WEBVTT - Lights, Camera, Big Dumper 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:06.520 Is this a great game or what with the Hall 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:10.040 of Famer Tim Kirchen. I'm his son, Jeff Kirkchen And Dad, 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:16.439 I'm just now returning from a trip to Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.239 where we celebrated my wife and her twin brothers early 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:22.400 thirtieth birthday, in. 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:27.479 Which I also you see this shirt? Was that? Say? Uh? Oh? Dad? 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:32.360 Getting his glasses on Fenway Park established nineteen twelve, that's right, 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:33.600 home of the Boston Red Sox. 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:35.600 I bought a shirt because we took a Fenway Park 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:37.000 tour while we were in town. 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:41.159 Dad, Well, so cool, you've already done that. How did Emily? 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:46.840 And how did Emily enjoy it? Oh? Loved it? Thought 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:47.520 it was so cool. 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:51.239 I mean, she has become such a baseball fan in 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.840 the last couple of years and hearing the history of 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:57.960 the game, the history of the Red Sox at Fenway Park, 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.720 and it's so interesting because she's never been to a 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:07.360 ballpark that is that old, right, so right, it's the oldest, so. 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:12.000 Open the week the Titanic seg that's how old Fenway 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:12.720 Park is. 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:17.440 Yeah, and it's oldest park in Major League Baseball. Wrigley 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.160 Field is next, and then they had a big trivia question, 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:22.960 and our entire group, eight of us, just kept looking 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.520 at me every time there was a trivia question. What 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:31.039 is the third oldest baseball park, which is Sonders Stadium, right, 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:31.679 So I. 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:32.600 Was able to get that right. 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:36.600 I kind of I didn't want to start stealing the 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:39.319 tour guide's thunder here because I knew all of the 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.679 big answers as to what was going on the red 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.800 seat in right field Ted Williams, of course, like I 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:48.920 didn't want to steal his thunder, but they kept looking 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:50.920 at me asking me to raise my hand. 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:52.120 And try to answer the question. 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:54.640 So I tried to keep a low profile dad on 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:55.880 the Fenway Park tour. 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.360 Wow, I'm proud of you. What was Emily? What was 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:03.040 her takeaway? What fascinated her most about the trip to 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:04.040 the Fens. 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.280 Well, a number one thing was they were setting up 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:11.720 a stage for the Jonas Brothers concert that night. So 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.280 the most fascinating thing at the moment for her was 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.960 thinking that Kevin Nick and Joe would be at Fenway 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:22.960 Park that evening. But other than that, we were sitting 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:25.600 during the tour. We sat in seats that have been there, 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.640 and I'm gonna make sure, I come close to the date, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.680 like the seats have been there since nineteen thirty four, 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:36.040 the same original wooden seats. 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.440 Which was unbelievable to think of. 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:43.800 Your dad, my grandfather growing up in Watertown, Massachusetts, absolutely 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.000 sitting in those seats as a high schooler. 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.920 Isn't that crazy? It's crazy that place is so old 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.960 and it's so what did she think of the Green Monster? 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.919 That must have she must have said something, because I 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.000 remember Jared Ratty bigger than she thought it was. 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.720 And we went up and were on the Monster seats, 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.480 which was really cool, and she kind of said, oh, 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:08.000 if we ever went to a game, we got to 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.200 sit up here, And I said, everybody wants to sit 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.520 on the Monster seats. They're the most coveted seats in 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:19.240 Major League Baseball arguably. So she loved it. And we 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.440 found out why they built the Monster. Do you know 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:22.919 why they built the Green Monster? 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:27.480 Yes, Jeff. They had such a small amount of room 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:30.880 in which to build the stadium that they had to 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.519 shoehorn it in to the land, and the only way 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:38.040 to do that was to keep left field really close 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:40.960 to home plate, and in order to do that, they 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:43.400 built a thirty seven foot high wall. 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:46.760 Well, and here's the detail the tour guide gave us too, 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.720 Dad that it wasn't originally a monster, right it usually 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:52.240 it's not thirty seven feet tall. 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.160 The whole time. They actually built it taller. 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.160 The owner did because there used to be a car 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:02.120 dealership across the street and home runs. 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:05.440 Were regularly hit over the. 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:10.080 Then ten foot wall and crashing into vehicles, and then 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.560 the owner had to pay for the repair of the vehicles. 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:14.880 That I can't pay for these vehicles anymore, so they 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:16.039 built the wall up. 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:19.200 So nobody could hit it over, right. But Mark McGuire, 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.920 I've told you this story before. Jeff famously, during the 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.880 height of his career, hit a ball over the wall 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:31.360 and it smashed the windshield of a car and went 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:35.080 right into the guy's front seat. Okay, Now, the kicker 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.520 to the story hit it off of Zane Smith, by 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.000 the way. But the kicker is is that the guy 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:43.039 had locked his keys in the car. This is like 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:47.440 late nineties, so we don't have all these gadgets now 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.039 to open up your car from the car dealership. He 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:53.280 was trapped without his car keys. And then Mark McGuire 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:57.280 hit a home run that broke his windshield and he 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:00.839 was able to retrieve his car keys, and then he 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:05.039 brought the ball somehow to Mark maguire, who's signed it, 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.400 something to the effect of I'm glad I could save 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.600 your car keys or something like that. I mean, that 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.440 actually happened, like it can't happen, but it's true. Jeff 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:19.280 the Wall, I'll never forget. Jerry Fraley, Hall of Fame 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.120 baseball writer, went there for the first time in nineteen 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.560 eighty six and we're standing on the field at Fenway 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:28.800 Park before a World Series game. He'd never been there, 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.440 and he looked at me in these typical frails and said, 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.159 do they take that thing down when the game starts? 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:38.479 That's what he That's how close left field is there. 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:40.960 And Jeff, I'm going to tell you a story that 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:45.560 I've never told publicly. But this is wildly self serving, 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.000 but I'm going to tell it anyway. Nineteen eighty six, 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:53.239 I'm covering the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun and Earl Weaver, 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:58.640 the famous great manager, irascible Earl Weaver, the Mickey Rooney 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:03.480 look like. Earl Weaver says to me, he says, you 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:05.760 think you could throw a ball off the left field 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:09.599 wall at Fenway Parker. We're standing in the on deck circle, 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.400 so I'm not even throwing it from home plate. But 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:16.840 Earle starts yelling at me. You cover the team, you 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.440 think you know everything. He's half joking with me. He goes, 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:22.480 do you think you could throw a ball off the 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.919 left field wall from right here? So I have to 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:28.960 take him up on it, and I say, yes, I 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.719 think I can throw a baseball off the left field 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.719 wall from the on deck circle, which was closer to 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.440 leftfield wall. It's three hundred and nine feet away. I 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:42.600 don't even think it's that long technically, so I the 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:47.600 next day. The next day, I had to put my 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:50.400 money where my mouth was. Now keep in mind, Jeff 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:54.120 I got challenged on this by Earl Weaver, the Hall 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.839 of Fame manager, so he was late to the ballpark 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:04.400 the next day, so Cal Ripken cal Junior's dad was 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:07.840 in was therefore put in charge of this challenge. And 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.559 I threw a ball off the left field wall from 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:15.440 the on deck circle, which was roughly a throw of 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:19.640 I want to say, two n eighty five to ninety 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:23.280 feet and I hit the wall, and Earl got there 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:28.320 like twenty minutes later and said, because we bet some 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.840 some ridiculously low amount of money. He looks at Senior 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.280 and goes, well, what happened, and Cal Sor looks at 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:39.840 Earl and goes, the kid did it. And it was 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.880 really I'm not sure what to make of the story. 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.440 I can't believe I'm going to tell the story publicly 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:49.920 for the first time in forty years. But Larry Sheets, 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:53.520 Larry Sheets, who son, Gavin Sheets plays for the Padres. 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:57.640 Now Larry hears about this bet and he goes, you're 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.480 not actually going to try to throw it off the wall? You? 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:03.480 And I said, well, yeah, I think I can do it. 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:05.920 I said, you don't think I can do it. He goes, 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:08.040 you can't do it. I can't do it, and he 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.400 said if I can't do it, you can't do it. Well, 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.080 of course, Larry Sheets could throw a baseball farther than 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:16.680 I can. But Jeff, you know in my I could 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.360 still throw a baseball at age sixty eight. I threw 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:21.560 it off the wall from the on deck circle and 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:25.400 Earl Weaver had to pay off a loss. And Cal 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.920 Ripken was the umpire in this situation to determine if 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:31.320 I hit the ball, hit the wall in the air 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:32.640 or not. And I did. 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.920 It's impressive. It's very impressive. How high up the wall, 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.480 not that it matters, go I'm there. 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:41.760 There's padding there, Jeff, that goes up about I would 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.000 say eight feet or something to protect the outfielders. I 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.840 threw it above the padding. Wow, I'm pretty sure I 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.880 threw a baseball three hundred feet in the air, which 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.640 I already knew I could do that because I'd done 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.240 it before. So it wasn't like I was taking on 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.360 something that I had no idea what I was doing. 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.920 So that That's my incredibly terrible self serving story about 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.000 Fenway Park. And this is the first time I've ever 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:11.079 told this to anyone, that I'll tell you this much. 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:15.160 You have a podcast, now it's okay to tell stories 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:18.200 about yourself. This was one of the biggest things we 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:20.320 had to get over when we first started the podcast. 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.000 This isn't just a baseball podcast. 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:25.880 In fact that now we even say to friends and 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:30.520 people who listen, this is a father son podcast about baseball. Right, 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.199 The thing that comes first is father and son, and nothing, 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:38.160 and I mean nothing is more relatable than when you 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:41.480 are challenged with an athletic competition or a bet. 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:45.640 You have to try. You have to try it. Absolutely. 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.240 I didn't just get challenged, hip. I got challenged by 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:53.280 Earl Weaver, who told me you have no chance to 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:58.000 do no chance, no chance. So I won the bet. 0:09:58.200 --> 0:09:59.240 So you did it? All right? 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:02.839 All right, well dad, let's jump into Major League baseball. 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.679 Tell us what are your takeaways of what's been going 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:06.520 on the last couple of days? 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.760 All right, just a few things. Jeff cal Raley hit 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:13.560 homers forty eight and forty nine. Okay, same game. So 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:17.080 now he has more multi homer games nine than anybody 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.800 in the history of the Seattle Mariners, including Ken Griffy Junior. 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.560 In one season. He has the most homers forty nine 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:30.840 of any primary catcher, passing Salvador Perez of the Royals. Okay, 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.840 the only switch hitter who has more homers in a 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.360 season is Mickey Mantle, who had a fifty four and 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:40.840 a fifty two homer season, and cal Raley may wipe 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.520 all of that out. So we've been talking about this 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:47.520 all year, Jeff, and there on Sunday, two more homers. 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.079 He did it. It's incredible and he's on his way 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.920 potentially to winning the MVP. But Jeff, I've been asked 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:56.720 a whole bunch of times is this the greatest season 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:00.240 ever by a catcher? And I'm sorry, I'm just not 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:05.160 ready to go there yet. Okay, you know, Johnny Bench 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:09.120 in nineteen seventy two won the MVP and had a 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:14.360 war that is significantly higher than cal Rally's, although cal 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:17.720 Raley hasn't finished with the season yet, okay. And Mike 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:22.720 Piazza had a war in nineteen seventy seven that is 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:28.160 significantly higher than cal Raley's, but again, he's not done yet. 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:32.120 Ops plus Jeff is a real reminder and a real 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:37.440 interesting statistic. Johnny Bench's ops plus in nineteen seventy two 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:41.360 was won sixty six, which is essentially what cal Rally's 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.600 is right now, and Mike piazzas in nineteen ninety seven 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:48.280 was one eighty five. So I'm still not ready to 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.360 call this the greatest season ever by a catcher, but 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.160 it's in the conversation, and it might be if he 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:59.600 has a great final five weeks. I love the big Dumper. 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:02.600 I mean, it's hard to take down Aaron Judge when 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:06.280 you're batt in three twenty four right him, he's having 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.360 a heck of a season with forty home runs himself. 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:10.360 But we'll see how it shakes out. 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:12.880 So you're voting for the nl MVP, so no one 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:14.600 can get mad at you if one or the other 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.000 wins the AL MVP, because it's not up. 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.480 To you, right, And you gotta be careful. You can't 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:22.000 be telling everyone who you're gonna vote for, because that 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:26.040 defeats the purpose of a secret ballot. And we you know, 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.320 it comes out in the middle of November, not at 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:32.480 the end of September. Okay, right. Justin Verlanders struck out 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:36.800 now has three thy, five hundred and fifteen strikeouts and 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.840 he passed who on the all time strikeout list. Remember 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:40.360 who you're. 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.280 Talking to here, Jeff Well, I mean it has to 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.800 be proud alum of Walter Johnson High School, Tim Kirkshan 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:48.520 talking about Walter Johnson, who. 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.560 We try to get into every episode of Is this 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:53.920 a great Game or what? And we're pretty darn close 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.800 to doing that. Yes, And again, there's no comparing the 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.880 eras Jeff. It's absolutely ridiculous. It's almost apples and oranges. 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:06.400 But Justin Verlander has twenty six complete games in his career. 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:12.840 Walter Johnson completed twenty six or more games in eleven 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:19.160 consecutive seasons, so eleven straight years he had as many 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:23.120 or more complete games as Justin Verlander has had in 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:27.040 his career. Not a criticism of Justin Verlander, this is 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:30.440 the game that we play today, but the durability of 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:38.040 Walter Johnson needs to be recognized. And with his next shutout, 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:43.679 Justin Verlander will have ten okay in his career, Walter 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:47.160 Johnson has one hundred and ten, so with his next 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:52.359 shutout he will draw within a hundred shutouts of Walter Johns. 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:56.280 I have a feeling he won't pass him for shutouts 0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:58.120 or complete games in his career. 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.760 He's not gonna app Also, speaking of complete games, Jeff 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:06.720 I checked today thirteen teams do not have a complete 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:10.000 game this year, so almost half the teams of the 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:15.120 major leagues do not have a complete game. The record 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:19.240 is thirteen teams without a complete game set in twenty 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:23.240 twenty two. So if the thirteen teams that don't have one, 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.320 if there are no more complete games, we will tie 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:29.240 a major league record. This speaks to a much bigger issue. 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.720 What are we going to do about getting the complete 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.000 game back in the game. I won't see a couple 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:37.040 back anytime soon. I just found it interesting that we 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:40.240 have tied a record right now, and maybe if somebody 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:43.400 completes a game, we won't set we won't keep the 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:44.720 tying of the record. 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.440 Yeah, this is relevant because you know, you mentioned how 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.440 many teams are don't have a complete game yet We're 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:53.560 coming to the end of the season, and tell me 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:59.600 I'm wrong. Is September and October the greatest months when 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:03.040 it comes to all things sports. You've got the beginning 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:07.000 of the college football season this weekend, You've got the NFL, 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.640 You've got baseball race for pennants, and then the playoffs 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.760 September and October. And then I mean, just selfishly, I'm 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.080 not a summer guy, so I love fall weather so 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.200 like it's just so perfect. 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.480 Right, And basketball the NBA starts, yeah at least, and 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:26.080 hockey starts in September, and we have the Ryder Cup 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:28.320 this year. I mean, it's right, It's gonna be an 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:32.360 absolutely fabulous month. And October is my favorite because it's 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:33.840 baseball playoffs. It's great. 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:37.160 And speaking of the Ryder Cup, we should probably tease 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.280 we're gonna have Tiger Woods on the podcast. I'm just kidding, 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.240 Dream Guests, Dream Guests, not a chance. We've only talked 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:46.960 about Tiger Woods almost as much as we've talked about 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:48.800 Walter Johnson on this podcast. 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.240 We have a better chance of getting Walter Johnson than 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:55.400 we do getting Tiger Woods. And Walter Johnson died in 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:59.160 nineteen forty six. Okay, all right, Jeff. Last thing, The 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:03.000 Brewers had a tribute to Bob Uker on Sunday and 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:06.520 it was just beautifully done. We love Bob Buker. Anytime 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.600 we get a chance to talk about him, we should so. 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:12.600 Jeff nineteen ninety eight. I want to say I made 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:17.240 a speech at the Brewers mid Winter Banquet and Bob 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:22.120 Uker was the EMC, and he was the funniest EMC 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:27.520 in the history of EMC's. He absolutely just wing the 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:31.360 whole thing, didn't have anything written down, made everybody laugh 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:34.880 from start to finish, and I made I was the 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.600 guest speaker that night, which was very nice. But the 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:41.680 story behind that, Jeff, is it was taking place in 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.400 January and I'm flying out of Washington Dulles and I'm 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:50.800 thinking it's snowing like crazy. There is zero chance that 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:53.880 this plane is going to take off. So you know 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.760 how scared I am about being late to the airport. 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:58.880 I said, all right, I know this flight's going to 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:01.840 be canceled. I gotta go to the airport anyway, because 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.840 I'm making a speech there. I gotta be there the 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:08.560 night before. So I get to the airport finally, after 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:11.119 battling my way through the snow, I get to the 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.600 gate and I say to them, are you telling me 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.840 this flight is still on? And they said yes, and 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.920 that flight took off Jeff from Washington Dulles to Milwaukee. 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:23.159 And I am not making this up. I was the 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:29.040 only person on the flight. And I mean this thirty rows. 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.520 There must have been one hundred and twenty seats maybe 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:36.400 more on this airplane. But I said to the stewardess, 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.520 I said, the several stewardess is because there were four 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.200 more stews though there were me on the plane four 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.560 to one. I said, why are we taking off if 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.080 only one person is going? And she said, well, we 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:51.760 have to be there tomorrow to bring people back, so 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:54.600 the crew has to go. So I was the only 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:59.520 person on the plane. I got unlimited snacks and I 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:03.680 got an entire canna die coke because I was the 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.400 only person on the plane. Did they? Did they? 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:12.119 When you boarded and you weren't an elite member and 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:15.760 then a premium member boarding group one? 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:21.520 It was boarding group two. No, it was the groups. 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.920 It was boarding one, because that's quite what it was. 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:26.280 Boarding one person. 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:30.600 That was me boarding Tim Kirkshin. Tim Kirkshin board the plane. 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.240 But they didn't tell you, like, sir, sorry you booked 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:34.439 the I alt not the window. 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.880 Can you please go into your seae? They told me, thankfully, 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:40.719 you could sit wherever you want. So only person on 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:50.000 a gigantic airplane. All right, that's funny. All right, dad, 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:52.320 What do you have for the Courtins right now? Well, 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:56.960 a listener named Todd Addington got me curious about something 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.760 Nathan Church of the Cardinals. Todd wrote me and he said, 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.479 Nathan Church scored a run, drove in a run, and 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:08.280 stole a base before he got his first major league hit. 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:11.960 He sounds odd to me. Whence the last time it happened? Well, 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.360 I couldn't, so I called Frank at the Elias. And 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.920 as it turns out, as always, Jeffins, none of these 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:21.680 things are as odd as you think. Because baseball provides 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.159 oddities all the time. So Pete crow Armstrong in the 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:29.280 MVP race in the National League twenty twenty three did 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.359 the same thing. He get this. He went oh for 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.439 fourteen but scored three runs, drove in a run, and 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.080 stole two bases before he got a hit. So the 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:44.000 answer Todd, You're very curious, thank you question is Pete 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:47.600 crow Armstrong in twenty twenty three, and he went fourteen 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:50.600 at bats without getting a hit, but had all sorts 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:52.880 of runs, RBIs and stolen bases. 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:55.920 I forgot that we gave you access to Great Game 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:58.400 or what dot com if people wanted to ask questions 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:02.680 to you. So I emailed this question from Todd and 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:06.159 he emailed me back. Sorry, Jeff, your dad already asked 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:11.600 me the same question. Now I'm over two on questions 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:13.240 I've asked Frank from the Elias. 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:16.320 All right, all right, speaking of the Cubs, no box 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:19.520 for the Cubs this year, zero box, Okay, balk is 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:24.040 a relatively rare thing. But and the last time a 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:26.439 team went through a whole season without a box was 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:29.159 the Mariners in twenty twenty two and the Rangers in 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:33.040 twenty twenty one, So it's less unusual than I thought 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.639 it would be. What I didn't know, Jeff, was I 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:39.719 looked up the most box ever by a single pitcher 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:43.679 in baseball history, and Steve Carlton, the greatest picture in 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:47.480 the history of the of the Philadelphia Phillies, had ninety 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:52.000 bocks in his career and second most is Bob Welsh 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:55.600 with forty five, So he had twice as many boks 0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:59.120 as the next guy on the list. The Steve Carlton, 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:01.240 of course, was left handed. Jeff, he had a good 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:04.359 pickoff move, so a lot of times when you know 0:21:04.400 --> 0:21:07.399 he stepped to the plate instead of stepping straight to first, 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.719 he got called a bock. Ninety bocks Bob Welsh, second 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:13.879 forty nine. I was surprised to see that also, Jeff 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:18.280 through Sunday. The Cardinals, who used to run the bases 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:21.480 like crazy in the in the crazy eighties, they have 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:25.040 five triples the whole year. Five triples the whole year 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:27.720 at the low total of the last team to play 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:30.879 one hundred or more games in a season and finish 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:34.159 with five or fewer triples, where the Blue Jays in 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:39.200 two thousand and seventeen. So there are sixteen individual players 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:43.560 with at least five triples this year, led by sixteen 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:49.080 from Corbyn Carroll of the Diamondbacks. So and it serves 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:55.480 and Jeff, the all time record for triples in a 0:21:55.560 --> 0:22:01.439 season is thirty six by Owen Wilson in nineteen twelve. Now, Jeff, 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:06.080 Owen Wilson Meet the Parents is an actor, of course, 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:10.320 and that inspired me, which we'll do in a few 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:13.119 minutes on is this great game? Or what the All 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:17.520 Actor slash Baseball team? So you got about twenty minutes 0:22:17.560 --> 0:22:20.320 to come up with your list, I've already got mine made. 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:23.800 And there's some fun names on the list, say the 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:28.360 least led by Owen Wilson, one of our three outfielders, and. 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:32.119 Dan, you know, Owen Wilson is the voice of Lightning 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:33.919 the Queen, Yes, in the movie. 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:38.359 Cars right, which I watched this morning with Carson Keenahan 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:42.679 because he's sick home from school on Monday and I 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:46.200 had to sit with him till mommy came home. And 0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:50.600 so yes, we were listening to Owen Wilson, right. So, Jeff, 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:54.160 we had some really cool names this week. We had 0:22:54.200 --> 0:23:00.000 Braxton Fulford of the of the Rockies, faced Braxton Ashcart 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:04.399 of the Rockies. That's first time A Braxton faced a 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:09.119 Braxton in Major League history. The pitchers of record the 0:23:09.160 --> 0:23:12.400