Imai Duped Sean into Believing + Kawhi Heading Back to Raptors

Summary

Payne & Pendergast — Episode Summary

Episode Title: Imai Duped Sean into Believing + Kawhi Heading Back to Raptors
Air Date: July 2, 2026
Hosts: Seth Payne & Sean Pendergast
Platform: Audacy

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Seth and Sean unpack the Astros' recent struggles with starting pitching, especially focusing on Tatsuya Imai’s up-and-down performances and the challenge of stabilizing the rotation. They also dive into Kawhi Leonard’s headline-grabbing return to the Toronto Raptors and riff on the emotional (and sometimes absurd) world of tribute videos for former Astros. The hosts’ banter covers Astros analytics, relatable sports frustrations, and some sideline talk on soccer rules, local hockey culture, and what it means to honor team alumni.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Astros Series Loss & Imai’s Struggles (01:44–08:34)

• The Astros drop a series to the Twins, losing 8-3.
  “Twins win the series… I didn’t know it was possible to lose a series.” – Sean Pendergast (01:52)

• Tatsuya Imai’s Short Outings:

  • Imai again fails to make it past the second inning, prompting reflection on his reliability.
  • The dilemma: Imai flashes potential but has repeated, disastrous blow-ups.
  • Bullpen strain: Early Imai exits force the Astros to “sacrifice” relievers like AJ Blue Ball.
  • “At what point do you draw the line with Imai where, there’s the positive performances, but we got to really start just adjusting our rotation?” – Seth Payne (03:05)

• No 2019-Style Depth:

  • Astros lack proven fallback options; other starters (e.g., Spencer Arrighetti, Mike Burrows, Peter Lambert) are unimpressive.
  • “This isn’t the 2019 Astros... you throw the guy out there and then if he has one of the bad starts, you just have to adapt.” – Sean (03:29)

• Statistical Reality:

  • Since returning from the IL, Imai owns a 5.05 ERA.
    “He’s right back to still not being one of your best options. Even though he’s had some good outings, the bad ones are just so bad.” — Payne (05:40)
  • If a starter gives you two 2/3-inning outings every eight games, “that’s what kills you, that kills your ERA.” — Pendergast (06:47)

• Humor Amidst Frustration:
  “This has felt like the least stable ferry ride I’ve ever been on...” – Payne (07:48)

Astros Rotation & Bullpen Outlook (08:10–09:09)

• Bullpen Performing, But Overworked:

  • Improvement noted, but too many innings pitched due to unreliable starters.
  • Astros manage to have the AL’s best June record—context softens the sting but doesn’t erase problems.

• Future Opponents:

  • Previewing games against the Rays, Nationals, and Rangers before the All-Star break.
  • Joking optimism: “I’ll be irrationally cocky about their prospects after Friday’s game versus the Rays.” — Payne (09:09)

Soccer & Hockey Listener Q&A (09:09–12:51)

• Respond to a listener’s soccer rule question (“Will the USMNT play with a full squad after the red card?”), blending genuine info with playful self-effacement.
• Quick sidebar to offside rules and the quirks of VAR.
• Payne admits limited hockey knowledge, sparking a nostalgic riff about how hockey was a ‘rich-kid sport’ where he grew up.
  • “I kind of looked at it as a rich kid sport.” – Payne (12:28)

Kawhi Leonard Returns to Toronto (13:11–14:24)

• Sham Sharania reports on Kawhi’s rationale:

  • Familiarity with the Raptors, fondness for the city, and a desire to end his career there.
  • “Kawhi Leonard views this as an opportunity to retire in Toronto.” — Sham Sharania (14:01)

• Trade Details & Toronto’s View:

  • Raptors give up Brandon Ingram, Grady Dick, multiple picks.
  • Acknowledgment: Kawhi remains a hero in Toronto for the 2019 championship, and there’s no bitterness.
  • “They knew what it was when they got into it. There was no hard feelings or anything like there was in San Antonio.” — Payne (14:24)

Tribute Videos: Who Deserves One? (16:00–21:53)

• Correa & Keuchel Discussion:

  • Emotional resonance of former Astros returning, especially Carlos Correa and musings about a Dallas Keuchel comeback.
  • “He’s one of those guys that kind of gets lost in the shuffle sometimes...” — Payne (16:44)

• Setting Tribute Video Criteria:

  • Sean proposes stricter requirements: All-Star seasons, top MVP/Cy Young/Rookie/Gold Glove finishes.
  • “There needs to be a threshold above which you’ve meant to the Astros... to where you do or don’t get a tribute video.” — Pendergast (17:28)
  • Seth is more sentimental: “More tribute videos. I don’t give a damn.” (17:43)
  • Joke about “participation trophy” attitude.

• At-Large “Cult Hero” Picks:

  • Marwin Gonzalez: Home run off Kenley Jansen
  • Brian McCann: Crucial RBIs and catching every inning of the World Series
  • Brad Peacock: 3.5 hitless relief innings in 2017 World Series
  • Chas McCormick: “The catch”
  • Trey Mancini & Hector Neris: Postseason clutch moments

• Debate Over Tenure:

  • Should sheer length of service get a tribute video? Sean says “tenure is what’s gotten us into trouble with the educational system.”
  • Three wildcards allowed for each host (possible picks: Marisnick, Reddick, Luke Gregerson, Maldi).

Light-Hearted Banter to Close Main Content

• Seth continues to rib Sean’s tribute video rules.
• Sean: “It is unflinchingly rigid. Sorry!” (21:53)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Imai’s Instability:
  “If one every four games, your pitcher goes 2/3 of an inning… what’s the big deal?” – Payne, deadpan sarcasm (07:04)

• On Tribute Videos:
  “More tribute videos. I don’t give a damn.” — Payne (17:43)
  “They called you participation trophy after that.” — Pendergast (17:45)

• On the Astros’ Current State:
  “This has felt like the least stable ferry ride I’ve ever been on… not even sure we’re going to reach the port.” — Payne (07:48)

• On Kawhi’s Return:
  “Toronto… he’s a conquering hero up there. The one year he was there, they won the NBA championship. They love him up there.” — Pendergast (14:23)
  “There’s no hard feelings or anything like there was in San Antonio. It was a mercenary situation. And they got what they wanted out of it.” — Payne (14:29)

• On Hockey as a Rich Kid Sport:
  “Maybe it’s not… like in Canada, everybody does it, but here, in a lot of places… it was more like, these are kids at prep schools...” — Payne (12:32)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• 01:44 – 08:34: Astros’ loss to Twins, Tatsuya Imai analysis, pitching woes
• 08:34 – 09:09: Upcoming schedule (Rays, Nationals, Rangers) and tone check
• 09:09 – 12:51: Soccer rules Q&A, offside explanations, and Houston hockey culture
• 13:11 – 14:24: Discussion on Kawhi Leonard’s return to Toronto
• 16:00 – 21:53: Deep-dive on tribute videos, Astros alumni banter, inclusion debates

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Tone & Flow

Seth and Sean’s rapport is a signature mix of sharp sports critique, self-deprecating humor, and locker-room nostalgia. They blend hard stats with soft (sometimes sentimental) standards, riff on fan culture, and keep things relatable for die-hard and casual fans alike.

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This summary captures the full arc of the episode, from the pain of Astros pitching puzzles to the celebration of NBA player movement and the lighter side of how we celebrate sports memories. Perfect for Houston sports fans (and their sympathizers) catching up on what matters and why.

Transcript

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[Host 2]

Ah, we haven't heard Todd Callis say that in like a month. Thereabouts few weeks at least. Twins win the series. We haven't heard an opposing team.

[Host 1]

I didn't even. I didn't know it was possible to lose a series.

[Host 2]

I didn't either. I had started to think like this is just what happens now. They just win series. But obviously not. They lose this series. They lose eight to three. Last night, Tatsuya Imai did not do a good job of keeping them in the game early. They were. He got shelled, didn't make it out of the second inning. And now here I am left to pick up the pieces of my take the last few days where I said that Tatsuya Imai would basically be my number two choice behind Hunter Brown to start a playoff game. I know.

[Host 1]

Has there been, man, I mean there's, there's relievers that are prone to meltdowns, but you still love them because you know more times than not they'll or you still like them or abide by them because they're. More times than not they'll come out and give you a good performance. But this is so much worse because a reliever is screwing you. You know, screwing somebody out of. You might have to use one extra reliever that night when he's not that good. Yeah, I mean, this is a guy. This is a guy who now twice in the past four games, hasn't made it out of the second inning. You know, it just passed the second inning. It's really, really bad. For a team that's really made a lot of improvement on in their bullpen over the last month, they've been great. But then you're sending AJ Blue ball out there to warm up in the first and get ready to come in and be a sacrificial lamb. I don't know what to do about it other than like, what do you, at what point do you draw the line with Imai where there's the positive performances are great, but we got to really start just adjusting our rotation to be sure that we've got a potential piggyback.

[Host 2]

I think. Look, this is, this isn't the 2019 Astros where you got a whole lot of solutions in the starting rotation. You throw the guy out there and then if he has one of the bad starts, you just have to adapt and go with it.

[Host 1]

It's got to be. I know. Like, and that's where with Javier coming back, who's going to start off in the bullpen if Kai Way Tung comes back up after his, you know, Mike Burroughs, any of these other guys, you've just, you've, when you don't have a six man, you've got to have a six man rotation. Even when you've got a five man rotation, you just got to approach it like it's going to be a piggyback start for Imai.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

An extreme piggyback.

[Host 2]

Well, you got to have it in the back of your mind at least. And I don't know why. I don't know what that means. The strategy is if you're, you know, if you're telling Blue Bar or Javier that they need. You're on notice today. Like, it's almost like you're on call as an emt, like you might be called in in this triage situation. It's just that's, that's the most damaging thing. Like the loss is Bad. But the fact that there's a ripple effect. The only good thing I would say about it happening yesterday, at least it happened before a day off. You know, everybody who had to pitch yesterday, much earlier than expected.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

Doesn't have to do anything today because they don't play baseball today. That's the only good thing about last night's game is it happened before a day off. But. But it's just. It's so discouraging, like with Imai, and especially after reading that article yesterday that Chandler Rome had. I really. I read that article, I'm like, okay, I like this guy, you know? Like, it looks like he's adapting. It looks like he's. He's not being stubborn about things.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

He's not making excuses like he was at the beginning of the year. And of course he's pitch better now. There's, you know, fewer excuses that need to be made. But it's not just that he has a bad start. It's that he has a cataclysmically bad start, seeming like every three or four times.

[Host 1]

I've read lots of nice articles about you, but I also don't want you pitching for the Astros.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Host 1]

You know, you got to separate the two at some point. So if we cherry pick. Let's do the cherry picking we had been doing, which was when we reset his season after. We retroactively reset his season after his February 18th start.

[Host 2]

Okay. Okay.

[Host 1]

That was his second start back since being on the IL with a tired arm. Yep. So since then, I mean, he's got a 5.05 ERA. He's got. He's. He's right back to still not being one of your best options. Even though he's had some good outings. The bad ones are just so bad.

[Host 2]

So starting with the one starting with the.

[Host 1]

The game may 18th start against the Minnesota.

[Host 2]

Is that the one that went four and two thirds innings?

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

So that was the one then. And he, to be clear on that one, he got taken out of that one because it rained and, you know, so he probably would have given you five or six innings in that one, if I had to guess.

[Guest or Analyst]

I.

[Host 2]

When you.

[Host 1]

Yeah. He also gave you three. Gave up three runs in that.

[Host 2]

He did. He did. Yeah, he did. I remember watching that game, though. I'm like, okay, I'm seeing some good things here.

[Host 1]

He got it. He got it real. If I remember correctly, the first couple innings were kind of dicey.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Yeah. Like he. That was that. That one. That start doesn't concern me.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

The you know, the. The ones. The. The two thirds of an inning a couple of weeks ago and then the last night start, obviously, is. Is when you to. If you told me, like, with those two really bad starts where he's given up five runs and under an inning.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

That is. ERA over that period would be 5.05. I would have said over. Like, that's. That kills you. That kills your ERA when you have one or one and a third innings and you're giving up multiple runs.

[Host 1]

Yeah. I don't know. It's so twice. Twice in eight games he's had those outings.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So, like, I mean, if. If one every four games, your pitcher. Oh, your starting pitcher goes 2/3 of an inning once every four games.

[Host 2]

What's the big deal? No, it's not. This is what I'm saying.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

It's not ideal. I get it. But this is why I said it's not the 2019 Astros. Your other solutions right now are Spencer Araghetti, who's even worse than Imai right now. Who. Mike Burroughs, who's been bad for other than three or four starts all year long. Peter Lambert, who is. Feels like a clock is ticking on him. He feels like a bomb that's ready to explode at some point. And then Hunter Brown, that, you know,

[Host 1]

I blame Dana Brown for a couple days ago, saying that the pitching is starting to stabilize.

[Host 2]

I.

[Host 1]

All right, man. This has felt like the. The least stable ferry ride I've ever been on that I'm not even so sure we're going to reach the port. There's been some good things in the bullpen. The bullpen has. Part of the problem is that the bullpen has done a better job, but they're also pitching massive amounts of innings because you don't have starters that can actually put. Eat any innings for you.

[Host 2]

Yep. Yep. So, yeah, it's not good right now, man. It's for. Well, I say it's not good. I mean, they. They've been. As a team, they've been fine. They were. I saw a graphic yesterday. I think they had. They had the best record in the American League for the month of June, and they had, like, the fifth best record in baseball for the month of June. So it's, you know, it's. It's been better. But Imai getting knocked out, getting knocked around yesterday, not great.

[Host 1]

Yeah. So next opponents, the Rays, which we'll hear on two different streaming services. Apple on Friday.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And Peacock on Sunday.

[Host 2]

Yes. Yeah. But Peacock. We get callous.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

And Julia. Yeah. So so we're not getting the. We're not getting the. The national announcers on that. Yeah. So they got the raise coming up.

[Host 1]

Raise. The Nationals and the Rangers.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

Before the break.

[Host 2]

Okay.

[Host 1]

Then we're back at it. So the is if, if they just. If they cruise on and just win another couple series here. We'll see.

[Host 2]

I'll be.

[Host 1]

I'll be irrationally cocky about their prospects after Friday's game versus the race.

[Host 2]

Text message. Good morning guys. As I know absolutely zero about soccer, it looks like this past. It looks like we weren't allowed to replace the guy that got a red card in this past game. I know he can't play in the next game, but we will be. Will we be able to replace him and have a full pitch of players? Yes, there will be 11 players on the field against Belgium on Monday. He got. It was. Yeah.

[Host 1]

It's not like an extended power play.

[Host 2]

No, no.

[Host 1]

I think it's a very fair question.

[Host 2]

It is an extended. You don't have Flo baller again for that game.

[Host 1]

If you've come to the place where you can ask non soccer experts questions about soccer and, and hope that we don't make fun of you for asking a stupid question. Yeah, you've come to the right place. I will never call. I will never call any kind of soccer question asked to me a stupid question.

[Host 2]

I was a little known fact. I was a United States Soccer Federation certified referee in high school. Oh, wow.

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[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

So you can explain offsides?

[Host 2]

I can explain offsides. Yes. Yes. When the ball's played, you got to be in onside position there. Yeah. It's probably not a weird.

[Host 1]

I guess that's where it's weird that the offside. I guess it makes more sense depending on if you're in a hockey region or not. I feel like people that watch hockey probably get the offsides a little bit more intuitively.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

But it's. But if. If you don't watch hockey, you don't necessarily quite get the same correlation. Is that fair?

[Host 2]

Yeah. Well, in hockey, not to go too deep. In hockey, offsides is always related to the blue line right there. Whereas in soccer it's related to the opposing defense. Are you behind the defense? Is it only you and the goalie when the ball is played to you? When the ball is passed to you? So I. The funniest thing I've seen about that is, is when they look at the. The var. The replay and a player's offside by a fraction of a millimeter and they to the letter of the law. They call it like, it's. He is offsides by like the, like his sleeve is past the defender. And they like, it's to the millimeter. And the funniest tweets I've seen are people going, hey, so explain this offsides to me. Well, if this player is offsides by even a fraction of a millimeter, the goal is disallowed. Okay, well, explain to me how the clock works. Well, the referee just adds time whenever he wants to.

[Host 1]

Nobody's ever really sure exactly. Nobody questions him about it.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Yeah, it's pretty. Yeah. They're so comfortable with so many of the vague things.

[Host 2]

Yes. Yeah. I got.

[Host 1]

If Houston gets a hockey team, I got a really bone up. I know very little about hockey.

[Host 2]

Really?

[Host 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Host 2]

Surprises me a little bit.

[Host 1]

Does it?

[Host 2]

Well, Cornell's a pretty good hockey school. Yeah.

[Host 1]

But I would just go and just yell stuff and have my hockey player.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah. And you're from that. You're, you know, you're from a part of the country.

[Host 1]

Yeah, but it was like hockey was a rich kid. Like, I didn't grow up near a. Well, I guess I kind of did. I don't know. It just didn't seem. It wasn't as big a. It wasn't as big a thing at our school. A lot of hockey fans just a little surprised. It was one of those things that very few kids played hockey at my school because you had to get up and like go to. Go to practice at 4:00am oh, yeah. To drive into the city to get ice time and everything.

[Host 2]

It's. It said it is a. It is a uber commitment.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

By parents. Like, it is. It's expensive to play. There's a ton of. These days. There's a ton of travel for the, you know, the club hockey and things like that.

[Host 1]

I kind of looked at where we were. I kind of looked at it as a rich kid sport.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Maybe it's not like, like in Canada, everybody does it, but here, in a lot of places, at least where I was, it was more like, okay, like, these are kids at prep schools or whatever.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

Now that my school turned into a rich kid's school, so now we have a hockey team.

[Host 2]

You live there when it was blue

[Host 1]

collar, I lived there when. Yeah. It wasn't hard Scrabble. Yeah. I guess, whatever it was.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's a major. It's a. It's a major, major commitment for sure. Hockey is Payne and Pendergast with you here on a Thursday Here is, here's Kawhi Leonard speaking of Canada. He's going back to Toronto. Here's Sham Sharanya. Actually, on the Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto situation, there was a preference for

[Guest or Analyst]

Kawhi Leonard to stay in Los Angeles. But once it was made clear that there was no future there, he settled on Toronto as his preferred landing spot. And sources told me there were three keys to this. One is the familiarity with the Toronto Raptors organization. We know he spent that one year there. He made it very clear that he would leave after just one season. But that one year, Bobby Webster, the executive vice president of basketball operations, made the trade to go get him with Brian wright, the Spurs GM, back in 2018, the city of Toronto as well, and the ability now to go to the Raptors and contend in the Eastern Conference and to be able to say that I ended my career with the Raptors after playing for the Clippers and the Spurs. So I'm told Kawhi Leonard views this as an opportunity to retire in Toronto.

[Host 2]

They gave a lot of. They gave up a lot for him too. So, I mean, Toronto, Brandon Ingram's a good player. Grady Dick, Two first round picks, a first round swap. Two second round picks for a guy who, you know, probably going to play 40 games in the regular season this year. Like, he doesn't, he doesn't play a full schedule. He just doesn't. Yeah, Kawhi Leonard, but he's a conquering hero up there. The one year he was there, they won the NBA championship. They love him up there.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

And he left with they, they knew what it was when they got into it. There was no hard feelings or anything like there wasn't San Antonio.

[Host 2]

It was a mercenary situation.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

And they got what they wanted out of it.

[Host 1]

Football is fun.

[Host 2]

Why shouldn't your football podcast be the same?

[Guest or Analyst]

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[Host 2]

Oh, no.

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[Host 2]

Which, if I localize this, you know, Kawhi Leonard is going back up there a champion. He was a champion there, and he's going back. And I'm sure they're going to be celebrating that. Of the guys from the Astros who are no longer here, we kind of experienced this last year.

[Host 1]

Ever get Carlos Correa back on this? I was going to say, so magical.

[Host 2]

Yeah, we kind of. We kind of experienced that a little bit last year with. With Correa. Is there anybody else from the. From those two teams that you would

[Host 1]

kind of wished that somehow Dallas Keiko would come back? You know, and it wasn't ever. It wasn't going to be for a high dollar amount or anything, but I was always kind of hoping for maybe a Dallas Keiko return to where he gives you just an incredible playoffs. You know, like, he's going to kind of been on the fringes for a while, and then for, like the Astros just pick him up for dirt cheap and he just has his last great dying gas. Yeah, that's not going to happen, obviously.

[Host 2]

No. No. Is he even. I feel like.

[Host 1]

What's that?

[Host 2]

Is he even pitching still?

[Host 1]

I don't know, but I think. Because I feel like he's one of the guys that kind of gets lost in the shuffle sometimes.

[Host 2]

Definitely does.

[Host 1]

He was part of. I mean, he was part of this. Getting them back to the playoffs.

[Host 2]

Yes.

[Host 1]

In 2015. Won the Cy Young and winning a game for you in the play. Yeah. Like, all of these things in that. Because there are other guys that were there for multiple. Multiple World Series people, they don't really just acknowledge him as much as they should.

[Host 2]

I think I texted you this yesterday, but I took my rules of Tribute videos.

[Host 1]

Currently a free agent, by the way.

[Host 2]

He's currently a free agent. Okay. I took the rules that I established yesterday for those who missed it yesterday. You know, I was. This is. No, this is nothing personal with Victor Caratini. I was a little surprised he got a tribute video the other night when the Twins came to town.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

And I feel like the tribute video needs a. There needs to be a threshold above which you've meant to the Astros in some. In some fashion. To where you do or don't get a tribute video.

[Host 1]

You and you. And a lot of our listeners were disgusted with my take on it.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

More tribute videos. I don't give a damn.

[Host 2]

They called you participation trophy after that.

[Host 1]

Yeah, yeah. I don't look at it like some kind of trophy that you get a trivia video.

[Host 2]

So. So I do.

[Host 1]

So.

[Host 2]

So I, I actually, I actually adjusted my criteria. I became a little looser yesterday with it, Seth. But I said, I said the criteria. The initial cover charge is you must have at least one of the following on your Astro resume to get a tribute video. An All Star season, a top five mvp, top three Cy Young, top three Rookie of the Year, or a Gold Glove. Any of those during the period the 25th. And I expanded it to 2015, 2015 through present, you get a tribute video which got Jose Altuve, Dallas Keiko, Will Harris, Lance McCullers, Chris Davinski, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Charlie Morton, Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander, Michael Brantley, Ryan Presley, Jordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker from Valdez. All of them made all star teams as, as Houston Astros. They will get tribute videos someday.

[Host 1]

Okay.

[Host 2]

Top five mvp, top three Cy Young, top three Rookie of the Year and Gold Gloves guys who weren't on that previous list.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

Garrett Cole, Hunter Brown, Christian Javier, Luis Garcia, Yuli Guriel, Jeremy Pena, Mauricio Dubon. I feel like just on those two lists alone, I pretty much got everybody that deserves one.

[Host 1]

That deserves one. Yeah. I don't. There was nobody on that list where I felt like it would be extreme, excessive.

[Host 2]

Right, right.

[Host 1]

To get a trivia video.

[Host 2]

Right. Now, the ones that I added based on the. I'll call it the World Series set of rules where if you didn't, if you weren't a big award winner or an All Star, but you, you have that sort of kitschy cult hero, we'll call it kind of vibe is if you did something significant in the World Series, a game saving play, an iconic individual performance, maybe a memorable performance performance on the way to a World Series. So the ones that I added almost like at large tribute videos.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Host 2]

Marwan Gonzalez, based on his home run off of Kenley Jansen in game two of the World Series. Brian McCann based on his RBI doubles in game six and seven of the ALCS and a home run in game five. That 13 to 12 game.

[Host 1]

Okay.

[Host 2]

And he caught every inning of that World series to Brian McCann. So I'm cool with Brian McCann. Brad Peacock, people forget about this 3 1/2 innings of hitless relief in game three of the World Series in.

[Host 1]

Brad Peacock's never had a good game. Acknowledged by the fan base in the history of his time here.

[Host 2]

He's getting acknowledged now with a tribute video. Yeah, Chaz McCormick, obviously, for the catch. Trey Mancini had that big. He had the big defensive play in game five.

[Host 1]

Big defensive ball hit directly to him.

[Host 2]

Of 2022. Of the 2022 World Series.

[Host 1]

That was a critical moment. It wasn't a ridiculously hard play.

[Host 2]

So now you're the one that's being the.

[Host 1]

I don't like Mancini. Oh, he was. Yeah.

[Host 2]

Sorry, I forgot you hate cancer survivors.

[Host 1]

No, no, no, no. I love it. You know, not every cancer survivor should get traded for and do nothing for an entire half season.

[Host 2]

Huge.

[Host 1]

Until you make a typical defensive play.

[Host 2]

Remember how good he was? Like, the first couple of games, he hit home runs, like, greatest pickup ever. All right, I can listen to you on Mancini. The last one, Hector Neris, he had a 1.5 ERA in the postseason the year they won the World Series.

[Host 1]

And very likable, very likeable. So it did. Did Reddick make that list?

[Host 2]

He didn't.

[Host 1]

Jake Marisnik. No. No. What about tenure? What about tenure with the team? Like a team. I can't just be. He's on the team for five or six years.

[Host 2]

Tenure is what's gotten us into trouble with the educational system. I don't want to. I don't want that. I don't want that to happen with my tribute.

[Host 1]

People might have fond memories of just whatever it was. Cool.

[Host 2]

Maybe I'll.

[Host 1]

Is there no Miles straw category in here?

[Host 2]

You know what it is? This is. I'll give you three at large picks based. So yours would be Marisnik, Reddick and Luke Gregerson. Maldi. Luke. I don't know. That's great. I love that you have the list in front of you.

[Host 1]

I don't have. It was just the only one. I was looking at a random World Series. Yeah.

[Host 2]

That's funny. All right, so that's the list. And it is. And it's unflinchingly rigid. Sorry. I painted Pendergast with you. All right, coming up next, the United States plays Belgium on Monday. This is the last show that I'll be here for before that game. So I want to do 5 reasons I hate you for Belgium. We didn't do it for Bosnia. You know, Bosnian people felt like it

[Host 1]

was a little too. They might have been a little too loaded.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host 1]

But we made that. We made it we made the right decision.

[Host 2]

We can do it for Belgium, though. Five reasons I hate you Belgium Edition is coming up next.

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[Host 1]

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[Host 1]

Yeah, hi.

[Guest or Analyst]

Quick question.

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[Host 1]

Yeah, we're concerned you can like buy stuff with it. You love buying stuff and earn cash

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[Host 1]

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