Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Buco Territory, presented to
Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network.
Speaker 1: I'm Noah Hile's joining me as always are my.
Speaker 2: Co hosts Platinum Key aka Mark and Josh Harrison. It
Speaker 2: is the All Star Break edition of Buco Territory. The
Speaker 2: National League and the American League are set the face
Speaker 2: off a couple hours after we're recording this. Recording this
Speaker 2: at six pm on Tuesday evening, So who knows who won?
Speaker 2: Home run Derby was really exciting Monday evening. Really enjoyed
Speaker 2: their return to that older format. I think it made
Speaker 2: for a better show overall.
Speaker 1: But yeah, the All.
Speaker 2: Star Break is typically known as the dead period in
Speaker 2: sports talk in sports podcasting because there's just nothing going on. Yeah,
Speaker 2: in sports in general, there's not much going on right now,
Speaker 2: certainly not a lot of baseball to talk about. And
Speaker 2: while we can talk about the trade deadline and things
Speaker 2: like that, that's really gonna start heating up, like officially
Speaker 2: heating up next week because that's when the draft is
Speaker 2: over and now everyone's looking to improve their team for
Speaker 2: the second half of the season.
Speaker 1: So what are we gonna talk about? Today. Well, we
Speaker 1: just happen to have a.
Speaker 2: Guy who's he's been an All Star time or two
Speaker 2: two times to be exact, on this show.
Speaker 1: His name's Josh Harrison. He's in the middle of our
Speaker 1: screen here, and we're just gonna ask him about his.
Speaker 2: Major League All Star appearances. He was one in twenty
Speaker 2: fourteen and twenty seventeen, Is that correct? Yeah, yes, twenty
Speaker 2: fourteen and twenty seventeen, with both of those nods coming
Speaker 2: with the Pittsburgh Pirates. So we just have a couple
Speaker 2: of questions to take Josh down memory lane and reflect
Speaker 2: upon what I would assume are some of the cooler
Speaker 2: moments of his career, some of the better achievements in
Speaker 2: his career. Mark, you weren't even a Pirates fan back
Speaker 2: in these days. You were just wandering aimlessly without a
Speaker 2: baseball team, just so you kind of missed out on
Speaker 2: the whole Jay Hay playing experience. So this is an
Speaker 2: opportunity for you to kind of learn a little bit.
Speaker 2: I'm mixed our co host here. I'll let you started
Speaker 2: off with your questions for Josh.
Speaker 3: All right, So, Josh, I did do some research a
Speaker 3: little bit here looking in uh, just to get a
Speaker 3: little background here, and I just want to first start
Speaker 3: off with a stat I saw from the University of
Speaker 3: Cincinnati's website. They said you were the first person in
Speaker 3: All Star Game history to make the All Star Game
Speaker 3: with no more than twenty two starts at a single
Speaker 3: position in twenty fourteen. What was it like for you
Speaker 3: to be recognized as a utility player? I don't know
Speaker 3: if you even knew that, because obviously twenty fourteen you
Speaker 3: were all over right field, left field, third base, shortstop,
Speaker 3: second base, and by the time the All Star break kit,
Speaker 3: you hadn't even played twenty two games at a single position,
Speaker 3: and so you got selected as a utility player. And
Speaker 3: my first question is just what did that mean to you?
Speaker 3: Obviously now why you tility players get selected always. You're
Speaker 3: the first one since twenty ten to be selected. What
Speaker 3: does that mean for you as your first All start
Speaker 3: to be selected in that kind of capacity.
Speaker 4: Meant a lot long story short as short as I
Speaker 4: can be. I remember the first two weeks of the season,
Speaker 4: I didn't play. I didn't have a start, and ironically
Speaker 4: I think my first start or might have been Easter
Speaker 4: Sunday when we had the brawl with Milwaukee and I
Speaker 4: got two hits and we had the brawl or you know,
Speaker 4: like bench is clearing, and I'm like, man, I'm trying
Speaker 4: to keep playing, y'all.
Speaker 5: We can fight after, you know.
Speaker 4: That's what I was staying in between. But I remember
Speaker 4: talking to my brother, myltest brother, Vince at the time,
Speaker 4: and saying, like, man, what do I have to do
Speaker 4: this my third year up? And man, I'm still not
Speaker 4: getting a chance to play, and he goes, Man, I
Speaker 4: got a funny feeling that by the end of the year,
Speaker 4: we're going to be laughing at this. And when I
Speaker 4: found out I was selected, all my brother was like,
Speaker 4: we don't have to wait till the end of the year.
Speaker 4: I just got named an All Star and he was
Speaker 4: like laughing, like, see.
Speaker 5: I told you. But you know it started that.
Speaker 4: You see my freshman year, I played I think six
Speaker 4: different positions and.
Speaker 5: Then you know, so it was in my background.
Speaker 4: So when I got the opportunity in twenty fourteen, I
Speaker 4: remember when I got announced because Clinton Hurtle goes, you know,
Speaker 4: we got three All Stars. Cutch was obvious and the
Speaker 4: other two everybody's trying to figure out. We had an
Speaker 4: idea that it could be like Tony Watson and you know,
Speaker 4: because what he was dealing is like Tony Watson and
Speaker 4: Josh Harrison and you know, everybody. You know, I was shocked.
Speaker 4: Everybody was because I didn't start the season playing. But
Speaker 4: long story short, I think Matheny as they were filling
Speaker 4: out the roster, I think I might have been handpicked
Speaker 4: by Metheni, who is the manager, because obviously being within
Speaker 4: the division, he got to see me a lot and
Speaker 4: I played pretty well against him.
Speaker 5: But he was like, man, it was a no brainer
Speaker 5: for me.
Speaker 4: Uh, given what you've been, you know, what you've done
Speaker 4: thus far, and you know, I was definitely grateful. I
Speaker 4: was excited because you know, coming into the season, as
Speaker 4: I said, I was asking my brother, like what do
Speaker 4: I do to have to play? You know, I'm just
Speaker 4: ready to play. And come to July here I was,
Speaker 4: you know, named an All Star and you know the
Speaker 4: rest was history.
Speaker 2: Josh, I want to kind of piggyback on that because
Speaker 2: I mean, twenty fourteen, Mark and I were talking before
Speaker 2: you got on and joined us, before we started recording.
Speaker 2: Twenty fourteen was such an interesting team, like an interesting
Speaker 2: Pirates team because you're coming off of that high of thirteen.
Speaker 2: You know, some of the guys that you added at
Speaker 2: the deadline aren't there anymore. There were a lot of
Speaker 2: injuries that year. Some guys kind of regressed a little bit.
Speaker 2: You did not start well.
Speaker 1: You guys started nine and seventeen on the season.
Speaker 2: You were kind of the spark plug that got them going,
Speaker 2: and there were a couple other guys too.
Speaker 1: But at what point did you think that that was
Speaker 1: a possibility that you could be an All Star?
Speaker 2: Because I remember just watching and seeing it's like, all right,
Speaker 2: like this guy, he's a contributor, but like how good
Speaker 2: is he? And then you get into man and it's
Speaker 2: like he's a piece of this. And then you get
Speaker 2: into junior you're like he's not just a piece, like
Speaker 2: he's kind of ly in the charge here. And then
Speaker 2: you get to July and you're thinking, like does the
Speaker 2: rest of the baseball world see this? And the Meffini
Speaker 2: thing is obviously a key component of it, right because
Speaker 2: you you torched the Cardinals. But when did you think
Speaker 2: that that was a realistic possibility or did you even
Speaker 2: think that you had a chance to make an All
Speaker 2: Star team that year.
Speaker 5: I'll be honest, it wasn't on my radar because.
Speaker 4: I just knew at some point I was finally getting
Speaker 4: a chance to play. So I wasn't thinking All Star
Speaker 4: this all start that. I was like, man, it's been
Speaker 4: three years of you know, waiting for my opportunities. So
Speaker 4: I was just grateful that, you know, one day I
Speaker 4: might be on right field, next day I'm in left.
Speaker 4: Now I'm at second third, you know, playing a little
Speaker 4: bit of short. You know, guys were going down and
Speaker 4: they were, you know, okay, go in. And I was
Speaker 4: always a guy that knew, uh given an opportunity to play,
Speaker 4: what I could do. And my first couple of years
Speaker 4: was a lot of pinch hitting, which was tough for
Speaker 4: me because not anything that I ever did growing up.
Speaker 4: But it was an adjustment that I had to make.
Speaker 4: But you know, my brother and my uncle John T.
Speaker 4: Bone Shelby, who's coaching the Brewers at the time, was like,
Speaker 4: always stay ready, you know, don't give him a chance
Speaker 4: to say that you're not working.
Speaker 5: You never know when your opportunity is going to be.
Speaker 5: And honestly, I wouldn't think an All Star.
Speaker 4: I was just thinking, like, man, I know I've played
Speaker 4: myself into, you know, being in the starting lineup. That's
Speaker 4: all I cared about, was, you know, being in the
Speaker 4: lineup to help the guys. And when he said we
Speaker 4: had three All Stars, I mean, in the back of
Speaker 4: my mind it was like, I mean, I could be announced,
Speaker 4: but I just honestly didn't know if I had enough games,
Speaker 4: and at batch I wouldn't keeping track of that. So
Speaker 4: when he named me, you know, it wasn't a surprise.
Speaker 4: Granted I know to a lot of people not in
Speaker 4: the clubhouse, but you know, there were some media questions
Speaker 4: and this or that, because obviously I wasn't like a
Speaker 4: well known person, because it was like, and this guy's
Speaker 4: coming off the bench. They knew me from the of
Speaker 4: his years. And even at the time, I think I
Speaker 4: only had like maybe four home runs at the All
Speaker 4: Star break, not like I had a lot of home runs,
Speaker 4: but you know I was hitting I was playing you know, good.
Speaker 3: Teaks and seven on base percentage at the break, Yeah,
Speaker 3: and you reach safe.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean I didn't really know. I didn't really know
Speaker 4: like what my numbers were. I just knew I was
Speaker 4: playing well. And you know, the question got asked to me,
Speaker 4: did it surprise me? And I said, obviously, you know,
Speaker 4: I wasn't setting out to make the All Star team,
Speaker 4: especially when I didn't start the season playing. But I
Speaker 4: wasn't a surprise to me because I have been an
Speaker 4: All Star at every level in the nor League's prior,
Speaker 4: So to me, it wasn't a surprise to say, oh,
Speaker 4: I made the All Star in the big leagues because
Speaker 4: every level in the minor leagues.
Speaker 5: I had been one.
Speaker 4: But yeah, no, that that surprised me because I didn't
Speaker 4: set out to, you know, make the All Star team.
Speaker 4: I was just setting out to be a contributor. Like
Speaker 4: how I asked my brother, like what do I gotta
Speaker 4: do to play?
Speaker 3: And I'll piggyback off of that. So once you were selected,
Speaker 3: did that change your confidence at all? Was that like
Speaker 3: did you feel validated as a player or was there
Speaker 3: anything that felt different after that? Or do you just
Speaker 3: feel like, yeah, this is finally Like I knew that
Speaker 3: this was coming. It was just a matter of time.
Speaker 4: No, my confidence didn't change. Anybody that's played with me,
Speaker 4: good bad, they know my confidence never waivered. That was
Speaker 4: even when I was on the bench. But it took
Speaker 4: me a while to kind of settle into knowing that
Speaker 4: I was, you know, an everyday player, because even after
Speaker 4: the All Star break, the first game back, I think
Speaker 4: Clint gives me the day off because he's like, man,
Speaker 4: you've this was been a whirlwind for you. It was like,
Speaker 4: I know, it's been a lot. It's like, as your manager,
Speaker 4: I'm giving you the day. I think I ended up
Speaker 4: hitting the walk off that's when I had to run
Speaker 4: down and hit the walk off double. But I just
Speaker 4: remember there was one game I like, roll my ankle,
Speaker 4: like I rode it pretty bad, and I'm like, I'm
Speaker 4: staying out there. I'm playing because you know I'm not
Speaker 4: anytime when I'm not playing, I can't afford to go down.
Speaker 4: And I'm like, if i'm in there, man, you're gonna
Speaker 4: have to wheel me off this field. And Clint comes
Speaker 4: up to me at the end of dugout. He goes, hey,
Speaker 4: I need you to go get yourself together because you
Speaker 4: are one of our guys.
Speaker 5: We need you to be good.
Speaker 4: I was like, okay, but I'm still going out, like
Speaker 4: you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: But it took.
Speaker 4: You know, even though I made the All Star Team minute,
Speaker 4: I wasn't thinking, oh I made it, because that was
Speaker 4: never that's not in my DNA.
Speaker 5: You know All Star.
Speaker 4: Now you know I'm gonna play if I can play,
Speaker 4: But you know, it still took some adjusting because I
Speaker 4: went from being the twenty fifth man three years in
Speaker 4: a row to you know, and may being thrust in
Speaker 4: a lineup and then becoming an All Star and then everybody, oh, man,
Speaker 4: you're the man, You're the guy, you know, one of
Speaker 4: the guys that's leading. I'm like, I've always been one
Speaker 4: of the guys, whether I was playing or not. You know,
Speaker 4: but it was it was nice to know that the
Speaker 4: opportunity I had, I took advantage of it, and you know,
Speaker 4: it was it was all god siming, is what I
Speaker 4: can say, because I was heading into orbitration.
Speaker 2: My favorite thing to talk to guys during their first
Speaker 2: All Star appearance. I've had the opportunity to obviously cover
Speaker 2: a couple of these, and I love hearing stories about
Speaker 2: how first time All Stars get to chat with other
Speaker 2: players that they're sharing a clubhouse with, like with Paul
Speaker 2: him getting to talk to Clayton Kershaw. I loved getting
Speaker 2: to write about that, And there are so many other instances.
Speaker 2: Who are some of the guys that you remember and
Speaker 2: it might not even be a great baseball conversation, but
Speaker 2: just kind of a conversation.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, no, no, I got one in mind because
Speaker 4: I always tell this one it's perfect. But before I do,
Speaker 4: like it was a whirlwind because my oldest daughter Meal,
Speaker 4: she was six months or five months. So it was
Speaker 4: just crazy how everything happened so fast for you, it was.
Speaker 4: And I just remember I'm in the locker room. My
Speaker 4: middle brother shines there and my brother in law's there,
Speaker 4: but my locker mat was hundred pence and on the
Speaker 4: other side, and the other side was Madison bum Guard
Speaker 4: and I you know, Bumgardner is a cool dude. I'm
Speaker 4: talking a hundred pence and everybody knows he's kind of
Speaker 4: like a wiry, you know, quirky dude. And I'm talking
Speaker 4: to him and he's like, yeah, man, I drink coffee
Speaker 4: all day. I'll drink a pot of coffee before I
Speaker 4: go to bed, like that's what he did with his grandma.
Speaker 4: And I'm, you know, I'm laughing, like, man, that's probably
Speaker 4: why people think you're in the box like jittery. And
Speaker 4: he's like, no, man, I can drink it and go
Speaker 4: to sleep, like you know what I mean. So I'm
Speaker 4: like laughing, at these stories, but like I'm like, man,
Speaker 4: you know, it's kind of cool. And then Bumgarner I
Speaker 4: got pretty good success. He's like, man, it's nice to
Speaker 4: finally share a locker room with you for a second. Man.
Speaker 5: You know, just having those stories of where you interact
Speaker 5: with guys that you.
Speaker 4: Play against and you know you've battled against even you know,
Speaker 4: minor leagues up to the big leagues.
Speaker 5: But a Hunter Pence was cool.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 4: We was just chopping it up. And you know, as
Speaker 4: I was talking to him, he was drinking a cup
Speaker 4: of coffee.
Speaker 3: Fity nice. So my final question for you, Josh twenty seventeen,
Speaker 3: you played in both the All Star Game and the
Speaker 3: World Baseball Classic. Yes, I was just curious and so
Speaker 3: how do those experiences compare from the player perspective?
Speaker 4: So the Classic was wild. We started in Miami and
Speaker 4: we were to visit the team every.
Speaker 5: Game, whether we were home or not.
Speaker 4: You know, it was Columbia, Dominican, and I think Canada,
Speaker 4: So we were home when we played Canada, but against
Speaker 4: the Dominican and Columbia like that stadium was loud. But
Speaker 4: it was my first time getting to play international. So
Speaker 4: I'm a high energy guy. So I'm on the you know,
Speaker 4: bench dancing like rocking to the drums and stuff. So
Speaker 4: it was exciting. And I just remember I didn't even
Speaker 4: get to play that much in the Classic, but you know,
Speaker 4: it felt like a mini All Star Game to me
Speaker 4: because I'm in there with you know, guys that have
Speaker 4: been All Stars, a bunch of guys, and you know,
Speaker 4: we picking each other's brains for you know, two to
Speaker 4: three weeks working out and you know, just picking up
Speaker 4: on things with some of the best that you've played against.
Speaker 4: And twenty seventeen was like my first healthy year since fourteen,
Speaker 4: and I was able to take kind of that Classic
Speaker 4: feel and going, you know into the season.
Speaker 5: And I was healthy.
Speaker 4: And then by the time I got to the All
Speaker 4: Star Game in Miami, it was like, oh man, I
Speaker 4: was here in the Classic and I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 4: The energy at both the Classic and the All Star
Speaker 4: Game that year was like, man, Miami's not used to
Speaker 4: this down here, So it was pretty cool. And that
Speaker 4: All Star game, my wife was pregnant with my second daughter,
Speaker 4: so both both All Star Games were some life changing
Speaker 4: events coming or whatever, so.
Speaker 5: Very memorable.
Speaker 4: My wife can tell you, I know, she was exhausted,
Speaker 4: but you know, nonetheless, they were very memorable and I
Speaker 4: enjoyed every bit of it, even though I was tired.
Speaker 2: And I guess my final question, Josh, is you know,
Speaker 2: your second trip, obviously it's gonna be different than your
Speaker 2: first one. Were you able to kind of recognize the
Speaker 2: feeling that you experienced your first All Star game when
Speaker 2: you would see the first time All Stars coming into
Speaker 2: the clubhouse and seeing the and soaking it all in
Speaker 2: And what was that like to kind of see that
Speaker 2: on those guys.
Speaker 5: Oh? Man, it was cool.
Speaker 4: And I think that year I was our only representative,
Speaker 4: so I was with myself basically, but you know, thank
Speaker 4: god I had Cutch and you know, Tony to help
Speaker 4: me the first time. And I remember the same time
Speaker 4: I'm in there and it's a little different squad but
Speaker 4: a few of the same people. But I remember one
Speaker 4: thing was on our jerseys. I got a star with
Speaker 4: it too on it, you know, for like two time
Speaker 4: All Star, which I thought was pretty cool. And then
Speaker 4: you're seeing guys with different you know, two loads in
Speaker 4: there with however he's got, you know, but it's just
Speaker 4: cool seeing that. But you know, ender n crt H,
Speaker 4: it was his first one, so me and him was
Speaker 4: like kicking it in the outfield and laughing.
Speaker 5: Both he and I you know.
Speaker 4: Shared the affinity for desserts like ice cream and stuff,
Speaker 4: so it was cool.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: I think I was able to kind of allow him to,
Speaker 4: you know, enjoy the moment and kind of you know,
Speaker 4: bring him showing the ropes as it well to me,
Speaker 4: just because you know, that first time is kind of like, man,
Speaker 4: what what do I do?
Speaker 5: Do I go here? Do I get? Oh?
Speaker 4: Man, you know you want to get stuff for family,
Speaker 4: then you want to enjoy the moment. Oh I got
Speaker 4: to go take the team photo and then you know,
Speaker 4: it's just a lot going on. But at the same time,
Speaker 4: the second time, I felt definitely a lot more at
Speaker 4: ease having.
Speaker 5: Gone through the first time.
Speaker 4: But as I said, I had some pretty cool experiences,
Speaker 4: and one I don't want to forget is my first
Speaker 4: one twenty fourteen. This is the one I always tell
Speaker 4: people is it was Derek Jeter's last yep. Yeah, so
Speaker 4: so that that that to me was cool And I
Speaker 4: think he let off for like a double down right field,
Speaker 4: so like it was cool. So so yeah, of course,
Speaker 4: but I mean, you know, it was just one of
Speaker 4: those moments where it's like, how how often can you say,
Speaker 4: let alone you watched it, but I was able to.
Speaker 4: I played in there, Juter's last All Star game, so
Speaker 4: it was cool.
Speaker 3: I was gonna bring that up. I thought would ask you.
Speaker 3: That's why I was like, if maybe not even someone
Speaker 3: on the n L.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you know I before we close this out.
Speaker 2: I think another thing people don't realize is how expensive
Speaker 2: an All Star Game can be for the players. When
Speaker 2: you're bringing everyone there and you you talk about like
Speaker 2: getting merched, getting photos, going to events like all that stuff,
Speaker 2: like because you want you want to include as many
Speaker 2: people as you can. And I love seeing the entourages
Speaker 2: around baseball players who normally don't have big entourages. But
Speaker 2: it's a family thing and coordinating all of that can
Speaker 2: kind of be stressful.
Speaker 4: Oh man, I mean from not expecting it to Okay,
Speaker 4: I just got announced and we leave in.
Speaker 5: Five days, you know, you know, in the week.
Speaker 4: Like we gotta get flights from my parents, you know,
Speaker 4: her parents, my grandma, Okay, my grand We couldn't get flights.
Speaker 4: So my middle brother and one of his best friends
Speaker 4: drove my cousin to Minnesota. He's like, man, your brother's
Speaker 4: got to be there, Like, you know, just sacrifices that
Speaker 4: people make to where it's like, you know, yes, hectic,
Speaker 4: but you know you you want to enjoy these moments
Speaker 4: with the people that you love because you know it
Speaker 4: doesn't last forever. So that I said, I was extremely
Speaker 4: grateful for the sacrifices Mom made. And you know thet
Speaker 4: I won't say little bit of money, but the money
Speaker 4: that we had to spend, you know, was well worth
Speaker 4: it for me.
Speaker 1: Awesome. All right, Well, we're gonna take a quick break
Speaker 1: when we come back.
Speaker 2: We're going to talk about the future of the All
Speaker 2: Star Game and maybe some potential changes that we would
Speaker 2: make to the Midsummer Classic when we come back here
Speaker 2: on Bucko Territory.
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Speaker 2: So the Midsummer Classic is in the books. Another one.
Speaker 2: I will say, as someone who's covered the All Star Game,
Speaker 2: I think it's the best All Star game in professional sports.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's particularly close, simply because you can't
Speaker 2: half ass.
Speaker 1: Playing the game of baseball. You just can't.
Speaker 2: I mean, you don't have to sprint out of the box,
Speaker 2: you don't have to dive for a ball on the gap.
Speaker 2: I get those things, but a pitcher cannot ease off
Speaker 2: and a hitter cannot ease off like you're gonna get
Speaker 2: embarrassed or you're gonna get hurt.
Speaker 1: So you have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, So that's what makes it so much fun.
Speaker 2: It's always a pretty competitive game. The Homer and Derby
Speaker 2: is always a great event regardless of the format, but it.
Speaker 1: Always could be better. So I want to open the floor.
Speaker 2: We'll each give just one suggestion here in this short
Speaker 2: second segment. What would we like to see that we
Speaker 2: think could make the All Star Game better?
Speaker 1: Mark, you can start.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So, the one thing that's most disappointing for me
Speaker 3: this year as a Pirates fan, we have two All Stars,
Speaker 3: two pitchers, neither of them are going to pitch. And
Speaker 3: I'm not sure how you fix this. If you make
Speaker 3: extend the All Star break a little bit and start
Speaker 3: the season a little earlier or whatnot, because you don't
Speaker 3: want to necessarily push it back and have guys miss
Speaker 3: pitching for their own team, but find it finding a
Speaker 3: way so that pictures can pitch in the All Star
Speaker 3: Game and not screw up their schedules for their teams.
Speaker 3: I just it's easier said than done. Obviously, I don't
Speaker 3: know if you want to bump up the schedule earlier.
Speaker 3: We already see enough cold games and all of that.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, it's electric seeing Paul Skings
Speaker 3: take them out during the All Star Game, and it's
Speaker 3: it really stinks that we're not going to be able
Speaker 3: to see like Brax and ashcraft pitch or Paul Skiing's
Speaker 3: pitch last night as you're watching this. So that would
Speaker 3: be my suggestion change. Were you guys thoughts on that.
Speaker 3: Do you think that's feasible or something worth trying to
Speaker 3: change or no?
Speaker 5: I mean it kind of.
Speaker 4: It would kind of lie within kind of what I
Speaker 4: was going to suggest is I think there needs to
Speaker 4: be at least.
Speaker 5: One more day in there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and just break just due to personal experience. The
Speaker 4: first All Star Game I went to, we left from
Speaker 4: Cincinnati and flew to Minnesota, which was.
Speaker 5: An hour behind. Okay, we get there decent time.
Speaker 4: Second one, when I went solo, I was flying from
Speaker 4: Chicago and had to fly down to Miami and didn't
Speaker 4: get down to Miami till ten PM, And I mentioned
Speaker 4: my wife was pregnant and we're also checking in late,
Speaker 4: and you got people that's probably finishing on the West
Speaker 4: Coast that probably got in later than me. And then
Speaker 4: Monday is you know, it's all jam packed in the
Speaker 4: two days. And I just think maybe with that that
Speaker 4: extra day could allow for maybe somebody to pitch that
Speaker 4: probably wasn't gonna pitch, and it allows for a lot
Speaker 4: of things just to just to be spread out just
Speaker 4: a little bit more because it happened so quickly. But granted,
Speaker 4: I get it, it's gonna have to affect the schedule
Speaker 4: one way or another, you know, starting earlier or whatever.
Speaker 4: But I just know that my second one was jam
Speaker 4: packed because I got there late due to where we finished.
Speaker 4: And I know they tried to, but you can't really
Speaker 4: help where you finished that last game before All Star.
Speaker 4: So there are some festivities or some things that you
Speaker 4: might not really get to experience because you got there late,
Speaker 4: and vice versa. You know, that extra day I think
Speaker 4: would help with possible But that's something that they could
Speaker 4: maybe visit what you got.
Speaker 2: Noah, I was just going to expand upon yours. I
Speaker 2: think this should be a real break even for I
Speaker 2: think the only negative of making an All Star team
Speaker 2: is that you don't get an All Star break. And
Speaker 2: so if I were doing it, the way I would
Speaker 2: go about it is I would let everyone play their
Speaker 2: schedule all the way through Sunday, including the minor leagues.
Speaker 2: That Monday would be an off day. There would be
Speaker 2: nothing going on that off day. Tuesday would be the
Speaker 2: Futures Game in the afternoon and then the first round
Speaker 2: of the MLB Draft in the evening, and you keep
Speaker 2: it at the forefront. Make those the two big things.
Speaker 2: I think the Futures Game needs a little bit more publicity.
Speaker 2: I hate that it's played on a day where there's
Speaker 2: every Major League Baseball Yeah yeah, like no, that should
Speaker 2: be its own thing.
Speaker 1: That that could be a bigger thing.
Speaker 2: In hell, you could have a home run derby before
Speaker 2: that of your prospects, Like why not jam pack them
Speaker 2: into one whole day of action. So you make Tuesday,
Speaker 2: maybe Tuesday morning you do like a home run derby,
Speaker 2: have like your Future's game at three o'clock, and then
Speaker 2: at seven o'clock is the first.
Speaker 1: Round of the MLB Draft. Beautiful, So that's on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: On Wednesday, it's the home run Derby and in the
Speaker 2: morning of the home run Derby is always like the
Speaker 2: All Star of media availability, that's when they announce the
Speaker 2: starting lineup.
Speaker 1: It's the busiest day for anyone covering the event. You
Speaker 1: like don't sleep at all that day.
Speaker 2: But it's it's a lot of fun because as a reporter,
Speaker 2: it's your trying to chance to get access to Kyle Schwarber,
Speaker 2: Shoho Tawny, like literally anyone.
Speaker 1: So that's awesome.
Speaker 2: But having that where people who are playing in the game,
Speaker 2: people who are covering the game have had a couple
Speaker 2: of days to settle in, I think a lot of
Speaker 2: better coverage is going to come out of that, and
Speaker 2: there's gonna be a lot more anticipation. And then you
Speaker 2: have the home run Derby, Her home Run Derby that evening.
Speaker 2: Then Thursdays just the All Star Game, and you know,
Speaker 2: the MLB Draft can be going on while all these
Speaker 2: other things are going on. But like you, I think
Speaker 2: you need to make a bigger skeptical of the first
Speaker 2: round of the draft. But then yeah, Wednesday night, home
Speaker 2: Run Derby, Thursday night, All Star Game, Friday and Saturday nothing,
Speaker 2: get back to your families, get back to your team,
Speaker 2: and then Sunday should be the start of a four
Speaker 2: game series for every team, so you start in the afternoon,
Speaker 2: you can play a Sunday afternoon game, and then you
Speaker 2: just do like three seven o'clocks or two seven o'clocks
Speaker 2: and then a getaway day.
Speaker 1: So rather than having that weekend.
Speaker 2: Series like the Pirates have in Cleveland, you still play
Speaker 2: your Sunday game at one thirty.
Speaker 1: But I don't see who loses in this.
Speaker 2: I guess you're giving up a weekend of home games
Speaker 2: if you're an MLB team, which they don't love.
Speaker 1: But I think this improves the product.
Speaker 2: It improves the product as far as branding because you
Speaker 2: have a whole week at the center of attention. As
Speaker 2: someone who also publishes content, I know that like Thursday
Speaker 2: is just a better day for eyeballs than a Tuesday.
Speaker 2: For the All Star Game, Wednesday and Thursday are typically
Speaker 2: like your two best days for eyeballs aside from Monday,
Speaker 2: and you don't want your headlining event to be on
Speaker 2: a Monday, especially for like an All Star game, a
Speaker 2: day after.
Speaker 1: Games are ending rate.
Speaker 2: So I think you're getting more brand value by doing that.
Speaker 1: And also.
Speaker 2: Your goal should be to have every team as healthy
Speaker 2: as possible in the second half of the season and
Speaker 2: no one's one hundred percent healthy. In mid July, no player,
Speaker 2: no team is one hundred percent healthy. And if you
Speaker 2: give those guys an extra week to really catch up.
Speaker 2: If you don't make the All Star Game, go on vacation,
Speaker 2: you have a whole that Sunday, go leave wherever you're at,
Speaker 2: go to Cancun for a couple of days, come home, reset,
Speaker 2: get your arm right, or go home, spend time with
Speaker 2: your wife and family. Or if you're on the All
Speaker 2: Star Game, still that's more of a experience, like you're
Speaker 2: you're a little bit spread out, you're not hustling. You
Speaker 2: might have a day to Like if you want to
Speaker 2: take that Monday and go home and then go get
Speaker 2: into town for the All Star step festivities on Tuesday
Speaker 2: or Wednesday, you still get a little bit of a
Speaker 2: break too. And as someone who Josh, obviously you've lived it,
Speaker 2: but having covered seeing the gauntlet that Paul has to
Speaker 2: go through every All Star Game, where every single media
Speaker 2: person there has a boss telling them you need to
Speaker 2: talk to Paul. He can't talk to all of us,
Speaker 2: but like he has to, and just seeing what he
Speaker 2: goes through, or what Otani goes through, or all of
Speaker 2: these guys. It's exhausting, and then they have to go
Speaker 2: be great And I'm not, you know, crying.
Speaker 1: It's the world's alms.
Speaker 2: Violent You're paid a lot of money to do this,
Speaker 2: and it's a game, but it is. As someone who's
Speaker 2: seen it firsthand, it is draining. And it's gonna be
Speaker 2: better for everyone if guys are a more rested and
Speaker 2: more energetic and happier to be there, if they feel
Speaker 2: like their off field experience is better.
Speaker 1: And it will help the on field products. So that's
Speaker 1: what I just think.
Speaker 2: Stretch it out, make it its own week It's worth
Speaker 2: sacrificing a Friday and Saturday.
Speaker 1: Through the the through the turnstiles. In my opinion, I
Speaker 1: don't own a baseball team.
Speaker 2: I get that that probably isn't gonna ever happen, but
Speaker 2: that's how I would do it.
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 5: I do too, No no back laugh for me. I
Speaker 5: would have loved best schedule.
Speaker 4: I'm just glad, not even even not making the All
Speaker 4: Star team.
Speaker 5: I would have loved best schedule.
Speaker 1: Yeah, are you kidding me? And then I also think.
Speaker 5: That's a real reset.
Speaker 2: That's a real reset, And that weekend if you really
Speaker 2: wanted to, oh, there we go with my camera zooming
Speaker 2: in on me. If you really wanted to like emphasize
Speaker 2: profits or anything, you could use that weekend to really
Speaker 2: promote minor league baseball.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because like there's.
Speaker 2: No excuse why they're not playing if they had the
Speaker 2: Future's Game on Tuesday, like they should all be back
Speaker 2: at it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and also, like you know, you're minor leaguers.
Speaker 1: You don't need the rest.
Speaker 2: You earn the rest be a big leaguer. No, But yeah,
Speaker 2: that's how I see it, I think. I mean, there's
Speaker 2: been other ideas floated out, like people have suggested maybe
Speaker 2: like America versus International. I think that's what the World
Speaker 2: Baseball Classics for.
Speaker 1: I like, I love seeing.
Speaker 5: Enough that every night.
Speaker 1: Yeah right, seriously, So yeah.
Speaker 5: I mean, and internationally, there's so many of them.
Speaker 4: It'd be so hard to pick because I mean, how
Speaker 4: many different countries are represented now that I think.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree, classic.
Speaker 2: Is keep it what it is, man, It's the best
Speaker 2: all star game the American League, in the National League.
Speaker 5: Yep.
Speaker 3: I'm just glad they found have the team's jerseys back
Speaker 3: on and so the the All Star jerseys that was
Speaker 3: that was.
Speaker 5: Yeah. So I'm trying to think.
Speaker 4: I know, my second one we wore uniforms.
Speaker 5: I think the first one we did too. I can't
Speaker 5: remember first one team uniforms.
Speaker 4: Okay, my second okay, well, yeah, I like the team
Speaker 4: uniform too, and I don't something that I would want
Speaker 4: to possibly change. I know it's been a big issue,
Speaker 4: is voting, you know, because that and to me, I
Speaker 4: think I saw a couple of names that I'm like, man, what'
Speaker 4: this dude hurting barely played or this guy hasn't been
Speaker 4: playing well, or like I get fan favorites or you know,
Speaker 4: this team has a lot of fan followings to where
Speaker 4: they're voting for their guys, but there has to be
Speaker 4: some type of way the percentage of like, okay, this
Speaker 4: can't because it does take away from some people that
Speaker 4: are really deserving. You have some fan bases that are
Speaker 4: just voting, and I'm no, nothing against it, but.
Speaker 5: You know, it's almost like players. We see guys like.
Speaker 4: Dang man, I voted for this dude, but you know,
Speaker 4: and it's like, why should all of these votes wigh
Speaker 4: more than what we're voting. You know, we're playing, we
Speaker 4: know who's worthy of and not saying that, I mean
Speaker 4: not everybody's gonna get their NOD just because it's impossible.
Speaker 4: You know, there are gonna be some people that are
Speaker 4: what they consider being snubbed every year just based off
Speaker 4: of the limited space. But when fans have the opportunity
Speaker 4: to manipulate that, it does take away a little bit from,
Speaker 4: you know, the process. And that was just something that
Speaker 4: I observed. That So it's a little touchy subject because
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't want to take anything away from anybody,
Speaker 4: But at the same time, it's like, I'm sure some
Speaker 4: of those guys too, like, man, there's some people that
Speaker 4: are more deserving, you know. But at the same time,
Speaker 4: who was not gonna take an All Star Now I'm
Speaker 4: going too. Yeah, you know, but that that's just something
Speaker 4: that I would want to see completely agree.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: What I want to see is everyone watching this hit
Speaker 2: that subscribe button if they haven't already. We're on a
Speaker 2: mission of three thousand subs. Can't get there without your help.
Speaker 9: I also want to see everyone head to the Buco
Speaker 9: Territory Team store get your good old merch with our hoodies,
Speaker 9: our shirts, our hats, our bags, our coffee mugs.
Speaker 1: We got it all.
Speaker 3: Got a shoots appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look at that. The fucko territory guy. Any final thoughts.
Speaker 3: To the second half, No, I'm just ready to watch
Speaker 3: some Pirates baseball again. It's gonna be a weird week
Speaker 3: not having any Pirates to watch in the All Star Game,
Speaker 3: having to wait all the way until Friday. I don't
Speaker 3: know what I'm going to do with myself. It's gonna
Speaker 3: be tough. So so think of me. I'll be hanging
Speaker 3: in there.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say I'm gonna tune in a little bit
Speaker 4: tonight on the All Star Game. Uh is it still
Speaker 4: who wins determines home field events or.
Speaker 1: Ruin that?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I wasn't sure.
Speaker 4: I was like, well nationally, yeah, hey, Pirates look like
Speaker 4: they might be making moves.
Speaker 5: I might need to do some work.
Speaker 6: But.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well I I enjoyed this week. I think it's
Speaker 2: just a good reset for everything, and sometimes, you know,
Speaker 2: missing something.
Speaker 1: Allows you to enjoy it a lot more.
Speaker 2: And I'm very, very excited for this weekend series in
Speaker 2: Cleveland to see if the Pirates can remain hot and
Speaker 2: continue to build because their schedule does not get any easier,
Speaker 2: uh until August arrived.
Speaker 3: So I think they we'll be here to strength of
Speaker 3: schedule the rest of the way or something. It's it's
Speaker 3: gonna be tough.
Speaker 2: Yep, but we'll be here to cover it all. He's Platinum,
Speaker 2: Kyak and Mark. He's Josh Harrison. I'm no Ohio, signing
Speaker 2: off saying thanks for tuning in to another episode of
Speaker 2: Buck of Territory, presented to you by the Foul Territory Network.
Speaker 1: Take care.
Speaker 6: Do AT have to intend?
Speaker 5: Put the reactive