Speaker 1: Is this a great game or what with the Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer Tim Kirkshon. I'm his son, Jeff Kirkshon, and
Speaker 1: we are just one day away from Independence Day.
Speaker 2: So happy July fourth, Dad, Yes, And what do you
Speaker 2: have planned for July the fourth, Jeff?
Speaker 1: So we have our like the world's cutest small town
Speaker 1: Fourth of July parade in skip Back, Pennsylvania. And you know,
Speaker 1: they bring all of the fire trucks through all of
Speaker 1: the floats.
Speaker 3: It's really adorable.
Speaker 1: So what we do, Dad, is we wake up early,
Speaker 1: we bring chairs down to the pike right to skip
Speaker 1: Back Pike, and we set them out early. Go back
Speaker 1: to your house. We can walk there, and then we're
Speaker 1: gonna have some friends over with their kids, all walk
Speaker 1: down together and do a little pool party after the parade.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be awesome. I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 2: Right, I have a white Claude, Jeff. That'll be great.
Speaker 2: I will be flying to San Diego on July the fourth.
Speaker 2: We'll be doing the Rangers at the Padres on Sunday
Speaker 2: Night Baseball. It's the second of two games that night
Speaker 2: on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. So I'm very excited. About that,
Speaker 2: So let's go July the fourth. Can't wait?
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're gonna be on a plane on the fourth
Speaker 1: of July. Do you think you'll be Are you gonna
Speaker 1: be at night or is it a day flight.
Speaker 2: It's a morning flight, so I will be there plenty
Speaker 2: of time for the game and for the fireworks at
Speaker 2: Petco Park on Friday night July the fourth.
Speaker 1: I remember the first time we went to Petco Park, Dad?
Speaker 2: Do you remember this first trip at dude? That was
Speaker 2: your only trip there? First we went to Legoland, That's right,
Speaker 2: that was part of the trip. And yes, we ended
Speaker 2: and we went to SeaWorld, I believe Clyde and Theemour
Speaker 2: and then we then we went to Petco Park. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Does Russell Wilson look like a trainer at sea World?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: I mean when we did our Dan Levintard episode, that
Speaker 1: one came out from Jeremy Ted Shay Similist that was
Speaker 1: on it.
Speaker 3: I remember going to SeaWorld, Dad.
Speaker 1: Is there a place you and I feel more out
Speaker 1: of place than SeaWorld?
Speaker 2: Uh? Yeah, Jeff. Neither one of us is very good
Speaker 2: in the water. You're worse than I am, But neither
Speaker 2: one of us are that good on land either, if
Speaker 2: you're really thinking about it.
Speaker 1: So, Dad, did you hear the story of the passenger
Speaker 1: who fell off of the Disney Dream cruise ship? A
Speaker 1: five year old supposedly reportedly fell off a cruise ship
Speaker 1: and dad jumped in, saved the child, and treaded water
Speaker 1: for twenty minutes until the rescue boats got there.
Speaker 2: How long was it the fall?
Speaker 1: About four decks is what they say, into the water.
Speaker 1: The dad jumped in after right after the child fell in.
Speaker 3: He jumped in.
Speaker 2: How he saved his five year old son?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I'm a son or daughter, I'm not sure,
Speaker 1: but yes, And it just speaks volumes. Dad, And I
Speaker 1: know we joke about me being a terrible swimmer, but
Speaker 1: I would jump in so fast, so quickly after my daughter.
Speaker 1: My world's completely changed when I became a dad almost
Speaker 1: two years ago. Like I remember you saying, you don't
Speaker 1: even know love until you have a child.
Speaker 3: And that's no disrespect to people without kids.
Speaker 1: Meaning it's just a different channel of love that you
Speaker 1: have for your children than that you have of your
Speaker 1: own parents, or of your spouse or of your dog. Right,
Speaker 1: It's just a different channel of your heart.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I'm a.
Speaker 1: Terrible swimmer, and I jump in immediately, and I like
Speaker 1: to think there would be some sort of God intervention
Speaker 1: to make me a good swimmer again in order to
Speaker 1: save McKinley's life.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you is no telling what what can what comes
Speaker 2: from with inside you. You don't even know you have
Speaker 2: it when you don't even remember this jet. But when
Speaker 2: you were a really small child, you got trapped underneath
Speaker 2: the car and I picked up the car and saved
Speaker 2: your life.
Speaker 3: Did you know in a matchbox car.
Speaker 2: That's enough of that, speaking Jeff, speaking Jeff of obituaries
Speaker 2: or which were not. Of course, I wrote Johnny Bench's
Speaker 2: obituary this morning, and he's not sick. He's okay. That's
Speaker 2: the point. Johnny Bench is our favorite player. It was
Speaker 2: our favorite guest of the podcast last year. But in
Speaker 2: order to get things in the bank at ESPN, you
Speaker 2: have to do these things just in case. So Johnny
Speaker 2: Bench is fine. Nothing's going to happen to Johnny Bench
Speaker 2: for another twenty years, our hope is. But I just
Speaker 2: want you to know this is what I do on
Speaker 2: a daily basis. I have to do things like this,
Speaker 2: not easy to do, by the way.
Speaker 1: That is I mean, I remember years and years and
Speaker 1: years ago, you had to write an obituary for your
Speaker 1: dear friend and one of your mentors, Peter Gammons, when
Speaker 1: they're he was a little touch and go there medically, Dad,
Speaker 1: that was maybe brand aneurism.
Speaker 2: And they called me and said at midnight and said
Speaker 2: you better write this. He might not make it through
Speaker 2: the night. And with tears in my eyes, I wrote
Speaker 2: an oh bit on Peter Gammons and I told him
Speaker 2: about it, and then he said, show it to me,
Speaker 2: send it to me. I can't wait to read it.
Speaker 2: Which thank god, we haven't needed any part of it.
Speaker 1: So, you know, the old saying is that you, you know,
Speaker 1: you'd always want to attend your own funeral to see
Speaker 1: what people have to say about you. Are you gonna
Speaker 1: send Johnny Bench.
Speaker 2: The o Ben No, of course not, Guys.
Speaker 1: He's a guest, he's a friend of the show. He's
Speaker 1: a guest on the show. I want to bring him
Speaker 1: back just so you could read his opus to him
Speaker 1: on the podcast.
Speaker 2: We have to do it, all right, all right, all right,
Speaker 2: we'll get him on the show again. I hope we
Speaker 2: already used up one time. We don't get too many
Speaker 2: shots at Johnny Bench's greatest catcher ever.
Speaker 1: Oh, you scared me so much when you said that,
Speaker 1: but you said it so nonchalantly. I was like, there's
Speaker 1: no way he's going about the Johnny Bench isn't gonna
Speaker 1: make it through the Oh my goodness, gracious, Okay.
Speaker 2: Wow, let's thank Ron Darling for yesterday. That's just absolutely
Speaker 2: a great interview talking about the forty year anniversary of
Speaker 2: maybe the craziest game ever played, these sixteen to thirteen
Speaker 2: victory by the Mets over the Braves forty years ago
Speaker 2: in the Rick.
Speaker 1: Camp game yes on fourth of July, and it was
Speaker 1: so interesting to hear from him coming in at three
Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning to pitch. If you didn't listen
Speaker 1: to the last episode, maybe save it for tomorrow on
Speaker 1: the fourth of July and you can kind of be
Speaker 1: reliving that game forty years later on the day it
Speaker 1: actually happened, very very neat. So thank you to Ron
Speaker 1: Darling and Dad. Thank you that you're not wearing your
Speaker 1: Hawaiian shirt for this episode.
Speaker 3: Back to back episode, So I'm just glad.
Speaker 2: That was pretty bad. By the way, Jeff, do you
Speaker 2: remember the movie I made when we went to Mom
Speaker 2: and I went to Maui. Do you remember Maui the movie? Yeah? Right?
Speaker 2: Was the Was that the single stupidest thing you've ever seen? Dad?
Speaker 2: We had a little video camera and we just chronicled
Speaker 2: the entire trip to Maui, and my favorite moment was,
Speaker 2: because we were trying to do all sorts of things,
Speaker 2: we found an outdoor basketball court with a rim that
Speaker 2: was seven feet high. Seven okay, And back then I
Speaker 2: was younger and I could jump, and I bought a
Speaker 2: basketball while we were in Maui, and as part of
Speaker 2: the Stupidest Maui the Movie ever, I dunked a basketball
Speaker 2: a bunch of times on camera, and I showed the
Speaker 2: movie to friends and family and one of my uncles said, Tim,
Speaker 2: was that was that a ten foot hoop you were dunk?
Speaker 2: He was serious? I said, no, it was a seven
Speaker 2: foot high who.
Speaker 1: Still pretty good for a guy your height to jam
Speaker 1: on seven feet.
Speaker 2: Jeff, you could just dunk on seven feet.
Speaker 3: I could dunk on eight feet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and yeah, you could be Kyle Schwarber in a race.
Speaker 1: I don't think I think you don't think I could
Speaker 1: dunk on an eight foot rim.
Speaker 2: I think you could dunk on an eight foot rim.
Speaker 3: Yes, we're gonna have to do a video of that.
Speaker 1: Now, is your rim still adjustable in your front It is? Okay,
Speaker 1: we have a gorilla in the front yard. Not your
Speaker 1: not your first one either. You you recently upgraded. And
Speaker 1: I don't know if anybody this.
Speaker 2: Is where I'm such a snob, Jeff, when it comes
Speaker 2: to outdoor basketball hoops. And I've told you this. If
Speaker 2: you're gonna put a hoop in the yard, it has
Speaker 2: to be an in ground hoop. It can't be on wheels.
Speaker 2: And I don't want to offend anyone who has a
Speaker 2: hoop on wheels, But if you want to be really
Speaker 2: good at shooting of basketball, you need to shoot it
Speaker 2: at a rim that is in the ground and it's
Speaker 2: not going to shake or move every time you hit rim.
Speaker 3: Ain't that the truth?
Speaker 2: Dad?
Speaker 3: Let's go into the take one.
Speaker 2: Okay. Well, I visited you on Monday, and that night
Speaker 2: I went to see the Phillies game's Jack Wheeler pitched.
Speaker 2: He pitched another great game, and it just just shows
Speaker 2: you how great the pitching is in the big leagues.
Speaker 2: We talk about this all the time, but I saw
Speaker 2: Mike Shilt, the Padres manager because they didn't score any
Speaker 2: runs off of Zach Wheeler and reliever. And he just said,
Speaker 2: like after the first inning, he just looked and said,
Speaker 2: oh my goodness, Like, what are we up against here?
Speaker 2: And he essentially said what I say every night. When
Speaker 2: these really good pitchers have their best stuff and they
Speaker 2: can command it, the hitter has virtually no chance. I mean,
Speaker 2: we talked last week about or the other day about
Speaker 2: you know, last week we had twenty four games in
Speaker 2: a two game span, twelve of them were shutouts. Never
Speaker 2: happened in the history of baseball. And you know Tuesday
Speaker 2: night last night before we taped three more shutouts. It
Speaker 2: happens all the time. And Jeff, just look at the
Speaker 2: strikeout rates that we're talking about. Raphael Devers, pretty darn
Speaker 2: good hitter, just finished twelve strikeouts in four games. No
Speaker 2: San Francisco Giant has ever done that that many strikeouts
Speaker 2: in four games. This is the same Devers, great hitter
Speaker 2: who started the season over nineteen with fifteen strikeouts. Aaron
Speaker 2: Judge at this taping has ninety seven strikeouts this season,
Speaker 2: and he is the best hitter in the game. Shohei Otani,
Speaker 2: who might be the second best hitter in the game
Speaker 2: struck out for the one hundredth time on Tuesday Night.
Speaker 2: This and these guys are great, but when you're facing
Speaker 2: pitching like this, you have very little chance. And now
Speaker 2: Jacob de gram of course is back. He's not the
Speaker 2: Jacob de gravavold, but he's still pretty darn good. Fourteen
Speaker 2: straight starts now, at least five innings pitched and no
Speaker 2: more than two earned runs. And here's what's happening now.
Speaker 2: Jeff like Otani came into the league with a big
Speaker 2: old leg kick, and that's where the power. That was
Speaker 2: his starter, that was his trigger, that's how he got
Speaker 2: things going. But so many hitters now, including o'tani, you
Speaker 2: have abandoned the leg kick because you're not going to
Speaker 2: catch up to one hundred miles an hour until you
Speaker 2: just go to a toe tap or have no stride
Speaker 2: at all. So many hitters today have had to adjust
Speaker 2: the way they swing the bat because the pitching that
Speaker 2: they see is so amazingly good.
Speaker 1: It's quick, it's fast, it's scary, it's impossible to keep
Speaker 1: up with. Anybody who thinks they can even make contact
Speaker 1: against a major leaguer right now is absolutely crazy.
Speaker 2: We've been over this, stupid Kirkchon quandary a million times.
Speaker 2: But average fan against any pitcher in the big leagues
Speaker 2: today one hundred swings, no contact, no hits, no balls,
Speaker 2: and play zero chance.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The last takeaway is that the as through Tuesday, the
Speaker 2: two longest winning streaks in the major leagues belonged to
Speaker 2: the Miami Marlins at eight games and five games by
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Pirates. And this is why baseball is the
Speaker 2: greatest game, Jeff. Two weeks ago, they were two of
Speaker 2: the five worst teams in baseball. Now they have the
Speaker 2: two longest winning streaks in the game. This is why
Speaker 2: the game is so beautiful. Is just the ebbs and flow.
Speaker 2: I just don't make any sense. And I'm not suggesting
Speaker 2: this is going to continue for the Marlins or the Pirates,
Speaker 2: but the fact that they have played this well for
Speaker 2: this period of time is really good. Paul Skins, by
Speaker 2: the way, who you mentioned the other day, the poor
Speaker 2: guy never gets any run support. Now he is the
Speaker 2: first he's the first pitcher ever to have an ERA
Speaker 2: this low. That's one forty four during a ten start stretch.
Speaker 2: And during that stretch he had zero or one victories.
Speaker 2: That is the lowest year since nineteen thirteen when earn
Speaker 2: runs became official. So that's low cra by any picture
Speaker 2: in a ten game stretch, and during that stretch the
Speaker 2: pitcher only had had one or zero victories. That's how
Speaker 2: little support Paul Skeins has got.
Speaker 1: That's very sad. All right, Dad, what about the cork Gins?
Speaker 1: What do you have for us?
Speaker 2: All right? So, Jeff, Tuesday night, I'm watching as many
Speaker 2: games as I can up at my office and Andy
Speaker 2: Van Slyly called me to tell me. In the Cubs
Speaker 2: game he saw something that he's never seen before. Three
Speaker 2: Cubs got thrown out on the bases in one inning.
Speaker 2: So the three outs were made and the batter didn't
Speaker 2: make the out in any of them. So he said,
Speaker 2: I've never seen that. And then you got a bunch
Speaker 2: of texts, and I got a bunch of texts and
Speaker 2: tweets and everything like when's the last time this happened?
Speaker 2: So I, of course, of course, you know, texted Frank
Speaker 2: from the Elias late last night because I know I've
Speaker 2: seen this before. I just can't remember when I saw it.
Speaker 2: So the last time this happened was in nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 2: The Angels were facing Mike Fetters in the sixth inning
Speaker 2: and they had two clot stealings and a guy out
Speaker 2: trying to stretch in one inning. So that was the
Speaker 2: last time nineteen ninety one? Wow, at three bat that
Speaker 2: three guys reached on base, reach base, three batters reach
Speaker 2: base and were all thrown out in the same inning.
Speaker 3: That's crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a bunch of members and I would listen them all,
Speaker 1: but there were so many that messaged us, so thank
Speaker 1: you for being on top of that saying when was
Speaker 1: the last time this happened?
Speaker 2: We got it right, We got it for you, all right?
Speaker 2: Will you a brave you of the Red Sox hit
Speaker 2: an inside the park homer and a grand Slam in
Speaker 2: the same game. First player to do that since Roger Marris,
Speaker 2: who seems to be in every podcast these days. Did
Speaker 2: it be nineteen fifty eight? So I looked up Jeff
Speaker 2: the most home runs by anyone without an inside the
Speaker 2: park homer? This is not a surprise, but Albert Poolhols
Speaker 2: hit seven hundred and three homers without an inside the
Speaker 2: park homer. I think that's the most, but I know
Speaker 2: that he never hit one and he had seven oh
Speaker 2: three and Glenn Davis hit one hundred and ninety two
Speaker 2: homers in his career, which is the most by anyone
Speaker 2: who retired without a Grand Slam homer. So we have
Speaker 2: seven oh three and one ninety two and William brayhw
Speaker 2: did it both in the same game.
Speaker 3: Wow, that's kind of crazy, right.
Speaker 2: Pretty cool. Justin Foscue of the Rangers broke an OH
Speaker 2: for forty four stretch. It's stretched two years Tuesday Night,
Speaker 2: OH for forty four jet position player. The last position
Speaker 2: player to have anything that long was Chris Davis in
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen nineteen. I remember this distinctly. He was OH
Speaker 2: for fifty four. Yeah, Jeb, we just talked about the
Speaker 2: average fan. He had one hundred of bats at a
Speaker 2: major league No. No major leaguer OH for forty four,
Speaker 2: major leaguer zho for fifty four. Just not happen. Ronald Lacuna,
Speaker 2: junior leadoff guy for the Braves Tuesday Night, struck out
Speaker 2: four times. So that's the twenty first time we've been
Speaker 2: charting this all year, twenty first time that a leadoff
Speaker 2: guy has struck out four times in a game. That's
Speaker 2: the most ever before July fourth in baseball, history, which
Speaker 2: stands to reason because strikeout rate, which we've been talking
Speaker 2: about a lot during this podcast, is what it is.
Speaker 2: It's at a historically high level as it is, as
Speaker 2: it has been every year for at least the last
Speaker 2: fifteen years.
Speaker 1: Do I have this right that Ellie de la Cruz
Speaker 1: just passed Tony Gwinn's all time strikeouts. I did not
Speaker 1: know that, but yes, I'm surprised it took this long. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and think about the years of service. Ellie de la
Speaker 1: Cruz started his career in twenty twenty three and he
Speaker 1: currently has the total is four hundred and fifty four strikeouts. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm just confirming this as I type. And Tony Gwyn,
Speaker 1: obviously a legend, played for almost twenty full seasons and
Speaker 1: his strikeouts four thirty four.
Speaker 2: So yep, yeah, yeah, more people will strike Several more
Speaker 2: people will strike out. Well, several people will strike out
Speaker 2: two hundred times this year. Tony Gwyn didn't strike out
Speaker 2: two hundred times in the decade of the nineties. Just
Speaker 2: think about that first.
Speaker 3: It's unbelievable, right, Okay, A couple last things.
Speaker 2: Jeff Steve Sparks, our new best friend broadcaster for the Astros,
Speaker 2: and of course, a good major league pitcher in his
Speaker 2: day sent me a text in the middle of the
Speaker 2: night with the attendance Jeff last night, but Tuesday night
Speaker 2: between the Rockies and the Astros, the attendance was thirty
Speaker 2: thousand three to oh three. What does that mean to you, Jeff,
Speaker 2: thirty thousand three to oh three.
Speaker 3: It's a palindrome.
Speaker 2: Palindrome. That's the second time this year. Steve pointed out
Speaker 2: that the Astros have had a palindromic attendance. And he
Speaker 2: keeps track of these things, and he asked, can I
Speaker 2: be a seam head? What are you crazy? You're a
Speaker 2: bigger seam head than I am. And he pitched in
Speaker 2: the big leagues. It was really good tendance levels.
Speaker 1: These are the things that bring us joy, very unfortunately right.
Speaker 2: So, also Tuesday night, Mason Montgomery got the loss in
Speaker 2: the rays A's game, and Mason Miller got the save.
Speaker 2: Mason is used to be I mean, no one was
Speaker 2: ever had a first name Mason until a few years
Speaker 2: ago in the big leagues. And so this was the
Speaker 2: first time that there's ever been any combination in win
Speaker 2: loss save that two guys who got a win loss
Speaker 2: or saved were named Mason. So that was the first
Speaker 2: time we've ever seen that.
Speaker 3: Two Mason's doing big things in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: Right, and Brendan Little. Remember we had Brendan Little in
Speaker 2: the other day in our in our pictures of record,
Speaker 2: Well this time we ahead what do we have for
Speaker 2: Brendan Little? The last time a little little league? Yeah, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: it was a little little leisure, little leisure, little leisure
Speaker 2: Little got the win and Mark Lighter Juniors got the loss.
Speaker 2: So the pictures of record were a little lighter, A
Speaker 2: little lighter. I love that. That's what I am these days,
Speaker 2: a little lighter, not like I needed to be. Okay
Speaker 2: that those are the courttions for this week.
Speaker 1: Well, coming up next, we have on this date in
Speaker 1: baseball history, from Ozzie to Oral Dad. Are we knocking
Speaker 1: down one or two numbers from Ozzie to orl today?
Speaker 2: We've got to today because I'm not sure there's there's
Speaker 2: any question and there's no argument on either one, that's
Speaker 2: my guess.
Speaker 1: And then the best of all, Tim and a team
Speaker 1: Tim that's going to make you proud to be an American.
Speaker 1: It's all coming up next on is this a great
Speaker 1: game or what.
Speaker 3: Welcome back to? Is this a great game?
Speaker 2: Or what? Dad?
Speaker 1: On this date in baseball history, July the third, what
Speaker 1: do you got?
Speaker 2: Well? As you know, I try to get Walter Johnson
Speaker 2: into every podcast since I went. Did I ever tell
Speaker 2: you I went to Walter Johnson High School?
Speaker 3: I didn't know that.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So on this date in nineteen thirteen, Walter Johnson
Speaker 2: pitched a fifteen hit shutout. Think about it, a fifteen
Speaker 2: hit shutout. Of course, the game lasted fifteen innings, and
Speaker 2: of course back then it was no surprise when Walter
Speaker 2: Johnson or almost any really good pitcher pitched all fifteen innings,
Speaker 2: but it was the most hits ever allowed in a shutout.
Speaker 2: Also on this date, in nineteen sixty six, Tony Kloninger
Speaker 2: hit two Grand Slams in one game. First National League
Speaker 2: player to hit two Grand Slams in one game, Jeff.
Speaker 2: And if you may not know this, but Tony Cloninger
Speaker 2: was a pitcher, So the first National leaguer to do
Speaker 2: it was a pitcher. And like a couple of weeks
Speaker 2: ear earlier, he had driven in five. On June the sixteenth,
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty six, he knocked in five runs in a game,
Speaker 2: which was the most RBIs in one game ever by
Speaker 2: a National League pitcher. And then he drove in nine
Speaker 2: runs on July the third, nineteen sixty six. Now, let's see,
Speaker 2: if you remember jeff I quiz you way too often.
Speaker 2: Give me. Give me two guys in major league history
Speaker 2: who you add up their Grand slams and they equal
Speaker 2: the number that Tony Klanager hit. A pitcher hit in
Speaker 2: one game. Two guys in major league history who had
Speaker 2: a lot of at bats, and each of them Derek Jeter.
Speaker 3: Derek Jeter way to go only one in his career, right, right.
Speaker 2: Right, And this guy had more at bats than anyone
Speaker 2: in major league history. Pete Sports, Pete Rose. So he
Speaker 2: and Derek Jeter had twenty and forty eight at bats
Speaker 2: official at bats not played appear and hit two Grand slams.
Speaker 2: Tony Klanger did hit two in one game and for
Speaker 2: the third time. He's a pitcher.
Speaker 3: All right, Dad? From Ozzie to Oral, are you ready
Speaker 3: to give us another number?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we're at number twenty five. Barry Bonds is
Speaker 2: our number twenty five. I'm not sure there's a debate here. Now,
Speaker 2: let's keep in mind he wore number twenty four for
Speaker 2: the Pirates, won a couple MVPs wearing number twenty four,
Speaker 2: but when he got to the Giants, he couldn't wear
Speaker 2: number twenty four, Jeff.
Speaker 3: Because Willie Mays.
Speaker 1: Right, way to go, Jeff, if you miss they related, right,
Speaker 1: it's his godfather.
Speaker 2: Are they related? Yes, Willie Mays is Barry Bonds's godfather.
Speaker 2: Thank you for getting that right. But when he went,
Speaker 2: when Barry Bonds went to the Giants, his dad, Bobby Bonds,
Speaker 2: one of the great players that I grew up watching,
Speaker 2: or number twenty five. So he wore Bobby Bonds' number
Speaker 2: and he won five MVPs wearing number twenty five. He
Speaker 2: hit five hundred and eighty six homers as a giant.
Speaker 2: And sorry, Jeff, I know we're not allowed to talk
Speaker 2: about this given Barry Bonds's history, but for me, the
Speaker 2: three greatest hitters of all time are in order, Babe, Ruth, Ted, Williams,
Speaker 2: Barry Bonds. That's it. That's the list.
Speaker 3: Sorry, in that order too, one, two, three, Yeah.
Speaker 2: And again a lot of people will will argue with that,
Speaker 2: and I understand you can have any list you like,
Speaker 2: but that's my list. So long story, but I'll make
Speaker 2: it quick. Aj Prasinski, I want you to ask him,
Speaker 2: what's the greatest thing you've ever seen in baseball? And
Speaker 2: he laughed at me. He said, I played one year
Speaker 2: with Barry Bonds. I've never seen anything like it, so
Speaker 2: I'll be close on this. But he said that. Barry
Speaker 2: walked into the clubhouse before the first game of the
Speaker 2: season in Houston and he announced to the whole team, Hey,
Speaker 2: in this three game series, I'm going to get a
Speaker 2: whole bunch of hits. I'm gonna be on base, but
Speaker 2: I'm not going to hit any homers because i want
Speaker 2: to make sure I hit my first homer of the
Speaker 2: year when we return home, because Willie Mays is going
Speaker 2: to be there, and I want to tie his home
Speaker 2: run totals six sixty while he's in the stands. So
Speaker 2: for three games in Houston, yes, Barry Bonds, like had
Speaker 2: a tremendous three games. I forget the numbers, it's not important.
Speaker 2: He was on base, he drove in runs, he walked
Speaker 2: everything else. He gets home first game, he announces to
Speaker 2: his team because they're home, I'm going to hit a
Speaker 2: homer today because Willy's here. So he hit a home run.
Speaker 2: Next day, Willy is there and he says, I'm going
Speaker 2: to hit another homer today because I'm going to pass Willy.
Speaker 2: I want to pass Willie, my godfather, while he's in
Speaker 2: the stands. And the next day he hit number six
Speaker 2: sixty six one one. That's the story that Aj Prasinski
Speaker 2: told me that Willy was hitting home runs on command.
Speaker 1: Too hard for that, Jeff, I know, when you think
Speaker 1: about how great these hitters are to have that control,
Speaker 1: it's just unbelievable, right all right, Dad, number twenty six
Speaker 1: from Ozzie to orl.
Speaker 3: Who's the best player to wear that number?
Speaker 2: It's Wade Bogs. You know. He also wore twelve when
Speaker 2: he went to the Yankees, but in his career with
Speaker 2: the Red Sox he wore number twenty six. Remember Wade
Speaker 2: Bogs lifetime three, twenty eight hitter. He won five batting titles,
Speaker 2: four of them in a row, got seven, he got
Speaker 2: two hundred hits seven years in a row. And his
Speaker 2: career on base percentage is four fifteen, which is top
Speaker 2: twenty of all time. And I'll never forget Wade Bogs
Speaker 2: told me at the Hall of Fame one year. He
Speaker 2: was telling me that his eighth I can't prove this
Speaker 2: jet but his eighth year in the league, he hit
Speaker 2: a towering foul fly ball like down the right field line,
Speaker 2: deep into the crowd, and he looked at the umpire
Speaker 2: and the Empire looked it back at him. He said, what,
Speaker 2: and Wade Bog says, I've never done that before. As
Speaker 2: you know, Wade Bogs hit a lot of balls on
Speaker 2: the ground. He rarely put a ball in the air
Speaker 2: because you know, he fouled out to an infielder like
Speaker 2: three times in one season and that's a real statistic.
Speaker 2: But he never pulled it and he never hit it
Speaker 2: in the air. So when he hits this deep fly
Speaker 2: foul ball deep into the stands down the right field line,
Speaker 2: he claims he had never done that before. And as
Speaker 2: crazy as his career was, I believe it. And Jeff,
Speaker 2: here's how good he was in his prime. I wrote
Speaker 2: a story about him for the Dallas Morning News or
Speaker 2: Sports Illustrated. I don't know who I was with, not
Speaker 2: important and Rich Donelly, my dear friend told me. He said,
Speaker 2: we've decided the best way to play Wade Bogs to
Speaker 2: try to stop him from spraying the ball. All over
Speaker 2: the field. We're going to take the eight fielders behind
Speaker 2: the pitcher and we're just going to line them up
Speaker 2: in center field, and as soon as the ball is pitched,
Speaker 2: they're just going to scatter in every direction and maybe
Speaker 2: maybe someone will get in front of a ball and
Speaker 2: catch it. That's how hard it was to defend Wade Bogs.
Speaker 1: And I don't know what's more impressive, Dad. Three home
Speaker 1: runs for Barry Bonds in one season. We're seventy three
Speaker 1: beers on a cross country flight for wait Box, same number.
Speaker 3: I don't know which one's more impressive, Jeff.
Speaker 2: The year that I sorry went into Coopersown with the
Speaker 2: Lifetime Achieman Award.
Speaker 1: Backp You do not need to apologize, Dad, you have
Speaker 1: spent years working hard.
Speaker 2: Just stop it.
Speaker 3: I know you hate it. Not the point of this, okay,
Speaker 3: Please continue?
Speaker 2: All right. The night of the speech that I made
Speaker 2: so all the pressure is off, I walked down downstairs
Speaker 2: into the restaurant bar at the Oda Saga Hotel, and
Speaker 2: who is doing like karaoke down there? You and who else?
Speaker 3: Wade Box?
Speaker 2: Right here? It is. Here's a guy I grew up
Speaker 2: covering watchings, just dazzled by his ability and I go
Speaker 2: in there and you're singing a song with Wade Bogs.
Speaker 2: Do you remember any of the songs you were singing?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we did Piano Man by Billy Joel. Really yeah,
Speaker 2: could Wade Bogs sing? I mean yeah?
Speaker 3: But he say every line for him was and.
Speaker 1: The microphone smells leg a beer. No, he has been
Speaker 1: nothing but gracious and nice in the times I've had
Speaker 1: an opportunity to meet him, and he's he loves to
Speaker 1: have a good time.
Speaker 2: Jip, that's a claim to fame. You've been saying karaoke
Speaker 2: with one of the great third basement of all time
Speaker 2: and the greatest number twenty six ever. I love that.
Speaker 1: I'll take that to the bank, all right, dad, best
Speaker 1: of all, Tim, Who what team are we doing this week?
Speaker 2: Well? Which may do the Texas Rangers, because this weekend
Speaker 2: I'm doing the Rangers and the Padres. So the greatest
Speaker 2: Texas Ranger of all time for me is pad Rodriguez.
Speaker 2: He won the MVP as a Ranger in nineteen ninety nine.
Speaker 2: He won thirteen Gold Gloves in his career, one of
Speaker 2: the great defensive catchers ever. Of them were with the
Speaker 2: Rangers thirteen years their career. Average of three oh four
Speaker 2: and in eight twenty eight ops. And get this, Jeff,
Speaker 2: I'll never forget this. He made his major league debut
Speaker 2: on June the twentieth, nineteen ninety one. He was nineteen
Speaker 2: years old, and he got married that morning and made
Speaker 2: his major league debut. This was at Kmiski Park in
Speaker 2: Chicago that night, and he got a hit, drove in
Speaker 2: two runs, and threw out two guys trying to steal.
Speaker 2: Because there were very, very very few catchers in major
Speaker 2: league history that were quicker behind the plate and threw
Speaker 2: better than Pad Rodriguez. So, Jeff, I mean, what was
Speaker 2: Let's see, he threw out two runners. You on your
Speaker 2: wedding day, you threw down twenty beers? Is that fair
Speaker 2: to say?
Speaker 1: You know, it's actually funny. And my wife will kill
Speaker 1: me for telling this story. But we were engaged for
Speaker 1: like eighteen months. We had a long engagement. We planned
Speaker 1: a wedding for eighteen months out after our engagement. And
Speaker 1: she might have told me Dad once a month, Jeff,
Speaker 1: just do me a favor.
Speaker 3: Don't drink too much our wedding night.
Speaker 1: I don't want you to be going too crazy, right,
Speaker 1: and it just we'd be out and she'd be like, better.
Speaker 3: Not drink that much at are okay?
Speaker 1: And who was the one who ended up having just
Speaker 1: that extra drink that they might not have probably needed
Speaker 1: was my.
Speaker 3: Wife, Emily.
Speaker 1: Here, I am stone cold sober at my own wedding
Speaker 1: because I was busy talking to people and dancing. I
Speaker 1: wasn't even thinking about where my drink is because I
Speaker 1: was talking to people. And then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: I see my wife and she goes, yeah, that was
Speaker 1: a that was a fun night.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, yep, you were.
Speaker 1: The one, not me, right well, Jeff, so I didn't
Speaker 1: put down twenty beers, thankfully.
Speaker 2: Thankfully you weren't there at our wedding in nineteen eighty three.
Speaker 2: But at the reception at the hotel, a couple of pros,
Speaker 2: more than a couple pros, somehow got into the reception.
Speaker 2: When I say pros, Jeff Hookers came into the reception
Speaker 2: because there were so many people there, they figured we
Speaker 2: could get in have a few drinks. I don't know.
Speaker 2: It was not good.
Speaker 1: And your father in law, my grandfather, had to escort
Speaker 1: them out right right.
Speaker 2: He chucked them. He chucked them out, which was a
Speaker 2: little disappointing because the one that I was dancing with
Speaker 2: was really really nice. Dad, Come all right, now, that's
Speaker 2: the biggest stupidest joke ever. Yes, Daddy, Pat made sure
Speaker 2: we got rid of the hookers at our reception in
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty three.
Speaker 3: All right, Dad, team Tim right now for you.
Speaker 1: Tomorrow's the fourth of July. I'm guessing you have a
Speaker 1: team about.
Speaker 2: That, right, I do, Jeff, And I've told you before
Speaker 2: about the reaches that we've had, the stretches that we've had.
Speaker 2: This I'm sure is the biggest reach ever, the whole team. Okay,
Speaker 2: but I had to try, really tried hard on this,
Speaker 2: and I really failed. But I'm going to do the
Speaker 2: best I can. The All July fourth team, which is
Speaker 2: also Independence Day. So there's two words for it. So
Speaker 2: our first basement is Freddie Freeman.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Freeman, I like it.
Speaker 2: Jackson Holiday is our second. Red Rolf is our third baseman.
Speaker 2: There will be a theme here to a guy named Red. Okay,
Speaker 2: we've got that. The shortstop is Pat Rocket played for
Speaker 2: the Grave Rock, right, Devon White, So now we are
Speaker 2: red and White United States. We're getting closer. Right. Curtis
Speaker 2: Pride is one of our outfielders. Ed Freed is one.
Speaker 3: Of our outfielders from from the British.
Speaker 2: I'm here for it, right. Vida Blue is one pitcher
Speaker 2: the White, White, and Blue didn't see it coming, right,
Speaker 2: Steve Sparks, who we mentioned earlier in the podcast, right,
Speaker 2: and uh my final three pitchers are Jeff Francis, Mike
Speaker 2: Scott and Jimmy Key. I love that, say it out loud.
Speaker 3: Francis Scott Key baby, Okay, now.
Speaker 1: He wrote the Star Spangled banner and I used to
Speaker 1: be an intern for the Frederick Keys.
Speaker 3: Named after Francis Scott Key.
Speaker 2: There you go, Jef. And the last one, and we're
Speaker 2: really going to test you on this one. And this
Speaker 2: is the biggest reach in the history of all of
Speaker 2: these dumb team tims that I've done. The catcher is
Speaker 2: Blake Sable. Let's see if you remember I've mentioned him
Speaker 2: multiple times. Blake Sable? How much baseball?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 2: Yes, so Blake Sable is our catcher because he has
Speaker 2: the word baseball in his name. So that's well. Yes,
Speaker 2: July fourth is a big baseball holiday.
Speaker 3: Okay, Okay, I believe it. I believe it. I'm all
Speaker 3: for it.
Speaker 2: Sorry, Dad, Baseball okay, baseball catcher. I couldn't find another catcher.
Speaker 2: I had to go with Blake Sable. I love it, Dad,
Speaker 2: great job. Happy Fourth of July to everybody out there.
Speaker 2: And now we wrap up with I am a seamhead, Dad.
Speaker 1: Now I was reached out to by our seamhead, Chris Donnelly. Okay,
Speaker 1: so he is a New Jersey author.
Speaker 2: Dad.
Speaker 1: He wrote a book called Get Your Tokens Ready, and
Speaker 1: it's all about the Mets Yankees from nineteen ninety seven,
Speaker 1: the start of Interleague to the last out of the
Speaker 1: two thousand World Series, the Subway series. Right, so, you
Speaker 1: can get the book wherever. It's called Get your Tokens Ready,
Speaker 1: you can get on Amazon.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: And well, it's the twenty fifth anniversary obviously of the
Speaker 1: Subway series this year. Would be really neat to have
Speaker 1: a Subway series on the twenty fifth anniversary of it.
Speaker 1: But he has explained to us what makes him such
Speaker 1: a big seamhead.
Speaker 4: Hey, guys, I think I am a seamhead because I
Speaker 4: have memorized more useless information about the nineteen nineties in
Speaker 4: New York Yankees than any human beings should be allowed.
Speaker 4: I can tell you the opening day starters for each
Speaker 4: year of that decade were Dave Lapointe, Tim Leary, Scott Sanderson,
Speaker 4: Jimmy Key, Jimmy Key, Jimmy Key, David Cone, David Cone,
Speaker 4: Andy Pettitt, Roger Clemens. That the first Yankees to hit
Speaker 4: home runs and each year of that decade were Mel Hall,
Speaker 4: Kevin Moss, Mel Hall, Danny Tartable, Danny Tartable, Danny Tartable,
Speaker 4: Derek Jeter, Tino Martinez, were A Pasada, and Chile Davis.
Speaker 2: For some reason, I can.
Speaker 4: Tell you that in nineteen ninety one, Don Baddingley hit
Speaker 4: nine home runs against eight different teams in order, the Tigers,
Speaker 4: the A's, the Orioles, the Blue Jays, the Rangers, the Twins,
Speaker 4: the Tigers, the Red Sox, and lastly the Indians, and
Speaker 4: that he was benched on August fifteenth, nineteen ninety one
Speaker 4: for not cutting his hair. My name is Chris Donnelly
Speaker 4: and I am a seamhead.
Speaker 1: It's pretty impressive that he, I mean, wrote a book
Speaker 1: about those that era, But I mean, I don't think
Speaker 1: most people could remember who got the first hit of
Speaker 1: the season on their favorite team for that long of
Speaker 1: a period.
Speaker 2: This is why there are seam heads out there in baseball,
Speaker 2: and maybe there are seam heads out there in football.
Speaker 2: They can't be called seamheads baseball only baseball can you
Speaker 2: be called a seamhead. But and I'm sure they're similar
Speaker 2: in basketball. But there are more guys like Chris Donnelly
Speaker 2: than than in other sports. I mean, I'm right about that.
Speaker 2: I mean, his recall and the research he did is
Speaker 2: pretty darned impressive. And that's why we love seamheads, and
Speaker 2: that's when we love when they contribute to the show.
Speaker 1: We've got a couple lined up, but if you want
Speaker 1: to be a part of the lineup of seamheads, you
Speaker 1: can email me Jeff at Great Game or what dot com,
Speaker 1: send me a voice memo, just like Chris did. End
Speaker 1: it with I'm Jeff Krikchen and I am a seamhead
Speaker 1: and we'd love to play it on the air for you, Dad,
Speaker 1: I hope you have a wonderful fourth of July. I
Speaker 1: know you're traveling, and I want to make sure everybody
Speaker 1: remembers to watch you, Dad. Sunday Night, July sixth, it'll
Speaker 1: be the Padres hosting the Rangers. You're going to be
Speaker 1: doing Sunday Night Baseball. Who's on the crew with you, Dad.
Speaker 2: Roxy Bernstein. We've got Jessica Mendoza and we've got Aldon Gonzalez.
Speaker 2: It's going to be great. Love those love that team.
Speaker 2: We should have a tremendous time. Love Petco Park. I
Speaker 2: mean it's so alive. When the Padres, oh, they love
Speaker 2: their team there. They got to start playing a little
Speaker 2: better here. And of course I'm going to see Mary
Speaker 2: Chavodi and my cousin while I'm in San Diego. She
Speaker 2: loves the Padres and she's going to the game on
Speaker 2: Sunday night.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be special, Dad, We'll all be watching.
Speaker 1: And thank you for listening, and as always, thank you
Speaker 1: for being a part of our family.