I searched the sub and saw a few mentions of this when it first happened, but figured I’d pull it together in one place.

Back in 2024, during a Cubs–Reds game, Pat was handed a mildly amusing note about a connection between Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo and the guitarist Buckethead. On its own, it’s not much of a story. But Pat, being Pat, made it far funnier than it had any right to be. I heard it at the time, laughed, and moved on.

Then last year, the same story came back. At least twice. Treated as if it were new. Deja vu for me. I thought I was going crazy.

My very speculative guess: Zach is a Buckethead fan and keeps pushing it on the air. If not that, just I guess just chalk it up to Zach being Zach.

Anyway, I recorded and edited all the Buckethead bits together. Partly because it’s January and I miss Pat and Ron. Mostly because it’s such a good example of Pat’s humor and timing, and the dynamic in the booth. I love how he grows increasingly a little more sarcastic as the story goes on.

I posted the audio on my site. Feel free to download the MP3s if you want to listen.

8 comments

  1. I remember catching the tail end of one conversation. Pat kept making fun of the name Buckethead and picked on Zach in his normal way. I hadn’t heard the beginning and just figured they were off the rails in the middle of a long season 😃.

  5. I love the running jokes. There was one a few seasons back about Pat using a ginormous ziplock bag to bring his sandwiches in.

  6. I developed a workflow for recording the game audio and quickly getting good transcriptions made with searchable text, so I hope to have more posts like this once the season starts. It seems like there’s something funny and lightly noteworthy that happens at least once a game.

  7. I want Zach to go more into Buckethead lore and getting Pat and Ron’s reactions to it the nuttier it goes. “And then Buckethead wanted changes to his Guns n’ Roses contract, but since he doesnt talk, his representation is a puppet named Herbie that he controls and voices. So theres all these important people from Geffen records having to sit in a meeting addressing a puppet”

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