High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The Phillies are in the Playoffs and We're Tootin' All Over the Place

Episode Date: October 7, 2022

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz preview a Phillies Playoff Game! The guys talk Phillies-Cards, their pep rally bus ride, and much more. 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

This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes! It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies. On Odyssey and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo It is another edition of the High Ops Podcast presented by Miller Lite, official partner of the Philadelphia Phillies, aka the playoff bound, Jack Fritz, the playoff bound Phillies. We were on a freaking rally bus today, driving around city in conchahoggin and people were everywhere rally towels excitement like honestly jack i'm not kidding i i there is a small part of me that wonders uh you know uh posits whatever you want to say if there is the potential that in

actuality four days ago whatever whatever it was, I just went in a coma and none of this is real because I can't believe it, man. I'm sorry. I'm going to make Zoe. I'm so excited, man. We're watching a playoff game tomorrow night, buddy. How you doing? Honestly, James, how I'm doing is now I'm confused because inside the podcast, two minutes

ago, you said, I'm really tired. I don't know. I am. And within the last minute and a half, it's like, bang, you just took an energy drink. Dude, it's called turning the microphone on, pal. I know. I know. I will say, and this is not a critique.

I am really tired. I did shots today. I'm like cooked. I'm cooked. Yeah. I will say, it feels like a big yo for just a playoff preview podcast. I don't – I just – it's not that I – Wow.

Wow. Well, here's the thing. No, no, no, no. I almost feel like at this point I just have to just – No, no, no. Don't get all offended. Okay. Go ahead.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. I'm just saying, as we go along here, I do want it to build up. You're worried about me like at this point i don't know like i don't know what a possible world series yo sounds like man you know what i mean like i think boy i'm not leaving myself much breathing room exactly that's a good point it's a really good point exactly so it's really just looking out for you like thanks buddy honestly you're right this is i i have not thought this out i really haven't yeah it's pure emotion it's all it is honestly like i was about to fall asleep after the you know i gave it everything i had well it's probably because you watched the first quarter of uh broncos cult what a disaster

why why is it so long yeah i let's let me you this. As soon as we're done recording and I edit and post, I won't be watching the rest of it. I'll be going to sleep. That is a promise, Jack. Oh, that sounds like you got to work tomorrow. That sounds miserable. What a dick you are. All right?

Because I do have to work. I have to be up at 6 o'clock in the morning. You don't have to do anything. You're freaking off tomorrow. You're off. You know what? Honestly, I was going to rip you for it, but you know what? If you have six o'clock in the morning, you don't have to do anything. You're freaking off tomorrow. You're off. You just did. You know what? Honestly, I was going to rip you for it, but you know what?

It does make me happy. Of all the people in my life, if I could pick one person to have tomorrow off so they could just spend the day with their emotions, feel all the feels, it'd be you. So you know what? I'm happier off. I'm not psyched. I'm not off, but I'm happier off, buddy. Well, to be fair, you're off every day at 2 o'clock.

Not today, pal. Not today. I know. I know. Break out the ambulance because you have to sit on a bus for three more hours and have beers with your buddy. I mean, it sounds like a really grind out work affair for you this afternoon. It might have been my easiest day of work ever. Yeah.

And like you said over and over, oh, well, I'm working technically three hours after. I was also there at 8.45 in the morning. That's a good point. When my show doesn't start until 2. Well, can we be honest with people? You were supposed to be there at 8.45. You're there at like 9.15. But sure.

That is. No, that's not fair. Let's say one of us was there at 8 45 you can guess which well one of us lives a minute from the stadium one of us didn't factor in that rush hour traffic was still a thing um and and please don't ever we don't lie the high hopes listeners and and i think you just i think that was the first lie that was it 9 10 it was it like bro i was there or whatever i was there at 8 58 no way you were not no chance you were there david no way no way because i remember looking at my watch and being oh it's nine o'clock the bus is supposed to leave at nine i guess we're not leaving jack's not even here yet so don't lie you just tried to lie i i remember this hold on hold on when did i text you oh all right i part yes suck it suck it i texted you at 8 58 said parked walking got it so you probably got just

like 903 or whatever yeah either way 9 15 is a three um no but it's so funny james like i i we we said over and over today uh first off like it was it was really cool just being out there and it was awesome it felt like old times but it really is so funny how quickly the city went from out on the phillies to like everyone's back in oh Oh, it's, and I gotta be honest. Like it's, it's a beautiful site. It's a beautiful site. Like you and I,

for those that don't know, like James and I were driving around on a bus today with like the Phillies ball girls and Phillies employees, like handing out rally towels and like, you know, beads or whatever. And like we, but we were all thinking, okay,

we'll, we'll show up to some stops and yeah, there, there'll be, like, a couple people there or whatever. And, like, we would show up at these places in the middle, like, you know, in the suburbs. In the middle of the day, no less. In the middle of the work day, which, like, I mean, speaks to the work ethic of a lot of people out there. Not me and you, of course. Oh, yeah, we were working hard. That was the point and it's just like

it there was i would say at least 100 people at each at each stop um and i think it got bigger as the day went on yeah there were there were like 200 people in conchie if i yes yes um and it's just like i love it i i have nothing else to say except that I love it. I love that the city gets behind the baseball team. I love that we can kind of put aside the, well, you know, the third wild card and back their way in. I don't care. I don't care. Like, the way that the city was acting today was not like the whole,

well, the third wild card. That was a city that I think genuinely believes that we could go on a a bit of a run here and it was really cool it felt like old times it felt like we've been waiting uh 11 seasons for that um or 10 seasons 11 years um and it was just it was it was cool seeing everyone out there again now it's a great point and And I'm right there with you. Like I was blown away, honestly. Like I expected to show up to these places and almost feel awkward that like, oh, there's like eight people here.

Cool, like go Phillies. Like I really did. And I was blown away at every single stop. Like, and it wasn't just that there were people there, Jack. It was people, every single person in Phillies gear, every single person dying to get a rallies towel so they could wave it around, every single person, like the bus is full of signatures

at the end, like they asked people to sign it, like everyone signed it. It wasn't just a bunch of people being like, oh, I guess I'll go to this thing because it's like my lunch hour. It was like people were super psyched to be there so they could show their Phillies love. Like that's what it was, people like were super psyched to be there so they could show their Phillies love like that's what it was and and it's such a like I'm so with you man like

we all talked about it obviously we did a pod like and and shout out to whoever it was it was a great tweet where he's like the duality of man and it was just a picture of our two pods where it's like the September collapses here and it's not spectacular and then it's like Phillies play off pod but like that that was real and that's not spectacular. And then it's like, Philly's playoff pod. But that was real, and that's where we all were. We all felt it. We all thought it was happening again and all that. And I think when we were in that moment, feeling that,

it almost felt like, oh, well, no one's ever going to care about this team again because we're doing this again. This is horrible. And then they actually got to the playoffs, and I think it was really, Jack, really, Jack, to your point, like a switch flipped, and people were like, oh, they didn't collapse. Like, it's okay. I can get excited.

They're in the playoffs. This is awesome. And, like, everyone came around, and everyone's in. And to your point, like, everyone who thought they were going to blow it is now like, oh, they're beating the Cardinals. Yeah, they got it. They're better. No problem.

It has been a wild swing in really only a few days. And thank God, man, because everyone listening to this pod is already there. We know we're there. We're all there. We're the diseased Phillies fans. But like, it's freaking awesome. It's freaking

awesome. Was that a fart? Did you fart there or was that a burp? What was that? Oh, well, if I might cause be, you did better. So did I heard your ball? Hold on. Hold on. Did he hear that? I definitely heard that. That was great. That was great. So what, so funny thing is locked in. Well, so he was funny thing. Someone's locked in. Well, it was a funny thing just a little inside baseball that Jack just realized that I already knew because I've done this before and noticed it, not farted, but notices for that when you mute your mic, it mutes it going into audition.

But for some reason, it doesn't mute it in Skype. Like you can always hear the other person in Skype and like you think your mic's muted and someone's like coughing in the background. You're just going through it so yeah not Muted to for me no one else Heard the fart I heard it was it a fart it was a fart Right yeah don't worry about It man

The Phillies are in the playoffs Yeah we're tooting all over the place Yeah man Is that the title the Phillies Are in the playoffs we're tooting all over the place We're tooting all over the place. We're tooting our own horns over here on the podcast. Yes.

Listen, we can fart on podcast now because the Phillies are in the postseason. You know, I mean, some would say that that's what takes sound like often, but it's, you know, we work hard for these things. And the problem is I'm sitting on like a... It was pretty loud. It was pretty loud. Well, no, it's because I'm sitting on like a wooded, like wood, not bench, but like a seat. It definitely echoed or whatever.

Yeah, well, dude, this room's very, very echoey. I know. What do you think the spin rate on that seat was? Better than Kyle Gibson, I'll tell you'll tell you that dude that's your boy no i'm not letting you up the hook for that it's your boy you and you and you and dave shaw uk philly listen listen uh james can i can i just pause for one second here um i know last week you professed your love for dave shaw and i i do i love him i think he's great. I profess the same thing, but I will say that I hope that for those 26.2

miles that he ran in a Phillies uniform, he was thinking about his Kyle Gibson take and just how bad it is and just how awful his opinion on Kyle Gibson was. I'll say it now. We're going to the playoffs. I'll say it. You've had a way better year on Kyle Gibson was. You know what? And I hope. I'll say it now.

We're going to the playoffs. I'll say it. You've had a way better year on Philly's takes. You win. Kyle's forever versus Nick Cassiano's. Kyle Gibson. I lose. It's okay.

I'll take it. It's fine. I'm okay with it. One out of four is a good run. You know? It's my first good year of Philly's takes in a ever since doing this podcast um maybe it's because i just started maybe it's because i just started watching baseball again so um no uh yeah so uh you know uh trying to move on from the toot gate that we have over here um listen i'm just excited for phil's baseball man i don't know what to tell you like

so excited we we're farting on podcasts now this is so good i'm so i'm so so we were like talking when we were on this rally buzz they were like should we record tonight like feels like you know why not right so because we're gonna record after every game you'll have a pot of friday friday after you know six o'clock whatever it is after the game we're gonna record saturday night or, right? So because we're going to record after every game. You'll have a pod Friday after, you know, 6 o'clock, whatever it is, after the game. We're going to record Saturday night or Sunday morning after that. We're going to record Sunday if needed. Probably won't be because they're going to win the first two games. Like pods are coming your way.

So we're like, all right, we're going to do a bunch of pods. Should we do one tonight? We're like, you know what? The Phillies are in the playoffs, right? Like we've asked for this forever. This is all we've wanted for this podcast. Like, yeah, we don't curse in this pod, but bleep it. We're going to do another pod tonight because why the hell not?

The Phillies are playing a playoff game tomorrow. But I also, by the time we got to recording time, was like, oh, you know, day drinking, pretty tired, pretty beat up. I was like, ah, you know, I'll do it. I'm excited to do it, but I'm really tired. I'm so happy we did it. Like, honestly, like like toot gate has made this like maybe the best decision i've ever made to just say well hey bro and and if you want to

go full spin zone and turning this into a phillies related thing um i mean like what if this is the new rally squirrel or whatever oh buddy yeah like am going to have to start? I love this. This is on brand for you, too. Am I going to have to start doing this every podcast? Except, like, people are going to have to hear it from now on. There's a lot of ways we can go with this. Now, if they come out and lose tomorrow night, no more gas on podcast. If they come out and win tomorrow, I mean, it's full gas, no brakes, pal. I don't think you have a choice.

Yeah. Well, all right. I didn't expect to walk into a bit. Usually I have my bits planned out in a way. I usually have an idea of where a bit's going. Having to fart on podcast on command does not sound like something I do. But listen, if it gets the Phil's pass the first round and we get a home playoff game. You'll do whatever it takes. Whatever it takes, dude.

I will literally just take the mic. Never mind. Well, this is very appropriate because farts have been very big in my house lately. So Zoe, big fan of farts. She asked me the other day, Daddy, do my farts smell? I was like, yep, they do. They do. Very disappointing.

Believe it or not. Plus, Emily and Zoe love to make fun of me when I fart. You know, it's a big thing in our house. It's been good. Yeah. So do you think Miller Lite's still pumped to this podcast? Are people still listening to this podcast? I don't know.

I mean, no one heard the fart. So it's really, like, would be really funny if we just made the whole thing up. It could just be a bit. Believe it it's no i heard i heard it all right all right how about this how about just for miller light because in all honesty we freaking love miller light and we love that they came on board and it has been such a fun thing to do and and honestly like speaking of bits like shout out to every single person who hashtag miller lights for phil's wins this season because like jack and i did on the pod and jack you know i even gave him crap for it at first i was like no one's gonna do this

and an absurd amount of people did this like you all are freaky amazing um but for miller light since they did you a Phillies pod, let's talk some Phillies Cardinals, buddy. How are you feeling? I got to be honest. See that segue, by the way? That's the professional taking it out of a disaster and spinning it into sports.

Right. I mean, you're the professional. I'm the one flatulating on a podcast. Like we always have said. Yeah, always. So let me make this very clear james okay when you ask me how i'm feeling yep i couldn't feel better because i know that when i wake up sunday morning or monday morning i know that the phils just beat the cardinals like i there is little to no doubt in my mind that the phillies are beating the cardinals and it's not even like blind homerism

i would say a lot of it is blind homerism but it's not really like i just i think these teams match up really well especially especially from our standpoint. When I think about Wheeler going game one, I get really excited because he's allowed one earned run in his last three starts against the Cardinals. I think that's massive. And then I think about Aaron Nolan game two, and I think about what Aaron Nolan did on Monday night, and it makes me even more excited

because that felt like the whole, you know, he got over the hump. and I think about what Aaron Nola did on Monday night and it makes me even more excited because that felt like the whole you know he got over the hump he did it and now he can just go play and my whole feeling about the Phillies right now is that they can just go play all the pressures on the Cardinals the pressure is a hundred percent on the Cardinals. Think about what they have. They won 93 games this year. The Cardinals usually are the team, which is infuriating, by the way, and we had to live with this for a year in 2011. They're not usually a team that does well ahead.

They won 84 games, right, in 2004 when they made the postseason. The year they made the postseason against us you know they i don't know they they made it on the last day of the year they've always been that team that sneaks in and gets hot but when they are the hunted i feel like the cardinals aren't the same and when you think about they're playing at home in front of, quote, unquote, baseball heaven, they have the pressure of we got to win this for Yachty, Wainwright, and Pujols. I think that is a ton of pressure. And what do the Phillies have?

The Phillies have the excitement of we made it to the postseason for the first time in 11 years. The fan base is excited. They're behind you. And it's hard to say this, but I at this at the point where it's like anything else from this point on is house money now do i fully believe that no like i expect them to go to st louis and win this series but i think if you're a philly it's a little bit of like this is house money we made the postseason we got and i know it's third wild card whatever but we got over that hump and we didn't totally collapse and we got there we closed it out whatever um and i just i i feel so confident because i have wheeler i have nola i have goldie

and arenado on cold streaks i have have Schwarber heating up at the right time. And I just have this sense, James. I just, I can't fight it. But I just have this sense that they have a free and easy approach heading into St. Louis. And I just think they go out there and they put on a freaking show, man. I think they go out and they put on a show and i can't wait to watch it i can't like i have thought so much these last 48 hours like frankly the last two games haven't happened honestly they just haven't happened to me but i have thought so much about this city like

falling for this team again and like falling for JT and falling for Hoskins and falling for for Harper even though they already mostly have and like Schwarber having these big postseason moments and I just think it starts this weekend I really do and I just I I can't be like part of the reason why I wanted to do this podcast is because I just have so many cooped up thoughts in my head that I just needed to get out before 2 o'clock tomorrow because it's going to be the longest morning of my life. But I just have this sense of calm. I have a sense of calm. I'm not even that nervous heading into tomorrow. I thought it would be like a wreck of nerves. I even that nervous heading into tomorrow. I thought it'd be like a wreck

of nerves. I feel pretty confident heading into tomorrow. I can't wait to see what Wheeler does. I can't wait to see who emerges as the guys. There's so many interesting, fun, awesome storylines. I cannot freaking wait, and I couldn't be more confident

about this baseball team heading into it. Look, I'm with you. I'm confident. Honestly, for all the reasons you said, I think the house money of it all, the fact that the Cardinals, I didn't think about that. It's such a fascinating point that they do kind of have a lot of pressure on them. I mean, Yadier, Pools, Wainwright are legends in St. Louis. Those are guys who have won multiple World Series titles there.

I mean, it's a really fascinating angle on that, but I think particularly from the Phillies angle, I really do think they're going in with house money, and I do think that the weight was all about getting back to the playoffs. And even outside of that, I just think they're better. I think they're a more talented baseball team. I mean, clearly, just on paper, on the face of it, I mean, Wheeler versus Quintana, Nola versus Miklas,

Ranger versus Wainwright piggyback or whatever. Like, you're going in with a decided advantage in each game pitching it. Decided. And then, honestly, like, the Cardinals have two dudes. They got Goldie and Arenado. And, look, I know there are guys, and I'll let you get your take out there about who you're nervous about, a particular Cardinals player, like the one you wouldn't expect type of thing.

But the Phillies are just a deeper, more talented lineup than the Cardinals. And they should be, other than the game being in St. Louis, they're better in almost every facet of the game. And I think especially with Wheeler in game one, two, like, look, he's not Doc Halliday, right? But we all remember Wheeler on Halliday Day, right? And when that guy came out and when he's got a focus and a purpose, the way Halliday did, and it's funny because we were hanging out with john brazier today on the bus shout out to john brazier the coolest job title in the world director of fun and games for the phillies i mean like the coolest but he was telling

us a story about that that no hitter day and how like people would go in and like like and he's like no doc would never talk to anyone but he's like that day particularly he was like so intense and he was like leave me alone like no one talked to me like that whole like that day particularly he was like so intense and he was like leave me alone like no one talked to me like that whole you know week leading up to that game like doc was like i'm about to go out and show the world what i could do on the biggest stage happy anniversary by the way great point yeah like seriously from that magical day um but i like wheeler's not doc he's not as talented as doc he's not quite the same person but he does like you know and maybe it's just because the doc day thing but it feels like wheeler with that purpose in the biggest moments a guy who's always talked about you know last year

the year before talking about like you know he's never won player you know player of the month he's never won so yeah he's never been an all-star he's always talks about like he cares about the like his legacy in the game. And to have that purpose that, like, Holiday did in that first playoff game, I don't think Wheeler's going to go out and throw no hit or anything, but I think Zach Wheeler's going to go out and be, like, really freaking locked in tomorrow. Like, that's what I'm expecting from Zach Wheeler.

And I'm right there with you. I can't wait to see what Wheels does tomorrow. And you talk about Doc Day. I think that's something that means something to him. And also, he's talked a lot about not being healthy for the Mets running 15. And, like, you know, that team went to the World Series. And, like, he had to watch Harvey and DeGrom and Syndergaard and, you know, whoever. Was it John Neese? John Neese.

Who else was on that staff? But regardless, the Mets in 2014, 2015, it was like, okay, this is the next Braves. And it's kind of funny that Noah Sindergaard's here now. I know. We got two of them. We got two of them now. Might not make the postseason roster,

but... As long as he doesn't not make it instead of Gibby, we're fine. You know, if they both don't make it, that's fine, but if Gibby's on and Cindergar's off, we have a problem. Do I have permission to make an official High Hopes position without running it by you?

Yeah, I'm gonna give you that, buddy. It's a big night for you. Cool. If Kyle Gibson throws a pitch this series, it's bad news for the Phillies. Yeah, official highest position. Done. Okay. No, but with Wheeler,

this is his real first chance to pitch in the postseason. Not just real, it's his first chance. He has never pitched in the postseason and not just really it's his first chance he has never pitched in the postseason before yep and they're my favorite thing in sports and this is through every single sport um i think baseball is special with it i think basketball is special with it i think the quarterback position is special with it don Don't know about hockey. Don't care. But my favorite thing in sports is when that pitcher or that individual quarterback or that great player in basketball shuts up 45,000 plus. You know? And Wheeler has that chance tomorrow like you know st louis is gonna have that

they're gonna be all geared up there's fans in baseball oh yada yada yada yada yada they're gonna be they're gonna come ready to help their team win a game they make a difference jack wah yeah big mac land take it um but like wheeler has a chance to shut up bush stadium and that is so unbelievable and he obviously has the stuff to do it the one thing now i don't i'm not too worried about it because i think that i think the weather conditions in washington were such a disaster that he couldn't let his stuff just be full tilt, and that's why you saw this. But he was 95 last start. And tomorrow, well, the Phil's score at least two in the first.

Yeah, well, Schwarber's leading the game over the homers. No doubt about it. Schwarber's leading off the game with a home run. I don't know how else to explain that to people. I don't care if it's a lefty. I don't care if he has good numbers against Schwarber and Harper. He's leading the game off with a home run. But I need Wheeler at 230 tomorrow to be pumping 99.

I need 99 back. I need that version of Zach Wheeler back. Because 95 version of Zach Wheeler is still pretty good. But 99 is Cy Young worthy. So, again, you know, there's so many interesting storylines about this. But seeing Wheeler and Nola on the road in postseason starts, like, that is freaking awesome. And, again, I trust Zach Wheeler. I think he's going to go out and shove tomorrow. Anything less than seven

innings and two runs, I think, is not getting the job done. Yeah, I agree. And I look forward to seeing it. Yeah, me too. And yeah, look, I mean, Nola, I mean, again, like you said last time when we brought it back, I mean, playoff Nola was one of the first bits on the pod.

It was one of our first things. You know, one of the first, because that was 2018, that start. Like, we've been talking about that for a really long time, and it became, like, a joke because of the Septembers. But now, just because of that freaking start, like, now it's like, oh, my God, I can't wait to see Playoff NOLA.

And to your point, like, that's the really fun thing about this squad right now in this moment it's a lot of fun storylines you know it's the it's the Wheeler Nola thing but it's you know Reese finally getting there after being here for so long and being a part of the losing and all that stuff it's Bryce Harper like the moment he was signed I I have not listened to the uh Bryce Harper the Philly signed Bryce Harper pod in a long time. But if I had to guess, I'm pretty sure we talked about seeing Bryce Harper play playoff baseball in a Philly's uniform on that pod.

Like that's something we've wanted since it freaking happened. And then there's the freaking Gene Segura, JT, both finally playing in playoff games as the two longest tenured players in Major League Baseball without making it, or the most games without making it, all that stuff. Like there's so many fun and awesome storylines with this team specifically and getting there, and then just the overall storyline of the fact

that it's been 11 years since the Phillies have been in the playoffs, and like we talked about last time, the synchronicity of it all. Like, I don't even know if we did talk about this. I think we talked about the possibility of it because it wasn't locked in, but, I mean, the fact that they are playing the St. Louis Cardinals 11 years to the day that they lost their last

playoff game to the Cardinals, and they can go to St. Louis and say, alright, 11 years ago, let's freaking go. It's magical stuff, man. It feels like obviously it's coincidence and, man. Like, it feels like all, and you know, obviously it's coincidence and whatever you want to say,

but like, if you're someone who believes in signs, if you're someone who believes in all that kind of stuff, like, that's the kind of stuff you have a point to. Like, it's pretty awesome that it all kind of played out this way. And to your point, like, there are so many amazingly cool storylines with this group of guys and with this franchise.

Rob Thompson. Like it's like you can just go through the whole team. Zach Eflin getting back in time to be a part of this. Like all these things. Like it just adds to it all, Jack. We're already like so emotional and happy and excited for this thing but like then when you actually get to think about that the extra layers to it all it just really adds meaning to the whole thing i mean 11 years to the day is a sick joke right i mean it's crazy it's crazy man it really is it's the same team

like what like it's it's the odds are infinitesimal that that would happen. That's too big of a word for this podcast. Please. What does that mean? It means that there's like.01 odds, 001, whatever, that in that moment at 2011 when that happened that you would say, all right, the next time the Phillies are going to be in the playoffs is going to be 11 years to the day against the same team. Like, infinitesimal. You want to know how demented my brain is? I immediately thought, like, imagine placing a bet on October 7th, 2011,

that the next time the Phillies play the postseason game was October 7th. That is sick. Think about the odds. Think about, okay, so that's a perfect way to describe it to you, gambling guy. Like, to give you the idea of infinitesimal. Like, think about if you had said on that day, all right, place that bet. What kind of odds would you need to place that bet? Like, you know, plus a million, plus 100,000.

You know what I mean? Sounds like a lock. I also think someone's been hanging around john ritchie too long like that's a that's a that's such a richie word i couldn't infinitesimal no okay dude i've never heard that word in my life i feel bad i feel pretty confident that dude there's no way all right let me put it this way yeah all right i would say 85 85 percent of our audience has never seen no no way no way that's what i was gonna say i was gonna say at least 50 and maybe higher 50 was we first and

foremost infinitesimal first infinitesimal is the word first and foremost we have smart listeners dude we have met them we have some freaking we got people who freaking are like a pen and this and that like we got drexel we got smart people in our in our in our you know listening audience here i'm gonna tweet at us at jack and high hopes you know i probably won't see it but tweet at us let us know if you know what the word infinitesimal means come in because i'm i'm very intrigued i honestly i'm giving our listening audience a lot more credit than you are, is what I'm saying. Maybe. I just, I've never heard that word in my life.

Like, if you ask me, let me try to spell it. Do you have it in front of you? I do not. Can you pull it up? Can you pull it up? Can I try right now to spell infinitesimal? Is that the word? Infinitesimal.

I just spelled it right as I typed into Google to make sure. Inventesimal? Yes. That's like decimal. All right. I-N-F-E. You're already wrong. It's I there. I didn't know if I should keep letting you go, but I was like, I can. Infantensible? I-N-F-I-N-I-T-E-S-I-M-A-L.

And it means extremely small. Infantessimal. I believe in our listeners. Tweet at Jack and tell him you know this word, please. Please. Sounds like my high school ERA. Certainly in the playoffs, right? Yeah, come on.

Well, I mean, many people know that I never lost a high school podcast. Oh, funny, funny. Don't bring it up. I have to. Just real quick. Don't bring it up. Yeah, I have to. We never lie to those listeners.

John Brazier, again, shout out was listening john brazier again shout out john brazier another shout out for him today he had us play two truths and a lie and jack jack jack did three truths oh hold on and that was one of them you did the three so you're obviously just to say two truths and lie and the other people are supposed to guess which is lie and jack goes through that i'm sitting there i'm like i think first was like my name my not my real name is not jack i was like okay that's definitely true yeah and for the people that don't know my real name's john john ever call me john no one hates their more name real real name more than jack your more name real yes you know what i'm saying and then uh well i don't remember what there was but you did three trues and it was

like and then after you're like oh i i i screwed it up did three cheers yeah dude i'm not good at that you're like i'm not a liar guys all right this is podcast fault like we have a whole you know thing of like we don't lie to the high ups listeners like i think my truths are more funny than any lie i could have made up. So whatever. It's not the game. But sure. Go ahead. Sure.

Well, I know. I just I'm not I'm not a good liar. So like, you know, I just I would I would have choked anyway. But at least I made up for it with my three celebrities. So. We don't want to do ourselves. Yeah. Anyway, so Cards F fills feel really good about it and i have pontificated is that a word yeah good job yeah but there's pontificate pontificate but not infinitesimal well i think pontificate means i think right yeah it means you're thinking about or pondering or whatever. Oh, dude.

Well, listen, after this podcast, I'm going to pontificate around maybe the 08 World Series DVD. That's not what that means. You're going to watch the DVD. Pontificate is if you decide to just think about it. You're like, I'm going to think about it and talk about it. Pontificate implies talking about it. So actually, if you right now just wax poetic about the 2008 phillies dvd i think you are pontificating about it and you

should be fine good although i do have like the phil sheridan piece from the beginning of that like etched into my brain um so yeah it's a special time. But tomorrow, buddy, like, we're waking up to some playoff baseball for the first time in 11 years. Like, how does that make you feel? It makes me feel – honestly, I said this earlier today because it was funny. I don't remember who we were talking to on the bus, but someone was like, I'm really nervous. And you said this earlier, and it really stuck with me,

and I feel the exact same way. And who knows, maybe in a couple of days and sure wouldn't be the first time that we were doing a pod saying, well, I guess we're wrong. But like, I'm not nervous. Like I, I'm right there with you, man. Like my number one emotion that I am feeling, and it's honestly really the only emotion I feel about this is like pure excitement I cannot freaking I almost cursed there I cannot freaking wait for it to be tomorrow at two o'clock like

it's all I want like I'm gonna slog through my show tomorrow I'm gonna go to bed as soon as this pot is up so that I can wake up go get my show done and come home watch the game Emily already knows she's picking Zoe up without me she knows that if zoe wants to come down here guess what zoe you're watching the phillies game like i'm like i'm freaking ready jack that's what i am i'm excited and freaking ready and i will obviously not be working at all because that's what i do um and i just i plan on waking up you know you know honestly what i was thinking about doing and let me know if you think this is a good idea or a bad idea um should i run 11 miles tomorrow for the 11 oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god jack jack

i got an idea for your runs and you probably won't do it because it's like too late to start Jack. Jack. I got an idea for your runs. And you probably won't do it because it's too light to start. But I honestly think you should. I mean, it's setting a dangerous precedent, obviously. But I think you should run for every playoff game and add. So you start with one. And then, you know, two.

And then if they get through that series in two, you start with three with the next one. And then four. And then five. And eventually you will get to 11 you start with three with the next one and then four and then five. And eventually you will get to 11 because they're going to keep winning games and playing series. But I think you go game for game. You match the games they've played. Maybe I'll do 10 for the 10 years.

Like maybe you want to run a lot tomorrow, huh? Do I got nothing else to do? I don't have to, like I just had to wake up and wow think about the photos all day wow wow like a shot right across the bath but as we record the podcast late night and i have to edit it and post it and then go to bed so i wake up at six you're like ah nothing to worry about all i have to worry about tomorrow is just like hanging out probably farting

a little bit and waiting to watch the Phillies. It's great. I naturally do that in the morning anyway. In the morning? But no, no. Like, and I was honestly thinking like, first off, obviously I want to watch the game alone. Like I know I'm just watching with other people. Oh, yeah. Which whatever.

But yeah, I just, it's going to be, it's gonna be it's gonna be such a fun a fun like day like getting ready and like having the having the eagles like feel for a phillies game is gonna be something that we haven't felt for a while around here and i mean listen i'm not obviously on this podcast. I joke around about the Eagles and like, I don't care. Like, I care a lot about the Eagles and like game day for Eagles is like it's like I'm just trying to find things to do to make the day go by faster so that when I sit down and it's just like I just like it fast forwards me through the day. Like I might legitimately run 10 miles tomorrow just so I could fast forward through the morning to just to get to two o'clock. Like it's,

it's something that I can't wait for. I've also thought like a lot about, do I bring Alexa into the living room so I can listen to France again? I can mute the cave broadcast or whatever it's called. Um, there's a lot of factors heading into tomorrow night that, that I can't wait for. Um,

but most excited for me at least is, is, man, if they win, that post-game podcast is going to be freaking on fire. It's going to be unbelievable. Dude, so we've done the whole, like, and we did. We were like, oh, that was the pod we were waiting to do. But the getting into the playoffs pod was only the pod we were waiting to do but the the the getting into the playoffs pod was only the pod we were waiting to do because we had never made the playoffs in the history of this podcast now we have new pods we're waiting to do we're waiting to do playoff win pods

we're waiting to do playoff series wins pods and obviously you know more than that so it's exciting jack we can actually be like oh now we don't have to just get excited to do the playoffs pod. We're like, oh, we can do like they want a playoff game pod. Like we're going to, you and I are going to be recording it like when the game ends tomorrow, and we're going to be talking about a Phillies playoff win, most likely. Like, it's all surreal, man.

Again, I go back to what I said at the beginning of the pod. Like, it's all surreal, man. Again, I go back to what I said at the beginning of the pod. Like, I almost feel like I'm, like, not actually awake right now. Like, it's a dream, man. We're back in the playoffs. That we are, pal. And tomorrow we get to see Zach Wheeler throw 99 in the first and Kyle Schwarber leading off the game with a home run.

And honestly, we talk about a lot. We talk about the players. We talk about this. We talk about that. I need Bryce, man. I need a Bryce moment. Bryce is awesome. Bryce is the MVP.

Bryce is this. Bryce is that. A big-time Bryce moment would just be that we can just play on a loop. Like, dude, I. I am so I I hate the Grand Slam that they keep showing against the Cubs. Like, dude, it was a game in the middle of August that like didn't really mean anything. I understand that we the marketing stars is awesome and i love it and i think it's smart and i think they i think baseball did a really good job with the judge like uh home run chase like i think it was really good regardless of who you think the

uh the home run champion is even though it's barry bonds um like i. Like, they did a good job with it. Like, I'm so over the grand slam that he hit against the Cubs. Like, I need a postseason moment where the crowd's filled and he shuts up however many people are in Bush Stadium. I don't know the number. But it's go time. Like, this is why you're here, Bryce. And you're great.

You're the guy. MVP. All that. But, like, a part of this is also I can't wait to see what Bryce does. I can't wait to see what he does this postseason. Because it would just be so, like, it's so funny with Bryce that, you know, it feels like Washington happened and he got here and he's taken his game to what I feel like Nationals fans thought they were getting in Bryce Harper. And the next step to that is going off in the postseason. And I would love nothing more than Bryce to just show out and show off this postseason. Like, yeah, I am one of the faces of baseball.

And the Phils are here. The Phils are real. The Phils are here to stay. And the Phillies have the two best players in the series. You can keep your Paul Goldschmidt. You can keep your Nolan Arenado. I don't care. The Phils have Wheeler and the Phils have Harper.

And that gives you a chance in every single series or every single game. And a part of the whole narrative and big story and storylines and headlines, Bryce has to be a part of that because this is why he's here. And I just cannot wait to see what he does. I know he hasn't been great since he came back from the hand injury. I thought he was starting to show some legitimate signs of life. I thought he had a good hit on Monday night down in Houston. It's go time.

And I'm excited to see what he does in his first postseason series as a Phil. Well said, buddy. I couldn't agree more. It's such a, you know, because of the way it happened with the Bryce injury And them being so good without him And then him kind of struggling since he's been back

He's almost become kind of a weird Not afterthought because he's Bryce Harper But certainly not, like, you know, we haven't counted on him the same way We haven't expected the same things from him It's a great point, man Like I mentioned before When he was signed here, we talked about We can't wait to see Bryce Harper in a playoff game with the Phillies. Like go time. Like, let's go Bryce.

I'm right there with you. Um, all right. Um, we're going to talk tomorrow. We're going to talk about the Phillies playing a playoff game. Like I'm, I gotta go to bed. I gotta wake up. I can't believe I'm so jealous of you. All I want to do is sleep late, wake up, and just anticipate. I'm so excited. This is great, buddy. You got anything else? This is beautiful. I know.

I'm a happy man. And it's bedtime for me. Yeah, but I don't care. I originally expected. I know. I thought this was going to be a 20-minute pod. It's not. It's not even close.

Well, we had Fartgate. I know. That totally threw us. I really, when I said that, I was like, all right, let's do it. Like 20-minute, we'll get excited pod. Here we are. Yes. First off, I think it's very interesting that Veerling's starting center field tomorrow.

I think Marsh has been good. And I actually like it. You know, I think Marsh has been really good. I think he's the center field of the future. But this is about matchups. And Castellanos matches against lefties and Veerling has done a really good job against lefties. So, you know, I'm glad that I'm glad they're not just playing the studs. And I, and I do wonder, you know, as we go along here, if Castellanos struggles, I wonder if they put Veerling in there, um, in game game two. No, that's just a thought that I have.

I can already tell. I brought this up to you earlier. And I know we don't do the Kurt Suzuki, like this guy's going to randomly kill us award anymore. But, like, I just feel like Brennan Donovan is going to kill us. Like, he just, he has the feel. You know, the second, second third base like scrappy outfielder guy um that like yeah i think he has like maybe seven homers on the year or whatever

like i'm just i'm terrified of brendan donovan that's that's my official take i think it's a phenomenal take i'm right um official statement for the high hopes podcast that i again i haven't run by you but um one is that i and you and all of our listeners like i just i can't handle if it happens pool halls wayne wright and melina like going off the series like them doing anything is automatic like this is a disaster like I just I'm already sick thinking about Albert Pujols driving into running against the Phillies like I'm so sick and tired of the the the home run check like he got a 700 that's fine I know he's at technically 703 now um but that ends this series. Okay. Enough with the Albert Pujols thing. We got a series to win. So if at any point that one of those three players kill us,

I will be inconsolable. I will just be, I will be emotionless. And on the flip side of that, James, it is time to send those three into retirement and close their window like they closed ours 10 years ago, 11 years ago, whatever. It is freaking time. And those guys are still there. They are still there. And it is time to reverse what they did to us. The Phillies were the big bad guys in 2011, and it's time to flip that on its head and make sure that Albert Pujols, Yachty Molina, and Adam Wainwright do not celebrate another playoff round win over this team.

I know that no one on this philly's team was there in 2011 and i understand that but for this fan base that series absolutely freaking haunts us and it's time to reverse that also if a squirrel gets onto the field, permission to take it down. I got just permission to take it down from the High Hopes podcast. Take the squirrel down. We don't have time for that nonsense anymore. But it is time to send Yachty, Wainwright, and Albert away. I love it.

The right way. It's a great take. Thank you. Is that it. It's a great take. Thank you. Is that it? That's it, pal. You can go to bed. I was expecting you to keep going. I was expecting there to be more.

Tomorrow, for a lot of people, for a lot of people, when you are going to work, and I know you're not thinking about work. There's no way you can possibly think about work tomorrow. We have playoff freaking baseball for the Phils at 2-0-7. We made it. We deserve it. Cannot wait.

This is freaking awesome. We'll talk to you tomorrow. We'll be there. As soon as the game ends, we'll record. It'll be up right after that. So I can't believe it. Like, it's so weird jack to like record a pot of me like talk to you tomorrow because we never we never have reason to do that so and and do you have and and and just so for our audience like you're not pulling the tired card like it's it's

oh no no no yeah i'm ready i'm good i'm good but i i want to do a 20 minute buy or 50 minutes in all right the tired card is clearly a bit all right it's just me saying i'm tired it never hinders hinders us from doing anything we never don't do it because i'm tired so you know enough all right grow up jack all right all No interest, pal. Stop farting on the podcast. All right. How about that? We are a professional. Phillies playoff baseball.

We'll talk to you tomorrow. It's for itself. We'll see you next time.