It was the mediocre start that a 3-3 opening home stand would indicate and with Zach Eflin on the shelf and the bullpen uncertainly, Luke Jones and Nestor get Baltimore Orioles fans ready for the road in Pittsburgh and Chicago and talk some April Fools\u2019 hijinks and Sidd Finch amidst the early spring weather reports.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles\u2019 first homestand, highlighting Trevor Rogers\u2019 strong performance and the need for improvement from the rest of the rotation. They noted the team\u2019s 3-3 record, emphasizing the importance of Rogers\u2019 consistency. The conversation also covered the impact of the new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system, its positive reception, and potential long-term effects on umpires. Additionally, they touched on the upcoming series against the Pirates and Cubs, the importance of managing the bullpen, and the challenges posed by varying weather conditions.<\/p>\n
[ ] @Nestor Aparicio \u2013 Bring and distribute Maryland Lottery\u2013branded Maryland Treasures scratch-off tickets at the Maryland Crab Cake Tour event at Faidley\u2019s in Lexington Market on Friday.<\/p>\n
[ ] @Nestor Aparicio \u2013 Plan and record ongoing discussions with Luke Jones about Major League Baseball labor issues leading up to the end of the season.<\/p>\n
[ ] @Nestor Aparicio \u2013 Schedule and host Ken Singleton and Dave Shilling as guests on the show this week to talk baseball.<\/p>\n
[ ] @Nestor Aparicio \u2013 Participate in and promote GBMC\u2019s Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event in two weeks, including talking about the event on air.<\/p>\n
Outline<\/p>\n
Orioles\u2019 First Homestand Recap and Upcoming Games<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio welcomes listeners to the show and mentions upcoming games against the Pirates and Cubs.<\/p>\n
Nestor discusses the Maryland crab cake tour and Maryland treasures scratch offs.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles\u2019 victorious finale against the Rangers and the performance of Trevor Rogers.<\/p>\n
Luke highlights Trevor Rogers\u2019 consistent performance and the need for the rest of the rotation to improve.<\/p>\n
Offensive Performance and Young Players<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the ups and downs of the Orioles\u2019 offense in the first six games.<\/p>\n
Luke mentions the contributions of young players like Dylan Beavers and Gunnar Henderson.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke talk about the potential of the lineup and the confidence boost from the win against Nathan Eovaldi.<\/p>\n
Luke emphasizes the importance of good at-bats and the need for better outfield defense.<\/p>\n
Rotation and Bullpen Concerns<\/p>\n
Luke discusses the underwhelming performance of the rotation, with only Trevor Rogers standing out.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke talk about the bullpen\u2019s overworked state and the need for better pitching from the starters.<\/p>\n
Luke mentions the potential of Kyle Bradish and the challenges faced by the bullpen.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of managing the bullpen and the potential impact of weather on pitching.<\/p>\n
ABS System and Its Impact<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the new Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS) and its impact on the game.<\/p>\n
Luke highlights the drama and engagement created by the ABS system.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke talk about the potential delay in full automation due to the ABS system\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n
Luke mentions the strategic element of managing challenges and the potential for umpires to be exposed.<\/p>\n
Historical References and Baseball Culture<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke reminisce about historical baseball references and their impact on baseball culture.<\/p>\n
Luke shares a story about Jason Kendall and Brian Giles throwing out the first pitch in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the differences in baseball consumption between pre-internet and modern times.<\/p>\n
Luke mentions the importance of baseball cards and the baseball almanac in learning about the game.<\/p>\n
Future Plans and Upcoming Events<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles\u2019 upcoming games in Pittsburgh and Chicago.<\/p>\n
Nestor mentions upcoming guests and events, including Ken Singleton and the Maryland crab cake tour.<\/p>\n
Nestor thanks sponsors and listeners for their support.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke wrap up the show, wishing listeners a happy Easter weekend.<\/p>\n
SUMMARY KEYWORDS<\/p>\n
Orioles, Trevor Rogers, bullpen, Zach Eflin, Kyle Bradish, offense, defense, Pittsburgh, Chicago, ABS system, pitch clock, strike zone, baseball history, fan engagement, weather impact.<\/p>\n
SPEAKERS<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 00:01<\/p>\n
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 task Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively getting into a weekend where the Orioles be playing in Pittsburgh. It always brings up sour memories for a man of my age, we\u2019re going to be having better memories. Next Friday, the San Francisco Giants are in town. Will be at faidleys doing the Maryland crab cake tour. It\u2019s all presented by the Maryland lottery. I will have the Maryland treasures scratch offs to give away by then. Roz has them waiting for me, so I\u2019m looking forward to that. We also had John Martin on the show earlier this week, a little baseball. We did a lot of ABS here this week, and the ups, the downs, and obviously the loss of Zach Eflin. Luke Jones joins us now after a victorious finale against the Rangers day Texas. And I don\u2019t know, Luke, we got, we got a stopper. We got, we got a dude looks that way.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 00:55<\/p>\n
Yeah. I mean, we talked about it last year. I mean, albeit they were playing out the string in the second half of the season, but Trevor Rogers was excellent. It\u2019s why Craig Albernaz tabbed him as the opening day starter. It\u2019s why he was one of the best pitchers in baseball over the second half of last year. I mean, there\u2019s always the questions of, can you back that up? Can you do it again? We\u2019ve talked a lot about the peripherals, right? He\u2019s not a guy that strikes out a ton of people. It\u2019s not the dominant ace in the traditional sense, in that way, but at a time when even in the first home stand of the season, the Orioles had a need, right? The bullpen was overworked. Zach eflin\u2019s Going to the IL Albert Suarez is coming in from Norfolk, but I think he had a 6am flight. I mean, you know, you\u2019re not sure how that day is going to go, and you need Trevor Rogers at a minimum, to give you six innings. And he was able to do that, and he pitched well, gave his team a chance to win, gave his team a chance to rest the bullpen. You know, Suarez comes in and gets the old fashioned three innings saved. But you know, Trevor Rogers just did what he did the second half of last year. It went unnoticed, because the Orioles were not in a position where they were competitive. But now you need him<\/p>\n
02:09<\/p>\n
every fifth day, right? Yeah, you\u2019re<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 02:10<\/p>\n
looking at them now where you say, hey, we\u2019ll see about the rest of the rotation. And certainly the rest of the rotation needs to be better. And I have, I still have high hopes for Kyle Bradish. I\u2019m not writing him off or down on him after one start.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 02:22<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think bass is washed up or anything either.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 02:25<\/p>\n
Yeah. I mean, like, let\u2019s, let\u2019s keep level heads about it. But at the same time, every time Trevor Rogers takes the mound since last June, even last year, the Orioles have a heck of a chance to win that day. And that\u2019s what you\u2019re looking at when you\u2019re talking about a number one, a number two and number three. Those are the guys that you they take the bump, and you feel great about your chances. And certainly on a day when the Orioles were able to knock around, Nathan evaldi, which was good to see for the offensive side, but Trevor Rogers takes the hill, you feel great about your chances. And he\u2019s two and oh, there are two legitimate wins that he earned and has pitched well, and it allowed the Orioles to finish. Let\u2019s face it, let\u2019s call it what it was. It was an underwhelming first home stand. You know, I\u2019m not going to sit here and say it was awful or disaster or anything crazy like that, but it wasn\u2019t terribly impressive. But it allowed them to finish up at three and three rather than two and four. That allowed them to salvage a game of this series and avoid a sweep. So you regroup and you move forward, going to Pittsburgh, but yeah, Trevor Rogers doing, what a stopper doing what an ace needs to do in that situation. Dare I<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 03:34<\/p>\n
say every night, it\u2019s a different star. That\u2019s the magic of Oreo baseball, but bottom of the order. I mean, cows are hitting the ball, right? Like Jeremiah Jackson, you know? But waiting on gunner Henderson so far.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 03:49<\/p>\n
Yeah. I mean, it\u2019s, look, it\u2019s six games. I mean, if we\u2019re you, and I don\u2019t talk it, talk in these terms, about six games in June or in August, but when it\u2019s the first six games, it\u2019s more magnified, right? So we know it\u2019s kind of been an up and down start for this offense. I mean, there\u2019s there\u2019s some guys that are swinging the bats Well, I mean, Dylan beavers was a guy would have said, hasn\u2019t swung the bat very well, and he had three hits and hit a home run on Wednesday afternoon. Bisayo hit a hit one almost to the batter\u2019s eye. Interestingly enough, I was watching him in batting practice the day before he hit a home run just like that in BP, except it was, oh, nine feet up on the batter\u2019s eye. I mean, you just see what kind of power that kid has. I mean, still has a ways to go in terms of pitch selection and all that. But same thing<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 04:33<\/p>\n
with mayo, he can hit, he can hit that 100 feet.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 04:35<\/p>\n
But, I mean, you know, they\u2019re young, right? I mean, especially those guys, you know, I don\u2019t say that as much about you know, Adley rocheman, who\u2019s 28 right. Gunner Henderson, who\u2019s been around for several years now. Cows are in year three. You go down the list of those guys where I say, Okay, those guys aren\u2019t as young anymore. But when you\u2019re looking at Mayo, when you\u2019re looking at beside when you\u2019re looking at beavers, I mean, bicycle and beavers still have rookie eligibility. I mean. It was the big talking point last August, why they hadn\u2019t brought him up until mid August to preserve that rookie status. But you\u2019ve got a lineup that certainly has added a couple dudes, with Pete Alonso and Taylor, Ward has really started to swing the bat after he didn\u2019t look very good his first four games. So you see the lineup, you see the potential. You see one through one through nine, least one through seven, let\u2019s say one through eight, but I think the potential is there for one through nine. And like I said, I think it was a nice confidence boost for them to do what they did against avaldi. I mean, they knocked him around after three years too late, by the way, sure. Yeah, no, I absolutely so. But that was good to see. Especially, I think, you know, we make too much of, you know, the narratives of the chemistry and vibes and all that kind of stuff, right? It\u2019s a thing, but I think a lot of times we talk about it in not so sincere terms, or we tend to be too hasty, or we tend to run with it in a positive direction, way too fast. But I do think Wednesday afternoon was one of those times where, all right, you already know you\u2019ve lost the series. It\u2019s the last game of the home stand. You know you can\u2019t have a winning home stand. Efflin is going to the i l, everyone\u2019s feeling bad for him, because everyone likes the guy, and they know his story from working his butt off all off season. So that was a situation where, if you\u2019re Craig Albernaz, I think you were looking to see, okay, how did these guys come out and play on Wednesday? Right? How did they come out? How\u2019s the energy level? Is it a lot? Are these guys peeking ahead to the off day on Thursday? And there\u2019s a lot of first pitch swinging, and it kind of kind of feels like getaway day, but they had good at bats. I like the approach that you saw. You know, they went the other way at times. You know that they, they really, you know, they took it to a volde, and that was good to see. And then, as we said on the pitching side, I mean, Trevor Rogers did exactly what you wanted them to do. I mean, really, the first few innings. It\u2019s funny, his pitch count ended up not looking like anything special, because he went six innings, but the first few innings, I mean, I think it was like 30 some pitches to get through the first three innings. And that had to be music to Craig Albernaz his ears, because of just where the bullpen was and knowing where your pitching staff was just five games into the season.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 07:16<\/p>\n
So Thursday off helps too.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 07:18<\/p>\n
Oh, no doubt, no doubt. I mean, and, and Suarez, like I said, he took a 6am flight out of Norfolk to get to Baltimore. He he walked into the clubhouse as open clubhouse that was ending for the media, and he goes out there and he tosses three innings. I mean, he did what Albert Suarez has done for them that he was hurt last year.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 07:37<\/p>\n
We Venezuelan businessman is<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 07:39<\/p>\n
what he is. But he comes in and what do you need? I still remember vividly. Remember the day that Grayson Rodriguez, we thought was going to be making a start in Toronto two years ago. It was right after the trade deadline. If you remember, he got scratched, had the lad issue. Albert Suarez on no notice ended up I think he tossed five or six innings that day. I mean, he just whatever they need. He gives it to him. And what do they need on on Wednesday afternoon? Well, Rogers gives him six you know, you don\u2019t want to push Rogers too hard in his second start of the year, Suarez comes in and gives the bullpen the day off, right? Allows them to reset their pitching staff as much as, as much as you can right? So that was good to see, but I just think collectively, it was, you know, wasn\u2019t a perfect performance. They still, still seeing issues with the outfield defense, which is something that has been disappointing to me. It\u2019s funny, for all the talk about the defense, so much of it was centered around Kobe mayo. He\u2019s been one of the bright spots defensively, but it\u2019s been choppy otherwise. But they just, you know, other other than that Wednesday, they just, they had their cleanest Performance of the Year overall, right? They hit the ball, and they pitched well. And you know, the defensive lapses were at a minimum, not you know, Tavares through to the wrong base at one point and allowed the the runner to advance the second. You know, when it\u2019s trying to get a guy out at third, it just, you know, wasn\u2019t, wasn\u2019t a good baseball play. That\u2019s, that\u2019s the those are the kind of things that bug me more than you know, if someone bobbles a ball, or misses a ball, something like that, throw to the right base, nowhere to throw. Know where you\u2019re going with it. That was something I didn\u2019t like seeing. But I would also say, I mean, that was Tavares first start of the year, right? I mean, he hasn\u2019t been out there like the other guys, so not excusing it, but I understand it, I suppose, a little bit more in that instance, but Henderson<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:31<\/p>\n
threw the wrong base.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 09:32<\/p>\n
I mean, yeah, they\u2019ve had, they\u2019ve had a little, they\u2019ve had some of that. And, like I said, I\u2019m not expecting this defense to be Gold Glove caliber. I mean, they don\u2019t really have anyone who fits that mold, but I do want to see it be better. I want to see rushman maybe, yeah. I mean, and I just<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:50<\/p>\n
think if you\u2019re asking me to give me a guy that\u2019s more the most reliable defender they have that I know of, I don\u2019t know enough about warden and, yeah, and, and Alonzo. I mean. Other than looking at their stats, and that doesn\u2019t, that doesn\u2019t mean anything to me. I mean, decision making, it\u2019s like speed and stealing bases are two different<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 10:06<\/p>\n
things too. Sure, sure. Yeah. I mean, Alonzo is known for being really good scooping balls at first base, but it doesn\u2019t have great range, so he\u2019s a polar bear. Yeah, right, right, exactly. But in rochman\u2019s case, I think from a from a standpoint of handling the pitching staff, I\u2019d agree with you, but he doesn\u2019t throw great, right? I mean, certainly doesn\u2019t remind you. I mean, I wouldn\u2019t even put him in Matt weeders category, weeders pre elbow surgery, weeders who had a candy weeders had a cannon. And then obviously, you know, after he had the Tommy John surgery, not so much, but, but yeah. I mean, I think that\u2019s I\u2019m not surprised by what I\u2019ve seen from the defense, but I have been disappointed because, you know, it\u2019s been a little bit too much of the throw into the wrong base, not knowing where to go with the ball. Again, I get it. Someone just makes a bad throw, or someone boots a ball, those things are going to happen. Okay, and I understand this isn\u2019t going to be an elite defense, but it needs to be better than it\u2019s been the last couple years. There\u2019s no question about that. And the thing that I\u2019ll continue to say, and this is where, you know, I\u2019m not, it\u2019s not a commentary on Craig Albernaz, at least not yet. But one thing the organization likes to talk about so much is how, how great an athlete all these guys are. Well, if that\u2019s the case, and I don\u2019t even necessarily disagree with that overall sentiment, let me see, let me see a little bit crisper defense. Then, you know, I mean, get, get me to get me to a place where that can say this defense is average, right, just middle of the pack, right? Because I think that\u2019ll end up playing to a degree where you say, all right, they can still win a lot of games, right? It\u2019s not going to be their biggest strength. It\u2019s not going to be their calling card, but it\u2019s not going to cost them games either. So that\u2019s, that\u2019s an area, you know, if there\u2019s a couple things that I take away from the first home stand, you know, that\u2019s something that has been underwhelming, even though I\u2019m not shocked that it\u2019s been something that hasn\u2019t looked great. You know, the rotation has to be better, right? The first time through the rotation. I mean Rogers, and that\u2019s kind of sort of it. I mean, Boz, if you take away the one inning, pitch pretty well. But you know, Bradish wasn\u2019t great, Bassett was bad, and effluents hurt, right? So, so I guess there\u2019s only one way to go, but up for the rest of these guys after Rogers, who pitched well his second start. So but at the same time, I\u2019ll go back to what I said to you the other day, as we\u2019re kind of assessing this first week of Orioles baseball, really nothing other than the efflin injury right where now your depth has already taken a hit. There\u2019s nothing here that warrants panic, or anything that I was overly concerned about, that I wasn\u2019t already concerned about, right? I was already talking about the bullpen. I was already talking about the defense that said it wasn\u2019t a terribly impressive opening home stand either, right? I mean three and three. I mean the rate, the, you know, the Rangers, they can pitch, I\u2019ll say that, but they\u2019re certainly not a team that\u2019s viewed as the favorite in the Al West. The twins, from where they were a couple years ago are perceived to have taken a couple steps back. So, you know, you\u2019re not really, they took two out of three. But that\u2019s not something like you\u2019re, oh, wow. That\u2019s really impressive. So you know, it is what it is. It was a three and three homestand. It feels about right with the way they played. There was some good, there were some bad, there was indifferent. There\u2019s some things that need to get better. But it\u2019s baseball. And, you know, I look around, I mean, right in the Al east, look at the start, the Red Sox have gotten off too, right? I mean, you don\u2019t, you don\u2019t want to be in that territory. So yeah, would have been nice to have a winning homestand against two teams that you\u2019re not necessarily expecting to be playoff teams in 2026 but it\u2019s three and three. You\u2019re going to have lots of lots and lots and lots of three and three stretches throughout the season. So again, not anything I\u2019m overreacting to, just kind of seeing some of the things that I already had some concerns about looked concerning. And like I said, rotation, I definitely am looking for more from the rest of the rotation, not named Trevor Rogers, as we get the second<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 14:13<\/p>\n
time through, Happy Easter. Everybody out there celebrating this weekend and Good Friday and all of that good stuff, Easter, Monday, Orioles in Pittsburgh, and then Chicago on the south side to start next week. All of it brought to you by our friends at Farnan and Dermer. I\u2019m wearing the gear because my wife had the windows open around here and it\u2019s freezing. And Luke\u2019s wearing the gear because we sponsor all things sports. And tell you what Luke I had I was in Minnesota with spring scene and my wife five minutes where we were going to do radio. Six in the morning, my wife called me called and the phone rings. My wife\u2019s, you know, 1000 miles away, hey, we\u2019ve got a flood. What? So I hit Zach. It was seven o\u2019clock East Coast time. Within an hour, literally within an hour, Sean was out. He. Were fixing things up and patching it up. My pipes are 42 years old, so I had a little I had a real need for comfort, and the comfort guys, and I\u2019ll get my little hoodie string out of the way. Thornton and Dermot, they are the comfort guys. They made my wife a lot more comfortable on Wednesday. That happened for real this week. And we\u2019re really, really this is exactly why we have sponsors, and we have friends and people take care of us. When things like this happen, they really do come to your rescue. So thank you, Zach. Appreciate you. Zach was actually on the show the other day talking baseball. We talked so much ABS this week and talking about getting into things for me the first week, if I\u2019m going to helicopter 25,000 feet, not 50,000 feet, because I\u2019m not going to beat the team up at three and three in a weekend and home games the starting pitching that led to the bullpen, right? Like, yeah, we know the bullpens not, at least for now, not what we want to be featuring in the franchise. You want to feature your 18 and a half million dollar number four starter. You want to feature Zach Eflin, and now I guess Kramer will get the start in Chicago, I guess on the back end of all of this. And the good news is for Pittsburgh, Skeens pitched on Wednesday, got his five innings in, got his era under 10. You know, it\u2019s funny, I get served ads on now that I\u2019m saying it, and we\u2019re playing the pirates all week, and I\u2019ll they\u2019ll think, I\u2019m I want to fill Garner jersey with the pinstripes in it, but I get served ads for Major League Baseball. Watch schemes all year long. Watch all schemes all the time. And I\u2019m thinking they think it\u2019s Fernando mania, I guess, but he\u2019s one of the good things they have to promote and but that being said, when you go to Pittsburgh, you don\u2019t want to see him, and that\u2019s good. The oils already get a super duper, duper break by not having to see him.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 16:46<\/p>\n
Yeah, I mean, they\u2019re still going to face some guys that. I mean, Mitch Keller obviously has been around a long time. You know, it\u2019s kind of been, he was kind of their de facto ace before Paul Skeens arrived. So it\u2019s not as though they won\u2019t be challenged this weekend, but, yeah, it\u2019s, it\u2019s always a good thing when you avoid the opposition\u2019s ace. There\u2019s no doubt about that. So you mentioned Dean Kramer. It\u2019ll actually be interesting to see what they do, because they made the move. Obviously, they put efflin on the i l Kramer was optioned, right? So he\u2019s not allowed to return before 15 days, unless he\u2019s replacing an injured player. Well, they replaced Evelyn with Albert Suarez. So point is, Kramer is still in Norfolk for the time being. So and if I\u2019m doing the math correctly, unless they have another il situation, he\u2019s actually not going to be eligible till the end of next week.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 17:36<\/p>\n
So final option, right? Once he\u2019s up, he\u2019s got to stay right? Well, it\u2019s<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 17:40<\/p>\n
an option year, right? I mean, right. So they hypothetically, you can do it more than once, right? I mean, it, you can be optioned. What? They changed the rules a few years back to to kind of prevent the Norfolk shuttling, right? I mean, I mean, whatever franchise we\u2019re talking about, yeah, face Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter made a living out of doing this. But so, so he has an option year, and you can option a player up to five times within a season. I believe it is. So I\u2019m I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to be an issue. But point is, they are going to need a fifth starter in Chicago, and if I\u2019m doing the math correctly, unless I\u2019m missing something. I don\u2019t think Kramer is going to be eligible until I think it\u2019s Thursday or Friday of next week. They have an off day,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 18:27<\/p>\n
and then maybe Suarez would take them<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 18:28<\/p>\n
so and that\u2019s the thing. I think, all things being equal, if you\u2019re asking Craig Albernaz how they\u2019re kind of filling out their plans in pencil right now, the idea would be, maybe Suarez goes that day, you know, you\u2019re going into an off day. Can he give you four or five? You know, give you at least four, let\u2019s say, and you have a little bit of a bullpen game. Obviously, they could make a move. I mean, let\u2019s face it, yaromil Geraldo, for example, is on very shaky footing right now. In terms of, if you need a fresh arm, you option him, and you don\u2019t think twice about it, right? So, and you\u2019re also not<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 19:04<\/p>\n
playing in Seattle this week either, right, right?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 19:06<\/p>\n
So, so I So, I think all things being equal. First of all, you know, you\u2019re hoping that Bradish baz and Bassett pitch well over the weekend, to have yourself in a position where the bullpen is not, I mean, not throwing 100 pitches like they did on, what was it Sunday? I think it was or 80 some pitches like they did on Monday night. So you don\u2019t want to have those types of days, but I think if you kind of look at it, Suarez is the kind of guy that can go out there and give you a competitive four or five innings and give you a chance to win that day. So that said they\u2019re also, you know, if you\u2019re desperate, there\u2019s probably another scenario where, you know, someone goes on the on the shelf with some kind of arm issue, because they\u2019re pitchers, and they\u2019re always, you know, you can always find something, but it\u2019ll be interesting to see how that plays out.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 19:57<\/p>\n
But weather\u2019s weird this time of year, dude, like so. Cold as it was Thursday in Baltimore, and as warm as it was on Wednesday. And then we get into the weekend, Pittsburgh, 76 Friday, 80 Saturday, 66 Sunday, 49 on Monday. So get the hell out of there. I mean, it might be a little I mean, Chicago might be a mess by the time they get there, but the hot and cold part of this really like even Bradish taking the ball in the shadows last week when it was 40 degrees less than it was the day before the cold. Thing\u2019s a real factor for pitching and hitting, and the fact that these dudes have been in Florida for eight weeks and Wednesdays, what you\u2019re looking for is very, very ideal day to go play baseball on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 20:39<\/p>\n
It was beautiful. Yeah, no question. I mean, it\u2019s, it\u2019s something you have to deal with. I mean, it\u2019s, I it\u2019s not quite as as drastic as when you talk about the NFL, where teams, you know, when you talk about teams that play in warm weather, or teams that have a dome, and then they\u2019re playing a a January playoff game in 20 degree temperature, but the elements are can be an issue this time of year. I mean, it\u2019s funny.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 21:01<\/p>\n
You mentioned that hang on a second Tuesday night, 37 degrees in Chicago, yeah. I mean, so that\u2019s going to be the night that Rogers gets the ball. Yeah, yeah. I\u2019m saying, like, if you\u2019re looking ahead, it\u2019s gonna be cold as hell on Tuesday in Chicago. It is. It\u2019s gonna feel like winter baseball. Well, I left Minnesota. I saw Springsteen the other day. Was 72 the day before I got there. It was in the 50s that they always there. It\u2019s not bad. Minnesota. They got six inches of snow overnight, you know. And I\u2019m thinking they had their opener. I mean, they\u2019re gonna get snowed on it Target<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 21:31<\/p>\n
Field, yeah, yeah, well, but Rogers will go Monday, right? Because they only have four starters right now. And, you know, they have the they have the off day Thursday, so that would keep him on regular 47<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 21:41<\/p>\n
in Chicago on Monday. Oh yeah, a ball<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 21:43<\/p>\n
me right there. I mean, there you go. But no, I mean, it\u2019s a challenge, like the point I was making. I mean, it\u2019s not, it\u2019s not something you talk about to the degree where you\u2019re talking about dome teams or warm weather teams in the NFL when they have to play in 30 degree weather in December or January. But it can be a factor. It can be a challenge. There\u2019s no question about that. So it\u2019s funny, you mentioned the forecast in Pittsburgh this weekend, where I remember when the Orioles went there two years ago, and it was almost the exact tapes, exact same time in the schedule, and it was in the 40s. I mean, I think Grayson Rodriguez made a start, and it was, I<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 22:19<\/p>\n
had friends that went up there for those games. It\u2019s like, man, dude, that was brutal.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 22:23<\/p>\n
I mean, it\u2019s whether you\u2019re thinking it\u2019s going to be Raven Steelers. I also take you to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 22:27<\/p>\n
this weekend. You already sent me been once this year, so I need to go again. That\u2019s right,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 22:31<\/p>\n
Easter weekend and have a family wedding on good pizza.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 22:34<\/p>\n
We had at the amarinos place in the press. We had a good time in Pitts. Good time.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 22:39<\/p>\n
Everything about it was fine until Tyler.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 22:41<\/p>\n
You know what I mean? So, I mean, somebody put a meme up that they corrected the kick. Did you see that? I did. I assume<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 22:49<\/p>\n
there was some AI or just<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 22:50<\/p>\n
some very John Harbaugh, still the coach, if that happens.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 22:54<\/p>\n
Or, according to Steve Basti, for a week, right? But, but yeah. I mean, it right down to having a horrible like Pat Randy Brown on the back or whatever. It was funny to see. In fact, my pastor said that to me, of all people,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 23:07<\/p>\n
but he\u2019s a Steelers fan. He is, he is, he\u2019s good. Happy Easter pastor.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 23:13<\/p>\n
Good man, though, absolutely so. But yeah, I mean, it\u2019s this time of year is very interesting in that way, and that\u2019s why it is fascinating, from a standpoint of, you know, what the stats look like. You know, how guys handle the cold, all of that, you know, in I mean, my goodness, they just played five games in March, right? I mean, these schedules start earlier and earlier. It feels like, but yeah, if you\u2019re playing in Pittsburgh or Chicago or wherever it might be, you don\u2019t know what it\u2019s going to look like and and it could be that way for the most of April, right? I mean, we\u2019re not talking about being out of the woods just yet, so it\u2019s a challenge, and teams have to be there is some mental toughness that has to absolutely be a factor, right? I mean, you can\u2019t just throw your hands up and say, Oh, well, well, it\u2019s cold, right? I mean, it\u2019s cold for the other team too. I mean, you know the thing, I\u2019d say you mentioned Brad ish just as an example on Saturday. Well, Taj Bradley threw 100 miles per hour on Saturday in that weather. So, you know? I mean, it\u2019s, you never quite know, but every player is different. And, yeah, it is an adjustment when you\u2019re talking about these teams that you know for the most part, it\u2019s cozy in Florida and Arizona and spring training, and you come out of the gate and no matter what you try to do from a scheduling standpoint, I\u2019ve, I\u2019ve heard people say it for years, and I\u2019m not even saying that I disagree with the sentiment, but you hear people say, Well, why is this team opening up at home? Shouldn\u2019t they be on the road? You don\u2019t really know, right? I mean, Baltimore was perfectly pleasant on opening day, and it was beautiful on Wednesday, but was bitterly cold on Saturday, so you just don\u2019t know. But that is that extra wrinkle you throw into this time of year where you don\u2019t know exactly. What it\u2019s going to look like. So other than these climate controlled, you know, like, for example, the Orioles opening in Toronto last year when we were up there. I mean, it was cool. It\u2019s interesting.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 25:09<\/p>\n
I talked to my wife about that this week, and I said to her, you know, they always give the day after opening day off. And my wife\u2019s like, yeah, I guess I sort of knew that. And I\u2019m like, and then I\u2019m like, Well, they didn\u2019t in Toronto last year. I\u2019m like, Oh, they had a dome. Yeah, yeah. So, like, it just didn\u2019t. It didn\u2019t register to me even last year that they played two days in a row and we were there because of that reason. But you want to get into some symbol to playing ball, right? But this is, this a good little breather for them before they get to Pittsburgh, because of the offense, because of the weather because of the home stand and all of that. I mean, we\u2019re into the season. You\u2019re into the heartbeat of baseball. And I guess the observations still are about the strike zone in the abs, because it\u2019s been an adjustment, and it\u2019s not going away. I ran into Paul Molitor at the at the Springsteen show. And, you know, I\u2019ve known Paul 35 years, and BJ, sir Hoff and Polly. I\u2019m sending them pictures from their teammate, you know, friendship and all that stuff, and catching up. And he and I got to talking about the abs. And he loves baseball, man, you know, so like we were talking about it, and I mentioned to him, I think they need three and two. So here I am having a baseball conversation with a Hall of Famer in the Bruce Springsteen East Street lounge the other night, and the only thing we were talking about how the twins are going to do, or how the Orioles look, or any of that stuff, it was the game itself, and how much has changed in a week.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 26:33<\/p>\n
Yeah. I mean, we talked about it a few days ago, and we\u2019ll continue to talk about it. I mean, be remiss. We\u2019ve gotten this deep into the conversation. I mean, the Orioles technically had an ABS walk off win on Wednesday, right? I mean, which was just kind of weird to see those dynamics. But I think for me, the biggest takeaway, I expected this to impact the game. I didn\u2019t necessarily think that the entertainment element, and again, I want to pump the brakes on being too hasty in assessing that, because there is still very much a honeymoon novelty kind of feeling to the ABS right now that won\u2019t necessarily be there to the same degree in June or July, but when you have the challenge system. Because my thought on this, if you would ask me, and in fact, think I did a, I did an Orioles podcast at some point, seven weeks ago, eight weeks ago, something like that. You know, spring training was going on, but it wasn\u2019t real close to the start of the season just yet. And I made the, made the assumption at that point that, okay, this is just grease in the runway for we\u2019re going to go to full automation, and that still could be the end game, that still could be the end goal,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 27:42<\/p>\n
but I hope not.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 27:44<\/p>\n
But I wonder, I wonder, and by the way, I think I agree with you in saying I hope not, because there\u2019s still very much a skill set for catchers, even though we didn\u2019t call it pitch framing 40 or 50 years ago, there\u2019s always been that element to how you catch the ball, how you present the target. Are you stealing strikes? Are you eliminating balls for your pitcher? You know, and called balls and, you know, two inches off the off the plate, where you frame it, and suddenly, hey, the umpire thinks it\u2019s a strike, right?<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 28:19<\/p>\n
That\u2019s but you don\u2019t have to correct the umpire anymore and say, Hey, that was a ball. You just say, you tap your hat and say, That was a ball and you and right?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 28:27<\/p>\n
But my point is, if you go full automation that now disappears, right? It doesn\u2019t matter how you catch the ball anymore, because it\u2019s just going to be automated wherever it crosses the plate. You know, is it a strike or it\u2019s a ball cut and dried, no questions asked. But so I would have had that reservation to a to a point, but I do wonder now, because of the drama that\u2019s created here with tapping your cap. You know, if you\u2019re Ryan Helsley with two outs in the ninth inning, as we saw on Sunday afternoon, not as dramatic on Wednesday, because the Orioles had a five run lead. But point is, you\u2019ve got these moments where, again, the esthetic is wild to me, where every single person in the ballpark is suddenly on equal footing, looking up at the video board, waiting to see what the<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 29:14<\/p>\n
call is going to be. I told John Martin, it\u2019s like Kino. It\u2019s like when the little ball comes out<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 29:18<\/p>\n
to see what it is. So I do wonder if that element, and again, the novelty will will the novelty will subside, but it\u2019s still going to be dramatic when, when there\u2019s a challenge in a big moment in a game, in the eighth or ninth inning, there\u2019s<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 29:33<\/p>\n
no doubt about that, about three two pitches. I mean, just in general. Yeah, right.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 29:37<\/p>\n
So I do wonder if that element, that entertainment element will actually delay what I had assumed would be the inevitable of full automation. So again, we\u2019re gonna have to see how this plays out. Right? I mean, I I still want to want it to breathe, but it\u2019s hard not to look at it and say, Man, this is getting people talking, and it\u2019s getting people talking in a way that I find to be not. 98% positive. I mean, you know, we might have a scenario pop up where you\u2019d say, Oh, I don\u2019t know if we like that. You know, the esthetics of a, you know, you have a dramatic called strike three, and suddenly, now you have a challenge and like, it\u2019s, it\u2019s kind of awkward, but we\u2019ve had a few of those, even with just the replay system in general over the last decade plus. So it\u2019s interesting. It really is. Jim Palmer loves it.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 30:27<\/p>\n
Paul Motley loves it. I can two for two on that. You and I love it. I\u2019ve had a half a dozen of my best baseball people. Joe poily came in from Tampa. Talk some Orioles with me this week. Alan Mark Messina came on. Mark said he hadn\u2019t talked to Mike. So there\u2019s a Hall of Famer I haven\u2019t checked in with, but he said, I don\u2019t know. I haven\u2019t talked to my brother all weekend, but we went at it. And just about it\u2019s just so rare when they can take any sport and make something really better. I mean, look, look, SAS Brown\u2019s out there making up all this bull shy out in Phoenix, and the owners are out there, and they\u2019re all running around and changing rules and doing this on kickoffs and that on flags and whatever. How often do they really make it better? I mean, not like I\u2019m going to get along with shittler, but like the kickoffs. It\u2019s not a better part of the game. It\u2019s a safer part of the game, but it hasn\u2019t made the game better. And I think to myself, the three point shot in the NBA, I remember my dad freaked him out, or the designated hitter in baseball, which came when I was a kid, these monumental interleague play did it really make it better? I, you know, I don\u2019t these big, big changes in sports, the NHL with a puck with a tail on it, or moving the red lines and the blue lines, which did make the game better the neutral zone in hockey, it opened the game up a little bit more, make it more like Olympic style through the years. And when you watch games like this, I mean, soccer has an offside problem, because they\u2019re going to argue about that in Argentina and Brazil. Speaking of Brazil, we\u2019ll talk about that in a minute too. In a minute too. But um, these, these changes. A lot of times it\u2019s made to make you and me bitch at each other. Me to get Jason lock and fora join us and talk about these things. And how often are they really better? I mean, I\u2019ve been doing sports radio all of my life. I\u2019m 35 years into this. I take calls, I put on experts, I put on Hall of Famers, and I put on Zach Dermer, who fixes fans. You know, like people. It\u2019s very, very rare of anything I could think about in 35 years where five minutes into this, a week into this, that we can we\u2019re at 98% I don\u2019t, I haven\u2019t met anybody that\u2019s wrecking a game. It\u2019s starting a game. I do think that your point, and my point, which is, they\u2019re getting rid of the umpires. It\u2019s like I told Mollard, and I said, Dude, this would be like taking the judges off of American Idol. They\u2019re not going to do that. Like the entertainment part of this, the people who run baseball, who want to sell tickets to own teams, they\u2019re going to say this, this is made. It\u2019s just, it\u2019s a better bar debate. It\u2019s a better conversation. It\u2019s better when you\u2019re watching the game with your wife to say, was that a ball or a strike? And they put the box up. I just think it\u2019s been revolutionary, and I a long time coming, I guess, on the technology side, like chipping the football in the NFL, like whatever, whatever point they stop screwing around with the with the polls, and where the poll is and where the little fake yellow line is on Fox, getting that right when people are betting money on it, as to whether it is a first down or it\u2019s fourth down, or it\u2019s a Change of possession, I can\u2019t imagine that they can\u2019t be inspired by this, because I think we all saw it with tennis when tennis started doing it that way. And we don\u2019t care about the line judges as much as tennis. Maybe John McEnroe did, but like none of us really care, we don\u2019t watch tennis and say who\u2019s the line judge today, or who\u2019s the net judge today, or, like baseball\u2019s always been about who\u2019s the umpire, and am I getting the high strike, the low strike, the inside strike, the outside strike. They\u2019ve always been scouting reports on baseball umpires behind the dish, yeah.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 34:11<\/p>\n
And this is actually, this can be the happy medium in terms of not eliminating the human element, because you still have umpires. And look, you\u2019re still going to have umpires that have certain strike zones. It\u2019s just, if you manage your challenges, well, you\u2019ll be able to get some of those back right. And if you don\u2019t manage them, well, it could be the eighth or ninth inning, and suddenly you get a call. That\u2019s a complete you know what? Terrible. And if you\u2019re out of challenges, well, sorry, you needed to manage that better. So there\u2019s, there\u2019s a strategic element to this big time with how you handle this. You won\u2019t be challenging pitches in the second inning with bases empty and two outs, unless it\u2019s so egregious, and you trust that hitter or you trust that catcher. So so to such a high degree. Where you say, yeah, that go ahead, but I don\u2019t that\u2019s a short list, probably when you look at catchers around the league, hitters around the league. So I would venture to say that<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 35:13<\/p>\n
it\u2019d be interesting to know right now, like, if you had truth serum for the 30 teams, how much time, what kind of resources these teams have put into scrimmaging the challenge system, right in terms of telling their guys, like, here\u2019s when we want to do it, here\u2019s when we don\u2019t, here\u2019s when it\u2019s worth it. I mean, it was funny late in the game, Albernaz even talked about this after the game on Wednesday, where I guess there had been and my apologies, because I wasn\u2019t, I wasn\u2019t watching every pitch with bated breath in the ninth inning with Albert suare. You know, I was getting ready for post game all that, but Albernaz kind of yelled over to besayo because they had two challenges left. He\u2019s just like, hey, like, give it a shot, if you you know, like, we don\u2019t need to be too judicious about this. Like we have two and we\u2019re up by five runs. Like, there\u2019s no need to leave it in the holster. So you get to a point where if you do have too late in the game, like, then it\u2019s like, Hey, you can be more aggressive with it, right? And you might steal one that you didn\u2019t even necessarily think was a strike or a ball, and suddenly it\u2019s going your way. So it\u2019s fascinating, and this is where you and I spend plenty of time over the years criticizing Major League Baseball right? Things that the game needs to do better, things that the game has made worse, all these different things. But the two major changes to the game over these last few years the pitch clock, which hasn\u2019t changed the game as much in terms of, like, consciously watching it, because, my goodness, they barely even show the pitch clock up on the score bug anymore, right? No one, no one looks at that clock. It\u2019s just, you know, it\u2019s implied that the pitcher needs to deliver the ball, the batter needs to be in the batter\u2019s box. All that, right? But it\u2019s shaved, what, 2530, minutes off the average time, whatever, whatever the most recent data is that\u2019s about, about what it\u2019s been, and now you have this strategic element that\u2019s added drama, that\u2019s added discussion about strategy, that has everyone when there\u2019s a challenge at the ballpark. Everyone, you know, half the crowd, is on their phone, but ever suddenly, everyone\u2019s looking up to the scoreboard, right? So it\u2019s an engagement type thing, even, I mean, it\u2019s, it\u2019s really, it\u2019s hard not to look at it and say, Wow, this is something that feels like a major, major positive for the game and and, you know what? So there might be some umpires right now that are saying, Man, I This isn\u2019t fun for us. But you know what? The absolute best umpires are looking at this and saying, oh, everyone\u2019s going to see how good I actually am. Because if you look at the data in the minor leagues, and you look at the data in spring training, you know it\u2019s it\u2019s hovered around a 50% rate, right? But the umpires that are worse than that, and you know, my apologies and no disrespect, but CB Buckner and some others that we tend to talk about in terms of not so flattering, terms of what with their work, they\u2019re going to be exposed. But on the flip side, the umpires that are actually really good at the job, and there are plenty of guys that are much better than they get credit for. We\u2019re going to see how good they are, too. I mean, you see some of these challenges, and you see some of these calls, and we\u2019re talking about a 10th of an inch, you know, half of an inch, right? I mean, just that little. And when you see that, and when you see these calls confirmed in in many cases, that\u2019s where, you know, I\u2019m not saying anyone\u2019s going to throw a parade for them, nor should they, but that\u2019s where you\u2019ll look at it and say, you know, that guy\u2019s actually called a pretty good game. I mean, there\u2019s been five challenges in this game, and there\u2019s only been one or two overturned, right? And it was by two tenths of an inch. So there\u2019s just, it\u2019s hard to view it as anything but a positive. And like I said, I still want to see it play out. There could be some scenario that that pops up. I mean, you know, there\u2019s already been a little bit of, you know, what do you do in a case where there\u2019s a called Third Strike and, you know, the batter\u2019s trying to or the base on our first base is trying to steal. And then, you know, so like you do have some, you know, placement of runners type situations where there could be some controversy that that pops up based on a a ball four or a strike three call. But man, for every scenario that you might come up with where there could be something awkward or choppy or, you know, doesn\u2019t feel necessarily the most fair outcome. You\u2019re going to see plenty of scenarios where we\u2019re getting the call right, and it\u2019s interesting, and there\u2019s some drama to it, and there\u2019s an engagement piece to it. And everyone, as I said, people at the ballpark, are on their phone. Suddenly, everyone, everyone\u2019s looking at the video screen like they. Is it going to be a strike or a ball, right? I mean, and we\u2019ve already seen it, the win probability flips with some of these outcomes, with some of these calls. I mean, we saw it to such a dramatic degree in that finale against the twins on Sunday. But, I mean, it\u2019s just you made the point. All these games have changed over the years, and<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 40:21<\/p>\n
there\u2019s different. There\u2019s making the game different, and there\u2019s making the game better. These two changes that Major League Baseball have made, has made over the last few years, with the pitch timer first and now with the ABS system. Man, these are game changers. You know, one in terms of time of game and pace of play, and this one in terms of the strategic and the entertainment factor that\u2019s built in. And, oh yeah, we\u2019re getting more calls right, which is really what the objective was. You know, the unintended consequences are the entertainment that we\u2019re getting out of it. So it\u2019s good. And for as much as we criticize the game, and as much as you and I are gonna be talking about labor as we get closer and closer to the end of the year, and hopefully we\u2019re not talking about labor still at this time next year, but we very well could be right where they\u2019re missing games, and we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen with a lockout and all that. In the meantime, however, this has been nothing but a good idea. And to your point, young and old, right? You look at the demographics of baseball fans, it\u2019s hard to find too many people who don\u2019t like it. And I think it\u2019s been one week in, it looks like it\u2019s been a smashing success.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 41:32<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Luke Jones on Nestor. It\u2019s all brought to you by friends at Farnan and Dermer. They are the comfort guys. They brought us a lot of comfort on April 1. I\u2019m 57 Luke. I have this radio station was once involved in an April Fool\u2019s prank that I was not in on. So I will make that clear over when you own a station, 28 years, things happen, but I was not involved in it. I\u2019m not a prankster. I am not a jokester. You know this from in a general sense, I think I\u2019m funny, but I don\u2019t think I play pranks. Did it get you? No, all right, no, I got a lot of people for one, lot of people for one.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 42:12<\/p>\n
I would like to think if you were making a move like that, you would have at least given me a tiny heads up so, but I looked at the calendar right away. Yeah, so although, man, I can only imagine some of the spirited discussions you two would have had.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 42:32<\/p>\n
The thing is, I always think of you as being my age, and you\u2019re not. And our experiences of the 70s and the 80s are very you have no angst for Omar Moreno or Willie star Jill or any of<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 42:46<\/p>\n
that, right? So reminds me, go ahead. But I have something I want to share with you that I thought will make you feel old, because it made me feel old, but go ahead.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 42:54<\/p>\n
Sorry, yeah, I like the SID Finch thing, like that image where I that I have on the front of my Facebook recently with me in the Oriole jersey. Do you? I don\u2019t know when Sid Finch came to you, but I know when it came to me. I was working at the news American, and I was a kid, and I, you know, working in the newsroom as a 16 year old kid, and when the story came out, there was no internet. The Mets went along with it. ESPN went along with it, like on the you know, Chris Berman and Tom Mees were doing television at the time. People went along with that for like, a couple of days, as I remember it, in regard to, is this real or not? Or like, 168 miles an hour, it was a little out there, and Plimpton clearly being a little out there with the paper line and all that. It\u2019s the greatest prank in the history of American sports, I think. But you weren\u2019t old enough to, like, embrace it and immerse in it. And I had, you know, a lot of people my age and above. They even got the fact that. And I don\u2019t know if you got it or not, if you got it or not, if you go to the front of the site, you can see it. I\u2019m a writer. I don\u2019t know if you know this or not, but I take my stuff seriously. There are two different anagrams that I involved with Happy April Fool\u2019s Day with first words of sentences, and then, of course, first words of paragraphs as well. So if you go look at it there, I I worked real hard on letting you in on it, but I don\u2019t know that was a chef\u2019s kiss for me so well. And if lock and floor is pissed, don\u2019t be mad at me. JLC, you know, but I haven\u2019t talked to Jason in a long time. I\u2019ve all everything I wrote in there is true. You know, my feelings you and I\u2019ve talked privately, publicly, in bars, in hotel rooms, on airplanes, about how I feel about him. He\u2019s the one guy over there I have respect for, or had respect for, or thought he\u2019s the guy over there. That\u2019s the real journalists out of all of them, and that includes all of them that that\u2019s police officers, the people that I discovered that were delivering subs like he\u2019s the real thing. And for that, I you know. I\u2019ve always been a fan of his. So that\u2019s that, that is true.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 45:04<\/p>\n
Yeah, Sid Sid Finch was, what, 1985 I mean, I wasn\u2019t quite two years old yet. So you know of<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 45:11<\/p>\n
the legend? Oh, yeah, that picture. You know what it represents? Yes, absolutely.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 45:14<\/p>\n
I remember, I think, when I learned of Sid Finch, there was some here\u2019s a big surprise. Being a kid who grew up in the late 80s and the 90s, I was a big sports tape guy, right? I mean, all every sports blooper tape and baseball highlights and all that, you know, VHS tapes, right? That was<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 45:32<\/p>\n
your history lesson. Yes, there was a,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 45:35<\/p>\n
I think Tim McCarver did a not so great moments in sports VHS and Sid Finch was featured in that. So yeah, that was my exposure to that. And I was probably seven years old at the time, so this would have been five years later, something like that. And, yeah, this is a pretty clever prank, but you met, you made mention of Pittsburgh. So on Friday, the Jason Kendall and Brian Giles are throwing out the first pitch for the home opener. Here\u2019s where you will feel old. And I\u2019m not going to out these guys. And like both of those guys have done<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 46:07<\/p>\n
my show, by the way, and I knew Kendall a little<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 46:08<\/p>\n
bit, so a couple reporters on the Orioles beat who are younger. I\u2019m not going to name names. And look, neither of these guys played for the Orioles, so it doesn\u2019t really matter all that much they did not who know who Brian Giles and Jason Kendall were, which just but then I started thinking about him like, yeah, their wheelhouse was a quarter century ago. That\u2019s that\u2019s plausible.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 46:31<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why you cover baseball for me, and they don\u2019t, because that\u2019s the kind of arrogance I have when I was doing my own American Idol will say, you can\u2019t fill a lineup out. You shouldn\u2019t be covering baseball. You don\u2019t know the history of baseball, but I don\u2019t know that you need to know the history of anything. And I don\u2019t know that the current players know much about the history of baseball. I don\u2019t know if they know who Brady<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 46:49<\/p>\n
Anderson is, but I would also like Brian Giles and Jason Kendall, like they\u2019re not Hall of Famers. They\u2019re not players that you would say you can\u2019t tell the history of baseball without those guys, right? So it was more so a point of just like, man I\u2019m old.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 47:01<\/p>\n
Well, there\u2019s no chance of them knowing who Manny sanguine is. Right, right,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 47:05<\/p>\n
exactly, right. But, yeah, but I just thought I\u2019d be nice, but it was funny. We ended up talking about those guys. We would have<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 47:10<\/p>\n
so much less fun. You and I, we would like each other so much less over the last 20 years. If I can\u2019t drop silly baseball references of things from the 70s and 80s that at least you know what I\u2019m talking about when I say Manny Sandy, and you know what he looks like like. You know what I mean when I say Phil Garner. You know what he looks like. So there really is a basis of all of that when I say Jack McDowell. You know what I\u2019m talking about. Like when they\u2019re playing the White Sox this week, like, good luck with the Aparicio references, or me putting a picture up. I put the picture of Paul model up. Someone said, That\u2019s Robin. You out? And I\u2019m like, No, it\u2019s Jim Gantner. It might be Don money, you know? Like, I like, I can play that game all day, because I love baseball. Katie Mark well and, and, you<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 47:54<\/p>\n
know what some of that is, we\u2019ve talked we\u2019ve talked about this too, and I don\u2019t want to get too far in the weeds here, because I know we\u2019ve gone on a long time in our segment here. But I think so much of that just comes back to pre internet, right? I mean, you read the back of baseball cards. You read, I mean, in my case, I would read the baseball almanac every year, right? I mean, not read it front to back. But point is, I would look through that, I would consume that, you know, it was something I was fascinated with. You know, I could tell you what Cal Ripken hit in 1991 I couldn\u2019t tell you what gunner Henderson hit last year, because I look it up on my phone. I mean, I knew<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 48:28<\/p>\n
Mike Schmidt\u2019s lifetime stats. Like, you know what? I mean,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 48:30<\/p>\n
like, like, it\u2019s so different in that way. And it\u2019s not even like, oh, well, things were better back then. It was just different, right? So, so there is some of that that goes on that, you know, if you were a baseball card collector, man, you knew all the players for all the teams. Because, I mean, I I still remember, I mean, for whatever reason, and maybe it was just my age at the time, and it was something with my dad, but for whatever reason, the 1991 tops, which I think that might have been their 40th anniversary season. I can\u2019t remember, but anyway, I mean, that was at a point when packs were still 50 cents, and you got the hard as a rock stick a gum, and it was 15 cards for whatever reason. I kid you not. I probably collected and have that whole set that I just got from packs that my dad would pick up from work, probably two or three times a week for me. But it\u2019s just funny, because you just, you learned all the players in the league, because you just use their their names were right in your hand when you\u2019re looking at your cards, or, you know, sorting through them, or trying to trade them, or, you know, I got into, like, I even got the plastic sleeves, and I put them in the sleeves, and, you know, I\u2019d sort it out that I\u2019d have each team like, you know, there you don\u2019t have that, you know, at least not in a mainstream way anymore. I mean, cards are still a thing, but not, not for the same purpose. I\u2019m glad I had<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 49:49<\/p>\n
baseball cards as a kid. Oh, I love that.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 49:51<\/p>\n
I mean, I still have my baseball cards. I don\u2019t have too much that\u2019s of any real value other than sentimentality, right? So, I mean, I have probably. They have 80 different Cal Ripken cards, and three of them are probably worth money, and the rest are, you know, a couple bucks here or there, or whatever, so, but that was, that\u2019s how you learned that those are the ways you learn the history of the game, right? Another, while we\u2019re on it baseball, I know major league baseball on their Twitter account, put out they\u2019re bringing back this week in baseball, I don\u2019t know in what capacity, but there\u2019s an email Allen. And I just think, I mean, it\u2019s funny, because, you know, 20 somethings or even even someone in their early 30s. I mean, this week in baseball was basically gone by the time Mel Allen passed away, right with mid 90s, you\u2019re talking so but like these were the things because you didn\u2019t have a smartphone. In many cases, people didn\u2019t have cable TV to even watch, like baseball tonight on ESPN. So you got the Orioles highlights, or whatever your local market where you live, you got those local highlights this week in baseball was your chance to to learn some guys. Every Saturday<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 51:00<\/p>\n
afternoon, I would watch the baseball bunch with Tommy lesorta and the San Diego chicken, who\u2019s done my show, and Johnny Bench and and then this week in baseball will come on after that, and then they would have the game of the week with Tony kubek and Joe Garagiola. Yeah. I mean, that was 15 years of my childhood every Saturday afternoon, from spring through summer, in<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 51:21<\/p>\n
the fall, and it\u2019s just wild to kind of think about that, compared to what we have today, which look, you can bring up even for you know, even if you just don\u2019t even spend money, but you\u2019re just like, registered on the MLB app, like you can watch a condensed game of every single game that happened yesterday, and there Are 10 to 12 minutes of highlights for each game. I mean, you can, if you have three hours, you could sit there and consume the entire leagues, you know, the entire slate of league action in a given day in a matter of a couple hours. And we don\u2019t really do it, right? I mean, you can do it, but how often do people actually<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 52:01<\/p>\n
do it? I mean, you care about the pirates when we\u2019re playing them?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 52:03<\/p>\n
Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, then, like, Look, I I keep, obviously, the Orioles I cover. I keep tabs on the Phillies, because I, you know, some family interest and all that. But it is wild to kind of think about the way we consume sports, and specifically baseball, 30 or 40 years ago compared to today, and again, just different doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s worse or anything like that. It\u2019s just different. But I haven\u2019t watched the<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 52:26<\/p>\n
dribble in the NCAA Tournament. I\u2019m not bragging about that. It\u2019s just not where my head is. Yeah. I mean, it\u2019s consumed my life for<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 52:34<\/p>\n
50 years. Well, pub, we\u2019ve also talked about that. I mean, the NFL was really the last and the Olympics, right? But the Olympics, it\u2019s every four years, right? I mean, it\u2019s not, you know, you get that men\u2019s and women\u2019s hockey was, was amazing, and the ratings were good for that<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 52:51<\/p>\n
helicopters in, yeah, but, but<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 52:53<\/p>\n
there are very few shared experiences in the sports world to the degree like what the NFL is still holding on to be, right? I mean, everything else is that\u2019s niche, you know? I mean, we\u2019ve talked about it like, you know me, I\u2019ve covered sports now for a large portion of my adulthood. Hockey, man, if you had a conversation with me about hockey, you\u2019d be wildly unimpressed. For any people<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 53:17<\/p>\n
trying to get me into lacrosse for almost 60 years, and it\u2019s just not, interested, but,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 53:21<\/p>\n
but that\u2019s fine, you know, there\u2019s enough out there, but it is still, you know, that\u2019s where, like, something like this, this new ABS system, where you have different generations of baseball fans kind of saying, hey, you know, I kind of dig this. This is, this is fun. So next week<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 53:34<\/p>\n
people be in the golf because it\u2019s masters, right? Like, yeah. So think things happen. Luke\u2019s here. I\u2019ll let you go. Happy Easter weekend to you. Happy April fools and April Fool\u2019s Day joke for anybody that was a part of it, birds are off in Pittsburgh, then Chicago. I got Ken singleton coming on this week. My pal Dave shining is going to stop by. We\u2019ll talk some baseball with him as well. We\u2019ve had great guests all week long. Alan McCallum, Mark Messina has been here. Joel portley stopped by, a lot of baseball stuff. And we\u2019re into April, and it\u2019s fun around here. All are brought to you by our friends at the comfort guys barn and Dermer next Friday at faidley\u2019s at Lexington market. I invited John Miller. He couldn\u2019t make it, but it did give me a chance to interact with John Miller, which is always a good day to do that. So I hope everybody has a great weekend out there. Our friends at GBMC also have Walk a Mile in Her Shoes coming up in two weeks on Friday. I\u2019ll be a part of that as well be talking about that. They do sponsor our Maryland crab cake tour as well, and I\u2019ll have those Maryland treasures scratch offs to give away. We\u2019re also at Koco\u2019s on the 23rd I skip a week on the crab cake tour. We\u2019ll be there on Thursday the 23rd which is actually an off day for the Orioles later on in the month. So the month. So the Maryland crab cake tour back out on the road presented by the Maryland lottery, GBMC and Farnan and Dermer. I am Nestor. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop eating Easter candy and celebrating Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the mediocre start that a 3-3 opening home stand would indicate and with Zach Eflin on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-660956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-orioles","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-orioles","10":"tag-baltimoreorioles","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-orioles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116341412407734817","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}