Episode 34 - Kevin Mitchell and Jeff Bagwell

Transcript

Sprayberry Jones: Jeff Bagwell was a dominant player in the National League for most of his 15-year career. Eight seasons, he drove in more than 100 runs. Nine times, he hit 31 or more home runs and scored over 100 runs. In 1994, he was unanimously selected as the most valuable player.

Sprayberry Jones: Despite these and other accomplishments, Bagwell's career... was shadowed by controversy because he played during the steroid era, his reputation, justified or not, marred by that juxtaposition of timing.

Sprayberry Jones: Many felt this issue played a substantial role in his being delayed selection into the Hall of Fame during his first six years of eligibility. While conclusive evidence never surfaced that Bagwell used steroids,

Sprayberry Jones: His reputation seemed to rest with the concept of inductive reasoning expressed by the odd phrase old phrase, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.

Sprayberry Jones: His election to the Hall in 2017 went a long way toward dissipating the cloud over his reputation.

Sprayberry Jones: Jeffrey Robert Bagwell was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 27th, 1968. The only child of Robert and Janice Bagwell, baseball entered his life early.

Sprayberry Jones: His father had pitched at college at Northwestern University and subsequently on a semi-professional basis. Janice, who eventually became a police officer, played softball into her 20s.

Sprayberry Jones: She later recalled that Jeff... could throw a ball before he could walk. When he was six months old, we'd throw a ball to him and he would throw it back.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell attended Xavier High School in Middletown, Connecticut. And although playing shortstop for the school, his main sport was soccer. Soccer notwithstanding.

Sprayberry Jones: He received a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Hartford, and came under the tutelage of coach Bill Dennehy. Dennehy, a former Major League pitcher, soon realized Bagwell's potential, converting him into a third baseman that quickly became a team star.

Sprayberry Jones: When Bagwell performed well for Hartford, he thought Major League scouts noticed his playing summer his playing summer ball. he recalled

The Whole Ballgame: I got my chance in the Cape Cod League. lot of players from the best programs in summer came to play there. Albert Bell was there. ah Where was he? Where was Albert Bell?

Sprayberry Jones: I was all over there. i i was over there. Well, I was there. Yeah. Over here.

The Whole Ballgame: Well, he wasn't over here. I know that much, but he was over there.

Sprayberry Jones: No. Yeah, you get it.

The Whole Ballgame: of Frank Thomas, I only hit about 205 that year, but I looked at those guys and decided I could play with them.

Sprayberry Jones: Next year, he hit over 300, and Boston selected him in the fourth round of the 1989 Amateur Draft.

Sprayberry Jones: Assigned to the Class a Winter Haven Red Sox in the Florida State League, he batted.310, exhibiting little of his eventual power, collecting just two home runs.

Sprayberry Jones: His performance still earned him promotion to the the New Britain Red Sox Class AA team in the Eastern League. There, Bagwell hit.333 to win the batting title and was the league's MVP.

Sprayberry Jones: and win the batting title and was named league mvp Again, he generated a little power with only four home runs on the year. Me, Lizza!

Sprayberry Jones: Triple cum, baby! Triple cum! As the season ended, word came out of Boston on August 30, 1990, that the 22-year-old Bagwell had been traded to the Houston Astros for Larry Anderson, a 37-year-old relief pitcher.

Sprayberry Jones: It was then and still is considered one of the worst trades in baseball history. Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman, who received the bulk of the criticism for this transaction, spent many of his ensuing years explaining his reasons for trading Bagwell.

Sprayberry Jones: In a tight pennant race as the 1990 season entered its final month, Boston needed bullpen help badly after their best reliever, Jeff Reardon, was lost for several weeks due to surgery.

Sprayberry Jones: Anderson looked like the best potential available help, but Houston wanted a minor league prospect in return. Bagwell had shown potential at third, but he was at the end of the queue for the position in the Red Sox system.

Sprayberry Jones: Gorman felt he could fill a yawning hole for Boston to win now without much sacrifice. Years later, Bagwell commented on the trade from his perspective.

The Whole Ballgame: The Red Sox were in a pennant race. They needed help. I was third on the chart at third base. They had Wade Boggs. They had Scott Cooper at Pawtucket. You look at that.

The Whole Ballgame: You look at their situation. They bring in free agents all the time.

The Whole Ballgame: At the time

The Whole Ballgame: at the time, I was devastated. I was one of the saddest guys you'll ever see. All my life, everything had been Boston. was born in Boston. My father was from Watertown. My mother was from Newton, both outside of Boston.

The Whole Ballgame: Our house was one of those places where you couldn't mention the word Yankees. Every weekend, the television will be tuned. initiate to the Red Sox, you know, no other the games. My grandmother, Alice Hare, she's 81 years old.

The Whole Ballgame: She's still losing Newton, and she can tell you anything about the Red Sox. I called her to tell her the news. She started crying. By the way, who calls their grandmother by their full name?

The Whole Ballgame: My grandmother, Elizabeth Lehman.

Sprayberry Jones: Well, you know. wait She's Alessab Newton, as you know.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah.

Sprayberry Jones: Let me ask you this, Jeff. Any members of your family in the Boston Police Force?

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, there's several Boston cops in my family. My mom was a cop. My mom was a Boston cop.

Sprayberry Jones: Was she one of the hares?

The Whole Ballgame: One of the hairs. That's right.

Sprayberry Jones: Which one? The greasy one? Straight one? Curly one? Short and curly?

The Whole Ballgame: She's a little little curly, a little little little, she's a bit of a split end, you know i mean?

Sprayberry Jones: All right. Very good.

The Whole Ballgame: She gave me my brains, though. you know without the Without what's between my ears, I wouldn't have amounted to much. I'll tell you that right now.

Sprayberry Jones: Okay. Thank you. Without your brain, you wouldn't have mounted to much. is it Was that what we got?

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, you know. ah

Sprayberry Jones: can say that for all of us, right?

The Whole Ballgame: I don't know about that.

Sprayberry Jones: I mean, it's kind of what keeps us all going, right? Our brain.

The Whole Ballgame: Our heart, I think, is more important than our brain in that regard.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: You can be brain dead and still alive, right?

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah. Well, hey, look. Gabe's heart died for a while and he came back to life. They cut him from his...

The Whole Ballgame: That's true, but that guy's that guy's brain and his heart, they're both the with the size of a small town. Of course, that's because he's the size of a big city, so real fat ass, that guy, from what I understand.

Sprayberry Jones: I heard he's going to be hanging out with Dallas Page down in the South if the GoFundMe gets up into six figures.

The Whole Ballgame: ah We can only hope so. He stopped promoting that thing a long time ago. i don't know why. I think people will probably still be giving to him because people seem to like that guy, but I think he's a real piece of piece of trash.

Sprayberry Jones: Dally or Gabe?

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, that's right.

Sprayberry Jones: Okay. Anderson pitched well the last month of the season. In 15 games, he posted a 1.23 ERA, helping Boston to secure a division championship.

Sprayberry Jones: As a free agent during the winter, he eventually signed with the San Diego Padres. Those 15 games do not begin to match against Bagwell's spectacular career with Houston.

Sprayberry Jones: Although he no longer had to compete against Cooper or Boggs, Bagwell still had to contend with Ken Caminiti. Well entrenched at third for the Astros, Bagwell came to spring training expecting to be assigned to Houston's farm club in Tucson.

Sprayberry Jones: But his play so impressed the Astros that two weeks before the season opener, Houston decided to bring him to the majors as a first baseman. Bagwell went through a crash course learning how to play the position.

Sprayberry Jones: In the time remaining until opening day, he manned the first he manned first in minor league games during the morning and for Astros in the afternoon. The Sporting News put it succinctly.

Sprayberry Jones: Rookie Jeff Bagwell never played first base before this spring, but the position is his to lose. It's up to his bat. Superman is dead. but that put him in a tenuous position because Bagwell started slowly, hitting just 100 early in the season.

Sprayberry Jones: But when he came up to bat in a tie game against the Braves, his first major league Major League home run won the game. The next day, he homered again. By the end of April, his average had improved to a more respectable.254, and he continued to hit well, finishing the year at.294 with 15 home runs and 82 RBIs, winning the Rookie of the Year award in a romp with 23 of the 24 first-place votes.

Sprayberry Jones: Had to feel good to get that romp in, right?

The Whole Ballgame: you you ah You know how I got there, though, don't you?

Sprayberry Jones: How's that?

The Whole Ballgame: i mean I mean, look, I talked to you before about, you know, what got me through, what really pushed me over the edge as a player was, roll tight on that, huh, was my brain.

Sprayberry Jones: yeah alright? You got some saliva falling out?

The Whole Ballgame: Huh?

Sprayberry Jones: got some saliva falling out of your mouth that looked like you.

The Whole Ballgame: It's not saliva, it's a Well, I mean, you stay i mean you heard it you know what a zen is? It's a zen. I've got a, you know, I've got a it's an addiction.

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: my You know, I talk about my brain. I can't really battle past the addiction, though. You know, I've got to have the nicotine.

Sprayberry Jones: What are you working at HHS?

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, well, yeah, it's a joke about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., isn't it? Yeah, well, you know, ah you you fucking liberals are all alike, aren't you?

Sprayberry Jones: You're from the fucking you're from fucking Northeastern, really? I never would have guessed.

The Whole Ballgame: I mean, come on. Look at me.

Sprayberry Jones: No, I see it in your face. It's very clear.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah.

Sprayberry Jones: There's a reason you there's a reason you live in Texas still, you dirty son of a bitch.

The Whole Ballgame: Fuck that.

The Whole Ballgame: You look, man. ah Truth is truth. And yeah clearly from the the what's been happening in Minnesota, nobody gives a shit on your side about the truth. They just give a shit about dying their hair blue and chanting and and fucking getting in the way of big cars and getting surprised.

The Whole Ballgame: when they end up getting shot in the face by a cop for not getting out of the way.

Sprayberry Jones: Hey, you know who else loves blue dye? Bobby fucking Kennedy Jr., you fucking bitch. if i looked up the If I looked up filth in the dictionary, I'd see a picture of the lower fourth portion of your face.

The Whole Ballgame: right.

The Whole Ballgame: All right.

Sprayberry Jones: Like your mouth and your chin and all that area and how it all just comes together. Not not that you got a filthy mouth like you talk dirty. It's just, it's grotesque.

The Whole Ballgame: I got to tell you, you know, it like you you act like I haven't heard all this bullshit before. I was so i was in Major League Baseball for goddamn 15 years.

Sprayberry Jones: I heard it because it's true.

The Whole Ballgame: i' You think I didn't hear this in the dugout? People get making fun of my fucking acne pockmarks? You fucking loser.

Sprayberry Jones: I didn't say a goddamn thing about your acting, you stupid bitch.

The Whole Ballgame: i yet t well Yeah, what you're talking about, though?

Sprayberry Jones: I talked about your gross fucking... No, I'm talking about your gross mouth and how it just hangs open like a fucking porch door in the south.

The Whole Ballgame: I know what you're talking about. It's fine. Mm-hmm.

The Whole Ballgame: I mean, clearly you're showing yourself now about how you grew up, you you fucking hillbilly.

Sprayberry Jones: Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm a hillbilly. You're fucking about to trip over your goddamn bottom lip with Zen hanging out of it. But let's talk about your goddamn power numbers.

Sprayberry Jones: They surprised baseball observers. I still hate Morandini more. During his two AA minor league seasons, he gets six homers and 932 at-bats, one for every hundred and fifty-five at bats His 15 home runs for Houston came at a rate of 1 every 36.9 at bets.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell's home run total was all the more impressive for having been amassed in the cavernous Astrodome. He also exhibited a unique plate discipline for a rookie, gathering 75 walks, 10th in the league. This contributed to a.387 on-base percentage, 5th in the league.

Sprayberry Jones: Both his power and patience at the plate would improve over the years, each becoming a signature part of his game. Houston finished last in the NOS in 91 65-97, tying a franchise record for futility.

Sprayberry Jones: Since winning the division championship in 86, they had descended into consistent mediocrity. In place of such departed luminaries as Jose Cruz, Glenn Davis, and Nolan Ryan, Craig Biggio and Bagwell were coming on board.

Sprayberry Jones: and they would anchor a team that made the 1990s the most successful decade in Houston's franchise history. While the season had not been successful for Houston, Bagwell immediately sensed a key difference from the minor leagues. Did you catch that, you fucking flytrap?

Sprayberry Jones: While the season had not been successful for Houston, he was over there, you heard the typing, right? He was ordering Zen online. Not...

The Whole Ballgame: Fuck, you see, this is what you don't understand. It wasn't sin that I was ordering. I was, ah you know, look.

The Whole Ballgame: I've been... I've been in a, look, no, no, no. You know what? we're We're talking about baseball tonight.

Sprayberry Jones: Uh, what? Oh, no, please, now no, no.

The Whole Ballgame: You're not going to, you're not going to, you're not going to, you're not going to take me down that road.

Sprayberry Jones: What?

The Whole Ballgame: I'm just not going to let you do it.

Sprayberry Jones: No.

The Whole Ballgame: I'll tell you, tell you what made the but greatest impression on me. ah During the whole year, we were in Atlanta ah when the Braves, they clinched the planet, the pennant.

The Whole Ballgame: We'd played them early in the season. And maybe 10,000 people were at the game. And at the end of the season, the place was filled every night. All these people were singing and they were cheering and they were celebrating.

The Whole Ballgame: It made you think. You play in the major leagues and it's all individual, really. Everybody's always looking up, trying to figure out where he's going to go next.

The Whole Ballgame: ah In Major League Baseball, though the individual didn't matter. Winning mattered. I watched the Braves and everything came into focus with me. This this is what I want ah want for us. that's that's I remember that day specifically.

The Whole Ballgame: um Tony helped me with that. you know Tony helped me really narrow down the the turning points of my life, and I was one of them.

Sprayberry Jones: talking to hitting with Tony Gwynn or something when the Padres came to town oh oh Tony Danza from who's the boss he played the second baseman for the Cardinals did you get to meet him like yeah Gurria?

The Whole Ballgame: No, no, no, not Tony Gwynn.

The Whole Ballgame: No, no, no, no,

The Whole Ballgame: no. Look, let me explain this to you.

Sprayberry Jones: Gurria?

Sprayberry Jones: Nagaria. Would make sense, the filthiness and all.

The Whole Ballgame: You know, people ask me all the time, Jeff, how'd you hit 449 home runs? How'd you ground out 15 years in the big leagues? And I tell them, wasn't the batting cage, it wasn't the weight room, wasn't even the pitcher tipping his curveball. It was state.

The Whole Ballgame: Tony Robbins taught me that performance is a state as a result of mindset, physiology, and focus. Let me tell you something. When you step into the batter's box against randy's Randy Johnson, you better have all three locked in.

The Whole Ballgame: okay i didn't I didn't just dig into the box. I primed. I controlled my breathing. I anchored confidence. I told myself, this at-bat is happening for me, not to me.

The Whole Ballgame: All right, failure, that's just feedback. Strikeouts, data points, slumps, a pattern interrupt waiting to happen. Tony taught me that success leaves clues.

The Whole Ballgame: And I i decided to model excellence. I studied pitches, sure. But more importantly, I studied myself, my rituals, my language, my standards.

The Whole Ballgame: this is why i'm a This is why I appreciate the republican party as much as i do is because i study uh what like i said earlier it's what's between my head what's between my years that matters here all right they won six inches ah you look look tony taught me what did what you say well you tell me you did

Sprayberry Jones: Fucking Livingston around. Says Livingston around or something.

The Whole Ballgame: Pervert. I studied, you look, eight because championships aren't one won in October, that's the reason why.

Sprayberry Jones: I was the victim.

The Whole Ballgame: Championships are not won in October. They're won in the six inches between your ears in February.

Sprayberry Jones: Brother.

The Whole Ballgame: All right? I didn't chase chase batting titles. I raised my personal minimum. All right? And when I retired, I didn't walk away from baseball. I walked toward purpose.

The Whole Ballgame: All right. This is all it's how you frame everything. You know and i mean? That's what Tony taught me, because once you learn that you can change your state, you can you can change your story and your results. And you realize that the Hall of Fame is is just realizing your potential.

The Whole Ballgame: All right. So ask yourself, what what what's one belief you're holding on to that's costing you your World Series ring? Like, you tell me that. All right. And that's going to open up your eyes to the truth of the reality that's in front of you.

The Whole Ballgame: All right. That's going to open you up to the truth that if you fuck with a cop, you're going to get shot.

Sprayberry Jones: You know what it sounds like to me, this all is? Basically, your your friend there, Tony, has figured out a way to come into people's lives and to label and dissect what they do and put titles on it and call it shit.

Sprayberry Jones: and and then sell it back to them and reframe it in something else. He doesn't actually do anything. He just gets them to look at the shit they're doing and and call it the words he wants to call it.

The Whole Ballgame: Let me tell you something right now, and I mean this with love, okay?

Sprayberry Jones: I don't believe that.

The Whole Ballgame: most people Most people have no idea why they're losing, and you certainly don't know why you're losing.

Sprayberry Jones: What am I losing at?

The Whole Ballgame: You think it's you think it's you it's a life. Look at you in that dark room in that blue T-shirt.

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, okay.

The Whole Ballgame: Give me a fucking break.

Sprayberry Jones: That's a black t-shirt, actually.

The Whole Ballgame: They think it's, they think it's, looks blue to me.

Sprayberry Jones: You fucking loser.

The Whole Ballgame: ah They think it's, they think you think it's talent. You think you got luck. You think it's, it's, it's, it's the ump, right? No, it's because you're soft and you're undecided and you're running garbage beliefs like a bunch of, like a fucking emotional little leaguer.

The Whole Ballgame: And that's why I found Tony Robbins. That's why he showed up in my life. He looked me dead in the eye and he said, Jeff, you don't have a swing problem. You've got a stand its problem. And he was right. That's what you got, Blake.

The Whole Ballgame: You've got to stand its problem.

Sprayberry Jones: Uh-huh. Right. Sure. You gotta practice this problem, dipshit.

The Whole Ballgame: so

The Whole Ballgame: So, so i you know what? i'm I'm going to ignore it. I'm not going to listen to the bullshit.

Sprayberry Jones: Look! You're telling me you're so goddamn strong that you had to go find Tony Robbins? Is that what you're expecting me to believe, Mr.

The Whole Ballgame: No, no, no.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagel?

The Whole Ballgame: Look, before Tony, I was talented.

Sprayberry Jones: Uh-huh.

The Whole Ballgame: Make no mistake.

Sprayberry Jones: Right.

The Whole Ballgame: after After Tony, relentless.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: Do you see the difference?

Sprayberry Jones: Uh-huh.

The Whole Ballgame: You see, talented is one word, relentless is another.

Sprayberry Jones: said Tony's word.

The Whole Ballgame: Every at-bat, every at-bat, every at-bat wasn't just baseball.

Sprayberry Jones: How much it cost you to learn that one?

The Whole Ballgame: Fuck you. Every at-bat wasn't just baseball. It was a psychological war.

Sprayberry Jones: Sure.

The Whole Ballgame: You know, and and I'm built different, okay?

Sprayberry Jones: Right.

The Whole Ballgame: Okay. Yeah, um I can go to psychological war at every at bat. I don't think you could do that, but I bet you Tony could teach you how. Anyway, um

Sprayberry Jones: you know You know what's a psychological war for me?

The Whole Ballgame: what's that?

Sprayberry Jones: every morning the shit I take when I first get up. That's a psychological war. Okay? So don't tell me about...

The Whole Ballgame: It sounds like you need to go see some kind of specialist in my estimation.

Sprayberry Jones: Psychologist or butt?

The Whole Ballgame: But, I mean, if it's a psychological war to take a dump in the morning, you got something wrong with you.

Sprayberry Jones: Maybe yes, maybe no.

The Whole Ballgame: And while other guys, they're out there whining, like you, about travel schedules and bad hops and, you know, just to, like, like.

Sprayberry Jones: It's all the animal crackers in the middle of the night.

The Whole Ballgame: like a bunch of excuse manufacturing crybabies. I was out there programming.

Sprayberry Jones: You can't tolerate them.

The Whole Ballgame: I was programming my nervous system for certainty. Do you understand me?

Sprayberry Jones: No, no, it's ridiculous.

The Whole Ballgame: You understand that?

Sprayberry Jones: Programming program a your nervous system.

The Whole Ballgame: Does that make sense? Does that make sense to you? That why doesn't, why doesn't that make sense to you?

Sprayberry Jones: That's bullshit.

The Whole Ballgame: It's now it's true. Everything is training, bro. That's all it is. That's, that's what Tony teaches.

Sprayberry Jones: Ugh. It's exhausting.

The Whole Ballgame: I'm going to send you look, man.

Sprayberry Jones: What an exhausting way to live. It's not even worthwhile way to live.

The Whole Ballgame: Who's got a Hall of Fame ring and who doesn't?

Sprayberry Jones: So...

The Whole Ballgame: That's what I'm – exactly. You're sitting there your ass not working no more because you don't know how to be relentless.

Sprayberry Jones: So uncomfortable.

The Whole Ballgame: That's your problem.

Sprayberry Jones: ah Perhaps i was too relentless.

The Whole Ballgame: Out of work, cunt.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah, yeah. It's hard to argue that. been the greatest two weeks of my fucking life. You can suck my ass, you bitch. if oh Let's see here.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell successfully avoided the sophomore jinx in 92, playing in all 162 scheduled games. His home run total increased to 18, while his average dipped to 273.

Sprayberry Jones: A careful review of his performance indicated a more disciplined hitter. Strikeouts decreased from 116 to 97, and walks increased to 84, in the league.

Sprayberry Jones: Pardon?

The Whole Ballgame: psychological, all psychological.

Sprayberry Jones: You can make anything psychological.

Sprayberry Jones: Your entire existence can be psychologically just fucking... traumatic if you wanted it to be

The Whole Ballgame: Well, sure you can. Of course, of course you can make anything you want psychological. The question is, why don't you?

Sprayberry Jones: why would you yeah maybe success in one area but probably does something to you are you familiar with the yin and the yang

The Whole Ballgame: Success. can anything with your you just said? area, you're, you're saying it's Isn't life. Isn't life. life. Isn't life. Isn't life. Isn't life. Isn't life. Isn't Isn't Isn't life. Isn't Isn't life. Isn't Isn't Isn't Isn't Isn't Isn't life.

The Whole Ballgame: Isn't Isn't life.

Sprayberry Jones: No, I don't understand much of what your mush mouth says.

The Whole Ballgame: Isn't life. Isn't I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm a.

Sprayberry Jones: or Where's Fat Albert at?

The Whole Ballgame: I'm I'm I'm I'm a.

Sprayberry Jones: he coming along?

The Whole Ballgame: a. a.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: I'm I'm I'm a. a.

Sprayberry Jones: Where's your little pink?

The Whole Ballgame: I don't deal with the blacks. I thought you knew that.

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, brother. hello Hey, dude, who's this guy? I kind of like the coat of his jib, dude. Jib is Jeff Bagwell. Oh, cool. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha.

Sprayberry Jones: New...

Sprayberry Jones: new

Sprayberry Jones: Uh-oh. Somebody's taking a shot for that last spot in the accountability crib. It's going to be a lot easier to get that one because he's only got one leg, you know? Numerous.

The Whole Ballgame: Hey, let me explain something to you.

Sprayberry Jones: Hey. Oh, please.

The Whole Ballgame: i don't need i don't need i don't need your mouth. I don't need you making jokes about Marcus's issues. ah He's my second cousin on my mother's my father's side. i don't need I don't need this kind of... is it Just stop right now. you can You can make jokes about me all you want. You can talk about my acne pock marks. You can talk about me chewing on Zin. I don't care.

The Whole Ballgame: ah you don't You don't talk about a man who's been through what Marcus has been through.

Sprayberry Jones: Did you ever go to Sprayberry to see him?

The Whole Ballgame: It's pronounced sprayberry, and I don't think so, no.

Sprayberry Jones: He was a three-time WCW Rookie of the Year from 91 to 94. Did you know that?

The Whole Ballgame: That doesn't make any sense at all. I think you're just making things up.

Sprayberry Jones: Take it up with Jim Ross.

The Whole Ballgame: I don't know who that is.

Sprayberry Jones: Big Dick in Oklahoma. Fell down, was stuck for five days. Credence went to help him.

The Whole Ballgame: It was five hours out five days.

Sprayberry Jones: Whatever. He could live for five years with all that fat. Well, maybe not anymore.

The Whole Ballgame: please

Sprayberry Jones: What

The Whole Ballgame: Slipped on an ice cube making Kool-Aid.

Sprayberry Jones: oh what kind of flavor? He's probably, he was making like lemonade flavor. Just, that's it.

The Whole Ballgame: don't know. why I like that blue raspberry lemonade. that ah Electric lemonade what they call it, I think. okay

Sprayberry Jones: just called Blue Raspberry. I made some last week.

The Whole Ballgame: That was Jan's favorite, too. trans fiveor two

Sprayberry Jones: Mm-hmm. Oh, she took me as a purple source for X-Lady.

Sprayberry Jones: Numerous unusual batting styles pepper baseball's history.

Sprayberry Jones: Mel Ott lifting his right leg, a foot-in-the-bucket stance as he began his swing, or Stan Musial's peeking-around-the-corner approach come distinctly to mine.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell's was equally unique. It has been described as a crouching tiger, hidden dragon batting stance. or Or more indelicately, like he is sitting on the john.

The Whole Ballgame: look, uh, worked for me and, uh, you know, I worked on that stance for a long time, after,

The Whole Ballgame: after Tony walked me through what I needed to do with the work that I needed to put in. Right. You know, much like, uh, our friends in, in the, uh,

The Whole Ballgame: an Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship will tell you um it's about the step work. It's about working. You understand? So

Sprayberry Jones: Mm-hmm.

The Whole Ballgame: oh that's that's what I did. I put in the work and I i found i found my anchor and it is it was in that that stance. um You know, yeah if you watch basketball, you see the guys when they go to the free throw line,

The Whole Ballgame: They do the same thing over and over and over again, right? ah that's That's how they they get into a routine. And for me, it was about crouching in the way that I did. I know it looks like I'm taking a dump. Ha, ha, ha. Got it. I you think I didn't hear it all before. You know, ah one time, fucking Pudge was back there behind me. And he said, he said, hey, friend, make sure you don't eat your own shit while you're down there.

The Whole Ballgame: and i yeah That made me mad at the time. That was before I knew Tony. ah But and as it was before, I was using the the thought process that goes into to making these things work and and and and having that anchor. you know Before Tony, I was a mess, and after him, I was relentless. It it just comes back to back to to Tony Robbins and the beautiful things that he does for people.

The Whole Ballgame: Where focus goes, energy flows. Just remember that.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah, no, it makes sense. You're going to, your energy is going to go towards what you're looking and thinking about.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, hey, do you see ah you see they ah they changed up the food pyramid to to be the right way?

Sprayberry Jones: and I got it. It's all very logical.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah.

Sprayberry Jones: That's what I love. I love when people just say logical things in different ways and try to reframe it over and over, but everything's really like the same 10 or 12 things, maybe.

Sprayberry Jones: Anyway. He stood in the batter's box with his legs spread wider than his shoulders and an exaggerated crouch with his bottom hand over the knob of the bat. He lifted his left foot a few inches and unleashed a forceful uppercut swing.

Sprayberry Jones: That wide stance keeps him from overstriding, Joe Torrey observed, which can be your biggest problem when you're trying to hit for power. Despite his odd stance, Bagwell still hit with authority.

Sprayberry Jones: And as unorthodox as his stance appeared, it served another purpose, minimizing Bagwell's strike zone, a factor in his ability to coax a walk. His unique stance caused Bagwell repeated injuries three consecutive seasons beginning in 1993.

Sprayberry Jones: That year, he began to come into his own. Batting.320 with 20 home runs and 88 RBIs in mid-September, Bagwell broke his hand on a pitch from the Phil's Ben Rivera.

Sprayberry Jones: His next two seasons ended it prematurely for the exact same reason. An examination of his swing indicated Bagwell's hands dipped into the strike zone, making them vulnerable to injury.

Sprayberry Jones: After his third broken hand in 1995, he began wearing a protective pad over his batting glove. While the season ended it early for Bagwell, it marked Houston's steady improvement after having finished last in 1991.

Sprayberry Jones: The Astros progressed to fourth in 92 and 3rd in 93. Bagwell, as well as players like Craig Biggio, Caminiti, and Luis Gonzalez were improving.

Sprayberry Jones: Pitcher Daryl Kyle blossomed in 1993, going 15-8. In the strikes-shortened 94 season, both Bagwell and the Astros improved markedly.

Sprayberry Jones: In just 400 at-bats, Bagwell scored 104 runs and drove in a league-leading 116.

Sprayberry Jones: He hit.368, second behind Tony Gwynn's.394. But what really caught everyone's breath was his.750 slugging percentage. At the time, it ranked seventh highest all-time in a season, second best in the NL, just behind Rodgers Hornsby's.756 in 1925.

Sprayberry Jones: On June 24th, he hit three home runs in a game against the Dodgers, two coming in the sixth inning. Indeed, between May 16th and July 24th, Bagwell hit two or more home runs in a game five times.

The Whole Ballgame: Crazy stuff happened that year. Every pitch I got, ah every pitch I was looking for, I got. and And when I got it, I didn't miss it. It was ridiculous. And I blame, well, I guess I should say I credit Tony with all of that. Look, you know, when I when i went out with a broken hand, there was nobody there for me.

The Whole Ballgame: Nobody, you know. And then when broke my hand again, You know how many people were there for me that time? Nobody. But the third time I had found Tony and Tony, he was there for me. Let me go somewhere.

The Whole Ballgame: most athletes are too embarrassed to go. And frankly, the, frankly, the two emotionally constipated, uh, to go where I'm about to go. So why don't you just sit back, uh, enjoy yourself for a moment with that Bucky's pillow, your fruit.

The Whole Ballgame: And I'll, I'll tell you, exactly how Tony was there for me. I broke my hand career moment season on the line.

Sprayberry Jones: Sexually?

The Whole Ballgame: So what, what'd you say?

Sprayberry Jones: Sexually?

The Whole Ballgame: Career moment, season on the line, suddenly the body you trained for your whole life, unavailable, not there for you. Most guys, they'd spiral, they'd sulk, they'd they'd they'd find a way to to escape, right?

The Whole Ballgame: They turned into bitter little goblins like you, blaming fate and trainers and the universe, not me, because I called Tony. And Tony said, Jeff, if you can't control your circumstances,

The Whole Ballgame: You damn well better control your state. Now, listen carefully, because some of you, you're already giggling like children, I know. But Tony taught me that self-connection, visualization, and intentional release of stress are not weaknesses.

The Whole Ballgame: They're maintenance. When my hand was broken and my routine was wrecked, Tony helped me reframe recovery as ownership. Not deprivation. He said, if you don't meet your own needs consciously, you'll sabotage yourself unconsciously.

The Whole Ballgame: And suddenly it clicked. While other guys were pacing the clubhouse like angry raccoons, I was learning how to regulate frustration, channel energy, keep confidence in check, and stay mentally sharp without spiraling into shame or distraction. Was it awkward?

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah. Was it necessary? Absolutely, because champions don't pretend they're machines. They manage the human system. Tony taught me that guilt is poison, repression is weakness, and discipline means choosing intention over impulse.

The Whole Ballgame: So, while some clown wants to laugh and act like self-care is soft, understand this. Tony Robbins offered up his gigantic hands and he jerked me off once a day when I broke my hand.

The Whole Ballgame: And that that's what allowed me to come back focused, centered, and grounded. Not desperate, not distracted, not lacking confidence.

The Whole Ballgame: and If that makes you uncomfortable, good. I'm glad to hear it. Growth isn't supposed to feel polite. it's ah It's real strength. Real strength is pretending that you don't have urges.

The Whole Ballgame: is Excuse me, isn't pretending that you don't have urges or emotions or stress. Real strength is handling them like an adult and instead ah instead of letting them handle you. If that rattles your worldview, Blake, I understand.

The Whole Ballgame: Maybe the injury isn't physical. It's probably between your ears.

Sprayberry Jones: I have an injury because Tony Robbins jerks you off. Is that what you're telling me?

Sprayberry Jones: I mean, it sounds to me like you're just justifying.

The Whole Ballgame: All I hear is judgment. All I hear is judgment.

Sprayberry Jones: No.

The Whole Ballgame: Who's got the Hall of Fame ring? And who's got the fucking Buggies pillow around his neck?

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah, no, it's very comfortable. I bet you wish you had one.

The Whole Ballgame: I bet it is. You know what else is comfortable?

Sprayberry Jones: Your bum ass shoulder.

The Whole Ballgame: This for it this four inch long goatee.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: That's what's comfortable.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah. You know what else? I can throw a goddamn baseball and you can't.

The Whole Ballgame: I can. I just can't throw it too far these days.

Sprayberry Jones: You can't throw a baseball over 35 hour. You pussy.

Sprayberry Jones: What did Tony say about that? Let me tell you something, Jeff. You going on and on and on about Tony and everything about Tony and what Tony taught you to think and do, it isn't as fucking making you sound as ah you know, stand on your own-ish as you would like. You sound very dependent on Tony. I mean...

Sprayberry Jones: Mr. Tony Robbins, ah especially to release. you so You did say intentional release, and that's where I initially thought you were going to go. Guy's jerking you off.

Sprayberry Jones: It's just this is all just cover for gayness, man.

The Whole Ballgame: Let me guess. You heard one quote, rolled your eyes, and went right back to doing the same dumb things to keep you exactly where you are.

Sprayberry Jones: Just be gay.

The Whole Ballgame: It's fine. I understand. You see, I noticed something about you and about people who call Tony Robbins nonsense.

Sprayberry Jones: The fuck are you talking about?

The Whole Ballgame: They're always the same people. Zero standards, zero discipline, maximum opinions. See, your problem, your problem, your problem, your problem

Sprayberry Jones: Motherfucker.

Sprayberry Jones: Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh-huh.

The Whole Ballgame: is that you you confuse cynicism with intelligence. You think mocking a belief is the same thing as having one.

Sprayberry Jones: No, that's stupid.

The Whole Ballgame: ah you You know what real gobbledygook is? Blaming the ump, blaming your boss, blaming your childhood, blaming the system while you refuse to change your habits.

Sprayberry Jones: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

The Whole Ballgame: That's the problem. That's not skepticism. That's intellectual laziness dressed up like confidence is what that is.

Sprayberry Jones: I don't think I ever suggested that anybody shouldn't work on solving the issues in their life.

The Whole Ballgame: No, what you're saying is that Tony isn't worth a damn. And frankly, that's what Tony's all about. That's what Tony taught me. So yeah, in a roundabout way, you are saying those things. And here's the part that really pisses people off.

The Whole Ballgame: The tools that Tony gives work if you work them.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah, he worked your tool.

The Whole Ballgame: All right?

Sprayberry Jones: Got it. You know, it sounds to me like like Tony um tony is about getting your money and your cums.

The Whole Ballgame: If you want results without rituals, you want confidence without conditioning, success without discomfort, that's fine. ah Don't do the reps. You know, sit on the thr sidelines. You go ahead and throw your rocks.

Sprayberry Jones: Uh-huh.

The Whole Ballgame: Call it nonsense because it's safer than admitting that you've never really fully committed to anything in your life. It's fine.

Sprayberry Jones: You just like reading a bunch of old No Fear t-shirts or something?

The Whole Ballgame: Let me make this very clear for you.

Sprayberry Jones: Please.

The Whole Ballgame: If my...

The Whole Ballgame: If mindset,

The Whole Ballgame: I'm looking at your face and just it's hard for me not to laugh out loud because, it's a you know, if mindset doesn't matter, then why do great players survive pressure and average ones crumble?

Sprayberry Jones: Sure. I get it.

The Whole Ballgame: If language doesn't matter, why do some guys talk themselves into slumps and never get out? If standards don't matter, why do champions look different before the game even starts?

The Whole Ballgame: Talking about Tony and saying that he's not, he he doesn't have it figured out. It doesn't make you smart. It makes you untrained because the truth is anyone can mock intensity from the cheap seats, but the people actually performing, they're too busy winning to argue with you.

Sprayberry Jones: Like, 90% of this shit you've said, i haven't argued with or even brought up. The only thing have said is the...

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, keep laughing. Keep scoffing.

Sprayberry Jones: out

The Whole Ballgame: Keep telling yourself that it's nonsense. That's fine. That's fine. Just don't confuse your comfort with my results because while you're busy making jokes, I was busy i was busy doing the work that makes jokes unnecessary.

Sprayberry Jones: I would never do that.

Sprayberry Jones: Thanks, Cody. Thanks for doing the work.

Sprayberry Jones: Jesus Christ.

The Whole Ballgame: Whoa!

Sprayberry Jones: You're good.

Sprayberry Jones: Lost amidst Bagwell's hitting exploits was his receiving the and NL Gold Glove at first base, a testament to his well-rounded abilities. Unfortunately, the 1994 season ended when the players went on strike in mid-August due to acrimonious disputes with team owners over several issues.

Sprayberry Jones: Houston trailed Cincinnati by half a game when the strike took effect. Whether the Astros could have continued to hold their own in a racese with in the race was problematic, though, because the day before the strike commenced, Bagwell was hit by a pitch from San Diego's Andy Bennis that broke the fourth metacarpal on his left hand, the same bone he broke a year earlier.

Sprayberry Jones: He couldn't believe it had happened to him two years in a row after x-rays confirmed he would be out several weeks, essentially until the end of the season. But a day later, the season ended anyway.

The Whole Ballgame: Thank

Sprayberry Jones: Paradoxically, the timing of the strike benefited Bagwell in ways unforeseen at the time. Despite the truncated season, players were still selected to receive individual awards.

Sprayberry Jones: The BBWAA unanimously chose Bagwell as the National League's MVP. He was only the 11th player in 4th National Leaguer to win every writer's first place votes.

The Whole Ballgame: It was very flattering, you know, to to get the kind of recognition from a BBW that I give to a BBW.

The Whole Ballgame: ah It made me feel really, really good.

Sprayberry Jones: Everybody loves a good plumper. Strong conjecture had it that if the season had continued with Bagwell's sideline, the award might have gone elsewhere. Matt Williams of the San Francisco Giants, who finished second in the MVP voting, had 43 home runs when the strike started and on pace to hit over 60.

Sprayberry Jones: With the Giants in the thick of the pennant race, he could have very well supplanted Bagwell in the voting, Bagwell did win the award, however, the first and only Astro through 2014 to do so.

Sprayberry Jones: Despite a spectacular year, however, Bagwell's achievement is always less lusterous because it happened in the strike-shortened season. Once play resumed in 95, Houston was expected to continue as they had in 94.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell and Biggio began dominating the Astros' offense, and within a year, they gained the nickname the Killer Bees. Over the years, the other Bs, Derek Bell, Carlos Beltran, and Lance Bergman berkman came to prominence, but Bagwell and Biggio remained constants.

Sprayberry Jones: The team performed well. On July 30th, they were just three and a half games behind the Reds when Bagwell was hit on his left hand by San Diego's Brian Williams, taking him out of the lineup for several weeks.

The Whole Ballgame: I was getting an X-rayed and, you know, it was moving moving hey i was moving it pretty good. I thought, okay, it's probably going to be okay. That's the same thing I said last year.

The Whole Ballgame: And that's the same result. i don't know whether to change my stance. i I've taken all the precautions. Tony, Tony at the time told me, you know, regardless of how many times this happened, he was going to be there in my corner taking care of me.

The Whole Ballgame: However, I needed to be taken care of because that's just the kind of guy he is, you know?

Sprayberry Jones: Uh-huh.

The Whole Ballgame: So, um, it can be frustrating and you can be frustrating.

Sprayberry Jones: Hard man.

The Whole Ballgame: This is the fifth time i broke my hand, the same hand, you know? Um, I, uh,

Sprayberry Jones: Almost like you deserved it.

The Whole Ballgame: You go through, that's not, you know, that's just it, man. You're a nasty guy, aren't you? You're real nasty human being. i like, you know, I

Sprayberry Jones: As nasty as we want to be, baby! ha!

The Whole Ballgame: um don't even know what the hell that's supposed to mean. A weird voice and you got loud for no reason. i don't know.

Sprayberry Jones: You're going to pity city. I'll make some oblets.

The Whole Ballgame: you know, you you break your, you break your hand five times in the same place and you start to wonder, um, how many times do you got to do, does this have to happen before you got to make changes?

The Whole Ballgame: But, you know, uh, I did, it did.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah. Yeah. Did you ask Tony? Did you ask Tony? How many times? How many times did he say?

The Whole Ballgame: do you know what he said?

Sprayberry Jones: What did he say?

The Whole Ballgame: He's been as many times as it takes, you know?

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, okay, good.

The Whole Ballgame: Um,

Sprayberry Jones: What a great fucking piece of advice.

The Whole Ballgame: But we talked about it. you know We talked about it a lot, but and and we kind of just blew by. you know i got the the MVP and um got to got to got to have sex with two or three really big fat women, which is fantastic.

Sprayberry Jones: Blew by. I read exactly what was written. Mm-hmm.

The Whole Ballgame: But um you know I could never get the leverage that I needed because my hand was hurting as bad as it was hurting.

Sprayberry Jones: Sure, sure.

The Whole Ballgame: But we didn't really talk about the strike itself. you know Everybody wants to talk about the 94 strike like it was fate, like it just happened to baseball.

Sprayberry Jones: is all...

The Whole Ballgame: But no, it wasn't fate.

Sprayberry Jones: mhm.

The Whole Ballgame: It was a failure of leadership and a failure of identity and a failure of standards.

Sprayberry Jones: Uh...

The Whole Ballgame: Again, we're back to it.

Sprayberry Jones: mhm.

The Whole Ballgame: you know like everything Everything revolves around this, and it's what people don't there people don't stop down to think about what reality is.

Sprayberry Jones: Uh huh.

The Whole Ballgame: You know, Tony taught me this. When people fight over resources, it's because they've forgotten the mission.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: You know, in 94, nobody was fighting for the game of baseball. They was fighting for position and ego and control. you got all these owners, you know, operating from scarcity and players were operating from mistrust. And both sides were just too busy posturing ah to ask the only question that mattered. What outcome do we really want here?

The Whole Ballgame: You had billionaires acting like victims and millionaires acting like prisoners. And that's not negotiation. That's just two groups of scared people arguing over identity instead of values.

The Whole Ballgame: Tony says, if you if you don't define the rules of engagement, emotion is going to do it for you. And in 94, emotion ran the damn table. you know Anger, pride.

The Whole Ballgame: you know And the fans, the lifeblood of the thing, they were the ones treated like collateral damage instead of partners in the whole thing. Let me tell you something that makes people uncomfortable, Blake.

Sprayberry Jones: Please, please.

The Whole Ballgame: You ready you to get uncomfortable? The strike wasn't about money.

Sprayberry Jones: God, yes.

The Whole Ballgame: It was about certainty.

Sprayberry Jones: no Okay.

The Whole Ballgame: Owners wanted cost certainty and players wanted career certainty. And instead of building a future, they burned the present. that season we had momentum we had new stars we had energy things were going to happen that season you know i clearly i was going to be out for the rest of the season with a broken hand but it wasn't about me you know i got a i got a sweet award for for the thing if it hadn't been broken you broken up you know that uh that human thumb matt williams in san francisco probably would have won the thing but

The Whole Ballgame: oh You know, it was ah you don't get what you deserve. You get what you tolerate. Tony taught me that, too.

Sprayberry Jones: Well, you know, we all, uh, I think that's what we all do, isn't it? Just, uh, we do whatever we think is going to make things work out best for us.

Sprayberry Jones: We want to know what the conditions are going to be for ourselves to be consistent, to be safe, to feel secure.

Sprayberry Jones: Right?

The Whole Ballgame: I mean, if you say so.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah, I do. It is my show.

Sprayberry Jones: Do you have a show, Jeff?

The Whole Ballgame: played MLB the show my PlayStation 4 until 2023, but stopped playing it because I broke my hand.

Sprayberry Jones: Or do you just guest on other people? Yeah?

The Whole Ballgame: on my playstation four up until twenty twenty three but i stopped playing it because i broke my hand

Sprayberry Jones: That's good. That's good.

Sprayberry Jones: All right.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell proved persistent. The team... Oh, no. Let's see here.

The Whole Ballgame: Prescient.

Sprayberry Jones: No, I missed the part about that. From then on, a special pad protected Bagwell's batting glove, and he never suffered the injury again. Bagwell proved prescient as the the team had gone nine and twenty one in his absence and games behind the Reds, well out of the race.

Sprayberry Jones: He had started the season slowly, hitting just 183 at the end of May, but in the next two months he had improved to 283 and was on a batting spree. Batting spree, that's nice.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell finished at 290 with 21 home runs. that fucking dog eating Chex Mix or something?

The Whole Ballgame: yeah

Sprayberry Jones: Smoking a cigarette?

The Whole Ballgame: I gave him something to to munch on because he was starting wine and I can't deal with it and I don't want to stop recording.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah. Well, no, you just let him record in the microphone and fucking whine. You'd be better than listening to Bagwell's fucking dumb bitch ass.

Sprayberry Jones: A fall off. Let's see. He had started the season slowly hitting just 183 at the end of May, but the next two months improved at batting spree. There it is. Bagwell finished at 290 with 21 homers, a falloff from 94, but he would more than make up for it the next several seasons as his and the Astros' potential came to full fruition.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell undertook a rigorous training program after 1995 season. He gained 20 pounds and enhanced his endurance for the rigors of the grueling seasons by a concentrated period of weightlifting, change of diet, plus the use of creatine and androstenedione.

Sprayberry Jones: And years later...

The Whole Ballgame: You know what? let me I'm going to have to stop you right there.

Sprayberry Jones: okay please.

The Whole Ballgame: Now, look, you you say things out loud as if I'm not right here listening to you. And it's ah it's a problem for me.

Sprayberry Jones: I'm reading a fucking article.

The Whole Ballgame: yeah You know, first of all, dumb. You call me a dumb bitch ass? First of all, dumb. That's pretty rich coming from ah somebody whose entire strategy is yelling names like a malfunctioning parrot.

The Whole Ballgame: Listen closely. Calling me a bitch ass isn't confidence, right? It's what insecurity sounds like when it runs out of vocabulary. You understand what I'm saying to you? You understand that?

The Whole Ballgame: This is where Tony Robbins comes in because Tony taught me that when people go straight to insults, it means they've lost the argument with themselves.

Sprayberry Jones: have

The Whole Ballgame: So you really need to do some work.

Sprayberry Jones: did he Did he...

The Whole Ballgame: You need to look internally.

Sprayberry Jones: Did he... No, I need to look at the screen and I can fucking know exactly what it says.

The Whole Ballgame: See, Strong people.

Sprayberry Jones: ha ha. I was going to ask you, did Tony teach you this or is this what you just read?

The Whole Ballgame: I don't know what you're talking about. See, strong people challenge ideas.

Sprayberry Jones: Look at me.

The Whole Ballgame: Weak people, weak people, weak, weak,

Sprayberry Jones: Look me in the eye. Yeah, you can't read when you look me in the eye, can you?

The Whole Ballgame: weak people attack identity.

Sprayberry Jones: Sure, great.

The Whole Ballgame: you didn't You didn't question my work. You didn't question my results. You just barked because barking feels powerful when you got nothing when you got nothing else

Sprayberry Jones: No, because cause your work and your results are fine.

The Whole Ballgame: ah let me make this let me make this very Let me make this very clear to you.

Sprayberry Jones: You're a bitch. That's the deal. have no issues with your homers.

The Whole Ballgame: i didn't I didn't get where I got by needing your approval.

Sprayberry Jones: No, definitely not.

The Whole Ballgame: All right? I didn't survive pressure by shrinking when somebody ran their mouth like Pudge.

Sprayberry Jones: Mm-hmm.

The Whole Ballgame: And I sure as hell don't take feedback from someone who confuses a volume with value. All right? Tony says never lower your standards. Never lower your standards to meet somebody else's comfort. So I won't come down to your level. I'll just tell you to yell up at the scoreboard.

The Whole Ballgame: If you've got something intelligent to say, say it. If you've got a point, make it. But if all you've got is name-call and understand this, it's not dominance, it's exposure. An indecent exposure at that.

The Whole Ballgame: you Don't go near Tony if you you're going to whip out your cock.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah, because it'll jerk you off.

The Whole Ballgame: Because the loudest, loudest... i just He's got really big hands, too. Loudest people in the room are usually the ones terrified of being ignored. So i'll so keep talking. I'll keep doing.

The Whole Ballgame: And at the end of the day, one of us has results.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: The other has insults, you know, sitting on your ass in your McMansion in Kansas. It's fine. Doing nothing.

Sprayberry Jones: the You keep reading the list of your fucking sayings off of your screen, you dipshit.

The Whole Ballgame: Choose which one you want to be known for. That's all I'm saying. Choose which one you want to be known for.

Sprayberry Jones: I'll pick one of the 50. In later years, those entering the Astros gym were welcomed by a banner reading Bagwell's Gym. Work hard, play hard, or leave.

Sprayberry Jones: that

Sprayberry Jones: A testament to his intense work ethic. It's pretty impressive when you watch a guy like him, observed Jeff Blum, a later teammate.

Sprayberry Jones: He knows what he has to do, and he puts his mind to it, and he does it. While successful in the short term, Bagwell later came to feel his regimen shorten his career, that his muscular buildup contributed greatly to shoulder problems, forcing his retirement and in 2005 at age 37.

Sprayberry Jones: By the start of 96, Bagwell was one of the senior members on the Astros, if not by age. Then by tenure, he had become a forceful influence on how Houston prepared for games with maximum effort and players held accountable for their actions.

Sprayberry Jones: Discipline fostered camaraderie, and Bagwell made sure everyone on the team was part of the team. His and Biggio's leadership propelled the Astros to new levels of play.

The Whole Ballgame: I swear to God, if we can get through one of these these articles without having to stop down and talk about the shit level of of riding ability, it would be fantastic. I know we're just talking about baseball here, but Jesus Christ.

The Whole Ballgame: Bagwell made sure everyone on the team was a part of the team.

Sprayberry Jones: Tony says that's up to you. What are your expectations?

The Whole Ballgame: I don't have expectations anymore.

Sprayberry Jones: Good.

The Whole Ballgame: You know why?

The Whole Ballgame: They only lead to disappointment.

Sprayberry Jones: Tony says. oh Double V, baby.

The Whole Ballgame: Nope, nope, Vernon says.

Sprayberry Jones: Let's see. The 96 season began a run of performances. Further. That established Bagwell's reputation as one of the most dominant players of his era.

Sprayberry Jones: That year he batted.315, hit 31 homers, drove in 120 runs, and led the league with 48 doubles. It was the first of six consecutive seasons where Bagwell scored and drove in at least 100 runs, averaging 128 runs scored and RBIs per year during the stretch.

Sprayberry Jones: Some of the numbers he put up were spectacular. In 99, Bagwell drew 149 walks, including a major league record six in one game. At the time, the third highest single season total in the National League.

Sprayberry Jones: Twice that year, he hit three home runs in one game. The following year, he launched a career-high 47 homers and scored 152 runs, fourth highest in the NL since 1900.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell had become a complete ball player. In 1997, he sold 31 bases and hit 43 homers. In 1999, he sold 30 bases and hit 42 homers.

Sprayberry Jones: One of only 13 Major League players to have accomplished 30 home runs and steals in a season more than once. Bagwell and Joe Carter remained the only first basemen to reach the thirty thirty club through 2014.

Sprayberry Jones: While Bagwell was at the peak of his career, Houston took division titles in 97, 98, 99, 01, the best run in franchise is history.

Sprayberry Jones: Of 13 games played in the four postseason series, however, Houston managed but a single five and four victory single five to four victory over san Diego in

Sprayberry Jones: Unfortunately, in the other three series, Houston confronted the Atlanta Braves in their buzzsaw starting a rotation of Tom Glavin, Greg Maddox, and John Smoltz. Bagwell's performance in these series was equally dismal, just 174 with no extra base hits and just four RBIs. In 2002 and 2003, both Bagwell and his team declined.

Sprayberry Jones: Houston finished second both years but failed to make postseason competition. Bagwell's run of 100 RBI seasons ended with 98 2002. He achieved an even 100 RBIs 2003, but his peak year production had waned.

Sprayberry Jones: His slugging averages dipped into the low 500s, well below what had but become the customary for him. Still a strong hitter, at 35 years old, he no longer dominated as he once had.

Sprayberry Jones: Beginning in 2001, pain began flaring in his left shoulder. He underwent surgery in the offseason to extract bone spurs and restore a torn labrum. Eventually, he developed arthritis in the other shoulder, an affliction that worsened over time.

Sprayberry Jones: By 2004, his career entered the twilight. Bagwell's average fell to.266 with, quote, only 27 home runs and 89 RBIs.

Sprayberry Jones: His defense suffered too. The first baseman could whip a ball to third on Butts' eventually got to the point where he had trouble merely throwing two infielders between innings. Ironically, he had the best postseason of his career in a seven-game series with St. Louis that St. Louis ultimately won.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell hit.318 with two home runs, the second helping break open the fifth game. As the 2005 season began, Bagwell played through April until the pain in his right shoulder became intolerable.

Sprayberry Jones: On May 4th, after going 0 for 5 and a loss to Pittsburgh, he was hitting just.250 with only three home runs and 88 at-bats. The next day, he asked Astros manager Phil garner to be phil Gardner to be pulled from the lineup.

The Whole Ballgame: I couldn't hit, I couldn't throw. if I played, I'd i'd just be hurting the team.

Sprayberry Jones: By September, following shoulder surgery, he was well enough to join an Astros team contending for a wildcard spot in the standings. Playing exclusively as a pinch hitter, he drove in and his last major league run on a ground out against the Cubs, providing an insurance run and a critical 3-1 win for Houston's win that day, and the next allowed them to finish one game ahead of the Phillies for the wild card position.

Sprayberry Jones: The Astros finally beat their longtime nemesis Atlanta Braves to win the division center series, then defeated the Cardinals to win the NL pennant. I actually went to, I think it was game five in Houston, I believe, or no, four.

Sprayberry Jones: One of the 2005 NLCS games.

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, nice.

Sprayberry Jones: Jeff Kent hit the game-winning homer.

The Whole Ballgame: he's i would have i wouldve killed the i wouldve killed to go to game four of the World Series in Houston.

Sprayberry Jones: New Hall of Famer Jeff Kent hit the homer to win the ball game for the Astros.

The Whole Ballgame: That's right, folks. Hall of Famer Jeff Kent.

Sprayberry Jones: Along with Andrew Jones and who was the other one?

The Whole Ballgame: Jesus Christ.

Sprayberry Jones: Beltran.

The Whole Ballgame: Doesn't matter.

Sprayberry Jones: Carlos Beltran.

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, great. Wonderful.

Sprayberry Jones: um Let's see here.

Sprayberry Jones: ah Beat the Cardinals and win the pennant, but the White Sox swept them in four straight games in the World Series. Bagwell went 1-for-8 as a DH and pinch hitter, just one of the many Astros stymied by Chicago's pitching in a closely played series.

The Whole Ballgame: you

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell's ground out as a pinch hitter in the fourth game proved his last major league appearance. Bagwell went to spring training in 2006 if he could still contribute on the field, but legal issues, specifically who was going to pay Bagwell's estimated $15.6 million dollars salary for the year, muted Houston's welcome.

Sprayberry Jones: The situation was awkward. The Astros had obtained a disability insurance policy on Bagwell when he had signed a multi-year contract in 2001. And at this point, the team essentially had to prove that Bagwell became disabled between the end of 05 five at January 31st, 2006, when the policy expired.

Sprayberry Jones: So Bagwell's appearance in camp through Houston's claim that he was disabled didn't question. Amid the legal maneuvering, it was revealed that physical examination of Bagwell in January 2006 concluded he could only throw a ball 35 miles per hour and then only for short distances.

Sprayberry Jones: Based on that assessment, the attending physician declared Bagwell totally disabled.

The Whole Ballgame: Look, you don't need to throw a ball to hit a ball. That's all. I can DH. It's not a big deal

Sprayberry Jones: They didn't have the DH back then. You know.

The Whole Ballgame: deal.

Sprayberry Jones: Sure. Yeah. Bagwell appeared.

The Whole Ballgame: Details don't matter. Details don't matter. Tony taught me that.

Sprayberry Jones: That's just sounds like bad advice. Bagwell appeared in a few practice games, but had to quit several when his shoulder became too sore to continue. He was hitting just two 19, but the major obstacle to continued play remained his arm.

Sprayberry Jones: He simply could not throw a ball to meet major league standards. The chances of additional surgery succeeding were minimal. The conclusion was obvious. Bagwell had given it all to come back.

The Whole Ballgame: You gotta do everything you can to try and play. If not, you'll be kicking yourself.

Sprayberry Jones: Houston placed him on the DL and Bagwell recognized the reality.

The Whole Ballgame: I may never play again.

Sprayberry Jones: He was right. A few months after the 2006 season ended, he officially retired from the game.

The Whole Ballgame: been a great ride. wish I could still play and try to win a World Series here in Houston, but I'm not physically able to do that anymore. And I'm, okay with that.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell's lifetime stats are impressive. A.297 batting average, 449 homers, 1,529 RBIs, 79.64, and 948 OPS.

Sprayberry Jones: But there was more to Bagwell than robust numbers. He was a role model in a clubhouse in the clubhouse. A consummate professional who, along with Biggio, set the bar for how an Astro approached the game.

Sprayberry Jones: Houston's best years remain the heart of the Killer Bee years, during which he and the Astros won four of six division championships, the finest years of the franchise.

Sprayberry Jones: The Astros wanted Bagwell to stay connected with the organization, so signed him to a personal services contract through 2009, mostly to spend time working in player development.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell's post-playing career has been largely low-key and private, Although he has intermittent assignments with the team, Bagwell's aversion to travel and devotion to his family have been his guiding principles.

Sprayberry Jones: He didn't.

The Whole Ballgame: I don't know why you're looking up at me like you want some kind of commentary on why I'm devoted to my family. This is the kind of bullshit the liberals always pull. You know, if a conservative says that he cares about his family, it's like, well, what is that supposed to mean?

Sprayberry Jones: Well, don't we all care about our family?

The Whole Ballgame: Why do you got to focus on your family? I don't think so. Clearly you don't.

Sprayberry Jones: Why? How's that?

The Whole Ballgame: I don't know. It's late at night and you're talking about baseball in your basement. Like what kind of loser?

Sprayberry Jones: talking to you.

The Whole Ballgame: and yeah Yeah, but i'm I'm here, but I'm not here, am I? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Sprayberry Jones: I'm here, but I'm not here too.

The Whole Ballgame: I don't believe you. I can see you.

Sprayberry Jones: I'm the walrus.

The Whole Ballgame: Cuckoo-ca-choo, bitch.

Sprayberry Jones: He did not totally avoid the limelight, however. On June 28, 2007, his longtime teammate and friend Craig Biggio singled against the Colorado Rockies to get his 3,000th hit.

Sprayberry Jones: Biggio's family joined him on the field, and he insisted Bagwell come out to be with him as well. It was Bagwell's first appearance before Houston's fans since he retired.

Sprayberry Jones: A few months later, Houston retired as number five before Bagwell, his family, and more than 42,000 onlookers. In midseason 2010, the Astros asked Bagwell to become their batting coach.

Sprayberry Jones: Last in hitting, the team hoped his expertise and rapport with the players could improve their output. Their hitting did improve over what remained of the season, but Bagwell, citing family obligations, turned down a proffered two-year contract to continue the job.

The Whole Ballgame: Look, my decision there came down to the times that these coaches put in, the the effort they put in, my family and Tony's advice.

Sprayberry Jones: He returned to his personal services agreement, occasionally spending time at the club, usually in spring training, helping younger players. In 2011, Bagwell became eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame.

Sprayberry Jones: More than anything else, is this has kept his name in the media and before fans over the years. The first year he was ah eligible, he received 41.7% of votes for induction.

Sprayberry Jones: Every year since, he consistently received over 50% of the vote with a high of 59.6 in the 2013 election. Whether he deserved an induction was a controversial subject over the years.

Sprayberry Jones: Several factors delayed his induction. On a few occasions, most recently in 2015, he was up against a crowded field of worthy candidates which tended to concentrate votes on the first-time eligible players.

Sprayberry Jones: A second more serious consideration is Bagwell's career peaked in the late 1990s, coinciding with what has become known as baseball's steroid era. One of the major side effects of this period was to cast a pall of suspicion over virtually all its players, including high performers like Bagwell.

Sprayberry Jones: Several aspects of Bagwell's career prompted questions about steroid use. Ken Caminiti, one of his teammates and close friends on the Astros, publicly admitted he took steroids during his career.

Sprayberry Jones: A fact dramatically underscored when he died of a drug overdose at the age of 41. Just three years after retiring from the game. For Bagwell, it suggested guilt by association.

The Whole Ballgame: Well, got to explain something to you. You know, like I went through all of this time with ah was not not getting into the hall when I probably should have gotten in.

Sprayberry Jones: Please.

The Whole Ballgame: You know, and everybody was saying, oh it's because because everybody else was using steroids. And, you know, it was the time period and everybody thinks that maybe you were using steroids too.

The Whole Ballgame: I mean, of course I was using steroids. I just wasn't abusing them.

The Whole Ballgame: you know, was a big difference between use and abuse. ken Ken was abusing the steroids. I was using them as they were recommended to be used.

Sprayberry Jones: Thank you for clearing that up.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah.

Sprayberry Jones: His physical growth led to further conjecture. The slim 185-pound minor league third baseman grew to 220 at the peak of his career.

Sprayberry Jones: Creation of a bodybuilder...

The Whole Ballgame: That's 35 pounds. Who fucking cares? Like, it's 35 pounds. What are you talking about?

Sprayberry Jones: I mean... 35 pounds.

The Whole Ballgame: that's like ah That's like a bender on McDonald's over the weekend. that yeah Gabe can put down 35 pounds of double cheeseburgers in ah a day and a half.

Sprayberry Jones: Right.

The Whole Ballgame: I don't know what the problem is.

Sprayberry Jones: I mean, you're already grown.

The Whole Ballgame: What?

Sprayberry Jones: You're already grown. It's not like you're growing. Like you're already a grown man. And then you put on 35 pounds. 35 pounds.

The Whole Ballgame: Did you not listen to what I just said? It's easy to put on 35 pounds.

Sprayberry Jones: 35. Not 35 pounds of muscle.

The Whole Ballgame: Who said it was muscle?

Sprayberry Jones: It's clearly muscle. You can look at you and see that. Mm-hmm.

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, well, good point.

Sprayberry Jones: Creation of bodybuilders physique and its subsequent reduction in size as a career waned. thats you got smaller is it as you got older.

Sprayberry Jones: and That's what they're saying.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, i yeah got I got, you know, I stopped eating cheeseburgers. i don't know what to tell you.

Sprayberry Jones: Sure, yeah.

The Whole Ballgame: But I'm telling you right now, i use i you know, nobody even stopped.

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, man, my cheeseburger's coming in here.

The Whole Ballgame: nope Nobody even stopped. at What the hell's going on now? Who's a sailbilly? What's that?

Sprayberry Jones: I said, oh man, my cheeseburgers come in a needle and syringe too, dude. Dang.

Sprayberry Jones: Creation of a bodybuilder's physique and its subsequent reduction in size as the career waned was typical of players found to have used steroids and another factor fueling the speculation about Bagwell's career.

Sprayberry Jones: These perceptions seemed relevant because of the curve of that career. He started out with just six home runs in two minor league seasons and averaged fewer than 20 per year during his first three years in the majors.

Sprayberry Jones: At the top of his game, he had successive seasons of 31, 43, 34, 42, 47, and home runs. Bagwell surged almost simultaneously with Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, two sluggers whose drug use subsequently sullied their career reputations.

Sprayberry Jones: There, and their others' accomplishments generated questions about the proliferation of home runs hit during this period. It became a centerpiece of suspicion that something might be amiss.

Sprayberry Jones: These sorts of associative considerations fueled speculation that Bagwell used steroids or PEDs. He was never linked to the use of drugs, however, either through the drug testing policy, various investigations, or legal actions.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell consistently denied employing drugs or steroids on numerous occasions, but he has come to believe that whatever he says will not matter. In a 2009 interview, Bagwell observed that his is a no-win situation.

The Whole Ballgame: I know what I did. I just told you what I did. I know how hard I worked. If someone links, i I took crap because I was in that era. What am I going to do? Show them I didn't?

The Whole Ballgame: Can't go back and take a blood test now.

Sprayberry Jones: Bruce Jenkins, senior sports editor of the san francisco chronicle San Francisco Chronicle, acknowledges that while steroid suspicion was a factor for several voters, there's another point of consideration.

Sprayberry Jones: I certainly can't speak for the bulk of national baseball writers, but I know that many suspicious of Bagwell, without proof, as you say, i have always voted for the best players. Bonds, McGuire, Clemens, etc.

Sprayberry Jones: So that's not a factor for me. I always found Bagwell just a bit short of Hall of Fame material. Heck of a player. I don't mean to knock him, just my personal opinion.

Sprayberry Jones: And I do know that some other writers feel that same way as well.

The Whole Ballgame: Let me tell you something, a terrible attitude and and questionable choice and mentors aside, ah Jeff Bagwell is a Hall of Fame baseball player. And this is like they got the perfect fucking writer to get a quote from here because this is just who they are. i don't think i I've told this story on the podcast, but you'll remind me if I have.

The Whole Ballgame: um I got a buddy. who was the sports editor for like a local newspaper back home. And he, what about 10 years ago, the year that they, that Ken Griffey Jr. was to go into the hall of fame.

The Whole Ballgame: I messaged him the day before and I was like, Hey, like, what are the chances that this is unanimous? And he replied back to me, 0%. There are some of these guys that just, uh, won't ever let that happen.

Sprayberry Jones: Mm-hmm.

The Whole Ballgame: And if Ken Griffey Jr. is going to get people who say, no, you don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame on a first ballot, like, you know, ah for another 15 or 20 years, it's still going to be that way.

The Whole Ballgame: I mean, I think there's only been two now, but ah it's happened. But um to think that, like, and Ichiro's a great baseball player, certainly.

The Whole Ballgame: But to think that he had zero... oh writers saying he had 100% of the vote and Ken Griffey Jr. and Derek Jeter didn't is a little nuts to me.

Sprayberry Jones: It's just... New generation of writers. There's gonna be more people at 100%. That's...

The Whole Ballgame: The new generation.

Sprayberry Jones: That's it. With Ichiro and Rivera.

Sprayberry Jones: Before that, the highest was Tom Seaver. So, fuck final.

The Whole Ballgame: I liked Bob Seeker.

Sprayberry Jones: Tom Seaver was really good, but like... The only reason he was so goddamn high was because he was such a fucking just ass-kissing stooge. Like, he's a fucking goon. And so the media fucking loved him. He'd always talk to him.

Sprayberry Jones: So that's... You combine that with, you know, again, obviously really fucking great, but... Is Tom Seaver really the guy that's gonna have the highest percentage of vote in the Hall of Fame up until...

Sprayberry Jones: Rivera gets it. Like, that's absurd. Anyway, let's see here. Because of controversy over drugs, Bagwell increasingly showed ambivalence about getting into the hall because even if elected, it would be an empty accomplishment.

Sprayberry Jones: Such a victim. Induction into the hall is not what defines him.

The Whole Ballgame: I keep telling people this and and people don't understand it. Baseball does not define me as a person. It's what I do with my kids and as a husband that's going to define me.

The Whole Ballgame: It'd be an honor. Don't get me wrong, but I've got other things to do in my life too.

Sprayberry Jones: Amid the discussions, Bagwell went on with his life. Twice divorced, he remarried in August 2014. He and his wife Rachel have five children in their blended family.

Sprayberry Jones: He lives in the Houston area and occasionally works with the Astros, most recently spending several days with them and the spring of 2015 as a special instructor.

The Whole Ballgame: Can I tell you my favorite thing about my wife, Rachel?

Sprayberry Jones: Or tits?

The Whole Ballgame: Nah, not at all. She's got these really gigantic hands.

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, fuck. Just like Tony.

Sprayberry Jones: Just when it seemed Bagwell would stay in Hall of Fame netherworld, a change took place in how players were selected for induction. A rules change in voter eligibility seemed to generate greater support for his induction,

Sprayberry Jones: Beginning with balloting in 2016, voters were required to have 10 years of continuous membership in the Baseball Writers Association of America, as well as be active members or been active members in the association in the 10 years prior to the balloting.

Sprayberry Jones: This had a practical effect on removing more than 100 voters from the process, many of whose careers paralleled the steroids era. The elimination of this block of voters seemed to signal a more tolerant perspective of players from that time frame.

Sprayberry Jones: See, there you go. Because Rivera comes shortly after this.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, that explains it, right?

Sprayberry Jones: It was reflected in a change of voter patterns. Mike Piazza thrice... Denied introduction was selected with a 2016 vote. Players suspected of steroid use such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling saw their support increase.

Sprayberry Jones: Curt Schilling also because he's just an overall asshole.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, it's real piece of shit, that Curt Schilling.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell received 71.6% of the vote, missing election by out of the votes counted. That trend continued for many of these players in 2017, most dramatically for Bagwell, who was selected for induction, receiving more than 82% of the votes, higher than any anyone else on the ballot.

Sprayberry Jones: He was formally inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 30, 2017, surrounded by family, friends, and teammates. Most prominent of these was Craig Biggio. While Bagwell's credentials were questioned for years, there was never any question how his teammates viewed him Astros pitcher, Hampton, once called Bagwell the ultimate teammate.

Sprayberry Jones: In an interview, Bagwell and Biggio let it be known there was a Astros' way of doing things. The Bagwell-Biggio way was a way to man accountability, starting with themselves.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell was particularly quick to deflect credit for his success, explaining, that's my job, and too readily to accept blame, often for his failures that weren't even his.

Sprayberry Jones: His ability could connect with teammates knew no barriers, racial or otherwise.

The Whole Ballgame: That's interesting, isn't it? That's an interesting thing to throw in there, but and unprompted. Just so you know, he wasn't a racist either.

Sprayberry Jones: By the way, he ain't racist. This description, echoed by many more than any outside voting process, reflected the highest compliment a player can receive.

Sprayberry Jones: It speaks well of a one-time skinny Red Sox prospect who indeed had a great ride.

Sprayberry Jones: But he ain't no racist.

The Whole Ballgame: You know, well, no, I'm not a racist. I don't, you know, I don't, just because I don't like the blacks, it doesn't mean I'm racist about them.

Sprayberry Jones: For the record.

The Whole Ballgame: You know, like there's a big difference. Most of them are liberals and, and I am done with professional complainers. Just done. Okay.

Sprayberry Jones: I mean, Sirius, Alistair, Bud, all the blacks.

The Whole Ballgame: These people that they, they, they, the

Sprayberry Jones: Just the worst.

The Whole Ballgame: They wake up every morning already pissed off like you, already offended like you, already armed with a thousand reasons why the world owes them something like you. And somehow we're still shocked when nothing changes. You bitch and you whine and you moralize and you point fingers like it's an Olympic sport. And the entire time you do absolutely nothing.

The Whole Ballgame: No reps, no discipline no discipline, no ownership, just a nonstop loop of excuses wrapped in self-righteous bullshit.

Sprayberry Jones: Talkin' to you.

The Whole Ballgame: That's when I found Tony Robbins. All right? And Tony, he didn't pat me on the head. He didn't validate my feelings. He grabbed me by the collar, metaphorically, and said, stop outsourcing your power.

The Whole Ballgame: And that pissed people off because when someone shows you that you're capable, it exposes how long you've been hiding. So most people, they don't want the truth. They know they they want comfort like you.

The Whole Ballgame: They want to complain loudly enough that responsibility leaves them alone. But he is the real bomb, and I'm not going to dress this up nice. I don't just respect Tony. I don't just admire him.

The Whole Ballgame: I am attracted to that energy, the certainty, the presence, the absolute refusal to coddle weakness, those incredible hazel eyes.

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, I believe it.

The Whole Ballgame: I am drawn to someone who walks into a room and raises the temperature. who looks at chaos and says, good, let's work. That kind of clarity, that kind of conviction, yeah, it's it's something it hits something deep.

The Whole Ballgame: There's no question. It hits real deep if you understand my meaning. So while the complainers are still arguing about whose fault everything is, I'm over here ah fired up by someone who taught me to take control of my mind, my standards, my life, and then he took control of my clock.

The Whole Ballgame: Call it weird, call it intense, call it whatever helps you sleep. But don't forget, you know, ah don't confuse your endless outrage with virtue and don't mistake my passion for apology because I'm not sorry I chose strength. I'm not sorry I chose accountability. I'm sure as hell not sorry that I chose Tony.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah, I see why you need that subscription.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, it's pretty good, isn't it? Jesus Christ. Jeff Bagwell on the whole ballgame, everybody.

Sprayberry Jones: One of the worst guests we've ever had.

The Whole Ballgame: And that says a whole hell of a lot, doesn't it?

Sprayberry Jones: God, Tony Robbins sucks so much.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, so, yeah you know, we we'll talk about the hows and the whys on some behind-the-scenes episode somewhere.

Sprayberry Jones: Hmm.

The Whole Ballgame: ill I'll share that with you later, though.

Sprayberry Jones: Yeah, well, I'm gonna go share my pee-pee.

The Whole Ballgame: That sounds good. um' I'll just pause it here because I'll do the same. We're back. Say what you want about ah about Elon. At least his his AI is a little less censored than ChatGPT.

Sprayberry Jones: I mean... does make porn, doesn't it?

The Whole Ballgame: Does it? I've never tried.

Sprayberry Jones: They say... I don't know. I guess I...

The Whole Ballgame: One day maybe we'll just maybe we'll just convert the Patreon to that. We'll get really good at prompts and just convert the Patreon over to just AI-generated porn that you and I put together and see if we can make more money that way.

Sprayberry Jones: Uh-huh.

The Whole Ballgame: bet we can. Yeah.

Sprayberry Jones: Probably. Definitely with the cums. ae I mean, I guess I did... I just flat out asked, like, can you suck my dick one time just to be, you know, facetious is the word, I guess.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah.

Sprayberry Jones: But and it told me how it couldn't do any kind of whatever. But now it's ah it said something the other day about being spicy or I don't know, whatever. But there's no way Elon doesn't let it get into some kind of weird sex stuff where.

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, I'm certain he jerks off to it regularly.

Sprayberry Jones: I bet there's stuff where you can make like your own like Kelly Kapowski porn if you wanted.

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, Kelly.

The Whole Ballgame: She's... we I think we've talked about this on the show before. She's hotter now than she's ever been. Jesus Christ.

Sprayberry Jones: Well, yeah, she still pretty much looks the same.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, pretty much. Next up, it's... ah I guess he certainly isn't our kisser because Jeff Bagwell's got the face.

Sprayberry Jones: Sure he is. Nah, you don't think Kevin's got a face?

The Whole Ballgame: But.

Sprayberry Jones: Bagwell's the MVP. Of course Kevin's the kisser.

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah, but Kevin, Kevin Mitchell kind of looks like Tony Gwynn.

Sprayberry Jones: Nah, see, you're looking at the wrong face. I know the problem here.

The Whole Ballgame: Okay. Let me, let me hold on. We looking at red there then.

Sprayberry Jones: No. Yeah, we gotta get more.

The Whole Ballgame: Okay. All right.

Sprayberry Jones: Like, see, San Francisco. Cincinnati era.

Sprayberry Jones: gonna send this to you. This is this is the face.

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, the braces? Dear God in heaven.

Sprayberry Jones: The gold tooth. There, look at that. That's what I'm talking about. The gold tooth is very important, actually, because i said to myself, you know, coming off the success of of a Reverend Brown as prime time and Joey Buda Foucault over here as Albert Joey Bell, I said, who do I get to play that man

The Whole Ballgame: Sure.

The Whole Ballgame: Over here.

Sprayberry Jones: And who could do it justice? And the first thing that popped in my mind was, well, it's got to be another man with a gold tooth. So I went out and dipped into the funds.

Sprayberry Jones: And please welcome to the whole ballgame, the baddest man on the planet.

Sprayberry Jones: It's me, Gabe. It's Iron Mike Tyson. I'm going rape your children.

The Whole Ballgame: That's, I, sure, I understand. Whatever you want, sir.

Sprayberry Jones: I'm gonna eat your face too. But i'm glad they I'm glad to be here.

The Whole Ballgame: Eh, that's good.

Sprayberry Jones: Thank you.

The Whole Ballgame: I'm glad you are here. My goodness, Kevin kevin Mitchell as played by Iron Mike Tyson. let's

Sprayberry Jones: I used to watch Bruno Sammartino.

The Whole Ballgame: Let's get into it.

The Whole Ballgame: um I'm glad to hear it. Are you a big wrestling fan, Mike?

Sprayberry Jones: I love Mr. Fuji.

The Whole Ballgame: Are you big fan of Demolition?

Sprayberry Jones: Professor Tora Tanaka.

The Whole Ballgame: Mm-hmm.

Sprayberry Jones: Nah, I was watching back in the 70s, man.

The Whole Ballgame: Oh, okay. So you liked Mr. Fucci when he was wrestling.

Sprayberry Jones: The Wild Samoans.

The Whole Ballgame: Mm-hmm.

Sprayberry Jones: Tony Gurria.

The Whole Ballgame: How do you feel about... Iron Mike Sharp.

Sprayberry Jones: Pete Doherty. He's from Canada.

The Whole Ballgame: Thank you. Thank you very much. Game six of the 1986 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets will forever be a part of baseball lore.

The Whole Ballgame: Many fans will say no matter how many games you may attend, there is always something bound to happen that you may have never seen before. This was certainly true October 25, 1986 at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York.

The Whole Ballgame: Boston led the series three games to two, as game six was played to a 3-3 tie through nine innings. Boston's Roger Clemens struck out eight and gave up two runs, one earned, through seven innings.

The Whole Ballgame: Although Clemens was not in line for the win, things looked mighty bright for the Red Sox as Dave Henderson hit a leadoff homer in the top of the 10th inning to give Boston a 4-3 advantage.

The Whole Ballgame: A second run scored on a double by Wade Boggs and a single by Marty Barrett. It had been 68 years since Boston celebrated a World Series championship, and with the Mets down to their final out in the bottom of the 10th, the waiting might finally be over.

The Whole Ballgame: But... As we know, Gary Carter singled, and rookie Kevin Mitchell stepped to the plate, pinch hitting for pitcher Rick Aguilera.

Sprayberry Jones: I was just telling myself that I can't make the last out of the World Series.

The Whole Ballgame: And he didn't. He singled to center field, sending Carter to second base.

Sprayberry Jones: My grandparents are at home with Custom Auto. They must have been doing a lot of praying.

The Whole Ballgame: Red Sox pitcher Calvin Schiraldi, who had relieved Clemens in the eighth inning, wished he could have that pitch back that he threw to Mitchell. Yeah, that one was a mistake, said Schiraldi.

The Whole Ballgame: I hung a schleider.

The Whole Ballgame: Ray Knight followed with a single center field. Carter scored, and Mitchell checked in at third base. Bob Stanley relieved Schiraldi for Boston.

Sprayberry Jones: Buddy was telling me he was going to throw a wild pitch, and he did.

Sprayberry Jones: Gedman blocked it where I couldn't see the ball. Nobody told me nothing, or I couldn't hear it because of the crowd. I just saw the ball squeeze past him. I didn't think I was going to make it at first.

Sprayberry Jones: I was getting ready to go into a headfirst slide, the the three or four steps from the plate when when I saw the ball slow down.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell's run tied the game 5-5. Knight went to second base on the wild pitch, setting the stage for Mookie Wilson's dramatic ground ball to God Pass to Boston first baseman Bill Buckner.

The Whole Ballgame: Knight scored the winning run to force a game seven, which the Mets won.

Sprayberry Jones: The key to the game was Mitch's base running.

The Whole Ballgame: Said the Mets' Keith Hernandez.

Sprayberry Jones: it is I. It is Keith Rendes, the guy's game. Hello, my friend. You know my name.

The Whole Ballgame: It's been such a long through such a long time, Keith.

Sprayberry Jones: Yes, we are wonderful. Ah, I'll get back. This is not my show. Not like me to grandstand with my mustache. He went to third base on that soft hit and scored on the pass ball.

Sprayberry Jones: Mitch set up the inning.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell reached back in his memory bank to get the hit off Chiraldi.

Sprayberry Jones: I looked at him and we smiled. We were teammates in 83. He told me if he ever pitched to me, he'd try to bust me in and then throw a slider away. And that's what he did.

The Whole Ballgame: Kevin Darnell Mitchell, the co-hero of Game 6, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Earl Mitchell on January 13, 1962 in San Diego.

The Whole Ballgame: When he was two, his parents separated and he was raised by his grandmother, Josie Whitfield. He grew up in a rough neighborhood in San Diego, often running with the wrong crowd, and he was involved with gangs.

The Whole Ballgame: Kevin attended Claremont High School, and although he favored football and boxing, Grandma Josie steered him to baseball. She took him to Little League games, and even when he established himself as a major leaguer, she offered him batting tips.

Sprayberry Jones: My grandmother convinced me to go with the safest sport just to get away from San Diego.

The Whole Ballgame: A friend took Mitchell to New York Mets-sponsored baseball tryouts in San Diego in 1980. He hit two home runs off Bud Black, then a left-hander pitching in the Seattle farm system.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell's hitting ability impressed the scouts, and the Mets signed him to a $600-a-month contract as an undrafted free agent. Mitchell ascended through the Mets' minor league chain, starting with Kingsport of the Appalachian League in 1981,

The Whole Ballgame: and Lynchburg of the Class A Carolina League in 1982. He hit well, 335 and 318 respectively, while playing most of the third mostly at third base, but also in the outfield.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell was promoted to Jackson of the AA Texas League in 1983. On the field, he performed well, 299, 15 home runs, 85 RBIs. Off the field, Mitchell had his troubles.

The Whole Ballgame: He got in a fight in Shreveport restaurant. He complained of being singled out because he was black.

Sprayberry Jones: Once we were playing the Cardinals farm team in Arkansas and the people in the stands are throwing watermelon at me from the stands. They talk on how the clan would be coming to get me that night in my hotel room.

Sprayberry Jones: I have to admit it got to me. It upset my game. I'd never been in a situation like that before. I was never scared because I was always ready to fight.

The Whole Ballgame: Fighting was a part of Mitchell's surroundings in San Diego. It was synonymous with gangs and the violence in the neighborhood. The reality hit hard for him in 1984. While he was across the country playing for AAA Tidewater, his stepbrother Donald was shot to death in a section of San Diego known as Little Africa.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell's instinct was to leave the club and return home, but teammates Herm Winningham and Clint Hurdle talked him out of it. The distractions may have caused his fall off in offensive numbers, but still he was called up to the Mets at roster expansion time and made his major league debut September 4th, 1984 as a pinch hitter in a home game against St. Louis.

The Whole Ballgame: He batted against Bob Forsh and flied out. Mitchell returned to Tidewater for the 1985 Although his hitting improved from the previous season, he did not get a call up.

The Whole Ballgame: However, Mitchell broke camp with the Mets in 1986. Manager Davey Johnson played the rookie at six positions in the field, all but pitcher, catcher, and second base.

The Whole Ballgame: Even in a part-time role and being moved all over the diamond, the right-handed batting Mitchell hit.277 and belted 12 home runs. His defense, especially at shortstop, was a bit shaky.

The Whole Ballgame: I've always felt that it wasn't a total liability to have an average fielder at short who could hit, said Mets manager Davey Johnson. Go with the best offense you can put out there and then go with defense later.

The Whole Ballgame: Never made much sense to me to start your best defensive team, get behind, and then have to pinch hit.

The Whole Ballgame: After finishing in second place in the National League East division in 1984 and 1985, New York the division title in 86. new york claimed the division title in eighty six It was the Mets' first return to the postseason since 1973.

The Whole Ballgame: In a tightly played league championship series, the Mets defeated the Houston Astros in six games. Mitchell started two of the games in the outfield and went two for eight.

The Whole Ballgame: He started two games in the World Series against the Red Sox and also went two for eight. After the season, Mitchell was traded to his hometown San Diego team as part of an eight-player deal.

The Whole Ballgame: What could have been a nice homecoming was instead a struggle for Mitchell. He was installed as the starting third baseman for the Padres, replacing Greg Nettles. But Mitchell felt the pressures of playing at home.

The Whole Ballgame: Nor did he favor playing for Padres manager Larry Boa.

The Whole Ballgame: well Excuse me. Sorry, Adam. The pressures of playing at home. Nor did he favor playing for Padres manager Larry Boa, who drove his players hard. was a perfectionist and could be quite manic at times.

The Whole Ballgame: On July 5, 1987, Mitchell was on the move again, this time to division rival San Francisco in a seven-player deal.

Sprayberry Jones: It was good for me to get traded again. had a lot of pressure on me to hit home runs in San Diego because they lost McReynolds. And under Boa, you couldn't make a mistake without him hollering at you.

Sprayberry Jones: He put a lot of pressure on a lot of young players.

The Whole Ballgame: Right off the bat, Mitchell made a contribution to his new team, stroking a pair of two-run home runs against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in a 7-5 Giants victory. Mitchell settled in at third base and batted.306, clubbed 15 home runs, and had 44 RBIs for the Giants, who captured the NL West crown, but lost to St. Louis in seven games in the NLCS.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell was 8-30 with a homer and two RBIs.

The Whole Ballgame: In 1988, the Giants added center fielder Brett Butler to inject some speed and comedy into their lineup, and Matt Williams came up from AAA to play a third base, moving Mitchell to the outfield.

The Whole Ballgame: With Will Clark, noted asshole, at first base, the Giants had a solid nucleus for a good offensive club. Early in the 1989 season, Mitchell made a defensive play that has drawn huzzahs over the years,

The Whole Ballgame: In a late April game at St. Louis' Bush Stadium, the Cardinals' Ozzie Smith sent a fly ball to left field. Mitchell gave chase as the ball was headed to foul territory, and just as he crossed the foul line, Mitchell realized that he had overrun the baseball, reached up with his bare right hand to make the catch on the dead run.

The Whole Ballgame: It was an extraordinary play, but accurately displayed his athletic ability. Both Mitchell and the Giants had a banner season.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell was voted the NL Most Valuable Player by both the Baseball Writers Association of America, the Sporting News, after leading and the Sporting News, rather, after leading the league in home runs with 47 RBIs with 125 and slugging percentage 635. He was the National League's starting left fielder in the All-Star game.

The Whole Ballgame: Excuse me. The Sporting News also named Mitchell to its major league and NL all-star teams, and to the NL Silver Slugger team. I've never seen a power hitter stay in a groove so long, black or otherwise, said Will Clark.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitch just crushed the ball from the start and made it a lot easier for all of us. He was outstanding. Never hit me what I was doing.

Sprayberry Jones: He never hit me what I was doing. The ball looked as big as a grapefruit. I was going to the plate with a lot of confidence. I really didn't think the pitches could get me out.

The Whole Ballgame: The Giants edged down San Diego by three games to win the division again. Mitchell stayed hot, batting.353 with two home runs and seven RBIs in the league championship series in which the Giants toppled the Cubs in five games.

The Whole Ballgame: The Giants met up with their neighbors from across the bay, the Oakland Athletics, and the World Series and were swept in the earthquake-interrupted series by rather lopsided scores.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell avoided a salary arbitration and was rewarded handsomely when he signed a contract for $2,083,000 the season. It was a raise the largest in Major League history at the time,

The Whole Ballgame: for a one-year contract mitchell delivered smacking thirty five home runs and ninety ninety driving in 93 runs and batting.290, all outstanding figures, considering that he was dealing with bone chips in his right wrist.

The Whole Ballgame: He was named to the All-Star team again. Before the season was over, Mitchell signed his second contract of the calendar year, a four-year, $15 million pact.

The Whole Ballgame: He became one of the four highest-paid Major League Baseball players. But Mitchell, hampered by his wrist and knee injuries, Played in only 113 games in 1991.

The Whole Ballgame: He still hit 27 homers, and from 1989 to 1991, no player hit as many home runs as he did with 109.

The Whole Ballgame: However, problems were arising off the field during these banner seasons. In 1989, Mitchell missed a flight to Chicago during the League Championship Series and missed a World Series workout.

The Whole Ballgame: He was constantly late for workouts on game days during the regular season. In 1991, Mitchell left tickets to a game for a friend from San Diego, but the man didn't make the game because he was arrested in connection with the slaying of a San Diego police officer.

The Whole Ballgame: After the 1991 season, Mitchell was accused of raping an old girlfriend, but the charges were dropped when the woman failed to cooperate with the prosecution.

The Whole Ballgame: Shortly after the rape accusation was made, Mitchell was again traded to Seattle. In a five-player deal, Giants general manager Al Rosen had had enough of Mitchell.

The Whole Ballgame: Rosen was frank. He reminds me of Richie Allen, in a way, or Bobby Bonds. There are certain guys who just aren't cornerstone players to a franchise. They move around constantly, getting traded for players with considerably less talent.

The Whole Ballgame: Seattle is the fourth club that has had Mitchell, and I'm sure he'll see more before his career is over.

The Whole Ballgame: The Mariners were adding Mitchell to a lineup that included Jay Buhner, Tino Martinez, Edgar Martinez, Harold Reynolds, and Ken Griffey Jr. General manager Woody Woodward and manager Bill Plummer were enthusiastic about Mitchell.

The Whole Ballgame: Said Woodward, oh, I know this man comes to play. He wants to play. He's a gamer. Plummer said, there's an opportunity to fill that four spot. It was quality hitter. There's not many opportunities to get a guy like Kevin Mitchell.

The Whole Ballgame: But a season of promise and predictions of a 50-home run season in the Kingdome for Mitchell quickly turned sour. In the first two months of the season, he hit two home runs and had 20 RBIs.

The Whole Ballgame: He continued to battle a right wrist injury, was 25 to 30 pounds overweight, and was placed on the disabled list when he injured a muscle in his stomach while vomiting.

The Whole Ballgame: The Mariners finished in last place in the American League West Division. And what has become an annual event after the season Mitchell was dealt straight up to Cincinnati for relief pitcher Norm Charlton.

The Whole Ballgame: So tell me here, Kevin,

Sprayberry Jones: he must He must have had some bad chili dogs, Gabe.

The Whole Ballgame: what what do you think happened? what what Why did the wheels fall off of Kevin Mitchell in Seattle?

Sprayberry Jones: Probably all the seafood.

Sprayberry Jones: You ever catch a fish?

The Whole Ballgame: One of our prime goals in the offseason was to acquire a batter we thought could hit fourth in our lineup with the potential to hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs, said Cincinnati GM Jim Bowden.

The Whole Ballgame: Doesn't matter to me that Kevin was traded a lot. The important thing is that he's a first-class individual. We did a lot of research into his makeup, and we were satisfied. He uses a nice foundation, and his mascara cannot be beat.

The Whole Ballgame: The Reds were hoping that being back in the National League would be good karma for Mitchell, and Mitchell played well. In June, he had his longest hitting streak, 20 games, batting 421 with five homers and 16 RBIs, but a sore left shoulder and a broken bone in his left foot shut Mitchell down from late August to the end of the season.

The Whole Ballgame: He bounced back in 94 to lead the team with 30 home runs and driving 77. but the season ended prematurely on August 12th when the players went on strike.

The Whole Ballgame: The strike wiped out the playoffs and the World Series. Unsure of the future, Mitchell signed to play for the Fukuoka Dai Hawks in Japan 1995.

The Whole Ballgame: His reputation for being a malcontent followed him to Japan. A capsule view of Mitchell in a Japanese baseball magazine stated that though Mitchell was a superstar in the U.S. major leagues, he would not be a suitable role model.

The Whole Ballgame: The article projected Mitchell as a rude person whose behavior was reprehensible. my um My assumption here is that Satoharu Oh had something to do with this.

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, no.

The Whole Ballgame: On April 1st, 1995, season opener. Fuck. April 1st, 1995, the...

Sprayberry Jones: That's great shit, you guys. God damn it. I'm laughing my ass off here. Fuck me.

Sprayberry Jones: Sitting here sucking your other papa's cock. Just laughing at it you boys. So proud of you.

The Whole Ballgame: on april first ninety ninety five the Season opener, that image of the slugger was forgotten. The Hawks loaded the bases in the first inning. Mitchell came to the plate and was facing Taigen Kaku of the Cebu Lions.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell smashed a 1-0 slider from Kaku into the left field bleachers for a grand slam in his first at bat. He was the first player to accomplish the feat in Japanese baseball history.

The Whole Ballgame: But after only 130 at-bats, Mitchell left the team over a disagreement about a knee injury. The team doctors advised that he should still be able to play with minor ligament tears in his right knee, but Mitchell left Japan to seek a second opinion without asking permission from the ball club, which suspended him.

Sprayberry Jones: Thank you.

The Whole Ballgame: Back in the United States, it was discovered that Mitchell had cartilage damage, and he had surgery in August. Mitchell signed with Boston for 1996, batted.304 in 27 games with a pair of homers and 13 RBIs, but was traded to Cincinnati in midseason.

The Whole Ballgame: For the Reds, he hit.325 37 games with homers and RBIs. only.153 over 20 games released. He signed with Oakland in 1998 and was released he signed with oakland and ninety ninety eight and was released as well after 51 games and a.228 batting average.

The Whole Ballgame: The most games Mitchell played in any of those seasons was 64. After the release by Oakland Mitchell, 36 years old, requireded retired from Major League Baseball, he had hit 234 home runs, driven in 760, and batted.284.

The Whole Ballgame: In retirement, trouble seemed to find Mitchell. Idle hands, as they say. In August 1999, he was arrested for assaulting his father Earl, whom he was evicting from a rental home he owned.

The Whole Ballgame: In August 1999, he was arrested for assaulting his father Earl, whom he was evicting from a rental home he owned.

Sprayberry Jones: Do you think they just you think they just got done watching road while 99 Hogan and Nash in their retirement match?

The Whole Ballgame: You see,

The Whole Ballgame: You see, Earl had been a cocaine addict and dealer. He pawned Mitchell's 1986 World Series championship ring for drug money.

Sprayberry Jones: That's right.

The Whole Ballgame: Eventually, Mitchell was instrumental in getting Earl into rehab. In 2000, while managing the Sonoma County Crushers of the Independent Western League, Mitchell was suspended nine games for assaulting the owner of an opposing team.

The Whole Ballgame: In 2002, he was suspended seven games for punching the Solano Steelheads' third base coach for allegedly stealing signs.

The Whole Ballgame: Shortly after his retirement as a player, Mitchell had been diagnosed with diabetes. He lost almost 40 pounds in three weeks and as of 2015 had the disease under control.

The Whole Ballgame: Living in his native San Diego, he worked with children, mentoring and offering advice to them under the auspices of Athletes for Education, a nonprofit organization.

The Whole Ballgame: Most people would agree that Mitchell was a solid offensive baseball player and fundamentally sound defensively. It was often said that he with his natural ability, he might not take batting practice or stretch to read a scouting report.

The Whole Ballgame: The first pitch he saw at bat in a game was the first one he saw all day. It's all up here, Mitchell would say, tapping.

Sprayberry Jones: It's all up here. It's all up here, Gabe.

The Whole Ballgame: Mitchell would say, tapping the side of his head.

The Whole Ballgame: i miss one day and I feel like I don't have any timing or rhythm, said Red's teammate Hal Morris. He misses a bunch of days and loses nothing. It's amazing to see a guy do that.

The Whole Ballgame: On July 22, 1994, at Wrigley Field, Mitchell demonstrated his ability. As he sat at his locker, he was there was a scouting report on Chicago's starting pitcher, Mike Morgan.

Sprayberry Jones: Get this out of here. I know how Morgan pitches me.

The Whole Ballgame: With two men on in the first inning, Mitchell sent a ball deep into the bleachers.

The Whole Ballgame: The only question was whether it was going to go into Lake Michigan, quipped Morgan.

Sprayberry Jones: Everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth, Gabe. I'm gonna punch you in the fucking face. And then I'm gonna rape you.

The Whole Ballgame: Wait, me or Jeff?

Sprayberry Jones: No, I'm gonna rape both of you, actually.

The Whole Ballgame: That sounds good.

Sprayberry Jones: And then gonna make you rape each other.

The Whole Ballgame: and I mean, oh, good. good

Sprayberry Jones: While Don King watches from hell.

The Whole Ballgame: That's great. I was going to say, is Don dead?

Sprayberry Jones: We lost Don. Yeah, I don't know.

The Whole Ballgame: Did we lose him too soon?

Sprayberry Jones: I've been getting high with Ric Flair a lot. I don't know what's going on in reality. We get high and do cameos, you know?

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah. Yeah.

Sprayberry Jones: Fuck your mother.

The Whole Ballgame: Checking to see if Kevin Mitchell has been in the news again lately, but doesn't appear that that's the case.

The Whole Ballgame: Although I did see, you know, this has got nothing to do with this whatsoever, but our our buddy Lenny Dykstra got in trouble on New Year's.

Sprayberry Jones: Fuck your mother.

The Whole Ballgame: Did you see this?

Sprayberry Jones: Would he get caught in a produce cooler to fucking checkers?

The Whole Ballgame: Nope. ah DUI.

Sprayberry Jones: Getting jerked off by Tony Robbins?

The Whole Ballgame: New Year's Day.

Sprayberry Jones: Oh, yeah. You know, that's got to be even more damaging because there's zero chance in hell that man has a driver's license.

The Whole Ballgame: Yep.

Sprayberry Jones: So, like, it's probably suspended at least a decade ago, I would imagine. And take to get a DUI while having no license is not...

The Whole Ballgame: Yeah.

Sprayberry Jones: good no matter where you're at. so Nails might have just got the final nail there.

The Whole Ballgame: Well, ah we've covered...

Sprayberry Jones: I'm still going fuck the whores in prison, man.

The Whole Ballgame: i I sure hope so. We've covered ah Houston. We've covered Cincinnati, our kisser, our superstar. Now all that's left is to watch the whole ball game.

The Whole Ballgame: So where are we headed for it, Blake?

Sprayberry Jones: Beautiful Riverfront Stadium baseball night in America, July 25, 1994.

The Whole Ballgame: 17 days left in the season.

Sprayberry Jones: the owners and the players get a deal done?

The Whole Ballgame: Who knows? Find out next time right here on

Sprayberry Jones: a whole ball game.