The Atlanta Braves: Austin Riley, Kyle Farmer & Ben Ingram Talk Country Music and Braves Baseball

[00:00:08] Hey everyone, welcome back to Whiskey Riff Raff and man, do I hope that you are watching this episode and not just listening. If you're listening, that's great, but I would highly recommend switching over to YouTube because Shelby and I, my name is Quinn, this is Shelby if we didn't say that, we're sitting in Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves and it's been a great day so far. We've talked to all kinds of great special guests that you'll hear from and hear in just a second.

[00:00:31] Yeah, and the reason we are here is because Braves Country Fest is coming this summer, June 13th with Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, Ernest, Mackenzie Carpenter and even more. So we get to talk to some players who play on the Braves and some behind the scenes players as well. Yeah, a big behind the scenes players if you like listening to the Braves on the radio, like myself, I'm a big Braves fan. You're going to enjoy hearing from Ben Ingram, the play by play announcer for the Atlanta Braves, but it's a great episode.

[00:01:00] We talk about baseball, a lot of outdoors talk, a lot of outdoors and fishing and things like that, but then obviously country music as well. Yeah, Austin Riley and Kyle Farmer have been great and you're not going to want to miss this episode. We're kicking things off with Atlanta Braves third baseman, Austin Riley. You know, we're here to talk about a little bit of everything, but I'm going to dive into the country music first. Okay.

[00:01:27] So who's your favorite? What are you listening to right now? Kind of give us the rundown of your music taste. Um, you know, big fan of Luke Combs, you know, pretty much everything that he, that he sings is good. Um, you know, like some Jason Aldean. I like a little bit of just like everything, Zach Topp, uh, Ella Langley, like just kind of everything. Um, you know, I got two boys, so there's some Spider-Man thrown in there. Oh yeah. Uh, Paw Patrol thrown in there too. Sure.

[00:01:56] Uh, no, we, like I said, all, all countries is good with me. What's the locker room like? Is there an acceptance for country? Are you seeing a lot of, a lot of guys saying, Hey, check this artist out? No, no, no. Yeah. We listen to a lot of country. Kind of depends on like time of day, like early on it's country. As we get closer to, to the game time, like leading up to it, you know, we kind of get, get in our, our mode and, and we get some, some upbeat stuff going. Who controls that Ox in there? Is it any players or is it kind of?

[00:02:25] It's a different, it's a combination between, uh, Mike Harris and, uh, Kyle Farmer right now. Okay. Okay. So you get a little, you get a little bit of, get a little better everything, so. Yeah. And, uh, I know that a big thing about you, it's been, it's been documented in a lot of places is that it really works out that baseball season ends and hunting season begins. Yeah. So you would obviously describe yourself as an avid hunter, fisherman, all those things. Yeah. Um, yeah. I mean, you hit the nail on the head.

[00:02:53] It's, it's baseball season and kind of, you know, pretty much all of all season is hunting season. So, um, you kind of just roll, roll right into that. Uh, I grew up hunting, uh, and fishing with my dad and my uncle and, and love to deer hunt, love to turkey hunt. Um, I've killed three turkeys this spring already. So yeah. So off to a good start. Yeah. Um, and then, uh, do a little bit of duck in the, in the off season as well. Um, yeah. So, I mean, like I said, it, it, it times up about as good as it can.

[00:03:23] And if my research serves me well, you bought some property too. So you've got kind of some hunting area. Yeah. Yeah. Closer to home. Yeah. Back home, uh, about an hour from, from the house, um, bought a little 2000 acres. Wow. Yeah. Um, that was like my, my dream is to, um, no, that's been one of my dreams since I was a little kid is own my own property. Yeah. Um, so now, now I get to do that. It's on, it's on the Mississippi river. Um, so it's, it's, um, it's my little, little sanctuary.

[00:03:51] Now being from the South, what are your favorite things about the South that you love kind of just teaching other players about that aren't from here? Any food specifically? Um, right. Really just like, you know, I grew up like Southern tradition and just like my grandmother's like home cooked meals and just like a meat and three. Um, I think that's, that's a, that's always a good one. Like fried okra, black eyed peas.

[00:04:20] Um, you know, I feel like crawfish doesn't get brought up as much, you know, up North and around, I got West and stuff. Um, love some crawfish. That's like one of my, one of my go-to. Crawfish boils are a lot of fun too. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I've committed to Mississippi state. So it was like going to little Dewey's, um, and get some crawfish whenever, whenever I was working out there or something was, was, was the way to go. And I've seen that you like to do a little golfing in your spare time as well. Okay.

[00:04:49] And there's even a charity event, right? Well, yeah. Yesterday. Yesterday. Yesterday. Um, so I bounced around. I had them all right. Yeah. Um, I don't get to play much as much, um, you know, in Atlanta, we try to play on the road on off days and stuff and get out. Um, but, um, yeah, the, the event yesterday was unbelievable. Had a great turnout for the Warriors Alliance. We, we focus on veterans and, and, uh, the wellness of them and, and, you know, making sure that they're taken care of not only overseas, but when they get back home and stuff.

[00:05:19] So that's always, that was our fourth year doing it. So it's, um, it's grown. We've actually, we'd start out with 18 holes, um, last year, traditional 18, uh, four man scramble. We then went to, had to do three nines. And then we've actually, yesterday we did two 18s. It's just, it's grown so much. So, um, it's, it's been awesome. And best swing on the team would go to who? Um, he's not gonna, he's not gonna out drive you, but, um, he does.

[00:05:48] Bryce Elder can hit it really well. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. He's just, he's, he scores really well. And I would think just, you know, I, I played golf a little bit whenever, uh, I was in college and I would assume that a baseball swing and a golf swing would kind of combat against each other. Do you have any issues? Like not really? No, no. Um, there's new, the new style of baseball and like diving into mechanics and all that. There's a lot of similarities to just like how the, you know, the hips shift and weight shift and all that stuff.

[00:06:16] So, uh, my dad was like one of those big ones is like no golf, no golf, but we still, it's more of a mental break for me. Gotcha. Uh, during a long season. And now you're spending so much time with your, you know, your teammates throughout the year. What separates this Atlanta Braves team versus years prior? Um, I think we, you know, one, we're healthy for the most part. Um, I think that's a big one. Um, and then we just got a, we got a really good group of, of, you know, mix of veterans

[00:06:45] and younger guys, um, guys that have been around the, you know, you look at Dom Smith, you look at Kyle Farmer, those guys have been around the league for a while. And, and those guys are stepping in and, and, and doing a really good job. And Dubon, um, Mateo, uh, and guys, you know, that have, have done it before are, you know, I know you'd look at Mikey and you look at Ozzie, those guys are having tremendous starts to the, to the season and the Maddie's doing what he's doing. Um, so I think it's just, you know, really good vibes.

[00:07:14] Uh, you know, I think that started off with, you know, bringing in Walt right out of the gate and spring training and just kind of led, led on from there. And Walt seems like a good kind of momentum shift for the organization. Uh, obviously he's been here, uh, with Snicker, but, uh, how big of a deal was it that you watched your manager tackle another player on the, on the baseball field? I've always said it. Like I've seen it. Like I know Walt, I've known him for a while. I've always said, I was like, if we get in a bra, I'm getting behind that guy.

[00:07:43] Um, and now the whole world saw it. Yeah. Um, everyone found out he's a black belt. Is that right? Or something? Something like that. But no, that was, um, you know, you want, you want to play for a manager like that. Yeah, for sure. Definitely. Yeah, definitely. And, uh, I, I'm a big Braves fan. Um, and so the fact that you're signed on for until 2032, is that right? Yeah. Um, that obviously means that you want to be a Braves fan. Yeah. You would say no. Yeah, definitely.

[00:08:13] No, no better place. Uh, you know, they always say grass and always greener on the other side. And I truly believe that being from the South, I mean, from Mississippi, it just. Perfect fit. Yeah. I mean, it made so much sense whenever, you know, when Alex came to me, you know, I wanted to be here for, for the, for the full time and hopefully, hopefully that happens. And sorry, but you can go ahead if you want to. Sure. You know, with your mental headspace, you know, when the team is just doing fantastic right now, is that kind of harder or easier on you? Do you think? Do you think you're going to just kind of keep the momentum going?

[00:08:42] Or is it kind of like better that you are kind of the underdogs when you work your way up? Um, no, I mean, we've always, I think we've always known that we were a good team. So, I mean, I think we're just out there doing our, doing our, our business and taking care of business, playing our game. Um, you know, we're winning right now. Obviously I'm, I'm not where I'm not hitting my stride where I want to be. And I think that, you know, us winning and other guys are playing well, it's, it's kind of given me a little bit of a sense of, you know, I can figure my thing, my stuff out

[00:09:12] with my swing and, and, you know, still, we're still winning ballgames. So it just kind of allows me, it takes a little bit of pressure off me to, to get my thing going, but no, we, uh, we're, we're, we're right. We're in a good spot. Good. And just 162 games, like for, for the average person that seems like such a grind, but is it also like, I'm sure this is a dream come true. Oh yeah. This is your dream career. So there's a mix between balancing the mental side and also just looking around and enjoying where you are. No, no doubt. There's, um, nobody's going to feel sorry for us.

[00:09:41] It's just the fact that we, we get to play a kid's game for, for a living. So, I mean, um, you know, you, you have your long road trips and, you know, away from your family at times and stuff. But, but like I said, it's, it's, uh, it's a blessing to get out of here, to do this every day. And, and, um, like I said, to play a kid's game for, for a living, it's, uh, doesn't get much better than that. Is there anything about the major leagues that you didn't anticipate or expect that?

[00:10:08] Um, I'd say the trap, the travels it's, uh, it's intense. I mean, it's a, it's a lot. Um, and I think you, you know, you just take us, for instance, it's just like a night game going in, you know, travel day or travel night game. And then you get in at 3am and then it's like trying to figure out how to get your sleep. But, you know, then they got kids that wake you up at eight o'clock. And so it's just like battling, like, I guess not battling, but figuring out that whole dynamic

[00:10:34] of just how to get your rest, how to, you know, recover in the right ways. Um, through a, through a full one 62, I think has been the biggest, like I said, the biggest challenge. And before we let you go, we've covered baseball, hunting, country music. Is there anything that, you know, fans might not know about you that you kind of keep under wraps or, uh, you know, a guilty pleasure or anything like that? Guilty pleasure. Um, could be hunting. I mean, it could just be hunting.

[00:11:10] I think I can, my wife tells me I can't sing, but I like to get after it in the car or wherever it may be. So I guess that could be, could be a shower singer. Got it. There you go. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time. Yeah. Appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you guys. Best of luck the rest of the season. Thank you. All right. Well, we're here with Ben Ingram, whose voice really doesn't need any introduction. So happy to talk to you. Welcome to Whiskey Riff Raff. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. 16 years with the Braves. That's correct. We just talked about that. You're the play by play announcer.

[00:11:40] Um, I know that viewers that might be tuning in might not know that, but, uh, it's clear whenever you, whenever you speak, like just the golden voice that you have. And I'm not trying to freak you out or anything, but I've listened to you for quite some time for many years as a Braves fan. I appreciate it. Thank you. It's, it's a lot of fun, man. Yeah. And I'll go ahead and get the other embarrassing part out. I walk around the house, uh, and my wife usually has to tell me to stop because I just keep talking about the hottest prospect of them all, Louisiana brand hot sauce. Yeah. Poor wife. Yeah.

[00:12:09] She has to go through a lot. She really does. Uh, but yeah, it's just, it's, it's great to sit here and talk with you and we've got a lot of things to cover. Braves country fest, uh, Braves baseball. I don't really, what, where should we jump in here? Shelby. You know, I think I kind of want to just ask you what it's like being the voice for the Braves. The Braves really is like the country music baseball team with everyone being, you know, from Tennessee or the South in general, they all love the Braves and it's been written in so many country music songs as well. How does it feel to be that voice? Yeah.

[00:12:38] I mean, there is a crossroads there for sure. I grew up in the South. I mean, this is the only team in the region. So, I mean, it's not lost on me, but when I was growing up, I just wanted to call major league baseball. I didn't really care where I just wanted one of the 30 team to say, we want that guy to call our games. The fact that it worked out to be the Braves is kind of another level that I couldn't really imagine being possible. Because it is so close to home. I grew up watching the team and people that I know want to come over and watch games and

[00:13:06] I can get back home in six hours if I want to and get to deer camp in five hours if I want to. It's all really close. And I think now that I look back on it, it's a great fit for me. What was your path to get here? Maybe it doesn't have to be the long version or the short version, but... Yeah, I went to college because I wanted to get a degree in mass media and communications. So, I did that and I knew that the route to getting to the big leagues was no different than it is for the players. And that's going through the minor leagues.

[00:13:35] And I tell young broadcasters that all the time. I get asked from 13, 14-year-olds to guys in their mid-20s, how did you do it? Well, to me, it's the minor leagues. The minor leagues, for me, same as a player, same as an umpire, same as anybody else. It's there to build your resume, to get ready for this. I don't think that you can just dive into this without having any kind of notion as to how this works and what the lower levels look like.

[00:14:03] So, for me, I did independent ball for a season. I was with the A-ball team for the Padres in Eugene, Oregon for a year. And then I was with the AA team for the Braves in Mississippi for four seasons. And then transitioned from there to here, doing pregame and postgame, and fill-in play-by-play. And in that time, I really thought it would be fill-in play-by-play, pre-and-post, and I would use this as a springboard to another team. And I just couldn't imagine it would happen here.

[00:14:31] I just didn't see that coming. And when it did, it just blew my mind, to be quite honest. So, it's kind of a short answer, because there's a lot that went into that. But that was the ladder and the path that I took to get here. Yeah. Can you describe what Braves fans are really like for people who don't know? Sure. It's a passionate group. And they know that the standard for baseball is very, very high. And I love that. There's a lot of pride in Atlanta Braves baseball. And for so many people, it's not just here. We go on the road.

[00:15:00] We could be in San Diego, Houston, Seattle, Denver. We have huge groups of fans who come out. And that's because it's such a national and global brand. And a lot of that's because of the Superstation years ago. I hear from countless people, I mean, all the time. Hey, I'm a TBS kid. I grew up watching the Superstation. I grew up on the Braves. And that story could be the same 10 minutes down the road as it could be 2,500 miles across the country. There's so many people like that.

[00:15:27] So I think that group of people grew up not only following the Braves from afar, but also following winning baseball. I mean, you know the names. I mean, the names are synonymous with the brand. And it's Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer. And it's division title, division title, division title, World Series championships. There's a lot of pride in that. And people know their history really, really well. And I think that's wonderful. I love what we just had this past weekend. We had the Phillies in town. This place was sold out all three games. It's a big rivalry.

[00:15:57] It's a huge rivalry. It feels like it's one of the only stadiums that's consistently sold out. It's a massive vibe, man. Massive vibe. And even last year when it wasn't such a great season, still a good vibe in the ballpark. But when this place is rocking and the team's winning like they have been, that's Braves country right there. And it's addicting. And I think for fans like myself, you're a big part of that experience. Driving down the road, listening to a game or however it is that you're consuming Braves through the radio.

[00:16:27] And I'm always just curious. You've got your play-by-play color commentator. And then some of my favorite parts of a ballgame are you guys just start talking about something that's maybe not happening on the field. And then you're still working in what's happening on the field. Is there an art to that? Do you guys have any notes on the side like, hey, by the way, this happened to me. I might bring this up. Or is it all just pretty natural and you trust the other guy? It's organic. It really is. I think you have to let the game take you to those places. Here's the thing. We play 162 games. You're going to have some great ones.

[00:16:56] You're going to have some clunkers. You're going to have plenty of time to weave in whatever you want. And to me, that's the important part of chemistry with broadcasters. I work with Joe Simpson. And Joe is like my older brother in baseball. The way that he's taken me in and the chemistry that we had. We knew we had a chemistry before we even worked together. And I feel like I'm working with my older brother. When I'm working with Darren O'Day, we had an immediate chemistry. And I think that's really important. And you develop that because you're working with the person every single day.

[00:17:23] It's not like basketball or football where it might be one or two games a week. We're doing this every single day. We're in spring training for six weeks. So we're with each other more than we're with our families, with our friends. That's it. And it's become a brotherhood for us. I can't speak for other booths, but I feel like I'm working with brothers of mine. With Jonathan, with Darren, with Joe, when other fill-ins come in. So I think when you have that chemistry, it opens up an avenue to more creativity.

[00:17:49] And to me, that's the biggest thing in this is the creative nature of this. And that's why I enjoy radio more than television. I love the creative nature of what it is that we do. That's why radio is my favorite medium in which we bring baseball to the masses. And, I mean, there are times where, you know, I'm a Braves Vision subscriber. But then I'll just like, hey, I'm going to just turn the radio on. And there's just something special about it. So, again, cannot believe that I'm sitting here talking to Ben Ingram.

[00:18:18] You know, I just asked Austin Riley this. You know, being around so many different Braves teams, what is different about the team this year that you can, like, feel? Well, we played 29 games. And I think the most tangible thing that's different is there is an attitude that's different right now than it was the last few seasons. And if you look at the stretch of division titles, when this group won six straight, you had some of those years where they won 104 games. Other years where they didn't turn it on until later.

[00:18:47] But what they had in common is, is at some point, the switch always flipped. And I think they relied on that last season. I think they felt like even with a slow start, eventually what's going to happen is what's always happened. Well, it didn't happen. It just shows you how hard this game is because it's such a talented group. And you just can't take getting into the postseason for granted. You can't act like it's just going to happen every year. It's not your birthright to do that. 29 other teams are trying to get better every single year as well. And some years, it just doesn't pan out. We'll see what happens in the end.

[00:19:16] But ask the Mets or the Phillies about that right now. It's a really tough start for them. To answer your question, I saw this group come into spring training with an attitude of anger because they were embarrassed by what happened last season. I think that they were ashamed of how they underperformed. And they could sit there and say, yes, X, Y, and Z with the excuses for injuries. But I don't think that really sat well with them. I think they knew we underperformed statistically, and therefore we underperformed in the win column. And they know that they're much better than that. And I love that.

[00:19:45] You see a hunger that was there from day one. And I've seen that in the coaching staff too. I've seen it with Walt, with Tim, and some of the new hires as well. I think it's tremendous. And they're looking to get after somebody's ass this year. And I love that. It really does seem like last year it was, like you said, fans kept waiting too for that. Like, oh, get back to 500 and then go off from there. And this year it's like we're not even going to mess with trying to work from behind.

[00:20:09] Even though one of my favorite things as a Braves fan is it always seems like fifth inning, sixth inning, if we're down a couple runs, we can make a rally. But this team, it feels like, is really kind of enforcing their power and their hitting on other teams. It's been fun to watch so far. Obviously a long season. But you feel good about this year's team. Yeah, and doing it in different ways. I think in years past you might have been waiting on the three-run home run. You're waiting on it. You've got a bunch of measures in there. Eventually somebody is going to tag one and hit it out. We can't just rely on that. It's good to have it.

[00:20:38] We had it here two days ago in the Phillies series. Had six runs in the first two innings of the game. But you also go back to the series in Philadelphia last weekend, and it's a swing and bunt. It's a flare. It's a bloop. It's contact. And you have to have multidimensional ways of winning games, I feel. You have to be multidimensional. You can't just rely on the gappers and the home runs because sometimes you're facing a really good pitcher, and you just need contact. So I think what we've seen in the first month of the season is a team that is on the tack. They're aggressive offensively.

[00:21:07] That might mean bombs and gappers. It might mean swinging bunts and flares, but contact, speed, pitching, defense, the basics. And all that's come together and given you a 29 record at this point. Yep. Yeah, we're excited to watch the game tonight. First one for us of the season. Just to bring it back to country music, who do you think is the most country guy on the team? Whatever definition that is to you. I mean, Austin's definitely in the conversation. Yeah. I'd probably start right there.

[00:21:35] I'd say this might throw you for a loop because when you think of country, you think of American-born players. Martin Perez is a rancher in Venezuela. He's got hundreds and hundreds a head of cattle. In fact, I think he plays baseball, so he can ranch, and that's his passion. I mean, that's pretty country as well. Dylan Lee is a guy that I'd throw on the list. Outstanding. He loves to fish, loves to hunt. Same thing for Eli White.

[00:22:04] He can get out there and hunt some, too. Same with Mike Jastrzemski. But that'd be kind of the short list, I'd say. Nice. And country music-wise, we've heard that you have a pretty good taste in country music. You might even have such a good taste that you can kind of say, oh, this player doesn't have the best taste. Don't want to get you in trouble. No, no, no, no. Look, you like who you like. Yeah. And some stuff that other guys listen to just in for me, man. But other stuff is.

[00:22:31] And I'm kind of critical when it comes to music. And it's not just country music. I'm a big rock fan, too. I love country music. I love old country music. But I like creativity. I like people who are talented enough to write their own songs, perform those songs, master instruments, bring that to an audience. I think one of the hardest things to do is to create something out of nothing and bring that to a live audience.

[00:22:57] I think that's really hard to do, to stand there in front of the world and say, here's what I have created. And it's up to them to accept or reject. And that takes some stones to do that and some real talent to do that, too. So that's what I really appreciate. And originality and uniqueness all come into play. And that's what really catches my ear. Can you name a few of your favorites right now? Oh, sure. For country? Yeah, country music. I mean, I love Turnpike. I love Whiskey Myers. I've become really good friends with the Whiskey Myers guys. They're huge Rangers fans. And we chat about baseball a lot.

[00:23:26] Big fan of Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson. You're speaking our language. Yeah. I mean, it's a lot of the stuff that you don't hear on the radio is kind of where I gravitate to. Shane Smith and the Saints, Charles Wesley Godwin. Checking all the boxes. And I've seen all these guys. I think I've seen all of those guys in person. How did you discover that kind of country music versus, you know, the radio country? That's a great question.

[00:23:53] I think other people who know more about music than I do. I was going to say word of mouth is strong. Yeah. And I've got some friends who are, I've got a buddy of mine who's a writer and critiques music. And a lot of times he'll let me in on, hey, you need to check this guy out or this new album, that kind of thing. And live music.

[00:24:15] I'd say that when I was coming along, because I think we all hit a time where you realize there's something out there more so than what you're being fed on the radio. Because when I was growing up, I mean, obviously there was no internet. I'm 46 years old. In high school, it was the radio. That was it. You had your CDs, that kind of thing. I had a big CD collection. But I was all over the road. Some stuff that I still like. Other things I cringe thinking that I actually own CDs.

[00:24:43] I think everybody's got a situation like that. But I started a certain path. There are bands like Black Crows that I listened to a lot growing up. Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin. That kind of had my roots in music and like the classical stuff, the classic rock. Because to me, there's just nothing cooler than lead singer, lead guitar. We're shredding. Paige and Plant, Mick and Keith, that kind of thing. That stuff, that's just so cool to me. And you mentioned Sturgill.

[00:25:13] That's another guy in modern day that's doing that. 100%. And Whiskey Myers is on the road with the Black Crows right now. I'm going to see them. They're here in May, and they're in New York when we're there in June. I'm going to try to catch one of those two shows. I was texting Tony, one of the percussionists about it. We chat baseball. He loves baseball the way I love music. Yeah, getting to catch up with those guys. But yeah, that's kind of how it all developed. You go back to the drive-by trucker days when they had Isbel in the group.

[00:25:43] A lot of that was kind of what directed me to this genre of music now, if that makes sense. And then once you discover it, you find social media accounts like yourself that promote really good music like that. But I get really excited. And I love hearing new people. I found out there's an artist, Trenton Fletcher, whom I just heard about and saw him perform when we were in spring training. He was at Fort Myers. We got to hear their band.

[00:26:10] Kids from Oklahoma, like 23, 24 years old, shredding it. Like, this is what I want to see more of. I think that's kind of the long-winded answer for your question. Yep. Perfect. And you recently had Jason Aldean join you in the booth. I know it's a very short time, I guess, whenever you have guests come in like that. But besides Jason, have you had any other country artists that have stopped in that you felt like maybe could hold their own in the booth? That was a rarity.

[00:26:37] We've had people come in, but that got thrown on us about 24 hours before it actually happened. Yeah. Where they said, hey, Aldean wants to come on the air. And I said, I'm offered. He just played UGA the day before, I think. So we're offered some pub. So roll through. I don't listen to any of his stuff, but I know who he is and all about the publicity. We've had Jason Isbell came in. That was pretty cool. I'm trying to think who else we might have seen along the way. And even outside of country, too.

[00:27:06] I mean, any cool guests that you've had stop in? Yeah, we've had members of REM come through before. That was really cool. We've had, let's see, who else? A lot of baseball people, obviously. I mean, we had the night that Andrew Jones had his number retired. We got to do an inning with him, that kind of thing. So it's all kind of random. And we like it like that. I want our booth to be the hangout. Yeah.

[00:27:31] And people to just roll in there and you want to come on with us for an inning and we know who you are. And you did a great job, both you and Joe Simpson, because it's like what we would be doing, but then there's also a baseball game that you have to call. Right. So it's a balancing act. Sure. And at the end of the day, it's all entertainment, right? You know, the other day we had Schnitt come on when he went into the Braves Hall of Fame the other night. And it, why would it? Didn't really dawn on him that it's radio and not television.

[00:28:00] So he's just talking over every single pitch. I'm hardly calling a single pitch. Yeah. So our listeners are hearing mid-pop, bat-crack. I'm not describing what's happening, but there's entertainment there. Yeah. It's not for the whole game. It's for a half an inning. And we're hearing great stories and getting good insight from a man who's having one of the best nights of his life going to the Braves Hall of Fame. So it's fun like that. It doesn't have to be rigid. It doesn't have to be the exact same thing. And I love having guests on here and there. And Darren and Joe, depending on who I'm working with, are also really good with that as well

[00:28:30] and diving into those interviews. And I'm sure it'd be great to get some of the Braves Country Fest performers in the booth. Well, I said, look, I asked for Ella Langley. I got Jason Aldean. No disrespect, but she's a little prettier. So if we can get her to the booth, that'd be welcomed by all of us. Yeah. And I can't imagine Cody Johnson in there either. We'd have a great time. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I just want to thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to end with? I'll go ahead. I started the interview weird. I'll end it weird.

[00:28:59] Voice upkeep. Is there anything that you do before a game? Cigars and bourbon go a long way. That sounds great. That's what Pess Malone says. Get your rest. Just be prepared. I think that's the biggest key is I never take my preparation for granted. I mean, the main thing is the main thing. I have to prepare a lot for a series because I just like feeling prepared for whatever situation might go. And then as far as the voice goes, you got what the Lord gave you. You just use it the best you can.

[00:29:28] Well, thanks so much, Ben. We appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Pleasure talking to you. Appreciate it. Yeah, thanks. Kyle Farmer, welcome to Whiskey Riff Raff. Thanks for having me. You know, I was quickly looking at your Instagram and Big Family Man, which I love. So I kind of just want to kick it off asking, what are you raising your kids on? Whether that's movies, shows, music. Yeah. Kind of all of it. Right now, it's Mario Galaxy movie. Okay. Four-year-olds into Mario. Was SpongeBob. Loves the big guy song.

[00:29:58] We were just actually singing it on the way up here. But, you know, I love my family so much. And my wife does such a good job of raising our two boys while I'm gone at the field and stuff. And that's probably the hardest part about it. But, you know, we live in Valdosta, Georgia. Raising them in the woods on a farm is a lot of fun. Free living and just kind of send the boys out in the woods and let them go. That's the best. And this is your first year with the Braves. Is that correct? But you're from Georgia? I'm from 10 minutes down the road. 10 minutes down the road.

[00:30:26] So this is special for you to be back here and playing for the Atlanta Braves. Yeah, it's really cool. Yeah, I grew up off of Howell Mill, 10 minutes away. Lived here until I was, gosh, 32. And then moved down to Valdosta with my wife where she's from. But, yeah, I miss Atlanta. Love Atlanta. I always enjoyed coming back here and playing against the Braves as a visitor. Now I get to, you know, enjoy. This is the first time I've had like a spring in Georgia since I was 18. Wow. Yeah.

[00:30:52] Is there any, you know, some local places that you can shout out that you love going to when you're back here? Heck, yeah. Went there last night. Jalisco's. Okay. My favorite Mexican restaurant. It's in Peachtree Battle. Patrick Sub's is off of Howell Mill as well. Golly. Big Easy. You're giving us some recs for tonight. Yeah. Yeah, it's small restaurants, but the smaller ones are the best ones. If I was to say my favorite steakhouse here, and it's probably Howell's Steakhouse. Okay, great.

[00:31:22] And you've had a long baseball career. You've had stints with the Dodgers, Reds, Twins, Rockies, and now the Braves. Are you happy that you're with the Braves at this point in your career? Does that feel like at the right place for you right now? Yeah, that's a good question. I've always said that I've always wanted to kind of like be honest with you on the back nine of my career right now, and spending it here in Atlanta is what I've always dreamed of doing. And after being in so many organizations and learning so much about baseball and being a

[00:31:49] professional, I'm so glad I could do that and enjoy being in Atlanta. Like right now, I'm just kind of taking it all in. I've experienced a lot of teams, a lot of success, a lot of failures, but now I kind of like I'm taking it in here and really enjoying it. And you're an infielder, would you say, what are some positions that you've played around the infield in your career? All of them. All of them. Yeah. So I was drafted. That's why I didn't want to say you're a third baseman or anything. No, I figured you played. Yeah. So I played shortstop my entire life, played at University of Georgia, and then got drafted

[00:32:18] as a catcher in the Dodgers organization. I never caught before, so I had to learn how to catch. Okay. Made my debut with the Dodgers as a catcher, and then I kind of just moved around the infield. And so that's where we are now. Yeah. It's a lot of fun. What position would you say is your favorite playing? Shortstop. For what's not for sure. Yeah, for sure. A lot of action in shortstop. Yeah. I told, I haven't played a lot here at all, really. But I told myself, if I ever play shortstop with the Braves over my chest, I'll probably just end my career there and just say, I've always dreamed of doing that as a little kid, and that'd be really cool.

[00:32:48] Yeah. And she was talking about you're a family man. You get on social media. You can also see you're an outdoorsman. You like hunting, fishing. What are some things that people could find Kyle Farmer doing maybe during the off season? Yeah. Good question. Um, I'll give you my day. I'd probably wake up in the morning, go get in the deer stand, and then go work out after that, and then drop my kid off at school, pick him up at 12, take him down, back down to the farm, let him ride around on his four-wheeler. Uh, maybe we could do a little fishing.

[00:33:16] Uh, we do a lot of quail hunting down there, which is a lot of fun. Um, last year, beginning of the off season, I went to Canada and Alberta to, uh, goose and duck hunt. That was a lot of fun. I'm sure that was... Yeah, it was incredible. Is that first time you're doing that? First time up in Elf. That's a bucket list thing for a lot of hunters. Yeah. And I got to experience that last year. And so we're probably gonna do that again this year. Um, so that's probably what I'll be doing. That sounds like a pretty good day to me. A busy day, but it's a good day. And what are you listening to while you're doing all that? Oh, good question.

[00:33:43] Um, Luke Holmes, Morgan Wallen, um, kind of your basic country. Uh, whoever's hot right now, um, Where the Wild Things Are is, uh, one of my favorite Luke Holmes song. Okay. My walkout is still going down by Morgan Wallen. Okay, perfect. Um, got to come to here for the Morgan Wallen concert a couple years ago. That was fun. Um, but then I'll, you know, hit up Spotify. I can go 90s country, kind of play back the old ones. Um, so that's kind of.

[00:34:10] What's a, what's a 90s country song that just comes on and you just turn the, the volume all the way up? Uh, Dust on the Bottle. Okay. Um, any of the Dixie Chicks. Uh-huh. Um, God, who else? Um, That Ain't My Truck, Red Atkins. Oh, yeah. That ain't my truck. Yeah, I love that song. That's a good one. And, uh, Way Down Yonder on the Hoochie Coochie. Oh, yeah. Shout out to Hoochie. Yeah. Watermelon Crawl. Mm-hmm. That's a good one. Yeah, me and my butt. When we have a few too many cocktails, me and my buddies play watermelon crawl and it's fun.

[00:34:40] Now, are there any other players that share your taste in country music? And are there some that you will not let have the ox when you're near them? Uh, you know, it's funny. Uh, Michael Harris loves country music. Um, Austin Riley loves country music, obviously. Matt Olson. Um, I think it's a good clubhouse with a lot of guys who love kind of anything. But, uh, country music seems to be a theme around here, which is good. Yeah.

[00:35:10] Ella Langley, for sure. Yeah. I was going to guess, uh, but, but yeah. Probably that one. That one's hot right now. Yeah, that confirmation. A lot of Ella fellas. Ella fellas. Yeah, we were to get one of those shirts, like those hockey team guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're working, we're working on that, I think. Um, but yeah, so you're excited about Brave's Country Fest then. Yeah. Uh, coming up. She's going to be here. I don't think we'll be here for it though. Yeah, they'll be on the road sadly, but we'll have to catch her next time. You can be, you can be excited that they're here, I guess. Hopefully. Yeah. We'll probably see some videos of it. Yeah. That is a bummer though. It didn't overlap. Yeah. It does stink. I do have to ask, have you been to any bad concerts?

[00:35:42] Oh gosh. Uh, not really. I haven't left one saying, man, I wish I hadn't gone to that one. That's fair. Um, no, not really. That's a good question though. Have you? Plenty. Really? Plenty. But I go to concerts like every other day. Yeah. So it's a bit different, but I love live music regardless. Who's the worst one that you went to? If you can say. Interviews being flipped around on you. I know. I probably can't say who, but it's usually because someone's too drunk on stage or sound just quality. Fair.

[00:36:12] It's not really on them. So. Dang. But, uh, going back to your UGA days, uh, I'm sure that's a dream for a lot of guys on that team to, you know, step out, even just step out on the field here. Uh, yeah. And either play against or with the Atlanta Braves. So like, I'm sure you've got a lot of buddies that you played with. Do you stay in touch with them? Oh yeah. We have a, uh, good group of guys that I was roommates with. Brett Deloach, Chance Veazey, Alex Wood, who actually pitched for the Braves for a while. Uh, Kurt Powell.

[00:36:41] They, uh, we all grew up, I mean, not grew up. We all went to Georgia together, lived together. And, um, yeah, they, they're still here coming to the games and it's, it's really cool to play in front of them and for having them to, you know, still support me. Definitely. Can you describe what the energy is like this season? Cause I mean, I, this is our first game actually being here at the stadium for this season, but on social media, it kind of feels like it's like bleeding through the screen. Yeah. Can you describe what it's like?

[00:37:05] Uh, I can kind of say it's like a bunch of old guys mixed with a bunch of young guys and they're letting the young guys play around a lot, which is what, what is needed. And a lot of the, there's no egos on this team. There's nothing. Uh, everybody's having a good time and it starts with, you know, Michael Harris and all the young guys just acting crazy and just being themselves, but in a controlled way. And, um, it's just, it's the most fun I've had in my 10 years playing.

[00:37:35] And, uh, it's the best team I've been on in 10 years too. So it's, it kind of goes hand in hand when you're having fun, you're playing well. So it's cool. And the key to making it all the way through 162 game season, you've done that plenty of times at this point. What's the secret as, as a baseball player, just, just the, uh, you know, not even the physically physical demand, but the mental demand that I can take. Uh, you have to learn how to accept failure and learn from your failures and not dig them deeper, but learn how to get out of them quicker. Uh, the best, best players in the league, their slumps.

[00:38:05] It only lasts two days rather than two months. And so baseball is kind of like life where you learn from your, you're going to fail. Right. And so if you learn from your failures, you're going to succeed. And I think we're kind of being played off at the moment. So, uh, yeah. Um, but thank you so much for your time for having me. Best of luck this season. Thank you. And we can't wait to watch you tonight. Yeah, let's do it. I'll also get a win for you guys. Yeah. Awesome. Thanks so much, Kyle. We appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah.