November 18, 2024 • 23 mins
Experience the Home Run Derby through our eyes as we capture the energy of the vibrant crowd, a congregation of diehard fans savoring every last swing of the season. The atmosphere was electric, but the limited merchandise offerings left much to be desired, especially for those hunting for collectible treasures. Our journey doesn't end here, though, as we dream of diving deeper into the baseball world with a trip to spring training in Phoenix or Florida.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Is anybody there?
What's up, DadHacku, andwelcome to another episode of
the DadHack.
Chronicles podcast this week.
It's just me kinda.
(00:21):
So I'm going to start it offgiving you guys my thoughts on
the Arizona Fall League, what Ithought of the whole event, and
then also give you a little bitof thoughts on some things that
I noticed as far as merchandiseand marketing and things like
that, my opinion on these things.
Okay, I mean, again, I'm justone person, I'm a fan, I've been
(00:43):
watching a lot of baseball, butagain, I'm just one person, I'm
a fan, I've been watching a lotof baseball, but again, I'm
just one person.
Overall, when I went there forthe Fall Star game, it was great
.
The Home Run Derby was amazing.
The best part about all of thatwas the kids right, going back
and forth from left field toright field.
The kids were loving it and Ithink, in my opinion, that was
the best part about the wholething.
Okay, the kids were loving itand I think, in my opinion, that
(01:03):
was the best part about thewhole thing.
Okay, it was funny because andif you listened to last week's
episode, you got to hear Pauland I talking about the fact
that we were putting time out.
It's not really time out.
All right, it was there, wasthey fenced it off, so that way
the kids were able to get accessto the home runs rather than
(01:26):
the adults getting in the way,which to me, honestly, I'm fine
with it.
If the ball would have gottento me, I would have kept the
ball Not going to lie.
I would have kept the ball.
Kids have more opportunities toget them, so why not keep it?
I know I'm going to get a lotof hate for that, but that's, it
is what it is.
Overall, though, it was great.
A lot of hate for that, butthat's, it is what it is.
(01:47):
Uh, overall, though, it wasgreat.
Uh, it was great seeing, um,how they for kind of formatted
it to major league standards,but not really.
They made some changes.
It was pretty cool to see.
Uh, the event.
Um, the all-star game overallwas actually pretty cool.
Uh, it was cool to see themwearing the parent club uniforms
.
Right, by the way, the best,the highlight of that one was
(02:08):
the kid from the Tampa Bay Rays,actually one of the coaches.
They were wearing the oldschool Tampa Bay Devil Rays
uniforms and it was absolutelybeautiful.
But it was cool to see theparent club uniforms being worn
as well as the All-Star game.
Well, actually the Arizona FallLeague had for each of the
(02:30):
teams that they were playing for, right.
So American League, nationalLeague, american League won, but
it was.
It was a cool event, you know.
For a second I thought theAmerican League was actually
going to give up the the leadand then lose, but they didn't.
They held on at the end.
It was a cool experience.
Now let's talk about some of thethings that I wish that Major
(02:54):
League Baseball would do alittle bit better.
Right, and again, I get it,guys, I get it.
You know, this is baseball.
Right, this is, you know, someof the top prospects coming in,
getting some working and thingslike that.
Right, you're working in thespring facilities for a lot of
these players, a lot of theseparent clubs.
So I get that.
(03:15):
All right.
I just wish they would do alittle bit of a better job
marketing the league.
Right, if you are a diehardbaseball fan, like I am, you
know about the Arizona FallLeague.
Right, but to be honest withyou, I really only found out
about the Arizona Fall League acouple of years ago, so it
(03:36):
hasn't been that long for me, asa fan, to really know about the
Arizona Fall League Now.
I love it, I think it's greatand I think it's just an
opportunity for fans like myselfto see more games.
All right, then the and this ismy sticking point so,
merchandising, merchandising.
(03:57):
There were some cool things,right, there were some cool
hoodies, some cool t-shirts,some hats.
I'm still a little confused asto why this year's hat, being a
mesh style hat, was 50 dollars,um, compared to some of the hats
that from you know, thepolyester one, uh, they were 35
dollars.
Um, and again, it just doesn'tmake any sense to me, um, why
(04:20):
you're using less material andcharging more.
Uh, as far as and those werethe fitteds, right, there was no
dad hats available at all, andto all of you that say it was
like, well, there was some withthe Velcro, yeah, it was a
structured front, and the bestway that I can tell you about
those hats is that that's agiveaway hat that they were
(04:43):
trying to sell me as a dad hat,which is not even close to being
a dad hat.
Okay, uh, as you, if youlistened to last week's episode,
uh, one of the managers wastrying to convince Paul, uh,
that that was a dad hat, whichwas actually kind of hilarious.
Uh, cause, I have no idea thatwhat conversation was going on
until I listened to the episode,which was pretty cool, uh, and
(05:05):
then finally, um, the uh, the,the team shop for the ballpark
was was closed.
Um, there was no access to thatat all.
And when I'm talking about thiswas the skeleton crew um
operation.
It really was a skeleton crewoperation.
I believe there was two, uh,concession stands open and they
(05:29):
were I mean, I'm talking, justlike you know, chicken tenders,
hot dogs, very few selectionswhen it comes to beverages.
Again, I get that, I get it.
I mean, but there was likearound 2000 people there and
there was really not a lot ofoptions, right.
And then my good friend, paul ofBaseball by Design, he put it
this way and I think it's agreat way of putting it is this
(05:52):
is early on spring training,right, like you know, when the
early stages of spring training,when not a lot of people knew
about it, where, you know,because right now spring
training, it's a whole event,right, you started in February
and it's already.
You know, so many people, youknow, flock to Arizona, they
flock to Florida, and it was alot of people that go there.
(06:12):
This is not it.
I just want to put that outthere.
This is not it, this is a.
If you want to put it in inPaul's words, this is early
version of that.
Do?
I hope that they make somechanges?
Yes, um, I just also wish theydo a better job with marketing
and, uh merchandising, becausethere's a lot to be desired when
it comes to uh merchandising.
(06:34):
Did I buy a hat?
Yes, I did.
I bought a fitted hat becausethat was the only option I had
and I really wanted to get a uh,something, uh for me to
remember this, uh, this wholeexperience, which was overall a
great experience.
Right, if you want to go outthere, if you want to take a
little break from, uh, from thewhat it is, the fall and right
(06:55):
after the World Series, theplayoffs and all that, this is a
great place to go.
Take your family, go to Arizona.
Arizona is beautiful this timeof year.
I mean, for God's sakes.
I went hiking and it was in the60s.
I thought I was going to need ahoodie, which was not the case
because it was so hot and it wasbeautiful.
The case because it was so hotand it was beautiful.
So now that I give you guys mythoughts.
I'm also going to give you nowmy conversation with John
(07:18):
Southey.
I hope you guys enjoy it.
This was a lot of fun as well.
We had some jokes going on.
Make sure you guys arefollowing him on all socials.
Sign up for his newsletter thathe puts out there.
All right, guys?
So now, without further ado,I'll give you the episode.
I am sitting right now with mygood friend, john southey, of my
(07:39):
hobby fan club.
My friend, how was theexperience where you've been so
far?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
besides this cold, I this is so fun.
I love this.
I can't believe that we get towatch baseball in november.
Nove been doing it since Marchbefore the season started, and
now it's November.
I think this is great, awesome.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
How has the experience so far for the
Arizona Fall League the All-StarSeries has been for you?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
It's fun because it's a.
What is it?
We're talking in the top of theseventh.
Now it's 5-5.
So got to see a three-run homerun.
We got to see a couple ofspeedy runners, Some of these
guys are fast.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
They're fast Kids.
Like the last inning, theseguys stole the base.
What?
Two or three times.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yes, and nobody's been caught throwing out yet, so
that's, I love it.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I asked Paul this question.
I want to get your opinion onthis.
The all-star home run derbyyesterday.
What was like the best part foryou regarding the home run
derby?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Oh, that's easy, the kids.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
OK, see, we all said the same thing.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yeah, watching those kids just chasing the ball, it
was kind of like a swarm of beesand they would go.
And the only thing I was justlike, just like, please, none of
these kids get hurt, becausethey were all reaching for the
same ball and is like one couldhave missed and just yes yeah,
it was pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, I love that part going from left field to
right field and back and forth.
You know, when there was like alefty or righty batter, it was
hilarious like they were reallyplaying a game.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
that was pretty funny , right, right.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Exactly.
So I get to experience that Now.
I estimate right now theall-star game right here, Bob,
we had close to 2000 people.
I would say, yeah, it's likebetween 1500 and 2000.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
This ballpark is triple a size.
It looks like to me, so I mean,of course it's gotta be.
Cubs are here.
It's probably pretty packed,but I was looking at the games
before I came and I noticed thatthe games aren't.
You know, it looks like what itis right now.
(09:48):
So you know, I think a lot ofthese people are diehards like
you and me, so we're gettingthose ones that just want to
watch the last little bit ofbaseball before we get to again.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, so that is oh, here we go.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yes, we get to sing.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Take me out with the crowd, buy me some peanuts and.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Cracker Jacks.
I don't care if I ever get backto the roof, roof, roof for the
fall scars.
No, women's a shame.
It's one, two, three strikes.
You're out at the old.
No win, it's a shame.
It's one, two, three strikes.
You're out at the old ball gameand fans heads up.
(10:49):
We've got t-shirts coming yourway from the Arizona Fall League
, from the lawyer and the broadsbrand of you sure I know right
yeah well, they were on themfrom the top okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
So let's talk merchandise, because that's
something that has that, in myopinion, to me, like I mean to
me, not anybody I've been alittle underwhelmed yeah, I mean
they had a tent with merch, andwhat I was most disappointed
(11:33):
about is they they made a newon-field mesh, new era yep.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And then they had the old, regular 100 polyester ones
yep.
But the price difference in thecurrent one versus the old one
doesn't even make sense.
Why did they have to do that?
But they did exact same hat,just one was mesh.
Usually the mesh one is butyeah, underwhelming is a good
(12:00):
word for it.
The merch is just very basic,but I guess, if you keep getting
the same people coming to thesame games.
You don't expect to sell toomuch, so I guess I kind of get
it.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Yeah, but the one thing that I was disappointed in
you collect the 50 and 50s, neweras.
I'm a deadhead collector andthere was not a single deadhead
to be collected in this.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Uh, yeah, that that doesn't really make sense at all
, there was nothing.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
They had those, uh, velcro back a couple of
snapbacks, but there weredefinitely nothing as far as the
data was concerned.
And I'm like I mean, I get it,you don't want to put a lot, but
like those would have been theeasy one to make.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, I don't know why theywouldn't make some of those.
I don't know.
I didn't check online, Ofcourse I wouldn't have checked
for a dad hat anyways.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
No, you wouldn't, because you would collect it.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Yeah, so I don't know if they have some online.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Did you get to buy some merchandise?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I bought two hats.
I bought the Salt River Raftersand then the Tucson Sagueros,
and that was the one I wantedthe most, and had I not had to
buy the mesh one, I may havebought three or four.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
And I say that quietly as my wife sits in front
of me- she is not listening tothis interview at all, don't you
worry.
She will not be listening.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
I had to ask permission as well for my wife,
don't you worry, to make surethat I bought a hat or two.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
But I didn't buy much stuff.
Well, I think it's funny that Iwas telling you guys yesterday
that we walked in and then webumped into each other, but
prior to that we were taking apicture at the sign over here
that looks like the littleWrigley sign.
But then the very next thingout of my wife's mouth is like
hey, let's go check out themerch.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I didn't say that she did.
You know what she set you up.
So she knew it was gonna go,how it was gonna go down of
course right so something wasgonna be purchased it wasn't me
money was gonna be, was gonna bespent it was definitely at that
little table there, of courseand uh, unfortunately yeah, and
unfortunately I did not win thespin the wheel um I didn't
(14:17):
either so I was hoping I guessyou could have won a couple of.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I saw a guy today actually just walked down here
and he had a uh, arizona fallleague, uh batting helmet and it
was autographed, I think he wonit.
Yeah, I think he won it and hewas wearing it.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
He's wearing the batting helmet.
I've been wearing it too.
So, yeah, that's pretty cool.
Um, last couple of questionshere, my friend, and then you
know, so would you, will you dothis again?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I want to come for spring training uh, you've never
been to for spring I have notbeen to any spring training at
all, so, whether that's inflorida or here, I would love to
come back to phoenix.
Um, I'm enjoying my time here.
We went hiking this morning andthat was really nice, did a lot
of you know, it's very easy todrive around here and you know a
lot of major cities.
(15:07):
You know, you hear about them,but you don't realize how close
they really are and there's alot to do, yeah, so we barely
scratched the surface, so I'dlove to come back to phoenix but
.
I also would love to do theflorida circuit.
I've I've driven it in thesummertime, but I have not done
spring training yet see I wantto do.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I've done for spring training here in phoenix a good
year for the cleveland, for theguardians and cincinnati red, so
that was a cool wonder to goexperience.
I really want to go hit upflorida now that that's going to
be on the bucket list for nextone yeah, there's some good
stadiums over there.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Of course I would love to see my yankees at um in
tampa.
I visited it.
I visited the stadium before,but that was about it.
No games were going on, um, Istayed for an inning, maybe in
clearwater, but yeah, that'sabout it all right.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
So now that you know, obviously your podcast, right?
Yes, I'll let you know a little, asking about it here in a
minute, but we're here in uh,mesa, arizona.
What are your recommendationsfor people when they come down
here?
As far as food or, like yousaid, hiking, what do you
recommend people to do?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
so I think the hiking would be great, but I don't
know how it actually feels inhere and uh, summertime so I am
from san antonio, I probablycould take it, but, um, I don't
know if I recommend anybody elseoutside of you know desert
areas like myself to come, butyeah, hiking seems to be fun.
Um, we've eaten a lot ofdelicious places already, like
(16:42):
we went to a place called honeyand butter or something like
that.
I had the best, uh, chickenfried steak this morning.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Oh, so good with eggs , and they fried the potatoes oh
my gosh, it was so good I'm nothungry now anymore, don't you
worry, I'm not hungry at all.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, and then Stadium Food Girl.
She had kept recommending thepretzel.
I just had a pretzel, deliciousOf course it was so soft.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
So good, oh, so good.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
But we went to I want to say it's called Old
Scottsdale and it's kind of likea old western kind of town and
Baseballism was there.
The first Baseballism store isthere.
Okay, yes, so we walked inthere.
(17:34):
Everything is 20% off right now.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Oh, so I want to get a couple other hats, so don't
say that to me.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, so it's a really cool little town that you
can go visit and we didn't buyanything at that store, right.
I was able to escape, but Idon't know if I regret it or not
, but I was able to escapewithout buying anything today,
are you looking?
For custom apparel.
That speaks volumes.
Wow, my current energy comfortofferings.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
The wife approves, I'm sure that you're not
spending any money there?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Of course yes, because she's not listening to
this episode right now.
The wife approves.
I'm sure that you're notspending any money there.
of course, yes because she's notlistening to this episode no
she's not in front of us at allwe did uh visit a couple of
coffee places too and uh movie,bueno, one was called the sale
and the other was called eso andI.
They came highly recommended ontiktok, so we we made our trek
(18:27):
over to those two, so those arevery highly recommended by me as
well okay, all right, all righttell us about your podcast uh,
your newsletter uh, where peoplecan find you on social media
for sure.
So my podcast is called minorFan Club.
I try to keep it prettysuccinct with the names Minor
League Fan Club podcast.
(18:48):
Basically, what we do there iswe talk to a staff member, we
talk to a fan and we talk to alocal person.
The staff member kind of walksyou around the stadium and what
to expect at the ballpark.
A fan will tell you everythingthat happens at the ballpark
from a fan perspective what toeat, what to buy, what to where
(19:08):
to sit, secrets of the ballpark.
But they're also going to talkto you about their city.
So when I talk to a fan they'lltell you where to go, where to
eat, where to stay, where tohang out.
And then, lastly, I do like totalk to a business so that when
you visit, you might feelcompelled to go visit that
business.
(19:29):
I have a weekly newsletter.
It just have.
The news that I share is minorleague news that you may have
missed from a week or twoprobably, and it's every single
monday.
All you have to do is go tominorleaguecom
minorleaguefanclubcom and enteryour email.
(19:50):
I don't ever send spam, usuallyit's just the newsletter.
Um and then you can find me atminor league fan club.
Uh, for pretty much anything.
If you just type in minorleague fan club, you'll find me
on Twitter, tiktok X whateverthey call it now, I have no idea
(20:11):
.
Instagram.
I'm all over there.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Love it.
I appreciate you, my friend.
Yes, thanks for having me Keepup the great work, and then
we'll see you around in anotherball game.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Awesome.
I can't wait for it All Awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I can't wait for it.
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.
Now, make sure you guys arefollowing John on all of the
socials.
Sign up for his newsletter.
He gives you a lot of goodinformation, some of the news
that you may have missedthroughout the day, the week,
the month.
If you haven't paid attentionto Miami League Baseball all
year, I don't know why he givesyou information there All right.
(20:51):
Now, as far as the Dad HackChronicles podcast, make sure
you guys are following me.
Make sure I am on all socials.
Just started on also on BlueSky, as well as Threads.
So we're, we're there giving youguys some good, positive vibes.
Okay, uh, no negativity, please.
Let's, let's keep it positive.
Uh, and then, and let's uhenjoy uh, some uh good baseball
banter, as well as all the kindsof sports, right?
(21:11):
Uh, that high chronicle sportsshow, 9.
Pm Eastern time on Tuesdays andThursdays Uh, donnie and I,
that show is where we talk allsports.
That's it, all sports.
If you want to talk hockey,we'll talk hockey.
If you want to talk basketball,we'll talk basketball, college
football, the NFL, nba and even,of course, some baseball, as
(21:36):
you guys already know.
So, like I said, make sure youguys are following.
Give it five stars.
Make sure you guys are alsojust telling one more person
that also.
Um, just telling one moreperson, that's it.
Just tell one more person aboutthe, the podcast, so that way
they are able to enjoy it asmuch as you do.
And then, until then, keepgrinding and always support the
(21:56):
minor lakes, see ya?
Hey this has been a CurvebredMedia production.
Is anybody there?
What's up, DadHacku, andwelcome to another episode of
the DadHack.
Chronicles podcast this week.
It's just me kinda.
(00:21):
So I'm going to start it offgiving you guys my thoughts on
the Arizona Fall League, what Ithought of the whole event, and
then also give you a little bitof thoughts on some things that
I noticed as far as merchandiseand marketing and things like
that, my opinion on these things.
Okay, I mean, again, I'm justone person, I'm a fan, I've been
(00:43):
watching a lot of baseball, butagain, I'm just one person, I'm
a fan, I've been watching a lotof baseball, but again, I'm
just one person.
Overall, when I went there forthe Fall Star game, it was great
.
The Home Run Derby was amazing.
The best part about all of thatwas the kids right, going back
and forth from left field toright field.
The kids were loving it and Ithink, in my opinion, that was
the best part about the wholething.
Okay, the kids were loving itand I think, in my opinion, that
(01:03):
was the best part about thewhole thing.
Okay, it was funny because andif you listened to last week's
episode, you got to hear Pauland I talking about the fact
that we were putting time out.
It's not really time out.
All right, it was there, wasthey fenced it off, so that way
the kids were able to get accessto the home runs rather than
(01:26):
the adults getting in the way,which to me, honestly, I'm fine
with it.
If the ball would have gottento me, I would have kept the
ball Not going to lie.
I would have kept the ball.
Kids have more opportunities toget them, so why not keep it?
I know I'm going to get a lotof hate for that, but that's, it
is what it is.
Overall, though, it was great.
A lot of hate for that, butthat's, it is what it is.
(01:47):
Uh, overall, though, it wasgreat.
Uh, it was great seeing, um,how they for kind of formatted
it to major league standards,but not really.
They made some changes.
It was pretty cool to see.
Uh, the event.
Um, the all-star game overallwas actually pretty cool.
Uh, it was cool to see themwearing the parent club uniforms
.
Right, by the way, the best,the highlight of that one was
(02:08):
the kid from the Tampa Bay Rays,actually one of the coaches.
They were wearing the oldschool Tampa Bay Devil Rays
uniforms and it was absolutelybeautiful.
But it was cool to see theparent club uniforms being worn
as well as the All-Star game.
Well, actually the Arizona FallLeague had for each of the
(02:30):
teams that they were playing for, right.
So American League, nationalLeague, american League won, but
it was.
It was a cool event, you know.
For a second I thought theAmerican League was actually
going to give up the the leadand then lose, but they didn't.
They held on at the end.
It was a cool experience.
Now let's talk about some of thethings that I wish that Major
(02:54):
League Baseball would do alittle bit better.
Right, and again, I get it,guys, I get it.
You know, this is baseball.
Right, this is, you know, someof the top prospects coming in,
getting some working and thingslike that.
Right, you're working in thespring facilities for a lot of
these players, a lot of theseparent clubs.
So I get that.
(03:15):
All right.
I just wish they would do alittle bit of a better job
marketing the league.
Right, if you are a diehardbaseball fan, like I am, you
know about the Arizona FallLeague.
Right, but to be honest withyou, I really only found out
about the Arizona Fall League acouple of years ago, so it
(03:36):
hasn't been that long for me, asa fan, to really know about the
Arizona Fall League Now.
I love it, I think it's greatand I think it's just an
opportunity for fans like myselfto see more games.
All right, then the and this ismy sticking point so,
merchandising, merchandising.
(03:57):
There were some cool things,right, there were some cool
hoodies, some cool t-shirts,some hats.
I'm still a little confused asto why this year's hat, being a
mesh style hat, was 50 dollars,um, compared to some of the hats
that from you know, thepolyester one, uh, they were 35
dollars.
Um, and again, it just doesn'tmake any sense to me, um, why
(04:20):
you're using less material andcharging more.
Uh, as far as and those werethe fitteds, right, there was no
dad hats available at all, andto all of you that say it was
like, well, there was some withthe Velcro, yeah, it was a
structured front, and the bestway that I can tell you about
those hats is that that's agiveaway hat that they were
(04:43):
trying to sell me as a dad hat,which is not even close to being
a dad hat.
Okay, uh, as you, if youlistened to last week's episode,
uh, one of the managers wastrying to convince Paul, uh,
that that was a dad hat, whichwas actually kind of hilarious.
Uh, cause, I have no idea thatwhat conversation was going on
until I listened to the episode,which was pretty cool, uh, and
(05:05):
then finally, um, the uh, the,the team shop for the ballpark
was was closed.
Um, there was no access to thatat all.
And when I'm talking about thiswas the skeleton crew um
operation.
It really was a skeleton crewoperation.
I believe there was two, uh,concession stands open and they
(05:29):
were I mean, I'm talking, justlike you know, chicken tenders,
hot dogs, very few selectionswhen it comes to beverages.
Again, I get that, I get it.
I mean, but there was likearound 2000 people there and
there was really not a lot ofoptions, right.
And then my good friend, paul ofBaseball by Design, he put it
this way and I think it's agreat way of putting it is this
(05:52):
is early on spring training,right, like you know, when the
early stages of spring training,when not a lot of people knew
about it, where, you know,because right now spring
training, it's a whole event,right, you started in February
and it's already.
You know, so many people, youknow, flock to Arizona, they
flock to Florida, and it was alot of people that go there.
(06:12):
This is not it.
I just want to put that outthere.
This is not it, this is a.
If you want to put it in inPaul's words, this is early
version of that.
Do?
I hope that they make somechanges?
Yes, um, I just also wish theydo a better job with marketing
and, uh merchandising, becausethere's a lot to be desired when
it comes to uh merchandising.
(06:34):
Did I buy a hat?
Yes, I did.
I bought a fitted hat becausethat was the only option I had
and I really wanted to get a uh,something, uh for me to
remember this, uh, this wholeexperience, which was overall a
great experience.
Right, if you want to go outthere, if you want to take a
little break from, uh, from thewhat it is, the fall and right
(06:55):
after the World Series, theplayoffs and all that, this is a
great place to go.
Take your family, go to Arizona.
Arizona is beautiful this timeof year.
I mean, for God's sakes.
I went hiking and it was in the60s.
I thought I was going to need ahoodie, which was not the case
because it was so hot and it wasbeautiful.
The case because it was so hotand it was beautiful.
So now that I give you guys mythoughts.
I'm also going to give you nowmy conversation with John
(07:18):
Southey.
I hope you guys enjoy it.
This was a lot of fun as well.
We had some jokes going on.
Make sure you guys arefollowing him on all socials.
Sign up for his newsletter thathe puts out there.
All right, guys?
So now, without further ado,I'll give you the episode.
I am sitting right now with mygood friend, john southey, of my
(07:39):
hobby fan club.
My friend, how was theexperience where you've been so
far?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
besides this cold, I this is so fun.
I love this.
I can't believe that we get towatch baseball in november.
Nove been doing it since Marchbefore the season started, and
now it's November.
I think this is great, awesome.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
How has the experience so far for the
Arizona Fall League the All-StarSeries has been for you?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
It's fun because it's a.
What is it?
We're talking in the top of theseventh.
Now it's 5-5.
So got to see a three-run homerun.
We got to see a couple ofspeedy runners, Some of these
guys are fast.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
They're fast Kids.
Like the last inning, theseguys stole the base.
What?
Two or three times.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yes, and nobody's been caught throwing out yet, so
that's, I love it.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I asked Paul this question.
I want to get your opinion onthis.
The all-star home run derbyyesterday.
What was like the best part foryou regarding the home run
derby?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Oh, that's easy, the kids.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
OK, see, we all said the same thing.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yeah, watching those kids just chasing the ball, it
was kind of like a swarm of beesand they would go.
And the only thing I was justlike, just like, please, none of
these kids get hurt, becausethey were all reaching for the
same ball and is like one couldhave missed and just yes yeah,
it was pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, I love that part going from left field to
right field and back and forth.
You know, when there was like alefty or righty batter, it was
hilarious like they were reallyplaying a game.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
that was pretty funny , right, right.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Exactly.
So I get to experience that Now.
I estimate right now theall-star game right here, Bob,
we had close to 2000 people.
I would say, yeah, it's likebetween 1500 and 2000.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
This ballpark is triple a size.
It looks like to me, so I mean,of course it's gotta be.
Cubs are here.
It's probably pretty packed,but I was looking at the games
before I came and I noticed thatthe games aren't.
You know, it looks like what itis right now.
(09:48):
So you know, I think a lot ofthese people are diehards like
you and me, so we're gettingthose ones that just want to
watch the last little bit ofbaseball before we get to again.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, so that is oh, here we go.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yes, we get to sing.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Take me out with the crowd, buy me some peanuts and.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Cracker Jacks.
I don't care if I ever get backto the roof, roof, roof for the
fall scars.
No, women's a shame.
It's one, two, three strikes.
You're out at the old.
No win, it's a shame.
It's one, two, three strikes.
You're out at the old ball gameand fans heads up.
(10:49):
We've got t-shirts coming yourway from the Arizona Fall League
, from the lawyer and the broadsbrand of you sure I know right
yeah well, they were on themfrom the top okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
So let's talk merchandise, because that's
something that has that, in myopinion, to me, like I mean to
me, not anybody I've been alittle underwhelmed yeah, I mean
they had a tent with merch, andwhat I was most disappointed
(11:33):
about is they they made a newon-field mesh, new era yep.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And then they had the old, regular 100 polyester ones
yep.
But the price difference in thecurrent one versus the old one
doesn't even make sense.
Why did they have to do that?
But they did exact same hat,just one was mesh.
Usually the mesh one is butyeah, underwhelming is a good
(12:00):
word for it.
The merch is just very basic,but I guess, if you keep getting
the same people coming to thesame games.
You don't expect to sell toomuch, so I guess I kind of get
it.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Yeah, but the one thing that I was disappointed in
you collect the 50 and 50s, neweras.
I'm a deadhead collector andthere was not a single deadhead
to be collected in this.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Uh, yeah, that that doesn't really make sense at all
, there was nothing.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
They had those, uh, velcro back a couple of
snapbacks, but there weredefinitely nothing as far as the
data was concerned.
And I'm like I mean, I get it,you don't want to put a lot, but
like those would have been theeasy one to make.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, I don't know why theywouldn't make some of those.
I don't know.
I didn't check online, Ofcourse I wouldn't have checked
for a dad hat anyways.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
No, you wouldn't, because you would collect it.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Yeah, so I don't know if they have some online.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Did you get to buy some merchandise?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I bought two hats.
I bought the Salt River Raftersand then the Tucson Sagueros,
and that was the one I wantedthe most, and had I not had to
buy the mesh one, I may havebought three or four.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
And I say that quietly as my wife sits in front
of me- she is not listening tothis interview at all, don't you
worry.
She will not be listening.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
I had to ask permission as well for my wife,
don't you worry, to make surethat I bought a hat or two.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
But I didn't buy much stuff.
Well, I think it's funny that Iwas telling you guys yesterday
that we walked in and then webumped into each other, but
prior to that we were taking apicture at the sign over here
that looks like the littleWrigley sign.
But then the very next thingout of my wife's mouth is like
hey, let's go check out themerch.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I didn't say that she did.
You know what she set you up.
So she knew it was gonna go,how it was gonna go down of
course right so something wasgonna be purchased it wasn't me
money was gonna be, was gonna bespent it was definitely at that
little table there, of courseand uh, unfortunately yeah, and
unfortunately I did not win thespin the wheel um I didn't
(14:17):
either so I was hoping I guessyou could have won a couple of.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I saw a guy today actually just walked down here
and he had a uh, arizona fallleague, uh batting helmet and it
was autographed, I think he wonit.
Yeah, I think he won it and hewas wearing it.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
He's wearing the batting helmet.
I've been wearing it too.
So, yeah, that's pretty cool.
Um, last couple of questionshere, my friend, and then you
know, so would you, will you dothis again?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I want to come for spring training uh, you've never
been to for spring I have notbeen to any spring training at
all, so, whether that's inflorida or here, I would love to
come back to phoenix.
Um, I'm enjoying my time here.
We went hiking this morning andthat was really nice, did a lot
of you know, it's very easy todrive around here and you know a
lot of major cities.
(15:07):
You know, you hear about them,but you don't realize how close
they really are and there's alot to do, yeah, so we barely
scratched the surface, so I'dlove to come back to phoenix but
.
I also would love to do theflorida circuit.
I've I've driven it in thesummertime, but I have not done
spring training yet see I wantto do.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I've done for spring training here in phoenix a good
year for the cleveland, for theguardians and cincinnati red, so
that was a cool wonder to goexperience.
I really want to go hit upflorida now that that's going to
be on the bucket list for nextone yeah, there's some good
stadiums over there.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Of course I would love to see my yankees at um in
tampa.
I visited it.
I visited the stadium before,but that was about it.
No games were going on, um, Istayed for an inning, maybe in
clearwater, but yeah, that'sabout it all right.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
So now that you know, obviously your podcast, right?
Yes, I'll let you know a little, asking about it here in a
minute, but we're here in uh,mesa, arizona.
What are your recommendationsfor people when they come down
here?
As far as food or, like yousaid, hiking, what do you
recommend people to do?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
so I think the hiking would be great, but I don't
know how it actually feels inhere and uh, summertime so I am
from san antonio, I probablycould take it, but, um, I don't
know if I recommend anybody elseoutside of you know desert
areas like myself to come, butyeah, hiking seems to be fun.
Um, we've eaten a lot ofdelicious places already, like
(16:42):
we went to a place called honeyand butter or something like
that.
I had the best, uh, chickenfried steak this morning.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Oh, so good with eggs , and they fried the potatoes oh
my gosh, it was so good I'm nothungry now anymore, don't you
worry, I'm not hungry at all.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, and then Stadium Food Girl.
She had kept recommending thepretzel.
I just had a pretzel, deliciousOf course it was so soft.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
So good, oh, so good.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
But we went to I want to say it's called Old
Scottsdale and it's kind of likea old western kind of town and
Baseballism was there.
The first Baseballism store isthere.
Okay, yes, so we walked inthere.
(17:34):
Everything is 20% off right now.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Oh, so I want to get a couple other hats, so don't
say that to me.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, so it's a really cool little town that you
can go visit and we didn't buyanything at that store, right.
I was able to escape, but Idon't know if I regret it or not
, but I was able to escapewithout buying anything today,
are you looking?
For custom apparel.
That speaks volumes.
Wow, my current energy comfortofferings.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
The wife approves, I'm sure that you're not
spending any money there?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Of course yes, because she's not listening to
this episode right now.
The wife approves.
I'm sure that you're notspending any money there.
of course, yes because she's notlistening to this episode no
she's not in front of us at allwe did uh visit a couple of
coffee places too and uh movie,bueno, one was called the sale
and the other was called eso andI.
They came highly recommended ontiktok, so we we made our trek
(18:27):
over to those two, so those arevery highly recommended by me as
well okay, all right, all righttell us about your podcast uh,
your newsletter uh, where peoplecan find you on social media
for sure.
So my podcast is called minorFan Club.
I try to keep it prettysuccinct with the names Minor
League Fan Club podcast.
(18:48):
Basically, what we do there iswe talk to a staff member, we
talk to a fan and we talk to alocal person.
The staff member kind of walksyou around the stadium and what
to expect at the ballpark.
A fan will tell you everythingthat happens at the ballpark
from a fan perspective what toeat, what to buy, what to where
(19:08):
to sit, secrets of the ballpark.
But they're also going to talkto you about their city.
So when I talk to a fan they'lltell you where to go, where to
eat, where to stay, where tohang out.
And then, lastly, I do like totalk to a business so that when
you visit, you might feelcompelled to go visit that
business.
(19:29):
I have a weekly newsletter.
It just have.
The news that I share is minorleague news that you may have
missed from a week or twoprobably, and it's every single
monday.
All you have to do is go tominorleaguecom
minorleaguefanclubcom and enteryour email.
(19:50):
I don't ever send spam, usuallyit's just the newsletter.
Um and then you can find me atminor league fan club.
Uh, for pretty much anything.
If you just type in minorleague fan club, you'll find me
on Twitter, tiktok X whateverthey call it now, I have no idea
(20:11):
.
Instagram.
I'm all over there.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Love it.
I appreciate you, my friend.
Yes, thanks for having me Keepup the great work, and then
we'll see you around in anotherball game.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Awesome.
I can't wait for it All Awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I can't wait for it.
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.
Now, make sure you guys arefollowing John on all of the
socials.
Sign up for his newsletter.
He gives you a lot of goodinformation, some of the news
that you may have missedthroughout the day, the week,
the month.
If you haven't paid attentionto Miami League Baseball all
year, I don't know why he givesyou information there All right.
(20:51):
Now, as far as the Dad HackChronicles podcast, make sure
you guys are following me.
Make sure I am on all socials.
Just started on also on BlueSky, as well as Threads.
So we're, we're there giving youguys some good, positive vibes.
Okay, uh, no negativity, please.
Let's, let's keep it positive.
Uh, and then, and let's uhenjoy uh, some uh good baseball
banter, as well as all the kindsof sports, right?
(21:11):
Uh, that high chronicle sportsshow, 9.
Pm Eastern time on Tuesdays andThursdays Uh, donnie and I,
that show is where we talk allsports.
That's it, all sports.
If you want to talk hockey,we'll talk hockey.
If you want to talk basketball,we'll talk basketball, college
football, the NFL, nba and even,of course, some baseball, as
(21:36):
you guys already know.
So, like I said, make sure youguys are following.
Give it five stars.
Make sure you guys are alsojust telling one more person
that also.
Um, just telling one moreperson, that's it.
Just tell one more person aboutthe, the podcast, so that way
they are able to enjoy it asmuch as you do.
And then, until then, keepgrinding and always support the
(21:56):
minor lakes, see ya?
Hey this has been a CurvebredMedia production.
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