0:00-11:00: Welcoming Hillary Kirby, one of the founders, OGs, and co-leads of the Maple Grove to the Lookout Landing podcast! Hillary grew up in Ferndale with a British family, which is not typically a recipe for baseball fandom. As she describes, an elementary school teacher provided the entry point. Less than eight minutes in, John Olerud’s outstanding invitation to come on the podcast gets rescinded. Both Hillary and Matthew commiserate over their childhood heroes being not-so-great people. Edgar Martinez, though, would never do a shirtless interview. Duh.
11:15-28:00: Chatting shit about cricket, the wonders of cinema, and Mike Cameron stories! Then, getting into the Maple Grove’s humble beginnings. How did it start? Who was involved? Surprisingly, part of the reason has to do with Canadians being mean. Matthew recalls his first Maple Grove experience, which came during a seminal James Paxton start. Hillary effuses her extremely distant relative George Kirby, talks about Nintendo characters, and laughs at vacuum salespeople.
28:30-44:55: Why James Paxton? What about him spawned such a passionate group of fans? What was it like to actually meet him before a game? How does the Mariners’ ineptitude affect the current players who have rarely seen a good team in Seattle? We also find out that Hillary hates John Halama.
45:00-1:01:38: Time for trauma, babyyyy! We’re re-living the James Paxton trade. But first, a Leonys Martín love fest. Other highlights include: an “Eh” card going to the Hall of Fame, Hillary & Co. doing a press circuit, and watching James Paxton pitch at T-Mobile Park as a Yankee. We end with the most important question: what do we think of beardless Pax?
Music: “Water Baby” by Tom Misch (ft. Loyle Carner) // “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy
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