Episode 35: 80s/90s MLB All Star Draft

It's the dog days of summer and Seth and Joel are drafting a MLB All Star team comprised of players from the 80s and 90s--enjoy.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Fly Over Guides, a show by two middle-aged Midwestern fellas who are just trying to figure out what was, what is, and what will be about aspects of American culture from our little flaws toil here in the Heartland. Jump on board with this week's episode. We are at the mid summer classic. So you want to explain what we're going to try to do today?

SPEAKER_02 0:33

Yeah, I was going to watch the home run derby the other day, except I found out it was on Netflix, which I currently do not have. So I was on Major League Baseball Network and they're showing they were replaying, I think, the 96 All-Star game, which brought back a flood of memories with all these guys that were in that late 90s all-star game. So I thought it would be fun. And I figure when we do these podcasts, if we do what we like, hopefully there's listeners that like the same thing and it's just fun for everybody. Like what we like. So I figure we would be managers and we would create our own all-star team, Major League Baseball All-Star team. But the caveat is it could be from the 80s or 90s, guys that played um at least five years in one of those decades. And so what we will do is we will draft a starting position player for all eight positions. We'll start a right-handed pitcher, a left-handed pitcher. That was for me. A relief, yeah, a relief pitcher. And then on our bench, we'll have two additional pitchers and five position players. We're not messing with DHs, we're just going to do positions. If they were DHs, then yeah, you could just throw them wherever.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Yeah, I'm glad we're doing the 80s and 90s because it this game mattered a lot more when you were younger. When you're little, this was awesome. I think interleague play has kind of killed the all-star game. I I wouldn't mind if they got rid of interleague play. Although I will say baseball has figured it out better than basketball. I mean, I think basketball is the most and the Pro Bowl for football. But at least baseball has the home run derby and people really get into it, and that looks like a blast. Um the game itself almost feels secondary, but I wish baseball would kind of just get rid of uh interleague play. I don't know. It just felt really special as a kid. You're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe Cardinals and Royals are playing against each other, you know, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Right. But in the Nash or the uh the All-Star game halfway through was really a treat because that was when you got to see both sides go against each other, you know, before the playoffs or the World Series. And um and it was all the good players. So I didn't really like this. It's it's kind of become watered down, in my opinion, where you they put these rules where like I think every there has to be at least one player from every team that's represented. And there's just so many guys. So we're gonna just do 18 guys on our roster over two decades. So hopefully we have these guys that bring back memories. If you were baseball fans back in those two decades, hopefully we're gonna draft guys that you uh know and loved once once upon a time.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

So all right. Well, who goes first?

SPEAKER_02 3:34

Uh I'll let I'll let you go first. I don't have a coin. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

All right. So well, I am gonna lean heavily on the 1980s because I think things are more magical for me when I'm little. But for this first pick, I'm gonna pick this one because I think he is the best player of the last 25 years of the day of the 20th century. So I'm gonna pick Ken Griffey Jr.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

I love him. Well, that was 90s. I know, I know.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

And I said I'm gonna lean mostly on the 80s, so I'm going a little bit different of a way. Uh, the kid, I he just seems like such a throwback player that even when all the steroid and scandal era stuff happened, he seemed immune to it. Just because if you look at his career arc, I mean he just he started when he was 19 and he played till he was 40, and he just brings what you want from baseball, which is like this joy, and just he's just always smiling. And I don't know. I I just I I love the kid. I I think he is maybe my favorite swing. I mean, he's definitely in the top three of just a pure swing.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

He was my he would have been my number one draft pick. I think out of all the guys, when you look at positions, he owned the 90s. I think he got a gold glove every year in the 90s. I think he ran the table. I could be wrong, but he has 10 gold gloves and he has 13 all-stars and he was yeah. So he he owned more than anybody, I think, that you could say. I think he owned a decade from start to finish in that position.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

And again, I'm gonna I know you're a Yankee fan, and so I'm gonna rub it in a little bit. Imagine if he was a Yankee. It's his whole stature would be another, it would be exponential. This is my feeling about most Yankees, um, is the New York market inflated them to a degree. And I think if Ken Griffey was even even a Cardinal or a Dodger, um we would look at him in another light than we do being a Mariner and a red.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

So okay, so they the Mariners have never won a World Series, correct?

SPEAKER_00 5:50

They've never been to the World Series, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Yeah, so that that kills your like status and the history. It not if I guess if you don't have a ring, you're kind of just knocked down a tier on the all-time greatest just by default, I would think.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Really? I don't know. Does Barry Bonds have a ring?

SPEAKER_02 6:12

No, but I don't put him as the greatest just because of the steroids.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Yeah, I I don't know. I don't really think that about baseball. I I I see it in basketball because there's only five guys out there, but if you got this, it's kind of like football. I mean, I think Dan Marino is unbelievable, and I don't think he should be knocked down a peg for not winning.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

It's a good argument when there's 11 or 22 guys that start or nine guys that are in the field. And baseball more than anything is more of an individual sport because it's just you versus pitcher when you're batting and you're playing individual positions out there. So um, yeah, I get it. But but I would have taken him first if that was mine.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

So so now I'm like uh lift it from you. All right.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

So now I'm scrambling.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

I'm feeling good.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

And so I'm gonna go with another guy that I think is just a slam dunk at his position, and that's Cal Ripkin Jr. at shortstop. So he had 19 all-stars, and he had he, I mean, the guy was the Iron Man. He played 2,632 consecutive games and had over 3,000 hits and eight silver slug awards. I don't know how many uh gold gloves he won. I didn't write that down, but I'm sure he had three or four at shortstops. So uh Cal Ripkin, my shortstop. And he kind of blended decades, so that's a good pick because he kind of was good in both. I mean, gosh, the guy never missed a game.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Okay, controversial take right off the bat. I think he's overrated. Such a controversial I know, but I'd probably get hate mail if we had any listeners, but I just find him I just think that Cal Ripkin became a thing because of the Iron Man streak. And I don't know. And maybe it's my my royals and my anti-aureal bias or something, but I'm just like, nah, you always batted like 260, and you just you just showed up to work every day. Well, good for you for showing up to work, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

But I Hey, in today's in today's sports, that's a big deal. If it's true, if you're not sitting out and resting or hurt all the time.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Yeah, no, yeah, I mean, I I think I wrote down everybody's all-stars appearances, and he's at 19, and I don't see anybody at 19, so I'll I'll give him that. Um okay. I think just out of out of loyalty to my childhood, I'm gonna have to go with George Brett. You thought that'd be my first pick, didn't you?

SPEAKER_02 8:50

No, because I don't because you knew I wouldn't take him first, so you took the best player off the board, I think, with number one. Well, and I I wasn't gonna take George Brett first.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

I didn't think you were either, but I I figured I if he wasn't gonna go first, he was gonna go second. I've said enough about George Brett. It's gonna start to get awkward on here if I talk too much more about him. But he he just had a flair for the game. And I remember, you know, I I wrote down some of my favorite memories from All-Star Games, and one of them was the 1999 World Series. And the 1999 World Series is when when MLB acknowledged the All-Centry team and Ted Williams was there, and how everybody gathered around Ted Williams, and then that George Brett was there too, and and I remember it might have been Bob Costus talking about that he felt like George Brett would be the next Ted Williams, of just carrying the mantle of baseball that everybody likes this guy. He's he's he's a true baller, and that he can just talk non-stop about baseball through and through and all the technicalities, but also great stories. And I just thought that was such a cool moment to see Ted Williams at Fenway and then to hear that commentary about George Brett and be like, man, so it's not just that I loved him as a kid, but he really does uh resonate with a lot of um major leaguers, even in the in future generations.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

It's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

There's my second. You knew it was coming, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

So I'm gonna I'm just trying to nail down. I what I did is I made a list and then I put in bold guys that I think were like dominant at their positions. So my next pick is gonna be a relief pitcher, and it's Mariano Rivera.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I'm gonna count how many Yankees you take, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

Well, this he's the only guy that's ever been a unanimous Hall of Fame first ballot player and was dominant. I mean, he he was in the All-Star game 13 times and was the anchor in five championship teams. So I gotta take Mo. He's on my team.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Yeah, he's well, was it his cutter or did he have a cutter?

SPEAKER_02 11:08

That's the thing, is everybody knew the pitch. That's how you know if you're dominant. If if you had basically you relied on one thing and everybody knew what was coming and they still could not make contact and and hit him. I mean, yeah, he got roughed up in maybe a World Series, but he I think he finished in the AL Cy Young voting like a handful of times in the top three or four, and he was a relief pitcher. So that didn't happen very often where you're yeah considered for Cy Young as a relief pitcher. That's kind of a sign of dominance.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

I that's one of the few positions where it's kind of like, yeah, he's he's the greatest. I mean, I think everybody every other position we can have a pretty good argument, but it's kind of tough to have that argument with relief. Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna go with this next position because I think it's the weakest position. Uh I just don't and again, I'm sure you'll pull somebody out of your hat that'll be like, yeah, okay. I just don't think there's that many great second basemen in the in the 80s and 90s. So I chose Ryan Sandberg. Part of that, of course, was going for the Cubs, but I mean he he played from what, like 81 to 1997, something like that. And uh I I just thought Sandberg was the model of class and consistency. It's almost like he was always hitting 20 home runs with 80 RBIs and 180 hits and stellar stellar infielder. Um, so I don't know. And he just seemed like Mr. Cub in the 1980s and 1990s, and that's kind of when I um started to see after going to Wrigley Field, I think I might have been in seventh grade or ninth grade, one of the two, and I watched him play. They played the Phillies, and it's just kind of like one of those things, you're in an impressionable age, and you're just like, I love everything about this baseball experience and an afternoon game, and um I'm gonna select a reserve from that game, so I don't want to say it yet, but to get to see the home run and the love for the players. So that's uh again, there's a few other second basemen, but I I struggle to come up with really great second basemen. And he's a 10-time all-star player, so that'll be my next one.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

That's a good pick. So I'm gonna kind of go off of that same strategy and go with a position where there's not a lot of dominant players, and I'm gonna draft maybe some people may consider him the second best in the decade, but I'm going to Von Rodriguez as a catcher.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Oh, dang it. Yeah, that would have been mine.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

Always I was always impressed with him, and he won 13 gold gloves as a catcher and uh 14-time All-Star. He won an MVP, he was silver slugger seven times. So he was the best batter at his position and the best fielder. And what else do you want from a catcher that's kind of running the show behind the plate? So I want Pudge.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Yeah, Pudge is it's a great call. It's a great call. Um okay. I've got to have Flair on my team. So uh Rick Flair? Joel's picking Joel's picking Ricky. Joel's picking Ricky. All right. I love Ricky. Everything about Ricky. Have you heard that the Will Clark story of Ricky Hitters? It's the funniest story.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

And the John All are rude.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Yeah, where what is it? Ricky walked up to first base during spring trading and he was chatting with Will Clark, and he says, Thrill, Ricky here. So he just calls him Thrill, Ricky here. And then LaRusse keeps putting a hold sign on him because big time hitters are coming up, and Ricky's getting frustrated, and Will Clark's starting to egg him on, going, Come on, Ricky, come on, you can do this, and oh hell, Thrill, Ricky gone. And then he stole the bass and he yells back to Will Clark, I told you, Ricky gone. Just the fact that he speaks in third person is I I would argue maybe the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball. So I I will think fondly of Ricky Henderson. Um just because he's such an old school kind of player. I don't know. I uh there's something about Ricky Henderson. So I wanted to have him.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

He had a long career, so he had over 3,000 hits, but he also 12 times he had the most stolen bases in the league. So man of steel, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Yeah, that that kind of baseball is gone. That really bums me out. So it's amazing how many teams he played for, though. I mean, he played how many did he play for?

SPEAKER_02 15:49

Probably 14, I I would guess. And and that brings up the story about John Olerood. I think it was the Blue Jays in Seattle where he played with Olirude, and he said, Hey, I used to play at one of the stops. He said, I used to play with the guy that wore a helmet in the field, and and John Olirud that said, That was me.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

So that's fantastic. I mean, he played 25 years. I think he played for like 10 teams. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

All right. I'm I'm almost done with my outfield, so I'm feeling good about my outfield.

SPEAKER_02 16:22

Okay. Um, wow. I'm gonna go with another guy. I think I'm just attracted to gold gloves for some reason. Yeah. But I'm gonna go with my, I'm gonna have my starting pitcher, Greg Maddox.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yeah, okay. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

And this guy won 18 gold gloves. He could field his position. If you ever go on YouTube and just type in like Greg Maddox fielding highlights, the guy was anything that was in the radius of the mound, he was like a vacuum cleaner. He could just grab that thing, catch it, or somehow contort his body and flop and get it and still throw it to first and get the runner out. Now, I know he played a long career in highlights. You can make a highlight clip out of anybody that plays a long career, but his fielding highlights, it's worth a watch, even if it is like a minute long. But he was a great, not only a great pitcher, he he won like 350. Well, I wrote it down.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

355, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 17:25

355 wins, four times Cy Young winner, but 18 gold gloves at his position. It's one of the most there is. I know it's like Brooks Robinson and and him, I think. Um so I'm gonna take Greg Maddox as my starting right-handed pitcher.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Okay, more for a good story than anything else. I'm gonna tie my next pick to Greg Maddox then, and I'll round out my outfield and I'll get Tony Gwen. Um Okay. I just again, I I think I love Tony Gwen, 15-time All-Star. Um the funniest thing I heard about him was what Greg Maddox told that story about the importance of changing speeds. When I pitched when I was a kid, I never threw hard, but I learned really young to always change speeds. And so I never learned how to throw a curveball, but I learned how to throw a changeup. And and for Maddox, that was more important than anything. And it was so funny to hear him tell this story of saying sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin, they can identify pitchers if they're different release points, uh, or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitcher's hand. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision, except for that blank Tony Gwen. Tony Gwen just owned Greg Maddox. And I again I think it's the whole idea of playing in San Diego his whole career. But I mean, what is he? He played in like in his 16th season, he still had 220 hits. I mean, how do you have 220 hits in a year in year 17 of your career, 16 or 17 of your career?

SPEAKER_02 19:04

So he you know why he did something that he mastered contact hitting.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

And it's amazing when you look at the strikeout rates today, and then you go back and look at how many times Tony Gwynn would strike out in a season. Those are things that I appreciate in greatness. And and he won uh eight batting titles. So that's not a fluke.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

The most he ever struck out in a season was 40 times. That's unbelievable. And he played almost every game in the season. That's just incredible to think.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

So if he had 400, 500 at bats, what is that? Is that what you basically get?

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Well, um in that season, let me check. He had 40 strikeouts. He had 521 at bats. Yeah. That was his worst. There were some seasons where he had 15, 16, a lot of 19s in there. That's just incredible. He's playing full seasons.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

That's like that's like a 90 to 95%, you know. You're either getting on base or you're making con I mean, you're you're making contact, you're just not striking out, you know. Which there's guys that'll rack up 40 strikeouts in a month these days.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

So all right, that's my so my outfield is now taken care of. I feel good about my outfield. You can't. Yeah, that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

I haven't even I haven't even drafted an outfielder yet. Um well, that's a good question. Now, where do I go from here? So I'm going to draft an outfielder now. And I'm going to draft Bo Jackson. And I don't want him for stats, obviously, because he he didn't play a long career. But I'll tell you what, when you field an all-star team, you want like guys that can put on a show because that's what it is. It's an exhibition game. You're not you're not doing this for there's nothing on the line. I mean, yeah, they used to do home field advantage there for a while, which was stupid for the league, whoever won the league. Uh, but Bo Jackson knew how to put on a show, whether it was in the field or at the plate, whatever. He even put on a show when he struck out.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

He would crack the bat over his leg.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Yeah. So that guy was just he was a kind of like an anomaly. He was one of those one on one athletes that could probably be good at any sport he ever played, but more than anything, he was just he was always gonna do something that was amazing. So that's who I'm putting on my outfield for Co Jackson.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

He was only an all-star one time, right?

SPEAKER_02 22:08

I think he was only I didn't I didn't write any stats down next to him because they're not amazing.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

I think he was only an all-star once. And the reason why I bring that up, not to bag on your pick, just the opposite. When he was the leadoff batter and he hit a 450-foot home run. He got MVP of the game. That's the only time. So it's just kind of like that personifies Bo Jackson's career, is it was too brief. He was such a good athlete. But when he was allowed to shine, man, did that guy dominate. So yeah. That's a great, it's a great angle, too, because the All-Star game is a show, and you want somebody like you want somebody like Bo Jackson on your team. I think that's kind of my Ricky Henderson pick. He's just fun. And I think Bo Jackson is great. So I'll do that then. So since we're on this idea of putting on a show, I'm gonna go back again. My whole infield's gonna be 1980s. Um you chose Cal Ripkin. I could hold off on this because shortstop, but I just want to keep the flow going of our conversation. So I thought to put on a show, I thought it was the coolest thing at every All-Star game, Ozzie Smith, uh doing his backflip, and I just thought that was the coolest thing, and to watch him field, um, he was kind of like it's weird because you think if we could choose shortstop, it's like you have three generations in a way of Ozzie Smith is the classic shortstop where it's a brilliant fielder, and he's okay at the plate, but he's a brilliant fielder, and that's what you want. Cal Ripkin starts to be the next generation where he's a good fielder, um, but he's bigger, you know, he's probably 6'1, 6'2, and then you go to somebody like A Rod, uh something like that, um, where now he's a power hitter, and you don't normally think of those guys as shortstops. So I'll take the earlier iteration with Ozzie Smith just to watch uh watch him with his theatricality in the field. I just think was between him and Ken Griffey in my in my field, I've got a great defensive team right there. So I'll work with him and Ryan Sandberg up the middle, even though they're Cardinal Cubs and they hate each other. So I'll go Ozzie Smith.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

All right, that's a good one. I I want to get a center fielder, and for some reason, this guy was one of my favorites, even though he never played on my favorite team or anything. But I'm gonna take Kirby Puckett as a center fielder. Hey, he won six gold gloves, so he could field, but he could also hit first position. Um, and he won a couple World Series, and I think he made the All-Star team like 10 times. So he was up there double digits. Anytime you make an all-star team for 10 years, you have a run of just being a great player at your position for a whole decade, basically. So I'm gonna take Kirby Puckett, one of the best players there in the late 80s and early 90s. He's another fan favorite guy, I think, where from a small market and there's not a lot of people that are like, I hate Kirby Puckett. I mean, never heard that.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

No, no, you can't.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

And and his name is iconic, Kirby Puckett.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Did you know Bob Costas uh did a bet with Kirby Puckett about like he was getting ready to have his, he and his wife are gonna have their first child, and then he said, if you're still hitting 350 in July, I will name my child after you. And he was. And so I think the child has two middle names because then Bob Costas had to tell his wife this because he was like, it could go either way, a guy or a girl. And so it ends up becoming a second middle name. But Bob Costas's kid's second uh or his kid's second middle name is Kirby. I just thought it was such a funny story.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

That's good.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Uh all right. Um I'm getting getting a little thin here now on what I want. I guess I guess do I go with bench players or do I just keep going around the horn? Because you it's funny, you've chosen all the positions that I don't have, so I feel like I can just wait. So I guess I'll go left-handed pitcher, and I will take Greg Maddox's teammate. I'll take Tom Glavin. Um I r uh I'll get a 90s guy in there. Um never overpowered, never through hard, uh, but he painted like if they had to deal with the what it was the the machines today, the ABS machines or whatever it is, uh, Tom Glavin and Greg Max would have far fewer strikeouts. Those guys got the benefit of a couple inches off the corner, but they knew how to use it so well. And I just loved watching Glavin because I think when I was trying to play and I was trying to pitch, I never could overpower somebody. It's like every pitcher's dream is to overpower somebody. I just never had it in me. And so I had to be crafty, and that's kind of what he was. That he was just crafty, and here's somebody who's who's just fantastic as a pitcher with Smoltz and Maddox. That that what a Hall of Fame thing. He has what 300 and over 300 wins, which we're just not gonna see a 300-win pitcher anymore.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

No.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

So I guess I'd go with Tom Glavin.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

All right, I'll stick with that and I'll I'll fill out my left-handed uh pitcher. I'm gonna take Randy Johnson. Yep. So this guy's huge, he's like 6'10. Just uh, and you talked about nibbling and and using finesse. This guy would just flamethrow the ball. Yeah. Um, and I don't know because I didn't ever hit against him, obviously, but if you're 16, 6'10, it's gotta be tough to pick up the ball coming that fast. But you know, his stride and his release is so far out there that your reaction time's got to be a lot less than just the traditional normal height pitcher. Um, plus he has one of the best highlight clips of all time when he pitched and killed that bird on his pitch.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

Well, even in the all-star game, um, what was it, John Crook? He almost murdered John Crook. And so the way he stood way off the plate, and then when he did the same thing to Larry Walker, and Larry Walker turned his helmet around because they were so intimidated by that.

SPEAKER_02 28:41

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Oh my gosh. Yeah, that's great. Um, uh, yeah, he was right there with Tom Glavin. Um, I don't know why I had this anti-Dimambacks bias. I just uh they were just ugly uniforms, ugly stadium. I just everything about that organization, and so I I don't even think of them almost as a major league franchise. And I don't know why. It's just again, it's your memories of your childhood. And when they beat the Yankees after uh 9-11, you're just like, what? No, New York's I don't even like the Yankees, but they're supposed to win that. Why didn't they win that? So oh my gosh. Um well, okay. I'm gonna go with he's cutting it just under the wire, but I this is influenced by a card where he has his arm around George Brett in 1981. And I'm gonna go with Rod Crew. Um 18-time All-Star, and you kind of set the parameters that they needed to play at least five years in each decade, which I appreciate. I think that's a fair rule. And Crew played through 85, uh, and he played the full season 85. Um, but some he he's kind of like uh Wade Boggs before Wade Boggs, Tony Gwyn before Tony Gwynn. He always looked like he was 70 years old. Um and he just had that strange crouch batting stance, yeah. But I don't know. Uh there was, did you ever hear the story about him getting a heart transplant? No, that was crazy. He is like he spoke at some school assembly and he met this 11-year-old kid named Conrad Royland, and Conrad became like a huge Rod Carew fan, and he ends up being an NFL tight end, and he died at 29 from a brain aneurysm. Uh, Conrad uh Royland. And the family chose to donate his organs, and that same day, Rod Carew was dying from heart failure, and he received a transplant. And so the kid's mother, Conrad's mother, learned this and met Rod Carew and would sit and listen to his heartbeat, knowing that was her son's heartbeating, that it saved Rod Carew's life later in life. It's such a cool inspirational story. I didn't even know that. Yeah, it's I don't know. I he kind of represents a baseball, a time of baseball that as a kid it was before my time. Um, because he played in the late 60s through the mid-80s, he had another long career. But it's just it's kind of like one of those, he seemed already by the early 80s an old timer, but he could keep up with everybody and keep doing it. I mean, he's the one who's batting in the 370s and 380s consistently. So um, if nothing else, my guy should get on base between Tony Gwynn, Rod Crew, and George Brett. My batting averages are off the charts. I don't have any power, I realize though. I can't.

SPEAKER_02 31:45

Okay, so I'm I'm gonna go with power after you just said that. And this is like your nemesis, this is your nemesis, so I knew I was safe holding off on this guy, but I'm gonna at third base, I'm gonna take Mike Schmidt.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

Take that piece of.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

I knew he wouldn't land on your roster, so I'm gonna I'm gonna put him on mine. This this guy went to 12 all-stars, but he he had 10 gold gloves at the hot corner. That is a tough thing to do. So almost 550 home runs. He he just was a power hitter before there were, you know, these. Well, there probably were, I guess, Mickey Man on one, but he had power, but he could also field his position really well. So I like that. I'm gonna take Mike Schmidt.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Okay, and I'm gonna take a quick pick, and just so I can glance over it and move on, because it's funny, neither one of us has done this. So then fine, I'm choosing a bench player and I'm putting Barry Bonds on the bench, but I got power. So I don't want to say anything more. We're all holding our nose a little bit, but that gives me a little power and takes care of the Barry Bonds awkwardness.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Yep. So I will go with um I need I need a first baseman, and I'm gonna take Don Mattingley.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

I knew you were gonna take Don Mattingley.

SPEAKER_02 33:05

And he's my favorite player. I've mentioned that on this uh podcast, but I guess if you think about a guy who had like a five to six year run in a decade, he's up there in the in the 80s. So Don Mattingley, he he won nine gold gloves. He he only went to six all-stars um and had like 2200 hits or anything, but had some had some pop over that kind of five-year peak. And uh Donnie baseball on my all-star team.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

Yeah, I was waiting for that to come. I wrote down five first basemen with potential with possibilities to choose, where other ones I could only come up with two or three. Um, I also had Mark McGuire and Will Clark and Keith Hernandez, and I was just like, I know Seth's gonna take Don Mattingley.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

Just I know he's and before you pick, I do want to mention that um he's the manager of the Phillies now, and I love the fact that he is kind of turning around that team this season. Yeah, and I think he may have been manager of the year once. Um, but man, I just like when I watch a Phillies game and they show him and the dugout. Just it's it's kind of bittersweet because I think he should be in pinstripes, but at least the navy blue ones, not the maroon pinstripes over there.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

The Phillies pinstripe, ugh. I know what you mean. Um, I'm running out of positions here, so I'm gonna wait to catcher to the end because honestly, I guarantee you you're not putting another catcher on your roster. No. Um I guess I'm gonna take my starting pitcher and I'm gonna go with I have like I don't want to start him. You know what? Forget it. I'm picking him because it's kind of like Donnie Baseball. He had a run, and when he had a run, he was unbelievable. I'm gonna take Dwight Gooden. Um I just think that he was in four All-Star games, but when he was on, he was unstoppable. And I committed to a mostly 80s roster. Now I know I'm not there, but um I just remember that mid to late 80s window, he was unbelievable. That means I'm gonna have to get Daryl Strawberry on my bench for the cocaine cut connection.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

Well, Daryl Strawberry, talk about those two guys coming up basically at the same time, and obviously peaked with one in the World Series in '86, but there weren't there weren't any bigger names in in the Big Apple than those two guys.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Um when you look at our pitchers, you've got finesse with Maddox as your right-handed pitcher, and I have finesse with Glavin as my left-handed, but then you've got Randy Johnson, and I've got Dwight Gooden bringing heat. So we've just inverted our right and left-handed pitchers.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Yeah, and so now's the time when I'm gonna go with a bench player because I already have a third baseman, but I'm gonna take Wade Boggs. Dang. Get him on my bench. He'll have some. You have Tony Gwynn, so I gotta have uh Boggs over there that was a five-time batting champion. He wants 12 all-stars.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

Yeah. Yeah. He's Boggs, he was on my list. He would probably have been right up there coming up. Um I'm gonna take I'm gonna take Dave Winfield on my bench. I think Dave Winfield is one of the great athletes, kind of like Bo Jackson. And did you ever hear the story, one of the weirder stories when uh he was playing the Blue Jays and he was warming up between innings? Do you ever hear that story? And he and he threw and hit a seagull. It killed the seagull. Yeah. And after the game, the Toronto local police came and charged him with cruelty to animals, and the judge threw it out the next day. And then so Billy Martin, the manager of the Yankees, when he when he heard that uh he heard about it, he says, Well, it's first time he's hit the cutoff man all year. Such a Billy Martin statement.

SPEAKER_02 37:22

But um, yeah, he's also one of the guys that was didn't he get drafted in like all four major sports, or at least the three. He was just such a big athlete. You mentioned Bo Jackson, you know, he Dave Winfield was just a great all-around athlete from what I gather. The fact that you can be drafted in multiple sports, that just says something about you as a person and athlete.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

So yeah, he was he was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 1973, fourth overall. He was drafted by the Vikings, and he was drafted by the Atlantic Hawks and the Utah Stars. This was before the NBA merged with the ABA. So that's crazy. All in 1973. And he played college basketball for the University of Minnesota. So I got my Minnesota connection. So all of a sudden, I'm getting the power on my bench. I'm feeling good.

SPEAKER_02 38:17

Okay, so I gotta get I'm I'm gonna draft a second baseman, and I'm debating between three, but I'm gonna go with the guy that I may not have the flashiest numbers, but he was a consistent hitter and could field really well. And it was Roberto Alomar.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

That's that was my next one, though.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

Yeah, and and I I used to like Sweet Lou Whitaker.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

Um that was my other one. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

But but I think overall Alomar was a a better player overall, won a couple World Series there. So played in Wichita too, didn't he? Yes, he did. For the Wranglers. Yeah. Yeah, that was Padre's double A team.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

I'm trying to remember uh when did he play in Wichita? Was that the early mid-80s?

SPEAKER_02 39:10

Yeah, and didn't Sandy Alamar play with them?

SPEAKER_00 39:13

He played with the pilots, the Wichita pilots.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

Pilots, okay.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

Yeah, in 87, 1987.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

So it was the the arrows, the pilots, and then the Wranglers, maybe? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

So he played here one good, good Wichita connection. Um okay, so I guess if I could, I'm gonna go with a bench pitcher. I'm gonna go with Pedro Martinez. Does he count?

SPEAKER_02 39:38

Yeah, that's a good one, but I'm not a big Pedro was dominant, but he just being a Red Sox player and and I'm a Yankee. Like there were so many just instances where he got under my skin, mainly because he was really good. Um, but I'm glad you took him just so I wouldn't have to talk him up.

SPEAKER_00 39:59

So, where are you going on Roger Clemens then? Being a Red Sox and a Yankee.

SPEAKER_02 40:03

See, it's it's weird because when you look at history, there are so many guys that played for both um the Red Sox and the Yankees. Like Wade Boggs, for example, I picked him. He didn't have a long career with the Yankees, but there's a lot of guys that when you look at the the overlap, it's really weird. And I'm I'm not taking Clemens on my team, so you can have him. I'll just say that right now.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

I was wondering where you stood on him.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

No, not taking him.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:36

Um but I need a I need a right fielder. And Strawberry played right.

SPEAKER_00 40:45

Yeah, is that correct? Yeah, he did.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Yeah, that's that's who I'm taking. I'll take Daryl Strawberry.

SPEAKER_00 40:53

That's a good pick. Lanky Daryl, eight-time all-star player, which I just felt like his career was short, but then the more I look at him, like, actually no, he was around a long time. A lot longer than I thought. I just thought he would kind of see and it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

It's funny because Strawberry and Dwight Gooden both ended up playing for the Yankees. And I think Dwight Gooden even threw a no-hitter for the Yankees, if I'm correct. But uh, there's just it's just the Yankees get a lot of guys. Um, I mean, that's no secret. They they get a lot of free agents and they buy a lot of guys with their money. But yeah, I like Strawberry. I liked him growing up, and I like him. He was always I had a Don Mattingley, Daryl Strawberry, Bronx Bombers card where both of them were on it, and I love that card. I think it may have been a generic card. It wasn't even a name brand card, but I loved it. So I gotta have him with Mattingley on my team.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

Um, I'm gonna go with um I'm gonna I'm trying to be smart with my bench, so I'm gonna put Paul Molleter on my bench because he can play infield, outfield. He played all sorts of positions, so I do need somebody who could rotate in in between second and short if needs be. Um so I trust Paul Molliter, seven-time all-star. I think of him with um the Brewers, but I feel like a lot of people might associate him with the Twins. I think of the old 82 Brew crew with Gorman Thomas and uh Ben Ogilvy and Robin Young and Paul Molliter, um, losing to the Cardinals in the in that World Series. But he always just seemed like classy, solid player that you want. And the fact that he was a seven-time All-Star, um, I'll keep him as my utility guy on the bench.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

Okay, I'm gonna take a guy that was basically it was this guy and Ken Griffey Jr. at the beginning of the 90s when you collected baseball cards, everybody wanted their cards. So I'm gonna take Frank Thomas and put him on my bench. And then when Don Mattingley gets pulled out, I'm gonna throw Frank Thomas in there to play first.

SPEAKER_00 43:00

Uh the tank.

SPEAKER_02 43:02

The big hurt.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

The big hurt. That's right. Um okay, I have two more for my bench and a pitcher still to go, and a catcher. Um, I guess the other pitcher I'm gonna throw on there. I'm gonna do it because he was a he was uh well, do I want I haven't even got a reliever yet? Okay, I'm gonna I'll save the reliever for later because I know you're not picking him. I'm gonna say I want I want Andre Dawson. He was the Cub who hit the home run, and I remember the Cubs beat the uh Phillies nine to two, and the hawk was he's now like a funeral director, which when you look at Andre Dawson, he just looks terrifying. He just looks huge. So I don't know. I just liked Andre. Uh Andre Dawson as a cub. Now I know people think I'm with the Expos, but I'll go with him.

SPEAKER_02 44:08

It's a good one. I'm gonna take I'm gonna take a kind of uh another guy in the 90s and a local guy for me around here down with the.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

I'm gonna guess. I'm gonna guess. You're gonna take Joe Carter.

SPEAKER_02 44:26

No.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

Ah! I was thinking it was Joe Carter. Alright, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

No. Down here in Atlanta. Chipper Jones. He lives close to me. So uh see him out and about. And I'm gonna take him. He went to eight All-Star games. He kind of represented the 90s there over at third. So I'm gonna put him on my bench. And I got two third basemen on my bench. That's okay. Maybe he could be a DH.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Yeah, Wade Boggs. You got first and third covered, it looks like, with Wade Boggs, Frank Thomas, and Chipper Jones.

SPEAKER_01 44:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:59

And I pretty much got the outfield cover. Although I think Molliter just kind of played everything. My catcher, I just will get this over with now. You chose the best catcher. Um I have no good stories about this guy, other than he just looks like I don't know. He he looks like the lead prison the lead uh what do you want to say, prison guard in Shawshank Redemption. I'm choosing Carlton Fisk. Carl Carlton Fisk, 11-time all-star. My choices were Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, and Mike Piazza. Uh once Pudge Rodriguez was gone, and I'm just like, nah. And I guess I'll just go with Carlton Fisk, and I have I don't have much to say about him other than he'll be solid. And he looks like he's 55 years old when he was 20 years old.

SPEAKER_02 45:58

I'm gonna take another guy. Well, I'm writing these down. I don't I have one of your guys on my list. I don't even know who's on my team anymore.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

Uh I can tell you if you need it.

SPEAKER_02 46:10

So I'm gonna take a picture. I'm gonna take Steve Carleton. Ooh, that's a four-time Cy Young award. He he's another lefty, but I I liked him. He struck out a lot of players and won a lot of games and won Cy Young, and he he played into the 80s enough that he'll count.

SPEAKER_00 46:28

Yeah, I did not know he played that deep into the 80s because I just think of him his whole career with like the the Cardinals and Phillies. But then he just kept going with the Giants, the White Sox, uh, the the Indians, the Twins. Um, although he barely played, but that's a that's a solid one. I think his heyday was probably the late 70s, early 80s.

SPEAKER_02 46:50

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 46:51

Yeah, that's a great pick. Um my other bench pitcher then is going to be I'm gonna take just for equity's sake, I don't want to be anti-left-handed. I wanted I'm taking Fernando Valenzuela. I just dude was a phenomenon in the early 80s. And again, somebody like Daryl Strawberry, where I thought he was just around for like one or two years, he's a six-time all-star. And so he just he was around a lot. And I just remember being a a little kid in 81 and being mesmerized by his pitching motion and watching what was the Johnny Bench show that was on Saturday mornings and and seeing him talk about that. I don't remember what the Johnny Bench Saturday morning show was. I'll have to look it up. But maybe it was just this week in baseball. Right. That sounds right. Oh no, no, it was the baseball bunch. It was the baseball bunch. Yeah. Uh from 1980 to 1985. And I just remember watching the baseball bunch and and learning about how he pitched from Johnny Bench and just being mesmerized by that as a little kid. So that way I got a righty and a lefty, and in uh I still haven't pulled out my relief pitcher yet, though. I only have so I have two left, you have three left.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

Okay. Do you know what I have? I have a a pitcher and two bench.

SPEAKER_00 48:17

Yep. You've got well, you've got a bench pitcher, and all yours are on the bench. One's a pitcher and the other's a pitcher.

SPEAKER_02 48:23

Yep. Okay. So I'm gonna I'm gonna draft uh Barry Larkin. I like Barry Larkin. He's not flashy, um, but he was solid. Uh, you know, won a World Series, won an MVP, and went to a lot of All-Star games. Decent, decent glove at short, um, but always hit well for his position. I think he won nine silver sluggers, so that kind of stood out to me.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

Yeah, I don't have a lot to say about Barry Larkin.

SPEAKER_02 48:56

Sorry, that that was a very vanilla pick.

SPEAKER_00 48:58

Barry Larkin. Yeah, Barry Larkin. That's how I felt about Carlton Fisk. It's like, all right, I don't know what to say. Um my last one I'm putting on the bench, he's never gonna see the field, but he's only playing. You know, I could put Alan Tram. No, I'm not putting Alan Tram. Um I'm gonna put Will Clark and I'm only putting him there for stories. He's just gonna sit there and tell stories and rile up Ricky Henderson and um, you know, six-time all-star. He can take a few rounds at first base because Rod Cruz feeling old at this point. Um again, another pure lefty swing.

SPEAKER_02 49:36

That yeah, great swing.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Yeah, great swing. So I yeah, I that's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 49:44

My my last pick is just maybe the You got two left. My last pitcher, sorry. Oh, yeah. Uh I I want I want a guy that represents kind of everything, and he may be the most iconic pitcher from the eras. Nolan Ryan. I'm just gonna have the Ryan Express. Just uh a guy that put up I don't know how many seasons, but I think he was uh he was a rookie in like 68, at least that's when his rookie card was, and he he spanned three decades and was kind of he didn't win Cy Young awards, he threw a lot of no-hitters, but he was always one of the better pitchers in just about all three of those decades. So Nolan Ryan.

SPEAKER_00 50:32

I didn't even think of putting him on there. I just I mean it totally works. I'm thinking of him in the 60s and 70s, but yeah, he's there all the 80s, isn't he? He's there into the 90s. Yeah, he's just Rangers. He'd probably come out and throw six innings today. Um, I'm finishing with my relief pitcher. I figured I could wait to the very end. And the way you have, what do you have? You have two Yankees in your starting lineup. I'm gonna have two Royals, and I'm gonna have the quiz, Dan Quisenberry. Um I could easily choose Bruce Souter or Goose Gossage, but I'm going hometown Royals, and just that submarine ball and Quisenberry, he made three all-star appearances in the early 80s, like 81 through 83. So uh it brings something different to the table, you know, the old quiz. Um, so that rounds out my roster.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

Yeah. They had the maybe the only QQ combination with Jamie Quirk and Dan Quisenberry. You're not gonna find a lot of a lot of those combos.

SPEAKER_00 51:40

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 51:41

Uh, I'm gonna just let's see. I got one more guy just on my bench, and I'm pretty sure he qualifies, Derek Jeter.

SPEAKER_00 51:53

Oh bro.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

Does he really he was right around at the middle of the decade, so uh I don't have anything pulled up on him. I probably should know this. Um but yeah. Just uh just to hear the announcers say him his name just kind of gives you goosebumps.

SPEAKER_00 52:16

So no, don't say that gives you goosebumps. All right. All right, so here's your lineup. Here you go. First base, Don Mattingley, second base, Roberto Alomar, third uh shortstop, Cal Ripkin. Third base, Mike Schmidt, left field Bo Jackson, center field Kirby Puckett, right field Daryl Strawberry. Left-handed pitcher Randy Johnson, right-handed pitcher Greg Maddox, Pudra Agridez as your catcher, and Mariano Rivera as your relief. Sitting on the bench, you have Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Wade Boggs, Frank Thomas, Chipper Jones, Barry Larkin, and Derek Jeter, the captain. Um Rod Crew at first base, Ryan Sandberg at second, Ozzie Smith at short, George Brett at third, Ricky Henderson and left, Ken Griffey in center, Tony Gwynn and right, Tom Glavin is my left-handed pitcher, Dwight Gooden is my right-handed, Carlton Fisk is my catcher, and the quiz is my relief. Pedro Martinez, Fernando Valenzuela, my pitchers, Barry Bonds, Dave Winfield, Paul Molliter, Andre Dawson, Will Clark. So who did we leave off then? Who were players we left off?

SPEAKER_02 53:25

Clemens. We didn't draft Clemens.

SPEAKER_00 53:27

We didn't draft Clemens.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

Yeah, I tried to stay away from that whole issue. So um Eddie Eddie Murray does not get a lot of credit. But he just he put up a lot of numbers over his career.

SPEAKER_00 53:43

We both shouted out uh the middle infield for the Tigers, but didn't pick him. You shouted out Lou Whitaker's sweet Lou, and I I mentioned Alan Trammell. Um that's a that's a deep, I don't know. That's a deep one.

SPEAKER_02 53:55

Dale Murphy won a couple MVPs in the early 80s.

SPEAKER_00 53:59

Seven times. I'm surprised you didn't go with Bernie Williams. I was just waiting for you to go for Bernie Williams.

SPEAKER_02 54:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:04

Um Goose Gossage. Um I thought you were gonna say Joe. Craig Biggio. Oh, Craig Biggio. I thought you were gonna say Joe Carter at that one point. Uh when you were saying local, I was thinking Wichita local, but alas, Georgia local. Keith Hernandez.

SPEAKER_02 54:20

And a guy that that played, it may have been the pilots now that we're talking about it, was Lee Smith.

SPEAKER_00 54:26

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:26

A relief pitcher. He's a Hall of Famer. Well played in Wichita, and so did Eric Davis for the Arrows. Eric's. So there were some good, some good 80s uh minor league guys that played minor league ball in Wichita.

SPEAKER_00 54:41

And none of us, neither of us mentioned Pete Rose. We didn't even put him up there.

SPEAKER_02 54:46

I don't even want to say his name.

SPEAKER_00 54:50

All right. Well, I feel good about my team. I've got a pretty much an all 80s infield and a 90s outfield, and I have a mixture in my in my uh battery. So I feel good. I was trying to shoot for an 80s infield, so I got what I wanted.

SPEAKER_02 55:07

Yeah, it was fun.

SPEAKER_00 55:08

I don't know. I can't tell you whose is better. They're all stinking great. Uh, I think the one of yours that I really wish I had was Kirby Puckett.

SPEAKER_02 55:16

Um I've I thought you were gonna say Bo Jackson.

SPEAKER_00 55:19

I thought about him. I did, I did have him down, but I love Kirby Puckett. It's tough not to.

SPEAKER_02 55:25

By the way, Bo Jackson will not be playing the All-Star game with a jersey or a shirt on. He's just gonna go just nothing. Just pants and cleats. That's it. He's just gonna go out there and flex.

SPEAKER_00 55:38

The ultimate fight is if we would have put Albert Bell on there. Joey Bell. And Albert versus Bo. Holy crap. That would have been nice to throw down. Well, good call. This was fun to do. It makes me think of the the days of All-Star Games. So go look up an old, go look at the 1989 All-Star game, Bo Jackson's opening at bat. And right there, you can get that that's awesome. So uh the only other one I I was thinking of doing was Rick Rick Sutcliffe, for but I kept him off. So yeah. Alright. Well, hey, thanks for showing up, everybody, or listening, and we appreciate a little time with us. Um be on the other aspect of it.