Ben & Woods On Demand Podcast

8am Hour - Throwback Thursday + Smart Baseball w Eno Sarris

Woodsy and Paul start the 8am hour on a Throwback Thursday by going through the archives and playing a couple of fun clips from show history during this week, and it brings us to the origin of the most iconic "drop" in Ben & Woods history! Then at the bottom of the hour we are joined by Eno Sarris from The Athletic for our weekly "Smart Baseball" segment! Listen here!

Duration:: 45m
Broadcast on:: 12 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

"My dad works in B2B marketing. "He came by my school for career day "and said he was a big row as man. "Then he told everyone how much he loved "calculating his return on ad spend. "My friends still laughing me to this day." - Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to linkedin.com/results to claim your credit. That's linkedin.com/results. Terms and conditions apply. Linked in, the place to be, to be. - Recovery from addiction can take many forms and quite often it's a team effort. For those in recovery, having support often leads to a better outcome. And for those supporting people in recovery, they celebrate every milestone. Here's to family, friends, loved ones, healthcare providers and community groups who are essential to helping people find their path to recovery. If you or someone you know is experiencing addiction, visit cdc.gov/stopoverdose to learn more about the various treatment options available. From the mind of a two-foot tall talking spokespuppet comes this year's biggest challenge. It's time for Bob's Dare to Compare. The hottest game show on TV that asks, "What happens when you compare Bob's to the competition?" You get style, you get quality, you get beeps and boops and dings and whomps and thousands of dollars in savings. Everyone's winner when you dare to compare with Bob's discount furniture. Shop in store at mybobs.com to play now. - This podcast on 97.3 The Fan is presented by Hummel Casino, fun of all else. - All right, man, quick two hours, halfway home. Here on a Thursday, bed and woods 97.3 The Fan, our beloved Benny. Be careful, Benny, if you're listening, driving up to the Thousand Oaks area. Decent little shaker this morning up there. I saw some TV show they were recording and everything started shaking there. So be careful, what's the aftershops? Wouldn't that be perfect for Ben to go up there? They're like, "Sorry, bro, the hotels, "we're shutting this on lockdown." Like just-- - Structural damage. - Yes, structural damage. (laughing) It just would be the worst. Going on vacation is all, it's all, but it's always that anxiety before vacation. You're like, "Am I gonna fall and break my hip "before I leave for Hawaii?" You know what I mean? I'm like super careful. Fantasy camp may be the worst of all time. When I am gearing up for fantasy camp, it's around the holidays and I'm like, I don't wanna drive anywhere. I don't wanna do anything that could potentially get me hurt so that I don't get to go to fantasy camp. I mean, I won't leave the house, Paulie. I'm like that on every vacation though. Thanks for listening, Ben and woods 97.3. The fan Benny is out on his way up to LA for a little golf excursion with his buddy. Paulie, it's me and Paulie hanging out. Paulie, gonna be the birthday boy on Saturday. Happy early birthday, I'm sure I will shower you with adulation and cash and whatever else you need. If you missed that segment, we did it in the six o'clock hour where I'm a little spun out because I don't know what I need to do tomorrow, what Paulie expects from me, you know, for a Friday birthday celebration. - Well, I'll think about it. - All right, you think about it, I'll text your wife and we'll get into that. But it's also a throwback Thursday. We go back into the Ben and woods annals and archives and find some things that happen. And I would say that this is a pretty monumental day in Ben and woods history. - Yeah, this week, September of 2020. I don't know if this was a Rinder Report story or don't do this. - I think we just found it and played it. - We love good radio audio and we had two radio hosts. They have a show, had a show together in Houston. I don't remember the station, but one of the guys name was Jason Braddock. We actually ended up tracking him down. We had him on the show several times and they had a hot mic. I don't know if it's a hot mic or if I think the producer was just recording. - The producer was recording. - The producer was recording. - They went to a commercial recording. - They went to a commercial recording. - It would be like you could do that. You could set up something to record us and you could hear our combos between breaks. - They were doing a segment. They got into it a little bit with each other and then they went to break and the argument didn't just continue. It ramped up. - Actually some of this I believe was on the air if I'm not mistaken, but these two guys got after it. - Was that supposed to be funny? - Yes, it's hilarious. Shut up crying and keeping this going. I want to just do the show. - I'm waiting for the punch line. I'm supposed to be saying. - Oh, good. - God, you're a child, man. Quit being petty and do the show. The radio, the show sounds horrible right now. - You're right and it does. And you're talking about being petty when you just checked out of a show for an entire segment. - No, I started doing the research you asked me to do there in the last segment. - No, you asked me. - I said you're talking to you and you're like, huh? Well, you're not even like your microphone. - I'm not going to say here, it's already been two segments of horrible. If you want me to leave, I'll cut off the mic and I'll leave, just do the show, it sounds horrible. - I'll do the show. - Thank you. - All of you, we're good. - Okay. - God. - Like, it could have stopped right there. - Could have stopped right there. - Sounds like, it's done. - But no. - They kept it rolling. - As men tend to do and fight. - Ah! They keep going. - God, dude, that's... - Dude, dude, the show, you're still crying. - Dude, the show, I forgot my show. You're not paying attention, don't do what you're doing. Go have a good time. - Oh, God, man. - You know, don't do whatever the hell you're doing. It doesn't matter. - What do the show could be in a bitch? (laughing) - Whatever, I'm doing the show. You're the one checking out. Have a good day. - See ya, go on, dude. Do the show, bitch. (laughing) Boom! - You act like a little bitch on this (beep) dude. That's the most embarrassing (beep) that I ever did. You act like a little bitch right there. (beep) - You act like you're not part of the (beep) numbers. I started giving you the number. I want to get at you because you're acting like a bitch today. - And it's not. - When I'm on end, you're acting like a bitch. - Well, you're acting like a (beep) (laughing) - Dude, it's Houston. I get a lot of New York vibes, though, from both of them, at least, one of them. - It is, it is just, it happens. It happens, you're in here and you want it to be great. - Dang, see ya, go on, dude. It's due to show, bitch. - Jason Praddock, man, it was just like, "Man, you asked me to get numbers." So I'm pulling up the numbers, but you're also continuing to talk to me while you've asked me to pull up those numbers and then you're gonna call me out for not paying attention. And it's just, you can totally see it happening after a while. It is frustrating. Ben knows I get frustrated with him when he just glosses, it just stares off into this, or he's on his phone. That's the one that gets me. The phone gets me with Benny, and he knows that. I was like, "Hey," and you see him, and now with the YouTube feed, you can watch him go like this. His head's down, and we're on the air and I'm talking, and I stop and he just goes, and then puts his head's up, like, "Where am I?" So he's not a great multitasker, which is fine. - And he wants to tune in to Sammy Levitt tonight. - Yeah, so, Paulie, I can literally have a conversation with you and I can text you at the exact same time that I am having a conversation with you, I can text you on your phone, and I continue to talk about what's going on in the world of sports, as I send you a text, no problem. Not even gonna know what's happening, but yeah, you can see those guys-- - I can open up my phone as we're sitting here talking about, throwback Thursday, September of 2020, Jason Bratting. Oh, there's a Wednesday's text, hi. - Yep, hi, there it is. I mean, it is-- - Right back while I'm talking, I say, "Hey there." - So, he said, Satan's office is the dude is being super effing annoying. How do you not respond in kind to this? - I don't know which one. I think it's probably the guy, the not Jason Bratting, the not, I think it's the other guy. And I don't know who I am in that scenario. - Do the show, you're still crying, do the show. I've already cut off my show, you're not paying attention. Don't do what you're doing, go out with the car. - 'Cause I can see myself saying that. - Yeah? - But I can also see myself screaming. - That sounds, yeah, so Jason Bratting, the one that says do the show bid, he's the one that was trying to look up the numbers. - Yeah, yeah. - Do the show, you're still crying, do the show, I've already cut off my show. - You're not paying attention, don't do what you're doing. - I really can't, I can see you asking me to look something up, like just roll for like 30 seconds. - Bam, bam, bam, bam. - Do the show bitch, do the show bitch. - It's the best, it's the best. So, those guys, they are no longer a show. - No, I don't think, I actually don't think I had anything to do with that. - I think they actually did a show for like another year or two together. - I don't think it was two. I think it was, I want to say it was like six months 'cause we had him on and he was really nice and we asked him, we sell shirts, he said sure, I don't care. He did not parlay that into anything. He could have had like to do the show bitch podcast, like the Hock To a Girl, he did not. - Do the podcast, bitch. - That's it, he did not parlay this thing, he did not parlay this thing at all. Maggie nails it here in the chat, she says, "Ben is a planner, he's always thinking about what's coming next, always waiting to talk instead of I'm going to answer the question or I'm going to ask a question." It is, it's always planning the next move and that's, listen, but the chemistry, you know, still very strong in here. I don't think we would ever get to that point. I would get to that point. He would never get to that point of like, just do what you got to do. What else you got, Paulie? - Well, while we're on the subject of Ben, one reason we'll keep him around is because one of the many reasons why we'll keep him around is, well, when Ben breaks and starts laughing, it's just one of the best-- - So endearing, dude. - Such a funny, you can't hear it and not smile and we had an epic breaking Ben moment on the same day, actually, but a year later. - The same day? - Oh, a year later, 15th, 2021. - Got it. - And all the title is, says Ben loses it during "inspirity" reads. So, I listened to this yesterday, I have no idea what set him off. I don't know if it was contact from the segment beforehand. I don't have that, but if you listen to us on the radio or on the app, especially, you'll hear when we go to break, we'll play traffic, and then we have live reads. - Right. - For a minute and a half or whatever. So that's what Ben was doing. He was trying to do a read for "inspirity." - He got the giggles. - And he got the giggles bad. - Hey, good morning. Happy birthday to Hannah. Nankara Woods, Ben Higgins here, telling you about "inspirity." Hannah's a business owner. She feeling boxed in by the pressures of running that business, getting pulled in different directions with remover. (laughing) - I started laughing. - The remote workforce is HR. (laughing) - It's not laughing. Hiring and retaining top talent change. (laughing) - You're getting me so good right now. - Sorry. All right, we got. (laughing) - Father, we'll get going. (laughing) Here, we get back to this and just break it. - Oh, I forgot this. (laughing) - Inspirity, HR that makes a difference. - That's the whole read. - That was the whole spot. - Inspirity paid money for that live read where he barely talks about what they do. - He gave it about-- - Four seconds, maybe. - Four seconds of copy before he lost it. And then we had to, I do remember he couldn't do it. He had another minute or so to read about "inspirity" and why you should join "inspirity" and work with "inspirity." He just couldn't get to it. He finally, we just pushed it, let him recover, and then like the next break. - He did it again. - He did it again. - Oh my God, I don't, what the hell got him? What about me? I just saw my hand running a business and then you must have said it last something off the air. - In here, telling you about "inspirity." Hannah's a business owner, she feeling boxed in by the pressures of running that business, getting pulled in different directions with remote work. (laughing) Remote workforces HR. I don't know what got him, dude. I do not know. - I do not know. (laughing) - Well, we'll get, we'll get, that's one of the best ones we ever had. - That's a really good one. - That is a really good one, dude. (laughing) - I, that's my favorite. When he loses it, there's nothing that makes me happier. I mean, I like a pottery is when like the next guy. You know what I mean? But when Ben Higgins loses it, it just delights me to know him. - Yeah, we talked about it on a Monday. We started the show asking him how his weekend was he had to put Reggie down and he got emotional. And it kind of freaks us out. - Yeah. - It's jarring to see Ben show emotion. And that's one side of it. The other side of the spectrum is laughing and he doesn't even show funny emotions a lot. So when he loses it, I mean, crying, laughing, can't breathe, coughing, falls out of his chair, it really stands out. - Somebody said it's contagious. When Ben starts laughing, it's contagious. It just kills me every single time. When I'm able to break him, it just gets me, man. That is, those are two of my favorite clips. I mean, just incredible clips that Paulie found for a throwback Thursday. We got to Parker McCollum tickets coming up. We're gonna give those away in the next segment. You wanna call now, 833-288-0973. And we'll hook you up with tickets to Parker McCollum, just a pair of tickets for you. And I'm gonna get the details on that. This is what Ben is also very good at that I'm not. - It's right there on the rundown. Bet you can find it. - Hang on, bear with me. Do the show, bitch. - Okay. - Just read the copy. - I'm asking you to read the copy. - Parker McCollum tickets, that's all it says. Parker McCollum tickets. That's all I got. - Keep scrolling down. You know what, I'll do it in the second page in the purple bold. - Parker McCollum tickets, call now. For a pair of tickets to Parker McCollum at Cal Coast. - Oh, there it is. - For an open air theater. - October 25th, tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.com. - Thank you. - From the mind of a two foot tall talking spokespuppet comes this year's biggest challenge. It's time for Bob's dare to compare. The hottest game show on TV that asks, what happens when you compare Bob's to the competition? You get style, you get quality, you get beeps and boops and dings and wops and thousands of dollars and savings. Everyone's winner when you dare to compare with Bob's discount furniture. Shop in store at mybobs.com to play now. - It's not just about watching the game, it's about betting on it. I'm Mike Valenti and on Cash the Ticket, Jim Cast and I break down every college football and NFL match up like it's the last game where we're gonna watch from the best bets to the sneaky underdogs. And of course, as my co-host likes to say, the value and the one thing we're not gonna do is pretend we're professionals. We have fun with it, it's an entertainment product and it makes watching games a hell of a lot of fun. So Cash the Ticket, follow it in the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. - Presented by T-Mobile, the official wireless partner of Odyssey Sports. With an awesome network and great savings, there's never been a better time to join T-Mobile. Visit your neighborhood store to make the switch today. - For those in recovery, support from friends and family often leads to better outcomes. Here's to those who are essential to helping people find their path to recovery. Visit cdc.gov/stopoverdose for information about treatment options and how to support those experiencing addiction. - My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big row as man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friend's still laughing me to this day. - Not everyone gets B2B. But with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to linkedin.com/results to claim your credit. That's linkedin.com/results. Terms and conditions apply. Linkedin, the place to be, to be. - Great stereophonics from Wales. Welsh Friars Tour has ended. Did you see that? It was at the Games in Seattle. Our buddy Tom, a huge, huge tier one and a huge Padres fan. You guys heard about the Welsh Friars saga. The last week he continued, flew up to Seattle, caught a couple of games. I believe they are four and three in the Welsh Friar era. So, you know, brought a little good luck. I'd see a couple of good games. - Did you see that one epic game? - They saw the epic game. - Four and three is not... - Not what you want. - It's okay. - This time of year, Paulies. - Do you believe in superstitions, Tom? Safe travels back. - Yeah, safe travels back, buddy. And, you know, listen, if he lands in Wales and they start playing like they were before he got here, you know, that would be good. But, listen, we did not kiss the roach this morning. I don't know how to feel about the rally roach right now. I still have a very good record. So, I will give it some sugars and we'll see what happens. I've got for you guys a pretty interesting... Well, no, let's do the request. We got a couple of requests. It's loose. When Ben's not here, we don't really have to stay on track. We can kind of do what we want. And Diego in the chat wanted to hear the voice of God who is our voice guy. You guys have heard him. We're going to have Enos Aris coming up next. One of the greatest flubs in Ben and what's history. You know, Harris, son of a bitch. - We, yeah, we were playing a clip last week. The voice guy just ruining my day, taking forever to cut one simple liner. And we had talked about a clip that we played in April. - He could not get this. - And he could not say Annie Heilbren's name, right? - Could not say. - And we said we would find it, track down the audio. We actually never ended up getting back to this. Diego's losing his mind in our chat right now. He's like, please, please, I'm begging you, please, please play that clip. It was so funny. So here it is. - We're here to please, man. That's what we're here to do. - It's actually pretty timely because with Ben was leaving that weekend for something. - Weird. - I don't remember where he was going in April, but he was leaving. And so we had to make a new open for the round table. - Yeah. - It said hosted by Annie Heilbren. - That's right. - Not hosted by Ben Higgins. And that's what led to this. - Alongside Stephen Woods, Craig Elston, Chris Hello, and Sam Levitt. Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. Heilbren, Heilbren, Heilbren. Yeah, what am I saying? God, Jesus. (laughing) Hi, Heilbren, Heilbren, Heilbren. Hiya, how you doing? Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. Heilbren, Heilbren. - Heilbren! - Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. Here's your host, Annie. - Annie. - Annie Heilbren, Heilbren, Heilbren. (laughing) - I'm sorry. - And as I've told you in the past, like he sends me this long ass. - Yes, thank God. Thank God for it. - I get the whole thing. - Good, that's good. - And I hate that it's extra work. No, listen. - It's like a nine minute file for a 20 second liner. - I hate that it's extra work for you. I do. That said, we would miss out on all of it. If he cut that and dumped it in the trash and just gave you the finished product. - We wouldn't get it. - The finished product, it would be the worst. - Get us down, Heilbren. - I'll do it one more time. Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. Heilbren, Heilbren, Heilbren. Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. Brun, Brun, Annie Heilbren. (beeping) Hey, Jesus. (laughing) Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. (laughing) Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. That might be it. It's that time, Friar Faithful. Time to discuss everything going on with the Padres. We've gathered the entire 97-3, the fan crew together to bring you the most in-depth discussion on the Friars in our weekly Padres round table. Presented button, sorry. - Oh my God. - Presented by San Diego round table pizza. Alongside Stephen Woods, Craig Elston, Chrisello and Sam Levitt. Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. Heilbren. (beeping) Here's your host. (laughing) - Bro. - What the hell? - I got a truck backing up. Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. - I got a truck backing up. - Annie Heilbren. Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. (laughing) Here's your host, Annie Heilbren. - Nailed it. - Okay. - That is, now I've forgotten how to say her name. I don't know how to say it after listening to him fumble around with it. But he is, obviously he's a pro. - Oh, God. - Again, I am sorry that he sends all of that, but I'm not. It's so good. It is so, so good. Annie hates that somebody said in the chat. Annie, I'm sorry. - I hope not. - I didn't mean to relive a memory that you didn't like. - Hey, Annie, nobody has ever said my last name right on the first truck. - It takes them. - Rindell. - Yeah, Rindell. - Yeah, Rindell. - Rindell. - Randal. - I get wood. - Rindell. - Scott, Scott Wood. This is something I've been called in my past as well. So, there you go. Diego, I'm glad we can make you-- - Any other requests? - Any other requests. I got one this morning. Somebody asked me right out of the shoot if I would do, for Ben, my Michael McDonald. And they said since Ben is out, they wanted me to do. ♪ I keep forgetting love and it move ♪ ♪ I keep forgetting things will never be the same again ♪ ♪ I keep forgetting ♪ - So, there you go. Another request knocked out by you guys. So, we will be back very shortly. We're gonna have Eno, Sarah's coming up next. I do have for you guys. I want to try to put your mind at ease. I just saw this on MLB.com. Which of these struggling contenders should be most worried? Where do the San Diego Padres fall in this group of seven? Do you want the answer now? - Kind of, we got a couple minutes. - We got a couple minutes? They're not on the list, Paulie. They're not even on the list. They rank them. - List of contenders to be worried about? - Yes, which of these struggling contenders should be most worried? Written by Will Leach, you know, listen. Says a lot of these, everybody knows, it looks like we're not gonna have 100 win team for the first time in a full season since 2014. Many reasons for that. None of the teams that were great over the first half have been very good in the second half. Padres have been a little different. They have actually been good in the second half, but they're talking about team. So, the number one team that if you are a fan of the Cleveland Guardians, you should be a little bit more concerned. Not that you're gonna make the playoffs. And there's a really good chance that you're still gonna win the division, about 85%. 99.9% chance to make the playoffs, but their offense is skidding a little bit, led by Stephen Quand. They've got a number two, the Braves. Very impressive that they've even stayed over 500 in the second half. They have had so many injuries. People continuing to drop for that team. So yeah, I don't think that's news to Braves fans, but they, after all their guys got hurt, I don't know how much they were really expecting to contend. It is kind of a miracle that they're still in it, but he says if you're a Braves fan, you are pretty concerned, the twins. The twins were 45 and 36 in their first 81 games. They are 33 and 32 cents. And Rocco Baldelli is having closed-door meetings three weeks before the playoff star. It is, he has ripped his team. He said that was an unprofessional series of baseball we just played. I'm not commenting on anything else. I don't think anything else has to be said. So I don't think it's all smiles in Minnesota. The Baltimore Orioles are 32 and 34 in their second 81 games, in the second part of the season. They are not, they have nothing at the back end of their bullpen. They do not know what to do to be able to close out games. The New York Yankees, 32 and 33 after the first 81 games. - A lot of American League teams. - A lot of American League teams. Los Angeles Dodgers are, now they're 37 and 28, but they have them sixth on the list. They were 50 and 31 in the first half, 37 and 28 cents. Right now they said, look, your game one starters, Jack Flaherty. After that, who knows? Yoshinobo, Yamamoto look good in his return, but there's still a lot of questions. But then again, they are the Dodgers. And a lot is expected of the Dodgers. They were expected to win, they were expected to win 115 games this year. That's not going to happen. And then the last one is the Philadelphia Phillies. And again, San Diego Pottery is not even mentioned in this as a contender to be worried about. Probably because of a strong second half. They have kind of fallen back into the 500-ish mode lately, but again, three weeks left in the season, time to turn it around. They did make me feel just a smidge better that they weren't even mentioned on here. - Yeah, we talked about it. We're still, we're not smashing the panic button yet. - No, I'm a four of 10, which is a very low number for me. - Yes. - But I literally, I saw that now. - It's reassuring to hear. - I kind of took, I was like, oh God, where are we going to be? And I go, oh, we didn't make it. - They were number like two on that list. That four turns into a six. - Yeah, four jumps to a six, thanks to Will Leach's article, but they weren't even mentioned. So maybe it went down to a three. We will be right back joined by our beloved, you know, Sarah's from The Athletic, one of the smartest guys in baseball, going these days. We'll talk to him about the Padres, everything else going on in the world of baseball, our smart weekly baseball segment with you know, coming up next. Welcome back, men of woods 97-3, the fan. Always exciting to talk to our pal, you know, Sarah's. I'm about to hit him up for some recommendations, gonna be going to Oracle Park for the first time tomorrow with my family, excited for that, gonna go watch the boys play on the road. Yeah, first time. - Beautiful stadium. - I hear, I mean, I saw it from the outside and it looks incredible and I will be inside. It's probably gonna be butt cold to the world. - One time, one to one game, it was the Buster Posey game where you got hurt. - Really? - It was at the game sitting in the left. - I didn't know this. - I told you. - I've said it before. - I don't pay attention. - I don't know. - I just forget. - It was wild, from way out there, you knew something was something bad that happened. - Yeah, that's a big one. - And yeah, that changed the course of baseball. - It really did. - It changed the course of baseball history. We'll talk to our pal, you know, Sarah's, after a quick check of traffic. - It's time for the super polish, just to be named Smart Baseball Weekly segment with Eno Harris, Sarah's son of a bitch. Brought to you by Seven Mile Casino, just seven minutes from the ballpark by the Bay in Chula Vista. - Here's Eno Harris with Ben and Woods on 97.3, the fan. - All right, I'm gonna be leaning heavily on you this morning, you know, making my first trek to Oracle Park tomorrow night with the family. And listen, I know that your tastes are a little bit more refined, much like Ben's, but I wanted to get your must haves at Oracle Park before we get into spin rate and exit V-Lo and all of your favorite things to talk about. (laughing) - So how much beer? - Oh, so here's the thing. I'm gonna be with my two little guys. I'll have probably a beer, one beer. Oh no. - I think you can do. - All right, hold on, we're losing you a little bit. There we go. - The cool thing you need to do is enter through something called 58 Social, what you used to call the public house. And it's, you can enter through there and they have some cool appetizers. And if you're all early, if you're not, you can even, you can get a beer in a plastic cup there. It'll be the best beer selection. It's like a chalkboard beer bar, you know, where like they have good options. So that's a good way to enter because it's right there, a certain king, it's the way you'd be entering anyway. So you can just enter through that, get your beer in a plastic cup and go in, you know, to the park that way. So that's the best way to get in. And then once you're in, yeah, there's the, even the garlic fries are the thing that everyone talks about. - Yep. - They're everywhere. You've also got a crazy crab sandwich. That's behind home plate, if I got it right. But that's pretty good. I like the poke bowls. Especially because they're kind of a healthier alternative to some of the stuff that's out there. - Come not really worried about healthy alternatives, you know, I'm on vacation for my wife's birthdays. I'm not, you know, you're barking up the wrong tree here, man. Somebody said the carol corn is you have to get it. They said they actually give you a fork to eat it. So I'm looking forward to that, looking forward to grabbing it. - Oh, I haven't even had that. - Have you not? Oh man, apparently it's a huge, huge deal. Well, and obviously, you know, a huge, huge series. And, you know, the Padres, they're not stuck in neutral per se. You know, there's a lot of tired kind of tropes we could throw out about them. Probably not playing their best baseball right now, certainly a little bit sloppy last night, but also ran up against Brian Wuhu. I knew he was good. I guess I didn't realize he was that good for the entire season. - Yeah, he's a really interesting guy 'cause he's one of a handful, maybe about 10 pitchers in starting pitchers in baseball that have really above average strong four-seamers and two-seamers. So he threw a lot of fastballs last night, but by having both kinds of fastballs and then both being good, he's able to really keep people off balance. And then he has two different breaking balls as well. So it's kind of funny when he came up, there's some of those kind of like, oh, it's a fastball slider. And I'm like, yeah, but it's two fastballs and it's two sliders and he's got great command. So yeah, it was a well-pitched game last night. I thought King pitch well enough to win too, but-- - 100%. - Yeah, it was just, when you go into Seattle in particular, their park augments strikeouts more than any of their park and baseball. So it's not surprising to kind of go in there and strike out and not score as many runs as you expect. - Yeah, which is again for the Padres. And again, as good as Wu was, what did he have? Five, six Ks last night? I mean, it wasn't through the roof, but the Padres have been a really, really good team about, they've been putting the ball in play, but it's sloppy defense last night, really burned them. And listen, I like the new lineup. I like Xander sliding back over to short, getting Solano's bad in there. He gives you a really good AB. Louisa rise, never strikes out, never takes an over. Was able to muster up a hit late. And I'm not super panicked about this team as it stands right now, you know. - No, no, I think all the pieces are there. And you know, I know that the Mets are coming on strong, but you know, in terms of projections from here on out, the Padres are clearly a better team than the Mets. And I think it's actually good news that the Braves are falling back because supposedly the Braves are a better team on paper too. So, you know, I think the Mets, you know, they just think about the Mets versus the Padres. The Mets rotation is clearly inferior to the Padres, you know. The Mets bullpen clearly inferior to the Padres. So, you know, to have them beating up on the Braves, that's fine for the Padres. I think they'll make it in. And then it's just a question in the postseason, if sort of everybody's healthy and playing their best ball, - I'm happy to see Tatis hit homers and Rob homers. I think that's a big part of making this team a more dynamic offense. - There's no question. Tony, you know, Sarah's here on Ben & Woods this morning. And I saw last night like Benny texted the group chat and he goes 115.6 off the bat for Tatis. And then I looked this morning and that was the fourth hardest home run. He's ever hit, which blew me away from the guy when he's locked in is such a game changer. And it just, it is a joy. And again, doing it with the glove, the play he made the night before, when he threw out Polanco, trying to stretch a single into a double, the home run he hit, you know, the last two nights have been absolute missiles. So to see him coming around, yeah, man, sky's the limit, I think. - Yeah, you know, manning him, that, you know, that's the heart, that's the power. And then, you know, I think AJ, there was an article today by Ken Rogenfallen and the athletic about how this is, you know, AJ's best job of putting together the pieces around. You know, maybe last year with a better team on paper and had more stars or whatever, but this year, you know, it seems like the complimentary pieces really work. So if you have Tatis and Manny in the middle of the order of providing power, what's the best way to supplement that is, is actually sort of contact and getting people on base and, you know, putting balls in play when they're on second base and stuff like that. So it's a really, it's a really nice to put together team. - Talking to our pal, you know, Sarah's here on Ben & Woods this morning. So, you know, this is a kind of a rambler here, but I'm watching MLB Network yesterday. And it's on and Dan police acts on. And I like Dan police, I like to watch him pitch. I like his commentary. But something caught my ears, I was kind of walking by the television and he did the thing that a lot of older players do when he says, well, you know, and this is just the state of pitching. Everybody's chasing V-Lo and everybody's chasing spin. And it kind of stopped me in my tracks and I hit me and I went, did guys in the '80s not try to throw harder? Did they not try to spin their curve more? Why is this consistently? And I know this is true. I know that guys want to throw harder. I know guys want to be able to spin the ball more. Didn't they used to? They also wanted to throw hard back with like, do we romanticize pitching in the '70s, '80s and '90s as, oh no, these were all craftsmen that never walked anybody. And they just nibbled the corners. They all threw '86 and I'm sitting there going, I vividly remember Doc Gooden reaching back with everything he had to throw '96 when he was 20 years old. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean. - It's like why every time you put on a broadcast, all you hear is smolds or whatever like, all these guys just chasing the spin and this V-Lo and I'm like, ah, guys used to always like to throw hard too. That's never really changed. - Yeah, I think one of the most amazing things about baseball is this equilibrium at times. I mean, the walk rate in 1986 was 8.8%. The walk rate in 2024 is 8.2%. And in between, it's never been higher than 9.1% or lower than 7.7%. So it's like, okay, you know. - It's just more romanticizing. - Walk rate. - Yeah, you were just, that's what it is. We did a segment yesterday. What is something that people romanticized but is actually horrible? And I should have said, pitching in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, we romanticized it, but a lot of it was bad pitching. - You know what I would like to say is middle, middle infields of those decades. - Yes. - Because I grew up in Atlanta and we had Jeff Blouser. - Yep. - Rafael Belyard, Mark Lemke. And like, I do romanticize them because they were like, my hero is going up. - Of course. - I've looked at their numbers recently and been like, yikes. - Right. (laughing) What was I rooting for there dude? - It just blows my mind. And I do understand and you had like, you had the comments from Whit Merrifield last week. You know, guys are, guys are just rearing back these days, throwing it as hard as they can. They have no idea where they're going. And I just, I think to myself, if you have no idea where the ball's going, you're not pitching in the big leagues. You're just not. - Yeah, there's some guys like that, you know, like Joe Boyle here in Oakland. And, you know, he's up and down and in the minors and, you know, he's got to figure something out. You know, Edward Cabrera on the Marlins like has real hard time commanding things. And, you know, yes, he gets chances, but that's not the norm in baseball. I would say, you know, if there is an element of truth, here are some things that have changed. So the amount of sliders that we throw has changed. So just in terms of, you know, the, since we started tracking this in 2008, you know, sliders were throwing 14.5% of the time. Now we throw them 22% of the time. And it's kind of rising every year. So that's a difference. We throw more sliders. We throw fewer fast balls. Another thing that's changed is we throw more 14 times on top of the zone. I looked at it and the difference was over the course of the season, you know, something like 12 to 15,000 more balls at the top of the zone. That sounds like a lot, but, you know, we're talking about games and games and games and games and games, you know what I mean? That's like, you know, it's like a, you know, four or five more per game or whatever it is. But it's still a lot. And so 15,000 more balls high in the zone where it's harder to avoid the ball, right? You have more places to get hit. If it's low in the zone, you just jump over it or, you know, you're, there's two sticks down there in your legs, you know? So I think it's that, I think there's that. Then I have looked into the free agent market and I have Stuff Plus and Location Plus. And so I looked at how much every point of Stuff Plus was worth on the open market and how much every point of Location Plus was worth on the market. And teams are paying for Stuff for location. So to some extent, and that's because Stuff is more consistent year to year and location comes and goes. So, you know, there are some truths in what he's saying, but it's not that everyone's rearing. Oh, and the last thing is, pitchers are pitching closer to their maximum. So we used to have the lead, you see about three miles per hour between your sitting below on your fastball and your maximum and now it's closer. It's like under two. So there's some truth to what they're saying, but it's not all just like, oh, these guys are all idiots that have no idea where the ball is guarding. It's not, that's not the truth. The truth is we throw higher in the zone, we throw harder, we throw closer to our maximum and we value Stuff. Those, all of those things together do add to more hit by pitchers. - They do, absolutely. And that's, that's which point as the police acts point, you know, when I was growing up, it was, oh, you never throw your fastball up. And if you're gonna get it up, make sure you get it up. You wanna work down in the zone. And I think all of the changes in pitching in the last 10 years, even, even the last five years, isn't it all just teams trying to be more economical and essentially be better, build better pitchers? And, and, and if I'm a GM, I'm gonna be honest with you. You know, I'm, I'm probably paying for Stuff. I absolutely will, would pay for a guy with ridiculous Stuff. Over a guy that, well, he looked, I mean, Kyle Hendricks, is a fun watch sometimes when he's on, when he's off, it's not great. - It's even easier to say that when you have room in the ables. - Exactly, and you got room in the ables that can teach a guy a new pitch shape and stuff. Again, they, they act like baseball has done all this haphazardly and, and they're just chasing guys that throw a hundred. When in reality, in my mind, I'm like, don't you guys see, do they want to build better pitchers and more effective pitchers? - Yeah, yeah. And, I mean, a big thing is that the batting average on a ball and play is year in, year out, over the course of history, about 300. And the batting average on a strike out, year in, year out, over the course of history of zero. And so, you know, (laughs) - You take your chances with the Stuff. - So you optimize for Stuff and you, and you go for that. And, and it clearly hasn't had an effect on walk rate. So we're not, it's not like they're walking everybody. And so I think that's an argument for like, the command has actually been fairly steady compared to where it was before. I mean, I, that's the thing that we, the thing that really happens is you watch, I watch a lot of Greg Mannix and he missed this spot too. I don't, like people try to. - Romanticize. - Like he never missed this spot. Yeah, and like, you know, and that was the guy that was the best at in the history of base. - Correct. - You know, we, we remember when a guy misses this spot, you know, we remember when Suarez like throws a fastball to the wrong spot and gives up a homer because that's a big moment. And that's, you know, we have emotions attached to it. And that's the, that's the, that's, I'm gonna say the failure of the eye test, but that's the reason why the eye test doesn't work so well for me, is because we have emotions as human beings, and those emotions affect what we remember. And so your emotions affect, like, 'cause I'm on a psychology major. So, you know, emotions affect how much you remember something. So you're just gonna remember those big ones a lot and not remember, like it's like the Derek Jeter thing. You're gonna remember him running into the stands and getting that ball. You're gonna remember the jump throws because they're exciting and you got, and they won the game or they got the out and you're like, "Woo!" And you're just not gonna remember the singles that went past the diving Jeter. - Yeah. - That's the, that's the need at this point. But like, you don't still remember those 'cause they were kind of boring and banal and they happened so often you didn't think about them. So that's sort of why the eye test can kind of fail you sometimes. - 100% Eno, you are brilliant. This was one of my favorite spots that you've ever done on our show and you've done some great one. Thank you so much. And if you're gonna be out at Oracle, I'll be there tomorrow night. Maybe we can run in each other. If not, we will talk to you next week. - I will be there. I'll come, where are you sitting? - I have no idea. My wife got the tickets for her birthday. So I'm just along for the ride, but I'll text you tomorrow when we're in there. - All right. - All right, buddy. - Good one. - Have a good one. - The great, the great Enos here. See how Pauli, it really sticks in my craw. Again, you know how much I love the game of baseball. And I, for all my old head takes, all my old, my Kendrick Lamar takes, I'm getting roasted for that on the daily. When it comes to baseball, I just, I love it. And yeah, is it imperfect? 100%. But to hear every analyst these days, crap on the guys, every single game makes me nuts. You don't really hear it in other sports. You just don't. - Yeah. - And it just, it's every single game. Thank you, you know, for that. All right, we got a round of report coming up next, excited about this. I'm embarrassed about one of the stories you're going to be doing, about my beloved fighting Irish. This actually embarrassed me. Yeah. Let me tell you how to beat you. Coming up now. - From the mind of a two foot tall talking spokespuppet comes this year's biggest challenge. It's time for Bob's Dare to Compare. The hottest game show on TV that asks, what happens when you compare Bob's to the competition? You get style, you get quality, you get beeps and boops and dings and wops and thousands of dollars in savings. Everyone's winner when you dare to compare with Bob's discount furniture. Shop in store at mybobs.com to play now. - Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again? With North Sides and Bullion as you're not so secret ingredient, you can skip the drive through and do dinner at home. North Taste combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable and well-balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit nore.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home cooked weeknight dinners. It's not fast food, but it's so good. - Presented by T-Mobile, the official wireless partner of Odyssey Sports. With an awesome network and great savings, there's never been a better time to join T-Mobile. Visit your neighborhood store to make the switch today. - In life and recovery, every day is a little different. Embrace the good days, the not so good days, and the challenges and acknowledge how you overcame them. Find the path to recovery that works for you. Learn more at cdc.gov/stopoverdose. - My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big row as man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friends still laughing me to this day. - Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com/results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com/results. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn, the place to be, to be.