The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Hour 1: The Hotel Expert (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Date: October 16, 2025
Location: The Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

Episode Overview

In this lively hour, Dan Le Batard and Stugotz welcome Hall of Fame baseball writer and ESPN analyst Tim Kurkjian for a characteristically humorous, wide-ranging conversation. The group dives into quirky travel tips, the unpredictability of the 2025 MLB season, remarkable baseball stats, and the delightful weirdness that makes the sport special. There’s plenty of laughter, classic “Does X look like…” riffs, and inside stories on players and managers across the sports landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Travel Expertise: Tim Kurkjian’s Veteran Habits

• Two Beds in Hotels:
  • Tim “requests two beds at a hotel” for practicality: "I put my suitcase on there if I need to." (02:23)
• Printed Boarding Passes:
  • Despite years of travel, Tim still insists on a paper boarding pass. "Being 68 years old, I have to have a printed boarding pass in order to get on the plane. Otherwise, I would be that poor doddering little old man who can't find the code… I just want a piece of paper in my pocket so I can hand it to the gate agent." (02:55)
  • Traveling companions Eduardo Perez and Carl Ravitch are much more nonchalant: "Eddie doesn't even need a boarding pass. He just gets on the airplane and they let him whether he has a pass or not." (02:55)
• Eduardo Perez’s Contrasts:
  • Helicopter from JFK to Manhattan: "Instead he paid $260 and took a seven minute helicopter ride into Manhattan. ...The next day, he walks around with his suitcase looking for a laundromat...for $7.50, does his laundry." (04:37)
  • Tim nearly got lost on NYC subways, saved by travel companions: “Otherwise, I would have gotten on the wrong subway train, and instead of going to the Bronx, I would have gone, you know, to Long Island or something.” (04:38)

2. Baseball as the Unexpected: Why the 2025 Season Was Wild

• Unpredictability Defined:
  • Tim calls it “the most unpredictable season” he’s covered:
    "Just when you think you understand the game, you realize you don't...You look at [a team] and say, this team stinks. And then they win eight games in a row, and then you say this team is really good and then they lose seven games in a row. That's the unpredictable nature that I'm talking about." (08:11)
• Favorite Stat Lines from the Season:
  • Shohei Ohtani: "He struck out 187 times...he is the record holder at 189...the two greatest strikeout seasons during an MVP year are both held by Shohei Ohtani." (09:39)
  • Three-Homer Games: "We have 19 three homer games this year...Hank Aaron had one three-homer game in his career...Gary Sheffield, David Ortiz, Rafael Palmero had none." (10:30)
  • Strikeout Era: "We will have more 100 strikeout guys this year than from 1900 to 1963 combined." (11:45)

3. Quirky Baseball Anecdotes & “Look Like” Jokes

• Max Muncy Coincidence:
  • "There are two Max Muncys playing in the major leagues right now...not related...and they both share the same birthday." (07:21)
• Look-like Riffing (Various):
  • E.g., "Does Max Muncy look like the guy who comes out of the restroom and says, 'I wouldn't go in there if I were you?'" (07:10);
  • "Does Freddie Freeman look like the neighbor who always waves first and means it?" (12:07)
  • "Adam Silver looks like lone French fry in a bag of onion rings." (21:02)
  • "Does Dan Marino look like the third place finisher in a David Hasselhoff lookalike contest?" (26:59)
  • Kurkjian on Cal Raleigh (The “Big Dumper”): “He looks like the guy who comes over to your house to fix your air conditioner or comes over to fix your plumbing. He looks like the rest of us...but he just happens to be a great baseball player.” (27:15)

4. Baseball Randomness That Delights the Experts

• Ernie Clement’s eBay Glove:
  • “Ernie Clement is wearing a baseball glove in the game that he bought on eBay. Several months ago he bought a glove on eBay and now it is his game glove in the major league.” (12:16, 13:41)
• Unprecedented Double Play - “400 Ft. Grand Slam Turned Double Play”:
  • "That play has never happened in the history of baseball...a 400 foot grounded into double play when the ball essentially never hit the ground." (28:38)
  • “This is why we go to the games, Dan, because something might happen at a major league game that's never happened or we've never seen before." (30:33)

5. Deep-Dive: Defensive Excellence and Pitching Feats

• Cal Raleigh’s Defensive Stats:
  • First catcher since Johnny Bench (1975) to catch 120+ games without a passed ball. “Stunning. Absolutely stunning...with this violent stuff that we see today. I don't know how there aren't pass balls like three per game because guys are throwing so hard.” (22:20)
• Max Scherzer, Postseason Outlook & Competitive Fire:
  • "He's Mad Max and he's one of the great competitors we've ever seen...he is a complete lunatic, and that is a compliment." (17:30)
  • Sixth different franchise as postseason starter—a major league record. (18:40, 19:41)
  • Scherzer’s basketball challenge to teammates: “We had to play by the Max rules…after like five buckets…you have to shoot free throws because you never know how good a free throw shooter you are until you shoot them when you are fatigued.” (18:30)

6. Team Building and What Makes a Superteam

• 2025 Dodgers: Best Roster Ever?
  • “When I called [a member of the Dodgers] and said, tell me about your team, he said, ‘We have the greatest roster in the history of baseball.’” (25:29)
  • Historic rotation feat: “Blake Snell just finished two straight starts in which he pitched six innings and allowed one hit or less...No pitcher’s ever done that twice in their postseason career.” (25:29)
  • Only weakness: bullpen depth. (25:29)

7. Sports Media Moments (Football Side-Trip)

• Kirk Herbstreit vs. Pat McAfee On-Air Phone Call:
  • Discussion of an ESPN segment where Bill Belichick calls Herbstreit during a live show.
  • Stugotz: "Pat McAfee does exactly what you have to do... But there's no way Kirk Herbstreit didn’t talk to him about this afterward." (35:18-37:24)

8. Coaching Legacies: Bill Belichick

• Current State & NFL Prospects:
  • “There’s simply no circumstance under which Bill Belichick could have imagined that his present day legacy is so harmed...that he cannot get any of the jobs that he would want right now.” (39:00)
  • Dan disagrees that doors are closed forever: “There’s always going to be an owner...drawn to all the success that he had.” (40:10)
  • Conversation about which jobs Belichick actually tried to get, Atlanta and potentially Dallas/Giants situations. (41:11)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tim Kurkjian on Travel:

  "I just want a piece of paper in my pocket so I can hand it to the gate agent...I just can’t afford to be running through an airport at my age." (02:55)

• On this unpredictable MLB season:

  "The lesson that we learned from 2025 is just when you think you understand the game, you realize that you don't." (08:11)

• On Shohei Ohtani’s MVP-level strikeouts:

  "He's the most remarkable player anyone has ever seen, and yet he strikes out all the time. Proving again that the stuff that we see in the big leagues right now is unbelievably good." (09:39)

• On Ernie Clement’s eBay glove:

  “…he bought a glove on eBay and now he uses it as a potential Gold Glove infielder. Only in baseball could this happen." (13:41)

• On Max Scherzer’s competitive edge:

  “He's Mad Max and he's one of the great competitors we've ever seen. In fact...after like five buckets of the pickup game, you have to shoot free throws because you never know how good a free throw shooter you are until you shoot them when you are fatigued.” (17:30, 18:30)

• On the never-before-seen double play:

  "That play has never happened in the history of baseball...This is why we go to the games, Dan, because something might happen at a major league game that's never happened or we've never seen before." (28:38, 30:33)

• On the Dodgers’ all-time great roster:

  "We have the greatest roster in the history of baseball." (25:29, attributed to a Dodgers staffer via Kurkjian)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:44 | Tim Kurkjian joins, intro as hotel expert and travel veteran | | 02:23 | Kurkjian’s hotel and boarding pass philosophy | | 04:37 | Eduardo Perez’s helicopter, subway, laundromat travel tales | | 07:21 | Max Muncy name/birthday coincidence | | 08:11 | Unpredictable 2025 MLB season, Tim’s favorite stat lines | | 09:39 | Shohei Ohtani’s MVP and strikeouts / Home run trivia | | 10:30 | Era of strikeouts & power: “100 strikeout guys” stat | | 12:16 | Ernie Clement, eBay glove, Gold Glove odds, Boone family story | | 17:30 | Max Scherzer’s competitive quirks, basketball games, “Mad Max” | | 22:20 | Cal Raleigh (“Big Dumper”) and the passing-ball feat | | 25:29 | Dodgers as potentially the best roster in MLB history | | 28:38 | 400 foot grand slam double play - “never seen before” moment | | 35:18 | On-air ESPN moment: Belichick calls Herbstreit while live | | 39:00 | Bill Belichick’s coaching legacy & employment prospects |

Overall Tone and Feel

The episode is signature Le Batard and Stugotz: loose, funny, irreverent, but peppered with genuine insight. Tim Kurkjian’s blend of humility, encyclopedia-like baseball knowledge, and self-deprecation makes for both earnest nostalgia and delightful, oddball storytelling. The “look like” jokes pepper the show with familiar levity, and discussions on sports unpredictability and legacy never get too self-serious.

For Listeners Who Missed It:

This episode is a must-listen for baseball fans and those who love sports oddities. You'll hear from one of the game’s best storytellers in Tim Kurkjian, who balances humility with expert insight. From eBay gloves to the ever-increasing strikeout rates and a Dodgers team potentially better than any before, the hour is filled with memorable moments, statistical marvels, and the charming wisecracks that have made the Le Batard Show a standout in sports podcasting.