No Crying In Baseball

Patti 0:18
Hi, welcome to episode 447 of No Crying in Baseball, the Finger Pointing episode. My name is Patti. I'm here with my friend, Pottymouth. Okay, when you finger point, you're getting down, and can I say boogying. yes. And when I'm finger pointing, it's very accusatory. Yeah.

Pottymouth 0:32
So for those of you who couldn't see me, I was just doing a little . . . Of course, I demonstrated, right? I'm demonstrating officially again. Patty said, finger pointing. I did a little dancing. It might be because I'm just coming from a bar and opening my next beer, but, yeah, it's Sunday night and el cuerpo no sabe. The body knows it, but we have a two hour delay tomorrow, yeah,

Patti 0:56
so we are not in the same room because, you know, we got alerts on our phone. It's about, you know, it might be dangerous weather out there, although it's not yet. So we decided we'll play safe. We'll, you know, go to our respective corners. So we are recording, you know, remotely so we can see each other. But you know, we're not, not the same. So I don't know what you're drinking. What are you drinking?

Pottymouth 1:15
Patty, I am drinking an obsidian Castle, which is what we had a couple weeks ago from silver branch. Last night, we went to seven locks brewery in rockville. It was the beer there is super yummy. I do like seven locks. Yeah, we brought home a bunch, so I'm purposely not drinking that now so that I can share it with you in the future. But I think it has to survive two weeks though, because you're away next week too. Oh no, you'll be back. We'll record on Monday. We'll have seven luck beer after you return. That's perfect. All solved. It's going to be really good. So yeah, so I did that last night, and then the other reason why our timing is a little whack is because I just went to a fundraiser for our local community or ad hoc organization, because I love where we live, of people who have come together to support our immigrant population. That is, you know, all sorts of horrible things are happening in this area. Ice is descending in a bad way around here, and it's starting to get worse, but we have a really solid group of people who are doing shit to protect our own. And I'm very impressed and proud to be part of this community. And the fundraiser was banging, and I think they got a shit ton of money to help people with things like paying rent because the person responsible for paying rent has been abducted, or legal bills because somebody has been, you know, detained. So all the money is going to a good place, and plus people got to drink and listen to music. It's such a win win situation.

Patti 2:47
Very nice, very nice. So all that came from me asking you what you were drinking. So yeah, you went there. So I'm saying what I'm drinking, then tell you where I was today. So I'm drinking one of the final remaining maple cream porters from racket River Brewing, which was a gift from the intern. That sounds like dessert. It is kind of dessert. Well, I bought dessert. Well, I've already had dinner because I don't have Mr. Potty mouth to cook for me. I had to, like, make my own food, but I managed to make get through it. So today I was at drag brunch. That's such a good thing, which is the happiest place, Disneyland. It's the happiest place on earth. Like one of the call and response things was, we know what's the rest of the world like, and everyone yells shitty. So it was very much about, you know, embracing the joy and taking the joy out when you leave, and trying to, like, hang on to some good things. And, you know, giving yourself a break for a couple of hours so you can go out and fight the good fight afterwards. Fuck yeah. And it was really great the So Tara Hoot, who is the drag queen, who's in charge. She's so good, it's a school teacher. For 27 years, she's been a school teacher, and she said the things that she does that she gets the most death threats or bomb threats about is when she does Story Time for Kids insane. So she did story time for us, and it was very lovely. So sometimes I get a book and I read, and I realized the adults are the ones who need to hear this book. So I'm going to do a story time for you, and it was quite lovely. Oh, that's so good. Yeah. So I had a very good time with that.

Pottymouth 4:06
Go, go to your local drag brunch, because these people need support, and they're not the ones who are, you know, say in the Epstein files or other horrific things that are happening in this country, like support your drag people,

Patti 4:21
and you'll feel better for doing it. So we both have some cash to pay to support good works, in this case, kind of in spite of people who you know, as opposed to you know, do you want to go first? Sure?

Pottymouth 4:34
So as you go, as we're going into this baseball season, we recommend doing what we have done in various sports that we're going to talk about now, which is, if you're cheering for a team and there's somebody on there who's an asshole who has done things that you don't agree with, donate to the cause that would benefit as a response. So for example, last season, I donated, and we talked about this on the show a bunch to. Bagley, because, which is the Boston area, and I actually got the what it stands for wrong last time, because I thought it was gay and lesbian youth, but it's, and fuck, I get it wrong. It's, it's became more expansive. I think that's how it started. But now it, you know, opened the umbrella anyway. It's a good organization for young people because of Jaren Durand homophobic remark that I still haven't seen evidence of him, you know, doing proper atonement for although he has started a foundation this year focusing on mental health issues. So I'm going to dig into that a little bit more and write that, you know, I would like to see him specifically be addressing serious mental health issues for for queer kids that you know is a major problem right now. So that was the donation that I did at the appropriate time, at the end of the season. And then I said I was going to donate for oldest Chapman his previous domestic abuse that he was one of the first, I think, the first, to be penalized under the MLB domestic what's the policy called Domestic Violence Policy? Yep, you got so this is a long time ago that his he was caught at this and I haven't seen any evidence yet. So I pledged to donate, but I didn't actually donate until right before spring training started, so I think that still counts. And so I sent some money to Sojourner House in Providence, Rhode Island, which was recommended by one of our wonderful listeners, Callan and Rosie's Place in Boston, which is a very long time shelter for abused women in Boston, so I guess I'm going to be doing that again. He had a shit ton of saves last year. I pledged five bucks a save, and he had 32 of them. He was tied for fifth in MLB, so we'll see how he does this year.

Patti 6:54
Yeah, so you know our the strategy here is to allow yourself to cheer for the team that you love, yeah, without cheering on someone who has done horrific things, and make up for it by countering those things. So I moved that over to some cross training with Olympic hockey, because I dearly, dearly love Olympic women's hockey, and as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Brittney cross Salam has is like a known transphobe. And going into the Olympics, she was one of the goal scoring leaders in the pwhl. So I pledged $10 per goal that she scores during the Olympics to Baltimore safe haven, which is a trans led drop in wellness center. She only scored one goal, but she had five assists, which, you know, in hockey, that counts as a point for, you know, on your record. So I decided those should be half, which would get me to $35 and I'm gonna go ahead and round it up to 50, because she came really close to scoring the the gold goal is they, as they call the the winning goal for the gold medal game. And, you know, I really like this organization. So I ran into 50 the the the intern has said that that he would match, oh, contributions. And so I'm gonna just put that out there. If anyone else has the same kind of feelings I do about women's hockey, feel free. I'll put the link in the show notes.

Pottymouth 8:13
And what a gold and I am, personally, like, super frustrated because I actually happened to be home that day, and I watched like 90% of that game, and then I had to run out to a meeting, and when I left the US was losing, and not only did they come back to tie it up and went into overtime and won it, and I missed both of those exciting parts.

Patti 8:34
Yeah, I did watch the men's game this morning, also the men's gold medal game, which was also USA, Canada, and it was actually while I was doing some of my show prep, so I was multitasking just a little bit. And that game was so freaking exciting. It also went into overtime, and it was pretty amazing. And it was the first time that the men's team has won gold since the Miracle on Ice game, which reminded me that, you know, I, you know, I've been to a lot of historic sport shrines. I'm going to call it, you know, I've been to historic baseball fields. I've been to other places that have been moving, and I feel good about it, and nothing has affected me like going into the ice rink at Lake Placid. Wow. I went in there on a family vacation. I just vibrated. It was so moving to be in there. So you know that it means a lot to me. And so, yay, yay hockey. That's the only thing I saw in all of the Olympics.

Pottymouth 9:27
Yay Olympics. I started watching baseball, MLB, baseball. And I am so freaking excited that spring training started. And I am so freaking excited about my Red Sox. And I mean, the wonderful thing about spring training is that it's not, it's it's a little bit of everybody, right? So if you win, you get to be happy, and if you don't win, you get to say, well, it's spring training, and it's all the like, second string guys or the third string guys or whatever. But still, the Red Sox won both games that I saw. And so I'm really excited about that. And the other thing I'm super excited about is, Was it, was it just last week that we did our. Red Sox picks. I think it was so I picked Caleb Durbin, who I did not know very much about, because he allowed the Red Sox for like a hot minute. Yeah, he had not even been on the Red Sox a full week when, when I chose him. But today happens to be his 26th birthday, and he didn't play yesterday, so today was his first game in a Red Sox uniform on his birthday, and his first at bat, he gets an RBI single. So I'm gonna chalk that up for, like, good luck and good choice for my Red Sox guy. And yay, spring training.

Patti 10:34
So spring training notifications are to my phone. What, like, September baseball games are like in person, like, there's all these new guys whose names you don't know yet, and so you get these notifications, or you see somebody at a game, like, after, you know, when they expand the rosters for September, and he's like, Hey, new guy, I don't even know what team you're on, so I'm getting this, these spring training notifications. I'm like, oh, so and so, hit a home run. Are you on my team? Are you playing against my team? Oh, yeah. Oh, you're with me. Okay, but it's super fun. So cool. All right, on today's show, we've got boyfriends on the move. We've got an actual scandal crossed with police blotter crossed with labor. That's just like, you know, that's quite the catch all. We've got our boyfriends on Seattle and Los Angeles. Dodgers is the wpbl barnstorming. Maybe our police blotter feature features a need for some hiring equity, and we're kicking the Cleveland pictures trial down the road, so we're still talking about that. The WBC is almost here, and we've got some highlights in the world of swag.

Pottymouth 11:33
Cheers, cheers, I love me some swag. So I'm excited about that. All right, boyfriends. These are guys that we've been picking the off season. We still got a few more teams to go, and then we make our fantasy league. So folks, if you want to play fantasy with us, let us know soon, because we are almost at that deadline to lock that down. So the thing about us choosing our boyfriends is we've been choosing one per team, and each week we spotlight al NL, and we can't have more than one guy per team, and dammit, I already have a man down. So this actually happened before last week, but I spaced it at last week's recording. Blaze Alexander, I had chosen for the D backs. I no longer have the backs boyfriend because he was traded to the O's, so I had already picked Jordan westburg for the O's, and I'm gonna stick with Jordan. So I now have the option, right of choosing one over the other. Blaze is a wonderful name, but Jordan westburg is pretty solid. I'm not totally sure whether where I'm going to put them, but I'm going to stick with them.

Patti 12:37
So I'm just going to say, just so you're aware and you factor it in, Westberg is out on the IL probably through April. Oh, fuck,

Pottymouth 12:43
really, really. All right. Well, all right, maybe I need to reevaluate April. Yeah, I actually should probably hang on to him. I don't know. I have a lot of like, juggling to do. Blaze went from the deep back CEOs for for for a reliever and a couple of prospects. And it was another one that wasn't expected. And so a few weeks ago, I talked about the the gage zeal incident, where he was literally on the plane heading to Yeah, the grapefruit League, Arizona, and he had to just come back and go to the Red Sox. So this was another one, but it wasn't on the plane yet. It was just, oh, I had no idea that this was coming. But, you know, give Blaze some credit. He was traded for three guys, and so he said he was, he felt good about it, because it shows that he's valuable and that they always wanted him, and he reflects on himself with a lot of confidence. So maybe I do need to, like, Look at this guy as my OSEP. He said about himself that he's a super athlete, a guy who can be versatile, can play everywhere, just go out there and make it happen. I'm a gamer, and he can play all over the left infield plus outfield, so that's a lot of versatility when it comes to fantasy, and he's probably going to get some time at second base while Jackson holiday is recovering. But now you're saying that westburg is also recovering, so maybe Blaze will be blazing all over the infield of Camden Yards.

Patti 14:18
So can I say Blaze Alexander? Alerts were coming to my phone because I get alerts for the Orioles. And I was like, wait a minute, because I remember you had just talked about I'm like, oh, oh, he is an Oriole now he's, yeah, he's an Oh, all right. Scandal, police blotter, labor. You may have heard that the director of the players union the MLB pa resigned on Tuesday. Tony Clark resigned last week, Tuesday. So initially, he was under a federal investigation for a financial wrongdoing which related to a for profit group, like, related to the Union that's supposed to, like, benefit youth baseball. And there would talk about maybe he was redirecting some of those profits to, say, his friends and. Family. So that was the federal investigation. So the Union itself started to investigate him as well, and discovered, here's the scandal part and inappropriate relationship with with a union employee who also happened to be his sister in law. What?

Pottymouth 15:16
Yeah, so how is sister in law?

Patti 15:18
Like brothers? I don't know. I don't know, but it's somebody you shouldn't be having an inappropriate any kind of relationship with, other than exchanging gifts at the holidays. Yeah, right. So, so the eight player executive committee remember mostly pictures as always right for the Union reviewed all the evidence, and they requested that he resigned based on the evidence that they reviewed. So he did resign on Tuesday. He was, you know, he was kind of polarizing, but he was the first player, first former player, to lead the MLB. Pa, it's usually like lawyers or like labor professionals, and he was the first black man to leave the union. So there's a lot of stuff attached to that? Yeah, I'm not gonna talk about that piece. There's a great piece in and escape by a black journalist named Clinton Yates who talks about the effect of Tony Clark being the leader of the Union, and now this scandal, what effect that has on African Americans in baseball. So we're gonna let Clinton Yates speak about that. So couple, a bunch of names came up for who's going to replace him, including the union's General Counsel, Matt Nussbaum, a former director from like before, like two directors before, Tony Clark, retired pitcher, Andrew Miller, who's been working as a special assistant at the Union. Yes, we've all had Andrew Miller on our teams. He is the best for immaculate grid and and noted homophobe and former player, Daniel Murphy, oh no, we're on the list. But never fear, because they made what I think is a good choice, at least for right now. Yeah, stability. He was, he was unanimously voted by the player reps, Bruce Meyer, who had been the deputy director of the Union. They named him interim director on Wednesday night, and the initial outcry when Tony Clark was ousted or resigned, or however you want to look at it, was, Oh, my God, it's a bargaining year. The CBA bargaining starts in April, lockout, salary cap, all the stuff we've been worrying about. What's going to happen? Well, Bruce Meyer is the person who led the last CBA negotiations. He's the guy who's going to be doing the he would have been central to the negotiations anyway, and that's the primary goal for this year, is getting those done effectively, to get a new CBA in place, because the current one expires in December. He also has a lot of experience with other unions as well. He's been with the MLB pa since 2018 prior to that, he was with the NHL PA and also the NFL PA. He knows sports unions. He says I've been representing players in all the unions for almost exactly 40 years, so I've dedicated my career to protecting and advancing players rights, and it's something I've always been passionate about. Now, passionate is funny with him, because one of the criticisms of him is he's kind of serious, maybe dour. I mean, like, he's like, he's like, going to cross the t's and dot the i's. He's not going to be out there engaging the players like a former player, like Tony Clark did, right? But he's going to get the business done, right? So it isn't, it is an interim gig. The idea is at least through getting the new CBA negotiated and executed or get it ratified right. And then he says, I think the expectation is we get through bargaining with the current structure. At that point it's completely up to the players. So that's fine. That's great. We got the guy that we know is good at this job to do this job until this job is done, and then we'll talk. So Matt Nussbaum, who is the General Counsel, has been promoted to the interim deputy. So that's also good someone who's been there for a while. So Chris Bassett, hello. New Oriole starting pitcher, hooray, is also on the executive committee for the Union. One of the many, many smart pictures who's on the executive committee says at the end of the day, one of the beautiful things about this entire process and this investigation is we found out who really had our backs through this whole thing. At the forefront of having our backs through this whole process and trying to do the right thing, was Bruce and Matt. We're very, very proud to have them lead us All right, so good statement of support from the union, and very much a calming we've got the right man for the job to get us through bargaining. So, yeah, actual, actual scandal with a capital S.

Pottymouth 19:30
That's sad, but I'm sad. I'm glad that it's being pulled through in a solid way like this seems like the most logical way to do it, because it's going to be some tough times coming up. They're going to need some strength, and maybe somebody serious is exactly what they need. It's like the Bo Jackson of

Patti 19:49
lawyers, Bono's, yeah, right.

Pottymouth 19:52
Bo nose bargaining. All right. So now we're going to go to the baseball boyfriend picks for this week. Right, and we have been working our way up. And man, we are getting up there this week for the American League. We're going with Seattle. And I am. I've been watching Brandon Donovan for a while, so he is listed. It depends on where you look. Weirdly, MLB, I don't know how they do this stuff. They have them listed as second base. Yahoo luckily gives credit for shortstop and outfield also. So what a pick. But Seattle says that he is penciled in to see his most reps at third base, which is not listed by either MLB or Yahoo. So I'm hoping that that gets tied on once our fantasy stuff starts rolling, but I'm going to be able to pencil him in, for sure. Importantly, he has great Q, hard quality hair, above replacement trademark ollie, and he seems to be working on that. So that's rocking for him. And I started checking him out because I thought he was going to be on the Red Sox. I thought he was a sleeper pick for the Red Sox. When all this stuff was going on. We needed an infielder, but we didn't get him. I think the Sox, no, I think that Seattle got him, and then the Sox got Caleb Durbin. It was like all kind of in the same conversation. So I figure I still got to stick with this guy. Instead of going to Boston. He went from St Louis to Seattle on February 3. So yeah, that was before Caleb Durbin, so I guess the Red Sox were a day late and $1 short. This does mean that I have been overall, despite losing Blaze Alexander, I have gotten two guys because of our schedule, because of the way that we have scheduled what when we pick what teams, because if we had been doing Seattle much earlier, I might have not gotten Brandon Donovan, because he wouldn't have been there yet last year, he's been pretty solid. I really like this guy because he's understated. Folks, maybe outside of St Louis, don't know a lot about him, but he's been really dependable and good for the years that he's been playing. He played mostly second base. Last year with Seattle, oh, with St Louis, sorry, all those S's 100, 100 of his appearances were at second base, little bit of left field and a little bit of shortstop in 2024 so last year, 2500 games at second 2024 he played 105 games. In left field. Then the next highest was second base, with 53 games and nine games at third base, which is apparently where he's going to be this year in 2623 and 22 were more evenly split, but I think we can, you know, ascertain that this means he's a really good utility guy, because he also had some time at first base. So speaking of utility, he in 2022 got the Gold Glove for utility, and that was the first year that the utility category was available for gold gloves. So he was trailblazer in that. And not only did he get the first Gold Glove for utility, but that was his rookie year, and he was the first Cardinals rookie to get a Gold Glove. He was third in Rookie of the Year voting that year. And then 23 took a little bit of dip, because he had to miss the end of the season for a flexor tendon surgery. Bounced back though in 24 and pretty much came up to his same levels, and that was his first arbitration year. And here's where I'm wondering if this is sort of like an antecedent of the actual trade going through. Because he was one of those guys who lost arbitration. He was asking for $3.3 million I mean, he had come out of third and Rookie of the Year, gotten a Gold Glove, and St Louis wanted to pay 2.85 and St Louis one so 2025 bounces back all star year. And through all those years, 22 to 25 his average was stable. It ranged between 278, to 287, his ops super stable. Also ranged from 759, to 787, after the all star year, they agreed to $5.8 million so a nice chunk of increase because of the all star and managed to avoid arbitration. They've been taught they were. There was some talk about him maybe joining the USA WBC team. I don't think that's happened, but his first WBC brush with almost being on a team was for Germany, and it turns out that he was born in Germany. I tried so hard to do a dive and see if he actually has any German heritage in the family, I didn't find any. But because he was born in Germany, he would have qualified for the WBC team. They were looking at it in 21 when it was actually canceled. So he didn't make it at all, and he hasn't been on yet. But Germany also hasn't made it to the WBC. I mean, they've been in qualifiers and haven't gotten too much further, so we'll see. You know, maybe there's a future there. He grew up as an Army brat, so he moved around a lot. You know, born when his dad was stationed in Germany. But went to a lot of other places, and he, you know, talking about a utility player, he looks at that as sort of being training ground, like experience for being utility said, I think that's why I've been able to be a utility player, that sense of comfortability while being uncomfortable. He also credits his good eyesight and calling pitches from his dad being a fighter pilot, and he is a student of Ted Williams, and credits his hitting prowess to his his time studying Ted Williams, famous book the science of hitting. He ended up in Alabama for high school and went on to the University of South Alabama. And what I loved, and I found this like way late in my after I decided on this guy had done a bunch of taking notes. I found his player page from college where it says quote list the Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics and new in the Patriots as his favorite pro sports teams. This kid, who was born in Germany, moves all over the place, goes to high school and college in Alabama, and he's a like, a mass hole at heart. I love this guy. Also, his attitude about play. He said he plays hard because that's what you can control. He said, I just try to play like my hair is on fire. And that's something that I think that makes the game more fun too, because, like, Who wouldn't want to see somebody running around with their hair on fire. There was an article just this past week, what Dare we Yeah, it was this past week, February 16, from MLB, that had him listed, as they did, like a spotlight on the best addition to every team in every division, and he's the guy who is the best addition to an Al West team in the off season. And they said that he's a guy who makes whatever team he's on better and does whatever is needed to win games. And so the last quotation from him that I want to close with is quote, with your preparation, you try to have a play, a, b and c, in case something happens. I definitely think I got that from my dad and my mom, who raised three kids while keeping the household together while dad was deployed. I've said it before, and I still believe that my parents are superheroes who can do anything, and, you know, love, credit to the parents and mom, you know, for holding this shit together while they're moving all over the fucking place. So I like Brendan Donovan,

Patti 27:21
that sounds good. I'm a fan. I'm a big fan. So the two guys that I picked lived in towns I spent time living in in my formative years. Not necessarily why I picked them, but it's not no while I pick so. So for Seattle, I picked Dominic Kenzo right field, 28 years old, depending on where you look. He's either from Cleveland or Sagamore hills. I think it's the only Rock Hill thing. Yeah, it's okay. So this is not it's very, very close, very, very close to where this, this kid grew up here. This, this me kid grew up. He, of course, also grew up as a Cleveland fan and list as his favorite Cleveland player, Kenny Lofton, who I love and potty mouth, got to see me meet Kenny Lofton at the All Star game. And I was like, oh, but your favorite? Well, so one of the stories, you know, he's another one of those kids who, you know, was hauling a baseball bat around since he was three years old, and you know all of that. And he used to do the batting practice in the backyard, apparently, at his grandfather's house, who he calls Pop Pop, he told the story. He said, Well, pop Pop's yard, that's cute. So, so pop pop had a tomato garden way in the back of the yard with a fence around it. So the fence was, you know, hired to, you know, keep the deer out, as we know, you gotta do that. So he used to, like, hit balls like, you know, for the kid, those were this home runs, right? He hit it over the fence, they'd land in the tomato garden. And I guess he cleaned up the baseballs, but didn't clean up the tomatoes that were victims of this. So his grandfather, I mean, he doesn't know if his grandfather knows this, yet, apparently pop, pop was always very puzzled why there were all these, like, bruised tomatoes all over the ground of his garden, and always blamed it on the deer. So there you go. On the sad side. When he was in fourth grade, his mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and very advanced breast cancer, and they only gave her, like a 50% chance of surviving this. Two years later, she was cancer free, but those two years were very intensive caregiving for the family and the community and all of that, which, you know, I'm familiar with having, you know, kids in the house when that kind of thing is going on, that's a big deal. And it does make you grow up a little bit different, right? You have, you have a different feel for what's what the world is like. And he did say what he took away from that was, never take anything for granted. You never know what can happen back at home and what people are going through. So again, that's also, you know, don't take your stuff for granted. But also, don't think you know what's going on in somebody else's life, because you can't always see what that thing is. So we went to Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga, falls also very near where I grew up. He lettered for two years in. Basketball and three in baseball. He was all Ohio as a senior in baseball, he also pitched 16 and a third innings with a zero era like that was his side gig was was a as a pitcher, right? That was the side gig in high school. Yeah. So when an Ohio State Scout came to see a different pitcher on their team, they actually offered him a scholarship as a batter, because he was already there watching him. So he had he got his Ohio State scholarship, so he went to the Ohio State where he was at a unanimous all big 10 freshman as a junior, he set Buckeyes baseball records previously held by Nick Swisher, one of the greatest names in baseball, with a 59 game on base streak. He also led the big 10 and hits and slugging percentage, that's a lot. So in the 2019 draft, he went to the Diamondbacks in the eighth round. You know that was 2019 you know 2020 all of a sudden, no minor leagues so near and dear to my heart. He went back to the Ohio State to finish his sports management degree when that's when the minor league season got canceled. Back up, playing again, moving his way through the minors in 2022 AAA Reno, he was named the organizational all star. Debuted in July of 2023 where he was hitless, but he scored the tying run in the 10th inning. So pretty exciting, pretty exciting for him. His first career home run was a couple weeks later on the 20th versus Atlanta, off of Spencer Strider, which is not shabby. Not at all. Not shabby. Okay. So played 15 games with Arizona, and then he went to Seattle from Arizona at the trade deadline, along with infielders Josh Rojas and Ryan bliss, in exchange for pitcher Paul civil when he got to Seattle, he was playing left field and and and pinch hitting. So there was much made of this Italian American guy, because his celebration was referred to as the finger pinch, which I'm gonna do for you. It's this thing, right? Oh, I got which, that thing, which, which, some people might say, Oh, it's the chef's kiss thing, or it's the Mamma Mia thing, or it's the whatever, whatever. Like Italian story you're gonna use, you know, because you don't know what this means. And also, there's a lot of people who think it's meant to be vulgar, which it is not. It's a hooray. So he used that a lot to celebrate good plays. He made the opening day arrester and 2024 he had a three run homer at his first at bat on on April 1. Then he missed a month because he crashed into an outfield wall, ouch. Came back from that and had other injuries. So all of a sudden, that great hitting that great hitting that he was doing the beginning of the season started to go downhill. So by August, he was back in triple A. By the end of 2024 so he started 2025 last season in triple A. But he got called up in April when Victor Robles was injured, so he went in to replace him. The first game he played, this is all the way in this later in the year, the first game he played as a designated hitter. It was the same night that Cal Raleigh broke Mickey Mantle switch hitter record, right? But while he was doing that, our guy over here, Dominic, went five for five and recorded his first career three Homer game. So everyone's over there looking at Cal Raleigh breaking Mickey Mantle's record, which is pretty impressive. But over here, this guy just hit three home runs and went five for five. This was September 16 at Kansas City. It was the first three home run game hit by a member of that team since who Victor Robles did it. His first walk off hit was 11 inning win versus the White Sox on August 7. And to kind of cap off 2025 he had his career best in hits, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, batting average, on base, percentage, slugging percentage, and ops, every single stat that matters. He had career best in 2025 so fingers crossed that he's going to be on that kind of a chair this year for Seattle.

Pottymouth 33:59
Not bad. Yeah, every day I keep thinking of calzone when I see his name, but it's cancer. It's canceled. It's canceled. All right, somebody's got it that breaking tea is going to be all over that. I would think any moment, we'll see what happens. All right, so we're on to the Dodgers National League. And this was a challenge, because this happens to some of our better teams in that they poach guys like a lot of folks have gone to the Dodgers who we picked elsewhere. So pretty much the whole starting lineup is all former baseball boyfriends. We had to dig a little bit deep, and I'm going with Alex Freeland, who's a backup shortstop. I'm feeling good that he's going to be there, 24 years old, and he has some pretty sexy defense. And of course, he's backing up, you know, my my previous forever baseball boyfriend, Mookie Betts, who I hope is going to stay healthy. But you know he was my Mookie Betts was my baseball boyfriend Peck pick way back in our very first season of doing this podcast. So that means. Means he's getting up there. And you know, nothing is for granted. Alex Freeland has some pretty sexy defense with a limp, and he comes by that limp very honestly because he was born with a club foot. So when he was a baby, playing baseball was the furthest thing away from his parents minds. They just wanted this kid to be healthy and be able to walk and function, and had multiple surgeries in his first year of life. So to go from that to becoming a major league player is gonna It's incredibly inspirational. The article that I was reading from the athletic that talked about that he had tiny casts that he kept kicking off because he was a baby, so parents had to keep going back to the doctor because he's kicking off these little, teeny, little casts. And he ended up learning to walk when he had a cast all the way up to his hip. So he learned to walk with a cast. Of course he's going to have a limp. His right foot and his right calf are still smaller from the than the left, and overall, his attitude is that he's not going to hide this. This this is part of who he is, but he's also not focusing on it. He said, I'm not going to make it an excuse or a reason for people to treat me any differently. However, he did have to explain it repeatedly when he was being drafted. So when he was little, he was the youngest with two older brothers and chased after them, as any little brother would do, and wanted to play baseball, just like his big brother. So, you know, pretty close to being fresh out of those casts at age three, he started T ball and he excelled. And this is unbelievable, like, I know, three year olds, they are little people excelled immediately. His parents had to sign a waiver so that he could play with seven and eight year olds. At age four, he started practicing switch hitting when he was seven, and played as a switch hitter when he was nine years old. Born in Kentucky, grew up in Cape Coral,

Patti 36:55
funny switch hits at nine years old. It's amazing. It's crazy. It's crazy.

Pottymouth 36:59
Now his dad so he grew up in Cape, Coral, Florida. His dad worked in security for the school system, for the Lee County School District, but also was worked part time at perfect game. So dad had baseball background, and I think that's a lot of you know what passed on to the kids, but still, it was like the stuff that I read about, Dad's comments were the follow your child kind of thing, like not forcing it on him, but giving him the opportunities that he wants. And Alex, because dad working part time at perfect game, was in very involved through the years, and Dad said that over the years he probably threw 1000s of batting practices to Alex, but said, quote, he's always been that kid that would say, I had a good day. I can have a better day. He was the class of 2020 out of high school, so not a good year for the draft. Took the college route and went to University of Central Florida for two years and then got drafted out of UCF in 2022 by the Dodgers. So, you know, like I said before, with his medical history, a lot of teams just balked at that and wouldn't even look at him. So at least the Dodgers gave him a chance, but they kind of put him through the ringer of it. There was a big evaluation of all his medical records, and he actually had to do mobility tests for for the scout and the coaches, and he passed, and he got through. So proving that this foot isn't a liability. In both 2023 when he was in high A, and 2024 where he moved from high a to double A to triple A, each of those two seasons, he stole 31 bases. So is that crazy? So the thing is, what he's saying, and then the the year after that, when he was just in triple A, he stole 18, which is still not shabby for somebody who has this medical history. And he's saying that it's actually not his speed, but it's his honing that instinct on timing and figuring out when to run. And the scout said his timing is just uncanny, so he's making it work for him like, you know, use the skills that you have. He did debut at the major league level last July, 30 on third base after his on Kim was injured and he hit and walked in his first game. So 500 average in his first game, kept that 500 average for his second game, when he went two for four and then so this is July 30. He was up for all of August, and it kind of started like, you know, petering down bit by bit to the point where he was actually right at the Mendoza line of 200 by the end of August. Played two games of September. That didn't help much, but he did hit two home runs in that time, went down to tip triple A for September, and did well so 296, average, 908, for the month of September, while playing second, third and shortstop, he was one of only two infielders in Mo. These seven prospects who could make the bigs in 26 for the Dodgers. So I'm hoping that means that he has a really solid shot for being that bench utility player the other infielder had way less experience and way less versatility. So I'm thinking that my guy has a good shot and my ending quotation for this guy is quote, I'm just another kid playing the game of baseball. If I suck, tell me I suck. Don't blame it on my foot.

Patti 40:31
Oh, good man, yeah. So I could bet this guy, yeah, no, he sounds great. So I said that. You know, both of my guys grew up near where I lived during formative years. So I just double checked and Dominic kinzone grew up 20 miles from my hometown, outside of Cleveland, and then I was in Philadelphia for some you know, pre teen formative years for my junior high life and my Dodgers guy, Michael Ciani, center fielder. 26 grew up in Glenside, Pennsylvania, guess what? 20 miles from where I lived, outside of Philadelphia. So cosmic, right? Yeah, his dad owns a family barber shop there that's been the family for three generations. So again, there's a barber connection. I was gonna say you were talking about barbering last week with you were talking about barbering, and now it's a thing. Now it's totally a thing. He went to high school in Philadelphia, went to William Penn Charter School. He had a 361, batting average, 19 stolen bases, senior, but more importantly, all his two brothers and he were all on the team at the same time for one of those high school years. So brother Jake was a freshman. Brother Sam was a junior while Mike was a senior. At one point, they were the entire outfield.

Pottymouth 41:45
That's so cool.

Patti 41:47
And sometimes, sometimes Mike all pitched when and they were but anyway, so Jake, so the youngest of the brothers said it helps, because I have someone to give me real advice. If I screw up, they'll let me know. Yeah, that's for sure. Sammy, the middle brother once hit a grand slam with his other two brothers on base. So how much fun is it to have like the three guys? So fun? The high school coach said he asked Mike's mother if, if there aren't any more brothers, are there at least any cousins to help out the team? So Mike had committed to UVA, but the Reds came calling in the 2018 draft. They drafted him in the fourth round with a $2 million bonus. And he said, Yeah, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna go to the Rex side note. His brother Sammy, the following year, in 2019 was drafted by Pittsburgh and also got about a $2 million bonus. So he also didn't go to college, but got what took the draft out of high school, which made them both, you know, they were together, trained together during the 2020, canceled minor league season. So the good news, bad news, thing about, okay, so now we're not actually playing, but we're both drafted. Was the pot, because they both have those great, big signing bonuses. So the positive was, we were able to get my mom a really good Mother's Day gift. That's the way to do it, yeah. So Mike's call up was in September of 2022 he was called up because my former boyfriend, Nixon, so I went out with an injury. So when he got the call up, he didn't answer the phone because it was an unknown number. And it was an unknown number because he'd only been with the AAA team for seven games. Okay, so it's a little lesson, put your manager's phone number, save it to your phone. So we kind of ignored it, and then he showed up at practice later, and his manager's like, you really need to answer when I call because you're going to big leagues. He said, I think my eyes got wide. I blacked out there for a second. His parents and both his brothers were at his at his debut, which was very cool. You know, these three brothers are tight man, like I was, like going through his social media, and it's all about him and his brothers. It's really lovely. So he started 2023, in triple A, and got DFA By August, right? But St Louis claimed him two days later, right, September 2, and he did amazing for St Louis, especially the following year, the 2024 season, he played 124 games. His manager said he's a tough Philly kid. Doesn't care what you think, he's going to grind and work hard. And that resonated. I love that style of thinking. He was, in fact, statistically, one of the best defensive outfielders in the league made a bunch of circus catches, super sexy defense, but because of injuries, he was two innings short of the required number of innings you're required to have played 698 defensive innings to be nominated for a Gold Glove. He was better than everybody, but he was short by two innings, so he couldn't get nominated for a Gold Glove. Wow. In 2025 he played 19 games for St Louis, and here it gets very, very complicated. So bear with me. On November 6, it's just past November he was. DFA. He got claimed off waivered waivers by Atlanta, who then DFA ed him on December 10, when they picked up Mike astronomic, they'd had to make roster room. That was December 10, so December 12, the Dodgers picked him up from waivers. They then DFA him on January 21 when they picked up Kyle Tucker. And then January 23 he was claimed by the Yankees, who then DFA him on January 28 Oh, man. And then February 3, finally claimed again by the Dodgers. Can you imagine, if you're trying to make plans for, okay, do I have to move? Yeah, and you're getting, like, swapped or any kind of plans in my packing? Am I getting on a plane? Am I not getting on a plane? On A Plane? What am I doing this weekend? Days days apart, days apart, over and over and over again. That's so. That's so from St Louis to Atlanta to the Dodgers to the Yankees and back to the Douglas five teams, from November 6 to February, 3. That's crazy. So his bat is not stellar right now, but his defense and base running is pretty amazing. 16 outs, about above average, seven defensive runs saved. He went 20 for 26 and stolen base attempts, which is 81% so defensively, he's a star. Got to get that bat in shape. But I like this kid. I like his family, next week is our second to last week talking about teams, boyfriends from teams. It's the Yankees and Philadelphia.

Pottymouth 46:28
All right, we're getting to that finish line. Sweet. If you guys have been listening for a while, you'll know that we interviewed three players from the Women's Professional baseball league that is going to be starting this summer, and we're super excited about if you have not listened to those interviews, please go back and listen, because these women are just hot shit, and there are going to be players from all four teams. So that's Boston, New York, LA and San Francisco. And they're not playing in their actual cities this season. They're all playing in in Springfield, Illinois, where we hope to see them. And if you want to meet us there, please get in touch, because we're going to be there in August. So there are players from all of those teams that are starting to do stuff now. And we asked all the players that we talked to like, what's happening with this barnstorming idea? What's happening with showing this league around the county, the country, before you settle down in Springfield for this season. And there was a lot of we're not sure what's going on, so we've gotten the very first taste of what's happening. And I am more than excited that it's the Red Sox who are hosting them. So Jet Blue Park in in Fort Myers. That's, yeah, that's the place in Florida where the Red Sox do their spring training March 18 and 19th. They're going to be women's player, women players from all four of the teams going down for some intensive training with, quote, former MLB players. And I couldn't see anything about who those former players are. But just to get women in a major league spring training Park is a good, good start. And before the Red Sox twins game on March 19, there's going to be a wbpl fan fest from 430, to 545, so get there on time. If you're in Florida, check it out. There's going to be autographs, chances to meet these women players in person. Super cool, and they've announced that the barnstorming quote countdown tour is in the works. So after this, hopefully we'll get some more locations, dates to be determined, but if they're coming to your town, please catch them, because this is a historic year that we're super excited about. I'm glad they're gonna do that,

Patti 48:39
because it looked like for a while they weren't gonna do the barnstorming tour. They were just barnstorming tour. They were just gonna do the one month season in August. They might be doing both.

Pottymouth 48:46
Yeah, yeah. And if you have I don't think I actually said her name. If you did listen to our interviews, one of the three women we talked to, Brittany Apgar, is going to be at that game on March 19. So if you there, go tell her that. We say hi and we can't wait to hear more about how things are going.

Patti 49:03
Yep, yep. All right, police blotters, so you may remember the name Jen Powell. She was the first female umpire to get called up to call games in the bigs last season. Well, she's working her third straight spring training gig, but there were two open gigs at the majors, because two umpires have retired, so that opened up two spots for the major league team. She did not get one of those. So I'm itchy about this because, yeah, no, that sucks. Well, here's the thing, so both of the men who they hired had worked over 300 games in the majors, she's worked five they also were working as a call up umpire, which means you're working, you know, in triple A, and they call you when, you know, sick day, or whatever they, you know, they you fill in, which is how Jen's five games came. They called her. She was like on the call up list, right? But Jen Powell has been working in the minor leagues. Since 2016 and she's been in AAA since 2023 the two guys who were hired started in the majors. What got caught had been doing call up since 2023 Oh, so the thing is, she could have gotten more call ups, right, right. So I think this is one of those situations where you need to look at equity practices in hiring. It's like, okay, yeah, these guys had boatloads of more games, but why? Why did they have Boatload more games? Because they were getting the calls and she wasn't. Was it a skill thing? I don't think so, because she gets great reviews. No, was it bad thing about her skills as an umpire, she just wasn't getting the calls. So maybe that should be examined a little bit so that women have more of a path to get to the major leagues, right? That is, that's my I've worked in HR. You know, public service announcement for the day. The other service announcement for today is, oh, my God. So we're back to the Cleveland pitchers, Emmanuel Class A and Luis Ortiz, and as I said last week, a third person has been indicted in this whole sports betting scheme, Robinson Vasquez, hermosin, all that he was like the partner, the non player partner, who was sort of like setting up these bets and trying to figure out who was like the go between. So all three of them pled not guilty to all of these charges last week. And as you remember, like Luis Ortiz, attorney was trying to get his trial severed, cut off from Emmanuel classics class, a has like years and years of sketchy pitches like, all this evidence points to a lot where Ortiz has like three and they're painting his lawyers saying he is a victim, like he's gotten pulled along. He was not, you know, the mastermind behind this, right? So I they don't want to punish him because of the bigger picture, right? The the judge, however, said finger pointing is not a basis for severance. So no, you got to stay together. So the three of them are being tried together. So interestingly, interestingly, Ortiz's lawyer wants way more time to figure out a strategy class. A's team wants way less time, because there's all of this evidence, and the longer that you know the prosecution has to go over this evidence, the more they might find, right? So, yeah, the judge right now is looking at maybe delaying it all the way to October. Now, the blowback on this for the Cleveland baseball team is, if this gets extended, and that means they're on administrative leave for all, like for most, for all of the season, is the team on the hook to pay their salaries. Because when these two players went out on admin leave during the course of last season, the team did have to keep paying them. But now it's like they're not the ones you know, extending the you know, pushing the trial and all. So that has real salary implications for the team, less so for Ts, he's getting league minimum. But Class A is a multi million dollar contract, so that eats up a lot of money that could be getting paid to a player who is taking the field. Yeah, that is my story. I'm sticking with it.

Pottymouth 53:19
It's so sad. It's just so sad. I thought Class A, you know, such a talented young pitcher and fucking a, just, why throw that away? Just why throw it away? I don't know. I guess we'll find out when all the dirt comes out in trial. But I just like, was looking at that sentence and finger pointing with severance. I'm like, it's just too close to a severed finger. And I'm like, that's a whole nother kind of trial. So meanwhile, my phone keeps buzzing because school is now actually canceled for tomorrow, so I might have a backup beer in the near future. Woo hoo. Wow. Plenty of time to edit this tomorrow. How exciting, but I'm going to be, you know, in school until the fourth of July at this point. Yeah, the good news and the bad news, right? Yeah, one day at a time, one day at a time, all right, but World Baseball Classic is coming. So winter ball is over. World Baseball Classic is coming. The games are kicking off March 5 in Tokyo. There's a couple games, and then all of the groups, all of the four groups, start playing March 6. But I'm talking about it now because preparation is underway before playing in the actual tournament. All of these teams that are, you know, forming from players from a variety of places, needing to come together. Need a little bit of practice under their belts. Taiwan has started, and I just want everybody to practice saying that word Taiwan, because you're not going to see it. When you're looking at the rosters, it says Chinese, Taipei. And nobody from Taiwan wants to see that or wants to deal with it. So let's just all collectively keep saying out loud, very loud, Taiwan, because that's the name of the fucking country. And. They have been practicing against one of the CPBL teams, and there it is, right again, in the C and the C, it should be tpbl, but politics and sports are together, so don't tell us to shut up and dribble or shut up and throw the ball and catch it, because it's already there. Team Taiwan won both of the games against the TSG hawks, which is one of the CPBL teams that's been added in the past couple years, when I've been not paying as close attention. So Taiwan looks like they're in good shape. They're going to keep playing some more games when they move over. They're going to be playing in the in the Tokyo group in Japan. So they will, just like the other teams that are playing in Tokyo, get some practice with actual Japanese teams. So a little bit more intense competition there right now. So we're recording on Sunday night. You guys will probably hear us on Tuesday ish and on Thursday and Friday, there's going to be some competition with Cuba and Nicaragua. So Cuba is in kind of a special situation in that, you know, all the other teams in this hemisphere are going to be practicing against various MLB teams. And you're going to see this on March 3 and fourth. There's going to be everyone from Team Israel to Puerto Rico playing what's left of the MLB teams, which, you know, it's spring training, so there's a lot of them, but not Cuba. And I don't know what's it's very, very stressful. What's happening with Cuba? They barely made it to Nicaragua, so they are there. So these games on Thursday and Friday will happen. But politics enters again as of February 8. So not that long ago, all of a sudden, Cubans needed a visa to go to Nicaragua. So before politics exploded in Venezuela recently, Venezuela and Cuba and Nicaragua were all sort of this Neo, what used to be called communist, but they weren't really communists. They were more just dictators and but they were all in an alliance, and they all supported each other, and there was no issue of Cubans going to Nicaragua, because they had a very similar sort of government. However, after this show of force in Venezuela, in which the United States went in and plucked out, yes, the dictator, but also we are a foreign country. Yeah, kidnapping the leader of a foreign country and bringing him to the United States, apparently, that kind of, like, rattled and got a few folks nervous, including probably Daniel Ortega, who is, you know, probably one of the biggest disappointments of, like, my political awareness life, because he was like the hope of Nicaragua back in the 80s, and now he's become this just horrible, horrible corrupt leader. And he probably thought, oh shit, this could happen to me too. And so caved to the United States pressure and put this pressure on Cubans, because now that's the next target for the US is to make Cuba fold. So basically, the US forced Nicaragua to make it harder for Cubans to get to Nicaragua right before baseball players were going to play this international tournament. So yes, politics is affecting sports. Visa applicants from Cuba to Nicaragua had to show sponsorship and economic solvency, and luckily, the baseball team was able to do that, so they got through. However, there was another hurdle that they had to jump, which was just fucking getting there, because the Venezuelan airline direct flight from Havana to Managua was eliminated on February 10, and just the timing of this super sucks for World Baseball Classic preparation. So they had to have small groups of players get out of Cuba to go to Panama on like whatever airline, and then go from Panama into Nicaragua, right there. And note, there's currently an immense humanitarian crisis going on in Cuba right now because of the US blockade, that they're not allowed to say the word blockade, because that's, in fact, illegal. The United States does not have the right to blockade Cuba, but that's what they're fucking doing. The United Nations has said that this act is illegal. They're intercepting any boats with oil going to Cuba. At the same time, they're sending humanitarian supplies, which you wouldn't need to do, if they would actually allow Cuba to operate. But life in Cuba is incredibly difficult right now. People don't have basic needs, and we have, at the same time, a national baseball team that's about to enter a huge international tournament, and Cuban baseball has been incredibly strong. I mean, we saw team Cuba in person in 2023 in Miami in the fucking semi finals. Now, yes, they got plastered by the United States and said semifinals. And that might have had a little bit to do with the, let's say, ambiance in Miami, of a lot of the Cuban expats. Jumping on the field in protest and all sorts of other things going on. However, you know, they had the talent and the drive to get to that point. So, you know, because of the situation in Venezuela, the Venezuelans were supplying Cuban with oil. No oil going to Cuba. Now, it's all going to Donald Trump's pockets, and the Cuban team still does not have visas to get to the United States, and they're supposed to play in Puerto Rico, which is part of the United States, on March 6, is their first scheduled game against panic two weeks so what the fuck? What the fuck this is a international sports tournament that Cuba has every right, like, if these people can actually survive enough to train and get out of there, they should be competing. But we will see what the fuck happens with Cuba and the WBC. I'm just, you know, disgusted by the whole thing. The happy news in Nicaragua, of course, is dusty Baker, yay. Dusty Baker, managing team Nicaragua. I also feel like I've been remiss all fucking month to mention that we are in Black History Month, and this is something that we need to talk about a lot more in baseball, because the history is very important, and dusty Baker is an important part of that. And he's done just about everything, and now he's doing this. So not only is dusty there, but Ken Griffey, Jr was recently named the global ambassador for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, which is so fucking cool. And he went to Nicaragua to hang out with Dusty and team Nicaragua and team Cuba to talk to them and pump them up and probably take some pictures, because he's become a photographer in his retirement, he met with Manny Machado and junior Caminero in Miami before heading out to Nicaragua, because they're both big names on the Dominican team Ken Griffey Jr. So not only being amazing in his MLB life, but he played on Team USA in the very original 2006 World Baseball Classic with a 524 average and three home runs during his run. There, he was the hitting coach for the 2023 USA World Baseball Classic team. So there are all those teams, South Korea, the Czech Republic. Am I saying that? Right? I'm so bad after a beer, especially Japan and Australia, they're doing their warm up games over there. The other teams are doing their warm up games over here, except for Cuba, which is warming up in Nicaragua. The other thing to note for the World Baseball Classic is that the finals are on March 17, so players on the teams that go all the way to the finals are missing a big chunk of spring training, and we'll see how that like fleshes out for everybody, indeed.

Patti 1:02:50
All right, no politics here. We're talking swag. We're talking giveaways. I'm just going to highlight a couple of the giveaways that are happening. Please let us know if there's fun stuff by you that we haven't picked up yet. But this one I know is going to be near and dear to potty

Pottymouth 1:03:06
mouths. This is my very favorite. I'm so excited

Patti 1:03:09
that the Mets on May 29 the first 15,000 people at the ballpark are going to receive Bobby Valentine mustache disguises, if you need the background on this. In 1999 Bobby Valentine was suspended in the 12th inning versus Toronto. He snuck back into the dugout in disguise. Yes, he put on a fake mustache to be in disguise. He stayed in the dugout until they won in the 14th He was, however, found out in which at which asking suspended for two games and find $5,000 but this, he brings back the story over, like, he'll show up with fake mustaches on for interviews and all of this. It's kind of like it's a funny, funny story at this point. So it's like the Groucho Marx, I think you know the glasses in the mustache, but it's a Bobby Valentine version. Yeah?

Pottymouth 1:03:56
And the better the funny part, though, I just found out that his original fake mustache was actually eye black that

Patti 1:04:04
even like, okay, so Texas also has a Bobby Valentine related thing. Oh, my God, on the same day. Okay, they have got all fans at the Texas Game On May 29 same day, will receive a replica number 34 Nolan Ryan, bloody jersey. Why? Because? Because Nolan Ryan was hit in the mouth by a bounce from a ground ball hit by Bo Jackson. Oh, hey, Bo second, right, which he He then threw out Bo Jackson at first base, and then his manager, Bobby Valentine, with or without mustache, and the trainer came out, like, how hurt are you? Whatever? And he's like, I can I can play. I can play. Go away, go away. So he changed his jersey, and the clubhouse staff tried to sort of cleaning that jersey immediately, because pitchers go through a whole bunch of Jersey. During the course of the game that we might need this one. So we need to clean this one now later on, like if this happened now, that jersey would have been preserved, right? It would end, it would end up in, like, the Hall of Fame or some place, right? This because he, if he had kept it on for one thing. But anyway, he kept playing. He stayed in for seven innings. He threw 113 pitches, and then left the game and got six stitches. Holy shit. So it was serious. Okay. So the other thing about the, you know, the blood spatter not existing anymore, is they went with photos to do this replica jersey, and there's this very long piece about how hard it was to get the color right. And also the we want to make sure the fans who come Don't try to add actual but they don't get into like, you know, fisticuffs or whatever at the thing. But anyway, they assume this is going to be a very, very popular giveaway. They're giving it to every single fan, a jersey to every single fan who walks the door on May 29 we just creepy.

Pottymouth 1:06:02
I like, I just picturing all these fans with, like, bloody jerseys at the same time. Like, you know, I remember that the Garcia tie dyed image of all these tie dye jerseys was very cool, but like to see a sea of bloody jerseys. Yeah, yeah. So, okay,

Patti 1:06:16
let's not go there. But I still think I should try to go to Baltimore on May 8. We talked before how there was the two pack Shakur bobblehead giveaway on May 8, they have increased their order for bobbleheads from 15,000 to 20,000 because apparently the team was receiving communications like internationally, like, we need this bobblehead. We need this bobblehead. So they upped their order quite a bit this night, this giveaway night, is actually in partnership with the Tupac Amari Shakur Foundation. And shakur's Sister, I'm going to say it wrong, sakiwa. Maybe her nickname is set Shakur. She's the president of the foundation. She's going to throw out the game's first pitch, which is very cool. And apparently there will be, you know, thematically appropriate music throughout the game. So that should be a pretty cool night in Baltimore. My addendum to the story about Baltimore giveaways is with Jordan westburg Being out a little bit. Kobe Mayo is being looked at as someone who's going to fill in for him. And come on, his name is mayo. Why is there not a condiment shirt that says mayo on it to go away with all of the ketchup, mustard relish shirts that they have and were given away in the past, this is a missed opportunity. We need a mayo condiment

Pottymouth 1:07:34
shirt. Do people put mayo on hot dogs?

Patti 1:07:37
That doesn't matter. It's a condiment race. Sure could

Pottymouth 1:07:40
be, it could be a for your french fries, people, but it doesn't

Patti 1:07:43
even part of the race. I just think it should be a condiment shirt, because they have the other condiment shirts. I mean, come on, you can't they're handing this to you. I was gonna say on a silver platter, but maybe in a silver bowl with a knife. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. Oh my god, I'm pro mayo. What do you have going on, besides your snow day now?

Pottymouth 1:07:59
Well, apparently I'm not going to work tomorrow, so that's a good thing. I don't know. I think I'm just going to watch more spring training games. I don't have anything like duly noted, but more baseball. More baseball.

Patti 1:08:13
Okay, alright. Well, I am going to be in upstate New York next weekend, because that side of the family celebrates frivolous February, which is sort of like a Secret Santa event for the family members that takes place in February. So there's going to be some gift giving, there will be some frivolity, there'll probably be some delicious food and drink and a long car ride there and back. So we will be probably recording just a little bit later than we normally do in order to get that done. All good, alright, so my friends, as potty Mel said, please let us know if you're interested in participating in the in the fantasy league. We've got two more weeks of boyfriends and then a week of pitchers, and then we'll be open for your rosters. We draft offline. You send rosters, and we have rules. So find us on social media. Tell us about that also. If you have ideas for us who you want to see us pick for Yankees or Phillies boyfriends next week, potty mouth. Where can people find us?

Pottymouth 1:09:08
You can find us in the blue sky at ncib podcast. And I'm, you know, checking Twitter a little bit here and there, same nci ncib podcast there. Facebook and Instagram are no crying in B ball. Or you can join the fun on Patreon. That's P, A, T, R, E, o n.com/no, crying in B ball, and for a buck a month, super reasonable, you can make sure that we keep doing what we are doing. So we appreciate all of you, Patreon folks, you're making this possible and definitely communicate with us if you're interested in any of the details about our big, epic road trip in August where we're going to be landing at the Negro Leagues museum. I think, is it August

Patti 1:09:53
22 is that? That's our hope? That is our hope. Yeah. It's a Saturday in August. Yeah.

Pottymouth 1:09:57
So please let us know if you want to do that, because. Is we're gonna try to get a group together to do both a museum tour and hopefully a Royals game afterwards. Yay.

Patti 1:10:08
That's gonna be super fun. That is gonna be super fun. Yeah, we're gonna try to batten down the hatches, because clearly there is some snow somewhere nearby here. We hope you all are doing okay. Now the whole snow Crete situation is gone. All right, friends, please get your boosters. Fight the man, it's the right thing to do. Send your game balls to Meredith and until next week, say goodnight.

Pottymouth 1:10:27
Potty mouth, good night. Potty mouth, you

a quality check. There's little pink dots, all right, what the fuck, whatever, we'll just record. That's what I want to hear.

Patti 1:10:55
That's exactly how I want to go into this. Sure. Why not?

Pottymouth 1:10:58
The voice of confidence, right? Yes, holy shit, let me just see quickly, what the fuck happened?