Hour 2: The Pitch Clock
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Roy, I don't know if you have the feeling because you are the host or one of the hosts of the now champion hockey show that is sometimes on Fridays and is a raging success because the champions had an embarrassing parade while I was gone, right? It rained a ton.

There was a lot of rain and everyone laughed at Miami because there was apathy about the Panthers. Well, Fort Lauderdale, yes. Everybody laughed at the fact that it was raining on parade. Totally unfair, right? Totally unfair because the fan base is actually huge and the championship felt as good as any. No.

There was thousands of people there, Billy. What are you talking about? Not hundreds of thousands. I didn't say hundreds of thousands. I said thousands. What are you snacking on, Roy? This is a strawberry PB&J little sandwich thing. Oh, good. Roy likes the food around here. He just likes food. Well, he has for years, but he's gone from vending machines to just whatever muffins are in the cabinets.

And a plate full of bacon this morning I walked into. Seven strips of bacon on a plate. So these are the OGs around here. This is the original crew here. This is the thing that built the empire that would conquer all in the fights for the new media age. We're good, man. Finally eating breakfast and getting fed legitimate food.

Yes, I can't tell which was that a presidential candidate. All right. I can't tell which one it is. It's Biden. It's how I talk. It's Nolan Ryan. We got to come together. Come on, man. Please keep working on it. Please. It's not terrible. I've heard worse. I've heard worse Bidens. Who is that?

That was Trump. You know who that was. No, I did recognize him. The hands. It wasn't just the hands. You can work on that. You should succeed. You're the next Shane Gillis. But do the Trump hands when you do your Biden impression? And I'm telling you, it would feel like it's a... Come on, man. It would totally throw me off. You're the next Shane Gillis, Chris. You can do it as the everyman for comedy. Last night, evidently,

Mike is saying we've built for a decade to get to last night, one of the greatest nights of his life. And during this night, OK, I saw Chris and I don't know if Roy was doing this, but over here is sprouting some sort of Tony show with Taylor. And over there is sprouting some or some other pitch clock show with Jeremy Tashay and David Sampson. And I felt like the OG said, what are these bullshit shows?

These bullshit shows. Hey, these bullshit shows are really exciting things that we got going around here. Now, the Taylor and Tony thing, that was basically an unboxing of the big game that dropped yesterday. Settings Talk. They actually played a game. Kudos to Taylor for going off to... Chris said no kudos. No kudos. No, Chris said...

They're not doing the hard work that is making good content. They're just playing a video game. Well, Taylor sang that song. That was good. Yeah, that's hard work. But, Dan, I have to tell you, like, I'm not interested in video games the way I once was, but people are interested in watching other people play video games. Yes, of course. This is where we've aged out. We were going to do it with Twitch.

Yes, yes. We got to YouTube and gamers late. I don't understand. We have plenty of conventional stuff. Let some other people that are associated with this show take some hacks on the Internet. And you can see some hacks as well as some OG cast members intertwined with what Tony has built out. The Tony Show returns on Wednesday. We're going to be playing a lot of retro games out there.

Not necessarily the new CFB 25 one, much to my dismay. And at the conclusion of it, we're going to have a DK best ball draft that we're all excited about. So it's going to be kind of like the Truman Show. It just follows Tony around for the entire night. I was asked not to attend implicitly.

They said, please do not come. Do not participate in this. Who? Tony doesn't want you to... No, I was asked to stay away from this. Billy, you would make it so much better. I was asked to stay away. And you know me, I'm a team player. If I'm asked not to come, I stay home. If only there were more avenues for Billy to constantly undercut Tony while he's trying to create content. Don't ask Billy not to go to something. If you ask me not to go, trust me, I will oblige. But why? I don't understand. This is a weird...

It's a weird dynamic you and him have because he wants to make his way up in the business. It's a tough game right now. He's doing his own thing with some stuff, some properties on our YouTube channel. So I'm very proud of Tony. And if he wants to indulge because this is super self-indulgent, we're doing a best ball draft at the end of it, then let him do it around people that don't make his life miserable. But they also ask everyone else in the office to come. There's people's cousins that are just going to be there on air saying God knows what.

We're just going to let that live at 3 a.m. It makes it go loose. That's a good show. You're right. That's a good show. And you can hear it pretty much every day whenever Tony and Billy are in this studio together.

No shortage of it. Try to be supportive of people, you know? It's me. Last night was indeed one of the best nights of my life and I know what you're saying, like you're exaggerating and everything on this show is so hyperbolic. No, genuinely, last night for me was a payoff of a decade long angle that I've been working inside of my own family. I've been warning Cynthia that this day would come. It was on the horizon. I've been fooled before. I've had the rug pulled out from under me. I've had year long delays and

all I wanted was my family to realize how important last night was gonna be. Do not bother me. Give me this night. Your boy wants to sit on his gaming chair, suck on a zin, maybe have a beer or two, watch his friends play games, build out a dynasty and he did that. At 4 o'clock this game dropped and you see the opening video and you realize, holy shit, they licensed Welcome to the Jungle. And you see all these great college football traditions. I don't

know how this game managed to do it because the expectations for this game were sky high and this isn't just placating to the gamers of today it has to do that but it also has to play into the nostalgia this is a game that people are returning to gaming for people that haven't gamed

What's your record?

- Dude, that game is hard. It was a lot harder than it was 10 years ago. So we navigated a couple bumps in the road. Everybody has the same kind of takeaway. Like we're worse at gaming and this game is hard. - Heisman mode, difficult. - But I started my dynasty in earnest with my group of friends, 2-0 after beating the fighting pandas of FCS Southeast, and then put one on Troy. And gentlemen, it is FSU week now for your Memphis Tigers.

Mike has gone almost totally off the deep end. Stugatz, the pandemic has made it so he has become obsessed with every sport being played, snorting more sports that is humanly sane or reasonable if you're trying to live a healthy, complete, and joyous life. Mike is buried in all manner of sports, and yesterday a fake game came into his life, and it was honored by Tony and Taylor. And it's a real game. No,

No, no, I'm just saying, yes, of course it's a real game. But it's not real life. It's a video game. But for me, there is nothing more real than the relationships I'm building inside of my online dynasty. Really? I was up until 1.30 in the morning watching someone else's UNLV running Rebels go through a huge quarterback controversy. I was assured that both quarterbacks were told they were going to play.

So it's not as bad as it seemed over there. But I got an eye on all seven of us right now, and plenty of people want to hop on for season two of the Dynasty, which, if we keep track in this way, will probably be later today.

I am told that Tony blew an 11-point lead with just under two minutes to go. Heartbreaking. With the Hurricanes against North Carolina. Oh, no. Mike's wearing his used stuff now. He's breaking news left and right. He's a player in this game. Hurricanes fans, rest assured, there's plenty of players missing from this roster, but I've been told that...

Nearly a dozen are going to be available in the next update. We need some help in that secondary. I thought you were a Memphis guy now. I am Memphis in this digital life. But I'm putting the UM insider donor hat right now. And this is a Venn diagram because I'm talking about the game. You're a Tiger or you're not a Tiger? That's what I always say. I can't imagine why Tony didn't want you a part of this. Taylor did say on the stream that Mike Ryan could be seen walking out of the stadium after Miami lost in that game. Wow.

It's good banter. Solid banter. It's part of the game. We like the banter. EA Sports. It's in the game. Chris, did you or did you not say you tuned in to Taylor and Tony for 90 seconds and you bailed? Not good enough. No, I was in the chat. I was trying to help out. But yeah, I had to go somewhere. That's fine. That's...

You turn it on and walk away, right? Most people do that with the Twitch stream. 90 seconds, it all counts. That's a view. Thank you. There were lots of celebrities doing the same thing at the same time, were there not? A lot of people were doing this. Why watch Sketch when you could watch Taylor and Tony? I got to tell you, any time the...

the old school shipping container gets around with like Dan and Stu Gotts, I get excited. But this was the first time I was genuinely sad to see it because no, I could not share my excitement with anybody on the cast. Yesterday, people could meet me there. I'm trying, Mike. No, I appreciate the effort. I'm excited at the idea of the game. I just don't have all these hours to play it. No, but this is... Oh, I don't have a meter. $500, $600 on a gaming system to get it? Billy, I don't have... I'm aged. Well...

Yes on the gaming system because I think that that purchase is worth it and what I felt last night made it all Worthwhile all the times I felt old my account got hacked. How do I fix this? What do you mean? I need to buy a gift card to unlock it. I was hacked. I'm the victim what they don't sell hard copies anymore What do you mean? I need a headset all of it. All of it was made worth it last night I still felt old but I felt nostalgic and

And I felt camaraderie. And the game was there for me. The game, the previous edition was there for so many people during the pandemic. It had a resurgence. This game matters to so many people. And I'm so thankful that EA nailed it. But when you're playing, you're playing against somebody who is sitting in their own living room, right? They're not sitting with you. Is that...

Well, I'm playing again. Right now, my enemy is a computer, but I do have a couple of user-scheduled games on Dynasty mode. I hate that. When you play video games, both of you need to be in the same location. I need to be on a couch. You need to be on the same couch. We need to do bong hits. We need to play Frogger.

playing Pong. Frogger, Stugatz. I do miss that aspect of it. And then there's lag and everyone will say you have to hardwire it, but not both people can be hardwired. Some people don't even hardwire anymore. It's all, I've learned so much. But, you know, it's, it's,

totally fine and you can I found now that these gaming systems have these party modes and I was just hanging out till like 1.30 I felt so young and so old at the exact same time it was a beautiful night it was incredible please before I get to this other show with Tashay that I think Chris Cody doesn't think should exist oh oh

You support this show? Okay. Regardless. I'm on it. You guys, look. Nobody wants to support side projects around here. It's very disheartening. Hmm.

Mike Ryan is saying, in the cynical age of it's impossible to meet our discerning standards where all we do is make jokes on the internet at every single thing, you're telling me that a video game has been unleashed. This is the one where Chris Fowler does a million miles of AI for? I haven't built my program up to get a Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit game yet. I'm still with Reese and David Pollack and Jesse Pace.

Palmer, but I'm hoping for FSU week, which my AD has announced is going to be a whiteout game. We get the national television crew. Aren't you the AD? No, I've hired somebody. What?

Don't you have any ACC news to break in this segment? Well, yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on right now. And FSU, there was so much smoke coming out from FSU last month that they felt so good. They were going to the Big Ten. And then I called a couple of sources that know what's going on with the Big Ten and a couple other ACC sources. And I was essentially laughed away from the phone because of how ridiculous that notion would be. But it does seem like FSU is on –

hell-bent on getting out of the ACC no matter what it costs them. And I think a lot of schools are waiting around, rooting for them, establish the precedent, you pay the money. And you have a situation here, if Brett Yormark's comments over the Big 12 media day are any kind of... Another Yormark, another one of them. They'll never go away, Dan. Brett Yormark... How did that happen? Well, they're twins.

Brett, your mark. It came into the Big 12. It was a dire situation. Everyone thought it would die. He did save the Big 12. The Big 12 was in better position and essentially killed the Pac-12 after the big teams left to the Big 10. Big 12 picked up the pieces. They are very aggressive. Credit to him. And you may disagree with the means and how he goes about doing things, but he's an ass kicker. And now he is...

potentially turning to private equity, which is dangerous because private equity is in some cases, these might be loan sharks. And you have a situation where FSU is also turning to private equity. And that's a bit of a dicey proposition, but I do wish FSU well, hopeful that they can establish some sort of legal precedent to get out of the ACC. I wish FSU well, what kind of way is that to go? I do because I don't, I'm not a fan of the ACC whatsoever.

I think that they've taken a backseat to all of this, and you're seeing what an aggressive leader can do by just merely saving the Big 12. Brett Urmark just strolled into this sport and showed more cojones than anyone in the ACC has shown in several years. But I am hopeful that you take this year, you play.

play it out and as we inch more and more towards a Super League hopefully and that the NCAA doesn't get safe harbor status that you can have a totally different college football landscape almost every year for the next three years. It's pretty wild. The ACC ripped off by Skipper. Yep. He signed a bad deal. Well, great deal for him. Bad deal for his Tar Heels. Great

Great. Yes. Okay. Great deal. Like the best deal maybe ever in sports media. That ACC ESPN deal. But bad for a school. But terrible for his Tar Heels. Just totally nuked his Tar Heels, though they're probably best position out of any of the schools. You are telling me, I just want to get this straight, that the CEO of our company...

When I've told you athletic directors, some of the least impressive people in the world, look how late it took them to figure out at the top of leadership. Hey, let's rip everyone off for all the money and shall be independent. It's been a giant and just scam for a really long time. Nobody knows it. Let's just steal it. Here comes private equity. Let's just buy all the players. Let's just buy it. Let's have Texas's quarterbacks come out to Lamborghinis in recruiting because now we're throwing around giant dollars because everyone can see the business of television and

Good God, it pays. Let's codify a collectively bargain, not really, settlement and say, no, 80-20 is a split forever. Us bureaucrats get to stay in power. And also, safe harbor status. Nobody can tell us anything. And even though we've...

at every turn tried to undercut NIL. We're now in charge of it. It's all subjective now. Have fun. No, thank you. No, thank you, NCAA. And if you've seen the language, they're only turning the temperature up on it. It needs to be stopped. But I can't believe that you're saying here, Mike, that with all of the cynicism of the internet...

at expectations for bring me back the nostalgia of this game, it met and exceeded your discerning standards for I've been waiting for this night all my life and it's even better than I imagined. The hype around this game got so out of hand that you're...

It's almost impossible to meet expectations because people's memory of this game, I guarantee you, if your last memory of NCAA 14 was exactly back then when you played it, you still talk in such glowing terms that if you open that game right now, you probably wouldn't recognize it and you'd ask yourself, why did I love this game so much? It's kind of like how you would feel about Frogger. You'd swear up and down, Frogger, I don't need all these graphics.

I think that's the first time I said that. But Donkey Kong, any of that stuff, you have these emotional connections. You're saying that I wouldn't want the enhanced Frogger until I saw the enhanced Frogger. Yeah. Now imagine they came out with a brand new Frogger. Now I've said Frogger multiple times. And it came out and it gave you all that joy. There have been like 3D Froggers and stuff that are not as good. You want the original.

Don't hate on Frogger. Yeah. I like the original. Exactly right. It goes without saying. It's a great game. Frogger's a great game. We play Frogger every morning. Now, this is a next-gen... Crossing the street. There's no burger time. What? Since Sam mentioned that, there have been 17 Froggers said...

What do you mean you played Frogger? Why did you play Frogger? Oh, we have to run through traffic. Yeah, they run through traffic because they park across the street. It's real life Frogger. It's a dangerous game. Dangerous game. High risk Frogger. Wasn't Frogger like a Kyle Brandt show for like a moment in time? I think so. Oh, yeah, I saw that. Yeah, yeah. That was 10 questions. It was okay.

What? Yeah, there was a Frogger game show. Kyle Brandt's 10 questions was just okay? No, no, the Frogger game. It didn't get renewed, so I don't think it's... I'm not going out on a limb saying it wasn't great. He just got back from Africa. Stop confusing him. Kyle Brandt? We got Trump impressions that sound like Biden. We got Biden impressions that sound like Trump. Wait, hold on. Kyle Brandt... Chris has to say it's Biden. Brandt went with you to Africa. I believe his Trump is improving. You know who I am, man.

I didn't know. I had no idea who that was. I have no clue. I did not know. Chris, we need you. It's going to be a tough four months, man. You really think a 77-year-old is going to strike us out because that's crazy? Not strike out. You just got a foul tip on a 77-year-old. I mean, can't we even paint the strike zone? At 77, it's not a crazy question to ask. I want you.

set it up. How do I do that? Get Nolan Ryan down here? You want us to get Nolan Ryan Express to come down here? We couldn't even schedule us swimming against each other. We're not getting a Nolan Ryan here.

Chris, you said he was throwing how hard and when was he throwing it? At age 63, so 14 years ago, his top speed was 85. Okay, so he's probably down to what, mid-70s? I can't hit 85. I'll be honest. But how about mid-70s? Mid-70s. Yeah, mid-70s. Mid-70s is like an average high school baseball player. Yeah. Maybe I can't hit him.

We now have in the Elser, I believe, the ability to use a basketball court. Can you guys prove to me any semblance of athleticism somewhere in this building? You just threw out there a second ago we couldn't organize a swim meet. We were trying to organize a swim meet. Spoiler alert. That's going to happen, I think. I can't.

Billy just informed me we were doing a swim meet. That was one place. The one location may have gotten canceled, but we're still efforting. Mike, are you on your phone? Yeah, there's a lot of stuff happening right now. What's happening? In the AAC? The digital AAC or the real ACC? I'm confused now. No, the commissioner's going to advance a week. Wait, what? We're going to get to week three after everyone's done recruiting. In real life? Well, all is live. No, video game. Got it. You can send them a DM.

But I'll cost you five hours. Frogger had one season. It was Kyle Brant and Damon Wayans. Yeah. Damon Wayans, underrated. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Top ten Wayans easily. Oh, yeah.

Even though there was like seven of them. You guys want to try that list? Because I don't think we would do very well at the top ten weigh-ins as a show. I think we would get stuck at, what, four? Well, our thing's top five, and then we'll have OLIs. Keenan Ivory, OLI. I'll take... What? OLI? What? I would take Kim, OLI. Really? I have Kim at five. Kim's probably at five, yeah. The Tracy Chapman thing in Living Color still holds up. All right, we're out. Mauling. No weigh-ins.

Sean? There it is. Stugatz with a finger gun toward Mike Ryan. Mike gave me one, I gave him one. No way. He threw out there lazily while I think, trying to pull a cigarette out of his shorts. Who do you guys rank higher, Damon or Damon Jr.? Oh, Damon. I was actually in my phone because Dan said set it up, and I wanted to quickly say the setup guy for the world champion Kansas City Royals, just a

really make this segment confusing, but tie it all together. And I lost the name because even though I care about more sports than I ever have, baseball, eh, not so much. Eric Hosmer on a future edition of South Beach Sessions. Great beard. Great promotion. It's a good get.

Not in the Royals. That was Biden, right? Who is that? That was Trump. Oh. I was just informed by executive. Who was that? If I say man at the end, it was Biden. That's a Q. You just don't get it. You really don't. None of you get it. That's Biden.

I want to do my Pierce Brosnan impression so bad, but Dan got bothered by it. We need a Trump. We don't need a Pierce Brosnan. You don't need a 1997 Dante's Peak version of limited fake Pierce Brosnan in which he says essentially four words. I miss the limited fake so much. Turn on alert.

All right, Mike, I'm going to need you to leave for the rest of the show. What? That's fair, actually. I get it. I get it. What about me, man? Who's Craig Wayans? That was Robert Kennedy. I can play remotely on the app now. Just leave. All right? Just go leave. Go play video games. Go play video games for the rest of your life. I'm not going nowhere, man. Please leave. I'm staying right here. That's fine. I don't care if you want me to leave. I'm staying. He said, man. Get it? It's an election joke. Right.

I don't care how many of you want me to leave. I'm staying. I'm Joe Biden, man. That was Biden. That was Biden. He said his name. Ed Man. Ed Man, yeah. The name gave it away that time. Yeah. Why were you a Roomba before? That's the way he walks around the stage after a speech. Look, we're competing against Colin Cowherd, and up on his graphic is, is Josh Allen overrated? Oh.

Oh, that's a question. I saw Josh Allen in Tahoe when he asked me, how's that asshole Billy Gil doing? Oh, wow. I swear I called Billy right afterwards. Yes. He said it, you know, lovingly. By name or he's like, who's that asshole guy that said that shit about me? And he did. Billy was flattered by it. Said a-hole? Well, you know, he, yes, yes. Did any of it happen? Did you see Josh? Yeah, I have his number too.

It'll be on next week. So, Billy, there's no relationship there. It's just a bunch of Stugatz scams smoking there. It was a walk-by head nod. Hold on a second. Did you do the thing where you texted him and you saw that he got your number or a fake number situation? No, he gave me the number. I texted him mine. He said, I got it. Yeah, that's, yeah. I did that to someone who was standing in the street offering to sell new roofs.

I thought I was just taking a paper from them, helping them out, and then they asked me for my contact info, so I gave them my wife's phone number off a digit. Oh! And if they figure it out, they call my wife. A coward move off a digit? What do you mean? Oh, no! The weakest scam ever!

Summer's the best time to run the way you want. Dial it up with new challenges and programs and bring your workouts with you to make the most of outside sunny days. Stugatz, guess what? What? You know what you can do with Peloton? What? Get the app, go outside, ride a bike. Well, I thought you ride Peloton inside. Well, you do. You can ride Peloton inside if it's a rainy day or if it's cloudy or you just don't want to get outside. Maybe it's too hot.

summertime, go outside. I record a lot from my office with you and you've noticed it's sitting there yet. It hasn't been used. Well, now's the time. Summer's the best time to start that push. Right. Can we do it together? Not on the same bike, but we could join a class together. I used to do that. We used to have Guillermo Tan. I'd invite people. We'd all take a class together. Okay. So I think you're starting to get concerned about my health and my age, Billy. I,

I sense that with you. We're beyond starting. Okay. Whatever road lies ahead, your training starts here with Peloton Tread and Tread Plus. It's not just a bike, a treadmill too. I'm going to go outside. I'm going to get in shape. I'm going to do it with Billy Gill. I want to be in your class. I want you to be my instructor. You know what? I won't be your instructor. You don't want to spend more time with me. No, I can schedule a class and we can ride together. I won't be the instructor of the class. We can have Camila could be our instructor. I like the Grateful Dead class. My daughter, she uses the Peloton. Mm-hmm.

She was on it once and an instructor who was playing Grateful Dead tunes. Let's do that. Okay. Why don't we go for a run outside? Guided run. Peloton. Me and you. That's something we can do together. Okay. Turn on the app. Me and you go outside. Enjoy the summer. Call yourself a runner with Peloton at onepeloton.com slash running. All right.

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Go ahead and try it out for yourself. Pick an upcoming game on the app, browse through it on GameTime Picks, and you want to talk about great deals. GameTime always brings it, whether it's their all-in pricing, seat views, the lowest price guarantee, or their ticket coverage. They make this experience special.

Pat Clements JT Snow Gary DeSarcina Luis Polonia Chad Curtis

Hey everyone! Welcome to our new baseball segment, The Pitch Clock. I'm Jeremy, I'll be your host every week. And here's the pitch. Essentially, every single week we will have a baseball-themed segment where we will be...

Playing a nostalgic trivia game with a member of the shipping container and potentially our baseball expert. We actually do have our expert today. I'll get to him in a second. And we will also have an interview with an expert every single week. We'll be going back and forth between those two things to force feed you modern baseball information in between.

our fun trivia game. Taylor is our producer. He has our game and our expert is here with us. Mike. Sure. Thank you for joining me and Chris Cody today on the very first episode of the pitch clock. Taylor.

Why don't you go ahead and let us know what the trivia game we are playing today will be. But wait, we've done this before. This isn't the first one. No, we had two pilot episodes, Chris. Those are exclusively on YouTube. This is the first time they're hearing us in the podcast feed. Mr. Executive Producer, this is the very first time. Off to a great start, guys. We crushed those. Yeah, we did, and they're on YouTube. And you can go back and watch those if you'd like, but this is the first time that we're playing this

Game on the actual show Chris this is exciting go check it out Mike sure is here I whooped that ass last game yeah you did yeah I've got Mike sure as a minus 2,000 favorite today because the game is a draft oh you're gonna pander to him that'll be five rounds it's a draft and you're drafting players based on most seasons on the all-star game roster whoa your player has been an all-star five seasons and

That's five points. Okay. And at the end, whoever has the most points after five rounds wins the game. It's pitch clock rules, so you have 20 seconds per pick. All right, I go first. Yep, pitch clock rules. I called it. Chris Cody can go first. Mike Scherr, you'll go second, and I'll round things out picking third, and we'll just keep going in an order like that. What's Mike Scherr looking at right now? He looks like he's looking at some cute computer stuff. I don't think he should be Googling anything. I'm not Googling anything, I promise. I'm not Googling anything. I don't think he needs to.

All right, Chris, with the very first pick, you're going to have 20 seconds on the clock. Who is your first pick? Derek Jeter. All right, Derek Jeter off the board. Wait, this is just all time? This isn't like 90s or anything? This is just all time? This is all time. So, Mike, you have 20 seconds on the clock. Who will be your first pick? Derek Jeter also. I'm allowed to say it, and then I'll tell you at the end the results.

Derek Jeter at 14. All-star game. This is a game called Name the Best Players in Baseball History. Well, it's important to know how many all-star games they made. Mike Scher, your pitch clock has started. Willie Mays. All right. That's a really good pick. Willie Mays, 20 all-star game appearances. Damn it. Oh, boy. Okay. I thought I had a good pick. I will pick Mariano Rivera. 13. That's where I was going to go next, actually.

And now to the interview portion of the pitch clock. We've kicked Chris Cody out. We've moved over to Studio B. And now we test Mike Schur's actual baseball knowledge of modern Major League Baseball. Mike, thank you for lending your expertise here as we approach the MLB All-Star Game tonight on Tuesday. I want to know, you know, through this point of the season, do you have a team in the American League and a team in the National League that has surprised you most recently?

in this first half of Major League Baseball? Yeah, there's a lot of surprising teams, I would say. In the American League, ironically, it's my own favorite team. It's the Red Sox. I predicted the Red Sox would be basically what they were last year, which is like a game under .500.

and they're currently sitting in wildcard slot number three in the American League. They're hitting much better than I think anybody thought they would. They've had a ton of injuries, and they're still playing really well. Also, their defense is atrocious. It is truly unpleasant to watch this team play defense. I think they have...

They have 10 more errors than any other team in the American League currently. And that doesn't begin to tell the story of how bad they are. They are butchers defensively. And yet they're 11 games over 500 and in contention after ownership did essentially nothing at all in the offseason to help them. So that's been a really pleasant surprise. The other team in the American League that was surprising to me was the Astros because they sucked.

really badly for the first couple months of the season and I kind of a lot of people wrote their obituary including me and now they've just been like annoyingly doing that Astros thing they do which is like winning and chipping away and winning series and pitching better and hitting better and Bregman came alive and now they're right on the Mariners heels and as much as I want to think that

the Mariners can hold them off and make a run because it would be really fun to have the Mariners make a World Series run. I think that they're doomed. I think the Astros are going to catch them. And that's a bummer because who wants to see the Astros in the playoffs again? Especially when you could have a Mariners run. I mean, they're one of the more fun things in baseball to watch.

Yeah, Mariners, they have a bunch of fun players and they've never won a World Series. They're the Padres of the American League. And I was really thinking maybe this would be the year that the Astros kind of fell apart in this core game.

Valtuve and Bregman and Jordan Alvarez and those guys were just kind of fall apart and maybe the Mariners could ascend to the AL West throne. But I, I don't know, man. I mean, those are the good on the good side. Those are the teams and the, and the Royals who are hanging in, although they look a little shaky recently. All right, Chris, Alex Rodriguez. It's a good pick. 14 back to back. You guys, you guys are blowing this. You guys are so hard.

Hank Aaron. Hank Aaron. Hank Aaron was number one. Big shocker. There were fewer teams. There were fewer players. I don't know why I'm telling you this. All right. Time to go back in time. There was a reason why he was a minus 2000 favorite. Trying to think of anyone from that era who were the greatest home run hitters. How about Stan Musial?

That's a good pick. Tied with Willie Mace. All right. Who has been to you, not the biggest surprise, but the most entertaining team in baseball to watch this year? My favorite team, my favorite two teams to watch who aren't the Red Sox are the Orioles and the Phillies. Orioles because they've got so many guys that are 25, call it, and under who just look like

world-beating future Hall of Famers. Everybody knows about Henderson, who if it weren't for Judge, would be a runaway MVP candidate this year. He might still win it. He plays a more important position, and he's mashing the ball at nearly the same rate that Judge is, although Judge is, you know,

Judge is just ridiculous. Otherworldly. Yeah, just so unpleasant. Just so deeply unpleasant that Aaron Judge plays for the Yankees. But Rutschman is every bit as good as everybody thought he would be. They have so many guys, Colton Couser and Heston Kierstad and all these really young players who are...

essentially doing what everyone thought they would do when they, they tank, look, they tanked for eight years or whatever. They did what they, they ran the process in baseball and it's paying off. Like they have all these guys who are super young and really, really good. And it's, and that makes, that makes them super fun to watch Jordan Westbrook, who's like the ninth most interesting guy of that crop is, has 15 homers at the break. Like it's,

They have a ton of those guys. And then the Phillies, to me, are just like the most joyous team to watch. Like they they have like a Bryce Harper was the perfect guy for that team because they have like an extremely Phillies vibe to them. Like they're just like Philly as a city. And that team of dudes is perfectly suited for each other.

They were, it's a little bit misleading how good they were in the first half because they had the easiest schedule, I think in baseball over the first couple of months. And I was a little skeptical that they were actually as good as they appeared to be, but they're still playing really well. And they're, and the Braves obviously have had catastrophic injury luck with Acuna going down, but also, uh,

They just, everyone on that team is hitting worse by like 150 OPS points than they did last year. Everyone is down. Olsen is down and Ozzie Albies is down. They're all weirdly worse. And because of that, the Phillies have an eight and a half game lead. They have the best run differential in baseball. I think as of yesterday, uh,

And they're just kind of sailing right through. And I mean, right now, I would say the betting favorite to come out of the National League, even above the Dodgers, they handle the Dodgers really easily in that series recently. And they just look really great. And I nothing would make me happier, except leaving the Red Sox aside. Nothing would make me happier than the Phillies actually winning a title with this team because they're so fun to watch.

Chris, your third pick. I'm feeling very rattled. By the way, this has gone so far. I thought I had good answers and it's not going well for me. Babe Ruth. Terrible pick. Two. Two. What? Two? All-Star game wasn't, All-Star game didn't exist. Come on. It's a smaller league, Mike. I thought it was a smaller league. It was a smaller league, but you got to know when the All-Star game started. You got to know when the All-Star game started, man. I was praying that somebody said Babe Ruth and Chris Cody fell right into the trap. He fell into the trap.

Okay. Rod Carew. Oh, man. That's a good pick. Oh, that's a good pick. 18. 18 all-star games for Rod Carew. Babe, are you thinking of two? Hall of Fame or Rod Carew? Okay. I'm trying to think. I do have 20 seconds on the clock so I can stall for my third pick. I'm trying to go back to that era. Oh, God. I hope no one picks my guy. Maybe I stick with... They probably won't. I'm a little worried here. Can I...

How about Ozzie Smith? Baseball reference 15. All right.

I'll take it. I'm going to be happy coming in second place here if Mike Scher is in first. I mean, you just had two. That's going to make it a little bit difficult. And by the way, through three rounds, Chris has selected Derek Jeter, A-Rod, and Babe Ruth. Mike Scher has selected Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Rod Carew. I've selected Mariano Rivera, Stan Musial, and Ozzie Smith. We are on the fourth of five rounds now. Chris Cody, who's your fourth pick? I'm going to keep a running theme here. Manny Ramirez. Manny Ramirez. Perfect.

12. Alright. Alright. That's not terrible. I did that for comedy. I'm gonna say, uh, Tashay, you had the right idea, but you picked the wrong one. You picked the wrong shortstop. I did. It's gotta be, uh, Ripken. Ah, that was who I was gonna go to next.

It's Ripken as 19. No! The fourth best answer that you can have. Why did I do that? My headphones came out. I'm devastated. Oh, my God. Ripken. All right. Well, this feels kind of over. I'm going to go with Roger Clemens. I will fact check it. That's got to be good. 11. 11. That's not great. It's okay.

Mike, the final question of our interview here for you a couple of weeks before the deadline. I know we're celebrating the all-star game tonight, but a couple of weeks before the trade deadline, I'm wondering, are there any teams that you look at that you think are competitive, are playoff teams, but you could see them making a move that could then catapult them into actual world series contention? And if so, what would that move be? Who would you like to see them target? Well,

Well, yeah, there's a there's a lot, obviously. I mean, the Orioles don't really need to do anything, but I think they will because I think they sense blood in the water. The Yankees have been pretty bad in the last month or two. They have a ton of prospects that they can trade that they don't really need.

And, you know, I don't know who the pitchers are who are going to be available, but I think the Orioles right now are one really good starting pitcher short of being a real World Series contender. I think they'll do something in the pitching market. I think the Guardians are another. Guardians are very quietly sailing right on through with the best record in the American League. I don't think anyone, including me, really buys them as a World Series team yet. I think they need some help.

Then there's the teams like, you know, there's like the Brewers. Like, did the Brewers do something? The Brewers are likely going to win the NL Central. But what are the betting odds for the Brewers to make the World Series right now? Like, I don't think anyone thinks they're better than the Phillies or the Dodgers. I don't think anyone thinks they're honestly better than the Braves, even in the Braves weekend condition. So, yeah.

I think the contenders, those three contenders, I would imagine, will try to do something. The bigger question for me is these marginal teams, the Twins, the Red Sox, the Cardinals, the Padres, these marginal teams, are they buyers or sellers? It's the same question every year. I think I can tell you right now that if the Red Sox became sellers, there would be a rebellion in greater New England because...

The ownership did nothing to help this team in the offseason. They announced the actual phrase they used was we're going full throttle. And apparently full throttle meant do nothing. It's absolutely Stan Pat. And I and against all odds, they're in playoff contention. So I think you're going to see the I think you're going to see them do something.

But I don't know. I think there's a lot of teams that feel like they're in playoff contention, but kind of know that they're not really better than the best teams in the league. I think most of those teams will sense that it's a seller's market and are going to bail and kind of unload a bunch of veterans because I think that there are a lot of hung. I think the Orioles, the Guardians, the

the Mets who were still hanging around are more desperate to make the playoffs than some of these other mid-market teams, the Royals and the Rangers and the whoever. So I think you're going to see, I'm predicting a lot of movement and I think a lot of movement for the Mets

from the marginal teams to the contenders. I think the contenders are all going to go for it. And I hope that's true because there's nothing more fun than an exciting trade deadline day. It's like the most fun thing in sports.

Does Mike have like four of the five best top answers? Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's right, nailing the entire top of the board. And just so we know, through four rounds, we're about to enter round number five through four rounds. Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Babe Ruth, and Manny Ramirez on Chris's side here. Mike Shore has Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Rod Carew, and Cal Ripken Jr. And I have Mariano Rivera, Stan Musial, Ozzie Smith, and Roger Clemens. It sort of feels like this is already solidified, but Chris...

Why don't you go ahead with your fifth pick? I feel like taking a pitcher is just not the way. Yeah. I'm going to go Randy Johnson. What? Randy Johnson, 10. All right. All right. That's not bad. Slow and steady. That's me playing this game. All right. Mike, why did you say that taking a pitcher wasn't the way and then take a pitcher? Because I was like, I'm already, like, it's the fifth pick. Like, we're already, like, I'm already out of it. Comedy, Mike. Yeah, comedy.

Speaking of, Mike Shore, who's your favorite? All right, I'm going hometown. I'm going Red Sox. The question is, is it Yaz or Williams? And because Williams lost five and a half years to two different wars...

I am going to say that it is the 23-year career of Carl Yastrzemski provided more All-Star games. Yastrzemski, 18. Oh, my gosh. You just put on a clinic. All right. Well, I guess I'll go with your other guess. Ted Williams. Ted Williams was a very good pick. 17. 17. All right.

All right, well, I think I know the answer here. But Taylor, you want to give us the math on who ultimately won this game? Just rounding it out, if you look at the teams. How about one time for Babe Ruth, though? One time for Babe Ruth.

One time for Babe Ruth. How about that? We can all agree it should have been more than two times. Sultan Aswat. We can all agree on that. More nicknames than all-star appearances. Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Babe Ruth, Manny Ramirez, and Randy Johnson. That's Chris's team. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Rod Carew, Coward Quinn Jr., and Carl Yastrzemski for Mike Schur. And Mariano Rivera, Stan Musial, Ozzie Smith, Roger Clemens, and Ted Williams for yours truly. Taylor, what were our point totals? The final tally in third place with 52...

Chris Cody. Chris Cody. Clap it up. I'm trying to find a good three-time All-Star. In second place, Jeremy Taché, 76. All right, I'll take it.

And in first place, again, a clinic, Mike Schur, 96. Wow. If you look at the big board, it was Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Cal Ripken Jr., Rod Carew, and Carl Ushanky. Oh, my God. So he got five out of six? That's insane. How did you do that? That's ridiculous. At least I got one of them.

When Willie Mays died, the thing that everybody said was he had the all-time record for most All-Star appearances with 24 tying Hank Aaron, I think, or whatever, or 21 tying or beating Hank Aaron or whatever. So it was like those two picks were easy. And then Yaz played forever and Ripken played forever and made every All-Star game on reputation alone.

So and I just pick guys who had 23 year careers who were who were Hall of Famers and figure that. Well, congratulations on putting on a clinic. You not only have expertise in the modern game, but you also have expertise here in, well, all of Major League Baseball history. I'm just proud because the gap between me and you was smaller than the gap between me and Chris. So I'm going to go ahead and group us together on this one as opposed to.

I think former Red Sox third baseman Scott Cooper made two All-Star games, so the same number as Babe Ruth. That's ridiculous. Scott Cooper and Babe Ruth, same category here.

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