Baseball's Summer Break ⚾
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Episode 108 Description
Get ready to head to Denver for the Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. 🌭 Correspondent Kenny Curtis swings for the fences and breaks down the "DH rule."🧢 Listen as he shares a new rule that is being tested in the MLB's Minor League. 📰 From the headlines: Hungry for cheese and Ritz crackers.🔥 Test your baseball knowledge in today’s Trivia on the Ten! 🧐
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TRANSCRIPT:
Various Voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Various Voices 00:06
I'm Bethany Van Delft. And this is The Ten News where we get the lowdown on what's up in the world.
Bethany Van Delft 00:12
It's Tuesday, July 13th.
Bethany Van Delft 00:15
All the stars are flying as baseball swings into the All-Star Game today. So batters up, and let's dive in.
Bethany Van Delft 00:31
Today in Denver, Colorado, baseball fans are getting to see the biggest and best stars take the field in the All-Star Game. For some players, they get a break from the regular season, and for others, it's their time to shine. Also known as the Midsummer Classic, the All-Star Game pits the National League versus the American League, and every year fans vote on who they'd like to see play on each team. The only rule is that all 30 major league baseball teams need to be represented out on the field.
Bethany Van Delft 01:03
The very first All-Star Game dates way back to 1933 in Chicago, where baseball legend Babe Ruth hit the first home run in all-star history. Since then, the game has only ever been canceled twice, once during World War Two, and the second you guessed it last year during the coronavirus pandemic. This year's game wasn't without controversy either. You may remember our episode from back in April, where we covered how the game was supposed to take place in Atlanta, Georgia. But the MLB announced that they would move it. That's because Georgia had just passed some very restrictive voting laws that would make it more difficult to vote in elections, and especially targets people of color. It was a big stance for the MLB which made the statement alongside other companies like Delta Airlines and Coca Cola. As for the law itself, there are currently several lawsuits happening in the courts trying to get it overturned. And that's why now the game is in Denver, Colorado. As a little warm-up to the All-Star Game, yesterday, players competed in a Home Run Derby, where we saw which slugger could hit the most home runs and we got to see those up close. I mean, like really close. The MLB actually outfitted players with helmet cameras. So viewers get a front-row seat of what it was like to hit one out of the park. Some of those homerun heroes play a position called the designated hitter or DH for short. Here to tell us more about the ins and outs of the DH is our sports correspondent Kenny Curtis.
Kenny Curtis 02:55
Well, that one by quickly didn't it. It feels like the warm weather just got started, and here we are mid-summer already. That means it's time for a break. No, no, no, not a commercial break or a snack break or anything. Although I could go for some chocolate-covered raisins right about now. I'm actually talking about baseball's famous All-Star break, which is basically how baseball fans break up the summer. You see in the middle of the summer season, Major League Baseball takes a four-day break and has an all-star game where the best players from each league play each other in a game that's basically just for fun. [SFX] Major League Baseball, the MLB is made up of two leagues, the American League and the National League. They used to be two entirely different organizations, but they merged together back in 1903 to form the MLB. They're pretty much exactly the same, except for one obvious difference, the DH Rule, and this is what we're going to look at today. In baseball, every player has to take a turn at-bat. But in the American League, the pitcher is the exception. They don't ever have to bat and the team can substitute another player to hit for them throughout the game. That person is called the DH or designated hitter. The National League doesn't play this way the pitcher bats when it's his turn. However, in 1973, the American League started using a designated hitter to take the pitcher spot in the batting lineup, and it's been a sore spot for baseball fans ever since. It's especially confusing during the playoffs in the All-Star Game in the World Series where players have to follow the DH Rule of the home team. Even though they may not have played that way for most of the regular season. But changes could be coming. The league is experimenting with a new DH Rule that has the potential to change the game. MLB fans do not stress this new rule is being adopted in the minor leagues for the 2021 season and won't have any immediate impact on the MLB, this is just a test run.
Kenny Curtis 04:58
Now the minor leagues are basically professional teams whose players aren't ready for the big leagues yet. Literally, that's actually where that expression came from. It's still professional baseball, but it's basically the training program for the MLB. And this includes testing out potential rule changes. Which brings us back to the new DH Rule they're testing out. It's called the Double Hook Rule, and it would limit the team's use of a designated hitter to only when the starting pitcher is in the game. If and when that pitcher is pulled from the game, the designated hitter goes with him. The team would then have to use a different player to be the designated hitter, or let the new pitcher bat for the rest of the game. Now, this is important because teams use multiple pitchers throughout a game. Pitching is hard work. And sometimes the players get tired, or the manager of the team thinks a different pitcher would do better against a certain hitter. The goal of this new DH Rule is to hopefully address some of the differences within Major League Baseball. The idea is that in a way, this new Double Hook rule will serve as a compromise between the two styles of play. The rule also aims to increase the playing time of the starting pitchers, while still providing coaches the opportunity to formulate a game plan around when to pull the pitcher. This is a plus for fans who like the strategy element of the game. But like I said, they're still trying it out. If the new rule is well received in the minor leagues, we might be seeing it soon in the MLB. Maybe even in the All-Star Game, but in the meantime, pass the popcorn and the hot dogs and enjoy the game, no matter who's at-bat.
Bethany Van Delft 06:43
Thanks, Kenny. It'll be interesting to see what changes might be made to America's national pastime. Oh, and I'll take some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, please.
Bethany Van Delft 06:56
Now let's check in on some headlines.
Bethany Van Delft 07:05
The container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal three months ago and became a meme heard round the world has finally set sail. The ship’s owners and the Egyptian authorities finally reached a financial settlement after months of talks.
Bethany Van Delft 07:23
In TV news, the hosts of America's Got Talent rewrote the rules of the game after hearing nine-year-old victory Brinker deliver a powerful opera performance. In a first for the long-running talent show. Every judge including Simon Cowell hit the golden buzzer, which sends the contestant straight to the live show round.
Bethany Van Delft 08:04
Ritz crackers recently said on their Tik Tok, that the ridges on their famous crackers actually serve a purpose— to cut cheese. Mind. Blown. And that's not the only bit of cheese in the news. In Wisconsin, a new bill has been introduced that could make Colby the state's official cheese. The state makes more than 45 million pounds of this stuff every year.
Sound Bit 08:40
What, what, what? What's the bag idea?
Bethany Van Delft 08:48
Trivia on The Ten. You might think some Pokemon cards are worth a lot of money. They've got nothing on baseball cards. Recently, one baseball card became the most expensive ever sold at $6 million. Which player was on it? Was it A) Mickey Mantle, B) Hank Aaron or C) Babe Ruth?
Bethany Van Delft 09:17
Did you guess it? The answer is C, Babe Ruth! The same homerun slugger who knocked it out of the park during America's first All-Star homerun Derby. The card in question is what's called a pre rookie card and it dates back to 1914. Wow, only 10 copies of the card exists. It features 19-year-old Ruth as a minor league pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. He would go on to play outfield for the Boston Red Sox. And, then for the New York Yankees and the majors. He earned his legendary nickname, the Great Bambino, for his high-flying home runs The Hall-of-Famers card, which was sold at auction to a collector actually un-seeds the previous record, a 1952 Mickey Mantle card, which sold for more than $5 million. Holy moly cha-ching. Hang on to your Pokemon cards. Ya never know.
Bethany Van Delft 10:22
Time's up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. You can go deeper into today's stories by visiting TheTenNews.com The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeart Radio. The creative team is now very hungry for cheese and includes Kate Hale, Tracey Crooks, and Pete Musto. Kenny Curtis contributed to this episode. Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to The Ten News.
Bethany Van Delft 11:09
And now I'm gonna go listen to the three blinkers golden buzzer performance. Again and again, probably
