Speaker 1: Is this a great game or what with the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame or Tim Kirkschen I'm his son, Jeff Kirkshin
Speaker 1: and Dad. I got to say, just right off the
Speaker 1: bat if you're watching on YouTube, I love that shirt.
Speaker 1: Is that rowback? Is that a baseball He's a.
Speaker 2: Baseball collar shirt. Yes. And my grandson, your godson, Carson,
Speaker 2: has a matching baseball shirt and we have worn them
Speaker 2: more than once at the same time. So yes, this
Speaker 2: is a baseball shirt. I figured I would wear something
Speaker 2: other than a Walter Johnson sweatshirt pullover fleece. So this
Speaker 2: is I've all sorts of baseball themed shirts. Jeff, what
Speaker 2: else would I have?
Speaker 3: I know?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Well, I know you like tell the story of when
Speaker 1: you had to go to the store Baseballism to find
Speaker 1: a shirt because you didn't have the right shirt at
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: Is this true? Yeah? I didn't bring an up of
Speaker 2: polo shirts. I needed something, so I bought a Roberto
Speaker 2: Clemente shirt at baseball Isms. It was great. I wear
Speaker 2: it here and there. It's a little big for me,
Speaker 2: but yes. And then I went to the golf course
Speaker 2: there leatherstocking and bought two other Polos to get me
Speaker 2: through Hall of Fame weekend because I was so nervous
Speaker 2: I didn't pack very well. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean that's pretty common. You and I are
Speaker 1: both throw it all in the bag and get on
Speaker 1: the road as soon as possible. I've forgotten underwear, I've
Speaker 1: forgotten socks, I've forgotten pants. So I've been there, Dad. Hey, yeah,
Speaker 1: I gotta I gotta praise you, Dad, because I get
Speaker 1: emails from our listeners, Great gamer what dot com, members
Speaker 1: of our family who want to message us, and then
Speaker 1: I go in to respond and you're responding constantly to
Speaker 1: people at great gamerw dot com. Well done, Dad. The
Speaker 1: technology is not beating you. It's tim one technology, zero
Speaker 1: waiting go.
Speaker 2: It's a million to one, Jeff. I finally won only
Speaker 2: because you set it up on my phone. An idiot
Speaker 2: could figure out how to use this. All you have
Speaker 2: to do is hit compose, write your thing, and then
Speaker 2: hit the little arrow. It's great. But Jeff, I've gotten
Speaker 2: some heartwarming things from our listeners and viewers. It's great.
Speaker 2: So Rob Johnson sent me this really nice email after
Speaker 2: finding out that my birthday is on December tenth, nineteen
Speaker 2: fifty six. Let's see how well you remember things. Jeff
Speaker 2: Walter Johnson.
Speaker 1: Will just stop you there right on December tenth, nineteen
Speaker 1: forty six.
Speaker 2: Yes, I found that very symmetrical. So now he knows
Speaker 2: what my birthday is. So he says, with its beautiful note,
Speaker 2: that my daughter Caroline's birthday is also on December the tenth,
Speaker 2: and I got such a kick out of it. Rob
Speaker 2: wrote me back the next day and said, this is embarrassing.
Speaker 2: I went to Caroline and told her that Tim Kirkchin
Speaker 2: is born on the same day as you, December the tenth.
Speaker 2: Caroline told him, Dad, my birthday's December the ninth. No,
Speaker 2: So Rob Age fifty one kind of wrote that off
Speaker 2: to getting older. He just temporarily forgot his own daughter's birthday.
Speaker 2: So I thought the story was even funnier and even
Speaker 2: more personal that he forgot his daughter's birthday and she,
Speaker 2: without any anger, corrected him knows the day before.
Speaker 1: Well. I want to shout out Chris McCarthy. He's been
Speaker 1: messaging us as well. I'm not sure if you have
Speaker 1: him on your list here, but he sent us FYI
Speaker 1: the free the three highest single season pitching b wars
Speaker 1: in the World Series Ara, I belonged to Walter Johnson,
Speaker 1: Walter Johnson and Dwight Gooden. And then he ends the
Speaker 1: message with did I ever tell you I went to
Speaker 1: Dwight goodin high school?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I read Chris's beautiful email and it was about
Speaker 2: the greatness of Dwight Gooden. So I'll tell Chris and
Speaker 2: you this story again.
Speaker 3: Jeff.
Speaker 2: Here's how good Dwight Gooden was. He pitched in the
Speaker 2: All Star Game, started the All Star Game, and Roger
Speaker 2: Clemens was the starting pitcher for the other team. I
Speaker 2: think this was nineteen eighty six, not important, it's right
Speaker 2: in the middle of Dwight Goodin's incredible prime. So Clemens
Speaker 2: hasn't batted since high school because he went to the
Speaker 2: University of Texas. They had a DH, had a DH
Speaker 2: in the minor league. So now this is the first
Speaker 2: time he's faced a pitcher since high school. And Dwight
Speaker 2: Gooden's first pitch to where Roger Clemens comes in at
Speaker 2: like ninety seven miles an hour with incredible zoom to it,
Speaker 2: and Roger Clemens looks at the home played umpire and says,
Speaker 2: do I throw that hard? And the home played umpire
Speaker 2: goes yes, Roger, you throw that hard, and he went
Speaker 2: god like. It was so important for Roger Clemens to
Speaker 2: recognize what great eat stuff really look like up close,
Speaker 2: and the only way to do that is to bat
Speaker 2: in a major league game. That's how great Dwight Gooden was.
Speaker 2: And Roger Clemens said that he started to throw his
Speaker 2: fastball more often, knowing if that's what it looks like,
Speaker 2: no one can hit that. So Roger Clemens's greatness continued
Speaker 2: after facing Dwight Gooden in the All Star Game. That's
Speaker 2: how great Dwight Gooden was in his prime. Also, Jeff
Speaker 2: John Woodward, who has sent in several emails, send me
Speaker 2: one this is beautiful, and he wasn't being critical, but
Speaker 2: he was disappointed in my all vowel team on Tuesday
Speaker 2: that I did not use Aurelio Rodriguez as my third baseman.
Speaker 2: I grew up watching him play in one of the
Speaker 2: great throwing arms of any third baseman I've ever seen.
Speaker 2: And John Woodward's point was Realio has all of the
Speaker 2: vowels in his first name, So we made a big
Speaker 2: deal out of Ed and Nelson Figueroa having all the
Speaker 2: vowels in their last name. Really o Rodriguez has them
Speaker 2: all in his first name, and I had to explain,
Speaker 2: You're right, I forgot. You know, I've done this list before, Jeff,
Speaker 2: and I know there was someone with all the vowels,
Speaker 2: but I've referenced Juhanio Suarez so many times for having
Speaker 2: all the vowels that he's very much in the news today,
Speaker 2: as you know, an active player with forty plus homers
Speaker 2: that I just didn't even think. I just put Uhanio Suarez.
Speaker 2: It's our third baseman, and Aurelio Lopez, also a old
Speaker 2: Tiger reliever head. Of course, all the vowels in his
Speaker 2: first name. So thank you John for pointing this out.
Speaker 2: It was very instructive.
Speaker 1: I don't have any news of this sort, so don't
Speaker 1: get excited. But maybe our next kid will call Mary
Speaker 1: Louise Kirks in all one word.
Speaker 2: Do you think that?
Speaker 1: I mean, that's all the vowels in the first name
Speaker 1: at this point. I mean, it's better than Sequoia Marchion. Right,
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of names I could I could
Speaker 1: pick here at Ophelia, maybe that could work.
Speaker 2: All right, just and there are not a lot of
Speaker 2: Kirchens out there, that's for sure. So. But of course,
Speaker 2: in case anyone's wondering, Stephen Kirkchin, formerly of the Boston
Speaker 2: Globe and the Spotlight Team, the greatest investigative reporter in
Speaker 2: the history of the Boston Globe, the guy that uncovered
Speaker 2: all of the huge scandal in uh with the Catholic
Speaker 2: Church in Boston. That was my cousin, Stephen Kirkchin, that
Speaker 2: did all of that. And he used used to tell
Speaker 2: me when I was a young beat writer, says, I
Speaker 2: want to do what you do. I want to cover
Speaker 2: a baseball team for a full year. Can you imagine
Speaker 2: Stephen Kirkchen, the greatest reporter ever. He would have gotten
Speaker 2: every scoop on every game, on every player because he
Speaker 2: knew he knew where to look. As they used to
Speaker 2: say in Boston, the five worst words of the English
Speaker 2: language for corrupt people are Stephen Kirchin is on the phone.
Speaker 2: That's how good my cousin was.
Speaker 1: Is all right, Dad, Let's jump into the takeaways.
Speaker 2: When you get Mets are suddenly scoring a bunch of runs.
Speaker 2: But more important, they have Nolan McClain on their team.
Speaker 2: He's first Met ever to win his first four major
Speaker 2: league starts. Even Dwight Gooden and Tom Seaver didn't do that.
Speaker 2: He's done it with a tremendously low era. And Tuesday Night,
Speaker 2: Jeff he got the win by retiring the final fourteen
Speaker 2: batters of the game. That's how that's how great he's been.
Speaker 2: And they also brought up Jonah Tong, young guy. So
Speaker 2: there's chance that the Mets can make the playoffs and
Speaker 2: I think they are and use Nolan McClain and Jonah
Speaker 2: Tong in their rotation in October. How how cool would
Speaker 2: that be if a team looked and said, all right,
Speaker 2: they're young, they're inexperienced, they don't know what they're doing,
Speaker 2: but we're going with it because there are two really
Speaker 2: good young arms.
Speaker 1: Well, dad, isn't there a part two? When it comes
Speaker 1: to a playoff run? That having younger players almost makes
Speaker 1: it easier because they're so green. They don't really know
Speaker 1: the bread, you know, the massiveness of the moment, so
Speaker 1: they're just kind of playing baseball. A lot of people
Speaker 1: talk about, you know, playing in a playoff game their
Speaker 1: rookie year versus their tenth season. You know, tenth year,
Speaker 1: you feel really pressured. I finally need to win the
Speaker 1: World Series. I've been in the league ten years, but
Speaker 1: in your first year you're like, well, I'm just here
Speaker 1: to play basketball. I'm here to have fun.
Speaker 2: Ignorance is bliss, and some of these guys just don't
Speaker 2: even understand the pressure that they're supposed to be under.
Speaker 2: I really like where the Mets are right now. They're
Speaker 2: really starting to swing. The bat Wan Soto has been
Speaker 2: great lately. Interesting. We'll have some great Pennant races to finish.
Speaker 2: So showe Aotani hit home run number one hundred as
Speaker 2: a Dodger, And we just need to always point out
Speaker 2: anything that Otani does because everything he does seems to
Speaker 2: be some sort of historic Miles Stone. This is another one,
Speaker 2: and Jeff I have to say, you know, we're not
Speaker 2: critical on this show. I'm just too old to be
Speaker 2: yelling at people. But the other day Cardinals Reds game,
Speaker 2: and Andy Vance, like former major leaguer, called me last
Speaker 2: night out of the blue just to tell me, did
Speaker 2: you see the infield fly rule? Well, the Reds are
Speaker 2: in the field, the bases are loaded, there's an infield
Speaker 2: fly rule, and the ball drops and everyone on the
Speaker 2: Cardinals got confused on the basis and started running all
Speaker 2: over the place and I, frankly, Jeff, am not sure
Speaker 2: the Reds knew what to do with the situation, because
Speaker 2: now guys are running all over the place. They don't
Speaker 2: know if it's a force, if it's a tag, who's
Speaker 2: going where. It was complete bedlam on an infield fly rule.
Speaker 2: And I'm going to tell the story again, Jeff, when
Speaker 2: Aaron Boone several years ago told us in spring training
Speaker 2: that he has told his defensive players on an infield
Speaker 2: fly rule, dropped the ball intentionally because it might confuse
Speaker 2: the runners. They don't know the rule and they take
Speaker 2: off and we might get an extra out of it.
Speaker 2: So on opening day that season, playing the Blue Jays,
Speaker 2: the blue Jays are in the field, a Yankee hits
Speaker 2: an infield fly rule, the ball drops, and the Yankees
Speaker 2: ran themselves into another out. And so what Aaron Boone
Speaker 2: was preaching his own team did the opposite of that.
Speaker 2: Messed it all up. And he called me the next
Speaker 2: day because we'd done that game, Rabbi Eduardo and I
Speaker 2: on TV, and he called to apologize for us having
Speaker 2: to watch a major league team foul up the infield
Speaker 2: fly rule.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's so crazy that he would ask
Speaker 1: his team to do that, and then while they're on
Speaker 1: the basis different mindset, they forget the one rule.
Speaker 2: He is last thing. Jeff Frans Valdez of the Astros,
Speaker 2: a really good picture with sensational stuff, crossed up his
Speaker 2: own catcher, Caesar Salazar the other day him right in
Speaker 2: the middle of the chest protector with a strike and
Speaker 2: Salazar was expecting something else and he was given something else,
Speaker 2: and he absolutely whiffed on it. And Valdez later apologized
Speaker 2: for crossing him up. But there's some people out there
Speaker 2: that think that Valdez did this on purpose to his
Speaker 2: own catcher. Now I'm not sure about that. I'm not
Speaker 2: going there, but uh, why would I just don't understand
Speaker 2: why anyone would do that. Agreed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, I saw the video actually this morning, and
Speaker 1: I think the reason why a lot of people are
Speaker 1: thinking he did it on purpose is right after it happened,
Speaker 1: he had no sympathy on his face. He had nothing
Speaker 1: but kind of an angry look. Right if he had gone,
Speaker 1: you know, my fault, my fault through the wrong pitch
Speaker 1: or something like that, and you'd be like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: total mistake. But maybe it was because of that. Maybe
Speaker 1: it was because of a bad call earlier, because of
Speaker 1: the grand slam, and the catcher said, hey, like, don't
Speaker 1: throw a pitch. He threw it anyway, gave up a
Speaker 1: grand Slam. Could that have been a part of it.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I talked to two former pitchers about that,
Speaker 2: and I said, don't tell me that was intentional, And
Speaker 2: both of them said that was intentional. He did that
Speaker 2: on purpose, which, okay, that's just two guys' opinion. That
Speaker 2: doesn't mean it's right. But it's really interesting. I always
Speaker 2: go back to when Raul and Banya is one of
Speaker 2: my favorite people ever. He was in his twenties trying
Speaker 2: to make a major league team, and he was a
Speaker 2: utility player, so he went to the minor leagues to
Speaker 2: learn how to catch so he could become the third catcher,
Speaker 2: to really improve his versatility and his chances of making
Speaker 2: the team. So he said, his first game behind the
Speaker 2: plate in the minor leagues, like, the first pitch came
Speaker 2: in and he completely missed it, and it hit the
Speaker 2: umpire like right in the chest, and the umpire Raoulavajas
Speaker 2: to go, what what are you doing? And I Banyas
Speaker 2: looks back at the uppart and say sorry, sorry, I've
Speaker 2: never caught before. But this is what you do in
Speaker 2: the minor leagues. This is where you learn how to
Speaker 2: play different positions by go experimenting on the minor league level.
Speaker 2: In this case, an umpire got nailed because poor Raoul Labayas,
Speaker 2: who was trying really hard, just missed the pitch. He
Speaker 2: didn't do it on purpose.
Speaker 1: Let's walk into the corkchins, dad, two of which I
Speaker 1: have a couple, but I don't want to jump on
Speaker 1: any of your right, Well, I'll give you mine first.
Speaker 1: So you know how much I love James Wood of
Speaker 1: the Nationals. So we got to be careful with this
Speaker 1: because Kenny Wood's dad. I played basketball with Kenny Wood
Speaker 1: for years.
Speaker 2: He's great. But James Wood now has twenty five hat tricks, Jeff,
Speaker 2: So that's twenty five games in which he struck out
Speaker 2: three or more time. So we'll call a hat trick
Speaker 2: three or more in baseball parliance. He is a hat trick.
Speaker 2: Four is a sombrero, five is a golden sombrero. And
Speaker 2: do you know what a six is, Jeff? I told
Speaker 2: you this story once you remember I went to a store.
Speaker 2: I went to a game in Kansas City one night
Speaker 2: where Sam Horn and the Orioles, and it's.
Speaker 1: A golden horn or the horn right right?
Speaker 2: He struck out six times. So after the game I
Speaker 2: went to Mike Flanning in of the Orioles, the late
Speaker 2: great Mike Flanning, and said, Flanning, all right, three's a
Speaker 2: hat trick. Four is sebrero. Five's a golden sabrera. What
Speaker 2: is a sixth? And he said, from now on six
Speaker 2: will be known as a horn?
Speaker 1: So, which is so perfect because hat trick, sombrero on
Speaker 1: your head, horn technically on your head. It could not
Speaker 1: have happened to a more perfect nurse.
Speaker 2: I can't wait for the next six strikeout game so
Speaker 2: I can call it what it should be, a horn.
Speaker 2: So James Wood has twenty five hat tricks this year.
Speaker 2: The major league record is twenty six, so he's got
Speaker 2: a month to break it. I know he doesn't want to.
Speaker 2: By Joe Gallo in twenty eighteen and Mark Reynolds in
Speaker 2: two thousand and nine. And I know I've told you
Speaker 2: about Mark Reynolds. Jeff one of my favorite players, went
Speaker 2: to the University of Virginia. Really smart guy. At two
Speaker 2: hundred and ninety nine career Homers was a great defensive
Speaker 2: third baseman, but he struck out a lot. And he
Speaker 2: told me once, I'm the holder of a lot of
Speaker 2: weird records out there. So he is currently the co
Speaker 2: leader in most patricks in a season for a hitter. Oh,
Speaker 2: by the way, that's the same Mark Reynolds. I was
Speaker 2: doing a story on how hard the game is to play.
Speaker 2: So he told me one night, he said, he said,
Speaker 2: my mom is like the greatest baseball fan in the world,
Speaker 2: and she really really understands what she's watching and she
Speaker 2: watches every game. So he said, she called me last
Speaker 2: night after a game I played and she said, how
Speaker 2: did you miss that two oh slider? That's what it's
Speaker 2: mother that he had to say, Mom, it's not that easy.
Speaker 2: So the career record Jeff for for hat tricks in
Speaker 2: a career is one hundred and seventy three by Adam Dunn.
Speaker 2: So Adam Dunn struck out three or more times in
Speaker 2: game one hundred and seventy three times, and that's in
Speaker 2: danger because active gian Carlos Stanton has struck out has
Speaker 2: patricks in one hundred and sixty five games and he's
Speaker 2: not done yet. He's got several more years to go.
Speaker 2: Just curious, Jeff. The hat trick, of course, is more
Speaker 2: of a hockey term. Wayne Gretzky, I have to look
Speaker 2: all this up, is the all time record holder for
Speaker 2: a season in hat tricks. What do you think? What
Speaker 2: do you think the record is for hat tricks in
Speaker 2: one season? That's three goals in one game by a
Speaker 2: hockey player.
Speaker 1: I would say like eight, eight or nine.
Speaker 2: Great guest, Yeah, yeah, So Gretzky is the record holder
Speaker 2: with ten, and he is the career record holder with
Speaker 2: fifty hat tricks. Wow, I told you I met. I
Speaker 2: met Wayne Gretzky at my dear friend Matt McCoy's house.
Speaker 2: This is thirty five years ago in la and Gretzky
Speaker 2: was playing for the Kings, and he and Matt McCoy
Speaker 2: actor friend who of course played in Seinfeld episode Lloyd Braun,
Speaker 2: and we went to high school together when we were
Speaker 2: the same year. So Matt invites me over.
Speaker 1: Dad, and he was in your wedding.
Speaker 2: Of course, let's get down.
Speaker 1: He didn't just go to high school. He was one
Speaker 1: of your one of the groovesmen.
Speaker 2: And he he says, come on over for dinner. Gretzky's
Speaker 2: coming over, so I think he's joking. But we're sitting
Speaker 2: getting ready to eat, and in walks Wayne Gretzky, and
Speaker 2: I'm thinking, and he introduces himself. Hi, I'm Wayne, Like,
Speaker 2: no kidding. I know nothing about hockey, but I know
Speaker 2: who you are, and I don't know anything about hockey, chef.
Speaker 2: But my favorite description of a hockey player is how
Speaker 2: the you know, like the Russian coach described Wayne Gretzky
Speaker 2: after he just undressed their team again. He said, with Gretzky,
Speaker 2: he goes, you see him, then he disappears, then there's
Speaker 2: a goal. Is that not perfect, Jeff?
Speaker 1: It's so beautiful.
Speaker 2: That's what again, great hockey players do. And that's what
Speaker 2: Gretzky could do. He was three steps, four passes ahead
Speaker 2: of everyone else. He could see the floor like nobody else,
Speaker 2: see the ice like nobody else, like a great point
Speaker 2: guard in baseball. He was a pretty good hockey player,
Speaker 2: eh he was. And he was a good baseball player.
Speaker 2: And Wayne Gretzky was an amazing athlete. Yes, okay, so
Speaker 2: your boy, Kyle Schwarber, we said on Tuesday, he went
Speaker 2: oh for twenty and then had a four homer game,
Speaker 2: and since the four homer game, at least through Tuesday,
Speaker 2: two for fifteen with eight strikeouts. So, Jeff, this is
Speaker 2: why baseball is so beautiful. In between, I mean, he
Speaker 2: had a four homer game, and on the outside of
Speaker 2: a four homer game, he went to for thirty five.
Speaker 2: It's just how baseball works. It's why it's so beautiful.
Speaker 2: You can be so great one night and then the
Speaker 2: rest of the time it's a struggle. Again, speaking to
Speaker 2: the degree of difficulty in the game. And the last one, Jeff,
Speaker 2: this came from Steve Sparks, our friend who does the
Speaker 2: Astros game on the radio, the brilliant, hilarious seamhead Steve Spark.
Speaker 2: So I just got a text overnight from him and
Speaker 2: all it said was thirty three one thirty three. So
Speaker 2: let's see if you can remember what that means.
Speaker 1: That was had to have been the crowd size of
Speaker 1: the game.
Speaker 2: Attendance at Tuesday night Yankees Astros game thirty three thousand,
Speaker 2: one hundred and thirty three. This is what seamheads Steve
Speaker 2: Sparks does. He looks and make sure he checks the
Speaker 2: attendants every night, just to see if there's fun to it.
Speaker 2: So it's a palindrome thirty three one thirty three, And
Speaker 2: I wrote back, I said, how many palindrome attendances have
Speaker 2: you had this year? He said at least three. But
Speaker 2: he's the only one paying attention to this. I love it.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, Dad, coming up next, I have two
Speaker 1: quark gens I'm going to try to spring on to
Speaker 1: you to see if they impress you at all. We're
Speaker 1: also going to do on this date in Baseball History
Speaker 1: featuring a special guest. So usually I mean always on
Speaker 1: this date it's about a certain player. We actually have
Speaker 1: that player who's going to join us, and from Azzie
Speaker 1: to Oral best of All Tim and a team Tim
Speaker 1: to wrap up the show. It's all coming up next.
Speaker 1: Back on is this a great game or what?
Speaker 2: Dad?
Speaker 1: Are you ready for my two argens?
Speaker 2: I love them, Spring them on me. They're great. All right?
Speaker 1: Do you want to hear about the homer that should
Speaker 1: not have been a homer? Or the matchup that I
Speaker 1: really enjoy it.
Speaker 2: Let's hear the matchup first. If it's Carson Wentz, I'm
Speaker 2: already ahead of you.
Speaker 1: No, it's not Carson Wentz. It's actually Wednesday Nights Pitchers
Speaker 1: in the Rangers Diamondbacks game. I'm calling it the fire
Speaker 1: matchup because it's lighter against gallon. I get it, gallon
Speaker 1: of gas, a lighter like that kind of vibe.
Speaker 2: Yes, love it, love it. That's that's what. Yeah. Wednesday night, Jeff,
Speaker 2: way to go, we got some.
Speaker 1: I can't believe I got that one.
Speaker 2: Did you do that one or did you get it
Speaker 2: from that's yours? Now? I found that right, Jeff, You're
Speaker 2: I've corrupted you. This is great. You're thinking like me,
Speaker 2: which is not good.
Speaker 1: And then from my friend Jag John Gay, who is incredible.
Speaker 1: He actually runs his own podcast consulting company. So if
Speaker 1: anybody is doing a podcast like us and is looking
Speaker 1: to start or need some help, you can check them
Speaker 1: out John Gay or Jag do a Google search, it'll
Speaker 1: all pop up and it'll help you launch your first podcast.
Speaker 1: But he sent me an article from bro Bible. Trevor's
Speaker 1: story is breaking science with his bizarre home run dad
Speaker 1: in a six to four victory over the Cleveland Guardians
Speaker 1: this past Monday. It was his twenty third home run
Speaker 1: of the year. However, it genuinely is not a home
Speaker 1: run in all thirty ballparks, including the one that he
Speaker 1: hit it in right which is incredible, including the two
Speaker 1: minor league stadiums were playing in currently. So the way
Speaker 1: it works is he hit the ball ninety four point
Speaker 1: five miles per hour with a launch angle of forty
Speaker 1: two degrees. In most parks, that's a routine flyout. In fact,
Speaker 1: stat Cast says Dad that that around that area is
Speaker 1: you the batting averages point zero one zero of getting
Speaker 1: on base.
Speaker 2: And it was a home run right but it's it's
Speaker 2: right field at Fenway. It's the pesky pole, and right
Speaker 2: fielder had a little trouble with it. So I love it.
Speaker 2: I love it the home run that wasn't a home
Speaker 2: run but really was a home run.
Speaker 1: It was and you know, a story stopped at second
Speaker 1: thing you got a double John Kenzie Nowelle in right
Speaker 1: field had a little bit of trouble with the pesky pole.
Speaker 1: It's a pesky one, as you might imagine, and ultimately
Speaker 1: it became a home run and it shouldn't be a
Speaker 1: home run in all thirty parks.
Speaker 2: So I thought that was fascinated. Just like we said
Speaker 2: the other day, you hit a home run off a
Speaker 2: position player, it's a home run. A home run is
Speaker 2: a home run, and this whole thing hell would have
Speaker 2: only been a home run in what no other park?
Speaker 2: Would that have been a home or well, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: It wasn't hit in any other park. It was hit
Speaker 2: at Fenway Park, so it counts.
Speaker 1: That makes this game so much more beautiful. If you
Speaker 1: ask me, like, no, one's like, uh oh, we're playing
Speaker 1: at the garden. The three point line is so much
Speaker 1: further back. It's like, no, it's not. It's the same place.
Speaker 2: That's the beauty of baseball. Nothing is the same. And
Speaker 2: that's all right. Cool.
Speaker 1: Let's jump into on this date in baseball history, we
Speaker 1: have a special guest rights.
Speaker 2: We got to talk about Mike Piazz's birthday. Born in
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty eight. Mike po for me, is one is
Speaker 2: the greatest hitting catcher of all time. We talk a
Speaker 2: lot about cal Raley, as we should, and you start
Speaker 2: looking for the greatest season ever by a catcher. Check
Speaker 2: out that nineteen ninety seven season by Mike Piazza. That
Speaker 2: was a joke, that's how great he was. Mel Didier
Speaker 2: drafted him for the Dodgers, and again he got drafted
Speaker 2: in like the sixty eighth round. Mel Didier was the
Speaker 2: scout that found him, and it was pretty much done
Speaker 2: as a favor to Mike Piazza's father, who was a
Speaker 2: friend of Tony of Tommy Lasorda. That's how Mike Piazza
Speaker 2: ended up getting signed to play pro ball and then
Speaker 2: developed into again the greatest hitting catcher that's ever been
Speaker 2: in my opinion. So Mel told me he called Mike
Speaker 2: Piazza on Christmas Day once, like as Mike was like
Speaker 2: nineteen years old starting his assent to the major leagues,
Speaker 2: and his dad said, he's not here, He's out in
Speaker 2: the backyard hitting in the cage on Christmas Day. I mean,
Speaker 2: that's what you gotta do. Jeff and Mike Patzi. I
Speaker 2: told you Jeff had unbelievably strong hands. His second to
Speaker 2: the last stop in his major league career was with
Speaker 2: the Padres, and they had to take a hand strength
Speaker 2: test to determine how strong your hand is, and Mike
Speaker 2: Piazza like broke the club record by a mile at
Speaker 2: his Bruce Bochi then the Padres manager told me it
Speaker 2: was like Herman Munster was on our team, which, right,
Speaker 2: anytime you can get Herman Munster into our podcast, I'm
Speaker 2: in the most underrated sitcom character of all time. Boy,
Speaker 2: he made me laugh all those years. So happy birthday
Speaker 2: to Mike Piazza.
Speaker 1: I did a quick look into the NL MVP voting
Speaker 1: for that year. Dad, you're talking about nineteen ninety seven,
Speaker 1: Mike Piazza. He actually batted three sixty two, which just
Speaker 1: like that number doesn't even compute in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: But I'm like, how does he not win the MVP?
Speaker 1: And of course I pull it up Larry Walker. I
Speaker 1: had forty nine home runs. It's just kind of an
Speaker 1: unbelieve one hundred and thirty RBIs thirty three stolen bases.
Speaker 1: I heck of a year. So I mean it makes sense.
Speaker 1: But boyle boy, is that sad to see not see
Speaker 1: him win the MVP. But we could see an amazing
Speaker 1: year from a catcher this year and cal Rally could
Speaker 1: be really really great.
Speaker 2: Right Okay? And on this day, Jeff, in nineteen ninety three,
Speaker 2: Jim Abbott pitched a no hitter against then the Cleveland Indians,
Speaker 2: and we have Jim Abbott talking about that right now.
Speaker 3: Well, thanks for remembering that date. Tim. That's a that
Speaker 3: was a while back. But you know, I tell you,
Speaker 3: it's a really special date for me. I it was
Speaker 3: a Saturday morning. I woke up, went to the ballpark,
Speaker 3: Yankee Stadium. I hadn't had an incredible year that year
Speaker 3: with the Yankees. There was a little bit of frustration,
Speaker 3: I think on everybody's side, and that day changed my life.
Speaker 3: It really, it really did. And I you know that
Speaker 3: twenty seventh out, the connection with the Yankees organization, the
Speaker 3: connection with the city of New York, even, it just
Speaker 3: turned out to be a magical thing in my life.
Speaker 2: Jim, when Matt Noakes ran to the mound to hug
Speaker 2: you that day, you you looked at him and I
Speaker 2: can't read your lips. What did you say? How about that?
Speaker 2: What do you remember what you said when Matt Noakes
Speaker 2: ran to hug you on the mound?
Speaker 3: I do remember, only because I watched it recently with
Speaker 3: our with our friend Jeremy. Sure, but I said, how
Speaker 3: about that, baby, Yeah, something something along those lines.
Speaker 2: I think your previous start against the Indians, you got
Speaker 2: you got Clawbard, is that right? And then you threw
Speaker 2: a no hitter against them? Explain the mindset between these guys.
Speaker 2: Crushed me the last time out, and then you threw
Speaker 2: a no hitter.
Speaker 3: That's why anything can happen to McKinley, you know, because
Speaker 3: a lot of my teammates were not expecting a no
Speaker 3: hitter that next time out, and it was, you know,
Speaker 3: it was to him, it was. It was a low point.
Speaker 3: I really struggled against the Indians. They were a good
Speaker 3: up and coming team, you know, up and down. That
Speaker 3: lineup was very strong, and I pitched against them in
Speaker 3: Cleveland and nothing went right. I didn't didn't pitch well.
Speaker 3: Every ground ball seemed to find a hole, and all
Speaker 3: of a sudden, I don't remember the statistics, but I
Speaker 3: don't didn't last long that day, and I was really frustrated.
Speaker 3: I was really frustrated. I was down. I'd been traded
Speaker 3: from the Angels, which was really kind of my baseball home.
Speaker 3: I felt like I was letting the Yankee organization and
Speaker 3: down a little bit, and I went running. I left
Speaker 3: the stadium, like you're not supposed to do that, and
Speaker 3: I put on my running clothes and I left the
Speaker 3: stadium and we won the game. I came back Buck
Speaker 3: Show Walter wasn't too happy with me for leaving the stadium,
Speaker 3: and you know, the next outing there was you know,
Speaker 3: there was a to talk about how poorly I had
Speaker 3: pitched in August, and you know what I was I
Speaker 3: going to be able to hold my place in the
Speaker 3: rotation even And so that day I went to the
Speaker 3: stadium weirdly, a little bit looser, like the worst had happened,
Speaker 3: Like like I had. I felt like it. I'm not
Speaker 3: gonna say rock bottom, but it felt like I had
Speaker 3: kind of bounced off the bottom a little bit, and like,
Speaker 3: what what more could go wrong? And I had Matt
Speaker 3: Noakes behind the plate that day, and you have a
Speaker 3: great memory for that. He was enthusiastic, you know, positive guy,
Speaker 3: and we came up with a great, great game plan
Speaker 3: and you know, things just kind of went our way
Speaker 3: that day. Hard hit balls were at somebody and that
Speaker 3: trust finally, you know, started to come back, and the
Speaker 3: ball came out of my hand better as the game
Speaker 3: went on. And so anything can have. You know, what
Speaker 3: happens in your last outing does not dictate what happens
Speaker 3: the next time out.
Speaker 1: So that's it's just a clip of us chatting with
Speaker 1: Jim Abbott about that incredible day back thirty two years ago.
Speaker 2: Dad.
Speaker 1: I was roughly four weeks old at that time, because
Speaker 1: I was born August ninth, nineteen ninety three. But we're
Speaker 1: excited to announce that Jim Abbott is going to be
Speaker 1: our guest next week on the podcast, so you'll get
Speaker 1: the full interview for next week, right.
Speaker 2: Can't wait for that because Jim Abbott is one of
Speaker 2: the most inspirational players we've ever seen, an amazing man,
Speaker 2: one of the kindest people I've ever met. And we
Speaker 2: will talk at length with Jim Abbott next week. And
Speaker 2: the last one Jeff twenty nineteen Michael Lorenzen, pitcher who
Speaker 2: pitched a no hitter that you and your wife Emily
Speaker 2: watched as she was giving birth to McKinley Hope. You know,
Speaker 2: two years ago that date, on this date in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 2: Michael Lorenzen hit a home run, he got the victory
Speaker 2: as a pitcher, and he played center field, all in
Speaker 2: the same game. And the only other person that has
Speaker 2: ever done that was Babe Ruth in nineteen twenty one
Speaker 2: and Michael Lorenzo. Somebody made a real baseball card with
Speaker 2: two pictures on it, Babe Ruth and Michael Lorenzen as
Speaker 2: a tribute to that day and that event. At all
Speaker 2: the things he did and he looked at me, and
Speaker 2: he says, can it Can anything be better than having
Speaker 2: your own baseball card with only you and Babe Ruth
Speaker 2: on it? So cool?
Speaker 1: It's insane, all right, Dad, Let's jump in from Ozzy
Speaker 1: to Oral. We're counting down the best players at each number,
Speaker 1: from Ozzie Smith at one to Oral Herscheizer at fifty five.
Speaker 1: We are on number forty two, which I imagine is a
Speaker 1: pretty obvious one, but also difficult.
Speaker 2: It's difficult because Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer of
Speaker 2: all time. There is not a close second. He is
Speaker 2: the only unanimous Hall of Fame choice. So let's be
Speaker 2: clear that Marianno Rivera may this difficult, but Jackie Robinson
Speaker 2: has to be number forty two a because of what
Speaker 2: he did breaking the color barrier nineteen forty seven. And
Speaker 2: he was also a great player Jeff Rookie of the
Speaker 2: Year MVP played first base but mostly was a second
Speaker 2: baseman and was a great second baseman. Dave Anderson, the
Speaker 2: great columnists we used to work for the New York Times,
Speaker 2: once wrote that Jackie Robinson could beat you in more
Speaker 2: ways than any player in Major League history, and as
Speaker 2: far as athletes go Jeff. You know he played, was
Speaker 2: a great running back at UCLA. He was an All
Speaker 2: Pack ten basketball player. He was a great tennis player,
Speaker 2: a great golfer, and one of the best baseball players
Speaker 2: of all time. That's who number forty two, Jackie Robinson.
Speaker 2: Is not to mention how he paved the way. I mean,
Speaker 2: Frank Robinson told me once of Jackie Robinson. He said,
Speaker 2: the lesson that Jackie Robinson taught all of us about
Speaker 2: hatred and inclusion and how you get back at them
Speaker 2: for what they say to you is to go out
Speaker 2: there and beat them on the field, which is what
Speaker 2: he did and what Frank Robinson did, and what Hank
Speaker 2: Aaron did, and what so many others did. Jackie Robinson
Speaker 2: taught them how to do that. And that's why he's
Speaker 2: the greatest number forty two, because he's the most important
Speaker 2: player in the history of Major League Baseball.
Speaker 1: Number forty three. Who's the best player.
Speaker 2: To wear that odd number? But I've got Dennis Acresley
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame closer absolutely dominant in his days Jeff
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty nine ninety Those two seasons combined, he had
Speaker 2: eighty one saves. Try to follow this Jeff, he had
Speaker 2: eighty one saves and eighty base runners allowed for a
Speaker 2: two year period. He walked a total of seven guys
Speaker 2: in a two year period and gave up a total
Speaker 2: of eighty base runners and had eighty one saves. He
Speaker 2: told me after the ninety season, he goes, if anyone
Speaker 2: ever does that again, I'll kiss your ass, which that's
Speaker 2: not necessary here, Ack, but his point was well made.
Speaker 2: No one's ever going to do anything quite like that again.
Speaker 2: Is He was one of the greats ever and one
Speaker 2: of the funniest people I've ever met, one of the
Speaker 2: most honest people. Always faced Music famously gave up the
Speaker 2: home run to Kirk Gibson in the eighty nine World
Speaker 2: Series that turned that World Series around. And as I've
Speaker 2: told you, Jeff, it's the first time I had ever
Speaker 2: heard the term walk off homer, and it came from
Speaker 2: Dennis Secrets League. Maybe a lot of other people had
Speaker 2: heard it. I had never heard it. I was in
Speaker 2: the scrum after the game and he said, well, the
Speaker 2: guy had a walk off homer. So I said to Eck,
Speaker 2: I said, what do you mean. He goes, well, he
Speaker 2: hit a home run and everyone walked off the field.
Speaker 2: So that's the first time I'd ever heard it after
Speaker 2: one of the most famous home runs in baseball history.
Speaker 2: I also love this. Jeff Debti Secresy picked off Kenny Williams,
Speaker 2: who was with I believe the Blue Jays time not
Speaker 2: important three and then he went three and a half
Speaker 2: years without picking off anybody. And then the next guy
Speaker 2: he picked off was Kenny Williams. How great is that?
Speaker 2: So perfect? Right? Only only in baseball can something that
Speaker 2: strange happened, and it happened to Dennis Eckersley and Kenny Williams.
Speaker 1: The best of all tim Each week on Thursday's episodes,
Speaker 1: we give you the best player at every single franchise
Speaker 1: in history of that franchise. And today, Dad, you're doing
Speaker 1: the Expos slash Nationals franchise.
Speaker 2: Who you going to? And this was difficult too, because
Speaker 2: you got Andre Dawson, you got Tim Rains from Montreal Days,
Speaker 2: and a bunch of others from National Days. Of course,
Speaker 2: Bryce Harper was amazing. Greatest national of all time for
Speaker 2: me is Ryan Zimmerman. But I'm going with Gary Carter,
Speaker 2: who was an amazing player for over ten years with
Speaker 2: the Expos. He kind of put them on the map.
Speaker 2: When they brought him up, that's when they started to
Speaker 2: get pretty darn good. He's one of the Hall of
Speaker 2: Fame catcher, one of the great catchers ever. I mean,
Speaker 2: people compare him. He's he was as good as Bill Dickie,
Speaker 2: people will tell you, and Bill Dickie is one of
Speaker 2: the great great Yankee catchers of all time. Nobody presented
Speaker 2: himself better than Gary Carter, big, strong, athletic. Love Gary
Speaker 2: Carter in every way. And this is for Doug Anderson,
Speaker 2: one of our listeners who met Gary Carter and met
Speaker 2: his family and just was absolutely touched by the whole experience.
Speaker 2: So Doug, this is for you. This is why we
Speaker 2: chose the Expos Nationals this week so we could do
Speaker 2: a little shout out to the great Gary Carter. And
Speaker 2: by the way, when Gary Carter was in the minor leagues,
Speaker 2: Barry Foot was the catcher. Foote was the catcher for
Speaker 2: the Expos and cal McLish, who was the pitching coach,
Speaker 2: used to say to Barry Foot, who was the everyday
Speaker 2: catcher for the Expos, You would say to him, you know,
Speaker 2: the kid hit two home runs last night talking about
Speaker 2: Gary Carter, and the next day come in and go.
Speaker 2: You know, the kid had two hits last night and
Speaker 2: threw out a runner. That's how Gary Carter got the
Speaker 2: nickname the kid is that cal McLeish, the pitching coach
Speaker 2: for the Expos, would warn Barry Foot every day, like
Speaker 2: the young guy is on his way. You better pick
Speaker 2: up your game no matter what. So in honor of
Speaker 2: Barry Foot, we have, let's see if you can guess
Speaker 2: fairly obvious, the all body Parts All body Parts team.
Speaker 2: And there are some stretches here as always Jeff, but
Speaker 2: Barry Foot is the catcher Corey Hart. We're playing at
Speaker 2: first base, and the second basement is chin lung who
Speaker 2: that's chi n hyphen l u n G. So we
Speaker 2: have two body parts. We have a chin and we
Speaker 2: have a lung. And who's spells his lame hu. But
Speaker 2: when he reached base as a member of the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: Vince Scully said, I can now finally say who is
Speaker 2: on first?
Speaker 1: Was on first?
Speaker 2: We love right? Okay. Third baseman is Dave Brain real name.
Speaker 2: He's on the All Smart team, but he's also on
Speaker 2: the All Bardi Part team. I needed a couple of
Speaker 2: nicknames because I love nicknames. These are two of the
Speaker 2: best Leo the lip durocher is our shortstop Walt no
Speaker 2: Neck Williams, who I grew up watching. Waul Williams didn't
Speaker 2: have a deck. It's like they put his head on
Speaker 2: top of his shoulders. He was a really good player
Speaker 2: and really fun to watch. Shin Sue Chew that's s
Speaker 2: h I N. So we have a chin and a shin.
Speaker 2: Sue Chew is one outfielder. Jared Head is another outfielder,
Speaker 2: h e A. D Our pitchers are Bill Hands, who
Speaker 2: missed pitching to Barry Foot by like two years. The
Speaker 2: overlap is Jeff Seriously, how good would that have been?
Speaker 2: Bill Hands pitching to Barry Foot?
Speaker 1: We just miss We would have been even better if
Speaker 1: there was a pitcher catcher combination of Brad Hand currently
Speaker 1: pitching a major league baseball hand and foot right hand
Speaker 1: pitches to foot right.
Speaker 2: I think that would be even better. It'd be great.
Speaker 2: So we have Bill Hands as one of our pitcher
Speaker 2: rich Hand singular but it's not Hands can't use the
Speaker 2: same name twice. And of course our Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: closer Raleigh Fingers. So that is the all body parts team,
Speaker 2: and I just love that. Our listeners and our viewers
Speaker 2: love this part of the show. It's now a challenge
Speaker 2: for me to come up with one for not just
Speaker 2: every Tuesday, but every Thursday.
Speaker 3: Also.
Speaker 2: I've had more stretches of Willie McCovey here. But we're trying, Jeff.
Speaker 1: We are trying.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: You can always submit one great game or what dot
Speaker 1: com if you want to chey, I'm in there. You
Speaker 1: can do so. We love hearing from you, and I
Speaker 1: know my dad has really loved being able to respond
Speaker 1: to your messages now that we figured all that out,
Speaker 1: so great gamer dot com. As we mentioned earlier next
Speaker 1: week on the show, Jim Abbott is going to be
Speaker 1: joining us. I'm so excited for that, Dad, and that's
Speaker 1: coming up next week. Dad, enjoy your weekend.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Jeff, see you soon.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. It is always thanks for being a
Speaker 1: part of our family.