It's time to dust off those Cleveland Guardians hats, jerseys, and T-shirts because baseball season has officially begun.
Friday afternoon is the home opener between the Guardians and the Seattle Mariners.
To start Thursday's show, we'll talk about what to expect from the Guardians, the youngest team in the league. They are also the defending American League Central Division champions, winning the title for the first time since 2018. We'll also talk about major changes coming to baseball, including the addition of a pitch clock. Plus, we'll talk about ways teams are hoping to attract younger fans to the games.
Later in the hour, we'll discuss a World Wildlife Fund report from last fall that showed a dramatic decline in global wildlife populations since 1970. Mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles have seen an average decline of 69%, and freshwater species have seen an 83% collapse due in part to the damage done to rivers, lakes and wetlands.
Experts say the world needs to act now to reverse this decline and one major effort was launched a few weeks ago at the U.N. Water Conference in New York. A coalition of governments have come together to launch the Freshwater Challenge, the largest ever initiative to restore degraded rivers lakes and wetlands around the world.
Plus, we'll hear the latest installment of our music podcast, "Shuffle."
Guests:
-Curtis Danburg, Vice President, Communications and Community Impact, Cleveland Guardians
-Joe Scalzo, Sports Business Reporter, Crain's Cleveland Business
-Jeff Opperman, Global Lead Freshwater Scientist, World Wildlife Fund
-Amanda Rabinowitz, Host, Ideastream Public Media
-Kahrin Spear, Singer-Songwriter
