On all that ails the Baltimore Orioles…

Longtime sports columnist and decorated author John Eisenberg returns to the Maryland Crab Cake Tour at Costas Inn in Timonium to discuss his Bird Tapes of Orioles tales and lore and to discuss the future of Birdland for everyone in Baltimore who loves baseball. Has it really been 30 years since the Cal Ripken 2131 game? Are they in last place again? Where are the fans? Does David Rubenstein know what he is doing? Is Mike Elias the right guy?

Nestor Aparicio and John Eisenberg discussed the Orioles’ struggles, the Ravens’ upcoming season, and the history of horse racing in Maryland. Eisenberg highlighted his deep dive into horse racing, including his book on the 1992 Kentucky Derby winner, Lil E. Tee. They also touched on the Orioles’ need for better pitching and the potential of players like Adley Rutschman. The conversation shifted to the Ravens’ challenging schedule and the importance of key players like Lamar Jackson and Marlon Humphrey. They also reminisced about the Cal Ripken Jr. era and the current state of sports journalism.

John Eisenberg’s Journey into Horse Racing

• Nestor Aparicio introduces John Eisenberg, a mentor and author, and discusses the return to talking about Orioles and Ravens.
• John Eisenberg shares his interest in horse racing, which began when he was asked to pick the Kentucky Derby winner for the Baltimore Sun.
• John explains his love for horse racing from a storytelling perspective, highlighting the rich history and drama of the sport.
• He mentions his mentor, Dale Austin, and the book he wrote about the 1992 Kentucky Derby winner, Lil E. Tee.

The History and Deterioration of Pimlico

• Nestor and John discuss the dismantling of Pimlico and the decline of horse racing in Maryland.
• John reflects on the changes in the Preakness coverage and the empty grandstands compared to past years.
• They talk about the history of Pimlico and the significance of its murals and trophies.
• John shares his idea for a book on the dismantling of Pimlico and the challenges of preserving its history.

John Eisenberg’s Bird Tapes Project

• John talks about his ongoing project, Bird Tapes, an oral history of the Orioles on Substack.
• He has interviewed 50 former players and broadcasters, including Dan Shaughnessy, Tim Kurkjian, Ken Rosenthal, and Richard Justice.
• John shares a story from Dan Shaughnessy about Earl Weaver and the 1977 winter meetings in Hawaii.
• He emphasizes the importance of access to players and the changes in media coverage over the years.

The State of Baseball and the Orioles

• Nestor and John discuss the current state of baseball, including the Orioles’ struggles and the need for better pitching.
• John expresses frustration with the Orioles’ front office and the lack of investment in talent.
• They talk about the potential of players like Adley Rutschman and the importance of developing young talent.
• John shares his thoughts on the Orioles’ future and the need for better management and strategy.

The Ravens’ 2023 Season Outlook

• Nestor and John discuss the Ravens’ upcoming season, including the challenging schedule and the pressure to win.
• John highlights the importance of key players like Lamar Jackson, Marlon Humphrey, and Mark Andrews.
• They talk about the Ravens’ history of choking in big games and the need to overcome that reputation.
• John expresses confidence in the Ravens’ roster and their potential to make a deep playoff run.

The Legacy of Cal Ripken Jr.

• Nestor and John reflect on the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr.’s record-breaking streak.
• John shares his book on Cal’s endurance and the impact of his achievement on baseball history.
• They discuss the lasting legacy of Cal’s record and its significance for the city of Baltimore.
• John emphasizes the importance of storytelling in preserving the history of sports.

The Evolution of Sports Media

• Nestor and John discuss the changes in sports media, including the shift towards reality TV and social media.
• John reflects on his experience working for the Ravens and the challenges of maintaining independence in journalism.
• They talk about the impact of social media on player perception and the importance of authentic storytelling.
• John shares his thoughts on the future of sports media and the need for journalists to adapt to new platforms.

The Importance of Accountability in Sports

• Nestor and John discuss the lack of accountability in modern sports, including the Ravens’ recent front office changes.
• John shares his experiences with players like Joe Flacco and the importance of honesty in media interactions.
• They talk about the impact of social media on player perception and the need for transparency.
• John emphasizes the importance of holding athletes and teams accountable for their actions.

The Role of Storytelling in Sports History

• Nestor and John discuss the role of storytelling in preserving the history of sports.
• John shares his experiences with oral history projects and the importance of capturing the stories of players and coaches.
• They talk about the challenges of maintaining access to players and the impact of social media on storytelling.
• John emphasizes the importance of storytelling in keeping the legacy of sports alive.

The Future of Sports Journalism

• Nestor and John discuss the future of sports journalism and the challenges of maintaining independence.
• John shares his thoughts on the importance of storytelling and the need for journalists to adapt to new platforms.
• They talk about the impact of social media on player perception and the need for authentic storytelling.
• John emphasizes the importance of holding athletes and teams accountable for their actions and maintaining high journalistic standards.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles, Ravens, John Eisenberg, horse racing, Pimlico, Birdland memberships, Justin Tucker, football season, baseball offseason, Adley Rutschman, Lamar Jackson, Cal Ripken, storytelling, Maryland lottery, sports journalism.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, John Eisenberg

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 task Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive. I’m in one of the more positive places that have come about, here in Timonium. We’re here. Cost us in in Timonium, in the grandstand, anticipating huge crowds this weekend. As the as we bring the State Fair back in they’ll be racing here this week. All are brought to you by friends at the Maryland lottery. I will have crab cakes today. I’m actually having the crab Imperial today, and the Oysters Rockefeller. It’s brought to you by friends of pressure luck and the lucky sevens. I’m gonna have Raven scratch off beginning next week. I’m gonna give these out at the bar. Hopefully we got some lucky winners here. There is an OTB here. There is a horse racing thing going on here. Chris Corman was here entertaining Brandon Weigel from the Baltimore banner. My buddy Howard share and Bill Cole were by. So we’ve had a long, long, long segment about ravens, Orioles ownership, fans, Birdland memberships, Justin Tucker, all of that. So now bringing a real journalist in John Eisenberg, seer, the author, one of my mentors, and probably working on a book and selling previous books. It is football season. It’s always good to see you, man.

John Eisenberg  01:04

How are you? I’m doing well. I’m doing well. Thanks for having me.

Nestor Aparicio  01:07

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Last time I had you on, I don’t think the Orioles were in last place. It’s been most of the summer. I’ve left you alone. You know, I want to get to baseball. I definitely do some football with you. But being in a horse racing OTB thing, the first thing you talked to Brandon Weigel about who’s big horse racing guy and and Chris Corbin was about the dismantling ho Pimlico. You wrote a lot more about horse racing than I bet people know you did or had given the book and the research you did. And whenever I’ve talked horse racing with you, I’m always astonished, hey, how much you know about it as a journalist, that you got into it because you weren’t a rail bird out there like Dale Austin or Marty McGee or guys we work with, but you took it on as a Maryland thing, being a Texas guy who went to school in Philly to come here and really get into the pageantry of, you know, the great sport of horse

John Eisenberg  02:05

racing? Well, it was the reason I did. It was the store. I mean, I’m a writer. I was working for the newspaper. I was looking for stories, and horse racing is rich in stories. You can’t, you can’t, not. I mean, I realized right away. My first year at the Baltimore Sun, they sent me the Kentucky Derby, and asked me to pick the winner in the paper. I knew nothing, and I did pick the winner, and I think I picked it the next 25 years in the paper. And got them all wrong, but I got the first one right. But anyway, I just love the whole thing from a storytelling perspective. You got the richest of the rich. You got the, you know, the the underclass there that’s working with the horses. You have the horses. The drama of it, the Triple Crown, is really what I did a lot of. So we had the one here, just year after year, great stuff. And and I loved it. And so, you know, then I wound up writing books about it, just because the storytelling was so good. And so, yeah, I spent a lot of time. No, not a real bird at all, but I was mentored in it by the you mentioned, the name Dale Austin, the late Dale Austin, great turf writer at the Baltimore Sun,

Nestor Aparicio  03:04

always had a man. All those guys were out there doing it. That’s all,

John Eisenberg  03:07

all of it. And they, you know, I’m sure they looked at me. Listen, I know how that crowd works. And I was the young guy, and they’re looking at like, who is, you know, he doesn’t know anything. But anyway, they were nice enough to take me on and really taught me about it. And so I was able to to write, I mean, the first book I ever wrote. I’ve written 11 books. The first one was a Kentucky Derby story of the longest shot, story of a 1992 winner, Lil et, who was an obscure winner, but it was I did the story for the sun. And it was so amazing. The horse almost died as a yearling, and then was flipped for $3,000 which is nothing. This is a Kentucky Derby winner. So I did the story for the sun, and I said this, I was looking for a book to write, and I said, I think this fits the bill. So I took it on, and a few years later, had a book in my hand, and the horse still and talked, right? The horse is dead. The horse it No, the horse didn’t talk. The horse doesn’t talk so, but it was a great story, and I sort of learned how to write a book on a horse racing book. So why not doing a few more?

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Nestor Aparicio  04:11

Well, you brought it up just visiting at the bar here cost us about them ripping down Pimlico. And what is going to be done in the banners, right? And you and I would both agree, the banners doing a great job with journalism. I mean,

John Eisenberg  04:24

definitely sports side of it, really, really good. I’m a fan.

Nestor Aparicio  04:27

Well, the Tucker story, the maddest story, you know, the bigger stories that have come out, yeah, you know, asking questions of John Harbaugh, who’s a curry in favor with President Trump.

John Eisenberg  04:37

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Great columns. Kyle goon has written some great columns. I mean, that’s what I did in this town for 27 years, and I’m sitting here watching and, you know, I know I know a good the right column to write when I see it, and he’s written a handful of them, really good. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  04:51

this horse racing thing, let’s talk about this, because you had some natural interest. And I haven’t talked at all about the dismantling of Pimlico. What the level of expectation? Should be, man, I sat here did an hour on how baseball could get saved with these people and fans and money in this town, and where it’s going to come from, the fill the stadium up. The horse racing thing is one of these things. During your 40 years here, in my 40 years in doing journalism here, we’ve watched this thing deteriorate pretty good. I mean, really,

John Eisenberg  05:18

it has. It has. I haven’t done the Preakness in however many years, 10 or 12 years, and I’m just amazed. But I it was, I did 25 or 30 of them. And I cannot believe when I looked this year, for instance, at and I think the TV coverage, they were cutting out some pictures the grand I mean, it was pretty empty. I mean, not literally empty, but compared to what it used to be, it was, it was, I don’t know how you screw that up, because that was pretty incredible. For a long time, 100 and something 1000 people there, huge crowds, just amazing. What went on. It was nuts. It’s completely nuts, which I liked, but it was so, yeah, and there’s, there’s so much history. That’s what I started doing. I wrote a book about Native dancer who’s a fame, you know, very, very famous horse didn’t win the Triple Crown, but is buried out at Sagamore farm. And that got me sort of down the history rail of it. We just lost Ron Turcotte this week. Yeah, yeah. Lost Ron Turcotte, but he would the, I mean, because in doing the name dancer book, I got to know Alfred Vanderbilt’s son, Alfred the third, I think he is, you know, and so he was very helpful to me writing this book. I mean, his dad was long dead, but he’s a little older than me. We hit it off. And so, and, you know, he’s got his dad’s you go interview him in his house in Connecticut, and he’s got, like, you know, an entire room full of horse racing trophies. It’s just worth millions. It’ll just floor you. So you start getting into the history of it, and native dancer and so, and of course, they fit Kevin blank has fixed up Sagamore farm, which was a very historic place. So, yeah, the history of it. And at Pimlico, there’s just a lot, there’s a lot of history. There’s murals on the wall, there’s trophies as all sorts of stuff. Very honestly, Nestor, that is a book idea that I had that I’m not going to act on. And that was the dismantling of Pimlico and the building of another one. Is pretty fascinating, because you can talk about exactly what you said. It’s a once great American sport that’s deteriorating. There’s incredible history, very moving to a lot of people. However, nobody really cares anymore. And so but anyway, do you preserve it? How much do you preserve How do you preserve it? What happens going forward? There’s just a million questions, an interesting narrative with the tear down of it, and who knows how it end? I sure hope they build another one. I think

Nestor Aparicio  07:35

that’s something for our society in sports and you, having spent your whole life documenting it, me, having spent my whole life documenting Baltimore sports, is that you said there’s a very moving story in the history of it. There’s a very moving story in the history of the Orioles and Jim Palmer and Brooks Robinson, and why? How that turns into Adam Jones, that turns into you hope Samuel bassio here this week, right? Like that is what makes this nonsense even special, other than gambling on it, right? Like, which is where baseball and football would like to take it. But like, you know, I collect the the old belt buckles, the old football belt buckles from 1971 and seeing the old logos of the chargers and the Baltimore Colts and the St Louis Cardinals and the and the Oakland Raiders, and like the history and the pageantry, is where the storytelling came from. To Little John Eisenberg and little Nestor Aparicio to say, we’re going to be storytellers in this space of nonsense in reality, but trying to tell people why it’s important or why it’s poignant, or why it’s significant. And to your point, like these stories were really all of those old horse stories are just tear jerkers and people and animals and all that, but it feels like it’s almost like the Harriet Tubman trail to Donald Trump. It’s history. It needs to be erased, or just doesn’t matter anymore. And I think that’s unfortunate, because I think it’s the storytellers that keep that story alive. And when Pimlico goes down, and 10 years from now, it is, whatever it is, there’s not going to be any more thoughts of what used to happen out there on the third Saturday in May. And I’m not even sure in the industry whether it’s even possible, because they’re not going to get the horses anymore unless they

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John Eisenberg  09:19

figure this out. Yeah, I refuse to believe that there’s zero interest anymore, and I’ll just keep telling it. I mean, what I’m doing right now, I’m not working on a book. I’m doing this bird tape still, you know, on sub stack bird tapes, dot sub stack.com, and I’m, it’s an Orioles history project. It is ongoing, and, you know, I’ve got interviews lined up with players. I’ve are, I think there’s 50 interviews now in the archive, and I’m now writing, you know, fair amount of oral history, just because there is a market for it. I got a nice subscriber base, a lot of people. It’s like, a book that doesn’t end like, yeah, some degree was having fun with it. Yeah. Say, what are you doing? I saw I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just, you know, I write. I like it. These stories are interesting, and so. And I find there is, there is an appetite for it. I hear from a lot of people,

Nestor Aparicio  10:03

well, with the Orioles specifically, because it is special, horse racing has deteriorated to the point where, like, yeah, we’re wondering, right for sure, and I’m seeing this with baseball, where I’m watching it deteriorate and saying, Come on, Katie, Come on David, somebody come in here and make sure that it’s not going down the same pathway, because it certainly, certainly feels that way to me when it’s about work stoppage next year and just what they’re going to do with their television and just all of that. But the bird tape thing that you’re doing, that piece where it matters so much to people’s lives that they want to hear it. And I think which is most important that you’re the one doing this, especially you even, you know, I love those Oriole teams and all of that. You covered them. You wrote the book almost 30 years ago now, on all of it, the way that you come at it when you get Fred Lynn on the phone to know enough about it to get the best stories out of these people. That’s part of this too, is that the storyteller needs to have a rich history in all of this, so that the tapestry, the stories, can be told the right way. So when you’re doing this bird tapes thing, it’s different than a 20 year old kid doing it, or even Cal ripkens kid doing it. You’re coming at it from a different perspective with these people who are the last five you’ve done over the next five, what do you where’s your your lane here? Because I know you’re trying to get guys that are alive.

John Eisenberg  11:23

Well, definitely that. Well, one interesting thing I’ve done, but when I wrote my oral history of the Orioles, and it was 2001 so what are we 2024, years ago? So I did not interview the writers. You know, I was looking for story. The whole thing, and it’s a 550 page book storytelling, right? And I talked to players, I talked to broadcasters, I talked to scouts, managers, general managers, everybody. I didn’t talk to the writers. And so because already, very honestly, I had enough material, I wasn’t going to write 1000 page book. So this time around, you know, I said I woke up one day, I said I should talk to these guys. And I know them. They’re like my friends or colleagues, and I will return your they will return my calls. It’s easier to get them, but, you know, let me talk to them. So one thing I’ve done is started, I’ve interviewed. I’ve now posted four interviews with former beat writers just about their days covering the Orioles, and they’ve all gone on to big things. Dan Shaughnessy, Tim kirkson, actually, I just put up today. Kenny Rosenthal and Fox and Richard justice, all great journalists and great reporters and their Oriole memories are unbelievable. And so I’m really proud of those interviews. You know, Dan Shaughnessy was telling, just told the story. And of course, he’s very famous guy at the Boston Globe now, it’s, it’s just pure gold. He it’s a coming of age story. He came to Baltimore in the mid 70s, 1977 and as he said, I just got out Holy Cross. The only thing I know how to do is drink. He didn’t even know how to open a checking account. And he had so many stories about it. Such an unvarnished time in baseball. And it’s the oils glory days. But you cannot believe it. He had so many stories about Earl and Palmer and all these guys, and moments where their hair has been let down, and he’s just interacting with him on a personal basis as a young kid. And it’s really a coming of age story. He told me story that there was a year where and he got along with Earl, that they were going to the winter meet. The winter meetings were in Hawaii, okay? And so Dan is, is is going to go. So Earl’s going to go. And Earl’s stepdaughter, okay, Earl stepdaughter, living with him out in Perry Hall is going to go too. But Earl’s coming in late. All right. Earl’s coming into the to the winter meetings, late. So, but, and there was a flight. Major League Baseball was going to do a flight from JFK in New York out to Hawaii. Anybody from the East Coast could get up there, get on that flight. So Earl puts his is going to put his daughter on that his stepdaughter on that flight, and Dan’s on the flight. So they’re at the bus station, the bus stop in Perry. Is it Perry Hall. You know where you take the you take the busses up to New York. Go ahead. And so Earl’s like, they’re going to spend one night in New York. Earl stepdaughter and Shaughnessy, they’re gonna spend a night in New York before they get on this flight. So Earl’s like peeling off 20s. They’re getting ready to get on the Get on the bus to take him to New York. Earl son getting on the bus, but he looks at Dan Shaw. He says, You’re the same age as her. You take care of her New York tonight. He’s peeling off 20s, handing him to Dan, take care of her tonight in New York, and we’ll see in Hawaii when that fly and dance? Can you imagine? Could you imagine that happening today? John

Nestor Aparicio  14:27

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Harbaugh saying, take care of my daughter. I meet you know why your $20 bill? And

John Eisenberg  14:31

so, I mean, what? What a story. So I’ve

Nestor Aparicio  14:35

had Shaughnessy on before, too, and I think of that period of time in the Earl Weaver book and writers, have you seen the picture of Weaver dousing Phil Jackman in the locker room? No, there is a picture. And this surfaced, and I saw it, and I sent it to Phil Jackman’s daughter. I don’t have the whole story, but apparently Phil Jackson. Lost some sort of bet, or wrote something

John Eisenberg  15:03

about, well, they used to bet on who was going to hit a home

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Nestor Aparicio  15:07

run. And he’s wearing a shirt that says lifeguard on it. And this is after the 1971 ALCS. It is a picture Earl Weaver get dousing Phil Jackman with beer in the locker room. Yeah, and Jackman’s shirt says lifeguard on it. And I don’t there’s no story to this, but this is a sports writer in a locker room in 1971 well, that’s this sort of thing doesn’t happen anymore. Eisenberg,

John Eisenberg  15:33

oh, it doesn’t happen at all. And actually, Tim Kirk, Jen, we spoke at length about it. And you know, it’s in the it’s in the interview that just got posted today about how the access is so much less, there’s so much less access, and how his error, and that’s the 80s, say, from the 70s, the 80s even into the 90s. Great access around baseball. You could get into a clubhouse three for three hours before a game. And so what comes out of that is great stories, great stories, one after the other. No more. You know, with 45 minutes of access before a game, everything’s behind a podium. It’s certainly true in football as well, everything, almost everything’s behind a

Nestor Aparicio  16:06

podium. Now, did you get out at the right time? Yes, I throw me out at the right time. Yeah, yeah.

John Eisenberg  16:11

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Oh, I definitely got out at the right time. I mean, just from a storytelling perspective, with everything at a podium. Now, I feel badly for I mean, I’m not that’s not to say that there aren’t good people out there, still doing good stuff, but the access, the access is really changed, and the access is where the good stories come from, the great stuff comes from, and it’s not there anymore, not even close. So, so though, if you got a kicker

Nestor Aparicio  16:34

who’s a predator, and yeah, you’re trying to hide it, you know, or you have untoward things going on, or you’re just a paranoid organization to begin with, or you want to control the message. I mean, the thing I see in modern sports, and this is just in the last couple of years, is that they’re just doing reality TV on the internet. That’s all that is shooting videos of everything, and the pen, signing the contract, the behind the scenes. I’m promoting you. I’m cutting you. All of it’s on video. All of it’s made to look like a Hulk Hogan reality show where might be Ozzy Osbourne might not, but it’s all staged. It feels like Owings Mills and the Oriole organization backdrop. It is a staging area for a reality show like The Bachelor, like they’re shooting a television show in addition to the games being played.

John Eisenberg  17:23

Well, there’s definitely nobody does it better. I mean, it’s universal. It’s not just here. Look at the what’s the biggest show on Netflix right now, the Jerry Jones documentary in the Cowboys, and that is the number one show. And so when I was just down there, my mother still alive at age 98 I go down to see her, and I’m listening to the radio down there, and they are killing him, killing Jerry Jones. And this is a well done documentary. I haven’t seen all of it. It’s about Jerry Jones’s history with the Cowboys, but there’s, you know, he admits in the thing, basically, all I want is attention, and he’s really good at it. He may not be good at putting football teams, winning football teams on the field, but he’s good at attention. Chair is a big deal. He’s a very big deal. And meaning now he’s now he’s number one on Netflix. You know, he can’t win a playoff game, but he’s number one on Netflix. And does he really, that’s all he wants. Kind of fine with it. Who thought he was just getting a television rating would be right? Well, and it did translate. Yeah. I mean, listen, votes. You can make that leap very easily, but so it is. It’s very definitely a media world we live in. And so, you know, and that’s fine. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and grumble and, you know, get off my lawn and things, you know, it was better in my day and all that. You know, this is the world we live in now. People consume it in great volumes, and they like it, and they’re interested in it. It’s very different, you know. And certainly, the players control the message, and the teams control the message. I mean, one thing with the ravens, I mean, you know, half of them have their own YouTube channels, and they’re controlling the message and whatever, go and do it. That’s fine. I will stick to my lane, which is, you know, come in unbiased, see what I see. Tell a story. It won’t always be a good story. It’s gonna piss some people off. And so be it, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  19:07

live with it. How you want, if you want, why you won, why you lost, how it happened, right? Yeah.

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John Eisenberg  19:12

I mean, I walked the halls, you know, as you know. I mean, I worked for the Ravens for nine years. That brought me in and said, You do what you do. And I said, Okay, let’s see how this goes. And here you are. Yeah, I live to tell about it, and that’s not without doing a lot of the knocking heads with, you know, some people who are on TV every Sunday. But, you know, it worked out okay. They were, I’ll, you know, be safe. You know, definitely for public consumption. Really nice to work for good people and and, you know, they dealt with me. They dealt with me. I, you know, I think some of them couldn’t figure out the whole time I was there, why I was there, but head coach, definitely not. But Dick cast, the former president, he did and so pretty much had my back.

Nestor Aparicio  19:56

Accountability is just something you either think you’re subjected to. It, or you’re

John Eisenberg  20:00

not right? Yeah. So it’s a really interesting thing to write in a column, you know, after a game that I think I’m gonna have PTSD with the trying these decisions to go for two, to win a game in overtime, and you know, you’re standing behind the guy who made the decision, who’s not happy with what you wrote. And that was interesting, but

Nestor Aparicio  20:21

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I live to tell about it. Well, you know, I mean, John Eisenberg is here. He is living to tell that we’re at cost us in we’re in Timonium, at the beautiful OTB, who talks horse racing, pressure locking, double Lucky Seven doublers. I’m also going to be at Coco’s on Wednesday. We’re going to get to cilantro in September, in time for the oyster tour. And we’re doing tasting this as well. So a lot of food coming out this week. A lot of football coming out next week. You want to do baseball, football? Which one you want to do? Let’s do Orioles. Since you did bird tapes and where we are, where are you in all of this Messiah and I just had Howard share her for a while. My childhood friend, he still got 1000 bucks on his Birdland account this year. It’s user to lose it, you know. So they’ve done all they’ve done with their Birdland things and their angering fans, this pasio thing. I spent an hour this morning talking to Luke about it, and when it happened, I kind of shrugged, and I’m like, Well, this is the guy they could sign. This is a marriageable player. Poor Dominican young there hasn’t proven himself yet. If he comes up, it’s 300 for a month. He might want more money, not a Boris guy. Most of these guys, they can’t sign this deal to write this boars thing is fundamentally Scott Boris. If I had him on the show right now, he literally would say, that’s a shitty contract that young man signed. But he did what he had to do. You know, yeah, he wouldn’t do that with me, because he’s probably worth 200 million in that period of time if he becomes what they think he is. But they got over on him, because he’s a poor kid from the Dominican. They bought a year or two of his deal, but by the time he gets to that deal, and he’s gotten screwed out of the first 50 million, he would have wished he had me. That’s how Boros would think about it, right? But this young man just had his life set up, right? Yeah, he I mean, this is like saying the lottery’s got a seven $50 million drawing right now, power, right? I mean this, I say 75 million wouldn’t be enough

John Eisenberg  22:04

for me all relative, that’s a lot of money. That’s a lot of money that kid just signed for. And whatever the market bears or whatever don’t even come at me with that. You know, it’s just like there’s a lot of money he signed for. He’s a 20 year 21 year old kid. He’s had, he barely made it to the major leagues. It’s a pretty good deal. And so he could get hurt. He could tear up his Achilles tomorrow and never be the same. And, and fortunately, it’s not a picture, right? I mean, they’re all get injured, but so, so is your writing? Is this a good signing, or absolutely good, good signing, 100% Good signing, especially you get a look at him. I mean, the kids good his good ball player. Really good ball player. We

Nestor Aparicio  22:44

thought that about rochman Three years ago, though, right? I thought that about Jonathan scope. I was the guy that didn’t think Chris Davis should get the money. I thought, Jonathan, you so I am the village idiot in all this. Yeah, it’s not a lot of money to them.

John Eisenberg  22:58

It’s a it’s somehow, it is a combination of factors. The sign ability thing, I think, is huge. The Boris thing really gets in the way. And so this is one they could sign. And he is 21 years old. I think, I think it’s smart. I think it’s smart. And this is a, looks like a really nice player, a nice piece for a long time. I don’t think he’s going to be hitting 210 and, you know, he’s a great athlete. Doesn’t have to catch. He can play first base. He was a shortstop when they were scouting him. It’s a great athlete. And big, strong kids, super strong. Go for it. Go for it. I mean, what are you waiting for? So tired of of I mean, it’s ridiculous. I mean, when they, when the, when the Angelos regime said, well, we can’t afford Manny Machado. I said, Well, why don’t you sell the team? I mean, are, you’re in the business. You are in the business of baseball, and here you have done what you’re supposed to do, you have found a kid. You’ve developed him. He’s a star. If you can’t afford him, will sell the team. I mean, what are you doing? This is, this is the business. The industry is a problem, right? I mean, yeah, the work stoppage coming next year, where they are, as I point out last segment, they don’t have any revenue certainty. Well, I mean, like, they don’t know where their money’s coming from. They really don’t. Well, they’re trying to, yeah, get ahead. I mean, the drying up of the regional sports networks is an interesting thing, and they’re just trying to figure out how that’s all going to go and, yeah, I mean, it is. I mean, I do think, yeah, baseball definitely has, has some things to to consider and to work on, and I don’t know how it’s going to work. I do still think there’s an awful lot of fans. It’s not what it was, and they got things to work on. I think it i But I do think some things are eternal. I mean, look at what’s going on in San Diego with the Padres. You put a winning team, some fun team, you know, market it the right way. You can draw. You can still draw L A Dodgers. I mean,

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Nestor Aparicio  24:52

the bananas draw John. I don’t get it, but they do, you know,

John Eisenberg  24:56

just people want to have fun. They want to have some fun. And. And have it not just be dreadful and sort of like, oh, you know, just a just like a funeral, they would, they

Nestor Aparicio  25:06

want to have the fun. When you go down there, is it fun to you? I often say my wife, that’s the thing. It’s missing for me. And I’m different. I’m uninvited, and, you know, whatever. But it’s not, it’s not fun for me. So I don’t give him money, even if I hated him and I was having a good time. You know what I mean? If I don’t like the right the restaurant owner and the steaks good, I might still have a steak, right? But just, just in a general sense,

John Eisenberg  25:27

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I’m the wrong guy to ask. I’m the wrong guy to ask because I enjoy it. You know? I’m the one who watched all those years when, when they were terrible. I watched through the rebuild. I just like, I find I just like, like baseball, and I do have fun, win, lose or draw. I think it’s interesting. I’ll watch when they’re, you know, 10 games under 500 and they got people I’ve never heard of trying to close games. I mean, I will watch it. So I do find it fun. I find baseball. I mean, I came up here from football country, Texas, and I found that I enjoyed writing baseball a lot more than football and baseball, even though the Orioles were lousy when, very quickly, when I got here, I enjoyed writing it again, the access, let’s go back to it, you know, it just spoke to my heart. I could go in there and spend hours, and I would write something and go in there the next day, and they would yell at me, but that was fine, whatever. That’s the way it should be, you know, they so, yeah, I like the baseball, sorry,

Nestor Aparicio  26:24

30th anniversary of Cal this week, in addition to that little game in Buffalo on Sunday night. But right, you and I were both there for all of it. I mean, I’m standing next to you most of those days. I mean, back in the 90s, from Camden Yards on Yeah, we were colleagues, and then you were writing a column, and I’m doing radio every day in that period of time, 9596 90 when 96 and 9798 became for the franchise, and the Ravens come into town and all of that, it was sort of the last pure act of the Orioles, right? Like 30 years ago, sort of the last thing that really matter other than a Delman young double, right? And maybe the pope come into the stadium or whatever, like Billy Joel and John maybe, or Paul Cartney, but like the Cal Ripken moment, still 30 years later, they haven’t come close to having anything like that there, especially when they’ve gotten their ass kicked in all the playoff games. You know what I mean? Like the Royals thing didn’t go well last year, last couple years that times they’ve made the playoffs. It hasn’t gone well. That period with Cal after the strike that led to 9697 big payroll, good jobs, all of that. That’s, that’s the last draw. That’s

John Eisenberg  27:33

it. That’s, that’s a Well, I mean, there was some stuff in the book Showalter years, but certainly nothing that measured up to that. And, yeah, the Cal stuff, it was. And, listen, I went up, I wrote a whole book about it, the you know, book about endurance in baseball, because I found it to be a topic you could just especially 20 years hence, or and now, even more, 30 years since. Is it a good idea? Isn’t it a good idea? Listen, you can talk to a lot of people in the game, get a lot of different answers.

Nestor Aparicio  28:01

Nobody’s gonna do it again. So that speaks to it not being either not a good idea or not doable, like, do a bowl.

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John Eisenberg  28:07

Yeah, I think Cal would be an interesting one to talk to about it. In that regard, it’s like, you know, in this day and age, they can take they can sit you down and say, you want to play 162 games. Good for you. However, here’s, let me show you this spreadsheet. When you take a day off, you know, your average spike, 65 points, you’re taking days off, Sorry, pal and load management, yeah, load management, so they can quantify anything. So it’s just not valued anymore, the endurance. But talk to guys you know, Brady Anderson, talk to guys that you know were teammates of his. And the value of having a guy in there and them running the defense from the shortstop position, very underrated and and so, you know, there’s many ways to look at it. It’s an interesting subject. And he did it. He did what he did. It was quite amazing. And, you know, I mean that that’s who he is. He’s we

Nestor Aparicio  28:59

began this with the lore of horse racing, and like the history and the pageantry, when you look up Orioles baseball, there’s going to be Brooks and some championships. And then this Cal thing that sits is this bizarre outlier. It’s a category that’s not even really a category in baseball. It’s not like 56 game hitting streak or how many rings you win, like Michael Jordan. It’s Cal created his own it’s its own industry. It’s its own thing.

John Eisenberg  29:23

Yeah, it’s so interesting because there are two subsets of people’s of responses. There’s the people that say, Yeah, we did that. We’re proud of it. He’s a local kid. It’s incredible. And then there’s the other ones that say it had nothing to do with winning. Who cares? Who cares? You know, when who cares, but

Nestor Aparicio  29:39

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the sentimentality of what it means for the city and the hard working and the earnestness going to work every you know, all of that, those are just great American ideals that they are, you know. And that wins all the game was about to go into that steroid era, just come out of the strike. I mean, just saving baseball and all that third. Years ago, dude,

John Eisenberg  30:01

yeah, I know, yeah. And the Yeah. I mean, I, when I did the book on it, I did interviewed all sorts of people, and including a lot of you know, umpires who are on the field that night. Al Clark, you’ve probably had al on, and he was like, you know, we didn’t like it. Speaking the royal we with umpires. We didn’t really like Cal, you know, his dad hated umpires, and he got it from his dad, and he was kind of arrogant, and he was always thought he was right. However, boy, did we respect him? And, you know, did we, you know, watching so many people take days off doing this, and I don’t want to bat against Randy Johnson. I said that guy showed up. You know, there’s no doubt he deserves the acclaim he got. I don’t

Nestor Aparicio  30:39

want to bat against Randy Johnson, you got me sideways of Rafael Palmeiro chased me with a bat one time because I, I went on the air, and everybody knew he didn’t want to play against Randy Johnson. He didn’t like that. He was added on it. Yeah, John Eisenberg is here, the great man, author, writer. So what? What else is going on besides birthday? So just that, that’s it. That’s what you’re doing. That’s

John Eisenberg  30:58

all I’m doing right now. Good. And that’s enough. That’s enough. That’s enough. I wrote 11 books. I’m not saying I’m done, and there may be something may grow out of that. It’s possible that something made

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Nestor Aparicio  31:10

you write a book today. What would you write it on?

John Eisenberg  31:13

If I wrote a book today, a million dollars

Nestor Aparicio  31:15

right now, you’re gonna write a book. What’s your best book idea? What do you

John Eisenberg  31:18

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got? My best book idea? I mean, I feel like writing. I’ve done a lot all these deeply reported books, you know, I kind of am wanting to write a memoir very honestly about and it’s a, it’s a baseball themed and sort of it’s amazing how things thread through your life for different times. I mean, I wrote a lot of football history, and I thought, Oh, I’m a football guy. But then you think more and more about it’s like, I’m not so sure I am a football guy. I think I’m a baseball guy. And it goes back to my dad. There’s, there’s a lot to there’s a lot to unpack there. So I don’t know, I don’t know that he’ll have

Nestor Aparicio  31:52

all the Washington Senators as a young man, and also live to tell a red seasons in hell, which is still my favorite all time sports. You know that,

John Eisenberg  31:59

right? Oh, well, seasons in hell, about the 1973 Texas Rangers. Yeah, who I know I knew? Well, in Texas, believe Mike still alive. I hope he is. Yeah, always

Nestor Aparicio  32:09

wanted to have him on. I always loved that book. It’s great books. Great book, man. Was really,

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John Eisenberg  32:15

really good writer, funny, and it did that is a different window, that’s a different era of baseball. That was pretty nuts.

Nestor Aparicio  32:21

Not ball for not, you know, not Harry Ted, and whatever their names were, Alice and Bill, whatever the names were, the eggs, but John, you know, the football thing is here now, and the Tucker thing and the journalism at Chris Corman on you said hello to him. Where are you with the Ravens trajectory and all this? Because if you’re you’re the storyteller and the arc of the story. And I talked to Luke about this all the time. I remember being in a locker room back when I had a back when I was a real media member, and Marlon Humphrey sat at his locker after that chargers loss and said, we choked we’re chokers. We’re chokers. That was five, six years ago. Now, right? Like, I’m interested in the beginning of the year and the buffalo. First off, how hard to schedule is Buffalo, Detroit, you’re gonna see Flacco in week two. For what all that is then, Kansas City, they’re gonna get their demons all out in the first month. Yeah, they get the first but I to me, not just young players, where zay flowers is coming on or whatever. I want to see Humphrey. I want to see Ronnie Stanley. I want to see roquan Smith. I want to see Mark Andrew. Mark Andrews. I want to see Lamar. I want to see Derrick Henry. Where are there 30 somethings in all of this for tread in September. Where are they? October 1? Where’s the injury report? Are they three in one? Are they one in three? Are they two and two? Are they flooring up? This first month is way more compelling from a storytelling standpoint than almost anything I can think of. Given the Tucker off season, given Mike Green and their need for him to rush to quarterback, although, you know, apparently Russian girls back in college, but Lamar his greatness, Derek, Henry, they got a wide receiver that’s going to the Hall of Fame. They have a coach who thinks he’s going to the Hall of Fame. They’ve really got a lot of pressure on them, in a way, that it’s good pressure you want to think you have to win. But man, when you’re Ronnie Stanley and you’re Lamar and you’re Marlon Humphrey, and you’ve been through this several, several, several times, and the only thing you can do to be successful is to win the last game of the year who? I mean, it puts a lot of pressure on September, when out of the gate, they have it really tough. They have the toughest schedule the league the first month.

John Eisenberg  34:30

Well, the one thing they can’t do is go and for things do happen. I mean, weird things happen. And that’s not impossible to go and for i not listen. Don’t get me wrong. The Ravens have a really good roster. This is one of the on paper, one of the better ravens teams I’ve seen, really good. Lamar in his prime, starting right there, just so good. He’s going to win so many games, and they’ve surrounded him, took a few years, but they’ve surrounded him with great talent. The defense should be better than a year ago. I do like Zach or I think last year they really missed Mike McDonald. That goes back to. To the time when I was there, that guy, I think, is a star, and they really missed him. I mean, he could have been the next head coach here. I think, you know, Mike McDonald, that’s the kind of guy, but they let him walk. They weren’t ready to make that change. The owner wasn’t so now he’s head coach in Seattle. A smart organization, by the way, they went and found a smart guy. So, you know, that was a transition of sorts last year. I think they’ll be better this year, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to get off to a good start. I mean, they better watch it

Nestor Aparicio  35:29

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how they can get better. I mean, you know what I mean better is they freight train teams. For years, they’ve had two or three seasons where they’ve just freight that’s my point. Mean, well, can be for No, you don’t win the Super Bowl October means

John Eisenberg  35:41

nothing, yeah, I mean own four would mean something for no wouldn’t mean a lot, that it would set up a really nice season for them, and they’ll have a nice season. And I anticipate that they’ll have they go to and to still have a nice season. I think they’ll have challenges in the league. I think the Bengals, they were lucky to beat the Bengals twice last year. The Bengals are tough. They didn’t have other they’re weird, and they got problems, but they give the Ravens a hard time. And so the Steelers, they’re way better than the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens way better at this point. However, improve that between now and the first time they see the Steelers Don’t, don’t get me wrong, they’ll probably split with them. You know, they can’t beat the Steelers. They just can’t do it the Steelers. You know, it’s, it’s not the Steelers are not front

Nestor Aparicio  36:20

part of the seasons loaded with the Kansas City buffalo thing. The backside is loaded with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. And that’s what’s got me a little concerned about all of this, because, you know, they’re 11 and six or whatever, and they got to go on the road win three games. I can do it. I don’t like that. I don’t like that pathway for them now. I like bye week at home games for them. And that’s, that’s a really high, high bar right here. 30 years of doing this, you only had three or four years where they’ve had anything that even felt like home games in January.

John Eisenberg  36:51

Yeah. But look, look at the years they want. Look at the first year. What on the road, on the road for? Let’s see the first year, that first round at home, and then three, two on the road, and then a Super Bowl, right?

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Nestor Aparicio  37:02

Which 101? Yeah, yeah. I agree. It

John Eisenberg  37:06

can be done. It can be done however. You know, I know what you’re saying and you’re talking to you talked originally about sort of the storytelling, and what the arc of the story is. The problem is, it’s the same story. This has been going on for a while here, and the story hasn’t really changed. It’s like, well, they have to do this. This is what they have there. They have to, have to win it all. I mean, they’ve done pretty much everything else. So from a storytelling perspective, it’s kind of like ho hum. It’s, it’s the same thing was same as last year, same as the year before, and it just, you got the same coach, you got the same quarterback, got the same pretty much everything. So it’s just, can they finally do it? That’s the story.

Nestor Aparicio  37:47

They’ve been deft at handling all this with the veterans. I mean, I have tweets three years ago said they got Derrick Henry, they’d be unstoppable. I believe that. I mean, I that was a really good they got Derek Henry. They could win the Super Bowl. So I’m not going to back down from that, but I do. I’m from Missouri. At this point. I need to go see it. And more than that, their schedule in September really puts a lot of early pressure on them, and especially when you’re not seeing play players play in the preseason at all, just seeing this thing gel on the road under the bright lights, in a place where things have not gone well historically, up there for them in good weather, which we expect will be good weather, Sunday night, but it’s as important as September as they’ve ever really had, just from a expectation level for where they are, where all the veteran they have a veteran laden team now they really do.

John Eisenberg  38:38

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They have they have young guys too. They have a veteran. I mean, they’ve had hit on a few drafts, which is nice. They’ve, I mean, they they’ve, they’ve, they’ve done everything except win the game they need to win, you know, in January. So it is, I’m not going to say, you know, tune in in January. They have to get there. I’m fully expect that they will not really have a problem doing it, regardless of what happened, unless they go oh and four and the season goes completely off the rails, I think they’ll be there in January. They’re just too good. So too many of these teams can’t get out of their own way. There’s really a lot of teams that see Cleveland week to Yeah, Cleveland with Joe God, love Joe. God, love Joe. Joe. Really? What a disaster. What a disaster. If you’re a Cleveland Brown fan, I mean, I love Joe. And you know what? He’s gonna He’s still, he’s gonna throw a beautiful ball when he’s 55 years old. You know he’s he brings some things to the table, but he’s hanging on the one of his kids gets in the league seeking, yeah, throat on. I mean, I love it. But you know the fact that that’s their choice is just like, Oh my God. What are you doing? That’s how I look at it, of course. And that’s after the worst sign, you know, the Deshaun Watson thing, which really doomed them for years. So I don’t know how they’re gonna extricate out their way out of that one.

Nestor Aparicio  39:54

All the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve known you 40 years. I’ve been doing it 42 now. I. Um, Joe Flacco is my favorite all time, person that I’ve met covering and I’ve got some people. I mean, I love Barry Trott’s. I love Gina. I mean, there’s so many Marvin Lloyd, there’s a lot of people I’ve met through this that I’m like, Man, these are really amazing. Mike Borg is a great guy. Just great people that have many of Brooks. I mean, just great people. Flacco, to me, is the purest Delaware first round pick. Nobody thought he could do it. Yeah, not a Hall of Famer, but the Hall of good enough when he needed to be very, under very, just, just bunches of kids. He’s written his post Baltimore story been gone a decade. He’s written this story in a way where everybody in sports. Roots for Joe Flacco, right?

John Eisenberg  40:42

Absolutely. And what I remember about him, best of all is week after week. And I was right my wheelhouse all those years I was covering it is that Win, lose or draw. Hey, you know he is at that podium after the game. If he, if he’s never one time through a teammate under a bus, never once and never said, what kind of stupid F in question is that? Took on any question, answered it. He was an adult. He was an adult from the get go as a kid, you know, he just had that poise and that humanity to just whatever happened. Good parents, I can just deal with this, you know, bring, bring whatever you want, and and so. And I just so respected that. Because, you know, how many, how many years have I done this and seen people that just don’t handle

Nestor Aparicio  41:34

well, the mark Andrew sing in Buffalo, we talked about that brief, yeah, well, that the team and horrible, and harbored everybody running from the Justin Tucker thing, that Michael lies firing his manager right on a Saturday, not hiding in another city until Tuesday, right? Not just from reporters, but you’re doing this to your fans. You’re saying your fans, I don’t owe you anything, right, right? Um, the lack of accountability. So I had Flacco on. You’ll appreciate this. I had him on in February, maybe it’s early March at the end of the season. And I, you know, he and I are pretty flippantly honest and candid when we get together, but we’re on the Zoom and I’m in the show doing it. I said to him, so when you were a rookie, I went up to Pittsburgh and you played the championship game, and you threw an ill advised pick across the middle, the Paloma. You didn’t see him. He snuck in. He’s in the Hall of Fame for a reason, and broke your heart. Lost the game. 15 minutes later, season’s over. You lost chance to go the Super Bowl. I’m standing in front of the podium. You came out. I probably asked the first question, because I usually did. Why did you answer questions? What? Why? Why did you come out? Why? And he said, Well, to be honest, I didn’t know. I had any other choice.

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John Eisenberg  42:58

He’s 22 he doesn’t know how it works.

Nestor Aparicio  43:01

So I thought that was just Joe. Be a Joe. You know, the more you being with you specifically, then it would mean something with Luke or Jameson or Jeffrey back anybody who’s actually been on the road at home in all of those little cramped Cleveland visiting room, Denver visiting after a loss, after losses, after wins, after Jacoby Jones at we were there for all of it. I would say to you with Joe, when you ask him a question, you just didn’t get what you get from Mark Andrews. He does whatever Chad told him to say, whatever Chad told me should say, Joe would actually, like, explain it to you, like, he really wanted to answer it Yes. Like, like, it was like, Oh, that, you know, I can understand why you want the answer that. Let me tell you about it. And that’s how Marvin Lewis always treated me 30 years ago. And even Brian, which is sort of like, we sort of owe you an explanation, because we’re football people, and you’re not, you know, we’re the Teachers, you’re the students, you know, you’re the fans. We’re the we know why and how, without throwing anybody under the bus. But I am the most appropriate person to answer that question, because I’m the expert and you’re the journalist asking me the question like that seems to be the quid pro quo, the appropriate way it was handled, not you’re just here to stir up stuff right after a game, right? Joe never took it that way. And I think that comes from a generation of even the headiest loop Pinellas, the fiery people, oh, they took those questions they knew you had to ask why you had a reliever in a game and why you did right?

John Eisenberg  44:37

Oh, totally. I mean, they, they, they that. I do believe Joe was a baseball player. I do believe that has something to do with I mean, the questions, you’re not second guessing, but you have to ask, you know, why did you bring in so and so at that point, if he gave it up, why? I’m not saying, I’m not saying stupid question. You know, I’m not saying, I think you’re wrong. I’m just saying, why give me your explanation? It’s going in the paper. I. Right, all right. It’s going

Nestor Aparicio  45:01

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remember when Johnny Oates got that concept that changed him a little bit. For me, it’s

John Eisenberg  45:05

changed them all. I mean, poor Phil Regan was here for year. He couldn’t take it, he couldn’t take it, and, and, but most, most of the good managers understand that. Buck Buck totally got it. Well, he’d been in the media by the time he got here, so he totally understood, yeah, decisions that go wrong, people are going to ask you about them. It doesn’t mean that, you know they’re second guessing you. Maybe they are going to second guess you, but, but you’re going to have a chance to explain yourself here and and do it. Just do it. And what were you thinking here? That’s, yeah, what were you thinking? And, you know, it didn’t get that whole lot football. It’s a lot harder after a game to get, to get I look at the tape. Don’t get it. You don’t get it. So you just have to, you just have to write what you write. And that’s where I was, well,

Nestor Aparicio  45:50

you’ve done he’s done better at it than anybody. John Eisenberg is here. He writes, but he writes, and we’re at her Costas. So I brought to you by the Maryland lottery. By the way, I’m doing my 27 favorite things to eat, if you like to eat, I’m trying to mix things up. I mean, there’s desserts in there, there’s snowballs, there’s cookies, there’s cakes, there’s pies, there’s crab Imperial and oysters, Rockefeller here at Costas, which you should definitely eat. The hashtag is tastiness. It’s all brought to you by our friends at curio wellness as well as GBMC. Getting me healthier here into the fall season, and I hope our health makes it through this football grace period here, the early part of the season, through the Orioles offseason, they’re gonna spend money, right? That’s your Yeah? I think so. Columnist John wants them to buy pitching

John Eisenberg  46:30

correct, definitely, or trade for it, yeah, you know, whatever. Trade for it and sign it absolutely. I think if anything this year has tested the patience of the fans as well, it should, is this year’s a screw up. Big time screw up. And really, I think knowing fans saw it, you know when? When the decision to bring in the people that they did, Morton and Sugano, and you know, they turned out okay, but it wasn’t, it wasn’t an ace, it wasn’t that. It wasn’t the big bucks. We’re gonna win a championship. We’re just not going to do it so, and you’ve got these young players, they didn’t suddenly turn bad. I mean, you know, Gunner Henderson just an outstanding player, and they’ve just got a whole these new ones look good, and they got a lot of talent. They can’t waste it. And sorry about Richmond. Yeah, I am worried about Richmond a little bit. I mean, Richmond may end up I mean, Matt Wieters was a 240 something career hitter. And part of the reason, and you know Palmer, I do love Palmer on the massive broadcast. And he was, he was at, he was doing a game with the Seattle they were playing the Mariners and Cal Raleigh, right? 38 home runs at the All Star break or summer 40. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, like five or seven since then. And you know Palmer’s response. So he’s a catcher, he’s tired, and it’s just like, Oh yeah, you know, catching, it’s hard to be the best offensive player on your

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Nestor Aparicio  47:47

team. I go to yoga three days a week, and I was a catcher, and just getting just doing this for like, 30 seconds with my hips, changes your count. That’s about all this that would you prefer to do that every night, or prefer to play first base or, th,

John Eisenberg  48:06

right? So it could come to that, I think Adley, I mean, I wouldn’t mind. I would like to see him throw out a few more runners that that almost bothers me more than they had a little look this defense. I mean, he’s a very good defensive catcher. Calls a good game. There’s going to be a learning curve here with the side on that very much. So, I mean, he’s the reason they didn’t want to bring him up everybody. He’s what, he caught 35 games, a triple A, or

Nestor Aparicio  48:30

this is why he wouldn’t be up here if they were in the pennant race, they wouldn’t want him catching Dean Kramer in a pivotal al

John Eisenberg  48:37

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East game. He caught 35 games, a triple A, something like that. That is not enough. Okay, I’m just going to say that he’s here now. He’s going to hit They’ve given him $67 million that is not enough to really be are you going to go into Yankee Stadium and try to win games, or wherever it may be? It’s not enough. So there’s going to be a learning curve. We’re all going to see it. And that’s, that’s, that’s fine. I mean, development, we’re not supposed to be dealing with it here, but with a player like that, you know, go ahead, throw him out there in the last play season. Why not? Why now? Yes, in August of this season, Beaver, it’ll pay that. That’s what you should be doing. And I believe it’ll pay off. Beavers looks like a keeper. And I do believe Mayo is probably keeper in the long run. I wish causa was hitting more than 210 that that’s, yeah. So anyway, it’s, it’s interesting to watch. There is a lot of talent, and they need to focus way more on, I mean, this is obvious, but the starting pitching, because here actually had a pretty good record since before Memorial Day winning record. And that’s when the pitching

Nestor Aparicio  49:45

stabilized area man, Selena is going to bring it up when he wants to keep

John Eisenberg  49:49

the job too. Well, he’s definitely gonna. And I was initially, I wasn’t sure about him at all, over his head, so much, I mean. And then there was the night he said, Well, we didn’t score enough points. And almost, literally, almost. Joked. I said, What did the manager of the Baltimore

Nestor Aparicio  50:02

Orioles just say? Oh, Weaver

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John Eisenberg  50:05

didn’t have enough points. I was like, oh, boy, you know, I mean, my wife said that I’d be worried about so. But anyway, he’s, he’s, he’s overcome that,

Nestor Aparicio  50:17

which was real. No, I thought the whole thing feels really little league feels, yeah, just press conferences. Are not world class, for

John Eisenberg  50:24

sure. Well, they’ve gotten better as winning, they’re winning, right? What I would like to see, I think an opportunity, is here. Look what the Reds have done this year. You know, with bringing in Frank Kona, who had a health scare, but knows how to manage 162 game season. Knows how to manage a pitching staff, the team. I don’t think he’s there. I love buck. I mean, I mean, it would be great. I don’t know if he’s the right guy for young you

Nestor Aparicio  50:51

8

were there. They brought Earl back in 86 Yeah.

John Eisenberg  50:55

Well, one thing to know, let me tell you something about how, one thing writing a book about that. One thing I do know from having done a lot of this, Orioles history, Earl that generation, even going forward, okay, Bruce Bochy today, all right, you go to a lot of these managers. They’re good managers. They were not great players, okay? They were okay players. They didn’t make big money, okay? And all of them, you go back to Earl and Billy Martin and all those guys, La Russa, you know what speaks to them? Money, okay? Because they didn’t make it. So, you know you can, you can pay up and get yourself a good manager in the Rangers. Look, the Rangers went out and pay for Bruce Bochy. He was retired, I believe, and won a World Series. Out of it, I think people would make that trade here that that’s something to go find yourself somebody. John McNamara, I’m just, yeah, there’s somebody out there, out there, yeah, there’s somebody.

Nestor Aparicio  51:48

Bob lemon. He is John Eisenberg. He gets all of my funny little jokes that I make about baseball, because he is a baseball historian as well, as well as a football story. Go read his books. Follow Him, get his bird tapes. I did have Fred Lynn on the show after you had him on your bird tapes, because he’s just like, he’s great. And if I can get Kiko Garcia in one up you I will, you know,

John Eisenberg  52:10

yeah, Kiko would be good. Floyd Rayford,

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Nestor Aparicio  52:14

the honey bear, you can have it. But renicke was my favorite Oriole at that time. You know what? I should be in a mad race. This would be a huge get for either one of us, John low and brother, low, brother, low, brother, low, who loves me? Probably loves you too. Yeah. Brother, low wishes me happy birthday every year. My birthday on Facebook. He will not respond to coming on the show. He will not Buck rake. He will, will never, will never know, will we with him? Will we?

John Eisenberg  52:40

No, we won’t. And he, let

Nestor Aparicio  52:42

me tell you, in a cloud of dust, like Hunter S Thompson, he left, like Amelia Earhart on a plane, he just went away, didn’t he? Literally

John Eisenberg  52:51

8

not a month goes by where I because I got a lot of subscribers on this bird tapes thing I hear from a lot of people, and they say, here’s who I want. It’s him. Yeah, that’s who I want, yeah, and I John. If you do him instead of me, I’m gonna be good. I’ll listen to it. I’ll pay for it. I just, I want to know that you’re okay. I want to know

Nestor Aparicio  53:14

I that’s I need a sign. Knock three times, do something you know

John Eisenberg  53:18

absolutely no

Nestor Aparicio  53:21

help. He loved he is here, and in the aftermath of the Angelo’s thing,

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John Eisenberg  53:24

last time I talked to him, he was literally in Vegas and on a golf course, he was literally like, hitting a shot, and put his phone down, and I said, What are we doing? What are we doing here? I can’t remember why I called him. It’s been a long time.

Nestor Aparicio  53:42

I would see him randomly at Nietzsche by chi. You remember Nichi Bai Kai sushi going on York Road. I would go in there for lunch. I said, 30 years ago, beginning of my radio Chris, when he’s on television every night, 9394 95 I come in and brother Lowe would have sushi up at the bar in the afternoon. He’d say hello to me and whatever. Because he knew me through the media a little bit, but I didn’t know him well, but he really liked my show and the way that Mike Flanagan, the guys that were irreverent, he was an irreverent man. He liked that I was irreverent so and when he got thrown out with the whole John Miller thing, I went back and I read those quotes when I wrote the Peter principles, just about what he said upon departing dude, 30 years, man, nobody has ever dropped the mic the way John Lowen sign just walked away and never came back. Literally never came

John Eisenberg  54:32

I should probably really do a written piece just on that. Even Bert Jones is coming back. Yeah, weeks, yeah, I heard about that. So that’s after my heart. You know, culture, my thing, yeah, yeah, yeah, but no, come on now. Yeah, I don’t know, but, yeah, I appreciate just, just his departure really was something. So I’m

Nestor Aparicio  54:50

8

glad we talked about brother low. I hope we out him. I hope, yeah, come on low, yeah, talk to her. I go on Eisenberg’s podcast. That’s all right, I’m not even lobbying for me. I’m lobbying for. You. Thank you. Well, you’ll have better questions. I’ll

John Eisenberg  55:02

just goof around about that. I don’t know. Bust his chops.

Nestor Aparicio  55:06

I miss him on the broadcast. John Eisenberg, if you miss him, so you’re not following me out on social media, you can bird tapes, oral historian. But also pretty good on the ponies, pretty good on the Iron Man thing, pretty good on the black quarterback thing. Speaking of black quarterbacks, I thought when your book came out? Well, that’s the end of racism in America. No, just

John Eisenberg  55:24

No, no. Far No, no. And it’s really why I wrote the book. The books Rocket Man came out two years ago, just didn’t win the MVP last year. Yeah, yeah. I don’t think I Yeah. I don’t know at this point, yeah, yeah, yeah, no. I mean, he could have easily, he could have easily won the award. I thought

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Nestor Aparicio  55:44

once, Obama won twice. I thought we’re in good shape here. Now, not so much.

John Eisenberg  55:48

Yeah, no, the reason I wrote it, that’s just, that’s why I wrote it. I wrote the book. I knew it was not going to be a huge seller. I knew it was going to make people angry in the NFL and all of that happened. But it happened this is, this is something that happened all right. There was huge racism in the NFL. Is, is, was, is, and it happened right in front of my eyes. And I needed to get it down. I need to get it down on paper

Nestor Aparicio  56:13

well, and I wore my Warren Moon jersey to make sure it was legit. John Eisenberg here, author friend, were Costas antimonium, you were the first one to write me like Timonium, right? Not Dundalk, right? Because when I used to say Costas, they knew what I meant. And Dundalk, now there’s two get on here for the State Fair. It was mobbed in here all weekend. It’ll be mobbed again, the run of the ponies out here at the OTB. All of it brought to you by Friends the Maryland lottery. I will have scratch off so the Ravens beginning next week, we’re gonna be a Coco’s on Wednesday, and then we’re coming back into football season. Luke and I got buffalo ready to go. There’s no playoff baseball to speak of, but there will be an active off season. Plenty of things happening around here. I am Nestor. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. I need some crab Imperial back for more from Costas right after this.