Saturday, June 28, 2025: Daily Dirt
Welcome to The Daily Dirt’s Vol. 1,326: Three Thoughts for Today.
1. One of my favorite MLB figures hasn’t been a player or manager for decades. The person with the high-pitched laugh, sense of humor, and ability to locate the most peculiar quotes, tales, and notes related to the national game has been Tim Kurkjian, a longtime writer and TV pundit.
The latest Four-by-Four team he assembled, which was made up of current and former Major League Baseball players with four letters in both their first and surname names, is one of my favorite Kurkjian-isms. Kurkjian’s conclusions:
-
Catcher: Tony Pena
, who caught more games (1,950) without catching a no-hitter than any player in history. -
First baseman: Norm Cash
, who drove in more than 1,000 runs and never had a walk-off RBI in his long career. -
Second baseman: Jeff Kent.
Kurkjian believes he is worthy of the Hall of Fame. -
Shortstop: Bill Hall.
He once hit 35 homers for the Milwaukee Brewers in a memorable 2006 season. -
Third baseman: Pete Rose:
He also talked of how strongly many past players have spoken to him when it comes to Rose s Hall of Fame possibility. Kurkjian spoke in great detail about the late Frank Robinson and his total disdain of Rose, who he said broke the holiest of rules in MLB: betting on games. Very interesting. -
Outfield: Babe Ruth:
Kurkjian says the Babe is the captain of this team. No arguments there. -
Outfield: Juan Soto.
-
Outfield: Fred Lynn.
-
DH: Adam Dunn.
-
Pitcher: Vida Blue.
Kurkjian had me laughing out loud when he told of how former Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley wanted Blue to change his first name to True for marketing purposes. Blue said no way, and by the way, how much better of a name is there than Vida Blue? said Kurkjian, trying not to laugh himself.
Part 409: Did you know?
- In the 14th century, the Aztecs and Mayans often used chocolate as currency. My kind of civilizations.
- Oreo cookies were first known as Oreo biscuits.
- Actor Vin Diesel s real name is Mark Sinclair.
- Chickpeas and almonds contain almost as much protein as steak.
- A single fast-food burger can contain meat from up to 100 cows.
3. The most popular customized license plates from Northeast Missouri and West-Central Illinois this week:
- EXAM 2
- B GRIZZ 1
- PHILLY 2
- XLAND 76
- LOLA 99
- BIRD-51
- KRUELA 4
- MIS VIKI
- RTE 66
- DAVE
- CARGO 53
- DOLLAR 9
- 51 REV
- DONS TRK
- GO RACE 2
Our Great Plate Debate IV medal rankings, which have been stable for the past three weeks, are as follows:
-
Gold medal:
DR FUNN -
Silver medal:
U BABE 1 -
Bronze medal:
LA D DA 2
Steve’s Thought O When you eat DayRaw oysters, they are still alive (or should be), though I don’t intend to do so for another 500 years.
Every day, Steve Eighinger contributes to Muddy River News. How much would you spend to watch Steve consume an uncooked oyster?
