Baseball and the Bible
Fun podcast discussing baseball and baseball training. We will also be getting into the Bible and doing weekly devotionals.
Baseball and the Bible
Hope on the Hill
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At the heart of this episode lies a powerful truth about where we place our hope. Through the story of Tyler Holton, a relief pitcher who faced setbacks and roster cuts, we discover what it means to anchor our lives in something unshakeable. The scripture from 1 Peter 1:3 reminds us that true hope comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ—a living hope that transcends our circumstances. Holton's journey from being cut by the Diamondbacks to becoming a reliable arm for the Tigers illustrates how faith keeps us level-headed through life's valleys and mountains. His testimony reveals that when our hope rests in Jesus rather than in our plans or achievements, disappointments don't have to steal our peace. This message challenges us to examine what we're truly counting on—is it a scholarship, a relationship, a career goal? Those things can change overnight, but the victory Jesus won over sin and death is already locked in. For anyone facing setbacks or feeling overlooked, this devotion offers a profound reminder: our eternal hope in Christ gives us the strength to persevere through seasons of waiting and uncertainty.
Welcome back to the podcast. I'm here with my brother and my dad.
SPEAKER_03That's the co-star of the show. She will be back later in the episode.
SPEAKER_01So then we got a big empty chair.
SPEAKER_03That's right. But it's summer break, so we're all together uh filming this episode. We've got a lot to cover. So, Riker, uh, give us the the rundown here. What are we gonna do?
SPEAKER_01Um, so we're gonna start off with our uh devotion. It is titled One Minute Sports Devotions for Young Baseball Players. Then uh after that, we are going to read about a player that we're talking about in the devotion.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01Then I think we'll do current MLB.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, a little quick run around the league.
SPEAKER_01Okay, and then we'll do uh our ballparks talk, and we'll wrap it up with a new segment. You'll find out what that is when we get there.
SPEAKER_03All right. Good teeth. We'll start us off with the start us off with our devotion this week.
SPEAKER_01So uh one minute devotions for uh young baseball players. That's our verse is uh praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy has he given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. First Peter 1 3. Hope keeps you going. It's what it's what helps you get out of the get out of bed. Stay motivated and believe the future is worth showing up for. The thing is, where you put your hope can make or break you. Tyler Holton knows what it's like to have his hope tested. In 2022, the lefty relief pitcher made his MLB debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks. After only 10 games, he was cut from the roster. Instead of mentally checking out, Holton stayed ready for another opportunity. In early 2023, the Detroit Tigers picked him up and he ran with it. Holton broke out as one of the most reliable arms in Detroit's bullpen, often called in during tight spots or shutdown rallies to protect leads. That season, he post he posted an impressive 2.11 ERA, leaning on his trusty four-team fastball and deceptive changeup. Through 2025, he's continued contributing to a Tigers team that has been leading, that has been a leading contender in the playoff race. So, what keeps Holton level headed through the ups and downs? It's not just confidence and training. Holton has said Jesus' death and resurrection uh gives us an eternal hope. For me, hope helps me get a level head and not allow life's valleys to get too low or the mountains to get too high. That's not how most people think. A lot of us unknowingly put our hope in something else, like a plan going just right. But when that plan falls apart or just doesn't happen on schedule, it can feel like the rug got pulled from underneath us. That's why we need something better. That's where Jesus comes in. Jesus' death and resurrection wasn't just a comeback, it was a victory over sin and everything broken in his world. That's that win is already locked in. Because of what he did for us, anyone who puts their faith in him is promised eternal life in heaven. And with that kind of hope, life's challenges don't have to steal your peace. So that's the devotion, and then at the end of these, we don't always read them, but we have uh dugout reflections, and I will uh read that today. We all put our hope in something, even if we don't always realize it. Maybe for you it's a baseball scholarship or a relationship you care about. Just remember, those things can change, but Jesus doesn't. So I like that uh dugout devotion.
SPEAKER_03Very good. Uh we're gonna read a little bit about uh Tyler Holton. Um he is still playing for the Tigers. Um born uh June 13th, 1996, um approaching his 30th birthday, uh coming up here pretty soon. Uh and born in Tallahassee, Florida, uh stayed there, ended up going to college there at Florida State University, one of the great baseball universities uh in America. For sure. Uh played there. He was uh drafted originally by the Marlins um with in the 35th round of the 2017 draft, uh, but he did not sign with them. He returned to Florida State in 2018, uh, where he tore his uh uh ligament in his elbow that required uh Tommy John surgery. Um a significant uh injury there. So he had to fight through that. Um and then the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Holton in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB draft, uh, made his professional debut in 2019 uh with the Loway Club of the Diamondbacks, uh did well there, had to battle through the COVID season, the lost season there that affected a lot of guys in the minors. Uh, continued to work his way up, and then on April 28th, 2022, uh the Diamondbacks selected uh Holton and promoted him uh to the majors for the first time. He made his major league debut that night, tossing a scoring scoreless inning of relief against the St. Louis Cardinals. He made 10 appearances for Arizona in his rookie campaign, logging a 3.00 ERA uh with six strikeouts and nine innings pitched. On February 15th, 2023, he was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks once they signed Andrew uh Shaffin. Uh on February 17th, 2023, Holton was claimed off of waivers by the Tigers. Uh and then he started in their minor league system. Uh and then 2024, he filled multiple roles for the Tigers from opener to middle relief to occasional closer. Um, and then again, he went into uh middle relief as an occasional opener in 2025. He posted a 6-5 record with a 3.66 ERA. On January 6, 2026, the Tigers in Holton agreed on a one-year $1.575 million contract avoiding arbitration. So he's pitching with the Tigers. Um, he's got a career win-loss record of 16 and 13, uh, 2.78 ERA, 241 career strikeouts. He is a lefty. Um, where's um what is his number? Um I'm not sure. Uh I think it's I'm not sure what it is, honestly. Oh, there it is. I thought it was number 87. Yeah, number 87. Where's number 87? Uh Tyler Holden. So um that's him. I had to the the point of that devotion and the you know, even reading his story is just again having to fight through some adversity, but not putting his trust or his hope in in his baseball career. Yeah, I mean, because those things, no matter what our talent is, no matter what it is, those things can can go. Um our hope, as the verse said, our hope is in Jesus. Right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, all right.
SPEAKER_03So he's a good good example of that and persevering. So so he was uh he was a good example of that, of perseverance and putting his hope in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01For sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_03Okay. All right. Um we're gonna get into some current events, just a quick, quick little jog around the league and see uh see some standings.
SPEAKER_01We we gotta talk about the Cubs real quick.
SPEAKER_03Gotta talk about the Cubs who have lost. I didn't see if they lost last night, so let me just let me update my standings here and just see. Uh they lost 10 in a row heading into uh last night's game. Um they're getting ready to head to St. Louis. Uh Cards open the series uh with them uh over the over the weekend here. So when this airs on Sunday, we'd be wrapping wrapping that series up. That's why we have over my shoulder, we have uh two greatest of of both franchises, Stan Musual and uh Ernie Banks. As the Cubs and Cards play for the first time this year. Um Cubs did win last night, so the streak is over, which is probably good. I didn't want them heading into St. Louis with the 11-game wins, you know, losing streak.
SPEAKER_01Um they lose and then they win.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um so we are actually tied with them right now. Four and a half back of Milwaukee cards just came off as we're recording this, just came off a tough, tough series against Milwaukee, got swept. Uh poor Dustin May. Had a great game going in the in the final game. Dustin May into the eighth inning with a no-no going.
SPEAKER_01He was just He was getting the the ESPN alert, no hitter alert.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, he was cruising, man. It looked good. And uh, but they were only up one to nothing, had left way too many guys on base, and they came back to bite him in the eighth. He had a hit that that he gave up that uh shouldn't have been a it just me was a little bit of a bad route uh in left field, but it turned into a double. Torres, yeah. Yeah, and then a little anyway, it just kind of snowballed from there and ended up losing two to one. So tough series. Uh and now they got to regroup and head into the series here, tied with the Cubs. Uh first again, first meeting with with them this year. So they're both four and a half back. Uh Reds five, uh Pirates uh five and a half. So everybody's still real close, still right there. Everybody's still above 500, uh, so doing good there. In the east, you've got the Braves still rolling. Uh eight up on the Phillies. Phillies are a couple games above 500. Washington is a game over right now. And then you got the Marlins and the Mets in the West. You've got the Dodgers who've pulled away a little bit, um, a little bit of breathing room uh since we last recorded, but they're four and a half up on the Diamondbacks and the Padres, who are tied at four and a half back, kind of like the Cars and Cubs. Uh in the American League, uh the Rays, uh Yankees have gained some ground. They're only a game and a half back. Then you've got Toronto, Baltimore, and Boston. Uh in the central, you've got uh Cleveland still playing well. The White Sox, which is crazy. They're a game above 500 still, three and a half back. Um you've got the Twins, the Tigers, and the Royals there. And then in the West, uh, the Mariners have now taken over the lead in the division at a game under 500. They're 28 and 29, uh, but they're half a game up on the A's, two games up on the Rangers, who have been scuffling uh a little bit. Got got no hit this week. Uh Rangers did a combined no-hitter against the Astros, which really hurts. Uh, they did rebound the next day and scored eight runs in the first inning. It's like they got got some payback there, but um uh did get no hit. And then you got the again the Astros and the Angels bringing up the rear there. So that's kind of a quick look around the division. Here we're wrapping up when this episode is airing. It's the last day of May. Um so we're two months in, uh, really at the point where you're starting to see it's good again. That's why that Cardinal series against the Brewers was a little bit of a okay, we might we're these these young guys are playing well, but they're maybe not ready for that yet. So uh they got a uh a little bit more growth to do there. Um, but yeah, you're you're getting to the point now where we see kind of who the teams are gonna be, and you start to kind of figure that out. So and then you're you know a month away from the trade deadline.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, well, we're already there.
SPEAKER_03We are there. All right, so that's kind of a look around the league. We're gonna do something different for our player of the week this week. Uh we're not gonna do the one MLB did, we're gonna be a little bit homer-ish, but it's an amazing story. Um, and so we're gonna we're gonna highlight our our player of the week this week, and he is going to be who, Riker? He's going to be Brian Torres.
SPEAKER_01I know his last name was Torres.
SPEAKER_03Brian Torres. Um, and so we're gonna read a little bit about Brian. We're gonna show you a video about him, but he made uh this this past week, he made his uh MLB debut after 11 years in the minors. Um, and so just an incredible story, another story, kind of like Tyler's that we read about in the devotion. Uh just someone that uh did it didn't just all kind of fall into his lap. He had to work at it, some setbacks, keeps pushing. Um, and he's and he's been playing well in the time that he's been up. We'll see when guys get healthy what happens there. Um but he's he's doing everything he can to show that he you know he belongs in the big leagues after 11 years in the in the minors. And he had great, he had really a great stats in the minors as well. So um, so Brian Torres, uh born uh July 2nd, 1997, uh Puerto Rican professional baseball player. Um plays, I think his natural position is second. He is playing uh outfield for the Cardinals. Um he wasn't left on the on the, you know, so I just get he's done well, but again, I just think more experience out there, he may have taken a better route and cut that one off. But um he is uh he bats left, throws right, uh, and he made his major league uh debut May 23rd, um 2026 for the cards uh on the road in Cincinnati. Um we're gonna show that here in a second. Um just want to read a little bit about his his career um because he actually was initially signed by the Brewers back in 2015 as an international free agent and worked, you know, spent time there in their uh minor league system, uh playing A-ball, uh rookie ball um in 2019. The Giants selected him uh in the Rule 5 draft. He didn't play in 2020 due to the cancellation. So when the COVID happened, the whole minor league season was canceled. So I mean it was just a totally lost season for those guys. Um and then in 2021, he made 43 appearances for double A Richmond, uh, batted 280 there. Uh he elected free agency following the season of 2021. Uh in 2022, he signed with the Milwaukee Milkman of the American Association of Professional Baseball. Uh made 93 appearances for the team, batting 374. Uh returned to Milwaukee uh in 2023, batted 370. Uh, and then on September 21st, 2023, Torres signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He made 121 appearances uh for double A Springfield, uh hit 331, two home runs, 56 RBIs, and 33 stolen bases. Made 105 appearances for the Triple A Redbirds last year. He batted 328, 9 home runs, 51 RBIs, 26 stolen bases. Uh on November 6th, the Cardinals added him to their 40-man roster, preventing him from reaching minor league free agency, which could have been a bummer for him a little bit because now he might feel trapped. But uh they optioned him to triple A Memphis to begin the season. And while he was down there earlier this year, he's batting 336, two home runs, 16 RBIs. And then on May 22nd, Nathan Church got hurt, and they called up Torres uh for his first major uh league appearance. And so we're gonna show that highlight here of him hitting his first, or you know, he had his first hit in that game, and then then he hits uh Homer in his debut game, I think. Yeah, yeah, no, in his first game. I I watched it. We did watch it, and so we've seen this already, but we're gonna go ahead and um watch it again so that you guys can enjoy the moment.
SPEAKER_01But it was uh yeah, his family.
SPEAKER_03So here actually his first first at bat he got a walk. Okay, yeah, and so we we'll speed by this, but he's coming there, so his family is there. Um and Riker, I'm showing it to you, but you can see it there. He is, he gets the walk, and then that's his first hit right there. This was a heck of a game for and you can see his family, his mom, his brothers. Great hit there. Exciting that he they don't show it here in the sidelight. His third bat, he hit one to the wall, and then this one he goes yard, and the family's going nuts, and it was just an awesome, awesome reaction. Comes in, gets the big dog chain, uh, and gets interviewed afterwards. Uh, just talked about that he was living living a dream. And uh again, just an incredible story to to go through 11 years of mind, you know, of just battling. And he he talks about the fact that you know, there was just a few years ago that he he wanted to give up. Uh his mom encouraged him uh to keep to keep pushing because that's a long time. And you know, he's it's not like he was, I mean, he was having some success as far as his average was good, and he kept getting, you know, the call happens and somebody else is getting called up, and you just kind of keep getting overlooked. Um, it'd be easy to give up. Uh, but he kept kept battling. Uh, and now, no matter what happens, he's a major leaguer, and nobody can take that away from him. And he's got a major league hit, he's got a major league home run.
SPEAKER_01Yes, that's yeah, and he's played well since then.
SPEAKER_03Again, he's played a couple games since that first game. Yesterday in the game against uh the Brewers, our one run was he had a triple that knocked in Jordan Walker. Um, and so he's he's playing well. Um, and so again, I don't know what's gonna happen when when guys come back up, but we just wanted to highlight him because a lot of times we do talk about the big guys here, the major leaguers. But these guys, I mean, the not the major, the like the all-stars and the the big names that we always hear about. Um, but these are the really cool stories of someone that's just that's grinding for that long, and so we want to celebrate him today. Brian Torres, our player of the week. Congratulations. He deserves it. Uh, so Brian Torres, hats off to you, player of the week.
SPEAKER_01Before we move on to ballparks, I want to kind of circle back to our league top. Who thought that the White Sox were gonna be ahead of the Mariners?
SPEAKER_03Well, they have about the same, I mean their records are pretty similar. I mean, the their White Sox are one game over 500, Mariners are one under, so it's not like this, but it's just the fact that the White Sox are even we were talking about them, nobody nobody saw that coming. No, because it's just been so bad for so long. So good for them. Hopefully they can keep it going. So that would be good. Um so yeah, uh, let's go ahead and get into our stadium talk.
SPEAKER_01Um, this book is called uh ballparks, baseball stadiums, home to America's national pastime. All right. Uh today we're talking about good old course field for the Colorado Rockies. Uh its MLB debut season was uh in 1995. The first Rockies home run was hit by Dante Bichette. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Do you know that? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I didn't. Okay, that's cool. Uh then it uh its capacity is forty th 46,890 97. Uh its surface is grass and it has an open roof. Pitchers have come to embrace the one era of course field where it's always pleasant, 70 degrees. The hum the humidor uh sorry, the humidor. Hurlies can thank the boots of Tony Cowell for the nerve calming ERA saving space. We all know why Denver is called the mile high city. And we've learned what thin air in high altitude does or doesn't do to a flying baseball. It hitters heaven, a pitcher's pain. It took just three innings before the first home run sailed out of Coorsfield after it opened in 1995. The dingers didn't stop. One season, teams combined to average 15 runs a game. There, while knocking 303 four-baggers in 81 games, ordinary hitters became Ruthian while pitchers ducked for cover. Enter Cowell, a Rockies engineer, who happened to notice the effect that Denver's low humidity had on his leather hunting boots, which had become tight and dry. If the air had affected his boots, he thought, imagine what it must do to baseballs. Pitchers at Coors also complained of balls that were cold and difficult to grip. With this in mind, Major League Baseball's first humidor was installed in 2002. Am I saying that right? Humidor? Okay, got it, got it. Okay. In 2002 at Coorsfield, the climate-controlled shed with 50% humidity can store 576 baseballs and is considered a Colorado-bound pitcher's best friend. An expansion team that began play in 1993, the Colorado Rockies played their first two seasons at Mile High Stadium, which they shared with the NFL's Broncos. The Rockies attendance was mind-boggling. Nearly forty four four point five million came out that first season. As a result, planners of Coors Field expanded seating by more than 6,000 before it opened, giving the ballpark room for more than 50,000 fans. Coors opened on April 26, 1995, in the city's historic downtown Lodo neighborhood, which is filled with 19th century brick structures. The uh structures. The ballpark fit right in. Its facade is comprised of both terracotta tile and exposed to steel and red brick. The stadium is topped by a classic clock tower, but it also bears amenities typical of the modern era, including more than 4,500 club level seats, 63 luxury suites, and a restaurant and brewing, a children's play area and batting cages. Wow. Seats along the first baseline off uh offer spectacular views of Rocky Mountains. Water fountains be uh water fountains beyond the outfield fence erupt after home runs. The rock pile. A set of two thousand three hundred bleacher seats is perched above the center field backdrop. And to remind everyone of the thin air, a row of purple seats extends around the upper deck to mark the exact point at which the park is one mile above sea level. The sand in their first year at Cores, the Rockies qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 2007. Five years after the Humidor began softening baseballs, the Rockies battled to the World Series. Since then, they've reached the wild card twice, but failed to win a single game in their division series in 2018. And uh that's it for Coars Stadium.
SPEAKER_03Coorsfield. And it's one of those stadiums. We haven't seen that one yet. Uh maybe we'll have to add that one to the list this year. For sure. Um we'll have to see, but uh one of those stadiums that again they they did come into the league in '93, same year as the Marlins, and um had that year in 2007 where they got to the World Series. But it has the issue for them early on was pitching just because the ball was cold. No, because of the mile high. Because being up at that altitude, it's like if you watch a football game there, guys can kick long field goals there because the balls just travel higher because of your up in the the altitude up in the mountains. Um, and so balls flew. Uh, guys like Dante Bichette was there in those early days, Andres Galaraga, uh Larry Walker. Um, they had some big hitters, and they just all put up crazy, crazy numbers because the ball did fly out of there. And then they introduced the humidor, and that kind of leveled it. They were able to get some pitching. Uh, Mike Hampton went there. Um, and then they had Matt Holliday uh before he became came to the Cardinals, and he was with them when they made that run to the to the World Series in 07. And uh they've had a lot of great players um and uh had some success there, but uh has been a little bit of a challenge the last few years. Again, they're in the division with the Dodgers, uh, so that's pretty tough. Um, they just came off a series with the Dodgers. Um yeah, that's course field, beautiful ballpark, and hope to hope to check it out. So all right. Um I think we've covered everything. We're gonna do one last thing, a new segment that we're gonna do for at least 10 episodes, maybe not in a row, but we're gonna work it out over the next 10 years. I thought it would be fun since you were born in 2014.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_03Um, to try to catch you up and anybody that may be Riker's age, that maybe didn't know some things that happened in the last decade or so. Um up until you know through 24. So we're gonna just start in 2014 and uh work our way through those years and just say, here's basically a summary of what happened in 2014 and then through those years uh in MLB. Um and so we'll start this year, the year we were born, um, and we'll talk talk through that. I'm gonna read a little bit about it and I will learn. You will learn and you will ask questions. And so um in 2014, the season started in Australia that year, the games, first games uh played there between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks. Um was back one of those first times when baseball was trying just trying to do some games uh worldwide and get the get the the game exposed that way. Um uh let me just read a little bit about what happened that year. Um the MVPs that year, uh Mike Trout won his first uh AL MVP uh at 22 years old, and he'd already finished runner-up a couple times. This was when Mike Trout was prime. Well, just storming into the league. And again, this was his first of three MVPs. Um had an incredible year that year. Uh played in 157 games, which is what's key for Mike Trout. If he's healthy, he's gonna put up numbers. But it's just since those years, it's just been staying healthy. But uh he batted 287, 36 home runs, 111 RBIs, 115 runs scored, 173 hits, uh, a 7.7 war uh and won the AL MVP uh that year and helped the Angels. Uh they had the best record in in baseball that year and went to the playoffs for the first and only appearance uh of his uh career so far um that he's been a part of. And so and they got swept uh by the by the Royals um that year. And so he was the AL MVP, had a great, great year. Um that yeah, I mean, obviously, Albert was with them that year because he had left the cards after 2011, so he was there. So you had Albert Pools and and uh Mike Trout uh and some other good players, and they were they were a really good team, but got swept by the Royals, who we'll read about here in a second, who who were hot. Uh the NL MVP that year was one of those um unusual years where uh Clayton Kershaw, the pitcher, uh got the MVP and the Cy Young Award. And he was 21-3 that year with a 1.77 ERA.
SPEAKER_01He is a stud.
SPEAKER_03He was a stud and helped the Dodgers win the West and had a great year there before they ran into another hot team in the Giants in the playoffs. Uh some rookies, the rookies of the year that year, Jose Abreu uh for the White Sox that year, and then a guy we're familiar with around here made his rookie debut that year for the Mets, Jacob deGrom was the National League rookie of the year. Uh the best teams in baseball. Uh the I mean the Angels had the best record. The the Orioles won uh the East. Let me pull that up. Yeah, Orioles won the East. Uh the Tigers won the Central, and the Royals got in as a wild card. Uh and the Angels won the West and the A's got in as a wild card. Um, and then in the National League, you had the Nationals who had the best record in the in the National League that year. Um Cardinals won the Central with the Pirates as the wild card. Um, the Dodgers won the West with the Giants as the wild card. Um, and this was 2014, which you go back a little bit further. So, in that kind of time, those early 2010s, uh, it was especially in the National League, it was either the Cardinals or the Giants. And so in 2010, the Giants won the uh World Series against the uh Rangers. 2011, the Cardinals and both, and these times they're both playing. Uh 2011, the Cardinals beat the Rangers again in the World Series. 2012, uh, the Cardinals and the Giants played each other in the NLCS, and the Cardinals had a 3-1 lead in that NLCS, and the Giants came back and beat them. Uh, and then 2013 they played again in the NLCS. Cardinals won. Actually, no, they didn't play. Cardinals played in the NLCS, the Giants did not. Uh, but the Cardinals went to the World Series, so they were kind of alternating World Series. Um, and then so the Giants had won in 10 and they'd won in 12, and now you're back on this 14, um, and they got hot again. Um, and so you ended up again with the Giants and the Cardinals in the NLCS. And um you were born on October the 12th, and I've told you this before, but so that was that was there was a game. Yeah. That was a game that was happening. So while you were while mom was in labor, the uh I had the Giants and the Cardinals game on on in the uh delivery room. Um and the the cards did win that game on on on the 12th. That was a Sunday. You were born Sunday morning. You were I mean, I I say in the delivery room, it was on Saturday night. She was in labor, and then you were born Sunday morning, and then they won Sunday night of that on the 12th. So um they they lost the game leading into your being born, but they won that first night. Uh it was a Colton Wong uh walk-off hit, and then um then the car the Giants did win the next three. They won the series on a uh walk-off home run by Travis uh Travis Ishikawa. Um, and then they went on to the World Series. And the the story of that whole playoff run uh and then what happened in the World Series, the hero of that was Matt Madison Bumgarner. And he was the pitcher for the Giants. Um and he um let me pull up his numbers for for the uh for that postseason because he's the one that so they played the Royals in that um World Series, and again, we'll get into 2015 somewhere down the road, but the Royals bounced back and won that World Series. But in 2014, it was a big deal that the Royals had even made it because they hadn't been good in quite a while. They were young teams. Salvador Perez was a youngster at that time, uh, and so they made it to the World Series and had an unbelievable um seven-game series with the Giants. Um, but Madison Bumgarner was the MVP of that World Series and he was the the stud there. He had 52.2 postseason innings with a 1.03 ERA. Um he had a complete game shutout in game five of the World Series, and then he came back on short rest, which is where he became a legend, and had five scoreless relief innings in game seven. Uh and the Giants won Game 7 3-2 and captured their third championship in five years, and he was named the World Series MVP. Um and so you had in the regular season, Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, MVPs, and then in the postseason, that was the Madison Baumgartner postseason for sure. And the Giants Giants got that one. Uh they won that. And then just some other things about the year. Um the All-Star game that year, the 85th All-Star game was held uh at Target Field in Minnesota, home of the twins. Uh the American League beat the National League five to three, and that was during the time when they don't do this anymore, but during that time that was kind of the Bud C League rule where the whoever won, whichever, you know, if American League won the All-Star game, then they got home field advantage in the World Series. So game seven, when Madison Baumgart pitched, that was in Kansas City because of the All-Star game. Some people hated it, some people loved it, uh, but that's what happened. Um and that was also the last year of Bud Sealick as commissioner of baseball. Uh Sealick had served as the executive chairman from 92 to 98, acting as the commissioner, and then was appointed as the official commissioner in 1998. On August 14th, 2014, the franchise owner selected Rob Manfred to become the new commissioner starting in 2015. And Manfred is still the commissioner to this day. And so um just a couple things that happened in 2014. Again, um, it was a fun year for the Cards. They had they had been uh in the ALC and the in the NLCS for four straight years at that point 11, 12, 13, and 14. Every time the NSS they had to go through St. Louis. Uh but the Giants did on two occasions, and uh it was a good little rivalry back and forth, and that was kind of the last year of that um uh between that uh between those two guys. So uh Giants were the the champs, Trout, Kershaw, MVPs. Any questions about 2014?
SPEAKER_01No, not at all.
SPEAKER_03Was that educational for you?
SPEAKER_01Very much so. Very much so.
SPEAKER_03We're gonna do it again. I think it's fun because there's so there's some things that you know just to try to get you up to date on the last the last decade before you really started to dial into to baseball. Yeah. So all right. Uh so we've covered that, covered the ballparks. Anything else you can think of?
SPEAKER_01No. I don't think that's it.
SPEAKER_03Okay, we had a let's get Mel over here. Mel, want to come over and close us out?
SPEAKER_01You've heard her, probably. Come on, Mel, come back on.
SPEAKER_03Here she comes.
SPEAKER_01She's having hat issues.
SPEAKER_03Come on, baby.
SPEAKER_01Come on. I'll help you with the hat.
SPEAKER_03All right, hop on the seat. You can wrap us up with some cuteness. Give us a what do you think this episode's been good or bad? What do you think? Okay. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Thumbs up? Okay. All right, just tell everybody thanks for watching. Have a good day. We'll see you next time. You got it?
SPEAKER_01Say goodbye.
SPEAKER_00Goodbye. We will see you on the next podcast. Bye. Bye.
SPEAKER_03Thank you guys.