, it's up or down. So, you know, I think he just is a guy that has a really good idea of two things. Number one, what he's good at, and he makes that the foundation of his game. And also what he's trying to do with each hitter that comes in that batter's box. And, you know, look, that's almost like a big mid-season trade or a trading deadline trade for the Braves to get Max back. You know, he's missed most of the year and he's back now. So that's been a big shot in the arm, so to speak, for that rotation this late in the season. I know Verlander wants to be the next guy and probably the last to win 300 games. He won a game last night. He's got 40 something, 48, 49 to go. I wouldn't put it past him with a fresh arm, but I know that those last 30 or 40 to get to that magic number is not that easy. Give me your thoughts on that for a sec. Go ahead. No, it's not. Look, I mean, I think when you look at Justin, you know, certainly when he's healthy and he's out there, there hasn't been a big drop off of any kind in his stuff. Now, the question is, can you stay healthy enough, long enough to be able to continue to do that? And as any pitcher will tell you, any player will tell you, the older you get, the harder it is to stay healthy. And particularly for a guy like him, like it was hard enough for me in my forties to go out there and do what I wanted to do, not because of velocity, because it gets a little bit harder to throw the ball where you want to all the time. It gets a little bit harder to get that finish you wanted all the time. And so he'll have to contend with some of those things. And I would imagine at some point in time, he's going to have a little bit of a drop in velocity. And that's another thing in and of itself. But listen, when he's healthy, there still aren't many guys in the game that are any better than him in terms of going out there and being able to pitch and in terms of stuff. So I agree with you. I wouldn't put it past him because he doesn't seem to be showing much sign of slowing down with his stuff. It's just a question, I think more than anything, can the body hold up long enough to do it? And you of course had 300. Tommy, we'll look forward to that broadcast in late August with all your little buddies there next week. The Braves, of course, we catch you when you're on air, on television as it is, you do a hell of a job. Always been a great spot. Thanks for the help here today. Congratulations. Good to have you with us. Happy to do it, Chris. Good to see you.