HOUR 4 - Take-a-Mania + Ben Empties the Seth Hotkey Arsenal + Biggest Astros Questions

Summary

Payne & Pendergast: Hour 4 – "Take-a-Mania," Farewell to Ben, and Astros Big Questions

Date: July 17, 2026
Hosts: Seth Payne & Sean Pendergast
Guests/Contributors: Ben Gary (producer), Hercules Gomez, Brandy, Cole Thompson, John Lopez, Reggie Attatula, others

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Episode Overview

This lively hour of Payne & Pendergast brings their signature blend of sports takes, humor, personal banter, and listener engagement. The segment opens with the ever-popular "Take-a-Mania"—their weekly “bad sports take” championship. As a bonus, it's producer Ben Gary’s last day with the show, prompting a joyous “hotkey” tribute montage. The closing segments shift into discussion of the Astros’ season outlook, expectations post-All-Star break, and the road ahead for Houston’s baseball hopes.

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1. “Take-a-Mania” – The Bad Take of the Week Championship

(Starts ~01:30)

Purpose:
A recurring segment where the crew listens to and debates the week’s worst sports takes, treating the reigning “champion” as if it’s a wrestling belt to be defended.

Key Segments & Takes

A. The Defending Champ: Adam Schefter

• Adam Schefter’s Take: NFL refuses supplemental draft for Brendan Sorsby due to the league's supposed distaste for gambling despite its partnerships (“Despite any gambling partnerships, the league does not want any part of gambling...” – [02:13])
• Sean’s Response: Skewers the contradiction: “It's a stupid thing to say from a guy that does not know which master he should be obeying at any given time.” ([02:46])
• Seth: Reads back the statement deadpan, mocking the logic.
• Sean: Compares it to saying, “Despite his many murder victims, this guy has no interest in killing anybody.” ([03:01])

B. Challenger 1: Vince Goodwill (NBA)

• Goodwill’s Take: Criticizes Victor Wembanyama for taking a less lucrative max contract early to help team-building, worried this sets a precedent for players sacrificing money.
• Key Quotes:
  • “I have yet to see anybody buy a jersey that says we save money on the back of it... The fact that you're putting players in a spot where they have to be both player and executive, give them two salaries then.” ([04:08])
• Seth & Sean’s Reaction:
  • Skeptical of the logic—“Is Victor Wembanyama an adult?...He's an adult and can make his own decisions.” ([05:12])
  • Sean: “What's wrong with a bunch of guaranteed money?”
  • Seth: “When have we asked owners to spend more money? I’m like, every time they go into the luxury tax.” ([06:56])
• Outcome: Goodwill's take deemed “worse” (better) than the champ, shifting the title: “So it wins.” ([06:30])

C. Challenger 2: Ryan Clark (NFL)

• Miffed that Lamar Jackson is only #69 on the NFL Top 100 list, calls it “not just disrespectful, it’s almost stupid.” ([07:26])
• Payne & Pendergast: Agree with his frustration, but take isn’t outlandish enough to dethrone Goodwill's.

D. Challenger 3: Kendrick Perkins (NBA)

• Claims Jalen Brunson’s ESPYs “cemented him” as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. ([09:26])
• Seth: Pokes fun—“That honor is what cemented it? Okay, good enough.” ([10:04])
• Sean: Perkins “throws out absurd stuff,” likely doesn’t believe it.
• Not delivered with enough seriousness to truly contend.

E. Challenger 4: Tom Brady (WWE Aspiration)

• Brady to Cody Rhodes: “I think I could get in there for at least one [WWE] match.” ([12:28])
• Both hosts admit to wanting to see it, so it doesn’t qualify as a “bad take.”
• Sean: “I actually really want to see it.” ([13:29])

F. Challenger 5: Tanner Anderson (MLB Streamer)

• Calls Jose Altuve’s contract “terrible,” openly speculates about PED use: “I don’t trust a cheating Hobbit as he ages...if this Dorf keeps playing at an all star level...he’s up to something.” ([14:08])
• Seth & Sean: Dismiss it as uninformed name-calling rather than an actual take.
• Seth: “You don’t reward uneducated bad takes.” ([15:51])
• “Doesn’t win.” ([16:34])

Closing

• Vince Goodwill crowned new Take-a-Mania champion for his “players shouldn’t sacrifice money” argument. ([17:20])

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2. Ben Gary’s Last Day: Hotkey Tribute Montage

(Segment starts ~20:17, main content ~23:04–31:58)

Purpose:
Celebrate long-time producer Ben Gary’s tenure in an authentic, show-spirited way—by revisiting his favorite “hotkey” sound bites from years on the job.

Highlights, Quotes & Banter

• Hosts praise Ben: Patient, quick, and essential to the show’s humor, polish, and podcast success.
  • Sean: “Ben has by far in my life been the person who makes me laugh at myself when he roasts me with his little comments...I will miss you, Ben. Don’t make eye contact with me.” ([21:38])
  • Seth: Ben is “a one man show” responsible for guest booking, podcast descriptions, and more. ([22:04])
• The Hotkey Parade: Ben plays a string of greatest-hits hotkeys—most of which feature Seth in various, often ridiculous, contexts:
  • “Oi.” ([23:40])
  • “What the hell’s this, quesadilla?” ([24:08])
  • “She’s a friend of my boyfriend.” ([24:29])
  • “I like playgrounds.” ([25:09])
  • “You want an 11 year old to work in your knife factory? Go for it.” ([26:05])
  • “In my fantasy version of sex addict therapy, it’s a raucous and hilarious place.” ([26:18])
  • “You go full Ted Bundy.” ([30:19])
• Hosts react, reminisce, and laugh:
  • Brandy joins for a legendary roast soundbite: “Oh, I’m Seth Payne, I like to ramble on and tell dumb jokes.” ([27:17])
  • Ben drops deep cuts and previously unaired clips.
• Mount Rushmore of Seth Hotkeys: Hosts pick the most iconic, including “Ted Bundy,” “Oi,” “Quesadilla,” and “Go die, everybody.”
• Thank yous, laughter, and call-backs: Authentic camaraderie and appreciation close the sequence.
  • “#ThanksBen” ([31:58])

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3. Astros Win Total, Second Half, and Big Questions

(Discussion from ~35:24 onward)

Topic: Astros Win Total and Second Half Expectations

• Current Record: 47–51, 78-win pace.
• Revised Over/Under: 79.5 wins at this point in the season.
• Roundtable Predictions:
  • Seth, Sean, and panelists all take the over (expect at least 80 wins).
  • Caution: “Doesn’t mean I think they’re going to make the playoffs.” ([49:23])
• Key Concerns:
  • Astros’ improvement post-May 15 (since “resetting” the season, they’ve played at a 92-win pace).
  • If anything happens to “someone whose name rhymes with Schmoordan Schmover” (read: Yordan Alvarez), team’s offense sinks ([49:39]).
  • Rotation health: Need pitching depth; Tommy John returnees usually struggle.
  • Offense has recently shown late-game resilience; “never out of a game.” ([41:10])
• Biggest Needs Discussed:
  • Another starting pitcher, but not expecting a “slam dunk” acquisition due to luxury tax proximity.
  • Outfield depth: “Someone else in that outfield… has got to give me a little bit more umph.” ([52:26])
  • Jose Altuve and Brian Abreu: Both must regain prior form ([51:11])
• Sean:
  • Wants Joe Espada to find an emotional spark, referencing AJ Hinch’s famous Yankees argument in 2015 as a turning point. ([51:13])
• Lopez: “Christian Walker’s been getting such a pass… He’s the one you count on behind those big guys… and it’s not happening.” ([53:01])
• Fun stat dunk: “Good old .205 batting average over the last [28 days], .650 OPS.” (Reggie Attatula, [54:08])

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4. Notable Quotes & Moments

Seth on Ben:
“People don’t realize Ben is a one man show...all the episode and chapter descriptions and everything, it’s really good and really detailed. And Ben does all that work while me getting in his ear going, ‘Hey, man, that cut that we were about to play, shelve that and go get this cut… Can you do that?’” ([22:04])

Brandy’s Roast:
“Oh, I’m Seth Payne, I like to ramble on and tell dumb jokes.” ([27:17])

On Take-a-Mania:
Sean on Vince Goodwill’s concern for players’ earnings:
“Hey, listen, bro, you don't have to be my nanny...I’m Victor Wenbin freaking Yama. I can make my own decisions.” ([06:33])

On Astros’ needs:
Sean: “The thing that's going to do you under is the game where, yeah, you scored 10 runs but you allowed 11.” ([38:04])

On Fans’ Hot Take Obsession:
As the hotkey segment draws to a close:
“This segment popped. I’m laughing. This segment is so good. Hashtag thanks, Ben.” ([31:58])

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5. Timely Breakdown (Timestamps)

• 01:30: Take-a-Mania begins
• 02:13: Adam Schefter’s “defending champ” take aired/reviewed
• 04:08: Vince Goodwill (“Wemby Contract”) take debated
• 05:12: Hosts discuss “should athletes sacrifice money?”
• 07:26: Ryan Clark on Lamar Jackson’s NFL Top 100 ranking
• 09:26: Kendrick Perkins/ESPYs
• 12:28: Tom Brady wants a WWE match
• 14:08: Tanner Anderson slanders Altuve
• 20:17–31:58: Ben Gary’s hotkey farewell montage, heartfelt tributes
• 35:24: Astros win total and playoff outlook begins in earnest
• 41:10–44:53: Deep dive on rotation/pitching needs, trade scenarios
• 49:12–55:00: Crosstalk with Lopez, Attatula; Astros over/under, “what would turn you into a believer (or cynic)”
• 51:11: “Two guys need to get back to what they've been...Altuve and Abreu”
• 52:26: Outfield batting expectations
• 54:08: Christian Walker’s rough stats
• End (55:00+): Greetings/goodbyes/crosstalk with incoming hosts

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Conclusion

This episode stands out for its classic mix of in-depth sports conversation, playful lampooning of “bad takes,” and genuine personal moments—especially as the crew bids farewell to their long-serving producer, Ben, in a way only this show could. Astros fans get a dose of hope (with realism), while Houston sports talk fans get reason to laugh, revisit inside jokes, and appreciate the unsung heroes of radio. As always, the mood is passionate, sharp, and authentically Houston.

Hashtag of the day: #ThanksBen

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Payne & Pendergast, SportsRadio 610
Live weekdays, all major podcast platforms.

Transcript

[Seth Payne]

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[Sean]

There's only one Ozempic.

[Seth Payne]

All right, take a mania time. Let's get, let's do this. Here, the defending champ, for those who are new to Take a mania, this is our bad take of the week segment and we treat it like a championship wrestling belt where the champ tries to. We have, we have challengers to try to dethrone what is now a three week champion in Adam Schefter.

[Sean]

And Ben, we've played this enough that when we play Adam Schefter here, just cut it off after the money part where he, where he talks about the NFL. After the stupid part. Yeah, after the stupid part.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah.

[Sean]

You know, you know, you're aware of the clip.

[Seth Payne]

Yes, yes. All right, so here we go. This is Adam Schefter talking about quarterback who was banned from college football and, and no supplemental draft for you.

[Cole Thompson]

Brendan Sorsby, NFL essentially sent him a letter and the NFL is declining to hold a supplemental draft. And honestly, something was amiss with this all along because every time you spoke to people around the league about when the supplemental draft would be and whether or not there would be a supplementary. I always got pauses and there were never clear cut answers. And like the commissioner's got to decide to have it. I'm like, what is the issue? Well, the issue is that the league, despite any gambling partnerships, the league really does not want any part of gambling, no matter how serious it is.

[Sean]

Or there you go. Okay. It's a stupid thing to say from a guy that does not know which master he should be obeying at any given time.

[Seth Payne]

Think about, think about how that sentence reads transcribed.

[Sean]

Okay. Almost like despite his many murder victims, this guy has no interest in murdering, killing anybody.

[Seth Payne]

Right? Yeah. So, okay, so that, that is the champ. We don't need to re adjudicate. Why? I think people just heard why. So, so let's get to the challengers here. The first one, Vince Goodwill, who is makes his second appearance here as a take a maniac challenger. So Victor Wembayama. Vince Goodwill's an NBA writer. He works for espn, formerly of Yahoo. And he was on first take this week and he had this take. Victor Wembayama just signed a max contract recently, but took less money than he could have if he had waited one more year. If he had waited one more year, he could have really maxed out. So he took the money now. Less money now in part because it's guaranteed now, you know, burden the hand. And two, this is going to help them sign Stefan Castle and Dylan Harper and be able to continue to build this team. Vince Goodwill does not like the precedent that Wembayama is setting by taking less money to build this team.

[Ben Gary]

The problem is the spurs have three potential max players on their roster. Victor Wembanyama, Steph Castle, Dylan Harper, Victor, when Minyama maybe can make up that 5% with his Nike deal and everything else. But does that mean Dylan Harper and Steph Castle, they have to take less because Victor Wembanyama took less. I have yet to see anybody buy a jersey that says we save money on the back of it. I've yet to see somebody buy a jersey that says cap space and flexibility. Like you're coming to see Victor Wembanyama and you're watching these players like you have a very finite period of time to maximize their earnings potential. I, I know Victor Wembanyama is an alien and everything else. He's going to get every dollar that's owed to him. But I don't know if I want to applaud this because I'll tell you this. When's the last time we asked an owner to sacrifice some money or whatever it is, or ownership groups to sacrifice money for the sake of winning. The fact that you're putting players in a spot where they have to be both player and executive, give them two salaries then. Because they're doing two people's jobs, and I don't like that.

[Sean]

Okay, two questions. Two questions here. One, is Victor Many Amma. An adult? He's an adult and make his own decision.

[Seth Payne]

Let me. Let me go.

[Hercules Gomez]

Technically, he is a, you know, 21 year old.

[Seth Payne]

Fact. Check this out. Is he an adult?

[Hercules Gomez]

Is he. Yes. He can make adult decisions in life.

[Sean]

And two, does Vince Goodwill actually work for the NBA Players Association? And that he's overly concerned about him somehow setting a precedent that Guys, Guys. Hey, guys. Might decide to be selfless based on this precedent. And then number three, like, what's wrong with a bunch of guaranteed money? Like, so you never. The agents and people. People who don't actually put their bodies at risk. Love to say the chances of a catastrophic injury that would. Would be career threatening are very, very low. That's cool for you, bro. But like, the bird in the hand versus. Yeah.

[Reggie Attatula]

Okay.

[Sean]

The very, very small percentage chance that he might blow his knee out and never be worth that money again. It's very, very small. But you know what's never a bad thing? A boatload of money. So, like, even if you're acting in your own self interest.

[Brandy]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Okay. This is a weird. You know, I don't like the weird ones.

[Brandy]

Yep.

[Sean]

Like the ones that are almost hard. It's too hard to figure out.

[Hercules Gomez]

Yeah.

[Sean]

And yet it's emphatically worse. Which means better than Adam Schefter's bad.

[Seth Payne]

Okay, so it wins.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Schefter.

[Sean]

Wow. Almost. Yeah. Like, listen, listen. In defense of Victor in Benyama, another thing I don't really like doing, like, hey, listen, bro, you don't have to be my nanny. Okay? All right. Like, I'm Victor Wenbin freaking Yama.

[Brandy]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

Yep.

[Sean]

I can make my own decisions.

[Seth Payne]

Wemby. Damn it.

[Sean]

Oh. Like, you know what he's acting like? He's acting like management took him into a dark room and threatened him or something. You better do this.

[Hercules Gomez]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

The other thing that I didn't like about Vince Goodwill's take is when have we asked owners to spend more money? I'm like, every time they go into the luxury tax. Take a weekend.

[Hercules Gomez]

That's.

[Seth Payne]

What are you talking about?

[Hercules Gomez]

Text line says Goodwill is the NBA's Hoa Florio.

[Sean]

Oh, okay. I like that.

[Hoa Florio]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

We like Hoa Florio is a big character on this show. All right, next one. Ryan Clark. There's a very specific. Seth reason why I have this one in here. Ryan Clark is miffed that Lamar Jackson is number 69 on the NFL's top 100.

[Ryan Clark]

I expected executives to not know where to place him. I expected. I expected marketers and brands to not understand the power of his voice. We. What I didn't expect is dudes who have to line up in pads on Sundays and Thursdays and Wednesdays and Fridays and whatever the hell other days that we're going to see NFL games this year to not understand how scary it is to walk on the field when this dude is right. And ain't that much changed in one year. We're coming off of a year where it was basically one of the best quarterback years we had ever seen where Josh Allen actually wins the MVP and he's the first team all pro quarterback. It's not just disrespectful, it's almost stupid that he is ranked so low. And I don't know if he cares about it at all, but this says a lot about this league and how quickly we forget what Lamar Jackson has accomplished.

[Seth Payne]

Seth, you know, I enjoy the NFL's top 100.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

This is in here solely because Ryan Clark is miffed.

[Sean]

Yeah. He's angry. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

About the NFL.

[Sean]

I want to hear him rail about the. Just the. How like meth. Mathematically flawed. The way they do the entire top 100 is you're gonna be like, yeah, but I. Like, I. I see the points that he's making.

[Hercules Gomez]

So you got 51 minutes. He's got time to get. Get the point across on how they make top 100.

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, so the.

[Ryan Clark]

The.

[Sean]

I mean, not that much has changed, I guess, statistically, a lot changed. He threw for 2500 yards last year. But no, not. Not. I see where he's coming from. Not bad enough.

[Reggie Attatula]

All right.

[Seth Payne]

Not bad enough.

[Sean]

All right.

[Seth Payne]

Okay. This next one is Kendrick Perkins. He was on yesterday on First Take, the day after the ESPYs, in which, if you missed the ESPYs, Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks cleaned up. This is almost like a New York Knicks celebration. Jalen Brunson was named as all or part of four different ESPYs. Kendrick Perkins says this clinches it. First ballot hall of Famer.

[Hoa Florio]

I grew up in the household with my grandparents, God's rest they soul. And they used to always make me sit at the table and say, you better not get up until you finish your food. That's exactly what Jalen Brunson did. He finished his food. And look, with all those accomplishments last night cemented him as a first ballot hall of Famer, as a future first ballot hall of Famer, you can't tell me, with all of those accomplishments that happened just this year, that when Jalen Brunson retires, that he's not going to be walking right into the hall of Fame. I hope I'm there. Hope I get the invite.

[Brandy]

Wait, wait.

[M]

The ESPYs, you think is what.

[Seth Payne]

That honor is what cemented it? Okay, good enough. I just wanted to make sure we got the bewilderment.

[Sean]

Wait, is that what he was actually saying? Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Yes.

[Sean]

I thought he was confirmed.

[Seth Payne]

I didn't keep going because all I did was confirm. Yes. I had to play Shea Cornet and Brian Windhorst. Double checking to make sure on espn, of all things.

[Cole Thompson]

I know.

[Sean]

I was trying to think of, like, okay, yeah, he's gonna, like, no, no, no.

[Seth Payne]

Like, because they showed a graphic. Seth, while he was doing that. Of all the sps that Jalen Brunson won last night, there's the reason why he is gonna be a surefire.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Hercules Gomez]

All right.

[Sean]

That's where I'm gonna give Kendrick Perkins a better for the doubt on this.

[Hercules Gomez]

Okay.

[Sean]

I think that if anything, I thought that maybe it wasn't like, the actual ESPY awards that he collected or anything like that. It was more the. It's just like.

[Seth Payne]

It's the ESPYs, dude. They had the.

[Sean]

That's what convinced him.

[Seth Payne]

Yes, That's That.

[Sean]

That's what convinced him. Yes. It wasn't, like, where he's finished in MVP rankings and year by year, the

[Seth Payne]

final nail that's going to get him in there. First ballot hall of fame, four ESPYs for ESPYs on Tuesday night.

[Sean]

Sometimes Kendrick, like, Kendrick throws a lot of stuff out there that I. He knows is absurd.

[Seth Payne]

Kendrick gets graded on a curve on this.

[Sean]

He throws a lot of stuff out there that, you know, like, he's too smart to really believe some of the stuff he says. He's throwing it out there because he knows it's crazy.

[N]

Yeah.

[Hercules Gomez]

Oh, I feel like he loses whenever he throws food combinations into the conversation

[Seth Payne]

or these little analogies about my mom told me to eat everything.

[Sean]

Yeah, you know what? This is the one where I feel like Goodwill was, like, dead serious in what he was saying, and he delivered it really well, too. And, you know, you get points for delivery, so. No, no, this does. This doesn't take trying to try to pretend like you're Wembanyama's Gotcha.

[Seth Payne]

Okay. Okay. I want to make sure we get to one of these. So Cole, I'm going to let you pick.

[Brandy]

Okay.

[Seth Payne]

Of the next two on the list here, Hercules, Gomez or Tom Brady.

[Hercules Gomez]

Oh, it's the Tom Brady.

[Seth Payne]

Tom Brady. So Tom Brady. Tom Brady.

[Sean]

I'm going to tell you before we play this and I've only heard part of this. Like I love it to be a really bad take, but it's got to be delivered well. And I question, I question how much Tom Brady can bring to it with his, with his voice and delivery.

[Seth Payne]

We'll find out. Here's Tom Brady at Fanatics Fest. He's doing a sit down interview. He's doing Cody Rhodes podcast, actually. So he. And they're doing it live in front of an audience. And Tom Brady telling Cody Rhodes, I think I want to take a shot at this wwe. Some storyline for me to get in the mix. I feel like I'm retired from football, have opportunity to go out there, still showcase. I'm a little bit of an athlete and you know, my boy Gronk's done it. I've seen obviously Logan Paul do it. I think I could get in there for at least one match.

[Ad Read Voice 2]

Right?

[Ryan Clark]

Come on, Nick. Come on, make it happen.

[Seth Payne]

Okay. And Nick is Nick Khan, who. Who runs wwe. Yeah,

[Sean]

I mean, he's playing to the crowd there. I do like the. I. I would.

[Oregon Lottery Ad Voice]

Would he wear.

[Sean]

I would want to see Brady wearing like just nothing but the Jobber trunks.

[Seth Payne]

The Speedo.

[Sean]

Yes. That's where the Speedo out skinny. I know.

[Seth Payne]

Wait, you don't want him to go

[Hercules Gomez]

full Rey Mysterio so he can cover his face.

[Seth Payne]

No, no mask. No mask. No mask.

[Sean]

I can't make this a champion because I actually really want to see it.

[Seth Payne]

I do too.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

I'm being honest. I do too.

[Sean]

Not good enough.

[Seth Payne]

I. I had no idea, I had no idea who Tanner Anderson was until yesterday. And I'm still dubious that he's actually a real person and not AI but this popped up on my timeline yesterday. This is a fellow, a streamer by the name of Tanner Anderson, who I whose gimmick I think is talking about bad contracts.

[Sean]

Okay.

[Seth Payne]

And so he's doing a power ranking of bad contracts in Major League Baseball and he gets to Jose Altuve and this is what he says about Jose Altuve.

[N]

I might be a bit premature in calling this a terrible contract, but please forgive me for not trusting a cheating Hobbit as he ages into his 30s to stay productive in a sport where his stor. Historically, superstars fall off a cliff at a certain point unless they are taking copious amounts of PEDs. But then again, Altuve, he has such low moral principles, I'm sure he will inject anything into his system to keep himself relevant. And knowing mlb, they will try to sweep it under a rug knowing it is bad for the sport. But regardless, Jose Altuve, he is the face of the astros organization, a two time champion, a former MVP, and this team handing him a five year, 125 million dollar deal because they wanted him to retire with the organization. When this contract ends, he will be 39 years old. So I am telling you now, if this Dorf keeps playing at an all star level until then, he's up to something because this guy is about as trustworthy as Donald Trump talking about the Epstein files.

[Sean]

Okay, so, all right, aside from all the slander about Jose Altuve and his height, like what the hell is he talking about? He continues to play at an all star level. We're talking about Jose Altuve.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sean]

Okay, if he.

[Seth Payne]

So play the last part, is that the part that's confusing the last part

[Sean]

there about why he's talking like Altuve is currently playing as if he could only be because of steroids.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah. And he's.

[Sean]

That's the part. Yeah, like you even hear that part. You were thinking about the insults.

[Seth Payne]

I was. No, no, no, no.

[Sean]

Like, it's so misinformed. Yeah, it's almost just so ridiculously misinformed that it's obvious he's just trying to come up with a bunch of insults for Jose Altuve, but he hasn't even bothered to look at any stats or stats or anything.

[Seth Payne]

And if I know you, you don't reward uneducated bad takes.

[Sean]

Right, right, right. Yeah, it's better off. It's almost like it's better off if you sound like you have some semblance of like goodwill actually there. Like he's, he's a. It's. You got to actually think about like Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second. Yeah, you. He makes enough of an admit that. It almost sways me a little bit, but it's actually really, really bad. No. Yeah, play the whole thing again, Ben.

[Seth Payne]

The whole thing.

[Sean]

No. Okay, don't play the whole thing again. No, the problem is he's saying he's accused him of taking steroids for. And that being the reason that he's playing at such a high level, he's not playing at a high level.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, that. So that part's just wrong.

[Sean]

Yeah, no, he's just name calling.

[Seth Payne]

Okay.

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Doesn't win.

[Sean]

Doesn't win.

[Seth Payne]

He got what he wanted. It got played on this show.

[Hercules Gomez]

Tanner Anderson, he got it brought up in Houston. Be a pompous three.

[Seth Payne]

Bravo. Yeah.

[Sean]

If Juve were taking steroids right now, I'd be most upset with his steroid dealer.

[Hercules Gomez]

Yeah, dude, I'm not paying for 245. I'm paying for 310.

[Sean]

Yeah, man, we need to have that man arrested for 11 home runs.

[Hercules Gomez]

I wanted 23 at this point. Come on, dude, get it going.

[John Lopez]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

All right. Someone said they want Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning in wwe.

[Hercules Gomez]

That'd be a fun match.

[Seth Payne]

That would be an interesting visual. And they both have to wear the jobber speedo trunks that Seth wants. Wants them to wear. All right, what's going to look good?

[Hercules Gomez]

One's gonna look horrible.

[Seth Payne]

So, Vince Goodwill, new champ for Take a Mania.

[Sean]

Was he the preview? Did he win the chat? Was he the one that had the take about the. The participation trophy?

[Ben Gary]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And I don't think you rewarded him for that take. Yeah, I don't think he won.

[Sean]

Well, plus, he also. I kind of. You know, I didn't because I think he was kind of making it, like, more of an exaggeration or an analogy. Yeah, Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

I don't remember him winning. All right, so today is. Today's kind of a big day on the show. Today is Ben Gary's last day as the producer of Pain and Pendergast. We know Ben's not wild about. Not wild about coming on and giving a speech like Winston Churchill about his time as producer of Pain and Pendergast. So Ben speaks through hotkeys. We're gonna have Ben pick his four or five favorite hotkeys, and then we will opine on them. I feel like that's a great way to salute the hard work that Ben does without Ben having to. Unless Ben wants to get on there and chat. Ben, you're gonna have to talk a little bit in the next segment, just so you know. But we want to salute Ben because he's done some phenomenal work for us these last several years. And we'll do that coming up next.

[Oregon Lottery Ad Voice]

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[Seth Payne]

Belgard pavers are designed to elevate your

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outdoors design forward and buil. Learn [e-mail] that's B E L G

[Seth Payne]

A R D.com Sports Radio 610 presents

[Sean]

live from the West Point Lincoln and West Point Lincoln of Sugarland Studios.

[Seth Payne]

Here's Payne and Pendergast. All right, Payne and Pendergast with you and we're getting some react on the text page. Ben, you've got fans out there. Just so you know. Ben Gary.

[Brandy]

That's good to know.

[Seth Payne]

Yes. Good to know. Yeah. Ben Gary, our producer. Today is Ben's last day as the producer of Pain and Pendergast. Gone but not forgotten. Ben is still Ben. You're still going to be doing Texans work, right?

[Brandy]

Yes sir.

[Seth Payne]

Pregame and post game.

[Brandy]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

So I will still get to talk to you twice a day during the football season.

[Brandy]

Yes. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Or two shows. Yeah.

[Sean]

Ben and I aren't big heart to heart type guys. I don't think maybe Ben is, but I'm not. And so I'm going to say this now and embarrass him, but I don't want to make eye contact with him while I'm doing it. I just, I'm gonna miss Ben a great, great, great, great deal because he is, he's been the person who's most patient with all of my issues that I've ever encountered in my life. And he's most often the victim of those same very issues I have with my inability to organize or keep track of my thoughts or anything. And it's like his, his patience and his coolness under pressure when I might have a co host who's glaring at him. Ben just handles it all in stride.

[Seth Payne]

He does cleaning the glare.

[Reggie Attatula]

Yeah.

[Sean]

And no. Now I'll say this. Ben is, Ben has by far in my life been the person who makes me laugh at myself when he roasts me with his little comments and everything.

[Seth Payne]

Very subtly good roaster.

[Sean]

He can take shots at me, which I have zero sensitivity about and make me like laugh later on during the day. I, I, I will miss you, Ben. Don't make eye contact with me. Don't make eye. Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

As opposed to me when I rose Seth and Seth's like, what the hell, man? So, and Ben, I will echo everything Seth said. And also people don't realize Ben is a one man show in there. So whether it's getting guests on the line, putting the podcast up, which like if you go, if you download our podcast, you subscribe to our podcast, all the, the episode and chapter descriptions and everything, it's really good and really detailed. And Ben does all that work while me getting in his ear going, hey, man, that cut that we were about to play, shelve that and go get this cut that you may have had from back on April 4th. Can you do that?

[Ryan Clark]

No.

[Seth Payne]

You know, 15 seconds.

[Sean]

Well, one of the, like Sean and I like our show is one of the highest rated podcasts in the entire company, like nationwide. And a huge part of that is that Ben does a really good job actually paying attention to how to, how to label things and title things and him up and everything.

[Seth Payne]

Ben's a huge part of that. So Ben, we, we, we thank you. Thank you for everything, man. You've done, you've done a phenomenal job.

[Brandy]

You're most welcome. It's been a, it's been a hell of a ride.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, it's been a hell of a ride. Yeah. And we're looking forward to still seeing you and everything like that. Now, I think the way that, I think the way Ben, your love language for the audience really is, is the hotkeys in there, because you're very Good at picking the. Just the right time to play just the right hotkey. And you've got some in there that probably haven't even been unveiled yet, I would imagine. And if you want to mix one or two of those in, that's great. But as far as the ones that have been part of the show, like a staple of the show, let's just go through these right now and go ahead and just hit us with them and we'll react to them.

[Brandy]

Oh, man.

[Seth Payne]

Oi. That was very often. That's Seth.

[Sean]

That's me doing my. Doing my British, either Australian or whatever thing. I can't even remember. Do you remember what that was for, Ben?

[Brandy]

No.

[Sean]

Yeah, British.

[Brandy]

Every so often.

[Seth Payne]

So anytime. And really, what's funny is there's two actually. Anytime Seth is European, it's oi and anytime Seth is Hispanic.

[Sean]

What the hell's this? Quesadilla?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah,

[Sean]

No, that's whenever I'm a. That's whenever I'm an American that doesn't

[Seth Payne]

want to be Hispanic.

[Sean]

That's whenever I'm being xenophobic. Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, hit us with some more, Ben.

[Brandy]

Let's see.

[Sean]

So this one, she was a friend of my boyfriend.

[Brandy]

Barely get to use that one.

[Seth Payne]

I can't remember. I can't remember the last time I heard that one. What was that?

[Sean]

I wish I could remember what these were about.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, my God. Yeah, play that one again. We don't.

[Sean]

She's a friend of my boyfriend.

[Seth Payne]

We haven't played that one enough.

[Sean]

Oh, I miss that guy.

[Seth Payne]

I have. So, okay, that the first wonderful person, great personality, that the first three have all been Seth.

[M]

I.

[Seth Payne]

There's at least one more in my head that I think there's going to be of Seth. But, Ben, you get. This is your show, Ben. So you go ahead. What's your next one?

[Sean]

Oh, I like Playgrounds.

[Seth Payne]

Wait, what was it?

[Sean]

I like playgrounds. I like playgrounds.

[Seth Payne]

I like playgrounds. Okay. I've never heard that one.

[Reggie Attatula]

You've been.

[Sean]

That's something that he had. He was. You grabbed that for a reason.

[Hercules Gomez]

Seth can explain a little bit more.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It sounds like Seth. He was holding that for blackmail at some point. I'm gonna take back all those nice things you just said about him. What else you got in there, Ben?

[Sean]

Just so you know, I'm not looking at your breasts at all because I respect you as a person. Even though with my peripheral vision, I can see that they're pretty big.

[Seth Payne]

That's like a realistic.

[Sean]

In the staff Meeting. Yeah, we weren't even on the air for that.

[Seth Payne]

Ben pulled that off the zoom call from the staff meeting.

[Ryan Clark]

Good.

[Seth Payne]

Hot key.

[Sean]

Oh, man.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, you get any? What else you got in there, Ben?

[Sean]

You want an 11 year old to work in your knife factory? Go for it. What the hell am I talking about?

[Seth Payne]

This is the greatest Seth Payne segment

[Sean]

of all time in my fantasy version of sex addict therapy. It's a raucous and hilarious place face. I stand by that.

[M]

I agree.

[Seth Payne]

But that was a good take.

[Sean]

Most of these are really good takes.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, my God.

[John Lopez]

No, they're.

[Seth Payne]

They're all phenomenal takes. Oh, my God, Ben, anything else in there?

[Sean]

Jeff Luno was, like, selling women's wear on the Internet. That's true. So he did before he got into baseball.

[Seth Payne]

These are, like deleted scenes when Benny played.

[Ben Gary]

Seven of them.

[Seth Payne]

I've only heard, like, four.

[Sean]

These are all old. I used to be. I used to be funnier.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, okay.

[John Lopez]

Any.

[Sean]

Can I take. Can you take a request, man?

[Brandy]

Yeah, I'll see you.

[Sean]

People love the. One of the ones that's most correct. Brandy roasting me. People love hearing the Brandy roasting me.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Oh, I'm Seth paid.

[Seth Payne]

I like to ramble on and tell dumb jokes. The laugh is incredible.

[Sean]

This interview is over.

[M]

Oh, I forgot.

[Seth Payne]

Were you, Were you, Were you interviewing? Like, what was.

[Sean]

That was during COVID I think.

[Seth Payne]

Yes, it was.

[Sean]

Yeah. Brandy was making fun of me at dinner, and I. And I had. And I recorded her doing it.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, my God, the laugh. The laugh is great.

[Sean]

Do you.

[Seth Payne]

Do you have a favorite David Cully hotkey in there, Ben, that you would like to play? Because I feel like that's. Oh, Cully gets a lot of traffic on this show.

[Sean]

Smart, tough, selfless.

[Brandy]

Selfless.

[Sean]

Selfless is a tough one, though, too selfish. Yeah, I know. I got. I, I, I can sympathize with him because it's tough sometimes selfless sounds like selfish. Little bit. So in your brain you're thinking, like, I got to really nail the S on this.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Wait, we're taking away from Ben, though. It's supposed to be.

[N]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Clark]

This is Ben.

[John Lopez]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

This has been saying Ben hit anything in there. Man. This is like touch tunes for hotkeys right now.

[Brandy]

Seth, motorboat.

[M]

Oh,

[Seth Payne]

play. And then play Brandy laughing afterwards. So they play the. It's a disturbing sequence. This is getting a lot of react. Ben here. Ben, stop it. You're gonna get me fired in all caps. Cackling like a hyena.

[Brandy]

Oh, I forgot about this one.

[Sean]

Throw my peanuts Any damn place.

[Hercules Gomez]

Wait, what?

[Seth Payne]

How many Seth hotkeys do you have in there?

[Brandy]

Oh, I've got a bunch.

[Seth Payne]

You've got more?

[Sean]

Yeah. Tight ends. Get your butts out of your heads and keep going.

[Seth Payne]

Butts out of your heads.

[Sean]

He's insisting that the audience just wants to be foon sped.

[Seth Payne]

I remember that. I remember that. Play that again.

[Sean]

He's insisting that the audience just wants to be foon sped.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, that's. I. I wanted to get foon sped. T shirts made after that.

[Sean]

What's that about?

[Seth Payne]

I don't. I don't know, but the. The cacophony or the cadence of it sounds like that sounds like a Covid show.

[Sean]

Oh, yeah. Insisting that the audience just wants to be foon sped.

[Seth Payne]

You know, I mean, like, that sounds like almost like a zoom call.

[Sean]

I blame all of these on. They were Mondays after a Sunday night game.

[M]

Yes.

[Sean]

I was sleep deprived.

[Seth Payne]

What else, Ben?

[Sean]

We'll fry that bitch up. Oh, yeah, that was. I was talking about Americans and our ability to turn anything and even better by frying it up. I think I was like, I was. I think I was. I think I was ranting against Europeans on that one.

[Seth Payne]

Okay, there's one. The one that's he. Ben, you still have not played the one that I had in my mind when I said you played these first three that are Seth.

[Hercules Gomez]

What?

[Seth Payne]

Where is this one? I think you know what it is.

[Sean]

You go full Ted Bundy.

[Seth Payne]

I think that's Seth's most famous of all those hotkeys we just played. If I were to do the Mount Rushmore of Seth Hotkeys, I would say

[Sean]

you go full Ted Bundy.

[Seth Payne]

Are you full Ted Bundy? Oy.

[Brandy]

Oh.

[Seth Payne]

Oi. Quesadilla.

[Sean]

What the hell's this? Quesadilla.

[Seth Payne]

I'll let you pick the fourth one. Ben. Any of the ones you played are perfectly fine.

[Brandy]

Oh, I got a new one.

[Sean]

A slip and slide. Whatever it might be. That's a mokarram injury.

[Seth Payne]

That's a mokarram library, which I think,

[Sean]

honestly, might have opened up a whole new avenue, a whole new revenue stream for them.

[Seth Payne]

I told you. After you said that, I'm like, don't feel bad. You can get hurt on a slip and slide very easily.

[Sean]

Right, Right. Yeah. That was a live read for. Boy, the listeners. Caught that one. It was good to know. I sent some of those comments to Mo to let them know that people are listening to the ads. Yes, because we got, like, 20 text messages saying slip and slide.

[Seth Payne]

Really?

[Hercules Gomez]

What are you doing on Saturday.

[N]

Seth.

[Brandy]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Slip and slide.

[Sean]

A slip and slide. Whatever it might be.

[Seth Payne]

I just love how serious you are like in that one. Like you. You were that you were in live mode.

[Sean]

Hit me with a go die.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, go die, everybody. That's the fourth one on the Mount Rushmore right there.

[Sean]

Yeah. Again, that was back when I used to rant more and I used to just be more, I don't know, less well adjusted because I'm so well adjusted now.

[Seth Payne]

You're well adjusted now you're well. Ben, we say all this to say thank you for everything you've done for the show, man. Best of luck in everything you do, and we're looking forward to still getting to see you and chat with you and all those things on Texans game days and whatnot. It's been a pleasure. All right, that was good. And that segment popped. I'm laughing. This segment is so good. Hashtag thanks, Ben. Ben, you got a hashtag. Nice job.

[Sean]

I thought we might get a Sean one in there or something.

[Seth Payne]

I don't know. I'm fine with how that segment went.

[Brandy]

There's always not as insane as you pretty much got.

[Seth Payne]

Like you're in my phone as co host.

[Sean]

Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah.

[John Lopez]

There we go.

[Seth Payne]

Okay, good, good. All right. Pain and pender gas with you. Cole Thompson with us. One more segment to go. All right, let's get ready. Let's get ready for the Astros this weekend. The new season win total is out for the Astros over or under on this number. And how much of the big questions that the Astros need to get answered positively for them to go over this win total? We'll do that coming up next.

[M]

1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4. Gimme a break, give me a break Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar Gimme a break, give me a break Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar the chocolate crispy taste gonna make your day and wherever you go you hear the people say Give me a break, give me a break Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat have a

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[R]

You know that thing that you love? You'll find others geeking out about it on Facebook. Whether you're looking for community or inspiration, Facebook helps turn passion into action. Obsessed with running a marathon? Discover a neighborhood run club group, start training and meet your new neighbor. Thinking about cooking more at home? Connect with meal prep groups to discover recipes in a new community. And as you're scrolling the feed, you may even find reels showing you top running shoes or the best tools for your culinary journey this summer. Find more on Facebook Are your ad

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[Seth Payne]

Ever walk past a place for rent and wish you could just take a peek inside, maybe even explore the layout? Envision the natural light streaming through the windows or plan where your vinyl record collection would go. At apartments.com you can with tools like their 3D virtual tours, you can see the exact unit you could be living in. Really envision yourself in your new home with Apartments.com, the place to find a place. So I should have done this math during the during the break but I was too busy still wiping tears out of my eyes from the previous segment. If you missed it, go back and listen to it. We said goodbye or saying goodbye to Ben, our producer and we did so by Ben essentially turning the computer in there into a Seth Payne jukebox of hotkeys.

[Sean]

Yeah, it was a tear jerking goodbye to Ben was in that people were crying. We got them all on the text line. Brandi Brandy texted me and said she was crying.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tears of laughter. Tears of sadness. Tears nonetheless. All of them.

[Sean]

So the Ben. Ben was your first. Was it right during COVID when you. When you started on this show? Yeah, yeah it was right. Right in the midst of COVID Oh okay.

[Seth Payne]

Who was, who was a producer before you? Do you remember?

[Brandy]

I think Austin was doing you guys show before that.

[Seth Payne]

Oh okay.

[M]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Oh that's yeah. May have been doing our show. Yeah, we we have our Seth. Our what is Today is the 17th. Our Seth, our. You and me, our seven year anniversary is next Wednesday. How about that?

[Hercules Gomez]

Yeah, I feel like it's been longer. I didn't realize.

[Sean]

Feels like forever.

[Seth Payne]

Seven years. Ditto. No, it's been a good. It's been, it's been a great seven years. It's been awesome. But yeah, seven year anniversary on. On Wednesday next week.

[Sean]

So I think Ben is. Ben, how long have you been with? 6, 10, 15 years. Yeah, 15 years. Ben Lopez and I are the. I think we're the longest tenured in 610.

[John Lopez]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, I'll be, I'll be 13 on January. 13 years on January 1st. So I need to, I need to wipe out Ben, you and Lopez.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

So I get to the top of the mountain. Like the king of the hill game.

[Hercules Gomez]

Yeah, you're playing king of the hill.

[Seth Payne]

King of the hill, like the game. Cole, you gotta outlive.

[Sean]

Yeah, yeah. So we're like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

[Seth Payne]

Same exact. Try to outlive the other fathers of sports radio.

[Hercules Gomez]

610 died four hours apart just to say beat you.

[Seth Payne]

That's right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So the. So the Astros are currently fellas on a 78 win pace. Okay. 47 and 51 is a pace of 78 wins.

[Sean]

Wolves are over under to begin the

[Seth Payne]

season to be in the season was 84 and a half. It is adjusted now because you can bet here at the All Star break if you want to, you know, if you didn't get in the first time or if you want to pile some more human monies on top. 70 over under Seth and Cole. 79 and a half is the revised number. Do you think that the 80 wins would mean that they are. They 80 would get you there. So you would be two games under.500 for the season, but you'd be two games over.500 the rest of the way right from now moving forward. And we know they've played after Seth, you reset the season on May 15th. They've played actually at a decent like 92 win clip. So they've been playing better baseball. 79 and a half over under.

[Sean]

I'll take the over on that.

[Oregon Lottery Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Sean]

I think. And honestly that's why I, that's why I covet a starting pitcher more so than the outfielder right now because they look, they've been, they've been winning baseball despite their starting pitching being so undependable that I like, I'd love the ability to have more offensive firepower, to have a better bottom half, bottom part of the lineup and everything. But I feel like that's just like the thing that's going to do you under is the game where, yeah, you scored 10 runs but you allowed 11.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Hercules Gomez]

I'm just glad you don't cover the second baseman. Shut them. Sean does, though.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what's yours over? Under seven over.

[Hercules Gomez]

I would say so. I think that right now the big question is, is can you get healthy enough in the rotation to where you don't need to go for the ace that you need to pair alongside with Hunter Brown, but you can bring in a back end guy and because of whatever money you're able to free on up, get yourself another outfield bat. And the outfield bat, nobody's asked him to hit like in the cleanup spot. They're saying go in the six hole and be able to go 270.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Just keep the train moving.

[Hercules Gomez]

Yeah, yeah. When there's runners in scoring position, if you get like a Christian Walker or a Jose Altuve on, you can drive the in from second. That, that, that's what you're asking for at this point.

[Seth Payne]

Yep. I, I'm, I'm over as well. I would go over. I, I think the, the thing that, the thing that concerns me is if they don't trade for a starting pitcher, if they do the thing they did last year, like two years ago, they traded for Kikuchi. That was a really good trade. They don't make the playoffs without you say Kikuchi two years ago. So that was a good trade. Last year the approach was much more like, well, we got this guy coming back and this guy coming back and that guy coming back, back. And that didn't work at all. The, the, the list of guys who have come back from these surgeries, Tommy John or whatever, that have pitched well is minuscule. Like it's Justin Verlander a few years ago in 2022. And other than that, like Javier hasn't pitched well. Luis Garcia, Jose Ariti, they're not even here anymore. That Lance McCullers, the litany of surgeries

[Sean]

that he had, he's in a whole separate category unto himself.

[Hercules Gomez]

He's also in a whole se. Separate state now. So there's. That's at least the blessing.

[M]

Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

No, and he's not here anymore either. Right. But like that. That's why I can't just go, well, Renell Blanco, last time we saw him, he pitched really well. And then what happened? He had Tommy John surgery. Oh, okay. So he's coming back with Neski. So Javier has not been good in the outing you know, the one outing he's had since coming back. So I, that, that part. I, I, the, I feel like the, the ranking we, the blind ranking we did earlier, I think nailed it. Starting pitching is the number one need for this team right now. I'm going over 78 and a half. The biggest reason I am there's 79 and a half. Sorry. The biggest thing that's been encouraging for me is actually on the offensive side where they've shown a, they've shown an ability over the last few weeks to never be out of a game. They've, they've had a lot like over the last couple of weeks, there have been several games where they've been trailing in the 60s, sixth or seventh inning. I know, Seth, you, you cited the record several weeks ago at the time where they were owing what. Oh, and a big number when they were trailing from the seventh inning on and. Yeah, yeah, they've shown a lot more fight in these games. Late in games which coincided with the

[Sean]

return of Josh Haters.

[Seth Payne]

Having Hater back had the combination of having Hater back notwithstanding the last game before the All Star break, break being a save that he blew. Not a save that he blew, but he took the loss. The game was tied. He's been phenomenal. The combination of those two things, the offense's ability to generate runs late in games and the presence of Josh Hater, that's, that's the driving force behind my over.

[Hercules Gomez]

So down but not out.

[Seth Payne]

Down but not out. Yeah.

[Ad Read Voice 2]

Well.

[Sean]

And I think Cole made a good point though, earlier when we were talking about this, which is, and I think this is what you said, Cole, correct me if I'm wrong, but there's the, like, how much exactly is a starting pitcher going to start? Help you above and beyond what you already have, but especially considering, okay, you've got 10 millions of space, $10 million a room before the luxury tax. Yeah. What, what exactly are we talking about? And the type of starting pitcher you're going to bring in, there's not, you're probably not going to get somebody you feel like is a slam dunk, you know, guaranteed win.

[Hercules Gomez]

You're not getting a Tarek Scribble to come on through that door. You're getting a number five guy, a number four guy.

[Seth Payne]

I heard they're going in on the talks. Tarek, Scubal, I don't know, like those

[Sean]

taught when they were in on talks back in 2014. You know, really, the Astros would make a, make an offer to a, to a, to a big name free agent that ended up being like $20 million per year.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right.

[Hercules Gomez]

I remember that off seasons ago when the Texans were in on every offensive lineman. Like.

[Reggie Attatula]

Yeah.

[Hercules Gomez]

There was interest.

[Brandy]

Yeah.

[Sean]

And they went to the Bears instead.

[Seth Payne]

Well, we're due then. We're due. We're going to come through on one of these and it's going to be Tarek Skubal. He's going to be.

[Hercules Gomez]

I, I like that pathway. Like the Tigers. Here's one though. Would you like Casey Mice? He's the number three starter for them.

[Seth Payne]

For the Tigers.

[Hercules Gomez]

For the Tigers.

[Seth Payne]

What are his numbers? Give me the.

[Sean]

You know, he wants you to answer before he gives you the numbers, which means your answer should be no. Yeah, that's a. It's a trap.

[Seth Payne]

Sean, how's he been in general? How's he been this year?

[Hercules Gomez]

For this season alone, he's got 279 ERA and 14 starts and he's got 77.1 innings pitch. He's got a WHIP, a 0.99.

[Seth Payne]

He'd be their opening starter in a playoff series right now. Based on those numbers, he'd be at

[Hercules Gomez]

worst your number at worst year.

[Sean]

Number three.

[Brandy]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Three at best.

[Hercules Gomez]

Probably your number one.

[Seth Payne]

What do I got to give up to get him?

[Sean]

That's the problem.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Not what do you have to give up. What do you have to give up? Like, what do you have? What do you actually have?

[Seth Payne]

Not H, A, F, F. It's half to give up. Yeah, yeah. I look in a vacuum. The numbers, do they. Does he still have team control?

[Hercules Gomez]

One year. This is the end.

[Seth Payne]

This is a rental.

[Hercules Gomez]

It'd be a rental.

[Seth Payne]

So you'd be a rental. So you probably wouldn't have to give up too much for.

[Sean]

But what do you possess to give up?

[Hercules Gomez]

You would have to give up probably one of your top 10 prospects, but not Kevin Alvarez. Not Alvarez, not Nyens. And not the two guys you just drafted in the first round.

[Seth Payne]

Right, right.

[Hercules Gomez]

Like the Notre Dame kid's going to be your next big time pitcher.

[Seth Payne]

Of course he is.

[Hercules Gomez]

Of course he is.

[Seth Payne]

He's got a good degree, man. He's got a good baseball iq, I'm sure. Yes, he does. He does. He doesn't need to use AI in the club in the dugout. Like all these cheating.

[Sean]

I like to pretend I'm old school baseball guy, which makes me furious that the Astros drafted all these college kids in the draft.

[Seth Payne]

Give me the 18 year olds.

[Hercules Gomez]

The way that Seth tries to build his baseball team.

[Sean]

That's right. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah. Hell, yeah. The fellas are here in the loop. John Lopez, Reggie Attatula. Gentlemen.

[John Lopez]

Howdy.

[Seth Payne]

How you doing?

[John Lopez]

Great.

[Seth Payne]

Did you guys want to pay your tributes to Ben Gary?

[John Lopez]

I was gonna. I was gonna go in there, and then time got away. Ben, you are the man. You are the absolute man. How long you been here now? 15.

[Sean]

So he and I are about tied behind you, Lopez. Yeah, we're tied for second behind you. And tenure, man.

[Seth Payne]

So you. Are you the most tenured person in the cluster right now?

[John Lopez]

Yes, I am in the cluster roster.

[R]

Me.

[John Lopez]

Oh, on air.

[Seth Payne]

On air.

[John Lopez]

On air. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Okay.

[John Lopez]

Me and Sarah got here about the same time.

[Reggie Attatula]

Okay.

[John Lopez]

And then Aaron got here the next year. Aaron Kepner.

[Seth Payne]

Okay. Yeah. And that's. And you guys are the OGs.

[John Lopez]

Yeah. All right. Yeah, yeah.

[Cole Thompson]

All right.

[John Lopez]

Is that good or bad?

[Seth Payne]

Are you kidding me? Oh, it's really, really good.

[Sean]

But Ben's still working here. Ben's just gonna go off and pursue. Just.

[Seth Payne]

Right, right, right.

[Sean]

But I mean, come on. Still gonna be with us.

[John Lopez]

Pain and pender. Gas producing. That's huge.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah. It's a grind.

[Brandy]

Grind.

[Sean]

It's challenging. Who makes it like this?

[Brandy]

Sean.

[Seth Payne]

It's a grind. You know me. Definitely me. Yeah.

[Ryan Clark]

When.

[John Lopez]

When he joined you guys in 2020. Correct.

[Sean]

Yeah. Yeah.

[John Lopez]

I. I didn't think he'd last six months with you guys.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, nobody did.

[Sean]

There's a lot of. No, honestly, we play a lot of audio, and it just doesn't sound like a big deal. Like, well, whatever. It's a lot of work for the producers, like, with every clip that you add, and we play, like, Sean and I play a lot of audio, and that's the part that you wouldn't realize. And, like. And, like, the way our system works, like, Ben's got to a grab the audio and then shuffle it around and everything. And, like, that's. That's the part of, like, almost like the manual labor part of the job. It's really, really hard that Ben does a really good job.

[Brandy]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Again, people don't realize how many audibles we throw at Ben. And I'm. I'm the biggest culprit in a segment, you know? And he's in there doing so. He's in there posting the podcast.

[Sean]

And then I try to help Ben out by grabbing and editing the audiobook myself.

[Seth Payne]

Right.

[Sean]

But I'm like, I've got about a 25 hit rate on it, which means that Ben gets even more work on

[Seth Payne]

top of that, when I try to

[John Lopez]

help him now, he's Got to fix your problems.

[Sean]

Correct?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, correct.

[Reggie Attatula]

So he's. He's a big jazz fan, as I've learned, and that. That probably helps him out. Like, he has that in. Yeah, man.

[Seth Payne]

Like the Utah Jazz.

[Reggie Attatula]

No, no, like the musical genre jazz. I would really be. It'd be problematic if Ben was wearing

[Seth Payne]

his Matt Harpering jersey.

[Sean]

Wait a second. What the hell?

[Reggie Attatula]

Hell.

[Sean]

You like jazz? Why have you not jumped in whenever I give one of my horribly misinformed takes about music? Ben.

[Brandy]

Yeah,

[Reggie Attatula]

he's that committed to the bit of not talking.

[Brandy]

I am intimidated by the giant former defensive line.

[Seth Payne]

Not in the same room, only committed,

[Sean]

like, two acts of violence and intimidation since I've been here, and they're never, never directed towards.

[Brandy]

You're famous for telling everybody to die.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, that's true. That's true.

[Sean]

The only person I ever physically tried threatened was an actual boss, so why would you be worried?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, why?

[Sean]

How could the guy who actually physically threatened his own boss be any kind of a danger to his fellow employees? That's right.

[Brandy]

That's right.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[John Lopez]

Oh, that's good.

[Seth Payne]

The court cases are going to be so good someday.

[John Lopez]

And a big, big cane. Big. You fan. Big fan of the U, Ben.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Brandy]

Been more than a fan.

[John Lopez]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Ben, are we reprising. Are we betting again this year? Are we going to bet on the game?

[Brandy]

Sure.

[Seth Payne]

Okay.

[Hercules Gomez]

Like, you guys are hanging out for that one, right?

[Seth Payne]

For. No, I don't watch. I don't watch Notre. Did Ben just go.

[Brandy]

You and I are similar in that respect. Yeah, I don't like.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, no. We're kindred spirits along that front. I don't like watching Notre Dame games out and about with people.

[Hercules Gomez]

So you like staying at home?

[Seth Payne]

Stay at home, man. Yeah.

[John Lopez]

Yeah.

[Reggie Attatula]

Is that for the protection of the other people or for you?

[Seth Payne]

No, for me.

[Hercules Gomez]

Well, I.

[Seth Payne]

It's not. I just don't. I don't. I don't like people talking to me during the games. Yeah.

[John Lopez]

Last thing on Ben, when. When the Canes beat the Aggies in the College Football Playoff this year. He was incredibly gracious and classy, and I hated him for that. I want.

[Sean]

I want to be mad.

[Seth Payne]

I hate him for that.

[John Lopez]

I was like, why are you so good about this?

[Ben Gary]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Are you listening to KLT AM, KLT FM, HD2, Houston. An Odyssey sports Station Crosstalk brought to you by DNM Auto Leasing. What is the. We just got done talking Astros. Let me ask you guys first, before the question of the day, the revised over under win Total for the Astros. You may have seen this already. 79 and a half. They're on pace right now for 78 wins.

[John Lopez]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

So they'd have to go. They'd have to be two games over.500 the rest of the way to finish with 80 wins over or under. I'm going to go over over 79. We all went over also. We feel like a bunch of homers.

[John Lopez]

I'm going to go over, but I doesn't mean I think they're going to make the playoffs.

[Seth Payne]

Well, if something, I think they're going

[John Lopez]

to win more than 79 games.

[Seth Payne]

Here's the scariest thing about going over in thinking this through is, okay, people are going to hate me for this, but this is just analysis. This isn't me trying to jinx anything.

[Hercules Gomez]

This is what they're going to hate you for this part.

[Seth Payne]

If something, if something happens for any period of time to somebody whose name rhymes with schmoordan Schmover. I didn't go full jinx right there.

[John Lopez]

Oh, there it is.

[Seth Payne]

But, but it's in the ether anyway. And yet some of the games where they've rested in this year, they've put up like eight or nine runs. It's been kind of weird.

[John Lopez]

Don't count on that.

[Sean]

No, no, no, no.

[Seth Payne]

That's small sample size. I get that. What about you, Reggie?

[Reggie Attatula]

Yeah, I'd go over.

[John Lopez]

Over.

[Seth Payne]

So we're all over.

[Reggie Attatula]

I mean, outside of the first like month or two where it was just pretty abysmal, they've played at a pretty solid pace. The problem is that they dug themselves such a hole.

[John Lopez]

Yeah.

[Reggie Attatula]

If they continue on the pace that they've been playing on for like the last month or two, like I, I feel better about what they're trying to do.

[Hercules Gomez]

What did you say, Sean? 92 game win streak. I mean pace after the first month.

[Seth Payne]

Since May 15th. Yeah, yeah, since May 15th. They, they, they're like 30 and 23 or something like that.

[Reggie Attatula]

Especially when Dana go gets that goes and gets that left handed bat in the outfield.

[Seth Payne]

Let's get it, you know, let's do it. You know, it. So what is the question of the Astros related?

[John Lopez]

We kept it pretty straightforward because they are playing baseball again. Again. What do you have to see from them? And this can go one of either ways. And what do you have to see from them to like give up the ghost? All right. It ain't going to happen or would make you believe. What do you have to see from the Astros?

[Seth Payne]

Oh, to get well health for Jordan Alvarez I just said that. I think you Altuve. We did. We went through Matt Kawahara's question. Five big questions for the Astros. I think there's two guys that need to get back to what they've been over the last few years.

[John Lopez]

You are correct.

[Seth Payne]

One is Jose Altuve. The other is Brian Abreu.

[John Lopez]

Yep.

[Sean]

All right. I'm going to give you a much softer answer to this. And this is what it is. There was some kind of controversy last week. I can't even remember what it was. Where Espada kind of did his thing where he went out and had a nice casual conversation with the umpire and. Oh, I see your point of view. Okay. I want to see something like in 2015 when everything genuinely turned around. You remember AJ Hinch went after Joe Girardi at home plate when everybody is out there and AJ Hinch just started tore tearing into Joe Girardi after the game, Girardi was like, I don't know why he was coming after me. On Joe Girardi and the Astros, they put. And they turned it around after that and then they became Yankees killers. And that was a pivoting point where like milk toast, milk toast. AJ Hinch became a little bit something extra that.

[Oregon Lottery Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Reggie Attatula]

So we're hoping that Joe Espada becomes an entirely different person.

[Hercules Gomez]

Yeah, Basically.

[Seth Payne]

Yes.

[Sean]

Yeah. He's got to let the shadow the. The dark side of him come out.

[Seth Payne]

Yes.

[Hercules Gomez]

He woke up on the wrong side of the bed for like next six, three months.

[Seth Payne]

That's what you need. Wrong side of the bed, Joe.

[Reggie Attatula]

Yeah, because we've seen the spotted get a little miffed. But it happens after like a period of time of people getting on his case and even that is like he's.

[John Lopez]

He.

[Reggie Attatula]

He looks you a little sideways, like I don't know that he's kicking up dirt at folks.

[Hercules Gomez]

Mine is a little bit more out there because of. I think that they are going to add in a left handed bat and it's going to be in the outfield. I got to see someone else step on up consistently because just because you add in a left handed bat, I still got Jake Myers, I still got Taylor Tramell, I still got Cam Smith not delivered on his end of the bargain. Someone else in that outfield, whoever's sitting in the 7, 8, 9 hole has got to give me a little bit more umph.

[John Lopez]

Mine is Christian Walker. He's been getting such a pass because we're talking about the outfield and we're talking about the bottom of the order. And Imai and all the.

[Seth Payne]

So he's played awful.

[John Lopez]

Yeah, yeah, he's. And he's who you count on behind those big guys.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah.

[Sean]

That's where, you know, depressing. We were doing something yesterday about, like, the. Or maybe it was when Sean was out about, like, the. The role. Oh, yeah. Luke Morrow came up. If we gave out superlatives right now for the Astros, like, ironic ones. The roller coaster award, I wanted to give it to. To Walker, and then I looked at his splits, and I was like, oh, no, it's just been a steady decline.

[Seth Payne]

It's one of those slides that you slide down on a blanket.

[Sean]

Yeah. It was more of a walk, water slide than. Than a roller coaster, but that's it.

[Seth Payne]

But then it went straight down.

[John Lopez]

Yeah.

[Hercules Gomez]

Just a little bit off the ground.

[Reggie Attatula]

But if it wasn't for the start of the season, it would have been like an airport escalator walkway.

[Seth Payne]

I always think this. I always think it's, man, it's way better to get off to a good start.

[John Lopez]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Like the first impression you make out of the shoot because then the season gets going and it gets a little chaotic and people like, I. It took a while for me to notice, like, how bad Christian Walker had been.

[John Lopez]

And you're counting on him because he's like, it's one thing to project, but you're counting on that guy.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[John Lopez]

And it's not happening.

[Reggie Attatula]

You know what? You know what his batting average is over the last 28 days?

[Seth Payne]

Do I want to know?

[Reggie Attatula]

You don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Damn it. Good old.205 batting average over the last. What's the. The OPS?650, baby.

[Hercules Gomez]

Even worse league average hater at this point.

[Sean]

You guys brought up the one time. The spot I got surly this year was it when Chandler Rome asked him if Ryan Weiss might go down to the minors. And Espada acted like, don't try to play gm. And then, like, three hours later, Ryan was

[Seth Payne]

great.

[Sean]

That was great.

[John Lopez]

That's right, though. Spotter usually goes out there and says, you know, I never thought of it like that.

[Seth Payne]

He's a real level head. He said, now that you mention

[John Lopez]

that way.

[Sean]

Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Turns out you do have a better view of the plane than I do. Okay.

[Seth Payne]

All right, boys. Well, have a great show.

[Reggie Attatula]

Thanks, buddy.

[Seth Payne]

You got it. Crosstalk brought to you by DNM Auto Leasing. Cole enjoyed it the last couple of days. We'll see you on Monday, my friend.

[Hercules Gomez]

See you Monday, man.

[Seth Payne]

Antibodies to you, Seth C. Pain.

[Sean]

See you oh, yeah, antibodies. And you can go die along with Joe Girardi. I'll take it.

[Seth Payne]

I'll take it on Hotkey Friday. I'll take it. Yes.

[Sean]

All right, we're done. Not current Joe Girardi, but, you know, 2015 Joe.

[Ryan Clark]

Joe.

[Ben Gary]

That one.

[John Lopez]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Well, we're done. We're out of time.

[Q]

I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. And we have the podcast Office Ladies. Every Wednesday we'll be sharing even more exclusive stories and lots of laughs. Follow and listen to Office Ladies on the free Odysee app and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Flowing ad budget on metrics that look great til the CFO sees them. That's bullspend and marketers are calling it out. In Dashbo Confessions.

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I remember telling my boss it'll be good for the brand when leads were slow. Yeah, it wasn't.

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[N]

For years, Gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens through deeply reported narrative driven stories. We're digging into the myths, scandals and power structures that still shape the south and in a lot of ways, the country itself. Follow and listen to gone South Season 5, an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.

[Seth Payne]

Mom, can you tell me a story?

[Q]

Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car.

[Seth Payne]

Was she brave?

[Q]

She was tired mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required.

[Sean]

Did you have to find a dragon?

[Ad Read Voice]

Nope.

[Q]

She bought it 100% online from her bed, actually.

[Seth Payne]

Was it scary?

[Q]

Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be.

[Oregon Lottery Ad Voice]

Did the car have a sunroof?

[Q]

It did, actually.

[Seth Payne]

Okay, good story.

[Q]

Car buying, you'll want to tell stories about Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.