What We Lose When Baseball Stops Telling Its History

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Send us a text Old-time baseball isn’t a museum piece—it’s a masterclass hiding in plain sight. We invited Jim Koenigsberger, a gifted storyteller of America’s pastime, to trace how legends like Yogi Berra, Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Ted Williams, and Rickey Henderson still shape the smartest coaching on today’s fields. What emerges is a fresh, practical lens on development, durability, and the decisions that win games. We start with Yogi’s real greatness—RBI crowns on stacked Yankees t...

Send us a text

Old-time baseball isn’t a museum piece—it’s a masterclass hiding in plain sight. We invited Jim Koenigsberger, a gifted storyteller of America’s pastime, to trace how legends like Yogi Berra, Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Ted Williams, and Rickey Henderson still shape the smartest coaching on today’s fields. What emerges is a fresh, practical lens on development, durability, and the decisions that win games.

We start with Yogi’s real greatness—RBI crowns on stacked Yankees teams, marathon doubleheaders, and humble service—then connect it to the coach’s eye test that numbers can’t replace. From there, we follow Jackie’s path through a welcoming Montreal and onto a hostile national stage, using that journey to rethink how context unlocks performance. Jim brings the Negro Leagues into full focus, arguing that the Monarchs and Homestead Grays could hang with any era, and that their players’ versatility should reshape how we teach roles, reps, and resilience.

Development takes center stage as we challenge the two-pitch prospect pipeline and spotlight simple safeguards—pitch counts, rest rules, and patience—that actually protect arms. Ted Williams becomes our hitting blueprint: elite vision, relentless practice, and mentorship from Jimmie Foxx, all bookended by combat service that interrupted but never dimmed his prime. Finally, we reclaim the running game with Rickey Henderson’s playbook, showing how intelligent aggression pressures modern defenses when paired with reads, jumps, and situational awareness.

If you’re a coach, parent, or fan who believes the past can coach the present, this conversation delivers tools you can use tomorrow—sharper practice plans, better development paths, and a renewed love for the craft. Subscribe, share with a coaching friend, and leave a review to help more baseball people find these stories and turn them into wins.

Support the show

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Chapters

00:00 - Setting The Stage: Old-Time Baseball

02:18 - Show Intro And Sponsor Message

03:18 - Meet Jim: Storyteller Of The Game

03:34 - Why Yogi Berra Still Matters

09:49 - Coaching Eye Test And Greatness

12:02 - Gene Mauch And Forgotten Links

15:03 - Building A Platform For History

18:22 - Negro Leagues, Canada, And Context

22:50 - Coaching Development Gaps Today

24:42 - Jackie Robinson’s Path Through Montreal

29:18 - Oscar Charleston’s Greatness

31:03 - Satchel Paige, Doubleheaders, Endurance

Transcript

WEBVTT

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Old-time baseball is a different game than what we see today in the MLB.

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On today's show, I sit down with the master storyteller of America's pastime, Jim Konigsberger.

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We dive into stories about all-time grades, Yogi Berra, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Satchel Page, and Ricky Henderson.

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Black and white baseball next on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

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This is the Ultimate High School Baseball Coaching Podcast.

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Baseball Coaches Unplugged, your go-to podcast for baseball coaching tips, drills, and player development strategies.

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From travel to high school and college.

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Unlock expert coaching advice grounded in real success stories, data-backed training methods, and mental performance tools to elevate your team.

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Tune in for bite-sized coaching wisdom, situational drills, team culture building, great stories and proven strategies that turn good players into great athletes.

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The only podcast that showcases the best coaches from across the country.

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With your host, Coach Ken Carpenter.

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Baseball Coaches Unplugged is proud to be partnered with the Netting Professionals, improving programs one facility at a time.

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If you're listening to this and you're headed to the ABCA convention in Columbus, Ohio, you need to check out Will Minor and his team of the Netting Professionals.

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They specialize in the design, fabrication, and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball.

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This includes backstops, batting cages, BP turtle screens, ball carts, and more.

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They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, and cubbies.

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The netting pros also work with football, soccer, lacrosse, golf courses, and now pickleball.

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Contact them today at 844-620-2707.

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That's 844-620-2707.

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Or visit them online at www.nettingpros.com.

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Check out Netting Pros on X, Instagram, and Facebook, and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects.

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Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

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I'm your host, Coach Ken Carpenter.

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And thanks for joining us today.

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If you enjoy our show, please be sure to share it with a friend.

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And if you get an opportunity, leave us a review.

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It helps us to grow the show.

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Also, if you're heading down to the ABCA convention this weekend, I plan on attending and would love to meet some of the great coaches that have been guests on the show.

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Or if you are just a listener and you're attending, I would love to get an opportunity to meet you.

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So I'll be there and I'll be looking to talk with any coach that's that's available that wants to talk baseball.

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Now through my sit-down with old-time baseball master storyteller Jim Koningsparker.

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Jim, thanks for taking the time to be on baseball coaches unplugged.

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Mr.

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Carpenter, thank you ever so much for having me.

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I'm grateful and thankful to be here.

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Happy New Year.

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Best to you and your family.

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How are you?

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Uh doing good.

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Uh apologize for the little techno technology difficulties prior to the start of this, but uh I'm really excited to have you on the on the show today.

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That's terrific.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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Well, let's start off with I I I'm a big fan of old-time baseball, and uh one of the guys that just jumps out right away is uh Yogi Bear, one of the all-time greats.

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And there's been so many stories shared about him.

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What made him so interesting?

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And what's one of your favorite stories about Yogi?

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Well, I think I think there's a dichotomy about him, and I think it really comes down to we don't appreciate how great he was because of the kind of person, how humble he was, and through his friendship with Joe Guerrero Giola, um, Joe, Joe made him the butt of a lot of jokes.

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But if you look at him just as a human being, just as a baseball player, um, I told my son recently, this guy led the Yankees in RBI's seven years in a row, and he was playing with DiMaggio and Mantle.

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So, you know, let's let's look at that kind of stuff.

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Let's look at the quality of his seasons.

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Three-time MVP.

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Who's coming?

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You know, Otani?

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Great.

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Do we speak about Otani like we speak about Yogi?

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No, you know, that kind of quality baseball.

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In a season, he caught 22 doubleheaders.

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Ken, we're around the same age.

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Let's be honest.

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I mean, they they catch a double header now, they're off for three days.

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I mean, they're bringing in catchers after six innings and going, it's really hot outside today.

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We're gonna have to, we, you know, we're worried about heat prostration.

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And I'm going, it's a it's a different game now.

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Um, he did so much for the community.

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Um, he did so much for baseball.

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For someone to be an ambassador of baseball, he did so much community work.

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Um, he would every year pay for kids to go to college.

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You know, no, no fuss, no bother, no nothing.

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Um that kind of stuff.

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I don't think we see it now.

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And we don't see, when I say the humbleness, just somebody who went and did his job really, really, really well.

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And and just goes about it.

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That's all.

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And so he's such a such an incredible, incredible, incredible human being.

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His daughter Lindsay has done a tremendous job keeping his legacy up, but most important with the museum and everything, you know, doing her best to put him in the forefront of just how great a ball player he was.

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I mean, anytime you look on YouTube or anything, coaches our age, you know, I know it's nice when they come with the statistics and the sheet and the miles per hour.

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You and I can sit at a ball practice and within five minutes we know who's playing ball and who isn't.

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It's the eye test.

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And that just that just comes because we've been hanging around baseball fields and standing around baseball, baseball benches for 40 years.

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Um, you know, he passes the eye test.

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He is, you know, I believe he is the greatest player that ever played after Ted Williams.

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Really?

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Had some that's uh and you know, he also was on a team that was just loaded with just great baseball players.

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Well, no, but that's that's that's the point.

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Like, you know, you led the team in RBI seven years in a row, and Dimashio was your teammate, Mantle was your teammate.

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I mean, think about that.

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Just just the actual numbers.

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And you know, you're playing the hardest position in the game.

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I mean, he played one game in his career at third base.

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One.

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That's it.

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That's it.

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You know, you you think about that.

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Um, you look at his Navy service, you look at his service to the country, um, the entire war bond program that, you know, we talk about the Hollywood movie stars.

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The first person who did war bonds in the United States was Yogi Bear.

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That was the first print ed for war bonds, was Yogi Bear.

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And remember, Americans, I may be off on my numbers now, but I mean, they bought, you know, basically$11 billion worth of war bonds when most people were making$25 a week.

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You know, think about those numbers.

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Talk about having influence.

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Holy cow, that's amazing.

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Well, it's just it's it's just so so often.

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But even if you go back to when little you know, Yogi was playing in Little League, you know, they they lost the championship to another team, California team.

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The captain of that California team was Gene Mock.

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And you think about that now, because you know, most people, you know, I think you said you were in New York.

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I mean, I can still post something about Philadelphia.

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And, you know, 51 years later, 51 years, Ken, I'll get 16 responses going, I haven't forgotten 1964, I haven't forgotten the collapse of 1964.

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I'm going, 51 years, guys.

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Give it up now.

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I'll never forget what Gene Mach did.

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Gene Mock was an incredibly, incredibly talented ball player.

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I mean, incredibly talented.

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Well, you can be found on X, and that's that's where I found you at Jim from Baseball, where you have over 28,000 followers.

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And I I gotta ask, how did you come up with the idea for the content that you put out on X?

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Because it is incredible, and I I like it every time I see one of your one of the I appreciate that, Ken, but it started very humbly, and I have to tell you, um, I was coaching a 16U team, and I tend to use a lot of parables and stories.

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And I can remember talking to the team about Bob Gibson, Yogi Bear, Elson Howard, uh, Sandy Koufax.

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And I had all these boys looking at me, going, what's he talking about?

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And that that went on for a little while.

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And my son finally, driving home from uh practice or a game, said, Dad, you're the only one who knows anything about black and white baseball.

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You're gonna have to explain it.

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And he says, Why don't you why don't you put a page up on X and talk about baseball?

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And I said, Nick, no one's gonna listen to me.

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And he says, Dad, you know a lot.

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Um, and he, my son was always fascinated.

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I live in St.

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Catharines, Ontario.

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And so when we talk about the Negro Leagues, um, my house where I'm sitting right now is 300 yards from Lake Ontario, 300 yards from the Well and Canal.

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This is the termination point of the Underground Railroad.

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And so in 1870, you know, basically 150 years ago, after the Civil War, in the 1870 census in St.

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Catharines, there was 175,000 black people.

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Uh, Harriet Tubman's church is two blocks from me.

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Harriet Tubman's house is a block and a half from me.

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And so that whole rich history of the Negro leagues, you know, kids don't know anything about, and I mean, really don't know anything about.

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And then the history of the game.

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Um, I'm not being critical, but MLB is just selling a brand.

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You know, the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees, the New York Mets.

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But we don't sell the players anymore.

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It's almost like every team has one player that does get some recognition.

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Everyone else, we don't really know a lot about.

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And yet this game was built on the players.

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Um, you know, when I hear somebody say, you know, Oton is the Otani's the greatest player ever, I'll grant you he's pretty good.

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I'm a long way from saying he's the greatest player that ever played.

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There's a lot of a lot of baseball still to see before he's the greatest player he ever played.

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But just even talking about the great players through history.

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Um I don't know who to use, Earl Coombs from Kentucky.

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Earl Coombs from Kentucky was a very simple farm boy, played baseball very well.

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Uh hit fifth, 1927 Yankees, greatest team in professional baseball outside of the 1932 Pittsburgh Monarchs.

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Um, tremendous player in 1932.

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He chased down a fly ball, hit the wall, broke his jaw, broke his shoulder, broke his sternum, and retired.

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Um, went back to Kentucky, opened a small grocery store, and was living his life.

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In 1934, a delegation of the Yankees, all of them, including the owner, Mr.

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Rupert, ended up driving to that small community in Kentucky and asked Earl to come to coach.

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And Earl said, That's great.

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I appreciate it.

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You didn't have to drive all here.

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I don't want to, not interested.

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So they left.

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A month later, whole gang of them, including Mr.

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Rupert, come back again.

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Earl, we really, really need you to coach.

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I don't want to coach.

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I don't like, you know, I just want to do it.

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They said, Well, you know, we weren't being honest with you.

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We don't want you to coach.

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We just want you to coach one player.

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And all you have to do is work with him.

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And we'll pay you like a coach and we'll make it worthwhile, and we'll make a planar available for you to go home and everything.

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But all we want you to do is come for one year and teach this kid how to play in the MLB.

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And he says, Okay, who's the rookie?

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And they said, Joe DiMaggio.

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And so Earl Coombs spent two years tutoring Joe DiMaggio on how to play center field and how to hit baseball.

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And yet, if you mentioned that to somebody, they'd look at you and go, What?

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But, you know, we see, when I say we, we as coaches see incredibly talent kids, you know, through high school, through college, into the MLB.

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And I've always said, you know, if they're coaching or they're getting coaching, um, can you show me where it is?

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Because, you know, it's disappointing at times.

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For me, the hardest thing is whenever I see, you know, a young pitcher and someone says, Well, he's only got two pitches.

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Um, how long have you been playing baseball?

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How could they not teach you a third pitch before you reach the MLB?

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Like, you know, did not someone say to you, you know, you're gonna, you know, you're awfully good, but you know, you're gonna need a third pitch.

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Yes, can can we not can we work on a third?

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And literally, I mean, every year you'll see it.

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Well, you know, he's you know, spring training.

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Well, he's working on his third pitch, and I'm going, you should have been working on that pitch when you're 14 years old.

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This isn't the place to learn.

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This isn't this isn't where you learn to pitch.

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Yeah.

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Well, you know, you speaking of the the Negro leagues, two of my uh you know all-time favorite players is uh you know, Jackie Robinson and Satchel Page.

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And um talk about what Jackie went through to to get to where he became such a great player and the unbelievable confidence of Satchel Page and his durability to go for so long.

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Well, the Jackie Robinson thing for me is kind of unique.

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I'm just working on a project with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Um, I do a lot of tournaments at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Um, we don't realize that you know, mixed baseball in Canada um was being played as early as 1928.

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And so a lot of the Negro League stars, because their seasons were short, they played all year round.

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Um, in the 30s, Willie Wells, all of those people played in Montreal, and so were fully accepted and everything else.

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So when Jackie Robinson left the black barons in Birmingham and came to Montreal, there was no prejudice.

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We'd already had 20 years of black baseball players.

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He was just another baseball player, and he was he was welcomed so much just because he was so good.

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And it was it was easier for him, but the problem was then he ended up, you know, going to a major, major, major market.

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I mean, he didn't start playing baseball in Kansas City, he started playing baseball in New York.

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And, you know, the the problems with the other teams, you know, the problems with the other players.

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I just spoke to somebody and they confirmed when I mentioned it to them.

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I mean, Jackie played first base.

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Well, nine out of ten guys going down to first base would spike them as they went by first base if they were out.

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Um, you know, beanballs, which, you know, when we talk beanballs today, I mean, beanballs were part of the game then.

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I mean, you know, that's that's that's part of the game we don't see.

00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:53.679
These guys weren't all wearing, you know, huge batting helmets and chin straps and and mouth guards and everything else.

00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:54.080
Yeah.

00:16:54.399 --> 00:17:06.160
And so, and he overcame so much and did so much that, you know, I think, you know, there's no one that deserves more respect in baseball.

00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:12.559
You know, where it's broken down now is we see our numbers of black players.

00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:20.240
I wonder if they're still getting the same opportunities and if they're still getting the same opportunities at a young age.

00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:31.839
There's very few, and you said you coached high school, it's very hard to take a 12, 13, 14-year-old boy and start teaching him how to play baseball if the other boys have been playing six or seven years.

00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.640
That's that's that's a monumental task.

00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:43.119
Um, I was gonna add to it that the player better than Jackie Robinson, better, was Oscar.

00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:45.039
Oscar Charleston.

00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:53.200
Oscar Charleston uh lied about his age, signed up in World War II for the army, and was shipped to Guam.

00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:55.519
He was 15 years old.

00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.400
He'd never played baseball in his life.

00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:05.200
Uh his squad mate was Bullet Rogan, the great catcher.

00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.839
And whether you talk to Buck O'Neill, whether you talk to Mr.

00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:18.720
Kendrick at the Negro League Baseball Museum, Oscar Charleston was the greatest center fielder of color ever to play.

00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:28.000
Bill James, in his his ratings of the hundred greatest baseball player, has Oscar Charlson at four.

00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:30.880
Wow, I had never I had never heard that before.

00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:37.039
That's and this is well, no, but this is a boy that never played baseball to, you know, I mean, he was 15 in the army in Guam.

00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:39.359
First time he ever picked up a baseball.

00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:41.279
That's just astounding.

00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:43.200
And what about Satchel Page?

00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:51.519
Well, Satchel, it's it's it's it's it's such a wonderful story, but you have to understand, I always say it's the lessons you learn at kids.

00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:56.960
At 11, Satchel was put in a reform school, basically prison that still exists today.

00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:58.240
It's in Alabama.

00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:04.079
And the people he worked with were baseball people.

00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.480
So the guards were baseball people.

00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:09.599
The coach of the baseball team was a baseball guy.

00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:17.200
So to put it in today's terms, he would have been a high college draft point when he came out of prison at 17.

00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:20.160
But he just didn't have the opportunities.

00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:39.039
And so, you know, when you look at, you know, Gus Greenley, who owned the Pittsburgh Monarchs, when you look at all of these people, you know, his talent, his ability, if he had been allowed to play, um would have been incredible.

00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:44.160
I mean, today I posted the story about Ted Double Duty Ratcliffe.

00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.119
He caught 4,000 games.

00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:49.599
He pitched in 3,000 games.

00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:59.440
It was nothing, it was nothing for Patchel, uh Satchel to pitch a one nothing shutout in the first game of a doubleheader, and he'd be the catcher.

00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:06.880
And he'd go out and Ted Radcliffe would go out and pitch a two-hitter in the second game after catching the first game.

00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:08.319
Oh my God.

00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:12.400
You know, and you think, and and there are people who text me regularly.

00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:18.240
I block a lot of them, but you know, they talk about, well, no, it wasn't the same competition, wasn't this, wasn't that.

00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:29.039
I would, I would, you know, that's why I said earlier, I think the 32 Pittsburgh Monarchs, um, no, sorry, Kansas City Monarchs, were were a better team than the 27 Yankees.

00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:33.920
You know, when I look at the Homestead Grays, I think they were just as good as the Yankees.

00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:38.079
You know, and if they had ever played together, that would have been something.

00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:44.960
The other thing that, you know, we don't teach in the Negro leagues is it was the minor leagues.

00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:50.880
Once we integrated MLB, I mean, do you see the quality of players that came in?

00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:55.200
Larry Doby, Jackie Robinson, Don Bankhead.

00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:58.880
I mean, we could do a whole podcast on Roy Campanella.

00:20:59.119 --> 00:20:59.759
Yeah.

00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:11.920
I mean, remember, Roy Campanella was a 26-year-old rookie, won three MVPs, and was out of the game at 35 with a car accident.

00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:12.880
Yeah.

00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:16.640
You want to show me someone today that you can say you could do could do that?

00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:21.039
Like he was a 26-year-old rookie.

00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:21.759
Okay.

00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:29.279
I mean, I was looking at the the draft lists and some of the some of the team makeups for next year.

00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:34.000
And I mean, they've got guys coming up to pitch that they drafted a year and a half ago.

00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:38.880
Are you sure their body's ready to pitch MLB after a year and a half out of college?

00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:41.920
I I just I just I want to I want to see that.

00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:42.880
I want to see.

00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:44.799
I just posted last week, Dr.

00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:55.039
James Andrews, you know, the great physician, you know, the basically invented, you know, orthopedic surgery for athletics, you know, operated on everybody.

00:21:55.279 --> 00:22:01.200
He said that the ACL ligament doesn't mature until you're 26 years old.

00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:07.119
And there's tons of just from youth baseball all the way up.

00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:12.880
That's Tommy John surgery, it's just crazy how crazy it is.

00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:19.519
Well, we have here in Ontario baseball, um, we have pitch counts and we have very strict pitch counts.

00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:23.359
And so, you know, I think that's made a huge difference here.

00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:25.200
Um, we have simple rules.

00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:27.599
I mean, you can't pitch three days in a row, period.

00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:29.440
Not number of pitches.

00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:30.960
You just can't pitch three days in a row.

00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.640
So if you go to a tournament, you can't pitch Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:37.279
Um, my son played elite baseball.

00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:43.519
Um, so we traveled all over America playing, you know, some of the amazing teams.

00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:55.839
And you know them all, you know, the East Cobb Yankees out of Georgia, where you know, they all got off, they all got off at 15U, they all got off the bus, and I'm six foot two, and there wasn't a kid on the team smaller than me.

00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:58.559
And I'm going, are you sure this is the 15U team?

00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:00.640
Are you sure this is the 15U team?

00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:02.880
Because geez, they're all bigger than me.

00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:03.680
Yeah.

00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:23.359
So, but you know, Satchel, all all the history of the Negro Leagues, you know, we should do a better job teaching it, but we don't, you know, and again, I I blame, I blame, we give it some lip service, but you know, we're so b busy selling, selling, selling the brand, selling tickets, selling shirts, selling.

00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:38.720
I had a a very nice phone call from a friend in Philadelphia last night, and I I can't see how you say this correct 100% correctly, but my understanding is is now if you want to watch every game of the Phillies, you have to buy three different services.

00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:44.880
So, you know, you're sitting there going, you know, how much money are we gonna spend watching baseball?

00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:45.440
Yes.

00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:53.200
Um, I still have never forgiven them because here in Canada, um, I have MLB TV, obviously.

00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:56.640
I can't watch the Blue Jays on MLB TV because it's blacked out.

00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:57.599
Oh my.

00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:04.559
So I have to buy buy two services to watch the Blue Jays, but if I want to watch another baseball game, I have to have MLB TV.

00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:10.000
And I'm going, you know, guys, you know, do you remember, do you remember the future of this game is kids?

00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:12.079
It's not corporate money, it's kids.

00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:21.759
You know, I'm a big Cleveland fan, and uh you know, living here in Ohio, and it just drives me crazy when I want to watch a Cleveland game.

00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:24.480
But uh money runs everything.

00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:26.799
Let me move on to uh Ted Williams.

00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:30.160
He's known as the probably, if not the greatest hitter of all time.

00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:41.839
I don't know who else would be there, but uh talk about what he did before and after being a marine fighter pilot in both World War II and Korea.

00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:45.039
Well, he he is the greatest hitter ever, Mr.

00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:45.680
Carpenter.

00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:46.960
I have to tell you, he is.

00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:57.200
I know some of my friends and some of my followers will talk about Ty Cobb, and I am in no way degenerate degenerating Ty Cobb, but Ted Williams is the best ever.

00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:04.880
Um his ability was just just unnatural, his eyesight was unnatural.

00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:17.200
Um, his his devotion to the game, his practice regimen, and again, he was he was basically you know tutored by Jimmy Fox.

00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:25.920
I mean, when Ted came to the Red Sox the first time, Jimmy Fox was there, and that's who taught Ted Williams the game.

00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:34.400
Yes, and he always had those people around, um, served his country tremendously.

00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.680
I mean, and no way again, calling anyone down.

00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:41.119
A lot of guys served their country and played baseball in Hawaii.

00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:46.960
Ted Williams served his country in an airplane and almost lost his life a number of times.

00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:48.240
Came back.

00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:52.319
Um, I think everyone knows there was an issue with the media.

00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:54.640
He didn't suffer fools easily.

00:25:54.880 --> 00:26:01.920
Um, you know, just basically lost two, if not three, MVP awards, because he should have had four, if not five.

00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:06.480
Um, and then went to serve in Korea again and came back.

00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:12.799
And I don't have it right in front of me, but I believe he hit 355 at 38 years old.

00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:22.160
You know, think about those kind of numbers, you know, and I know everyone today there, everyone's talking about, oh my God, Jim, the pitching is so much better today.

00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:23.279
Are you sure?

00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:24.640
Are you really sure?

00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:37.759
Can you really convince me that the starting four or five on on all of the MLB teams are better than those starting pitchers when they had Whitey Fort, when they had you know Drysdale and Koufax?

00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:40.400
You know, is that give your team really have that?

00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:41.920
Because you got to show me in the numbers.

00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:42.799
I don't see it.

00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:56.640
Yes, I and the thing is, is they you know, he was he was so good that uh, you know, I just I I wonder, you know, how he was able to do that at that age.

00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:08.640
And you watch an MLB game at this time, you know, I get frustrated watching the Indians when you got one one guy, you know, you got Jose Ramirez hitting over 250.

00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:27.839
Yeah, it's like well, no, but that's that's why I said, I mean, you have to, yeah, it's it's a different game today, but you know, the the the quality of the players, you know, any of these teams, you know, I argue with my son occasionally, you know, pick a team that, you know, your team, any in history, I'll pick mine.

00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:34.319
But you know, the top four guys hitting on my team, they're gonna kick the snot of you guys.

00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:37.440
You know, I understand the Dodgers have a good team.

00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:40.799
Here, let me let me talk to you about the starting Yankee teams.

00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:43.200
Let me start, you know, you mentioned Cleveland.

00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:49.440
I mean, in 1946, when they had Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, all of those guys.

00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:51.200
I mean, you couldn't beat them.

00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:53.440
They won 106 games.

00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:55.839
Yeah, they were good, that's for sure.

00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:59.200
Yeah, well, no, but but who's won who's gonna win 106 games now?

00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:15.119
And don't tell me the Dodgers, because you know, we're looking at, you know, I I again I'm loath to criticize anybody, but you look at some of the quality of the teams in the MLB, and I'm thinking, I was watching games this year, especially this past summer.

00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:22.319
You know, like a good college team would give them a run for money, really would give, and then you suddenly realize that's that's the quality of the team.

00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:24.960
You know, they they just, you know, and that's it.

00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:30.240
But you know, we have MLD teams, you know, losing a hundred games regularly.

00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:32.079
Guys, that's not an MLB team.

00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:33.519
Guys, you got to do something here.

00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:40.160
But they're they're still making, as you said, they're still making money, and you know, people are still showing up for the love of the game.

00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.799
I mean, I love going to baseball games.

00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:48.480
I can I can I can run a kids' tournament and sit there and watch eight games in a day.

00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:49.680
I don't get tired.

00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:50.480
I love it.

00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:51.279
I absolutely love it.

00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:52.640
Well, I love watching baseball.

00:28:52.799 --> 00:29:18.559
But you know, when you're when you're looking at, you know,$60 parking, when you're looking at$250 in tickets, when you're looking at, you know, hot dog and a drink for$21, when you're looking at$18 for a can of beer, and I'm going, you know, you know, maybe I will buy that, buy that streaming service and watch in my living room because I'm not paying$18 a can for a beer in my living room.

00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:21.039
That's for sure.

00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:29.119
Well, I I wanted to ask you about the all-time greatest bass dealer, Ricky Henderson.

00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:32.720
And there are just so many great stories told about him.

00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:34.480
What do you remember about him?

00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:41.119
Well, again, you know, I've posted a number of times about um the little girl in Oakland.

00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:46.240
He was he was relentless in serving his community.

00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:50.400
He was relentless with serving his kids, and we never hear about it.

00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:54.960
Um as you said, the greatest bass stealer ever.

00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:57.680
Um, always spoke in the third person.

00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:03.519
And with just a just a treat, just a treat, just a treat, just a treat.

00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:10.480
Um basically was tutored by Tom Treblehorn in the minor leagues.

00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:14.000
Um, but again, it was a different kind of baseball.

00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:16.000
Um, there's a box score.

00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:18.960
Um, I think it was Modesto.

00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:27.759
Ricky Henderson and Tom Treblehorn was a coach, but the total team stole 18 bases in one game.

00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:30.799
You and I have coached for how many years?

00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:38.799
When was the last time you know you had the Steels sign on three times a game, four times a game.

00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:43.680
Unless you knew the catcher was incredibly weak, how often do you do it?

00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:45.920
Because you don't want it, you don't want to give an out away.

00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:48.160
You know, you really don't want to give an out away.

00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:50.880
And we don't we don't play that kind of baseball anymore.

00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:59.440
You know, that's that's you know, that that that bunting baseball, what I call, you know, the the you know, let's go through the lineup, everyone hits.

00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:13.839
Whereas now, I mean, if if if you know you've seen as many games as me, I watch 16-year-old boys that their swing starts, and I mean, you can go for a coffee, come back, and it's so long, it isn't finished when you come back and sit down.

00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:15.119
I mean, that's swinging.

00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:17.920
I'm going, you're gonna shorten that swing up just a little bit.

00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:20.960
Oh no, no, this is where my power is coming from.

00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:25.279
My goodness, you're gonna have to start swinging before the guy comes in from the bullpen.

00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:26.880
What the heck are you doing out there?

00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:27.759
Yes.

00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:40.079
Well, I I there are so many great players over the years that uh and and just by fall on you on your Twitter site, it's uh it's amazing.

00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:43.839
And and if you get a chance, it's at Jim from Baseball.

00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:57.839
You have to check it out because they're you share stories that nobody has ever heard of, and it's just so good to bring back that type of uh memory.

00:31:58.160 --> 00:31:58.640
Love of the game.

00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:00.160
Level of the game.

00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:01.440
We love the game, Mr.

00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:02.079
Carpenter.

00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:04.000
You love the game, you know what I mean?

00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:11.839
We'll get to you know, the last you know, unfortunately, the last week of our life at whatever age, and someone will say, Was there anything you want to do?

00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:14.079
Yeah, let's go to a ball game.

00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:18.400
Uh, yeah, let's let's uh I was running a tournament this year.

00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:27.759
I don't want to get into Canadian geography too much, but I was running it at the Hall of Fame, and one of the boys, his grandparents had never seen him play baseball.

00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:29.759
And so he was only nine.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:37.279
They drove 23 hours from Winnipeg to see their grandson play baseball.

00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:40.880
Both of them were 84 years old.

00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:46.400
And I just shook their hands and I actually said, How long did it take you to get here?

00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:51.839
And the old boy said, Well, you know, Jim, we drove all day and we drove all night.

00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:56.240
Then we then we stopped and had a nap and a meal, but then we drove all day again.

00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:59.759
Then we looked at each other and said, Still seven more hours, eh?

00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:01.599
So then we had another.

00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:05.279
But that kind of love for baseball, Mr.

00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:06.559
Carpenter, and we share it.

00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:09.119