S2 Episode 1

## Date

Monday, 1/4/2021, 3:00 pm

**Length:** 1:54:54

## Title

**The Day Season Two Started And Chloe Jr. Spurned The Network Executives To Stay With The Stretch (And Even Secured A Sponsorship Of Sorts), While Mikael Jorgensen Joined The Exclusive Multiple-Time Guest Club With An Unplanned Zoom**

## Link

Facebook Videos:

* https://facebook.com/248091363384318

## Noteworthy Details

Regular Episode

**Location:** Living Room

**Secret Surprise Special Guest:** Musician Mikael Jorgensen, keyboardist of Wilco

## Quotes and Taglines:

* "Hi everybody. This is the 7th-Inning Stretch, ostensibly."
* Chloe Jr. letter in response to network execs and to 7IS viewers:

Dear Network Executives,
Thank you for your latest memo. Contributing to the success of the 7th-Inning Stretch and helping the show reach its 150th episode has been an honor. I'm grateful that you invited me to join, way back in Episode Number 58, and that you've continued to give me opportunities to grow in my career, including your most recent plan to enroll me in executive training and then hand me the reins of your new Animals Everywhere show. As an avid animal lover eagerly trying to break into the field of network production, I was very excited to learn of your plans.
When I discovered, however, that Animals Everywhere is in fact a show about hunting animals for sport, I began to have second thoughts. After a lot of soul-searching over the last 14 hours and thinking about what Chloe Sr. would do in this situation, I'm writing to notify you that I can't — in good conscience — accept your assignment. What I learned from our recent guest Branford Marsalis, when he spoke about Ma Rainey's career and his own career, is that following an established path in order to fit in and be accepted comes at a cost.
While it's true that Josh and Reverend Producer Mary will never know how to do a professional show, they always value my honest input and they've cultivated a community who sees their nontraditional approach as an asset and as a reason to donate to food banks. Therefore, I'm proud to say that I've decided to stay here on The 7th-Inning Stretch, where I look forward to announcing all the sponsors I have secured for Season Two.
Sincerely,
Chloe Jr., Resident Hippopotamus and Senior Associate Manager of Synergistic and Scalable Actioning, Robust Leveraging of Best Practices, Value-Added Vertical Solutioneering and Impactful Resource-Intensive Ideation of Interactivity for Moving the Needle on Core Competency Initiatives Within Disruptive Paradigm Shifts
* "You guys are here maybe for (a respite) or some other reason involving positivity, I hope. Because you guys bring lots of positivity, generosity, kindness, good vibes, et cetera. We're grateful for it. It's a big part of the show. Is it the biggest part of the show? Whatever. Let's not get into superlatives and comparisons here, guys."
* "That was super amazing, (Chloe Jr.'s) letter and the reasons that she cited for why she wants to be here and be a part of this gang of dorks instead of going the straight and narrow suit path. That was inspiring. It's go time, guys."
* Conversation:
	+ **Josh:** Ralph says (episode) 151 is a prime number.
	+ **Mary:** Oh! Are you kidding? Oh, crud muffins a poo! What am I gonna do today? If we're back on numbers, I'm gonna do something I've never done…
	+ **Josh:** Well, it's number one (of Season Two).
	+ **Mary:** One is a prime number!
	+ **Josh:** One is not prime, right Ralph? Technically? Or is it?
	+ **Mary:** It's one times one. One times itself. Isn't a prime number defined by…
	+ **Josh:** Yeah no, I know. But I think there's some weird exception for…I don't know.
	+ **Mary:** Well, if we're going back to numbers, I gotta think of something that I'm gonna do today.
	+ **Josh:** Let's go back to (the) 7th-Inning Stretch.
* "All the secret surprise special guests are on my mind all the time, that's the thing. Like, I invite the people I'm most excited to talk (with). I don't care if you guys are interested in hearing what they have to say." (before unplanned Zoom chat/interview with Mikael Jorgensen)
* "This is exciting television, guys: Watching me log into Zoom."
* "I lived with hanon for a long, long time and I still have the books and everything. Haven't cracked them for a few years. And quite honestly, I probably should, because all I've played for the past 12 months or so is, like, second-rate pop songs, you know?" (in response to Mikael's Jorgensen's comment about practicing hanon [piano finger exercises] during lockdown)
* "All right, I'm gonna let you go because I have a bunch more dumb songs I gotta play for people." (ending chat with Mikael Jorgensen)
* "I'm gonna open the chat back up. Why? 'Cause sometimes I like to see what's going on in the chat. I don't like how distracting it is, but that's on me. That's not you guys' fault that I get distracted by your witticisms."
* "Bridge! Oh, this isn't the bridge…" (on A Beautiful Morning by the Rascals)
* "That makes me want to try and play that Joni Mitchell song and not butcher it too terribly. Don't worry, I'll play this and then you can listen to Mikael's version and/or Joni's version to cleanse your palate after my butchered version." (on River by Joni Mitchell, recently covered by Mikael Jorgensen's side project, Expandards)
* "(Chloe Jr.) did a bunch of demographic research on all you weirdos who are watching at home in order to try to find good fits between viewers, show, sponsors. I think she's doing a good job, as far I can tell. Like I just got this notice from her about our very first sponsor, which is just for today's episode. "Season Two, Episode One of the 7th-Inning Stretch is sponsored by: This Grapefruit. This Grapefruit: It's Pleasing To Look At And It's Probably Going To Taste Delicious."
* "This is the (new-ish) segment of the show that we call, 'Josh Whispers A Text Message,' in which I randomly select a text message that I have received recently and I whisper it to you. Except my phone's dead. Can you plug that in? … It's gonna take a minute for the phone to charge, guys, so we'll come back to that segment I didn't think that through, did I?"
* "Is that how Blue Monday goes? All of a sudden I'm halfway through it and I'm like, a) 'Am I even playing the right song?' (and) b) 'Am I playing it correctly?' I hope I was. Did my best."

## Weekly Sponsor and Tagline:

* This Grapefruit – It’s Pleasing To Look At And It’s Probably Going To Taste Delicious

## Baseball Card of the Week

* None (unless you count 7IS perennial Pumpsie Green)

## Album of the Week

* John Kiley (feat. Rico Petrocelli) – Red Sox Organ Music

## Hatter or No-Hatter?

* Hatter

**Previous: Appendix X | Next: Episode 2**