Hour 2: Fume Sucking From The Train of Chaos (feat. David Samson and Adnan Virk)
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Cuervo. The tequila. That invented tequila. Proximo. Cuervo.com. Please drink responsibly. This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stugatz Podcast. This episode is presented by Smirnoff. We do game days. Please drink responsibly. The Smirnoff Company, New York, New York.

Do not let me forget to ask Juju about your Blizzard incident and how disgusting. Yeah, he's not going to like that. Neither is David. Neither is Samson either. Buzz the Tower coming up in 20 minutes. A hot new show that's totally different from the outdated and defunct and fossilized Pitch Clock. Buzz the Tower. Pitch Clock was fun while it lasted. Now Buzz the Tower, which will not be referenced during the episode, but will be next month when we get it contractually figured out. Buzz the Tower.

It's coming up in 20 minutes. David, what is your favorite baseball phrase? David Sampson with us here for a reason, by the way. I owe him a bit of an apology and more of a celebration than I gave him yesterday for double the David we're about to get. David Sampson has signed a new deal. He bet on himself.

He cashes that bet. DraftKings cashes big bets. They've cashed the David Sampson bet. You are now going to get twice as much David Sampson in your life. Everybody was asking for that, right? Ten times a week. It's not ten times a week, but it's ten hours a week. And for those of you who haven't noticed, incidentally,

A giant media success story. This is a crowded space. Everyone is fighting for those dollars. David Sampson has a functioning business. It's part of the reason that I and we decided to do what we decided to do. Pablo Torre has a functioning business.

Stugatz is going to create a functioning business out of God bless football. So, Samson, congratulations. Double the David. Nobody was really asking for it, but congratulations anyway. Well, actually, the people who were asking for it are the people who write the checks. So when DraftKings approached and

And really, Dan, it starts with you and what you do every day with your loyal audience and the deal that Metal Art did with DraftKings, which you announced yesterday. I think you in all of the bungling and anxiety that you may have over it, it is quite a nod to what you do.

And what you do is you talk about your loyal audience, but that loyal audience really helps monetize an entire company. Okay, but hold on. And what happens is, Dan, you provide such quality and that I basically suck on your fumes. Whoa. And I was doing, yes, I do. Whoa. I'm a fume sucker. Come on.

Quality, that's what we give. Come on. Look, the reason I wanted to bring this up is because I failed yesterday in saying that in order... Look, this has been a process. David has made a media career after his other career. It's really hard to do. This is an achievement, what he has done, to be in this economy, this media economy, someone that people want and will pay more for. So salute to you on something that has been a really special achievement. You should... Guys, seriously on this.

David has run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. Is that a bigger achievement than this? No, no, no. It's really hard in the media space. It's saturated. He's carved out the sports business lane, but also he's battling something that is even tougher than a marathon. His own public persona. He is very unliked. Yeah, well, we've laundered him. Yeah, we've laundered him. Sports watching over here. We have, we...

You say you've laundered me, Dan, but I would actually argue that in spite of some of the roadblocks you've put up, which has actually made our show better and me better at what I do because it's given me the skin to persevere. Because while Mike, I agree that there could be a fraction of people who you're related to who are upset with the things I did all those years ago, there's a whole big audience. When Nothing Personal first started,

over 90% of the audience was Florida based.

And now it's below 7% while the show has grown. I can understand why you would push back on the notion unliked. And I know that it probably gets exhausting how we frame you on the show. I just mean to the masses because you do a national show. Your name is usually associated with the ballpark. And if you run a Google search on David Sampson, you're going to find some negative posts out there. So you've overcome that. I'm actually complimenting you.

We've laundered you. Well, I appreciate the Tide Pod usage, but I would say that the most important thing when you're doing a daily show is just respecting the audience and giving the people what they want and make fun as you wish. But what people are interested in are the stories we cover. And it's not that we cover the serious stories stupidly or the stupid stories seriously. That's

for our friend Pablo. What we do is we give a lane and an understanding to people of what's actually happening because I did it for so many years in the industry, in the world of sports business. So I love uncovering the mysteries that surround the business of sports. And we do it every day. We did it for an hour. Now we're gonna do it for two hours. We're gonna have people calling in and involved in the show once a week.

There's a new phone number, 631-377-4869. That's 631-DPS-4869. Leave a voicemail, you'll get on the show. We're gonna review movies. You're gonna get more coca. You're gonna get guests on the show each week. So it's really exciting what you've enabled me to do. And DraftKings is obviously behind this. They see something in me and in what you provide that obviously, obviously,

provides value to them. And my view is we might as well keep going. Congratulations on all of the success. Nothing personal is the name of the podcast. And he is right now the leading sports business authority nationally in America. And this particular podcast isn't just sports business, but also, and this is not a small thing either, but

The Sporting Class with him, John Skipper, and Pablo Torre. It is the most awarded and acclaimed sports business podcast listened to by other executives as well. So David Sampson is clearly climbing in the business, but are we a roadblocker?

or we're the source of your fume sucking? Because it can't be both of those things. Well, no, you have turned from roadblocker to fume sucker. So here's how it worked. You're the fume sucker. Well, it's interesting because now I view it the number of hours that we'll be providing that you may be sucking on some of our fumes as well. So we're mutual fume suckers. No, no, no, no.

Suck your own fumes. How disgusted, David, would you be by the things that have happened here today? Chris Cody was eating a blizzard and he dropped the plastic spoon at his feet in that studio back there where people have been standing for two years with their sneakers and immediately picked it up without looking and put it back in his cup. Tell me what your thoughts on this are as a germaphobe. You throw the spoon away and start over. There's no way, Chris, you actually did that. Here you go, David. Take a look.

Yeah, he did do that. Here's the video proof. Yes. Here's the video proof right here. Yes. He just put it right back in there after dropping it. And the question to you is on a scale of one to 10, how disgusting is this for you? That's a solid six. And what I'm worried about is given the staffing of the show requirements, I'm worried that Chris is going to get sick.

Because basically he just ate Jeremy's shoes. My throat does hurt a little bit. Yes. A lot of people are pointing out that your shirt stinks as well. I don't think that. That's not me. I'm not saying that. I'm just... This is a great shirt. I'm simply... I love how much David loves all his shirts. Anytime we do this, he's like, what are you guys talking about? The shirt is loud. The shirt is indisputably loud. But I'm just... I'm the vessel here. I'm not... This is not my opinion. I'm used to how you dress. The end of his sleeves. That's just ridiculous looking, man.

- Well, I appreciate what you're saying. That said, if you're comparing my dress to Levitard's, we're not even in the same universe. The guy's a schlepper. Wow. - Going at you, Dan. - You think you're high fashion society compared to me right now? - I think it's more self-evident than the sunrise. - Is it? All right, well, you famously have bid on celebrity pieces of wardrobe, glasses, shirts. Which episode of "Modern Family" did you get this one from Cam?

This is actually bought off the rack online, 40% off Robert Graham. And you yourself can get this shirt and look the way I look if you so choose. Do you guys realize that if we gave him one of Cam's actual shirts, it would be like you were termite fumigating a tented home? I'll be a tarp from Pro Climax. What are you doing to Cam? It's not Cam. I'm doing it to David.

It's David. I'm doing it too. It's David. It's not Cam. What's your best TARP story from pro player? Any fun ones? Anybody get caught in it? Any dangerous things? Can we look at the groundskeeper that flicked off the camera yesterday? Nothing personal is the name of the podcast.

David, congratulations. We're not doing show around David Sampson. We were just simply here to salute and celebrate something I failed to do yesterday because it really is an achievement. David, before you get out of here, just explain it to people because our fans, guys, felt a little remiss and not maybe understanding.

What yesterday's announcement and announcements, as it should have been with his show, actually mean. It means that after leaving ESPN and betting on ourselves, we are a unit that sets industry standards for what it is that you can be paid for doing this daily.

and bills better than anyone in the sports podcast stream because our audience is so loyal that we have proven no matter how you do the metrics today, that audience comes with us and every single day. And I don't believe because sports media is covered so poorly that

Yeah.

I don't know if you want to tout your own horn the way I'm about to, because what you just said, people overlook, anyone can have a microphone, anyone. But to actually have an opportunity to have a partner like DraftKings and have them give the support that they give to you and your show

and then basically the shows in your orbit, like my show and like Pablo's show, that's significant. And what you need are people who grind the way you do every day, doing a show, delivering to the audience. And I learned from you to do the same thing. And the background in baseball, where you play every day, you show up no matter what, kids' graduations, forget it. There's a show to do, you do it.

and that's what you do every day. And you get rewarded for that with a loyal audience. And when you have that, you get rewarded with a deal, really an all encompassing deal like DraftKings offered that you accepted and then that I accepted as well with you.

It really is a credit to the whole staff of MetalArk and to you as the conductor of what you call a train of chaos and I call a train of beauty. - So this is a bit too much and I like the train of chaos much better than a train of beauty. I don't need train of beauty here. Also it's toot your own horn, not tout your own horn. But Mike, to the degree that you've been helping wherever it is and everywhere you have been on business development, the business of this deal,

that our audience may know, but the broader sports audience doesn't know is that DraftKings has allowed us to do something very few people can do because they're partnering with us in a much bigger, more substantive and genuinely soulful way. Genuinely soulful, imagine that around the gambling dollars.

because it's important to them to make sure our independence stays what it is, and it's important to them to see how easy it is for our sponsors to be taken care of when we send our audience to our sponsors. Yeah, we have a very special, loyal audience that... You know, we were talking about Conan O'Brien earlier in the week, and someone...

texting me thanking me for that segment they were a big Conan O'Brien fan and they drew parallels to Conan's career and our career now that's very high praise but much like Conan we've been at a lot of places over the course of our 20 year run and we've had partners like Miller Lite that have been with us for most of these 20 years we've also had audience that remember listening to us on an AM radio dial and wherever we were available popping up on a

Twitch stream every 17 days or so. They've stuck with us. And for DraftKings to recognize that, continue to put their faith in us in an evolving media landscape as we continue to learn on the fly. We're long in the tooth and we're constantly learning new things and tweaking and putting our audience through a lot of tests and, and,

It's not meant to be made as hoop jumping, but some of them may feel that they have jumped through hoops to continue following us because they've been passionate. You can't replicate this. You can't just put this together.

They've tried in previous time slots. We've seen it. You just put two people together and think that you can make magic like this for 20 years, and it's not necessarily the case. And we're very committed to the work. And I'm really proud of what you said in the statement that I read about touting this partnership in particular because we are a very opinionated show. We are not easy. And we've had a lot of stops.

And I've heard the feedback on the way out. DraftKings likes that about us. They allow us to be free. They're as non-invasive of a partner as we've ever had. And I can't thank them enough for that. It is funny. It really is funny to say, David. And I'm just going to keep saying this because it's hard to get the support of people these days that just stays with you. Just look even around the FU money where it's Bezos and tariffs. Like, it's hard to get people who back you with their money and then say not.

We see what just happened. We see that you guys with this freedom actually deliver on what it is that you said you were going to bring us. And now they back us again in in again.

David, how do I say this? Because I really don't know. You've been involved with some of the business of this. This is navel-gazing. It is. It is. But I want to keep the audience. Yeah, we want to keep them. Okay, I'll stop. Throw them a would-you-attend-their-funeral type of thing. All right, let's do that. James Lardon. Yeah, we're back. All right, sorry. My bad. I didn't realize. Why didn't you play the Magic Creative content or something? I thought you had devices for this shit.

Ah, happy music. It's time to play. I don't think we actually have a voice behind this. Would you attend their funeral? David, you've been the best ever to play this game. You are quite simply the Tom Brady of this game because you answer honestly. To your own personal detriment, I may add, Dan's second best. He's forever changed his relationship with Michael K. So, your first question for would you attend their funeral?

Would you attend former Marlins first baseman Mike Jacobs' funeral?

No. He hit 30 home runs for you. And he was almost Jewish. So that counts. How is one almost? Would you have gone to his funeral if he was Jewish? Wait, what? It might have helped. We honored him on Jewish Heritage Day because the last name's Jacob, so you can get away with it. But of course he's not Jewish, but no one needs to know that. Wait a second, what? So he's Jew-ish.

- He's very much ish. - You honored a player on Jewish Heritage Night that was not Jewish. And you talked about this. - He had a Jewish name. - So wait. - He had a Jewish name? - Wait. - He whimpers out of the side of his face. - So you talked about this beforehand. Was the assumption made that he was Jewish when he wasn't? - You knew? - You knew that he wasn't? - I knew he put the G in Goyim. Of course I knew he wasn't Jewish. - So that's a fraud on the-- - Why'd you go through with that? - That's fraud.

Wait a minute. Why didn't wait? What? Because when you announce Jewish heritage day and like a bobblehead of Mike Jacobs, everyone's like, Oh my God, you have a great Jewish player. And we're like, yeah, he's hitting 30 bombs. He's part of our young core. It's a great idea to honor him and to celebrate Jewish heritage night. Oh, I forgot. He goes to church on Sunday. So you were just trying to trick all of the Jewish people in South Florida into having a new favorite player named Mike Jacobs, just because his name is Michael Jacobs. Well,

Listen, yeah. So yes, yes is the answer. Amazing. But David, that is fraud. You understand that. Wait a minute. Hold on. Stop using legal words that you may not understand. I did not commit fraud upon anybody. No one bought a ticket saying, but for Mike Jacobs being Jewish, I wouldn't buy this ticket. That is not the case at all. That's false advertising. How was he presented on the ticket? Well, he never said he's Jewish. I put him in a Jewish star in a kippah.

How was he presented on the Jewish Heritage Night? As our starting first baseman. But why? Why was he on there?

Because that's who we were honoring. I wasn't going to honor, you know, Marty Gomez. You know what? In talking this out, I'm pretty sure you should attend Mike Jacobs' funeral. That's a real player, by the way. Marty Gomez is playing second for these Marlins. Next up, Tommy Hutton, former, well, occasional Marlins, current Marlins color analyst.

I wouldn't, but I will send a note to his family. He's noteworthy, but not attendance-worthy. Noteworthy. Literally noteworthy. No, not flowers. No flowers! No, that's a different level. What about his longtime partner, former Marlins TV play-by-play man Rich Waltz? Noteworthy. Len Casper, flowers. Boog, flowers. Oh, you don't attend Boogs?

Probably not. I love boog, but I mean, listen, it would have to be the most convenient thing fit between shows, but no. Javi Vasquez. No, I would tweet about it saying, hey, thank you. Tweet about it? Good job. Is that because he did not have that dog in him? Tweet about it.

It's because he ended up working for the Players Union. And so we had some great times going at each other after we were on the same team. Is there a spot between flowers and note? Is there some tier between those two things? Donations? I love where your head's at. Yes, there's a phone call to the living room.

Oh, wow. Note, phone call, flowers, then attendance. Former. Oh, there's another level. Thank God COVID. The virtual attendance. Thank God COVID. That's when you can zoom into the funeral

From your own home. Thank God. So that's another level before you attend the actual... We all attended Stugatz's mom's funeral that way. Thank God. I cannot believe how good this game turned out with this list. I was feeling... Should we go back to navel-gazing or just stay here? Former Marlins Twitter account Logan Morrison. I will go to his funeral. I've got an addendum to this. Bugshambi's funeral, David, that you're not going to. I'm going.

Yes, you have to go. Yeah. Are you revealing that you're friends with Boog? Buzz the Tower. No, I thought that would lure David to a funeral to get out of the house. Buzz the Tower is next. Folks, the Dan Levitar Show with Stu Gatz is sponsored by BetterHelp.

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Baseball time. Hi, everybody.

Pitch clock is back. Can't wait to get started. We'll have our 2025 MLB expert with us in just a moment. But I'm coming off a victory in trivia, so I'm feeling good. But also, I know that means more likely than not, I'm about to experience a loss. It's myself. It's Chris Cody. And that means Taylor Vipolis is here. Taylor, our trivia game for today. Let's get it rolling. We're going to do the baseball card game where I'm going to give you a player from 2005.

you have to say whose opening day lineup they were in. Taylor, who do you want to go first here? Chris Cody, first name, Rafael Palmeiro. I mean, there's clearly just two choices here. I'm going to go with my gut and go with the Texas Rangers. He was not a Texas Ranger. Ah!

Was Rafael Palmeiro a Baltimore Oriole in 2005? Obviously, if it wasn't a Ranger, he had to be a Baltimore Oriole. He was a Baltimore Oriole. Yeah, baby. Stupid. All right. Time to potentially take a 2-0 lead in round one. Let's see. Taylor, what's my question? Sean Green, Jeremy. No.

Because I feel like you want... There's an obvious answer where he played most of his career. And I feel like that's the place where I want to say, but I feel like you're throwing me off on purpose. But maybe he got traded mid-season. I'm just going to stick with it because I don't know if Chris will know the other one. So I'll say the Los Angeles Dodgers. Damn it! Even though I know I'm wrong. Where did he go? He was not a Dodger. He wasn't a Dodger. I have another one in my... I'm going to write it down because I have it in my head.

Every team I'm picturing is a blue team, but it's just because I'm picturing them in the goddamn... In the doctor's uniform. The New York Mets.

That's the team I wrote down. Is it right? He was not a Met in 2005. He was in the Diamondbacks opening day lineup. Wow. You are such a dick for putting that. That is such a dick move right there. So it's a 1-0 lead after one round of this game. Round two. Chris, you're up. Not cool. Sammy Sosa. Sammy Sosa. Where the hell did he get traded to? Whatever. Cubs. Cubs.

He was not a Cub in 2005. Jeremy, chance to steal? Okay, so at the end of his career, I know where he played, but I don't know if there was a spot in between. I'm actually going to go with the same guess as I had before. Was he an Oriole player?

Chris, you got double Oriol. You got double Oriol. He wasn't Oriol. Double stuffed Oriol. Two nothing. My guess now? Richie Sexton. Now I know what game he's playing here. I know the team he wants you to say, and I know where he went next. Oh, that's funny. Oh, you do? Okay. All right. I know a team that he was on, and it's the only one that I can think of at the moment. So I'm just going to say it, and I think I'm handing you it.

point here. I'm going to say Milwaukee Brewers. Yeah, I mean, that's the team he was known for. But then he got traded, right? If you say yes and gave him when he was on the Brewers, this is just you being a jerk. Was he on the Brewers? Was he on the Brewers? He was not on the Brewers. He was on the Seattle Mariners. Seattle Mariners is correct. All right, 2-1 game. Honestly, Chris, that was well done.

Back for a second week in a row. I believe our first ever repeat guest back-to-back weeks. It's Adnan Virk, our go-to 2025 MLB analyst. Adnan, thank you for being here. We're going to get right into this here because we're approaching the very end of the month of May. We're past Memorial Day, and that's normally a time where you can take account of the standings and the

and have some real takeaways about where this season is headed. So in the American League, it's the Yankees, Tigers, and Mariners leading their divisions. In the National League, it's the Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers. First, the American League standings. You take a look. What is it that you see that stands out?

Well, first of all, I'm a freelancer right now with Metal Arc Media, so never apologize for having me on back to back. You're like, I'm not going to call you for five weeks. I go, no, please call me every week. I'm looking to get every dollar I can. So always a pleasure to catch up with you, buddy. When I look at the standings, the first thought to me is that the New York Yankees have the largest division lead of any team right now in Major League Baseball. There's seven games up right now in the ALAs, and I feel like they're going to run away with it.

Right. The Red Sox are not a good team. They've lost five straight games or four hundred five hundred. The Jays are too inconsistent. The Rays aren't that good. The Orioles are the worst team right now in the perhaps the American League, aside from the Chicago White Sox. So I think the Yankees are going to run away with it. They've won 16 of 20 since May 6th. They lead the AL in win percentage run score the second era over that span and

and they particularly mash against left-handed pitchers. Last night facing Yusei Kikuchi, they only win the game 1-0, but 866 OPS against lefties. Paul Goldschmidt's 533 against lefties. Judge has an 11-11 slug against them. Volpe's fifth right now in doubles. Ben Rice quietly has the fifth offensively

hard hit rate of any player in baseball, but only the bigger names like Otani and Judge you'd expect. And of course, they're pitching Schmidt last night, six strong innings. Freed up for me is going to win the Cy Young without Garrett Cole. Those guys haven't missed a beat. Even the struggles of Devin Williams have been able to hide because of Weaver and Mark Leonard Jr. So Yankees look like a juggernaut right now in the American League. With the Orioles being maybe one of the greatest surprises in the opposite direction, struggling so much, that division does look like something the Yankees will run away with. And

The pitching has really been the thing that galvanizes you if you're a Yankee fan, that excites you, because without Garrett Cole, we all anticipated that would be a disaster. But let's look at the National League now. What are your biggest takeaways when you examine what those standings look like?

So the pause, and when I look at the Chicago Cubs, and I called PCA as my breakout star of the year because I met him in spring training. I love the guy. He's got stars in his head. I go, how am I going to outrun for this guy? And he's been awesome. We knew his defense was good. Plus 23 outs above average since the start of last season. That's the best in all of baseball. But also his offense, of course. I mean, he's slugging over 600 yards.

And he's got 51 RBI, which is amazing. 49 RBI, excuse me. Say Suzuki has 51, his teammate. That's like the quietest 51 RBI in baseball. Suzuki's single season career high is 74. Only Aaron Judge and Otani have more extra base hits than him this season. So Suzuki leads in RBIs. I haven't even mentioned Kyle Tucker, of course, is one of the great hitters in our game and has done so much for that lineup. And Dansby Swanson, over the last month,

His OPS went from 560 to 760. He's now back to being the above average player that he should be. And Chicago looks really good right now, man. Like only the Brewers and the Rays have more steals than the Cubs. So they're slugging it. They're actually a fast team that has power and

and has all those different dimensions. Like I said, PCA right now is making a push for MVPs, leading in war. I worry about their pitching a little bit. I do think the Cardinals will hang around. Cardinals have more balance than the Cubs. That should be a great rivalry in the Central. But yeah, Cubs looking legit. That's good for baseball to have them back, potentially as division champions. First guest goes to Chris here. So Chris, who are you going to have to guess, I guess? Taylor, tell us. That was a bad toss. Taylor, tell us who Chris is going to talk about.

The fifth name up, Chris. Carlos Pena. 0-5. I'm going to say that he left the team he was with first and got paid by the Detroit Tigers. Chris levels it up. It's 2-2. Jeremy, your name is Jeff Kent. Well, I am in my bag right now. Okay. Just in my bag.

Where did he go now so clear where he went? Where did he go similar color the dodge don't sit no no no no no wait a minute think the same color scheme well now you Okay, hold on you said Dodger you really are throwing me out you said you said similar color to the Dodgers But then you're talking to orange brown yeah, I so I think Dodgers. Yeah, you did I? Make the week roll the tape similar color the Dodgers or color the Dodgers

I'm gonna say the Dodgers. - What a miss. - Did I actually say Dodgers? - You did. - Similar color to the Dodgers. - What a win. I don't have any other excuse. - Oh God. Three, two after three rounds. Holy . - I'm blaming Dan for that one. - Round four, Taylor. Who is the player that Chris is going to speak about? - Nomar Garciaparra.

Dodger. He was not a Dodger. He was a Chicago Cub. He was a Cub. All right. It's a 4-2 lead, and now the player comes to me. Nick Swisher. Oh, man. There's three teams that are in my head. He wasn't there until later.

I'm going to say Nick Swisher was a Chicago White Sox. That's wrong. He was not a White Sox. Chris Cody, chance to steal. Is it the Guardians or is it the Reds? I feel like he was a Yankee late, late in his career. So this might be too early, but I'm going to go Yankees. He was not a Yankee. Was he a Braves? He was not a Brave. Oakland. Oakland. Damn. It just clicked. It just clicked. All right. That's okay. It's still a 4-2 lead after four rounds. Chris is up to speak now. Larry Walker.

Cardinal. He was a Cardinal. Taylor, who do I speak of now? Adrian Beltre. This is another. Three teams. In my bag. Three teams immediately came to my head. I'm not going to say the team name mistakenly this time. Three teams immediately came to my head. I know all three. You don't know all three teams? The Texas Rangers. He was not a Ranger. No, that was too early. He was a Mariner. He was a Mariner. No! He's not going to do Dodgers. He's not going to do Dodgers. He's playing the other team this guy played for.

Let's move on to a team that we haven't highlighted yet. And I've been trying to avoid talking about every single week on the pitch clock, but they refuse to let me because Tarek Skubal had one of the greatest singular pitching performances we've ever seen in the regular season. It's a complete game. It's a shutout. It's 13 strikeouts. It's under 100 pitches. It's the greatest Maddox in the history of Major League Baseball.

The most strikeouts ever in one of those games. Oh, and the final pitch was 102.6 miles an hour. So I ask you, Adnan, Tarek Skubal, with what he's doing, coming off the Cy Young season last year, being as dominant as he's been thus far this year, where does he rank to you amongst left-handed pitchers globally?

This century. So in the 21st century, where are we putting Tarek Skubal at this point? Because to me, he's really climbing up that list. If he wins the signing again this year and goes back-to-back, and I can't imagine him slowing down, barring an injury, I mean, a triple crown a season ago, that's awfully tough to top, and he's able to do it, it feels like, right now. I'm glad you mentioned the match, particularly the efficiency. To me, when you're under 100 pitches, there's so much for your rotation.

And honestly, Detroit rotation in general has been so buoyed by having other guys now complimenting Scooble. Before it was Scooble and bullpen games all over the place. Now Flaherty's legit. Jackson Jobe, they've won nine of the ten games that Jackson Jobe has started this year. Obviously, Casey Mize has been better this year. And their offense now is much, much better. Riley Green looks like he's legit. Torkelson's had a huge comeback.

Javi Baez is the comeback player of the year. So the Tigers, I mean, they feel like a legit team. And again, that's the other story right now in the American League is that they are the team to beat in the Central. You know, the Twins, even with that incredible run that they've had, they still haven't been able to catch Detroit because they had such a bad start. And you're right, man. Scooble, when he's pitching, it's win day. He must see TV. All right. Time for our Golden Era star.

of the week. I've got two guys for you. I have a feeling I know which direction you're going to go. We've got Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners or Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both guys out west having really, really good seasons. Yeah, I'm going to go with Cal Raleigh, man. I mean, it doesn't matter whether it's the big kahuna, the big shore, or the big Lebowski. I'm going to go with the big dumper because this guy...

Unbelievable, buddy. 58 home runs he's on pace for, which would shatter the record by Salvia Perez, which was 47 by a catcher which was set just a few years ago. Johnny Bench is the greatest catcher of all time. The most home runs he hit in a year was 45. So it looks like Raleigh's going to obliterate it. Eight home runs in 26 games at T-Mobile Park. He hit 11.

in 77 games last year. So, so much for not being able to hit in Seattle. He's proven that you can do so. And if he gets one more home run, he's going to have his fourth 20 home run season in his first five seasons. You're talking about a list with only Mike Piazza and Roy Campanella as catchers who have done that. And you and I can appreciate the nerdy aspects of it. His pitch framing is outstanding. He's among the top four catchers. The other guys are guys known for their defensive prowess,

like Hedges and Alejandro Kirk, but he's right there with them in terms of pitch framing. He's top five in caught stealing percentage. He's a gun for an arm. His catcher ERA is one of the best in baseball. Again, he's catching that great staff in Seattle, but you see the numbers. They improve when Raleigh's behind the plate. He knows that his center land guys like George Kirby can be a little bit mercurial. Logan Gilbert's one of the best pitchers in baseball, and you see the emergence of Wu, and obviously once they get back Miller. So...

When you add it all up, he's the best catcher in baseball. Something about guys in baseball with the name Cal, with the last name starting with an R. Something about that works. Cal Raleigh may be destined for some real greatness like Cal Ripken Jr. We'll see, but it's been an incredible start to his season. And Adnan, as always, it's great having you here on the Pitch Clock. Let's head back to our game between me and Chris. All right, last round. Taylor.

Tell Chris who to speak of now. Name me. Give me a name. Moises Alou. Moises Alou. Oh, three. He was in left field. See, I'm doing this color thing again. So I'm like, I'm doing the same thing you are. But then I, for some reason, picture him as an Astro late in his career. So I'm going to go Astros. Astros. Moises Alou. He was not an Astro. Giants. Giants.

He was a giant. Yes! Did you know that before? I knew. I knew he wasn't an astro. Ha ha! No, but like before I said... No, I had giants written down. Who is the name of which I will be bespoken? The name. Edgar Renteria. St. Louis Cardinals. Incorrect. I'm getting this right here. Where was he in 05? Oh, maybe... Write it down.

And the team that I'm going to say for Edgar and Taria, because he played outside of the Marlins and then the Cardinals, we are going to say that Edgar and Taria also played for the Boston Red Sox. It is the Boston Red Sox. What? Is it? I swear to God. Is it?

Oh, my God. I can't believe you just pulled that out. I just hit a roulette ball. I can't believe. That is a one out of 28. That is ridiculous. I just guessed. It's a tie game. I just guessed. I had, for what it's worth, I had Texas. I did not think it was the Red Sox. I was just picturing red, but I was like, obviously, I'm doing the Cardinals. This is insane. And by the way, another two, right? Or is this going to be sort of a sudden death scenario? Not another round. This will just be sudden death. Then someone gets the advantage if we all win.

This is gonna be a sudden death scenario. So I'm gonna get one first one to get it I'm gonna know I'm gonna give you guys a category you're gonna write down your answers closest number takes it home Let's do this John Franco career saves John Franco career saves Definitely gonna start with like a five or six right you think I'm good Okay, me too. Jeremy reveal your number first. Oh

My number is 317. Oh, we're going to have a good one. This is going to be interesting. 369. We're both right near each other again, just like Jeter. I swear to God, if you get this again. Chris Cody. Yeah, baby! 424. Yeah, baby! 424 saves. What a comeback, Edgar Renteria. Edgar Renteria, Red Sox. What a moment. That was heartbreaking. Just guessed. John Franco, dead to me.

Howdy listeners, it's Mike Ryan. That temperature, it's starting to turn up a little bit. Maybe you're going out on the boat, maybe you're having a pool day, maybe you're just hanging out in your backyard, your patio, and you're grilling. Oh, you're prepping the meats, you're looking at the family, you're enjoying your time with the friends, and guess what's in your hand a

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