#4479 I Bleat For You

Summary

Podcast Summary: TBTL Episode #4479 – "I Bleat For You"

Episode Information

• Title: TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live
• Hosts: Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh
• Description: TBTL is a daily show hosted by two longtime friends goofing their way through the world the best they can. They cover a wide range of topics from pop culture to personal anecdotes.
• Episode Number: #4479
• Title: I Bleat For You
• Release Date: June 2, 2025

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1. Warm-Up and Pop Culture Insights (00:00 – 03:17)

Luke Burbank kicks off the episode with a playful critique of media portrayals, using the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as an example. He humorously delves into the unspoken backstory of the Turtles, imagining a rat father raising them in secrecy:

“The real story is about the single rat father pulling him and them boys out of the sewers...” (00:26)

Andrew Walsh chimes in with a philosophical take:

“Only when we stop stopping our lives can we begin to start starting them.” (01:07)

The conversation quickly shifts into light-hearted banter about audio quality and comedic elements in their discussions.

2. Flight Delays and Child Performances (03:17 – 08:05)

Luke transitions to recent news, highlighting a delayed Delta flight where passengers' frustrations were alleviated when a child began singing songs from Moana:

“...they give a kid the public address phone and the kids start singing songs from Moana.” (03:17)

The hosts reflect on the impact of such moments, pondering the balance between comedy and genuine human emotion during stressful situations.

3. Critique of Media Headlines and TSA Warnings (04:00 – 07:23)

A significant portion of the episode involves a spirited debate between John and Andrew about a misleading TSA headline warning about a "ubiquitous threat" in airports. They dissect the headline's vagueness and argue for clearer, more informative language:

Andrew: “It's clickbait, my man. It's all clickbait.” (04:17)

John: “Is really bunk journalism.” (04:09)

They express frustration over sensationalized headlines that obscure the actual issues, advocating for transparency and specificity in media reporting.

4. Family Dynamics and Personal Anecdotes (07:58 – 22:50)

John shares a personal story about his family staying over and the unexpected deep conversation that ensued. His mother expressed concerning thoughts about him leaving the house, leading to a candid discussion about family relationships and misunderstandings:

“My mom just said to me, I wonder if he killed himself and wrote a note leaving the house to dad.” (12:04)

The conversation delves into the complexities of familial bonds, communication gaps, and the emotional toll of such misunderstandings.

5. Junior Sluggers Baseball and Community Engagement (17:28 – 30:50)

John proudly discusses his involvement with the TBTL Junior Sluggers, highlighting a plaque he received and the joy of supporting youth baseball:

“It is a plaque of the TBTL Junior Sluggers... I'm showing it to you on the little riverside connection.” (18:04)

The hosts reminisce about their own childhood baseball experiences, sharing humorous and heartfelt stories about the game and its impact on their lives.

6. Mariners Baseball Culture and Fan Emotions (30:50 – 48:43)

A deep dive into the Seattle Mariners' recent performance, the hosts explore the passionate and sometimes tumultuous emotions of the fanbase. They discuss key moments, player performances, and the communal spirit that binds Mariners fans:

“The Mariners did... go on a pretty decent win streak.” (45:36)

Andrew reflects on the online Blue Sky community, praising its supportive and action-oriented nature amidst the highs and lows of the baseball season.

7. Listener Contributions and Personal Growth (57:02 – 64:05)

Listeners send in messages sharing personal experiences, such as Sarah recounting her confusion about the F-word explained by her father at a young age. The hosts offer empathetic responses, discussing the challenges of explaining complex emotions and language to children.

John and Andrew also share introspective thoughts on personal growth, aging, and empathy, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and adaptability:

“Nothing like getting older to really give you some empathy for your parents.” (63:12)

8. Closing Remarks and Donor Acknowledgments (55:11 – End)

The episode concludes with heartfelt thanks to Farren Shear, a dedicated listener and donor. John shares his favorite book quote on hope, aligning with the podcast's uplifting themes:

“Hope is a choice that we make each morning, and we do not have the luxury of hopelessness if we want to see progress.” (58:10)

Andrew highlights the importance of community support through their Slack channel, encouraging listeners to engage and contribute positively.

The hosts wrap up with final anecdotes about family interactions and plans for future episodes, leaving listeners with a blend of humor, reflection, and appreciation.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andrew Walsh at 04:17: “It's clickbait, my man. It's all clickbait.”
• John at 12:04: “My mom just said to me, I wonder if he killed himself and wrote a note leaving the house to dad.”
• John at 18:04: “It is a plaque of the TBTL Junior Sluggers... I'm showing it to you on the little riverside connection.”
• John at 63:12: “Nothing like getting older to really give you some empathy for your parents.”
• John at 58:10: “Hope is a choice that we make each morning, and we do not have the luxury of hopelessness if we want to see progress.”

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Conclusion

In this episode of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live, Luke, Andrew, and John navigate a tapestry of topics ranging from pop culture critiques and personal family stories to the passionate world of baseball fandom and the supportive TBTL community. Their candid conversations blend humor with heartfelt reflections, creating an engaging and relatable listening experience. Notable moments include their fervent discussion on media transparency, touching family anecdotes, and the celebration of community through youth sports and listener contributions. This episode encapsulates the essence of TBTL – navigating life's complexities with friendship, laughter, and unwavering support.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

You don't see positive portrayals of it in the media. It doesn't really happen. I mean, think about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Why is the show named after them? It's just four teenagers that look a little weird. Like eating pizza and practicing karate. That's normal.

[Andrew Walsh]

As.

[Luke Burbank]

The real story is about the single rat father pulling him and them boys out of the sewers, taking care of four little boys that he know ain't his. You think he didn't know? They don't look nothing like him. But he, like, if not me, then who? I'm not the step rat. I'm the rat that stepped up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Only when we stop stopping our lives can we begin to start starting them. Sure, it's done in the name of comedy.

[John]

But is debasing ourselves really that hilarious? Doggy butt, Doggy butt. Doggy, doggy, doggy butt. Doggy butt. Doggy butt. Doggy, doggy, doggy butt.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey.

[John]

You either get it or you don't.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't. But I am so excited to be.

[John]

A part of it. Last time I checked, audio was the second most important part of the audio video experience.

[Andrew Walsh]

Flashes of Quincy.

[John]

All right. Hello, good morning, and welcome, everyone, to a Monday edition of tvtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs. My name is Luke. I am your host. I feel cute today. Look at my outfit. Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia, where it is an absolutely spectacular, beautiful Monday. Oh, Ma Pa. It's just beautiful. Broke out the sunscreen over the weekend. That tells you that we have crossed some sort of weather Rubicon and things are absolutely spectacular here. It's the exact right temperature to bring you episode 4479 in a collector series, Let the fun begin on Friday. We did not get to this story of the delayed Delta flight where the passengers were feeling the way you feel when a flight is delayed and you're missing your connections and stuff is not going particularly well. And then something magical happens. They give a kid the public address phone and the kids start singing songs from Moana. Hey, wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world? We'll delve into that. Also, speaking of children, kids and fantasy, I finally got eyes on the TBTL Junior Sluggers, AKA the Gators of the Parkside Little League of East Portland. And it was a wonderful Saturday experience. We will delve into that as well. The crack of the bat, the roar.

[Andrew Walsh]

Of the crowd that's right. Baseball's back.

[John]

And we're also gonna talk to this guy, Longest running cobra of the show, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ship. Soulful rocker from New Hampshire. He is Andrew Walsh, and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good morning, Luke. Listen, I'm not telling you I know what a good headline is, but I'll tell you what a good headline isn't, all right? And it's TSA issues warning about ubiquitous feature at airports.

[John]

Oh, boy, is this Seattle time strikes again.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, every day with this. And I know that we're talking to the junior sluggers, talking about them.

[John]

I'd rather besmirch.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'll bleep it.

[John]

What do we call her? The old Green Lady?

[Andrew Walsh]

The Old Emerald Lady.

[John]

Emerald Lady. That's a better name.

[Andrew Walsh]

First of all, if you have the room to use the word watching this.

[John]

Is really bunk journalism.

[Andrew Walsh]

If you have the room to use ubiquitous, you have the room just to write that headline the way it should be written, which is.

[John]

Oh, my God.

[Andrew Walsh]

Specifically, say, what is nefarious in airports that we should be avoiding? It's clickbait, my man. It's all clickbait. Sorry, I'm done.

[John]

Do you know that my first encounter with the word ubiquitous, which has lived in my head for What? I'm. I'm 49, so carry the one for probably, I'd say 40. 40 years of my life is related to the Seattle Times. When I was a kid in the. I'd say mid-1980s, there were Seattle Times television ads where somebody in the ad, they're supposed to be like, person on the street, and they're talking about the Seattle Times.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay.

[John]

And the person says, it's ubiquitous. And I remember being a kid and being like, what the heck is that word? And it was a Seattle Times television ad. This was, of course, back when newspapers had money for things like ads and they didn't have to just, like, use terrible clickbaity headlines so as to try to get one more click so as to try to stay alive for another five seconds. So it's hilarious that they would use. They would overuse the word ubiquitous in a headline when that is where I learned that the word ubiquitous exists was the Seattle times, circa, like, 1983.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now you are a world traveler. Have you read this story? Do you know what the ubiquitous threat is in airports that they're warning us not to?

[John]

No, but I can tell you that it's not a threat.

[Andrew Walsh]

It is also.

[John]

That's what I know about this. What I know is that it's not a thing that anyone is trying to take the airplane down with. Regardless of what the TSA is telling you, regardless of what sort of photographs that they enlarge and then laminate and then post at the guard station at the TSA checkpoint. I can promise you that nobody is able to take an airplane down with this thing that is being called a quote unquote threat.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what it is? It's oversized murals of magicians. That is the thing in airports that they're warning.

[John]

And it's like a long. Kind of like a cylinder, like a long tube that somebody could climb in.

[Andrew Walsh]

A little bit of insider Seattle airport.

[John]

Hyperspecific Seattle Tacoma airport references on a Monday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Harriet Baskis. That one was for you. No, that's that.

[John]

To yahoo.com.

[Andrew Walsh]

The. The threat is to not airplanes, but to people's computers. They're saying, don't use those USB charging stations anymore because hackers have a way of installing malware into the USB things where you might charge your phone or whatever. They're saying.

[John]

I'll allow that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, no, I have no problem. The reasonable headline would be experts warn against using USB plugs at airports. Like, that's what it should be. Then you're like, oh, okay, why? And then you can click on it. I understand you can't put all the details in the headline, but this, like, ubiquitous threat in airports. But they don't say it could be bugs. It could be, you know, any kind of pestilence, really. It could be me going around asking people to donate to tbtl. There's all kinds of threats in airports.

[John]

That is. That is not in any way a threat to people. That is a way to.

[Andrew Walsh]

The way I do Vibrant podcast.

[John]

In business, sir.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, they really need to stop doing that. I hold out a can. Okay.

[John]

I have so much to tell you about the weekend. Do you want to start with the truly unhinged thing that my mother said? Do you want to go with me wandering the fanciest neighborhood in Portland trying to find their castaways with my Trader Joe's bag? Or do we want to start with you seeing the Pavements movie? These are all, I think, really strong starts to the show.

[Andrew Walsh]

I want to know how he got trapped in that hall of mirrors during the Super Bowl. Sorry, had to first thought bad.

[John]

How is the weekend? I. I heard the Weeknd stop calling himself the Weeknd.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, really? What does he go by now? His, like, whatever he was born with, maybe?

[John]

I think his name might Be like, like Abraham Tesari or something. I think he might be Ethiopian. Canadian. I'd go with Abraham Tesfari.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's a good name. Like if.

[John]

Can I get. By the way, if I know the Weeknd's real name, how close am I on that? Can we Google that? I feel like I need. Let's see the week also. You have to remember. I don't think he has. He doesn't leave the E in Abel Mckonin. Tesfe. Okay. I had the A and the Tesfay. Right? Well, it's a Tesfari, but Makonin. I didn't see Makonin coming. Anyway.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. Yeah. So we can start wherever you would like. As far as. Let's start with.

[John]

Let me get this mom thing off of my chest because although placing it here on the show means there's a chance that my mom will hear this.

[Andrew Walsh]

Which you should have buried it.

[John]

Gonna feel about it, but yeah, I should have buried it, but. So my, my mom and my dad and my sister Rachel stayed over at my place on Saturday night. It was really super fun. Saturday we went down to my sister Sarah's place. Sarah and Josh's place. And my brother in law Josh, of course is a chef extraordinaire and made these incredible pizzas and this pizza oven he has, by the way. My new goal in life is to have a pizza oven and to make pizzas as well as my brother in law Josh did. But after that, my folks and my sister Rachel came back and stayed at my place. And I went to sleep on Saturday night. And what I did not realize was I was going to enter a borderline comatose state. Like we were sitting around talking, it was maybe 11, 11:30. And then I went to sleep and Andrew, I did not wake up. And not. I, not only did I not wake up, I didn't even get up to pee until 9:48am that is way late for me to sleep in. And so late that when I got up first of all, all the coffee was gone. Thanks, guys. And everybody was sitting out on the deck and enjoying the coffee.

[Andrew Walsh]

When you say all the coffee was gone, you mean the pot that was made was emptied or there was no more coffee in the house to make another pot?

[John]

Well, no, we like you, we get a regular broadcast coffee delivery around here. Thanks, Barry. But yeah, there was coffee that could have been made, but the coffee had been consumed. And I thought, really, guys?

[Andrew Walsh]

Because last time or the only time I've been to that place, we had to go on emergency coffee runs because you were out of coffee, if you'll recall.

[John]

I think it was an emergency half and half run and John got nonfat half and half, which I understand because of how svelte I am. But I don't like non fat half and half. Maybe it was both.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was both. I think that we had coffee on the first day.

[John]

It was both.

[Andrew Walsh]

That reminds me of a commercial that I saw recently from the 90s where there's a man and a woman. They're out on this nice picnic at like, I'm gonna say it's a Hollywood bowl situation. They're about to see some classical music and she's laying out this nice, this nice picnic, and then she pulls out like craft fish, fat free ranch or whatever. And the fella, it, like, it ruins the date for a moment. Like, the guy is such a jerk about it. He's like, do you have anything else? And I'm like, dude, like, this is a nice spread. You can't dip your carrots in this and just shut up for like, yeah, just one Sonata.

[John]

Are you or are you not trying to smash right, by the way, was it, Was it an ad for full fat ranch? What was the. What was the objective of negging fat free?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, he eventually he tries it and it turns out he does like four crash fat free. But he was like, I'm not going to eat that. She's like, well. And I'm just like, come on, man, that's such a bad look.

[John]

Would you though on like, let's say date four with Genevieve if she poured ranch of any kind?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I mean, I wouldn't eat the ranch at all, but I would just say I'm sorry.

[John]

You've never smashed.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm sorry. Well, we're waiting. I would just say I'm sorry I don't eat that. But I certainly wouldn't criticize the, the choice of, you know. Anyway, go ahead. I feel like I come out to the.

[John]

I come out to the deck coffee less because my family, who I'm putting up at no cost to them, has drank, has consumed all of the coffee. Well, you heard, there was me not knowing what the past tense of to drink is. Drank.

[Andrew Walsh]

In drunk.

[John]

Drunken, Drunken. Drinking.

[Andrew Walsh]

Drinking. I think you're right with drinking, drinking.

[John]

And I'm. So I sit down, I'm chatting with Rachel and Rachel goes, oh, wow, you slept in. I was like, yeah, I know, that's insane. Like, I. I really do not tend to sleep in that late. And I don't know what was going on, but boy, it Was really restful. And she goes, mom, mom just said to me, I wonder if he killed himself and wrote a note leaving the house to dad.

[Andrew Walsh]

That, as they say, escalated quickly.

[John]

And I go, what, Mom? She goes, I know the things that go through your head.

[Andrew Walsh]

Not my head. What that is. So you went of.

[John]

I mean, first of all, the thing was most mad is she thinks I'm going to leave the house to my dad.

[Andrew Walsh]

It. Is that what. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Like that. Yeah, that was very surprising twist there. But I. Now I'm wondering, is that where it all started?

[John]

Actually, she wants the house. I'm like, I haven't paid this guy enough working on the house. I pay him to build the house, and I leave him the house. Get. Get real.

[Andrew Walsh]

Leaving the house.

[John]

But also, like, where? Like. And then I told this to Becca and she goes, didn't you guys have a great Saturday night? I go, yeah, we did. Like, first of all, it's the. It's the. It's the fact. And I know this isn't how, you know, people ending their life works, but, like, it would be very out of the blue considering the Saturday that we all had together. Again, I know that's not how this works, but, like, the fact that her mind went there just even as an idea is weird also. Hey, mom, knock on the door. There's also again, I'm giving, like, I'm not giving the house to my child. I'm giving the house to your husband. Like, it was. It was. It was intense.

[Andrew Walsh]

I would have first thought that you had created a fake Luke under the covers with a bunch of pillows, and you'd snuck out the window.

[John]

Thank you.

[Andrew Walsh]

To go maybe gallivanting an Oracle casino or reinvent my.

[John]

Myself as some sort of pillow beast. LATIN LOVER oh.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I see.

[John]

Yeah. I'm going to Mexico. I'm becoming. I'm. I'm going to run a strip club in Zantanejo. I don't know. This narrative is.

[Andrew Walsh]

Honestly, now I am hearing how you're your mother's son. I, I. You're both. You're both unhinged now that I. Yes, but in different ways.

[John]

Why did my mom sleep until 10? I don't think she killed herself and left me the house.

[Andrew Walsh]

All I'm saying is, is why didn't my mom assume that I had snuck out to become a Latin lover south of the border? That's all I want to know.

[John]

That's all. As a. As a good boy, that's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait, I do Have a real question about your family dynamic, though. Yes. So it was. And I apologize if I get this wrong, but it was Sarah's birthday now.

[John]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, good.

[John]

By the way, that's a solid remembering. It was Sarah's birthday on Thursday.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's good remembering because now I want to stir some pots up because you. I believe it was your s. Hannah who wrote in to wish Sarah happy Blurs day. During the blurs. Yeah. And then. And you were like, oh, she sort of stole my language. She sort of, you know, bidened it, if you will, or hegsethed it. Why am I having so much trouble? I'm trying to think of all the.

[John]

People I think plagiarized.

[Andrew Walsh]

Famously plagiarized. Yeah. Anyway, and so there was some beef there on the show. I wasn't sure if they had heard it or how that all kind of handled itself.

[John]

Well, this is how that worked itself out. There was a text that went around to the Hawk Squad from my sister Hannah. And I'm scrolling back because the Hawk Squad is a very, very active place where there are so many texts. Hannah texted to the Hawk Squad and said, you should listen to. She's telling everybody in my family, you should listen to tbtl. Because I wished Sarah a happy birthday and Luke said, oh, here we go. From Hannah. Friday, 6:01pm Sari, listen to TBTL yesterday, since I gave you the best Blurs day message that Luke is saying I stole from him, I kind of did without realizing it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. All right.

[John]

So she admit. Oh. Oh, my God.

[Luke Burbank]

She admitted.

[John]

So Hannah is admitting officially in the record that she did mildly steal her birthday wish to my sister from me, where I said basically that Sarah is wildly inappropriate and that's what we love about her.

[Andrew Walsh]

And you were offended because you famously are anti plagiarism. In fact, you had a great joke you did about it in a standup bit. You did. I did.

[John]

I said I was. I was. I was on a ski lift next to a guy, and we started talking, and he said, I just got out of jail for killing a complete stranger. And I said, hey, don't I know you? One of the jokes was him trying to identify with a stranger as a friend so they would not kill him on the ski lift. The other thing that I.

[Andrew Walsh]

We've told the story. You've told the story about plagiarizing.

[John]

I haven't gotten to the specifics of the joke.

[Andrew Walsh]

If you've ever specifically said the joke, I had forgotten it. And I will say Steven Wright joke.

[John]

Right.

[Andrew Walsh]

You got a Future in comedy.

[John]

This is why I got second place in the Earth. Third place. I believe in the Snow King, Stars of Tomorrow, Kiwanis Club thing. The other thing that we did this weekend, Andrew, was attended a Junior Sluggers baseball game wherein coach Ben gave me this thing that I am so incredibly proud of. I'm showing it to you on the little riverside connection. It is a. It's a plaque of the tbtl. Well, they're called the Gators. I don't recognize. That's their government name. They are the Gators of the Parkside Little League, sponsored by tbtl. And then in quotes, it says, you're TBTL Junior Sluggers.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[John]

And it's a photo of the kids and the coaches and Andrew. When I tell you that I have been, like, carrying this thing around like a. Like some sort of treasure. Like, it came in a. In a little sort of plastic sleeve. And I've been doing all this stuff this weekend. I went to Costco. I went garage sailing in Irvington with my Trader Joe's bag and all of my. Through all my journeys this weekend, I've had one goal in mind, which is care. It's like I've been like, you know, Frodo with the ring with this thing. I've been carefully taking care of it so that I can put it in a place of honor in the TBTL backdrop.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's very nice. Yeah, it's like a nice wooden plaque with a. With like a kind of a copper.

[John]

Inscripted apologies to Jamie in Mississippi. It is now sitting in front of the Madrone Hill studio sign.

[Andrew Walsh]

And it's got the team picture there. I told you that in. And I know that the Junior Sluggers have beat my team already at this member. I did. I had many team photos. I played T ball and I think like, Little League up until maybe fifth grade. And one of those photos, poor Charlie Neff peed his pants. And he's like, it's just really history right there. It's like that exact kind of photo. The whole team, you know, facing the camera and then. And I think Charlie was kind of short, too, so he was in the front row. And I was like, oh, I'm checking.

[John]

Any of these kids. Everybody looks, looks. It's looking dry. That's great looking. It's looking like we didn't have. Now, it's actually funny you would say that because I remember when we were taking. When I played for Domino's Pizza, we took a team photo. And right before the team photo, we were all standing around kind of, you know, to the side of the field another team was playing and. And somebody hit a foul ball, like popped a foul ball up and it came down and hit me right in my kidney.

[Andrew Walsh]

Whoa.

[John]

Like a foul ball came out of nowhere, hit me in the small of my back and it was so painful. And then right after that we had to take the team photo.

[Andrew Walsh]

Did it ricochet off of something that sounds a little like back and to the left. What is going on with this magic foul ball?

[John]

Listen, are you, are you doubting my. You doubting my childhood experience?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, no, no, I'm not. We were pretty far. That's a serious question. No, I am just trying to figure out how does a ball hit lower back when it's a foul ball.

[John]

Well, we were. First of all, we were kind of far away from the actual. So the. This was at Lower Woodland?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh yeah.

[John]

If you can picture it over there at the intersection of. What's the. It's like it's. It's. Is it. It's by. It's basically kind of near the sort of Woodland Park Zoo. But it's that area that's. There used to be a kid valley there. Is there still a kid valley over there?

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't. Oh, there might be, I'm not sure. But it's like that's green. Is that Green Lake Way, by the way? Yeah, it's Green Lake in the intersect.

[John]

Green Lake Way has turned at the golf course and is hugging Green Lake. But anyway, we were. It was that field and we were not like right up against the fence. We were kind of pretty far away from the field to take this picture. So I guess the ball somehow was popped up and then came. You're right. The trajectory of it is weird. But what I just remember is we're standing around, we're getting ready for the team photo and then all of a sudden a ball just thwacks me right in my friggin kidney, dude. Crying. Crying. I had no, I had no toughness. Nowadays I wouldn't cry because I'm tough. In those days I was not tough. I actually was telling Becca another story of me crying on the baseball field this weekend. And a lot of youth baseball on the brain. It was because a kid got hit by a pitch. Actually, I think it might have been our guy. Cold brew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh nice.

[John]

Yarrow got hit by a pitch, I believe. But, but absolutely. Just like stoic.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice.

[John]

Like look out, Marcus Aurelius.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the coolest thing. It's being a cold brew. I mean that is Perfect for cold brew, right?

[John]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like you just don't show pain. Just ice in the veins, iced coffee.

[John]

And, and just kind of walked it off. And then actually I again, I think this is who was hit. Apologies if I'm getting the name of the, of the junior slugger wrong. But then later the, this, this player came around and this player's mom said, do you need some ice? Do you want some ice?

[Andrew Walsh]

And he goes, love.

[John]

That was not how I handled things, Andrew. When I was trying out for the all star team and was hit in the back by a pitch from the coach. It was like a coach was pitching batting practice and somehow nailed me in the back. And I remember just going down and crying so hard. And I did make the all star team, they never let me play. So that's probably related.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I'm gonna take my base. And they're like, it's just batting practice. You're like, I'm going to take my base.

[John]

Do you understand how this affects my ops? Wait, is what. OPS is a combination of on base plus slugging. On base plus slugging. So it's basically like you. How you're the slugging only relate to home runs or is it also just like hitting for power?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's more anything more than a. Yeah, yeah.

[John]

So basically OPS is, is what again?

[Andrew Walsh]

OPS is on base plus slugging. That's why it's a pretty high number. So it takes your on base percentage plus you're slugging and it just combines them. So it's usually in like the seven hundreds or something.

[John]

I see. So you could, could you have an over 1000 ops?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's a good point. I know.

[John]

I mean you theoretically could though, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I guess you theoretically could if you were. Yeah, I guess if you're getting on base 100% of the time. Yeah. And if you were like getting doubles 100% of the time.

[John]

Well anyway, everybody, everybody on the sluggers has an 1100 ops.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice.

[John]

Because I'll tell you what, these kids, it was so fun to get to watch these kids play baseball and also to watch coach Ben. He'll probably hear this. Coach Ben. Coach. When we rolled up, Andrew, there was a crisis that was unfolding. The first crisis, we went to the wrong field because there was a miscommunication. So then we got to the right field and we walked up right as the game was starting and a sluggers player who will remain nameless just because this was an emotional moment for them, legged out a single. They ripped the ball down to the third baseman and Then they ran it, they legged it out, they got to first, safe. But what they did was they turned in, in other words, they turned towards second. They weren't trying to run to second, they ran through the bag. But instead of turning right into foul territory, they turned left. And we're kind of walking back to the base. And the players for the other team, one of the players had the ball in his mitt and tagged our player out at first. You cannot turn left at first because if you do, it would be impossible for the other team to know if you were trying to run to second or not. So you can run through the bag, but you can't turn left. But this is also not a thing that, you know, I don't know what the exact age of the sluggers is. I'm looking like it's in maybe the nine, nine year old department, but it's not necessarily a thing every nine year old player would know. And to be honest with you, I would have really liked it if the coach of. Oh, there was also, this is an added element to it. There wasn't an umpire, there was not an impartial umpire at the game. It was speculated that the umpire also went to the wrong field. Like normally there is an umpire. There was no umpire. This was. The coaches had to kind of call the game right, which is, should generally be okay, I think, because everybody should recognize these are kids, they're learning the game. We should be pretty chill about this. Well, a coach for the other team happened to be at first base and called out our player, called our player to be out. And it was one of those things where it was like that coach was not wrong. It was slightly illegal what our kid did. But as the, as the game would unfold and as the sluggers would end up losing by a substantial margin of runs to what I'm going to call the bad guys. I would have liked it if that coach would have just been kind of been like, you know, hey, next time you got it, you can't turn left, you got to turn right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Like it seemed like if, it seemed like the kid was. If the junior slugger, I should say if the player, if the baller.

[John]

Yes, the athlete, if the athlete, if.

[Andrew Walsh]

The student athlete were actually like kind of playing at a level where it was kind of clear they were trying to be a little sneaky there. You know what I mean? Like there are rules in football. If you're the quarterback, there are rules. I get to be very, very careful tackling a quarterback. Right. And so the quarterbacks are supposed to understand that. And so when they go into a sl, at one point you're not supposed to touch them. They're going down. But then there are some quarterbacks I think at the college level who made headlines because they would like sort of fake sliding. But then. Well, was that.

[John]

I mean, not fake sliding? That's. Sorry, that's different. That's just being generally like a, you know, kind of like baiting the defense into getting a penalty. But that's. I guess that's different than a fake slide.

[Andrew Walsh]

But yeah, there was a. Yeah, like, no, everybody's scared to kind of touch the quarterbacks at the level of Mahomes. But there was even. There was some this years ago, like some famous college play where this ace quarterback kind of looked like he was gonna go into a slide. Everybody backs up and then he just keeps running and it's like, okay, this is an athlete. This is a student athlete who is gaming the system here. Right? Like, it's the spirit. And I just don't believe. And I wasn't there. And I am only hearing this from you who has a dug on this flight. But I don't feel that our junior sluggers were looking to game the system by. Maybe I'll go to second, maybe I won't, but they'll be. This is. That seems over strict. In the spirit of these games.

[John]

I 100% agree. This was. I'm going to use a word here, that is if there are any junior strugglers listening, cover your ears. This coach was being kind of a. And but what it, what it, what it meant was that coach Ben was now thrust into a situation because the parent of this player was. Our player was also unhappy that her son was now crying because of how this play unfolded. And she was like, literally, I, I heard her utter. Well, I got it on video. And I don't think he turned left. And I'm just like, this is. We're walking up to the field and I'm like, wow, okay, is this about to be. Are we about to be on tick Tock? Because are we about to be showing the other team a cell phone video of whether or not the student athlete turned left or right? Like. And I was, I felt, I felt very bad for Coach Ben being in the midst of all of this because it was like, either you go super hard for your team and you get into it with the other. With the other team when in fact they were not wrong based on the rules, or you are now kind of not sticking up for your team enough. Like, I just was like. Like, I was very. I was very relieved to not be the coach in this situation. I felt. I felt very much for coach Ben.

[Andrew Walsh]

So what I know of Ben is that he probably just sort of smoothed things over, took the out. Right. I'm assuming, and just sort of took.

[John]

The out and said something that I think was this kind of. I think this is a. This is something that we can all apply to our life in a lot of different situations. He just said, everybody's doing their best out there. I was like, well said, sir. Like that. And I think. I mean, do I think it was the best of the coach of the other team to call it an out? No, but in his own mind, he was doing his best. What he was doing was saying, these are the rules. And. And also, by the way, I will say this, the coach that said that when they asked, like, was, is he out? He goes, well, I called him out. Like, he said it in a way that was also a little bit like, yeah, he was leaving the door a little bit open. He was saying. I mean, they were like, was he out? And he was like, well, I called him out. Like, I did do that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, right.

[John]

But he wasn't being, like, he wasn't being. So. I know I just said he was being a D word.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[John]

He wasn't actually being the most D word he could have been about it. He just was. Again, everybody. Everybody involved was in a situation where there was. I was going to say no playbook, but there's literally a playbook. But you know what I mean? Everybody involved was like an adult who was trying to figure out how to be in adult life. Whether it was the coach who said, well, you know what? The guy did go the wrong way, or the other coach who had to talk to the parent who was also being an adult defending their kid. Like, everyone was in an adult moment that they did not expect to be in and had to figure out how to get through it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know who this junior slugger is, but I hope that they follow me on Blue sky, because Blue Ski, first of all, I could use the clicks. Secondly, yesterday I retweeted, or sometime over the weekend, I re skied, re bleeded. I rebleed a very. What I thought was sort of an interesting play.

[John]

Did you pick up my lamb impression?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I did. That was very good. Sorry, I thought you were doing Clinton.

[John]

That's my other really good impression.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, George Springer, he plays for the Blue Jays. I don't know what he plays for. The Blue Jays one time.

[John]

Houston Astro.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, that's right. Because he gets the booze raining down on him whenever he plays up here.

[John]

As well he should.

[Andrew Walsh]

The Blue Jays were playing. I want to say the. Sorry, the Sacramento Athletics. I know, I know. This weekend, I'm pretty sure that was the team. It doesn't really matter that much. But my understanding of what happened, and I only saw a very small clip of this is George Springer hits, I believe, a triple. You thought he was born on third, but he actually hit a triple.

[John]

He hit a triple.

[Andrew Walsh]

He hit a triple. And I believe it was an. It certainly was an RBI triple because a runner in scoring position does score. But then Springer does this thing where he gets into third and he's just sort of bouncing. Like, as I pointed out in Blue Sky. Maybe that's why they call him Springer. He just does this thing of. I was going to say joy, but it's almost like very childlike, sort of. It's a fun little moment where he kind of lands on the bag and he just sort of jumps three times, but the third baseman just is keeping his glove to him and he happens to get him when he comes off the bag. And again, he's not trying to make a baseball move. I don't think that's a phrase, but he's not trying to do anything. He's just sort of like instinctively like, I just got a triple. And he just sort of bounces up and down like a little bunny rabbit. Three times, very, you know, just not, not huge off the bag just a little bit. But in bouncing, they call him out and I guess the runner scores, but they call him out at third. And it was just like, it was just play and to talk about, like, really the like.

[John]

Did you see Thai France do a playful thing with. With Crawford on. On Sunday?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, no, I didn't get to see anything on Sunday.

[John]

You were volunteering for the homeless.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, but I was listening. I mean, I was listening. When I said see, I meant that I was listening to part of the game, but I definitely didn't have eyes on any of it.

[John]

There was a. I think there was a. Like the pitcher, Crawford was on first base and. And the pitcher threw to first and he dove back and tie. France took the ball and did like knock, knock on his batting helmet.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's good. He's done that before. That's when I realized I liked Ty France. I don't know if you remember that I told you that he did something very similar before when he played for the Mariners and I was like, oh, he's kind of. He's got a sense of humor. And then once you know that, it totally unlocks. He's got this little. He almost got beaned by a ball in the head from. I can't remember who was pitching on, like, Friday night. And he. He just kind of smiled at him because this is a. He just did this very small little Bazooka Joe grin at him. I'm like, I really like this guy.

[John]

I really. It made me really happy. I mean, he almost absolutely pwned us last night. Yesterday when he got a single in the ninth or no. Yeah. Was it. Was it in the night? Yeah, when they tied it up, I think he got a single. And it was weird because I was, like, kind of rooting for him.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah.

[John]

Generally because I wanted him to do well, but you know, when he's visiting, when he's seeing his old. His old mates. But also I was like, but not now, Ty, please. And he gets a single and then they end up tying the game. But yeah, so it was like this idea that, like, J.P. crawford had thrown, I don't know, a hundred thousand balls to Ty France at first base over the course of. Of their knowing of each other. And now JP Crawford is diving back to the bag, and he's clearly not going to be thrown out.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, but.

[John]

But Ty France is just like, knock, knock on his helmet, like, takes the ball out and doot, doot, doots him.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was like, oh, that's really sweet. Yeah. No, I really like that guy. I do wish the best for him, generally speaking, and I'm glad he's in a Twins unif uniform if it's not a Mariner's uniform. You know, I think.

[John]

Exactly. If he's gonna go somewhere and prosper, we hope it's with the Twins. Was a real. I don't know if you remember that meme where those two guys were like, this is a long time ago, but it was like this guy basically put this thing out that was like, I'm not friends with this other guy anymore.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I saw that you.

[John]

And everyone was kind of like, why are. No one was. No one was noticing, but okay. And then, because our friend the Stubbot is, of course, a Minnesota Twins fan, this was a fraught weekend because both teams can't win. And. And, you know, if it's not against the Mariners, I'm hardcore pro Minnesota Twins. But it was. Yeah, it was like, basically I told Stu on the text chain, I said, whatever happens this weekend, the Mariners need To win. And then of course, we had a quite dispiriting loss to them the first game. I think Stu might have gone to bed, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John]

Because the Mariners jumped out to a four run lead. And then I said, I said something like, give Gabe Spires time. Although he, in fact was not the problem. It was like, I think it might have been Snyder. We end up losing the game in a really just dispiriting fashion. And then the next like Saturday morning, it's like a text from Stu. I did not see that coming.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can I. I want to talk about culture here for a second. And I'm. This is going to be a little bit about baseball, but it's mostly going to be about how we present ourselves in public if we want people to take us seriously and if we want a job in the future. This is an anti tattoo screen. No. I don't know. I said culture and I sounded like gonna get into some respectability. No.

[John]

Are you trying to talk me out of my neck tattoo?

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm getting. Are you gonna get one? You should.

[John]

I'm thinking about getting Frank Zappa here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, no.

[John]

On my neck. Because you know that my John Prine tattoo is morphing into Frank Zappa.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, my mustache.

[John]

As my skin crepes. It's. There is.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait till it becomes a Wilford Brimley.

[John]

Oh, I would welcome a Wilford Brimley.

[Andrew Walsh]

What Engaged with you color wise. What if somehow the mustache and the hair become white over time?

[John]

It's definitely getting. I'm getting much more Frank Z than I am John Prine. If I get a John Prine in the wild, which is pretty rare, somebody.

[Andrew Walsh]

Spotting it and commenting on it.

[John]

Somebody saying, oh, is that John Prine? That's probably happened five times total. People saying, is that Frank zappa's probably happened 20 times total. Which seems like a lot.

[Andrew Walsh]

Uh huh. I could see that. I mean, of course I knew. It's like, what did I do an impression of before the show? You're like, that's a good impression. I'm like, it was a terrible impression. I told you the name of the person I was doing before I did it. Oh, it was Kenneth Parcell from. I'm like, this is Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock. Then I did an invitation. You're like, that was good. I'm like, no, it wasn' and you're like, I knew who it was. I'm like, yeah, because I said it 15 seconds earlier, but I knew that, that, you know, I don't think I would have Confused that with a Frank Zappa tattoo is what I'm saying. But I've always known it not to be a Frank Zappa tattoo. So I don't want to get too much into baseball here, but something really did. Something strange happened.

[John]

This is actually good, Andrew, because there's a chance that somebody named Casey from the Apple Store is listening right now who is a baseball fan.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[John]

And sold me a computer yesterday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, good, you got a new computer that's going to.

[John]

I did get a new computer. I haven't set it up yet, but I have a new computer. But. So if Casey's listening, who is a baseball fan, this is for you. We're programming towards Casey right now with. With Baseball Talk.

[Andrew Walsh]

I feel terrible about not knowing the answer to what if you. What's the highest on base plus lugging you can get? I looked it up. It is if you got a home run and at every at bat you would have a 4000 ops. Whoa. Yeah.

[John]

So Ohtani has a 4000 because it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is based, I guess, on whether it's a double or a single or a home run. At least that's what AI taught me in the moments since you asked me that question. Okay, so what I wanted to talk about was Mariners culture over the weekend because I think you were aware of some of it. I don't know what degree you realize it was widespread, but like, so I'm on Blue sky, or Blue Ski as we call it, primarily I realize now as just a way of communicating with other Mariners fans. Like my whole Blue sky account is just Mariners talk with the occasional George Springer bouncing on a bag gif. But like, that's it. And that is what I really missed from the old Twitter website. Right. Was that baseball community. And there's something you should know about this Mariner, this kind of tight knit baseball online community. It's not toxic. And I don't mean it's like non toxic like a Crayola crayon. It's just, it's not, it's.

[John]

I can eat this. You can eat it or I cannot.

[Andrew Walsh]

I feel like you can eat this. I don't know if you would want to. I don't know if it would be super like filling. I don't know if it'd stick to your ribs material. But it is just like a bunch of people that are generally very into the game. There are moments of frustration. There's a lot of good humor though. And there are times when a fan is fan base has sort of had enough and they reach maybe a Nadir. Nader. How do you say Nader?

[John]

I'm not sure how to say it either, but you're using the word correct.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nadir. One example of this, I probably use it too much, but I remember this moment, like five seasons ago, if not more, when the Mariners had just had this historic comeback against the Astros, and then they traded their closer to the Astros mid series the next day. And that was the Graveman trade. And we can. I just recently got into an argument about whether or not we won that trade or not. I'm not doing it again. Not doing it here. Wow. Wow.

[John]

That was me trying to play a file of how to pronounce Nadir.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay.

[John]

Well, what in the heck was that?

[Andrew Walsh]

We've moved on. The. My point is I haven't that.

[John]

That I may never move on.

[Andrew Walsh]

When they traded Graveman, it was one of those moments where there was despair across Mariners land like I had not really experienced before. Whether it was from like, listening to the real baseball junkies on the local sports station to anything that you saw online to conversations with your friends, it was just like this. Why would you trade away kind of our ace bullpen pitcher? And it was just like this. This out. This outward, sort of just like sports bleeding. Everybody was just so bummed and confused and angry. That was Kenneth from earlier, right?

[John]

Kenneth Parcel.

[Andrew Walsh]

And weirdly, that happened again, unlike May 29, which is pretty early in the season.

[John]

And we hadn't traded.

[Andrew Walsh]

We hadn't traded anybody. We just lost a game in extra innings to the Twins. The first game of a series. Now, there's a lot of context here that we can fill in a little bit. It was like.

[John]

Like heartbreaking.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was a heartbreaking loss that came in a fashion after a heartbreaking loss that was very similar the day before. Extra innings complete, bullpen collapse. A lot of people complaining and blaming the manager and all this stuff. I don't want to get kind of into all the ins and outs. And it really did come off of, like, several games that sort of followed that pattern in very recent history. And the game before was an absolute heartbreaker. And then to see it happen again at the beginning of the series and then you combine it with. It's the first game of the series, we're at home. Everybody's assuming now that the series is sort of lost. But, like, we had some real. I mean, you and one of your brothers had like a real, like, sort.

[John]

Of like, I had to call my brother. I attempted to call my brother directly. Really related to that text chain, which never Happens on a Friday night.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I don't even remember, like, what. What you guys were kind. I was sort of following you guys. But also just like the. The Twitter sphere, the blue ski sphere, as they call it. Like, people. People who are level headed and mostly turned to humor in dark times of Mariner Love. Dark Times of Mariner Love is gonna be the name of my romance novel. But, like, are just like, at their wit's end. And then there's a relatively new kind of podcast that goes live after Mariners games. And I really like these two guys.

[John]

That's a really good idea.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a really good idea because they got me. They have these two other guys.

[John]

I might start messing with that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. And it's live on YouTube. You can wait for the podcast, but if you like, basically. And I need them more after losses than wins, really, because they're. By the way, I sent it to our buddy. Well, I sent it to our buddy and he pointed out that the name of one of the hosts is Anderson Hearst. Ders Hurst is one of the. Is one of the hosts of the show. But even these guys, like, I know that his. His kind of the. Maybe what you say, maybe the co host guy has made references before in the past about how like, oh, he's watching a game and he gets too upset, like he has to buy a new remote control, but he says it with a smile. And the vibe of the show is like very, you know, not. Not non critical, but generally upbeat. It's these two guys and they're talking.

[John]

About the text chain. It's general, it's informed, and even one of them, not overly critical. It's. It's a blessing to everyone like me on the text chain.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm watching their show live after that Friday game, and one of them is talking and giving analysis, and then he just says, I'm done talking now. You have to say something, Anders, or whatever. And I was like, oh. And I even heard a shaking in his voice. And like, I think it was like, everybody just has seen this team do the same thing year in and year out, especially longtime Mariners fans. And it's way too early. Any reasonable person would say it is way too early in the season, especially where we are right now. We don't have the White Sox record or the Diamondbacks record. Like, it's way too early. Or Rockies, sorry, Diamondbacks, you're doing all right. And so it was very strange just to collectively see the Mariners fan base feel like they wanted to, well, I guess kill themselves in the middle of the night and give their house and.

[John]

Then leave a note, the house to.

[Andrew Walsh]

Their dad for some reason. It was really, really strange. And then we come back and we end up winning the next two games. So we win the series, by the.

[John]

Way, almost equally heartbreaking.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I saw.

[John]

Have we listened to the Twins podcast lately?

[Andrew Walsh]

And I saw somebody post on Twitter on Sunday night, we just won a series, but I swear to God, we lost all three games. Like, people just could not shake the feeling of the series. This series was so fraught, Luke. So, so fraught. I don't think people realize that we won the series. Like, it's just like it was a. What I saw on Friday night was really bananas. It was a real low point for the culture.

[John]

Well, I wonder if. Because if we go back to our Mariners history, that communal freakout, which I was part of, that community wide freakout when Graveman. When they traded Graveman to the Astros, which was extra bad because those are our, like, sworn enemies. So it's just like, come on.

[Andrew Walsh]

And we were in the middle of a series with him, and I think we came back from like a 10 run deficit to beat them the night before.

[John]

And we, by the way, ended up, I believe, going to the playoffs that season.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah. Oh, was that the season?

[John]

I think we went on the tear year after that. I think we might have.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't think it was a season. I think that.

[John]

Okay, well, we. Then it's probably one of those things. We missed the playoffs by like two games. What I know is we actually played really well for the rest of the season.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John]

Surprisingly well. Like, we. Like we. Here's what I know. I know that, like, in the aftermath that I think we went on a pretty decent win streak. So maybe this will have the same effect. Whereas, like, because I'm with you, like, that was. That was. That Friday night was a. It was a. It was a dark time of the soul. A dark night of the soul. So maybe something. Something shook loose and. And. And now we're going to actually play pretty well. We did go on to win two games after that.

[Andrew Walsh]

So I want you to know I looked this up just because I thought you might be right and I didn't want it on the record, but it was the year before we went to the playoffs. So this is 2021, just for whatever it's worth. But like, yeah, the. The Mariners did. I mean, I still say Gravemen for Abraham Toro. Like, I still don't think.

[John]

I mean, that was a. Toro really overperformed, you know, I guess later, he.

[Andrew Walsh]

Got a really close Toro.

[John]

A Blue Jay, though. He was an Astro.

[Andrew Walsh]

He. We got him from the Astros. I don't know what he was before.

[John]

That, but I know he's Canadian, I think, so culturally.

[Andrew Walsh]

A Blue Jay. Yeah. And I just remember he got. He got off to a really slow start, and it was really hard not to constantly make the comparison. I think he ended up being serviceable, both literally and figuratively, because he played for Scott Service. I believe he was, like, serviceable, but never. And everybody was so despondent about him coming here because we were losing Gravemen, that I know that there was also a contingency of Mariners fans who just were trying to be as gracious to Toro as possible, like a welcoming committee or whatever, because he was just a good guy who just played, who just wants to play baseball for the Mariners. And everybody, like, saw his face as, like, the face of.

[John]

Right. You're the anti. You're our stepdad.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly.

[John]

We like our real dad.

[Andrew Walsh]

Anyway, everybody's doing okay now, I think, and we're all going to be fine. But I just wasn't sure if you had picked up, aside from the text chain, like, any of the kind of widespread, cataclysmic attitude of Mariners.

[John]

I felt it, but I was doing my normal thing, which I was being strong for all of us. If you look back on the text chain, actually, you know what? I'm really proud of this text that I sent to the criminals that night. And again, just for folks that don't follow this, it was just a real gutting game for us to lose. And David from the basement said, don't block me, Luke. But that is the worst loss of the season. That is the type of game that breaks a team completely. So there you go. Maybe he was listening to that podcast. And then I said, what I'll say is, if they were broke, they were already broke. If they are fundamentally sound, which is questionable. It's a long season. We're now a half game out of first place, with our two best starters soon to return. The arc of history is long, but it bends towards Logan Gilbert. And, you know, so far, that has. I mean, not that Logan Gilbert's been involved, but, like, we did come back to win the next two games. So, you know, I was being strong for all of us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Should we talk about technology for a split second, then? Thank the donors, because I am also really confused. I was a little confused about that. The timing, when I said, am I on delay? Because I. Because David sent that text before the game was Over. I'm quite convinced of that. It did feel like you were on some sort of a longer delay than the rest of us. But then it felt like I was also on a delay. I couldn't tell if David was being literal or he was just foreseeing this loss. I was very confused about where we all were in the time I was.

[John]

I was checking my Fubo. I was like, maybe. And that wasn't a sarcastic question for me. I thought maybe, you know what I mean, when I said, am I on delay? Because I literally was like, I think I'm up to speed on this, and I think it's still the 10th inning, and I think we actually are tied right now. Maybe we were down a run. I mean, eventually it completely, like, you know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Unraveled.

[John]

Unraveled, Exactly. But at that moment, I was confused because I thought, like, maybe. Maybe Fubo is giving this to me. 10 seconds late.

[Andrew Walsh]

Me too.

[John]

And something really bad has happened that I don't know about it yet.

[Andrew Walsh]

And because you did comment on something, I'm like, oh, Luke might be slightly delayed on something. But then with this one, I was like, am I delayed? I don't know. I think, man, I just think there was a lot of. There was a lot of bad juju going on, and it might have been affecting the space time continuum on Friday. I'm kind of glad to be on the other side of it.

[John]

I am as well. Thank very much. Thankfully. And also, I'm kind of bummed they're off today because I feel like we just need to keep this. We need to keep this luck train rolling.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's.

[John]

But, you know, I guess the guys deserve a day off. We was hoping for some razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle dazzle. On your mark. On your mark. Get set, get set now. Ready, ready, go.

[Andrew Walsh]

Everybody rattle dazzle.

[John]

All right, let's thank some dazzling donors. These are the wonderful, generous people that are donating a dazzling amount of dough to keep TBTL in business. This is 100% listener supported podcasting. When I was getting my new computer yesterday at the Apple store, and the guy there was asking, well, what do you use it for? And I said, podcasting mostly. It sounds like a made up thing, but in fact, this is our job, and it's because of folks like Farren Shear. Farren sounds like Fahrenheit. Or so the other children told me growing up. Try leukoplakia. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Faren Luka Plaky is a pretty. Those kids were really up on their pre. Cancer.

[John]

No, you know what it was? It was the movie Lucas. There was a movie called Lucas where I believe Corey Haim plays a nerdy kid who gets bullied by Charlie Sheen, who's also a kid at the time. And I believe that. I don't know if Charlie Sheen says this, but. But there's a bunch of different Nick, like. Like, you know, bad nicknames for Lucas, and one of them is Luka Plakia.

[Andrew Walsh]

I see. So the kids are so clearly like.

[John]

A Hollywood screenwriter wrote the word leukoplakia into a movie about making bullying a kid named Lucas, which then made its way into the. The culture of my life as a kid, which, by the way, didn't bother me. I was very lucky as a kid that because I wasn't bullied hardcore, if someone tried to bully me, it didn't get to my sense of self the way it would have if I. If that was a regular thing. I was very. That was a privileged position for me to be in that. I just. I remember thinking, like, what, do we have mouth cancer specialists now looking this up?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I did not. This is not the proper place to have this conversation.

[John]

As Farron Shears dazzling donor message is not the place for us to have this conversation.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, what I'm about to say is gonna get raw. No, you said that, like, you were lucky. It didn't hurt you that much because you weren't bullied so intensely, let's say. But it's kind of like. And I. Look at me, who was bullied intensely, but I can't. And I'm not trying to blame the victim here, but I do think that it's kind of this vicious cycle. Right. Of like, because certain. Because I had. Because I was showing my belly in a certain way or was like, showing was so easily exposed. My vulnerability is so easily exposed. That sort of like, I sort of felt like built steam, you know what I mean? One sort of fed the other. And that sounds really blaming the victim. But, like, I think that I could just sort of feel like, oh, yeah, why do certain kids. They just can take the slings and arrows and certain kids can't. And I was not.

[John]

But what I would say is I think that. That, I mean, that's a real chicken or egg thing, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that's kind of what I mean.

[John]

My theory is that I was able to handle being called leukoplakia because it wasn't happening so much that it became a thing for me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John]

But had it happened more, I might have responded to it differently. Like, I don't, I don't think that you were just responding poorly and therefore it was happening more. My guess is it was happening more so you're responding to it sort of extra poorly.

[Andrew Walsh]

It is interesting. And also that is like a pretty rough attempt at felling someone. Right? Calling them Luca Plakia like that doesn't.

[John]

Really honestly was just a bad like Luke Puke would get me way more than Luka Plakia.

[Andrew Walsh]

What I mean, okay, I will not give you that garbage pail kid I was planning on giving you.

[John]

Faren is in San Diego, California and says hi Andrew, John, Luke Tens. This is my third attempt to write something that honors the value TBTL brings to my life without descending into a doom spiral over gestures vaguely everywhere. We were in one of our business boys meetings recently, actually. Actually, maybe it was before a show, but we were talking. John was there and we were talking about the donors and we were talking about how it would appear that like, you know, you talk about like a. The sort of sedimentary layers or the rings in a tree or you can learn stuff about the earth's history based on, you know, the amber, what was caught in the amber at that time. And I think a lot of these dazzling donor messages were written at a particular moment. Not that things are great now. They're not great. But we are. Are all because we're human beings. We are. We're adjusting, we're reformatting. We're kind of like things are happening. I think a lot of these messages were written at a particular. To go back to Nadir point, Andrew. Yes, Nadir point for all of us. So Farron says all right to stick to the facts. This is my favorite advertising tax write off. Please find me in Slack on or Instagram if you are near me and in the market for. For a new hair stylist. Yes, Faren is a hairstylist par excellence.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. Okay.

[John]

I mean, it's not just because her last name is also a name for scissors. Okay. That is not the only reason that Farron is incredible at helping people with their hair. But it is.

[Andrew Walsh]

But it's a lucky doesn't hurt.

[John]

Number two, the TBTL Slack is my favorite place to feel encouraged that people really are getting up off the mat. But I think that's a phrase from our pal television's Chris Hayes.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're right.

[John]

Shout out to the small but mighty politicschannel. We have a hashtag Politics channel in the Slack page. Andrew. This is the first time learning of this. I like this though, where I see ideas for real actions screaming into the void or sending virtual hugs. It's a real light in my days. So if you are listening to this right now, and this is something that's interesting to you, jump on the TBTL slack and jump into that hashtag politics section and, and scream into the void. With Faron and everybody else there, I bet you the more the merrier.

[Andrew Walsh]

And what I can I just say what I do see and there is some screaming into the void. But it's not like I want to give the channel its fair do here because if you told me it was just a place where people are just kind of sharing another scary headline after another scary headline after another terrifying headline, like we get a lot of that. What I really appreciate, and I'm an observer in there, but what I really appreciate about that channel is it is mostly people saying, hey, listen, here's a. Here's a call to action. If you're feeling like you're really frustrated with what you're seeing in this country and you're again, kind of scared, but you feel helpless, it's like a lot of people saying, hey, here are, here's this piece of legislation that is being debated right now. Like, here's. Here are the numbers of the senators you can call or whatever. There's a lot of calling to action or, you know, things that are much more local as well, like, hey, there's a demonstration today or whatever. So I really do appreciate that about the channel. It is not just more doom scrolling, if that's what anybody is worried about.

[John]

About number three from Farren. One of my current favorite books is Sarin McMahon's the Small and the Mighty. Stories about ordinary people doing what they are uniquely good at and end up changing the course of history. I don't know if podcasting is something people are called to do, but I do know that the way y' all do it and the people it has brought together gives me a lot of hope for the future. That's really funny because as I was reading that sentence, I was gonna make a joke about tbt. I'm going to say the small and the mighty, that describes us and our listenership. But that's exactly where Farren was actually going with this. This is a quote from the book. This is a quote from the book that I focus on during tough days. Quote, progress is usually born out of struggle. But struggle doesn't always mean progress, does it? What do we need to add to struggle to create progress? The answer is hope. Hope. Which attorney and author Bryan Stevenson told me, is not a feeling but an orientation of the spirit. Hope is a choice that we make each morning, and we do not have the luxury of hopelessness if we want to see progress.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wow. Isn't that what you texted your brother during the Mariners game?

[John]

It kind of is. I mean, honestly, I would put myself right up there with attorney and author Bryan Stevenson in terms of the Hope game, Faren says, I hope you all know how much I adore you. Ah, Faron, right back at you. We adore you as well, and we really appreciate you being part of the show for all these years in various ways. Maestro.

[Andrew Walsh]

I wasn't ready for the Maestro, so I was thinking about something and then I'll Maestro this up.

[John]

This is good because it's helping me get our next donor's name in order in my brain because it's not a name that I've seen a million times. So this is good. You're actually helping me, sir.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's why I did it. But I did want to just add one thing to Faren's note, which, as Faren mentioned, and as we mentioned, Faran Farron's an amazing hairstylist. But if you aren't on one of the social media networks or don't know how to get in touch with Farron, you can just email me andrewbtl.net and I will put you guys in touch. I want to throw that out there. Good looking out, Maestro.

[John]

Love it. Calling your own number.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right.

[John]

It's Rochelle Morton in Bremerton, Washington. Oh, my goodness. Mere steps from where Walt and Susie reside.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. For now.

[John]

Exactly. Until they get your house, they're not. Well, yeah. And they're not going to be listening this far in. One thing I know about my mother is she does dip into the show, but she does not, she does not swim this deeply in it. And they are definitely going to move in at some point. The house is mostly one level, which works for them. They are. I didn't even know they were gonna be here Saturday night. We were at this thing for my actually was DFTB and his lovely wife and their beautiful baby were coming down to Portland. So we, we all got together at my sister Sarah's house where the pizzas were being made. And. And that was when I learned that my mom and dad and my sister were in fact staying at my house that night.

[Andrew Walsh]

As opposed to traveling all the way back to their home or staying at.

[John]

My sister Sarah's house or out with my sister Liz or. Or heaven Forbid a hotel like I am officially on now the route, if you will. There's nowhere my parents want to be less than their actual house. It's a nice house, which is kind of funny. My mom has a pretty severe case of kind of wanderlust and just always. And by the way, I got this from her, so this is is not a bad thing. But they're always on the move. My folks, whether they're going to a world mark or they're going to Florida to see their friends and stay at a world mark or going to stay with one of my sisters or telling me hours before we're staying at your house tonight.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now, World Star, are they also big on World Star?

[John]

They are. Sometimes when they get in a fight, my dad will start yelling, world Star. They did get in an argument yesterday. The rare. Oh, I don't like that rare Walt and Susie argument. This is how far it went. My mom said. Mom said, did you even dry this shirt of mine because it's so wrinkly? She had a shirt on a hanger in my house. Sorry, Rachelle, but this is what you get for living in Bremerton, Washington, near my parents. My mom had a shirt that was on a hanger, and I guess it was wrinkled. And she goes, did you even dry these shirts because this is so wrinkled. And my dad said something like, yeah, I dried all of them. And by the way, I washed your laundry. And she goes, a lot of it was your laundry, too. You didn't wash my laundry. They had a debate about what amount of laundry constitutes my dad doing my mom's laundry versus my dad doing his. My mom was of the opinion that if she sneaks one shirt into what is otherwise his laundry, then it is not a favor to her because it is his laundry. My dad was of the opinion that he had been basically doing my mom's laundry, so stop complaining about it being wrinkled.

[Andrew Walsh]

I would say if you've snuck a shirt into somebody else's laundry and you're claiming they didn't do your laundry, you can't complain about how they did your laundry.

[John]

Precisely. I mean, the amount of laundry does not matter. But my mom was in a corner, and she doesn't like being cornered at all, so she was gonna try to make. And by the way, this explains a lot about my general personality, both on the show and off the show, which is I'm not gonna let the facts stand in the way of me feeling aggrieved about something. Right back to Rochelle. Thanks, Luke, Andrew, and John for another wonderful Year, you are my comfort listening. I did tell the guy at the Apple store yesterday, as we talked about the podcast, I said, a lot of people say that it's a good thing to fall asleep to. And he laughed at that, which made me think he might be. Might be a future listener. I am at least 20 years older than most of the tens. I wish I could say I am wise, but alas, the older I get, the less I feel certain of that. By the way, Rochelle, I think that means you are wise.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John]

Don't you think, like, think about a person who, the older they get, the more assured they are. Are in their rightness versus a person who, the older they get, the more that they are open to new ideas and questioning how they've thought about the world. That's the way to be my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I think that. And this is no offense to our younger listeners who might be in this age right now, because it is part of the growing process. But, you know, I know that some of my cringiest moments were when I was maybe, let's say in college or around that age. And I just. Luke, I had the worst world figured out. And I'm not an argumentative person, but, like, there are just like times when you're really telling your parents how it. How it is, you know, and it's like, because you have a better understanding of it, what do your parents know? And then, you know, it's 40. I'm, you know, whatever, it's 30 years later or whatever it is. I'm 48 years old and I'm just kind of like, oh, man, I was so strident. And I really thought I had it all figured out. And there was so much living to do. Yeah. So much learning.

[John]

Nothing like getting older to really give you some empathy for your parents.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly.

[John]

So, Rachelle, good for you, by the way, to feel less certain of it. My only real advice. This is back to Rachelle's message. My only real advice that has served me is whenever you can get out into the natural world. Much love from Richelle Abremer. 10. Man, you said it, Rachelle. In fact, you know what, Andrew? I just had a thought. This is not exactly the natural world, but I think it's a version of it. I'm going to ride my bike today. I'm going to ride my bike and go get some dinner tonight. And out in the semi natural world because of Rochelle's advice, like, there's nothing like going on a walk if your body allows for that. There's nothing like Getting out in the world and being around grass and trees and water and things like that, to just kind of like. Like, you know, just reframe things and just kind of give yourself a little. Give your brain a little break from everything. So, Relle, thank you for the tip. I'm gonna. I'm gonna. That's actionable. I'm gonna action on that tonight and probably bore everybody with my story of bike riding tomorrow. By the way, I'm getting better at riding up the hill. Back to my house now.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, nice. Nice. Well, that's really.

[John]

It's all about pacing. So the first time that. Because, you know, I got this E bike and I thought it was gonna be like a motorcycle when I was. I was. I was gonna be flying back up the hill. And so the first couple times that I did it, I was like, I rode too hard at the beginning of the hill, and basically I sort of pooped out midway up the hill. And then I was mad at the E bike because, like, what is an E bike even good for if I'm still pedaling really hard? And then I learned it's about pacing. Have to just, like, I have to just be chill about this, and then it never gets too bad if I just. If I ride back up the hill in a sort of reasonable rate.

[Andrew Walsh]

When you got excited there a moment, you're like, you know what I thought you were saying I was going to do? You're going to say, we're going to have class outside tomorrow. Which I don't know exactly how that works. We've done that before.

[John]

We could do that.

[Andrew Walsh]

We've tried to hook up our.

[John]

I sat in a waiting pool one time.

[Andrew Walsh]

I believe that's right. Yes. Yeah, we could do that. But it really got me thinking, though, like, that. That special moment, and this is, like, truly to that message, like, it's sort of become a cliche, like, class outside. Right. But like, when. When somebody says class outside. I have a very specific memory of being at Liverpool elementary. Still exists in its physical form, but I believe it's not necessarily like part of the school district anymore. I think it's like more of a community center now or something. Or maybe a private. In Liverpool, Ohio, but it's in Valley City, Ohio. I think it's technically maybe Liverpool Township, but whatever. It's just like it's. It's Valley City. It's. Yes, it's the frog jump capital of the world, obviously. Very near, actually. Very. The What? The place I'm going to describe to you is very near Samaski's pizza. No joke, right? But we had a. One of those classic kind of. Of long one floor schools, probably built in the 60s or something like that. Just very, very classic looking from the outside. It did have. Oh, that's right. That was the new part of the school. And then there was an older part of the school that it was attached to. And the older part was probably built in, I don't even know, like the 20s or something. But there was a tree. I don't know what kind. I want to say it was probably a maple tree, but it was one really big maple tree that cast a shadow across this whole kind of of backyard area of the school. And the only time we were in this grassy area was when it was usually the art teacher. Sometimes the English teacher would say, class outside. And we would go. I can feel the sensation of leaning up against that knotty bark of the tree with like a tablet. And I don't mean like the tablet that your dad walks.

[John]

You're using an abacus, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

I was using an abacus. But like we would have these, you know, these, these little pamp. These like art books, I guess. And then they were on top of something hard that we could draw on. And I was a terrible drawer. But we would just sit out there and you would draw the tree above you or you would draw what you saw across the street or whatever. And it was just art class outside. And it was honestly some of the most special moments of school when we just were able to like literally move what, a hundred yards from. From the window that we were looking out of to the other side and to lean up against this tree. It's a very special thing. Sometimes, sometimes just to get outside.

[John]

We have a lot of teachers in the audience, including my sister Hannah, who's actually a principal now. But so I don't want to, like, there's probably a good reason for this, but what I remember is often asking if we could have class outside and being turned down. And it's like, why the hell would you turn that down? We weren't asking. On a rainy day, obviously. It would probably be around this time of year, right? Late May. It's like, it's nice out. Like if your kids, if your students were showing the kind of initiative to get. Because we'd be like, okay, everybody, we're gonna ask Mrs. Wharton if we can have class. By the way, Mrs. Wharton was a battle axe. She rode a horse to school in her childhood. Andrew, this is how old I am.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I thought she had a Teacher while you were there. That would be a real bad.

[John]

Kind of pretty. Pretty insane. I remember her telling us stories. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, which she called Omaha, which I thought was weird. And she was. You know how when you're a kid, everybody seems. Every adult seems really old. She was actually really old. She retired during my time as a student. I may have hastened that retirement.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let's examine this.

[John]

I definitely wore Betty Wharton out, but I remember her telling. The two things I remember about her were that she told us that she rode a horse to school when she was a kid. Because this would have been the 80s, and she was probably, like, 70. So she would have been. Been. She would have been going to school in the 1920s.

[Andrew Walsh]

Andrew.

[John]

Like pre industrialization. And. And the other thing was that I was always on, like, whatever they called it. They didn't call it detention, but I was always having to spend my recesses indoors because I was a terrible student. And she would eat an apple. She would be in the classroom, and I'd be copying pages of the dictionary. That was the punishment, like, word for word. And she would sit there eating an apple. And then when she would eat the entirety of the apple and have the core. She would eat the core.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John]

Which was. Which really. Which is also, along with riding a horse to school was a real power move.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's also sort of a horse move. Honestly. She was very inspired. She's inspired by her.

[John]

She was more horse than woman.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John]

Right.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, no offense.

[John]

Oh, my God. That's. I never put that together. If only I would have fed her an apple, but. Yeah, if only I would have fed her a couple of sugar cubes like the Black Stallion, maybe she would have let me out of the blue book. But anyway, which was the book that they put the book where they wrote down all of your assignments that you hadn't turned in. And I've said this on the show, I think recently actually, that the blue book was for every student in the classroom. Right. I was at least 70% of the blue book. Like, the pages in the blue book were 70% me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John]

Because that was particularly during the year that she, you know, the year she retired after was the year that I just read the Seattle Times in the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Back of the room the entire school year. Yeah.

[John]

She had like a. She had an Alex P. Keaton on her hands, who was just coming in with a cup of coffee, sitting down and just reading the Wall Street Journal in the back of the room all day long and doing none of the assignments. No Wonder that broke something inside of her. I kind of get it.

[Andrew Walsh]

A real go, go Reagan on over there.

[John]

I was, too. I mean, that's the sad part. It went all the way down to the level of the politics. Here I go once again with the email.

[Andrew Walsh]

Every week, I hope that it's from a female.

[John]

Oh, man. It's not from a female. All right. We didn't get to the kid singing Moana on the plane, but honestly, maybe that's for the best, because if I was gonna roast her, I feel like there was no chance you were gonna not roast her, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

I thought it was really sweet. Sort of a moment of togetherness. Right. Sort of a moment of togetherness on a plane.

[John]

A thing. You would love. A thing as a young. Andrew would have definitely done that on the airplane. Would have just comm. And started singing to everyone who's already mad because they're missing their connection.

[Andrew Walsh]

A listener sent that story, and I sent it to you, and I was like, I don't even know if we want to touch this. I don't know how I put it, but I was kind of like, this is a great TBTL story, but also, I don't want to be super cruel to a little kid, but it was like, yeah, it was definitely a little kid who has.

[John]

Well, you know, let's not been told no enough. Well, I mean. And that's. I put that on the parents.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[John]

For suggesting it to the flight attendant. And. And I put it mostly on the parents because the flight attendant is in an almost impossible position. Right. If you say to the flight attendant, hey, my daughter loves to sing Moana, and by the way, I want to now we're just doing it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. I was gonna say. Are we burning the topic today? Are we done?

[John]

Let's burn the topic today, then.

[Andrew Walsh]

I feel like we should play a little bit of the audio, and we can skip the email then. Don't you think that we need to.

[John]

No, I want to hear the email.

[Andrew Walsh]

You do? Okay.

[John]

Let's just say. Say. Let's not play the music of the kids singing. Let's just say, for the record, no matter how much you love your kid as a parent, just think about how it affects 200 other people.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, exactly.

[John]

Generally speaking.

[Andrew Walsh]

Who are already cranky, who have literally a captive audience and are already cranky because they've been delayed on an airplane for, like, two hours.

[John]

Unless. Unless your kid wants to sing Let Me Poop their parody cover of Let It Go. Wait, is it Let It Go from Frozen?

[Andrew Walsh]

I think it's Let it go. Yeah, okay.

[John]

That kid is allowed to sing on any flight that I'm on. But anyway, okay. So sorry. Back to.

[Andrew Walsh]

She's also known adult, as we learned. She's known. That is true.

[John]

And a ballet master.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. All right, so we. This is going back a ways. This is a voicemail from a listener, Sarah, who I believe is calling in from Maine, who wanted to weigh in on hearing. Hearing parents swear very specifically. Near the end of a show a couple of weeks ago, you and I were reminiscing about the first time we heard our parents, I think, our fathers, in our case, say the F word. And Sarah wanted to talk about that.

[D]

Hey, friendos. This is Sarah in Maine. Parents and the F word. So that just caused me to flashback to a time when I was. Was seven years old and on a walk, and I asked him what the F word meant. He told me. He really told me. And I remember just really wishing I had never asked and also wishing that there was a hole in the earth that might just swallow me up so that I could just leave the. Leave. Leave completely. Yeah. And also being confused because the explanation did not really make any sense because, you know, I had only heard it in the context of a swear, and it's confusing. It's still confusing, to be honest. But anyway, that's my. That's. That's that.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right, so it sounds like Sarah is still a little confused. Luke, would you like to explain it.

[John]

Further for Sarah when Donovan Solano comes to the plate with risp? I sometimes say the F word at the end of the at bat because I'm also having coitus.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[John]

So those are two. I'm only allowed to have coitus when Don and Solana's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wow, what strange vows you took. I. I do want to say. So anyway, sorry that that phone cracked up a little bit there, but I think we got the gist of what Sarah was saying. Just mortified. And also, why do people scream this word when they're angry? And then you say, what does it mean? And then your dad explains it to you, and you're like, okay, this isn't a conversation I want to have with you right now. And also, it doesn't explain why people say it when they're mad.

[John]

Like, it never even occurred to me that that could be a moment where the birds and the bees are explained. Yeah. To somebody, it's almost. It's funny because it is such a common utterance. It's been totally de. Sort of Contextualized for me. Like, until that voicemail, I think I had forgotten for a number of years that it actually relates to a sexual act. I only think of it as the thing you say when you're mad.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now, I want to get off this topic very, very urgently. You know, just.

[John]

You don't want to know more about my lovemaking slash Donovan Solano feelings.

[Andrew Walsh]

I do want to come back to Donovan Solano for a second, and then we'll get out of here. I just want to say that, like, this is a relatively new Mariner who's been really, really, really frustrating as a player, probably won't be around in at least the Mariners clubhouse much longer. We're expecting. And when you see a player do so poorly when we need him to do so well for so long, you become the face of misery, sort of. And in a certain way, I feel bad for Donovan Solano. And there was a moment, and I don't remember which name, he's like, he's.

[John]

A modern day Abraham Toro.

[Andrew Walsh]

He is, kind of. And, well. Well, that breaks down a little bit, but I won't. Let's not do that. I feel like Toro never even got a chance because he was already the face of misery before he even had his first at bat. Whereas we've seen the struggles with Donovan Solano. But there was this moment where it's like, you see his face just like, oh, Donovan Solano. Like Captain Kirk yelling Han or Khan. Right. And anyway, there was this moment after Cal Raleigh hit, I don't know, his, like, 70th home run of the weekend. Yes. And he was back. And they had this. You know, sometimes those shots in the. In the dugout are really sweet. Right. And I saw that Cal Raleigh had, like, this moment with somebody who I didn't immediately recognize. That was, like, sort of so sweet. Like, he's, you know, slapping everybody's hands. They're slapping his butt, whatever happens after you get a home run. But then one guy, he kind of stopped, and they sort of faked each other out for a second and then had a big smile. And I was like, wait, who is that? And I was like, oh, it's Donovan Solano. And it made me so happy to know, like, I just think of Donovan Solano as this guy who can't hit right. And is probably not long for this clubhouse. But to know that inside the dugout or inside the clubhouse, he is still treated like a man who can celebrate with, you know, with Cal Raleigh and that they have their own little jokes or whatever, it was so humanizing to me. And I really. I was like, he needed that, and I needed that.

[John]

Yeah. You know what I mean? That's the crazy thing about. About. About these players is they are the best baseball player you would ever meet in your life. Of course, even the worst player on a major league team is so phenomenally better at baseball than I'll ever be at anything in my life.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John]

And yet they just seem like an absolute, to quote t. Boss, scrub. And I don't want no like. Like Mitch Garver. It just seems like such a complete scrub to me. And yet I will never be as good at anything as Mitch Garver is at baseball. He's just not as good as a lot of the other baseball men that he plays against.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Yeah. Although I did.

[John]

He is hitting like.230, I guess, which is not, you know, not the worst.

[Andrew Walsh]

I did see him hanging out the passenger side of his best friend's ride, though, which was really like. That, to me, is dead giveaway. That's a red flag, my friend.

[John]

Dead giveaway. All right, That's. That's gonna do it for today's show. I feel pretty good about this. We discussed my mom wishing my death and therefore to. And thereby getting my house. We talked about. What else did we talk about?

[Andrew Walsh]

The Junglers Junior Sluggers. Quite a bit. We talked about Mariners.

[John]

Mariners culture. That was for Casey from the Apple store.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yep. We talked about Casey from the Apple store.

[John]

We checked the girl singing Moana off the list. Even. Even though we didn't do a lot on that, it was enough that I can now finally take it off the show sheet.

[Andrew Walsh]

We talked about the big tree Ace to sit under. That's what everybody wanted to talk about.

[John]

You know what? Honestly, that was a really. That's a really kind of a beautiful story.

[Andrew Walsh]

I love your story. I think the last time I was in Valley City, just kind of driving around with my dad reminiscing, I'm pretty sure I saw that that tree was still there. So what I've been doing. I've been a little bit distracted. I'm going to see if I can find. Oh, I was gonna say if I could screen grab and use as a show pick, but I should probably use a show pic of that sweet, sweet Junior Sluggers plaque that you have there behind.

[John]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Take another picture.

[Andrew Walsh]

We'll make that. Yeah.

[John]

I thought. You know what I thought you were doing? I thought you were setting me up there. I thought you were gonna say, you want to go find that. That tree and then cry next to it. Oh, that's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

He did cry. No, I didn't.

[John]

The known tree crier has logged on.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, but I do think that we should bury a TBTL Time.

[John]

Placenta.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was gonna say time capsule below that tree.

[John]

Sandwich.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sandwich.

[John]

I don't know why you finish each.

[Andrew Walsh]

Other sandwiches, but we really should get out of here now. Okay.

[John]

All right, thanks for listening, everybody. We'll be back here tomorrow with more placentas. In the meantime, please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, good luck to me. Power out.