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Is This A Great Game, Or What? Joins the Foul Territory Network · Foul Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Is this a great game or what with the Hall
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: of Famer Tim Kirkshin, I'm his son, Jeff Kirkshin, and Dad,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: you're at spring training. I am in my basement. And
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: we ended up wearing the same exact quarter zip to
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: this episode that we got in the Little League World
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Series last year when we were there with our friends
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: at Game Changer, And I mean, are we now that
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: you're my dad and you're my coworker. I feel like
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: our brains everything's just synced up together.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And I even have my shirt on correctly today
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: as opposed to backwards.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: That's good.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: This is very appropriate too, little guys with a Little
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: League World Series shirt on what to call a quarter zip?
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Is that what you young people call this? Because I
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: what would you call it?
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's exactly why.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: I've never heard that until the last few years. We
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: just called it like a pullover or something like that.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: Not the point.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: The point is, you look, it looks great and this
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: was not planned.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: We're both wearing Little League quarter zips. How about that?
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: And we'd have the same hairline if I wasn't wearing
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: my hat right now. Hence why I'm wearing this hat
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: because my hair is receding very much so. But on
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: another note, Dad, at the end of last week's episode,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: we noted that there was going to be a big
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: announcement here on is this a great game or what?
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: And I can't wait any longer to be able to
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: say it right now, So here at is this a great.
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: Game or what? Population two full time employees.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: We have paired up with our friends at the Foul
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Territory Network to be a part of their amazing company
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: in order to continue to create great content for all
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: of you, members of our family and people who listen
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: to the show. We're really excited to be partnering with them.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: And the most important thing to realize before we get
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: into the more details of Foul Territory Network is nothing's
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: going to change for you. Right wherever you're listening or
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: watching right now is going to be there for you
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: weekly and multiple times a week during the regular season.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: So nothing changes for you. But as we've joked for
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: two whole years, we're going to have a little bit
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: more help on our hands in order to survive when
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: my wife has another baby this June, and if we're
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: in the hospital, Dad, you'll have somebody that can help
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: you get on a computer other than me.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you will have extra help.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: You're the one that does ninety nine percent of the
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: work on this show. And now when you don't have
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: time to do something, it looks like we'll have time.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: And I'm thrilled because among the other people will be
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: meeting with there and joining. Mark Wiener is the guy
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: that reached out to us. Mark Wiener is my dear friend,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: used to work at ESPN, was a producer there when
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: I first got there. We did all sorts of assignments
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: on the road, in studio, baseball Tonight, everything else. I
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: was there when he met his wife, Yolanda, and I
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: hope this is appropriate Yolanda's last name. And by the way,
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Mark Wiener is captain of the all over Achiever team.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Marrying Yolanda nicks it's not even close, and she still does.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: But she goes by Yo instead of Yolanda all the time,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: and so when she got married, she became Yo Wiener,
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: which I just thought was the funniest name. I strongly
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: suggested she just keep her last day.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: But it's great.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: And Mark, of course is a big baseball fan, really
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: truly understands the game, loves the Yankees, and the middle
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: name of one of his sons is Maddingly after Don Man.
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: We love that, right, It's so perfect.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: And I talked to Mark last week and he told me, Dad,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: you know they were in spring training the Foul Territory
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Show and the network we're out there. And he told me,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: looking back at your days together at ESPN, that he
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: remembers before he had children, you would say, Okay, I've
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: got to I got to fly back because Kelly has
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: a basketball game too, and I got to get Jeffrey
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: off to school on Wednesday, and I will be back
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Wednesday afternoon. And he remembers thinking to himself, this guy
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: is crazy. But he said, now that he is a father,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: he understands why you were doing these types of things
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: because it's hard to leave your kids. And it speaks
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: volumes dad to the dad that you are and what
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: this show is all about, right, and that we now
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: that you can escape by doing a show with your son.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: You don't feel as bad being away from your kids.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, A good, good point, jeff And when McKinley Hope
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: is in the first you know, first time she does
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: ballet or or does you know something on stage you're
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: gonna you're gonna figure out how to get home for
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: that and then go right back to what you were doing.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: This is what This is what parents do. This is
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: what dads do. This is what Mark Weeder does for
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: his kids. This is the way it works.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: It's all good.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So thank you to Mark. Thank you to Scott
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Braun for helping us out with this transition. Thank you
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: to Jeremy Meyer who's become a friend of mine at
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: the Foul Territory Network as well because he's been helping
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: me with this transition. And again we say, this is
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: very exciting news for the podcast, but the most important
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: thing is nothing is changing for you. If only only
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: thing that'll change is that maybe there'll be more members
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: of the family finding out about this podcast, because that
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: when you're down in spring training, half the people are
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: saying love the pod, and the other people are saying,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: didn't know.
• 5:26
  Speaker 5: You had a pod.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: Well, hopefully we run in the socials here right.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Well, the people we do have Jeff listening and reacting
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: to the show.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: It's a pretty good group.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: And last week, you know, we made the point that
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Eddie Murray, it's the all time leader in Sacrifice Flies
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: for a career, yet never led the league in sacrifice
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: flies in any season.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: So we threw it out to our listeners and our viewers.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: We gave them a homework assignment, and Todd Addington and
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: Brian Dial were just among two that came up with
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: All Famer. Eddie Collins had five hundred and twelve sacrifice bunts.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: I think that's like.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Over I know, it's over one hundred more than anyone
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: else ever had, yet he never led the league in
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: sacrifice bunts in any season.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: So and Joe Wilke.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Wilck had a couple of these also, So Jim. We
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: have some really clever people that listen to our show
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: email us and I just hope they keep it up
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: because we learn from them, hopefully like they learn from us.
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, no doubt about it.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: We gave them a homework assignment and they came through
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: and we really appreciate that. With that being said, if
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: you don't know and you're listening somewhere, you can always
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: watch the full show on YouTube. Every episode since the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: beginning of this show back two years ago. You can
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: actually watch on YouTube. Make sure to subscribe there. We
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: would love for you to be a part of the
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: family face to face, and you can also follow us
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: on Facebook and in Instagram at Great Game or What.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: We would love to have you a part of those,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: you know, those communities as well. It's really important. Now, Dad,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: I just got to kind of close this out on
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: the show we've been talking.
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: Did you did the all shed team for me?
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: Where?
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: What'd you do the all the.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: All Yeah, it was like the all building kind of team,
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: all structure team.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: And shed long was the second basement.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: So and after I can say, I think eight weeks
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: of delays because of the snow, my shed has been delivered,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: even though I'm in the middle of an office that's
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: being reconstructed right now in our new basement. And I'll
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: post a photo hence all of the social media as
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: I mentioned, I'll post a photo of what the setup
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: is currently. I'll just tell you it involves a high chair.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: That's all I can say. Follow us at Great Game
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: or What, and I'll pop the image up right here
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: on our YouTube as well, so you can go to
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: the YouTube and watch the video of seeing exactly what
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to do here whilst my office is under
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: wrap and under plastic with with drywall pieces. So we're
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: working on that, Dad, but we're we're working with what
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: we can and we're working with our friends at Foul
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Territory Network, which is incredible.
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: Let's go Dad to takeaways.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Let's stop talking about my situation in my shed and
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: my construction. Let's talk about where you are, in a
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: much warmer situation than.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm in Florida.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: I was in Arizona for three days. And I'm ashamed
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: to say this, Jeff, but on last Saturday, I was
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: remarking when I was in Mesa for a game with
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: the with the A's the A's we're playing the Giants.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: I said, God, it's just too hot out here. So here,
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: I've been complaining for four months that's freezing cold wherever
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: I go. And then I went to a place that
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: it's too hot. It was great in Arizona. I had
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: the best time. I learned so many things, which is
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: what we're trying to do here. Spring training is a
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: crucial time. And I went to see Tito Francona, the
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Reds manager, and I always just feel better after talking
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: to Tito in spring training. He makes everybody feel like
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: they're the most important person in the world. Every time
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: you talk to him, you realize, you recognize again how
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: fortunate you are to be covering major League baseball. He's
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: still doing it after all these years.
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: And I got such a kick out of this.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure why, but you know, he had Brent
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Suiter on his team last year, left handed pitcher, and
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Brent Suter is one of the smartest guys in the
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: game and is one of the most talented people in
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: the game because he can do impersonations. I told you
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: he does the greatest Jim Carrey in the world. Well
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: apparently he does the greatest Tito Francona in the world. Also,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: And the game that I went to when they play
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: the Angels, Brent Suter was starting for the Angels. So
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: it came up and the guys in the room asked Tito, like,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: how good is the impersonation and he said something like, well, it's.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Really good, he said.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Last year in spring training, Brent Suiter would just come
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: in to Tito's office and just sit and talk to
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: him for five ten minutes here and there. And he
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: did it like three or four times during spring training.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: And Tito now realizes as he goes, I know why
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: he was in there. He was in there to figure
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: out my mannerisms. He wanted to talk to me more.
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: He was studying.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: He was studying my voice, my mannerisms, all that stuff.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: So that's Brent Suitor for you, and that's Tito. And
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: after I left the Reds that day, I felt even
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: better about where I was because Tito Francona like made
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: it clear, Hey, you're in spring training, let's go.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: And that's the way I feel.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: You know, I missed the day's dad of you and
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Terry Francona in spring training whilst players are doing impersonations
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: of both.
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: You and him.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: The clips of Elliott Johnson doing Tim Kirkshon and Jonathan
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Papplebond doing Tito Francona Automatic Classics Dad, And I know you,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: I know your flattered imitation is the greatest form of
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: flattery and you don't love talking about yourself on this show.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: But I have to say those those are some of
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: my favorite clips on the Internet to this date.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Right, well, Jperre and Cebe was the first one that
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: did me and Tito.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to tell the.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Story again, was the one that ambushed me with that
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: impersonation on National TV. So I'm so glad to see
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: Tito that he's back and he's healthy and everything's okay.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: By the way, his general manager is Nick Kroll, which
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: I guess I'm the last guy to figure this out,
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: but I learned this spring training that he used to
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: be a groundskeeper in spring training, the general manager of
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: the Rents, and I met one of the groundskeepers who
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: used to work with him, and he remembers calling Nick,
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: you know this many years ago and saying, Hey, you
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: want to come over. We'll go out and get a beer.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: And Nick said, no, I can't. I'm studying. I'm going
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: to be a general manager. So at the time he
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: was a groundskeeper and he said, I'm studying to be
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: a general manager. And then he not only made it
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: to be a general manager, he's a general manager of
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: a playoff team last year, the Cincinnati Red. It's pretty cool.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Well, Dad, that's like the Burger king cash Sheer becoming
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: the CEO. I mean, seriously, you've got to start somewhere.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Climb up that ladder. I love that story.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great, right, right, Okay, Jeff, the ABS, the
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: automated ball strike system has gone pretty well from what
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: I can see. You know, it's going to be instituted
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: this year in regular Major league games, and I talked
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: to several managers about it. Most of them seem to
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: think that it's working. It's certainly not perfect. There are
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: bugs to work out. I'm still a little worried about it.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: But some of the things I've gathered from the people
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: that I talked to is the strike zone is really
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: small anyway, and it's going to get even smaller because
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: you know, the great pitchers, the Greg Maddox's of the world,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: used to get a pitch a half inch off the
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: late and because the umpire missed it, because it's easy
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: to miss a pitch by half an inch, but Maddox
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: would then say they can get half an inch. Then
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: he would go to an inch, and then three inches,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: and then five inches, and he.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: Would keep getting these pitches.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: Well, that's not going to happen anymore with an ABS system,
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: because there are challenges involved. And one manager told me
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: that he thinks the strikeout rate is going to go
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: down because hitters are not going to get called out
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: on pitches that are out of the strike zone. So
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: let's hope that's that's cause. And another manager told me
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: it's really gonna it's really going to help the short guys.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: The jose L two Bays of the world are really
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: going to get helped. And he said, you watch. You
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: know they don't call the high strike very often, or
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: the high strike isn't a strike really, and the short
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: guys are going to be the ones that are going
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: to benefit more from this rule than anything else. So
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: I told the manager boy I would be great, and
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: he said, yeah, you'd be the best hitter in the
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: league because you be you'd be the smallest hitter of
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: the league.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Yes, well, dad, this is this is the first time
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: in any major sport history I would say that players
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: actually want to be listed as their actual height.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: In fact, one of the managers told me that he
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: has a guy on his team of six feet tall
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: and he showed up this spring and now he's five eleven.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: So he purposely made himself an inch shorter because it
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: might help him.
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: In the ABF system. That is fascinating.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: Also, Jeff will make this quick because it doesn't fit
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: with our show. But I checked on the labor situation
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: with a couple of people, and it looks as bad.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: As I thought it looked.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: And I talked to someone who's pretty close to the negotiations,
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: and he told me the two sides are further apart
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: right now that you know, with ten months to go
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: before December the first, and then he's ever seen it.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: And that was discouraging to me, because again, I covered
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: the eighty one strike, Jeff, I've covered them all since,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: and to be this guy said this is as far
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: apart we've been at this sort of date.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: Does that discourage you a little bit?
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: Massively?
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: It really does scare me, Dad, And you're not the
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: first person, and obviously you're a trusted journalist in our sport,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: and you're not the first person I've heard from.
• 15:21
  Speaker 5: That is saying this.
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: So I hope and I pray.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: I know both reasons from both sides as to what's
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: going on, but I hope and pray they can find
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: some middle ground. Because listen, what is our podcast going
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: to do?
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: What are we gonna review movies?
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah? What are we gonna talk to Gerlin country music?
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: We're in big trouble if there's no baseball next year.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: So we'll figure this out, Jeff. We're gonna keep it.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: You know what we could do, Dad, We could just
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: review every concert you've been to. That would take about
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: three minutes. Yeah, I can tell you, like, all right,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: Yellow Card circ God two thousand and four. There's that,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: and what were the other to Kenny Chesney in two
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: thousand and nine.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: And Dan Fogelberg, Dan Fogelberg and in college what.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: That was nineteen seventy seven?
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: Were you blasted for the show or do you remember it?
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: I remember it well, and it was a date. I
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: had a date and I doubled with guy in from
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: our dorm. They did not go well, or did any
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: other day?
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: Didn't go? Eh?
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: How did his date go good?
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: His always went well? Mine always went poorly. That's okay,
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: it's not important, all.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Right, Jeff.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: Also, the only problem, well, there are no problems about
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: going to spring training, but right now teams have lost
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: all their WBC players, and I have to always get
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: through my mind. Okay, I'm going to see the Yankees.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: I went to see the Yankees Tuesday. We're taping this
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: on Monday. The Yankees have like eleven guys at the WBC.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: So when you go in there saying, hey, I'm just
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: gonna go check in with this guy or this guy,
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: and you realize nobody's here they are all gone to
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: the WBC. So the WBC is a great event, Jeff,
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: but it does take away from the everyday players who
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: are not in the in the WBC. You can go
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: to a spring training game and they're gonna be even
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: fewer stars there because most of them are going to
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: be in the WBC.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: I'm all in favor of the trade off like that.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: And speaking of the WBC, I talked to a manager
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: who told me, well, the Japanese are really great again
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: because they're not so worried about overworking their players in
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: the WBC and therefore having it affect them on the
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: major league team. Now, the major league teams are always
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: concerned about this, but the Japanese are here to win.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: They won the last time and they're here to win again.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: So let's keep our eye on show, Hey, Otani and ya,
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: i'm Amoto and the rest of the group, because they
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: are here to win.
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: Well, aside from the WBC, Dad, any more takeaways?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw the Dodgers, Jeff, and we all know
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: that they're absolutely loaded. And I'm certainly not going to
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: defend the Dodgers. But I've told you before, Jeff, the
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: Dodgers are as well run as any organization out there.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: Granted they have more resources, they can make mistakes and
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: make up for it with all the money that they have,
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: but people, I'm not sure everyone understands how beautifully run
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: that organization is. And it starts with Andrew Freeman, who's
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: the president of Baseball Operations. And I talked to one
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: of his colleagues the other day and he said, it's
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: amazing that Andrew will sit in on a high level
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: meeting about baseball. What I mean about this is how
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: we're going to deal with this is what we're going
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: to do with our you know, our secondary lead this year,
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: or this is how we're going to attack sacrifice bumps
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: or pitchouts or whatever. And the whole meeting will go
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: by and Andrew Freeman, whose boss might not say a
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: word during the whole thing, but he's he wants to hear,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: I'm told from all of his people. He wants to
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: make sure that everyone in the room has a voice.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: He's gonna make the final decision. He's already thought through
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: all of this before the meeting even starts.
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: But it's very interesting.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: This guy made a very clear point that this is
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: what leadership is all about is that you let everyone
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: else in the room have something to say because maybe
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: they'll say something you didn't know. But I thought that
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: was pretty interesting. And do you agree that's what great
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: leaders do.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Dad, I think it's so easy to just say, oh,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: here are the Dodgers again with all the money, But
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: that money doesn't go very far if you don't have
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: the right leadership behind it. So I think it's a
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: really good breakdown, dad, to kind of see how it
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: works on the back end, because we've seen teams with
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: a lot of money not perform well. I won't name names,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: but it really takes good leadership and money sometimes to
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: make a championship team.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Right. I went to see the Dodgers.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: I'm walking through the broadcast area there and there's a
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: room open, and there's a guy sitting in there all
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: by himself, and I look in. It's Tony Larusen. So
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: I go and sit next to Tony Larussen, age eighty
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: one for thirty minutes. Tony's one of my favorite people
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: over the years that covered him a million years with
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: the cart with the Cardinals of course, and the A's
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: and everything else he is And here he is, eighty
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: one years old.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: He's a special advisor for the White Sox, goes to
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: a million games.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: They send him out to do things all the time,
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: and he is he He yelled a couple times during
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: the game, yelled out loud angrily, and I had to
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: look at him and say, Tony what, and he goes.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: They just tie the score four to four. The Dodgers
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: tied the White Sox in that game four to four
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: in the fifth inning, and Tony was really upset that
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: his team was now tied. They weren't ahead in an
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: exhibition game and they were in the fifth inning. It
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: just goes to show you again how intense Tony Larusa
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: is about everything. Jeff, I can't tell you how many
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: times I would go up to Tony in my career
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: and just say Tony, how are you? And he would say, well,
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: i'll tell you in three and a half hours, because
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: that's when the game was over. That's how Tony's doing.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: If they win, then I'll be doing fine. If they lose,
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: then he won't.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: Be doing fine.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: So I had a great chat with Tony Larusa that
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: was really fun. I also, Jeff saw the Red Sox
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: and this is one of my great failings. Jeff, When
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: I go to spring training, I get caught up in
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: the enthusiasm of a team. But I left the Red
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Sox thinking that they're better than I thought they were.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: I thought they were improved with their offseason. They made
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: the playoffs last year. But now they've got Roman Anthony Back.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: They've got a really good starting rotation with your boy
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Ranger Suarez in it, and with Garrett Crochet at the top.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: They have three quality left handed starting pitchers. Their bullpens
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: a little thin, but with Anthony Back and Marcello Meyer's
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: going to play second base, and Trevor Story if they
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: can keep him healthy, and you know william or Bray,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: who's gonna hit thirty homers if he's healthy. So I
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: left thinking, you know, I'm not saying they're going to
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: beat the Blue Jays and Yankees for sure and win
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: the division. But I liked what I saw and heard
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: from the Red Sox yesterday in Duneed.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's really great. And I think if
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: I want to make sure everybody knows when we talk
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: spring training, if you haven't gone and seen your team
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: in spring training, you're missing out because whether you're in
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: dun Eden or Clearwater or Scottsdale, wherever it might be,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: it is magical. And Dad, I have so much jealousy
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: and my only dream for this darn show of ours
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: is to do a show from spring training. I don't
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: care what park we're at. I just want to be
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: down there. I just want to see the people. When
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Alex Coorr is walking around and just says, hey, Timmy,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: and you guys talk, these are the things that only
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: really happened at spring training, Dad, And I'm sure, and
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: I don't want to put you.
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: On the spot, but you can speak to it. With
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: the way teams have changed.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Over the years, with everything a lot more corporate, right,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Managers just aren't popping around, players aren't taking VP during
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: the regular season like they used to and sign in
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: autographs and hanging with the kids. But spring training still
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: has that appeal right right.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: There is still time, Jeff to you know, as we
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: talked about two weeks ago, things happened in spring training
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: that just don't happen during the regular season. I believe
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: it was one of our great listeners. John Woodward wrote
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: in that he went to he was in there. He
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: lives I guess he lives in Arizona and he was
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: driving past I think it was a Chick fil A
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: and there were two players from the Mariners who were
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: in full uniform and they were in a golf cart
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: and they were drive through the.
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: Checkout window at the Chick fil A.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: And so just when we were saying, only in baseball,
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: I mean only in spring training can things happen. Trust me,
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: that's not happening in the regular season in Seattle. So
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: he was listening to our podcast as we were explaining,
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: you know, you know, Jeremy Guthrie rode his bike in
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: full uniform to a game with his glove on his handlebars.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: As we're talking about that, John Woodward is driving and
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: he sees two Seattle Mariners full uniform in a golf
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: cart picking up food from Chick fil A.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: Is that not beautiful or what?
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: It's the most beautiful thing.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: And it's the most beautiful waffle fry I've ever had
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: as well, not an ad but I'm telling you, nothing
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: can beat those fries with some Chick fil A sauce?
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: Are you kidding me?
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: It's pretty good? Okay.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: And then there's our pal Bill Chuck from Billy Ball,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: who does loven stack that is just great. His baseball
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: knowledge is unparalleled. He is a really fun and hilarious guy.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: You really need to read what he writes on a
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: daily basis.
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: And you using substack in a sentence that quickly and
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: that smoothly. I'm extremely impressed with you, Dad, right.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: A complete sentence substack.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: I learned that phrase about a month ago, and I've
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: used it about five times since. So Bill Chuck sends
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: me this and says, I bet you've gotten this from
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: at least a dozen people. Well, I didn't get it
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: from anybody except for him, because only he can see
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: things like this. But the Brewers used a picture named
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Drew Rahm rom and against the White Sox used a
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: hitter named Drew Romo. So we had a Drew ram
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: against a Drew Romo. That would qualify as a quirk gin.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: But we don't have them in spring training, but we
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: will once the season starts. I can't wait for that
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: because that's my favorite part of every podcast that we do,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: the quirky, funny, weirdo things that happen all the time.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: So thank you for that, Bill Chuck. And last thing,
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Jeff Bruce Framing died the other day. He umpired the
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: third most games in Major League history, behind Joe West
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: and Bill Clem. Bruce Freming was one of my favorite
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: people umpires that I was ever around. He had a
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: great sense of humor and never took himself too seriously,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: and he was in the middle of so many amazing
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: moments in baseball history. Just go google him. We don't
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: have time to go over all of them here, but
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: I'll never forget. In the eighty six All Star Game,
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Jeff he was working the plate. Roger Clemens comes to
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: the plate for the American League batting in the All
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Star Game, and he's facing Dwight Gooden, who's throwing, you know,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: ninety seven miles now with a riding fastball.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: That's just ridiculous.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: And Clemens hadn't faced anybody since a real pitcher since
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: high school because of the d ah.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: So the first pitch.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Comes in and Roger looks at it, ninety seven rioting fastball,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: and he looks at Bruce Freming and goes, Bruce, do
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: I throw that hard? And Bruce Freming says, yes, Roger,
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: you throw that hard. And Roger went wow, And that
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: was an epiphanty for him that nobody can hit that pitch.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: If it's thrown that hard, I know I can't anymore,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: he said, but major league hit it. So that's when
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: Roger Clements really started throwing his fastball more often. After
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: facing Dwight Gooden and Bruce Freming was the homeplate umpire
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: in that game. Rest in peace, Bruce, one of the
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: best umpires of all time.
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: On this date in baseball history, Dad, what do you
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: have for us?
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: On this date nineteen sixty, pitcher Chuck Carey was born,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: and he pitched a little for the Yankees and White
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: Sox a few others, and he didn't pitch for a
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: long time, but I used this note for Sports Illustrated
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: a long time ago. I think just when he pitched
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: for the Yankees, he would leave a ticket for every
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: game for Joe Jackson, not the Joe Shoeless Joe Jackson,
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: but for Joe Jackson, the songwriter the brit I think
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: he's a British singer. I don't think Joe Jackson ever
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: showed up to get the ticket, but it was part
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: of Chuck Carrey's pregame. I'm leaving a ticket for Joe
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: Jackson just in case he comes to our game today.
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: How about that.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: It's like it's like Cornbread Maxwell of the formerly of
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: the Celtics, he used to go into the airport and
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: every time he went to the airport, he would he
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: would page Dolph Shase because he loved that. Dolph Shase,
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: of course was a great, great college basketball player, a
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: really good NBA player, And every time Cedric Maxwell would
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: go into the airport, he would page Dolph Shase. And
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: one time Dolph Shase was actually in the airport and
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: he picked up the phone and then I think Cornbread
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: just kind of hug up the focus. He didn't know
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: what to say.
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: Oh God, so much shot in the dark and it
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: worked out that one time.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: A couple other things.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: Matt Trenor, former catcher, was born on this date in
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: nineteen seventy six, and I've always got a kick out
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: of this, Jeff. He was part of a click of
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: backup catchers. They all kind of had this little camaraderie
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: between them because they all had the same job. Every
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: spring they go to spring training trying to make another team.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: And Quirky Miller, what a perfect name for a backup
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: catcher told me once that he saw Matt Trainer and
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: they just looked at each other. They're on opposing teams,
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: and he said, you know, still hanging in there. And
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: Matt Trainer said, like, here we go again. We're trying
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: to make another club. And there's a special bond, a
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: special fellowship between career backup catchers.
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: I've always loved them. That's great.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: And on this date in twenty twenty four, Jeff ed
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Ott died, and Odd was one of the really tough
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: guy catchers, a pretty darn good player in his day,
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: a great wrestler in high school. So ed Ott died,
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: and in honor of him, even though I'm really fudging
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: it here, I'm going to test you on the team
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: tim for this week.
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: Jeff, what is today's date?
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Today's date is March the third, three three three. Oh okay,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: all right, now, remember last year on April the fourth,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: we did the all four by four Teamjan Soto, Babe, Ruth,
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Pete Rose, you understand. So poor pop Up flew from
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Maryland to Phoenix the other day.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: I was on a plane for like five hours. So
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: what do you think I did to pass the time?
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: I came up with the all three three three te Jeff.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: That was way harder and It wasn't a very good team,
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: but it was way harder than the four by four.
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: But I kind of came up with it. You want
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: to hear it.
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: This is the team? Is corn?
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: It no relation to ed aforementioned?
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, right, right now, I'm going to spoil everything Ed.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: I couldn't find a catcher. I couldn't find a catcher,
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: So we're going to use Ed Odd because this is
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: we're recognizing him here as a real tough guy. And
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: it's a loss. It was a loss for baseball when
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: we lost ed Od. But yes, Lee May is our
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: first baseman. H Lee May is the first player that
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: I he was good hitter. Jeff hit a bunch of homers.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: Led the league in RBIs nineteen seventy six with the Orioles.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: He's the first player I've ever seen.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: Who broke a bat without making contact with ball, meaning
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: he checked his swing and his hands and wrists were
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: so strong that the torque he used he snapped the
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: bat in half without hitting it. That's how strong Lee
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: May was. And let's see Jeff, how well how good
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: your memory is? What is Tony Perez's daddy's dad's nickname?
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: Hall of Fame?
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, sorry, what is Eduardo Perez as our dear friend.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: What's his dad?
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: Tony's nickname wasn't wasn't he big dog? Doggie doggy dog right?
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: And he got that nickname for two reasons.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Number one, everybody loved Tony Perez and a man a
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: dog is man's best friend. So that's number one. And
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: Lee May, the afore mentioned le May also called him
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: Doggie because he said when they would go out to
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: dinner and Tony Perez would order a steak, he would
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: eat it with his hands at the end, all the
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: way down to the boat. And that's why he called
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: him doggie, because he ate a steak like a dog
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: would eat a steak. Eduardo Perez told us that story
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: a year ago. Finally I asked him, why do they
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: call your dad Doggie?
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: And that's it. So Lee May is our first baseman.
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: Jim Cox is our second baseman. Cox of course, third.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: Basement of course, Ron Say one of the great Dodger
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: nicknamed the Penguin. And I can never explain this, but
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: the late great Kirby Pucket. For some reason in the eighties,
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: when I would be at a lot of the gay
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: eighties and nineties with twins who were really good. He
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: used to call me ron Say. Every time I'd show up,
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: he goes, hey, Ron, say, how you doing. He called
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: me ron Say because Ron Say was short, and of course.
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: So am I.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: But that's the end of the comparison between me and
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: ron Say. He weighed like he weighed like two hundred
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: pounds and was really strong and was a major league player.
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: But every time I walk in the clubhouse, Kirby walk
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: by and go hey, Ron say, how you do it?
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: So sure didn't fit all right, I was looking for
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: a shortstop. I've never heard of this guy, but.
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: I love his name. His name is dud du d Lee.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: He played shortstop in the twenties, I think partly for
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: the Red Sox.
• 33:53
  Speaker 3: Dud Lee.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he would also make your all unfortunate names team right,
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Bailey Walter.
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: Right, right, right, guys, I mean he's a dud out there.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: Right right, dud Lee right, Okay. Mel Ott is one
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: of our outfielders. This inspired me to do that because
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: Melott is a Hall of Fame player. And by the way,
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: Melott hit the most home runs in one ballpark of
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: any player in Major League five hundred and whatever eleven
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: home runs He had three hundred and twenty three of
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: them at the Polo Grounds, and nobody has ever hit
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: that many home runs in one ballpark, like Hank Aaron,
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: for instance, played in Milwaukee and Atlanta, so he had
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: to mix him up. Willie Mays played at the Polo
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: Grounds in a Candlestick park, and you know, Barry Bonds
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: played in Pittsburgh and all this other stuff. But Melott
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: has the record for the most homers, three hundred and
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: twenty three in one.
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: Ballpark, the Polo Grounds, all right.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: I played two other guys out of position. Joe liss Ls,
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: mostly a first base, played some outfield for sure. One
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: of my favorites Joe Foy Foy, also mostly a third baseman,
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: but he played outfield and infield all over the place.
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: And he was traded in nineteen sixty nine from the
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: Royals to the Mets, and that's how the Royals got
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: Amos Otis, who became one of the better Royals of
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: all time, in a trade for Joe Foy. Our pitchers,
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: I have three of them, Jay Frye, Fry, Ron Law Law,
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: and I finally one I'll never forget this, Jim Ray,
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: who I remember pitching for the Astros, and these are
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: the things you learn when you hang out with the
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: Doug Raiders of the world. He was the manager of
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: the Rangers eighty three eighty four, and he told me
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: once when he was Jim Ray's teammate with the Astros.
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: This is in the sixties, early seventies, Jim Ray, Doug
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: Raider told me would go to sleep at his hotel
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: room in New York and his door was wide open.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: But when he goes to sleep in New York, I mean,
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: who would.
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: Do that, Jim Ray.
• 36:07
  Speaker 4: That's like the skin That's like my deepest fear.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: When I was moving dad from Cleveland, Ohio to Las
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: Vegas for my second radio job, I don't know if
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: I've ever told you this.
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: I went.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: I had to stay at a hotel the night before
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: my big flight because I no longer had a bed
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: in my apartment. So I stayed in the hotel and
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: I dropped all my stuff off, and I went out
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: to the bar to see some of my friends before
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: I left the city that.
• 36:32
  Speaker 4: You know, was my first radio job.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: When I came back, it was snowing like crazy in Cleveland, Ohio.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: My motel door was open, so when I got back
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: to my hotel, dropped off by a friend.
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: I walk over to my.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: Door and it is open in a snow storm. And
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: here I'm thinking, Okay, there's going to be a homeless
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: person living in there trying to keep warm, or I'm
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: about to get murdered, or I forgot to close the
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: door properly. Now, obviously, in those moments, you never think
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: that the most logical response. But I was so tired
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: and so cold, I said, you know what, I'm just
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: gonna see what's going on.
• 37:12
  Speaker 5: I'm going in, right, I'm going in.
• 37:14
  Speaker 4: And ultimately it was the ladder.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: I forgot to close the door all the way and
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: it didn't latch in boom pal and there was a
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: snow in my hotel room and it was freezing cold.
• 37:24
  Speaker 4: But ultimately I ended up being Okay, thank goodness.
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: Thank goodness for that, Jeff. Okay, so that's my all
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: three by three team. I was proud of that, Jeff.
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: It took me five hours on an airplane to come
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: up with that team. It's not, like I said, it's
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: not a very good team, but to find a player
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: at each position was challenging, to say the least.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: And if I taught you how to watch a show
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: on Netflix on your phone. We wouldn't be getting these
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Genius team tims. So I'm going to keep up with
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: not showing you how to download a podcast either, because
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: this is where the great content comes out, is when
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: you're on a plane.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: Right, Still struggle on the plane, Jeff, with that Wi
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: Fi on American airlines, Still have a little trouble with that.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: You're gonna have We're gonna have to take a flight together,
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: and you're gonna have to show me how to do
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: that for.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: No reason other than using the Wi Fi. We'll just
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: get on a return flight thirty minutes later, we'll have
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: dinner in the in the North Carol or in the
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: Raleigh airport or.
• 38:18
  Speaker 5: Something, and we'll we'll turn around and come back.
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: All right, Okay, now what are we finishing with here, Jeff? Oh,
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: I meant to tell you. I told you I left
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: I left home for this trip without going without going
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: to the bathroom. Well, I went to the bathroom, I
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: just didn't go to the bathroom downstairs with the three
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: cards in the bathroom, so I had you just reach
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: in and pull out some cards.
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: So what do we what do we got this week?
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: Well, Dad, I pulled out a box, a banker box
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: that says Jeffrey's Baseball cards. And within this box that
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: I've got quite the collection, mind you, that of which
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: I still need to go through in order to continue
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: to fund my wife's dreams of redoing this new house.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: If I could sell a couple of these cards for
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: some money, maybe we could, you know, stay above, stay
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: in the in the in the black, if you will.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: But so I have a box full of cards, and
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: I just pulled three random cards out, So we're going
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: to see how this goes.
• 39:13
  Speaker 3: Okay, all right?
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: The first one is Roberto Alomar. Interestingly a Diamondbacks card,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: but he's wearing a white Sox uniform as you can
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: see from our video here.
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: Wow, that doesn't make any sense, all.
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: Right, Well, Roberto Alomar is one of the great second
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: basemen of all time and one of the great defensive
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: second basement I've ever seen, and I'll never forget it.
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: When he signed with the Orioles big contract, I went
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: to Porto Rico Sports Illustrated to write a story on
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: Roberto Alomar. So we go to a TGI Fridays for lunch,
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: and he's dressed in a sweatsuit. He looks very athletic
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: in a sweatsuit. He's not dressed like So we eat lunch,
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: we come out of the TGI Fridays and a lady
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: comes up to him and hands him her valet parking
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: ticket and says, could you go get my car? So
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: she thought Roberto Alabar, who just signed this ridiculously expensive
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: deal at least at the time to play for the Orioles.
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: And he just.
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: Chuckled and said, ma'am, I'm not the valet guy. And
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: then he whispered to me and he said, I could
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: buy this entire chain of restaurants now. So I have
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: a million on the field stories from Roberto Alamar. But
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: that was the story I got when I went to
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: Puerto Rico to do a story on him, and he
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: was a very very gracious host for me.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: The next guard, I'm pulling out of the box. Here,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: Dad is a Sean Green card.
• 40:48
  Speaker 4: Here we go.
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Sean Green hit four home runs in a Major
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: League game, had and he also had a double. I mean,
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: it was one of the greatest games that anyone's ever had.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: And I repeated this story the other day. Jeff, I'm
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: going to tell it again about because it came up
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: when I was talking to Tyler Kepner of the Athletic.
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: He's one of the great baseball minds ever. He's like
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: the greatest. He knows stuff that nobody else knows. He's
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: so impressive remembering guys who played for certain teams and
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: things like that. So I told him the story about
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: the four homer guys because Mike Cameron came by. Mike
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: Cameron hit four home runs in the game for the Mariners,
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: you know, like twenty like twenty five years ago, almost
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: something like that. So and he almost hit a fifth.
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: The fifth one got caught at the right field wall.
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: So I told Tyler Kepner the story of when Juhanio
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: Suarez hit four homers in a game. And I'm driving
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: to Bristol, and I say, well, just to keep past
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: the time, I'm going to try to name all the
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: guys in baseball.
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: History, like all twenty.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: I think it was nineteenth time we'd hit four homers
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: in a game, and I got eighteen and I couldn't
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: get the nineteen. So I decided, well, I'm gonna cheat
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: and call Siri Okay on the on the phone while
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: I'm driving, But of course I don't know how to
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: do that on my phone, like Siri, who give me
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: all the guys who had four homers a game? I
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: don't know how to do that. But if you remember, Jeff,
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: Pat Siri was the guy that I was missing, Pat
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: Siri nineteen forty eight. I want to say, hit four
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: homers in a game, and I got it right because
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: I was going to call Siri on the phone and
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: ask her, and that's when it hit me. It's not
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: Siri that the answer woman. It's Pat Siri was the
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: last four homer guy that I couldn't get Sean Green,
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: great hitter four homers in one game and a really
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: good major league hitter for quite some time.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm glad you didn't call Siri because she
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: might have made you leave a voicemail.
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: You don't really.
• 42:57
  Speaker 4: Call Siri, But we'll go over.
• 42:59
  Speaker 5: The verbiage of it later.
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: Don't worry.
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: Called Alexa or called chat GBT too, but we'll handle
• 43:06
  Speaker 4: that later, don't Yeah.
• 43:07
  Speaker 3: We'll read about it in the substack or something, right, all.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Right, Last, certainly not least I pulled another card.
• 43:16
  Speaker 3: Roger Clemens.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: Okay, I know he's much maligned for things and everything else.
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: But look, there is no questioning his work ethic that
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: he put in every single time he went out there.
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: And again I'm not going to defend him completely. I
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: voted for him for the Hall of Fame ten years
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: in a row.
• 43:34
  Speaker 3: Not the point.
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: The point is I was in New York once and
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: with the covered the Orioles, and Edward Bennett Williams was
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: the owner of the Orioles mid eighties. And I get
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: up early because I can't sleep or whatever. And Edward
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: Bennett Williams is in the hotel lobby at like seven
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: o'clock in the morning and he looks at me and
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: he goes, I just saw Roger Clemens. He went out
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: for a run at seven o'clock in the morning, and
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: he had pitched the night before in New York, and
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: at seven o'clock in the morning went out and ran
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: the streets of Manhattan. Another time, Josh, I went to
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: see the Yankees on a Sunday, and I didn't realize,
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: at least back then, on Sundays you don't have to
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: get to the ballpark till eleven o'clock. Well I eleven am.
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: I didn't know that, so I show up at seven o'clock.
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: The clubhouse is normally open at eight, and there is
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: Roger Clemens at seven o'clock in the morning throwing a
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: football in the parking lot with the trainer. So he's
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: he's strengthening his arm and doing baseball exercises at seven
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: o'clock in the morning with the trainer when he doesn't
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: have to be at the ballpark till eleven am. So
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: say anything you want about Roger Clemens, I get it,
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: but don't ever question how hard he worked to be
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: a great pitcher and he was a great pitch.
• 45:01
  Speaker 5: All right, Dad.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: Well, that wraps up today's edition of Is this a
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: Great Game or what? And before we know it, we're
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: going to be in the throes of the season and
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: we're really looking forward to bringing you more episodes weekly,
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: so be on the lookout for that. We'll kind of
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: jump to we'll jump to two a week, and then
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: we'll get into full time three a week, and we'll
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: be adjusting our days a little bit, so we'll be
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: bringing you a Monday episode. So just be on the
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: lookout for how things are going to change in twenty
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: twenty six. For your rhythm of listening to our show,
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: but you know, we'll go over that schedule when we
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: get there, but for now, we're really excited to be
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: taking you through this spring training and Dad, I hope
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: you get home safely.
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: You already look tan. Take some time for yourself, enjoy
• 45:48
  Speaker 4: spring training, all right.
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Jeff.
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: We'll talk next week and go foul Territory Network.
• 45:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah, glad to be a part of it.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening, and as always, thanks
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: for being a part of our family.
• 46:00
  Speaker 3: The Snow has