Nestor Aparicio expresses the joy he feels in seeing people coming back downtown for baseball with Dennis Koulatsos. After all, that’s what Free The Birds was all about 17 summers ago.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
baltimore, money, baseball, years, jerseys, game, sat, orioles, people, peter, man, franchise, team, day, good, camden yards, ravens, birds, thought, life
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Dennis Koulatsos
Dennis Koulatsos 00:01
Welcome back. 1570 am wn St. My next guest is Nestor J Aparicio, who always has great energy, ergo the Baltimore positive logo that he proudly displays on our radio station. That’s You’re welcome in.
Nestor Aparicio 00:16
Hey, how are you? What’s going on?
Dennis Koulatsos 00:18
Fantastic. Thanks for asking great time of the year. I went to my godson, graduation the other day. And North Harford High School A Brooks Brooks been directed my shout out. All right, wonderful, young man. 18 years, I get emotional. These type of things, you know, takes you back to the day. Right?
Nestor Aparicio 00:33
When I remember when I first watched Tony Soprano, and he got emotional about the ducks remember that? Yeah. And he couldn’t he couldn’t explain it and you get emotional. And then we moved out to the woods. Last year, just seeing birds and animals and things that I never paid much attention to my you know, like most of my life, right, and you’re out fishing and do it. Thanks. I would say the graduation thing. Like who just walking down the street in New York last week and somebody who’s in the cap again, you know, congrats, you know, like, and I’m thinking to myself, I should have paraded around more in my little green Dundalk house thing. And I never went to the stage at University of Baltimore. I graduated, my dad had just passed, and my mom, it would have been like, sort of maybe not a good thing for any of us. I never bought the cap and gown. I like so I’ve only done that thing. I’ve done a lot of things malt I’ve seen seal three times in the last three weeks. There’s a lot of things I’ve done multiple times in my life. But putting on a cap and gown is something I only did once in my life. Right? I don’t really have any pictures of it like weirdly, and the anniversary is June 2. So this weekend, it will be so 85 And this is 80 years. It’s been 38 years since I graduated high school
Dennis Koulatsos 01:45
38 For you 42 For me, Wow.
Nestor Aparicio 01:48
No wonder your emotional dead. Very emotional. You
Dennis Koulatsos 01:51
know, one of the kids that halfway through after he gets his certificate, he diploma, he does a front front flip and lands on his feet and a crab and wild he popped the crowd and a few minutes later another kid has a backwards flip. And at the very end this kid does a Pop Lock and drop it dance move which it was it was really really good it can lady
Nestor Aparicio 02:08
North Harford hawks
02:09
direct North Harford hawks
Nestor Aparicio 02:12
the Hawks fly that’s what it is right? It’s a flying off
Dennis Koulatsos 02:15
it’s a flying Hawk but it was just wonderful just to see the kids and the parents and you know what? As much as things change that’s they stay the same right? It’s life and you talk about you had positive energy coming in here we always do but
Nestor Aparicio 02:27
I heard an owl the other day can I say this to you in my yard
Dennis Koulatsos 02:31
out and I heard a woodpecker so go ahead you tell me your story.
Nestor Aparicio 02:34
I get woodpeckers my wife seats the woodpecker so we have no affiliate ID every red belly we do it I really do it all around. That’s great. So male female the whole deal the red dot and no red dot the whole dice. No, I Yeah, totally. Man. We’re totally into the birds. So I I’m an early riser. Yeah, I’m a worker, man. I’m up before anybody you know, like no or dawn. I’m not bragging. I’m just saying like, I was up at 220 this morning. I’m up before
Dennis Koulatsos 03:03
you’re asleep.
Nestor Aparicio 03:03
I walked through I slept till 520 like three days ago and I was like what and then some was almost coming up. So I’m up really early and I brew you know, some ROFO and I get my get my head together, put some music on and get my notes together. What I’m going to do for the day, get our content out you’re checking social media, staying up on everything and open the window because it’s beautiful. And I heard an owl and it was very very like distinct. Dundalk owl right? I’m at Dundalk owl Hall of Famer. Right. So like, you know, I can sing the song for you which I have done which I can do on command at any time, which I kind of screwed up when they put me in though I had a really awful speech when I went in. But I had never heard an owl until maybe about a year ago. My wife has an app that tells you what birds a Carolina Wren and what birds a cardinal and whether it’s male or female, like so she holds it out of the window and she does this with plants to identify plants and stuff like that this poison ivy in the woods. Right so she did it last last summer she thought she heard now and she went outside and and sure enough, it says great horned owl and you can see the heartbeat of the sound. So the other day I heard I heard an owl and was so unique and I liked so you talk about hawks and owls and birds and stupid stuff we’re doing and we are on the lookout for our first Oriole. My wife tried to she did the orange thing with a with a jelly that you do to get we haven’t seen what we saw when last year but not not so good this year.
Dennis Koulatsos 04:34
It sounds like you’re gonna you’re on your way to orthonow logical tour. That’s correct. Yeah, we’re
Nestor Aparicio 04:38
a little sob s the Blue Jays. They come in packs, they’re nasty. Or they come in packs, and they they eat all the peanuts in the squirrels and they guard there’ll be one blue j that will stand on top of the bird feeder not eating it just making sure nobody else comes. And then there’s some red Unlike finches, they don’t care about the Blue Jays. They just eat. They come, but other birds are very intimidated. Cardinals are very, very elusive. If they see you they’ll move to the other side of the tree. But Blue Jays, they’re not elusive. They just come in packs and they stay. They squawk. They sound like whistles. So Blue Jays I never knew and 89 Greg Olson right Dave Johnson, the nail Pete Harnish all that stuff. I never knew how nasty Blue Jays worth. I
Dennis Koulatsos 05:28
did not know that. Yeah, there
Nestor Aparicio 05:31
are big two. Yeah, not good. Ravens are nasty. The Ravens in the wild.
Dennis Koulatsos 05:37
Ravens are very nasty. Yes, they are. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 05:39
in Tokyo. They’re kind of everywhere. They’re kind of like pigeons. And they’re big. And they’re, they’re nasty. Yeah, yeah. You don’t wanna mess with the Ravens. So we know that though. Full time.
Dennis Koulatsos 05:50
That’s right. That’s right. And the Baltimore Ravens they’re no more no keyboard loose of the Baltimore Ravens. I’ll tell you what, I was looking at some headlines this morning. caught my attention. I should have stuck with coaching this, Monty Williams, get $78.5 million to coach the Detroit Pistons for six years. $13 million a year to coach basketball Nestor. Amazing.
Nestor Aparicio 06:11
It’s good work because you get it. You know what I mean? A lot of
Dennis Koulatsos 06:14
money man at a lot. Monty Williams. Come on now.
Nestor Aparicio 06:17
Well, there’s a lot of there’s a lot of local people that have done well in the NBA that you would never know. It’s just the general manager. Chicago Bulls is a Baltimore guy big time Baltimore guy and he’s totally off the radar and ever been on my show. None of that he’s behind the scenes got my dude Freddy Yeomans in baseball has been out running the Padres Baltimore people, man sarcoid like the bulls.
Dennis Koulatsos 06:39
I remember it was good to Jerry Krause back during the era. Right but
Nestor Aparicio 06:45
oh my god law. Yeah. I mean, it’s like, it is amazing. The guy Bob Meyers stepped down in sit in a Golden State. He’s he’s been the dick cast that Joe fell last the overseer of the warriors. And there’s no bigger success story in sports, when you look at the value of the warriors from what they were to where they went with players and then got an arena build, move the franchise. And I had Barry bloom on this week. And I had Eric Fisher on two of the really great, great baseball minds. I only get a plus guests. No, I mean, no offense. When I had a producer, they would book anybody. I am my producer now. So when you hear a guest on the show, it’s somebody I that I only have a list guests. I mean, no family. I’m being honest. If it’s worth my time, it’s worth their time. Barry bloom came on and did a whole thing on the Oakland A’s and Vegas and moving an MLB franchise. He’s covered baseball 46 years, and he’s seen one franchise move Montreal, right. And you talk about these franchises in the amount of money they’re churning out and what they can pay a head coach and then what they can pay him to go away and then Leone’s This is so cheap and hockey that he invites trots to leave and it screws the whole franchise up. And I’m not willing to I’m willing to say that the Barry trots is in Nashville just hired his first head coach, who was the kid who played for him, who I watched play at the arena Andrew Burnett back 35 years ago who’s now his coach in Nashville. And I don’t know what brunettes making but I bet brunettes deal is bigger than trots his first 10 years coaching the predators because trots was making no money. And now there’s just there’s money in this. I mean, Jim Schwartz just took the assistant head coaching job in Cleveland. Right right. making more money there than he was making making and a half I would think a year Yeah, more than he made as the head coach of the lions half a generation ago. Yeah, you know, look
Dennis Koulatsos 08:43
at that the money has accelerated the money portion of it has been accelerated the value of the franchises has gone through the roof has skyrocketed, so they can pay more money. But
Nestor Aparicio 08:52
the $52 million is what Lamar Jackson’s making the play quarterback this year, Ray Lewis worked his whole life to try to get the 52 million right like and they built and you can look used to always say for like Palmer was always pissy Brooks was never pissy, but but those guys they never got paid. Mike Schmidt came 10 minutes later and got and got paid. You know what I mean? Flanagan was on the cusp of like getting paid. And then the next thing you know Glen Davis is getting paid and Cal Ripken got paid. And then Clemens and bonds and a rod and we were amazed when it was 10 million 15 million a year. I remember when I was on the radio so McHale rifting getting 5 million a year. Oh my god. palmiero. They gave him six to come in and Alomar they couldn’t give him more money.
Dennis Koulatsos 09:45
That was a lot back then. And my good friend Bunbury come to you all the time. We talked about him missing the window. He just he was born too early. He built for the next guy, sir Vietnam. So he served for four years the Vietnam came back and played and never really got paid. He missed his window guys just came out. They were born too early, right. And they these guys that were born late, late. They’re making bank they’re making. They’re getting
Nestor Aparicio 10:10
a reason that I guess I’m such a jerk about how it’s all gone down over 30 years and the promise of the football team and the PSL and our community. And look, I went through it this week with Luke at length. And I’m a little bit with you about Baltimore on the jerseys and what it meant to me and my radio station and my business and what it didn’t mean to Peter Angelos
Dennis Koulatsos 10:33
you, you railed for that. You were pounding the table for having Baltimore jerseys. You were you were the first one out it’s because
Nestor Aparicio 10:41
it’s because it was the missing ingredient that made the Ravens feel more special then and now the ravens are purple team acts that just want to sell the Mark Jackson jerseys out to the cosmos, and they’re gonna ship them off to play over in London and I mean like and and some guy who’s from out of town has thrown a guy like me out of my seats out of my business out of my vocation, and thinks he’s gonna get away with it. Like it’s and and here we are, and they’re trying to sell me the tickets that they threw me out of, and they can’t sell them. And there will be empty seats in the stadium again this year. And they just everything’s just all right. And it’s it’s just a weird, it’s been weird watching how local matters until it doesn’t matter. And now it’s all that matters to the Orioles. Right. the Orioles just can’t hug and love of Baltimore enough and make it feel fake authentic. And they have announcers from out of town. They fly Ben McDonald and to do games. He doesn’t live here. Palmer’s never really lived here. But he’s had a place here. Their managers don’t live here. Their players don’t live here. They and meanwhile al Bunbury is just trying to make a living. I mean, it’s it’s sad. And we lost Mike young this week, you know. So yeah, I just, yeah, I wonder at 55 the value of sports. And that’s why I put this together. Because like there still needs to be some rallying cry to say you guys got to do more than leave behind a check when you’re making $52 million a year here. Now what I mean like and that’s not an indictment of Lamar Jackson, any more than it was a challenge to Cal Ripken a generation ago when he was making five or six and too much is too much is given much as expected.
Dennis Koulatsos 12:20
Absolutely. Let me ask you this NASA back when they didn’t have the name on the front of the jersey. That was before the national before Washington got a team. So I’m guessing Peter angelos, thought of the Orioles as Maryland’s team, right. So I guess he didn’t want to turn off his Washington clientele but putting Baltimore in front of the jerseys. I don’t know You tell
Nestor Aparicio 12:39
me. So here’s your really stepped into a pile of doodoo. And this one with me because I am releasing the Peter principles right now. So the Peter principles was a project that came in I really want to talk about this because you’ve asked me something that I have the absolute answer, not in my words. It’s not a fairy tale. It’s not a Nestor said you can go hear Peter talk about it himself. Right. So I interviewed Peter on a stage in March of 1997. He had and this is in chapter. I think it’s chapter three or four, it’s released at this point, it’s up at Baltimore positive, you can read His words, you can read my words around it. And I mean, again, I’m not a figure in the theater principles. It’s a third person reading of having worked through it, lived through it with journalists said about it with players said about it, what people said In the aftermath, what people told me as a journalist, but Peter sat with me and had several drinks. And you know, by the third segment, you can hear the slurs and where was going. And, man, I was five years into radio and I was fearless clearly go listen to it. And he, he lived through most of it, like most of it, when you listen to the end of it, and it’s a good hour and a half. I mean, it’s not. And he did a lot of the talking. It was very, I would ask the dumb kid 27 year old Nestor question to the millionaire nouveau millionaire guy who owns the team, who had run off Lucchino, who had run off John Miller, and, and all of these were topics, and part of the topic was Baltimore in the jerseys. Now, now, now, let me I mean, I can imitate him, but you can go listen to what he said about Washington. And about he brought up the Bay Area, how we, if Washington ever had a team, it would completely destroy Baltimore, and there’s no way Baltimore could compete. And you know, I had Barry bloom on this week and he talked, then this is the way an old guy thinks about it. And Barry’s watched baseball for 46 years. He’s like, I just want to set the record straight. Y’all do know that the Yankees the Red Sox, and the Blue Jays will always have more money, no matter how many people come. No matter how many Koons sponsorships there are, they will always, always, always, always have more money. And that’s just that’s the way it is. So in that as long as you’re in that division, you’re always going to be outspent
Dennis Koulatsos 15:04
because of the market size of the of the of Baltimore versus the other
Nestor Aparicio 15:08
because of all of it. And now the Washington giveaway from 20 years ago, that really has changed the trajectory of the market, the potentiality of how much money you can make your right, if you don’t own a television deal now. I mean, Dennis, the television part of this, and I talked to Eric Fisher at length about this. I mean, the Padres don’t have a television network, their network went bankrupt. And 48 hours ago, they handed the they handed baseball rights back to Major League Baseball, so we can’t pay the bill. And that’s how because of the cable cord cutting, and like all that that’s going on, there’s a paradigm shift going on and how the money’s going to be made. Not in the NFL, where they’re just printing it. And they can throw Pete throw me out. Anybody out.
Dennis Koulatsos 15:51
You have in salary capital, that’s the whole thing with the NFL,
Nestor Aparicio 15:54
but baseball without the floor with nefarious owners with this sham of revenue sharing. I mean, look at the Tampa rays. Look at the Oakland A’s look at this Kansas City Royals one for a minute now, nobody goes to the games anymore, and they have no money and they’re back at the bottom because the White Sox can outspend you know, like all of the things that are inherent when you don’t have enough money, right. And I don’t know how deep Jon’s pockets or mom or where they are. But you know, I do worry that they get this right these five years because they have this incredible window to get it right. And they’re doing all of this hugging Baltimore, all of this stuff that for a generation was lost. And I put the Peter principles out not to be a jerk. This is like, this is what’s led to this. This is why on a Wednesday afternoon, they still have trouble getting people out there. And when they’re not winning, winning, winning and introducing the next Adley rutschman, or the next race and Ron and there’s not a savior or bobblehead, or a country music concert, or, you know, whatever gets people out, I don’t know, I don’t know what’s gonna get you out winning is what’s gonna get you out winning was what’s gonna get me out and being treated like a human being. So I have issues. But you asked about Peter, and it’s unbelievable. To listen to it 26 years later, and realize that the Washington team exists. Peter got all the money, Peter got the television network, Peter got all of that elaborated, for sure. And he’s now you know, not have a capacity to ever speak again. So the record, like Frank Sinatra, the record speaks for itself. But he talked at length out loud in an anti Baltimore on the Jersey way that he never really relented. I mean, an eight, nine, John had a big park, and that period of time, and I was down at the gate. Gallery when Jim Palmer came down the escalator with that, that everybody wanted, and oh my god, Dennis, that was 15 years ago, now. They’ve been wearing Baltimore on the road for 15 years, you know, like, they really have. And so the city connect jersey, it past failed, whatever, but it said Baltimore on it, and they make all of these ads, and they do all of this stuff. And this is their moment in the sun. They could not have a rosier forecast for what the next couple of years could look like, if they can just get you and me and people to buy in. And like honestly, there hasn’t been a night this week. We haven’t watched the Orioles play. When they played Wednesday afternoon. My wife was like, it was her birthday. And she wasn’t feeling well. But she was a little bummed the game wasn’t on. She’s like, Yeah, you know, kind of enjoy watching baseball again, where it’s competitive and good and fast, and it gets over two hours. So, you know, the history of all of it should be known to everyone so that we can move forward, whatever this is going to be it John is going to own it, and they’re going to fix it, and they’re going to build the city downtown and West is going to give them money. And they’re going to eliminate the freeway, but like I don’t know what they’re gonna build. And I don’t know that they know what they’re gonna build. I just hope it’s great. I hope they that it’s better than me sitting at the barn with an angry man who went on a rampage for 20 years that never made decisions that were good that were in the best interest in the city or even as even the community I guess it was in his best interest of his wallet. I mean, the franchise is worth more money and like all that then the lady sat with me, but I don’t think it’s the legacy he wanted for himself. You know, I I don’t and that’s really, that’s sad.
Dennis Koulatsos 19:27
That’s a huge disappointment because you and I’ve talked about this in the past what he has meant to the Greek community, Greek American community, his all of his philanthropical contributions and whatnot to all the look to my
Nestor Aparicio 19:41
university. He’s at the University of Bonn. He’s done
Dennis Koulatsos 19:45
a lot of good and again, you talk about legacy and when you get to that level, it’s not what they put in stone monuments about you, but it’s the it’s what you weave into your community, which what you leave behind and that’s, and that’s a shame. It really is.
Nestor Aparicio 19:59
Oh, I know Oh, he wanted to do well, you know, I mean, like, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. That was very apparent in the beginning. And then there’s just the people skills, the lawyer skills of he
Dennis Koulatsos 20:12
sat with him. He was a very intelligent, very well spoken man. I mean, he’s had his, his mastery of the English language was second to none. I mean, I he was a customer of mine and a client and I enjoyed speaking with him. And I had and I had high hopes when he bought the Oreos, I did a backflip at a somersault. The entire Greek American community did, you know, we had one of our own, so to speak,
Nestor Aparicio 20:34
well suited East Baltimore, you know, thought for people to, you know, my family, like was a fighter. He was a fighter. And that’s all he really knew how to do. And once it got to that level, fighting with everybody became problematic. And the Baltimore thing for him was about keeping Washington Hall. And he knew the value in Washington, he negotiated to his grave to the value of Washington in regard to the television network learner he knew, like so he knew where the money was in 2000 345 and six, and that piece of it. I hope they win. I mean, I heard he had
Dennis Koulatsos 21:16
a play. He had to play some defense because a lot of his clientele pre the National Coming to existence. Was that Northern Virginia corridor. I mean, they love the Orioles they came to the games, they bought tickets, they bought sweets.
Nestor Aparicio 21:28
Listen, I’ll tell you this. I didn’t build my my career being disrespectful to people like Peter angelos, right. So you can go back and you can listen to it. You can know where I was in my life. I funny story for you. The morning that the Peter Angelos interview was to happen. It was set up by a man named Frank slifka. Frank did the Thompson sports banquet for many, many years. Frank Sonny Joe owned the barn Joe slifka. very politically active in Harford County. Joe owned the barn. Joe is a Calvin Hall guy. So Joe’s father, Frank, new Pete. Ah, no, Pete. I’ll get Pete down here. Great. So Peter came over that night to do the show. And that morning, I swear, I’ll never forget. I woke up in Fort Lauderdale. I was doing Orioles broadcast from the dugout with Davey Johnson and Rick down and you all the players of that era. I have all the pictures and I broadcasting the Doubletree in Fort Lauderdale, right off Oakland Park. And that morning, I had us air, which I would never recommend taking us air. It was always terrible. It was always awful. And these are the kind, they screwed me they canceled my flight. And it was the day that I had to get home to do a live live none of this taping. It was live on the air from the barn. i It was the Budweiser sports forum. I didn’t have wn St. So this is March of 97 is a year and a half before I had the radio station. So I was on 1360. And Steve Hennessy was my producer and partner had to pick me up the airport. It was chaotic. Getting on a flight, Southwest Airlines saved my life and got me home. Steve picked me up the airport had all of my equipment, my remote equipment, which was boxes of stuff back then. And we had ISDN lines, just heavy, awful equipment. And I was panicked and I had to get the equipment with me. The equipment had to make it to get to the barn to be plugged in to get us on the radio. All of that happened. And Peter Angelo showed up. I made it. It was one of the most hectic days of my life. And I’m 27 years old, right? Like that. And I get back with a tan. And there’s the owner of the Orioles sitting with me. He got a lot of media then he was doing he was always on the phone with stabbing and Rosenthal yelling at Rosenthal yelling at schmuck. Those guys have horror stories about late night, threatening phone like crazy stuff that he did during this period of time. And he came out to the bar sat and I would love for you to listen to it. I’m very proud of it. I mean, I really am. And I’m proud of the answers he gave. I mean, he he Perry Mason, he stood up for an hour and a half. And now now now let’s not get excited here young man. Let me tell you how it is. And he addressed like, like, like a jury. He spoke to the people in the room. He rolled his sleeves up and he got injured. He liked a spar. This was he and I talking about it. Now you’re wrong on easy. Let me tell you about Washington DC. And then he went into it and like please go listen to it. I I am very, very proud of it. 25 to 31 years into my career, it sits on the front of the website and people should know how all this happened. And then and then what they can do to make it better go sit in squirts section and buy tickets and get a city I mean I you know like I hope that this
Dennis Koulatsos 24:53
build a winner invest in the team and people will come you know, winning cures a lot of things and that’s what we tune into it. It’s it’s hard When you’re out of it, and the third or fourth inning almost every game, you know
Nestor Aparicio 25:02
what Lenny Moore once stood up. And I think, you know, Lenny had reputational issues here in a very, you know, fragmented town and that period of his life and who he was where what school, and he gave the speech one night after son passed. And he said, he said somebody’s father, and it’s probably I have it on tape somewhere, because I’ve asked him about it to give the speech again, because it’s, it’s part of what he does. And he said that his father taught him that being kind was absolutely free, is free to be kind. I just wonder if anybody that’s wonderful, you know, and that was Eleni more. That’s something that he he put my heart. And it’s like, you know what, when I see Palmer speaking to Anthony Santander, and there’s clearly a language barrier, or he has a translator after the game, or whether it’s Ryan mountcastle, or whatever. That’s how I’ve, I’m getting to know these players looks down in the locker room. They’ve taken that ability away from me, for better for worse. But so I see these kids, and I see their dream and I see them having lost a lot of games. I don’t see any golden child on this team that’s got a lot of money and who’s a jerk? And like, and I was around a lot of jerks in clubhouses for years and years and years, were like, you know, I wanted the root for the player until he came to my team. And I got to know him. I’m like, oh, yeah, you know, I mean, like, or like meeting a band, and you love the Rockstar, and they treat you like trash. And you’re like, Ah, I can’t like you
Dennis Koulatsos 26:32
like the music, but you don’t like the players that yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 26:34
you know, so I think it’s really important. And maybe this is just me being Pollyanna or old man, get off my lawn or whatever. I think it’s really, really important that Adley rutschman is a good cat, and that gunner Henderson’s a good guy, and then Austin Hayes. And they they appeal to me when they speak to me as guys who are really trying hard and this means something to them. And even the fans being there. They’re not so jaded yet that that it feels like major league they’ve had nobody at their games for years and now some people are starting to show up and are banging the drum and they’re wearing black jerseys in their in their bitching about relief pitching and they’re mad at the manager for pulling their there’s like real baseball stuff going on. And it’s just it. It is warmed my, my soul at 55 named Aparicio, to think that maybe maybe we’re going to move past it there’s
Dennis Koulatsos 27:29
hope right? There’s hope ah, from a hopeless situation.
Nestor Aparicio 27:33
Again, maybe this can be fun again, in the
Dennis Koulatsos 27:36
moment, it isn’t the moment that we have to enjoy that’s my takeaway from it right?
Nestor Aparicio 27:39
Even eight weeks ago would you would you have sat over there on this program and said that it was going to be fun I mean, I don’t often like I’m going to the games right?
Dennis Koulatsos 27:48
I’ve had entire segments I’ve talked about nothing but the Orioles which is unheard for me you know but but football guy you know that puck football, lacrosse or wrestling, you name it but when he came to baseball night in my lane, but guess what now it’s in my lane.
Nestor Aparicio 28:03
So if the ravens are foreign to and the Orioles are in the ALCS, right I mean, and you’ll be like I’m a football guy, but you’ll be talking baseball here in October, you literally
Dennis Koulatsos 28:15
talking baseball, I’ll be gone for the game. So that’s the other part of it. I’ll be at the Camden Yards. Where my Baltimore jersey, I’ll probably buy one. So
Nestor Aparicio 28:26
to me, it just feels like the Dundalk owls. It feels like a long time ago, right? I mean, it feels like
Dennis Koulatsos 28:33
a long time ago was a lot of time ago. Right? Like it was
Nestor Aparicio 28:37
when you know I’ve zoomed into these places. Philadelphia was in the World Series. They’re up the road, right people were on my timeline at the Games. Sure. Recently, um, you know, same thing in San Diego where they were good last year and I have a lot of friends that are pot you live in San Diego and I flew into St. Louis a year and a half ago when Tucker made that kick in Detroit. I was after seeing the Rolling Stones and I flew into a pennant race in a baseball town in September, and it was bonkers Lee awesomely magnificently. I want it I want it for us. That’s why I fought that’s why free to birds. That’s why people think of me Angelo’s versus wn like all of that, because I fought for this because and now that it’s here. I hope that it’s better than it’s been since Brooks because it needs to be you know, I mean, we got Eddie Murphy on beer cans. We got Clancy dill and beer out. We got people coming back to the ballpark. You know, we have concerts downtown, we have good weather coming.
Dennis Koulatsos 29:33
It’s a different vibe but a baseball game and the football game it is in a good way. They’re both great but when when your team is winning, I just feel like when I go to the stadium at Camden Yards I run into so many people because it’s small anymore. You know you see everybody you see people from your high school from everywhere all walks of life, but you see him there.
Nestor Aparicio 29:52
You know what’s neat for me I haven’t been to the game since opening day and I went down open the day to pictures and went around and did my just had fun So people I like right on opening day I look for people I like from high school. I sat with them for They’re everywhere. They’re everywhere. And it’s crowded on opening day and and the back every day since that day, thanks to social media. I see everybody who is at the ballpark. I like their pictures and they’re with their kids. They’re with Clancy. They’re there for the tough losses. Greg ash, is there live streaming all night? Eddie Lauer’s. They’re early taking BP trying to catch baseballs out in centerfield and then he tries to get him some reason himself behind on plates. He gets on the camera in the seventh inning. I mean, I got everybody’s story then you know what I mean? So I I’m watching the game while they’re watching the game. And look, I invited you to the game Wednesday three o’clock we could have sat out there for four hours like the old days and watch 20 runs and it said I went into a yoga mat they’re up for one I’m like pretty confident I’m gonna come out and it’s gonna be a seven to do victory right? And I come out and they’re losing lemonade you know? It’s crazy. So that’s baseball while we watch and I guess that’s why you you know they pull me back in it’s like
Dennis Koulatsos 31:06
yeah, we’re back in look there a lot of fun or fun group there the seemly the group of guys they’re easy to report and like I said a small team work get down to the Camden Yards and see your friends and Rylands. Good for the Orioles. A lot of fun.
Nestor Aparicio 31:19
root root root for the whole team if they don’t win, it’s a shame. Right. Exactly. All right. So we didn’t really so there’s no football to do. We’re done football
Dennis Koulatsos 31:29
for football and therefore we’re going to focus on the Orioles. The best the best game in town. It’s very nice when both teams are doing well. You mentioned Philadelphia, of course eagles in the Super Bowl last year, Phillies
Nestor Aparicio 31:43
70 Sixers are their biggest drama right there
Dennis Koulatsos 31:45
right there. I mean, but again, they’re they’re Philly sports is very relevant. I mean, they’re, they have some winning franchises. It’s your friend
Nestor Aparicio 31:51
over as always, I mean, they have ancillary things in the way that we have lacrosse. I mean, you bring the good doctor on every week right and, and it’s all about and again on Monday championship play Calvert Hall kids in the game. I mean, there’s always a local angle with lacrosse, so yeah, well, it gets it’s gonna be a good summer around here. Just because baseball is back. The arena the CFG Bank Arena has all of the Shymko to see Bryan Adams this week. I so yeah, like I am bullish on Baltimore. I always have been you know that but Baltimore is better when the baseball team. This is the centerpiece of the city behind my shoulders, right. Like, like it’s better when it’s full. It’s better when it’s vibrant, and it’s better when people feel included. So yeah, everybody should be included, including journalists.
Dennis Koulatsos 32:40
100% always appreciate that Mr. Nestor woke up today is as he always does in a positive mood crabcake tour right, what else we got going on?
Nestor Aparicio 32:49
The crabcake toward the oyster tour and a 25th anniversary. Our 25th anniversary is August 3. I’m sort of planning to try to drag you and everybody else over to Dundalk on the third and fourth. We’re gonna we’re gonna start the 25th anniversary Costas in a drug city with just some old school sit downs with friends, old friends talking about old times, and I’m really going to try to appeal to folks, my buddy miles Goodman hit me and he’s looking for a get nasty shirt like she’s like, Do you have any left and I’m like, I’m looking around for some old school pictures, pictures of me and Trent Dilfer and Ray Lewis. I’ve never seen anything goose I mean, goose and I get a lot together. I like finding unearthing treasures. And what I’m going to try to do is find some sponsors to sort of underwrite some prizes for the best stuff that people can find over 25 years of us being here because we’re really proud. I’m doing this Maryland lottery thing for 50th anniversary, right? And it’s all this old school stuff in the 70s. You know, the 90s are old school now, right? The 90s are like classic rock now. So having founded this thing, August 3 of 1998, I want to go back into the Wayback Machine. When Vinny Testaverde and Jim Harbaugh were quarterbacking Let’s go. Cal Ripken was streaking and like any good I know you got people to have on such stuff.
Dennis Koulatsos 34:07
Appreciate you. There it goes. Nestor J F free through here. He’s on a hot streak 50 to 70 Am Baltimore positive we’ll take a quick break and come back. Right after this.
