A's C Shea Langeliers joins FT

0:00Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than NoGrip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1. Including the astrology of the current grid, the story of the sports' most consequential driver's strike, and plenty of other mishaps, scandals, and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to NoGrip on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Serving Pancakes podcast, conversations about volleyball go beyond the court. Today we have a little best-fring compatibility test. And how long have we been best friends? It's just a day we met. As the league won volleyball season heads towards its final stretch, there's no better time to tune in. You'll hear unfiltered analysis behind-the-scenes stories and conversations with leaders making an impact across the sport. Whether you're following the final push of love season, or just love the game, Serving Pancakes brings you closer to the action and the people shaping the future of volleyball. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Serving Pancakes, and listen now. Presented by Capital One,

1:02founding partner of iHeartWomenSports. A shocking public murder. This is one of the most dramatic events that really ever happened in New York City politics. A scream, get down, get down, those are shots. A tragedy that's now forgotten. End of mystery. That may have been not have been political. That may have been about sex. Listen to Worshack, Murder at City Hall, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here comes Ace Catcher, Shay Langley, is joining us right now on F T Shay. Great to have you on the show. Oh, man, some of our guys really love you. Trevor May was just on what, yesterday he always talks about you. So you are a well-liked, well-talked about man on this show

2:03over the course of the years. Just wanted to let you know that as I say hello and butter you up a little bit. Has it gone, man? Going good. Thanks for having me. Of course, has the season gone for you so far with the team here all getting settled and for you off to a nice start at the plate too. Yeah, I mean, it's still early in the year. Obviously tough to start with six on the road, three at home, six on the road again, two East Coast trips right off the gate, but you know, we're getting our feet under us. Like I said, it's still early and we're just trying to get into the groove. Shay, where are you? Where are you right now? I am I mean, Mickey, Mickey Morbito's office. Oh, tell Mickey. I said, hi, Mickey. Tell Mickey his favorite player says hi and just see what his answer is, please. All right. I'll let him know. Yeah, Mickey would be like, oh, that's son of a gun. I promise you. I love Mickey. He's one of the all-time greats. It's still sticking around. I just want to know about your fast start, dude.

3:05Like we always, I mean, your nicknames always been bang a liars for your homer, but let's talk about these homers you're hitting. I mean, are you going to Cal Raleigh on us? You're going to get to 16. Then you're second to judge an MVP like Cal did last year. I mean, that would that would be awesome. Yeah. But yeah, I just been feeling good at the plate. I think the biggest thing for me is just like when I feel strong and I'm early and on time, that's when that's when the good things happen. So I'm just trying to keep it simple and not try to do too much. No, no, no, do too much. Like this seems like just just enough. But how do you how do you as a catcher continue that through the season? Because we were talking about you, but I think it was like two or three weeks ago. I think you're the most underrated catcher clearly in the game. Let alone one of the more underrated players because people just don't see without you having a hot start like this. People are like, I wonder who the catcher for the A's is because you haven't gotten extension and all that stuff, but how do you continue it and really put your name on the map for like national media,

4:10not just baseball fans? Yeah. I mean, I see catching is a very physically demanding position. I think pretty much every catcher will tell you the only day that you feel 100% probably opening day. And then there's always something after that. So you're just kind of, you know, grinding grinding with your body. Just trying to get through it. And then kind of like in the box, it's any given day, something can feel off. You'll feel different. So you're always searching for that feel. And at the end of the day, you're just going out there and competing. Whatever you're working on in the cage, you can't be thinking about that out there. It's just competing, competing with the guy in front of you. What what what means more to you? If you go out and catch a shut out, I think it's a savvy, savvy pitching today, right? Let's say savvy goes out, gives you seven and the relievers come in, give you two shuddy. Then you go over four with a couple punchies, whatever. But you know, you guys win five to nothing, seven, nothing, or you go out and you hit two homers. You guys still win, but the pitcher's struggle. Which one means more to you? Still now you win and both. So I'm not going to say like you win and lose. I I know as catchers,

5:13we're not happy. Hit guys like, you know, there are those guys. So which one means more to you? Give me this shuddy every day. We perfectly. Yeah, you get the you get the pitchers in the flow. You get the starter into the, you know, into the game, feeling good. And then the bullpen comes in strong and you shut out. That's it's always the best. Say they never tell they never talk about how many shutouts AJ Przinski had. They only talk about his 2000 hits. The fact that he played every single day. What would it mean to what would it mean to you to say beginner season? They come in and they go, Shay, we want you to play like 110 games to keep you fresh. Is that a more of a slap in the face than moving down in the order than anything else? I don't know about a slap in the face. I mean, I guess you could you could look at it multiple ways, right? Like they're trying to keep you fresh. They want you to perform well, feel good. But at the same time, it's like, I want to be the lineup every day. I want to play. I want to I want to help the help the team win. So yeah, I mean, I don't think I look at it as a

6:19slap in the face. All right. Well, then we'll talk about what was almost a slap in the face. I don't know if you saw the highlight of Jorge Soler charging the mount, charging Red Honolo Pez. What is your thought process in a situation like that? Have you ever been in a situation like that? And what did you do if you were? Yeah, I mean, from I've only seen the videos, don't know like the backstory and all that or anything. I haven't really got caught up. But there was there was one game when I was in low A in 2019 in Rome, Georgia week. We cleared the benches twice in one game. And the the the first time we cleared, I was I think I just gotten out, like gotten back to the deck out was putting on my shin guards, realized that our guys were running out of the deck out. So I ran out of the deck out with one shin guard on. So it was caught completely off guard. But yeah, I think in that situation as just from what it looked like to me, it kind of caught everybody off guard except for Soler and Lopez. I guess they kind of knew it was

7:20going down or like they were getting into it. But yeah, it just seemed kind of like a weird situation. So hold up. So you were with the braves at the time in Rome. So this is a brave thing. The braves just like to fight everybody. Is that what you're saying? We put that out there, the braves want to fight everybody? No, no, no, no, not that. I think it was just one of those just tempers flared and low. I mean, there's a bunch of like early 20 year olds out there on the field and not really knowing what's going on. What would you now do you know what the rule, what the first rule of catching is if you're catching because you said you were in the dugout. So were you catching it? Have you ever caught when a guy has charged a mound? I have not, but I know you're not supposed to let him get to the pitcher. That's right. Rule number one, no matter what happens if you if you die in this fight, Jay, at least go down dying knowing that he didn't get any licks on your pitcher. Okay, so make sure that if it ever happens, you don't get there. Like if you get a spike to the throat or something, but at least you stopped him from beating up your pitcher. Yeah, if I if I die, I die. I'm going to Walt Weiss and tackle him,

8:22take him down. You can say don't mess with Walt Weiss and Walt Weiss and Walt Weiss and Walt Weiss. No, yeah, do not mess with Walt Weiss. Wait, what years are we with the braves? I so I got drafted in 2019 by the braves and then I was traded the first day of camp in 2022. Okay, so you weren't there for the don I was going to ask if you were there for the donalds and thing, but I think that was before that. Yeah, I think it was the year before or maybe I was in I was in low way when that happened. Got it. Okay, so that one surprised you then. Okay. With over 35 million downloads, what is the number one rated ticketing app top father? It's simple, man. Seeky guys. We know, man, they have a lot of things that helps you out along the way. They have green dots meaning good and red dots meaning bad and it's on a scale of 1 to 10 showing you Scott. How good the seats are and sometimes you want to sit in the nosebleeds or sometimes you want to sit in really good seats in Scott, you know the code, right? Yeah, I do. And also I know that you always like a good deal. Oh, so Seeky helps you out all the time with that. They also help you out with the exclusive FT code, which is territory 10 for 10% off your

9:27next set of tickets at Seeky. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and you can have that code automatically added to your account so that you can use it later. There are regular season MLB games going on right now. There are hot tickets across the country. So make sure you go to Seeky. They will take care of you. On the serving pancakes podcast, conversations about volleyball go beyond the court. Today we have a little best-spring compatibility test. Okay, how long have we been best friends for? This is the day we met. As the league won volleyball season heads towards its final stretch, there's no better time to tune in. We really are like yin and yang, vodka and tequila. You'll hear unfiltered analysis behind the scene stories and conversations with leaders making an impact across the sport. Today we have Logan Lednicki. I feel like our fan base in general is very connected, which is like a comforting feeling getting to play at home. Whether you're following the final push of love season or just love the game, serving pancakes brings you closer to the action and

10:29the people shaping the future of volleyball. Jordan Thompson had that microphone on. We got to make mistakes or cuss at our coach. Open your free iHeart radio app, search serving pancakes and listen now. This has been serving pancakes and we'll catch you on the flip side. Okay. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. All right, but you're going to go out and you're, you know, AJ is telling you to die, but is there a guy? Not exactly. Well, not exactly. I didn't say die. I go out there and die. I mean, that's exactly what you said. That's what we'll clip, but either way, either way, is there a guy in the league, though, that you look at because AJ was talking about Miguel Alivo. I like one of the largest men in the league, super strong and he caught him from behind and held his arms. The fight I got in was with Prince Fielder, like another monstrous dude. Is there a guy in the league that you look at and you go,

11:30if he charges, like, we're kind of pretty good. Like, I'll get there at some point, but we're good, like, not getting in the way. Is there one guy? I mean, yeah, there are some guys, but I think it's just like, it goes back to what AJ said. You got to do what you got to do. You know, you got to get in the way somehow try to get him to the ground, not let him get there. I mean, we're at, we're in New York right now. Aaron judge is huge. So that would not honestly probably be pretty terrifying, but I try to do what I got to do, you know. Listen, Aaron, again, if Aaron judge picks you up and grabs you by your hair, tries to eat you, you didn't get to the picture. Just remember that. I got I got in the way. Yeah. And then you wait for the big guys to get there, like Nick Kurtz and Rooker and those guys, you let those guys get there. I'll just keep the mask on. Keep all my always also another great point. Always go veriteck and leave the mask on. Like, right, you don't want to ruin your face, right? So they punch you, then they hit the mask, and then they break their hand and you get to beat him up. Exactly.

12:33That's also bring a bag of chips and get in the fight with the Yankees because John Carlos stands, one of the strongest men on the planet, but he can't open a bag of chips. So that's his kryptonite. You just dangle it. That one of those. Yeah. Anything else. You're in trouble. Okay. So don't get tapped or anything. Just say, open these. Yeah. Open the open. No, quick. Hey, how's the staff? How's the young A staff that you're working with? I know there's a few vets in there too, but just run through some of the guys that you're working with. Some of the, you know, changes that you've seen, especially ones that you actually saw carry through from spring training to the regular season. I know some guys, especially nowadays in today's sport. You know, it's almost like every guy shows up. They want to do something different and try it out. Have you seen anything from there actually translate now to the first couple starts? Yeah. I mean, it's just always like, like you said, the pitchers, it's kind of like hitters too. We're always looking for that next edge, that next way to get better, take that step forward.

13:34But yeah, I mean, you got like, it comes to mind like Jacob Lopez had a great rookie season last year where he's trying to build off that. JT Gins had had some success. He's looking to, you know, keep, keep getting better and take that next step forward. It's just, it's always like, it's the simple things that people like make complicated. It's just refining your craft, understanding like where in the zone you have success and attacking that and, you know, at the end of the day, like hitting hitting is the hardest thing to do in all the sports. So the pitchers should be aggressive and attack the strike zone. And it's your job to tell them to how to do that, right? You're the constant, you're the constant voice he needs to hear when you hit the button and it goes, it goes to fast ball. But you're playing in Sacramento for your second year. You're out there every single freaking day and it gets hot. One, are you glad that they didn't put turf in? And two, have you guys figured out some things that helped that I wish I had learned that last year at the

14:38beginning of the year in Sacramento? I mean, I don't think there's really anything that we wish we would have known. It's just kind of like, as the season went along, as everybody saw, the ball flies there. It's a hitter friendly park. You know, there were some hit things here and there with the playing surface. But I mean, it's hard to expect the playing surface to be, you know, perfect when, when we're on the road, the AAA teams play in there and then when we come home, there's a game on that field every single day. So I mean, the ground screws, you're working their tails off trying to keep that thing in shape. But yeah, it does get hot, but I'm from Texas where it gets really humid too and hot. So like, at least at least the humidity is not a thing and it's a little easier to deal with drier heat. Okay, dry heat. I like that. Now, the biggest question, for me, when I look at Dalton down this line of everybody's got extensions, except for you, like a guy that in, in my opinion, and AJ's opinion, the Lynch pin of the team is the catcher.

15:40Shortstop is great, center field is great, all that stuff. Those extension talks for you. What do they, is it a distraction for you? Is it something that you want the team to visit more? How do you approach it as a player off season and in season? Yeah, I mean, I think for sure, I think in season, it could definitely be a distraction. Obviously, the goal is night in, night out, you want, you want to go out there performing your best and come away with a win, right? But I mean, everything is going to work out the way that it's supposed to. It's not something that I'm overly concerned about. Obviously, I love the organization, love the guys, love the staff. I want to be here. I want to win with, with these guys. But yeah, like I said, it's not something I'm worried about, I'm concerned about. It'll all work out. Hey, Shay, one guy that got a nice contract is, is savvy who you said was pitching tonight. Have you had two, two talks with him? One, have you said, hey,

16:41let's, we got to figure out how to pitch in Sacramento because his numbers were not very good in Sacramento. I got a little better as a year went on. And two, did you watch the World Baseball Classic and where he was throwing a hundred and say, hey, man, we need that during the regular season, not just for the Dominican? Yeah, he looked really good in the WBC. And like, are we known? Like that's, he's got that. He's nasty. He's got, he's got the arsenal. He's got the stuff. It's just, yeah, it's just going out there and competing, you know, and then some nights are, they're going to be rough nights all the night. We're going to have a lot of success. It's just kind of trying to be as consistent as possible and be the same guy every day. But yeah, I think it's, it was kind of a curveball for savvy pitching and sack that first year, just because there's certain things you get accustomed to when you're in the big league because like he, in between and he's a guy that likes to go back into the clubhouse of the way room or the batting cage being in the air conditioning, sit down, relax. Look at the iPad kind of like rewatch that last

17:42inning where we didn't have anywhere for him to go in Sacramento, like he's not going to go all the way back to the clubhouse behind the left field wall. So he's kind of just still sitting out there in the heat in the dugout. He's got all the like, there's, you know, there's 26 guys in the dugout just walking around like everybody's kind of in everybody's way. So I mean, there's a lot of things to adjust to on the fly. And we were trying to figure, like he was trying to figure that out, we were trying to figure out a way for him to be more comfortable and have more success. And I think when the second half of last year showed that, like we started to figure it out. On the serving pancakes podcast, conversations about volleyball go beyond the court. Today we have a little best-spring compatibility test. How long have we been best friends for? This is a day we met. As the league won volleyball season heads towards its final stretch, there's no better time to tune in. We really are like Ian and Yang, vodka and tequila. You'll hear unfiltered analysis behind the scene stories and conversations with leaders making an impact across the sport. Today we have Logan LeMeki. I feel like our fan base in general is very connected, just like a comforting feeling

18:43getting to play at home. Whether you're following the final push of love season or just love the game, serving pancakes brings you closer to the action and the people shaping the future of volleyball. Jordan Thompson had that microphone out. Doctor, maybe we make mistakes or cuss at our coach like my time or two days. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search serving pancakes and listen now. This has been serving pancakes and we'll catch you on the flip side. Okay. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeartWomenSports. Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than no grip. A new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1, including the astrology of the current grid. Lewis Hamilton, crappy corn son, cancer moon. Wouldn't you know it? Michael Schumacher is also a capricorn son, cancer moon. The story of the sport's most consequential driver's strike. We have one man who upon hearing that he was going to be fired, freaked out and apparently climbed out the window of the bathroom. And was Daniel Ricardo's illustrious F1 career

19:48a success story, a cautionary tale or some combination of both. He started getting all this attention and he may be started to think, I'm bigger than this, I'm better. And plenty of other mishaps, scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to no grip on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. A silver 40 caliber handgun was recovered at the scene. From iHeart podcasts and best case studios, this is Worshack, Murder at City Hall. How could this have happened in City Hall? Somebody tell me that! July 2003, Councilman James E. Davis arrives at New York City Hall with a guest. Both men are carrying concealed weapons. And in less than 30 minutes, both of them will be dead.

20:53Everybody in the chamber is a dog. A shocking public murder. A scream, get down, get down, those are shots, those are shots, get down. A charismatic politician, you know, he just bent the rules all the time man. I still have a weapon and I could shoot you. And an outsider with a secret. He alleged he was a victim of flat-down. That may have been not have been political, that may have been about sex. Listen to Worshack, Murder at City Hall on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Wait, I need to know what his setup looks like. Because when we played together in New York, he had his chair. And then on the chair, there was two towels. There was an extra jersey hung behind him. There was a cooler filled with his drinks in the cooler. And then there was towels to the right. Is it still the same? Because that was young, Sevy. This is older Sevy now. Couldn't describe the picture better myself. It's the exact same. Does he have the towel

22:00in front of him where he puts his feet down if he takes his cleats off? Or does he not do that anymore? I haven't seen that one. But he's got the towels in there. He's got his own waters and his cooler. He's got the chair. He's got the extra jersey. He's got all that stuff. Yeah. It's like a whole throne. It's like a game throne for him. But anyway, in game, the ABS. Now that you're kind of in it, you're not a full season in or even a quarter of the season in, but what have you noticed from it? And if you have any good stories where like a picture is like, bro, why don't you do this? Like you told me I could. What? What? Yeah, I mean, obviously, I think we all know pictures think everything's as strike as they should. You know, they're out there competing. They're the ones with the ball. So like, we want them to think that way. We want them to think aggressively. The ABS, it's been interesting. It's something that we're going to keep getting used to. I think the tougher part for me is kind of understanding where the top of the zone is. I think that one's the one that kind of changes the most here and there. I think I've got a better general idea of where the bottom of the zone is on each individual

23:04guy. And then the thing, the thing that I've noticed that comes into play the most is where these guys are standing in the box. If they're all the way in the back, if they're at the front, does like, as catchers, we move up when they move up, we move back when they move back. And that eight and a half inch back mark on the plate for the bottom of the zone doesn't change. So like, I could be closer to that. I could be further away from that. And that kind of changes the perception of where the bottom of the zone's at. All right. Last one for me. Do you think Cal Raleigh should have been the MVP? Yes. And that's, and I'm that's, I'm not, I'm not taking anything away from Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge is, you know, the best player in baseball. It's either him or she'll have time. Everybody knows that. I just think when a catcher puts together a season like that, just knowing like, like we all know, the, the grind of what we go through in season, he's got all the pitching meetings doing all the scouting. He's catching night to day games. There was, there was a game we were in Seattle. He caught the first two night games, came out,

24:07caught the third game day game at like 1231 o'clock whenever it was Logan Gilbert was on the mound. He blocked like 15 splurs in the dirt and hit two homers that day. So it was like, he's just, he was, he was doing, he was doing things that catchers have never done before in my opinion. I think that that should have been the MVP. Jay, by the way, Aaron Judge is going to hear what you just said. And he might charge the catcher now. He might go, I don't know if you've ever saw the Izzy Alcantara where he, he dropped kick the catcher. You might be careful and Aaron, you better, when Aaron Judge walks up, you just better say hi, Mr. Judge. Yes, you deserve the MVP. Please don't put me on that catchers interference last night. So maybe he already got that out. Oh, he already knew what you were going to answer. I'm sorry. Yeah. He's a catcher. Scott, we're catchers. We get through these things. Don't even feel it next day. That's right. Shay, people that don't know you were draft, you went to Baylor, you were drafted by the Braves. So did you go to the Braves and say,

25:11listen, I have to wear green and gold. So you have to trade me to the, to athletics. So I can just keep my wardrobe green and gold for my whole life. No, it was, it was kind of like, you know, it's one of the, one of those things I just caught off guard. You know, I think 2022 is the, the lockout had just ended. The non-40 man guys were already already there at the spring trading facility. So I was already there for a couple of weeks. But then the lockout ended so bigly camp started. We just had like our big compliance meeting. It was like an hour-long roll and like the huge theater, whatever they're talking through, like the rules and like social media and stuff like that. And then we had just started doing day one catchers work. And then I got called into the office. And yeah, I guess you guys know how they do it. It's kind of rip it off like a band-aid. Because the whole deal that offseason was if, if Freddie Freeman was going to come back or not. And obviously we all, he won up signing with the Dodgers and they needed a first baseman so they went and got medals. Good for you. Wow. There you go. Well, the green and gold looks good on you.

26:19I'll tell you that. Yeah, it's fun to watch. I love listening to you three. Just talk all about the catchers perspective throughout this, you know, last 12 minutes. So really appreciate it, dude. Thanks for joining us and good luck tonight and the rest of the way until we catch up again. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me. Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than no grip. A new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1, including the astrology of the current grid, the story of the sports most consequential driver's strike, and plenty of other mishaps, scandals, and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to no grip on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the serving pancakes podcast, conversations about volleyball go beyond the court. Today we have a little best-fring

27:22compatibility test. Okay. How long have we been best friends? It's just a day we met. As the league won volleyball season heads towards its final stretch, there's no better time to tune in. You'll hear unfiltered analysis behind the scene stories and conversations with leaders making an impact across the sport. Whether you're following the final push of love season or just love the game, serving pancakes brings you closer to the action and the people shaping the future of volleyball. Open your free iHeart Radio app, search serving pancakes, and listen now. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. A shocking public murder. This is one of the most dramatic events that really ever happened in New York City politics. I screamed, get down, get down, those are shots. A tragedy that's now forgotten and a mystery that may have been not have been political, that may have been about sex. Listen to Worshack, murder at City Hall on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.