No Crying In Baseball

Patti 0:17
Hi and welcome to episode 407 of no crying in baseball, the baptized in gravy episode. My name is Patti. I'm here with my friend, Pattymouth. Hey, Pottymouth.

Pottymouth 0:25
hey there part two, or like part B of the podcast app is Happy Birthday to Patti. Yay

Patti 0:32
me. I don't mind being celebrated at all. I'm having a great time. So, yeah, actual birthday is tomorrow Monday, because we record on Sunday. So yesterday for you, tomorrow for us. Time you why me and all of that. But I'm having a birthday season, and it's the best time I'm having the best time. I'm so

Pottymouth 0:46
glad. Okay, what was your best birthday? Maybe, is there a best or what were your birthdays? They were all very

Patti 0:52
different. They were all very different. I mean, like, so, like, you know, yesterday we were at the VFW listening to a bunch of dad bands playing live music, and it was super fun.

Pottymouth 0:59
Like, they're like, Grandpa pants, okay,

Patti 1:02
so, yeah, so they're dads of adults, but that's okay they are. But so that was like, you know, cover bands. And look at we knew, we knew people. And it was just like, this very, very chill. It was hanging out my kids in town, and, like, we're doing a little deck makeover at the house. We hung these gorgeous lights and planted some flowers on the deck, which you get to enjoy at. You know, birthday part like 17 later this week, as we do a little happy hour I'm in. I was at the i stimulated local economy today. Well, there was a Food Fair from one of our local nonprofits that it was really good. So then this is a place that has crossroads, Community Food Network. They do a community kitchen, so food entrepreneurs can use their commercial kitchen, their, you know, their certified kitchen to, like, start their businesses. And they do this food fair every year so they can show their wares. And we had some very delicious little treats. Then we went to Drag Bingo brunch, awesome on U Street in DC. And it was so much fun. And it was just freaking joyful. So good. Everybody saying every there was dancing and singing. We didn't win a single bingo game. So we were a little sad about that. We tried to ignore the O's nats game on the big screen, because that was disappointing. But the whole bingo thing was just it was amazing and fun. They ended by reading like a poem by Amanda Gorman about having hope for God's sake. I hate it when drag queens make me cry. Not the first time it's happened. Yeah, it's not even close, I would imagine. But, you know, we're singing mama cast songs. I mean, it was just a lovely, lovely time. And now I'm here, and I love you guys, and so I'm having a super good time. You know, tomorrow is my actual birthday. There sometimes like donuts or cake shows up at work, so who knows. Yeah,

Pottymouth 2:40
I'll report back. I want to piggyback on that joy, which is always a good thing, because yesterday, I went to the freedom to be ACLU trans Joy event on the mall. And I think, I think it's notable that we both went to two trans, pro trans joyful events, because most you know the news since January 20, every fucking day there's fucking something to be pissed off about, about denying rights to trans folks more and more, and it's so frustrating. Actually, we're gonna get into that in the podcast, a little bit shocking, but it's so important to celebrate, right? And there's and there's so much joy in the community and knowing how to party and great music and fun speakers as community,

Patti 3:20
yeah, it's like, look there, there. Look at all of these people who feel like I do about things, right? You know, I'm not alone, yeah, I'm not in a I'm not in, even in a minority. But they're, you know, this is, this is a big community who has, who shares, values that that are

Pottymouth 3:37
for good, exactly, exactly. Yeah? So, fun stuff. All right, I have a couple more totally unrelated but fun intro announcements. One is, take Patty's advice, and most folks who I know, who are average readers and read the book first. So a couple weeks ago, we I talked about how Lin Manuel Miranda is going to be putting on a movie version of the Molina story. Well, I didn't realize it's actually based on a book by Benji Molina, the eldest Molina, about his father, Benji Molina. And I just listened to the audio book version. And I, you know, knowing how movies go, I really recommend that you read the book first, because there is so much information and so much detail that, you know, can't fit into two hours. And it's really fascinating about how this, you know, Patriarch of these three catcher brothers who all ended up, you know, World Series champions, which is amazing how where that came from, and the, you know, the poverty that they grew up in, and this little town in Puerto Rico. And the end, the Epilog mentions how Yadier and I had him as a baseball boyfriend, and I tried to, like, you know, extol all his greatness. He spent $11 million of his own money to restore the field where his father had taught them to play baseball, and tons, including a lot of MLB players, tons of Puerto Rican kids, to play baseball. And it was like this field. Feel that the dad would go out and lay the chalk lines himself, like he cleaned the field for his kids, and that Yadier would then, I mean, it's got to be fucking beautiful now, but to do that kind of honoring to his dad, but also something that the community can really use to produce a lot of quality players. So, yay, yatty, yay. Yachty. Oh, and yay too. Just quick congratulations to Evan Longoria, Matt carpenter and Tony Kemp. I don't know what's in the water this week, but three retirement sounds like, yeah. Is that weird? Like it's all happening at

Patti 5:31
one time? Yeah. I think it might be a little weird. But, um, you know, they all have very, very long, illustrious, right? Careers. You know, there's a bunch of all star appearances among that group and all of that. And yay for them, yeah. And it's in, yeah, yeah. And

Pottymouth 5:43
I think it's like, that reality hitting in, because they all had, like, either not playing much last year or not at all. And, like, it's hard

Patti 5:49
to get on to the next thing for sure, for sure. So you might have heard that it's rivalry weekend, which I think is really hilarious, yeah, because there are some real rivalries, and those don't seem to be the ones that are actually matched up. They seem to do it, like, geographically, like the O's the Nationals, don't give a crap about each other and but they're playing each other because they're close. Yeah, you know, I don't know that the Phillies and the pirates are a rivalry, but like, like the Chicago teams, I think probably more so, because they're fighting for the same fan base. Yeah,

Pottymouth 6:16
the deal, though, is it's all interleague, so that's why they had to do it that way. Yeah, yes.

Patti 6:20
Yeah. But the thing, my takeaway from it is the Pittsburgh, Philadelphia game, which they did not do this year, this year, but they did talk about it, is the poop scoreboard. I don't know if you're aware of this, but it's like the score bug they put up on the screen. NBC does it and where it has the, you know, the the initial of one team, and then the score, you know, how, what they've got worse next and then the initial up, so you've got P for Pittsburgh, 00, P for Philadelphia. This year, they actually use, like pH, I, but they referred back to because, you know, when you start the game, it says poop. And who, especially my 12 year old partner here. I mean, who was it like a poop scoreboard.

Pottymouth 6:57
It's great. It's great. Actually, I saw one of the flashbacks, because there was a lot of poop posted as a result of this, and one was a vertical poop which I hadn't seen before, yeah, but it's, you know, same score bug from somebody I don't know. Want to add to that, yeah, okay, okay,

Patti 7:16
on today's show our boyfriends feature exceptions, MVP references and weight loss aids gone very, very wrong. We've got who's on first. We've got police bladder, including the death of integrity and let the kids play. We've got green screen city connects and Pope swag and cross training with ornithology. Cheers,

Pottymouth 7:37
cheers. I want to bring everybody's attention to the background of the Instagram video of Patty just doing on today's show, because Brock Holt is gloriously holding the banner that Patty got at drag brunch. So I think it's very appropriate, because I had long ago lost the bat that actually goes in Brock Holt's hand. This is a great replacement.

Patti 7:56
Now you can swing a rainbow banner, because who doesn't want to swing a rainbow banner? All right, we're going to start by talking about boyfriends. But first, no, we're going to start talking about my beverage. I am drinking a Will you cherry me, which is a canned cocktail from 10th ward. And it's a cherry deliciousness in brandy, and I love it very much. And so yes, I would say, Yes, I will cherry you, because if you taste this good, because it's a very lovely, nice thank you for having us in your house. Well, what are you

Pottymouth 8:21
drinking? I'm drinking I'm drinking the lychee lemonade, which is actually has a little bit more kick than I remember, and I have no idea what alcohol is involved, but it's pretty good. Okay,

Patti 8:29
all right. And we have both tech support and an intern in the house. So we get through all this. You know that we feel a lot to say, Yeah, we do. So we're talking starting with boyfriends. These are the guys that we pick one per team every year. We can't, but we have one that we get to carry over. But we pick them because they're good at baseball, because they have interesting stories, because there's something about them that makes us want to have a beer with them. And, you know, hang out. So my current guys want to talk about Wyatt Langford from Texas, and here's why he is, exactly why the Rockies can't have nice things. The Rockies are having a terrible time, right? It's so sad. So Monday, they start a rookie pitcher Chase dollar. He took a no hitter into the sixth. This is big news for the Rockies, who are having a horrible, horrible season. And then Wyatt Langford hits a two run home run, and that's the only scoring in the whole game. So it was really only Wyatt Langford. So sorry, Rockies, but yay Wyatt. So that was Monday, and then two, and then Wednesday, he had another two run home run against the Rockies. So his nine home runs are already more than half his total home runs from last entire season, and we're just not that far into the season. So that's looking up, and he was already out for a little bit on the IL Oh, wow. So this is like even a shorter period of time. His nine homers lead the Rangers, and he's second for on the team in RBI, behind at Elise Garcia. So he's having that's not pretty good time. So Kyle Stowers of Miami, my boyfriend from Miami, in the period April 30, two. To may 15, Aaron judge hit seven home runs. Kyle Schwarber hit six. Kyle Stowers had eight. Wow, more home runs in that period of time than Aaron judge and Kyle Schwarber lot. It's a lot. Wednesday, he went three for four with two home runs and a triple in Miami's three to one win over the Cubs. That game was his third multi home run game in his last 13 he's hitting a lot of Homers. He leads Miami in home runs and also in RBI. And in RBI, he's got 30. The next in line on his own team is Liam Hicks, with 18. So it's a big, big that's huge, yeah, so Okay, so I've been telling sort of you know, what I feel are amusing, endearing stories about Pete car Armstrong, about, like, you know his dad, and like, you know who is rooting for and who he grew up rooting for, in laws. Well, now we're getting serious. Here's why we're getting serious. It's on Friday, rivalry weekend. The cops are plays, plays for the Cubs. Cubs are playing the White Sox. He has six RBI, a home run, four hits and two scores, two runs, versus the White Sox. And because of that game. On that game, he became one of five, only five total in MLB history to have 12 homers, 13 stolen bases, 36 RBI in the first 45 games

Pottymouth 11:16
of the season. That's crazy. The last one, at least 2020, at

Patti 11:19
least. The last time it happened. Was Barry Bonds in 1992

Pottymouth 11:25
Wow, he's gonna, no, he's gonna get 2020, by the all star break. He's gonna be crazy number. He's gonna have

Patti 11:29
crazy numbers. He's 23 years old. Oh, my God, so there's that. So the White Sox manager says about this performance against his team was the guy can do a lot of things on the baseball field. Wish he'd done a little bit less today. Sure. Also baseball, Sivan has him as the single best defender in Major League Baseball, not the best center fielder, but the best defender in all of Major League Baseball. And one article I read started talking about him as like MVP level season. Of course, when you're in a league that has show the town, you're never going to get that, but in but if it weren't for that, I mean where he's going right now. On the other hand, I have Jason and Brian roccho on my fantasy team, and they both got sent down this week, which leaves me without a third baseman yet again. Pitching news for my guys, we pick a flock of pitchers from the same team. The other players in our league do not need to do that, but we just do that because we're those people. So on the bright side, I've got Zach Wheeler, who's been consistently good his kit and career highs and some stats, the pitching stats are always weird, but there they are. He's got a 16 scoreless inning streak, all great. His manager, Rob Thompson, when asked, like, after his last win, said all his stuff was good ball to strike ratio. I mean, it's the same quotes. You can use the same quotes from the last 20 starts fill it in, which I was amused, but yeah, you got to get tired and like the same thing. Unfortunately, Aaron Nola is having a crap season. It's so crap that he's one of the 15 day il with a right ankle sprain. He gave up nine runs on 12 hits over three and the third innings on Wednesday's loss to St Louis. He he apparently, like, messed up his ankle in Tampa, and then had two starts since where he played. And he said, you know, the injury, the pain from the injury, makes him overcompensate elsewhere in his body. So okay, maybe that's this crazy game. Part of it was that, but it doesn't explain why he's one his records one in seven with a 6.16 area. That did not all happen since he sprayed his if you know exactly when that started. So, yeah, there's a lot of talk like, maybe he just needs to reset. Maybe he needs a little break. Maybe we need to move people around a little bit. And, you know, because we want to stay in the race for for the postseason, other than being out for on the 10 day il during COVID in 2020 he's not missed a start since 2017 Oh, wow, it's actually kind of a big deal. That's huge. And that was doable. But now it's more complicated, because Jose Alvarado, they're, the most consistent, best relief pitcher they have on the Phillies just got an 80 day suspension for a PED violation, effective immediately, and he did not appeal, right? He will. So this 80 Days is without pay, and that's basically half a season. So he will lose half of his $9 million salary. That's for this season he tests. So the other thing is, he will also not be eligible for the postseason. So even though he could technically come back sometime during August, depending on how the games work out, he's, no matter what happens, he's not eligible for the posting. So that is also huge. That's also huge. So they need to just replace him. They need to, like, find somebody replace him. So he tested positive for exogenous, exogenous testosterone. And think, I think I saying that correctly. Weirdly, they referenced that he had a previous positive test and then two negative tests. Oh, before this puzzle, I don't know how that works. I thought you have a you test positive and you're done. So I don't know what that means. I only saw one ref. Runs to that weird like, yes, no, no, yes. Thing. They also say, he claims it's a weight loss drug he took in the off season. You know, it's the end of May, mid May. That's a ways back. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe it stays near. I don't know, but, um, but he was four and one, 2.7 era, seven saves and 20 appearances. He was doing great. Now he's pretty much out. He's also the second player this season after drugs and pro far to be suspended under MLB is drug testing program. So yeah, so my super good Phillies pitching staff has got some challenges ahead of them.

Pottymouth 15:38
So many questions about that, like, weight loss drug thing. Also, like, why would you do that? You're, I mean, well,

Patti 15:46
that's it. I mean, like, so, like, his manager said it feels like he didn't do it on purpose. But, I mean,

Pottymouth 15:52
why are you taking weight loss drugs? I mean, I know he's, like, a large guy, but yeah, also, if you're a pitcher and you're, you're, you're in your body, and you're doing well, and you change your body like that, like I can understand, like building more muscle, but it's that taking weight loss doesn't seem like it's gonna help your pain. I

Patti 16:09
mean, they did say he came into spring training like looking slimmer, looking more fit, he doesn't know. He doesn't know. And I gotta believe that you would think twice about taking any kind of drug unless it's like, check the frick out of it to make sure it's not gonna like, you know, tip off a random drug test or

Pottymouth 16:31
whatever. There are people you can call, right? All right. I have a few guys, but very few. So hopefully I'll be quick, because my team just sucks. And I was just like, looking through them, and there I was so excited in the off season, but there's not a lot exciting to talk about with them right now, and I just don't want to bash them. So just sit try to focus on the positive. Jackson Merrill being back is definitely a positive. However, I've again, I started my notes a little bit early. He did have a mini slump this week. So for Jackson Merrill, that means he had three consecutive games without a hit. Luckily, that's been broken. We're recording Sunday before the Padres play. So he hit yesterday. He might hit again today. I'm sure he will. The only other game without a hit he had besides these three was April 6 and not April 6. That was the day he went out. It was before April 6. I didn't write down the date, but April 6 is when he went out for a month. So between the beginning of the season, which is end of March, right, and April 6, he had one game without a hit. He was out for a month, and then six since May 6, he had these three consecutive games this week. However, the six games before the three game slump sort of made out for it, made out for it, if you go on the average, because they were all multi hit games, including a four hit game on May 10, and on May 12, he had three hits, including a triple and two amazing like hit stealing, layout catches, sexy defense. So I'm feeling good about Jackson Merrill. I think this next week coming up, we will, you know, hopefully the upswing will continue, because he's really the anchor of my team, as is now, honestly, I swear to God at this point, you know, whatever, scouts down or Andy paquez. So last week, I announced how smart I was, that I was putting Andy paques on my team before recording, so that he couldn't be, you know, swiped by anybody else on fantasy. And luckily, either nobody was looking for him, or people, trust me, I actually forgot to do that. So so the worst part, besides it being like kind of humorous, that I announced it and then didn't do it this past week, that I did not have Andy PAC has on my team, although I thought I did and I had what had happened was I thought of doing it when I couldn't. It was like they were still in play, and so Yahoo wasn't letting me. I was like, I'll do it first thing in the morning. Yeah, right. So this past week, when I did not have him on my roster, he batted 320 with three home run and eight RBI. He has a 989, ops over the last 30 days. This is like a far cry from his really just anemic beginning of the season. So he is on a tear, and I hope to so I actually did make the change today. He better continue, like, if he has a downswing, I'm gonna feel completely culpable for that situation. You're very powerful. Yes, there goes my power. All right, last guy I want to mention, just because we were talking about pitching, my pitching is the D backs, and Eduardo Rodriguez is now on the 13 day il with left shoulder inflammation, and Terry lovello. And so this connects a lot to what you were just talking about. Terry Lovell said, quote, he's a tough mind, and he's a grinder, so it takes a lot for him to speak up. So I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been feeling this for a little while, but I'm finally glad he spoke up when he did right. So his last quality start was April 11 last year. He missed most of the year due to an injury, so I think he's feeling. Like he's got to put up. He's got this four year contract. He's in the second year of a four year contract for $80 million he did nothing for them last year, but the body and the mind sometimes don't have a direct connection. And he was pro he I don't know this is my interpretation, so, you know, I have zero sources for this, besides thinking that he's just trying so hard to do his best and not telling the team that he's not feeling right. And so lavalo Saying that sort of is like a little click that, like, how do you get these guys to realize, like, It's okay when you're hurt, to say something before it gets worse?

Patti 20:36
Yeah. Yeah, right. Sure. For sure. Former boyfriend. You may have heard of this guy. Show me, Ohtani. I picked him when he was in 2020, when he was with the angels. You may have heard that was also a thing for him at one point too. So the Dodgers had a 5050, Ohtani bobblehead night. So, you know, two way player. Some of them were, you know, pitching. Some were batting bobblehead. So, of course, lots of people very excited. They were playing the athletics. They were up 60 to two this way. You know, things happen sometimes in baseball. Um Ohtani had already hit two home runs as part of that whole situation. And the athletics like, okay, we're putting in the position player to pitch. They put in their catcher, Johnny Pareto to pitch the eighth so he gives up immediately three straight hits, as opposition player is want to do, and then show you tonight is up to bat and bases loaded. He Yeah, he struck him out in four pitches. That's a stair. Three of those pitches were under 70 miles per hour. The one that he got the last swing was 89 miles prior. That was just like super duper fastball. He immediately had the ball authenticated and dropped it into a plastic case. By the end of the night, it was labeled Ohtani strikeout may 15, 2025 because he knows about collectibles. He's like, this is this is going to be like the pinnacle of my my career as a catcher, striking out shohe Otani. And then he also said I was scared that if he hit the ball to the middle, it was gonna kill me.

Pottymouth 22:08
Yeah, so especially if he's, like, throwing a meatball there. So him and the Czech electrician are like, right, that these

Patti 22:14
are the guys. These are they actually, um, Cody Clemens, um, struck out of time, struck out Otani also, and also has a tiny, actually autographed his strikeout ball. So, yeah, it's happened.

Pottymouth 22:27
Yeah, it's funny that when the folks who are really good at it sometimes don't manage it. All right. Also good at baseball is Christian Campbell, who is getting more and more to be one of my favorite Red Sox players. And he did something this week that just even increases the esteem that I hold for him. And he joins the list of answers for the question, who's on first and he started taking drills at first base on Friday night. We're listening to the game on Friday night, and they announced it. And of course, everybody immediately thinks of Devers who did not do that, right? So it's, you know, Cora actually was trying to keep those apart. That these are two different situations. We're not going to talk about them together, of course, but everybody's talking about them together. One of the backup first basemen that they were going to platoon, Romi Gonzalez, has been on the is now on the IL for 10 days. So it's Abraham Toro and and Nick sogard, yeah, who are doing like, you know, adequate jobs at first but it's not like having somebody with Christian Campbell's bat also on first base. So they asked about, so how long does it take to convert a second baseman, second baseman, center fielder, you know, whatever Christians willing to do, but second baseman, primarily to first base. And Cora said the process started, right? It can take 10 days, 15 days a month, two months. So basically, who knows? Who knows? We'll see how he does. Christian Campbell, bless his little heart, said, and this is exactly like what everybody wanted. Raphael differs to say, but he didn't. Campbell said, quote, whatever makes the team better, that's the position I'll play. Right? That is the right answer when the right answer when something happens out. Though I still understand Rafael Devers, and he was, you know, clear about his point of view before, but he's not very good at speaking to

Patti 24:19
the press. Yeah. So here that that's a two parter. One is, you would love it if the guys felt that way. But even if they don't, that's how they need to say it out loud to other people that are not just like interior in the clubhouse, yeah. And

Pottymouth 24:30
then you have a confidential talk with your manager so that he under understand you. I think what the Red Sox are doing, they've had a couple of very disappointing games, including today, and you know, they're still at the time of recording, tied for second way behind the Yankees, but things are rough, so they need to shake it up. And they have two guys in AAA who are just super hot, and everybody wants them up. But how do you make that, you know, Jenga work, or whatever it is. Is, you know, moving things around. So Marcella Mayer is a shortstop, but maybe you could play second if Christian Campbell moves over, move on over. Sure.

Patti 25:09
So I'm speaking of needing to shake things up because you're not where you want to be within the division or the conference. Brandon Hyde finally got the boot. I, honest to God, did not see this coming. I didn't see this coming, but it is what it is. Okay. So part of it was a look shiny things. It happened on Saturday, which is the same day that Baltimore hosts the Preakness, which, if you follow horse racing, is a pretty big deal. On the aside, I love it anytime. Journalism is a winner, sort of like, you know, just as a as a policy statement, I like when journalism wins, but also they won the horse race. But anyway, I don't think that the people who were distracted by the Preakness were that distracted that they did not notice that Brandon Hyde got the boot. So one of the things that happens here is there's no more cover for Michaelia, such general manager, who actually said when he's introducing the fact that they're letting the manager go as the head of baseball operations, the poor start to our season is ultimately my responsibility. It was your responsibility. Why are you? Hi, why are you firing the other guy? Right? So fascinating. I'm interested in there anyway, right? So Brandon Hyde managed for seven seasons, including getting Manager of the Year 2023

Pottymouth 26:19
that's where I was just looking up. I was like, Wait, didn't he get no war? Wait, didn't he get no work? One of the

Patti 26:24
really interesting thing was, you know, of course, the stars, like, you know, the leaders of the team are being interviewed about this, and like Adley and gunner, they have not played with another manager. The baby birds, Brandon Hyde, is all they've ever known at the major league level. So they all looked a little stunned and a little lost, and they were very much like, it's a family, yeah, you know, obviously, you know, we're gonna do what we got to do. We're gonna do our best, but it hurts. And they were very clear about this is hard for us, and, you know, he's all we've ever known, and we are family and, you know, and wishing him the best and all that. But they did all look a little dazed by this whole thing. Third base coach Tony mancellino is taking over as interim manager. He did not, however, do that thing that a lot of interim managers do when the manager is like, oh, which is like, immediately, win a couple of games. So

Pottymouth 27:13
I think you're gonna say, like, talk about their strategy.

Patti 27:17
No, no. They lost so badly the other day that they let Kyle Gibson go the DFAT him. And I don't I was watching a little bit of today's game when I was distracted from from Drag Bingo, which was a bad choice. Drag Bingo was the right choice. Don't look at the O's game. I thought, Wow, are they gonna, are they gonna like DFA Zach Eflin? No, I don't know. It was ugly. I don't think they will, but I'm just saying it's like, Okay, here's another very ugly game. So we'll see what happens. But it's interesting, like, you know, we talked about, you know, two other managers getting the boot last week. So all of a sudden it's the thing, yeah, it's like, okay, trendy. We've given it, you know, two months, and here's where we're at, and someone's got to go, and they're all picking the manager as the guy to go. I

Pottymouth 27:57
think Rubenstein has got to pay money for something. Yeah, he needs to show people. I think there's just people are feeling really like disillusioned, either, even if it's just lock down one of your awesome players, but show that you're investing your money in this team.

Patti 28:13
Yeah. I mean, we got a lot of people hurt. Well, okay, get somebody in there. Yeah, can and

Pottymouth 28:17
that too. Just, yeah, pay money. Find somebody. There's people out there, yep, yep, yep. All right, we're gonna go to fashion, fashion corner, city connect. And side note on this, I feel like the city connect thing has really led to, like, the sports bros, the announcers, having to talk about fashion on a regular basis, yeah, and they, I think they're really enjoying it. It kind of gives them permission to think, say things like, those colors are beautiful, or like, you know, it's like, these are the guys that normally wouldn't say stuff like that. So, you know, hopefully it's a little bit of an entry into a new world for them. But we also enjoy talking about fashion. And of course, I'm gonna start off with the Red Sox city Connect. They debuted it Friday night. It was not a surprise. These are all getting leaked. But I think a while ago, it was known that they wanted to do this city connect around the green monster, because the green monster is just so emblematic of Fenway Park and Red Sox history. And I like it. I mean, I really like it. It's, I love that color green, it, I can recognize it. You know, that's monster green. Yeah, that is the green monster. It's simple. There's not too much on it. It's clear. Even the lettering is like the scoreboard on the green monster. So very classic. It's been there forever. The circle, the B in the circle is like, the same as the the hits and runs, letter in a circle, the numbers on it have little notches like the old timey. You're hanging the numbers on the on the green monster thing, and the highlights are pesky pole yellow. So what could you not like about it? When they debuted Friday night, I was wondering where the outfielders bodies were, because. Oh, they blend into the scenery. It's so funny. I don't know. I haven't read any commentary about the same observation. So I don't know if it's just me, but it's if you're standing against a wall of the same color of your uniform. It's your you can see the face and the numbers, but it's camouflage. Man, it's Fenway camo. I'm feeling like

Patti 30:19
you could project something on that green screen. Have them be at the beach, or, you know,

Pottymouth 30:25
be all through their body. They'd be like this, like, right, floating heads,

Patti 30:29
yeah, no, I like it. I like it. It's like, we're on a zoom call that's gone slightly awry.

Pottymouth 30:35
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And it's not just the monster that's green, like, all the, you know, the low walls and stuff. It's just

Patti 30:41
all over the I've heard also like things like grass and whatnot are also pop at that same color. Yeah,

Pottymouth 30:45
not quite, quite, but I would love it. I think that they should get special permission to use it as their road unis, because we can bring the wall with us. We'd like to at least represent it somehow, because we'll feel better. Yeah, I think that that goes over really well. I think that works. I have to phone in for, do you think we need to phone so I'm going to rant for, oh, wait, I have one word, one more city connect that. I just tagged in at that because we forgot the D backs. Didn't we forget the D backs? I thought, talk about the d max. It's the one that was just a color change, right to the purple and teal. I remember thinking about them. Maybe we didn't speak, yeah, it was, it was May 9. I don't know that they, they changed the color. Instead of black on quote, Sonoran sand was the old color, so that had significance. It's now teal on purple. It's snazzy. It still says serpientes and in script on the front, exactly the same. The hat, I think is an upgrade. It's got a snake instead of a so I think it's fine. I think it's like a don't mess with perfection. We're just going to do another color scheme.

Patti 31:49
Sure, sure. Um, before I start my rant, do you want to phone a cocktail order? Yeah, I would have another cherry cocktail of any

Pottymouth 31:57
kind. All right, should we just split it for now? Or do you want one? A whole one? I'm splitting

Patti 32:00
this far. Okay, I will, well, we need ice too. Yes, okay, I bet they can handle

Pottymouth 32:06
all of that. Okay, ice please. All right, and you get it. It's a good thing you have enough to, like, wet your whistle before you my

Patti 32:13
whistle needs to be wet because I'm going to talk our police. Plotter today is Pete Rose, or, I don't think that word means what you think it means, or they ranted. So I don't have to, but yes, you do, but I'm using somebody else's words for my rant. So the whole universe of this rule change, this policy change, has very much been framed as it's about Pete Rose, and I don't want to talk about a lot of the articles are about, how does Pete Rose? What are the steps to get him into the Hall of Fame? A good or bad but what are all the things that would need to happen? I don't care about that. I don't care about that. Yet. I want to talk today about the rule change itself. So here's what happened. What happened was on Tuesday, well, this past week, Tuesday, commissioner of baseball, Rob and Fred, for whom I've lost 90% of the respect that was remaining, but not all of how much was remaining? Well, it doesn't matter, because he lost most of it, no, not a lot. So basically, he changed the meaning, the meaning of the word permanent, right? So, so there were 16, I think, baseball players on a permanently ineligible list, which means forever, right? They cannot be part of the Hall of Fame that they're part of baseball at all permanent, because permanent is forever, if I know my words correctly,

Pottymouth 33:31
here's our ice in her can. Oh, thank you. You guys are the

Patti 33:35
best. Thank you. So now, as of this policy change, permanent eligibility, and I quote ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual. That's

Pottymouth 33:49
so it's permanent for that guy's

Patti 33:51
life, right? And then it's no longer permanent. And the way that Rob Manfred defended this, actually in a letter to an attorney. So please and an attorney for like Pete Rose's family, because that's, you know, the impetus. Again, it is about Pete Rose, even though it's not about Pete Rose, he says, obviously a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. Moreover, it's hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve. Therefore, I have concluded, he says, I have concluded, that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual. Okay, my opinion is, that's crap, that's okay. So it's crap. It's stupid. But let me move on to some you know, well respected journalists and to their opinions, because clearly we think it's crap and it's stupid. So Jake Mintz of Yahoo Sports says integrity MLB announced Tuesday is as fluid as the passing of time. God bless him. He said, let's be clear, MLB is willingness to accommodate Trump on Rome. Those that's is about more than typical political pandering. The commissioner's office is surely worried about the administration sway over one, the league's antitrust exemption and two, the hundreds of work visas granted to Venezuelan and Cuban ball players each year. Now the threat is real. Yeah, the threat is real. The fascist in chief is making rule changes on whims. So yes, there is danger. And yes, they did meet. And we, you know, we heard that they talked about both of these things. And then here is this policy change. Coincidence. One of the things that I heard was like, this was something that Rob Manfred could do to kind of wash his hands for it. From it, it looks like he's agreeing or doing something that the the President wants to have happen, but he still doesn't have control over the outcome, right? Other people would have to, like, move this along to the Hall of Fame. He's not part of that. So boom, done. Still not okay, because SALLY JENKINS of The Washington Post says, and boy, she rants, and I She's so good. I love every bit of this rant. She says, Rose Jackson and the others are now eternal examples that you can get away with a long con, that you can not only outrun larceny, but ultimately be lionized for it. If you've got a Paul in your corner the Hall of Fame, one of the few anachronistic hold outs in the ongoing American war on basic decency can become just another leveled dumping ground for louses. These men did not make contributions to the game. They did the opposite. They negated and degraded it by citing their death as an excuse for a potential inclusion in the hall. Manfred has brought their transgressions back to life, lifted a moral blockade. He too has degraded the game. Also SALLY JENKINS, surprising no one is one of the very few people writing about this that mentions Pete Rose's sex with a minor who said they said, Oh, she was like, 14 or 15, so no, I thought she was 16. Okay. Can we keep bringing Can we please bring that up when we have conversations another time, if it moves forward, we can discuss what the process is about voting into the Hall of Fame. But I want to just put this out there. Right character does matter for the Hall of Fame. It was a it was about stats. They wouldn't have to vote right, right? You would play at a certain level and great. Check it off the box. You'd be, you'd be in the Hall of Fame. But it's not that. It's the whole person. And these whole people have transgressions that should not be ignored just because they're as Maybell Blair would say, you know, on the other side of the grass, yeah,

Pottymouth 37:32
I want to to Craig calciterra, had a really good write up of this. To give him a little bit of credit. He said it's he raped a child, like, that's a child. The statutory rape is raping a child and and he was never repentant for it. But the point that I feel like is so fucking ridiculous that wasn't the issue that kept him out of a hall, right? It was all about the betting, and now everything is sponsored by Draft Kings, so like, how much mixed messaging, can mo be stomach, and they went the wrong way on that and saying, All right, well, betting, yeah,

Patti 38:06
yeah. So, you know, this is floating set of rules. Those were the baseball rules. So not betting was a baseball rule. So that was the one they they used to put him on the ineligible list. But as far as voting, and, you know, it's like, okay, no, you look at the whole person, yeah, you look at the whole person. And he's not, I mean, he was a freaking amazing baseball player. Charlie hustle was a stunning, amazing baseball player with incredible stats and all that. The city of Cincinnati, like, a day after all this, had this big party for for him, and basically they were the uh, Marty Brennaman. One of the announcements for the for the Reds was like, Oh, um, yeah, this is great. Like, he really embodies Cincinnati. Like he like, please don't denigrate Cincinnati like that.

Pottymouth 38:52
No, that really hurts that a lot of Cincinnati coverage is going like that. Yeah, yep. You don't need it. So,

Patti 38:58
yeah. So that was my rant through other people's voices, because mine is tired.

Pottymouth 39:06
You did a very good job. That was a really good way to focus it, because there's so much going

Patti 39:10
and I'll link to both of those stories so you can get the full picture of other people's rants, which I think are very well, very well thought out.

Pottymouth 39:16
And he's not in the Hall of Fame yet, so who knows, right? So just because we're ranting, so why not continue it with cross training? I just want to say, let the kids fucking play. And this is a article or incident about trans youth in sports that that came to light this week, showing that high school students can be much better than many of our politicians in so many ways. So a state representative of Maine, Laura Libby, posted the name and picture of a trans girl who placed first place in a couple of track events in Maine, and she did that to criticize trans. Trans girls in sports and and you don't do that to a kid, right? Because you're drawing they she posted the school, the name, the picture, and basically saying, like, look at what happened. This kid got first this boy got first place. And it took it away, stole it from the girl who got second. So all sorts of shit about that? The houseliner, yeah, yeah. High school kid, right? High school kids playing sports because it's good for you when you are at any age, of course. But like, especially, there's so many wonderful things about sports and sports teams for kids, and it's not like the trans kids haven't suffered enough just to get where they are, and then to bring this upon. This kid is really horrific. And so the house speaker, Ryan, I meant to look up the pronunciation of his last name because it looks pretty Fecteau. Maybe he made her take it down. And of course, she's suing him for censorship, saying that he's censoring her free speech. So this whole free speech thing is handy when it goes your way, right,

Patti 41:03
sure. And her free speech of saying, you know, for life, for demonizing A minor,

Pottymouth 41:09
sure, yeah, for doxing a kid. So the House Rep, Brian facto, whose name I'm butchering, said, in addition to risking the young person's safety, your post violates one of the long held tradition, political traditions, of leaving kids out of it. So so far, he has been backed up us. So I didn't have the time to go into all the details of this court stuff. It's really interesting that every district court judge in Maine refused to hear this case. I don't know exactly why. Like, where that came on, but it went to US District Judge Melissa DeBose, who ruled in his favor, and then it went to an appeals court that also backed her up. So this is actually on the way to the Supreme Court, so we'll see if the Supreme Court hears this case or not. And the case is the censorship, like, was she allowed to post about this trans high school kid. So here's where the high school kid is better than the representative the second place student said the student who was beaten by this trans athlete exactly. Okay, exactly, she said. Representative Lauren Libby recently used my second place finish to malign the trans identified athlete who finished first no one was harmed by her participation in the girls track meet, but we were all harmed by the hateful rhetoric of bullies like representative Libby, who just want to take sports away from some kids just because of who they Are. What a great kid, fantastic like that is so above and beyond. And just to put this into perspective, in Maine, this current school year, there are 45,000 student high school athletes in Maine. Two of them have identified as trans. So this is clearly a huge risk to all sorts of like athletes. And I'm just thinking, like there's so many issues. You know, you you see so often that extremely tall girl on the volleyball team, right? She's gonna have an advantage. Like, there's so many levels. Where are you drawing the line? There are zero trans event identified students in the University of Maine. And this all comes into play because, you know, very recently, the senator from Maine had a little squabble with the current fascist in chief about funding and the See you in court thing, because he was freezing all sorts of funding to Maine because of them not prohibiting trans kids in sports. And that was actually settled may 2. So there's no freeze on funding to Maine anymore. So Maine essentially gets a win on this, but the administration has not admitted any wrongdoing. So it was a settlement. It was one of those, all right, we're just gonna pass this along.

Patti 43:53
Fascinating. Yeah, fascinating. I wanna just really send very nice words and possibly gifts to the second place student, yeah? Who said these things and said, Rock on, keep doing what you're doing, because the world needs more people like you.

Pottymouth 44:05
Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Both those names are out there. I just didn't feel comfortable. Yeah, no, but we're talking about them, but sure we can send notes.

Patti 44:13
Yep, yep, for sure. I want to talk about stimulating local economy. The Pope has, because he is from Chicago, has stimulated the Chicago economy. Chicago Pope, the Chicago Pope in a lot of ways. For instance, Chicago's grandstand sports has been selling a lot of jerseys. White Sox jerseys have the number 14 on the back and say, Pope Leo. That's so good on them. And I love this. I've seen a lot of the T shirts. They're fine, the jersey is the thing we've had some conversations about, is the jersey better with Roman numerals, I don't Oh, I think that's funny. I kind of like it as looking like he's a member of the team. Yeah, the number, I can go either way. But so they're talking. And this is an article that I read with the owners of this grandstand sports place where. Where they said, Oh yeah, we have sold a couple 100 of these jerseys. And the owners like, I think Pope Leo is probably over selling ball players in the last two years. Now, this is the White Sox. That's not that far that, my God, but the owners were super smart, like they didn't even have to wait for, yeah, you know the Pope's brother to say, Oh, he was never, ever a cub stand. Because people in the neighborhood knew Father Bob. When he was Father Bob, they knew everybody went to school with him, or they taught them, or what they know he's a neighbor. They know he's a White Sox fan. So this, this business started printing these sure sees kind of right away. But my I love the backup for this is, think about it. There's what, over a billion followers in that faith, right? So people want a feel good story. People want to be the first to do everything. It wasn't my idea. I can't take credit for it. I was just inspired. Let's put it that way. And my favorite part is, he's describing who's like waiting in line for this. He said it's grandma and grandpa standing in line because they're going to church on Sunday, and they want to be the first ones with the Pope Leo jersey. By God, that's so good. You might like, you know, some people might have like the fancy, you know, nice, the church, or whatever. You have no, no these, these, because we're in Chicago now, want to be the first ones with the Pope Leo jersey. So the Chief Marketing Officer for the White Sox said, you know, we had a sitting president who was a Sox fan. I didn't, I didn't think it could get any bigger. Well, there's a pope,

Pottymouth 46:34
you know, if he's gonna get canonized, like, if he gets the White Sox to the World Series this year, that's like,

Patti 46:39
I Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. So other things are happening around town, other than, like, the jersey. So for instance, like, there's a deli that has a sandwich named for the Pope, and they describe it as being baptized in gravy and used by and also, one local company has a key chain that says the pope calls it Comiskey, which just makes me so happy. I'm like, You are freaking brilliant, because that's like, inside baseball. That is such a nice little you live here. So you get this joke that's so good. So that made me happy. So that's like, stimulating the local economy in Chicago. Thank you, Pope, Leo. We are also cross training today with ornithology, and we're giving a lot of credit, to the Baltimore banner, which is quickly good paper, which is my new favorite, you know, news outlet. It's a paper that doesn't have a print, yeah, edition, but they are smart about what they do. And one of the articles I was looking for things about Brandon Hyde and all of that, I want the Baltimore paper to tell me what they think about it, I found an article with the head with the headline that said, unlike their namesake team Baltimore Orioles, are soaring in Cromwell Valley, they're talking about the actual birds. Cromwell Valley is a park very just just outside of the city of Baltimore, and they're talking about people who are bird watchers. But also may go to this. This park is like where you can find a lot of Orioles this time of year, May is like the hot time to find the actual birds in their environment. And a lot of people show up, like in their O's gear when they do that, because they're from there, whatever. So my favorite track the bird, my favorite quote is, I still love my I still love my O's, hon. I still support my home team no matter what, but I'm here to see these Orioles. The orange is stunning, kind of unique. You don't see too many orange birds. Thank you, Baltimore, for this little moment in, like, this, like, crisis in, in my sporting life right now, and making me feel happy about the birds. Sure.

Pottymouth 48:37
Yeah, maybe the actual, like, the the mascot, should you go out there to try to, like, bring them all in? Yeah,

Patti 48:45
okay, so we have this fantasy league which has Stupid, stupid rules, which I can say because I'm the commissioner. So, you know, I have to, like, you know, enforce these stupid, stupid rules. The only thing that happened in our in our lineup, in our standings, was me, you did. Wow. I like, I jumped two spots to six, and I pushed down, like, bring back renell is now seven, and Karen's crew, who was formerly tied with bring back renell to eighth, so I have this jump. Nobody else moved a minute. So, you know, wicked awesome still leads, and then pandemonium left his field. Bonus boyfriends and dingers dinos are still the top five. But what I'm thinking is happening is I lost my third baseman who wasn't doing well. So I'm wondering if an absence of a bad player, exactly, is making Yes, my heart, the heart and the stats, like, if we're doing stats go front, or we're taking away some of the lower score for the for the stats negatives that are rates and averages and not cumulative. Okay, I'm like, Huh? I'm wondering if I'm better off having no third baseman than having an underperforming third baseman. That's Wow. I'm just saying that. So this is what's happening to me. So maybe you just want to cut some people from your team if you're not doing well and see what happens. And I

Pottymouth 49:55
think we have to. We should think you should read this article that Callan leftist feel. Old posted in our in our fantasy chat, because it's about the baseball analytics, and I haven't finished it, which was, I haven't commented on it, of the Orioles versus reality, and how there was so much hope for the season. It made me feel better, because I had picked the Orioles to win. They at least, which is not really on on target right now. And I started feeling like, was I just being stupid and just thinking, like it would be a nice thing, but this article, the part I read, made me feel a little bit better. I wasn't the only one, and statistically, the Orioles should be doing a lot better. Oh

Patti 50:30
yes, you know, I am aware of that for sure. And I guess you know, time will tell if it was Brian heights, Brandon heights fault or

Pottymouth 50:37
Yeah, no, I don't think so. I think that might be actually a net bad Yeah,

Patti 50:42
well, we'll see. We'll see. So that's our story for today. So what have going on this week? Not

Pottymouth 50:47
a lot. I just want to say happy birthday again. Thank you. Thank you. That's what we have going on this week. Is more birthday cocktails.

Patti 50:55
And I'm very happy about all the birthday celebrations. So far. I'm getting to see friends and family, and it's really lovely, and I'm enjoying it. Yeah. Thank you very much. So that's also the other thing I have going on this week, other than lots of work. So much work, but, um, but lots of fun too. So thanks for that. If you want to tell us your story about what's happening with you, you can find us on social media. Where can people find us? Potty,

Pottymouth 51:15
No, sure. Just fly up to that blue sky. Be an Oriole or not. That would be ncid podcast. We'll still check our Twitter messages. If you want to try that out. Facebook and Instagram are no crying. Be ball. You can join the fun at Patreon, P, A, T, R, E, o n.com/no, crying and B ball for just a buck a month to make sure that we stay afloat just as much as our ice cubes and our cocktails. That's it,

Patti 51:41
exactly, yeah, so my friend, stay boosted. Fight the man. It is the right thing to do. Send your game balls to Meredith and until next week, say goodnight. Potty mouth, goodnight. Potty mouth.

Pottymouth 52:02
You maybe I can learn, although, you know, efficiency now feels like a four letter word, it's a very long four letter word, but, yeah, it's a

Patti 52:15
lot of extra letters, but there, but a lot of them are doubled, so that right? So efficiency is not really spelled very efficiently with balls extra letter extra letters. I.