 What's up and welcome to watching baseball. My name is Jimmy. This is Jake. We have been watching old baseball games to help, you know, get us through the quarantine and the no baseball times that we are stuck in. We watched a bunch of World Series. Now we're going to tie breaking games 163. Do or die. Will you get into the playoffs? Will you not? We watched the 1978 with the Yankees and Red Sox. We watched 1990 with Astros and Dodgers. We watched 1995 with Angels and Mariners. Now we're up to 1998 Cubs versus Giants. Just a reminder for everyone. We watch. We react. We did not study. We are not presenting you the information. We are getting the information. A lot of confusion sometimes there. Jake, how are you doing? Good, James. And I think what we're finding out is, well, I mean, there was the concept and that's the whole idea. But it's kind of where I ended last episode with the Seattle Mariners team that had come back and they, you know, they win 163. They win the DS. I mean, dude, we're jumping in 1998, which is a season that will always be remembered in baseball history. I mean, the summer of McGuire and Sosa and, you know, baseball is back and I mean, all these, all these memories and then obviously baseball is going to baseball after that. But obviously, I mean, half of the story there is slamming Sammy, Sammy Sosa. And so what I'm excited about is, and knowing the result of this game, is I mean, dude, just again, one of those fun seasons in baseball that doesn't have to end with a ring, but 1998 for a Cubs fan. I mean, game 163, Sammy Sosa, like, give me all of those emotions minus the normal Cubs' cursed stuff at the end. Yep. Clearly, this was the home run race, McGuire Sosa. I think it's funny if they were tied because game 163 stats count as a regular season. So imagine if they were both sitting on 67 or whatever, and then Sammy gets one extra game. He gets 100. Imagine the mayhem. That would happen. I mean, and it's so baseball, right? Like, you could just picture, you just picture hearing about that 25 years later. You know, Sosa got one more game. Yeah. And they're like, okay, easy guy. And yeah, there is a documentary 30 for 30. We're coming out on the home run race and we're all watching the last dance. I believe I read that Jordan threw out the first pitch for this game. I think you might be right. And it was in Chicago because of a coin toss. Same reason that the Mariners got home field advantage 95. They just did a coin toss. But anyway, let's get right into it. This is brought to you by not the shop at John Boy Media. Like usually this is brought to you by John Boy and Jake TV. It's another channel that we have where Jake and I watch old game shows. Greatest show ever called baggage, the newlywed game legends of the hidden temple guts. Same setup as this. We're actually recording an episode of baggage right after we record this. So if you enjoy just our commentary and banter while we watch things, check that out. It's a it's a lot of fun. It's just not sports. So it's got its own channel. All right, here we go. I think I'm going to throw it up on my screen there. Bam. All you missed was Jesse Jackson, the talking to a reporter. The Reverend. Jim, I think there's something important for you to know about this game is that the Cubs won before it started because they started Steve Traxell. I read his name in the baseball reference. And I mean, I think I said this last time he came up. I always think of him as from some bygone era, not 1990s. I don't know why. And he pitched. I mean, I think he was he kept pitching after the 90s. I know I don't know why. Imagine like to support. Right, right, right. Like he pitched Steve Traxell pitch to 2008. But yeah, man, just picture all the emotions that you stuff. We love the fans in the windows. That's that Dominican flag hanging out for Henry Rodriguez, professional hitter Henry Rodriguez. Well, man, the last thing you want to see is coming into the one game playoff and like this is going to be long, no matter what happens. You might have missed it. He had a real cocky take on the three one pitch or the three oh pitch. Just went bad on the shoulder and throw me a strike pitch. We're tied in the fifth inning here. The Cubs, the Mets were also in this race for the wild card that they lost out. Amazing. Henry Rodriguez and we've got a great name guy. Probably doesn't make the starting third baseman on the all name team, but Gary Galletti. It's great name. You weren't playing basketball. You weren't playing football. No, maybe football. I don't know. You can play football in high school. Yeah. That's a baseball. Gary Galletti. That Galletti kid will hit you. He's a ball player. I thought it was a strike. He didn't like to call. O2. So who's pitching for the Giants here? Mark Gardner. He went 3-0 on Rodriguez. Now he's O2 on Galletti. No earflaps. I mean, that's a... Now that feels from a different era. And dude, he's kind of got like a... That straight up stance isn't Agent Will. What an... It's Agent Will right there. What an awful O2 pitch. Yeah. Hope they show a replay. What an... Miserable O2 pitch. Oh my God, Rodriguez is running the base as slow as possible. Oh yeah. I think it was called Lappen. Henry Rodriguez is the guy that like when I was getting into baseball and you know, I'm a kid at this age. I'm nine years old or whatever. Like he's just the guy that they're like, yeah, professional hitter. So I don't think he was a big defense guy. I think Henry, he just went up there, controlled the zone. 19th home run. Is that his wife? Keep showing her. Next year is now. Both it is. It wasn't Cubs, it wasn't. Well, I mean, it kind of... It's an old space theory type stuff. We love the rat. It's a great sign. Is that because he kind of looked like a rat? Because that's so mean. It's tough, but sometimes that's how the ball bounces. Yeah, with a ponytail. We're going to the playoffs. What is it? A rain delay? What's going on in the field? That's such a bad O2 pitch. Was that supposed to be a changeup? Oh man. Yeah, I don't know what the design was there. It's just an awful pitch. Not good. See his reaction? That was a good shot. Simple reaction, just hands over the heads. Damn. Yeah, man. Who is this lady? Gotta be his wife. Wife, yep. Yeah, I mean, okay. Makes sense. Oh no. Yes. I see the rat thing now. Yeah. Go side profile on Gayetti. Yeah, that's an Italian schnozzle right there. Yeah. Okay, people were throwing stuff on the field. I'm so excited. Yeah, that grounds crew. They were like wearing nice jumpsuits. They are a squad. I think that guy just stole a curtain call, huh? I don't know. I don't know if they were asking for that. Take it though. Yeah, I mean, maybe with the grounds crew on the field, you gotta do something. It was more boredom. Yeah. How did Miller get excited about that? He hits a high. That was in front of the outfield. Yeah. Lamped up. All right, so that's the first two runs that break the scoreless streak. In the bottom of the six, let me skip around. We got full commercials here. It's crazy. Jimmy, can I give you a Steve Traxels pitching line on the day? Yes. 6.1 innings pitched. One hit. No earn runs. Six strikeouts. Six walks. Six walks? Oh, yeah. I'm trying to... I'm doing something a little selfish. Okay. What is this? The sixth inning, but there's two runners on. Ah, okay, I gotta go back. I want to see Sammy Sousa hit. Just this was peak Sammy Sousa mania in Chicago. I just want to see the fans react. He comes up with a runner on. I just think it's going to be a spectacle. Harry Carey balloon. Street, such a good time, people. Here he comes. Baseball's been Betty, Betty, good to me, I think that's it. Sammy, quote. Another good whiffle ball stance. At least for me. I saw two Sammy Sousa home runs live when I lived in Chicago. We went to the game. Pretty cool. Had to be 2,000. My dad predicted one to the guy that was selling us hot dogs. And that guy, like... was, like, impressed with my dad. I was like, come on, Sammy Sousa. Obviously he's going to say that. Ooh, big hat. I got to say right now, I guess it doesn't look cartoony. Like sometimes in McGuire, in Seiko, they look like not humans. In Seiko especially. Yeah, I mean... Yeah, Sammy, all those other guys have the height card pretty strong. So when they got big, they're stupid big. Sammy Sousa. I haven't been on his baseball reference page in a while. Actually, I don't think I've spent a lot of time on his baseball reference page at all. Pretty good pit stop. Won the MVP this year. And we got... That's good baseball. Just a breaking ball that Sammy poked through the infield, and he goes first to third. Right up the middle. Nine years in a row, Sammy Sousa got MVP votes. In those nine years, he averaged a 147 OPS plus. All right, let's skip to the bottom nine. I just wanted to see Sosa Mania. Because the Giants actually put together a fight, and we get to see Bonds. There's already a runner on first. I don't think it's worthwhile to go back. Billy Miller. And top nine is one. So it looks like Brent Main hit a single. Now you got... Miller versus Kevin Tapani. Five-nothing. Yeah. Hey, they put together a scary run here, I guess. That's probably the call now, right? Like, if you fall behind, just fucking toss one right down the middle. There's a baseball adage until, like, five years ago. Yeah. First to third. Very similar. Not as exciting because they're down five-nothing now. Back-to-back singles. Curse of the Billy Go. Yeah, that's... there's always fear for the Cubs. Things are gonna fall apart. I mean, they take this dude out. Back-to-back singles. Hey, you're done. Oh, yeah. Two pitching changes this inning. You interested in these old commercials? Terry Mahaland! Damn! 121 pitches a day before? And it kind of got hit. I mean, three in runs, sure. Nine hits, three walks. Stan Javier, Ellis Burks. And then Barry Bontz. Coming up. How many runners are on the Barry comes up? Well, there's two right now. We'll watch. We'll watch what we're doing. We'll ruin it for him. That's a nice shirt that guy's wearing. Referee shirt. I think I would have been a Stan Javier fan. I'm not too familiar with his game, but he... See that sign? No screwing around or I'll have to kill my friend. That's a good sign. Stan Javier. Classic. That's my shit in speed center field. That's my kind of dude. Tail as old as time, swing at the first pitch from a relief pitcher. And it worked out right there. Three straight singles, baby. That's a rally. I wonder when Miller and Morgan are going to put on excited voices. Because, you know, there's three straight singles and a run scored with no outs and they're still acting like this is a 10-nothing game. So I wonder, which is... I'm not a cruelly criticizing that's fair, but I wonder when we're going to hear them swing. Oh, we got something brewing here. We're going to hear that switch. Yeah. Okay, no lefties in the pen. Good to note. That's why they got Mulholland in there. Handsome Rod Beck. Man's man. Literally. Literally the reliever from a baseball movie in this time frame. I like that pitch right there. Ellis Berks. That's a baseball reference page you got to get on. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he... He had some big seasons. Dude, look it. You see that stats versus pitcher? Versus Mulholland, he was like 4'30 batting average. All right, you tell me I got to check out Ellis Berks. I'll do a quick scan. He's got a 40 homer season. He's... In 1996, he had 40 homers and 32 steals. Jesus. He won the MVP instead. Because that's an amazing season. Find out. Ken Kaminiti. Ken Kaminiti. Ken Kaminiti. Ken Kaminiti's numbers. I don't know if they're as impressive. Ooh. So he's got this guy. He's got him 0-2. He wasted one high. Looks like he couldn't snap it. Now foul ball. Redskins' woes. That's transferable. Nago again. Three straight hits to start the inning for the Giants. Nobody out. Reaching for it. Swinging it anything close here with two strikes. That was a good pitch as far as Mulholland is concerned because it wasn't a lot Berks could do with it. Double ear flaps. So we've seen zero ear flaps and double ear flaps so far. And single ear flap. I've seen all the kinds of ear flaps you can want. It's an ear flap. Renaissance. 2-2. 91 miles per hour. High. That's so slow for a reliever today. Crazy how much that's changed. It's... I mean, it really is nuts, man. I think we're going to see Uncle Rod Beck come in. I mean, if he's hitting 92, I don't know. That was 89. 2-2. I mean, this is a good time for a breaking ball if you ask me. I don't know Mulholland's mix. Don't try to... Don't bring that soft shit, Ellis Burks. That water fountain is getting a lot of use, huh? Good water fountain. I wonder if that's still there. That was a nice pitch, but, you know, Ellis is just fouling it off. Toying with it. Not getting that pass, Ellis. Yeah, to start 0-2. That's fantastic at bat. Ellis is pissed. You know this guy's only in to basically be there for Barry. Time. Woo. He's a very mental battle at this point. I don't know what he's throwing, man. That seemed like a fastball at his 88. Yeah, I mean, it is. It's a lefty reliever this time period. If you're a lefty reliever, you could have a pitch forever. And I mean, he did throw 121 yesterday. I thought he threw 121 pitches today. Yeah, that's what I just said. As a reliever? No. I mean, a starting pitcher, but he's coming out of the bullpen. He's got to have... I mean, he's a starter, so I figured he has four good pitchers. Where I can't tell the difference of any of them is what I was saying. Say three. I mean, he's coming in relief. These guys light him up. Everyone stats versus his pitcher. I'm saying. Got six homer... I mean, this is a huge at bat. Barry's got six homeruns versus this guy. A homerun ties the game in a do or die game. Zero outs. This is the good stuff. And you're the Cubs. Yeah, you're shitting your pants right now. That's a big call. Yeah. Very Sanchez, people. Drink it in. Is that armor illegal that Barry wears? I don't think so. I mean, it was controversial at the time just because not a lot of guys did it. I'm against it. But I mean, I think player safety and stuff has developed so much more than a pro by Sammy. That's not a good outcome. Yeah, they got to run. But you trade it out for a run right there. Especially with Barry. I think you potentially trade it out for two runs with Barry Bonds up there. I mean, he laced it. Yeah, just gets under that a little bit more. It's a different story. Now they bring in big sexy. Hmm. Jeff Kent and Rod Beck. I mean, this is some... I mean, look at Rod Beck, man. This is some redneck baseball right here. See, he's got a tin in his back pocket. No. 80 games this. 50 saves. Dude, just the mullet. This is Kenny Powers on the mound. A tin in the back pocket. Chomping down on gum or whatever he's chewing on. 36 pitches. Not in great shape. No. Debaterly in bad shape. Mullet. I mean, he's got a lot of cash. Hard to cut off on the sideburns. You know, like you said, this is the bad bully reliever out of the movie. This is it. Look at the radio that dude brought. It was like a handheld, like, lunchbox-sized radio. Harry Carey, right? I hope he had headphones at least. Let it crank. I mean, if I'm guessing here, I've got Rod Beck with a 92 fastball and an 80 slacker. Okay. We'll see what memory serves. They're doing so much BVP stuff. Two for eight versus Beck. That means kind of nothing. What's that? I appreciate it. Give me the information. For a reliever, that's actually a lot though. So maybe that is kind of something. The seat looks so small in that cub seat. It's just the W who's wearing it. Okay. First pitch was 80 with no movement. Gotta make him dance. Didn't snap it, Rod. Didn't snap it. Okay, so he's 88. 88.89? Yeah. I mean, that's what I'm saying. He's in my head a little bit just because you'd like to think that when you're throwing that dirt. That's slim. 79. Again, this guy had 50 saves. 50 saves. And he's not hitting nine. Different game. This is why modern players get mad when they put in old-timers on your all-team list. That's literally a guy's slider now. 75. Uncle Rod. I think he flipped the change there. Or his slider just doesn't move. He's throwing three pitches. 80 miles per hour, 79 miles per hour, 75. The second one definitely moved a bunch. Yeah. The second one didn't. I don't know what he's tossing. 86. I mean, that's his fastball at 86. That's tough. That's a lot of relievers change up. Yeah. Oh, wow, they could have had him. Tough play. I don't know. Good base running. Runner kind of got him. It was a chopper. Home run ties it. And here comes Joe Carter. Joe Carter with a penchant of big home runs. I think that's right. How old is Joe Carter? A damn it, fan. Joe Carter's coming up. Joe Carter was 38 years old. Hey, this is the last at bat of Joe Carter's career. The replay of it. You can go rewatch that game if you want. One of Jimmy's least favorite pitchers in history. The guy that fell off the mound with every pitch. Yeah, he's got a big nickname. Wild thing, but that's like a stolen nickname. He will retire when this season is over. Yeah. That's the time that he was retiring. 38 years old. Last at bat of his career. Unless it's a home run. Got to be a lot of weird emotions. He got traded from Baltimore to San Francisco middle of the season. And it's got to feel like a movie when you see Rod Beck on the mound. This is the one who's got to happen. Carter got traded and he did pretty good post trade for the Giants. You know, down season for him. Overall. 30th on the all-time homer list, man. That's, that's fucking awesome. You can't still be. No, but I mean for at the time to be the 30th best home run hitter ever in this sport, let's 396. What is Rod Beck's well? I'm seeing Slider change up 86 fastball. So they're saying he has a splitter which is, you know, change up or off speed or whatever you want to put up. Just chomping, just chomping to come. Menacing Where do we think Rod Beck is from? Which Southern state is he telling us? Give me the Rust Belt. Born in Burbank, California. Went to Van High School in Van Nye's. You had to net up. Rod. What? I like the swaying arm on the mound. That does something. Yeah, a chomping gum. I mean it's straight out of a maybe. Jim Riggleman, Jim, your guy. Yeah. Go Cubs, go. Have we heard from Jim Riggleman since he like walked away from the Nats gig? I do not know. So, I mean these games the last two, the home team won and they were decided by a coin foot. Which is a bad feeling. Seems crazy. That's how they did it. Gave them a scare at the end though. Game a scare. You know what was good though? Like it's good for baseball that in this 98 season they had a tiebreaker because the 98 season the home run race brought a lot of people back to baseball after the strike in 94 like okay. We know that it was steroids now and you can think however you want to think about that but like you know MLB had to be ecstatic that oh our game is finally on full display and it's the talk of the summer and now we give them a tiebreaker so that would be really good for the sport itself. Sammy's in the damn game. Yeah. And Bonds was there. So that was a cool premiere game. The Giants lose and the Cubs go on to get swept by the Braves I think. But for that one day they were heroes and we can be heroes just for one day and hey we I know we were being silly with Uncle Rod Beck there. He did pass away so if you're a Rod Beck fan know that we love what he was doing out there. Sure. Yeah. His nickname was Shooter which is great. Shooter. Dude he finished 70 games in 1998 like 51 saves but 70 games he finished in the ninth inning. It's all he does man that's all Rod does. He pitched in 81 games. They played 163 Rod Beck pitched every other game for the Cubs. No it's a fun thing that we're missing there Jim. The year before he was an all star for the Giants. Oh So that's a lot of fun. Yeah What are the Cubs just signed them to a one year deal two year deal and they traded them looks like a two year deal and they traded them to Boston halfway through in 99. To the Swax Yeah All right that was the 1998 tiebreaker game Cubs won it thanks for watching with us we appreciate you we'll see you on Wednesday and tomorrow check out sequence short proof bye