PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - I'm not mad. I'm sad.

Episode Date: February 15, 2022

On this episode, Derek and Jesse are discussing MLB embracing the villain role by not wanting to pay minor league players and trying to fire hundreds of them, D-backs pitching prospect Matt Tabor's feelings on how minor leaguers are being treated, and the D-backs having one of the best jerseys in MLB history. 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.

Hello and welcome to yet another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. It is Tuesday, February 15th, and there is still no end in sight to the MLB lockout. I don't know how many days we're in, day 75, day 76. It feels like day 5,000, as far as I'm concerned. But of course, my name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. And I wouldn't be doing this at all if I was doing it alone. I can't do it alone. I have to have my vice mayor, my friend, my co-host,

the one and only thunderstick Jesse Friedman at my side to discuss all of the bad news and lack of, I guess, progress. Well, Derek, if I wasn't here, who would be here to tell the people that you made a prediction, my friend, that the major league baseball lockout would end on February 14th? And yet February 14th has come. and gone. So well, I am over here not celebrating. Let's pull the curtain back a little bit.

It's still, it's, we are recording this on Valentine's Day. Jesse, of course, not my Valentine's, not the person I wish I was spending this evening with right now. But, uh, there, there is the possibility, Jesse. It's not it's, we got an 11th hour kind of situation. Oh my gosh. It saves the day before we move on to Tuesday. I don't know. It remains to be seen. We might have to delete this whole podcast and start over in the morning. But, of course, no matter if we do that or if we do that now, we have to tell you that this podcast is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King's Sportsbook. Go download the Draft King's Sportsbook right now.

Obviously, NFL season has come and gone again. Congratulations to the Los Angeles Rams, even though we don't want to congratulate people from Los Angeles and their sports teams on anything when we're Phoenix sports fans. But Hoops fans, the latest offer from Drafking Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA is too good to pass up. We are talking the legs, between the legs, 360 windmill good, boom, shackalaca type good, new customers can bet just $1 on any team and get $150 in free bets if they win. It's that simple.

But not so simple. What's very complicated has become not only, Jesse, the lockout MLB, is currently in. But now it's like layers of terribleness are stacking upon themselves because we have this information coming out as we discussed yesterday about MLB essentially suing to not pay minor league players. And, you know, this comes on on the cusp of, you know, this entire economic structure deal that they're

trying to get done for baseball continuously falling apart. just getting update after update about how far apart both sides are. And now we are here where we are, you know, getting updates from Jeff Passon today about Major League Baseball asking to eliminate hundreds of minor league playing jobs in its latest labor proposal, which would cut the rosters on minor league teams down to below 100. 150 domestic minor league players. As of right now, teams can currently roster 180 domestic minor league players. But there are two teams in minor leagues that have fewer than 150, while five teams currently have more than 180.

And essentially, with this being granted, they would give all these teams the ability to cut down below that 150 players. player mark. While the, and this is from Jeff Passon, while the MLBPA represents only major leaguers, it does bargain for a number of amateur slash minor league issues. Among those, the draft. The union

in July proposed a 20-round draft versus the current 40-round draft, something that the league accepted, one of the few points on which they've agreed during negotiation. So they've at least, I guess, made some traction as far as negotiating and agreeing on some things, but still nothing around the main issues.

And now we are seeing Major League Baseball wanting to double down. And, you know, even though they, you know, kind of have been trying to do better by minor league players, now wanting to not pay them during spring training or their postseason, and not wanting to have as many of them around. it seems like the housing issue where they decided to pay for the minor leaguers housing is now coming back a bit to rear the ugly side of it, which is where they're going to make, you know, concessions, where they're going to save money in order to pay for these minor league minor leaguers to have housing. It's a mess, Derek. It is a mess across the board. Honestly, people, I mean, this is worse than I was a mess. expecting it to be. I'm just going to, I'm just going to tell it like it is here. I really thought that at this

point, you know, maybe a deal isn't done yet, but we should be getting pretty close. The sides should be gaining traction. We should be moving in the right direction. The problem right now is that these sides are not really getting closer, Derek. I mean, I mean, they're they're getting closer, but I mean, when the owners are giving back one thing, they're kind of taking something else, right? You know, when they're willing to cooperate on the CBT threshold, they're also simultaneously increasing penalties, right? Like they're giving something, but they're also taking something back. And that's not the kind of compromise that is going to lead to a deal getting done when these two sides are so far apart. And what you just talked about with this situation with the minor leaders is, is all the more a mess.

I mean, we've already seen minor league baseball cut down significantly over the last few years. I believe it was cut down by 42 teams altogether across the league. So about a team or two per organization have already been cut. And the teams want to take away even more than that. And that is difficult to hear for a lot of young people who are interested in playing this game of baseball that something that's very, very hard to do already, right? Like get an opportunity in a professional organization is only looking like it's going

to be getting harder and harder. and all this amounts to one of the biggest PR disasters that this sport has ever seen. Now, when we talk about minor leaguers not getting paid, here is what MLB had to say, and I think we might have even quoted this yesterday, but this is just so absurd to me, I have to say it again. Per MLB, for this is for Evandrelich from the athletic, it is the players that obtain the greater benefit from the training opportunities that they are afforded than the clubs who actually just incur the cost of having to provide that training.

That is MLB's position on paying minor league baseball players to be a part of spring training, which I'm going to, I'm going to say just something that might not be popular. But they're not entirely wrong there, right? there are a significant amount of minor league players who probably aren't have no chance of making the big league club this season depending on depending on their age depending on their progress where they're at their you know actual talent level right but they are given a great opportunity to come up to spring training and uh you know obviously receive you know know, instructions and to be around the major league coaches and just be around, you know,

the entire process of being in camp and being at spring training. Like, I get how important that is to some of them. And honestly, in some cases, doing that is kind of like with some of them that struggle in the minor league system, that's kind of the carrot in a way, right? That's the chance that even if they're not really super happy with their situation with whatever minor league club they're playing with, they get that one opportunity to come up and be in camp with the major league ball players and essentially be peers with, you know, guys that they might look up to or guys that they

might have been a fan of at one point in their, in their life. And, you know, I'm not saying what Major League Baseball here is saying is wrong, right? Because they're right. There is a great benefit. But the overstepping of the bounds is to say that there's, a greater benefit, a greater benefit. Like as if these baseball teams aren't sifting through this pile of minor league

ball players they have for the next diamond in the rough constantly, they never know when it's going to come, they never know who it's going to be, they never know what is going to cause that person to have that awakening, right? But it's happened often enough in baseball for teams to have found huge superstars, including the Arizona Diamondbacks

with Paul Goldschmidt as someone that was a very low draft pick that wasn't really, didn't have high expectations around him or his career. And, you know, again, the ability to see guys like that that might not have a lot of, I guess a lot of excitement around them and a lot of hype built up around them in a major league camp and see what they can really do, right? So to say it's a greater benefit, like I get what they're saying here. And it's for such a small percentage of the minor league players. But it's such a greater advantage to the major league ball clubs that could look through all of these guys because they never know if some guy who played, you know, for a community college or something just because of his situation might be the next great breakout star.

And just because they don't have a lot of information or a lot of coaches haven't seen him or whatever, they might not know how good he is. But when they get to see him in camp and in spring training, that can really. be where guys get on the radar of the big league clubs and their entire career has changed. But that's a beneficial, that's like a two-way street, man. It's great for the team to have a great player and it's great for the player to be seen and be given an opportunity. This entire concept of not paying, you know, younger players or younger employees of your company just because they're being trained still and they're not at full value as

far as being able to produce the same way your other employees can is bullshit. It's straight up labor, straight of violating labor laws, it feels like. And the fact that they're trying to do everything they can to make it so that they don't have to pay these guys just makes baseball look even worse, just makes MLB look even worse during a time where the last thing they needed right now was more bad publicity. it almost feels like well fuck it everything's bad now anyway so let's just let's just be completely honest and let's just do all the things that we wanted to do since people hate us now anyway like you know it's it's very pro wrestling villain pro wrestling heel where they're just like now that

they're the bad guy they can just reveal how much they've hated the audience the whole time and they can reveal what bad you know intentions they've always had in their head like it feels like major League Baseball went straight heel with this entire process and just unapologetically heal about it. Going back to just the lockout situation and kind of where we're at with things, the day that's been said is February 28th. So February 28th is the day that we need a deal completed by in order to salvage opening day.

That is the deadline. Which is two weeks from yesterday. Which is, yeah, less than two weeks away. now. That's a soft deadline according to report. So, you know, maybe there's a, there's a leeway there of a day or two. But that's not very far away, Derek. And considering how far apart these two sides are and you're absolutely right. It just seems like the asks are getting more and more extreme as time goes on, which I mean, I guess can be kind of a useful negotiation tactic. Right. The way to get what you want is to ask for things that are actually more extreme.

than what you're really planning on getting. And then suddenly, you know, what you really want looks like a compromise because you're kind of, you know, lifting up off the gas pedal of these ridiculous things that you're throwing out there that maybe aren't really, you know, things you're realistically going to get in the end anyway. So I don't know, man.

I'm just ready for baseball, Derek. This is the week, right? I mean, this is the way. Today would be the day. Today would be the day. Pitchers and catchers, apparently would have reported today. Some pitchers and catchers would have reported today.

I knew it was this week. I know the Arizona Diamondbacks usually have a weird, like, middle. I don't remember them ever starting on a Monday, but I could be wrong about that. Yeah. I know one thing about this entire situation is it reminds me very much of like a very, very bad couple, like in a relationship. You know what I mean?

Like you just, you were just coming off. Day, please. I know. I know. And that's what, like, see, that's the thing is, like, when you see a couple even fight on Valentine's Day, you're like, I don't know. I don't think you guys are going to make it, right? Like, if I was MLBPA's friend, I would be telling them maybe it's time to start thinking about just leaving them. Maybe it's just time that we start talking about divorce. And I know that that seems drastic, but I want you to be happy MLBPA. I want you to live your best life. life and maybe it's just not with this guy, Manfred, maybe he's not the right guy for you. I don't know, but it's feeling more and more like this is going to be like a irreconcilable differences kind of situation. Like it just doesn't feel like these two are going to get back together.

You know, like, like the, that's the part of the arguments that makes me think of a bad couple. You know, like when they're arguing, you see, it's like embarrassing. I've probably, I know if me and my wife have even been this couple at one point in our lives, right? We've been together for a long time. I know we have to have been, right? But when, when you see a couple and they're arguing about one thing, and then all of a sudden that argument in five seconds is something completely different, and you're just almost, you almost got like, you know, like whiplash from how quickly the conversation changed from topic A to topic

B. And you're like, why are you guys fighting about this now? Like, the dishwasher? What? Why are we fighting about who empty the dishwasher now? You guys were fighting about being late in the car and now. And now we're talking dishwashers. This is crazy. It just seems like MLB and the players association are finding something new to disagree on every day that we're really celebrating the few things that they are agreeing on, right? Like this changing of the draft and, you know, the DA. We got the DA. We can see.

This is the start. We can, we can, this is a base. We could go from here. I think the most heartbreaking thing is Arizona Diamondbacks minor league pitching prospect, Matt Tabor made a statement on Twitter. A thread, if you will, that was actually very well thought out. It's called, I like to call it the soliloquy if I'm not mad, I'm sad. And it's a thread outlining how today's news about unpaid spring training has made

myself, meaning him Matt Tabor, and countless other minor leaguers, minor league players feel. And I would like to read you just a few passages of it because he did quote, Evan Drellich's article about, you know, essentially MLB arguing for not paying minor leaguers to stay, for not paying them in spring training. And he says, I'm not mad, I'm sad that numerous of my teammates who have had major league talent have been forced to step away from the game due to a financial inability to support themselves and their families who rely on them. I'm not mad. I'm sad that after earning an opportunity we have worked for our entire life, we are forced to get second jobs in the winter. saving up for spring training expenses that are not adequately covered, and in turn sacrificing valuable time that could be spent training and developing as players.

I'm not mad. I'm sad that I see players on a daily basis load up on food from the facility at lunch because they're not given enough money to adequately feed themselves at night. I'm not mad. I'm sad that players go down with career-altering injuries in spring training partially due to a lack of sleep, air mattresses, too many roommates, and a lack of nutrition. I'm not mad. I'm sad that the hired economic developers sees no difference between an 18, 16 year old high school travel ball player and a professional athlete who has earned the right to a standard livable wage whenever his services are requested. I'm not mad. I'm sad. There's still work to do. Can I can I tell you something, Derek? What? I think he's mad. Jesse? I'm not going to argue with you on that. I think he's pretty mad. And you know where it is? It's the like there's this. I'm not mad. I'm sad that I see players on a daily basis load up on food from the facility at lunch because they are not given enough money to adequately feed themselves at night. I'm mad, Jesse. That makes me mad. And what's weird about that is I know how that feels, right? There was a time in college when I was that. When all of my funds were going towards paying my own tuition for a school that was entirely too expensive and for You know, I didn't want to get financial aid.

And I was very stupid about it. But at the time, I was still trying to do the right thing. I was trying to go on my career path and I was trying to pay for it. I was trying not to get myself into heaping, you know, heaping, heaping amounts of debt. And I was, you know, trying to be an adult and live, you know, a life as a 19, 20-year-old, you know, young man. And I remember, you know, stuff like this. I remember even being mad even though I wasn't like in baseball. I remember being mad about how like how much money, how much some of my friends,

some other kids that I went to college with had and how little I had, right? I remember being mad because I couldn't get really nutritious meals. And I just thought it really suck that like the only thing I could afford was like jack in the box because they would literally give you, you know, like. Jack in the box is cheap, man. Six tacos for like five bucks. It was the greatest feeling ever, you know. But like that's just me being a college kid scraping by.

That's not me as talent. An employee. Like as someone who is recruited to be a part of a major organization. Right. You know, someone that was picked up and you convinced me not to go to college so that I could come work for you. And now you don't even want to adequately pay me. or give me a decent place to sleep so that I'm, you know, prepared, right? I mean, there was a time where we talked about Fernando Tatis Jr. taking out that loan

that seems almost predatory, right? Oh, right, right. You know, the loan that he got prior to, it's an investment fund that essentially pays minor league players gives them a loan so that way they can have a better life. And in turn, they promise this seemingly predatory investment agency like a percentage of future earnings. And I mean, I guess the thing there is you never know if a ball player is going to make it. Right. So they might not make that Fernando Tatis Jr. kind of money and that investment firm might lose out on what they loaned that person as a young, you know, athlete struggling to make it.

But not in this case. In this case, it worked out for him. They're making over $27 million off of Fernando Tatis Jr. And that's just one player that they loaned money to, right? But when they talked about that, one of the most important things for Tatis Jr. was that he felt like at the time he wasn't getting proper lodging. He felt like he wasn't getting proper food.

He didn't feel like he had the ability if he had to have a second job to train properly. Instead, he took out this loan. he was able to get like a private trainer, you know, like somebody that worked exclusively with him. And he ate well and he did, you know, and he's talked about this in interviews because there are people that feel much like what I have said about this, that it is kind of a predatory situation of minor league players. And meanwhile, he felt like it was the best investment he ever made in himself, right? Like, you know, signing with this company to give him money so that he could make it through these years. And these years are so tough. These minor league years are what caused, like what Matt Tabor said,

it's what causes people to quit, right? It's like, it's like college where I got a job in college, and that made it very hard for me to, like, stay focused on school when all of a sudden I started doing a job that I was like, hey, this is going to be my career. This is awesome. Maybe, like, maybe I don't need all of this college stuff and you spend it all this money, right?

It's the same kind of thing. If your minor league situation sucks, no matter how athletically gifted you are, no matter what kind of contributions you could give to a major league team, you might just decide that, hey, I can go work for this investment firm that loans minor league players money. And I'm going to make way more money doing that than I do as a minor league player. And that sounds like a pretty sweet career path too, you know.

Yeah. And not, you know, not every minor leaguer signs for 700 grand, which is what Fernando Tatis is signing bonus. was when he came over from the Dominican Republic. Also, side note, Derek, do you remember the trade that brought Fernando Tatis to the Padres in the first place? I'm just doing a little review over here,

a little rabbit trail. They got him for James Shields. James Shields was sent over from the Padres to the White Sox back in 2016. And James Shields was not particularly good at that point in his career. And the Padres got Fernando Tatis in return. anyway. Just throwing that out there.

That's why you tread away some of those names so that way you can get those young players and hopefully those young players become the next Fernando Tatis Jr. That's the plan. But of course, you never know what's going to happen. So that way, but if you do, you go over a draft king sports book. You put a futures bet down, whatever. You can get the next MVP. You can get all sorts of stuff.

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Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com slash sportsbook for details. They slipped a new one in there on me, Jesse, and it messed up my entire rhythm there. but I'll tell you I was excited to see on ESPN that they ranked much like we did recently the best jerseys in MLB history of course Jesse and I ranked the best Diamondbacks jerseys in their short history but June Lee from ESPN who apparently Jesse's like best friend with I don't know he had this weird story about close they are. We have a mutual friend. It's very it's very odd but yeah somehow I feel I feel a connection to a man

that I've still never met. So anyway. Well, the Arizona Diamondbacks were actually on this list of the top 20 of the best jerseys in MLB history. So that's kind of nice, right? I don't want to undersell how great this is that the Diamondbacks made a list because MLB has a long history. A lot of great jerseys, a lot of very flashy different jerseys. and the Arizona Diamondbacks, 1998 through 2006,

purple and teal, Arizona Diamondbacks vest shirt combo were ranked as the 19th best jersey in Major League Baseball history. That was our number one, right? That was our number one. We both had that one number one. I think that's the consensus, right?

I think even the Diamondbacks know that it's the reason why when they went with the throwback Thursday jersey, that's the one they went with. I've appreciated how much they've tried to keep that jersey in the mix, despite the fact that I just want them to just straight up go back to the old colors. But it's nice to see some love for this jersey. Now, I will say, much like yourself, I did agree. I thought that maybe it could have been ranked a little bit higher. I did think that

there were maybe some jerseys on this list I didn't like as much or think should be ranked above it. I still like it better than like the devil raise from the 98 period of time, which... There's some pretty crappy uniforms in here, Derek. I'm not. I'm not going to lie. There really are. There really are. The Chicago White Sox Southside City Connect jersey was ranked pretty high. I think like 12th or maybe even higher than that, though.

But the ones up at the top were kind of like the classic all-time jerseys. So I guess it's a bit debatable. But I know that Boston Red Sox jersey was up there in the top five. Yeah, the Yankees. Yeah, Yankees were number two. And of course, of course, Diamondbacks fans. The Los Angeles Dodgers timeless jersey is number one of all time. Not surprised.

They love to rub the Dodgers just in our faces about everything lately. But I never realized because when I was growing up and I was watching Sandlot so often as a child, it just never dawned on me that Benny the Jet Rodriguez was wearing a Dodgers jersey. And it never bothered me as much as it does lately. but that's only because that rivalry wasn't there for me when I was a kid. I didn't hate the Dodgers. The only reason why I hated the Dodgers was because it was one of my first baseball games I ever went to and they were playing the expos.

And I know I've told this story at least twice on this podcast, but you're going to hear it again, just like my wife. My wife has to deal with this, with me telling stories she's heard 50 times. But the Dodgers lost and did not come out like they were supposed to. I guess they had like a general. kind of thing that they would come out after the Sunday home games and greet fans and sign autographs. And because they lost and were mad about something, they opted not to come out. And the Expos came out and signed a bunch of autographs and were cool about it and kind of took the Dodgers place.

So thus I became for at least a day and a week, an Expos fan. I had a really great baseball that like the team passed around and signed and I got a bunch of signatures. Wow. Yeah, it was a great. It was a great fun day, you know, but that's when my Dodgers hatred started, but there was just a small kinling at that point. It wasn't a full-on inferno like it is now. Now it's mostly jealousy and rage and, you know, alcohol, the bolted hops and stuff like that. Do you think this, this is kind of a slight rabbit trail, but I want to know your answer. Do you think in the early days of the D-BACs franchise, I was too young to really remember what was going on and what the dynamics. were at the time. Were the Dodgers always the biggest rival in the minds of Arizona fans? Was it more the Giants? Was it more the Rockies? Did they just not have one early on?

They didn't have one early on, but at times there were teams in the NL West that I really hated because of, or just in the National League that I hated because of, you know, key losses to them or it seemed like we could never beat them. I know there was a period of time where I couldn't stand the St. Louis Cardinals because it felt like. every time we played the Cardinals, they just beat up on us. And then I think, I want to say the Giants, the Giants. Very, very bonds was probably somewhat hated, I would assume. Oh, absolutely.

And they were just good. They were good. The Giants have always been good. They've always managed to stay competitive. I don't remember too many times where the Giants were like, you know, like the Padres were. I remember the Padres beating the Diamondbacks a bunch of times one season, and I was furious about it.

just because of how bad the Padres were. Yeah. Audres haven't been great really much at all lately. Yeah. But no, it, no, it wasn't like that. It's the last 10 years, to be honest. The last 10 years has been, and it's kind of the same,

unmitigated, you know, irrational hate that like the Yankees get, where the Yankees were literally hated just because they were good. Like I get it. Your team is in their division, so you always have to see them.

beat you and you always have to see them go on and all that but like again being a uh kind of a yankees fan and not not really being uh not really understanding the culture as much back then right when i was first a yankees fan uh i like i didn't get it i didn't get it and now you when you're on the other side of it for a number of years you're like oh oh i so fucking get it now i get it so much now i okay you can stop you can stop hitting me over the head with the lesson that i'm learning because I understand it. Right. Like it gets to a point like,

we often say very flattering things about the Dodgers on the show. We don't really call them cheaters or start getting into like super negativity about our feelings on them other than we hate them, right? But we hate them because we ain't them and we hate them because they're such a stupid, good team that's, that's like, oh,

it's so frustrating with how good they are. But it's also nice and it's also a joy to not see them succeed in the ultimate goal that they're pursuing constantly. And that's at least one thing that's like, ha, ha, you didn't do it again this year. Right. So like, but they're there at that point where they're that good that sometimes the only win we have when it comes to the Dodgers is like,

ha, you didn't win the World Series this year. Again, you bunch of idiots. That's all we got, right? In 2020, that one doesn't count, right? No. No. That wasn't a real season. That wasn't a real season.

But see, you can get all sorts of good information like this over at go phnx.com. If you're not already a member, I don't know why you wouldn't be. But again, I understand. Sometimes you don't really know if you're going to like something. Let me tell you, you're going to love it. Come over to go phnx.com. Sign up to become a member. If you become an annual member, you'll get a free, wonderful, amazing, soft,

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not only the signing of Dan Staley and everything else that Jesse and I have been talking about, but sons, cardinals, you know, we may or may not be responsible for starting this, whole thing about Kyla Murray. I don't know. I'm blaming Johnny. JV is a troublemaker. And he's over there giggling right now. I'm sure about it. Stop noticing stuff. Yeah, stop noticing stuff. Johnny and pointing around on Instagram. New troublemaker, reporter you. Uh, but of course, you get all of this. We start the conversation here at pHNX. You get all of this over here. Becoming a member at go phnx.com. Uh, if you're not interested in the annual membership, we have a month to month option. And if you are a new

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possibly wrong. I'm not ready to say I was officially wrong. yet but uh and and yes the day february 14th has come and gone uh the day i predicted would end the lockout but the day is not over yet jesse and i believe in anything after what i experienced at the super bowl party i didn't get a chance to tell you about this but i had one of the weirdest experiences of quite possibly my entire life i will start off i will start off your casso is that bad huh oh no the queso was really good jessie it was really good So, but what happened was a fellow parent from my daughter's school who we've hung out with before and such was at the party.

And she was talking to my wife and I went up to them. And she asked me, because she was talking to my wife about it, about how she should address telling the host of the party who's a close friend of mine, that his brother who passed away was there at the party. as a spirit playing cornhole. And I was taken aback by that a little bit because I knew nothing about apparently this woman's ability to see dead people, right? She's a medium. And so she tells me this in the moment.

And I've often said this on the show. I can't stress how much, even when I say things, even when I make jokes, how skeptical I am about all of this. man of reason. I'm a man of science, Jesse. I tend to have opinions about things that most people aren't ready to hear when it comes to how little I believe in fate and magic and curses and talking during no hitters and all of that. Like, I don't even get me started on how unrealistic I feel like all of that stuff is no matter how much people believe in them. Momentum isn't a real thing, and neither is magic, neither is pixie desk. With that being said, I was kind of taken aback by this

woman's claim that she saw my friend's dead brother there at the party and she more importantly didn't know if she should bring it up to him uh so she wow what a she was kind of like this is a weird thing and then she looks at me and she goes like you're being followed around by a big guy did you have a big like a big friend you lost or something and my eyes instantly kind of welled up with tears because she goes, he's like super excited that football is on today. Did he used to play football or something like that? And I had a friend I lost in my early 20s to a car accident, my friend Omar. And he was, died in a car accident.

He, uh, they, he was here on a vacation from a full ride scholarship to a college in Texas that he was going to be attending as a, uh, offensive lineman. And, uh, this woman, who knows nothing. nothing about my friend basically described him to me to a tea and then told me that well all he wanted was to give me a hug and to ask if it was okay if she could give me a hug and my friend was a huge hugger right so it was like like and then she goes he like as she's hugging me she's like he really he really misses his mom and want you to tell his mom that he's okay and uh i'm even getting and emotional now talking about it.

Like, it's weird for something like that to happen when you can't see an ulterior motive for that person to be doing that kind of thing in the moment, right? Again, I'm very skeptical. So there's a part of me that like, did my wife put you up to this? Did she tell you about my friend or something? You know, like, because it was just, it's just weird, right? Because it's not like somebody I tell a story about often.

It's not even something. And I mean, it's terrible to say this. But because it happens, long ago. I mean, this is like almost 20 years since he passed, right? That I, I don't think about him like that where he's on my mind every day, not like my friend who thinks about his brother, you know, all the time, right? You know, this guy was a great friend of me, a big part of my life, but, you know, again, it's like time goes on and it's not that first, you know, it's not at the front of your mind anymore. It's not something you think about. But when she described this large

guy following me around, she described. my friend to the tea without me ever mentioning bringing it up or whatever, right? So it's funny because, you know, I'm in full Super Bowl mode. I'm dying to find out what color the Gatorade is and who the MVP is going to thank. Like, come on, thank God first.

And now I'm like, I got to a point where I didn't even care about the game for a brief moment while I was talking with this woman and she was telling me this stuff because I was just sitting there bawling, like just tears coming out of my eyes. and she's like, should I stop? And I was like, no, no, no, please keep going.

Like anything you have to say, like, just get it all out. I just want to hear all of this. Like, it's all amazing to me. And like, I don't know, man. I don't know what to say. It's kind of one of those times in life where even as a man of logic and science, I'm left kind of speechless without an explanation, right? Like, there's nowhere that this person could have even looked this information up to know or to have.

I mean, I don't know. I do a lot of podcasts and shit. I'll tell you, I'll be the first to tell you, I don't remember what I say on these things. So please, uh, don't come cancel me, um, yet for things that I kind of run over at times. But I, I mean that, uh, I don't recall talking about my friend anytime recently. So it was just a real, really weird thing, right? So I guess, I guess my, uh, my world's a little shook. And at this point, Jesse, I'm willing to believe anything.

And that anything is that they could still get a deal done tonight. for midnight. See, now, Derek, you made it look like you just made up this whole story just so that you could try to be confident in your ridiculous prediction that Major League Baseball wouldn't be locked out right now. Good try. It is what it is. It is what it is.

I tried. Well, you know, anyway, we hope you guys enjoyed the show. And I will leave it up to you whether you believe that story really happened or not. I mean, now Jesse questioned it. Now that's going to be the big mystery. But we obviously thank you guys for checking us out. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Kappa underscore K-Mad with a K.

Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs. But of course, all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports. That's on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to us on your favorite audio podcast app. Leave us a five-star review if you'd be so inclined. And then go over to YouTube and subscribe.

there to PHNX sports and sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss any of the amazing content coming out from our PHNX team. Jesse, let's get this deal done. I need to not deal with you tomorrow. Oh, we're going to have some fun on the live show tomorrow. You all got to show up and be in the comments and we're going to have a good time. I regret nothing. I regret nothing.

Well. And by the time people are listening to this, once again, we're really talking later today. We're talking Tuesday. evening at 6 p.m. Arizona time. That's right. Join us. Be there on YouTube. Be there in the comments. We hope to see you guys there. On behalf of Jesse and myself, we thank you so much and remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when I'm right.