They met over 40 years ago in the professional sports space. Now a Philadelphia lawyer, Baltimorean Micah Buchdahl was once a Washington Capitals PR assistant who later ran a MISL soccer franchise and maintains his long friendship with Nestor via the Eagles, Phillies and 76ers family passion on his timeline. It’s always a pleasure to welcome Buchdahl home for a discussion about winning, losing and spending the money it takes to host parades and keep fans (and their wallets) engaged.
Nestor Aparicio and Micah Buchdahl discuss the state of Baltimore sports, particularly the Orioles and Ravens. Buchdahl, a former sports executive and current Philadelphia resident, contrasts the vibrant sports scene in Philly with Baltimore’s struggles. He highlights the Orioles’ lack of investment in young talent and the impact of new ownership. Buchdahl also shares his personal experiences attending games and the financial commitment required for sports fandom. They touch on the broader implications of sports ownership and the importance of winning to reignite fan interest. Buchdahl also mentions his love for local Baltimore food spots like Essen House and Chaps Pit Beef. Nestor Aparicio and Micah Buchdahl discuss their perspectives on sports fandom, with Nestor expressing his loyalty to the Houston Oilers and his mixed feelings about the Baltimore Ravens. Nestor also shares his enjoyment of watching sports with his kids. They plan to meet in Camden, New Jersey, for a cheesesteak and other local cuisine. Nestor mentions his 27th anniversary and humorously talks about his wife’s pizza preferences. The conversation ends with Nestor promoting his poem on Baltimore Positive.
Micah Buchdahl’s Return to Baltimore and Sports Memories
- Nestor Aparicio welcomes Micah Buchdahl back to Baltimore from Philadelphia, reminiscing about their long-standing relationship since 1984.
- Nestor shares his excitement about celebrating WNST’s 27th anniversary with various surprises, including a fried lobster tail at Beaumont.
- Micah recalls his time as the assistant to the assistant PR director for the Washington Capitals and his long-standing relationship with Nestor.
- Nestor highlights Micah’s dual roles as a Philadelphia Eagles fan and a Baltimore sports enthusiast, expressing his frustration with the Orioles’ current state.
Reflections on the Orioles and Phillies Rivalry
- Micah reflects on the excitement of the Orioles-Phillies series last year, contrasting it with the current state of the Orioles.
- Nestor recalls the Fleet Week event in Fells Point and the Orioles’ rapid decline over the past 14 months.
- Micah discusses the Orioles’ lack of investment in young talent and the importance of starting pitching in the Phillies’ success.
- Nestor and Micah reminisce about the history of the Orioles, including trades and the impact of ownership changes.
Challenges of Modern Sports Ownership
- Micah compares the current Orioles ownership to the Braves’ model of investing in young talent early.
- Nestor and Micah discuss the financial realities of owning a sports team, including the high costs of locking in young players.
- Micah highlights the importance of ownership intent, whether it’s to maximize profit or to win championships.
- Nestor shares his frustration with the current Orioles ownership, citing their lack of investment and commitment to winning.
Philadelphia Sports Scene and Fan Engagement
- Micah describes the vibrant sports scene in Philadelphia, including the Eagles, Phillies, and Sixers.
- Nestor contrasts the current state of the Orioles with the thriving sports culture in Philadelphia.
- Micah shares his experiences attending games and the financial commitment required to support multiple sports teams.
- Nestor and Micah discuss the challenges of maintaining fan interest in a city with multiple sports options.
Personal Stories and Family Involvement in Sports
- Micah shares his personal journey from working in sports to becoming a practicing attorney in Philadelphia.
- Nestor and Micah discuss the impact of sports on their families, including their children’s involvement in sports.
- Micah recounts his experiences attending games with his children and the importance of family time.
- Nestor reflects on the changes in the sports industry and the challenges of balancing work and family life.
The Role of Sports in Personal and Professional Lives
- Micah discusses the differences between the sports industry of the past and the present.
- Nestor and Micah share their experiences of working in sports and the lessons learned from their careers.
- Micah emphasizes the importance of family and personal time over professional success in sports.
- Nestor reflects on the impact of sports on his life and career, including his decision to focus on radio and media.
The Future of Sports and Ownership Models
- Micah and Nestor discuss the future of sports ownership and the importance of investing in winning teams.
- Nestor expresses his frustration with the current Orioles ownership and their lack of commitment to winning.
- Micah shares his thoughts on the potential for change in the Orioles’ ownership and the need for a new approach.
- Nestor and Micah discuss the broader implications of sports ownership and the impact on fan engagement and team performance.
The Impact of Sports on Community and Identity
- Micah reflects on the role of sports in shaping community identity and bringing people together.
- Nestor shares his experiences of covering sports in Baltimore and the importance of local teams in the community.
- Micah discusses the challenges of maintaining a sense of community in a city with multiple sports options.
- Nestor and Micah emphasize the importance of local sports teams in fostering a sense of pride and belonging.
The Role of Media and Fan Engagement in Sports
- Nestor discusses the role of media in covering sports and the impact on fan engagement.
- Micah shares his experiences working in sports media and the challenges of balancing professional responsibilities with personal interests.
- Nestor reflects on the changes in sports media and the importance of maintaining a connection with fans.
- Micah and Nestor discuss the future of sports media and the need for new approaches to engage fans.
Personal Reflections and Final Thoughts
- Micah shares his personal reflections on his journey in sports and the lessons learned along the way.
- Nestor reflects on his own experiences in sports and the impact on his life and career.
- Micah and Nestor discuss the broader implications of sports ownership and the importance of investing in winning teams.
- Nestor concludes the conversation by expressing his hope for a better future for the Orioles and the importance of fan engagement in sports.
Micah Buchdahl’s Return to Baltimore
- Nestor Aparicio discusses the transactional nature of sports, mentioning his loyalty to the Houston Oilers and his mixed feelings about the Baltimore Ravens.
- Nestor expresses his love for sports and his unique perspective on watching games with his kids from the upper deck.
- Nestor mentions his 27th anniversary and his plans to attend a game, highlighting his long-standing friendship with Micah Buchdahl.
- Micah Buchdahl suggests meeting more often, noting their proximity in Camden, New Jersey, and proposes a cheesesteak outing.
- Nestor humorously discusses his preferences for pizza and cheese, before taking a break to celebrate his anniversary.
Former sports executive Micah …cuss pro teams and fan support
Mon, Aug 04, 2025 4:58AM • 1:05:10
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Orioles, Phillies, sports fandom, ownership, fan engagement, baseball, football, Baltimore, Philadelphia, sports investment, team performance, ticket prices, sports history, community events, sports media., sports executive, Baltimore, Philadelphia, pro teams, fan support, Houston Oiler, Ravens, anniversary, cheesesteak, injuries, training camps, Baltimore Positive, poem, Andrew Dice Clay, Facebook
SPEAKERS
Micah Buchdahl, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W N, S T am 1570 tasks of Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. I swear I’m gonna have a 27th anniversary logo for the launch of art. We have a whole year to celebrate our 27th anniversary, but this segment will do that as will kind of everything this week, this month, as I get around town and eat my 27 favorite things to share. They’re going to be a lot of surprises. A lot of them are very small, meager and then right on up to like, the delicious fried lobster tail that I’m going to enjoy on Thursday over at the Beaumont and Catonsville. If this guy were in town, I would invite him out. I would give him Maryland lottery tickets. I would give him even the pressure luck, give him the Whammy. I would definitely give him the Whammy, because he’s from Philadelphia, but the Orioles in the My Phillies tangling, his Phillies tangling. Michael buchdahl has been in my life, dude. Is this the 40th anniversary of our relationship? Do we meet? We met in 84 we didn’t meet in 85 we met in 84 I think, right,
Micah Buchdahl 01:03
yeah, it might have been 85 but yeah, it’s, you know, so 27 is like a drop in the bucket for our relationship and how long we’ve known each
Nestor Aparicio 01:11
other, just a few days, just a few minutes. But Michael was the assistant to the assistant assistant PR director for the Washington Capitals back in the day when I was Ed Frank Vick and I and Phil Jackman, I was getting in his Nissan Sentra and going down 295 and watching his wackiness drive, including me crazy. And Michael has been involved in my life forever. Micah is a practicing attorney in the the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and you, you’ve like, convert, you, you’ve converted. And I bring you on like that. This is my Philadelphia Eagles 1970 medallion. I bring you on because you’ve embodied this thing where you have the Baltimore thing, you had the Philadelphia thing. You have the legal thing. You have the sports like, you’re no dummy. You know how it really works, but like you and your kid, and kids live in Disney World because you’re Phillies fans and you you spend a lot of money on sports. You go to sports, but you understand sort of the dirty how to sausage is made, where to work, stop, but just come in. So I love having you on, but like, I hate having you on when the Orioles are completely irrelevant. Alright, right? And like, this is supposed to be Philly’s Orioles, you and me going, and it’s nothing like that, man, so I’m sorry for that. Michael, yeah.
Micah Buchdahl 02:30
Well, when you think about, like, when I went to Camden Yards last year for this series, it was such a huge series among two potential World Series contenders. And this year it’s a little bit different.
Nestor Aparicio 02:42
Well, that was Fleet Week. I had you on. We did the show down at slancha in Fells Point. There were Phillies fans everywhere for four days. And as I remember, did the Orioles kick their ass? They’re pretty sure it was like, it was the end, the beginning of the end. It was another week and a half where they went to Yankee, and then it was like, I mean, it is been a fall that has been so precipitous over 14 months. And Michael, we’ll get to the Eagles in our capitals history, and crab cakes and eating, which you do a lot of in Philadelphia. But sort of the here and now is like, you’re an old sports head. You’re a big baseball guy. You and your son, Ben, your daughter, when she’s in from St Louis and all that stuff. You go to Phillies games, you go to Eagles games, you go to Sixers games. I mean, you grew up in hockey. I don’t see you with that gritty character. They got up there at the flyers games. But I know you through hockey, but your background was really like being an Oriole and a cult fan. And your family still lives here in Baltimore. Your nephew was one of my interns. I mean, I’ve seen your folks out at synagogues and community events and protests and marches and different stuff, but like this Oriole thing here is, I mean, it’s sort of catastrophic with the new ownership and what this is supposed to represent and where you and I been in the last 14 months? Not even 14 months, dude, it’s been 13 and a half
Micah Buchdahl 04:08
months. I was kind of hoping that, especially with the new ownership that the Orioles would follow, sort of a similar model to the Braves, when they had, you know, retooled and had all these young guys that were all, you know, and locked them all up, right? Like all these guys, they locked up the favorable, favorable contracts early on. And so I thought the Orioles might follow that same kind of formula with with some of those young guys. Just it takes a lot of money, though, yeah, you know, you know, just to lock them in. But you know, usually when you lock them in, you know, early, you’re, you’re paying lesser dollars, rather than once you get within, you know, two or three years of free agency, then you kind of wait it out.
Nestor Aparicio 04:50
Well, then there’s the borrowers thing, where, like, his guys don’t really do that,
Micah Buchdahl 04:53
yeah, and so, you know, and, you know, and look, I mean, in the end, you know, what’s the only what’s real? The key to, you know, Philly’s, you know, winning this year, being successful, it’s all in it’s all starting pitching, right? It’s all starting pitching. That’s what’s, you know, keeping them afloat and keeping them, you know, near the top and, and that’s the one thing that when you you look to see who’s starting on a daily basis for the Orioles, you know, there’s not much there. You know, when you still had Kyle Gibson as part of your rotation. And, you know, Charlie Morton obviously totally outperformed his contract, which only got him, you know, a one way ticket out. But, you know, it’s, it’s a matter of making those investments. And I think, you know, I was talking about Rubenstein, I was talking about John Middleton the other day with some folks when we were at the Phillies Hall. It’s the Phillies Hall of Fame, you know, Wall of Fame alumni weekend. And, you know, I remember thinking as a kid, you know, how much, how horrible it was that we had this like, you know, local owner in Jerry hoffberger, who just couldn’t, you know, who didn’t have money to spend, or wouldn’t spend money. And, you know, back then, you could still, you know, if you had great, you know, if you had people like Hank Peters and Earl we were managing, you could still win.
Nestor Aparicio 06:11
But if you made trades and got tippy Martinez and Scott McGregor and Rick Dempsey in one deal, right? Yeah, like, you know what I mean, you turn Reggie Jackson into things that you can use. And I mean, it was definitely managed. I mean, as John Eisenberg has pointed out in his bird tapes, and you know, I had Freddie Lynn on, which was the beginning of the end, but I still love Fred Lynn. But yeah, I mean the history of that, and where baseball is, and just hearing Rubenstein talk about cost certainty, salary cap, just like kerosene on top of gasoline on top of manure. And like, speaking of it, like he just doesn’t know, like he doesn’t understand what old heads like you and I, that you learned about law through law and law school, but you probably learned about it when in 81 when labor shut down, and your dad’s sitting around trying to explain to you why that baseball players aren’t working. And we’re 13 years old and a lifetime of that, I just I don’t know where the baseball model is, Micah, and I’m here in Baltimore, and the craziest thing, dude, is the bananas came in. The bananas came in this weekend, and it’s 200 bucks to get in. I was in Philly when the bananas, banana and nannerd, as they as we watched the other day. I mean, my wife and I put on TV. We’re like, What the hell is it? We laughed at it a little bit. But I’m like, I don’t know. I mean, it’s outperforming gunner Henderson and Adley rutschman And like, and that’s the part that really has me scratching my head about that and about this. And also up in Philly, where, like, you got a good thing going on up there, right? It’s full most of the time. People are all in. Everybody’s got a bubble pee. Everybody’s proud of it. I mean, I saw it in the streets of my city last June, just in sort of a Phillies takeover down here of Camden Yards. And I it Philadelphia. Baseball has been really good this century, and very stable because television has been good. Revenues been good. And look, man, you you’re fighting with all sorts of things in Philadelphia, including the football team winning Super Bowls now, and you spent a lot of money on that as a fan, as a consumer, all of that, like Philadelphia sports is vibrant, but the Phillies didn’t have to be a vibrant part of that. It wasn’t always that way, but it’s been something that’s been managed partially by media expectations, good ownership, all of that kind of coming together. Meanwhile, Micah, it’s just been a show down here for 30 years and for a year and a half this guy came in. He says things that don’t make any sense to get along with the players. They they’re in last place now. Attendance is down. He made a bobble that of himself. I mean, they’re not even treating Jim Palmer right, like I don’t. I want to pull my hair out and have a lot of hair. Micah,
Micah Buchdahl 09:06
well, the bobblehead thing, I thought was ridiculous, but I said the same thing again the other night. We were talking about the we were talking about that bobblehead because, you know, when the owner of the Phillies is introduced, you know, he is beloved, right? John Middleton is beloved here. He could actually do a bobblehead tomorrow, and and I would, I’d want to go get one, you know, why? Why? What about him? Because he, he’s putting his money back into he’s putting his money into the team. And so, you know, that’s the thing is, you look at teams now where, okay, you’re almost all of you are billionaires, right? You’re billionaires. You know, hopefully you bought teams, not necessarily to make a lot of money, maybe you did, but also because you’ve got like, a zillion dollars, and you want to, like, win. You want you get a kick out of winning. And. Yeah, and that’s what, that’s what Middleton does here, right? Like he want, he wants to win, like he does not care about, you know, the level, the level of profitability, okay? Because they’re all making money, right? Like nobody’s not profitable. The Oakland A’s or the Sacramento a so the Vegas A’s, they’re profitable.
Nestor Aparicio 10:18
Well, they’re getting handout across handouts, stadium deals, tax breaks, just, you know, amortization, smart money guy, just all of it. Just all of it. That’s why Rubenstein got into it. And I’ve heard him talk out of four sides of his mouth in four different audiences, in four different places, and it all he he called it a philanthropy at one point, I’m like, It’s $1.8 billion in beers or 20 bucks. It ain’t a philanthropy. Stop with that.
Micah Buchdahl 10:47
You know what I mean, like, you should be doing it because you want it. Like you should be doing it because you have lots of money and you want to win, because that’s what you like. That’s what I would do. Like, you know, Nestor, if I got, you know, if I had $20 billion tomorrow, even 20 billion wouldn’t necessarily buy me a top tier team anymore, but, you know, I would buy the team, right? And what would my goal be over the next like, hopefully 20 or 30 plus years that I have to live, I would be trying to win a championship. Like, that’s what I’d be doing with my money, because I’d get a kick out of it, right? Like, that’s why I would be spending it, that’s why I’d be doing it, as opposed to, you know, somebody who’s investing and sitting there, you know, count, counting the dollars, you know, dollars and dollars out and you know, the and look, the reality is like, look at, you know, look at what the Minnesota Twins are doing now, you know, they’ve been up for sale, right? Like, they’ve been up for sale. The guy strips the parts, you know, to pick up a few extra, save a few dollars. The it’s a well worn story. It’s been going on in this sport for 50 years, right? But the reality is like, back to Charlie Finley, literally, right? But the reality too is though, like the selling price in the end of the Minnesota Twins will not be that different with good parts or without. Like someone who comes in and says, I want to own a baseball team, maybe I’m a billionaire from Minnesota. I’d love to, I’d love to win there where I’d love to buy a team there. Like the price isn’t going to be $100 million less, or $500 million less because you stripped out all the parts and made it less competitive,
Nestor Aparicio 12:24
right? You know what’s amazing, dude, when Angelo sold last year, I did quick math on this, and you can just get your calculator out for how many days they own. The team Peter put 29 million in cash in that’s all he had. It was all the money in the world he had, according to bankers and people, when I wrote the Peter principles, and they bought it, allegedly, for 173 million it was all baked up. There was $45 million in cash sitting because it was 1993 it was the all star game, all the sweet money, just all of that money, money, money. And Eli Jacobs couldn’t take any of it because he was in bankruptcy, so it just sat there. So it’s really about $125 million is what the team cost. There was about 29 million in they figured it out with the bankers and Bank of America, put it all together. Joe Foss did such a good job that Peter put him in charge of it, put the banker in front of the baseball team. So this is 33 years ago. Sell the team for 1,000,000,008 and I did just my quick math. This has nothing to do with how many crab cakes they ate, how much fun they had, how many times they flew and wrote it off into Fort Lauderdale, how many 10s of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars they took out of the franchise through Masson, through the $75 million that they were gifted from Major League Baseball upon sale. All the stuff that happened with the Nationals, everything that happened, it was $1 million a day, a day in profit for 31 years that that’s the difference between $29 million or I’ll give you another 100 days across 32 years, $129 million or whatever. That 120 $3 million I think the number was, um, that to $1.8 billion including all the tax breaks we gave them, all the money they made, all the horses they ran, all, all the everything, everything, everything, all the profit, hundreds of millions, maybe a billion, and just in profit that they took out of it the family, the money was a million a day, every day for 30 years. That that just speaks for itself as to how wealthy wealthy is? Micah,
Micah Buchdahl 14:43
yeah. But also, again, it’s a matter of whether or not, you know, you’re trying to maximize profitability for yourself, or you’re interested
Nestor Aparicio 14:50
in winning. Well, they did that every day. They maximize profitability, right? So
Micah Buchdahl 14:54
versus being, you know, truly interested in winning like so that’s the difference, like you have a. Owners that will do anything to win a championship, because they’ve got a lot of money, they’re going to make a profit. And it’s a matter of like, you know, again, like here, Middleton rather make he’d rather earn $100 million less and win a trophy. Then if you said to him, like, Oh, you’ll, you’ll make $100 million more, but you won’t win. Or you can take out 100 million and win something, or try to win something, he’s going to try to win something again, again, because you’ve got that kind of money, you know. I I say the same thing about, you know, you know, a temple basketball, like, if I had, you know, a couple 100 million, I would fund their, you know, and I all athletes and get in the tournament. I could single handedly do that, like you could do that in sports, but I’d be doing it because I want to see the team in the tournament, because I get a kick out of it, not because of any level of profitability. So, you know, that’s kind of, that’s, you know, sort of, that’s sort of the difference there
Nestor Aparicio 15:59
bishotti, when I wrote Purple Rain one and two, he said that the only reason he bought the Ravens because he couldn’t buy the Terps, and now you can buy the Terps. So Micah booth doll is our guest. He’s a long time sports what would you say about your sports fandom or your insiderness? What would AI Tell me about your law practice versus where you came from, which was, at one point, you were General Manager and in the indoor soccer, I almost forgot about that. I’m I’m forgetting that part of it in the MSL, but you went and ran the New York team, arrows correct, the Express, express. My so I’m sorry about that, but out of Long Island, right? Is that That’s correct? Yeah. And in the late 80s, like you were on a trajectory, and I know your son wants to study some sports stuff and maybe get into the business side of where is now from where it was when you and Luke corletta were let me into the press box down there for capitals games during the mike Gartner era. But sports has changed a lot. You exited it. I’ve sort of stayed three feet in, you know, most of the way in, you know, but you love it. I mean, you spend a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of passion your family. It’s still engulfs very much, even behind the pictures I see behind you and where your kids decide to go to school that you still love sports in a way that you’ve been unaffected by the filtration, because I’ve had you on when media members are getting thrown out of the press box in Philly years ago, let alone what’s happened to me, let alone what ESPN and the NFL pulled off this weekend, and the magic act of Justin Tucker here being a serial sort of kind of predator for years, and the NFL whitewashing it. And it’s camp time now, and no one’s ever like it’s an amazing ecosystem. And you know, maybe how Trump reverberates down into sports, but you escaped sports, but you love sports,
Micah Buchdahl 18:02
yeah. I mean, you know, it’s, you know, when I, when I get together with buddies like, you know, my friend Mark Piazza from, he probably remember from the flyers and MSG, you know, when we get together, you know, for lunch every couple months. You know, always remind me, you know how much the business is different than what I grew up in. You know that it’s totally different. It’s not the same at all. You know, even like, you know, you know, I tell kids my I tell the kids stories about, you know, when I, when I was hired at the cat at the caps, you know, when I went, when I was interviewed the caps, you know, as the for the assistant PR role. You know, I sat down with David poyle. Like David poyle interviewed me, and he was the one who makes the final decision as to who hires the, you know, the PR guy. If you were to be hired in the same role at the caps today, you know, the the GM, you know, would not be involved in any way, shape or form I’d be dealing with whatever that, you know, corporate entity is that you work for monumental monument,
Nestor Aparicio 19:02
yeah, like, what you really be dealing with? It’s Ted Leones is his kid. He’s kind of, you know, he’d have to like you enough to hire you. Yes,
Micah Buchdahl 19:09
you know, it’s just, it’s just a completely different world. And, you know, I used to tell the story about, and I still remember it. I was, you know, you know, I I lost one of, what I had lost, you know, one of my last sports jobs. And I was, I was talking to Brian Murray outside the Sheridan Society Hill in Philly. And, and I was talking to Brian about, you know, trying to get my next job. He’s coaching the Florida Panthers at the time, probably at that time, yeah, at that time. And, and he’s like, Micah, he goes, for God’s sakes, he went to law school, go get a job, make some money, and then buy tickets and go to games like it’ll be a much better route for you. And so, you know, so I always remember having that conversation with him. And you know, when I get together with my buddies, whether it’s Piazza or you. Know, if I’m talking to Kenny Albert, whomever, and I talk about the, you know, the, basically, the opportunity that I had to be involved in my kids lives every day for their entire childhood, things that you don’t get to do when you’re working in sports, okay, like so, the the experience that I had with with my kids, you know, watching Ben play baseball and basketball, you know, varsity sports every day. Those are things that I would not have had the opportunity to do if I was working in the game. And so I sat
Nestor Aparicio 20:32
with you guys in Minneapolis when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl, came down and took a picture with you guys, and you’re there as fans and your Eagles jerseys and your Dawkins, whatever, and like, all of that going on. And, um, yeah, I’m just fascinated, because it’s, it’s not inexpensive to be a fan, right? Like, in a general sense, time, effort, love, commitment, loyalty, I mean, and you guys are three seasons, three sports all in. There’s college, you know, like you, you’ve kept it up over 40 years. I don’t know that everybody in Baltimore has across race lines, across football and baseball, across politics, across finances, certainly not where it comes to the Terps or Towson or local universities and and minor league ball and different things like that. It’s been really hard for the Orioles to keep up in a lacrosse town. The ravens are a different entity, because it’s football and they’ve won, but there’s a lot of empty seats for ravens, a lot of tickets that are 10 bucks on game day. Like it’s not like in Philly. Philly is still really vibrant, and I think that your law firm would be that way, your office, your social groups, your country club, your kids schools, your community groups, wherever you are, you’re wherever you worship, everyone’s I know the way it is. We do. We grew up here, right? That’s what’s in your bloodline, right? So with the Colts and the Orioles in the 70s, we had that’s why I did everything I’ve that’s why I have 27 years in the running the sports radio station that’s a little shipwrecked by sports in a little bit, because, like, you’re a little hostage to whatever they are, good or bad. And at least in your market, all the money and time has resulted in a lot of, um, you’ve squeezed fruit, you know, squeezed the juice out of it, right? Like in Philadelphia some other if you’re an Oriole fan, I don’t, I sit here, and I guess we get back to the beginning of that is, I’m trying to understand the investment they want us to make, and what we’re buying with the Ravens. It’s, hey, it’s Lamar. It’s, we’re gonna, we’re gonna win the Super Bowl with the Orioles. It’s, I don’t know what the the the investment is, or what the promises, and they haven’t stood in front of it in a long, long Brooks, Robinson, Eddie, Murray, Cal Ripken, kind of time. And I do think it’s not inexpensive. And that’s the part for me, where every time I see you out, I’m like, you spend money on going to games. Some people do. The bananas were here. I spend money. People think I spent a lot of money on concerts. I don’t. Kind of looks that way. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, but I know what sports costs, and I know what entertainment costs, and with the Orioles, I know what it’s going to take financially to keep Henderson holiday, and it’s going to take a lot of Micah booth dolls here. You know what I mean, a lot. It’s just going to take that kind of energy. And they didn’t even understand that about me when I called them last year to say, look, I want to come back. My name’s Aparicio. Just be nice. It’s, already withering here. You know what I mean, like, and I have all of my friends that put their money in for the first time in a long time, because it didn’t say PG Angelo’s over top of it. And the renewals are coming now, and you get your renewals, and you don’t sneeze at it, right? Like you just, you and your kid are going to the games, and that you just love it that much.
Micah Buchdahl 24:00
Yeah. I mean, it’s the price of admission, whatever it is here. I mean, I always, I always complain about, you know, like, one of the downside of Philadelphia for the Eagles and Phillies is, you know, yeah, you have to spend a lot of money, right? Like, you know, these games this weekend, this, you know, we’re playing the Detroit Tigers this weekend. These games have been completely sold out. And and Ben and I actually bought, like, one of those ballpark passes for August to supplement our seats. So we have those standing room admission for the entire month to go to games. And so we’ll go, we won’t go to every, I think they’re, like 16 home games. I think we’ll go to 10 to 12 of the 16, but, but, you know, I always say, say, like, you know, we can’t, we can’t really afford to, you know, to get we certainly can’t afford to have good seats for every game that we go to. And then even just, you know, when I paid the bill recently for the Eagles season tickets, I think those are three grand for the pair now in the upper bowl. And you have that penalty of, you know, two preseason games that are basically worth zero, right? I don’t go, I sell them for literally, you know, five cents on the dollar. But, you know, but, yeah, it does cost a lot of money. But going back to, you know, it’s interesting there too, you know, the Phillies had a very, that very long down period after the oh eight to o 10 teams that were very successful, they had, like, a decade of losing, and that debt, most of that decade was my, you know, Ben 17. Most of that decade was his youth, his early youth. And so the team that he was going out to watch was terrible. And so it was, but it was cheap. It was cheap because it was terrible. But they, you know, now that they, it’s been interesting the last couple of years to see that they were able to re, re ignite the fan base. And, you know, and so that’s what, you know, that’s what I wonder about in Baltimore, is, you know, what does it take to reignite the fan base. And also understanding that the, you know, the competition for attention that the Orioles have is different than when we were kids, you know, like the only competition, it was, you know, Colts. And, you know, it was, it was colts and Orioles that, you know, that was kind of the competition. And then, you know, people like me who went to a ton of like clippers slash skipjack games, and then when the MISL came in, and, you know, people who, again, people that are young people, don’t realize just how big the MISL was in the 80s in Baltimore, like it was the equivalent of any NBA or NHL successful, sold out team, And
Nestor Aparicio 26:39
Kenny Cooper just walking through Baltimore would be a testament
Micah Buchdahl 26:44
to that. Yeah, you know. So you know. But today, the competition for that attention and that dollar is so much more that it’s not just a couple of teams. It’s eSports. It’s a lot of other,
Nestor Aparicio 26:56
well, the women’s game and women’s basketball, for sure, soccer taking a lot of everything in a place like Philadelphia, with the union and every ladies soccer in a place like Philadelphia was club programs. I mean, soccer and lacrosse here, and, you know, even in Philly and other places beyond Long Island and Syracuse, back in the day, it’s a nationwide sport. It’s just um, and when I hear people talking baseball, about their kids and stuff that kids need to play two sports and three sports and be in all of that, like being in all of that, and being in the upper deck for games and supporting sports and having money for the Terps or for copping or for Towson, or for the Frederick keys, or the Aberdeen iron birds, or what used to be the Bowie Bay socks, like I, I’m with you, man, like I, I grew up where my dad was a bleacher bum. We went to a lot of games in 79 and 83 because they cost a lot of money. I mean, the Orioles have that pass where you buy for a month, you go out there and stand anywhere you want and drink the beer. I just don’t see anybody doing it right. So even when they were good the last two years, it’s not like everybody raced out there. My wife and I were out there the night they clinched. Two years ago, 101 games. There were 18,000 people out there the night they clinched. It wasn’t like and Mike, I’ll be honest with you. And by the way, Michael book dolls are our guest. He is a Philadelphian attorney, sports guy, former General Manager in the MISL, former Assistant, I’m trying to make you sound good, uh, former assistant PR guy with the Washington Capitals 40 years ago and now just a Philadelphia lawyer, like right out of an Elton John song or a Darryl Hall song or something like that. Um, you know, all these years later with the Orioles and what my last name’s, Aparicio dude, like, not as valuable as Ripken, but pretty good, not bad. You know, kind of a cool last name to have here. And I love baseball and and even like about the bananas over the weekend, like I was a globetrotter guy. I mean, I love meadowlark. I love curling. Like I remember going, you know, I had curly Neil in my studio. Mark, fine, wherever you are. Hi. But like for me, I like baseball, competitive baseball. I like the fact that they’ve moved the second baseman in, the shortstop back where they belong. I like the pitch clock. I had Leo Mazzoni on for an hour the other day talking about arms and five days rest. Who better to talk about than Leo Mazzoni, coming back from the all star game in Atlanta, talking about pitching. All these guys are arms are falling off. The Tommy John thing. We talk about Elias. He sucks. He sucks, dude. All these guys, arms are falling off. Corbin burns, you like him for two 30 million, his arm would have fallen off too. So I what they’re teaching the kids the way the game’s being played, max effort, when I hear Palmer and McDonald and and Dave Johnson pitchers talking about the game and the way the game is played. And. Uh, what’s going to need to be done here to resurrect the Orioles in my market, my town, our town, uh, 27 years into seeing this, I mean, they don’t know what they’re doing. Micah, and that’s really the unfortunate part, like I waited 30 years for these new people to come in. And I’m telling you, man, I’m 18 months in. The way they’ve treated me, the way they treat people around town, this the most unauthentic thing I can imagine standing on a bar buying beer and then disappearing when the team’s in last place. It is just not top to bottom. Dude, they don’t know what they’re doing. And I saw Buck Showalter back here banana over the weekend, and they got Adam Jones riding in on a horse from Barcelona, and they’re going to give him a pie, and they’re in last place, man. And like buying pitching, ain’t cheap, ain’t easy, certainly ain’t a guarantee of anything. And it doesn’t, it feels to me like they don’t have the belly for this. You know you’re the owner. It’s going to come and make a bobble out of yourself and disappear when you’re last place. I mean, you’re you and I are. Got 100 years of life on this planet. You in some circles and sports in Philadelphia, two different sides of town, two different faiths, backgrounds, everything. Hmm, tells me a lot when people disappear when they’re in last place. I don’t care who they are. That’s told that’s the message of sports. For me, I learned nothing about anybody when they win. Everybody wants to grease the polls and show up in the Shriners outfits when they win, when they lose, who’s in front of their locker? I heard Ben McDonald talking about that the other day. You know, just literally that Charlie Morton was always in front of his locker, and Ben had such respect for that as a former one, one failed. I don’t want to say that about love Ben. He didn’t fail. He just He didn’t go to the Hall of Fame, and he got hurt too, but like the history of all of this, and waiting for this owner to ride in and say he’s one thing and then be another thing. Boy, man, that just after Angelo’s, this has been kind of hard to take. Brother,
Micah Buchdahl 32:04
yeah. I mean, it is disappointing. And look, the reality is, I don’t think he’s suddenly going to change his stripes tomorrow. And you know, again, if you can have a ballpark with a losing team, and you know, 15,000 people there at night, and you’re, you’re still you’re making money, right? Like you’re still profitable, like you’re still or you can game it to make money, yeah, you know. But you’re, you’re going to be profitable with TV money and all the other revenue that comes your way, you’re going to, you’re going to make money. So the question is, like, are you in it to win? Are you in it as a as an investment, as part of your portfolio, and And so unfortunately, I think, you know, it’s a portfolio thing. And, you know, I don’t see him suddenly turning around and making those changes, you know.
Nestor Aparicio 32:53
So he didn’t grow up liking baseball at all. I heard him I went to Beth to fill out the night before Trump got elected. You know, there’s a lot of concern about Israel there, obviously a night before an election like that. And so there was a lot of talk about a lot of different things that night that he did from stage. But the one thing was very clear is he knows nothing about baseball, like he is not watching he’s watched markets, making money, making money, making money, making money. That’s all he’s ever done, is made money, and he, I don’t think he watched Cal Ripken play, you know, I’m not even sure he knew the rules all that well after 30 or 40 years of not watching it. And then he shows up behind home plate, and he wants to be in the shots when they’re playing at Citi Field. He needed to be behind home plate. It’s just all of it, just my human sensibilities and my people come back to me after free the birds Micah and you knew me as a kid, right? I said this to mark fine when he took my press pass away this time, I had like a real off the record conversation with him on the phone, because they wouldn’t look at me. He wouldn’t zoom. They wouldn’t have coffee I had, I had, and he know, he’s known me 20 years. I said, though, I said, Mark, I did free the birds out of being naive. It was 38 years old at the time, and I like read Dickens and Christmas story. And I sort of thought I could change the heart of the old man as to what would really make him a hero, as opposed to what would make him whatever. He died, however it worked for him, and I did free the birds, thinking I could change his soul. I literally did go read my work. It was not the work of an asshole on the radio. It was the work of someone who loved the baseball team, who didn’t want to be sitting here in 2025 talking about how the mass and money didn’t do anything except enrich the kids, how nobody made any money around here except Chris Davis. Like, literally, you know what I mean? Like, literally, where did all the money? Go. Went to Chris Davis. It went to Aubrey Huff. You know what I mean? Like, like, where did the money go? Mike Flanagan committed suicide. You know what I mean? Along the way, I’m not hiding from that. They want to hide from it. I can’t hide from it. I saw it. I witnessed it. So, like, just all of it, how Brooks was treated for most of the rain, just all of it, that it could have been deodorized, and that they never picked up the phone and called Janet Marie, Charles Steinberg, Rick, the first calls I would have made had they had me for a coffee and say, Forget me. Call these people who know what they’re doing and bring all of them in the consult, find everyone who ever loved and hated Larry Latino, and work for him and get them back in here and figure out how to put the ship back together, because you got a lot of like I told Mr. Rubenstein when I shook his hand that night at Beth to fill Oh, I shook his I had 30 seconds with him, and I said, there’s been a lot of trauma here, and I don’t know what else to call it, Micah, when you see the empty seats, I mean, you’re an old Oriole head. It’s got, I mean, it’s not weird, it’s just bad, just all of it’s been bad, and you’re 90 miles away, and your parents are stuck here, and you’ve adopted the Phillies and turned your kid onto it. You’re having a good time with baseball, right? It’s cost you a little money. We went through that. But if you want to have a bad time here, it’s going to cost you money, yeah, but not too well. You go to the bananas, you know. So,
Micah Buchdahl 36:37
you know, I think again, like, I guess if I were Ruben, I’d say to you, you know, would you rather have the team in Nashville, right? Oh, see that. That’s flippant, though, right? No, no, but I’m saying like that. That might be if I was him and I was talking to you, and that was my response. Is, like, hey, stop complaining. Like, how about would have, where’s
Nestor Aparicio 36:55
your credit card, right? Insert your credit card here if you want to keep the team so, you know. So as I’m holding my Baltimore Colts belt, buckle up for, for you, right? Yeah, so, you
Micah Buchdahl 37:04
know. So what I always look at is, you know, again, like, you know what, you know what’s, what is the, what’s sort of the intent of the ownership. And you know, like, look, you know, you and I know that. I think the fans still exist in Baltimore. I think that fan base is still there. Like, what does it take to reignite it? You know, the main thing is, what winning, right? Isn’t that? The main thing is, that’s the main thing that it takes to reignite it, you know. Like I said, when I, when I get my Eagles season ticket renewal, you know, and I pay that, you know, pay the money. Like, I don’t sit there and go, like, oh, you know, I can’t believe you raised the prices again. Like, who cares? Like, we win, right? Nobody, you know, they could raise it. They could, they could probably double it. And I’m not sure that they lose any, any season ticket holders, right? Like, they can make it ridiculous and see,
Nestor Aparicio 37:51
the Ravens thought that too, you know. But ravens thought that too, and then they had the Wembley knee, you know. And Lamar is the greatest show on Earth, except not everybody wants to pay for it. I mean, I and that’s an NFL problem that you don’t have in Philadelphia, in a couple of places don’t have that problem, but empty seats in the league are a problem in a general sense, and just the NFL. Scott, I mean, we’ll get on to that. Michael buchtel is my guest. I wanted to talk Phillies and Orioles, but there’s nothing to say about the Orioles other than who’s this guy in his scorecard at this point, you know, but the Eagles and the Ravens, as we move into that season, it really, I mean, and even in Washington, whatever they’re called down there, they have a quarterback. Now, this is the NFL just it doesn’t matter if your kickers out being a predator doesn’t matter. We’ll draft a second round pick who got thrown out of a school for doing things on tour with young ladies. We’ll have the drunk lineman will sign him like, I, I don’t the coach can go down and do everything with Trump except take a picture, because that wouldn’t look
Micah Buchdahl 38:59
good. Well, I know, I know. Like, you know, I kind of turned it, you know, we’re pretty, we’re pretty, you and I are pretty aligned politically. I would say, you know, we’ve read the Constitution, you know. So I, you know, I will just tell you like, when the Eagles went to the White House, like, I pay no, no, I pay no attention to it. I turn, turn it off. I don’t read anything about it. I don’t look anything. Look at it at all. It’s the way that I handle, you know, it’s the way that I handle, you know, kind of the newspaper today, you know, the Baltimore Sun. You know the
Nestor Aparicio 39:34
my old sun has set. There’s no doubt about that, my old,
Micah Buchdahl 39:37
beloved Baltimore Sun, you know, like you know, here, when I read the Inquirer, I can tell you that I pretty much skip the front section. I don’t want to know like, it’s almost like I, you know, I don’t need to read it’s the equivalent of the comics in terms of the characters. And I don’t need to read it. I go right to the sports page. I read the Food and Wine Food and dine. Section, as you referenced, you know, like, that’s what I that’s what I do and, and I think you know, and you know, even today, you know, sports still plays that great role in our lives, of providing this distraction, you know, like when, when I head down to, you know, CBP tonight for Sunday Night Baseball, you know, for those couple of hours, all you really consider concerned about is, you know, ring the bell, baby, ring the bell like and that’s the way that I felt, you know, pretty much my, my whole life. And when we talk about our love of sports and our investment there, you know, it’s always been for me, like the great distraction, you know, when I’m watching a couple of hours of, you know, John Chaney basketball, or whatever it is that I’ve been doing over the last 60 plus years, you know, like that. That’s all I’m concerned about at that time. And, you know, and that’s why I loved it. And so, you know, I have obviously passed that gene on to my children, you know, like I asked Lily, you know, like, you know, she’s getting ready to go back to to wash you and for the for senior year. And I said, you know, like, oh, I you know, do you want to go Sunday night? You know, we have to, do you want to go Sunday and Monday? The Orioles are here Monday, and she’s like, Yeah, you know, like, she would go every night if
Nestor Aparicio 41:15
I saw you in the upper deck with your daughter watching a baseball game, yeah,
Micah Buchdahl 41:18
you know, and so, and Friday night, when we were at CBP for for the game, Ben I we did the standing room like we used our ballpark pass. And tomorrow night, when the Orioles are here, your old intern, Max, will be sitting with me. Hey, you know? So he’ll, he’ll, he’ll be in town and and he’ll go to the game with me, and both, both the kids. So that’s awesome, you know. So I’ve given my best, please. I will, I will, even though we’re sending our worst, yeah, but yeah. So it’s disappointing that, you know, the series isn’t everything that you kind of hope a village Orioles series would be. But you know, I still always look forward to, you know, people still like when you hear, you know, neutral parties talk about the best ballparks in the country. Everyone always still has Camden Yards on that list, right? They always reference it as being one of the great ballparks in America and one of the favorites. And so, yeah, it’s disappointing when you see it. You know, one quarter filled. But you know, you know, I wish I could, I wish I could say that, you know, ownership will change their philosophy tomorrow. But we kind of all know that you’re, you are what you are, right, like in terms of the way you approach things. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 42:30
that’s my point. My point is, I’m not doing free the birds too. I’m not, you know, writing daily notes to David Rubenstein to change his ways or to give me my press pass back. I mean, it’s like I told Mark fine, like you’ve been linked to me for 20 years. I’m a media member everywhere, if you’re gonna, if your first act coming into town is to pretend I’m not a media member, you know, I know where I stand, that’s good. Just let me, let me know what the door you and the Whistler, and you can go sit in last place, and I’m going to watch it from here. But you know, it’s not that I’m going to make a minimal investment of my time. I’m watching everything. I will make a minimal investment of my money. It’s, you know, it’s as simple as that. And so will everyone else I know, like they just will. So nonetheless, I do want to get on to something way more fun for you, even more fun than the Eagles and the Ravens. I’m going to Ocean City week after next. I’m doing the show at Mako, which is political. We’ll have congress people on, we’ll have county leaders, just a lot of different folks on, and we’ll be down there. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I’ll have my my lottery giveaways and all that stuff, as well as my liver for that event in Ocean City. But I’m doing all my favorite foods, and I will see Philadelphia, everything down there, all of a sudden, where it used to be more of a Wildwood, you know, like Philadelphia, and even I was in Dewey Beach. It was, well, I was in Dewey Beach with Tommy Commonwealth. So it was Philadelphia. Everything all over the bottle and cork that night. But even so, he wants championship now they get, like, this is your I haven’t had you on since, like, February. It’s your chance to, like, spike the ball a little bit, because I do intersect with Philadelphia people I’m coming to see sticks up in the shed this weekend at Camden. So I’m going to be, you know, I’m going to be up there this week, and I’m actually going to be featuring a prized Philadelphia item. I’m gonna break the news to you. I’ll let you do your thing here. But you know, the whole notion of this Philadelphia thing and championship did when you were climbing the pole? Did you get the grease on your shirt? Or? No? Okay,
Micah Buchdahl 44:36
so like, I’m at the Super Bowl, right? So I’m not, I’m not on the pole, I’m not on Broad Street. I’m in where were we, New Orleans? Okay,
Nestor Aparicio 44:46
where the hell you were, you
Micah Buchdahl 44:47
know. So, you know. And, and if I have to hear my wife one more time, remind me that I’ve gone to my last Super Bowl. Oh, really. I mean she, I mean she brings up cons. Recently, you know? Because, you know, like, Look, I’ve taken, you know, Ben, 17 years old, he’s been to three Super Bowls. He’s seen his team win twice, and, and, and those are, like, extremely costly events. I know all about it, you know. So she’s always like, you know, that’s it, you know, like, you’ve, that’s it. You know, you’ve gone to your Super Bowls. You know, you’re not going to another one. And we’re always like, yeah, yeah. Leonard
Nestor Aparicio 45:27
Raskin tells the story back in oh one that he came down, he went to our party at Whiskey Joe’s, you know, back in February, January of oh one, January 28 2001 so 24 years ago. And he tells the story, when he got home he he was a newlywed, and wife was like, No, how much did you spend? What he had to buy her, like a whole living room furniture set just to get level set on the five grand he spent going to the Super Bowl. So I don’t know how that works in your marriage, but I do know, like, you spend a healthy amount of time with sports. A healthy amount of time is money, like all of that, like I would think, like the other side of you, I should say, is that you eat, you go out and you and your wife eat things. So as I roll this 27th anniversary out, I’m eating my 27 favorite the really things I really eat, not no BS. I’m doing shows at sponsored places. I’m featuring interesting foods, but, but the first entry, and I’m going to break it to you, because this isn’t really even going to play it on Monday anyway, we’re going to be into this, my first item, item number 27 on the countdown, Philly pretzel factory outside of Bel Air, just north of Bel Air, up by the campus, by the community college campus, by the old laboratories in the plaza. It’s chain. It’s the one that’s closest here. There is never a time when I’m in Bel Air That I don’t go and get affiliate. I got one on the way to Dewey. I found like I found one in Dewey. Is the first thing I did. I wanted a pretzel. I don’t know what it is, but it’s number 27 on my list. It’s very meager. They’re three for five bucks. You can get it for a buck and a half, two bucks. Not Gucci, not bougie, but it’s what I remember when I would walk out of the spectrum, when I would walk out of the vet after seeing Darryl Strawberry player, Doc good and pitch or or Hershey’s or pitch. Or when Curt Schilling would have me up and see Tony Gwynn play, or, like any Eddie Murray playing as a Dodger, I would get those pretzels after a rush concert, after a journey concert at the spectrum, I had those pretzels on the day of Live Aid in 1985 so that’s number 27 so there’s my foodie thing, and it’s perfect, because it’s Philadelphian and it’s legit, authentic, and I’m going there to start the tour. On Tuesday, I will be at the Philly pretzel factory in Bel Air having item 27 on the list. Can’t get more Philly than that. So what is your Baltimore thing? Your parent give your Baltimore story because your your family’s beautiful and alive and well, and God bless them, and protesting and doing all the things I love them for.
Micah Buchdahl 48:14
Yeah, what’s like? What? What’s the question? What’s, what’s
Nestor Aparicio 48:19
your Baltimore thing? Like, you’ve been here, like you come down here, here’s the thing, when you come down and you’re like, I’m going there and getting that,
Micah Buchdahl 48:27
I’m trying to think, like, what, you know, what? Specifically, I you can Name
Nestor Aparicio 48:32
five things if you want. You’re an eater, though, dude, yeah. But
Micah Buchdahl 48:36
usually, I’ll tell you what. Usually, when I’m coming to Baltimore, I’m there to visit my parents, you know, and that’s sort of the priority so we don’t get to a lot of other places. I like going to the you know. I like going to the Essen room. If you ever, have you ever been there? I love the Essen room, right? Yes, yes. Room. I like picking up sandwiches. That’s about a two minute drive to my Are you pastrami? Corbin? What are you doing over there? Corned beef? Yeah, corned beef, you know. So I like the answer. I like the Esser room better, like I like that corned beef I took, I took the kids down the Lombard Street to what’s the admins, yeah, and I wasn’t that into it. I felt like it wasn’t as good as I remembered. Oh, you know what? I always get it. I always stop and Aberdeen and get the chaps pit beef for myself. That’s, that’s actually now that I, you know, it’s funny, because a couple weeks ago, I was driving back from from visiting my parents and and I’m like, Oh, I gotta stop. And my kids been on me about, wait, you know, he’s telling me I need to lose 10
Nestor Aparicio 49:39
ballpark food five nights a week. My God, well,
Micah Buchdahl 49:41
we don’t. We don’t. And so I will tell you that I will be at Citizens Bank Park each of the next four days, right, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. There is a likelihood that we will spend $0 once we enter the gate there. I know where I park. I park for. Free on this.
Nestor Aparicio 50:00
I don’t think I ever spent a nickel at a Ravens game in 25 years. I don’t think, I mean maybe a bottle of water, but, like, I just didn’t eat and drink at ravens games. Ever, ever, ever,
Micah Buchdahl 50:10
right? Well, that’s, that’s an example, too, of something that ball like is really annoying at Camden Yards, unless they brought it back this year. Is there one of the only stadiums in the in MLB that doesn’t have a designated driver program anymore. And so when you know the designated driver program if you’re going to Philly, like, if you’re going somebody’s going to Philly for one of these games this week, like, the designated driver program is actually the best in Philly than any other city. You actually get a the equivalent of a $7 concession credit, and you just scan it. You don’t even have to show your license anywhere. You just scan the ballpark app on the QR code and and then it gives you this QR code. It says for a beverage, but it’s actually like basically a $7 credit. And so we use that for for
Nestor Aparicio 50:58
I fill up my water bottle at Merriweather, at the arena where I go, I like, Well, I’m a water guy, right? Like, I buy yoga, just what I drink, you know? I
Micah Buchdahl 51:07
mean, I probably, if I go, I go to, like, I go to over 50 baseball games a year. I probably have, I might have two beers.
Nestor Aparicio 51:15
Yeah, I probably go to 25 to 30 concerts a year. I don’t buy five beers, probably maybe 10 in the year, you know, every other show. And sometimes if I go, I go all in, I’ll get three, you know, I’ll spend 60 bucks tonight. I’m not driving, you know, I’m out of town wherever, maybe more like that. But it is. It’s amazing how expensive it can be and how special occasion it is that it used to just be, we went to a lot of caps games and got the cheap seats. We went to my dad and then went to Orioles games and sat in the outfield. But the ballpark passes are very inviting, and we’re trying to figure out, I always say to Luke, what’s it going to cost your mother to be a fan just on TV, like, what’s the streaming going to cost? What? You know, how is that all going to bake in to paying Bryce Harper or paying gunner Anderson or whatever. But so your food places, S and room is your and chaps, okay, and we you plugged admins. Even though you didn’t plug admins, I would tell you that two out of the three. This is like a meatloaf song, two out of the by the way, I’m looking for a good meat lift. Two out of the three could be on my list. I’m just saying that. So I’m 27 days in, and some of these are going to be tried and true Baltimore traditions. Some of them are going to be like, Oh my god, I never heard of that place. You go there? And I’ll be like, yeah, if you want Drunken Noodles, you’ll go there. You will trust me so and I always follow your recommendation, dude. I’ve called you when I’ve been in Philadelphia and said, Where should I eat? You’re that
Micah Buchdahl 52:44
guy. Well, you know, like, yeah. So the equivalent of, you know, the way that I keep my, you know, my marriage in place for 25 years. So we’ve been married 25 years. So is that Saturday night, like last so, so you’ll see me. I’m at, I’m at Citizen playing Park, five out of six nights on this homestand, the one night that I’m not there is Saturday night, because that’s the night that my wife and I go out to dinner. And so we, you I almost always miss Saturday games because, you know, because we got sacred, I got you, I got you. Oh, you know. So, you know, so, so that’s where we spend, that’s where we spend a lot of our discretionary income is on our on our dinner dates, and we don’t we go to nice places, and we spend good money and like, that’s what we do as me and her, versus me and and the kids and so, you know, in Baltimore, like I was there for conference last year. I love the foreman restaurants, you know. So I like Shin golly, which I’ve been to a bunch of times. You know, the Charleston just won a huge award. James Beard, right? Like, I think I Now nobody can get in. Yeah, they just won. Cindy, yeah, James Beard, a couple weeks ago and and I had dinner there last year, and it was phenomenal. So, you know, I like, I like the high end places, you know, my dad always likes to tease me, you know, because he’ll look at, he’ll look on Facebook at where we went to dinner, and then he’ll see the prices
Nestor Aparicio 54:20
of how much did you spend for a lamb chop? Yeah. And
Micah Buchdahl 54:25
so even, even actually, if you look at the post from our dinner last night in Philly, I actually post the menu, but I don’t. I scanned over. I cut out just for your dad, you know, just so that you can’t see that the little, the little tiny appetizer was, you know, 28 bucks, Dude,
Nestor Aparicio 54:46
I gotta tell you, my wife and I were in Paris for our anniversary, and it was couple, five, seven years. It was after her illness, but she was doing well. We were in Paris. We made a joke. Whatever reservation we were going to do this Gucci thing, like, way out of the bounds of anything we would ever spend. We go to dinner all the time. We eat out. I have sponsors everywhere. I’m eating 27 different things all month long here, right? Some of them more like, I’m doing a lobster tail at Beaumont that’s very, very sort of high end and lovely and but I’m also doing the Philly pretzel factory to start with. And there’s going to be desserts. There’s even going to be a snowball. My favorite Snowball is going to be a part of this, which is a $3 item. So, I mean, along lakes highway, we can all do different things. But that night, we were feeling great. We were starving ourselves in Paris, which is dumb, and, you know, waiting to get there. And I swear to God, we walked in and we took the air in, and we looked at it, and we thought, we’re going to spend a lot of money. And I looked at her, and she looked at me, and we’re like, you know, I saw that for shoot in that cheese store with those rolls and that wine. Let’s go do that for for 12 euro and and we literally quacked out. And it was at that moment we’re like, you know what? Maybe we’re just not meant for that. Maybe we’re not meant for the $400 Kobe dinner in Tokyo. Maybe we’re meant for the $6 pastry in Tokyo in the window that’s unlike anything I’ve ever had in my life. So I’m a New York eyeball eater, you know, I’ll know about things there. I’ll have places I can go 1020 bucks hand food, because you mentioned, like cats deli, you know, I’ve never been there. I’ve been outside. Every time I go, I’m alone. And when I’m alone, and I look at the $26 sandwich that I have no I just could not physically eat it. There’s nowhere to put it, because my hotel’s uptown and I’m downtown, maybe I give it to a stranger on the street, but I can never just, I just have never done it, because I’ve never had three people to help me eat the sandwich. Micah,
Micah Buchdahl 56:59
well, there’s a, there’s a, one of the top cheesesteak places in this region is about 15 minutes from my house in Mount. It’s actually in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It’s called Lilo’s. And it’s gotten like, you know, people now are traveling there to get their tomato pie and their cheesesteaks and and I can’t, I can’t eat a whole one. And they cost, you know, like whole ones now, like a whole cheesesteak now is like $18 or something.
Nestor Aparicio 57:27
I got one in New York. I went to Bradley Cooper’s place. God bless you Philadelphian people, by the way. And I got the cheesy to the Cooper cheat and the onions. And my wife wasn’t with me, so I could get the onions. By the way, it’s a block from the Led Zeppelin house from, you know, the front of the building, a physical graffiti house, which was also the steps were waiting on a friend was filmed from the Rolling Stones. So I went, dude, it was, it was delicious. It was, it was fine. It was good. I got some more. It was as big as my torso and like, what am I gonna do with that kind of it was an $18 sandwich. And that’s fine, but, like, I just can’t eat like that, bro. So I’m, uh, I, when I go to places like Paris in New York, and I, I love New York, I just do I’m, um, I’m a $10 or less item. Munch. Walk, beer. Munch. Walk, food. Munch, get some noodles. Walk, get a slice of pizza. Walk, I’m not a sit down, eat a meal guy in I just can’t be that guy, you know,
Micah Buchdahl 58:27
yeah. But even like that, like we were in New York, like Ben and I were at the Yankee series last weekend. So we’re in New York the whole Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and we stayed in Midtown. And, you know, I mean, you know, even, even the quote, unquote, the cheap places that you walk by are still, you know, they’re now more like 15 or 20 than five, right? Like, in terms of, in terms of the spend, but, you know, Phil, you know, you know, so when you come people, we were actually yesterday, I was trying to, I had promised some people that are coming into town soon, cheese steaks. And we were debating, like, where we’re going to get cheese steaks for these folks to make them
Nestor Aparicio 59:07
the Joe’s, you know, listen, I will get Dick Gerardi. We’ll take him down to Joe’s and treat you right down there in Fishtown. You know, get get him there, parking stuff there. But the cheese steaks delicious. Mike, I got a lettuce and tomato my cheesesteak in Philly, they called me a tourist.
Micah Buchdahl 59:22
Oh, yeah, you can’t do that. I mean, no, no, you can’t do that. Well, I remember, I remember when I came here for college, you know, the early 80s, and I told my dad I wanted a cheesesteak, and he had no idea what a cheesesteak was, and he actually thought it was like a steak that you melt cheese on or something. And, you know, I remember he was very unimpressed,
Nestor Aparicio 59:48
because he never went to Captain Harvey’s. And Dundalk is what it was. He
Micah Buchdahl 59:51
never brought him over. He goes to the they recently, they said the brunch at the rusty scupper is still really good.
Nestor Aparicio 59:57
Jazz brunch out. Standing, yes,
Micah Buchdahl 1:00:01
very nice. All right, they go. So my dad’s been a volunteer at the he’s a volunteer Pathfinder at BWI. So he’s been doing that for 25 years. And so he goes to, you know, he goes to BWI for 25 years as a volunteer at the info booth, helping people. He just gets a kick out of he loves
Nestor Aparicio 1:00:22
it. I got to stop and see him next time I fly. Believe
Micah Buchdahl 1:00:26
me, you’ll, you know, it’s the only, probably the only, 90 year old guy that is going to be down there helping people.
Nestor Aparicio 1:00:33
That’s a beautiful thing, man, you gotta get, you gotta get to a ball game with your old man. Micah, come on
Micah Buchdahl 1:00:37
now. I don’t think there’s going to the ballpark again anytime soon. Actually, I saw, I saw a Facebook post pop up last week of the game where he had come down. He had come to Philly with my brother and and we all actually, Ben was too tiny. Ben wasn’t even in the picture. So it was Lily and my brother and my dad and me up in this 300 level at CVP for Phillies game. And it was 11 years ago, and I remember thinking like, you know, it was kind of difficult to get to get around there. And so, you know, now it’s 11 years later, and you know, they luckily, I still have good reasons to come to Baltimore quite often, see my family, my brother is still there at Catholic Charities, you know, at Villa Maria. And so that’s why I get to go to the ED block awards every year, because it’s tied to the school that my brother’s the administrator at. So he brings me and and one of my kids is a guest every year for Ed block. So we’ve gotten to go to the ED block Awards last couple of years, which is a very which is a very cool event. And so we look forward to that, but, but otherwise, yeah, most of my, most of my Baltimore trips are, you know, are to see family. I’ll, I’ll look at sometimes like, I know, I’m, I’m coming up in a week or two, and, and I kind of, I look at the Orioles schedule to see if I can, like, shoulder a game on one side or another. But my brother’s actually going to my brother, my son’s going to go visit my sister in Bethesda, go to Nat nats Phillies up there, and then we’ll meet up in Baltimore at my parents afterwards. So, you know. And I still see all, you know, like, you know, I don’t know if you see, like, you know, my old buddy, Ed Waldman from the sun, of course, you know, I follow him on Facebook. He loves sports. I’ve seen his family in airports and ravens games. Oh yeah, a lot of games. They go to a lot of ravens games. So I haven’t seen that in a long time.
Nestor Aparicio 1:02:37
And he’s a Phillies guy that went the other
Micah Buchdahl 1:02:39
way. He is if he is a Phillies guy. So that is crazy, that temple Baltimore connection, right? Well, we had the journalism
Nestor Aparicio 1:02:47
connection at one point back when there was journalism. Michael buchdol Now is a practicing attorney in the Philadelphia area. He is a longtime Baltimorean. Still claims Baltimore some of the time, just not the sports teams. He’s traded them in for better models, and he’ll be rooting for the Phillies to ring the bell this week, against the wishes of his father and his brother and his nephew. I
Micah Buchdahl 1:03:09
actually think, like if, if the Orioles hadn’t had decades of irrelevance, right? Like, I think I probably would have never, I think they would have always remained my, my number one team in baseball, like, you know. So, you know, the Ravens. You know the Ravens weren’t there in my childhood. Like, the Ravens came after I left, after I left Baltimore. And so, you know, same thing with the Colts. Like, I love the Colt. I only stopped rooting for the Colts because they didn’t have Baltimore in front of their name anymore. And so, you know, so I
Nestor Aparicio 1:03:42
so you saw the transactional nature of sports, and you just decide, like, I was a Houston Oiler fan. You know what? I mean, it’s now we get all these years in, the Ravens have thrown me out and treat me awful and expect me to run around with a purple top on I, you know? I I just, I can’t fake it till I make it. But I still love sports, and I still know more about it, so I just watch it from a different lens than you, and I love the lens that you watch it from in the upper deck with your kids. I do I and that’s why I brought you on for an hour to jibber jabber. But I gotta go because it’s my 27th anniversary. You gotta go because you’re going to the game. I love you. Micah, it’s great to have you on, and I love having you on once a year. We should get together
Micah Buchdahl 1:04:18
more often. All right, absolutely, yeah. And you know, if you’re if, if you’re in Camden, New Jersey, you’re like, 20 minutes from me, so maybe 15. So
Nestor Aparicio 1:04:26
I’ll take you out for a proper cheesesteak, some Italian pork. We’ll do something, right? Yep. One thing I’m not doing, I’ll get the broccoli Rob. But I say this to my wife, you get that pizza without the cheese, the pizza that’s just the bread and the sauce. No, no, no, I don’t do tomato pie unless it’s got cheese on it. That’s all right, put some cheese on there. All right. Michael buchtel is my friend. Uh, we’re gonna step out take a break. It’s our 27th anniversary. I’m being goofy because the Orioles are in last place, and nothing’s really going on at training camps except injuries. Luke’s out there. I’m here, and we’re going to be eating great, great stuff. Some. Sure, following along at Baltimore positive, including my little poem that I put together. It wasn’t quite Andrew Dice Clay, but it was
Micah Buchdahl 1:05:06
clever. I read it this morning.
