Tim Kurkjian
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
You won all the sounds. We won.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Well, I met Nickelback on an airplane once. The entire band was on the – and they – so I – somehow we got in a conversation with them. So I said, so who are you guys? And they said, we're Nickelback. And there was absolutely – No understanding on my part. And I said, honestly, this is so bad. I'm so embarrassed. It's not that bad. It's all right. I said, what is that?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
And he said, oh, we're a musical band or a group or whatever they called it. So I was sitting with Nickelback. They explained who they were, and I didn't know who they were. That's how bad poor Pop-Pop is at so many things.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Pop-Pop, that's fine.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
We have a segment every week, Dan, called Poor Pop-Up, because we go over something that everyone else in the world is capable of doing, except for me. And then Jeffrey, who is a magician at doing so many things. He can fix anything. He can figure everything out. He explains how the world works in our weekly segment called Poor Pop-Up, where I just explain what a dope I really am.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Stu Gatz, have you heard from your guy yet? I have not, no.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Well, I'm sure I accepted a pen. But back in the newspaper days, Dan, when I covered the Texas Rangers, they, of course, used to feed us in the press room every night. And it was for free because back then in the early 80s, the press room didn't charge as they do today. But my boss, Dave Smith, the guy who made me send the satchel back to the Memorial Golf Tournament,
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
He made it very clear to the Rangers early on that we are not going to eat free in your press room. And he sent them like a $500 check so the beat writer, me, could eat for the season in the press room at Arlington Stadium. And then we had this discussion. Oh, my God. My sports editor and Doug Rader and I, Doug Rader was the manager of the Rangers in 1983.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Dave Smith came down to meet him and Doug Rader said, if we win the World Series this year, Tim will get a World Series ring because he's the big guy. To which my boss, not recognizing how Doug Rader was just pulling a string, they got in this huge argument whether I should get a World Series ring or not.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Needless to say, they didn't win the World Series, but if they had, I promise you, I would not have gotten or accepted a World Series ring.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Timmy, you're wearing a beautiful, and we all noticed it, by the way, a beautiful Walter Johnson jacket. I'm wondering, did he hand that to you personally?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
You guys, as you may not know, Walter Johnson died on December 10th, 1946. I was born. I was born.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Well, if you would let me finish, he died on December 10th, 1946. I was born on December 10th, 1956. Ten years to the day after Walter Johnson died, I was born. How can you forget that when you go to Walter Johnson High School, you work for the school paper.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
All right. I have never been angry at you even one time, Dan. And you have asked me some of the dumbest questions in the history of radio. And I still have never gotten mad at you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
When did Rusty Staub die? Oh, no. I believe Rusty Staub. I know this. Rusty Staub died on opening day when the Marlins played on opening day. And... Happ hit a home run on the first pitch of the game.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
No, I believe this. I believe Rusty Staub died that day. He did. Because we were talking about, you know, first pitch of the Marlins season is hit for a home run by Happ of the Cubs. Everyone knows that. And then we went through. And Rusty Staab, you know, hit a home run as a teenager and a home run as a 40-year-old. And he was the second guy to do that. Ty Cobb was the first.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
And they once asked Gene Mauck, the manager of the Expos, when Rusty Staab was a star there. Gene Mauck, who was a pretty funny, quiet guy, he said he has Boku power. And I knew what that meant even before I knew what the word Boku meant. So... I'm pretty sure that's the day that Rusty Staub died. Opening day, the Marlins, and first pitch home run. Tell us something we don't know.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
That's valuable, man.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Let the guy make the call, huh? Swallowed, Billy.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Oh, wow. Yeah, well, this is what we do on our podcast. I challenge my son, Jeff, again, not a baseball aficionado like his dopey dad. I said, Jeff, look at the starting pitching matchups today and tell me what you notice. And he looked and looked and looked and came up with the starting pitching matchup today was Gore May. So he found it. I was so proud of him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
And I told him, you know, the day you got married, the day you had a baby, I was so proud of you. But today might be the most proud I've ever been because you found Gore and May and put them together. Yes, I look at all the starting pitching matchups. There's no telling what you might see. Of course, Yvonne Nova faced Matt Cain several years ago. the Nova Cane matchup.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I would say Tim Kirchhen is probably at the top gold medalist in terms of guests that our fans love the most. I would say it's Kirchhen, Stan Van Gundy, and Ron McGill. I mean, this is an exciting day, Dan. We're talking baseball with Timmy Kirchhen.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
That was always one of my favorites. And Chad Moeller, the only thing that baseball ever lets us down on, Chad Moeller, former catcher, if he had caught in that game, it would have been the greatest pitching matchup battery in the history of the sport, that Chad Moeller was the catcher for the Nova Cane game. I love it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Yeah, look at him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I would go with Dan, probably. Same, yeah. Every time on that. I know Stugatz has his ways of doing things. He got me to write something for his book. It didn't take long. You were great. But I think Dan is very persuasive because his use of the English language is absolutely breathtaking. And I'm not kidding.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
And I just think sometimes if you use the proper words and you're really good with the language, you can get people to do what you want to do. And Dan is not only better than Stugatz, Dan is better than just about everyone. But Stugatz should still try, though, right? Oh, of course. Stugatz is always going to try.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I think that's fairly obvious. Thank you, Timmy. Not always, but thank you, Timmy. I appreciate it. Timmy, if you tell me to shut up on this, I will. Joe Mauer is not a first ballot Hall of Famer. I mean, he's not, Timmy.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
All right, Sugata, I understand your point. To me, you're either a Hall of Famer or you're not. It doesn't matter if you're a first ballot or not. So if you think he's a Hall of Famer, you should put him in on the first ballot. That's just the way that I think about it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Stugatz, you look at the first eight years, ten years as a catcher for Joe Maurer, there's really no comparable other than Mike Piazza, who's the greatest hitting catcher of all time. Johnny Bench is the greatest catcher. Yogi Berra is the second greatest catcher.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
But Joe Maurer did things that no catcher has ever done in the history of the sport when it comes to winning batting titles, all that stuff. So that's why I think he's a first ballot Hall of Famer. But again... I don't include first ballot. If he's a Hall of Famer, he's getting my vote. I don't care if it's the first ballot or the 10th. Wait a minute, though.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
All right. I have some skills when it comes to that. Those are my only skills. But I'm telling you, Dan, it's a baseball thing. We have another segment on our show called I Am a Seam Head. The first guy who came on, Mark Simon, can tell you who made the last out of to end every World Series for the last 70 years.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
The second guy was Judd Burch, who can name every umpire in the major leagues based on the uniform number on their jersey, which we didn't even know they had a uniform number. Then we had on Jeff Bennett, formerly of ESPN, who can tell you what every baseball card looks like from 1982 through 85. Front of the of the baseball card and back of the baseball card.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Birthplace, height, weight, Carly Ustremsky. I'm not making this up. And then we had a guy named Mike Pettica on last week. And you could go like this to Mike. He used to work for the Indians as an AP writer. 127 hits, 481 at bats, and in a matter of two seconds, he could figure that out in his head and give you the batting average.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
These are what seam heads can do, and I maintain they're more in baseball than any other sport. So, yes, I have strange retention of things, but on things that are really important, I can't remember anything.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I haven't even started yet. I know, but Buster grew up on a farm and he was telling me about milking cows the other day. Every time I think about that, I have to laugh.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Just a useless stuff to know. But that's kind of the point. Baseball is pointless, and that's what makes it so interesting. So just the other day, the Rays scored one run in the first inning, four runs in the second inning, nine runs in the third inning against the Red Sox. So I checked with the people who could look this up.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
It's the first time in Major League history that any team has ever scored one in the first, four in the second, nine in the third. We played 150 years. We played well over 200,000 games. And that first three line score had never happened in baseball history. It's pointless. It's useless. It's stupid. But people actually care about that stuff, including me. Tim, what's your son Jeff's birthday?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
And his daughter was born on August 10th of 1993. She came a couple hours late. Otherwise, his daughter would have been born on his birthday on the night that Michael Lorenzen was pitching a no-hitter for the Phillies. Wow.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Dad and mom were watching the Phillies on the TV in the hospital room thinking our daughter's going to be born on daddy's birthday and the night that Michael Lorenzen threw a no-hitter. We just missed out on that. What was the umpire doing home plates and jersey number? I'm not kidding you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
No, because we got in a discussion about milking a cow, and I told him I'd milked one cow in my entire life. It was a disaster at Ferguson Farm when my daughter was in the fifth grade, and I said he, meaning the cow, was not interested in giving up a lot of milk. to which Buster started to scream at me. Guy grew up on a dairy farm. I didn't even know that it was only the females that give milk.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
This Judd Burch guy, you could ask him on a random Tuesday night, no matter where you are, doesn't matter who's working second base in Texas. And he would say Adrian Johnson. I tested him on it. He can do these things. Weird people exist in baseball. And that's another reason I love it. And I'm not apologizing for it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Useless. Rusty Staub was a great cook, by the way. He used to pack his pots and pans with him on road trips. So if it was like a 10-day trip, he would get a hotel room that has like a stove and an oven, and he would take his own pots and pans and cook for himself on the road. Amazing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I think that's what my father-in-law is doing. Buck Showalter once asked me – this is so typical Buck Showalter. He looks at me one night randomly and says, give me a great player who's got a lot of freckles. That's what he said to me. And I can't even – I've never been asked this question in my life, so I just reflectively said –
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Rusty Staub, and he goes, I said a great player, not a really good player. He was angry that I guessed Rusty Staub. It was the best I could do. But imagine being asked by a former major league manager, who's the best player you've ever seen who has a lot of freckles? Wow. Didn't see it coming.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Buck is the same age as I am. I'm going to say it's late May of 1956. I'll be close on that. Can he really do this?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
May 23rd, 1956.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Well, the industry has decided that first base is no longer an important offensive position. So we take Luis Arias, who I love, but Luis Arias is not a first baseman, but they put him at first base because it's the position he can play where he can play every single day. We've gotten away from the first baseman hitting a lot of home runs and driving and runs.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Instead, we mix and match, and we go put a lot of people over there who really aren't first baseman. Plus, the days of the left-handed, it's a left-hander's position, fellas. Trust me on that. The days of John Olerud are over, where you find a left-handed thrower who can hit, really play defense, and drive in runs. We don't care about that guy anymore at first base. The average...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
The batting average for first baseman last year was the lowest since 1900. And the OPS was the lowest since 1968. And it's because the industry no longer values what a first baseman can bring, big time power. But they look, and with all the shifting, we need a really quick guy over there. We need somebody who can cover a lot of ground. And that's why Pete Alonzo took
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Did you guys know that? Of course we did. Male cows are bulls.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
all this time to just get a job because they looked at the body type, doesn't run very well, not a very good defensive player, only got a two-year deal, and he's off to a great start, by the way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Ha ha! Oh, God. We have Mel. Get this. We have Mel on our podcast next week on the day before the draft to talk to him about baseball. The best Mel Kiper, Dan, looks like, you remember, he looks what? Like the eagle who protects the young eagles. I'm pretty close on that. The protective eagle, Mel Kiper. How great is that?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I have not, and that's a fact. I get everything cooked really all the way through. A couple times, steak was a little bit rare, but I just said, it's not important, I'll eat it anyway. So no, I've never sent anything back at a restaurant. Tim, have you ever played Domino's? I have. I wasn't very good at them, but I played Domino's.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I don't even know what that is, but I've only had two cups of coffee in my life. So if that has anything to do with coffee and both of them were on the radio because Mike Greenberg was amazed during the Mike and Mike show that I'd never had a cup of coffee. So I drank one and then another three weeks later on the air just to show that I've actually had a cup of coffee. It's really pathetic.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
But as you know, I
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
drink a diet mountain dew every morning with the box scores which is great in fact dan bought me a refrigerator uh that had diet mountain dew written all over it um but i had to i had to throw it out because the motor in it was broken and it sounded like there was a lawnmower in my room yeah a gift didn't go the way i intended to i just sent him a loud he had a good run with it and he had to throw it out and it was heavy how long did you have it uh about about a year
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
But I did go to Cuba, and I had a mojito, which I'd never had before. Whoa.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Poor Pop Pop. Yeah, we have several of them this week. Thanks, Dan. See you guys. I miss you guys.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Thank you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I was just thinking about Jeff Van Gundy, too. God, he's so funny. Queen of hearts. Jeff Van Gundy. What was the first one I ever heard? Jeff Van Gundy looks like the queen of hearts. The medical examiner who does an autopsy while eating a ham sandwich. He remembers.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Yes. Yes. A Secret Service agent. I walked by him at the White House. This was years ago. He didn't say hello. He just acknowledged my presence and said, Andy Reid looks like and kind of had an ellipsis after that. And then I walked away and he said, don't mind if I do. That was the Secret Service agent. Agent! Fellas, I'm not making this up.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Every day of my life, every day, somebody comes up to me and says something about the stupid levitard show looks like. Yesterday, a guy, like, tackled me at the grocery store and just said, Adam Silver looks like the lone french fry in a bag of onion rings. And then he just, like, kept on walking. That's how you do it. This is what your show has done to my life.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Well, that's inaccurate because I know Buster very well, and he might be the first guy to get out of the car and say, you jumped in line in front of me, move out. Wow. He wouldn't do it under the steering wheel. He would go right into the guy's face. Buster is a buster on every level.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
But, Timmy, you would do it under the steering wheel, right? You would.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Yeah, I'm not sure the last time I ever did that. But yes, I've told you guys I get a little bit more impatient in a car than I should. And it worried me that I read some story once. That your personality in your car is your true personality. So that worries me a little bit because I can get a little impatient while driving a car.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I don't know. I have not. Now, I have done it by myself, probably to myself, but I don't think I've ever done that to another human being.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
he's a commissioner there are more looks like about him than anybody else ridiculous jim jim rome looks like the guy who regularly takes practice golf swings in his office
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Well, thank you. He's the producer. He's the director. He's the co-host. He's the technical advisor. He is the marketing guy. He does everything for the show. All I do is show up now three days a week and provide some content. He does everything else.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
And I told you guys, I drive from Maryland three hours to his house in Philadelphia to do the podcast, A, because it's better face to face, but B, if something goes wrong with the technology, he will be there to fix it, to repair it, whereas I, being the worst of all time at this, if anything goes wrong with my computer, I am completely lost.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I am the worst of all time at so many things, but nobody is worse at technology than me.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
With all due respect to me, he should be driving to you. I mean...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
No, no, no, no. It's not all three. We just went to three days a week. So once a week, I'm driving three hours to my son's house to make sure that the show goes properly. We have learned how to do it remotely. He set up everything in my house, so I know how to do it. But no, he should not be coming to me as a one-year-old daughter, my granddaughter.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
So there's no way we're going to make him work when I'm the one that can easily get in the car and drive.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Right. Well, I always have had a great relationship with my son, Jeff, but it's gotten way better, if that's possible, through the podcast. Now we talk about 25 times a day. Who are you going to have on as the next guest? What are the questions for this week? What's the question quandary? We go over this every day. every single day. We're taping today at 11 a.m. And I can't wait.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
It has been the highlight of my entire career. And I don't care how corny that sounds. This is something we've always wanted to do. We laugh and we learn. And the good thing is Jeff's not a big baseball fan. So he's a good baseball fan. He doesn't know a lot. because he grew up watching Whose Line Is It Anyway instead of watching every baseball game every night like his dopey pop pop.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
So he knows so much about pop culture and music and everything else. And I don't know anything except for baseball and basketball and sitcoms from the 60s. So we're a good combination.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Timmy, the Padres, the best team in baseball?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
They are today, yeah. Now, that's going to change because everything changes in baseball. But, fellas, they got six shutouts already. Their starting pitching is really good. Their offense even hasn't really gotten going. Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill is hurt. Louisa Rice hasn't gotten going yet. And they still find a way to score runs. They're really good.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
But I'm telling you, fellas, the season began and I saw the six, maybe seven best teams in baseball were all in the National League and the Padres were one of them. So they are a very dangerous team and they're not afraid of the Dodgers. The Dodgers are going to be the best team in baseball before this is over.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
But right now, I would I just did our power rankings this morning and I picked the Padres first in baseball.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Well, I had the Braves definitely go into the playoffs and I'm not giving up on the Braves yet, but they have really labored. Now they got Spencer Strider coming back today, which is a real helpful thing because he throws 100 with nasty, nasty secondary stuff. But I thought the Braves would be obviously better than this, but once they get Acuna Jr.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
back and we're not positive when, that's been the big surprise for me is how they have struggled and how good the National League West has been. I knew the Giants were better. I knew the Diamondbacks were good. Padres are good. Dodgers good. But right now that is a historically good division three weeks into the season.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Yeah, I think team-wise, but Roy, the best part about this season is just how crazy and how unpredictable it has been, which has been every year. I mean, you know, Rafael Devers went 0 for his first 21, but first 19 at-bats, he struck out 15 times. In 19 at-bats, he's a really good hitter, at least at
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
At least two dozen times I've slapped my forehead this season saying, how in the world could this have happened? I mean, right now, Tyler Soderstrom is leading the major leagues in homers. Wilmer Flores is leading the league in RBIs. Jonathan Aranda is leading the major leagues in batting average.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
This cannot happen in the NFL or the NBA that three weeks into the season, three players who are good players would be leading the entire major leagues. This is why baseball is the greatest game is it is way too good to be predicted. Good players are bad. Bad players are good. It makes absolutely no sense.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
All the time. And look, I don't want to be Mr. Ethical here, but I was taught at a very young age in the newspaper business, you do not take anything from anybody. I did a golf tournament in 1981, the Memorial, and they gave me a little notebook to take home with me that said Memorial on it. And my boss, Dave Smith, made me mail it back to the golf course saying, you
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
You don't give any of our guys anything for free. Yes, people ask me for tickets all the time, and I just have to politely say no. One guy, former pretty good player, Sandlot player, asked me if there's any way I could get him on the field, he was 55 years old, to hit and see if he could hit a ball over the wall at Fenway Park. He asked me if I could arrange that for him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I think that was the last day I spoke to him because that was the most ridiculous request ever.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Zaslow, I'll tell you what, I'm pretty certain that Timmy knows Eddie Vedder. I'm pretty certain.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
Is this a true story, Tim?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Buster Olney Looks Like… (feat. Tim Kurkjian)
I met Eddie Vedder once at the ballpark in Wrigley, but typically I wasn't sure how great he was until people told me, hey, you met Eddie Vedder. He's like the greatest of all time.