Speaker 1: Is this a great game or what with the Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer Tim kirkchen I'm his son, Jeff Kirkshon, and dad,
Speaker 1: I love your quarter zip today. That was something I
Speaker 1: bought to you when we were at Little League World Series.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty cool jacket. I just got to start
Speaker 1: by saying that I feel like I comment on what
Speaker 1: you're wearing in most podcasts to begin.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, this is really cool and it's really warm
Speaker 2: because and it's getting a little cool and when they
Speaker 2: are conditioning in the house, it makes it even cooler.
Speaker 2: You know how cold I get. This was totally unnecessary
Speaker 2: to buy old pop pop something else, but it's great,
Speaker 2: So thanks very much, Jeff.
Speaker 1: Well, number one thing, if you're ever buying anything and
Speaker 1: your dad is Tim Kirkchhon, it has to be warm.
Speaker 1: I don't care what month it is, what style it is,
Speaker 1: if it's a summerwear or winterwear, make it warm.
Speaker 3: That's all he wants in life.
Speaker 2: Have to be a circulatory issue. I'm sure of it.
Speaker 2: There's no reason to be this cold all the time.
Speaker 2: But that it's okay. Now, Jeff, what do you have
Speaker 2: coming up?
Speaker 1: So tomorrow morning when when this podcast is live? Right,
Speaker 1: so Tuesday morning, I will be going in for my
Speaker 1: first colonoscopy.
Speaker 2: This is your first.
Speaker 3: One ever, Dad, I'm only thirty two.
Speaker 2: Jeff, This all right? I thought you had done this before.
Speaker 2: And how great is it? We had the greatest number
Speaker 2: forty the other day. That's so fitting. How bad was that?
Speaker 2: How bad was that?
Speaker 3: That was pretty crappy?
Speaker 2: Jeff?
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 3: Dad?
Speaker 1: So I've been you know, so I'm on the clear
Speaker 1: liquid diet right now all day today. So I'm actually
Speaker 1: drinking eight You can drink black coffee, I'm not. I
Speaker 1: just started drinking coffee like a year ago, and I
Speaker 1: load that thing up with so much creamer you don't
Speaker 1: even know. And now I'm drinking it black and I
Speaker 1: just hate it. But I need the caffeine to get
Speaker 1: through our episode today, to be alive and present. I
Speaker 1: haven't eaten a single thing today. I'm already starving an
Speaker 1: exhausted dad.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Every time I come home from the radio job in
Speaker 1: the morning, I immediately eat lunch, and then I come
Speaker 1: downstairs and we record is are.
Speaker 2: The lunches still prepared in your refrigerator?
Speaker 1: Oh, they're still prepped. They're still there. They're ready for me.
Speaker 1: When I arrived home from my colon Oscar.
Speaker 2: How about the last monday I was there, I ate
Speaker 2: two dishes at one of those was Emily's, and you
Speaker 2: yelled at me.
Speaker 3: Yeah you know, Dad, I said, you can have a
Speaker 3: lunch and then you ate two servings of lunch.
Speaker 2: Look, Jeff, I weigh one hundred and thirty seven pounds
Speaker 2: this morning. You're not gonna give me a hard time
Speaker 2: for eating too much. I didn't know it was designed
Speaker 2: just for Emily.
Speaker 3: Now it was.
Speaker 1: It was less that it was designed just for Emily.
Speaker 1: It was more that now Emily doesn't have two days
Speaker 1: of lunches more than one day of the Okay, I.
Speaker 2: Made a mistake and I apologized. Okay, you yelled at
Speaker 2: Emily and yelled at you for yelling at me.
Speaker 1: Did I said, Dad, only what you ate too? It
Speaker 1: was too lately. Shouldn't have said anything to your dad.
Speaker 1: God knows, he's helped us out along the way in life,
Speaker 1: and he's the best, and he's pop up.
Speaker 3: So you can eat as many lunches as you want.
Speaker 2: I just can't eat any today, which is just a
Speaker 2: lesson on colonoscopies. Okay, the ninth four is way worse
Speaker 2: than the procedure. The procedure is a piece of cake.
Speaker 2: They're gonna knock you out. You're gonna wake up, you're
Speaker 2: gonna think it's not even They haven't even started yet,
Speaker 2: and as it turned out, they're finished. So it's gonna
Speaker 2: be fine. They're not gonna find anything, and you're gonna
Speaker 2: be great.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's hope for good news. That's all we can
Speaker 1: pray for.
Speaker 2: Dad.
Speaker 1: I know you've been freaking out about the Oriole game
Speaker 1: from the other night, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, let me explain the Oriole game the other night.
Speaker 2: So the Orioles are down three to nothing to the
Speaker 2: Dodgers and Yoshi Yamamoto has no hitter going with two
Speaker 2: outs in the ninth inning, Down three to nothing, they're
Speaker 2: one out a way from losing the game and one
Speaker 2: out away from being no hit. Okay, So Jackson Holiday
Speaker 2: hits a home run and they come back to win
Speaker 2: four to three. So we went to Frankett, the Elia's
Speaker 2: first team since nineteen sixty one. That's as far back
Speaker 2: as we can accurately go to be one out away
Speaker 2: from losing the game and one out away from a
Speaker 2: no hitter. And come back to win the game. And
Speaker 2: so it's one of the greatest comebacks in Major League history.
Speaker 2: And of course, Jeff, it came on the same night
Speaker 2: that we celebrated cal Ripkins two, one three one. It
Speaker 2: was the thirty year anniversary. I wrote a really long
Speaker 2: story for ESPN dot com to prepare everyone for what
Speaker 2: Saturday night would be like, going back thirty years to
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety five. That amazing night. Also on September sixth
Speaker 2: in Baltimore at Camden Yards, same date, Eddie Murray hit
Speaker 2: his five hundred home run. So it was quite It's
Speaker 2: quite a night that night in cause, and I swear Jeff,
Speaker 2: twenty thirty close friends of mine, thirty friends of mine
Speaker 2: went to that game, and they all chimed in, like,
Speaker 2: I can't believe we're watching this. I almost saw no hitter.
Speaker 2: It was the greatest comeback I've ever seen, most exciting
Speaker 2: game I've ever seen. This is why baseball is so beautiful.
Speaker 2: And then I went to church the next morning. Jeff
Speaker 2: and half a dozen people at church had been to
Speaker 2: the game. And get this, I didn't even get to
Speaker 2: watch it on TV because where was I.
Speaker 1: Well, you were watching two grandchildren because Kelly, your daughter,
Speaker 1: and your son in law Mark were at a wedding
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, so you were busy watching them.
Speaker 3: You were full on pop pop right.
Speaker 2: And Kat, Kat and I took care of the kids
Speaker 2: for the weekend. It was so good. It was so
Speaker 2: much fun.
Speaker 3: Eight four and two.
Speaker 2: They run your ragged, but we had the best time.
Speaker 2: But they were both asleep, Jeff at the time that
Speaker 2: Jackson Holiday hit the home run, I had a moment
Speaker 2: to go watch the game on TV, but of course
Speaker 2: I couldn't.
Speaker 3: Would you explain, please, you couldn't watch it on your TV?
Speaker 2: Why?
Speaker 1: Oh, because you were at Kelly and Mark's house. Would
Speaker 1: you explain, as a young person why I couldn't. Why
Speaker 1: an old man like me couldn't watch a game on TV? Well,
Speaker 1: it's one of two reasons. I mean, they probably have
Speaker 1: cable now that it's football season, right, they have.
Speaker 2: A cecial football package that's not cable TV. Correct.
Speaker 1: Oh, so you couldn't watch it at all, but you
Speaker 1: also did. It's not even an old man thing. It's
Speaker 1: impossible to operate another man's television.
Speaker 3: If I walked into your house right now at age.
Speaker 1: Thirty two, Dad, I don't think I could figure out
Speaker 1: your TVs and I helped set them all up for you.
Speaker 2: Jeff, Why are we doing this? Why is it so
Speaker 2: difficult to turn on a television and watch it? I
Speaker 2: know this is obvious. This is part of the broadcasting
Speaker 2: issue that we have at ESPN at all over the country,
Speaker 2: all over the world. How do you get the games
Speaker 2: on TV? All I know is I had to watch.
Speaker 2: I couldn't even watch it on my phone. All I
Speaker 2: got was the update and I'm watching Jackson Holiday home run,
Speaker 2: and now, of course I'm saying, Wow, it's gonna be
Speaker 2: a it's gonna be a one hitter. And then I
Speaker 2: watched I'd listen to the I just don't. I watched
Speaker 2: the whole thing happen. It was dead crazy.
Speaker 1: I've been wanting to upgrade your cable package at your
Speaker 1: house for one hundred and fifty years, and if you let,
Speaker 1: we just need to have a meeting because is this
Speaker 1: a great game or what. We don't make a ton
Speaker 1: of money, but we make enough money to pay for
Speaker 1: another cable subscription for you and mom, so you can
Speaker 1: watch the games on your phone. I can watch any
Speaker 1: game that I would get at home on my phone
Speaker 1: on YouTube.
Speaker 3: TV.
Speaker 1: Not an advertisement. But if they want to advertise with us,
Speaker 1: please come on down at any time. But Dad, I
Speaker 1: have to say something about this game that I'm just
Speaker 1: now realizing, and you and I are making a bo
Speaker 1: Jackson level mistake right now on this podcast. Go This
Speaker 1: was the thirtieth anniversary of two to one three one
Speaker 1: right on September sixth, righteen ninety five.
Speaker 2: Make care whit.
Speaker 1: My wife, Emily was born on September sixth, nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 2: No, she it was her birthday, the exact date. Oh
Speaker 2: my gosh, talk about.
Speaker 3: The exact date. So here we are talking.
Speaker 1: About the game, and I was like, I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: that was the date, because you know, sometimes when teams
Speaker 1: have an anniversary and they might not be home that day,
Speaker 1: they'll do it on a different day. They do Luke
Speaker 1: Garrig Day on a different day.
Speaker 3: Right, Not only is.
Speaker 1: It her birthday, it's her thirtieth birthday this past Saturday,
Speaker 1: and she shares it with one of the most important
Speaker 1: dates in baseball history. September sixth, nineteen ninety five, My
Speaker 1: wife and her twin brother were born and two one
Speaker 1: three one.
Speaker 2: What Jeff talk about Barry in the lead, I am
Speaker 2: no longer a journalist. I called Emily the morning of September.
Speaker 3: She did, you were one of the first people to.
Speaker 2: Reach out to b birthday and I never connect and
Speaker 2: I knew she was thirty. Oh, this is embarrassing. I
Speaker 2: can't do the show anymore.
Speaker 1: After this, I was gonna say, I think we have
Speaker 1: to retire because both of us swinging and missing at this.
Speaker 1: It's unbelievable.
Speaker 3: I'm not even I can't even be mad at you
Speaker 3: for not making the connection. I'm her husband, right, and
Speaker 3: I didn't make the connection.
Speaker 2: Did you just make it? Just now?
Speaker 3: Hand to god?
Speaker 1: I double checked two one, three one. It was September sixth,
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 3: As we all know.
Speaker 1: I did a Google search in the background of this
Speaker 1: call to make sure I had it right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just figured it out.
Speaker 2: It just hit me, all right, Speaking for all men, Jeff,
Speaker 2: we are the worst. That is terrible that we didn't
Speaker 2: recognize that.
Speaker 3: So here's not as bad as what I did. Dad.
Speaker 1: I had cupcakes for dinner or for dessert because we're
Speaker 1: gluten and dairy free right now, so I knew we
Speaker 1: couldn't do a full cake, and I totally forgot to
Speaker 1: do like a candle blowout situation on Saturday. Just dropped
Speaker 1: the ball, totally missed it, and so we did it
Speaker 1: last night. This would have been Sunday the seventh, because
Speaker 1: I dely airballed on it.
Speaker 3: I got the dessert. I was prepped for that, but.
Speaker 1: I did not actually make the action in sing Happy birthday.
Speaker 1: So another day fail. Husband failed right there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's an airball from the free throw line. That's
Speaker 2: pretty bad.
Speaker 1: And I got her flowers on Friday home from work
Speaker 1: like birthday weekends, so excited took her out to breakfast
Speaker 1: on Saturday morning of her birthday.
Speaker 3: I totally missed it on the cupcakes.
Speaker 2: All right, gar, here's what clever people do. Jeff, this
Speaker 2: guy looks up. I don't know who did it, and
Speaker 2: maybe this is the biggest reach ever. But Jackson Holiday,
Speaker 2: aged twenty one, hit the home run and then the
Speaker 2: game winning hit was given up by Tanner Scott. Who
Speaker 2: is how old is he?
Speaker 3: Jeff thirty one?
Speaker 2: Twenty one? Thirty thirty one? How about that?
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's a little bit of a reach. However,
Speaker 1: I do think that there's something there, There's some magic there.
Speaker 3: Imagine.
Speaker 1: Oh, I was so sad following that game on my phone.
Speaker 1: They were going to get no hit on two one
Speaker 1: three one, Dad. Yeah, all the bands did to celebrate.
Speaker 2: Cal and then the magic of baseball took over and
Speaker 2: it went from what would have been a no hitter
Speaker 2: into one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history that
Speaker 2: I don't think there's a way around that. And Jeff,
Speaker 2: by the way, going back to September sixth, nineteen ninety five,
Speaker 2: I was there. I wrote the whole thing for Sports Illustrated,
Speaker 2: talk about a magical night. I'll just tell you one
Speaker 2: quick story from Bob Elliott, my dear friend, Hall of
Speaker 2: Fame baseball writer from Canada. He just parachuted in for
Speaker 2: two to one, three one, so he hadn't been there
Speaker 2: for the amazing build up and everything else, so he
Speaker 2: didn't sense the drama. And it was hard to sense
Speaker 2: the drama because you knew in the fifth inning this
Speaker 2: is going to be official and that's it. So he
Speaker 2: looks at me, and Bob's the greatest guy in the world,
Speaker 2: but he says, tim, I I don't feel it, I
Speaker 2: don't see it. I don't get it. What is the
Speaker 2: big deal here? I said, Boxer, I don't know. Something's
Speaker 2: going to happen tonight. I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2: Check back with me after the fifth inning. And then,
Speaker 2: of course Ripken is pushed out of the dugout by
Speaker 2: Bobby Benia. It makes this unforgettable twenty two minute tour
Speaker 2: of the stadium looking at people who are weeping in
Speaker 2: the crowd. I mean weeping. He's pointing to people, he's
Speaker 2: shaking hands. It's unbelievable. And he comes back, wife and children,
Speaker 2: big hug and everything else. And after the fifth inning,
Speaker 2: Bob Elliott, my dear friend, comes up to me with
Speaker 2: tears in his eyes, and he says, Okay, Tim, I
Speaker 2: get it. That's what that night was all about. And
Speaker 2: I wish I had been there Saturday night, but if
Speaker 2: I may, I was where I was supposed to be.
Speaker 2: It was way more important for me and your sister
Speaker 2: to take care of our two grandchildren, even though I
Speaker 2: couldn't watch the game on TV.
Speaker 3: All right, Dad, what do you have in the take? Now?
Speaker 2: Sadly, we're gonna start with the death. Davy Johnson died
Speaker 2: at age eighty two. I believe he should be in
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame as a manager. You look at
Speaker 2: the teams that he took over and what he did
Speaker 2: with those teams Dodgers, Reds, Mets, of course Nationals. I
Speaker 2: think Davy Johnson deserves it to be in the Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame as a manager. I always loved what a
Speaker 2: rebel he was. He just did things his way. Remember
Speaker 2: when we interviewed Ron Darling about the famous July fourth
Speaker 2: game Davy got thrown out that We said, you know
Speaker 2: where was Davy during the game? You remember what Ron
Speaker 2: Darling said, Davy was he was gone.
Speaker 3: Like he left.
Speaker 2: He was still there, but he wasn't exactly managing from
Speaker 2: his office, because that is how Daviy did. Davy also
Speaker 2: was a great basketball player in high school and a
Speaker 2: really good golfer. And I like to ask Jeff the
Speaker 2: average golfer, the question, if you had a you know,
Speaker 2: a five shot lead on Tiger Woods going into eighteen
Speaker 2: at Augusta, could you hold the lead, a five shot
Speaker 2: lead with all the pressure. And I didn't ask Davey
Speaker 2: that question. I asked him if he could win with
Speaker 2: a with a two shot lead, and he was so
Speaker 2: insulted that I asked him that. He said, I would Birdy,
Speaker 2: that son of a bitch. That's what he said about
Speaker 2: the eighteenth at Augusta. That's who Davy was. I love
Speaker 2: Davy for that. And you know he's also a math major, Jeff,
Speaker 2: just like your grandfather Pop was a PhD in mathematics
Speaker 2: MIT undergrad. Davy Johnson had a great mathematical mind, so
Speaker 2: you would think that he would engage with the metrics
Speaker 2: more than anyone, and sometimes he did. But he once
Speaker 2: told me, look, I can watch a player for five
Speaker 2: minutes and I'll tell you whether he can play or
Speaker 2: not five minutes. That's what great baseball people can do.
Speaker 2: I also told you the story, Jeff, that when Davy
Speaker 2: Johnson met Brooks Robinson for the first time in spring training,
Speaker 2: you know, mid sixties whatever, he notices that Brooks Robinson
Speaker 2: writes and eats with his left hand, and Davey goes,
Speaker 2: wait a minute, the greatest defensive third basement of all
Speaker 2: time writes and eats with his left hand. So Davy
Speaker 2: told me that he wrote and ate with his left
Speaker 2: hand for a year to see if it would make
Speaker 2: him a better second basement. Wow, he said, it didn't work.
Speaker 3: But I.
Speaker 2: Had to try it. And as far as being a
Speaker 2: rebel goes I'd never heard this story till a few
Speaker 2: years ago. Bob Clappish, my good baseball friend for New York.
Speaker 2: What a great writer he is. So Clapp told me
Speaker 2: a story that it was six thirty before a seven
Speaker 2: o'clock game, and Clapp is still in the clubhouse. Jeff
Speaker 2: in today's day, at age, they let you in at
Speaker 2: three and kick you out at three forty five, and
Speaker 2: that's it. It's six thirty and he's still in there.
Speaker 2: And Davy sees a writer in the clubhouse with thirty
Speaker 2: minutes before the game and says, Clap, you got to
Speaker 2: get out of here, man, We've got a team meeting.
Speaker 2: So then he looks at Clap and goes, I never
Speaker 2: buy you could stay. So Bob Clappers, beat writer for
Speaker 2: the team, stayed and watched the team meeting in the
Speaker 2: Mets clubhouse because Davy Johnson didn't give a darn that
Speaker 2: there was a writer in there, because he knew what
Speaker 2: he was doing, and it didn't bother him that somebody
Speaker 2: knew what he was doing. That's who Davy Johnson was.
Speaker 2: A rebel in every form and rest in peace, and
Speaker 2: someday I believe he'll be in the Hall of fame
Speaker 2: as a manager.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what other takeaways do you have right now?
Speaker 2: Right? A couple things, Jeff, Bryce Terrang I've told you
Speaker 2: multiple times with the Brewers has really become a good
Speaker 2: offensive player. I told you what an elite defensive second
Speaker 2: basement is. He's a magician out there. But since August,
Speaker 2: this was as the other day he had a one
Speaker 2: point one four to six OPS was the highest OPS
Speaker 2: in the Major League since August the first. We're talking
Speaker 2: about five weeks here, and it's just so beautiful that
Speaker 2: the light goes on for somebody offensively and suddenly he's
Speaker 2: got it. It's really cool to watch. Also, Jeff, the
Speaker 2: stolen base thing is really getting interesting. As of the
Speaker 2: other day, most stolen bases in the second half of
Speaker 2: the season for any player is Juan Soto was seventeen. Now,
Speaker 2: Jan Soto has never stolen seventeen bases in a season
Speaker 2: in his career, and now he's got seventeen the second
Speaker 2: half of the season. Again, Jeff, we know how much
Speaker 2: easier it is to steal a base now, bigger bases.
Speaker 2: You know the engagement rule you can't throw over all
Speaker 2: the time. It's easier to steal a base but I
Speaker 2: do you find it interesting that Juan Soto, who is
Speaker 2: here mostly to hit, has the most steals of anyone
Speaker 2: the second half of the season.
Speaker 3: I mean, are they just he's giving him the green light? Well,
Speaker 3: what's the change in there?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 3: And I mean he clearly can run.
Speaker 2: The bases, right, He's a smart player. He knows what
Speaker 2: he's doing, and guys are picking and choosing a little
Speaker 2: bit more. Jeff, do you know who Josh Naylor is
Speaker 2: of the Mariners?
Speaker 3: Absolutely?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Do you know what he Cleveland Gardens?
Speaker 2: Do you know what he looks like? Big dude, big dude.
Speaker 2: How many steals has he got? Twenty four stolen bases? Unbelievable, unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Never stolen more than ten in any season. Now he's
Speaker 2: got twenty four. I mean keep in mind Joe Demaggio
Speaker 2: stole thirty bases in his career. I mean, yeah, back
Speaker 2: then on those teams, there was no reason to run.
Speaker 2: It was a mistake to run because the next guy
Speaker 2: was gonna hit a three run homer. Anyway, But I
Speaker 2: found that interesting. And Trevor Story, who runs pretty well.
Speaker 2: The Red Sox shortstop is twenty seven for twenty seven
Speaker 2: and steals, so he's got twenty seven steals, no caught stealings.
Speaker 2: That the twenty seven ties his career high. But he's
Speaker 2: never had twenty seven steals in a season without getting caught.
Speaker 2: Pretty impressive, very impressive. And last thing, Jeff, we talked
Speaker 2: about this the other day. Roldis Chapman through Sunday was
Speaker 2: up to seventeen consecutive hitless appearances. Now, Jeff, let's understand
Speaker 2: he's a closer. He's only pitching an inning at a time,
Speaker 2: So for those seventeen in a row, the total is
Speaker 2: fourteen and two thirds hitless inning, so he's not throwing
Speaker 2: a whole lot of innings. But the record is twenty
Speaker 2: in a row by Randy Choate, who did that as
Speaker 2: a left handed reliever in twenty eleven. Randy Choate got
Speaker 2: his twenty in a row over eight and two thirds innings.
Speaker 2: Just to show you, situational relievers don't even pitch a
Speaker 2: whole inning. They just come in and get it out
Speaker 2: and then they get you out. But it's still really impressive.
Speaker 2: Twenty straight appearances without allowing a hit. That's the major
Speaker 2: league record.
Speaker 3: And Dad, did you hear about this too?
Speaker 1: Connor Wong when he first when Chapman first joined the
Speaker 1: Red Sox, Wong said in PitchCom fastball inside, right, And
Speaker 1: so Chapman threw a fastball inside. And after that appearance
Speaker 1: he went up to Connor Wong and the coaching staff
Speaker 1: and said, I never really tried to target my fastball.
Speaker 2: What right?
Speaker 1: He just throws so hard that nobody can hit it,
Speaker 1: so it doesn't matter. So I can't help but believe
Speaker 1: that he's having arguably one of the best seasons of
Speaker 1: his career right now at his age, because he has
Speaker 1: a coaching staff and catchers who are helping him be
Speaker 1: better and helping him target a fastball. God forbid we
Speaker 1: decide where to throw a ball, those poor catchers before saying,
Speaker 1: I don't know where this fastball is gonna go, but
Speaker 1: he's gonna throw it right now, right.
Speaker 2: And he's averaged over fourteen strikeouts per nine innings in
Speaker 2: his career. Jeff, just letting it go. I remember when
Speaker 2: David Ross caught him with the Cubs. Of course, the
Speaker 2: Cubs won the World Series with a rold As Chapman
Speaker 2: as their closer, and ROSSI used to tell me, and
Speaker 2: ROSSI was a really good defensive catcher. But Chapman threw
Speaker 2: so hard he used to say to himself behind the plate,
Speaker 2: all right, just catch it. Okay, you don't have to
Speaker 2: frame it, you don't have to be ready to throw,
Speaker 2: just catch it. That's how hard and that's how violent
Speaker 2: the stuff that a role as Chapman has.
Speaker 1: And Jah, do you think that he's making any sort
Speaker 1: of play for the cy Young. I mean, we haven't
Speaker 1: had a closer win a cy Young since Eric Ganye
Speaker 1: twenty plus years ago.
Speaker 3: Is there a play for.
Speaker 1: This if he continues this out through the month of September.
Speaker 2: No, No, because Trek schools in the league, and he's
Speaker 2: had a cy Young season. And when we've had cy
Speaker 2: Young seasons by starters, they always win. And now we
Speaker 2: have a new award Jeb put together. By the way,
Speaker 2: that driving force behind it was our dear friend Jason Stark.
Speaker 2: Next year we're going to have a Reliever of the
Speaker 2: Year in the American League and the National League, voted
Speaker 2: on by the Baseball Writers Association of America. So that's good, Hey,
Speaker 2: Randy Cholate. It brought back some memories for me. One
Speaker 2: of my favorite stories I've ever written was about superstitions
Speaker 2: and I probably talked to thirty different players about their superstitions.
Speaker 2: I was in the Cardinal dugout one at Cardinal Clubhouse
Speaker 2: one day, and I went to Jason Mott, really good
Speaker 2: reliever in his day, and talked to him about superstisions
Speaker 2: that he looks at me and says, well, if you're
Speaker 2: going to talk about superstitions, he got to talk to
Speaker 2: Randy Chod. He's all messed up. That was how he
Speaker 2: described He's all messed up. So I went to Randy
Speaker 2: Chod and said, tell me about your superstitions. And he
Speaker 2: looked at me and he said, okay, remember you asked me. Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm not volunteering this, but you asked me.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 2: Among the many things, when he starts to warm up
Speaker 2: in the bullpen, this is in twenty eleven, I did
Speaker 2: this interview. He said, if there's any gum wrappers or
Speaker 2: empty cups anywhere near the mound, I have to go
Speaker 2: clean them up first, because I can't pitch on a
Speaker 2: cluttered mound. I can't wow. And if a piece of
Speaker 2: paper while he's in the game, a wrapper or a
Speaker 2: piece of paper, anything blows past the bound, he will
Speaker 2: grab it and put it in his back pocket because
Speaker 2: he can't bear to have a messy mound when he's
Speaker 2: working on it. Also, if there are seeds anywhere near
Speaker 2: him while he's pitching bullpen or on the mound, he
Speaker 2: has to pick them up and get rid of them
Speaker 2: because that's an untidy mound. He also told me when
Speaker 2: he comes in from the bullpen, if it's down the
Speaker 2: third base line, he has to enter the game, Jeff
Speaker 2: in between the shortstop and the third baseman has to
Speaker 2: run in between them. If the bullpen is down the
Speaker 2: right field line and he runs into the game, he
Speaker 2: has to run in between the first basement and the
Speaker 2: second basement. So Daniel descalso mischievous second Basement for the Cardinals.
Speaker 2: Once decided to try to get Randy chot All messed
Speaker 2: up by moving around and not allowing him to run
Speaker 2: in between. Mike Matheny, the manager of the Cardinals, screamed it,
Speaker 2: I don't do it. You'll scroll him up. Don't do it.
Speaker 2: That's how messed up. Randy Choate was and again, great guy,
Speaker 2: really good relief pitcher, but he had some things that
Speaker 2: he had to take care of. And everything he did
Speaker 2: in his life was even numbered. He wore number thirty six.
Speaker 2: Everything he did was even numbered except for the number
Speaker 2: of warm up pitches in between innings. Seven. That's it. No,
Speaker 2: not eight, not six, has to be seven. So those
Speaker 2: are our superstitions for the day, courtesy of Randy.
Speaker 3: Choke coming up next here on his It's a great
Speaker 3: game or what?
Speaker 2: Dad?
Speaker 1: We're gonna get our quirk gins along with another team Tim.
Speaker 1: These are the most popular things that our members of
Speaker 1: our family who listen to the show love on the
Speaker 1: state in baseball history and another team Tim, what we're
Speaker 1: getting double team Tims.
Speaker 2: Too, Tims and want two team Tyms and one days.
Speaker 2: People seem to enjoy this. I know I enjoy spending
Speaker 2: all day looking up pointless arcane numbers, names, everything. But
Speaker 2: we'll get to that in a minute.
Speaker 3: Is this a great game or what Dad? Let's go
Speaker 3: into the quark gins.
Speaker 2: Okay, Jeff, we had twelve saves on Sunday. Do you
Speaker 2: find that fitting that we had twelve saves on Sunday?
Speaker 2: Does that make sense?
Speaker 1: I mean, in theory, only fifteen possible saves if every
Speaker 1: team is playing right, that's a lot of saves, right.
Speaker 2: So the last time we had twelve saves in one day,
Speaker 2: was over a year ago. That was on July tenth,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four. But I'm trying to make the point
Speaker 2: about having a save on Sunday, not Saturday, not Friday,
Speaker 2: Sunday makes sense? Or are you not connecting the dots?
Speaker 3: Are you taking me to church right now?
Speaker 2: Or so stupid? Yeah, I'm glad you didn't get it
Speaker 2: because it wasn't good enough for you to get.
Speaker 3: Well, Dad, I'll tell you this much.
Speaker 1: I did not have an opportunity to make it to
Speaker 1: church on Sunday because I was hosting events at the
Speaker 1: Kennett Square Mushroom Festival. True story. I've done it four
Speaker 1: years in a row. I hosted the Fried Mushroom eating
Speaker 1: contest where the winner ate nine pounds of mushrooms in
Speaker 1: ten minutes.
Speaker 3: Really true story.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I wasn't able to go to church, but
Speaker 1: I did get a voicemail from you, Dad, while you
Speaker 1: were at church, a butt dial voicemail and on your phone,
Speaker 1: it'll give you the the transcription of what you heard.
Speaker 1: And this morning from Deuteronomy, this dramatic and climactic part
Speaker 1: of the book, Moses is speaking to a new generation
Speaker 1: of Israel born during the forty years Israel has been
Speaker 1: Moses is offering the choice between This is the voicemail
Speaker 1: you left me on Sunday, Dad. I got a little
Speaker 1: bit of the sermon, so I felt like I went
Speaker 1: to church anyway.
Speaker 3: Really, yeah, a long button dial voicemail.
Speaker 2: It's okay, Dad, Isn't it all right, Jeff, I'm really
Speaker 2: bad at that.
Speaker 3: No, Dad, don't worry, right, okay.
Speaker 2: Dalen Lyle of the Nationals has eight triples in two
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty two at bats. He just had a
Speaker 2: two triple game the other day, and he had a
Speaker 2: three triple weekend at Wrigley Field. The last guy's I mean,
Speaker 2: like four guys in history you have ever had a
Speaker 2: three triple weekend at or three game series at Wrigley Field.
Speaker 2: That's how hard it is there. The last guy to
Speaker 2: have eight triples in his first two hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: at bats was Starling Marte, who had eight in two
Speaker 2: twenty two. In twenty thirteen, and Starling Martin Tay to
Speaker 2: this day has the most triples of any active player.
Speaker 3: Starling Marte.
Speaker 1: Every time I hear his name now, I think of
Speaker 1: one SNL comedian who did his whole thing was talking
Speaker 1: about how when broadcasters do, like especially PA announcers will
Speaker 1: be like up to the plate, Jeff Kirkschin. But when
Speaker 1: they have somebody of Latin descent, all of a sudden
Speaker 1: they become Latin.
Speaker 3: They say, up to the bait from suntunaming Starling model.
Speaker 1: It's a great, great snl bit And uh, I absolutely
Speaker 1: love it because it's so true as a as a
Speaker 1: white guy myself. When I used to do PA PA
Speaker 1: announcing at the Frederick Keyes, when Edward Rodriguez would come in,
Speaker 1: I'd always add a little bit more splash in there,
Speaker 1: a little bit more.
Speaker 2: All right, I love it. I love it, Jeff. All right.
Speaker 2: So Todd Addington, one of our one of our alert lists,
Speaker 2: went to the game September sixth Cardinals game and gets
Speaker 2: the Giants and the game was won on a walk
Speaker 2: off hit by Jordan Walker, and he the walk off
Speaker 2: came off Ryan Walker, oh pitcher for the Giants. So
Speaker 2: we had a walk off with the pitcher and the
Speaker 2: hitter both named Walker, and as Todd cleverly pointed out,
Speaker 2: it would have been better if it had been a
Speaker 2: walk off walk but we still got a walk off
Speaker 2: hit from Jordan Walker off of Ryan Walker thank you
Speaker 2: very much for that, Todd. I did not notice that
Speaker 2: I love it. I enjoyed talking to people about baseball,
Speaker 2: and when people are reading the box score as much
Speaker 2: like I am every day, that's a you know, that's
Speaker 2: a shared interest. I love that stuff. But I don't
Speaker 2: think anyone looked this up. But I did because our
Speaker 2: buddy Steve Sparks told us last week they had another
Speaker 2: palindrome in the attendance. It was thirty three one thirty three.
Speaker 2: So I looked him up. He's had that, the astros have.
Speaker 2: I've had four palindromic attendances this year and Steve Sparks
Speaker 2: points it out every single time. Sounds like a lot
Speaker 2: to me, doesn't it, Jeff?
Speaker 3: It does?
Speaker 1: But you know Steve Sparks, his seam head mind is
Speaker 1: always on the move, always looking for something.
Speaker 3: He's the best.
Speaker 2: What an understatement. When he asked us earlier this year,
Speaker 2: after we had him on, he was so funny. He goes,
Speaker 2: I just want to be a seamhead someday, and we said, someday.
Speaker 2: You've been a seammed for years. You're the only one
Speaker 2: that looks up this stuff. So all right, Jeff, you
Speaker 2: know how much I love to look at line scores
Speaker 2: and see phone numbers. I saw a couple of them
Speaker 2: this week, which I'm not even going to tell you
Speaker 2: which one, but it's a real bad habit of mine.
Speaker 2: When you see a five to one to zero area code,
Speaker 2: like if five in the first, one in the second,
Speaker 2: zero the third, you pay attention. And Jeff say Cybold,
Speaker 2: a big Brewers fan, pointed out to me that the
Speaker 2: Brewers got four in the first, one in the second,
Speaker 2: four were in the third. So four four to one four,
Speaker 2: that's Milwaukee's area code. Now it didn't turn out to
Speaker 2: be a phone number, but he just wanted to alert
Speaker 2: me that the Brewers had a four to one four
Speaker 2: to start the game. I love stuff like that. I
Speaker 2: love it way too much. I acknowledge.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you and Peter Gammons are constantly always tracking this, right, Peter,
Speaker 1: the one that kind of introduced you to it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And Peter called one day and got a warehouse,
Speaker 2: like a working number at a warehouse for like some
Speaker 2: six one seven number, which was the Boston area code,
Speaker 2: which I just I love so much of ur. Last thing, Jeff,
Speaker 2: we had Sunday, we had the Max Freed against Max Scherzer.
Speaker 2: They were the pitchers of record in the game between
Speaker 2: the Blue Jays and the Yankees, so this is fairly
Speaker 2: obvious for a team. Tim, What's what what? What is it?
Speaker 3: Are you gonna do the all mac?
Speaker 2: Of course? Yeah? Well, Max Stassy is the catcher. Max
Speaker 2: Munsey is the first baseman. Of course, he's played second
Speaker 2: and mostly third now. Max Bishop from a million years
Speaker 2: ago is the second baseman. Max Alvis, who I grew
Speaker 2: up watching when he played for the Indians, it's the
Speaker 2: third baseman. Max Morof is our shortstop. Max Carrey Hall
Speaker 2: of Famer, is one outfielder, Max Venable, who I grew
Speaker 2: up watching on the Giants when I was hopelessly devoted
Speaker 2: to the Giants as a teenager. And his son, of course,
Speaker 2: is Will Vettable, who's the manager of the White Sox,
Speaker 2: And Max Kepler, who plays for the Phillies, is our
Speaker 2: third outfielder. And Max Schurzer is our right handed pitcher,
Speaker 2: and Max fried is our left handed pitcher. I think
Speaker 2: this is fair to say Max Schurzer is the greatest
Speaker 2: Max ever. Again, Max Carrey's in the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 2: but Max Schuerzer is going to the Hall of fame.
Speaker 2: So it's possible that two of the greatest Maxes of
Speaker 2: all time were the pictures of record. Sunday, when the
Speaker 2: Blue Jays played the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Speaker 3: All right, Dad, what do you have for on this
Speaker 3: state in baseball history?
Speaker 2: On this date September ninth, nineteen forty eight, Rex Barney
Speaker 2: pitched a no hitter for the Brooklyn Dodgers. And I
Speaker 2: bring that up because Rex became one of my dear
Speaker 2: friends as the public address voice of the Baltimore Orioles's.
Speaker 2: He was a character of all characters. Give that fan
Speaker 2: a contract, give that fan and error Mac. I'm telling you,
Speaker 2: Rex was one of my favorite people ever and again
Speaker 2: had a great arm. Jeb through really hard and then
Speaker 2: sadly he got the yips and really never recovered and
Speaker 2: couldn't throw a strike anymore. He went to see psychiatrists,
Speaker 2: he tried everything. He even put an ad in a
Speaker 2: newspaper saying someone please help me because he got in
Speaker 2: his head. And Rex Barney really never quite recovered from
Speaker 2: getting the yips to speaking again, to the degree of
Speaker 2: difficulty and the mental part of baseball which is so
Speaker 2: difficult to get through. Okay, On this date. In nineteen
Speaker 2: sixty five, Sandy Kofax pitched a perfect game, no walks,
Speaker 2: fourteen strikeouts, certainly maybe the greatest game ever pitched. It's
Speaker 2: hard to beat perfect game with fourteen strikeouts. But the
Speaker 2: interesting part is Bob Henley of the Cubs pitched in
Speaker 2: that game, and he pitched a one hitter. Jeff, he
Speaker 2: pitched a complete game, one hitter, eight innings, and he
Speaker 2: lost one to nothing. He threw seventy six pitches in
Speaker 2: that game. So they played a nine inning game at
Speaker 2: Dodger Stadium and Kofax pitched a perfect game and there
Speaker 2: was one hit total in the game.
Speaker 1: That is so sad because you threw arguably probably his.
Speaker 3: Best outing of the season maybe you are career, yeah.
Speaker 1: Maybe of his career, and you were just overshadowed by
Speaker 1: maybe the greatest game ever pitched of all time.
Speaker 3: Right, that's really say, by one of.
Speaker 2: The greatest pitchers ever. All right, this date in nineteen
Speaker 2: ninety two, robign got his three thousand hit. By the way,
Speaker 2: I really have trouble saying three thousand. I always say
Speaker 2: hit number three thousand, three thousandth hit? Can you say that? No?
Speaker 3: And I know three thousandth right, I it's heard, you
Speaker 3: have to over emphasize it.
Speaker 1: I hate that one, right, I'm not free three thousandth
Speaker 1: And you know my least favorite word in the world brewery, brewery, right, gosh,
Speaker 1: I want to throw up, all.
Speaker 2: Right, chef.
Speaker 3: It makes me sick, all right.
Speaker 2: So Robigny was, you know, played major league shortstop every
Speaker 2: day at age eighteen, one of the great athletes ever.
Speaker 2: And Dan please act told me a story of years
Speaker 2: ago about he was a teammate with rob Robnell had
Speaker 2: a bruise on like the inside of his thigh that
Speaker 2: was so gruesome, Dan please, that couldn't even look at it.
Speaker 2: And they're in the outfield and he goes up to
Speaker 2: robyne out and he says, are you playing today with
Speaker 2: that injury? And Robnet goes, yes, of course I'm playing
Speaker 2: today with that injury. So please, that says Robin, why
Speaker 2: are you playing? And he said, Dan, do you do
Speaker 2: you remember when you faked being sick in like the
Speaker 2: third grade and you got away with it? You remember
Speaker 2: and Dan please, that goes yeah, I remember it, he goes.
Speaker 2: Robnet goes, you remember how much easier it was getting
Speaker 2: away with it? The second time because you got away
Speaker 2: with it the first time, and please that goes. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was even easier the second time. You out looked
Speaker 2: at his teammate and said, and don't ever do it
Speaker 2: the first time. So the first time you acknowledge this
Speaker 2: hurts too much for me to play, it's going to
Speaker 2: be easier to I'll Jeff the second time. Don't do
Speaker 2: it the first time. Does that tell you who robin
Speaker 2: you out is? Jeff?
Speaker 3: It's so fitting.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's so perfect, and it's great for like
Speaker 1: normal people like us, right, Like, if you think you
Speaker 1: can get by calling in, calling out sick to work
Speaker 1: when you're not really sick, if you do it once,
Speaker 1: you're gonna think you can get away with it all
Speaker 1: the time, not just twice, but a hundred times, and
Speaker 1: then not good, not a good lesson for life.
Speaker 2: Right, Jeff, Your second colonoscope will be much easier than
Speaker 2: your first one because you'll know what to deal with correct.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1: So, thanks for bringing such an unpleasant subject up again.
Speaker 1: I'm starving over here, I'm so hungry, I'm so low energy.
Speaker 1: But hopefully on the third well, on the Thursday episode, obviously,
Speaker 1: I'll be back and better than ever, so we'll be
Speaker 1: able to handle that.
Speaker 2: Right On this day. In two thousand and seven, Ricky Weeks,
Speaker 2: JJ Hardy, and Ryan Braun let off game first three
Speaker 2: hitters in the game for the Brewers with a home run.
Speaker 2: Third time in major league history that the first three
Speaker 2: batters had hit a home run in order to start
Speaker 2: a game. And the interesting part is JJ Hardy did
Speaker 2: it again, only he did it well. He was a
Speaker 2: member of the Orioles, so I just love that that
Speaker 2: he was a part of that in two different teams.
Speaker 2: You know, it's been done a bunch of times now,
Speaker 2: but when Hardy and Weeks and Brown did it in
Speaker 2: two thousand and seven, it was only the third time
Speaker 2: in major league history. First time, of course, was Marvell Win,
Speaker 2: Tony gwyn and John Cruck, which I always thought the
Speaker 2: win Gwynn Kruck was just beautiful, so perfect. All right,
Speaker 2: let's see nineteen. On this date, in nineteen fifty nine,
Speaker 2: Tom Foley was born. Tom Foley was a pretty good
Speaker 2: major league infielder who could do a lot of things
Speaker 2: and became a really good coach who I got very
Speaker 2: close to over the years as a coach, especially with
Speaker 2: the Tampa Bay Rays. What I always found interesting with
Speaker 2: him was when he was a coach with Rays, I
Speaker 2: found out through him that he, you know, he's the
Speaker 2: right handed player. Jeff shortstop, second baseman. He played quarterback
Speaker 2: in high school and he threw a football with his
Speaker 2: left hand. So here we have a right handed baseball
Speaker 2: player who played quarterback in high school and he threw
Speaker 2: a football with his left hand. I've never understood how
Speaker 2: it's a very similar motion Jeff. And on the same
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay team, the first baseman Travis Lee, a left
Speaker 2: handed thrower in baseball, played quarterback in high school and
Speaker 2: he threw a football with his right hand. So on
Speaker 2: the same team we had two guys who played quarterback
Speaker 2: in high school but used the other hand to throw
Speaker 2: than the one they throw a baseball with. And if
Speaker 2: that's not amazing enough, Tom Foley also played for the
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Pirates. And on that team was a pitcher named
Speaker 2: Steve Cook who was a left handed pitcher. And what
Speaker 2: did he do, Jeff in high school?
Speaker 3: Quarterback with the right hand.
Speaker 2: Yes, So Tom Foley has been part of this bizarre
Speaker 2: you know this bizarre what's.
Speaker 3: The string of amid dexterity?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I couldn't even think of it. Yes, Jim Morrison,
Speaker 2: former Major leaguers said he was amphibious. He got amd dexterity,
Speaker 2: and yeah, so we used to joke that he could
Speaker 2: throw with both hands underwater. Amphibious. Yes, so I love
Speaker 2: that about Tom Foley. And the last thing Todd Todd
Speaker 2: Zeal on this date in nineteen sixty five was born. Now,
Speaker 2: Todd Zeal was a really good major league player for
Speaker 2: a long time, hit a bunch of home runs, and
Speaker 2: I always got a kick out of the fact that
Speaker 2: he used to be a catcher. And one day he
Speaker 2: caught Dan Quizinberry. So what's what's that, Jeff? You got
Speaker 2: figure it out. Todd Zeal caught Dan Quizonberry QZ QZ.
Speaker 2: So it took many, many, many more years when Barry
Speaker 2: Zito pitched to some guy forget his name, not important.
Speaker 2: His name began with a Q. But the last time
Speaker 2: that had happened was when a Q Dan Quisenberry threw
Speaker 2: to a Z Todd Zeal. Those are the things I
Speaker 2: pay attention to again, the reason I have nothing else
Speaker 2: to do with my life. And let's quiz you, Jeff
Speaker 2: Todd Zeal hit two hundred and fifty three homers in
Speaker 2: his career, so at one point, what was the distinction
Speaker 2: of the two fifty three? Since replaced by a guest
Speaker 2: of ours last year, he.
Speaker 1: Has the most home runs with the last name Z
Speaker 1: until Ryan Zimmerman.
Speaker 2: Jeff, you are really getting good at this. I am
Speaker 2: so proud of you. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: All right, Dad, Well, tomorrow on the podcast, we have
Speaker 1: a very special guest. Jim Abbott is going to be
Speaker 1: joining us. We had him as a little sneak preview
Speaker 1: last week celebrating the anniversary of his no hitter for
Speaker 1: the New York Yankees, and now we have forty minutes
Speaker 1: of talking with him.
Speaker 3: That was so inspirational and so fantastic.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 3: I loved our conversation with him.
Speaker 2: Jeff, Inspirational doesn't do it justice. I mean we both
Speaker 2: had tears in our eyes at the end of that podcast,
Speaker 2: and we laughed through most of it because Jim Abbott
Speaker 2: has a great sense of humor. And so when anyone
Speaker 2: can make you think, and he can make you laugh
Speaker 2: and can make you cry all in one interview, that's
Speaker 2: what we got from Jim Abbott. So in his honor,
Speaker 2: I decided to let's see if you can figure out
Speaker 2: what the team Tim is with Jim Abbott. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm giving you no clue here, Jeff. And we're not
Speaker 2: going to go Jim's or Abbot's or you know, alphabets
Speaker 2: or anything else. What was one of the distinctions we
Speaker 2: brought up about Jim Abbott that still amazes me to
Speaker 2: this day. What did he not do in his major
Speaker 2: league career?
Speaker 1: Well, okay, right off the bat, I don't think you're
Speaker 1: thinking about a full team of players that only had
Speaker 1: one hand, because I don't think you would field that
Speaker 1: full team.
Speaker 3: No, what did he not do in his career? He
Speaker 3: did not play in the minor leagues? Hello, all right, Jae,
Speaker 3: how we found that out?
Speaker 2: Jeff? You are so you're getting so good at this, Jeff. Someday, Jeff,
Speaker 2: I'm going to be really good at country music. All right.
Speaker 2: I've already gotten over the country western music thing. But
Speaker 2: I'm going to be just as good in country music
Speaker 2: someday as you are in baseball, because you're getting better
Speaker 2: every day. So these are the guys I came up
Speaker 2: with who never spent a day in the minor leagues. Okay,
Speaker 2: John Olerude is our first baseman. Wo Frankie Frish whose
Speaker 2: birthday is today. Frankie Frish, oh Gas House Gang million
Speaker 2: years ago. Highest career batting average of any switch hitter
Speaker 2: in Major League history. I believe it's three seventeen. Bob
Speaker 2: Horner is our third baseman. And our dear friend Val Vandaventer,
Speaker 2: who played baseball with Uncle Matt at kathak You, who
Speaker 2: got drafted nineteen seventy eight, the same year that Bob
Speaker 2: Horner did. So the Braves brought all of their draft
Speaker 2: choices to Atlanta Fulton County Stadium to take batting practice
Speaker 2: to know this is the final destination. And Val great guy,
Speaker 2: great throwing arm. Val told me that he's looking around
Speaker 2: and he said every pitch to Bob Horner's Towell Guy
Speaker 2: was overrun in batting practice. And he kept looking at
Speaker 2: the other guys who were all drafted the same year
Speaker 2: and said, he's so much better than us, How can
Speaker 2: this be? While Bob Horner went to Arizona State, was
Speaker 2: unbelievably strong, short, short arms, really powerful, hit four homers
Speaker 2: in a major League game at but I just thought
Speaker 2: that was really cool that another draft choice that year
Speaker 2: looked at Bob Horner and good, oh my gosh, we
Speaker 2: got drafted the same year as that guy did. So cool.
Speaker 2: All right. The shortstop is Ernie Banks, and there's a
Speaker 2: bit of Ernie Banks played in the Negro leagues, but
Speaker 2: he never played in the minor league, so there's a
Speaker 2: difference there, but technically correct. Al Kayline, of course, won
Speaker 2: a batting title at age twenty. And what did I
Speaker 2: tell you once about al Kline? Jeff, what a great
Speaker 2: basketball player he was? Remember what I told you? What
Speaker 2: did he tell me once?
Speaker 3: I can't remember, You're gonna have to remind he said.
Speaker 2: He told me he was a better basketball player in
Speaker 2: high school than he was a baseball player. And he
Speaker 2: won a batting title at age twenty and never played
Speaker 2: in the minor leagues. Dave Winfield never played in the
Speaker 2: minor league. Well Ott never played in the minor leagues.
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer, though both those guys are Hall of famers.
Speaker 2: And of course Jim Abbott did not. Catfish Hunter didn't.
Speaker 2: A bunch of pitchers, including Bob Feller and Sandy Kofax,
Speaker 2: never played in the minor leagues. Our catcher, and I
Speaker 2: must say, if someone can help me on this, I
Speaker 2: can really use some help because I could not find
Speaker 2: a catcher who never played in the minor leagues. Now,
Speaker 2: I did find Brian Milner, who I remember well coming
Speaker 2: up with the Blue Jays. He went straight to the
Speaker 2: major leagues, but struggled for a while and went back
Speaker 2: to the minor leagues. I think for a really long time.
Speaker 2: It didn't have much of a major league career. But
Speaker 2: if any of our listeners can find a catcher who
Speaker 2: never played in the minor leagues, I'd sure like to
Speaker 2: know that, because I couldn't find it.
Speaker 1: Well, Dad, tomorrow, straight to the big leagues. Jim Abbott
Speaker 1: is going to be joining our podcast. It's going to
Speaker 1: inspire you, it's going to make you smile, it might
Speaker 1: make you cry. And special shout outs to some members
Speaker 1: of our family in that interview.
Speaker 2: And Jeff, let me just say one more time, the
Speaker 2: most underplayed story in all the years that I've covered
Speaker 2: baseball is how good Jim Abbott was playing his entire career.
Speaker 2: Of course without his right hand. I still don't think
Speaker 2: people appreciate how he was able to do that. It's
Speaker 2: just incredible. And yet, Jeff, as you know, instead of
Speaker 2: him saying, God, look how great I was. He never
Speaker 2: ever looked at it as a disability. He just said,
Speaker 2: I'm going to figure this out and he did. And
Speaker 2: that's what's so inspirational about his story, and we have
Speaker 2: him tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Wait until you hear what his dad had to say
Speaker 1: about My goodness, you're.
Speaker 2: Going to cry again just thinking about what it's bother said.
Speaker 2: So good.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 1: Don't miss the interview tomorrow with Jim Abbott, and as always,
Speaker 1: thank you for being a part of our family.