Support for the Radio West podcast comes from Harmon's Grocery, presenting the annual chili roast starting August 15th on Friday, Saturdays, and Labor Day, featuring roasted chilies and prepared chili dishes. More at Harman's Grocery.com. There's this question floating out there. It's been around a long time. Is Salt Lake City a baseball city? Whatever that means. What it sometimes means is would Salt Lake be able to support a major league baseball franchise? But the truth is, it's a more complicated question than that. Because it means do we have the right sports culture or history or know how to qualify as a baseball town? And back in 1984, the answer seemed to be no. That was the year the Salt Lake Gulls left the city. They were the minor league team here for years and they were good, but for a bunch of reasons like financial problems, they left. They went to Calgary, Canada. And one of the reasons was this question of fan loyalty. The goals would pull in maybe 2,000 fans a game and it just wasn't enough.

But then a new group of owners, a group that included the actor Bill Murray, by the way,

saw something in Salt Lake City and they started a new team, a team called The Trappers.

And this is the point where the film The Streak begins. Because just a few years

later, in 1987, this new Salt Lake team broke a record in professional baseball that had been in

place for 70 years, the consecutive winning streak. 27 wins. Salt Lake broke that record on July 25th,

and they went on to win 29 straight, a record that got them into the Baseball Hall of Fame

and has never been broken since. The director of the streak, Callan Ikigami, and the executive

producer Tyler Meissom, told us that everything had to go right to get a record like that, including having just the right kind of team chemistry. But the trappers didn't start the season that way.

All of these players were overlooked, didn't get drafted for one reason or another,

and they all come together to play for the Salt Lake Trappers.

And they start the season with high expectations because they all have a chip on their shoulders.

And they have to play against all these people that were drafted instead of them.

The season starts and it doesn't go well.

All of that pride and ego tempers flared up in the dugout.

I can't remember if it was shady.

Somebody that broke out in a fight.

I think they start the season three and three.

Tensions are high.

And in the dugout, the manager is like, hey, Frank Colston, who is the captain of the team,

get these guys going.

And I said, what do you want me to do?

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