Daddy Ball, Anonymous Letters, And Five Junior Bacons

A random ballpark heckler can be funny, but youth baseball drama is not. We start with a White Sox Cubs weekend, field access, and what it’s like meeting names like Harold Baines, then we pivot into the conversations that parents and coaches actually wrestle with: playing time, “daddy ball,” and how to keep a team culture from getting toxic when emotions run hot.

From there we get into college baseball eligibility and the proposed “five-for-five” rule. If every player gets five years the moment they arrive on campus, it could simplify the clock while also changing roster math, transfer decisions, and how long older players stick around. We talk through the real downstream effects for high school athletes, college programs, and development, plus why rule changes keep creating new gray areas the moment someone gets upset and challenges them.

Then we open up the bigger topic: the shadiness in youth baseball. Recruiting within teams, social media hype for kids who are not even in high school, anonymous letters, false promises, and parents drinking at 10 a.m. all create a setting where fights and bad decisions become way too common. We finish with practical advice for players heading to summer baseball and living with host families: respect the house, learn the rules, help out, and do not act entitled. If you like honest baseball talk with real coaching perspective, subscribe, share this with a baseball parent, and leave a review. What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen at a youth game?

Transcript

Animated Cold Open And Banter

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Say something. I'm giving up on you, but I'm not giving up on you. I'm staying with you right now because in our darkest hour, we'll meet him in the the pool, we'll meet him on the sand, we'll meet him in the beaches, we'll meet him in the land. We will never ever surrender. You know why? Because you got hearts of gold and hearts of steel, young man. So if you had a bad day, you had a good day, we're gonna go get him again tomorrow. You hear me right here? One, two, three, break. Man, that was an animated intro right there. That guy needs to calm down.

SPEAKER_04 0:56

Real Weisenheimer.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Who is Weisenheimer? I don't know. You're real Weisenheimer right there. Sounds like something I can do.

SPEAKER_04 1:05

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Where's that from? I've been told I'm an instigator.

SPEAKER_04 1:10

That's Seinfeld. Woody Woodpecker.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

You popped Woody, man. I was watching Seinfeld last night, and uh, she turns to me and she goes, Man, you sound like that guy. The magician. Dentist?

SPEAKER_04 1:24

Dentist? You a dentist?

SPEAKER_01 1:26

No. I'm a magician and I got a rabbit. A rabbit and a magician.

SPEAKER_04 1:33

I wish I was a little bit taller. I wish I was a baller.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Well, the calves are wishing they were ballers tonight.

SPEAKER_04 1:40

Hey, you know, it's interesting you say that about the calves who are up 22 points with seven and a half left, because this is episode 22, so thanks.

White Sox Cubs Series Talk

SPEAKER_04 1:50

Real nice. But you know what we're gonna talk about?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

What?

SPEAKER_04 1:55

Right out the gate. Who? We're gonna talk about them White Sox taking two or three from the Cubbies. See ya.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

The Mighty Mighty White Sox are a fun team to watch.

SPEAKER_04 2:05

They're great. They play the game the right way. The Cubs fan thinks they're elite. And guess what? You walk into Chicago on the south side and see ya.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

What was $35 for parking?

SPEAKER_04 2:17

I tried to look for tickets because Ethan wanted to go, and upper bowl was like a buck twenty. I was like, no chance. Uh Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Oh, yeah, no.

SPEAKER_04 2:25

No. Saturday. You could have joined me. I know. I actually thought about that. I was like, I actually told Ethan, I was like, you know who's at the game? It's Josh. He's like, how'd he go? I was like, well, kind of hooked him up with some tickets. He's like, how many? I was like, two. He's like, you didn't take me? I was like, well, as I said, hooked up Josh about a week and a half ago. Didn't really plan on going to this game, but but I did look for tickets. I just wasn't paying $125 for upper bowl $500.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

Not that game. Good thing you that game was a bad game.

SPEAKER_04 2:56

Why?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

The White Sox pounded them.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

Well, how is that a bad game? It was a great game. It wasn't fun. It was.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

It was just a throttling.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

I'd like to see a little competitive action.

SPEAKER_04 3:09

No. No, no.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

And then I had this guy.

SPEAKER_04 3:11

Step on the throats and just keep I had this guy behind me.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Welcome to my house. I go, I didn't see your name on the building.

SPEAKER_04 3:18

Welcome to my house.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

No, I go, I didn't see your name on the building. So who are you? And he goes, I'm Comiskey. I go, you're not Comiskey. And that's the wrong name, and that's not the name on the building. So that's not you.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

And then you were getting in the scuffles?

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yes. I was only stopped by my better half.

SPEAKER_04 3:35

You were getting in a scuffle? Yes. I'm going to see you on one of those videos that come out and surface with a fight up video.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

You were wearing a stupid cub jersey, weren't you? No, I because I was able to get on the field, and I was told by a certain someone to not wear any cub stuff. So I was wearing actually a spark shirt. Fair. Fair. And I didn't get into a fight with Mr.

SPEAKER_04 3:56

Who'd you meet on the field?

SPEAKER_01 3:58

I met Harold Baines.

SPEAKER_04 3:59

Harold Baines.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

I met Harold Baines on the field. Legend. He goes, You see that name up there? I go, yeah. He goes, that's me. I go, I know. I've seen you. Fully aware of it. I've seen you. I mean, you coach for space for a decent amount of time. Yeah. And you're an ambassador. And now what's he think of you? He thinks, well, our guy Bert Strain, I love Bert to death.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

He's like, Josh, come here. I need to meet some.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

I was like, all right. So I go over, meet Harold.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

He's like, man, I want to meet Harold Baines. You know, Harold, this is my guy Josh. He works at the Bow Dome. You know, he he he he's great. He teaches hitting, but he couldn't hit.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

And I was like, Bert, what do you mean? And then Harold Baines looks at me and goes, Wait a second. You teach him, but couldn't hit? I was like, no, Bert and Mr. Baines, I could hit. I don't know why Bert's saying that. Man, I never seen you even pick up a fungal, man. I never seen you hit. And I'm like, that's because you never get out of the cage over there. That's why. Maybe if you get out of the cage, you'd see me hit a fungal. Cage 14. Yeah. You find Bert's trend. Yeah. And you want, man, I'll throw some BB next time we over there. I was like, yeah. So Harold Baines thinks I can't, I can't hit. And we're gonna have to get some video of you hitting. Send it to Harold. Send it to Harold. I sent it to uh Canji. I was like, Harold, you play with Kanji, right? He goes, No, Canji played with me. And I go, all right, I texted Kanji thought that was pretty funny. So yeah, I've met John Cangielosi. I've good man. I've done more. I've I've I'm way beyond meeting John Cangielosi. Sunday conversations with John Cangelosi at 8 a.m. will never be weird, paralleled. I have to update him on my life. You should. A lot has happened since.

SPEAKER_04 5:45

I talked to Canji a week ago again. Yeah. He called me. I was like, who now? He's like, nah, nah, nah, nah, no. We're gonna talk about something else. But Canji's great, dude.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

I love the canj. So I've met him, I've met Harold Baines, I've met Brent Lillebridge, I've met Jim Tomey, and those are the White Sox I've met. And yeah, that's well, all the White Sox I've met.

SPEAKER_04 6:09

That's a good list.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Yeah. Who's your favorite? Jim. Yeah. And Brent was pretty cool. Brent was a really nice guy. Calm. I think he's up in Washington now. He's a really cool dude, that guy. Harold, he was really quiet. Nice guy, though. And then Kanji's Kanji. Canji's in his own. Did Dino Blandino play with the White Sox? No, he's just Yankees Cardinals, right?

SPEAKER_04 6:33

Yeah, Yankees cards.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Yeah. So.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

You got to see Dino today.

Field Access And Meeting Legends

SPEAKER_01 6:38

I did. The Broncos are out to the Lincoln Way East. Good, good team, Lincoln Way East. They are a good team.

SPEAKER_04 6:43

They've had a good run of teams lately.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

One through nine. Not really a hole in the lineup. They have good pitching. They actually were the best team we've seen all year. We didn't play too well. We didn't throw too well. Well, so I told Coach Scott after today's game, to his credit, we have scheduled a lot of hard, non-conference games. Our playoffs start next week.

SPEAKER_04 7:03

That'll get you ready for the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

We have a, I would argue even a harder matchup on Thursday. We play Maine South.

SPEAKER_04 7:09

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

And I see our guy. You got at home? It's in Crestwood.

SPEAKER_04 7:14

At Crestwood?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Yeah. At 7:30.

SPEAKER_04 7:17

At 7:30?

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:19

Oh mama.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

You know who got named MVP of the conference?

SPEAKER_04 7:22

7:30 at Crestwood?

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:25

I might make an appearance.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

Well, I'm waiting for this. Is it a big picture potentially with how many guys we have on both teams? I know. Yeah. It's over 10, right? Nearly 10.

SPEAKER_04 7:35

Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:36

Yeah. Interesting. 7.30 Thursday?

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Yeah. This Thursday. Yes. Crestwood.

SPEAKER_04 7:42

Two days.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Correct.

SPEAKER_04 7:46

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Yeah. I mean, we have our quick-paced worker guy, Sanson. We work quick. So game should be under an hour and a half.

SPEAKER_04 7:56

Well, then that doesn't really help me.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Well. I'll show up in the fourth inning. Depends on how they hit. And uh, no, did he tell you he was named MVP? Who's that?

SPEAKER_04 8:07

Luca? No? The conference? I did not hear that yet. I guess sent out my text of all the asked the boys about conference, all conference, MVPs, all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Blake Blake Hire, lawless pitcher of uh the of no lawless player of the white conference and pitcher of the year. Good. And then Luca, co-MVP with Ethan Bass of that. I forgot the proper acronym for their conference out there. Gotcha. He hit 500 in conference. Good for Luca. Yeah. Luca's a dog. He hit one out of wind trust. No, like literally out of wind trust yesterday. Like out. Out. Out of the park. Out of the park.

SPEAKER_04 8:46

Not just out. Not just out, but out into the party.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Oh no cow. Wind trust. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:57

Is that the boomers?

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:59

Oh, that's a bomb. Yeah. You know what's a bomb if you put one out to the parking lot at Crestwood.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

If the wind's blowing with you.

SPEAKER_04 9:06

Doesn't do it often there.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Yeah. I had one particular blowing with me.

SPEAKER_04 9:10

Fun fact. That's where the good old Lions Township Lions in 2003 won our state title.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Was it turf?

SPEAKER_04 9:17

No. Oh. Nope. Both times I ever played on that field, it was still dirt. Was there turf back in that day? If there was turf. If it was turf, it was like Astro. Like in the Missouri Valley when I was in the Valley of Bradley. Rocking my BU. My shirt. Yeah. This is a 20, 20 years old. Still killing it.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

Oh, that's a long time ago.

SPEAKER_04 9:41

But Wichita State, Indiana State, and depending on what field you would play at when you would go to Creighton, because sometimes if you go to series against Creighton, you'd play at Rosenblatt, which was not turf, but if you had to play on their home, like in campus field, it was all turf. But like those fields had so Wichita and Indiana State had turfed infields, but they were like artificial, like astro turf, dude, and it was brutal. I watched our third baseman in Wichita get his cleat because they had dirt around the bases, get his cleat caught dirt to turf running down the line, and his knee just completely. Alright. Yeah, not worth it. No, but that's like what we had to. I mean, that's what we played on. I'll tell you what, taking ground balls on that stuff wasn't wasn't friendly. The h the the the speed the ball would hit on the second hop was insane. It was terrible. Yeah, and if you don't really play on it or ever play on it or grow up on it, like it was really hard to be. How do you slide on that? Well, you have enough dirt to slide on. You or you mean to like make a play?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:59

Deal with some rug burn. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, wasn't Toronto all of that? Uh-huh.

unknown 11:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:08

Same with the old Astrodome.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

Yeah.

unknown 11:12

No.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

No bueno. No. I hear you.

unknown 11:16

No.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

But yeah, Cubs, Sox, Broncos.

SPEAKER_04 11:20

I mean, we go, we go Socks beat Cubs. Great weekend. Yeah. 11U Brew Crew gets their first title. Great weekend. 14-year-olds win another tournament and a three-peat at the 14-year GRB Elite Invite tournament. That's our third one in a row out there. I mean, all good things.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Earhart really hitting his Pat Riley stride.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

He is. You love the Pat Riley reference.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

I do.

SPEAKER_04 11:48

I've come to notice that. You love the Pat Riley reference. He won. True. A lot. You call me Pat Riley in the winter when I'm coaching hoops.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Yeah. No, when I hear Pat Riley. I don't know what you're up to. I know what you're up to. When I hear Pat Riley talk, I listen.

SPEAKER_04 12:12

Doesn't he have a documentary or something?

SPEAKER_01 12:14

I I've heard him on podcasts.

SPEAKER_04 12:16

Gotcha. I always thought there was like a documentary or maybe there's a book.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

No, there's um I'm really there's a show on HBO of Lakers winning time.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

So sad that they canceled it. They have it's the Lakers in the 80s with Pat Riley and Magic Johnson.

SPEAKER_04 12:34

Yeah, I've seen I've seen I think I watched the first season of that.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Yeah. And they only had they canceled after the second season. I don't know why, but Adrian Brody does a tremendous job as Pat Riley.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

Who who is the GM? Like who is the actor?

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Ooh. Good question.

SPEAKER_04 12:53

Isn't it what's the dude with Will Farrell and Step Brothers? Like, I'm not good at actors. Oh no, he's the owner. He's the owner. Yeah. John C. Riley. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Yeah. You know, great job. I'm uh it was a great show. I'm really sad that they canceled it.

SPEAKER_04 13:06

Gotcha. I didn't know that. I know I remember my wife and I watched sorry watching that, and then we kind of faded out. But I thought it was an interesting show.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

It is an interesting show. Magic. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 13:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

So no, the youth note.

High School Matchups And MVP News

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Youth, we continue to have a good track record of success with those. I have actually a question, a little off topic, but kind of on topic about yesterday, no, last week's show and regards to our youth teams. I had someone come up and ask me, you know, I heard the podcast last week and had about how players approach the coach about playing time, but then the person asked me the question, now how do you approach it if the coach is the dad of the player in question? Like the a dad in question of playing a kid too much? No, so the coach that you're approaching about playing time, what if he's the dad of the player on the team? Like the the he's the actual dad.

SPEAKER_04 14:06

Gotcha. So you're saying if the player wants to approach the coach, but if the player is actually the son of the coach?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

No. Like, how how do you talk to the coach if it's his son in question that you're like, I why is that guy playing? Like it's in your spot.

SPEAKER_04 14:24

Gotcha. Like they've okay in the quotations of daddy ball.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Correct. How do you go about that? I was asked. I was like, oh, that's an interesting question.

SPEAKER_04 14:35

I don't think it's any different than a question. Like, I don't think it's any different than asking about anything else, but I guess my rebuttal back to that is I don't think it's your job to question about other kids. Like, that's one thing I think Earhart does a fantastic job is when he fields questions from parents. Like, if any parent brings up another kid, he kind of stops him right there. He's like, we're not talking about other kids, which I completely agree with. I do the same thing. I don't think it's the job to have conversations about other people's children with other parents, about playing time, development, all that stuff. Like you wouldn't want the coach talking to another parent about your kid, so don't come talk to the coach about another kid. Like if you want to talk about your own child, then talk about your own child. But if you want to talk about other kids or badmouth other kids or say something about other kids, like I think that's where it's the job of the directors or the leaders to kind of stop those conversations and narrative of saying, like, we don't do that, we're not, we're not having that conversation. So I guess that's how I don't know. If a parent were to ask me how do I approach that, I'd say you don't. As simple as I could say, like, I don't know. And it's it's funny, some parents will have the conversation with you and be like, you know, I want to talk about little Johnny, and they'll start going and going and going, but they'll say, you know, but little Billy and the blah blah blah, and they'll start rattling things off about another kid. It's like, well, do you really want to talk about your son or are you trying to talk about someone else?

SPEAKER_03 16:09

Little Billy.

SPEAKER_04 16:10

And no offense to little Johnny and little Billy, that's just the names I use. I got a little Johnny on my seatball team. I love that kid. Smiling. His mom sent me a video of him during the game that I didn't see him, but it's a video of him dancing. And she texted me and she goes, You need to control your team a little bit more. And the kid's just out there dancing.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

You let him dance? I didn't see it. That's what I'm saying. I feel like you would uh came in with the hammer.

SPEAKER_04 16:36

Listen, my C-ball team that I currently What's a C-ball team? It's coach pitch. Oh. So my coach pitch for Little League, it's Logan's team. Oh. It's all kindergartners. We're in a kindergarten, first grade league. It's all I have all kindergartners, but it is a hmm. How do you talk in that one? Currently not too too friendly.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

You're not nice?

SPEAKER_04 17:01

I try to get nicer. I try to be. I know I am nice, and I I run around with the kids and I have fun with them. But like there's a couple of them that are really starting to push the envelope, I should say, of testing, really testing me. Like give me an example. We had two, oh okay. My three rules for these kids are rule one is be safe, rule two is have fun, and rule three is get better. Right? As long as we follow those three rules, I don't care. Well, today in the game we had two kids slam bats, and we also had a kid throw a helmet. At five years old? Yes. That early? Correct. So that's why I had major issues. And I told the kids the next time I see one of you slam a bat into the dugout like that, like not only you not playing the rest of this game, like you're not gonna play the next game either. Like at five. And the crazy part is like some of the parents literally sit in the dugout because there's only just the one bench at these fields. And like some of them sit there, or some of them are in the stands right there, and they see it, and then like nobody stops it. It's like, why do I have to be the one who then yells at that? Like, if I was on the app and that's why you're hired, but I'm not hired. I'm volunteer. I'm volunteering to coach. This guy, that's why you're hired. You think I got hired to coach a villain?

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Let's let's get this straight. You volunteered to be the villain for your your youngest son's C ball team. Willing you willingly did this.

SPEAKER_04 18:37

I actually had What is wrong with you? I actually had to go through a couple classes to be, you know, I had to go through harassment classes and CPR classes, and I had to get a background check just to be able to coach the team. That's you have to for Little League, you have to go through all that stuff. But I listen, home's okay. I love home life's okay. I I love coaching, and I told Logan in the car today, like today was one of his best days of actually getting better and being more engaged. And I told him I was like, that's one of your best games. I said, I'm going to focus a lot on making sure you're getting better. Like, I'm still gonna work with some of these other kids because they still are it's my job as the volunteer coach, but I will say this there's a couple kids on the team that's like, I mean, we literally had a kid out there just chucking his glove today, just throwing it up and down and throwing it in the club.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

I can't feel bad for you here.

SPEAKER_04 19:33

And it's like I'm like, dude, put your glove on. He's like, no.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

So you're so you've taken essentially Bose Buddies.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Bose Buddies. You did a background check for Bose Buddies. You did several classes that I'm sure took about an hour.

SPEAKER_04 19:50

Nikki C told me the other day he wants to get back into Bose Buddies. He did? No.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

That's because you have it. I did one Bose Buddies. Were they an hour? Yeah. Man, I remember that long hour. Because the the parents are literally right there. Uh-huh. Right in there with you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

And I will say this positive from today.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

What? Right?

SPEAKER_04 20:16

There was another kid on the other little other team we were playing. Kid played first base. Apparently, his dad was a coach. I didn't know. But we were kind of walking to our car after, and I just happened to be walking next to him. I was like, oh man, great game. I was like, is this your son? He said, Yeah. I was like, oh, he's a good little baseball player. I was like, is he a first grader or kindergarten? He's like, oh, he's in kindergarten. I was like, oh, where does he go to school? He ends up, he goes to the same school as Logan. They just have different teachers. And like at that age, you haven't really met everybody yet. So I started talking to him, and we ended up exchanging numbers. I sent him all the seven new experience stuff, and I'm pretty sure I picked up a decent little baseball player. So gotta find your positives. Yes, to those out there, I'm technically by default, I guess you could say I was recruiting a six-year-old. How do you feel about that? Whatever. The kid's gonna be in school with Logan, like I told the dad, I'm trying to find other kids in his school that are competitive and like baseball or sports, just like he does, just the same way I built Ethan's team. Ethan has four kids from his him and three other kids in his his grade from his school that play on my 11-year team. So a third of our team is from our area. So I'd like to build a team like that because I think it's fun. Logan will have kids that he would then play with.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Who's coaching that team?

SPEAKER_04 21:36

Me.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

How's that gonna work?

SPEAKER_04 21:40

Because Ethan's team, because I'll do it this year, so they'll Ethan will be twelve next year, Logan will be seven. And by the time they're thirteen, like you know, it'll either be here, Jake, go coach that team, and I'll coach Logan's team, or I'll wait till they're fourteen and give it to Jake.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

I don't believe you.

SPEAKER_04 22:00

Why not?

SPEAKER_01 22:00

You're gonna try to find a way to do both.

SPEAKER_04 22:03

I mean, I will, but I but I'm saying when there's conflicting games, we're talking about a guy. It'll be easier talking about a guy. No, no, no, no. But you which you're I get it. I know what you're saying is you're talking about a guy who is very competitive. And and no, we're talking about a guy who willingly signed up to coach five-year-olds. I gotta I gotta teach my younger son too. So like that's what I say. Once they get to a certain age, like when they have conflicting games, I will go coach Logan's kid. Stop throwing your bat. No. Oh, no, it was just glove.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

No, I'm I'm putting another scenario on the.

SPEAKER_04 22:45

That was an immediate cut that out.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

And so with that in mind, you doing this, you're gonna you're gonna try to tell me that you're not gonna try to coach both at the same time. You are gonna try to coach both at the same time.

SPEAKER_04 23:00

I didn't say that I wasn't gonna try to coach both. I will try to coach both at the same time, but I will I will at some point choose to go to certain ones over other ones.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

Oh I see it when I believe it. I see when I believe it. I'll believe it when I see it. What does that have to do with anything? I just don't like it. Bulls, they stink. They do, but I'd had to throw something on. It's either this or shirtless.

SPEAKER_04 23:29

Well, we appreciate you showing up to the house in a shirt. Thank you. Like if you were in the frozen tundra with no shirt, you'd be you'd be chilly.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Frozen. Oh, this basement, I'm telling you right now, you people on there, it's about 60 degrees down here. It is soundproof, it is cold. And it's a mess. No, I no. This this I would sleep in this.

SPEAKER_04 23:57

You're welcome to sleep down here any day you like.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

I might soon. I'll take you up on that. But I'm not going up to a sky.

SPEAKER_04 24:04

You see this beautiful door right here with the old school uh logos all over it?

Caliburn Bats Sponsor Shoutout

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:08

There's some fun, you know what, back there? Caliburn bats. It's time to talk about a little Caliburn bats. Let's talk about them. We love Caliburn bats. Located in Downers Grove, Illinois, run by Don Erickson, the man, the myth, the legend, the hall of famer. Right? If you need some wood for the summer, boys, go see Don. Okay? It's coming up. If you need your if you need your glove restrung, go see Don.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

He's done it for me. Actually, still waiting on a catchment.

SPEAKER_04 24:41

Are you doing the the palm garden or the the wrist guard?

SPEAKER_01 24:44

No, I just need the web restrung.

SPEAKER_04 24:47

Why don't you just YouTube it?

SPEAKER_01 24:51

Trusted Don. Yeah. I mean, uh hell, we can YouTube how to make a wood bat. No.

SPEAKER_04 24:58

He loves his new machine, though. You got if you haven't seen the new machine, you gotta get out there. He is he loves it.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

We're going out there. I have to give him a date. No, we gotta get out there for a show. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 25:08

Don't be on it.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Don Erickson.

SPEAKER_04 25:09

The people want him back on. So, like you said, Don Don Erickson, Calibrum Bats, good man. Go see him. Okay. First topic of the night.

College Baseball Five For Five Rule

SPEAKER_04 25:19

Okay, we're talking five for five rule in college. Have you done much digging on this rule?

SPEAKER_01 25:26

No, I was informed about it this week because I'm going through it in a personal way as well. No.

SPEAKER_04 25:31

So how we're gonna get to that, but so the five for five rule for those who don't know, okay, is college baseball is currently in talks of changing their eligibility to every player who will get five years of eligibility no matter what. So instead of basically, you know, you have four years, but you can get four in five years, right? They're just gonna give everybody five years. So the moment you walk onto school as a freshman in the fall, that's when your clock ticks. You get five years. So let's say year one, you don't play a ton. Normally, people would then redshirt, right? Now the redshirt is kind of going out because there will be no such thing as a redshirt anymore, and they'll just get five years of eligibility. So if you don't play year one, you can still play for four more years. If you play really well year one, you can still play for four more years. So I think it's kind of fading out the COVID nonsense that kind of took place where then you had 24-year-olds, but people are like, what is this gonna do? I was like, well, technically, a kid walks into campus, you know, he's at 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. So 23-year-olds will kind of be the max of what college baseball or college athletes would be. I think it's interesting. I think it's gonna change some dynamics for teams. I've talked to a few college guys in the last week or so, just talking about some of our players, some of our college guys that are potentially going to the portal kind of stuff. But it's throwing a curveball at these guys because they think some guys are going to leave their school because their four years of eligible are up, but the five for five rule changes, then they get another year, which could change their whole dynamic of their team. So, me personally, I think I like this one. I think saying fine, you get five years no matter what, and being like there's no gray, it's black and white. Here it is. I think if they can get this ruling down the right way with the right wordage, I think it's actually going to be a good thing. But I don't know. It's also talking to a couple guys that are like once they make this rule, all it's gonna take is one person to get upset and file a lawsuit and then get something back out of it, and then a new rule gets put in place, which seems to be what kind of keeps happening. So that's kind of the five for five rule. I'm really interested to see what the ruling becomes and if it if it does become official, but what's your take on it?

SPEAKER_01 28:00

You just again have uh we I talked about this back in college basketball season. You just keep having these older guys playing college ball, and I think it's really short. It's harming the it's actually theoretically, it could harm us personally in terms of our business because I mean again, like the freshmen and sophomores, like you're going up now. You're now you're legally going up against a fifth guy, a fifth-year guy, and it's okay, it's acceptable, it's welcomed. And again, that's that's where I'm only concerned about because of that, and then the older and older you let them keep getting. I mean, I was talking to my brother, he's like, Man, I was going up against 25 and 26 year olds this year.

SPEAKER_04 28:53

Yeah, but that that is all in the COVID stuff, the COVID stuff. Because I was telling someone's like, How is that possible? I'm like, well, here's how it's possible. It was a freshman went into school at 2020, they didn't play, so that was a year they got back. So now 19 was their first year. Okay, that got taken back too because 21 did. So now technically they were year three, which is they're 20, 21 years old based on when their birthdays are. I said, and that's their first year of eligibility playing. So they had four years off of that. So that's 20 or call it 21, 22, 23, 24. Like that's where you get your 24 year olds in in school. Throw in, okay, they have a red shirt year. There's your seven years of these kids being in college, which is insane. Like that part of it is the that that's the part that I didn't like. Like what you just said, like your brother's sitting there saying, Well, I played against 25-year-olds. Like, that's the mess up part. Like, at some point, like, move on, dude. Like, like, go do come on. Like, it your time's up. There's part of me that's like, I think going back to the old school of like, you got four years of eligibility. If you red shirt a year, fine, you can be a fifth-year senior, or if you have a medical red shirt, like you can be a fifth-year senior, right? Because there was always fifth-year seniors when I played. Like, I I remember there's a kid who's 23 years old, he's a fifth-year senior, you're 18, you walk in, you're like, makes no sense, but that that was always a realistic possibility. Does that mean you can come back? No, I well, I could go back to college, I just can't play baseball. I got one year of eligibility left in a sport.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Any sport? Yeah, what sport would you come back?

SPEAKER_04 30:36

Is NASCAR available?

SPEAKER_01 30:38

How about tennis?

SPEAKER_04 30:39

I like to go fast. No, racket sports aren't my thing.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Really?

SPEAKER_04 30:43

Yeah, I get smoked. Why? Bowling?

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Oh, bowling. Good show on HBO, another good show about bowling. Oh yeah? Documentary, follow the top tier guys. Not Big Urn? Big Urn?

SPEAKER_04 31:02

Please tell me you've seen Kingpin.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

No.

SPEAKER_04 31:07

That's a moment of silence. You've never seen Kingpin?

SPEAKER_01 31:13

No. I was watching the Dark King. Bill Murray? No. Murray man. I've heard that clip.

SPEAKER_04 31:22

Zombieland.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

You fudge like a younger Matt. You think Darkness is your ally.

SPEAKER_04 31:30

Now you've gotten to Batman.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

That's what I that's the latest movie I've watched.

SPEAKER_04 31:34

That's the latest movie you've watched?

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Yeah, like I've sat down for a full two hours and watched something.

SPEAKER_04 31:40

I saw the new Mario movie with the kids. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Should you watch the first one?

SPEAKER_04 31:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 31:47

The next movie I'm really excited that for come out, but it's gonna be a while, is is the next Sonic movie, Logan.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Isn't that coming out in July? Is it? I think it's coming soon.

SPEAKER_04 31:58

I thought it was winter, but maybe. We'll take the whole family that. But yeah, we'll keep you posted on the five by five rule.

Youth Baseball Shadiness And Fights

SPEAKER_04 32:06

Topic two. You ready for it? Fire. The shadiness in youth baseball.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

This is a loaded topic.

SPEAKER_04 32:14

A very loaded topic can go a lot of different directions. So well, the real I'm gonna let you go first. And what you think is some of the shadiness you've seen in youth baseball as of late. Me? Yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Well, the the recruiting of within your team to go to another team. I've seen that. So that's up there. That's one. The uh I can't say that one. We're gonna keep we're gonna keep it.

SPEAKER_04 32:53

I think there's some I think there's some things that I think you and I behind a closed door, you know, four walls, we would say.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

Well, when we're here's the thing, I've always joked with Nikki C about this. When we're out of this business and I can say whatever I want, yeah, you can let it all fly. There will be a lot of things to be said.

SPEAKER_04 33:13

We'll be about 65 years old. We'll be very old.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

65? You'll be 80 something.

SPEAKER_04 33:19

Yeah. And by that time I'll be six feet under by that point.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

That'll be bad. After coaching the five years.

SPEAKER_04 33:26

I actually was joking with one of my parents off topic real quick. I was joking with my parents the other day. He said, Hey, if you ever see me at third base, start grabbing my left arm, don't come out.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

Why brown copy?

SPEAKER_04 33:36

He goes, What? I go, if you ever see me grabbing my left arm and I start going down to third base, don't come get me. He's laughing at me. He's like, why? I was like, I got a lot of money on me going down to third base one day. Who?

SPEAKER_01 33:50

Me. Who has money on it? Me. So other shadiness, I mean, the the rankings are very yeah, that of other dads showing up. Like I I've seen other dads come up to kids underneath obviously, they're not even in high school yet, just to come and watch, and then they'll comment their Twitter. I don't know why the kid has a Twitter at that age, but they'll just be commenting odd things. Or let's say that kid goes to high school and is doing really well, or in college, that this said dad would then comment, Go man, I've been watching this kid since he was nine.

SPEAKER_02 34:34

I know always knew he was gonna be something great.

SPEAKER_01 34:37

And I'm like, okay, I don't know why he's doing that. Also, I don't, it's not really shadiness, but I I'm not if your kid's not in high school, I'm not I'm not a huge proponent of posting there every day. I think it opens up a lot of doors that aren't necessary, and the age is for high school, my humble opinion. Like if you want to post their accolades and everything, I mean, I think you're just booming up ahead of a kid for no reason. I mean, we were talking about this the other day with a certain other thing, like you give a kid enough a lot of these short-term what is that dopamine hits when a little bit of adversity come that it's an easy quit because they had all the dopamine hits. So what's keeping me in here? So I'm just saying those are little and the walk-up songs and youth baseball, it's not really shady, but that's a complaint I have, you know. Shadiness. You want a walk-up song?

SPEAKER_04 35:41

Go play college baseball. That too. That's what I always say.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

And then uh just drunk parents. I don't think alcohol should be served at these events.

SPEAKER_04 35:50

I think it leads to one of my things that I was gonna talk about is fights that occur at baseball games. Yeah. Like the amount of times I'm scrolling through my feed or something, and I see a fight occurrence at a youth sporting event or umpires and coaches literally brawling on the field. I'm like, how does it get to that point? Right? That the it's just the the whether it's the parent chirping or the parents chirping each other, like I hear it sometimes. I mean, it happens at some of our games. Like, you know what I'm saying? I got uh one of my parents was, you know, we had a left fielder make a really good play in the semifinal game, and my one of the parents was standing near a fence and just kind of shook the fence in like excitement, and the parent from the other stand other side like yelling over, you really need to shake the fence, right? Same team. We played them in pool play. There was an interference call on their batter for stepping on the box, and our catcher went to throw the ball to third. He actually didn't throw the ball, so technically the umpire could have not called interference, but the kid clearly came back into his throwing lane, so he called interference. We play him then on Sunday, right? There's a similar situation. We have a guy put on the hit and run, he swings through it, he falls across the plate. Their catcher throws and hits it, and the umpire called no interference because he said that his swing took him across the plate, which to be honest with you, is the wrong call. Like that was interference because he swing you can't swing and go across the plate. It doesn't matter if it carries you or not. Like, if umpire called him out for interference, I would not have said a word because that would have been the right call. But when the um didn't call it, then their parents started chirping about that play because they were so upset from the day before. And then I know there was a little back and forth with one or two of my parents, right? Like it's just you hear things like I don't know, I think my group does a pretty good job of really focusing on our team, but like to your point, like I think alcohol comes into play, it blows my mind that like you'll be at a 10 a.m. game on a Sunday, and parents are drinking the game, it's like four drinks deep. Why? Like, and then I'm just like, okay, like whatever, man. I'm not telling people how to be, but it's just that's one of those things that's just kind of mind-blowing to me. I think one of my biggest things being in the position I've been for now as long as I've been, and being the fact that we just recently had something like this come in. Like I walked in my office yesterday and had a random envelope sitting on my desk. I had one address to me, I had one address to double A, and I opened mine, and it was just a random typed up letter, no name on it, no name, no return name on the envelope. So I start reading it. And it's a love letter, it's a person from a different organization. They don't say what organization they're with, but just bad mouthing a coach and telling us that as of respect to our organization, that we should stay away from this individual or or do our homework. Like it's just things like that. It's weird to me that like people go out of their way, right, to then tell you how to either run your business or who to who who's a good person, not a good person. It's like if you had that much time to go badmouth this person, either one you are a you are a scumbag, or two, the person you're actually trying to make into a scumbag is just as big of a scumbag as you are, so you both are terrible people, right? And it's just the anonymous letters to me or anonymous emails, or it was handwritten? No, it was not handwritten, it was typed. But yes. Wow, yes, it was it was I and it's not the first time it's ever happened. I've had other things like this come in. It's just that's served. That shadiness of it, of like, who is writing an anonymous letter to then send to the dome addressed to us? Smart on their part, no paper trail. Sure. I I get it, but it's also like for what?

SPEAKER_01 40:04

They need to get it off their chest.

SPEAKER_04 40:06

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 40:07

You know, but some people really feel this need.

SPEAKER_04 40:10

Could you imagine going to somebody else's work and being like, hey, here, this you should do this. This is how you should do your job.

SPEAKER_01 40:17

Did they walk in the building?

SPEAKER_04 40:18

I have no idea. No, because I assumed that it got mailed. Oh, it was mailed. Somebody else asked me that. They're like, why don't you just check the cameras and see when they got dropped off? I was like, I'm sure it was sent in the mail. They didn't want any, like you said, they wanted no paper trail back to them. Otherwise, they would have put their name on it. But like, if you're gonna write something like that, like own up to it. Right, put your name on it.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

No.

SPEAKER_04 40:39

That that's my that's my problem. Another one I have of shadiness with with youth baseball is coaches who make false promises to people. In what way? Promises of going to to events or X amount of games or or we're gonna have a 12-man team, but then we're really gonna have five or six kids that we're gonna bring in at random and play them over other kids. Like, I think there's a lot of teams out there that do that where they'll have people who pay and have X amount of kids on their team and be like, okay, this is your promise for the year, and then they get the season, all of a sudden you have five, six, seven new kids show up just whenever that then play over these kids, but they didn't train with them or they didn't practice with them, or they didn't pay like these kids, and it's just like how many times in the summer do you play organizations that just have an inflow of kids, and we don't?

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Two to three. And I I I reason why I can remember them is because usually it's the the national circuit and we're in on in those, and we're usually in there twice, three times a year. And you know off the bat, and it's mostly on the pitching end that just have an influx of arms that they have, and and obviously we are a national, we're nationally recognized, but we're not a national program. And so Which is bizarre to me because we are you know what I mean. I mean, no, uh I what I mean by not a national program is we don't have we're not bringing in kids from all over the United States to come in and play.

SPEAKER_04 42:22

Yeah, because we don't put scout at the end of our name.

SPEAKER_01 42:26

But we are nationally recognized.

SPEAKER_04 42:28

We're not a prospect elite scout national team, but we are nationally recognized.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

You see the logo, you know what's coming.

SPEAKER_04 42:35

So we're the only team in Illinois who has an organizational bid to Jupiter, the largest high school event in the country in the fall. We're the only organization in Illinois that has our own bid to that. Every other organization in this state has to send their team to scout teams so they can go to that event. GRB out of Wisconsin is the only other team that I know of that has another bid around this area. Unless they win it at Colonels. And in the last 10 years, I'm pretty sure the Sparks have won that tournament like seven of the last ten times. Right? So like it blows my mind that when you dissect that national organization, and then you know that about us, it's like we are a national branded organization.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

No, that that's what I meant. I meant that's I made the we have the power and the recognition without the the use of the entire 50 states. Yes, which you uh talk about other teams in the area, they are pulling from at least three to four or five states.

SPEAKER_04 43:50

Correct. Well, that's the same thing. When we go to Jupiter, we are two domes putting teams together, and we are all homegrown in the Chicago land area. We on that team. We may have one, maybe two kids that weren't Sparks kids that like rare, correct, very rare, correct. I mean, like two years ago when I coached Sean Cody played for Prestige, but played for us because we needed a two-way guy and we were short, one two-way guy, and he was going to UIC and we had a good relationship, and it just happened that we ended up picking up him. He was a great kid, and you know what I'm saying? It was the only kid in the two years I coached that team that was not a sparks kid.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

No, that's when you get it, like for example, we go to Florida, we go to Atlanta, or even Iowa sometimes haven't been there in a minute, or Alabama, like you see the other teams or Kansas City, you see the other teams with a stockpile of 10 to 12 arms, and you wish you were like that. And but you still compete up until the very last day, usually with these teams, and we have the we have the high school feel in terms of that. We talk about it in high school baseball. You have this high school, you played with the same guys for as long as you have. We have that feel and that connectivity advantage over the other teams for the majority of the time. But sometimes, you know, that doesn't matter when you see a guy throw 98 to 100 and you're like, oh, well, you know. It is what it is.

SPEAKER_04 45:15

Yeah, you sometimes you run into a buzzsaw. Correct. But no, I I think that's an interesting topic to cover. I think there's a lot more you could get into. I think, like you said, one day when you and I are both done with this, I think we could probably share some interesting stories that we've encountered through our times in youth baseball. So and high school. And high school, but I have stories.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

It's on to a cup of brew. Cup

Newman’s Corner Pub Cup Of Brew

SPEAKER_01 45:44

of brew brought to you by Newman's Corner Pub. For all your food, gambling, drinking, smoking needs, head on over to Newman's Corner Pub. Tell him we sent you. You have a great time.

unknown 46:00

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 46:00

Love you, Jeff. Jeff, see you soon. Go see Jeff. Yeah, can't wait to see the mayor at the dome. But today, right, I th I was thinking about this yesterday, actually, when I was at the dome, and I saw Stuk, Raz, Yoshi, some of our past players are now in college. And I was talking to them, you know, as I was walking in the dome to a couple of them, and then late night at the dome as they were hitting. And I started to think about summer baseball, right? Because I asked them, I said, when you guys all take it off, where are you guys going? And you know, they had two or three days, so they're coming in, getting their work in because they just got home, so they're keeping themselves sharp, ready to go. I'm, you know, some of them going up to the Northwoods, all that good stuff. And, you know, it just started making me think about summer baseball and my time playing summer ball. So

Host Family Rules And Respect

SPEAKER_04 46:47

my freshman year of college, I played locally in what used to be called the CICL. I just lived at home. My sophomore year, I went out to the Cape, right? Which was awesome. First time away, had to live with the host family. So it's funny talking to a lot of these kids who are going off to summerball, living with host families. So I wanted to share my host family experience because I think I've had two of them. Does the host family feed you? Well, I will get there. Oh okay. I have stayed with two host families. I did when I played out in Cape Cod my sophomore summer, and I also did in 2012 when I was with the Braves. No, 2013 with the Braves when I was in Mississippi and AA. So I've had two host families. Both the host families I've had, I still keep in touch with. I text both the moms on Mother's Day and wish them both a happy Mother's Day. I don't know if it's just because of my background and upbringing that I just got along with them so well. It was kind of interesting. Both host families I lived with, their kids were like, so the one only had one son, he was 12. The other family I stayed with had three kids. It was like 10, 12, and like seven at the time. So it was interesting. They both had younger kids, they're all older now and adults, and the one family, like kids are married and have their own kids now, which is kind of crazy to me. But my advice to you players going out to live with host families, because I know how I approached it, and I know how I watched other people approach it. First things first, respect them. They are opening up their home. And I know you make a face like, yeah, that's obvious. Okay, I'm gonna get to some things, right? Respect them. They are opening up their homes, they're they are housing you, they are providing shelter, they are providing a bed for you to sleep on. Most of them feed you. I was actually very fortunate. My host family in the Cape, the dad was a chef. We used to get some really good seafood and food, and the meals that dude used to put on the table were off the chart. When I was down in Mississippi, the both parents were fantastic cooks, and we get some southern food down there. Like I was spoiled, but like I said, I was also very easygoing. I was never disrespectful. I, you know, asked them what the rules of the house were, what they needed for me. I kind of just flowed along and acted like I was one of their own children, or I I kind of became an older brother to their their kids. But I, you know what I'm saying? Like, I just I you have to go into that with that mindset that like you aren't entitled to anything because the stories I've heard of other kids going to host families, like my host family in the Cape no longer host people because they had such bad experiences a couple years after me that they were just like it's not worth it anymore. Like these kids are terrible, they would demand things, they were they were disrespectful about the house rules, they were a mess. Like, clean up after yourself, help around the house. I mean, hell, when I was in the Cape, I literally helped my host dad on my off day redo his deck and then helped him restain it. Like, I was just like, whatever. If you need some help, like I'll go out there and help you guys. Like, that's give back to them, man. Like, don't just be a word I'm looking for. Don't be a mooch. A leech. A leech. Don't be a leech. Like, don't be a vampire, suck the blood, and take it all. Like, go help. Go, go be respectful, go, go appreciate what they're doing. Like I said, the individuals at those teams that open up their homes for you guys, like you have to understand and put that put yourselves in their position of what they're providing for you. I hope that all of our players who go off and play summer ball and go to a host family have a great experience. I do notice that sometimes like you can probably be as nice as you want, and sometimes the host family is on the opposite side where they do it for the money side to try to get money out of the team. So it's like if you walk into a bad situation, I feel for you, but still try to make the most of it. Like I said, I still keep in touch with my host family to this day. They are fantastic people, man. I appreciated everything they did for me. They made my life so much easier. Funny story, my host family in Mississippi, that is so Amy and I we were engaged at that time. And she would probably come see me like once, I don't know, sometimes once a month, sometimes once every month and a half, two months, kind of depended. And I remember talking to my host mother, like when I was leaving spring training, because you had to like make phone calls, and they kind of interviewed you, and I was talking to her, and she was like, Well, there's no shacking at this house. And I'm like, Well, no problem. I don't really go out. I said, I'm engaged. My fiance will come down and see me at times. She goes, Well, that's fine, but if you're not married, she's not staying in the room. Okay. So when my Amy would come down and visit me when I was playing in Mississippi, my host sister, who like, you know, she her room was closer to the parents, she would go stay with the parents, and then Amy would sleep in her room, and I'd sleep in my room. That's what I'm telling you. Like, respect the people's rules. Like, their rules were if you guys aren't married, you're not staying in the same room because they were trying to set an example for their own children. I said I'd totally respect you guys, so no worries. Like, that's cool. But it it's a it's funny to look back, and I've given my my old host mother a hard time about that, and she still lasts to this day. Did she go to the wedding? She could not make the wedding.

SPEAKER_01 52:31

Too bad.

SPEAKER_04 52:32

Yeah, it was. I wish they could have come up for the wedding, but they unfortunately were not able to make it out. Too bad. She has she has some she has been battling cancer for a very, very, very long time. So like make makes it hard for her to travel at times. Like for the first month I lived at the house, like I knew she had something, but I didn't know entirely. And then one day she finally was like comfortable enough to basically take off her hair wig that she would normally wear and kind of walk around like she normally would. And I remember my host dad looked at me and she goes, Well, now you're officially one of her own kids, just so you know you've you've kind of crossed the barrier of a child to her. And I said, That's great. I also won't ever forget the time that she had to go grocery shopping. I went with her one night. It was a Sunday night. We had a day game. I was starving. There was a Wendy's. I made her go through the drive-thru, and when she pulled up, I said, You're not allowed to judge me with what I order right now. And she goes, Okay. And then when I ordered my order, she gave me a look. I said, There's no judging, and you're judging right now, and I don't like it.

SPEAKER_01 53:41

She goes, There's no way you can eat five, what do they call that, Wendy's?

SPEAKER_04 53:47

I don't know. I got three junior bacon cheeseburgers and three double stacks. She was like, What?

SPEAKER_01 53:53

Last night. I was tempted by the devil to go to McDonald's for the first time in a decade.

SPEAKER_04 53:58

Don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 53:59

I didn't. Good. I went home. I ate my four eggs and my two pieces of toast with butter and honey. And I said, No, devil, no, not tonight, Satan. The hamburger would not be riding my soul into the wee hours. So I held that one off. No, I was someone was talking about fries with me yesterday, and I was like, oh, I was getting the urge tickling, you know, and I was like, man, I haven't had some McDonald's fries in a very long time. And uh I passed by the golden arches, and I was talking about this with this with some people yesterday.

Fast Food Temptation And Culver’s Hacks

SPEAKER_01 54:33

Depending on the color of the brick of the McDonald's, the nicer the brick, the more I'm tempted to go in and eat. The more dirty, the less I'm inclined. Because you see some McDonald's in the hood, and you're like, yeah, I'm I'm not eating that. But then I got past this McDonald's in Hensdale. Yeah, it's like a two-story, three-story building. Looks beautiful. I'm like, man, that would make uh what do they call Big Mac going down a lot, whole hell of a lot easier if I was in that building. I don't know, is the mystique of it? So yeah, I don't know. Oh yeah, because you're Wendy's, that's all I got on that McDonald's story, man. So no McDonald's. Maybe you'll catch me. No, we backed the blue around here. I'm not going to no McDonald's. I back the blue. We back the mic. For anyone that is against backing the blue, they need to check themselves before they wreck themselves. Exactly. Because if you're mad about that, if you're mad about the blue at any time, I've been to the blue two times over the past two weeks with my my my ma. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:34

You know, I love the blue. She loves the blue too. Sweet, sweet, sweet girl said to me, let's go back to blue. And I said, Man, you my sweet, sweet girl. We back the blue.

SPEAKER_04 55:46

But she gets back the blue.

SPEAKER_01 55:48

Well, she goes gets a butter burger. Well, she gets back, she's like, I sure not ask for everything on it. I'm like, What do you mean? Not like you could literally just say not everything on it, but she's like, But I like taking it off. And I'm like, that this doesn't make any sense. You're complaining about saying I didn't want anything on it, and then you're complaining about taking things off. Anyway, we got the frozen custard keeps melting by the time it gets to me. So I've concluded I'm no longer paying for that at the blue. I'm just gonna do the survey, and they'll give me my free ice cream.

SPEAKER_04 56:22

Do a survey, you get free ice cream.

SPEAKER_01 56:24

Yeah, so as soon as you order your your initial meal, your burger, the value basket, complete the survey, go up, and you get a free scoop of whatever frozen custard you want.

SPEAKER_04 56:38

This guy coming up with new things. I love it. It's my favorite thing. Do I have to get the basket?

SPEAKER_01 56:44

No, whatever you want. They always give you whatever receipt. Whatever receipt. Yeah, go online. It takes four or five minutes. You get yourself some free ice cream. I mean, me and Nikki C are gonna be on the road coming up here in a couple weeks. I don't know how long. I was actually talking to Nikki C might have to do a game

Summer Planning And Team Culture

SPEAKER_01 57:00

by himself at the end. MDL's a month away. Well, yeah, but he might have to do a game by himself at Concordia, depending on how long the Broncos go.

SPEAKER_04 57:07

Yeah, that's well, I gotta send the schedule out tomorrow to everybody because I gotta get info to all the high school coaches, start setting up practice times in the dome.

SPEAKER_01 57:15

I had to get those already. It's coming quick. I had to get those. You get your times in? Yeah. Good. You know why? Why? Because of them youth coaches. They're still in there. I'm looking, I'm like, oh no, no, no, no. Back in the day. We'll kick them out. Back in the day. I'm talking about like way back in the day. At this time, yeah. That place was a ghost town.

SPEAKER_04 57:36

Yeah, not a ghost town anymore.

SPEAKER_01 57:38

No ghost towns anymore. Yeah, we're we're growing. We are developing in the world.

SPEAKER_04 57:43

And that's also why that's also why we're doing so well on the weekends. Yes. They're getting better. They're getting in there. They're getting better. But once summer hits and June hits, don't worry. I'll open up some time. Thank you. I know how to do that. You know a guy.

SPEAKER_01 57:55

I know a guy, even though I already got the times.

SPEAKER_04 57:58

So, but no, like back but just to end the cup of brew to college boys back. Like I said, it it's wild to me. Like I bring up Stuke and Roz. Like those dudes are finishing their junior year of college and walk into their senior year. Like they got one more year, maybe two. And then they're done playing. It's it's wild. Like our first graduating class of high school is almost done graduating college. That makes you feel old. I know.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

Well, I have to do that.

SPEAKER_04 58:31

I saw Yoshi the other day. I saw him too. I saw and I looked at him and he's like, Oh, how's Ethan's team? I'm like, dude, they're 11, they're the same age as when I started coaching you. He's like, Oh. I'm like, yeah, that's what I thought of when I saw you walk in here. I was like, dang, dude.

SPEAKER_01 58:47

Do you know who was his first coach?

SPEAKER_04 58:49

You.

unknown 58:50

No.

SPEAKER_04 58:50

Nikki C. Yeah. Good old Nikki C. That's great. This guy's gonna laugh so hard he's gonna wake my kids up. Ethan just woke up a little bit ago and came out of his room, and he's been having you know. Oh, right before he came and like showed up. Oh, okay. But he came out of his room and I hear him. I walked upstairs and he's like, Where's Lily? She's sleeping. Oh he scurries back in his room. He's been like high cortisol. He's been like sleepwalking and talking lately. It's kind of funny. Stressed. No. Man, stress.

SPEAKER_01 59:28

I used to sleepwalk crazy. High stress.

unknown 59:32

No.

SPEAKER_01 59:32

What do you put in on this guy?

SPEAKER_04 59:33

High stress. I don't put it in. Cortisol.

SPEAKER_01 59:36

This guy blaming me. Cortisol.

SPEAKER_04 59:37

You sound like these shady people in baseball. I'm gonna write you a letter. I'm gonna write you an anonymous letter and tell you how you're you you're you're putting too much stress on your kid. Mm-hmm. You know what I'm excited

Pitching Stats And Next Tournament

SPEAKER_04 59:52

for? Who? Tomorrow. What's tomorrow? A game with the 11 years. If I have no coaches, you know who's coaching first? Who? The boys. The boys. Last Wednesday was just me and them in the dugout, and I told whoever's up last, you gotta go coach for the yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:05

And you went like 17-0.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:07

Yeah, they loved it. They loved it. They actually would we've been swinging a bat. Bennett hit a homer this weekend, launched it. They've been swinging the they've been swinging the poles a lot lately.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:17

Tide's turn.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:19

No, we just I didn't get to it earlier, but I'll throw a stat out for you from this weekend. Right? Our team ERA was a 1.143.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:29

Over the weekend?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:30

Yep. In those four games. And when we threw a first pitch strike to 80% of the batters that we threw a first pitch strike to, we got out. What's a good odds? We threw strikes. I mean, I had one pitcher go five and two thirds in like 65 pitches. Which is like the max I throw our dudes is like 60-ish. Like I try not to really go over that with these kids at that age. Like, I don't know, throwing 70, 80 pitches at that age seems at this time of year right now, it's just seems too much. And everybody's got their own way of doing things, but he was locked in. I really wanted to go the whole game, but the leadoff hitter came back up, so I brought in a reliever, threw one pitch, ground ball, out of the game. We win. But I think all four of our starters went at least four innings each game. One of our better pitchers didn't even touch him on the whole the whole weekend.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:26

This was a good weekend. Where are you at this week?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:29

This weekend we go out to Joliet for the Wilson A2000 Memorial Day. Oh, you won this last one? I know. We this is a different one. Last year was the Goat Glove that we played in out in Oak Force. Oh, we're not doing this that one this year. But if we do win this weekend, we win a Wilson A2000 glove.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:47

You're looking forward to that?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:48

Sure. Well, uh yeah, I mean, it'd be great. The boys would love it. I will say this. Ethan's birthday's coming up, and I am getting letting him get he's a May birthday too. No, he's a July birthday. But it's coming up. Well, if you let me finish, he wants a custom glove for his birthday. So if he wants that in time, then you have to order that now.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:10

You can't say coming up, but it's Lily.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:13

What do you mean? Lily's a May Lily's a May birthday. When is she? May 31st. Day after me. Correct. We've talked about this.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:20

Yes. And Jake is the 28th.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:24

Yes. It's a four-day stretch. Nikki C is the 15th. Well, hey, happy belated birthday to Nikki C. And Noah C is the sixth. Good kid. Yeah. He's going to North Dakota.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:36

Yeah. Talked to him the other day.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:38

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:39

Actually talked talked to him twice in one day.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:42

That's impressive stats. That's more than me.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:44

Yep. I actually, when I got off the phone with you, he called me like two minutes later. I was like, oh, I was just talking to Josh. He goes, What did he want? It's like the same thing Josh always wants.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:53

What was that?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:55

I don't know. Just a conversation. You know, just nonsense. I just want to talk. I know. That's that's what I told him. He's just looking to talk to me, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:07

You know. So we have summer coming up. Looking forward to this. I'm interested to see how our high school teams are coming up after playing some high school ball because you got all these kids coming from different backgrounds and you don't know how it's all going to blend in in a in a vacuum, essentially. I mean, that's why I do enjoy the kids that do play fallball as well because you feel as if you go through a a five-month stretch with them. I think the best results that we get with kids are kids. I'm not again not saying don't play not playing other sports, go play your other sports, but I'm saying if you can play football and baseball at the same time, I would highly encourage, and I've seen kids do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:48

There's a kid at LT pitcher who I watched do it this fall. Yeah. Who's a potential first or second round draft pick. Like you can do it, it's just hard to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:58

Yeah. Go ahead and do it. And but I the best results I've seen are from those guys that play. I mean, it's not it's not complicated. I mean, you're play you're you're playing baseball eight months out of the year. Yep. Gotta execute it. Gotta figure it out. You know, so I'm looking forward to see them. There's certain guys that I'm really jacked up for, and we'll see how it goes from there. And I just being on the road with Nikki C. You know, I you know what? You should put me out on the road for that July 4th.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:28

Where are you?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:30

Nowhere.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:30

You got a plan?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:32

No. Put me somewhere.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:34

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:34

No, put me somewhere.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:36

What can I say? Except. No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:39

Put me put me somewhere.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:41

There's nowhere to go.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:43

On July 4th?

SPEAKER_04 1:04:44

Yeah. Seriously? Nowhere? You come back from Georgia July 1st.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:51

Put me out of game. I need to get back out there.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:53

Nah, you're gonna be coming off a high win in your national championship.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:57

If I do that, I'm retiring.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:59

Correct. That's why I gave you the weekend off. You're welcome. You'll be at Jake's party with Ange.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:06

Oh, that is true. So don't put me anywhere.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:09

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:11

I don't know how many times I gotta keep saying that.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:13

I did think about that today.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:15

Just keep saying you're welcome. I did think that. Ignoring me.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:18

I'll be going, I'll be going. No, you're a real instigator. I've been told that many times, but I'm going to Dork County this weekend. So good.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:25

You love Dork County.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:26

I haven't been in a while. Good. So I'll see all my people.

Memorial Day Thanks And Closing

SPEAKER_04 1:05:29

I hope you have a great time. Thank you. We appreciate all the listeners.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:33

And the veterans.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:34

And the veterans.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:35

Memorial Day coming up.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:36

Yep. Salute your veterans this weekend. Okay. Respect them all. Thank them for their services. And Lord Puck has not hit us with an ending grace in a while, so we're going to get the ending grace from Lord Puck.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:49

Um, for all you people on the national anthem's going off, take off your hat. I had I stand up too. And stand up. And also when they're honoring the veteran during the game. Stand up. Not saying you gotta stand up the entire time, but at least stand up. They didn't walk up the hills of Vietnam for you to not stand up. Alright? They didn't storm the beaches of Normandy for you to not stand up. Okay. Amen to that. That's all I have to say. Brusas, Lord Puck, out the night.