March 9, 2026 - WBC, Battle of Hampton Roads, Joe Dumars, O's Prospects

Title says it all! Thanks for listening ya'll - more interviews coming soon. Please check out our instagram @sportsmandanbc and our youtube channel. Means a lot.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Replace him with Sportsman Dan. Sportsman Dan, I know uh Ross. Shout out to Sportsman Dan.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

What's up, y'all? Welcome to episode 17 of the Sportsman Dan Show. Uh, I am continuingly, uh continuously working on my backdrop. As you can tell, it's a little different today. Uh, in the future, we will get a green screen. But no, I'm super excited for the episode today. I have some cool things to go over for this day in history as well as this day in sports history. We're gonna do a brief little world baseball classic recap, but more importantly, uh do a little preview of the game tonight when the United States is playing Mexico at 8 o'clock p.m. All right, before I go any further, I do want to give a quick shout out to David Sandlin for joining me on episode 16. If you haven't had a chance to check that out, uh, we got to do a super cool interview. Um, and I really enjoyed speaking with them. And uh, I guess I'm a White Sox fan, at least for the uh uh partially, uh, when they're not playing the Orioles or the Mets uh going forward. Uh and before we get also into the regularly scheduled programming, I do want to plug the March 14th Sports Card Spectacular at Norfolk Masonic Temple. I will be set up there this weekend uh from 9 to 3. I might be heading out a little bit early, so definitely catch me from 9 to 2. Uh I should have a lot of good deals, especially in my $5 value box, which I have recently restocked. Well, today is March 9th, 2026, and uh we're gonna switch it on over to this day in history. Um and this one actually will not be a this day in sports history because on March 9th, uh, way back in 1862, there's a little bit of a uh local history minute here, and this one is actually pretty wild. Um people think about the American Civil War, they picture Gettysburg, Lincoln, huge land battles. But one of the most important naval moments of the entire war, and honestly of the entire 19th century, happened right here in Hampton Roads. So the Confederates took a sunken Union warship called the USS Merrimack. You can see it almost looks like a tent, right, with that sort of V structure. Um they pulled it up and basically said, What if we put iron armor on this thing? And the USS Merrimack became the CSS Virginia. When it came out to fight, the CSS Virginia immediately started wrecking the Union fleet and even rammed and sank the USS Cumberland, which went down actually, still firing its guns. Um well, then the Union rolled up with its own modern Marvel they had been working on. An ironclad with a much lower profile hole and a rotating two-cannon turret, the USS Monitor. And the two fought right off Hampton Roads, basically where the monitor Merrimack Bridge Tunnel is today. So next time you're sitting in traffic there, uh imagine instead of cars, there's two massive iron warships at some points, literally, you know, a hundred feet away from each other, just blasting cannons uh at each other all morning. Uh, which makes it even more wild is the cannonballs were basically bouncing off the armor. They were not able to penetrate either ironhole. Um, it was something that nobody had ever seen before. So being on one of those ships back then would have been like stepping onto a spaceship compared to the wooden ships everyone else was using at the time. Um, so newspapers all over the world were talking about these brand new ironclad warships uh fighting here in Hampton Roads, Virginia. So I think it's a super cool little moment in history when uh the 757 and the tide water was on the map uh all the way back in 1862. So uh you can see here I got a photo of uh that's the Virginia there on the left and the monitor here on the right. The second piece I want to touch on for this day in sports history is Joe Dumas, famous from the Bad Boy Pistons. You know, he's kind of overshadowed, I feel like, by Isaiah Thomas and Bill Lampier, but Joe Dumars was a hooper. Uh both sides of the ball could do it all. But on March 9th, back in 1991, Joe Dumars began his NBA free throw streak of 62 games. I had to look into this more because it was really hard to find anything. But essentially, for 62 straight games, Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons did not miss a free throw. This streak would finally end on April 5th, 1991, when the Detroit Pistons beat the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 101 to 82. And in that game, Joe Dumas went three for four from the free throw line. So he finally missed one of his free throws. I just thought this was a super cool this day in sports history. I don't know anyone that's come close to breaking this streak. I've never heard of this streak, I've never heard of this record. Uh, I think it needs to be talked about a lot more because I know Mitchell Robinson, for example, of my New York Knicks. If he could go just six games without missing a free throw, uh, that would be huge for us. So I believe uh it needed to be touched on. And uh shout out Joe Dumar's, just another phenomenal athlete that's kind of been lost uh in sports history. All right, up next, a little world baseball classic talk. Uh, I don't know if everyone else hasn't been enjoying watching the United States dominate with their all-star team uh like I have been. Um, I'm kind of gonna go full circle about my original take uh of the you know, the world baseball classic should be, you know, maybe we could use amateurs or stuff like that. I take it all back. Uh it's phenomenal the way it is. I have been greatly enjoying watching the U.S. And honestly, it's at the point now where if they don't mercy rule the team they're playing, it's almost considered a loss. Well, with the Mexico matchup tonight, it's not going to be that easy. This Mexico roster, this Mexican roster is relatively stacked, excuse me. Now, on the pitching side, I think that's one of the biggest advantages uh for the United States. Right, they do have Andres Munoz, Javier Arsada, the Cubs, Taiwan Walker, former Mets legend. Um, you know, behind the plate, you got Alejandro Kirk, you know, hold it down, some interesting infielders and Jonathan Aronda, um, Nacho Alvarez, Joey Ortiz, former Norfolk Tides legend before he was traded to the Brewers. Big, you know, beefy boy Rowdy Tellez weighing in at what is he, 270 pounds. Love to see that. Uh, and then Joey Manessus, uh legend from the Washington Nationals. It's looking a lot a lot better infield than you think. Kind of sneaky there. Um, and then, of course, in the outfield, you have Jaron Duran, um, the other Azunia brother. Uh, I'm just kidding, I don't think they're actually related, but the same last name. And then Randy Arosarena, uh, whose actually birthplace is Cuba, but he's playing with the Mexican national team. This is by far, you know, not a scrub team from the Mexicans. I do think the USA wins. I do think you know they covered the spread. This is what it's all about. And we have a lineup. I mean, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge. It's honestly insane. And then seeing Roman Anthony, some of these young guys, go out there and prove themselves alongside the legends. It's been so much fun to watch. Um, I've also been tuning into my spring training. I've also been watching Kobe Mayo and my Orioles. Uh, no Kobe Mayo corner today, although, as you all know, he has been improving defensively as well as offensively. I believe he's batting 427 or something like that. He's batting over 400. Uh, he's seeing the ball well, smacking a lot of doubles. I'm not worried about home run power in spring training. Defensively, we saw the air. Um, a couple airs. It's gonna happen. That's what spring training's for. So, overall, I mean, baseball-wise, I've just been tuned into the world baseball classic. I'm gonna get back to spring training here shortly, but I have enjoyed this so much. And while we're on the subject of spring training, I guess a little prospect talk here. I've also mentioned the name Dylan Beavers a lot. He has not gotten the spring training start that I would have expected. Um, you know, bats not really getting to the ball like we would have would have thought. Um, stole a lot of time, but it's looking like if Heston Kerstad and Tyler O'Neal and some of these other guys break out in right field, Dylan Beavers could start the year in triple A, which wouldn't be the worst thing. Um, it would be a bit surprising to me, though. Um, another name I want to touch on from the Orioles is Jose Barrero. Jose Barrero is a shortstop, third base, second base. I'm pretty sure he could play first base, but he's a guy in the Orioles organization who's going completely under the radar. Uh, people talk about Jeremiah Jackson, Blaise, you know, Alexander. I would not be surprised to see Jose Barrero playing second, short, or third, or any combination of them for the Orioles this season. Six foot three, um, goes under the radar with a little bit of a slim frame, probably around 180, 190. He has power, he has the fielding skills, a little bit raw, a little bit wild. Um, but if you guys ever get a chance to take a look at him athletically, there is so much potential there. And uh just to touch on a couple other prospects, because I would be remiss not to Enrique Bradfield Jr. is looking super exciting for Panama. He has introduced a slap bunt into his game, which I think honestly could take it to the next level. Let's be real. Getting on base is the key for Enrique Bradfield, and whether it's through walks, whether it's through hits, home runs, I don't care. Well, home runs, you're not really on base, but you get what I'm saying. I haven't seen the slap bunt. Excuse me. I have not seen the slap bunt utilized by any major league professional player in a long time. You know, maybe Terrence Gore would pull it out a little bit, but he was more of a pinch runner. Um, rest in peace, Terrence Gore. I I really, really need to see the slap bunt in Major League Baseball, and I think Enrique Bradfield Jr. can be the guy to do it. Um that does it today for my episode uh 17 of the Sportsman Dan show. I'm excited to keep recording these. I have another great interview lined up for this week. Um If I don't talk to y'all again, uh I'm excited to see some of you guys at the uh the show this weekend. Uh again, that will be at the Norfolk Masonic Temple March 14th. Uh thanks again for everybody tuning in, and uh look forward to speaking with you at the next episode.