The Best Voice in Sports Goes Deep

Summary

Pablo Torre Finds Out — "The Best Voice in Sports Goes Deep"

May 14, 2024

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, Pablo sits down with Boog Sciambi—the acclaimed voice of the Chicago Cubs, ESPN, and the MLB: The Show video game—to unpack the art, pressures, and quirks of sports broadcasting. The conversation dives into Boog’s voice mastery, the often-misunderstood mechanics of calling a game, why not every ex-athlete is destined to be a broadcasting star, and a delightfully absurd series of broadcast improv scenarios. The episode offers insights into the craft of announcing, the unique pressures of being “the voice,” and a behind-the-scenes glimpse into both professional and personal moments from the booth.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Making (and Maintenance) of a Legendary Sports Voice

• Vocal Technique and Authenticity

  • Boog attributes his distinctive sound to conscious vocal training ("get yourself more to your diaphragm... I'm calmer, and then it's just more natural." [02:15])
  • Pablo jokes about his own on-mic learning curve: "Only when I started podcasting in earnest did I realize, like, I'm, like, going through podcast microphone management puberty." [02:53]

• Handling Compliments and Self-Deprecation

  • Boog shies away from praise for his voice, but Pablo insists: "You have the best voice in announcing, let alone baseball." [03:15]
  • Boog: “When somebody says that I have a nice voice, I appreciate it. But... it's like trying to tell somebody, I don't even want to come up with a crappy metaphor.” [03:29]

• Voice as Musical Instrument

  • Pablo uses a fitting metaphor: “John Bug Sciambi has a Stradivarius tucked deep inside his diaphragm.” [03:46]
  • The voice in sports, they agree, is about both musicality and restraint.

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The Art and Pressure of Live Broadcasting

• A Tradition Bound by Restraint & Originality

  • Boog: "You're announcing a game for an audience that is used to a century plus of tradition... there is a restraint that's built in, but inside of that space, you get to be... there is an art to this." [09:05]
  • On iconic calls (Jack Buck & Vin Scully): “The best part about that call is he doesn't do it once, he does it twice... they had one shot at it.” [10:11]

• Difference Between Playing the Game and Calling the Game

  • Boog spells out the challenge: “The skill is diagnosing and articulating. The diagnosing part certainly replicates what [Brady] does in his former job. The articulating has nothing to do with it and is a completely separate skill.” [23:03]

• On Copying the Greats and Finding Your Style

  • "All of us everywhere are imitating somebody. But within these industries where there is a gold standard, unconscious or not, it gets passed down like an heirloom." [13:11]
  • Boog confesses: “Sometimes someone will hit a little roller up along first and all of a sudden I find myself like just rolling into that call.” [13:25]

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The Tom Brady Broadcasting Debate

• Pablo and Mina Kimes’ Take

  • Both believed Brady would be an instant success as a color commentator (“Tom Brady is gonna be good at broadcasting... his take is inherently interesting because that's how good he used to be.” [18:38])

• Boog’s Pushback

  • "More often than not these guys come to become color analysts. They're not very good, the ex-athletes." [21:05]
  • On live call challenges: “He’s got to say his first and last name. And accessing that is a completely different skill set than... playing quarterback.” [21:21]
  • "For it to be executed at the highest, highest level, it's two parts. It is diagnosing and articulating... to prognosticate that he will be good at it, we're all just kind of guessing." [23:03]

• LeBron as an Example

  • Boog: Podcast breakdowns are impressive but removed from the chaos of real-time TV ("It's not happening in live real time." [24:30])

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Inside the Booth: Process, Preparation, and Partnership

• Preparation Beyond the Mic

  • Pablo reveals Boog’s work: "You have on your phone an advanced statistical personalized stat packet... you have your iPad in which you score the game... you're having these conversations with people on the other team..." [30:17]

• Statistical Storytelling

  • Boog’s mission: Translate front-office thinking to fans.
    • "They don't care about wins. Pitcher wins. They don't care about runs batted in, for the most part... The two stats that correlate the most with run scoring are on base and slugging." [28:10]

• Camaraderie and Social Rituals

  • Gift-giving: Boog and his sideline colleagues present Mets announcer Keith Hernandez with Oreos featuring his cat, Haji [32:05], leading to a moment of pure baseball warmth.

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Playful Proficiency: The Improv Broadcast Segment

• Boog's Range: From Video Games to Absurdist Scenarios

  • On recording MLB The Show: "I've done it for five years... over 300 hours of recording... I have to do every version... and then every possible every." [36:02]

• Absurd Prompts (with Time Stamps)

  • Nicholas Cage attacks a shortstop with a Nerf gun:
    • Boog: “Whoa. Hey, what do we got here? Look, there's a car in the field. Good Lord... That's Nick Cage... He's shooting the Nerf gun at Bobby Witt Jr. This is terrible. I stink at this.” [38:08]
  • Sir Anthony Hopkins eats a sombrero:
    • "One of the great things about coming to Wrigley Field is a giant sombrero hat made out of tortilla chips... I think I see some fava beans there." [39:10]
  • TMNT's Leonardo vs. Justice Sotomayor arm wrestling:
    • “Away we go. Release the arms. And Leonardo, very, very strong... Sonia Sotomayor back the other way. She's got some guns.” [40:08]
  • Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg UFC fight interrupted by Nicholas Cage:
    • “Elon with a takedown... Wait, what's that? It's Nicolas Cage. He's driving his Toyota outback onto the field. And he has run them both over and killed them. And this fight is over.” [41:13]
  • Iconic send-off: Pablo hits a game-winning triple, driving home a Velociraptor at Wrigley:
    • “Pablo Torre, right hand hitter, digs in. Velociraptor over there at first... That’s gonna get into the corner... Velociraptor is on his way to the plate and save. Ball game. Cubs win. Pablo Torre, the hero, as he knocks in Velociraptor and the Cubs. Walk it off.” [42:18]

• Romantic Play-by-Play: "The Notebook" in Sports Voice

  • Boog gives the rain scene from The Notebook a classic play-by-play spin:
    • “Well, looks like it's gonna rain. Ryan Gosling knows it's gonna rain now. It's raining, everybody... She's furious... your mom hid the letters he wrote every single day. I've seen the movie. I'm not embarrassed by it. Yeah, it wasn't over. It's never over. It's not over right now. Come over here. That's all I got.” [44:38]

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Tradition and Innovation

  • "I want to give you as much of me as I can." — Boog Sciambi [12:20]

• Iconic Call Philosophy

  • “The best part about that call is... he had one shot at it. Nobody.” — Boog on Jack Buck and Vin Scully [10:11]

• On Hard Work Invisible to the Audience

  • "The point is that you want people on some level to not know how hard it is." — Pablo Torre [31:11]

• On What Stats Matter in Baseball

  • “They don't care about wins. Pitcher wins. They don't care about runs batted in, for the most part... The two stats that correlate the most with run scoring are on base and slugging.” — Boog Sciambi [28:10]

• On Being Replaced by AI

  • “Nah, not really. I mean, eventually I probably will ask for it.” — Boog Sciambi, on AI announcers [36:24]

• Pablo’s Podcast Approach

  • "I've been searching for fair criticism of myself... and you have been... I told you this before the show was launched.” [18:07]

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Key Timestamps

• Harry Caray bathroom story: [00:06 – 01:53]
• On voice and vocal preparation: [02:15 – 03:15]
• Debate on iconic announcers: [05:38 – 07:22]
• What makes a great live call: [10:11]
• Tom Brady in the booth debate: [18:38 – 23:34]
• Inside the broadcast booth (research, stats, prep): [28:10 – 31:28]
• Running improv scenarios: [34:55 – 43:10]
• Romantic sports call — 'The Notebook' scene: [44:35 – 46:37]

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Tone and Dynamic

The entire episode is playful, self-deprecating, and affectionate, blending Pablo’s signature curiosity and Boog’s unpretentious insights. They tease each other about broadcasting habits, voice envy, and sports nerdery, but the expertise and respect for the craft shine throughout.

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Takeaways for Non-Listeners

The Best Voice in Sports Goes Deep isn’t just about announcing; it’s an invitation behind the mic into the artistry, anxiety, and camaraderie of sports broadcast. Whether discussing Tom Brady’s prospects as an analyst, the unglamorous grind of baseball research, or improv-calling a surreal home run by a Velociraptor, Pablo and Boog illuminate why the best in the booth are both invisible and unforgettable.

If you want to know what makes a great voice—not just the sound, but the soul—of sports, this episode is unmissable.

Transcript

[Pablo Torre]

Welcome to Pablo Torre finds out I am Pablo Torre. And today we're gonna find out what this sound is.

[Boog Sciambi]

Pablo Torre, the hero as he knocks in Velociraptor. And the Cubs walk it off right after this ad. You're listening to Giraffe Kings. So this is true. My first ever road game as a broadcaster with the then Florida Marlins. It was at Wrigley Field. It was, I believe, still the coldest first pitch, temperature on record, 28 degrees. I finished the pregame. I have to come back to do the lineups, but I have to really go to the bathroom. Old Wrigley Field was two urinals, one stall. Run into the men's room quickly, take care of it. I'm washing my hands. As I'm washing my hands, Harry Carey walks in. I have not met him, but that will come sure as God made green apple. Someday the Chicago Cubs are going to be in a World Series. And maybe sooner than we think, it seems to me. He goes to the stall, and from the stall, as I'm drying my hands, he says out loud, not to me. I'm just standing there. But he says out loud, God is my witness, I got so many goddamn clothes on, I can't find my. And I look around and I'm like, wait, that just happened? And that was it. You didn't go, and here's the Z, here's the tutu. That.

[Pablo Torre]

That's why we do. That's why you do this job.

[Boog Sciambi]

It was taught to me a long time ago that pretty much everyone speaks about an octave higher than what they should, and they speak out of here. So you basically just pointing to your throat there. Right? And so you basically just get yourself more to your diaphragm. So I'm able to get myself to a place where I sort of regulate and just. I'm calmer, and then it's just more natural.

[Pablo Torre]

I am in awe of how deep in your diaphragm you walk.

[Boog Sciambi]

So deep.

[Pablo Torre]

I'm doing it right now. I'm like, my. My energy levels will bring me higher.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

And only when I started podcasting in earnest did I realize, like, I'm, like, going through podcast microphone management. Puberty.

[Boog Sciambi]

And this sounds so clean. Yeah. Right. You know what I mean? Because I'm so used to NAT sounds and stuff like that. So this sounds. I mean, I could. You could just leave me in here and I would just talk to myself. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Like, there is a musicality to. And I say this to you all the time, that you have the best voice in announcing, let alone baseball. And you're making faces with your red glasses, that betrays the reality.

[Boog Sciambi]

When somebody says that I have a nice voice, I feel I appreciate it. But I would also say it. It's like trying to tell somebody, I don't even want to come up with a crappy metaphor.

[Pablo Torre]

Okay? So I'm just jumping in here because I need to save Boog from his own self deprecation. And also because obviously I love crappy metaphors. And to that point, the human voice is an instrument. And while lots of us just sort of pluck our banjos, us broadcasters. John Bugshiambi has a Stradivarius tucked deep inside his diaphragm. As you can already tell, it's why Boog is the voice of the Chicago Cubs doing play by play on their TV broadcasts. It's why he's the voice of mlb, the show, the wildly popular video game. And it's also why Boog calls college basketball and baseball for ESPN and was just named the national radio voice of the World Series last year. But as audible as his job is, Boog recently got in my ear after listening to one particular conversation we had on this very show about the prospects of a rookie broadcaster, a real up and comer named Tom Brady. And Boog argued to me that while millions of us clearly listen to game broadcasts, the vast majority of people in America simply do not understand the most basic mechanics of what happens in the booth. And that I allegedly might be one of those people. So I asked Boog to help me find out if that's the case, what he really does. And he invited me to sit in the booth with him, actually, and hear everything that he hears. All of which we'll get to. But first, we do need to get back to the matter of Boog's ego and my own. Who counts as the best in this craft, which I brought you on here to both shame me about. We'll get to it.

[Boog Sciambi]

I did not. Shh.

[Pablo Torre]

Yes, you did. You did. We're gonna save it, all right? Because we got a fully.

[Boog Sciambi]

Well, then the audience is going to be mad at me. John Miller, I think, uses his voice.

[Pablo Torre]

Guy.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah. I just. I love him. And I think Vince Gully used his voice.

[Pablo Torre]

Sure.

[Boog Sciambi]

Really, really well. Fastball is a high drive in the deep left center field. Buckner goes back to the fence. It is gone. I would say if it's not Vince Gully, in my estimation, I think John is the next greatest.

[Pablo Torre]

Give me a little John Miller so people can situate themselves in the theater.

[Boog Sciambi]

John Miller is the voice of the San Francisco Giants. He was the longtime voice of Sunday night baseball on television. The original voice with Joe Morgan. There they go. And the pinch swinging a long drive to left center field. It is gone. I grab slam. The Orioles have won it.

[Pablo Torre]

And you say this as somebody who is now the voice of the World Series on ESPN radio. Yeah, this is the. Your. Your. Your voice carries here, so to speak. But he sounds like, what? Give me. Give me a little John Miller in that way.

[Boog Sciambi]

It has some Vin sing songy to it. It's sort of playful swing. There's a shot deep down the left field line way back there. One of the. The ones in my head would be. I remember in the World Series there was a popup to the left side and their shortstop was Edgar Renteria. And sort of in post play describing it, he said, and Joe Renteria went back and said, yola Tango. And then he tangoed it. And like, that's John, you know, just that playfulness and, and.

[Pablo Torre]

And a rest. An almost kind restraint, no doubt.

[Boog Sciambi]

And there's Al there, there's. Look, there's a. There's a cleverness and a wit that is pretty unparalleled. The story that I was going to tell was, yes, I had missed a dinner a previous night after having maybe a couple too many. And I jokingly, I was supposed to meet Rick Sutcliffe and Dave o'. Brien. And I'm out in the hallway and John Miller walks by and Sutcliffe says, do you believe it? Boog stiffed us for dinner last night. Said a man named Jack Daniels beat his butt and that's why he couldn't show up. And John, without missing a beat, says, well, that's nothing. A couple days ago, I was mugged by three chocolate chip cookies. I really admire the way so many of these guys do their jobs and the. The gift for the language, the humor, and it's also using the voice. Right.

[Pablo Torre]

The job is so fascinating to me, and I've been shadowing you at work.

[Boog Sciambi]

Oh, gosh.

[Pablo Torre]

I was at Citi Field with you in the booth with you wearing the headset because again, you shamed me, which I'll explain. I keep on saying I'll explain it. I will eventually. But the point is that you're using an instrument that is, by design, not supposed to be electric guitar solo. There is a restraint that's built in, but inside of that space, you get to be. Not just to lard all of this with like, just highfalutin ness, but There is an art to this and how you learned that art and how I apparently allegedly fail to understand it is why you're here.

[Boog Sciambi]

I do feel like there's art out there. I don't feel like that's what I'm producing. I would tell you that for me it's accessing five year old me who likes to play and the willingness to play is what brings out my authentic self.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But you say that so self consciously. You are.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, right. Well, I feel like it gets, it gets said a lot. I don't. And then I don't. You know, if from a, you know, crafting it standpoint, I just think that, you know, you look at so many of the great calls, you know, the Gibson home run, the radio call is Jack Bucks. I don't believe what I just saw. One of the things that I always point out is the best part about that call is he doesn't do it once, he does it twice. He says, I don't believe what I just saw. I don't believe what I just saw. From Eckersley, Gibson swings and a fly ball to deep right. This has got to be a home run. Unbelievable. A home run for Gibson and the Dodgers have won the game five to four. I don't believe what I just saw. I don't believe what I just saw. And then Vin's call on TV is. In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened. High fly ball into right field, she is gone. In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened. I just, I don't know, man. I mean, look, I, I, for some people, I'm sure it doesn't speak to them, but I like they had one shot at it. Nobody.

[Pablo Torre]

So I want to explain the, the stakes of this because it's not just that you're announcing a game for an audience that is used to a century plus of tradition.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Like you can't be an electric guitarist because the electric guitar in this metaphor that I'm torturing, was not invented when they fell in love with the game. So it's just a restriction on like what you have available to you. And then there is the live definitional aspect of like you are, you are writing the first draft of history in this way, of sports history. And if you it up.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

It's going to be recorded that way in every highlight that gets played for eternity.

[Boog Sciambi]

I go into it thinking it's a chance for me to do something great. I don't contemplate it as what if I it up is the first thing. The other part that I would say in terms of how long people have done it. And it's one of the handicaps for young people in the sport and that is the game's been broadcast for. It's the ultimate broadcasting sport because there's so much space and because they've been broadcasting it longer than any of the other sports. Right.

[Pablo Torre]

Hours upon hours in all these senses.

[Boog Sciambi]

And so we all try to sound like a 67 year old white guy.

[Pablo Torre]

So I want to talk.

[Boog Sciambi]

So like there's a ground ball to short with a guy on first. And there is still a part of me that wants to. To, you know. So, okay, so Imanagi gives up fly balls and I'm a dork for mentioning that. But it's like tonight if there's a man on first, you know, he could really use a ground ball. And it's like on the ground to short squats into Horner on the bush. And that's just what the doctor ordered. And it would. There's a part of me that has to resist saying that, but the part of me that's saying that is because that's the type of. That I heard and it worked for the person. Authentic. But like that's not how I speak. And so I really want to be as far away from that as possible. I want to give you as much of me as I can.

[Pablo Torre]

I've learned and come to appreciate that all of us everywhere are imitating somebody. But within these industries where there is a gold standard, unconscious or not, it gets passed down like an heirloom that you, I assume when you fell in love with this. We're imitating somebody.

[Boog Sciambi]

No question. I still do it in different spaces. One of my favorite calls, and this will hurt some people and love other people. One of my favorite calls is the Buckner play by Scully. Three and two to Mookie Wilson. Little roller up along first behind the bag. It gets through Buckner, here comes night and the Micks win it. Sometimes someone will hit a little roller up along first and all of a sudden I find myself like just rolling into that call. But like, yeah, when I'm doing basketball.

[Pablo Torre]

You also do college basketball for espn.

[Boog Sciambi]

All of the time I will steal. Puts it in Breen is someone that uses that all the time. Or Mike Gorman, when I was at BC is a big. Got it for the game. Got it. And I. I don't know, it just comes out.

[Pablo Torre]

So yeah, I bothered you about this. You refused to Develop a catchphrase.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, I. It's.

[Pablo Torre]

I. I think I none of that for you. And I love Breen. I want you to bang Oog. Why don't you bang the rebound?

[Boog Sciambi]

Hartenstein gets it out to Anunoby. Divincenzo at three. Bang, Bang. Next. Take a one point lead. I actually, you know what? That's not true. That's not. I do have a catchphrase. I actually do have a catchphrase. Now that you know it's funny. This is how. But this is how I want it to be. I have a catchphrase, actually. And I started using it with the Cubs. When the game is over, I bark ball game.

[Pablo Torre]

What's the intonation ball game last year.

[Boog Sciambi]

Here, Swing and a liner caught ball game. Michael Bush lays out, comes with. And I just started doing it and I just happened like, that's it.

[Pablo Torre]

So I was in the booth with you for the Cubs Mets game, and it struck me like, the degree to which you can show off in a game. Right. The degree to which you can sort of like put the ball between your legs and spin it around. I don't know when you feel that, but there was a moment when you just showcased it to me and it was, I believe, the bottom of the third.

[Boog Sciambi]

Okay.

[Pablo Torre]

And I was like, hey, Boog, people make fun of me on this program. Pablo Toria finds out because I say phrases that are impossible to diagram and for some people, impossible to understand at all. Just so many angles on Tom Brady and just so many curves. Oh, with you.

[Boog Sciambi]

Voluptuous.

[Pablo Torre]

Truly zaftig, I believe they used to.

[Boog Sciambi]

Say in like the 1920s.

[Pablo Torre]

And so we gave you a. A couple of options, like, hey, can you do something with us?

[Boog Sciambi]

A menu.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, a menu of just ridiculous highfalutin isms.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yes.

[Pablo Torre]

Do we have the clip of what I provided, Boog, the menu item that he ended up. That I ended up suggesting to him.

[Boog Sciambi]

I've been described as truly zaftig. As they'd say in the 1920s. That guy's not afraid to put ketchup on his hot dog. Bounce the third backhanded. Madrigal and Alonzo retired and there's two away. Did you say zaftig? Zaftig. Can you break that down for me? Plump. I've never heard that term before. Well, that's what they would say in the 20. Yeah, yeah, I'm here to help. I had my friend Pablo Tori with me to JD's giggling, feeding me smart words like they would say at Harvard.

[Pablo Torre]

And then you continue to call A broadcast that was utterly professional.

[Boog Sciambi]

So the part that's funny is that, to me, part of what makes that funny is bouncer to third, and Madrigal throws it to first. Like. But that's the autopilot that just kicks in.

[Pablo Torre]

It was the best.

[Boog Sciambi]

That's what kicks in is. So we do the. We do the bit and the line, and then the ball's at play, and it's like, oh, we gotta get. We gotta get this going.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna force you to keep doing that. As a side note, as I continue to just truly harangue you into doing things for my total benefit and no one else's. So we should explain that your voice matters to me in all the ways we've discussed, but also because I've. I've been searching for fair criticism of myself. Okay. And you have been. I told you this before the show was launched.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yes.

[Pablo Torre]

That we needed an ombudsman of sorts.

[Boog Sciambi]

The ombudsman.

[Pablo Torre]

And you said, what about the ombudsman? And I forgot about it.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Because we're doing a zillion shows.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yes.

[Pablo Torre]

And then at some point, I believe you texted and then called and then generally harassed me about how I gave one of the worst takes you'd heard.

[Boog Sciambi]

You and Mina.

[Pablo Torre]

Me and Mina had given one of the worst takes.

[Boog Sciambi]

Smart people say dumb things.

[Pablo Torre]

All right, so, in short, what Mina and I both said back in February on this program is that Tom Brady is gonna be good at broadcasting. That's basically the take. Brady, if you hadn't heard, is going to be doing color commentary alongside Kevin Harlan on Fox in September. Brady is getting paid $375 million over 10 years, reportedly to do it. But, yeah, Mina and I basically bought Brady stock, and I argued confidently that Brady's previous life as the greatest quarterback of all time is absolutely going to transfer to the booth. Tom Brady, where it's just like whatever his take is, is inherently interesting because that's how good he used to be. His one personality trait that we know of is competitive freak.

[Boog Sciambi]

He's probably been doing an insane amount of preparation.

[Pablo Torre]

Like, he is not. Like, the criticism of Romo now is that he's maybe not as prepared as he was initially. This is. These are all the, you know, leaked stories we're seeing. That's not going to be the case with Tom Brady. Based on everything we know about him, and it went viral in announcing circles, it sounds like where people were like these alleged smart people.

[Boog Sciambi]

I don't know about that. I think most People are on your side, to be honest.

[Pablo Torre]

Oh, I mean to say publicly. Oh, yes. And Dan was on the other side of.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yes. But Mina, I would say to you, as someone who has done that, I would say to you as someone who has a lot of information at her disposal, you know how fast all that moves. You can prepare for that. Tom Brady, I'm sure, will have a lot of things to say and not enough time to say them because you are not prepared for how quickly all of that moves when you've got 700 sheets of paper in front of you and you need to know.

[Pablo Torre]

And Dan is always on the wrong side.

[Boog Sciambi]

Always on the wrong side. Dan Lebatard on the right side. That's the thing that. Where I. I am. Yeah. I'm just gently.

[Pablo Torre]

It's a dangerous place for you to be.

[Boog Sciambi]

Dangerous. Yeah. On his side, me and Lebatar down on a limb is just insane. C. I mean, there's no joke. You don't even need. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

But the announcing circles I refer to are people who actually are announcers.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah. Who were like, that's why you came out. I mean, that's. That's the. The genesis of all this was we went back and forth. I sent him a voice text. That's right. And mildly berated him, if that's possible.

[Pablo Torre]

Please recap what the argument was as you understood it.

[Boog Sciambi]

I just thought it's hard to be an analyst. And the idea that, look, if you're betting on it, more often than not these guys come to become color analysts. They're not very good, the ex athletes.

[Pablo Torre]

Like in this case, Tom Brady.

[Boog Sciambi]

And there's so many reasons for it. I mean, I would say, number one is they're not going to respect it and put the work into it that they put into their game. But then the next part that I. I would say that you guys were missing is just this idea of like, when Tom Brady's playing the other team, he doesn't know the first and last name of all 11 on the other side. He knows the corner's bad and he could pick on him, but he doesn't know his first and last name. When the ball's thrown to him and he's broadcasting a game, he's got to say his first and last name. And accessing that is a completely different skill set than the idea of, oh, he's open, I can throw it to him. Like it's completely different.

[Pablo Torre]

Where I was baffled by your take was. But he also has the most sophisticated high speed processing of the mechanics of the Game, the X's and O's. He's dissecting a defense in a booth the way that he would, presumably on the field.

[Boog Sciambi]

And then he's got to say it. And that has nothing to do with him playing quarterback if in the booth, they allowed him to throw the ball. I'm not saying, look, he might be good, but I was annoyed that you guys gave him the benefit of the doubt that you think just because he can process. That he can process and spit it back. Back out. No. We'll see if he can.

[Pablo Torre]

I think what I underrated, which is hard for me to now dispute to you to your face, is, is that the skill is transferable. Like, the hardest part about all of this would be, can you diagnose the play? Can you give. Can you do the. The prophecy thing, which Romo was famed for until he stopped being famed for it?

[Boog Sciambi]

Yes.

[Pablo Torre]

But like, that, to me, feels like the unicorn skill of, like, tell me the future.

[Boog Sciambi]

But for it to be executed at the highest, highest level. It's two parts. It is diagnosing and articulating. And the diagnosing part certainly replicates what he does in his former job. The articulating has nothing to do with it and is a completely separate skill. And to prognosticate that he will be good at it, we're all just kind of guessing.

[Pablo Torre]

Like, part of me was like, I just want to see it.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, right.

[Pablo Torre]

Like, I don't care if he's bad. I just want to see if he can swim and if he's going to tell me the future. And even if it's clumsy, I'll take it. And you're saying that. Oh, your. Your face. Your face is already. Like, this is going to be. It's not what you. Okay, what is your face suggesting? What do you. What do you. What do you mean?

[Boog Sciambi]

I just want to see it. I don't. I mean, look, an example to your point, in my opinion, would be listening to LeBron and JJ do that podcast. Because everybody has talked for years about LeBron being a savant. And so far on that podcast you're watching, and it's like, man, he's a savant. They have a one set that they.

[Pablo Torre]

Run off all free throws, Chet takes the ball out, they send two guys to the other end, and now Shay has got. He has it on the right wing or the left wing or whatever the case may be. At the same time that the biggest. Trying to load on Shay, there's a guard that's flaring.

[Boog Sciambi]

Check to the opposite slot.

[Pablo Torre]

Do you know how hard that is? They're flaring a seven footer to the.

[Boog Sciambi]

Opposite slot, but it's not happening in live real time.

[Pablo Torre]

Right.

[Boog Sciambi]

And that's the distinction. And, and look, don't get me wrong, I am not a.

[Pablo Torre]

You're calling Tom Brady unclutch is what I'm doing. That's chokes under pressure.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yes, that's correct. It's. We're, we're not Rockets. I also would tell you this. They do a terrible job in our industry training the analysts to explain to them, hey man, you, you, you don't call them the mic. You can't. Like, you can refer to the mic, but like if you want to be great. And this is, again, these are opinions.

[Pablo Torre]

But like I want.

[Boog Sciambi]

It's not, it's not. If there's a pop up to shallow right. J.D. can't call in the second baseman.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. Jim McNeil. Yeah.

[Boog Sciambi]

It's like you can't call them and the second baseman goes out. Nah, man. No, who went out? Like you got. Because there's a story to who the second baseman is. So like that, that's the, that's the, the part of it that I don't know that gets completely articulated and being able to do it efficiently, being able to do it in a manner that, where you're really hitting the points that need to be hit.

[Pablo Torre]

So one of the criticisms that I had read just in the press that executives had sort of levied against Romo. People have done this for decades upon decades, right. Was that he wasn't doing enough storytelling as the analyst, as the color guy. What does that, what does that mean?

[Boog Sciambi]

I wouldn't. Because I don't know that I would say that in a live game that I think it's, it's hard to ask the analyst to be the storyteller. I would say that the play by play guy is more trained to be the storyteller. I would say initially he was someone that did the, you know, the prognosticating to me. And again, I think that there are certain people that are going to care and certain people that are not. And I realize now I'm, I'm turning into like the, the douchebag on the hill waving the, the wand. But I, I think, yeah, there's just a little more sort of game flow stuff like on that. The final play of the super bowl, like, yes, be quiet.

[Pablo Torre]

Not great.

[Boog Sciambi]

Can only feel the number of people out there being like, what's going on? First and goal Mahomes playing session. It's there. Hartman Jackpot, Kansas City. And this was the Andy Reid special. This was the Andy Reid special we talked about. He was saving all day. He's gonna fake a motion to go across. And at that motion moment, he turns and goes back. Hardman, who they didn't have. Right. You know, let the guy call a play.

[Pablo Torre]

Right, right, right.

[Boog Sciambi]

Like there's a. There's a flow to the.

[Pablo Torre]

So the dance.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, there's a dance.

[Pablo Torre]

That's what I observed with you and J.D. jim Duchess, former pitcher in the 80s, who is also, like, shockingly, given his demographics, statistically fluent and incredibly literary.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, man. He's.

[Pablo Torre]

And so you guys.

[Boog Sciambi]

So awesome.

[Pablo Torre]

So I wanna. I wanna say about your broadcast is that it is traditional in the ways that are obvious insofar as you respect what this should sound like.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

But it also is subversive in the way that you weave in, like, advanced statistics.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Which I think is less about a personal. We've talked about this. Less about a personal crusade. You have. Although, of course, you are Moneyball Curious.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yes.

[Pablo Torre]

Long have been. It's that this is how the actual sport talks.

[Boog Sciambi]

That's right.

[Pablo Torre]

At the highest levels, they are talking, not about. Okay, so for you, what stats in baseball, as a. As just an example here, in football, there are parallels. But in baseball, what you do, what stats are the ones that fans focus on, that actually people who make decisions don't give a.

[Boog Sciambi]

About wins. Pitcher wins. They don't care about runs batted in, for the most part. They don't really care about runs scored individually. They don't really care about. I was telling you off the air about stories in the middle of a game last year, I texted Jed Hoyer, who's the president of baseball operations for the Cubs, and I said, who leads our team in RBIs? And he guessed and he was wrong. And then he asked Carter Hawkins, who's the general manager, and he guessed and he was wrong. And then he asked our head of R and D, and he guessed and he was wrong. They were over three, the guys who are running the team. So, I mean, look, my point is simply we can sit there and everybody can get cranky about. I don't want to turn it into math class. But I also would say I feel some journalistic or reporter responsibility to deliver. This is what they're looking at. Here's how they are being evaluated. And this is what it is. The two stats that correlate the most with run scoring are on base and slugging. So every offensive stat, whether it's weighted runs created plus, or WOBA is some derivation of. Of those two together. So, look, you. You have to focus on the way these players are being evaluated if you want to do something that delivers some form of accuracy.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. And so when I was shadowing you in this take your child to work day kind of dynamic, we were on the field, I was yelled at for touching the grass.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, you were.

[Pablo Torre]

By the Citi Field guardian of grass. He was like, you can't be on the grass. This guy can. You can't. And I was shamed like a child, like an actual child. And I backed away.

[Boog Sciambi]

It was good, too, because the guy came over and said, you can't be on the grass, but he can. And then when we were leaving the field, another guy came over, and even though we were on the dirt, he said, don't go on the grass.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. I'm habitual grass stepper.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

And in the process, I was watching you report. I mean, in a sense, research. You have on your phone an advanced statistical personalized stat packet that you have provided by a personal.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Researcher.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yep.

[Pablo Torre]

You have your iPad in which you score the game on a tablet as you would by hand, but now you have just a searchable archive for, I guess, forever. And you're having these conversations with people on the other team, the home team, in this case the Mets, on your side. You're watching bp and I was watching you have conversations that I then heard you work into the broadcast. And I was just like, okay, Boog is working. Like, this is. This is the unseen stuff that I did not anticipate when I gave my takes about how Tom Brady's going to be awesome. And it culminated in just a broadcast that didn't show the seams. Like, all of this is about what you did for me with that zaftig thing into your research. It was like, oh, I. The point is that you want people on some level to not know how hard it is.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah. I think. I mean, I. I feel uncomfortable saying. I don't want to make it seem.

[Pablo Torre]

Like you had like a dozen tabs open, like, searching. Like, that ball came off the. That ball came off the bat. 101 mile. Whatever it was, you were like, give it another reading.

[Boog Sciambi]

We do one more.

[Pablo Torre]

I can't. I'm so self conscious.

[Boog Sciambi]

The middle of the Mets batting order ripped into left field. Wow. Did that hang up. And Hatch makes the catch too hard. 113 miles per hour on a line. The other part that you picked up, picked up on very quickly is the social Aspect of it.

[Pablo Torre]

Oh, yeah. And. Oh, we. I forgot. We met. I met Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling neighboring to your booth. And Gary Cone. Gary all the time.

[Boog Sciambi]

You guys.

[Pablo Torre]

You. And Taylor, who is the onfield reporter for you guys.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yep.

[Pablo Torre]

Handed Keith Hernandez customized Oreos with his cat Haji. Haji.

[Boog Sciambi]

Oh, my God. Yeah. Wait till I get home. I'll wake Haji up and show him. Yeah, that's right. A little salmon and maybe an Oreo for dessert. Sweet. You guys are the best. I want to know, are you gonna eat them? Did you see this?

[Pablo Torre]

I saw them. Unbelievable.

[Boog Sciambi]

That. Wow. Keith Hernandez and. Hi. 21 and a half. He is.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. His birthday.

[Boog Sciambi]

And so there are two sets of cookies. We got. We got Keith Oreos that have just Haji and then Keith and Haji. Because we thought it'd be funny.

[Pablo Torre]

I don't think he. Hernandez will be happier this season than he was during that moment.

[Boog Sciambi]

It was. It was magnificent.

[Pablo Torre]

All.

[Boog Sciambi]

All. Taylor McGregor right there. And so you mentioned Andy Green, who works now in the Mets front office. He was the Cubs bench coach last year. Smart baseball guy. I'm excited to see Andy Green. I like Andy. And there are so many people throughout my time that I've connected with. David Stearns I got to know through Craig Counsel when he was with Milwaukee. I was really happy to get a chance to see him. And we talk baseball, and then, yes, I get to use it on the air. And all of it in some dorky way, kind of nourishes me. My head for sure. Because these are interesting, smart people, and they provide really good content and perspective. But then also the social component, the connective, you know, I'm hugging Andy Green. I had a pen explode on me. I got pen all over him and.

[Pablo Torre]

Was covered in it.

[Boog Sciambi]

Andy Green doesn't like being hugged. What are you gonna do? Yeah, there you go.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I invaded your personal space as you were invading Andy Green's personal.

[Boog Sciambi]

That's a good way to put it.

[Pablo Torre]

But I want to get to. Can I have you. Can I have you do some.

[Boog Sciambi]

Absolutely. Cortez running around.

[Pablo Torre]

Oh, yeah, Cortez. I've been telling him to help me prepare for this last part of the.

[Boog Sciambi]

Show.

[Pablo Torre]

Which is a dangerous thing to foreshadow.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, I can't even. There's gonna be stuff on here that. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

We might both lose our jobs.

[Boog Sciambi]

That's fair. I'm willing to risk it all.

[Pablo Torre]

So you heard me mention before that Bugiambi is the voice of the most popular baseball video game in existence. MLB the show. What I did not mention, however, is that that video game is so intricate that if you were at bat, let's say, and you repeatedly asked for timeout, virtual Boog would get a little frustrated with you.

[Boog Sciambi]

Time called. This is brutal. No one has time for this. Just hit pause.

[Pablo Torre]

And that is the thing about baseball in a nutshell. Approximately one zillion weird scenarios can happen in a game. Like someone abusively calling for time. And these scenarios can involve a zillion different people. And so I wanted to understand what doing that job, the job of the guy who has to simulate call all of these hypotheticals would that job involves so that this show and maybe the show as a result could take full advantage of that too. Okay, so MLB the show.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

I want to introduce this concept by explaining how it is you did that job.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

What did it involve?

[Boog Sciambi]

So there's multiple things, but there's base hit, left field, here comes the runner around third and the Mets are going to the World Series. And then base hit, runner comes around third and the Mets are going to the nlcs. Like I have to do every version of it and then every possible every.

[Pablo Torre]

You are a nexus.

[Boog Sciambi]

And then I have to do. And then I have to do your name and I do Pablo Torre. Torre. Torre. Torre. That's so that they can stitch it all together and that's for everybody's name.

[Pablo Torre]

Are you afraid of being replaced by AI Boog?

[Boog Sciambi]

Nah, not really. I mean, eventually I probably will ask for it. The part that I love is that I do some of it in my apartment in Chicago. And it dawns on me, me, even with, you know, sound muffling, etc, that the people across the hall for me are like, man, he is just so into his craft.

[Pablo Torre]

Or. Or just like that guy is insane.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah. He's just practicing his home run calls.

[Pablo Torre]

That serial killer.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, that's me.

[Pablo Torre]

How so? So, but truly, like when you do the math on it, it's like thousands of.

[Boog Sciambi]

So I would say. So we've done. I think I've done it for five years. And in five years we've done over 300 hours of recording. My God. So.

[Pablo Torre]

So you are. I mean you are. Your consciousness is effectively uploaded into the MLB the show.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah, it's system. It's intense.

[Pablo Torre]

And so what I am gonna venture to guess is that you were never asked to describe some of the following scenarios.

[Boog Sciambi]

Go.

[Pablo Torre]

This is going to be hard because what I did was assemble a writer's room.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Of Mike Scher and Alan Yang and Mina Kimes and Me and Cortez just vaping in the corner.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah. Uselessly.

[Pablo Torre]

I basically am giving you the office writers room. And I was like, they're all baseball fans. What do you guys want to hear? And they gave me some prompts, so I'm gonna give you the prompt.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

And I want you to call this like it's happening in a sporting event.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yep.

[Pablo Torre]

So here's one prompt.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yep.

[Pablo Torre]

In the middle of a Royals Twins game, Nicholas Cage drives onto the field in a Subaru Outback and attacks the shortstop with a Nerf gun.

[Boog Sciambi]

This is so stupid. It is. It's really. It's really 2, 2 to Buxton is fouled back, and account remains even. And. Whoa. Hey, what do we got here? Look, there's a car in the field. Good Lord. And it's out at shortstop. Bobby Witt Jr. Is backpedaling. He is ski. That's Nick Cage. Goodness. Nick Cage is out of the Toyota Outback, and he's got a gun. He's got this. What is going on over there? Oh, it's a Nerf gun. Everybody will be fine. He's shooting the Nerf gun at Bobby Witt Jr. This is terrible. I stink at this.

[Pablo Torre]

Let's say it's Mets. Cubs.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

And in the stands is Sir Anthony Hopkins.

[Boog Sciambi]

Okay.

[Pablo Torre]

He's wearing a. Well, actually, he's wearing. And then systematically eating in its entirety, a sombrero made out of tortilla chip material. And if there's. There's guacamole, there's salta, there's nacho cheese.

[Boog Sciambi]

Back here at Wrigley, as we go to the top of the fourth, Cubs lead the Mets four, nothing. Oh, and look who's here today. Sir Anthony Hopkins. Tell you, one of the great things about coming to Wrigley Field is a giant sombrero hat made out of tortilla chips. And nobody loves it more than that guy, Sir Anthony Hopkins. And, I mean, jd, look at him getting down on that sombrero hat. The guacs going everywhere. I think I see some fava beans there. You know that he is enjoying himself. A little bit of Chianti and. Oh, gosh, gosh, get him a napkin. For the love of God. Clean it up.

[Pablo Torre]

Okay. Alan Yang submitted this one. Can you have Boog do Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arm wrestling Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to a violent, emotional draw that culminates in a embrace May be respectful but wary. So whatever your spin on that is.

[Boog Sciambi]

Back here at Wrigley. In time now for our heavyweight arm wrestling Matchup, It'll be Sonia Sodomyor and Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And away we go. Release the arms. And Leonardo, very, very strong. He's got Sonia Sotomayor close to a win. Very, very close. Sonia Sotomayor back the other way. She's got some guns. I got nothing else.

[Pablo Torre]

Okay, hold on. What? If you're calling a Cub game, you're a Yankee Stadium in the bullpen. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are there.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

And they're actually going to do their MMA fight.

[Boog Sciambi]

Okay.

[Pablo Torre]

During the seventh inning of this Yankees Cubs game.

[Boog Sciambi]

Okay.

[Pablo Torre]

And after a few sad moments of wrestling, they suddenly just decide to start staring into each other's eyes. And they start kissing gently.

[Boog Sciambi]

Am I allowed to change it?

[Pablo Torre]

Of course.

[Boog Sciambi]

Okay, so here it is, the matchup we've been waiting for. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. They will square off in this UFC battle royale. And we are underway. And Elon right now with the upper hand. Elon with a takedown. And he's punching him in the face. Punching him harder. Wait, what's that? It's Nicolas Cage. He's driving his Toyota outback onto the field. And he has run them both over and killed him. And this fight is over.

[Pablo Torre]

That is. That is so stupid.

[Boog Sciambi]

Yeah. All right, Boog.

[Pablo Torre]

At the end here, there's only one way to sort of send you off into your job. Can you call me hitting a game winning triple at Wrigley Field? I'm Chicago Cub this time, right? My teammate on first base scoring the game winning run is a Velociraptor. Yes. It's just figured out how to open doors and hit off speed.

[Boog Sciambi]

Really?

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Boog Sciambi]

Nice.

[Pablo Torre]

That just happened, but now we're here. Bottom of the ninth.

[Boog Sciambi]

Okay, two down, bottom of the night, The Cubs try to pull out a win. It's a 22 game. Clay Holmes in the mound for the Yankees. And here's the Cubs. Pablo Torre, right hand hitter, digs in. Velociraptor over there at first. Holmes listens in for the sign. And he's ready. The kick and the pitch. Swing and a ball driven right field towards the corner, slicing fairball. That's gonna get into the corner. And Velociraptor is on his horse, on his way to third. Velociraptor, they're gonna send him. Soto trying to dig it out. Velociraptor on his way to the plate and save. Ball game. Cubs win. Pablo Torre, the hero, as he knocks in Velociraptor and the Cubs. Walk it off.

[Pablo Torre]

Luke, you are too good of a friend to be. Thank you for doing this.

[Boog Sciambi]

Absolutely. Love you, buddy. This is fun.

[Pablo Torre]

God bless.

[Boog Sciambi]

Thanks for having me, man.

[Pablo Torre]

So the show isn't over yet. And it could be, obviously, but it isn't, because I got one more thing, a bonus thing I didn't know where to put, but I just wanted to hand to you before you go. And it is not another Tom Brady take. Even though I would say that my desire to watch him try and pluck his banjo, as it were, on live television has now been at least partially satiated by that orgy of humiliation that was the Netflix roast from a couple weeks ago. Also, it was kind. It was. It was a little weird, right, that he got up and strenuously objected to the Bob Kraft handjob joke, but nothing else. Nothing else involving his, like, family or ex wife or anything. A little weird, right? I digress. The reason this episode isn't over yet is because I had one more request. A shameless, romantic request for Boog.

[Boog Sciambi]

What are we doing?

[Pablo Torre]

Is. Is the rain seen from the Notebook?

[Boog Sciambi]

I give that a shot. Because I. I would say that I've seen that.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Boog Sciambi]

I'll admit it. I've seen it. Well, looks like it's gonna rain. Ryan Gosling knows it's gonna rain now. It's raining, everybody. Oh, boy. What are we gonna do? Yeah, the sweater on top of your head's gonna help a whole heck of a lot. I feel like a very, very personal conversation is about to be had because the rain is making Rachel McAdams very uncomfortable. He's laughing. She's laughing. Everybody's laughing. Everybody's laughing. Oh, yes. And there's joy. It's rained. It's like washing away all of the painful memories from back in the day. And she wants to know how come you never wrote me? Isn't that what happens? I think that's what happened. Now it's serious. She's staring at him. We're gonna get close. Yeah. The lightning just flashed. Dock the boat already, Ryan, for the love of God. She's furious. She went from joyous in the rain, and she wants to know how come he didn't wait for her. And now she's turning around. He's still gonna put the boat up on the dock, though. Let's go. Why? We all want to know why. She waited for him. She waited for him. Well, how come your mom hid the letters, huh? That's what I want. How come your we all want to know. Your mom hid the letters he wrote every single day. I've seen the movie. I'm not embarrassed by it. Yeah, it wasn't over. It's never over. It's not over right now. Come over here. That's all I got.

[Pablo Torre]

Did they kiss?

[Boog Sciambi]

Bouncing to third and Madrigal over to first. And that'll end the inning. And they're kissing.

[Pablo Torre]

This has been Pablo Torre Finds Out. A Meadowlark Media production and I'll talk to you next time.

[Boog Sciambi]

Sam.