Latest / Birdland Territory / An interview with ESPN's Tim Kurkjian

Transcript

An interview with ESPN's Tim Kurkjian · Birdland Territory

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Hey, O's fans.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Blary O's fans this morning after the late-night game and
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: the Colton Couser heroics of Game 1 in Colorado.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Unbelievable ending, and the Orioles keep rolling.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: And what a great time to have a special guest
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: join us, ESPN's Tim Kirkjian. O's fans have seen his
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: work for a long time. In fact, from 86 through 89,
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: they enjoyed him as the beat writer for the Baltimore
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Sun in a brilliant.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Career that includes.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: the Baseball Writers Association of America Career Excellence Award in 2022.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Tim, that's pretty good, and your career is still going,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: by the way.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to be 70 in December, and I
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: still like doing what I'm doing. I still love to
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: go to the ballpark. I still love to talk to
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: the players. I still love to watch the games. I
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: still love to read the box scores. And even though
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: I wasn't up till three in the morning like you were, Steve,
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: I haven't had a good night's sleep since 1979 when
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: I first started covering baseball. But when you sign up
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: for this, that's what you're signing up for. It is
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: a relentless grind, but it's the most fun of any
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: job that anyone could possibly have. And I'm so fortunate
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: to still be doing it this many years later.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Well, we're fortunate you are still doing it. It's only
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: fitting that Tim Kirkjian grew up in a baseball-loving family
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: and went to Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Maryland. Yes,
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: named after the pitcher. A University of Maryland grad, 1978,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: has worked for various papers, but really obviously known for
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: his work at ESPN since March of 1998. Now, Tim,
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: even if some of Baltimore wasn't up to see that
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: thing live, What are your thoughts on an unbelievable game-ending
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: catch for the Orioles? And is there any context you
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: can think of? I mean, that's the difference between a
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: walk-off loss and a win, whether he makes it or
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: he doesn't.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: Well, under the circumstances, it's one of the greatest catches
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: certainly that I've ever seen because this is a team
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: that needs to win every game almost if they're going
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: to make the playoffs. They are in a heated pennant race.
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: And the difference between a win and a loss there
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: is a huge difference in the wild card situation. I've seen,
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, Dwayne Wise's incredible catch to save Mark Burley's
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: perfect game in the ninth inning was amazing, but that
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: game was not in doubt. And that was a ball
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: that led off the inning as opposed to ending the
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: game and And when it matters between a win and
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: a loss, and you've got to play like that, I
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: wish I could rank the greatest catches I've ever seen.
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: I was there, by the way. I was there the
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: night of Memorial Stadium when Bo Jackson made that catch
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: and then ran up the left center field wall fence
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: like a race car on a ramped track. And this
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: is pre-ESPN. This is pre-highlights everywhere. And I had to
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: look around and the guy, Ken Baker, next to me,
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: did you see that? What did we just see? So
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: I've seen some incredible catches. And I know you guys
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: were talking about the Mike Trout catch that he made
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: at Camden Yards. I was there for that game also.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: So I've seen some amazing catches. But when you factor
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: in the importance of that play and a game-ending catch
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: like that, Um, that's really close to the top of
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: the list.
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: Tim, you've pretty much seen it all at this point,
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: but have you seen it in a wild card race
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: or a playoff race like this, where it just seems
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: to be a struggle to get the 500 or if
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: someone's 81 and 81, they might have a chance to
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: be playing in October. Can you remember covering or any
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: years like this outside of the COVID year where I
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: know a couple of teams under 500 made it in
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: your career?
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: Brad, I've never seen this before. It is the stupidest
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: pennant race I've ever seen. And yet, In this case,
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: stupid is good. This is what we complain about all
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: the time when spring training begins. How many teams have
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: a real chance to make the playoffs? And when the
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: number is too low, it's like, why are we even
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: playing the season? That's how some people look at it.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: I never do, of course. But now we're at September 1st,
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: and we have this many teams that have a legitimate
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: chance to make the playoffs. I don't care if teams
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: aren't just gotten to 500 like the Orioles did last
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: night for the first time since they were 15 and 15.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: That doesn't bother me. I just want as many teams
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: in it as possible and as many games as possible
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: that really matter. Because when I'm trying to watch 15
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: games at night, which I do all the time with
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: one television, that's not very easy. I need to know
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: the most important games, and there are so many important
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: games because of the, especially of the American League situation here. So, no,
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this,
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: that we got this late in the season with this
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: many teams still with a chance.
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: Well, Tim, let's hit on the Orioles.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: You mentioned it.
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: It's been a rollercoaster ride getting back to 500, but
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: here they are as September begins. They sold at the deadline,
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: but then a big waiver claim yesterday with Luis Robert Jr.
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: Just what have you thought of the Orioles thus far
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: and the addition of Robert?
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Well, I've been doing this for 46 years, fellas, and
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: I'm still so confused about so many situations, including the Orioles.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: I still can't tell with less than a month to
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: play whether they're good or not. It's really difficult because
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: every time you get I don't want to say excited,
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: but every time you get encouraged that here they come,
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: they lose four in a row. And just when they
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: lose four in a row, they win five in a row.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: And just when you think, well, is Gunnar Henderson really
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: this good of a player? Is he really a great
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: player moving forward? He has a game like he did
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: the other night. So I think the Orioles have just
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: as good a chance as anyone out there to win
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: that final wildcard spot. And let's face it, fellas, the
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: beauty of baseball is... If you make the playoffs, especially
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: in the American League right now, you have a chance
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: to do some damage in October. Look, I love basketball fellows,
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: but when I was a Wizards fan and they would
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: be the last team to make the playoffs and they
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: would have to open with Jordan's Bulls at Chicago Stadium,
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: they had zero chance, zero chance to win that series.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: You make it in, in the American League, especially this year,
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: And you have a chance to quite literally go to
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: the World Series because of just how average the American
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: League has been so far. That's why this pennant race
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: is this wildcard race is so important, because if you
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: can sneak in at 82 and 80, you can you
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: can be a dangerous team. And I think the Orioles
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: fit that category. They can be dangerous, especially with the
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: way they've been playing lately.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: We got ourselves a great guest today on Birdland Territory,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Tim Kirkshin with us. And in a minute, I want
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: to ask Timmy about covering the Orioles back in the
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: day for the Baltimore Sun. Man, this young man has
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: led a fascinating career. And as you guys can see,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: the passion for the game we love still comes pouring through.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: We'll talk more with Tim in a moment here on
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Birdland Territory.
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  Speaker 6: as a new VIP.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: ESPN's Tim Kirkjian is our guest today on Birdland Territory.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: And by the way, Tim and his son Jeff co-host
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: the Is This a Great Game or What podcast.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: It is amazing.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: The clips you guys put out are remarkable. Just some
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: of Tim's memories and thoughts on baseball. And Jeff is
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: pretty great too. And together you guys are great. And
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: you're part of the Foul Territory Network as we are,
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Birdland Territory. So one big happy family here. And Tim,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: we're so thrilled to have you today, man. I remember
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: soaking up just about every word you wrote for the
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Baltimore Sun, 86 through 89, when I was a young
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: reporter trying to learn from guys who were great at
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: it like you. What do you remember covering the Orioles
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: those years? I believe last year was a why not year, right?
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, 89, Brad, 89 was remarkable. The year before, of course,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: they'd lost their first 21 games to start the season. Yes.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: I mean, no one had ever come close to that.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: I'll tell that story in a minute. But we thought
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: the 89 team was going to lose 100 games again.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: And they went to the final weekend in Toronto and
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: nearly won the division. The Blue Jays beat them on
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: that Saturday to win the division. Just another reminder how
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: quickly things can change in baseball. And I'm telling you, fellas,
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: I was there on opening day in 89. The Orioles
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: were supposed to stink. The Red Sox, who were really good,
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: came in with Roger Clemens on the mound. And the
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Cal Ripken hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: to tie the game. They won in the tenth inning
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: on a sacrifice fly by Craig Worthington. And I'm telling you, Brad,
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: only you can really appreciate this as a former player.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: It's like the whole team looked around and said, you know,
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: after two and a half years of being terrible, we
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: don't stink anymore. There's no chance they would have won
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: that game in 87 or 88 or the end of 86.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: But they won that game, and it's like everything changed.
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: It sounds ridiculous. But sometimes one win, you look around
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: and go, all right, that's it. You know, the terrible
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: streak is over. And they almost won the division that year.
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: So that was my memory from 89. Now, 88 was
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: a completely different memory because, as I said, they lost
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: the first 21 games.
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: Jeez.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: After like number 17, we're in Minnesota on an off day.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: And Frank Robinson, the manager, decides to take the writers,
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: three of us, Richard Justice, Ken Rosenthal, and myself, out
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: to dinner at a really nice restaurant in Minnesota. He'd
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: never done that before. He never did it again. I
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: just think he needed strength in numbers to talk about
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: how bad the Orioles were. So about halfway through dinner,
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: I say to Frank, Frank, has anyone... really interesting, called
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: you during this losing streak. And Frank said, yeah, the
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: president called me today. So Frank, being a big kidder,
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: we just figured he was joking with us. So I
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: pushed him three times and he said, God damn it,
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: the president of the United States called me today. I said, Frank,
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: what did he say? He said, Frank, I know what
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: you're going through. And Frank said, Mr. President, you got
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: no idea what I'm going through. That's what it was
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: like to cover The Orioles to start the 88 season.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: 0-14 was the previous worst start. They went to 0-21
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: until they finally won that Friday night in Chicago. It's
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: nothing I ever want to go through again, nor the players.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: Scotty McGregor asked me after 14. He said, a high
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: school team couldn't lose 14 games in a row. And
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: he was on the team. So those were just two
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: of my memories, not to mention it. 1986, I spent
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: the whole season with Earl Weaver. And I'd covered Earl
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: in the late 70s, early 80s, but not as the
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: everyday beat writer. And fellas, in September of 86, when
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: the Orioles were finishing a terrible free fall, they went
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: 14 and 42 to finish that season. They were two
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: games out of first place. I thought they were going
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: to win the division. Then they lost 42 to out
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: of 56 games. And Earl looked at me in Oakland
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: on a Sunday morning in September and said, Tim, this
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: is the worst lineup I've ever filled out for a
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: major league game. And a month later, Earl was gone
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: because he knew it's not going to get any better
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: than this. I could tell you hours of stories about 86, 87, 88,
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: and 89. It was the four greatest years of my
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: life as a journalist Because I got to see like
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: every part of what Major League Baseball is about. Good,
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: bad and everything in between.
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah, gosh, thinking about 0-21 is making me depressed. Starting
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: to hear it like that, I just couldn't imagine. But
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: kind of reading about back in the day, you kind
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: of had a la carte as a beat writer. You
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: got to hang out with the team pretty much. It
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: sounds like as much time as you wanted to. One
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: of my favorite players growing up was Cal Ripken Jr.,
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: A lot of people know him about the streak and
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: how great his career was. But getting to follow him
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: on a day-to-day basis, what made him such a special
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: player and such a likable player for people in Baltimore?
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: Well, he's the single most competitive person I've ever met.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: And I've never seen anyone who cares more about whatever
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: the competition is. No matter how stupid the competition might be,
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: Cal Ripken has to take part in that competition individually.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: He has to do it correctly. And of course he
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: has to win. So Brad, I'm not sure if you
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: ever went to the Metrodome. Sorry for me not knowing this,
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: but the Metrodome in Minneapolis, there used to be this
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: giant staircase that ran from the dugout up to the
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: clubhouse level. And I'll be close on this. It was
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: like eight steps, big landing, eight steps, big landing, eight
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: steps to the top. So Ripken in the prime of
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: his career with the streak going on, made up this
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: game where he wanted to see how many strides it
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: would take him to get to the top of those stairs. And,
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: of course, he was the champion because he could make
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: it to the top in five strides, which is impossible.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: Bob Beeman, who jumped like 30 feet in the Olympics,
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: couldn't have done that, but Ripken did it. But this
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: is the kicker. So one day, Rene Gonzalez, his teammate,
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: who was equally crazy, and I mean that as a compliment,
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: runs the steps with Ripken and does it in five strides.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: So now Cal Jr. is just the co-champion of the
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: stupid game that he invented. So he goes back down
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: on the field. Now the game's going to start in
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: 10 minutes. And he does the steps. He gets to
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: the top this time in four strides. So everything was
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: great in the world because he won again. So you
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: want to know why Cal Ripken is one of the
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: two or three greatest shortstops of all time? That's the
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: story you need to know because no matter what it is,
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: he has to do it properly and he has to win.
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: Tim, just following up on that, you're one of the
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: great historians of MLB, and Cal's streak, that's the unreachable star.
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: No one's ever going to come close to touching that.
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: What was that like in the midst of covering that?
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: What was it like being there? I'm assuming you were
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: there for 21-31. What was it like at the end
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: of that streak, getting to that point, passing Lou Gehrig?
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I've said this more than once because I
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: was at SI at the time, but 21-31 is the
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: most powerful evening that I've ever spent in a major
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: league ballpark. And I've covered every World Series game and
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: every All-Star game since 1981. But I've never seen anything
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: quite like that. This is a long story. I'm going
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: to make it quick. Bob Elliott, Hall of Fame baseball
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: writer from Toronto, shows up on the day of 21-31.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: So he hasn't been there twice. for this incredible buildup
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: where they dropped the number from the warehouse. It's so emotional.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: It's amazing. But Bob doesn't know Cal Ripken very well.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: And he's, he hasn't been a part of the buildup.
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: So he looks at me before the game and he goes, Tim,
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry. I don't see it. I don't feel it.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: I don't get it. What is, what's so big about this?
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: He recognized Lou Gehrig's involved in all that. And I said, Bob, look,
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: I don't know, but let's just wait to see What
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: happens tonight? Something amazing is going to happen. I don't
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: know what it's going to be. So Rifkin, of course,
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: breaks the record after the top of the fifth inning
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: is over. Bobby Bonilla and Rafael Palmeiro push him out
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: onto the warning track, and he makes that unforgettable 22-minute
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: tour of the ballpark where he's patting his heart. He's
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: pointing to people in the stands. There are people weeping, men, women,
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: and children all across the ballpark including in the press box.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: That's how emotional this whole thing was. And I have
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: never seen anything quite like that. And after the fifth
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: inning was over, Bob Elliott came up to me with
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: tears in his eyes and he said, okay, I get it.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: So that's what that night was about because it was
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: much more than a baseball story. It was a story
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: of neighborhood. It was a story of resiliency. It was
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: a story of diligence. It was loyalty. It was family.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's what that night was all about. And
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: I still have friends of mine who were there who
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: can't stop talking about it. And it was over 30
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: years ago. That's how much Cal Ripken meant to the
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: game with what he did, but especially hometown hero in Baltimore.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Wow, Tim, I feel like that minute, that time just
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: happened because you're talking about. It is so rich and
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: so fun to hear to this day, man. Thanks for
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: sharing that. Tim Kirkshin is with us today on Birdland Territory.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: Pretty special show today. And we'll continue with Timmy in
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: a moment.
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: It's time to remind everyone why baseball is glorious, especially
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  Speaker 6: nowadays where you could think your team is out of it,
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  Speaker 6: but they might be back in it again. Let me
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  Speaker 6: before the playoffs actually begin?
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  Speaker 7: Well, speaking about being out of it, I'm an American
• 19:45
  Speaker 7: League East guy and I'm talking to you, Toronto fans.
• 19:48
  Speaker 7: I'm talking to you, Baltimore fans. A couple weeks ago,
• 19:51
  Speaker 7: probably not a reason to come out to the games.
• 19:53
  Speaker 7: Look at the standings right now. Both of you teams
• 19:55
  Speaker 7: are right back in this wildcard race.
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: Rangers fans, we can go on and on. Mariners fans,
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: you might be feeling a little queasy, but you're still
• 20:03
  Speaker 6: in this thing too. So all of you should head
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• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Birdland Territory today with ESPN's Tim Kirkson with us, former
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Baltimore Sun Oriole writer. And Timmy, I want to take
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: you to a lighter mood for a second.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, you're known.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: For your knowledge, your passion, your greatness with baseball. But
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: the other aspects of your personality and character have come
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: out in things like players imitate you.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: You go around to these summer camps and they want
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: to imitate you.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: And the other thing that's hysterical, if you want to,
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: anybody wants to laugh and enjoy it. Go on ESPN
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: and just Google Tim and Scott Van Pelt.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Gives you the Baltimore absence, the Hippolyta Pichardo and all
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: that stuff.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Manny Machado. You just break up.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: Tim, that is so great. I think Tim, people get
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: to see your, you know, the fun in Tim Kirchhen.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: What is it like to have that aspect of your career, too?
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: Well, we have to start with the ridiculously bad impersonations.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: The first one done by J.P. Arancibia, who was with
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: the Blue Jays. And when Tito Francona worked for ESPN
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: for one year, he saw J.P. Arancibia do an impersonation
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: of me. So Tito, being the mischievous fellow that he is,
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: just ambushed me on the air by when I was
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: somewhere else that day, he interviewed J.P. Arancibia using my
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: voice as if he was me. And then they played
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: that when I came on the show for the live
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: shot later that day. It was the stupidest thing I
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: have ever seen in my life. And if that's the
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: way that I really sound, I either need to get
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: a new job or a new voice because that was horrible.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: It was so funny, though. I finally asked J. Pierre
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: and Sylvia after about a year. I said, please tell
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: me that you do other impersonations. Please tell me. that
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: you do a great Jack Nicholson. And he said, no,
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: I can only do you. So after J.P. Arancibia, this
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: is so embarrassing. I went to Ray's camp and Elliot
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: Johnson did an impersonation of me that was so indescribably awful.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: We laughed for about 15 minutes. It was so. And
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: then and then I went to Milwaukee and. in spring
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: training in Arizona and Tim Dillard, the hilarious pitcher for
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: the Brewers at the time, he did one, I didn't
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: expect it to come and he crouched down really low
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: when he did it. So he could be the same
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: height as me. It was so bad. And then the
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: last one, it probably wasn't the last one, but I
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: went to Cubs camp and Ryan Dempster, who was like
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: a standup comedian at one point, he did Harry Carey
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: interviewing me and he was doing both voices. So, I mean,
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: I can't do Harry Carey, but he would go, so Tim,
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: where do you get all those stats from? And then
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: he would do my ridiculous voice. So he did an interview,
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: Harry interviewing me when he did both voices. It was
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: so bad. The only thing worse than that is the
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: Scott Van Pelt debacle that started about 20 years ago
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: when he dropped a Kiku Garcia on me during a
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: radio show. And I laughed just so organically because nothing
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: makes me laugh more than Scott Van Pelt. And that
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: long Oriole O is so good. And we've been laughing
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: about this for 20 years. But maybe 10 years ago,
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: this is how bad it got. 10 years ago. I'm
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: walking through the Safeway grocery store. I'm in the frozen
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: food aisle. And some guy who I don't even know
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: stops me in my tracks. He doesn't even say hello.
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: He just says, please ask Scott, who the Women's World
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: Cup soccer goalie is for the United States. And it
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: was who?
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Solo.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: So on national television, I asked Scott Van Pelt that,
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: and he answered immediately, Hope Solo. And it was the
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: stupidest live shot in the history of live shots. And
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: soon after that, I'm in a sandwich line getting a sandwich.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: And the guy in front of me is ordering a sandwich.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: And the fellow at the front says, the guy's What
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: cheese would you like on this? The guy turns around.
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: He looks at me. He doesn't say he just looks
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: at me and goes, prove alone. And then gets a
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: sandwich and walks away. Everybody is in on this. But seriously,
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: the the lesson is we're covered sports for a living.
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: For goodness sake, we don't laugh enough in our country
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: these days. I think we can all agree with that.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: But if we can't have a good, healthy chuckle covering baseball,
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: then we're doing something wrong. Because Brad will be the
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: first one to tell you, this is the hardest game
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: in the world to play. And if you don't have
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: a little fun playing it, it will eat you up
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: and spit you out. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more.
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: And I could listen to those stories all day.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: That's hilarious.
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: But for me, when I think about baseball, it's just
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: you never know what you're going to see on any
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: given night. And I know you like some of the
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: crazy stats out there. Why is baseball the one sport
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: where you could watch a game and see something you've
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: never seen before? What do you think goes into that?
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: Or why is it like that in this sport that
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: we have?
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: Well, I say something like that virtually every day of
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: my life. Every day you go to the ballpark, you
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: might see something that you've never seen before. And seriously,
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: how many people can go to their job every day thinking,
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: you know, today I might see something that no one's
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: ever seen before. I don't think so, but that's the
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: way baseball is built. That is its ultimate beauty is
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: how unpredictable it is. And I just routinely slap my
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: forehead and say, how in the world could that possibly happen?
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: How in the world is it possible that Prince Fielder
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: and his dad, Cecil Fielder, each hit exactly 319 home
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: runs in their career. How can that happen? How can
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: Stan Musial have exactly the same amount of hits at
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: home as he did on the road in his career?
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: How is it possible that Dennis Eckersley picked off Kenny
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Williams in a game, then went three and a half
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: years without picking off anyone, and then picked off Kenny
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: Williams again? These things happen. This is why I still
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: do what I do, Because there's no telling when you
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: wake up in the morning and look at the box score.
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: The first thing you say is, when's the last time
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: that happened? And fortunately, I'm able to find some of
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: that stuff or I have people that can help us
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: find it. Because sometimes you got to go back to
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: the 1800s to find something like that. Drake Baldwin guy
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: for the for the Braves the other day hit a
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: lead off Homer and the Braves won one to nothing.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: So the last time the Braves won a game one
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: to nothing with a leadoff home run was in 1889.
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: I mean, really only baseball is built this way because
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: only baseball defines the modern era as 1900 odd. That's
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: the modern era. It's hilarious.
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: Well, Tim, you've had such a long and spectacular career,
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: and I'm sure you could go on with this question
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: for over an hour, but, How have things changed with
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: your job covering this sport, the sport evolving from the
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: time you started, you know, with newspapers to now at ESPN,
• 28:09
  Speaker 5: visual radio? Like how has it been like just seeing
• 28:13
  Speaker 5: this media landscape really just evolved?
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's really changed. And in some cases, not for
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: the better. This is the number one case. Fellas, when
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: I used to cover the Orioles, a 7.30 game, we
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: were in the clubhouse at 3.30. And we were allowed
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: to stay in there until 6.30. Three hours of access. Now,
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: if you get 45 minutes in the clubhouse, it's a miracle.
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: And a lot of guys aren't at their locker, not
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: being critical. I'm just saying, when I covered the Orioles,
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: There were guys at their locker the entire time. You
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: just need to go talk to someone. He's standing right
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: over there. The access is the biggest change for me,
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: and that has really saddened me because I love to
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: talk to the players, and I just don't have nearly
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: as much time as I used to. The other big change,
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: of course, is the Internet. If you broke a story
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: for the Baltimore Sun in 1986– you had 24 hours
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: to revel in that story because it wasn't a 24
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: seven news cycle like it is today. Now you got
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: to be on the go all the time because news
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: breaks at literally two o'clock in the morning, somebody's going
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: to have it. And then a million people are going
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: to have it by six o'clock in the morning. So
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: those are the two biggest changes, access and the internet. And, um,
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: understand the Internet has a lot of really valuable things
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: to it. But I think the whole Twitter atmosphere, we
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: want to get it first rather than getting it right.
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: And that troubles me because back when I was writing
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: for The Sun and the Dallas Morning News and Sports Illustrated,
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: You better get it right. It doesn't matter if you
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: get it first. You better get it right. I'm not
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: sure we care as much about that as.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: We used to. Man, we had a great time talking
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: with Tim Kirks.
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: And I want to ask him one more thing in
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: just a second. Tim, really appreciate you taking time today.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: I want to ask one last thing. And the next
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: time you brag on yourself, and I hear you do that,
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: it'll be the first time, by the way, I've ever
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: heard that because you don't. But what did it mean
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: to you to win in 2022 or be presented with,
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: not win, it's not like voted, you know, the Career
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: Excellence Award for Baseball Writers Association of America?
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: What did it mean when that was presented to you?
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: Well, that was the greatest day of my professional life.
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: There is not a close second. There will never be
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: a close second. So the long story, I'll make it quick,
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: is I found out I won the award. I was
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: at the Harris Teeter grocery store dragging a rotisserie chicken
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: through the self-scanner thing when I got the call from
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: Jack O'Connell that I had won. So I literally started
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: to cry right there in the Harris Teeter. So the
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: next morning, Johnny Bench, the greatest catcher of all time,
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: called me on the phone and said, welcome to the club, Tim.
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: You're one of us now. Now, let's be clear. I'm
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: not one of them. I'm not in their club. They're
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: a major league players and I'm a dinky little baseball writer.
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: But I was still touched beyond words. And then Johnny
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: says to me, he goes, his voice gets very soft.
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: And he goes, Tim, you know, it's moments like this
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: that take you back to Little League. And I was
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: just about ready to cry again. And he said, and
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: let's face it, Tim, you could still fit into a
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: little league uniform. I get slammed by the greatest catcher
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: of all time about my height, but just to finish
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: the story. And this one is a serious part of it.
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: After I made my speech, which was the 16 hardest
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: minutes of my life, I've never been more terrified of,
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think I would rather face Randy Johnson
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: in his prime than have to do that speech all
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: over again. That's how nervous I was. But after I finished,
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: and thankfully I didn't foul it up, Johnny Bench took
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: me out onto the veranda of the Otisaga Hotel, just
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: the two of us. And he walks out there and
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: he says, I want you to look at that lake,
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: Lake Otisaga, which was spectacularly beautiful. And he goes, I
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: want you to look at that lake for one minute.
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: I don't want you to say a word. I want
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: you to think about where you are, how you got here,
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: and how many people helped get you here. And standing
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: next to the greatest catcher of all time, I looked
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: at that lake for one minute and I teared up
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: again that Johnny Bench would take the time to bring
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: some tiny little runt of a baseball writer out to
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: just make sure that I appreciated where I was and
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: what I was doing. So there will be nothing ever
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: professionally that can approach that weekend in Cooperstown.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: Wow. Am I glad I asked about that. That was
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: worth hearing, Tim.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: And let me tell you, there are greats there who
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: played and some who didn't play Major League Baseball, but
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: I can't think of any in the media who deserve
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: to be.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: There more than you.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: So, wow, what a fantastic story about the great Johnny Bench,
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: We could do an hour with Tim on Earl Weaver stories.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: You guys, these three guys know Tim. That's what I
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: really want to hear.
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: We would need two hours for Earl stories.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: We would. And I would soak up every darn minute. Tim. Thanks, man.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: Continued success with an ongoing career and the career excellence
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: award from BBWA 2022. The great podcast you're doing with Jeff.
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: and taking time today to spend time with us. We
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: appreciate it greatly, Timmy, and thank you so much for
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: being on the show.
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: All right, Steve. Thank you, Tim. Thank you, Brad. Thank you.
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: See you guys soon. See you at the ballpark, maybe
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: in October. Yeah.
• 34:29
  Speaker 5: We'll be fine.
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: Great Tim Kirkson with us today, and thanks for watching, everybody.
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: We'll see you next time on Birdland Territory.
• 34:39
  Speaker 4: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: Check it out right here. And make sure you subscribe
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: to Birdland Territory for more Orioles coverage like this multiple
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: times a week.