Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: You're listening to selling the dream. This isn't an interview, and we're not journalists, but each week we'll ask our guests to open up and share their secrets to business success. Let's have a conversation and have some fun.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: As always, joining me from California, from the other side of the United States, my man, Joe Iredale. Joe, what's happening?
[00:00:33] Speaker C: What's up?
[00:00:35] Speaker B: What's new?
[00:00:36] Speaker C: Not much, man. Plug it along, brother. I got a lot of irons in the fire. A lot of things going on. Life is good, bro. Life is good.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: I am glad to hear it.
You know, just, just to give everybody a heads up, Joe's going to be fighting on Saturday night in Las Vegas. So if you, if you're hearing this, the fight already happens.
You missed it. Big deal. But, but nonetheless, hopefully, hopefully you do well this weekend. I wish you the best of luck and make sure you protect those ears. You cannot afford cauliflower ear. You just don't have the symmetry for it.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: That will be some big cauliflower, but hopefully. I don't know. I try, man. It's, that's, I don't think that's something you can control. But so far I've lucked out. I've missed the collie bug.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: That's it. That's it. So you got lucky in some areas, right, Joe?
[00:01:28] Speaker C: That's it.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: All right. We're going to get right to it because today's going to be a ton of fun.
We are going to join a very special guest. Some of you may know him if you're on Twitter, if you're active in the Philadelphia sports scene, if you're not a Philadelphia fan, if you're not a Philadelphia Phillies fan, then I don't know, you might want to find another podcast to listen to. But if you are a Philadelphia Phillies fan, this is going to be a good episode. And even if you're not, I think you'll still have fun. So I'd like to welcome our UK Phillies, Dave. Dave, what's happening, man? Thanks for joining us here today.
[00:02:05] Speaker D: Thank you for having me on, guys. I'm really excited for this. Really excited opening day around the corner as well.
Baseball's on the horizon and I'm getting the chat to you guys. I'm excited. I'm good.
[00:02:19] Speaker B: That's awesome. Listen, so 1st first and foremost, I have a ton of questions I want to talk about, I want to talk about your social media journey. I want to talk about how you've built that up. I want to talk about how you became a Phillies fan to begin with. Talk about the differences in cultures over there. What you got going on in June? You got some big stuff going on in June. But before we get into any of that, we always like to play that game, two truths and a lie. So what's going to happen is you're going to tell two truths and a lie. Joe is going to listen real carefully over the course of the next 45 minutes to an hour and he is going to try and pick out by the end of the show what you were lying about. So you might slip up, you might give him a clue without realizing it. But you're going to need to really concentrate here. So before we get to all the fun stuff, why don't we start. What are your two truths and a lie?
[00:03:10] Speaker D: Alright, so two truths, one lie. First one, I ticked off a dream of sitting in the back of a London cab with Chase Lutley and getting to recall his famous World Series line, world fucking champions.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:03:26] Speaker D: Number two, I ticked off a dream of running the London marathon in full Phillies uniform.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:03:35] Speaker D: I ticked off a dream of throwing the, throwing out the first pitch at a Phillies game in 2022.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Jesus. Listen, even if two out of three of those are true, it's been asked, man, hold on.
[00:03:51] Speaker C: For our listeners so I can translate because we don't have subtitles. Kickoff read is american for I checked a bucket list item. Correct, correct, correct.
[00:04:03] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:04:03] Speaker C: Okay. Okay. Okay, bye. There. I didn't know if like your dream was somebody and you're just pissing people.
[00:04:10] Speaker D: Off because that could be no bucket list.
[00:04:14] Speaker B: Definitely bucket list. Ticked off a tree. It's funny how we have different words like Delco around us. Dave is a very like, kind of has its own culture, you know, and accents are something that we, we joke about and deal with on a regular basis. Like the Delco accent is very recognizable. Is it recognizable world round? Like, could you spot a Delco accent when you hear it?
[00:04:37] Speaker D: It's all in the O's. It's every phone home. Delco. I have, I've been in Delco so many times I recognize it straight off. It's a little bit british, a little bit get out.
[00:04:49] Speaker C: No, we say it right. We talk right. Everybody else talks fun, right?
[00:04:56] Speaker D: I've had a lot of fun in Delco, especially in some of the dive bars. As I was just saying before we started to Joe that, you know, people can't believe it. There's a Brit in Delco in the bars drinking beer and wanting to be there as well. Not by accident, you know, someone.
I've had a lot of fun in Delco.
[00:05:15] Speaker C: Everybody's probably surprised that somebody actually wants to be in there, you know?
[00:05:19] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:21] Speaker C: Voluntarily.
[00:05:22] Speaker D: Wow.
It's the people that make Delco for me, it's a really fun place. People are amazing.
[00:05:29] Speaker B: Now, when British, when you go into old city Philadelphia, do you get a little nervous with all the revolutionary war history stuff?
[00:05:36] Speaker C: Good question.
[00:05:38] Speaker D: So I was there for last year. I was there for independence day. And, yeah, it's fun.
[00:05:47] Speaker C: Too soon, KJ? Too soon.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: We'll wait another hundred years and we'll ask again.
[00:05:54] Speaker D: Drinking. So. So I'm good. I'm good. Any excuse for drinking and food is fine by me. But it's cool, you know, the history is cool. It's. It's the fact that you've still got everything there as well. A lot of our history is blown up and gone and in the ground, whereas yours is still standing. It's. It's cool to see it. I like walking around old town in Philly. I stayed there before. It's just. It's a nice. It's a nice vibe. It's, um. But yeah, you get the old comment, whoa, here comes the red coat.
It's all good. Hey, I can take the Panthers. So it's all good.
[00:06:29] Speaker C: So England, Owen, one record doesn't. Doesn't bug you anymore, huh?
[00:06:34] Speaker D: No, because I can give it back. And then they get a bit stuck. So it ends pretty quick.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: So, UK Phillies, is your handle on instagram?
[00:06:46] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:06:46] Speaker B: What is your handle on Twitter?
[00:06:49] Speaker D: Same again at UK Phillies.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: At UK Philly Phillies for anybody that wants to follow Dave. So let's talk. Let's get into that a little bit. What, first of all, how did you become a Phillies fan? Let's start with that.
[00:07:02] Speaker D: So it's back in 2012, I was doing a really big tour of America on my own, and Philly was my last port of call. And everybody who I was talking to, I'd met around America at the time. We're going, oh, Philly's a cool city. Some. Some people had some less nice thing to say about Philly, but people were saying, it's a sports. If you like your sports, sports crazy. Well, that was me. I love my sports. So I couldn't wait to get to Philly. And I was staying in Old Town in a hostel just off old town, and people there who I've made friends with had a spare ticket to the game. Philly. See, the Pirates knew nothing about baseball at the time. Nothing at all. But I'm a big sports fan. So, yeah, sure, go along. New experience and all that got on the scepter. That was an experience.
The ballpark. And then as soon as you get off and you can see Wells Fargo, xfinity live, the link, Citizens bank park, we have nothing like that back home. You've got a soccer stadium and then rows of houses and flats. And so to have a complete sports complex was just like, for me, that was heaven straight away. I was in. I'm all engine. I sold.
And just the smells of the tailgate. We don't have anything like that back at home.
That experience itself, playing flip cup and beer pong and just having a great time before we've even got into the ballpark, that whole experience, completely different to back here at home, was just amazing. I was in my element, got into the ballpark, no idea what was going on.
Sitting down and just walking into the ballpark again. The ballpark and the stadia is, again, nothing like what we have back home. So to be able to walk around the whole ballpark before you can even take a seat was amazing.
And the smell. The smell. I'll never forget the smell of balls as you walk in. I'm like, damn, you know, this. This is special. This is really cool. Took my seat, had a woman next to me explain the rules of what was going on, because I didn't have a clue. And I was. I was getting into it, you know, I was. I was a sort of typical. It's just rounders sort of guy. Oh, he's gonna be boring. Like cricket. Nah, nothing at all like that. I was blown away. And it was Chase Utley's first game back off the injured list for the season. And I could tell you it was a big deal. Everyone had him on the back of their shirts. Utley. Utley. You know, Rollins and Howard. But it was mainly. It was mainly Chase Utley, right? And he came to the plate. Everyone's giving him a big ovation. I'm like, oh, this is, this. This is cool. Yeah, let's go. Chase steps up, hits a home run out the park on his first. The place goes crazy, and everybody, it's like euphoria. Like, everyone's going all the season's back on track. This is it. Chase is back. Home run. I'm like, that guy's caught the ball. Is he not going to give it back, or is he going to keep.
What's going on?
I was sat literally meters away, and I just. I was like, yeah, this is. Didn't really have a full idea what was going on, but I was like, yeah, this is drawing me in big time. And everyone I was speaking to wanted to explain the rules to me. It's like this guy doesn't know. And then, like, people will come up and tell me the history of the Phillies and, like, they want that. They embraced me, like, completely from the very first moment, embraced me and wanted to tell me about the Phillies, wanted to get me into baseball. Like they couldn't believe that somebody's coming here to try it out from a different country. And it was just, I was hooked. The Phil's lost and it was a sign of things to come at the time, but I was completely hooked. Went back again next day, did the ballpark tour, went home, did all the research in the Phillies, the city. And then I just kept going back every year ever since. And now it's just a massive part of my life that it's amazing.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: Amazing, bro, you literally stepped in. You stepped into the dark days of the big affiliate.
You didn't even get zero, 80, 910 and eleven. That's rough.
[00:10:56] Speaker D: No, I had to watch it all back on yearbooks, on YouTube, and hear constantly about it. And everyone's going, oh, when the fields make the playoffs, you've got to get back. It's like a different experience, different atmosphere, and ten long years of waiting. And then finally, in 2022, we made the playoffs. I went for the Braves game, the Reece Hoskins bats bike.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: You were an heir for that?
[00:11:20] Speaker D: One of the most special moments ever.
Maybe one of my best sporting highlights of any sport, just because I was a big Reese fan. Anyway, so to see him do that, the back spike, beating the Braves, like, you're just gone. Yeah, very, very special. So it was worth the ten year wait and going through some dark days. But I was learning the sport then, so for me, it wasn't as dark as for me as for other people because I was still, still fresh, I was still learning. Like Ben Revere, Aranol, Turtle. Well, they were my guys, you know, getting, getting into the Phillies and growing up. So, you know. Yeah, they were looking back, they were rough. They were rough days.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: So you go home and now you're, now you're telling everybody, right? Like, you're saying the Phillies, like baseball. Like, are people looking at you like, you got two heads? Like, what are you talking about? Baseball? Talking about baseball. What was that one?
[00:12:14] Speaker D: Typical stereotypical. No, it's just like rounders.
Just like cricket. Worse than cricket, you know? Cause american football's, baseball's getting bigger, by the way, in this country, the views are definitely changing. But it was more american football back then. That was the american sport. That was the king, and still pretty much is at the moment. But baseball's catching up. But, yeah, people look at me. My friends were like, yeah, that's cool, Dave. Yeah, the soccer's on, you know, come on, pipe it down.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: So, so you're like, okay, no one's listening to me here, let me. Let me start a twitter. So is that. Is that how it worked? Like, you needed somebody to talk to?
[00:12:53] Speaker D: Pretty much. Nail on the head. It was 2017, and the Phils were going through dark times. I'm like, there has to be other Philly fans out there that I can just. We can just rant, moan somebody. People are going through the same as me. Just complete frustration, let down. Horrible, brutal baseball. So I set up the Twitter and the Facebook group and then just like, just put myself out there, like, trying to link up to other accounts and just get in the fillies, tweets, replies, and start conversations. And it was kind of like therapy at that point, getting it all off your chest, how the dark days were. But then the way it escalated and grew from that, beyond my wildest thoughts and imagination. Imagine I could ever imagine, you know? And, yeah, here we are now, a few years down the line, and the way it's taken off has just been unreal.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: I remember when we met, we were at a game, and my sister in law Rosie introduced us, and I texted my son, who's 24 years old, and apparently, you know, that the 24 year old demographic does nothing but get their news and get their opinions and get everything. Everything.
So I said, do you ever hear the UK Phillies guy? And he's like, oh, yeah, yeah. I follow him on Twitter. I'm like, oh, I'm hanging out with him. We're drinking beer. He's like, holy shit.
[00:14:19] Speaker D: Are you serious?
[00:14:20] Speaker B: This is awesome.
It's amazing how many people know who you are, and only because you decided. Now, I'll go just a little bit business here for a second. But you just. You decided to utilize social media as a medium, as a way of connecting with people, and there's so many business folks out there. And, Joe, you're in the digital marketing world that would kill to figure out a way to hit a nerve or make a connection the way you did. What did you learn in that time, in that growth of your following, of your social media presence? What did you learn that could be applicable to business with people who are trying to build a brand or at least make connections with their audience, so to speak, you know, authenticity. Like, what did you learn?
[00:15:08] Speaker D: Number one, is being myself and being authentic, I think for sure.
Like, I know I'm not everyone's cup of tea. I'm very positive. I'm a positive. I'm a very glass half full guy. And then when the fields were having their dark days, I was sort of that, that other side going, well, you know, Aaron Altair hit a home run, you know, there's that positive, you know, and it's just trying to keep, trying to keep the bright side of things because social media, I find, is so negative. Half the time there's more negative out there than there is positive. And, you know, if the Phillies would lose, I just wouldn't post. I'd turn off social media. You know, I'm in a bad mood when the Phil's lose. I don't know, I want to keep it to myself and, you know, mope around here, then put it on social media and, you know, when Phil's want a bad run, damn, you know, social media is a horrible, horrible place sometimes.
So I try, I try keep to myself, be authentic and just try and be positive, you know, try and be that positive post, you know, people come across it and I find that's worked certainly for me the best that, you know, I have a lot of comments of, yeah, you know, they like it because I'm positive. I look on the bright side. And also for me as well, I'm trying to grow the sport over here as well. I'm trying to grow the fan base. You know, I want to get more people new to the sport into the sport, into the Phillies, grow the Phillies sort of fan base over here in the UK and Europe. So I want to keep it positive. If I'm always moaning, people are going to go, nothing good to say about the Phillies or baseball. So I like to post the explosive plays, the big highlights, when the fills are, when the fills are hot. I like to call it as riding the wave. You know, take that momentum with me for my account. You know, do some vlogs, do like, why the Philly's hot right now. Why is it exciting? I try and make my account as exciting as I can with a unique british twist and try and aim it towards the newer fans who have no idea about baseball. Like I didn't, you know, and when I was first, when I first got on social media, there was accounts on there that I was following that like, oh, this is cool. You know, they're posting all the cool stuff. The fun stuff and the lighter side of things and not focusing on the, the ten lost streaks and all that. So for me, the biggest takeaways has been authentic, true to myself, not to get involved in, embroiled in Twitter wars and social media wars and which I often scroll on Twitter and, like, I'm not getting you. I want to say something, but it's just, you know, it's not a good look. You gotta, you know, gotta, you know, when you've been watched by the films themselves and, you know, when you have that following, I don't. You don't want to be involved in any controversy.
[00:17:54] Speaker B: Gotta stay above the fray a little bit, right? Yeah, a little bit.
[00:17:57] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. And nine times out, it's not worth it anyway. It's. It's. It's all very petty and. Yeah, just for me, being positive as well and being interactive with people, like, I try and respond to everybody sometimes. It's like a part time job. I'm not gonna lie. You know, I come home from work, usually at work, I'm also, you know, trying to do content, but I like, I like trying to build and grow connections with fans around the world.
In January, I did the interactive map, which just took off bigger than I ever thought it would. I just put out there, you know, on Google Maps. Tell me where you guys are from, roughly that. Tell me or dm me and I'll put a little pee on them on the global map of where you are. And the way that blew up was unreal, you know, that's cool. I got nearly, you know, and if people want to see the map, it's on Google Maps. It's on my pinned on x on the top post. People from all over the world, and I mean all over the world, reached out like, I couldn't believe the amount of fans in the UK, you know, and we have got a big fan base here, and it's getting bigger. But the amount of fans and where they were all over the UK, all Phillies fans, all Philly, just, just Phillies fans.
[00:19:07] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:07] Speaker D: All over Europe, in, you know, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark, Greece. I just could not believe where these fans were. We're reaching out from, and that was, that was mind blowing. So, yeah, I try and think of different things to do as well and try and. Try and mix it up as well.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: So, Joe, I'm here and talk. Expand on this a bit. One of the things I see when people are trying to build their social media brand, we get that dopammatic response when we get the likes and the comments, like people put a post on social media and, like, they're looking for that interaction. They're looking for that response, the people commenting and liking, and it has a real dopamine hit.
It's been proven, but so few people actually engage back with the people that are engaging with them. If someone comments on your post, that is an incredible gift to be able to then engage with someone. They took a minute to comment. Maybe it's f you, but they took a minute to comment, like, and you're not commenting back. You're not re engaging with those people. I see it all over business. Do you see the same thing, Joe? Yeah.
[00:20:24] Speaker C: I mean, you know what the secret sauce is? Dan has it in spades. You got to love what you do. If you love what you do, none of it's contrived. You want, you want that interaction.
I mean, this guy's jumping screaming from the rooftops about the Phillies and his experience, and it's contagious. You know, I don't like a lot of people. I like this guy. I like listening to him, man, listening to his stories already, like, you know, because it's authentic and it's positive and people like that and for that, for that type of subject matter to get put out online through social media or whatever, it's contagious. Like, you want to see positive things, you know, like when someone follows an account, they don't want to, like this point. You don't want to open up. Like, Philly sucked today. Like, oh, shit. Like, all right, now this is just one more thing that's going to exactly, like, all right, well, that might be fair, but it's, you know, so that, that's the key. If you love what you do, then all of this is easy. So you don't have to come up with, what's my social media strategy? How many times should I do this? Who should I like? It's just now it just flows because you're psyched about it and you want to share it with other people. And the law of attraction kicks in that when you're positive and you're sharing positive things, positive people are going to follow you and they're going to say positive things. And, you know, of course you get the haters, you get stupid people trying to, you know, incite reactions and stuff like that. But they always say, you know, you can't fly with the eagles when you're wrestling with the pigs, so. The pigs.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: I thought it was turkeys. Last time you said it was turkeys.
[00:22:04] Speaker C: Well, sometimes you gotta wrestle the pigs. You can hang out. You don't hang out with the turkeys, but if you gotta wrestle the pigs, sometimes you have to.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: That's all great stuff, man. I love your insights, Dave, and kind of the example that you've led growing your social media.
Let's take the conversation over to the next part of this, because not only are you loving this experience, you're engaging, you're cheering on a team at times. Probably the only one that's cheering. There are times where it feels like everyone is mad in Philadelphia about something, but you take that positive approach and you've built your following and all of a sudden the MLB decides, we are going to have a Phillies game in London. Right? Tell us about when did you hear about that and then what transpired either just prior or just after that decision by the MLB and how it impacted you.
[00:23:07] Speaker D: To be honest, it still hasn't fully kicked in yet. I don't think it will until they get here.
I had rumblings of it before it was announced, but I, you know, Chase came over him, was made ambassador. I thought there was a small chance that if he's over it, it could happen. And then I got word and whispers of Phillies and Mets has been muted as a possible game. Although actually it was for a couple of years time, not this year coming.
The news was like I was at the gym at the time and I just had to just stop what I was doing and just, just take it all in and quickly jumped off, went for a shower, just did like what, came back out? Yeah. Damn. The Phillies are coming to London and it's. It's surreal. It's absolutely surreal.
What I'm just as excited about is the thousands and thousands of Phillies fans are coming over from not only. Not only Philadelphia, but from all over America, in Europe and the world. And it's just going to be Philly invasion. And since the announcement, it's just been a whirlwind of planning. A lot of events planned at Pashiunk Avenue, at the free sites in London.
Again, a lot of reaching out to fans. I've had a lot of DM's and that's great. I love that because every time I go to Philly, the hospitality has been second to none. And people are the most friendly, welcoming people. So now it's my turn and my chance to give that back to everybody who, you know, to the people of Philly. You're coming. Come to my backyard now. You're in my town. It's my turn.
[00:24:48] Speaker C: It's my turn to like the reverse 1776.
[00:24:53] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah.
[00:24:54] Speaker C: You know, the Americans are coming. The Americans are coming.
[00:24:59] Speaker D: That's it.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:00] Speaker D: We can. We can sit and have a beer and chat shit about the Revolutionary War. I can't wait.
It's so exciting, you know, and the amount of promo, the amount of opportunities that has arise from it, it's been unbelievable.
Just. It's been the best fun already this offseason has flown by. You know, a lot of the events at Pashink have sold out. People reaching out from all over, media, appearances at NBC.
It's just. It's been the most fun. You know, I'm trying to bottle it all up and take it all in because I know full well, especially in social media, nothing lasts forever. And like I said earlier on, ride the wave, I'm sort of trying to ride the wave right now. I know after June is going to be like. It's going to be, you know, a big, big drop.
So I'm just trying to take everything in and just go all out to give everybody who comes up. The main thing for me, like I said, everyone that's coming over, I want to give them the best experience possible, you know, London is an amazing city. It's one of my. Of course, I'm a little bit biased, you know, being from here, but London, I've traveled a lot, and I still think London is one of the best cities in the world. It's a lot of fun.
It's. The Pashiunk avenues epitomize everything about Philadelphia. The owner, JP Tetti, is from Philly. He's from, you know, he's from the area. He knows Philadelphia. The cheesesteaks are spot on. Better than. Oh, I don't know, better than dinos.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Wait, hold on. You vouch for those cheesesteaks? Steve?
[00:26:33] Speaker D: I'm vouching the bread. The bread is spot on, as we say over here.
[00:26:39] Speaker B: It's very bold.
[00:26:41] Speaker C: That's gonna. That could start another revolution right there.
Cheesesteaks. But that's.
[00:26:50] Speaker D: Cheesesteaks citywide beers, pickle box, you know, it's. And then they're all decked out in all, everything. Philadelphia. They're all decked out in Philly. Sports, the area. The Lenovo flags, every sport, every college, university flags it, or some sort of memorabilia is represented in all, all three Pasha young sites. And then, of course, the games themselves. It's going to be crazy to see Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwaber and Wheeler and co. And Bohem and Turner all in London, in London Stadium, where I was there in 2012 for the Olympics.
Yeah, just special time. It's going to be a special experience and the plans for it are absolutely insane.
[00:27:35] Speaker C: So are there any. I know every time that I watch sporting events in England and especially like soccer and stuff, there's some sing songs and chants. Do you have any Philly sing songs and chants planned or what?
[00:27:48] Speaker D: We've got the Alec Bohm song. We've got.
[00:27:51] Speaker B: How's it going?
[00:27:52] Speaker D: How does it go? So it's to a song by Casey and the Sunshine Band, I think what the original is anymore, but it's quite a popular football chant as well, or soccer chant. So a lot of people sing it. It goes na na na na na na na na na.
[00:28:09] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:28:09] Speaker D: Give it a garlic boom, alec boom ali. Garlic boom.
[00:28:13] Speaker C: Let's go.
[00:28:15] Speaker D: And it's catchy. The most surreal thing is to be when I'm in Philly to people to sing it back to me. I can hear behind me someone singing. I'm like, damn.
[00:28:26] Speaker B: Wow, that is awesome. People love it.
[00:28:29] Speaker D: And it's just a bit, again, it's just a bit of fun. It's just a bit of us and our sporting culture bring it to the american side and, you know, we're gonna get that going at London series, you know, we're gonna get that stadium singing that song and it's gonna sound friggin awesome.
[00:28:44] Speaker C: There you go.
[00:28:46] Speaker B: What did it feel like? I mean, you, so here you are. You're the guy, right? You're the UK Phillies guy. All of a sudden you hear the Phillies are coming to London. It's like, holy shit. It's like, like a dream come true for you, especially in your, the last couple of years of your fandom. But more importantly, what did it feel like for the entire world to almost turn around and point at you and be like, Dave, this, this is your moment. Like, you knew it, they knew it, everybody knew it. This was your moment. Is there any pressure?
[00:29:16] Speaker D: I don't, I honestly don't feel it.
I think pressure will start rising near the time, you know, when, probably a week before. And when I'm like, oh, okay, you know, let's get this right. But it's more, again, to give everybody a meet and everyone that's coming over the best experience possible, which is what I want to do. But it's just been fun. It's been so much fun. You know, having MLB Europe and MLB reach out, NBC reach out, the Phillies reach out.
A lot of media markets and media outlets in Philly and here in the UK reaching out.
[00:29:53] Speaker B: I bet you never thought you'd be on selling the dream podcast either.
[00:29:57] Speaker D: No, exactly.
[00:30:01] Speaker C: I think we're ticking a dream off right now.
[00:30:06] Speaker D: I should have added it to my two troops, one live.
It's just. It's so much fun. As you said earlier, like, it's. It's. It's not. It's not a chore. It doesn't. Doesn't feel like it. It's like a part time job. It doesn't feel like a job because it is my passion. It's something I've always wanted to do as well. You know, I've always wanted to work in sports and do something I'm passionate about, which makes it a lot easier. You know, I don't have to think too hard. I like an idea that comes to my head. I'll action it straight away. You know, I'm on Twitter. I don't really think twice, I think. And some things don't work, like some things I do do, and I think possibly could have worked not a bit more. But nine times out of ten, you know, people seem to enjoy what I do and enjoy the content. And this year is massive. I've done a lot of vlogs for the London series already, for the YouTube channel, guides to London, guides to pass, young guides to London Stadium, getting in and out of London, which people have taken to really well, and just trying to do different things, competitions, giveaways. I've got these. I should have got one nearby, but the London series cards that I've made up.
So you've got Trey Turner Castellanos, Bryce Harper and the fanatic walking across Abbey Road like the Beatles cover.
[00:31:25] Speaker B: Oh, you got to get me one of those, Steve.
[00:31:27] Speaker C: That's really good.
[00:31:30] Speaker D: If you're around next week, I can give you some. Give London. London series cards. That would be awesome. In fact, I know I'll be seeing Rosie, so I can leave some with her to give to you.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: I have a feeling we'll figure out a way to get together. I know we have some tickets lined up. You know that the opening day. This is breaking news, but again, no one's going to hear this, this podcast for a minute. But opening day was pushed back. It's now Friday. Did you hear that?
[00:31:53] Speaker D: Yeah. We had a big event planned at Pashiyonk for the opening day, for the Thursday. We were all booked out. So I get why they've done it. It makes sense, but, yeah, a bit bummed, but yeah, it is what it is.
In a way, I'm quite glad, because now we know it's definitely gonna be Friday. There was that. Is it will it? Won't it? Will it? Won't it? But yeah, we got an extra day to prepare x to rest up, and. Yeah, I'm ready for it now. I could stick it on right now. I'm ready to go.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: That's awesome. All right, so let's go. Because I know that this is going to spur another few minutes of conversation. You might as well get into it now. Joe.
Joe.
[00:32:34] Speaker C: Yes, sir.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: Two truths and a lie. Let's recap what the truths and a lie are. I forgot where I wrote them down.
The one was sitting in a hot tub with Chase Utley, asking him what it was like when he uttered the.
[00:32:50] Speaker D: Words.
[00:32:53] Speaker C: I think you like taxi, bro.
[00:33:02] Speaker B: I think you might have got your.
[00:33:03] Speaker C: List mixed up a little bit there, buddy.
[00:33:05] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. That's not my way.
[00:33:07] Speaker B: He's sitting in a strip club, hanging out with Chase Utley, right? Talking about what it was like to say world fucking champs, and then running the London marathon, full marathon, fully dressed as a Philadelphia Philly. And what was the third one?
[00:33:34] Speaker D: Throwing out first pitch at the Phillies game in 2022.
[00:33:37] Speaker B: In 2022, Joe, which one's the lie?
[00:33:42] Speaker C: So I'm going to say that running the marathon in Philly's gear is not the lie, because he mentioned that he goes to the gym and so forth. So I imagine that he's probably a runner. I think a marathon's right there. His connection with Chase Utley. I would think that if I had access to Chase Outley, that is the first thing I would make that fucker do.
The timeline of how is came to becoming Phillies fan and so forth. I think that 2022 may not have happened. Throwing out the first pitch. So number three is the lie, I think.
[00:34:23] Speaker B: I'm with you, Joe. I'm gonna have to agree. If you did throughout the first pitch, it wasn't in 2022, but I think you may have thrown out a first pitch. What was it, Dave?
[00:34:32] Speaker D: That was the lie. That. That's. That's also a dream, but it hasn't happened. No.
[00:34:36] Speaker C: See.
[00:34:41] Speaker D: So the MLB got in touch and said, would you like to meet Chase Hutley and interview with him for a promo for the London series in the back of a branded up London taxi?
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Oh, it was a taxi, not a hot tub. I thought. I thought taxis. I thought that was how you. I thought you called hot tubs taxis. Go ahead.
[00:35:02] Speaker D: No, no.
[00:35:04] Speaker C: In a lot of trouble, buddy. You're trying to hail a hot tub in England.
[00:35:09] Speaker D: For any hot tubs over here.
[00:35:12] Speaker C: A hot tub going home.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: All right, so good. So you're talking. So they connect you with Chase.
[00:35:20] Speaker D: Yeah, the connection with Chase. So we were sitting in the back of the taxi, had all day with him doing. Just talking to chase. And what a guy, by the way. He is the man. You know, he is unbelievable. So kind, so honest. And, you know, when the cameras weren't rolling, what a potty mouth. Like, I've never, obviously, I know he swears the world, the World Series line, but some of the stories that I can't quite repeat were unbelievable, what I was hearing. But he loves London. And, yeah, I got to say, you know, I got to go.
I was going to ask him to do it. Could you do the line from the World Series, world fucking champions? And he goes, and the producers are going, oh, what's this? Because the producers weren't quite Phillies fans going, what line is this? And Chase goes, well, Dave can do it. And I went, okay, my best Chase, world fucking champions.
And it's like, what a moment. Watches how pinch myself. What's just happened.
I know some of that promo will go out from MLB more towards London. Series starts getting nearer, but, yeah, that was one of the best days ever, you know.
[00:36:35] Speaker B: So you guys like boys now? Do you have his phone number or what?
[00:36:39] Speaker D: I have a direct link. Yeah, I have an email to Chase. Yeah. And just, yeah, I'm hoping to see him on Sunday, actually, because he's meant to be at one of the events at Pasha Young, so. Yeah, what a guy. He signed my jersey, my zero eight hat that I got. And it's just crazy. It's come full circle because he was a guy. That home run, my first game, the first guy to hit a home run. And sort of now I'm sitting in the back of a taxi with him, interviewing him and just having the best day ever. It was. Yeah, that was. That was really special.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: The universe is an amazing thing, isn't it?
[00:37:16] Speaker C: Law of attraction, man. The law of attraction.
[00:37:19] Speaker D: Right.
Yeah. And. And, you know, he's having the best time in London. He loves it in London. His kids are, you know, he's saying that they prefer soccer to baseball at the moment. You know, they're. And you can't get them to play baseball. They love. They love their soccer.
[00:37:34] Speaker B: That's awesome. I appreciate. I appreciate the fact you're calling it soccer because I know, I know you want to call it football.
I appreciate that. That is the coolest thing in the world, man. Well, I'll tell you, I wish you all the luck in the world. I am, like, I'm just happy and excited for you.
I was watching tv when I saw the promo on CB's Sportsnet, and I'm like, holy crap. You know, this is. This is awesome. And I think that everybody that knows you knows that this is a. That this is a dream, you know, dream for you. And I think that, you know, a ton of people are happy for you, not the least of which me and Joe. And I just. I hope you have fun, man. I really do. And. And, yes, soak it all in, you know? Do you have any tips for. For the people from Philadelphia coming there? Anything they should know?
[00:38:30] Speaker C: Stay out of hot tubs.
[00:38:34] Speaker D: Yeah, set of hot tubs. Look, just see it all. London's a great city, and the best thing is London is all in very. Everything's very close proximity. Transport network is fantastic. Walk, but just try and walk it. The weather should be. Fingers crossed. That's my one worry, the weather. The weather. But it should be good. It usually is around that time of year. Walk around and see much of London as possible. Come into Pashiunk Avenue, say hello, have a cheesesteak, have some wings, have a beer, and just have fun, because it's like. Honestly, it's like a festival. It's a festival of baseball. The last two London series have been fantastic. Everybody mingles. Everybody gets along. It's just a crazy baseball bubble, and you'll have the best experience ever.
[00:39:18] Speaker B: Awesome. Awesome. All right, with that, we're gonna let you go. Thank you for hanging out, and we'll catch everybody, Joe. We'll catch you another day.
[00:39:26] Speaker C: Yes, sir.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to selling the dream. We know you don't want to miss a single episode, so go subscribe today, wherever you get your podcasts, and then make sure to share the show with your friends and leave us a review.
