Speaker 1: Is this a great game or what with the Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer Tim Kirkshon. I'm his son, Jeff Kirkshon, And
Speaker 1: here we are Dad. Another episode and another snowstorm.
Speaker 2: We had to shovel out of right before recording.
Speaker 3: How long did you shovel this morning, Jeff?
Speaker 1: I mean, I did end up helping a couple of neighbors,
Speaker 1: So I ended up being out there a couple hours,
Speaker 1: just because I was the first.
Speaker 2: One in my neighborhood to get done.
Speaker 1: And then I saw some other people out there struggling,
Speaker 1: so I walked around with my shovel.
Speaker 2: I would say I was out there. Then McKinley came out,
Speaker 2: wanted to have a snowball fight, and there was then
Speaker 2: she wanted to drive in her bike in her car
Speaker 2: once I got everything cleaned off. So I was there
Speaker 2: for two and a half hours, easily, right.
Speaker 3: It took me two hours to do our driveway. Of course,
Speaker 3: our driveway is longer than your driveway. Our driveway is
Speaker 3: longer than certain runways at Washington Reagan Airport. So I
Speaker 3: was out there for two hours, and I'm feeling good.
Speaker 3: You fell asleep, took a nap and fell asleep today
Speaker 3: did I hear that properly?
Speaker 1: Yeah, you had to call me because we had a
Speaker 1: set time for recording. And all of a sudden, my
Speaker 1: phone is buzzing and I look at it and it's
Speaker 1: five minutes past our allotted recording time. And I have
Speaker 1: fallen asleep in my daughter's bed during her naptime.
Speaker 2: And keep in mind, I was so tired.
Speaker 1: Dad, that I looked at the clock and I had
Speaker 1: thirty minutes. I said, oh, I'm fine, I'm good, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna I'll be fine. I won't fall back asleep, And
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it's thirty five minutes later, and
Speaker 1: I have been asleep for thirty five.
Speaker 2: Minutes, and you called me, and I apologize. I don't
Speaker 2: like being late for things.
Speaker 3: Yep, it's OK, Yeah I'm late. When you were a kid,
Speaker 3: I would lie down next to you on your bed,
Speaker 3: like every night, well to make sure that you got
Speaker 3: to sleep because you had such a difficult time. And famously, Jeff,
Speaker 3: you you got really quiet, and I thought, great, I've
Speaker 3: got it. This is it. He's asleep. He's not going
Speaker 3: to say he's asleep. And then you looked at me.
Speaker 3: You're like four years old, it said, my toe hurts.
Speaker 3: What did that mean? My toe hurt? It was just
Speaker 3: another stalling tactic by four year old Jeff Kirchen. And
Speaker 3: now you're thirty two and you're still taking NAT.
Speaker 2: My toe still hurts.
Speaker 3: But yeah, yeah, yeah, no worry.
Speaker 1: But that's the that's the dreaded storyatic arthritis that I
Speaker 1: was just diagnosed with at age thirty two.
Speaker 2: So well, you know, I feel like.
Speaker 1: I'm thirty two inside, but I walk like I'm fifty two.
Speaker 1: So the new medication, Dad, is hopefully gonna make me
Speaker 1: feel a little bit better. But I want you, Dad,
Speaker 1: I'm going to sound like you here. Are you ready, Jeff?
Speaker 1: I want you to ask me about my hat?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: What I want you to ask about my hat?
Speaker 3: What is what is that? The Polar Express? Is that
Speaker 3: the Tom No? What does that say? Polar Express is
Speaker 3: Tom Hanks who played like everyone it was great?
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, this is this is the polar Plunge. This
Speaker 1: past weekend, the Special Olympics Pennsylvania hosted and and polar
Speaker 1: plunges across the country. Of course, it's uh for the
Speaker 1: Special Olympics and those incredible athletes. And what we did
Speaker 1: was we had pools set up outside Citizens Bank Park
Speaker 1: in South Philadelphia, freezing cold. Me and a couple of
Speaker 1: my coworkers were hosting the event, and I jumped into
Speaker 1: a pool pool filled with water.
Speaker 2: In the middle of the winter.
Speaker 3: Now, what were you wearing, Jeff? Did you have a
Speaker 3: sweatsuit on, a swimsuit, regular clothes? What did you have?
Speaker 1: You know, some people they dress up, they have you know,
Speaker 1: cool two two's or outfits, or they wear onesies with
Speaker 1: animals on them or something. I just wore a bathing
Speaker 1: suit and a longsleeve shirt and I jumped in and Dad,
Speaker 1: you know me in water, we don't exactly get along.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: I didn't learn how to swim until I was fifteen
Speaker 1: years old.
Speaker 2: That's the story for another time.
Speaker 1: And I don't even like being in water. If my
Speaker 1: head goes under, I end up with an ear infection. Anyway,
Speaker 1: the point is I did it because these brave, incredible
Speaker 1: special Olympics athletes are doing it too, and I said,
Speaker 1: I gotta do it. I gotta support the cause. And
Speaker 1: I jumped in. And the air temperature outside Dad was
Speaker 1: like forty five.
Speaker 3: Oh, oh, that's okay, all right, twenty five fifteen, that's different.
Speaker 3: You got lucky, right, forty five was not bad. Right.
Speaker 1: We had the one decent day in like a month
Speaker 1: and a half in the Philadelphia area and it happened
Speaker 1: to be the day of the polar plunge. And I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know if I would have done it
Speaker 1: if it was twenty five out there.
Speaker 2: It was bad, but we did it and it was
Speaker 2: a great time.
Speaker 3: How long were you in the water?
Speaker 1: I mean about as fast as it takes for the
Speaker 1: pitch to be delivered from the pitcher.
Speaker 3: Oh, so you jumped in, You did your job and
Speaker 3: got right back out. Oh.
Speaker 1: I jumped in, Dad, and I was running towards the
Speaker 1: stairs of the pool immediately.
Speaker 2: It was a It was not a here I am
Speaker 2: splashing around.
Speaker 3: I'm proud of you for doing something for such a
Speaker 3: good cause. And we all know you're not very good
Speaker 3: in the water. You're not very good on land either, Jeff,
Speaker 3: but the water really bothers you. And I still don't
Speaker 3: understand how you could have flown in a like a
Speaker 3: jet that was going like a thousand miles an hour
Speaker 3: and you you're not afraid of heights and all this
Speaker 3: other stuff, but you just have trouble in the water.
Speaker 3: I don't blame you. We'll have to get that fixed
Speaker 3: when you're you know, maybe fifty years old or something.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're I had a chance to go on a
Speaker 1: US Navy Blue Angel back in my time in Cleveland, Ohio.
Speaker 1: They took a media member up before the Cleveland Air Show.
Speaker 2: And yeah, yeah, that was wouldn't do it again.
Speaker 1: And the reason why is I would want somebody else
Speaker 1: to have that opportunity because it was so incredible, so invigorating,
Speaker 1: but also so scary and so difficult. You're fighting the
Speaker 1: laws of nature while you're up there, right, but it
Speaker 1: was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 3: All right, Well, speaking of amazing, Jeff, I'm going to
Speaker 3: spring training on Thursday. I'm usually the first guy in
Speaker 3: spring training. This year, I'm going to be the last
Speaker 3: guy in spring training, but not the point at least
Speaker 3: I'm going. And forty five years ago was my first
Speaker 3: spring training at the nineteen eighty two Rangers. I covered them.
Speaker 3: I went in eighty one, but it really didn't count.
Speaker 3: Eighty two really counted because it was it was my
Speaker 3: first as a full time, full time beat writer. So
Speaker 3: I get to Pompino Beach, Florida, and Jeff, I haven't
Speaker 3: traveled a whole lot at this point, so I'm not sure.
Speaker 3: I've never been to Pompino Beach. All sorts of things
Speaker 3: are going on. And I look on a map back
Speaker 3: when we used to look at maps to figure out
Speaker 3: how to get places, and it said down in the
Speaker 3: right hand corner Municipal Stadium, home of the Washington Senators.
Speaker 3: They had moved ten years earlier to Texas, and they
Speaker 3: were still on the map as the Washington Senator. So
Speaker 3: I'm thinking right away, maybe the Rangers are not a
Speaker 3: big deal here in Papaino. And boy did I ever
Speaker 3: find that out, because the stadium, as quaint as it was,
Speaker 3: was tiny. They only had one extra field, and it
Speaker 3: was like a half field, like a little field, with
Speaker 3: the left field fence was about a one hundred and
Speaker 3: twenty feet away. You just took infield there. And this
Speaker 3: is a terrible story, Jet, but I'm gonna tell you anyway,
Speaker 3: and I'm gonna leave the guy's name out. One day
Speaker 3: on that side field, one of the Rangers pitchers looked
Speaker 3: up in the air and there was a seagull flying
Speaker 3: and he's doing a pitching drill in the stretch to
Speaker 3: please I don't want to offend anyone here, just want
Speaker 3: to tell a story. And he looks and he says,
Speaker 3: to everyone who cared to listen, I'm gonna wheel And
Speaker 3: instead of throwing it to second base in a pickoff drill,
Speaker 3: he said, I'm gonna hit that seagull. So he's fun.
Speaker 3: He threw it. He threw the ball. This is awful.
Speaker 3: I can't believe I'm telling this. He hit the seagull
Speaker 3: and the seagull landed like right next to second base.
Speaker 3: It was awful. And Charlie Huff, Charlie Up, one of
Speaker 3: the funniest people of the world, just looked at us
Speaker 3: and said, that's what happens when you don't wear a helmet.
Speaker 3: So we had a dead seagull on the field in
Speaker 3: spring training nineteen eighty two. Those are just a few
Speaker 3: things that happened there. I've told you. Let's see if
Speaker 3: you can remember the Mickey River story that I told
Speaker 3: you from spring training. Mickey River is making four hundred
Speaker 3: and fifty thousand dollars a year, the everyday center fielder
Speaker 3: for the Rangers. Asked me what three weeks into spring training,
Speaker 3: He asked.
Speaker 1: You for what twenty thousand dollars two thousand dollars too,
Speaker 1: as if he could borrow two thousand.
Speaker 3: I had to say, Mick, I'm making thirteen thousand dollars
Speaker 3: a year. I don't have two thousand dollars to my
Speaker 3: entire name. And Buddy Bell, who was the best player
Speaker 3: on that team, just kind of whispered me Tim, like,
Speaker 3: new guy on the beat, don't ever loan Mickey any
Speaker 3: money because you're never never going to see it again. Yes,
Speaker 3: that was a great spring for me. I got to
Speaker 3: know Al Oliver really well, and they traded Al Oliver
Speaker 3: at the end of spring training to the expos And
Speaker 3: just to show you how the beat worked, I broke
Speaker 3: that story. But I really didn't break it because Randy Galloway,
Speaker 3: the great Randy Galloway, who I followed on the beat,
Speaker 3: he broke the story. He gave me the story and
Speaker 3: it went under my byline in the Dallas Morning News.
Speaker 3: So my first breaking story as a beat guy at
Speaker 3: the Morning News was was furnished by Randy Galloway, one
Speaker 3: of the great beat writers of all time. So I
Speaker 3: had and at the end of that spring training Jeff
Speaker 3: the Rangers traded Ron Darling, who was a guest of
Speaker 3: ours last year on the podcast. Really Good Picture won
Speaker 3: a World Series with the with the Mets in nineteen
Speaker 3: eighty six, and Walt Terrell, also a Very Good Picture,
Speaker 3: traded both of them for Lee Mozzilly right the end
Speaker 3: of spring training because they needed a left fielder. So
Speaker 3: it turned out to be a really bad trade for
Speaker 3: the Rangers. But I remember in reporting that story, I
Speaker 3: called looking for Joe Klein, who was the farm director,
Speaker 3: and I got his assistant and I said, I'm looking
Speaker 3: for Joe. Is he there? And the assistant said, no,
Speaker 3: Joe is dead. He jumped off the roof of the
Speaker 3: holiday and after hearing about the trade, So just shows
Speaker 3: you how bad a deal that was. So that was
Speaker 3: my first spring training as an everyday beat writer nineteen
Speaker 3: eighty two. A completely different world than the one we
Speaker 3: live in today.
Speaker 1: Well, Dad, I know we're approaching March madness. But one
Speaker 1: of my favorite spring training stories of all time was
Speaker 1: when we were in Arizona and we watched your alma mater,
Speaker 1: University of Maryland win the National championship. And that was
Speaker 1: during a spring training trip.
Speaker 2: Is that right?
Speaker 3: Do you remember that we're in Arizona and we watched it.
Speaker 1: We were in a hotel room with a dinky TV
Speaker 1: and we watched that game, and I remember it because
Speaker 1: of the time change as well. The game was a
Speaker 1: little bit earlier, so us kids were able to stay
Speaker 1: up and actually watch it. And your team, your alma mater.
Speaker 2: The Terps win, and that was with Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: Steve Blake was on that team.
Speaker 1: What a great, such a fun experience go into these
Speaker 1: baseball games running home in order to see this game
Speaker 1: with you, and we got to watch it with you.
Speaker 2: It was great.
Speaker 3: And Wan Dixon made the big three pointer that broke
Speaker 3: that game open, and there was plenty of time on
Speaker 3: the shot clock, and it was one of those things
Speaker 3: like should you be shooting at this early? And he
Speaker 3: just drills the three and wins the game. So it
Speaker 3: was Yeah, that was great and good memory, Jeff. That
Speaker 3: might have been your first spring training and so this
Speaker 3: is my forty first and that was your first. Very good.
Speaker 1: All right, Dad, Well let's jump into the takeaways right now.
Speaker 1: What's going on across Major League baseball. Obviously we're in
Speaker 1: spring training, but there's some big news we got to
Speaker 1: address right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Bill Mazowski died. One of the great people I've
Speaker 3: ever met in the game. I believe he's the greatest
Speaker 3: defensive second baseman of all time. Nobody, but nobody. Jeff
Speaker 3: made the double play, the turn from second base, the
Speaker 3: pivot from second base better than Bill Mazerowski. He's got
Speaker 3: those short, stubby, really strong legs, and he would stand
Speaker 3: right on top of the bag and anyone who wanted
Speaker 3: to slide into him, he would say, go ahead, but
Speaker 3: I'm not moving, and he didn't. Davy Johnson ended up
Speaker 3: being a really good second baseman in his day, And
Speaker 3: like so many others, they watched Bill Mazerowski play second
Speaker 3: base and they patterned themselves after him. They watched him
Speaker 3: and said, that's who I want to be. And he's
Speaker 3: a Hall of Famer. Of course, his offensive numbers are
Speaker 3: not overwhelming, but Jeff, it's really important to remember what
Speaker 3: the nineteen sixties was like offensively. Okay, you look at
Speaker 3: Bill Mazerowski's numbers that they don't blow you away, but
Speaker 3: back then those numbers as the second baseman were above average.
Speaker 3: But you take that and then you just include the defense.
Speaker 3: That's how he's a Hall of Famer. And I believe, Jeff,
Speaker 3: he had the biggest home run in Major League history. Now,
Speaker 3: we're not going to include Hank aaron here because there
Speaker 3: was so much more involved there in the passing of
Speaker 3: Babe Ruth. You know, racism, hatred, all that. Hank Aarons
Speaker 3: is in a different category. But I think Bill Mazerowski's
Speaker 3: Game seven leadoff home run against the Yankees to win
Speaker 3: that game ten to nine is the biggest home run
Speaker 3: in Major League history because there've only been two walk
Speaker 3: off homers to in the sixth game or seventh game
Speaker 3: of a World Series Joe Carter in ninety three, but
Speaker 3: that was in Game six, and this was in Game seven,
Speaker 3: and the Pirates, who just got pounded in their three
Speaker 3: losses in that series, came back to win and beat
Speaker 3: the Yankees ten to nine. Let's see if you can remember, Jeff,
Speaker 3: the distinct.
Speaker 1: In the Pirates get massively outscored in that series and still, yeah.
Speaker 3: I used to know it by heart, but yeah, they
Speaker 3: got outscored by like thirty runs in seven games and
Speaker 3: they still won the World Series, just proving again you
Speaker 3: can you can win a game fourteen to nothing, fifteen
Speaker 3: to another and it doesn't matter. You got to win
Speaker 3: the next day.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so that was fifty five to twenty seven.
Speaker 1: Dad, that was the series nineteen sixty and they still won,
Speaker 1: having been outscored by almost thirty run.
Speaker 3: Let's see how good your memory is, Jeff. The ten
Speaker 3: to nine final in Game seven, among other things. What
Speaker 3: was the distinction of that game ten to nine? I
Speaker 3: told you this before.
Speaker 1: It was something it was there were well, okay, I
Speaker 1: do remember that the Pirates of all four games they won,
Speaker 1: they won each one by.
Speaker 2: One or two.
Speaker 3: No, no, I'm just talking about Game seven, Jeff. I
Speaker 3: think this is important still, after all these zero strikeouts.
Speaker 3: Zero strikeouts only that's the distinction. Zero strikeouts in Game
Speaker 3: seven of the World Series. You know, Jeff, we average
Speaker 3: eighteen strikeouts per game. Now, I've covered postseason games where
Speaker 3: there were thirty strikeouts in the game zero.
Speaker 2: It feels like we average eighteen strikeouts in it it.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, the strikeout rate is out of control. The
Speaker 3: pitching we see today, the stuff is just ridiculous. So yeah,
Speaker 3: just but that was a historic series. Arguably that's the
Speaker 3: greatest game in the history of the World Series. I
Speaker 3: think it's the biggest home run in Major League history
Speaker 3: and it was hit by Bill Mazeroski. Who's again. I
Speaker 3: met him a bunch of times, loved every second I
Speaker 3: was with him. Really down to earth kind of guy.
Speaker 3: And if you're remember Jeff at his Hall of Fame speech,
Speaker 3: I think he only lasted about three minutes and thirty
Speaker 3: seconds because he said a bunch of times, I'm not
Speaker 3: going to get through this because he was so overcome
Speaker 3: by emotion that he just started crying. He just started sobbing.
Speaker 3: So if anyone ever wonders like how important the Hall
Speaker 3: of Fame is to these players, go listen to that speech.
Speaker 3: Sometime he was so overwhelmed he couldn't even finish it.
Speaker 3: And no one had a problem with that, because that's
Speaker 3: how important it was for Bill Mazerowski to make it
Speaker 3: to Cooper's staff.
Speaker 2: Well, Dad, in spirit of the late great, why not
Speaker 2: bring back an old team Tim that he's a part
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we've done this before. So if anyone complains that, hey,
Speaker 3: I've heard this list before, this team Tim before, it's okay,
Speaker 3: we're going to do it again as a tribute to
Speaker 3: Bill Mazarowski.
Speaker 2: Well let the record show Dad.
Speaker 1: I think of any podcasts and any group of people,
Speaker 1: our listeners, members of our family complain the least I
Speaker 1: have never experienced, in years of radio working for radio
Speaker 1: stations across the country, experience people as kind and as
Speaker 1: warm hearted as the people who listen to our show. Seriously, Dad,
Speaker 1: it's incredible. How sweet the messages we get at Great
Speaker 1: Game or what dot Com?
Speaker 2: Wouldn't you agree? I mean, the messages we get are
Speaker 2: just amazing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're really kind hearted and sorry, Jeff, that's what
Speaker 3: we're trying to get at here. We laugh and we
Speaker 3: learn on this podcast. There's so much hatred in the world.
Speaker 3: There's no reason to be spewed it here when it's
Speaker 3: out there everywhere else. Agreed, Agreed, Okay, agreed about Jeff.
Speaker 3: This is my team, Tim, my greatest defensive players at
Speaker 3: each position. I say this every time. This is not
Speaker 3: the correct list, This is not the right list. This
Speaker 3: is my list. If you have a better list than
Speaker 3: I do, I'd love to hear it. Johnny Bench is
Speaker 3: the greatest defensive catcher of all time for me. Keith
Speaker 3: Hernandez is the first baseman. And we had Johnny and
Speaker 3: Keith as our guests right last year. How cool is that.
Speaker 2: We're knocking out people on this list one after another.
Speaker 3: Bill Mazerowski at second, Brooks Robinson at third, sixteen Gold Gloves.
Speaker 3: Ozzie Smith is the shortstop, and I think you could
Speaker 3: make the case that he is the greatest defensive player
Speaker 3: of all time at any position, given the importance and
Speaker 3: the degree of difficulty of the position of shortstop. So
Speaker 3: Ozzy's our shortstop. Carly Streemsky is our left fielder. I
Speaker 3: grew up watching him play, not every day, but we
Speaker 3: saw enough of him. Nobody played the wall better than him.
Speaker 3: He was fabulous. Willie Mays is the greatest center fielder
Speaker 3: of all time for me, and I saw him play,
Speaker 3: maybe not in his prime, but I saw enough of
Speaker 3: him to say I've never seen anyone play center field
Speaker 3: like him. And Roberto Clementi is our right fielder. And
Speaker 3: our picture is Greg Maddox, who in a close vote
Speaker 3: over Jim Cott, I think Maddox won sixteen Gold Gloves.
Speaker 3: And I'll never forget this story. Jeff walt Weiss played
Speaker 3: with Greg Mannox in Atlanta. Walt Weiss was the shortstop
Speaker 3: on Braves for at least a time when Maddox was there,
Speaker 3: So what he told me was when Maddox would throw
Speaker 3: to home plate, he never threw a ball straight unless
Speaker 3: he really wanted to. He had natural movement on everything,
Speaker 3: because that's what Greg Maddox could do better than anyone.
Speaker 3: But on the one six' three double play where the
Speaker 3: pitcher catches it and fires it to the, shortstop who
Speaker 3: fires it to the first, Baseman Walt weiss told Me
Speaker 3: Greg maddox threw the greatest four, seamer which is of
Speaker 3: course a straight ball right to the, shortstop better than
Speaker 3: any pitcher he's ever. Seen so pitches to the. Plate
Speaker 3: he had natural movement on. It he made it move
Speaker 3: the way he. Wanted but when he caught a bow
Speaker 3: and KNEW i have to throw to a, base he
Speaker 3: threw a perfect four seam. Striketh that's how Great Greg
Speaker 3: maddox was as a fielding.
Speaker 1: Pitcher Brooks robinson had Sixteen Greg maddox eighteen eighteen.
Speaker 3: EIGHTEEN i did a.
Speaker 1: QUICK i did a quick fact check for, You, dad
Speaker 1: just to make sure you had that.
Speaker 2: Right you're absolutely.
Speaker 1: Right we just talked About Greg maddox's glove and how
Speaker 1: huge it, was how big it, was and when you
Speaker 1: put it up in comparison to our LITTLE a two,
Speaker 1: thousands it's a big, difference.
Speaker 3: Right, yeah he was really, Good. Jeff and he once
Speaker 3: yelled at one of his second basemen for playing too
Speaker 3: much up the middle and a ball got through into
Speaker 3: the outfield to the second baseman's. Left, okay the guy
Speaker 3: was shading up the middle a little bit too, much
Speaker 3: and when the ball went, Through maddox was furious and
Speaker 3: he yelled at his own second. BASEMENT i told YOU
Speaker 3: i got anything up the, middle which Which i'll allowed
Speaker 3: the second baseman and the shortstop to play different in
Speaker 3: different areas Because maddox could cover so much ground on
Speaker 3: balls hit up the. Middle that's how good he.
Speaker 2: Was all, Right, dad on this date baseball, history what
Speaker 2: do you?
Speaker 3: Have all? Right on this? Date Eddie murray was born
Speaker 3: in nineteen fifty. SIX i Covered Eddie murray with The.
Speaker 3: Orioles he's one of the greatest Players i've ever, covered
Speaker 3: one of the greatest switch, hitters maybe the second greatest
Speaker 3: switch hitter of all. TIME i THINK i told you, This.
Speaker 3: Jeff you, Know eddie didn't like a lot of sports,
Speaker 3: riders and that included me for a long. Time that's
Speaker 3: hardly the. POINT i get on the airplane to go
Speaker 3: to spring training in nineteen eighty, six And Richard, justice
Speaker 3: who was with The Washington. POST i was With baltimore's.
Speaker 3: Son he introduces me on thee To Floyd, rayford who
Speaker 3: is a member of The. Orioles AND i haven't Met
Speaker 3: floyd yet Because i've been covering The rangers for four
Speaker 3: years and Now i'm covering The. Orioles So richard, Says,
Speaker 3: tim this Is Floyd, Rayford, floyd this Is. Tim he's
Speaker 3: going to be covering the. Team If Floyd rayford looks at,
Speaker 3: Me jeff and he, Goes eddie's going to hate. You
Speaker 3: AND i, SAID i said, Why he, goes your head's
Speaker 3: too big for the rest of your, body AND i,
Speaker 3: went stop. IT i, MEAN i have a tiny little,
Speaker 3: body BUT i got a pretty small head. Too SO
Speaker 3: i actually went into the bathroom on the airplane just
Speaker 3: to take a look at my head BECAUSE i just
Speaker 3: had a guy tell me my head is too big
Speaker 3: for the rest of my. Body and, Yes eddie did
Speaker 3: hate me for several, years but we patch it. Up
Speaker 3: it's all. Good it's not all, good but, yes everything's. Good.
Speaker 3: Now happy birthday To Eddie murray born on this date
Speaker 3: in nineteen.
Speaker 1: Fifty, now maybe if he said your nose is a
Speaker 1: little too big for your, body because you AND i
Speaker 1: both big.
Speaker 3: Noses Little, yeah WHEN i lean back like, this my
Speaker 3: nose looks like a two car. Garage and it's always
Speaker 3: been that. Way all, right that's really, bad. Okay Also
Speaker 3: Birthday jef nineteen, Sixty Nick. Saski he was a good.
Speaker 3: Hitter jet played for a bunch of. Teams and you,
Speaker 3: KNOW i wrote a. Book my third book is Called
Speaker 3: I'm fascinated By Sacrifice, Flies Nicki. Saski in nineteen eighty,
Speaker 3: Nine get, this drove in one hundred and eight runs
Speaker 3: and did not have a sacrifice. Fly do you find
Speaker 3: that almost impossible to? Believe one hundred and eight rbs
Speaker 3: zero sacrifice? Flies Thereditive Chilie davis had one hundred and
Speaker 3: twelve RBIs in the season nineteen ninety three without a sacrifice.
Speaker 3: Fly so you, know The Eddie murray's of the. World
Speaker 3: by the, Way Eddie, murray LAST i, looked holds the
Speaker 3: record for most sacrifice. FLIES i think it's one twenty
Speaker 3: eight In Major league. History and he never led the
Speaker 3: league in any season in sacrifice. Flies how weird is
Speaker 3: that he has the most? Adds? Crazy the LAST i
Speaker 3: Checked i'm. Checked in a couple of years he had
Speaker 3: the most, ever but he never led the league in
Speaker 3: sacrifice flies in any. Season how weird is?
Speaker 2: That you, know we have a.
Speaker 1: Lot of seam heads, dad who listened to this. Show
Speaker 1: MAYBE i could give a little. Assignment, right here's my, assignment,
Speaker 1: Right why don't we do who has the most of
Speaker 1: all TIME x who never led the league in? It?
Speaker 3: All, right That's we'll come up with some possibilities for next. Week,
Speaker 3: okay and.
Speaker 2: It might the list might be one other.
Speaker 1: THING i don't, know But i'll put a challenge out
Speaker 1: there to the steam, heads to members of the family.
Speaker 2: That listen to is this a great game or? What
Speaker 2: let us. Know you can message us great game or
Speaker 2: what dot.
Speaker 1: Com we're always responding to your messages right there on the.
Speaker 1: Website will make it really. Easy so the assignment again
Speaker 1: is find a record somebody who all time holds the
Speaker 1: record for the most somethings but never led the league
Speaker 1: in those in that.
Speaker 3: Category? Cool, Cool we'll try that next. Week, Okay happy
Speaker 3: birthday To Bronson. Arroyo now let's see if you know
Speaker 3: Who Bronson arroyo, Is, jeff because you messed up his.
Speaker 3: Name you screwed this up, badly like like six months,
Speaker 3: ago you, remember.
Speaker 1: Yeah AND i can't remember WHO i mistaken him. For
Speaker 1: but he's the Former Red sox pitcher with the Corn.
Speaker 3: Rows, yes and.
Speaker 1: Had the run in With Alex rodriguez at first base
Speaker 1: in The. Alcs correct, me that's, it you got.
Speaker 3: It but what what is the distinction Of Bronson? Arroyo
Speaker 3: what is he also really really good at you should.
Speaker 2: He's a great session so he?
Speaker 3: FAMOUS i know, that, yes, well he famously told me
Speaker 3: ONCE i played With Eddie vedder AND i played With Ozzie,
Speaker 3: SMITH i can die a happy. Man. Wow, So, jeff
Speaker 3: who's more Talented Ozzie smith Or Eddie? Bedder is that
Speaker 3: an impossible? Question is that the dumbest question? Ever? Dan?
Speaker 2: YOU i remember our very first. Podcast you asked me
Speaker 2: who's The who's The Mike trout of the music?
Speaker 3: World?
Speaker 1: Right AND i Said Ed Sheeran and you acted LIKE
Speaker 1: i just insulted your, Mother AND.
Speaker 2: I, Said, DAD i know, music, Right Ed. Sheeron he.
Speaker 1: Writes and at the, time he you, know he's kind
Speaker 1: of on a hiatus right, now he's not, touring he's
Speaker 1: not making.
Speaker 2: Music but you got, All, heidi and you, said, no he's.
Speaker 2: Not AND i, said well then who is? It and you,
Speaker 2: SAID i don't?
Speaker 3: Know all, right all, RIGHT i don't know anything about, Music,
Speaker 3: Jeff BUT i. DID i didn't. Remember it's hard to
Speaker 3: compare That ed And Mike trout in his. PRIME i
Speaker 3: found that very. Interesting also born on this, Date, JEFF
Speaker 3: i love. This dennis Tankers lee pitching the major leagues
Speaker 3: for a few. Years so get, This. Jeff he won
Speaker 3: his first major league game and he's a, pitcher hit
Speaker 3: his first major league home run in the same. Game
Speaker 3: it was a really good hitting. Pitcher and get, this
Speaker 3: he never won another game and never hit another homer
Speaker 3: in his. Career, now he didn't pitch very. LONG i
Speaker 3: think his career record was one to. Ten that's hardly the.
Speaker 3: Point he had a day where he got his first
Speaker 3: major league, win hit his first major league, homer and
Speaker 3: before or after never won a game and never hit a.
Speaker 3: Homer pretty, weird, right.
Speaker 2: The best day of his, life never to be repeated.
Speaker 3: Again and sad, News. Jeff on this, date in nineteen,
Speaker 3: Ninety Tony knniglierio. Died you're way too young to understand
Speaker 3: What TONY. C was like in the. Sixties he hit
Speaker 3: a one hundred home runs by like age twenty two
Speaker 3: for The Red. Sox he was a. Star and then
Speaker 3: he got hit in the face by a pitch From Jack.
Speaker 3: Hamilton and he came back and he played, more but
Speaker 3: he couldn't see out of his front eye. Anymore and
Speaker 3: that's ultimately the reason that he had to, retire is
Speaker 3: he couldn't see out of his front. Eye and you,
Speaker 3: know my favorite story That i've ever written in my, Life,
Speaker 3: jeff is a story about fear of the. Ball because
Speaker 3: everyone has a fear of the, ball even big leaguers
Speaker 3: have a fear of the. Ball the differences they're courageous
Speaker 3: enough and disciplined enough to get through, it where the
Speaker 3: rest of us who get hit in the head say
Speaker 3: that that's enough of. That but in doing that, Story,
Speaker 3: Jeff i'll never. FORGET i talked To Ken, Harrelson Hawk,
Speaker 3: harrelson really good player in his, time led the league
Speaker 3: in RBIs one year and a, great, great great, broadcaster
Speaker 3: and he told me for that, story he, said the
Speaker 3: only player THAT i have ever met in my life
Speaker 3: who didn't have fear of the, ball it Was Tony
Speaker 3: knigliero and he got hit in the face and go
Speaker 3: look at the pictures of the black eye that he.
Speaker 3: Had oh my, god his face got. Destroyed and he
Speaker 3: came back from, that AND i think he hit like
Speaker 3: thirty six homers in a season for The, angels And
Speaker 3: Ken harrelson told me he hit a home run like
Speaker 3: every home runn he hit was on a ball up
Speaker 3: in the strike zone because he could see it with
Speaker 3: his back. Eye but when the ball was down with
Speaker 3: the front eye beach basically, blind he couldn't see. It
Speaker 3: so no matter what you hear About Tony, conigliaro what
Speaker 3: a great young hitter he, was you can multiply it by.
Speaker 3: Ten and that's how good he. Was and what a
Speaker 3: career that ended as quickly as it.
Speaker 1: Did you, Know, Dad we hear stories all the, time
Speaker 1: the players taking you, know. Grounders you Know Eduardo perez
Speaker 1: right had had vision. Problems the Late Ryan minor as,
Speaker 1: well who famously replaced Cal Ripken.
Speaker 2: Jr after his, long long.
Speaker 1: Streak and you Know Ryan minor may rest in peace
Speaker 1: was the manager of The Frederick keyes back WHEN i interned.
Speaker 1: There incredible was the first MANAGER i ever got to work.
Speaker 1: With when it came to being in minor league. Baseball
Speaker 1: but IT'S i think it's over or. Understated excuse me
Speaker 1: that when your eyes aren't, working a slight delay with
Speaker 1: a ball traveling that fast end's careers makes things. HARDER i,
Speaker 1: Mean eduardo has said it a number of. Times he
Speaker 1: just never was the player he thought he was going to.
Speaker 3: Be because couldn't.
Speaker 2: See it's really.
Speaker 3: Sad John lester was a terrible hitting, Pitcher jeff, terrible
Speaker 3: and then all of a sudden he started to get some.
Speaker 3: Hits SO i finally went to him and, Said, john
Speaker 3: like you had a major league, homer you've got a
Speaker 3: bunch of hits. Lately he, goes, WELL i could see,
Speaker 3: now he. SAID i didn't realize. IT i was at
Speaker 3: the plate AND i couldn't, see AND i got my eyes,
Speaker 3: CHECKED i got contact. LENSES i think it. Was and
Speaker 3: he became not a good hitting, pitcher but a way
Speaker 3: better hitting, pitcher but, better way, better and he actually
Speaker 3: put he actually did some things in a game after
Speaker 3: going like one for his first sixty three or something
Speaker 3: ridiculous like. That so, yeah eyes are really, important especially
Speaker 3: when it comes to trying to hit a baseball And.
Speaker 1: I'm sure every guy who Faced John lester when they
Speaker 1: heard that, said, wait you were throwing at me and
Speaker 1: you couldn't see? Me?
Speaker 3: Right he can, see, Oh, blake he just couldn't. See
Speaker 3: he can see the you can see the catcher's. Mid
Speaker 3: he just couldn't see the baseball when it was coming
Speaker 3: in at ninety five miles an. Hour, okay three cards
Speaker 3: in the, Bathroom. JEM i went down there this morning
Speaker 3: BEFORE i shoveled all. That, NOW i came up With Greg.
Speaker 3: Harris Greg harris covered him with The. Rangers Greg harris
Speaker 3: was the a switch. Pitcher he told me as a
Speaker 3: right handed, pitcher he, said you KNOW i could throw
Speaker 3: eighty miles an hour left, Handed AND i SAID i
Speaker 3: didn't know. That he started and right there in spring
Speaker 3: training he started throwing left handed at eighty miles an,
Speaker 3: hour and finally in nineteen ninety, five The expos let
Speaker 3: him pitch in a game right handed and left handed
Speaker 3: in the same. Inning it was amazing that he could do.
Speaker 3: That and he had this, Glove, Jeff it's like a
Speaker 3: you can move the glove around and make it a
Speaker 3: left hander's glove and a right hander's. Glove So Greg,
Speaker 3: harris one of the very few guys who pitched left
Speaker 3: handed and right handed in A Major league. Game number,
Speaker 3: Two Dave, kingman how about a flashback on him back
Speaker 3: when he Played jeff he struck out a, lot hit
Speaker 3: for a low, average hit a ton of. Homers he
Speaker 3: would be he would be an even better player today BECAUSE.
Speaker 2: I was going to say it sounds like he's playing
Speaker 2: in twenty, twenty, right.
Speaker 3: Right But Dave, kingman in nineteen eighty, Two jeff he
Speaker 3: led the league in home runs with thirty, seven and
Speaker 3: he batted two oh four that. Year and in nineteen eighty,
Speaker 3: Two Steve carlton won The National League Cy Young award
Speaker 3: and hit two. Eighteen so The Cy young winner had
Speaker 3: a higher batting average of that season than the home
Speaker 3: run champion from The National. League pretty, weird huh.
Speaker 1: That Net, well obviously will never happen again because our
Speaker 1: pitchers are no longer. Battered, however, WELL i mean there's Show,
Speaker 1: hey that's a different. Story but, yeah that's, Incredible AND
Speaker 1: i definitely Think Dave kingman could start on a major
Speaker 1: league team today and those stats would we wouldn't even
Speaker 1: be looking at him like they were in the.
Speaker 2: Eighties probably you probably were looking at that, saying what is.
Speaker 2: Happening you can't bat.
Speaker 1: Close to two hundred and hit that many. Homers now
Speaker 1: it happens all the, time, Right.
Speaker 3: That's the way it. Goes this one was a real
Speaker 3: surprise and a real pleasant surprise for, Me Tim. Jones
Speaker 3: Tim jones did not have a very long major league,
Speaker 3: career But i'll never forg Get. Jeff in nineteen ninety,
Speaker 3: FOUR i there was no there was No World series
Speaker 3: because the work, stoppage the strike ended The World. Series
Speaker 3: So Sports illustrated sent me to cover The TRIPLE A
Speaker 3: World series Between charlotte And. Richmond So i'm in The
Speaker 3: i'm in The Charlotte clubhouse And i'm walking through and
Speaker 3: since there are a bunch of minor, LEAGUERS i don't
Speaker 3: know a whole lot of, people BUT i walk past
Speaker 3: this room that is for players, only AND i look
Speaker 3: in there and they're playing That jeopardy is on the,
Speaker 3: television AND i just glanced and poetry was the Final jeopardy.
Speaker 3: Category and out of, nowhere this guy comes flying, out player,
Speaker 3: screaming putting his hands in the, air AND i looked
Speaker 3: At Tim, jones The Tim jones and, said did that
Speaker 3: guy just get the Final jeopardy answer correct in? Poet
Speaker 3: And Tim jones looked to Be what a great, guy
Speaker 3: he laughed out, loud and he, goes, no, no, no we're baseball.
Speaker 3: Players that's not how the game is. Played the way
Speaker 3: we play it is if you guessed the Final jeopardy,
Speaker 3: category you win. It so this guy, Said i'm guessing
Speaker 3: it's gonna be, poetry.
Speaker 2: And he was right and it.
Speaker 3: Was but he didn't know that no one could get
Speaker 3: a poetry, answer. Right oh my, gosh that is so. Great,
Speaker 3: Yeah Tim, jones three cards in the? Bathroom how about? That?
Speaker 1: DAD i love, it and we love this has become
Speaker 1: such a popular segment on the, show SO i hope
Speaker 1: we continue it through the regular. Season all, Right, dad
Speaker 1: let's wrap it with From burley To. Behemoth we're counting
Speaker 1: down the best players from fifty six to ninety, nine
Speaker 1: and today we're on number sixty, three.
Speaker 3: And there were actually some pretty good candidates. Here Raphael
Speaker 3: bettencourt had a pretty darn good career as a relief.
Speaker 3: Pitcher so Did Sean. Doolittle i'll get to him in a,
Speaker 3: minute But i'm gonna Go and this is very close,
Speaker 3: voting And i'm gonna go With ryan mattson number sixty,
Speaker 3: three who you, know did some pretty darn good, things
Speaker 3: mostly for The, Phillies So i'm gonna go with him
Speaker 3: as the greatest number sixty. Three Although Sean doolittle is
Speaker 3: one of my favorite, People jeff really smart uva. Guy
Speaker 3: we used to joke the one spring he was teammates
Speaker 3: with a picture Named Tony Sip, sipp so we used
Speaker 3: to joke, that you, Know sip and Do, Little we're
Speaker 3: on the same. Team so like sounds like a pretty
Speaker 3: good day to Be sip Do, little you. Know so
Speaker 3: That's Sean. Doolittle he's doing some really good things in
Speaker 3: baseball these days because he's wicked smart and people should
Speaker 3: listen to him because he has a lot to offer
Speaker 3: and in his, prime pretty darn good left handed. Reliever,
Speaker 3: well we.
Speaker 1: Are so excited for you to be along this journey
Speaker 1: for is this a great game or? What because come next,
Speaker 1: week we're gonna have a very exciting announcement for everybody
Speaker 1: who either has been with us since day one when
Speaker 1: we started the, show or today is day one with.
Speaker 1: Us nothing will change for all of you, Listening so
Speaker 1: don't worry about. That but it's exciting news that we're
Speaker 1: really ready to share with. Everybody it's something we've been
Speaker 1: keeping under wraps for a. Bit, Dad Bobby, valentine thank
Speaker 1: you for creating the rap because we've been keeping it under.
Speaker 2: Wraps right now.
Speaker 1: And next week we'll be able to tell everybody what's
Speaker 1: going on and what's been happening in the world of
Speaker 1: is this a great game or?
Speaker 2: What And, DAD i know we're gonna get more. Weather
Speaker 2: my phone is telling Me we've Got wednesday, Snow we've
Speaker 2: got weekend. Snow are you ready to keep?
Speaker 3: Shoving LIKE i, Said i'm going To arizona On, thursday
Speaker 3: so there will be no and it's supposed to be
Speaker 3: fifty degrees here On. WEDNESDAY i can't believe it's going
Speaker 3: to snow In. Philly MAYBE i read that.
Speaker 2: Wrong, Well, ma shed was supposed to get delivered. Today
Speaker 2: still not here.
Speaker 1: Obviously next date is This, wednesday and we're supposed to get.
Speaker 2: Snow probably not gonna get it.
Speaker 1: Then So, dad this shed has been for me going
Speaker 1: on a, month, right five weeks of waiting on. DELIVERY
Speaker 1: i JUST i just don't even feel like it's gonna.
Speaker 1: HAPPEN i already paid for, it sitting on a lot
Speaker 1: ten miles five miles from, here just waiting for it
Speaker 1: to come to my.
Speaker 3: Backyard how about shed, Long, Jeff shed lung back and
Speaker 3: basement on our all like structure team shed long and
Speaker 3: that really fits what you're waiting for a long time
Speaker 3: for the shed to show.
Speaker 1: Up speaking of, Waiting, uh probably hard to. See that's
Speaker 1: mom calling right, Now, Dad SO.
Speaker 2: I gotta go pick up your your. Wife my mother is,
Speaker 2: calling so let's wrap this right. Now it's a family,
Speaker 2: show isn't.
Speaker 3: It.
Speaker 1: DAD i don't know what she needs from, me But
Speaker 1: i'm gonna give her call, back SO i Don't.
Speaker 3: I'll talk to you next, Week. Jeff i'll talk to
Speaker 3: you before then talk to you, later, okay all, right.
Speaker 1: And thanks for, listening and it's always thanks for being
Speaker 1: a part of our.
Speaker 2: Family m