Ben & Woods On Demand Podcast
8am Hour - Corn Star, Fernando Returning Soon?, + Jesse Agler Calls In!
Ben & Woods start the 8am hour with Woods sharing a comment he found on social media in which the author should be awarded a Pulitzer Prize, and we pay off our tease about the song "Corn Star"... Then the guys talk about Fernando Tatis Jr and if we may see him in the Padres lineup as soon as next week before our pal Jesse Agler calls in from St. Louis to discuss last night's win over the Cardinals! Listen here!
- Broadcast on:
- 27 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
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And tell them that your girl, Tasha McKia sent you, the sharpest rides, affordable, sexy, sharp. (upbeat music) - We are halfway home on a Tuesday, Ben and Woods 97-3, the fan. Great to be here with you. It's our pleasure to serve five days a week for you. Try to give you some laughs, make you think about some stuff. You know, make you mad, whatever. Whatever you use us for, we're happy that you do. We really appreciate it. I'm Woodsie, that's Paul Reindel, the executive producer. Benjamin Higgins, your friendly neighborhood sports anchor, joins us as well. And gentlemen, I wanted to read something here before we get to a corn star, which is potentially, and it's a long list of the worst country songs of all time. And it's a real song. - Before you read this, I want to welcome Sam Leve to our chat. - Hi Sammy. - And welcome back from his wedding. - Hi Sammy. - He will return to the- - Not his wedding. - The wedding that he attended, yes. - Over the weekend. He will return to the Padres pre and post game show today at 345 for game two of the Padres Cardinals series. - It'll be great to have him back. I wanted to start here though. And it's a little sportsy for the eight o'clock reset, but I think it made me laugh. And it's painstakingly accurate. And Bob Melvin is not having the greatest time in San Francisco. We remember when he was here, he did his press conference and he said, I used to look across the field and think, you know, why not me as the manager of the Giants? And they spent a lot of money, they got a lot of guys, some of those guys they've already moved on from the Bob Melvin. What's their record right now? It's a 66 and 66. - They are a 500 baseball team. - Bob Melvin. What was the Padres record last year? - 82 and 80. - 80 at the end of the year, yes. - That man has lived in 500 purgatory for about a year and a half. And the teams that he's managed have been 500 for, you know, whatever, 300 some odd games or something, almost 300 games. Brant Brisbane, he was a brilliant, brilliant writer, covers the Giants, writes for the athletic, writes an article last night about, you know, the Giants and being 500. What I wanted to read you guys was this comment and I retweeted it last night and it's so brilliant, Paulie, if you would. (upbeat music) Grant said a part of the Giants are two pieces of bread with a single cold cut slice in the middle, no condiments or cheese. This guy writes, he quotes that and he says, I spent a month in jail about 20 years ago. That's one of the things I remember most. Every meal was exactly the same. Two pieces of white bread with a slab of bologna in the center. Just one slab, nothing more, no mayo or sauce, no cheese, no lettuce. That's a perfect metaphor for the Giants season because watching them day in, day out is similar to being in jail in many ways. There's no escaping the mundane boredom of it. Every day, every day essentially feels exactly the same as every other day. You just watch this team because there's nothing else to do. There are plenty of people who constantly talk big about their plans and aspirations when they get out, but you know it's empty and sad when those dreams usually involve things such as getting cheap drugs, like how many of us loyal Giants fans try to talk favorably and optimistically about this team. But deep down, we all realize they're beyond hope. If you try wavering from the set routine, it means the guards throw you in your cell and it gets more boring. Like when the Giants go over 500, then immediately the illusion is broken. They go on a losing streak to get back. You don't have access to clocks or calendars. So you have no idea what time or day it is. You just know exactly what's gonna be happening and you have to try and deal with it. Like trying to watch this team every day. Like the 2024 Giants, being in jail is just boring, predictable, and constant. And it hit me in my gut because we all, that was a perfect explanation of what 2023 was. If 2023 was being in jail, he's talking county jail, right? He's talking now, he got a 20 day, 30 day stint, I gotta do, gotta DUI, whatever. - Really, it's just baloney sandwiches every day. - It's not great, it's not great. It's been in this guy's scene, wherever that was, that's what it was. But you guys remember, last year, did it not feel exactly like that? And did it not feel like that the first half of this year? - I think it felt more like it this year than it ever did last year. - And, you're-- - Partners couldn't get to 500 more this year. - They couldn't get there, but you're mired in it. And I loved when he said, "If you try wavering from the set routine, "it means the guards throw you in your cell "and it gets more boring." How many games last year or the beginning of this year where you're like, "This is more boring than anything else "I could be doing right now." And I just thought, what a brilliant way to sum up what it's like to be a fan of a 500-- - It's definitely an existential nothingness to 500 and on we about it, but in one sense-- - But what? - On we, E-M-N-U-I, it's French. - Oh, yeah, on we. - I didn't know how you say that. I've never heard an actual human use it in a conversation. - But in an on we, isn't a 500 team though, the most unpredictable of teams in baseball? 'Cause any day can be a win or a loss. - Or a loss. - But as is the same for every team. - For a good team, more of the days are gonna be wins. You're more consistent. A bad team, more of the days are gonna be lost. You're more consistent. But the 500 team is actually the most circus act unpredictable of teams in Major League Baseball. Are we going to get one of those great wins that gives us hope? Or are we gonna get one of those terrible losses that steals that hope away? And you don't know which it's going to be. You just know in the end, you're going to end up back at 500. - It's just such a, and you know, Cardinals fans going through it right now, right, with this team being 500 or on game alone. - Game under now? - Yeah, game under now, thanks to the pods. - Hopefully they don't climb back to 500 today. - Correct, and hopefully they mix up the routine and the jail. I just thought it was such a brilliant way to put it. And I read it over and over and I went, man, that is, you nailed it. You absolutely nailed what it's like to be a fan of a 500 team. And I tweeted, give this guy a job at the athletic or give him a Pulitzer prize. - Natoni pointed out, they had a no hitter to cheer for recently. - They did. - It hasn't been a completely pointless season for the Giants. Their roster though, I mean, we had a Cy Young last year in a gold club. - Yeah, I think it was. - But last year's Padres roster just had more interesting elements to it. More frustrating, I think, because of that. - Because of the interesting element. - The Giants lineup. I mean, it's been a few years now where it just feels like a collection of OK players. I mean, they tried to inject some life this year with Matt Chapman, but hasn't really injected much life into that San Francisco Giants lineup. You know, it's a good pitching rotation for the most part, but not great every single day. They just have no signature, you know? - Yeah. - It's just a team that exists in the Bay Area. - Yeah, very much so. Very, very much so. And I just thought this guy summed it up so well. And speaking of Cardinals fans, I tweeted last night, you know, it looks like baseball's best fans took the night off here at St. Louis because there was nobody at that game. - Yeah, I didn't see the final attendance yesterday, but they said the previous couple of games had been the lowest in new Bush stadium history. - I wonder what Old Bush thinks about that. - But how was Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush? - How was Old Bush compared to new Bush? - Now we were told-- - Well, their attendance now has got to be-- - Yeah. - Tick and soul-- - Inflated, not the turn style number. 28,600. - That's still, maybe the lowest again ever in, 'cause I think the lowest was right around 29 the day before. - So that may have been a new record low attendance at Bush Stadium. - So I was breaking their balls on Twitter, which I'm known to do, bit of an irritant, I get it. This gal, Ashley, quote tweeted me, it's a dude. Our corn is emitting buckets full of sweat into our atmosphere, creating excessive heat mornings in the Midwest today. Tempts in the high 90s feels like over 100. We deserved to watch the game in air conditioning. I just wrote back, yeah, that's fair. That's fair, you're absolutely right. And we learned that corn sweats this morning. And then it popped into my head that there's an actual song. This is not an AI generated song. This was a song that was played on the radio, and it's a real thing. - No wonder what genre a song about corn is coming from. - I'm a hip hop. - Emo. - Yeah, hip hop. - Maybe the blues. - Is it blue? I'm gonna need you to work up a corn song about corn. - I'm in the 30 seconds. - I need a blues song about corn, ASAP. But this is a real, who is the artist here, Paulie? - This is Craig Morgan. - Craig Morgan. - And the title is Corn Star. - Corn Star. (upbeat music) - It's the worst thing of your life. - I already hate it. - Where does she come? Where does she come? (laughing) - What the? (laughing) - She loves green and yellow. She loves green and yellow, like John Beard. (upbeat music) - This is embarrassing. (upbeat music) ♪ It's not the kind of girl you beat on the corner ♪ ♪ Of Hollywood and Vine ♪ ♪ But you might bump into her on aisle 21 ♪ ♪ At the bar of speed and supply ♪ ♪ With a bag of seed on her sun tan shoulder ♪ ♪ Cut off jeans and a top tank top ♪ ♪ With a big red mower on it ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ You wanna be a farmer don't end ♪ - No. ♪ She won't see her in the center for the playboy magazine ♪ ♪ She's too busy getting dirty in a field of green ♪ ♪ She's a corn star ♪ ♪ It's a bleep ♪ ♪ You talk to the profit every county fair ♪ ♪ Y'all corn star ♪ ♪ I'm living winter for the last five years ♪ ♪ I could have only highway right through her pasture ♪ ♪ Playing at home progress and moving traffic faster ♪ ♪ But everybody knows the only reason for the road ♪ ♪ It was to say you're trying to lug it on the top of that tractor ♪ - That's the only reason for the road. - It's real, man. - That's a real story. - See you're chugging lugging on the top of that tractor. - That is absolutely-- - She's a corn star. - That's absolutely real. A corn star. Sorry to steal KSON's thunder down the hall. Sorry about that, fellas. Ladies, it's so bad. - Hey, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever heard. - Are you out of your mind? I want to talk-- - Had a bit of a toe-tapping beat. - I want to talk to her theme. - Joey said this is your culture, Woods. - It's not. I've never farmed anything in my life, just 'cause I'm from Texas. I have no, no, I'm the least. You guys know this. I want to talk about your use of on-whee again. Somebody thought-- - On-whee. - Somebody in the chat thought you said on-wheat. (laughing) - I've never-- - Jersey Mike's. - This is a corn segment, not a wheat segment. I've seen that word before. Never knew what it meant. - Thought it was pronounced N-Y. - N-Y, ladies, B-N-Y. - B-Mets of the N-Y Yankees. - E-N-N. - U-I. - U-I. - On-whee. - A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction. - On-whee. - Arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. - So you're out of a job? - On-whee. - On-whee. - On-whee. - What? - It's kind of a nothingness. - On-whee. - On-whee. - No, I know it's ever used that word in sentence. - People use that word all the time. - Who? - French people. - Yeah, among others. - Yes. - Do you know what this is? Today is also National Pots de Creme Day. Do you know what a pot de Creme is pronounced? (laughing) - Listen to this old old Creme. - Is it really? - Yes. - It's not pot de Creme. - It's just pots, pots de Creme. - It's a pot de Creme. - National Pots de Creme. - It's a pot of cream. - Is that what it is? - Is that what it translated? - Yes. - It's a pot of cream. - Do you hear the-- - It's pudding. - Poly, no, it's furious. - It's French fancy pudding. - It's what it is. It's a pot de Creme. It's what we like to, you know, if you want to eat something that's like pudding, but you don't want to say, "Hey, I'm serving you pudding for dessert." You say, "Pot de Creme." It's much fancier. You can charge more for it as well. If you go to, you know, steakhouse for dinner and they have pudding for dessert, you're going to go, "Why is this $12?" But when they call it pot de Creme, you go, "Oh yeah, I'll pay $12 for that." - You've never seen that either. - He is the fanciest guy I've ever seen ever. And he was so smug when he said it. - Stuffing. - Fancy about knowing words. - There's not, there's French words though. You're not French. And we put a comment. - Look in the chat, you know that word, right? Jeffrey's word, say-- - Order of chia. - Order of chia. - That's a French word. - I know that word. - So it's French for appetizers. - It is. - But we say order sometimes. - Does that make us too French? - No. - Too fancy. - From Maj, it's cheese. - It is. - Yeah, I knew that. It's very-- - The French know their food. - They do. - It's some of the best I've ever had. Wow, thank you for indulging us. We have to get that corn star song in. I don't know how well it did on the charts or anything, but it really ruined my day. - I'm sorry that it ruined your day. - It was corn. ♪ So my son has been down ♪ ♪ Mm ♪ ♪ Ground is cracking fields around ♪ - This is so weird how you do it in five seconds. ♪ Sweating corn in St. Louis town ♪ ♪ Washing rain would come around ♪ - The John Mayer might be better than the corn star out to play about it. ♪ He waves rise, it's got so clear ♪ ♪ Mm ♪ ♪ Sweat drips down, got no fear ♪ - They do this. ♪ I don't know ♪ ♪ Corn is whispering in my ear ♪ - Corn is whispering in hand. ♪ This is the corn is ♪ ♪ Mm ♪ ♪ Oh the corn is sweating up ♪ ♪ In the heat, it won't back down ♪ - Oh, I love that. ♪ St. Louis feels a golden crowns ♪ ♪ The sweet and calm, the talk of town ♪ - And our transformation from Padre Station to full AI-generated music station is complete. - So we said Ben is a real smug merchant. - He is very smug. It's not my best quality, but it does pop up in time. - At least you, at least you, at least you, oh yeah, it's Adam says corn place here on 97.3. - All right, we're coming back. We got a little bit of an update on the Padre's injured stars. Fernando Tatis Jr, Hassan Kim, Yudarvish from Mike Schilt yesterday and we'll get you caught up on where they're all standing. And then Jesse Agler gonna join us from Corn's Sweat and St. Louis, coming up at the bottom of the hour for us to check a traffic here on 97.3, the fam. - The seasons may be changing, but the deals at the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKia. And I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings event, where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. 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Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, price and coverage match limited by state law. (upbeat music) - Dear Autumn Leaves, you won't be covering roads alone this season. Toyota's lineup of cool, colorful vehicles is ready to ride by your side. Take on fall in a trail tackling Tacoma, or go for the powerful Tundra. Head to toyota.com for more info, or visit your local Toyota dealership today. Toyota, let's go places. - Doors take us to summers away, or winter adventures, and afternoon getaways. - Your dedicated Fidelity advisor can help you open those doors, by working with you on a comprehensive plan to help you reach your wealth's full potential, because doors were meant to be opened. Visit fidelity.com/wealth, investment minimums apply Fidelity brokerage services, LLC member NYSE SIPC. - Well, I've always been accused of being somewhat corny, so this seems appropriate today. - Yeah, it does. - This show has turned into corn talk, and it all started with the corn sweating in St. Louis, depressing the attendance at Bush Stadium, leading to heat and humidity for the Padres four game series against the Cardinals. - Well, and then everyone in the chat started doing like Jake Cornynworth. - Well, that's perfect. - Yeah, the corn zone. This is a little different than the crone zone. The Jake Cornynworth, Adam said Louise Mayese, which I don't really get. Adam Maiser. - Former Padre. - Former Padre. - Future Padre. Alex Cobb. - Alex Cobb? Don. (laughing) Don Corn Sillo. - It's pretty good. - Not bad. - Elode ADS. Mason McCorn. - Oh, I like that one, it's a good one. Kyle Higashuker. These are really good. Mike Shock. - Is Mike Stock? - No. - No. - Shock. - I know. - Joe Musgrove. - Adam says Mayese is a spay. - Joe Martin is a Spanish for corn. - I know that. I know that Mayese is Spanish for corn. - Yeah. - And there's a Louis Arise. - Mayese. - Let's just leave the comedy dust, pal. All right. (laughing) Let's go prove my vacation, please, for the love of God. - And now I don't know whether this is accurate or not, Woods, but you see Frank in our chat, releasing US Oasis dates. - Wait, where? - I mean, may have just come out, starting, you know, Schult Soldier Field. - That's what I saw yesterday. - East Russell, a leak. - That's the leak one. - Leaked dates. Rose Bowl in late 2025. No, these aren't earlier though, these are later in the year. - Yeah, they're later. - Okay, you've seen those. I just want to make sure. All right, quick update. Potterrey's injuries before Jesse joins us from St. Louis. Nothing hugely unexpected, but Mike Schult did confirm that Fernando Tente's junior is not with the team. He has gone to the team's complex in Peoria, where he is going to be facing young players and minor leaguers and getting at bats. And after that, they will evaluate. I mean, I think there's a scenario in which he looks good and might be back as soon as next week in the homestand. Now, there's no promises, you know, it just depends on his progression and how he feels at the plate and, you know, what he looks like from the coaches that are there and the reports they're getting. But if he's looks like Fernando Tente's junior and he's feeling good, he's pretty much at that stage where they're now looking for the signs. All right, is he ready to come back? So that's exciting. - How tempted are you if you're there watching and he ropes one into the gap oppo, you're like, I think it's good, baby. - I think that's fine. I mean, what are we? - In essence, that is kind of what they're looking for. Like if he puts together good at bats, I mean, you're not gonna want to waste a ton of them in like minor league rehab. - If he's on the phone. - If he's swinging and looking at him in Arizona, he's like, how's he looking? - Yeah. - He just put two over the wall. - Yeah, it's tomorrow. - Pack his back. - Pack him up. - He had two 450-foot shots over the wall. We don't want to be wasting these in Arizona or at double A or something. So bring him on up. So we'll see how that goes this week. - Yeah, they actually hit him off, hit him off woods though, does that count? Like does it matter? I mean, it's timing, you know, obviously, obviously you got to get your timing down. You got to make sure your body's going to respond. And they're gonna, I would imagine they would ease him in. Don't you think somehow, some way? - Well, I would imagine you'll see some DH days when he comes back. But they do need him out in the field as well. You know, at some point. - They do. - They've got a great spot for him in right field right now. - Yes, yes. - But they're not getting a ton of production. They've brought it, did a nice job. - I love him. He's not defensively. You're giving up quite a bit for Tetis. - He was busy last night. David Peralt. - He was on the move. - Made some nice plays. - I really, really like that dude a ton. I really, really do. But yeah, you know, any time you get a chance to upgrade with Fernando, you do it. - Hassan Kim was back in here in San Diego yesterday, getting an MRI, but he's expected to join the team in St. Louis today. I would imagine if the results of that MRI are positive, then he's just counting down the string of what, three or four more days before he's eligible to return from the 10 day injured list. And then you Darvish is with the team and he threw three simulated innings on Sunday. We talked about that yesterday. His next step is gonna be stretching out maybe to like five innings and they're still deciding on whether that's just in like the bullpen with the team on the road or if they actually wanna send him to the minor league somewhere and make that start. And if that goes well, you can see you Darvish back in maybe 10 days or so to the Padres rotation. So injury updates galore yesterday from Mike Schilt about the three key guys who are still not on that roster but could give a nice little lift to the Padres. Speaking of lifts, there's Manny lifting you Darvish into the air. I don't know why. I saw that picture yesterday as well, Paul in why he lifted him up. - Yeah, why not? - He's giving him a big hug. - He's giving him a hug, dude. - From behind? Save that. (laughing) Yeah, he snuck up behind and gave him a big hug. - Don't injure them, man. - I've done that to you a hundred times. - Not lifted me up off the ground. - I use a big guy. - You're a big guy too. - Try it right now. - All right, I'll see if I can get you. Send him. - This is gonna be really... (yelling) (laughing) - I've never been lifted so high off the ground before. - You have enough. Not that you were a little kid, I was a little kid. (laughing) - Did you hurt your bad guy? - I think I'm on the 10th day. - I think I'm on the 10th day IL. - Yeah, that looks like Manny crept up and just got him, you know. - They love each other, man. - Oh, that hurt me. - You should try that with Jesse. He's a lot smaller than me. - You are dense. - Yeah. - Dense. - Like you're not... - No. - It's not fat. - It's like, he's like a tree trunk. (laughing) - stfatloss.com. I just kept the good stuff. - The rock hard, man. - Woo. - Oh, man. All right. - I'm supposed to do legs today. I don't think I need to. - No, I think I'm good at one big, like, power lifting. I think I'm fine. - All right. - Hopefully Jesse's in some air conditioning somewhere. We will chat with the voice of the Padres. Coming up next here on San Diego's number one sports station. 97-3, the fan. (upbeat music) - This hour on 97-3, the fan is brought to you by floor and decor. Unbeatable price is unmatched in stock selection. Floor and decor has more styles of laminate, vinyl, tile, wood, and stone. For anyone looking for the right look at the right price, your next beautiful space is at floor and decor. Floor and decor, unbeatable price is unmatched in stock selection. Well, as I said, I just hope he's in some air conditioning somewhere. - Oh, God. - Jesse Aguiler will join us right after this check of traffic on 97-3, the fan. Don't know how I missed that. That would have been... - Zac just said, almost laid me out. - God, you guys are on fire, man. - Oh, well, as we bring Jesse in, and the reason why everything is so corn related on our program today is that Woodsie said when he tweeted last night, why, what happened to all the greatest fans in baseball? Why is there no one at the game? Someone responded that the corn is sweating and it's creating such heat and humidity that even Cardinals fans deserve to watch at air conditioning and they're not showing up. And we didn't realize that corn could sweat. Jesse, so that's why you're so uncomfortable when you have to go outside in St. Louis. Good morning. - Good morning. Here's the kernel of information. (laughing) - Hey, that's so big. - They can blame the corn all they want, but I mean, it ain't the corn. (laughing) This town, and I talked to a bunch of people about it yesterday, seems to have revolted against this team, which is not something I think a lot of us ever thought was possible. And it was wild being in that building last night. And again, there are 500 teams. Like they went into yesterday's game with 65 and 65. It's not like they're 30 games out and, you know, it's like, okay, you understand it. Like that's a 500 team that's on the outside looking in, but like in the general conversation about the wild card, second place team in a division, although well back in Milwaukee at this point. And the fans are fed up. It is really, really wild. And I mean, I never thought I would see that few people in that building for a baseball game. - We found out yesterday, Jesse, that they have not had back-to-back losing season since 162 game seasons were invented. So now I'm wondering, maybe they've just been such pleasant baseball fans because they've never had to live through what the rest of us have had to live through. And that is, you know, tough seasons consecutively, which is really weird and lucky for them until now. - Yeah, I mean, it's an organization that, and you know, the people who are not from here or don't, you know, don't consider themselves part of the little cardinal solar system. You know, you sometimes poke fun of the cardinal way of best fans in baseball, all that kind of stuff. But like they really did for decades have a system and a thing that they, you know, sort of believed in and operated with. And it seems like they've gotten away from that, which is quite a choice. You know, the most successful national league team ever by quite a bit when you really think about it in terms of penance and world series. They're, you know, they're not at the Yankee level, but there's nobody else really at their level. And to say, you know what, we're gonna be in charge now and we think we're a little bit smarter, you know, that everybody else has been here. We're gonna do things differently in our own way. And then to have really abject failures coming out of that and to continue to say, no, no, no, this is the way we're gonna do it. The mic shield thing still burns the fans here. You know, there's always stuff that goes on behind the scenes that we'll never know about. So I don't wanna oversimplify something like that. But I mean, he was a winner. And that's what it's about, is winning. And, you know, I think the fans here, that was maybe one of the, I don't wanna say last straws because I don't think we're at last straws yet. But that was definitely one of the contributing factors it seems for this fan base to kind of look at the people who are running the team and being like, well, what do you guys get going on here? You know, what's your plan? And then to come out and kind of have the struggles that they have had, it's, you're entitled to bad years. Don't get me wrong, you're entitled to bad decisions. Every team has that. But to see this fan base turn on this team in this way, I'm telling you, it's borderline unbelievable for me. - That's wild, man. And, you know, I was thinking about it last night, right? When I put the broadcast on on television, it's like one of the first things they said, they were blown away. Mud was like, I can't wrap my head around this. - And, yeah, I did see a lot of the Shilt Discourse on Twitter as well after the game of like, hey, man, you guys thought you were smarter than everybody else and you went and hired Ollie Marmal. He's just, he's not very well liked at all in St. Louis. It's just pretty nuts how, you know, what can change in a couple of years, Jesse? And then you watch like, man, I always love Paul Goldschmidt. I really did. What an elite hitter he was. It's wild to watch him scuffle and not come through. It's batting average, I think with runners and scoring position is in the, it's got a one in front of it, which is just hard to wrap my head around. - 162 going to play yesterday, although as I was saying that he had an RBI single course. And, you know, he's the one, you know, that jumps off the page because, you know, you can talk about the front office, you can talk about Ollie Marmal, but if Paul Goldschmidt was hitting around 300, you know, maybe things are very, very different for them. Not to put it all in one guy, but, you know, that's a good reminder. And, you know, Matt Olson is another one this year who had, you know, an MVP led the league in everything a season ago, terrible year. And it's just a really good reminder about baseball that, you know, we saw it last year with some of the Padres. You know, you think, all right, slow start, he'll get it going. Sometimes you just don't. And, you know, maybe it's injury related. Sometimes there's a mental thing going on. Sometimes it's just one of those years. And, yeah, for Paul Goldschmidt to come into play on August 27th, hitting 227 is jarring. You know, I mean, even last year, which was, you know, maybe something of a down year for him, still had more hits than any other cardinal, still in more walks than any other cardinal, still had 31 doubles to lead the team. And you're like, all right, yeah, Paul Goldschmidt, 35 years old, he's got it. You know, now he's about to be 37. And is this the end? I don't know. You know, maybe he bounces back and has a great year next year. 'Cause I'm with you. He's always been one of my favorite guys to see. Just pro's pro great hitter, a tremendous player. And to see his numbers where they are is, as I said, kind of a reminder that like, you know, you think you know what you're talking about in spring training in terms of who's gonna produce what, but boy, the baseball season is a mean, mean summer. And you just never quite know. - Talking to Jesse Agileer here on 97.3, the fan. Thanks to Goos for that. - Oh, Agileer of course, what? - On 97.3, the fan. Now, it's hard. - That was amazing. - Oh, there you go. - Oh, they can't stop. It's hard to come up with things to say now about Jackson Merrill, questions to ask about Jackson Merrill. He's just continuing to do amazing things. But I thought this one was interesting yesterday. He was facing Kyle Gibson for the second time, holmered off and way back in April. And I saw that, you know, Gibson got him on the first at bat, made an adjustment. And then Jackson comes back and readjusts back in the next at bat. Really good with the bases loaded pressure situation. The fact that he has been able to do that, Jesse, so quickly in his rookie year, that's something that you don't often see from players until they get several years into their big league career. But he seems almost adjustment proof at this point. - Well, I hesitate to say that because it feels like a dangerous thing, but it does seem that way. I mean, it's hard to argue with your point. You know, Mike Schultz said, I think it was yesterday, he just has his ability to slow things down. And as he said, it's kind of one of those things we generally say about guys who have like, you know, been around six, seven years in the big leagues. And it kind of been through all these scenarios and have learned lessons the hard way. And he's out there doing it as a 21 year old, you know, in August of his first major league season. You know, the thing that impressed me most about that at bat and your right, the adjustment was great and kind of playing the cat and mouse game with Kyle Gibson. But it was, you know, he had hit the walkoff home run the day before. You're up in a bases loaded situation. It would be very easy for any hitter, particularly a young hitter, but really any hitter to be like, I am going to hit this ball a thousand miles out to right field. That's what I want to try and do. And what did he do? Just slice one the other way. And that has been the MO of this team and of Jackson Merrill all year long when they are at their best. And they've obviously been at their best for quite a while now. It's just never trying to do too much at the plate. And it is so impressive to see it again, especially from a guy that's 21 years old. But to be in that moment, not let it get away from you. And you know what? Perfect thing. The other way, two runs come in and that was pretty much it. I mean, it's been remarkable watching the difference in the offensive approach this year as compared to last year. The sort of buy in that they've gotten from everybody on the roster. You add in guys like Solano and Arise. We're sort of naturally that way. And that's why this team is so much better with runners in scoring position. That's why this team is so much better in close games. Clutch spots than they were a year ago. And to be able to do a literal 180 in a season is pretty incredible. And you know, endless credit to Victor Rodriguez. Endless credit to Mike Show. Endless credit to the rest of the hitting staff. And all these players for kind of sticking with the approach, staying disciplined. And I mean, it seems like I could count on one hand this year. The number of the bats I've seen where somebody was trying to do too much, when last year it seemed like it was happening every single night four or five times. And you know, the proof is in the pudding. We'll get the record now as compared to this time last year. - The proof is actually in the PODI crème is what I learned earlier. It's a fancy name for pudding. I learned a lot on this show talking to Jesse Aguiler here on Ben & Woods this morning. So St. Louis into Tampa. - Gotta be your favorite road trip of the year. St. Louis for four. - And you're Jesse about a year ago when the schedule was released. - I can circle that and go, I can't wait. - Yeah, toasted raviolis. - 100%. - There's no off day here on this one. - Yeah, you don't get it done as fast as you saw. - Get it over. I know we've asked you every year and I never get tired of your St. Louis stories. This is a good time for you to catch up on maybe a book you're reading or some YouTube or YouTube being or some Netflix shows. - You didn't know that. No, I've got a book. I finally started Oppenheimer. I was kind of putting it off. - Oh, yes. - And so I'm making my way through that. I've got a book that I'm making my way through. This is definitely one of those things. Yeah, no, I mean, this is not a go out and about kind of road trip, particularly, you know, end of August, end of an 18 in a row stretch. You know, 100 degrees with 100% humidity. You know, at least the games in Tampa will be indoors. But yeah, I mean, this is-- - How's the booth? - I did. - Both of the bugs, if it's like the TV booth. - Yeah, there's lots of bugs in the TV booth. - No, here's one. This is very inside baseball, but you guys might appreciate it. - We like it. - It's amazing to me that, you know, they build these stadiums, right? And I'm talking like probably 90% of the booths. TV radio, both, you know, all over the league. The booth is constructed in a way as if they didn't realize people would be sitting up front broadcasting the game. Which, and I mean by that is that like, Dave Marcus kind of sits behind us in most of these places. He's got like a little power, right, with all his equipment. And in the ceiling above Dave and kind of in the back of the booth by the door are like normal fluorescent lights. But then at the desk where we sit, there are no lights. And it's like, what did you think was going to be happening in this room when you constructed this building? And it's like you get your flashlight out, like trying to read stuff because it's like, you know what, a night game, it's just dark. And it's like, what were you guys thinking? And it's like, it's amazing to me that place after place. So no, not a good booth. The view is fine, but it's cramped and dark and obviously hot, so. - Dave should have one of those desk lamps for you that he just packed some rings with up right there. And you just, you know, pull the little chain when you sit down and you've got your desk lamp. - That's exactly right. - The little green one, like an old accountant. - Yeah, exactly, click click. It may be a little portable fan, perhaps, for you guys as well. - Oh, no, oh, he brings fans for himself. He brings fans. (both laughing) Multiple, he's got angled, angled both ways. - Just on him though, yeah, you can't really do it with him either. There's one in here, but you can't really turn it on. 'Cause it makes, yeah, the mic picks it up. All right, so you guys are gonna kill me, but I made an executive decision. We're not gonna do song lyrics today. We were gonna do Oasis, but I don't wanna jinx the man. They just announced they're getting back together. They hated each other for many years. We were gonna do an Oasis song. - Seriously? - Yeah, and I just said, you know what? - You spent all week telling us how this is not a dictatorship. - Correct. Here's how it's not a dictatorship. I let Ben pick the word. - I don't know, back to the words. - You didn't like my words, so you nixed it. - No, no, you do your word. 'Cause this is not even have the word. - This is not a dictatorship. - All right, fine. We're going back, we're going with corn. - Yeah, 'cause we've been talking about corn all day. - Jesse is a civilized man. I'm sure he's gone to some nice restaurants and seeing this item perhaps on a menu at a fancy Mexican restaurant, but it is a, it's a fungus that grows on corn that is a delicacy, especially in Mexican cuisine. - You eat the fungus. - You actually eat the fungus in, in America, it's just called corn smut, but when you order at the restaurant, it's called huitlacoche. - Huitlacoche? - Huitlacoche, and I will text it to you, Jesse, but-- - Huitlacoche. - Huitlacoche. - Huitlacoche. - Yeah, H-U-I-T-L-A-C-O-C-H-E. Huitlacoche. - Sorry about it. - I've actually never heard of that, so that's exciting. - I know, you can look it up a little bit. - Or if you just want to work in-- - It's like a mushroom that grows on corn that people eat. - Yeah, it really looks nasty, I must say. - Or if you just want to work in corn smut, that will also work, Jesse, but you pick. It'll give you the option. - It's a fungus. - Corn smut. - Huitlacoche. - Or huitlacoche. - Have you ever actually eaten it then? - I have eaten it. - Of course you have. - It's the Mexican truffle, as Ray points out. It's a very high-end gourmet ingredients that you'll find only in the finest restaurants. Huitlacoche is today's Incorporator Word. Thank you for not dictating me off. - Not a dictator, shit. - People in the chat know it, they're coming up with it. - It's not a dictator. - We learn things on this program as well. I like to be educational, as well as fun. - I need people tweeting me, I need some restaurant recommendations in San Diego where I can get Huitlacoche. - There are several. You can go up to maybe Vaga in Lucadia. - What if you hate-- - And they definitely have some on the menu. - What if you hate mushrooms? I don't like mushrooms. - Well, you probably like Huitlacoche then. I love mushrooms. - All right, well then you'll like corn smud. Please just say corn smud, I'm begging you. (laughing) - Thank you, Jesse. - Jesse, thank you very much. - Thank you, buddy. Bring your gold bond. - Jesse, very warm, very warm. - Jesse Echler in the lightless booth in St. Louis. How do you eat it off the cob? - The cob? - No, they'll put it in an appetizer and like a tamale or they can do it in different preparations. - Yes, tamale. - Yes, exactly. - Okay. - Huitlacoche. - I thought you just ate like a ear of corn. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're not gonna fuck it and you're gonna do like, like with a mushroom. I mean, you don't like raw mushrooms. I don't like it. - Don't like any mushrooms. - You don't like any mushrooms. - Right else. - Pause to grind the report. Final hour of Ben & Woods. Coming up next year on 97.3, the fan. - The seasons may be changing, but the deals at the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKia. 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