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This week on the podcast we take a closer look at the All-Star Game, which is just two weeks away in Cleveland.
Cody Bellinger will probably be a fan-elected starter in the outfield, while Hyun-jin Ryu has a better case than anyone to be named starting pitcher for the National League, which is chosen by none other than Dave Roberts.
We delve into the new voting process, and review how reserves and pitchers are selected, and debate which Dodgers will be joining Bellinger and Ryu in Cleveland.
Walker Buehler features prominently this week as well, with his transcendent 16-strikeout performance Friday, followed by a trio of walk-off home runs by Dodgers rookies, unprecedented in baseball history.
The last of those home runs, by Will Smith, had the Charley Steinerest of all Charley Steiner calls on radio. I demand that you listen to this call, in which Steiner thought the ball was a pop up to center field, only to be surprised, again.
Please send any questions for future podcasts to tblapodcast@gmail.com, or tweet us at @ericstephen or @jacobburch.
Also this week on the podcast, we discover what Scott Van Slyke and Ken Jeong have in common. Upon further review, this old tweet might have something to do with it. Maybe.
Sad that Dodger Stadium video board didn't identify Ken Jeong (attempting to pump up the crowd) as "The second-worst part of Community"
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) October 16, 2013
Dodgers rewind
This week’s Dodgers rewind is Trayce Thompson, before Will Smith the last LA rookie with two walk-off home runs in a season. The outfielder hit .207/.287/.407 with 14 home runs in 107 games in 2016-17 with the Dodgers, with a broken back curtailing his time in Los Angeles. He hit a pair of walk-off home runs in 2016, actually the last Dodger of any experience with two such dingers in one season before Smith.
Thompson, now 28, is hitting .233/.307/.508 with 18 home runs in Triple-A Columbus in the Indians organization. Thompson indirectly came to the forefront during the NBA FInals, when his brother, Golden State Warriors All-Star guard Klay Thompson, was asked about criticism of Kevin Durant.
Klay on why people question KD:" that's just the nature of the game, whether KD, Muhammed Ali, LeBron, Michael, who's a baseball player? all are questioned."
— Ann Killion (@annkillion) June 12, 2019
The fun reaction to “who’s a baseball player” from Klay is to laugh and wonder how he forgot about his own brother Trayce, but given the context it’s clear Klay was talking about all-time greats here. Still, a fun quote with some context.
Podcast links
Episode link (time: 1:05:01)