The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Local Hour: Happy Marlins Opening Day

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

"THEIR TEAM MOVED TO TEXAS. TEXAS!" Dave Dameshek is a fan of those little pork things the Miami crew has for breakfast, and he's also a bigger fan of MLB than the NBA, which leads to a good old-fashioned sports debate. Plus, Tony's headed to his first-ever Opening Day tonight and needs to learn a thing or two about the Marlins, Mike is ready to connect with the franchise, and Zas has a word for the Minnesota Wild play-by-play broadcaster. Today's cast: Zaslow, Your ol' pal Dave Dameshek, Chris, Jeremy, Mike, and Tony. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Fairley Dickinson, 16 seed, rep by. Mike McDaniel looked like a college student on the full-ride scholarship for e-sports. What a run. We did it, everybody. We made it. We made it to Friday. Give it up for making it through the week. We did it, everybody.

Let's say hello as well to our pal Dave Damashek. He's out there on the West Coast. Hello, Dave. Good morning. Yo, yo, yo. What was being served in the Miami headquarters there? What did you have? You have some of those nice pork things I like for breakfast?

He likes the pork things. Dave misses the chicharrones. No, we did not have chicharones. We did not have. We had croqueticas. We had a little bit of a Cuban sandwich situation. We had a little ham sandwich. A little ham sandwich.

Ay, aye, aye. Cuidado. Dave misses the breakfast and lunch spreads every day we get here. That's one of the things. When I told the folks at ESPN, when I told the producers at ESPN radio, how we get a spread. Every

morning here, every lunch, they couldn't believe it. They actually served dinner too. It's odd. I don't know why no one's ever here. I mean, granted, you know, they get Christine Lise's cookies, and that's certainly Those are fire. You know, come on. But they... We just have a jar of salt. They couldn't believe. They couldn't believe

that we get the food, and clearly Dave misses the food that we get here. So, hey, we had Sweet 16 action get started last night. You got Major League Baseball opening day yesterday. Tony, you going opening day today? I'm going opening day. There's been a lot of talk in the front row here about my involvement in baseball and my love for baseball and the sport. I'm going to opening day.

I'm going to be boots on the ground. I don't know who they're playing, and I don't know anything about the models. I'm on to this guy. So I need Jeremy to let me know. What's going on with the Marlins? Who do I need to look out for? What are the storylines? What am I getting myself into outside of copious amounts of beer in hot talk?

Any sport besides MMA or football? I'm on to you, Tony. That's not true. I'm basketball too. All right, you get three. Any outside of those three, I'm on to you. Okay, hold on. Before Jeremy gets into the opening day tips, and it's the Rockies, right?

Marlins have the Rockies this weekend. Yes. You, like, everyone here's been to an opening day before, right? I don't know if I've been to an opening day. Really? So many great memories. Emilio Bonifacio is inside the park home run. Who can forget?

I mean, that year was so funny. I mean, obviously, Mike, like that year, Dan was getting hit with it from all angles because of Emilio Bonifacio. Like, Dave, do you even know, have you ever even heard the name Emilio Bonifacio? I like, well, if you want me to say no, I'll say no for the sake of the big.

Yes, I have heard of him, yes. Play along. Benefaso, who? Yes. See, there you go. You know what's gone. Dave watched sports. I mean, Dan got crushed after the start of that season, if I'm remembering it correctly, right? Yeah, because...

Bonifacio had like three hits and an inside-the-park home run on opening day? Yeah, he went... He got out in front of Bonifacio's not that good, and then Bonifacio had a very hot first month. And then by the end of the season, Dame was right, but nobody cared because we had all had our fun. Wow, so, Tony, you've never been to an opening day. I used to always get jealous, Dave, where, you know, the Marlins, the Marlins, the Marlins only came into action here in 1993. All right.

So I was 12 years old when the Marlins began playing before that. I never had an opportunity, obviously. I don't think I'd ever have even been to a major league baseball game before 19-19-I. I mean, how would I have been to a Major League Baseball game before we got the Marlins in 93? But I used to always be jealous for the several years after that when I'm in middle school where you would have some kids who were taken out of school early by their kids. by their father to go to major, to go to opening day down here, obviously for the Marlins.

I was always so jealous. Dave, I never got to do that. Yeah, I mean, whatever my dad had a job that he couldn't just leave in the middle of the day. Jeez. You know, like I never got to pay it. Pay it forward. First of all, I think I mentioned it a week ago during the tournament, Mo Damashek once boosted me from school so I could go home and watch the Pitt Panthers play in March Madness against Carl Malone and Louisiana Tech.

The Pitt Panthers lost that day, but the big winner, Dave Damashick, an ally for life he found and his mother. I went and picked up my two boys from school and we went off to a getaway game. A good father. To go see the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. It was grand stuff and it really, of course you should be doing that kind of stuff. That's good parenting right there. But like, Chris, you probably didn't ever do that either because wouldn't your father have been working?

That's true. My mom took me though. Oh, is that right? I've been to so many opening days. So your mom would come to school, take you out early, and you would go to opening days? Of course. I can't believe it. Good parenting. Wow.

I never, clearly Tony didn't do that either. I didn't know if he's been to an opening day period. I've been to a lot of closing days. What? You felt like instead of going to the first game where the top of the circumstance, you got a lot of hope. Let me go to the last game when it means nothing. Those are great games. I have an appreciation.

Not only that, it was the concert series. I saw the Steve Miller band. Oh, my. It was Pirates Marlins, the last game of the season. Wasn't Willie Chorino? No, no. It was Steve Miller band. Like you said, you idiot.

Thank you. Steve Miller band. And it was the last day, I think it was the last game at Pro Player. Who was an El Gron combo? If it was the last game of Pro, so it was 2011 then. Yeah, that was the last year. Somewhere on there. All right.

They had some bangers. And some, like, regrettable ones. Like Diddy played? Ew. Yeah, I went to see that one. What a shock. Ha, ha. What a shock.

though. What a shock though it's going to be though today. That crowd, the atmosphere when you compare it to the last time there was a baseball game in that ballpark with the world baseball class. Why are we doing that? Why? Why not do that? This is the most exciting day of the year for Marlins fans. They're expecting a good crowd. According to Travking's sports book, this is because the Rockies are terrible and have been for a little bit here. The Marlins are favored, expected to win. I put my finger on the pulse of Marlins fans. They're excited about this year. Oh, you've pulled Marlins fans? I'm doing my best. I'm done being like, the NBA sucks and baseball sucks. I'm trying again. I'm done saying that, you know, it's boring because I don't watch it. That carried me for three years. I'm back in.

It's funny you say that because last year, I went the whole year last year out on the Marlins. I'm giving the Marlins zero of my time. How is that a fool? What do they do last year that would tell me I missed something? They were the best team in baseball for a month and a half in the middle of the year. They got them back into the. the wild card race in a way that it was... They had the best run in franchise history

tied with the 2003 season where they won the World Series. So really, like, this is something that I should regret, that I missed that. It was a lot of fun. It's entertainment in the middle of the summer in a sport that's a lot of fun. Like, I don't understand why we have to roll our eyes at it. I just don't know if I can actually follow it because I believe the package that I got was Heat Rays.

So let's go Rays. Hey, new broadcast deal. Marlins.com. You can get the entire season for $100 bucks. Can we now agree? I think this, I might even be late to the party to say this on this show, but this is something I've been saying for a couple of years. Baseball ahead of NBA now, right? Do we agree on that? Absolutely not. Baseball ahead of NBA, in what metric? In any metric. Pleasure. Pleasure. No. All right. So that's one of the metrics. That's a no. Do you have any other metrics?

Any other metrics. I don't care about what the ratings are. I'm not one of those people about like, well, look at where the audience. That is neither here nor there. So not a single metric. Straight up. Except your opinion. Right. Yeah. Okay.

All right. My opinion is, is that I am much more interested in major league baseball. But I also feel that there's something in the air that we have become cynical about the NBA for a number of reasons. And the major league baseball has kind of fixed itself up, addressed some of the issues that people had with it. And it has amounted to, I think, a little. little more interest in our former national pastime. Well, I will tell you, you know, between the two sports, MLB and NBA and baseball being the, you know, old fuddy-duddy white guy sports, major league baseball has done a much better job

at adapting and being progressive with the times than the NBA has, where you look at the things that the NBA and that nothing, Adam Silver, have tried to do to fix the league, not. Nothing has worked. And you look at Major League Baseball, the changes that they've made when it comes to pace to play. And now we're going to see the ABS this year. I think pretty much everything that Major League Baseball has done to try and help the game along has worked. That's a terrific point by Zaz. And I guess it's a point for Dave Damashik, too.

I can't believe it. But, like, we're now talking about the NBA as a team that needs to do some drastic rule changes to adapt to the style of play because the math has kind of game the system, much like baseball. And baseball was always reputed to be the sport that was so against change. Yep. And here they are, trying to change with the times. And the NBA, inexplicably, because there is a clear and obvious problem with the sport. But I'm not going to get into that because I'm trying to give it another chance is still dragging its feet.

And the commissioner, Adam Silver, you know, who again is a nothing. His solution to everything is, let's do a tournament. Any problem that the NBA has, you got to do a tournament, Dave. I mean, the entire debate this season, once again, kind of is the amount of games being played and a lot of people who love the NBA advocating for a lot fewer games. Like, let's cut the season down by 10 or 15%. That doesn't sound like a sport that's booming to me when people are trying to rationalize their way around how we can have an MVP if he only plays, let's say 75, 80% of the season. I mean, that's the rolling discussion.

It's dissatisfying, obviously, and baseball is booming. The only question is that I hear you, Mike, let's not do, or who was it, Zaz, who said, let's not do the World Baseball Classic versus a Marlins' regular season baseball game. But if they can somehow bridge some of that energy, I understand it's not going to be a sellout with people going gaga inning to inning. But if they can somehow get some of that spirit, I thought it was a bad look during the World Baseball Classic when MLB is tweeting out and otherwise, like, look at the energy in this place. Like, yeah, that's exactly what you don't have. And in fact, that's what you sort of, you discourage formally as a league. You don't like individual celebration. But if they can bring more and more of that in there, yes, I continue.

I think that MLB's rise continues. By the way, very quickly, dynasties, whether people say they hate them or not, are good for sports. And the Dodgers make baseball more compelling than the NBA, which is intentionally trying to create some parity. That works in the NFL because it's wildly popular. It's not going to work in the NBA. other sports. Folks, this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Listen, money stress.

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Yeah, you've been at many big-time sporting events. You know that moment quite well. That's what it's like when you take your first sip of Cuervo. Oh, delicious. It's the signal that says, we're not checking the time anymore, pal. It's when small talk turns into stories. Quervo, man, it's at high-five A Random Stranger Effect. That's right.

The game is popping. You're hugging people you never met before. That's the kind of energy that Quervo brings. It's so smooth, so delicious. That's the Quervo Effect. Keep it, Quervo. Don Lebatard. My algorithm on

Instagram is dance, all boobs. Stugats. It's a good algorithm. This is the Dan Lebatar show with the Stugat. I mean, the Dodgers dynasty was a huge storyline in a World Series had injected a lot of enthusiasm around the sport. I mean, Jeremy makes orgasm noises any time that you mention that game seven. I mentioned that 3-0 pitch.

I watched it again the other night while I was sitting in a bar, Tashay. It was up on the screen. And I mean, from the eighth inning through the completion of that game, it is, I can't believe that was game seven of the World Series. And only our collective cynicism has gotten in the way of us celebrate. that moment, that hour or whatever it was in real time for the fall classic. I can't get over. Now I'm going to get an exciting. Andy Pa has collided with Kike Hernandez in the Alvian.

The season is over if he drops that ball. They collided. And he catches the ball. Oh, what a what a stretch that was. And we haven't celebrated it enough. There is a lot of momentum. Hopefully there's a good crowd today at Lone Depot Park. There should be.

There should be. Hopefully there's enough. session stand workers. They did a great job during WBC. To Dave's point, I've seen some ballparks try to replicate the athletics, I think, had a drum section like 15 years ago. It takes a full house to capture that energy. Yeah, there are instruments.

Yeah, there's dancing. Yeah, there's chanting. But all that stuff is sad if there's only a smattering of like 400 folks doing it. We're replacing a bunch of Dominicans with me and my family. I don't think the Marlins are totally. capable of recapturing that energy, but it is highly dependent on the Marlins putting on the on-field product that gets the people in that building, and then that stuff will take care of itself. But first and foremost, the Marlins have to be good.

That's the whole thing with them, right? Like, that's this town in general. You've got to be good for a sustained period of time to get people to show up. And they might not leave once you do. Or they might stop showing up if you don't make the playoffs according to a Minnesota wild play-by-play guy. Well, that's a whole other conversation that we can get into. But with the Panthers, right?

they've had a couple of good years. The crowds continue to show up in a year where they've struggled. The dolphins haven't been good in God knows how long, but because they were great in the childhood of so many people that are now in their 60s. I don't think this rule that you are putting out there applies to the NFL. The NFL is like a completely separate entity. So even look at the heat. Your teams can be horrible and people are still going to go to NFL.

But the other sports, yes, you're right. Heat, Panthers. Once you win a championship, you're golden. I mean, the heat have been golden. attendance-wise since 2006. The Panthers now, because you have the generation. You have captured the generation of fans, and they're never going to go anywhere,

and they're going to pass it down to their kids as well. You are golden once you win the championship, and that's why you see the Panthers in a year that, yeah, they're not making the playoffs, and we've really known it for a while now. It's still a very big house. Says they've won two World Series. It's doing it and keeping it sustaining it.

But you can't tear... You have to give the fans an opportunity the next year when you're going to have packed houses because he just won a World Series. You have to give the fans an opportunity to celebrate the World Series. And Wayne Hezinga at the parade in 1997 says, enjoy it now while it lasts. And he tore the whole team down. There was a point after 03 where I will give credit to Jeffrey Lurie and David Samson. They were trying to compete.

04, they were good, 05. They spent money in 05, Pellostogato. they were good too? Yeah, they made big time acquisitions. They were going for it. And, you know, like the attendance did reflect that. It was an uptick in attendance, but you were going from a very low point to a point that wasn't really impressive. And then everybody argued, well, we're trying this hard, but no one's showing up because the stadium is bad. People don't understand, Dave. Like the stadium, while, you know, it's world class now. But for baseball, every day, sometimes in the middle of the day

holy shit like unbelievably hot like you can't go to the games I miss it too and there were rain delays like every game June in the middle of the day just for nostalgic purposes I missed but they were competitive there and they were trying and I do think that there was an uptick

in attendance just a little bit even though it was hard to get to and then they threw it all away once they got the new ballpark because everything that they told us ended up being lies because they look I don't want to do look let's restart No, it's opening day. Yeah.

I'm just, because Dave's here and I'm trying to, I'm trying to like explain why we're here and how this is a new day and how there's momentum for the sport. And for the first time, in a long time, there's actually genuine enthusiasm and optimism surrounding this ball club and playoff talk. I am, I could listen to you guys talk about this for a few hours. I would, the lore sincerely of the Florida Marlins, Miami Marlins. and all the rest of it, from a distance nationally, I think both. It is wild that one franchise in the span of a half dozen or so years won two championships

and both are deeply resented by the rest of the nation. I mean, really, in the last 50 years of big-time American sports, I don't think people nationally are more dismissive about a couple of championships than they are about those two Marlins World Series. titles. What that does to you, I don't know, down in if that makes you guys puff your chest out even more or put a chip on your shoulder. Sincerely also, Mike, fellow drip driller, how much does the lack of consistency in the look and really bring it home for me? Give me the one, two, three, Marlins' outfits, their uniforms, because the teal is where they start. And then they

just decide, like, one day, I can't stand with teal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know we used to be, now we're black and orange. Like, what, what the hell? You don't get to, you know, what kind of voodoo are you trying to work on us? You don't get to just change your color scheme because you decide it's convenient for you. You chose teal and black. Now deal with it.

So, right? Yeah, Dave, I actually agree and I've argued this point. It's why I'm excited that the teal's coming back on Sundays. Because for a franchise that's roster construction has always been very transient. There haven't been players that have been here long enough to really put their roots down. And the second that you start feeling like, ah, this guy's a face of the franchise, an all-timer, they end up getting moved. So for me, the connection point to my childhood, when I watched every game, when I really

loved the game, when I could honestly say baseball was my favorite sport, they were wearing teal. And so they move into this new ballpark. That's a shock to the system, whatever. And for their color scheme, you said black and orange. No, Dave, they picked every color. Their logo was the entire color spectrum. Pick a color. It's outrageous.

It's like OKC did the same crap. Like we're a new franchise. Now we have the troubling choice of thunder, singular, like we've talked about before. What the hell? Why couldn't you just go twisters? Why couldn't you just be the OKC twisters? That would have been cool. Instead, Thunder, now the grammatical conundrum.

And then on top of it, what's your color scheme? All. We're taking all. What do you mean? No, you need like a couple colors. No, we want them all. We're taking orange and we're taking two or three shades of blue. We'll work in some black.

No, no, choose your colors. I'm with you. So then they decided to move to like black, blue, caliente red. And that's where they are right now. For me, like, since I don't have luminaries really hanging around, since I don't have a player that has been around long enough during the time that I've been really actively following the sport, The connection point that would always take me back down a nostalgia trip would be those uniforms. I want to see a team on the field reflect that of my childhood.

And I'm excited about the teal thing on Sunday, even though the teal jersey that they were in, the never actually wore during game. But I think that this franchise, it's the most obvious thing in the world. When you look at the problems that face this franchise and the connective tissue to the community, it's the easiest solution for me to say, let's go back to our old look. that way people can start feeling like they have some kind of connection. I used to like the cutoffs, the sleeveless that they used to wear. Hard to sell, though.

Yeah. Hard to sell. That's why the MLB went away from that because guys don't want to buy vest on fanatics or whatever. Yeah, I guess you're right. It's hard to rock that at a game. You know about that vest? Who's most likely to wear that in that room right now? I'm going to go with in a surprise, a slight upset.

over Tony. Mike Ryan Ruiz is the most likely to wear one of those out on the street unironically. I would, I would rock a vest to a game. Tony Conigliero. I think that I have my own frustrations with Lone Depot Park. Hopefully they turn it around. It's not just the atmosphere. It's a concessions. Look, I like college baseball.

I love going to Mark Clyde Stadium. There is tradition there. There is a community there. And I like the ping of the baseball bat. I have a team that, you know, it's college baseball, so I don't actually get attached to the players. It's always a program, and those colors ain't a changing, right? If the Marlins can just guarantee me a good time because I've been there about like 10 times since I moved into Lone Depot Park, I'd go more. That's it?

I'd go more. Yeah, it's a bad ballpark, dude. I don't like it. And I've gone to so many ballparks. I, even as somebody that would admit, I don't like the sport all that much anymore. I love sitting outside drinking a beer. hearing the crack of the bat, smelling the grass. It reminds me of a bygone era.

I like it. Lone Depot Park doesn't do it for me. Do we know what the setup is tonight, Jeremy? Are we doing roof windows? Do we know what the deal is? The plan is always roof open on opening day so long as the weather allows it, right? The last thing you want is an opening day rain out. So if the weather is holding up.

It looks good. It would be a roof open if the weather is holding up. And it really plays into what Mike is talking about, where you're looking for. a reason to have connection. Sandy Alcantra is making his sixth opening day start tonight. Yeah, that is actually a real rarity for this. No, he's, I think the next most is three.

It is a record. It is a record by a wide margin. It was probably a record four years ago. Yeah, it was a record probably before the Tommy John. He set the record twice. Yeah, it's crazy. Who was the three? Like, Ricky Nalaska?

I think in Alaska, Josh Beckett, I think, had a few. I think there's a few guys. Josh Johnson. Josh Johnson might have had a few there as well. You'd be surprised how. how short of his time. Josh Johnson is one of the best pitchers in this franchise is his story.

He got hurt very quickly. All those battles with Roy Halliday. Dude, Doc. One of my least favorite memories is I was supposed to go to the Roy Halliday perfect game, but I had a JV baseball game, and my dad was like, you know, you have

commitments, you have commitments that you made to your team. You're supposed to be there. And it was Josh Johnson against Roy Halliday. Johnson throws seven innings, one run. He was amazing. Roy Halliday throws a perfect game, and I wasn't a, I'll never, I'll never forget it. ever give my dad. In Alaska,

actually never did it. A bunch of guys have done it twice. Only Josh Johnson did it three times, 10, 11, and 12. And then Beckett did it three times 303, 0405. But with Sandy Alconjur

on the mound, like that's one of the things to look forward to here, right? Is this opportunity for a guy in Sandy to come back and have a great year, Dave? Well, I just think it's, there's a weird paradox for Miami-based baseball fans. Baseball is huge

in your part of the country. But playing it under a dome, like Mike kind of hints at, isn't terribly satisfying. It's just not the aesthetic that you want for... Oh, that doesn't bother me at all. I hear you. That's, I think you have to accept that. If you're going to be a Marlins fan and be a regular at the ballpark, then you're going to go and sit under the dome. But I suspect that a lot of people in theory, at least are purists about it. I want to be under the sun drinking a beer and all of that. Dave, I get that. Just described. I get that. But again, playing at Pro Player and sitting in the stands at Pro Player was playing on the surface of the sun.

I prefer it. I prefer it than sitting. The surface of the sun? I prefer it, honestly, than the ambient hum of the AC. Yeah, the AC set to septic part. I just don't like it. It needs to do something to tap in a character. It doesn't have character.

Sports fans, all the sports are coming together. It's a great time to just sit on your couch, text your friend. Hey, come over. Let's watch the games. And when I do that to my friends, guess what they text me back? I got the Miller Lights. That's right. They pick up Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer, and they come over to my place.

We take that first sip, and we realize, man, we just made a regular old-fashioned night into a special night. Thank you, Miller Light. And shortly thereafter, we got multiple screens on. Everybody's dialed into something different. And the whole night just keeps building and building and building. That's why I reach for Miller Light. It can take an ordinary night and take it to an extraordinary place. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink.

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Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Folks, listen up, quick break in the action. Are you counting down the days until payday? Instacash from MoneyLine can help you access up to $500 of your hard-earned pay early. There's no interest, no credit check, and no monthly fees. So you can manage those in-between expenses with less stress. Download the Money Lion app and link your qualifying bank account to see what you qualify for.

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Our Panther group chat, we're confident against the lightning. This is a different team. You're a Panther group chat, though. No, I think, no, but dude, you're so wrong on that. We've been terrified of this team forever. And I think there's a different energy where the Panthers, they want the lightning. Stugats. I want T-shirts made for this Panther run.

What could be this Panther run? Our Panther group chat, we're not afraid of the lightning. That's a tagline for World Rock. This is the Dan Levitar show with the Stugats. Why can't they do a thing like soccer stadiums do in Europe? And now more and more you even see NFL stadium. Seattle kind of has that Buffalo with their building. Looks like that where you cover at least the fans and get out of the severe sun.

They have that at the Dolphins games. They have that at Hard Rock. It's just not a complete covered thing. But I don't know. They made it covered. And like there's nothing we can do about it. They just don't want to open. It closes it.

It's that simple. Rain outs plagued this market for such a long time. And it was something that I would openly complain about because half the time I would go to a Marlins game. I was in the concourse for like two and a half hours. It wasn't a short amount of time. I get it, but I would like to have the roof open a little bit more. I'd like to have the breeze running through there a little bit more. But also I would just like a better park.

I think they miss them work with the park and it's not like they can do much with it. But let's switch gears because we alluded to it, Zaz, earlier. There was a Minnesota wild guy that really tapped into what little energy we had left about this disappointing hockey season. You want my attention? You got it. So the Wild beat the Panthers last night, three, two. I mean, the Panthers are really fielding a mass unit at this point. Like, Evan Rodriguez is now going to miss the remainder of the season.

He broke his finger. Why are you laughing? A mass unit on purpose. I mean, what is it with the Florida? to NHL teams. Just trying to game the system all the time. Anyway. All of a sudden, all of a sudden, these specious injuries are cropping up all over the play.

It turns out we have to shut down two-thirds of our team. All of a sudden. You know, you follow the sport. I think you have an idea of how much hockey this franchise has played and how beat up they've been in those runs. But I'd like to let Zaz continue to speak day. Anyway, he has a hurt finger. Really tough loss last night.

The Panthers scored to tie it with the empty net. And then they gave up the winner with five. seconds left. Tough loss. It could have used the point. Anyway. So last night, apparently in the middle of the game, and it's a photo, you could see on video, we'll put it up there, some guy named Anthony LaPlanta, all right? He apparently is the, he's the play-by-play guy for the Minnesota Wild. So get this, all right? Midgame, if you were to zoom in, video team does not have to, but if you were to zoom into the scoreboard, this is almost six minutes into the start of the game, all right? It's very early in the game. And the Minnesota Wild Play-by-Play Guy decides in the middle of calling the action,

I'm going to take a photo of the crowd and I'm going to post on Twitter and I'm going to accompany that caption by saying, good to see all of those, quote, die-hard lifelong Panther fans that were seen in public for the first time ever during the Stanley Cup finals have gone back into high and end of tweet. So now this isn't, this isn't some podcaster who follows the Minnesota Wild. This isn't some blogger who follows the Minnesota Wild. This is their actual play-by-play television announcer who decides we are going to come after Panther fans for not showing up at the end of the season, which by the way, the announced crowd last

just under 19,000. It was a good crowd. Just under 19,000. This guy hasn't seen a bad crowd from us. No, no. I've seen plenty of bad crowds. And most importantly, Zaz, in that photo to boost his argument, it's club red. Dave, so you've got to understand here. He's pointing the picture at the club red, although it's not called that anymore, whatever it's called.

Amarant. Amarant Vault. This is the two sections, Center Ice, with. which have the All You Can Eat Buffet, which I don't know about you, Dave, but if I purchase those seats in the Amaran vault, I'm probably going to spend a few minutes at the All You Can Eat Buffet before I get to my seats at the start the game. It's a big time hospitality area for the Panthers. And so he points there and does the whole diehard lifelong Panther fans

have gone back into hiding. Let me also remind everybody, okay, that this Dolt doesn't point out to everyone. Let me remind everybody. Dolt. The Minnesota. The city of Minnesota had their hockey team taken from them. And I'm sure it had nothing to do with fan support. Their team moved to Texas.

Texas. The city of Minnesota is, in fact, two cities. I like it very much, too, by the way. It's the twin cities. What goes on there, by the way? It's the same thing that goes on with Tampa and St. Pete. I don't understand. I don't get the, I didn't take civics class.

What goes on that you're allowed to be Minneapolis and St. Paul and just count as one? That explains Zaslow's confusion. You also have to understand, NHL people is somebody who has been an NHL diehard for 25, 40 years now. Don't they're shayness. There's a collective, there's a collective chip on the shoulder about the sport and how people support it or don't and all of that. People are much... It's like liking an indie band versus a major label band.

You feel like you have to defend it a little bit more, you know? Like you too doesn't need to be defended, but built to spill or modest mouse does or pavement. They need you to perpetuate them a little bit more. I think that... But nevertheless, pretty crappy stuff out of the play-by-play guy from Minnesota. Of course, I'm with Zaslo. But Evan Rodriguez isn't playing because he has a hurt finger. You think I'm going to sit there and watch the game?

No, I'm going to go down in the boughs and eat all you can eat. I'm going to go for plate number four. And watch World Series from several months ago. If anyone was unclear what this guy Anthony does for a living, he clearly has the microphone in his profile picture. That's when you know someone's really made it is when they put the microphone in the profile picture. It's the Dom Draper meme. I don't think about you at all.

What is it? Why? You're a Minnesota wild play-by-play guy. I barely think of you. What is it wild? That's right. See, outsides. Jeremy, Tony needs some opening day tips.

He's going. He doesn't even know if he's ever been to an opening day before. I don't think so, maybe. I mean, what a childhood. I don't like what he's doing. I go to closing days, though. And Steve Miller ban concerts. And you have a Marlins storyline, top five for us?

Yeah, I do. I have basically everything that you need to know and be thinking about in terms of what this season is going to look like for the Marlins based off last year. So a couple of OLLI. last year there were several rookies. First year players who contributed to that roster in a big way. So good rookies. Good rookies. There are guys coming back for their second year. The question will become in the long run, who are the guys that come up this year and contribute? Is it Thomas White

or Robbie Snelling, the left-handed pitchers who were at the very top of their prospects list? Is it Joe Mack, the star catcher who could come up maybe by May or so? Is it Kemp Alderman, a power-hitting outfielder that they could go for some right-handed pop. Tony, say two of the names he just said. Mac, Mac, Jack Mac, was it Jack Mac? Joe Mac, but Jack Mac Mac's back, Jack. Another OLLI, the Marlins calling pitches from the dugout. So the Marlins and the Mets followed suit.

I don't like this. The Mets followed suit here, but the Marlins pitching coaches will be the ones calling the game. They'll be signaling to the catcher and the pitcher through pitchcom. They're scouting, they're scouting, they're controlling. their control and they're taking that out of the thought process for the catcher. It's just, hey, here's what we're executing and we're ready to go. They were doing it at the minor league system last year to a lot of success. Where is the pitchcom?

In their ear. In their ear. He has an earpiece in? Yeah, the catcher and the pitcher both have an earpiece. And the entire field has it so that they can know what's coming. I heard Clayton, I heard Clayton Kershaw say last night on the NBC broadcast that he's skeptical that a lot of teams are using this to like, anytime they want to like slow an offense down and get away from the pitch clock, you just act like you're having

an issue with the monitor. It's like the tire shoes. I thought I saw that during the WBC when I first discovered that our time honor tradition of signs from the catcher it's a way to throw people off without breaking up your rules. I'm going to try to pay attention to that.

Wait, so they will pause the pitch clock if you're having a problem with you. It's a pseudo mound visit. It's a tech issue almost. I mean, they don't pause the NFL play clock when you're having a problem with your headset, you know? I mean, it's something that happens here. But the Marlins are going to be calling pitches

from the dugout, so we'll see how that impacts their Pitching. Number five, how do those two productive rookies from last year fair this season in Augustine Ramirez and Jacob Marcy? I thought that was the first OLLI. How the rookies do? No, those are the guys that could come up. This is how will the guys do in their sophomore year? Also, Jack Mack, I'm not going to see tonight. Joe Mac, you're not going to see tonight. Jacob Marcy. Jack Mack's a barstool influencer. Jacob Marcy and Gus Ramirez, Augustine Ramirez, those were the two star rookies for the Marlins in the first half of the year. It was Augustine Ramirez who came up, lit the world on fire as a catcher. He does. That's what we have to see is can he do it? And is Jacob Marcy as good as he was last year. Because if he is, he is a building block for this organization, a star in the making. Could the Marlins building block? Could the Marlins calling pitches from the dugout be that they don't trust Augustine Ramirez defensively at all?

Whether it's Gus, whether it's Liam. But Joe Mack is a like going back to him a star in the making defensively in particular. And they were doing this with him in the minor leagues as well. This is them just wanting to execute from the top down everything that they have. And they're taking that out of the hands. that they can rely on defense so that they can focus on ABS. They just put up on our screen what it looks like. That's the pitchcom. Splitter, low inside, low middle, like it just seems very complicated. Number four, how will Kyle Stowers fare this season? Now you're not going to see Stowers tonight because he's starting the year on the IL, but he should be coming back soon.

He said yesterday that he's feeling, you know, a lot better than he was. He's called IL now. It is called the IL, not the L. Have some sensitivity. Injured list. So Kyle Stowers last year was an All-Star, was one of the best left-handed hitters in baseball for pretty much the entire time he played. He was a top five to eight MVP candidate throughout most of the season. Really?

He was. He was. Until he got hurt. Really? Yeah, he was. In the National League, that's not that surprising. He was having a great season. And as of, I think it was July, it was like him and Shohei were the only guys.

He and Judge were the only guys who were hitting above a certain average with a certain amount of home runs. He was great. What happens from here? Number three. Who is this year's Kyle Stowers? Who's the guy that shows up and has a year where you think he's going to be good and then he's great? They're going to need at least one of those. It could be Otto Lopez.

It could be Grand Polly. It could be Gus Ramirez. Number two, is Sandy the guy? Is he back to being an ace? Is he the guy from the first half of last season coming off Tommy John? Is he the guy from the second half of the season where he's an ace? he and Yuri Perez can be the best one-to-punch in baseball if they're both at their best people are predicting him for the Salyong. And number one.

Which one? Sandy or Yuri? Yuri. Number one. How will Jeremy Tashay Fair is the endgame host for the start of this season? We talked about it on our live stream yesterday. I'm looking at it. He's got the first two series.

I do. I think Marlins are giving him a little tryout. I think my man cleans up here. They go six and oh. I can't stop. Sorry, Jeremy. I'm a Ryan Bass guy because of the nature of my subscription. Damn.

Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right? Don't place parleyes on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero. Always drink your Yeagermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion. Everything else? Everything else.

Wearing clean underwear every day? Well, that's just a personal decision. Brushing your teeth? Obviously smart, but not a rule. Never pee on an electric fence. Okay, maybe there are two rules. But the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Yeagermeister must be drank ice cold.

Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it. Drink responsibly. Yeagermeister liqueur 35% alcohol by volume imported by mass Yeagermeister U.S. White Plains, New York.