Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mike Wilner: Toronto Mike'd #829

Episode Date: April 2, 2021

Mike chats with Mike Wilner about getting fired by Sportsnet, hired by the Toronto Star, the elimination of a radio-only Blue Jays broadcast, the 2021 Blue Jays and more.

Bobby Thompson up there swinging. He's got two out of three, a single and a double, and Billy Cox is playing him right on the third baseline. One out, last of the ninth. Wanker pitches. Bobby Thompson takes a strike call on the inside corner. Bobby hitting at 292. He's had a single and a double, and he drove in the Giants' first run with a long fly to center. Brooklyn leads at 4-2. and he drove in the Giants' first run with a long fly to center. Brooklyn leads it 4-2. Harton down the line at third, not taking any chances. Lockton without too big of a lead at second.

Believe me, running like the wind, Thompson hits one. Back of throws. There's a long drive. I tell you, I believe. The Giants win the pilot. The Giants win the pilot. The Giants win the pilot. The Giants win the pilot.

Bobby Thompson hits into the very back of the field. He's saying the Giants run the pellet! The Giants run the pellet! Bobby Thompson hits into the lower deck of the left field stand. The Giants run the pellet, and they're going crazy! They're going crazy! Oh! I don't believe it. I do not believe it. Bobby Thompson hit a line drive into the lower deck of the

left field stand. And the great place is going crazy. The Giants are still the winner. The Giants won it by a score of 5-4. And they're picking Bobby Thompson up and carrying him off the field! Welcome to episode 829 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. 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. CDN Technologies, your outsourced IT department. Contact Barb, she's Barb, at cdntechnologies.com. Palma Pasta.

Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majeski, or as I call him, Mimico Mike. He's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week is Mike Wilner. How's it going, Mike? Hello. Nice to see you again, buddy. Nice to see you. It's been a long time.

It's been a while, as Stained would sing. Happy Passover to you. Thank you. Thank you. As we record this, what is it? It's day six today of Passover. And this runs through Sunday. Yeah, Sunday.

An hour after sundown Sunday, we get to eat bread again. Oh, that would, I don't know, man. I would, I would have to become an atheist if I had that rule. Like that sounds tough. I don't know. Maybe. I think actually it's, it's my favorite holiday, um, of all the, of all the Jewish holidays. Yeah. I dig the food. I really like the whole, you know, it's sort of a constant reminder for eight straight days. And it can be a little cumbersome and a little difficult sometimes, but it's pretty cool. I've always really liked it. No, Michael, I apologize for my ignorance. I was just thinking of my life without bread.

I'm a little bit of a carb addict over here. I understand. It's tough. All right, my friend. So you mentioned it's been a while. I looked it up. It's been one year. So you're making your seventh Toronto Mic'd appearance. And this is actually your second appearance during the pandemic.

You were on with your brother Norm last April. In the pandemic? I've totally forgotten about that. Yeah, there was a... Last April, April 2020, there was a... I called it Wilner Squared. It was you and Norm and I just shooting the breeze over Zoom. I do remember that. I do remember that. April was a bit of a blur.

So it basically has been the whole year. But yeah, that was fun. I would not have recalled that if you hadn't mentioned it. It was a memorable appearance for you. But this is your seventh. So there's been some great Wilner appearances through the years. And it's always great that you might just show up at

a TMLX in the pre-pandemic era. Like we might find you at a Great Lakes brewery or you were at the Palma Pasta one. If I remember correctly, you were at TMLX 5 at Palma Pasta. Am I right? I was. And I was at one at Great Lakes also.

Yeah. We timed that one well. I was in the first one, I think. Oh, that's awesome. So, hey, I guess right off the bat, your support means a lot to me and I appreciate it, buddy. Well, you've always been good to me, so I've appreciated that and

thank you. Well, I was watching Let's Talk Sports, so that's how far back I go. A long time that. And thank you. Well, I was watching Let's Talk Sports. So that's how far back I go. Long time ago. And Aaron, I believe, is Aaron Lobel? Yep. Aaron Lobel was the co-host of Let's Talk Sports. This was a show that ran on Graham Cable 10, then later Shaw Cable 10. I want to say from 1980, I did it from 1989 to 1995.

Wow. Wow. And that doesn't, like this Cable 10 does not exist anymore, right? I think there's still community. There's still community channels. There's every cable company has its own Channel 10 and it's the community station or the cable station.

Okay. I think something, maybe there's less of them or something like that. Well, yeah, because there used to be like, you know, in Toronto alone, right? There was Graham Cable, which was the West End. The studios were like Scarlet Road and St. Clair. Yes. There was Newton Cable, which was up Finch and Dufferin. There were all these small cable companies

that have been swallowed up now. Right, and I think Newton Cable, that's what gave us Ed the Sock, if I remember correctly. I had a call-in show on Newton Cable too for about a year or two, and Ed the Sock was my producer. You know, yeah, Steve Kerzer, of course.

Well, you know, I think he can do either. I had them both on the same show once. Ed had to go move his car or something. No, I don't care. Ed had to go to the washroom or something. But anyway, my buddies Cam Gordon and Stu Stone, who co-host Pandemic Fridays every week, I believe they might have had a sports show on Newton Cable

for a period of time in the 90s, I believe. Interesting. I don't know. I didn't live in the newton cable area i don't know how i got um recruited to do a newton show but um but yeah so i i didn't live there so i couldn't watch whatever else was on but i i know exactly what building that was scarletlet and St. Clair for the Graham one, because not too far. First of all, there's a great Italian. What's the name of the Italian? Not La Rose, but do you know, what's the name of that Italian?

It's not as good as Palma Pasta, but it's pretty damn good. They had a hot table. It's right across. It's in the strip mall that's south of where that building used to be. It wasn't there in the 80s and 90s though so okay i don't remember the name okay but i've seen it okay well it's delicious all right so

you're a mike i'm a mike you had a long-standing record like this record lasted years you had the oldest jam kicked out on a toronto mic to kick out the jams episode because you did the uh yes was it yes we have no bananas no what did you kick out was jams episode because you did the, yes, we have no bananas. Now, what did you kick out? Was it that? I think it might have been. Yeah, it was that. And that's from the 40s.

And that was the oldest jam kicked out until last week when another mic, Mike Hogan came on and kicked out a Louis Armstrong track from the 20s. So your record lasted years, but it's gone now. Oh, well, I'm very, proud uh to have been the inspiration for jam kicking so i'll i'll take that for sure and do you remember uh what album you were uh

pontificating about on twitter that triggered this idea during one of my bike rides do you remember what album it was no i didn't even remember it was an album yeah it was a tweet you tweeted about pearl jams 10 oh that's right okay which i love but for some reason rightly or wrongly i didn't put you in pearl jam 10 together like i had you more a little more 80s and a little more poppy so i had this bike ride where i'm thinking oh Willner loves 10 I wonder what else Willner likes and then I said oh wouldn't it be cool if guests came back and just played their 10 favorite songs and told you why they love that those songs and I basically by the end of this bike ride I had fallen in love with this idea and you were one of the first jam kickers

and I'm I'm proud to have had a hand in this, for sure. I'll never come on and do a hundred like Hodge, but I'm very happy to have inspired it and to have kicked some out with you. Hodge would do 200 if I let him, by the way. Murray just chimed in. He's a good buddy.

Hello, Murray. He says he's got basic cable and he no longer gets Channel 10. So I do think think I'll have to do some further investigation but there's something up with channel 10 something's a brewing there maybe it's a forward to hearing what you what the results of your investigation

say we got to get the someone at the Toronto Star to do some investigative journalism here okay my friend so much to cover because it's been a year since you were on Toronto Mic'd I guess I'll start by saying just yesterday, I joined your Twitter spaces. What do you call it when you just a Twitter spaces? Yeah, they call it a group chat, apparently. Okay. So I clicked over because I mentioned Stu Stone and cam gordon cam is actually the director of communications at twitter and he said hey mike you'd love this and he sent me the link and it's

my very first uh twitter spaces experience like i don't have any clubhouse or locker room experience like i don't have an iphone to get on clubhouse and this was my first taste of this world and i thought it was you could only get on it on the phone on Twitter spaces. Yeah, but I have an Android phone. On Twitter, I can do it on an Android phone, but Clubhouse, I need an Apple iPhone. I was able to get on to your Twitter spaces yesterday, and I thought it was

really cool. You were joined by Bitter Asian Dude and some other FOTMs like Gregor Chisholm and Laura Armstrong, and I thought it was a great, great, great time. It was a lot of fun. Actually, I was, I was a little worried about how it would go for the whole game. You know, I'm used to a break every half inning and always having someone with me.

And, and that was not necessarily going to be the case, but we loaded up on guests and had some terrific people. You mentioned Gregor and Laura and Paul Lee, who's the bitter Asian dude on Twitter. We also had Ryan Bondy and Pat Smith, who are friends of mine with baseball and acting backgrounds and comedy backgrounds. Ashley Stevenson came on for the 8th

and she wound up staying for the rest of the game all the way through the 10th and of course Braden Homeyard from the Star was there the whole way helping out which was terrific and I don't think, oh Ricky Romero got it started for the first couple innings

yeah don't forget Ricky it was a lot of fun and FOTM Tyler Campbell I heard him ask a question. He asked you on this thing if you were looking forward to your Toronto Mike appearance. Yes. And I was very interested in your reply, which was very positive. You have your own little group of baba buoys.

Are you suggesting FOTMs are like whackpackers? They're whackpackers? No, I'm suggesting that you have a loyal and wonderful group of fans who go on other platforms to talk about you. Well, there was a plan, which

we're too kind and civil to actually do it, but there was a little chatter. What if all the FOTMs just stormed the Twitter spaces and every question was about your Toronto Mike appearance? Yeah, that would have been a lot of fun. So we did not do that because we like you too much. Thank you. I'm upset that, I will say this,

I know your brother is tight with Paul from Kim's Convenience there. I really enjoy Kim's Convenience and I'm quite disappointed that they won't be filming a sixth season. Yeah, me too. It's terrible. It's a wonderful show. It's a Canadian production. It's extraordinarily Canadian.

I've referred to it as the king of Kensington for modern day times right um it's it's an almost all um diverse cast uh and it's hilarious um and it's it's it's a real shame and i know paul has talked about being upset about it too and uh, he had a very emotional, uh, post that he put up on Twitter about it. Uh, yeah, it's,

it's, um, it's a really bad thing. It's a really terrible idea to have canceled Kim's convenience. And hopefully it's not too late to correct the mistake. It sounds like the, the, uh,

the creator seems to, uh, it seems all hinge on what he wants to do. Like, so like, I don't think CBC wants to continue without, you know wants to do. Like, so like, I don't think CBC wants to continue without, you know, his input because this is his, his baby.

I think, I think there's more to the story than that. I don't know. Well, the Globe was hinting at some other stuff. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. It's a little, that seems a little too convenient. Yeah.

That's all. I see what you did there. Cause it's Kim's convenience. I get you. You're a sharp guy. Okay. So, so much to cover here. But last time we talked to you, you had your dream job. This is the memory lane part.

You had your dream job, Mike, calling baseball games on the radio for Sportsnet. And, I mean, I don't want to dwell on this because you've moved on and there's some good news. Happily, we'll be discussing that everybody knows, but we'll discuss it anyways. But I'm really sorry that you got, you know, that notice from Sportsnet that your services were no longer required.

It's okay. You can say got fired. It's such a harsh word. But yeah, I'm very sorry that you were fired because I know that was your dream job. Yeah, I am too. It was a wonderful job and I got to do it for a very long time,

something that I never expected to be able to do ever. And I enjoyed it. And I know a lot of people out there enjoyed it. And the outpouring of sympathy and emotion and even anger from people in November was wonderful. And I'm very much appreciative of that. But look, you know, unless you work for yourself, you are at the mercy of the people who make decisions above you. And somebody made a decision to not have me around anymore. So there you go. Now, it is interesting that someone made that decision

not to have you around anymore. And then at some point, I don't know how many weeks or months later, a decision was made not to have anyone in the radio booth. Weird, huh? That radio booth, the fact that it's going to be empty this season, it's jarring and it's just, it makes me so sad. It's the only, I guess Toronto's the only team doing that and we're being told, I guess the official line, and we have to just trust it's true until we learn otherwise, is that this is a pandemic thing and that next year they'll have radio-only broadcasts again. I don't think they've ever said that.

They've not ruled it out. Oh. But also, you know, yes, they've said it's a pandemic thing. I do seem to recall there being a pandemic last season when Ben and I were doing radio broadcasts. No, right. Now, I haven't actually, I mean, we're only one game into the season here, but I haven't

tuned in any radio broadcasts on the radio. But Hebsey has, and this morning on Hebsey on Sports, he's, in his opinion, it's essentially a radio call, and sorry, sorry, sorry. It's essentially a television call on the radio, and he says sometimes you're like three or four pitches deep before there's an update on the radio.

So Hebsey doesn't think that this is going to serve as a radio audience at all. So he's quite aggressively against this because he loves listening to games on the radio and lots of other people too. Again, I haven't listened to a radio broadcast yet but it's really difficult to do it for radio and television right yeah it is really difficult because you don't want to overdo it for the television audience you know the the pictures can pictures do a lot of speaking on television um and and you don't you know i've never i've never done a game on tv but i I always wondered if I'd be any good at it, because would I be able to pull back enough? Because radio really has to paint a picture. You're the eyes of the listener.

You have to tell them absolutely everything that's going on. Television, the listeners have eyes. So it's a very different thing for sure. Yeah, and even somebody as talented as Dan Shulman, he's only a mere mortal, last I checked, anyways. So to appease both audiences with very different requirements sounds like a recipe for disaster. You should get Danny on to talk about it.

He's the best in the business, and he's as Toronto as they come. So he would be wonderful to discuss this. Oh, yeah, you're right. You're right. Danny has made an appearance, but he is due for a return. You're absolutely right here. So you're fired from Sportsnet. Terrible news.

We all feel terrible about that. But I'm curious, how long do you kind of have to you know sit on the sidelines before somebody phones you up and says can we chat like how long before the toronto star reached out this i think the star reached out less than a month after um you know it's it's it was the off season? So not too many people are thinking about baseball at the time, but I'm thinking I don't want to be out very long. Certainly, you know, you with your knowledge of the industry and of the people who have worked in it over the last number of years,

you know that it can be very, very difficult to get back in once you're out. And I'll admit I had that thought more than a time or two, despite so many people saying, oh, don't worry, you'll land on your feet, you're great, whatever. But yeah, the star was not the first to reach out, but less than a month, I think, before they reached out. So did you have any moments of concern when you thought you might have to call me up and start your own thing? I did think that, you know, I mean, I thought that I don't want to wind up being one of those guys who has eight different gigs trying to, you know, make a living at it.

Right. who has eight different gigs trying to you know make a living at it right um but uh but very definitely like more than a few people reached out and said hey you should do a podcast you should do a podcast um which i think was only natural for people to tell me to do um but yeah we would we would have talked no joke you teased at some point you teased on twitter i think it was you teased you had big news coming up that you're going to be back and you were teasing like your return if i told you how many people wrote me notes or tweets or emails or whatever to say uh are you doing a podcast with wilner like a lot of people were like like are you doing something with wilner like that was a guess for a lot of people and i I'm like, I know it sounds like a match made in heaven, but I said,

I have not talked to Mike Wilner about any such things. So I'm like, I don't know what this is, but it's not with me because I would probably know about it if it were for me. Okay. So I went up, I got more star questions before we talk Jays here, but I'm going to actually, I realized I pulled a clip, not a clip. I pulled a quote. I just want to read something I read this morning from the great, uh,

Geddy Lee. I know we read that this morning. Well, this quote, well, maybe, maybe you don't, I don't know.

I came across my Twitter feed this morning, but, uh, I know, you know, what's coming here, but this is a, this is a Geddy Lee quote.

Geddy Lee, of course, is the, uh, singer and bassist for a band called rush which everybody knows and he's got season's tickets to the jays i'm just going to read the quote because i thought it was cool getty lee says uh some of my most memorable baseball memories were not from sitting in the stands or watching the game on the tube

but listening to the radio driving home home from the cottage, I heard Dave Steeb's heartbreaking first one hitter. There are nuances and descriptors that radio broadcasters share with their audiences that are simply not the same as a cabal of TV announcers, no matter how good they are. It's a time-honored craft that requires a special ability to bring to life what we at home simply cannot see. This is a bad and regrettable decision. So maybe I'm a little late to this Geddy Lee party, but I just thought I'd pull it for

this episode to kind of share Geddy's perspective there. Look, Geddy Lee's a huge baseball fan. He's a big baseball geek, which is awesome. We see him sitting there scoring the game in those seats behind home plate when he's able to come to ball games. And those words speak for themselves.

There are a lot of people who feel that way. And also, let's not forget, Getty likes to score games. You can't score games. Well, maybe you can, but when you score a game, is it per pitch? You score games, right? You can't score games. Well, maybe you can, but when you score a game, is it per pitch? You score games, right? I've never scored per pitch. Okay, but I wonder what Getty does. Okay. So

let's celebrate the good stuff that's happened in your life, Mike. So tell us, was it a no-brainer to move to the star? Did they make you an offer you couldn't refuse? Because that's a pretty, I mean, I'm just saying, if I were you and I'm designing my next move, I think this is like the other dream gig.

Yeah, I don't think you're wrong. It's, you know, I thought about it a few times, and if I hadn't been doing what I was doing for the 20 years prior, yeah, this would have been the top of the list. Absolutely. Like, especially when you look at the landscape of,

of media today and everyone, if they're not cutting drastically, they're at least holding the line. Right. And the star is hiring, bringing people in and expanding. It's fantastic. And it's the Toronto star.

Like it's, it's an, it's, It's the biggest paper in the country. It's an iconic brand. It's a phenomenal place. And almost two months in, it's been just tremendous to be working there. Absolutely. It's the perfect landing spot. Yeah. Let's remind people, even here in 2021, this is still by far the largest paper in the entire country. Yeah. So there's some interesting things here. Like you and your brother are now, you're both ink-stained wretches here in the capital of the universe.

Look, he started writing for the Star, you know, before I could drive, I think. He started writing for the Star before I could drive, I think. So he was there for a very long time with a weekly column in Star Week magazine, plus a bunch of other things in the entertainment section. So it's sort of a legacy like that, too, which is pretty cool. No doubt. And just before I jumped on with you, I was actually recording with Lorne Honigman. And I told him, oh, I'm going to talk to Wilner next. Mike Wilner, not Norm Wilner. I'll do him next week. But Lorne said, he's never met you, he said, but he just wants you to know how happy he

is that you're writing for the star because that's Lorne's paper. He loves reading. He loves you. He was sorry what happened to you at Sportsnet. And he was very excited that he got to read you in his star. That's very cool. Thank you. You know, I've never met Lorne, but obviously watched him on TV a ton over the years. And, yeah, he's another piece, very important piece of Torontonia, if you will.

And, you know, I love to collect those pieces. Like, I'm all about those characters and Lauren's definitely one. And everybody, here's a good, I told him I would mention that. And for no other reason than to say to all listeners that episode three of Lauren's fantastic new legal podcast, Judgment Day is dropping today.

So subscribe to Judgment Day with Lauren Honigman. He's a great broadcaster and he's a great lawyer and the two kind of merge perfectly in this podcast. So that's for you, Mike. You can listen to Judgment Day on your walks. Yeah. All right. As long as you guys listen to episode one of my podcast, which dropped yesterday. Okay. So tell us the name of your podcast. It's called Deep Left Field. And I don't know, I mean, I'm sure you're way better at finding this stuff out than I am. But in poking around across the internet, it looked like it was the number one baseball podcast in Canada, even before the official launch. So that made me very, very happy about that. Yeah, you're looking at like Apple podcasts? Is that where you're looking? I think it was Spotify.

Okay. Or Apple. Without a doubt, the algorithm for Apple, for example, is all about subscriptions. So launching a new show with a baseball guy we already love is going to be that great surge of new subscriptions. You're going to absolutely, you'll be like Justin Bieber. You're going to debut at the top

of the Billboard Hot 100 here. Many people have made that comparison in the past. So when they were, you had a contest of sorts, I suppose. You had a name the podcast contest I saw on Twitter. Yep, we did. And we got hundreds of submissions of names, most of which were clean and usable.

And I really liked this one. There was another one that I really liked that didn't get... I was the only one who really liked it. Can you tell us it? What was it? It was, wow. It was obviously very memorable.

It really, I mean, it was, it was a long time. It was a couple of months ago and it was, it was touch them all. It was touch them all. Which I, you know, I remember the Tom Cheek call, and that's what that reminds me of all the time and all that stuff. So I thought it was – I enjoyed it, but there wasn't enough buy-in from everybody else, and that's fine. And Deep Left Field is pretty terrific too.

No, it's a good title. So did you drop episode one yesterday? Yeah, on opening day. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I got some cash. I mean, for sure. I'm going to, are you kidding me?

For sure. I'm going to check it out. Absolutely. Now, when they were doing the name, the podcast contest, did anyone consider the great name for a podcast for a guy named Mike in Toronto? Toronto Mike? Was that suggested by anybody? No, I think that that one is, has a claim on it.

Thank you so much. All right. A couple of questions from listeners and then I just want to have a brief chat about the 2021 Blue Jays here. JSG writes a question for you. He probably won't answer a local media query. So already right off the top, JSG is basically challenging you to answer this question. So he's kind of like daring you to answer it.

But he says, do you find it weird that The Athletic is going with just a Jays beat reporter this year? I was hoping he, that's you Mike, that you'd end up there at The Athletic. The star has two columnists and a beat writer. So answer as you wish, obviously. There's no hard rules here.

But did you have a conversation with The Athletic? I know a lot of people at The Athletic, and I'm very friendly with most of them. Sure, we talked, absolutely. But the star is the star, right? This is the thing. I couldn't turn down the Toronto star. As far as how the athletic is staffing,

that could not have less to do with me. The decisions that they make are the decisions that they make. I'm a big fan of Caitlin McGrath, who is the beat reporter, and of Drew, Fair Service, who does the two of them do that podcast together. Yeah, I don't really know what else to say i know a lot of people at the beginning said oh i can't wait for mike's this is why i'm joining the athletic column right um but uh but if the choice is the athletic or the toronto star there's no choice so tell us then specifically like who does what there there? Because I mean, I haven't, Rosie DeManno said no.

She told me she was strictly a print gal and didn't want to do a podcast. Although I've heard her on other things since she told me that, but that's okay. She didn't want to do Toronto Mic'd. But Laura Armstrong has come over and she was fantastic. And Gregor Chisholm has come over. He was fantastic. But tell me, like, how do you, Laura,regor and uh rosie i guess like how do you who does what over there at toronto star i mean we kind of all do everything i think rosie isn't

a permanent member of the beat she does um all kinds of cool stuff and and pops in on the blue jays every once in a while uh she's in new york this weekend for the opening series which is pretty cool i think she's the only um the only toronto reporter traveling um i'm uh i'm not getting my i'm getting vaccinated next week so and oh good for you so well yeah i have to got across the border to do it but um do it, but we'll see how that works. So I'm not going to be going out on the road for a while. And it's not like there's any extra access there, but it's still kind of cool to be there.

I mean, officially, I guess Gregor's a columnist, Laura's the beat reporter, and I'm a columnist slash podcaster. But I'm going to be, I'll have something in the paper every game with my little takeaways of, you know, sort of the same thing that's in the paper today, that little beyond the box score, look at three or four big things that happened that changed the course of the game.

Gregor is going to write opinion. Laura is going to do some terrific writing. She's a phenomenal feature writer and she does great, you know, write down in the weeds game stuff. So we'll all sort of split it up. It's very different to be working at a place where you sort of you work five days a week and have two days off. So that helps sort of spread things around. I'm used to working every day during the baseball season, and I may anyway. But yeah, I remember when we would come to the press box and there would be like eight people from the Toronto Star there and six from the Sun and four from the Globe. We're hardly overstaffed.

Yeah, well, like you mentioned off the top, a lot of places are like reducing their headcount in the sports. Now, I'm a good friend of Ben Rayner's now, so I know it depended what department you worked for at the Toronto Star because entertainment wasn't necessarily a good place to be over the last couple of years. But it's exciting to hear that they're increasing their coverage of what should be an exciting Jays team. And I'll just tell you personally, I'm glad to have your voice and perspective

at the paper and that podcast. That sounds like a natural for you. So I'll be for sure tuning into that for sure. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I don't know anybody on the entertainment side, but I think no newspaper has been a good place over the past couple of years. The star really started bulking up the last few months since the new ownership took over. But sure, a couple of years ago and even last year, it wasn't that terrific, just like everybody else. Right. So we've run through a lot of years ago, and even last year, it wasn't that terrific, just like everybody else.

Right. So we've run through a lot of Mikes here. There's you, me, I mentioned Mike Hogan, who's got the jam from the 20s, but Mike Rogotsky says, I'll read his note, I'm enjoying reading Mike Willner in the Toronto Star. Can you ask him about that weird home run play in the Dodgers game yesterday?

Seems like once the ball leaves the field of play, it shouldn't matter if a base runner passes another. What is the purpose of this rule? The purpose of the rule is you have to run the bases in order. That's very simple. It's like touch them all, Joe, right? Touch them all, Joe. The ball's clear the fence.

Why does it matter if Joe touches them all? Yeah, exactly. No, it does. You have to finish your trip around the bases in front of everybody who started their trip around the bases after you did. Right. Yeah, that's why. See, stop being so pragmatic and reasonable. I told you.

Very simple. Right. Andrew, he's not a Mike. He's an Andrew. There's a lot of them, too, I noticed. Is he allowed? I don't know. I guess so. Andrew, he's not a Mike, he's an Andrew. There's a lot of them too, I noticed. Can you ask him about his thoughts on the new extra innings with a runner on second? It made the 10th inning, what did he say,

a lull more fluid. Does he agree? Now, before you even say a word, I just want to say it reminds me too much of my slow pitch rules. Like, so I'm having trouble with it because it's like we had that rule in like slow pitch. You started runner on second.

Anyway, so it seems a little tiny bit like, you know, amateur hour, tiny bit. But what do you think, Mike Willner? You're the expert. I mean, it's the same as the international rules. Olympic rules are like that. And, you know, when Canada won the gold at the Pan Ams in 2015 they won uh by having a runner start at second i think it's second and third or first and second in the international rules um i as long as things are screwy and weird um i don't mind things that are screwy and weird um i think in recent years, a lot of extra innings really felt like

everyone was coming up trying to hit a home run. And so that would make the games drag on and on and on. Everybody wants to be the hero. You very rarely see an extra inning rally. And I get why with protocols and travel restrictions and all this stuff they didn't want people at the ballpark for six hours so as long as it's um as long as it's only for when we are in weird strange pandemic times i'm fine with it. I don't necessarily mind if in the future they do this starting in the 12th inning or the 13th. But I also kind of like the fact that every five or

six years you get an 18 inning game or a 20 inning. And I've been in that broadcast booth after midnight and rooting it on. Let's go 20, damn it. And I've never seen one. And I just point out the whole idea of all these changes that we're being told these are like during the pandemic and they'll revert back to whatever. Just remember, I think it's income tax

was brought in as like a war measures act of some sort. So just remember. I don't think we'll see seven inning double headers after this year. I don't think we'll see seven inning double headers after this year. I, I don't think we'll see this runner on second starting in the 10th after this year.

But, but I mean, 14 is baseball's a lot of baseball too. I guess time will tell on this one. Okay. Now also, Andrew, this is an interesting question.

Can you ask how flexible his new gig is when wishing to celebrate the high holidays? And then he adds belated Passover, Mike. You can say Passover until Sunday at Sundown, right? It's okay to say happy Passover today.

It's not belated. Andrew, I even knew that, okay? But please, the Star, they're okay with you celebrating high holidays, right? Passover, by the way, not one of the high holidays. But yeah, just for clarification, I would suggest the better word would be to observe the high holidays rather than to celebrate the high holidays. They're not all happy holidays. The high holidays are not happy holidays. Right.

holidays the high holidays are not happy holiday right um um but yeah i i mean clearly i'm not gonna work anywhere that's gonna say hey you have to work on on your um and in fact i'm i think i the smarter move would be to start to refer to them as the high holy days because i think holidays has that connotation of yay, party, whatever. Right. But yeah, obviously, they're totally fine with me not working on the High Holy Days. Good, good, good. Sid Karen says, ask Mike Wilner who his favorite Jays player is now. And you're a journalist, so I got to hear how you dance around this one. But who your favorite Jays player is now and all time. you dance around this one, but who your favorite Jays player is now and

all time? And then he throws in, by the way, great podcast. Have to get Brian McFarlane back on. Cheers. So if anyone out there wants to hear 89-year-old Brian McFarlane, just deliver, man. He delivered the real talk and it was fantastic. That was

recorded earlier this week on Toronto Mic, so go dig up the Brian McFarlane episode. But who's your favorite Jays player now and of all time for Sid? I always answer that question with a clarifying question first. Favorite player to watch, favorite player to interview, or favorite player like as a human being? Oh, well, if you're asking me i'm gonna ask for all

three of those yeah i thought you would um favorite player to watch i mean i don't have a singular for any of these there are too many but i mean to watch um roberto alomar d Dave Steeb, Roy Halladay, Devon White, John McDonald. They were all just so really, really good. Tony Fernandez, so good at what they did. Those are the guys who really, really jump out. Favorite player. What were the other ones to talk to? And as a human being, right? favorite player, what were the other ones to talk to and as a human being, right?

Right. I mean, there were some really strong human beings on the Blue Jays in the time that I've been around them. Ricky Romero, John McDonald, Travis Snyder. Really, I really don't want to forget anyone who was especially Devin Travis. Oh my God. Devin Travis, Anthony Alford, Jonathan Davis.

Travis, Anthony Alford, Jonathan Davis. Those are, I mean, standouts, standouts, standouts. And I'm sure I'm missing some and I'm very sorry. Josh Towers. I loved Josh Towers to talk to, to talk to Josh Towers. Yeah. There, there are a lot of, of tremendous guys for sure. Awesome. I think I read something about this,

but you'll know it off the top of your head. When do we think we might see George Springer in action? Ross Atkins spoke today and he said that there's a real chance that he plays in their what i'm calling their first home opener uh i think that they'll have three home openers one in dunedin one in buffalo one here um but the first home opener which is going to be next thursday the 8th when the blue jays are finished this road trip and back in dunedin and that's when springer's eligible to come off the injured list. And they believe there's a real chance he'll be playing that. You said you think there'll be a home opener here.

You're referring to the 2021 season, right? Yeah. Yeah. I think they'll play here in 2021. I do. I'm, I'm, I'm impressed with the way finally the vaccinations are starting to get ramped up here. I'm still, you know, I'm still going to cross the border to get mine because I don't think my age group is going to be getting shots until the end of April at the earliest. Although there are some in Toronto, like there's a big wide swath around Humber College Hospital in Toronto that are vaccinating 50 pluses. Even St. Joe's actually. My postal code, for example, is now starting to do 50 plus. Only, I thought St. Joe's was only doing, so you're in one of those high-risk neighbourhood postal codes. Yeah, they had a list of postal codes, and mine was on the list. So they just said, and I'm not 50+, so I haven't been able to sign up or whatever.

But if you're 50+, in certain postal codes, apparently you can sign up. You can, and I'm hoping that that comes to peel soon enough. I'm not far from you. Right. But I don't, you know, I have the opportunity to get it, um, by going to Ohio to get it. Um, so I think, I think that's the best move for me. Well, good for you. I'm actually just, uh, happy to hear that. Uh, cause I mean, I, I, my mom got it today. So, uh, my mom got it today. She's in her 70s.

And there's so much anxiety. And I know you've got kids and the anxiety everywhere. I just stick that thing in my arm, please. As soon as you can, please. But yeah, but I think we'll be at a level where we're pretty well vaccinated as a city and a community by the middle of July. And, and the team is going to start getting vaccinated next week. Right. So I, I relatively confident that by August,

I think the Blue Jays will be playing games at Rogers Center. I love that optimism. I dare to dream, but it sounds like, you know, I'm buying in now you've kind of convinced me here. That would be exciting. Okay. So I know we don't have to do what you do for the star, which is the, you know, lengthy in-depth analysis of the 2021 Jays, but maybe if you could hit some like hot spots here. So we just mentioned George Springer. Is he like, I know he's, you know, the largest, is this,

like this is a big fucking deal, right? Pardon my French, but it's my show. I can say that, right? right biggest contract they've ever signed yeah the the most the the most money that they've ever guaranteed to someone in club history were you surprised i mean yeah uh but i wouldn't say i was like shocked i we knew that they were going after him from the beginning of the off season we knew they had the money the question was would he want to come here and would they be willing to outbid everybody and they they did by plenty you know i think the mets offer was only was about 30 million dollars less guaranteed to him and and uh um there was concern that he was

going to go somewhere in the northeastern U.S. because he lives in Connecticut and he wants to be close to home. It's not like we're terribly far from Connecticut. Right. So, yeah, I was surprised, but but but but pleased despite his, you know, history with the dirty, dirty cheaters from Houston. He's he's been a very, very good baseball player for a long time. Indeed. And the hot topic, of course, is Vladdy's weight loss. So he's looking trim. And for what you've seen thus far, it looks good on him, right? Yeah. I mean, he had a stupid spring. It was ridiculous. He struck out five times all spring. He got on base more than half the time. Both those things are nuts.

And then on opening day, I mean, I think he still got the hardest hit ball in the major leagues all season. That single that almost took Garrett Cole's head off. And I heard it's the hardest. Maybe I'm wrong. Was it the hardest hit ball off Garrett Cole ever or something? Yeah. Ever. Well, in the stat cast era. So ever means like four years. But, but yeah. And, and then he walked twice. So I, I do think he's poised for that big breakout where, where he's

going to become a guy who's in the MVP conversation every year. And at 22, that's incredible. No, absolutely. And I mean, you can elaborate because you follow the team so much more closely than I do, but it sounds like our issue would be pitching as opposed to offense. Because I mean, our number one guy goes out yesterday, Ryu, and he pitches well.

But what's, what's after him? Like what's after him? Who's after him? Like, how do we stack up beyond number one? Thank you, by the way,

for correcting yourself. Too many people refer to athletes as what's and not who. They are human beings. I've been educated. They are real people and everything. Right. Yeah. That's,

I mean, that's the issue with this team. I believe they're going to lead the league in runs scored. The offense is really, really good. Can they pitch enough? Or are they going to have to win every game 9-6? That's the question. And Nate Pearson, Robbie Ray were supposed to be starting behind Ryu,

but they're both hurt. So apparently neither for a terribly long time. So second game of the season is going to be Ross Stripling. Third game of the season is going to be TJ Zoik. And, you know, Stripling's been very good, except for last year for his whole career. And I'm willing to throw last year out because it was just so strange. year for his whole career and i'm willing to throw last year out because it was just so strange um zoic's not a guy i would expect to to start and do well in yankee stadium um but uh so i'm sure

he's not um top of their list but i also think they didn't want to start tanner rowark in yankee stadium and i can't blame them um and they wanted to keep Steven Matt sort of in his routine where he was set up to start one of those games in Texas. Yeah. The starting rotation is full of, it's full of promise and potential, but it's also full of what ifs and injury proneness and all that stuff. I think the bullpen's terrific, which may wind up being the saving grace. But I do think that, and this will lead to fun for the spectator.

There's going to be a lot of high-scoring games. And I think they've got enough that they'll win most of them. Now, any surprises to you, Mike, when they announce the opening day roster? Yeah. Joel Pamps? Anybody ever heard of Joel Pamps?

I mean, this is a guy who the Blue Jays picked up on waivers over the winter, put on waivers, lost him to the Red Sox. Red Sox put him on waivers. Blue Jays took him back. I think there was another trip in there somewhere for him. He was on exactly nobody's list of who's going to make the team, almost, I think, at any point in the spring. And who knows if he'll even get in a game, right?

But he's there, and he made the team in the bullpen, and that's a big surprise. team in the bullpen and um that's a big surprise um i guess julian merriweather being healthy enough to play is a surprise um and became the first blue jay ever to strike out the side in order to get a save on opening day which is really interesting that's quite the stat yeah um but he's he if he can stay healthy he's going to be also shocking though i would have put a lot of money on tom henke having done that at some point but right or duane ward or something yeah um yeah or even billy kotch you would have thought somebody would have done that right but uh nobody did and julia merriweather was a pitch away from an immaculate inning yesterday which would have

been super cool um but no, I'm not surprised that Alejandro Kirk made the team over Reese McGuire. It was never a thing for me that McGuire had a chance. I was going to ask you about that one. Yeah, and I don't know. What else is a surprise? George Springer's on the injured list, so Jonathan

Davis makes it. That makes sense, too. And you're not... What is your prognosis like uh or your prediction i suppose for for the career of nate pearson like if you look into your if you peer into your crystal ball because shop like crystal ball then it's in the shop it's got problems so you're yeah you but but what is uh i mean obviously uh the guy can throw heat, but Hebsey keeps telling me of how few innings he's pitched. It's true. What do I know?

I listened to you guys for my analysis. I just watch the games. Look, he's really good. This is the thing. He's really good. He is, I think, the consensus number one right-handed pitching prospect in the, in all of baseball. Oh, wow. It has been for a couple of years. I mean, McKenzie Gore is a better prospect, but he's a lefty.

So we can still say number one, righty. He throws over a hundred. He, he has had times where he has looked absolutely overwhelming, but he doesn't have a lot of experience. He doesn't have a lot of innings. Like his first year with Dunedin, in his first start, he got hit in the elbow by a line drive, broke his elbow, was out for the year. And then last year he got injured early,

came back for the playoffs and was terrific. And this year he hurt a groin. So, you know, I'm happy that there haven't been elbow and shoulder problems, a lot of them, with him. And I'm also a fan of, look, don't waste your bullets in the minor leagues. This guy has shown he can get major league hitters out. I don't care that he doesn't have that level of experience. He may not be overwhelming to begin his

career. He might not be the American League Rookie of the Year this year. He might. He might not be. That's okay. I think at his worst, he is a mediocre Major League starter, which is a lot better than a few of the guys of Blue Jays have.

And at his best, he's one of the best pitchers in franchise history. So I'm totally fine with giving him as much of an opportunity as they can. Wow. Yeah, no, that sounds exciting to me as a fan that we have this upside. It's very exciting, yeah. There's a good young core on this team. They remind me of the Maple Leafs a little bit, where you have this, suddenly you have this talented young core

and you can get excited. It's a spectacularly exciting young core. And I think Teoscar Hernandez is the oldest member of that group, and he's, what, 27, I want to say? Right, right. So, you know, with Guerrero and Gurriel and Bichette and Biggio and Teoscar. He's 28, pardon me. Pearson.

And then you've got on the way, you've got Alec Manoa and Simeon Woods Richardson. So they'll be around soon, but not as soon as I think a lot of people want. There's good times. They'll be around soon, but not as soon as I think a lot of people want. There's good times. Like Gregor wrote on opening day in his season preview that this is a team that is built for a long run. It's not built to succeed only in 2021. And if they don't, then that's going to be it. Right. Right.

I know you don't have the crystal ball there with you. It's in the shop, but is this a playoff team? Should be. It should be. I think we should expect that, that they will be in a competition for a playoff spot right until the end of the season.

Okay. Awesome, man. I'll be, I'll be following and I'll be reading your stuff in the star and listening to your podcast. It's going to be all Wilner all the season. Okay, awesome, man. I'll be following and I'll be reading your stuff in the star and listening to your podcast. It's going to be all Wilner all the time.

I just want to give kudos to MLB because, like I said, I did Hebsey on Sports first thing this morning at like 9.20 and we were saying we were hopeful

that the Major League Baseball would pull the All-Star game from Atlanta because of the new Georgian voting regulations and rules, which seem to suppress a marginalized vote in that state. And I was just, I guess, not too long ago, it was announced they were doing just that,

like the draft and the All-Star game was being pulled from Atlanta. So I want to give kudos to MLB. Yeah, and they deserve it. I mean, there's been a long time where not just Major League Baseball, but all the other major sporting organizations have talked a really good game, but have not necessarily put their money where their mouths have been. And it's great. I know the Atlanta Braves have sent out a release saying that they're not on board with this and they, they don't, they, they wish it hadn't been done.

And obviously they don't want to lose the attention and the money and, and whatever. And they felt like they could, they could use having the all-star game in Georgia to continue the discussion about this thing. But look, this is this is the thing. There have to be consequences when you're when you're doing things like this. And I know there are people who are rolling their eyes, listening and, you know, stick to sports, stay out of politics and all that stuff. But look, if you're making it illegal, no matter what else you're doing, if you're making it illegal to give food and water to people who are waiting

in line to vote right that is a problem oh my goodness yes yeah and i i i can't i i can't understand how anyone could see that any other way it's not a matter of right versus left it's a matter of humanity uh right versus wrong and i mean mean, I'm astonished anyway, first of all, at all the hoops that people have to jump through to vote in the United States, which talks about itself as the greatest democracy on the planet. I've never waited more than 10 minutes to vote here, nevermind 10 hours. We don't have to register in advance. It's crazy. And there are a lot of people I have found out today, there are a lot of people who turn 18 before an election, but after voting registration is closed in a lot of states,

and they're not allowed to vote. And this bill, I believe, also bans pre-registering to vote. So I'm not 1000% sure on that one. But it's a thing that's a problem in many states. It's not about protecting the vote. It's not about election fraud. It's not about any of that. It's about Georgia didn't like how many people voted in the last election. It's about Georgia didn't like how many people voted in the last election. They don't like that the state has turned blue or at least purple.

And they're voting. And I've heard something in this bill that it gives the state Senate the power to overturn the results of the election in the state or something like that. And it's this is ridiculous. So, yeah, the right move is you don't get any privileges until you shape up. And so I'm very glad to the Major League Baseball pulled the All-Star game. And I'm glad that you don't stick to sports. Let me just go on the record record there toronto mike he likes it when you guys are much like these players i've learned are human beings uh you you media professionals are also human beings is that true i find that that i i am um you know i consider myself to be a fully formed human being. I know that there are people who are surprised to hear that. Um, and,

and as such, uh, I may in fact have interests that go beyond what I do for a living. Um, I know that's strange, but, but I am not your dancing baseball monkey. And,

uh, and, um, yeah, I'm, I'm never planning on sticking the sport. Mike, you know, I love it when you jump on Toronto, Mike. Hopefully in the future, we can actually do this in person again.

That's my hope. But while we wait for safer times, I'm glad we can do this via Zoom. Thanks for doing this, buddy. Thanks for having me. As always, it's a pleasure to be with you. Your seventh appearance. I'm going to be honest. Very few FOTMs have got a seventh appearance,

so you should be honored. And that brings us to the end of our 829th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Mike Wilner is at Wilnerness. Wilnerness. A little different than your handle last time you were on the show.

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See you all next week. Are you out, check-ass? Just come in. Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and green. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.