Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Ben Nicholson-Smith: Toronto Mike'd #1303

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

In this 1303rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith about his career in sports media, Davis Schneider, the Drive of '85 and more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, The Moment Lab, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1303 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta

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On September 1st, The Moment Lab. Brand marketing and strategy, PR, advertising and production. You need The Moment Lab. And Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. Today, making his toronto mic to debut is ben nicholson smith may i call you smitty does anyone call you smitty no one calls me smitty no but uh it's great

to be here and uh i'm glad to be uh talking with. I'm not sure about what still. Okay well that's for me to know and for you to find out. But welcome. No it's great to finally have Ben Nicholson-Smith on the program and I'm just going to let the listenership know that you biked here. That's right. Well that excites me that you biked here. So congrats on using the only civilized mode of transportation. You know what I actually think it was probably the fastest possible way for me to get here. Not that I'm too worried about time today on a holiday Monday, but I think it was probably the fastest way.

Why aren't you in Cleveland right now? Well, a colleague of mine is there, David Singh, is writing for us and Arden is there doing some TV work and I'm just here in Toronto. I'm just off. So how do they decide that like is it do sometimes they're like hey ben uh we'd like you to go on this road trip like like how does it work like how do they decide when you're gonna leave toronto yeah there's

there are actually a lot of moving parts to it because um you know there are 162 games obviously that have to be covered and then you have 81 road games. And so really, you have to account for the TV schedule, which Arden is now a part of the TV schedule. So that is an element. Then you have the digital schedule with Shai and myself and Arden and David Singh, who's now there covering us off in Cleveland. And then there's radio and basically like all these different overlapping schedules. And we try to make it work.

And knock on wood, we have so far. We haven't had a game where, you know, you show up and there's no one there. Good. That's good to hear. That's good to hear. Because you own the team, you know, you got to be there. Well, Rogers definitely owns the team. I'm happy to come. You don't have an ownership stake there. Wouldn't say no, but no, I do not. There's a lot of Ben's over there at this. I feel like there's a lot of Ben's. Do you think there's more Ben's at Sportsnet than there is in the general population?

And just to shout out, I believe it's his birthday. So I believe Ben Wagner's birthday is today. So happy birthday to Ben Wagner. And if I'm wrong, forgive me. I have brain damage. But also Ben Schulman, son of an FOTM. But there seems like there's a bunch of Ben's running around. Exactly.

There are. Yeah. Ben Ennis as well, of course. FOTM Ben there seems like there's a bunch of Ben's running around exactly there are yeah Ben Ennis as well of course FOTM Ben Ennis yes does great work um yeah there have been times this season in the Blue Jays radio booth where it's three Ben's where it's all Ben's that's amazing yeah so I do think that that is more Ben's than you would get in the general population amazing because I'm a Mike, and for dudes my age, there's a good chance you're a Mike. It's like, I think, maybe 30% of guys my age are Mikes,

and it sounds like you've got the same deal going with the Bens your age. Yes, well, they're a great group. Or younger. Yeah, well, in some cases, yeah, give or take a few years. Well, Shulman's got to be younger. I just did the math. But yeah, so Ben Ennis, I mentioned, he's got to be younger i just did oh you know i did the math but uh but yeah so ben ennis i mentioned he's an fotm that means friend of

toronto mike you're finally an fotm so welcome to the club ben this only took me 1302 episodes to elbow someone out of the way and get in here well i actually will share the fun story of like how this came to be because it's a great story like it's unlike all the other stories i'm going to share that in a moment, but I am also going to shout out Edmonton Oiler, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, because he's got that same hyphenated surname deal going on, right?

This is the, what you basically, this is two surnames hyphenated, Nicholson Smith. That's right, exactly. And no one will call you Smitty. Well, I mean, it is yet to happen. This might be the beginning of a new nickname. But what happens, like, can it keep going? Like, can you hyphenate and then hyphenate? many well i mean they it is yet to happen this might be the beginning of a new nickname but what happens like can it keep going like can you hyphenate and then hyphenate like does it end up

theoretically you could have like eight nine surnames all like you could yes theoretically these are these are some questions to ponder um well it's kind of new right like you're kind of the first generation like ryan nugent hop i say how do i I say? Ryan Nugent Hopkins and Ben Nicholson Smith, but we don't know what happens in 100 years. Is there a child born with nine surnames separated by hyphens? Right. I mean, I think at some point you probably consolidate,

or maybe you just keep adding on. Well, you know, there's no rules, right? I feel like we'll find out. We'll find out here. Okay. I am going to read an email you sent me in 2009. So how long have you been working at Sportsnet? Since 2013.

So 10 years. 10 plus years. What date? Do you know when the anniversary is? Would have been in March. So right before the baseball season started. Do they give you anything? Like I'm not suggesting they're going to give you a gold watch for 10 years,

but do they give you like a I'm not suggesting they're going to give you a gold watch for 10 years, but do they give you a little plaque or is there any recognition? Congrats on 10 years at Rogers Media. There is. And I wish I could remember it. Is it a pen or something? Yeah, exactly. I think it was like

a gift card to the shopping channel or maybe it was like a Rogers share dividend. I don't know. You want to hear a small word? Okay, so the shopping channel or something? Or maybe it was like a Roger's share dividend. I don't know. Okay, you want to hear a small one? Okay, so the shopping channel, which is actually called Today's Shopping Choice. Like they rebranded it. It's still TSC, but it's not the shopping channel anymore. It's like Today's Shopping Choice or something.

Owned by Rogers, okay, which owns a Blue Jays, which doesn't own you, but does employ you. Okay, but the face of the TSC is a woman named Carrie Oliver and coincidentally I have pulled a clip because this is all going to make sense very soon and I mentioned I had something fun in store we're going to go back in time after I read the email you sent me in 2009 and I have a little clip where the voice is the father of carry over the face of tsc today shopping choice so this is where i take a moment for you to let your mind to blow go ahead i i it's that's it's happening i'm i have not yet fully put these pieces together well that's it i'm just planting these seeds and then this is like you know a good movie like i don't know um uh the usual suspects

or something right like you watch the movie and they're planting these seeds everywhere and then they get to have that moment where it all kind of and then your mind sees how all the puzzle pieces fit and it's like whoa we'll see if we get a ben nicholson smith whoa let's hope so let's hope so okay but 2013 you start is that your first full-time gig um well i was so before i think you're gonna get to this but before i was um at sports and i worked at mlb trade rumors and i worked there full-time for a few years so yeah so that was my first full-time uh journalism gig okay so you basically go from school to mlb trade rumors and then you're at uh sports net.

That's right. And is there, I'm thinking if you are somebody who wants to cover like blue J baseball, basically you actually work for the, like that is the place to work in this country. Like without leaving this country, you want to work for Rogers. If you want to cover the blue Jays.

Am I right? I think that I do think so. I think so because, you know, there is pretty comprehensive coverage of the team within SportsNet. I think that SportsNet is pretty dedicated to covering the Blue Jays and it's a pretty interesting team. So, you know, nothing against the other media outlets that, you know, do great work themselves. But I do think that SportsNet certainly is very committed to its Blue Jays coverage. Well, you have the most coverage, right? Like you employ the most bodies to cover this baseball team, which makes complete sense because you've got the TV and the radio rights and you

got, you know, and the team like that makes complete sense, but you're actually already kind of where you need to be and you got there quickly in your career. Yeah, I definitely feel, you know, fortunate that that happened on that timeline. And, you know, I think, too, one of the cool things about working at Sportsnet is with so many different people there, you can kind of talk baseball with different people or learn different things about the media world from different people. And that's been part of the fun for me as well. Absolutely. Got any favorites over there? I mean, are you guys a tight crew at Sportsnet? Like you guys all get along? Yeah, I think everyone gets along pretty well i think that it's it's a big

crew and i do think it's a pretty tight crew like there are a lot of you know chats that go on behind the scenes and a lot of planning that goes on i think anytime that you're you know kind of in it with a group of people for that many days, right? From spring training all the way through to the end of the season and then even in the off season, you do depend on them in a lot of ways. And I think that you end up having to find the humor in some of those darker moments or, you know, I don't want to say darker, but some of those moments where the team's lost seven in a row and you understand that your colleagues are going to get it

in a way that other people might not. I haven't met the entire crew, but I have had many of these pick, you know, I mentioned Dan Schulman and like, I'm thinking Hazel May. Like I have had these people over and they seem like genuinely decent people. Like I would call them sweethearts.

So it makes it easy if you're going to have a long, you know, it's, it's better to work with a sweetheart than an ass hat. Oh yeah. I think. Can you put that on a t-shirt yeah you should it sounds like your next uh merch there should i type that down so i don't forget please do note to self i'm kind of in semi-vacation mode so but i'm gonna say a bunch

of brilliant things and i won't remember any of it because i'm kind of on my way to a little camping trip with the kids but like i'm saying before i get out of town i'm doing a ben nicholson smith deep dive i said this needs to happen awesome well i'm glad to be here all right so some of those like little uh breadcrumbs that i said i'd be dropping and then it's all going to kind of make sense at some point this is all going to connect here i would like to start if you don't mind by chatting about davis schneider you ever heard of this guy? Well, of course. Yes. I know. So, can we start there? Because I'm just curious. It feels to me as a guy who doesn't have time to study the farm system and who's coming up. Like, basically, until you come up,

I'm pretty oblivious unless your name is like Vladdy Guerrero Jr. or something like that. And then of course, I can't miss the hype machine or whatever. But it feels like this guy came into my life very suddenly. And in a very short period of time, it feels like he's this, I don't know, he is Babe Ruth incarnate or something. Like, what say you as a guy who covers this team regularly? Like like where did he come from and what's up with this monster start to his MLB career well it's been great and I think that honestly this is the moment that the Blue Jays I think needed for their season like to this point in the season and correct me if I'm wrong because I I'm always you know you can get I'm always wrong well I wouldn't go that far have some confidence yeah

exactly um but you know i i am aware of the fact that you know we can get into a media bubble chamber and an echo chamber and and so tell me if this if this okay works with your perception of things as well but to me looking at this blue jay season it has they've been you know objectively successful but it hasn't really felt that way. A hundred percent. Right? Like it's felt as though this team is always on the edge of having something bad happen, that they're always disappointed,

that they're always underperforming. And that's not really a fair thing to say about a team that's won far more games than it's lost. And currently sits in a playoff spot. Exactly. Which is shocking when I do remember that because it does feel like an off year like one of those uh disappointing off it feels to me as a fan who tunes into a fair

amount of blue jays baseball it's not a particularly it hasn't been a particularly enjoyable team to follow despite the fact they're currently in a playoff spot right and and i think that that's like the widespread feeling around the Jays. And that matters a lot because, you know, fans are filling up the stadium, but I think in talking to people, their experience of this 2023 season just hasn't been that fun.

And I think that having David Schneider come up and hit two home runs in his first three games, get whatever it was, nine base hits in that series against the Red Sox and have the Blue Jays sweep. Thanks in large part to his contributions. I just think that that was the kind of moment that they needed where it's like,

hey, here's some found money. Here's a guy that was drafted in the 28th round. You expected nothing from him. And now here he is just going. How many rounds did they go? Well, now it doesn't even go 28 rounds. When I found out he was drafted 849th overall, my first thought was they draft 849 players. Not anymore. Yeah. So, you know, there he is in the 28th round,

makes it all the way up to the majors and then, and has this amazing weekend and who knows where it goes from here, but I think already he's probably done more than what you could have expected from him. So I do think that they needed that. I think it was just kind of a chance to have just a sigh of relief, almost for the first time all season. Do you think we'll see a spike in mustaches amongst Blue Jay fans, thanks to Davis and his great stache?

You know, that's a good question. I see a fair amount of mustachioed Jays fans as it is. So, you know, I think they'll hold steady. Well, that's because they're probably saluting former Blue Jay great Rance Mullenix. True. Dave Steve, you got some good ones in there. Absolutely. Now, I actually, so I was growing,

like I was going to be, it was Nicolac. Like I usually shave every couple of days, but I let it go like four days. And then my daughter who's seven years old was like, oh, dad, you got a beard. And then I look in the mirror. This is a true story. This is what you get on Toronto mic, but you don't get on a, you know, the fan five 90 here. I see that I have a bit of a beard coming in, but it's very white. And I'm looking, I'm like, I'm going to look like Santa Claus soon.

Like, I don't really know if I'm down with this white beard I have now because I used to have a black beard or a dark Brown beard. Now it's white. I don't like it as much, but then I was shaving this morning and I said, you know what? I'm going to talk to David Schneider. I said, I'm actually not going to shave the mustache part. Like, so I'm going to see, I'm going camping.

We'll see when I come back, we'll see what the stache looks like. I might be growing a mustache for David Schneider. That's amazing. Someone had to, someone had to. So I'm glad that you're doing that. Okay.

So we'll see how it goes. I'll report back on friday this is me plugging a future episode that i'm gonna when i get back to town friday i have mike richards on the program and mike richards this is important because uh mike richards has been around toronto sports media landscape for many many years he tells me he has a major announcement to make and he's making it on toronto'd. So tune in for Mike Richards on Friday and find out what his major announcement is.

Do you happen to know what his major announcement is, Ben? Um, I have no idea. He's rejoining the Fan 590. Is that what you heard? Anything in the hallways? I would probably not be the first person to know about that. No, and that can't possibly be the news, but I don't know the news,

and we're going to find out together on Friday. And for the record, Davis Schneider, because I can't finish talking about Davis until I tell everybody that he's got the major league record since 1901. What happened in 1901 when they started counting the stuff? I don't know. But he's got the modern MLB record for most hits

in the first three games of a player's career. And that, to me, is a mind blow. Yeah. That's crazy. And it's nine? So I just know we had a great game one from J.P. Aaron Sibia. Yes. And then you just think in the history of Major League Baseball,

and I won't even do the math on how many games have been played since 1901, but you'd think somebody would have had more than nine hits, right? Well, I mean, this just goes to show how good his weekend was. That was something else. Yeah, so when I saw the spark lit by Davis Schneider, which surprised many of us, considering he was 849th pick in the 2017 MLB draft, I thought of a player who came here in 1989

and lit a very similar spark, and it really turned around that season, that and maybe replacing Jimmy Williams with Cito Gaston. But I have a song for this, because this is going to introduce us to where I want to go with you, Ben. So here's the song. We're going to listen to it together. And you can talk

over this because it's an older jam. Rocked a life for a team that was dead Well, oh, Mookie, you look so fine So you're moving on down that line You gotta help us, Mookie Help us make the chase number one All right, this is Help Us, Mookie. Wow. You might be too young.

I'm now realizing that when you were writing me in 2009, I know where you were at then, and I'm now realizing that when you were writing me in 2009, I know where you were at then, and I'm doing the math and realizing, like, are you even born? Are you born in 89? What's going on here? Yes, I was a toddler at that point. You were in, like, diapers or something. Yeah, I was probably two or three.

Or maybe pull-ups at that point. Okay. So this was Help Us, Mookie by the Kokomo Beach Band, and I don't have any more intel as to who that is, but if you know who was in the Kokomo Beach Band, please let me't have any more intel as to who that is, but if you know who was in the Kokomo Beach Band, please let me know at mike at torontomike.com because I'll write about it and someone else can Google it and find out.

Okay. The Kokomo Beach Band had a few jams on these, like, compilation CDs for Variety Village. It was for charity, and the local radio personalities and such would record these parody songs for the Blue Jays. This was a big deal. I literally...

Here, you can't keep these, Ben, but I'm passing them over while I talk about it. I literally have these CDs in my possession because I was a big fan of this nonsense. I can't believe we did this. But this was for Mookie Wilson because in my humble, non-expert opinion, we don't win that pennant in 89 without Mookie Wilson. He provided this intangible spark. He came to town July 31st, 1989. That's early in the Skydome era.

This is Cito Gaston is now managing, not Jimmy Williams. And I get a Mookie Wilson vibe from Davis Schneider, even though Davis is a rookie and Mookie, of course, came from the Mets. He hit the ball that went between Bill Buckner's legs. And that's the famous blooper by Bill Buckner that helped the Mets win the World Series.

I think that was 86. That was Mookie who hit that ball, but I'm here to shout out Mookie Wilson and I need an excuse to play help us Mookie that's awesome and even just looking at these uh song titles here there's some good ones there's the Ballad of Tom Hankey oh that's great um it's a great title um you've also got um Rhythm and Blue Jays I like that one yeah so listen very cool what kind of jams do you listen to Ben like do you have a genre of music that, you know what?

Like I do a lot of running. Um, and so when I'm running, I usually just veer toward really poppy, like high, um, like what do you call it? Taylor Swift.

Oh, sure. Yeah. Um, like, uh, uh, like basically high beats per minute.

That's what you call it. Okay. Yeah. So like, uh, the latest jam i don't know like i'm making up artists now pink or uh maybe probably not that much but you know like i would just go to spotify and like top 40 and and then i would sort of like pick ones that

i like within that okay um so it's not the most original but i do you know i i do listen to music when i run so it serves a purpose for sure okay cool i was just curious so that of course mucky wilson 1989 all blue jays fans that are old enough remember mucky's spark for the 89 blue jays that team does win the al east pennant now i'm going to read an email i received in february Okay, you ready? I'm ready. Okay. The subject line, this is again, February 2009. Because I use my Gmail, I don't delete any emails. So everything's just sitting in there. And if I search my email for the name Ben Nicholson Smith, I can find anything I've ever received or anything that mentions Ben Nicholson Smith. So February 2009, the subject line was exhibition stadium memories. Here's what the email reads. Hi there. Hello there. No, hi

there. I was on your site. That's torontomike.com by the way. And I came across an article you wrote last year about the final opening day at exhibition stadium. I'm emailing because I'm writing a story on the for a journalism class of mine at Carleton, and I'd love to hear from some of the fans who attended games there. Parentheses, I wasn't one of them. We now know why. Because you were in diapers.

It would be great if you'd share a few of your memories with me, what it was like to see a game there for the first time. What do you remember most clearly about it other than the big games? I'd like to give you a call and hear this from you in person, but if it's easier, you can send me an email.

That would be great too. Thanks a lot, Ben Nicholson-Smith. There it is. Isn't that amazing? That's kind of cool. I think that's amazing. Yeah. It's a great email.

I never, because at the time, you weren't a famous person. I don't connect. Well, you know what? I have this argument, like what's fame in a certain segment of this country. You are absolutely a famous person because you cover the Toronto blue Jays for sports net.

People do love the Jays. That is awesome. So in a segment, I mean, if you're not a Jays fan, you don't know the name, Ben Nicholson Smith, but there's many of us yeah which is great and i appreciate everyone who um listens and watches and reads so you're famous and you know that if there's a big moment and i'm going to play

a clip later from a big moment i'm told that approximately five million people across this country might tune in for some of that moment like that's fame man that's why that's a lot of people a lot of people a lot of people okay so do you remember this project at carlton so um i know i have since been reminded of the email so i i now i kind of remember it but because i replied to the email recently i literally like i replied at the time i believed uh i've seen my reply at the time but then i left it for 14 years or whatever. Then I replied again and I replied to that email, which was sent from your personal Gmail account. And I replied to say, you should come on Toronto Mike.

Boom. And here I am. Exactly. Yeah. And, and yeah, Gmail is amazing, but more to the point, I think, yeah, like I don't remember that exact assignment. I remember like doing that type of assignment. And as you can tell from that email, like I've always been

super fascinated with baseball and trying to direct, you know, anything I was doing, like in a school setting for baseball. So yeah, I mean, it was, it was definitely a passion of mine at that point. So did you write something about Exhibition Stadium? Like that probably happened, right? Or did you change it up? I think I might have ended up changing it up. Like I know I did some, like I did a lot on minor league baseball in Canada and kind of looking at why it hadn't ever really taken off

and why, what some of those reasons might be didn't really come to a satisfying answer on that one. I'm so still open to anyone who has a real answer there because I would love to see minor league baseball here. I think it'd be so cool. Because Ottawa had some success. I mean, first of all, historically, the Montreal Royals were an important club at one point.

And didn't Ottawa have some success maybe with the Lynx, I would say? Yeah, it was the Lynx. And the Vancouver Canadiens are always going to... They're still there. They're still kind of the lone team, the lone minor league team, an affiliated baseball in Canada. But you had the London Tigers,

you had, you know, the Calgary Cannons, like A-Rod was out in Alberta playing minor league baseball in the early 90s. Yeah, it is kind of crazy. But yeah, that was the project that I remember the most. So I don't actually vividly remember this exhibition stadium one. But that doesn't mean I didn't write it

because it was a number of years ago at this point. so this is interesting as we kind of get to know you and then this will tie into an exercise i'm hoping you'll be game to participate in with me but you go to carlton like so at what point in your young life do you realize i would like to write about sports like when do you have that uh moment that that is probably before i go to carleton. That's part of the reason that I went to Carleton was thinking, okay, I want to get into sports. What could this look like? And then sports journalism obviously seemed like a natural place to look. And I had done some radio work at CHRW, which was the campus radio station in London at Western. So I really enjoyed it. I thought it was really fun.

I got to do that with some really good friends of mine and just had a great time doing that and wanted to build on that. So that's probably 2008 or so. And I'm thinking, how can I build on this? And then, all right, let's go to Carleton. And then if that email was from 2009, that probably would have been my very first

kind of semester there. That's wild. Or no, I was there 08 to 10. So I was there in that range. So right in the middle there. The meat and the sandwich. Okay. So that's 09.

You're at Carleton. And at that point, you're at Carleton because you would like to, like, what is the goal you're going to write? Like, what was the vision at that point? Just you wanted to get paid to write about baseball to get paid to write about baseball for sure i think that like um you know at that point anything with my foot in the door would have been amazing if that had been you know fan 590 you know doing some internship or something that would have been super exciting if that had been um you know

writing as i ended up doing for mlb trade rumors that would have been exciting exciting. If that had been, you know, writing as I ended up doing for MLB trade rumors, that would have been exciting. But I just, you know, I knew I loved baseball, but I had never seen behind the scenes of the sport. And I wanted to have a chance to just get to know it better because there's so many layers to baseball. And I think even now, having been in this position for as many years as I have, I still feel like there are way more layers to this sport and to how it's covered and how it's played that I still haven't gotten to. But at that point, I was really motivated to try to get a look and obviously find a way to do that while getting paid. Smart. Well, not the first time I've called you smart. I think you're hitting all the right notes here. Okay. So how did you get the gig at MLB Trade Rumors?

did you get the gig at MLB Trade Rumors? So they are based out of near Chicago, so a suburb of Chicago. And at that time, Tim Dirkus, who owns and runs the site and the whole empire of sites for all the different sports, he was looking at this time, it was only baseball, and he was looking to basically have a writer on hand for the times that he wasn't available to write so he put up a post saying what he was looking for and then I replied and had to write like a mock post and I think it was like at the time it was like AJ Burnett rumors or something like that and then you know I connected with Tim that way and ended up starting to work for him. Okay now how do you get interest from, you know, the big cheese here, Rogers? Well, I think it was a good fortune as far as timing,

because at that point in time, Sportsnet was in a position where they were expanding their digital coverage of things from, you know, what it had been to in the direction of what it is now. So my former boss, Mike, was... Is he a Mike? Another Mike. Born in the 70s by any chance? I couldn't tell you exactly his birth date, but he's a great guy and ended up getting promoted out of his role, which had been, which created an opening in the baseball world at Sportsnet Digital.

And so at that point in time, I got in touch with, I forget the exact specifics, but got in touch with Sportsnet that way and then ended up going through their application process and starting with them. And I liked what they saw in you. So you joined the team, that's 10 years ago, over 10 years ago now. And how has your role at Rogers evolved since 2013? It has evolved a lot, that's for sure.

I'll say. Yeah, it's evolved a lot. I think that the industry has evolved a lot and I think that, yeah, it's been a gradual shift. I mean, when I first started there, it was purely in a digital capacity. So, you know, writing and planning. And, you know, since then, things have just gradually added on to what I do. So, you know, the podcast world has taken off since then.

And so started doing the At The Letters podcast in 2015. Right, At The Letters. Yep. So that's been going on for a while now. And then TV, you know, that started probably becoming more of a bigger part of my job. Like, let's say, well, I mean, it was in 15 and 16, but then even more so probably like 18, 19, I guess just like a gradual progression. They realize how handsome you are. Well, thank you. That's very kind. Pam Gordon-esque in your good looks. And that'll only

mean something to the FOTMs listening. Well, yeah, it doesn't mean anything to me, but I, I will take it as a compliment nonetheless. It's meant as a compliment. I think with TV, though, it does like it takes a long time. For me at least, it's taken a lot of reps. So, you know, it's just a lot of building comfort gradually, you know, year over year. And then Radio 2,

like, that's been a gradual part of things, but in the last two years, I've been lucky enough to do a bunch of games in a color commentary capacity, has been really fun so it's just kind of the gradually exactly the ben booth so you know bit by bit different things have sort of been added and sometimes you know something you know maybe comes off the plate or shifts over a little bit um but that's the general cadence of things and it helps it much like davis schneider that you have a you're kind of a utility guy like Like we can stick you in left, you can play second.

You seem to be versatile. Well, you know what? I would like to think of myself as a utility player for Sportsnet. I think there is a lot of value in that. And yeah, I'm happy to be in that role. And what's the plan? Like if you could have any, and again, this is not meant to, I'm not asking you if you want anyone to lose their job, but let's say somebody at Sportsnet

is going to win the lottery and decide they're going to spend more time traveling the world and they don't want to work anymore. That could happen, right? Is there somebody in a job that you would love to like work towards at some point in the future? Yeah. I think that I'm in so many ways, like I'm already there doing the things that I would want to do. Then there's always like dials that you might want to turn up or turn down, you know, depending on depending on the time of year, depending on, you know, the season. But I think that like I love talking about baseball. So if that's podcasting, love podcasting. If that's doing the radio, love that. TV, a lot of the time,

when you're commentating on the game in real time, it's really fun. There's an exhilarating aspect to it when you're kind of thinking along with the manager and the coaches. And for me, I really enjoy that. So yeah, I mean, those are the aspects I enjoy the most of it.

At the same time, I love the transactions part of it. Um, so, you know, I think that it's about doing those things in a balanced way, you know, where I can, where I can kind of refuel and re-energize and then come back and be fully energized and, and be able to contribute on those topics. And, you know, the great Buck Martinez can't go forever. Like at some point he's going to want to retire and, and, uh, enjoy some time with the family and, uh, there's a good spot for you. I'm just, no one will replace Buck. That's irreplaceable, but still somebody's going to have to fill that role, but I'm here. I'm just helping you out here, Ben. Okay. So you're happy with where you're at and you're sounds like, uh, I'm trying to borrow a line from,

I think it was fat Tony on the Simpsons, but you like to wet your beak and everything here. You got different things going on. You're writing, you have some TV time, you got radio time, you've got the podcast at the letters. Lots going on for you. I'm curious, when the Blue Jays season ends, what happens in your professional life?

Is it just you work less? Is that when you take all your vacation time? What happens during the off-season for Ben Nicholson-Smith? Yeah, so there are times when the off-season is really slow, and then that's awesome, and you can kind of catch up on all the stuff that you've missed or attempt to during those stretches, which are really welcome and I think necessary.

At the same time, there are some pockets in there where you have, you know, GM meetings, winter meetings, the Jays make a signing, whatever the case. Like, those are going to be busy, busy times. And that's obviously the expectation. like I always, you know, or I shouldn't say always, but for the most part, I try to keep in communication with different folks around the building and make sure that we have all our plans unfolding nicely. I'm going to give you a couple of gifts right now. And then there's an exercise. Again, I feel like you'd roll with anything right now. So I think you're going to be down with this, but we're going to find out together because I don't edit these things. You'll

be exposed. Okay. I know you don't drink. You've never drank. You're not a drinker. Oh, no. I've, I've, I've. You're just, you're, uh, you don't, you don't, if it's private, tap your nose. Oh, no, no, no. We're good.

Oh, okay. Yeah. I mean, it's, um, I'm not saying that I would, I've definitely had times where I, where I would drink and, uh. Oh, you're just on a pause. Yeah. I mean, it's, I haven't, I haven't been drinking, you know, for, for a while now and we'll see. I, I may again. so I don't know.

I'm not talking about... Okay, gotcha. I thought for some reason you just never chose not to consume alcohol, but you're just on a break. Yeah. Okay, so we have a great sponsor here, Great Lakes Brewery. When you unpause, there's fresh craft beer waiting for you in this province from glb great lakes brewery this is an important announcement to all fotms listening all listenership we have a big event a toronto mic listener experience tmlx 13 is taking place september 7th it's possible in

the past you heard me use another date for tmlx 13 because i screwed up i make mistakes ben we all do that's why pencils have erasers right i assure you tmlx 13 is going to be september 7th from 6 to 9 p.m this is a thursday night and it's going to be at the southern etobicoke location of great lakes brewery come on by because in addition to Great Lakes buying you your first beer, everyone is going to eat Palma Pasta Lasagna. Do you, Ben, enjoy pasta lasagna?

Of course. Okay, good. I have a large lasagna for you in my freezer. You're taking that home with you today. Awesome. So thank you, Palma Pasta. Ridley Funeral Home dropped by more uh these are measuring tapes and we ran out and it was terrible news when i had no more measuring tapes but i have some more so ben you never know when you have to measure something awesome that's for you my friend thank

you do you enjoy the tragically hip is this a band you've ever uh put on the uh the ipod or the smartphone you know i have but i in comparison to like i presume probably a lot of your listeners like i will not be able to keep pace like i i have an appreciation but i'm not that i'm not like super i can even see in the background here in your studio there's a oh yeah there's a road apples uh record here absolutely so i i'm not on that level, but I have an appreciation. If you appreciate the Tragically Hip, I think you will love this event that I'm attending on September 1st.

And I think it's 7.30 p.m. at the rec room. It's called Getting Hip to the Hip, an evening for the Downey Wenjack Fund. There's going to be a Tragically Hip cover band. There's going to be a live recording of Getting Hip to the Hip with FOTM Jamie Du. It's going to be a Tragically Hip cover band. There's going to be a live recording of Getting Hip to the Hip with FOTM Jamie Du. It's going to be a great night of hip love.

You can go to gettinghiptothehip.com right now and use the promo code FOTM10, FOTM10, and you can save 10% on your ticket. It's a reasonably priced ticket anyways. So get a ticket for you and your loved one and join me for getting hip to the hip on September 1st. Do that. Do you have any old electronics, old, I don't know, old devices piled up in a room in your home there or maybe in a junk drawer?

You got some old tech you have to get rid of? Who doesn't? Who doesn't? Absolutely, yeah. Don't throw that in the garbage, Ben, because those chemicals end up at the landfill. Go to recyclemyelectronics.ca and find a

safe place to drop off your old technology. It's by EPRA. They accredit these places that you find on recyclemyelectronics.ca. I want to shout out Ian Service, a good FOTM, who did exactly that last week. He went to recyclemyelectronics.ca and he want to shout out Ian Service, a good FOTM who did exactly that last week. He went to recyclemyelectronics.ca and he dropped off a whole bunch of old electronics. And I don't know,

I think he had some 8-track players in there. I don't know what Ian had going on, but shout out to recyclemyelectronics.ca. Okay. I teased this earlier, so I'm going to bang this off and then we're going to do this exercise together. I mentioned that Carrie Oliver is the face of TSC, the Today Shopping Choice. I always want to call it the shopping channel. And her dad was doing the television call of the 1985, the game in 1985 when the Blue Jays first clinched the AL East pennant. So this is obviously not a game you watched on TV, Ben, because I can do that math.

But I thought of this when I read the email you sent me in 2009 about Exhibition Stadium memories, because this game took place at the old Exhibition Stadium, and it might be the biggest thing to happen in that uh in that old uh stadium so here's how it sounded when Fergie Oliver called the final out on television nine years the Blue Jay fans have waited for this there's a drive to charge now he's got to come in he's there he's got it The Blue Jays have won it. The Jays have won it.

They've won the Eastern Division Championship. How about those Toronto Blue Jays? They've done it. All right. The man who made that catch. Hi, I'm George Bell. You listen to Toronto Mike. So that was Fergie Oliver's I Watch That Game on TV,

and that was we clinched the AL East. And for the older crowd, people my age, that was the first magic moment in Blue Jay franchise history. That was a big deal. What was your first big, do you remember the World Series game, World Series years? Yeah, I do remember them very, you know, somewhat faintly, but grew up in London, Ontario. And 1992, I remember my parents didn't let me stay up.

I wanted to, but... That was a late game though. I went to like 11 innings or something. You did, right. And so, you know, I was just a little kid. So I didn't get to stay up. 93, I got to stay up 93 i got to stay up and watch it so i remember that vividly obviously uh pretty amazing finish and uh yeah so

that would be probably you know one of my earliest baseball memories it's kind of wild to think about like your first magic big moment with your baseball team there is that joe carter home run because we've been chasing that dragon ever since right like it's sort of like where I got to like go in steps because my first big moment was what we just heard and it's going to tie into this exercise we're going to participate in. But mine was a AL East pennant. We lose the, we lose the ALCS in seven games to George Brett and the Kansas City Royals. So I had to, you know, build and then you had the 89 of Monkey Wilson we mentioned and then we had the 91 and then finally we climbed the mountain

and where you start at the top of the mountain and there's really nowhere for you to go but down. That's right. That's right. And down they went for a while. It was a long time from 93 to 2015. Down they went until another moment I'm actually going to do later.

I did pull another clip because somebody is going to be put on the wall of excellence like next weekend, I think. Yes. We'll talk about that later, but that might be the next big moment when that dome is going nuts. But are you okay with this idea?

So I'm pitching this to you in real time. No heads up. I have the final inning of 1985. So this is the game you just heard Fergie Oliver make the call of. So it's Blue Jays versus Yankees. The magic number is one. And I have the top of the ninth inning in its entirety. So I was, if you're cool with this, and if're not that's okay i was literally gonna like you and i are gonna enjoy this top of the ninth inning from 1985 together you're like a conductor here ben like you can totally you can talk over it and i'll bring it down if you need any commentary

in real time is amazing you can even uh throw me a time out where i'll pause it because of course i can always pause it, but like, is this a nutty idea or whatever? This is, it came to me in a bike ride and I'm like, I wonder if Ben, cause I want to relive this top of the ninth. So is this the radio call or the TV call?

This is the radio call. So Tom and Jerry, this is Tom and Jerry. Although Tom gets the, uh, he got the ninth inning, but we do hear Jerry's voice later. And again,

I tease another clip from 2015 that does include Jerry Howard making the call. Cause Tom was no longer with us, sadly. So here we go. The clinching game. This was called the drive of 85 in the paper that was delivered to my house, the Toronto Star. So I lived and breathed this season with the drive of 85. And this was like just every inning of Blue Jays baseball.

If I couldn't see it on TV, I was listening to Tom and Jerry. And this was my universe in 1985. I can't tell you how important this Blue Jays baseball. If I couldn't see it on TV, I was listening to Tom and Jerry. And this was my universe in 1985. I can't tell you how important this Blue Jays team was to me. It's almost pathetic when I look back, Ben. Okay. It's like everything, right? At that point.

It's like I'm 10 years old and there's nothing else matters. Okay. Okay. So here we go again. I want to hear your voice through this. Just talk over it. Maybe we'll just be quiet for the final out here. But here we go.

Nine years for Ute fans of waiting for this. I hit Fergie again. Okay, no, that's not it. This, is this it? Let's see. Where you can follow the Jays all the way in 85 and right after the game, more music of your life.

So you don't remember 1430, right? You just remember the fan on 590. Yes, just 590. This isn't 1430. We're listening to him. Crowd's loud. So this is Tom Cheek and Doyle Alexander on the mound. We're up 5-1.

A nice easy one because I had never seen my team clinch. I was very nervous. Future Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly. Yes. And look, future Blue Jays hero in 92. And I listened to that game on the radio And look, future Blue Jay hero in 92. To the brink last night and denied. And I listened to that game on the radio. In the nightmarish ninth inning here at Exhibition Stadium.

Again on the brink. Leading by four. They're around the stadium. They are wired. The atmosphere is electric. And Doyle Alexander and the Toronto Blue Jays are just two outs away from defeating the New York Yankees and winning their first ever Eastern Division championship. Here is a big challenge named Dave Winfield. He'll Are you nervous? No. I mean, I know the outcome. It's also great just hearing Tom's voice again. He'll take the strike. Called on the inside corner.

0-1. Paper flying everywhere. The wind has been blustering throughout today. Flags waving. Television cameras. Very prominent here recording the great moment. There's a sidearm swing and a miss by Winfield. Strike two. Alexander dropped down and threw him a sidearm breaking ball. Nothing and two now to Dave Winfield. The Yankees are down to their final two outs. And unless they can rally, the Blue Jays win the East.

And then tomorrow can play for another franchise first, a 100th victory as Phil Necro goes for his 300th win against Dave Steve there's a swing and a fly ball hit to left field but not today against that win Bell is there he takes it two down two outs Ben here comes Ron Hasse at the plate the crowd is so excited. Complete game here for Doyle. Which wasn't unusual back then. crown. And he's going to go all the way to do it. He works to Hasse. There's a swing and a fly ball left field. Bell is there. He's got it. The Blue Jays have done it. They have won the East. They have won the East. George Bell catching the ball and dropping to his knees. A mob scene out around second base.

As Doyle Alexander is mobbed by his teammates. Here come the outfielders in. They will be met by their mates and this mammoth crowd that has come screaming down out of the seats now. Somebody takes George Bell's cap. He wants it back. He takes it back. And the Blue Jays and Doyle Alexander are going to be ushered off the field by their adoring public. Alexander with his cap off, being carried by the throng down there on the field as they make their way toward the Blue Jays' dugout. The Blue Jays have defeated the New York Yankees 5-1 and won the Eastern Division Championship,

The Dark Yankees 5-1 and won the Eastern Division Championship. The first ever in the history of the franchise born just nine short years ago. Jerry Howarth, the greatest moment yet in the annals of the franchise. Tom, you were here for day one with all that snow April 7th. How do you feel? For the first time in nine years, I'm almost speechless. This is great. This is what it's all about. This is a joyous, festive

crowd. And it is also an orderly crowd. There are people down on the field. They have come streaming down out of the seats and now over the fences. But for the most part, all around this stadium, they're just standing and applauding and savoring this magic moment.

This is the best ever right here. The first. There might be more, but there'll never be one like this Tom isn't it only fitting that an ex-Yankee released by the name of Doyle Alexander would go the distance to beat New York and give the Blue Jays their first-ever divisional title all the way the man they released the man the Blue Jays signed on sent him to the minor leagues to get himself back into pitching form he went down there as we were recalling earlier had a start came back and the rest is

history because he was the man of the hour in this historical moment there is pandemonium there is joy in Mudville this day as the Blue Jays have defeated the New York Yankees, who themselves have won 22 world championships and 33 league titles. The Blue Jays win their first ever, and they defeat the champions of so many years past the New York Yankees to do it. How fitting that it should end on this note on this weekend in this series. There you go. That was the top of the ninth.

The 1985 clincher. What was it like here? Have you ever heard that? I don't think so. That was so cool. Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard that. Tom obviously is the voice we hear the most in that being the ninth inning. It was so cool because Tom's voice

and excitement level just builds gradually. And then by the time he's calling the final out, it's just kind of this gradual culmination of it. And there's so much momentum to that call, but at the same time, it feels very organic. It doesn't feel like he's kind of reaching. He's very much part of the moment. And then afterwards, you can kind of tell

Tom's struck by the emotion of it. But his words are almost poetic at the end when he's saying like, oh, there might be more, but there'll never be another one like this. I know, that gave me chills when he said that. There would be more, but for me, who wasn't in diapers, although you're not born

yet in 85, right? You're not even around. So forget the diapers. But there was many more to come, including What Matters, which is the world series champions. We'd win two more times, but it's as amazing as that was, there was something about that 85, uh, AL East that you can never duplicate because it was the first. Yeah. Super cool. So yeah, I think, um, and for Tom to realize that in the moment, um, and share that with the audience is, is audience is great. And you could tell that the crowd was into it. How funny, too, that, you know, at that point, the fans just pour onto the field and they're like allowed to do that. Oh, I know. I know.

I think if the Jays win a playoff series, like you're not going to see a fan taking Vlad Jr.'s hat. Well, you know what I always think about when Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth, which I guess was 715. You've probably seen this footage, right? He's with the Braves and he hits the home run. He's rounding the bases and there are fans touching him like fans are like on the field running with hank aaron like you know like you know maybe it's just in your modern uh the way you look at it now it's like eek like you're not gonna see that again yeah big time so very very cool clip and uh, I hadn't heard it before.

So that's a cool find. And much like the famous Touch-Em-All Joe call by Tom Cheek, I didn't hear it live. Like I was not listening. That 85 clincher I watched on TV, I heard the Fergie Oliver call live, but it wasn't until the internet shows up and I could, you know,

the internet had to come around so I could go back and hear what I missed because I wasn't listening to the radio for that game. Yeah. Yeah. And it would be cool even to hear. I wonder if there's a full broadcast somewhere because it'd be cool to hear more of Jerry and more of their back and forth. You just get that one little moment where Jerry asked Tom how he feels about it.

But yeah, very cool. And you know, I just got chills thinking about too. And, you know, we talked about how you weren't allowed to stay up for that 92. You were so young. It's like, this is too late for you, very cool. And you know, I just got chills thinking about too, and you know, we talked about how you weren't allowed to stay up for that 92. You were so young. It's like, this is too late for you, little Ben. But in 92, that clinching game, because it was I'm trying to, it was like the 11th, I guess. Dave Winfield hits a double and the Jays are up

in the 11th. And remember, Timlin to, yeah, to Nixon and then the throw to Carter. We all know that historical moment. But I believe the story goes that that was Jerry Howarth's inning to call because I guess they go, they take turns. And he passes the mic for that bottom of the top of the,

oh, sorry, bottom of the 11th. He passes the mic to Tom. Tom had been there since day one. Jerry joined it a few years in. So it was such a classy move for the great FOTM Jerry Howarth to let Tom Cheek call that bottom of the 11th. Yeah. So such a great move. I've had the chance to talk to Jerry about that moment

and many other moments in Blue Jays history, and he's really a part of Blue Jays history. So Jerry saw it all in his time here. And they named a street after him near the Six Points area of Dundas and Kipling area there there's like a jerry howarth way i've seen it yeah okay will we one day look back and see i don't know where they'll put it but will there be a ben nicholson smith way maybe if i'm lucky you know there's like back alley laneways like you know that like if i know exactly what you're talking if there's a laneway you know maybe three garages deep, like I would take that. That would be a massive, I don't need a street.

I was visiting, I had lunch with my buddy Mark at like Young and Shepherd. And then I learned that at Young and Norton, they're in North York. There is a Jesse and Jean way. And it's kind of like you're describing there. It's like, it's just like a little laneway that's kind of, you know, just there. And it's still called Jesse and Jean Way. So I just think that's interesting. Speaking of Jesse and Jean, and because, Ben, we were kind of going back memory lane here

and we were playing some songs we played, Help Us Mookie, because Davis Schneider reminds me of Mookie Wilson. I pulled this one. of Mookie Wilson. I pulled this one. Blue Jays, better, better. I'm going to put you on the spot here. Do you have any idea whose voice we're hearing in this parody song, Blue Jays All the Way? I have no idea, but I really, I actually kind of love it. And I just, I would love to see a current Blue Jay use that.

Like, I'm just picturing like Boba Shett walking up to the plate with that. It would be so fun. At this point, I think Jays fans will be happy seeing Boba Shett walking up to the plate with that it would be so fun at this point I think Jays fans will be happy seeing Boba Shett come to the plate of anything

going but but yeah I know I'm with you man I'll send you this mp3 for your run please you can run to Blue Jays all the way but this is a fun fact for those who are

familiar with a morning show called Humble and Fred Humble and Fred were the morning show on 102.1 throughout the 1990s and for a brief period of time in like 91 or 90

maybe both, Humble Howard Glassman left 102.1 for the mix 99.9 and while he was with the mix 99.9, he performed this parody song. This is Humble Howard Glassman from Humble and Fred. Is that a mind blow or what?

Listen to this production here, Ben. That's a winner. Could we do this again, though? Was this a magic period of time, late 80s, early 90s, when we kind of did that unironically? Like today would have to be super ironic to kind of do anything similar, right? I actually, yeah, I think though, like if you got that song in front of all 26 Blue Jays,

like I think one of them would actually pick it. Well, you can make that happen, Ben. You're the guy who has contacted the Jays. I don't think I'm probably going to use my bullets on this one, but, but, you know, in theory, that's a possibility. Okay. You mentioned using your bullets, Ben. I have a question for you that came in. So I always open it up to questions when questions come in. Okay, so looking back at the last few trade deadlines,

this is about, okay, people are having difficulty kind of reading Ross Atkins' mind. Like, what is he thinking? There's no rumors ever, like, regards to, like, sometimes there is, obviously, but generally speaking, he's kind of a tough guy to read. There's not a lot of leaks in terms of who he's trying to get, et cetera, et cetera.

And I'm curious because the bulk of the journalists like yourself covering the Blue Jays are, again, employed by Rogers. Rogers owned the team. That's a whole separate discussion. I've covered it to death, especially when Mike Wilner was with Rodgers. We talked about this to heck and gone.

Like, is there bias at play because you work for the team, et cetera? You can comment on that if you like, of course. But I'm curious, do you feel like maybe it would be nice if, and I'm not looking for leaks here, but when management chats maybe they chat in house a little

before you hear some guy from ESPN or what not goes and breaks the story well yeah I mean they're welcome to leak to me I'm always how did I word that Ben I'm dancing around there you know what I mean I'm very pro leak especially if it ends up on my phone

so yeah I think it's true and you know what I mean I'm very pro leak especially if it ends up on my phone um so yeah uh no but I think it's true and you know what like you look at the Blue Jays and like it's my job to break through these walls right it's my job to to understand um what they're trying to do as as specifically as possible even if they don't want that out there but if you look at the rumors surrounding the Blue Jays this deadline like it's not like any of it's not like buster rooney and ken rosenthal and jeff passman were naming names like there was stuff out there about hey of course the blue jays would like to add a bat they're in on the relief market broadly i mean that's what ross atkins said publicly but and it's not just the blue jays there are a lot of teams

out there that have gotten really good i actually think that you know this is this is a big contrast from 15 years ago when I was at MLB trade rumors, stuff leaked a lot. Like I really think more stuff used to leak. And I think that front offices have gotten a bit more systematic in a lot of ways. And some of that systematization has, has occurred with like how they conduct the draft or how they would game plan for an opponent. But I think it also even impacts how they talk to the media and how they talk to the fans. I think it's a lot more strategic.

But you will concur. In the past, when we have had leaks, it's almost never Sportsnet. And that's not a slight against Sportsnet. It's just interesting that it is often ESPN or some big American someone from America will get the

leak. And maybe the leak comes from the other side. I have no idea. I don't know if I agree with that premise. Go ahead. No, battle me. I want to hear your take on this more than anything. Yeah. I mean, I just don't know if I agree with the premise that it always comes from places other than Sportsnet. Because I think that in the course of, say, Shy,

Davidi would have rumors. And I think I would have names as well in the course of, you know, like say shy, Davidi would have, you know, rumors. And I think, you know, I would have names as well in the course of the off season. So certainly we're not the only ones who would do that. Others do a good job with that as well. But I don't think it's exclusive to outside of Toronto. No, that was more to rile you up maybe, the way I unfairly worded that.

But it often seems like maybe the other team is the leak and then it often seems to break from like an american source when uh you know you think so it's almost the opposite because you would think there would be more i don't want to use the word synergy but you'd think there'd be more playing together that you got the media in-house kind of you know not that you're not going to report the bad stuff you're not there you're not a pr machine you're not like uh you know keegan matheson's at MLB.com, so we often talk about this where it's like,

yeah, I work for the league or whatever, but you guys can cover the nasty stuff and the less glorious stuff there. But it does seem like a lot of these Blue Jay rumors that break that are real often seem to originate from south of the border. For sure, for sure. And I think that there are some really good,

you know, national reporters there like Passan and Rosenthal and others who do great work and, you know, do break some of that stuff. And yeah, it's interesting, like with, with respect to the sort of in-house stuff,

like it really is, you know, I know we're all under the Rogers umbrella, but to me it's, it's always felt like there's like, say for example, with the Roberto Alomar, you know, great example, developments, right?

And because that'll tie into something I want to close with. Perfect. Who's getting his spot on the level. Right, yes, this coming weekend. So, but with Alomar, you know, we covered that, I think, very thoroughly, and it did not make the Blue Jays look good.

And our intention was not to make the Blue Jays look good, but it was to cover that story as thoroughly as we could. Although I feel with that story that's not on the Blue Jays that story like you're not responsible for the actions of players who wore your uniform in the past. Yeah. You know what I mean like that doesn't nothing none of that could stick to Rogers you didn't enable or cover anything

up. Right and I think too like you know usually even if something is going wrong with the team it's just so obvious that like of course you're going to cover it right if they lose 10 in a row they've lost 10 in a row everyone knows it right like if they don't make the playoffs this year and they miss this chance to to have you know what could be a really uh memorable season it still has that chance and if they miss that chance and miss the playoffs like you know i think everyone within the rogers world

will be probably as critical at you know in sportsnet.ca will be as critical as anyone, I would think. Well, a good example, I think a recent example would be Anthony Bass and like the anti-LGBTQ plus social media posts, which I was personally, like I just wanted him shipped out of town. Like I just didn't want to root for a guy who would believe in such things. Yeah, agreed. at a town like i just didn't want to root for a guy who would believe in such things yeah agreed and yeah and that's where yeah like it's uh because i was i was glad like to see him out of town and you know you can you can sense that that was the case with with a lot of people around the team a lot of people within the blue jays organization because this this team employs a lot of people many of whom are in that community.

So, you know, you're really creating a lot of inconsistencies if he's welcomed and in good standing, despite having said that. And you must be aware of a particular, a member of the Blue Jays coaching staff who is quite a Trumper. Yeah, I mean, I, yeah. quite a trumper um yeah i mean i yeah um look it's it's i think that we can get into some some discussions about like you know likes versus shares and yeah i don't know if and again i'm not

i'm not i do not want to get ben nicholson smith in trouble like you were a sweetheart you came over and i'm not this is not about you or even about any, but the fact is, you are, no one's sending a memo to you guys and saying, don't cover this because we don't want to shine a light on this. You don't have any such direction coming from, I don't

know, Mark Shapiro or something like that. Yeah, no, exactly, exactly. And yeah, so I think that there's always been, as long as I've been at SportsNet, it's been very much, cover the team, cover the stories around the team, good, exactly. Exactly. And yeah, so I think that there's always been, as long as I've been at Sportsnet, it's been very much cover the team, cover the stories around the team, good or bad. You know, obviously if things start to get personal,

then that can be problematic for any media outlet. But yeah, that's been the general outlook. And the Roberto, because I'm going to tie into a clip I'm going to play from the great Jerry Howarth here. But I will tell you, uh, I loved the player known as Roberto Alomar when he was with the Blue Jays. And I often would state on the record that that is the greatest player to ever wear a Blue Jays uniform. Like this is my opinion now. Maybe you agreed with that, uh, back in the day. You know, I think it's a pretty reasonable take,

right? Like if we're just talking baseball like he was he was incredible yeah we're just talking baseball yeah I should point that out here I wish I would happen the other day in the conversation just came out something came up with a stand-up comic the other day and I pointed out that you're allowed to say OJ Simpson was a great running back sure and that is not akin to saying

I support his murdering ways yeah exactly yeah so Roberto Alomar as a baseball player possibly and in my opinion was the best player ever to wear a blue jays uniform he went into the hall of fame and what was interesting and unique i think is that when you you you often hear about uh somebody behaving very badly and uh now they have disgraced that's just like i don't what's the thing is that i speak to you now is all i know is that people have told me that if you knew what alomar did you'd be okay with him being scrubbed from the level of excellence but it must be

difficult for you to cover this story when there is no leak in the public in terms of what exactly did roberto alomar do like we actually don't have any there's no leak in the public in terms of what exactly did Roberto Alomar do. Like, we actually don't have any, there's no information. Like, he wasn't arrested for this, and then it went in the public record, and we read about it in the newspapers. All we know is he did something so bad that he is banned from all Blue Jays and Major League Baseball events for all eternity. Yeah, and Major League Baseball had a really thorough investigation into this.

And so, you know, knowing just how thorough they are and the kind of information that they can turn up, knowing that they reached this conclusion, it kind of tells me all I need to know. Sure, sure. So he has, years ago, whenever this came to light

and he was banned from Major League Baseball, he was scrubbed from the level of excellence and this coming weekend of what a great uh i mean it's long overdue in my opinion but uh jose batista is finally going to get some uh of the uh some flowers like the recognition that he deserves because what a great blue jay jose batista was oh yeah absolutely i mean you think about a guy who helped turn this team around from, you know, in the doldrums, kind of an afterthought in the AL East to not only winning, but winning with a lot of style and a lot of fans at Rogers Center and, you know, totally turning around the direction of this team, along with a lot of others,

but he was front and center in that. So I've thought for a while that Batista absolutely belongs on the level of excellence, and probably there should be a statue of him. It seems like the Jays are doing some sort of... Speaking of streets, actually, they did a little teaser. Are they going to do a mural? I couldn't tell exactly what they were going to do.

Sort of like we have outside of the Scotiabank Arena where you've got your bench, and they were going to do. Sort of like we have outside of the Scotiabank Arena where you got your bench and you're going to keep adding like leafs. Well, that's kind of a cool thing, right? It's the best. Yeah. Because all we have now is all due respect to your employer. Okay. You know where I'm going with this. And this is totally fair. Like, you know, so there's

an Edward Rogers statue. You want to help me dump it in the lake? You and I, tonight we bike over there. I'm going to leave that one to you, Mike. But I will say that there's room for a lot more statues right so and so you could add a batista statue you could add a dave steve a joe carter george bell catching the final out of 85 right joe carter of course uh rounding the bases roy halliday what a great career he had um so i think there's room for a lot of statues. And like, it's not like there's a lack of space, you know, they could find room

for some statues. So we can move Ted into storage and we can, I think that's where the Joe Carter goes. I feel like we need a Joe Carter statue. And, and, you know, when I go to other stadiums, because I'm one of the things about this job, that's really cool, and I feel very fortunate to see different ballparks and see the way that they celebrate their history and they do a better job. And the Jays have had years to do this. Even Mark Shapiro has had years to do this now. I don't really see why they haven't done more. But at least we're giving some recognition to Jose Batista, who, you know, had some of

the greatest offensive seasons in the Blue Jays history. And then, of course, he was there in 2015 for the hype train. And then, of course, 2016, I pulled a little clip of Jerry Howarth. So let's listen to this. One and one on Jose. All eyes on the mound and the beard of Sam Dyson. Now he comes up. Kicks.

The 1-1 pitch. Fly ball deep left field. Yes, sir. There she goes. Thank you. Blue Jays 6, Rangers 3. The designated hitter number 10, Edwin Encarnacion. Blue Jays 6, Rangers 3. The designated hitter, number 10, Edwin Encarnacion. What a team this was, Ben. Jose Bautista is unbelievable.

Wow. That happened, man. And you know what gets me? We played a couple of clips that brought me goosebumps and neither of them were the Blue Jays even playing in the World Series. True. I mean, there's so much excitement

even before you get there, right? And if the Jays, like even this year, they could make a run of the World Series and it could be the best run that anyone's experienced since 1993

and they could be swept in four games, right? Right. And that would be a great season. That honestly would be awesome if it happened that way. But that was a cool call. I think, you know, Jerry, a couple of things I noticed there,

like Jerry, simple call. Yeah, and let the crowd take it. Totally. Trademark, there she goes, emphatic. He's excited. You can tell he's pumped. And he knows enough to shut up. And so does Joe, which is really cool,

because you hear Joe is obviously on the, yeah, Joe's awesome. They're both awesome and um you know joe uh at that moment just just lets it go lets it go and he's obviously sitting there how could you not be excited in that moment the building is literally shaking yeah but he just lets it breathe lets the fans experience that and uh and then jerry tells everyone the score it's beautiful and i always forget when I listen back, I can hear that Blur's song too, is being played or GameOps or whatever are playing Blur's song too. I always found it interesting that they're playing stuff.

It's like, you know, you guys don't have to play something right now. We can just let the crowd ride this, ride the wave here. But that was a beautiful moment. That was of course that seventh, that crazy seventh inning against Texas. And that's the bat flip.

There's another statue. You got the bat flip. You got Joe Carter. You can pick which one, but maybe in 93, you got, you mentioned Roy Halladay. You got Dave Steeb.

You got George Bell, maybe on his knees with Tony Fernandez. Be going to give him that high five from short. The late great Tony Fernandez already. These are such iconic moments that need to be better memorialized by the Toronto Blue Jay Club. Delgado.

Get Delgado. Oh my God, you know what? I feel bad for Delgado and Halliday. I feel like those are like two, what amazing players to play. And even the uniform was off for a lot of that era. Like, you know, they even fucked up the uniform if you can do that.

Yeah, I feel bad that they kind of had this era even the uniform was off for a lot of that era. Like, you know, they even fucked up the uniform. If you can do that. Yeah. I feel bad that they kind of had this era where they get lost between 93 and the bat flip. There's like a, you know, Oh yeah, that happened. Oh,

exactly. I'm also just realizing that I could have been swearing this entire time. Oh yeah. You can fucking swear. Oh my goodness. What a fucking relief. They don't let you fucking swear on the five 90. I think I would have to,

I would, I'm sure I could. But sometimes, in fact, if I get a little too comfortable, like on if I'm doing the podcast at the letters. Yeah. Sometimes one might just slip out. But so that's a good question, though. Do you have a no swearing rule on at the letters?

Is that because kids are listening? Yeah. You know, we actually do have more kids than you would guess listening. Like I've met some of our really young listeners. But you don't have like eight-year-olds, right? Like you have teenagers. Yeah, we've had teenagers. Like I've met teenagers who listen to the show, which is really cool.

I mean, that's awesome. But yeah, I mean, as a general rule, I just don't swear when I'm talking about baseball in the microphones in front of my face. You probably are smart enough to say, okay, I am now on a Rogers property. I will not swear. Like this is just probably a smart move on your part that you'll keep your swears for when at some point when you launch your like your taylor swift podcast and it's a personal endeavor exactly that's that's

when it really counts all right final moments here because you've been amazing and dude honestly love the chat you earned that lasagna this was uh really. I really finally got to meet you. And I love that there's this February 2009 email that I replied to in 2023. And you said, yeah, I'll bike over and chat you up. And here you are. So thank you for being here. Yeah, it's my pleasure. Thanks for inviting me.

And thanks for your insight all those years ago. And then it's nice to be talking sports with you again today. And Dave Schneider, MVP of 2024. MVP, right? years ago and then it's nice to be talking sports with you again today and babe schneider sorry davis schneider um mvp 2024 mvp right obviously this guy's a future hall of famer right i mean the stat they might as well start chiseling the statue now you know what i like i like that we talked about him a lot in this because i'm going to be able to point back and it could sound interesting like it might be that oh like you know you talk about lynn sanity right so lynn you can go back to lynn especially when he drained that three in Toronto

for the Knicks to beat the Raptors. He had a buzzer beater three here, and it was sort of peak Lynn's sanity. But, you know, he did get his ring with the Raptors in 2019, but he came off the bench in garbage time, basically. But it is interesting to capture this moment in time, because maybe Davis becomes a great ball player of the Jays. But maybe we look back at this opening week,

this series in Boston, and we say, oh, remember that flash in the pan, Davis Schneider. You know what? Some guys never even get that. So, you know, if this is... Apparently no one's got this since 1901. Right, yeah. So if this is the peak, then it's not a bad way to go. Not a bad way to go. Okay, before I play us out, you've been awesome.

Any predictions? This is basically lose-lose for you. You have nothing to go. No, not a bad way to go. Okay, before I play us out, you've been awesome. Any predictions? This is basically lose-lose for you. You have nothing to gain, but I have long thought this was a playoff game, but when Keegan Matheson was here, though two days before opening day, I think it was, but Keegan Matheson, we went through position by position. We went through in great detail, and we

marked, you know, he's obviously looking into his crystal ball, Jays versus the rest of the American League, and I think maybe other than second base, he basically had us like, we were going to beat that 1985 Blue Jay record of 99 wins. Can you believe that win we got? That game was the 99th win of that season. And the Blue Jays, even though they've won two World Series, have never won 99 games again. But we were going to smash that record this year but now as we talked earlier it i mean yeah we're a wild card team i guess but tell me what you see in your crystal ball as we speak on august 7th 2023 well with the understanding that predictions are made to be

changed or wrong or both um i'm gonna say that um the jays make the playoffs as the third wildcard team, beat the Twins in the wildcard series, beat the Astros in the DS, and lose to the Orioles in the ALCS in Camden Yards' heartbreaking fashion. Oh, why do I even bother to follow this team? I know how it ends, and it's going to be more heartbreak. Not 87 heartbreak, but still. All right, I'm going to pull that clip

and make you look foolish, unless you're correct, in which case you'll look so damn smart. But thank you, Ben Nicholson-Smith, for making your Toronto Mike debut. And damn, this was fun. I enjoyed it. Likewise. Thanks, Mike.

And that brings us to the end of our 1,303rd show. What kind of money does Otani get? 550 over 11. How's that sound? I need my calculator,

but I wouldn't bet against it. That's a wild, that's me jokingly called him Babe Schneider, but this Otani is once in a life... Not even once in a lifetime. It's like once in a hundred-year player. It's unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Okay. And that brings us to the end of our 1,303rd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Ben, are you at, what are you at? Ben Nicholson Smith? I believe it's B Nicholson Smith. Too many characters.

Yes. B Nicholson Smith on Twitter. And I know they don't call it that, but that's what I call it. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. I'm going to be drinking Ben's beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.

He's got a lasagna. Getting Hip to the Hip is at Getting Hip Pod. Get your tickets now. That's coming up quick, September 1st. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. The Moment Lab are at The Moment Lab. And Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. See you all Friday when I get back into town.

And Mike Richards comes by to make a major announcement. See you all Friday when I get back into town and Mike Richards comes by to make a major announcement. See you all then. And I don't know what the future can hold or do for me and you, but I'm a much better man for having known you. Oh, you know, that's true because everything is coming up.

Rosie and green. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't speed the day. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and green. We'll see you next time.