At Edward Jones, we believe rich is about taking care of what gives your life meaning. That's why your financial advisor personalizes your plan to help you preserve your progress and create something that lasts. Let's find your rich, Edward Jones, member SIPC. Your information may be for sale online. Yeah, I'll take four social security numbers and a maiden name.
LifeLock finds and removes exposed info from data brokers that could put your identity and finances at risk. Nine email addresses, please. And if those sites put your information back online, and a dozen phone numbers. Lifelock will remove that too. Save up to 30% your first year at LifeLock.com/slash special offer.
terms apply. The new Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer is now at McDonald's. made with freeze-dried dragon fruit. and made to lock in. The all-new energizer now at McDonald's.
Coming down in three, two, and one. When you do that, do you do coming down in three, two, And you don't say one or do you say one, Grant? Much prefer the radio, Joe. And mics on. I always I was a big fan of that.
Oh, he would do Mike's on oh yeah, he would do Mike's on? Oh my god, I almost forgot. Good morning, everybody. Welcome into the Winklerverse. I'm Bart Winkler.
Great to be with you. It is Tuesday. September one. Can you believe it's already? Grantville's is alongside.
Better call Paul Imig is here. Good to see you boys both. Um One quick thing as we get, we're going to get into brewers' cubs today. Paul's got a great brewer's question, and now we have a 17 to 3 thomping. that we can discuss.
Paul, come on. Kidding. Kidding. When MLB. Post Bears seventeen, Packers three.
You don't bow down to the NFL like that if you're Major League Baseball, right? I was trying to find a tweet for that, but I couldn't. Come up with anything. I just thought it was like. This is why you're national past your time, am I right, boys?
Oh, national past your time. Because they were the national pastime. I see what you did. But now it's National Pasture Time. If you're on the Dan Shaney YouTube stream, I've tried to spruce it up.
Um Carl's Play sponsors mm-hmm mm-mm.
So their logo's finally not covered by my screen.
So that's good. Also, here in the month of September, we want to remind you. About what the Wisconsin Bike Fed is reminding people. Guys Did you know? that crashes involving people driving.
And vulnerable users of the road are the highest in the fall months. And the early evening hours. Did you guys know that? Didn't know that. He probably didn't.
Because it gets darker. Earlier, and people aren't ready for that.
So, the Wisconsin Bike Fed and I are reminding people: driving and people biking, use your lights. As daylight hours wane. When you are operating near other users, do be aware, slow down and look around. We can all do our part to reduce low-light crashes. Being visible and predictable on the road can help everyone get to where they are going.
Safely Check out more wisconsinbikefed.org. I might uh not might, I I plan to team up with my dad. And we're going to do some bike safety videos. This would have been the time where I was going to finally exploit my son. But he's seven years old and refuses to ride a bike.
So all of his friends are biking across town to our house. One kid we know biked from Shorewood to the Art Museum. Which is like miles. of biking. Uh this kid He won't do it.
Brewers lose 17-3. Here's what happened yesterday. I was supposed to do a podcast with Carlos on Mondays. We're moving that to Wednesday. And we chatted briefly.
About the upcoming Brewers' Cub series, and he said. We're not even going to make the playoffs, Carlos being a Cubs fan.
So I thought, all right, I'm going to. Poster reel. Because I'm not it. It's an eight-game lead coming into the seven games in ten days. I'm not fired up about we gotta earn the division here.
So, I need myself to get more worked up into these games.
So, I said, all right. Going off what Carlos said. Uh Let's not just try to win the division. Let's knock the Cubs out of the playoffs. They're four and a half games up in the wild card.
Let's knock them out of the playoffs. I post that. And then immediately it's a 3-0, 6-0, 9-0, 17-3 game.
So I've got Cubs fans shitting on me. I got Brewers fans saying, kick this jerk out of the fan base. Dear. Good engagement though, I bet. Yeah, that's what I'm going for.
Twitter's changing their monetization, so I need like more. Home views.
So, if you're like, what is Bart doing lately? Is he trying to just monetize? And yes. But aggressively. aggressively Trying to get into the new Twitter And I'm like right on the cusp.
Right on the come up? I'm on a come up. I'm the cum. I'm on the cum.
Some people shorten it to just to that, right? He's on the cum. And Robert Ferguson, he's on the come. By the way, wi this is worth reiterating. Every opinion you share, even if you are.
Engagement baiting to a degree, it's a thousand percent what you think, for real. No, I don't really think like. I don't think the Brewers I didn't think they were going to beat the Cubs all seven games. But for me to get as into these games as I feel everyone else is, I feel everyone's jack, like magic number. And eight game lead.
I'm with Freemes from the other day. This division, unless we, not even unless, they're not going to. They're fine. This is a good baseball team. They're not going to blow this lead to the Cubs.
Now, even saying that, I'm like, ugh. But I need myself to get more into it. Sure. It's just like with any drug. When you're starting out Any drug, let's just say booze.
Two drinks will get you messed. when you're nineteen years old. You get a little older. Daddy needs a fifth of vodka just to open his eyes in the morning.
Okay?
So, you just drank the fifth of vodka. I am so. into sports And Love sports so much that I need. I need the highs. The highs don't hit like they used to.
Mm. If the Packers beat the Vikings week one. 30 to 10, that ain't gonna hit as high as it should. I need I need championships. I need knocking teams out of the playoffs.
Just because I've been a sports fan for 42 years, yes, even as a baby. I was a sports fan as a baby. My first words were Moliter 37 game hit streak. A full phrase right out the bat. Yeah.
It was unbelievable. I was on the news. Never seen anything like it. Never seen anything like it. You already on the come up.
I was on the come. Ha ha. As a baby. I was calm and then I was on the calm. No, don't clip that.
I won't be a part of that breakout clip. I was conceived in Houston. Paul, you had a big question for us, bud. I'm going to save it for next week. Shut up.
Okay. I've probably way overhyped it at this point. I was going to say, it's going to suck now. Anything you preview on this show becomes overhyped. I kind of want to do a Jimmy Kimmel Matt Damon situation.
It's just like it's next week. That on the show, Matt Damon. I'm sorry you ran out of time. We're already doing that on the pods cast with Infrastructure Week. But you Are actually efforting infrastructure.
Oh, I efforted. They they these bridges ain't getting built. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. And it's always like the weirdest excuse ever. I don't know.
So, the the topic is how I want to read you a couple lines here, and then I'll ask you the question. Maybe this is obvious knowledge, but the Brewers rank where right now in Major League Baseball and home runs. I'm just looking for a you either know the answer or a guesstimate. The Brewers rank what in home runs offensively. Last or second to last.
Second to last. Uh they rank where in on base percentage. offensively. Sixth. Second, Damn.
And actually, just like three one-hundredths, I think, is what it would be behind the Cubs, who now are the on-base leaders. Here's a couple of stats that I wanted to read to you to set up the question. Um teams that finished last in Major League Baseball home runs and still won the World Series. How many times do you think it's happened since 1965 1960.
Well, like, how common do you think that would be to be last in the main runs? Almost never. It's happened three times. Sixty-five Dodgers, eighty-two Cardinals. 2012 Giants.
God, what a sh God, it sucks to be a fan of this team. Of course, the 82 Cardinals did it.
Well, maybe yeah, well, yeah, maybe you're answering my question though, partially by saying what you just said. Since 2020, Every MLV champion finished in the top four. in home runs. Top four over the past Six World Series. The Brewers are 29th, but they're really high on base.
They score runs. A lot of times, home run teams don't score runs. That's my setup to say to you this. And Grant, maybe you kind of gave an indication of what you're saying that I would disagree with. I would say it like this: the fact that this brewers team was unconventional.
In the way that they score offensively, the fact that they are not your typical, you hit a three-run humber in the sixth inning of a game four, and like that's the difference. The fact that this Brewers team is unconventional. Makes their like underdog story, not just being a small market, not just being like the way that they're built and the way that they're run, but the way they score runs, which is they score a lot of runs and they don't hit home runs doing it. Makes them an even better national underdog story and a more fun local team to cheer for. Mm-hmm.
Or mm-mm.
So, chicks don't dig the long ball essentially when it comes to this. At least Milwaukee. Chicks. But even national, like again, this is an un if the brewers go far. Or Winning the World Series.
This is not how you win in the playoffs. The Brewers are not, they're not built to win in the playoffs. It's just what happened last year. Right, right. There's like a ceiling to how far you can go.
being this type of team most of the time in three out of the past 65 years, there's a ceiling to how far this type of team can go. But that fact. Makes it more fun to cheer for this brewers' team, makes them a better underdog story nationally and a more fun team locally to cheer for. I'll tell you off the bat, I came up with a question because. Undisputably for me.
Mm-hmm. I love that if they can win, it's in this. Very rare circumstance.
So, mm-hmm. For me, what Tim Shea you? I actually Would like to explore a couple of feelings I've had. Oh, please. That I've not Ever molded into an actual thought.
But Paul has set you up to do so, it seems? There's something I'm gonna say mm-hmm absolutely Because there's always been, even though it's what brought me back into baseball in 1998. I know where you're going. Where am I going? This is the counter to what the home run chase was and how steroids brought you back in.
And now, 30 years later, No, like get on base and like just You know, I'm further than that, Paul. I'm further than that. Let's go, let's hear it. I don't I don't even know that home runs should be a thing. I don't like that you can just.
Hit a ball, it goes over the fence and you're like.
Well, I guess that's up, Moran. One of the true outcomes, as they say. Like Baseball, I am just open f have just empty grass. Have the field be s eight hundred yards. And if the ball goes out 425 feet.
Your dude in right field better run his ass down and get it. And that guy needs to chug along the bases. Why do I love this?
Well, it's it's exciting to watch Plays on the bases.
Someone is running around the bases. The outfielder is chasing the ball, throwing the ball. It's exciting. That's awesome. Yes.
But not even that. I don't feel like there's anything.
Okay. I don't feel like that I feel like it's just such a different Way to score. Yeah. A home run. Versus a single, a stolen base, a sack fly.
you know, a single and then you score home. There are four bases for a reason. And the way you skip all those. Like in washers, you end the game if you get it on the box. This feels, I don't know, it's just such a different way to score.
Yeah, it's yeah. And again, this is just, these are feelings that I'm trying to mold into a thought. I don't have the take. abolish home runs. I'm not there yet.
I haven't finished my thesis. But I've always just felt like Home runs are just like I don't I don't know. Cheap, cop-out. It's not these words. It just feels like not even anticlimactic.
Is that right? Rally killers, though. Climac.
Well, I thought so. Vinny Rutino said no. He said, Yeah, you'd think they're a rally killer, but then You're down three, nothing. I mean, you're pissed. Yeah, okay, good.
That's a good point. But I do still feel like they do halt the momentum of an inning from the batter's side. I just feel like. You have the, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. There's nothing comparable to it.
I don't know.
I guess you're not right. Like a 75-yard touchdown in football. Instead of driving nine plays, 75 yards. it's it feels very home runnish, but you're still throwing the ball, catching the ball, running the ball the same way. You know, like if a home run was hit far enough where you ran around all the bases and scored, then it would feel like it's within the same so I I understand what you're saying and that there's nothing.
Is a home run as impressive? And as different enough as what it is any other kind of hit. That it deserves an automatic run. That's I love this is fun. This is, I'm loving the thought experiment.
Because if you hit the ball 367 feet, It's a point. But if you hit it 365 feet... You're out. But in a different park would have been a point. Yeah.
And if you hit it over the fence, but a guy jumps up. No point. I just, I don't know. I mean, I understand the concept: you hit the bar, the ball, so far away. that nobody can get it.
But you've got these you've got I don't okay. When Abner Doubleday created this thing. Did he think that his sport would be open? To Just the most heavy set guys Being able to rip a ball 420 off a 95 mile an hour pitch. No.
A home run was a home run because, like, well, this is so rare. It ain't going to happen that much.
So, you might as well give him a point.
Now it's not rare is what I'm saying. Yeah, right. Like I almost think triple should be worth three points No, I'm just kidding. They are I mean they are first off they are more rare than a home run. Mm-hmm.
It's just it's just again, these are thoughts. That I've not yet turned into, or feelings that I've not yet turned into a thought. But it is cooking. You might be anti-to-long ball in general. You probably like games in San Francisco or in Kansas City.
I think that's why, even if you're fine with home runs. You hated the games in Vegas because it's like just any pop fly, get over the fence. You're like, okay, well, this is dumb. This is stupid. This is dumb.
That was dumb. I agree. Um I agree. It's almost like, Bart, are you familiar with Harry Potter? Paul, you.
But when I go to a game, what do we want to see? A home run. I want to see a home run. If I don't see a home run, I leave kind of disappointed. I didn't see a home run that game.
No fireworks. No Bernie. No, Bernie needs to go down for a walk followed by a steal. Yeah. It's like we need to start using Bernie the way the Vikings use the horn.
Just after anything. Touchback. Touchback Vikings. It's like the 3-2 count, and he's on the 11th hit of the at-bat. Ernie.
Grant, say more about this. I like where you're thinking here.
Well, that's always the Quidditch thing was always like, okay, so there's this whole game going on, but if the one A-hole catches the snitch, it's like 150 points and the game ends and they win. Essentially, that's it. Right. That's like there's fantasy leagues. that will give you 100 points if your quarterback gets a tackle.
Nothing else mattered. Nothing else matters. If your quarterback gets a tackle, you get 100 points. Which means he throws an interception and then gets the tackle. Hundred points.
There's plenty of leagues like that. Paul, to your original question, I don't know that I need any additional adversity. I'm a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. If they win a World Series because every other team in baseball gets the plague and die I will find it satisfying.
So, when you're asking, does that make a World Series even more satisfying? It's not possible. I don't need any. I agree on that. I don't need any additional adversity.
I'm a Brewers fan. That's right. Like, people have said the last couple of years: you got to win one for Yuke. They don't, there's no lack of motivation here. Like, that's not what's missing from the equation.
Well, this year they'll want to win it for Yuke. They're the Brewers. They don't, they've never won anything. We're not lacking for. adversity or or motivation.
I think it's a good, compelling national story. Like, I see segments on MLB Network, which I think is like. MLB Network is what people wish ESPN still was. And I don't know if people, like, if you're not a baseball fan, you wouldn't watch MLB Network, but I wish they would just go through all the highlights and do segments. That's what they're doing every day on MLB Network.
It's great. Hold the MLB Network closely. Hold your loved ones closely. But it's a good thing. They do a lot of good segments on Mark DeRosa with the bat in his hand.
Oh, look at the Brewers. They don't hit home runs. Look at these ranking. It's a good topic. And I guess it makes them more compelling locally, but I think it's more the fact that they're.
Challenging for 100 wins again more than anything. If they were doing it winning home runs, if I have to watch a flawed team, Paul, and I've said this, if I have to watch a team that's too reliant on the home run ball and flawed because of that, Or they're not Home run heavy enough and fly. I would rather take this flawed team. It's more exciting to watch this version of a flawed team. I would prefer that.
So let's play this out a little bit. I think when you, I think even it started with David Stearns and certainly has been continued, even I think, even more so. Power hitters, high slugging, they get paid. It's hard to keep the home run. Like that's the big markets have the home runs.
Because power hitters traditionally, historically, are the ones that are the most expensive to keep.
So you have to you have to as a small market, you have to take a different path. And you have to say, okay, we need to constantly find guys that put the bat on the ball. We need guys who have speed. Like, this is the end result of a multi-year strategy. that we cannot compete.
as a home run hitting team, we have to do something different. We have to take a path of speed on base, good fielding. Like, that is. They've taken that.
Well, I guess we'll see if they've taken that as far as they can. Like, can you, and since 2020, the answer is no, be a not top four MLB home run team and still win the World Series? The answer in this Decade has been no, you cannot win the World Series and do that. I think to your point of like MLB network grant is like, if this, if the national story. Builds enough where you can start to like look at the underdog brewers and Sure.
The non-traditional aspect of how they play. I mean, there's I I think there's Juice to that if you're a if your team's been eliminated in October and you're like, I still want to watch baseball, who do I cheer for? And especially if you're a small market team fan whose team also is not a top four home run team, and your markets team can also not afford to likely have a top four home run roster because it's more expensive to build that way. Brewers seem as good of an option as any to rally around and root for, especially if it ends up being. You know, Brewers Dodgers in the NLCS and then Brewers Yankees in the world.
It's like if the situation were like, okay, you tackled one Goliath, now you get the other. Um so for me it's a more compelling Bert, I know you love to say this. What are writers, team writers, what do they root for? They root for the. Oh, they root for the story.
Root for the story. They're not Brewers fans. No. No. Um but the story here is more compelling.
Because they're taking the non-conventional approach purposely, not accidentally. They didn't like oops their way into being this type of team, which I appreciate. I appreciate a multi-year strategy coming together. And now that, but now the question is: have the brewers gone as far as they can like this? Recent years, the answer has been, yeah, like I think there's a ceiling to this.
If they can break that ceiling and go. further than they have in the postseason. That's To me, that's more fun. I mean, yes, Brewers fans don't need, great, you make all the right points. You don't need more reasons to be like, whoa, we really need a different.
But to me, I I like That coming together, if it comes together. More than I would if it's like.
Alright. We've been third and home runs for the past six years. This year, we just happened to break through with the right big hits at the right time. Like, no, it takes more than that to do. And here's the last thing I would say.
You know, more than a decade ago when I coached travel baseball. My wife always enjoyed watching those games more than Brewers' games because there was almost never a home run. The ball was always in play. Like, there was just more action to a travel, a high school travel league team than there is in Major League Baseball because the ball is always in play and players are going to make mistakes.
So there's more of the variables that make a game interesting. Major League Baseball is, I mean, especially, we're kind of out of the era of the three true outcomes. It seemed like that was going to be like how baseball was just forever played now. And it's evolved past that. And the brewers are almost like leading the charge in the post-three true outcomes.
Universe. And it's more fun to watch. It's just, I mean, it's just more, again, to your point, Bart, if the fences were now 550 feet and you had 475-foot fly outs. I kind of like the. I would be interested to see a season that had.
Endless fences, and now you had to really think. I mean, now you have to really show off your speed and your defensive flexibility and everything else. Obviously, that's not a real suggestion, but it's the idea that, like, the. The way the game is. It's just a feeling.
You haven't made a thought yet. It's just a feeling. It would be fun. It would be very fun to see. And this Brewers team would be built for that.
You know?
So it's uh anyway, so my answer is mm-hmm. Bart is mm-hmm. I think Grant is. Mm-mm. about um making it a better local Story or a a better rooting underdog, but Um This is the one I saved from last week.
I was just excited to talk about how the numbers compared. Historically, and how that makes the Brewers unique? And can they be the 2012 Royals, or will they be the 2025 Brewers and the 2024 Brewers and all the other teams that have fallen short because they couldn't hit the long ball when it mattered in October? As well. I got two thoughts to jump on that.
As you talk. Yeah, two, two, two thoughts. But as you bring up numbers, I want to remind people about 25% off. Happy place hemp. Promo code is BART.
So you go to checkout and you type BART. Don't not type BART. Type BART. 25% off. Gummies, Tinctures, Seltzers, and the like.
HappyPlaceHemp.com. Another number I want to tell you is three. As in Three feet is the law. Look at this nice graphic. Then we're going to pop in here on the Winklerverse.
When you're in a bike or a car. Three feet! Look, we both gotta do our part to be safe. Also, you know what keeps bikers safe? Not buying trucks with massive 20-feet grills.
Just drive a normal car, you psycho. I'm so ant, like, I'm anti-truck as a philosophy. Interesting. I don't think trucks should be commercial vehicles. I don't think you should.
I don't think Ford F-150s should be on the road. No. Or like Not in cities. Never had to haul something? Can you operate a trailer hitch?
If you we just got we just there is a there is a box car. In my driveway right now, a box truck. for a new headboard.
So I understand the purpose of cargo. But I don't need to be getting in My fucking huge truck where I can't even see what's in front of me for 20 feet, children.
So that I can go buy a coffee. At the At the Coffee hut. In the grocery shop.
So two things. Yeah. I thought those were the two things.
Sorry. No, no, these are back to brewers. Those are bundled. One. The Brewers, the way they're playing, Should be a compelling national story.
And it is But with a ceiling Cause they ain't going anywhere. I mean, they're not going to the World Series. They were in the NLCS last year. They were one series away. Right.
And but so that's the ceiling.
So, the ceiling is the second best team in the National League. That's a specific assumption.
Well, what are all these like. Like the bills. The bills. Oh, we love the bills. We love the bills.
We talk about the bills all year long. But there's a ceiling to the bills. Until there's not. Maybe. Oh, by the way, I do That I but I think that's part of what makes the bills compelling, is like, is this the year?
Can they break through? Go ahead, say your thing. I got a quick fantasy thing. I'm drafting in my home league. Um And it's a slow draft, so we can't all get together, God forbid.
Home league conduit or home league your family? High school league function.
Okay, because you have to do that. We can't even get an hour and a half all the same time to be on the computer at the same time. We have to do a slow draft for a reason. I know. Sad.
So I had the 12th pick.
So I'm coming around. I almost took Josh Allen at 13 because I always take Josh Allen. And quarterback throwing touchdowns are six, but he also runs. Then coming back around, I always take a quarterback early. I was going to take a Lamar.
I passed on Lamar. I was going to wait for Jordan Love. I got itchy. I was going to take Dak. I passed on Dak.
I took a guy I've never had before in fantasy. I'm not thrilled about it. Jaden Daniels.
Okay. I know. They're gonna suck. They can suck, but Jayden Daniels. As I say this selfishly for my own.
Deem. Sure. can still be good. The other brewer's thing I wanted to bring up, B-R-O-O-R-S, as I pronounce it. Brewers.
Brewers. Isn't it v I've always felt like it was v like, of course. Of course, the team we lost to in the World Series. was the St. Louis Cardinals.
The team we lost to in the World Series, we've also lost to. In the championship series. Yes. I don't know how many examples there are of this. The Astros once played the White Sox in a World Series.
They're in different divisions. Like the team we lost to in the World Series is now. A division Top two rival. Top two, not two? No, top two number two.
No one's ever said that before. Top two, yes, two. Top two, not one. Top two, not one. The St.
Louis Carter. That's just fucking that's just stupid. Yeah. And of course it's the brewers. Of course.
Brewers. Brewers. Brewer. Mm-hmm. I think.
Also When you went 17-3 and seven runs came off Andrew Vaughan. You won 10 to 3. They should do it like soccer. In soccer, if you win in penalty kicks. You tied the game 1-1.
And then you won. 5-4 on penalty kicks, but in the standings, it's 1-1. This should be: you won the game 10-3, but you had seven more runs. Wasn't that Luis Lara last week who hit his first Major League home run off of a position player? Off of a position player.
Yes. That You're Louise Lara. That sucks. Mm-hmm. Or mm-mm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. That sucks. That sucks. Like, I would not want to hit.
Like I'd be like, okay, I'm gonna like I'm gonna do something else. I don't wanna home run. My first ever career. Against a position play. I don't want that as my.
He went up there to hit righty, which is his power side, and swung out of his ass. His goal in that at-bat was: I'm hitting my first. It's not like he backed into one there. He went up to the plate thinking, I'm going to crank it.
So then it doesn't suck if it was intentional. Like, it's kind of like if the first time you disagree with his approach.
Well, right. But if the fr if you lose your virginity to a mannequin Well does that still count if There's got to be a better example. If you're on the conversation, we don't really. I don't know that we need to hash it out, but there's got to be a more accurate example.
Well, the most accurate example is a dead body. Damn. Tim? I still think uh Gosh, clever. Tim, Tim came on Sunday, fucking cooked.
Did he? And he had a bartender join me again. She was blasted. She's like, come on down, I'll serve you all night. And I don't think you will.
Okay. Okay. I think a shift change is coming whether it's on the schedule or not, man. All right. Um, any other brewers' thoughts?
Yeah, last night fucking sucked. Yeah, last night is a perfect example of how the Cubs work. Oh, the offense is the balls. Yeah, they're really good at winning 17-4. They suck balls at winning 3-2.
Like, that's how they work. How about this? If you had to guess. If you had to guess one Major League Baseball player, who likely grew up in an environment in which A Hayden Penantier would be your babysitter. That would clearly be Pete Crowe Armstrong.
Or mm-mm.
Oh. Yes. I didn't know where that was going, but once you arrived, I fully agree. Yes. Yeah.
I mean, like, that's the person. Who would be in that to that point?
Well, his mom was in Little Big League. I know, but my, like, he's. I'm sure Cubs fans love him. I'm sure if he was a Brewer, you know, hey, we cheered for Grayson Allen. Like, we've been down the path of like, I don't like that guy.
And then he's on your team. We're like, I love that guy. You know, one thing with the Brewers, we're not hobnobbing with movie stars. No. Who who did that?
Pete Crowe Armstrong. Oh, you just mean, oh, I see what you're saying. I get what you're saying. I would also like to thank Pete Crowe Armstrong for becoming a baseball star and not a folk country music. TikTok star, because that seems to be the path that everyone has taken who has famous parents in the entertainment industry.
So I prefer this. We should play for another team because he's awesome, but. Yeah. I have one more Cubs thought, and I posted this, but It does seem like a massive eight-game lead turned into a razor-thin seven-game lead. Ah.
Just, I mean, this is how you're not built for 162, Bart. You're not building it. And then Cubs fans. I saw Cubs fans posting L flags to us. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
That's not how it works. I don't care about your stupid fucking picture.
Okay. It's not allowed. Because this is the last week with no football, I'm going to end with football at the way end. But I want to do one more like tangential here. Please.
Zachary. Yeah, and show your work when you come up with the order of your questions. Thank you. I like it. It helps me explain where my thought process is coming from.
Oh, I like that. I can't tell if that's sarcastic, but I'm a dude anyway. You know what, Paul? You know what? I can't either.
You can't tell if it's sarcastic. I think it's both. It probably is both. Zach Lowe was talking on his podcast about The unwritten rule that came up in a recent Yankees-Red Sox game. And it was how in a seven to one game, Jazz Chisholm stole Third base, I think it was, when they weren't Didn't the announcer want him to die or something?
The Red Sox announcer took a very like, you broke the unwritten rule. I don't mind that the announcer, by the way, was fired up about his side. Yeah. It's okay to have. We got in this era of sports radio or whatever we're in where everyone can have an opinion except if it's if it's a if it's a real opinion.
The question is, would he feel that way if The Red Sox did it as the Red Sox broadcaster. I think that's part of it.
So here's my. Here's my question. I've always thought unwritten rules in sports or stupid They have no place. I think they're All dumb. Like seven to one.
Like last night, like you said, Andrew Vaughan gave up seven runs. Like, it's it's It's stupid. Anyway, um. Random. I'm worried is gonna go the opposite direction on this, and he's gonna throw me a curveball.
Because what I was gonna say is. Once Uh the boomer generation. And maybe Gen X, I'm not sure, but once like millennials. are the 60 and 70 year olds.
Well, unwritten rules will not exist to the extent that they do today. When millennials Are the 60 and 70?
Well, when Gen Z takes over, there just won't be baseball, ball. I mean, that's.
Well, maybe that's the other part of it. But no, I'm not just talking baseball. I'm talking unwritten rules in sports. The point is: like, unwritten rules in 25 years. will be far less customary and day-to-day in sports discussions as they are now.
Run written rules will become far less commonplace of a discussion point. Or mm-mm.
I don't. I wanted to be mm-hmm. But I'd love to get like a sense of not just you can feel it. Here's something I've always thought. How do people in their late 20s, early 40s, how do we feel about it?
I think they're dumb. Unwritten rules are dumb. Dumb. Go steal. If you go steal third base, go to third base.
If you want to stop him from going to third base, throw him out. Otherwise, shut the fuck up.
Well, that's why I thought we shouldn't abandon the shift. If you don't want him hitting over there, go put somebody over there. And then I can even say the whole zone defense, and you know, three seconds in the paint defensively. But yeah, go ahead. But we abandoned the fucking shift.
Yeah. And then we never talked about it again. No one's ever clamoring for the shift. You wouldn't, I mean, the shift is bad on base percentage. I mean, it's what you wouldn't want.
You're shortening the field, right? It's creating.
Well, if you don't like Luis Lara hitting a home run off a position player, you shouldn't like guys racking up steel stats. I just said I wouldn't want to be Louise Laura and have my first home run be that. But yeah, yeah. I was wondering too last night like Jackson Churio was going in the plate to the ninth inning. Why don't they just leave?
Just leave the game. Just quit. What's the point? I wonder the same thing. You're not coming back.
Just say like, alright, we're good. You're going up there. All he's going up there for is stats. But I mean, that's why I do think actually the stats should have an asterisk. Like, oh no, Luis Laura.
Yes, for the people in the pain attendance, he hit a home run. They saw it. It's like a play-in game in the NBA playoffs. It happened, but it's not on your statistical regular season based on the game. But when you look at this guy had 45 home runs this year, well, how many were in a game where they had already won?
How many were in a game off a position player? How many were off a guy who was just. He hit the home run and then the guy got pulled because clearly the pitcher's not up to his A game. There's just so many different ways you could dissect everybody's. Stats, but I I just don't know why you would continue to play now i think I've gotten away from, well, when this generation dies off.
I didn't phrase it like that intentionally. No, but I I I used to think, well, oh, the world will be a utopia once this generation fucking dies. Like once these people are gone Then we'll take over. But there's a lot of people in our will that are just as shitty and worse. One thing that the boomers are gonna want is The Boomer legacy to live on.
Through through unwritten rules and sports. Through their children.
So, boomers had kids not to create a family, but to make sure your family continued to suffer through boomer tendencies that they passed on to their children. Oh, my dad's going to be bummed because I hate the unwritten rules. There is no thing that'll satisfy a boomer on their deathbed more than. Promise me the next twelve years people will suffer. They'll have it worse than we did.
Promise me. Boomers. Take recycling bins. Attach them to the back of their Ford F-150s and drive around town going. Yeah.
Woo! Gen Z doesn't litter. Uh-uh. On the playground for sport. First pork.
Yeah. So yeah, unwritten rules I think it'll be less. And there's already more pushback. And also, if it's a rule, fucking write it down. Write it down.
It's seven to two? Fucking go steal a base. Absolutely. Grand of an old soul. The youngest of the batteries.
That stat needs to be nuked. Yeah. You stole a base. You literally stole a base. Yeah.
That's what you did. Right. You took a base. Without their approval. You can't steal something that's not being protected, though.
Hmm, fascinating. I know, it's pretty deep, actually, wasn't it? What if I leave my house unlocked? Leaving my house unlocked doesn't mean it's open season. But it's not breaking and entering.
I was about to say, but it's not breaking and entering. It does change the classification. Yeah. Or does it? I don't know.
We may have reached the limit of this analogy, but You know, I I don't know. I know what you're saying. Grant, you're an old soul. I have a feeling you like unwritten rules. I I like that they exist because then we can get mad about them.
Yeah. Grant's not an old soul. He just likes shitty music. I'm kidding. Yeah.
He likes to be outdoors. I can't, by the way, I can't stand Jazz Chisholm. I fucking hate that. It's nothing to do with it. He's the perfect target for a Red Sox.
And if it was some player that people universally liked. Red Sox announcer probably takes the foot off the gas a little bit, but because it was someone who's, oh, you know, like we all, we can all rally around this. Yeah, Jazz Chisholm's in the Overton window. Yes. Yeah.
And this is a safe guy to go after. And by the way, I don't know if it was which Red Sox guy it was, if it was on TV or radio who went after Jazz Chisholm. I wish I, you know, I don't need Paul Allen calling my team's games, but Brian Anderson last night, man, I know it was a blowout and they need stuff to talk about. But at one point, I'm listening and be like, I'm the. The Cubs, despite what they're saying on Chicago Sports Radio, they're having a pretty good year.
It's like, oh, yeah, those dip shits on SportsTalk Radio again. Like, yeah, Craig Council's losing to his old team again for the whatever. Oh no, I watched some of you yesterday. I wanted to bring that up. I watched you talk about that.
Yeah, Craig Council is like in his pregame media evails, like, yeah, we might get second in the division. We're not going to catch a 100-win team. Oh, shucks. You fucker, it's your former team. Like, you can't, it's not like you're losing to the Dodgers.
You didn't come, he didn't go to Chicago to resurrect a A trash franchise. He went there because he thought he could be better and win more, and he's done the opposite. And now he's like, oh, shucks, brewers are really good.
Sorry, what do you want me to do? Like, whatever. That's secondary. I like unwritten rules because I'm allowed to hate them sometimes. Because, like, you know what I mean?
Like, It's an extension of sports soccer radio. We need topics that are Stupid and dumb, and that generate all sorts of different reactions. Like Murphy benching Cooper Pratt for no reason. What a brilliant topic. Exactly.
That's something that's never, you know, Bukowski's never going to cover. Dumb subject matter like that on Lockdown Packers. He's always going to give you a list of the stats that Jordan Love was great at, and it'll be nice and neatly presented and organized, and he'll do a great job, and he'll put it out. You need the unwritten rules, so. Sports talk radio shows can take psycho 80-year-old callers who want to shit on a 20-year-old for hitting a home run off a position player.
We need that. And I think they're already getting phased out a little bit. Like, I think the sliding door moment might have been La Russa disciplining his own player with the White Sox. Like, I think that was a moment we're all going to look back in the saga of unwritten rules. I think that was a step.
But I still think they're very much a thing. you know Um like the like I contreras a couple weeks ago like took a path And touched the mound, and the pitcher was like, 'That's my mound!' and they got it like stupid stuff like that. Even Andrew Vaughn from first to second base, and he like. Legally, ran because the runner came. Yeah, what was that about?
How was that allowed? Because the runner is the base path is up to the runner. It's the run, I mean, now technically called. You can't just go run in the grass. You can take the path that is like You can leave a base path illegal, but you can also create your own.
Base path too. It it's it's gray. It's gray-ish. You know what else is weird about baseball? Like, when they.
Started baseball. They're like, well, how do we do this?
Well, I'll hit a ball.
Well, how do you get the ball? Like, how do you hit the ball? Should it be on s no The pitcher will deliver it to me. Oh, where should he stand? Oh, over there, okay.
Well, we should raise the thing a little so it's okay.
Alright. Now he's gonna throw it.
Okay, I didn't think I was gonna hit that one, so I didn't.
Well, you shouldn't just be able to do that. That's a strike. A what? Yeah, that's that's a penalty and you get three of 'em.
Okay, well how do you know where it is? I don't know, from like your shoulders to your Torce cell or something?
Well, what if I'm smaller?
Well then then the strike zone moves.
So it's different for every person? Yeah. Yeah. Sure. And how do we know if it was exact or not?
I don't know, 150 years they'll be fucked in some system. You just tap your head and then they review it. Oh. See, isn't that fucking stupid? Certainly, by the way, Paul, the umps are pretty good.
Turns out there's not a bunch of misses because these players think they are, and then, oh, I'll challenge that. It's right down the middle. It's a strike. Look at that. I find myself rooting for the umps lately.
Yes. Yes. to challenge This guy who's been doing it for 30 years, oh, he made a mistake.
Sorry, you never fucking make mistakes. You hit the ball two and a half times out of ten, you fucking joke. I think you're being a little sarcastic. I do root for the umps. I want them to be good at their job.
Sir, sir. My batting average is 237. Could we take a look at that again? Fuck you. Double fingers!
You know who agrees with this take on the Brewers? Oh. Who has never challenged a ball strike? Yeah. Andrew Vaughan.
And that's the goal. He's never challenged. Oh, I got more shit for posting Pat Murphy with his kids. I saw your viral. Take Um, retrievers hates the nuclear family.
Yeah, somehow, me not liking Kirk Herbstreet's dog is I don't like dogs.
Well, it's not, those aren't two difficult dots to fucking connect, Bart. Uh. They're very difficult. They're very difficult. Kirk Herbstreet's dog, me hating the dog, has nothing to do with the dog.
Yes, exactly. It has to do with Kirk Herb Street. and us facilitating this fantasy world that he lives in. And you know what? I've got another problem with Dan Orlovsky.
This guy Does it? You can tell it pains him. I think he's a smarter guy. But it pains him that he has to be Dan Orlovsky on television. I get that.
He just never seems... He always seems like he's struggling. I don't know guys. Mitt Stafford He's one of the best. First of all, no, he's not.
Third of all, all this ram shit is driving me nuts. Second of all, Aaron Donnell ain't gonna do shit. He's old. Isn't he only like 34? Yeah, but he's out of the game for two years.
Howie long? I would say. Siri Donald coming back to the Rams. People are acting like we never saw it coming. This is the thing we most saw coming ever in sports.
Yeah, that's true. I'm taking a break, and then his wife's tweeting.
Sorry guys, couldn't keep them. Fuck you! I'm just so tired of everything. This is why I hate LaFleur so much. Because so many people just treat the world as their playground, and we're just bid actors in it.
Oh, I can just do what I want. I'm fucking... Pat Murphy, here's my kids.
Okay. Better. two generations younger than me and no one c talks about it. Even now you're both uncomfortable. I just don't have much to add.
That's why I... He has he has grown kids as well, right? I don't know.
They're adults, I think, with their own Do you want his 31-year-old son at the press conference? I don't know if he has a 31-year-old son. You know what? Yeah, playing Game Boy up there. Yeah, yeah, with a sideways hat on and a backpack.
Let's play that out, actually. Here's the rule. It's okay to bring your kids to the press conference. If. You always bring them to the press conference as they get older.
So if you have a 28-year-old kid. They have to come. I don't care that they're eight or twenty-eight. You have to be consistent. I'm just looking for consistency.
If Pep Murphy truly wants his children up there with him, one, they do have to feign more interest. Like you're getting to sit At the podium after a brewer game. That's pretty sick. Your kid your friends see you on T V, you know? Pretty fucking sick.
You're just up there like I want more mac and cheese. Cruz one. But if they're up there at the podium I think they need to answer a question.
So I'm going to get a pass and go back. And I'm like, ah, this one's actually for your kid, Pat. Your dad, Bench Cooper Pratt. That was clearly on purpose, and he overreacted. Yes?
Let me ask you guys. Hi, son. Thanks for doing this. Hey, hey, hey, man. Here's actually honestly a good stat.
What is the brewer's record? Yeah, no problem, Steve. What is the brewer's record when the kids do come to the podium? I don't came after. I mean, I know, I saw the TV, and I'm like, oh, they lost today.
Yeah. Here's my other question. I wanted to bring this up about Cooper Pratt. Yeah, I have three minutes. Yeah.
The football ones, whatever. The Cooper Pratt benching. We were talking about like generational breakdowns. I love polling. I think it's very interesting to see how, like, no football in today's episode.
I'll throw it out the last second when Grant leaves, maybe. Um I love generational data to say, like, oh, here's how boomer generation, here's how Gen X, here's how Millennial, here's how Gen Z, et cetera. What do you think the generational breakdown was of reaction, positive reaction to Cooper Pratt being benched? I promise you that the curve line went like this about approval being the highest among boomers and then decreasingly going lower by generation. Gen Z's like, Gen Z's like, what a dick.
Millennials and Gen X are like, yeah, I could see it both ways. And boomers are like, we're not taking Dua Murphy. It feels like one of those open and shut line graphs where it goes up with generation. I just I just feel like The people who watched the play closely are like, oh, that was fucking weird. By the way, Grant, I think you follow the team.
I follow the team, Part follows the team. We both enjoy it, but you, the most close. Did he ever, was there any like a retraction or not even an apology, but like Kilborough was like, I'm so sorry I know he did. I know, but like, was there ever any second thought publicly, Grant, from Murphy? It was written.
I don't know if I don't know if I remember a direct Murphy quote. But in the post-game presser, they asked him about the play, and he's like, I don't know, I didn't get a good view at it. Then he brought up the first bunt. He clearly came into that series thinking. I gotta send a message to somebody.
And that was the opportunity. I have a problem with that. The idea is fine, the execution perhaps poor. That's his thing, right? Like, that's his specialty.
Doing shit like that.
So that's fine. And if Cooper Pratt took it well, whatever. I just find it interesting that. Who was like, what an overreaction versus who was like, way to go. Boomers love disciplines.
That's what a manager needs to do. They actually love being disciplined. This is one thing about boomers: they like being told what to do. They like rules and structure. Yeah, this is interesting.
They don't like watching kids follow rules. They are submissive as a generation. They want to follow rules because all of their dads treated them like shit. And they never heard the word love. This is good stuff.
You want to talk wrestling for five, Paul? Sure, no, that's okay. Yeah. All right. That's a wrap on Grant Bills.
It was nice to see you both. See you very soon. I look forward to catching this after the fact in podcast form. Yeah, I'm sure you do.
Well, you're going to text us after you're going to have to talk to you have to talk about what we said so in a text message so we know that you held up to your word. Correct. I'll catch it on the Dan Chaney YouTube stream when it's published this afternoon. Thank you very much. See you, Tom.
That is Grant Bills joining us. What a shithead. Yeah. Who's Grand Think he is? I just don't like him.
Giving us 51 minutes of his time for nothing. Here's my quick football one. And it's not really a topic as much as it is an observation with a built-in. What?
Okay. Um Does it? I know this is like the most stereotypical. Like, I can't believe it's already week 10. Can't believe it's already September.
But I have a sincere one that's kind of built in that same mold. Doesn't it feel like this? I'm going to give you the data that backs up the thought, but doesn't it feel like the season should start this week? Yeah. So he It's September now.
There shouldn't be a game in eight days. There should be a game in like three or four days.
Well, they started putting the preseason. There's way too much time between the last preseason game. You don't need a bye week.
Well, that hurts too. But here, just so you know, last week, last year, excuse me, September 4th.
So it would be in three days.
So it feel, so this year is starting five calendar days. Later, from September 4th to September 9th. I got all fucked up because... School in the state can't start until September. Oh, is that a rule?
Okay. So it started today. Right. On a Tuesday. Correct.
And School usually starts on a Tuesday because it usually starts after Labor Day, Labor Day, right? Which is on a Monday. But Labor Day is as late as it can be this year.
So that's been fucking me up. Also, which is which is why the NFL hasn't started. They always start after Labor Day.
So when you have the latest possible starting point. Of the NFL season, it's because Labor Day was as late. By the way, if the NFL didn't kick off on a Wednesday this year, like which it's never done before, it would be even later, obviously, September 10th and not September 9th.
So I just wanted to see if that was validated, that it's like there should be football in the next three to four days. And then I was like, no, that's just one of those lazy takes. I'm like, no. This is well, college started, but college still does get a weekend. But I see, but I never, I don't, I have no trend line to that because I don't watch college football.
Here, here's just, let me just say this: here's the. in the, would that be ascending order, but. 2025 was September 4th. September 5th, September 7th. Even going back to like 2019 was September 5th, 6th, 7th.
The latest was 2020, which was September 10th. I don't know if that started late because it was COVID football or if that was just the first Thursday after because they didn't do preseason that year, right? I don't remember. It was all a blue. We had one-year-olds, you know, I say we because you did too.
Um, all a blur, but anyway, it's starting too late. I don't like it. This week sucks. There should be football this week. I don't like it.
I know this comes up a lot. I'm not the first one to ask this. I won't be the last, but it's been coming up a lot lately in my life. It's been on the come up, specifically because of the Labor Day thing and how I've been talking about dates. Today's September 1st.
Yes. It is. Is next Friday September 4th or is next Friday September 11th? Oh, I like that. This Friday.
Is September 4th.
Next.
So if I were to say to you. I've got a thing next Friday. I would assume you meant in 10 days. Thank you. Yes, I agree.
Okay, who disputes that? Like half of the people in your life.
Now I have to pull them. What's the generational breakdown of those who would say this Friday or next Friday? I don't know.
AEW looked like a good pay-per-view. It was awesome. I didn't buy it. This is the first time. probably since CM Punk went to AEW where there's real like A W, like wrestling fans say, I think I like this more now.
About AEW. Like the well, the big, you got the new day, the new level. Mm-hmm. That was a cool moment with the tag teams. Very cool.
Um Obviously, Osprey, he was going to win all summer, but good moment. And I'm So, for a guy that likes that stuff. And again, WWE, Roman beat Drew in Scotland and. He beat Sammy in Canada and Go ahead.
Well no, I mean I don't know what's up. We shouldn't have just assumed Will Ospreay was going to win, but he was.
Well, the thing I saw that the joke, I guess, after Will Ospreay won is WWE, Kenny Omega, would have won, and Triple H would have said afterward, it's just, you know, you got to stay tuned for the story. It's just chapter one. This is a multi-chapter story. Instead of just taking the obvious crowning moment. For the guy.
In his home country, in the biggest stadium that he'll ever wrestle in. Wrestling was created to give fans these kind of moments.
So give them to them. Yes, you you you purposely build Knowing, like when they knew when they announced Wembley Stadium for this year more than a year ago. The first thing you map out is how do we get Osprey to that point to win. logically. And not just like randomly throw him in.
So then you have him win the Owen Hart Cup, and then he's the number one contender. You have Kenny Omega beat MJF, and then you have this. Dream match or dream rematch. Um but but sincerely uh That main event was incredible Um It was like you should try to. I don't know if they post it on YouTube afterward or how that works, but you should try to find it.
I think you would really like it. It's the good thing is, is like when you know the outcome or you think you know the outcome. And the match is still like Really cool. That's a win every time.
Well, here's what I want WWE to do, which they won't. They obviously Roman's the champ again. And the bloodline's a thing. Although, my boy Solo Sokoa is doing some good work. I've seen him.
He was getting clipped more and more often. I don't watch the product anymore, but I see him a lot on social. Because Jey Uso started this: that's your warning shot. Boom, boom. Oh yeah.
And then Solo started going like, whoa. Yeah. I think he did Matrix the other day. That's good. He's a good face.
So WWE has no like opponent for Roman right now. Sure. They're likely building to LA Knight, who he will fucking squash. Yeah. But in the meantime They're doing all this stuff with AAA in Mexico.
Yep.
So they had this Luchador tournament. Yep, I saw this. Yep.
And it was. Penta versus like a guy from AAA. Dragon Lee versus a guy from triple. Obviously, you know who's going to win. Then it was Penta versus Ray Phoenix.
Yep.
Penta's going to win.
Now it's Penta getting a championship shot at Roman Reigns in Mexico City. Pin'em. There's no story. For Roman losing. There's like They should do it.
They should do it. It's so shocking. It's so out of, it would blow up whatever blood. Like, they don't do anything like this. They should.
They always take The most predictable thing. Yep.
They should just Even if he's only like Sammy won, so that was good, but then they took it off of him right away. But like when Darby won everyone's like what the fuck? And then Darby had a great month rain. Yeah, for sure.
So give, like, the belt doesn't need to be on these guys for 700 days. Agree. Give another g make give your this is a There's no, like, so you have a Sunday night main event or whatever, and money in the bank in October, and. It's like, okay. But what is make a moment.
Make a moment. You don't have to just, oh, it's coming up as. Christmas, we're going to celebrate. Make another celebration. Sure.
Just do your own thing, man. You know what I'm saying? I don't know.
I'm saying five different things. No, I get it. I like that AEW does the thing where when they go to their home country or their home state. They have a superpower. They go up a level.
And that's how I mean, I think they should upper level with Penta. And have him win because he's in his home country. Like, even if he wouldn't beat Roman 99 times out of 100, that would be the time that he would. But they'll never do it. They won't.
Give me a sec.
Well, I'm about to wrap up, so Now I'm in an awkward spot: do I just wrap up and go, or do I? continue to I'll have you here. I don't know what all happened on Raw last night. Oh, I do know because I just spoiled it because it was taped. Earlier, but we didn't finish raw.
We've been staying up late for raw and then uh. Uh, now my kid's got school, so who cares? I'm just stalling for Paul to come back, and I don't even need him to because this episode's over. Again, thanks to our friends at the Wisconsin Bike Fed. Carl's place, Dan Shaney Insurance.
And happy place hemp. Thanks for stopping into The Winkler Verse. What?
