2 Guys Talking Baseball
Dallas Danger and Brian Logan discuss the game of baseball. Two fans, two personalities, Two Guys!
2 Guys Talking Baseball
Episode 42
The crack of the bat, the smell of freshly cut grass, and the roar of the crowd – baseball is back! As the 162-game marathon begins, we dive into what makes this season's opening day so special and what fans can expect from their favorite teams.
The Chicago Cubs have assembled a roster with urgency and purpose, but face an immediate gauntlet in April against playoff contenders like the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Padres. We explore how crucial it is for them to weather this early storm and stay competitive until they can face division rivals. With one-year contracts for several key players, this season represents a pivotal moment for the Cubs' front office and their future direction.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers finally have their full A-team lineup intact after health concerns, showcasing perhaps the most intimidating batting order in baseball. Will this star-studded roster translate to postseason success, or will the pressure of expectations become too heavy?
Baseball's unpredictability remains its most charming quality. As we discuss everything from the fascinating "Curse of the Colonel" in Japanese baseball to the Angels' no-cell-phones clubhouse policy, we're reminded why this sport captivates fans worldwide. It's a game where the fastest and strongest don't always win, where human error creates compelling narratives, and where anyone can beat anyone on any given day.
Whether you're tracking record-breaking pitches in college softball, collecting souvenir cups at ballparks, or simply enjoying the rhythm of a daily baseball schedule, this season promises excitement at every turn. Grab your peanuts and Cracker Jack – baseball time is now!
It's the most wonderful time of the year. That's right. As we are recording, it is opening day, officially domestic opening day for Major League Baseball. Welcome inside the Three Crows Studios in Morristown, tennessee. This is Two Guys Talking Baseball. My name is Dallas Danger and I am joined on this magical mystery tour by my best friend and colleague, the one, the only the sea lion, brian Logan.
Speaker 2:It's a great week for baseball because the season is finally here. We have waited so long and the games have begun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we had two games that counted. That we talked about last week, and now we're here. That we talked about last week and now we're here. Now, this is the beginning of the grind of the 162 that all 30 teams and major leagues will be on, and we could not be more excited. This is the time of year that we live for here at 2GTB.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. My wife is taking the day off in preparation for the outstanding things that are going to occur. And then she found out all the games we're going to watch are later tonight and she's like well, the Cubs play in the afternoon. I said, well, they used to, they will. On opening day, home opener, right, but for opening day, where we're on the road, you know you. Just, you got all day baby.
Speaker 1:Yeah, are there any?
Speaker 2:early games this year? I don't know. I think they're all 4 o'clock yeah.
Speaker 1:See, that was the thing. Remember, a couple years ago we were like we're going to get together, we're going to do hot dogs.
Speaker 2:We're going to watch games all day. And then it was like if it was the first year we got together or the second year we got together and I ate 10 hot dogs, I mean, and was sick for like the next fucking week.
Speaker 1:That sounds like several experiences we've had, oh my.
Speaker 2:God, I got all those hot dogs for us and I ate 10 of them. I missed a wrestling show because I was so sick. I don't remember that. I couldn't because I was so sick. I couldn't remember that. I don't remember that. Yeah, it was. I was booked in friday, uh, in west virginia, and I didn't go because I was so sick did we go without you?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, that sounds about right. That's, that's ringing more of a bell. Yeah, yeah, y'all, I made y'all go, of course, of course, in that damn van with those yahoos.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:Anyways, enough about our wrestling exploits, let's talk some baseball. So let's start with the Cubbies. A couple things of note for the Chicago Cubs. First things first. Ben Brown, who pitched the in the Japan series, has been named the fifth starter. Um, I thought he looked okay against the Dodgers. I mean, it was not a you know he. He was not the starter. He came in and kind of ate up some innings after after the um, after the Imanaga, I guess it was. You know was done with his day. But you know, thought he looked solid. And you know, fifth starter, you don't need much out of.
Speaker 2:No, that's going to be a bullpen game anyway, and I think he's going to do just fine. I think that's a good position for him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so good for Ben Brown brown cubs roster taking shape. I know there's been some injury questions with brujan and yeah, big bruise gage.
Speaker 1:Workman is, is kind of on the bubble and maybe doesn't make the team. If brujan is healthy, right, uh. But there's also the fact that workman is a rule five pick and you kind of have to keep him in a certain roster spot or you got to give him back. So, um, but most things are hashed out. Brian, how are? How are you feeling, now that the roster has taken shape, about the cubs, uh, and their high expectations?
Speaker 2:well, I saw that the in an article that I read, that the chances are 525 percent. So that's half of the opportunity for them, their opponents, to win against them. And I thought to myself, reading this article on mlbtv, that that falls down to either they will or they won't. So I think that's going to be the the theme for this year either we will or we won't. I mean, I think the first two months is going to be really tough for the cubs and I don't think they're going to play that well.
Speaker 2:Um, I think they're, and council, you know, doesn't think they're going to space it out and worry about it. They're going to take it one day at a time, right, and that's good. One victory at a time, and not worry. Just get them through this through April so that they can, you know, get their team set up, get their rhythm going and not worry about the wins and losses. And I think when the odds are 50 percent, you're going to win or lose. That's the way to attack it, because if you attack that day by day and you get a break here and there, then that quickly goes up to 75%. Sure, yeah, you know, for the Cubs to win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's the other thing too about trying to project baseball over a long season too is it's very difficult, yeah, and you know it's hard to pick. It's hard to make picks, yeah, because there's really two ways to go about it. You can either play it safe and be boring, or you can try to make some outrageous picks just for entertainment's sake, like like we tend to do, yeah, and then you know, halfway through the season you go. Well, you know the team that I said was going to win the whole American League is 20 games below .500 or a disaster. You know Right, because you just never know. I mean, again, it's a long, long grind of a season and a lot of games and a lot of balls that can bounce your way or bounce the other way. It's a tough sport to predict.
Speaker 2:I don't think people who aren't fans of baseball get that. There's a billion statistics on why this guy should strike that guy out or that guy should get a hit off of him, and then you add in the human element of mistakes and you tell these stories from these mistakes on how you deal with them. And I think that's what makes baseball so beautiful and entertaining, is you know, what's the point of playing the games? If we have all the statistics, you can just run the computer and say, well, this team's going to beat this team, right, but that's not how that works, because anybody can beat anybody any day, exactly, and that's what makes it exciting yeah, 100, it's a.
Speaker 1:It's a game of very small margins and you know, in football the fastest, strongest guys have an advantage, right. And in basketball the fastest, tallest, best shooters have an advantage. And in baseball I mean, we saw it last year in the playoffs the Yankees go to the World Series and the whole story leading into that World Series for the Yankees was what are they going to get out of Aaron Judge? Right, because here's this guy who has put up these outrageous numbers and had seasons that I don't think we're really going to truly appreciate fully until years down the road how historically good he's been, but he slumps too, yeah, and he makes that error.
Speaker 2:What if he doesn't make that error? What happens then?
Speaker 1:See, that's the story, but does everybody else you know, is that the tear?
Speaker 1:that just gets ripped further, or do the other errors still happen? You know, you're right, it's a lot of variables, A lot of variables, A lot of variables, and the best players in the world are going to have bad stretches and you just hope that when you're in October and you're playing for a championship, that that's not when they happen. And, following the Dodgers as closely as I have the last several years, they are constantly trying to figure out how is what we're doing right now going to affect us in October? Yeah, Because with the Dodgers, the goal has been October. We want to be at our healthiest, we want to be at our best. We want to hit our stride leading into the playoffs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Because that's when it really matters and that's when we want to be at our best. We want to hit our stride leading into the playoffs. Yeah, Because that's when it really matters and that's when we want to excel. And you know there's a lot of teams that don't operate that way, but you know there are teams that do. And yeah, it's a game of really, really thin margins and really low margin for error. Yeah, and you know we haven't even talked about injuries yet, which are going to be a factor for every team. You know no sports team is playing 162 games over you know, what?
Speaker 1:180, 190 days, yeah, or whatever it is, you know, without dealing with some guys getting hurt.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, and that's the thing too is why do we play 162 games? And the answer really is because it takes that long to get your shit together. Right, because it's ups and downs and curves and left turns and all that.
Speaker 1:What would you say to those, because there has been a little bit of a groundswell of this mindset over the last handful of years? What would you say to someone who is pitching to shorten the major league season?
Speaker 2:no, no, no. Just get out there and play it. I mean we. That's what summer is for right. It doesn't need to end in. You know July, you know that's. I'm not having it. That's what I watch every day and they're not leaving me if I have to go put a team on the field myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if I felt like player health and player safety was taking a back seat to we got to play this many games, it'd be one thing, but guys are going to get hurt. If you play 20 games, yeah, they get hurt worse. And we talk a lot about these pitcher injuries, but we're finding out, through the studies and everything that are being done, that I think the biggest factor for these pitchers getting hurt is they're throwing full go all the time. And then you've got guys that are trying to make a team or trying to move up through the minor leagues and they're not stopping.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They don't take the winner off, they just keep throwing, and they're continuing to throw hard because of all of the measurements we have now.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And if you take too much off, if you're not established and you take too much off your pitches in spring training or in practice, or in your bullpens, or even in the winter when you're just going through your throwing routine, that shows up in these metrics. Now, yeah, so it's gotten to be so competitive that guys just feel like they have to give their all all the time every time they throw, and it didn't used to be that way.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's why, also, it's become a young man's game. When I was a kid watching Nolan Ryan, andyan and dave parker and pete rose, those were old men me not old by age, but old by body wear and tear right and it showed on their faces they looked 50 when they were 29. This is a kid's game now. Yeah, and that's why. Because guys can't just go, go, go after a certain age and these kids have the energy to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you add in the fact that a lot of these teams are manipulating service time and doing everything they can to build a team with guys they don't have to pay that much, yeah, and then that just sort of exacerbates that whole thing, yeah, but yeah, man, you still feeling pretty good about the Cubs, oh yeah, I think we're in it, man, I think we're going to be so-so, if we can get through this opening month or two at 500, I think we're good.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, I mean, I say this every year. As long as they're 500 at the All-Star break, it really doesn't matter. Yeah, you just don't want to be 20 games out at the All-Star break.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, you can't win anything right now in April and May, but you can definitely put yourself behind the eight ball.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just stick around, stay in the hunt.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about this April schedule, because that's kind of been the topic of conversation with the Cubs. Their road games are four against the Diamondbacks, three against the A's, three against the Dodgers, three against the Padres, and then at home, three against the Padres, three against the Rangers, three against the Diamondbacks, the two against the Dodgers, which I assume are the two they've already played, maybe not.
Speaker 1:No, they play them again, okay, and then that's it, then the phillies for three. So you look at that list and the only team on there that that is, is sort of like maybe they'll make the playoffs as the a's. Everybody else on that list feels like I think, at least internally, they're in it. Yeah, so, um, and some good, I mean a lot, a lot of games against the Dodgers, a lot of games. You know there's a series in there against the Phillies. Diamondbacks and Padres are liable to come out really, really hot because they don't want to get behind the Dodgers first thing. And you know, then you've got the A's, but you've got to go to Sacramento and play in that minor league ballpark. Fortunately it's not 117 degrees in sacramento in april, but sacramento still not the or west sacramento or whatever. Um, wherever the hell the a's are playing this year, um with their, with they. They don't have a city, but on each arm they've got a different city patch. Yeah, it makes no damn sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah they're patch happy, they're getting a. Well, everybody's patch happy now. But they're just the athletics. They don't have a city, but there's Sacramento on one arm and Vegas on the other.
Speaker 2:This is a tangent, but did you see where the Mariners are getting a Nintendo Switch sponsor patch?
Speaker 1:I did. Nintendo's been a longtime sponsor of the Mariners, ever since the Ichiro craze, and they've just kind of stuck around.
Speaker 2:You know, that's my game, that's my jam.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:You love that Nintendo Switch. I love playing MLB the Show on Nintendo Switch. That's my other summer activity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I'm with you. I think if the Cubs can weather this early storm, figure out who they are without falling too many games under 500, I think they're going to be just fine and, furthermore, I think this Cubs team is going to surprise themselves and a lot of people when they get in these big games early on.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I'm not ruling them out, it's just tough, yeah. I mean, I guess I'm playing my own devil's advocate by saying we're probably going to lose every game to the Dodgers, but we get rid of them and we move on. Yeah, and I think that's an advantage in the schedule is we don't have to play them after the All-Star break.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it. And that's the other thing too, is I don't see one division rival in this whole April schedule. No, so your whole, you know, let's say, you get out of this at 500. You got to feel pretty good because now you get to work. Yeah, Okay, now these are the teams we need to beat. Mm-hmm, you know. So we've kept pace, we've done okay.
Speaker 1:Now we've got to get to business and beat these teams in our division, because that's where I think the Cubs are going to make up a lot of ground is within the division, because, again, and I say this every year with the Cubs, it is a winnable division. Sure is, there are four teams in that division that I think maybe five, if we're being honest that really feel like they've got a shot as we head into, you know, the start of games today. Yeah, so, yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm. It was a little interesting in Japan to hear them talk so much about well, we're just kind of bracing ourselves for this tough schedule and feels like a very old Cubs mentality and mindset. More than no, we don't care who it is, we're going to go out there and play and we're going to stand toe-to-toe with anybody, which is kind of, I think, the fan expectation for the Cubs.
Speaker 1:This team is going to stand toe-to-toe with anybody.
Speaker 2:You've got to have the old school cub, um culture or believe, belief system or whatever, but play with the new athletes. You have meaning go out there and be the lovable losers and just have a good time and play the game, but let these kids shine and they're going to surprise you yeah you know and know, and that's the advantage I think the Cubs have over everybody else. It's okay if they lose a few.
Speaker 1:If there's one big question for me with the Cubs, it is I think this year we're going to find out if and, if so, how much Craig Council vibes with the Cubs. Vibe, yeah, is he going to let this team stay loose and have fun and play a child's game, or is he going to get a little too tightened up? And then you better be good, because if you're not, the fans are going to turn on you. Oh yeah, it's nut-cutting time for Council.
Speaker 2:I think you're right. I mean, we turn on you. Oh yeah, it's a nut cutting time for for council I think you're right.
Speaker 1:I mean, we've talked a lot about about this year for jed hoyer and, and you know he, his contract's up at the end of the year, um, and he, you know, I think he really was um. I don't think it was a desperate off season, but I do think there was a sense of urgency that has not been there, yeah, in the last handful of years for Jed Hoyer and the Cubs putting this team together, and they got one shot. There's a lot of guys on this team that are only around for one year and if this doesn't go well, this team's going to look a lot different next year and we'll be having a whole different conversation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, next year is going to be next year, man, I mean, it's going to look a lot different next year. Oh, about it out, we're going to be having a whole different conversation. Yeah, next year is going to be next year, man, I mean, it's going to be a whole brand new set of circumstances and I think, even if they win- yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I think the key is to win and show these guys, kyle Tucker especially, that there's reason to stick around and there's reason to invest in what's going on. Um, and if they can do that, I think, I think they're going to set themselves up for for a good long run of of success in that division.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they uh, you know, falling in love with the Cubs culture is something that I don't. I think we're not talking about that. Tucker and some of those guys yes, they got to go make their money, yes, they've got one year and all this. But if he falls in love with the culture there, I mean they want to stay there, they don't want to leave. When they submerge themselves 100% into this thing, sure, and that's just something that just happens with the Cubs. It's just the attitude the team has, which is one of the reasons I love them. Yeah, it's just the attitude the team has, which is one of the reasons I love them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I heard this this week and was sort of floored. The Cubs have not won a playoff game since 2017, which doesn't seem like that long ago. It's the fourth longest drought in the major leagues right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a long time.
Speaker 1:I mean to come off breaking the curse, winning the big one finally, and all the emotions and all the history and what a World Series 2016 was just overall, and to win a playoff game the next year and then not do it again for eight years. Yeah, and you're looking at, most of the teams ahead of them are nowhere near winning another one. Right, the Orioles are on that list and they're sort of a conundrum in and of themselves right now. They're very good, but they're having trouble succeeding. They're going to have a good season, I'm telling you.
Speaker 2:The Orioles are going to put their orange uniforms on and it's going to change them. Mark my words on that.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, let's move on to the Dodgers real quick, duly noted. So the freeway series has happened. Now it's always the last three games of the exhibition season before the regular season starts is always Angels and Dodgers and they alternate, two in one park, one in the other, playing in the actual ballparks. It always makes for excitement. We got to see Jackson Ferris and Zaheer Hope play in the big ballpark with some of the big league guys and that was cool because you know they're guys coming up through the pipeline and everything. But the big thing for me was in game three of the freeway series we finally, finally, got to see the full A-team lineup altogether. Yeah, and Mookie's feeling better. He's keeping food down, you know, and he got a little irritated, I think, interviewing after the game.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because you know, and he said, look, he said my body's fine. Body's never been the issue I've been working out. He's like it's just been my stomach and we needed to solve that. And we've solved it, let's move on yeah um, so, uh, obviously good to see, excuse me, him and freddie in the lineup and ready for opening day. And yeah, you know, and just seeing that lineup, you know, when you know, seeing that lineup card, and just going, man, how's anybody going to pitch this?
Speaker 2:lineup. Yeah, yeah, I mean it's surmountable odds, right, or insurmountable? Is that the word Insurmountable. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, obviously feeling good about the Dodgers, very excited to get things going today and very excited that they're playing a little earlier on opening day. Yeah, so we can watch it. Yeah, well, so I can watch it not we've kind of.
Speaker 2:We've kind of reversed uh, the cubs are playing later and the dodgers are playing early.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, cats and dogs living together man a monkey type, but uh, yeah, very excited, very uh feeling real good about things. Um, as we head into the regular season proper, now that we're now the domestic opening day is here, um, speaking of the japan series, which we talked about at length last week, you brought something to the table on the air that I was totally not familiar with and I wanted to come back to it this week, and that is the Curse of the Colonel and Brian. I just kind of want you to lay out what was said on the broadcast and how it was sort of portrayed on the broadcast, and then I'm going to go to our good friend Wikipedia and and correct me. Well, and then I'm going to go to our good friend Wikipedia and and correct me.
Speaker 1:Well and see what Wikipedia says.
Speaker 2:Well, they were telling the story that they took a Colonel Sanders statue and threw it in the river and they started losing after that. So they thought there was a curse and they ended up removing the statue and they started to win. After that, and I believe it was two years, they broke the curse and won the championship. I think that's what they said.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that was very cool. Obviously, I was watching the Dodger broadcast and if they covered this, it was not in a way that I noticed, but the Curse of the Colonelel and this is direct from wikipedia, so don't get your panties in a wad if you know better. Um, japanese urban legend that holds that the ghost of kfc founder, colonel sanders, placed a curse on the hanshin tigers baseball team. Uh, that was placed on the team because of the ghost of Colonel Sanders' anger over treatment of one of his storefront statues, which was thrown into the river by Hanshin fans before the team played in the 1985 Central League pennant. Yeah, as is common with sports curses, the curse of the Colonel was used to explain the team's failures in subsequent years.
Speaker 1:Some fans believed the team would never win another Japan Series until the statue was recovered. They appeared in the Japan Series three more times and lost in 2003, 2005, and 2014, before winning in 2023. And then it explains that comparisons were made to the red socks curse of the bambino, and it's also apparently been used to threaten people and keep them from um, giving away the secret recipe. Oh okay, like the, this is real. Like the ghost is really.
Speaker 2:He's an angry ghost he'll get you if you share the recipe, yeah, so uh, gotta kayfabe the recipe, man and if you want to go um more in depth, there's a lot of information.
Speaker 1:Uh, the statue. Let me see about when they recovered it. Uh, they, it was finally discovered in the uh river, and I'm not saying the name of the river because I don't want to offend anybody and mispronounce it. It's a very long, not easy to pronounce Japanese word and I don't want to butcher it, but they discovered it in the river in 2009. Divers who recovered the statue at first thought it was only a large barrel and shortly after a human corpse, and then they found out it was kind of the barrel and shortly after a human and shortly after a human corpse, and then they found out it was kind of the middle of those two things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a human shaped barrel, if you will uh, don't you hate it when you're in the river swimming and next thing you know there's a corpse? Yeah, terrible I mean just get out of the way, unless you know I've been there and sometimes you can float on them, than things you know go down the lazy river.
Speaker 1:I mean it just depends uh, according to the wikipedia page uh, it was. It was hanschen tiger fans who were on the scene going no, we know what that is. We know exactly what that is. Yeah, um, let me see. Kfc restaurant that the statue originally belonged to no longer exists, but a cardboard cutout replica of the statue was placed in the branch near, uh, the stadium during the 2023 playoff run, which is when they finally broke the curse.
Speaker 2:So they replaced the room, replaced it back where it was, and that enabled them to win.
Speaker 1:Sure Correlation does not equal causation. But you know right, little too convenient to to not it does make you go well, make note of yeah it's very interesting, and in march of 2024, kfc japan held a burial ceremony for the statue, citing difficulties in maintaining the statue's condition. So they had a very respectful burial and all that.
Speaker 2:Well, that's good. That way, put him to rest for good, and then he don't have to mess with anybody. But what do we glean from all this? That Colonel Sanders was a baseball fan.
Speaker 1:Don't fuck with the colonel is the lesson.
Speaker 2:Yep, the colonel man, that's some good chicken.
Speaker 1:Is the colonel here today. What'd I say? You foolel man, that's some good chicken. Is the colonel here today? When I say you fool, he bit he dead, All right. So that's the curse of the colonel that we alluded to last week, and Brian kind of sprung on me while we were on the air. I wanted to give that fair time because that is a fascinating story.
Speaker 2:Well, I bought that when I saw it and I thought, ah, that's not going to make the podcast. And then when I told you you were all excited about it. I looked it up on the air. I was very surprised.
Speaker 1:I looked it up on the air, thinking, well, we can talk about this now, and I saw how much info there was. I was like, no, I need a week, I need a week to process. Look this over, which I did not do, um, of course, but you know, it's on the it's on the format this week, so I had to pull up the Wikipedia page and talk about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very cool, very good stuff. Um, I've usually unsuccessfully to cover baseball. We're not two guys talking about American baseball or two guys talking about major league baseball. That's just what we have the most access to and the most passion for. Yeah, but we like to cover, you know, baseball from all over the world.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, we watch baseball from everywhere.
Speaker 1:Because I, as I have said many times over, baseball does not have an owner. Yeah, this is a game you can play in any field, in any street, with any amount of people. With a stick and a rock if you want to.
Speaker 2:It's everybody's game, and so we want to cover the world of baseball.
Speaker 1:And again, we're just scratching the surface on this Wikipedia page. If you want to go to Wikipedia and search for Curse of the Colonel, it'll take up some time. Well, let me spring this on you.
Speaker 2:Where can we get a miniature statue replica to put in our podcasting room here? We need to find one to honor the Colonel. I'm sure they sell that somewhere.
Speaker 1:I'm sure they sell that somewhere. Sanders statue replica for sale. There we go.
Speaker 2:Let's see what come up.
Speaker 1:I hope it's big.
Speaker 2:Put it right behind you, so you have to have that thing looming over you every day, every that we record. Let me see here well, it ain't gonna be cheap?
Speaker 1:of course not, yeah they're, they're okay, we, we got some options okay, but how big are they? Well, I I saw one six-inch statue. It looked more like a bust than anything.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Let me just go straight to that. Riveting radio Advertising statue. Maybe this isn't the six-inch one. Yeah, it is Okay, oh no, six-foot. Yeah it is Okay, oh no, six foot. Excuse me.
Speaker 2:There we go. That's what we want. How much 500? Shit.
Speaker 1:Add three grand, oh my God, $3,500.
Speaker 2:Oh man, that's an expensive rib.
Speaker 1:I don't think Ash is going to let you.
Speaker 2:No, we're going to put it right there in the corner behind you.
Speaker 1:No, I don't like that. I need to keep eyes on this fucking thing. If it's in the room, you know it's demon possessed.
Speaker 2:Well, inside joke, we'll have to call Annabelle to save us. It'll be terrible.
Speaker 1:KFC. We would love your money. Yes, please hit us up, just send us some chicken we're easy to get a hold of. Yeah, oh yeah, we will talk about KFC and the Curse of the Colonel every week for some free chicken, absolutely yeah, we're not looking to get rich here, we just want some free chicken. Yeah, yeah, give me a famous bowl every couple weeks and I'm a happy man.
Speaker 1:We're good right, yep, absolutely All right. So right, yep, absolutely all right. So, um, back to the us and, uh, to reality a little bit. I suppose, um, brian, you shared with me just before we went on the air you had not seen or heard about this. Okay, uh, so it came out, um, over the last week or so, that ron washington, the, the new manager of the Angels. I love Wash, yeah, great longtime baseball guy, most famously, I think, was the manager of the Texas Rangers when they went to back-to-back World Series and then was, I think, a base coach for the Braves when they won in 2021.
Speaker 1:It was sort of reported, I guess, in a way that made it seem like he had implemented a new rule for the Angels this year Cell phones cannot be out in the clubhouse. Okay, very old school, you guys need to be bonding. You need to be talking about baseball and not sitting on your phones, you know, focused on other things. And then it came out I believe it was Logan Ohapi, the young catcher for the Angels, very promising young player. He basically said no, it wasn't Ron's idea. We came to this together, it was a group decision and everybody's on board. We all believe in this idea that we shouldn't have cell phones out in the clubhouse. And, brian, I immediately thought of you because of the two of us. You're way more old school thinking, sometimes to a fault, so give me your thoughts on this.
Speaker 2:Well, okay, I agree there shouldn't be cell phones. You should be concentrating on what you're getting ready to do in in the thing. So instead of sitting in your corner listening to your headphones, you should be with the team. But my one question is and you're gonna laugh, but this is a legit question how are they going to contact the ball bunnies that come to the game if they don't have their cell phones to talk to them? Are we back to passing notes? I mean, that could cause some undue stress.
Speaker 1:I got you, you did, but I have a story. Okay, tyler Glass now, who pitches for the Dodgers yeah, do you know how he met his wife? The sad that way he wrote his number on a ball, yeah, and had somebody take it up to her in the stands. Yeah, they are now married. That's awesome. Yeah, that's all. Well, they might not be married, but they are together and like in a very committed, serious relationship yeah, yeah, I mean if you're.
Speaker 2:I mean I'm not saying you know, if you're married, go out there and do that, but it's a perk if you're a single man, you know that you yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Anyone, anyone who has read the famous jim bouton book, uh ball four, is horrified by what you're saying, because of the way he described, uh the things they would do and well, you can't tell me that it's not a part of it, because it's a part of everything.
Speaker 2:Everybody has groupies. Sure, I mean, I assume out there somewhere we have just a plethora of groupies for us.
Speaker 1:That's why we don't go out in public Groupies. If you exist, we would also like to hear from you.
Speaker 2:Please text us, we keep our cell phones on.
Speaker 1:I'm just not okay. You got me there. Uh, I just want to know if you exist. Um, yeah, you know, I I don't think you do so. Uh, I'm not expecting any, any random messages, but uh, if, if you are a 2gtb groupie, we'd like to hear from you, we would. Uh, I don't know, I don't know where that's gonna go, but you know it'll go somewhere we'll make sure, I just want to know that you exist. We just want to be loved so yeah, so you like this.
Speaker 2:You like the no cell phones in the club yeah, I think so, because we're not talking like a lot of time couple hours tops and let them do what they got to do. I mean, and I'm the type of guy that, like when I'm in a locker room, I don't want to talk to nobody, right, and that's not me being, it's me being antisocial, but it's just. I've seen these guys. I don't have anything else to say. I love them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, it's nothing against them, it's not them, it's me.
Speaker 1:But in the locker rooms you have been in, largely the only guys you need to talk to are the ones you're working directly with Right, right, right Whereas all these guys are a part of a team, they're all working together. They need to be cohesive. They sure do.
Speaker 2:They do. I mean this is silly, but I never stopped this before. They almost need to share the texts with each other, right, so that they're all in on it together. So everything they do in the locker room is a team effort.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, this might surprise you, but I'm a fan of this too, and here's the thing I've listened to a lot and read a lot of people's preseason predictions, and lots of outlets do this different ways and some pick more things than others do. Nobody really thinks that the Angels are going to get out of last place this year. Yeah, I don't think so, and that's a tough division, so I understand it. But I also see what they did. And did they make big splashes? No, but did they go out and make their team better? I think they did. I think they really made their team better, and I think this is a team that, with good leadership and a healthy Mike Trout, which I think is the key to the whole thing and has been for a long time for this ball club Yep, I agree.
Speaker 1:I think if Trout stays healthy and this team meshes and this is a part of it we're going to be talking about this a lot more as this season goes on, the way this team comes together, and it would not surprise me if I mean, look the Astros, who are sort of the perennial favorites in that division. They got a lot of ifs, yeah, a lot of ifs, and I'm not saying the Angels don't, but I think I mentioned this in our prediction episode. I think this is the beginning of the downslide for the Astros. Okay, cam Smith, the prospect who was drafted last year, has played like 32 games in the minor leagues that came over in the Kyle Tucker trade from the Cubs. He's made the opening day roster and they intend to play him every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is a team that now could he, could he be. You know that there are people close to him that believe he is going to prove that he belongs there and is going to be a big impact player. But he's also still a guy who's only played 30 games in the main uh, the minor leagues, yeah, and there's going to be some growing pains. Um, al tuve's moving to left field and, yeah, I get it, it's the smallest left field in the majors, half the games, but he's still got to go and play the other half of the games in other ballparks, big ballparks, in bigger, more cavernous outfields.
Speaker 2:Can you imagine that little feller playing? I know Oakland's not playing in Oakland anymore, but can you imagine, because that outfield was huge and that little guy out there just shagging balls in that big old outfield?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think there's a lot of things that could and will go wrong for the Astros. Yeah, I think there's a lot of things that could and will go wrong for the Astros. Yeah, rangers probably going to be pretty good, you know, if the injury bug doesn't get them. I like that Rangers team a lot. I picked them to win the American League Shout out to Jake Mintz from the Baseball Barbecue because he also picked them to win the American League, and you know. And then you look at the A's they're still the A's. Yeah, you know, could they be better this year? They could sure. But I look at this Angels team and I don't see an automatic guaranteed last place club. And I could be eating these words by July, sure, but I just get a good feeling about this ball club.
Speaker 2:So what you're saying is they got a chance to be next to last well, I'm just not ready to just completely write them off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I think they've. I think they added some good pieces. I think they're. You know, I think if a hoppy bounces back after a bit of a down year and and it gets back to being sort of their, their future, um, I think travis darno being there is going to help him out a lot, having that reliable backup catcher. And then if Trout stays healthy, that's the big thing, man. If Trout can play, you know, I mean even 115, 120 games, that's going to make a big difference. Yeah, and the move to right field, I think is a good move. That probably is two years too late, but at least they're making the move to right field, I think is a good move. That probably is two years too late, but at least they're making the move and at least Trout is open to it. Yeah, which was never a guarantee. I don't know, man, I'm not ready to write the Angels off. I want to kind of see how things go before I place judgment on this team and just say, nah, they're just going to be in last place.
Speaker 2:You know what I think my problem is with the Angels.
Speaker 1:Tell me. I've been dying to know for months.
Speaker 2:Okay, I think I equate them to the Angels from the movie Naked Gun, where Reggie Jackson was trying to kill OJ, and I think that's what pops in my head so immediately. Like that, just like. To me it's the same team, Right when it's not. That wasn't even a real team, but in my mind it was.
Speaker 1:How good was Danny Glover as the manager?
Speaker 2:of the Angels and Angels in the Outfield, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm too old for this shit.
Speaker 2:That was a classic.
Speaker 1:I think as part of Danny Glo glover's writer, he should have to be scripted to say I'm too old for this shit once a movie.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's his gimmick, yeah yeah, yeah, so uh yeah.
Speaker 1:No cell phones in the clubhouse for the angels. We'll see if that makes any difference at all. I think it will. Others there's gonna be largely disagree. Here's what's gonna happen.
Speaker 2:One guy is gonna have an emergency and pull his phone out and try to go into the showers to use it real quick, and then everybody's going to be like, well, if he's using it, I'm using it. Next thing you know, their cell phones are back.
Speaker 1:Well, these major league teams? Surely there is a contingency plan for things like that? Yeah, surely there's a approval process like hey, like a room you know, hey, my wife's in labor. Yeah, can I? Can I be on my phone?
Speaker 2:yeah, sure you know. You know my three-year-old's in the stands and he's beating somebody with a popcorn bat. I gotta go up there and take it from me.
Speaker 1:I don't even know if they go to San Francisco or they probably do or Pittsburgh this year, but that's funny. Okay, so this isn't exactly Baseball, but it's baseball adjacent and we're gonna talk a little college softball. Okay, so if you're new to the show and you're not super familiar with us, we live very close to Knoxville, tennessee, which is the home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers, who, you know, it's sort of a sports-first school in a lot of ways I'm representing today. You got your UT Orange.
Speaker 2:Tennessee Smokies shirt on yeah.
Speaker 1:And we talked a lot last year about Tennessee baseball because they won the national championship and we really enjoyed watching that team. Liked those guys a lot. Down the stretch and it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:I liked those guys a lot Down the stretch and it was a lot of fun and you know, they sort of burst on the scene with Tony Vitello as the head coach, as this brash, you know attitude-first type of program, and they ruffled a lot of feathers and that kind of got my attention Like, okay, all right, I see what's going on here. But they kind of harnessed that in a way last year that they still had that swagger but they were able to be successful, right, and it wasn't all about the attitude. Now they're backing it up.
Speaker 2:Well, do you see what they're doing this year?
Speaker 1:I saw that their first loss was at the hands of East Tennessee State University.
Speaker 2:Handed it to them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was great, it was a big deal. You know, I live in Johnson City, which is where ETSU is, and it was a big story, big story locally and I really like ETSU.
Speaker 2:I went to college at Otis and Broadus to play baseball, but I was going to go. I had three options. Um, at first I had uh baseball at etsu and uh baseball at audison, broadison. Then I got my wrestling uh contract. So I I always wanted to play for etsu. Yeah, for when I was they were hot back when I was a kid right everything. And then to move down here and find out how close it was you. So they're a good team. I really like them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, shout out to Landon Knack, dodgers pitcher, who was a Johnson City product that went to ETSU.
Speaker 2:And again I just want to reiterate the reason I didn't play baseball is I can't hit a curveball Right, so I was doomed.
Speaker 1:Okay, so Tennessee softball had a pitcher uh, carlin, I think, is how her name is pronounced. I'm sorry if I'm messing that up. Carlin pickens recorded the fastest pitch in college softball history, at 78.2 miles per hour. Right, which in baseball terms doesn't sound like much, but it's. It's measured very differently. It's a closer range.
Speaker 2:That that's pretty damn fast is what I'm trying to say. Yeah, 109 is what it would be. Really, I hadn't seen that Like 109.25 or something like that. That is fast.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So the equivalency was 109.
Speaker 1:Very cool, very cool for her, very cool for that program. Obviously in the news a lot with this happening. Obviously in the news a lot with this, uh, with this happening, uh. But, brian, my big question for you is how fast do you think you could throw a softball at 50 years old?
Speaker 2:okay, well, I don't know, but I can tell you for sure how fast I can throw a baseball at 48, because I worked at a place in pigeon porch called beyond the lens. It was an indoor amusement park and they had a thing where you throw the baseball at the target and it tells you how fast you can throw. Well, I can throw 85 miles an hour at 48. Okay, no control whatsoever, like duck if you're over here on the left and duck if you're over there on the right. I mean, thank God it had netting.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But it was fast. If you're over there on the right, I mean it's thank god it had netting, yeah, but it was fast. Now I could throw 65 miles an hour and hit the target square every single time, but 65 miles an hour is not as impressive right, and if we, if we scale that down for softball, I'm like 35, yeah, yeah, I mean, we might we might be talking about less than half of 78. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I think at 50, I mean, how long do I got to warm up for this thing?
Speaker 1:We'll give you the same program that the girls play in softball.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, I'm screwed. Give me about a day and a half. I think I could really work it up there a little bit, okay, but I mean they're're gonna have to wear some protective wear because I don't I don't, you know, believe in my control. I'm like wild thing. I'll just come in and throw them real hard about three or four of them and then you just take me out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's a hell of an entrance you know this is something we haven't talked about. Brian, you might not even know this is going on. Kim Ng, who was the Whatever her title was she was the head of the front office of the Marlins the last time they were in the playoffs and they sort of got rid of her under very shady circumstances and then tore that team apart and now they're awful again. She is now building a women's baseball league, professional baseball league. We've talked about it?
Speaker 2:Have we talked about it? Yeah, we did a whole segment on that.
Speaker 1:I don't remember that.
Speaker 2:It was about time and that we can't wait to watch. And we talked about how we hope the mascots are silly. Oh, okay, like the ladybugs, right, and then they play really, really great. Yeah, but they're the dainty little ladybugs that markets itself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, I think it would be wonderful and I believe in Kim Ng as a leader and someone who's heading this up. What did they say? Six teams, I think, yeah, something like that. Okay, yeah, now it's ringing a bell that we did talk about this. Sorry, I don't mean to chew our food twice. For you loyal weekly listeners. For you, you non-existent groupies out there, yeah, um, but yeah, very, very cool. Uh, for carlin pickens and tennessee softball to uh, to set that record and uh, how fast do you think you could throw one? Oh, my god. Well, the problem problem is my right arm is terrible. Right now. I have a lot of pain in my right shoulder and right arm. I'm probably based off of everything I've been told, putting off surgery that I need, so I don't even know that I could grip the ball hard enough to get anything behind it.
Speaker 2:I think if I got lubed up properly and got warmed up half-assed, I think I could get over 50. Yeah, maybe, maybe I mean I'd have to drink for a couple days get it going real good.
Speaker 2:Just because I don't have any shoulder problems, so I got a lot of room to work there, I could tear that sucker right out yeah you know, so I and that seems right down my alley getting drunk and throwing a softball and you know, trying to hit the target, and just my arm just rips off and just goes through the whole thing yeah, the whole the muscle just falls off the bone and yeah you're, you're, you're out for, yeah, two years.
Speaker 2:Never be the same again they gotta sell it back on I got like a frankenstein scar. That'd be groovy.
Speaker 1:It'd be something we should do that for patreon yeah, yeah, patreon forgot we had one of those, oh goodness. Well, we're winding down a little bit, but, brian, you really wanted to talk about this. I think this is in the realm of concession items we have showcased on this show over the years and there have been plenty the famous what was it like? The? The s'mores milkshake. Yeah, yeah, the white socks last year and, yeah, uh, some of the more interesting food items and and you know, I I back um.
Speaker 1:Back in 2020, I briefly wrote a baseball themed blog and gotten a good groove of interviewing people around the game, especially the minor leagues, and just sort of doing showcase-type pieces on them.
Speaker 1:I had the pleasure of spending some time talking to Tom Ando, who was the guy responsible for the cotton candy hot dog that had the nerds on it. It was just like a hot dog with a bunch of sugary sweet candy on it. That went viral, and he talked about how that achieved a goal for him, because he believed he could create a food item that would go viral and it did. And he still is, to the best of my knowledge, is running kitchens at sports arenas and has made quite a career out of that and was a really nice guy to talk to. So we love talking about concession items we do and souvenirs. And Brian the Mariners, who now as much as they ever have, are utilizing their retro Trident M logo it looks like an M, but it also looks like a Trident and you can now for $24.99 at the ballpark you can buy a cup, a soda cup, 32 ounces, that looks like that Trident logo and you get free refills for $25.
Speaker 1:And at first I was like that's a terrible deal and then I remembered how much a soda that you don't get refills on costs at the ballpark and you don't get to take anything home with you, yeah, except maybe a cup that's got some players on it that if you put it in the dishwasher one time it disintegrates. Um, so yeah, I got a lot of them 32 ounce souvenir cup that looks like the mariners trident logo. Free refills, 24.99. Brian, is this a buy?
Speaker 2:it is a hundred percent. Buy and, and. When I go to the Smokies every year, the first thing I do when I get in the gate is I go by the year cup where you pay $32, I think $32.35 at Smokies, yeah, and this thing's 64 ounces and it's huge. But you get free refills the whole season, yeah, now see, that's my question with this is do I only get free refills the whole season?
Speaker 1:Yeah, now see, that's. My question with this is do I only get free refills for that day, or can I bring it back and use it again and get free refills? Well?
Speaker 2:the way it sounded like you could bring it back.
Speaker 1:Well, you're also the person that sold me on the root beer gimmick at the conventions. And then they, they, well, they, they that was that guy's fault.
Speaker 2:The lady let us have those. I don't know what happened, but maybe she was a 2gtb group. Maybe it didn't stop us from refilling it, whether he liked it or not well, it cost me five extra bucks that day well, you should have stood up and said no, it was early, early in the morning, oh was it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was first thing in the morning. It was my first caffeine of the day, and this is back at a time where, you know, I needed a couple of sodas in me before I was worth much in the mornings. Well, I mean, plus, I'm sure we hadn't slept. We were at a convention, you know Right, those are not optimal sleep conditions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um well, but what I got to say about that is is, though that root beer was so good, it was homemade root beer. It's local homemade. Uh, they have like a a trailer that looks like an old covered wagon type deal, and they make their homemade sodas in it.
Speaker 1:Um, it's worth five extra dollars yeah, no, I mean, it was still a good deal and you get to keep the little cup. I've still got the cup somewhere.
Speaker 2:I eat ice cream out of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah, it's great, but it was just. I was sold a bill of goods and y'all gave me so much grief for paying to get refills that day at the convention?
Speaker 2:No, no, no. Where get refills that day? No, no, no. You're. Where was the woman? Where was his?
Speaker 1:wife I. I think he got mad and sent her home because she was letting them all get refills I mean because I had dealt with them on previous right, y'all, y'all talked this up and it was a big deal and I mean me and tom swore by tom's.
Speaker 2:Tom pritchard's the one that found it said you got to go taste this stuff and get the cup because it's free refill, yeah, and he wanted them because he eats a lot of ice cream and he wanted ice cream cups. So he actually bought two of them, one for him and Sandy and for ice cream. But he was all over the root beer and so was I.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we all were. I mean it was part of the. You know if they were at the convention where you know we we were.
Speaker 2:We were in business. I walked around and every time I went to the truck I filled it up and continued to walk a lap.
Speaker 1:And I'd build up and walk a lap because the the alternative was walking all the way to the opposite end of the convention hall, from where we were set up, and standing in the the concession line for an to pay seven, eight bucks for a soda that you didn't get refills on at all.
Speaker 2:And they were tiny compared to our first.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and even the big ones were not that you know it would have been a hassle.
Speaker 2:But the Mariners Cup. Have you seen it put into the cup holder in the stadium? Did you see the picture of that?
Speaker 1:I have not seen that, okay.
Speaker 2:So the bottle itself is the middle prong of the tritium and the stick the other two. I like how I'm designing this out for you and no one can see it Right. The other two fit on the other side, so when you put it into the cup holder it kind of holds it in there and it sticks up. It's very, very nicely done. Yeah, I mean, if you were a Mariners fan, you have to have this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it seems like a very well-designed item it is.
Speaker 2:That's for sure it is. I think it's. You know $25 is a lot of money but compared to everything and what you get, I think it's worth it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I mean.
Speaker 2:I think it's a pretty good deal. I drink at least three drinks whether it's beer or pop at a ball game, so if I have a free refill of pop, it saves me a lot of money.
Speaker 1:And a lot of time and a lot of standing in lines. Yes, yeah, and then you know when you're working at an event you can't go stand in line for 40 minutes every time you need something to drink.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no.
Speaker 1:You got gotta get in there and get back to what you're doing but yeah, at the ballpark, you know that's gonna save you, you know that's gonna save you a lot of time yeah, and I mean most people.
Speaker 2:I mean the idea is they want you to buy it, drink it and forget, and then they keep selling them. They don't really want you to refill them. Well, right, it's, but it's an option but we're're veterans, we're highly trained professionals.
Speaker 1:We know how to do an outing. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I will drink beer when my wife is not there, because she won't let me drink three beers. She says I get belligerent after that and I start yelling at the umpire. Not you, well, it's not the players on either team. They do great, it's the umpire I got a problem with. So apparently, after I have a couple I want to do live commentary.
Speaker 1:So, needless to say, she doesn't. Let me drink at the ballpark very much. I've never told you about the guy in Asheville that was heckling the players when me and Jen went a few years ago. So it's like a Sunday afternoon game, really nice. You know Asheville's a great.
Speaker 1:Uh, if you're anywhere near ashville or you're passing through, you need to go see a ball, a ball game at mccormick field, very historic field and, uh, one of the best, um, one of the best like customer service experiences I've ever experienced. You know, ever encountered at a minor league park. Uh, they, they do it right. Uh, they do it right, if you like. Tons of beer options, because Asheville is the beer city and they even have merchandise and uniforms they wear on certain days that are beer city tourists instead of the Asheville tourists. Just a great vibe, very cool place.
Speaker 1:And I want to mention that I'm happy that all the things, all the bureaucratic nonsense, went the way it did and we get to keep having games at that ballpark and they're doing some renovations and updating it and keeping it in line with what Major League Baseball expects out of their minor league facilities. Now, right, you know that's a huge thing and I'm very happy, but we were there and there was, this guy was sitting um maybe 10 rows in front of us. You know, we, we had, we had good eyes on him, we could see him the whole time and every time any player did anything, struck out, grounded out, popped it up, and he would just be like, yeah, it's easy, I bet you won't, you know, and he just keeps, and it's it's easy, I bet you won't, you know, and he just keeps, and it's like it's hindering other people's experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah so bad and so frequent, yeah, and the funniest part was he just keeps on. Yeah, look, it's easy, I bet you won't. And then at one point he goes, you fucking asshole, and his eyes got real big and he covers his mouth because he was like, oh, I didn't mean to say that out loud, it didn't stop him, he kept going, you know, of course, but hey, he had more fun than anybody that day I think that was the game we saw the walk-off grand slam.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I had, I had. I had been to. Within a week prior or after that I was with my brother watching a game in Durham and oh, now I can't remember the player's name he ended up playing in the majors a little bit, was a good ball player and he was in AAA for the Rays at the time with Durham and he came up with he was a I think he was a triple short of the cycle and he came up with the bases loaded and the game on the line and he hit another home run. Oh, and I looked at Darren, my brother, and I was like, yeah, okay, if I don't get to see the cycle'm glad I got to see that. So I got to see, and and then maybe there was something else.
Speaker 1:Maybe darren called the game that same week that had a walk-off. Yeah, it was just like a walk-off themed week. It was really cool, um, really cool, uh, just a stretch of baseball that, uh, that I either experienced myself or someone close to me experienced. And there was a stretch of baseball that I either experienced myself or someone close to me experienced, and there was a lot of walk-offs going on that week? Yeah, and probably all in North Carolina.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it seems like a good experience man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it sure was, it sure was. We got to go to at least one game together this year we sure do, we do, we absolutely do.
Speaker 2:I mean I I still am on the fence about going to the smokies and so far, but I'm gonna miss them. The fly boys are right down the road. I know they are and that's cool and we should do that yeah, smaller scale but same thing, it's still baseball yeah yeah, yeah, and baseball is baseball you know, absolutely, but we're very excited that opening day domestic opening day is upon us.
Speaker 1:The real season, if you will, starts today, as we're recording. By the time you're hearing this, games will probably have already happened. But we're ready and we've got. You know, we're going to talk about what we see watching the Cubs and the Dodgers every day, but we've also committed to watching at least both of us at least one random game every week. Brian is going to get real random with it. He's going to be drawing teams out of a hat. Yep, I'm going to be a little bit more intentional most of the time, I think, and try to focus on certain players, certain teams, certain storylines, but that's going to be a big segment as we get into the season. What did you do on your off day? Yeah, because in theory, we're going to be watching the Cubs or the Dodgers every day. But if there's an off day, you know we're obviously going to try to fill that time with something else.
Speaker 2:Yep Our real work begins today.
Speaker 1:Our season really begins now. We weathered this off season, which at times was interesting, and at times we were talking about M&Ms and whatever else, but now there's plenty to talk about.
Speaker 2:Speaking of M&Ms, have you seen that green, the green M&M.
Speaker 1:I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2:You know the, the little puppet M&M with the legs.
Speaker 1:The yeah, the girl M&M the green one, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm a groupie for her.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, since the 90s, of course, I've seen it. Well, I don't know what you watch. Yes, you do. She's cute. You know exactly what I watch and it ain't commercial. That's the games on, all right. Well, I think we've put in our time today. We have, and we're very happy that there are going to be games to watch every day now and games that count. There are going to be games to watch every day now and games that count, and lots of things to pay attention to as we get into this season, not just with the Cubs and Dodgers, but across the board. It's sunny, it's kind of nice out today, very nice. Spring is here officially, it has sprung. It is time. It is time Real quick before we go.
Speaker 1:This is 2GTB episode 42, and I would be remiss not to mention the nonsense that has gone on with Jackie Robinson and the Department of Defense. Very happy that the page honoring Jackie Robinson's military service has been restored to the Department of Defense website after some backlash, I guess is the best word for it. But obviously people, especially those that care about baseball and cover the sport, were not happy that they were trying to. You know, and some of the quotes were that Jackie Robinson's story has nothing to do with race, which is just silly, yes, very silly.
Speaker 1:And um, jeff Passon, I think, wrapped it up the best, as he often uh does, by saying that our history is all that we have and if we try to ignore it, um, we're just destined to repeat it. And um, jackie robinson, you know, you know, we don't have to tell you, yeah, we got little jackie here on the desk. And um, you know, um, obviously, with me being a dodger fan and just a baseball fan in general, and um, and all that, you know, jackie means a lot to us, so sure does um. Jackie robinson day, coming up april the 15th, as it does every year, and everybody in the majors will be wearing number 42 because of the great story of Jackie's first days in the big leagues after breaking the color barrier. So shout out to Jackie and his family and everybody who is trying to continue to uphold and honor his legacy for the important piece of American history that it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we never do a taping without little Jackie with us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's always with us, always with us, and with that I think it's a good place to wrap it up. Thank you, as always, for listening. Thanks, as always, to Pirate Flag Radio for putting up with our nonsense and shenanigans. And we will. Yeah, we'll be talking about games the next time that we speak to you Not 100% yet, but it looks like we might take next week off. Just some scheduling stuff going on in my world. I'm still trying to get in a good groove with when we're going to record this show every week, but we have committed to doing a full season of this show without interruption. So, outside of a week off here and there, we're going to try to do that and I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about in seven days, so strap in it's baseball season, baby.
Speaker 1:Baseball's time is now. Baseball season, baby, baseball's time is now and, yeah, we're excited. Hope you are as well and we'll talk to you soon. For Brian, I'm Dallas. We'll see you at the ballpark.
