0:00

The good neighbors over at State Farm understand that

0:03

you've got a lot of questions. For example,

0:05

why if Chris Cote did the f one minute? What

0:07

if ten day Tony gotta try out with the heat? Well,

0:09

they can't help you with those types of questions, but they

0:11

can't help you with your insurance related ones.

0:13

Like, what if you need help choosing the right insurance

0:16

coverage? Or if you renovate your home

0:18

or what if you get into a car accident. Don't

0:20

waste time second guessing yourself. State Farm

0:23

is still for you. What ifs? They make it easy

0:25

to choose the right coverage. File a claim

0:27

or make adjustments. State Farm service

0:29

gives you options to fit your needs, which means

0:31

you can file a claim on the State Farm mobile

0:33

app or talk to a real person, including

0:36

your agent. Like good neighbor,

0:38

State Farm is there. Call or go to state

0:40

Farm dot com for a quote today. This

0:43

is the Dan Lever partial with the

0:45

Stuttgart podcast.

0:51

Chris Coty, you saw what just happened

0:54

with your father was a shrewd stevatean

0:56

negotiation and a a lot of ego in

0:58

the room. Greg Cote, longtime journalist,

1:02

legend around here, just

1:04

got displaced buy an up and comer,

1:06

a young up and comer, an upstart

1:08

journalist who's made his way

1:10

through

1:11

journalism, but doesn't have the bones in

1:13

the game. The Greg Code it does.

1:15

And and and no one does. And so may

1:17

not with this show. And Greg just lost

1:19

his throne. His throne

1:21

because Jeff Parson has

1:23

arrived. We put it in baseball per perspective

1:25

for him. We're like, dad, usually play a third base.

1:27

We're just moving left field for a couple

1:29

innings. Yeah. That's it. Alright. But he's on the line. I'm

1:31

still here.

1:31

He's not happy about it, Andy, to go cheated

1:34

it, and he says, passive podcast. You're gonna

1:36

be on my

1:36

podcast. So proud of them. And and yes.

1:38

And he says, if I'm gonna lose my seat,

1:40

you're gonna get me some downloads. And

1:43

and so what was the negotiation Chris Cody

1:45

because Parson, a very kind Pandora

1:47

show for a long time for no good reason that

1:49

I can discern. He he

1:52

said, yeah, I was gonna come in for to do

1:54

a live show with you, and then he was told while the Greg

1:56

Cody Show featuring Greg Cody with does

1:59

not have a studio. They'll

2:01

not have microphones

2:03

cannot does not have the capacity to do live

2:06

show he's an old

2:06

man.

2:06

K. Why are the garage? To to

2:08

do live podcast. We're we're pretty small

2:11

time right now. We don't have a full studio set

2:13

up. We've been a Zoom podcast entire existence.

2:15

So when Jeff texted me the very nice offer

2:17

of, hey, I'm in town. I'm willing to come in and do it live.

2:19

I was like, oh, we we don't know how to do

2:21

that. So

2:25

everything off. No. That is

2:27

a one hundred percent accurate rendering

2:30

of the situation. But, like, there's no

2:32

exaggeration going out right there. I

2:34

just looked at it like, oh, okay.

2:38

Good for you guys. Good producer,

2:41

Chris.

2:42

My microphone is a tin can with a

2:44

string on it. Carole budget isn't exactly

2:46

do it from the garage. It's great. That old dirty

2:49

garage that hasn't been clean since nineteen seventy

2:51

four Jeff Bassian giving insider

2:53

scoops of information because I admire this guy

2:55

for a lot of different reasons to guys because

2:57

this has been a tough game. And he brought

2:59

journalism and honor to that

3:01

insider position. You never hear anybody

3:04

saying this guy's compromised in any way.

3:06

IN ANY WAY, BY ANY AGENCY, BY

3:08

ANYBODY, THAT HE'S NOT CONTROLLING

3:10

AN AGENDA, HE'S NOT MANIPULATING EMPLOYEES.

3:13

THIS GUY'S Batard HE IS as

3:15

good in the information business as any of

3:17

these people are and that business straight

3:20

up that shit crazy. You

3:23

are an insane person for living in this world

3:25

where you are brokering

3:26

information,

3:27

like, by the way,

3:27

competing with others for information. I

3:31

I never planned on

3:33

doing that. I I wanted to

3:35

be a writer just like you wanted to

3:37

be a

3:38

writer. And I like this is no

3:40

bullshit I grew up

3:42

reading and loving Dan Levettard

3:45

and long form journalism and telling

3:47

stories and telling stories of

3:49

people --

3:49

I see. -- seeing you. And

3:52

that's where I thought I was gonna be

3:54

able to go. And then the business completely

3:57

changed and I had children. And

4:00

I thought, okay, how am I

4:02

gonna remain employed? Like, who

4:04

are the people who do not lose their

4:06

jobs and it was the people who break

4:08

news. And I I

4:10

found honor in that eventually

4:13

because I I don't wanna let the

4:16

actions of some other

4:18

people in the industry define who

4:20

I am or what I do. And you

4:23

just have to be straight up with your sources

4:25

and let them understand that

4:27

you're not gonna be compromised.

4:30

You're not gonna change. You're not gonna push agendas.

4:32

You're gonna do the job the way that we

4:34

were taught to do it. And you

4:37

can still do it the right way

4:39

and do it effectively. And so

4:41

I, you know, I looked at it for

4:43

a long time like this is this is such

4:45

a a silly vac accurate

4:48

thing that these transactions, you

4:50

put them out there. And thirty seconds

4:52

later, Ken Rosenthal has it or John

4:54

Hayman has it or Mark Feinsinger,

4:57

whoever it may be. And and

4:59

that it it's just nascent like flash

5:01

paper. But In

5:04

the end, I found this is something that

5:06

forces me to call people more, that

5:08

to talk with people more, to understand

5:11

what's actually going on. In the industry.

5:14

And I have I I don't know if

5:16

you saw the game last

5:17

night. But I'm I'm sorry to do this too. I I

5:19

wanna talk about the game last night, but you don't

5:21

understand. I've got in my

5:22

ear, somebody who has whispered

5:25

now a ninth time dual mode.

5:28

Man, jeez. I mean, I'm black. Stories,

5:30

like I've done it with the same version of my ears,

5:32

and I did not get that

5:33

much. I I am I'm fascinated by

5:36

the insider person. I've been I

5:38

thought, you know, if I wrote this talking

5:40

three years ago because of a

5:42

source.

5:44

There it is. You're back. He said

5:46

you do have a frog in your throat. I do. Was

5:48

it was it was it a subpar version?

5:50

No. This is not fair. What's to what's

5:52

to god's since on here is not fair. I've

5:54

got this just so may affect that.

5:58

Oh, dirty I'm here for dirty I'm

6:00

a Tim Hasson says to

6:02

me. Credible information insider,

6:05

pillar of journalism in a journalism

6:07

business that shrinking his ESPN is firing

6:09

a bunch of people tonight who told me he was practicing

6:12

his

6:12

elmo. Hotel

6:14

last night. That's why he has the frog. At

6:16

two at two o'clock in the morning because

6:18

I tried I tried it at the

6:20

ballpark. And I'm, like, oh, god.

6:23

This is not gonna go well.

6:24

I'm sure you know. I'm just gonna try it

6:26

on this one.

6:27

Like, take the picture of you in the ballpark and do

6:29

it. I feel this

6:32

this is a true story. You guys you guys have been

6:34

to the Marlin's Park Press Box. Right?

6:36

You know, like, when you're walking in the

6:38

hallway toward the Press Box,

6:42

There are two solo bathrooms that

6:46

you can lock. Good acoustics. I

6:50

went into the corner of a bathroom

6:53

and did it by yourself.

6:54

How's this gonna

6:55

work? In insecure,

6:58

I'm almost talking in a bathroom. I

7:00

know we screw him up.

7:02

I would have loved you missing on a big transaction.

7:05

Why would you do that? That's funny. That's why we're

7:07

doing what you've done with your life. But

7:09

you're worried about your voice. Is that what it is? You

7:12

don't you don't think your your voice you

7:14

don't think you're up to Optimum Elmo

7:16

today because I do wanna talk Stugotz,

7:19

am I wrong in saying I find the information business

7:22

really interesting and it's hard to

7:24

dominate. And it seems like a mental

7:26

health obstacle course that you

7:28

can unplugged from shit because you gotta

7:30

be the one breaking

7:31

news. I I find what's interesting

7:34

that Jeff made a decision. He wanted

7:36

to be you, wanted to be a journalist, and

7:38

he still is, and he's a great 1. But he

7:40

realized The entire landscape

7:43

media landscape was shifting and the things

7:45

that are safe and the things that are profitable is

7:48

the information business and play by play.

7:50

And he shifted to from journalist

7:52

to information

7:53

guy, and that's pretty fascinating and did it

7:55

because he had to. You know? You

7:57

you also need to know what you are.

8:00

And aren't good at. I'm not

8:02

a, like, particularly quick

8:05

clever humorous on this

8:07

level person, and so hosting

8:09

a radio show was not an

8:11

option. And I never thought going on TV

8:13

really was an option either. I had

8:15

no background. Great head of hair though.

8:18

Yeah. And by the way, where's

8:20

Mike? Mike Ryan is always,

8:22

like, Jeff Metallark and I can't be there. Metallark

8:24

assignment. You know what? That's

8:26

so that's so disappoints me

8:29

because I I don't know how often

8:31

or if at all this is discussed, but Mike

8:33

Ryan apparently considers himself

8:35

a an expert

8:37

when it comes to spotting hair

8:40

dye. And other such things.

8:42

And I wanted him to see my hair in

8:44

person so he could do a full examination.

8:47

Suspitiously dark, not a gray hair on

8:49

there, suspiciously dark. I

8:51

I will fully admit that

8:54

I have taken hair PEDs

8:56

because when I was twenty five years old,

8:59

I saw that I was losing it. And if I

9:01

take these headphones off, my ears will

9:03

spurt out like satellite dishes and

9:05

evolve me, like, it's

9:08

not a good thing. But this

9:10

is as natural color wise

9:12

as it gets. I swear on my children

9:14

and and Mike, I want time

9:16

took like a close-up photo of my

9:18

hairline and sent it to

9:20

Mike. It looks really good. It's breathtaking.

9:22

Thank you very much. Person,

9:23

honestly, then on

9:24

TV. I am odd. This man

9:26

is a journalistic pillar. And

9:28

I am awed by the head of hair that sits

9:30

atop

9:31

it. I need your recipe too for that

9:33

Stugotz

9:34

it all back, man. Like I I mean, I don't think

9:36

it's gonna work for you. But

9:38

that's

9:39

I'm just Is there I'm

9:41

just

9:41

immune right into it. Passion,

9:45

honestly, because this it's

9:47

interesting to me because, journalistically, I

9:49

couldn't handle it. When I was twenty two years old,

9:51

the reason I went to long form writing is because

9:53

I was sobbing in a newspaper bathroom

9:55

-- Mhmm. -- because I was ill equipped

9:58

to compete with others for information.

10:00

I was not good at it, whatever it is that the

10:02

relationship building is. I was too young. Didn't

10:04

know how to do it. Almost had a nervous

10:06

breakdown. Like, like, it almost

10:08

broke me because I couldn't figure out

10:10

how to do that job. I don't understand

10:13

how you made that evolution. I know 1 understand that

10:15

survival is important. AND I WILL SAY AGAINST

10:17

GUTS, EIGER'S CUTTING AT DISNEY. ESPN.

10:20

IS MAKING CUTS. THEY SAY NO SECRET COUS.

10:22

NO 1 SAFE. BUT THIS DUEZ SAFE

10:24

and there aren't a lot of people that's safe and he's safe because

10:26

the information because he evolved. Like, he could have

10:28

been a dinosaur clinging to journalism.

10:30

I'm gonna write long form and he would have been ended.

10:33

He'd be gone I wouldn't have a job or

10:35

someplace else to get one.

10:37

Isn't it just relationships? Isn't

10:40

it just understanding

10:42

people? And and think it's interesting

10:44

you say that when you were in your twenties, how

10:47

much this was breaking you? Because if I

10:49

tried to do this in my twenties, I

10:52

don't think I would have been able to. I

10:54

don't think I understood, you know,

10:56

how much life had I lived at that

10:58

point? I think that's what it is. You

11:01

just have to understand people

11:03

and understand what's important to them

11:05

and be a chameleon. Like,

11:08

you have to fill a role for every

11:10

different person in your

11:12

life, whether that's family, friends,

11:15

or in this case sources. And

11:18

some people wanna know information

11:21

that I'm hearing and information

11:24

about their team what people

11:26

are saying. Some people just

11:28

wanna bullshit about the game.

11:31

Some people wanna talk about contracts

11:33

or the collective bargaining agreement And so

11:35

you need to be fluent in all these different

11:37

languages. But they love to talk to you.

11:39

Right? Because it's the relationship business.

11:41

Ultimately, what you have done is

11:43

and this is it's harder. The

11:46

criticisms that have come the way of wage

11:48

or any of the insiders where you're in bed

11:50

with the

11:50

agencies, which

11:52

I honestly I don't think those

11:54

are fair. I I really really

11:56

do not. I have an endless

11:59

amount of respect for the work that

12:02

Adrian and Adam do. Because

12:04

sometimes sometimes the

12:06

job puts us in these positions

12:08

where it's a really treacherous thing

12:11

to try and navigate. And I

12:13

think that all of us all

12:16

of us have those difficult

12:18

moments, those difficult decisions to

12:20

make and we do the best that

12:22

we can, where it's it's not like

12:24

anyone sitting there saying, you know what,

12:27

I'm I'm gonna be corrupt. That's the

12:29

plan. No. That that's not it

12:31

at all. It's the balance and

12:33

striking that balance and hey, like,

12:36

reality, we all screw

12:38

up sometimes and we all do things we

12:40

look back on and regretting. I

12:42

have plenty of those and my

12:44

goal is, okay, how do I learn from

12:46

them? And how do I get better

12:48

next time? It's, you know, show him, man. We

12:50

have different goals

12:53

He's just he's just trying to be a decent person.

12:55

Like, that's where it starts. Right? Everyone loves Shefter.

12:58

I don't mean that as criticism of

13:00

Shefter. I really wish him. Yeah. They I mean,

13:02

they should. And I I think

13:05

plenty of people put

13:07

in this role in this

13:09

position with the pressure that it has. And by

13:11

the way, Adam and Adrian's pressure

13:13

is exponentially larger than

13:16

mine because the sports that they

13:17

cover.

13:18

Don't worry about

13:19

them. Yeah. They yeah. Hold

13:21

on. We come back with the bassin after this.

13:26

This

13:26

episode is brought to you by Dollar Shave Club.

13:28

Dollar Shave Club's great selection of razors

13:30

is available on Amazon and dollar

13:32

shave Club dot com. But sometimes, shaving

13:35

can't wait. I got great news for you. Dollar Shave

13:37

Club is also available in stores near

13:39

you. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were going

13:41

to a wedding and I had a little bit of scruff and she

13:43

looked at me after I put on my soon she was like,

13:45

you gotta shave. No matter your shaving needs,

13:47

Dollar Shave Club has the right razors for

13:50

you. Head to a nearby store and grab a

13:52

six blade razor for a close smooth

13:54

shave. Its six stainless steel blades

13:56

are perfect for short or thin hair and

13:58

comes with a precision trimmer blade, feels

14:00

hard to reach places. Or you can grab

14:03

the trusty four blade razor perfect for

14:05

long or coarse hair. It has four

14:07

optimally spaced blades for easy

14:09

rinsing and slaying the coarse's hairs.

14:11

Dollar Shave Club has high quality razors

14:13

with a diamond grip heavyweight handle which

14:15

feels great in your hand while you shave. So

14:17

when something comes up, and shaving can't wait,

14:20

find Dollar Shave Club razors in a store near

14:22

you, Dollar Shave

14:23

Club, Epic Razors, EpicALLY Affordable

14:25

in stores and online.

14:28

Don Batard. A recreation of

14:30

the iconic scene in a few good

14:32

men as told by Chris

14:34

Cote.

14:34

Spool guy colonel Joseph, did you

14:37

order the code red? You don't have to answer

14:39

that question. I'll answer the question. You

14:41

want answers? Think I'm entitled to

14:43

them. You want answers? What the

14:45

truth? Ah, you can't handle

14:47

the truth. This

14:53

is the live at our show with

14:55

the Stuttgart.

15:01

I can't believe, legitimately can't

15:03

believe how I

15:05

mean, Greg Cody is

15:08

now PUSHING

15:09

AROUND. JEFF PASSEN AND IT'S OUT OF RESEMPTMENT

15:11

FOR HAVING HIS SEAT STOLEN.

15:13

WELL, HE'S SITTING IN A PRODUCER'S CHAIR, SO

15:15

HE'S TRYING TO PRODUCES show me. Well, he doesn't

15:18

like that he's been demoted, and now he is

15:20

insisting that Jeff Passon

15:22

break news as Elmo. We

15:27

need news on baseball information.

15:31

It's actually funny guy. Yeah. 5555

15:33

dollars, you know, five dollar, five dollar,

15:35

six. No. No. No. No. No.

15:36

No. No. No. No. No.

15:36

No. It's

15:41

six dollars. Stugotz I got a text

15:44

during the break. Mhmm. Let me read

15:46

it. K. As

15:47

almost. sits

15:48

very excited.

15:49

He's telling me this is gonna be breaking news. Hold

15:52

on a second.

15:53

Breaking news. Greg

15:55

Cody is angry. Yes.

16:00

Well, he's he sees through you because

16:02

you've been aggressive in the way that you

16:04

have not liked that he took your chair

16:06

here. Yeah.

16:06

I tried to hide it. I'm surprised my

16:08

anger is that visible on my face.

16:11

That's clear.

16:14

You arguing with Elmo is something that

16:16

IIIII

16:18

wish I had a passable or a passing

16:20

el Elmo, but I don't. I can't even

16:23

I wish you could and

16:32

hurt. That caught me. Wait to improv, dad.

16:39

Just actually got hurt. We're

16:41

gonna update our tournament. Our looks

16:43

like tournament in a

16:44

second. I don't see any of the Jeff passing.

16:46

He had a couple in this tournament.

16:48

Yeah. There were some good ones. He looks

16:50

like he wears a promissory ring, I think, was one.

16:52

I'd say

16:52

that's in this east region. It's been eliminated.

16:54

Marquette,

16:55

Okay. It's gone. That's too bad. Supposed

16:57

Williams. Let's that

17:02

He's not there. He's not at the Marquette

17:04

anymore. Oh, god. I told you yesterday

17:06

where he is. Where is he? I have no

17:08

idea. I told you yesterday, why

17:10

don't

17:10

you listen to us? Virginia

17:13

Tech. Muggies. It

17:14

was one stop ago. That was my we're on the

17:16

we're on the lineage. Yes, sir. Are they still alive?

17:18

Is

17:19

Buzz alive? He no.

17:21

He's gotten eliminated from the tournament. But

17:23

keep

17:23

I told you yesterday, if you're gonna keep doing

17:25

this, it. I know nothing about where

17:27

the college coaches are except for the vampire

17:29

who's now at

17:30

St. John's for six years. Yukon. Keep

17:33

guessing.

17:35

You can't still there.

17:36

You know, it's

17:37

eating hall. Alright.

17:38

Texas a and m is where What is Williams

17:40

is now? Oh, the yaggies.

17:43

Yes. Useless. Thank you. You used

17:44

to drop that, Rod? Yes.

17:46

He did. That's his real house. It's all he's

17:48

got left. It's

17:50

it's all it's the only weapon he's

17:52

got. I

17:55

do.

17:55

Kansas State is a three

17:57

seed in the east. Kansas State

17:59

has advanced. That means and

18:02

I thought this one was

18:03

weak. I don't like that this is advanced. A lot of

18:05

good ones have advanced. This one didn't feel great

18:07

to me, give it to me.

18:08

Chris with a hand looks like his favorite dinosaur

18:11

is the tesars. That's

18:14

just a fact. Number

18:17

six, Kentucky is gone

18:19

from the

18:19

tournament. That means this is gone. Brian

18:22

Daybell looks like the dad in the Lipitor commercial

18:24

who turns from watching his ears, looks

18:27

at the camera and says, I take

18:29

a video.

18:31

That is good. It does. Home Depot

18:34

and pull which one's better? Which one's the better

18:36

day ball? The Home Depot employee that has Dunbar

18:38

support?

18:39

Home Depot. That that one for me is much better.

18:41

I've seen a million Brian Daybells at Home

18:43

Depot. I mean, when he turns to the camera and says, hey,

18:45

looks over the shoulder, you see the kids playing in the playground?

18:48

I take it for them. Yeah. But

18:50

I'm just on the fourth wall. I'm just on the documentary.

18:53

Put it on the poll, please. Have you seen a million

18:55

Bryant Day Bulls at Home Depot?

18:59

Number eleven, Providence is gone. That means

19:01

this is gone. Jim Harbor looks

19:04

like the guy that will lick his finger

19:06

before turning the page on his

19:07

candle. Mhmm. And

19:10

number fourteen Montana state, this

19:12

is very inside. Ed Mangan,

19:15

the source of great controversy NFL

19:17

field director destroyed by

19:19

the sad father George Toma in a bombshell

19:21

interview that got nowhere. Because

19:23

there was a ninety four year old man railing against

19:26

the NFL and nobody seems to care that the NFL

19:28

played the Super Bowl and those human beings kept

19:30

slipping on a field that was filled with corruption

19:32

nobody cared. Roger Gerdau, five hundred

19:34

million. Okay. Very good.

19:37

Ed Mangan, this looks

19:38

like. Ed Mangan was the NFL field

19:41

director Who is Montana

19:43

State the fourteenth team? It looks

19:45

like the president of a homeowners association

19:47

who refuses to let people play pick a ball

19:49

on attendance got very

19:51

inside. Pass in the

19:53

world baseball classic has has

19:55

been a joy to watch it strange to me. We've

19:58

been laughing for a week about

20:00

The fact that emotion and fun brought to baseball

20:03

makes this tournament feel somehow

20:05

even to the players, this is so much

20:07

better than repressed major league baseball. It's

20:09

weird. I don't think I've seen a lot like it in my

20:11

lifetime.

20:13

It's very Miami. Is

20:15

it not? Like, I'm so

20:17

glad the games are down here. I

20:20

a game like the Dominican Republic in Venezuela,

20:23

I would have typically covered,

20:25

but my family was in town, and I brought

20:27

my wife and kids to the game because

20:29

I wanted them to understand, hey,

20:33

baseball is different in

20:36

other countries. And the winter

20:38

ball vibe that exists where

20:40

there is cheering all game

20:42

long and whether a chance and where

20:44

it's so much more like a, I don't know,

20:47

a college football atmosphere, it

20:49

can exist in baseball and it's

20:51

just a matter sometimes. I think of the fans

20:54

seeing it and understanding that the

20:56

behavior of fans at baseball games,

20:58

which is polite, maybe.

21:01

Like, I I don't even I don't even know how to describe

21:03

it, but repress. Yeah. Repress

21:05

is the right way, actually. It

21:08

doesn't need to be that way. And I think

21:10

I I think the players have started

21:13

this it started though with base ball in the

21:15

fifties, people wearing fedoras and suits

21:17

to the games. We

21:18

only get so far from

21:19

-- Damn. -- I don't know the ballpark.

21:20

I actually still wear suits. To the game.

21:22

So I'm

21:23

not in the present. That's all my man. I

21:26

meant the fans. In fact, Jack. I meant

21:28

the fans. You'd never bust stands

21:30

filled with people in suits and fedoras.

21:34

I know.

21:36

Imagine me going to a Marlin's game in suit.

21:38

I can't

21:39

imagine it. I'm a hundred percent You

21:41

should do. Listen. I wanna do the

21:43

season. Just sit in section seventeen

21:45

row twelve in a PEOPLE

21:47

ARE GOING TO BE SO CONFUSED. HE'S GOING TO BE EMPTY.

21:49

THERE'S GOING TO

21:51

BE NOBODY IN THE OREALS. Reporter: GAME

21:53

IN JUNE AGAINST THE

21:54

OREALS. And a top hat, though. Right?

21:56

You gotta go fully formal. Right?

21:57

You gotta look like I'm in. Mister Peanut.

21:59

Do you not? Pass

22:02

in, The World Baseball Classic,

22:04

when it goes up against Steve Cohn,

22:06

and I don't want my reliever to

22:10

miss the year, I don't

22:12

like this thing. One

22:14

business is coming up against the growth and the

22:16

global growth of another business because they've got

22:18

baseball never gets to have this thing on this on

22:21

its hands. Oh, look, here's a fun exciting thing

22:23

that in five years can become actually

22:25

internationally phenomenal

22:27

phenomenal with half televisions in Japan

22:29

watching a game. The tonight might

22:32

be the most watched baseball game

22:34

ever played. If you think about that,

22:37

you know, they're gonna be more than fifty percent

22:39

of TVs in Japan tuned in. And I think

22:41

there's gonna be a not insignificant number

22:44

of American households that are watching it. The

22:45

last of us

22:49

You know, like, I I'm not gonna

22:51

sit here and say this is gonna rate like an NFL

22:54

game. It's not. But I

22:56

I really do think and maybe

22:58

I'm just in my little baseball bubble here.

23:00

I really do think people are getting interested

23:02

in this. And the game last night is a perfect

23:04

example. Like, it was a truly

23:07

great baseball game in March.

23:09

You never see that. And this

23:12

to me is a test of, okay, what

23:14

is baseball's resonance? Because

23:17

baseball is a sport that has gone

23:19

from the national pass time to

23:22

extremely local. Like you

23:24

root for your team more than

23:26

you do consume the

23:27

actuals. It's a regional sport. Baseball

23:30

is somehow has somehow squandered

23:32

all of its national

23:33

pastime, and it's a regional sport that

23:35

exists for cable television dollars. Yeah.

23:37

And and Stugotz, you know, cable

23:40

television dollars are going away.

23:42

Like, the failure of the RSNs, more

23:45

than half the teams in baseball now,

23:47

illustrate that. Major league baseball would

23:49

wants to do is get

23:51

a national package together like the

23:53

NFL has and yet it's going

23:56

to run up into the yankees and the red Sox who

23:58

own their own networks saying we're

24:00

not gonna be a part of that. We're doing just fine

24:02

by ourselves. And so there's

24:04

a conflict in baseball. You know,

24:06

what what does baseball wanna be?

24:09

Versus what is it capable of

24:11

becoming? And I think an event

24:13

like this, you know, I I wrote something

24:15

that I think is going up on ESPN dot

24:18

com within the next hour. And it's

24:22

okay to love the

24:24

world baseball classic and

24:26

major league baseball simultaneously. These

24:28

are not two things that are competing with

24:31

one another. There are two things that should be

24:33

symbiotic. They they should be feeding

24:35

off of each other. Because I know this, talking

24:38

with Shohae O'Tani last night, after

24:41

the most meaningful game he has

24:43

played on American soil and

24:45

seeing the utter joy in

24:48

his face. Like, This is a

24:50

guy who is normally just

24:52

so I mean, it's it's almost boring

24:54

by

24:54

design. Right. He's a monster robot.

24:57

A monster robot babe Ruth.

24:59

Who can can he's better

25:01

than

25:02

Baber. He can but he could reach America.

25:04

Oh, that's

25:04

awesome. Exactly there. Yes.

25:07

Show him.

25:07

Turn it is better than Batard.

25:10

Flip it. I mean, I agree.

25:14

What? And not only do I

25:16

agree, I would say that what he

25:18

is saying, to see

25:20

personality, to reach across the

25:22

bridge, the cultural bridge,

25:25

the the translations bridge,

25:27

the language barrier, I

25:29

was stunned to see him joyous I'm

25:32

like, oh, that's what that looks

25:33

like. He he flexed. He's huge. Like,

25:35

I've never seen him flex out. Yeah. It

25:37

was like the it was like the program went haywire

25:40

when he hit that

25:40

double. That happens when you

25:42

play for the angels. Mhmm. But Jeff, what do you think

25:44

of the timing of it? Because if I'm

25:46

Steve Cowan, I'm not happy that I've lost my

25:48

reliever to someone who's not paying

25:50

by

25:50

reliever. But

25:51

this is a regional game going up against

25:53

the growing In our whole game. I'm all

25:55

for the game. I'm not all for the game

25:57

and playing this particular tournament right

25:59

before the Major League Baseball season

26:01

season. Telling you the part of it that's interesting

26:03

to me is that Cohen is building a regional

26:05

thing with the Nets that he's doing lot of money

26:07

into, and this is where you grow

26:09

the game globally over here in this thing

26:11

that he would object to. Yeah. And

26:13

and I think if you play it in middle of the

26:15

summer, you know, you do a

26:18

NHL style All Star

26:20

or Olympic Spray Gather. If

26:22

you do that and he blows his knee out there, then

26:24

you lose your closer halfway through the season. If you

26:26

do it after the season and he blows

26:28

out, then you're gonna be missing him for

26:31

half of next season. More time to recover,

26:33

though. If you do it after the season, more

26:35

time to recover. And if he misses the first

26:37

half of the next season, perhaps

26:39

you could live with

26:40

that. As opposed to what he's living with that, which

26:42

is I'm out the entire season. Yeah. And

26:44

and I totally see the argument there

26:46

for that. The problem is the vast

26:49

majority of players are gonna have been off

26:51

a month. And we saw this during

26:53

COVID. You know, if you take a month off,

26:55

you have to reramp back up. And

26:57

if you don't take a month off, that's more

26:59

and more pictures that you're throwing, more and more

27:02

stress and strain on your elbow and your shoulder,

27:04

and more injury risk potentially. So

27:08

There's no good answer for

27:11

the timing of it. And and I think

27:13

what Major League Baseball and the organizers

27:16

of the WBC have done is

27:18

recognized that because

27:20

there's no good answer, we're not

27:22

gonna change things from where it is right

27:24

now. If there's listen, if there's an elegant solution

27:26

to

27:26

this, I'd love to hear it. I've just

27:28

yet to at this point. Jeff, you mentioned

27:31

that MLB and and the World

27:33

Baseball Classic should be allies.

27:35

It should be a symbiotic thing. But isn't

27:38

there a chance for an adversarial relationship?

27:40

And I'm imagining because of the Edwin Diaz

27:42

thing in Altuve, I'm imagining

27:44

that that some clubs may try to

27:46

actively dissuade their star players

27:48

from

27:48

playing, perhaps even contractually.

27:51

Moving forward, Yeah. The the contractual

27:53

element's gonna be tough just because I

27:55

think after talking with dozens

27:58

of players who have played in this

28:00

and unanimously hearing how much

28:02

they love it, the MLBPA would

28:05

never sign off on that. But I

28:08

I think what I was talking about was more of a fan

28:10

thing than in inside the

28:12

game thing. It's the Angry Mats fans

28:14

who are saying this is just an exhibition.

28:17

And now we haven't won a championship in

28:19

thirty five years, and you're telling me that

28:21

our best closer is or our

28:23

best relief picture is gonna be out for the year.

28:25

Why? Why? It's

28:28

it's an exhibition. Yes. Like,

28:30

if we're just factually stating what

28:32

it is, but I tend

28:34

to listen to players when it comes

28:36

to competition and

28:39

and what excites them. And

28:42

The way that players talk about the WBC

28:44

is on the very famous level

28:47

that they do the

28:47

world. The part that's fascinating to me is

28:49

Metz fan saying the players don't deserve that enjoy.

28:52

I do. I

28:55

my my my short stop shouldn't

28:57

be out there enjoying that

28:59

game. That way, when we're

29:00

gonna be

29:01

paid by the vets and part of that is

29:03

part of the revenue was coming from them

29:05

buying tickets. But the

29:07

racial undertones on this are fascinating.

29:10

What a fan

29:10

is selfish on your tone. What is what

29:13

a fan feels entitled to from ball

29:15

players that are telling you, this is a joy ish

29:17

game. I enjoy playing it over here. You

29:19

wouldn't have to pay me pay me anything to play

29:21

it over here. When I have to go play it for

29:23

you, corporate is when everything gets

29:25

ruined.

29:26

I mean, this is like the purest

29:29

form of baseball, isn't it? You

29:31

know, a couple of players

29:33

over the last few days have been saying, this

29:36

reminds them of when they were

29:38

back in high school. And

29:41

they, you know, almost all of these guys,

29:43

the Americans especially where

29:45

the baseball system is such that if you are

29:47

a great player in high school, you'll get chosen

29:50

for a select team And there'll

29:52

be a group of guys from around the country

29:54

who get together and try and figure out within

29:57

a week of time. Can we become a team?

29:59

And can we figure it out? The Japanese team

30:01

is fascinating because they went

30:03

to the Olympics together. They play exhibitions

30:05

together. They started their training

30:07

camp on February seventeenth when

30:10

the US started on March seventh and

30:12

played its first game on March eleventh. Like,

30:15

seeing the US team become

30:18

a team over the last two weeks

30:20

has been such an edifying thing

30:22

for them because this is baseball,

30:26

It has the business, but

30:28

it feels like baseball without the

30:30

business. It's

30:31

so great. There's Yeah. There's a crowd crowd

30:33

trout would be paid that way and enjoy this

30:35

and more. Oh, it's just absurd.

30:37

I mean, Mike Trout hasn't been to the playoffs since

30:40

two thousand

30:40

fourteen. And so he feels like

30:42

he's playing in meaningful games.

30:45

And Well, I bet you made the playoffs, though.

30:48

A good point as always, nice to

30:50

God.

30:54

I feel like we need to

30:56

normalize saying these scientific

30:59

terms for organs

31:02

on the air. Okay. 1 know

31:04

what? If someone takes a foul ball to the

31:07

penis, we should just say, He took

31:09

a foul ball to the penis saying. Stuttgart.

31:12

That freaky kick in him right in the cock at

31:14

doodle doo. This is the Dan Liberatar

31:16

show with the Stuttgart.

31:23

Is your bracket busted, then stay firm here

31:25

to help with their second chance bracket. Play

31:27

free during round of sixteen for a second chance

31:29

at a share of the

31:30

cash. Check it out today at draftkins dot com

31:32

slash dayform. Jeff Parson is a

31:34

perfectionist. He's destroyed right now

31:36

because he coughed into the mic. He owes

31:39

us six

31:39

dollars.

31:40

He's a

31:41

he's a professional broadcast. Do we

31:43

do Venmo on the show, or is it just cash?

31:45

You're going to have to deal with cash. Because

31:48

I was gonna

31:48

say, I I feel like cash is

31:51

cash is a big thing in the show. Venmo

31:53

is a sponsor stat of the day. There are show

31:55

sponsors. So

31:56

would you take Venmo down? We're gonna need

31:58

stat as Elmo. I think we're gonna need

32:00

a stat as Elmo so that Venmo can

32:02

get its sponsorship dollars. I think

32:04

we'll take it in sponsorship instead

32:06

of six dollars for our sponsors. Six

32:09

dollars worth of you can buy ESPN

32:11

Information Guy, Jeff Pasehn, to

32:13

give you a Venmo stat of the day

32:15

in the Elmo Voice. Do

32:17

you you have one off the top your head? Do you feel like

32:19

you have a start of the day? Or you look like you're ready

32:21

to do this? can give you the intro music

32:24

so that we can do this correctly?

32:25

I would say, let's do it. And

32:27

Mike Mike's sure he's gonna

32:28

be very jealous. Yes.

32:29

And he's gonna be mad as well.

32:31

Alright. Here we go. Start

32:33

of the day. Start of the day.

32:35

It is the start of the day. Start

32:38

of the day. Start of the day.

32:40

It is the start of the day. Start

32:43

of the day. Start of the day.

32:45

It is a start of the day. Start

32:48

of the day. Start of the day.

32:50

It is the start of the day.

33:06

One hundred point five.

33:09

The average velocity on

33:12

rocket society's fastball in

33:14

my world, baseball class.

33:17

When when did that happen? When

33:19

did he see

33:20

creatures? A hundred miles

33:22

an hour average, that is not a human

33:24

being. A human being couldn't do that a few years

33:27

ago. He's he's twenty one years old.

33:29

And he had it like, his

33:31

his backstory is utterly fascinating.

33:33

That's

33:34

it. We were talking about long form journalism. That's

33:36

the story that I want to write. Roki's Suzuki.

33:39

I was gonna I was just gonna ask you, what

33:41

one story above all others? Because you just

33:43

had a Cuban player defect

33:45

Yeah. I there are any number

33:47

of stories in this world baseball classic

33:49

that have narratives. Randy

33:51

Rosa Reyna's story is crazy. He

33:55

he is such a star. Like,

33:57

I There are

33:59

stars in baseball and I

34:01

I want players to

34:03

understand that they can be

34:05

like Randy or Rosarana. You can show

34:08

your personality. You can cross your

34:10

arms and just like

34:12

flex on the world. And it's

34:14

okay. You can wear sombrero and cowboy

34:16

boots. You can sign autographs during

34:19

pitching change. Everything

34:21

Randy and Rosarina brought to the

34:24

World Baseball Classic. Did you did you see his

34:26

his official mugshot? He's wearing

34:29

sunglasses in

34:29

it. Like, it it's just such

34:31

a a beautiful energy that

34:34

he brings. And

34:35

He's so cute and god almighty. So

34:38

Cuban.

34:39

I love it. I mean Yeah. And and

34:41

to Godson and I really can't. Is there a correlation

34:43

with him being comfortable doing that and Brian

34:46

McCann no longer being in a

34:47

game. Brian McCann is

34:50

on the team USA bench. Oh,

34:52

really? Making sure that not too much fun's

34:54

being

34:54

had. Hey, guys. Watch it. You know what?

34:56

I'm gonna ask him today about that.

34:59

Sure. That's This is all a bit too much job.

35:01

Isn't it? It's too noisy here.

35:02

Much fun for you. Everybody's

35:04

having too much fun. It needs to be

35:06

more settled down -- Yeah. -- impressed by people.

35:08

Why

35:09

why did he agree to take part in it?

35:11

The interesting part about that is we met Brian

35:14

McCann in Tahoe. Such a friendly

35:16

guy. Super duvet. He doesn't know. Looks like a guy

35:18

that would be a song. Nice. And it

35:21

is What about a diamond,

35:22

though, every So when

35:23

he's home run all of a sudden, you know what, though? It's

35:25

it's interesting because I think I think this

35:28

is baseball culture where this

35:30

whole generation of players grew up

35:33

thinking that once you reach your mid thirties,

35:35

you needed to be the harder. Like, you

35:37

needed to be the tough guy in the clubhouse, you

35:39

needed to be that person, and I

35:41

think that's starting to melt away. You

35:43

don't see as much fun

35:45

policing going on in baseball right

35:48

now. I just think it's like

35:50

baseballs in its teenage years

35:53

where you you have these expectations

35:55

that society has set out for

35:57

you. And then you know what? One day,

35:59

you're like, I'm gonna die

36:01

my hair purple. And baseball

36:04

is on its way to dying its

36:06

hair

36:06

purple. I hope I'd love to see

36:08

because there are personalities in

36:10

the sport. And there are people who

36:13

I think that American fans

36:15

can and should grow to love. Legitimately

36:18

shocked you just hit us with a fuck.

36:21

Yeah? Did

36:23

not have you as a full guy.

36:24

Oh, big time. I

36:26

think you're all stunned. This guy I

36:29

I want thirty yama. I'm not kidding.

36:31

I want as a character, Elmo

36:34

being we've gotta figure out

36:37

we've gotta do this. Dirty, crass,

36:40

Elmo is a star.

36:42

Will play bed?

36:43

That's how it started. Like,

36:45

that's how the Elmo voice Have I

36:47

ever told

36:47

you this?

36:48

Oh, no. This is gonna be a great story. You

36:50

got really mad and you're like, how do I channel this?

36:52

No. I was I

36:54

was sitting in a parking lot,

36:57

I think it was after a Chiefs game. And I live

36:59

in Kansas City, and we were stuck in traffic.

37:02

And I was in the car I'm

37:05

not gonna say how old my kids were at the time

37:07

because I probably shouldn't have been

37:09

doing this with young kids, but I wanted

37:12

to to make them laugh

37:14

and I I don't know why,

37:16

but I was like, I'm a really nice

37:19

to pass. And every

37:21

time it just got a little

37:22

rush. And

37:26

by the end, it was

37:27

a scarred forever.

37:29

Yeah. I I believe I was singing

37:31

a song and it was like,

37:32

Unappropriate. Oh my.

37:35

Chocolate chip on the bathroom floor.

37:41

Is it the Bob Saggart of baseball information?

37:44

Oh, stunning. It's a it's a

37:46

bit disorienting. I gotta be honest. It's

37:48

a bit confusing. I did not know

37:51

that he worked blue. Can we please

37:54

update a little more of our tournament east,

37:56

the east because to god's I

37:59

I'm hurt here by the three that

38:01

we lost. This was a killer

38:03

this weekend for us. But this advances, Tennessee

38:05

advances, so that means this advances.

38:10

Dan Campbell looks like a retired professional

38:12

wrestler now running for office

38:14

and running on a platform promising to

38:17

body slam tax.

38:20

That means the five seed, Duke,

38:23

is gone. This is a good one.

38:24

Dana Hobbs and looks like his kid better

38:27

make varsity this year.

38:30

You're like that. He I mean, he's that guy. That's what

38:32

he looks like. Number twelve, Oral

38:34

Roberts. Grandfather's looks

38:36

like the neighbor who won't ever talk to

38:38

you, but you can see him watching you from

38:41

his plans.

38:45

There's there's a there's a creep quotient

38:47

there. And Louisiana

38:49

number thirteen also

38:51

gone.

38:51

That rivers look like he's annoyed. His wife

38:53

volunteered him for this. Aston,

38:57

you said you've got an article dropping on ESPN

38:59

dot com. And you are a long

39:02

form writer as I've told the audience. It's

39:04

not just that you're a great information guy, which

39:06

you're great journalist, great writer. Is

39:08

it too self involved to have the

39:10

news that you break here before this drops on

39:12

ESPN dot com for Elmo

39:14

to read us a paragraph of his

39:17

story that is that will soon come out on

39:19

ESPN dot com because I imagine it sounds

39:21

like you're waxing poetic that you're going

39:23

and

39:24

grabbing, passing the writer. Because it

39:26

sounded

39:26

before. I wanna make this clarification incidentally

39:28

because Adam Schefter,

39:32

we all love him around here. Mhmm. And

39:34

I I said that I didn't

39:37

mean it as criticism when talking about

39:39

Schefter, but I have been critical of

39:41

Schefter has had some journalistic breaches

39:43

trying to keep this information stuff

39:45

alive in a way that makes me

39:47

uncomfortable to criticize because I like him

39:49

so

39:49

much. Your journalist. I'm not a

39:51

messiah, and I just want his information. I

39:54

don't care how I come about or he comes

39:56

about his

39:56

information. I want the info But what

39:58

I all I want the audience to know IS ONE

40:00

OF THE MANY REASONS I ADMIR PASEN

40:03

IS BECAUSE HE HAS NOT

40:05

FALLEN ON THE WRONG SIDE OF WHAT SOME OF

40:07

THOSE JOURNALISM BREACHES ARE and

40:09

it's hard not to because the information

40:12

business is tough. And so it's

40:14

he's doing the job in a way that's super

40:16

clean and it's hard to do it that clean and that

40:19

that doesn't make it a disparagement of Shefter

40:21

and Woege because those are dirty

40:23

games. But you don't hear

40:25

certain stuff about Passon that you hear about the

40:27

other information, guys. It's because no one

40:29

cares about me. It's okay. You

40:33

have in front of you this story which is about the

40:35

celebration of the World Baseball Classic. I

40:37

do. Do I I assume I need to do this

40:39

in Elmo. Correct? Mhmm. I Yes.

40:42

Yes. I did do it at

40:43

Elmo.

40:43

I don't want you just to read the

40:45

article,

40:46

you know. But he but this is the part of

40:48

you. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know what you're

40:50

proudest of. Well, this.

40:52

Absolutely.

40:53

Like, when it comes down to it, I feel like

40:55

I'll always be a writer. If I know

40:57

you met Elmo.

40:58

Yeah. That too. Same.

41:02

It's you know, occasionally, I'll

41:05

go and listen back to

41:07

the introduction of Elmo on

41:09

this program. And

41:12

in the moment, I was so nervous.

41:15

And I even said it on

41:16

there. I'm like, did I just screw up my

41:18

career? And you were, like, no,

41:20

you did not.

41:21

Really? I'm nervous to show a personality.

41:23

I saw

41:24

you that nine of sports that are doing it. What's

41:26

been doing? I did.

41:29

It wasn't it it wasn't nervous

41:31

to show personality. I think it was nervous

41:33

to be seen as frivolous because

41:35

this is such a serious

41:37

job. And there's an archetype

41:40

for it. And Adam and Adrian

41:42

do it so well. They're

41:44

so polished on television. They're

41:47

so good with the information that

41:49

the standard they said, it's like how

41:51

aragon to my to to think

41:54

that I should do it any differently than

41:57

like these pillars at the company. The

41:59

these people who have been doing it far longer

42:01

than I have.

42:02

Wodgwood than I have. Yeah. Well, the

42:04

impersonation would Wodgwood do, though. I

42:07

I am I have no idea. III

42:10

That's amazing, though. I I'm stunned to

42:12

hear you say that. So you didn't believe

42:14

that your character on television polished

42:16

information guy was allowed

42:18

to be fun. I

42:19

mean, it's not that it was I wasn't allowed

42:22

to be. It's that maybe I didn't have

42:24

the confidence to think that I would be the

42:26

one to go and do it or that I was the

42:28

one worthy enough to go

42:30

out there and try and break a mold

42:32

that had been as successful

42:34

for as long as it had. So maybe that

42:36

says more about me than it does anything else.

42:39

It's an odd

42:39

fear for you to have can we

42:41

not agree on that? No. I

42:43

don't think it's an odd fear for him to have Do you

42:45

imagine Tom

42:46

Broker coming on the air and doing Elmo?

42:48

That'd be very odd. Wouldn't it? Just

42:51

being

42:51

here using a complaint, buddy.

42:53

You are making Jeff Pass and Tom Brokeraw

42:55

with all due respect to Jeff Pass.

42:57

That's what

42:57

Jeff wanted to be.

42:58

So I just had a list. I understand that,

43:00

and I understand why Jeff would be nervous

43:02

to do it originally, but

43:04

He didn't burst into the

43:06

singing the song. Elmo takes

43:08

a shit on the back of the floor.

43:10

He was just doing a character. He wasn't

43:13

working as dirty

43:14

Elmo. It's it's all because my

43:16

Sean Connery was so Batard

43:18

that was I remember that. It was hard to be. It

43:20

was terrible. Oh, so you said I do oh, I

43:22

see. So you offered us a different impersonation.

43:25

The other one was

43:26

bad. Yes. And and already, like,

43:28

you you guys