1 00:00:04,755 --> 00:00:08,995 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:26,715 --> 00:00:30,515 Speaker 1: Is Trump suddenly backing away from Q and On because 3 00:00:31,195 --> 00:00:35,115 Speaker 1: Q and On might cost him money in royalties. It's 4 00:00:35,115 --> 00:00:36,875 Speaker 1: not the q and On madness. It's not the q 5 00:00:37,035 --> 00:00:39,835 Speaker 1: and On desire to see the Constitution thrown away. It's 6 00:00:39,875 --> 00:00:42,235 Speaker 1: not the q and On bloodlust to see Trump publicly 7 00:00:42,315 --> 00:00:45,075 Speaker 1: execute his enemies by hanging them. It's not that it's 8 00:00:45,075 --> 00:00:48,435 Speaker 1: a full on psychosis conspiracy theory that does not even 9 00:00:48,475 --> 00:00:52,475 Speaker 1: hold together as a full on psychosis conspiracy theory. It's 10 00:00:53,195 --> 00:00:58,195 Speaker 1: the cost of the song. His latest rally in Wilmington's 11 00:00:58,195 --> 00:01:01,115 Speaker 1: in North Carolina was a startling reversal from the full 12 00:01:01,155 --> 00:01:03,915 Speaker 1: on madness of his Q and On athon in Ohio 13 00:01:04,235 --> 00:01:07,715 Speaker 1: for j devents last weekend. Not only did he not 14 00:01:07,915 --> 00:01:10,115 Speaker 1: try to get them to give him a half Nazi 15 00:01:10,195 --> 00:01:13,275 Speaker 1: half q and On four finger in the air seek 16 00:01:13,395 --> 00:01:17,275 Speaker 1: Hile this time, but reporters there noted that when attendees 17 00:01:17,515 --> 00:01:20,715 Speaker 1: tried to do that adapted Q and On salute to Trump, 18 00:01:21,155 --> 00:01:25,275 Speaker 1: security in olive shirts and black pants went over to 19 00:01:25,315 --> 00:01:27,875 Speaker 1: those people in the crowd and told them to take 20 00:01:27,955 --> 00:01:33,755 Speaker 1: their fingers and arms down. It was clear organizers of 21 00:01:33,835 --> 00:01:37,115 Speaker 1: the rally in North Carolina wanted the media to see 22 00:01:37,115 --> 00:01:40,915 Speaker 1: this happen. Nobody stopped reporters from asking some of those 23 00:01:40,955 --> 00:01:43,475 Speaker 1: making the salute if the finger in the air was 24 00:01:43,515 --> 00:01:45,795 Speaker 1: in fact supposed to represent Q and on, and they 25 00:01:45,835 --> 00:01:49,795 Speaker 1: said it was. Nobody stopped reporters watching the guards reproach 26 00:01:49,915 --> 00:01:52,755 Speaker 1: the Q and on crossovers, and in several cases those 27 00:01:52,755 --> 00:01:55,635 Speaker 1: guards went to the very same people the reporters had 28 00:01:55,675 --> 00:01:59,835 Speaker 1: just questioned. Nobody even stopped reporters from hearing the Trump. 29 00:01:59,915 --> 00:02:03,635 Speaker 1: Q Andan's complained to the guards in the olive shirts 30 00:02:03,675 --> 00:02:06,475 Speaker 1: that it was their institutional right to make the Q 31 00:02:06,635 --> 00:02:12,115 Speaker 1: and on salute sincere or staged, somebody was trying to 32 00:02:12,155 --> 00:02:15,355 Speaker 1: make it look like it was all being dialed back 33 00:02:15,435 --> 00:02:18,875 Speaker 1: by Trump. Rally organizers even went back to the reporter 34 00:02:18,955 --> 00:02:22,235 Speaker 1: from PBS, Lisa de Jardin, and told her that the 35 00:02:22,275 --> 00:02:25,875 Speaker 1: guys in the shirts that were marked security were not security. 36 00:02:25,915 --> 00:02:28,555 Speaker 1: They were from a company called Security, but they were 37 00:02:29,035 --> 00:02:35,675 Speaker 1: guest management and they did not play the song that 38 00:02:35,795 --> 00:02:38,515 Speaker 1: music Trump had played in the Ohio rally. The Q 39 00:02:38,875 --> 00:02:42,675 Speaker 1: Musach was simply a stock composition by a Will van 40 00:02:42,795 --> 00:02:47,315 Speaker 1: der Krummert from two thousand nineteen called Mirrors. A Q 41 00:02:47,555 --> 00:02:50,435 Speaker 1: type took that song, gave it a new title and 42 00:02:50,475 --> 00:02:53,875 Speaker 1: put it on Spotify, and composer Van der Crummert is 43 00:02:53,915 --> 00:02:57,035 Speaker 1: not happy about any of it. He told The Washington 44 00:02:57,115 --> 00:02:59,715 Speaker 1: Post he did not authorize Trump's use of it and 45 00:02:59,835 --> 00:03:02,795 Speaker 1: is exploring his legal options about the other guy who 46 00:03:02,835 --> 00:03:07,475 Speaker 1: stole his song. Quote, this individual has unlawfully distributed my 47 00:03:07,595 --> 00:03:11,115 Speaker 1: music under their own name. I do not support Donald Trump, 48 00:03:11,155 --> 00:03:13,595 Speaker 1: and I do not support or espouse the beliefs of 49 00:03:13,675 --> 00:03:17,835 Speaker 1: Q and On. Further evidence that this, at least at 50 00:03:17,835 --> 00:03:21,715 Speaker 1: the rallies, is not about loyalties. It's about royalties. As 51 00:03:21,795 --> 00:03:24,355 Speaker 1: he or somebody with him tried to put some light 52 00:03:24,435 --> 00:03:28,195 Speaker 1: between Trump and Q and on Trump's pet Cash, Patel 53 00:03:28,635 --> 00:03:32,235 Speaker 1: did an autograph session for his new book and boasted 54 00:03:32,635 --> 00:03:36,475 Speaker 1: of writing a special inscription in ten and only in 55 00:03:36,595 --> 00:03:40,595 Speaker 1: ten copies. You guessed it. The inscription is where we go, 56 00:03:40,755 --> 00:03:44,475 Speaker 1: one we go, all the drivel nonsensical motto of Q 57 00:03:44,635 --> 00:03:49,115 Speaker 1: and on and perhaps even otter. Over the weekend just 58 00:03:49,315 --> 00:03:51,795 Speaker 1: passed the Trump trying to dodge the bill for Q 59 00:03:51,955 --> 00:03:56,635 Speaker 1: and on Musaic. What were the odds against this happening yesterday? 60 00:03:56,675 --> 00:04:01,315 Speaker 1: Not only has a Maggie Haberman Trump book excerpt proved 61 00:04:01,395 --> 00:04:06,075 Speaker 1: insightful and useful. But in that excerpt, Trump has publicly 62 00:04:06,115 --> 00:04:10,875 Speaker 1: admitted to a major personality disorder and confessed anew that 63 00:04:11,035 --> 00:04:13,715 Speaker 1: the big lie is part of his strategy. It is 64 00:04:13,755 --> 00:04:18,475 Speaker 1: an impossible parlay bet paying off big The question I 65 00:04:18,515 --> 00:04:21,595 Speaker 1: get asked more than any other question. Haberman quoted Trump 66 00:04:21,595 --> 00:04:23,875 Speaker 1: in The Atlantic and what must be her thirty seven 67 00:04:23,995 --> 00:04:27,275 Speaker 1: different pre publication snippet. If you had to do it again, 68 00:04:27,355 --> 00:04:29,675 Speaker 1: would you have done it? Trump said of running for president? 69 00:04:29,835 --> 00:04:32,915 Speaker 1: The answer is, yeah, I think so, because here's the 70 00:04:32,955 --> 00:04:37,315 Speaker 1: way I look at it. I have so many rich friends, 71 00:04:37,555 --> 00:04:42,755 Speaker 1: and nobody knows who they are. Trump put this world 72 00:04:42,755 --> 00:04:45,475 Speaker 1: through the last seven years, and goodness knows how much longer, 73 00:04:45,875 --> 00:04:50,355 Speaker 1: because it earned him a fame beyond fame, because none 74 00:04:50,435 --> 00:04:54,475 Speaker 1: of the others in the money obsessed cohort became president 75 00:04:54,635 --> 00:04:58,435 Speaker 1: of the United States. I have so many rich friends 76 00:04:58,555 --> 00:05:03,195 Speaker 1: and nobody knows who they are. Because he has a 77 00:05:03,395 --> 00:05:09,075 Speaker 1: desperate path, logical, insatiable, unquenchable, unfixable fear that someone somewhere 78 00:05:09,155 --> 00:05:14,555 Speaker 1: does not know who he is. My first report ever 79 00:05:14,675 --> 00:05:17,955 Speaker 1: on Trump as politician was from March two thousand sixteen 80 00:05:18,355 --> 00:05:21,595 Speaker 1: for vanity fair that it was called could Trump pass 81 00:05:21,715 --> 00:05:25,595 Speaker 1: a Sanity Test? And it scored his behavior against a 82 00:05:25,675 --> 00:05:29,795 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty examination created by a Canadian criminal psychologist. It 83 00:05:29,875 --> 00:05:34,515 Speaker 1: was called the Hair Psychopathy Checklist revised. This kind of 84 00:05:34,715 --> 00:05:37,755 Speaker 1: triage test for aberrational behavior is a list of twenty 85 00:05:37,835 --> 00:05:41,475 Speaker 1: problems for which zero, one or two points are signed. 86 00:05:41,515 --> 00:05:44,755 Speaker 1: If you get thirty out of a possible forty points, 87 00:05:44,795 --> 00:05:48,155 Speaker 1: you're probably a psychopath. And that's only in this country. 88 00:05:48,155 --> 00:05:50,475 Speaker 1: In the UK, you only need twenty five points out 89 00:05:50,475 --> 00:05:53,675 Speaker 1: of forty. It's hard to say in which of the 90 00:05:53,715 --> 00:05:56,755 Speaker 1: twenty Hair Checklist items is the best home for the 91 00:05:56,835 --> 00:05:59,955 Speaker 1: quote I have so many rich friends and nobody knows 92 00:05:59,995 --> 00:06:04,035 Speaker 1: who they are Number thirteen. Lack of realistic long term goals, 93 00:06:04,475 --> 00:06:08,835 Speaker 1: Nomber two, grandiose sense of self worth Number ten poor 94 00:06:08,955 --> 00:06:14,195 Speaker 1: behavioral controls. Anyway, when I gave Trump in absentia the 95 00:06:14,235 --> 00:06:16,675 Speaker 1: test in two thousand sixteen, he scored a thirty two 96 00:06:16,715 --> 00:06:19,995 Speaker 1: out of forty. He's probably gained at least four more 97 00:06:20,035 --> 00:06:23,195 Speaker 1: points since then. For item nineteen, which is repeating the 98 00:06:23,235 --> 00:06:26,155 Speaker 1: same crime over and over again, and for the final 99 00:06:26,195 --> 00:06:31,995 Speaker 1: point number twenty criminal versatility. There was actually something else important. 100 00:06:32,035 --> 00:06:34,715 Speaker 1: In the Haberman Trump segment from The Atlantic, let me 101 00:06:34,755 --> 00:06:38,275 Speaker 1: just read it word for word, he started to explain 102 00:06:38,315 --> 00:06:41,315 Speaker 1: why he doesn't like when audio tapes of his interviews 103 00:06:41,355 --> 00:06:45,235 Speaker 1: are released. Being on camera was much different, he said, 104 00:06:45,595 --> 00:06:48,835 Speaker 1: Whereas he said in a written interview, I'll repeat it 105 00:06:48,875 --> 00:06:51,435 Speaker 1: twenty times because I want to drum it into your 106 00:06:51,435 --> 00:06:55,355 Speaker 1: beautiful brain. Do you understand that? He repeated himself again. 107 00:06:55,515 --> 00:06:57,435 Speaker 1: One of the things I'll do if I'm doing like 108 00:06:57,595 --> 00:07:00,115 Speaker 1: with you for the written word, is I got to 109 00:07:00,195 --> 00:07:02,835 Speaker 1: drum it into your head. So I'll repeat something six 110 00:07:02,915 --> 00:07:08,675 Speaker 1: times unquote. Well, what is that not Trump's internal dialogue 111 00:07:08,995 --> 00:07:12,395 Speaker 1: for when he says the big lie, repeat it twenty times. 112 00:07:12,755 --> 00:07:15,795 Speaker 1: Drum it into your beautiful brain. Drum it into your head. 113 00:07:15,995 --> 00:07:21,395 Speaker 1: Repeat something six times. This is less useful as insight 114 00:07:21,555 --> 00:07:25,035 Speaker 1: into Trump than it is as insight into why Trumps 115 00:07:25,035 --> 00:07:28,155 Speaker 1: successfully cons the suckers. It is not politics, it is 116 00:07:28,195 --> 00:07:31,875 Speaker 1: not new It is the pure manipulativeness of the carnival barker. 117 00:07:32,475 --> 00:07:35,075 Speaker 1: I'll quote that Vanity Fair profile of Trump from thirty 118 00:07:35,075 --> 00:07:37,435 Speaker 1: two years ago this month and the telling quote attributed 119 00:07:37,475 --> 00:07:39,715 Speaker 1: to one of his lawyers at the time. Donald is 120 00:07:39,755 --> 00:07:42,675 Speaker 1: a believer in the big lie theory. If you say 121 00:07:42,715 --> 00:07:47,675 Speaker 1: something again and again, people will believe you. That, of course, 122 00:07:47,715 --> 00:07:49,755 Speaker 1: is also the motto of Steve Bannon. And if the 123 00:07:49,795 --> 00:07:54,355 Speaker 1: results of the Italian parliamentary elections Sunday seemed like something 124 00:07:54,435 --> 00:07:57,875 Speaker 1: we don't need to worry about, think again and worry 125 00:07:57,955 --> 00:08:02,075 Speaker 1: some more. The winner a fascist whose party got consultation 126 00:08:02,195 --> 00:08:07,155 Speaker 1: from Steve Bannon. The early exit polls last night confirmed 127 00:08:07,155 --> 00:08:09,515 Speaker 1: that a three party right wing coalition is all but 128 00:08:09,675 --> 00:08:12,675 Speaker 1: set to win majorities in both houses of the Italian Parliament, 129 00:08:12,875 --> 00:08:15,555 Speaker 1: and the coalition will be led by the Brothers of 130 00:08:15,675 --> 00:08:19,755 Speaker 1: Italy party, incongruously led by a stone cold liar with 131 00:08:19,875 --> 00:08:23,315 Speaker 1: bug eyes named Georgia Maloney, who as long as two 132 00:08:23,395 --> 00:08:27,315 Speaker 1: thousand eighteen was conferring with and being blessed by Steve 133 00:08:27,355 --> 00:08:31,235 Speaker 1: Bannon at the Brothers of Italy congress in Rome that year. 134 00:08:31,275 --> 00:08:34,875 Speaker 1: The Brothers of Italy Anti Migrant, anti l G b 135 00:08:35,075 --> 00:08:40,075 Speaker 1: t Q, Anti EU and pro victor orban. If you 136 00:08:40,195 --> 00:08:43,755 Speaker 1: doubt who the Brothers of Italy are, or who Miss 137 00:08:43,795 --> 00:08:47,955 Speaker 1: Maloney is, or who Bannon is, or who Bannon's man 138 00:08:48,035 --> 00:08:51,555 Speaker 1: Trump really is. Four years ago, Bannon told the British 139 00:08:51,595 --> 00:08:54,995 Speaker 1: paper The Guardian that the Brothers of Italy are quote, 140 00:08:55,035 --> 00:08:58,915 Speaker 1: one of the old fascist parties that will quote become 141 00:08:59,035 --> 00:09:03,155 Speaker 1: quite mainstream over time. It is a reverse of Bannon's 142 00:09:03,155 --> 00:09:05,875 Speaker 1: play here, where he helped take for the Republican Party, 143 00:09:06,115 --> 00:09:09,555 Speaker 1: turned it into a full throated, unapologetic fascist operation, but 144 00:09:09,675 --> 00:09:14,835 Speaker 1: kept the name Republican to make everybody feel good in Italy. Bannon, 145 00:09:15,075 --> 00:09:18,875 Speaker 1: as those quotes suggest, kept the fascist name but intended 146 00:09:18,915 --> 00:09:23,355 Speaker 1: for the behavior to seem slightly less radical. Yes, since 147 00:09:23,395 --> 00:09:25,435 Speaker 1: World War Two it has often seemed as if Italy 148 00:09:25,475 --> 00:09:28,755 Speaker 1: has changed governments every other Thursday. And Yes, even as 149 00:09:28,755 --> 00:09:31,315 Speaker 1: the new election brought a new Bannon protegee of power, 150 00:09:31,395 --> 00:09:34,475 Speaker 1: the experts were speculating how soon the next Italian election 151 00:09:34,475 --> 00:09:37,595 Speaker 1: would be if the fascists can't fix the economy overnight. 152 00:09:37,955 --> 00:09:41,075 Speaker 1: But the history of fascism in Italy is a whole 153 00:09:41,155 --> 00:09:45,075 Speaker 1: another ball game, and it has always ended well. There, 154 00:09:45,635 --> 00:09:50,235 Speaker 1: asked Benito Mussolini. And remember to bend down when you 155 00:09:50,235 --> 00:09:54,675 Speaker 1: asked Benito Mussolini, because metaphorically Mussolini is still hanging upside 156 00:09:54,675 --> 00:09:57,955 Speaker 1: down from the gas station near the main square in Milan, 157 00:09:58,435 --> 00:10:11,635 Speaker 1: as he has since, still ahead on countdown. A politics 158 00:10:11,715 --> 00:10:15,195 Speaker 1: question for you back to the domestic kind who hates 159 00:10:15,275 --> 00:10:21,435 Speaker 1: Kirsen cinema. Most turns out it's a multi way tie. Baseball, 160 00:10:21,475 --> 00:10:24,475 Speaker 1: and in light of Aaron Judges pursuit the home run record, 161 00:10:24,515 --> 00:10:27,595 Speaker 1: they say is seventy three. The most home runs has 162 00:10:27,635 --> 00:10:30,715 Speaker 1: to be the record period. Well then I have this question. 163 00:10:30,715 --> 00:10:32,955 Speaker 1: How come the most wins by a picture in a 164 00:10:33,035 --> 00:10:36,515 Speaker 1: season is not the record, or the most strikeouts is 165 00:10:36,555 --> 00:10:38,915 Speaker 1: not the record. Where the most stolen bases is not 166 00:10:38,995 --> 00:10:41,835 Speaker 1: the record. And I have been talking about the ill 167 00:10:41,955 --> 00:10:46,395 Speaker 1: fated Fred Merkel eight New York Giants since I was 168 00:10:46,435 --> 00:10:49,235 Speaker 1: a teenager. Now, for the first time, I will talk 169 00:10:49,235 --> 00:10:53,595 Speaker 1: about something Fred Merkel's great grandson did that made me 170 00:10:53,635 --> 00:10:59,195 Speaker 1: wonder about reincarnation. Things I promised not to tell. Coming up, 171 00:10:59,595 --> 00:11:15,955 Speaker 1: This is Countdown. This is Countdown with Keith Olberman still 172 00:11:15,995 --> 00:11:18,835 Speaker 1: ahead on Countdown, fitting that it was John Dene introducing us. 173 00:11:19,355 --> 00:11:23,835 Speaker 1: What do you mean the Soviets irradiated Richard Nixon? Oh, 174 00:11:23,915 --> 00:11:28,355 Speaker 1: I'm not a microwave. Worst Persons coming up first. In 175 00:11:28,395 --> 00:11:30,635 Speaker 1: each edition of Countdown, we feature a dog in need 176 00:11:30,675 --> 00:11:33,555 Speaker 1: whom you can help. Every dog has its day A 177 00:11:33,675 --> 00:11:37,515 Speaker 1: two fer from Downy Animal Care in California. Cooper is 178 00:11:37,555 --> 00:11:41,155 Speaker 1: a white Maltese age ten. Jelly Belly is a black 179 00:11:41,155 --> 00:11:45,235 Speaker 1: Poodle age h. Both are blind, they're kenneled together. They 180 00:11:45,275 --> 00:11:47,355 Speaker 1: are at risk of being killed at that pound. They 181 00:11:47,395 --> 00:11:50,315 Speaker 1: need somebody who will foster or adopt either or both 182 00:11:50,355 --> 00:11:52,635 Speaker 1: of them. You know about me and Maltese as if 183 00:11:52,635 --> 00:11:55,755 Speaker 1: I were in California, Cooper would join my pack, which 184 00:11:55,795 --> 00:11:58,955 Speaker 1: includes two Maltese rescues, one of whom is fifteen. If 185 00:11:58,955 --> 00:12:01,275 Speaker 1: you're in southern California and you can give either Cooper 186 00:12:01,395 --> 00:12:03,635 Speaker 1: or jelly Belly a home, or if you're anywhere and 187 00:12:03,715 --> 00:12:05,675 Speaker 1: you can just give him a re tweet, look for 188 00:12:05,675 --> 00:12:08,435 Speaker 1: the tweet I have done about Jelly Billy and Cooper 189 00:12:08,875 --> 00:12:12,035 Speaker 1: on my account for Dogs in Trouble at Tom Jumbo 190 00:12:12,115 --> 00:12:15,315 Speaker 1: Grumbo on Twitter, and thank you very much in advance 191 00:12:15,395 --> 00:12:35,355 Speaker 1: for doing so. Coming up on countdown, the fallacy that 192 00:12:35,395 --> 00:12:38,795 Speaker 1: the baseball home run record must be whoever has the 193 00:12:38,835 --> 00:12:41,875 Speaker 1: most home runs in a season. The winds record doesn't 194 00:12:41,915 --> 00:12:43,955 Speaker 1: belong to the guy with the most wins in a season. 195 00:12:44,395 --> 00:12:48,475 Speaker 1: Same for stolen bases, same for strikeouts. And the story 196 00:12:48,515 --> 00:12:54,275 Speaker 1: of Fred Merkel, Fred Merkel's great grandson and reincarnation first 197 00:12:54,355 --> 00:12:57,715 Speaker 1: postscripts to the news, some headlines, some commentary, some snark. 198 00:13:03,595 --> 00:13:07,755 Speaker 1: Dateline Pittsburgh. That's where GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy unleashed 199 00:13:07,755 --> 00:13:12,675 Speaker 1: the party's commitment to America. Kevin, ain't that bright Apart 200 00:13:12,715 --> 00:13:15,115 Speaker 1: from everything else in there, the promotional video in which 201 00:13:15,155 --> 00:13:19,235 Speaker 1: they celebrate the American heritage of oil drilling, it's video 202 00:13:19,395 --> 00:13:23,115 Speaker 1: of Russia and Ukraine. And in his speech selling the 203 00:13:23,155 --> 00:13:27,355 Speaker 1: latest Republican fascist snake oil, McCarthy quoted Abraham Lincoln is 204 00:13:27,395 --> 00:13:31,675 Speaker 1: saying commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. Except 205 00:13:32,155 --> 00:13:36,075 Speaker 1: that wasn't Lincoln. It was Lehman Brothers, the Wall Street 206 00:13:36,115 --> 00:13:38,995 Speaker 1: firm that precipitated the two thousand and eight financial crisis. 207 00:13:39,235 --> 00:13:41,235 Speaker 1: The quote comes from a Lehman Brothers ad in the 208 00:13:41,235 --> 00:13:45,195 Speaker 1: Wall Street Journal in are one hope in this country? 209 00:13:45,355 --> 00:13:50,875 Speaker 1: Is this fact? The Republicans are morons? Dateline Holland, Ohio, 210 00:13:50,955 --> 00:13:54,035 Speaker 1: speaking of which JR. Madjuski insists he is not dropping 211 00:13:54,035 --> 00:13:57,795 Speaker 1: out of the Ohio House race against Democratic incumbent Marcy Captor. 212 00:13:58,075 --> 00:14:00,555 Speaker 1: As you know, the Associated Press said that nothing in 213 00:14:00,635 --> 00:14:04,835 Speaker 1: Madjuski's military files backs up his constantly repeated claim that 214 00:14:04,875 --> 00:14:08,595 Speaker 1: he is a combat veteran of Afghanistan who deployed there 215 00:14:08,675 --> 00:14:12,595 Speaker 1: just after nine eleven. Madjuski's retort is to threaten to 216 00:14:12,675 --> 00:14:16,115 Speaker 1: soothe associated press and insist that all his deployments were 217 00:14:16,235 --> 00:14:20,755 Speaker 1: quote classified, which raises three questions. One, if it's classified, 218 00:14:21,195 --> 00:14:24,795 Speaker 1: why does he keep talking about it too? If it's classified, 219 00:14:25,235 --> 00:14:27,835 Speaker 1: why didn't he get his boy Trump to declassify it 220 00:14:27,875 --> 00:14:32,195 Speaker 1: with his mind? And three, if he's accused of fabricating 221 00:14:32,275 --> 00:14:35,915 Speaker 1: or exaggerating his combat record, does he know Brian Williams 222 00:14:36,435 --> 00:14:41,835 Speaker 1: Dateline Phoenix extraordinarily bad polling news for Kirsten cinema caveat. 223 00:14:42,395 --> 00:14:44,715 Speaker 1: She and I dated a couple of times. A survey 224 00:14:44,715 --> 00:14:48,875 Speaker 1: of her approval rating conducted for a RP produced these numbers. 225 00:14:48,915 --> 00:14:53,235 Speaker 1: She's disapproved of by fifty scent of Democrats. She's disapproved 226 00:14:53,235 --> 00:14:57,075 Speaker 1: of by percent of Republicans. She's disapproved of by fifty 227 00:14:57,115 --> 00:15:00,995 Speaker 1: one percent of Independence. She's disapproved of by fifty percent 228 00:15:01,075 --> 00:15:03,755 Speaker 1: of white voters. She's disapproved of by fifty four percent 229 00:15:03,795 --> 00:15:08,475 Speaker 1: of Hispanic voters. She's disapproved of by voters under fifty. 230 00:15:08,755 --> 00:15:12,875 Speaker 1: She's disapproved of by fifty four voters over fifty so 231 00:15:12,915 --> 00:15:16,835 Speaker 1: who she approved by hedge fund managers, law firm partners, 232 00:15:16,835 --> 00:15:22,275 Speaker 1: and private equity executives obviously, and dateline space six million, 233 00:15:22,355 --> 00:15:25,875 Speaker 1: eight hundred thousand miles from here. Tonight, the DART Project 234 00:15:26,195 --> 00:15:31,515 Speaker 1: Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission will crash a NASA spacecraft 235 00:15:31,555 --> 00:15:36,635 Speaker 1: into the asteroid Dimorphos for why, to reduce the asteroids 236 00:15:36,755 --> 00:15:40,555 Speaker 1: speed by one percent and thus alter its trajectory. It 237 00:15:40,635 --> 00:15:42,795 Speaker 1: is a test to see if we could do that 238 00:15:42,835 --> 00:15:45,795 Speaker 1: to an asteroid that might threaten Earth directly, hit it 239 00:15:46,075 --> 00:15:48,195 Speaker 1: twenty years before it hits us, and then you don't 240 00:15:48,195 --> 00:15:50,195 Speaker 1: have to blow it up. You just have to nudge it. 241 00:15:50,715 --> 00:15:53,595 Speaker 1: One thought though, this is practice. It's a great idea. 242 00:15:54,115 --> 00:15:57,875 Speaker 1: But what if when we knock Amorphos off its course, 243 00:15:58,875 --> 00:16:03,075 Speaker 1: we send it on a new course towards Earth. I mean, 244 00:16:03,635 --> 00:16:24,195 Speaker 1: I'm assuming NASA thought of this, right, right, right? This 245 00:16:24,875 --> 00:16:31,155 Speaker 1: is Sports Center. Wait, check that not anymore. This is 246 00:16:31,995 --> 00:16:37,955 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith in Sports Aaron Judge remains at sixty 247 00:16:38,035 --> 00:16:40,315 Speaker 1: home runs limited to three at bats, a double and 248 00:16:40,435 --> 00:16:43,755 Speaker 1: a walk included. When a thunderstorm inundated my city at 249 00:16:43,795 --> 00:16:46,395 Speaker 1: the top of the seventh inning was to begin last night, 250 00:16:46,835 --> 00:16:49,195 Speaker 1: they waited around an hour and a half, then called 251 00:16:49,195 --> 00:16:51,195 Speaker 1: it off, Judge would have let off the bottom of 252 00:16:51,235 --> 00:16:55,155 Speaker 1: the seventh inning. Judges pursuit resumes in Toronto Monday night. 253 00:16:55,195 --> 00:16:58,555 Speaker 1: But what is he pursuing? A record or the record? 254 00:16:58,635 --> 00:17:00,195 Speaker 1: Some thoughts on that in a moment Here the other 255 00:17:00,235 --> 00:17:04,315 Speaker 1: sports headlines. First, the NFL Players Association wants answers fast 256 00:17:04,715 --> 00:17:06,875 Speaker 1: as to why after he was hurt so badly that 257 00:17:06,915 --> 00:17:09,835 Speaker 1: he wobbled while walking back to the line of scrimmage, 258 00:17:09,995 --> 00:17:13,355 Speaker 1: the Miami quarterback to a Toungo Valoa was cleared by 259 00:17:13,355 --> 00:17:17,755 Speaker 1: the league's concussion protocol. The Dolphins beat Buffalo twenty one nineteen, 260 00:17:17,755 --> 00:17:20,355 Speaker 1: and afterwards Miami tried to claim the quarterback's real injury 261 00:17:20,395 --> 00:17:22,955 Speaker 1: was to his back. Back to baseball, and you don't 262 00:17:22,995 --> 00:17:25,635 Speaker 1: see this often. The Seattle Mariners chasing a playoff birth 263 00:17:25,795 --> 00:17:28,275 Speaker 1: We're beating the hapless Kansas City Royals eleven to two 264 00:17:28,315 --> 00:17:30,955 Speaker 1: in the sixth inning. That's when Kansas City scored eleven 265 00:17:31,035 --> 00:17:34,115 Speaker 1: runs to go up thirteen to eleven and eventually win 266 00:17:34,195 --> 00:17:37,555 Speaker 1: thirteen to twelve. Mariners walked five Royals batters in the inning. 267 00:17:38,115 --> 00:17:40,795 Speaker 1: The Miami Marlins say they have agreed with Don manningly 268 00:17:40,915 --> 00:17:43,675 Speaker 1: that his tenure as their manager is over. He had 269 00:17:43,755 --> 00:17:46,235 Speaker 1: not sought a contract extension, National League Manager of the 270 00:17:46,275 --> 00:17:49,915 Speaker 1: Year in American League, Most Valuable Player in five and 271 00:17:49,995 --> 00:17:53,275 Speaker 1: maybe the easiest interview in the history of sports. I 272 00:17:53,355 --> 00:17:56,315 Speaker 1: once saw him answer some guys questions for twenty five 273 00:17:56,355 --> 00:18:02,275 Speaker 1: minutes about bats, about baseball bats. I first interviewed him 274 00:18:02,315 --> 00:18:05,875 Speaker 1: for CNN on Opening Day three. He was just about 275 00:18:05,915 --> 00:18:08,555 Speaker 1: to turn twenty two and I was twenty four. The 276 00:18:08,595 --> 00:18:11,155 Speaker 1: Marlins problem isn't the manager or the players. They are 277 00:18:11,195 --> 00:18:15,515 Speaker 1: averaging eleven thousand spectators a game. They last average more 278 00:18:15,555 --> 00:18:18,315 Speaker 1: than twenty three thousand a game a decade ago. The 279 00:18:18,355 --> 00:18:21,315 Speaker 1: time before that was seven. We've had thirty years now 280 00:18:21,355 --> 00:18:25,235 Speaker 1: to see this. South Florida cannot and will not support 281 00:18:25,275 --> 00:18:28,155 Speaker 1: a major League baseball team. It just will not happen. 282 00:18:28,315 --> 00:18:32,555 Speaker 1: Move the franchise now from Mattingly to the current Yankees 283 00:18:32,635 --> 00:18:35,275 Speaker 1: hero Aaron Judge. And the latest debate is the new 284 00:18:35,275 --> 00:18:38,395 Speaker 1: home run record. He's chasing sixty two one more than 285 00:18:38,475 --> 00:18:42,395 Speaker 1: Roger Marris in or is it seventy four one more 286 00:18:42,395 --> 00:18:45,555 Speaker 1: than Barry Bonds in two thousand one. After twenty years 287 00:18:45,555 --> 00:18:48,635 Speaker 1: of pretty blanket dismissal of the Bonds statistic and Mark 288 00:18:48,715 --> 00:18:52,395 Speaker 1: McGuire's total of seventy as well. Because both men cheated 289 00:18:52,435 --> 00:18:55,795 Speaker 1: with illegal performance enhancing drugs. There has since developed a 290 00:18:55,835 --> 00:19:01,595 Speaker 1: certain home run record condescension among baseball. Self proclaimed elitist cognizenti. 291 00:19:02,355 --> 00:19:06,315 Speaker 1: Eric Boland, baseball writer for the New York's bourbon newspaper Newsday, 292 00:19:06,435 --> 00:19:09,715 Speaker 1: retweeted a TV director who wrote, the home run record 293 00:19:09,835 --> 00:19:14,315 Speaker 1: is seventy three. Boland answered or added this quote. Debate 294 00:19:14,475 --> 00:19:17,675 Speaker 1: about what the quote real unquote home run record is 295 00:19:17,795 --> 00:19:20,675 Speaker 1: and all the ancillary topics flowing from it is so 296 00:19:20,835 --> 00:19:26,475 Speaker 1: tired and dumb. The absolutists argue, seventy three homers is 297 00:19:26,515 --> 00:19:29,515 Speaker 1: seventy three homers, and seventy three is more than sixty 298 00:19:29,755 --> 00:19:33,035 Speaker 1: end of argument. Bonds hold the record, end of argument. 299 00:19:33,875 --> 00:19:36,275 Speaker 1: But if that's true, who holds the major league record 300 00:19:36,315 --> 00:19:39,435 Speaker 1: for the most strikeouts by a picture? Almost everybody will 301 00:19:39,435 --> 00:19:42,755 Speaker 1: say Nolan Ryan with three three and ninety three, except 302 00:19:43,155 --> 00:19:46,115 Speaker 1: the most strikeouts in one season by a pitcher in 303 00:19:46,195 --> 00:19:49,675 Speaker 1: major league history is actually five hundred and thirteen by 304 00:19:49,715 --> 00:19:55,715 Speaker 1: Matt Kilroy of the Baltimore Orioles. Nobody recognizes Kilroy's five 305 00:19:56,675 --> 00:19:59,595 Speaker 1: as the record, not even me, even though it is 306 00:19:59,675 --> 00:20:02,995 Speaker 1: literally a hundred and thirty more strikeouts than Nolan Ryan had, 307 00:20:03,355 --> 00:20:07,595 Speaker 1: but applying the bonds rule, kill Roy's is the record 308 00:20:08,635 --> 00:20:11,675 Speaker 1: is more than three and eighty three. In fact, there 309 00:20:11,675 --> 00:20:14,035 Speaker 1: are seven pitchers who have struck out more men in 310 00:20:14,035 --> 00:20:16,235 Speaker 1: a season than Nolan Ryan did. He's only eighth on 311 00:20:16,235 --> 00:20:20,155 Speaker 1: the list. We don't count Matt Kilroy and we do 312 00:20:20,275 --> 00:20:24,635 Speaker 1: count Nolan Ryan because of context. In kill Roy's brilliant 313 00:20:24,675 --> 00:20:26,355 Speaker 1: season of eighteen eighty six, and by the way, he 314 00:20:26,395 --> 00:20:29,835 Speaker 1: was a rookie, the pitcher stood just fifty feet away 315 00:20:29,875 --> 00:20:33,475 Speaker 1: from the plate, not today's sixty feet six inches. Also, 316 00:20:33,795 --> 00:20:37,115 Speaker 1: a walk only came after ball five, not ball four. 317 00:20:37,595 --> 00:20:39,755 Speaker 1: At eighty six was also the first season that the 318 00:20:39,795 --> 00:20:42,795 Speaker 1: batter could no longer choose if the pitcher was to 319 00:20:42,875 --> 00:20:46,595 Speaker 1: throw the ball high or low. Just to add even 320 00:20:46,635 --> 00:20:49,035 Speaker 1: more context, I think it's nonsense, but to this day, 321 00:20:49,075 --> 00:20:52,235 Speaker 1: historians argue over whether or not the league that Matt 322 00:20:52,315 --> 00:20:55,715 Speaker 1: Kilroy pitched in when he struck out five in eighty six, 323 00:20:55,715 --> 00:20:59,515 Speaker 1: the American Association was really a quote major League if 324 00:20:59,515 --> 00:21:03,715 Speaker 1: the competition was actually Major League. So context is just 325 00:21:03,915 --> 00:21:07,795 Speaker 1: as important as volume is. The all time stolen bass 326 00:21:07,835 --> 00:21:11,155 Speaker 1: record Ricky Henderson's one thirty and night two, or is 327 00:21:11,155 --> 00:21:16,195 Speaker 1: it Huey Nichols one, eight eighty seven in the American Association? 328 00:21:16,635 --> 00:21:19,715 Speaker 1: And when official scorer still time sometimes credited or runner 329 00:21:19,755 --> 00:21:22,355 Speaker 1: with a stolen base if he went from second to 330 00:21:22,635 --> 00:21:26,035 Speaker 1: third on a single rather than just from first to second. 331 00:21:27,155 --> 00:21:29,395 Speaker 1: What's the record for most wins by a picture in 332 00:21:29,435 --> 00:21:31,635 Speaker 1: this season? Is it the thirty one by Denny McClean 333 00:21:31,715 --> 00:21:34,115 Speaker 1: of the nineteen sixty eight Tigers, because that's in the 334 00:21:34,155 --> 00:21:37,315 Speaker 1: so called modern era? Is it the forty one by 335 00:21:37,395 --> 00:21:40,155 Speaker 1: Jack Cheeseboro of the nineteen o four Yankees? The most 336 00:21:40,195 --> 00:21:42,395 Speaker 1: since the pitchers mound was moved back to six ft 337 00:21:42,435 --> 00:21:45,995 Speaker 1: six sixty by Old Hoss rad Urn of the Providence 338 00:21:46,035 --> 00:21:47,995 Speaker 1: Grays because the other pitcher jumped the team and he 339 00:21:48,035 --> 00:21:51,155 Speaker 1: basically pitched every day. And what's the record for highest 340 00:21:51,155 --> 00:21:54,555 Speaker 1: batting average for decades? In the books? It read Tip 341 00:21:54,595 --> 00:21:58,915 Speaker 1: O'Neil's four two in eighteen eighty seven, even though it 342 00:21:59,035 --> 00:22:02,115 Speaker 1: was always noted that for that season, and only that season, 343 00:22:02,155 --> 00:22:05,115 Speaker 1: they counted walks as bass hits four ninety. Who wasn't 344 00:22:05,115 --> 00:22:08,395 Speaker 1: tip O'Neil's batting average, it was his on base percentage? 345 00:22:08,915 --> 00:22:12,075 Speaker 1: So then they came with a century full of stat 346 00:22:12,155 --> 00:22:14,915 Speaker 1: books in which Hugh Duffy's four forty for the Boston 347 00:22:14,995 --> 00:22:19,715 Speaker 1: Nationals of was the standard. But last winter, baseball designated 348 00:22:19,755 --> 00:22:23,755 Speaker 1: several of the old segregated quote negro leagues as major leagues. 349 00:22:24,075 --> 00:22:26,475 Speaker 1: And so now there is a new all time record 350 00:22:26,475 --> 00:22:29,955 Speaker 1: for highest batting average four seventy one by Tetalo Vargas 351 00:22:29,995 --> 00:22:33,275 Speaker 1: of the ninety three New York Cubans, even though his 352 00:22:33,355 --> 00:22:35,715 Speaker 1: league only played a thirty game season, and even though 353 00:22:35,715 --> 00:22:39,315 Speaker 1: you never heard of until five seconds ago. Most historians 354 00:22:39,315 --> 00:22:42,235 Speaker 1: will say the highest batting average was the four twenty 355 00:22:42,275 --> 00:22:47,675 Speaker 1: four by Rogers Hornsby in four will now four is 356 00:22:47,715 --> 00:22:52,035 Speaker 1: only fifteen on the numerical list. I can do this 357 00:22:52,075 --> 00:22:55,595 Speaker 1: all day. Probably half of baseball single season records are 358 00:22:55,635 --> 00:22:59,555 Speaker 1: not just simple questions of mathematical editionary subtraction. They are 359 00:22:59,595 --> 00:23:04,275 Speaker 1: about context and changing rules and the perspective of generations. 360 00:23:04,435 --> 00:23:08,155 Speaker 1: And the bottom line is, the records are what we 361 00:23:08,315 --> 00:23:11,355 Speaker 1: say they are, and if the consensus is Barry Bonds 362 00:23:11,395 --> 00:23:13,915 Speaker 1: was a cheat who did not honestly earned the record, 363 00:23:13,995 --> 00:23:17,115 Speaker 1: he does not hold the record. The debate is not tired, 364 00:23:17,515 --> 00:23:20,595 Speaker 1: it is not dumb, and it is not only not over, 365 00:23:21,435 --> 00:23:39,035 Speaker 1: and in fact is endless still ahead. Talking about endless, 366 00:23:39,075 --> 00:23:42,235 Speaker 1: I've told the Fred Merkel's story almost annually for forty 367 00:23:42,355 --> 00:23:45,275 Speaker 1: six years. But I've never told the story of Fred 368 00:23:45,275 --> 00:23:48,555 Speaker 1: Merkel's great grandson and the impossible thing he did as 369 00:23:48,555 --> 00:23:52,435 Speaker 1: a toddler as his parents and I watched in astonishment 370 00:23:53,515 --> 00:23:55,475 Speaker 1: things I promised not to tell. Coming up first, the 371 00:23:55,555 --> 00:23:57,915 Speaker 1: daily round up of the misgrants, morons and Donning Kruegerriffe 372 00:23:57,995 --> 00:24:02,355 Speaker 1: specimens who constitute today's worst persons in the world. Lebron's 373 00:24:02,395 --> 00:24:05,435 Speaker 1: the chairman and chief executive officer of CNN in worldwide, 374 00:24:05,435 --> 00:24:07,755 Speaker 1: who when we were at MSNBC together I thought used 375 00:24:07,795 --> 00:24:12,435 Speaker 1: to eat paste Chris Licked. In episode thirty eight last week, 376 00:24:12,475 --> 00:24:14,155 Speaker 1: I took you through the play by play of how 377 00:24:14,195 --> 00:24:17,715 Speaker 1: the New York Post turns a completely fabricated story into 378 00:24:17,755 --> 00:24:20,595 Speaker 1: something it can publish even if you prove to them 379 00:24:20,635 --> 00:24:24,555 Speaker 1: it is fabricated. Sure enough, Radar Online has done the 380 00:24:24,595 --> 00:24:28,315 Speaker 1: same thing. Friday, I get a text from somebody identifying 381 00:24:28,395 --> 00:24:31,795 Speaker 1: himself only as Sam, and it reads, quote, we are 382 00:24:31,795 --> 00:24:33,995 Speaker 1: working on a story that you reached out to Chris 383 00:24:34,035 --> 00:24:38,595 Speaker 1: Licked for a meeting, but we're shut down. According to sources. 384 00:24:38,635 --> 00:24:40,835 Speaker 1: Would you like to confirm or deny in a statement 385 00:24:40,875 --> 00:24:44,955 Speaker 1: we can use in our coverage. Golly, I wonder who 386 00:24:44,955 --> 00:24:48,715 Speaker 1: their sources might be. The premise was obvious that I 387 00:24:48,755 --> 00:24:51,515 Speaker 1: was not criticizing Chris Licked and CNN for being a 388 00:24:51,515 --> 00:24:54,915 Speaker 1: henchman for John Malone, the fascist who bought CNN demmuted. 389 00:24:54,995 --> 00:24:58,715 Speaker 1: I was criticizing him out of personal sour grapes. I 390 00:24:58,795 --> 00:25:00,915 Speaker 1: patiently explained to Sam that I had not been in 391 00:25:00,955 --> 00:25:03,395 Speaker 1: contact with Chris Licked or anybody working for him since 392 00:25:03,435 --> 00:25:06,875 Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen, when he still worked with Stephen Colbert 393 00:25:06,955 --> 00:25:10,555 Speaker 1: at CBS. I added that after CNN fired Chris Cuomo, 394 00:25:10,675 --> 00:25:12,635 Speaker 1: I was advised by an old producer that I should 395 00:25:12,635 --> 00:25:16,115 Speaker 1: contact Ken Jouts, who was running CNN on an interim basis, 396 00:25:16,155 --> 00:25:18,675 Speaker 1: to see if there was any interest there. I didn't 397 00:25:18,675 --> 00:25:22,075 Speaker 1: tell Radar the second point here. The old producer suggested 398 00:25:22,115 --> 00:25:24,155 Speaker 1: this because she had recommended they put me on to 399 00:25:24,235 --> 00:25:27,755 Speaker 1: replace Chris Cuomo. This was before lickt took over and 400 00:25:27,755 --> 00:25:29,595 Speaker 1: before anybody knew he was going to be there just 401 00:25:29,635 --> 00:25:33,435 Speaker 1: to punish liberals. Joubts wrote back, expressed some interest, and 402 00:25:33,475 --> 00:25:35,035 Speaker 1: that was the last I heard from them. And the 403 00:25:35,115 --> 00:25:38,795 Speaker 1: last they heard from me, I did tell Radar why 404 00:25:38,875 --> 00:25:42,915 Speaker 1: they're either or construction here was nonsense. I would have 405 00:25:42,995 --> 00:25:46,315 Speaker 1: worked or would work in fact for CNN even with 406 00:25:46,395 --> 00:25:49,635 Speaker 1: Chris Licked there. The democracy is imperiled. I'd work with 407 00:25:49,675 --> 00:25:52,235 Speaker 1: anybody to save it. It's kind of summed up my 408 00:25:52,275 --> 00:25:54,515 Speaker 1: approach to doubts too. If it involved Lickt at a 409 00:25:54,555 --> 00:25:57,315 Speaker 1: time when we needed to rally together to stop fascism, 410 00:25:57,555 --> 00:26:00,475 Speaker 1: I'd hold my nose and deal with Lickt. Of course, 411 00:26:00,515 --> 00:26:04,195 Speaker 1: as he's already proven he's rallying to advance fascism. That 412 00:26:04,275 --> 00:26:07,355 Speaker 1: they didn't hire me doesn't somehow invalidate my criticism of 413 00:26:07,395 --> 00:26:09,795 Speaker 1: their lurch to the right. Actually think it reinforces it. 414 00:26:10,595 --> 00:26:14,595 Speaker 1: One PostScript here my last The text to Sam read, 415 00:26:15,155 --> 00:26:17,515 Speaker 1: don't forget to mention that I abuse Licked as often 416 00:26:17,555 --> 00:26:20,395 Speaker 1: as I can on the New Countdown podcast, which crossed 417 00:26:20,435 --> 00:26:25,275 Speaker 1: the million download mark last Wednesday. Thanks Sure enough, they 418 00:26:25,315 --> 00:26:28,915 Speaker 1: put it in the article the runner up the Soviet Union? 419 00:26:29,075 --> 00:26:31,515 Speaker 1: So what if they're defunct? Ever seen the video of 420 00:26:31,555 --> 00:26:34,115 Speaker 1: then Vice President Richard Nixon in the so called kitchen 421 00:26:34,155 --> 00:26:37,075 Speaker 1: debate with Premier Nikita Cruz shop at the American National 422 00:26:37,115 --> 00:26:41,795 Speaker 1: exhibition in Moscow in n The website the National Security 423 00:26:41,875 --> 00:26:45,555 Speaker 1: Archive has confirmed something that was long rumored. They founded 424 00:26:45,595 --> 00:26:49,915 Speaker 1: in declassified records from the Secret Service, when Nixon stayed 425 00:26:49,955 --> 00:26:53,555 Speaker 1: in Moscow at the residence of the American ambassador Llewellyn Thompson, 426 00:26:53,595 --> 00:27:00,035 Speaker 1: the Soviets irradiated him. They fired ionizing radiation at him 427 00:27:00,115 --> 00:27:03,955 Speaker 1: and his wife pat. The Secret Service records show that 428 00:27:03,995 --> 00:27:06,595 Speaker 1: they bluff the Russians into cutting it out, and the 429 00:27:06,635 --> 00:27:09,955 Speaker 1: Secret Service and the whole crew decided not to tell Nixon. 430 00:27:10,675 --> 00:27:12,875 Speaker 1: But you know that infamous eighteen minute gap in the 431 00:27:12,875 --> 00:27:16,155 Speaker 1: Watergate tapes that Nixon clearly caused. I mean, maybe he 432 00:27:16,195 --> 00:27:20,115 Speaker 1: was still radioactive and he erased the eighteen minutes by 433 00:27:20,155 --> 00:27:24,075 Speaker 1: accident or to reference a recent claim by another ex president. 434 00:27:24,075 --> 00:27:26,235 Speaker 1: Maybe because he was radioactive, he just did it by 435 00:27:26,315 --> 00:27:30,635 Speaker 1: thinking about it. But our winner John Gibbs, the Trump 436 00:27:30,675 --> 00:27:33,075 Speaker 1: fascist candidate for the House from the Michigan third He 437 00:27:33,115 --> 00:27:36,195 Speaker 1: now wins this award twice for one story, once for 438 00:27:36,275 --> 00:27:39,715 Speaker 1: claiming what he said was hyperbole designed to provoke the libs, 439 00:27:40,315 --> 00:27:43,075 Speaker 1: a variation of the I was just kidding defense the 440 00:27:43,115 --> 00:27:47,035 Speaker 1: fascists are so fond of. But his main victory as 441 00:27:47,035 --> 00:27:49,515 Speaker 1: a student, he opened a website in which he claimed 442 00:27:49,515 --> 00:27:52,275 Speaker 1: the Nineteenth Amendment should be repealed and women should not 443 00:27:52,475 --> 00:27:55,115 Speaker 1: be allowed to vote in this country because they are 444 00:27:55,155 --> 00:27:59,955 Speaker 1: too emotional and they didn't quote possess the characteristics necessary 445 00:27:59,995 --> 00:28:04,555 Speaker 1: to govern. He also misspelled possess. Gibbs went on. Some argued, 446 00:28:04,755 --> 00:28:07,715 Speaker 1: in a democratic society, it is hypocritical or unjust for 447 00:28:07,755 --> 00:28:11,115 Speaker 1: women who are of the population not to have the vote. 448 00:28:11,475 --> 00:28:14,235 Speaker 1: This is obviously not true, since the Founding Fathers, who 449 00:28:14,315 --> 00:28:19,675 Speaker 1: understood liberty and democracy better than anyone, did not believe so. Oh, 450 00:28:19,715 --> 00:28:23,235 Speaker 1: another one of them Founding fathers. Guys, poor Mr Gibbs. 451 00:28:23,675 --> 00:28:25,755 Speaker 1: He's telling us the Founding fathers who were right about 452 00:28:25,835 --> 00:28:29,115 Speaker 1: voting and liberty and democracy, and they knew everything about 453 00:28:29,195 --> 00:28:32,515 Speaker 1: liberty and democracy. The punchline, Mr Gibbs is African American, 454 00:28:32,515 --> 00:28:34,675 Speaker 1: and of course it was those same Founding fathers who 455 00:28:34,675 --> 00:28:39,675 Speaker 1: put African American slavery into the constitution. Michigan congressional candidate 456 00:28:39,795 --> 00:28:43,795 Speaker 1: John the Founding fathers knew best. Wait, not about that, Gibbs. 457 00:28:44,195 --> 00:28:59,115 Speaker 1: Today's worst person in the world to the number one 458 00:28:59,155 --> 00:29:01,475 Speaker 1: story on the Countdown and my favorite topic, me and 459 00:29:01,515 --> 00:29:04,435 Speaker 1: things I promised not to tell, although I have told 460 00:29:04,475 --> 00:29:07,635 Speaker 1: this particular story just about every year since I was 461 00:29:07,715 --> 00:29:12,675 Speaker 1: seventeen years old, but the anniversary of the game was 462 00:29:12,795 --> 00:29:17,955 Speaker 1: last Friday, the anniversary the anniversary of when I first 463 00:29:18,035 --> 00:29:20,235 Speaker 1: learned about that game, I could not tell you. It's 464 00:29:20,395 --> 00:29:24,835 Speaker 1: probably seventy I can see myself reading it in a 465 00:29:24,835 --> 00:29:29,195 Speaker 1: publication called Baseball Digest as I sat on a berm 466 00:29:29,195 --> 00:29:33,315 Speaker 1: outside a doctor's office in Terrytown, New York. I was struck, 467 00:29:33,435 --> 00:29:37,355 Speaker 1: despite my youth, at the universality and the humanity of 468 00:29:37,395 --> 00:29:40,475 Speaker 1: the story. First time I told this story on radio 469 00:29:40,595 --> 00:29:43,195 Speaker 1: or TV or online would have been in nineteen seventy six, 470 00:29:43,555 --> 00:29:45,955 Speaker 1: and the best part of this story did not happen 471 00:29:46,035 --> 00:29:51,755 Speaker 1: until nine. That's when Fred Merkel's granddaughter and her husband 472 00:29:51,795 --> 00:29:54,275 Speaker 1: and her toddler son had driven up from near San 473 00:29:54,315 --> 00:29:57,675 Speaker 1: Diego to see my meager collection of stuff that related 474 00:29:57,715 --> 00:30:01,035 Speaker 1: to the grandfather that she had never met. The family 475 00:30:01,075 --> 00:30:03,555 Speaker 1: had lost most of its memorabilia in a far To 476 00:30:03,635 --> 00:30:06,435 Speaker 1: fire in the ninety thirties. If they'd met me a 477 00:30:06,475 --> 00:30:09,435 Speaker 1: little bit later, they would have seen the baseball in question. 478 00:30:09,515 --> 00:30:12,875 Speaker 1: But I didn't own it then. What the little boy, 479 00:30:13,315 --> 00:30:18,275 Speaker 1: Fred Merkel's great grandson did in my apartment that left 480 00:30:18,315 --> 00:30:22,075 Speaker 1: his parents and I gasping and then silent, and which 481 00:30:22,115 --> 00:30:25,755 Speaker 1: I swear is true, I will only tell you about 482 00:30:25,875 --> 00:30:30,435 Speaker 1: at the end of this story. The story starts on Wednesday, 483 00:30:30,475 --> 00:30:33,915 Speaker 1: septem in New York City, in the middle of baseball's 484 00:30:33,955 --> 00:30:36,515 Speaker 1: greatest pennant race the year. The top three teams in 485 00:30:36,555 --> 00:30:39,315 Speaker 1: the American League finished within a game and a half 486 00:30:39,435 --> 00:30:41,755 Speaker 1: of one another, but the top three teams in the 487 00:30:41,875 --> 00:30:44,715 Speaker 1: National League were really close. They would all finish within 488 00:30:44,835 --> 00:30:49,035 Speaker 1: one game of each other. Against the Cubs that day 489 00:30:49,075 --> 00:30:52,595 Speaker 1: at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan Upper Manhattan in New York, 490 00:30:52,635 --> 00:30:55,515 Speaker 1: Fred Merkel, a nineteen year old Giants rookie, made his 491 00:30:55,555 --> 00:30:58,475 Speaker 1: first start of the season in place of the injured 492 00:30:58,515 --> 00:31:01,995 Speaker 1: regular first basement, a man named Fred Tenny. The Cubs 493 00:31:01,995 --> 00:31:04,315 Speaker 1: and the Giants were tied for first place in this 494 00:31:04,355 --> 00:31:07,035 Speaker 1: pennant race with just games to play. They were also 495 00:31:07,115 --> 00:31:08,995 Speaker 1: tied one to one in the game. In the bottom 496 00:31:09,035 --> 00:31:11,795 Speaker 1: of the ninth, with two out and New York's Moose 497 00:31:11,875 --> 00:31:16,515 Speaker 1: McCormick at first, Fred Merkel laced a clutch long ninth 498 00:31:16,555 --> 00:31:19,795 Speaker 1: inning singled right field, sending the winning run McCormick to 499 00:31:19,875 --> 00:31:23,395 Speaker 1: third base. Then On the next pitch, shortstop Al Bridwell 500 00:31:23,515 --> 00:31:26,275 Speaker 1: singled up the middle, apparently giving the Giants the crucial 501 00:31:26,355 --> 00:31:28,555 Speaker 1: victory that was set up by the remarkable hit from 502 00:31:28,555 --> 00:31:33,115 Speaker 1: the rookie Merkel. But what happened next has been debated 503 00:31:33,675 --> 00:31:37,195 Speaker 1: for more than a century. As Moose McCormick neared the plate, 504 00:31:37,235 --> 00:31:41,315 Speaker 1: the Giants fans stormed onto the field, both to celebrate 505 00:31:41,675 --> 00:31:44,675 Speaker 1: and to beat the quickest path to the elevated trains 506 00:31:44,875 --> 00:31:47,395 Speaker 1: and street cars that ran beyond the right field fence 507 00:31:47,435 --> 00:31:50,755 Speaker 1: at the Polo Grounds. While the diamond was being overrun, 508 00:31:50,795 --> 00:31:54,035 Speaker 1: the Giants, as all players did in such situations, then 509 00:31:54,275 --> 00:31:57,635 Speaker 1: began sprinting for the safety of their clubhouse in center field. 510 00:31:57,875 --> 00:32:01,195 Speaker 1: Fred Merkel, heading towards second base, saw them coming and 511 00:32:01,235 --> 00:32:05,675 Speaker 1: took a right turn and joined the exodus. Few people 512 00:32:05,755 --> 00:32:08,915 Speaker 1: in the park knew it, Few people in baseball knew it, 513 00:32:09,315 --> 00:32:13,195 Speaker 1: but Merkel's decision technically violated what was then called Rule 514 00:32:13,395 --> 00:32:18,035 Speaker 1: fifty nine. No run could count if another runner was 515 00:32:18,115 --> 00:32:22,155 Speaker 1: forced out as the third out of an inning. Fans 516 00:32:22,235 --> 00:32:25,755 Speaker 1: invariably exited via the fields in those days, but exhaustive 517 00:32:25,755 --> 00:32:29,035 Speaker 1: research has not turned up an earlier instance of Rule 518 00:32:29,075 --> 00:32:32,195 Speaker 1: fifty nine being enforced on what we now call a 519 00:32:32,315 --> 00:32:36,035 Speaker 1: walk off hit. It was the proverbial rule more honored 520 00:32:36,035 --> 00:32:38,635 Speaker 1: in the breach than in the observance, because the risk 521 00:32:38,715 --> 00:32:41,675 Speaker 1: the fans posed to the players was real and constant. 522 00:32:42,075 --> 00:32:44,195 Speaker 1: If the winning runs scored in the bottom of the 523 00:32:44,275 --> 00:32:46,955 Speaker 1: ninth inning, or the bottom of any inning, or the 524 00:32:46,995 --> 00:32:49,955 Speaker 1: game ended on a sudden play, the game was considered 525 00:32:50,035 --> 00:32:53,995 Speaker 1: over immediately and the players were encouraged to leave. But 526 00:32:54,195 --> 00:32:57,555 Speaker 1: still by the letter of the never enforced law. By 527 00:32:57,675 --> 00:33:01,755 Speaker 1: rule fifty nine, McCormick's run could be nullified if the 528 00:33:01,795 --> 00:33:06,555 Speaker 1: Cubs somehow got a baseball and touched second base with 529 00:33:06,635 --> 00:33:12,075 Speaker 1: it before Merkel touched second base, without film or still 530 00:33:12,115 --> 00:33:14,915 Speaker 1: photographers there to capture the exact moment. There are a 531 00:33:14,995 --> 00:33:18,955 Speaker 1: dozen competing stories about what followed, but somehow, in the 532 00:33:19,035 --> 00:33:21,715 Speaker 1: chaos with thousands of fans on the field, some of 533 00:33:21,715 --> 00:33:25,155 Speaker 1: them aware of what was happening, Cubs second baseman Johnny 534 00:33:25,155 --> 00:33:27,915 Speaker 1: Evers got a ball. Nobody ever proved it was the 535 00:33:27,955 --> 00:33:31,195 Speaker 1: one that Bridwell actually hit from his Cub center fielder 536 00:33:31,235 --> 00:33:34,595 Speaker 1: Sally Hoffman, and Evers stepped on the bag at second base. 537 00:33:35,315 --> 00:33:38,635 Speaker 1: One of two umpires their hank O' day called Merkel out, 538 00:33:38,955 --> 00:33:41,955 Speaker 1: canceling the winning run. The umpire closest to the play, 539 00:33:42,035 --> 00:33:45,275 Speaker 1: Bob Emsley, had fallen over and didn't see what happened. 540 00:33:45,955 --> 00:33:49,755 Speaker 1: With the Polo Grounds now engulfed in dusk and angry 541 00:33:49,755 --> 00:33:53,955 Speaker 1: New York fans, Umpire o' day declared the game a tie. 542 00:33:54,995 --> 00:33:58,635 Speaker 1: The aftermath was worthy of Greek tragedy, and the aftermath 543 00:33:58,675 --> 00:34:01,795 Speaker 1: continues to this day. The Cubs and the Giants finished 544 00:34:01,835 --> 00:34:05,155 Speaker 1: the season tied for first place. That made a replay 545 00:34:05,275 --> 00:34:08,515 Speaker 1: of that game at the Polo Grounds on October eighth 546 00:34:08,835 --> 00:34:14,435 Speaker 1: necessary and decisive. Chicago won that game and the pennant, 547 00:34:14,675 --> 00:34:16,715 Speaker 1: and then they rolled over the Detroit Tigers to win 548 00:34:16,795 --> 00:34:19,915 Speaker 1: the World Series, their last World Series win for one 549 00:34:20,075 --> 00:34:23,795 Speaker 1: hundred and eight years. As Merkel defenders and Chicago jinks 550 00:34:23,835 --> 00:34:28,195 Speaker 1: oologists will remind you, the National League president Harry Pulliam, 551 00:34:28,395 --> 00:34:32,315 Speaker 1: who upheld Umpire o Day's ruling and forced the playoff game, 552 00:34:32,395 --> 00:34:35,115 Speaker 1: was so vilified for his decision that he suffered an 553 00:34:35,155 --> 00:34:39,635 Speaker 1: emotional collapse. He would die by his own hand nine 554 00:34:39,635 --> 00:34:45,755 Speaker 1: months later. Merkel, though, attained a permanent level of infamy 555 00:34:45,835 --> 00:34:48,755 Speaker 1: that makes the travails of a Bill Buckner or Scott 556 00:34:48,795 --> 00:34:53,035 Speaker 1: Norwood or Chris Webber seemed trivial. Crowds had held grudges 557 00:34:53,075 --> 00:34:57,955 Speaker 1: against athletes before Fred Merkel, but fandom changed with Merkel's misfortune. 558 00:34:58,075 --> 00:35:01,075 Speaker 1: It got personal, and a failure to abide by a 559 00:35:01,115 --> 00:35:05,235 Speaker 1: previously unenforced rule was suddenly reason to impute the player's 560 00:35:05,315 --> 00:35:09,515 Speaker 1: intelligence and character for his moment happened at that point 561 00:35:09,595 --> 00:35:13,755 Speaker 1: in American history, when sports was becoming America's cultural currency, 562 00:35:14,035 --> 00:35:17,275 Speaker 1: when it's winners and losers were more familiar to us 563 00:35:17,315 --> 00:35:21,115 Speaker 1: than our neighbors were one hundred and fourteen years ago, 564 00:35:21,195 --> 00:35:27,115 Speaker 1: Fred Merkel became our first goat. He was almost immediately 565 00:35:27,195 --> 00:35:31,515 Speaker 1: nicknamed the bone head. His failure to touch second forever 566 00:35:31,595 --> 00:35:35,915 Speaker 1: became known as Merkel's boner. Pulling a Merkel entered the 567 00:35:35,955 --> 00:35:40,115 Speaker 1: American lexicon as slang for any kind of air headed mistake. 568 00:35:41,075 --> 00:35:45,355 Speaker 1: Under a headline that read, blunder costs Giants victory. The 569 00:35:45,435 --> 00:35:50,235 Speaker 1: next day story in the New York Times began censurable 570 00:35:50,435 --> 00:35:54,995 Speaker 1: stupidity on the part of player Merkel. The criticism, with 571 00:35:55,035 --> 00:35:59,795 Speaker 1: its subtext of almost impossible imbecility, was unprecedented, and since 572 00:35:59,875 --> 00:36:02,955 Speaker 1: Merkel had done exactly what any other player would have 573 00:36:03,395 --> 00:36:07,675 Speaker 1: and had done, it was undeserved, and it has never ceased. 574 00:36:09,755 --> 00:36:12,595 Speaker 1: He didn't talk about it much, his youngest daughter, Mary Anne, 575 00:36:12,635 --> 00:36:14,795 Speaker 1: told me, but he did tell me that as long 576 00:36:14,835 --> 00:36:17,115 Speaker 1: as he wore baseball uniform, not a day went by 577 00:36:17,155 --> 00:36:19,915 Speaker 1: when somebody didn't call him bone head or shout from 578 00:36:19,915 --> 00:36:24,635 Speaker 1: the stands, don't forget to touch second. Still, Fred Merkel 579 00:36:24,715 --> 00:36:28,035 Speaker 1: played fourteen more seasons after that game in the big leagues, 580 00:36:28,315 --> 00:36:31,795 Speaker 1: and he was on six Pennant winning teams. He batted 581 00:36:31,795 --> 00:36:34,795 Speaker 1: two seventy three lifetime. As a first basement he stole 582 00:36:34,875 --> 00:36:37,635 Speaker 1: twenty or more bases in eight of his seasons. He 583 00:36:37,715 --> 00:36:40,395 Speaker 1: became a minor league manager and was acclaimed by the 584 00:36:40,435 --> 00:36:43,555 Speaker 1: Giants catcher John Myers as the smartest man on the 585 00:36:43,595 --> 00:36:46,675 Speaker 1: ball club, but he embittered by the venom of the 586 00:36:46,715 --> 00:36:49,235 Speaker 1: fans and the media, Merkel receded from baseball in the 587 00:36:49,275 --> 00:36:52,675 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties. He quit a minor league managing job after 588 00:36:52,715 --> 00:36:55,595 Speaker 1: a player called him bone head. He went and sold 589 00:36:55,635 --> 00:36:59,635 Speaker 1: fishing tackle in Florida instead. But really there was nowhere 590 00:36:59,675 --> 00:37:03,835 Speaker 1: to hide. Nearly thirty years after the game, Maryanne Merkel 591 00:37:03,915 --> 00:37:08,075 Speaker 1: remembered even church was not a safe haven. One Sunday 592 00:37:08,075 --> 00:37:10,515 Speaker 1: morning in the nineteen thirties, Merkel and his family were 593 00:37:10,515 --> 00:37:14,715 Speaker 1: attending services in Florida when a visiting minister introduced himself. 594 00:37:14,755 --> 00:37:17,875 Speaker 1: You don't know me, Marianne told me. He piped up, 595 00:37:18,035 --> 00:37:21,315 Speaker 1: but you know where I'm from, Toledo, Ohio, the hometown 596 00:37:21,355 --> 00:37:26,115 Speaker 1: of bonehead Fred Merkele. Little Marianne knew what would happen next. 597 00:37:27,315 --> 00:37:32,395 Speaker 1: The kindness, she said, drained from my father's face. Five 598 00:37:32,435 --> 00:37:35,355 Speaker 1: decades later she could remember the details. Fred Merkel rose 599 00:37:35,435 --> 00:37:40,155 Speaker 1: and wearily told his wife and daughters, let's go. He 600 00:37:40,235 --> 00:37:43,635 Speaker 1: avoided the game almost entirely until nineteen fifty. He was 601 00:37:43,795 --> 00:37:48,075 Speaker 1: an umpire and helped desegregate baseball in Florida and discovered 602 00:37:48,075 --> 00:37:50,235 Speaker 1: a picture named Jim Grant, who went on to play 603 00:37:50,235 --> 00:37:52,915 Speaker 1: for Cleveland for many years, who still referred to him 604 00:37:52,955 --> 00:37:57,915 Speaker 1: as recently as two thousand thirteen as Mr Merkel. But 605 00:37:57,995 --> 00:38:00,395 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty, six years before his death, when the 606 00:38:00,435 --> 00:38:03,875 Speaker 1: Giants invited Fred Merkel back for Old Timer's Day, he 607 00:38:04,035 --> 00:38:08,875 Speaker 1: startled his family by saying yes. His daughter mary Anne 608 00:38:08,875 --> 00:38:11,115 Speaker 1: said he figured another round of cat calls was the 609 00:38:11,155 --> 00:38:14,355 Speaker 1: price he had to pay to get one last chance 610 00:38:14,395 --> 00:38:18,595 Speaker 1: to commune with the baseball friends of his youth instead. 611 00:38:19,315 --> 00:38:21,795 Speaker 1: When he was announced at the Polo Grounds, the fans 612 00:38:22,435 --> 00:38:28,915 Speaker 1: applauded and cheered and stood. Sportswriter Barney Kremenko later claimed 613 00:38:28,955 --> 00:38:31,195 Speaker 1: the roar in the Polo Grounds was as loud and 614 00:38:31,235 --> 00:38:34,915 Speaker 1: as heartfelt as the one that followed Bobby Thompson's famous 615 00:38:34,915 --> 00:38:37,955 Speaker 1: home run in the same building. The following year, Merkel 616 00:38:38,035 --> 00:38:40,715 Speaker 1: and the fans made peace with one another. The pain 617 00:38:40,875 --> 00:38:45,275 Speaker 1: was relieved and the blame absolved. Yet that moment of 618 00:38:45,315 --> 00:38:48,195 Speaker 1: absolution is not what is remembered about Merkel each September. 619 00:38:49,115 --> 00:38:52,155 Speaker 1: We love our heroes, but beginning with him, we've loved 620 00:38:52,155 --> 00:38:56,195 Speaker 1: to hate our goats just as much. Last Friday, Twitter 621 00:38:56,875 --> 00:38:59,155 Speaker 1: was full of photos about the day Fred Merkel made 622 00:38:59,155 --> 00:39:03,715 Speaker 1: a base running blunder, or pulled a boner, or cost 623 00:39:03,755 --> 00:39:08,355 Speaker 1: the New York Giants pennant. From the first day I 624 00:39:08,435 --> 00:39:13,195 Speaker 1: read this story, it seemed irredeemably unfair. They had, in essence, 625 00:39:13,275 --> 00:39:15,915 Speaker 1: changed the rules on Fred Merkel in the middle of 626 00:39:15,955 --> 00:39:19,155 Speaker 1: the game. The same play had come up just three 627 00:39:19,195 --> 00:39:22,675 Speaker 1: weeks earlier. The Cubs were involved. They tried to get 628 00:39:22,675 --> 00:39:25,275 Speaker 1: the umpires to enforce Rule fifty nine, but they got 629 00:39:25,275 --> 00:39:27,835 Speaker 1: only a promise that if it happened again. The umpires 630 00:39:27,875 --> 00:39:31,875 Speaker 1: would enforce it. Later. A memorandum went out apparently to 631 00:39:31,915 --> 00:39:34,875 Speaker 1: all the National League managers, but New York's legendary manager 632 00:39:34,955 --> 00:39:38,995 Speaker 1: John McGraw apparently neglected to tell his players after the win. 633 00:39:39,155 --> 00:39:42,155 Speaker 1: They did not get against the Cubs. On September, the 634 00:39:42,195 --> 00:39:45,275 Speaker 1: Giants lost three games in one week to a rookie 635 00:39:45,315 --> 00:39:49,155 Speaker 1: pitcher from the Phillies. They choked, so the blame went 636 00:39:49,235 --> 00:39:52,955 Speaker 1: to Merkel, the nineteen year old who had never before 637 00:39:53,475 --> 00:39:57,475 Speaker 1: started a game that season in the majors. And all 638 00:39:57,595 --> 00:40:01,195 Speaker 1: that is what brought Fred Merkel's granddaughter, Maryanne's daughter, and 639 00:40:01,435 --> 00:40:06,115 Speaker 1: his rather precocious great grandson to my play in Beverly Hills, California, 640 00:40:06,115 --> 00:40:10,155 Speaker 1: in nine. While I showed the parents what I had, 641 00:40:10,235 --> 00:40:13,355 Speaker 1: the little boy was crawling and falling around my living room, 642 00:40:13,395 --> 00:40:16,155 Speaker 1: and then he saw himself in the wall mirror over 643 00:40:16,275 --> 00:40:19,235 Speaker 1: near the bar, the bar that is obligatory in every 644 00:40:19,275 --> 00:40:22,435 Speaker 1: Southern California apartment, and like all the other obligatory Southern 645 00:40:22,475 --> 00:40:27,435 Speaker 1: California apartment bars, it was decorated with narrow vertical strips 646 00:40:27,435 --> 00:40:30,475 Speaker 1: of wood glued on top of the glass. The boy, 647 00:40:30,555 --> 00:40:33,595 Speaker 1: who might have been two, was holding onto one of 648 00:40:33,595 --> 00:40:36,355 Speaker 1: those wood strips and staring happily at himself in the mirror, 649 00:40:36,355 --> 00:40:38,675 Speaker 1: when a small piece of the wood snapped off in 650 00:40:38,755 --> 00:40:41,995 Speaker 1: his hands. As his mother and father and I looked 651 00:40:41,995 --> 00:40:45,395 Speaker 1: on in astonishment, the kid was suddenly standing there fully, 652 00:40:45,475 --> 00:40:48,035 Speaker 1: standing on his own with both hands on this little 653 00:40:48,035 --> 00:40:51,555 Speaker 1: piece of wood maybe six eight inches long, exactly the 654 00:40:51,635 --> 00:40:55,115 Speaker 1: size you would make a miniature baseball bat to fit 655 00:40:55,235 --> 00:40:57,915 Speaker 1: a kid that age. And that's when he spread his 656 00:40:57,955 --> 00:41:01,035 Speaker 1: feet apart. And there is no question has happened. His 657 00:41:01,155 --> 00:41:04,875 Speaker 1: parents and I gasped for a moment. Fred Merkle's great 658 00:41:04,875 --> 00:41:09,595 Speaker 1: grandson assumed a perfect balanced baseball hitter's batting stance. He 659 00:41:09,755 --> 00:41:12,155 Speaker 1: waited a second as if a ball were being thrown 660 00:41:12,195 --> 00:41:16,555 Speaker 1: to him, and he took a swing, a real fluid level, 661 00:41:16,915 --> 00:41:22,755 Speaker 1: neatly arcing swing. He held himself upright for a second, smiled, giggled, 662 00:41:23,355 --> 00:41:27,755 Speaker 1: and then gently fell back to the carpet, an ordinary toddler. 663 00:41:29,675 --> 00:41:34,955 Speaker 1: His folks and I understandably said nothing for a moment. Finally, 664 00:41:35,155 --> 00:41:40,595 Speaker 1: his mother, fred Merkel's granddaughter, asked me, do you believe 665 00:41:40,635 --> 00:41:45,115 Speaker 1: in reincarnation? I kept looking at the kid with the 666 00:41:45,155 --> 00:41:49,795 Speaker 1: little miniature instantaneous bat in his hands, and finally I said, 667 00:41:50,995 --> 00:42:02,515 Speaker 1: I do now, I swear I've done all the damage 668 00:42:02,515 --> 00:42:04,275 Speaker 1: I can do here. Help me out, Give this thing 669 00:42:04,315 --> 00:42:07,715 Speaker 1: a good view or rating, or heart or smiley emoji, 670 00:42:07,915 --> 00:42:11,955 Speaker 1: or forward it to somebody. The Countdown theme from Beethoven's 671 00:42:12,035 --> 00:42:14,715 Speaker 1: Ninth was arranged, produced, and performed by the Countdown musical 672 00:42:14,755 --> 00:42:18,235 Speaker 1: directors Brian Ray and John Philip Chanelle. Guitarist, bass and 673 00:42:18,315 --> 00:42:21,635 Speaker 1: drums by Brian Ray, All orchestration and keyboards by John 674 00:42:21,675 --> 00:42:25,275 Speaker 1: Philip Shanelle, produced by T k O Brothers. Other Beethoven 675 00:42:25,315 --> 00:42:28,235 Speaker 1: selections I've been arranged and performed by No horns allowed. 676 00:42:28,835 --> 00:42:32,435 Speaker 1: Our sports music the Old Berman theme written by Mitch 677 00:42:32,435 --> 00:42:37,155 Speaker 1: Warren Davis courtesy of ESPN, Inc. Musical comments by Nancy Faust, 678 00:42:37,275 --> 00:42:40,355 Speaker 1: the based best baseball stadium organist ever, and our announcer 679 00:42:40,435 --> 00:42:42,955 Speaker 1: today was John Dene. Everything else is pretty much my fault. 680 00:42:43,435 --> 00:42:45,515 Speaker 1: Let's countdown for this the six hundred and twenty ninth 681 00:42:45,555 --> 00:42:48,755 Speaker 1: day since Donald Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically 682 00:42:48,755 --> 00:42:51,915 Speaker 1: elected government of the United States. Arrest him now while 683 00:42:51,995 --> 00:42:54,995 Speaker 1: we still can a new episode tomorrow till then on 684 00:42:55,115 --> 00:42:58,515 Speaker 1: Keith Olderman, Good morning, good afternoon, Good Night and good Luck. 685 00:43:05,635 --> 00:43:09,475 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Alderman is a production of I heart Radio. 686 00:43:09,515 --> 00:43:12,435 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i 687 00:43:12,555 --> 00:43:16,915 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.