Talking fastpitch on Outside the Chute
Former Elks hosting big names on weekly podcast
There used to be two sports that dominated the Nova Scotia sports landscape, each claiming a couple of seasons; hockey for fall and winter and fastpitch-softball in the spring and summer months.
Brookfield native Randy Frame became known for both, but because hockey kept up its high-profile while fastpitch slipped, Frame is better known for his time with the junior A Bearcats in the late 90s.
These days however, it’s his other love Frame is becoming more associated with, as his podcast – Outside the Chute – is about all things fastpitch.
“Chris Hopewell has come on board with me, co-hosted a few episodes and it turned out quite good. We have a pretty good rapport which goes back to our days playing ball together,” Frame said, speaking of the accomplished shortstop who suited up for local elite teams, the Brookfield Elks and East Hants Mastodons.
Frame said their first episode was July 13 of last year, and each week they bring on a guest from the fastpitch world. The names read like a who’s who of big-name talent, with Canadian national team members and female NCAA players leading the way.
“The first one was Justin Schofield from the Mastodons, and we recently released episode 30 with Colin Abbot from Newfoundland,” Frame said, referencing a player widely regarding as the most accomplished from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Asked about a favourite interview, Frame said it would be hard to choose.
“Steve Mullaly from Newfoundland was a fantastic interview. Mike Piechnik from B.C., that was a wicked one, he definitely has the gift of gab. And the chance to talk to female players from the U.S. like Kiki Stokes … they’ve all been good actually,” he said.
Frame acknowledged the heyday for fastpitch was a few decades ago, but that only makes the podcast more important.
“We talk about that quite a bit. We know it’s never going to get to the heights it was in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, but just the love we have for the game and being able to use this platform to promote it, it helps,” he said. “Not only in Nova Scotia but across the world.”
Frame, a pitcher, said his own high point in the sport came in 1997 as a member of Team Nova Scotia for the Canada Games.
“Hard to top that one,” he said. “Being able to participate in such a huge event like that; not only a fastpitch tournament but every summer sport was there. And to attend the opening ceremonies in front of thousands of people was pretty cool.”
Another highlight was playing in his first nationals for the Brookfield Elks in 2007, held in Newfoundland.
“That definitely stands out too,” he said, adding it’s special for any player from Brookfield to put on an Elks’ uniform and play for the top fastpitch team in the community.
And as for the name – Outside the Chute – Frame chuckled at the double entendre before beginning his pitching explanation.
“Outside the chute is when the pitcher is jumping off the mound and going off to either side,” he said.
“There is, basically, an imaginary chute, the umpires know where it’s at, and there are times when guys are jumping out of that and get rung up for illegal pitches.”
His podcast talk can sometimes get ‘outside the chute’ too, but that only makes it more entertaining.