Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the poor look and luck of the hideous City Connect jerseys, the never-was Nats-Orioles rivalry and the pending David Rubenstein splash act on Friday night at Camden Yards.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
jerseys, years, orioles, game, people, team, week, baltimore, uniforms, authenticity, baseball, squirting, city, pitching, wear, watched, part, talking, fans, runs
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are wn S T am 5070, Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive we’re taking the Maryland crabcakes we’re back Adelard new dates for May and June Pappas and State Fair and, and cost this and where my cost is guerrier as well as cocoa. So I put down new dates. I’m going to release them all when they’re all confirmed. But we’re getting back into the swing of things around here because I’m, you know, I’m smelling the crab cakes and smelling the cold beer. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I have the PacMan scratch offs to give away at fade Lee’s this Friday we’ll be there for the Arizona Diamondbacks taken on the Orioles and the orange with a little bit of a weird slow week this week with only games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Luke Jones joins us now. And Luke. We’re halfway through this homestand of the Washington Nationals and the Orioles and sort of the tepid nature of the whole rivalry of all of it. The fact that two equally horrific broadcasts were available to me on mass and one and mass and two. On Tuesday evening, I would just say I and look, this cost this cost. This gave me this before the city Kinect happened, okay, and it doesn’t have the little colors on the sleeve when they’re making up stuff about neighborhoods. And you know that right? I see that. That’s not my royal farms coffee making me do that. And my coworker, mug. Um, it’s time to ditch the uniforms. And I know you agree with me.
Luke Jones 01:32
Yeah, but try telling that to Major League Baseball on Nike. I mean, it’s this. This is what it is. They’re five and nine since the city connects were first worn last what was it last May? I
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:46
guess it was and feels like they’re one and 13 To be honest with you. But yeah, yeah.
Luke Jones 01:50
I mean, they just they haven’t swung the bats very well. I think if you look at most of those games, it’s been the offense not being very good. And we saw that again on Tuesday night. Corbin burns, wasn’t the best version of Corbin burns, but certainly good enough to win. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, he gave up three runs over six and a third. It’s not his best start, but it’s good enough. But you manage three hits all night. I mean, it’s, it kind of is what it is. There’s not a whole lot to say about this game. You’re winning six
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:18
to one in the seven to you probably go to the bullpen earlier to.
Luke Jones 02:22
Right. He’s just he’s just pitching much differently, right? I mean, you’re pitching a little more aggressively. You’re not in a spot where oh, we’re, we’re down one nothing. I’ve got to be perfect here.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:30
I was a morale killer when you know, it went from one to three. And and they were his 93rd and fourth and fifth and sixth pitches and you’re like, oh, man, you know, like this was a wasted effort on his part. That was a pretty damn good effort that he walks out and you’re like, Alright, you’re gonna lose tonight. Probably. And I don’t know. I don’t know that. I feel that way. I certainly felt that way. Tuesday night. I didn’t feel like they were a walk a double and a home run away from pm right back in and I didn’t feel like close to me. Yeah,
Luke Jones 03:00
I mean it. It rarely does when you have only score three hits, or manage three hits and score zero runs. But we’ve also seen this team have some games like that over the last couple years where you would have said it didn’t feel like a game that we’re gonna come back and then boom, they come back in the ninth inning, so you never really know but they just didn’t swing the bats and Trevor Williams the starter for the NATs give him some credit, but he’s generally not a strikeout guy. And he racked up eight over five innings. I mean, it felt like the NATs were doing the Orioles a favor when they pulled Trevor Williams. He hasn’t been someone who’s pitched particularly deep in the games. He’s been right around 80 pitches this year, if you kind of look at his game logs, but he really he kept them off balance. And now the Orioles certainly talked a little bit about the umpiring after the game now there were there were some examples of some bad calls I thought but that was
Nestor J. Aparicio 03:50
the umpiring has really become an enormous enormous focus in the modern era with little white boxes and yeah, reviews and John boy and just, you know all of it right like to and it’s every night by night basis. I mean, Palmer and McDonald make it a referendum as pitchers, right. They do.
Luke Jones 04:12
But it’s but it’s every sport. I mean, my goodness. Listen to the average NFL NFL fan talk about officiating this about listen to what you’re hearing in the NBA, but with the two minute report and everything that’s going on there and teams talking about the Knicks, getting calls and all that so so it’s all magnified because of technology because of high definition because of yes, the need for officiating to be better and to evolve and to improve and if you have technology why not use it but you only manage three hits. I mean, there’s only so much complaining you can do and the Orioles just didn’t swing the bat I mean what Adley rutschman had a hit in the first inning and they had two more after that the rest of the night. You barely mounted any threats so difficult in that regard disappointing for Corbin Burns who? Okay, ruff ruff finished his out it and he wasn’t dominant when you look at the final line but certainly was good enough to give them a chance to win. And it is interesting looking at it. The Orioles over burns first five starts of the year. You know those five games the Orioles scored 37 runs, they’ve scored two runs combined over his last three starts. So he’s pitching into some tough luck here of late and the Orioles lose a game not luck. They’re gonna lose some games here or there. I mean, they’re 23 and 12. But as we noted a little bit earlier in the week and I’ll note once again, the New York Yankees still right there. Now the Yankees have not lost since they lost three out of four to the Orioles. So it speaks to it not getting any easier. The rest of the Al East Boston Tampa Bay has suddenly ironically using their city connect uniforms as a good luck charm. They’ve gone on a winning streak.
Nestor J. Aparicio 05:53
There’s look good, you know, as opposed to probably
Luke Jones 05:56
speaking. Yeah, relatively speaking. I mean, I wouldn’t say they look good. They look better than some other ones at least. I mean, I just the whole city connect thing save.
Nestor J. Aparicio 06:05
It’s so dumb. You want to connect with your city, put your jersey on and connect with your city. The Yankees have never had a problem connected with New York. It says New York on it. It says n and y and they’re Yankee uniforms. You don’t need anything else. The Tigers don’t need anything other than a D that the Dodgers don’t need anything other than LA after they left the bee but we’re going back 75 years now Branch Rickey and you know, we can read about you know Jackie Robinson and we every year we hear but but like Dude, it’s it’s it’s a pajama act. It’s gross. I mean and and the ketchup and relish uniforms that the NFL are putting on the color rush and all that. Like I love alternate uniforms. I’m a fashion tweak guy by the way I found you’re gonna appreciate this. Not to change sports. I found the Derrick Henry, Tennessee oiler Jersey available for 6499 that says Henry on the back 22 So at least but but I love alternate jerseys. I love all I don’t. I love alternate caps. I love the orange pumpkin uniforms and the 71 Orioles. And you know and the or I bought I have an orange all Jersey and I don’t even mind that they still were Scott Erickson’s garbage from Jerry Glanville is air on Friday nights and they put the black on God. That’s cool. But how many more times are they going to bastardize the jerseys. And this isn’t about winning or losing. It’s just about putting the game on. And the nationals are running around and cherry blossoms and I’m like, Dude, you have Walgreens to start with. Ring a senator’s pinstripes back and make yourself look credible. But they’ve had a bunch of jerseys and they’ve been around 20 years. I mean, I don’t know I’m a Padres guy, Astros. They mess with jerseys and stuff, but at least keep it within the palette. That’s all I’m asking from. There’s my fashion tweet after a three nothing game you don’t talk about anyway. Yeah,
Luke Jones 08:03
I agree. For the most part. I would actually I think the NATs city connect again on the city connect scale, which is a extremely low bar. That’s probably one of the better ones in the sense that I I hate the monochrome look, I hate the all these teams have in black pants or dark navy, navy blue pants or whatever it is. It just doesn’t look baseball like right.
Nestor J. Aparicio 08:25
I know. Your league softball.
Luke Jones 08:28
I know that. You can go back to the 70s and look at the pirates. You mentioned the all arms that the Orioles wore very briefly in 1971. But baseball pants should general generally speaking should be white or gray. I’ll listen to a powder blue as a nice throwback. But I’ll say this and the Orioles a couple of weeks ago they actually wore their white home regular pants with the city connect jerseys. You know that Friday night game against the A’s a couple of weeks ago. I thought that looked better. At the very least. I liked the cap. I liked the Orioles city can connect cap with the script b I don’t mind that. I’d like it if it had orange rather than a white letter. But yeah, I mean it’s just most of these. And you mentioned the Tigers the Tigers just came out with one it looks lousy. We’ve talked about the Phillies, there’s as lousy. So
Nestor J. Aparicio 09:22
they couldn’t even make the right jerseys with Nike so that these guys don’t have their jockstraps in their underwear, you know showing through like and they’re made a paper mache apparently and everybody was bitching about them down in Sarasota. i It’s just how hard is to get it right. You know, like one of the things in the modern era that I will say is I own a jersey that I wore last Thursday that’s literally the same jersey the the acrylic, ugly like awful thing that I wore at Eastwood Little League in 1982 thick and breathe It’s It’s an old, it’s 35 years old, it’s Aparicio. It’s orange, I don’t know where the hell it’s even from. It’s majestic. That’s how old did it I don’t eat. It’s got to be from the 80s or 90s. It’s 30 years old, and it can smell funky. It needs to be washed with the right stuff and like all of that, but I bought a jersey, in San Diego on my give us bid tour, which dude, how long we’ve been knowing each other, the 25th anniversary, but it’s nine years ago that I did the baseball tour. I did 30 ballparks and 30 days, a lot of people don’t even know I did it because it’s been nine years ago, and we’ve created new listeners, but I went to 30 ballparks in 30 days. And I went into the gift shop in San Diego next to Petco downtown in the Gaslamp. And I saw this beautiful Tony Gwynn, Jersey, and it was like 99 bucks or something. It was like more than I wanted to pay but less than it wasn’t 216 it wasn’t crazy. And I picked it up and it’s the mustard. Like T 84 Road, Padre Jersey, and I picked it up and it’s got beautiful weight to it. And it’s made of that underarm Murray New World thing like we’re a breeze. I’ve learned that 100 degree days at Yankee Stadium and I wear that as sort of It’s Tony winters. He’s never there’s never a bit it’s like a Jackie Rob It’s like Eddie Murray or there’s no bad day. It’s like Mike Schmidt there’s no bad day to wear of Tony Gwynn jersey, anywhere. I wear it. It’s really comfortable. And I’m thinking to myself, they fixed it. You know, players don’t have to sweat anymore. And I’ve had jerseys for 40 years. I’m a collector. I had an Aparicio 73 Jersey, that was pretty much this polyester awfulness that the one I wear currently is and I think, man, you can make such comfortable things for players to wear and all of that. But why? Why do they need to have 50 Different styles? Why do people buy these? I see you and I go to Pittsburgh and we see these, those crazy jailbird? striper jerseys, the bumblebee jerseys that they sold people buy it. I guess that’s the reason but it doesn’t. It’s not appealing and it doesn’t it there’s no familiarity when you put the game on. And everybody’s wearing their pajamas and they’re bragging about it. And it’s awful. It did because like an Oreo nationals game if you put classic jerseys on to a throwback and we’re 71 senators and where are the orange pumpkin uniforms and that would have a lot more appeal to me. I would be considering buying that.
Luke Jones 12:22
Yeah, I mean, but again, I mean you kind of said it, people buy them and they want to sell them they want to have more merch to sell. I mean it’s just it is what it is in this kind of started I probably the genesis of this was Oregon. College football I mean it really and that was a while back when you think about that that that’s going back 2025 years and you’re seeing this in every sport I mean the NBA is the same way used to be in the NBA what you wear your white uniforms at home you wear your colored on the road. That’s not the case anymore. I mean, yeah, hockey flip to
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:54
the hockey when I was a kid the Cavs were white at home, right and the Rangers everybody came in in blue and well you know, when when the Oilers came in they came they flopped it while the I mean the capitals, they let susan o’malley destroy the brand and they started looking like the St. Louis Blues and they moved you know, I mean, I went through that with Dave Preston who you know is a fashion tweet guy this week talking about DC sports and all that but I just find it fascinating that they brag on the city that Baltimore Washington get together much the words haven’t been good much like the Orioles and the Yankees look great when they look like the Orioles and the Yankees out on the field. So instead of the Red Sox and the Yankees they look best, the Lakers and the Celtics look really good. You know when when they look like the Lakers and the Celtics out there when UCLA is playing Indiana and their basketball good when they look like they’re UCLA and Indiana. Like I that’s across the board for Notre Dame that’s across the board for any of them. I mean, Oregon does they don’t have a real Jersey they’ve never had I don’t even know what their real one is. It’s green and yellow quacks like a duck, but they have no classic look because they’ve always stunk and they needed a gimmick like Eddie Goodell like the friggin What’s it what’s it the banana peels? What did they call the banana soaker Savannah.
Luke Jones 14:07
What you mean bananas? The Savannah bananas or whatever it is?
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:11
Yeah, you want to dress like bananas. Then put those cherry blossom things on in the monochrome gray and you’ll sell 20 of them to some you know hope Adel nats fan but like if I were nationals fan I’d wear nationals gear. I’m an Orioles fan. I have orange. I have Oreo gear.
Luke Jones 14:31
I think the litmus test should be I said this to my brother in law a few years back at you know he’s big, big in the NBA. But to me the litmus test should be if I turn on a game, assuming I follow the sport, assuming I know the sport. I’m not talking about just someone who has watched two games in their life. But I turn it on. I should look at the two teams. I should not have to see a score bug at the bottom or top of the screen. And I should know what which two teams They are, that, to me should be the sign of what a uniform should bring as far as identity. And yeah, we’re, that’s going away. I mean, in every sport because you have so many alternates and so many different combinations. And I mean, now the NFL is embracing multiple helmets even. So, look, there are younger people listening to this right now that love all that and they’re saying, Man, these two old guys are yelling at a cloud right now. But, but recognizing the
Nestor J. Aparicio 15:25
team, it’s called a brand recognition. Yeah, goofer uniform, and, like it is what it is I don’t walk into Starbucks, and they decide that they they’re gonna go with pink and, and powder blue as their brand color. It’s just not, that’s not the way traditionally things should be. But then again, they’re not trying to sell more cups next month, and 400 different colors. And they can do that if they wish as well and bastardize their brand, but they don’t change the brands on the front of the building. And I feel like when you start doing this too often, you got pink bats and and blue bats and this cancer awareness and that cancer awareness. We’re going to do this for the military. And we’re going to do this for the city. And we’re going to do this for the state. And we’re going to do this for Jackie Robinson. And we’re like, Dude, what are your jerseys? The white Orioles in white Baltimore? Hell don’t get me started mean Rubinstein’s. People aren’t gonna understand that I fought for 15 years with these preachers just to get Baltimore back on the jerseys and everything I see. We love you Baltimore we love dude, I remember when they wouldn’t answer the phone with Baltimore for a generation here. So like, there’s all sorts of things that go into this. But back on to the field, pitching hitting kids, I don’t worry about a little bit of a slump. But it is a weird week where they’re not playing a lot of baseball. I’ll say that. And for that. And then the homestand comes after this. And that’ll all be good. And to your point. The Yankees aren’t going away. You hear footsteps in a way that last year they were more of the the stalker, not the stock, then I think it’s a little different for them, and a night by night basis. Here we go with the pitching, where second time around for Bradish second time around for means is this real? You and I start to look ahead and say All Star break. Are these really going to be our five starters and his Rodriguez coming back week after next and, you know, then we’re going to talk about Kohler. We’re gonna talk about all of this stuff, but right now it’s just let’s keep getting good starts. I mean, I don’t I looked down on the bats about Tuesday night but like, it’s a great start and they’re stacking great starts good things are gonna happen, especially with the way they do it the ball,
Luke Jones 17:34
no doubt, and they’re going to swing the bats again. I mean, my goodness, we’re talking not when I say we I don’t mean you and me. I mean it just in general, we’re talking about a loss, one loss. Just one reeled off a really impressive week against the Yankees and the weekend against the red. So it’s nothing, nothing to be concerned about on that front. I mean, a couple items of business. Grayson Rodriguez is throwing. He talked to the media in DC prior to Tuesday’s game said he’s feeling good. He said if it were up to him, he’s not going to even go on a rehab assignment. Obviously, it’s not up to him. And maybe the Orioles want to see him go on the mound at a minor league game for one time just to see how he responds, but sounds like he’s throwing again, sounds like this isn’t an indefinite shutdown or anything like that. So in the meantime, yeah. How does Kyle Bradish looks second time around how does John means look? Second time around is Cole Irvin going to continue to do this, which is be one of their absolute best pitchers as he’s been over the last three, four weeks. So it’s a good problem to have. But as we learned last week, when Rodriguez lands on the IL it’s still all feels very fleeting. It still feels like it can go sideways. And that’s the case for any team. That’s not an Orioles thing. It’s all 30 teams and Major League Baseball so don’t get dust yourself off after Tuesday night up swing the bats better. With Kyle radishes, going for his second time they’re facing a lefty and Mitchell Parker on Wednesday night swing the bats better get Bradish an early lead and and get yourself a two game split so I mean it’s there’s not a whole lot else to say beyond that. I mean, got a score runs when you only manage three hits. I mean it’s a pretty pretty simple narrative. I mean we could talk about the city connect as we just did there five and nine in those which is well the
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:23
Orioles rivalry you know if there is such Yeah, I you know, it is fascinating because I am while we’re going to do the old guy get off my porch thing. This has been a week for me and I’ll get into the Sashi brown thing later and people asking me everywhere I go if the Rubenstein people are gonna give me credentials, and I’m like, you know, I’m afraid to say something wrong because hey, you know, like, it’s ridiculous. But through all of this, I watched it all on TV and I watch it from afar and I went down and bought $15 beers last Thursday and sweat my ass off and had a good time heckling the Yankees, folks. I’m going to be talking to Wendy Brown. From curious about that, because she’s the one who gave me the tickets, watching the games and Masson and what Rubinstein knows right away, and he’s doing the splash zone, and we can talk about that as well. I’d rather talk about my press credential, quite frankly, but the splash show thing and the way he’s connecting with fans, that’s a whole thing. How bad The broadcast was on Tuesday. That’s a whole thing. But the but it’s, it’s everything. Its brand everything of he’s now an owner wearing a tutu, and goggles and soaking fans. He’s never going to go back to being anything other than the fun guy. And he’s already winning people, just by not being John and Peter. And if I would have written them a note a month ago, and piss them off. Oh, does it be anything you want to still be Peter? You know, be anything but that. Now that being said, whether you know, everywhere I go. For me, it’s you have your press pass? I don’t know. And then for them, same thing, every fan is they better sign rutschman It better sign Henderson you know, so like, I get all ends of how are you going to run it? And my questions as I get locked out of a Sashi brown seance here this week with the CEO club. My question is about our about the greater good of the city and the $600 million that we all gave $600 million, and how that’s going to get used to enhance all of this and make it more inclusive. I still look on television, and I’m always looking for people of color, Luke. And I know this bothers you. And you know, like when we talk about and whatnot, I count how many people of color come to these games on a consistent basis when they’re pimping RBI, and their you know, city Kinect, which was ostensibly in some way to make themselves more ingratiated with the city which means Oh, the city’s like primarily people of color. Maybe we should connect with those folks and get them off a soccer pitches and into baseball, get them off a basketball courts and into baseball, like things we’ve been talking about for a million years. But the rivalry part of Baltimore in Washington and this is the old guy get off my porch part of this is fascinating to me, and to see how bad the network is. And that’s about the change, right? broadcasters, when you say I have a television network for my sport, what can we do to augment that I have $600 million coming from the government to fix my house. I have great players, but we need to have more revenue here in every way. We need more Skybox holders, more sponsors more ticket sellers more, get rid of the upper deck, we need to have a bar we need Cal Ripken and more Cal Ripken and more Cal Ripken we need Super Soakers. We need an owner that touches fans. We need more people, more people more people. Like all of the things they have to be thinking about. As he spent $1.7 billion and now is oh five weeks in joking about it in a commercial about how much money he spent. And that this is all he gets. And it’s as good as his Bar Mitzvah and he’s gonna go and Friday that’ll be a party. It’d be. It’s cool. It’s awesome. It’s like, pinch me. i You never could have convinced me back when the Ravens were playing the first playoff game. And none of this was going down. That this would be where we are Preakness week, by the way. They’re running a horse race here next week that we’re trying to save, that I’m talking about. I’m the only one we’ve now saved it. We’re building a race track in Baltimore, there’s going to be two practices in Laurel. I’m trying to educate people in this baseball conference. It’s just like, people don’t know any of this stuff. But the baseball part of this as I watch it from afar, I think about the DC Baltimore thing being uncovered for the first time in 20 years, we’ve never been able to think about in any other anytime these teams have played. There have been two broadcasts two ways. Sometimes they jump in on each other’s broadcast and Jonny holiday hangs out with Jim Palmer, which is goal and put the teams one of the teams always stung. There really is no rivalry. And I I’d like to know what Mr. Rubenstein because he like he took Cal out he wants to get money for Baltimore, trying to get people in DC and in New York to invest here. I don’t love all of this. I mean, every part of this is awesome to watch it unfold. But I don’t have any access to ask questions. And he’s only sit down with people like Ryan Ripken, who now is landed Eric de Costa who ran for me on a veranda after 30 years of relationship the other night. It’s an upside down thing but watching the potential of the baseball thing when the owner gets it. You know what I mean? Like gets it he’s in the outfield squirting people on Friday night. Look, we’re in a different time in place about all of this and I’ve seen massive is going to change all of this is going to change and this rivalry part of all the reason I was good at DCS it’s lousy experience down there their face but other than the President’s running around there’s there’s nothing that would drag me to DC etc the Orioles play or to see the Dodgers, but see anybody play?
Luke Jones 25:03
Yeah, I mean, it’s, I’ve always found the Orioles nets thing to just be very contrived at this point if it ever develops into a rivalry, great. I mean, and let’s, let’s face it, has Raven slash the team formerly known as the Redskins? Did that ever really blossom? Not really. Maybe it will at some point. But when you’re when you’re in different leagues, inherently, I mean, they play a two into every year. I mean, it’s, you’re not playing them 13 times like you play the Yankees or the Red Sox or the rays in a year that the rays are good. So, you know, I think there’s only so much you can do on that front. And then you just have to see how it plays out. I mean, they were both good back in what 2012 And they played some decent games that were somewhat intense at the time. But were they remembered, you know, did it? Did it spark a legit? Well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 25:54
I’m sure they made a massive classic in the John.
Luke Jones 25:58
You can have some one off series here and there. But I mean, you can’t force rivalries. I mean, you just can’t. Yeah, I mean, let’s face it. I mean, ravens early on. There were thoughts that it was gonna be the Steelers. It was really the titans in those early years, and then it became the Steelers. And now ravens Steelers is kind of this legacy rivalry, but it’s not, hasn’t been red hot in a few years, you know, more than a few years, probably. So you know, as far as that part of the conversation, but going back to Rubinstein and where they are ownership wise and him reaching people and you see stories on social media of him, interacting with fans buying fans a drink? Yeah, that was something on opening day that the ownership group did over across the street from the ballpark and, you know, all of those things, which look, those are not going to be the things that ultimately define this ownership group, and what kind of stewards they are. But within the context of the first five or six weeks of owning the ballclub knowing that you’re not going to fix Masson overnight, knowing that you’re not going to break down or break ground on renovations in May,
Nestor J. Aparicio 27:03
because you haven’t realizing you’re right. You’re not signing Gunnar Henderson, if you’re not doing that,
Luke Jones 27:09
like, well, if we do it’s not it’s not necessarily going to come on your timeline, it’s going to come on his timeline, right? I mean, if you met, if you manage to do it, it’s going to be something that’s going to take some time, it’s probably not going to be something that’s done the first five weeks, you’ve owned the ballclub. So all of those big picture questions are so relevant, so critical, so important, to the future of the ballclub and its ability to thrive here in Baltimore. But in the meantime, those little things like the commercials that will make someone laugh, like being Mr. Splash for our Friday night game, like walking around and interacting and shaking hands and kissing babies and all those different things to your point that Peter Angelos and John Angelus never did with any level of success or authenticity. Those are good things. Those things do help. Those authors are the kinds of things I
Nestor J. Aparicio 27:58
love. I love that you use that. Because you know why Sashi Brown is locking me out of a CEO speech this week. And that’s the thing he lacks is authenticity. And he is an outsider, he will always be an outsider for treating people like me like garbage. I pulled up the Katt Williams tweet and said, If you want me to say better things about you treat me better. How about that? How about you treat me like a human being instead of somebody that has enough to drink from the the outside fountain. After all the years of doing this, and I let the 25th anniversary Documentary Stand is what my son said, spiking the ball on the work that I’ve done and what we stand for what you stand for what I stand for what my brand stands for. I’ve never wavered from any of that. But the authenticity part of it, is, you only really get one chance to earn that kind of credibility, right? You only get, you can be authentic until you’re a phony to pay falls off and you find out that, like, that’s not who you are, or, you know, the emperor has no clothes, or you have these defining moments like shouting at Dan Connolly and telling him you’re going to open the books, or you know, or the defining moments for me with the Angeles family which were lies upon lies and getting assaulted by the Oracle bird and not having a bill paid just all of these defining things that I could report back. And people would believe because I have authenticity, because I’ve been here from the beginning. So the beginning for David Rubenstein was January 21. He’s this guy, he’s out on Twitter, he’s a billionaire. You know, the authenticity is okay, opening day, what are we going to do? He is writing his own next chapter, right? Like let’s just like you said he would six weeks ago. And, you know, part of that authenticity is he’s getting a chance to study the book of Peter Angelos and through do things differently and that needs to be done. He doesn’t need to go squirt the fans in the outfield for me to like him. You know, and but I really would like to see a vision here, a greater vision than TJ Brightman and Greg Bader and Jennifer Grondahl standing in front of me and my press credential and saying we we do that on behalf of Mr. Angelo’s like I, there’s going to have to come some tectonic plates shifting, and they their will on television, on broadcasters on write who he is and what his intentions are. But the authenticity of going out to your point authenticity. That’s something you know, he’s earning that by being, as Charlie Ekman would say, and he’ll appreciate this if he hears it a right guy.
Luke Jones 30:35
Yeah. And when I say authenticity, it’s perception. Right? I mean, I don’t know David Rubenstein from Adam. Right. I, I’m seeing what everyone else is seeing. You know, I saw him for one press conference where, you know, it was kind of botched. And he only took three or four questions at the very end, because they ran out of time. But everything we are seeing, to this point, suggest that this guy does care about the oil. Now, what do I think that he necessarily has been following the tutorial so closely that he could have told you their top 10 prospects two years ago? Probably not. But when he goes on the mass and telecast, and he’s talking to Jim Palmer, and he’s sharing stories about Luis Aparicio, or gostrey, and is who even preceded Palmer, it speaks to okay, this is a guy who likes baseball. Now, that doesn’t mean he knows every single stat and every single aspect of modern baseball in 2024. But again, there’s an authenticity that comes across that it looks like you’re sincere, it looks like you’re having fun with this, it looks like you want to be a good steward. And these little things right now that are still just little things in the big picture. Because if five years from now, if they if our window is shot, and these young players are leaving left and right, and your payroll still in the bottom third of baseball, and it looks like the talent is drying up and mass and still a mess, and you haven’t done things to cultivate business relationships, and then shaking hands and squirting fans with with Super Soakers and left centerfield. That’s, that’s not gonna go as far that’s not going to carry the same cloud that it does right now. So it’s a honeymoon period. And I don’t say that to be disparaging of it. It’s, it’s good. It’s fun, you know that the commercials are hokey or not. It’s been fun. As I told his guy,
Nestor J. Aparicio 32:22
as I told his communications guy, I am the reason I am the guy who was waiting for you people, I have been begging towards this change, please make it a positive one. Please be better than that guy that, you know, in every way, in a media way and a fan way in a spending way in an intentional way, in a spiritual way, and an authenticity way and a kindness way, in a community oriented way. In a in a way that’s not contrived. And I will say this, the first thing I see are these sort of weird Saturday Night Live kind of commercials. And I’m wondering who’s writing them? You don’t I mean, my first question is, alright, he’s a billionaire. He can get anybody to hire he did he call the ESPN people that did the ESPN SportsCenter, like literally, these are scripted commercials. And they’re coming in to him and saying, I think I don’t know, David, here’s five ideas. One is you and cow going out the shortstop, the other is you putting on the beer hat and drinking from the fire. I don’t really want to do that one. Okay, well, let’s, what would you want to do the Supersoaker? Tell me about that one. Like, I can’t imagine that meeting with Greg Bader or TJ Brightman. Like, not just that meeting with John Angelo’s repeat that he’s that Forget about him, just how this happens, that these commercials happen, and that they roll this out to me as an entrepreneur, as somebody who studied this is somebody who studied how badly it was done. As somebody who studied the other owner, the football owner, coming into my house to pee one night me letting him in, and then running for me on a veranda four weeks ago in the in the shadows of darkness. I’m interested in his story. And I’ll say this out loud to you because I know you know this. Um, I would do homework on him, right? Like he’s on Bloomberg. There’s a million YouTube things. You could watch him talk about money with different people. He’s now done an hour with Cal Ripken last week. He’s done Brian Rifkin. He’s he did the little press conference. He did them in the booth on opening day, which I still haven’t watched them even say Aparicio is named to see if he pronounces it right. Because like you said, Apple Riccio. And anyway, but either way, I haven’t heard him speak. I’ve been purposely because I thought it would have met him by now. It I mean, I thought like, okay, you know, like, they let you win. Why would they let me and it doesn’t make any sense, especially on night’s when you can’t be there in our seats. It’s empty. And the reason for that, for anybody listening, it’s the same people are running the place. So the Affer mentioned, Greg Bader team, so I get that question. And every day, I’m getting that question. So I have to bring it up. But for me, the notion that he’s gonna go squirt people and be out in front of this, it says to me that, like Peter once said to me, he’s gonna be a very available individual. And the concern I would have, and I don’t know who’s given the advice, or whether he’s got any advice, or whether this was his idea, like he said, That looks like fun. Let me go. I don’t know. I really don’t I’d like to know. But it feels a little more handled. To your point. It feels a little bit more like storyboard, in the way that everything in the Ravens is now contrived when I go to ravens.com. So much of they have outtakes when Sam Cooke walks into a shot. They they, they do a cut on it, and they recut things for their television. So I see it all happening with under the hard knocks. Umbrella. i That’s a part of the vision of the brand that Michelle Andras has on the football side that we see come to life as to what they ingest and what they think their brand is on their, on their channel. The Orioles once the owners out with goggles on squirting people, like I ran through the streets in my underwear 30 years ago, famously, it’s part of the video. I wonder what the next step is, you know what I mean? And I wonder where his ego is on feeling like he has to be the anti Peter. And whether this is a one trick pony, you’ll do this once and go back to being a normal owner. And like all that, or whether he’s going to be more Charlie Finley Bill Zack more out in front of it. Peter was out in front of it early. I mean, I was here reported Peter gave everybody’s own phone number. And two calls from it. Like he did all of that. Once you start doing things like this is a pretty drastic thing, the scoring. I mean, it’s one thing to walk around every night and sign autographs. Cal Ripken did that every night for a year and a half back during the streak, which was unique and cool and awesome. I just don’t know what the next thing is and where his intentions are. And that’s why I want to meet him. And that’s why I haven’t watched any of these videos to see him being handled before he sits down. And what he’s going to say. Because I am fascinated by all of this from the outside. I mean, it’s it’s juicy or to me that I’ve been locked out. And I don’t know anything. And I haven’t watched any. Because when I actually meet him, and I hope to meet him and we talked about Louis Aparicio or whatever. I don’t want to judge him based on a press conference with Cal Ripken in a suit where he’s saying everything the right way. That’s not the David Rubenstein I want to know. So like I’m really trying hard to not see any of that until I meet him. But I’m watching all of it. And it is fascinating from a Madison Avenue standpoint, have you spent 1,000,000,007 on the team? How are you going to manage it? Who is your Kevin Byrne? Who’s you’re constantly Arey, who are you going to listen to? Why are you squirting people in the app because it’s fun, great. You’re a billionaire, do whatever you want. That’s the one thing he’s going to find out that I’m going to write about is when you’re him, every one there’s going to agree to anything that your idea because they’re all trying to keep their jobs.
Luke Jones 38:17
Yeah, that’s fair. And as we said, it’s a honeymoon period and the team’s plan right around 667. Ball. So things are good. People are happy. People are enjoying the baseball experience, and they have a new owner. And there’s that sense of hope, regardless of how anything’s gonna play out,
Nestor J. Aparicio 38:36
already said, Have you watched any of his speeches try to understand, because I purposely not I’m admitting that for the first time because I thought I would have met him by now. I really did. So I am disappointed. I haven’t met him. But but not I mean, I’m cool. I’m I got time I’ve been waiting 18 years. Yeah,
Luke Jones 38:53
I mean, it’s, you know,
38:54
it’s still a TBD.
Luke Jones 38:56
I mean, as we talked about, as we talked about for years in terms of what if there was going to be new ownership? What challenges they would face to what questions need to be addressed? You know, what areas of the organization need to be improved? You know, those are those are some major undertakings regardless of how successful it’s looking on the field right now. Those
Nestor J. Aparicio 39:14
are important heavy lifting, trying to get people down to spend full price by beers become customers come back often by bite by a little Oriole bird and gift shot. Like they’re asking for money, they’re gonna need this money. And that’s where it started for me. And that’s where we start with Mr. Rubenstein as much as I love the brand. I love the city. I love the team of all I’ve loved the team through all the hatred and all the terribleness and I’ve gotten on planes and flew to Arlington, like I love the team. You know, I am, I am the mark as the rasslin folks would say, but the kayfabe thing I don’t know I can’t play I’m not good at playing kayfabe which is why Sashi brown locks me on I’m I’m not the kayfabe guy. I’m the shoot interview guy because I’m the Jordan This guy, and you’re the guy taking the $600 million. So and you’re the guy in charge, it says so on the on the front, you’re, you’re the guy with the funny hat squirting everybody, you’re the owner. I want to see, I want to see him front up, I want to see my press credential back. I want to see him answer your questions. I want to see more accountability than quite frankly, I see on the other side.
Luke Jones 40:20
Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Like I said, I mean, a lot of this, we’re five, six weeks into it, a lot of these questions that will need to be answered and projects that will need to be started and different things that need to change for the better. It’s gonna take some time it is I mean, ballpark renovations, mass and all of that, it’s going to take time, one that to develop the proper vision to to execute it. So in the meantime, the things that he is doing, to interact with fans and make put his face out there. It’s good. It’s good. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and say otherwise. I
Nestor J. Aparicio 40:57
remember when Lenny more gave a speech one night after his boy died, he came out to Ed block. And he gave a speech to brought down the house. And if anybody’s ever seen him, I think he’s given the speech before about growing up poor and not have anything that’s parents thought and that kindness doesn’t cost you a penny. It doesn’t cost anything. He is guys, a billionaire. He’s at squirt and fans giving them what they want. Which is a much more touch experience than what we’ve had here the last 30 years. So I commend them. I mean, I really do. I mean, I just wonder what’s next. And I wonder, I’m asking the why, how the commercials are getting done. I would ask Cal Ripken the same I would ask John maroon the same. I would ask them all the same question. Like what’s the philosophical thing that’s happened at the core here? The 60 minutes sit down? Have you bought the team you decided to buy the teams the first thing that went through your mind about Peter and about fixing it? Because obviously, this is sort of the anti Peter which is all that and a bag of doughnuts for a guy like me, you know, it’s all I’ve ever asked for, and I and it’s fun watching the fans. Enjoy hope.
Luke Jones 42:01
Really? Yeah, I mean, it’s a heck of a baseball team best in the American League right now and look off the field there’s more hope than there’s been in a long time. We’re gonna see how that plays out. We’re gonna see how it unfolds over the next couple of years but it’s a great as I’ve said over and over going back to last year. It truly is a great time to be an Orioles fan because the potential is there across the board for this thing to be so much better than it’s been in a really really long time.
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:29
Look judge me watching the games all weekend long he’ll do me a favor these on Friday two until five we will be given away the Pac Man scratch offs in the Maryland lottery. Big thanks to our friends at Liberty pure solutions, keeping our water clean, as well as Jiffy Lube. Multi care be telling you more about that I’m at platinum oyster tour. We’ve done the 25th anniversary documentary, lots of folks feedback to me on that if you’ve watched it, appreciate it. And you know, the one thing makeover two Event Center said that there was a bunch of manure about me that he had no idea about so go learn go laugh, go cry feedback. Do it all it’s at a Baltimore positive. We’re gonna be around all week long. Get ready for the other part of the derby next week, the part where the Derby winner comes here. We have the Preakness next week. So we’ve talked about the Preakness Stakes all next week as well. We have an election this week. I have worked out to several electeds and candidates. They may be appearing a little later on in the week as well. I am Nestor we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive
