Hey Now, You’re a All Star!

Subscriber-only episode

Ever had a Philly cheesesteak and fried bologna sandwich that'll make you rethink ballpark food forever? Join us as we recount our mouthwatering road trip to Princeton, sharing every delicious detail. Plus, our "Who You Reppin'" segment is back! We showcase our latest baseball apparel and dive into the stories behind our gear, setting the stage for an episode packed with food, fashion, and fervent baseball analysis.

Can a team fall from grace as quickly as the Los Angeles Angels? We dissect their dismal 2-17 run, the impact of star injuries, and the shocking decision to fire Joe Maddon. As we debate managerial changes across Major League Baseball, you'll get a front-row seat to discussions about the unpredictable and challenging nature of the sport. And don't miss heartwarming stories like Joey Votto’s TikTok moment with a young fan and the uncanny similarities between Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Jr.

Get ready for some heated debates as we make our picks for the All-Star Game starters. From Miguel Cabrera versus Yordan Alvarez for DH to the intense showdown between Freddie Freeman and Paul Goldschmidt at first base, we cover it all. Plus, a special shout-out to our upcoming focus on college baseball and the College World Series. This episode is a must-listen for all baseball enthusiasts looking for an in-depth, spirited discussion that spans the spectrum of America's favorite pastime.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:20

All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we are back in Dandridge, Tennessee, inside the Three Crows Studios for two guys talking baseball after a week away on the road. Dallas Danger here with you as always, and I'm joined, of course, by Brian Logan. Brian, it's nice to be back in the friendly confines of the studio.

Speaker 2: 0:41

What a great week for baseball it was and we're back, we're back home. We did a little road trip and, uh, now we're, we're back home and we got the home field advantage yeah, a great road trip actually.

Speaker 1: 0:54

I had a lot of fun doing a uh on location broadcast in in princeton and ate some good ballpark food saw, saw some good baseball. Absolutely. They treated us really nice up there they sure did.

Speaker 2: 1:08

They treated us like kings. The food was fantastic. I had a Philly cheesesteak that was just out of this world. I know you had the bologna sandwich that was fried and was just yummy, yummy, yummy. And we got to see some good baseball and it was a hell of a trip.

Speaker 1: 1:26

It was a hell of a trip. Yeah, that fried bologna was out of this world. That is a next-level ballpark concession stand.

Speaker 2: 1:33

Oh, nothing was conventional about it. I mean, they did have the hot dogs and the hamburgers, but man they had everything. You could get a three-course meal if you wanted one.

Speaker 1: 1:40

Yeah, what was it? Steak tips with green beans and mashed potatoes.

Speaker 2: 1:44

Yeah, just country food.

Speaker 1: 1:46

Yeah, good stuff. We were very happy. It was hyped up a lot, yes, but it lived up to the expectations, it sure did it, brought it.

Speaker 2: 1:55

It was billed as the greatest menu of all time. What we got was even better than that.

Speaker 1: 2:05

Very much so I'm in a good mood today. I've got my. I'm so happy it's Baja Blast season. I can get Baja Blast in the store. I don't have to go to Taco Bell to get it.

Speaker 2: 2:14

Right, I can't wait to eat some yummy Taco Bell.

Speaker 1: 2:17

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:17

That's going to be good. Nothing like a little podcast and some tacos.

Speaker 1: 2:21

Yeah, we got a big day planned, big day big day. Let's get right into it. This is a segment we do each and every week here on the show that we like to call who you Reppin', and what we do with who you Reppin' is we show off our apparel our caps, our jerseys, our t-shirts and talk about where we got it, why we're wearing it, things like that. So, brian, why don't you get us started?

Speaker 2: 2:46

You're repping us again this week. I am repping us with the Beware of the Curse the National League Player of the Week curse, and I'm also repping the Whistlepigs that we were generously supplied with at the game. But yes, I have the Beware of the Cursed shirt on available in our store and it is a very comfy tee 2gtbstorecom.

Speaker 1: 3:09

If you want to look as cool as Brian looks right now, get your very own. Beware of the Cursed t-shirt. And yeah, we kind of raided the merch stand at the Whistlepigs game and I'm looking forward to sporting some of that myself here in the future. I decided to go a different route this week myself, but I'm going to put it in the reserves and bring it out when I'm good and ready. But as far as what I've got on this week my t-shirt I was on Instagram or somewhere and got a targeted ad, which sometimes annoys me, but I saw this shirt from Rake Baseball Company and thought it was perfect. I have a thing I like to say when I'm at a ballpark and that is that a bad day at the park is still better than a good day anywhere else, and I thought this t-shirt captured that very succinctly with the no, no bad days, and I just love the graphic you know, the baseball in the hand and everything and it's very comfortable, very stylish. So check out rake baseball company. I know they uh, they've posted a lot of pictures of major leaguers wearing some of their stuff in warm-ups and things like that, so worth checking out for sure. I'm very happy with the shirt and my cap this week is the Chattanooga Lookouts. They are, of course, the Class AA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a lot of history with baseball in Chattanooga. I was fortunate enough to see a game there a few years ago and just had a great time, and Chattanooga is a neat little city, a lot of cool stuff there, and so I would recommend a lookouts game and an adventure to Chattanooga to anybody who is into that sort of thing. So that's who we're repping this week.

Speaker 1: 5:07

What else are we talking about this week? Well, let's take a look at the lineup leading off this week Broken Halos. We're going to look at the Angels. What are they? The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and some of the struggles they've hit recently and maybe what we think has led to that or what's causing all this. And we're just going to take a look at the Angels and have a discussion there. We've got some quick hits. Brian's wearing the shirt. We're going to check in on the curse. As always, interesting developments there once again this week and, because of our recording schedule with Princeton, we're going to play some catch up. We were off our usual same day every week recording schedule, so we've got some bookkeeping to do with the Curse, then the whole second half of our show this week we're going to be picking our All-Star Game starters. We're going to start with American Pie. That, of course, is the American League All-Stars and the National Treasure will be the National League All-Stars and we're going to talk all things All-Star selections and make our picks and probably argue a little bit. So, yeah, let's talk brian, let's talk about the angels. So let's, or angel, well, let's. Let's.

Speaker 1: 6:32

Just go back a little bit, not quite a month ago, may the 24th. The angels are 10 games over 500. They're right in the thick of their division and we even talked, you know, a month into the season, about this being a team that we could see winning the American League and going to the World Series. And you know this is a group. When you look at Trout and Otani, they picked up Rendon. You know they added pitching this year, which was a big need for them. You know they get a no-ter out of reed detmers, which nobody saw coming. Taylor ward is just been electric at the plate, another unexpected contributor for them. So we thought it was, we thought they were there for the duration. You know, we thought this might be their year.

Speaker 2: 7:22

They might have been my team. I was looking at them at what point to be my al team right?

Speaker 1: 7:27

so since may the 24th they are 2 and 17, including what I'm sure everyone listening and watching um has heard about their franchise franchise record 14-game losing streak. I mean this just got it. Just it seems like it snowballed on him overnight, got away from him quickly it really did. And there's so much to talk about with this just because you know. Part of it, I think, was Mike Trout has been dealing with some injuries. He's been slumping a little bit when he's been healthy and in the lineup. But you know, when I look at this Angels team they don't seem different. It's not like there were things they were doing when they were winning that they're not doing now. They're putting the same group of guys out there for the most part, you know, sans the injuries. Trout, like I mentioned, and you know rindone's been in and out of the lineup with some nagging stuff, but for the most part this is the same team and they're not playing especially bad baseball. They're just. They've just sort of forgotten how to win well, they've had a string of bad luck.

Speaker 2: 8:49

Uh, and and that's what I think it is I mean they're, they're healthy for the most part. I mean, like you said, there's nothing that they really did differently, so nothing catastrophic happened to the team. It's just they just not had good luck. The, the baseball gods, have not been shining on them at all.

Speaker 1: 9:08

Yeah, and when you look at this run of losses in a really poor record, seven times in that stretch, seven times since May the 24th, they've lost by one run. I mean so they're in games and you know, and they're playing good teams. You know they've been through the Yankees, the Phillies and Red Sox, both when they were in the middle of hot streaks. The Blue Jays, who are coming on and turning into a team that we all thought they might be, the mets, who are the the tops in the national league right now. I mean they're. I think they might just be running into a part of their schedule where they're good, but the teams they're playing are a little better well, I think that might be it.

Speaker 2: 10:03

If you're looking at the schedule, I mean the Yankees as I saw this past weekend when they played the Cubs are just, I mean, they're monsters. And then you add the Mets, who we've been talking about all season. You got the Blue Jays, who we've been talking about, and the Phillies, who are on the the roll, and the Red Sox. I mean that's some tough teams to face right in a row. So maybe it's not that they were doing anything wrong. They were competing, they just weren't pulling it out.

Speaker 1: 10:35

Yeah for sure. And the most baffling thing to me about the Angels is that in the middle of this historic losing streak where they were trying everything I mean at one point they even changed everybody's walk-up music to Nickelback, just because it's like you know we got to shake things up, we got to try something different Because that's going to help. Well, it didn't. They lost that night too, but they fired Joe Maddon. And you know, when we were in Princeton, our last episode, we talked about the Phillies firing Joe Girardi, and one of the things that I talked about was you know, I don't know that there's a better manager out there for the Phillies.

Speaker 1: 11:24

That's definitely the case here, because you know Joe Maddon is on that same level, if not a higher level, than Girardi. You know he's won a World Series, he's had success with two other franchises before he got to the Angels. You know he is top-level manager in Major League Baseball and now, assuming they want to manage, there are two very good candidates out there. So I think we're going to see this domino effect as the season goes on, and especially this next offseason, where teams are making changes just to get a, just because they know they've got a shot at Joe Maddon or Joe Girardi, you know who can bring a lot to a franchise and to a clubhouse, because they've been there, they've won championships, they're very, very good managers, good baseball minds. So that was the most surprising thing to me because, again, when you look at this Angels team, it's not like all of a sudden they got embarrassing. They're losing a lot of close games. They're playing really good teams. I don't know that Joe Maddon was the problem.

Speaker 2: 12:38

I don't know if he was the problem either, and I've said this since we've been on air that I think Joe's the second best baseball mind in the game, right behind Dave Roberts, and if I had a ship I'd want him steering the wheel. For sure it's not like anything happened. I mean, I know we keep repeating ourselves, but I don't know if some of these games could have been avoided, and it's definitely not the manager's fault.

Speaker 1: 13:08

Baseball is a tough, tough, fickle game. There's a lot of failure in baseball, even when you're doing well. You know it's a tough game. It's a long season, grueling physically, mentally. You know I'm with you. I don't know how many of these losses could have been turned the other way. You know, just if Phil Nevin was the manager instead of Joe Maddon. Right, I don't know. That that's the I don't know Again, and I feel like I'm saying the same things that I said about Joe Girardi being fired by the Phillies. But I think they just needed a fall guy. I mean, they had to put the blame somewhere, I guess, and they put it on the manager. And you know, now Joe Maddon is walking around with a mohawk.

Speaker 2: 13:59

Yeah, what about that? What about he gets his hair cut in solidarity with the team and then they get rid of him?

Speaker 1: 14:08

Yeah, and it turns out to be for nothing. So he's stuck with his hair until the rest of it grows in, or maybe, I don't know, he might have shaved his head. I don't know, it's baffling. It's baffling, but it's one of the interesting things about the game. And, like I said, it's a long season and they're in a they're. You know, they've hit a bad stretch. You know, last time I looked at the standings they were behind the rangers. Yeah, the rangers have surpassed them in the standings, in the you know, excuse me the al west and that's not a good place to be.

Speaker 1: 14:37

Well, the rangers are on the up a little bit, you know, and they've finally gotten what they paid for with marcus simeon a little bit. But yeah, I don't know. This one is confusing to me simply because of the Joe Maddon situation. I mean, I just don't know that they looked around and said we've got a better option. I think they just had to make a move and that was the one they made.

Speaker 2: 15:01

Well, you think that maybe they're going to regret it. I mean, is this something they're going to regret it?

Speaker 1: 15:04

I mean, is this something they're going to look back and go oh, we made a mistake by getting rid of him I don't know, because I mean maybe they just assumed they they needed to, like I said they needed to make some change. They need you know and and you know the manager sort of sets the tone and creates the culture for a clubhouse and a and a a group of players and coaches. So maybe they just said you know what, we tried it, we get it. He's great in his own right, but maybe it just wasn't the right fit. Maybe he's just, maybe they just wanted to move on and start fresh.

Speaker 1: 15:42

But I mean it's such a shame. I mean I was so excited because you want Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in the playoffs, absolutely you want them playing meaningful baseball, regardless of who your team is, who you root for, where your allegiances lie. That's good for the game. To have these MVP, caliberp, caliber players, these generational talents because that really they both are generational players for them to never be in the playoffs is is a shame and and you know, hopefully they can turn it around. But maybe we were wrong, maybe it's just not their year.

Speaker 2: 16:26

Well, I mean, obviously it's not their year so far. That's why I was just keeping an eye on them and I didn't commit, thank goodness, how convenient for me, right.

Speaker 1: 16:37

Well, I mean your other option you said here on the air was the Orioles. Yeah, so clearly wins, is not your number one factor that I'm looking at.

Speaker 2: 16:48

Yeah, I'm basically looking at team uniforms and hot dog services. You know Craft services, there you go.

Speaker 1: 16:57

There you go. Well, we'll see. You know, I'm hopeful that the Angels can right the ship and get back in a position where they're going to be in the playoffs, because, well, they better at least be competitive. You know, next month when we go to see them, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, well, well, we'll, we'll see when we get there. I guess, absolutely, all right. Well, that that sort of puts a bow on the conversation about the Angels.

Speaker 1: 17:22

We've got some quick hits this week. We're going to rapid-fire some topics that we can't really justify giving full segments to. But, yeah, we've got a few things to talk about here. Brian, are you ready? I am ready. All right, first things first. I just thought this was cool. Through 403 major league games. Thought this was cool Through 403 major league games, vladimir Guerrero, senior of Expos and Angels fame, hit 87 home runs and had an on-base percentage of 363. His son, vladimir Guerrero Jr, one of the stars of the game that I'm sure we'll talk about coming up later when we're picking our all-star squads he has the exact same numbers through 403 games, 87 home runs, 363 on base. That is wacky, only in baseball bro, only in baseball.

Speaker 2: 18:13

I mean that is such a weird thing to happen, a weird statistic, and I mean what are the odds? That's what I want to know. What are the odds of that happening? Are?

Speaker 1: 18:23

Oh, there's literally no way of even knowing. I mean that's crazy. It reminds me so much of Cecil Fielder and his son, Prince Fielder, ending with the same exact home run number for their careers. It's the same, just bizarre, incredible, romantic statistic.

Speaker 1: 18:41

It's going to make a great movie one day. Yeah Well, vladdy jr says this last year was the trailer, this year's the movie, and so there you go. Maybe that's, maybe that's exhibit a. I love too and this is something that I don't know that gets talked about a lot, but you know, vladdy senior started his career playing in canada with the montreal expos and vladdy jr now is playing in toronto. So they're they're they're both doing it for a Canadian team and they're doing it identically. I mean, it's so cool. I just thought that was neat and I wanted to bring it up. But, moving on, so we saw this. I'm sure a lot of people that are listening and watching us this week have seen it as well, that are listening and watching us this week have seen it as well.

Speaker 1: 19:25

Joey Votto of the Reds has sort of famously taken to social media out of the blue, just sort of out of nowhere TikTok especially. So a little girl, a fan, in the stands is holding up a sign that says hey, joey Votto, do a TikTok video with me. Well, what does Joey Votto do? He goes over, he talks to her, shows her some dance moves, explains what he wants to do, and they do a TikTok video together. And it was awesome. It was awesome. I mean, how good is Joey Votto at social?

Speaker 2: 19:54

media, oh I know, and he has social anxiety. So going to strangers and going out like that has been documented that he has issues with.

Speaker 1: 20:06

Right.

Speaker 2: 20:07

But he's overcome it because he's had to, because he's the face of the Reds, and this is awesome. This is great that he showed that not only can he overcome that, but then he made this girl's day.

Speaker 1: 20:17

Well, listen, he plays for the Cincinnati Reds. He's got to have fun somehow, right, I mean?

Speaker 2: 20:22

come on.

Speaker 1: 20:23

They are bad, they are very, very bad and they're probably going to stay bad, all right. So let's check in on our National League Player of the Week curse, dun dun dun. When we last left you, we were in Princeton, west Virginia, and we talked about Francisco Lindor slamming his finger in a hotel room door and at that point it didn't matter what he did numbers-wise, we were convinced that the curse was coming after him. I mean, that's just Chasing him down in the hotel. Point proof right there.

Speaker 1: 20:55

So since then, brendan Rodgers has had his week as the NL Player of the Week, infielder for the Rockies and the curse is intact. You know he was, he was okay, I mean he, he had three or four games immediately that were bad. Oh for fours, one for fours, things like that. He ends up for the week hitting 240 with a couple rbis, but that's not player of the week stuff. So you know, curse is intact. Now we still have a bit of an asterisk to deal with because of sandy alcontra.

Speaker 1: 21:30

Right, and we talked about how. You know we weren't sure that the curse applied to a pitcher, because a pitcher you know, especially a starter in in the week, that they are the player of the week. They're probably only going to play once, maybe twice. Right and alcontra, for all intents and purposes, overcame the curse, but we now are going to have another pitcher because Hunter Green, the young, sensational starter for the Cincinnati Reds, he has been named the NL Player of the Week. So we might have another sort of view on the pitcher and the curse and how those sort of line up. I'm very interested to see how this plays out, because if the curse has been broken, alcantara is the one who did it. Now I don't think we can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's been broken, because that's one example, and it's a loose example again, because of playing time for a pitcher as opposed to a hitter. I don't know, brian, what's, what's your take here? What do you? What do you think about the pitchers and the curse?

Speaker 2: 22:40

I think that the uh, the curse, uh excludes the pitchers because they're already not out there. So it doesn't come after them as hard because now, like when it's going to hotel rooms to get you there, it's there. So I think maybe it's. We'll just have to see, but I think maybe that it takes it easy on pitchers.

Speaker 1: 23:01

Well, it's also on a t-shirt now.

Speaker 2: 23:03

Well, it's on a t-shirt.

Speaker 1: 23:04

It's on a t-shirt and a lovely, a lovely t-shirt, a comfortable t-shirt, and a t-shirt that you can own if you go to 2GTBStorecom now. And in addition to the Beware of the Cursed shirt, we also have some great apparel, some neat knick-knacky items. Brian, I know we say this every week, but we've got something for everybody at 2GTBStorecom.

Speaker 2: 23:28

Absolutely. We've got everything. We've got hats, t-shirts, women's wear, stuff for the puppies. We've got everything Bluetooth speakers, jackets, anything you could want. We have it. Something for everybody. Check out the store.

Speaker 1: 23:42

Yeah, I mean we've really put together a neat array of items men's wear women, women's wear, stuff for the dogs. You know a little bit of everything. We really just um tried to create a store that anybody could go to if they were into the podcast and and and find something for them. We just, you know, obviously we've we've started getting some of our sample items and, um, you know, I love them so far. I mean I love everything we've gotten for ourselves so far from 2gtbstorecom. You know our test items and yeah, I mean, I just I'm really happy with the choices we've made as far as the merchandise that we're putting out there for our listeners and viewers.

Speaker 2: 24:29

The quality is very nice and the shipping is fast, very fast to get there, so that's always a plus. You don't have to wait long after you make your order yeah, very, very good stuff.

Speaker 1: 24:39

we we hope that, uh, if you're enjoying what we're doing here with two guys talking baseball, whether you're a listener of the podcast or you're with us on youtube and you can see us here in the studio, we really hope that you will support us in that way, because that's the best way directly to support the show as far as money goes. Obviously, word of mouth is huge too, so tell your friends about us, but what better way to tell your friends than to sport it on a T-shirt or a jersey or, you know, a Bluetooth?

Speaker 2: 25:14

speaker? Absolutely, because you know you can take that speaker anywhere while you're wearing your shirt 2GTBStorecom for all of your Two Guys Talking Baseball merchandise needs, all right.

Speaker 1: 25:30

So we are going to kick things into high gear now and we're going to talk the All-Star Game it's coming up next month and the fan vote for the starters for the American and National League in the Midsummer Classic. It's now open. You can go to allstargamecom and take care of that. I think you can vote five times a day, which is a little crazy, but you know, go for it. You know vote, vote for your guy five times a day, mix it up, vote for five different teams, spread the love. We've done it and it's uh, it's a super streamlined process. Now the the way they've got it set up. I mean it.

Speaker 1: 26:09

It took me less than five minutes to go through the vote and we we were even able to download a neat little graphic that showed off our ballot. That we'll show you guys a little later on, after we break down our picks. But we're going to start with the American League. We're going to go position by position, tell you who we think should be the All-Star Game starter and a little bit as to why. So, brian, without further ado, let's look at the American League catcher position. Who do you have going to the All-Star Game for the American League behind the plate.

Speaker 2: 26:44

I got Gary Sanchez from the Minnesota Twins. He's coming in there with seven home runs, 28 RBIs, and I think that he's great to call the game.

Speaker 1: 26:58

Yeah, you know he was a guy that needed to get out of the Yankee organization. I mean, he took a lot of heat for his defense and that New York media, the New York fans can be a little tough to get along with, but, you know, got traded to the Twins. I think he's had a good year. Honestly, that's who I wanted to pick, but somebody else that kind of has come out of nowhere this year to me was undeniable and is alejandro kirk from the blue jays. You know was really a backup catcher coming into the season. Danny jansen's dealt with some injuries, so kirk has gotten more playing time and he's made the most of it. Um, he's leading american league catchers in war at 2.1 and he's an exciting player, you know he's. He's a unconventional body type guy. He's kind of short and and round, you know, but but it looks almost like an old school catcher. Well, that's what you want, yeah it's a little stocky.

Speaker 2: 28:02

Yeah, he's a stout guy, somebody that would have played before buster posey uh got involved okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, pump the brakes.

Speaker 1: 28:10

Let's not get off on one of those tangents. But yeah, so I've got alejandro kirk from the blue jays at catcher. I think he deserves it. Um, you know, not not a star name yet you know, even to the level of a gary sanchez, but I think when you look at the numbers, he's, he's, he's got a good shot. So, um, you know, know, that's who I've got there. Let's move on to first base. Brian in the AL, who you got.

Speaker 2: 28:35

I got Vlad Guerrero, Of course we were just talking about him. I mean he's got 15 home runs, 37 RBIs. He's my choice for first base from the Blue Jays.

Speaker 1: 28:47

Yeah, that's a good pick. He's a star man. He's one of the bright, shining stars in the game right now. I love Vladdy Jr and I love the Blue Jays, but I could not pick anybody but Ty France from the Mariners Again, not a conventional pick because he's not established as a star yet, but 3.0 war, which is double any other AL first baseman. He's got the top OPS of any AL first baseman. Vladdy, I think, will be there. But as far as who should start at first base, I think it's Ty France from the Mariners. I mean, he's just really, really one of the best hitters so far in the major leagues this year.

Speaker 2: 29:40

Well, that's a great choice also, but I don't know. I mean, is he as popular? And on the popular vote.

Speaker 1: 29:47

Right right.

Speaker 2: 29:49

So that's what's going to really determine.

Speaker 1: 29:51

You know who starts for sure, I mean the fan vote does add an element of you know you're going to see established guys who don't quite have the numbers, get the get the starting roles, just because you know fans are going to vote for their favorite players. And I don't know how many people out there can say ty france is their favorite or one of their favorite players. But I wanted to give him some love here and not overlook him because again, he's just putting up great numbers and if I had to predict what's really going to happen, I would imagine Vladdy's probably going to be the starter and Ty France has a good shot at being on the team as a backup.

Speaker 2: 30:30

Right, right right, I would agree with that.

Speaker 1: 30:32

All right, we differ a lot. We compared our picks a little bit before we got on air. But this is one position where I was kind of surprised we had the same guy, Brian, who you got AL second base.

Speaker 2: 30:46

I got Trevor Story eight home runs and 41 RBIs for the Red Sox.

Speaker 1: 30:53

Yeah, just a you know comes in kind of surprising that he signs with the Red Sox. You know, one of those highly touted free agent shortstops last offseason Moves to second base when he signs with Boston. He's got more RBIs than any other second baseman in the American League and he started slow so some of his numbers haven't caught up yet. But I think he's got both elements. He's got all-star numbers Again. He's leading all second basemen in the league in RBIs and he's got that star power Big market team. I I think. I don't think there's an obvious choice at second base, but but but I think Trevor Story is is a good one for sure and um, paying dividends for the Red Sox signing him to that contract absolutely.

Speaker 2: 31:44

I mean, uh, a good, solid choice for for both of us there at second base speaking of second base or the number two.

Speaker 1: 31:52

I just noticed our two fell off of my locker wow it did we have had? We're just guys talking baseball this week yeah, well that's terrible there could be any number of guys talking baseball this week. I tell you.

Speaker 2: 32:06

Uh, tiffany and tracy should have caught that before we came on air.

Speaker 1: 32:10

For sure, we'll have to have a word with them after this.

Speaker 2: 32:14

Okay, just can't glue the way you used to.

Speaker 1: 32:16

I alluded to some argument and I think it's going to happen here. Brian, tell us your pick for third base in the American League.

Speaker 2: 32:24

Anthony Rondon from the Angels. He's got five home runs and 24 RBIs, 707 OPS.

Speaker 1: 32:35

Yeah see, okay. So first off, I've got Jose Ramirez from the Cleveland Guardians and he's got 62 RBIs. That's the most in the majors. He's just a production machine. He's been player of the majors. He's just a production machine. He's been player of the week in the al, I think twice, maybe three times this year, and it was hard to pick him over rafael devers of the red sox, who's putting up monster numbers. His war is just crazy high.

Speaker 1: 33:04

I just can't see how you got rendon, man, I just I I mean I like him yeah, yeah, I don't Not one of my favorite players, but you know, putting that aside, I just I don't, you know, and Rendon's got some nagging injuries and some things going on, you know. But I just I don't know, man, I just I can't get on board with that pick at all. I mean I just I don't know man, I just I can't get on board with that pick at all. I mean I just I don't see how you look at the numbers and put Rendon ahead of either Ramirez or Devers at third base. It just baffles my mind. I just can't wrap my head around it.

Speaker 2: 33:43

Well, get used to it, because that's who's going to be playing.

Speaker 1: 33:46

Yeah, I doubt it. Anyways. So Brian has Rendon, I have Ramirez. I think Rafael Devers will definitely be there, whether he's the starter or not. I mean, that's two MVP-type guys at third base, and Brian chose not to pick either one of them.

Speaker 2: 34:05

So yeah, I feel confident with my picks this week.

Speaker 1: 34:09

You always do All right, so let's move on to shortstop in the American League. Who you got there, Brian?

Speaker 2: 34:20

I got the Rays' Wander Franco Four home runs, 19 RBIs.

Speaker 1: 34:26

Yeah, he's a really exciting player. I think he's going to make a lot of all-star teams. I mean, he's really lived up to the hype. He's another guy that's had some injury issues and so is Tim Anderson of the White Sox. But despite the injury troubles, I picked Tim Anderson as my shortstop in the AL Highest OPS, 896 of any shortstop in the AL. And again he's dealing with the injuries. But he's one of those guys now that you've really got to have a good season to keep off the all-star team. I mean, he's just one of the faces of baseball, exciting to watch, a lot of passion, you know, in in his game. And to me, to me, if he, if he had been healthy all year, he would have the numbers that other guys do and he has the more star power than a lot of candidates at shortstop. Um, wander franco, not a bad pick, obviously, but to me, uh, you've really got to bring just astronomical numbers to knock Tim Anderson out of that spot.

Speaker 1: 35:41

There's our infield. Yeah, that's the infield. We're going to move to the outfield. So, brian, let's go one at a time. Give me your first outfielder.

Speaker 2: 35:53

Giancarlo Statton 13 home runs, 40 RBIs. Of the Monster Yankees 874 OPS.

Speaker 1: 36:00

Yeah he's one of the monsters there, for sure. And the guy just I mean we've talked about it here on the program he just obliterates. I mean he punishes baseballs, so not a bad pick. Okay, who's your next outfielder?

Speaker 2: 36:17

My next outfielder is Mike Trout. 16 home runs, 34 RBIs for the Angels 1.023 OPS that's incredible.

Speaker 1: 36:27

Yeah, he's get to your third outfielder, and then we'll talk about that.

Speaker 2: 36:32

Okay, and then Aaron Judge, you've got to have the other monster there, the guy that's on a tear. 313, 24 home runs, 48 RBIs, 1.059 OPS Crazy, Just insane.

Speaker 1: 36:47

Yeah, aaron Judge. My first note under Aaron Judge, who I also picked, was duh. I mean, I think when you, you know, if you write out the lineup, you know by position, you know American League and National League and you've got a blank slate, he's the first name you're writing down this year. I mean he is just putting up I mean we've used the term monster with the Yankees and he really is putting up monster numbers 24 home runs is tops in the majors. Slugging and OPS he's the tops as well. He's the AL MVP right now, just destroying the ball, leading the Yankees who are, without much argument at this point, the best team in the majors. So, yeah, I can't disagree with that. I also had Mike Trout. You know 3.1 war, which is second amongst outfielders in the AL. You talked about the OPS, over 1,000. He's also second to Judge there and if it wasn't for Aaron Judge, I think we'd be having a conversation about Mike Trout and the historic potentially season he's having.

Speaker 2: 38:03

Right.

Speaker 1: 38:03

But Judge is just on another planet. So I've got Judge Trout and then instead of Stanton I had Byron Buxton from the Twins 18 home runs, which is second to Judge amongst outfielders in the AL. Big thing there is he's healthy, he's stayed on the field. We did a whole segment on Byron Buxton a while back and we talked about how we couldn't give him, you know, the distinction of being one of the better players around until he proved that he could stay on the field and do it for a long stretch of time. And he's slowly putting that resume together.

Speaker 1: 38:44

I think, and you know the power is there for him. I mean, that was something I think we touched on when we talked about Buxton as well was that the power has kind of come along as his career's moved on. So with the power numbers you know, and just the fact that he is there, he's healthy, he's playing every day, I think he's he's an all-star starter for the twins, so that will move us to our designated hitter in the AL. So, brian, who you got at? Dh for the American League.

Speaker 2: 39:20

I got Cabrera Three home runs, 21 RBIs. His OPS is a little, you know, not that good at 697. But he's coming in there, I think, from the Tigers. I think he's my DH.

Speaker 1: 39:34

Okay, that's not a bad pick. Miguel Cabrera obviously a star, probably a first ballot Hall of Famer Got his 3,000th hit earlier this season and we talked about that around the time that it happened. I went a little bit different direction because I think this guy moving forward is going to be a star and that's Jordan Alvarez from the Astros. He has a 2.8 war 17 home runs, 43 RBI's. Those are all first among guys in the American League that have predominantly been DHs. No real love lost between me and the Astros, but this guy is just a really stout hitter and I think it's his time. I mean, I think he's really going to be a guy that we see making all-star games moving forward year after year. So that is our American League team as far as who the fans can vote for.

Speaker 1: 40:39

But we decided we also wanted to pick a starting pitcher in each league. Not something you can vote on, it's picked by the, the manager and the coaching staff of each each league's all-star team. But brian, who do you have as the american league starter? As far as that goes, this is really interesting because I don't think there's a run right, a runaway in the al. Who do you have?

Speaker 2: 41:02

I got shane mcclarehan at 1.87 era with 98 strikeout uh, 0.857 whip. Uh, he's won whip. Uh, he's 1-7. Uh, he's lost two. Uh for the Rays yeah, a good pick.

Speaker 1: 41:18

a guy who is sort of just now becoming, uh, a major leaguer, you know, just a solid guy who's going to be in the bigs all the time. Um, yeah, I and he's. He's got great strikeout numbers, leading the league in strikeouts. My pick, though, was from the Toronto Blue Jays, alex Manoa, who's another guy who's sort of just now coming into his own as a major leaguer 236 ERA plus 1.67 ERA those are both first in the AL. He's 8-1. He's on a really good Blue Jays team. For me, the job of the starting pitcher is to give you the best chance to win the game that they can, and I think Manoa's doing that right now. I think both of our picks will be on the squad. I'd have a hard time wrapping my head around an all-star team without one or both of them. But, yeah, I gave Manoa the edge on some of the more advanced statistics, but, from a traditional standpoint, shane McClanahan's just mowing people down.

Speaker 2: 42:28

Yeah, he's just bringing it to them, isn't he? Yeah, he really is.

Speaker 1: 42:33

And the Rays keep finding these guys. It seems like every year there's somebody new we're talking about on the Rays that they've brought up through their farm system and developed into a really solid major leaguer. So that is our picks. In the American League we're going to move over to the National League, which I think we both will admit we're more familiar with More of our strong suit.

Speaker 1: 42:58

Yeah, for sure we see more guys in the NL, you know, because we watch the Cubs and the Dodgers respectively every day. So we see more NL teams and players. So you know, this one is a little bit more in our wheelhouse, so to speak. So, brian, let's start with the backstop. Who's your National League catcher? It's?

Speaker 2: 43:19

got to be Willie Contreras 12 home run, 26 RBIs for the Cubs, 949 OPS and my favorite catcher.

Speaker 1: 43:29

Yeah, 2.9 war, which is first among National League catchers. I mean, he's the straw that stirs the drink for the cubs right now. Um, I, I, you know, I, obviously I I want will smith to to get an all-star, because he deserves it. But I don't think he's starting over contraris. This year he's just been really fantastic. But I mean, I think the question where we're sitting right now is is Wilson Contreras going to still be wearing a Cubs uniform at the all-star break?

Speaker 2: 44:01

well, that's a. That's a huge question right there. I hope he will be, but I got a feeling that he might not yeah, we'll see.

Speaker 1: 44:08

I mean, I I've I've seen all the buzz excuse me surrounding Contreras' name in trade talks. A lot of contenders really would like to add that, and there are some teams out there that have some good farm systems, have some young, up-and-coming talent and I personally think, if he continues to play the way he has, I think the Cubs aren't going to be left with much of a choice other than take what they can get for him now, ship him off to a team that might be renting him before he hits free agency. But if it's a team like the Giants or the Mets who are trying to win this season, it could be worth the haul that the Cubs will bring in in a trade for Willie Contreras. So we agree on the catcher in the National League, brian, who'd you pick at first base?

Speaker 2: 45:07

Well, you're going to like this. This is your guy, freddie Freeman Five home runs, 34 RBIs for the Dodgers, 8 815 ops. Um, I think he's good and solid, uh, offensively and defensively good pick.

Speaker 1: 45:21

Freddie's a superstar, make no mistake, you know, and, and especially with the, the all-star festivities being at dodger stadium this year, I'd love to see the you know my boys represented heavily. However, there is a guy in st louis named paul goldschmidt, who is first among national league catchers in war hits, batting average on base, slugging and ops. And you know I I looked at pete alonso because I think he's really playing at a high level for the Mets and they're winning. Obviously, again, freddie is just that standard bearer at first base in the National League, but man Goldschmidt is. He might be the MVP right now. I mean, really just doesn't. Doesn't show any signs of stopping. Really really great hitter. So, yeah, I had to go Goldschmidt.

Speaker 2: 46:20

I mean that's a great choice. I mean I looked him over a little bit and decided to go with Freddie, but I mean he's having a heck of a season already.

Speaker 1: 46:29

You know and Goldschmidt is a guy that I don't think it's talked about enough. You know, we talked about the element of established stars versus guys that are putting up the numbers but maybe aren't at that level from just an optics standpoint. But Goldschmidt is in that conversation every year. I mean, he's a phenomenal hitter. You know, whether it was during his time with the diamondbacks or now that he's in st louis really competing as a member of the cardinals. You know, I think he's a guy we need to start talking about a little bit more as one of the better hitters in the game. Right, absolutely all right. So this is, this is where it got a little interesting for me was second base in the nl, because I don't think there's an obvious pick. I mean, I think there's probably five guys that you could pick here and not sound wrong. So, brian, who'd you end up with at second base in the NL?

Speaker 2: 47:26

Well, I ended up with Ozzie Albies. But you know he's hurt and we've got to see what the Braves are going to do with him and how quick he's going to come back, whether he's going to actually have a chance to play and be healthy. But he's coming in at eight home runs, 33 RBIs, batting .244. So he was my pick before he got injured.

Speaker 1: 47:50

Yeah, and not a bad pick. He's really one of the faces of the Braves who are the defending World Series champions. I went with Jazz Chisholm Jr of the Marlins. I wish I could remember and I've racked my brain trying to do that. I saw or heard somewhere someone saying that when they were around their son's little league team they all were emulating jazz chism. They all want to be jazz.

Speaker 1: 48:24

And when you're the top second baseman in your league in home runs and rbis, and that's what's being said about you. I think this is another guy that, while he's not established yet, in two years it's going to be hard to pick anybody but him at second base in the National League. So I think this I think Jazz Chisholm is the guy this year, but again there's nobody obvious at second base. I mean, it's a really wide open position. So it's going to be fascinating to see who the fans put down and who we end up seeing starting for the NL at second base. So, moving right along, brian, let's go to third base, the hot corner in the National League. Who you got?

Speaker 2: 49:09

I got your favorite player, manny Machado, at 315, 10 home runs, 38 RBIs and a .906 OPS from the Padres and your favorite player.

Speaker 1: 49:20

Yeah. So let me start this conversation by saying fuck Manny Machado. But he is having a great year. But so is Nolan Arenado for the cardinals and he was, you know, 41 rbis is first amongst third baseman in the national league. He's got comparable numbers for the most part to machado, and any way that I can diss manny machado I'm taking advantage. So I got nolan arenado just just based off of that. But both really good, both sides of the ball. I mean, you know Arenado has kind of been snubbing Machado for the gold glove at third in the National League for a long time. But Manny, I mean Manny Machado I just don't like as a dude. You know can't take anything away from him on the field. He's a very good player but I did not pick him.

Speaker 2: 50:14

I think Manny would speak very highly of you if he knew you.

Speaker 1: 50:19

If he heard half the shit I've said about him over the years, especially since 2018, he would not.

Speaker 2: 50:25

Well, probably not. Yeah, but you know you could be nicer and he could be. You know, have thicker skin.

Speaker 1: 50:32

Well, you know, if a bullfrog had wings, it wouldn't bump its ass on the ground. Okay, let's move it over to shortstop. National League shortstop.

Speaker 2: 50:43

Who you got. I got the Chicago Cubs' Nico Horner three home runs and 17 RBIs. Not your first choice, but he's my first choice. I think the kid deserves a shot.

Speaker 1: 50:56

You know what I wanted to hate this pick. When you first told me you were even considering this I wanted to hate it. But then I started looking at it closely and it's not the worst pick. I mean I didn't pick Nico Horner but it's not as bad a pick as it might sound. You know, decent war number he's right there in the thick of a lot of statistics and he's come a long way. I mean in just a couple, few years for the Cubs he's come a very long way and he's added a spark sometimes that the Cubs really need. So I don't hate that pick, I went. You know you picked your guy, I picked my guy, I went.

Speaker 1: 51:42

Trey Turner 46 RBIs, 13 stolen bases, both first amongst National League shortstops. You know it's so interesting. At the start of the season when I first saw Dave Roberts plugging Trey Turner into the three spot in the lineup every day, I thought that's a little interesting. Here's a batting champion. So you figure, if Mookie and Freddie get on in front of him and he's hitting singles all day, he's going to be good in that number three spot.

Speaker 1: 52:17

What I didn't realize until I started watching him every day is the amount of pop in that bat right. It hasn't shown quite yet to the degree that I think it will. But man, he's got a lot of pop for for for a speedy guy. You know a guy that 15 years ago would have been a leadoff hitter, no matter what Right, just because of his speed. I mean he's the fastest guy in the major leagues statistically. But you know an on-base machine, again the pop and the bat. And when you have the luxury of Mookie in the leadoff spot and Freddie Freeman in the number two hole and you've still got Trey Turner to find somewhere in the lineup, I mean it's a good problem to have.

Speaker 2: 52:58

It's an excellent problem to have.

Speaker 1: 53:00

But yeah, I went, Trey Turner, so that was my NL shortstop. Let's move to the outfield, brian, who's your first outfielder in the National League.

Speaker 2: 53:09

I got Mookie Betts from the Dodgers 17 home runs, 40 RBIs. Got to have Mookie.

Speaker 1: 53:16

Yeah, man Couldn't agree more. Who's your next outfielder?

Speaker 2: 53:19

Ronald Acuna Jr from the Braves 6 home runs, 16 RBIs, 900 OPS.

Speaker 1: 53:28

Yeah, another guy that is sort of the heartbeat of his team and your third outfielder.

Speaker 2: 53:34

And my third I got to have another one of my Chicago boys, somebody who's actually on a tear right up leading into the All-Star break Ian Happ seven home runs, 30 RBIs.

Speaker 1: 53:46

He's playing the best he's ever played. Yeah, you know, I considered Ian Happ as my third outfielder. I went Mookie and hap as my third outfielder. Um, I went mookie. I mean, he's three war, which is first amongst outfielders in the national league. Same with home runs, his 17, his tops, uh, 53 runs already. He is scoring runs at a at a potentially historic pace.

Speaker 1: 54:11

He's hit a bit of a snag lately. Uh, had a, had a really great. May you know, june has not been quite as nice to him at the plate, but you can't, you can't deny him. Um, just you know, uh, one of the one of the absolute stars of the game. So I went a different direction on my other two outfield spots. Next up I had Juan Soto of the Nationals. He's got the most walks in the National League, at 52, 141 OPS plus, which is third amongst outfielders in the National League. Another young guy that really is turning into one of the bright, shining stars of the game. Just a really great, pure hitter, really mature at the plate. And the Nationals have to send somebody. It might as well be Juan Soto, right.

Speaker 1: 55:04

And then my third outfield spot again I considered Ian Happ, because he's right in that conversation and this surprised me a little bit, even though I love this dude. I went with jock peterson from the san francisco giants. He's got the highest ops plus amongst national league outfielders 13 home runs, which is third. Um, you know the the the the thing with jock is he's not a mookie bats, he's not doing everything. He's not playing gold glove defense, running the bases, scoring runs. You know power in contact. He's a left-handed pull hitter but he's been on so much and I think one of the benefits for him going to the Giants this year is that Gabe Kapler is so good at managing his ball club you know who to start against certain pitchers, who to pinch hit when and I think he's plugged Jock in the right places to make Jock look really, really good. So, yeah, he was my third outfielder and I mean I really think he's got a shot at being on the all-star team this year.

Speaker 2: 56:19

Well, those are all great picks and it's hard just to pick three.

Speaker 1: 56:23

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 56:23

That's really hard, like you know. Some of these other positions you can tell are just you know that's the guy that fits for it, but when you get to the outfield there's so many great players and you can only pick three and it's tough.

Speaker 1: 56:42

A lot of stars in the outfield. For sure Acuna is one of those guys. He's probably going to be there. It's tough. You're right, it's tough to pick three outfielders because there's so many superstars and great players out there. A guy like Ian Happ or even a guy like Jock Peterson kind of can get lost in that shuffle, right, if you're just looking at star power in the outfield. So I'm glad that we both took a guy that maybe might get overlooked for a higher profile name in the outfield. Absolutely All right. So this sounds weird to say, but now we're going to pick a National League DH. So who you got, brian?

Speaker 2: 57:20

I've got William Contreras, Wilson's brother that plays for the Braves. He's got nine home runs, 17 RBIs, 1.050 OPS.

Speaker 1: 57:32

Yeah, not a bad pick. 2.050 OPS yeah, not a bad pick. It would be cool to see brothers starting on the same side of the All-Star game. But let's be honest, there's an obvious NLDH pick.

Speaker 2: 57:47

No, there's not. You just hate him. No, I mean, it's not obvious, Okay?

Speaker 1: 57:52

let me argue. The person I'm talking about, that brian, can't stand 2.4 war, 15 home runs, 46 rbis all tops amongst national league dhs. I'm talking, of course, about bryce harper of the phillies man, obvious pick.

Speaker 2: 58:12

I mean that's probably most everybody's pick and he probably will be the guy that starts. But again, will he be healthy to show up for it? Yeah, well, that's a whole different conversation when it comes to the all-star game we can elect anybody, but it doesn't mean they're going to show up and play well, yeah, exactly, and that's not.

Speaker 1: 58:31

that's not a dig on harper, that's a excuse me. That's across the board. A lot of guys get picked and end up sitting it out. Yeah, so we're down to our final spot on our all-star teams, the National League starting pitcher, brian, I'm anxious to know who you got.

Speaker 2: 58:49

I've got Tony Gonsolin 1.42 ERA, 60 strikeouts, 821 whip. He's on a roll and he's got to be the guy.

Speaker 1: 59:04

Okay. So I'm obviously a Dodgers supporter. I obviously want as many Dodgers on the team as possible, since the All-Star game is at Dodger Stadium. I did everything I could to talk myself out of Tony Gonsolin as the NL starter and I could not do it. You mentioned his numbers. He's tops in ERA. He's 8-0. He's tops in whip An 8-21 whip. That is insanely good.

Speaker 1: 59:33

This is a team that first off off at the start of the season, gonsolin was the, the dodgers fifth starter and had a piggyback every start with tyler anderson, andrew heaney goes down, clayton kershaw goes down. They have to split up anderson and gonsolin and ever since then gonsolin's been the Dodgers ace. You know now. You know now Walker Bueller's out of action for a little while it. You know it was said on the Dodger broadcast last night where would this team be without Tony Gonsolin?

Speaker 1: 1:00:07

And if that doesn't encompass the idea that the starting pitcher's job is to give you as good a chance to win as they can, I don't know what else you can say. I don't know that he'll get the nod because there's so many other factors in, you know, choosing a starter in the All-Star game. But if it was a fan vote and I got a vote again. I tried my damnedest to not sound like a homer and pick somebody else, and I couldn't do it. There's literally nobody else. I mean, he's the guy. So it'll be interesting to see how it really plays out. But yeah, man, when you're looking at the numbers, when you're looking at, you know what makes an all-star to me? Me, it's the Catman, it's Tony Gonsolin.

Speaker 2: 1:00:57

Oh, without a doubt, and he's on a roll 8-0. And the Dodgers, I mean he's very important to what they've got going on over there. So yeah, I think he's a good pick.

Speaker 1: 1:01:11

All right, so that's our picks, brian. So when you go on and vote at allstargamecom, at the very end you get the option to download a jpeg of your ballot, and we thought these graphics were neat so we want to show you what they look like. This this is. You know, it's just a very neat graphic that they've done. It was oh gosh, the process is so easy. I mean, we've come a long way from you have to go to the ballpark and get the little pamphlet and use the number two pencil, like you're taking standardized tests and filling the bubbles. You know, we've come a long, long way. So that's our picks. And yeah, man, I mean it's an exciting time of year. I always love the buildup and the hype of the All-Star game and keeping up with the voting as it goes along, and now that everything is digital, it can be sort of up to the minute.

Speaker 2: 1:02:17

Right.

Speaker 1: 1:02:18

As far as who's leading the vote overall, who's leading at each position, who's kind of getting snubbed and it's like, hey, this guy might be an all-star but nobody's voting for him. And then all of a sudden people hear that and they go, oh yeah, he should be an all-star and he can catch up in the vote. It's just a cool, exciting time of year and I'm obviously always looking forward to the All-Star game, but with it being at Dodger Stadium this year, it just adds a whole new wrinkle for me as a Dodger fan and everything. So that's who we picked. You can tell us how wrong we are. You can tell Brian that he's a lunatic for picking Anthony Rendon at third of our social medias, everywhere you can download the podcast. Of course, we're on YouTube with our video stream as well.

Speaker 1: 1:03:20

But yeah, brian, unless there's anything else, you want to get off your chest this week. I think that's all we got. No, I think it was a great week, all right. Well, folks, we are so happy that you are listening and watching. We just couldn't be happier with our listenership, our viewership. We know there's a lot of guys out there talking about baseball in a podcast setting and we're elated that you choose to give us some time out of your day each and every week and, brian, I think next week you know, we have really short changed the college game and I think, with the college world series getting ready to start, I think next week we ought to talk some college baseball. What do you think?

Speaker 2: 1:04:04

absolutely. We need to get to the bottom of what's going on in college baseball yeah, so look forward to that next week.

Speaker 1: 1:04:11

But that's all we got for brian logan. I'm dallas, danger, happy baseball. Everybody. See you at the field.