The DHC Podcast
Ever wondered what it’s like to be truly involved in sports? Wonder no more!
On this podcast, I’ll sit down with players, GMs, owners, and passionate fans like you to uncover how they fell in love with sports. We’ll dive into their unique journeys, explore the business side of the game, and discuss the endless possibilities that the sport offers.
From behind-the-scenes stories to deep conversations about the sport, I’m here to explore it all—while having a ton of fun along the way!
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The DHC Podcast
5 Questions : A Generational Love Story
Kelly Robinson shares his deep connection to baseball as a family tradition dating back to 1900 when the White Sox began, revealing how the sport has shaped his identity, relationships, and most meaningful life moments.
• First baseball memory at age three at Comiskey Park seeing Harry Carey sing
• White Sox family tradition spans multiple generations, unifying family members regardless of different beliefs
• How Twitter and social media connected him with fellow minor league baseball fans during 2020
• Experiencing the White Sox 2005 World Series victory after a personally difficult year
• Getting married with a vintage 1953 baseball theme outside Guaranteed Rate Field
• Baseball traditions including scoring every game since 2012 and walking the full concourse
• The consistency of baseball's schedule providing comfort and structure unlike other sports
• Finding happiness immediately upon entering any ballpark regardless of previous mood
Follow Kelly on https://www.threads.com/@theminorleaguenerd and check out his Minor League Nerd YouTube channel and podcast to explore more baseball content.
Make sure to follow the Dad Hat Chronicles: https://linktr.ee/TheDadHatChronicles
It's straightforward as long as it takes. If it's 20 minutes, it's 20 minutes. If it's 30 minutes, it's 30 minutes.
Speaker 2:I'll talk real slow.
Speaker 1:Right, super slow, all right. Well, welcome everybody to. I guess I'm calling this right now, five questions. Uh, a baseball fan should know, right, like you know, you know five questions to ask a baseball fan, right? So, uh, and with me is my good friend kelly robinson. I Guys, I have to say that on my phone I have him as Kelly Baseball. It goes from when we first met. I honestly didn't know his last name, so I just put him as Kelly Baseball and then it stuck.
Speaker 2:You even mailed the packages that said Kelly Baseball. I do.
Speaker 1:So it is Kelly Baseball. So, kelly, you are the minor league nerd. How are you doing, my friend? I am good, happy to be here, glad to be on, all right, awesome, awesome, all right, my friend. So let's get started. Let's just jump right in my question to you, and then this one is really cool, because everybody has their own story.
Speaker 2:So for you, kelly, when did you fall in love with baseball? It was definitely when I was really young. I can't. I can't pinpoint the exact moment, but I do know my I the very first. It's funny because virgil said he can't say that it was when he was three years old and it's like, right, I can. It was. I was three years old the first time my parents took me to comiskey Park to see a White Sox game.
Speaker 1:Unreal.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately I don't know the exact date. The oldest date I can go back to was a doubleheader against Detroit in 1980. Man, but my family have been White Sox fans going back to 1900, when the team started. Oh dude, so this is like tradition here. Yes, yeah, this is family tradition. It's more my mom's side of the family, my dad's side. My dad was a baseball fan, but my dad was more of a Bears fan.
Speaker 1:Also, he was a football fan more than anything else.
Speaker 2:He was more a football fan than baseball. My mom absolutely loved the White Sox. I mean, I had friends in the 90s who only knew my mom as sitting in the front room in the dark watching White Sox games Wow, so it's like my mom's side of the family. We can have different political beliefs, different tastes in movies, music, but the one constant with the entire family is the white socks. That's cool man, yeah, and which which? Which is what makes everything that's been going on the last several years hurt even more, cause it's it's not just me, it's it's a family tradition.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I do feel bad for a lot of White Sox fans. I mean, obviously we're on the same division. I'm a Cleveland fan, right Right. But to see what has been going on with that team, it's sad to see.
Speaker 2:To be honest with you, it all comes down to Jerry Reinstorf, and nothing is going to change until he's no longer with the team, which at the earliest will be 2029, which isn't soon enough, but at least we have a path at least you have something.
Speaker 1:Yes, right, yeah, but you know it could be, could be sooner, could be sooner, it could be, you know. So we'll see, at least you, you've won a World Series in your lifetime. Yes, I am still waiting.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it's funny because 2005 started off as a terrible year for me. Mm-hmm. End of an eight-year relationship and I thought it was going to be a horrible year, and then it turned out to actually be one of the best years of my life and baseball was there was like home up here. I got you home, boy, exactly it's, and it's funny because I'm I'm, I'm not superstitious, I'm a little stitious.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not superstitious we're not superstitious, but we're a little stitious yeah, you're right, but, but like you know, like most baseball fans not not as bad as paul, but like most baseball fans there's you know certain things you don't say, you don't when. So I went to socks fest in 2005. It was my first socks fest um, which is just their their fan convention usually in january and I went with my sister and I and when I left I'm like I have a good feeling but I didn't tell anyone. It's like I'm not saying we're gonna win the world series, but which will be there, I think we'll go far, but did not.
Speaker 1:Did not say anything you want to jinx it.
Speaker 2:You didn't want to jinx it no, no, I, because I know don't don't ever jinx it. I don't talk about a no hitter, or don't talk about a perfect game correct until it it's done right or it it's broken right and don't say how about those phillies to paul on opening day?
Speaker 1:absolutely, absolutely, don't ever say that. That's just crazy talk. No, so all right. Here's's question number two how, up to this point, you know being 2025 right now, right?
Speaker 2:But you know, how has baseball changed your life? It's, it's one of those things. It's funny Cause you you asked that with Virgil. It's like I know the answer, but it's just it's. It's affected my life in so many ways. It's like I know the answer, but it's just it's. It's affected my life in so many ways. It's like you know.
Speaker 2:First off, you know, I said I've I've been a fan of of baseball since I was three years old. So we're going on what, almost 50 years of just baseball being important. You know, there there was a point after the strike where it kind of faded back a little bit. Yeah, yeah, just out of anger, but out of anger, but also just like with a lot of people, you know, you, you get older, you start getting new interests. Yep, you do other things, but in in 03 is when I finally started going back um, but with with my wife, with christina.
Speaker 2:She, fortunately, when we met she was already a baseball fan. Oh, that's good. And she likes to travel. Oh my God, check, check, yes, perfect. So, like the year before she and I met in in in, we met in 06. So in 05, I took my first baseball road trip. So, like so many people talking on other podcasts or just in general. I got I've gotten to see so much of the country that I probably wouldn't have gone to see if it wasn't for baseball yeah like you know, the sawmill museum in clinton, iowa.
Speaker 2:I never would have gone to that, but I'm going to clinton to see the lumber kings, so why not?
Speaker 1:let's not make it stop there, yeah right, so.
Speaker 2:So so something for christina and I can do, because you know she loves to travel, she loves baseball, I love to travel, I love baseball, so that was great right there. And then, like, even when I was saying with before, about with my family, is you know, we might, you know that might not really have much to talk about, but we can always talk about the white socks, even if it is to complain about jerry which is you know it's a, it's a unifying thing, right?
Speaker 1:exactly? I mean I, I for for us is the dolan's. You know we can, it's what we do, yeah uh, but then in more recently.
Speaker 2:so when I I first joined and I'm still gonna call it twitter I first joined twitter in in 2010, but didn't really use it much for like the first eight years, and so then, come 2019, I'm like you know what. I'm going to start using it more because I want to connect with more White Sox fans, and I connected with some really cool ones, but I also was connecting with a lot of like the type of fans I don't really like to begin with, and it's like I don't like what you at the ballpark, I don't know, and I I kind of feel bad saying this, but they're not going to see this anyway. But it wasn't really until 2020, which which first, you know, for all of us, was just freaking terrible. It was the shit show, yeah, but one good thing came out of it, and is that so many of us who are actually huge baseball fans, focusing more on the minor leagues, all started to meet.
Speaker 2:So so it's like back in 2004, I had an explosion of friends when I started on LiveJournal, which pre-Facebook yeah, like I can point so many friends of mine that came from LiveJournal, and now, in 2025, I can look and point at so many friends that I've met through Twitter because of my love of minor league baseball. That's when Twitter really took off for me, which makes what happened to it even worse. Yeah, it's like it's all just comes back to negativity, but but it's like I so many friends I mean, I can't even tell you how many new phone numbers I've gotten in my phone in the last five, six years. Different area codes, different area codes yeah.
Speaker 2:area codes, different area codes yeah and so it's like so baseball has opened a whole new world of friends and and then it's, you know, creating the minor league nerd youtube channel and podcast, and then coming on with curb media just over a year ago yeah, it's been, it's been a.
Speaker 1:It's same with bees. Like since 2020, it's been a one hell of a ride so far, yeah, and it's amazing. And then you know, at the time of this recording right like um, we're just mere days away from our current media meetup, which is going to be, up to this point, the the largest one that we've had. You know what I mean because, like, we've had a lot of people we started with, like I think it's like less than 10 people the first time that we did it right, and now look at us, it's like this is amazing we got 30 people for the dogs on saturday that's, that's you know how awesome that sounds and 23 for the boomers, but that's just.
Speaker 2:Certain people just can't make it. Yeah, and I get it, I understand, but yeah, I, it's like I I'm like I was like hoping, like hope we can at least get 20, just because then it looks a bit happy with 20 with the team, and then all of a sudden it just kept people just kept coming and coming and coming and then it's like and it's just great, because it's not just people from out of town, it's local chicago people too. Yeah, so, which is great. Yeah, my sister and brother-in-law are going to be there, but they have dog tickets for that night. Anyway, friends of mine who know nothing really about curved brim, they're going to be there. So it's going to be a great time, that's going to be amazing.
Speaker 1:You can't wait.
Speaker 2:It's just so much positivity on top of positivity on top of positivity, which is what we need right now.
Speaker 1:Which is what we need right now? We need right now. Which is what we need right now exactly um? All right, question number tres. All right, here we go um. Give me, you know, give me a couple of your favorite baseball memories okay, so the oldest memory I have is with baseball.
Speaker 2:I again I can't place it exactly, but it's definitely in the late seventies, right, when we would go to White Sox games. We usually went on Sundays for double headers. Back when, you know, almost every Sunday, almost every other Sunday, was a double header Because my dad figured, if I'm taking a family of well at that point, four, soon to be five, I want to get my money's worth Absolutely. So we used to sit in the upper deck right Either I can't remember if it was over our left shoulder or right shoulder we would see Harry Carey. Oh.
Speaker 2:So it's like so my oldest memory is looking and seeing him singing, just broadcasting and then singing. Take me out to the ball game.
Speaker 1:And people only think that Harry Carey was Cubs. Yeah, you know, he wasn't he started with.
Speaker 2:He was in Chicago. He started with the white socks in Chicago.
Speaker 1:That's what I mean In Chicago. He started with the white socks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it was long time with the, the st louis cardinals until he got let go for. Uh, just not getting along with augie bush, yeah I mean yeah, but one one funny thing is.
Speaker 2:so when, when I was a kid, I remember sitting at a game wondering where the park was because we're at comiskey park and I wanted to go play at the park, me thinking a park was like a playground because you, my mom, would say, oh, I'm taking play at the park. Me thinking a park was like a playground Cause you, my mom, would say, oh, I'm taking you to the park. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we'd go to the park and you know there's all the rides and everything on. So I remember sitting up there looking around like maybe it's out there, pointing at the bullpen or maybe it's somewhere around here, it's somewhere around here, I don't know, I don park kind of a letdown.
Speaker 2:But then you're like, I get it, yeah, but I got to see baseball, so it was okay. Um, but I'd say, probably like for me personally, like just with me and and my sister and my dad, because, uh, even though my dad, my mom, was the bigger white socks fan, my dad went to more games, but, like I said, 2005 was definitely a great season. Um, opening day, a guy we're like I think we're the second row in the upper deck guy and on first base side a guy hits a foul ball. A fan catches it right by us, holds it up and says we're going to the world where we're winning the world series this year, and everyone's like, oh, yeah, sure, whatever, dude. And well, you know, nine months later he was right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But then from that season there was a game it was a Saturday night against the Dodgers, uh, where AJ persinski hit a walk-off home run to win. Actually it wasn't, it wasn't. It wasn't a walk-off, it was a go-ahead home run to win. And that was like when both my sister are like neither one looking at each other, like neither one of us wanted to say it, but we're both like I think we're going to win the World Series this year, right, and then obviously just winning the World Series.
Speaker 2:I wasn't able to get tickets to the World Series, even though I tried at one point at my job I had five computers going and couldn't get tickets oh my god for for game four, the bowls or the united center, uh, showed it there on on the big screen and so it's like the club level. And then when they ran out of space in the club level, they started going downstairs. So I went there with with my dad, my sister, a friend of mine, my boss at the time, and his son, and it was it really was unbelievable, it's like you know that's cool but just just experiencing it with my dad and my sister was just amazing.
Speaker 1:I bet dude, I love it. That's amazing.
Speaker 2:But then just traveling around with Christina just too many memories to list. Like I said, we're traveling all around the country seeing places when we first started. Like I said, I did it first in 2005. She and I have been doing it since 2007 and have done it every year except 2020. And it started off with friends at first. Like wait, you're just traveling around to watch baseball games. Like no, no, no, no, we're going to baseball games. That's the point but there's other things to do.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:We're stopping at museums. We're stopping at weird roadside attractions. We're going to the Vac vacuum museum in portland, oregon. We're going to this cool restaurant, these, this awesome bar. We're going hiking you name it. We're doing it, we're doing it, and then, yeah, then it's funny, just you know, finally meeting more and more people who do the same thing that's true.
Speaker 1:now there is and I'm surprised you haven't said it which is the story that you told me of your which. I'm sure you know this, but, like your wedding, oh yeah, that's a cool, you know, cause it's tied to baseball.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So we we had a vintage style wedding circa 1953. So our we, actually we got married on leap day. Uh, we wanted to do it inside the ballpark at guaranteed rate at the time, but I just had. It was just about a year off of a long bout of unemployment year, and a half thanks.
Speaker 2:You know, 2008 crash, um, and it was just it's really expensive to get married in the ballpark, so, and it was leap day, so it's like it wasn't even a baseball game going on. So we got married in front of the ballpark, out in front of guaranteed rate or rate field Now there's a monument to the 2005 world series, so the plan was to get married right there, but it was so incredibly windy that day we had all four seasons in one day. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it was so windy Christina's Val was just flying all over the place. So we went around the corner into the shade and air out of the wind and it was just a small ceremony. It was. It was us both my parents, her mom, my brother and sister, my niece and nephew, um, my brother's wife, and then one of my aunts and, uh, and Christina's mom were all there. And so a friend of ours married us in front of the stadium and it was right in front of the ticket booth for the socks, which tickets are on sale.
Speaker 2:And as we're finishing up, guy from the ticket booth is like oh, you should go inside and get a picture with the world series, yeah, because with the world series trophy, because the, the, the entrance in is like right there. So we walk in and it's like you walk in, there's the desk out in front of you and over to the left there's a a case with the world series trophy in there and the American league championship trophy. And we walk in and said to the woman working there's like we just got married out in front, can we take a few pictures? And she's like oh sure, no problem, married out in front, can we take a few pictures and she's like, oh sure, no problem. So we, we took pictures, my family, everyone, we're all taking turns taking pictures and they have off next to it seats from old comiskey park oh so christina and I are sitting in there and the woman comes up and she's like, do you want to go on the field?
Speaker 2:like, uh, yeah. She's like, yeah, you know you can't go on the actual field, but you can stand on the warning track, which is something that you would actually have to pay for if you're getting married there. And so, yeah, we got to spend like 20 minutes on the warning track taking pictures showing everyone where our season tickets were at the time and, yeah, for nothing, nothing that's amazing and that's a cool story.
Speaker 1:I tell everybody, like man, if you want to know a cool baseball story, you got to talk to my good friend, uh uh kelly he'll. He has a good story for you.
Speaker 2:When a baseball and wedding related yeah, and it it wasn't just me, it's all christina as well yeah, absolutely, christina was like obviously he was there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, so you got to talk to kelly and christina.
Speaker 2:You guys are not going to regret that and then then two days later is when we actually had our reception, because leap day was on, uh, on a wednesday that year, and so what we did is around the wall where we had our reception there were, they were like hooks. So we put all uh 16 caps actually 15, because I don't have a cubs cap we did the 15. We did the 15 caps in order of how they finished that year. So, like the yankees won the world series, so they were up top and I don't remember in 53, I do don't remember who won the nl pennant, but they were kind of lower and then, like american League was all on one side and the National League was on the other side, and then our centerpieces we actually had on a stick like a little card that had the team's logo from about that time and time on one side and on the back like the ballpark. They played in the pennants. They won in the World Series. They won.
Speaker 1:This is a very much a Kelly and Christina type of deal. It really is. You guys. I mean, there's no other way of putting it.
Speaker 2:It's definitely you guys and our invitations were copied from the 1933 All-Star Game, the first All-Star Game which was held at Comiskey Park.
Speaker 2:There you go I found an old ticket. A friend of mine designed it for us. Uh, we had a website full of all kinds of pictures, of baseball pictures, and another friend did that. So, yeah, I mean in and we, we rickrolled everyone at our wedding. Love it, christina. Christina came out to a, uh, a cello version of never going to give you up, nice, and and it was great because you could hear the laughter when, when it hit people, yeah, what it was like, as it's laughed, the rolling through, laughing other people like what's so funny, and and it's like this is, you know, never going to give up. And so there's a great picture of, like, the two of us laughing with our, our officiant, sean, like looking at us, like he's going to kill us both for doing it.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it truly was a great time. I love it, and, and, and we had hot dogs at our wedding. That's what I'm talking about had hot dogs at our wedding, that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we had hot dogs and uh and middle eastern wraps, hey, so I like that an actual hot dog, stand a cart.
Speaker 2:There was a cart there umbrella everything. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was a great time, all right question number four give me some baseball traditions or rituals for you okay, so one of them.
Speaker 2:I'll start just from the beginning. One of them is we always buy when we're traveling somewhere, going to someplace that's not you know where we have tickets for. We always buy our tickets in advance and we always usually try to avoid day games, but if we do go to a day game, it's always in the shade. Um, I score every single game yes, you do yeah, I and uh I.
Speaker 2:I've been scoring since every game since 2012,. But I took it a step further because I, in 2012, I actually started and I this is done I scored every single game I went to before then that I didn't score, going all the way back to the seventies.
Speaker 1:Jesus, dude, that took, that must've taken you.
Speaker 2:And yeah, it, it. It took quite a while, but the worst is, at one point I forgot we were up in, uh uh, the john hancock and I forgot my backpack in there and it I didn't get it back and they had a whole bunch of scorecards in there so I had to start over. Yeah, yeah, it sucks. Yeah that I took a long break after that Cause I was so frustrated, but, but on the tradition, so, yeah, we buy our tickets in advance. So if it's, if it's a new ballpark we haven't been to, or even one that we don't go to regularly, like we don't, we typically do it like white socks.
Speaker 2:When we our first white socks game, we'll always walk the concourse. Anytime we go, the first thing we do is we get in. I usually try to get there when gates open, at least for minor league parks, which is typically an hour. Get there and usually the first place we go to the team store, figure out what caps going to get and whatever mascots for Christina, maybe a jersey, any other merch and then, after we're done with that, then we we walk the concourse.
Speaker 2:360s are always the best, absolutely. Um, and as we're walking the concourse, we're looking at the food, which typically because I'm a pescatarian, so I eat a vegetarian who eats seafood isn't always the best choices for me, like I'm lucky. You know, cheese pizza tends to be the big one, and it's. It's great when you go somewhere that has a lot more option, but Christina is stopping at every stand to see because she wants to make sure she gets exactly what she wants and what she's going to be craving, and so after we get our food, we go to our seats, and which actually will usually check and see where our seats are at the beginning, just so we know.
Speaker 1:Just to have a general idea.
Speaker 2:Right, right and so, yeah, so after we get our food, we're in our seats and usually there before the game starts. At that, that's something that my dad did when we were kids. You go there, you get your food, you sit, you eat and you're ready for the game. True, it's like I know, like other people like to, to walk around during the game, get different perspectives, which I can totally yeah, I can totally, I can totally appreciate that. Or people like you know, mark Vick as, or or Spencer Collins, who do travel videos. It's like I would love to do that, but I want to sit in my seat and watch the game and score.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm the. I'm that guy Like I like to sit down for a couple of innings Right, and then I need to walk around, I need to sit and look from different point of views, and things like that. Usually, the berm is where I like to be at. Yeah, the berm is my, that's my spot.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, it's like, it's not that I never get up. No, no, no, no, no I'll go get a snack, or go take a snack, or, or you know, go take a picture or go to the bathroom, and the great thing is that when I do get up, christina knows how to score.
Speaker 1:So so you guys can switch.
Speaker 2:She can take, she can take over. Typically also, I'll take like an inning or a half an inning break anyway, yeah, and she'll score there. Might you know, if I'm gone there'll be like sometimes she'll be like I don't know what happened. You're going to have to look that up and that's what the app is for.
Speaker 1:The app is for and that's what you come in and you're like all right, let me you know like you can go back later on that day or whatever, when you get home. And then let me review this real quick and exactly.
Speaker 2:That's what happened in 2016. The White Sox had three triple plays and we were there for all three of them Nice dude and the first one happened. I went to the bathroom, I came back and she's like I don't know what happened. There was a triple play and I don't remember the exact order, but it's a triple play that had never happened before in the history of baseball.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 2:So and and it's always great too when, like, she's scoring, and someone walks by usually a guy and they'll comment like to their friend like dude, did you see that that woman is scoring? And that's wild. I mean it's because you know most people you don't see it anyway, and then typically you don't don't tend to see a lot of women. I mean there are women who do it. I mean I, yeah, I have friends who do it that are that are women, uh, but typically, yeah, you don't don't tend to see a lot of women. I mean there are women who do it. I mean I, yeah, I have friends who do it that are that are women, uh, but typically, yeah, you don't, you just you don't see it, and if you do, it's usually not a woman, so it's people are blown away when it happens it's true, that is true, but she wouldn't.
Speaker 2:She wouldn't do an entire game.
Speaker 1:No, she's like no, no see, I and I tried to do it. Don't get me wrong, I did, I tried. It's just my attention span does not allow for me to be sitting there the full nine innings. I gotta look, I gotta walk around, because I'm more of a. I like to see what's going on. You know, like the, uh, the, the players, what they're doing. All of that, that's just I can't good for you man, I I have nothing but respect for people who actually can't sit there and do that see the thing.
Speaker 2:For me is it also it.
Speaker 1:It forces me to pay attention more, not true, very true, not that I was, you know am not, but it's like no, no, no right, because you don't need to know every pitch and all that like lat at last year's meetup, I, I, I didn't, I.
Speaker 2:I tried scoring holly springs, I couldn't. It was just there was just too much going on too much going on, too much going on and it you know, there weren't that many people there, so we were able to spread out and joke around. We were talking, yeah yeah, but in the war was wonderful yeah, they, they asked for volunteer and christina signed us up.
Speaker 2:I'm totally okay with this, uh. But then, yeah, then, like durham, it's like we're, you know, we couldn't move around as much, we were all like stuck, so true, it was easier. And then, uh, in zebulon, with the, uh, the mud cats, it's like, well, this is where the shade is. I'm not leaving the shade, no but it was hot as all get out too. Yeah, I know, I know you didn't, did you?
Speaker 1:I know donnie went upstairs and said it was I stood, I I had no, I couldn't do go upstairs because it was like the sun was hitting it and I knew better than that. I, uh, I said I stood back in the uh, in that section right up right below you guys, where we were at, so I wasn't too far, it's just I had to stand up because there's just there's no airflow whatsoever no, no, I mean, and that's the thing it's like, I know everyone was concerned about getting shade.
Speaker 2:It's like, don't worry, I'm on it because because that was that was our concern initially about going. It's like there's no way christina could be in the sun that long. I couldn't take it either, but she would overheat in like two minutes and pass out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just, I get it, my friend. All right, here you go. You ready for the last question, number five? Question number five, numero cinco All right, kelly, why baseball dude Like? Why?
Speaker 2:So it's funny when you ask Virgil this question, I'm like I know the answer. I figured the answer out like 15, 16 years ago, so there's many reasons. It's just, of course, it's just that it makes me feel happy.
Speaker 2:It makes me feel happy and it's like I said this on on John Southie's YouTube channel when we went it's like and it used to be this way with the white socks, but for many reasons it's changed, not just Jerry, but it's this way with the dogs Like if I have a terrible day, I'm as soon as they scan my ticket and I go into impact field, I just get a big smile on my face and I just feel happy and at home. And it's the same whenever we travel and go to another ballpark. Like you know, it could have been traffic getting there, it could have been hell and I, you know. But as soon as they scan the ticket, all changes and I walk in. It's like this is where I need to be, this is my home. I figured out. My happy place is traveling the country with christina seeing baseball games. That's amazing, um so. And then there's just like the you know, it's the connection with my family, knowing that my family has loved baseball since at least 1900.
Speaker 1:that's amazing, like you have family members doing like the black socks, you know, like, yeah, that that was.
Speaker 2:That was that experienced that my, my dad, was born in 1945. He remembers going to white his first white sox game. I think he said it was in like 1948, 1949, and he remembers there used to be a bar across the street and my parent, my grandparents, would go in there for a drink at they'd sit at the bar, my dad would sit at a table having his coke. Yeah, and he, like he, clearly remembers that that's you see, that's why, why baseball right there, right.
Speaker 2:That's why but then another not as like as a big reason is I figured this out in in 2008, 2009. So I I grew up, I was a hockey fan, but I wasn't a blackhawks fan, because you could not watch Blackhawks games in Chicago. Of course. Bill Wurtz thought, oh, if I put like a lot of the old owners or if it's on TV no one will come.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just like when, when Charlie Finley owned the California golden seals and he put names on the back of his players jerseys, the other owners resisted because they thought, if the names were on the jerseys, we're not going to sell programs. Jesus, yeah, you know the 50 cent program, um, so, like, blackhawks were not on tv until after bill wirfs died, and so when he died, I was like you know what time I think things are going to start changing. Things are going to happen. So in the 2008 2009 season, we got blackhawks tickets. It was a nine game plan, um, but one day, while going to the game, I realized, like, one of the reasons it's baseball and then then hockey and then then soccer, is because, like, right now, I know who's playing and it's like it's you know. So, like right now, the dogs are off. Today, tomorrow, wednesday and Thursday, they're in Milwaukee playing the the milkmen. Saturday, friday, saturday, sunday, they're at home playing gary. You know the white socks. I don't know who they're playing next, but actually, no, yeah, right now, the white socks are off.
Speaker 2:Tuesday, wednesday, thursday, they're playing st louis. It's the consistency, it's the series, yep, yep, it's like you know, hockey or full football. You know, it's sunday, sunday, which is, you know, sunday and then thursday, and it's like I, when I was younger, I was more into football, but as I got older I kind of fell out of it. I'm more more into the history of football still. Yeah, um, but it's like, yeah, it's every sunday and like that's cool because you know people get together and they have parties or they go to the game. It's an event, it's an, it's a total event. Well, for me it's like it's not great knowing that that event is going on six, seven days a week with my team. And then then, just in general, I mean, yeah, we don't get affiliated ball on Monday, but we get minor league, occasionally independent, we get collegiate summer league.
Speaker 1:So it's the consistency of you have seven days a week if you want it Right Again.
Speaker 2:Right, right Hockey. It's like yeah, ok, you're playing two, three, maybe if you're four times a week, that's great. And then like soccer again it's once a week, four times a week, that's great, and then like soccer again, it's once a week, occasionally twice a week, depending.
Speaker 1:If there's any, like you know, any tournaments going on or something like that, then you may get a couple of games, but other than that, yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2:Right, or like lower divisions, especially in england. You know you play saturday and you play tuesday, yep, so it's it's knowing and that that that was. It was that day, while driving to a baseball game, and I remember talking or texting a friend of mine about it Actually the friend who married us, my friend Sean and like saying, you know, I realized why I like baseball so much. It's the consistency of the schedule, it's the series, it's knowing that this, this is who they're playing for, these, you know, sometimes two games, sometimes three, sometimes four days, yep, and now the terrible minor league schedule of six games.
Speaker 2:I hate the minor league schedule your your poll from like a few weeks ago. I didn't see it until after it ended. Yeah. And I put on yeah, yeah, yeah, and I it's like when I saw that people's like, the majority of people said they liked it it's like like what?
Speaker 1:the hell are you talking about? Do you even know exactly? Like, yeah, I, and I don't think people really understood, like I said, minor league baseball. Some people were talking about major league baseball. It's like no, no, no, no, no, not, not major league, like major league has its own. Yes, m-i-l-b, yeah, m-i-l-b, minor league baseball, right, and um, you know, people have their love for it, but it is what it is yeah, I, I and I saw someone comment like I couldn't imagine being a season ticket holder and seeing the same team six days six days.
Speaker 1:It's just, it's just. And they, they're saying it for the sake of like, you know, the sake of like saving money or whatever I'm. I'm not too keen on that, but whatever.
Speaker 2:No yeah, well, if they're, if it's to save money, why are they doing interleague play like, why did? Why did uh durham open? Uh on the west coast?
Speaker 1:right, exactly like all the way over the in the west. You know what? Never mind. Yeah, we don't want to dive into that this is a different podcast wrong show yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, make sure you follow the uh dsc sports show tuesday and thursdays, 9 pm eastern time. We'll talk about that there, kelly. Thank you so much, my friend. I really appreciate you coming on and giving us a little bit of time and talking about these five questions. Where can people find you on the socials?
Speaker 2:So my personal stuff I'm on. Pretty much the only thing that's really public is my Twitter, which is just Calibration, but then for Minor League Nerd, so it's a YouTube channel and a podcast. Youtube channel is just minor league nerd. Same with the podcast. It's a podcast, is it's basically the same, just audio format only just audio format only. It's just search minor league nerd.
Speaker 1:It's on all platforms and all the social media handles are minor league nerd there you go and uh, as far as myself, uh, same thing I just look for uh, the dad hat chronicles um soldiers. Make sure that you catch uh, like I said, the dad hat chronicle sports show tuesday and thursdays, 9 pm eastern time. You know, we talk all sports, not just baseball. Uh, some football, some hockey, collegiate wood pad. We talk all of that stuff, guys. So make sure you guys uh follow my good friend kelly and uh we will see you guys on the next episode. All right, thanks for having me. Absolutely, my friend.
