Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - 152 | Oscar Mercado is Cleveland's Next Stud

Episode Date: June 1, 2020

Cleveland Indians outfielder Oscar Mercado joined the program to discuss his transition from shortstop to the outfield, his MLB debut, and LeBron James. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 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 Talking Baseball. Happy Monday. We got Oscar Mercado on the pot. Let's do it. What's going on, everybody? Hope you had a fantastic weekend. Welcome back. It's Talking Baseball.

My name's Jimmy. I got Jake with me. We got Minnesota Legend, the Pride of Minnesota. Trevor Plouffe, producer BPD in the corner. And we just wrapped up a conversation with Oscar Mercado, broke out. season got himself cemented into the two hole with the Indians when they're they were chasing for a while you remember like they were like who they could do it they could get that wild card and they brought puig over and there was a mercado in the two hole there's just like a solid lineup he was doing

his thing so we just wrapped up a conversation with him what you guys think jake i liked him i think um you know he was a little reserve but he started rolling and he was having a good time uh the ploof highlights I won't talk about that. But yeah, man, this is a dude that, Jim, I know we get caught up in looking at different rookie of the year classes sometimes. A, he was one of eight guys in the AL that got rookie of the year votes. And like, listen to these names. I mean, Jordan Alvarez, John Means, Brandon Lowe, Eloy Jimenez, Kevin Beggio, Arias,

Vladdy Jr. and Oscar Mercado. I mean, like, there's guys in that class who are going to be dudes. And I think I was trying not to get creepy about it, but Jim, you know, I love a good outfielder. And this dude is just an athlete. He's a problem. And man, I had a good time. How about that, Trev? I had a great time also.

And I mentioned on the pod, you're going to hear me say this again. But we've been talking to some young guys lately. And they've all just been super level-headed, well-spoken. like understand the game and I think it's really really cool to see that from these young guys because they are the future of the game and if you're going to ask me is the game going to be all right it's going to be all right after talking to these guys I have that feeling just got him in front of microphones you know get their personalities out there that's what was missed 10 years ago so that's why it's good that he can jump on and talk with us about all this you know a rough

debut, but I'm glad he can laugh about it. It's funny. The hit by pitch, you know, well, let's throw it right to the interview. But first, we have to let you know that this conversation with Oscar Mercado and Trevor Plouf's love for these young baseball players is brought to you by bluechew.com. What's blue chew, you ask? It's a pill that makes your penis hard. Bluechew.com offers men a performance enhanced.

for the bedroom at bluechew.com, you can get the first chewables with active ingredients. Two words I can't pronounce. Slid and fill and tattleful. The same ingredients as Viagra and Seattle. But it is a chewable. It's got affiliated physicians work with you for find the right dosage and the active ingredient that works for you. They work faster. The chewables from blue chew can be taken at a full or empty stomach, which is huge for all those people that like,

looking on a full stomach. Online physician consultant is free, so it is cheaper than those other two. It only takes a few minutes to connect with bluechew.com affiliated physician. And if you qualify, you get prescribed online quickly. So no in-person doctor visit. You just sign up. They send it to your door. You have sex. Can I ask a question? That works. Yeah, yeah. Is this only for people that can't get it up, or can you use this as a performance enhancer? You can use it as a PED. Iron or so I've heard. So Jake's heard.

Here's a great deal for you guys. Visit blu-chew.com and get your first order for free when you use promo code baseball. Just pay $5 for shipping. That's right. First order for free, B-L-U-E-Cue.com promo code baseball. Go out there, get after it. Here is Oscar Lugado. Yeah, we get free.

samples if you guys are interested here's i do i've never been more proud of our podcast are joined by cleveland indian outfielder and former memphis redbird where he faced off with trevor ploof and triple a we're going to deep dive into that but oscar mercado oscar how you doing man hey how's you going guys i'm good how are you we're good man we're uh we're we're doing the corona thing just like everyone else and now uh news is getting crazier than that man but uh you're uh you're chilling in Tampa. Is that kind of been home base for a little while now? Yeah, I spend my off-season here. My family's here. My brothers here. My sister, my parents. So just spending our time here. I think it's my first time being here in the summer since I got drafted.

I forgot how hot it is. It's like horrible. So I like blast the air inside of my place. That's why I have this on. It's fun. A lot of guys are telling me the same thing. It's like, you know when i finally hung him up i hadn't been in cal in california for a summer in like 14 years or something like that and things are different man so it's funny that a lot of guys are having that experience right now right in the smack middle of their careers you know yeah but tampa there's a lot worse places to be than tampa no for sure if you would have told me back when i first arrived in spring training that i'd be going to the beach on memorial day in Tampa i probably would have said you're lying to me but yeah what happened it is yeah Tampa is

crazy with the air conditioners man you got to bring like a light jacket just to go into Starbucks yeah a hundred degrees outside and 60 degrees inside the buildings so it's confusing I walked outside right now um I would probably sweat within 30 seconds and then if I walk I walk inside and I'm like freezing we did that whenever we go down for a Yankee spring training it's nuts how how did you get back to Tampa what was your your transition from spring being Like how long did you hang out in, you were in Arizona, right? You played in Trevor's whiffleball game. And then how, when did it kit?

Like, okay, I think I'm going to head back east. So that weekend, me and my roommate had decided that we, he's from Tampa too. We had decided that we were going to stick around for about a week and just kind of let things play out. And then Monday came, or no, I think it was either Sunday, Sunday we met as a team. I was like, that's kind of when I saw kind of the seriousness of things like, okay, we're not going to be playing anytime soon. So then me and my buddy, literally as soon as a meeting ended, we both bought her fly back to the next day, back to Tampa. It's good to get out of there, man. Yeah.

It's crazy. Well, let's just jump right into this. Did you enjoy the MJ, Doc? I know you're a big LeBron guy. Did you watch it with, like, LeBron eyes on? Your team, your team MJ now, right? That's what all the LeBron people are doing. No, I'm never, never that. Nope. So actually, I'll be honest with you guys, I watched the first episode, and then I went on Twitter, and somehow people like to use the MJ doc. It's like, we're going to take hits at LeBron. So I started to boycott the documentary, and I stopped watching.

So you're a LeBron guy through and through then? Yeah, 100%. I was wondering why producer BPD was flexing like that. Okay. I know it's the two three the two three on the pole over and I was like all right I like that oh man there pandering over there we need more of that we need more of that no it's it's so funny that uh because I'm just a big general sports guy obviously love baseball I assume you're the same way um but uh yeah man it's so funny when those two sides just go at it because you're not changing anyone's mind lebron's great at what he does MJ's great at what he does and like if you're stuck in there.

Like, no one's been like, oh, that's a good boy. And I'm Team LeBron now. Let me jump on. Well, maybe. I can be persuaded what your, you know, two-sentence pitch on Team LeBron. Well, this is my, are we talking about the whole goat argument? Sure. Whatever you want.

Well, it's second because Kobe's number one. Then those two guys can battle for number two. Such, so L.A. I can expect that from Jack Flitz boy. That's right. Jack does influence me. But no, I just, I think when it comes to that argument, you have to put players in different categories because,

so I think Kobe and MJ are more comparable in their style of play. So you can debate who's better between the two. Like that's a more valid argument. But I just think LeBron is such a different player than both of them. So like they all can't be put in the same categories. And I hate when people do that because it really doesn't make much sense to me. It's like almost comparing. a shortstop to center fielder.

Like it really doesn't make any sense. But I know what people want to say, like, who's the best player of all time? Well, accomplishment-wise, it wouldn't be MJ either. Like, it would probably be Kareen if we're talking from just an accomplishment and like just where they rank in certain aspects of the game. But I think MJ has that mythical, like, I don't know, thing to them where everyone's like, oh,

There's the shoes and the shoes. The shoes. Everything, everything, the movie, like everything about MJ just screens like basketball. Like, you go, and I think that's more where that stems from. Obviously, probably the best score of all time and everything. But I mean, you get guys that average, I mean, Hardin's doing that in today's game and no one ever, he gets criticized for it. He does. It like, it like blows my mind.

So he's averaging 37 a game, and people are like, oh, but, you know, this style of basketball. So, I mean, yeah, I'm not a fan of his style of play, but he's doing it. So I don't understand why he's getting criticized for it. And some people get elevated for it. I don't know. To me, it's such a back and pork argument. It's a very level-headed take. Yeah, that's your problem.

It's way too level-headed for this part. That's your problem with Twitter, man. I mean, Twitter, you're not getting any of that logical. You're too logical for Twitter. Well, and on Twitter, everyone just sends him. Skip Bayless's tweets. You're like, if Skip tweets about basketball, they'll just send them your way.

Do you want us to put an end to that? Like, hey, stop forwarding me Skip's tweets or do you enjoy it? Because people know that Skip gets on my nerve, but people want to just, you know, they want to split a lot. Yeah. You know what makes me mad is when I go on like online and I type in like how much Skip's skip makes a year?

And I'm like, I'm like, yo, you know, if you put me in his job, could 100% do better takes, but I guess they pay him to just piss people off. Here we are talking about him. Yeah, exactly. That's why he makes with it. That's it, man. Yeah, let's get off skip, we don't need to do MJ LeBron.

We don't need that because we have a baseball fan base. And you gave us the segue, because we're kind of notoriously bad at him. But let's jump back a little bit because, I mean, you're a second round pick, and you come up as a shortstop, and you mention shortstop, outfield and uh i i want to know what was your personal experience with that because um you know were things in discussions does someone come up to you one day because i mean shortstop is like that prideful MLB position that a lot of guys are like you know i'm not giving that yeah Trevor he he can talk about that very well as he scooted over to third was so bad what what was that like

for you um so actually you know, you guys believe it or not, I got drafted as like a defensive first shortstop. My numbers in the minor leagues tell a completely different story. But I got drafted as a shortstop. And when I first got drafted it, like I tried, my throwing always had some issues. I could always feel the ball of like throwing through some issues there.

And then I remember working with our field coordinator with the Cardinals when I was like 18, 19. And he would always just be like, hey, man, you don't have to stress like every time you're going throw the ball. Like every time you're going to throw the ball, just remember, you can always move the center field. And he would always, like, say it. And I thought, obviously, he would joke, but he's like, obviously, we're not going to do that now. But, like, just know, it's not the end of the world if you can't figure this out. So whenever you go throw a ball, just think about it that way, so you take away less pressure. It's still at work. But, yeah, it was just a certain, certain conversation that was had a couple times, three times. You know, they mentioned it. I always

knew it was in the back of their heads. I just never knew when they were going to actually go through with it. And then I got called in one July and the Florida State League. They just straight up we're like, yo, you got to move the center field. That's such an interesting coaching tactic, telling you, hey, you're having trouble throwing the ball across the diamond. And here's what we're going to do. We're just going to keep telling you, don't worry, you're going to move the center field one day anyway if it doesn't work out. That's the strangest thing I've ever heard in I think it was like your career doesn't depend on this. Yeah, like this isn't the end of the world for you.

Yeah. Like there is other options. So he almost thought that I was putting like too much pressure on myself to make it work there. So he wanted to take the pressure off by letting me know. It was interesting, but I don't know. To me, he's been one of like the best coaches I've had in the overall. So you moved to center field. Are you bored to shit?

Are you like, man, there's no conversation? there's nothing going on out here. Well, they said we're going to give you like five days to take some fly balls during BP, you know, kind of get adjusted. We had a top prospect that was playing shortstop in the Midwest League, and he was doing well. So I think they wanted, I think part of that, part of them moving me was they wanted to make room for him to call him up halfway through his season. And when I remember one time, someone got hurt in pregame.

So they go, hey, Oscar, we need you to play center field today. I were like, are you ready? And I said, yeah, I'll go out there. And my first game, like I caught a couple of fly balls. I'd know for a ball that was probably 20 feet in front of me and I had no chance of dying for. But I was just overly excited. But I don't know. It was fun.

I actually had a blast out there throwing people out. I didn't have to worry about hitting no first basement in the chest. I could just throw the ball as hard as I could. it could bounce, it could do whatever it wanted to do. Yeah, I mean, you had some, a lot of, you know, in last year, you had a lot of diving catches to your name and you got six outfield assists. I mean, is that like the biggest flex? Like the White Sox, I think you pegged two and two games.

Yeah. You're like, fuck those guys. Why are you on it? I was, I think it came towards the end of the year, too, because I was like, man, I really haven't been talking about many people out. and then they all just started coming in the bunch. They all came in like one series. It was against the White Sox.

Yeah, yeah. Well, one of them, I forgot who it was, but it was a guy who shouldn't be running on anyone. Like, he shouldn't be running home on Johnny Damon. You had him by like 20 feet. And then the next one was close. I didn't know if to feel good about it or feel bad at the fact that they tested me. Yeah, I think you got to reach out to that third base coach.

You're like, dude, what the hell? Are you out there every play? if there's a runner in squirm position or whatever, a guy hits you the ball. Are you one of the outfielders, it's like, please run on me. Let's go. Like, I want to be tested. Or you're like, let's get the ball in as quick as possible, whatever, whatever.

I'm more, so I'm usually thinking about, okay, who's on the base path. But the biggest thing with me is I like to play a little shallow sometimes and there's men in a sport position just for this whole fact that I know I can get to a ball back. And if I have to go back a lot, then I'm probably not going to throw that guy out anyways. But if I get short enough back ground and give myself a chance, and I'm probably going to have a really good chance to make it happen. But, yeah, sometimes I'm like, I feel like it's just like in the other position. It depends on, like, how confident you're feeling at the time, how your arm feels.

There's those days where you're like, oh, God, like, please don't run, please don't run. And there's other days where you're like, I dare you to run. So I think it just depends. on how you're feeling. Yeah, start, do you ever, I mean, I'll retract, pre-comes over. That's the guy with the cannon of an arm who also, I don't know if you've ever seen like the highlights

where he just completely tries to deak guys into running as often as he possibly can. Yeah. Did he ever show off the arm when he came over? You see him doing any crazy shit? I never saw, I mean, I saw him. He would always do crazy stuff for sure. I actually saw there was a video today and when I woke up I was like scrolling through it

there was a highlight and I caught a five ball and I just went to go throw it in and he smacked my arm and the ball went like backwards and I was like what are you doing he's like I don't know he just like does it you just can't help but to laugh but yeah he just does I mean but he's incredible like his talent some of the stuff you do he would like throw balls flat foot in and throw people out I'm like how is he doing that he's a physical specimen dude yeah I ran into him. I'm on the gap. Not a good idea. No, and I guess he was like, he stayed on the ground for a little bit, and I got up right away,

and they were making fun of him, and the Doug guy, because he's got, like, 70 pounds on me. And I woke up the next day, and I can barely move. That's funny. A lot of guys try to give Puega a bad rap, you know, but who else did we have that, that was teammates with him? Was an Indian player that said, like, he was, was it Kipnis? He was great. Like he was awesome.

He was a blast. Yeah. Like he wants to win. Yeah. He loves to win. And like you could tell he's always in the dugout chirping, like no matter who's up. He's just one of those guys that's fun to having the dugout. Obviously he like treats the game differently, but that's just kind of where he came from.

Like they play the game. That's probably how we play the game over there. And but I personally playing with him. I enjoy playing with him a lot. And I like the fact that he competed his ass on. Yeah. Yeah. I want to talk about a couple other guys that tie into your situation, because you come up and you start raking, and I'm being professional, I'm actually wearing a Yankees jersey right now. I wore it as a joke because they're doing that Jeter marathon on MLB Network, and now I think I'm going to be it in all weekend.

But that was the first kind of taste we saw of you in that series. You're batting two whole, and you were rolling, dude. I mean, and you rolled against the Yankees that whole series. but I want to talk about a little about that. You know, you come up and you're doing it, but you're also, man, you're following Lindor in the lineup. You know, Carlos Santana is behind you. I know Jose Ramirez was in a little slump early in the series, but he figures it out.

But like, what's A coming up and you're in that two slot and then be surrounded by those guys? Like, what's that like? Because I don't know. I think it helped me so much because you get to learn, like, you know, first row of what those guys are about. They're so, like, they're so oriented in what they do and, like, in the routine and kind of the stuff that they have been doing their entire career.

And these, I mean, those, especially those three guys, like, they've had so much success. So it's definitely three guys you always want to follow around. Also, it helped that most pitchers want to see me and not them, so they're going to come after me. And I think that made my job a little easier. So I gained some confidence. And I think that was the most important thing. They helped me out a lot.

Anything I asked, you know, they were always willing to help me out and answer. And it's crazy how much you can even just learn just by watching them. They don't really stay, they don't really like leave their approach. They stick to what they do. And, you know, I had a blast. I had a blast just being around them.

Yeah, watching Jose Ramirez and Lendor go to work every day, that's got to be a ton of fun. I mean, I got to play against both those guys. And Lendor's, he was one of those guys that just like came up and they just like put him in the three hole. And they just knew he was going to be a guy. Yeah. Like to be around someone like that is very rare. And, you know, I know what? He's got one more year there.

Well, this is his last year there, right? No, next year would be his last year. Next year is, okay, we'll learn as much. as you can from that guy while he's still there because he is a stud. Yeah, he's unbelievable. He's so, he's so good. I mean, Jose is so, like, really good, too. Yes. They're like, I don't know, both switch hitters, both very similar in what they do. Yeah, I love, I loved watching both of them. Yeah. When you first get called up, how was, what's your call-up story? Did you, did you expect it? You had been raking in, uh, the minor leagues for like the whole month leading up to it.

So were you itching and like, guys, I'm right here. Did you expect it? Yeah, after my spring, I knew that I had to go. I was like, okay, got off to a pretty good start. Like, all I wanted to do was make a good name for myself in a new organization. And then I knew I'd gained their confidence, at least from a skill standpoint. And then I go to Columbus and I just knew I had to keep it going, you know, just doing things the right way, try not to make anyone mad.

And I just kind of went about it how I usually always would. There was a, I would be lying if I didn't say there was a couple times where I got a little bit frustrated because I was, I'm okay, well, I want a chance. Like, obviously you're itching. You want to be, you want to get to the big leagues. And me, I had never, I had never been there. So I was just kind of waiting and waiting. And then it actually came when I at least expected it.

my mom had just left from it was mother's day weekend she had just left she came to visit and then we had an off day and i was with um ryan flirty and trace thompson we went golfing and it was so cold and rainy and i was already i had like never golf really and i was terrible now i'm playing now i'm terrible i'm getting mad at golf i'm freezing and we're about to tee off And I'm like sitting in my car and I get a call. And then I saw I was from, I saw it was a call from, from mine, but I was like, what's, for some reason, I think I'm a manager in AAA's number say.

I don't know why, but I remember I go Flaherty. What's, man's over number? What's his area code? And then he goes, I think it's, and I was like, oh, I think he's calling me. And then he called me. He's like, what are you doing? And I was like, I'm golf me. And he's like, I need to go back.

but you're getting called up and I was like oh and he was like I wish I could do it a little bit differently but we need to we need to get you going because you have to get there by game time I wasn't able to get there by game time like just the flight and everything getting from the airport didn't allow it so I just went straight to the airport but it was awesome I got to call my parents and so I kind of waited a little bit because I didn't know if like they were wrestling around with me or not I want them to hit me with the bluff Did you take any more golf swings after you got that call or did you just head straight out? No, I told them. I was like, y'all finished a round of golf since you guys are good.

I actually got golf. And I'll drive this golf cart back to the clubhouse. And we were actually kind of in the middle of nowhere in Columbus. So it took me kind of like 30 minutes to get an Uber as if it's sitting outside waiting. Yeah. How about the first game? You're in Chicago, right? I mean, how was, I think you were in the back in the lineup,

because you went to the two-hole pretty quick. But in that first game, a lot of jitters. Was it like surreal? Yeah, I didn't have anything. All my stuff was on a truck heading to Pop Tucker, I believe. Oh, no. They weren't able to locate it. So I didn't have anything.

That's the worst, man. Yeah, I had, I used Roberto Perez's cleats. Like, I used maybe, oh, I had like a glove from like two years ago. in my locker in Columbus, I took that with me. And then that's it. That's like all I had. And I showed up and I was in left field. And it wasn't, it was weird. Like even throwing a baseball just to cut off, man.

I was like, don't air bail him, don't air. Like everything you did, you talk about, it was so nerve-wracking. And then you get to the plate. And I go back and look at video now and I'm like, why am I swinging at those pitches? But they all looked like there were such good pitches. So it's just it was nerve-breaking. I had a blast. It was probably the funnest 0-4-3-3 strikeouts I've ever had in my life.

Well, dude, I mean, you get called up. You're already nervous. And then you don't have your stuff, your game stuff. So you're- There's a comfort level to that. There's a huge comfort level to that. I mean, cleats, your glove. Yeah.

That's like a baseball player's baby. You don't have your glove. So, like, that's all too common of a story. Byron Buxton, I remember he got called up. Same thing, had nothing. He actually wore a pair of my cleats in his debut, and I told him, give me those. I'm about to hold those and sell them on eBay later in my life.

But, yeah, going 0 for three. I mean, did you have your bats? Did you have bats from spring training for you? Like, what was that about? So I had one bat, and it wasn't the bat that I had been using down in Columbus. Oh, man. Yeah. What was the fourth at bat?

I mean... I got hit. Oh, well, I couldn't. They kept throwing me a lot of off-speed, like a lot of, like, sliders. I just kept throwing out all of them. So in my fourth-a-bath bat, this reliever tried to throw me a first-pit slider, and he drilled me. And I scored a run. I scored a run.

I can say I scored a run. When you get hit, is that like a relief? Like, all right, this is better than striking out. No, when I got hit, McCann was behind the plate. James McCann and he was like, you good? And I was like, yeah, I'm good. What a debut, though, huh?

And then he started laughing. That's just a good time, man. Hey, man, after three strikeouts, I'm down to get hit by an off-speed pitch. Oh, yeah. I was like, hell yeah. I touched first base. I did it.

I mean, like a week later, you get moved to the two-hole and you never left that spot. Did you like being, you know, early in the game? And were you surprised by the move up so quick? No. it was surprising at first, and then I kind of just saw in the direction they were heading. And that's when I was like, okay, well, you know, I might have a chance of sticking here for the rest of a year. And I think the fact that I knew that at the beginning, I probably knew I was going to go down.

And that allowed me to play with less pressure because I'm like, no matter what I do, I'm probably going to go. So to me, it was like, you don't have to go out there and, you know, impress. anyone or, you know, try to win over a job, like, just go out there and have fun, enjoy it. And, like, you can finally say, you know, you played in the big leagues. And I kept talking myself that. I think that really allowed me to calm down because I was like, even if this, I even told myself, I was like, even if, you know, for some reason, something happens and this is the last time you're ever in the big leagues.

Like, at least you got the chance to say you made it up there. And I think that really put my mind at ease and just allowing me to go out there and play. And, dude, I mean, part of the reason you're in that tool. hole that again, I figured out during that first Yankee series is you're an athlete, man. Like, and, you know, there's there's the old athlete stigma that Trevor Plouf shows, you know, that baseball players aren't athletes. But man, when you're talking about that Indians lineup and like, you know, we already did the whole thing, Lindor, J. Ram, obviously. But dude, when you were in there and your end of season stats, I mean, 15 homers, 15 steals, you got the long strides. Like, I remember

you going first to third. It's like, dude, this guy is a problem just like the other guys, but he hits you on different levels. Do you kind of, do you take pride in trying to be five tools or even looking at the year-end stats? I mean, 15 home runs, 15 steals. Do you say, okay, next year, let's go 25, 25, 30, 30? Like, what's your headspace with that? 30, 30, baby. Come on. No, definitely. Especially just knowing, you know, what I was able to do last year. and then you always want to improve off of it. And I set goals for myself. I always tell myself, as long as you do better than the year before

or even stick around the same level, like if you did good and then you stick around the same level where you're going to improve, then you're fine. And I just tell myself always that, like, I'm not going to try to put unrealistic goals for myself. I know myself as a player. I just think our realistic goals and expectations can lead to a lot of stress. So I try to put, you know, really,

things that I can do. And, you know, if I surpass them, then I'm happy. And if I do them, then I'm still happy. Like, it's just one of those things where I try to put myself in a win-win situation. Smart. I mean, what is all these young guys are so smart these days. It's incredible. Like, that's such a good attitude to have.

We have you. We had Cole Tucker on. We have Jay Flair on all the time. You guys are the up-and-comers, the guy. I mean, and you guys just speak like you're, veterans and I love it. I think that goes to show that you have had some people in front of you, showing you the ropes right there because your mindset is perfect, man. Thank you. We talked about, you know, your debut, you go for three. You have a five-for-five game like a

month later. Let's talk about that. That sounds more like a more fun conversation for you. What's it feel stepping in like that fifth that bat? Were you craven the five-for-five there? I actually had been struggling a little bit the last week or so. And for that game, Santana's locker was next to mine. He called me over. And then he was like, I was wrong. And I was like, I don't know, like, I think I went in the cage in hand. I wasn't happy with how my swing felt.

So I was like in my locker, just kind of, he could tell that I was like anxious and called me over and talked to me for a little bit. And then I went up to the plate. We're facing Jordan Montgomery. And he got me down 02. And in my head, I'm like, oh, God, here we go again. It was my first half bat. And he threw like a cutter in.

And I barreled it straight to left for a hit. And I got to first. And it was just like so much weight came off of my shoulders. And I was like, okay, well, I already have a hit today. And I'm at peace and stuff. And they just kind of, like, they just kind of kept coming. It was one of those days where no matter what pitch you were swinging at, you know, you were barreling it up.

and balls are dropping. So thankfully, I was able to, I'm honestly convinced that if I would have had 10 out of that game, I would have probably had 10 hits. For the sole fact that it was just one of those days, there's other days where you can have 10 out of bats, you're probably going to go over 10. It doesn't matter. I just think that's how baseball works sometimes.

It's kind of crazy. Isn't it the best getting a hit in your first at bat? Just like, hey, whatever happens after that, I'm good, man. The best, see, so the best things are getting, hey your first time bat and then getting ahead when you're 0 for three and then you go up your fourth at that day saver yeah that's true that does feel that does feel better it tell me tell me how much how much better it feels to be over four and then get a hang go one for five then to be one for one and then end up one for five that's very true that's very true you always want to start one for one

because it takes the pressure off but the feeling of saving your day in that last at bat there's nothing there's nothing like it you go home for five that's a a tough night to sleep on. It is. One for five, you feel like a king. Oh, yeah. If you've got the hit and the last abat, for sure. Exactly. That's a weird mental thing. I don't know if you guys kind of get that, but that's a baseball player thing that is. Well, you always want to hit your last shot. Yeah. Yeah. It's more than that. Like, you're like, hey, I'm taking this into tomorrow. Yeah. You know, but if you go the other way, you get to hit your first abat, then you, the next three of bats, you strike out. You're like, oof, you know, I'm going into tomorrow.

0 for 3, whatever. But there's that mental thing, man. That last time out of the day, it's always the most important one. That's funny. Man, no, that's, yeah, our, me and Jimmy's level of baseball, those feelings left a long time ago. But no, I mean, when Oscar was talking about

making that throw across the diamond, man, when you're not feeling that throw, you're having a bad day. And opposite end of the spectrum, you get that first hit. You're like, yeah, let's put a next one in the gap, baby. Let's make a day out of it. And I kind of want to jump back to 2017

Because you play in the World Baseball Classic Which for the Colombian team You're Colombian, you live there till age seven I'm going off Wikipedia so you Yeah, yeah, like seven, eight years old Okay, so I want to know a little bit A, you know, how do you still stay close to Columbia? I mean, if they've got like a big soccer game

Are you chirping in everybody's ear? and then like world baseball classic like how was that man i i know i know i know Trevor played in some USA stuff when he was younger but i i can't imagine that feeling man i mean there's got to be such like pride and just everything going on yeah um it was actually really fun so fun um i had just played in high a we have like no fans ever in for a state league so it was horrible so being able to play in that environment i was like wow this i've never played it anything before. I hadn't even gotten to double A. So I had never even had the chance to play in front of crowds like that, much less, I mean, that was, that was like ridiculous, especially against the

DR in the U.S. the division we were in. I mean, I sat the bench against those guys and I was still having a blast. I was awesome. But it was, to me, it was special. Just being my family was there, being able to share that with everyone. I had a chance to, um, be around a lot of guys that are now succeeding very well at big leagues and learn from them and um i even got i mean getting in the game was was awesome it was like my first ever time uh i got that bad and it was like my first time ever just feeling like complete nervousness just throughout your whole body you're like what is going on right now because you've never had that bad of that capacity so um yeah it was probably one of the coolest things um i still i i go back to columbia like

every year for the holidays. So I still have those roots deep within me. And my family, my mom, my dad, they make sure that that culture never leaves us. Talking Spanish up the house and just being able to share a lot of my experiences with my family back home in Columbia. They don't, we don't really have a ton of baseball players in my family. I mean, I'm the only one, but so it's been growing up, you know, rooting for soccer,

and we still do, but it gives them a chance to kind of root from more, like, emotional standpoint. And, yeah, I know, still soccer family. My parents and my brother have gone to the last two World Cups in Brazil and in Russia. And they just, they enjoyed it. I remember I was playing in Iowa when Columbia was playing England

and like to advance to the neck third. I think it was to advance to the, the quarterfiners or semi-finals, and I was like, edge of my seat watching. There was a rain delay, probably the best rain delay ever, because it allowed me to go back inside and watch the game.

That's all. You said, you know, speaking Spanish and all, you were, you were miced up for ESPN, hit a home run, and your big yell was in Spanish, like, so that's the go-to.

And then, I don't know if you heard this, A-Rod attempted to translate it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I heard that afterwards. Did he get it right? Do you remember being like... It was just more of like a thing that I do where I talked to myself. I completely forgot I was miced up.

And even after someone was like, you knew you were miced up and I was like, oh, yeah. I mean, now I remember, but at the time, I had a home brand like that, the first thing going through my mind is like, be careful what you say, you know, you're miced up. It just kind of came out. And I thought they were going to run it by me, but no. You didn't say anything bad, though. It was just funny that Arod was like, let me try and translate. Yeah, I didn't say anything bad.

But I feel like I've always been kind of quiet. So people were probably like, whoa. If you're yelling, though, in an excitement, it's in Spanish usually? Yeah, it came out in Spanish. I think it just black out and it just comes out. Awesome. And now that everyone just yells, let's go. But, you know, I got a weird question.

Okay. Let's get a little weird. I was going to say, you know, you're talking about. I'm not soccer and I see you running around the baseball field and I'm like, you look like you look like you could be an awesome soccer player. Then I look at your height and weight, your 6-2-197 on baseball reference. That's too big to be a soccer player, right? Those guys aren't that big.

Are they? No, they're not that big. Okay. So here's my weird question. As an outfieler now, center field, you still kind of want to be able to run around the diamond. Where are you at with your weight? Are you like at the ideal weight?

Do you want to gain weight? Do you want to lose weight? No. Like, how do you balance that? I'm actually at a, I feel like I'm at the right spot where I want to be. As long as I'm able to keep my legs moving and not lose a step, and I'll be all right. Are you at 200 right now?

No, I'm like right under it. I'm kind of hovered around that way. I try not to get, if anything, getting right out of it would probably be my limit to a pod, maybe. I just, the last thing I want to do is lose a step because I know I'm never going to be huge. I'm always going to be a lean guy. And I know I can manufacture strength and power at the play already. So I don't really feel the need to go out and gain a ton of weight and not be able to move. Like I want to stay flexible and be able to, you know, run balls down and running.

I feel like it's the biggest part of my game. So I want to stay lean and flexible. When we are interviewing a 30-year-old Oscar Mercado and you're a power-hitting left fielder, I go back to this clip. When you're pushing 225 and hitting 40 tanks a year, I'm bringing you back to this clip. I'm going to blame it on the age, though. You're in center field when Bauer throws that ball over the center football last year. I went on his podcast, and I talked with him about to play.

you know, at length and stuff. And he told me, because earlier in the inning, there was a ball lost in the sun in center field. And he told me the first moment he had where he was like, oh, shit, was he didn't want you to think it was targeted at you in any way. But what's, what's, did you see it? Because in the video, it doesn't even seem like you know he threw it. Well, I knew what was that like?

I knew they were taking them out. I saw him Tito walk out. And I'm like, all right, they're taking them out. So I turned around and I was looking at this scoreboard. and then as I'm looking at the scoreboard, I just hear like a loud thumb. And then the fans are, I looked over at a fan,

the fan looks over at me, and then I was like, did that fan just throw the ball against that batter's eye? And then I was like, no, I don't, why would he ask for a ball and then throw it against the batters eye? And then I looked over at Greg Allen and his mouth, his blood is like over his ball covering it. I was like, yo, what just happened?

he goes, he just chucked that ball. And I was like, no way. And then I turned around and everyone's kind of like, what? So, yeah, it was, but no, he came up. The first thing he did when he had in the duck, when I got in the dugout was he came up and apologized. He was trying to deal with that. I wasn't trying to show you up at all.

And I was like, it's okay. I didn't think he was. Especially because that ball was in, like, I tried captain the ball. I was in the sun forever. I was like, I don't even know where this ball is anymore. That's a scariest feeling. But yeah, it was funny because he, you know,

fans were giving him shit, like, showing up his, his, play. or being mad at Tito because he was being taken out of the game. But really it was just like frustration at so much that happened. And that's what he said. It was just out of frustration. And he's a super competitive guy. And it just kind of happened.

I mean, you look back at it now and you just laugh about it. Yeah. It's one of the funniest things that happened to baseball. My God. What's, I think you mentioned before, you're with, you got some siblings. and I think you're at the folks' house, are the Mercado's a competitive bunch? Has game night gotten ugly?

Like what's been going on in quarantine at the Mercado's? I have a twin sister, and she's, like, really smart, but she's, like, not competitive at all. And my brother is competitive, like, really competitive. He's actually gotten a lot into golfing, and we play video games together. So he's competitive. He just, but I think from a competitive standpoint,

I'm probably the biggest competitor. I always want to put at least a dollar on it just so, with some sort of incentive. Yeah. I feel like when you're losing something, it could be a quarter, but when you know you're losing something, like you don't, it just drives you even more.

That's funny, man. I feel like I'm the same way. I'm a big wager guy. I always tell myself, oh, you're not that competitive, but then anything that can be competitive, I want to make it competitive. But that's just kind of the nature of the beast, I guess. Yeah. That's how I view things. In call of duty, when I just tell myself, like, I can't let any of these other guys sitting by on a screen beat me.

But they always do. Yeah, they have different skill sets. and they probably aren't as fast as you. So don't take it too personally. What have you been hearing around the league? I know that we're in these talks right now and we're having meetings a lot. And I talk to a ton of guys.

What's your feeling on the season happening right now? Just, I mean, you don't have to give any specifics, obviously, but what's the percentage that you feel like we're going to get some games in this year? I think it'll happen. Like, I'm almost had like 100% sure it'll happen for the sole fact that I just don't see how you can go on such a long hiatus and not play the game, especially if other sports start back up. I've obviously been following like basketball starting back up or like the NHL just made an announcement. If they start back up, they're only doing playoffs or like that playoff

format. But I just think that it would not be good for the game to not play. And both sides know that. So I think both sides, I think something's going to get done. And that's just my feeling. I'm not going from, you know, from what I've been hearing or anything. It's just me personally knowing that it can't be good for the game to not happen. So I think I'm almost, I'm pretty confident it'll happen. And I don't know when that's going to be. I don't know how many games it's going to be. Don't really have any details.

But, you know, I think there's going to be baseball in 2020. We've been flip-flopping a lot. Let's just do our percentages all of it. right now on the day. No, I'm high now, Treve. I'm like 60. You're 60% now. Okay.

Yeah, yeah. Oscar, you're at 100%. You're on 90%. You're on 90%. Jim, you're at 60%, which is high for you. Yep, yep. I've been flip-flopping.

Give me a, yeah, 80. I've been sitting at mostly 80. Trev's been at like zero. I've been, I did get a text yesterday that made me a little bit more positive about it. I'm going to, I'm going to say that I'm above 50%. I'm like a 55%, which is good. That's awesome. That's a win. BBD? If we have to round everything, we're all

yeses. So that's yeah. What made you guys be down on it? Just the roller coaster ride, man. It's roller coaster. My emotions are too, too in the breeze. It's more me thing, I think. It's the financials are obviously what are holding this up. We can kind of sugarcoat it in any way we want to, but that's the case. And, you know, it's, it really seemed for a while like the owners were going to dig in. And I think, this is just my opinion, you know, I don't want to put you on the spot here. But my feelings on the situation that the owners, the more and more they dig in, the more and more they realize, like, two years of no baseball is detrimental to the sport.

So, like, you're saying, you got to get baseball back. You can't let something like this ruin a game. Yeah. For the rest of, you know, are the kids, the young kids, that generation. Like, we can't let that happen. Mm-hmm. Yeah, from just from a fan standpoint and just going into like the next generation of kids and stuff, you know, if you're a kid growing up and you don't see the game, something going on for, you're going to lose interest in it, you know? Yes.

Like, it's like anything, it's like if I go two years without doing something. then I'm probably going to lose interest in it. And I think it's something that sucks. And I just don't think it'll be good at all for anyone. That's why I'm a big believer. Yeah, so much that's saying. We need to see Oscar Mikado flying around the outfield, you know, running down balls, hitting homers.

That's what people want to see. Throwing out slow white socks runners. Who is the runner? I want to know that. I could find out. Slow white socks runner. Might have been Eloy. is he slow

no there was one that wasn't and then there was one you robbed Elo I saw that highlight um do you rather throw a guy out or rob a home run classic classic baseball question they're both saving runs

honestly I would probably have to say robbing a home run yeah those are sick that's that's a sole stealer right there man you get someone picks you off you are yeah it hurts robbed

Yes. I mean, I think if you played baseball for a good amount of time, you're going to get robbed. Yes. I think it was, I think Lorenzo Kane robbed me. And I love watching him play because, so Oscar, you watch him play center field, he's smooth. He's like Buxton, everything looks great. Lorenzo doesn't look that way to me. He looks a little clunky out there running around, but he still gets the job done.

catches everything. He catches everything. Dude, playing against the Royals in 2014 and 15 had Alex Gordon, Lorenzo came, had Dyson roaming around out there late in the games. Nothing fell. No. It was like you didn't even want

to put the ball in the air because you're playing in Kansas City, it's not going anywhere. And if it was in the gap, they're just getting to it anyway. So it was, those guys hurt me a lot, man. It was like, they had Gore and Hamilton. 10 this past year one time.

One game they were both out there together. And I'm not kidding. There was two balls I had in a gap that you know you hit a ball and you're like, yes. Yes. Both times. I was like, what did they come from? That's a horrible feeling, man. It's the worst.

But yeah, it's, yeah, they were, those guys were incredible back in 14 or 15. Yeah. I think I have it here. Let's see. Can I do the. Oh, B.D. I was going to try and share my screen, but I can't. But it's Castillo. Oh, Wellington Castillo? That's okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's a bigger boy.

Yeah. He's just like, dead. Got him. I wish I could show it. Oh, right. Right. Here we go. Oh, no. I don't know. Uh-oh. You're the five, ten, two, twenty. Bam. Can you guys see this? Yes. Here we go. Look at this. Look at this nonsense. It's like shallow. He was on second.

Come on. Come on. So you got to talk to him in the third base coach and be like, what was your report? It's six to one. I think they were trying to mean you. They were trying to give my boy an RBI over there. Exactly. If you're the hitter, you're like, all right, Wellington.

I'm okay with that. Appreciate you. Get a good balance. and that's an RBI easy. Damn, that's up. When we were just running through all those outfielders, I was wondering, who, when you were younger and you're coming up, or even as a kid, like, who were your guys that you either modeled your game after

or that you just loved watching play? So my favorite player growing up was A-Rod. Okay. And Jeter, I liked a lot. But, yeah, a huge Jeter guy. But, um, I think those are because I was a huge Yankee fan, so I grew up idolizing those guys.

But there were so many good players, Manny Ramirez, um, pools. Growing up a Yankee fan, was it like double exciting then when you popped that Homer off C.C at Yankee Stadium? Oh yeah, that was awesome.

That's awesome. And I don't hit offal homers either. That's a big name and a, and at Yankee Stadium. That's pretty cool. Yeah. No, it was, it was awesome to be able to do that.

I grew up watching him all the time. He was so nasty. When he was with the Indians and, like, the Brewers and, like, his first, like, five, six years with the Yankees, he was unbelievable. His first couple years with the Yankees are, and that brewer's stretch out. But his first, you know, people,

those first couple years, like, oh, 9, 10, and 11 is just, like, the truest ace. I don't know if the ERA represents it in the same way as de Grom and Cole right now. But, I mean, he was a workhorse and just won games like nuts. It was crazy. One game. What's up? Did Plouf get C-C?

I pumped him. He's on the list. You both got Big C, huh? Yeah, he, let's see. He's, I don't have good stats against him. My crypt-night, one of my cryptic, one of, one of, one of, many kryptonite pitches for me was that backdoor curb all he'll throw and he just flips it up there and I can't pull the trigger on so I was down in the count against him all the time. But I think I pumped,

I think I ambushed and I pumped like an O.O. heater. So proud of you. Good stuff. Thanks, man. Yeah, yeah. There you go. Sorry, Cici. 250 batting average and you got a you got 10 strikeouts, one home run. So I don't think Cici minds. Yeah, he struck about a ton. And I'm a good hitter against left handers. He just had my number, man. But I wouldn't say $2.50 against someone's not getting owned by them. Yeah, but I'd struck out. How many at bats? Jim, maybe like 20 at bats, probably struck out half of them.

So he owned me. 28 at bats, 10 strikeouts. Okay. All right. Seven hits. All right. Only one extra base hit. But you're right, it was a first pitch fastball.

Wow. Yep. You brought that out quickly. It's weird. I remember that because I hit so many of us. It's like I barely remember any detail about them. There's so many. Hey, it took the lead in the game, so in the fifth inning.

You know what? I have a story about that. Do people care? I don't know. I'm going to tell it anyway. All right. Actually, it made it a 1-0-0 game. Just keep it.

Two-nothing game. I was sick in that game. Okay. And I puked right before that at bat. I was in the dugout, in the bathroom. And I puked and I was like, shit, I got a hit. I went up there. Everyone was like, you are right?

And I was like, yeah, whatever. and I just went, I think that's probably why I was like ready to ambush. I just wanted to hell out of the batters box. He's like, if I stand in here too much longer, that might happen. And I pumped him. So that's my flu game story. Thank you for listening.

Now I'm going to bring up the video of the home run and see if you look just like you just puked. But in the meantime, Oscar, can you paint a picture for our Indians fans listening of like a team plane ride? Like who became your plane buddy during the season? Who's the crazy guy? who's gambling what's going on um i kind of so i always sat kind of in the middle at my my row and then luplow was behind me me and luplow would talk a lot um a lot of the pitchers like

to play cards um latin guys like lindore um brand milk we sit way in the back listen to music i was going to say pumping music loud as can be yeah yeah that's awesome they were fun though they were fun the bus rides after we would land were fun too when we get on the mic who was the d yeah who is dj on the mic yeah or on the bus on the bus on the on the bus um paul ecu would always get on the mike there's always somebody that's on the mic he got on the mic and he would bring people up and he would be in charge of that i'm sure you had to get up there and tell a story or do something Did you have to sing? Yes, okay.

What'd you sing? I'm not the name of the song. Friends in... Friends in low places? Low places, yeah. That's a good song to sing. Yeah. It's a good rook song.

I forgot about Fran Mill, man. That guy, I saw him at a Rockies Padres game, and he's the only human I've seen on a baseball field that was similar to Aaron Judge's size. That guy is like, different thick. Yeah, he's huge. He's so big.

Yeah. That's my official question. Fran Milraez is different thick. Yeah, he's huge. That's crazy. You still digging, John Boy? Yeah, I can't find. It's from 2013.

Long time. I'm old. I guess final question. Have you looked at any of the old videos of, like, LeBron throwing the first pitch to Cici and been like, yo, Braun, come back home again. I'm here. No, I actually have never seen.

I saw, wait, I did see LeBron throw out a first bit, but I didn't know it was, I didn't know Cici caught it. Or has LeBron, I'm sure LeBron's throwing multiple first pitches at Progressive. I'm sure he had an open invite. Yeah. But no, I haven't seen it. I just always see video of them when they're in the World Series and LeBron. Yeah. Crazy in the suite.

Even though he's a Yankees fan. Yeah. Yeah, I will say that. LeBron's, I don't know. He loves the Cowboys, but don't know why he likes the Cowboys, but likes the Cowboys. Everybody has that friend. They love the Cowboys. They love the Yankees, and they love, like, the Celtics or the Lakers.

Yeah, exactly. Yankees Packers is a combo. Yankees, yeah. That's a weird one. All right, here we go. Let's watch, and then we'll let you go. Let's see. Pute-Fence Pooke-F-Poof.

taken CC deep. So you just puke. That's what you're saying. Yes, I did. Let's see. 91 right down the middle. Wow. Thank you, C.C.

Thank you, Brett. Oscar probably would have robbed that one. Yeah. I'm impressed. It's hard to get one out of there sometimes. Yeah, look how sick you look. Thank you. I look sickly there.

I do. Get me off the screen. Look at like a slow-mo of you running sick. Oh, no. I look a little sweaty there, a little clammy. Yeah, you do look like you do look like you just spent some time letting some throw up go there. Cecee looks thin right here. It's a thin Cici.

I think, well, he got really thin one year and then he lost all his velocity. And he said, yes. And his, what's his saying? Like more mass equals gas. Mass equals gas. That's what CIS says. They tried to get him to be skinny for like years and he finally did it. And then he couldn't throw fast.

So then he told all the Yankees like, shut up. Let me eat whatever I want. When you're CeC, you can do that. Well, shoot. This was awesome, man. Do we need where we find you on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch? You getting the Cod games up on Twitch yet or what? No, I got to get, well, listen, I feel like I'm at the level where me and my other buddy,

if we can get, but there's a couple other guys in our, in our squad that we're still waiting to, for them to elevate their game up a little bit. But they're getting there. They're getting there. I got you. What are the Instagram Twitter plugs? We'll send everyone your way. Ossmer, because I just have to get, it's, Osmer 21 on Instagram.

And then Osk underscore Merck on Twitter. just send all those skit bailist takes his way yeah all the skit bailist videos go straight to oscar yeah try try not to send too many you'll ruin my day thanks for joining man this was a lot of fun yeah thanks for having me guys out of blast dude awesome good love this year bro thank you appreciate it sorry about the ploof highlights we don't normally do that no i i enjoyed those i remember he used to i grew up been he was banging.

Thank you, bro. I appreciate that. Look at me. I appreciate that. Yeah, for sure. All right, man. All right. See you.

And there you have it. Oscar Mercado. Yeah, we really appreciate him coming on. Go follow him, blow him up. Tell him you like to enjoying his story. Indians fans, you're welcome. Yeah. Got some Pueg stories.

Pueg just knocking the ball out of his arm when he's trying to throw it back in and asking why and pre-going. Uh-huh. That's who he is. Like, that's who Whig is. And I'm glad that the stories match up. My favorite story he told was his debut

and how he had zero equipment for it. I think that doesn't get talked about enough. Guys, fans are like, this guy came up. He's ready for the show. It's so freaking awesome. And then in reality, it's like, you scrambled to get up here. You're probably on a plane the entire day,

you know, taking taxis, doing whatever you have to do to get to the field and then you don't even have your own gear. Like, think about that, dude. It's a joke. You use somebody else's bat or a bat that was old. Somebody else's cleats. That's funny to me. But it happened.

It's something I never even think about. And like comfort goes a long way when you're in put in like probably the more nervous situation you're going to be put in. You don't even have the comfort of your own shoes. Nothing. God. It's crazy. Yeah.

I did talk about Buxon. wearing my cleats when he debuted. I got them authenticated because I was just like, I'm going to give him to them. I'm going to give them to him, whatever. And then at the end of the year, we'd always send a big box of stuff to like the Dominican, like, you know, whatever we didn't use extra stuff. And I put those cleats in there. So some, some kid in the DR is rocking Byron Buckson's debut cleats, which is, I think is actually awesome. Pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. sold them and they bought a new house. I really liked, and again, I know nobody actually cares about our baseball perspective, but

man, the emotions of baseball transfer from when you're 10, 15, 24, 34, because as I said in there, and you guys were talking about when you're hitting, you get that first hit for the day? It's like you get a little loosey-goosey in the shoulders. Let's see that next at bat. let's make a day. You talked about saving it on the back end. One for four is so much better than an O for four.

And I don't know. The other thing that was going through on my mind when he was talking about shortstop, and that conversation was, A, great, that that coach was telling him like, hey, don't worry about it. You can play. Did you see his numbers? Oh, yeah. He booted a couple.

He booted a couple. They were Jeter-esque, if you will. 45 errors in one. I wanted to go into that. You know, I wish we could. I think it went into it a little bit more, but people need to know these minority fields suck. Okay, so I think a lot, that has something to do with it too. Well, I think what was interesting, he mentioned it was mostly the throw for him, which, again, I

think a lot of people know that feeling. If you've been on, like, more so the left side of the infield, but if you throw one away and that next time you've got to make a throw, I mean, you're swimming in your own head a little bit. Like I know for me it wasn't at the same level, but I like playing a little third base. And man, when that throw leaves you, you're on an island. Trevor, I'll let you comment on it more than myself. Yeah, yeah, I did at the big league level. That's the most embarrassing thing I've ever done in my life was play shortstop the way that I did. So I know where he's coming from. Um, it's not a good feeling. You're right. Most embarrassing? You got to have something better than that.

Come on. Air mailing balls into the stands on a routine ground ball is very embarrassing. Oh, well, so we'll get BBD on the video for that. There's, I'm sure there's quite a few. I've collected a few clips in case I need them. Thank you, BD. You know what, and you pandering to our guests? Yes. I kind of love it.

I was wondering why you're wearing a LeBron jacket. Should that be a running bit now? We just find out like an interest that the guest has and then make sure that BBD's geared up. Even if it's something stupid, like if they're a big ACDC fan, we just send a BPD at ACDC hat. I love it.

Just constantly like BBDs are pander. The audience would be in on it, you know? We'd be like, you know, the guest would just Nash be like, oh, I like your hat. Let's wait for that. Got them. Give me a blue chew, Jim. Yeah.

All right, well, let's wrap up and then tell me how to get one.