High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Chapter 2: Playoff Superstitions and NLCS Predictions

Episode Date: October 15, 2023

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz discuss their Phillies playoff superstitions and predict the outcome of the 2023 NLCS. Presented by Miller Lite. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All-star closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball Isn't Boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is.

Another fact, so jump aboard the B.I.B. Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. I need help with superstitions in a sec. I just wanted one Bryce Harper thing I forgot to mention that I wanted to mention.

I'm sure a lot of people have seen it, but if you haven't seen his answer on the Pat McAfee show talking about pressure, I just thought it was honestly, Jack, and for those who didn't see it, I know you saw it, but talking about how, you know, he's asked about, you know, how do you channel and handle the pressure of a moment to keep coming through in these moments, all this stuff. And he's like, man, he's like, he's like, pressure was dropping out of high school at 15. He's like, pressure was having to be the number one pick, having to. Pressure was trying to lift my family out of our situation and set them up for

generations. He's like, that's pressure. He's like, now I get to go out and play this game. He's like, now is the fun part. All the work I did before, all the pressure was to get to here. And it's like, first and foremost, about as perfect, we talk so much about how he's so perfect at what he says in the city and all that. And, you know, a lot of people thought he was pandering.

We didn't obviously, but I think everyone's kind of come around to understand that this is who this, who this guy is genuinely. But it's, it's not just talking about the city or wherever. It's like the message that this guy delivers across the board, like that perspective for young athletes,

for this, for that, whatever is it's so impressive to see how this guy looks at what he does and how he does it and and you know i guess not a shock that he's so good in these moments i guess your heart will be a little bit slower if you're not feeling the pressure because you're looking at it as fun instead of pressure like i just thought jack for you know a guy who it's like every time he opens his mouth, I eat it up. I thought this was something that, you know, just outside of Philly, forgetting the stuff that we love here. I thought that was like a really amazing way to show us his perspective on something like that. Well, and I just thought about it selfishly like

obviously it's a great answer and and i love bryce but it's just like awesome so we're gonna have a guy that that views this as fun rather than pressure like that cool we're i don't think these moments are gonna end anytime soon um and yeah the more and more that you i mean first every time we talked it's just like oh you're just the greatest thing that's ever happened to Philadelphia sports. But I just, you have been very sappy. I would say extra sappy. Oh, over the top. And I'm way more sappy than you, period.

Like, that's just our thing. But I have been in rare form, man. Rare. I mean, like, look, this run run we get to be in the freaking clubhouse I get to be front I have the front row seat to see you and Trey Turner meet each other like it was like I mean look at the picture Destiny Trey out like my face in that picture

is like the perfect representation of how I feel it's like maniacal happiness on my face but yeah like and then I mean like look I just have my 16th anniversary with Emilyily the day we got together you know it's my dad would have been my dad's birthday passed away 20 years ago like i'm just it's a lot of stuff coming together right now for an already sentimental guy and

watching zoe go through this run i mean the whole thing it's um yeah man i'm feeling it buddy i am feeling it it's a savvy time but i think where my level of savviness has gone up is i just have continued to think about bryce and his like hall of fame eventual speech but like all the the resume building moments we're gonna have with bryce 400 500 um you know 600 he's probably not getting the 3,000 hits no probably not but like he's gonna be he has a chance at those if he can stay healthy the thing you can say

is he has a chance at 600 he has a chance at 3,000 I don't think he'll get to either of those numbers but like it's possible which is crazy but 500 400 and then just the cherry on top thing, a parade down Broad Street, and hopefully not just one, by the way. I mean, I know the one would be amazing, but given the way the team is, given the way that

the front office is built right now, given the- Ownership, commitment, the whole thing. Like, this should be a pretty good run. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself from that perspective, because we only win five-year periods you know and then we and then we have long stretches of losing so let's exactly let's hope we break the pattern a little bit this time yeah yeah maybe let's let's not do that um let's let's maintain this one a little bit better but um yeah bryce just it's he's he's he's bryce he is he is fully bryce and um we're just we're so lucky to have we're the luckiest man we are the luckiest i i've never felt more lucky to have an athlete in my

life than bryce harper because of the whole thing the superstar choosing us the the moments the clutch the way he embraces us the city though i like seriously i've never never felt so lucky in my life um all right a couple more i have one superstition thing i need to help me out with and then and then uh uh one last thing to say goodbye but um and and we brought it today you know i'm i'm i'm so happier i so i honestly i said this to emily uh yesterday and today i said it to elliot when we were driving out to our show yesterday i think i might even said it in the air like i go to sleep thinking about the phillies i wake up thinking about the Phillies. Dancing

on my own is in my head 100% of the day. I could just start singing at any moment because it's always there. I've never... The run last year felt all-encompassing and like a, wow, I can't believe everyone's so excited about the Phillies. We are. This is so cool. This year, it feels like obsession.

Honestly. It feels like it's the only thing on my mind jack um all welcome yeah i know i know it's very very someone's been living through this for a while yeah someone's doing it with a 66 win team and that's why you're the most special one um all right but i need you out with a superstition so i um i don't know if i've talked i know i talked about i have two weird ones this year and you know with you it's always you know you're your jersey and you've got your things that are consistent year to year I'm much more like what's hitting me in a particular run type of thing like last year I had the playoff beard

like this year not doing that like this year I didn't need to you know I'm doing like it's whatever plays out in the right way for me and I have two things this year that are consistent and are sticking there's other little stuff that you do but the two things that are consistent are number one i'm doing the recycling and the dishes before every game it's just i forgot to do them for game two of the brave series like that's it like every so like do you need more evidence um but the other thing is is strictly for home games and we're there and i don't know if i've mentioned this on the air or not um i feel like i might have but it might be my weirdest one ever, Jack. We don't lie to the High Ops listeners, and we are completely and totally open. Now, the big question

is, do you want to reveal it, or do you want to reveal it after they win? Okay, so, okay. Alright, so then here's my question. That's actually a really good point. Maybe I'll hold on to it. My question, though, is I kind of need advice on it. So, I don't know if I... Just get it out there. Okay okay because i don't think it's

nothing i told people at the game too i talked to one person about so so it's it's out there and elliot knows about it and i think i told you about it off the air but um so uh i'm like uh i'm big on like not having open texts like i always get to my text stuff but i've always i told you this right did i say this on the air't think I did. No, it was when we were leaving. Yeah, it's really weird. So you know, so that's why it's not, it could be out there. So I normally have somewhere between like 10 and 20 unopened emails at a time,

just because I have ones that I'll save to go back to and this and that, whatever. But for game one, I randomly had 13 unopened emails and 13 is my favorite number. It's mine and Emily's anniversary is the 13th. We were married on August 13th. We love the 13th. I the 13th i was like oh that's cool well and plus 13 more wins damn straight which i didn't even think about in the moment oh my goodness wow okay i didn't even think about that um all right but then for game two so that was uh the the marlins game 13 game

two i'm randomly at the game and i'm not thinking about the email things it wasn't a thing yet right like I look down at my phone as the game starts and I have 26 emails I'm like oh that's weird that's 13 times two it's like all right I'm just gonna leave it with that and I would as I go I'll delete emails and they come in to make sure I'm at that number and they won so the next home game I was like all right let's try it. 39. Three times. 13. Boom. Win. Next home game. All right. Let's just keep this super weird thing going. 52.

Super Bowl 52. Not a bad one. Boom. We win. All right. So, like, obviously I have to do something here. My question is, and I feel like I have to do, I feel like I already know the answer. It just sucks because I hate having it open emails.

But, like, since it's over two series, I just have to keep going up by 13, right? I can't start over at 13. Like, I have to go up to 65. No, absolutely not yeah it's non-negotiable sorry because i i hate having emails i hate having text messages it's so frustrating but i'll do it it's done i thought i just because i know i know i hate it so much i already knew what your answer was going to be but i was like i i want to ask any. Okay, I'll do it. I'm in. I'm ready. the winning percentage in that has just been out of control. Just absolutely out of control. That's all I got this year. The Dutch jersey stays on. It's been hot, but the real luck is the Childers

Bryant shirt underneath it. Or probably my email thing. No big deal. A lot of things. Whatever it takes to end this whole thing. We will do. Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from Reception Perception. Join me and James Coe as we take a deep dive into the position that's going to make or break your fantasy roster.

Wide receivers. We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need. Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. All right.

Here's my last thing, and it's a combo. It's a congratulations and a thank you wrapped into one. So I'm going to start with saying a big time congratulations to Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler, and Bryson Stott. going to start with uh saying a a big time congratulations to aaron nola zach wheeler and bryson stott welcome you know a couple years i know that a wheeler's already there and stuff but but becoming fathers starting for the first time they're gonna have kids nola uh all three had announced that they're going to be fathers that their wives are pregnant girls are pregnant um congratulations you know you have you've listened this pod you know that jack and i between walker and zoe uh being a father is our favorite thing in life it is makes

us the most happy it is such a lovely wonderful thing to have happen um so i'm really happy for those guys so congratulations but what i really wanted to use that as a way to do on the way out um is to say thank you jill and emily from the bottom of our hearts uh this you know we are so lucky that we get to go to these games to cover this to do these pods i'm driving in it i drove in here at 10 30 on a sunday morning to the studio so we could record and it could sound good and then i'm going home to to help out with stuff and then i gotta do another pod the nikes eagles playing on stuff and then then I'm going to be the same Monday and Tuesday. I'm going to be in the studio Thursday and Friday. Like Jack,

same fricking thing. Same thing. Like he's doing every night, every day, the doing his show, doing these pods, all that stuff. Like we would be lost without you,

Jill and Emily taking care of our children for like a month with no help whatsoever. And just handling everything that has to do with our lives for a month like thank you emily you'll never hear this jill you'll never hear this you guys don't listen to pod but like just know that i want everyone to know how incredibly grateful we are to both of you for for being able to allowing us to make this happen well jill's in montana with walker anyway so she's all right no i'm just kidding um yeah oh yeah because traveling with a baby is by yourself is super easy and chill no

big deal yeah no no she's uh yeah it's been uh it's been great obviously could not do it without her her and uh yeah she is she is the greatest and uh obviously i mean emily is great as well and i i i'm glad that you brought that up because I had my last point that I wanted to bring up on this podcast. Was, obviously, I have my morning walks with Walk. Which swept the nation last week until he was ripped from me and taken to Montana. By the way, fraud fan. I mean, I don't think they've watched out there. It's a tough moment.

Is Walker on fraud watch? A little bit. I mean, his name is Walker, which has not been a great name for the Phillies this year. Exactly. He's on fraud watch. It's okay. It's okay.

It's okay. They bounced back from a slow start. Walker was on my hot seat, but they are in the NLCS. Hey, look, we've been there with Zoe. She's had her moments now she's singing aoa okay we're set we're good now so so it's walker's turn exactly now the big question for me because you know me is do i have like i i don't think should i call him by his name this week or not because of christian walker like oh wow especially because for those who don't know, Christian Walker, local kid.

Local kid? Yeah. Zach Gallin, also a local kid. Yeah. That's true. Yeah. Christian Walker could also end my baseball season. I think you got to call him Fritz, man.

I might call him Dub. You call him Dub? Ooh. What up, Dub? Yo, let's get that Dub. I mean, our kid. Yeah, dub? Ooh. What up, dub? Yo, let's get that dub. I mean, our kid.

Yeah, I'm in. I love this. Even walk is too close to walk. Walk's too close. Yeah, there could be players in the, like,

that could be a, that could be what Gabriel Moreno calls, calls Christian Walker. What up, walkie? What up, walk? You know,

so. Yeah. No, it's been, so for the next week, he's going to be confused as to what his name is. This is important. I really,

yeah, this is, I, I'm really happy you thought of this. I'm very appreciative. This is such a sign of how locked in you are, that your head's here. Oh, and last thing, if anyone's out in Arizona, I'll be out there as well.

Oh, what a flex! No, that's awesome. It's going to be so cool. We will still be doing post-game shows. As long as I can figure it out. Yeah, he's got to figure it so cool. We will still be doing post-game shows. As long as I can figure it out. Yeah, he's got to figure it out. Look, I will be doing post-game shows. I will be in the studio doing them one way or the other.

We'll figure it out. Fritz will be with us. In worst case, call in and we'll figure it. Whatever. We'll make it work where Fritz will be with me and we will have the post-game show. I think we're doing pre-game Saturday. We are doing pre-game Saturday. We're doing pre-game Monday.

We're doing pre-game Tuesday. You will be doing pre-game. We're doing pregame Monday. We're doing pregame Tuesday. You will be doing pregame Thursday because it's the early game, so it'll be with Marks and Reese. Are we doing pregame Friday or is it just me? I am scheduled for it. It's us, buddy. You're getting a lot of us.

We're going to be all over the place. Shout out to Rod Lakin, our guy, giving us a chance to get to do this. We appreciate it. Yeah, man. If you're going to be all over the place. Shout out to Rod Lakin, our guy, giving us a chance to get to do this. We appreciate it. Yeah, man. All right, so everyone, if you're going to be at the ballpark either of the next two nights, please, please come. Like we said before, come say hi. Say hi, Hopes.

You'll make our night. It'll be our favorite thing. It really does mean a lot, and we just want to meet you. If you love the pub, we want to meet you, like flat out. We'll be at the booth. We'll be doing the pregame show and then hanging out in our section 126 outside for the game. So come say hi.

We would love to meet as many High Hopes fans as we can. Fritzy, let's do it again, buddy. Yeah, I was actually just going to bring that up as my final thought. I could have used another day. Like, the fact that tomorrow we have to ramp it like right back up and we're back in a playoff baseball mode after the celebration that has been the last couple of days. Like I,

it's almost like I want to revel in that a little bit more before it's like, Oh bleep, I'm going to be back to like my heart racing tomorrow night. I couldn't use another, I could have used a breather. I could have used one more, one more buffer day. I'm like the Braves.

I need, I need some days here to, to, um it's it's it's so funny how quick how quick it goes from euphoria to to right back in it let's go no hey dude trust me you know i feel that way especially with how tired i with the reason we recorded 10 30 i was like i need to sleep in i told you on the way in i'm'm like, I wish I slept more. Like, I didn't get enough sleep the last two days trying to catch up. And not just that, like, Fritzie, the schedule this week is a lot more intense than last week. It's Monday, Tuesday, off day, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, if they don't sweep, which they might sweep.

But buckle up, is what i'll say should we make do we make predictions should we make predictions sure we never do but i feel like look i'll be honest i i think they're gonna handle the d-backs like i would i'll predict five i would be more surprised if it goes six than if they sweep like i really think they're winning this series and i'm gonna be my pessimistic self and say, well, actually, it's more my optimistic self, but also pessimistic at the same time. Phil's in six so that we can celebrate.

Ah, I see what you're saying. It's optimistic with the pessimistic. Look, six would be amazing, especially because, you know, celebrating in the building. And then, look, it's also just, you know, that meant Xfinity live with all the, like,

it's just like celebrate here. Win here is definitely a, been a cool thing. It's been a cool thing. And Oh, lastly, we're, we're at,

we want the Astros, right? As scary as that is, like we want the revenge. We want the extra motivation. I think this one matters so much. And home field matters more. Exactly.

Exactly.