Williamsport Wonders, Red Sox Revival, and a Bizarre CFB Landscape
We’ve officially reached Episode 281 of the SMQBs podcast, and we’re celebrating with a full house and a very special guest: sports card collector and Williamsport local Ryan Rapley. Ryan kicks things off by taking Braves ace Chris Sale to “the bar” after a painfully hilarious snub at the Little League World Series, where Sale flat-out refused to autograph his own game-used 2024 All-Star locker tag. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg in an episode that covers everything from a 16-year-old MLS wonderkid to a college football player currently entering his eighth year of eligibility.
Speaking of Williamsport, Ryan gives us the ultimate insider’s tour of the Little League World Series, from the chaotic world of high-stakes pin trading to how a local natural gas boom accidentally built the town’s massive hotel infrastructure. We dive into the historic, record-shattering performances of breakout girl pitchers Kinley Rasmus and Carson Meyer, as well as the powerhouse Curacao championship run. But the real highlight? You’ll have to listen to the episode to hear the guys mercilessly grill Milk over his newly uncovered childhood pitching trauma—a 22-2 nightmare from his preteen days where he served up at least five home runs to a team that featured a future MLB manager.
For the baseball purists, we’re shifting gears to the MLB wild card hunt. Ryan makes the bold claim that the Red Sox actually boast the best pitching staff in baseball, despite a fresh 16-1 shellacking by the rival Yankees. The guys break down the Sox’s dramatic turnaround after Alex Cora’s departure, a bizarre story involving a single game-worn World Series shoe, and whether Boston’s starting rotation has the depth to survive a best-of-three postseason bloodbath in the Bronx.
Finally, we’re strapping in for an absolute monster of a college football preview. Is FSU’s Mike Norvell already a dead man walking after a disappointing week zero performance? Can Arch Manning ride a brand-new army of elite transfer weapons to a championship run at Texas? We debate the powerhouse rosters of Georgia and Oregon, call out Callaway and Good Good Golf for a spectacularly tone-deaf ad, and wrap things up with a rapid-fire round of shocking NFL cuts. Trust us, you don’t want to miss a single second of this one—hit play!