The Section 1904 Podcast

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Tuesday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click here)October is (almost) here, and the Padres are hosting the Cubs in a rematch of last year’s NL Wild Card matchup. Here’s our Padres-Cubs playoff preview, which started with MLB.Com’s AJ Cassavell offering thoughts on the 26-man roster.The biggest surprise on that roster? Joe Musgrove. He hasn’t pitched in a big league game since October 2024, which was the last time the Padres hosted playoff baseball. What do we make of this decision and perhaps more importantly, what does putting Musgrove on the roster mean for everyone else?Could Robbie Ray eventually find himself in the bullpen? How does Musgrove’s inclusion change the way the Padres can deploy their relievers? Is he being saved for a possibe extra-inning situation? Is this purely for baseball reasons or does Joe also provide an emotional lift heading into Game One? Nobody really knows but we talk through the possibilities.We also get into Ethan Salas, the 20-year-old catching phenom sure to make his postseason debut. The Padres are carrying three catchers and we discussed the numerous ways Craig Stammen might use them in the series. Then we’re joined by NBC/Peacock broadcaster Dave Flemming, who will be calling the series alongside Mark Grant and Jim Deshaies. Dave gives us a look at the Cubs, including the differences between the two clubs and how Craig Counsell might navigate his bullpen, which is in complete contrast to how we expect the Padres to use theirs.That bullpen comparison gets particularly interesting. The Padres spent much of the regular season operating with defined roles. Counsell, meanwhile, has a long history of mixing and matching in the playoffs and may have fewer reservations about using his relievers in unconventional spots. Does that experience give Counsell an edge when the game gets weird or was “pitching chaos” enough of a crash course for the Padres freshman skipper.And then there’s Petco Park.Flemming calls it “the biggest cauldron in MLB.” What does that actually mean once the first pitch is thrown? How much can the atmosphere influence a playoff game particularly when every pitch matters exponentially more than regular season games?We also looked at the September paths these teams took to get here. The Padres went 18-6 down the stretch. The Cubs went 11-13, which is why the games are at Petco Park. Chicago also had to fly around the country in the final week of the season, while Mother Nature made a mess of their schedule. Does any of that matter now?Padres. Cubs. Again. LFGSD. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Monday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click here)The Padres enter the final week of the regular season with a magic number of two (combo of SD wins / AZ losses) and, of course, up next is the Los Angeles Dodgers.It’s not Tuesday but we are joined by MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell to talk about the biggest questions of this final week, including: What is the plan for Michael King? Do you pitch him Tuesday and set him up for the postseason, only using him if you’re in a win-or-go-home game on Sunday against the D’Backs? Or, if home-field advantage is still in play on the final day, should you let him pitch? We had some different ideas on this one.Then there’s the Dodgers series. How much should we actually care?The Padres have won 12 of 13 but they’ve done it against a collection of teams that aren’t world-beaters. Would taking the series prove this recent run is legit? Or are we, once again, going to short-circuit if the Padres crash out against the Dodgers?We also discussed Craig Stammen’s rookie managerial season as he closes in on 90 wins. What’s it been like covering Stammen in his first year as a big-league manager and how different is he from his predecessor, who walked away from the role due to the emotional and mental toll it took to have this level of success in Major League Baseball? The Padres appear to be headed back to the postseason with their fourth manager in seven years. Has that ever happened before? In the most exciting moment of this podcast, all three of us scroll through our phones simultaneously to research this. Stay tuned for the answer.Plus, San Diego FC went into Messi’s house and came away with a huge road draw against Inter Miami. Could that result give SDFC the boost it needs for the final stretch? The Azul y Chrome went 5-2-2 in their final nine games of 2025 with Anders Dreyer bagging eight goals and three assists over that span. Was his first multi-goal game of 2026 a sign of things to come? Fingers crossed. Also, congrats to Anders and goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos to making the MLS Team of the Matchday. Dos Santos had six saves against Miami, with four coming against Messi and the other two on Luis Suarez shots. Big time performance from both. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Thursday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click here)San Diego weather has officially become offensive. Even my television is sweating. Seriously. On the Padres off-day, we talked about the disgusting heat and humidity before getting into Craig Stammen’s bizarre brain cramp that accidentally ended Walker Buehler’s outing in the Padres’ finale against the Nats. We laughed about Buehler’s quirky personality and his even quirkier answers afterward, but also wondered: How big of a deal is it that a Major League manager made that kind of glaring & very public mistake? Does it reflect poorly on Stammen or was it just one very human and inconsequential one-off on a 99-degree afternoon?Then we turned our attention to San Diego FC’s awful performance against San Jose on Wednesday night. The Azul y Chrome have lost back-to-back matches, which has halted their upward climb in the Western Conference standings. What will it take to get into the postseason with 10 games remaining and how will they get the ship righted by Sunday when they host the Philadelphia Union, who are the hottest team in MLS? Also, head coach Mikey Varas apologized to the fans afterward, which raised an interesting question: How often do you hear a professional coach actually apologize for the way his team played? Was Varas’ apology meaningful and refreshing in a world of combative and arrogant coaches or did it not land well? Time will tell us. And finally, there was an NFL game on Wednesday night. That was news to one of us - you’ll never guess who! - while Marty is searching for a Netflix password so she can watch the Niners and Rams play in Australia. Also tossed in a Serie Del Ray update, as the Tijuana Toros won on Wednesday night to split the first two games of the best-of-seven series with Olmecas de Tabasco. Former Padre Franchy Cordero hit a grand slam in the 13-2 win. LFGTJ! (h/t Nate Abaurrea) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Tuesday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click here)The Padres have called up 20-year-old catcher Ethan Salas, and the timing couldn’t be more interesting. Salas joins the Padres in Cincinnati as the club begins its stretch run, with the Pads battling on the daily for a playoff spot while managing fatigue and injuries. AJ Cassavell of MLB.com joins us from Cincinnati (or Kentucky) to analyze AJ Preller’s decision. Is this the right time to put a young catcher in the middle of a playoff race? What are the risks of exposing Salas to the big leagues now, and how does AJ expect him to be used? Salas gives the Padres another left-handed bat at a time when they don’t have Gavin Sheets and have lost Luis Rengifo for the season. Salas could be a potential pinch-hitting weapon and the positional flexibility allows Crain Stammen to use Campusano at DH. But what about the catching? Salas has played 24 games in AAA El Paso, with only 17 appearances behind the plate. Is he ready for the world of PitchCom and ABS (modern technology that isn’t used in Double A)? We are about to find out. Should we believe his numbers in the PCL or San Antonio? Marty was also generous enough to save :60 seconds for some thoughts on Luca Bombino's farewell video to the City of San Diego. Bombino’s transfer became official on Tuesday and he was already in the matchday squad for Stoke City. Fare thee well to a class act and good luck on the next chapter, Luca. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Friday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click here)After dropping two games to the lowly Mets, the Padres return home for a homestand against the Twins & Pirates. Many are saying this is the biggest homestead of the season. Ok, nobody is actually saying that but the Padres are hosting two teams that are under .500 and do have a 40-24 records against such teams. Take care of business.One of the lingering questions surrounding the team is happening in AAA: Is it time to bring up phenom Ethan Salas? The Padres’ top prospect has made an impressive transition to El Paso, raising the question of whether a September call-up could give San Diego another weapon for the stretch run and perhaps a preview of what’s to come in 2027. But does this idea make any sense? Also, with the Padres set to introduce their new ownership group at Monday’s press conference, we welcomed The Athletic’s Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey for some firsthand perspective on José E. Feliciano, Clearlake Capital and what San Diego might expect from its new ownership group. MLB owners have approved the $3.9 billion sale, with Feliciano and Kwanza Jones leading the new group and - as Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported - Feliciano’s partner at Clearlake, Behdad Eghbali, will be part of the new group.Liam gives us the backstory on Feliciano and Clearlake, and explains the complicated ownership dynamic at Chelsea - where Clearlake is the majority stakeholder and current Dodgers owners Mark Walter and Todd Boehly are part of the same ownership group. Walter has, uh, been in the news recently. We also get Liam’s perspective on how Chelsea’s ownership has been perceived in London, the tensions that have developed inside the club and what could ultimately happen with Walter amid reports that he and Boehly are discussing a sale of their Chelsea stakes to Clearlake. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Friday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click hereBack when we had a radio show, Scott Lewis from Voice of San Diego was a regular guest whenever we needed a real news person to explain the intersection of sports and politics, whether it was “the battle for Mission Valley” or trying to understand CEQA and why it was standing in the way of a new arena in the Midway area. Scott was always there for us.During the pandemic, Scott joined us every week as we all tried to figure out how to function with COVID hanging over everything. It made perfect sense, since Scott and his team at Voice of San Diego were following all of the local and national press conferences, and we always enjoyed having him on. It was educational. Somewhere along the way, a listener dubbed the segment “The Liberal Circle Jerk,” and the name sarcastically stuck. (Forgive me for not remembering exactly why, although I always found it hilarious that the basic things we were discussing somehow earned the “liberal” label. But… que sera, sera.)On this episode, Scott joins us to talk about the Padres sale and what new ownership is facing with its Petco Park deal, along with its other interactions with the city of San Diego. Scott also explains the one thing he’d like to see happen before the old guard fully vacates, and how a Voice of San Diego investigation into fraud at the ballpark left San Diego softball leagues dreaming of a $3.5 million payday.Of course, we also talked about evil palm trees, parking at Balboa Park, and whether we should be terrified about El Niño this fall and winter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Friday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click here.The Padres keep winning. This team went on a run before the MLB Trade Deadline and has kept the throttle open, sweeping the best team in baseball before a well deserved off-day and trip to Cleveland. We talked about the sweep, improved pitching and Robbie Ray’s remarkable hair. All the important analysis you were looking for. How has this happened and do we dare dream of how far this club might go? Is it crazy to think the Padres can overtake the Cubs for the top wildcard spot or - gasp - even challenge the Dodgers for the NL West? We also discussed the interestingly timed story about hitting coach Steven Souza Jr from the Union Tribune's Kevin Acee. The AceMan gave us plenty to digest, from the “blind leading the blind” to tepid endorsements and, most importantly, does it even matter who gets credit for the Padres offensive turnaround?We also set the stage for a rather massive matchup between San Diego FC and LAFC (you can listen to the call at 7pm on 760am or the IHeartRadio app) and what to expect from SDFC’s new Designated Player Elias Achouri, who will debut at BMO Stadium.There’s also some House of the Dragon chatter WITH SPOILERS. One of us seemed to enjoy the series finale more than the other. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Friday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click (here)The Padres returned home to face the Astros after splitting their series in Arizona but the mysterious case of Nick Pivetta has us asking plenty of questions. What was the deal with his bizarre exit from a rehab start in Lake Elsinore? Does it feel like he and the organization see eye-to-eye on his situation, especially when considering the unique language in his contract pertaining to a sustained stint on the Injured List?(Update: Nick Pivetta spoke to the media on Friday. You can watch his entire session below)Then we welcomed in ESPN’s Eric Gomez from Mexico City to talk Leagues Cup and whether this tournament feels more important for Liga MX or MLS clubs. We also react to the news that Hirving Lozano has been loaned to the LA Galaxy for the remainder of the season. What do we make of a move, sending the highest paid and most popular player to your closest geographic rival and a team you are right behind in the standings? San Diego FC will play the Galaxy twice before the end of the season, including an August 29th matchup at Snapdragon Stadium. How will fans react when (if?) Chucky plays against SDFC and what - if anything - will the Club do to acknowledge him in his return? Where does this leave Lozano in the eyes of fans in the United States and Mexico? We discuss.Padres, Pivetta, Leagues Cup and Chucky - plenty to get into on this episode. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Tuesday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click (here)Will the Padres pummell the weakling Rockies and Giants like they did the Marlins or are they destined to step on a rake like they did against the Royals? That question will be answered this week at Petco Park as we close in on the end of “buy or sell?” season. MLB.Com’s AJ Cassavell joins us to talk about San Diego's biggest trade deadline questions, including whether A.J. Preller should push his chips in, stand pat, or make a more creative move to address the roster's biggest needs. Are the Padres built to survive 162 games or are they actually better built for a short series in October? We explore the idea that while the Padres have annoyingly struggled with consistency during the regular season, adding a starting pitcher to pair with Michael King plus this bullpen could make them a far more dangerous team in a short postseason series than their regular season record might suggest. Plus, a look at the trade market, realistic deadline targets and who deserves the credit for the Padres turnaround on offense.. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

I’ve had countless conversations with my buddy, Nate Abaurrea, through the years. Whether these conversations are enjoyed in Tijuana with tequila or via text, someone will likely suggest at the end of them that it “should have been a podcast”. So that’s what we did on Monday. Nate and I reflected on the 2026 World Cup and how we balance the joy produced by the tournament with the uncomfortable reality of the political fuckery surrounding it. We discussed how the matches, atmosphere and shared fan experiences can still be thrilling even while acknowledging the bigger issues off the field. “Yo Fumando Porro y Tomando Vinoooo” will last forever as will the memories provided by Leo Messi, Erling Haaland, Vozinha's saves and countless others. The episode included our favorite moments from the tournament, the performances and scenes that made this World Cup memorable, and why we didn’t jump on the “everyone hates Argentina / the World Cup is rigged” narrative. It was a conversation about loving the game while still being honest about everything around it. The duality of being a sports fan in 2026.We also talked about the Final and the predictable reaction to it, what takeaways there were from the overall experience with special shoutouts to Gilberto Mora of Club Tijuana and Lamine Yamal. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only podcast version of Thurdays’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click here)The Padres are hovering around .500 and the Trade Deadline Clock is ticking. On Thursday, we were joined by MLB.Com's AJ Cassavell, who discussed whether postgame manager press conferences actually matter or if they’re simply part of the daily baseball theater. We also touched on the Padres’ biggest trade deadline questions: Buyers or Sellers? Is it more likely Preller trades Ethan Salas or Mason Miller? (Probably neither but roll with us)And with the club fighting to stay relevant at home and in the standings, what’s really at stake over the next few weeks as the deadline approaches? Are we really looking forward to a Padres vs Marlins series? Why does Cassavell think the Padres have a better chance of making the postseason than Fangraphs……or BaseballReference.Com?There’s also some World Cup talk! We discussed the USMNT’s disappointing exit against Belgium and the subsequent criticism of Christian Pulisic. Is the scrutiny actually a sign that soccer has reached a new level in the American sports landscape? If the nation’s best player is being analyzed like an NFL quarterback or NBA superstar, does that mean the sport has finally broken through? We have certainly come a long way since 2014. Also, a look at what actually went wrong for the U.S. and whether the attention surrounding this World Cup represents real growth for soccer in America. We closed with a few thoughts on the quarterfinals, Messi, Salah and how much VAR - and maybe all replay in sports - is ruining the most important moments. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com

(This is the audio-only version of Thursday’s MartyTimeTV / Section 1904 joint venture. You can find and subscribe to this podcast on Apple and Spotify and right here on Substack by clicking the button below. To watch this episode on YouTube, click here)World Cups are better when the host nation goes on a run. Multiply that by three and we are living in an unprecedented moment of North American soccer joy and prosperity.The 2026 FIFA World Cup has been massive for Canada, Mexico & the United States, with all three host nations advancing to the Round of 16. ESPN’s Eric Gomez is back to describe what it has meant in Mexico City, fans hilariously getting into the "spirit", the generational run to a Quinto Partido and how El Tri has followed Javier Aguirre’s lead to FOUR clean sheet wins in four matches. We also discussed the USMNT’s convincing performances and the growing belief that Mauricio Pochettino’s squad is capable of making a deeper tournament run. Of course, we also covered the Folarin Balogun red card, the use (misuse?) of VAR in that moment and the media reaction to the sending off, which has been widespread.So what’s next? Can Mexico find a way past England at altitude? Does the USMNT have what it takes to knock off Belgium in a rematch from the 2014 World Cup? How depressed will we be when this World Cup is over?Enjoy this World Cup edition of Thursday’s podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com