Transcript
A (0:00)
Welcome to Kennedy Saves the World. Here's a conversation I had with baseball expert and world renowned journalist Jeff Passon. And we recorded this before the passing of Yankees legend John Sterling. And the Sterlingisms will live in baseball infamy, especially in Yankees fans hearts forever. Here's my conversation with Jeff. With all that is dividing us and it feels like there are so few elements of culture that are not eclipsed by toxic politics. And I would put baseball in that category. I love baseball. I love the Yankees. I love going and seeing major league baseball, even some minor league games. But my guest today has dedicated his life to covering baseball. He started back in 2004 for the Kansas City Star. He is one of the most notable and trusted names covering, reporting on and analyzing baseball. Jeff Passon is here. He's got a brand new podcast called Sources Tell Jeff Passen. Welcome to Kennedy Saves the World.
B (1:22)
Kennedy, I would love to save the world with you and I appreciate you having me on. Thank you.
A (1:27)
How does baseball save the world? What is it about baseball that you love so much that you see it as a unifying and important force in our country and in our world?
B (1:40)
I think it's a very egalitarian game. You do not need to be 6 foot 8 and weigh 250 pounds and look like a Greek God to play baseball. You can be Jose Altuve at 5 foot 6 or Aaron Judge at 6 foot 7 and anywhere in between, you can be a fat guy, you can be a skinny guy, you can be smart. You can be kind of dumb too. But as long as you can swing a bat or as long as you can throw a ball extraordinarily hard, you can be out on a big league field. And more than that, it's the stories that come from baseball. I think the reason that it has as rich of a history as it does is because it's a game that is made to tell stories. It's a game that's made for moms and dads and their children to go sit down and get away from the world and just enjoy the green grass and the smells and the crack of the bat and all the things that you tend to associate baseball with. And at a time right now where we have lost our romanticism, I think that baseball is still a very romantic game. And that's among many other reasons. One, that its popularity endures.
A (2:53)
Yes. And people still have that longing for something that is uniting, that something that is pure, that, you know, something that embraces the flag in this country and, you know, a goodness and a simplicity and Only the way that baseball can. And it's very interesting because you talk about some of the stories in baseball. What is it about this sport that naturally attracts people in ways that maybe the NFL or NBA just can't touch?
