November 13, 2023 • 56 mins
Ever been on a roller coaster of emotions, gripped by anticipation, suspense, and jubilation, all within the span of a baseball game while watching updates on your phone? Well, our guest, Brad, has lived it all through the extraordinary journey of the Texas Rangers to their first-ever World Series win. We dissect the high-octane regular season, the nail-biting four-team race for the wildcard, and every unforgettable moment leading to the Rangers' well-earned victory.
Strap in as we move beyond the emotional roller coaster and delve into the strategic masterstroke that fueled the Rangers' playoff momentum. The iconic home runs of Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia dramatically altered the course of history for the team. As we dissect these game-changing moments, you'll be pulled into the suspense and thrill that Brad felt every step of the way. And if you thought baseball was just about bat and ball, think again. We explore how recent rule changes have transformed the game into a strategic battlefield, enhancing the spectacle for fans and players alike.
Let's shift gears and bring on the fun with Chuck Norris jokes and a game of Lone Star Wars, where we mash up names with a twist. Brad shares his all-time favorite Texas Rangers lineup, and we debate on what the MLB can do to attract more viewers. Think new streaming options and speed-up rules could change the game? We wrap up the episode, taking these thought-provoking discussions further and sharing our take on the future of baseball. Don't miss out on this episode, filled with hardcore baseball talk, passion, strategy, and a whole lot of fun!
Don't forget to subscribe on Apple or Spotify and leave those 5 Star reviews!
Follow us on Social
Facebook
X / Twitter
Instagram
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
All right, everybody, welcome back to Fandom from
afar.
They said it couldn't be done,but I found a Texas Rangers fan
in Jacksonville, florida, and healso happens to be one of my
favorite people to talk sportswith.
So welcome, brad.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you, fan of the World Series champion, texas
Rangers.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
How nice is that to say.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Oh, really nice yes.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
First one in franchise history.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Now you're leaving five clubs behind, rockies being
one of them that have never wona championship.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yes, Now how close have the Rockies come?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We made it to the World Series and then got swept
by the Red Sox.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
OK.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
But I'm convinced that we would have won that year
if not for timing, because weswept our way to the World
Series Right.
And then had to wait like 10days for the Red Sox to finish
up their series and then by thattime, you know, all of our
timing and momentum was gone.
So yeah that's, that's what Itell myself that we would have
won yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I think baseball there's something to do with
rhythm, and I think a lot ofpeople talked about the playoffs
.
Wildcard teams did a lot better, yeah, and the higher seed
divisions are the divisionwinners.
The higher seed struggled andit could be the time they got to
sit around.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
And it's crazy, because didn't Arizona?
And they win like they werebarely above the 500, right yeah
, and they made it.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
They made it.
They clinched the playoffs likegame 162 of 163.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
And then you know, the Rangers and the Astros both
clinched the game before that,and then the Astros ended up
winning the division, and thenthe Rangers went in as a
wildcard, but they had the samerecord.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's so fun Because I think I saw a stat like all
four or all top five teams thatall had the best records were
out pretty quickly.
So it's kind of fun that youjust never know what's going to
happen.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, I think a lot of people talked about the
playoff format being a problem,but I think the opposite is true
.
I think baseball took a gamblethat said there's more teams
that are capable of winning theWorld Series out there, and I
think, if anything like thisplayoffs showed that's the case.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Oh, yeah, oh yeah, I love it, and so let's kind of
stick with the championship.
Like normally, I like to startwith people's origin story, but
let's stick with the this happyending here.
So tell me about the team,maybe some of your favorite
players, and how you're feelingduring the regular season, and
then we'll kind of get into theplayoff run.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Sure, sure.
So coming into the season, Ididn't have the highest of
expectations.
You know, two years ago we lostover a hundred games and it,
you know, it was almost like achore being a fan.
You're like, especially beingin Jacksonville, being on the
East Coast, when you'refollowing a team that's three
hours behind playing in the WestDivision.
(03:03):
It's like I'm going to wake upand I know what's going to
happen and I know what I'm goingto see when I open up ESPN.
But still going to look.
It's like witch reliever blew itthis time and I open it up and
like, oh, there it is.
So we didn't have highexpectations.
In fact, I had a joke with mywith you know, people I talked
baseball with and so we won thefirst series.
(03:24):
We won the second series, weplayed, and so I just constantly
kept referring to him as thefirst place Texas Rangers Cause
I was like I don't know how longthis is going to last.
So we're just going to keepriding this vibe and next thing
you know we're we're into theall star break like first place
Texas Rangers.
Going into this season, we madea few huge signings in the
(03:45):
winter.
We brought in a Valde fromWashington, we brought in to
Grom from the Mets, and then webrought in a Seager and Simeon
and yeah, judging from theplayoff run.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Those are some pretty big additions, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
And you know to Grom started off hot.
We won all seven of his startsand then he went out, had to get
Tommy John but a Valde waspitching at like a, like a side
young level to start the yearand then he got hurt and then
going into the all star break.
You know, credit to the Rangers, like staff Chris Young
(04:23):
recognizing like there's anopportunity here and so he went
out and we got Scherzer and thenwe got Montgomery and I think
that's really bolstered andthat's just that's what
established us Like if we canget into the playoffs, we can
make a run.
We're a dangerous team, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Starting pitching wise, that's pretty legit staff
right there yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
So you know, we made those additions and we came out
of the all star break on fire, Ithink at one point we won like
nine of 12, one, five, sixseries in a row.
And then all of a sudden, likecould not win a game and to the
point where, like from game oneup until like we're three
(05:11):
quarters of the way through, wewe had a pretty sizable lead in
the West and then lost it andthen Houston was in first.
And so now I'm kind of likestarting to panic, because now
it got to the point where it waslike, like I know the playoffs,
like we should be in theplayoffs, like let's take care
(05:31):
of the West, not worry aboutlike being a wildcard, and now
all of a sudden, I think at thebeginning of August, like we're
not even in the playoff picture.
They were collapsing prettyquick, yeah, and then kind of
refound some momentum andstarted winning series again and
(05:52):
got back to where they sweptthe Mariners.
So the wildcard became a a fourteam race.
So it was the Mariners, theAstros, the Jays and us, the
Rangers, kind of vying for likethree spots.
One was going to win the Westand the other two wildcards were
(06:13):
going to go and then somebodywas going to get left out, and
so we swept the Mariners andthen got a one game lead on the
West and just kind of likereplaying all these events in my
head.
We swept the Mariners and thenthe Astros get the Diamondbacks,
(06:36):
the next series, and then Can'tremember who we played, but it
was kind of like we had theMariners and then we had, I
Think, the Angels and then theMariners again to close out.
So we swept Mariners, Kind oftook control of like our playoff
destiny, and then we ended upclinching the first game, like
(06:57):
we played against the Mariners.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So we're going right down to the end like it's not,
like you got to sit there and belike oh man, here come the
playoffs.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
We're for sure in like this is kind of we sweat it
out all the way until I thinkgame 160.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, and then we're able to clinch.
I think we and the Astrosclinched the playoffs the same
day and there was a little bitof drama because there was an
Astros beat writer who made apoint of saying how the Rangers
kind of had this mentality ofnot having been there before and
(07:31):
thought they celebrated toomuch upon getting a getting a
playoff birth.
And that was the reason why theAstros ended up winning the
division.
And it's funny because there'sa video clip and it's in the
Astros clubhouse after they winthe division and it the quote is
(07:51):
People always wondered whatwould happen if the Astros
Didn't win the West, but I guesswe'll never know and they go
crazy and start celebrating.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Corey Seger got to pay it off when we had our World
Series parade.
He's like I guess people willnever know what happened If the
Rangers didn't win the WorldSeries.
I.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Love it it kind of makes it even sweeter like just
that little Dig coming fromHouston who's just happens to be
a bunch of cheaters.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah Well, I mean that's how they established
themselves.
I mean they've been able tosustain that success.
I guess legitimate meansallegedly, but it was sweet to
kind of beat them because therethere is this mentality of Astro
fans like I don't know if it'swith all teams, but like you,
you get teams that just havethis run of success and all of a
(08:40):
sudden it's kind of like LikeHouston Astros fans, like we
invented baseball, like yeah, Ithink you see it with, like With
like Georgia football fans.
Now it's kind of like Like weare the pinnacle of football and
it's like I mean, you're good.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Please enjoy that while it lasts, but there's
gonna come a time.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
That's how Patriot fans were for so long to and,
like now, they wish they couldget a first down.
Oh, yeah, yeah now Did the teamhave kind of like a personality
, like how would you describethe team In general?
Like it almost sounds Like theytook on the underdog role and
kind of thrived off of that.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yeah, I think I think there definitely was a chip on
their shoulder mentality and Ithink they were a lot better
than what people gave themcredit for.
Because you know, when I talkedabout us having that slump,
like we were down for a goodchunk of that, like our starting
third baseman, who was a rookie, josh Young Seeger, was out For
a couple weeks and notcompletely right when he came
(09:42):
back, like a vaulty was on theshelf.
So a lot of key players wereout during that slump and as we
were coming out of the slumpthey were coming back into the
lineup but just kind of stillshaking off the rust.
So, going into the playoffs, IThink I had this mentality of
(10:02):
just a little bit of like quietconfidence of you know I I
definitely was not expecting thelevel of success we had but
like I Could see is beating therace, like I could see is making
some noise in the divisionseries.
And then it's like if you makethe ALCS, like let's see what
happens especially that pitching.
Yeah.
So I think they, I think theyknew it and I don't think a lot
(10:26):
of the baseball world knew it.
So I think there definitely waskind of a Like a chip on their
shoulder mentality.
And I think what people don'trealize is like we had good
pitching and I think if you takelineups and you go, this is
these are our guys one throughnine that are hitting Like I
think Texas probably had thebest one through nine lineup.
(10:48):
They probably didn't have thebest, like you know, first
inning battering like onethrough three.
But if you take one throughnine like there, there are no
easy outs and that makes a hugedifference.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Yeah, that's gonna wear out the other pitching
staff.
It turns, turns the lineup overlike it's.
It's a big deal to have thatdepth.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, and I think I think Texas was more built to be
a playoff team than like aregular season juggernaut.
Like you look at the Oriolesand they have really good
pitching and like so so hitting,but like when they get on base
they like to run and createhavoc, kind of similar to what
Arizona does, and like that'sgood for the regular season.
Like you can, you can beat upon on some four or five pitchers
(11:30):
, like when you get rightmatchups.
Yeah and you can get a lot ofwins, but like when it comes to
the playoffs, like, like in afive game series, you you're
facing one and two twice.
Like your, your, your ace andyour second pitcher Like your
second best pitcher, twice it'sa whole different game.
Yeah, and so I think Texas withthe offense they had, they had
(11:51):
a really good number one guy ina ball, they had a really good
number two guy in Montgomery.
Like they were just kind ofbuilt for the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Which is the way you would want it.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
When, when 85 games every yearand then start dominating the
playoffs?
I would take that.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
You guys pulled off one of the most ridiculous
things I've ever seen andcorrect me if I'm wrong I might
have misread this somewhere butyou won every single road game
in the playoffs.
How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I think it's just it's a credit to the offense,
and I think almost it, becauseyou know, when you're the road
team you hit first in the inningand so I think they just had
ability to just in the firstcouple innings, get some hits,
get some runs, and that's justkind of like tightens everything
up.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah for the home team kind of playing from ahead
the whole time.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, so you kind of like Put that pressure on, like
game seven against the ash was agame seven or game six, like we
knocked it, like their startergot two outs.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Oh yeah.
Yeah, and then we were able toget him out and like, when
you're able to do that, likeYou're creating havoc and when
you're playing ahead like that,you're so much more confident at
the plate, like you, becausethe pressure is not on you're
just swinging, yeah, like samething Game for the Diamond and
the World Series, like I knowI'm jumping around different
series and stuff theDiamondbacks would.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
We're using a bullpen game and we were able to jump
up and by the third inning wehad 10 runs.
And so you know we're throwinga stop gap guy and he's able to
now get us five innings becausewe have a giant leak.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I Think a lot of people say momentum doesn't
exist, but I think that's kindof what you're talking about is.
It makes such a huge differencejust in your Mentality and how
you're playing every part of thegame that I'm ahead five,
nothing.
Yeah, it doesn't matter if Idie for this Bond, don't make it
.
Oh yeah, I caught it because Iwas that much more confident
than I was gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
I love that.
I think that's great.
But, every road game.
Yeah what was it?
10 and 0?
He was 11 11 and oh, that'sjust that that'll never be
matched.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
That's impossible.
I know it was.
I mean with with the Astroseries, oh um, when we lost game
five.
And now to vey hit that homerun like I Thought we were done.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Yeah, like.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I thought, I thought that was it.
And Then you know we win gamesix and it's kind of like, well,
anything can happen.
Game seven, and then game sevenwe jumped out early.
No, it's just kind of like, allright, just ride this way, yeah
.
But you know, I think justbeing able to hit first with the
explosive lineup we had, Ithink really helped, because
(14:36):
when you had Seager doing whathe does and then you had Adelies
Garcia just playing out of hismind, and so that's just a
recipe of just like you put up acouple crooked numbers in the
first two winnings and now theother team.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Got a snowball from there.
Yeah, do you have any favoritelike doing these specific at
bats, or a picture getting outof a jam that like just came in
huge moments, like, are therespecific moments that you'll
think about dirt for thisplayoff run?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yeah, so I think Evolved these first game against
the Astros I think it was gameone and it's, I think it's like
the fourth inning and he getsyou know Texas is clinging to
like a two-run lead and he getsin a basis loaded no-ouch jam
(15:26):
and I'm expecting you know, likeall right, like let's just play
matchups the next three battersand let's get out of this and
then go from there and bogeyleaves the ball the end and Two
strikeouts in a ground balllater, like Houston scores no
runs.
Wow and just the the pitchsequence, especially to Out of a
(15:48):
to get the second strikeout,was just amazing how he kind of
set him up.
He goes fastball in, fastballout and then throws a splitter
that starts with the same exacttrajectory in the spot and it's
like the fastball out and Thenjust tumbles and drops.
And I'll too, they didn't havea chance.
That's not so fun.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, that's.
That's why it's so fun to watchplayoff baseball, because of
the the two pitches, setting upthe next pitch, like it's.
It's such such strategy game.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, so like that's definitely one, I Think, corey
Seeger's home run to tie it upin the ninth and game one, oh
yeah, diamond backs like Justfirst pitch, just abs.
When, when, corey Seeger, it'scrazy because you see, you see
people hit home runs and Likethey just, you know, barely
(16:37):
clear the fence, like there's a,there's an outfielder trying to
jump and catch the ball, andit's just like when Corey Seeger
connects with one, like nobodyin outfield is moving.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, they just put their head down and be like well
there is, there is no doubt.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
And so just the moment of that, because it just
went from like all right, we'rein a hole, like we just lost
home field advantage, and thenall of a sudden it's like okay,
we're still alive.
And then Garcia up in the 11th,it's a walk-off, and almost
kind of like Like that walk-offhome run, like I think kind of
(17:11):
like excised some like demons.
Yeah because Garcia sets arecord on that home run and that
was the most RBI is and aplayoff run and the previously
record holder was David Friesfor the Cardinals.
Oh yeah and I have some verypainful memories the last time
(17:34):
the.
Rangers were in the WorldSeries.
Game six we have the rain andwe have the Cardinals down to
their last strike.
Fries hits a triple, ties it upin the night, we get two home
runs, or we get two runs off ofJosh Hamilton home run and then
we get the Cardinals down to thelast strike again and Just some
(17:57):
zany things happen.
They get two more runs and thenFries walks it off and the 11
and then we lose game seven.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
I haven't heard.
David Fries is naming forever.
That's right.
It's like all flooding back tome now.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, so they're like for a while like there.
I mean, I would just cringe atthe phrase like down to the last
strike, like I hated that.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Yeah, that doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, and it was funny because, like, like, it
was almost like when Garcia hitsthat home run to walk it off
and you're like, okay, he hasthe record.
It's like you know that feelingof just kind of like waiting
for the shoe to drop, like it'slike things are going good.
But yeah, just kind of likestarted lifting up a little bit.
(18:43):
Like you know, when Altuve hitthat home run and game five To
take a 3-2 lead and now Texashas to win to and Houston to
advance, you know, my gutfeeling was like there it is
like that's, that's our.
You know this year's version ofDavid freeze, like yeah like
(19:03):
this is happening.
And then we go game one and itlooks like we're in trouble and
then see your hits home run andthen Garcia hits the home run
and kind of takes the record andit's kind of like Maybe that's
not gonna drop?
Is that the first time youstarted to allow yourself to
think about like, oh, this mightactually happen, yeah it was
just kind of like starting tobreathe and then it was like you
(19:24):
know we lose game to prettyconvincingly.
I was like how dare you havethose thoughts?
I jinxed them yeah how dare youthink like that?
Speaker 1 (19:33):
but it happened.
Yeah, it did it.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yeah, and it was fun cuz you know I'm an East Coast
guy following a West Coast team.
So my main way of following theRangers is like on my phone,
like ESPN gamecast, mlb gamecast, and there's very different
ways.
I'm not saying I'msuperstitious, I'm just saying
there's certain random thingsthat if I do or I don't do, have
(19:59):
an impact on the game.
So well, I definitely need tohear about what you do do yeah
so, depending on how things aregoing, I might follow on ESPN or
I might follow on MLB, or youknow, if there is a game going
on and you Google Texas Rangersbaseball, like it will kind of
have like what's happening onthe game right now and then kind
of like a Twitter feed you canslide through that gives you
(20:21):
live updates on what's going.
So, depending on how the game isgoing, every now and then I'll
try to watch.
But during this postseason run,like you know, for the race
series and the Wario series,just followed exclusively on my
phone because they're eitherplaying at a time where, like I
just wasn't available to get toa TV, or like they were playing
(20:43):
on TBS, which I didn't have, sothat went really well.
And then we get to the ALCS andthat's like alright, we're
starting to get like on Fox,like this is a big time.
And so like we win the firsttwo and I just kind of like
followed it and I was like letme watch, like we're going,
things are going good, and thenlike we lose the next three, I
was like okay, I can't watch.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And so we go back to following the game on my phone.
We win the next two.
I was like okay.
And then we win game one of theworld series.
I follow that.
My phone is like, alright, thisis the world series.
Like, like I have to watch.
And then we lose game two and Iwas like no, I don't.
Oh my god, I have to do my partso you can't let the boys down.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Here I am, you know, sacrificing, and so you know I
start pretty much exclusivelylike following the games on my
phone and like this is kind ofwhere it gets crazy.
So it's game five and theirpicture gallon is just throwing
a gym and so I'm following thegame on my phone and it's like,
(21:49):
of all these matching him, buthe's like grinding, like they're
getting a base runner andscoring position, like every
inning you just keep waiting forthem to like break through and
it's like, alright, this isgonna have to come back to Texas
.
But like a ball, he keepsgetting out of it, keeps getting
out of it.
And then, and the fifth inning,we get through our bottom of
the lineup.
But some of the bottom of thelineup guys just kind of like
(22:11):
seem like you know, again, I'mfollowing on my phone, so I
didn't see it but just like,like we had two flyouts to the
fence and like my brother and mydad are watching the game and I
like text him, like do thoseseem like good swings?
Like yeah, they make goodcontact, it just didn't get out.
It's like okay, and then aValdee comes out and he's been
letting a base runner get onrunning, like in scoring
(22:32):
position and just gets a quickone, two, three, and I was like
you know what I need to watch?
Yes.
And so I turn on the TV andthat's when we get our first run
, like get a, get a seeing eyesingle kind of beat to shift,
and then a double and then asingle, and then we load the
bases up.
We don't do anything.
(22:53):
And I was like, okay, we gotone, like see what we can do.
But now I'm just like watching,and, and then we get out of the
bottom of the seventh, we go tothe top of the eight, blow the
bases again and get nothing.
And so now like I'm like I justjinxed this, like I'm watching
and like they get the insuranceand like we're gonna lose in the
(23:13):
stupid night and we're gonnagive them all the momentum going
in.
I was like, but I'm already in,like I'm committed, so I'm
gonna watch.
And then the night we get toacross in the air and then
simian hits a home run and I waslike this is gonna happen and
I'm watching yes, and so we goto the, we go to the bottom of
the ninth and it.
You know, I talked about like,how I cringed at the, the sound
(23:36):
of like, like down to the laststrike, and we get to the point
and I was like, say it, saythey're down to the last strike,
and he said and I was like,let's get it.
And then took two pitches toget him out.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
But but you got that last strike.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yeah, and then it was just kind of like it was.
It was definitely a career like.
So I'm a Gator fan, so I likeI've experienced like
championships before, but likethis was different in a way
that's kind of like hard todescribe.
It's like when you're with ateam and like like you're
(24:09):
grinding with them through a lotmore bad than like you've had
good Cuz, you know, ever since Iwas following the Rangers.
Like we had like mid to late90s when we would win the
division and then go get beat bythe Yankees.
Yeah and then you know, 2009,2012, made the playoffs pretty
much those years and had twoWorld Series appearances, but
(24:30):
couldn't get it done.
And then not a lot, much else,not much else after that.
And so, like when you'regrinding with a team and like
they finally break through andthey do it, it's just kind of
like this just it means thatmuch more.
Yeah, and then, like you justkind of get struck by this like
this all, like this reverentsilence and you just you're
(24:51):
soaking it in.
And you know, I'm not one to bekind of like the gatekeeper of
like what a true fan is and it's.
You know, if you were hitchedTom Brady and you saw all those
Championships, and now you wantto hitch up to Patrick Mahomes,
like like, be my guest, I'm notgonna stop you.
But like, like, when you hitchup to a team and you go through
(25:12):
all that bad and you finallybreak through, like like there
is you, there's nothing you cando to like match that feeling I
can't imagine.
Like what cups fan was doing in15.
Oh yeah like when they brokethrough and like I remember,
like seeing some of the, likethe reactions and like those
(25:33):
fans like faces, and it's justlike you, like you can't do that
being a bandwagon, like youcan't explain, like you got to
go through a lot of bad to Getto that moment and I totally
agree like it's a whole anotherlevel to feel, like you said,
the pain and the misery ofhaving a bad team for so long,
and it just makes thechampionship so much Sweeter
(25:55):
yeah, I got.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I was a couple months ahead of you with the nuggets,
same thing and, yes, you guyscan stop holding your breath.
I did bring up the nuggets in aTexas Rangers podcast.
I love that, though.
Just the way you described it'sperfect.
Just that, would you saybreathlessness.
Yeah like just soaking it all inyeah and it's gonna be the same
thing I experienced when thenuggets got the rings and raised
(26:16):
the banner.
Yeah, like you get toexperience all again, just
seeing those guys who haveworked their whole lives to Be
at that moment right and I thinkthat's something, too, it might
be unique to baseball.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Like I think you can have it like in football and
basketball, like Like one of thegreat things about baseball is
like you can't, you can't, youcan't get a lead and then, like,
start running out the clock or,you know, play preventive.
Like you can't, you knowelongate your possessions.
Like when you play baseball,like you, you got to throw the
(26:49):
ball over the plate got play.
Yeah, you got to give him achance to hit and then you got
to make your plays, and so Ithink that's kind of like you're
always holding your breathUntil, like that, final out is
called.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Well, and I think I have to take back an earlier
statement when I said theRangers winning All 11 road
games was the most incredibleachievement.
I think you having theself-control to follow the games
of the World Series of yourfavorite team on your phone
Might be even more incredible.
I don't.
I could never do that.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I mean I just, but you did.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
You did what needed to be done you know, sometimes
Don't do what's easy.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
You do what you got to do.
You got to do what needs to bedone.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
It's just so perfect, because baseball players are
just the most superstitiouspeople ever, so of course their
fans are too.
But especially falling along onyour phone like that, sometimes
there's like 30 seconds or aminute before the pitch updates
and you're just wondering what'shappening because you're just
like, oh my goodness, somethingbig is happening, yeah that's
the annoying, because, like you,you can kind of get keyed in
(27:51):
because I've done this enough,where you know you're watching
and I'm literally like peopleare gonna probably think I'm
gonna get idiot.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Like I'm just staring at this screen and and then you
just see like little numberstick so you see like, like the
pitcher, like he went from 50 to51.
So you're like all right, likeyou threw a pitch, and if it's
like a strike or a ball, likesomething that doesn't get hit,
like it usually just prettyquick updates.
And then like there's timeswhere you're like it goes from
(28:20):
50 to 51 and then you're justwaiting and then like maybe you
refresh your screen like whatjust happened?
What just happened, and youknow someone's running around
doing something.
And then a lot of times, likebefore, like the game cast, like
updates with what happened,like if it's something where,
like, somebody scores, like nextthing you know, the score
changes.
You're just like, oh my gosh,something just happened.
What happened?
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I love that cause.
I can see you doing that, butthat is dedication and I love it
so much.
Well, let's talk about how yougot there.
Can you tell me, was it youngbread, teenage bread, like when
did you start following theRangers and kind of tell me the
(29:03):
journey to that breathlessness?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, so as far as I can remember, I have been a
Rangers fan, so I kind ofdeviated off the family fandom.
My dad and my brother areCardinals fans and that stems
back to when my dad was young.
You know, one of the few radiostations you could get was KMOX
(29:28):
of St Louis, so he'd listened toJack Buck called Cardinals
games, so that's how he kind ofbecame a Cardinals fan cause.
At night you could get, youknow, the broadcasts for the
games and that just kind of gotpassed down, and so that kind of
also was another bitter pill toswallow in 2011, with a
(29:49):
heartbreak of losing game sixand then losing game seven, like
that.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Family had bragging rights over it.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
But my favorite baseball player to this day is
Nolan Ryan, nice, and I don'tknow how it started I think we
have some speculation that wayback when he had this commercial
.
I think it was like for a leaveor Tylenol and like the jingle
was like off the raw hide, butit was like Nolan, nolan, nolan,
keep that fastball, throw inNolan Ryan.
(30:19):
And I think, just maybe likethree year old me, four year old
me, attached to that, he waslike, yeah, that's the best
thing ever.
And then you know, fast forwarda couple of years, like it's
just like Nolan Ryan, that's myguy, that's who I cheer for, and
I remember, you know, one ofthe few, you know, one of the TV
stations you could get back inthe day was like WGN and they
(30:40):
would mainly play cup games, butevery now and then they would
play White Sox games too, andlike I was actually watching
live, like the infamous gamewhere Nolan Ryan hits Robin
Ventura.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
And then Robin Ventura charges the mound and
like I just remember, like I'msitting here and I'm just like
what is happening.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Nolan is not worried.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
You know he puts Ventura in the headlock and just
kind of like kind of startswailing and so you know he
retired and it was just likejust kind of stick with him and
it kind of helped that like theywere a better baseball team in
the 90, in the, you know, mid tolate 90s, but they just they
(31:23):
can never get past the Yankeesjuggernaut.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Yeah, I'd say it's just bad timing, because you
guys did have some good teamsback then.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Like Pudge Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez.
Yeah, yeah, it's just, theYankees were unstoppable.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yes, and then you know, we go through like another
drought where, like, all we'rereally known for is, like we
signed Alex Rodriguez to aridiculous contract, yeah, and
then we traded him to theYankees, but part of that trade
we sent to the Yankees, we gotsome key pieces and we started
(31:57):
building.
And then 2008, 2009, like, wehad a really good baseball team
and we had a really good window.
And 2010, we make a run, wemake it to the World Series and
we just ran into a juggernautthat was the Giants, and was
that, like Linsa Com and allthat.
Yep.
And so it was just clear likethey won it in five.
(32:19):
We won one game, but you justkind of knew from game one, like
we had Cliff Lee who was one ofthe best starting pitchers at
the time and he came out andthey just shellacked him game
one, and you're like, okay, thisis not going to go, yeah, and
then next year we go again, kindof take a similar path to make
it like beat the Rays in the DS,beat the Tigers in the CS, and
(32:45):
then go to the World Series whenwe have the Cardinals.
And then that was just to theaverage observer was a really
good series and it's a seriesnow like I can appreciate more
now that we've broken through.
Sure, and I think you know,last week I was just kind of
like let me just watch some ofthose game six highlights and
(33:06):
just kind of see how it wentdown.
And it was a fun game and thatwas honestly the first time like
I actually like look back athighlights from when that
happened.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
It doesn't hurt quite as bad anymore.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
No, I actually realized like I kind of like
misremembered because we had ourcloser, niftali Felizan, and I
thought the ball that freeze hit, like I thought he tried to
slide in like a slider becauseto get strike two he threw a
fastball and then freeze wasnowhere near like looking like
(33:38):
he was going to hit it and so Ithought like he slid in a slider
and that's the reason why hegot around on it and got the bat
on the ball.
But when I looked back it waslike a 97 mile an hour fastball
but he just lifted up just alittle bit and a little bit out
and that's all freeze needed todo that.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
And I was like what sorry was that his triple?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Oh, gotcha, gotcha, yeah, yeah.
It's amazing how just a fewinches can make such a huge
difference.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, yeah, cause I mean, if it was like a half inch
lower, it's probably a groundout or world champions, an inch
lower it's a strikeout or worldchampions.
But it was just.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
It's just gonna be one of those big what ifs in
your franchise history.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah, it was just not meant to be.
But it's now that we've brokenthrough in the World Series,
like you can kind of likeappreciate that team a whole lot
more because there's not thatlike cloud hanging over, like
you have a World Series now, andso it's kind of like that was
really a fun bunch With BeltrayAndrews, like Michael Young, ian
(34:42):
Kinsler, you know the likethree or four years where
Hamilton was really good, likethat was a really fun team to
follow and watch.
And now it's kind of like youcan kind of like appreciate them
more because, like we have thatWorld Series.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
And again, yeah, it was just a step in the journey
to this year and, like you said,you can appreciate everything
so much more now.
Yeah, that's cool.
Well, very good.
Just in general, because youhave been watching baseball for
so long, I did want to get youropinion on the new rules this
year, mainly like the pitchclock and just things they did
to, I guess, make it moreenjoyable for the casual fan.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Yeah, I think they worked.
I think even like some of therules, like limiting, like how
much you can shift is huge,because like teams are hitting
now and so it's more about likereally good, like pitching,
hitting matchups, and we're notso much like bogged down in this
(35:43):
, like this batter is eithergoing to walk, strike out or hit
a home run, like yeah, likethere's teams getting on, like
there's hitting, like the gameis more exciting, like like that
game five where we clinchedlike every time like Arizona got
a base runner, they got him asecond and you're just like, oh
my goodness, like what's goingto happen.
(36:04):
And then the game, the pace ofplay just going so much faster I
think is good for the game.
I think the biggest thingbaseball needs to work on is
like just I think they need tofind ways to engage fans outside
of TV, cause you know, I sawwhere, like this World Series
(36:25):
was like the lowest rated WorldSeries and like it's kind of on
a downward trend.
And one of the things I'venoticed too is like, like
basketball is kind of similar,like the ratings are on a
downward trend, and I think,just like when you talk about
like a seven game series like.
That's a lot to invest in whenyou're just like I gotta stay up
to like 11, 12 o'clock, likepotentially you know seven of
(36:47):
the next 10 nights.
Like that's a lot of work.
It's a lot of investment and so, like I think just something
that can do is, like you know,just kind of like trying to
engage fans like outside themedium of TV, I think.
I think even like howsuccessful the NFL has been,
like like they're doing thingslike that, like with like the
(37:10):
Manning cast, like maybe justhaving like different, like
baseball, like simulcast.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Something different.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Yeah, and I think that would help.
But also maybe play to.
You know, the superstitiousbaseball fans was like okay, if
I watch them on this stream,like I watch this stream.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
If you have more options to watch, then you won't
end up on your phone and whenit doesn't go bad, like when it
goes bad, I can go here.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
And I can go here and like.
I like that you know, whenwe're out in the field I got to
watch it on this, but when we'rehitting I got to watch it over
here.
But I think that's somethingbaseball can do.
I really do think the speed uproles have helped, mm-hmm, and I
think I think you might seebaseball making an upturn.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
I agree, like as someone who's a complete casual
fan now and hardly watches anygames besides the playoffs.
I think my enjoyment went wayup with the pitch clock because
so often it seemed like theywould throw a pitch and then
there'd be so much downtime inbetween and you would just end
up kind of like looking at yourphone or even just seeing what
(38:14):
else is on because there's justnothing was happening.
And during the playoffs thisyear it was just nonstop.
I loved it.
So just from my point of view Ithink it's working and if they
keep finding little things to dothen, like you said, they'll
kind of catch on with theyounger audience and hopefully
it'll pick back up.
But I think the lower ratingsare just sports in general.
(38:35):
Like you said, I don't think ithad anything to do with it
being the matchup that it was oranything like that, because it
was a good matchup.
But yeah, I think it'sinteresting.
At least they're tryingsomething.
For the most part I think it'sbeen positive, which I thought
it when I first heard about it.
I thought it sounded desperatebecause I like the tradition of
baseball, but nothing was earthshattering.
(38:56):
So if it makes it more fun towatch then I'm all for it.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Yeah, and it just makes games go by quicker and I
think, like maybe I have moreappreciation of it because if,
like, you're starting a game at10 o'clock at night, oh yeah.
There's no way I'm going tostay up for the whole game, but
it's like I can get threeinnings in and still get to bed
at a decent time.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Exactly, it's worth it.
It's better than nothing.
Yeah, very good.
Well cool.
Want to play some games?
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
All right, so first one, pretty easy, can't get it
wrong.
Because it is your opinion.
I would like to hear your alltime Rangers lineup, and it
doesn't have to be best playerLike.
I'd almost be more interestedin just hearing your favorite
player at each position and I'lllet you have one starter and if
(39:48):
you want to do a reliever, youcan.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Okay, all right, so I think, pretty easy, we can
knock some of these out.
You got to have Nolan Ryan asyour starting pitcher.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
He's one of the best to ever do it.
And then you know, same thingas catcher.
You got to have a von Roderick.
Like you are a default Hall ofFamer, you deserve to be in that
all time lineup.
So we got pitcher catchercovered, I think, first base.
I think I would probably gowith Will Clark.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Oh, interesting.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Just because you know , he, when I was a kid playing
baseball like I, even though Ithrew right handed, I batted
left handed, couldn't swingright handed.
I don't know why, it was just aquirk, but will Clark was left
handed and had just like a sweet, smooth swing.
I always tried to copy and sohe was really good.
Yeah, so I'm going to go withwill Clark, second base,
(40:49):
probably I'm going to go, eventhough I because I have to work
him in somewhere I'm going to goMichael young.
There he played second shortand third, but I got to get him
in there somewhere and I think,like short stuff, I got to go
Seeger and then, third base, I'mgoing to have to go Beltry.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Oh nice.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
He was good for so long.
Yeah, he really was, and it wasa lot of fun like the dynamic
that Beltry and Andrews had,like they were.
They were pretty fun to watchand just kind of like watch cut
up.
And if you ever get bored, justlook up a YouTube video where,
like there was like an easy pop,fly.
Like they would literally likemess with each other.
Oh really yeah, as they weretrying to catch the pop fly.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
What was the deal with people rubbing his head?
Did he really not like it thatmuch?
Speaker 2 (41:38):
He did not like it, and it's just kind of like one
of those things, I guess, likewith your.
You're with the boys and youmake the mistake of like letting
them know, like I don't likethis, yep, then they're going to
do it 10 times more, yeah, andso it was just like every time
he hit a home run that was.
His trip to the dugout was notenjoyable.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
I always thought that was so funny.
Yeah, all right, that's a goodinfield.
Who got in the outfield?
Speaker 2 (42:03):
So outfield, I think you got to go.
We'll just, we'll give them apass for the steroids.
We'll go.
Juan Gonzalez, I would put oofCause I feel like I want to put
two hitters in there.
I'm trying to decide, but Imight need, like, a defensive
center.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
In this imaginary world.
You need defense.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Yes, you know what we're going to go with the bats.
We're going to ride the bats,so we'll throw.
We'll throw Garcia in centerfield, let him be a little bit
of a duck out of the water justfor, like the run he had this
season, and then we'll go.
We'll go Nelson Cruz rightfield, oh nice, and I feel like
he kind of he kind of catches alot of grief because he was kind
(42:48):
of awkwardly lunging at thatball that freeze hit.
I've watched a couple.
He had no chance of gettingthat yeah.
And it's you know.
The only thing he could havedone is maybe set up to play the
ball, hitting off the wall andmaybe trying to keep that run
from first.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
So just take a different angle, yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
But that that is a big if, because you don't know
how it's going to clean off thewall.
So but we, we don't make it tothe world series both times
without him.
He absolutely dominated theTigers and the ALCS.
So yeah, there's my I like itand maybe a reliever.
I would probably go with Elise,because then in his heyday he
(43:33):
was he was really good.
I like it yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
I like it.
That's a pretty legit lineup.
They would have easily beatthose mid 90s Yankees for you.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
Oh, 100%, all right.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Next game is called Walker Texas Ranger.
Walker Texas Ranger was a hitTV show starring Chuck Norris
Right, and never watched itmyself, I don't think, but we're
old enough that Chuck Norrisjokes were popular for a while
back then.
(44:06):
So I'm going to read a ChuckNorris joke to you and assign it
kind of a key word and aquestion to go along with it,
and you'll name a player fromthe Rangers that first one that
comes to mind when you hear thatword.
So it's just a good excuse toget Chuck Norris jokes going to
(44:27):
go, let's do it.
So first one the Swiss army usesChuck Norris knives.
The word I think of here isutility, so name me your
favorite non-star utility player.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Oh, non-star.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
I would even let you say Michael Young, because he
played so many positions likeand he's your guy.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
That's the first thought that came to mind.
I mean, I don't know if he hecount.
I mean he made one or two worldseries.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
I say he was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (44:56):
Yeah, he was good, he was a hit machine.
But he came into the leagueplaying second base and then
when we traded a a rod to theYankees, we got Soriano in
return.
So he moved shortstop and thenwhen Elvis Andrews was coming up
we moved him to third base andthey got a little contentious
(45:17):
there.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
I love hearing all these names.
I haven't heard it forever.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Where he he wanted to be traded and then kind of got
smoothed over and then was justkind of a utility guy, kind of a
plug and play, until like onceBeltry came over.
So I think we could say MichaelYoung.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
I like it For the younger listeners.
You got to look at MichaelYoung, he was legit.
Yeah, All right.
Next one Chuck Norris can makesticks by rubbing two fires
together.
The word here is resourcefulName, a favorite reliever that
could always get out of a jam.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
As far as reliever goes, one of the things that
bolstered our 2011 World Seriesrun is we traded for a guy, Mike
Adams, and he was just prettymuch unstoppable.
Speaker 1 (46:15):
Nice.
Yeah, I haven't thought abouthim in so long.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
Very good, so go, mike Adams, or one guy that was
huge for us this year, daneDunning who was a former Florida
Gator but he actually the planwas for him to be a long
reliever this year, kind of anendings guy, and just kind of
worked himself into that likenumber four starting role did
(46:42):
really well.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
That's cool.
I didn't know he's a Gator.
Yeah, very cool, all right.
This one, chuck Norris, doesn'thave a chin Under his beard, is
another fist, so the word hereis beard.
Who had the best playoff beardthis year?
Speaker 2 (47:00):
I don't know if many of them had beards.
I don't think they did thatthis year.
Speaker 1 (47:08):
Interesting.
That had to have been like agroup decision, because it just
seems like there's always theguys doing the playoff beards.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
Yeah, I can't really think of a guy that was like
bearded guy.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
Interesting, I just kind of assumed.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
Any of the Rangers run.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
See, I'm so focused on looking up Chuck Norris jokes
.
I didn't even see if they hadbeards.
No worries.
Last one there are no streetsnamed after Chuck Norris,
because no one would dare crossChuck Norris.
So the word is toughness.
Who do you picture when youthink of toughness?
Or the Rangers?
Speaker 2 (47:47):
I think Adrian Beltran yeah, I don't think I
ever remember him being out ofthe lineup, being hurt.
He would play hurt, he'd getbeat up and he would just always
produce.
And he was a Ranger for a shortamount of time, but he was
definitely up there, one of myfavorites.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
And you gotta be tougher to play as long as he
did, yeah, and I just can't evenimagine the wear and tear that
he put on his body, but he wasjust up there every day.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
Yep, that's a good answer.
All right, very good, I wouldsay you win that game.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
And last game is called Lone Star Wars.
So Texas is obviously the LoneStar State and you and I we used
to talk about Star Wars alittle bit when a good old
Mandalorian came out and allthat good stuff.
So, as you can tell by thetitle, basically I'm gonna mash
(48:44):
up Two names okay and I'm gonnagive you clues for each name and
you have to give me the mashedup name.
Okay, that makes sense, so likelone Star Wars.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
All right, all right, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
So the clues will get more and more helpful as we go.
So if you get it after thefirst clue, we'll give you Three
imaginary points.
All right and if you get outthe second clue, you get two.
If you need all three clues,you only get one point.
All right and if you don't getit after all the clues?
Speaker 2 (49:14):
You can.
You can still be my friend,yeah okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
So first one this is a Player and a director, so I
just want to kind of get you inthe right mind frame.
So first, clue Through two nohitters for the Rangers and then
for the director directed lastJedi.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
So do you know who the player is off of that first
clue.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
It's Nolan Ryan, and I can't think what's his last
name.
Director.
Ah should be able to get this,nolan Ryan.
Speaker 1 (49:59):
Do you need a second clue?
Speaker 2 (50:04):
Directed knives out.
He Is Ryan.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
You're so close.
I know Credit because I you arevery close, I'm gonna give you
the second clue.
I don't think it's gonna bevery helpful because you already
said it.
The second clue for the playeris the most strikeouts ever.
Yeah, and the second clue forthe director is he directed
knives out.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
Because I think it's just.
It's just one of those thingslike you cramp because it's like
Ryan Dead, it as knives out.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
I think you'll get it after the third clue.
So I was laughing earlier whenyou're telling the story,
because my third clue for thisone is he beat up Robin, been
for Ben Turra, yeah.
And the third clue for thedirector is his name.
Sounds a lot like mine, oh.
Speaker 2 (50:57):
Oh, ryan, john, ryan, john Yep.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
Yep, very good, so it says so.
Nolan Ryan Johnson is the firstanswer.
Very good, you had that quick,you just couldn't quite quite
get his name, all right.
Second one this is a player anda Star Wars character.
Okay all right.
So clue one for the player hewas the eighth overall pick in
(51:21):
2019 by the Rangers and and Cluenumber one for the character is
he trained Anakin Skywalker.
Okay, so and I apologize inadvance, because this is kind of
a stretch.
Speaker 2 (51:37):
Yeah, so I'm trying to think of 2019.
My options would be what likeJosh young Evan Carter.
Speaker 1 (51:53):
You want that.
Three points I'm trying to.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
All right, second clue Well, I'm trying to think
is like is there any way I canstretch Jonah, I'm into Do you
know the Star Wars character?
Well, I mean, if you train toAnakin, you're thinking Obi-Wan,
so.
(52:18):
But the Rangers player comesfirst, right?
Speaker 1 (52:23):
And this one yes so.
Let me give you the second clue.
All right, he hit a home run inhis very first major league at
bat.
And the second clue, for thecharacter is Old version was
played by Alec Guinness.
Speaker 2 (52:39):
Okay, so as a part of the stretch, are we going like
Ben Kenobi, or is it Obi-Wan?
Speaker 1 (52:48):
You are on the right track with Obi-Wan, but the
reason it's a stretch is becauseI kind of threw in a little
Descriptive word to make thiswork.
So the clue was old versionplayed Alec, by Alec Guinness.
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (53:10):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (53:10):
Clue three Clue three he is.
He was the starting thirdbaseman for the AL All-Star team
this year.
And then the characters playedby Ewan McGregor.
Speaker 2 (53:23):
So I'm just trying to figure out how we stretch Josh
young into Josh young.
We won Kenobi there you go.
Speaker 1 (53:29):
I Josh young Obi-Wan Kenobi, so that, like Ewan
McGregor played young Obi-WanKenobi and now again has played
old Obi-Wan.
So I told you, I apologize,that was a stretch, all right
not as much as this one ready,all right.
So this is a player and acharacter again.
Speaker 2 (53:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (53:51):
The player clue number one grew up in Alvin,
texas, and the characterorphaned as a child.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (54:02):
Not much to go on there.
Yep, right for clue two.
Yep, okay, clue two this wasthe first year for this pitcher
with the Rangers.
Okay, and clue two for thecharacter is he has a little
green friend.
Speaker 2 (54:17):
Okay, so the Star Wars character, we we going Luke
Skywalker?
Then I'm trying to thinkthrough pitchers like Like this
was a Valdez first-year pitching, this was the Grom.
(54:39):
Then maybe, maybe we gotMontgomery Jordan, montgomery
Scherzer.
Let's go to clue three.
Speaker 1 (54:54):
Clue three this pitcher won five games this
postseason.
Okay, and clue three for thecharacter.
His nickname is Mando.
Speaker 2 (55:04):
Okay, so Nathan of Aldi Ginger.
Speaker 1 (55:16):
Yeah.
So you kind of really got tosmash them together and say I'm
fast, Nathan Evaldi den.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
There we go Nice.
Speaker 1 (55:22):
You got that one.
Yeah, I'm gonna give you allthe points for that.
They're very good.
Well, cool man, I appreciateyou putting up with my silly
little games and I Think thestories you told were great.
This was, this is great.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
Yeah, sometimes you, you know you can have an
influence on the game and youdon't.
Speaker 1 (55:38):
Even I was gonna say I didn't realize that you
actually won the World Seriesnot, not necessarily the Rangers
, yeah so I like it Well cool.
I'm gonna have you back on totalk about the Gators sometime.
Yeah, maybe a Next year, whenI'm assuming they're gonna have
an amazing recruiting class andthe hype will be out of the out
of the world again.
Speaker 2 (55:58):
You might need to hit on some players in the transfer
portal.
Speaker 1 (56:01):
Oh, there you go Maybe.
Oh, cool man, I appreciate ityeah.
All right, everybody, welcome back to Fandom from
afar.
They said it couldn't be done,but I found a Texas Rangers fan
in Jacksonville, florida, and healso happens to be one of my
favorite people to talk sportswith.
So welcome, brad.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you, fan of the World Series champion, texas
Rangers.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
How nice is that to say.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Oh, really nice yes.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
First one in franchise history.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Now you're leaving five clubs behind, rockies being
one of them that have never wona championship.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yes, Now how close have the Rockies come?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We made it to the World Series and then got swept
by the Red Sox.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
OK.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
But I'm convinced that we would have won that year
if not for timing, because weswept our way to the World
Series Right.
And then had to wait like 10days for the Red Sox to finish
up their series and then by thattime, you know, all of our
timing and momentum was gone.
So yeah that's, that's what Itell myself that we would have
won yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I think baseball there's something to do with
rhythm, and I think a lot ofpeople talked about the playoffs
.
Wildcard teams did a lot better, yeah, and the higher seed
divisions are the divisionwinners.
The higher seed struggled andit could be the time they got to
sit around.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
And it's crazy, because didn't Arizona?
And they win like they werebarely above the 500, right yeah
, and they made it.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
They made it.
They clinched the playoffs likegame 162 of 163.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
And then you know, the Rangers and the Astros both
clinched the game before that,and then the Astros ended up
winning the division, and thenthe Rangers went in as a
wildcard, but they had the samerecord.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's so fun Because I think I saw a stat like all
four or all top five teams thatall had the best records were
out pretty quickly.
So it's kind of fun that youjust never know what's going to
happen.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, I think a lot of people talked about the
playoff format being a problem,but I think the opposite is true
.
I think baseball took a gamblethat said there's more teams
that are capable of winning theWorld Series out there, and I
think, if anything like thisplayoffs showed that's the case.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Oh, yeah, oh yeah, I love it, and so let's kind of
stick with the championship.
Like normally, I like to startwith people's origin story, but
let's stick with the this happyending here.
So tell me about the team,maybe some of your favorite
players, and how you're feelingduring the regular season, and
then we'll kind of get into theplayoff run.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Sure, sure.
So coming into the season, Ididn't have the highest of
expectations.
You know, two years ago we lostover a hundred games and it,
you know, it was almost like achore being a fan.
You're like, especially beingin Jacksonville, being on the
East Coast, when you'refollowing a team that's three
hours behind playing in the WestDivision.
(03:03):
It's like I'm going to wake upand I know what's going to
happen and I know what I'm goingto see when I open up ESPN.
But still going to look.
It's like witch reliever blew itthis time and I open it up and
like, oh, there it is.
So we didn't have highexpectations.
In fact, I had a joke with mywith you know, people I talked
baseball with and so we won thefirst series.
(03:24):
We won the second series, weplayed, and so I just constantly
kept referring to him as thefirst place Texas Rangers Cause
I was like I don't know how longthis is going to last.
So we're just going to keepriding this vibe and next thing
you know we're we're into theall star break like first place
Texas Rangers.
Going into this season, we madea few huge signings in the
(03:45):
winter.
We brought in a Valde fromWashington, we brought in to
Grom from the Mets, and then webrought in a Seager and Simeon
and yeah, judging from theplayoff run.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Those are some pretty big additions, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
And you know to Grom started off hot.
We won all seven of his startsand then he went out, had to get
Tommy John but a Valde waspitching at like a, like a side
young level to start the yearand then he got hurt and then
going into the all star break.
You know, credit to the Rangers, like staff Chris Young
(04:23):
recognizing like there's anopportunity here and so he went
out and we got Scherzer and thenwe got Montgomery and I think
that's really bolstered andthat's just that's what
established us Like if we canget into the playoffs, we can
make a run.
We're a dangerous team, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Starting pitching wise, that's pretty legit staff
right there yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
So you know, we made those additions and we came out
of the all star break on fire, Ithink at one point we won like
nine of 12, one, five, sixseries in a row.
And then all of a sudden, likecould not win a game and to the
point where, like from game oneup until like we're three
(05:11):
quarters of the way through, wewe had a pretty sizable lead in
the West and then lost it andthen Houston was in first.
And so now I'm kind of likestarting to panic, because now
it got to the point where it waslike, like I know the playoffs,
like we should be in theplayoffs, like let's take care
(05:31):
of the West, not worry aboutlike being a wildcard, and now
all of a sudden, I think at thebeginning of August, like we're
not even in the playoff picture.
They were collapsing prettyquick, yeah, and then kind of
refound some momentum andstarted winning series again and
(05:52):
got back to where they sweptthe Mariners.
So the wildcard became a a fourteam race.
So it was the Mariners, theAstros, the Jays and us, the
Rangers, kind of vying for likethree spots.
One was going to win the Westand the other two wildcards were
(06:13):
going to go and then somebodywas going to get left out, and
so we swept the Mariners andthen got a one game lead on the
West and just kind of likereplaying all these events in my
head.
We swept the Mariners and thenthe Astros get the Diamondbacks,
(06:36):
the next series, and then Can'tremember who we played, but it
was kind of like we had theMariners and then we had, I
Think, the Angels and then theMariners again to close out.
So we swept Mariners, Kind oftook control of like our playoff
destiny, and then we ended upclinching the first game, like
(06:57):
we played against the Mariners.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So we're going right down to the end like it's not,
like you got to sit there and belike oh man, here come the
playoffs.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
We're for sure in like this is kind of we sweat it
out all the way until I thinkgame 160.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, and then we're able to clinch.
I think we and the Astrosclinched the playoffs the same
day and there was a little bitof drama because there was an
Astros beat writer who made apoint of saying how the Rangers
kind of had this mentality ofnot having been there before and
(07:31):
thought they celebrated toomuch upon getting a getting a
playoff birth.
And that was the reason why theAstros ended up winning the
division.
And it's funny because there'sa video clip and it's in the
Astros clubhouse after they winthe division and it the quote is
(07:51):
People always wondered whatwould happen if the Astros
Didn't win the West, but I guesswe'll never know and they go
crazy and start celebrating.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Corey Seger got to pay it off when we had our World
Series parade.
He's like I guess people willnever know what happened If the
Rangers didn't win the WorldSeries.
I.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Love it it kind of makes it even sweeter like just
that little Dig coming fromHouston who's just happens to be
a bunch of cheaters.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah Well, I mean that's how they established
themselves.
I mean they've been able tosustain that success.
I guess legitimate meansallegedly, but it was sweet to
kind of beat them because therethere is this mentality of Astro
fans like I don't know if it'swith all teams, but like you,
you get teams that just havethis run of success and all of a
(08:40):
sudden it's kind of like LikeHouston Astros fans, like we
invented baseball, like yeah, Ithink you see it with, like With
like Georgia football fans.
Now it's kind of like Like weare the pinnacle of football and
it's like I mean, you're good.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Please enjoy that while it lasts, but there's
gonna come a time.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
That's how Patriot fans were for so long to and,
like now, they wish they couldget a first down.
Oh, yeah, yeah now Did the teamhave kind of like a personality
, like how would you describethe team In general?
Like it almost sounds Like theytook on the underdog role and
kind of thrived off of that.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yeah, I think I think there definitely was a chip on
their shoulder mentality and Ithink they were a lot better
than what people gave themcredit for.
Because you know, when I talkedabout us having that slump,
like we were down for a goodchunk of that, like our starting
third baseman, who was a rookie, josh Young Seeger, was out For
a couple weeks and notcompletely right when he came
(09:42):
back, like a vaulty was on theshelf.
So a lot of key players wereout during that slump and as we
were coming out of the slumpthey were coming back into the
lineup but just kind of stillshaking off the rust.
So, going into the playoffs, IThink I had this mentality of
(10:02):
just a little bit of like quietconfidence of you know I I
definitely was not expecting thelevel of success we had but
like I Could see is beating therace, like I could see is making
some noise in the divisionseries.
And then it's like if you makethe ALCS, like let's see what
happens especially that pitching.
Yeah.
So I think they, I think theyknew it and I don't think a lot
(10:26):
of the baseball world knew it.
So I think there definitely waskind of a Like a chip on their
shoulder mentality.
And I think what people don'trealize is like we had good
pitching and I think if you takelineups and you go, this is
these are our guys one throughnine that are hitting Like I
think Texas probably had thebest one through nine lineup.
(10:48):
They probably didn't have thebest, like you know, first
inning battering like onethrough three.
But if you take one throughnine like there, there are no
easy outs and that makes a hugedifference.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Yeah, that's gonna wear out the other pitching
staff.
It turns, turns the lineup overlike it's.
It's a big deal to have thatdepth.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, and I think I think Texas was more built to be
a playoff team than like aregular season juggernaut.
Like you look at the Oriolesand they have really good
pitching and like so so hitting,but like when they get on base
they like to run and createhavoc, kind of similar to what
Arizona does, and like that'sgood for the regular season.
Like you can, you can beat upon on some four or five pitchers
(11:30):
, like when you get rightmatchups.
Yeah and you can get a lot ofwins, but like when it comes to
the playoffs, like, like in afive game series, you you're
facing one and two twice.
Like your, your, your ace andyour second pitcher Like your
second best pitcher, twice it'sa whole different game.
Yeah, and so I think Texas withthe offense they had, they had
(11:51):
a really good number one guy ina ball, they had a really good
number two guy in Montgomery.
Like they were just kind ofbuilt for the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Which is the way you would want it.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
When, when 85 games every yearand then start dominating the
playoffs?
I would take that.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
You guys pulled off one of the most ridiculous
things I've ever seen andcorrect me if I'm wrong I might
have misread this somewhere butyou won every single road game
in the playoffs.
How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I think it's just it's a credit to the offense,
and I think almost it, becauseyou know, when you're the road
team you hit first in the inningand so I think they just had
ability to just in the firstcouple innings, get some hits,
get some runs, and that's justkind of like tightens everything
up.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah for the home team kind of playing from ahead
the whole time.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, so you kind of like Put that pressure on, like
game seven against the ash was agame seven or game six, like we
knocked it, like their startergot two outs.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Oh yeah.
Yeah, and then we were able toget him out and like, when
you're able to do that, likeYou're creating havoc and when
you're playing ahead like that,you're so much more confident at
the plate, like you, becausethe pressure is not on you're
just swinging, yeah, like samething Game for the Diamond and
the World Series, like I knowI'm jumping around different
series and stuff theDiamondbacks would.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
We're using a bullpen game and we were able to jump
up and by the third inning wehad 10 runs.
And so you know we're throwinga stop gap guy and he's able to
now get us five innings becausewe have a giant leak.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I Think a lot of people say momentum doesn't
exist, but I think that's kindof what you're talking about is.
It makes such a huge differencejust in your Mentality and how
you're playing every part of thegame that I'm ahead five,
nothing.
Yeah, it doesn't matter if Idie for this Bond, don't make it
.
Oh yeah, I caught it because Iwas that much more confident
than I was gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
I love that.
I think that's great.
But, every road game.
Yeah what was it?
10 and 0?
He was 11 11 and oh, that'sjust that that'll never be
matched.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
That's impossible.
I know it was.
I mean with with the Astroseries, oh um, when we lost game
five.
And now to vey hit that homerun like I Thought we were done.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Yeah, like.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I thought, I thought that was it.
And Then you know we win gamesix and it's kind of like, well,
anything can happen.
Game seven, and then game sevenwe jumped out early.
No, it's just kind of like, allright, just ride this way, yeah
.
But you know, I think justbeing able to hit first with the
explosive lineup we had, Ithink really helped, because
(14:36):
when you had Seager doing whathe does and then you had Adelies
Garcia just playing out of hismind, and so that's just a
recipe of just like you put up acouple crooked numbers in the
first two winnings and now theother team.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Got a snowball from there.
Yeah, do you have any favoritelike doing these specific at
bats, or a picture getting outof a jam that like just came in
huge moments, like, are therespecific moments that you'll
think about dirt for thisplayoff run?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yeah, so I think Evolved these first game against
the Astros I think it was gameone and it's, I think it's like
the fourth inning and he getsyou know Texas is clinging to
like a two-run lead and he getsin a basis loaded no-ouch jam
(15:26):
and I'm expecting you know, likeall right, like let's just play
matchups the next three battersand let's get out of this and
then go from there and bogeyleaves the ball the end and Two
strikeouts in a ground balllater, like Houston scores no
runs.
Wow and just the the pitchsequence, especially to Out of a
(15:48):
to get the second strikeout,was just amazing how he kind of
set him up.
He goes fastball in, fastballout and then throws a splitter
that starts with the same exacttrajectory in the spot and it's
like the fastball out and Thenjust tumbles and drops.
And I'll too, they didn't havea chance.
That's not so fun.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, that's.
That's why it's so fun to watchplayoff baseball, because of
the the two pitches, setting upthe next pitch, like it's.
It's such such strategy game.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, so like that's definitely one, I Think, corey
Seeger's home run to tie it upin the ninth and game one, oh
yeah, diamond backs like Justfirst pitch, just abs.
When, when, corey Seeger, it'scrazy because you see, you see
people hit home runs and Likethey just, you know, barely
(16:37):
clear the fence, like there's a,there's an outfielder trying to
jump and catch the ball, andit's just like when Corey Seeger
connects with one, like nobodyin outfield is moving.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, they just put their head down and be like well
there is, there is no doubt.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
And so just the moment of that, because it just
went from like all right, we'rein a hole, like we just lost
home field advantage, and thenall of a sudden it's like okay,
we're still alive.
And then Garcia up in the 11th,it's a walk-off, and almost
kind of like Like that walk-offhome run, like I think kind of
(17:11):
like excised some like demons.
Yeah because Garcia sets arecord on that home run and that
was the most RBI is and aplayoff run and the previously
record holder was David Friesfor the Cardinals.
Oh yeah and I have some verypainful memories the last time
(17:34):
the.
Rangers were in the WorldSeries.
Game six we have the rain andwe have the Cardinals down to
their last strike.
Fries hits a triple, ties it upin the night, we get two home
runs, or we get two runs off ofJosh Hamilton home run and then
we get the Cardinals down to thelast strike again and Just some
(17:57):
zany things happen.
They get two more runs and thenFries walks it off and the 11
and then we lose game seven.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
I haven't heard.
David Fries is naming forever.
That's right.
It's like all flooding back tome now.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, so they're like for a while like there.
I mean, I would just cringe atthe phrase like down to the last
strike, like I hated that.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Yeah, that doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, and it was funny because, like, like, it
was almost like when Garcia hitsthat home run to walk it off
and you're like, okay, he hasthe record.
It's like you know that feelingof just kind of like waiting
for the shoe to drop, like it'slike things are going good.
But yeah, just kind of likestarted lifting up a little bit.
(18:43):
Like you know, when Altuve hitthat home run and game five To
take a 3-2 lead and now Texashas to win to and Houston to
advance, you know, my gutfeeling was like there it is
like that's, that's our.
You know this year's version ofDavid freeze, like yeah like
(19:03):
this is happening.
And then we go game one and itlooks like we're in trouble and
then see your hits home run andthen Garcia hits the home run
and kind of takes the record andit's kind of like Maybe that's
not gonna drop?
Is that the first time youstarted to allow yourself to
think about like, oh, this mightactually happen, yeah it was
just kind of like starting tobreathe and then it was like you
(19:24):
know we lose game to prettyconvincingly.
I was like how dare you havethose thoughts?
I jinxed them yeah how dare youthink like that?
Speaker 1 (19:33):
but it happened.
Yeah, it did it.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yeah, and it was fun cuz you know I'm an East Coast
guy following a West Coast team.
So my main way of following theRangers is like on my phone,
like ESPN gamecast, mlb gamecast, and there's very different
ways.
I'm not saying I'msuperstitious, I'm just saying
there's certain random thingsthat if I do or I don't do, have
(19:59):
an impact on the game.
So well, I definitely need tohear about what you do do yeah
so, depending on how things aregoing, I might follow on ESPN or
I might follow on MLB, or youknow, if there is a game going
on and you Google Texas Rangersbaseball, like it will kind of
have like what's happening onthe game right now and then kind
of like a Twitter feed you canslide through that gives you
(20:21):
live updates on what's going.
So, depending on how the game isgoing, every now and then I'll
try to watch.
But during this postseason run,like you know, for the race
series and the Wario series,just followed exclusively on my
phone because they're eitherplaying at a time where, like I
just wasn't available to get toa TV, or like they were playing
(20:43):
on TBS, which I didn't have, sothat went really well.
And then we get to the ALCS andthat's like alright, we're
starting to get like on Fox,like this is a big time.
And so like we win the firsttwo and I just kind of like
followed it and I was like letme watch, like we're going,
things are going good, and thenlike we lose the next three, I
was like okay, I can't watch.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And so we go back to following the game on my phone.
We win the next two.
I was like okay.
And then we win game one of theworld series.
I follow that.
My phone is like, alright, thisis the world series.
Like, like I have to watch.
And then we lose game two and Iwas like no, I don't.
Oh my god, I have to do my partso you can't let the boys down.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Here I am, you know, sacrificing, and so you know I
start pretty much exclusivelylike following the games on my
phone and like this is kind ofwhere it gets crazy.
So it's game five and theirpicture gallon is just throwing
a gym and so I'm following thegame on my phone and it's like,
(21:49):
of all these matching him, buthe's like grinding, like they're
getting a base runner andscoring position, like every
inning you just keep waiting forthem to like break through and
it's like, alright, this isgonna have to come back to Texas
.
But like a ball, he keepsgetting out of it, keeps getting
out of it.
And then, and the fifth inning,we get through our bottom of
the lineup.
But some of the bottom of thelineup guys just kind of like
(22:11):
seem like you know, again, I'mfollowing on my phone, so I
didn't see it but just like,like we had two flyouts to the
fence and like my brother and mydad are watching the game and I
like text him, like do thoseseem like good swings?
Like yeah, they make goodcontact, it just didn't get out.
It's like okay, and then aValdee comes out and he's been
letting a base runner get onrunning, like in scoring
(22:32):
position and just gets a quickone, two, three, and I was like
you know what I need to watch?
Yes.
And so I turn on the TV andthat's when we get our first run
, like get a, get a seeing eyesingle kind of beat to shift,
and then a double and then asingle, and then we load the
bases up.
We don't do anything.
(22:53):
And I was like, okay, we gotone, like see what we can do.
But now I'm just like watching,and, and then we get out of the
bottom of the seventh, we go tothe top of the eight, blow the
bases again and get nothing.
And so now like I'm like I justjinxed this, like I'm watching
and like they get the insuranceand like we're gonna lose in the
(23:13):
stupid night and we're gonnagive them all the momentum going
in.
I was like, but I'm already in,like I'm committed, so I'm
gonna watch.
And then the night we get toacross in the air and then
simian hits a home run and I waslike this is gonna happen and
I'm watching yes, and so we goto the, we go to the bottom of
the ninth and it.
You know, I talked about like,how I cringed at the, the sound
(23:36):
of like, like down to the laststrike, and we get to the point
and I was like, say it, saythey're down to the last strike,
and he said and I was like,let's get it.
And then took two pitches toget him out.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
But but you got that last strike.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yeah, and then it was just kind of like it was.
It was definitely a career like.
So I'm a Gator fan, so I likeI've experienced like
championships before, but likethis was different in a way
that's kind of like hard todescribe.
It's like when you're with ateam and like like you're
(24:09):
grinding with them through a lotmore bad than like you've had
good Cuz, you know, ever since Iwas following the Rangers.
Like we had like mid to late90s when we would win the
division and then go get beat bythe Yankees.
Yeah and then you know, 2009,2012, made the playoffs pretty
much those years and had twoWorld Series appearances, but
(24:30):
couldn't get it done.
And then not a lot, much else,not much else after that.
And so, like when you'regrinding with a team and like
they finally break through andthey do it, it's just kind of
like this just it means thatmuch more.
Yeah, and then, like you justkind of get struck by this like
this all, like this reverentsilence and you just you're
(24:51):
soaking it in.
And you know, I'm not one to bekind of like the gatekeeper of
like what a true fan is and it's.
You know, if you were hitchedTom Brady and you saw all those
Championships, and now you wantto hitch up to Patrick Mahomes,
like like, be my guest, I'm notgonna stop you.
But like, like, when you hitchup to a team and you go through
(25:12):
all that bad and you finallybreak through, like like there
is you, there's nothing you cando to like match that feeling I
can't imagine.
Like what cups fan was doing in15.
Oh yeah like when they brokethrough and like I remember,
like seeing some of the, likethe reactions and like those
(25:33):
fans like faces, and it's justlike you, like you can't do that
being a bandwagon, like youcan't explain, like you got to
go through a lot of bad to Getto that moment and I totally
agree like it's a whole anotherlevel to feel, like you said,
the pain and the misery ofhaving a bad team for so long,
and it just makes thechampionship so much Sweeter
(25:55):
yeah, I got.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I was a couple months ahead of you with the nuggets,
same thing and, yes, you guyscan stop holding your breath.
I did bring up the nuggets in aTexas Rangers podcast.
I love that, though.
Just the way you described it'sperfect.
Just that, would you saybreathlessness.
Yeah like just soaking it all inyeah and it's gonna be the same
thing I experienced when thenuggets got the rings and raised
(26:16):
the banner.
Yeah, like you get toexperience all again, just
seeing those guys who haveworked their whole lives to Be
at that moment right and I thinkthat's something, too, it might
be unique to baseball.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Like I think you can have it like in football and
basketball, like Like one of thegreat things about baseball is
like you can't, you can't, youcan't get a lead and then, like,
start running out the clock or,you know, play preventive.
Like you can't, you knowelongate your possessions.
Like when you play baseball,like you, you got to throw the
(26:49):
ball over the plate got play.
Yeah, you got to give him achance to hit and then you got
to make your plays, and so Ithink that's kind of like you're
always holding your breathUntil, like that, final out is
called.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Well, and I think I have to take back an earlier
statement when I said theRangers winning All 11 road
games was the most incredibleachievement.
I think you having theself-control to follow the games
of the World Series of yourfavorite team on your phone
Might be even more incredible.
I don't.
I could never do that.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I mean I just, but you did.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
You did what needed to be done you know, sometimes
Don't do what's easy.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
You do what you got to do.
You got to do what needs to bedone.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
It's just so perfect, because baseball players are
just the most superstitiouspeople ever, so of course their
fans are too.
But especially falling along onyour phone like that, sometimes
there's like 30 seconds or aminute before the pitch updates
and you're just wondering what'shappening because you're just
like, oh my goodness, somethingbig is happening, yeah that's
the annoying, because, like you,you can kind of get keyed in
(27:51):
because I've done this enough,where you know you're watching
and I'm literally like peopleare gonna probably think I'm
gonna get idiot.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Like I'm just staring at this screen and and then you
just see like little numberstick so you see like, like the
pitcher, like he went from 50 to51.
So you're like all right, likeyou threw a pitch, and if it's
like a strike or a ball, likesomething that doesn't get hit,
like it usually just prettyquick updates.
And then like there's timeswhere you're like it goes from
(28:20):
50 to 51 and then you're justwaiting and then like maybe you
refresh your screen like whatjust happened?
What just happened, and youknow someone's running around
doing something.
And then a lot of times, likebefore, like the game cast, like
updates with what happened,like if it's something where,
like, somebody scores, like nextthing you know, the score
changes.
You're just like, oh my gosh,something just happened.
What happened?
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I love that cause.
I can see you doing that, butthat is dedication and I love it
so much.
Well, let's talk about how yougot there.
Can you tell me, was it youngbread, teenage bread, like when
did you start following theRangers and kind of tell me the
(29:03):
journey to that breathlessness?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, so as far as I can remember, I have been a
Rangers fan, so I kind ofdeviated off the family fandom.
My dad and my brother areCardinals fans and that stems
back to when my dad was young.
You know, one of the few radiostations you could get was KMOX
(29:28):
of St Louis, so he'd listened toJack Buck called Cardinals
games, so that's how he kind ofbecame a Cardinals fan cause.
At night you could get, youknow, the broadcasts for the
games and that just kind of gotpassed down, and so that kind of
also was another bitter pill toswallow in 2011, with a
(29:49):
heartbreak of losing game sixand then losing game seven, like
that.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Family had bragging rights over it.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
But my favorite baseball player to this day is
Nolan Ryan, nice, and I don'tknow how it started I think we
have some speculation that wayback when he had this commercial
.
I think it was like for a leaveor Tylenol and like the jingle
was like off the raw hide, butit was like Nolan, nolan, nolan,
keep that fastball, throw inNolan Ryan.
(30:19):
And I think, just maybe likethree year old me, four year old
me, attached to that, he waslike, yeah, that's the best
thing ever.
And then you know, fast forwarda couple of years, like it's
just like Nolan Ryan, that's myguy, that's who I cheer for, and
I remember, you know, one ofthe few, you know, one of the TV
stations you could get back inthe day was like WGN and they
(30:40):
would mainly play cup games, butevery now and then they would
play White Sox games too, andlike I was actually watching
live, like the infamous gamewhere Nolan Ryan hits Robin
Ventura.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
And then Robin Ventura charges the mound and
like I just remember, like I'msitting here and I'm just like
what is happening.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Nolan is not worried.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
You know he puts Ventura in the headlock and just
kind of like kind of startswailing and so you know he
retired and it was just likejust kind of stick with him and
it kind of helped that like theywere a better baseball team in
the 90, in the, you know, mid tolate 90s, but they just they
(31:23):
can never get past the Yankeesjuggernaut.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Yeah, I'd say it's just bad timing, because you
guys did have some good teamsback then.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Like Pudge Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez.
Yeah, yeah, it's just, theYankees were unstoppable.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yes, and then you know, we go through like another
drought where, like, all we'rereally known for is, like we
signed Alex Rodriguez to aridiculous contract, yeah, and
then we traded him to theYankees, but part of that trade
we sent to the Yankees, we gotsome key pieces and we started
(31:57):
building.
And then 2008, 2009, like, wehad a really good baseball team
and we had a really good window.
And 2010, we make a run, wemake it to the World Series and
we just ran into a juggernautthat was the Giants, and was
that, like Linsa Com and allthat.
Yep.
And so it was just clear likethey won it in five.
(32:19):
We won one game, but you justkind of knew from game one, like
we had Cliff Lee who was one ofthe best starting pitchers at
the time and he came out andthey just shellacked him game
one, and you're like, okay, thisis not going to go, yeah, and
then next year we go again, kindof take a similar path to make
it like beat the Rays in the DS,beat the Tigers in the CS, and
(32:45):
then go to the World Series whenwe have the Cardinals.
And then that was just to theaverage observer was a really
good series and it's a seriesnow like I can appreciate more
now that we've broken through.
Sure, and I think you know,last week I was just kind of
like let me just watch some ofthose game six highlights and
(33:06):
just kind of see how it wentdown.
And it was a fun game and thatwas honestly the first time like
I actually like look back athighlights from when that
happened.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
It doesn't hurt quite as bad anymore.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
No, I actually realized like I kind of like
misremembered because we had ourcloser, niftali Felizan, and I
thought the ball that freeze hit, like I thought he tried to
slide in like a slider becauseto get strike two he threw a
fastball and then freeze wasnowhere near like looking like
(33:38):
he was going to hit it and so Ithought like he slid in a slider
and that's the reason why hegot around on it and got the bat
on the ball.
But when I looked back it waslike a 97 mile an hour fastball
but he just lifted up just alittle bit and a little bit out
and that's all freeze needed todo that.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
And I was like what sorry was that his triple?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Oh, gotcha, gotcha, yeah, yeah.
It's amazing how just a fewinches can make such a huge
difference.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, yeah, cause I mean, if it was like a half inch
lower, it's probably a groundout or world champions, an inch
lower it's a strikeout or worldchampions.
But it was just.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
It's just gonna be one of those big what ifs in
your franchise history.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah, it was just not meant to be.
But it's now that we've brokenthrough in the World Series,
like you can kind of likeappreciate that team a whole lot
more because there's not thatlike cloud hanging over, like
you have a World Series now, andso it's kind of like that was
really a fun bunch With BeltrayAndrews, like Michael Young, ian
(34:42):
Kinsler, you know the likethree or four years where
Hamilton was really good, likethat was a really fun team to
follow and watch.
And now it's kind of like youcan kind of like appreciate them
more because, like we have thatWorld Series.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
And again, yeah, it was just a step in the journey
to this year and, like you said,you can appreciate everything
so much more now.
Yeah, that's cool.
Well, very good.
Just in general, because youhave been watching baseball for
so long, I did want to get youropinion on the new rules this
year, mainly like the pitchclock and just things they did
to, I guess, make it moreenjoyable for the casual fan.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Yeah, I think they worked.
I think even like some of therules, like limiting, like how
much you can shift is huge,because like teams are hitting
now and so it's more about likereally good, like pitching,
hitting matchups, and we're notso much like bogged down in this
(35:43):
, like this batter is eithergoing to walk, strike out or hit
a home run, like yeah, likethere's teams getting on, like
there's hitting, like the gameis more exciting, like like that
game five where we clinchedlike every time like Arizona got
a base runner, they got him asecond and you're just like, oh
my goodness, like what's goingto happen.
(36:04):
And then the game, the pace ofplay just going so much faster I
think is good for the game.
I think the biggest thingbaseball needs to work on is
like just I think they need tofind ways to engage fans outside
of TV, cause you know, I sawwhere, like this World Series
(36:25):
was like the lowest rated WorldSeries and like it's kind of on
a downward trend.
And one of the things I'venoticed too is like, like
basketball is kind of similar,like the ratings are on a
downward trend, and I think,just like when you talk about
like a seven game series like.
That's a lot to invest in whenyou're just like I gotta stay up
to like 11, 12 o'clock, likepotentially you know seven of
(36:47):
the next 10 nights.
Like that's a lot of work.
It's a lot of investment and so, like I think just something
that can do is, like you know,just kind of like trying to
engage fans like outside themedium of TV, I think.
I think even like howsuccessful the NFL has been,
like like they're doing thingslike that, like with like the
(37:10):
Manning cast, like maybe justhaving like different, like
baseball, like simulcast.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Something different.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Yeah, and I think that would help.
But also maybe play to.
You know, the superstitiousbaseball fans was like okay, if
I watch them on this stream,like I watch this stream.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
If you have more options to watch, then you won't
end up on your phone and whenit doesn't go bad, like when it
goes bad, I can go here.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
And I can go here and like.
I like that you know, whenwe're out in the field I got to
watch it on this, but when we'rehitting I got to watch it over
here.
But I think that's somethingbaseball can do.
I really do think the speed uproles have helped, mm-hmm, and I
think I think you might seebaseball making an upturn.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
I agree, like as someone who's a complete casual
fan now and hardly watches anygames besides the playoffs.
I think my enjoyment went wayup with the pitch clock because
so often it seemed like theywould throw a pitch and then
there'd be so much downtime inbetween and you would just end
up kind of like looking at yourphone or even just seeing what
(38:14):
else is on because there's justnothing was happening.
And during the playoffs thisyear it was just nonstop.
I loved it.
So just from my point of view Ithink it's working and if they
keep finding little things to dothen, like you said, they'll
kind of catch on with theyounger audience and hopefully
it'll pick back up.
But I think the lower ratingsare just sports in general.
(38:35):
Like you said, I don't think ithad anything to do with it
being the matchup that it was oranything like that, because it
was a good matchup.
But yeah, I think it'sinteresting.
At least they're tryingsomething.
For the most part I think it'sbeen positive, which I thought
it when I first heard about it.
I thought it sounded desperatebecause I like the tradition of
baseball, but nothing was earthshattering.
(38:56):
So if it makes it more fun towatch then I'm all for it.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Yeah, and it just makes games go by quicker and I
think, like maybe I have moreappreciation of it because if,
like, you're starting a game at10 o'clock at night, oh yeah.
There's no way I'm going tostay up for the whole game, but
it's like I can get threeinnings in and still get to bed
at a decent time.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Exactly, it's worth it.
It's better than nothing.
Yeah, very good.
Well cool.
Want to play some games?
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
All right, so first one, pretty easy, can't get it
wrong.
Because it is your opinion.
I would like to hear your alltime Rangers lineup, and it
doesn't have to be best playerLike.
I'd almost be more interestedin just hearing your favorite
player at each position and I'lllet you have one starter and if
(39:48):
you want to do a reliever, youcan.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Okay, all right, so I think, pretty easy, we can
knock some of these out.
You got to have Nolan Ryan asyour starting pitcher.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
He's one of the best to ever do it.
And then you know, same thingas catcher.
You got to have a von Roderick.
Like you are a default Hall ofFamer, you deserve to be in that
all time lineup.
So we got pitcher catchercovered, I think, first base.
I think I would probably gowith Will Clark.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Oh, interesting.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Just because you know , he, when I was a kid playing
baseball like I, even though Ithrew right handed, I batted
left handed, couldn't swingright handed.
I don't know why, it was just aquirk, but will Clark was left
handed and had just like a sweet, smooth swing.
I always tried to copy and sohe was really good.
Yeah, so I'm going to go withwill Clark, second base,
(40:49):
probably I'm going to go, eventhough I because I have to work
him in somewhere I'm going to goMichael young.
There he played second shortand third, but I got to get him
in there somewhere and I think,like short stuff, I got to go
Seeger and then, third base, I'mgoing to have to go Beltry.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Oh nice.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
He was good for so long.
Yeah, he really was, and it wasa lot of fun like the dynamic
that Beltry and Andrews had,like they were.
They were pretty fun to watchand just kind of like watch cut
up.
And if you ever get bored, justlook up a YouTube video where,
like there was like an easy pop,fly.
Like they would literally likemess with each other.
Oh really yeah, as they weretrying to catch the pop fly.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
What was the deal with people rubbing his head?
Did he really not like it thatmuch?
Speaker 2 (41:38):
He did not like it, and it's just kind of like one
of those things, I guess, likewith your.
You're with the boys and youmake the mistake of like letting
them know, like I don't likethis, yep, then they're going to
do it 10 times more, yeah, andso it was just like every time
he hit a home run that was.
His trip to the dugout was notenjoyable.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
I always thought that was so funny.
Yeah, all right, that's a goodinfield.
Who got in the outfield?
Speaker 2 (42:03):
So outfield, I think you got to go.
We'll just, we'll give them apass for the steroids.
We'll go.
Juan Gonzalez, I would put oofCause I feel like I want to put
two hitters in there.
I'm trying to decide, but Imight need, like, a defensive
center.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
In this imaginary world.
You need defense.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Yes, you know what we're going to go with the bats.
We're going to ride the bats,so we'll throw.
We'll throw Garcia in centerfield, let him be a little bit
of a duck out of the water justfor, like the run he had this
season, and then we'll go.
We'll go Nelson Cruz rightfield, oh nice, and I feel like
he kind of he kind of catches alot of grief because he was kind
(42:48):
of awkwardly lunging at thatball that freeze hit.
I've watched a couple.
He had no chance of gettingthat yeah.
And it's you know.
The only thing he could havedone is maybe set up to play the
ball, hitting off the wall andmaybe trying to keep that run
from first.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
So just take a different angle, yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
But that that is a big if, because you don't know
how it's going to clean off thewall.
So but we, we don't make it tothe world series both times
without him.
He absolutely dominated theTigers and the ALCS.
So yeah, there's my I like itand maybe a reliever.
I would probably go with Elise,because then in his heyday he
(43:33):
was he was really good.
I like it yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
I like it.
That's a pretty legit lineup.
They would have easily beatthose mid 90s Yankees for you.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
Oh, 100%, all right.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Next game is called Walker Texas Ranger.
Walker Texas Ranger was a hitTV show starring Chuck Norris
Right, and never watched itmyself, I don't think, but we're
old enough that Chuck Norrisjokes were popular for a while
back then.
(44:06):
So I'm going to read a ChuckNorris joke to you and assign it
kind of a key word and aquestion to go along with it,
and you'll name a player fromthe Rangers that first one that
comes to mind when you hear thatword.
So it's just a good excuse toget Chuck Norris jokes going to
(44:27):
go, let's do it.
So first one the Swiss army usesChuck Norris knives.
The word I think of here isutility, so name me your
favorite non-star utility player.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Oh, non-star.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
I would even let you say Michael Young, because he
played so many positions likeand he's your guy.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
That's the first thought that came to mind.
I mean, I don't know if he hecount.
I mean he made one or two worldseries.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
I say he was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (44:56):
Yeah, he was good, he was a hit machine.
But he came into the leagueplaying second base and then
when we traded a a rod to theYankees, we got Soriano in
return.
So he moved shortstop and thenwhen Elvis Andrews was coming up
we moved him to third base andthey got a little contentious
(45:17):
there.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
I love hearing all these names.
I haven't heard it forever.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Where he he wanted to be traded and then kind of got
smoothed over and then was justkind of a utility guy, kind of a
plug and play, until like onceBeltry came over.
So I think we could say MichaelYoung.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
I like it For the younger listeners.
You got to look at MichaelYoung, he was legit.
Yeah, All right.
Next one Chuck Norris can makesticks by rubbing two fires
together.
The word here is resourcefulName, a favorite reliever that
could always get out of a jam.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
As far as reliever goes, one of the things that
bolstered our 2011 World Seriesrun is we traded for a guy, Mike
Adams, and he was just prettymuch unstoppable.
Speaker 1 (46:15):
Nice.
Yeah, I haven't thought abouthim in so long.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
Very good, so go, mike Adams, or one guy that was
huge for us this year, daneDunning who was a former Florida
Gator but he actually the planwas for him to be a long
reliever this year, kind of anendings guy, and just kind of
worked himself into that likenumber four starting role did
(46:42):
really well.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
That's cool.
I didn't know he's a Gator.
Yeah, very cool, all right.
This one, chuck Norris, doesn'thave a chin Under his beard, is
another fist, so the word hereis beard.
Who had the best playoff beardthis year?
Speaker 2 (47:00):
I don't know if many of them had beards.
I don't think they did thatthis year.
Speaker 1 (47:08):
Interesting.
That had to have been like agroup decision, because it just
seems like there's always theguys doing the playoff beards.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
Yeah, I can't really think of a guy that was like
bearded guy.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
Interesting, I just kind of assumed.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
Any of the Rangers run.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
See, I'm so focused on looking up Chuck Norris jokes
.
I didn't even see if they hadbeards.
No worries.
Last one there are no streetsnamed after Chuck Norris,
because no one would dare crossChuck Norris.
So the word is toughness.
Who do you picture when youthink of toughness?
Or the Rangers?
Speaker 2 (47:47):
I think Adrian Beltran yeah, I don't think I
ever remember him being out ofthe lineup, being hurt.
He would play hurt, he'd getbeat up and he would just always
produce.
And he was a Ranger for a shortamount of time, but he was
definitely up there, one of myfavorites.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
And you gotta be tougher to play as long as he
did, yeah, and I just can't evenimagine the wear and tear that
he put on his body, but he wasjust up there every day.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:18):
Yep, that's a good answer.
All right, very good, I wouldsay you win that game.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
And last game is called Lone Star Wars.
So Texas is obviously the LoneStar State and you and I we used
to talk about Star Wars alittle bit when a good old
Mandalorian came out and allthat good stuff.
So, as you can tell by thetitle, basically I'm gonna mash
(48:44):
up Two names okay and I'm gonnagive you clues for each name and
you have to give me the mashedup name.
Okay, that makes sense, so likelone Star Wars.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
All right, all right, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
So the clues will get more and more helpful as we go.
So if you get it after thefirst clue, we'll give you Three
imaginary points.
All right and if you get outthe second clue, you get two.
If you need all three clues,you only get one point.
All right and if you don't getit after all the clues?
Speaker 2 (49:14):
You can.
You can still be my friend,yeah okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
So first one this is a Player and a director, so I
just want to kind of get you inthe right mind frame.
So first, clue Through two nohitters for the Rangers and then
for the director directed lastJedi.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
So do you know who the player is off of that first
clue.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
It's Nolan Ryan, and I can't think what's his last
name.
Director.
Ah should be able to get this,nolan Ryan.
Speaker 1 (49:59):
Do you need a second clue?
Speaker 2 (50:04):
Directed knives out.
He Is Ryan.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
You're so close.
I know Credit because I you arevery close, I'm gonna give you
the second clue.
I don't think it's gonna bevery helpful because you already
said it.
The second clue for the playeris the most strikeouts ever.
Yeah, and the second clue forthe director is he directed
knives out.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
Because I think it's just.
It's just one of those thingslike you cramp because it's like
Ryan Dead, it as knives out.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
I think you'll get it after the third clue.
So I was laughing earlier whenyou're telling the story,
because my third clue for thisone is he beat up Robin, been
for Ben Turra, yeah.
And the third clue for thedirector is his name.
Sounds a lot like mine, oh.
Speaker 2 (50:57):
Oh, ryan, john, ryan, john Yep.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
Yep, very good, so it says so.
Nolan Ryan Johnson is the firstanswer.
Very good, you had that quick,you just couldn't quite quite
get his name, all right.
Second one this is a player anda Star Wars character.
Okay all right.
So clue one for the player hewas the eighth overall pick in
(51:21):
2019 by the Rangers and and Cluenumber one for the character is
he trained Anakin Skywalker.
Okay, so and I apologize inadvance, because this is kind of
a stretch.
Speaker 2 (51:37):
Yeah, so I'm trying to think of 2019.
My options would be what likeJosh young Evan Carter.
Speaker 1 (51:53):
You want that.
Three points I'm trying to.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
All right, second clue Well, I'm trying to think
is like is there any way I canstretch Jonah, I'm into Do you
know the Star Wars character?
Well, I mean, if you train toAnakin, you're thinking Obi-Wan,
so.
(52:18):
But the Rangers player comesfirst, right?
Speaker 1 (52:23):
And this one yes so.
Let me give you the second clue.
All right, he hit a home run inhis very first major league at
bat.
And the second clue, for thecharacter is Old version was
played by Alec Guinness.
Speaker 2 (52:39):
Okay, so as a part of the stretch, are we going like
Ben Kenobi, or is it Obi-Wan?
Speaker 1 (52:48):
You are on the right track with Obi-Wan, but the
reason it's a stretch is becauseI kind of threw in a little
Descriptive word to make thiswork.
So the clue was old versionplayed Alec, by Alec Guinness.
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (53:10):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (53:10):
Clue three Clue three he is.
He was the starting thirdbaseman for the AL All-Star team
this year.
And then the characters playedby Ewan McGregor.
Speaker 2 (53:23):
So I'm just trying to figure out how we stretch Josh
young into Josh young.
We won Kenobi there you go.
Speaker 1 (53:29):
I Josh young Obi-Wan Kenobi, so that, like Ewan
McGregor played young Obi-WanKenobi and now again has played
old Obi-Wan.
So I told you, I apologize,that was a stretch, all right
not as much as this one ready,all right.
So this is a player and acharacter again.
Speaker 2 (53:48):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (53:51):
The player clue number one grew up in Alvin,
texas, and the characterorphaned as a child.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (54:02):
Not much to go on there.
Yep, right for clue two.
Yep, okay, clue two this wasthe first year for this pitcher
with the Rangers.
Okay, and clue two for thecharacter is he has a little
green friend.
Speaker 2 (54:17):
Okay, so the Star Wars character, we we going Luke
Skywalker?
Then I'm trying to thinkthrough pitchers like Like this
was a Valdez first-year pitching, this was the Grom.
(54:39):
Then maybe, maybe we gotMontgomery Jordan, montgomery
Scherzer.
Let's go to clue three.
Speaker 1 (54:54):
Clue three this pitcher won five games this
postseason.
Okay, and clue three for thecharacter.
His nickname is Mando.
Speaker 2 (55:04):
Okay, so Nathan of Aldi Ginger.
Speaker 1 (55:16):
Yeah.
So you kind of really got tosmash them together and say I'm
fast, Nathan Evaldi den.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
There we go Nice.
Speaker 1 (55:22):
You got that one.
Yeah, I'm gonna give you allthe points for that.
They're very good.
Well, cool man, I appreciateyou putting up with my silly
little games and I Think thestories you told were great.
This was, this is great.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
Yeah, sometimes you, you know you can have an
influence on the game and youdon't.
Speaker 1 (55:38):
Even I was gonna say I didn't realize that you
actually won the World Seriesnot, not necessarily the Rangers
, yeah so I like it Well cool.
I'm gonna have you back on totalk about the Gators sometime.
Yeah, maybe a Next year, whenI'm assuming they're gonna have
an amazing recruiting class andthe hype will be out of the out
of the world again.
Speaker 2 (55:58):
You might need to hit on some players in the transfer
portal.
Speaker 1 (56:01):
Oh, there you go Maybe.
Oh, cool man, I appreciate ityeah.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.