E16: MLB Mascots & The 2026 Season So Far

Jerry’s new Mariner Moose plush turns into a full blown tour through the strangest and most lovable corner of baseball culture: MLB mascots. We dig into why mascots work, why a few teams still refuse to have one, and what separates “cute” from cringy (“why does that thing have a human body”). Along the way, we hit the origins of the word mascot, the design choices that push characters into uncanny territory, and the fan psychology that makes a costumed creature feel like part of the team’s identity.

The history gets especially fun when we trace the rise of the San Diego Chicken and how one promotional stunt helped reshape ballpark entertainment and baseball marketing. We also talk official versus unofficial mascots, from early animals used as crowd pleasers to Mr. Met’s claim as the first official MLB costumed mascot. And of course we can’t skip the Philly Phanatic: the lore, the antics, the business side of licensing, and the way mascots can trigger very real reactions from very serious baseball people.

Then we interrupt our mascot nerding with a “breaking news” style segment featuring our friend Edwin Nolan. We talk automated ball strike challenges (ABS), what we like about it, what could get weird late in games, and how players, catchers, and umpires are adjusting in real time. We also go around the league with early season surprises, young star contracts, City Connect uniforms, odd baseball headlines, and the kind of fights that remind you the game can still get old school.

If you like baseball history, MLB trivia, and smart takes that still laugh at the absurd parts of the sport, hit subscribe, share the episode with a baseball friend, and leave us a quick review so more fans can find the show.

Email us at fungosandfastballs@gmail.com

Transcript

Plush Moose And Mascot Origins

Jerry 0:01

Among my recent fun baseball purchases is this cute guy in my hand, the adorable plush Mariner Moose.

Brooke 0:10

Mariner Moose. Why Mariner Moose, babe? You're not a Mariners fan.

Jerry 0:16

Well, because among all the current mascots, he's certainly one of the cutest. He is also, more importantly, incredibly low on the creepy mascot factor. Fun fact, because of the popularity of the San Diego Chicken back in the day, we'll be discussing him today, Seattle had a mascot competition in 1979. This guy wasn't around yet, but the winner was Spacey the Needle, which if you go back and see, it was basically a guy on stilts, but his head was a mock-up of the Seattle Space Needle. It was really creepy, high on the creepy factory.

Brooke 0:52

Yes, definitely.

Jerry 0:53

And mobility was an issue with this guy on stilts. You think? So he didn't work out too much. For a while, actually, they had the San Diego Chicken as Seattle's mascot. But happily, in 1990, they settled on this cutie.

Brooke 1:08

I can't deny he is definitely, definitely cute. But today we're focusing on the OG mascots and some of the earlier ones that we're going to discuss. So, listeners, just to know, don't be sad if we don't bring up your favorite mascot in this episode. We're going to have a bunch of fast pitches on ones that all around the MLB.

Jerry 1:28

Well, since we're focusing on those OG mascots, I actually saw a Mr. Met Bobblehead the other day online, and I was thinking of picking one up to keep this guy company. Wait.

Brooke 1:40

No. Well, but you're not even a Mets fan. All right. Do they even speak the same language? I mean a Met bobblehead and a moose?

Jerry 1:50

Uh there's really only one way to find out.

Brooke 1:52

No, no, you don't you don't need more knickknacks.

Jerry 1:55

It was $100, so I am not going to buy it. But it was pretty cute.

Brooke 2:01

I'm sure. I'm sure. This is like your bat collection. I think I brought this up in a past episode that listener Jerry, every year after the World Series, almost every year, buys a Louisville Slugger bat that has the score, right?

Jerry 2:15

I mean, they're really works of art, not just sporting equipment. They're in the team colors, they've got the scores engraved. And uh I broke the trend this year. I really didn't need a third Dodgers bat.

Brooke 2:26

But we have like 10 of these things, and they're all sitting in the top of the closet. So, and none are the Yankees.

Jerry 2:32

Well, I'd like to hang them up. I mean, maybe if you give me a room, like maybe the living room or maybe the kitchen.

Brooke 2:38

Oh, maybe the bathroom.

Why Some Teams Skip Mascots

Jerry 2:40

Hey, let's start this episode. Hello and welcome to Fungos and Fastballs, the podcast of baseball history and trivia. I'm your host, Jerry Dynes. Let's jump into today's episode. Well, today, listeners, we discuss a feature of the baseball fan experience, the mascot. Now, growing up a Yankees fan, that was not a huge factor in my fandom. The Yankees are only one of three major league teams without a official mascot, the other two being the Dodgers and the Angels. The Dodgers have never had a mascot. Brooke, out of all these things, you'd think that the Angels could have a pretty cool mascot.

Brooke 3:20

I mean, it's a giveaway. It's in their name. I mean, and someone running around with a big halo on their hand.

Jerry 3:25

Yeah, wings, halo. I think it would be a pretty good uh addition. I agree. Maybe a little sacrilegious. Do you know the history behind the term mascot?

Brooke 3:33

You know, actually I do. It started with in the French with the word mascot, and it was meaning a lucky charm. And then the English eventually turned it into mascot. And at the beginning, it was talking about sort of a lucky charm, an inadimate object. Like you know, boats put those busty women on the front of them. But after a little while, it became known for a living and costumed figure. And that is the mascot that we know today. Wait a minute.

Creepy Mascots And Fan Favorites

Jerry 4:03

That was a long answer for what was really a rhetorical question. That was a rhetorical I just realized that. Sorry. Well, before we get into some of the history of the mascot, listeners, we're gonna have a moment of fun. You might have to do a Google search for this, but there are 27 official mascots. I mentioned the three teams don't have them. And I've given Brooke a sheet with photos of those mascots. Yep. And Brooke, I mean, what do you think? Do you have some that you th like or coolest, creepiest, maybe?

Brooke 4:32

There there are some interesting mascots out there. The one that I'm going to bring up is the is Tampa Bay's, what's it, Raymond?

Jerry 4:42

Raymond. The sea dog. The sea dog. He's a sea dog. He's not my favorite either. Well, I know. He might be might be a nice guy, but he's with the bushy mustache and hair a little creepy.

Brooke 4:53

As a stuffed animal, I bet he's really soft and plush. But seeing him in person, he could be his a one-man horror movie. Well, there are.

Jerry 5:01

I mean, like Spacey the Needle, if you ever see pictures of it. I mean, there are some creepy mascots a little bit. I mean, I you could have nightmares about Raymond. I think that Ace, the Blue Jays uh mascot, uh, his head is okay, but it's like on a regular man's body.

Brooke 5:21

And so that's weird. There are a little too many out there that you just don't know what they are, but I guess I'm too old. Kids love them. Well, Slugger the Royal would be okay, but he's he's a lion.

Jerry 5:31

But then it continues. His head continues into a crown, and that's a little off. But I of course I love Mariner Moose, as I mentioned earlier. I love Dinger, the dinosaur the Rockies.

Brooke 5:44

When we were in Colorado, you almost bought one.

Jerry 5:46

Yeah, I almost did. Do you have any other favorites?

Brooke 5:50

Let's see. I I definitely love the Philly Phanatic. Yeah. It was weird as he looks. He's hilarious. And when we were in Texas, Orbit, oh my god, any any mascot that's really gonna pull some shenanigans makes me laugh.

Yankees Dandy And Chicken Chaos

Jerry 6:04

Well, maybe we'll hear your Orbit story later. Maybe. Well, now, as I mentioned, I did not grow up with a mascot for my team, the Yankees, but caveat there, the Yankees actually did attempt to introduce a mascot. And this was in 1979, they introduced Dandy. The name comes from Yankee Doodle Dandy, and it was created by the same company uh as the Philly fanatic. And I'll tell you more about him later. But Brooke may post a picture. Sure. A description really doesn't do Dandy justice. He was pinstriped and he was kind of a bird, but with a big bushy red mustache, and he kind of resembled Yankees catcher Thurman Munson. And he'll actually be the focus of next week's episode. But Munson tragically died in a plane crash after Dandy's debut, and that contributed, at least in part, to Dandy getting the axe. Put into retirement. Put in retirement, yes. A funny story about Dandy's debut. Uh, the week before, the few weeks before, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner actually commented that mascots had no place in baseball. And af this was after the San Diego chicken had put a hex on Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry, eventually leading to Lou Piniella chase him, throw a glove at him. But it was not great for the marketing department that was gonna that was gonna uh release this new mascot a few weeks later. Do you know the story about how what happened with Guidry?

Brooke 7:34

Well, I heard that Guidry was getting into a taxi at LAX and they heard a guy saying, Hey, I'm going to the the stadium, and they shared one, and it was the spoilers here, an actual the person inside. And Gidry's wife loves the chicken. And so they schemes, they said, third inning, come out when I'm coming out to start the inning and and put a hex on me, and my wife is gonna get the pick. They came up with a little bit of a kick out of that. Yeah. Well, Piniella didn't know about it, and Piniella had just struck out, was not happy, and Guidry's coming out, and here comes the chicken to do the hex thing, and he the chicken and Piniella sort of collide into each other, and Piniella just wails on this chicken. It's it poor guy. It's a funny story.

Jerry 8:19

Piniella's not a fan, and that was the 70s, folks. And even though my teen's foray into mascots, a little blur, I don't really remember it from when I was a boy, but I certainly remember some mascots, like indeed the San Diego chicken.

San Diego Chicken And Early Mascots

Brooke 8:33

Do you remember the chicken? You know, I think I was about five years old, so probably not. But of course I looked him up on YouTube. On YouTube. Hilarious. Great videos. Hilarious.

Jerry 8:42

He was all over the place in the 1970s. He appeared with President Gerald Ford, meeting Ronald Reagan. It all started in 1974 when Ted Giannoulas, a student at San Diego State, donned the suit for a KGB FM radio promotion at the San Diego Zoo. And he thought maybe he could get free access to the Padres game, so he approached the team and thought, hey, I'll joke with players, perform antics. It wound up doubling the attendance that summer. He would even appear in uh McDonald's commercials with Ronald McDonald.

Brooke 9:13

Why?

Jerry 9:15

Well, I'm glad you asked. Well, the Padres at that time were owned by Ray Kroc, who owned McDonald's. Makes sense. And so uh he actually owned the Padres from 1974 until he passed in 84. So a little cross-promotion there. Well, because the chicken was so ubiquitous, I would have guessed actually looking back that he was the first mascot. But nope, nope. In fact, he's not even the official mascot of the Padres. That would be the swinging friar, which just really sounds wrong.

Brooke 9:45

I know he's swinging a bat, but it's just it's left out there. Because when you see him, he never has a bat in his hands.

Jerry 9:51

So yeah, swinging friar is a weird name these days. And uh he's a bit eerie looking. He's got the whole ball tonsure and you know, kind of just a creepy, happy look.

Brooke 10:02

Tonsure. That's fun to say. Everyone, you've learned a new word today.

Jerry 10:07

I'm I'm bald, but I don't have a tonsure.

Brooke 10:09

Well, if you grew it back in, you might.

Jerry 10:12

I don't think the front. Well the first official Major League mascot was Mr. Met, who was around when Shea Stadium opened in 1964, although he actually appeared even earlier at the Polo Grounds as part of the Mets um publications as they were playing there. Polo grounds. I know the polo grounds.

Brooke 10:33

The polo grounds. I'm going to put this on my board and six degrees of Fungos and Fastballs.

Jerry 10:40

It all connects.

Brooke 10:44

Next episode, actually.

Philly Phanatic Design And Price Tag

Jerry 10:45

Now we are talking official dress-up costume mascots. There were unofficial mascots even back to 1912. The Cleveland Naps, who are now the Cleveland Guardians, had a Bull Terrier mascot named Larry. He would chase fly balls, entertain the crowds. He even got to meet President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. He chased a squirrel across the White House lawn. And the Cubs had a guy, again, look it up or we'll try and post it, a really scary-looking polar bear in 1908 as kind of a mascot, but he did not have a name and was not intended to be a permanent fixture. So let's chat about some of these OG mascots. We mentioned uh Mr. Met of course. His first head was actually like paper mache.

Brooke 11:35

And it was glossy. Uh uh must have weighed 15 pounds. It was it was really scary.

Jerry 11:40

Yeah, he's a little more durable now. I remember watching a game last last year, and he was uh behind the home plate and sat in the stands and he broke out a big Spanish fan. Oh, yeah, I remember that. He was fanning himself with it. It was pretty funny. But in addition to Mr. Met, we do have to mention the Green Philly Phanatic with its extendable tongue. He debuted in 1978. He was created by Harrison Erickson in New York City. Yes, there are companies and designers that specialize in mascots. And in fact, Harrison Erickson designed Miss Piggy, also Fozzie, right? And and actually Dandy.

Brooke 12:19

Yes.

Jerry 12:20

Well, the Philly fanatic rides around on his ATV dancing, taunting the opposing teams, rubbing the heads of bald fans, which again I'm sensitive to. He'd probably even if you had a tantra, he'd rub your head. A little trivia. Apparently, the Philly fanatic was born in the Galapagos, and his mom is still there, apparently.

Brooke 12:43

Ah. Okay. I'm going to bring her up later. I have a little also some trivia. Jim Henson was first asked to design the mascot, and he said no. And that's when he turned the team over to Harrison and Ericsson and said maybe they would be more interested. So when they first designed him, it was they were going to charge $45,000 for his design and the license to fully own him. And the the fanat the Phillies were like, I don't know about this thing. It was a little creepy looking. And so for the first couple of years, they leased the Philly fanatic. And the fans, of course, loved him, loved him. So they finally said, All right, let's buy the full rights for him. And the agency charged them half a million. Charge them $500,000.

Jerry 13:26

They should have jumped in early. I know. Should have taken that good deal. Well, the actions of mascots can definitely, as we mentioned with Lou Piniella, cause some dramatic reactions. Uh like when Dodgers manager, Tommy Lasorda, assaulted the fanatic after he stomped after the fanatic stomped on a dummy that was wearing Lasorda's jersey.

Brooke 13:50

I think I'm going to be able to post that one. It's something else. That's why probably the Dodgers didn't have a mascot. They were too scared to put one out with him.

Orbit Antics And Presidents Race

Jerry 13:57

Yeah. Although the Angels and the Yankees have actually tried mascots briefly, the Dodgers have never tried a mascot. Maybe it's the mascot would be too quick. It's dodging away. So, Brooke, we saw Orbit, another mascot, the Houston Astros mascot at the Astros game to taunt the Yankees. He kind of decimated a New York City pizza, didn't he? He did.

Brooke 14:21

Right in front of the dugout, we were sitting on that side. He brought a New York pizza out and just had 10 cans of pineapple and two bottles of ranch dressing. And just poured it all over that pizza. It was to the fans loved it. The fans loved it.

Jerry 14:40

The fans loved it. But come on, pineapple on pizza.

Brooke 14:42

I mean, come on, Orbit. Where are you from? Texas?

Jerry 14:46

I love Southpaw, the uh Chicago White Sox Sox mascot. He's not only a lefty, but it also refers his name to the South Side of Chicago, where the White Sox are. And if you've ever been to a Washington Nationals game since 2006, in the middle of the fourth inning, there's a president's race where the four presidents on Mount Rushmore, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. Look at you. History. They race around the park. Now, over a decade ago, they added some presidents. They added Taft, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, very odd choices, especially Hoover, who was president during the Depression. I mean, like, why not Ike, right? Put Eisenhower on there. He was a general. So since 2017, they're back to the core for, and race stats actually can be found online. Early on, there was a whole thing because poor Teddy Roosevelt could not win a race. There was even a movement among fans, let Teddy win a signs. And finally in 2012, Teddy did start winning. And though he had another winless season in 2017, poor Teddy. Do you know who has the most wins? Go ahead and tell me.

Brooke 15:56

I think it's George. I think George is. I think so too. Right? I think so too. I have a post of Teddy winning. No, maybe it's Abe.

Jerry 16:04

I wonder if it's Abe. 376 to George's 325.

Brooke 16:08

It might be.

Jerry 16:08

I think it's Abraham Lincoln. I'll have to post it and The Great Emancipator. Quite Fleet of foot.

Brooke 16:11

I'll make sure this gets up to the plea of foot. Did you know that when they're running, they run to Tom Petty's song Running Down a Dream? And when they leave after the run, they leave to the 80s classic I Ran by Flock of Seagulls. Oh, that's that's a great song. I don't know if that's still going on. That's what I noticed online.

Jerry 16:30

Well, yeah, you do have to post something about the race and maybe even about Teddy winning.

Brooke 16:33

Yeah, I don't know how they run with those big heads. They always look like they're gonna fall over at some time.

Youppi Travels And Mascot Ejections

Jerry 16:38

Well, now, folks, you know more about the president's race than you ever wanted to know. Exactly. Now I have to say I miss Youppi! Youppi was the mascot of the Montreal Expos, whose hat I'm wearing here today. That's the hat. Before they relocated to Washington, D.C., and of course became the Washington Nationals of today. But a French mascot, which was Youppi, uh, would not have worked out too well in our nation's capital. So now they have Screech, the Eagle, the Bald Eagle. But don't cry for Youppi, the orange furry creature who's much better looking than Gritty in the NHL. He was actually adopted by the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, and now he's their official mascot, and he's the first North American mascot to switch to another sports league. Wow, there you go. Yeah. Youppi. Youppi, by the way, was the first mascot ejected from a Major League Baseball game. Uh, when, you guessed it, Tommy Lasorda complained to the umps about his antics on the visiting Dodgers roof, uh dugout roof.

Brooke 17:47

You know, with these videos, I I can't tell uh I know Lasorda's serious about this, but he's so over the top complaining to these mascots. I you wonder if he has some background hidden thing with this stuffed animal at one point at his life. They they just pick on him all the time.

Mrs. Met And Female Mascot History

Jerry 18:03

Yeah, it was it was pretty cute. Uh Uppie had uh a nightshirt on and uh and a nightcap and brought a pillow and was lying across the the Dodgers dugout, and they just Who else would have cared? But sort of sort of just did not just not happy. Well, Mr. Met, some other trivia. Mr. Met is the only mascot with a wife. Mrs. Met, or her name is Jan. Mrs. Met really uh broke barriers there. The first female mascot in Major League Baseball history.

Brooke 18:30

I'm gonna jump in here because as we know, the MLB is very testosterone slanted. So I feel like I need to represent a little bit of the ladies.

Jerry 18:39

Many of the mascots are men, yes, or male creatures.

Brooke 18:43

So we yes, they identify as a heat. Right. I I you mentioned Mrs. Met, Jan, we also have up in Boston, there's Tessie, the green monster. She's Wally's sister. And you mentioned Phoebe Phanatic, that is the Phanatic’s mom who occasionally visits from the Galapagos Islands. She's pretty funny. She has a little pocketbook and this little skirt she wears. We also have Rosie Red from Cincinnati. Right. Now she's just a friend to Mr. Red and Gapper. Yeah, they are they're two mascots. They're just they're just hangout friends. And there's one more, not overly official, but Jalapeno Hannah. And she's part of the Pirates Pierogi race up in Pittsburgh. That's a lot of peas up there.

Jerry 19:28

That's very alliterative.

Brooke 19:30

And that's it. Competing with the president's. Some have come and gone. So I guess the mascot gig is really for the men.

Jerry 19:39

I have a cute story about Mrs. Met. We love Mrs. Met. Should we get a Mrs. Met bobblehead to keep Mariner Moose company? I hope she'd be keeping Mr. Met company. I don't know. Mr. Met might get, you know, suspicious.

Brooke 19:50

They they were married for five years, and then the Mets dropped both of them in the 80s. He came back in 94, but no Mrs. Met. And it was rumors were out there. What happened to Mrs. Met? Did they get divorced? Did she pass away? What what happened to Mrs. Met? Well, oddly, they both showed up in a sports center commercial and they were in a minivan with their, you know, their big heads on. I don't know how they did this. And Mr. Met's driving and Mrs. Met's sitting there, and they have three kids in the back. And she says to, she says to him, you know, I can't believe they bumped you again. And she looks at him and said, Maybe I should have married the San Diego chicken. So her official return did come back in 2003 when a senior Metz official said, well, she had been out raising her children and she was also a party planner. But her kids are gone now, empty nest, and she is back.

Season Break In With Edwin Nolan

ABS Challenges And Game Strategy

Jerry 20:48

It's good to see family is important for Mrs. Met. And we should have more female mascots or maybe partners or spouses. Yeah. Maybe the swinging friar needs a needs a Well, isn't that not allowed? I don't think that's not allowed. That's as sacrilegious as a potential angel's angel mascot. Well, with 27 official mascots, not to mention unofficial ones and retired mascots, we could really go on all day. But we don't want to do that. And perhaps, as Brooke said earlier, some more mascots will appear as first pitches in future episodes. Hey, breaking news. We're going to interrupt our regularly scheduled podcast for exciting stuff. Well, maybe not exciting stuff. We actually have meant been doing meant to do a segment like this for a little while ago, where I have my good friend Edwin Nolan and baseball guru over, probably every other Monday, to talk about the state of the current league. And, you know, on this current mascots episode, we really didn't schedule a spot, so that's on us. But that's why I said we're going to break in. And I'm happy to have Edwin here. Edwin Noland, hello. Hey everybody. And we are sharing a beer and talking about. Baseball. And uh Edwin, now we are, gosh, over two weeks into the season. And I think going into the season, the exciting topic was ABS. So, you know, you got any thoughts of the old automated ball strike system that's in place now? Like it, hate it, hot take?

Speaker 1 22:20

Yeah, very interesting because I did read that averages were low, lower than normal. But, you know, I started off hating it and then I kind of liked it. I think I'm finally going to settle somewhere in the middle. I think it definitely has its place. And yeah, I I did see where Otani accidentally challenged one by adjusting his adjusting his helmet. One that was very outside, or I guess very high. So I think it's gonna be a little bit of a learning curve, but you know, fans are are certainly coming out with their opinion.

Jerry 22:56

I'm an old-fashioned baseball guy, so when there are changes in the game, I'm usually a agin’ it!. I do like some things. I love the pitch clock, for example. Not a big fan as many people are, maybe of the Ghost Runner and extra innings, but but I I'm kind of liking this. I I like the fact that you get two. Of course, if you for you know fans who if if you haven't been paying attention, if you if you are correct, you keep getting two. If you are incorrect, you lose that tube. And you only have two seconds to to protest it by tapping your hat. And uh only catchers and pitchers and and batters can challenge. So nothing from the the um the dugout. So I kind of like that. And you're right about percentages. I think they were mentioning it today on the game. They said pitchers and hitters, and pitchers hardly ever do it. Pitchers are only like two percent of challenges so far. But pitchers and hitters have been about 47 percent. Catchers higher, 63 percent, which makes a lot of sense. That they are correct. They are accurate, yeah. Yes, that they are accurate. There's Brooke. Hey, she's still here, guys. You may be wondering where Brooke is. So what do you think of the strategy of the allowing to and when to use it?

Speaker 1 24:06

I I love the use to, and if you win, you can continue to use you continue to save that challenge so you can use basically you know infinity challenges if you are always right. You're always right. The catcher definitely has a you know better odds of getting it because he's the one framing, he knows you know, better than anybody where this crossed the strike zone. I I worry the only worry I have is if team starts strategically trying to do it later in the game after allowing an ump to develop his strike zone and then wait until the ninth inning when a ball that has been a strike all game long because you know the the ump has established his strike zone for the game, and then they challenge it because technically, by the letter of the law, it's a ball. And so I I do worry that that will offend the norms of baseball. But again, that's probably just a learning curve that we're gonna have to get over.

Jerry 25:09

Yeah, yeah. I mean, in theory, you get to load up and load them up on the end of the game. If you haven't used them, why not? I definitely think certain players should be allowed and others should get the red light. Emotional players like on My Yankees, Jazz Chisholm, he really shouldn't be allowed to, you know, he's gonna he he thinks every everything is a ball ball. So hey.

Speaker 1 25:30

It seems like your buddy Aaron Judge is a little gun shy to use it.

Early Standings Surprises And Young Stars

Jerry 25:34

I know. And Aaron Judge has been uh, you know, uh jobbed out of a lot of calls there, you know, low calls down below his knees, getting with his height. And and yeah, he has not used it that much. So well, I'd we definitely wanted to address that. That was the biggest thing going into the season. Again, we're now a little over two weeks in, and let's go around the horn and just talk about it. I want to start, Edwin. We uh the teams going in you thought were favorites, and and Edwin always cautions me. We go back and forth, comes always like, hey, five games up then. He's like, Oh, it's too early. It's only April, it's only May. And the old phrase goes, of course, you're not gonna win a championship in May or April, but you can certainly lose it. So, but that in mind, that caveat, Edwin, the teams you thought would really do well, are they all doing well in your eyes? No.

Speaker 1 26:25

They're not, you're right. I think the NL Central in particular is gonna be very interesting. Cubs at the back. Well, of course, you know, baseball so long, it nothing matters. But but yeah, I I think, you know, the Brewers started out hot. They've kind of settled there in in the middle. And the Pirates, you know, sitting at the top of the division as of today, but you know, things are gonna change with today's games and and and moving forward, it's it's always kind of coming and going. The Marlins were a surprise. You know, they're doing better than I thought they were gonna do.

Jerry 26:57

I got to see the Marlins Yankees series, and that is that's a scrappy team. I mean, young too. I like a lot of the players on there. And you're right. I mean, the the Pirates, I mean, you know, of course, we know Paul Skenes and and their new addition, Konnor Griffin. Uh what is he, 19? Yeah. And and handsomely paid already. Nine years, $140 million. Uh this seems to be something the teams are venturing out there. You know, the Red Sox tied up Roman Anthony. You got uh Jackson Chourio with the Brewers. I mean, uh smart move with these young players. You're you're paying them a lot of money at a young age.

Speaker 1 27:33

Yeah, it's the opposite approach of of years gone by where they waited until after, you know, midsummer so they could get the extra year for arbitration time periods and and things like that, so they can take advantage of the young, young studs coming up as much as possible on that, you know, very minimal salary. But yeah, you know, who knows? It could work out well.

Jerry 27:59

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, taking a chance. You know, you mentioned some teams underperforming. The Yanks were doing lights out, and as of today, they've just lost their fifth in a row. So but that division is going to be interesting, the at least. Everyone's kind of in the mixed. I don't know what's going on with the Mariners. The Mariners are starting out real slow.

Speaker 1 28:16

Hey, you're talking to a guy that drafted Cal Raleigh in the first uh first round for fantasy baseball. So maybe not super happy.

Jerry 28:23

World baseball classic uh hangover, maybe, huh? I don't know. I don't know if that I don't know if that bears off. I know Bryce Harper, I know Cal Raleigh, even Judge have been a little slow uh to get going. But I hope it's not blamed on the WBC because I love the WBC this year.

Speaker 1 28:38

Yeah, no, that was a that was a great I I enjoyed the history on on that episode.

Jerry 28:45

But that's right. Our episode on the world Oh, a look plugged by Edwin on our episode.

Speaker 1 28:49

It got me ready to classic.

Jerry 28:51

What about teams you're surprised about?

City Connects Ump Drama And Fights

Speaker 1 28:54

I mentioned the Cubs. I you know, they're they're stacked and currently going on a little bit of a difficult slide there, but let's see, other teams that were the Orioles, they were you know, they're tied for the top of the division, AL for the ALEs.

Jerry 29:14

The Athletics, eight and seven. Yeah. The the the City-less Athletics, currently in Sacramento, but just called the Plain Athletics. We were in Rawlings and in St. Louis, the Rawlings experience, and and the woman was talking about the new City Connect jerseys, which have come out. Some of them are interesting. And she said there's only two teams that don't have City Connects. One is the Yankees and uh always traditionalists, and the other is the athletics because they don't quite have a city yet.

Speaker 1 29:42

Yeah, I'm not sure. You know, I I usually like the alternate uniforms. This year's City Connect jerseys, you know, uniforms, they're fine. Yeah.

Jerry 29:51

Yeah. How about I like kind of Baltimore with the B More. That seems like the one I like the least. The least it has. Yeah. The other ones are not bad. The Cincinnati one looks great.

Speaker 1 30:01

Atlanta, I like the powder blues.

Jerry 30:03

Yeah. Yeah. So. And what else? What else you want to talk about? What else? Uh some early, early thoughts about this this young season.

Speaker 1 30:11

What are you what are your thoughts about CB, our favorite umpire, now that Angel Hernandez is gone? CB Bucknor.

Jerry 30:18

No, he got hit. He got hit with that that one jack. He seemed a little chippy when he was they they they uh challenged him so many times in that one game. And that's that is a problem potentially with the uh you know ABS. I mean, umps kind of gringing grudges towards towards other aspects of the game. Did you did you see the Ichiroi statue? I did. Poor poor Ichiro. So for those who haven't seen it, of course, they unveiled the , the Ichiro statue in Seattle there and uh outside of T Mobile Park. And as they were pulling the the tarp over the the the bat of the statue bent. Ken Griffey was there. He he joked around with Ichiroi and said, I didn't do that. I didn't do that. And I think I think Ichiro took it well. You did you hear who you who he blamed? No. He blamed Mariano Rivera. He said, Oh Mariano Rivera did that. And what else? Uh what else? Uh I don't know.

Speaker 1 31:14

Do you have any surprise teams that uh haven't been mentioned yet?

Jerry 31:18

You know, I mean, well, first of all, the the I wish I was surprised by the Dodgers, you know, falling uh out, but they're just unstoppable. But yeah, I'm I'm looking at the list here. I mean, Cleveland, I kind of expected to do well. Again, the fact that the Athletics and and the Rangers are up top and Seattle is Houston is is is down below. Houston maybe not surprising me, aging team and whatnot, but uh but yeah. And I hope I'm I always root for Pittsburgh. I was a big Pittsburgh fan in the in the 1970s, and uh they just they haven't had it too they haven't had a break in a little while. And some some fights. Oh yeah. Or you know, at least one big one. At least one big one? Yeah.

Speaker 1 31:59

Did you what happened with it? Did you see it? I did. I so I really enjoyed the manager that just bull rushed the pitcher. Uh yeah, and the angels took him down. Braves, yeah. So the Braves manager, or one of the managers, I don't even remember who it was, but he he he dropped down low, gotten the uh a good stance, good, good, good flattened out stance, and and took him down, rushed him, took him to the ground, and I guess neutralized the three.

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Jerry 32:29

Yeah, Jorge Soler of the Angels got uh, you know, a very high pitch by Ronaldo Lopez, and both of them got ejected. And then uh and then over in you know, over at the Red Sox, Willson Contreras took a little umbrage at the Brewers, too. And they felt he's felt uh he's gotten thrown at by the Brewers probably twenty-three, twenty-four times or something over his career. And he did he didn't get fined to my knowledge by saying that he was gonna take them out if that happened again. He was gonna take someone out. So a little bounty. So some things to watch as the season goes. Did you see him sliding into second a little bit heels up? It was. It was very old school with the the cleats up and he tore the tore the second baseman's uniform there. Yeah. And uh and people aren't used to that anymore. I don't think fielders are used to taking taking cleats up slides at all anymore. So Well, uh, you know, Edwin, thanks for coming on over. We're enjoying our beer here. This is fun, you know. Again, it's a podcast of baseball history and trivia, but this is history being made. And so that's why we wanted to uh cover the league today a little bit. And now back to our regularly scheduled podcast. Well, fun time today. I'd like to thank always Brooke. You're welcome. My producer and wife, and shout out especially to my cousin Jeffrey, who works down at the parks department, who assured me he'll be listening. We hope you'll keep listening. And don't forget to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform. Heading back to the locker room. This is Jerry Dynes in Fungos and Fastballs.