Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Mailbag: All About Clive

Episode Date: January 31, 2021

D.C. answers some of your email questions on today's show. Lots of bowling & curling talk once again; D.C. talks about how he got into both sports, and also tells who his favorite bowlers and curlers are. D.C. also explains how he got in to podcasting, and talks about how he came to know is personal secretary, Clive Braithwaite IV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, J.M. We are opening up the fan mailbag today here on Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program using whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked on Mariner's podcast or any program here on the Lockedon Podcast. Podcast Network or T-L-O-P-N or, of course, Tlopin. Here to read the emails once again as my personal secretary, Clive Braithwaite to

fourth. Clive, thank you for joining us. My pleasure, sir. Shall we get started? Let's do it. We'll begin with a question from Vernon. He asks, what are your thoughts on sacrificing and the squeeze play? Thanks. Love the show, especially the mailbag during the off-season. both you and your contributors seem very knowledgeable about the game. Happy 2020.

Happy 2020, indeed. Although it feels more like the 13th month of 2020 than it does the first month of 2021. 2020 has been working overtime, it appears. Anyways, to answer your question, I kind of feel like I get asked something very similar to this every few mailbag episodes or so. I've stated my feelings on Smallball here several times before, so I'm not going to be saying anything new this time. I don't think enough teams sacrifice, particularly late in a game, when an insurance run is needed and the meat of the order is not up. Also, I think a sacrifice is called for early in a game when there are two aces opposing each other and a low-scoring game

is probably going to happen. But there are so few bona fide aces left anymore that that point is kind of academic. Also, a sackbunt will not do much good if it's later in the game and you're down by a few runs. And there are a few plays in baseball more exciting than a well-executed squeeze play, especially if it's late in the game, very late in the game, last couple of innings, and you're going to tie or take the lead. Bunting in general is a lost art, as is base stealing. I've said this all before. Clive, what's next? Our next message comes to us from someone who didn't leave a name or hometown. However, extensive research turned up that the email originated either

from a high school library in Tuckahoe, New York, or from the federal prison in Yazu City, Mississippi. Either way, the incarcerated fan asks, you often talk about bowling and curling. How did you get into these two sports? Well, I've been bowling my whole life. Not very well and not very often, particularly not that often since I blew out my elbow several years ago. But I've always enjoyed it, but I almost never watched it on TV. I started watching older tournaments on U.S. YouTube a few years ago and loved them. But again, I still didn't watch the current PBA on television very much. But at the beginning of 2019, I made a conscious effort to begin following the PBA and to learn about the current touring pros. And I've been following it ever since. I DVR all the broadcasts. I've

really gotten into it. I started following the PWBA at the same time, but they did not have a season last year, which was really disappointing because they were going to hold a tournament in Spokane. However, they are slated to come to Spokane this August, which will mark the first time professional bowling will be in the Spokane area. I am really, really looking forward to that. As for curling, I was not exposed to it at all until I was in my 20s. I've always watched the Olympics. I've always loved the Olympics, and the first time I remember watching curling was at the Olympics. 2014, I think it was. Could have been 2010. Pretty sure it was 2014, though. That was fun. I found it interesting, but didn't really make that much of an effort to learn about it or follow it.

John Schuster was a skip for the American Olympic team in 2014, and they were terrible. No other way to put it. Four years later, I decided I was going to watch all the Olympic curling coverage than I could. I'd been looking forward to it in the weeks leading up to the Olympics. And when I saw that John Schuster was skipping the American team again, I said out loud, they sent him back. Anyways, his team got off to a slow start. as they had done the previous two Olympics.

But in the second half of the Round Robin tournament, they went on a tear, made the semifinals, won that game, and then faced Sweden in the gold medal match, and by this time I was hooked. I watched the gold medal match live. It was on about 3 o'clock in the morning or something,

and I had to refrain from cheering too loudly so as not to wake up the rest of the house. Team Schuster played very well and put up a huge five-point end towards the middle of the match, actually could have been nearer the end of the match, but it was the Swedish team led by Nicholas Adean, a great skip, great team.

They could not catch up, and they conceded before the match played out all 10 ends. The following winter, I found the world championships on the Olympic channel. I devoured all those broadcasts, enjoyed them very much, and I decided that I was going to follow this sport as well, which has proven to be a lot harder than following bowling. Then last year's national championships were held in Cheney at the arena at Eastern Washington University. I bought myself a ticket to the whole event, basically an unlimited pass so I could come and go as I pleased the entire week.

I did not attend all of the sessions, however. The first sessions began about 8 o'clock in the morning every day, and the final sessions did not end until 9 or 10 that night. So they were very long days. But I had the time of my life. My best friend attended the semifinals and the finals with me, and she got hooked as well. They had people in the stands that could answer questions that the spectators had, and my friend spent a while talking with one of them about the rules and whatnot. I cannot, for the life of me, explain the rules of curling.

I know them, obviously. I just cannot put them into words so others can understand. I've tried and I have failed. But anyways, the two of us, we sign up for curling classes, at our local curling club, but those got canceled because of the virus last year. But I am very much looking forward

to taking those classes and learning how to curl because it looks damn fun. I hope that answered those questions. Clive, do we have time for another one before break? Yes, we do. And to the surprise of no one,

it's another bowling and curling question. This one from Clyde in Meridian, Idaho. Who are your favorite male and female bowlers? Who are your favorite male and female curlers? Kind of a theme in the first half of the day show, I suppose. As for favorite curlers, are we talking about international or domestic curlers? Either way, I don't know if I can give that good of an answer, to be honest. I'm still fairly new at trying to follow the sport,

so most of the teams I'm familiar with are those that made the last world championships two years ago. As for stateside, I admire John Schuster, after an awful showing in 2014 and 2010, I think, as well. The U.S. program was redesigned to get a really good team to the Olympics in 2018. However, his team was so strong in the time leading up to the national championships, and I think they won those nationals that they earned their way back to the 2018 Olympics, despite really trying to be ousted by the curling program here. That shows a lot of perseverance, dedication, hard work, sticotiviveness, all qualities that I admire in an athlete.

There's a young team I want to talk about, too, who was at the last national. championship in 2020 that I attended. One of the junior teams that played was very strong, and they earned their way into the semifinals. And it was Chase Sennett's team. I met them on the concourse after a session had ended, and they were all very nice, polite young men.

Mr. Sennett in particular was very engaging with all the fans that spoke to him. He was very nice. And if this is the future of the sport, the sports in good hands going forward. Matt Hamilton, who is on John Schuster's team, is also very engaging with the fans. And if you've seen this team on TV and seen him interact with the fans, I can attest that he was as advertised. What you see is what you get. But I will also say that the vast majority of the curlers, both men and women,

were all very good to the fans and great with the kids in the audience too. I was very impressed with this group of athletes as a whole. As for international players, Nicholas Edine, the skip of one of the top Swedish teams. He's one of my favorites. I admire Kevin Kui, a Canadian skip. This is a tough question because like I said, I'm still learning the sport. And the players on the international level, I don't know hardly any of them outside of the teams that made the previous world championships, especially since there was no season, basically, in 2020. On the women's side, there's Anna Hasselborg, who's the skip of one of the

top Swedish teams. She's very, very good. a young veteran, very, very skilled. Silvana Tiranzoni from Switzerland. She's been around a long time. She's in her 40s, and she's still successful at the international level. Her team won the Women's World Curling Championship in 2019 over Hasselborg's team. Over to bowling, where I cannot name just one favorite. Right now, Bill O'Neill is a favorite, Francois Lvoix, Daron-Tang, who has an absolutely beautiful game.

He has yet to win on the PBA level. But he will at some point. Norm Duke's been around forever. His first telecast and PBA Tour win were both occurred before I was born. He is still the youngest person to win a PBA Tour event. He did so at 18 years old. It was the Cleveland Open in 1983. Chris Barnes is another veteran.

O'Neill is a veteran as well. Marshall Kent is from Washington. He is from Yakima, though he bowls out of Las Vegas now. Still always good to see Marshall Kent do well. And how can you know? not like Kyle Troop. I mean, such a big personality.

He's dynamic. He's unique. Every sport needs a Kyle troop. A.J. Johnson, I like watching as well. He is as intense as they come on the bowling lanes. He's a former high school football player. Looks every inch of football player. West Malot, I enjoy as well.

And one thing I like about bowling is that you can be West Malott, who's 6'5 and not in the best of shape, or you can be Norm Duke, who's 5 foot 5 and all of 130 pounds. My all-time favorite bowler is the great Earl Anthony. Earl was once signed to a contract by the Baltimore Orioles as a pitcher, but he incurred a pretty severe injury, and his contract was voided. He never played pro ball. On the women's side, well, Liz Johnson's been around a long time.

Also, still very, very successful. She's one of the best of all time and has a PBA tour. win in a very prestigious event, no less. Shannon O'Keefe is another favorite. Danielle McEwen, Clara Guerrero, the Colombian. She has also made a PBA tour telecast. Three women, I think, have done that. Three or four, I think just three.

Jordan Richards, she's a youngster. She's got a promising future. Rookie of the Year a couple years ago. Dasha Kovalova is another promising youngster. She's more of a power player. She threw a televised perfect game a couple years ago. Who else is there? Diana Zavialovat, Shannon Plahowski.

There are so many that I enjoy watching. Darya Paiyunk as well. Lots of good female bowlers. And as I've said on this show before, I enjoy women's bowling more than men's bowling because the men tend to be more power bowlers while the women have to rely on accuracy and shot making, which is the type of bowling I prefer to watch.

I find it much more interesting personally. And with that, we're going to go to the trivia. Excuse me, D.C. But may I ask a question before we go to Brue? Sure. Be honest. What is really your favorite sport? Baseball, bowling, or curling? Honestly, I don't know if I can choose. Don't cop out. I'm not copping out. I was just about to say there's a definite third place finisher between these three sports, and I don't think my listeners are going to like my answer very much. I was going to say that it's tough for me to choose between bowling and curling, but I have to say that I enjoy those sports more than I do baseball at this point. sorry to say, and it's not to say that I don't like baseball. I obviously do.

But bowling and curling probably a bit more now. Maybe curling more so than bowling, but bowling is so much easier to follow. But at the same time, Clive, asking me that question is like asking me to choose between three of my favorite bands. It's a tough call. Now for the trivia corner, and today it is a trivia question. Who was the first former big league baseball player, majorly, baseball player to win a PBA sanctioned event. Yes, that is the question, a bowling question.

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2019, Burkett won the PBA Houston Emerald Bowls Southwest Challenge, which is a mouthful. It was a PBA regional tour event, and not the main PBA tour, but a professional PBA sanctioned event nonetheless. He also bulls on the PBA 50 tour, which was formerly known as the PBA Senior Tour. Hey, if you got a question or comment, I encourage you to send it on over to Lockdown Mariners at gmail.com. I'll reply to it on the air and an un-the-air. upcoming mailbag episode. Questions and comments on any subject are welcome, obviously. I've been

mostly getting questions and comments on subject other than baseball during the offseason, which is A-OK with me. I like answering those type questions. You can also send in just jokes, just silliness. Anything you want to, Lockdown Mariners at Gmail.com. Well, not exactly anything you want to. Please do keep it appropriate. This is a family show. My mom listens to this show. I'm not going to put anything on the air that's going to embarrass her. We will continue. you to answer your emails on the other side of this word from Rock Auto. Rockado.com is a family business, serving auto parts customers online for 20 years. Go to rockato.com to shop for auto and body parts from hundreds of manufacturers.

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Amazing selection, reliably low prices, the parts your car will ever need. Rockado.com. Now time for the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Here once again is your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, J.M. Before we get back to Clive and the emails, get more of the sports news you need

and less time with our new Locked On Today podcast. Peter Bukowski hosts Locked on Today. A daily podcast, breaking down the biggest stories with analysis from our local experts. Start your day with all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes. Subscribe to Lockdown today, today, wherever you get your podcasts. Back to this particular podcast known as Locked on Mariners, reading your emails today, and Clive Braithwaite the 4th,

my personal secretary, has the next one. To lead off the second half, two questions from Aidan Soans from East Hampton, Connecticut. The second of his questions may be my favorite question in the history of this show, and you'll figure out why when I read it. He writes, how did you get into podcasting? Also, how did you meet your personal secretary, Clive Braithway the 4th? Yes, he asked about me, although he misspelled my name. But D.C., I think that's your fault for not enunciating my last name very well. He called me Brayetteway. B. R. A. T. H. W. W. A. A. T. H. W. A. A. T. A. H. W. A. W. A. A. T. E. A. D. C. A. A. D. C. A. A. D. C. A. A. D. A. A. A. D. A. A. A. Thank you very much for writing. I'll answer your first question first. I got into podcasting almost nine years ago in May of 2012. A friend of mine, Cindy Sidelman, was involved in another podcast network that was starting up a bi-weekly baseball show, and she asked me if I wanted to do an episode.

I appeared on that series' third episode, and almost every single one from that point out. The show was hosted by a man named Jim Williams, who passed away in 2017. At that point, the show was turned over to me and another frequent guest of that program, Jason Hernandez, who is now also a locked-on host. Jason is friends with Taylor Blake Ward who appeared on that program a program a couple of times former host of Lockedon Angels and when the Locked-on Mariner's job

became open Taylor recommended me and I was asked to apply for the job and I did. I owe a debt of gratitude to Cindy and Jim for giving me an opportunity I ran with it and my involvement with that show led to this gig and for that I owe a debt of gratitude

to Jason Taylor and also Sean Woodley, the MLB channel coordinator here on Tloppin, I would have loved to have the opportunity to be able to have Jim Williams appear on this show. I miss him very much, gang, and I do sincerely hope that he's listening from up above. He would have done great on Diamond Quiz. As for how I met Clive, you know, I think I'll let Clive tell us. Clive, do you want to tell everybody how you came to work for me? Sure.

D.C. and I met a few years ago while he was still living in Shoreline. He used to frequent a karaoke bar there with his brother and a friend. I met them there one night, and D.C. and I got talking about the Mariners. I friended him on Facebook and would talk about baseball during the season, and I was a member of his fantasy baseball leagues. I'll also take this time to mention that I do not share his enthusiasm about bowling or curling. But anyways, after he moved to Spoke and we continued to talk about baseball and the Mariners. I have also since moved out of the Seattle area I never stay in one place very long

But after DC got this show He eventually got the idea that it would be fun to have me read the listener emails Because of my British accent That's about right, isn't it at DC? That's pretty close It was more or less on a whim Because you've got a good voice And a British accent is always a good way to class up a show

Actually some of that is actually true Clive is obviously a fictional character. He's a text to speech engine. Part of what he said is not untrue, however. I thought it would be funny if the listener emails were read by a TTS engine, and I also thought it would be funny of that TTS engine had a British accent. I don't know why it struck me that it would be funny, but it did, so I started doing it. And the announcer on this program, Joey Martin and I were workshopping names.

We just tried to think of the most stereotypically British name we could think of, and we came up with Clive Braithwaite the 4th. Before I got a chance to use Clive in that capacity, however, I lost my voice because I had a really bad cold a few months ago, so I had to have him guest host an episode, and I thought that would be really easy. But it turned out to kind of be a pain in the ass because there are a lot of names that I had to fudge spellings with for him to say properly.

And I also have to spell out numbers in a batting average or an earned run average. And I also have to fudge the spelling of my home city. Clive, if I type the proper way to spell Spokane into your text field, how do you pronounce it? Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be exposed in that manner? You just explained that I don't exist. Yes, but since you don't exist, you don't have feelings, so you can't be embarrassed. This is true.

Whatever you make me say, I say. To answer your question, if you type... P-O-K-A-N-E into my text field. I pronounce it spoken. At least I don't say Spokane. Yeah, Spokane drives people here up the wall. It is Spokane. Also, I can't have him really say anything about the Miami baseball team

because for some reason he says Marlins. And he also pronounces St. Louis weird as well. Clive, is there anything to add? You know damn well there's nothing else to add. You just tossed to me to get out of how. having to segue out of this topic. That is true, so just read the next email. Actually, we're out of time.

Ah, well, I guess that's it then. Clive, thanks again for joining us. Always happy to do it. Excellent. Thanks for joining us today, ladies and gentlemen. Join us next time for some more baseball history, most likely, where I will be joined by Thelma Harper, Spike the B, and a smoke detector battery. Please remember to download rate and subscribe to this program.

Look for us on any podcasting app that you can happen. to think of. I hope you enjoy this episode, ladies and gentlemen. If you have any questions you want to get in for the next email episode, Locked-on Mariners at gmail.com is the place to send those emails. Have a great day, ladies and gentlemen. Join us next time. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.