Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of Is This a Great Game?
Speaker 2: Or What?
Speaker 1: With the Hall of Famer Tim Kirkchen. I'm his son,
Speaker 1: Jeff Kirkchhin, Dad, good to see you, and today is
Speaker 1: one of my most exciting days of the baseball season.
Speaker 1: It's the Field of Dreams game. This is exciting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I wish I was heir Jeby. I've never
Speaker 2: been to Dyersville. It is my never been there. It's
Speaker 2: my favorite movie. It's my favorite movie of all time,
Speaker 2: and I've never been. This is embarrassing, but I've never
Speaker 2: been assigned it and I've just never found the times.
Speaker 2: And it's a shame because I love that movie. I've
Speaker 2: seen it a hundred times. It's about a father and
Speaker 2: a son. I took my dad, your grandfather, to see
Speaker 2: it and we both cried out loud. It was absolutely fabulous.
Speaker 2: It was so good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Dad, it's my all time favorite movie. It's my
Speaker 1: favorite baseball movie, obviously, and it's such a special day.
Speaker 1: And this year the team I call mine, the Phillies,
Speaker 1: are playing in it, so it's really special. I mean nothing,
Speaker 1: nothing will beat the very first game they did their
Speaker 1: nationally televised I mean, chills up and down. I mean,
Speaker 1: Kevin Costner, it was just incredible, so powerful. So I'm
Speaker 1: really looking forward to taking some time to sit down
Speaker 1: and watch this and taking some baseball in a way
Speaker 1: that I mean, really only the movies could show. And
Speaker 1: it's magical.
Speaker 2: Then, and just to show you how magical, I got
Speaker 2: a text message from our dear friend Eduardo Perez in
Speaker 2: like the middle of the night the other night. Is
Speaker 2: it have a catch or play catch? That was the
Speaker 2: question he asked me, which I've been asked multiple times,
Speaker 2: just not from Eduardo in the middle of the night,
Speaker 2: So there's no wrong answer here. But if you're asking
Speaker 2: me you play catch, you don't have a catch?
Speaker 1: I would agree you want to play catch?
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's go play catch.
Speaker 1: That one of the most lines of all time, feel
Speaker 1: to dreams, Hey, dad, want to have a catch?
Speaker 2: Right? And I think I think the story is that
Speaker 2: Kevin Costner said to everyone, I'm not going to say that,
Speaker 2: that's not what you would say in that situation. You
Speaker 2: would say, do you want to play catch? But they
Speaker 2: insisted and he said it, and he pulled it off
Speaker 2: and it was great. And I was deep in tears
Speaker 2: by that point. Okay, because when he's standing out there
Speaker 2: and you know, shoeless. Joe looks at him and goes, no, Ray,
Speaker 2: it was you. That was it for me, Jeff. Whenever
Speaker 2: I get a little bit down, that's what I watch,
Speaker 2: and that little scene there is my favorite.
Speaker 1: Well, let's get it clear. I mean, if you were
Speaker 1: talking the ghost of your father, you would probably stumble
Speaker 1: on your words too and maybe not get the right
Speaker 1: saying out. So let's give him a little bit of respect.
Speaker 1: Maybe we'll just have to get Kevin Costner on the
Speaker 1: show in order to figure all this out. He would
Speaker 1: be a great guest, big baseball fan, start in a
Speaker 1: number of amazing baseball movies. So want to get him on.
Speaker 1: Is this a great game or what?
Speaker 2: What do you think that stuff? You'll be booking that one. Okay,
Speaker 2: I'll start. You have a way better shot than I do.
Speaker 2: And Jeff, we've said this before. The reason that movie
Speaker 2: was so great and Kevin Costner is so good in
Speaker 2: Bull Durham, this movie and any other baseball movie is
Speaker 2: he's a baseball player, right. He can swing the bat
Speaker 2: from both sides of the plate, He's got a really
Speaker 2: good throwing arm, he looks athletic, he looks because he
Speaker 2: is a baseball player. And this is as the biggest
Speaker 2: snob in the world me when it comes to baseball movies,
Speaker 2: if you're gonna have a player starring in a baseball movie,
Speaker 2: the number one prerequisite is not whether he can act
Speaker 2: or not, is whether he can play or not. And
Speaker 2: Kevin cost is a great actor, but just as important looked.
Speaker 2: He looked like a real baseball player in Field of Dreams,
Speaker 2: Bull Durham and everything else he's been in.
Speaker 1: Agreed, Yeah, I think it's so important to have athletes
Speaker 1: or athletic looking people playing the leads in this. And
Speaker 1: you know who comes to mind to me is the rookie, right.
Speaker 1: I think Dennis Quaid is incredible because he had to
Speaker 1: learn how to throw and pitch with a different hand.
Speaker 1: How incredible is that? And he looks good doing it?
Speaker 2: Right, That was amazing because you know, I've said it
Speaker 2: a million times. If I start, I could dribble a
Speaker 2: basketball and shoot a basketball with my left hand, because
Speaker 2: I've practiced it so many times. But that's the only
Speaker 2: thing I can do with my left hand. And for
Speaker 2: someone to change a throwing motion that late is just
Speaker 2: just amazing, incredible. So that's all. And speaking of incredible, Jeff,
Speaker 2: we have to bring this up. This is more than
Speaker 2: a takeaway that play. The other night in the ter
Speaker 2: Red Sox game. We have Jason Stark as our next guest.
Speaker 2: He's going to be on on Tuesday, and the entire
Speaker 2: interview with him, Jeff, we've already taped. It was just
Speaker 2: how crazy the game is and every night you go
Speaker 2: to the ballpark you might see something you've never seen before.
Speaker 2: I have never seen anything quite like that situation. Let
Speaker 2: me quickly set it up for you. First and third,
Speaker 2: one out, routine fly ball to the center fielder. The
Speaker 2: runner around first forgets how many outs are runs the second,
Speaker 2: the runner around third doesn't know how many outs are
Speaker 2: He runs home the ball. Brett Bateman, the center fielder.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure he knew how many outs there were
Speaker 2: because he caught it and just kind of lobbed it
Speaker 2: into the infield. I'm not sure who on the field
Speaker 2: knew how many outs there were. But the bottom line
Speaker 2: is they got a double play at first base to
Speaker 2: end the inning. But because the runner on third scored
Speaker 2: before the third out was made at first, that run
Speaker 2: counts even though the runner on third did not tag
Speaker 2: up on that play, and since both teams left the field,
Speaker 2: the way it was explained was the Blue Jays abandoned
Speaker 2: the right to have a you know, an appeal play
Speaker 2: at third because they'd all already left the field. I mean, Jeff,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. You know how I feel about base running
Speaker 2: in the major leagues and how our players today are bigger, stronger,
Speaker 2: faster and better than ever, but they don't know how
Speaker 2: to play as well as they should. And that was
Speaker 2: amazing to me that nobody on the field knew what
Speaker 2: to do. Let me, let me tell you what would
Speaker 2: have happened if cal Ripken just to mention almost most
Speaker 2: the shortstop on that play, he would have been screaming
Speaker 2: to the center fielder, throw it to third, or throw
Speaker 2: it to me, and I'll throw it to third, because
Speaker 2: all you have to do is throw the ball to third.
Speaker 2: There tag the base, and the run around third is out.
Speaker 2: It's a double play and the run does not count.
Speaker 2: But nobody knew where to throw the ball, am I
Speaker 2: am I being a little too critical here, Jeff that
Speaker 2: how in the world can major league baseball players not
Speaker 2: know the situation? I granted it was confusing, but it's
Speaker 2: not confusing if you just throw the ball to third
Speaker 2: and the third out is made. Am I right or wrong?
Speaker 1: Now, Dad, You're definitely right. The emphasis on the rules
Speaker 1: of the game and the fundamentals, if you will, and
Speaker 1: the mental side of the game has definitely fallen a
Speaker 1: bit short as of late. We've seen it all of
Speaker 1: the time. I mean, we see it when Aaron Boone.
Speaker 1: You told us that Aaron Boone told his team to
Speaker 1: occasionally drop an infield fly because you never know what
Speaker 1: the runners are gonna do. They could think that they
Speaker 1: have to move to the next base you get an out,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden it happened to his team.
Speaker 1: The other team dropped the bombits running.
Speaker 2: I'm opening day off. It happened to him, and we
Speaker 2: were doing the game. Rabbi Eduardo and I were doing
Speaker 2: that game on TV remotely, by the way, and the
Speaker 2: next day Aaron Boone called me on the phone to
Speaker 2: apologize to me. I'm not sure why, just because he
Speaker 2: was so embarrassed that his own team did not know
Speaker 2: the rules of the infield fly rule. But in this case,
Speaker 2: you know, people were confused. How many outs were Jeff,
Speaker 2: and I know it, said on the scoreboard there are
Speaker 2: there were two outs. But the lesson that has to
Speaker 2: be learned here because it's nobody should be looking at
Speaker 2: the scoreboard. No player should be looking at the scoreboard
Speaker 2: to see how many outs are, because you should know
Speaker 2: how many outs there are without looking at the scoreboard.
Speaker 2: Am I right about that?
Speaker 1: That feels like a Little League issue when somebody's little
Speaker 1: brother is running the scoreboard and forgets to add how
Speaker 1: many outs there are, and then the center fielder whose
Speaker 1: glove is sitting on top of his head because he's
Speaker 1: so bored and he's picking flowers in center field all
Speaker 1: of a sudden makes a mistake that seems like a
Speaker 1: twelve year old problem.
Speaker 2: Right, all right, Well that just something. It's a little late, Jet,
Speaker 2: but I have to weigh in on this because I've
Speaker 2: just never really seen that before. And that was amazing.
Speaker 1: Well, we got to talk about the elephant in the
Speaker 1: room real quick. We're matching. We're wearing the same shirts today,
Speaker 1: that which is just gonna be hilarious on our YouTube.
Speaker 1: If you don't follow us, make sure to subscribe, like
Speaker 1: comment all the things at great Game or what we're
Speaker 1: growing our YouTube following, So make sure to go see
Speaker 1: our matching shirtstat These shirts provided by Michael Golden, who
Speaker 1: created an album filled with baseball inspired songs. This is
Speaker 1: so cool.
Speaker 2: He's a songwriter. He's also a loyal listener and viewer
Speaker 2: of Is This a Great Game or What? So, unbeknownst
Speaker 2: to me, he just sent me two T shirts, one
Speaker 2: for me and one for you, so we are wearing
Speaker 2: those and just just another reminder, Jeff, how beautiful baseball
Speaker 2: is that Michael Golden just writes songs about baseball, and
Speaker 2: it's it's I've heard, I've heard them. They are really
Speaker 2: really good. And you know, maybe they're doing this about football, Jeff.
Speaker 2: Maybe they're doing it about basketball. But I just think
Speaker 2: there's such a romance to baseball that the other sports
Speaker 2: really don't have. Am I stating that properly? Dad?
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I think there's nothing better than
Speaker 1: baseball when it comes to these things. And Invincible Summer,
Speaker 1: Michael Golden, thanks for the shirts. We love the swag, right,
Speaker 1: And that was.
Speaker 2: An incredible inning that they played in Toronto the other night.
Speaker 2: Not invincible, but incredible Again, Jeff, It's the best game ever,
Speaker 2: even when nobody knows how what he else there are right.
Speaker 1: The number of outs were invisible for most of the players. One.
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Speaker 1: All right, dad, let's jump into the takeaways across Major
Speaker 1: League Baseball. What do you have?
Speaker 2: Okay, Jacob Wilson is the shortstop for the Athletics, and
Speaker 2: he is the son of Jack Wilson, who's one of
Speaker 2: the better defensive shortstops that I've ever seen. Jack Wilson
Speaker 2: could really throw on the run. He could he threw
Speaker 2: from all angles, and he was a really good defensive shortstop.
Speaker 2: And his son just broke the record for most consecutive
Speaker 2: games one hundred and eleven played without an error at shortstop.
Speaker 2: Jow one hundred and eleven. This is This is not
Speaker 2: playing center field or right field where you catch a
Speaker 2: few fly balls with all due respect, this is the shortstop.
Speaker 2: Mike Bordick, one of our all time favorites, held the
Speaker 2: record with one hundred and ten, and just Jacob Wilson
Speaker 2: to one eleven and now one twelve at this taping,
Speaker 2: which is incredible. So and just for a little bit
Speaker 2: of context, CJ. Abrams, who plays for the Nationals and
Speaker 2: by the way, has ninety one RBIs at this taping
Speaker 2: ninety one for a shortstop. So let's make sure everyone
Speaker 2: is clear that CJ. Abrams is a really good player.
Speaker 2: But during the time that Jacob Wilson has no errors. CJ.
Speaker 2: Abrams has thirty two errors in that time. So it
Speaker 2: just gives you an idea how easy it is to
Speaker 2: make an error when you are fielding that many chances
Speaker 2: during the course of a game, and during a stretch
Speaker 2: of one hundred and twelve games.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you've mentioned a number of times that that
Speaker 1: the skill of the shortstop might make it the hardest.
Speaker 1: If you're the best defensive shortstop in the game, you
Speaker 1: might be the best defensive player in the game given
Speaker 1: the difficulty of the position. So I definitely agree with
Speaker 1: where you're going at.
Speaker 2: That right absolutely. Okay, Well, good for Jacob Wilson. And
Speaker 2: we love defense. It's my favorite part of the game.
Speaker 2: I can watch middle infielders take infield all day because
Speaker 2: the skill required and the athletic nature of our middle
Speaker 2: infielders is just breathtaking to watch. Kind Of on the
Speaker 2: opposite side, I still don't understand this. Cal Raleigh of
Speaker 2: the Mariners who hit sixty homers last year, he hit
Speaker 2: eighth the other day, and sorry, he should be hitting
Speaker 2: eight at this moment. Cal Raleigh is hitting one fifty
Speaker 2: nine again. Just all this is pointing out Jeff, is
Speaker 2: the degree of difficulty of the game, which we do
Speaker 2: all we talk about all the time. So cal Raley
Speaker 2: has not yet qualified for the batting title, okay, but
Speaker 2: he's gonna have enough at bats to qualify for the
Speaker 2: batting title here any day now. And he's hitting one
Speaker 2: fifty nine. The record for the worst batting app by
Speaker 2: a majorly qualifier since nineteen twenty, when the live ball
Speaker 2: era began is one sixty eight by Chris Davis of
Speaker 2: the twenty eighteen Orioles. So cal Raley one year after
Speaker 2: one of the most magical seasons that we've ever seen,
Speaker 2: maybe maybe the greatest season and catcher's ever had, maybe,
Speaker 2: and now he's hitting one fifty nine. How do we
Speaker 2: explain that?
Speaker 1: We can't? Dad, And I mean you can only think
Speaker 1: of it as a sophomore slump. I know it's not,
Speaker 1: trust me. I know it's not his second year in
Speaker 1: the league. But the point is he had such a
Speaker 1: high high and then he comes off of that thinking
Speaker 1: it's going to be easy and the pitchers are only
Speaker 1: throwing harder and only getting better. I mean, every team
Speaker 1: has a guy who throws easily over one hundred. Remember
Speaker 1: back in the day when having a guy who hit
Speaker 1: one hundred was like the biggest deal. You had the
Speaker 1: one guy in the league that could do it on
Speaker 1: the regular basis. Now everybody has one.
Speaker 2: Right and nobody throws harder than Jacob miss Rowski, who
Speaker 2: just Jeff recorded his two hundredth strikeout and he did
Speaker 2: it in one hundred and twenty nine and a third innings.
Speaker 2: Think about that for a second, one twenty nine and
Speaker 2: a third, two hundred punchouts, and it's it's not even
Speaker 2: the record for fewest innings pitched before you get to
Speaker 2: two hundred strikeouts. That's why Spencer Strider won twenty three
Speaker 2: and a third in twenty twenty three. That was the
Speaker 2: previous record. Mislerowski is second on that list. But Jeff, again,
Speaker 2: he didn't throw a hundred. He throws one hundred and four.
Speaker 2: He's thrown at a hundred and five, Jeff, it's and
Speaker 2: he throws a million strikes. So kudos again to Jacob Miserowski.
Speaker 2: We haven't seen too many players quite like him and
Speaker 2: Jeff back to back to cal Raleigh for a minute.
Speaker 2: The guy who beat him out for the MVP last
Speaker 2: year was Aaron Judge, and I think rightfully. So I
Speaker 2: thought that cal Raly had a more historic season, a
Speaker 2: more amazing season. But I think Judge had a slightly
Speaker 2: better season and should have won the MVP, which of
Speaker 2: course he did. But and I just saw this note
Speaker 2: from the Elias. In the sixty games that Judge has
Speaker 2: been out, the team has hit too eighteen with a
Speaker 2: two point eighty five on base percentage for a sixty
Speaker 2: game stretch. This is the Yankees, Jeff. Those are the
Speaker 2: two lowest numbers over those sixty games in the major
Speaker 2: leagues this year, during that time, and it just shows
Speaker 2: you how great airon Judge is. And when you take
Speaker 2: a star player out of the lineup, you know things
Speaker 2: are going to you know, you know you're going to struggle.
Speaker 2: In fact, this is the lowest on base percentage to
Speaker 2: eighty five for any sixty game period by the Yankees
Speaker 2: since nineteen sixty eight, Jeff. And that was the year
Speaker 2: of the pitcher. You know, when Bob Gibson had a
Speaker 2: one point one to two e and the American League
Speaker 2: batted two thirty three and the Washington Center is my
Speaker 2: team hit two thirteen. Nobody was getting to hit in
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty eight. That was the last time that the
Speaker 2: Yankees had a sixty game stretch with a non base
Speaker 2: percentage that low. That was the last year that Mickey
Speaker 2: Mantle played. That's how long ago that was. So I mean,
Speaker 2: I say all this because it just shows you how
Speaker 2: good Aaron Judge is. Am I right, he.
Speaker 1: Is, and he makes the people around him better. I
Speaker 1: think that's the sign of a really good leader. People are,
Speaker 1: you know, rising up to the Judge all rides. And
Speaker 1: I think he does make a big, big difference on
Speaker 1: that team. And so, I mean, the Yankees struggling second
Speaker 1: half of the year, We're going to see how this goes,
Speaker 1: especially with a Rays team that has been just quietly
Speaker 1: in a week al but just quietly maybe the best
Speaker 1: team in the American League besides the Red Sox as
Speaker 1: of late.
Speaker 2: It's incredible, right and Jeff again, the beauty of baseball,
Speaker 2: that's what we love to talk about here. The Tigers.
Speaker 2: Tigers traded Trek Scooble and Casey Maiz. Arguably they're two
Speaker 2: best pitchers, and here they are making a charge for
Speaker 2: the division, but certainly for the wild Card. They've won
Speaker 2: at this writing, at this taping, eight out of ten
Speaker 2: and three games in a row. They now lead the
Speaker 2: American League in run differential at plus eighty nine. Troy
Speaker 2: Melton has been great nowhere runs in his last twenty innings.
Speaker 2: Jackson Job is back. That guy is really good. He's
Speaker 2: coming back from a major injury. But Jeff, this is
Speaker 2: what the Tigers did two years ago. They kind of
Speaker 2: unloaded at the trade deadline and then they made a
Speaker 2: surge and made the playoffs and then beat the Astros
Speaker 2: in a playoff series. Amazing.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, incredible. And I think it's so important to
Speaker 1: have somebody on your pitching staff that just knows their job.
Speaker 1: And that's Jackson Job. Sorry, I had I know you
Speaker 1: are taking notes during that, but just know your job
Speaker 1: and you'll be just fine.
Speaker 2: Right, Just do your job. That's your job. Yeah, that's right, right,
Speaker 2: that is so good. I'm sorry, Jeff, I'm writing something
Speaker 2: down you're right for you want quaking news?
Speaker 1: Is there something you can break for us?
Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you what the breaking news is later,
Speaker 2: and you're gonna laugh out loud that this is my
Speaker 2: definition of breaking news. I'll get to it at the
Speaker 2: end of the Quark Gins.
Speaker 1: Coming up next here on It's just a great game
Speaker 1: or what the breaking news and the quark gins next.
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Speaker 1: In our matching t shirts let's hear the cork gins dad,
Speaker 1: what do you have?
Speaker 2: Okay, well, I love this Cody Clemens, who's not out
Speaker 2: of nowhere. He's been around a while, but he's really
Speaker 2: become a good player for the Twins. He hit his
Speaker 2: twentieth homer the other day, so he is. So he
Speaker 2: and his dad are the only father son duo in
Speaker 2: which the son hit has a twenty homer season and
Speaker 2: the dad has a twenty win season.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 2: And we talked that Bobby Bobby Wit junior, they had
Speaker 2: fifteen homer fifteen win seasons fer In Law and vance
Speaker 2: Law fifteen and fifteen, but Cody Clemens got twenty. So
Speaker 2: now we've got a father son with a twenty win
Speaker 2: season and a twenty homer season. Pretty cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I always wondered what it would be
Speaker 1: like to have a dad as a pitcher and you
Speaker 1: become because you get to see the other side of
Speaker 1: the game through your dad pitcher. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1: Like when you have a dad catcher son catcher, dad first,
Speaker 1: baseman son first, you're like, okay, dad taught me the position,
Speaker 1: but now they're learning the different side of it. So
Speaker 1: you think, right, there's a mental game to those two
Speaker 1: sons I think that other players don't have.
Speaker 2: Would you agree, Yeah, there is no doubt Cody Clemens
Speaker 2: is a better hitter because his dad is one of
Speaker 2: the greatest pitchers of all time. And you watch your
Speaker 2: dad pitch, you learn how he pitches. He tells you
Speaker 2: what he does in certain situations. And I'm positive Cody
Speaker 2: Clemens goes to the plate and says, well, this is
Speaker 2: what my dad told me about this particular count, this
Speaker 2: particular situation. Look for this and it's helping him and
Speaker 2: he's a good player. Now, absolutely, ok, Jeffrey, back back
Speaker 2: to Jason Stark for a minute. He alerted us to
Speaker 2: this that lazarro Estrata of the Blue Jays. You remember,
Speaker 2: and this will run on Tuesday when we have Jason's interview,
Speaker 2: which was just tremendous. But lazarro Estrada had a win,
Speaker 2: a save, and a loss in consecutive appearances, which came
Speaker 2: on three consecutive days. Now again, jeff these guys are
Speaker 2: only pitching an inning at a time, but it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2: You get a win, a save, and a loss in
Speaker 2: three straight days, and the last time any pitcher did that.
Speaker 2: I'm a little surprised it was this recent. Philm Mayton
Speaker 2: did this in twenty twenty three where he had a win, save,
Speaker 2: and a loss all in three consecutive games played on
Speaker 2: three consecutive days. Pretty cool, huh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I love that, Jason. If you want to
Speaker 1: have the ultimate nerd off, it's Tuesday on. It is
Speaker 1: just a great game or what? Right out of the gate?
Speaker 1: My question is how did both of you get to
Speaker 1: this point of being this beautifully in love with the
Speaker 1: ins and outs and the nerdiness of baseball? And he
Speaker 1: had a great answer. It's so great, Jason Stark, long
Speaker 1: overdue on our podcast. Make sure you hit subscribe and
Speaker 1: follow wherever you're listening or watching right now so you
Speaker 1: don't miss that great interview next week.
Speaker 2: Okay. Jeff blake Snell made his return with the Dodgers
Speaker 2: made his second start of the season. Blake Snell has
Speaker 2: incredible stuff. His combination of change up, slider and curveball
Speaker 2: that matchup is virtually unmatched in Major League Baseball. So
Speaker 2: his first game off the disabled list injured list, he
Speaker 2: struck out ten. So he is the sixth different Dodger
Speaker 2: to strike out ten batters in a game. This year.
Speaker 2: Does that sound like a lot to you? Six different guys?
Speaker 1: Again, because you strike out ray four good starters, right,
Speaker 1: maybe five if you're lucky. And so to have six
Speaker 1: guys strike out ten, that's incredible, right.
Speaker 2: So, and again with the way we use our bullpen,
Speaker 2: relievers can get ten strikeouts in a game because they
Speaker 2: don't start the game. They come in and relief and
Speaker 2: they're the you know, we have an opener and then
Speaker 2: we got a guy who throws seven innings after that.
Speaker 2: But it's the fourteenth time, Jeff, that a team in
Speaker 2: baseball history has had six pitchers strikeout ten or more
Speaker 2: in a game in one season. The last teams to
Speaker 2: do it were the Rays and the Rangers in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty three. But only one team has had seven pitchers
Speaker 2: strike out ten or more in a game in one season.
Speaker 2: That was the nineteen to six seven Cleveland then Cleveland Indians.
Speaker 2: Sam McDowell, Louis tian Sonny Seabert, Stan Williams, Ed Connolly Junior,
Speaker 2: Steve Hargan, and John o'donahue. Seven different guys on that
Speaker 2: team struck out ten or more. Guys Pretty amazing. I
Speaker 2: love those names on that list because again Jeff sixty
Speaker 2: seven sixty eight. It's all the same era where nobody
Speaker 2: gets a hit during that time because it's so hard.
Speaker 2: And Louis Tiana we talked about last week, had unbelievable stuff.
Speaker 2: And Sam McDowell was just a strikeout machine in his career.
Speaker 1: Which is interesting because around then you were ten years old,
Speaker 1: born in fifty six, and when I was ten, I
Speaker 1: was in the height of the steroid era. Really, so
Speaker 1: very different experiences you and I had in the game
Speaker 1: when it came to that age of our life, right right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And Jeff, I was watching a game when I
Speaker 2: was a kid, I was probably ten, and Sam McDowell's
Speaker 2: pitching against the Senators, my team, and he couldn't get
Speaker 2: Frank Howard out, so they took Sam McDowell off the
Speaker 2: mound and put him at second base with two outs
Speaker 2: in the eighth inning. Because when you take a pitcher out,
Speaker 2: you can of course leave him in the game. So
Speaker 2: they got the fire. They got Frank Howard out to
Speaker 2: start the I mean to finish the eighth inning, and
Speaker 2: Sam McDowell came in and pitched the ninth inning and
Speaker 2: finished the game. But the amazing part, and I still
Speaker 2: can't believe this. There was a ground ball hit, There
Speaker 2: was a run around first when they brought Sam McDowell in.
Speaker 2: There was a ground ball to the third baseman, and
Speaker 2: instead of throwing it to first for the third out,
Speaker 2: he threw it to Sam McDowell, a left handed second baseman,
Speaker 2: for the force out at second. I still can't believe
Speaker 2: I saw that that simply would not happen today, Jeff.
Speaker 2: But back then, crazy things like that happened all the time.
Speaker 2: All right, Jeff, I need your help on this. The
Speaker 2: winning and losing pictures, so the pictures of record in
Speaker 2: the Reds Nationals game the other day, or Brady Singer
Speaker 2: and Will Dion, so the it was singer Dion. Does
Speaker 2: that ring a bell at all to you?
Speaker 1: Singer Dion?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 2: Not necessarily right now. Now, look, I don't know anything
Speaker 2: about music, Jeff. We've been over this, but I do
Speaker 2: know that Dion and the Belmonts.
Speaker 1: Were a oh yeah, okay, no.
Speaker 2: Singer Dion, right, and I looked it up since I
Speaker 2: have no idea who the Belmonts are, but Dion Demussy
Speaker 2: d I m U C C. I sorry if I
Speaker 2: butchered that name. Join the Belmonts and that's how they
Speaker 2: became Dion and the Belmont. So we had a singer
Speaker 2: Dion or Dion singer. I like that.
Speaker 1: That was a good one, Dad. Anytime you can work
Speaker 1: a music reference and it's impressive for you.
Speaker 2: So this is the breaking news that we have during
Speaker 2: the course.
Speaker 1: No way, I've been waiting for this that.
Speaker 2: Okay, Our our friend Jeremy Tasha wrote me this morning
Speaker 2: and he he told me something I already kind of knew.
Speaker 2: But he said, in the Padres Brewers game, we have
Speaker 2: Robbie Ray facing Dustin May, so we have a Ray
Speaker 2: against May. So he was at least wondering, have we
Speaker 2: ever had a three name? I'm a three word, three
Speaker 2: letter last name, face a three letter last name, but
Speaker 2: he expanded it to and both of them and in
Speaker 2: a y. Yeah, they rhyme. So I don't know about
Speaker 2: the rhyming part. But I actually checked with Frank for
Speaker 2: the Eliaz Unders just no, just to see how unusual
Speaker 2: this is. Look, I'm I'm pretty sure that Jimmy Key
Speaker 2: faced Rudy May in a start in the eighties. I'm
Speaker 2: pretty sure that I'm not sure, but we'll see. But
Speaker 2: Frank writes back that We've had three of them this year.
Speaker 2: You had three. They're not Ray and May, but Anthony
Speaker 2: K faced Griffin Jacks, Brian Wu faced Shane BoSz, and
Speaker 2: Shane Boz faced Griffin Jacks. So we've had this is
Speaker 2: the fourth time this year that we've had a starting
Speaker 2: pitcher whose last name is three letters face another starting
Speaker 2: pitcher whose last name has three letters that, Jeff, that
Speaker 2: is what you call That's that's our definition on this
Speaker 2: ridiculous podcast to Breaking News Greed.
Speaker 1: So Jeremy Tash, friend of the show and member of
Speaker 1: the Dan Levitard Show, also friends of ours, and I'm
Speaker 1: just really glad to hear that that was something he
Speaker 1: was asking you and not an argument on whether or
Speaker 1: not they could get a bunt down against Garrett Cole.
Speaker 1: Garrett Cole, listen, nobody. These are major league players trying
Speaker 1: to get a butt down from time to time, and
Speaker 1: they can struggle doing it. You're telling telling me you're
Speaker 1: gonna turn your face towards a guy throwing one hundred
Speaker 1: and one miles per hour right at your face, know what.
Speaker 2: Look, we know how much I love the Levatard Show.
Speaker 2: Those guys are all hilarious, but this is at least
Speaker 2: five years ago. They just called me and asked me,
Speaker 2: we all think we can get a bunt down for them,
Speaker 2: And I had to tell him, you guys are the
Speaker 2: stupidest people I've ever met in my life. You have
Speaker 2: zero chance to get a bunt down against Garrett Cole
Speaker 2: in a major league game. You guys are radio show host,
Speaker 2: your podcast host, You're not major league players. I hope
Speaker 2: I didn't hurt their feelings.
Speaker 1: I don't think you did, but I do think you
Speaker 1: put them in their place. And as they know on
Speaker 1: that show, we never like to make Tim Kirkshon angry,
Speaker 1: but when he gets angry, it's the most beautiful calm
Speaker 1: anger I've ever seen in my life. All Right, Dad,
Speaker 1: let's move on to on the state and based history.
Speaker 2: Okay. In nineteen seventy nine, lou Brock got hit number
Speaker 2: three thousand. Lou Brock is one of the you know,
Speaker 2: he's a Hall of Famer, the second most stolen bases
Speaker 2: of all time, and Jeff, we talk about among the
Speaker 2: kindest people we've ever met in Baseball stan musical Bookshobinson,
Speaker 2: lou Brock is right near the top of that list.
Speaker 2: And we've told the story many times about when you
Speaker 2: met him in Cooperstown at the golf you know, pro shop,
Speaker 2: and he gave you twenty minutes of his time. It
Speaker 2: was like nothing I've ever seen. And he looked at
Speaker 2: you that day you were like ten years old and said,
Speaker 2: you have a great smile. Always use that smile. Nothing,
Speaker 2: nothing disarms a person more than a smile. You remember
Speaker 2: that day, right, Joe.
Speaker 1: I remember it like it was yesterday and I had
Speaker 1: just gotten off the course after shooting one hundred and twelve.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I was smiling, No, just kidding.
Speaker 1: I do remember that, dad, and I do think. I
Speaker 1: think about that always as I was growing up. You know,
Speaker 1: it's such a great way to introduce yourself as to
Speaker 1: put a bigs on, and it's disarming in a beautiful way.
Speaker 1: It makes others feel comfortable. So I'll never forget that.
Speaker 2: All right, Jeff. On this day in nineteen forty, Tony
Speaker 2: Klooninger was born. He was a very good pitcher, and
Speaker 2: in nineteen sixty six he became the first National League
Speaker 2: player to hit two Grand Slams in one game, and
Speaker 2: to this day he remains, of course, the only pitcher
Speaker 2: ever to hit two Grand slams in one game, and Jeff,
Speaker 2: it still just amazed me. A pitcher did that. And
Speaker 2: Pete Rose had one Grand Slam in his career, Derek
Speaker 2: Jeter had one Grand Slam in his career, and so
Speaker 2: they had as many combined with all those bats as
Speaker 2: Tony Klaninger had in one game. Pretty amazing. And Jeff,
Speaker 2: this is why it still bothers me. The pitchers aren't
Speaker 2: allowed to hit because amazing things like what Tony Klininger did.
Speaker 2: We're probably never gonna see anything like that again.
Speaker 1: I mean, we love Miles Michaelis coming in and pinch hitting.
Speaker 1: We want to say more of it. Let's go, come.
Speaker 2: On, I kind of like it all right. On this date,
Speaker 2: Happy birthday to Mark Lemkey born on this date in
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty five. Really tough, little hard nosed second basement
Speaker 2: from Utica, New York. And Jeff, he still holds the
Speaker 2: Major League record for most played appearances in a career
Speaker 2: three thousand, six hundred and sixty four without ever getting
Speaker 2: hit by a pitch, which and again, he's a switch hitter.
Speaker 2: Switch hitters usually don't get a hurt hit very often.
Speaker 2: Mickey Mannlo we've already mentioned in this podcast. He only
Speaker 2: got hit thirteen times in his career. But Mark Lemkey
Speaker 2: never got hit in his major league career. I want
Speaker 2: to ask him, did you get hit in the minor leagues?
Speaker 2: He goes, yeah, I got hit plenty of times in
Speaker 2: the minor leagues, just not in the major leagues. That
Speaker 2: amazed you, Jeff, that many played appearances no hit by pitches.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, hey, that would be the kind of
Speaker 1: career I would like to have if I ever made
Speaker 1: it to the base. No, thank you want to get
Speaker 1: hit right.
Speaker 2: I just wrote a story for ESPN dot com just
Speaker 2: about how they hit by pitch rate today is historically high.
Speaker 2: Guys are standing on top of the plate, wearing armor,
Speaker 2: pictures throwing one hundred and two, don't know where it's going.
Speaker 2: Leads to this, this guy never got hit by a pitch.
Speaker 2: So cool, all right? Special birthday also nineteen eighty three
Speaker 2: Dallas Braiden. So happy birthday to Dallas Braiden.
Speaker 1: We love him.
Speaker 2: Not too many not too many people have made laugh
Speaker 2: quite like Dallas Braiden. But Jeff, when we had him
Speaker 2: on the podcast, did we laugh for an hour? Is
Speaker 2: that fair to say?
Speaker 1: He is one of my favorite guests we've ever had.
Speaker 1: He told us some crazy stories. Obviously, his incredible Mother's
Speaker 1: Day story was the the reason why we had him on.
Speaker 1: But he told us about his beef with a rod.
Speaker 1: He told us so many about about Reptile World or
Speaker 1: whatever it was, and will.
Speaker 2: You got trapped in Reptile World and they said we'll
Speaker 2: get an uber there in four hours.
Speaker 1: He said, four hours, I gotta go to work.
Speaker 2: It was amazing. And again I think we started that interview, Jeff,
Speaker 2: with my one of my bobblehead collections. There's me, next
Speaker 2: to me is Dallas Braiden, and next to him is
Speaker 2: do you remember Walter Johnson. Obviously yes, so Dallas thought
Speaker 2: that was the greatest juxtaposition ever. The three of us
Speaker 2: lined up and Jeff, what is the distinction? What does
Speaker 2: Dallas Braden have over a perfect Johnson? Yes, every time
Speaker 2: I went to Walter Johnson, Hey, yeah I knew that.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, So, yes, Dallas Braiden threw a perfect game
Speaker 2: and Walter Johnson didn't. And that's just the beauty of baseball.
Speaker 2: And last one, Jeff, and this is a sad one,
Speaker 2: of course, on this date in nineteen ninety five, Mickey
Speaker 2: Mantle died. Now, let's be clear, Jeff, Mickey Mantle is
Speaker 2: one of the greatest players of all time, greatest number
Speaker 2: seven ever, greatest switch hitter ever. And if he hadn't
Speaker 2: gotten some knee issues, there's no telling what he might
Speaker 2: have done, because during the prime of his career five
Speaker 2: maybe a little bit more, he was as good as
Speaker 2: Willie Mays. And Willie May is the greatest player I've
Speaker 2: ever seen. So let's not ever forget how great Mickey
Speaker 2: Mantle was. And I told you, Jeff, I was in
Speaker 2: spring training in the long, long time ago and Mickey
Speaker 2: Manna was doing a bunting drill, showing everyone on the
Speaker 2: Yankees how to drag a bunt to first base, which
Speaker 2: I always thought was like, so cool. Here's a guy
Speaker 2: with well over five hundred homers and he was teaching
Speaker 2: everyone how to drag a bunt left handed down the
Speaker 2: first base line. Pretty cool, right.
Speaker 1: The dragging of the bunt is an art form, absolutely
Speaker 1: to be able to figure that out, it's really a
Speaker 1: difficult skill.
Speaker 2: And Mickey Manner was one of the best at Rod Crew.
Speaker 2: Of course, Brett Butler, those are the among the best
Speaker 2: bunch I've ever seen, so as a tribute to Mickey Mantle,
Speaker 2: we are doing the All Mickey team as Team Tim
Speaker 2: this week. Our catcher is Hall of Famer Mickey Cochran.
Speaker 2: Our first basement is Mickey Vernon, who was really really
Speaker 2: good second baseman former Philly Mickey Morindini, Jeff, do you
Speaker 2: know his distinction beyond being a really good player and
Speaker 2: the tough guys you'll ever meet, and one of the
Speaker 2: key guys on a Pennant winning team for the Phillies.
Speaker 2: He had an unassisted triple play.
Speaker 1: He's in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: That's right, That's right, Mickey MORENDI and he unassisted triple play.
Speaker 2: Is the second baseman. Mickey Klutz is our third baseman.
Speaker 2: And it's spelled k l u t ts. But and
Speaker 2: I hope I'm not making fun of anyone, because that's
Speaker 2: not the point. Mickey Klutz got hurt all the time, okay.
Speaker 2: And I always thought it was kind of interesting that
Speaker 2: a guy who spent a lot of time on the
Speaker 2: injured list, the disabled list whatever we called it is,
Speaker 2: last name is Klutz.
Speaker 1: Agreed, Klutz's It's it's up there with Bummer and Falter, right,
Speaker 1: all the difficult names of baseball and Scott blew It.
Speaker 1: That's one of our favorite Yeah, Scott.
Speaker 2: Blew It's all good, beautiful baseball name. So our shortstop
Speaker 2: is a reach, but it's a reach on purpose. Mickey
Speaker 2: Stanley is our shortstop. And Mickey Stanley was really a
Speaker 2: really good defensive center fielder for the Tigers. But in
Speaker 2: the sixty eight World Series, they took their center fielder
Speaker 2: and they played them a shortstop in the World Series
Speaker 2: instead of Ray Oiler, and they won the World Series
Speaker 2: with a center fielder playing shortstop because Mickey Stanley was
Speaker 2: such a great defender he could handle shortstop having played
Speaker 2: even though he was technically a center fielder. All right,
Speaker 2: our outfielders are relatively easy. Mickey Mantle, of course, Mickey Hatcher,
Speaker 2: one of the great characters of all time. Dodgers all that,
Speaker 2: and Mickey Rivers. Jeff, do you remember any Mickey Rivers
Speaker 2: story that I told you over the years, because I've
Speaker 2: told you, Benny.
Speaker 1: How much money did he ask you for during spring
Speaker 1: training eighty two? How much did you say? Two thousand dollars?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Mickey Rivers and spring training nineteen eighty two, while
Speaker 2: he's making four hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year
Speaker 2: ask me if he could borrow two thousand dollars. I
Speaker 2: was making eleven thousand dollars at the time, and he's
Speaker 2: asking me for two thousand. Mickey was an all time
Speaker 2: favorite of mine. One of the bets our two pictures.
Speaker 2: One is Mickey Welch, who's in the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 2: and our other one is Mickey Lohlich, one of the
Speaker 2: most underrated pictures in Major League history, one of the
Speaker 2: very few left handers to ever strike out three thousand
Speaker 2: batters in his career. And speaking of the sixty eight Tigers,
Speaker 2: Micky Lolige won three games in the nineteen sixty eight
Speaker 2: World Series as the Tigers roared back to beat the
Speaker 2: Cardinals four games to three. Mickey Lolis really underrated pitcher, Dad.
Speaker 1: That is an excellent team, Tim of all team Mickey,
Speaker 1: which is great, right, although I think you're missing one
Speaker 1: important one, which is who is the mascot?
Speaker 2: Well would have to be Mickey Mouse, right.
Speaker 1: Oh boy?
Speaker 2: Oh Mickey, Yeah, pretty good. I don't think I've ever
Speaker 2: heard you do that.
Speaker 1: That's all I can do. I can do. Oh boy,
Speaker 1: I'm Mickey Mouse. That's all I've got. The alphabet, Dad,
Speaker 1: this is going to be a troubling one. Last names
Speaker 1: starting with you. We need a pitcher and a position player.
Speaker 1: The greatest of all time would last name you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there were only seventy players in Major
Speaker 2: League history whose last names started with you. But Chase
Speaker 2: Utley is the greatest position player ever with the last
Speaker 2: name starting with you. Now, I consider Justin Upton, who
Speaker 2: hit more home runs than anyone in history with the
Speaker 2: last name starts with you. Of course, his brother bj
Speaker 2: Upton was pretty darn good, Dan Uggla and a few others,
Speaker 2: Willie Upshaw. But I'm going with Chase Utley, who I
Speaker 2: think is going to be in the Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: in a couple of years. As we talked about last week,
Speaker 2: just went on the Phillies Wall of Fame. Nobody played
Speaker 2: the game more correctly than Chase Utley. Nobody played the
Speaker 2: game harder than Chase Utley. And even though the numbers
Speaker 2: aren't overwhelming, I still believe he was the best player
Speaker 2: on those really good Phillies teams that were really good
Speaker 2: for quite some time. He taught those guys how to
Speaker 2: win and how to play the game properly. So he's
Speaker 2: my you good choice, Jeff, What do you think?
Speaker 1: Well, he was just honored as well, and I think
Speaker 1: he's going to be a future Hall of Famer. I
Speaker 1: think Chase Utley is by far one of the most
Speaker 1: underrated second basemen to play the game. He's a leader
Speaker 1: in the clubhouse. I think it's a great, great choice for.
Speaker 2: You, Okay. Pitcher was much harder. We had Ugi or
Speaker 2: being out, we had Koji Uehara, we had a few others,
Speaker 2: but I went with George oohl Uhl. Now, he pitched
Speaker 2: from nineteen nineteen to nineteen thirty six, and he won
Speaker 2: two hundred games, so I think by definition we have
Speaker 2: to choose him. He had a twenty six win season
Speaker 2: and a twenty seven win season. He's not a Hall
Speaker 2: of Famer. Two hundred wins is nothing to sneeze at,
Speaker 2: especially when you had two seasons of more than twenty
Speaker 2: five victories. So that was the best I could do
Speaker 2: with you. That was tricky because you know, we got
Speaker 2: to go way back, and I don't pretend to know
Speaker 2: a whole lot about him without looking up some stuff.
Speaker 1: Dad, I think you has proven to be a really,
Speaker 1: really difficult one. I know you have more difficult ones
Speaker 1: down the road as we wrap up alpha best by
Speaker 1: the end of the season. But uh, you you did
Speaker 1: a great job on you see what I did there?
Speaker 2: Yes, Yes, and you're right, Jeff. When we get to X,
Speaker 2: we're gonna have to go with first names only when
Speaker 2: we get to X, because we're not gonna there's no
Speaker 2: one the last name X. It's ever played in the
Speaker 2: major leagues. Okay, Jeff, Last thing for today?
Speaker 1: What do we got three cards in the bathroom? Dad?
Speaker 2: What do you have?
Speaker 1: Let's pull those cards out and you're gonna riff off
Speaker 1: of what you found here we go, right, Jeff's Ballard.
Speaker 1: I covered Jeff Ballard when he played for the Orioles.
Speaker 1: He was a Stampford guy, soft throwing left hander, very
Speaker 1: good Major League pitcher for several years. Really really smart
Speaker 1: guy and just another guy Jeff who understood.
Speaker 2: What you know the world around him. I used to
Speaker 2: write this Sunday notes column for the Baltimore Sun. It
Speaker 2: was my favorite thing that I did in all my
Speaker 2: years at the newspaper. I would write it every Sunday
Speaker 2: and I had a little segment Jeff called is this
Speaker 2: a great game or what? And that was the little
Speaker 2: box that I had of all the fun kind of
Speaker 2: cool things. So one day Jeff Ballard struck out Don
Speaker 2: Mattingly three times in one game. I believe at the
Speaker 2: time he was the only pitcher ever to strike out
Speaker 2: Don Mattingly three times in one game. And the next
Speaker 2: after the game, Jeff Ballard walked by me and said,
Speaker 2: Sunday note, like he recognized that I was going to
Speaker 2: tell everyone because all the writers exchanged information. Peter Gammon's
Speaker 2: Jason Stark and I, we would do this and tell
Speaker 2: us the best stuff we got from our team to
Speaker 2: help out with their own Sunday notes. So Jeff Ballard
Speaker 2: was smart enough to know that was a Sunday note.
Speaker 2: Very cool. I love that.
Speaker 1: Oh I just got chills.
Speaker 4: That was neat.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, okay, second is Starling Marte. And I'm by
Speaker 2: this for a while there. Jeff, for at least a
Speaker 2: couple of years, or maybe just one year, he was
Speaker 2: the leader active leader in triples with fifty five. That's
Speaker 2: the active leader. Never forget Jeff Babe Ruth hit one
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty six triples in his career. The active
Speaker 2: leader for when Starling Marte. This was like a year,
Speaker 2: two years ago he had fifty five that was the most,
Speaker 2: and Mike Trout now has fifty five. But Corbyn Carroll
Speaker 2: of the Diamondbacks, who is a triples machine, is now
Speaker 2: the active leader with fifty six triples. He just passed
Speaker 2: Mike Trout and Starling Marte on the active list for triples.
Speaker 2: So I just pulled this guy out, thinking, well, what
Speaker 2: am I going to say about Starling Marte? And there's
Speaker 2: an actual triples note. Pretty cool for Jeff. I was
Speaker 2: also intrigued by this. In the year two thousand, I'll
Speaker 2: never forget this, Christian Guzman of the Twins had twenty
Speaker 2: triples and he had more triples than the home run
Speaker 2: leader on his team had home runs. Now, how unusual
Speaker 2: do you think that is, Jeff, that the triples leader
Speaker 2: had more than the that could never Well, it's not
Speaker 2: going to happen this year.
Speaker 1: It's not happening this year. Might have happened one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifteen years ago, when the stadiums were so big
Speaker 1: and people were only hitting eight home runs in a
Speaker 1: game or in a season.
Speaker 2: Right right, Well, Corvin Carroll has thirteen triples. Cotel Marte
Speaker 2: on his team has twenty one homers. So I don't
Speaker 2: see that happening this year, But Jeff, I was amazed.
Speaker 2: Six times since nineteen sixty one has a triples leader
Speaker 2: had more triples than the home run leader on their team,
Speaker 2: And the last time it was done was by the
Speaker 2: Mets in twoenty eleven, Jose Reis had sixteen triples and
Speaker 2: Carlos Beltron hall of Famer, had fifteen homers. Wow, so's
Speaker 2: that's way more then you thought it would be, right, I.
Speaker 1: Thought it was gonna easily be nineteen twelve where Mordecai
Speaker 1: three finger Brown v. Spazzy Davis.
Speaker 2: Pretty good, Jeff, all right. Our last one is Dwight Evans.
Speaker 2: Dwight Evans is a borderline Hall of Famer. He's one
Speaker 2: of the greatest defensive right fielders I've ever seen. He
Speaker 2: had one of the greatest throwing arms I've ever seen.
Speaker 2: And one year, Jeff he let off a game the
Speaker 2: first pitch thrown in the baseball season. He had a
Speaker 2: home run off of Jack Morris on the first pitch
Speaker 2: thrown in the baseball season. And years and years later
Speaker 2: I did an opening day with Ravi and Eduardo in
Speaker 2: Florida and Ian Happ hit the first pitch of the
Speaker 2: game for a home run off that Urania guy. So
Speaker 2: it was the first time since the first pitch of
Speaker 2: the season had been hit for a homer and that
Speaker 2: was by Dwight Evans and then many years later by
Speaker 2: Ian Happ then of the Cubs.
Speaker 1: Pretty cool, Pretty cool, Pretty cool. I like that a lot, Dad.
Speaker 1: This has been a full force episode here. I mean,
Speaker 1: I feel like for a little while, with the trade
Speaker 1: deadline and a whole bunch of things moving, we have
Speaker 1: been all over the place. But we're finally kind of
Speaker 1: back into the swing of the second half of the season,
Speaker 1: and this is an exciting time for Major League Baseball.
Speaker 1: Oh and I can't get over it. Feel the dreams tonight. Right,
Speaker 1: if you build it, he will come right or as
Speaker 1: I say in my household, if I build it, she
Speaker 1: will come knock it over. My daughter if you build
Speaker 1: anything with her blocks or her bricks, if you're trying
Speaker 1: to like have some fun on you, and she goes,
Speaker 1: can I knock it over? And I'm like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: go ahead, go ahead. Dad was working hard on a castle,
Speaker 1: but go ahead.
Speaker 2: Look, yeah, I just did a puzzle yesterday with your nephew,
Speaker 2: your godson, Carson, he's five. He was way better at
Speaker 2: putting the puzzle together than I was, and we were
Speaker 2: so proud that we got it done in a relatively
Speaker 2: short amount of time. And then as I took a
Speaker 2: picture of it, which I think I sent out to
Speaker 2: the family, and as soon as we were done with
Speaker 2: the puzzle, he like broke it into a thousand pieces. Well,
Speaker 2: what would be the point there? Is that? What kids do?
Speaker 2: I forget it?
Speaker 1: Well, you can't do the puzzle again if it's not
Speaker 1: taking apart. But I guess they don't enjoy you know.
Speaker 1: I was the kind of kid who when I would
Speaker 1: have a Lego set, all I would do is I'd
Speaker 1: put it together and then I would try to find
Speaker 1: a corner of the house to put it in so
Speaker 1: nobody could ever touch it. I didn't even like playing
Speaker 1: with him, because I liked seeing my work in front
Speaker 1: of me until neighborhood kids would come over and blow
Speaker 1: them up. That was a very emotional day for me.
Speaker 1: Another story for another time. Never we'll have Hogwartz back again.
Speaker 1: But besides the point any.
Speaker 2: Jeff, just to finish, Jip, you talk about how we're
Speaker 2: in the stretch run. This is the best part about baseball.
Speaker 2: The last six weeks of the season, Pennant races who's
Speaker 2: going to make the playoffs, who isn't. And then we
Speaker 2: get to October, so trade deadline's over. A bunch of
Speaker 2: things have happened here all Star Game. But now comes
Speaker 2: the real fun part. Because we are in the stretch
Speaker 2: run of the season. I can't wait to see who
Speaker 2: makes the playoffs and who doesn't make the playoffs. It's
Speaker 2: gonna be so good.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's right. Don't forget to like, subscribe, follow, leave
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