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This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugots podcast.

No, no.

We are back. That's right. It's the bucket of death, and it's time to go to it. If you're new around here, we pick a bucket. All the NFL teams are in there.

There's a few helmet out of the bucket.

There's a few random helmets also in there.

Pick a bucket, Chris.

We pick a helmet out of the bucket, alright? Either way, we're doing it and there's bad shit in there.

Why is. Why is the reaper so short? The reaper's supposed to tower over people with a sickle. Shrinking the wash, Dano. Doing the dryer. That's what happens. Tony's going first. I really hate this thing. And Mike thinks I like it because I like to dress in costumes.

You do?

Oh, you like when other people dress in costumes?

So the people that are new, you take two, you get two chances to pick a helmet. You can pick which one you want. That's your team for the weekend. If they lose, you have to do an embarrassing punishment the following week. There are also random helmets also in there. You know, the big apple where you have to pick a New York team. We'll cross those bridges when we get there.

What the hell's this thing?

That's the wizard of football.

Why is there a wizard in here?

I like to dress things up, Dano. And last year we had the reaper. So now what could we add? We're adding the wizard.

It's an extra wrinkle here, Dan. All right, I'm going to the bucket. Here we go. First pull of the NFL season.

God, it feels good to have my.

Hand in this bucket.

I don't understand why there's a wizard in here.

Just pretend it's not there.

All right, first pick, the Las Vegas raider.

You don't want that. I don't care who they're playing goat, though. Raiders are at the Chargers. There are three point dog at the Chargers to figure out.

We don't know how. Justin Herbert said he didn't have plan.

You want Minshew?

I didn't say I wanted Minshew. I'm just saying they've charged. I'm gonna put it back.

All right. You're gonna put it back. And that's the last time he gets to put it back. The next one is automatic. And we've already gotten to the dropping of things. Watch him for cheating, Mike. There were a lot of cheaters last year, Mike.

Mike Ryan is who he's talking to.

What do you mean, you call the reaper, Mike?

No, I don't know what you called the Giants.

Oh, all right, so the Giants are where?

The giant hole against the Vikings. And they are plus two at home against the Viking.

Two point dog.

Come on. Daniel Jones for the beard.

I like the idea of calling the reaper just Mike, as if he's a work pal. Our pal Mike Reaper. I still don't understand why there's a wizard here.

The wizard seems to be lost.

I don't understand why is menacing it. I don't understand. All right, Mike, you pick from the bucket.

All right, first pick, San Francisco 49 ers. I'll keep it Monday night football against the jets.

All right, that is good. That is a four and a half point favorite. The 49 ers are against the jets.

Last we saw Aaron Rodgers actually throwing the ball. He was trying to throw to a double covered Devontae Adams with Allen Lazard wide open underneath. Coming off of his worst season as a starter in Green Bay. Been a while since we've seen him be a good quarterback. I think they can still be a good team if he's a different quarterback, but let's not pretend.

I think they're going to be a good football team this year. I really do. I think they're going to win more than ten games. Roy, go ahead.

I have the Indianapolis coat.

They're at home against the Texans plus three.

No, I'm going to put this back and get a new one.

Why not? Anthony Richardson has started 17 games since high school.

He's sure starting this game. Thank you for your service.

Okay, so you got a chance.

Army's in town. They're playing fauna.

We'll circle back to Roy on which one he's choosing.

Here we go with the messiness again. By the way, we are not doing this this year with everyone who's not here. So this isn't going to be as messy as it's been in years past where we're picking for everybody. It's just going to be the people who are here. Chris, go ahead.

All right.

Love a good rummage. All right, here we go. I'm going to go with this one. Don't want this one.

I don't understand why there's a wizard in here.

The Texans so anti Roy. I'll go with the Texans on the road at colts. I'll keep that.

All right, so the Texans are a three point favorite at home on the road against the colts. Is anyone going to explain to me why there's a wizard in here? No, Dan, but I've got a top five wizards for you. Listen.

Oh, wow.

Okay. A little surprise in the middle of things. We'll get back to it. We'll end the segment with that little bonus. I'm going to pick first, if you don't mind, while you prepare. I've got the Panthers. I'll go ahead and put that right back. Do you want to know, wizards helping.

You here with a little Saint Arunis.

I've got the Steelers. The Steelers are at the Falcons. The Steelers are three and a half point dog. Yeah, well, you had lateral move.

Same spread for both three and a half point dogs and domes. One's against Kirk Cousins, the other one's against Eric Gar.

The Browns or the Reds?

What is this?

Those are the browns.

The browns are hosting the Dallas Cowboys. That is Tom Brady's first broadcast.

The Browns are two and a half point favorite at home against the Cowboys. Two and a half point favorite.

Going it back, our friend Andrew Siciliano. Now named play by play voice of the the Cleveland Browns.

I think I could do better. The wizard of Oz.

That means you have to pick a lion, Tigers or bear in college or football.

The Lions are a four point favorite at home against the Rams. The Bears are a three and a half point favorite at home against the Titans. What are the Tigers? Bengals.

Eight and a half point favorites against the New England Patriots, who are terrible in college. You have the rare cow bears at Auburn. Tigers.

He's going with Bengals. I'm going with Bengals in the NFL against the Patriots. Yeah.

And because I picked the wizard of Oz helmet, I've got your top five wizards here.

All right.

Number five, the wizard of Oz. I don't understand why this wizard is here.

Because we pulled the wizard of Oz helmet.

Number four, Merlin, a fine wizard. Yes. Number three, Obi Wan Kenobi. Space wizard. Number two, Gandalf the Gray. And number one, Gilbert Arenas.

I have decided to go with Air Force of playing San Jose State. They are five point favorites.

Air Force, congratulations. Closing a loop for your service. I don't understand why there's a bearded wizard in here and he or she is pointing a blue laser of some sort.

It's a magic wand.

It's a wand.

Have you never watched wizards before?

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Dan Lebatard, the judge.

Coach, sweetie Stugats, how'd you go?

Say hello.

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stugots.

We do real and serious journalism around here, even though every once in a while it seems silly we are compromised. Never. We don't have any conflicts of interest. So many of you who have seen our big week now because we're in our 20th year anniversary and we signed with Peacock. And you accused us of being flattering to the Olympic coverage for weeks beforehand just because we side with peacock. You're idiots. We didn't. We're not compromised. We are objective. And the reason, reason, because many of you are going to ask why there are so many apples all around here is just because we love apples. It's not because Apple has us as the most celebrated podcast in the land all month. It's only because all of us really like apples. So I don't want to get any more accusations about us being compromised and biased and not actually doing journalism around here. And the way I'm going to prove to you that we do journalism around here is we have Laura jaded with us from Rolling Stone and she has done what I would consider the comprehensive piece on Project Veritas and James O'Keefe and this operation.

And now this commander's vp of content has been fired. Rael Entien. I don't know how to pronounce his name. I don't know if I have it right, but he's been fired.

I'm almost certain you don't.

Thank you. I appreciate that. But we do accurate and good journalism around here. And she, Laura Jade, did an amazing piece on all of this absurdity that's happening with Project Veritas. Her newsletter is called banned in your state. A couple of months ago, as I said, the definitive piece in Rolling Stone in which she says, among other things, quote, James O'Keefe helped transform us conservatism into a war machine. Then it all imploded. Thank you so much for joining us, Laura. This story is complicated. Your investigation was thoroughly reported. Can you take us through, please, what this entity is that has just gotten this commander's vp of content fired? Because this does not seem like ethical journalism in any way. That was done here. And it seems to me that Ntin is a victim here. Do I have this wrong?

I mean, I think victim is the correct terminal. The ethics of the journalism involved, you're going to get a lot of different opinions. I think this qualifies as real journalists. It's not journalism that I particularly care for. I absolutely think this was a gotcha. And teen was on a date with somebody that he met on hinge and was doing something that I think we've all probably done over drinks once or twice, which is shit talk. His place of work and what's getting reported is essentially O'Keeffe's exact spin on it. James O'Keeffe being the founder of Project Veritas, an outlet that's been doing stories like this for about 14 years. O'Keeffe is on his own now for reasons we don't need to get into. But O'Keeffe is reporting that this man insulted players, said that they were all very dumb, insulted fans, said they were a bunch of high school educated, alcoholic mouth breeders. Now, he did say that last part. What he said about the players or the fans or, sorry, the players, is that there's a spectrum of intelligence, and some of them are dumb as hell. That's the thing that he said over drinks with a person that he met on hinge.

He also talked about how some of the players are homophobic. And I think something that's interesting here. What was this undercover journalist asking about pride stuff and why the commanders like this person was targeted? This person was targeted for being a James O'Keefe story, and it's because I believe the commanders are the most politically correct woke team in the NFL on account of changing their name. And I think that probably if NT had answered differently on the pride stuff, he said everyone was all in on pride, and everyone loves gay people. They would have done to him what they did to Disney a month or two ago, which is say that they're pushing an lgbt agenda on kids. The thing about O'Keeffe is that as soon as he's got you in his sights, you're going down. It doesn't really matter what you say. Whatever it is, it's going to be a bad spin because essentially, this kind of journalism, they're just declaring war on whoever they decide needs to be exposed or punished or what have you.

Laura, when you say this kind of journalism, what do you mean? This isn't. You don't go on a date, a second date, and film somebody without their knowledge, only to entrap them. Like, I'm not. If this is journalism, it's not a journalism I recognize.

Yeah. I mean, the accepted ethics of journalism would be that some people think you don't go to undercover at all. Some people would argue that you can go undercover if it's a story that you just can't get any other way. I'm not really even sure this is a story, never mind a story. You couldn't get another way. Again, man, shit talks. And the NFL, his place of work on a date. This is not breaking news. I'm so sorry. But he has been doing this for about 14 years. He got his start. This is ancient history. But if anyone remembers, ACORN, which was a large activist group for low and middle income Americans, helped them get things like welfare benefits, help them register to vote. His very first story was essentially doing an undercover video of them posing as a pimp with a prostitute girlfriend who was trying to start a brothel. And they, the AcORN volunteers, low level, helped them do that, and it ended up destroying ACORN. The Senate defunded them, and it was the end of really quite a good organization in 2016. I don't know if anyone remembers the democracy partners story where O'Keeffe released a hidden camera video that suggested that a democratic pact Washington enticing MAGA people to punch them, basically asserting that all of the violence of that year was a democratic up.

This is the kind of stuff that they do. It's almost always, from what I would characterize as a right wing perspective, it is almost always tapping into whatever the right wing bugbear of the day is. I guess because the NFL is starting, perhaps this was a good time to try to reignite the woke wars or what have you, but, yeah, this is what they do.

Yeah.

And Laura, what the other thing they.

Do is they provide either redacted or edited videos. I'm reading in your very, very excellent article in the Rolling Stone about this, about, for instance, you brought up the acorn employees. They did not reveal that in most.

Cases, they called the cops.

As soon as those people left, right. They said, oh, yeah, we'll help you.

Do this, and then turn around and call the cops.

Like, hey, someone's trying to human traffic in here. And so these are all things that are convenient left out, which, again, goes back to what Dan is saying. This isn't journalism. This is an ax to grind, and you're gonna go through any means necessary to achieve it. Laura, you did journalism. This Rolling Stone piece that you did is extraordinary. I imagine. I don't know how long this took you. This must have taken you a year, right? I don't.

I mean, that's about right. Yeah.

Okay.

That's journalism. How can you call what was just done to this person journalism?

I mean, tabloid journalism, not journalism that I enjoy. I think the edits is an interesting question. I think. I mean, a lot of journalists, a lot of video journalists do edit. I think that if you look at this particular video, you'll notice some jump cuts in between the questions asked and the answers, which to me, raises some questions. I think that this is, again, not, certainly not journalism that I approve of. And I think it's unfortunate that the NFL has fallen into the same trap that the Democrats did in the first few years of Project Veritas existing, which essentially was to go, oh, my God. Pr and emergency. We got to fire whoever temporarily suspend damage control. No, stop it. Stop it. Do not fall into that trap. And it's unfortunate that they did. Again, Rael and teen talked shit about his place of work on a tinge date. And if that is the standard for us not deserving our jobs, I'd guess about 90% of people in America should be unemployed right now.

Before we let you go here, Laura, can you please, because I'm holding in front of me your work, and it's, I'm going to say, 50 pages that I'm holding in front of me from Rolling Stone, which I didn't know, given the thinness of Rolling Stone these days, from the glory days that I remember, that they even did things this comprehensive because it's a thick piece of work. What would you tell our audience who isn't familiar with what it is that you've written and reported? Here is the most important parts of this story that are dangerous to a lot more people than just this vp of victim.

So I would argue that James O'Keefe was on the cutting edge of the pivot of the Republican Party, from conservative to a war machine. He was calling out fake news before Donald Trump coined the term. He was doing drain the swamp stuff before Donald Trump did it. He was presenting alternative facts before that became a major issue. And essentially, the goal is to control the narrative. The goal is to wait in kind of throw in an anecdotal story, some kind of anecdotal undercover conversation, and then say that it's indicative of some larger conspiracy, some larger thing. You know, one vp of marketing said that some NFL players are homophobic. I guess everyone in the NFL thinks all NFL players are homophobic. And it's just, you don't have to fall for this. People do not have to fall for this in sports and out of it, I kind of admit this is the first sports program I've ever done. But in politics, this works really well. And it's worked really well for years. And it's unfortunate because I think good journalism is supposed to explore what people believe and just try to see things from their point of view.

And the problem with this kind of journalism, which is spread, is that you assume whoever you've targeted is a bad person and then you go looking for evidence of it. And to me, that's not good storytelling. And it's the kind of storytelling that's tearing this country apart.

Well, you start with what it is that you already believe and then the reporting you do is just to confirm what you started believing. And in this particular case, it seems really wrong. The reporting seems worse than the crime committed by the person on the other end of this. And now that person has lost their job. Laura, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it. We appreciate both the time and the work. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much. Great to be here.

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Terms Don Libertard punctuate this segment with what is your strike three call?

Strike one would be strike. And then you stand up and you give a good point to the right stugots. That's same for strike three. But strike three, you get down low, you got your hands behind the catcher, all right? The right arm goes up into the air and then you finish it with the punch. The right arm flings way up into the air.

I wish I could see that.

Levator show with these two guys.

Welcome to the pitch clock. Here's the pitch, a two part baseball segment combining a nostalgic baseball trivia game and an interview with an expert. This is the pitch clock. We're ready for another wonderful game here in September. I'm Jeremy, obviously we have Chris Cody with me here in the room in the studio. Hello. And our expert this week is Mike Shore, and he's actually going to play this game with us. So Taylor, why don't you go ahead and introduce us to this week's game here on the pitch clock again today.

Three strikes and you're out. The people love it where you guys will alternate guesses. Last person standing wins. The question today is top 20 players that had the most hits in the MLB in the nineties. So between 1999, the betting odds, courtesy of our friends over at DraftKings Sportsbook, currently have Mike Scher as a -10,000.

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, so do we want to straight.

Up most hits in the nineties?

Most hits not in a single season. Most hits in the nineties, 90 to 99. 90 to 99. And I would have been better in the next decade. I will start with Tony Gwyn, Mister Padres, number four. All right. Number four. All right, Chris, you are up here. 20 seconds on the clock for the pitch clock. I am going to go with. I'm struggling right now.

This is bad.

This is not good. I'm already. No, I have some names, but I.

Just don't think the wind came off the board. And you just.

How much time left?

5 seconds.

I'm gonna go with Craig.

BG.

Oh, it's a great guess. Number three, Biggio. Yeah, Mike, sure. Your guess. Your first guess here in round one.

I'll go Ken Griffey, junior, number six.

All right, you know what? Mike just gave me a hint there. Just go with the best player. I'm like, overthinking this with like, specifically. Yeah, it's like the best players. Ok. And now for our guest portion of the pitch clock, we bring in our MLB expert, Mike Scherr. Mike, thank you as always, for joining us and for sharing your baseball expertise as we're here in September.

Thank you. It is ridiculous to refer to me as a baseball expert. You are a baseball expert. No, I am not. I'm just a guy who likes baseball. And I think if you introduce me as a guy who likes baseball, it'll take some of the pressure off of my half hair brained analysis.

All right.

So, hey, how's it going?

We're headed toward the playoff race in major league baseball, obviously, as it's September, and I'm wondering whether it's a division race or the wild cardinal. What race are you looking forward to most? Watching down the stretch?

I think the biggest, like, this is weird to say. I think the most interesting race is Braves Mets for the wild card in at least.

Yes.

This is, this is like I, I predicted a long time ago that the, that the Mets were going to make the playoffs even when it looked like they were down and out. But I just kind of weirdly believe in that team. They're currently what I had there, a half game behind the Braves for the wild Cardinal and the Braves. Like, if the Mets, if the Mets turn into the scrappy upstart team with a $480 million payroll, who managed to beat the Braves for a wildcard spot this year, that's going to be amazing. I mean, right now, Braves 75% to make the playoffs, Mets are 36%. So it's not looking super likely. But I, I think to me, that's the most fun race heading down the stretch.

Mike, we've talked a lot here about Shohei oh, than he, about Aaron Judge, their unbelievable seasons that they've each had a. I want to know, is there an argument that you could make or would make for another player not named judge or Ohtani to win an MVP this season, whether that's the American League over judge or the National League over Ohtani?

Yeah, there's a pretty decent argument for both, actually. The argument in the AL would be Bobby Witt junior, who had the, the Royals are in all likelihood making the playoffs when no one really thought they would be this good. He plays a premium position. He plays it incredibly well. He's a great base runner. He's like, you know, he's within shouting distance of judge. I think Judge probably still hasn't, because judge has also been playing center field, which is obviously another premium position. I don't think it would hold water, but you could make that argument that Bobby Wood junior has been the actual most viable player. The problem with that argument, however, really isn't just the judge play center field and plays it pretty well. It's that the Yankees have two hitters in their entire lineup. Two. It's Judge and Soto. And if judge weren't doing every single thing that he's doing, they certainly wouldn't be in first place. And they'd be like a borderline playoff team, you know, like they'd be a borderline. They'd be where the Red Sox are two games over 500. So it's hard to make the argument. You could, if you're a Kansas City sports writer, you'll be making that argument in a.

In a couple of weeks in the National League. I think there's actually a pretty good argument that it's Francisco Lindor and he's not going to win. Ohtani, especially if Otani gets to 50 50, it's going to be unanimous. But he's not pitching, he's not playing defense. And Lindor's playing really, really good defense at a very important position for a team that's fighting for a playoff spot. And very quietly, that contract, which looked like a massive albatross when he first signed it, that guy's, you know, so we're talking about one of the best players in baseball, without question. And his. Right now, like, you know, oh, Tani's war is at 7.1, which, for a DH is insane because he's. It's only getting. He's only getting war from deep, from offense. But Lindor is 6.2. Lindor is right behind him. He's going to have 30 homers. He's playing incredible defense. He's leading that team, especially in the second half. And that is a legitimate argument that you could make in the NL.

Through round one, each of us have gotten somebody. Tony Gwynne, Craig Biggio, and Ken Griffey, junior. My first guest of round two will be Cal Ripken, junior, number seven. All right, Chris, to you. This is fun. I'm gonna go with the big hurt. Big hurt is number eleven that we're doing.

What?

Yeah, no, we're good. Mike Scherr, you are up.

Paul Molitor.

Paul Molitor, number ten.

Wow. I would not have ever been able to get Paul, you said that one because I was.

3000 hits.

Yeah, but I don't, I don't think of him as somebody in an era in which I was watching baseball, but I guess I was born halfway through this decade, so that makes it a bit more difficult. How much time is left on the clock? I'm trying to think of guys who got hits in the nineties. I have a weird one. He's not one of the best players, but he got a lot of hits. Kenny Lofton. I was actually thinking that one earlier too.

That's a first strike.

Ah, that's a strike. Yeah. All right.

That's surprising.

I would have thought that he would have been in the top. You know what? Number 19, he might have been in there. All right, Chris, you're up. I feel a little better now, now that Jeremy got a strike, I just feel better about getting one wrong. So I'm gonna. Roberto Olimar, number five. Wow, that's a great one. I can't believe we don't have the first two.

So we don't have one and two.

How is that possible? Correct.

All right, hold on. Who has 3000 hits? Oh. Palmeiro.

Rafael Palmeiro.

Number two.

Number two on the board. All right, so this is where it gets even more.

We're missing number one.

I'm trying. I got it. I got, let me go ahead and guess. I will say this shouldn't work. Alex Rodriguez.

That's a strike.

I knew it. Oh, no. You both just thought of it. I just thought of somebody, I think. Let me look at your face. Oh, I might be wrong. I might be wrong. Chris, I'm gonna go with nineties. Give me, oh, wait, this is easy. It just, it just, it just, it just hit me. Barry Bonds, number 19. Just, wow, wow. I actually almost went with one of his teammates and then in my mind, I'm like, wait, one of his teammates? I'm not gonna tell you which. Oh, yeah, now I'm confused. The San Diego Padres, obviously, they, they have been playing spectacular baseball in the second half of the year, and now they've just added Fernando Tatis, junior back into the fold with that addition. What do you think that he really does for them? Does he give them a, a bolster to say, hey, this is one of the teams that could legitimately win the National League speaker two?

Yeah.

Oh, no question. I think they if assuming, I mean, they're going to make the playoffs now and barring a catastrophe, but that guy has what has had one of the weirdest careers of all time. Like he is. It is so bananas. Everything, all of the ups and downs and the weird motorcycle accidents and the 80 game suspensions and the, like, just flashes of being the best player in baseball and then long stretches of, like, he forgot how to play. It's just very weird. I don't. I actually think that there's a little. This is not real statistical, Saber metric analysis.

Guy who likes baseball, Mike Schur, I.

Think there's a little risk in him coming back right now because they've been playing so well, and he is an agent of chaos. And I don't know, I think, look, he's incredibly talented. I think his defense alone should help them. But I just. It's a little risky to put, like, they're cruising, man. They're playing incredibly well, and they've overtaken the. They've held off the Diamondbacks, who are the best team in the second half. And I think that heading into the playoffs, you, you've got to, like, ride with this, this wave of momentum, and I just worry that he's going to do something insane and there is going to derail the season. Now, in all likelihood, all that will happen is like, he'll play good baseball and it'll help, but it's just a little worrisome if you're a Padres fan, a long cursed Padres fan, it's a little worrisome to just drop this bit of nitroglycerin back into the composition of your team.

He is always absolute chaos, either in the best way or sometimes in the worst way for your franchise. Last week, Mike, we asked Tim Kirkshen, and it actually did not make our episode the greatest strength of any baseball team remaining. So, for example, a team's bullpen or someone's heart of the order or a starting rotations, one or two. Ironically, Kirkshen's answer was actually basically the power of friendship with the Philadelphia Phillies and just how much those guys like each other, which for Kirchhen is just the funniest thing for me to hear coming from him. I thought it was awesome. Is there something that sort of stands out for you as, hey, that unit is one that can just, you know, lead a team to a World Series this year?

I think they're like the youth of the Orioles that I think they're like, we don't know any better of the Orioles, which is sometimes for a team that's sucked for a while, you need a bunch of just, like, young people who, like, don't, literally don't remember the long period of suckage of the team because they were all, like, two years old or is before they were born. Like, that's a, that's a big deal for them. I think the number of guys they have on that team who are 22 or 23 and are, are out of their mind playing well. I think that's a big thing. I think the under the radarness of the Guardians and the brewers is a big deal. Like, the brewers, especially the brewers, have the best, second best record in the NL right now. No one has spoken a word about the Milwaukee brewers in the national sports media all year. Not one word. Like, it is all been about Atlanta, philly, the Mets, the Dodgers, now, the Diamondbacks, the Padres, even the Cubs recently because the Cubs scored 99 runs over a ten game stretch and, like, storm back into the wild card.

But, like, the Cubs are still ten games behind the brewers, even despite that run, because the brewers have just quietly been, like, plodding along, playing incredible baseball. And I. I think that actually really matters. Here's the stat for you. The brewers have the best run differential in all of baseball. All of baseball. They're plus 139. The Phillies are plus 110. The Dodgers are plus 117. The Yankees are plus 125. Nobody else is over 100. So, yes, the brewers, by one metric, are, without question, the best team in baseball. And no one. I literally, I host, co host a baseball podcast with Joe Posnansky. We have not talked about the brewers once in six months. And. And it. I think that there's something to that. Like, nobody expects anything out of them, and they're going to sail into baseball playoffs, maybe as the one seed, or probably the two, if not the one.

All right, Mike, sure.

You're up that time?

I guess if it's, who would if.

It'S the if, but it's the guy I think it is. This is insane. But it's a guy who doesn't have 3000 hits, which is Mark Grace, number.

One from the decade.

That makes sense. That makes sense. It makes all the sense.

He was like the Jack Morris of the eighties, where, like, he just happened to have his best years. Like, from 90 to 90.

I cannot believe this. Okay. It opens up a whole, like, that Mark Grace. Mark door has been open. Everything. I'm seeing so many more players that I wasn't even thinking of. My brain is falling apart on this, and I'm really embarrassed. But I have the excuse of not being alive for half a decade.

So we don't have number eight. We don't have number nine.

Well, I'm about to out. Yeah.

8912.

Through 18 and then 20.

I'm gonna go ahead and say, oh, boy. What are the live odds on this? Because I don't have a strike yet. Don't have a. I'm going to strike.

To say, I'll go back.

Omar Vasciel. My next guess. I think this is a strike, though.

Ready?

Am I up? Yeah. Jeff Kent.

That is a shrug.

It's a strike.

Okay. That was the guy. I was, like, thought of him. Yeah. Wait, Barry. No, that would have been just.

It's just Mike Scher and Chris now.

Yep. Mike, you're on.

I I'm gonna guess Edgar, number 18.

Great. Chris with one strike. I stink it. Balls in your court. I am going to go with in the 1990s. I can't believe that I got three strikes that quick. I'm really embarrassed, guys. Keep filling for me.

Actually. Keep talking. This is a weird one.

I'm going to tie. I'm going to take Fred McGriff.

Ooh.

Number nine, crime dog.

Wow.

Wow.

I panic guess. That was such a panic guess. What an incredible move by Chris. We've mentioned it already, Mike. You love baseball. You watch as much as just about anybody that. That I know for sure. Who's been your favorite bad team to watch this season? Maybe one that you're looking forward to here in September playing spoiler? Or, you know, there is a certain team, obviously, that's on track for one of the worst seasons ever.

One of my favorite bad teams is the Reds, partially just because of Ellie Della Cruz, because he's an insane baseball monster who does something wild every game, like he does something offensively or defensively in every game. That seems impossible. And I actually. I don't have a large collection of baseball jerseys, but I actually got an Ellie dela Cruz Reds jersey.

I almost.

I almost wore it for today's proceedings.

Next time we got to see it.

Next time I'm on the. I do. Remind me. I'll wear it. But I just love that guy. I love him so much.

What works out great about that Reds pick is that down the stretch, they play the Mets first series. They play the Braves four times, and they play the Cubs for a series as well right at the end of the year. So they can potentially be involved in sort of playing spoiler in some of these races as well. It's worth watching them play down the stretch, which is exciting. Um, last question for you, Mike. Um, Darren Baker was called up earlier in the week, the son of Dusty Baker, who, for those who remember, he was the one who was saved by JT. Snow in the slide at home plate in 2002 in the World Series. Another play at the plate for the Giants in a playoffs was in 2003 when Jeff Conine threw out a player at the plate. It's the epic pudge collision. Jeff Conine son Griffin Conine called up to the major leagues this week. A couple of names like that that have now made me feel very, very old. I'm wondering, who's the first name that you remember in major League Baseball that made you feel ancient?

The first one I don't remember. Mike Yestremski made me feel old because he's a grandkid.

Like, that's great.

Like, I saw Carl Yastremski play at Fenway in the early eighties, and then it was like, mike Yostremski. And you're like, oh, wow, Carl's kid is in the majors now. No, Carl's grandkid is in the majors. That was bad. All of the, all of the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays. Kevin Biggio and Bo Peshette and Vladi Juniore. That's bad. Jackson Holiday is really bad because I, I think of Matt Holiday as, like, being still in baseball. Like, I think he's in to do it.

He's going to have a second kid get drafted this year. And Ethan holiday.

Yeah, that's bad there. Every time it happens, it's terrible. I mean, Cody Bellinger was bad because I remember Clay Bellinger because I hated the Yankees. And when Cody came up, I was like, there's no way that's clay Bellinger's kid. And then remember, Cody Bellinger was interviewed about. But, uh, Jerry Seinfeld came to the stadium and they were interviewing him about Jerry Seinfeld, and he was like, yeah, I don't know who that is. And I was like, oh, man, that's.

Going to continue to hurt over time. There's going to be more and more of those that are just people who don't know. Staples of pop culture for us. Mike. Mike, thank you so much for joining us for this episode of the Pitch clock. Let's head back into the studio to see how our game wrapped up involving another one of our shipping container members. All right, only one strike to Chris. Mike, can you keep it going?

I will guess Bagwell.

Oh, wow. It's a strike. I am going to go with one strike to each of you.

What? What? Is he on the board? Is he at top 50? He must be like, I just have the top 20.

Yeah, okay. What do you expect? This guy was more at 2000, so I'm gonna get this wrong. Chipper Jones.

Tripper Jones.

Okay. Strike two to Chris. Mike, now to you. There's a guy that comes to mind, but for me, but he came up.

Too late in the nineties, Barry Larkin.

Wow.

Whoa.

Okay. He has two strikes. Two strikes to each of you, Chris. If you get a strike. Andre Scalarago, three. Mike, can you win this? Can you get one of the players remaining and ice this game? Mike Shore, it is to you.

If he gets this wrong, it's just gonna be a draw.

No, but he needs a win. I know Mike wants a victory here. Mike, I.

Here's. Here's my problem. I think there's a couple Yankees who must be on this list. And I hated those players so much. I don't want to guess them and have it be a positive thing.

I get it.

So I'm trying to figure out a non Yankee, which limits my 5 seconds left.

You have 5 seconds left to figure it out.

Albert Bell, number 17.

Mike Scherz, victory on the pit.

Am I right? Let me ask you this.

Derek Jeter on this list?

No, I don't come up till too late. It's. But I'll bet you that. So some number of Bernie Williams, Chuck Nabla and Paul O'Neill are on this list.

Dante Bechet was number eight. Chuck Nablock was number twelve. Steve Finley was number 13. Marquis Grissom was 14. J. Bell was 15. Paul O'Neal was 16.

Wow.

Lance Johnson was. Johnson almost went.

Dante.

What a game.

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