The Josh Innes Show - The Beauty Of The Ballpark

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

Jilly and I went to the Tigers game last night. We haven't gone to a ballgame in a long time. It's easy to forget how awesome a trip to the ballpark can be. Plus, I had a really awesome moment at the game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last night, I went to a baseball game for the first time, and I guess it's been a while because I didn't, I don't think I went to any Cardinals games this season. Every time I kind of had the thought that, hey, maybe I'll go, I was like, yeah, I don't think I will. Like, I don't think I actually went to any Cardinals games. When you want to talk about how life can, like, really kind of come at you and kind of change things, what is today? It is the 3rd of September in 2025. So I moved to St. Louis in March of 2023. When I moved to St. Louis, my intention was to live there forever and go to as many Cardinals games as possible. This might sound sad, but one of my main reasons for moving there is I was like, I can go to all the Cardinals games I want.

Life is good. This is the dream. I can go watch my baseball team. I get to talk about my baseball team, and life is good. And, of course, life had other plans, and it was a disaster. But it's funny that once I got there, I didn't have any interest in going to these games, mostly because the team sucked, and I'm not the only one. The ballpark's empty.

But, so I just didn't go. So this last year, I don't think Jillie and I went to any. Maybe we went to one. We may have gone to one game in this current season for the Cardinals. Maybe. And maybe not. like we had intentions of going to opening day and then like I in the because the tickets were cheaper than normal for opening day but like the idea of like getting up and going to downtown to go see a bad baseball team just didn't interest me so last night my boss was like hey I have some tickets do you want to go and I was like sure so me and jilly had two and then my boss and his son had two his son's 18 degenerate gambler I love this kid he's on his phone like they were on their phones the whole time I'm like building parlays and shit, and I'm like, are you sure you're not my son?

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Restrictions apply. Additional NFL Sunday ticket terms at YouTube.com slash go slash NFL Sunday ticket slash terms limited time offer. But I'll say this. If you're there on the right night, a baseball game is still an awesome experience. I know that I'm a negative person, and I'm aware. that, you know, there are a lot of times I harp on what's bad about things. Like, watching baseball on TV is pretty fucking boring, right?

Like, it's kind of like cool. It's a slow-moving sport. Most of the games don't matter. It's just background noise. And that's kind of how baseball's always been. It's always been background noise. Like, you don't have to invest in a baseball game. You know, when I was a kid, I would spend summers.

I would summer in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. And my grandpa, Greg Hayes, would have every TV in the the house on the Cardinals. So in a two-story house, he lived kind of in the converted basement, or it was like a garage that they converted into a basement or bedroom, whatever. So he lived down there. His mom lived upstairs. It was a weird family dynamic. I acknowledge that it was a weird family dynamic. So whatever. It was in his sister also lived there. It was a very strange thing. I had seen his mother naked before on accident. It was in his daughter lived there. She was my aunt. It was a weird family dynamic. I'm fully aware that this.

was strange whatever okay but every tv in the house would have the cardinals on and then those old school badass turn knob stereos you know i forgot what brand those were something with an m like merts or something like that and morance was it a morance does that make sense and they were just fucking incredible and every room in the house and then the back like the the the outside porch there was also a radio everywhere you turn baseball was on you never had to pay full attention to the game, but it was always on somewhere so you knew what was happening if you wanted to pay attention. Baseball, the ultimate background noise sport and the ultimate background sport for attending a game. Like, you don't have to lock into a game, right? But I hadn't been to a baseball game

in a while, and yesterday was a lovely day here, man. It was a little hot for here. I think for whatever reason, I think the sun has gotten hotter. Like, maybe it's because I grew up in Louisiana and Texas, where it was just always hot. But when you move to places like Detroit, you don't anticipate dealing with heat, then you hear that it's 75 degrees and you're like, fuck, this is great. And then that 75 degrees feels like 100. Like, I think the sun has gotten hotter. Tell me about this global warming again.

Like, I need to know more details on this. Like, when I lived in Nashville, I felt the Nashville sun was the hottest fucking sun ever. Like, I don't get it. It's in the 70s. You think it's going to be a glorious day. It's still kind of hot because of the sun, whatever. But you get to the ballpark and, like, it's sad. You know, first off, there is no better beer than the beer at the ballpark.

And one thing Jillian and I have learned is that a lot of ballparks don't do a very good job with draft beer. Like, Bush Stadium, terrible draft beer stadium. Like, there's one section up in the top right hand upper deck that they've converted into a shitty little picnic area. Like, it should be a nice area. It's like a standing room only bar section. And I'm guessing if people actually went to these games, it would look better. it's just empty and it looks kind of run down versus like Colorado where they have a similar thing

but it's an incredible immaculate bar Colorado what a fucking experience great ballpark but at Bush Stadium if you want to go score a $10 24 ounce smooth bush beer easy drink and bush light you got to walk to the fucking moon to get it most stands at Bush Stadium don't have draft beer and it's ridiculous and most places

just don't anymore for whatever reason I'm sure there's a cost reason for it or something, but that sucks. Well, you go to Comerica Park here, and you've got pretty good draft beer options. And there is no greater draft beer than the draft beer you're going to drink at a baseball game. Always ice cold. Generally speaking, you're drinking it while it's at least kind of hot, at the very least, kind of hot outside. And it tastes so fucking good. And there's no greater hot dog than the $15 hot dog you're going to eat.

There's no greater Little Caesar's pizza than the one you're going to eat at the ballpark. I mean, it just, it hits different, right? And again, you can be poetic about it. You can be like some kind of lame ass like I'm kind of doing right now. But just going, and the baseball game was terrible. It's like 12 to 2. I think the final end up being like 12 to 6 or something. But at one point, it was like 12 to 2, 13 to 2, something like that.

But it's a nice night breeze kind of rolls in. The beauty about living here is that once the sun starts going down, like it goes from being kind of hot. I'm sweating when I'm walking Ross to just gorgeous and the breeze is wonderful and life is good and you're drinking beer. I had no intentions of drinking beer yesterday. Like usually in the middle of the week, that is my non-beer drinking time. Go to the ballpark before you know what, I've had five. I'm like gulp, gulp, my boss goes picks me up another beer. I'm just gulp, gulp, like, and the beer.

The thing about draft beer is it goes down two gulps. That's why Fridays I get fucked because I go to this little dive bar down the street. Jillie and I have made it like a Friday tradition to go to this dive bar down the street. It's called a cozy lounge. And for whatever reason, I get like whether it's a PBR or not PBR, Labatt's Light or whatever I get on draft, before you know what, I've had 10, 24 ounces. I'm not even thinking twice about it. Like there's something about ice cold draft beer that just hits fucking different.

And it's great. But at a ballpark, there's no greater beer than the beer at the ballpark. there's two great beers. There's the beer at the ballpark and there's the shower beer. Those are the two most elite beers you're ever going to have. But when you sit down at a ballpark and you drink an ice cold fucking beer, there is no better beer. It's right on par with the shower beer. When you turn that heat up to fucking, it's hot as it goes, let the bathroom steam up a little bit, grab a bush latte, pop a fucking top again, brother, let's go, and you're living.

Those are the two best beers you are ever going to have. And also that first beer of tailgating, when like you get out there early in the morning, morning and that first crack hits, bam, pop a top. I actually had a nice moment at the ballpark. So these seats that we have are right in that range where when the team comes off the field after an inning, a half-innings over, they'll throw a ball into the stands. And we were sitting around a bunch of kids. My boss was like, I want to make it my point to get a ball and give it to one of these kids.

We spent the whole day debating, like, if we catch a ball, which kid do we give it to? one of them's a boy and he's got his mitt clearly likes baseball the other one was a girl who may have just been there because her parents brought her she had no interest in the game similar age as whatever i think it was in the seventh inning i actually caught one again it's not the same as catching a batted ball which i've done one time my one glorious baseball moment as a fan was catching a batting practice home run at bush stadium two this would have been in i guess 2000 or 2001 glorious moment for your boy I caught it in flight, had like a soda in one hand, my mitt on, and I caught the fucking ball, and it was glorious. And then I got the ball signed by Jack Buck, arguably the greatest sports fan accomplishment in my life. It was lovely. This is different because a guy just throws a ball, but you're still your bare hand catching this. I caught it. Damn near fell down when I caught it.

And I'm like, yeah, I caught the fucking ball. I rule. And I eventually gave it to the boy. Like instantly, I gave him the ball because the girl had already left and made the choice easy. But I still would have given it to the boy because, look, he's there because he clearly likes baseball. Like, he brought his mitt to the game. He's with his dad. That's what made the moment nice.

I'm not trying to pat myself on the back here. Like, a lot of people think I'm a shithead, and I understand that. I don't think I'm a shithead. I think I'm a decent guy. I'm fine. But I give the ball to the kid, and he's super excited. It's like made his fucking day. His dad's taking pictures.

We're sending them to mom, like, you know, whatever. And then as they get up to leave, because the game's a blowout. We got position players pitching. it's a blowout and the kid they're leaving and the dad taps me on the shoulder he's like man really thank you I appreciate that and I'm like you fucking bet bro

you fucking bet and that's just all on a trip to the ballpark you know and sometimes it's nice like when we're super negative and everything is you're looking for an angle a negative angle something fucking terrible sometimes it's nice to just sit back and go you know what I had a nice night at the

ballpark with good friends and drank some beers had a hot dog and gave a kid a baseball, made his fucking night. He's going to go tell all of his podnas at school today that he got a baseball at the game and some drunk bearded man gave it to me. Hopefully he lies and says he caught it himself.

I'd be fine with that. Hey, whatever your truth is, brother, go for it. Just a nice ballpark. Good skyline view. It's not the most incredible ballpark, but it's a nice enough ballpark. It's just a nice experience. Sometimes it's just nice to talk about nice experiences.

And that was a nice experience, you know, because I'm very jaded, especially about baseball, and I bitch about baseball a lot. You hear me on here a lot. But sometimes when you just hit the ballpark and you're with the right people and you're laughing and you're having a great fucking time and the beer's cold, it's a good experience. And that was a good experience last night. So I enjoyed it.