Starkville | Mets President of Baseball Ops David Stearns talks about their rollercoaster season

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Windup — Starkville | Mets President of Baseball Ops David Stearns Talks About Their Rollercoaster Season

Podcast: The Windup: A Show About Baseball
Date: September 10, 2025
Hosts: Jayson Stark & Doug Glanville (with guest David Stearns, President of Baseball Operations, New York Mets)

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Episode Overview

This Starkville episode features a wide-ranging and candid discussion with New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns about the Mets' tumultuous 2025 season. Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville explore the ups and downs of the Mets' performance, the integration of a trio of rookie pitchers, midseason strategies, player development philosophies, the high-profile signing of Juan Soto, and the enduring impact of franchise icons like Pete Alonso and the late Davey Johnson. The episode maintains the show's signature mix of analytics, storytelling, humor, and trivia.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recapping the Mets’ Rollercoaster Season

• Mets’ Three Seasons in One:
  • Early surge: Opened the season 21 games over .500 by June 12.
  • Midseason collapse: Next 53 games, 19-34 record (-15).
  • Recent resurgence: 12 wins in last 20 games as of recording.
• Defense & Pitching as Barometers:
  • The initial hot stretch was driven by superior run prevention: pitching, defense, and avoiding mistakes.
  • Subsequent struggles traced to injuries, underperformance of starters/bullpen, and defensive lapses.
  • Recent improvement has reignited optimism for a postseason run.

Quote:
"I've been saying that for the last two and a half, three months... we've yet to put our entire team together at once playing well. The good news is we still have time to do that."
— David Stearns (06:18)

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2. Mets’ Pitching Development: From Veterans to Rookies

• Veteran Revitalizations & Youth Movement:
  • Success stories with veteran arms (Severino, Quintana, Manaea).
  • Transition to a rookie-heavy rotation: Jonah Tong, Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean — three rookie starters in a row for first time in franchise history.
• Stearns’ Philosophy:
  • Attributes success to “players and the development staff," not just his own approach.
  • Credits coaching for prepping rookies both mentally and physically to perform under pressure.
  • Noted fast-tracking of rookie pitchers was ahead of internal expectations.

Quote:
"That's very unusual, and that's a credit to, first and foremost, the players and their presence and their maturity level... And then all the coaches who went in, who have played a part in their development."
— David Stearns (08:46)

• Are Workload Limits in Play?
  • Mets avoid rigid innings thresholds but meticulously monitor workloads for signs of fatigue (18:41).
  • Aims to extend pitchers well into October, keeping health at the forefront.

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3. Rookie Outlook: Nolan McLean, Sproat, and Tong

• Nolan McLean’s Trajectory:
  • Drafted before Stearns’ tenure; recognized as a highly athletic two-way college player with untapped mound potential.
  • Praised for poise, confidence, coachability, and ability to handle adversity.
  • Quickly became a fan favorite and key contributor.

Quote:
"He is confident but not overly arrogant... There's not a lot that can faze him... That in and of itself is a skill. And sometimes that can be a difficult skill to teach."
— David Stearns (13:24)

• Historical Precedent & Future Outlook:
  • Only two teams in MLB history have started three rookies in the same postseason.
  • Stearns says playoff rotation planning is strictly “turn-by-turn” at this point.

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4. Trade Deadline Reflections: Bullpen Moves & Market Dynamics

• Strategic Focus in 2025:
  • Mets targeted relievers at the deadline (Soto, Rodgers, Helsley), as starter prices were prohibitive and would have cost them prospects now contributing.
  • Emphasis on shortening playoff games with high-leverage relievers.
• Outcome Realities:
  • Mixed results: Soto and Rodgers have been strong; Helsley has struggled but retains confidence from the team.

Quote:
"The prices for starting pitchers were high and in many cases would have cost us one of the players that's helping us right now."
— David Stearns (20:15)

• On Trade Deadline Hype:
  • Trade deadline is “overhyped”—blockbuster impact is rare; most changes are incremental.

Quote:
"We absolutely overhype the deadline and we probably underhype the minor moves that are made in the offseason..."
— David Stearns (22:22)

• Stearns’ View: Loves the chaos and challenge of the deadline: "That's kind of why you do these jobs." (23:43)

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5. Juan Soto: Superstar Impact & Free Agency Process

• On-Field Excellence & Adaptation:
  • Impressed by Soto’s in-game adjustments and hunger to outthink opponents; sees each at-bat as a personal battle.
  • Added more baserunning/stolen bases to his game, aspiring for a 40-40 season.

Quote:
"Every at bat it feels like he is learning something or trying to learn something about what the opposition is trying to do with him. And generally he's a step ahead..."
— David Stearns (25:12)

• Free Agency Saga:
  • Described as “as unique a process as I’ve ever been through.”
  • Fierce competition among big-market teams, with Mets owner Steve Cohen pivotal in securing Soto.
  • Soto’s existing experience in New York, though “across the river,” and his personality made a signing with the Mets plausible.

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6. "Playing in New York" and Clubhouse Chemistry

• What It Takes to Thrive:
  • Stearns equates NY, Boston, Philly: bigger spotlight, higher intensity, more media scrutiny.
  • Success hinges on “recognition it’s just a different job” – players, managers, execs must adapt to heightened stakes.

Quote:
"Everything is just bigger. And when you mount up the bigness of it for 162 games over six months, it's a different environment."
— David Stearns (29:06)

• On Pete Alonso’s Future as a Met:
  • Alonso’s history, production, and fan connection are all factored in (without addressing contract specifics).
  • Draws a parallel to how Aaron Judge’s Yankee legacy was valued by his organization.

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7. Remembering Davey Johnson & Mets History

• Davey Johnson’s Influence:
  • Lauded as the Mets’ greatest manager, ahead of his time for blending data and player autonomy.
  • Stearns notes the modern emphasis on data and human element was Johnson’s calling card in the 80s/90s.

Quote:
"He did was combine this ability to allow players to be themselves... with a desire to learn and rely upon data."
— David Stearns (32:00)

8. Childhood Nostalgia & Mets Fandom

• Memorable Seven Train Moment:
  • Stearns vividly recalls the 1999 NLDS Game 4 (Todd Pratt’s walkoff HR).
  • Personal anecdote highlights the intergenerational joy of baseball fandom—bonding with his grandfather, stories of old New York legends.

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[Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments]

• On Running a Team in NY:

  • "I don't get the sense that any of these three guys is or will be overwhelmed by the moment ... But I don't think it's going to be because they're beating themselves." (16:44)

• On Soto’s Mentality:

  • "He does look at this pitcher-batter interaction as a battle. Like every time it's a one-on-one competition between him and the guy on the mound and he hates losing those competitions." (25:12)

• On the Deadline’s Real Impact:

  • "Most of the time it's generally more of an incremental change or upgrade to your team that may not have quite the impact that everyone who's writing about it or opining about it is going to identify on deadline day." (22:22)

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[Detailed Timestamps for Key Segments]

• [06:18] - Stearns on the “real” Mets and dissecting the season’s swings
• [08:46] - Philosophy on pitching development and successful rookie transitions
• [11:01] - Integrating three rookie starters and the surprise pace of their MLB readiness
• [13:24] - On Nolan McLean’s mentality and makeup
• [18:41] - Monitoring rookies’ workloads & playoff considerations
• [20:15] - Trade deadline bullpen strategy and market dynamics
• [22:22] - Overhyping of the trade deadline and its true impact
• [23:43] - Stearns’ personal view on the thrill and chaos of the deadline
• [25:12] - Juan Soto’s approach, impact, and mindset
• [27:13] - Unprecedented pursuit of Juan Soto: negotiations, ownership, and winning the sweepstakes
• [29:06] - "Playing in New York," intensity, and market size
• [31:03] - Pete Alonso’s leadership, legacy, and possible parallels to Judge/Yankees
• [32:00] - Reflecting on Davey Johnson’s legacy as a precursor to modern management
• [33:42] - Childhood Mets fandom anecdote: the magic of “the 7 train” and the 1999 NLDS

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[Trivia & "Strange but True" Segment (36:51+)]

• Strange but True: Segment starts at [36:51], relays the wild ending of a Dodgers-Orioles game—no-hitter lost on a 2-out/9th-inning HR, then game lost in the same ninth. Jayson Stark investigates and provides entertaining historical context.
• Listener Trivia with Paul McCord: Segment (47:41+) covers catchers with multiple 30 HR seasons as catchers. The hosts narrowly miss a perfect score, prompting lots of fun banter.

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[Overall Tone & Style]

• Conversational, humorous, insightful: The hosts use wit and inside-jokes to make complex topics accessible. Stearns’ answers are candid yet measured, providing rare behind-the-scenes perspective.
• Deeply informed by stats, history, and personal anecdotes.
• Audience participation: Trivia and listener engagement drive much of the episode’s energy.

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[Takeaways for the Uninitiated]

• The 2025 Mets season has been a wild ride, with both elite highs and concerning lows—mostly explained by fluctuations in pitching, defense, health, and player development.
• The club’s ability to integrate rookie pitchers is notable; the choice to invest in bullpen arms at the deadline is a reflection of both market realities and postseason strategy.
• Stearns provides a thoughtful look into managing stars (e.g., Soto, Alonso) in a high-pressure market, and the organization’s balance of tradition and innovation.
• The episode is peppered with humor and thoughtful baseball trivia, creating an immersive experience for any fan of the game.

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Transcript

[Jason Stark]

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[Doug Glanville]

Race the sails. Race the sails.

[Jason Stark]

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[Jason Stark]

Greetings, and welcome.

[Doug Glanville]

To Starkville Baseball hall of Famer Jason Stark. And then the robot said, strike.

[Jason Stark]

That's why you're going in the hall of Fame.

[Doug Glanville]

It's an inside the park.

[Paul McCord]

Mike Trout is coffee at Starbucks with a double latte. Skinny.

[Doug Glanville]

Doug, are you ready to make some podcast magic?

[Paul McCord]

I am ready. Bring on the magic wand. Let's do it.

[Doug Glanville]

Greetings and welcome to Starkville. I'm Jason Stark. I write about baseball for the Athletic, and I'm joined once again by my good friend, writer substacker, broadcaster, professor, distinguished former major leaguer, and the voice of Sunday night baseball on ESPN Radio, Doug Glanville. Doug, thanks for keeping the lights on for me last week while I was away. Yeah, you barely even noticed I was gone, best I could tell.

[Paul McCord]

Yeah, you know, it was a celebration, but you were there in spirit, so you weren't really gone.

[Doug Glanville]

Good. You and our friend John Boog Schambi were tremendous. You know what else I found extremely amusing from that show? Doug? So you'd just seen the bizarre home run at Fenway, like the shortest home run probably ever hit that didn't leave the park. That did leave the park, theoretically. Right?

[Paul McCord]

Yeah, theoretically.

[Doug Glanville]

You went. You went on a little rant about interrupted home run trots.

[Paul McCord]

Yes, yes.

[Doug Glanville]

Okay, so then later that night, did you notice what happened in Denver? It was that night. It took Raphael Devers eight minutes to complete his trot because a brawl broke out in the middle of the trot. So, Doug, what rule would you invoke to crack down on 8 minute home run trots?

[Paul McCord]

First of all, they used to have those bullpen carts to bring the Pitchers in after three minutes, you should get a ride. You should be driven to home plate. It's just for efficiency and speed. So yeah, that's what I would do.

[Doug Glanville]

Suppose he'd gotten ejected, what would have happened?

[Paul McCord]

You'd have to drive him out of.

[Doug Glanville]

The back of the stadium. He wouldn't have had to trot.

[Paul McCord]

Well, you drive him out of the back of the stadium, through the center field wall, like in Dodger Stadium. Goes right to the parking lot and Shavaz are in. Pretty soon you're at the hotel. Pretty easy.

[Doug Glanville]

So much insane stuff happened just around that. Oh yeah, the eight minute trot. And I thought for sure when that happened, that would be our strange but true segment this week.

[Paul McCord]

Nope, absolutely not.

[Doug Glanville]

We had one that was even stranger but truer than that. So stay tuned for that segment. We have another fun trivia segment coming up, as usual. But first we have a great guest. David Sterns, the man who runs the New York Mets will join us and boy, do we have some questions for him. You know, Doug, we're so lucky on this show to get to talk to so many interesting people from all corners of the sport. But there's nothing that we enjoy more than picking the brains of the incredibly smart people who run teams in this day and age. So let's welcome in one of them. He's been here before. For some reason, he agreed to come back. It's David Stearns, president of baseball ops for the New York Mets. David, welcome back to Starkville. How are you?

[Jason Stark]

I'm doing well. You guys just didn't beat me up enough for the first time around, so I came back. I came back for more.

[Doug Glanville]

Where do we go wrong? I can't imagine. You know, I'm pretty sure the last time you were here that Glanville promised to build you a statue in the Starkville town square. Doug, how is David's statue coming along?

[Paul McCord]

It's known about the supply chain issues, but what I could offer now is land. I can offer land in Starkville. It might be digital, but we'll offer land.

[Doug Glanville]

Well, wait. You know, there's a term that you're describing here, Doug. It's called real estate. The key word is real. So if the land is not real, can we call it real estate?

[Paul McCord]

Virtual estate? That's okay. I think somewhat real.

[Doug Glanville]

Okay. We've run amok already, David. I'm sorry. Let's talk about your team season because it's been quite a ride, right? Opening day to June 12, the Mets 21 games over. 500. The next 53 games. Next two months, 19 and 34. So 15 under. And then since then, as we record this, you've won 12 out of 20. So let me ask it this way. Which of those teams is the real Mets?

[Jason Stark]

I certainly believe it's a lot closer to the version we saw for the first couple months of the season. But we also need to go out and prove it. I've been saying that for the last two and a half, three months and. And we haven't gotten back to that level of play. And if you look at, at how we were able to do it those first couple months, our run prevention was just much better than it has been since that point. We were getting better pitching overall, we were playing better defense. We weren't making mistakes. And so when you do that and you play clean games and you give yourselves chances in close games, you got a chance to run off a stretch like we did to start the year. And since then, we just haven't done that. Our starters, for a variety of reasons, both through injury and in some cases, underperformance, haven't given us the length or quality that we anticipated. There have been stretches in there where our bullpen hasn't performed as consistently as we would expect, and then we also haven't played very good defense at times. So. So if you do all of those things over the course of a couple months, you're going to have a tough time keeping runs off the board and in large stretches, that's what's happened. I think we've seen some progress in that area over the past few weeks to month, which is a good sign. But really, since those first two months, we've yet to put our entire team together at once playing well. The good news is we still have time to do that, and we're coming into the most important time of the year, and we've demonstrated we have the talent to do that. And now I'm eager to see us go out and do it.

[Paul McCord]

I mean, I've talked to Carlos Mendoza quite a few times this year just covering radio, and he often comes back to pitching and he's like, okay, you know, you have the offense, you have some ups and downs. There's times you score five runs a game for a week and still lose four of those games, but he comes back to pitching. Now, what's been fascinating, watching this team from even last year in the postseason, I saw a development on the pitching side that was very good at taking veteran pitchers and kind of finding their best form. Severinos, Quintanas, Manayas. Now I'm looking at this team and I'm seeing a team that's taking young guys like Jonah Tong and McClain and just be able to have them perform at the highest level in their first stint in the big leagues. Carlos Mendoza compliments the development over and over again. But what are we missing about your philosophy or your approach to have success at really both ends of the spectrum?

[Jason Stark]

Candidly, I think it's less about my philosophy and more about the pitchers and then the development staff we have that are able to get the most out of these guys. I think, you know, when we've had success at the major league level bringing in these veterans, it's because we've brought in players who we think are pretty talented, who for one reason or another, maybe it's previous injury history, maybe it's a role change, maybe it's a straight. A slight strategic change in terms of how they're attacking hitters. For one reason or another, we think they have untapped potential and we've hit on some of those guys. And then from a development standpoint, we've had three pitchers now break in over the past month who are contributing to what should be a playoff team and a team that we hope has a deep run in it in October and playing very prominent roles. And that's very unusual, and that's a credit to, first and foremost the players and their presence and their maturity level to be able to handle these types of promotions in pressurized environments. And then all the coaches who went in who have played a part in their development to get them here and help them build the skill sets, both in terms of a preparation standpoint, a mental skills standpoint, and then obviously an execution on the field standpoint to be able to really contribute. It's been fun for us to watch. I think it makes us all very optimistic about what is to come for our organization. But at the moment, clearly we're focused on the here and the now and doing everything we can to win as many games in 2025.

[Doug Glanville]

David it's an amazing thing to have a team start a rookie pitcher every day. We've pretty much never seen that. And you just had three days in a row. Saturday, Jonah Tong. Sunday, Brandon sproat. Monday, Nolan McLean. Three rookie pitchers in a row. First time in the history of the Mets franchise you've ever started three pitchers in a row with no more than four career appearances. When you laid out your vision for this team, was it always with the idea that this could be a possibility, or does this Say something about both how your season's gone and how their season's gone.

[Jason Stark]

I think it's a combination. I think when we were having these very big picture conversations, let's say last November, December, thinking about what type of off season we wanted to have, we did envision an infusion of young pitching hitting our major league roster at some point during the season. I don't know that we necessarily thought it would be all three of these guys, but we did expect to have younger pitchers play a part in our season this year. And so that was always on our mind. Now, the extent to which they are playing a part and the speed with which some of these guys got here has surprised me. And that's to their credit, where they didn't really want to hear timeframes and didn't really want to listen to developmental years and kept progressing and improving and performing at very high levels, at multiple levels over the course of the year, to the point where we felt like it was the best interest of our team to get into the big leagues. And that's what we've done. And to this point, they've done really nice jobs.

[Doug Glanville]

You know, I could only find two teams in history that ever started three rookies in the same postseason. I know it shocks you that I would do that kind of research, but I did for some reason. Is there a scenario where all three of those guys make starts for the Mets in October?

[Jason Stark]

We're a long way from figuring out what our October rotation is. I think first and foremost, we are literally taking this turn by turn right now and trying to determine who's going to start the next five or six days. So these are three really talented young players. We're putting a lot of trust in them right now. And right now we're just going to worry about the next week, and then after that we'll worry about the next week. And if we get a couple good weeks in a row, then we can worry about what October is going to look like.

[Paul McCord]

I want to come back to Nolan McLean specifically because, you know, when I was talking to Carlos Mendoza, he's saying, well, all right, he was kind of on the backfield somewhere. He felt right away that there's some makeup there that was clear. I mean, what did you see? You know, this is a two way player. I mean, he actually has a lot of pop, a high strikeout rate. How in the world did you see, or at least get him to this place where, you know, every start, I mean, he's already become like a fan favorite, let alone he's doing the job on the field.

[Jason Stark]

Well, first of all, I'll note he was drafted before I got here. So you know, the scouting group and subsequent player development group have done a great job. And I think what the Mets identified at that point was a really talented, athletic two way player in college with probably some untapped potential on the mound with plus plus aptitude. And I think that was identified very early on in the process and was accurate. And he has now demonstrated that throughout his time in our system he has been very coachable. He is confident but not overly arrogant. I think he he is very open to learning but also greatly believes in his own ability to compete and that's what we see on the mound. When he goes out there. There's not a lot that can faze him. That doesn't mean he's going to be an elite performer every time he takes the mound. But he's also not going to beat himself. He's not going to get frustrated. He's going to do everything he can to compete with what he has that day. And that in and of itself is a skill. And sometimes that can be a difficult skill to teach. But he has possessed that throughout. From our perspective at least, that's one of the reasons he's had the type of success he's had so quickly at the major league level. Bucknell's graduates aren't just working, they're thriving. That's why LinkedIn ranked Bucknell University its number one liberal arts college for career outcomes. Discover the personalized career coaching, real world research and powerful professional network that prepare Bucknellians for a lifetime of success at Bucknell. Edu Welcome. Group health insurance can challenge company budgets, but now a new form of employer coverage called an Ichra can help. Unlike group insurance, ICHRAs offer predictable costs and stable employer contributions. Learn [e-mail] Ichra hi, I'm Darina, co founder of OpenPhone.

[Doug Glanville]

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[Jason Stark]

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[Doug Glanville]

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[Jason Stark]

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[Doug Glanville]

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[Jason Stark]

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[Jason Stark]

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[Doug Glanville]

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[Jason Stark]

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[Doug Glanville]

No missed calls, no missed customers. You know, David, I always love to tap into your lifelong Mets fandom. So what's the best comp for McLean, Sproat and Tong?

[Jason Stark]

Oh, geez. All right.

[Doug Glanville]

Does it remind you more of DeGrom, Harvey, Wheeler, Syndergaarden, Israel, Wilson Pulsifer? You probably don't want to go back to good and darling Sid Fernandez because you weren't born then. But what do you think?

[Jason Stark]

I was certainly very young when those guys were, were making, making their debuts. Like I had a Generation K poster on my wall as a kid, right? So I had the, the Pulsifer, Isringhausen Wilson poster on my wall. That has always been in the back of my mind. What these guys have is very unique and they're three very different people. But they all come to this with a level of maturity and competitiveness and to some extent self assuredness that I do think is different than what I've generally seen from younger players, position position players or pitchers making their, their big league debuts. I, I, I don't get the sense that any of these three guys is or will be overwhelmed by the moment. Now they are human beings, right? So they're not going to be perfect and we're going to have bumpy outings and they're going to give up runs. But I don't think it's going to be because they're beating themselves. I think it's just going to be because the guys in the box were maybe a little bit better that day or maybe we didn't quite execute the way we want to execute. So these are three very unique pitchers, unique people. I think our development staff from the bottom of our system to the top of our system deserves a lot of credit for helping each one of these guys overcome some hurdles. And they have had hurdles to overcome throughout their development and they're going to have hurdles to overcome again at the big leagues. But we believe they're all in the right mindset to be able to continue to overcome those.

[Doug Glanville]

So do you have a McLean Sproat Tong poster in your bedroom at home? I met your wife. I'm sure she wouldn't mind.

[Paul McCord]

Yeah, no.

[Jason Stark]

Well, we need some artwork for the wall, so maybe I'll propose that I don't have that poster, but maybe we get a little bit farther into this and I'll get a photo or something of the three of them. But it's a fun group to be around.

[Doug Glanville]

How carefully do you have to watch the workloads on those three guys? Are there innings thresholds that you're monitoring that are going to come into play moving forward?

[Jason Stark]

We don't ascribe to firm innings thresholds. We've tried to move past that. With that said, we are heavily monitoring and highly monitoring the workload and ensuring that we're not seeing signs of fatigue. We do that by a lot of testing in the gym, a lot of testing in the training room, ensuring we're getting both objective and subjective feedback from all of our pitchers, not just those three, but from all of our pitchers. Because the goal here is to get to the finish line. And certainly our expectation and our hope is that the finish line is going to be well beyond the end of the regular season. So we are cognizant of it to this point. All three are in good shape. They're all three clearly going to eclipse their previous high innings total. But each of them has a pretty solid base from last year to build on. And so we're keeping track of it. But at this point I think we're.

[Paul McCord]

In pretty good shape and within that we're talking a lot about starting pitching. But you made some big moves at the trade deadline to kind of bolster the bullpen. I'm interested to know how you've seen the evolution of how you assign value in making trades to get the Helsleys of the world and try to support these pitchers that are getting late into the season. Innings are going up and not as much confidence that necessarily they're going to go seven or eight. What does that look like strategically and the moves that you've made and just how the bullpen value has shifted?

[Jason Stark]

I think we looked at it the deadline and we knew we needed to add to our pitching staff in some way, shape or form through external acquisitions. We could have done that in the rotation. We could have done that in the bullpen. We could have done both, frankly. Where we saw the better values in the market at the time were on the reliever side. The the starting pitchers. I think because there were few available and those that were available didn't have to be traded. Many of them had additional years of control and so clubs in some cases just elected to hold, which frankly made sense. The prices for starting pitchers were high and in many cases would have cost us one of the players that's helping us right now. And so that didn't make a lot of sense to us. So we focused on bullpen. We understand that in the playoffs in particular, you can shorten games. You can have a single pitcher in a division series, for example, pitch four out of five games. If you go to a five game series in a wild card round for a particular guy, you might be able to get him in all three games. And so there, there is real, there's real value in a postseason to having quality late inning relievers and guys who are resilient. And so we tried to target that with Soto, Rodgers and Helsley bringing those guys in. We've had mixed results there. You know, Soto and Rodgers have pitched very well for us and have helped stabilize the back end of our pen. And clearly Housley has run into a rough stretch, but we certainly believe he's a very talented pitcher and he's working hard and we're working hard with him to try to get him back to the quality that we know he has.

[Doug Glanville]

You know, a lot of people decided after the deadline that you had won, quote, unquote, the deadline, or at least you were one of the winners of the deadline. But I mean, you just mentioned this. Ryan Helsley has really struggled. Cedric Mullins has struggled. Do we over hype the trade deadline and what it can mean? Because even when you trade for good players, there's still a wide range of outcomes in such a small sample.

[Jason Stark]

We absolutely overhyped the deadline and we probably underhype the minor moves that are made in the off season where you have a player for a full 162 that can contribute to your team for a full six months. So all of us, front office executives, media fans, we all overhyped the deadline because we instinctively remember the deadline trades, the rare deadline trades that actually do change the course of a season for, for a team, whether that's Randy Johnson or, you know, more recently a JD Martinez who then goes off in Arizona. So I think there are circumstances where you happen to hit on the right guy and he goes off for two months and absolutely changes the course of the season. But most of the time it's generally more of an incremental change or upgrade to your team that may not have quite the impact that everyone who's writing about it or opining about it is going to, is going to identify on deadline day.

[Doug Glanville]

You know, there are GMs that love the deadline. There are a lot of GMs that hate the deadline. Where are you? And could you describe to people what it's like for somebody in your job to go through a trade deadline, I.

[Jason Stark]

Absolutely love the deadline. When you're in one of these seats and you're in a position where you have a good team, a team you think can make the playoffs, hopefully a team you think can make a run, and you have the ability to try to improve that team, at least from my perspective. That's kind of why you do these jobs. Now. That doesn't mean you're always going to find the right fit. And I've had deadlines in my careers where we've been very active and I've had deadlines in my careers where, where we've done next to nothing but the effort and the work behind trying to improve the team. I really enjoy, I enjoy that, that period. It's crazy. I mean, the month of July for us right now in baseball operations departments between the draft and then the deadline is an insane month. At times feels unsustainable with the pace that we're asking our groups to move at, with the volume of work that we're throwing at everyone. But we get through it and we generally have some fun along the way. But yeah, it's a lot. You're spending a lot of time with your colleagues and a little bit less time at home with your family.

[Paul McCord]

Well, I mean, speaking of sort of big moves, I mean, Juan Soto and I've had a lot of fun watching him this year. And of course there's so much to talk about his generational talent and how he's like stealing bases at an unbelievable clip, which is interesting. I'm curious what you know now about Juan Soto that you didn't really know even vetting him as much as you did to sign him.

[Jason Stark]

I think just his diligence to his craft, which is something we, we did candidly pick up on through the process, but seeing it on a daily basis is pretty remarkable. I mean, every at bat it feels like he is learning something or trying to learn something about what the opposition is trying to do with him. And generally he's a step ahead of the opposition. And then when he feels like the opposition may be a step ahead of him from a game planning perspective, it fires him up so much that he just commits to not let that happen again to make the adjustment to beat them. He does look at this pitcher batter interaction as a battle. Like every time it's a one on one competition between him and the guy on the mound and he hates losing those competitions. That's been a lot of fun to watch. And I think we see it show up at big moments and it's shown up at big moments throughout his entire career and it's shown up at big moments for us. So we're fortunate to have him. He's having a wonderful year. You noted the stolen bases and the base running. You know, that's not been a feature of his game previously, but he came into this year wanting to get better and now he's going to have a 3040 season, which is pretty remarkable. And I think if he doesn't get it this year, next year he's going to want a 4040 season. So. And I wouldn't, certainly wouldn't put it past him. It's been fun to watch. He's at points of the year carried us and he's a pretty special guy.

[Doug Glanville]

David, I always love to ask people like you to take us inside the process. So as you look back on the pursuit of Juan Soto, how different was that from other negotiations considering the money involved, the whole Yankees Mets plotline and is there a story behind how that deal finally got done in December?

[Jason Stark]

That's as unique a process as I've ever been through in my career and likely will ever go through. Just everything about it where it's a generational talent on the market at a very young age. Just the story of how he becomes a free agent. Everyone knew he had turned down an enormous amount of money years prior from the Nationals bet on himself. That turned out to be a really smart bet. You know, from our perspective, had already proven that he could perform in our market, albeit across the river, but. But could perform in our market. And pretty much we knew going into this thing that pretty much every big market team was going to be involved. So this, this just happened to line up as an off season that every big market team had some payroll room, had expiring contracts coming off. And so it was going to be crazy. And it was. And it got to higher levels than I think anyone, at least on our side, anticipated too. But I think we're very fortunate. We have an ownership family in the Cohens with Steve and Alex Cohen that were committed to doing everything in their power to bringing Juan to the Mets and making a statement that as an organization we are committed to excellence for a very long period. And we did that. It was both a financial and a personal decision for Juan and I think we're very glad and pleased that he chose us.

[Paul McCord]

You mentioned a point I've brought up with a couple of managers before, Aaron Boone as an example, playing in New York. And I feel like sometimes in the media side, it's a little overblown. Like, you know, guy goes to for his first 27, he can't play in New York, he can't play in New York. You know, so what is it to playing in New York or what do you look for to feel like that is a, is a match?

[Jason Stark]

I don't think it's specifically New York. I think Philly probably is similar. I think Boston is probably similar. Those, those three, I would kind of group together as a level of, of intensity every single night, both from the fan base and those covering the team. That is just different from other markets. I remember being in Milwaukee and a player came over to Milwaukee from New York and I asked the player, what's the difference? Like what's, what's the difference playing in New York, playing in other markets, playing in Milwaukee. And his response was, it's just bigger. Everything feels bigger. You win and it feels bigger. You lose and it feels bigger. I think that's very well said. I think everything is just bigger. And when you mount up the bigness of it for 162 games over six months, it's a different environment. And I'm not going to claim that I know which players are going to thrive in that environment and which players aren't, but I think a recognition that it is just a different, it's a little bit of a different job doing any of these jobs, whether it's playing, managing, being an executive in New York than in other markets or Philly or Boston. And so just I think a recognition of that is healthy as we try to construct teams and build rosters.

[Doug Glanville]

So that's a great segue for me to ask you about Pete Alonso. Pete just became the all time home run leader for, for your franchise. And when I look at Pete David, he looks like a Met. He feels like a Met. He's had so many big moments as a Met. I know you're not going to get into whether you're going to keep him around if he opts out, but how much does his history as a Met and his connection with the fan base factor into this? You know, the way it obviously did when say Aaron Judge was a free agent across town.

[Jason Stark]

I think it has to factor into it and it always does. And I maintained that, you know, last season when, when we had these types of discussions throughout the off season, all of it matters. His production on the field matters, who he is off the field matters, his relation to our fan base matters, how exactly you weight all that. There's no formula to it. There's a lot of feel and subjectivity to that, but I certainly understand that it's all part of this. And Pete has been a great Met. I expect him to be a great Met going forward, and we're really happy to have him.

[Paul McCord]

Thinking about the Met history, we were talking earlier and we happened to be in Cincinnati when we heard about Davey Johnson. So I was wondering, you know, your history as a fan, the passing of Davey and just what he meant to the organization, but also you, you know, he was kind of an early analytics guy, you know, what did he mean to you and the organization we're talking.

[Jason Stark]

About Arguably the greatest manager in Mets history, certainly oversaw and ran the teams that had the greatest stretch in Mets history. When you talk about those late 80s Mets teams, looking back on the totality of Davies managerial career, what he did was combine this ability to allow players to be themselves, which is something we talk about a ton today, but frankly wasn't talked about a lot in the late 80s, early 90s, with a desire to learn and rely upon data. And so in many ways, the Davy Johnson of the late 80s and early 90s was the precursor to the managers that we really think are the great managers today. The managers who have this ability to allow their players to be themselves while competing at a high level and also while not losing the human element of the game, understanding that we have information sources that can help impact decision making. And Davey, it seems to me I certainly didn't know him, but it seems to me did a lot of that instinctively as who he was. And it shows in the quality of teams that he had and in the personal relationships that he developed and maintained throughout his career.

[Doug Glanville]

Okay, one more thing. I can't let one of these conversations go by without letting you reminisce about your time growing up as a Mets fan in Manhattan. What was your most memorable ride on the number seven train to or from a Mets game? I know you made a few.

[Jason Stark]

Yeah, I had a lot of very, very memorable rides. I was fortunate to go to a lot of really great games at Shea with various friends and family. I think the one that I remember the most, Game 4 of the 99 Division Series against the Diamondbacks, which was a Todd Pratt walk off home run. Todd Pratt hit a walk off home run off of Matt Manti center field and Shea stadium in the 10 10th inning, I want to say 11th inning to send the Mets to the LCS, which they would subsequently lose to the Braves. But I went to that game with my maternal grandfather who had grown up in Brooklyn, Huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan. We took the 7 train out there. We got to the game very early when the gates opened and we just sat there watching BP and then prepare the field and just talked about baseball. And he talked about seeing, you know, Ruth and Garrick and Maze and Jackie Robinson and Tom Seaver and and all of these players that to me were historical figures, but he had actually seen them play. You know, it's one of those conversations you never forget. And then the game was a magical game and really a lot of fun. And certainly that, that is among the most memorable trips I've taken on the seven line.

[Doug Glanville]

That's a good one.

[Paul McCord]

That is a good one.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah. David, always great to talk to you. All the best. The rest of the way. I'll see you in Philadelphia. And thanks for carving out the time to join us. Let's do it again.

[Jason Stark]

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[Doug Glanville]

Strange but true, Doug. You'd think that one of these weeks we'd have to reach a little to find something to talk about in this segment, but are you familiar with baseball? Like, oh yeah, the gift. Yeah, it never stops. Never stops firing this stuff off the assembly line at us week after week. After week. But Saturday night in Baltimore, we had an all time old timer. You know, I'm like a lot of people. I got an alert on my phone. Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers working on a no hitter in the ninth inning. So, yep, I'm one of those people too, who stopped what he was doing to make sure. I watched something incredible and I watched something incredible. It just wasn't a no hitter. So let's listen to what actually happened after Yamamoto got to within one out of firing a no hitter.

[Jason Stark]

In the air right field, hit deep, back at the wall pages turns and watches. It goes no. Jackson Holiday breaks up the no hitter with a two out solo home run. Ker takes the breaking ball low. He walks in a run. The Orioles are with him. Three, two. And the winning run is now at second. The tying run at third. And the Dodger bullpen activated once more. And how quickly it can change.

[Paul McCord]

Rivera up the middle base hit, Mateo around third.

[Jason Stark]

Mateo will score one more magical moment in time on September 6th in Baltimore.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah, that was Kevin Brown, our good friend from Masson, referencing the fact that it was the 30th anniversary of the Cal Ripken game where he passed Lou Gehrig. And it's funny, when that game was over, I texted Kevin, and you know what I said, Doug, did that just happen? One second we're on no hitter watch. Next thing you know, the Orioles go homer, double hit, batter, walk, walk, and that walk off single. Doug, you want to guess what happened after that in my house?

[Paul McCord]

Well, many phones started to ring and a fax machine, too.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah, I don't have a fax machine, but I think it's safe to say the entire planet decided to check in to ask, hey, has there ever been a game like that before? So before I tell you what I found. Doug, have you ever seen or played in a game like that before?

[Paul McCord]

I don't think so. I mean, I do remember a minor league game and I don't remember the score because I'm gonna get a little bit wrong, but it's somewhere around four or five to nothing. We were losing, bottom of the ninth inning, and a guy, check swings. There's two outs, check swings, and it dribbles over to first base. So of course we're like, it's over, you know, game over. So we're kind of already getting our stuff. Basically, first baseman picks it up and nothing happened. He was about to step on first and the ball just rolled out of his glove. I mean, no collision. He just dropped it and it Roll foul. We were like, oh, you know, we're kind of laughing. We're still down by five. Run on first. And we scored like six runs with two. Never seen anything like that. So that was, that was weird because it was, it wasn't like, okay, Holiday's home run. This was just like the divine intervention of someone, like cursed his glove. And it happened just when he was about to put his foot on the bag. It was so crazy. So I guess there's something like it. But you know, the pendulum swing on this and the whiplash of like, whoa, dominant performance. And then all of a sudden everybody figures it out. And a lot of times as a team, you're like, thank you for taking this guy out, please take him out. Because there was a reason why he threw a no hitter through eight and two thirds.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah. So you just hit on it. When I was trying to research this, basically the first thing I had to get straight was what exactly do we mean by the term a game like that? Because teams have lost no hitters with two outs in the ninth before. Teams have won games where they were getting no hit in the ninth inning somewhere along the line before, as you just mentioned, teams have blown three, four, five run leads with two outs in the ninth before. I just had this thought that nobody could possibly ever have done all the stuff that the Dodgers and Orioles had just done. And so here's the deal. Like it's 10 o' clock on a Saturday night, sitting around with my wife. I mean, I'm always working, but I'm not really working at the moment. And I don't want my wife to think I'm working. So I just kind of casually pick up my iPad and I'm looking at it. I think it was pretty innocently, you know what I mean? So you know what I'm really up to? I'm just trying to hide from her what that is.

[Paul McCord]

So the alerts are coming in. Alerts?

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah. I'm trying to figure out if any team has ever lost a no hitter on a home run with two outs in the ninth and then lost that game before they even get another out. Okay, so.

[Paul McCord]

Or at a bat, they don't even get another hit.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah. So what do you think the answer was? How many teams would you guess have ever done that?

[Paul McCord]

It feels very 0ish because I'm just like, how? No hitter.

[Doug Glanville]

And then no hitter, two outs in the ninth broke it up with a homer, right?

[Paul McCord]

No, never get another out, Never get the bat again. Just. You're just like, what? It's like someone literally stole your car in the parking lot. I don't. I don't know.

[Doug Glanville]

Right. So zero wishes your guest. It's always an excellent guest, especially in this segment. Okay, so I had a feeling the answer was zero. It's just not that easy to find that. Did you know that there is a website called Lost in the Ninth?

[Paul McCord]

Oh, I like it.

[Doug Glanville]

Yes, Lovingly compiled by a guy named Stu Thornley. So I go to that site and that site helped me find all the games that we know of where a pitcher lost a no hitter on a homer with two outs and a ninth. But then here's the problem, Doug. I then had to check every one of those games by hand as far back as I could go. And I remind you, I'm trying to do this without appearing to my wife like I'm working.

[Paul McCord]

Where are these encyclopedias coming? Why are you talking to the hall of Fame right now?

[Doug Glanville]

I'm just scrolling. You know, it's like I do that. She knows I do that, right? But let's go through it. I'm checking one game after another on Baseball Reference, where we know that a home run got hit to break up a no hitter with two outs in the ninth. So I write down all of those games and then go through them one by one. And I hadn't finished found a single game like this, right? I hadn't found a single game where the team throwing the no hitter then gave up a homer and lost the game. So now I'm thinking, can I definitively say this has never happened before? We don't have publicly available play by play data of every game every ever played. I mean, I know we're closer now than we've ever been. Thank you, Retro Sheet. Thank you, Baseball Reference. But I'm trying to think, how am I going to say this? So what I did was I just posted what I knew, Doug. I said the best I can tell from available play by play data, there has never been another game in recorded National League or American League history on which a pitcher lost a no hitter on a home run with two outs in the ninth. And then his team lost that game. So hundreds of thousands of people have viewed this post. Incredible. Luckily, the Elias Sports Bureau later confirmed that that was right. And here's another crazy thing. There's only been one other time a starting pitcher got to two outs in the ninth, lost his no hitter on any kind of hit, and his team lost that game in the ninth. And that time the Dodgers were the team that won that game. And it didn't even happen in the regular season. It was the famous Bill Bevins game in the 1947 World Series. All he needed was one more out. He gave up a game winning double lead flipping double to Cookie Lava Jetto. And how about this, Doug? Not only did he never get another out in that game, he never got another out in his career. Okay, so what do you think, Doug, after hearing all that, how would you answer the question, has there ever been another game like that one?

[Paul McCord]

Well, I would just say zero. Even though it's not the right way to answer the question. I would just throw zero out there because I'm sitting there going, walk off home run like something, right? Because he hit a walk off someone on base. I mean, but I know nowadays, you know, a guy gives up. As soon as he gives up an out or a hit, it's over, he's out of the game. So he also had to hand the ball over and watch his bull pennant completely implode on top of it. So that's hard to watch.

[Doug Glanville]

Like, that was one of the things that occurred to me. We have a no hitter with two outs in the ninth, and then the team that wins the game gets three hits with two outs in the ninth off three different pitchers. Crazy. That's just one of about a million more questions I need to dig into this week. That's why there's such a thing as the Weird and wild column. So if you're interested in any of this, you might want to read that column on Friday. Just saying. Okay, it's that time again. It's time for listener trivia, our way of involving you, our favorite listeners in this show. Doug, the good news is we finally got one of these trivia questions right last week. The bad news is our special trivia guest star this week is a guy who has stumped us before. So why do we keep inviting him back? What's wrong with us?

[Paul McCord]

Ah, we love it. That's why we love it. We want to build more statues and we want to have a museum dedicated to those who have stumped us. In fact, we could just catch tree stumps. We'll just have tree stumps all over the place to represent all the questions we got wrong.

[Doug Glanville]

There'd be a lot of stumps. There would be. So look, we love the challenge and we love the guy who's here with this week's question. It's Paul McCord from Braves Country. Paul, welcome back to Starkville. How the heck are you doing?

[Jason Stark]

Great. Thanks for having me back.

[Doug Glanville]

Great to have you back. So, before we get to this week's question, Doug, you should know that Paul is a big fan of an idea that we've kicked around here. Yes, but we've never actually employed.

[Paul McCord]

Nope.

[Doug Glanville]

He would like to be our phone a friend consultant for trivia questions that stump us. Is that about right, Paul?

[Jason Stark]

Yeah, sure. I'd be glad to do it. Growing up, my family and friends knew of me as a walking, talking baseball encyclopedia. And granted, in the days of the Internet, I'm no longer like the guru that some others can be as well. But it's a challenge. I love doing it.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah. So I do love this idea, as you know. But how would it work? So let's think it through, Doug. Let's picture this. We're stumped. The clock is ticking. The beads of sweat are rolling down our brow. And then we would get to call timeout and call Paul. And Paul is at work, of course, but he drops everything to help us because he recognizes that's way more important than his actual life. Does that sound about right?

[Paul McCord]

It's like 91 1. I mean, sort of. Think about it. We're in the future right now, so we could have like an AI Paul. If he's not available, he could have like an AI version of himself. So, you know, that could work.

[Doug Glanville]

Paul, does that sound good to you?

[Jason Stark]

Yeah, it sounds about right. I figure if I see that Starkville is calling me out of the blue, I'll probably answer. Unless I can't.

[Doug Glanville]

No, you'd have to answer.

[Jason Stark]

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[Doug Glanville]

If we phone a friend, that friend had better answer. Darn it.

[Jason Stark]

Yeah, yeah, no, I'm pretty sure I could. I could drop it off and do it and take a quick, quick pass at whatever stumping you.

[Doug Glanville]

As I said, I've always liked this idea, so stay tuned. But for now, Paul will not be helping us with this week's question. He'll be stumping us. So, Paul, it's that time for you to hit us with your question.

[Jason Stark]

Well, I'm optimistic for you guys, but we'll see how this goes. So my question this week's aimed at giving love to the catching position, especially with Cal Riley trashing my Braves this weekend on the cusp of claiming the record for the most homers in a season while actually playing catcher in those games. So While Raleigh has two prior 30 homer seasons, this is his first with 30 plus home runs while actually playing catcher in those games. He was a DH or a pinch hitter and the others. So that leads to my question. Before Cal Raleigh, there were 20 catchers that had 30 homer seasons as a catcher, but only five of them had two or more 30 homer seasons as catcher. Can you name those five?

[Doug Glanville]

Okay, so I love the question. I don't know if we can get this question, but I do love it. We have the Glanville rule in play, however. So Paul, he sent this question via email. Doug and Paul, I believe you proposed. We could guess five, but only have to get four, which would mean we wouldn't have to actually name all five. Is that right? And Doug, are you cool with that?

[Paul McCord]

I leave it up to Paul if we want to do the extra guess to get all five or guess the number and get one less. So I think guess the number and.

[Jason Stark]

Get one less is the way to.

[Paul McCord]

Go with this question.

[Doug Glanville]

So you want to. You want us to guess six?

[Jason Stark]

No, go guess five and get one less.

[Paul McCord]

Get four.

[Doug Glanville]

Oh, okay. Yeah, I like this. All right. It gives us a better shot, Doug.

[Paul McCord]

I think so.

[Doug Glanville]

Let's try it. All right. I think we can get close at the very least. So let's start that three minute shot clock and we'll see how we do. So two easy ones, Doug. Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, the two greatest slugging catchers of all time.

[Paul McCord]

Is that right?

[Doug Glanville]

We're already halfway there. I like it.

[Paul McCord]

That's all I got.

[Doug Glanville]

Now, since I research a lot of these notes for a living, and some of these are Cal Raleigh notes, I have a decent feel for the other names that are. I think are in play. But how many of the catchers who show up in those notes have had two seasons of 30 homers or more and they have to be as a catcher? That's what makes this question so good. Like, for example, Doug Salvador Perez, multiple 30 homer seasons. I think he's heading for another one. But he also plays a lot of games every year as a dh. So I'm just not sure if he's one of these. But we'll, we'll keep them on our working list. Brian McCand, Doug has multiple 30 homer seasons. Let's remember Paul is a Braves fan. I kind of like that name.

[Paul McCord]

I like it. There's Hobby Lopez. There's Hobby.

[Doug Glanville]

He's another one. Also a longtime Brave. I've got him.

[Paul McCord]

Played first base a little bit. Yeah.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah. But he played. He caught a lot of games, man. So then I have Todd Hunley, Gary Carter, Hudge Rodriguez, Roy Campanella. What do you think, Doug?

[Paul McCord]

Am I missing Carlton Fisk?

[Doug Glanville]

He didn't hit 30 homers twice. I don't think so.

[Paul McCord]

Okay, cross him off. Gary Carter. Did you say that? I don't know.

[Doug Glanville]

I said Gary Carter.

[Paul McCord]

Oh, he might have, Buster.

[Doug Glanville]

He caught a lot. He also, he played outfield. He played some first base.

[Paul McCord]

So. Okay, so, right, so you. That's the primary position was catcher. So if you Dh20 games and.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah, then they don't count. Those homers don't count.

[Paul McCord]

Okay, so it's. When they are, you have to hit.

[Doug Glanville]

Them as a catcher.

[Paul McCord]

Oh, boy.

[Doug Glanville]

Wow.

[Paul McCord]

Who tracks this stuff?

[Doug Glanville]

It's easy to track. It's just hard to think of off the top of your head.

[Paul McCord]

I mean, I don't know. I think you do. Piazza, Ben, Sal, Perez, and then you do like the two Braves.

[Doug Glanville]

That's what I think.

[Paul McCord]

I think just to be safe.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah, I agree with this. Look, I'm sure we forgot somebody as usual, or we talked ourselves out of somebody, but let's just guess. Let me guess. With 30 seconds of spare on the clock.

[Paul McCord]

Never happened before. No.

[Doug Glanville]

Paul, is there any chance it's Bench, Piazza, Javi, Brian, McCann and Salvi?

[Jason Stark]

You got three out of the five.

[Doug Glanville]

Oh, of course we did.

[Jason Stark]

So I had a hint at the ready, if we had asked for one, that it's. They all debuted in the 1900s, which basically means it's nobody active. So Sal Perez, he never did it. McCann never had a 30 homer season. I think he peaked at 26 or 27. Oh, wow. The three that you got were Piazza. He did it nine times. Johnny Bench did it three times. And then the prior record holder, currently tied with Cal Riley, Javi Lopez did it twice. He's got 42 back in 2003, and he had one more as a DH.

[Paul McCord]

Oh, that's good.

[Jason Stark]

Cheddar one. But the guy you missed, the two you missed, Todd Hundley did it twice.

[Paul McCord]

Oh, he did, eventually.

[Doug Glanville]

I thought he only had that one Big Year.

[Jason Stark]

And Roy Campanella did it four times.

[Paul McCord]

You said him. You named him awesome.

[Doug Glanville]

I. I did. I named them all. Like, how did we get that wrong? You know, we're all around it like we always are.

[Paul McCord]

We like, swirling.

[Doug Glanville]

We keep inflicting this pain on ourselves.

[Paul McCord]

Well, we were. We were very definitive this time. So we didn't. We didn't thrash as much. We should have thrashed. We should have thrashed.

[Doug Glanville]

You should have done more thrashing, obviously. Oh, well, you know my motto, trivia is fun. But you know what's even more fun? When we bring in the mayor of Starkville, Brian Smith, to play another entertaining play by play clip involving this week's answer. So, Mr. Mayor, what do you got for us this week?

[Jason Stark]

All right, you guys are so close. I was. You didn't see my face again. I would have given it away when you decided like, oh, we got this one. We got 30 seconds. I'm like, no, guys, you got got 30 more seconds of thrash. No, we should have thrown more thrashing time. But it's okay. We'll get them next week. All right, we for this one, we head back to one of the guys who actually got correct. We head back to September 27, 2003. Javi Lopez. The other Javi Lopez hit his 43rd home run of the season, 42nd as a catcher, past Todd Hudley, who you did not get correct. His single season mark for a catcher, which is now held by Cal Raleigh. And here is the sound launch to left field. And that's a record for Javi Lopez, folks. The most home runs hit by a catcher in one season. Todd Hundley had the record. That is now past tense. Javi Lopez sets the new standard of his 43 home runs. That's his 42nd as a catcher this year. And the Braves lead the Phillies one to nothing.

[Doug Glanville]

43Rd home run, 42 as a catcher.

[Jason Stark]

A major league record, the most ever.

[Doug Glanville]

And boy, does he deserve a ton of credit. Great to hear Tim McCarver again. Doug, did you notice Brian referred to Javi Lopez as the other Javi Lopez? You think that'd be news to him, that he's the other Javi Lopez?

[Paul McCord]

It's like an asterisk. You just put an asterisk next to his name.

[Doug Glanville]

I think so. See, Brian lives in San Francisco and they had a famous left handed reliever named Javi Lopez. So that he's the actual Javi Lopez and then the guy who caught for teams that finished first a thousand years in a row. He's the other Javi Lopez. Got it. Okay.

[Paul McCord]

I like. McCarver actually said 42 as a catcher. He literally broke it down.

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah.

[Paul McCord]

So that was interesting.

[Jason Stark]

I love to hear McCarver on the call since he was a catcher back in the day, was he not?

[Doug Glanville]

Yeah, he did not hit 30 or 42 as a catcher. Paul, you never disappoint. Another fantastic question. Another fun visit to Starkville. Let's please do this again, okay?

[Jason Stark]

Absolutely. Anytime.

[Doug Glanville]

Okay, that's gonna do it for this week's show. Doug, thanks for playing. Thanks to David Sterns for visiting us. Thanks to Paul McCord for the trivia question. Thanks to the digital mayor of Starkville, Brian Smith. For producing us and putting up with us. And once again, we invite you to call us on our new Starkville hotline at 267-227-9867. You can ask us pretty much anything about baseball and we promise we'll answer our favorite baseball questions from you on the show. Also, you can still email us and people [e-mail] we'll be checking that voicemail. We'll be checking that email. But until then, Doug and I will see you soon.

[Jason Stark]

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