How to score 10 runs in the first inning and lose | Dorktown 

Imagine you're a kid in the stadium, watching your first baseball game ever. You'd think that baseball is the most thrilling sport ever, that Steve Jeltz is a superstar, that every at-bat of every inning matters. Imagine your confusion the second time you watch a baseball game.

Bob Walk, combining two of Jon’s favorite areas of study in one perfect name.

A fun part of this story I'm surprised you didn't mention. Ten days later, the Pirates took another 10-0 lead against the Cardinals. Rooker's boothmate Larry Fratare didn't let that go unremarked upon: "So, what if we lose this game?" Rooker responded: "If we lose this game...our road record will be 11-23."

I was at this game. I was twelve. My stepfather got home late from work that evening, and we finally got to the Vet a half hour late. We found out walking up to the gate that it was already 10-0 Pirates and still just the first inning. My stepfather didn't want to bother going in, but I begged him. In my mind it was still just the first inning. And when you're a kid who grew up poor, every major league game is bigger than life. He relented and we went in. We had seats on the first base side up in the 500 level. When we sat down, I remember the people around us were hardly paying attention to the game. But the next few hours became this absolutely magical communal experience. The upper deck at the Vet had that well-earned reputation for being rough, but by the time Curt Ford got tagged out going for a three-run inside the parker, people from every walk of life were high fiving and hugging each other. I'm 45 now, a lifelong Phillies fan, and I've had some amazing experiences at the Vet and now CBP. I saw Schmidt's 498th home run, and I was there for Mulholland's 10-inning complete game. But that game in 1989, nothing could ever come close to that, a twelve year old witnessing lightning in a bottle. Or rather, a bat. Steve Jeltz's bat. Man, I love baseball. And I love the Fightin' Phils.

“Bob Walk? More like Bob Walk.” This might be the dumbest joke I’ve ever heard Jon make, you get to pull off pretty much one of these in a fairly extended career, and you certainly did, I’m still giggling Also thanks Katie

Jeltz reminds me of a quote from Brian Scalabrine “I’m closer to LeBron James than you are to me”. Steve Jeltz is miles closer to being as good as Barry Bonds than any of us are to being as good as Jeltz.

I honestly love the Rooker plot twist. If you go into the video blind, you are lead to believe that this man’s walk _somehow_ is related to the baseball game, but how is not clear. There is no clear hint as for why this man is being mentioned. _And then the punchline lands._

Something that Steve Jeltz can hang his hat on with pride: He was the only major leaguer in history to be the primary reason another man had to walk across an entire state to settle a bet. Jeltz did more in his 7 seasons that a ton of major leaguers never do: Hit two home runs in the same game he didn't start (and the game wasn't extra innings), and also did it from both sides of the plate. He also won another game with a walk-off HR. He got to play multiple positions. He survived playing under the scrutiny of Philly fans and media. He's the epitome of the joke "What do you call the guy that graduates last in his class in med school?" "Doctor." He got to the show, it wasn't just for a cup of coffee, and he did some positive things despite his historically bad numbers. Many of the coaches he played against or for never got out of the minors, same with broadcasters. He played longer than the average career, and it seems he still had fun the entire time. He won.

I just wanna say I appreciate that some of the greatest writers I’ve ever heard decided to talk about sports

I can’t express how perfect these videos are when it comes to weaving stories, stats, and sports together. Thank you, we all appreciate the effort and care you put in.

16:03 “Of all the places one could possibly land on this enormous spectrum it’s this specific tiny one that will land you the most criticism and the greatest disrespect. You’re the least good player on the biggest stage.” That hits deep. We often take for granted how relentless guys in any pro sport worked to even make it there. There’s a cosmic beauty to find in Steve Jeltz being part of a rare group that not only made it into the big leagues, but had his one moment of glory.

Steve Jeltz was my coach for a few years. He really is an amazing guy who knows a lot about baseball

It's nice to know that there are baseball teams other then the 2022 Angels that are so skilled in blowing games in spectacular fashion

13:10 And one of them was named Bob! That's so great! Also, did you notice how many Bobs were playing in both teams? The field was filled with Bobs that day. That makes the game extra special.

I give Rooker a lot of credit. He could have laughed the statement off, but instead turned it into a charity event and followed through. Good for him.

13:43 "Bob Walk? More like Bob Walk" takes the prize of dumbest joke I've ever actually laughed out loud at

15:49 "I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me." - Brian Scalabrine

Jeltz: "I'm going to learn how to switch hit" Everyone: "But you can't even do the normal one"

Rooker actually addressed what he said again later in the game (yep, I still remember listening to this on the radio as a teenager). When the Phillies got really close, he nervously and disgustingly blurted out something like "obviously I won't actually walk back to Pittsburgh if we lose." It was a textbook example of someone's worst fear of eating their words.

I personally love the shot you took at the University of Kansas calling it a “football school”. The Jayhawks are the Steve Jeltz of college football.

As a Phillies fan I have actually heard of Jeltz...because and only because in 2017 the Phillies signed a pitcher that never pitched for them named Steve Geltz, and a there was an article that noted 'hey that's funny'. Oh, and thank you Katie!

Wow it’s a pretty crazy coincidence Jon said the exact same thing as Barry Bonds word for word

Good for Rooker. As a native Pennsylvanian, the DRIVE from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh is excruciating. I can't even fathom walking it.

Jeltz. Incredible. I’d rock his jersey. The will to keep fighting when everyone sh*ts on you, that is pure grit and love. Respect.

"Kansas is more of a football school" BRUH 🤣🤣🤣

I don’t understand how you guys can make me care about a person I never even heard of, but Steve Jeltz is gonna be stuck in my brain for a week now. Thanks guys

This is the thing I've always appreciated most about baseball: the fact that they play so much of it, and have for so long, that the wildly improbable becomes... almost inevitable.

I like to think Steve Jeltz is watching this video and smiling because someone is finally recognizing his MLB accomplishment

This is peak sports storytelling. The topics, arrangement, editing, producing... Amazing work as always, folks.

Be proud of being in the 2nd percentile John! I rode the bench on a small town HS baseball team with 10 players on the roster.

I love that chart at the 14:30 mark showing the full spectrum of baseball players, and where Steve Jeltz lands on it. For example, we know that about nine percent of all high school players will play at some collegiate level, and about two percent will play at a D-I program. (Jon's back-of-the-napkin estimate for "average college players" is five percent, so he has the right idea.) This is a concept I raise whenever I hear someone talk about how Michael Jordan was "bad at baseball." Compared to a MLBer? Literally not in the same league. Compared even to his own Birmingham Barons teammates? Sure, less than great. However, when placed among a continuum of all people who ever played the game at the high school level or better, MJ was probably in the top 1% despite not having picked up a bat since high school. I don't think non-baseball people truly appreciate how good even Double-A baseball is. What Jordan did would be like Mike Trout quitting baseball right now (oddly, also at the age of 31), attemping to play basketball, instead "only" making a G League roster, then having people refer to him as a "bad basketball player."

The ability of these two to tell a story I’ve never heard with people I’ve never heard of about a team I don’t care about in a sport I don’t care about and to keep my focus the entire time is incredible.

the way these videos immortalizes people like bob sura and steve jeltz into sports history never ceases to amaze me. the storytelling, production, and effort in these videos is unparalleled and the world is a better place for them. also thanks katie!

I actually remember watching this game as an 8 year old at my grandparents. It was pretty exciting as a young fan bonding with my Pop Pop who was a huge Phillies fan. Unfortunately he was gone by the time the Phillies won in 2008, but I thought of this game and cried like a baby after Brad Lidge sealed it. I know you were smiling up there Pop Pop. Thanks for bringing me back Secret Base.

99.99% of us ballplayers were just like Steve Jeltz at some point in our lives at the level of the game where we got filtered out, where if only a single person were to be cut, it'd be us. It's rare to ever find such solidarity in a pro athlete. Though his numbers may not be impressive, his dedication and effort is what makes this sport great. Steve Jeltz, we see you!

This is like a greek myth its morally complete, mystically improbable and punishes a mortal human for his words.

I was there that night on my 7th Birthday for Steve F. Jeltz's crushageddon. That cat couldnt hit a ball out of a paper bag but those 2 straight homers from both sides of the plate shows how wild the Phillies were in their history, 10,000 losses plus, just 2 championships, once before I was born and the last in a game where it wasnt even played in the correct city due to a ridiculous number of rain delays and rain outs just like in '86. My God, Steve Freakin Jeltz!!

"Kansas is more of a Football school." - Jon Bois I think this is his greatest quote yet.

I'm from Pittsburgh. That game is one of my sharpest childhood memories, even though we mostly listened to it on radio while we were out on a trip to an ice cream shop. I made a rough attempt to calculate the odds right after Rooker tempted fate. I never settled on an exact number, but I was giddy at how high the odds must be. I was & am a Pirates fan, but that night I chose chaos.

What's nuts to me is that Jeltz had an OPS+ of 101 in 1989. This game was an outsize portion of why for one year in his career he was actually a tick above average.

I wouldn't characterize Jeltz's switch-hitting as bad, without a qualifier. Yeah it was bad, but it was much better than before! Before switch-hitting, his career on-base average was solidly under .300, and his on-base against RHP was also consistently under .300 After making the change to switch-hitting, his on-base against righties improved a lot, becoming his single biggest asset and only consistent positive contribution at the plate. The change worked.

The absolute wildest inning in the history of baseball was in June of 2004. Texas rangers versus Detroit tigers in the fifth inning. I believe that is the game where the Detroit tigers scored nine runs in the top of the fifth inning, then the Texas rangers responded with 10 runs and the bottom of the fifth inning to tie it up. Both teams battered around twice in the inning, and it took over an hour to play it. The game went to extra innings and Texas won with a score of something like 16-15.

People who preserve baseball stats are real life heroes. Thank you Katie

It was billed as "Jim Rooker's Unintentional Walk". We old school Bucco fans remember it well.

28:50 This bit had me on the floor, it looked like Jeltz stole Barry’s talent for just this game

Got an audible "oh my god" from me comparing his HR% to the average pitcher. Great video.

An all time great underdog story! For one night, Jeltz got to live a childhood dream of being the most badass player in the game. Also happy that SB points out that despite his numbers, he's still better at baseball than almost all of us.

The way he said “ I sure hope nothing weird happens” is how I live my life.

This channel is literally the only reason I still know anything about sports

“That homer which can only be described as one of the most stunning ever” Bartolo Colon- *I took that personally*

Jon's sarcastic "I sure hope nothing weird happens" at 5:12 got me giggling cause he lives and breathes sports weirdness

Watching ballgames with my kids, sometimes they would ask me "Is that guy a good player?" "Are you kidding?!? He's a major leaguer. He has skills and talents that you and I can hardly imagine. Do you have any idea what it's like just to stand in the batter's box and face a major league slider? Let alone try to hit one? Let alone actually hitting it?!?" "Yeah, okay" my child would answer, "But for a major leaguer, is that guy any good?" "Oh hell no. He's only with the big team because someone's hurt."

“Bob Walk? More like Bob Walk” sent me

Mark Grant made a similar bet last year when the Padres went down 8-0 last year with Max Scherzer on the bump. He said he would walk to petco from the far out suburb he lives in 30 miles away. Daniel Camarena, a relief pitcher hit a grand slam and the rest is history.

I was at the game when Jeltz hit his 2nd career home run after a long drought after his first. My recollection is that the homer helped win the game and I and the other fans went nuts. He was a below replacement player on a bad Phillies team. But he does have a special place in the heart of this long time Phillies fan

Dorktown videos are simply amazing full stop - but these videos must be without a doubt the best free content on the internet. Every episode contains a staggering amount of deeply-researched information and fluent storytelling. Just wow. Thank you

this is as weird as a couple days ago when the angels homered 7 times and still lost

Pittsburgh Pirates: Ten runs in the first inning!? There’s no way we can lose! Atlanta Falcons: We’ve got some bad news…

I had completely forgotten how the video began on a man walking from Philly to pittsburgh until the final minutes. Amazing story telling thank you.

Never fails to make me tear up. I go back to this video when I’m feeling down, sometimes you just have to keep working and amazing things can happen

The fact that the pitcher was named Bob Walk is the most hilarious thing I’ve seen all month

Jon Bois and Alex Rubenstein are my heroes. I can never repay them for their work and what it means to me.

That spiel about how Jeltz made it is why I appreciate depth players so much and do find any stories I do come across fascinating. It really is hard to forget that even the worst players in these major sports are elite among elites compared to the everyday man. One sportscaster I sometimes listen to talked about how some flag football enthusiasts played against some a former backup quarterback and that he absolutely crushed them despite being out of the game for so long. They only really look bad against other elites among elites. Two specific players that come to mind are Trevor Plouffe, a former MLB player, and Lil' Jordan Humphries, a current NFL player. I listen to Talking Baseball on occasion and got curious about what Trevor's accomplishments were as a former big leaguer, and he was an average player for a while. When he talks on that podcast, it feels like he has a ton of knowledge and insight, and it made me appreciate more just how good you have to be at a game to be even an average player. In the case of Lil' Jordan Humphries, I don't know much about his backstory, simply that my friends often joke that he is "The best 5th string WR in the league". It's very obvious he's not a good player, but he's also not so bad that he shouldn't be on a team, and in a way it's impressive for someone to fit such a mold so well. A clear depth guy that you hope not to ever need to play but good to have on your team. Especially because he's been in that role for a handful of years whereas a lot of bottom-of-the-depth-chart guys simply flame out after a few years.

Wow, what an incredible and rare game! I just checked Jeltz's game log for that year, and right after that game, he was hitting .260 with a .438 SLG. By June 30th, he was at .297 and .424 SLG, which were leaps and bounds above his career averages. June 1989 was likely the best month of his career! Overall, 1989 was also his best year, finishing .243 and .338 SLG, not too bad. He also had a .356 OBP that year. Considering his career averages of .210 BA, .268 SLG, a .308 OBP was pretty surprising. He def had an above average ability to walk!

Love the perspective of a guy like Jeltz still being in the 99.1 percentile or w/e it was of people playing high school ball and beyond

"I wasn't a bad hockey player. I was a very good hockey player. It was only in comparison to other professional hockey players that I was a bad hockey player." Norm MacDonald's character on his sitcom Norm.

I wish y’all could see my wife’s face when I try to explain how much I love these videos. As someone with ADHD, videos involving so many charts and stats would be an immediate “no”. The way you present everything and find these topics astounds me.

I saw the title and the Phillies in the thumbnail and immediately knew which story this was going to be, as a Phillies fan since the mid 2000s. Yet the Jon Bois and Alex somehow dug up a treasure trove of knowledge (as always) that I had never heard of before. As the greatest baseball player of our time once said, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” Amazing work guys!

Hearing Jon’s intros always drags me in and makes you know you’re about to watch something great. We need more Pretty Good!

Steve Jeltz is the most inspirational person I’ve ever heard of in baseball

Excellent storytelling. I'd also like to point out that the Detroit Tigers had 2 of those utility infielders that didn't do too much very well, between 1973-1985. Tom Veryzer preceded Alan Trammell at short and Doug Flynn was a back-up in 1985.

11:54 The amount of effort it took to do that bit is much more than the amount of effort it would've taken to fix the error, and that's why we love Dorktown 😂

The music is always exceptional in these vids! Bob Walk? The pitcher is named Walk..? That’s like an ice cream worker being named “Cone.”

28:49 that was a really good setup for the Bonds punchline

You know for a dude who couldn't hit, Jeltz really could draw a walk, couldn't he? I'm now incredibly curious about him. His last season with Phillie was actually pretty good! A solid average year!

There needs to be some sort of prestigious award for storytelling like this. Like something to add to the EGOT. Some award that says "you took a story about a baseball game that didn't matter in any realistic way, and you presented it in a way that was more thrilling and suspenseful and engrossing than the Best Picture winner of the year, EVEN TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW THE STORY ENDS." This is rare talent. I fully believe you could point to any random professional sports game, in any sport, and Jon and Alex could craft a 30-minute video that leaves you on the edge of your seat, shaking your head, ready to cry or scream or cheer, even if you had been to the game and it was so unmemorable that you don't even remember until a third of the way through that you were actually there.

Thanks for another interesting presentation. I thought it was nice that you pointed out that the worst players in MLB are still better at baseball than the vast majority of people who played the game at the HS level or higher. One of my favorite things about baseball is when a “scrub” player has the game of their life and makes a difference in a game. Makes me think of Bernie Carbo’s home run in the 1975 World Series.

Realizing at some point through the pandemic I’ve worked through almost the whole library of Rewinder, Dorktown etc, I know get so excited for new documentaries off this channel. Thanks for making these, personally I love them and I know reading these comments they are beloved by sports fans

Dorktown is the only stats driven channel that can leave you with legitimate tears in your eyes. That's what great sports writing does.

As much as I love the long form, documentary style dorktowns (which is a lot), there is something really special about these one off stories. Sort of just reminds me of the original Pretty Good and Chart Party videos where it’s just like “here’s a mildly interesting story that had almost no impact on the rest of the sport and that you’ll probably never need to know again. Have fun!”

Something similar to this once happened in the 9th inning of an MLB game way back in its early years On April 25th, 1901 the Milwaukee Brewers played their first game ever in franchise history (who today are known as the Baltimore Orioles) They led 13-4 going into the 9th inning against the Tigers and gave up 10 runs to lose 14-13

So, not too long ago, you dorks converted me into a Mariners fan with the history of the Seattle Mariners video (I since consummated that fandom by attending a Mariners game this past June), but now I have to wear a Jeltz jersey whenever I see a game, which will be kinda awkward.

I have never watched one of your videos without having an emotional reaction. Steve Jeltz’s story brought me such joy. thanks

By itself, your Steve Jeltz section is worth the price of admission. I was transported and inspired. I knew nothing about this guy before today, and "Jeltz" is now in my dictionary. Anyone would love to be "The Michael Jordan" of anything. But now, having started a semi-ambidextrous cooking career in my 30's, I wouldn't mind even being "The Steve Jeltz of Fine Dining" before I die. 😌👍 And that 4th inning homer was everything. Wait… He's not done? 😐 WTF 😲 I'm from Brooklyn. 3rd gen New Yorker. And I want a Jeltz Jersey for Christmas.

3:03 hey i remember bob walk. he was on an episode of card show, which y’all should totally bring back

I thought this would be a standard but still enjoyable vid on how giant odds were beaten by an unlikely player one day in baseball, but you should never expect less from Dorktown cause they'll always get you with the twist

this is the best documentary i've ever seen about a mid-season game between the bottom two divisional teams over 30 years ago driven by one of the worst players of all time that no one has heard of since.

I love how you guys go on these deep dives on odd and obscure occurrences in sports. I was a few months shy of 8 years old at the time, but I do have vague memories of them talking about Jeltz's unlikely 2 HR game on Sportscenter the following morning. But I had forgotten the part about Jim Rooker's bet to walk back to Pittsburgh. Kudos to him for honoring his word and making it meaningful by raising funds for charity while doing it.

I love the story about Steve Jeltz. The perspective about his hitting at the highest level versus the very lowest is wonderful.

I love how across the collective of ideas, stories, and people that make up dorktown, all shown across a map of them all smushed together, Steve Jeltz gets to be on the same scale has some of the best to ever do it. Bleeping awesome.

Is work at a Home Depot in Pennsylvania and Steve jeltz is now a contractor so he’s in Home Depot all the time. He’s an absolute joy and everyone loves him. He’ll sign autographs for anybody and is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. It’s always fun to stop him in the Home Depot and chat it up with him. We love Stevie at the Home Depot ❤️

This us why I love this channel. This huge story is from a regular season game in the middle of season. I have never heard of this game until today.

These videos are immaculate. Thank you Secret Base for your elite contribution to sports media!!

DID JON BOIS JUST SHOW THE ROAD I DRIVE ON EVERY DAY?

Jon Bois everyone. I wait all year just to get an opportunity to watch an incredible video like this and I'm 10 seconds into it. It's guaranteed to be good. What a legend.

“Bob Walk? Heh. More like Bob Walk” made me cackle, it’s so stupid😂

Hey Jon I just want to say thank you for throwing in that segment about Jeltz among the percentiles chart. We don’t talk about the fact that these are all elite athletes enough. A bad pro athlete is still an elite athlete

I remember this game and the unfortunate proclamation by Rooker. Fantastic video. I loved how you put Jeltz' career into perspective. I played CF for 20 years, but had 8 fewer Big League seasons than he did. He was a success. Gotta point this one out, though...at 27:01, Bonds didn't dive. If he dove, he could've caught that ball. He misjudged it and fell as he belatedly leaned for the ball. Coming in on a sinking liner, you have to be decisive, not tentative. Bonds was the latter. He fell, he didn't dive.

This was an excellent narrative experience. I got so goddamn invested in Jeltz, i completely forgot about the original topic. I hadn't even HEARD of the guy before and still i cheered when he hit that first homer

Ten days later the Phillies would trade "speedy" Juan Samuel to the Mets for Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell, and Tom Edens (PTBNL) in one of the worst trades in Mets history. On June 18, 1989, the Mets were in 3rd place in the NL East 2 games back of the Cubs. They'd eventually finish in 2nd place 6 games back. Samuel would be traded in the offseason to the Dodgers after the continuing experiment to use the former All-Star 2B in CF failed miserably. Great video.