It’s a Celebration!

Subscriber-only episode

Ever had a ticket mishap that turned into an unforgettable adventure? On this episode, join us as we recount our wild MLB All-Star Break weekend in Atlanta, Georgia! From the awe-inspiring sight of Shohei Otani pitching at Truist Park to sporting our favorite jerseys for the "who you're repping" segment, we cover all the highlights. We dive into the excitement of the MLB draft, spotlighting Drew Gilbert, the Astros' fresh pick from Tennessee. And, of course, no All-Star Break recap would be complete without the exhilarating Home Run Derby—featuring legends and rising stars alike.

Curious about the future of Major League Baseball? We explore the promising impact of the latest draft and how the All-Star Week festivities have evolved over the years. Relive the Home Run Derby's standout performances from veterans like Albert Pujols and young phenoms like Juan Soto and Julio Rodriguez. The buzz around Soto's potential trade adds another layer of intrigue, showcasing the dynamic nature of player-team relationships and hinting at what’s to come in MLB’s landscape.

Thrilling pitching performances dominated the All-Star Game, with pitchers like Ryan Helsley wowing us with their incredible talent. We discuss the broader implications of declining offense in MLB, comparing it to the legendary "Year of the Pitcher" in 1968. Despite these challenges, moments like Giancarlo Stanton’s powerful home run keep the excitement alive. And don't miss our recount of the StubHub ticket fiasco that led to an unforgettable game-day experience filled with rain delays, parking nightmares, and triumphant resolution. Tune in for a full, entertaining recap of our All-Star Break adventure!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:20

Hello everyone. We are not inside the Three Crows studio because we are not in Dandridge, Tennessee. We are on location for two guys talking baseball this week in lovely, very hot Atlanta, Georgia. My name is Dallas Danger, of course, and I'm joined, as always, to host this wonderful program by my good friend and colleague, Brian Logan. Hello, Brian.

Speaker 2: 0:42

What a great weekend for baseball. We're in Atlanta, man, it's very exciting.

Speaker 1: 0:48

It is exciting. We've been looking forward to this little weekend getaway for a while and now we're finally here. As we're recording, we saw Shohei Otani pitch against the Braves last night, had a great time at the ball ballpark my first time at Truist Park, as it is now known. You've been a couple times yourself and you've raved about it, so it's a great ballpark, isn't?

Speaker 1: 1:12

it. It really is. They've done a good job. I really like the, I really like the feel of the entire area around the ballpark. You know, and that was obviously very intentional, they built a little village basically around baseball, so there's bars and restaurants and all sorts of entertaining, cool-to-see stuff right outside of the ballpark. So a neat little experience and we're going to be going back tomorrow, but today we're here to talk all things All-Star Break.

Speaker 2: 1:46

All-Star Break man. What a great week it was, with the draft, the Home Run Derby and the Classic. It was a great week.

Speaker 1: 1:58

Yeah, so let's go ahead and get right into it. Start things off this week with who you're repping and if you're with us on youtube you are used to this we we try to you know, um pick out baseball related things to wear hats, jerseys, t-shirts. We have all three represented here and this is the portion of the show every week where we talk about what we're wearing and where we got it and what it means to us and all that good stuff.

Speaker 2: 2:22

So, brian, you kept it pretty simple this week who you repping I am repping the uh 1980s atlanta, braves, dell, murphy, jersey and uh, it's a little tight on me but it still feels pretty good. You know, I still fit in it and pretty excited for the the murph man, yeah, yeah, we.

Speaker 1: 2:41

We were in the car earlier and we heard a morning sports talk radio host here in Atlanta. Get a little heatedoser with wearing teams other than the Cubs. I refuse to wear anybody other than the Dodgers as far as major league teams go.

Speaker 2: 3:11

Well, I like to have fun and you don't, so that's you know. That's just the basis of it. Feels a little harsh.

Speaker 1: 3:16

Feels a little harsh of an indictment on me, but anyways. So this week I have on my Please Don't Feed the Manager shirt, of course a tribute to the late great Tommy Lasorda of Dodger fame. It came from Super 70 Sports. You can check them out on Twitter great Twitter follow. I think this is the third T-shirt that I've bought from the Super 70 Sports store that I've worn here on the show. So they're great, comfortable shirts and a lot of neat, not just sports. There's some TV and movie stuff, vintage, retro type apparel available. So check them out.

Speaker 1: 3:59

And my hat is from someone else that I've worn quite a bit of and that's Baseballism baseballismcom to check out all their stuff. So they do a series of shirts and hats where they basically make up a fictional minor league team, and this is the cap for the San Jose Slow Rollers, represented, of course, by a sloth not known for moving real fast. Very cool slow roller, yep. So you know the idea behind the slow rollers is they don't have any pitchers that throw over like 85, and they pitch to contact. They want action with the slow rollers.

Speaker 2: 4:37

I love it, man. That's one of my favorite hats that you have.

Speaker 1: 4:40

Yeah, it's pretty cool. I have the T-shirt too. I'm sure our great viewers will see at some point I'll have to pull that one out for an episode. But with that, that's who we're repping this week. So let's take a look at our lineup. This is what we're going to be talking about, and again it's all things All-Star Break. We're just a few days off of the All-Star break. We realize we're a little later this week getting the episode recorded and out. We had a bit of a COVID scare, but everybody's testing negative and all is well.

Speaker 1: 5:14

Yes, everybody's fine, everybody's made it out alive, yeah, so that's good. And we just decided, you know what we're going to be in Atlanta and we're going to have Saturday to kind of do with what we want. So let's just record the show from Atlanta on our Saturday of our weekend excursion. But here's our lineup. First, welcome to the show. We're going to be talking a little bit about the MLB draft that took place and what we think coming out of that. Then nothing but dingers.

Speaker 1: 5:46

That, of course, is about the Home Run Derby, one of the most fun events of the year, and then Showcase of the Immortals. We will talk about the Midsummer Classic of All-Star Week, and I love the idea that the draft is now a traveling attraction and it's a part of All-Star Week. It adds a little something more, I think, to the festivities. It's another event for the host city, which is always a good thing because something like an MLB All-Star game and Home Run Derby and now the draft brings a lot to the economy locally and that's never a bad thing for the markets that have teams. But, Brian, we saw a pretty interesting draft, at least from my perspective. What was your biggest takeaway as we look at the draft board, really, especially on that first day, the first couple of rounds.

Speaker 2: 6:50

Well, the 28th overall by the Astros, drew Gilbert, outfielder from Tennessee. He's out there. He's got some polarizing field antics and bat flips and he's used to getting booed and disliked and he may be perfect for the astros. He may be the the best draft pick they could have got to fit in with their organization yeah, I I have to agree with you.

Speaker 1: 7:17

I think you know drew gilbert is a guy that kind of talks the talk but he also walks the walk. I mean very talented, pretty advanced, because he is a college player. So he's not a guy coming out of high school 17, 18 years old, that still has to kind of grow into his body, or as much, I guess. So certainly a guy that you could forecast getting to the majors quickly. And the Astros need you know, we saw at the All-Star game again they got booed mercilessly in Dodger Stadium.

Speaker 1: 7:58

I mean, this is a team that for years to come is going to be disliked by a lot of baseball fans. They need guys that have thick skin. They need guys that can perform on the field but keep their composure and not let that negativity get to them. And I really think Drew Gilbert is that guy, like you said. So I couldn't agree more. A perfect pick for the Astros. And when I look at the draft board and I was noticing this as the picks were coming in and I was watching everything go down there are a lot of picks where you go. That's a good fit.

Speaker 2: 8:38

Right, there, sure were.

Speaker 1: 8:39

You know a lot of teams. I think potentially really got it right. So this was tough for me to nail down sort of one theme or one pick. You know, that was sort of eye-opening for me because there was a lot of that and I really I think this is going to be an important draft for the future of Major League Baseball, just because, again, there's so much talent in this draft pool I mean, I don't know if it's because guys lost a COVID season in college and came back to play in college more and it sort of overloaded the whole draft class there's a ton of talent coming out of high school. You know, first two picks are second-generation. You know ballplayers, yeah, with Jackson Holiday and Drew Jones both drafted out of high school. So that's always exciting. You get a guy very young. You can kind of develop him as a person as well as a player. But the one pick that you know, for me the Kansas City Royals are a team that you kind of look at and they organizationally they don't really miss. They're very good at picking guys in the draft and their player development is pretty good. Not top level quite yet, just because it's not translated to the you know their major league team, but for them them to get Gavin Cross out of Virginia Tech at number nine.

Speaker 1: 10:14

This is a kid that I really like. I was able to see him play live last summer. He was a part of the collegiate national team for USA Baseball and they, because of COVID, they couldn't travel internationally. So in lieu of a trip overseas they instead toured the Appalachian League and sort of barnstormed the 10 ballparks in that league with two squads for the collegiate team. And he is sort of local to the Appalachian League because he's from Bristol, tennessee, and so it was a lot of fanfare. And I saw him in Pulaski, which is right in Hokie country, so they were all about him and were familiar with him from his time with Virginia Tech. And he's very impressive, a lot of pop in that bat but does a lot of things really well.

Speaker 1: 11:07

I was kind of surprised a little bit. I guess I grew up near Virginia Tech a little bit. I guess I'm so. You know, I grew up near Virginia Tech and it's anytime, anytime Tech is sort of seen as big time. It's a little. It feels a little weird, I guess. So for him to, you know, climb the draft board so much and go in the top 10, I was really a little surprised, or taken taken aback, I guess. But I think that's a really good pick for the Royals and I think he's a guy that they can develop and pretty quickly get to the big leagues. You know, there's not a lot of guys with the Royals taking up space in the big leagues and blocking young guys from getting up. So if he gets in the system and he does well in the minors, he's going to be a big leaguer quickly and I think he could be a star for the Royals.

Speaker 2: 11:52

Absolutely. I totally agree with you and Virginia Tech's in the big time man there.

Speaker 1: 11:58

Well, I mean, it's a Division I school. Yeah, they're a football school and that always helps you in your other sports for whatever that's worth. But you know, football schools, I think, get a bit of a leg up recruiting in other sports as well. Right, yeah, so it would be very interesting. And there's a Bristol pipeline which is kind of cool too. Jimmy Gobble, who was from John Battle High School, which is on the Virginia side of Bristol, was drafted by the Royals 20 years ago or whatever it was, and so that's kind of cool to see a Bristol connection with the Kansas City Royals. But, yeah, a lot of good picks in this draft. I felt like you know and and and the whole first round, and you know I'm watching the second and and third rounds and the, the. The analysis on a lot of these guys was well, he got hurt in April, or he had Tommy John surgery in the spring, or he would have been a first-round pick.

Speaker 1: 12:56

I mean there was just such a back, there was just so much talent in this draft. There really was two rounds of first-round guys. So again, I think this draft could be really important, moving forward as we see this new crop of players. I mean, even at the big league level right now there's so much great young talent and there's so many guys that you look at and you say wait, he's only I mean Juan Soto's, only 23.

Speaker 2: 13:29

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:30

I mean there's so many guys under that 25 to 30 age range that are just tearing it up at the highest level, you know, and I think this draft is just going to keep playing into that more and more. I mean, there's so much talent out there and there's only 30 teams and there's only, you know, 25 spots on each, on each of those rosters. So there's only 25 spots on each of those rosters.

Speaker 1: 13:56

So there's only so many spots, but it's going to get really interesting when we start to see the guys from this draft. I mean we haven't even talked about Kumar Rocker, who I think shocked everybody by being drafted even higher this year than he was last year, even with the time off and only pitching a little bit in independent ball leading up to the draft. You know a lot of teams saw enough from him with the Tri-City Valley Cats to say well, he's a top pick. Now he goes number three to the Rangers. He's potentially reunited with his college teammate Jack Leiter. You know last year it was sort of this funny conversation of like, well, which guy from which pitcher from Vanderbilt is going to be the number one overall pick? You know there was a lot of that kind of talk. They kind of had dueling aces and now they're both in the same organization and I've heard people talking about Kumar Rocker as a guy that teams were looking at to help them this season.

Speaker 1: 14:55

You know teams that are in the hunt saying, well, if he falls to us or we can get our hands on him he could quickly get to the big leagues and help us, you know, improve our bullpen or add a spot starter if we can build him up for the postseason stretch, a spot starter if we can build him up for the the postseason stretch. So yeah, I think this draft is going to have a lot of impact on the game at the major league level moving forward.

Speaker 2: 15:21

So I mean a lot of good prospects and it shows that the future of the sport is is right where it needs to be. It's coming right along. You know it's. We're not going to miss out on a thing. It's only going to get better.

Speaker 1: 15:32

Yeah, I think you're 100% right. I mean, the future is in good hands this game is. You know it's growing and there are things that Major League Baseball could be doing better to help grow the game. I know that's a big conversation, a lot, and it should be, no matter how well the league is doing, but from a talent level there's no drop-off anywhere. I mean, this game is only going to get better and better and we'll talk a little bit more about that as we move through some of this other stuff that went down for the All-Star weekend. But yeah, watching the draft and seeing all this talent and seeing the analysis on even, you know, the second and third rounds about how much you know how much talent there really is out there, makes you feel really good about the future of the game, for sure.

Speaker 2: 16:26

Yeah without a doubt.

Speaker 1: 16:28

All right, so that was Friday of All-Star week, then Saturday. Man, how can you not love the Home Run Derby? I mean this event every year it's one of the most fun days of the year. It's just guys, you know, basically taking BP, swinging for the fences, having a good time. And one of my favorite things about the Home Run Derby, too, is seeing the interactions.

Speaker 2: 16:52

All the.

Speaker 1: 16:53

All-Ststars are down on the field hanging out. They, some of them have their kids with them. You know, and the, there there's always the guy that's got the towel and the gatorade. You know for his. You know teammate or countryman or just a guy he's buddies with from from their time in the big leagues. But, brian, when, when you look at the, the home run derby, what sort of stood out to you.

Speaker 2: 17:17

Uh, on that, on that broadcast, I know you watched that as well well, albert, you know he, he took care of kyle schwarber in the in the tiebreaker in the first round, and the, where the all-stars surrounded him and just you know, showed their respect, was amazing.

Speaker 1: 17:34

Yeah, and to hear Paul Goldschmidt say none of that was planned. No one talked about everybody getting together. It just sort of happens organically and it's one of those great moments.

Speaker 2: 17:47

It's an all-time great moment, absolutely. I mean, that's one of those marquee shots for Major League Baseball over the years. We're going to see that again.

Speaker 1: 17:56

Yeah, over and over, I think for a long time, and it's great that you know. It's great that we talked about you know, when we looked over the rosters in a recent episode, about how cool it was that there's that sort of legacy roster spot.

Speaker 1: 18:14

Now the commissioner can pick a legend who maybe wouldn't be an all-star otherwise, to say no, here you know, mingle with these younger guys, these first-time all-stars, and and let them get close to you and see how you go about your business and and pick your brain. And you know, obviously albert was that guy in the national league. We know it's his last season, right, and and for him to also be in the home run derby in his final year that was amazing too, right so cool. I mean, that's what this game is all about I mean it's been passed down for so long now.

Speaker 1: 18:47

Generation to generation, and that's that's all. This is um I. I really wanted to see him in the final right because because it it could have potentially been this you know 21 year old kid who's kind of having his coming out party with this 42 year old legend yeah, wouldn't that have been a great story you know how great I mean.

Speaker 1: 19:08

How, how incredible would that have been. So I find it funny that I'm going to talk about my biggest takeaway from the Home Run Derby and neither of us went to Juan Soto winning the thing.

Speaker 2: 19:24

No, not at all.

Speaker 1: 19:27

But it's worth mentioning. It came out that you know, the relationship between Soto and the Nationals is maybe even a little worse than we thought you know, based on the travel arrangements and some things like that.

Speaker 2: 19:44

Right.

Speaker 1: 19:45

So this guy flies commercial to the All-Star game, you know, to the home run. Derby Turns around and wins. The thing, yeah, you know, I mean phenomenal was we had a great showing in the in the competition the year before, came up a little short, but but was right back this year and I mean this guy's turning down record-setting contracts so he is going to get paid in a big way and he's I mean, he was a lot, a lot of the talk throughout the the week of the all-star game was about juan soto. Where's he going to end up?

Speaker 2: 20:21

oh, without a doubt he was the hot button topic yeah, who's?

Speaker 1: 20:25

who's in that those trade conversations and where is he going to be playing? You know, uh, after the, after the, the trade deadline, and there's a lot of teams that you're hearing and we're in that stage where it's hard to decipher what's news and what's just. You know, there's a Ballyhoo. Yeah, there's just so much being said on it that it's hard to really pin down.

Speaker 2: 20:45

Well, these are the teams that you know, really have a shot Right.

Speaker 1: 20:50

But yeah, so Juan Soto what about julio rodriguez man?

Speaker 2: 20:56

yeah 32 home runs in the first round, 31 in the second.

Speaker 1: 21:01

I mean that is incredible and you know that and that's my big thing coming out of the home run derby is julio rodriguez, because and I saw some people, there was some buzz like the morning of the event that here's this guy, young kid, playing in seattle, not a not a huge market. You know way, way out, kind of up in the pacific northwest doesn't get the media coverage that you know new york or philadelphia or chicago, you know gets necessarily. But you know New York or Philadelphia or Chicago, you know gets necessarily. But you know I saw people saying if you don't know about Julio Rodriguez, just watch the home run derby, you'll find out. And that certainly came true because, like you said, you know, 32 home runs in round one, 31 in the second round, put up a good fight in the final against Soto and just you know, really impressive.

Speaker 2: 22:00

Is he an all-star next year?

Speaker 1: 22:01

Well, he's an all-star this year.

Speaker 2: 22:03

I mean when they're in Seattle, he's there. I mean, that's a shoe-in right.

Speaker 1: 22:07

Yeah, well, and that's the thing is so many people were rooting for him to win the home Run Derby this year so he could be at his home ballpark next year. He's going to be an all-star again I think there's no doubt about that, and he could be defending that title. Yeah, but even without winning the competition, he was a winner.

Speaker 2: 22:29

Yeah, yeah, he showed up, got his name. Everybody saw his name, realized he was a contender and you know that might have brought him right into the limelight of you know, bringing him up a notch, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 1: 22:43

Absolutely, and great for him. You know the Mariners went into the break really hot. They're back in playoff position. They're in the hunt. And you know they're back in playoff position, they're in the hunt. Really cool to see Again sort of a thematic thing with this whole All-Star week, the draft. We talked about the future. Well here's, 21 years old already, an All-Star as a rookie hitting home runs like it's nothing in the home run. Derby. Yeah, next year in Seattle is going to be so cool because he's I think he's going to be right back there in the competition again and, uh, trying to win it this time absolutely so but a great event.

Speaker 1: 23:24

You know um always a lot of fun. It's one of the coolest days of the year. The home run it is.

Speaker 2: 23:30

It's so much fun. The home run derby. It's organized, but it's loosely organized so it's almost like controlled chaos.

Speaker 1: 23:37

It reminds me of the guys just going out there on a sandlot and just hitting some balls yeah for sure, um you know, but a major title involved yeah, and a lot of money, a lot of money, and that's something that I don't think it's talked about enough. You know, people, people, people talk about pete alonzo, who takes this thing so seriously. I mean, he treats it like it's you know, like it matters, and that's great, but you also have to realize guys like pete alonzo and julio rodriguez, they're on rookie contracts right, they're not making as much as you would think they don't make a million in a year, so a million dollars is a big deal to those guys.

Speaker 1: 24:13

Yeah, absolutely so, there's a lot on the line here.

Speaker 2: 24:16

Well, and with that too, not to get too far off topic, but you make a million dollars, you don't get a million dollars. You'll make about $500,000, $600,000 after you pay your taxes. So already that's cut in half and I mean that's a lot of money for you and me, half right, and I mean you know that's a lot of money for you and me, but still for them, for what they're doing and what they have to keep up.

Speaker 1: 24:37

That's not a lot. It's not a lot at all. Yeah, yeah, so that money is, it's important, I mean it's, it's a big deal. You know, and there's guys that you know, um, like I said, they don't make a million in a year, but even you know, before taxes yeah so you know, that's, that's a, that's a chunk of change for for guys that are still on those pre-arbitration right deals.

Speaker 2: 24:57

Well then, a lot of time and again this I'm going off into left field, but I'll keep it short the uh, you know you signed for 1.7 million. That point set you know people might be. What's the point seven? Point seven is your taxes right, you know. That way you can, you know, clear what you got to clear.

Speaker 1: 25:12

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 25:15

So that was Saturday, and what a great day and what a great week it was, as Brian always reminds us every week, here at the top of the show.

Speaker 1: 25:25

It was a great week for baseball, but if you want to look great, Feel great. You just need to go to 2gtbstorecom and get you some of this great merchandise that we talk about each and every week, Brian.

Speaker 2: 25:35

I know we're going to have to start wearing that again. I'm going to have to wear my 2GTB baseball shirt and maybe the jersey.

Speaker 2: 25:45

Have I wore the jersey yet? I don't remember. I don't know either, but I love the jersey. So there's jerseys, there's T's jerseys, there's t-shirts, there's mugs, you know. There's uh bluetooth speakers. There's a little bit of everything for everyone. I know we say this every week the puppy wear. I cannot tell you how much rex loves his little shirt, especially when it's storming, and his little leash. He really likes that a lot. So there's lots of stuff there.

Speaker 1: 26:09

Something for everyone yeah, absolutely something for everyone. Quality products. We we've. We made sure we got some test products and and and really checked this out, you know and and knew what we were getting and we weren't just shilling stuff that we we didn't pay any attention to the quality, or yeah, stuff we use, yes, exactly, exactly so.

Speaker 1: 26:29

2gtbstorecom. It's free to. It's free to take a look. We really think you'll find something if you like the show and you want to support us, that you can spend a little bit of your hard-earned money on and really enjoy and get something out of. You put the logo on your chest on a T-shirt and somebody asks you about it. That's great for us as well. So we appreciate all the support. We appreciate you listening and watching, but that's a great way to help us out as well. 2gtbstorecom. So that leaves us with the main attraction, and that is, of course, the 92nd Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Dodger Stadium. So cool to see this game at Dodger Stadium. It'd been 42 years since that had happened, and Dodger Stadium now is so different than it was you know in 1980.

Speaker 1: 27:21

And it was so fitting to see Clayton Kershaw start. And the first matchup, the first pitcher-hitter matchup of the All-Star Game in Dodger Stadium in 2022 was Clayton Kershaw pitching to Shohei Otani. Yeah, I mean, that is Classic, one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

Speaker 1: 27:42

Yeah, and I don't mind saying that, because it's true, dominant even now you know, and you know people have viewed him as this old washed up over the hill, dried up arm, and it's just not the case, you know. And? And this generational guy like Shohei that's pitching and hitting at a high level, you know whose name is in the same sentence as Babe Ruth you know, countless times a day. Yeah, you know, uh, so, so, very cool. But, brian, what stood out to you in the, in the all star game, as well, the dominant pitching I mean the pitchers were definitely on.

Speaker 2: 28:20

I mean two hits for the national league. That's that ain't gonna get it done. That ain't gonna get it done at all. So the american league showed up, you know very well, but uh, the national league's pitching was pretty good too. So, yeah, my biggest takeaway was pitching ruled the day.

Speaker 1: 28:35

It sure did. And you know you look at things like this and just I mean the ridiculous pitching talent and depth. I mean you've got a guy like Ryan Helsley, a reliever for the Cardinals on the National League side. He's throwing up to 103 with his fastball and his breaking stuff gets down to 70. Yeah, I mean, how does anyone get a hit off of?

Speaker 2: 29:06

that, what a drop right.

Speaker 1: 29:08

I mean if you're sitting on 103.

Speaker 2: 29:11

And then all of a sudden it's 30 miles shorter. I mean it's got to be. Yeah, you can't keep up with that.

Speaker 1: 29:17

Just insanity and you know this is something that gets talked about a lot with Major League Baseball right now is the lack of offense.

Speaker 2: 29:26

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:27

I mean we are in an interesting time, because it's kind of reminiscent of of 1968, which is called the year of the pitcher yeah the the year that they were like maybe we should lower the mound, yeah, and now the. The mound height we have now is was a response to that season where, you know, bob gibson and all these other pitchers are just so dominant, right that? So dominant that they're worried people are going to lose interest in the game. Now, guys like you and me, brian, we love watching a pitcher's duel.

Speaker 2: 30:00

Oh, without a doubt, even in an all-star game.

Speaker 1: 30:02

Yeah, it was great. And you know, john Carlos Stanton really broke through. I mean, we use all sorts of euphemisms for hitting a ball hard and knocking it out of the park. You know, destroyed it, crushed it. He literally did that. If you've not seen, there's a picture going around that is the point of contact on that home run with Stanton's bat and the ball and the ball looks flat up against the bat. He literally changed, you know, the physics of the ball with that swing Unreal.

Speaker 2: 30:36

Yeah, completely unreal.

Speaker 1: 30:37

Deserving as the MVP. Cool for him because he grew up going to games in Dodger Stadium and he remembered sitting in left field. He hits that ball to left field. Very cool for him. But the pitching certainly was the story of the night and we're going to see more rule changes, you know.

Speaker 2: 31:00

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:01

All these rule changes that they're playing with in the minors and in the. You know the other leagues that Major League Baseball is working with, you know to try out some of these rules. It's all because of this same topic. They want more offense in the game because the pitching right now is just so ahead of the hitting.

Speaker 2: 31:22

Well, the guys have got to become better hitters. I mean, hey, you've got to learn to adapt. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If the pitchers are good, the batters need to be better.

Speaker 1: 31:35

Well, you know, the old adage has always been good pitching stops good hitting. So, you know, I think a lot of this too has to do with the way that we're training these pitchers now.

Speaker 2: 31:48

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:49

With driveline and all these other places that have really broken down pitching to a scientific level and we're starting to see that with hitting a little bit and I think it will get to that point with hitting, but it's not there yet.

Speaker 2: 32:04

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 32:08

But it's hard for me to say be a better hitter when a reliever for St Louis is throwing 103 with his fastball and 70 with his breaking stuff.

Speaker 2: 32:19

Yeah, but you're going to have to adapt and you're going to have to hit it. I mean, that's that.

Speaker 1: 32:22

I'll tell you what. I'll make some calls and I'll get you in the batter's box against Ryan Helsley and you can teach him how to do that.

Speaker 2: 32:35

Hey, as long as he doesn't throw a curve, I'm fine.

Speaker 1: 32:36

Now he starts putting some movement on that thing and I'm I'm out of there. Okay, cool. Well, we'll make the deal that all he can throw is fastballs oh yeah, I'm gonna eat him up, I bet you still can't. I bet you couldn't foul one off that would be all I would hear you wouldn't even even see it.

Speaker 2: 32:52

No, I wouldn't see it, I'd just hear.

Speaker 1: 32:56

There's a great story and I wish I could remember who it was, but there was a pitcher on the mound throwing some serious heat and he blows one by the guy. He just freezes him. He can't even think about swinging because it's coming at him so fast. Umpire calls a strike. He turns around and looks at the ump and he says that sounded like a ball to me.

Speaker 2: 33:21

Oh, that's a good one.

Speaker 1: 33:23

But you know what a great event. You know, baseball created the concept of the All-Star Game. You know, the first All-Star Game ever was a Major League Baseball All-Star game. The first All-Star game ever was a Major League Baseball All-Star game, 1933. And they do it the best to this day.

Speaker 2: 33:39

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 33:42

And the coolest thing for me about the baseball All-Star game is that it's the same game.

Speaker 2: 33:48

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:49

NFL. They change the rules because you don't want them hitting as hard and they're taking a lot off.

Speaker 2: 33:54

And it's not the same players that are going to. They're not real, true all-stars, and they're playing the pro ball.

Speaker 1: 34:00

And basketball. They just don't play defense, they put on a show. It's almost like the Globetrotters, a little bit with the offense, yeah, you know, and they don't play as hard, but man baseball, it looks and feels exactly the same.

Speaker 2: 34:14

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:15

I mean Ryan Helsley wasn't taking any velocity off of those fastballs.

Speaker 2: 34:19

No, that's true, that's true.

Speaker 1: 34:22

It's so cool and man that first inning, you know, kershaw picks off Otani. What a great moment, yeah, what a great moment, you know, and that's something in 50, 100 years probably still be talked about. Such a cool thing. Nl gets on the board, little flurry of offense. Everybody's thinking man, NL's going to get off the schneid. They're finally going to break this winning streak for the AL. Andres Jimenez and Tim Anderson turn in that great double play. Jimenez goes behind the back.

Speaker 2: 34:56

Oh, that was beautiful. To me that was the play of the game. I mean, it was so smooth behind the back, it just caught it and slung it. Oh man, it was just a piece. I love double plays. Anyway, you know I've been talking about that all weekend. Even if it's against my team, if it's not like a crucial moment, like if we're down and we're not coming back, double plays are just beautiful.

Speaker 1: 35:18

Yeah, and that one was. You know, when you think about it, for an established second baseman and shortstop who are used to playing together, that's a pretty remarkable play.

Speaker 2: 35:27

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:28

But when you throw in the fact that these guys are not used to playing together, no.

Speaker 1: 35:32

They're not familiar with each other. There's not that sense of I know where you're going to be and where you like the ball, to just pull something like that off. You know Andres Jimenez is a guy that I think you're going to start hearing his name more and more. You know it's happened a little bit, but you know, and that's sort of for me, outside of the high level of pitching, that was something that really stuck out to me was, even without the offense, this was not a boring game to watch.

Speaker 2: 36:05

No, not boring at all. There were plays there that kept the whole thing exciting.

Speaker 1: 36:10

Yeah, and beyond that, I thought they really did a good job of utilizing having players mic'd up. You know the inning where Nestor Cortez is pitching, jose Trevino, his Yankees teammate, is the catcher and they're both mic'd up. Yeah, I like that. They were calling the pitches by talking to each other, because they could hear each other talking. How incredible was that. That was, and normally I like that they were calling the pitches by talking to each other, because they could hear each other talking. How incredible was that.

Speaker 2: 36:36

That was, and normally I don't like to mic the players because I think it distracts them, especially the pitcher but I really enjoyed that inning. I thought that was great and gave a great insight to how it works, and I just thought that was really cool.

Speaker 1: 36:51

You know, and then the next half, inning Trevino's coming up to bat and he kept the stuff in. He stayed mic'd up and it was like they weren't expecting it. They were like are you sticking with us? He's like yeah, come on, talk to me while I'm batting. I don't care, let's do this.

Speaker 2: 37:08

Right.

Speaker 1: 37:13

And he had that moment that we got to hear and see live where he went. I just can't believe I'm an all-star man, this is so cool, right, right. I mean, that's the type of stuff you talk so much about needing more offense to grow the game, and I understand that to a certain degree, but that right there, if you're watching that game and you're a kid.

Speaker 2: 37:32

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 37:33

I mean to me. I'm a grown man, I'm 36 years old and I hate the Yankees, but I win. I'm kind of a fan of this guy now yeah, yeah. It makes it hard to root against him now.

Speaker 2: 37:46

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 37:47

Because he had that humility and that transparency to say I'm just so excited to be here.

Speaker 2: 37:55

Clean, cut baby face all the way. Oh man, incredible.

Speaker 1: 38:00

Well, he's got to be clean cut because he's a Yankee.

Speaker 2: 38:02

Right right.

Speaker 1: 38:03

They think it's the 20s still.

Speaker 2: 38:05

Yes.

Speaker 1: 38:06

But yeah, and you know, even you know, you talk about micing up the pitchers. Even Alec Manoa earlier in the game, when it was just him mic'd up, strikes out the side so you get to hear him kind of talk to himself through that and he gets pumped up. Another young guy, a guy who's not a perennial guy yet it's not a guarantee he's going to be there. Not that it's a guarantee anyone's going to be there, but Alec Manoa mic'd up would be different than Clayton Kershaw mic'd up.

Speaker 2: 38:34

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 38:35

Now I don't know that you're going to get Kershaw mic'd up. He's pretty old school, I don't think he would go for that, but you know. And then Stanton and Judge mic'd up at the same time in the outfield. I thought they did a really good job of utilizing having players mic'd up and made the most of it and really really made a game that again didn't have a ton of offense, really entertaining to watch and really I thought was in the spirit of the All-Star game as a whole the fact that this is a game that's been around for so long. It's an all-star game that's been around since the 30s. So it's impossible to be playing Major League Baseball and not have grown up watching this game every year and seeing. You know these, you know legends. I mean there's no other way to put it. I mean, you know, and there's always those first-year guys and those peripheral guys that make an all-star game or two in their career.

Speaker 1: 39:43

But you know, mingling those guys with the Clayton Kershaws and the Albert Pujolsas and the. Shohei Otanis.

Speaker 2: 39:50

Right who have?

Speaker 1: 39:51

burst on the scene and just taken over. Um, you know, that's, that's really what this this whole weekend should be about. And to get that moment with jose trevino saying, man, I just can't believe it, I can't. You know, it's like, it's like it hit him right then and there, yeah, it was surreal. And then he was like wow you know I'm about to have an at bat in in the all-star yeah major league baseball all-star, and then he gets a base hit yeah, absolutely even better.

Speaker 1: 40:19

Such a great moment I mean you know that was, that was fantastic. But you know, one of the best times of the year I mean all-star time is so cool it really is.

Speaker 2: 40:31

It's very fun and it's it's just great for the whole industry yeah, so.

Speaker 1: 40:36

So, with that, that kind of wraps up everything we had to say, I think. On the all-star festivities again yeah, next year. In seattle I saw this morning or yesterday they unveiled the the all-star game logo in se. So they're already kind of starting the hype train. But, brian, you know, normally, as we're on our way out every week wrapping up an episode, I'd like to ask you if you have anything to say to get off your chest. But I'm going to word the question a little differently this week.

Speaker 2: 41:10

Okay.

Speaker 1: 41:11

Brian, is there anything you'd like to say about stub hub?

Speaker 2: 41:17

oh, let me tell you about stub hub, these motherfuckers. All right, so we explained, uh, in the last episode, I believe, on how, uh, I thought that the games this weekend in Atlanta were the Dodgers to begin with, but I misread, and so our big weekend to see the Dodgers turned into our weekend to see the Angels. However, ohtani's pitching, and this is now a big deal, yeah, huge deal, huge deal. So anytime I travel, I do all my arrangements way beforehand. You know, we've got the hotel, we've got the restaurants almost picked out, we've got the tickets. This whole thing has got, you know, smooth. Well, we're driving to Atlanta and we hit about Ringgold, georgia, which is about maybe 80, 90 miles into Georgia, which is about I don't know three and a half hours from the house, georgia, which is about I don't know three and a half hours from the house, and we get an email that says that our tickets are not available, that the guy didn't drop them off. What the hell man?

Speaker 1: 42:22

so we're panicking at this point and there's nothing we can do about it, because number one, we're in the car, but number two, we're in. We're in a part of georgia that had no internet service not a lot of data coming in on the phone so it was hard to get anything to load. So we're doing the last hour of this drive to atlanta thinking we might not have tickets. We're screwed, yeah.

Speaker 2: 42:48

So so we, we decide we're going to get to the hotel and we're going to, you know, get online and solve this first thing. So it's probably about what would you say? 435 o'clock-ish maybe.

Speaker 1: 42:59

At least it might have even been after 5.

Speaker 2: 43:01

So the park opens at 6. So we're cutting this short. We get to the hotel and get checked in and their internet's out.

Speaker 2: 43:11

And their system is down, internet's out and their system is down and we have to be let in and out of our room by hand by security. So finally we get in the room and I get on StubHub and I decided. They tried to offer me other tickets, but I couldn't get the page to load. So what I decided was I'm just gonna go buy new tickets. I'll figure out what to do with the other other tickets that I paid, which were not cheap?

Speaker 1: 43:40

no, not at all.

Speaker 2: 43:41

So I'm gonna get on there. So I'm having trouble loading the pages and it keeps having to refresh and I end up buying three sets of tickets. So now I'm about $1,500 into this thing and I've got more tickets than I know what to do with and we just need two seats to see Ohtani.

Speaker 1: 44:07

Yeah, and we thought we had seats.

Speaker 2: 44:09

Yeah, we thought we had it.

Speaker 1: 44:11

And it turns out we actually did yes, yes, so we're, we're in.

Speaker 2: 44:16

What was about the fourth inning? The tickets came through yeah so, but we ended up with better seats, so what? So? Fuck stub hub. But I will say this though they did refund all the money, except for the tickets that we used. Yeah, so you know, I did spend all that money to getting all these other tickets, but they we called them on the 800 number and they straightened it all out because I'm a moron so but we um, we ended up with better seats for tomorrow night's game, which is sunday, because I ended up getting the refund on the sunday's first set of tickets because these other tickets were better seats yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 44:53

So you know, all's well that ends well. But, man, we had an adventure, really, right up until we got to the ballpark, yeah, and it was like, okay, we're here, we're in and then it starts raining it rained a little we're on a rain.

Speaker 2: 45:12

We're on a 45 minute rain delay after all of this and we're sitting there going you, I just can't believe this. And we were like we're staying, no matter, we didn't move. Yeah, we're staying till they're playing. Man, we're not moving, we don't care how much rain's here, we're, we're, we're here we sat there, we got rained on a little bit.

Speaker 1: 45:30

We we watched the lightning, yeah, in the, in the distance, because, because at that point nothing was going to keep us.

Speaker 2: 45:38

If he threw one pitch, we were going to see we were definitely going to see it and we did not gonna.

Speaker 1: 45:43

We were not gonna. You know, uh, lose out on that on after all that hassle and trouble that we went through and all the headache to to get where to get. You know um to get there, but but you know, it's just, it's it's wild. We plan so far in advance.

Speaker 2: 46:02

I mean. So we have to with our schedules. We have to do it that way.

Speaker 1: 46:05

And and lab. Very last minute we get this email that we don't have the tickets.

Speaker 2: 46:11

That we already paid for. Oh well, and the parking. So usually when I stay here we stay at the Omni Hotel, but we didn't do that this time. So usually I just valet park the car and you're right in baseball. The Bowery battery I'm sorry, bowery, something different the battery and baseball city and all that stuff, yeah, and you just walk in. Well, I just drive in there and I'm feeling there's got to be pay places to park. Oh no, no, no, no. We asked the cop. He's like there's 44 000 people here. You got to go back across the interstate and park. So I ended up. I let dallas off, so I because I, you know, I felt bad for him, so I went and parked the car and walked the mile back to the stadium and we got in and ended up I don't know less than half a mile from the hotel we're staying.

Speaker 2: 47:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah so so tomorrow we're just walking from the hotel, not even dealing with the car. Not even dealing with the car, because it really it's just one more hill and across the street. So we were like what the hell? But uh, yeah, I mean, what an adventure yeah, we're.

Speaker 1: 47:23

We're going to be doing some walking tomorrow, but it'll all be worth it. I'm looking forward to going back. You know, I was kind of hyper-focused on the game action last night because Otani was pitching and I wanted to really make sure that I didn't get so distracted by all the other stuff going on around me, that I didn't get so distracted by all the other stuff going on around me that I didn't have memory of that.

Speaker 1: 47:49

You know, of seeing that with my own two eyes and you know being able to, you know, talk about it. You know, uh, when I, when I'm an old man, hopefully, you know, hey, I, you know, you know, oh gosh, you got to see Shohei with Tawny Pitch. Oh, yeah, you know, I want to. Oh yeah, I want to be that old man. I want to be that old man that gets to tell kids and younger folks about it. So I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow to see two teams that I could care less about play a game.

Speaker 1: 48:17

That means nothing that means nothing, and just take it all in, have a good time. Not that I didn't have a good time last night. Yeah, for us the game is just a game.

Speaker 2: 48:23

Take it all in, have a good time, you know not that I didn't have a good time last night, but you know, yeah, for us the game is just a game, but it's going to be a great game because we'll be at the ballpark, we'll be hanging out. We have nothing to risk here, as far as you know standings or pitching duels. We have no skin in the game on this one, none. So we're going to eat a lot of food. We're gonna eat giant. What about the giant food at truest?

Speaker 1: 48:47

part, yeah. So so brian says I'm gonna get the big slices of pizza. Where they get off calling these slices, I don't know, because it's literally they just cut the entire round pie into like thirds and it's just, like you know, like a half moon of pizza. It's huge.

Speaker 2: 49:05

So I got two of them, of course, and then ended up not eating anything else the rest of the night. So it's the same thing. I didn't go for the giant two-foot-long hot dog, but I went and got the giant two-foot-long pizza this time.

Speaker 1: 49:19

I saw one of the big, long hot dogs. They're incredible, aren't they? I got my eye on that.

Speaker 2: 49:29

That might be what I have to do tomorrow, but, uh, real quick before we go. Uh, I know you haven't seen this, but I watched a new documentary called facing nolan about nolan ryan and it is fantastic the footage. I'm very much into old footage. The footage, especially coming from a production background, is incredible. They've got every piece of his whole life documented. Uh, his wife is on there and she's just a sweetheart. His family's on there, but most importantly, it's the guys that faced him talking about. You know what it was like to face the, the greatest picture of all time and it and of course, no one's on there and it's available on itunes and streaming and amazon and anywhere you can find it and I it's worth watching.

Speaker 1: 50:13

It is a very good documentary yeah, I think I saw someone today say it was what? $19.99.

Speaker 2: 50:18

Yeah, it's I bought it. I bought it on apple and it for my and I got it downloaded into my iPad so that when we travel, we can have it. So it's very good, it was very worth it.

Speaker 1: 50:36

Yeah, I'm anxious to see that myself. That great documentary Fastball. Yes, where they have the little round table with all the great Hall of Fame hitters talking about the hardest fastballs they ever saw to hit Right. The same sort of concept. What was it like standing in that box when Nolan Ryan was on the mound? So I'm looking forward to that for sure.

Speaker 2: 51:02

Well, and they cover the Robinin ventura fight yeah and there's information I'm not gonna say new information, it's probably common knowledge, but it was new information for me on why the fight happened. Right since we just talked about that, I was like, wow, that's, that's pretty cool definitely so great, great plug there.

Speaker 1: 51:22

I'm looking forward to watching it myself and, uh, yeah, I think that's gonna do it for us this week. You got anything else, brian? Nope, that's got links to everywhere that our podcast is available, links to the YouTube where you can see the video stream, as well as links to all of our social media. I am most active on our Twitter. Brian sort of runs the Facebook, so if you are into the social media game and you want to say hey to us or give us some feedback, we'd love to hear it. One of those two places, for sure. And yeah, so I'm not sure what we're going to be talking about next week, but you know, second half of the season is getting kicked off in the majors and there's always a lot going on this time of year as far as baseball goes, so we will come up with something, that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 52:20

But for Brian Logan, I'm Dallas Danger. Thanks so much for listening and watching guys. We really appreciate it. And until next week, happy baseball see you at the field.