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The unexplainable offensive drought at Wrigley Field · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: People are going to listen to this and say, oh,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: well he has an agenda. It's like, well, everyone we've
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: talked to has an agenda that we happened to be
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: on the player side.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Welcome into North Side Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: I'm Sahade Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney, who were
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: your Cubs beat writers for The Athletic, and we are
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: talking about the once again winning Cubs who go on
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: the road and suddenly learn how to win again. It
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter who they're facing. It can be one of
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: the best teams in baseball apparently, and they can still
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: win games. Patrick is out in La covering this team.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: I don't think we should try and understand it because
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: it makes no sense. But the Cubs are winning again
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: and it was kind of a really fascinating game on
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Tuesday night.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and the Cubs just had to get out of
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Brinkley Field, right, I mean, I think you know, Dodger
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Stadium is a great stage, like just a kind of
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: spectacular atmosphere. And you had showed him in Naga and
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Yamamoto going against each other and showed a did a
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: wonderful job of just kind of hanging in there, getting
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: up three solo home runs in seven innings and really
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: just showing how he's carried this team on his back.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: And Pete crow Armstrong, who grew up not that far
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: from here, just making some spectacular catches in center fields,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: including a leaping one at the wall to take a
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: two run home run away.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Very Mike Taalkman esque in that regard.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: And I don't know, it's kind of like, you know,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I asked Nico Horner after the game, it was like,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: with all due respect, do you guys really think you
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: can do this? Like, you know, just kind of looking
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: at the math and you know what is sort of
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the belief level?
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: And he was very realistic.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, Nico, as you know, was probably like the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: best person to ask almost any question about the team.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: He talks like THEO he kind of thinks that way,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: but he actually plays, so he has this tremendous insights.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: And Yep, he kind of rattled through of you know,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: what's out of their control and what's in their control.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: And I think they've played really pretty crisp brand of.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Baseball here in LA for the first two games.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's it's been you know, I've for
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: some reason stayed up to watch most of the games,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: and I mean last night especially was exciting. Pek Armstrong
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: making all those catches. Some of them were just like
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: the one where there seemed to be miscommunication between him
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: and Bellinger was almost like, I don't even know what
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: to think about that one, but it was fun to watch.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: And the one to end the game, obviously, like you said,
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: talkman ask, it seemed like he had to like almost
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: go through traffic of the fan his hands and hats
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: and things like that.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: Pretty fascinating to watch.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: He's you know, and I agree with with your point
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: earlier in the season that this team had gotten boring.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: He's changed that for sure, like his presence changes that.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: His presence alone, well, I will say showed is really
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: fun to watch because he's animated on the mound and
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: that that makes him entertaining as well. He's he's a
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: good character on the on the field as well. But
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: PCA has this something about him, the speed, the flair
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: on defense, the you know how he is a terror
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: on the base, pats Uh.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: It just makes it fun to watch him.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Anything can happen when when he's on the field and
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: the Cubs need someone like that to to make the
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: game more entertaining. Patrick, Before we get to this weird offense,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: I just want to, like, since you're out there, Porter Hodge,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: it was a weird incident on TV. I just want
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: to make sure or like, what was the explanation after
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: the game? What what was going on and is there
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: any concern there?
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Manager Craig Council said, from the dugout, they noticed he
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: was kind of just moving fast, and he shared that,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: you know, his part was sort of racing a bit,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: and it was kind of a weird tack on at
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the end of the game. Council did not appear to
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: be all that concern. Hodge was walking through the clubhouse afterwards,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: I believe, Counsel said, you know, they kind of checked
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: this out as well in the past. He'd imagine there'd
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: be further evaluation as well, but certainly something that we'll have.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: On our radar when we go.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Back to Dodger Stadium here for me in a couple hours.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: All right, Yeah, that was that was odd and certainly
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: like when you have someone like holding their check type
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: thing on the it gets worrisome. But it did like
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: the fact that they let him finish the game, and
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: then council didn't seem overly concerned after the game. It
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: should should be encouraging at the very least this offense. Patrick,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: It's what's happening between the home, home and road is real, right,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Like there's something weird going on. Like the numbers have said,
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Wrigley Field is way down as far as an offensive
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: park this year, it's among the worst.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: I want to say different.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: You know, different ballpark park factors have at different levels,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: but all of them are in like the bottom three.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: I even had this conversation with someone with the White
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Sox about like soon after the deadline, where I think
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: the White Sox are like twenty ninth and the Cubs
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: are twenty eighth as far as worst offensive ballparks. Now,
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: that could be because they're bad offenses playing at those
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: ballparks and good, but I think that's the case with
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: the White Sox. I'm not sure if that's the case
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: with the Cubs, because they according to so on the
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: road way to runs great at plus they have the
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: ninth best way to runs create a plus. They're they're right,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: they're ahead of the Phillies, They're right behind the Mets.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: They're they're basically the same as the Mets and the
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Brewers that like that. Those are solid offenses. And then
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: you go on the road and they are the twenty
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: fifth best offense by way to runs great at plus
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: did I stay on the road, I met at home.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: At home they have the twenty fifth best offense. Listen, Like,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: I've noticed this for years, I feel like it blows
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: in more than it used to. This year, I do
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: feel like it's been extreme blowing in.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: My counter to.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: That is it doesn't always make sense to me because
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: this isn't a home run hitting team, So why it's
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: not like how many homers did they hit over the
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: past two nights, just like two nights one? Was it
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: just Cody or did someone.
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: Else at home?
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Bus hit one hit one oppo that you know barely
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: got off right.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: They're just not like, it doesn't make sense to me.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: And then they scored fourteen runs in Washington the last
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: game of that good road trip, they didn't hit a
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: home run. Like I don't fully understand this, but I
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: know it's a topic of conversation among the players, among
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: the coaches, and in the front office.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: And they're not ignoring it. It's not there. It's something
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: they're trying to dig into.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if there's an answer or like a solution,
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: and you say this is this is what's going on.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: What I think is interesting is what you got from
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Scott Boris And is this the type of thing that
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: that free agents are talking about?
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: Pop quais aj. What's America's number one meal kit?
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: That would be Hello Fresh, Scott. And it even works
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: for picky eaters like you. There's a never changing menu
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: of fifty recipes to choose from each week, So just
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: select your meals and delivery day and.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: Voila home cooked meals just hit different.
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: Agreed with f every day and my coaching job, I
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: don't have time to search recipes all night and also
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: spending money on a whole our spices for only a
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: pinch nah, I'm good. My family gets more of me
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: because I don't have to take a last minute trip
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: to the grocery store at night to find dinner.
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: Ready for this. For free breakfast for life, go to
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: HelloFresh dot com slash free ft one free breakfast item
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: per box while subscription is active. That's free breakfast for
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: life just by going to HelloFresh dot com slash f
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: R E E F T.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I think maybe we start from there of like, okay,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: we know the dead Horrid addressed this topic. You were
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: there at Reglar last weekend. I had already heard some
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: of that, you know, grumbling or frustration. They're the one player,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: so there is a psychological component at least to some
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: of this. And then Scott Boris and his associates, I mean,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: they are always at games. They post up at Dodger
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Stadium kind of just off the dugout there in the
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: VIP seats behind home plate. So obviously I talked to
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Cody Bellinger on Monday, then saw Scott and talked to
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: him about Bellinger's opt out decision, which is something that
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Cody said. I told Scott, I don't want to even
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: think about it until after the season. There's obviously still
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: like a chunk of season left that could impact that.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: I think the biggest point from their perspective is that
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Cody has removed himself or created distance from those really
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: two disappointing years with the Dodgers. But and in course
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: of kind of going through all of this of Cody's
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: attributes as a player and how he's been good but
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: not great. Wrigley Field came up, and I think that
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: is part of their analytical take on this situation. And
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: obviously Cody comes up because he's Scott's client, and he's
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: the one who you know, could come back for thirty
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: million next year or test free agency again. And it's
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: just and Scott called it unexplainable of how differently it's played.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean it's gonna be the same way next year,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: but it is very much something that the clubs are
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: trying to figure out.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: I mean, there are theories.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: That we could throw out there of like does Major
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: League Baseball change the baseballs here and there. I've never
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: really gotten a great answer on how like the video
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: boards have changed the way when comes off because you've
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: sort of you've been noticing this for a while, and
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: you know, there's roughly a decade now of the video
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: board era. There should be a little more information on that.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: And then you know, just climate change. I don't know
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: exactly how this fits into it, but it's been you know,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: there are moments that in the clubhouse where they're like,
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: like that ball Patrick Wisdom hit, Yeah, summer of like
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: oh this is going you know, to Waveland and it's
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: caught in left field, and so like, I don't think
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: this is I don't think the Cubs are going to
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: become like Seattle or San Francisco as sort of like
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: this graveyard for hitters. But I don't know, Scott represents
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: the superstar hitters who are about to come free agents.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you ever heard of like Juan Soto,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo and those are all separate conversations, but it's
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: just like in a idea that sort of I think
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: we'll be kicking around for a while and just I
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: mean one more thing on Scott. People are going to
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: listen to this and say, oh, well he has an agenda,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: and it's like, well, everyone we talked to has an agenda,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Like there's just happened to be on the player side,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Like when we talk to Jed, when we talk to Council,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: when we talk to.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: Name any player in the clubhouse.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: There's always some sort of like calculation here, and then
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: it's up to us and it's up to you as
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: the listeners and readers to kind of evaluate for what
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: it is. So of course, uh, Scott is going to
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: look at what happened at really of the field this
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: year and be like hmm, like what's.
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: Going on here?
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: And well, how does that impact Cody? But like, this
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: is not just a Bellinger thing. It's like what you said,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: so hot of a topic of conversation in the front office,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: in the clubhouse and by the batting cage is like
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: this is this is very much on their minds. It's
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: just a weird split of like how they've gotten to
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: this point where there's scrambling to keep up in the
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: playoff phrase.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah you brought up the video boards.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: This is like there's also the sweet below us in
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: the press like below the press box that blox that
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: that used to be open, right, and that means wind
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: when it was blowing out could come through there and
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: that's not happening anymore.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: And that I know that that's a big factor.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: That that absolutely changes things as far as the wind
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: blowing out impacting the game, because that happened in Boston
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: as well. It used to be something like Fenway Park
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: was more open in the back and the wind used
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: to impact the ball at Fenway Park more.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: Uh.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: It's just it's just you know, I'm not saying this
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: is a good or bad thing. It's just like these
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: suites and building out ballparks impact yeah, yeah, like there's
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: there's real impacts. There's real impact on the game on
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: these things.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: I don't know. I think what what's going to be fascinating.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: To follow is is this going to impact how you
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: build a team? Right? Like Seattle has tried to think
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: through this for years. I think Seattle is the extreme case, right,
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: and they've they've talked about it and tried different things
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: for years to try and figure out how to get
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: the right offense. San Francisco is interesting, but I don't
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: think it's as like there's an issue there, but there
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: there's there's so many reasons what's going on in San
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Francisco I think, I like, but Seattle is.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: Is a weird case.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: I don't think Wrigley is going to get there just
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: because this is we're not at that point yet. If
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: we get another couple of years of this, we're gonna
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: have to start talking about it more.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: But it's just so odd to see happen.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: I also think it's right now my my baseball senses,
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: my tendency is to say this is randomness. There's a
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: bit of randomness happening. There have been days where I've
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: noticed where I've gone, like I haven't been on the
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: road and I've been home, and I'm like, this would
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: be a good day to play Wrigley.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: On the road, you know.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: So I think there's a little bit of randomness here,
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: But like this weekend was a perfect example of just like,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: it's a nice, nice weather but not like blazing hot,
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: and it was blowing in, blowing.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: In hard, and they had no chance.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: I think it was almost a good thing for the
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Cubs in a sense, because they would have lost those
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: games by blowouts the first two games because Stanton and
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Judge at least hit balls that would have been a
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: mile out. Uh so, And I don't remember the Cubs
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: having very many of those moments over the weekend. It's
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: I think it's worth exploring. I think it's a real,
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: real situation. I just don't know what the answer is,
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: and I don't think the front office has an answer
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: right now. Outside of this is worth digging into, you know,
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: this is worth talking about.
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: This isn't something we're going to dismiss. Ultimately.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Does it change how they act in the off season,
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: how they try and build a lineup? I don't think
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: we're at that point yet, but it's certainly worth exploring.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: I think it's fascinating.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: I think unfortunately I missed the other day Craig Council
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: pregame session.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: I was talking to Garrett.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Cole for that Jamison Toy own piece I wrote, and
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: he and Sully had a nice back and forth apparently
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: where where Sully asked about it and councils like do
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: you want us to build a team to predict the
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: weather for twenty twenty five? Like, how are we supposed
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: to do that? Which I think, you know, the council
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: can be a little jokey and sarcastic.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean, I mean, who better than our
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: guys Sully to get a sense of the history at
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Rigley Field and how it has played over a huge
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: chunk of time and its reputation and no doubt that
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: things can change. I feel like, you know, I forget
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: exactly why, but Peco Park plays a little differently now.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: I feel like that used to be kind of changed.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: The walls, didn't they change the I thought they changed
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: the walls.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, like.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Not saying the Cubs are going to change, but like
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: obviously Wrigley is a great place to play. Chicago is
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: a great city. You know, these deals come down to
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: years and dollars, but there is like this like kind
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: of drop of uncertainty that kind of makes you think, like, well,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: if like one of the most powerfully agents in the
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: game is has this like at the front of his mind,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: it does make you wonder of like if guys are
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: if you had someone like Soto who is on a
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Hall of Fame trajectory, or you know, someone like Bryce
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Harper previously, you know who could think about like you know,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Cooper's town numbers and where to where he can get
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: those not easily, but like have a clear path towards it.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: I think that was part of the his hesitation with
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: San Francisco. I mean there was a lot that went
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: into that in him choosing the Phillies, but that had
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: been part of like the public narrative of like, oh,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: you go to San Francisco, like are you gonna be
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: able to put up those monster offensive seasons over and
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: over and over again?
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: But yeah, I think.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Talking to Scott always you hear interesting stuff, and that
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean you just quote everything verbatim or you know,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: pretend that this is some sort of definitive story we
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: put up. But this is like you know, daily beat reporting, right,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: I mean you just kind of hear a couple of
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: things and someone says something that's surprising and interesting, and
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: then you kind of put some context around it, and
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: like there's always another story.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Tomorrow in the day after that.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: And I really do look forward to digging into it.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: I was joking that, you know, we're gonna have to
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: do some some research on on this one and you know,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: unveil our grand because conspiracy theory. You know, we can
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: do We'll have a set up like a room with
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: the it's always sunny in Philadelphia with you know, all
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: of our theories laid out against against the wall. But
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: for sure, just a just a interesting topic that you know,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: really kind of came together all at once.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I brought this up to Council in Texas opening days, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, and.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: And he he kind of joked with me about it,
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: like you should dig into that, like kind of like
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: making fun of the idea, half making fun of you know,
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: like I said, council gets a little sarcastic.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: I did not expect it to become this big of
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: a topic.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: I just I just thought my point was, regally is
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: not like this. It always blows out like Hitters Paradise,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Like it's a very odd ballpark, and it's gotten odd
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: over the past decade. Uh so, I and Council has
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: said that for the past couple of months. He brings
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: it up out of like out of nowhere, he'll bring
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: it up. It's a real thing. It's so weird that
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: it's impacted the team this this drastically this season.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: But hey, things things happen, you know. And when I
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: say things happen, I don't know.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: I don't think the thing that's gonna happen is the
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: Cubs staying hot here and making a playoff run. I
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: will say, it's interesting that they've they've kept it, you know, kept.
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: The topic up for this long.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: I don't know how it how it's happened, because after
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: that homestand I was sure would be writing the obitu
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: obituary of this team by now, and it just hasn't happened.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: We'll see what else happens while you're on the road, Patrick,
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: there that they have who do they have going Wednesday night?
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: They Wicks Okay, Wicks verse, someone who's struggling Bobby Miller. Yeah,
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: so maybe the offense stays hot. You know, Wix has
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: looked game for sure, if they win this game, if
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: you're looking at a chance for a very good road trip.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: I know, weird things happen in Colorado, but still like
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: this team just looks like a different team on the road.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: And then I don't know.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I don't know what's going to happen because I'm out
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: of the prediction game with this team because it what
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: we just discussed doesn't make sense to me, doesn't fully
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: make sense to me, and this team doesn't fully make
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: sense right now, so it's impossible to predict them. I
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: don't think they're terrible. I don't think they're great. So
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna shrug my shoulders and say, we'll see.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: It comes to baseball and not making sense since eighteen
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: seventy six.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: We'll be back to I think to maybe we'll be
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: back before the Colorado series, right, guys, just talk about
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: that and wrap up this Dodgers series. Thanks so much
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: for listening everyone. This is North Side Territory. Make sure
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: to rate, review and subscribe. Subscribe to the YouTube feed,
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Subscribe to the Athletic where Patrick and I are on
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: top of everything. With this team, we'll have a lot
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: more weather related topics and everything.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: On the podcast.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, let's get that done.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to everyone, Take care, have a good one.