Transcript of Dan Makes a Big Mistake | Hour 3 (feat. Adnan Virk) New

This is the Dan Levatorre Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

We've got baseball segregated again. Jeremy is just doing things with Adnan Virk and the other baseball boys. Pitch Clock is at the end of this hour where all your baseball needs will be met. We think that we didn't get a payoff from the pseudoscientists in the— in Big Ear Wax. But I am told that Roy, from the guffawing laughter I heard in the other studio, that there was shame in Roy's ear. I don't know the extent of the shame. Roy, have you seen what it is that emerged from your ear with that fire vacuum? Yeah, yeah, that's, uh, that's some stuff, Dan. Oh, what is the color of that stuff? It is, uh, looks like it's Brown?

It's like a dark, dark, yeah, it's like almost black.

Oh! So wait a minute, that is a lot of stuff there.

Most of that is actually candle wax, but like inside there, up there towards the top.

Okay, I feel better.

You see right there?

Okay, I thought that was coming out of his nose.

98% of that is traditional candle wax.

Roy, how do you feel about what was in your ear? Because it looks like you're holding a little throw up in your mouth. It looks like you're disgusted by what was in your ear.

I feel dirty, Dan.

Okay, so a major accomplishment here today. We made Roy feel dirty, and I think we can all say a magical success. Everything that was the earwax on fire experience.

Well, the best thing that happened to the earwax experience was Zas falling.

Yes. Well, let's play that sound and video again so people can see again. This was earlier in the show. Zaslo said that it doesn't matter that he didn't play sports, he should be able to criticize all great athletes however he wants. And here is Zaslo trying to sit in a chair.

Uh, I mean, maybe. All right, everybody take it easy.

Whoa!

Everybody calm down.

Everybody, everybody calm down.

No, no, you're not.

I don't know what was so funny about that. I didn't fall. I sat down exactly where I intended to. Seemed like everything was okay to me.

You stumbled.

Stumbled into what I wanted to do.

You talk about secondhand embarrassment. I want you to watch in the background here as he stumbles around trying to again just sit in a chair where Jeremy hides his eyes. From everything that's happening with his earphones.

Uh, I mean, maybe. All right, everybody take it easy.

Everybody calm down.

Everybody, everybody calm down.

No, no, you're used to sitting in chairs. Come on, you're done.

I don't see what the big deal was. That floor was slippery.

It's a rug.

That was actually exactly what happened to Wayne Newton in Vegas, and Tony stopped the chair. That was the exact thing where Wayne Newton old, frail Wayne Newton was trying to sit in his chair and it started to go back. And if it wasn't for Tony stopping his chair, we would have gone viral for something horrible that day.

For killing Wayne.

I'm telling you, it would have happened.

But I had blood on my hands.

Old people cannot be fallen like that.

Not 90-year-olds. Not, not off a stage.

It would—

Carrot Top also almost fell back.

That's right. We had odd chairs on that set.

They were high.

They're high chairs.

Yeah.

Tony saved the life of Wayne Newton. Zaslo just reminded me of the video from earlier in the week that we had of Jerry Jones seeing former President Bill Clinton and just sort of staggering into the distance because that was not a moment of great grace from Zaslo there. You saw everything that happened there and you're just not disgraced in any way.

No.

Number one, I had a clean ear. That's a huge win. And number two, I meant to sit down in that seat, and what was the endgame? I sat down in the seat.

Well, while speaking clearly and getting your points off without being ejected from the room by Mike, who no longer let you speak. Like, you say, you say as that was some grand success, you were kicked out of the room.

I didn't feel that I was being respected, so I got up on my own will, my own power, and I left the room.

Okay. All right, well, I think though that here's where I wanted to lead us with all of this this nonsense involving Zazz in the chair. I believe he's going to end up at a concert tonight where everyone sits down this way because it's going to be nothing but old people. Now, something, uh, me and Valerie enjoy doing— I don't know whether I told you guys this or not— uh, we were like an— I'm gonna say 80 minutes, 90 minutes early for something when we were heading a little bit up north, and we saw on a billboard that it just said, playing tonight at Dania Highline, Quiet Riot. Okay, like an '80s metal band, and we're like, we gotta stop in just to see what that crowd is like. Let's just go in there and see what it's like. We were going to do this the other day with Foreigner, uh, at the Hard Rock, just to see what old bands—

I don't like them.

Uh, old bands—

we don't like them anymore—

sound like.

What happened?

I'm surprised Foreigner's welcome here.

I just like the idea that you and Valerie go to check out what the crowd looks like and someone just go, whoa, Dan Le Batard is here.

Right, right. But you were thinking about going to Guns N' Roses tonight.

I think I'm going to.

Well, but the reason— so the last time I went to Seinfeld, I told you guys I walking over canes and actual walkers because he's 70 years old. And, uh, Guns N' Roses, for me, it is a landmark of, oh, I'm not going to do this except to laugh anymore. Because I went to Guns N' Roses seriously, I'm gonna say 10 years ago, opening up a new venue, and they had to wheel Axl Rose around then. Like, he couldn't— he had an injury.

Yeah, he had a broken leg, right?

But so— but it was ridiculous because they made it a throne, but he was singing from a wheelchair and his voice is and because it's hard to keep the voice singing like that for that many years. And so what I got was a full-on old geriatric experience from my rock band. And you are thinking about going to Guns N' Roses tonight?

Yeah, so I, I love Guns N' Roses. They're at the Hard Rock Live tonight. It's a great venue, small venue, but tickets are super expensive. Now I've been monitoring the tickets I don't know if you know, Dan, but some people call me the Ticket Ninja, okay? And the reason I'll go by that moniker sometimes is because, you know, you don't always want to let everybody know what your identity is because sometimes you need to protect your loved ones. But I always, you know, check the ticket prices, and I see when the ticket prices go down, and they're about half what they were, the prices. So now it's like, all right, if I'm gonna pull the trigger, you know, we can do it. And I said to my wife last night, I was like, do you want to go to Guns N' Roses tomorrow, which now is tonight? And she said, "Yeah, let's go!" So I haven't bought the tickets yet, but I think I'm going to. I think I'm gonna go see Guns N' Roses. I'm excited.

I saw them recently at the very same venue, I want to say like 2 years ago.

It was rough. The last time I saw them was like 10 years ago.

The rest of the band can still go. They're in reasonably good shape. And credit to them, even though I don't know if anyone's actually asking for them to do this, they play for like 3 and a half hours.

I know, I saw the set, Dan.

They play 30 songs, which is insane.

No, it's great.

It's insane because like the thing that's wrong with their performance is Axl's voice is shot, is totally shot, and it's certainly shot by the end of 3 hours. I'd rather him just kind of take it easy and give me 90 minutes of like the pure stuff, like just give me the hits.

I think they, I think they go on out there, no opening act, and, and Mike's right, they play for like 3 hours. So I think you get your money's worth. I'm into it. I love Axl. I mean, he's not dancing around out there in his underwear anymore, Dan, you know, dancing around, doing the moves, you know, but he still does the moves. Yeah, he still does the moves. I'm into it.

So wait, are you alleging that Axl Rose now dances with the microphone the way he did in the heyday where it was swinging and swaying back and forth?

Not the way that he did in the heyday. Not, not exactly.

Yeah, but he's still attempting, so I like it.

I told you guys, again, this is old music because I told you guys that it had to be 20 years ago that I thought rock and roll died in the lobby of a New York hotel when Axl Rose tried to fight Tommy Hilfiger and did not win. I thought, I thought, I thought that I was in New York when rock and roll died because of what I just described. You can't have the most famous of the frontmen for Kool losing a fight in a hotel lobby to Tommy Hilfiger.

Slenderman, no?

Tommy Hilfiger?

Well, they're both, they've both, they're both Very slender. I mean, I, I would describe Axl Rose as frail. As frail a front man as you will ever find.

Someone you don't want falling off a chair at this point in their life.

Someone that would have difficulty sitting in a chair.

Well, yeah, he's knocking on heaven's door at this point.

Airball.

He's a confident shooter though, man.

Hit rim.

Dion Waiters.

Yeah, he didn't hit rim.

The shot clock.

Yeah, somehow it's gonna work.

Hey, it's Mike Ryan, and I want to talk to you about the random midweek hang that you have with your friends. Maybe it's an NBA game, you get a text, hey, come over, you want to watch the game? And maybe you're like, ah, I don't know, I kind of just wanted to stay home. And then you think about it after your buddy hits you up, and you know just the thing that'll make that regular hang, that regular midweek hang around the basketball game, into a special time, into A Miller time. That's right, this happened to me just last week. I grabbed a 6-pack of Miller Lite, said I was on my way, and next thing you know, we're arguing about rotations like we're on the coaching staff, yelling about a missed call, and the game's coming down to the final possession. It was one of those nights that you look around, you take a sip, and you think, yeah, this was the right call, and my friendship's stronger for it. Cheers to legendary moments with Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to MillerLite.com/Dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer.

It's Miller time! Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

Going for 2 when you're up by 5. Switching the zone when man isn't working. Oh, and building your new stadium in the state your team actually plays in. In sports, some things just make sense. You know what else makes sense? Drinking Jägermeister shots ice cold. Drinking it any other way would be like punting on first down! Or letting your worst hitter bat first! Or like going for two when you're down three with a second to go! It wouldn't make any sense! So don't let the team down. When it comes to Jägermeister, drink it cold or don't drink it at all! Jägermeister. Damn, that's cold.

Drink responsibly.

Jägermeister Likör, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mast Jägermeister US, White Plains, New York.

Dan Lebatard.

It sounds to me like everybody could use a hug because a hug is always the right size.

Stugatz.

All I have put in my body today is 3 cups of coffee and an entire cup of honey.

Don't let him fool you. He said in the break that he's jittery.

This is the Dan Lebatard Show with the Stugatz.

While we're celebrating, Jeremy, can we show his logo for his Talking with Toshé, how terrible he was in it.

This is unfortunate.

Is that Chris Whittingham's picture?

That's Whittingham.

That's Mike Beamonte.

Who was that? That's supposed to be you.

You approve that?

They did you no favors.

That did not hit the rim. Okay, that was a shotcock violation.

No, that's next. That's next segment. What was unfortunate was he was about to say shotcock. He stopped. And then he said shotcock again.

Oh man, that's what Jeremy looked like before he started eating the sad turkey sandwiches for lunch.

Don't forget the salmon.

Roy, that ear. Hey man, don't deflect.

Don't you dare deflect.

Pitchcock.

Shotcock. Nope, let me correct myself. Shotcock, I meant.

The correction was on purpose. The first one was not on purpose. The first one was an honest mistake.

You can watch Talking with Tashay on Marlins.tv.

They did make your face fatter, right? It's not just that it's a combination of Whittingham and Biamonte.

It's just a strong jawline.

No, it looks like— it looks like you're bloated there. I think that's why they're making fun of Talking with Tashay.

Michael Biamonte.

You know Liam Hicks has 7 home runs and 8 strikeouts? It's like impossible. He's only swung and missed at 1 pitch in the strike zone all season. Most RBIs by a catcher.

It's amazing.

Uh, have they—

You look Guatemalan.

Have they fixed the NBA Draft Lottery?

Dan, uh, maybe? Maybe! Like, now everybody knows Adam Silver's a nothing. Now I don't know if he gets credit for this proposal. Maybe someone else came up with it, but this seems like a fix to me. Now, it's a little bit convoluted, Dan, so hang with me here. You know, the draft lottery— what it is currently— 14 teams. They're going to expand it to 16, and the 2 extra teams they're adding are the 8th seeds in the playoffs, which is interesting because if it was taking place this year, the Orlando Magic are a win away from advancing to the second round. They could also get the number 1 pick in the draft. So anyway, uh, but what they have now is they have what's called a relegation zone. So if you are in the relegation zone, which is number 1, number 2, number 3, worst records in the league, like this year's like Indiana, Brooklyn, Washington, you don't have the best odds. So instead of all those huge combinations of ping pong balls to give you the number 1, 2, and 3 picks, they now have what's called a 3-2-1 system. Slots 4 through 10 have 3 ping pong balls.

Slots 1 through 3 have 2. So you want to avoid being there, hence maybe you'll try hard late in the season to win games. And slots 11 through 14 have 2 balls. 15 and 16 have 1 ball. And they draw not just 1, 2, and 3 like they do now. They're gonna draw every pick. And that part of the thing is also really interesting. So The idea is, yeah, if you're in 1, 2, and 3, you're going to be playing hard late in the season. I mean, heck, can you imagine for teams that aren't any good, like a late season matchup this year between like Washington and Utah? The fans might be pumped for that game, you know, because hey, we want to get an extra lottery pick, so an extra ball. So I, I think this might be a good idea.

I think it's the best idea I've heard, and I think that fixes it.

The Memphis-Utah game played earlier, uh, toward the end of the season was the most embarrassing game played in basketball this season, up to and including what happened with the Wizards and Bam, correct?

It was bad.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just—

3 triple-doubles in that game by the, by the teammates off the bench. I, I straight up didn't recognize most of the people that got playing time in that game.

Well, there were 3— there were not just 3 triple-doubles. It's never happened before. And, uh, I think Memphis just played 5 players all game, correct? Or 6 players. And It was as embarrassing a thing as has existed. And you guys are just saying for all that talk that we spent this season talking about the stupidity, it was, it was half the season talking about the stupidity of 10 teams aren't trying. You guys are saying they fixed it by simply creating something that feels like a relegation, which is that you are shaming the bad teams for being bad instead of rewarding them. The word— you're shaming the worst teams for being bad instead of rewarding.

Yeah.

And I don't think we've just been talking about it this year. This has been something that's been taking most of the— most of the narrative surrounding this league for this century has surrounded teams that are not trying to win. Tanking has been an issue. Oh, but this century, longer than—

I don't think it's prisoner of the moment, though, to say that this was the most sustained period of complaining about it as a media—

you're right—

as a media narrative.

That's right. So I don't know if they like— they get some credit for fixing it. We can also criticize like, where was this idea 10 years ago?

Right. That would be the critique of Adam Silver in this spot. Why didn't you have any kind of foresight that this could possibly happen? Why did you wait till we're at the absolute rock bottom scenario where you have 10 teams not trying?

But necessity is the mother of invention. Like, it had become such a problem that it wasn't something he could go any longer without addressing because it was eating up the way that his sport is covered. Like, he— of course, the reason that— yes, you are right. Leadership requires vision, but I would say that very often leadership is faulty because things happen to you that you didn't have the vision on.

That's right.

And, uh, it collapsed on him in his lap. But when you talk about, uh, some of the things we've been talking about when it comes to vision, we are sitting here laughing about AI. And I don't know if you guys are covering or reading what The Ringer is doing. They do some good work covering tech there. Bill Simmons you know, Katie Baker, Brian Phillips, they've done some writing here and covering of things that can be difficult because it's the tech industry which is taking over everything, including all of mankind soon if we're not careful. But I just want to give some credit here to Stugatz for being many years ahead of The Ringer and everyone else when it comes to Elon Musk. Here from The Ringer: Musk is not— I'll put this as politely as I can since I disagree with his stance that empathy is for the weak— a finisher. From his proposed Hyperloop concept to his plans for space exploration to his promise to reinvent the American government, he consistently overpromises and consistently underdelivers. His Robotaxi service would, he said, have 1 million autonomous cabs on the road by 2020. As of 2025, there are fewer than 200.

He promised to sell millions of Cybertrucks at a rate of 250,000 per year. As of this fall, he'd sold fewer than 70,000. His failed predictions about self-driving Teslas are so numerous that they have their own wiki. Page, uh, how is Stugatz more of a pioneer on AI and technology than the entirety of the world?

A lot of good ideas.

You got to finish those ideas to then be an idea guy, right?

Do you know, execution—

isn't it reported that if they hit all the incentives, he could get— he just got a trillion dollars in possible incentives?

Oh yeah, that's a different story though.

That sucks. It's all, you know, he's an Altman guy.

Don't libertard. Can I tell you something? I don't know, maybe like a month ago, and I decided to watch Pitch Clock, and I told Jeremy, "Stugatz, this is a good show you're doing." "This is the Dan Lebatard Show with the Stugatz." Chris, I think something that's awesome is that no matter how either of us does in trivia today, we can take solace in knowing we are not Alex Cora.

Rob Solace.

Ooh.

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. Different camera angle today. How about that? Look, we're on that camera.

Hi everybody.

I'm very excited because we have our monthly installment of The Pitch Clock with Adnan Virk. He's going to be here to talk Boston Red Sox and everything else. Yeah, the old AV Club. Should we start calling Adnan fans the AV Club? We'll get to that later. Yeah, I'll ask him later in our interview. But Ethan, what is our game for today?

Jeremy, pick a number between 1 and 10.

7.

Chris, leave the room.

Was I right?

Spot on.

7.

My number is always 7. I don't know why. I gotta start changing that up. Yeah, I gotta start changing that up.

Wow.

So we're doing a game where we leave the room. All right.

We're doing a game where we leave the room. All right. So we're going to play this game called StatPad. It's an online game. It's kind of like the Immaculate Grid. Great. You're going to pick 5 players. It's going to give you a category for each player. You're trying to get the most home runs possible. Okay. So I'm going to give you, so like, for example, the first clue on this list is you need to give me a Seattle Mariner between 1980 and 2025 that played first base in that season.

Okay.

But you have to pick a specific season.

Oh God.

So you're going to pick a season where you think they probably hit the most home runs. And then you're going to give me a total. It'll add up and you'll give me a total at the end.

And you're not going to, you're not going to give me the list of the players that are there. I just have to come up with a player.

The category is Mariners, 1980 to 2025, played first base.

Okay.

Okay.

It's a fun one.

This is tough already. All right, let's go with Richie Sexton, 2005.

Jeremy, a very nice guess. 39 home runs. That is the 100th percentile.

Really?

For Richie Sexton.

Hell yeah.

For the Mariners. Your next category, 2015 to 2025, an NL West second baseman.

Whoa.

Okay. And we're going for home runs.

Home runs. Yes. All of these are, you're going for home runs.

Astros, Mariners, Angels, Rays, and A's and Athletics. Ah, I keep saying it's fine. I know what this is. I'm going to go— now, this is interesting because there's a guy that I'm thinking of in Seattle.

Mm. But not where I would have gone.

But I'm going Houston. I'm going, I'm going 20— I guess I'll do it the year. I'll go 2017 Astros. Jose Altuve.

World Series year for Altuve.

The World Series year. I don't know if that's his best year home run-wise, but I'm going to take that one.

Altuve hit 24 home runs. That is the 92nd percentile. I need a New York Met between 2000 and 2025 who played in the NLDS in the same season. So pick a Mets playoff team. It can be any position.

Yeah, I'm going to go 2000. Mike Piazza.

98th percentile.

Nice.

38 home runs. Very good stuff. You're up to 101. Okay. 2 categories left. I need an NL Central outfielder between 2000 and 2025. 2005 and 2020.

Okay, um, 2005 and 2020 NL Central outfielder. Was he an outfielder at this time? Because this is the first name that comes to mind. 2016, Chris Bryant.

It gives you 39 home runs. I mean, that's pretty good. You're at 140. Okay, one player left. Last one. You need 2000 to 2025, a Miami Marlins who played in the NLDS in the same season. Whoa, you have 3. Do you even have 3 seasons?

I have—

you have—

I have—

I have—

no, I have 2 seasons.

I have—

yes, because they played in the NLDS in the 2020, in the COVID year.

All right, I'm gonna go— God, who do I think of that group? All right, I'm going with Mike Lowell.

Mike Lowell in 2003 was the 100th percentile. He hit 32 home runs. Let's go! That means that he led the team. So your total, Jeremy, 172.

I feel like it's gonna be almost impossible for Chris to beat me.

Nice job.

All right, let's check out what Chris is doing.

Let's go get Chris Kopp.

And it's a crazy newsworthy week here on the Pitch Clock. A wild time to have not one but two different managers fired in Major League Baseball before we've reached the month of May. So of course, we needed our monthly check-in with Adnan Virk, who I believe at the beginning of the season told us the Phillies would make the playoffs. They are one of the worst teams in baseball. But we'll get to them in just a second because the Boston Red Sox had the most dramatic week of anybody. They fire Alex Cora, Jason Varitek, a part of that as well, and all sorts of coaching. Everything is, is, is up in the air in Boston with Craig Breslow running that franchise. You got players who are out here sort of throwing shots at management for firing Cora. It is a wild time in Boston. And we spoke with Mike Schur a couple of weeks ago about a team that was flailing to start. Never did I anticipate Alex Cora would be gone by this point. Adnan, can you give us just sort of the overall, uh, bird's-eye view on what's gone down in Boston?

It was Cora along with other members of the staff, the hitting coaches, bench coach, etc. And I think the frustration, at least from those guys' perspective, is that, see, you gassed us but you kept the pitching coach. Meantime, Andrew Bailey, this pitching hasn't been particularly strong. As far as Cora himself, I called him the next day and he's honestly been in a great place. I said, but you couldn't have seen this coming, this is shocking. He said, yeah, he said, listen, I've always had a great relationship with the guys up top, obviously John Henry, FSG as they call Family Sports Group. But I think what happened was it was a disconnect with Craig Breslow. I think Bres thought this team was better, and Alex is like, listen, I think we're undermanned here. And I remember telling Alex at the start of the season, you're at least a bat short, and now I think he's about 4 bats short. Yeah, they have a complete absence of power, Jeremy, period. Wilson Contreras leading the team in home runs with like 4. They don't have any pop, which is so shocking for a Boston Red Sox team. You think of David Ortiz, You think of Jim Rice, you think of all the power those guys always have.

Like, for a Red Sox team that can't hit home runs, like, what? Don't you know what kind of park you're living in there with the Green Monster? So very odd. This is definitely blood on Craig Breslow's hands. Um, it was his decision, which— how about Sam Kennedy? Normally you just say, at least publicly, Jeremy, hey, collectively we felt it was best. He's like, nope, that was his call. Any questions, go ahead. Craig Breslow's decision. I'm like, okay, so clearly Bres thinks it's a better team than what's been performing. I would agree with that to an extent. I think they're underachieving. But if he thinks this is a 90-win team, I mean, I would be shocked by that. I thought Alex worked a miracle last year, the 89 wins, get him to the playoffs. He's a, he's a brilliant manager. There's no question about it. Again, I worked with him for 5 years at ESPN. I'm not, uh, I'm not unbiased on this topic. I do think he's a great guy and consider him a friend. But anybody who gets him is going to have a winner. We mentioned the Phillies job, by the way, when Alex and I spoke on Sunday.

Yeah, I said you could have this Phillies job in 2 weeks, and he laughed. He goes, or maybe 2 days. So I mean, everyone knows, especially the relationship he has with Dave Dombrowski, that perfect sense. But he intimated to me, even in that phone conversation, that he's got twin 7-year-old boys. One's a big baseball guy, one's a big soccer guy. He's been on the road so much, this might be the time to enjoy the time with the family. And to be blunt, he's getting paid $7 million this year and next year, and the Red Sox got to pay him that. So there's no rush to go back into the pressure cooker of failure. I think it would have been fun if he'd taken the job, but now we're going to talk with the Madilies and how Kirovka is going to be. I mean, that's certainly an unusual situation, but tire fire in Boston I think everybody is pro Cora. Love the fact Trevor Story came out pro Cora, pro the player. They did not ask them their decision-making with regards to the manager. He is well-liked in that room and eventually he's going to be managing somewhere else.

So it's a mess right now in Boston, no doubt about it.

Unfortunately, Craig Breslow's analysis of his roster is as askew as your headphones right now.

Adnan, welcome to the hot seat.

I was trying so hard to cheat.

I know you were.

Like I was like putting my ears up against doors and walls.

I know you were.

Cheaters don't profit.

Cheaters?

I ain't cheating!

If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

All right, Chris Cody. So we are playing this game. It's kind of like the Immaculate Grid. It's called StatPad. It's an online game. So I'm going to give you a category of player and you're trying to get the highest possible home run total based on the category of player. So for example, the first category story is Mariners between 1980 and 2025 who played first base.

Okay.

And you want to get the most home runs possible.

Okay, I like this. I have one in my head that I'm thinking of. John Olerud, not a home run hitter. I'm just going to go with the first home run hitter that popped into my head that played first base during this window at some point. I feel like he's one of these names that I say a lot.

It's a name I know exactly where you're going.

Richie Sexton.

When I saw this board, I'm like, Chris is going to play Richie Sexton.

That's right where my head goes.

All right, talk to me. So you have to pick a specific season.

Okay. That's where I'm— I'm going to go with '05. Yeah, because that's— I can remember him. I know he was an All-Star.

So I believe that year. I'm going to tell you right now, that Jeremy also picked '05 Richie Sexton.

Okay.

And he is the 100th percentile. He hit 39 home runs. So he is the number 1 total of Mariners first baseman between 1980 and 2025. Jeremy shouldn't be not allowed to take Richie Sexton because I always say that is your guy. All right. So next up, the next category is an NL— excuse me, an AL West second baseman between 2015 and 2025.

Damn. If it was before 2015, I was about to Brett Boone the shit out of this. Okay, there's an obvious one here. I just have no clue what year I want to go with. I'm definitely going to go José Altuve. Uh, let's just pick a year. 2025. And then there was this.

They were good.

When was like the cheating scandal was around here. Let's go.

2019, 98th percentile here.

Let's go.

Jose Altuve, 31 home runs in 2019.

The Phillies, I mean, mind-blowingly got off to a 9-19 start at the time of this recording. Literally the worst team in baseball as we have this conversation, tied with the Mets for the worst record. We did our crash ad over there. Last week with Bobby Wagner, but the worst run differential in baseball. My guy Jesus Lozardo has had an awful start to the season. The team can't hit the way that they're anticipating. Everybody seems to look pretty old. And now Rob Thompson's gone, setting up what is the first ever nepo daddy situation with Don Mattingly taking over as the manager of this ballclub, with Preston Mattingly being the general manager of the team. It's actually a pretty cool situation. But I mean, my goodness, what's going on in Philly? I'm asking you what's going on in Boston. Now what's going on in Philly?

Yeah, two major markets right now. First off, love Don Mattingly. Shave those sideburns, Mattingly. Disappointing he's not in the Hall of Fame. Was obviously a tremendous player, great cameo on The Simpsons, and of course a great manager, a great bench coach with the Blue Jays last year. Regardless, Mattingly smartly goes, well, I'm not gonna be a manager in Toronto, I'd still like to manage somewhere else, I'll just be the bench coach in Philly. And hey, my son's the general manager, Preston Mattingly. So you can already kind of feel it align. I'm sure Rob Thompson was not sleeping well at right. Once he saw that decision, then the team started playing baseball. Rob definitely was having sleepless nights. I love Topper, fellow Canadian, inducted in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. I'm really happy for Rob, he's a great guy. But there's no denying something had to change. This team is a disaster right now. Bohm and Schwarber hitting under.200. Lozardo, your boy. Aaron Nola, second consecutive awful season. Andrew Painter, the one highly coveted prospect. All those three guys, ERAs over 5. They try to bring in a little bit of youth. Justin Crawford's a -4 DRS, been terrible defensively.

You think he'd be like his dad, Carl Crawford, hit and field? Not doing it. Painter, again, like I said, was a former stud prospect. Terrible. Bryce Harper, pretty average so far. So what can you do? Fire the manager and you bring in Don Manoli. So fascinating what kind of conversation is going to be like. Father and son. I can't imagine being the boss of my dad. It's crazy in any sort of respect. It just feels weirdly uncomfortable. I would never fire my dad. Like, I don't think I would hire my dad because I'd have to fire him one day. I'm like, no, that just can't happen. Like, I'll fire myself before I fire my dad.

I will say, as someone that spent some time around Don Mattingly, I think the one criticism that existed around the end of his tenure in Miami was that he wasn't a great manager for a young team at the time. Philadelphia, you got a team full of vets. So all you need is that adult in the room, that calming presence. Don Mattingly actually feels like a pretty perfect fit to go, guys, Guys, there's 130 games left of this season. We've got plenty of time. Everybody will get back to their normal way of producing. And he gets to do so in managing one of his first series right here in Miami this weekend. It's a 4-game set starting on Friday against the Marlins. So that'll be really, really fun to have him back at the ballpark. I'm going to combine a couple of topics here because we've gotten into some of the minutia and I want to get to our Star of the Week. Let's get to something positive. Actually that we could have here. So there's a debut, Travis, and I want to say it in the proper Aussie accent, Bizana. Nice, Travis Bizana. He's, he's the first ever first round pick out of Australia, the first ever first overall pick for a second baseman, I read, which is mind-blowing to me in the history of baseball.

Cleveland Guardians. He's making his debut this week. Also in Cleveland, you got Parker Messick, who I just needed to make sure got mentioned on this show before we got out of April because he has been spectacular to watch his, his almost no-hitter that was cursed by Dan Lebatard sending me a text in the 8th inning and saying, oh my God, Messick. And then, of course, Munetaka Murakami, who has come over and been maybe the best hitter in baseball, leading all of Major League Baseball with 12 homers for the Chicago White Sox. All 3 of these guys are interesting stories. Who would you like to focus on as our Golden Era Star of the Week?

I'll go with Murakami. This guy's unbelievable. He is a guy who is known as the best slugger in Japan coming over. Sometimes that translates, sometimes it doesn't. You know, Hideki Matsui was a guy, had 30 home run potential, but someone says more like 25 home runs,.282,.290. Wasn't sure what to expect with Murakami. Now he'll strike out, there's no doubt about it, but he'll hit you some Ruthian blasts. And as you said, in terms of OPS, he's top 3 right now in the American League. Like, that's awesome to see.

Crazy.

Rookie campaign. Normally Japanese players have a little bit of an acclimation process. Not for this guy. Murakami's so good, and he's got a great personality. Right out of the gate, they're asking, what was it about the White Sox that sold you? They said, well, I insisted I had to get bidets. And sometimes you're speaking a foreign language, you go, maybe there's a translation issue. Like, hey, you want to clean that up? You mean bidets? He's like, yeah, the translator goes, exactly, bidets. Shouldn't we clean yourself?

I love it.

Murakami, already a fan favorite.

Uh, Adnan, thank you as always. Um, before we wrap up this and get back to our trivia game, I want to do two quick shouts. One, Ryan Bass, my buddy over with the Rays broadcast, making good, including Cleveland, or there was a moment earlier in the week where there was a jerk fan that stole a home run ball from a little girl. And Ryan Bass, the Rays reporter in Cleveland, found a way to get a baseball to that little girl. And it was a moment that kind of saved the day. I'll send you the video separately. And then for myself, if you're a fan of the Marlins, if you're just a fan of good hitting, I have a sit-down one-on-one with Liam Hicks for the start of a new series, Talking with Tashay, that we're debuting on Marlins.tv. So make sure to subscribe to Marlins.tv. Next interview will be with Marlins legend Charles Johnson. So from the present catcher to the greatest catcher in the history of the franchise, I'm very excited about this new series.

The Maple Mashers.

I love it.

I can't wait to see it.

It's the best. I can't wait. And we got to get you into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Adnan, just for your work here on the Pitch Clock. Thank you for joining us again this month.

All right. Next up is going to be a Met between 2000 and 2025 who played in the NLDS in the same season.

25 years.

All right, I'll go David Wright.

Okay.

'06. I don't know, I'm just pulling one out of my ass.

That is actually a year that the Mets played in the NLDS. I was just looking at the Mets. I, I genuinely, bro, what an obscure one. That was crazy. I was thinking I would have thought '08, like I would have guessed, but I was just looking up the years. David Wright in '06 hit 26. All right, so next category is the NL Central from '05 to 2020. I need an outfielder.

I am going to go with Ryan Braun.

Oh, oh, okay.

See, this year thing is tough. I wish I knew when his steroid scandal was. Ah, just give me '08.

8. I don't even know, like, okay, you're gonna do good here, Cody. 37, that's in the 94th percentile. All right, so this last one is fun, okay? And Jeremy, I'm gonna let you know, got the 100th percentile on this last one. Okay, you're currently at 133, so can I even win? You need 39 home runs to beat Jeremy. Okay, you need a Marlin. Between 2000 and 2025 who played in the NLDS in the same season. Now I'm going to let you know that the Marlins have only played, and I did this to Jeremy, so I'm going to do this with you. The Marlins have only played in the NLDS twice since 2000. It was the year they won the World Series and the COVID season when there were 60 games.

Okay.

So I would probably think about 2003 before I think about the COVID season. Season.

Nailed it.

Okay, I think I know it. Yeah, I mean, this is like his peak before he left us and became a stud, but he got really good after he left. I know he had in the high 30 home run totals with the team next that he played first base for. Okay, it's who I was thinking of. Derek Lee.

Okay, you're gonna go Derek Lee. Yeah, hit 31 homers and the Who was their leader? Was Mike Lowell with 32.

So I couldn't have won.

So you couldn't have won.

Oh, okay.

You come up at 164, Jeremy had 172.

Where did he beat me?

Was that— Uh, the piazza one.

Okay, I feel like I did all right.

That was a really good effort. Like that was a really, really tight game, but Jeremy unfortunately, who has left the premises, is once again the winner.

Hey, it's Mike Ryan, and I want to talk to you about the random midweek hang that you have with your friends. Maybe it's an NBA game, you get a text, hey, come over, you want to watch the game? And maybe you're like, ah, I don't know, I kind of just wanted to stay home. And then you think about it after your buddy hits you up, and you know just the thing that'll make that regular hang, that regular midweek hang around the basketball game, into a special time. Into a Miller Time. That's right, this happened to me just last week. I grabbed a 6-pack of Miller Lite, said I was on my way, and next thing you know, we're arguing about rotations like we're on the coaching staff, yelling about a missed call, and the game's coming down to the final possession. It was one of those nights that you look around, you take a sip, and you think, yeah, this was the right call, and my friendship's stronger for it. Cheers to legendary moments with Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to MillerLite.com/Dan to find delivery options near you. You. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer.

It's Miller time! Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.