2 Guys Talking Baseball
Dallas Danger and Brian Logan discuss the game of baseball. Two fans, two personalities, Two Guys!
2 Guys Talking Baseball
Lollygaggers!
How do the Chicago Cubs navigate a challenging season with a combined no-hitter and ongoing issues at third base? In this lively episode of "Two Guys Talking Baseball in Morristown," Dallas Danger and Brian Logan break down the highs and lows of the Cubs' performance, including Doretti’s struggles at third base and Brian's cautious optimism for their wildcard hopes. We also dive into Aaron Judge's memorable appearance on "Rebel and Crew" and Paul Skeen's dramatic umpire encounter. Plus, we dust off an old favorite, "Bull Durham," and share its timeless appeal and Kevin Costner's dedication to his role.
Switching gears to the West Coast, we dissect the Los Angeles Dodgers' playoff prospects. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto's critical return and the roles of Walker Bueller and Clayton Kershaw, the team's resilience shines through despite Bobby Miller's recent struggles. We discuss the Dodgers' potential to reach 100 wins this season, while also addressing the stark contrast to the Chicago White Sox's disheartening decline and dwindling fan engagement. Young prospect Miguel Vargas's transition from the successful Dodgers to the struggling White Sox provides a poignant backdrop to our discussion.
Baseball purists and tech enthusiasts alike will find our debate on MLB umpires enlightening. We tackle the persistent issues with subjective calls, emphasizing the potential benefits of integrating technology for accuracy and fairness. From the notorious Angel Hernandez to the controversial Doug Eddings, we critique the umpiring landscape while expressing hope for the sport’s future, bolstered by the positive influence of international players. Finally, join us as we reflect on the nostalgic charm of "Bull Durham," its depiction of baseball culture, and Kevin Costner's passion for the game, with Brian adding a fun musical twist to wrap up our episode.
Hello, welcome inside the Three Crows Studios in Morristown, tennessee. This is Two Guys Talking Baseball. My name is Dallas Danger and I am joined as always by my best friend and colleague, Brian Logan. Brian, I'm loving the Durham Bulls get-up today.
Speaker 2:It's a great week for baseball.
Speaker 1:That was actually pretty true this week it was.
Speaker 2:It was very good this week. I was a little worried.
Speaker 1:Brian knows this, but you listeners and viewers won't know this until I tell you, so I'm going to tell you. I was a little worried this week. We got to really like Tuesday night and I was like man, it feels like nothing's happened this week. What are we going to talk about?
Speaker 1:But we came up with some creative ideas and then between Tuesday night and today, I've come up with about as many bullet points as we normally have. Right, there you go, things normalized, and we're very excited. We're going to talk more White Sox. We're done having fun with the White Sox. It's not fun anymore guys, we are.
Speaker 2:It's not with the.
Speaker 1:White Sox. It's not fun anymore, guys. We are, it's not. We're going to talk a little Aaron Judge Checking in on him, since he was on what was it called Rebel and Crew, I think, the Paw Patrol spinoff that we talked about. And then Paul Skeen's had an interesting interaction with an umpire and we're going to talk about that. And then sort of the big icing on the cake today is we, uh, brian and I and not that we had never seen this flick before, we'd seen it many times, obviously but we sat down last night and, uh, together watched bull durham. It's the first time I've watched it in a while and it is my favorite movie, and I know that sounds crazy to some people to go. I mean it's. It maybe has been two years since I've seen my favorite movie.
Speaker 1:I know a lot of people are like that's crazy. I watch my favorite movie three times a year. I get it, but I just don't watch movies. Brian knows this.
Speaker 2:I'm not a movie guy, I'm a TV show guy more than anything.
Speaker 1:I like watching the same shows over and over again because I don't have to pay attention. They can just be on in the background. I'm one of those people that's, they can just be on in the background. I'm one of those people. But that's all on the slate for today. But before we get into that, as we do at the top of every show, brian, let's check in. I mean today, you've got to be feeling pretty good about the Cubs after what happened yesterday.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, the Cubs are doing okay. They combined no hitter, scored a bunch of runs there and looked good at Wrigley. That was one of the things that they were having problems with was scoring runs at home, because Wrigley, you know she's a fickle bitch and she'll give us and take us away Absolutely. They were struggling a little bit, but they got. I think they scored 12 last night yeah, 12-0. Yeah, so they did pretty well there. I'm happy that Lopez is not.
Speaker 2:I'm not happy he's hurt, but I'm happy he's on the IL so we don't have to let him pitch anymore. I don't want him to be hurt. Is he hurt?
Speaker 1:or is he hurt?
Speaker 2:No, he's hurt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I know it was a groin or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah it was a groin pull. Two days later he pitches terrible and they're like oh, we better put him on the aisle, yeah well, the groin was the excuse the whole time, from the way you kind of told me, I didn't see the game or hear the commentary on it, but it sounds like the groin was the excuse for everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was. So if it's that bad, I mean here's the thing, his grunt wasn't bothering him with the Mets and he was pretty terrible there too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'm just not real high on him, but I am high on the rest of the boys. And they were looking really, really good last night. Most of the rest of the boys, most of them. Yeah, we got a problem at third base.
Speaker 1:You're really hot and cold so far on Doretti.
Speaker 2:I really am. I mean he comes in, he delivers a little bit, but then he just looks miserable and then he makes three errors last night and here's the thing Three errors in a game that they had well in control and could have been a perfect game.
Speaker 1:And say what you want about combined no-hitters and things like that, go yell at Cloud's grandpa. The game has changed for the better. It's just part of the game now and it's funny. It seems like the Cubs have more combined no-hitters than anybody else lately. They're kind of the kings of the combined no-hitter. Now they combined no-hit the Dodgers. What last year, two years ago?
Speaker 2:Yeah, but they hadn't done it at Wrigley since 72.
Speaker 1:Right First no-hitter at Wrigley in over 50 years is a big deal. We talk about it all the time. That's such a loyal fan base out there, they deserve that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, but we're trucking right along. I mean, it's a little bipolar One day we're in, one day we're out. You know it's a little bipolar One day we're in, one day we're out. You know, it's just typical Cubs baseball.
Speaker 1:Well, here's the thing. I mean, we're in September. Now it's crunch time. The Cubs are in it. It's going to take, you know, their best and some help along the way, obviously, but they're within shouting distance of a wildcard spot. Yeah, and you know, not that much baseball left to play, but there's still baseball left to play. So you know I mean, we've seen it before Teams sneak in at the very end and the next thing you know they're in the World Series.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. We'll just see what happens. We'll just take it day by day and, God willing, we'll just hope that it helps the club each day and we'll just see where we are come October.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. Sometimes it rains.
Speaker 2:Folks, if you're not okay with Bull Durham references.
Speaker 1:you probably should just leave now Because it's going to be a long one for you if that's the case. But you know one of the reasons before I get into my Dodger talk for the week, one of the reasons that we decided when we were trying to come up with what to talk about this week.
Speaker 1:One of the reasons we decided to watch a movie and talk about it was that's something we have kicked around the idea of doing on our Patreon and we thought this would be a cool little free preview Peep behind the curtain. We you know now that we're on every platform that we know to be on our numbers are as high as they've been, you know, since we returned a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1:Yes, brian, you came up with a pretty good idea. I thought to maybe entice some of these new listeners to give the Patreon a try.
Speaker 2:So if you want to try out the Patreon, but you've just been on the fence and you haven't been real sure what to do, well, we're going to help you out. Seven days from today starting today, starting right now, from the time you've heard my voice, till seven days from now. You can use promo code go, cubs, go, of course, and you can get half off. And get the patreon at half off, which is like two bucks dollar fifty, somewhere in that range there you go.
Speaker 2:So it is you're. You're literally risking nothing to get some good stories and try it out and you get full access to it for that. The sale is just for seven days, but you continue the access.
Speaker 1:Right, and I have to point out and dwell a little bit on the fact that my team, the Dodgers, win 100 games every year. Brian's team is good one year and they get the promo code.
Speaker 2:Of course Go, cubs. Go is the promo code.
Speaker 1:Yeah, patreoncom slash 2GTV. Use that promo code for the next seven days. Go Cubs.
Speaker 2:Go. Get a little deal there, Give it a try, you know I mean.
Speaker 1:I think you can tell by our pricing model that we're not trying to gouge you for money. We're really trying to give you bang for your buck here. That is a theme with us. When we ask for money, we want to give you something of value for your money.
Speaker 2:I mean, the story about the demon is worth a buck.
Speaker 1:Sure, or I mean even the original, you know, 11, 12 episodes.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:That's worth a couple bucks, you know, right there. You know there's some good stuff there. You know we talked about a lot of cool stuff. We had some cool interviews. You know we talked to a guy named Dave. His last name escapes me. I'm so sorry. I have done a lot of damage to my brain cells over the years and I apologize.
Speaker 1:But Dave had just accomplished visiting all 30 current Major League ballparks, right, and I thought what better way to celebrate that than to come on to you know Shlub's podcast and talk about it Right and we found out that he had gone well beyond that and had seen games overseas and it was just a great conversation with a guy that we had never met, right.
Speaker 1:I just saw him on the internet and was like, do you want to talk about it? And he was like, absolutely, and it was just so cool how it came together. And you know we had a great talk and he's a big Cleveland Guardians fan and you know goes to a lot I mean, there's a lot of baseball around that area too so he attends a lot of games there but travels to go to games and just has made a, really I mean it's an accomplishment the number of parks he's been to.
Speaker 1:So that's just one example accomplishment the number of parks he's been to. So that's just one example of you know. And then there were two episodes of married with baseball, the podcast Brian did with his wife briefly after we went on our hiatus and you know we've done some extra content.
Speaker 1:We're going to continue to do extra content and uh, yeah, later when we talk about the movie bull Durham, we will uh give you a little preview, Cause I think that's something we're going to try to do now on a little bit more regular basis. I don't know, We've not poured as much into our Patreon because we're trying to make sure we keep enough to do and to talk about to keep us afloat in the off-season.
Speaker 2:There's more to come on Patreon as soon as the series is over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean we're going to, we're, we're going to, we're going to add more as much as we can. I mean we're, we're humans, we're busy and at the end of the day, we we have to make a living too. So you know until this makes that living for us, you know Right. Makes that living for us, you know Right. We got to do other things and I like doing other things. I do a lot of cool shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're a very busy man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I've started introducing myself as a.
Speaker 2:Renaissance man, because I do a little bit of everything. Good, you can paint my house next week.
Speaker 1:No, that's not really on my business card, oh.
Speaker 2:Well, I thought Renaissance man house needs painted. You're the guy.
Speaker 1:I mean you could hire Greg Maddox, but he'd only paint the corners.
Speaker 2:That's right. I knew there was a reference in there, but all right, how do you feel about the Dodgers this week?
Speaker 1:Okay, so you know and I think I mentioned this last week I've felt like a little bit of a broken record lately on the Dodgers because it's been sort of the same story for a while, but some new developments in the last seven days. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is returning on Tuesday, which is huge.
Speaker 1:And I think gives him enough time to get stretched out at least relatively well before October. And a lot of people get hung up on that first start he had in Korea. That did not go well, which was the one time he looked anything other than incredible this season. He was really one of the best pitchers in the game when he got hurt, that's a huge addition to this roster.
Speaker 1:Addition to this roster. With the injuries, the starting pitching depth has been questionable. Now do I think it's as questionable as it was last year? Absolutely not. This isn't Clayton Kershaw, needing surgery, rookie Bobby Miller and Lance Lynn, who can do anything in the world Except not give up home runs. That ain't what this rotation is going to look like in October, even if there are injuries still. There would have to be quite a few For us to be. But, with that said, I think the fan standpoint is Bobby Miller shouldn't get anywhere near a playoff start or any playoffs.
Speaker 1:No, not at all, and that's a shame. I think Bobby's got a lot of potential. The stuff is there, that's the thing. When he's not melting down he looks really fantastic. So there's sort of this weird dichotomy and it really comes down to. You know, the control of the fastball has really been the problem. You know, teeing off on that fastball and he's not throwing enough strikes with the other pitches to the hitters basically are just sitting fastball, they're waiting on the fastball and when they get it they're driving it. I mean, that's just the long and short of it. So you know, walker Bueller has looked better as of late. Do I think his role will be as a starter if we're at full health or close to it? I don't. His role will be as a starter If we're at full health or close to it, I don't. But I could see a scenario where Walker Bueller Is really valuable out of the bullpen.
Speaker 2:For an inning, maybe two innings.
Speaker 1:Whatever the situation is, yamamoto is big. The information we've been getting About Glasnow has been really vague and it's gotten me worried, but there does seem to be a confidence that he'll be back and I saw earlier today that Clayton Kershaw has said he is willing to start His throwing program While he's still in a walking boot. That's how determined he is to get back and you can say whatever you want. Don't give me this crap narrative that he's no good in the playoffs, because if you take away the series where they knew what was coming, he's actually pretty stinking good in October.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I agree with that.
Speaker 1:And the last time we saw him in October was the worst start he's ever had in October.
Speaker 2:But, again.
Speaker 1:He knew at that point he needed shoulder surgery, Right, but the team needed somebody to put out there and that's just what we, that's just how it was, you know, and I don't think he deserves the I don't know disrespect that he gets about his performance in the postseason.
Speaker 1:You know, I mean, he's one of the greatest pictures of all time. I mean, you know, if Sandy Koufax was never born, he's probably the best lefty of all time, Right? You know, I mean, it's hard to argue Koufax, but Kershaw's had the longevity that Koufax didn't have. So, yeah, so the pitching Is what it is right now, but I think we're going to be in a good shape when we need it. I don't know, we've got 22 games left. If we go, 16 and six, which is pretty good, but it's not out of the question. The way we've been playing lately, we're going to win a hundred games again.
Speaker 1:Right, and that tells me that we might not get there, but we're going to get a lot closer and I think a lot of people thought at certain points in the season we were going to get to 100 wins again. Kudos to the Dodgers for just doing what they do. This is something Brian and I have talked about a lot lately, because I have found myself lately watching more games or parts of games that have nothing to do with the Dodgers, and the way the culture of not just teams but the broadcasts, like the home broadcast for teams, is so vastly different, because if the Dodgers go down five, six to nothing they're talking about well, this is how they get back in it.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. And we talked about how the Cubs they give up five runs and they're looking for cute babies in the crowd.
Speaker 2:Yeah, quality babies.
Speaker 1:They're well-versed in killing time when the game is not the most entertaining thing for people to see. And then you talked about. The Rays are just kind of.
Speaker 2:Just in the middle. They don't go either way.
Speaker 1:They just call the play, they just call the play and keep going. So you know and I say this all the time I'm spoiled to get to watch this team every day. That's why I do it. You know, I mean, I wasn't always a daily watcher, but it reached a point where it was like I mean, why not?
Speaker 1:You know, this is history, every day with this team you know, and sure that might mean that you're listening to this and you just can't stand the Dodgers. And that's fine too. You're entitled to that opinion. It's a wrong one, but you're entitled to it. All joking aside, that's where the vigor comes from other fan bases, because if we weren't any good, they wouldn't have any material. Why would they be trying to chop us down if we weren't any good?
Speaker 2:We were good every now and then. Yeah, they definitely have a reputation and that's why because they are good- and another conversation Brian and I had yesterday.
Speaker 1:It's organizational. I mean it goes from the top all the way down to the field, all the way to the grounds crew. I mean it's an organization that you know they spend their money on the field, don't get me wrong. But it's the coaches, it's the scouts. I mean the voice of the Dodgers is the voice of baseball. Yeah, as it should be, because for 67 years that's how it was, because it was Ben Scully, right, right. Seven years that's how it was because it was Vince Scully.
Speaker 1:Now Joe Davis has taken that helm, I guess over from Joe Buck, which I think makes a lot of people happy.
Speaker 2:Makes me happy.
Speaker 1:That's the standard Every spot. If you work for the Dodgers in any capacity, that's the standard. It's a high standard. So I'm spoiled and I'm. I mean, this is playoff baseball right now. The last two weeks, maybe even three weeks for the Dodgers has been playoff baseball.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because even the teams that are out of it are gunning. I mean because, as Mookie Betts said at the outset of the season, teams like the Angels, the Dodgers, are their World Series. That's as close as they're getting to meaningful baseball and they want nothing more than to beat the Dodgers and be able to say, well, we beat the Dodgers, we beat the billion-dollar team, however you want to frame it and for the Angels there's that added we beat Shohei and say what you want about all that, but it kind of is what it is.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I'm feeling good still.
Speaker 1:We're playing good baseball and it looks like we're getting healthy and getting hot at the absolute right time, and I'm ready. September can't get over soon enough for me, because I'm ready. It's playoff time, baby. We're there, through all the twists and turns of a season from late.
Speaker 1:February when you start spring training. Until now it's been a gosh, you know, it felt like it's been 10 years, but it's time. I mean, we're right there on the cusp of playoff baseball and the Dodgers are any day now, I guess, going to clinch a playoff berth. Right, you know, the division is still, you know, up for grabs, but you know not as much. Well, I guess, going to clinch a playoff berth. The division is still up for grabs, but not as much. We've still got to play the Padres three games. That's probably going to decide that division at the end of the day. Those three games, that's just how it goes when you keep it this tight. You've got to. We should have known this division was going to be this good because, yeah, the Dodgers spent a billion but there were two other teams in the top five spenders that are in the NL West.
Speaker 1:So it's been a pretty long season, like I said, a lot of twists and turns, but I'm ready for playoff baseball. Yeah, I'm ready for it too, I'm ready to get my heart broken again, Brian.
Speaker 2:Well that might happen. That might absolutely happen, but we hope not, you know. I mean, what are you going to do if we make it there and we put you out?
Speaker 1:Oh gosh, I don't want to think about that.
Speaker 2:I mean it's going to take a miracle. But you know, hey, you're saying we got a chance.
Speaker 1:No, the Cubs absolutely have a shot. You know, I mean, the teams in front of them are some of the hottest teams in baseball right now.
Speaker 2:So that's the obstacle is, you can win nine out of ten and still be four games back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it's hard to gain ground in that race right now. You know, and I think that might be what ends up, getting the Cubs is too little, too late. Yeah, but you know they're in it.
Speaker 2:That's what gets them every year. Too little, too late, All right.
Speaker 1:So I guess we're going to get into things now. We're going to go over to the south side of Chicago for a little bit. We've spent a lot of time on the south side of Chicago on this podcast recently.
Speaker 2:We really have. But I mean, they're just doing such great things over there. That club is just coming right along. They are really redefining what it's like to be in the settler.
Speaker 1:Well, for every campfire milkshake there is a. The whitex have just gone full. White Sox Shout out to the Orioles broadcast the other night for that little gem that just sort of encapsulates just how despicably bad this White Sox team is. And for them to trade away as much as they did at the deadline, when they were already knocking on the door of worst record in history. Yeah, brian, in their last 50 games, their last 50, they've won five.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Five and 45, their last 50 games Wow that's tough. That's really tough. We are really. You know. I said they were knocking on the door before the trade deadline. They are barreling towards a door that they are going to run through as perhaps the worst team in baseball history.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, and I think that's really the conversation we want to have today is and we've not done research on this, we're just going off of our own opinion and what we've seen in our lifetime, I guess. But are the White Sox the worst team in Major League Baseball?
Speaker 2:history, brian. Yes, I think they are. I think they are, and not only that, I think we need to commit a big chunk of the offseason to why. Let's get to the bottom of this.
Speaker 1:Why yeah?
Speaker 2:Why are they so bad? They don't have to be this bad.
Speaker 1:No, well, here's the thing. They were pretty stinking good just a few years ago, mm-hmm, but that team's gone. Yeah, you know Tim Anderson is sitting at home without a job, which is mind-blowing. You know he was one of the faces of the league two years ago. That's just baseball for you, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, here today, gone tomorrow.
Speaker 1:But you know it's it's. It's bad man, it's. It's not good out there. It's not good out there In a league filled with some of the worst sports team owners you could imagine looking at you, john.
Speaker 2:Fisher, artie Moreno.
Speaker 1:This is an ownership group that has just abandoned their fan base, abandoned them Again. Some of that's out of their control, because they were committed to players that just weren't getting the job done anymore, and there's only so much you can do at that point.
Speaker 2:Well, I got a good question for you. Okay, I'm going to put you on the spot with your Google machine. What's the average attendance in July for them, in July, in July? And then let's see what it was in August, let's see how far it dipped down, because then we're going to find out if the fans have really just said to heck with it. You know, because that's the real measuring stick. If you can't win and you're not in a chase, then the attendance and the sales is what really matters. So I put him on the spot. He's very quick with the Google machine, but I mean there's a lot of teams out there You're thinking hundreds of years of teams and this team happens to be the worst. That says something.
Speaker 1:Okay, I don't know that I'm going to answer your question directly, but if you let me skim this article real quick, I think I might have okay, all right, some semblance of an answer. So, okay, bam for the people okay.
Speaker 2:So yeah, um, but I again, if you're a diehard fan, I mean I guess if the Cubs were completely losing I would still watch them. So I mean, do you fall? I guess the question is, do you fall in and out of love with the Southsiders? Do you completely give up on them when they're playing as bad as they are? Do you just throw it up and say, okay, I'm going to watch baseball, but there's always next season, because that's the thing. They could come back next season and just be the top thing and win 100. Who knows? I mean I doubt it, but they could.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is from frontofficesportscom and they're kind of breaking down a lot of what's going wrong for the White Sox. It seems to be a very dense article but a lot of bullet points, which I appreciate because I was able to find their take on the ticket sales aspect pretty quickly and I'm just going to read it verbatim All right, let's hear it.
Speaker 1:Again, this is frontofficesportscom Home attendance at Guaranteed Rate Field for the White Sox is down by more than 18% this season and, despite operating in the number three US medium market, the team's per game average of slightly more than 17,000.
Speaker 2:Not very good, no.
Speaker 1:Is the fourth worst in the league. That beats only the Rays, marlins and A's all clubs that have perennially struggled in this area, which is true. Those are probably the three worst attended teams every year. Right, it doesn't matter if they're any good or not. Right On Wednesday afternoon the White Sox completed a game suspended by weather the previous evening. The actual turnout for those final innings numbered only in the dozens, recalling sparse atmosphere at many MLB games during parts of the. Covid pandemic. Let me click on this link.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean in the dozens to come back after a weather delay.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's just a picture of like an empty ballpark. Yeah, this must have been the day that that other picture was going around.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:It was like nobody was there, like you were literally counting. How many people there were, and I know some people were making jokes, but like I saw people that were like, I legitimately count less than 100 people in that picture. Yeah, oh yeah, and in that picture, yeah, oh yeah, and granted, that doesn't account for people that aren't in frame when you take the photo, but there aren't 20,000 people in the context.
Speaker 2:Let's put it this way Some small independent wrestling shows outdrew what they drew after the rain delay. Wow, wow, wow, I mean, think about that. I can't believe I got that out without naming a single promotion and putting them over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good for you for not calling anybody on the carpet on a podcast that has nothing to do with wrestling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm with you, man. I'm on fire today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know, one of my favorite slash least favorite things about this whole debacle on the south side is Miguel Vargas a young, pretty promising hitting prospect at the deadline was traded from the Dodgers and this is going to sound biased, but it's really objective who are really one of the better teams in baseball history when you look at what they're doing year in and year out for this whole run. Right, he went from that to again we're talking about. Is this the worst team ever? And I've seen it's like every other day I see a new picture or video of him looking like somebody killed his mom, his dad and his dog at the same time, like he looks? He looks horribly depressed and who could blame him?
Speaker 2:But does he look more happy than Paredes?
Speaker 1:I don't know man, that's a tough one. I don't think Paredes could possibly look more miserable than Vargas looks in Chicago, right, right.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm going to work on that. I'm going to give us a side-by-side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we need some side-by-sides. We need some comparison here, visual comparison. So we need some side-by-sides. We need some comparison here, visual comparison. So for me, here's the thing. The eye test tells us this is the worst team we've ever seen. I've never seen a team this bad.
Speaker 1:I haven't either. I mean I've seen some bad teams. Don't get me wrong. This is embarrassing. I mean it's humiliating how bad they are If they get the worst record, the worst winning percentage, for a season. I don't think there's any way you can give that distinction to anybody else. They're only being compared to teams from the 1800s and the early 1900s. In anything I've seen. We talk about how the game has changed in our lifetime.
Speaker 1:It's not the same game as back then. And I don't even mean on the field, I mean a lot of the players were still working jobs, right Like for a lot of those guys, baseball wasn't even their primary source of income.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:You know, it was more of a hobby to an extent, because of the way they got paid or didn't get paid, you know, depending on how you want to frame it. Yeah, man, unless they go on a tear and they won last night. Yeah, but unless the White Sox go on a tear, I don't think there's any way you can say anybody else, at least not in memory, was any worse than this team.
Speaker 2:No, I agree. I think let's just go ahead and say it they're the worst of all time. It'll go down to 2024, White Sox.
Speaker 1:That's bad, oh man. I mean this is a playoff team just a few years ago. Yeah Well, bad decisions. I mean I remember sitting in a hotel room somewhere in West Virginia with you watching that Field of Dreams game when Tim Anderson hit the walk-off.
Speaker 2:Right Against the.
Speaker 1:Yankees.
Speaker 2:You know who are, like you know supposed to be anyways, like the standard bearer in the American League Right, and you know in ways they are Good ball club, at least you know Aaron Judge, john Carlos Stanton, even back then.
Speaker 1:But that was an exciting game and it was two good ball clubs and it was fun to watch. It was fun to watch a White Sox game.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was.
Speaker 1:And that was not that long ago. It seems like it happened really quick.
Speaker 2:It did. They went downhill and hey, when they do it, they do it right. They're in the basement. They said let's go down and be the worst team ever. They just took it all to the basement.
Speaker 1:I guess, man, if you're going to do something, do it right.
Speaker 1:If you're going to be bad, be the best you can be at being bad. There's a flip side to that trade too. Talking about Miguel Vargas, because Michael Kopech came from the White Sox to the Dodgers and didn't have really impressive numbers had been better recently, you know, leading up to the trade at least and he's come to the Dodgers and been downright unhittable most of the time. Come to the Dodgers and been downright unhittable most of the time, and he's probably positioned to be the guy you trust the most in October right now, if you're Dave.
Speaker 2:Roberts, I mean, there's other good arms there.
Speaker 1:Don't get me wrong. Evan Phillips seems to have figured it out. Blake Trinan has just got the nastiest stuff you've ever seen. His slider constantly gets called a video game slider, and that's with reason, because it doesn't look like a human being in real life should be able to make a ball do what it does when he throws that slider. Daniel Hudson is a rock.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of good bullpen arms there but I think on the trust tree Kopech's at the top. So he was invigorated to get out of the Southside and come to a contending team. That saw a role for him on a championship.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he won the lottery. We said that before he won the virtual lottery. He sure did.
Speaker 1:He sure did man. So yeah, I guess in our opinion officially now, the 2024 White Sox are the worst team in Major League Baseball history.
Speaker 2:Yes, I feel like we need a wah wah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was thinking the yay in confetti. The most dubious honor ever. Yes, man. All right so I brought up Aaron Judge. Let's talk about Aaron Judge.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:We were right on top of covering his appearance animated into a Paw Patrol spinoff show with his actual real life dogs, one of which was voiced by his wife, right, super cool, really great thing, and he talks so much about what a great experience it was, and to share that with his family and his own parents and everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, these numbers are as of a couple days ago, yeah, okay. So you know we might be behind and I haven't seen anything from the last two days. So maybe he came out of it and has hit 12 home runs in the last two days. I don't know. Well, we wouldn't know if he did that. But you get what I'm saying. Right, right, right Okay, in 27 at-bats, since I think it's called rubble and crew.
Speaker 1:If I'm getting that wrong, I'm sorry, but you know I don't do a lot of research for this show guys, we just kind of pull that out of our ass. Spoiler alert. So Aaron Judge, 27 at bats since appearing on the Paw Patrol spinoff, has a 185 batting average, a 259 slug, which is like the opposite of Aaron Judge. You know, typically over 700 towards 750 is league average. So that is like a fraction of league average. Like that is well below average 3.13 on base, which is still pretty good. You know, when you're hitting 185, but you're hitting on base 30% of the time, that says people still fear him and are pitching around him sometimes. Five hits, five walks, 13 strikeouts In 27 and bad it's 13 strikeouts, no home runs, two RBIs. Man, that cartoon messed him up, it just messed his numbers completely up.
Speaker 2:I mean, maybe he enjoyed the cartoon world too much and didn't come back to reality.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a possibility. I guess it's just one of those weird things. I'm sure the cartoon premiering has nothing to do with it, but what if it does?
Speaker 2:But what if it does? But what if it?
Speaker 1:does. Yeah, exactly, that's why we're talking about it. Yeah, so it's wild. I mean, he started a little rough at the very beginning of the year maybe the first month, I want to say but he's just been in another dimension since then. I mean he's putting up numbers that don't look real Right. I mean almost a 10 war and you know, like a 1200 OPS.
Speaker 2:And I'm not exaggerating those are real numbers.
Speaker 1:Those are his actual numbers for the season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know which doesn't you know, make any sense.
Speaker 1:Again. Ops averages, you know, just over 700 to 750 usually, so to be hitting almost double that for an entire season is like I mean good grief man.
Speaker 2:He's on another level.
Speaker 1:But here lately, you know, it's dipped a little bit, thanks to Paw Patrol.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Paw Patrol has really took him off the game, so to speak. We'll see if it did.
Speaker 1:And you know they're still battling for position. I mean they're right in it with the Orioles for the division and like the top overall seed.
Speaker 2:I was going to say Paw Patrol, but I couldn't get it out quick enough and I knew it was going to piss you off. But anyway, go ahead. The Orioles, so the battle with the Orioles.
Speaker 1:The Orioles are looking great yeah.
Speaker 2:That's my pick.
Speaker 1:Yeah, really good ball club, I mean really good ball club and they're so tight that one game Could be the difference in. You have a bye and you have home field Through the entire American League playoffs and you're Playing in a wild card series.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know Having to win a best of three.
Speaker 2:Just to get in.
Speaker 1:Just to, just to get to where the Yankees are automatically, or whoever wins, it is automatically.
Speaker 2:So that's big.
Speaker 1:And if he doesn't get it right, they're kind of doomed and doomed in a season where there's a little bit of a sense of urgency for the Yankees, because who knows what happens with Juan Soto this offseason? Right, because it looked like the goal was to extend him before he got to free agency. Then, all of a sudden, the Yankees are coming out and saying that their current roster and current payroll is not sustainable.
Speaker 2:And they're. But they say that all the time though, they spend all that money and they're like, well, we can't keep it up well, it's like their gimmick.
Speaker 1:That's cause they've sucked. Yeah, I mean, let's just be honest, they haven't even sniffed the World Series since 2009. Yeah, that's true, it was 15 years ago. Yeah, I mean, I mean, you're still the Yankees, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2:You really don't think about that. Yeah, because you are the Yankees, so you don't think that it's been like 15 years. But when you got to think about it you're like yeah, it's been 15 years, you know. So that's because it's just to me, the Yankees are just always in it. Yeah, even though, whether they are, or not Right and they present themselves that way, whether they are or not.
Speaker 1:Two years ago they finished in last place. They've just not been that good. That's to their standard. They're not the White Sox by any means. It's been 15 years since they got anywhere near a World Series.
Speaker 2:That's why we all hate the Yankees.
Speaker 1:If we're not fans, because all you ever hear is how many more World Series championships they have than everybody else. Right, because they were the one good team out of eight back in the day. And listen. They earned those. I'm not trying to take them away from them, but you know, every time you bring up how many of the Dodgers have won, somebody says when's the last time they won a legitimate one.
Speaker 2:You know, why don't we do that to the stupid fucking Yankees? Yeah, why don't we do that to the stupid?
Speaker 1:fucking Yankees. They haven't won one legitimate or otherwise in 15 years people. I know. Get on their dicks again.
Speaker 2:Take that you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a boat.
Speaker 1:If you know, you know. On that one I'm not even going to elaborate, but we listened to something right before we went on the air and I had to bring it up, All right. So yeah, Aaron Judge, not so good since he became a cartoon character with his dogs.
Speaker 2:Well, it's hard to bite when you're two-dimensional. I mean, you're hitting a 3D ball, but you're a two-dimensional player. That's a good point.
Speaker 1:And then you've got the dogs running around. Well, they're worried about building a ballpark so they can play it all.
Speaker 2:Right, exactly, I mean where's their?
Speaker 1:priorities? Yeah, and they're winning.
Speaker 2:They're hitting the ball. They're hitting the ball. They might be running after the ball and then bringing it back to you so you can throw it again. Yeah, that's why they love this game, because it's a big game of fetch.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So let's move right along and go from Aaron Judge to someone who is starting to get at a level notoriety-wise very quickly that Aaron Judge is at and that's Paul Skeens, the rookie hurler from the Pittsburgh Pirates, who Brian sees a lot in the Cubs division. And Brian, we've watched this and it is not difficult to find if you're listening or watching and you want to see it. We're not going to put it up on the screen. We're just not interested in doing that much editing. But he had an interesting incident with Doug Eddings. He didn't like the call, he kind of smiled at him, he walked off the mound like it was a strike and here's the thing that happens every day in the major leagues.
Speaker 1:Every day, a pitcher thinks he threw strike three, he struts off the mound and then it gets called a ball and he has to tuck his tail and get back on the mound. Paul Skeens just laughed about it. He smiled, he said okay, all right, and umpire Doug Eddings proceeds to start yelling at Skeens' manager, derek Shelton. You need to talk to him. You need to talk to him About what? Yeah, about how terrible your call was. And that's what Derek Shelton said was no, I'll talk to you. Yeah, I don't need to talk to him, he's just doing his job. He didn't say a word to you, he just smiled.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, we can't even smile now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what in the hell? And Brian, for me, the reason I wanted to talk about this and the reason I brought it up today is I want to talk about a bigger issue and outside of the fact that the human umpires behind home plate are just flat out not getting it right right now, like the calls. They're not getting the calls right Right and we want the calls right, so everybody has a fair shake to win and the umpires don't decide games. I'm sick of this shit. Why is it about these umpires have forgotten that when they're at their best, we have no idea they're there?
Speaker 2:Well, because and here's you're not going to like it, but I'm going to say it anyway you go have one private conversation with them in a locker room, in a shower, and I guarantee you it'll change all their attitudes. You just got to have the right thing said and the right thing done, and they'll realize.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, but I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying. We just don't live in that world anymore. But we should, maybe we should, I don't know. Here's the deal you take calling balls and strikes away from them. First off, half of them are going to get in line behind Angel Hernandez.
Speaker 2:Yeah At the unemployment they're going to quit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is a good fucking thing, because I'm sick of all of them, the older ones are the worst of all. I mean, the longer you've done it, the worse you are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:That's just how it goes, for whatever reason, but it's going to emasculate them to the point where this is done and we don't have to deal with this anymore. Yeah, I'm so sick of watching clips of games and watching games that become the ump show.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's ridiculous, man. This game, this league, is not about you, doug Eddings. You are lucky to get to do this for a living first off, and you're really taking it for granted and pissing on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's exactly what they're doing. They're taking it for granted. Absolutely, I couldn't agree more with that statement.
Speaker 1:And I don't understand why the sentiment from the umpires has to be it's us against you.
Speaker 2:Because that's how they act.
Speaker 1:They act like it's the teams against them. You know the teams are playing each other. Your job is to call the game in a way that doesn't affect the outcome, and you are really dropping the ball on that job, yeah they are, but they always have. I don't know if it's ever been this bad.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, we saw, you can't even really argue with them good anymore, because they're just so sensitive. I mean, that's the thing. They know what they're doing, that's why they're so sensitive on it. He knew he made that bad call and that's why he didn't want him laughing at him. You know, I mean, it just wasn't.
Speaker 1:We're almost speechless, well here's the thing I don't think Skeens was laughing at Doug Eddings. Yeah, I don't think Skeens was laughing at Doug Eddings.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think he was.
Speaker 1:I think he was just laughing it off and moving on to the next pitch.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, this is a young rookie who started an All-Star game when he'd started 11 games in the big leagues is probably going to win Rookie of the Year. Got an outside shot at Cy Young, you know, if it wasn't for Chris Sales suddenly being the best pitcher in the world, not really out of nowhere, but I mean, he's not been at this level for Atlanta. I mean, honestly it's just a guy laughing it off and saying, all right, let's just go to the next one, let's get him again. Yeah, let's throw a strike forward.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's the thing too, is the players are used to this, this, like they're used to these terrible calls and this terrible behavior because it's been going on so much for so long.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean they. They put a thing on a meter now that says how hitter friendly or pitcher friendly or they are. I mean that shouldn't even be on there.
Speaker 1:Well, you know some people would argue that's Well. You know some people would argue that's the human element that they want in the game. You know, but I don't think in today's Major League Baseball that there's a lot of that consistently. Now there are guys that you know he's got a tight zone, okay.
Speaker 1:As long as the zone is the same amount of tight for both teams, I've got no problem with it. But when this is a strike to one team and then this is a ball to the other team, or this is a strike to one hitter and then this is a ball to the other hitter, I'm just done with it yeah, it becomes a strike feeling and strikes out.
Speaker 1:And here's the other thing, the difference between now and what you're talking about. It's always been this way. We didn't always have the technology to fucking put them in their place well, that's, true now we do, and it's good technology you can. You can bitch about it all you want. If you don't like technology, that's fine grandpa, but like fuck, it's I technology. You can bitch about it all you want. If you don't like technology, that's fine Grandpa. But like fuck, I mean, we got a way to get it right 100% of the time.
Speaker 2:Why are we not doing it?
Speaker 1:There's a foolproof way to get it right all the time and we're saying, no, we'd rather this guy get it wrong 10% of the time every game. Why, why, why Tell me why? Make it make sense? That's all I'm asking.
Speaker 2:If you're not going to, you know, and I think it's coming.
Speaker 1:I think the challenge system is coming really soon. But if we're not going to do it, just make it make sense to me, rob Manfred, somebody whoever Make it make sense. You know the game is in a good place. We Make it make sense. The game is in a good place. We are attracting new fans every day in a way that we have not in a long time. You don't believe me? Just look it up, look the numbers up.
Speaker 1:The American game of baseball is traveling all over the world to play games Dodgers and Cubs in Japan to start the season next year. And what a time, because the influx of Japanese talent right now is the best it's ever been and that's a pipeline that's about to continue. Roki Sasaki's coming soon. That Murakami kid that does nothing but hit dingers is coming in the next few years. I mean, there are good ballplayers still to come from this, this, you know, this world baseball classic team. It was really impressive for Japan, yeah, you know. And and all we say all this to say why let these guys make it about them and try to steal the show when all they need to do is show up, call the game shut up?
Speaker 2:and go to the next game. That's it, that's all you got to do. Well, you want me to tell you why. Just lay it on me, cause they're jock sniffers. They're not athletes. They're the ones that hung around and wanted to be the best friend of the star player, didn't have anything to do athletically, so they got into umpiring and equipment management instead of out there playing. It's the same old, it don't change the dynamic's always the same kid.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 2:That's a word I've heard you use a lot, but never in the context of baseball.
Speaker 1:I know it's getting bad, kid, it's getting bad, it's getting bad. I just, you know, I just want it to end. I just want it. I want it to be over. I don't want to have to talk about this anymore. I just want us to be able to watch baseball and and enjoy it and and not have to deal with this anymore. I just want us to be able to watch baseball and enjoy it and not have to deal with seeing these clips.
Speaker 2:We need the giant baseball umpires.
Speaker 1:The robots.
Speaker 2:We're not going back to that.
Speaker 1:Folks, if you want to hear Brian's thoughts on robot umpires, you've got to go to patreoncom, slash 2GTV and check out the original episodes from 2022 when we discuss that very thing.
Speaker 2:Promo code Go Cubs Go.
Speaker 1:Promo code Go, cubs, go, get you a little deal right now so you can go find that and listen to Brian. Go way out in the left field about Robot Ops.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we love them, we want them.
Speaker 1:All right, ladies and gentlemen, since Brian's going to act like. This is a wrestling show all day it's time for our main event All right. And the reason Brian is dolled up in his best Durham Bulls. I love that jersey with the three-color. You know what do you call that? Arm, I don't know it's the collar too, but Trimming.
Speaker 1:I can't believe it's. We've gotten, oh, 45 minutes into this and I'm just now saying folks, you got to bear with me. Today I've had very little sleep, I mean like. I mean like had not fall asleep on the couch right after Brian got up. Today I would not have had any sleep at all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was a trooper. He got him a little nap ski and he trudged right along. Hey man listen.
Speaker 1:I got a nap, I got a little Burger King in me. I'm ready.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've been rolling today we're dealing with a bunch of shit here.
Speaker 1:We are dealing with a lot of shit here, that's true so we watched Bull Durham and again I have to start by saying it's my favorite movie of all time. I love this movie, everything about it. I don't think there's a bad scene in the whole thing. It's so romantic and folksy and I love the imagery of that time. I love watching them walk in places in Durham that I've walked myself when I've gone to games there. I've called the current ballpark in Durham, the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the happiest place on earth, because it's like baseball Disneyland. It's incredible. And Durham and that area you know that whole triad area is. People are so happy there. I'll never forget the first time. You know I have two brothers that live in that area and the first time one of them moved down and then the other one later moved down with him. But when we first went to see my brother Darren, we moved down there first.
Speaker 1:You know we're at the donut place first thing in the morning getting breakfast and the girl running the registered donut shop is like grinning ear to ear. There's nowhere in the world else she'd rather be and it's just a great place to see a game and the movie has created a lot of that culture and they've nurtured that culture there.
Speaker 1:I actually know the GM of the Durham Bulls Now I can name drop a little bit Tyler Parsons, who at one point was the GM of the Johnson city Cardinals, a man that I was put in touch with by Zach Clark, who worked under him for a long time in multiple places and at the time that I was doing a little blog during COVID and doing some interviews of people. I interviewed Zach because he was the GM of the Johnson City Cardinals at that point and I interviewed a lot of people in the Appalachian League because that was during the time when the future of the Appalachian League was kind of up in the air. We didn't know what was going on. I wanted to know what teams' representatives could tell me. It was very interesting. He put me in touch with Tyler, who was in Lansing for the Lugnuts at the time. Now he's the GM of the Durham Bulls, which he's earned. He's done wonderful things everywhere he's ever been. It takes a real personal approach to running a minor league team.
Speaker 1:personal approach to running a minor league team. And and, uh, they, they just they've always done a great job out there and you know, the movie kind of put them at a at a different level of notoriety, you know. So, um, just, my favorite flick of all time.
Speaker 2:It's a great movie, man. It's shot very well, the dialogue is very intelligent. For what you're actually watching, you know it's a very good put-together film.
Speaker 1:And then it's a feel-good film.
Speaker 2:Right, you know about one of our famous topics. So you're like three good things stacked on top of each other of gooey goodness when you get into this thing. And it really does get you film-wise, from the uh, the opening, you know scene all the way to the end, like they take you on this epic journey, yeah, uh, and. And it's emotional and it's exciting. And it can depend on how you're feeling. You may not want to be emotional that day, so you're not really into like the, the romantic uh issues in the film, but you're into the sports issues, so you're just going to pay attention to those. It is still deliver on that level, yeah. Or vice versa, you may, you know, be feeling emotional and want to get into that. It will deliver on that level as well. So it's it's very good put together film. It is, and as well. So it's very good put together film.
Speaker 1:It is, and it's funny when it needed to be funny. It takes a serious tone, when it needs to take a little bit of a serious tone, which isn't often but, still there's some moments.
Speaker 1:It's a really well-written film, a really well acted film and you've got to give kudos to the cast, obviously, and the crew and everybody that had a part in making it, but I but I gotta. I mean the fact that they basically, depending on you, know what you read on the internet and believe um, a big part of why kevin costner got the role as crash davis was he had a very beautiful right-handed swing it wasn't't really until I don't think it was really until they got into pre-production and filming that they realized that.
Speaker 1:Costner could switch hit. It's one of the trilogy of Costner baseball movies. All great, but in Field of Dreams, when he's trying to hit the ball out to Ray Liotta's character, shoeless Joe Jackson, and he pops it straight up. That was Costner's idea. Yeah, and they were like you can do that. He's like, yeah, on command I can toss the ball to myself and hit it in a way that it goes straight up whenever I want to. Hollywood actors can't just do that? Oh, no, no no Stunt, men can't just do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like baseball is very important to Kevin Costner, yeah, and that's why these movies come off so well is because he puts so much into making them good and making them believable and real.
Speaker 2:He really commits to the position.
Speaker 1:Beyond that, he represents the game within the movie really well. He respects the game and wants the game to be the star. In Bull Durham, the game is the star.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, without a doubt. That's the thing is your, your, these characters are growing, but you know they're. They're basically characters that you don't know at all, and then they become iconic at the end and and that's the story that they're telling you know, it's not like. It's not like a money ball where everybody is who they are, they're already somebody. These are just some schmoes that are playing some ball. One's got hope, one don't have hope. By the end you're just like wow, I could really be either one of these guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's that great scene in the bar where Crash is drunk and he's, like you know, throughout a whole season. 25 hits is the difference between 250 and 300. And that's one hit a week. One dying quail, one extra dying quail a week and you're in the Hall of Fame. And that's the beauty of baseball and that's what I love about Bull Durham so much is anybody can watch it. You don't have to love baseball the way you and I, Brian, love baseball to enjoy the movie, because there's something for everybody. Again, it's funny. There's a romance story that's not like oh my God, this is so sweet, I'm getting cavities. It's a real life, organic kind of romance story. But it just paints baseball in such the best light because the beauty of baseball is that it is the most humbling game and the most beautiful game. But if you blink you're out. Like you said earlier talking about Tim, Tim Anderson, one day you're on the top of the world and within a couple years you can be out of a job sitting at home.
Speaker 1:You know, it's that kind of game, you know, and it, man, it's just a beautiful fucking game man yeah, it is they they portray that so well and something else that I was thinking a lot watching it, because it's obviously I mean movie came out in 1988 and it's not dated at all well, but it kind of is.
Speaker 1:Is what I was saying. Okay, like like it holds up. I'm not saying it doesn't hold up, but when you look at like annie's house, people don't decorate their house that way anymore and a lot of that is like what you have in your house now is different than what people had in their houses back then. People now I mean some people do, but back then everybody had a record player somewhere and that takes up space. That's a big portion of a room. Not everybody has that anymore Because we listen to music on these things now.
Speaker 1:Right you know, and we have the little, teeny, tiny speakers with no chords that can sit anywhere and play it really loud for us in any room, we can pick it up and move it to the other room. You couldn't pick up your record player and move it to the other room. You know you had to be very strategic about where you put your record player.
Speaker 1:Right, right, but the other room, you know you had to, you had to be very strategic about where you put your record, right, right, but but it it just, it's such a romantic movie, man, it just, you know, and brian and I are old enough to remember a little bit closer to like that. Things being that way, yeah, we've, we've lived during that time and and it just it makes me miss it a little bit because I don't know, even at that level of baseball, even at that low level of baseball, I don't know how folksy it is anymore well, you know, what I liked and I noticed it immediately is I liked how everybody walked to the game.
Speaker 2:Like it, it was the thing that the town did Right, and that they just walked and got there and that was just what they did it. You know, let's say three o'clock on every day, right?
Speaker 1:You know? Yeah, no, it was, it was, it was you know, and it's the bulls are are such a part of Durham, even back then, before they. They of Durham, even back then, before they blew up and became a triple A and built a ballpark that's better than some major league parks I've been to. It's just a great relationship between the city and the team Durham's grown since then.
Speaker 1:Don't get me wrong, that's a lot of it too. The city of Durham deserves a lot of credit for building that team up, because they built their city up Right. And you know, with Raleigh right there it's been easy because Raleigh is one of the more progressive cities in the last I could agree 50 years probably. You know it's always been a progressive, young, professional type of city, right, right and just smack dab in the middle of North Carolina. You know it's kind of city Right, right and just smack dab in the middle of North Carolina. You know it's kind of wild, but you know, um, but yeah, man, and so many classic scenes, um, we've already referenced a couple, you know, but you know, I just love.
Speaker 1:I love that when the manager doesn't know how to get through to the guys he knows to Crash.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And Crash is shaving and he's like you know, I've been a nice guy. Scare them.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They're kids, you need to scare them, you know? And then he throws the bats in the shower and does the great lollygag. Yeah, you know you lollygag your way in and out of the room. What?
Speaker 2:does that make you Larry Wallygaggers, wallygaggers?
Speaker 1:Just classic comedy, like if you love baseball or not. That's funny. Yeah, you know the meeting on the mound, yeah, you know. I mean, you know Millie and Jimmy are getting married and nobody knows what to get them and Jose's glove is cursed. So we need a live rooster. And you know, uh, Nuke's having trouble with his left eyelid. We're dealing with a lot of shit here. It's the right eyelid yeah it's. It's funny, even if you aren't into the baseball aspect of it.
Speaker 1:I love. That about it is they knew in order for this to be a success, we have to reach people who aren't already in love with baseball. Right, you know? And and people who aren't already in love with baseball right, you know, and and maybe they didn't fall in love with baseball, they just liked the movie, and that's okay too, because that means they bought a ticket, you know saw it, or oh yeah on video or whatever you know or bought it on, you know, apple tv or amazon in 2024 you know what I mean
Speaker 2:like it's resonated so much that well, I don't know a lot of people that haven't seen the movie.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a classic.
Speaker 2:It's one of those movies that everybody knows. When you say we're dealing with a lot of shit here, they all know.
Speaker 1:Oh, the lollygaggers, and there's a lot of lines that people know.
Speaker 2:It's just become their common vernacular, even for the casual watcher, you know.
Speaker 1:I'll be walking through the house sometimes and I'll just go William Blake, William Blake, William Blake, William Blake, for no reason, Just because it's funny. I don't even really know who William Blake is Like, I'm not that familiar with William Blake's thing.
Speaker 2:Well, he spoke very highly of you.
Speaker 1:I'm not speaking ill of him. I just don't know much about him. I just know him from the movie and I probably didn't sound like a real idiot.
Speaker 2:There's probably people who are like you don't know who William Blake is you idiot?
Speaker 1:Anyways, yeah, it's quotable, it's funny, it's good, you know, and it tells a great story, man, because the story of Crash Davis is relatable to anybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because everybody at some point, if they do a job long enough has that moment of I'm too old for this shit. Yeah, you know, and that's a direct quote from the movie yeah, Too old for this shit.
Speaker 1:What am you know? And that's a direct quote from the movie yeah, too old for this shit. What am I doing? Back in a ball? Yeah, oh well, we got this great young arm and they think if you help him he can, he can go, he can go all the way. Well, where do I go? Yeah, you know, sick of this. It's so funny that one of the major plot points in the movie is that Annie wants to alert the sporting news about the minor league home run record and he doesn't want them to know.
Speaker 2:And he doesn't want them to know.
Speaker 1:Well, nowadays he wouldn't have a choice.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The way information is viewed and shared and just known. They'd be on top of it a year before they'd be asking him about it. They'd be on top of it a year before they'd be asking him about it, you know. So it's again. It gets you a little romantic about kind of the way we we grew up, you know, and the way we remember things from like when we were much younger you and I, brian and um- and there's, there's some you know I like the way things are now.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying let's go back because we don't need to go back ever. In any situation, the goal should always be to move forward. But you know, I I love that. I love that old not not a phone in your pocket all the time, no internet. If you wanted to talk somebody on the phone, you had to catch them at home or they had to catch you at home. You know, there was just a different vibe. Things seemed to move a little slower back then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Now see, I don't want that. I don't want that at all. No, no, no. I got to hunt you down to find out what you're doing. I mean you know, no, no.
Speaker 1:I got to know what are you doing. Okay, now we know. All right, now we got to be honest who exists outside of your wife, who you live with, and me, and maybe Eric Lester, the third member of Three Crows, that you even care what they're doing. Raj, oh yeah, raj.
Speaker 2:I care deeply about Raj, but you see him every day. I do see him every day. Every day I see him more than my wife. That's hysterical. My convenience store guy is I spend more time with him than I do, ashley.
Speaker 1:So see, you've kind of already got that one. You don't need the internet, you don't need a cell phone, you don't talk to it.
Speaker 2:That's right. That's right, but if you wanted to talk to us, you could send us a message.
Speaker 1:That's true Now that we are on podcast streaming platforms other than YouTube video. We have a new feature where, at the very top of the description on each episode, there is an option to text us. Just send us a message, say hey.
Speaker 2:Hey, you're full of shit. We love what you're doing. We hate what you're doing, Whatever, Just send us something. Let us know you're there, man, Let us know you're there. We got Canton Ohio this week. I'm very excited for Canton Ohio. So if you're listening in Canton man, send us a message. We love you up there in Canton.
Speaker 1:And our numbers continue to go up in Germany. Oh, we are huge.
Speaker 2:in Germany, we are huge.
Speaker 1:Like Hasselhoff, we've tripled our weekly numbers in Germany.
Speaker 2:Yes, we have, we have, we have, but I'm feeling so happy about that market.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing If you are listening to us from Germany, I want to hear from you, and here's why I want to know not even really like who you are or what your deal is, I just want to know what you're doing in Germany, listening to our little podcast.
Speaker 2:It's amazing, it's cool, it's very cool and it's thrilled the hell out of us.
Speaker 1:We talk about this daily. Brian brings it up daily. That's why we talk about it daily, but it is very cool and we're happy you're listening, obviously no matter where you are, from Canton Ohio to Germany and all points in between.
Speaker 2:To Austin Texas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was the one. I didn't even know where it was. I in between To Austin, Texas. Yeah to what was the one.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know where it was. I'm not sure I don't remember Crazy stuff, maryland.
Speaker 1:That's. What we get with the internet is the ability to talk into these microphones once a week and put it out there, and people all over the world that we've never met are listening.
Speaker 2:Well, imagine that I talk to four people on a daily basis and that's it, and I keep it at that, like I go painstakingly out of my way to keep it at that. Yet we are heard in other nations.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's beyond amazing. It's very cool for us. And, yeah, we just want to hear from you, no matter who you are or where you're from. We just want to hear from you. Just drop us a Bull Durham quote. No context, just drop the Bull Durham quote, we'll love it. Yeah, absolutely, we'll probably talk about you on the podcast because we'll be so excited you messaged us.
Speaker 2:We're definitely talking about you on the podcast, without a doubt. Just go to 2gtbcom, pick any episode and there's a message button right there at the top of every episode.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's also available on your apps and platforms that you can use outside of going to the website to hear the episodes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's really anywhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just right in the description. You just go into the description and click on it and it gives you the ability to message us. And if you'd rather go the social media route, twitter is a good starting point. The show is at 2GTVPod. I'm at Dallas, danger Brian is at Three Crows Bride. Also on the website there's a link to our store. But if you want to go directly there 2gtvstore a little something for everybody, something for your pets, something for your friends, practical gifts, practical things for yourself, notebooks, phone cases, all kind of fun stuff, and it's free to look.
Speaker 1:so please go give that a look, see, and again patreoncom slash 2GTV Promo code right now Go, cubs, go for the next week, save you some money and you can see what we're doing over there on Patreon some bonus content for you, and we're always adding and those are the two best ways to support us financially is through the store and their Patreon. And then, um, another favor that we're going to continue to ask is please, if you can help us get our YouTube subscriber count up. We would love, excuse me, we would love to get that number up a little bit, a little bit, and be um more capable of doing things where we're wanting to do with our YouTube channel. So, yeah, so please get in touch with us if you're liking the show. If you're not liking the show, whatever man, just drop us a line and talk to us, because obviously we love talking about baseball, because we wouldn't be doing this if we didn't.
Speaker 1:And that was the precipice of this whole show was we were doing this on the phone every day and we said why don't?
Speaker 2:we just record it. Yeah, and here we are recording it, and there we are, two years later, two years later, still recording it. Yeah, watching movies, watching uh, this sounds like I'm about to go into some. Watching you, watching me. Okay, all right, I think that might be it for this week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't have another musical number in you there, brian. No, I'm not sure I should have had the first one. All right, well, we'll call it a week and we will talk to you in seven days. In the meantime, hit up everything we just talked about the store, the socials, text us, all that good stuff and yeah, until next time We'll see.
