What began as another conversation after another Orioles loss where the pitching wasn’t good enough and the hitting stank, Luke Jones and Nestor touch on Zach Eflin but wind up discussing the future of the Tampa Rays, another series in a minor league stadium and why the Savannah Bananas create more value for fans than Major League Baseball does in the modern world.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Tampa Bay Rays’ recent success, including their sweep of the Mets and their strong performance over the past five weeks. They highlighted the Rays’ current top wild card position and the Orioles’ struggles, particularly Zach Eflin’s poor performance. The conversation also touched on the Rays’ temporary move to a minor league ballpark due to hurricane damage and the challenges of building a new stadium in Tampa. They compared the Rays’ fan engagement to the Savannah Bananas’ novelty attraction and emphasized the need for the Orioles to improve their brand and fan experience.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Zach Eflin, minor league ballpark, hurricane damage, fan attendance, Shohei Ohtani, baseball attendance, Savannah Bananas, Orioles’ performance, baseball marketing, stadium issues, baseball history, fan engagement, baseball future.
SPEAKERS
8
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 tasks in Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We’re positively out on the road doing the Maryland crab cake tour. Even if the Orioles are going to remain in last place, it’s fine with me. We’re going to eat crab cakes. I was at a cost this Timonium for first pitch. Saw Rob long there wearing the bombers looking like Tom Cruise, and they’re playing in a minor league ballpark, and just Joe poile is going to come on from Tampa. I’ve been chasing Rick Vaughn around. He’s busy feeding folks down in Tampa. Luke was monitoring the game. I am monitoring all things. Crab cakes. I have my pal Jerry Schlichting from clean cuisine is going to be bringing me not just crab cakes, but his award winning squash lasagna thing. That’s one of my, my favorite things. And there’s a rumor it might be on my 27 favorite things for our 27th anniversary. We’ll be doing that in August, but I’m going to be out at the Y in Randallstown. Barry Williams is going to be with us. He ran Parks and Rec not the television show, the real Parks and Recs at Baltimore County. He was also a much like my kimosabi, who is smarter than I and further educated than I one time an educator. Barry Williams was a principal at Randallstown high and Rosedale and a bunch of places. So he’ll be out with us. John Hoey from the Y will be with us, and Julian Jones, who’s running for Baltimore County Executive, who is the councilman out on the west side of town, will be joining us as well at the Y. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. Brought to you by curio wellness, as well as our friends at Liberty. Pure solutions, making my plumbing good, keeping my water clean, well water, all the good stuff that we do around here. Are you gonna hear fresh ads this week? Because it’s summertime. It’s gonna be 100 degrees next week, when the Orioles get home, the face the Texas Rangers, they might be more equipped to handle 100 degrees. Um, Luke, I don’t you know you and I gave them flowers and blue kisses after the the sweep over the weekend, and it’s like last week they won that game, 10 to one in the middle game. And, and the body of work adds up. When, like, they start to get their hitters back, they get a little bit of prosperity. They get their ace. I’ll call Zach Eflin that for you know, I don’t think he is an ace, but he’s their race on the hill. And they sort of, you know, kick it around. And I don’t like, I don’t bad start for effluent, just bad, just uninspired, right?
Luke Jones 02:29
Yeah. I mean, there’s not a whole lot to say about it, other than Zach efland was really bad and also unlucky on some of the batted balls, but got hit hard for the most part. I mean, you look at it, the hits, the base runners, the lack of swing and miss. And Ryan pepio was really good and is a good pitcher. So it’s really as simple as that it, and looking at it, it’s probably as uncompetitive as the Orioles have looked since that blowout in the Fenway series. You know, which midway through that series is when they began this stretch of winning 14 of 20 and getting us to start talking about this team in more positive terms. So this is a better baseball team too. Tam, oh, I mean, Tampa Bay is playing really well. I said that to you as we were kind of previewing this series. I mean, they had just swept the Mets, and they swept the Mets convincingly too. You look at Tampa Bay over the last five weeks or so. I mean, can make a strong argument, they’ve been the best team in baseball over that stretch. So
Nestor Aparicio 03:28
everyone’s rising in the division now, right? Like we’re not paying attention, because we’re, you know, trying to claw back the five under 500 or what? I mean, it’s crazy. But like these, the Yankees and rays are good teams. You know, we talk about the the Red Sox making their move and cutting their losses. We did a long segment on that, and we’re gonna do a lot of baseball this week, because I don’t know how long the flame is going to burn. And you’re at a mini camp this week before it gets too hot. John figured that out to not do mini camp on the 100 degree days. But these are two good baseball teams they’re going to see this week, really. These are, these are playoff caliber, playoff testing kind of teams, you know, to our point, despite our optimism, on Monday morning after the sweep of the angels, you know, it went five and two are like six and one dates did something special this week. It would be against elite teams. And I don’t elite, but this is as elite as it gets in baseball these days. Yeah.
8Luke Jones 04:18
I mean, I don’t know if I’m ready to call Tampa Bay elite, but like I said, over the last three or four weeks, they have been so I mean, this was a team that at one point looked like they were the fourth best team in the division, and now, as we preview the second game of this series, I mean, they’re the top wild card at the moment, and to that point, it also speaks to the rest of the American League. The Toronto and Boston occupy the second and third wild card spots as we look at Tuesday, and just what the what the middle class of the American League is, it’s uninspiring. That’s why we’ve said, if the Orioles can keep this going and and have a good, productive week down in Tampa and then going. The Bronx, then we’ll start talking about this in a little more serious terms, at least in terms of getting back in the wild card race. But you know, what we saw Monday was very uninspiring. And like I said, I mean, Zach Eflin was bad. He’d be the first to tell you that it didn’t have a feel for much of anything. And pepio had the, you know, mainly relied on fastball, change up combination, you know, just the combination of those two. And when you’re commanding that you’re throwing well, and you can change speeds, and you know where it’s going, it makes it really tough. So the Orioles were outclassed Monday night. There’s no question about that. And now you have to turn the page and hope that, well, you can get up off the mat here. You know, it’s one game. I’m not trying to bury them after they’ve played well for the last three weeks. But it also speaks to if they have a bad week. You know, we talked about the possibility of, can you go five and two or something like that? Well, there’s also the opposite, right? If you have a bad week, and Tampa Bay is just better than you, and the Yankees are better than you, and they both win series, or, heaven forbid, they sweep, or something like that, and you go one in six. Well, then we’re back to saying it’s over, right, right? So, but, you know, we’re going to see how it plays out. But it was very simple when
Nestor Aparicio 06:18
four hits in an accidental ruchman home run. He, he thought, he thought it was a pop
Luke Jones 06:23
up. Well, what was funny, I actually looked at, I looked at the Statcast data, and initially it said that was the only ballpark that that would be a home run. And then they updated it to say 20 or 30. And I think it just had to do with the carried, you know, the wind kind of took it. It had a launch angle of 49 degrees. And I know you’re not a stat cast person, but I know Kevin Brown lost his mind. Incredible, like you can go and look, and I even found a YouTube video that had, like, the highest launch angle home runs in the Statcast era. Yogi Berra, no, no, no. It goes back to, I think, 2015 and think the highest one was 50 degrees. So this is 49 degrees. So I mean, he hit the ball mile in the air and got up, caught up in the air and went out. So good for Adley Rutger. We’ve talked about the fact that there has been some tough luck at times for him as well. So good for him. But when that’s your only offense, and to your point, you only manage four hits. I mean, the rays had more than that in some innings. It felt like, I mean, just traffic all over the bases. I mean Zach Eflin just, he just wasn’t good. I mean, you go up 12 hits and two walks in five innings. Yeah, you’re, you’re probably going to be blown out unless your offense is just terrific. And the Orioles couldn’t do anything against Pepe. And like I said, he’s good. I mean, he’s got a three 1e R A for the season, you know. So it’s not as though they, they went out there and did that against a scrub pitcher. He’s a really good pitcher, but, you know, again, like I said, you have to go back to that embarrassing game at Fenway back in mid May to or I guess it was late May at that point when they, when they lost 19 to five, they haven’t been as uncompetitive as they were, you know, since then, you know, over this stretch, I mean, they’ve lost games, but not like that. I mean, that felt pretty quickly and and that was even with turning a couple double plays and the bad call at first base that benefited the Orioles. I mean, it could have been even worse than it was. And when it’s seven to one, that shows just how little of a game it actually was.
Nestor Aparicio 08:25
8What do you make of the minor league ballpark? I mean, look, it’s a
Luke Jones 08:30
different circumstance there with the roof, and that’s where I want to have a little more grace, because the alternative is what to completely move the rays out of the market entirely. And I get it. Tampa is not the same as St Pete, and anyone who lives down there would tell you it might as well be a different market, because it’s that
Nestor Aparicio 08:47
tickets were 15 bucks, and there’s 10,000 seats, and you’re five feet from Major League players. And if you have any baseball Jones at all and you want to go see good young players, Gunner Henderson’s in town, ruchman, it’s baseball where you’re not an intent. So if you’ve been watching it in a tent for all these years, hey, deal with 89 and sticky, because that’s what you know they’re going to play in that here next Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s gonna be hot as hell here,
Luke Jones 09:11
right? And I think what’s fascinating about this, and this is actually what’s interesting for the rays, speaking in the context of them being a contender, what they in July and August. From from what I understand, they’re only going to play nine home games in each of those months because they they front loaded their schedule, because April and May and Tampa is much more pleasant than July and August. So I think that’s going to be really interesting, just to see how they handle that. Yeah, it’s hot for both teams. I mean, it’s Florida in June. You know
8Nestor Aparicio 09:44
what? It’s going to indicate they’re either going to save that franchise or not. And that’s why I’m talking to Vaughn and boyley. And yeah, I’m chasing my buddy Pete Williams, who lives down there, who’s a baseball head, you know, and I’ve been going down there longer than the team was there, you know? I went into that dome with Mike. Messina, the late great Todd fro worth Mark Williamson. Think Ben McDonald might have been banging around with us at that point too for a basketball game. I saw Duke and Kentucky play there, and there was no thought there was going to be a baseball team there, right, like that. The Giants were going to move there. The White Sox were going to move there. Back in the day, it never happened. It’s unbelievable how, if you bitched about it being basically in Annapolis, and you live in in Hereford, which is pretty much what the stadium being in St Pete, outside of Tampa, is, it’s a it’s it’s an hour, it’s the capital center, if you lived in Towson, I guess, with the traffic, right? And there’s bridges and, like all of that, right? It’s also lovely. It’s Tampa, it’s Florida. It’s beautiful. Well, parts of it are, but I’ve been going there since they trained at Al Lang Stadium in downtown St Pete, 12 blocks away from the dome. When the place was, nobody wanted to be there. It was like, you know, fly infested. And like, you know, just nobody lived in St Pete. Just was nothing. And it’s such a burgeoning area, they have a lot of retirees, lot of old white people, a lot of baseball heads, lot of Yankee fans, like all of that, that, but Canadians as well, before goofball took over the country, goofing off in Canada this week. Geez. But I’ve been down there a million times, and kids play baseball. The whole Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Wade, Boggs, Fred McGriff. Go down the list of who’s from Tampa, and you know who played ball there. And that it’s a 13 month a year baseball place where they don’t have lacrosse sticks like they do here in Ruxton. And I just It blows me away. And they’ve won, and they’ve had Joe Maddon, and they’ve had good players, and they’ve had a system like it or hate it that’s allowed them to be competitive. And like my dude, Rick Vaughn, you know, would come on and just say this is how hard it is to sell baseball and the hockey team’s gone down there. And Luke, I know you’ve been there for five minutes. We’ve driven around. Was in the middle of, was in the middle of hockey season. You and I were there. Actually, was in March. The hockey team owns Tampa. The lightning own Tampa, and the Buccaneers rent Tampa, and they can’t give baseball away, and they’re playing outside, finally, on the on the Dale Mabry. I mean, there’s parking for the football stadium where, you know, Ray Lewis, glory, David art, the whole thing, we had a good time that night, and nobody wants to go, and they’re a good team. They’re really good team tickets for 15 bucks. Last night, I was sitting at the bar with mixologist John old schooler up at Costas and Timonium, brand new location, a little salmon St Michael’s delicious bowl crab soup, just as good as a Dundalk. Don’t tell I don’t want to admit that that Timonium is just as good as Dundalk, but it is. And I watched the game, and I went on my How much would it cost to go to the game? 15 bucks. And this was part of the scam in Sacramento, the rental that they have going on out there that we we talked about two weeks ago, what are they doing? And then this disaster that we have, this dumpster fire that we have in this town right now with this franchise, not to mention whatever the nationals are going to be when they grow up. I mean, it really is a premiership and everybody else and from a fan base, and I know you and I got into it talking about Devers getting dealt off dude, anybody wants to take that money off my hands before we’re going to the work stoppage? Take it. Take it. Take the farm, man. Because, like, if you can’t win, and I know that’s not what fans want to hear at all, at all, but that’s the reality of it. And the reality of it is, they’re down in Tampa. They’ve moved it across the bridge. They’ve got a really good team. They have tradition. They never have one that idiot in the moly own the team, and they’re changing logos every five minutes and playing in a blimp that nobody wanted to go to ever, not whether the team was good or bad. Luke, I pulled up there for game seven of the American League Championship Series between the Red Sox and the rays, there were not only just 10,000 empty seats upstairs. I paid $10 to get in for an American League Championship. This is 20 years ago. It’s 2000 and whatever, 678, whatever year that way, eight, nine, whatever that was, 716, years ago. So I just It blows me away to watch this and the ruchman home run being played the minor league ballpark. Guys are faster, harder. The balls go higher, and there’s no second deck, and there’s a gale wind and a seagull blows by, and it’s a 300 home run. It’s almost like playing it. Uh, you know, la Memorial, Coliseum, we’re just move the fencing, put a net up Playhouse rules bouncing off anything I don’t know. Man, I, I’m, I’m trying to sell it in regard to Major League Baseball and all that. And they keep tripping over stuff like this. And I look at it and say, All right, that, yeah, they had to do this. And I can make all the excuses,
Luke Jones 15:21
but was the hurricane that flew off the roof. Yeah. How
Nestor Aparicio 15:25
can people not be there, though? I mean, they just don’t care. So when you’re like, you’re saying, play the games in Nashville, play the game. They move the team. I don’t think anybody get up and and notice it’s gone. And it’d be like moving the Atlanta flames or something. You know what? I mean, like the Phoenix Coyotes, nobody notices,
Luke Jones 15:45
8yeah? But at the same time, I mean, like, okay, Nashville doesn’t have a major league stadium that’s just sitting there empty for them to use. I mean, you’re, you’re going to have a minor league ballpark, spring training kind of facility, wherever you go, basically. So I don’t know, I believe me, I think that, I think the a situation in Sacramento is embarrassing and shameful, because that’s premeditated. That’s something that’s years in the making. This is where, like everything you said, I’m not going to sit here and argue with it. I mean, we’ve been talking about the appetite, or lack thereof, in St Pete for the raise and, you know, two years ago, it looked like they might have a ballpark deal for five minutes, not really. And obviously that’s blown up in the aftermath of this hurricane in the fall. That probably, probably wouldn’t have worked out anyway, right? Even if that didn’t happen, we’d still be talking about the future of the rays. But, you know, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know what, when you have a hurricane blow the roof off of your stadium, your dome. I’m
Nestor Aparicio 16:43
just talking about supporting the team. They did move the team to Tampa. Now. Tickets are 10 bucks. They are playing outside. They are on the freeway. It is easy to get there. They they get the games at 730 I guess, to cool down, right? Does that let the air?
Luke Jones 16:58
Yeah. I mean, it’s hot. I mean, it’s and but at the same time, you also, for anyone who is invested in Ray’s baseball, they also know that the team’s probably not there for long, right? I
Nestor Aparicio 17:11
mean, it’s okay, okay. You think it’s just maybe okay? I mean, I don’t know, like,
8Luke Jones 17:15
I’m spitballing here. I don’t, I don’t intimately know the Tampa area in terms of how people think and but there’s also, I mean, I
Nestor Aparicio 17:25
mean, the A’s were gone. For me, the A’s have been gone for sure, right?
Luke Jones 17:29
Well, I mean, I just it feels like the rays, it feels inevitable that, whether it’s going to be five years from now, 10 years from now, or 20 years from now, and they drag it out to the degree that the A’s did in Oakland, you know that they’re going to be somewhere else. I mean, because it doesn’t seem like they can get a stadium built there, it doesn’t seem like the people want, you know, want that. And I understand that if people don’t want public money. I mean, I I understand that in any place at this point. And
Nestor Aparicio 17:53
8by the way, when we’re giving these creeps $600 million here, these billionaires that throw me out of the press box, you into left field, don’t want to answer questions, don’t come forward, don’t do any of that. And in these other places, they can’t piss a drop nobody. And Craig Thompson, running for me, from the stadium authority, like nobody answers any questions about any of this. And in other places, it would think they’re playing in a minor league stadium down in Tampa because they don’t have anything else, and they’re not getting anything else, and nobody wants to give them any money for something that’s failed for 30 years, like it’s just failed. It’s been terrible for 30 years. Everybody’s witnessed that. We’re like, we’re not paying for that. And in California, I mean, forget it, right? I mean, that’s, you know, that’s the whole except when money bags comes in and buys Hollywood Park and just, you know, just builds a NFL layer. I don’t know it’s like the Doctor Evil Lair if you fly over a SoFi stadium out in LA. But that was financed with funny money, not, not not, not not our money, not the citizens money, not even $6 a gallon of gas in California in any way, or lottery money here, or the things that finance these two stadiums that I stood behind 30 years ago. I stood behind all of that. But I also see the other side of it when the Orioles go and play in minor league ballparks and these other places and the sport doesn’t have a shit together. I mean, it just doesn’t. I don’t know what else to say. Like, what about television? About streaming, about their app, about their fan base, about the media, about just, just all of it. It just smacks of, we think we have it bad here, and this is really mismanaged. This is the Baltimore Orioles have been. I mean, I can’t think of anything that’s been more mismanaged in front of our eyes over the last 30 years, on the field, off the field, in the community. Mike Flanagan, just down the line of everything awful, mistreating Brooks, just all of it has been horrible. Mistreating Jim Palmer right now, ask, ask around. You’ll find out, um, mistreating the fans in a general sense, not really caring so much about the fans here, that’s been, that’s the trauma that I talked to David Rubenstein about. That is the trauma. That’s why the stadium is empty, because it’s been poorly run, poorly managed, poorly branded, poorly everything, it really has been, and that’s the problem here. Now, I don’t know you know, like Tampa has had its own issues. Oakland has their issues. Lord knows, Colorado is going to have their issues. Pittsburgh is a issue, I mean, down the line for every problem they have and every shining. We bought the Braves, and we’ve got a city, and we’ve got a battery, and we’re going to make money, and we’re going to have the all star game, and like all of that, it’s just, I see them. I just don’t see this as strong. I see this is a little bit like the country strong and evil Yankees, dodgers, if you’ve got the money, strong and faking it, the cubs in the places like that, where they had the money, but, like, don’t spend as much of it. Red Sox now, not so much as you went on about, but the devil’s deal this week, and then the fact that they’re going to go to war in 18 months or 15 months, right? I
Luke Jones 21:19
mean, I guess, I mean, I hear everything you’re saying. But the genesis of all this was a hurricane blow on the roof off the stadium. I mean, I hear you.
Nestor Aparicio 21:28
You know what? It’s gonna move the franchise, right? Finally,
Luke Jones 21:32
maybe, maybe not. I don’t know. I mean,
8Nestor Aparicio 21:35
I don’t know. I just, I just own a team. They should be supported. That’s all I’m saying. I mean,
Luke Jones 21:42
I hear you. It was a full ballpark last night. I mean, I’m looking right now, if I wanted to buy three tickets for the couple sections where it’s open, the three tickets cost a total of 230, $4 now I’m not, I ain’t doing that fair enough. But I’m just but, but I’m just saying, I mean, you know, looking at the secondary market two minutes before first pitch, I think you’re going to find any baseball game that’s one of 81 in any select market is going to be cheap, right at first pitch. I don’t know. That’s why I buy them then, sure, but I’m, but I’m just saying, I again, I don’t know what the alternative was for the rays here, other than all, they should have already had a new stadium that could have had its roof blown off by a hurricane. I don’t know. But
Nestor Aparicio 22:25
if you’re trying to save the franchise and your baseball, and you’re the city and you’re getting behind it, this would be the time to do that. When they’re playing a small ballpark, they got a good team, you know, it’s easier to get to. It makes the case to build it in Tampa. It really does.
Luke Jones 22:40
8I mean, I Fair enough. I mean, then I guess maybe they should move because people don’t want to watch baseball there. I guess I don’t know, like, at some point in time, at some point in time, fans do have to show up if they want, if they want it or not, right? I mean, I mean 100% and I say that all. I say that with, as you said, I’m more pro player than pro owner, and I’m fine with saying that I’m not all pro player, or I’m not all player unconditionally, but
Nestor Aparicio 23:08
I’m less than Bernie Sanders on political issues, and people know that about me, so that’s okay. I mean, Lisa, know where I’m coming from, and I and I respect where you’re coming from. I
Luke Jones 23:17
love it, but at the same time, like you can bang on ownership, all you want. You can bang on prices all you want, and location and all these different things at the same time, they have been a pretty, pretty darn good product for the better part of the last 20 years. Now, you know, would you like to see them spend money? Sure, but the trops empty for 70 out of their 81 games, right?
Nestor Aparicio 23:39
They use your trip, your chicken and egg, right? What you spend, the money will come now, what we’re winning? Well, now that win more, and then then we’ll spend right?
8Luke Jones 23:49
There’s got to be some, you know, there’s, there’s nuance to it, right? I mean, there’s nuance. And look, I would also say the rays have operated in a way at times where it certainly doesn’t help them when you have a roster turn that other than Evan Longoria and the shortstop that they signed, who’s now going to jail because he was a pedophile, you know, sexual predator. You know, they haven’t really built a culture that allows fans to invest right in any individual players, right? And that’s that’s helped them stay competitive, but it also makes it more difficult to grow your brand, because you’re truly just rooting for the raise brand, other than really getting attached to players. And we’ve talked about that whole discussion, and that’s challenge, right? And there’s new that’s why the Orioles can’t build off of Adam Jones or Cal Ripken anymore. You know, like it is, it’s tough they have. I mean, it’s tough most markets kind of have that issue. I mean, like you can, but it can’t be all you build on, right?
Nestor Aparicio 24:53
Phillies aren’t eating off. Chase Utley right now and Ryan Howard, right? I mean, they’re just not
Luke Jones 24:59
well, but they you. Bryce Harper signed a 13 year deal, right? Or whatever
Nestor Aparicio 25:03
8they have a real player, sure, right? I’m just saying they’re not living off their history. And the loyals can’t live off of George Brett and Willie Wilson or the second generation of mustakus and you know, Hosmer anymore, as you know.
Luke Jones 25:16
And I would also say that there are very few actual individual players that truly move the needle from an attendance standpoint, I would say there might only be two, Shohei Otani and maybe Aaron judge, right? I mean, that’s, I think, I think the Jays saying that they needed to sign Vlad Guerrero for attend. If the Jays are no one’s going to watch Vlad like no one’s going multiple times a year just to see Vlad Guerrero Jr play. Otani is a feature. I mean, he pitched on Monday night. As soon as the Orioles game was over, I flipped over to that and I watched Otani pitch for the first time since what, August of 23 you’ve got
Nestor Aparicio 25:56
Fernando mania all these years later.
25:59
It’s, it’s astonishing.
8Nestor Aparicio 26:01
It really
Luke Jones 26:02
is. It really is. It’s why I push back on anyone that’s not a Dodgers fan, that’s just more concerned about, like his well being as a as a hitter, as a productive hitter, which I’ll hear that to a point. But this is ultimately an entertainment business, and someone who starts games and then leads off the bottom half of the first inning after he started the first inning, even though he only pitched one inning and he was rusty. I mean, it’s missing a lot arm. Side is Vilo. Look good. The stuff looked good. But I just look at that, and I’m like that. This is why we watch sports, to see something incredible. And I will continue to say, look, I’ve said this to you. We’ve had this conversation many times. I’ve never seen a no hitter in person, but as as it pertains to baseball, I’ve seen some cool things. I saw Josh Hamilton hit four home runs against the Orioles, which you talk about rare feats. I mean, that’s even more so than a no hitter. You know, that’s right there in the realm of a perfect game. But I saw that, and I saw Shohei Otani start a game and hit a home run in the same game that he start was the starting pitcher. That’s pretty cool, right? I mean, and I get it, there have been some some Bartolo cologne.
Nestor Aparicio 27:15
You and I would have to, you know, when they go on strike a year and a half from now, and we’re feeling like not pooping on them, we’ll just do the greatest things we’ve ever seen in baseball. Because I’d have to
Luke Jones 27:25
8think about, I just, I just, I mean, that’s but, but what Otani does, that’s, that’s that transcends baseball. That’s an incredible feat in any sport, right? I mean, when you think about the degree of difficulty, I mean, so much has been made about Travis Hunter coming into the NFL and being a wide receiver in a corner for the Jags, right?
Nestor Aparicio 27:43
Well, Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson, Jim Abbott, for me, I mean, like,
Luke Jones 27:48
I mean Bo Jackson or Dion. I mean playing multiple sports is crazy, right? I mean, that’s, that’s absurd. But I would even say, when you talk about Travis Hunter, and we’re going to see him play wide receiver in corner, however many snaps it ends up being, they’re gonna have to manage that. But that’s so impressive in and of itself. But then you’re talking about hitting and pitching, and you think about how few individuals, I mean, Babe Ruth did that for two and a half years, roughly, he was a, you know, an everyday position player and a pitcher and and even that, you kind of have to, like, look at parts of seasons for the Red Sox getting into 1619, 1619, 1719, 18. He wasn’t a two way player for a very long you know, for a long time he was, they discovered what kind of hitter he was in the Red Sox sold him off to the Yankees, and the Yankee said, you’re an outfielder. Now, right? I mean, it’s basically the the thumbnail version of it. So even with the injuries, and look at I’m guessing, we’re getting to some point in time here in the not too distant future where, Ohtani is not going to do this anymore, and obviously he’s already had two major arm injuries, and it’ll get to a point where the Dodgers and him will, they’ll both say, No, it’s time, right? I mean, but this
Nestor Aparicio 29:04
is cute, but this is not productive. I
8Luke Jones 29:06
mean, I don’t know. I wouldn’t even say, like, it’s cute. I He’s been, when he’s been healthy, he’s been really good. I mean, go look at
Nestor Aparicio 29:13
his numbers. Oh, I know, I know. So it’s insane. So
Luke Jones 29:17
my I just, it’s something that I take such enjoyment watching, because it’s just, he’s an alien, right? I mean, he’s a unicorn. I mean, there it’s, Andre the Giant. It’s, it’s amazing. I mean, it’s an attraction. And again, I don’t know how long it’s going to work. I don’t know if he’ll continue to start. Does he transition maybe to like a bullpen role, like he did in the in the WBC, if you here’s your here’s your clue. Here, I
Nestor Aparicio 29:40
8was talking to mixologist John at a Costas, just about tickets and just about the game, all same argument I’m having with you right now, sort of for the better or worse. And he’s like, they’ll sell out the bobblehead night, by the way, the new Cal Ripken commercial. Thumbs down on that one too. But I’ll get into that. Do like the bobble head. Oh yeah. Well, it’s a marvel. Thing, that’s your iron man, yeah, that’s your jam.
Luke Jones 30:02
Yeah. I mean, more. It’s, you know, it’s a superhero. You
Nestor Aparicio 30:06
know, they’re gonna sell out the stadium. They’re gonna be lining up the day before to sell the bobbleheads online. 20,000 people won’t get them and be, you know, like, so there’s all of that, like, the way they run it, and then there’s the, when else are they going to sell out? He’s like, Well, the Dodgers will sell out. And I’m thinking, Well, yeah, the Dodgers, we’re doing a show at fade, least on that Friday when the Dodgers are in town. It’s football, first week of football. The whole deal, right? And I’m thinking, it the night Otani pitches, is that I want to go right, right? I mean, I mean, like, I said, to your point, it isn’t a try. It’s beyond it a trade. That’s the night I’ll give him 40 bucks to go down there, instead of 10 when he’s not pitching, and go see something. Go see something I can I would always say, tell my grandchildren, my grandchildren are going to care about Joe Hey, Donnie, but my kid doesn’t care about Joey, Tony. But anyway, baseball though. But yeah. I mean, see something that would matter to me, would matter question. And I’ve had two chances to see Otani. I mean, real chances to see him, where I thought I’m going to go do that, and I refrained. One was at Yankee Stadium, and I really, um, when he’s with the angels. I was in New York that night. Was a chance to do it. Was only 10 bucks to do it. It was really hot. He got shelled.
Luke Jones 31:23
He didn’t pitch very well. But I, I’ve, you know, you’ve done something I haven’t done. I haven’t seen no Tony pitch. I’d like to do that. I think that’s a one of the few things I have left to do, too. So you’re egging me on, is what you’re doing right now? Yeah, well, and for me, it’s, it’s also a night that he pitches, and he’s in the starting lineup as well, right? I mean, there earlier in his career, there was a time where he would pitch and wouldn’t necessarily hit that night, so, but for him, at this point, like Monday night, he started pitch the first inning. Pitch count got up there. I mean, he was only going to pitch two winnings at most anyway, but the pitch count was high to the point where that was going to be it. You know, he threw 26 pitches in the first inning, whatever it was, and then he comes back to the dugout, and he, I don’t think he even went into the dugout. I think they brought him his batting gloves, you know, his elbow protector for, you know, his front arm, and he’s on deck as the leadoff hitter. I mean, it’s just, again, it’s something that it’s little league, right? I mean, that’s something you expect to see in Little League, where all the starting pitchers also the the lead off hitter or the cleanup hitter, right? Because he’s the best player on the team. He plays shortstop when he’s not pitching, right? I mean, that’s what this is. Only he’s doing it at the absolute highest level. And that’s why I said, I mean, you know, the gambling
8Nestor Aparicio 32:34
thing around him is also fascinating by the Oh,
Luke Jones 32:37
sure. I mean, I mean, he’s just fascinating in general. I mean, how about the fact I also, I’d be remiss, because I saw this headline on espn.com his his former interpreter also reported to federal prison on Monday, right after that whole thing. So just kind of kind of crazy to think of the, you know, the timing of that, but, but Ohtani is just, I mean, it’s what he’s done, and that’s and like I said, the only other guy that really fits that description, and I’m not talking about a hardcore baseball fan like me. I’m talking about this more and like that, my brother in law would say to my sister, hey, Shohei Otani, starting in Philly, and we’re already going to be out there visiting my dad. Let’s go watch him pitch. He’s pitching. It’s Otani. And I do think Aaron judge being what he’s been offensively, and looking at what his numbers have been, really the last few years. I mean, he’s just been kind of doing some historic things. But going back to my point that I was making, you know, when I started this, there aren’t that many players that move the needle in that way, that there people are going to just repeatedly come watch you individually play, without your team being competitive, without the team being in contention, without unless there’s a bobblehead that night,
Nestor Aparicio 33:59
unless the fan base loves Baseball too and just wants to go to the game. It’s a Sunday, and their families in town and they’re going to the game, you know, or it’s Father’s Day, or it’s bobblehead, whatever the occasion would make you or Otani is pitching, or whatever. But just this is a time for them to save that franchise. We’ve been going down we used to go down there three times a year, right? And playing that blimp. I’ve been down there. My wife threw out the first pitch down there. Well, you know, I mean, I like that stadium. I didn’t think it was awful. I like the air conditioning. I like I don’t hate it. I mean, I really don’t. It was not my least favorite stadium, or anything like that, especially now that the roof blew off and they’re going to play in this minor league Steinbrenner thing next to the football stadium. But just the sport itself. You’re there three decades in this place with weather, Latin people, people that play baseball, old white people that like baseball. You got all of these things going on. And hockey beat you. I mean, like, and I’m gonna get into Katie Griggs and money bags and the, you know, the Whistler and all of them for what I’m. For this is that bananas are coming here in a month and a half, and people are willing to pay $200 to go see the bananas in Sydney outfield, and they don’t want to come down and see real baseball, like, Hey, man, you could say, well, that’s a novelty, and that’s the Harlem Globe tribe. That’s cool and all of that. But it’s like, it’s really telling that that could be so popular, and I don’t know they got teams in this sport that can’t think that’s a sell John or Henderson the way they should.
Luke Jones 35:27
8I think, I think it’s comparing two different entities. I mean, the savannah bananas are Yeah. And to their credit, they market themselves. Well, they’ve got a niche. They found out that, hey, there’s an appetite for a Harlem Globetrotters version of baseball, right? I mean that, and that’s what they do. I don’t, I don’t know. Have you ever watched it? I It’s such a I’ve never watched it in person. I’ve seen it on TV. I’ve seen clips on TV, and everything. I’m not anti that are
Nestor Aparicio 35:52
you interested in? I mean, as a media member, as a fan, as a baseball guy, as Luke.
Luke Jones 35:57
I mean, I’m not, like, if someone had, like, free tickets for me, sure I’d go, but I’m not. No, I’m not spending $200 on that. I mean, I’m. I’m just not. But
Nestor Aparicio 36:06
it is fascinating that people find that much value in it, and don’t find and only find value in the bobble heads and and what like I’m just trying to get to.
8Luke Jones 36:18
I would be curious to see if anyone you know was at the gates and could say how many Orioles games have you gone to this year? I’d be curious to see what the correlation would be there in terms of people that are going to that and how many, how many Orioles games they went to, or how many Bay Sox games they went to, or, you know, if they’re coming from the Eastern Shore shorebirds, like, I’d be curious about that,
Nestor Aparicio 36:42
but dude, I was in Philly a year and a half ago, maybe two summers ago, at a concert. I don’t even know what concert it was. Maybe, maybe it was ELO, Jeff Lynn, maybe, I don’t even know, but what I was there, and I was in the parking lot at the hockey rink, which I’m sure you’re familiar with, on Broad Street, and they’re people going by, and they were all bananaed up and but these were Phillies fans. You know what I mean, they they were Phillies fans that love, you know, like that were, I’m assuming all the bananas fans are coming from the Orioles and I guess nationals, and I guess Phillies, and I guess where you live, wherever, whatever it would be, that it’s such a regional thing. I’m just blown away the people that people see it as an Adele ticket. You know what I mean? They see it as like a really premium, expensive thing to do that. They’re that entertain. I’m blown away by that. They would never spend $200 on an Oriole ticket. They would bitch about doing that for a World Series ticket. But they’re into the bananas, and I, and I’m seeing it on my timeline and stuff that there’s this craze for it, and I’m thinking, that’s what you need for your baseball team. You need people to really want to come to your baseball games. And that’s that. It just, it makes mush of my mind. That’s all I’m saying. Luke, no, but, but
Luke Jones 37:57
you’re talking about two dates a year. I mean, if the savannah bananas suddenly said, we’re, we’re going to have home games. We’re going to play 81 home games in Savannah, or whatever city you’d pick, the novelty wears off. I mean, I don’t know, man, I just, I think it’s a little bit of a reach that that it’s some indictment on the sport. When it’s an it’s a it’s an attraction. I
Nestor Aparicio 38:18
8don’t think it’s an indictment. I think it people, people wanted this. I don’t understand it at all. But what I really don’t understand is the premium value for it. And that’s that’s Professor Nestor talking to Marty Conway and other people that set the value on all this, that try to create something at a baseball that could make millions of dollars and that people line up and pay more for that, then they’re willing to pay to see Babe Ruth, that’s all I’m saying. That’s all I’m saying.
Luke Jones 38:48
Okay, okay. I mean, I don’t, I just don’t find that part of it to be that deep. I mean, I think there are plenty of issues the sport has. I think the savannah bananas. To your point, it’s like, going to see Springsteen, right? I mean, it’s, you know, it’s like not baseball, but it’s no different than Disney on Ice, right? I mean, you and I have no I would never ask you, Hey, Nestor, want to see Disney and Disney on Ice at the arena, because we’re not, we’re not the demographic that they’re looking for here, Savannah bananas. It’s, it’s silliness and family entertainment and kids and and look, baseball can certainly take some cues from that. And, oh, right. I mean, it’s minor league and look, minor league baseball has a bunch of that, and you see much more of that at the major league level now. I mean, Orioles games in between innings, it used to be just music played, right? I mean, that’s what it was 30 years ago. Now they have an in in game DJ and in game host, and they do contests and different things like that. So, you know, I mean, baseball certainly can take cues and look at things and adopt ideas. But I mean it’s, it’s very much a novelty and good for them. I mean, it’s awesome. I mean, and all. So I’ll give them credit. They go to big cities, but they also go to some places where they’re kind of off the beaten path, right? I mean, I’m looking at their schedule right now. They’re going to be in Fayetteville, Arkansas, right? I mean, like, you know, that’s, you don’t think of that, like, at the same way as you think Baltimore or Philadelphia, right? I mean, so, so, you know, good for them. I mean, it’s, it’s definitely,
Nestor Aparicio 40:23
I love the hardware, Globetrotters, yeah. I mean, when I was a kid, like all of that. I mean, I, you know, equated that to being the same as seeing west on. So play for me, I was excited. And, you know, it was also sold by Howard Cosell. Was sold on Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoon. It only came once a year. It’s the circus
Luke Jones 40:41
thing. I mean, exclusivity is and scarcity principle is such a I mean, that’s why I continue to say the NFL. It’s one of the big reasons why the NFL laps the field, right? They play once a week. I mean, they do if the Raven, if we suddenly came up with some kind of technology where you could play football six times a week like your team. I mean, like and everyone played six times a week like Major League Baseball, the popularity would, would, would wane after a while, because it would be so much, and it’s always there that none of the games are special anymore, right? I mean, that’s so that’s always where the NFL has had that going for it. They’ve taken full advantage, right? And look, say what you want about any of them from ethical standpoints, or, you know, things that they do or how they run their business, or off field situations like Justin Tucker or Deshaun Watson or whatever. But by the way, I’m waiting
8Nestor Aparicio 41:37
on that investigation as well, but, but they also, but, yeah, they also,
Luke Jones 41:42
the once a week thing is, it’s beneficial, because you have everyone looking forward to it all week, whereas, you know, the Orioles got blown out Monday night, and as the time someone’s listening to our conversation, you know, they might already be starting game two of the series, right? I mean, that’s how quickly it goes. So the the all these things are different, and everyone’s just trying to find their space to make whatever they’re selling as successful as possible. And hey, credit the savannah bananas, they’ve done a heck of a job with with that product.
Nestor Aparicio 42:18
The Orioles are in last place. They had their ace beating around in a minor league ballpark on a hot night in Tampa on a hot summer night. Little meatloaf reference there for you. Luke Jones is here. Uh, he will be spending some hot summer days in Wildwood. By the way, I had a great conversation with Leonard Raskin about Wildwood and about stone harbor. Uh, he spent the weekend there. We talked about the ferry. It made me look up the ferry that, like, you mean, I could go from Rehoboth to, like, Wildwood on a boat, and I’m like, damn about your car on it, right?
Luke Jones 42:49
8I’ve, I’ve never done it, but I have had friends who were staying in Ocean City, like, like, with their family for the week, or whatever. And then I would say, hey, you know, come stay. You know, you can stay my family’s condo for a day or two, you know, the condo we rented out, and you can stay for a day or two. And I actually had a couple friends over the years do the ferry, you know, with their car and everything. I mean, it’s, it’s pretty cool. I’ve never done it, though, but yeah, you can do I
Nestor Aparicio 43:15
told Leonard, maybe you go back the other way down 95 you could beat the toll, or maybe you’d have to pay the toll twice, I’m not sure. But if you went across the Bay Bridge, let’s say to Rehoboth, and then low at Lewis, and then up and but I don’t know, but you’re a wobble guy. You’re, I mean, are you getting senior idea mixed middle of gyms in last place?
Luke Jones 43:32
I always, I always, and it has nothing to do if the the Orioles could be in first place. And I, you know, I look forward to my vacation, and especially now, as mandatory mini camp is this week. So football goes away as much as it will for the next five weeks, as much as it will for the rest of the year, calendar year. And I know once, once I get back, it’s about go time for training camp, and doing the Orioles as much as I can as well then. So yeah, I’m looking forward to
Nestor Aparicio 43:58
creature of habit. Luke Jones is so I’m a creature habit too. I meet crab cakes. I’m going to be at the Y in Randallstown this week, on Tuesday. I hope you listen to the conversation. Have a great conversation. John Hoey, Barry Williams is going to join us as well. My dude, Jerry Schlichting from clean cuisine, is going to be coming over. I will have scratch offs in the Maryland lottery. Back to the Future scratch offs for those of the age. We’re also going to be at readers crab house on the 26 we’re going to sixth. We’re going to be a Costas at the new race track in Timonium, new location for Costas in early July. We’re also going to be out at 1623, in Eldersburg later on in the month. And I’m just, I mean, I’m stacking up these. We’re doing it. It’s Zeke’s coffee with receiving and the Friday morning Zeke’s coffee mafia over there in laraville next month, and I’m also we’re I know I have another one. I’ve been putting these things together so fast and furiously on behalf of our friends at curio wellness. Oh, we’re going to be at deep a squales in Canton. How can I forget that I’m still working on that date in July as well. So it’s going to be great. My thanks to up. Pretty pure solutions. Doug workman joined us last week talking about the oil spill in the harbor and your drinking water and all that stuff. I also talked to Katie Pumphrey, who swims in the Inner Harbor a lot, and she’s a an open water swimmer. And actually, my wife and I were in the car, and the interview was running, and my wife started listening to it. She’s like, this is interesting. And I’m like, Yeah, I kind of thought so too. So that was part of the Maryland crab cake tour. We we had a long form chat with Katie Pumphrey. If you wonder, like, what she finds when she’s swimming in the water, it’s like crazy. So go check that out. It’s been a great week around here. It’s summertime. We’re about to heat up. I still have my long johns on. I swear. I’m taking it all off and getting ready for the beach. I am Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Taos and Baltimore, last place baseball makes a dull boy out of Nestor. You.
