The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz XX
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[39] This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugat's podcast.
[40] No. No, no, no, no. Bum, bum, bum.
[41] We are back.
[42] I hate this thing.
[43] Come on.
[44] That's right.
[45] It's the bucket of death, and it's time to go to it.
[46] If you're new around here, we pick a bucket.
[47] All the NFL teams are in there.
[48] There's a few random helmets also in there.
[49] We don't pick a bucket, Chris.
[50] We pick a helmet out of the bucket.
[51] All right, either way.
[52] We're doing it.
[53] And there's bad shit in there.
[54] Why is the Reaper so short?
[55] The Reaper's supposed to tower over people with a sickle.
[56] Shrank in the wash, Denno.
[57] Doing the dryer.
[58] That's what happens.
[59] Tony's going first.
[60] I really hate this thing.
[61] And Mike thinks I like it because I like to dress in costumes.
[62] You do.
[63] Oh, you like when other people are dressing costumes.
[64] So the people that are new, you get two chances to pick a helmet.
[65] You can pick which one you want.
[66] That's your team for the weekend.
[67] If they lose, you have to do an embarrassing punishment the following week.
[68] There are also random helmets also in there, you know, the Big Apple where you have to pick a New York team.
[69] We'll cross those bridges when we get there.
[70] What the hell's this thing?
[71] That's the wizard of football.
[72] Why is there a wizard in here?
[73] I like to dress things up, Dano.
[74] And last year we had the Reapers.
[75] So now what could we add?
[76] We're adding the wizard.
[77] It's an extra wrinkle here, Dan.
[78] All right.
[79] I'm going to the bucket.
[80] Here we go.
[81] First pull of the NFL season.
[82] God, it feels good to have my hand in this one.
[83] I don't understand why there's a wizard in here.
[84] Just pretend it's not there.
[85] All right.
[86] First pick the Las Vegas Raiders.
[87] You don't want that.
[88] I don't care who they're playing.
[89] Playing goat, though.
[90] Raiders are at the Chargers.
[91] There are a three -point dog at the Chargers.
[92] Chargers got a lot of stuff to figure out.
[93] We don't know.
[94] Justin Herbert said he didn't have Planner.
[95] Minchu?
[96] You want Minchu?
[97] I didn't say I wanted Minchew.
[98] I'm just saying they've, you know, I'm going to put it back.
[99] All right, you're going to put it back.
[100] And that's the last time he gets to put it back.
[101] The next one is automatic, and we've already gotten to the dropping of things.
[102] Watch him for cheating, Mike.
[103] No, Mike, there were a lot of cheaters last year.
[104] Mike Ryan.
[105] No, Mike Ryan.
[106] What do you mean?
[107] You call the Reaper Mike?
[108] That's his work name?
[109] I don't know what you called.
[110] No, I called Mike the guy next to Mike.
[111] Oh, God, I think I have a worst pick.
[112] The Giants.
[113] Oh, good.
[114] All right.
[115] So the Giants are where?
[116] The Giants are at home against the Vikings, and they are plus two at home against the Vikings.
[117] They're a two -point dog.
[118] Hey, come on.
[119] Daniel Jones for the beard.
[120] I like the idea of calling the Reaper just Mike as if he's a work pal, our pal, our pal, Mike Reaper.
[121] I still don't understand why there's a wizard in here.
[122] The wizard seems to be lost.
[123] I don't understand.
[124] Why is there?
[125] The Reaper is not menacing.
[126] I don't understand.
[127] All right, Mike, you pick from the bucket.
[128] All right, first pick.
[129] B 'am.
[130] San Francisco 49ers, I'll keep it Monday night football against the Jets.
[131] All right.
[132] That is good.
[133] That is a four and a half point favorite.
[134] The 49ers are against the Jets.
[135] Last we saw Aaron Rogers actually throwing the ball.
[136] He was trying to throw to a double -covered Devante Adams with Alan Lazzard wide open underneath coming off of his worst season as a starter in Green Bay.
[137] Been a while since we've seen him be a good quarterback.
[138] I think they can still be a good.
[139] team if he's a different quarterback, but let's not pretend something that he's not.
[140] I think they're going to be a good football team this year.
[141] I really do.
[142] I think they're going to win more than 10 games.
[143] Roy, go ahead.
[144] I have the Indianapolis coach.
[145] They're at home against the Texans plus three.
[146] No. I'm going to put this back and get a new one.
[147] Why not?
[148] Anthony Richardson has started 17 games since high school.
[149] He's sure starting this game.
[150] Thank you for your service.
[151] Okay, so you got to choose.
[152] Oh, Army's in town.
[153] They're playing FAU.
[154] We'll circle back to Roy on which one he's choosing.
[155] Here we go with the messiness again.
[156] By the way, we are not doing this this year with everyone who's not here.
[157] So this isn't going to be as messy as it's been in years past where we're picking for everybody.
[158] It's just going to be the people who are here.
[159] Chris, go ahead.
[160] All right, love a good rummage.
[161] All right, here we go.
[162] I'm going to go with this one.
[163] No, I want this one.
[164] I don't understand why there's a wizard in here.
[165] The Texans.
[166] So anti -roy, I'll go with the Texans on the road at Colts.
[167] I'll keep that.
[168] All right.
[169] So the Texans are a three -point favorite at home, are on the road against the Colts.
[170] Yep.
[171] Is anyone going to explain to me why there's a wizard in here?
[172] No, Dan, but I've got a tight.
[173] top five wizards for you list oh wow okay a little surprise in the middle of things we'll get back to it we'll end the segment with that little bonus i'm going to pick first if you don't mind while you prepare uh i've got the panthers i'll go ahead and put that right back you want to know uh no wizard's helping you here with a little they're at the saints saint erunis i'm i've got the steelers uh the steelers are at the falcons the steelers are three and a half point dog uh i I hate it.
[174] Yeah, well, yeah, okay.
[175] You had lateral move, same spread for both.
[176] Three and a half point dogs and domes.
[177] One's against Kirk Cousins, the other one's against Eric Gar.
[178] The Browns or the Reds?
[179] What is this?
[180] Those are the Browns are hosting the Dallas Cowboys.
[181] That is Tom Brady's first broadcast.
[182] The Browns are two and a half point favorite at home against the Cowboys.
[183] Two and a half point favorite.
[184] Throwing it back.
[185] Our friend Andrew Siciliano, now named Play -by -Play Voice of the Cleveland Browns.
[186] I think I could do better.
[187] The Wizard of All!
[188] That means you have to pick a lion, tigers, or bear in college or football.
[189] The lions are a four -point favorite at home against the Rams.
[190] The bears are a three -and -a -half -point favorite at home against the Titans.
[191] What are the tigers?
[192] Bengals.
[193] Bengals are eight -and -a -half -point favorites against the New England Patriots who are terrible.
[194] In college, you have the rare cow bears at Auburn Tigers.
[195] He's going with Bengals.
[196] I'm going to have Bengals.
[197] In the NFL.
[198] against the Patriots.
[199] Yeah, and because I picked the Wizard of Oz helmet, I've got your top five wizards here.
[200] All right.
[201] Number five, the Wizard of Oz.
[202] I don't understand why this wizard is here.
[203] Because we pulled the Wizard of Oz helmet.
[204] Number four, Merlin.
[205] A fine wizard, yes.
[206] Number three.
[207] Obi -Wan Kenobi.
[208] Space Wizard.
[209] Number two.
[210] Gandalf the Grey.
[211] And number one.
[212] Gilbert Arenas.
[213] I have decided to go with Air Force are playing San Jose.
[214] They are a five -point favorites, Air Force.
[215] Congratulations.
[216] Closing a loop.
[217] For your service.
[218] I don't understand why there's a bearded wizard in here.
[219] And he or she is pointing a blue laser of some sort of people.
[220] It's a wand.
[221] Have you never watched Wizards before?
[222] Today's episode is brought to you by Venmo.
[223] Look, no matter how your favorite team does this season, there's still one way to feel like a winner.
[224] And that's with Venmo.
[225] That's because when you use Venmo to add $100 or more to your Draft King's account, you'll get an extra $30 in Draft Kings bonus credits.
[226] Terms apply.
[227] Just go to draftkings .com slash Venmo to activate your offer.
[228] Then choose Venmo to add funds to your Draft King's account, at $100 or more, and boom, 30 bonus credits will appear in your Draft King's account if you're eligible.
[229] This offers only good through October 31, 2024, or while supplies last.
[230] So make your move before the shot clock runs out.
[231] Here's the deal.
[232] Venmo is a fast and easy way to add money on Draft Kings.
[233] and if you don't have a Venmo account yet, don't sweat it.
[234] You can download the app and sign up in minutes.
[235] So, what are you waiting for?
[236] Just add $100 or more to your Draft King's account with Venmo, and you've got $30 in bonus credits.
[237] Go to draftkings .com slash Venmo and go get that bonus.
[238] Gambling problem, call 1 -800 gambler.
[239] Eligibility and age restrictions apply.
[240] Voidware prohibited.
[241] Valid one per first -time Venmo account transfer.
[242] Opt -in required.
[243] Minimum $100 transfer from your Venmo account to your Vennmo account to your draft king's DFS account.
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[246] It's a judge coach, sweetie.
[247] Stugats.
[248] I should say hello.
[249] This is the Dan Lebatar show with the Stugats.
[250] We do real and serious journalism around here, even though every once in a while it seems silly.
[251] We are compromised never.
[252] We don't have any conflicts of interest.
[253] So many of you who have seen our big week now because we're in our 20th year anniversary and we signed with Peacock and you accused us of being flattering to the Olympic coverage for weeks beforehand just because we side with peacock, you're idiots.
[254] We didn't, we're not compromised.
[255] We're objective.
[256] And the reason, because many of you're going to ask, why there's so many apples all around here is just because we love apples.
[257] It's not because Apple has us as the most celebrated podcast in the land all month.
[258] It's only because all of us really like apples.
[259] So I don't want to get any more accusations about us being compromised and biased and not actually doing journalism around here.
[260] And the way I'm going to prove to you that we do journalism around here is we have Laura Jadid with us from Rolling Stone.
[261] And she has done what I would consider the comprehensive piece on Project Veritas and James O 'Keefe in this operation.
[262] And now this commander's VP of content has been fired.
[263] Ra 'L.
[264] Ente.
[265] I don't know how to pronounce his name.
[266] I don't know if I have it right, but he's been fired minutes.
[267] I'm almost certain you don't.
[268] Thank you.
[269] I appreciate that.
[270] But we do accurate and good journalism around here.
[271] And she, Laura Jadee, did an amazing piece on all of this absurdity that's happening with Project Veritas.
[272] Her newsletter is called Band in Your State a couple of months ago, as I said, the definitive piece in Rolling Stone in which she says, among other things, quote, James O 'Keefe helped transform U .S. conservatism into a war machine, then it all imploded.
[273] Thank you so much for joining us, Laura.
[274] This story is complicated.
[275] Your investigation was thoroughly reported.
[276] Can you take us through, please, what this entity is that has just gotten this commander's VP of content fired, because this does not seem like ethical journalism in any way that was done here, And it seems to me that Enteen is a victim here.
[277] Do I have this wrong?
[278] I mean, I think victim is the correct term.
[279] The ethics of the journalism involved, you're going to get a lot of different opinions.
[280] I think this qualifies as real journalism.
[281] It's not journalism that I particularly care for.
[282] I absolutely think this was a gotcha.
[283] Antine was on a date with somebody that he met on Hinge and was doing something that I think we've all probably done over drinks once or twice, which is shit talk, his plays of work.
[284] And what's getting reported is essentially O 'Keefe's exact spin on it, James O 'Keefe being the founder of Project Veritas, an outlet that's been doing stories like this for about 14 years.
[285] O 'Keefe is on his own now for reasons we don't need to get into.
[286] But O 'Keefe is reporting that this man insulted players said that they were all very dumb, insulted fans, said they were a bunch of high school -educated alcoholic mouth breeders.
[287] Now, he did say that last part.
[288] What he said about the players, or the fans, sorry, the players, is that there's a spectrum of intelligence.
[289] some of them were dumb as hell.
[290] That's a thing that he said, over drinks with a person that he met on Hinge.
[291] He also talked about how some of the players are homophobic, and I think something that's interesting here.
[292] What was this, quote -unquote, undercover journalist asking about Pride stuff and why the commanders?
[293] Like, this person was targeted.
[294] This person was targeted for being a James O 'Keefe story.
[295] And it's because, I believe, the commanders are the most politically correct.
[296] woke team in the NFL on account of changing their name.
[297] And I think that probably if Nteen had answered differently on the Pride, stuff, if he said everyone was all in on Pride and everyone loves gay people, they would have done to him what they did to Disney a month or two ago, which is say that they're pushing an LGBT agenda on kids.
[298] The thing about O 'Keefe is that as soon as he's got you in his sights, you're going down.
[299] It doesn't really matter what you say.
[300] Whatever it is, it's going to be a bad spin because essentially this kind of journalism, they're just declaring war on whoever they decide needs to be exposed or punished or what have you.
[301] Laura, when you say this kind of journalism, what do you mean?
[302] This isn't, you don't go on a date, a second date and film somebody without their knowledge only to entrap them.
[303] Like, I'm not if this is journalism, it's not a journalism I recognize.
[304] Yeah.
[305] I mean, the accepted ethics of journalism would be that some people think you don't go undercover at all.
[306] Some people would argue that you can go undercover if it's a story that you just can't get any other way.
[307] I'm not really even sure this is a story.
[308] Never mind a story you couldn't get another way.
[309] Again, man shit talks and the NFL, his place of work on a date.
[310] This is not breaking news.
[311] I'm so sorry, but he has been doing this for about 14 years.
[312] He got his start.
[313] This is ancient history.
[314] But if everyone remembers, Acorn, which was a large activist group for low and middle income, Americans helped them get things like welfare benefits, help them register to vote.
[315] His very first story was essentially doing an undercover video of them, posing as a pimp with a prostitute girlfriend who was trying to start a bravel.
[316] And the ACORN volunteers, low -level, helped them do that.
[317] And it ended up destroying ACOR.
[318] The Senate defunded them.
[319] And it was the end of really quite a good organization.
[320] In 2016, I don't know if anyone remembers the Democracy Partners story, where O 'Keefe released a hidden camera video that suggested that a...
[321] Democratic PAC was enticing MAGA people to punch them, basically asserting that all of the violence of that year was a Democratic op. This is the kind of stuff that they do.
[322] It's almost always from what I would characterize as a right -wing perspective.
[323] It is almost always tapping into whatever the right -wing bug bear of the day is, I guess because the NFL is starting perhaps, this was a good time to try to reignite the woke wars or what have you.
[324] But yeah, this is what they do.
[325] Yeah, and Laura, the other thing they do is, They provide either redacted or edited videos.
[326] I'm reading in your very, very excellent article in the Rolling Stone about this.
[327] For instance, you brought up the ACORN employees.
[328] They did not reveal that in most cases they call the cops as soon as those people left.
[329] They said, oh, yeah, we'll help you do this.
[330] And then turn around and call the cops like, hey, someone's trying to human traffic in here.
[331] And so these are all things that are convenient left out, which again goes back to what Dan is saying.
[332] This isn't journalism.
[333] This is an axe to grind, and you're going to go through any means necessary to achieve it.
[334] Laura, you did journalism.
[335] This rolling stone piece that you did is extraordinary.
[336] I imagine, I don't know how long this took you.
[337] This must have taken you a year.
[338] Right?
[339] I don't, I mean...
[340] It's about right, yeah.
[341] Okay, that's journalism.
[342] How can you call what was just done to this person, journalism?
[343] I mean, tabloid journalism, not journalism that I enjoy.
[344] I think the edits is an interesting question.
[345] I think, I mean, a lot of journalism.
[346] journalists, a lot of video journalists do edit.
[347] I think that if you look at this particular video, you'll notice some jump cuts in between the questions asked and the answers, which to me raises some questions.
[348] I think that this is, again, not, certainly not journalism that I approve of.
[349] And I think it's unfortunate that the NFL has fallen into the same trap that the Democrats did in the first few years of Project Veritas existing, which essentially was to go, oh my God, PR under emergency, we got to fire whoever, temporarily suspend, damage control.
[350] No, stop it.
[351] Stop it.
[352] Do not fall into that trap.
[353] And it's unfortunate that they did.
[354] Again, Rayle and Teen talked shit about his place of work on a tinge date.
[355] And if that is the standard for us not deserving our jobs, I'd guess about 90 % of people in America should be unemployed right now.
[356] Before we let you go here, Laura, can you please, because I'm holding in front of me your work.
[357] And it's, I'm going to say it's 50 pages that I'm holding in front of me from Rolling Stone, which I didn't know, given the thin, of Rolling Stone these days from the glory days that I remember that they even did things this comprehensive because it's a thick piece of work.
[358] What would you tell our audience who isn't familiar with what it is that you've written and reported here is the most important parts of this story that are dangerous to a lot more people than just this VP of victim?
[359] So I would argue that James O 'Keefe was on the cutting edge of the pivot of the Republican Party from conservative to a war machine.
[360] He was calling out fake news before Donald Trump coined the term.
[361] He was doing Drain the Swamp stuff before Donald Trump did it.
[362] He was presenting alternative facts before that became a major issue.
[363] And essentially, the goal is to control the narrative.
[364] The goal is to wait in kind of throw in an anecdotal story, some kind of anecdotal conversation, and then say that it's indicative of some larger conspiracy, see some larger thing.
[365] You know, one VP of marketing said that some NFL players are homophobic.
[366] I guess everyone in the NFL thinks all NFL players are homophobic.
[367] And it's just you don't have to fall for this.
[368] People do not have to fall for this in sports and out of it.
[369] This is the first sports program I've ever done.
[370] But in politics, this works really well.
[371] And it's worked really well for years.
[372] And it's unfortunate because I think good journalism is supposed to explore what people believe and just try to see things from their point of view.
[373] And the problem with this kind of journalism, which has spread, is that you assume whoever you've targeted is a bad person and then you go look in for evidence of it.
[374] And to me, that's not good storytelling and it's the kind of storytelling that's tearing this country apart.
[375] Well, you start with what it is that you already believe and then the reporting you do is just to confirm what you started believing.
[376] And in this particular case, it seems really wrong.
[377] The reporting seems worse than the crime committed by the person on the other end of this, and now that person has lost their job.
[378] Laura, thank you for joining us.
[379] We appreciate it.
[380] We appreciate both the time and the work.
[381] Thank you.
[382] Well, thank you very much.
[383] Great to be here.
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[421] Don Lebertard.
[422] Punctuate this segment with what is your strike three call.
[423] Well, strike one would be, strike!
[424] And then you stand up and you give a good point to the right.
[425] Stugats.
[426] That's same for strike two.
[427] But strike three, you get down low.
[428] You got your hands behind the catcher.
[429] All right, the right arm goes up into the air.
[430] Yeah.
[431] And then you finish it with the punch.
[432] The right arm flings way up into the air.
[433] Ha!
[434] Yeah!
[435] I wish I could see that.
[436] It's terrible audio's great.
[437] This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stoogads.
[438] Welcome to the pitch clock.
[439] Here's the pitch.
[440] A two -part baseball segment combining a nostalgic baseball trivia game and an interview with an expert.
[441] This is the pitch clock.
[442] We're ready for another wonderful game here in September.
[443] I'm Jeremy, obviously.
[444] We have Chris Cody with me here in the room in the studio.
[445] Hello.
[446] And our expert this week.
[447] is Mike Shore, and he's actually going to play this game with us.
[448] So Taylor, why don't you go ahead and introduce us to this week's game here on the pitch clock?
[449] The game today is three strikes and you're out.
[450] The people love it where you guys will alternate guesses, last person standing wins.
[451] The question today is top 20 players that had the most hits in the MLB in the 90s.
[452] So between 1990 and 1999, the betting odds courtesy of our friends over at Draft King's Sportsbook, currently have Mike Sher as a minus 10 ,000.
[453] Yeah, that makes sense.
[454] Yeah, that makes sense.
[455] Okay, so do we want to straight up most hits in the 90s?
[456] Most hits, not in the single season, most hits in the 90s.
[457] 90 to 99.
[458] 90 to 99.
[459] And I would have been better in the next decade.
[460] I will start with Tony Gwyn.
[461] Mr. Projury's number four.
[462] All right, number four.
[463] All right, Chris, you are up here, 20 seconds on the clock for the pitch clock.
[464] I am going to go with, I'm struggling right now.
[465] This is bad.
[466] This is not good.
[467] I'm already.
[468] I have some names, but I just don't think they're right.
[469] Gwitton came off the board and you just tend to your Tony Gwydd.
[470] How much time left?
[471] Five seconds.
[472] Okay.
[473] I'm going to go with Craig Beggio.
[474] That's a great guess.
[475] Number three.
[476] Thank you.
[477] Yeah.
[478] Like sure, your guess, your first guess here in round one.
[479] I'll go Ken Griffey, Jr. Number six.
[480] All right.
[481] You know what, Mike just gave me a hint there.
[482] Just go with the best player.
[483] I'm like overthinking this with like specifically pitch.
[484] Just like the best players.
[485] Okay.
[486] And now for our guest portion of the pitch clock, we bring in our MLB expert.
[487] Mike, sure.
[488] Mike, thank you as always for joining us and for sharing your baseball expertise as we're here in September.
[489] Thank you.
[490] It is ridiculous to refer to me as a baseball expert.
[491] You are a baseball expert.
[492] No, I'm not.
[493] I'm just a guy.
[494] who likes baseball.
[495] And I think if you introduce me as a guy who likes baseball, it'll take some of the pressure off of my half -hairbrained analysis.
[496] All right.
[497] So, Mike.
[498] Hey, how's it going?
[499] We're headed toward the playoff race in Major League Baseball, obviously, is it September.
[500] And I'm wondering, whether it's a division race or the Wild Card, what race are you looking forward to most watching down the stretch?
[501] I think the biggest, like, this is weird to say.
[502] I think the most interesting race is Braves Mets for the Wildcats.
[503] card in L. East.
[504] This is like, I predicted a long time ago that the, that the Mets were going to make the playoffs, even when it looked like they were down and out.
[505] But I just kind of weirdly believe in that team.
[506] They're currently what, they're a half game behind the Braves for the wild card.
[507] And the Braves, like if the Mets, if the Mets turned into the scrappy upstart team with a $480 million payroll who managed to beat the Braves for a wild card spot this year, that's going to be amazing.
[508] I mean, right now, Braves 75 % to make the playoffs, Mets are 36%.
[509] So it's not looking super likely.
[510] But I think to me that's the most fun race heading down the stretch.
[511] Mike, we've talked a lot here about Shohei Otani, about Aaron Judge, their unbelievable seasons that they've each had.
[512] I want to know, is there an argument that you could make or would make for another player not named Judge or Otani to win an MVP this season, whether that's the American League over Judge or the National League over Otani.
[513] Yeah, there's a pretty decent argument for both, actually.
[514] The argument in the AL would be Bobby Witt, Jr., who the royals are in all likely to making the playoffs when no one really thought they would be this good.
[515] He plays a premium position.
[516] He plays it incredibly well.
[517] He's a great base runner.
[518] He's like, you know, he's within shouting distance of Judge.
[519] I think Judge probably still has him because Judge has also been playing center field, which is obviously another premium position.
[520] I don't think it would hold water.
[521] But you could make that argument that Bobby Wood Jr. has been the actual most valuable player.
[522] The problem with that argument, however, really isn't just the judge play center field and plays it pretty well.
[523] It's that the Yankees have two hitters in their entire lineup.
[524] Two.
[525] It's Judge and Soto.
[526] And if Judge weren't doing every single thing that he's doing, they certainly wouldn't be in first place.
[527] And they'd be like a borderline playoff team.
[528] You know, like they'd be a borderline.
[529] and they'd be where the Red Sox are.
[530] They're two games over 500.
[531] So it's hard to make the argument you could, if you're a Kansas City sports writer, you'll be making that argument in a couple weeks.
[532] In the National League, I think there's actually a pretty good argument that it's Francisco Lindor.
[533] And he's not going to win.
[534] Otani, especially if Otani gets to 50 -50, and it's going to be unanimous.
[535] But he's not pitching and he's not playing defense.
[536] And Lindor is playing really, really good defense at a very important position for a team that's fighting for a playoff spot and very quietly that contract which looked like a massive albatross when he first signed it that guy's you know we're talking about one of the best players in baseball without question and his right now like you know otani's war is at 7 .1 which 4a dh is insane because he's it's only getting he's only getting war from deep from offense but lindore is 6 .2 lindore's right behind him he's going to have 30 homer he's playing incredible defense.
[537] He's leading that team, especially in the second half.
[538] And that is a legitimate argument that you could make in the NL.
[539] Through round one, each of us have gotten somebody, Tony Gwynne, Craig Vigio, and Ken Griffey Jr. My first guess of round two will be Cal Ripkin, Jr. Number seven.
[540] All right.
[541] Chris, to you.
[542] This is fun.
[543] I'm going to go with the Big Hurd.
[544] Big hurt is number 11 So I We're doing what Yeah no we're good We're good Top 20 Top 20 Mike sure You are up Paul Molliter Ooh Paul Molliter Number 10 Wow I would not have Ever been able To get Paul Molliter You said that one Because I was pulled You get 3 ,000 hits Yeah but I don't I don't think of him As somebody in an era In which I was watching baseball But I guess I was born halfway through this decade So that makes it a bit more difficult How much time is left on the clock.
[545] I'm trying to think of guys who got hits in the 90s.
[546] I have a weird one.
[547] He's not one of the best players, but he got a lot of hits.
[548] Kenny Lofton.
[549] I was actually thinking that one earlier, too.
[550] That's a first strike.
[551] That's a strike.
[552] Yeah, all right.
[553] That's surprising.
[554] I would have thought that he would have been in the top, you know, after what, number 19.
[555] He might have been in there.
[556] All right, Chris, you're up.
[557] I feel a little better now that Jeremy got a strike.
[558] I just feel better about getting one wrong.
[559] So I'm going to, ugh.
[560] Roberto Alamar.
[561] number five wow that's a great one i can't believe we don't have the first two so we don't have one and two how is that possible correct all right all right all right hold on who has three thousand hits oh uh palmero rachel palmero two number two on the board all right so this is where it gets even more we're missing number one we're missing i got it i got it i got it I got it.
[562] I got it.
[563] Let me go ahead and guess.
[564] I will say, uh, this shouldn't work.
[565] Alex Rodriguez.
[566] That's your strike.
[567] I knew it.
[568] Oh, no. Wait, you both just thought of it?
[569] I just thought of somebody, I think.
[570] Let me look at your face.
[571] Oh, I might be wrong.
[572] I might be wrong.
[573] Chris.
[574] I am going to go with 90s.
[575] Give me, oh, wait, this is easy.
[576] It just, it just, it just, it just, it just hit me. Barry Bonds.
[577] Number 19.
[578] Just needs to.
[579] Oh, wow.
[580] Wow.
[581] I actually almost went with one of his teammates.
[582] And then in my mind, I'm like, wait, one of his teammates.
[583] I'm not going to tell you.
[584] Well, yeah, now I'm confused.
[585] The San Diego Padres, obviously, they have been playing spectacular baseball in the second half of the year.
[586] And now they've just added Fernando Tatis Jr. back into the fold.
[587] With that addition, what do you think that he really does for them?
[588] Does he give them a bolster to say, hey, this is one of the team?
[589] that could legitimately win the National League?
[590] Yeah.
[591] Oh, no question.
[592] I think they, assuming, I mean, they're going to make the playoffs now and barring a catastrophe.
[593] But that guy has what has had one of the weirdest careers of all time.
[594] Crazy.
[595] He is, it is so bananas, everything, all of the ups and downs and the weird motorcycle accidents and the 80 game suspensions and the, like, just flashes of being the best player in baseball.
[596] and then long stretches of like he forgot how to play.
[597] It's just very weird.
[598] I don't, I actually think that there's a little, this is not real statistical saber metric analysis.
[599] Guy who likes baseball, I'm like sure.
[600] I think there's a little risk in him coming back right now because they've been playing so well and he is an agent of chaos.
[601] And I don't know.
[602] I think, look, he's incredibly talented.
[603] I think his defense alone should help them.
[604] But I just, it's a little risky to put like, they're cruising man they're playing incredibly well and they've overtaken the they've held off the diamondbacks who are the best team in the second half and i think that heading into the playoffs you you've got to like ride with this this wave of momentum and i just worry that he's going to do something insane and there is going to derail the season now in all likely it all that will happen is like he'll play good baseball and it'll help but it's just a little worrisome if you're a podres fan a long -cursed Padres fan.
[605] It's a little worrisome to just drop this bit of nitro glycerin back into the composition of your team.
[606] He is always absolute chaos either in the best way or sometimes in the worst way for your franchise.
[607] Last week, Mike, we asked Tim Kirchian and it actually did not make our episode the greatest strength of any baseball team remaining.
[608] So for example, a team's bullpen or someone's heart of the order or a starting rotation's one or two.
[609] Ironically, answer was actually basically the power of friendship with the Philadelphia Phillies and just how much those guys like each other, which for Kirchen is just the funniest thing for me to hear coming from him.
[610] I thought it was awesome.
[611] Is there something that sort of stands out for you as, hey, that unit is one that can just, you know, lead a team to a World Series this year?
[612] I think the, like, the youth of the Orioles that I think they're like, we don't know any better of the Orioles, which is sometimes for a team that's sucked for.
[613] a while you need a bunch of just like young people who like don't literally don't remember the long period of suckage of the team because they were all like two years old or before they were born like that's a that's a big deal for them i think the number of guys they have on the team who are 22 or 23 and are out of their mind playing well i think that's a big thing i think the under the radarness of the guardians and the brewers is a big deal like Like the Brewers especially, the Brewers have the second best record in the NL right now.
[614] No one has spoken a word about the Milwaukee Brewers in the national sports media all year.
[615] Not one word.
[616] Like it has all been about Atlanta, Philly, the Mets, the Dodgers, now the Diamondbacks, the Padres.
[617] Even the Cubs recently because the Cubs scored 99 runs over a 10 game stretch and like it could storm back into the wild card.
[618] But like the Cubs are still 10 games behind the Brewers, even despite that run.
[619] because the brewers have just quietly been like plotting along playing incredible baseball.
[620] And I think that actually really matters.
[621] Here's a stat for you.
[622] The brewers have the best run differential in all of baseball.
[623] All of baseball.
[624] They're plus 139.
[625] The Phillies are plus 110.
[626] The Dodgers are plus 117.
[627] The Yankees are plus 125.
[628] Nobody else is over 100.
[629] So yes, the brewers by one metric are without question the best team in baseball.
[630] And no one, I literally, I host, co -host a baseball podcast with Joe Posnanski.
[631] We have not talked about the Brewers once in six months.
[632] And I think that there's something to that.
[633] Like nobody expects anything out of them.
[634] And they're going to sail into baseball playoffs, maybe as the one seed or probably the two, if not the one.
[635] All right.
[636] Mike, sure, you're up.
[637] That's not my guess.
[638] That's not your guess.
[639] If it's the guy, I think it is, this isn't.
[640] insane, but it's a guy who doesn't have 3 ,000 hits, which is Mark Grace.
[641] Number one from the decade.
[642] Wow, that makes sense.
[643] That makes sense.
[644] It makes all the sense.
[645] Oh, my Lord.
[646] He was like the Jack Morris of the 80s where like he just happened to have his best years like from 90 to 99.
[647] I cannot believe this.
[648] Okay.
[649] That opens up a hold like that Mark Grace door has been open and now there's everything.
[650] Now I'm seeing so many more players that I wasn't even thinking of.
[651] My brain is falling apart on this and I, I'm really embarrassed.
[652] but I have the excuse of not being alive for half of this decade.
[653] So we don't have number eight, we don't have number nine.
[654] Well, I'm about to hang out.
[655] Yeah, 8, 9.
[656] 12 through 18 and then 20.
[657] I'm going to go ahead and say, what are the live odds on this?
[658] Because I don't have a strike yet.
[659] You don't have a strike.
[660] You have one strike.
[661] I do.
[662] I'm going to say, what was my strike?
[663] I'll go back.
[664] Omar Viscale.
[665] Steer right.
[666] That strike day.
[667] Damn.
[668] My next guess, I think this is a strike, though.
[669] Ready?
[670] Am I up?
[671] Yeah.
[672] Jeff Kent.
[673] That is a strike.
[674] It's a strike.
[675] That was the guy I was, like, thought of him.
[676] Oh, wait, Barry.
[677] No, that would have been a good one.
[678] It's just Mike Sher and Chris now.
[679] Yep.
[680] Mike, you're up.
[681] I'm going to guess Edgar.
[682] Number 18.
[683] Great.
[684] Damn it.
[685] Chris, with one strike.
[686] I stink.
[687] Balls in your court.
[688] I am going to go with in the 1990s.
[689] I can't believe that I got three strikes that quick.
[690] I'm really embarrassed, guys.
[691] Keep filling for me. Actually, I keep talking.
[692] This is a weird one, man. I'm going to take Fred McGriff.
[693] Ooh, number nine.
[694] Crime dog.
[695] I almost guessed him.
[696] That was such a panic guess.
[697] Man, what an incredible move by Chris.
[698] We've mentioned it already.
[699] Mike, you love baseball.
[700] You watch as much as just about anybody that I know for sure.
[701] Who's been your favorite bad team to watch this season?
[702] Maybe one that you're looking forward to here in September playing spoiler or, you know, there is a certain team, obviously, that's on track for one of the worst seasons ever.
[703] One of my favorite bad teams is the Reds, partially just because of Ellie Delacruz, because he's an insane baseball monster who does something wild every game.
[704] Like he does something offensively or defensively in every game that seems impossible.
[705] And I actually, I don't have a large collection of baseball jerseys, but I actually got an Ellie Delicruz reds.
[706] jersey.
[707] I almost wore it for today's proceedings.
[708] Next time you're on the pitch clock, we've got to see it.
[709] Next time I'm on the, I remind me, I'll wear it, but I just love that guy.
[710] I love him so much.
[711] What works out great about that Reds pick is that down the stretch, they play the Mets for a series, they play the Braves four times, and they play the Cubs for a series as well right at the end of the year.
[712] So they can potentially be involved in sort of playing spoiler in some of these races as well.
[713] It's watching them play down the stretch, which is exciting.
[714] Last question for you, Mike.
[715] Darren Baker was called up earlier in the week.
[716] The son of Dusty Baker, who, for those who remember, he was the one who was saved by J .T. Snow in the slide at home plate in 2002 in the World Series.
[717] Another play at the plate for the Giants in a playoffs was in 2003.
[718] When Jeff Conine threw out a player at the plate, it's the epic pudge collision.
[719] Jeff Conine's son, Griffin Conine, called up to the major leagues this week.
[720] a couple of names like that that have now made me feel very, very old.
[721] I'm wondering, who's the first name that you remember in Major League Baseball that made you feel ancient?
[722] The first one I don't remember, Mike Yistremski made me feel old because he's a grand kid.
[723] Right.
[724] That's great.
[725] Like I saw Carl Yostremski play at Fenway in the early 80s.
[726] And then it was like Mike Yistremski and you're like, oh, wow, Carl's kid is in the majors now.
[727] no Carl's grand kid is in the majors that was bad all of the all of the um the blue jays jays yeah blue jays Kevin Bigeo and bobeshed and flattie junior that's bad Jackson holiday is really bad because I I think of Matt holiday as like being still in baseball like he's in shape enough to do it he's going to have a second kid get drafted this year and Ethan holiday yeah that's bad um there every time it happens it's terrible I mean Cody Bellinger was bad because I remember Clay Bellinger because I hated the Yankees and when Cody came up I was like there's no way that's Clay Bellinger's kid and then remember Cody Bellinger was interviewed about Jerry Seinfeld came to the stadium and they were interviewing him about Jerry Seinfeld and he was like yeah I don't know who that is and I was like oh man that's going to continue to hurt over time there's going to be more and more of those that are just people who don't know staples of pop culture for us Mike thank you so much for joining us for this episode of The Pitch Clock.
[728] Let's head back into the studio to see how our game wrapped up involving another one of our shipping container members.
[729] All right, only one strike to Chris.
[730] Mike, can you keep it going?
[731] I will guess Bagwell.
[732] Steerry!
[733] Oh, wow, it's a strike.
[734] I am going to go with...
[735] One strike to each of you.
[736] What is he on the board?
[737] Is he at top 50?
[738] You must be like...
[739] I just have the top 20.
[740] Yeah.
[741] Oh, okay.
[742] What do you expect?
[743] This guy was more of 2000, so I'm going to get this wrong.
[744] Chipper Jones.
[745] Stryper Jones is sure.
[746] Okay, strike two to Chris.
[747] Mike, now to you.
[748] There's a guy that comes to mind, but for me, but he came up too late in the 90s.
[749] Barry Larkin.
[750] Steerite.
[751] Wow.
[752] Whoa.
[753] Okay.
[754] So he has two strikes?
[755] Two strikes to each of you, Chris.
[756] If you get a strike, and Mike gets a strike.
[757] And Andre Scalaraga.
[758] Andre Scalaraga.
[759] Strike three.
[760] Mike, can you win this?
[761] Can you get one of the players remaining and ice this game?
[762] Mike Shore, it is to you.
[763] If he gets this wrong, it's just going to be a draw.
[764] All right.
[765] We don't have enough time.
[766] Look at the studio.
[767] It'll be a draw.
[768] No, but he needs a win.
[769] I know Mike wants a victory here.
[770] Mike.
[771] Here's my problem.
[772] I think there's a couple Yankees who must be on this list.
[773] And I hated those players so much.
[774] I don't want to guess them and have it be a positive thing.
[775] I get it.
[776] So I'm trying to figure out a non -Yanky.
[777] Five seconds.
[778] Which limits my up.
[779] Yeah, you have five seconds left.
[780] You have five seconds left to figure it out.
[781] Albert Bell.
[782] Number 17.
[783] That's the winner.
[784] Sure is victory on the pitch.
[785] Am I right?
[786] Let me ask you this.
[787] Is Derek Jeter on this list?
[788] No. I don't.
[789] Jeter didn't come up till too late.
[790] It's, but I'll bet you that some number of Bernie Williams, Chuck Knoblock, and Paul O 'Neill are on this list.
[791] Dante Bichette was number eight.
[792] Chuck Knoblock was number 12, Steve Finley was number 13, Marquis Grisselm was 14, Jay Bell was 15, Paul O 'Neill was 16, Lance Johnson was 20.
[793] Lance Johnson!
[794] I almost went Dante.
[795] What a game.
[796] Howdy, folks, it is Mike Ryan, and over the course of our 20 years together, there have been a lot of changes.
[797] A lot of changes to the show, a lot of changes to my body, a lot of changes to you and your listening habits.
[798] But one thing that hasn't changed is the undetermined.
[799] debatable great taste of Miller Light.
[800] Another thing that hasn't changed, it's less filling.
[801] So what is the best thing about the original light beer?
[802] Miller Light sparked this debate way back in 1975, and we still haven't settled it.
[803] You can understand why the debate rages on.
[804] Great taste versus less filling.
[805] But why not have both?
[806] That's what Miller Light presents in that beautiful white can, a light beer that actually tastes like beer.
[807] You don't have to choose what's best.
[808] Miller Light has great taste and is less filling.
[809] taste like Miller time.
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[811] Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces, fewer cows and carbs than premium regular beer.
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[813] In 1795, the first tequila distillery was opened by the Cuervo family, and 229 years later, Cuervo is still going strong.
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