In this abbreviated episode, Bobby and Alex break down the first few games of the playoffs, including a confusing Broadway-themed postseason promo, what it takes to be good in October these days, the heyday of the quick hook, Jim Kaat’s amazingly racist remark about Yoán Moncada, the Astros leveling up every October, and more. They’ll be back on Wednesday for a full episode.
Links:
MLB Network’s Broadway promo
Songs featured in this episode:
Soccer Mommy — “Last Girl” • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”
Episode Transcript
[INTRO MUSIC]
Tell us a little bit about what you saw and and and being able to relay that message to Cora when you watch Kimbrel pitching and kind of help out so he wasn’t Tipping his Pitches. So Tipping Pitches, we hear about it all the time. People are home on the stand, what Tipping Pitches it’s all about. It’s amazing. That’s remarkable.
BOBBY: Alex, we’re recording on schedule. We’re here on a Saturday morning for an emergency podcast. You know what the emergency is?
ALEX: What’s that?
BOBBY: The emergency is the MLB network promo video we’re gonna do a frame by frame breakdown of the Hamilton style MLB Network promo video that everybody loves so so much on Friday afternoon.
ALEX: I-ah missed this. I didn’t actually see it. And–
BOBBY: Well then–
ALEX: –it may be–
BOBBY: –this podcast is for you to that.
ALEX: –deleted. Yes, exactly. I’m learning as we go.
BOBBY: I didn’t even know that it got deleted, but I’ve just opened up the defector article titled “I have seen the lowest spell of hell and it is this MLB Network hype video”. Uhm, so I’m not gonna be able to get the audio from it because they took the tweet down so if you hadn’t seen it, this was a cold open joke that just didn’t land for you. That’s okay.
ALEX: I was I was able to do a little Investigative Journalism and and dig it up from from some lovely accounts that that saved it before MLB Network cruelly took this down.
BOBBY: They replay reviewed it.
ALEX: Uh-hmm, can you play a little bit of this for the listeners? Ahh, who who haven’t heard this. Like, like myself until about four seconds ago?
MLB Network hype video small clip: “Lights turn the page because you punch your ticket to the biggest stage, column boys of summer, but it’s all about the fall–“
BOBBY: I think when they replay review that they made the right call. What do you think?
ALEX: Very quick too, just the quickest replay review we’ve had.
BOBBY: I mean, when you get entire blog posts about how this hype video that you’ve created is making people not want to watch the playoffs? I think that it’s okay to admit that you missed.
ALEX: What do you think that the pitch meeting was like for that? You know, they were like, okay, playoffs coming up? We–
BOBBY: In the height of playoffs.
ALEX: Right, we know we have to connect with a with a younger audience. We have some really fun young stars who–
BOBBY: Right.
ALEX: –are going to be in the postseason this year. What’s the best way to showcase them?
BOBBY: The pitch meeting was just this meme from Sarah Wine who we follow on Twitter, who posted a meme of that like building blocks meme, you know, the dominos building blocks–
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: –like one thing–
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: –a kernel of one thing leads to something very far in the future. And the very first one was Alexander Hamilton loses a duel. And the very last one was this MLB Network Broadway promo.
ALEX: It’s true–
BOBBY: Very good for–
ALEX: –setup chain of events.
BOBBY: It–
ALEX: That–
BOBBY: –really did.
ALEX: –that no one could have predicted or even stopped.
BOBBY: No. And if we could stop it, we would please Lin-Manuel Miranda, please just leave us alone for like a month. We beg you. Uhm–
ALEX: Did he like actually have a hand in in in crafting it at all?
BOBBY: No. But his cultural ripple effect touches us at all hours of all days.
ALEX: That it does.
BOBBY: I can’t believe I’m just like losing my mind about Lin-Manuel Miranda in a playoff preview podcast that we’re doing like off cycle, but that’s okay. We’re gonna talk about each of the divisional series that have started we might do a little bit of a wild card recap, and some more broad playoff thoughts. Uhm, but before we do all of that, I am Bobby Wagner.
ALEX: I’m Alex Paisley.
BOBBY: And you are listening to Tipping Pitches.
[3:51]
[TRANSITION MUSIC]
BOBBY: Alex, our friends listening might be wondering, why are we doing this? Why are we putting out a podcast on Saturday reacting to these playoff games? We don’t usually do that. Well the answer is that we’re not gonna be able to record on Monday. And we didn’t want to make everyone wait until Wednesday when an entire series would be done. So we decided to do this little mini bonus episode on Saturday and then we’ll return to talk again on Wednesday. Where I will have just come from should it go to a game four. Game four between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
ALEX: Yeah, I’m jealous. Uhm, you’re gonna have a lovely time if you are able to go. Ahh, if the Dodgers or able–
BOBBY: Crazy that–
ALEX: –score some runs?
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: I know. Yeah. First time they’ve been shut out in the playoff game since 2018. But sure–
BOBBY: And it was done by just it’s Logan Webb, the best player–
ALEX: Yup.
BOBBY: –on the planet all of a sudden.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: The Jesse Plemons joke has taken on a life of its own. People are making jokes off the joke. They’re making them, they’re mashing up Jesse Plemons and Logan Webspace. I love it, I love it. Frankly, I want to cut up the royalties for the next Moneyball that’s about the Giants.
ALEX: Yes, true. Uhh–
BOBBY: Featuring Jesse Plemons as Logan Webb.
ALEX: Saturday night lights.
BOBBY: The Friday Night Lights. But in San Francisco against the Dodgers. That title doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. Uhm, really quickly before we start talking about these series, and I imagine we can just start with that Giant-Dodger series. Uhm, and the playoffs in general, I wanted to, I want to tell you about a real Baseball fan sicko thing that I did the other night before the, before the playoffs started. Do you want to hear about this? You’ve been known to stay up until–
ALEX: No, I don’t wanna, no no–
BOBBY: –it shouldn’t be very long. I’ll keep it moving. You’ve been known to stay up until late hours of the night watching Baseball highlights. The other night Thursday night, before that four game Friday, that we just had. I decided to stay up until 1am to rewatch World Series game four from 2009. Just–
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: –not not every pitch. You know, I skipped around a little bit. But it had come up in a conversation, uhm an RTC to pre show conversation last week. And I was like, I wonder what that game is like, because CC had started on short rest. And I wanted to just rewatch it to see how different it felt, especially in the context of my head knowing how starters get pulled so quickly now, and how if you had started someone on short rest they’d be like maxing out at 60 pitches, they’d never make it to the third time through the order these days. With the way that bullpens are built out. And I went back and watched it, Alex, it’s like a different century. It’s unbelievable CC starting on three days rest. He gives up three home runs but they leave him in through seven innings 110 pitches he never looks sharp. He has like four walks, there’s 15 mound visits just from the Yankees.
ALEX: Wow–
BOBBY: [7:01]
ALEX: –[7:01] one could never–
BOBBY: This was 12 years ago, this is 12 years ago. We were like alive and sentient. I–
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: –have memories of–
ALEX: Different sports.
BOBBY: –game the first time. And now 12 years later, I can’t I can’t truly can’t believe how much it has changed since then.
ALEX: Yeah man you can send [7:18] back to back to 2009 and and–
BOBBY: I know.
ALEX: –he would just be mowing guys down left–
BOBBY: Chase Utley would take him deep easily hang one slider and that is gone.
ALEX: Chase Utley, wow that’s a name.
BOBBY: I encourage everybody like me to forego sleep and stay up and watch a random complete World Series game from the 2000s.
ALEX: This is just a logical extension of our of the exercise we performed last year when we when we rewatch games. This is just this is the extra curricular version of that. Just–
BOBBY: Right.
ALEX: –no, not not recording the podcast about it. Not even really talking about that he went on about it.
BOBBY: Just doing it for fun. And now flash forward okay. 2021 NL Wild Card game. Max Scherzer three times Cy Young Award winner out in the fourth inning, 93 pitches, 1 run. It’s just how things change. And I don’t think that’s bad. I just think it’s different and I’m never going to adjust to the fact that a starter even if they’re not cruising but that a starter is never really allowed to work through things in the playoffs and that’s just something that you know, I am constantly grappling with every playoffs is how quick the hook is how many of these relievers come into throwing 99 and the discourse surrounding that sometimes it’s earned and sometimes it’s not. Has that been Have you fully adjusted to that yet?
ALEX: I mean it’s interesting because I think that it–it’s not across the board you know, it’s not like every single starting pitcher goes out and only throws three innings, right? If a guy is like totally cruising, he’s gonna [9:03] you know if Lance McCullers is is out there pitching a gem Dusty Baker is gonna let him go, right? If if one Jesse Plemons is out there for the Giants cruising who’ll gonna let them go, right? So–
BOBBY: It almost like makes you cherish it more, just little–
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: –more.
ALEX: Right, exactly. You don’t get to see these sorts of things in the in the playoffs these days. It–
BOBBY: Like a day with a cool breeze now that the climate apocalypse is on us?
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: I know.
ALEX: Ouch. It does make those those short starts, I think stand out even more, though, you know, they really emphasize each other.
BOBBY: Yeah, I mean, an–and sometimes it’s the totally right thing to do. You know, like sometimes Gerrit Cole has given up three runs and isn’t even out of the second inning and you have the right bullpen arms to come in in that specific scenario. And they did the right thing and the Yankees did the right thing in a Wild Card game against Red Sox. They still ended up losing But leaving him in I don’t think was the correct decision. leaving him in to give up five or six potentially was not the correct decision because then you’re completely out of the game and those bullpen pieces that you have are just not as valuable. Cannot add as much win probability or cannot prevent the Red Sox from adding as much win probability. Those calculations that teams are making I think are sometimes defensible by regular fan brain. And sometimes they’re not. And there’s a friction there that I think still hasn’t been processed, even though it’s been the norm for about five years now.
ALEX: Yeah, it’s, it’s bizarre to see you know, it’s bizarre that you can place all your hopes on Gerrit Cole, the $300 million man. Which which shame in, I don’t–I don’t know how much the Yankees are paying him, but it’s too much given how he performed in that one game. I’m just gonna say it.
BOBBY: But, trying to imagine someone listening to us for the first time on this episode–
ALEX: Weird.
BOBBY: Weird episode to tune in on.
ALEX: Yeah, I don’t I don’t love getting to the bullpen uhh uhh by the third inning. As much as I like Clay Holmes is absolutely filthy.
BOBBY: And he got the double play they needed.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: It was the right move.
ALEX: Mm hmm. I I don’t know. What do you think attracts fans more? Uhh, bullpen games or Hamilton hype video?
BOBBY: Ooh, I thought you were gonna say bullpen games are a good starting performance. I was like that’s a very easy answer. But between those two, ahh probably bullpen games, you know, the actual games, not the Hamilton hype video. Ahh, you know, every once in a while, we get very lucky with a pitching matchup. And both guys are throwing really, really well. Uhm, and that was the case in yesterday’s game one between the Brewers and the Braves. Charlie Morton versus Corbin Burnes, both of those guys did not allow a run, it looks incredible. Uhm, can I use that as an opportunity to just–well, let’s give the Brewers their due, they won the game. They’re very good team. We not neither of us picked them and any of the multiple places we were asked to pick who would come out of the NL side last week. Uhm, shout out to our friends at Sports As A Weapon. Shout out to our friends at Auxiliary Statements, who had us on their shows last week. Uhm, and both asked us to make World Series playoff predictions. Uhm, we did not pick the Brewers, but they look really good when they’re starting pitching looks really good. So you never really know. Uhm, that being said, can I use that as an opportunity to pivot to talk about Charlie Morton, and the team that he should be on? But it’s an on?
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: Charlie Morton should be on the fucking Ray,. Alex. Why didn’t they pick up his contract option? I know why they didn’t pick up his contract option. But it’s the most exciting time of the Baseball calendar. Okay, it’s the playoffs. And all of the best players are out there, laying it on the line. And a lot of writers take this as an opportunity to talk about how the Rays assemble the team of such good players with such little payroll. And I just wonder why they don’t also take this as an opportunity to criticize the Rays for the good players that are on other teams that they let walk or the good good players that they could have. If they had just spent a little bit in free agency. It’s very frustrating to me.
ALEX: It makes it even more frustrating because of the Rays are good.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: The Rays are really, really good.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: They are very good at what they do. As we talked about, I think just last week, they know what they’re doing. It would be wonderful if they kept their stars around. And I, you could argue that might make them even better.
BOBBY: I think–
ALEX: Having guys like Charlie Morton on your team. I think that helps usually.
BOBBY: Yeah, I mean, the one thing that I that always hits me like a ton of bricks whenever the playoffs start is that no matter how good you look in the regular season against the wider league, no matter how good you look in a three game series in July. When the playoffs start, and when everybody is locked in laser focused, putting their best lineup on the field, every game, there’s no schedule losses. There’s no fatigue losses, there’s no resting guys, there’s not as many, you know, uhm nagging injuries for guys that are keeping them out of the lineup. Obviously guys are playing through nagging injuries, but every year when when the playoffs start, I am just shocked at how good you need to be to win. Like these teams are–you know what I mean? Like the best teams are so good. And as the league gets more and more stratified between the good teams and the bad teams, and the good teams just load up more and more and more. Like we’re seeing with the Dodgers like we’re seeing with the Astros and obviously, the Giants were good enough to beat that loaded Dodgers team. But that’s what I’m, that–that proves my point is that you need to you need to not punt on any level of competitiveness in order to actually come out on top of this rock fight. Like you can’t come to the fight leaving behind any of your possible options, any of your possible reinforcements. And when I see Charlie Morton and go out there and absolutely shove against the Brewers on the road in game one. What I think is, even though the Rays are good, they left behind something that they probably need to win a World Series. I I might be proven wrong with that. But I just think just because you have Shane Baz and Shane McClanahan doesn’t mean that Charlie Morton wouldn’t have been useful to you in a potential World Series matchup should you make it that far. And you could have had it just just for literally just money, you know, it’s not like you were down a roster spot, you needed to lose some or it’s not like someone competitively came in and signed him away from you. You had his player option, and you declined it.
ALEX: Yeah, well, and this really goes to show I think, just how much the kind of playing the the the middle of the road game, right? Not tanking, not spending, like the A’s do, right? Which is trying to eke into the postseason every year. It when you actually watch the postseason, It really displays why that doesn’t work.
BOBBY: Yes, yes. And I thought that exact same thing when Chris Bryant homered yesterday–
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: It’s like every team could have went and beat that offer for Chris Bryant.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: And they didn’t, you know. When I was watching the wild card game, I was like, you know, many teams could have beat the offer for Nolan Arenado. He did even have a particularly good game. But I was like, he was a very valuable piece. I was looking at his slash line this year in his back of the Baseball card counting numbers as he was walking up to the plate. And I was like, wow, I mean, self–
ALEX: Roughly–
BOBBY: –selfishly, I was like, the Mets should have had him. Nut I was like, so many teams should have had him.
ALEX: The Rockies were actively trying to get th–the Rockies we’re paying teams money to take Arenado off their hands.
BOBBY: I don’t know this is all just a circular way of saying that, like teams that have asset get exposed when October starts. And I think that like ownership is fine with that, right? Because they made it into the class to begin with. And they can sell that to their fans. But I just wonder how that’s not more obvious. To people before the playoffs start, you know, or to even to me before the playoffs start.
ALEX: To local men wonder why billionaires aren’t aren’t willing to to part with a few million more dollars?
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: We know, we know why it is right. And still, it’s like it doesn’t it doesn’t really make sense. Like, it’s not actually incredibly hard–
BOBBY: No.
ALEX: –to get good players on your team.
BOBBY: Do you want to talk about any of the specific games? Do you wanna talk about any of the specific series? Has anything that you thought going into the playoffs changed now that we’ve watched a few games?
ALEX: Probably shouldn’t have been so bullish on the White Sox?
BOBBY: Yeah–
ALEX: But I don’t know–
BOBBY: I tried to, no, I tried to tell–well, that was your heart speaking though. I tried to tell you that the Astros are way better than them.
ALEX: I mean, right. I think it says more about the Astros than it does the White Sox, who I still think are an incredibly good team. It’s just that the Astros when October rolls around, they’re back on their bullshit.
BOBBY: It’s like they’re significantly better. Like–
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: –all of the players are just like, Nope, it’s time to try. Not that they’re not trying during the regular season. But it’s time to just, I mean, I hate these intangible words. And I hate these like old school, Sports Radio talking points. But it’s undeniable when you watch the Astros play anyone that they are just like loose and free and confident. And they have this, I’m sure infuriating to their opponents swagger to them. Uhm, I can’t believe I don’t hate them more. I wrote–
ALEX: Mmm.
BOBBY: –this in my notes. But it’s basically impossible to talk about the Astros at all anywhere, online or whatever. Unless you’re like I’m talking to you right now directly. I’ve known you for how ho–I’ve known you for like seven years, I can have a normal conversation with you. But as soon as like a third party comes in. It’s like what about the cheating?
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: It’s, I wonder when that’s gonna go away? What do you think?
ALEX: I don’t know. It has been a year and a half more close to two years since that story broke.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: It’s like, at this point, we know what happened. At this point, teams have done as equally egregious things in the the interim, you know, since that story broke. Not to mention since they actually did the cheating, right, which was four years ago at this point.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: I’m like, who still has it, who still has the energy out there. For like, for like, hating a team for something they did four years ago?
BOBBY: Look, was it a–
ALEX: Was it a was a morally upstanding thing they did? No.
BOBBY: No–
ALEX: But–
BOBBY: –and it killed it at the time, we killed–
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: –it at the time, and–
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: –we’ve killed it since then. I just think like our brains are complex enough to say Wow, it’s fun to watch this team hit. It’s fun to watch this team make great defensive plays. These pictures are really good. Who didn’t have any involvement in the cheating scandal? By the way, these pictures are really good. Uhm, my brain is complex enough to enjoy that in the present and also think what they did in the past was bad. I don’t know.
ALEX: No, Bobby, you can’t think that two things are true once, you have to come down on the side.
BOBBY: You’re very right. During Astros uhm, White Sox game two, Alex,we should mention that, first of all, in a general sense, the presentation of this game was a disaster. With MLB Network taking it and the booth being Bob Costas, Buck Showalter, and Jim Kaat. Three guys who I saw this passed around quite frequently on Twitter yesterday, three guys who three white men whose combined age was 216 years old. And everybody is like we want to appeal to younger audiences. Here’s what we do. We put 216 years old worth of announcer in the booth and we say watch our most exciting product while they snooze through it and it snooze through it. They did exce–
ALEX: [21:13] under statement–
BOBBY: –except for of course, the specific criticism that we should have for this booth, which was that, while talking about Yoán Moncada, Jim kaat, made a reference that invoked slavery while discussing what an asset Moncada is to the White Sox into a team in general, and how he wishes you could have more, you want Moncada. Uhm, there’s not much to like, say about this other than as a Network, who you put in the booth will eventually show. Do you know what I mean? Like and this is what I think every time there’s an announcer, scandal like this, whether it’s in season, local play by play or whether it’s something on a more National scale. But the people that you put in the booth because Baseball is so slow, and because they have to talk so much during the game. Something of their personality and of their general disposition towards the game will shine through. And whether that’s Jim Kaat yesterday or whether that’s Tom Brennaman or any number of distasteful comments that we’ve had made in the booth in the last year or two. It just it just shouldn’t be surprising to the Executives that put these people in the booth and then of course to fans it’s just like they’re yelling into the void because this just keeps happening. And then the the half assed apologies just keep rolling through like Jim Katt’s apology, here it is verbatim. I want to add a little break here. “In fact, I need to read this right now, because earlier in the game when Yoán Moncada was at the plate, in an attempt to compliment the great player, I used a poor choice of words that resulted in a sensitive hurtful remark. And I’m sorry.”
ALEX: Sounded sorry, whenever I’m apologizing for something I say–
BOBBY: I need to read this–
ALEX: Okay, I need to read this. Not even want–
BOBBY: No.
ALEX: –I don’t even want to read this. I need I need to my bosses are saying “I’m going to get in trouble if I don’t do this.” What was incredible about his comment is ho–how are we we use the phrase, unforced error uhh a lot on this podcast. And that almost feels like it doesn’t go far enough and explaining how unnecessary is common, you know, like he was he and Showalter were discussing, as you mentioned. Moncada and his physique in in like a weird way Showalter said, “That’s what they look like, I don’t know about the rest of it. The first time I saw him in the big leagues, I looked around the dugout and said, can we have one of those? That’s what they look like.” We’re already in sketchy territory here.
BOBBY: Yes.
ALEX: Talking about–
BOBBY: Absolutely.
ALEX: –talking about like this, this man and saying “I want one of those”.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: And Katt could have responded in any number of ways. I might have said, “I’d love to have him on my team”. “Every team would love to have him on their team.”
BOBBY: Yep.
ALEX: And it’s just stunning to me. That he was like, hmm what’s the way I can describe this?
BOBBY: So that the most people understand it, who are at home?
ALEX: 40 acres? That’s that’s the the phrase that he thought was most appropriate. Like he had you had to have that in your head already–
BOBBY: Yes. Yeah–
ALEX: –you know, like–
BOBBY: –absolutely.
ALEX: –you could had to have it on the brain.
BOBBY: That’s what, that’s what I was getting ready to say, because I think that you make a really, you make a really good point. And to rela–relate in relation back to what I said, which is that eventually something is going to shine through. And I think what we’re not, well plenty of people on on Twitter are bringing this up. But I think what Executives are not understanding is that the link between old school mentality, which is what a lot of these Executives want in the booth, they want like Baseball lifers, they want people who invoke the nostalgia of the game. They want people who have put in the time, putting the work, been around the game for a long time and have the bonafides to talk about it on air. That is like what Executives think they want when they’re going to these older figures of the game. But what they’re getting inherently in that is this type of mindset. Like these two things are, they’re not. They are mutually inclusive. They are permanently linked, like that type of mindset that Buck Showalter said, because he’s not even the person who had to come out and apologize. But he is the person who started it down this train of thinking, where I saw Bradford William Davis astutely pointing this out on Twitter, where clubs think of players as assets, and that’s the humanizing. And what Jim Katt said, brought in Rays into that asset thinking. What Buck Showalter was saying, “is the old school Baseball mentality is the old school Baseball mindset”. And that is pervasive still, all of these teams agree with what Buck Showalter was saying about Yoán Moncada. I want more of those, about all players. But Buck Showalter didn’t need to come out and apologize on air, because all of the teams still think that the league still thinks that.
ALEX: Yeah. And to an extent they, they believe what Todd said as well, right? Which is like, if we could grow these Baseball players on trees, we would.
BOBBY: Yep.
ALEX: But but I guess we’ll have to do with 15 year olds in Cuba instead.
BOBBY: Right. Exactly. And I just think that it–it’s an indictment that the most exciting time of the year. This is the booth you put together, and this is the products that comes of it. But it’s not surprising, is what I’ll say. And I think it’s so unfortunate because I think that some of the booths are doing a really good job now that the playoffs is started. I think that’s a TBS booth with Ron Darling. You know, we’ve texted multiple times already how wonderful it is to listen to him. I’m really lucky to get to listen to him throughout the year. Uhm, I I thought that it was cool what TBS did earlier in the day with Don Orsillo getting to call a game, he did such a phenomenal job for the Padres the last couple years as they he’s been doing a phenomenal job for the Padres for the last few years. But as they have sort of come to National stature, more people are starting to build a relationship with him. I deeply deeply wish that more of these phenomenal announcers at the team level, got more opportunities when October rolled around. And that’s not a prescription for this problem. But I think that those two ideas are at least in tandem enough that I’ve wanted to mention it right now.
ALEX: Yeah, it was kind of a given that we were going to have something like this happen in the playoffs. You know, it’s just you can–
BOBBY: On the first day where all teams are playing–
ALEX: It does–
BOBBY: Right?
ALEX: It does feel like these occurrences, and I could be wrong about this, but it feels like they are happening, not necessarily more and more, but like I feel like we’re getting a good like, one or two or three of them every season now, you know. It just makes you wonder when team eventually says, “Hey, we can probably do better than this–
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: –there there are other people out there.”
BOBBY: It’s so egregious, though, that this one came from the, from State Media. It came–
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: –from MLB Network like–
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: –hayayay, it’s it’s it’s such a mess. Uhm, this is not how I meant to go out on this podcast, Alex. Because we’re running out of time right now. Uhh, but such as the complicated nature of Baseball fandom in 2021. I Is there anything else that you want to talk about with with regards to the playoffs before we talk on Wednesday? I know I mentioned it at the beginning of the podcast but this is a reminder we’re doing this as a bonus because we weren’t gonna be able to talk on on our usual Monday slot. Uhm, and then you know Tuesday I’m going to the Dodgers-Giants NLDS game. Or should it, should it be necessary unless the the Giants come out and somehow continue to baffle the greater Baseball world uhh and sweep the Dodgers. So we figured we would wait until Wednesday so I could at least talk about that ahh experience on the podcast. We’ll do more of a full episode on Wednesday with “Three up, Three Down” and etc etc. Anything else that we’ve forgotten?
ALEX: The Dodgers are going to need some more Juan Soto energy, if they’re–
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: –gonna if they’re gonna make any headway against the Giants.
BOBBY: You know what the Dodgers need is more #FairBall energy. The walk off–
ALEX: That’s true.
BOBBY: –home run that came about Wednesday. Was hit by Chris Taylor, who was wearing a FairBall wristband in support of better working conditions for Minor Leaguers. So, when in doubt, just double down on solidarity.
ALEX: Yes, you’re absolutely right. Chris Taylor, The GOAT, quickly rising in our in our ahh power rankings here of our favorite players on the podcast. This is really great way to set yourself apart for any players who are listening right now. If you want to get into that top tier and our eyes really easy.
BOBBY: Yeah, we can be–
ALEX: Advic–snag that snag that wristband.
BOBBY: We can be bought.
ALEX: Exactly,
BOBBY: Or just offered to come on the podcast and talk about something like arbitration, like with like when I saw B.J. Upton tweeting about that that raise took him aggressively to arbitration over $300,000. Uhm, you can just come–
ALEX: Which–
BOBBY: –on the podcast and tell that story B.J.
ALEX: I really appreciate when players are are candid about this sort of thing and I mean especially you know, a player who’s retired has far more protection to actually complain about this. Although you will see even during arbitration season you’ll see some players come out and say “look, I got out of my arbitration meeting they drag my name through the dirt. This is fun. Can’t wait for opening day” you know. But B.J. Upton star in my eyes, he tweeted “Stu needs to sell”.
BOBBY: Yeah, he did–
ALEX: First first tweet in months.
BOBBY: Yep.
ALEX: Stuart Sternberg needs to sell the Rays, Rays got to stay in–
BOBBY: He has to–
ALEX: –Tampa Bay–
BOBBY: –come to podcast–
ALEX: –you must–
BOBBY: –he just has to–
ALEX: –Bernie, B.J.–
BOBBY: Tatís, Machado–
ALEX: Tatís, Machado–
BOBBY: –Chris Taylor–
ALEX: –it’s more or less at this point, it’s more of a question of who who isn’t. Who doesn’t have that open invite?
BOBBY: Nah, I feel like we could come up with a longer list of who doesn’t have that open invite. Uhm, alright, that’s enough for this week. We are going to answer some voicemails on Wednesday as well. So if you want to call in and talk about your experience watching the playoffs, your experience being a fan during the playoffs, your experience as a neutral observer during the playoffs, whatever it might be. Uhm, or just if your team’s already been eliminated, and you want to complain about how your honor probably won’t do enough this offseason, that’s fine too 7854225881 or tippingpitchespod@gmail.com.
ALEX: Can Can I can I just say one thing, real quick, and then we’ll wrap–
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: –Uhm, I the, the the folks over at Fox Sports, had a really wonderful pregame show the other day. I don’t know if you saw this, but it was it was a lot of fun as Frank Thomas, and David Ortiz, and Alex Rodriguez, and Kevin Burkhardt. And uhh, they were making predictions on who was gonna, who’s going to win the World Series.
BOBBY: Right?
ALEX: I shouldn’t say making predictions, they were making bets on who was gonna win the World Series. Fox bet–
BOBBY: Ohh.
ALEX: –super six, free chance to win $5,000. Big suitcase of money sitting open of like $100 bills right there. As each of them are like holding a water too, and uhh, and making their guesses on who is going to win the World Series for a chance to win money. This is this is our reality now.
BOBBY: Wow, and with that–
ALEX: Two on the nose–
BOBBY: –we send you off. We send you off to excitedly watch playoff Baseball and support this product. No, uhm. That’s a mess. That’s that’s a mess and something we don’t have enough time right now in this outro to get into.
ALEX: That’s right. Place your bets everyone will be uhh, will be collecting on Wednesday.
BOBBY: Thanks, everyone. We’ll talk to you soon.
[33:00]
[Music]
[33:00]
[Outro]
ALEX RODRIGUEZ: Hello everybody, I’m Alex Rodriguez, Tipping Pitches, Tipping Pitches. This is the one that I love the most Tipping Pitches. So we’ll see you next week. See ya.
Transcriptionist: Vernon Bryann Casil
Editor: Krizia Marrie Casil
Tipping Pitches 
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