Sheinin the light on getting serious about Blue Jays and World Series

Our favorite longtime Washington Post baseball writer Dave Sheinin joins Nestor at the new Costas Inn at Timonium Race Track to discuss everything Orioles and World Series on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. Birdland ownership, management, the manager, big money and how to start winning again at Camden Yards?

Nestor Aparicio and Dave Sheinin discuss the Orioles’ struggles and the Blue Jays’ resurgence, highlighting the financial disparity between big-market and small-market teams. Sheinin emphasizes the need for the Orioles to invest in pitching, suggesting they should prioritize signing experienced managers and pitchers. They also touch on the importance of winning to regain fan interest and the challenges of small-market teams. Additionally, they discuss the impact of Shohei Ohtani’s dual talent and the need for the Orioles to spend money wisely to compete. The conversation also covers Sheinin’s transition from sports writing to covering the Olympics and his thoughts on the Ravens’ recent controversies.

• [ ] Determine if the 2022 season was an aberration or indicative of the team’s true talent level.
• [ ] Hire a new manager for the Orioles.
• [ ] Spend money on pitching in the offseason to improve the roster.

Dave Sheinin’s Musical and Sports Background

• Nestor Aparicio introduces Dave Sheinin, describing him as a bon vivant with a wide range of interests including rock and roll, sports, politics, and culture.
• Dave Sheinin discusses his musical influences, mentioning REM, Beatles, Echo and the Bunnymen, and the Replacements.
• Nestor Aparicio shares his admiration for Dave’s musical taste and mentions his own Spotify playlist.
• Dave Sheinin talks about his experience seeing REM in college and his love for Americana and melodic power pop.

Dave Sheinin’s Sports Writing Career

• Nestor Aparicio transitions the conversation to Dave Sheinin’s career as a sports writer, noting his extensive experience covering World Series games.
• Dave Sheinin shares his journey from being a sports writer almost from the start to covering baseball for the Washington Post.
• Nestor Aparicio reminisces about their long-standing friendship and mutual admiration for each other’s work.
• Dave Sheinin reflects on his time covering the Atlanta Braves and the impact of significant moments like Carter’s home run.

The Blue Jays and the Orioles’ Challenges

• Nestor Aparicio and Dave Sheinin discuss the current state of the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays, noting the Blue Jays’ recent success and the Orioles’ struggles.
• Dave Sheinin highlights the financial disparity between big market teams like the Blue Jays and small market teams like the Orioles.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses concern about the Orioles’ ability to compete with the Blue Jays and other big market teams.
• Dave Sheinin emphasizes the importance of winning for the Orioles to regain fan interest and support.

The Impact of Shohei Ohtani

• Nestor Aparicio and Dave Sheinin discuss the unique talent of Shohei Ohtani, comparing him to Jim Abbott and other exceptional athletes.
• Dave Sheinin argues that Ohtani’s success has opened up new possibilities for athletes to excel in multiple sports.
• Nestor Aparicio shares his personal connection to Mike Mussina and the challenges he faced as a two-way player.
• Dave Sheinin and Nestor Aparicio agree that Ohtani’s achievements have set a new standard for athletes to pursue dual careers.

The Future of the Orioles and the Importance of Pitching

• Nestor Aparicio and Dave Sheinin discuss the Orioles’ offseason plans, emphasizing the need to invest in pitching.
• Dave Sheinin suggests that the Orioles should prioritize signing experienced managers like Terry Francona or Joe Maddon.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses skepticism about Albert Pujols as a manager but acknowledges his presence and credibility.
• Dave Sheinin and Nestor Aparicio agree that the Orioles need to spend money on pitching to compete effectively.

The Role of the New Ownership and Management

• Nestor Aparicio criticizes the new ownership group for their corporate approach and lack of community engagement.
• Dave Sheinin explains the financial pressures on small market teams and the need to find new revenue streams.
• Nestor Aparicio calls for the Orioles to focus on building a winning team and reconnecting with their fan base.
• Dave Sheinin emphasizes the importance of spending money wisely and making strategic investments in both the team and the stadium.

The Importance of Journalism and Integrity

• Nestor Aparicio and Dave Sheinin discuss the challenges of journalism in the current political climate and the importance of integrity.
• Dave Sheinin shares his excitement about covering the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan.
• Nestor Aparicio reflects on the role of journalism in holding powerful institutions accountable and promoting truth.
• Dave Sheinin and Nestor Aparicio agree on the importance of standing up for the truth and maintaining high ethical standards in journalism.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles, World Series, Dave Sheinin, baseball, pitching, Blue Jays, revenue streams, ownership, manager hiring, player development, fan engagement, media relations, Justin Tucker, Olympics, Baltimore.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Dave Sheinin

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 tasks of Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively here at Timonium. We’re Costas. I have Raven scratch offs to give away. It is a lucky batch. I’m gonna give a whole bunch of these away. At the end of the segment, we’re gonna be back at the Costas in Dundalk, where you can go for crabs. People keep coming here to Timonium, like, where are the crabs? They’re in Dundalk. So if you weren’t done, dog, you grabs timoniums crab cakes. We’re here at the racetrack. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. Always pleasure to have Jamie that’s already come by, but I think shining. I don’t, don’t want to, like say this to puff you up, but you’re one of my favorite guests because of this 30 year relationship. We’ve had longtime friendship, but, but you’re rock and roll, your sports, your politics, your culture, your beer, food. I mean, you’re like a bon vivant to me. And I figured I let my hair out for this segment because I didn’t have it out before. And I think of you as a rocker, right? Is that fair to say

Dave Sheinin  00:58

that? I mean, I would say so, yeah. I mean, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  01:01

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you’re on the REM end of things, though, yeah, yeah.

Dave Sheinin  01:05

I think REM is right in my wheelhouse. I’m kind of, I’m kind of one foot in, like Americana, one foot in, like, melodic power pop. So like the records that I put out, I put out two records, they’re right in that, in that wheelhouse of Americana,

Nestor Aparicio  01:22

if I put you into Spotify and AI as and it gave five bands that would be like your band, yeah, I would put REM like Beatles, E, B, Z, but not You’re not like 60s band, but You’re more like your 80s nine, right? Yeah, okay, yeah. Matthew

Dave Sheinin  01:44

sweet, yeah, replacements, okay, lemon heads, one more.

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Nestor Aparicio  01:59

Elvis Costello, no, no, yeah, okay, that’s why, that’s what I’m Yeah, okay, yeah, all right, so the last time you got together, we got together, you pooped on Hootie and the Blowfish. You and I know you love the black crows, right? You love the black crows, yeah? I mean, yeah, Rolling Stones, he kind of absolutely okay, yeah. So my buddy Steve Gorman, Baltimore guy, yeah, like drummer from the black crows, has a band that he put together on the sly. Nobody knew about this band until like six weeks ago. They’re called how Al, how it is. Darius Rucker, Steve Gorman, the drummer from the black crows, and Mike Mills, the bass player from right guys. So I bought tickets. I’m going down to Nashville next week for Cameron crow thing, and they’re rehearsing next week at Gorman’s coming on the show, but they’re playing like 10 dates on the East Coast. They’ve done a whole album together out of their friendship. So this reminds me of like, you being a basement musician with your buddies, yeah, the guys that are on your record, or musicians you like, yeah, people. You like, humans. You like you weren’t trying to put a band that you weren’t trying to make money. Your sports writer, yeah? Like, they put this thing together organically, and they’re going out on the road, and they’re from who’s amazing rem and the black crows. I mean, that’s a pretty good pedigree, yeah, yeah. So I’m thinking like, you at least have one foot in the REM side of

Dave Sheinin  03:22

that. I do, yeah. I mean, I grew up in Georgia, man. I mean, they were massive for me, certainly in college. And when I got to Vanderbilt, that’s when they were blowing up, and I saw them, you know, for three bucks. Nice, the exit in, you know, in Nashville, yeah, oh yeah, yeah. I bet that REM, yeah. Rem came through twice a year at least. See, I

Nestor Aparicio  03:45

mean, you’re a sports writer, and how many World Series games you’ve done? More than World Series games, right? Probably,

Dave Sheinin  03:49

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yeah, probably 20 World Series, I’m guessing. So time is an average

Nestor Aparicio  03:54

I did my brother like 52 or 53 World Series games that I personally see, yeah, and I haven’t seen one in 20 years, but I went after every one for Yeah, 12 years, or whatever, right? You know, 12 times six is whatever, five, whatever it was, right? I was there, like, Carter hit the home run. Were you there? I was not no. You hadn’t gotten on to the beat yet. Had not no, no. So this thing with the Blue Jays, like, really? Oh yeah, it’s brought me back to that period of time and seeing, I know what that dome sounds like when it gets loud, when that big home run, Joey bats home run a couple years ago, you might have been, oh, my god, yeah, yeah. I mean, you seen some ish, and I’ve seen some ish. I mean, I remember the lay Ritz home run at Fulton County Stadium. I was sitting next to Ken Rosenthal and Mitch album, wow. Mitch album was on this side, and Ken Rosenthal was on this side, and the layards home run happened, and the Braves were winning the series. Yeah, they were trying to put the nail in the coffin. Yeah, dude, and this is awful Waller. Ray Lewis. Ray Lewis once said you can hear rat piss on cotton. Yeah.

Dave Sheinin  05:00

Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, that was off of

Nestor Aparicio  05:03

Wallers. It was really quiet. I’ve never heard the air go out of a place, but the World Series, man is like that, right? This one any, I mean, oh yeah, because there’s a home crowd. It’s not super bowl, you know what? I mean, it’s, well,

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Dave Sheinin  05:20

it’s pretty corporate. I mean, you do have a majority of hometown fans, but it’s pretty corporate. You got a lot of, you know, sponsors and 500 bucks to get in if you get lost, yeah, yeah, so, but, but you’re right. It does have an atmosphere. It is a home, home field advantage,

Nestor Aparicio  05:36

all right. So, Dave shining this year, I want to do baseball. I want to do rock and roll. I let my hair out. And, you know, I always wear a belt buckle to honor you. And you know, this week with the loss of the great ace Fraley, oh yeah, you know, was kiss your first thing, or was that not hip enough for you? I don’t

Dave Sheinin  05:53

know that. I was never a huge kiss guy, but they were such a gateway truck. I mean, they were, yeah, they were massive. I remember in high school, they were massive. Yeah, I just, I was, I was a lot. I was a little more classic rock at that time. And remember, I grew up in Georgia, so like, you know, my wheelhouse was Springsteen, you know, even, even down the Southern rock route to Skinner and almonds, almonds and stuff like that. But yeah, I would say at that time when kiss was blown up, Springsteen was my North Star. Why did you learn to play the guitar? Probably Springsteen, that’s it, right? I mean, yeah, yeah, probably. So

Nestor Aparicio  06:33

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what’s the first thing you wanted to learn how to play? That would tell you why you want to learn to play the guitar,

Dave Sheinin  06:37

right? That’s a great I don’t remember one, one thing, no, because, because I was also playing piano. So, like, I so, like, I wanted to be Roy bitten and Bruce Springsteen, you know, at the same time, you know, like, you were gonna be singer songwriter, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah. Well, I mean, you’re so Billy Joel, you know, I wanted to be Billy Joel and spring

Nestor Aparicio  06:58

how’d you become a sports writer? Um,

Dave Sheinin  07:01

just, I mean, I was, I was a sports writer almost before I was a musician, like I, I mean, I grew up with the AJC, the Atlanta Journal, constitution. Dave kindred was my title firm and Bishop, yeah, all those dudes. Chris Mortenson was on that staff. You know, who

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Nestor Aparicio  07:17

was the famous guy that wrote about Southern life for the AJC, Lewis, Grizzle Lewis, grizzar,

Dave Sheinin  07:23

local college. So, yeah, I want to, I mean, I grew up, I learned to read from the sports section. And then eventually, when I realized I was not going to be a baseball player, was not going to be a basketball player, was not going to be a football player, was not going to be a golfer. Sports writing became my thing. I was, well, read I, you know, so, yeah, it was a natural. I was, I was always going to be a sports writer from probably age 14 on.

Nestor Aparicio  07:49

Well, you’re not covering the World Series, which I read, Steve shining to my guest from the Washington Post. He lives here in Baltimore. He is a recurring figure in my life for the last 30 years, when we shared press boxes at Camden Yards together. And, I mean, I see masky out asking all the tough questions now with the Raven, so I appreciate that. Yeah, what? What are you doing at the post? And, yeah, baseball side of this for a year. I mean, hey, I’m blessed and shocked to have you here, because you could be getting on a plane tomorrow to go to Toronto easily. And I thought kind of you were, it’s been a weird year for baseball, and I’ve kissed your ass about five times this week without you even knowing I did it. Before you got here, you sat with me a year and a half ago at Cocos. You remember with that you came out to Coco Yeah, SIG, yeah. So you me and SIG were together, and the Orioles were in first place, and they were a rocket ship, right? It was like July a year and a half ago. Yeah. They were really in their groove at first place. They just beaten up the Yankees. Yeah, they were coming on right, and they had won the 101 games a year before. It looked like they were headed that way. The Ravens had just lost the championship game to the chiefs, right? Yeah, but 15 to two home field, no reason to believe that they couldn’t get better and all that. And I was asking which one was going to win the World Series or the Super Bowl, who was going to have the first parade? And you presciently said neither, as a cynical sports writer that you are cynical Washington Post guy, yeah, because it’s hard to do. And I think I stand humbled here a year and a half later, just sit here and say the manager has been fired. Yeah, the Orioles have been in last place. Yeah, the ravens are in last place, and they don’t get their quarterback back, they’re gonna say, they’re gonna stink. So sports is so like, you grab it, and then the Dodgers spend all the money they get there. The Yankees have been trying this for 20 years. And, yeah, can’t pitch a drop image, yeah. And the Mets too, right? Literally, yeah.

Dave Sheinin  09:40

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I mean, I do think that in the in the case of baseball, for sure, we have seen in the last few years a dichotomy of haves and have nots. And it used to not matter so much in base, but

Nestor Aparicio  09:53

always preach that I had always mattered. But the numbers in the end would say, look at what the A’s did.

Dave Sheinin  09:59

Look who’s winning. World Series these days. I mean, it’s the dot. You know, you can still get to the playoffs with a low payroll. You can still be the Tampa Bay Rays, or or the Orioles. You know, you can be the Indians guardians, but like, but to win, to win World Series these days. I mean, think of who’s won the last two. You know, the Dodgers won. The Rangers had a big time payroll the year. They won before that, the Astros, right? They cheated. Well, yeah, but like, it is top five payrolls that went so the Dodgers are number one in payroll this year. The Blue Jays are number five. They’re not, you know, they’re not some small town chump. Well, I was there. Payroll in baseball, this is a clash of Big time, big market teams.

Nestor Aparicio  10:46

Okay, so let’s talk about the Blue Jays for a minute. While there I’m looking at the Blue Moon sign here, where cost is Dave shining is my guest in Washington Post. I talked to Luke about this, and I’ve spent so much time in Toronto, and I know you have as well, pulling your passport out. Getty Lee, I’m kind of pulling for the Blue Jays because of Getty. I got my hair out, got my kiss belt buckle on. I did opening day there this year. Yeah, Luke and I went up together, right? I remember the whole deal, right? We went up and I hadn’t been there and for baseball game, probably 10 years for baseball game, since my my 2015 I did all the stadiums. So I went in opening day. You could feel it, whatever, but the Orioles were supposed to be the team in the World Series. Yeah, Blue Jays are supposed to be the team. Was no good. And whenever I’m there, I always think to myself, this is the national team, even more so that the Expos are long gone, right? Yeah, yeah. Like you feel the nationalism, even when Trump’s not trying to destroy them and us simultaneously. That there they could be the Yankees or Dodgers, if they wanted to be. They have enough money their national team. I think this is a real problem for the Orioles. I think this, yeah, the fact that the Blue Jays have awakened for the next couple of years, at least, right? Having a World Series, having a taste of that, maybe winning the World Series this week. It may be Yes, you certainly can capable, yeah, that that awakens them in a way that you and I remember when you first got on the beat, when I went up there to see Joe Carter and the Malacca, the nail harness, all of that stuff that happened that the Blue Jays were three and a half million every year. They were the ones that were going to sign free agents. They were the ones that were going to deal for Winfield for monitor, for Henderson, for whomever they needed. Right at that point, Alomar, we haven’t seen them be that kind of a giant. And in this division where the Yankees and the Red Sox are, you know, God bless Mr. Rubenstein. If he thinks they’re going to do this on the cheap, or that this city’s just going to squeeze out money and run down there and buy sky boxes and all that. This has been a really, really rough, bad entry way for this ownership group, on the field, off the field, with ticket holders. I know you read about it and see about it because you live in Baltimore. I’m the Blue Jays. Winning is a nightmare that I didn’t even see over the hill, even when I was there six months ago. To say you don’t have to worry about them. Yeah, you have to, yeah. Now, any free agent you want to sign Blue Jays are going to want to sign them, and they’re gonna be willing

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Dave Sheinin  13:06

to pay more, yeah. And when you think about the advantages they have in Toronto, being the national team, having drawing revenue from across that entire country, having the whole country behind them, and contrast that to what the Orioles face here in the market with another team, you know, 30 miles away, and neither team is thriving right now.

Nestor Aparicio  13:26

Sound like Peter? That’s exactly what Peter was telling me. Well, Peter said, Yeah, Washington Post, you’re not going to

Dave Sheinin  13:31

get a team well, right, right, but, but you know what? I mean, there was a little bit of truth to that. Both teams have been damaged by the relationship, you know, and you saw this play out most damaged

Nestor Aparicio  13:44

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by an awful television network, too. For, yeah, exactly. They didn’t turn that into Nestor. That was going to be a baseball machine, a baseball marketing machine that right the network, right for the but,

Dave Sheinin  13:55

but these two teams combined are not drawing what the Dodgers are drawing, you know, it’s, it’s become a problem, you know, and, and I don’t know what the solution is, I just know that you’re absolutely right, that if the Blue Jays are going to be this, this, this Sleeping Giant, this monster that has now arrived on top of the Red Sox and Yankees money machines, and, You know, the smart guys in Tampa that are always going to be one step away, you know, it’s so tough to win.

Nestor Aparicio  14:28

I was fortunate enough to be in Toronto the night that Getty Lee did his book tour, and Alex showed up to interview him on stage at Massey Hall. The whole night that I was there was December 7, two years ago. You could look the night up. The rumor the buzz in Toronto was that Shohei was on, yeah, he was on a plane. Marosi reported that, right, yeah, yeah, that was the day. So I was in Toronto, and the rumor was Otani was coming to visit Toronto. Signing, but visiting, just the fact that he would visit your baseball team, means you’re a player. Yeah, it means you live in Las Vegas or Macau. You don’t live in Atlanta. You have the wherewithal. You’re not in Bay St Louis, you know what I mean. So I would just say, oh, Tani, let’s talk about him a little bit with him from World Series, from your perspective, is a guy who’s covered baseball, Hall of Fame, voter, all the things that you represent, Dave. And all these years, I have said to anyone who will listen, Jim Abbott’s the greatest thing I ever saw. Jim Abbott, for me in all of sports, to say that that dude, just think about that dude against anybody with two arms, because everybody else has had two arms and played the game, right? So I I’m a guy missing a finger, so I have a feeling about that. And Jessica long and different people, I know they’re amputees, but the Otani, what he’s done, what he’s established that no American boy would ever have his father make him the shortstop in the pitcher or the third baseman in the pitcher. We all played little league like that. We all played in high school like that, right? Yeah. Then there’s a point in this culture where you pick one or the other, yeah. And that was for Cal Ripken, who could have been a pitcher that that’s for anybody, right? Yeah. And for whatever reason, this guy made that hump in a way that’s even different than Dion or Bo Jackson or Brian, you know, like we’ve never seen that Adam Loewen was, I know, right, right? There’s a handful of people to feel like they could have done it, but to do it fringy, to do and have a four and a half e r a and to be a good second baseman who hits 12 home runs, and, yeah, if you could do that, yeah, you’d be amazing. But to be, yeah, an MVP candidate and a Cy Young candidate, yeah, we’re never gonna see this again. Our culture won’t allow this happen, right? I mean, the

Dave Sheinin  16:51

only reason I might disagree with that is that he has shown that it’s possible. Whereas, before he came along, nobody asked about Babe Ruth. Nobody, right? Nobody in baseball would would even entertain the notion. So now that he’s arrived and he’s doing this, I think that there is a generation of kids who are coming up seeing a pathway to it and being able to tell their high school coach, you know, hey, look, you don’t have to make me pick one or the other. It is possible to do both of these. We have an example. So I’m not going to say this is going to be commonplace, but I’m saying that you got a generation of kids now who think this is possible, and that’s the starting point.

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Nestor Aparicio  17:29

I haven’t talked to Mike Messina long time. I talked to his brother all the time, right? And and I know you knew him both, and you and I were along with the late great Craig heist, who I’m going to give you a minute to talk about, because heist, he loved Messina too. Messina loved me. Famously, we were old boys drinking beer and all that. And I, Mike was adamant for years during our beer drinking and sports writing friendship, 90 290-394-9592, we would hang out. We went to Def Leppard concerts together with the bonds. We did things together. Van Halen, he would always say, I can hit in the big leagues. And I’m like, what could you hit? He’s like, I think I could be a 220, 2/3 I could be a hitter. I could I could hit major league pitching. And he never had the chance to do that until he played the Braves, and you’re probably covering that game. Danny Turner Field, first inter League. Yeah, ever he simple off of schmalzer Clavin, somebody. Yeah, he pitched in and hit in the game, and his brother would always maintain to me that he could hit in the big leagues. But here’s where it comes down, dude, if your aren’t tell him, or you’re Mike messinas Father, or Mike Messina Stanford coach, or whatever, you’re like, dude, if you can pitch like that, you don’t need to worry about hitting 240 and being a second baseman or being an outfield or the other four days, right? If you can pitch like that, you pitch, yeah, and, oh, by the way, if you can hit and hit 30 home runs a year and be a 300 hitter, don’t throw your arm out, get Tommy John, get a glove and go play the outfield like Adam Jones or whatever, right? Yeah. So there is validity and sense to say you could be a multi millionaire either way. You don’t need to. They’ll pay you for one or the other. You could be a cook or a server. You don’t have to do both jobs, yeah? So that is our culture speaking today, because Messina was a guy who would have tried to convince somebody, dude, let me go play second base or let me go play left field, because I want to hit. I like hitting, yeah, but, dude, you’re gonna make $200 million and go to the Hall of Fame being a pitcher. Don’t hit,

Dave Sheinin  19:26

right? But we saw him. You also saw him shag fly balls during BP in the outfield. Right? He was a great outfielder. I mean, he could, he could run it down. He could jump at the

Nestor Aparicio  19:39

wall. He couldn’t make the place safety firm at Penn State, literally, right? Yeah, yeah, so, but there’s an app using him as an example. Yeah, he’s a Hall of Fame. It’s not likely, right, right? He could hit, right? Whether he could have ever hit 275, or two, I don’t know. Dion did it, right? Dion was amazing, yeah,

Dave Sheinin  19:57

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and, and to think that Otani. He is Mike Mussina on the mound, and Mickey Mantle and Mickey Mantle of the plate. I mean, that is, it’s mind blowing. It’s like we he’s so far beyond anything we’ve seen. It’s, it doesn’t even do him justice to say that we’ve never seen. I mean, he, he’s a unicorn, like he’s, I mean, there’s, there’s nobody comparable in sports. I mean, it would be like Wayne Gretzky, 800 goals, and then, and then saving, you know, 50 shots. You know, it’s just some of it sounds like Snoopy. It’s like impossible. It’s impossible, you know, it would be Tom Brady winning six Super Bowls, whatever he did, and then also playing dB, you know, and and stopping, you know, being the best cover

Nestor Aparicio  20:43

guy, scenic, it only hit 240 and hit eight home runs and driving 40. Be a rudimentary second baseman. They wouldn’t let him do it. They would just say, we’ll get somebody else to do it.

Dave Sheinin  20:54

Yeah? Because that’s a replacement level Starting second base, right? Yeah.

Nestor Aparicio  21:00

So if you’re only good enough to just be an average Major League hitter, they wouldn’t

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Dave Sheinin  21:04

let you do right? But that, even that on the surface, would be amazing, right? Just to be able to do that, if you could

Nestor Aparicio  21:10

hit 248, play second base as a backup second baseman, and pitch the seventh, yes, to pitch a middle inning here, just, yeah, there was a guy 1820 good

Dave Sheinin  21:18

pitch. Yeah. Michael Lorenzen did that a little bit. He okay, you know, in the last five years or so, he would, he would pitch some relief and then pinch hit or, I mean, he

Nestor Aparicio  21:28

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was the oral spent 30 years losing 30 to three,

Dave Sheinin  21:31

yeah, yeah. So, I mean, it’s, it’s another, it’s a completely different game that he’s playing than anybody else on any given day. He’s the best pitcher on the field and the best hitter on the field. Is that

Nestor Aparicio  21:46

why you and I are getting old and gray like this? Being old, get off my line just waiting to see something we’ve never seen before. Literally.

Dave Sheinin  21:53

I mean, that’s why we watch sports. That’s why live sports still rules the day. I mean, that’s why, you know, streaming services, networks, sport, live sports is the bread and butter now, of the entire television industry. It is reality television. It’s the only thing. It’s the only thing that can’t really be, you know, DVR or whatever, or streamed after the fact, unless you’re really good at staying off social media and getting spoiled. It’s the one thing you have to tune in to watch at that moment. Like, I can go, I can go watch task, or whatever the big new HBO show is. I can go watch that right now. But I can’t. I can’t tune into the baseball game two days later.

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Nestor Aparicio  22:38

Gotta wait. You gotta wait for it to start. Wait for it’s appointment viewing.

Dave Sheinin  22:42

So, I mean, that’s why I still care you disappointed

Nestor Aparicio  22:45

about not coming to World Series or like you’ve done a lot in a row, is this first one you’re missing a

Dave Sheinin  22:50

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while? No, it’s the second. I believe second or third. I miss being in the press box during the game. I do not miss writing until 2am sleeping for two hours and then catching a 6am flight to the next city. You know, it’s all the stuff that makes me feel really old. I missed the baseball I missed the game

Nestor Aparicio  23:13

I went to. I went to three baseball games this year, this season. My most recent one was in LA. I went to the Dodgers game. I was out. I went to the Hollywood Bowl. Finally, so nice, but we’ll get back to music in a minute. But I did a bucket list thing, the who and the Joe Perry Project. Steven Tyler showed up. Slash showed up, like I had this crazy night at the Hollywood Bowl. But I was in LA for two days, and the second day Janet Marie invited me. And, you know, once Janet, Marie invite, you know, Nestor, we we made some new things. We got some new things to show you in Chavez Ravine, I want you to see what I built. So once she does that, yeah, what am I gonna do? Say, No, I don’t want to go. My wife’s like, take the tickets. You love Dodger Stadium. You’re gonna love everything about it, even if you don’t care who wins or loses. I saw Yamamoto pitch. I had never seen Ohtani play. Okay, so I got to see he struck out looking first at bat. Yeah. So love you, Janet, Marie, always, and so I got to get there. There is nothing like a night at Chavez Ravine for me, like I’d be jealous for you on Monday that you’re missing game three, yeah, sitting at Chavez Ravine watching a big baseball game. To me. No offense to Dodgers. Stay over Yankee Stadium or Fenway or right now, I’m not a Wrigley guy or any of those places. Dodger Stadium is my favorite place to watch a baseball game. You don’t, you don’t agree with that.

Dave Sheinin  24:33

No, I mean often.

Nestor Aparicio  24:34

Guy, you miss Oakland, yeah. Man, I miss Olympic Stadium. Man, I miss Tiger Stadium. That was the best place to ever

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Dave Sheinin  24:43

see a game. I miss Tiger Stadium. Yeah, yeah. You know I could get behind that gun to my head the you get to watch one more game. Where would it be? It could be Dodger Stadium.

Nestor Aparicio  24:55

It wouldn’t be Fenway. No,

Dave Sheinin  24:58

I don’t think so. I like February. Be Wrigley. Oh, you’re Wrigley. I love Wrigley. Love Wrigley. I like it more than Fenway.

Nestor Aparicio  25:06

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Like Fenway more than Wrigley. Yeah. I

Dave Sheinin  25:08

mean, it’s, it’s all personal taste. And to be completely honest, and I’m gonna sound like a Homer, but man, I have a soft spot to this day for Camden yard. Okay, always. I

Nestor Aparicio  25:19

mean, every time Jim had him in press box being ripped out, and you’ve never seen that,

Dave Sheinin  25:25

yeah, but I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. It’s happening all over the game. The press box is getting moved down the line everywhere, all over MLB.

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Nestor Aparicio  25:35

Well, maybe this leads for a nice segue. Dave shining is our guest. We’re here at Casas. I’ve got ravens scratch offs to give away. We’re sticking to baseball. I mean, I can talk football, I can talk rock and roll. I can talk kiss, talk anything with Dave shining. You can find him. He’s at the Washington Post. If you see a guy walking around the pagoda Patterson Park, it’s shining because he does live here in Baltimore, even though he’s a Washington Post guy. We’re gonna be giving the Raven scratch offs away next week, on Tuesday morning, we’re going to be at State Fair in Catonsville, and then at Cocos on the fifth, and then on the seventh, to pizza. John’s and shining has been a victim of mine on the show in all of those locations. So I dragged him out here to Costa citimonium, to the racetrack here on the baseball side, you mentioned the Jim Henneman press box being ripped out. Katie Griggs has been here more than a minute now, long enough that I don’t know or haven’t met her, haven’t talked to her. I see what they’re doing. I see the broadcast. I see where they’re putting their priorities and sitting in front of rich white people and trying to be a corporate brand and all of that. I see really disenchanted friends of mine, people who supported Angelos to the end, even though they didn’t want to other people that came in new last year, they gave him Birdland money faith. They’re having trouble obviously, selling these behind the home plate premium anything in a year when they’re in last place, they’re gonna get an all star game. I guess I don’t know. Man, pretend you’re not talking to a prick like me and just pretend that you’re on Bal or something and speak about what your I see from ownership, new ownership coming in and mistakes, good things, bad things, observations about the baseball operation, which are the best at, but the business operation, which guys like you and me have to be the best at, because nobody else is looking at it to say, what do you got? What’s your plan? I mean, that’s really if I were having a beer with arrogant and he weren’t as arrogant to me as he was, and we were just literally having a crab cake, I’d say, give me the five and 10. Like, what’s How are you going to fix this? Yeah, that would be my first, honest to God question is, do you have a plan to fix this? Because I know Manfred doesn’t, and I know that the Sinclair boys don’t in regard to your television and your RSN and your revenue model, and you don’t understand your own fans. You pissed them all off coming in here, being a corporate outfit. And where do you think? Where does your research tell you that premium money is in this marketplace to the degree that you’re building it at. So that’s what I would say. But for you, like you live and eat and breathe in this space, I’m scratching my head, Dave, and I haven’t met anybody that can explain it to me, and they don’t want to explain it to me, you know, like, what’s

Dave Sheinin  28:13

the plan? Yeah, I mean, I think that what you’re seeing is they are, I mean, this, this press box thing, is a perfect example for us to sit here and decry the small market mindedness of this team and and criticizing them for spending, but then also at the same time criticizing them blowing up the press box to put premium seats in there. It doesn’t jive, right? That is a revenue source that, and that’s why they’re doing it like hatches on arms they want stadiums right now. And you talked about Janet Marie Smith, I mean, talk to her about what they did at Fenway. I mean, you know, like that was the quintessential, you know, little bandbox of John Updike’s, you know, writing they had, they they could no longer compete with the Yankees in that little, tiny bandbox unless they started finding new revenue sources. And they did that, right? Those green monster seats didn’t exist 20 years ago. They put them in to make a ton of money, and they did. They’ve blown up their luxury suites all you know. So that’s kind of where the Orioles are. And granted, we’re 20 years behind the curve, but there are they’re looking for revenue streams right now. I

Nestor Aparicio  29:21

don’t mind them doing any of this, as long as you know what I want to spend the money to do it. Well, I want, yeah, I want. And Peter has to be done. Never did anything. Peter didn’t do anything well, for 30 years. I mean, like I I’m not. It’s just a fact. Well, I can’t go back and say, other than bilking his partners and getting all the money. Yeah, it’s sucking all the money out of the Washington deal. He did that really well. I mean, they really did. But as far as customers and baseball and operations and relationships and media and the community, just they didn’t do any of that well. And I’m not seeing that the new people have picked up any of those. The low hanging fruit of being nice to people like me that want to help, just easy stuff to do, just being nice, being out, being a part of the community. It doesn’t it feels like these are Country Club people. Not to feel like it is. I’ve shaken hands with all of them in one way or another. It doesn’t feel like they feel like this is a community endeavor. I think they think they’re in the international baseball business the way the ravens are really in. The will make money in Berlin, you know? I mean, the Orioles can’t do that. The NFL can do that. The oils need money on Hartford Road, Bel Air Road, York, they really do. And I don’t think they see it that way. If they do as a consumer, I don’t see it.

Dave Sheinin  30:41

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That’s a problem. Then, I mean, you have to do the business model Well, you have to open revenue streams, you have to engage the community to make all this money. And then the second part is you have to spend it right? You can’t be the Pittsburgh Pirates that you know are pocketing their revenue sharing money,

Nestor Aparicio  31:01

and these guys are going to have to spend it they have before they have it, before they get it, because they ain’t getting it right now, right? They’re not getting it. They’re just not well,

Dave Sheinin  31:09

and that’s still what we’re waiting to see ownership do around here, right? I mean, it’s time to spend. I mean, you had the nucleus. You didn’t build the pitching staff around it. You didn’t, you know, this is the time. This is the time, even more than last off season, when you thought, you know our kids are going to grow one more year and we don’t have to do anything to win now, you know you do. You’ve got to spend you can’t run the same pictures out there. You know you you can’t, you know you can’t let your big dogs walk away year after year and not replace them. You can’t, you can’t be on the sidelines and free agency

Nestor Aparicio  31:49

well, and so what does that mean for them? That means the next 12 weeks is the most important 12 weeks of their year in regard to putting money in that they don’t have bean counters over there. Aren’t going to say we’re going to have this many premium this. We’re going to sell more tickets. We’re going to set like, this is going to be revenue next year. They lost a half a million fans. Man, yeah. And then you got to get me. That’s not coming back, right? They get $5 a ticket. That’s not there the old they’re going to earn.

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Dave Sheinin  32:17

The only way to get that back is to win. That’s the only way you’re going to get those fans back. That’s it. It’s winning. You’re not going to be able to entice them with your little promotions. You have to put a winning product on

Nestor Aparicio  32:29

the field. Star Wars nights not going to get it done. No saying no, no. I mean, for the

Dave Sheinin  32:33

majority of markets in Major League Baseball, that’s the that’s the case. There are a few that are self sustaining. When the cubs are terrible, they’re still going to draw the Yankees. You know, they’re never really terrible, but they don’t win every year. They don’t, you know, they don’t ever not spend either, right? So there you go. So there’s a very small number St Louis, where you can still draw the 3 million fans, even if you’re not competitive.

Nestor Aparicio  32:59

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I see Milwaukee wants a new stadium now, right? I mean, you know these markets that think there’s more money, I just don’t know where the money’s getting squeezed out the stadium is good enough to sell whatever you need to sell now. You just need to get people that want to write checks to you. And what do you make of Rubenstein and Eric Getty? What do you make of Katie Griggs? What do you make of Elias? What is your prescription for their off season here.

Dave Sheinin  33:21

Well, all right. Number one, hire a manager, right? So I don’t know what that looks like. I’m not really involved. I’m not reporting on them anymore. I don’t have inside dirt. I mean, you know, I’ll be honest. I’m intrigued by Albert Pujols, the manager in today’s game is, I don’t want to say a puppet of the front office, but their job is not so much X’s and O’s in the game, it is handling egos and managing people. And Pujols has a way with younger players. I’ve seen it. They respond to him, especially Latin players. I’m intrigued by it. You know, a lot of people are like, God, this guy, he has no experience. I get that. You know, he he’s managing the Dominican.

Nestor Aparicio  34:11

I think they would do better to have somebody with experience from a I think so. I mean, selling credibility at this point is their job. But to your point, it doesn’t matter if you don’t win. John Harbaugh, all the credibility in the world. They’re one in five. Credibility in the world. They’re one in five. Doesn’t

Dave Sheinin  34:24

matter. Yeah, right, literally, right, yeah. Well, I don’t know that he has as much credibility as he did two months ago, but where’s no

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Nestor Aparicio  34:30

credibility of me, if you read my column. So I mean, yeah, I think he’s a fraud. And I tell him, if he walks in, well, there you go. I’d have no credibility, you know, but the credibility of being if he got fired tomorrow, he have a job, and maybe he would, well, that’s what I mean about credibility.

Dave Sheinin  34:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don’t think pools is the guy. I’m just saying that, like, I wouldn’t dismiss that out of hand, because, like I said, the manager is your manager is not going to win you many games with strategy, it’s caretaking. It’s caretaking, and strategy is all scripted lineups are. Coming from the front office, pitching changes, everything is coming from a central location, that starts with the GM. So your manager may get you one game a year with strategy. That’s it. What he can do, though, is manage egos and personalities. And I personally think Pujols is good at that. Personally, I would love to see them move the next step with the manager. This is the time to go out and get I know, he’s not available. You know the Terry Francona type

Nestor Aparicio  35:31

Buck show Walter, dare I say, you know, but that type of Joe Mads available, Joe Madden’s available. A guy. He’s not a genius or anything, right? I mean, like, you know he’s

Dave Sheinin  35:41

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no but he’s a genius at managing people. Of course he is genius.

Nestor Aparicio  35:45

That’s saying he’s one of the best. Okay, so if you want one of the best, why wouldn’t you talk to him? Yeah, yeah. That’s the kind of guy I think that gets hired here a week from now. They smell better to me. They smell better than if they hire pools to me, yeah, that smells better to me. Whether it works or not, perception and reality is fine, right? I mean, but it smells better. I can serve

Dave Sheinin  36:06

that. You know, you know, what’s funny is that, like Brandon Hyde kind of seemed like the guy who was that bridge guy to get you into contention, Porter dude, right? And then, and then you get rid of them, and get the big but then, but then they win, right? And now you can’t really get rid of them, so you have to stick with them and stick with them until it becomes untenable. But you know, that was their time last off season, you know, like when Francona was available and stuff like that. But you couldn’t, you couldn’t get rid of Hyde at that point.

Nestor Aparicio  36:36

Man, salino seemed so over his head every minute of every day. I think he got better at and they won games or whatever, but it never to this is exactly what I’m saying. There is a sniff test about that, yeah, my living room not, not Johnny Oates looking me in the eyes, or Davy Johnson, late, great. Davey Johnson, I’ll give you a minute on him too. We had people dying every time we get together. It’s terrible, yeah, but you and I covered Davey together, or even Phil Regan or Ray Miller, whoever those men of influence were, Mike Hargrove during all those years, even I won’t throw Lima Zilly in, but throw him under the bus, but, but when it comes in, well, we laugh at Lee Mazzilli because it didn’t have credibility. No, once you and I were around it, Phil Regan lost whatever credibility he might have had. Ray Miller, didn’t have that. You and I were so bad as young people, as reporters, whereas when Davey walked in the room, people sat up straight. Yeah, to me. Joe Madden, as a fan, I sit up straight. Albert pulos, I scratch my head right like that. Yeah. If they’re trying to win the press conference, they’re gonna need to do at least someone famous like Paul is they can’t bring me Joe Espada, and I don’t know why that is, or why I feel that way,

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Dave Sheinin  37:49

but presence, right? You depress. You’re selling your presence in some ways, credibility. You’re selling the presence and the credibility to the players, number one, to the fans, right? And to the front office. And, you know, I think pools has a little bit of that. Now, is he going to be a great manager? You know, we don’t know. We really don’t, but I think he’s good at the presence. You know, he has a presence, all right? So Joe Maddon,

Nestor Aparicio  38:17

Rogers and and Brad ish, resurrecting this thing. I haven’t had you on a lot, but that way. Dave shine is my guest on The Washington Post, longtime sports writer. Sometimes we talk Olympics, sometimes we talk rock and roll. I’ll get back to rock and roll in a minute. It’s kind of miraculous, right? Like, I mean, beginning of the year, they’re gonna win 100 games, then the Preakness, the season’s over. Everybody’s hurt. Bradish was like, I’ll believe it when I see it. Rogers was like, off the reservation, like, not even thought about at the All Star break, at the All Star break, there are freaking mass. I mean, there’s still a freaking mess. Their last place team. They are what they are. But Rogers and Bradish for this offseason, for I don’t believe in any of the bats yet. I mean, Henderson, I believe more that he could come back and be a 35 like a real guy. All the rest, all the rest of it holiday, I’ll buy into to some degree, still 21 I agree. That’s why I’m saying like I’ll hear that, but all the rest of it is ifs and buts and candies and nuts. But Rogers and Bradish, though they’re coming on and they’re coming out party, and what Brad is represented before Rogers represented before Miami, gives me a little bit, maybe too much, hope that you and Luke and all you tough sobs are going to come back to me in late March and say they didn’t do enough. They should have signed pitcher X, and that guy went to the Blue Jays, and the Cardinals ponied up for that guy, and the Padres got in on that, just we did last year with PV, all these guys, right? So yeah, for me, they need to spend a bunch of money, spend a bunch of money, not make me happy, to make you happy, because you’re more No, all of you were way more harsh with them, and rightfully so, because I. Were you on my show pizza, John’s, like, in March? Yeah, something like you came on right before that. Yeah, and we were all bullish about all of it, yeah. I’m wondering how, how are we gonna feel in March? What’s it gonna take in March? Because I’ll check off on Rogers, well, Bradish, to almost buy them. Well, we don’t need a burns. We don’t need to spend 200 million. Oh, see your eyes like, No, you do. Okay,

Dave Sheinin  40:22

that’s the thing. If Rogers and Bradish are your one, two, you you got a problem. If they’re your 340, you’ve got something now. Now look, and I’m not, I’m not sitting here saying that the Orioles Can, can compete financially with the Dodgers, but look at what the Dodgers have done. They now have a bullpen with Clayton Kershaw in it, rookie Sasaki and sometimes Tyler glass. Now, when they had all this pitching in March, everybody was like, That’s ridiculous. You have weight. That’s just too many pitchers. You’re not going to know what to do. They all get hurt. They all get hurt over the course of the season, and then you finally get them all back in October. And what do you have? Well, you have a messed up bullpen that now gets fortified with some of the best pitchers in the game. You’ve got, you know, you’ve got Clayton Kershaw, a Hall of Famer now doing basically mop up work in your bullpen glass now is out there between starts. Sasaki is out there shoring up the ninth inning. Now, I’m not saying that the Orioles can spend that kind of money on on nine great major league pitchers, but you have to have the numbers like that. You have to assume that you’re going to go down to your ninth and 10th and 11th and 12th starting pitchers in the course of a season, and and you do not want Rogers and Bradish being your one two going into the season. You want them being your three, four. It’s easy to say when it’s not my money, but if I’m David Rubenstein, I spend the money on pitching.

Nestor Aparicio  41:53

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Okay, but from a positional standpoint, where do you upgrade when you think in your mind, if you’re michaelizing Based on the ways manages, all of these guys are going to the Hall of Fame, right? I mean, westburg, Henderson, Mayo, holiday rushman, you know, cows are who strikes out four times every three bats, like all and then they the money that they sunk into O’Neill last offseason, when Santander ran out. They’re gonna use that as well. It’s on the books. I mean, it’s Chris Davis money at this point, kind of, sort of, right? It’s crazy money, yeah? And to think, well, what are they gonna buy? Gonna buy right field. We’re gonna buy a first baseman. They’re not buying a second basement, a shortstop, a third baseman. They got two catchers. Yeah, two catchers. Yeah. The money they signed. We haven’t said beside his name, he’s the only one with money. I mean, there you go. He’s go. He’s the only rich guy, right? I mean, literally, at the end of the day, right? I know he’s gonna die rich. The rest of them have to sing for the supper at this point. Yeah. So, and that’s based on him hitting the ball in Norfolk. If they paid everybody $78 million based on how they hit the ball in Norfolk. Oh, man, be a lot of but the other part of that is Boros would not allow that for any of those guys. So you have all of this. They have to count on those guys. And Luke keeps saying that if those guys fail, it’s all over, right?

Dave Sheinin  43:13

Yeah, yeah, because, given their needs with the pitching, they’re not going to be able to afford also to go out and upgrade three different positions across the infield or or across the outfit. You know, they have to make their choices. And for me, I’m choosing pitching at this point with this franchise and this team.

Nestor Aparicio  43:32

So you want two, three relievers, one or two starters? Yeah, yeah. How much money they need to spend? Where’s the payroll need to be for you? Oh,

Dave Sheinin  43:41

God, you know, I don’t. I wouldn’t. Well, they’re sitting in an

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Nestor Aparicio  43:45

office right now. Katie Griggs has a number scratched out, Right exactly. They’re trying to run that kind of business that this isn’t Peter and Brady Anderson getting together picacio And you know, you know? I mean, this isn’t touchy feely. This is we think the Orioles Revenues can be up 38% over the next four years, what you get our revenue numbers to here and there, and this will be like, This is how they’re all thinking. This way, it’s there. They’re whistling it out of the rectum. Is quite frank, because they don’t these are projections. I know one thing they can’t project salary is not a projection. Salaries are reality. Yeah, what they’re going to put into it, they have to look and say, This is our budget, whatever their budget is. I mean, the top side and the bottom side are going to be lopsided for these cats. And these aren’t guys that are used to that. These aren’t guys are used to going in and saying, We lost 43 million last year as a baseball team because we put 240, 3 million into payroll. We knew we weren’t going to get there. Whatever they’re putting into this they know they’re not getting there this year. They better know that.

Dave Sheinin  44:39

Yeah, well, and then, you know, I don’t know the numbers, but you know, all these arbitration guys are making more, right? So your payroll is increasing naturally, without you even spending a dime on additional players, right? So

Nestor Aparicio  44:52

these cats have a debt service. I mean, I said many times John Angelo said a walk off Grand Slam. He is counting their money. Yeah. John Angelos has all of their money. They paid current money for this team. Their debt service is enormous. At 1,000,000,008 at a you invest 1,000,000,008 you’d like to think the thing’s throwing out some profit. You like to think the things gonna turn 50 to 100 million a year, especially if you’re Mr. Rubenstein and you’re out cutting every commercial you can to try to get more investors. He’s been trying to get more he’s been trying to raise revenue. They just brought in the guy a couple weeks ago that has a piece of the Redskins, right? Oh, right. They brought the Mr. Money back. They’re bringing in more money back. So their whole premise is, this is a sleeping giant. This we’re going to be the Blue Jays. We’re going to have 40,000 people. We’re going to be in the World Series Two years from now, or maybe next year, they think that way, right? And that would turn the revenue machine on for them, because these are money guys. These aren’t baseball guys,

Dave Sheinin  45:50

8

true. I mean, I think that, you know, last this past season, was terrible, right? But like, at the same time, you have got a team, a core that that that won two years ago. And the question now is, is this an aberration? Was this an aberration this year? Or is that what you have?

Nestor Aparicio  46:10

Well, you hope the new manager brings a batting coach and right? I mean, you’d like to think that the hitters could be improved, right? I mean, you would think Colton cows are, I don’t know what you do about a guy strikes out. I mean, I really in the history of the game, yeah, I haven’t seen guys cut down on strikeouts very much ever.

Dave Sheinin  46:26

Yeah. I mean, that ship may have sailed right there. Well, you’re

Nestor Aparicio  46:30

counting them to be your center fielder next year and get 480 at bats, right? Like,

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Dave Sheinin  46:34

literally, I mean, as we sit here today, yeah, I don’t think they’re signing

Nestor Aparicio  46:39

$100 million center fielder, do you? I don’t think they see that as a as a need. I think they’re with you, pitching, pitching, pitching. I would put it

Dave Sheinin  46:47

behind pitching, but it’s a need.

Nestor Aparicio  46:51

8

Oh, it’s a need. It’s a need. So you, you’re, you’re, you’re out on him. Yes, I mean westper Where you on him, I think he might be the best player all. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, he’s got to be healthy, but I like Westberg a lot. Yeah, I’m a believer. You believer in Mayo.

Dave Sheinin  47:09

Jury’s still out. I don’t know ruchman. No, I don’t think so. Yeah. I mean, you know he’s not a kid anymore. I mean, we you got a kid behind him. I mean, I know that. You know they would probably rather have beside your playing somewhere else and rushman producing behind the plate, but you don’t have that right now, so I don’t know. I think maybe that one’s to be determined. I’m glad

Nestor Aparicio  47:35

you and I just write about this at Baltimore positive one, because I’m glad these aren’t my problems. Yeah, because I solve

Dave Sheinin  47:40

this. I’m glad I’m not a baseball writer anymore, because this is a, this is

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Nestor Aparicio  47:43

hard. What are you doing? Tell me what you’re doing. Yeah. So I do,

Dave Sheinin  47:47

I do Olympics. I’ll be in Milan next February for the Winter Games, up on the I’ll be up on the mountain in Borneo, doing a little Alpine and and then other than that, I do like long term projects and big pieces and fun stuff, the

Nestor Aparicio  48:05

Justin Tucker thing. You have anything you wanna say on that, about the journalism, and I hope you read my letter to John, but it’s my first sort of foray into we’re months into this. He’s gonna sign another organization in two weeks. Nobody even had the conversation. All he did was say, no, no, no, I didn’t do it. He fingered the media as liars and heretics. I just, I don’t the sleaziness of all of it. I called you Raven sleazy in the way they dealt with me, in the way they dealt it’s just they’re too big to fail. There’s a there’s a level of smelling themselves and arrogance here, that they’re above the fray, that they’re they’re safe, they’re protected. And if you’re a football player pulling these shenanigans around town, that’s part of the problem. Part of the problem is the power and the and the privilege to bend the law, break the law, be a serial whatever you want to be, because they’re so big in this community, and football is important here, I need to tell you that it’s important.

Dave Sheinin  49:07

8

Yeah, I mean, I don’t have anything else to add to that than what you said, but I do think it is. It did not reflect well on just about anybody the NFL, the ravens, certainly, Justin Tucker, you know, it reflected really well on the Baltimore banner. They did amazing work on that, you know. And the courage, yeah, and the women who came forward, I said, No, no,

Nestor Aparicio  49:31

this didn’t, didn’t happen. I have proof that it happened. Here’s all the proof, yeah, that it happened. Here’s the letter to my boss. Yeah, here’s what, here’s what we did. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I keep asking myself if someone called the switchboard at the ravens and said, I want to talk to Dick Cass, I want to come see you, Mr. Cass, about one of your employees. I want to come see you. Mr. Cat, what? Because I did that. I did that as a bully, journalist, all on the record, and I know how I was treated. I can’t imagine if. If I was a woman who was massage therapist, who had it infuriates.

Dave Sheinin  50:04

It was gross. It infuriates is a horrible story, horribly handled. And you’re right, the courage of those women is, what is, what should be the takeaway

Nestor Aparicio  50:16

Well, and that’s what you and me being in the journalism space is having the pride, the integrity, the character to when we get uncomfortable truths, we report them. If you see something, you say something, yeah, that that’s incumbent upon all good people is as far as that’s where my Baltimore positive message, if I die tomorrow, put that on my tombstone, because like that that’s really what journalism is about at this point, especially with this creep leading the country and lying to everybody, you know, like truth, it has more value than anything. It’s it’s the, the ultimate currency I think we’re all searching for, which is what is true, what is false, and how do I know the difference? And if it’s true, can you prove it? And that’s what our job is, right? Yeah. I mean, outside of a court of law, we’re the last, I’m all you’re gonna get with the Ravens in the Orioles. You know what I mean in regard to asking questions, because you’re not getting it@orioles.com or ravens.com and I mean, your institution got taken on during the last presidency about, you know, Woodward and Bernstein and honor and what’s true and what’s not, what are we allowed to put in the paper and what’s going to get us sued in our legal department, taken down, right? And we’re in a really oddly weird space where the money and the power have really come to roost in this country too. They’ve always controlled things, but it’s out of hand. Yeah?

8

Dave Sheinin  51:34

I mean, I’m feeling, we’re feeling that all the time at the post right now. Yeah, it’s

Nestor Aparicio  51:38

Olympics we got. It’s still exciting for you. Oh, yeah,

Dave Sheinin  51:42

that’s the highlight of any every other year is the Olympics. You know, Paris last summer was one of the greatest sporting events I’ve ever covered. I’m expecting the Milan winter games to be phenomenal. My only regret is that I’m going to be up on the mountain and I’m not gonna be in what

Nestor Aparicio  52:01

8

time February. Oh, who wants to go to if I don’t want to go to Europe? Yeah, wants to be there. Yeah, with you. I know. I wish I could. I’ll get your coffee. Man, good to be. Oh, in the morning. Yeah. Dave shining is here. He is, the legendary sports writer for The Washington Post, lives here in Baltimore, covers the Olympics, has written a million things and probably forgotten more about, but it’s a shame you’re not on the baseball beat you guys like you and I know too much about baseball to be outside of it. I

Dave Sheinin  52:26

tell you what. I mean, it is a shame in some ways, but it’s, it’s great to watch on TV, institutional. Man. Love it. Yeah? I mean, I’m loving this. Once they get the strike zone done, they get rid of the umpires, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then AI gets rid of the writers. That’ll

Nestor Aparicio  52:40

fix everything, I’m sure. All right, we’re here at Costas. I’m doing the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery. You get one, and you got to go pick your kids up. So I gotta get you out of here. I am Nestor. We are wnst Back for more from Costas with crab cakes. With Dave, stay with us. You.