John Martin of Maryland Lottery talks Cleveland baseball history and big Home Run Riches winners with Nestor before the Orioles and Guardians do battle at Camden Yards.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

week, games, baseball, lottery, willie mays, maryland, play, win, orioles, pitching, watched, talk, scratch, john, summer, bingo, thought, prize, festival, wordle

SPEAKERS

John Martin, Nestor J. Aparicio

Nestor J. Aparicio  00:00

To what home we are W n s t tests Baltimore, Baltimore positive we are positively into this close to summer I swear by the weekend summer is going to be here although to feel like summer a little earlier certainly feels like summer we’re getting out on the Maryland crabcake tour. We’ve done it a couple of times a week all month long, sort of wrapping things up a little bit Thursday at Costas and Dundalk watching the Orioles in the Yankees in the rubber match and then next Tuesday, which would be more feasible for many of you to join us at Pappas in Parkville. We will be at the original house and I look forward to seeing Glenburnie rebel air or Cockeysville we’re going to be in Parkville. Early in the afternoon. Get some great guests coming to Pappas on Tuesday as well as some great giveaways the Gold Rush sevens doubler I haven’t learned how to say I heard myself say it the wrong way on the radio last week before I knew how to say the right way. Gold Rush sevens doubler we had a $20 winner last week at Cooper’s as we did Fleet Week and duck down below we had all these Phillies fans in town. Also our friends at Liberty pure solutions keeping our water crystal clear. I talked to Doug last week we’re going to be having him on on the crabcake tour and Jiffy Lube MultiCare keeping my car nice and nice and cool. So I can get to concerts, get the ball games, get to the beach, get places here this summer. And it’s summertime always good time to check in with John Martin, our executive director of all things Maryland lottery and gaming. You know, when the Orioles start facing the better pitching, I’m just trying to win the games and survive the series. No offense to you or the man that is focused on we have to get a lot of home runs or they have to be grand slams, but they did it for on Sunday. So this starts to cost you a little bit of money. But the Grand Slam thing. Let’s just get some starting pitching. I’m not trying to be too ambitious. Do you have a pitching contest we can have? There are

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John Martin  01:42

there seems to be a dearth of starting starting pitching and my beloved guardians are probably in the echelon of people most desperate for starting pitching. But you know, I looked at our tape because if nothing else, I watched the film. So it’s like the the pros do Nestor I watched the films after our performance. And you were rather down on the Phillies pitching staff and woefully anticipating a lack of homeruns. And yes, we had a contest of the game on Sunday for them for $2,500 winner. Bam.

Nestor J. Aparicio  02:14

Well, you know what’s more impressive is that Jim Palmer and of course this is you know, Jim being glib has dubbed the left field wall the Great Wall of Baltimore as to have moved it back 30 feet as they did a few years ago. I even believed on summer nights that this would wind up benefiting the Maryland lottery in this promotion, I really thought there would be less homeruns but then again, I didn’t account for like how this was going to play from a pitching. And hey, by the way, I’m looking at the schedule here is this guardians week for you and me we don’t have a lot of these anymore, do we? You

John Martin  02:48

know what we don’t coming up next week. Unfortunately, I will not be here I will have to have

Nestor J. Aparicio  02:54

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oh, okay, you plan this you’re going to

John Martin  02:57

No, no, no, I I did not plan this. It was planned for me. So there you go. So my presence is requested elsewhere, but I’m hopeful that it is it is very competitive. I’m hopeful that we on the one hand, hand out home run riches winners, but not in large doses, just enough to keep people enthusiastic about it. And and then you can open up the Grand Slam vault after we leave town.

Nestor J. Aparicio  03:25

Well I know you hate when I peel back the personal onion on John Martin sports fan but you really are a big sports fan. You’re a lifer. You’re a lifer. Clevelander who is done lotteries and dumb things you’re hearing now we talk about enriches, but your your love of baseball and we all wait. We talk on the air off the air about it a little bit. And the Guardians speak to that a little bit because like Luke Jones was born two weeks and he’ll be telling me the story at overcast this week. He was born two weeks before the Orioles won the World Series in 83. Right. And because I talked so much so he’s away. He doesn’t remember it. His fault. He has this beautiful story. His father was an usher at the Oriole games famously pictures his father passed away about 20 years ago when he was a young man and his father could have worked the World Series but because he was so excited to have a baby boy, he stayed home and watched the games on TV and thought later in life. They would have a chance to see it together is that’s been gone 20 years he just had a nice join the world this week Luke did so he’s he’s a nice uncle for the second time. But there are so many people in my space that are younger my son’s 3911 Experience the World Series think you’ve been searching for it LeBron aside and all of that, but like baseball, I mean, he he’s Yankees fans, they’ve won a lot the Red Sox they’ve watched the Cubs fans get theirs for my generation and I watched them win and 83 and there are few people out there that remember, you know 70 And I remember 79 and all that but baseball is like this lifetime. You wait and you wait and you wait and you hope and you hope and you’re done No different than us at this point waiting and hoping.

John Martin  05:02

You know it is ironic you bring it up for the discussion this week of all weeks. Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays. Oh, yes, the way it was before I was born. But who can never, ever forget because we’ve all seen it now millions of times his incredible catch in the 1954 world series against

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Nestor J. Aparicio  05:25

the Clevelanders. There you go. I can’t I can’t say the word anymore. There you go. Cleveland.

John Martin  05:30

So So yes. Even before I was born, there was a little bit of of woe is us. Matter of fact, you could look it up, but I know you will. But not during the show. The 1954 Cleveland Indians at that point, I think had won the most games ever. For a major league team at that time. I think they’ve won like 168 100 levels or something like this number. Because again, that was 154 154. Right? Okay. Schedule. So I mean, they were overwhelming. And they got swept for zip. And you know,

Nestor J. Aparicio  06:03

one week I’m gonna have you on it. You’re not gonna be John Martin or the mayor, the lobby just gonna be John, baseball guy. And because like you are encyclopedic about it when I started, when I get after you about your baseball, you really know the sport and you love the sport. What do you love about baseball these years later, though, the waiting and the hoping, is the thing that when I look into the eyes of Orioles fans, and when I see the excitement for that, it is the a lot of people have never experienced this. I’m 55. So I was I was 15. When they won the World Series, I turned 15. That weekend, weekend of October, they want on the 16th. My birthday was the 14th on Game three. So I mean, I I’ve been waiting, and I’ve been on the radio documenting this for 32 years now, but 40 years in local media. This is when the Hulk gets built like this, I think it hurts even more when Bradish goes out last week. And Luke and I are like, Hey, you gotta go get pitching. And then there’s the Aaron judge thing this week. And I mean baseball, so daily. And I think that that’s the part of it, that I loved so much that I missed so much here when the team wasn’t great. It’s a lot of fun when your team’s good. And it’s fun, because this week, it’s the Yankees this weekend to get to talk about those cheaters and those laughs down in Houston. And next week, we get Cleveland. And there’s this rich tapestry of Baltimore, Cleveland, there really is.

John Martin  07:18

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I think you hit it, I think it said that refresh literally daily, that no matter what happened the night before. And I’ll go back to the other Heart Break in 1995 when again, the team won a ridiculous amount of games, and then had a very poor showing in the World Series against the Atlanta Braves. But that is that is that hope every day is a new day is a fresh start. And you know, you start winning early, like a like Baltimore and Cleveland have this year. And that extends right I mean, those games count the same in April and May as they do in September. So don’t you know, don’t just say it doesn’t matter. Yeah, it matters. And so to be ahead and then have problems with both teams and the starting pitching. You know, can they can they hang on can they find the arms that they need? Because teams like the Yankees and the mariners who saw that coming you see some teams that are that are now seem to be built for the long haul and teams like Cleveland and I think Baltimore’s in for the long haul clearly, but I’m fearful that the that my team may not be there at the at the end.

Nestor J. Aparicio  08:27

It’s um these are the good days in Baltimore for baseball. I promise you that for all of the years that we’ve watched it it’s it’s so much fun to just talk about baseball in the middle of a lottery segment where lottery presents are Maryland crab cakes were put sat on the road, I will have the Gold Rush sevens doublers John Martin will have the bags full of money to make sure everyone is paid on the up and up if you win these $20 I hope I get her Fisher for you with the summer and with events and all of this going on. I know we talked to Olympics last week, you’re pushing different new new games and new things we’re doing this year. I know we’re getting ready for ravens too, because that’s right around the corner as well. But this is a time where the lottery I think people get out and touch it because you’re out doing everything I’m doing everything my wife has been struggling to do on crutches whether it’s at the zoo, whether it’s at fairgrounds, whether it’s at Wine festivals, weekends, this is this is the festival season, as you Midwesterners would say. We have lots of fun

John Martin  09:26

all year long, but certainly the summer months and we look forward to getting out and about. So not only do we have you here something that we’re doing for the first time because it is it’s the inaugural event. It is the ladybug Music Festival June 29. So sad music

Nestor J. Aparicio  09:45

so I’m already interested. It’s not to country or to rap I’m in

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John Martin  09:48

it’s it’s music. It’s apparently this lady bug. Music Festival is a nationwide thing and it’s coming to Maryland. So check it out if you if you like food if you’d like music if you’d like artisans. And who doesn’t like those three things in celebration

Nestor J. Aparicio  10:05

of women in music is the country’s largest free festival with 100% female fronted lineup the late and Old Ellicott City. Is that correct? Am

John Martin  10:16

I correct? That’s that’s where we will be you will find us there with our prize wheel for those attendees. 18 years of age and up. But yeah, come on, check it out. Have a good nice era shook and the DIS armors plus, all

Nestor J. Aparicio  10:30

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of this women fronted magic, man, let’s do like 50 bands here. 50 different performers. All right. I like an elegant city, Howard County. Let’s do it. Sponsored by the Maryland lottery and the fun for our delicate city. There you go. I’m read right from the website here. So I love I couldn’t do this back in the old days. What did we do without it? You know,

John Martin  10:47

what did we do that we trusted our fleeting memories to come up with things. But here’s something else that you’ll find if you go to MD lottery.com. Next month, month, July, because you seemed like festivals strike picked up on that music. Food good time. So that seems to be your your your wheelhouse. There is no not this

Nestor J. Aparicio  11:05

summer, my wife’s and that’s right, like Yeah, what I’ve learned to do is drop her off close to the street, sit her down and she can’t move. So she hasn’t really get to see the festival after there’s a comforting thought. Listen to me heritage fairs next week in London, we don’t miss heritage fairs and right. I mean, we don’t you can’t I mean, it’s against the rules. So the Grand Marshal that was in one row to do it once they don’t invite they don’t they don’t come back. You can’t make it fun to try to get very tired stick in there. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, so you’re doing more festivals.

John Martin  11:35

We are in July in Mitchellville. Now again, I told you this last time I have not been to many places in Maryland. I will acknowledge again, I have not been to Mitchell Ville, Maryland. But on July 20, I’m Apalis

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Nestor J. Aparicio  11:48

I think if I’m right, if I got my Geography Now, let me see your way. Oh, am I wrong? Where’s your way if I’m thinking DAVIDSONVILLE that’s what I’m thinking. I’m sorry, Prince

John Martin  11:56

George’s County. Okay. We will be at the lake Arbor Community Center for what is billed as the 14th annual Lake Arbor Jazz Festival. So a little different music than then the ladybugs. Lake

Nestor J. Aparicio  12:11

Arbor is a community I’m looking at. It’s right on the bow. It’s right by the word of capital center was honestly I mean, that’s, that’s easy. I see. I should know Mitchellville. I didn’t I’m embarrassed I I failed my Maryland card.

John Martin  12:23

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Well, that’s alright, you’re fine. But again, food vendors, merchandise, lots of good stuff there. And again, our price we’ll and our team will be there on July 20. So a couple things come up in the summer. We have new games we launched this week we have new scratch off games, we have our very popular game. For us. It’s a $10 price point, it is called when 5100 or $200 is the second edition of that game. And as it sounds, you can only win three prizes 5100 or $200 at a $10 price point. So if you’re lucky enough to win one of those prices, it’ll be a nice little return on your investment look for that new at retailers. We have a $5 scratch off called lots of cash, which is always fun to win cash. Top price $50,000 There we have a $3 Diamond bingo top prize $30,000 and a $100,000 crossword at a $10 price point you know people in Maryland really liked what we call these extended play games Nesta crossword and bingo because it takes a little time. You know if you really enjoy playing the game, you play the bingo you’ve got multiple cards on your on your scratch off multiple ways to win. Same thing with crossword you have multiple games there to play so people who do enjoy those games like the the leisure li aspect of sitting back and not just hurry up scratch that when her hips gratulate when you know they enjoy a little more relaxed environment. So

Nestor J. Aparicio  13:56

I’m looking at this and I pulled this up for everybody that’s watching the video out there on the diamond bingo and the crossword. John what what I would say about them so my wife likes Wordle we play Wordle every night we do the little thing or whatever. Crossword and bingo people know how to play the game. Like the Pac Man game. People play Pac Man, I didn’t get a lot of questions when I handed when I hand out games some people just get real confused about how to play the game. Right. And I’m like my wife does is never played scrabble in her life. And I keep saying you love Wordle you would be a great scrap. i i It’s a gateway drug for me to get her to play Scrabble because I’ve been trying for 20 Because I’m a Scrabble guy. I’m a word guy right? So but the the way the games are played and I always say to folks download the app and you can zap it you know what I mean? We can just we can skip to the skinny as to whether we want or we have a winning ticket or we have to see empty lottery come see John or, or any of these ways but I am much more of the School of like figuring something out. I’m not a crossword guy. I covered a lot of all those baseball relief pitchers back in the 90s they’re always playing crossword but that wasn’t my thing. I was more of a Scrabble guy, but bingo, everybody understands bingo, and that’s fun to play. So in some cases, some of these games are enticing because I know how to play it. You know, sometimes a hand these out, people are a little befuddled about how do I play what are the rules and trying to figure it out and I’m terrible at reading the fine print. You know this about me, John? I

John Martin  15:17

do I do. But you know what’s fun about playing these games Nester winning these games. And we’ve had a number of winter stories here in the last week or so. interesting stories that that we had a Cecil County woman who nearly collapsed Nester after seeing her $250,000 prize, on a scratch off imagine that was gonna

Nestor J. Aparicio  15:38

say, I didn’t think it was 250 You stopped, you gave me that pregnant pause. And I’m like, Man, she passed out over to fit, it’s nice, but that’s a quarter of a million dollars.

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John Martin  15:49

That’s a lot. That’s a lot of morning coffee, because she was on her way to work stopped on a routine went to the local store, which happened to be Wawa in Aberdeen. And, you know, it gets her jumbo cash, scratch off ticket. And as often happens, you know, people stand in the store there and they, they they scratch the ticket, and they see some things there that maybe look a little different to them. And then they scan the ticket and they see either a prize and

Nestor J. Aparicio  16:17

D lotteries. What it says Correct? Didn’t say that or no,

John Martin  16:22

you know, and this one, some of them actually tell you them out. It may have had the the amount right there. But a lot of times they’ll go to the the clerk if they’re not sure.

Nestor J. Aparicio  16:31

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Right there. You’re standing there in the convenience store and you want to fit the grant boom. Yep. I don’t know what I would I would pass out you’d have to call the paramedics down. Yes. Right. Yeah. But that

John Martin  16:40

but that’s fun. Right. And here’s another fun story. We had someone who was, let me get it back for you. It’s a great story. I don’t want to miss it. Well, let’s

Nestor J. Aparicio  16:49

get right to it. That’s executive director of all things Maryland lottery Gaming here, go for it.

John Martin  16:53

Thank you. Thank you. Pick five Another popular game for so we’re players can pick a five digit number. Maybe it’s their license plate number, maybe it’s their street address. Maybe it’s the birth date or anniversary date, but something that’s personal to them. And we had a gentleman, you can find out the details at MD lottery.com. And a Rundle county man who decided he was going to play pick five love the game from the start. And once upon a time, he asked for a number and the clerk inadvertently gave him the wrong number. Now there’s two schools of thought. And the prevailing school thought is when a lottery player gets something handed to them, there’s a lot of oh, boy, something’s going to be wacky here. I’m going to take that ticket. I’m not going to give it back. Can you?

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Nestor J. Aparicio  17:37

Can you send it back and say no, or you can Okay, I didn’t know if you could cancel a lottery. I’m only asking because I’ve never, I hadn’t thought about that. That happens every

John Martin  17:47

day. For sure. For some games that’s easier than others. Some games can not cancel Mega Millions Powerball? The large, multi jurisdictional games, you cannot but pick five game. If this guy was really married to his original five digit number. He could have said no, that’s not what I said.

Nestor J. Aparicio  18:02

Cancel transaction. There’s a way around that. Okay, fair enough. But he didn’t do that he kept

John Martin  18:06

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that number. And he actually won on that ticket. So he said, You know what, this is gonna be a good ticket. So he keeps playing it. He won $10,000 on that ticket. That was the mistake. And now he plays that number.

Nestor J. Aparicio  18:19

And when he buys his boat with the money, he calls it happy accident. What do you think?

John Martin  18:26

Well, that might lead to other things. But but then he decides to keep playing this number and he bought not one, not two, not three, he bought for $1 tickets, which you certainly can. So I’ll cut to the chase. He wins again on it. But for tickets worth four times 50,000 Mister get out the calculator. 100,000 That’s $200,000 prize win. That’s a nice win. They taught math and don’t mistake all from mistaken ticket. But that’s we could buy

Nestor J. Aparicio  18:55

a boat with 200 grand and call it happy accident because I you know, and I hope you went back to the clerk and at least bought him a candy bar or something. You know, just it’s all nice for him. You know? That’s,

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John Martin  19:04

that’s yeah, you would hope you would? I think he would. I think he’s that kind of guy. So

Nestor J. Aparicio  19:08

you’re saying my lucky number might not be my lucky number. My lucky number might be like, Oh, right. You never know.

John Martin  19:15

Well, you never know. It’s It’s lucky after the fact is it not? It is it is. I mean, right now their numbers, but depending on how lucky they are is really listen,

Nestor J. Aparicio  19:24

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I was trying to explain cache pop to my wife the other day. I’m like, No, it’s better than I did. Awful. I was terrible. So I hope to get this right as a spokesperson for the Maryland lottery. I hope I can figure it out. But I tried to explain it to her. And I’m like, No, it’s It’s the simple game and I’m thinking, why am I having a hard time explaining it?

John Martin  19:44

Did you do it with the website at

Nestor J. Aparicio  19:47

like, did you know and she’s not likely to play that she’s much more of a Mega Millions Powerball person. She

John Martin  19:53

just says Sure. Well, as long as she’s playing responsibly,

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Nestor J. Aparicio  19:56

she is $1.02 sometimes five. I’ll be Be honest with John Martin series executive director of all things Maryland lottery gaming. Listen, I have to let you go. I know next week, you won’t be here to either lick your wounds or spike the ball on the Guardians in the Orioles over the weekend. Or excuse me in the middle of the week, I just say this on the baseball because you’re such a baseball story. And you mentioned Willie Mays, and Luke and I didn’t get a chance to talk about Willie Mickey or the Duke earlier in the week. And we’re going to do that at costs. We’re doing a long form sort of baseball nerd thing, which is what we’ve been doing it fails in the Maryland crab cakes on Fridays, because we want to talk about tonight’s pitching because we wanted to run and it’s just more like baseball nerds getting together doing Hall of Fame talk or All Star Game talk or rules. Two weeks ago we did. Why walks weren’t that important. Here’s something for for your baseball historian that I did not know. My dear friend John Moran, who longtime Sports Business Journal, he’s actually the guy that broke the story that David Rubenstein was buying the Orioles from the Angeles family but six months ago, he sent me a personal text like an hour after Willie Mays died. And it was a Twitter from Bob Ryan, who was supposed to come on the show a couple weeks ago, but he’ll be coming on soon about Bill Walton and some other things. Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe Bob Ryan tweeted in the aftermath of Willie Mays death. Luis Aparicio, is now the oldest living Hall of Fame baseball player. And that made me pause and I’ve been googling that I went to the Cooperstown page to see all the living Baseball Hall of Famers. And Billy Williams is still alive. Jim Palmer is also of the era who pitched me Louis played 56 There aren’t there’s nobody left to play in 56 or 57 or 58. Palmer came in 64. But like from a baseball history standpoint, the death of Willie Mays is we’re going to talk more about that this summer, I think and I’ll talk more to you about kala Vito and all of your pictures of sudden Sam McDowell that show up on my timeline because I mentioned him to you yeah,

John Martin  21:50

no and Willie Mays again back before there’s interleague play and all those things you didn’t get a chance to see him play but when you did it all star games and you saw arguably the most complete baseball player ever agree, disagree? He said it was Clemente.

Nestor J. Aparicio  22:08

maced it may said Clemente it’s me. I don’t know man. I wouldn’t had a hard time with that. Ricky Anderson asked him. John Martin is here he is a he’s a baseball fan. And the executive director of all things Maryland lottery and game to keep things on the up and up, always educating us always in good spirits. I will be in good spirits on Tuesday at Pappas in Parkville. Not Cockeysville not BellAir not Glenburnie Pappus we’ll have these gold rush sevens doublers before the Fourth of July and then we’re gonna like roll out a whole new crabcake tour schedule for July and into August and then it’s September the Maryland oyster tour to celebrate our 26th anniversary. I am Nestor we are wn st am 1570 Towson Baltimore. Little baseball history. Maybe some Salamis this weekend against those cheater louses down in Houston we can give John Martin get some more money away So Ron riches to Baltimore positive stay with us.