Effectively Wild Episode 2384: Playoff Baseball is Cruel (But it Beats the Alternative)

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 When Lumberton MacRally went to come for the ball, Benters free.

spk_0 Baseball is a simulation, it's all just one big conversation.

spk_0 Effectively wild.

spk_0 Hello and welcome to episode 2384 of Effectively Wild, a fan graphs baseball podcast,

spk_0 Batchy by our Patreon supporters.

spk_0 I'm Meg Rally, a fan graphs and I lived bitch.

spk_0 I'm joined by Ben Lindbergh of the ringer who is also alive, how nice.

spk_0 I've been. How are you?

spk_0 Well, in my case, I'm perfectly fine, but I think what the people want to know is how are you both physically and maybe more importantly emotionally?

spk_0 Let's set the emotional part aside for a second because that's a longer answer.

spk_0 The shorter answer is how am I physically, which is much improved.

spk_0 I know I still sound a mess, but I am now speaking above a whisper, which is so exciting for me, Ben, because for the last couple days of last week, that was

spk_0 decidedly not the case. I don't know what I had been.

spk_0 At home, COVID test told me it wasn't COVID.

spk_0 The sore throat experience made me think that it was like the razor blade throat variation of COVID.

spk_0 A lovely little subgenre of COVID we got floating around.

spk_0 I don't think adults should have fevers.

spk_0 I don't think children should either, to be clear, I'm not trying to say anything unkind about young people because of a fever suck.

spk_0 I know they have a purpose, but it's not right that adults have fevers.

spk_0 That feels like stuff you should grow out of like being picky about food or like, you know, belief in Santa.

spk_0 So what I have preferred to work rather than have my Wednesday and Thursday completely detonated by a steady 102 degree fever, I would have.

spk_0 I would have rather been working and I like my job.

spk_0 So part of that's not surprising, but also working is working and this time of year working a lot.

spk_0 So it sucked pretty bad.

spk_0 I have thought a lot about swallowing in the last week and a half.

spk_0 I've been really aware of that physical process in a way that was kind of scary at times candidly.

spk_0 But here we are. I did live. I am so grateful to, well to many people in this particular moment, most especially to Matt Martell, who kept the site floating, thriving.

spk_0 Really, not just surviving, but doing a very good job and to effectively wild own Michael Bowman, who came into penchant for me from an editing perspective because I was like, look, I would not be helping right now.

spk_0 I still want to do some reflection about my own relationship to my job, like as a human being, I think that's worthwhile.

spk_0 But for anyone who knows me, I didn't work for two days of the postseason. That's how sick I was, you know? That's what that's like. That's sound bad, pretty bad.

spk_0 Well, I wonder how grateful you would feel to Bowman if and when you listen to his appearance on this podcast, specifically the beginning of it in which I think he forced us all to think about swallowing more than we would care to.

spk_0 But, you know, he stepped up. He sure did.

spk_0 And he did co-host that episode in a memorable fashion.

spk_0 And now you're back.

spk_0 I do want to talk about the Mariners aspect of how you're feeling.

spk_0 Actually, we will talk about that later on this episode because we will be joined by the great Ben Gippert, certified rock star and Mariners fan.

spk_0 And effectively wild listener.

spk_0 And so he will come on to talk to us about his Mariners fan experience this weekend.

spk_0 And you will get into that too and we'll talk about some specific moves.

spk_0 But that Mariners Tiger series, I think, has objectively been the best thus far.

spk_0 I know it has felt like torture to you and Ben.

spk_0 But for me, well, I felt some second hand anxiety, not just on your behalf and for your sakes, but also just it's hard not to feel that when you're watching games.

spk_0 That close, I mean, a three two and then a two three or a two three and a three two depending on how you're looking at things.

spk_0 So that the one run game gods take it away and then the one run game gods give us.

spk_0 So it works out to a split.

spk_0 But boy, what an experience even for me let alone for you.

spk_0 I think that if you had told me that they would come away from the first two games of the spirit, the series with it nodded up one one.

spk_0 I would have been like, yeah, that makes good sense.

spk_0 I would have had the game that they wanted lost reversed.

spk_0 Right.

spk_0 I was aware of Troy Melton.

spk_0 It's not like I didn't know who he was.

spk_0 He was the top 100 guy for us.

spk_0 Sure, pitch like one.

spk_0 Didn't he sure did pitch like one didn't he.

spk_0 Am I having fun?

spk_0 No, I'm not having fun.

spk_0 I mean, look, there are moments, but I don't think that I can.

spk_0 I mean, we do try in a segment we have spoiler alert already recorded to convey the depths of the anxiety.

spk_0 I think the part of it that I was not prepared for and granted like the mirrors were in the postseason in 2022.

spk_0 But my main feeling in that year was like, this is kind of gravy.

spk_0 I didn't think they would go super deep.

spk_0 I mean, I did believe in that rotation.

spk_0 I thought they could be frisky band.

spk_0 I thought they could give some people some trouble.

spk_0 But once they beat the the blue jays to advance, I was like, okay, so like they've won a series.

spk_0 And now they're going to get a home playoff game.

spk_0 Like they're sure that.

spk_0 And so people, the the the the personickity folks who want to be like, well, go on and go on and the post.

spk_0 Those people are shut up now.

spk_0 They have shut up now.

spk_0 And then I and then I was at the 18 inning game and like that's such a marathon and it ended so so sadly.

spk_0 But it felt like, okay, this isn't start of something, right?

spk_0 I came into this postseason with expectations.

spk_0 And then the universe playing a little trick on me, Ben, which is when you have a buy, you have the first week.

spk_0 You're not worried about anything.

spk_0 I mean, I was worried about having to maybe go to the hospital.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 But now because of baseball, I was like, well, maybe maybe Meg's going to learn about her local urchin care.

spk_0 But I didn't I didn't have baseball stress.

spk_0 I had I had I can't speak stress.

spk_0 I had will my throat ever feel the same stress?

spk_0 I had will this fever ever break?

spk_0 How long does it, you know, like just going to your GP actually do anything in this situation?

spk_0 You know, that's the conversation I was really preoccupied with.

spk_0 What are they going to tell me?

spk_0 You know, always sick.

spk_0 It's probably a virus.

spk_0 We can't do anything for you.

spk_0 You don't have a little dots in your throat.

spk_0 So it's probably a strap.

spk_0 So, you know, get some rest.

spk_0 Right.

spk_0 Get some sleep rest, etc.

spk_0 I have never been better hydrated than I was last week.

spk_0 I drank.

spk_0 Okay.

spk_0 We are going to talk about baseball.

spk_0 I'm working my way back.

spk_0 So everyone's going to just like bear with me for a second.

spk_0 I'm going to admit to something embarrassing.

spk_0 And then it's going to have a point.

spk_0 It's not going to be a good point, but it is going to happen.

spk_0 I am not like a I'm not a weirdo about Stanley cups.

spk_0 And look, those of you who are you're like that was judgmental.

spk_0 I know, but I'm not wrong.

spk_0 You in your heart, you know you're being weird.

spk_0 It's a reusable cup.

spk_0 Like you need one of those.

spk_0 You know, like, and I know we all have more than one in the same way that we all have more

spk_0 than one tote bag.

spk_0 But like, you relax out there.

spk_0 Part of why it's good is that you're reusing it.

spk_0 And so you're not doing plastic.

spk_0 And then you have like 50 of them.

spk_0 What do you think that's accomplishing?

spk_0 Like, anyway.

spk_0 And I had like a I had a little bit of an attitude about Stanley cups because I was like,

spk_0 this is dumb.

spk_0 You know, this is a camping gear.

spk_0 Why are we so excited?

spk_0 Yeah, you've come around.

spk_0 Well, okay.

spk_0 So then what happened was two years ago, I had one advertised to me that was lovely looking.

spk_0 You know, it was this like beautiful, deep, jewel tone green, like a dark green.

spk_0 It made me think of the forest.

spk_0 I think I've told this story.

spk_0 And so I bought it.

spk_0 And then I, that was the only one I bought.

spk_0 You know, I, that was it.

spk_0 And that was a 30 ounce one.

spk_0 That's also important to this story.

spk_0 And then Ben, here's the thing that happened.

spk_0 This year Stanley Cup did like a Halloween release.

spk_0 And it's got little, it goes in the dark.

spk_0 It's got little bats on it.

spk_0 It's purple.

spk_0 Part of it's purple.

spk_0 Most of it's black.

spk_0 I bought one on eBay.

spk_0 Anyway, it's 40 ounces.

spk_0 It's ridiculous.

spk_0 I'm embarrassed.

spk_0 I'm telling the story, really.

spk_0 But it's 40 ounces.

spk_0 I was like, this is too big of a cup.

spk_0 It's pretty cumbersome.

spk_0 Candidly, it's heavy.

spk_0 The cat knocked it over on Saturday and like spilled a bunch of it because they're not watertight.

spk_0 You know, they're not.

spk_0 Like this is the other flots.

spk_0 Like this is like a very precarious, heavy implement to drink.

spk_0 But I did, I did buy it.

spk_0 And then I think I drank on, on an average day last week.

spk_0 Like four of them.

spk_0 Maybe five because it being cold felt so good on my throat.

spk_0 And so I was like, I've never, my, sorry, this is too much room for me.

spk_0 My, my, my pee was so clear.

spk_0 I was like, I'm so sick except for this part of my body, which is in the best shape of its life.

spk_0 Never, never in better shape right now.

spk_0 My kidneys are like, you're doing great girl.

spk_0 We love you.

spk_0 All of that to say, um, it's been stressful.

spk_0 And oh, right now I remember this story, much like the constant need to pee that I had last week.

spk_0 I think the part of this that I was ill prepared for, especially after my week off of stress about baseball,

spk_0 but stress about, you know, maybe dying was it's so relentless.

spk_0 You know, it's just this, you, the gaps in feeling better are so narrow.

spk_0 You know, like in that game Sunday, or a plunk of hits his first storm run off of Terrick's Cooble.

spk_0 And I say out loud in my living room, or a plunk of who I've never said anything bad about before.

spk_0 Perfect baseball player, best in the game.

spk_0 Beautiful man never said anything bad about that guy ever.

spk_0 And it's like, and somewhere God was like, I heard it though.

spk_0 And like he did it and it was so improbable.

spk_0 But then here's the thing that happens, Ben.

spk_0 They make the third out and then they have to pitch again.

spk_0 I know.

spk_0 And you're immediately back to being afraid because the briefest reprieve, you can imagine.

spk_0 It's so brief and particularly when you're facing scooble because, you know, he gave up those two runs, but he's so good.

spk_0 They're quick innings a lot of the time with him, you know.

spk_0 And so there wasn't relief really much at all.

spk_0 And then he's the second home run and you're like, well, maybe.

spk_0 And then you look at social media and people are like excited and I'm like, hey, everybody tighten up.

spk_0 Like, what are we? What are we doing? Are we new?

spk_0 Is this our first time? Like, what do you be afraid?

spk_0 Post for a place of fear? What's wrong with you?

spk_0 Like, come on, get it together.

spk_0 And then they tie the game and you're like, see, this is why you should be afraid.

spk_0 Yes.

spk_0 Because now all of you were disappointed.

spk_0 You know, who's not disappointed? Me. I mean, I am.

spk_0 But I also am like, I was ready.

spk_0 I was prepared for that.

spk_0 It's so fascinating too because my main like sports posting experience of the last, you know,

spk_0 decade, at least in a playoff context has been with football.

spk_0 And, you know, I know things about football and I'm aware of the analytical debates and I listen to podcasts that have that lens.

spk_0 But it is a sport that I'm content to be a little bit dumb about because it's my fan sport, you know.

spk_0 This is my fun time. Not yesterday, not yesterday, Ben.

spk_0 Yesterday I was screaming at my TV and begging for a lobotomy, but generally it's my fun sport.

spk_0 And so I know how to post as a football fan.

spk_0 And I know how to post about baseball, but generally I'm not doing it from a place of my team is playing in the post season.

spk_0 This is a muscle I have not flexed and have not developed.

spk_0 And so I had this very strange experience because like yesterday on Saturday I was so furious that Kirby was left in to face Carrie Carpenter.

spk_0 Why are you warming Gabe Spire if you're not going to use him in that like what was the circumstance then Dan when you would have brought him in like what was his purpose?

spk_0 If not to face Carrie Carp, like are you saving him for Riley? What are you?

spk_0 Okay, so then on Sunday, Castillo, I felt like I was watching a slightly different version of Luis Castillo than some of the people I follow on social media because they were then mad they Gabe Spire was brought in.

spk_0 And I was like, no, no, no, you are wrong. I feel better.

spk_0 And then Gabe Spire was like, I got you girl. And I was like, thank you. You're a lot like my ill advised eBay purchase Stanley Cup.

spk_0 I was so convinced I was going to get a fake one. I was like, this is going to be faithful. And then it was it.

spk_0 It hasn't glowed in the dark even one time. But I'm like, do you know, like said in a window, so does it have to charge?

spk_0 How is glowing in the dark or?

spk_0 Well, I don't know, but I'm glad you're hydrated and glad you're on the mend more or less physically and vocally.

spk_0 Oh, I got to unmute some people. This is reminding me. I did. I was like, you know what the right answer to the annoyance I'm feeling right now. It would have been to log off. But that option was not available to the part of my brain. This will need a serotonin.

spk_0 So I was just like, I'm just going to mute some folks because that seems that seems better than like unfollowing people I like just because they are confused about Gabe Spire or disagree. And then I was like, Gabe, you got to do got to do right here because otherwise.

spk_0 It's been entertaining terror inducing. And I think probably both teams feel like they let one get away maybe because.

spk_0 Yeah, right. Like you wouldn't feel bad if you're the tigers and you're playing in Seattle. You're on the road. Okay, you take a split. You settle for that.

spk_0 Except when you win the first one and then you've got Eric Scoople going into, you're thinking, okay, we can steal this whole way series here.

spk_0 We can go to nothing. Yeah. And then have another schoolable game in the holster. Where as if you're the mariners. Okay, you feel totally down in the dumps after the first game because that felt winnable. That felt like it was somewhat squandered.

spk_0 We finally get an extra inning game, which of course probably could have come in better circumstances for you. I was happy to see a clean inning. Nobody on base and an extra inning for the first time in a while.

spk_0 But of course you couldn't enjoy it in that situation. So you lose in 11. There's some decisions you wish had been made differently. It's so close. And then of course you're thinking, well, it could well be over here because we're going to.

spk_0 Scoople in game two with with Scoople again waiting in the wings.

spk_0 Yeah, those were things I thought that those were things I was thinking about. I was like this or it is done right. They're done.

spk_0 So you managed to pull that one out. And you even the series and suddenly you feel like, okay, now we kind of got away with one. And so the skills are balanced sort of. And you know, you're almost never actually going to hit Scoople hard. So it's going to come down to can we scratch across a few runs. Maybe can or a plonko suddenly hit a couple solo dingers.

spk_0 And then of course he suddenly can't he's the best player in baseball. Of course, yes, if you have used consistently said always said. And then you know, can our guy pitch well enough for our guys to keep it close. And then we got it out and we get the clutch win. I mean, that's how you're going to beat Scoople. Usually it's not going to be in convincing fashion. You're going to just basically barely scratch one out. Yeah, exactly. So both teams can feel bad. And both teams can also feel good. I guess about how that works.

spk_0 But yeah, it's it's been quite a competitive contentious and and really riveting series, even if you're not directly rooting for one of these teams. And not all the other series could say the same. I mean, you have. Yeah. Yankees Blue Jays, which has just been a total trouncing. We are talking on Monday. So you were getting a brief little lull in your series in the AL series.

spk_0 But the Blue Jays are up to zip on the Yankees and it has not been close. I guess the first game maybe was closer than the final score suggested and the second game was less close than the final score suggested. There should be a way to to quantify that. Maybe there is. But you know, like when a game ends up being a blowout, but it was really quite close. The entire like there was tension. It's different to have a blowout that was a blowout from the start and a blowout that became a blowout.

spk_0 I guess you could. You could quantify this with leverage index or something like that. There's probably some metric. You could easily come up with some toy stat to say, well, how close did it feel like average average indexer, you know, whatever it is, right. But either way, they were not close. And yeah, things could have swung and gone another way and everyone's upset with Aaron judge because there was that one pitch that he swung at that he would not normally swing at when the game was still close in the sixth inning and game two.

spk_0 And the Yankees had a real rally going and then standing in judge and they got nothing out of that. And then it was blown wide open by Toronto. I feel good for Blue Jays fans just because they haven't won a series yet, but they've won multiple games.

spk_0 And that's that's multiple more games than they had one in previous post seasons with this core and to see Vlad just doing what he does on this big stage.

spk_0 That's been exciting to see. And you know, this team just came into things with a lot of baggage, a lot of things to get off their back and through two games, at least they have. And I know there's something of a mismatch when it comes to the just ferocity of the rivalry. I think probably Blue Jays fans see the Yankees as a bigger rival than the Yankees see the blue Jays.

spk_0 But nonetheless, I think to really get that October monkey off your back a little bit to some extent, at least winning a couple games and to do it against the Yankees and to make them look bad and embarrassed them. That's got to feel good for the Blue Jays and for Blue Jays fans, whatever comes next.

spk_0 I am really fascinated by how much Yankees fans enjoy being mad at Aaron Judge. I feel like there's like a real reveling in it that is surprising to me because it's like this man is likely to be the MVP.

spk_0 And even if he isn't like, he should just be the Co-MVP like what an amazing season. But they are very ready to be mad. What the errands generally, right?

spk_0 I feel like if your name is Aaron and you work for the Yankees, you're in dangerous territory. I would have liked for the first two games in that series to be more competitive.

spk_0 I do think that you're going to get at least one like team gets kicked in the mouth kind of kind of situation. Like your bound to have one of those series every time.

spk_0 I was surprised for instance that the the Brewer Scorts of many runs against the Cubs. You want some balance. You don't want it to get late early. That's like a bad feeling.

spk_0 But even games like that tend to offer you know something interesting right like we could focus on the score of Sunday's Yankees Toronto game or we could be like wow that's really a savage man. He's very good.

spk_0 I have really enjoyed and the Yankees were beneficiaries of just such a phenomenon is what I'm about to describe obviously. But it's like it feels like we've had some good like young guy stepping forward pitching performances right are our good friend.

spk_0 Kim Schlittler haven't have a loss that was a few weeks to get that whole stirred. Yeah I heard that a rod set it wrong. I heard that a rock called him.

spk_0 Shitler. Yes, it happens. Shitler happens. Yeah, and it's

spk_0 should never happen. Carlos Rdahn is lined up for game three,

spk_0 which is a vote of confidence in Carlos Rdahn when you have

spk_0 Cam Schlipler right there play off hero ready to go.

spk_0 And he's just waiting in the wings. I mean, you could you could

spk_0 lose with Cam Schlipler not having pitched in the series.

spk_0 And how upsetting with that being.

spk_0 Well, I think the answer to that is I wouldn't worry about

spk_0 that happening because I think that if Carlos Rdahn gives up

spk_0 one solitary run that we might see Cam, you know, like it could

spk_0 happen. Yeah. And it's just this is you're at the all hands on

spk_0 deck stage for for the Yankees, you know, you're at the back

spk_0 against up against a wall. Really the stage you're in if you're

spk_0 New York. And obviously this might end up being true for various

spk_0 teams after today's action. But you're in you're in the part

spk_0 of the post season schedule where your manager start borrowing

spk_0 future time at exorbitant rates, you know, because you can't

spk_0 you can't worry about tomorrow. You you can't worry about

spk_0 your Aaron Boone. You can't worry about tomorrow Aaron. There's

spk_0 only today Aaron. That's all that exists because if you don't

spk_0 win today tomorrow Aaron, he's just a guy who's waiting to

spk_0 talk to disgruntled media members because they had booked a

spk_0 bunch of of travel. And now it's got all changed. You know,

spk_0 how much time logistics takes takes a lot of time. So, you

spk_0 know, you can't worry about it. Do you need Cam Schletler for

spk_0 for game four? Who cares if if we're don't getting bombed,

spk_0 you just got to bring Cam in. Yes.

spk_0 Carlos Rdahn, very good pitcher to be clear. I'm kind of

spk_0 kidding. But I'm not trying to I'm not trying to doubt. I'm not

spk_0 trying to doubt Rodon. I think Rodon is good. He's had a great

spk_0 season. But I just mean that like you're on a knife's edge,

spk_0 you know, yeah, and this is something I wrote about and I think

spk_0 mentioned on the podcast last week, just even though this was

spk_0 a good year on the whole for old pictures and some of these

spk_0 rotations are pretty old. I did highlight the young guys, the

spk_0 first year pitchers who really did play a prominent role on

spk_0 their staffs after the days they debuted, which in some cases

spk_0 was very recently, right? Like Treas Abed was brilliant and,

spk_0 you know, five and a third know that innings and Schletler was

spk_0 great. And even Connelly early, he was pretty good. Like he was

spk_0 obviously overshadowed by Schletler. But for a few innings

spk_0 there, he was matching him zero for zero. And then, you know,

spk_0 things went wrong and he kind of got babbipped and defense

spk_0 sat him down and everything. But given the circumstances, he

spk_0 was fairly impressive, I think. And so we were deprived of seeing

spk_0 Parker Messick in these playoffs because the guardians got

spk_0 bounced before he could pitch. But, you know, between those

spk_0 guys, maybe we'll see Chad Patrick pitch at some point. And

spk_0 Kate Horton is waiting in the wings potentially if he heals

spk_0 and if the Cubs advance. But yeah, Treas Abed, it's a tough

spk_0 assignment. Like I mentioned on the podcast last week, chased a

spk_0 lot of being pressed into service, making his major league

spk_0 debut in the playoffs. Yeah.

spk_0 For that. And then care for it, Ben. I thought we've seen that

spk_0 before players made he was the sixth player I believe to make

spk_0 his major league debut in the postseason. But it was not just

spk_0 that it was also that he had not played period for months

spk_0 because he was out with Hamayt's surgery and he hadn't played

spk_0 center.

spk_0 Center via season.

spk_0 So that was a lot.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 I know that you've already talked about this. So forgive me

spk_0 for I just have to emphasize this point. I understand the appeal

spk_0 of getting the lottery's bat into that lineup. I understand

spk_0 why you look at what you got, which is not very much when it comes

spk_0 to offensive production as a club. And you say our best chance

spk_0 for positive variance on the offensive side of the ball comes

spk_0 with with chase the lottery. And maybe he'll be good enough

spk_0 to give Meg time to work out the Deloveli parody song that's

spk_0 been haunting her since he started his pro career, but trying

spk_0 to make it work. And I can't get the meter right. I should have

spk_0 bothered been about this.

spk_0 No, I should enough good, good boundaries. Mike.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 I understand all of that. And he is an easy guy to root for

spk_0 because he's just been so snake bitten by injury. It has been

spk_0 such a problem. He keeps getting hurt. It's like he's the prospect

spk_0 who was promised and we're not getting him and like, okay, I get

spk_0 the I get the case, but then have a guide age like putting him

spk_0 in center field. He's insane. It was insane. And then they kept

spk_0 cutting his family. And I was like, I need to know less about

spk_0 what these people look like. I need to see less of the delotters

spk_0 because it was almost so bad. I'm like, you're not putting

spk_0 this young man in a position to succeed. And like, I'm sure

spk_0 that chase the lottery is made a plenty certain stern stuff.

spk_0 He's face disappointment before like I get it. But I was so

spk_0 furious for him. I was upset. And then like that first play

spk_0 happened. And I was like, well, what what did you expect?

spk_0 Yeah, that was what they're for God's sake. Like it would be

spk_0 better with Juan. Yeah, that was the second hand cringes

spk_0 there was strong. I felt for him. And he rebounded and he even

spk_0 had an outfield assist later in the game. And probably they

spk_0 know what he's made of in his makeup. And they figured he

spk_0 could handle it. And he seemed to handle it fine. And won't be

spk_0 psychologically scarred from this forever. Hopefully, I'm sure

spk_0 he will have nightmares about that moment for the rest of his

spk_0 life. I certainly would then again, I'm not a professional

spk_0 athlete. So you never know. But no, this is a product of the

spk_0 Guardians position player weakness and their expectations

spk_0 for him. But that is a lot to put on him. And we got a question

spk_0 from Aaron, Patron supporter who is not one of the Aaron Zinkies

spk_0 fans are mad at I believe this Aaron is a Guardians fan. And he

spk_0 said, Chase the lottery just got his first major league kit.

spk_0 Or did he his career average will be zero in opening day next

spk_0 year, bird bones willing. I'm assuming he gets two first career

spk_0 MLB base hit balls. I looked up Alex Kierloff looks like he

spk_0 got his first hit in the playoffs as well. And yeah, it's

spk_0 clearly his first major league hit. I mean, yeah, it's counts

spk_0 if anything, it should count more. I know that we we treat

spk_0 playoffs stats differently and we kind of cordoned them off.

spk_0 But it's absolutely his first major league hit. It's just

spk_0 not his first regular season hit. And also, I wouldn't say

spk_0 that his batting average will be zero on opening day. I would

spk_0 say his batting average will be undefined. He won't have a

spk_0 batting average. Yeah, unless and until he goes hitless that

spk_0 day. So yeah, it's a it's a moment that hopefully he will be

spk_0 able to look back at and not suffer flashbacks too for the

spk_0 rest of his life. But you know, we're seeing this with the

spk_0 starters too. And we got a question from another patreon

spk_0 supporter, Artichuno who asked about Treyis average and whether

spk_0 this was the fastest anyone's ever gone to their first post

spk_0 season start essentially because he was such a recent arrival.

spk_0 And he really was like the best blue jays pitcher down the

spk_0 stretch, but it was just three appearances three starts. And so

spk_0 the question was he made three appearances before a post

spk_0 season start is that the lowest ever. And of course, Sarah

spk_0 Langs had the set that he will be or is now the third picture

spk_0 to make a post season start within his first four MLB

spk_0 appearances, including playoffs joining two raise pitchers

spk_0 Matt Moore did this memorably 2011 ALDS game one and Shane

spk_0 Baz 10 years later 2021 game two. But yeah, these guys did

spk_0 not look faced whatsoever. And yes, average was nasty. And

spk_0 you know, this is like some combination of injuries or

spk_0 underperformance, other more experienced veteran pitchers

spk_0 were left off of Toronto's roster. And injuries, I guess

spk_0 they're always hanging over things at this point in the season

spk_0 either players are unavailable or maybe they're compromised

spk_0 in some way or you suspect that they are and you don't get

spk_0 confirmation of that until the day after the playoffs when they

spk_0 have some serious surgery and you're like, how were you playing

spk_0 with that? But this is always an undercurrent. And it's an

spk_0 undercurrent this year too, where there aren't just some guys

spk_0 who are actually off of rosters. Yeah, Kate Horton. I mean,

spk_0 that's a big blow after having lost Justin steel earlier this

spk_0 year to lose Kate Horton for this round, if not longer. And

spk_0 there's a lot of players, right? There was some hope that

spk_0 the by week would let him come back and he threw off a

spk_0 mound, but just wasn't quite ready yet. Yeah. So there's

spk_0 there's that kind of case where someone is just off the

spk_0 roster and you miss them. Then there's the other where

spk_0 someone sort of in No Man's Land or in Limbo or like, are they

spk_0 at full strength like Tray Turner returned for the Phillies? And

spk_0 he was playing at shortstop and and seemed okay, but you never

spk_0 know as he running at full strength, he barely had gotten

spk_0 back into shortstop action at the end of the regular season. And

spk_0 then like the Cubs are missing Kate Horton, the Brewers are

spk_0 missing branded Woodruff. That's that's a blow to them. You

spk_0 know, another Lat strain for him. And that's not the first

spk_0 time. And so that hurts to to lose him hurts him physically as

spk_0 well. But then you also have like Will Smith, for example, with

spk_0 the Dodgers, right? He's he's on the roster. He didn't hit the

spk_0 other day. He didn't do particularly well. I think he struck

spk_0 out a couple of times. He got hit by a pitch, fortunately, not in

spk_0 the same bird bone where he had taken a foul tip and had a

spk_0 hairline fracture. But like he's huge if he's hitting, especially

spk_0 with the Dodgers having a lot of lefty hitters, the Phillies

spk_0 having so many lefty pitchers, not just the starters, but in

spk_0 the bullpen, that to have Smith there instead of Ben or Fred or

spk_0 whoever, like that's a big swing. But then again, are you

spk_0 even getting the fully effective Will Smith or are you not

spk_0 really getting the Will Smith you're thinking of? So, but you

spk_0 know, he's not starting game two. And it's unclear if he can

spk_0 catch without restrictions and everything. And so that's the

spk_0 kind of thing where he's on the roster. But is he really on

spk_0 the roster? Is that like, is this the effective Will Smith that

spk_0 we are pining for or is that guy gone for now? And those

spk_0 things can really affect a series or Jackson Trio, who's now

spk_0 nursing his own hamstring thing for the Brewers or, you know,

spk_0 Boba Shett, who was left off the boot, Jays Raster along with

spk_0 Chris Bassett and Max Erzer, like you wish that these

spk_0 wrestlers could really be at full strength. And you could just

spk_0 not have to have any questions about what would have been if we

spk_0 had had so and so healthy. But you could play that game with

spk_0 pretty much any team in almost every season. Yeah, I think

spk_0 that, you know, it's so rare. I can't think of an example

spk_0 really for a team to reach this point on the calendar and have

spk_0 all of their guys, you know, yeah, it's all relative strength

spk_0 and health. Yeah, right. And so, and, you know, and obviously

spk_0 not all injuries are created equal either in terms of the

spk_0 potential they have to persist through the entire month or,

spk_0 you know, like it's different. Having Cade Horton hurt is really

spk_0 different than having like your seventh reliever hurt, right?

spk_0 And of course, guys get hurt in the course of the playoffs,

spk_0 right? Like here's a major is just not playing tonight. Yeah.

spk_0 You're always sort of having to deal with not having your full

spk_0 complement of guys and all likelihood and all you can do is

spk_0 hope that the guys you're you're missing can come back at some

spk_0 point or that they aren't as, you know, central to what you're

spk_0 trying to do. But yeah, man, like, but we saw that we were

spk_0 seeing the effects of Brian will not being available for the

spk_0 Mariners is in the first couple games of the series, right? I am

spk_0 also confused. Sorry, we I what's price millers purpose for this

spk_0 team? If he's not coming in, you know, I mean, like if if

spk_0 you're not bringing him in and long really, I feel like that

spk_0 would have happened if we were on the team, but then like, he

spk_0 just got anyway, it doesn't matter. But it is sort of an odd

spk_0 thing where you you have to kind of, you know, Voltron it

spk_0 together to a certain extent and hopefully not means like a

spk_0 baby Voltron that probably doesn't mean any sense to have a baby

spk_0 of all Tron. Yeah, I do feel like sometimes teams carry more

spk_0 pitchers than they need to in the playoffs specifically. And

spk_0 granted, they might not have a great bench because they've

spk_0 been carrying so many relievers all season long. But especially

spk_0 when you have these series with the built-in off days,

spk_0 yes, we have what emergency would you need to break glass and use

spk_0 this guy granted, there's no zombie runner. There is the

spk_0 potential for long extra in-game and you might just need a

spk_0 body and you don't want to wear out your pen. So there is

spk_0 that's potential that I guess you have to plan for. And if you

spk_0 don't have just, you know, a great a pinch hitter just waiting

spk_0 to be used, then maybe you're not losing that much. But yeah,

spk_0 there are some guys who get carried on postseason raster. So it's

spk_0 just like if you are used at all, something has got horribly

spk_0 wrong. Yeah, it is sort of an interesting thing. And like

spk_0 sometimes those guys end up coming up big or like they're

spk_0 putting a position to succeed through clever usage. And then

spk_0 sometimes you're like, I mean, I guess you do need Leo

spk_0 reavers on your season from Prostar. I guess you do. They do.

spk_0 You know what happened? What if one year? Yeah, especially

spk_0 because you're not locked in if if someone does get hurt, you

spk_0 can replace them. So there is some recourse. Yeah, it's a

spk_0 tricky thing. It's a tricky thing. I don't I don't envy them

spk_0 the decisions they have to make. Cause I think they're

spk_0 stressful. But it has this out me from yelling at my TV

spk_0 lunch. Yeah, well, I guess the fact that your voice returned

spk_0 in time for you to emit some sort of sound, I guess was

spk_0 fortuitous. I did have a thought where I was like, am I being

spk_0 like newly derelict in my duties? Because me trying to

spk_0 podcast last week would have been a disaster. Like I couldn't

spk_0 have done it. I was I was barely above a whisper. It was so

spk_0 painful. Was really bad, then, you know, that sucked. I don't

spk_0 watch that on anybody. I don't think I don't know if it was

spk_0 COVID. I don't think it was. But whatever it was, I didn't

spk_0 care for it. Wouldn't do it again. And then, you know, it

spk_0 started improves, you know, Friday, Friday is when the fever

spk_0 broke. And then it was with each day, it has gotten better and

spk_0 better. I'm like really on the upswing, right? But I did

spk_0 have the thought where I was like, I just have to pot tomorrow.

spk_0 Should I try to be silent during the school? Yeah, vocal

spk_0 wrist. Yeah. Yeah. But then I was like, be true to

spk_0 yourself, you know, and who knows? Like, I know they couldn't

spk_0 hear me when I was saying just have like a good at bad.

spk_0 Just put together a good at bat. Like you can just like at

spk_0 one at a time, one at a bad at a time. One more good strike

spk_0 like that on this. Keep your eye on the ball.

spk_0 Fellas, don't try to do too much. Just the most generic,

spk_0 little league advice. Yeah, the person you're really soothing

spk_0 in those moments is obviously yourself because they can't

spk_0 hear you. I did have a realization at one point that my

spk_0 stream was ahead of Matt Martell's

spk_0 slightly behind Ben Clemens's, which was relevant because Ben

spk_0 was writing the game or so he and I had to be in communication.

spk_0 But then they introduced this like danger that he would know

spk_0 about a good thing or about thing before me. And then I

spk_0 realized that all of us were slightly behind mlb.com

spk_0 and game day. Game day was how I found out that brash gave up the

spk_0 Oh, he ends. Yeah. And so then I was like, I need to put that away.

spk_0 And when I'm watching the ninth, I'm like, I need to have both

spk_0 my computer close and my phone over there because I don't want to know.

spk_0 But then I was like, maybe I do want to know. But then it's better to see it.

spk_0 I've found that that that in play no outs,

spk_0 strikes fear into your heart in a way that they've been even seeing it happen.

spk_0 Yes, it's a sinking feeling, but at least you don't have to imagine

spk_0 the worst. You know, you're watching the worst. That's right.

spk_0 It's just a little bit better. Plus in play no ads, you know, it could be a home run.

spk_0 Like you'd ever know. So it might be better than that.

spk_0 Anyway, it's probably better that you were able to vocalize or that you

spk_0 did, whether you were able or not, just to let out some of that stress.

spk_0 Yeah, vent the spleen. Yeah.

spk_0 You had to put the spleen. Yeah. It's tough. I think this

spk_0 NL series or the two NL series, these off days, it's tough to get into a rhythm

spk_0 of watching because we're recording now before the game twos.

spk_0 Monday and then there was off days in the NL series on Sunday.

spk_0 And there will be off days again on Tuesday.

spk_0 And the way they do this or the reason they do this, they want

spk_0 all the teams to have the same amount of rest after the wild card round.

spk_0 But they also want there to be baseball games every day.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 So they stick in that off day for one of the leagues

spk_0 so that they can keep that up. And some people have wondered,

spk_0 is this because of the NFL looming on Sunday?

spk_0 And do they want to try to avoid that? I don't know how serious that is.

spk_0 But it does make it tough to build up some drama, some rhythm.

spk_0 I mean, I guess if you're already on Tentor Hooks,

spk_0 then you stay suspended on those Tentor Hooks even longer if you're a fan of the Dodgers

spk_0 or Brewers or Cubs or Phillies.

spk_0 I feel very relaxed today.

spk_0 So I think the off days are necessary in the fan experience.

spk_0 Because you can't sustain that for yourself out.

spk_0 But yeah, when you have one game and then the multiple off days,

spk_0 okay, sure, travel days we get it.

spk_0 But then two off days and three days, you know, you want to get on with it.

spk_0 Well, it's not intuitive even as a viewer, right?

spk_0 Because with the Dodgers Phillies series,

spk_0 I had a brief moment where I was like, oh, I'm like a little at least a little.

spk_0 I get it, but I also am at least a little surprised

spk_0 are going to turn here.

spk_0 But then I was like, of course they are.

spk_0 They're off tomorrow.

spk_0 What does it matter?

spk_0 Like, yeah, you know, they he's their best guy.

spk_0 Maintain the margin you have and see if you can get something in against.

spk_0 Okay.

spk_0 How excited are you about Rocky?

spk_0 Like, what is your, and like, how excited are you letting yourself be about Rocky?

spk_0 Because I find myself in a state of internal conflict

spk_0 about the Rocky Sasaki Closer experience.

spk_0 Because on the one hand, I totally get why?

spk_0 Because that bullpen has just been like such garbage lately

spk_0 and their high leverage group has just like been a disaster.

spk_0 And he has looked, he has looked good.

spk_0 He looked, he's sort of splittered.

spk_0 At least, so on that splitter, it's out of the zone.

spk_0 This is working.

spk_0 It's working really well.

spk_0 No, it's it's been nasty.

spk_0 There's triple digit heat and it was great both in the miners and the majors

spk_0 at the end of the season in relief.

spk_0 It's a limited number of outings.

spk_0 And yeah, we saw him struggle so much at the start of the season

spk_0 and even seemed to struggle with his reaction to his struggling a little bit.

spk_0 And so it is also anxiety inducing if you're a dodgers fan.

spk_0 I guess you're probably thinking, well, better than Blake Trinon or, you know, like,

spk_0 better than Kirby eights, better than Tanner Scott,

spk_0 whoever else would be out here.

spk_0 We might as well roll with it.

spk_0 And it's a great story for Dodgers fans, at least if

spk_0 he harnesses this and it is actually good.

spk_0 If you're a dodgers hater and you've been saying all season that they have broken baseball,

spk_0 well, the Rocky Sasaki signing did not seem consequential for most of the season.

spk_0 If he comes back and actually helps them say win another world series,

spk_0 then you kind of have the last laugh on that, I suppose.

spk_0 And, you know, it is, they really have to finesse their way through this

spk_0 because they just don't have dependable ladenning regular reliever options.

spk_0 And so it's, can you go with Glass-Now, who they pitched and, you know, he wasn't great,

spk_0 but to put Glass-Now in at a time when I think it made sense because he wasn't going to start for a while.

spk_0 He hadn't started for a while.

spk_0 Might as well use him.

spk_0 I've always been a fan, at least in theory of the using the starter on the throw-day gambit.

spk_0 And sometimes you can fall in love with that and maybe overuse it and probably the dodgers

spk_0 specifically have done that.

spk_0 But it always seemed to be like, well, if you could get away with this, it'd be a great little

spk_0 life hack to use this great starter on a day when he's going to throw anyway.

spk_0 I know that throwing in an actual postseason game is different from throwing in a bullpen.

spk_0 But, you know, if you can get away with it without affecting that player's performance and

spk_0 impairing the pitcher and subsequent outings, it's not clear that you can.

spk_0 But if you could, it would be great.

spk_0 So do that and, you know, Kershaw's back there and she ends back there and how many innings,

spk_0 what percentage of real earnings can the dodgers get from guys who were mostly starters during

spk_0 the season is the question.

spk_0 And it has been fun, like, as someone who enjoyed following Roki from afar and was excited to see

spk_0 him pitch in the majors and in MLB and to not have that come to fruition at all this season.

spk_0 Yeah, like, you know, I'm still a little scared because, like, will the command problems manifest

spk_0 themselves can this actually continue?

spk_0 But so far, he's looked great.

spk_0 Yeah, it's been exciting.

spk_0 It would be great if it could persist.

spk_0 I will be so fascinated to see like what kind of offseason work he gets up to with them.

spk_0 You know, when he just says like a full normal offseason where he's not doing the free agent,

spk_0 song and dance and he can just, yeah, it's going to be fascinating.

spk_0 Yeah. And passing had a piece of ESPN about his, his road to relief and how that happened.

spk_0 I'll link to that on the show page.

spk_0 But really, like, there wasn't that much to say, probably about that initial Brewers Cubs game.

spk_0 And the Bujays we talked about.

spk_0 I do think that the Bujays, of course, it's easy to say after they put up a bunch of runs

spk_0 and back-to-back games, but they do have that quality that the Astros often had during their

spk_0 recent run of they can make contact, but also hit the ball hard.

spk_0 Or they can hit the ball not hard and then hit a home run anyway.

spk_0 And that works out too.

spk_0 That very inclement home run made no sense.

spk_0 Just no sense.

spk_0 Yeah, they definitely had some, some not putting a charge into one and it working out anyway for them.

spk_0 But also they did hit some balls hard.

spk_0 And that is something that they've been able to do this season pretty impressively,

spk_0 is not only strike out less than any other team and hit for a high average by the standards,

spk_0 but also can actually hit the ball hard.

spk_0 So it's a little bit different from the Brewers.

spk_0 I often compare the Bujays and the Brewers.

spk_0 And they're somewhat similar in that they don't strike out a whole lot.

spk_0 The Bujays are more extreme in that sense, but they didn't hit for the kind of power

spk_0 that the Bujays did some Brewers do.

spk_0 But on the whole, the Brewers are much more let's put it in play and let's get our speed involved

spk_0 and base running and somehow we will beat out these games or force you to make errors.

spk_0 I don't know how they do it, but they do it.

spk_0 Whereas the Bujays, they can make contact, but they can also make really hard contact

spk_0 a lot of the time and that's kind of the best of both worlds.

spk_0 The only other thing I'll say about that, Dodgers game one, obviously,

spk_0 Shohei Otoni's first MLB postseason pitching performance.

spk_0 So he had a rough day at the plate.

spk_0 He had four strikeouts in a bunch of looking strikeouts on pitches right down the middle,

spk_0 where I wondered what he was looking for exactly.

spk_0 I think there's enough of a sample now to at least strongly suggest that he is not as good a

spk_0 hitter on the days that he pitches and even maybe the day immediately after he pitches.

spk_0 As he is on other days, I guess maybe the day off helps in that respect for them if there is

spk_0 some fatigue factor there. But it was a better day for him on the mound, of course, where he did

spk_0 get six. He went six. He got the win, I guess, in the end. He missed a bunch of bats.

spk_0 And was let down by his defense, but picked up by his offense and it was the same guy.

spk_0 It was Tiasca Hernandez. That was just an encapsulation of the Tiasca experience.

spk_0 Because it can be extremely frustrating and flamixing and confusing.

spk_0 But then he will get the big blow and make up for it all.

spk_0 And it's just like, I've talked before about how he has negative range seemingly somehow in the

spk_0 outfield. And I don't like to question people's efforts or like throw around lazy,

spk_0 that can be kind of a loaded term when you're talking about players of color for one thing.

spk_0 But also, you know, you never know what's going on with a guy. And maybe it looks deceptively,

spk_0 like there wasn't a high effort there or maybe nursing some injury or you never know.

spk_0 But that ball that just like, I somehow, I look, I'm with you on all of those things. I want to be,

spk_0 there are times though where it's like, hey, dude, you've got to like have some hustle to that.

spk_0 And then like that was wild. That was wild times. And I, I love it. I love it when a guy has,

spk_0 like just an error, not a, not an a play. I don't love it when guys have errors to be clear.

spk_0 I'm going to finish my sentence, but like not a play where there is a question of like, why are you not

spk_0 demonstrating some urgency with your play? Maybe that's a neutral way to describe it.

spk_0 I was surprised by the lack of urgency that Teoscar and it has demonstrated in that moment.

spk_0 I like Teoscar and he's like a popular clubhouse guy. I liked him as a mariner, even though he

spk_0 didn't hit very well because the batters, I was bothering him. But like people seemed to like

spk_0 Teoscar and I did wonder about his urgency in that in that moment of the game.

spk_0 Yes, that was, that was like an optical illusion. It's like I saw the ball being hit and then we switched

spk_0 to it's like what? What that was going to the wall to be clear. That would have been,

spk_0 that was going to bring in a run no matter what. But like allowing the trail runner to score and now

spk_0 Real Moch is on third. Yeah. Real Mudo had not tripled for a couple years. I think

spk_0 that should not have been a triple either. I would argue he still hasn't. Yeah, exactly.

spk_0 There's some assistance in that one. But I like it when a guy has an actual error and then has

spk_0 redemption later in the game. There's like a narrative. But I don't, I was, I found myself being like,

spk_0 I don't think you'd, I don't know if you get to have the narrative redo on this. Like this was

spk_0 in an error. Like I was, I was rooting so hard. I was like it would be so cool if Josh

spk_0 Nailer hit a home run. Right? Because like Nailer had an error in that Sunday game.

spk_0 It ended up leading to two runs. Game is tied. Bad, bad, bad. And I was like, oh, maybe a whole

spk_0 homer and then it'll feel like the weight has been lifted. But if you look like you're a long

spk_0 thing. It was so strange. It was so strange. I haven't seen it. He's slow to be clear. He's not

spk_0 fast. But he goes out very hard. It seems like it gets in the ball. It seems like a combination of

spk_0 not going peak speed. And I'm the first to say in some context that hustle is I wash or overrated.

spk_0 That's not one of them though. That's you got to go all out. You got to go out. I don't know if

spk_0 that was just a misread on his part or what he was thinking or is he thinking of Pais will have a

spk_0 better player, a better throw. I really don't know. But that was quite confounding. And then

spk_0 this is he comes up anymore than makes up for it because he had some three run over. And yeah,

spk_0 like Sanchez was great. Obviously, and it was kind of a hard luck thing for him. And I guess you

spk_0 maybe you criticize there not having been a quicker hook there before Teas Grade came up. And

spk_0 you could always do that in retrospect. But Enrique Hernandez was coming up. And whether you believe

spk_0 in in October, Kike or not, that was a spot where maybe he's real. He's a popular maybe a

spk_0 player perhaps you almost were fortunately not. But yeah, you know, and then Hernandez hits the

spk_0 two run double and you know, things get out of hand. So that felt like a very winnable game for

spk_0 the Phillies. That felt like one that the Dodgers sort of stole. So that's that's tough for Phillies fans

spk_0 to anyway. Yeah. Entertaining stuff. Entertaining baseball. The Dodgers have their own Duran seemingly in

spk_0 Sasaki. So we'll see how it goes. Maybe that's a little much. And I don't mean it as a I don't

spk_0 mean to knock. Yeah. Just saying what's relax. Yes. We will see. He has that sort of stuff. Whether

spk_0 he does. Oh sure. Oh sure. We shall see. All right. Well, we will talk next time about what has

spk_0 befallen these teams in games that will take place after we are recording. But now we will take a

spk_0 quick break and move back with our pals. Fun to say that. Ben Gibbard. Death Cab for QD,

spk_0 frontman and Mariners fan.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 Why? I think I speak.

spk_0 I've got this.

spk_0 That's life.

spk_0 Every week.

spk_0 Bring down your favorite past time.

spk_0 Relax and one.

spk_0 We learn a ton of.

spk_0 Well, Jason Benetti came on last time to talk about the Tigers. So in the interest of equal time,

spk_0 we have brought on someone other than Meg to talk about the Mariners. And who better than Ben Gibbard?

spk_0 Best known for his work with death cab for QD, the postal service, the effectively wild outro theme,

spk_0 of course, last and also probably least, but still pretty important. He's also famously a Mariners

spk_0 fan. Hello, Ben. Welcome back. How are you? I'm doing much better today than I was at this time

spk_0 yesterday. I don't know how people do this. Yeah. I have a friend, two friends who reached out to

spk_0 me yesterday. One is a giant fan. The other is an Astros fan who has actually been very gracious

spk_0 over the past couple of weeks as we leaprog them in the standings. And he was like, how you

spk_0 feeling? I'm like, I feel like I just had just had two heart attacks in the last 48 hours.

spk_0 Like, oh, what are you doing? Seriously? I was like, Hey, man, I don't have practice with this.

spk_0 I have no endurance for this level of sport stress in my life. It's been years since a team I

spk_0 followed was in this position. So I don't have those muscles of atrophy dramatically. Yeah,

spk_0 you're an ultra runner. So you've got great cardio endurance. You could run untold numbers of

spk_0 miles, probably, and your heart can handle that. But this, this is something you haven't trained for.

spk_0 And I believe the Mariners last played a postseason game after winning a division title on

spk_0 October 9th, 2001. That was when they started the 2001 playoff run, which was also that was the day

spk_0 that Death Cab released their third LP, the photo album. So that's how long ago that was. You

spk_0 just you just finished tracking your upcoming 11th album. So it's been a while. Now there was

spk_0 that 2022 interlude, of course. And we talked to you at the time. And I gave you some grief for

spk_0 scheduling a tour during the Mariners 2022 playoff appearance. So I must commend you on not only

spk_0 being off the road right now. You you wrapped up your 20th anniversary concerts a while back. I had

spk_0 the pleasure of attending one in Brooklyn. And you even wrapped up your album tracking last week.

spk_0 I don't know whether you planned it that way, but you kind of got everything squared away and ready

spk_0 so that you could fully focus on this playoff run. So how do you take in a Mariners playoff game?

spk_0 Are you watching with other people? Are you watching in isolation? So they can't see you sweat?

spk_0 How does it happen? Well, I should say in 2001, I was Death Cab was on tour for the photo album during

spk_0 those playoffs. And it was 2001. So we couldn't just watch the games on our phones, which didn't exist.

spk_0 And also the you know, and that it was in the shadow of September 11. So it was just kind of a

spk_0 gnarly period to be out on the road anyways. And in 2022, I was on tour. So I couldn't focus

spk_0 as much as I would have liked on those games because I had a job to do. For example, we had played

spk_0 Austin City limits. I was watching the 18 in the beginnings of the 18 inning game on my phone

spk_0 backstage at Austin City limits. I assumed the game would be over by the time we got off stage.

spk_0 It wasn't. We have dinner plans at 8 p.m. I assumed the game be over by the time we had dinner.

spk_0 It wasn't. And I found myself just in a hotel room in Austin watching this, you know,

spk_0 real kind of unfortunate for the Mariners, but still exciting playoff game. And in this situation,

spk_0 now I find myself in I have nothing now that the record is tracked. Now that the tours are over

spk_0 for the time being, I have nothing to do but just focus on this and I don't like it. It's just not

spk_0 a good feeling. And I wasn't expecting to be home at this period because the record was supposed to be,

spk_0 it was supposed to take up a couple more weeks to track, but we got done early. So I found myself back in

spk_0 Seattle this past Thursday. It was kind of too late in the game to call in any favors. I might be

spk_0 able to call in to get tickets for these games this weekend. I just felt that wouldn't be a cool

spk_0 thing for me to do. It's literally the hottest ticket in town. So I had a I had a wash party in my

spk_0 house, I had a bunch of people over and a couple of those people brought their children, those children

spk_0 learned some new words. I was doing everything I could to to maintain composure and to not scare

spk_0 any of my friends or specifically my friends kids with mixed results. And I think it's just better

spk_0 that I'm inside with people who know me well and that know that I'm not always like this.

spk_0 Because as I'm sure you guys are aware in anybody listening, this kind of level of high stress sports

spk_0 experiences is just not it brings out an element of you that you'd rather leave inside.

spk_0 I had the experience yesterday and I have to confess that like I was like I can go into these

spk_0 games with still some amount of professional remove and I don't know if being so sick so recently

spk_0 just broke down my defenses or if that's a convenient excuse for the like feral animal I

spk_0 descended into this weekend. But I did have a moment during we're rewarding this on Monday. I did

spk_0 have a moment during yesterday's game after the tigers had tied it where I felt like I had sort of

spk_0 transcended my body to a certain extent because I had the awareness to be like man if I were

spk_0 in a fan of either of these teams this would be like a really great game. I would be like wow what

spk_0 a what an instant classic of a matchup we've gotten here. And then I like I like came back into my

spk_0 body and immediately started yelling at at Cal Raleigh to like have a good at bat. You might say

spk_0 yeah yeah yeah yeah um and I just you know I'm I feel like I'm like my sister when she's at my

spk_0 niece's soccer games like okay just a good at bat let's just put a good at bat together it's like

spk_0 he can't hear you and if he could he would give you a look to tell you to shut the f*** up he's

spk_0 trying to work it is how do people do this I'm gonna start eating my hair it's and and here's the

spk_0 thing if we get what we want but there's so much more ahead this goes on for another month.

spk_0 I I I had that exact same thought and I think I might have said almost the exact same thing yesterday

spk_0 I was watching so we watched game one at my house we lost so there needed to be a change of

spk_0 venue. So because my house is hot is a is cursed right so we went to my bandmate Nick

spk_0 Carmer's house we watched there they won so okay now we watch it Nick's house that's where we watch

spk_0 it now we both let's finish those appointments like if this keeps going I don't know if I don't

spk_0 if I can live like this I don't know if I can I don't know if I can live like this it's I I would

spk_0 like to continue living like this because of what it means but you know I conversa I have a friend

spk_0 who I'm a very maybe I've mentioned this last time I was on the pod I'm a very fatalistic sports

spk_0 fan I'm really not good at this when they tied the score I was texting my friends like well

spk_0 it's over they lost you know it's like no there's more there's more game it's only time you know

spk_0 but I'm such a fatalist and meanwhile my friend Torqueville Campbell of the band stars who is equally

spk_0 as fatalistic as I am is enjoying his blue jays just dog walking the New York Yankees yeah and at

spk_0 no point in either of these games has it been stressful for him at all he literally told me

spk_0 he texted me yesterday this is better than Christmas and I would really love to have one of those

spk_0 games preferably a clincher in the next couple days but it's a Seattle Mariners and they are

spk_0 surely not going to make it that easy on me yeah meh doesn't know this but you actually emailed me

spk_0 yesterday Sunday before the game to say that after what transpired on Saturday and with scuba

spk_0 pitching on Sunday if they're down oh two I do not know if I can trust myself going

spk_0 in front of a microphone speaking to the entire internet about the Mariners right now so we

spk_0 might actually have to table this podcast appearance so I was rooting hard for the Mariners too

spk_0 in that game to be even though I don't have as strong a rooting interest as you too I didn't want

spk_0 to talk to you on the pod and fortunately they pulled it out I really didn't trust myself I was

spk_0 I can't be that guy but the state of the world at this point does not have a lot of

spk_0 does not hold a lot of space for someone like me screaming about his favorite sports team not

spk_0 doing well that's just really in the grand scheme of things not an important and important

spk_0 grievance but so I too am glad that they won last night from multiple reasons but also that

spk_0 I get to chance to talk to you guys again yeah I did I did say to one burger I was like I really

spk_0 gonna make give it come on here and talk to us if the Mariners are down oh two your blue jay's fan I

spk_0 had the experience this weekend of like you know that the the preacher meme where it's like I've

spk_0 seen what you've done for other people and I want that for me that was me watching the blue jays I was

spk_0 like can we please have a like seven run and ink that sounds like fun that sounds like a good time

spk_0 I'm curious Ben like what was your coming in to because you know they had this great finish to

spk_0 the season they de-thrill in the asterisks not only do they win the west but they get the two seed they

spk_0 get the buy what were your sort of feelings about the team like the day the season ended were you I

spk_0 know you're fatalistic but were you feeling like okay this is a good competitive squad or were

spk_0 you saying no they'll never get a hit again like what were your expectations entering this gauntlet

spk_0 we find ourselves in as a Mariners fan I feel I always have to start at the worst possible outcome

spk_0 and then work backwards yeah into some level of optimism and where I began the end of the season

spk_0 uh which is a weird way of putting it but on the last season season I was I was sitting there going

spk_0 okay we the the Mariners have gone what 19 and five or something crazy you guys probably the numbers

spk_0 in front of you over the last month you know we hire they have some guy hired a witch they start

spk_0 winning uh you know and um this has been a thoroughly enjoyable month month of baseball for

spk_0 myriad reasons meanwhile the Tigers have almost entirely collapsed over the months in September

spk_0 and they have played their worst baseball the whole year right at the end they almost missed the

spk_0 after holding a a massive lead from most of the season in the division my first thought was like okay

spk_0 so we're gonna stop hitting and they're gonna start hitting you know like they they're it's like they

spk_0 they kind of rolled over the guardians and I was like I don't like this at all because this seems

spk_0 like maybe they're uh they're kind of rising back to the level they have been all season and we are

spk_0 regressing to uh where we probably should be which is maybe not as good as we've been I I think

spk_0 safely can say it not as good as we've been on the last month um so that I started at that

spk_0 level of fatalism whereas like we are on the we are going down they are going up I didn't make

spk_0 too much of the Dodgers series because I kind of felt like number one is the Dodgers number two

spk_0 they just ran a gauntlet uh and played so well and they're probably the the competitive fires

spk_0 probably maybe not where it was four days ago you know in game one when you get six hits from

spk_0 the entire lineup and they are all coming from somebody named cow or hulio that's a little concerning

spk_0 you know but then you know polanco steps up yesterday two bombs hulio and cow once again step up

spk_0 and uh you know it would be nice to get the rest of the lineup going for a lot of reasons but um

spk_0 you know it's playoff baseball it's just they're hopefully an unlikely hero will arise

spk_0 and it would be like leo revoz or something like that who knows you know yeah polanco

spk_0 hitting two home runs off not only a lefty but the best lefty I didn't necessarily see that coming

spk_0 so that was an unlikely hero to some extent is there anything that would satisfy mariners fans

spk_0 let's say they don't win the world series let's contemplate that sad outcome as I know you've

spk_0 both been contemplated from the start is there anything where after you get past the initial

spk_0 disappointment you would look back and say you know what successful season we actually won the

spk_0 division for once we beat the astros it looked for a time like we might blow that and we might not

spk_0 make the playoffs at all okay we did that would it be having to win a pennant for the first time

spk_0 is that what it would take to say successful season or can you kind of put it in perspective after

spk_0 you get over the initial grief of the loss which to be clear I hope for your sakes does not come

spk_0 no but 29 of 30 teams go home disappointed at the end of the day so the odds are the odds are

spk_0 are most are that your team might was most likely going to be one of those 29 of course obviously

spk_0 goes without saying that winning the world series would be unbelievable winning a pennant for

spk_0 the first time would also be I think that would be getting over that hurdle would mean a lot in the

spk_0 fan base but after almost 50 years of mediocrity here in Seattle we we have conditioned ourselves for

spk_0 the little victories and you know the little victories at you know are like you know carrying

spk_0 junior and each row on the team shoulders around the stadium after they've missed the playoffs

spk_0 on the last day of the season by like a long shot you know these are the kind of things that we

spk_0 revel in here in Seattle so I think that to have won the division and more importantly to have

spk_0 de-throened the Astros I think when all is said and done regardless of how far they go will be remembered

spk_0 fondly and you know after the initial sadness and despair of being balanced by whomever

spk_0 you know we are we will we are most likely to be balanced by just because that's what the numbers say

spk_0 the probability says I guess I should say I think that I think that will be something we'll

spk_0 look forward to but I also believe that as I think as I feel a lot of Marinus fans do this is the best

spk_0 team we've had in 25 years and there are holes of course and you would love the pitching staff to

spk_0 be fully healthy and to be firing on the cylinders they were firing on a couple of years ago or even

spk_0 last year but you know especially in the American League there are there are no juggerments

spk_0 blue jays seem like they're kind of turning into one at the right time but there doesn't seem to be

spk_0 an error of inevitability with any of the remaining teams in the American League and that you know

spk_0 that that's what's giving me you know a sliver of hope that we can win a tenant it would be nice

spk_0 I mean obviously I'd prefer that they just win the world series but I think that one of the the rough

spk_0 things about being a Mariners fan is how often they show up in non baseball context when when

spk_0 another sport is trying to put like a bad team in their sports futility into to context right so

spk_0 it's like you'll be watching a football game and you're like why are why are the Mariners being

spk_0 mentioned right now what why am I getting like whacked in the head out of the clear blue nowhere because

spk_0 like the the browns have been bad that doesn't seem like it should be my problem right now I got my own

spk_0 problems right and so I think that one of the benefits of them even just reaching the world

spk_0 series is like the number of of little lists that they're on that some producer in the Fox van is

spk_0 going to remember once like oh yeah what was another bad team I don't need to see them in that

spk_0 context so much you know I just don't and so the the the number a little less they can check

spk_0 themselves off I think that's it's a stone kind of success it's a small success you know relative

spk_0 to tell other things like winning the world series but it's not not a success the number of days I

spk_0 can just like be left alone when watching other failed franchises that'd be nice I would like that you

spk_0 know yeah I mean who who else what fan base has when they have expressed their fandom for their

spk_0 team had their faces laughed in I have yeah I have and and you know there aren't a lot of there

spk_0 aren't a lot of fan bases of in the four major sports American sports they get laughed at by

spk_0 car service guys when you say you're from Seattle and a man is fan right um or a cabbie or

spk_0 a baby yeah so um yeah I just to to get an opportunity to establish a little respect in the

spk_0 in the general sports world would be yeah it's what it's long overdue for us here yeah and I don't

spk_0 know if this is better or worse but when it's not even mocking when it's more like

spk_0 commiseration or condolences like I'm a mariners fan oh sorry about that buddy you know that kind of

spk_0 thing maybe that that hurts worse I've had that one before too yes yeah and that's uh but you

spk_0 know what this is that I was born in Bremerton Washington I was born into this mess and I am loyal

spk_0 a loyal person arguably to a fault but I'm a firm believer in you are born into you are born

spk_0 into the regional franchise you are born into and you have an obligation to support that franchise

spk_0 maybe I say that because I am a mariners fan it would be so much easier to just you know jump

spk_0 around to whomever was the dominant team at the time uh some friends of mine were coming over

spk_0 from Bremerton for the Dodgers Mariners series and we're commenting on just how many Dodgers fans

spk_0 were on the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle now that let's just take into account the fact that

spk_0 there are a lot of people who've moved up here from California yeah uh and uh they should you know

spk_0 they should we don't have if anybody listening in California who's contemplating a move to Seattle

spk_0 just let me let me tell you we don't have any more room uh it's full uh just stay where you are uh stay

spk_0 down there it's beautiful you know big sir San Francisco LA it's great there's no sadly there's no more

spk_0 room um but there it is not possible that so many long time Dodgers fans yeah could live in Bremerton

spk_0 Washington and the and the west on the on the on the on the on the Olympic peninsula it is not

spk_0 possible that that many Dodgers fans have existed there in time of moron these are these are

spk_0 bandwagon jumpers these are fake fans and that makes me upset because we were born into the scotch

spk_0 team and we have to support it then give her gatekeeping mariners fandom right now I'm just saying

spk_0 if you've like endured and my my dad's family is from Bremerton I'm allowed to say this if you've

spk_0 endured kitsap like just stick with it what are we doing come on yeah I mean come on you got you guys

spk_0 get this you guys get the Seahawks they they want a super bowl you know yeah we got that together we're

spk_0 not in time you know the storm is one for championships the soldiers are great you know we have

spk_0 some sports success there this hasn't it hasn't uh hasn't arrived uh on a baseball field well you

spk_0 said this was the best mariners team in 25-ish years so what did you enjoy about this season did

spk_0 you like the depot Odeals in the middle of the year who were the players you most enjoyed following

spk_0 because they can't take that away from you whatever happens this month that season is in the books

spk_0 and that's most of the baseball season is the regular season and it was a good one certainly by

spk_0 mariners standards I mean I feel obligated to choose something other than Cal rallies

spk_0 march to 60 home runs and his emergence as a as a as a superstar I was a fan of this player before

spk_0 he was on the mariners but when Josh Nailer arrived in Seattle I have some friends who work for the

spk_0 team and I don't have any influence with the team but every time Josh Nailer would do something

spk_0 incredible I would be like you guys have to sign this guy right now I'm serious like I'm serious

spk_0 this guy's baseball IQ is off the charts he's you know he's making a lot of contact he's hitting

spk_0 for power he oddly is an amazing bass runner I still don't understand how that works I'm sure you

spk_0 got this is what you guys do for a living and I'm not sure you could explain it either um you know

spk_0 an air yesterday aside he's been pretty solid at first base he's an incredibly strange person he

spk_0 doesn't seem to smile uh or be enjoying himself at any point other than wearing a hockey jersey

spk_0 yeah uh because he's Canadian I spoke to him yeah there was some video that was up online last month

spk_0 where they got him this fancy glow in the dark raccoon jersey and he was like a five-year-old

spk_0 on Christmas and I was just like I love this strange person that we need more baseball weirdos out

spk_0 there you know and he is a baseball weirdo and I have thoroughly enjoyed having on the team and I

spk_0 hope that they're able to uh sign him in the offseason what is your impression of Dan Wilson as a manager

spk_0 and is it better after Sunday than it was unsatana you know I'll make an observation about

spk_0 Dan Wilson that is kind of humorous before I I kind of dive into my feelings about him as a manager

spk_0 I've I've met him before he's a very sweet and kind man whether in person or on the broadcast

spk_0 when he was working on the broadcast team he's just this very fearful handsome radiant man and you

spk_0 cut to him in the dugout and he looks like somebody just killed his dog he just has this stern look on

spk_0 his face and he's got his chin down he's kind of looking over the down the brine of his hat and he

spk_0 looks very serious and very much in thought and is such a contradiction to the Dan Wilson that we

spk_0 as manager fans have known as much as we could know anybody for the past you know 30 years or whatever

spk_0 I when he was hired I found it to be a dubious hire especially because he had never managed

spk_0 before at any level I think if I'm calling correctly yeah and last season was last season

spk_0 there have been a number of choices certainly in the last over the weekend that just made no sense to

spk_0 me and there there have been some games the Mariners lost throughout the season that were kind of

spk_0 determined by equally puzzling choices could the Mariners benefit with a more experienced manager

spk_0 yes I'm sure they could but at the end of the day I'm kind of one of those people who believes

spk_0 that the players play the game and I mean I'm not being snarky I'm being serious that's like

spk_0 everybody's going up there trying to hit the ball and every picture is going up they're trying

spk_0 to strike everybody out or induce weak contact or whatever might be and and I say this now

spk_0 something horrible could happen in the next couple days it might change my mind but if the game

spk_0 arrives at a place where a manor's decision is going to determine when you're losing the game

spk_0 oftentimes that's because the players aren't doing their jobs so you know I I want to see

spk_0 out the rest of the season before I make a judgment call on if whether he's a good or a bad

spk_0 manager but he's certainly not an experienced manager and being thrown into a contending team

spk_0 and the high stakes of pictures becoming more expensive and free agents and everything else it's

spk_0 you know this is though this is their window to win so yes it's it's it's an odd choice to go with

spk_0 someone that in experience at this juncture but the Mariners won the division so and they're

spk_0 they're currently two games away from moving on the next round of the playoffs so let's let's

spk_0 let this play out yeah I guess what you want with an inexperienced manager is for him to learn

spk_0 from his mistakes and I guess maybe you could say that he's done that within this series he at

spk_0 least made a different decision presented with similar circumstances because game one game two

spk_0 some of the pivotal decisions happened in the top of the fifth right with a one nothing lead

spk_0 and carry carpenter coming up and in the first game he let George Kirby stay in to face carpenter

spk_0 carpenter hit a home run as he often does he has just enormous platoon splits and then the second

spk_0 time around he did not leave Louise Castillo in to face carpenter he brought in Gabe Spire who

spk_0 made quick work of carpenter so that was that was better right it's not exactly the same circumstances

spk_0 in the same picture and everything but but very similar and of course you don't want to overreact

spk_0 to if you are actually making the right decision and it backfires then in theory you should make

spk_0 that decision again and hope for better results but but I think leaving Castillo in two-faced carpenter

spk_0 that would have been a big oopsie and he did not do that so yeah progress growth learning I agree

spk_0 and at this point I think I would trust Gabe Spire with my life yeah I mean just all see as I'm

spk_0 the long he's just been he's just been absolutely males conversely I I don't think we should be putting

spk_0 Vargas in for any high leverage situations moving forward if we can avoid it he on Saturday I

spk_0 get it you know it's the first playoff game it's at home his his first playoff game by all by all

spk_0 accounts you know he was just pulling the ball throwing it all over the place it just seemed like

spk_0 the moment was the moment got to him and yeah and lunch other decisions it kind of it cost the

spk_0 Mariners up game I think it's better for what I said when Spire did not come in on Saturday to be

spk_0 lost to time and like the echoes of my own living room I think that's probably better so I don't

spk_0 end up on a list yeah and it was impressive to see Andreas Munoz who maybe this is a reflection of

spk_0 the fact that relievers are kind of babyed in this era relative to earlier errors that this was like

spk_0 an Iron Man marathon performance for him to throw two whole innings in one day and then come

spk_0 back and throw another inning the next day but that was that was pretty gutsy given that he has not

spk_0 been asked to do that and it looked like he was feeling the effects on Sunday because his fastball

spk_0 was down a couple ticks and then he was basically like what if I just spam sliders maybe that will work

spk_0 yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it is it it's almost I do obviously I want this season to continue all the

spk_0 all the way to a world series and winning it but I and maybe I'm just about I'm just about to say

spk_0 this because this is my team and maybe everybody feels this way about their team but I certainly

spk_0 rooted for very unlikable Mariners teams with some very unlikable people I really like everybody on

spk_0 this roster as far as I as much as I can possibly know them and dare I say want to know them you know

spk_0 so when Munoz gets up there was put in the game yesterday I a friend of mine worked

spk_0 with the team was like I think we're going with brash and lunoz tonight I was like oh my God it's

spk_0 incredible it's like some insider information is as exciting if it gets into the game we're going to

spk_0 see brash again we're going to see munoz and you know by all accounts munoz is just a wonderful human

spk_0 being yeah and and that makes a player's triumphs even that much even that much more enjoyable and

spk_0 that makes their failures even that much more painful you know and I was just really glad to see

spk_0 munoz well for many reasons but as as a human being I was really excited to see him succeed last

spk_0 night it's probably hard to talk about anything other than the Mariners right now but is there anything

spk_0 else that has caught your attention in baseball this season since we haven't had you on this season

spk_0 I wonder what else you were tracking or are there other teams that you would be interested in

spk_0 watching right now if they weren't potential opponents for the Mariners how was baseball at large

spk_0 for you this year I'm sure that's heavily dictated by how the Mariners did which was well but

spk_0 did you enjoy the rest of the season I did I mean so much has gone on yeah yeah encapsulate and

spk_0 in yeah let's catch up and take us back to april yeah how about me yeah yeah you know I I I have

spk_0 some very close friends who are podra's and bruvus fans and I don't believe that you can truly have

spk_0 a second team and I won't say that I bandwagon either of those teams but moving into the playoffs I was

spk_0 I was really sad to see the podra's get bounced because I I yeah my friend who's a podra's fan

spk_0 has been in so many ways suffering kind of the same way that Mariners fans have not to not to the

spk_0 extent of course just based on the pedigree and you know they're you know they're they've been to

spk_0 the playoffs certainly more than we have and have at least gone to a few world series but

spk_0 there there's a similar similar level of looking you know I think podra's fans have been looking

spk_0 up at the Dodgers for forever 14 and last 15 seasons or something like that 13 and last 14

spk_0 something like that we have been looking up at the Astros for the last 10 years

spk_0 yeah we have been we have been bonded in our underdog status in regards to our sports teams

spk_0 and so I was I was I enjoyed watching in the season yeah I was I was glad to get Mason Miller

spk_0 out of the AL West for a while and also with the brew I'm I'm I'm enjoying watching the brewers

spk_0 and I was very satisfying to see them you know what they did to the cup is a couple days ago

spk_0 no offense cubs fans but I feel that if it would be possible to ban wagon and national league team

spk_0 the brewers would be acceptable because they are technically a Seattle team right yeah they are

spk_0 they began as a Seattle team granted it was six years before I was born seven years actually

spk_0 but one can make a case that as a Mariners fan if the Mariners God forbid are balanced and the

spk_0 brewers are still in the playoffs that you can transfer your fandom over to the brewers which

spk_0 I plan on doing yeah I did ask make that that because I am curious about just

spk_0 Carmichael who deserves it more just which franchises more benedict to are the Mariners

spk_0 old a world series more than the brewers are because the brewers have been around even longer

spk_0 but then again they have one appenant at least like if it comes down to Mariners brewers then

spk_0 I guess either way someone wins for the first time which is nice for a neutral person to root for

spk_0 and then if a Mariners fan if the Mariners lost to the brewers let's say would that be more

spk_0 heartbreaking because oh they just got what we wanted all this time they are just like us and we

spk_0 came so close and we had to watch them celebrate or would it be some slight consolation because

spk_0 okay if we had to lose at least it was another team that had suffered and put their time in

spk_0 and sort of deserved it and had at least a tenuous Seattle connection to if we ended up

spk_0 with the brewers Mariners world series and the Mariners lost I would be gutted of course and I

spk_0 would hate the brewers but after a little bit of time I would hate the brewers repeating us but I

spk_0 would I would know deep down in my heart and eventually come to the conclusion that it is in my

spk_0 mind as a fan of a perennial underdog it is always more exciting it is always more rewarding to see

spk_0 a team that has never won something win something yeah it just is or or or that it had been

spk_0 you know like if the Guardians had gone to the world series and won it that would be fulfilling

spk_0 what is not fulfilling and and very annoying is just is seeing that oh low and behold the Dodgers

spk_0 are at full strength at this very moment yeah and and I I respect the Dodgers they I am at my

spk_0 core like every based all fan I too wish that my team had unlimited resources and such such skilled

spk_0 scouting and development departments but it is just it's really it's really annoying you guys

spk_0 really annoying it's really annoying and and because this is this is never gonna end I just

spk_0 it's deemed this is this is this feels like a situation where they have they have cracked the code

spk_0 and they have the kind of owners that are they are never going to okay a rebuild there's never

spk_0 going to be a rebuild in Los Angeles and man I was really hoping for one of those one and done

spk_0 playoff series with the Dodgers just to get them out of the way so we can move on to other business

spk_0 and looks like it might happen not necessarily one and done but two and done it looks like that might

spk_0 happen with the Yankees I certainly hope I certainly hope that it will but then if that were to happen

spk_0 if the Mariners were to move on now I now my friend Torque and I are not allowed to speak for

spk_0 Ken days and maybe even for weeks after that and I like talking to Torque you know so there's

spk_0 just no winning here unless you win the whole thing you know yeah no it's true if if they were to

spk_0 win the whole thing do you think you could be coaxed back into the studio for some sort of

spk_0 celebratory recording because you did actually release Eichro's theme this year and we got some

spk_0 emails from people saying hey you want to check out this new Ben Givert baseball song he wrote a song

spk_0 about Eichro and of course it was not a new song but it was newly released and newly streaming etc and

spk_0 on a previous podcast appearance I had tried to talk you into covering your own Eichro's theme for

spk_0 Julio because it would scan the same and you could just say go go go go Julio and you said Julio

spk_0 deserved his own song which is fair of course but do you have another in the chamber do you think

spk_0 that your joy should the Mariners win would be expressed in song I never say never people do

spk_0 some pretty crazy things with their sports fandom after their team as one championship or some you

spk_0 know it happens so but at the end of the day you know I mean I was talking my Padres friend off

spk_0 off of off a ledge when they were eliminated and I was trying to remind him I was like hey man your

spk_0 life is amazing you have an amazing family you do exactly what you want to do for a living you

spk_0 know he was a professional runner and then became an agent he's a sports agent he has this amazing

spk_0 family he you know he's everything he's and this is just your cross-debare and like to being a

spk_0 fan of this team and they did provide you some joy and he's like I know I know and I then I followed

spk_0 up with and I'm really only telling you this because I need to hear myself say it to myself if this

spk_0 doesn't go the way I wanted to and look you know I've said to number of my friends maybe even on

spk_0 the spot gas before to you guys as individuals when we spend time together I feel so fortunate in my

spk_0 life to to be able to do this thing that I do for a living and to have the people in my life that I do

spk_0 if at the end of the day the Seattle Mariners are the at least to date the largest source of

spk_0 of constant pain and abuse in my life I'm doing pretty well you know all things considered so

spk_0 I say that now and I'm saying it again to anybody listening so they hear me say it but there will be

spk_0 meltdowns and there already happened and there will continue to be and this is just this is just the

spk_0 weird and unfortunate part of being a sports fan how could something that ultimately means nothing

spk_0 means so much it doesn't make it doesn't make sense and I'll never understand it. I have one more

spk_0 pitch for you so you've been asked about your band name umpteen times maybe not so much anymore but

spk_0 that in the early days I'm sure you were absolutely sick of answering the death cab for QT what does

spk_0 that mean question and in one of the countless answers you provided you said that if you had known

spk_0 that this band would be big and it would be used for almost 30 years now that you probably would have

spk_0 chosen something else maybe something more obvious perhaps and maybe almost 30 years in it's a little

spk_0 late for a rebrand seemingly but it's not unprecedented you know you've got your your British

spk_0 C-powers becoming C-power your Dixie chicks becoming the chicks so with the 11th album rolling out

spk_0 what would you say to death cow for QT okay okay or even just cow for QT if you want to change

spk_0 the initials you can you can keep death and just keep all the merch that you've made already but what

spk_0 do you think uh I think I'm gonna stick with uh I think I'm gonna stick with what we got you've

spk_0 done I think I think this is work and better for us and you know over the course of the uh the

spk_0 course of the next couple days my goal is just to not do what that guy did uh on the we saw it on

spk_0 the internet after the Seahawks lost the super the second Super Bowl the we call it the bad Super Bowl

spk_0 when the when the the interception at the two-yard line and then he ran through his TV I don't know

spk_0 if you've seen this footage uh he had one of those big projection TV isn't he just did a loop

spk_0 around his living room and just ran through the middle of the TV and whenever I start getting

spk_0 overly emotional watching the mariners I think about that and I I think it's not that important

spk_0 don't get this mad yeah yeah yeah yeah I don't think it would help my primary problem with it is that

spk_0 my mom babysits sometimes when my wife and I go to concerts and it's nice to have a free babysitter

spk_0 but whenever we tell her which band we're seeing there's always an eye roll whenever it's an

spk_0 unusual name so like yeah we're we're going to see sloth rust we're going to see wet leg we're

spk_0 going to see death cab and she does the like eye roll like kids these days or something and it's like

spk_0 your generation started this yeah death comes from a bonzo dog doodah band song like this is your

spk_0 generation not mine but she's always you know given us some lip about the band names or or at least a

spk_0 little side eye and I guess going from death cat to death cal wouldn't actually help and probably

spk_0 you should stick with your established brand but just as a way of expressing your your gratitude to

spk_0 one of the guys who got you here yeah well I mean there will be a lot of gratitude expressed in

spk_0 in ways that we cannot even begin to imagine it's these guys do win a world series so yes let's

spk_0 let's keep our fingers crossed for that and and try to keep our blood pressures as low as possible

spk_0 with the next couple days yes please don't have a heart attack for real only a sort of heart attack

spk_0 what we always enjoy listening to you whether you are singing about something or talking about

spk_0 baseball or both in the case of each of those theme so we hope to talk to you again either when

spk_0 this suggest completed album comes out or when the Mariners win a world series whichever comes first

spk_0 thank you Ben of course and yes we will do this again hopefully soon and later all right talking

spk_0 about reminded me that back in august I saw one of the death cab plans 20th anniversary shows in

spk_0 Brooklyn at the paramount and afterward I messaged Ben to compliment him on the performance and he

spk_0 wrote back and at the end he said glad you guys could make it gums g o m s all caps and for a while

spk_0 there I was thinking gums what is gums I showed it to my wife she didn't know what gums was I was

spk_0 googling gums it was things that would not make sense in that context then all of a sudden it

spk_0 dawned on me something that probably every Mariners Finn would have realized immediately go

spk_0 M's of course go M's not gums it's just there's no hashtag in the message and every letter was

spk_0 capitalized I felt pretty silly when that finally dawned on me little slow on the uptake but always

spk_0 great to get some double-barreled Ben action on the podcast after we recorded both the Dodgers and

spk_0 the Brewers went up to nothing in their respective series over the Phillies and Cubs the Dodgers

spk_0 game was a pictures duel until it wasn't a brilliant Blake snail some intriguing shall we say

spk_0 managerial moves on both sides rokie Sasaki finally was summoned to record the last out and nail

spk_0 it down after Dave Roberts probably made it a bit more interesting than he had to by calling on

spk_0 Blake Trinon it almost got away from them we'll have to talk about some of those managerial

spk_0 decisions the next time we pod one of the injured guys we discussed Will Smith pinch hit and had a big

spk_0 hit and then came in to catch and in the Cubs Brewers game which was a homerfest another of the

spk_0 injured guys we discussed Jackson Trio actually started and hit a three run homer we got playoff

spk_0 M's multiple multi run homers in that game I did mean to say that against a guy like scoobal you

spk_0 can hope to manufacture a run but your best bet might actually be the short sequence offense of

spk_0 just having Jorge Polanco pop one or preferably two then you don't have to try to string together

spk_0 a bunch of batters reaching base which is tough to do against a guy like that much more to discuss

spk_0 next time but just one more thing as clumbo used to say last week I solicited responses from

spk_0 guardians fans I asked hey guardians fans how you feeling because what a weird trajectory your team

spk_0 took you pull off one of the all time great comebacks only to be bounced immediately by the team

spk_0 you overtook in that division race are you just happy to have been there is the comeback spoiled

spk_0 well I got some good responses taken the pulse of the guardians fandom here patreon supporters Scott

spk_0 said on our effectively wild discord group yeah it very much was playing with house money the

spk_0 pitching was great in the second half but the lineup was genuinely bad all year and what made

spk_0 the streak fun was how unlikely it was for this bunch to pull it off it's arguably the best

spk_0 stretcher baseball this team has played since the 2017 win streak and that roster was loaded with

spk_0 talent several magnitudes better than the 2025 team was looking at the team as a whole stealing the

spk_0 division and getting a playoff birth very much felt like a reward for fans after putting up with

spk_0 three quarters of a truly hard season arguably the worst a lot of fans that are millennial aged and

spk_0 younger had ever seen from this franchise I know for me personally the losing combined with the

spk_0 gambling investigation made me question my fandom in a way I hadn't in a long long time that's how

spk_0 bad it got and then I and many others were inexplicably sucked back in by this miraculous run

spk_0 there's still some disappointment in not finishing off the tigers and at least getting to the DS

spk_0 also getting eliminated at home for the seventh time in their last eight playoff appearances sucked

spk_0 very tired of that but I don't think anyone really thought this bunch would get very far I feel

spk_0 pretty confident that the guardians would have been stomped by the mariners and that would have

spk_0 been that there seems to be a lot of optimism for next year for whatever that's worth ultimately

spk_0 the looming specter of the title drought makes it tough regardless and as long as the dolphins are

spk_0 running the show it's hard to expect any drastic roster improvements so it'll probably end up just

spk_0 being more of the same for the future TLDR there's melancholy but not outright sadness or anger

spk_0 maybe chased a lotter and Travis Pazana can lead us to the promised land next year seems similar

spk_0 in tone to other responses listener and patreon supporter Sidney said I am increasingly regular season

spk_0 piled since it's the vast majority of the baseball I consume and feels drastically undervalued in

spk_0 outer baseball discourse nothing that happens in the playoffs takes away from the fact that the

spk_0 guardians achieve something unprecedented by overcoming the tigers over 162 games the guardians one

spk_0 more games than Detroit which means more to me than the outcome of a three game sample I am however

spk_0 increasingly of the opinion that there's no good way to include wildcard teams in a postseason if

spk_0 I were the god emperor of baseball once expansion happens I would realign to four divisions

spk_0 per league and only the winner of each division would make the playoffs is that unfair to teams and

spk_0 tougher divisions maybe but as long as their divisions winning them should be the goal patreon

spk_0 supporter charlie says the short version is that I'm really just kind of glad that we got something

spk_0 exciting this season after pretty mediocre middle stretch sure I was bummed when it happened

spk_0 but ultimately I never expected to get here and making that kind of come back and having our

spk_0 long awaited premiere prospect debut in the postseason means that this will be a season to remember

spk_0 for a long while that's definitely not how everyone feels but I see genuinely no world in which

spk_0 this team could do anything to Seattle I mean we entered the postseason with a negative run differential

spk_0 you guys nailed it with the house money sentiment at least for me it feels a lot like the browns

spk_0 picking up Joe Flacco in 23 making a crazy run to sneak into the playoffs and then getting

spk_0 immediately bounced cleavewin just does this I suppose my biggest concern is that Paul Dolan

spk_0 has basically no reason to do anything but cut payroll a year after year if we keep making it work

spk_0 with him selling and not signing why decrease your margins if it's working out just don't look at

spk_0 any metrics other than the ones sitting in the wins column final thoughts are that it's

spk_0 weird to be six and three over the tigers in the past three weeks and be out anyway lastly it being

spk_0 a division rivalry fans on both ends have found plenty of ways to brag you hang a banner for winning

spk_0 the division and come back a race are seen in myriad forms back and forth over and over on Twitter

spk_0 but hey at least we can actually say nobody believed in us with a straight face I guess and finally

spk_0 patreon supporter tom big picture the race down the stretch was a blast and I'm very happy they made

spk_0 the playoffs even though they lost in the first round definitely more fun than if they had

spk_0 trudged along around 500 or even gone on a run but just missed the playoffs as far as losing in the

spk_0 first round I see most playoff series is coin flips so while I would rather have won not a big deal

spk_0 guardians had plus one run differential on the series so it's easy to see how sequencing

spk_0 mattered more than just about anything else in determining the outcome I am a bit annoyed at how

spk_0 many people are bad mouthing the guardians as a bad playoff team as well as calling the central

spk_0 divisions week as a whole both central sent more teams to the playoffs than at least one other

spk_0 division in their league and there were more central teams than wester east teams five out of 12

spk_0 if anything it seems like the a o west and n al east were the weakest divisions I don't know I

spk_0 guess I would judge divisions based on how they did against teams not in their division maybe more

spk_0 so than number of teams sent to the playoffs but I see what Tom sayon I do wonder he continues

spk_0 in closing if the guards front office has figured out something about winning games that isn't

spk_0 well understood by public analysts they've exceeded their expected win loss record three of the

spk_0 past four years and this year significantly doing so with a negative run differential they win a

spk_0 lot of close games and lose some blowouts is there some secret sauce leading to these results or

spk_0 just good luck I'd like to think the former but I don't know neither do I Tom neither do I though

spk_0 I guess I'm going to go with luck most of the time combined in cleavance case with a lights out

spk_0 bullpen that doesn't hurt another thing that doesn't hurt in fact it helps it heals is when people

spk_0 sign up to support the podcast on patreon which they can do by going to patreon.com slash

spk_0 effectively wild and signing up to pledge a monthly or yearly amount to help keep the podcast

spk_0 going help us stay ad free and get themselves access to some perks as have the following five

spk_0 listeners Peter Canig Alex Pavlov will witness Alisa Rapados and Rob Kimbrough thanks to all of you

spk_0 patreon perks include access to the effectively wild discord group four patrons only monthly bonus

spk_0 episodes playoff live streams coming up soon now that Meg can mostly speak again exact timing

spk_0 TBD stay tuned other patreon perks include personalized messages autograph books potential podcast

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spk_0 description in your podcast app for links to the stories and stats we cited today thanks to

spk_0 shame a keyn for his editing and production assistance we'll be back with another episode later

spk_0 this week talk to you then if baseball were different how different would it be and if this thought

spk_0 haunted dreams will stick around and see what been mag have saved philosophically

spk_0 and penantically it's effectively wild

spk_0 effectively wild

spk_0 you

Effectively Wild Episode 2384: Playoff Baseball is Cruel (But it Beats the Alternative)

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