Tyler O'Shea - The Best Underdog Stories of 2022
The underdog podcast needed to sit down with the underdog guy. Tyler O’Shea is a kindred spirit for the Moonlighters out there. O’Shea is researching, writing, and podcasting as he builds his own underdog story with Jokermag.com. Tyler O’Shea has built an incredible underdog storytelling machine. Now, he joins us at the Moonlight Show to break down his top 5 underdog stories from 2022. His list spans the USFL to the NFL and FedEx to the MLB. Tyler O’Shea and Joker Mag know their underdogs, and he came to share.
Tyler O’Shea’s career on the baseball diamond got off to a rocky start. After getting cut from his 7th-grade baseball team, the undersized 13-year-old looked to some little big leaguers for motivation to continue to chase success on the baseball field. Names like Chase Utley, Dustin Pedroia, and Tim Lincecum were exemplars of the adage, “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight.” O’Shea stuck with it through being a reserve in 8th grade, working his way into the varsity lineup by the time he was an upperclassman. He finished his career playing college baseball at Division III McDaniel College.
Now, O’Shea is telling underdog stories with the Joker Mag Podcast and JokerMag.com. Whereas the Moonlight Graham Show prides itself on our Iowa roots, O’Shea and Joker Mag tell stories from across the country, all sports, all levels, and provide incredible deep dives on their website. Their articles see 40,000+ readers a month.
O’Shea’s athletic journey drew him to underdogs, and now he makes telling those stories part of his own.
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This week the dream comes true. As the White Sox and Yankees pack up and head for home, Tim and Neil get to reflect on one of the most amazing sporting events to ever take place in Iowa. The Field of Dreams movie site went through a roughly 2-year transformation to become the home of a major league-caliber baseball field. Tim and Neil spent the day with 8,000 of their new best friends taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of something Ray Kinsella could’ve only dreamed of.
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Kurt Warner has perhaps the most iconic underdog story in NFL history and is one of the best athletes in Iowa history. Now, as he works as a broadcaster, high school coach, and #1 fan for his sons, the Kurt Warner story is being made into a movie titled “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story, which is set to be released in December.
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John is our first Gold Medalist on the show.
In a special release episode, Tim tells the story of the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, its contentious beginnings, and the trophy's origins in Fort Dodge, IA. Buy the limited edition Floyd of Rosedale tee here- https://www.moonlightgrahamshow.com/buy-swag/floyd
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We love repeat-Moonlighters and this week we bring back an all-time great. Pat Hoberg isn’t just a top-tier Moonlighter though, he is also the number one umpire in Major League Baseball. The Urbandale native was the star of episode 103 when he was an up and comer in the Majors. He returns to the pod as arguably the best umpire in the world!