Bobby and Alex tune into Bryce Harper’s audible frustrations at the plate and wonder if some gentle parenting could help, then belatedly recap a middle-of-the-road trade deadline, reflect on Billy Bean’s indelible mark on MLB, slot two new additions onto the most evil jersey sponsors list, and rank mascots they’d like to get a beer with.
Links:
The Most Evil Jersey Sponsors, Ranked
Join the Tipping Pitches Patreon
Songs featured in this episode:
Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”
Transcript
Tell us a little bit about what you saw and be able to relay that message to Cora when you watch Kimbrel pitch 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 is all about? That’s amazing. That’s remarkable.
BOBBY: Alex, it’s been about 10 days since we podcasted. The MLB trade deadline has come and gone. We’ve got two New Jersey sponsors to talk about. The White Sox have lost 48 games in a row. The Oakland Athletics have lost to that White Sox team. With all of that on the agenda today, I thought it would be a nice— I thought it’d be nice way for us to start the podcast by just easing— easing in, by me playing a video for you of a highlight, one of the— one of the best highlights of the 2024 Philly season, and I’m not sure if you’ve seen it yet, so sit tight. I’m gonna share my screen and I’m gonna play it for you.
ALEX: I’m so— I’m so excited. I love when you come with like a— with a cold open that is also cold to— to me. I mean, I feel like you usually keep the best ones a little close to the vest.
BOBBY: All my best material, I have to get your genuine reaction. We’re not actors here. This is—
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: This is documentary work that we do at Tipping Pitches.
SPEAKER 3: [1:26] the other day, talking cheesesteaks. Harper fouls it off the third base
side.
BRYCE: Fuck!
SPEAKER 3: Uh-oh.
BOBBY: Let me just play that again for you. And for the listeners back at home, what you’re hearing is a highlight of Bryce Harper getting a middle— middle fastball that he would have liked to hit out of the park to take the lead against the Cleveland Guardians. They were down 4-3 to three in the seventh inning, the bottom of the seventh inning. He hits a [1:53] fastball with a man on first. He takes a hack at it and he fouls it away. He just misses it.
SPEAKER 3: [1:59] the other day, talking cheesesteaks. Harper fouls it off the third base side.
BRYCE: Fuck!
SPEAKER 3: Uh-oh.
[laughter]
ALEX: I mean, I love the little, “Uh-oh” at the end. That’s my favorite part.
BOBBY: It’s great. That’s amazing.
ALEX: It’s all wonderful.
BOBBY: Is that the loudest you’ve ever heard anyone curse on a sports broadcast? It’s really— this is the dangerous game that we play, by the way, with the field noise microphones. You catch a hot mic when— I don’t know, isn’t there somewhere in the CBA that says Bryce Harper can yell on the field without it being picked up on the broadcast? If not, there should be.
ALEX: There probably should be. Right. It’s client-owner confidentiality.
BOBBY: Player-grass confidentiality.
ALEX: Player— player-grass? Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: What you do when those blades of grass are between your cleats, is between you and the baseball gods.
ALEX: And— and— and oh, and god, of course. Yeah. The actual one.
BOBBY: You and James Earl Jones, and Kevin Costner and your owner, and God. Catholic God.
ALEX: Is Bryce— is Bryce feeling the heat a little bit?
BOBBY: Why? Because the Phillies are on a cold streak?
ALEX: Yeah. And he’s been on a cold streak as well. He had a pretty bad July.
BOBBY: Did he— you want to talk about month by month splits [3:20]
ALEX: Yeah, let’s do— let’s do it. Let’s go down.
BOBBY: Yo, it’s really funny that, like, some of my favorite podcasts out there, historically and currently, are baseball podcasts, where they talk about baseball, and yet it seems like every single episode of the show we make fun of the idea of two guys sitting around talking about the actual game.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: It’s mostly as self-deprecation. It’s not to say that that’s a boring form of entertainment. I consume people talking about baseball, and stats, and splits, and things like that for hours a week.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: It’s just that the idea of us doing that—
ALEX: And I encourage you to go listen to them.
BOBBY: Yeah, exactly. Not us doing that. I don’t know. I think they’re fine. I think the Phillies are going to be fine. They need a little swoon. It would have been better if it came in June, because it would have rhymed, but it’s okay.
ALEX: Yeah, can’t— you— you got to fall off that horse to get back on it.
BOBBY: That— the night is darkest just before the dawn.
ALEX: Uh-huh. The— the eye of— of the storm is another phrase involving weather patterns.
BOBBY: It’s gonna hurt more before it gets better. You know, sometimes doctors based [4:27] of that, too.
ALEX: Yeah. That’s [4:28] right. Yeah.
BOBBY: Yeah. Yeah.
ALEX: Or if you’re the White Sox, it has to get worse before it can get worse.
BOBBY: I don’t think axioms apply to the White Sox.
ALEX: No.
BOBBY: Traditional phrases don’t count. They’re in the—
ALEX: No, I mean, the [4:45] the English language, I— I do think we are reaching— we are finding its limits in all the ways that— that we’re seeing folks describe the current state of the Chicago White Sox. Like—
BOBBY: Yeah, our greatest wordsmith, Shakespeare, Tennyson.
ALEX: They would be at a loss for words. They’d be gobsmacked.
BOBBY: Don DeLillo. Should I keep going?
ALEX: Uh-huh. Do it.
BOBBY: Just all my guys.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: I’m actually not a big Shakespeare guy.
ALEX: Okay. Like— like, compared to what? Like, do you—
BOBBY: Great question.
ALEX: —like, actively dislike him or you’re like— is any— is anyone a big Shakespeare gu— this is— I don’t mean to slander Shakespeare, anyone who— who enjoys his work. I don’t know. It seems like— it’s not like—
BOBBY: I think there are big Shakespeare guy out there. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say yeah.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: I just mean that when I was sitting around reading Shakespeare, I wasn’t like, “Whoa. This is blowing my mind.” Now, when I— when your boy sat down and read Death of a Salesman for the first time, and I was like, “Now, we’re talking.”
ALEX: No, A Midsummer Night’s Dream hit. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
BOBBY: I don’t think I’ve ever read that. I don’t think I had to read that in school. I definitely read Romeo and Juliet.
ALEX: Yup.
BOBBY: And of course, modern auteur, Baz Luhrman did it better. Real Patreon energy to this pod. We’re recording it on Wednesday night, which is when we usually record our Patreon episodes.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: But we were delayed this week. It has been 10 days because we were both on vacation. It’s important to take vacations. You’re sitting at home, listening to this. You got some vacation days piling up. Maybe they won’t roll over into 2025. Take them. Take— what’s your employer going to do?
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Fire you? In that case, unionized, because that’s breaking the law.
ALEX: Right. You didn’t want to work there anyway.
BOBBY: That’s [6:22] But maybe we should cut the Shakespeare chat short and save it for the Patreon episode, because we actually do have a lot of stuff to talk about, because it’s been a while.
ALEX: Well, can I just do a couple points on Twelfth Night real quick, and then we can move on?
BOBBY: Sure. Is that the one that they turned into 10 Things I Hate About You, or is that a different one? No, I think that’s The Tame and the Shrew.
ALEX: Ta— The Taming of the Shrew, yes.
BOBBY: Taming of the Shrew. Tame— Tame and the Shrew. That’s—
ALEX: Tame and the Shrew.
BOBBY: —that’s the sequel. First, you Tame the Shrew, and then the Tame and the Shrew work together. It’s like Deadpool and Wolverine.
ALEX: Right, right.
BOBBY: Is Deadpool and Wolverine based on a Shakespearean tragedy?
ALEX: God, no. It’s— now, we have to cut the conversation.
BOBBY: Great. I got it. See, this is what you do. You find the limit, you push through. You force—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —your co-host to abort the joke.
ALEX: Yup.
BOBBY: Okay. Trade deadline roundup, two New Jersey sponsors, two of them— two of them things.
ALEX: Kind of.
BOBBY: Sort of. Can’t wait to talk about that. A couple other bits of news that hopefully we’ll get to, and then, of course, the ranking segment. Have you prepared a ranking segment for me?
ALEX: Yup. Yup. I’ve been thinking about it. But since you mentioned it.
BOBBY: The word that I would u— so since we’re talking about the English language, the word that I would use to describe that response from you is convincing.
ALEX: It’s prepared. Ready to rock and roll.
BOBBY: All that good stuff coming up. But before we get there, I am Bobby Wagner.
ALEX: I am Alex Bazeley.
BOBBY: And you are listening to Tipping Pitches.
[theme]
BOBBY: Thank you to this week’s new patrons. Those patrons are Nick and Samuel. Another Nick on the patron’s list, Alex. I think Nick is closing the gap with the name Alex—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —in most frequent names in our list of patrons. So if any of you are listening out there, and you’re named Nick, and you’re not signed up for the Patreon, just know that you have a chance for glory. You could sign up and you could take that top title. You could take gold. Summer Olympics, you could be standing top, top, top spot at the podium.
ALEX: I mean, don’t sleep on Sams. I just want to say.
BOBBY: There are a handful of Sams.
ALEX: I haven’t— I haven’t run the— I haven’t crunched the numbers lately.
BOBBY: Not a lot of bobbies, but it’s okay, because we’ve got the best player in baseball.
ALEX: Uh-huh. You do.
BOBBY: That’s—
ALEX: That’s pretty good.
BOBBY: I know we do. He’s holding it down in the Bobby group chat. It’s me, it’s him, it’s RFK, Jr., it’s Bobby Cannavale, the actor. It’s Bobby De Niro, of course.
ALEX: Uh-huh.
BOBBY: He doesn’t respond to very many text messages. He’s sort of like you. He has a sort of like, “I check my phone once every three days energy and I respond to all my texts at once.” But that’s okay. He’s like 80.
ALEX: That’s a good squad.
BOBBY: Yeah, pretty good, pretty good.
ALEX: Couple juniors in there.
BOBBY: Oh, yes, Bobby Witt Jr. That’s one we started with. That was— who’s the other junior?.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Just got so distracted by RFK.
ALEX: It’s all right. He’s your shining light.
BOBBY: Would you like to weigh in on any wild animals that you have accidentally maimed and/or killed? Just— would you like to get ahead of any of that?
ALEX: Well, I’d like to come to his defense that I don’t think he neither maimed nor killed any animals.
BOBBY: Oh, so you think he just came across it? A lot has happened in the world in the last seven days, and none of it makes sen— much sense at all.
ALEX: No, I’d—
BOBBY: I can’t wait for the Patreon episode, by the way.
ALEX: Yeah, me too. I— I just like— I feel like—
BOBBY: We can just talk about your— your guy. The Midwestern— Midwestern dad.
ALEX: Tim— T-Dubs?
BOBBY: Exactly.
ALEX: Yeah, I’m ready. We’ll do our full breakdown electoral college picks on the Patreon.
BOBBY: Right.
ALEX: Where we each going to share our— the maps that we’ve created.
BOBBY: Josh Shapiro is over party.
ALEX: That’s 2032 presidential candidate Josh Shapiro to you.
BOBBY: I’m surprised that you’re waiting that late.
ALEX: I guess you could— all right. No, no. Hang on. We’re not doing this.
BOBBY: Yeah, yeah. No, we’re not. Let’s talk about the trade deadline.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Actually, before we do, I want to apologize that this episode is a couple days later than it could have been if I had remembered my recording equipment. I thought— I meant to bring my recording equipment with me so that I could record after my vacation was over. But before I was back to my apartment, when I was staying with my parents still for a couple days, hanging out there as my sister’s birthday, same day as your birthday, a couple days ago. But alas, I didn’t bring my recording equipment. You know what I sounded like when I realized that I didn’t bring my recording equipment?
BRYCE: Fuck!
SPEAKER 3: Uh-oh.
BOBBY: Such a— such a relatable guy, Bryce Harper.
ALEX: I wasn’t— I— I wasn’t there, but I can verify that that is what you sounded like, because that is about what you sound like when you yell at yourself in frustration. It’s a little guttural, you know?
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: It’s like, there’s definitely some— you’ve— you’ve opened up the diaphragm a little bit, you know? It’s not— it’s not nasal. It’s coming from somewhere much deeper.
BOBBY: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. Clear the throat first, do a little Matthew McConaughey.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. Right.
BOBBY: Do you think that Bryce could benefit from sitting down with me in a— a gentle, friendly, accepting setting, and talking about the power of positive self-talk?
ALEX: Who— who is teaching who? What—
BOBBY: I don’t know. Maybe we both could learn from each other.
ALEX: I think you both could learn from each other, yes. I think—
BOBBY: Do you believe it in positive self-talk? Like, do you say stuff to yourself and you’re like, “I gotta correct that tone, and I gotta say it nicer.”?
ALEX: I— I won’t correct myself. Like, I think if the anger comes out first, I’m like, that’s what was meant to be there, you know?
BOBBY: Right. Flush it.
ALEX: Right, flush it. Move on. No, I might [12:11]
BOBBY: You have three strikes, you know?
ALEX: Right. That was not a foul ball. That’s you’re out of there. Come play] next time.
BOBBY: You can hit a home run on an 0-2 count.
ALEX: Yeah. I mean, I’m not a huge affirmations guy, but I think it’s just because my— my self-confidence is so high already.
BOBBY: Oh, yeah. Right.
ALEX: What’s the point?
BOBBY: Great point. I think positive self-talk slightly more palatable to me than affirmations.
ALEX: Than affirmation, yeah.
BOBBY: Like, coming out just cold, just like being— I mean, I greatly admire people who can just look in the mirror at themselves and be like, “You are valid. Today is going to be a good day.” And it’s just like— I just don’t think I can do it, you know?
ALEX: Right. It feel— well, it feels a little dishonest, frankly. I’m just kind of like, “It may not be a great day. Like, I— I have no control over that,” but you know what you’re going to do is you’re going to go out there and do your best. And that feels like positive self-talk. “Hey, you know, whatever life throws at you today.”
BOBBY: First thing I say to myself when I step out the door is I say, “One pitch at a time.”
ALEX: I—
BOBBY: C-ball, pit ball.
ALEX: I think mine is something along the lines of, “God, I can’t fucking believe I’m doing this again.” Just— so I’m going into work at 8:00 AM.
BOBBY: No. I say, “Another day, another dollar.”
ALEX: There you go.
BOBBY: As I’m going to a movie at noon.
ALEX: I think we should— I think we should practice more— what is it called? Like, gentle parenting? No, that’s not it. Is that it?
BOBBY: That’s the thing— I mean, that is the thing.
ALEX: Oh, that is the thing, yeah.
BOBBY: But that’s usually from a parent.
ALEX: Well— well, I guess, but I feel like it’s me saying that’s—
BOBBY: Oh, you’re saying you want to parent your inner child.
ALEX: I’m saying that’s the kind of thing that I feel like is becoming more common as you’re saying— you know, it’s like—
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: —you’ll— you’ll gentle parent yourself, you know? “Oh, it’s okay. You spilled that water. It’s all good. Accidents happen. And I think that, Bobby, hey, you forgot your recording equipment, so— so what? We’re still all going to be here tomorrow. It’s okay.”
BOBBY: I’m going to list for you all the times that I’ve done that for myself in my life. Are you ready?
ALEX: I can’t wait.
BOBBY: All right, we can move on now.
ALEX: Yes. Uh-huh.
BOBBY: I was looking— I was waiting for a perfect moment in that conversation to have a transition. Here we go, here you go. Perhaps, Dana Brown can use some gentle parenting to himself in the mirror when he realizes that he traded all of his best pro— prospects for three months of Yusei Kikuchi.
ALEX: That was inspired. I’ll give you that.
BOBBY: Thank you. I’m here all week.
ALEX: Keep— keep dreaming, Bobby. That’s— that’s good. That’s the kind of effort I’d like to see from you.
BOBBY: One pitch at a time.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Would you like to say much about the trade deadline, the stuff that we missed? Is there anything that moves you? I would say the— the biggest trades that happened after our episode published last week were the Kikuchi trade, the Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers, and Jack Flaherty almost to the Yankees, but they didn’t like his physical, which is kind of bullshit that they would leak that. The Jazz Chisholm trade, which didn’t actually happen after our episode published. We just forgot to talk about it.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Jazz Chisholm to the Yankees, which is fine, just a replacement level player for a replacement level team.
ALEX: I— this is— I hate this bit, I just want to say. I— I— like how— like, how long do you keep it up?
BOBBY: It’s fine that you hate it. It’s fine that you hate it, but there’s nothing that you could do to get me to stop.
ALEX: Okay. So— so when he ends the season with, like, four wins above replacement.
BOBBY: I’ll give you $1,000 if that happens.
ALEX: That’s— okay.
BOBBY: And if it doesn’t happen, you have to do the whole podcast as Jor— Jordan Peterson.
ALEX: That’s always vaguely on the table anyway, so [15:57]
BOBBY: He’s having 2.5 WAR season right now, which is good. That’s good.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Okay. But also that is his best season ever, basically.
ALEX: Yeah. Well, he’s had another 2.5 WAR season.
BOBBY: Right.
ALEX: So he’s on pace, yes, to— for his [16:13]
BOBBY: I guess his other 2.5 WAR season in the 60-game season, so that’s probably his best season ever.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: How did that happen?
ALEX: But I mean, all that to say, he doesn’t have good seasons because he’s not a good player.
BOBBY: He doesn’t have great seasons because he’s overrated. He’s pretty good.
ALEX: Hmm.
BOBBY: What a first week for him with the Yankees.
ALEX: Yeah, that was pretty good. Good way to burst onto the scene.
BOBBY: Agreed. I love that he’s making Yankees fans mad, so perhaps we can find some kindred energy there.
ALEX: Is he making Yankees fans mad? I haven’t been— I’ve— I’ve been tuned out of Yankees [16:48]
BOBBY: There was like one tweet that was going around that was like, “This is an abomination to everything the Yankees stand for,” because Jazz was wearing a teal belt and chains, and his hat backwards.
ALEX: Oh.
BOBBY: And George Steinbrenner is rolling over in his grave, things of that nature.
ALEX: Sure.
BOBBY: And then the guy stepped off the ferry, took off his cop uniform, and ate dinner.
ALEX: Good one, Bobby.
BOBBY: Got ’em. Any other trades? Tanner Scott to the Padres?
ALEX: Right. Jason Adam as well. Padres bullpen looking—
BOBBY: Paul Blackburn.
ALEX: Paul Blackburn, yes. We got our A’s-Mets trade.
BOBBY: We got our— yeah. Scheduled A’s-Mets trade. We got our—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —Mets trade for a marquee starting pitcher trade, too. Paul Blackburn.
ALEX: Oh, oh, that was like— I was like [17:41]
BOBBY: One and the same. One and the same.
ALEX: Hey, he’s reliable.
BOBBY: I’m just saying because on our last episode, you were like, ” [17:47] new starting pitcher. What if they got—” and then you named like four who are way better—
ALEX: I think I said Paul Blackburn.
BOBBY: —who are way better than Paul Blackburn. No, you said Logan Gilbert.
ALEX: I don’t— I don’t recall saying that, so—
BOBBY: Well, there’s recorded audio of it.
ALEX: Hmm. Not If I had any— anything to say about it.
BOBBY: You already had something to say about it.
ALEX: All right. Well, let’s see, other interesting— oh, Zach Eflin to the Orioles, I guess.
BOBBY: Yeah. That had already happened by the time we did the pod last week.
ALEX: I guess so. This is, again, one of those weeks—
BOBBY: Frankie Montas, inner division to the Reds, from the— to the Brewers, rather, from the Reds.
ALEX: Yeah. Kind of a weird trade.
BOBBY: Jalen Beeks to the Pirates. Does that move you?
ALEX: That one— I don’t know that that one qualifies as—
BOBBY: Oh, wait, wait.
ALEX: —as moving me.
BOBBY: Hang on. I got one that will move you. Just give me— just give me just a damn second here.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Quote, Jeff Passan, “Trade news: The Pittsburgh Pirates are finalizing a deal to acquire super utility man Isaiah Kine— Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Toronto Blue Jays, sources tell ESPN.”
ALEX: Add it to the list. Add it to the list.
BOBBY: We got another one. DJ Khaled, another one.
ALEX: Now, does that move the needle at all on how we’re defining a super utility man?
BOBBY: I gotta be real with you. This is the first one that I was like, I have no beef with calling him a super utility man. He can catch.
ALEX: Yes, it’s true.
BOBBY: And play shortstop.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: He might not be good at either of those things, but he can do it, and he has done it for Major League Baseball seasons.
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: Which is more than you can say for most of the people that Jeff Passan called super utility men.
ALEX: I— I kind of feel like— well, you know, I don’t know. I was gonna— I was gonna say to get the super moniker, I almost feel like you have to have pitched or— or caught. But I feel like maybe pitching is almost too low of a bar at this point.
BOBBY: Because of Ohtani?
ALEX: Well, I mean, no. Just—
BOBBY: Anyone could do it.
ALEX: I mean, kind of.
BOBBY: This Ohtani guy— by the way, I just got to say, Ohtani is going to have a 40-40 season.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Are you prepared for that? Are we prepared for that? Is baseball prepared for that? Remember when Ronald Acuna, Jr, won the MVP last year unanimously because he had a 40-40 season. Is that going to happen for Ohtani?
ALEX: Not if—
BOBBY: Ignore the fact that I’m ignoring defense—
ALEX: Right, right.
BOBBY: —because Ohtani is a DH and Acuna is playing center field, or I guess right field now he plays, because [20:18] is junior.
ALEX: Right. Well, he doesn’t play anything right now.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: I’m not happy about it, just—
BOBBY: We whiffed on Braves acquiring and/or extending a young player.
ALEX: That’s— yeah.
BOBBY: They did acquire Jorge Soler again, really running back the 2021 energy.
ALEX: I— like, how long do you think— wow. I just— for whatever reason, I just can’t get over the idea that Shohei Ohtani is in the National League. I mean, I know he is, but I was sitting there, I was like, “I don’t know, he’s gonna be going up against Judge, Soto.”
BOBBY: You can’t— you can’t get over it, because he’s a DH and it’s unnatural and unholy that he’s in the National League.
ALEX: You know, you— you know, you might be right, Bobby. You might be right.
BOBBY: I am right.
ALEX: He, like, low-key doesn’t have a ton of competition. It’s like Elly de la Cruz.
BOBBY: Yeah, and Lindor will probably finish third.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: A lot of these trades fell into the category of this would have been really exciting in 2019.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Michael Lorenzen to the Royals. Does that stir anything in your— in your soul?
ALEX: Dylan Carlson to the Rays.
BOBBY: Again, very interesting in 2019.
ALEX: Uh-huh.
BOBBY: I guess that would be more like 2022, though, that would be interesting.
ALEX: Right. Okay.
BOBBY: Now, Dylan— Dylan Carlson in 2019, I think, was like in high school.
ALEX: Yup.
BOBBY: Or, like, maybe a freshman at LSU. I don’t really know.
ALEX: I don’t know. Kind of a weird deadline. I mean, no—
BOBBY: Just a very level-headed deadline, I would say.
ALEX: Yeah. I— I guess so. Yes, there were no blockbusters.
BOBBY: Nobody was like, “I have to have Tarik Skubal.”
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Who you were like— you were saying was the best player on the block and I was like, “He’s not going to get traded.”
ALEX: Right. And I thi— I mean, I still— he was the best player on the block, and also the Tigers were basically asking for the farm for him, right? As they— as they should, right?
BOBBY: Yeah. That’s what I’m saying, this level-headed that, I think, underlines my point from last episode, where I was like, “Nobody trades for anyone anymore, because the value— everybody just agrees on value.” So nobody is willing to wow the receiving team, you know— or rather the selling team. Nobody’s willing to wow the team that is giving away the good player.
ALEX: Yeah. And they’re certainly not willing to wow you or me, Bobby.
BOBBY: I shouldn’t say nobody, though, because there is one man. There is one man, and his name is A.J. Preller, and he is willing—
ALEX: Uh-huh.
BOBBY: —to trade all of his top prospects every single year.
ALEX: That’s true.
BOBBY: And, you know, I tip my cap to him for it.
ALEX: I really do. It’s like— it’s sick. I need more GMs who are like a little hard-headed about that, and who are like, “Eventually, it’s gonna work. Eventually, us trading all of our young prospects for players who are good right now—”
BOBBY: Right.”
ALEX: “—will help us.”
BOBBY: Will make us good right now.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Eventually.
ALEX: Stick to your guns, man. They did— the Mariners did well too, honestly. I think they came out of the— the deadline pretty fun. But— yeah, but you’re right that it was a lot of like, “Oh, the Guardians added Alex Cobb when he gets— when he comes back from the IL. He could help bolster the rotation as they make a push for the AL Central.” Cleveland Guardians, best record in baseball?
BOBBY: Yeah. Well, the Phillies fumbled it, so—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —so did the Yankees.
ALEX: Right. I— yeah. I heard very loudly the Phillies fumbled it.
BOBBY: Want me to play that again?
ALEX: I do.
BRYCE: Fuck!
SPEAKER 3: Uh-oh.
ALEX: Can we add it to our soundboard? Can we get a soundboard? Bobby, can we buy a soundboard, please?
BOBBY: You’re speaking my language now. I mean, yes, we should spend money on things that vaguely connect to this podcast, that are vanity things. Yes.
ALEX: I think we would get a lot of use out of it.
BOBBY: Yeah. There are programs that we use sometimes at— at work that are very— basically virtual soundboards, but I need something tactile.
ALEX: Yeah. Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Like, I need something where it’s just like, “Hang on, hang on,” press the button.
ALEX: I need to see your finger going down to the button.
BOBBY: Can I reveal something to you?
ALEX: Okay, please.
BOBBY: This is big. This is big that I’m revealing this to you and to our listeners.
ALEX: Oh, my God.
BOBBY: I was— when I was on vacation, there was a casino at the hotel that I was staying at.
ALEX: Oh, my— oh, my god. Oh, my God.
BOBBY: And it was— it was mainly slots. There was not sports betting available. It was mainly slots. Speaking of tactile, pressing the button on the slot to bet the money is genuinely, like, one of the best. Again, it’s like, to me, as good as deleting an email, maybe better.
ALEX: Wow.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: Well—
BOBBY: $210, we won. $210.
ALEX: Oh, so you won? Wow.
BOBBY: We won, yeah.
ALEX: So are you in on betting now?
BOBBY: No, because we also lost some afterwards.
ALEX: Okay, you don’t have to give the number, what you netted out. Can you— can you tell me what is it about the button that makes it so, like, sensorily appealing?
BOBBY: I mean, have you ever pressed a button? Just feels good. You know, we don’t— we don’t have a button.
ALEX: Oh. Oh. So it— oh, so it’s just the fact that it’s a button?
BOBBY: Yeah, yeah. But then when you press the button, then something exciting happens. Lights go on, things spin and move, and there’s sounds. That’s the thing. We just don’t have stuff like that anymore. Everything is a touchscreen now.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: It’s not satisfying at all.
ALEX: I mean, it is true, like nothing is mechanical anymore.
BOBBY: Even worse, even worse, Alex— yes. Even worse, things might be AR or VR now.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: You might not even have a touchscreen. You just move your finger and things happen. That’s— sorry. I’m sorry, no to that.
ALEX: So what you’re saying is that casinos are the last bastion of human ingenuity, at— at least in this country—
BOBBY: Casinos are—
ALEX: —and— and you weren’t even in this country.
BOBBY: You’re right. I was doing high stakes gambling in Monaco. I was there to play in the International Blackjack Tournament. No.
ALEX: All right.
BOBBY: No. What I’m saying is casinos are the third space that we’ve been lacking.
ALEX: Oh, my God, Bobby. Yes.
BOBBY: Casinos— yeah, I got—
ALEX: It’s been right— it’s been in front of us the whole time.
BOBBY: The take— that New— New Yorker— or that New York Magazine article would do some clicks, bro.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Casinos are the third space we’ve been waiting for.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Return guy, but for casinos.
ALEX: I mean, it’s a place where you don’t have to spend money. I mean—
BOBBY: You will.
ALEX: —probably will, but—
BOBBY: Actually, legitimately, there— I mean, this is like— I’m not the first person to say this. There’s something really satisfying about the soundscape of a casino.
ALEX: Yeah. I think they put a lot of thought into that, right? Like they want it to feel as damn comfortable as possible.
BOBBY: I’m certain they did. Do you want to go to Atlantic City? You wanna do a live pod from Atlantic City?
ALEX: Ooh.
BOBBY: Live Tipping— live from Atlantic City, it’s Tipping Pitches. I feel good now that I revealed that to you.
ALEX: That’s— I do— I feel like it was maybe weighing on you a little bit. Look, I want you to know, Bobby, it’s okay. Okay? O— I need you to know that I accept you for who you are.
BOBBY: Nobody has ever accused me of not being competitive, you know? And there’s a number that says, “Here, you were wandering lost.” It’s not sports betting, that’s someone else’s competition.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: This is my competition—
ALEX: This is your competition.
BOBBY: —with fate.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: With the— with the machine that the casino built to take my money.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: It’s a— a race against to destiny.
ALEX: And— and you guys— you guys both left happy, it sounds like.
BOBBY: It was just— it was a draw. We don’t have those in baseball, but the rest of the world, they practice draws. You know, soccer, hockey.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. Right.
BOBBY: So the trade deadline—
ALEX: So—
BOBBY: I don’t know. I don’t have much more to say about that. It’s been like the first week of players in their new teams. You know, starting pitchers have maybe had one turn through the rotation. The rest of the guys have maybe had 50 at-bats, if that, 40 at-bats, 35 at-bats, so—
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: You know?
ALEX: 30 at-bats, 25 if they’re not a full-time player.
BOBBY: Do you want to keep going?
ALEX: 20— 20 potentially?
BOBBY: How many at-bats has Jesse Winker had? Not as many because he probably took some walks, because, you know why? Because he gets on base.
ALEX: Oh, true. True. Yeah. Probably 21.
BOBBY: Not gonna look it up.
ALEX: That’s fine. Do you want to just stay on the trade deadline and see kind of where else things take us?
BOBBY: Didn’t we say we say we were going to do that last week? Just try to keep talking about the trade deadline as long as possible and it ended up being like 25 minutes? And then we just—
ALEX: [29:28]
BOBBY: —gave ourselves a literal round of applause.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: For talking about baseball for 25 minutes. No, let’s move on. We are going to talk about the jersey patches, and I wanted to talk a little bit about the White Sox losing streak in earnest, because it actually is legitimately becoming a black stain on the 2024 baseball seasons. Black stain— stain or a black mark.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: What? This— this thing happens sometimes when you’re a podcaster where you just combine phrases.
ALEX: That’s fair. I mean, there’s— they incorporate black into the uniform. I can see why it would be a— a black stain.
BOBBY: Famously, they have a historical black mark as a franchise.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: And made a whole movie about it.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: They’ve actually made many movies about it.
ALEX: I don’t even know what you’re talking about, so—
BOBBY: The Black Sox Scandal.
ALEX: I do know what you’re talking about.
BOBBY: Well, I wanted to talk about those things, but first, I think we should spend a— a couple minutes talking about Billy Bean, who passed away just a couple days ago. Who was— I believe we’ve talked about Billy Beane on the podcast before. I— I should specify, this is Billy Bean, the trailblazing second ever player to come out. He came out after his career retired. We still have not— after his career ended, we still have not had a player who has come out as an active MLB player. Not Billy Beane, former general manager of the Oakland Athletics. This is just a weird quirk that they have the same name, but in audio form, it is important to specify that we are talking about different people who spell their names very slightly differently. Bill— this is Billy Bean, who spent part of his career with the Tigers and the Dodgers and the Padres. Came out in 1999 after he had retired. And then, I think for myself and I think for a lot of people who— who know who Billy Bean was, made his name most known as the senior vice-president for diversity, equity and inclusion, doing a lot of work within the structures of Major League Baseball to improve equity and acceptance, particularly, for queer folks, and to normalize the idea that like, “Hey, guys, statistically speaking, not every single person who has played Major League Baseball or baseball at large, is just a straight white guy, even though sometimes it can really seem like that, and we should be able to wrap our heads around that and make inclusive and safer spaces for people to be themselves.” And he passed away this— just a couple days ago, after a year-long battle with leukemia. And it felt like something that we should mention— talk about, make people aware of if they didn’t know who this was, and they were really confused when they got a push notification that was like, “Billy Bean has died.” Because despite the fact that he shares a name with another person who is— is a really famous trailblazer for an entirely different reason in baseball, he had a career and a life, and a post-playing career, that is, I think baseball at large is yearning for recreating with more players and fakers who have had this lived experience. Like, we need more people who are affecting decision-making of the large apparatus that is Major League Baseball, that can earnestly speak to what their experiences was like and say the things that they liked about it and say the things that need to change, you know? And that was, I think in large part, the role that Billy Bean occupied, at least since I came to be aware of who he was.
ALEX: Yeah. And I mean, it’s— it’s easy to boil down his legacy and say, “Well, he was— he was MLB’s, you know, VP of DEI, and he was baseball’s second openly gay player. And what a legacy. But, like, it’s in, what, I think 1999 when he comes out.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: And, like, you look around the sport today, I mean, the Texas Rangers still do not have a Pride Night, right? So there’s still a sport today that is— that is stuck in this, you know, regressive, bigoted mindset. And so for— for being to do that 25 years ago is, I think, a— an incredible act of personal bravery, but also of belief in the sports ability to change, right? Because he would go on and spend the next 25 years of his life working to not just necessarily advance LGBTQ+ rights in the league, specifically in name, but more broadly, create an environment that is inclusive for all, no matter how you define yourself. And that means, like, anti-discrimination programs, right? Like support systems for— for players. This is like, I think, that he leaves a legacy that many fans probably don’t necessarily— don’t necessarily bear witness to, because a lot of his work happened on— because a lot of his work happened behind closed doors, as— as much as it might have out in the open. But I think—
BOBBY: Uh-hmm.
ALEX: —there’s— there’s just as much to be said for that, if not more, because I— you know, there’s— he saw the value in opening up dialogs and working to change people’s minds, the people who were directly invested in the game. And we’ve come a long way from 1999 and we’re still nowhere near, I think, the equitable, inclusive support that— that it could be. But Bean’s role in the sport over the course of the 21st century is, I think, nothing short of remarkable. And he, I believe, should go down as one of the more pivotal figures in, you know, the last quarter century of the sport, if not, far beyond that.
BOBBY: It’s a little bit of a tricky thing to sort of talk about and measure the impact of someone who occupies this role for as long as he did.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: And whose story inspires the way that it does for, I mean, really just any young person who is not— who does not identify as the exact norm in any way. But also like a key component to his role as a VP of DEI was educating players like the—
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Not just like Equity— Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, but mental health and anti-bullying, and, you know, giving keynote speeches to younger players about what his experience was like, and the different ways that they can educate themselves, and the different ways that if they feel that they need help or they need resources as they face this critical turning point in their life, then they should feel empowered to get it. And so that level of impact— so it’s tricky when you— when you lose someone like this, because we have no idea, like just how far those ripples go, but—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —it’s a— it’s a testament to, I think, the relationships that you build over the course of decades in this game that you can have that many ripples, that, you know, you see a push notification come across, and then two guys talk about it in a podcast that can’t even, can’t even measure it. So RIP to Billy Bean, passed away at the age of 60. Let’s take a quick break, Alex, and then when we come back, we’ll power through a couple of those new stories. Then, of course, the vaunted ranking segment, which you have to decide what we’re calling this week, and I guess how many items I’m going to rank and what those items are.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: So— so keep thinking on that.
ALEX: Light work.
[theme]
BOBBY: All right. We got two New Jersey sponsors, but really, we got one New Jersey sponsor.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: The Philadelphia Phillies, long-awaited, long-promised. We mentioned on our jersey ranking episode that the Phillies intended to add a jersey patch halfway through this season, this summer. And you know what they did? But before we talk about that, we have to talk about the Chicago Cubs adding a jersey patch. What did they add, Alex? Not something that is a hat tip to Midwestern culture, not something that has a vague association with Pete Ricketts’ political ideology, not something like Chevrolet, which builds solid American products for hundreds of years for— for the working people of this country. No, instead, they went with a jersey patch that has already been taken. They went with Motorola.
ALEX: I have heard of them before.
BOBBY: Does the— does the Cubs choosing Motorola prompt you to want to change their spot or are you still good with where they are?
ALEX: I— it’s an interesting question, right? Because I’m kind of like— I think it’d be funny to rank the Cubs Motorola in a different spot.
BOBBY: It’s like the workplace harassment meme. It’s like when— when the Padres do it, it’s like [39:24]
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: And when the Cubs do it, it’s like ew.
ALEX: Interesting. They got the patch in their team’s colors, which—
BOBBY: Motorola is just cutting deals, you know?
ALEX: They are—
BOBBY: They’re trying get back into the games.
ALEX: I guess. I mean, I can say, without question, that I have talked and thought about Motorola more in the last two months than I have in the last decade of my life.
BOBBY: Has it occurred to you that we are doing exactly what these jersey sponsors want us to do?
ALEX: Talking about all of— all of them, yeah.
BOBBY: In great detail about what they do and the services that they could provide you.
ALEX: In— in great— yup.
BOBBY: But we’re doing it ironically, so it doesn’t count.
ALEX: Right. Yes. Well—
BOBBY: You critique society, and yet you participate in it.
ALEX: Yeah, Motorola really making a push. They also sponsor, I think, the Chicago Bulls as— as well.
BOBBY: Where are they getting this money? Interesting that they sponsored the Bulls and the Cubs, not the Bulls and the White Sox. The team that is owned by the same guy.
ALEX: Yeah. I mean—
BOBBY: It’s never made sense to me that Reinsdorf owns the Bulls. He should own like a bigger loser franchise.
ALEX: I mean, yes. Well, I— that’s smart on their part, on Motorola’s part, right? Like, does anyone want to sponsor the White Sox right now?
BOBBY: Does anyone sponsor them? No, right?
ALEX: No. Like, what is he— what is— what is—
BOBBY: He’s the— he’s the worst [40:53]
ALEX: [40:53] that Jerry Reinsdorf makes? People who are tuning in, you’re not wrong about that.
BOBBY: Love us or hate us, we’re historic.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: That’s the pitch. That’s good stuff right there. Jerry, give me a call. 785-422-5881. I’m available. Consulting fees. Management Consultant, put that on my LinkedIn.
ALEX: Where— where did we have Motorola ranked? It was like— it was like top 10, right? Well, like top 6 maybe.
BOBBY: It was bottom 10, because—
ALEX: Right. Whatever.
BOBBY: —we did it by how evil they are. So they were 18th of 21.
ALEX: Right. Okay. So in terms of—
BOBBY: On the evil scale.
ALEX: Wait, 18 of 21 being not evil?
BOBBY: Yes.
ALEX: Like, on the not evil side?
BOBBY: They’re 18th of 21 on the evil scale, so they’re low on the evil scale, which means they’re good. How hard is this? This is not hard.
ALEX: I guess, but when you say they’re an 18 out of 21 on the evil scale, that’s like you’re [41:53]
BOBBY: No, no, no. They’re not 18 out of 21. They’re 18 of 21.
ALEX: You’re right. How am I not understanding this?
BOBBY: They’re 18th of 21. 18th.
ALEX: Yes. Yes, okay, okay.
BOBBY: 18th.
ALEX: 18th, okay.
BOBBY: 18th of 21.
ALEX: So they’re evil?
BOBBY: They’re 18th of 21 on a scale that has Occidental Petroleum at the top. They’re far away from Occidental Petroleum.
ALEX: Hmm. I’ll have to think on that.
BOBBY: There are definitely—
ALEX: I’ve been doing this ranking segment all wrong.
BOBBY: There are definitely people that are listening to this that did not listen to the first part of this— that did not listen to the episode where we ranked all, at the time, 20 jersey sponsors based on how evil they are. And they’re, like, really confused as to why we’re doing this— this long, elaborate bit, talking about the jerseys. I would— I would tell you, go to the link in the description, listen to that episode, because, honestly, it is some of our best scholarship and one of the most fun episodes that we’ve ever done. All that to say, does— does the Ricketts family getting in bed with Motorola change your feelings of where they should be on this list?
ALEX: It’s—
BOBBY: Well, I would argue— before you answer that question—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —I would argue that that’s not how we did the exercise, when we first did it. We really just looked at the companies. Because if you look at—
ALEX: Yes.
BOBBY: —the teams and how they’re really spread out based on how evil the teams are, it’s like there’s not really a correlation.
ALEX: No, no. I— I don’t think we take that into account. So, like, from a purists perspective, I think we’re obligated to leave them where they are. That said, the fact that they have the backing of a stand-up, hardworking, salt of the earth American family like the Ricketts, frankly, makes me want to move them down our list even more. Down as in down towards 21. To be very clear—
BOBBY: I think that’s right. Directionally, that felt right. The way you said it.
ALEX: Okay. Okay, good. I just gotta say, no one’s gonna top the Mets. Third in the division, but first in morality. So take that with you.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Braves fans, Phillies fans. Phillies fans.
ALEX: Phillies fans? Should we get to the Phillies?
BOBBY: Should we? Yeah, we absolutely should, because it’s a freaking abomination, what’s going on, on the Phillies jersey patch. Last time we updated this list, we talked about Sheetz, the sponsor of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the gas station/convenience store in— where you can buy hot coffee without lids, which is something that happened to me last year when I went to a Sheetz. And we talked about how the Phillies’ most logical response was to come back at them with none— none other than Wawa, the superior Eastern Pennsylvania version of Western Pennsylvania’s Sheetz. And what did the Phillies do? No, they let us— in front of God, they let us down, and they chose independence, Blue Cross Blue
Shield, a health insurance company, and they made that patch gigantic, and it’s in the wrong color, blue, and it’s just an abomination. Alex, it’s an abomination. What they’ve done. John Middleton, thanks for burning all of your goodwill. You’re done to me. You were the favorite owner, no. David Rubenstein now. He takes that title, sorry.
ALEX: I— what’s the deal with Blue Cross? There’s like 4 million different Blue Crosses. And there’s— there’s like Blue Cross, then there’s like Blue Cross Blue Shield, then there’s like Blue Cross California, and then there’s like Independence Blue Cross. I’m like, this is— this is what Obama was trying to solve. I’m just— I’m just putting it out there.
BOBBY: Did he do a good job of that?
ALEX: He did a great job of that, him and John McCain.
BOBBY: And Joe Lieberman.
ALEX: Uh-huh. Okay.
BOBBY: What’s the deal with Blue Cross? Honestly, I don’t know. I— I can tell you with some level of certainty that at some point, before I was of working age, that this was the health insurance that my mother got through her work. So I did— I was a card-carrying member of Blue Cross Blue Shield.
ALEX: Okay. So you have some personal experience with it? Well, no, I don’t— they’re not—
BOBBY: Barely.
ALEX: —they’re not Blue Cross Blue Shield. That’s a different—
BOBBY: How could they possibly be different, though? They have the same name.
ALEX: Okay. They are in— all right, all right. You want to do this? Let’s do this. Okay. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, also known as BCBS, that’s what I call them. BCBSA or the Blues—
BOBBY: No, no.
ALEX: —is a United States based Federation. They’re a federation with 34 independent and locally operated BCBSA companies. You know, BCBSA companies? So they’re an independent licensee—
BOBBY: That’s what— that’s what Bazeley Wagner Productions is. We’re—
ALEX: Uh-huh.
BOBBY: —BCBSA company.
ALEX: Right. Yeah.
BOBBY: Before content breaks, some awesome jokes hyphenated so that we don’t have to put a J at the end.
ALEX: Okay. I think we missed another B in there, but it’s okay.
BOBBY: No, no. BCBSA, before content breaks, some awesome jokes. [47:16]
ALEX: Oh, right. Oh, right, right, right. So what— so talk to me. How was it?
BOBBY: Well, I feel like I lost you halfway through with you explaining to me how they’re different from Blue Cross Blue Shield.
ALEX: They’re— so like, they’re under the umbrella, but they’re like— I think it’s like a Duncan thing. You know, where it’s like, technically, all Duncans are like— they’re like independent— they’re like— or a licensee.
BOBBY: Oh. A franchisee?
ALEX: Oh, that’s true. Just different.
BOBBY: Yo, dawg, imagine you franchise a fucking health insurance company. You’re like, “Oh, what does your dad do? Yeah, he’s the franchise owner of a Blue Cross Blue Shield.” You know? He says no to covering your essential surgeries. Like, that’s where— that’s where bullying should come back into play.
ALEX: I agree— oh, right. So— so Blue Cross Blue Shield— wow. This is fascinating, man. They— they claim to control accesses, BCBSA, control access to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield trademarks and names across the United States, and in more than 170 other countries, which it then licenses to the affiliated companies for specific, exclusive geographic service areas. So they are independent companies, in theory, who are licensing, I— I don’t know, the— the Blue Cross— the BCBSA name and ostensibly infrastructure.
BOBBY: Okay. So they’re really not Blue Cross Blue Shield was what I’m learning from you.
ALEX: Co— correct. They’re a licensee.
BOBBY: You know, they got this name in part because Independence Hall was the first employer group to purchase coverage.
ALEX: Are we just— we’re just both at— on a different sections of the Wikipedia page right now?
BOBBY: So this seems like they’re a Philadelphia institution.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. So what you’re saying is they’re gonna end up quite low on this list?
BOBBY: No, what I’m saying is, honestly, the whole like Philadelphia is the center of the universe thing right now for the last couple years is— is really putting me through it. I need everybody to just, like, go away for a little while. Can we make, like— perfect example, Minneapolis. Can we make Minneapolis the center of the universe for a couple years?
ALEX: I think it kind of— I don’t know if you’ve heard the news lately, Bobby.
BOBBY: Can make, like, Jacksonville the center of the universe for a couple of years? Like, we— the— the freaks of Philadelphia—
ALEX: [49:39] that what we want.
BOBBY: I don’t know. Can we make New York City the center of the universe for a couple of years?
ALEX: Always has been, buddy.
BOBBY: Yeah, that’s right. The— the whole— the IBX patch, I mean, I know this is— this is not a ranking of how the— the patch looks. It never was and it never will be, because I don’t care about that. They all look bad. They’re all ads. There’s no way to make the patch look good. That being said, there is a way to make the patch look especially bad, and the Phillies figured it out. It just says IBX in massive letters. I feel as though they will probably make the patch smaller. This has happened with a couple different teams when they make the patch too big and the wrong color, and they changed it. This happened with the Mets with New York Presbyterian Hospital. They made it red and white on the side of a blue and— and orange jersey. It looked really bad.
ALEX: How does this— how does this sort of thing happen? This is a—
BOBBY: How does this sort of thing happen? The— the actual jerseys got fucked up this year.
ALEX: Again—
BOBBY: Like, the— the jerseys that they wear. The professional baseball players who make $35 million a year—
ALEX: Okay. Yes.
BOBBY: —are wearing bad T-shirts that you bought from Instagram.
ALEX: I— yes, I understand that, but it’s not like there’s no one working on any of these. I mean—
BOBBY: I think—
ALEX: I— like, it’s all like no one looked at the— like the videographer—
BOBBY: That’s the worst part. It was the person who worked—
ALEX: —who was— who was making the little spot for the Phillies announcing it was not like, “Yo, guys, really?”
BOBBY: That’s the worst part about this.
ALEX: Are you— are you sure?
BOBBY: Yeah, that’s the worst part, honestly, because probably the person who decided what it looked like works for Independence Blue Cross and makes, like, $283,000 a year. You know, like makes more than the two of us combined.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. Yeah.
BOBBY: And like— like, Don Draper once said, “Doesn’t think about us at all.”
ALEX: Probably he’s never watched a baseball game in their life.
BOBBY: We’re gonna get an email from someone being like, “Hey, guys, I’m the guy who designed—”
ALEX: I know.
BOBBY: “—this Blue Cross patch.”
ALEX: Well, look, we’re not mad. We’re just asking questions.
BOBBY: Please do not print in the papers that we’re mad.
ALEX: No. All right. So that does bring us to the task of the hour.
BOBBY: Hang on, wait.
ALEX: Okay. There’s— you’ve got more.
BOBBY: Well, this will help us pivot to the task of the hour.
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: Because here I am, looking at Independence Blue Cross—
ALEX: Right. So I just want to— I want to be clear, you do not have any personal anecdotes you could share with us about your firsthand experience?
BOBBY: No, I have— I—
ALEX: You literally were a member?
BOBBY: Well, I was a member of Blue Cross Blue Shield. So you fucking tell me if I was a member, I don’t know.
ALEX: I don’t know, either. That’s—
BOBBY: I— I have Cigna, okay? I don’t know what to tell you. What do you have? Aetna?
ALEX: Blue Cross.
BOBBY: Really?
ALEX: Yeah. I don’t know which one. It’s one of them.
BOBBY: Well, you’re not in the Greater Philadelphia area, so I’m gonna say no.
ALEX: It’s true. It’s— it is not Independence Blue—
BOBBY: Okay.
ALEX: I think it’s like California Blue— I don’t— it’s— it actually doesn’t matter.
BOBBY: It— do you want to share your group number and—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —your member ID?
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: And any associated Social Security numbers that I might need to pull out the health concerns.
ALEX: See if you can have any benefits, I don’t know.
BOBBY: Okay. They are a health insurance company. They were founded in 1938, and then— but when you look at where— where it says company type, it says private, not for profit. I would like you, before we do the exercise and we actually place them in this ranking, so explain to me how a health insurance company is not for profit in America. They’re just like, “We pay all— we pay it all. We pay the premium. We don’t even actually collect money from you.”
ALEX: So it is— they are a not for profit— they are not a non-profit. Those are— those are two different things. I just want to be very clear.
BOBBY: I’m already regretting asking this question.
ALEX: I— I think the answer to the question is that not for profit is a kind of sneaky way of making it sound like you’re— it’s kind of like you stumbled through the word nonprofit, and so people just assume that’s what you said. “Yeah, we’re a nonprofit.”
BOBBY: A not for profit, NFPO, is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. An NFPO does not earn profit for its owners, as any revenue generated by its activities must be put back into their organization. Do you think that’s what’s happening with Independence Blue Cross? I know that’s what’s happening with all of the universities that are nonprofits.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Right. I’ve verified that about every university that’s a nonprofit, but I haven’t independently, no pun intended, verified it with Independence Blue Cross. I’m sorry, you know this stuff just makes me crazy when it’s like, “We’re businesses, but we don’t make money.”
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Sometimes it makes the MLB teams look sim— like simple and easy to understand.
ALEX: It’s so simple. Well, I scrolled down further on the Independence Blue Cross’ Blue— Independence Blue Shield Cross— Blue— their Wikipedia page is—
BOBBY: Blue Cross Blue Shield always makes me think of that it’s like a medieval, like—
ALEX: Like, jousting?
BOBBY: Like— like, it’s the seal for some medieval house, you know? Like a cross bow and a shield—
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: —in my mind when I hear those words, I’m like, “This is a medieval— this is, like, the Renaissance Fair. This is fun.”
ALEX: Yeah. I don’t— I don’t even know—
BOBBY: I just don’t— we shouldn’t continue this segment without me letting the listeners know that that’s what [55:27]
ALEX: That’s where— where my head has been the whole time.
BOBBY: Yeah, exactly. Because that will maybe help them understand, like, why this sounds like this and why I’m acting this way.
ALEX: Yeah. Okay. So I— do you— do you have any other relevant data points to regale us with?
BOBBY: Yes, he— here’s my first and only relevant point, Independence Blue Cross reported revenues of $31.1 billion in 2023, up 13.6 from 20—% from 2022. 377 million in net income in 2023, but it’s all going back into the company.
ALEX: It is. All that— they’re required to keep that money on the field. Again, just like in baseball—
BOBBY: Well, that’s why they paid the Phillies $377 million to put the jersey patch on. This Forbes article—
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: —has reporting, has reportage, Alex, about how much the teams are getting for the jersey patches.
ALEX: Like all of the teams?
BOBBY: Like some of the teams.
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: These two new ones are not reported. However, the Cubs claim that they are on the upper end of the MLB patch partnerships. Commensurate with the team and market is how their Chief Commercial Officer put it. The richest deals reportedly belong to the Yankees and the Blue Jays in the low to mid $20 million per year range.
ALEX: Which to be clear, all of that money is required to be reinvested back into the team.
BOBBY: Right, exactly.
ALEX: Like the good, not for profits they are.
BOBBY: No, Red Sox 18 million, Padres 10 million. League average for the patches is around seven to 8 million. The patches could generate almost $400 million in revenue for MLB teams in 2023. Sorry, I thought that was just a funny little side note.
ALEX: That was a funny, slightly depressing little side note.
BOBBY: Okay. Let’s— let’s do it. Let’s do what everybody came here for. Let’s place them on this list.
ALEX: Sorry, I’m just on the chairman’s LinkedIn.
BOBBY: Friend him.
ALEX: Charles Pizzi.
BOBBY: Yeah. Request to connect with him on LinkedIn.
ALEX: I will.
BOBBY: All right. You’re a LinkedIn influencer now.
ALEX: He could— maybe he could be my— you know what? I’m just gonna send it. I’m just gonna send it, send without a note. It’s okay. Those feel more authentic anyway, and we’ll see what happens. All right. Did you hear that little ping?
BOBBY: I didn’t.
ALEX: Well, it pinged over here to let me know I just sent the— the invitation. So— what an episode. Should we— it’s been a minute since we— w e revisited this, I think since the Orioles announced theirs. Do we want to run through the list real quick?
BOBBY: Yeah, I can do that.
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: So there are 21 teams— sorry, there are 21 jerseys patches with 22 teams. Now that we have the crossover with Motorola, it’s gonna get very confusing. Reading from least evil to most evil of the companies that are sponsoring the jerseys. It’s 21, New York Mets. Their Jersey patch is New York Presbyterian Hospital. At 20 is the Detroit Tigers. Their Jersey patch is Meyer. 19 is the Kansas City Royals with QuikTrip. 18, we have a tie for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs, whose jersey sponsor is Motorola. To be clear, that is the Motorola telecom company, not the Motorola— not the wing of the Motorola company that makes chips for militaries across the globe.
ALEX: Right. Because if they did, they would obviously—
BOBBY: Be higher, more evil, right.
ALEX: Oh, I was gonna say they were gonna give New York press run for their money, but okay. Moving on.
BOBBY: 17 is the Pittsburgh Pirates with Sheetz. 16 is the Arizona Diamondbacks with Avnet. You remember Avnet?
ALEX: Of course.
BOBBY: [59:39] yeah, I love Avnet. Charles Avnet.
ALEX: Uh-hmm. It’s my fave-net.
BOBBY: I don’t even get that joke. 15—
ALEX: All right.
BOBBY: —Cincinnati Reds with Kroger, an abomination that they are this close. 14 is the Los Angeles Angels with FBM. What does FBM stand for?
ALEX: Fine buildings, man.
BOBBY: Foundational Building Materials. 13 is the Toronto Blue Jays, TD Bank. TD Bank.
ALEX: Once again, a— a different different from the TD Ameritrade or whatever we got here.
BOBBY: Like the same, but like not. It’s like the Canadian branch of TD Ameritrade.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Same logo. I mean, come on. 12 is the Miami Marlins, that’s ADT, the home security company.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: So evil. Honestly, there’s— I can’t believe there’s 11 more evil companies than this. 11 is the Boston Red Sox that— their jersey sponsor is MassMutual. 10 is the Milwaukee Brewers, their jersey sponsor is Northwestern Mutual. Nine is the Baltimore Orioles, their jersey sponsor is T. Rowe Price. That’s just a three-way tie as far as I’m concerned.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Eight, my San Francisco Giants with my jersey patch. Chevrolet. Number seven is the New York Yankees. Their patch is Starr Insurance, a notable one for this exercise here.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Six, the Atlanta Braves, Quikrete. Five, Los Angeles Dodgers, Guggenheim. Just hilarious. Four, St. Louis Cardinals Stifel. It’s another investment bank.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Or a mutual fund or [1:01:17] three, the Cleveland Guardians in the bronze position with Marathon Energy.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Number two, the Texas Rangers Energy Transfer. And number one, not to be topped, not today, probably not any day, it’s the Houston Astros, Occidental Petroleum. Cutely shortened to Oxy on the jerseys.
ALEX: Right. Which clears it of all the bad branding it had before that.
BOBBY: Precisely.
ALEX: Yeah. Can I just say the fact that they are selling the jerseys with the patches on them is one of the more fucked up things I’ve ever seen?
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: I— what do you think— who do you think I’m marketing this to? What do you mean? You think I’m walking around the house in the hopes that my kid looks, is like, “Who’s that on your sleeve, dad?” I have a kid, by the way.
BOBBY: Congratulations. I think most people don’t just wear their jerseys in the house. They do, like, walk around on the street. But then, again, like, I should be getting—
ALEX: Where do you— where do you wear your jerseys?
BOBBY: I mean—
ALEX: You wear them to baseball games, where there are already jerseys with patches on.
BOBBY: I wear them everywhere.
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: Everywhere I go, I’m wearing a baseball jersey.
ALEX: You’re one of those guys?
BOBBY: Yeah. Yeah. I’m wearing a baseball jersey—
ALEX: A baseball jersey and a baseball cap?
BOBBY: Yes. And the NBA City Connect shorts, you know, that you see guys wearing all the time.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: That’s me. That’s my outfit.
ALEX: Yep.
BOBBY: Nike mid calves. That’s actually what I wear all the time. And all black Air Force ones, that’s what I wear out into the world.
ALEX: I— IBX. IBX.
BOBBY: Yeah. Independence Blue Cross, not to be confused with Blue Cross Blue Shield, even though you should probably confuse them, because they’re probably the same.
ALEX: Right. So we have our— our, like, cluster of insurance companies.
BOBBY: Well, really, we only have one insurance company, and that’s Starr Insurance, New York Yankees. They are seventh, the most evil. Everything else is—
ALEX: Oh, right. And they’re— they’re like the property insurance, right?
BOBBY: Yes. Which seems bad but [1:03:33]
ALEX: Like, prob— like prob— like probably worse than health insurance.
BOBBY: Oh, I don’t know.
ALEX: Like a—
BOBBY: Marx did say property is theft, so what is insuring it? Is that like aiding and abetting? This is the thing about Marx, like he couldn’t have cooked in this online environment. People would have been asking too many questions.
ALEX: Yeah. He’d be like, “Hold up. I’m working on a manifesto.” We’d be like, “We’ve moved on. We don’t care anymore.” Have you seen this Tim Walz guy?
BOBBY: He’s Trojan horse and communism into the Democratic Party.
ALEX: No controversy section on the Wikipedia page. I’ll point that out.
BOBBY: Yeah, that just carries a lot of weight for you.
ALEX: Well, it’s at least a good starting point.
BOBBY: Or is it a bad starting point, in that they’ve just covered them up more effectively than the other companies?
ALEX: Hmm. Oh, so you’re saying we should go to the Edit history?
BOBBY: Yes.
ALEX: Joe West putting in double time.
BOBBY: I just have to say, I think health insurance is more evil than cars.
ALEX: Yeah. Okay. So Chevrolet, you mean?
BOBBY: Yes. Refresh my memory on why Quikrete is number six, just because of the environmental impact of putting concrete everywhere?
ALEX: Right. Yeah.
BOBBY: The whole like paved paradise, put up a parking lot at angle.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Is that what you were going for?
ALEX: That’s what I was going for. Hey, look, you know, every time we come in and revisit this ranking list, you come in with a lot of attitude. I’m just gonna say it. You come in with a lot of, “Why’d you put that there?” And I want to— I want to remind you, we did this exercise together. You were down there in the weeds with me.
BOBBY: No, this felt more like—
ALEX: Don’t hand wave me. Don’t hand wave me away.
BOBBY: No, no, no, no, no. The felt more like a— like a— you know, you were the Supreme Court judges writing the opinion, and I was kind of writing the dissenting opinion for the listeners at home. I was like, “But I— I dissent, but I will allow it.”
ALEX: Right. I was in my John Roberts bag, and you were kind of like, “I wish they weren’t allowed to do that.”
BOBBY: Right. In this analogy, I was Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
ALEX: Okay, moving on. We can reopen— we can reopen, we have a quorum here. We can reopen the ranking if you want. We can put Quikrete dead last.
BOBBY: It’s almost 9:00 PM, so I don’t want to do that. Like—
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: —I think that maybe next season, when we get more jersey patches, we can— we can reshuffle the companies. Well, presumably, teams will start changing their jersey patches, because these are probably, like, two-year deals, three-year deals.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Five at most.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: I mean, the Giants already changed theirs because they had that self-driving car company, and then they got sued out of existence, which is funny. When will teams put a second jersey patch? Is what I want to know.
ALEX: One on each arm?
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: Or stack them up?
BOBBY: Stack them. Or, like, they could be like Velcro, and you could change it day to day.
ALEX: Ooh. Choose your own sponsor.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: Okay. I’ll throw out a number, five, and you can tell me whether you think we should go higher, as in more evil or lower, less evil. So that does— I want to be very clear that— that does put them—
BOBBY: That they— they’re more evil than Quikrete.
ALEX: That does put them just above Quikrete.
BOBBY: And more evil than Starr Insurance, which, again, we think is property insurance, but we’re not sure.
ALEX: I feel— I feel fairly confident that that’s— that’s what it was.
BOBBY: Yeah. I think that’s pretty good.
ALEX: Wait, wait, three oil companies— I don’t have a list in front of me, so I’m just— I’m actually very reliant on you.
BOBBY: Three oil companies, two of the world’s biggest investment funds—
ALEX: Hmm.
BOBBY: Stifel and Guggenheim.
ALEX: Oh, oh, Guggenheim, yes.
BOBBY: That’s the top five. And then we are potentially putting health insurance company at six. I mean, that feels right.
ALEX: I think that feels right. Health insurance, not America’s best export to the rest of the world. We’re not showing our finest.
ALEX: I mean, not in the way we did it. No. I want to be— I want to be— I want to be very clear, like broadly speaking, it’s— well— well, I guess maybe— no, we shouldn’t need insurance. I don’t—
BOBBY: This is what I’m saying. Like Marx— Marx could not cook in this era.
ALEX: I know. He just didn’t consider the context in which we came.
BOBBY: I know someone who could educate him, then.
ALEX: He was certainly not unburdened.
BOBBY: Spencer Strider. I mean, private health insurance. Sorry, private, not for profit health insurance.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Yeah, five is good. Let’s— let’s move on. This was fun. Sorry, wait, no, six— I think six is good.
ALEX: Six? Yes.
BOBBY: Yes. Behind Guggenheim—
ALEX: It feels weird to split up the investment funds—
BOBBY: Agreed.
ALEX: —/mutual trade [1:08:43]
BOBBY: Right. Places where all of the world’s worst people put their money to be shared.
ALEX: Right. Exactly.
BOBBY: That feels [1:08:50]
ALEX: That’s actually where they get the profits from IBX.
BOBBY: All right. Okay. So they are officially sixth, Philadelphia Phillies, right next to the Braves. That feels nice. Well, since that took us about 30 minutes, I don’t think we have much time left in this episode to talk about the MLB Bristol Motor Speedway series that I wanted to bring up, because that is interesting. We’ll save that—
ALEX: Hilarious.
BOBBY: —for the Patreon as well as we’ll save the White Sox losing streak for the Patreon, and we’re just gonna roll straight through, Alex, to this week’s ranking segment. What do you have for me? Should I rank the jersey sponsors based on how actually sick they are, like based on their business model?
ALEX: Yes, you should. They make a lot of money. They must be a good company. I don’t know.
BOBBY: Yeah.
ALEX: We’ve reached that time of the podcast. That is— see, I think I only really remember the name of the segment that we use most recently, so I’m just going to call it— what— what was it like? Lineup construction. I don’t know if that’s what we used last time, but—
BOBBY: Sure.
ALEX: Ranking pitches.
BOBBY: Do you have another good one?
ALEX: Rank the names of this segment that we have come up with? No. Bobby, I want you to rank the following mascots based on who you would most like to grab a beer with. All right.
BOBBY: George Bush, John Kerry.
ALEX: Your five choices, Philly Phanatic. Mr. Met.
BOBBY: Okay.
ALEX: Wally.
BOBBY: I don’t even know who that is.
ALEX: He’s the Red Sox mascot.
BOBBY: Oh, okay. Didn’t know his name then.
ALEX: Wa— Wal— Wally, the green monster. He’s like a— a cousin of the Phanatic.
BOBBY: Bernie Brewer.
ALEX: You know, Bernie Brewer.
BOBBY: I actually did just get a beer with him last night.
ALEX: And Stomper.
BOBBY: Ooh, Stomper. That’s intriguing. I think this one’s kind of easy.
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: Dead last is the Philly Phanatic. Heinous vibes.
ALEX: Right. Kind of— kind of vibe, where it would be like, “Yeah, let’s go out and grab a drink, and catch up.” And he shows up and he’s like, “Yeah, I— I crushed some PBRs on the way over here. I figured we did a couple bars.”
BOBBY: I was gonna say he shows up and he’s, like, on ketamine, which like—
ALEX: Okay.
BOBBY: —in some— in some people’s bag and, like, I’m not judging anybody—
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: —who’s like, “I want to show up to the bar on ketamine.” Like, that’s fine, too. Like, do your thing. But I am not looking for that at this stage of my life.
ALEX: We’ll get there.
BOBBY: Who’s— who’s to say? Yeah. Who’s— I— I could get there. although perhaps like ketamine would affect him differently, because it is meant for animals.
ALEX: Okay, if you, the listener, have experience with injecting mascots with horse— horse tranquilizers.
BOBBY: Okay. Phanatic is last, which I think makes Wally fourth, then, because—
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: —they’re kind of similar energy, right?
ALEX: Yeah. I think so. To be honest, I don’t really know where Wally came from. I— I feel like I— I don’t really see him around much anymore.
BOBBY: I got— I mean, he looks kind of fun, though.
ALEX: Yes, he does.
BOBBY: He—
ALEX: He is, like, still their mascot, right?
BOBBY: I mean, I’ve never been to a Red Sox game, so I couldn’t tell you.
ALEX: All right.
BOBBY: He is kind of like— he’s kind of like, swaggy Philly Phanatic.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: He weirdly kind of looks like he lives in Bushwick. You know, like the big, oversized shorts tucked in jersey, like— I— I would have made that joke based on, like, a Boston neighborhood that is Bushwick adjacent, but I can’t name a Boston neighborhood—
ALEX: Yeah, dude.
BOBBY: —like— or I couldn’t name the Boston neighborhood that I would think would be like that.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: So Boston listeners at home—
ALEX: Yeah. He looks like he’s from Southie.
BOBBY: I’d— see I think he doesn’t look like he’s from south.
ALEX: Right. I— I know.
BOBBY: As far as what I understand about Southie, but again, I don’t know. So Boston listeners at home, please let us know. But I do think that he is going to be fourth, which makes Mr. Met third. Although I think that those two are closer than— than people might think.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Because honestly, like Mr. Met— what are we going to talk about?
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Mrs. Met? I don’t know. Does he have anything else to his personality?
ALEX: Well, I was gonna— that’s what I was gonna say, is I’d like—
BOBBY: Is Mr. Met sneaky boring? Like, should he be fourth?
ALEX: I think he’s low-key kind of boring.
BOBBY: Okay. Maybe he’s fourth.
ALEX: Really bad from my brand, because you constantly compare me to him, but—
BOBBY: Well, no one’s saying that he’s not cute, you know?
ALEX: Thanks. Thanks, Bobby.
BOBBY: I’m not saying you have the personality of Mr. Met. I’m saying that you sort of have, like, the smile and face of Mr. Met.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Okay. Wait, so I’m flipping them. I’m flip flopping them. I’m sorry, Mr. Met—
ALEX: All right.
BOBBY: —you’re fourth, you’re fourth. Mr. Met, kind of a square.
ALEX: Uh-hmm.
BOBBY: Wally’s growing on me, so Wally will be third. Second, so, like, I think it’s too obvious to put Bernie second.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: I mean to put Bernie—
ALEX: To put him first, yeah.
BOBBY: Right. So I think I’m gonna put him second, mostly because I think it would actually maybe kind of get annoying to get a beer with him—
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: —because he would know too much about the beer.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: And be like, “This is how it was brewed. This is the temperature that you get it to, to brew it.”
ALEX: Right. It’d be like, “Let’s play a game of Guess the IBU.” And you’d be like, “No.”
BOBBY: He, like you, would be drinking IPAs.
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: Unfortunately.
ALEX: He—really? I— I feel like he might be— I feel like he might be—
BOBBY: I guess he’s, like, legally obligated to drink, like, Miller or whatever.
ALEX: Right.
BOBBY: Sponsor [1:14:57]
ALEX: What they— what— whatever they drink up there. I don’t know. Never been there. We almost went.
BOBBY: But instead we chose Chicago. And then I think that makes Stomper first. Stomper, best vibes of any—
ALEX: Yeah.
BOBBY: —of any mascot in baseball, by far.
ALEX: Do you imagine getting Stomper wasted right now? Dude would have stories. It’d be like—
BOBBY: And to be clear, this is getting a drink with the mascot in full costume and in character as the mascot. Not just like with the person who wears the mascot.
ALEX: What do you mean— hat do you mean the person who wears them? What do you mean?
BOBBY: Yeah, right.
ALEX: You mean like the— like the mascot butt-naked or—
BOBBY: It’d be really funny if you pull off the mascot head and it’s just like another mascot.
ALEX: Yeah. With— with the anthropomorphic, that’s— that’s what it is, right?
BOBBY: We could do this in the metaverse, right? We could do this in the virtual ballpark.
ALEX: Ooh. Oh, oh, my God. Bobby, you found it.
BOBBY: Giving away ideas for free again.
ALEX: The first use.
BOBBY: Again, I’m giving the ideas away for free.
ALEX: Oh, my God.
bobby: All right. Well, this was fun. Thank— that was a that was a great one.
ALEX: Thank you. I pulled it through. I
BOBBY: I can’t wait to, next week, make you rank. MassMutual, Northwestern Mutual, T. Rowe Price, and TD Bank, based on which one will have the biggest market cap in three years. All right. Thank you, everybody, for listening. It was fun to be back in your podcast feeds. Speaking of being in your podcast feeds, because this episode is coming out on a Thursday morning, we will instead be doing the Patreon episode at our— on our normal Monday of next week, and we will be returning with a special episode, a two-part episode next Thursday and the following Monday. This will make more sense to you once you actually see— what that episode is, but we will get back to our regular schedule kind of gradually over the next couple weeks. So in terms of upcoming programming for your listening needs at home, this episode—
ALEX: Strap in.
BOBBY: —Thursday, Monday Patreon, and then the following Thursday and Monday, to get back to our usual schedule. Speaking of housekeeping, Tipping Pitches, Chicago Cubs meetup August 17th. We have some tickets for that. If you signed up via the Google form that has been in the description over the last couple episodes, you’ll be receiving an email from us with instructions on how to acquire the ticket that you— the ticket or tickets that you desire. I don’t know. You didn’t buy it yet.
ALEX: That you— that you— right. That you— that you reserved.
BOBBY: RSVP-ed for.
ALEX: Uh-huh. We’re— wow. We’re making it through this episode, huh?
BOBBY: So please be on the lookout for that. Thank you again for listening to this episode.
ALEX: Modern Shakespeares.
BOBBY: I like to think of myself more as the— one of the Thespians performing in the Shakespeare, you know?
ALEX: Hmm.
BOBBY: You’re sort of like my Shakespeare, though. You kind of write— you write— do you want to tell people about how you write? All my lines for this podcast in advance?
ALEX: That’s our show.
BOBBY: We’re back at it again next week. We’ll see you, then.
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!
BOBBY: Is there a better feeling than deleting emails?
ALEX: No.
BOBBY: Because if there is, I haven’t found it yet.
ALEX: Are you an inbox zero guy?
BOBBY: Yes.
ALEX: Oh.
BOBBY: Least surprising thing.
ALEX: I know.
BOBBY: Not only am I— am I an inbox zero guy, I’m a full notification zero guy. Like every—
ALEX: Yeah, I know. That’s crazy.
BOBBY: —notification on my phone is not— it’s all gone.
ALEX: I know.
BOBBY: Not just the push notification, either, the badges and the banners as well.
ALEX: Yep.
BOBBY: Here’s your proof. I have one text message from earlier today that I have yet to respond to, but that’s it. Nothing. I feel like you’ve gotten better with it.
ALEX: I have. Well, I will say I’m all in box zero at work now. I was like, new job, new habits.
BOBBY: Welcome to Alpha, Alex.
ALEX: That’s right.
BOBBY: making LinkedIn posts, talking about inbox zero.
ALEX: I haven’t even— I haven’t even told you that I’ve started splitting my days up into three days. So now in the fourth week, I have 21 days.
BOBBY: Wouldn’t that be 15 days?
ALEX: Oh, yeah, a work week. Sure, yeah.
BOBBY: Unless you work on the weekend.
ALEX: Yes. Grind doesn’t stop.
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