Man, those Angels. What a shitshow, amirite? Anyway. Here’s the show.

(0:00-4:20) The open

(5:00-9:45) Musical guest: MUTOID MAN. Buy “Bleeder” here.

(9:45-20:20) The emails

(21:00-50:40) The baseball things

• GODDAMNIT ANGELS
• Stanton’s hand :(
  
• #FirstPlaceAstros - CORREA and LOLberholtzer
  
• The best fans/team in baseball, the CRADNALZ
  
• It’s an odd year and the GAINTS are in the mix
  
• The DOGDERS are good because – or in spite – of Puig?
  
• Haha, the All Star Game though
  
• They changed some of the HR Derby rules, but not the one that mattered: banishing Chris Berman to the depths of the Marianna Trench
  
• Pete Rose is still a dipshit
  

(51:10-1:00:20) Musical advice: touring vs. fests, pro’s and cons

(1:00:20-1:05:52) This week’s The Old School Player of the Week is …

VICENTE ROMO

Hey, y'all! We’re back from turrrr and ready to talk about baseball. Have some!

(0:00-2:40) The open

(3:20-8:30) The musical guest: YAUTJA. Buy “Songs of Descent” here.

(8:30-27:20) The emails

(28:00-59:30) The baseball things

• We thought we’d cursed the Astros with our last PROD, but we guess we didn’t
• The TWINT are good?
• The Royals are telling PECOTA to eat it
• The A’s are a garbage fire
• Bryce Harper is a golden god … finally
• Pitchers be goopin’ their forearms
• Dan Jennings is General Manager Manager
• When will TRAID season heat up?

(1:00:00-1:09:05) Musical advice: Balancing creative endeavors and “real life” – can it be done?

(1:09:05-1:12:05) The Old School Player of the Week: DERREL THOMAS

70 grade DADGLASSES, 70 grade DADHAT, 80 grade DADLAP, 80 grade TOOTHGAP

Can we be certain that this isn’t an alias for Ron Washington? A Dave Chapelle character? A figment of our imagination?

Thomas played 15 seasons for the Astros, Padres, Giants, Dodgers, Expos, Angels and Phillies as a 2B, SS and OF. He had a career average of .249, OPS of .649, OPS+ of 84, a career WAR of 6.6. Thomas was a part of the Dodgers’ WS championship team in ‘81, holds the unique distinction of playing every position (except pitcher) in the bigs, and currently coaches at the Adrenaline Athletic Training Center in Riverside, CA.

As the title suggests, this week’s show is all about the Phillies.

(:40-2:33) The open, wherein we lay out our thesis statement

(3:06-7:20) The Musical Guest: COLISUEM. Buy “Anxiety’s Kiss” from Deathwish (physical and digital) or from Bandcamp (digital only).

(7:20-19:18) Your emails get read

(19:48-47:00) Our Human Guest: James Yasko of Astros County

(47:32-1:01:40) The Baseball Topics:

• #FirstPlaceAstros
• Roen Ronicke got douched
• R.I.P. Jeff Karstens, True Face of MLB

(1:02:22-1:08:20) The Old School Player of the Week: Felix Fermin

A Felix fer you and a Felix Fermin!

80 DADHAT, 70 CREEPSTACHE, 70 EYESTACHE, 70 DADLAP

Fermin spent 10 years in the bigs as a mostly awful MIF with the Pirates, Indians, Mariners and Cubes. Career WAR of 1.8, OPS of .608. He led the league in sacrifice hits … er … PRODUCTIVE OUTS in 1989. He’s now the manager of the Delfines de Ciudad del Carmen in the Mexican League.

That time the Yankees almost traded Mariano for Felix Fermin.

Goodbye!

Unlike our usual shows, this one is actually good! We encourage you to listen.

(0:00-3:48) The open

(4:20-8:15) The musical guest: SQUAREPUSHER. Buy “Damogen Furies” here.

(8:15-22:57) Email from around North America

(23:24-49:44) A discussion with Jess Spector of The Sporting News

(50:20-1:20:10) The baseball topics

• #FirstPlaceAstros
• The Royals want to fight everyone
• Josh Hamilton goes back to TEX, the AngLOLs are a joke
• Wainwright’s achilles, Scherzer’s thumb - THE DH ARGUMENT IS BACK! Pick a side. Or don’t.
• The Brewers are hot garbage
• Orioles and MLB making the right descisions in the face of some heavy real-life shit

(1:20:37- 1:30:05) The Old School Player of the Week: CRAIG KUSICK

70 DADGLASSES, 70 DADHAT, 70 DADLAP, 60 STACHE

Kusick, who looks like he won an invite to baseball fantasy camp, was an honest to goodness MLB player from 1973-79 with the Blue Jays and Twins. A 1B/DH, he posted a career average of .235, 105 OPS+, and 3.8 WAR. He also pitched in a game for the Blue Jays in 1980, a 24-2 loss to the California Angels, and went 3 ⅔ innings and giving up 2 ER on three hits (one of which was a bomb). If you were to see a photo of him at any point in his career, “professional athlete” would be about the 278th occupation you’d peg him as having.

Kusick is now deceased, but will remain awesome forever.

Bye!

We did that thing again!

(0:00-3:11) The open

(3:39-9:30) The musical guest: SUFJAN STEVENS. Buy “Carrie and Lowell” here.

(9:30- 31:25) Emails from Mostly Canadians

(31:53-1:01:58) The baseball blather

• ROYALS VS. A’s: Dirty slides and general chippiness
  
• Tossing dudes w/o a warning: Good? Bad?
  
• Kris Bryant’s debut: much ado about nothing, and the dawn of the new #Cubes?
  
• Adrian Gonzalez was out of his mind (until yesterday). and so is Nellie Cruz
  
• A-Rod is too, milestone clauses in his contract, (maybe) ‘roids, and that 471 ft. bomb
  
• Mike Trout is Mike Trout - fastest to 100 HR and 100 SB. Can the best player in baseball actually be underrated?
  
• The Tigers are good, The Marlins are a Small Sample Size dumpster fire
  

(1:02:24-1:16:41) Ask Two Idiots about Music. Bennett asks about the mechanics of reunions and times we’ve almost died at shows.

(1:17:11-1:24:23) THE OLD SCHOOL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: PAT SHERIDAN

60 DADHAT, 70 CREEPSTACHE, 70 DADGLASSES, 80 TOOTHGAP, 50 70’s HAIR

Sheridan was a beanpole (6’3”, 175 lbs) and played nine seasons for the Royals, Tigers and Giants as an OF with the rare “bats left, throws right” combo. He was a career .253 hitter, hit 51 HR, drove in 257 runs, and posted a 5.5 bWAR in those nine seasons. He looks like he could just as easily be a part of an Amber Alert as he could fit on the pre-Sogard evolution chart. He could also be Paul Sporer’s dad.