← The Lovable Reunion
The Lovable Reunion
David Ross & Anthony Rizzo kick off 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series podcast
01:17:27
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- [00:00]
A
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- [00:31]
B
Anthony Rizzo. David Ross. Welcome to the lovable reunion podcast, our first official episode. We are here at the iconic Murphy's Bleachers with my partner David Ross, where we talk about the unforgettable 2016 World Series Championship Chicago Cubs. We sit down with all of our former teammates, coaches, executives, Tom Ricketts, Theo Epstein, Joe Madden, John Lester, you name it, we're talking to him. We're interviewing them, and we're telling you guys stories. What we saw, what we lived, things that you've all heard about. But now you're hearing the real stuff behind the scenes.
- [01:16]
A
Today, it's about us. We're not making this about us. It's 2016. We're going to walk you through all the stories and all the episodes. A lot of nakedness going on, but dancing naked.
- [01:29]
B
Lots of partying, lots of drinking, lots of teamwork, team camaraderie, all of it. So we've talked to a lot of our guys already. It's the day after opening day. We're here at Murphy's. Baseball season's back upon us. We can't be more excited for it.
- [01:44]
A
I'm so pumped. Let's get the little things out of the way first. What have you been doing since retirement, dude? What's. What's going on in your life right now? What a. What an epic day you had when they brought you back here to Chicago. Anthony Rizzo day.
- [01:57]
B
Yeah. Sitting in the bleachers, Wrigley Field, summertime. It was awesome. The ball hit to me, the retirement party, all of it. And it feels good to be back in Chicago. It feels good to be in a Cubs ambassador. Feels good to be back in the game. Doing games on Netflix, games on NBC. You're doing games on espn. So to be back in the game is awesome. But this is our passion project. This is our baby. And it's been so much fun sitting down with our guys. I want to get into you and me meeting. Rossi and I met back When I was going through cancer, actually. Rossi was playing in the ALCS with the Red Sox in 2008, and we had the same agency, and Rossi left me a ticket, and he came and said hi to me before the game near the bullpen. Probably had no idea who I was.
- [02:41]
A
My agents are like, hey, can you leave this kid's tickets? Just say, hey, maybe snap a photo? And I'm like, all right. What did some, you know, charity kid. I'll go say, hey. Turns out we're brothers for life. Turns out. Yeah, that was kind of crazy, the fact it went full circle, and we're sitting here now and we took a picture. I think I signed something on the sidelines right there in Tampa Bay.
- [03:09]
B
It's funny. I remember driving to Tampa that. That for that game. We drove over that night in my mom's car. She had a Cadillac, and I left the car running. So we got back the whole game, the car was running. I forgot to turn it off because I was so excited. On empty. We barely rule. I think we had to push it into the. The gas.
- [03:28]
A
Well, that. That. That. That's a good story, but not a sign of things to come, because things got a lot better.
- [03:33]
B
Yeah. Can you believe it's been 10 years?
- [03:34]
A
I can't believe it's been 10 years. I can't believe we met so long ago. You know, I. My life has been crazy since, with, you know, managing since then being out of baseball.
- [03:46]
B
Dancing with the Stars.
- [03:47]
A
Yeah, I did that for. Just got done with the WBC, and that was when DeRosa introduced me. He was like. And Dance with the Stars, and I gave him this, and the room went crazy. So that's my new. Yeah, just did a little shimmy, and the crowd went crazy. So, yeah, man. Things have been nuts for me as well. Ten years has gone by. I feel like it's happened so fast. Our kids, we got to see everybody at the reunion for Cubs convention. Everybody's kids have gotten older and grown up, and everybody's kind of, you know, doing different things in life. It's nuts how fast the 10 years has gone.
- [04:19]
B
It really has been. It's. When we first met, when Rossi and I really first actually met, we sat down at ESPN at the end of the 2014 season. It was going into the playoffs, and we sat down at an ESPN car wash, and we just talked for, like, two hours, maybe. We had the same agent. Our agent was there, and I literally told my agent after that, I was like, the Chicago Cubs need David Ross. Because we were on the Verge of becoming pretty good. I thought we had a lot of bad teams, but everything you talked about was everything that our team needed. So for it to come full circle and you to sign with the Cubs a few months later was insane.
- [04:59]
A
Yeah, well, I think, like, that was a. That was a moment. We definitely hit it off and talking baseball and. And felt like we were. Had been friends for 15 years after that day. I mean, we. We just hit it off so well. And I think, yeah, I was glad to be a part of that, but I think what we needed was Johnny Lester. We need a little Johnny Lester. I follow the good players around, if you hadn't noticed. Look back at my career. Just try to get on a couple good teams and. And hide. But no, that. That day at espn, and then you came to Tallahassee for a football game. We got to hang out. And then me signing here and us being able to. To go on this journey together, and looking back, I can't wait for everybody to hear our stories, and the stories of our teammates are going to. Are going to bring a lot of laughs, a lot of tears. We've got some in the can already that they're pretty emotional, and some guys really pour their hearts out. It's pretty, Pretty. Pretty epic.
- [05:55]
B
Rossi was the king of two year deals, and he would tell me in year one, in 2015, he was like, I'll just wait till the second year. Like, I only do two year deals for a reason. And it lived true. Like, by year two, I was like, I wanted to fucking kill him.
- [06:08]
A
I had to. I had the clubhouse cancer. Second.
- [06:10]
B
Yeah, yeah, everybody. Not like that.
- [06:12]
A
But in the next year, he's like, I'm over his shit for sure.
- [06:15]
B
When you came Into Spring in 2015, you and Lester came in and it was like all eyes were on YouTube. You guys were intense. You were. You were a lot older than everyone else, so everyone was looking at you guys like, on eggshells a little bit, and you were. You have such a good way of uplifting everyone, bringing them up, and when there's times of, you know, that they need to be talked to, you. You are the best in the business of absolutely motherfucking someone and making them feel good about it and making them walk away with a smile. And I don't know how you did
- [06:49]
A
that, but it's a shit sandwich, right? You just. You start with a real positive thing, you say the shitty stuff in the middle, and you end with some positivity. Yeah, that's what I learned early on.
- [06:57]
B
Yeah, you walk away like he just screamed at me, but I feel so good about it.
- [07:01]
A
Well, I think looking back on the group we had, and I appreciate that compliment, I think it's a compliment. But it. We had the character of our group. I could, I could be honest and say whatever you had to to our guys. And they took it. Whether it's Schwarber and talking about catching and his body language, he tells that story about coming off and, and coming up to me and telling me what I got when we're getting our butts kicked. And you know, the little things about how guys on our, in our group were receptive to the information or a little bit of criticism. But we also pour, you know, we poured into it to our teammates. Like we had such good guys. We all hung out. We had a young group. Like, you were kind of the veteran guy when I came here. You were the veteran guy or you and Starling had been here for a long time, but still very young in your career, very young in age. And then starting to bring in some championship pieces that John had won. I had one, had been a part of that. And everybody just kind of like really looked to us and really gravitated to, you know, we had a tight knit group and gravitated to each other and we just took off.
- [08:04]
B
I feel like him and Lester came in and they literally taught us all. They elevated me personally to another level of professionalism. It was all about winning, what it took to win, the energy it takes to win, which you don't know how to do until you do it. Like losing is easy in the big leagues. You just, you lose, you lose games, you win a couple games, you lose, oh, we lost again. When you win after you win a lot and you lose, it sucks to lose.
- [08:27]
A
No doubt.
- [08:28]
B
The energy it takes every day to bring it.
- [08:31]
A
I look back and coming from Boston and winning with Lester and Lackey on that team, I feel like I owe them my rings because those guys were professionals and had won before. But until you go through the full journey and you finish the goal and our champions at the end of it, then you look back, it's like, oh, that's what it feels like. That's what it's like to bring our lunch pail every day, come to work with a mission and just start stacking days upon days, good days, and then you get in the postseason and gotta have a couple things go your way. But you got good talent. You continue to focus on the little things. I think that's something you learn when you're on championship team.
- [09:07]
B
For me in 15. And we talk about this a lot throughout the podcast with a lot of. A lot of different guys and coaches. That San Francisco giants series in 2015 in August here was like franchise changing, in my opinion, because we were really good. We were getting really good. We had momentum and we were. We were third place in the wild card at the time. And we, the Giants come in for a four game set and we sweep them, we boat race them the entire series. And after that series, I think that was like the night we all went out. We were singing at Stanley's karaoke. Meet Dexter. Big Cat was there. Theo was out. Like, the whole team was out. But that was like a defining moment for me because we had lost so much and then we finally won that. We're like, damn, we are good. Like, we just beat the San Francisco Giants world champions. They've won two rings already or three rings already, so. And I know you feel the same way about that.
- [10:00]
A
Yeah, that. That was the. I think talking to each guy was in the second half in. In August. And that series really stood out because of the Giants resume with Buster and Baumgartner. I mean, they had. They had the boys, and I think they had two championships at the time. And, you know, we knew that was a good test and being able to sweep them handedly, I think we all started to feel. Yeah, that was when we started getting on our run. I think the young guys were comfortable then. We had brought so many guys up that year and just started. Those guys started to kind of really get comfortable and off we went.
- [10:31]
B
Yeah. I mean, yet two guys in the Home Run Derby, me and kb it's not about us.
- [10:35]
A
But it is today. It is this episode. It is about you.
- [10:37]
B
It is about us today.
- [10:38]
A
How was that Home Run Derby?
- [10:39]
B
Home Run Derby was sick. It was so much fun in Cincinnati, too. All my family there. I mean, the night before, we were out, like, hanging out with Sean Casey, who's such a legend. And that's the story I want to tell.
- [10:51]
A
We got a good case.
- [10:51]
B
Story is we were in Pittsburgh in September and we win 97 games that year. The Pirates win 98 games. The Cardinals, I believe, won a hundred. Right. We finished third in the division, second in the wild card. And we're. We're trying to catch the Cardinals, or. I'm sorry, we're trying to catch the Pirates. Be one in the wild card standing. So we're in Pittsburgh. We have a day game. It's a Saturday going into Sunday, so Saturday night, we're all hanging In Johnny Lester's room, Sean Casey comes over. All the boys are in the room. John has the penthouse. He orders all the food, all these beers. And we're just. It ends up being till like 4 or 5 in the morning. We have a 12:30 game the next day. Right. So it was a fun.
- [11:32]
A
It was a night. It was a good.
- [11:33]
B
I remember taking a cab to the park, like panicked because I'm rolling in at like 11. And on the, on the radio I hear the Pirates people like dogging Andrew McCutcheon for sitting out in the game because he's like, how could he sit out? We're in the wild car race this and that. And I'm like, hell yeah. I'm playing like I'm freaking. Little bit hung over.
- [11:53]
A
A little hung over. It's okay. A lot of it. Some of your best games were a little hung. I mean, we're honest.
- [11:59]
B
My first.
- [11:59]
A
It is about you.
- [12:00]
B
My first atat I ground into a double play. Bases loaded.
- [12:05]
A
Wa. Can I set the scene? He's going to gloss over this. So we first think Charlie Morton's on the mound. And Charlie Morton turns out to be a really good pitcher. Love Charlie, played with him in Atlanta. But Charlie Morton wasn't the Charlie Morton you're seeing now. Charlie Morton back end of his career. Yeah, back in his career he was really good.
- [12:22]
B
Still.
- [12:23]
A
He was, he was figuring things out. Yeah. Yeah. And we got bases loaded, nobody out, and our. Our four hole hitter, who's one of the best players in the game, comes up and swings at the first pitch and grounds into a double play. What? We're grinding this guy. It's what we do. We grind pitchers and might be a little. I was there, so I know he's not feeling great.
- [12:46]
B
And I drove in a run, although I didn't get the rbi because when you're gonna do double play. So I go back and like I always do, I go back to Rossi and I kind of break down my bat. Him and Hinsky, I'd always break my bats down. And he's fucking fuming. He's like, you want my opinion? I was like, yeah. He's like, you weren't fucking ready to play. He goes, if you can't stay out all night and you're not ready to play, don't stay out all night. And I looked at him, I go, fuck you, Rossi. I'm always ready to play. And I walked off so pissed. First time I ever yelled at him. So it's September 15th, right. We're teammates now for six months where the two year thing comes in play. But first time I ever snap back on him because I respected him. Because you respect your elders, it's okay to bark back.
- [13:28]
A
I just. You asked my opinion. I was going to say you weren't ready to play.
- [13:31]
B
He let me have ready to play, right. And my next to bat, I come back up, I hit a two run homer and I come in the dugout,
- [13:39]
A
wait, he hits a homer and it's gone. And, and before the ball is over the fence, he's staring at me in the dugout, mean mugging him, just like staring a hole through me.
- [13:48]
B
And I, I come back in the dugout and I'm like, I'm always fucking ready to play, Rossy. Fuck you. Screaming at him, scream at him. He's like, if that's what it takes to get you going, I'm going to
- [13:57]
A
yell you all the time. Hey, if you need me to piss you off to lock it the fuck in, then I'll do that. As the pseudo bench player, I'll do that. If you need me to get under your crawl. And he was mad at me for a good bit, but then he was happy because he had a couple RBIs
- [14:13]
B
and had a homer double in that game too.
- [14:15]
A
Yeah, it was good. We win the game.
- [14:16]
B
We won the game.
- [14:16]
A
Won the game. Yeah.
- [14:17]
B
Another, another one too is later. Literally next. The next week I actually went to Joe's office. I played I think 160 games that year and we, we had a makeup game versus the Royals. And I walked into Joe's office, I go, Joe, I need a day. I'm dead. Because I didn't know how to win. And there's so much energy that goes into winning and your teammates. And I was gassed and he gave me a day off and I, I think I was, I was late for the anthem or I didn't come out for the anthem or I wasn't out, not for the anthem. I wasn't out for first pitch. And he wore me out. And it's something I took with me forever. He was like, we, you have bench players grind every day for you. Watching every at bat so invested in you. And you're not going to be out there at first pitch to watch them and show them the respect that you're not playing today. And I took that with me. And literally for the rest of my career, any day I had off, I was out there for first pitch watching those guys.
- [15:09]
A
And I don't know why these guys like me because all I did was get on him about being. Being pro. I did that to Mike Napoli. One of the hardest things I've ever done. I caught a. And come to find out later in Boston, I got a day game after we had clinched, and Nap, I didn't know at the time, but had like a shot in his foot and all these things going on. But, you know, like, you want the boys around there to root you on. And like the third inning came around and, you know, I was on the dugout and in the dugout, so I go up like a fake getting a Red Bull or something. I see Lackey. And Nap, who played every day up there chilling, watching football, and I. I was like, is beer chicken wings? Yeah.
- [15:49]
B
No, no, no.
- [15:50]
A
Hey, too soon, too soon. No, but. And I said to Nap, I was like, bro, I'm out there grinding every day. Like it just is bullshit that you're not out there supporting me when I play. I remember almost crying telling him that because it was like, so personal to me. And Naps the best, you know, And Nat tells that story all the time just because of, like, you know, I think you lose sight of when you're everyday player, these other guys that are out there. And so I just think, like, that's just one other piece that keeps everybody together. And, you know, I. I am a role player. Was a role player for most of my career. So it's like one of those things you want to, but you're out there rooting them on. You want the boys with you.
- [16:23]
B
So that's. That's another thing of leadership that people don't understand. If you're not out there, guys that are playing are like, oh, like, oh, he's too good to watch us. And it's like, if you're out there watching and investing, like, your guys want to play more for you, right? So you taught me that. And it's something that I took with me for the rest of my career. In 15, we go to the NLCS, we get our hearts broken. It was awful. I literally thought we were winning the World Series. And I remember after 15, I think we did a toast to Dan Heron because it was the end of his career. And Lester, another veteran moment here. John Lester pours champagne for everyone at the end and toast Stan Heron for having an amazing career. He was. It was probably the end. And it's like, dude, that doesn't happen, right? And like the parties we had in 15 after we clinched we beat the Cardinals. There's a story with Schwaber that we talk about, about the home runs we hit the Schwar bomb. But those parties that Lester had were just another example of bringing the team together for the iconic 2016 team. It all led up to that.
- [17:26]
A
And. And we went into that off season knowing, like, everybody's hungry. I always thought, like, when you get to the World Series and win, there's a sense of relief and, like, a relax. Like, when you don't get there and you're heartbroken, like we did against the Mets and they. They freaking Daniel Murphy.
- [17:41]
B
Him. I love him. He actually. We ended up being teammates, and he's.
- [17:45]
A
He wore my number, and I'm like, I don't know.
- [17:46]
B
Yeah. But on the Mets in 15, he. He still haunts us.
- [17:50]
A
But it. It.
- [17:51]
B
It.
- [17:51]
A
It gives you that sense of, like, you're hungry going into next season. And then the great job by Theo bringing back Dexter, what a moment that was. We talk about that and how cool that was and Dex walking us through his whole off season.
- [18:05]
B
And then we signed Lackey.
- [18:06]
A
We signed Lackey. Zo. Yeah. Yeah. So we. We. I mean, that was a. A critical offseason where they brought us in everything we needed. And the whole Grandpa Rossi retirement started. And we talk about KB starting me, the Grandpa Rossi Instagram, and all the. All the many episodes. You can tell we're really at Murphy's.
- [18:26]
B
You hear that? The iconic.
- [18:28]
A
We are right here in the heart of Chicago, Wrigleyville, and we've got fire trucks going everywhere.
- [18:34]
B
Many nights here in 16. In spring training, we rolled in and we had this very arrogant hump but humble mentality of, like, we already won the World Series. Let's just press play, right? Like, Lester had a shirts made, and I know there was stories in Boston where you guys had shirts made, but we literally spoke about us already winning the World Series this year. And we lived it, we breathed it, and we were going into probably your last year, right?
- [19:03]
A
Yeah. And the best. Well, that was. I got caught on talk radio show saying I thought that was it, and then it just kind of caught fire, which I didn't think it would. Backup catcher, who cares, but got a lot of love for that. And you guys took care of me.
- [19:17]
B
Kb. Me and kb. Well, for us, it was like, dude, you were so. You're so instrumental in my career in helping me become a better leader and a better teammate, a better person. And it was like, I want to celebrate you, and I know by the end of year two, I probably wanted to kill you, but it was just. We. We make the Grandpa Rossi account. We're bringing them out all these gifts, but it was just another way for our team to have fun. And Joe did such a good job of that, but the players did too, man. Yeah, we were. We were like the motley crew.
- [19:47]
A
Well, and Joe let us. He let us have those. Those moments and the off the field stuff, and he. He championed that. And talking about embrace the target, I remember just like, yeah, the target is on our back because we're. We're picked to win it. And how that was a good thing, you know, And. And I never felt really any pressure that whole season because just the way he handled the media and how close we were, and I felt like we kept our clubhouse so tight knit and we're on in our own little world inside that clubhouse that none of that. None of those curse things ever really creeped in. I didn't think at all.
- [20:18]
B
Never. Never. And so in 16, our last two games of the season were in Vegas. I'm sorry, of spring training. Oh, yeah. We go to Vegas for two exhibition games, and the whole team goes because after that, we're going to Anaheim to start the year. So Rossi and I, we played in Vegas every year for the most part in spring training. I went on every one of those trips. So Rossi and I were staying at the Cosmopolitan.
- [20:40]
A
I wonder why. I wonder why.
- [20:42]
B
And we shared the penthouse, the two bedroom penthouse. Like, hey, let's share a room, right? Like, we had a whole night planned. I think we went to Hakkasan, right at the mgm, and we went out all night. We had a game the next day, but it was. We were going to get like two at bats.
- [20:56]
A
Joe, we walk in and Riz has got, like, welcome Chicago color.
- [21:00]
B
We blew it out, like the whole team there. And it's just one of those things. I remember in 2015, spring training, I saw the Royals, the whole team partying, and they ended up winning the World Series. Like, dude, right? And then we kind of bonded like that. So the next day we go in, and again, it's not about me. I hit a home run, my first at bat. Rossi is on the training table with towels over his head, dead. And I remember Matt Caesar, I think we told this story with Cease. Matt Caesar walks in and he's like, hey, Rossi, are you good, bro? And he's like, get the fuck away from me.
- [21:34]
A
I was dying. And then Cashman Field in Vegas, like, that hard table. And I just put. I remember Davey Martinez coming up, like, tapping me, waking me up. He's like, hey, you think you can catch three innings? I was like, I've got three. I've got three. So I got, like, one at bat and got out of there. Was not feeling good, I think. Went back, took a nap and then went back out the next night.
- [21:52]
B
Yeah. Well, we had a.
- [21:54]
A
That was an epic.
- [21:55]
B
That was. Well, some guys didn't want to go. And Joe and Davey. I'm not saying who. Under my recommendation, we had a Bloody Mary bar and a mimosa bar pregame for all of us, because they knew we were going out. And Joe was just. I will have mimosas and bloodies. Like, guys need it for the hangover. It'll be good going into the game. So it was just. Those were the. That was the vibe of our clubhouse. It was so much fun. It was so relaxed. But we knew when it was time to work. It was. And we rolled into Anaheim.
- [22:24]
A
Remember the team. Remember the team dinner? The Theo and. Or Tom, the coach picked up the dinner that night. Make sure everybody got out of Vegas. Yeah. Make sure everybody left Vegas.
- [22:32]
B
Yeah. So they wanted us. We wanted to stay in Vegas another night. They're like, no, you. Let's get to California. We ended up going to Mastro's there in Newport, and Mr. Ricketts and Theo picked up the bill, and guys were ordering, like, any. Any team dinner. Lester and Lackey were always fighting over the bill, so it was obnoxious. The food and wine and the seafood towers that they would order, but it was amazing. And then we get into Anaheim and in. In 16, I think it was the end of 15. I always worked out in the morning in the. On the road with our strength coach, Tim Buss. It was like our time to just go talk the game, go to a regular gym, and just be a normal person. So before the second game, we went to the Equinox out in Newport. Newport. And you came and it was upstairs.
- [23:20]
A
You had, like, a blister. Yeah.
- [23:21]
B
Yeah. There was an outside area upstairs that we were just training at, and it was a beautiful day. So him and I both took our shirts off at Busy, too. We were the only ones there. And we're training. There's these monkey bars, and we're like, ah, let's try these. And I do the monkey bars one time, and I get two blisters on each hand. Second game of the season, and I am grinding, trying to hit right, and I'm like, fuck. But the point of this is you coming on the road and coming to those workouts. It was a way to celebrate. And, like, we went to the Rocky Steps that year in Philly Forbes and Stanwicks in Pittsburgh at the Gold's gym was iconic. We would go there every time we were in Pittsburgh.
- [24:00]
A
San Diego, gas lamp. We walked around and. And grabbed lunch. We always grab the only thing Riz had to eat at when we go to Pittsburgh. He had to eat at Moe's. It's like, bro, it's 10:30 in the morning and he's got a. He's there. Welcome to Mo.
- [24:15]
B
Every time in Pittsburgh, it was great.
- [24:17]
A
But I think that was a. That to me, you inviting me on that and you getting up and doing that. Me, you, and Bussy. That bond, I thought, took our relationship to another level because it was so much fun for me. It created a kind of a new routine for me of getting up on the road, going and working out when we first got there, going to have lunch, coming back, taking a little nap, and then heading to the field. And that's one of my favorite things. I look back on at those times we had. We bought the Gold's gym shirts with the. With the. We all had these bright highlighter colors. Get tank tops. It was. It was.
- [24:48]
B
I mean, we went. I don't. I don't think you're with us, but there was a time where we went to Muscle Beach. Yeah, Me and Bus.
- [24:53]
A
I wasn't there for that.
- [24:54]
B
Yeah, we were outside working out. It was where Arnold worked out.
- [24:58]
A
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. You don't want to miss the annual beauty event. For big savings on all your favorite beauty products now through April 28, spend $25 on participating products and save $5. Shop in store or online for items like Billie women's razors, Billie body buffer or body wash native hand soap, Neutrogena makeup remover tablets, and Q Tips. And save $5 when $25 offer ends April 28. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.
- [25:30]
B
How cool was it for you when you hit your 100th home run? Backup catcher when he hit his 100th home run? It was here, Wrigley. And like everyone exploded. We were counting down for it.
- [25:39]
A
Counting down.
- [25:40]
B
It was just we. We rallied so hard. Behind you.
- [25:42]
A
I have. Funny story. The guy hit that off, end up pitching for me and he walked into my. To my office in spring training. He was like, you don't remember remember me, do you? I'm like, what? Remember what? And he's like, you hit your hundredth home run over. I was like, oh, back to back change ups. I Do. It was. It was a funny little story. Yeah. I remember, like, looking in the dugout. There's a couple things I think about the Game 7 home run that we'll get to, but the look on my teammate's face with the 100 home run and the Game 7 home run when you look in the dugout. I rounded second, and you guys are going absolutely crazy for me. Like, those are those moments you can't get back. And to see the joy of the people you're grinding with every single day, that. That love you and are rooting for you, that was a. That was a special one for me here. You know, I got so many standing ovations, little curtain calls that year.
- [26:29]
B
That was when Yachty at the end here we're playing the Cardinals as the
- [26:35]
A
last series of the Sunday Night Baseball.
- [26:37]
B
Sunday Night Baseball, and Rossi's first at bat. Yachty gives him his. His Runway and gets a standing ovation. You do a curtain call. I thought that was so cool that Yachty realized that moment, understood how much you meant to our team, and gave you that moment at Wrigley.
- [26:53]
A
He's such a professional, and there's so. I must have thanked him a million times every time I see him, but that was one of the. My favorite moments of my career. I look back on that, that year and that game, you know, I got. I hit. I got another ovation. He gave me two of them. My second at bat, then I hit the home run. We ended up winning, I think 2 to 1, and I gave us a lead. And then Lester goes in and tells Joe the story he talks about to take me out of the game. I wanted to kill Joe when he was coming out, though. He's taking Lester out, and I go out, and then you put your arm around me. I'm about to start crying now, and I'm, like, trying to give everybody hugs. And I didn't know. I didn't even know what to do. Like, that was one of my favorite games at that year, 2016. It was such a special moment. Everybody gave me so much love. The fans gave me seven curtain calls. And, you know, it was just. It was. It was. I mean, the people here, we're going to do some stuff about the fans, and, like, we're so thankful for Cubs fans, or I am, at least. And I know you are, but how you guys rallied around us, support us, loved our personalities. And I got so much love walking around this town, going to restaurants and. And. And playing everyone calling you Grandpa, Grandpa. I don't even think they know my real name. I think it. His grandpa.
- [28:04]
B
I know that. That team too. I. That team. We. In 2016, we had seven All Stars that year. I remember us rolling into San Diego and at the All Star Game, it was, you know, the pitchers weren't pitching. I don't think Lester or Arietta were pitching.
- [28:19]
A
So that was nine of you guys, right? Was it nine?
- [28:21]
B
I think seven, seven, who knows? Okay. But the. The clubhouse was dry in Lester and they're like, what the fuck? So they like go out and like, buy all this stuff for the clubhouse. And like, we rolled in there, like, again, we didn't. We never showed up teams. I didn't. I didn't feel like we were ever arrogant. I felt like it was really easy to root for us because it's been 108 years. There is a real curse here, right? Like, there's so much that went into it. We. We went so far in 15, so I really felt like in 16, even at the All Star Game, but going into the playoffs, like, we were America's team.
- [28:53]
A
We were. We were dancing. And I remember, like, they played. Whoop, there it is. Every time on the. On the home run. And like the whole dugout, that small, tiny dugout was high five and a dance. We all. All the coaches had their high five. Speaking of, we had a little handshake pregame. Do you remember that?
- [29:08]
B
We did remember that.
- [29:09]
A
We had a little.
- [29:10]
B
We called it the bump.
- [29:12]
A
Yeah.
- [29:14]
B
I never wore a cup in my career, but Rossi did, so it hurt me a little bit more than him. But we would exchange.
- [29:20]
A
Yeah, we had. We had that. We had to tell that with the.
- [29:22]
B
The.
- [29:23]
A
That's a J. Hey, one. We should save that for. For J. Because he tells us.
- [29:26]
B
We did that after homer's. But our handshake was just. It was very profound. Professional.
- [29:30]
A
Yeah, he was always like. Like, he was fun loving, getting into his routine. And then the game, right before the game, he kind of like put on this is go time. Kind of like, here we go.
- [29:41]
B
I always said I was a switch guy. So, like, he wasn't he. When he was playing every fifth day or a couple times a week, you come in and he'd be like, in game mode, right? I'm playing every day. I plan on playing 162. Think at 16 I played 160 or 161. So I always said I'm a switch guy. Like, I'm. I keep my mind off as long as I could until I have to turn the switch on, and then I'm Go. And he couldn't understand that. So, like, when I'm joking around 35 minutes before the game, he's like, lock it the in. And I go, rossi.
- [30:12]
A
I'm always locked in.
- [30:13]
B
I'm always locked in.
- [30:14]
A
But I would go to him and be like, good luck today. Anthony. Looking right now, he just stand foot has luck has nothing to do with it. Well, look, has nothing to do with it.
- [30:22]
B
What ha. In 15 at the end of the year, you came up to me after, I think I grounded out and Joe took us out of the game. It was the last game of the year, and we were ready going to the wild card. He took me out and I was pissed. And you walked up to me and I think I was already annoyed at you from the Pittsburgh story a week before, you wore me out for not being out there for first pitch. So I'm like, this fucking guy. It's September. A lot of your teammates, you're over them at that point. And you come up to me after I ground it out, and you go, hey. And I'm like, what the fuck are you gonna say to me? And you just go, you shake my hand. You go, congratulations on a great year. And I went from like, I wanted to kill you to like, ah, thank you. I gave you a big hug.
- [31:02]
A
I remember that.
- [31:03]
B
So the next year, that's why we started the handshake.
- [31:05]
A
I remember that. I remember that. You were definitely ready to kill me, but you were. It was done. We had a playoff spot locked in. And yeah, it's like, I think we forget about telling guys like, man, the journey's over now we start a new one, you know, the postseason. Let's get. Let's get to. Let's get to some.
- [31:24]
B
Some the playoffs.
- [31:25]
A
The playoffs.
- [31:26]
B
San Francisco, that game won. San Francisco, we're the best team. The Giants are coming off of their every other year, even year World Series runs. So they won in 10, 12, 14. Now it's 16. And I'm in my head, I'm like, damn. Like, we're playing the Giants, right? Like, we got to go out west. I personally, my numbers at at&t the time are the worst of my career. I have zero home runs. I think I hit under 200 there. It's just. I don't know why. I never hit well in that ballpark. But game one, Javi hits that massive home run into the wind. Thought it was going to go onto Waveland. And it goes in the basket.
- [32:02]
A
Basket.
- [32:03]
B
And we win nothing off. Cuaito, who was, I think, in The Cy Young contention that year he dealt with. And we go. I think it was game three or four when we do this crazy back pick with me, you, Javi, I wanted
- [32:19]
A
to bring that up, and I know we're in the playoffs, but, like, you were. There's only so many guys I got to play with that were, like, locked in as much as I was to picking guys off. And you were so into. I remember the game we ended in Washington when Rondon was getting a little squirrely. Remember? And Soto.
- [32:36]
B
I believe it was.
- [32:37]
A
No, it was the first base in Robinson or something. Oh, yeah.
- [32:40]
B
And we did one here, too.
- [32:41]
A
Yeah. Yeah. We had a couple good ones. And, yeah, for that, the. The one. I remember game three. Remember Arietta? We talked about this a little bit. Takes Bum Gardner deep. We're up like, three, nothing insane. And it was so loud, and our dugout was going crazy. And then I pulled the whole veteran card and was like. In my mind, I'm like, everybody thinks we just won the World Series. Everybody's going crazy. Like, long way to go. I think we're in the third inning and second or third inning, and sure enough, they came back and beat us. But I. I was the old man. Like, keep it together, people. We got a long way to go. But the back, that was a nut. That was a crazy, crazy.
- [33:17]
B
That series was. That series was intense. Five games, too. The first game. The first series, too. We're nervous. We know our expectations are up here. We're. We're the best team in the league. We have World Series or bust really, all over us. So. But that backpick was just another, I think, symbol of our team, of how loose. Joe, let us play. We're calling, so the back pick. I'll take you through it. It's a bunt play where there's a guy in first, the pitcher's up, or we know the guy's bunting. I come.
- [33:45]
A
You're the best business crash.
- [33:46]
B
I come all the way up, basically, like, 10ft from the hitter. If he hits the ball at me, I'm dead. I understand that. I just play the odds of, like, there's no way he's gonna hit it at me. Right. Thank God I never got a hit at me. But then Javi comes around behind the first baserunner after the pitch, and Rossi picks it off, and it's a ballsy play at the time.
- [34:05]
A
Yeah.
- [34:06]
B
But we. We do it, and it's just momentum for us. But again, like, Joe, let us play when you trust.
- [34:11]
A
Javi was so good, and he Was such. His baseball IQ is some of the best I've ever been around. Like, he knew what he was doing and you trusted. I could just let it go because his hands were so good and he was going to block it up. Same with you when you were back there and just a regular back pick, you know, like, if you have trust in your teammates that they're going to sacrifice and do all they can to either keep it in front if it's a bad throw or be on time to get there, like, that's the stuff we had within this team. We had a lot of good trust. Talking about game four against the Giants.
- [34:39]
B
Yeah. I mean, literally was just talking to Hunter Pence about this. When we were out in San Francisco and we were down three runs going into the ninth. We had Johnny Quaido. They had Johnny Quo go on game five.
- [34:51]
A
Yeah.
- [34:51]
B
And he's nasty. And he had had good success. He had good success off us when he was in Cincinnati. He had our number. And we came back in that ninth inning and I felt like a. Did not only did we party in San Francisco and on the flight home, but we ran out of there like thieves, stealing that game.
- [35:09]
A
Everybody was getting. I mean, balls were up the middle. Contreras, Javi, like, things. Everything was going our way in that inning. And they were just Bru. Br. Boats kept just rolling guys out of the bullpen and didn't matter.
- [35:21]
B
Yeah, it was just like a sign of. Like, when you really look back at that World Series run, winning that game, coming back down three in the ninth, we are down 2:1 versus the Dodgers. Right? Then we come back and win in game six. So we win three games or four games, two. Like, we faced our adversity in the playoffs. Right.
- [35:40]
A
No doubt.
- [35:41]
B
We had. We were down 2:1. We get back to Wrigley, we tie it. Then we have Kershaw. Game 6.
- [35:46]
A
When you remember the whole. We tell with Caesar using his bat and that whole thing. Like. Like we've got so many stories within our stories that these other guys and. And. And memories that they have of. Of just watching from different perspective. Like, it's been so fun. Fun to do this and that. That. That Dodger series, I mean, they were good. They're really good. They had been good.
- [36:07]
B
Always good. You know what I mean? And that there was a game where Kenley Jensen was pitching and I was using Matt Caesar's bat, or I was using my bat and he jammed me. My bat shattered, but he didn't cover first base and I got a hit. We Lost the game. But for me, I was kind of grinding up until that point, and I walked in the clubhouse. We lost, but in the playoffs, you have to be real quick.
- [36:30]
A
Yeah.
- [36:31]
B
You know, you got to be like. Like a goldfish. Ted Lasso. Right. Like memory of a goldfish. So after the game, I was just like, that's. That's it for me. Like, that little meaningless hit. I'm about to go off next game. I think I got three or four hits, hit a home run, and then carried that into the postseason. Yeah, you. You rolled into the World Series. Game 6. One of my more memorable home runs. Hitting a home run off Clayton Kershaw. Not about me.
- [36:53]
A
That was a bomb. Yeah, it is. It is about you. That was a bomb.
- [36:56]
B
Then we clinch at Wrigley.
- [36:57]
A
Like, is that the front.
- [36:59]
B
Front one hand, and it's like, game clinching game at Wrigley to send us to the World Series. And the party outside of Wrigley, like, the fans, the emotion, it was like. It was so insane. It. I'm not gonna lie, it actually annoyed me because I was like, we. We still have a job to do. And, like, Cubs fans were almost, like, just so happy we got to the World Series. Like, that was good enough. And on the inside, we're like, no, no, no. Like, we need to finish the job.
- [37:30]
A
I remember thinking, like, I mean, we had an epic party at Lester's after that, which was crazy. But I remember thinking, like, I thought I was so worried about my last year and, like, wanted to go out, you know, as best we could. And remember, like, taking a step further than we went the year before in 15. For these people bringing a World Series back here, like, I sense. I had a sense of like, ah, here, now we go. Like, it doesn't, you know, a little bit. Like, we've. We've. We're back to where. Further than we were last year. Like, now it's all gravy. Let's. Let's go win this thing, you know?
- [38:02]
B
Not me. I was. I was head down in the tunnel. Like, we need to win this. Like, yeah, this was cool, the celebration at Rigley, but it's going to be better when we win. And obviously, it was a lot better when we won the parade and all that. I remember game one here is like, we didn't really give them a lot to cheer about, but the energy in the stadium of game one or, I'm sorry, Game three, Wrigley was just off. It was like, everyone was nervous. I don't know if it was the Corporate money that was here. But everyone was just like quiet. The energy. I remember like every guy said, I was like, what's going on here? Like usually we had fans on our feet. Like if it was a 20 pitch and we were hitting, everyone would get wild. And that game three was just, I don't know, it was nerve wracking.
- [38:47]
A
We've got to get to an episode with fans for this because I want to know thoughts and I think we're going to try to get some, some celebrities and some guys that we know and get some fans perspective because there was that, there was that fans roller coaster of emotions. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We had our own, we had our own stories. I want to know the fan stories of like what they were thinking, what they were feeling, what they were talking to about with their families.
- [39:09]
B
Yeah. And then we roll into the World Series, right? We split in Cleveland. It's iconic World Series. The Indians are having one in what, 50 something years. We're going, we're 108 years. Both fan bases were so happy. It really was like I played the Guardians with the Yankees and those fans were absolutely ruthless to us. They hated us. But when we were in the World Series in 16 with the Cubs, it was just like everyone, you saw everyone just so happy, right? Like no matter what, the outcome was going to be good because one fan base is going to break their, their own drought. What was cool, winning in game five.
- [39:48]
A
That's my favorite game.
- [39:48]
B
We go, well, we go down three one, right? And we had been down three zero last year, the Mets. And it was like we almost deflated in 15 and when we lost in 16 and we went down 3 1. I remember you saying like multiple times, dude, we've won three games in a row. How many times have we won three games in a row this year?
- [40:09]
A
Well, I remember, I remember. I don't know who it was. My back was turned after game four, putting my stuff in my locker and somebody threw their glove in their like pissed off. And I was like, I couldn't wait. My next start after game one where I feel like I went scouting report heavy rather than John Lester's strengths. I couldn't wait to get to game five, maybe my last game of my career ever playing because John's not starting another game and it's here at Wrigley Field. I'm going to retire afterwards and I just want to feel, I want to take this field in a World Series with Johnny Lester and the boys. And so whoever threw their glove, I remember saying no, no, no, like, anybody get their left nut to be here tomorrow playing game five in the World Series at Wrigley Field. There's, you know, 28 other teams home, sitting on the couch, gonna be watching us tomorrow. And I remember thinking that. And then you say to vj.
- [41:02]
B
No, to Bussy, to busy. And bj. I was like, no, it's not how many times you get knocked down, how many times you get back up. And I was like, we're putting Rocky one and every single Rocky on. On every single tv. Tv when we come in tomorrow, no baseball on the. On the TVs. It's all rocky, like, inspiration, right? And, like, then we started doing the boxing.
- [41:21]
A
You walked in that day and they put on dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. And you come in doing all this and.
- [41:27]
B
And just kept screaming like, it's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get back up. Adrian.
- [41:32]
A
Adrian. On top of the. On top of the couches and the. And the little bar we had in the locker room, like, that was. That was an iconic moment because I think, like, just how loose, you know, your leadership, looking back, was so much about taking the field every day. And you're one of the horses that had to produce, but your leadership was. You're loose, you're fun. You always. I tell people this all the time. You always make sure everybody else is having a good time when we go out. You're making sure the group's having fun and you're just enjoying everybody else's enjoyment. Like, that's how you're wired that way. And so as a teammate, it's fun when you come in and. And you're kind of veteran guy that had been there in Chicago, and we know how hard you grind, but you're loose. You're fine. Like, let's forget about everything else. Let's go, Rocky. You know, everybody knows Rocky. So that was a big. That was a big, big moment for me. So we got to fast forward to game seven. Can we.
- [42:26]
B
We win game five.
- [42:26]
A
We win game five.
- [42:27]
B
Which for me. For me, actually looking back 10 years that I was literally just sitting at my house and I have the Game 5 jersey framed, and it's like, World Series, Game 5. The World Series patch. And I didn't understand. I just clicked the significance. That's the only World Series game we won at Wrigley. And what. We'll have to look up the numbers.
- [42:47]
A
Daddy started that game.
- [42:48]
B
You know what I mean? But that game was such a grind, and Chapman grinding through that Throwing, I think two and a third innings.
- [42:55]
A
I remember Eddie better gave me a shout out during the. During the seventh inning stretch on that one. Yeah. Talking about it may retire, but it'll always be in our hearts and never forgotten.
- [43:05]
B
I don't know.
- [43:06]
A
It was unbelievable. Like, what a. What a cool moment that was. Like, there were so many. That's my favorite game because I remember I was so jacked up before that game. And Lester had Jason Aldean song playing. I had my. I mean, I told him one of those moments you're talking about earlier, like I'm walking in and we talk about this. But I told him, like, we usually go over signs. And I was like, hey, I love you, man. He's like, bro, don't do that right now. You know, he's like, game face all the time. He's like, bro, don't do that right now. And so I was. Got behind there and I was screaming at the top of my lungs to get all my energy singing a song. Yeah. Singing Aldean song. But that was, that was. That was my favorite. What a. What a cool. I mean, there's so many emotions going into that one. And we win.
- [43:46]
B
Yeah. Our mindset. At least the mindset I was throwing out there in that the universe was whatever we gotta do to win game five. We knew we were gonna win game six. Like, that was our mind. Like, we'll boat race game six, which we ended up doing. Winning game six. And then game seven is game seven.
- [44:01]
A
Well, you helped us boat race at that big home run there. Late was huge.
- [44:05]
B
The World Series home run.
- [44:07]
A
Sorry about it.
- [44:09]
B
But we get to game seven and
- [44:11]
A
it's not about you.
- [44:12]
B
We're pregame for the World Series. I did not take batting practice once. Because when you get to the World Series, you have. You have so many different routines, especially playing here in Chicago. You have to have a few different routines with the day game, with different night games. We usually have late travel. So KB and I didn't take kb actually took bp only in game seven. And he took it for like a round. And he tells the story about it. It's hilarious. But I didn't go out there once because the media is just crazy. It's so much people talking to you. It's not your normal routine.
- [44:43]
A
No.
- [44:44]
B
So before game seven, I'm just chilling, like playing. Playing Mario Kart.
- [44:48]
A
Yeah.
- [44:49]
B
He got pissed off at us.
- [44:50]
A
Yeah.
- [44:51]
B
The game was until 8 o'. Clock.
- [44:53]
A
It was a late game.
- [44:54]
B
I remember the night before, sleeping. I'm up at like 4 in the morning, just staring at the ceiling like, holy, I gotta go to sleep. Like, I'm not into the field till
- [45:01]
A
4pm Yeah, I woke up that morning, my son Cole is sicker than heck and coming out of both ends, and I'm like, what is going on? And he. I guess he was like five at the time. So I'm going off to my last game in my career. Waking up early, like, well, this is a good distraction in the morning. Trying to take care of him a little bit and then walk to the field. I walk in, it's like all the boys are locked in on Mario Kart. I'm like, what are we doing?
- [45:27]
B
We were in Cleveland, we played. They have. They had a. Like an arcade game, a arcade machine, four player Mario Kart. And we just. I mean, that's got our competitive juices going.
- [45:36]
A
Yeah, well, looking back, I worried about shit that I shouldn't have worried about for sure. And trying to keep everybody locked in. Like, you guys were already, you know, like you said, it was already written, and you guys were. Were so good at that point. And, like. But I remember. And then Caesar, and everybody's like, bro, you all right? It's your last game. Don't worry about me. I lock in. I don't care about me right now. Let's win this game. Yeah, let's just win. Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. You don't want to miss the annual beauty event for big savings on all your favorite beauty products now through April 28, spend $25 on participating products and save $5. Shop in store or online for items like Billie women's razors, Billi body buffer or body Wash, Native hand soap, Neutrogena makeup remover tablets, and Q Tips. And save $5 when you spend $25. Offer ends April 28. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.
- [46:30]
B
Before the game, we're playing Rocky. This is probably 50 minutes, 55 minutes before the game.
- [46:37]
A
And we did this before game six, right? Five, six.
- [46:39]
B
And now this is game seven. So this is my third act of what I'm about to tell you. So before the game, we start playing Rocky. I strip down to nothing. I'm completely naked, and I'm up on the table dancing. Like, it's not. I'm just giving the same Rocky speech that everyone's tired of now. It's not how many times you get knocked down. It's like, it's how many times you get up. Like, we Got this them. We're going to win this. Like, literally just putting myself out there, making everyone try to be loose. I'm obviously as loose as I can be. I'm completely naked, and I'm dancing, and Hector Rondon comes and, like, sprays me with, like, the shoe cleaner stuff and, like, ruined, like, my whole, like, hurrah thing that I had done for game five and game six. And I was like, set me off. I was so pissed. And I went pouty into the showers, into the showers. And then Rossi comes in and goes, hey. He goes, it's not how many times you get knocked down. You get your ass back out there and you show the boys. It's how many times you get up. So I ran out of the shower. I was like, you're right. I get back up, start dancing again, restarted the song.
- [47:44]
A
Restarted all again, restarted the song, get
- [47:47]
B
back into the shower. And then I remember going out to the field. And the backstory to the dancing naked was there'd be time to time throughout my entire big league career that if I was in a really bad rut or a slump. One of my coaches, Jamie Quirk, suggested when I was really young, hey, why don't you just hit naked? So one day, I think the first time I ever did it was in Cincinnati. I just walk in there, I'm like, fuck it. And then I just developed, like, maybe once or twice a year, if I was in a rut, I would just close the door. No one would ever know it's coming. And I just walk in completely naked. The coaches would die laughing. They'd be throwing me BP and I just hit for, like, 10 minutes. And I just like, ah, I'm just so loose.
- [48:29]
A
Loose and free.
- [48:30]
B
Sure enough, every game, I would have a good game.
- [48:32]
A
Like, every single game, there may or may not be photos of this. And it's. It's a nice. It's a nice little. It pops up on my feed every once in a while, and it puts a smile on my face.
- [48:42]
B
Don't it feature your photo?
- [48:43]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I might need to throw it in the contact photo, but it's. It's. It's definitely was one of those things again where he kept everybody loose. And we needed that, like, the. That. That pregame speech, the Rocky. All of us just shaking our head, like, here goes Riz again, game seven. And then, you know, Rondon tried to. Tried to put a little. Put a little salt in your pancakes. Whatever got to me.
- [49:08]
B
Yeah.
- [49:09]
A
Then you came back out and. And. And we did It.
- [49:11]
B
But I remember after that, there's a long walk in Cleveland to the. To the batting cage. And I would go to the batting cage in Hensky, John Eric Hensky and John Miller, hitting coaches are in the batting cage. And it's like I'm the. I'm usually the last one to get down there. I do my whole routine and there's maybe four words said. It was just like tunnel vision walking down. David Ortiz and the Fox crew were in the hallway. Like, I just give them like, the locked in look. Like, give them, hello, David Ortiz, a legend. And I'm just maybe said four words to those guys and they were just playing music or. No, I didn't like to hit with music and threw to me, took my two rounds and they just go, let's fucking go. Walk onto the field for warm up. And they're playing Phil Collins into the night. And like, literally there's 50,000 people there. And Phil Collins into the night comes, and I'm just doing my pregame stretches and, like, the adrenaline. I'm getting goosebumps. Talking about. Every time I hear that song now, it takes me back to, like, this moment of stillness before game seven of just like, I took in the whole stadium and I heard nothing except that song. And it was like the coolest moment for me before game seven.
- [50:22]
A
That's the. I got a chance to do that on deck in Boston, and I tell people all the time, like, that changed my thinking about prep sometimes. Like being able to step outside of kind of your skin a little bit or your. Your thoughts and your routine and just taking that in. Like, what a special moment you got for yourself. Like, you. You never forget that moment. Steve and Drew hit a home run in game six. That put us up big. As soon as he hit, I knew it was gone. I was on deck. And I look to the crowd behind me in Boston, you're so close there, and I just. I remember the hands just going up in unison and like, it's slow motion, right? Yeah, everything crazy slow motion. And like, I can't believe I took that in and how that played out. And the same. The same story for you, but what a crazy game, dude.
- [51:07]
B
We go up early, right? Yeah, we go up early in game six. We were winning big. Well, it felt big. I think we had a five or six run lead. And all the boys in the dog are like, yeah, fuck yeah. And Ross, he's pacing.
- [51:20]
A
The game's not fucking over.
- [51:22]
B
The game's not over. Like, beat red, right? And I'm like, rossi, this game's. I. I could finish this game. Like. And obviously no game is. You never count out. But just the way the game was going. Yeah.
- [51:32]
A
Game seven was no reader, was it Raje?
- [51:36]
B
So we're up, right. And whatever inning it was, I came up to Rossi. And this is the glass case of emotion story.
- [51:43]
A
Yeah.
- [51:43]
B
Where it's. I go to you, bro. I go. I'm so nervous right now. Like I'm a glass case of emotion. Right.
- [51:48]
A
And I gave terrible advice. Yeah, terrible. Tommy, sit next to me.
- [51:52]
B
The reason I did that is cuz I knew how stressed he was. And like in that game, it's so intense and I go up almost delight half heartedly joking about it. But also like, dude, like this is nuts. Right? And they. It gets aired and it's just became this. This funny clip.
- [52:10]
A
Well, yeah.
- [52:10]
B
Little clip the glass.
- [52:12]
A
It's only going to get worse.
- [52:13]
B
It's only going to get worse. And then Raj hits the homer.
- [52:16]
A
Oh, and I knew like you just know like sporting events and the best of the best and you know, college basketball is going on right now in the World Series last year with the Dodgers and the Blue Jays like the back and forth and you just know it.
- [52:30]
B
Well, you, you came in, you came in. In game seven, him and Lester come out of the fan insane and you'll get. And the Travis Wood. When Travis Wood tells the story of them in the bullpen, it's literally like you're going to hear this story. Like this is what was going on in the biggest game in World series history. So they come in, Lester spikes a ball, concusses Rossi. Like Rossi has no idea was two guys score on a.
- [52:53]
A
When I almost killed you. Mar the swinging bunt from Kit miss. I just came in, he's swinging bunt and I turn and spin, throw, launch it. You try to save me and Kipness hits you. That's why they go second, third.
- [53:03]
B
I always said on those plays I would always usually bail during the RA regular season. I always said to everyone, like when it really mattered, I would lay it out.
- [53:12]
A
It mattered.
- [53:13]
B
And in game seven, you literally. Kipnis is like a freaking. He's like a running back. He's like a fullback. And he crushed.
- [53:19]
A
He crushed you.
- [53:20]
B
He crushed you.
- [53:21]
A
And I'm like, oh God, I just got in this game. John is no strike. Breaking ball still endure. So he shakes the breaking ball. I'm like, okay, he's gonna bounce it. We took it literally. It's like a 40 footer. And I go to blog. It hits me in the mask, I go to stand up. Everybody's like, you got knocked out. I was like, I rolled my ankle the next day. I remember waking up next, why is my ankle hurt? And I watched the video, and that was why. But two runs come in, and I'm like, wait a minute. I'm. I'm the defensive guy. I'm not. I'm not supposed to let runs in this. I just let the. And the place went absolutely nuts. Think of the momentum kind of switched to their. Their. Their side. And I remember getting in after we got out of the inning, and John's like, what do you got? I'm like, bro, your shit's nasty. I should have blocked that ball. Like, you're throwing the ball great. And then I got to. I got to get. I had to get on deck. I was. I was second that inning, and. And I had to get loose and start trying to focus on facing.
- [54:12]
B
You come up facing Andrew Miller. Hit a game seven, your last at bat ever in the big leagues. Game 7, home run. Oldest player in Major League baseball history.
- [54:22]
A
Thank you. Thank you, Lord.
- [54:23]
B
It was, bro. I mean, like, what a. What an ending.
- [54:26]
A
Well, we had.
- [54:26]
B
I remember thinking, you're in the league because of your catching. Yeah, yeah. And your leadership career.
- [54:32]
A
220 hitter.
- [54:32]
B
You let two runs in catching, and then on the offensive side, you hit a home run. It was completely. The strip was slipped.
- [54:40]
A
Totally. Well, what I used to tell you when you were struggling. Do you remember?
- [54:43]
B
I remember I was struggling one time, and I look at Rossi and I'm complaining about my swing. He looks at me, he goes, bro, don't ask me. I hit.220 my whole career.
- [54:50]
A
Imagine going to work every day with my swings. I used to tell him, like, you've got a good one. No, I remember, like, you know, doing some homework and watching. I didn't watch a lot of video, but I remember the World Series. Like, if I'm gonna face anybody, it's probably gonna be a lefty. I had good numbers off Andrew Miller when Andrew Miller was in Florida and He was doing 91, not when he. I caught him in Boston, and we were on a championship team together. 96. With freaking that nasty slider. So just remember watching some video and him shaking to heater, and he did that within my bat. And before that last pitch, I knew he had me 1, 2. And I was just trying to put good swing on it. And sure enough, Raje Rajay goes back like this, and I'm like, if this dude catches this ball, I'm gonna kill myself. And it went out, and thank God. I was just, like, you know, not even knowing.
- [55:38]
B
You're so in the dugout too. We were so hyped. And the momentum comes back to us
- [55:42]
A
with a picture I've got, too, of all you guys just, like, caving.
- [55:47]
B
Everyone cared so much about our teammates in 16, and that's really another reason that this team was so special. We're on defense. Raja comes up. Chapman's in the game. Chapman has been our. Literally, our workhorse all playoffs. Joe went to him early and often. Yeah, and Joe left him in. In game six. And we talk about Joe's decision in game six to leave him in, and we break that down with Joe, and you'll hear that on one of the earlier episodes. But Raje comes up. You're calling all fastballs, and he was
- [56:19]
A
however many foul off the bat, and
- [56:23]
B
he hits this home run. And it's like, off the bat, I'm like, no, no. Like, get down the high wall in Cleveland. And it goes right in the camera. Well, it's like the most iconic. Like, that's such an iconic home run. Like, I still think of that home run. I get the heebie jeebies, and we won. I still see Raje to this day, and I hate him, but I love him. But it's like, we won. And I'm like, no, he used to walk.
- [56:46]
A
He was working for the mlbpa, and he'd walk into my office while I was managing. I'm like, bro, you got to get out. Like, my stomach's starting to hurt. Like, it just. I still go back to that moment, and I. You know, we turned the page pretty fast as big leaguers. I remember being behind the plate, just not being able to get myself to stop thinking about what just happened, you know? Like, that was, bro.
- [57:06]
B
108 years. We're the best team. We won 100 plus games. We're in game seven of the World Series. We're down three one. We come back, we're up in the game, everything that goes into it, and Raje Davis hits that home run. I'm sitting there, literally another moment where everything went deaf. Like, I heard nothing. I couldn't hear myself breathing, and I'm just swiping dirt, like, looking down, like, trying to, like, not show.
- [57:29]
A
Like, oh, my. Yeah.
- [57:30]
B
What's going on?
- [57:31]
A
The world just came to me, and
- [57:32]
B
in my head, I'm just like, dude, like, this curse is fucking real.
- [57:35]
A
Like, there's a bunch of guys that talk about that.
- [57:37]
B
Holy shit. Like, there's no way. That just happened. Right. And he ties the game. And then it's like Chapman goes out in the ninth. And I can't wait to sit down with Chapman and talk to him. The fact that Araldis Chapman went back in the ninth inning and got us through the ninth inning in a tie ball game is like the unsung hero of all of this. Because there's so many times if you're a baseball fan, you watch the closer give it up in the eighth. Like the game's over in the ninth. Yeah. And then miracle.
- [58:06]
A
I remember Miggy throwing a ton of sliders, all of a sudden coming in and throwing just all sliders to those guys and getting him through. Miggy's another un. Young hero. Getting that. That last RBI for us that we ended up eventually needing.
- [58:16]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [58:17]
A
I mean, big hit like Chappie. Well, we got to get to, you know, before we skip ahead like the rains.
- [58:23]
B
17 minutes of literally the tears in heaven, tears of joy, I think Dexter said of all the Cubs fans, right? And Joe west was the umpire, the, the chief of that crew. And he called the delay. Until this day, whenever I saw Joe West, I was like, joe, you called the greatest delay in baseball history. Thank you. He would just laugh. And I love Joe West. I love that. But we come down and we're just like, dude, our dugout in the ninth inning was like ghosts. Like, you look over to like Theo too. He was right down there. Everyone's a ghost. And it's just like we get through the ninth and then the rain delay happens. And then during that rain delay, I remember I re upped on my pre game concoction that talk about in the Dexter series, but Dexter and I, our pregame concoction was a shot of Woodford Reserve in a five hour energy presented by Bill Murray. So Bill Murray, I think Game 6 of the NLCS came in. He's in a fishing vest, right? And we're just talking. It's Bill Murray and Vince Vaughn in our clubhouse.
- [59:26]
A
It's just like, this is like rule number 375. Haven't even met. Whatever.
- [59:30]
B
Like, so Bill Murray, me and Dexter talking to him, he's like, hey, take this. It's a Woodford Reserve and a Fiverr Energy stick. I call it a speedball. And I'm like, all right, let's do it, Dex. Like, we've done shots before the game before. And it's like, let's do it. And then we just did it every game of the World Series. So we get to the rain delay. Me and Dexter re up on our pre game stuff because we're about to go into extras. We're in the weight room. Just like, there's no fucking way we're losing this. You know, Talking to Dexter, bussy guys started gravitating in. Then jaehe pulls everyone in. And it was like, that moment for us is. It's a legendary moment because jaehae and a few other of us brought us all together and was like, we're not losing. Like, remember who we are.
- [60:14]
A
When jaehe speaks to the fact that he came up to me as a hey, team meeting in the weight room. And I just remember, like, wow. Like, he's got something to say, right? He was not a guy that was, like, vocal, but when he spoke, it kind of carried some volume. I remember walking in, and everybody's in there, and I had to go get chappie off the. I walked back out, like. Everybody's like, where's Araldis? I walk back out to the dugout. He's got his hands in his face, just cry, balling, crying on the bench. So, like. And he walks in. Everybody talks about remembering that.
- [60:43]
B
And like, yeah, we wouldn't be here without you, bro.
- [60:47]
A
You know, And. And then we. We closed, and guys start. Start talking. And I remember coming out of that, and we talked about this. Schwab talks about his kind of journey and his rehab back. And then coming out of that meeting, he was leading off against Shaw. And remember right before that, he walks up to me and looks me in the eye. He's got his batting gloves on. He's tightening them up. I'm out of the game, and he looks at me, he goes, this guy throws me a cutter in. I'm gonna knock the out of it. He hit the ball. I eat.
- [61:15]
B
And playing on one leg.
- [61:16]
A
Yeah. He was like, if he would have been in the air, it had been a bomb. But he hit it about this far. It felt from Jason kip and who was playing short right field, and it got by, and that's how hard it was hit. But, yeah, I remember that that speech was so that. That kind of moment reset us. Everybody talking about how we're the best team in baseball all year, our win totals and just how we played well and to.
- [61:38]
B
Our bullpen was set up and theirs wasn't. They blew all of their guys. So we knew we were in a. From a pitching standpoint, we were in a better position, too. So I remember talking about that and then going out on the field, it was like, everyone got Their color back. It was like we were able to take those 17 minutes and, like, regroup, because that Rajay homer was, like, just the most gut wrenching thing. And what's so cool on this podcast is every guy tells their version of the. Of the rain delay. And it's so cool hearing their stories and through their lenses. And I remember going back to Cleveland every year. Every time we went back to Cleveland, I literally looked in the weight room, and I. Wherever, whatever team I was on, he goes, that's exactly where I was sitting. I was sitting right there, right by
- [62:22]
A
the door with Jaffe.
- [62:22]
B
I was sitting right on the treadmill.
- [62:24]
A
What do you. So Schwaber leads off. Pinch run. Almora, KB deep fly ball. Thought it was gone. Wasn't great. Tag up by Almora.
- [62:33]
B
Greatest tag in history of the game.
- [62:35]
A
I think so. And you get walked. What was going through your mind? You're going to the plate. Did you feel like you were gonna. They were gonna walk you?
- [62:42]
B
There's. There was a lot going through my mind because that's the cat and mouse game of the game. There's a base open. And this is all of my advice that I've got in my career, is coming to the biggest moment. And they ended up intentionally walking me. But walking to the plate in my head, I'm like, all right, there. He's gonna pitch around me. He might try to steal a pitch. Pitch one. So I'm gonna be really aggressive. Pitch one. But he might totally pitch around me. So all these things are going through my head of, like, don't try to do too much. And then I get up there, I'm, like, dialed in. And then I see Tito put the four out, and I'm like, fuck, Right? Cause, like, you were locked in that moment you wanted.
- [63:20]
A
You were swinging the bat.
- [63:21]
B
Yeah.
- [63:22]
A
And you were swinging the bat as good as anybody in that moment. Yeah.
- [63:25]
B
And they walk me, and I'm like, all right. Like, now it's on those obras, right?
- [63:29]
A
So. And then he hits that and the iconic picture where Riz has got his eyes and your hands.
- [63:35]
B
It's just the adrenaline of that, the meaning of that. Like, I was here when we sucked, right? Like, we lost 100 games my first year. We lost 98 my second year. Like Otis, rest in peace. Our. Our clubhouse attendant. The first year I got here was pushing balls in a shopping cart for batting practice. Like, that's how far the organization was behind. So in that moment, when Zobrist hit that. That ball and we scored, I was like, holy. Like, we just won the World Series. Like, we just won the World Series, right? And then Miggy with the insurance run just adds on. But, like, in that moment when Zobris hit that, I knew, like, I just had that belief we were going to win again. Right? And everything was coming full circle. It was like, we're literally now three outs away from being World Series champions. Breaking 108 year curse. We know how much Cubs fans this means to them. What the city of Chicago. We've seen the city of Chicago partying for the last two years because of 15 run and now 16. So that iconic moment of me in my head, all that was running through my head.
- [64:42]
A
I think that's such a good visual, like, when I watch it back and like, your genuine surprise and like, holy shit, we're about to win the World Series is all over your face. And we do. I didn't. I didn't have on my bingo card. Mike Montgomery closing it out.
- [64:58]
B
No.
- [64:59]
A
And he told us a great story.
- [65:00]
B
The story Mike talks about is his pitches is like, it's such a full circle podcast because so many guys talk about their personal journeys to that Game seven and him coming in. And Michael Martinez is hitting in the grounder to kb and that was Michael Martinez's first at bat of the series. I thought he was a lot faster. And I thought I didn't read the ball good because I had to bust over to first. And before that inning, I, like, loaded my glove up with pine tar. Like, I'm like, I am not missing this ball. Like, if a ball comes to me, it's. It's pine tar dump. And KB gets it, and I'm like, oh, if he throws this over my head, there's a guy in second. Like, I need to catch this ball. And he sails it at first, I'm like, I've caught thousands of balls, kb I'm like, oh, no. And it. I ended up catching it and it was like the perfect.
- [65:52]
A
It wasn't as high as you felt.
- [65:53]
B
It wasn't as high.
- [65:54]
A
It was about to go, like, from everybody's.
- [65:56]
B
His ball just went boom. And I caught it. And like, right away, my first reaction and I. I get emotional. Telling the story is when I was a kid, me and my dad would always play catch in the house. And we do, like, lightning round. He'd hit me golf balls at the end. If I won, I. We'd always raise our hands and do like, champion of the world. And, like, we would just scream, of the world. And like, KB threw it high. And my other Hand goes up and I'm literally just like a champion of the world. And then you and I had talked about getting all the baseballs and just like immediately, I've watched probably 20 World Series that I remember of the last out and all the reactions and like, I always say what I would do. And like, in that moment, it was like, boom, put the ball in my pocket.
- [66:41]
A
Let's go fucking party. That's history. That's history. That was. That was like so I could barely get over the railing. I was trying to get out there so fast. I remember my spike getting caught in. And then we go another.
- [66:51]
B
It was like this ending. Grandpa moment.
- [66:54]
A
Serious question. I'm going to ask Jay hey too. That I really have never heard the answer to. I'm doing an interview. We're all celebrating. I get pulled over with Ken Rosenthal doing an interview, and you guys come and pick me up and put me on your shoulder. Like, I don't want to get emotional. That's crazy. Like, who. Who's that? Who's that?
- [67:12]
B
Guys have concussions.
- [67:14]
A
Always. Always. I've been too many blows to the head. But like, seriously, like, to have that moment and looking back and for me it's like, holy. Like, these guys. Like, I don't. I. Nobody deserves that. Like, it's like, rudy, Rudy, like, what? What? Like what? How did that all transpire? Cuz I've never heard this story.
- [67:33]
B
You just. Through my personal career, I've had so many people in my life that helped me get to where I AM Literally today, 10 years later. But up to that point, I had so many good veterans. And like, you were just so life changing for me. And another guy who comes off the top of my head is Eric Hinsky with hitting. And we talk about this, how he helped me become the hitter I was. But you shaped perspective for me. You shaped how to handle all phases of the game. The bullpen, pitching, like, situations, talking like a manager and just what you meant. And like going out. The emotions of you going out, hitting your hundredth homer, hitting a game seven home run. Like the glass case of emotion coming to you because you're like my big brother. Like, yeah, I remember there's a time his son Cole was running out to his dad in left field before a game at Wrigley. And he's like, dad. I go, no, he's my dad. And I go, dad. And like me, Cole, are sprinting to you. And like, all that. And I know how much J he meant when J, he signed here in 16. J, he in his I don't think in his contract, but told Vijay, our traveling secretary, hey, every single road trip we go on, Rossi gets a suite.
- [68:45]
A
So that's an ski.
- [68:48]
B
Which were his mentors.
- [68:49]
A
And Jay was in Atlanta, in Atlanta when he was coming up.
- [68:52]
B
That's how much you meant to us. And it was like we knew that was your last game and like to carry you off the field, it was just like a celebration of the boys and for you. And like, how cool was that, bro?
- [69:02]
A
That picture, that picture. Well, and it's like you see the look on you guys face, like you're smiling so big, skis behind you. Like, can't believe it that's happening. I'm up there, I don't know like what to do with my hands. I remember like putting up a number one and then I'm like blowing kisses. For some reason. I'm like, what am I doing up here? Like, it was so. Yeah, like, what is this? But what a special moment for me. Like I put up the end of my career versus anybody that played the game. Not because of stats, but because of how you guys treated me. So that was. That was really, really special. And then we go, we go celebrate. We got a parade.
- [69:35]
B
The celebration was, I mean, the plane ride back to. There's pictures. And I just put it up on our level reunion. The. The pictures we put up of us on the plane with the World series trophy. And like our families are all together. Our families too. Like, I remember in the world Series, especially in Cleveland, after every game, we had a hospitality room with all food and everyone would just go and decompress after the game. And our families were so invested and they flew back with us and we had to take pictures of my parents with the trophy, my wife with the trophy. It was just like such an amazing thing. And we get off, we get Back to like 5, 6.
- [70:13]
A
My daughter Landry tells a story all the time. Cole was six. We gave him his own row and just laid him down. And my wife at the time was sitting down with him and I was kind of bouncing back and forth, checking in, going with the boys. Well, my seven year old daughter was in the back partying with the Lester family and Lackey family. She kept coming up with hundred dollar bills. And I'm like, where are you getting these hundreds? She's like, dad, the guys are giving them to me. I'm like, go tell them they're not allowed to give any more money. And. And Lester's in the back going, show kids, show kids. Just give them a hundred Dollar bills everywhere. So the plan, she tells that story all the time. That plane ride was epic.
- [70:46]
B
It was just.
- [70:46]
A
And I remember Dempster and remember Dempster
- [70:48]
B
and Theo race racing down the hallways
- [70:51]
A
in the carts, down the, down the aisles and the little, the beverage carts.
- [70:55]
B
Yeah, they're like taking off.
- [70:57]
A
Yeah, it's going down. They're flying down there. Not, not safe.
- [71:00]
B
I remember too, a big thing for me, I think being with the Cubs for so long up to that point and then playing after was like there's so much, there's so many guys who played before us that set the tone for us there. And I, after we won, like I made sure to say that like this is for the Ernie Banks, the Ron Santos, the Sandbergs, right? Even the Starling Castros, the Soriano's, the veterans. I play with Ryan Dempster, Kerry Wood, the list goes on and on. But those guys were such a big part and so loved here in Chicago. Like I always wanted to make them feel like they won it with us because they, they laid the groundwork for us. And I remember driving back, it was like five in the morning, we're on the buses and Dempster was with us. Ryan Dempster was, was with us on the bus. And like I was like, dude, take the trophy. And like I gave him the trophy for a while. He like, he, he literally reminded me the days like, dude, that was so awesome that you did that. Like, because that's how much those guys mean. It's like respecting the guys before you. Right? No doubt. And then we get home, I have the trophy getting off the bus and I'm like, I'm just going to take this home, right? So I took it home. I have a picture of it like with the perfect shot of like it's in my bed with Lake Michigan in the background. And I get a text at like 8:30 in the morning. It's. I literally get home at like 6:30, barely slept. My phone's blown up by Vijay, our traveling secretary. He's like, hey, Lester's pissed you have the trophy. I'm like, well, I don't really give a fuck.
- [72:22]
A
Lester talks about that. I was like, why does Tony got the trophy?
- [72:26]
B
So I bring it back to Wrigley at like, I get there at like 9, 9:30, leave Wrigley, go to Bottle Blonde here in Chicago. Me and my wife, she's my girlfriend at the time. And we just go sit in Bottle Blonde in Chicago from 10am to about 5am like we literally go, we Sit there for, like, probably 10 hours in bottle bottom. All the. My friend opened it up. I'm like, hey, are you up? He's like, yeah, you want to come in? I came in. He still has the bottle of crown that I drank that day. He had me sign it, like, years later. He's like, dude, this is the bottle. Your first bottle of crown you drank after winning the World Series. And then we go out there, all my friends come. Then I come back to Wrigley at some point with all my friends. I have pictures on the field, like, with the trophy. Just. You could do whatever you want.
- [73:18]
A
Yeah, right. Remember, we got a ride home at we. From the. A ride from. I don't know if you're at town. We were meeting everybody at Country Club and we were in the back of the police car.
- [73:27]
B
Yeah. It's just like, you see all the reactions of Cubs fans, and it was like, holy shit. We knew. I knew how big it was going to be. I really did. Everyone's like, you don't understand. I'm like, no, I do understand. And then it happened, and it was like my expectations were here of it, and they were high, and it blew them out. Blew them out of the water. Like, the people at the graves going insane. Like, laying the W flags on their parents or grandparents or whoever's graves. And like, people listening to the final out. Pat Yu's iconic moment at the gravesite, like, it's just.
- [74:04]
A
That's my favorite thing to ask when I travel is people come up and say, you know, thanks for 2016 or they want a picture or something. It's like, I. I want to hear their game seven story and the passion they have, the fans. Like, I'm. You're so thankful for just the generational fandom that has been passed down from so many people. And I mean, Michelle Obama told us at the. At the White House about watching with her dad started crying. I mean, like, it just. Like those stories that fans give us are so much more valuable than, you know, the ring or any of that. Like, I love hearing their stories.
- [74:35]
B
I think the best part, too, is 10 years later, I'm not kidding. The passion that the fans have when they tell those stories are literally still the same. It's like these people. I literally was at opening day yesterday, 2026, and people are crying about what it meant to win the World Series. And it was. It's just so awesome what Cubs fans meant to us and how they showed out for that parade. Because that parade, what, 6 million?
- [75:02]
A
I remember looking up Being on stage and like, you said so many nice things and, you know you're not concussed at the time, but you started getting a little teary eyed too. And I couldn't even get any words out because of how I wanted to thank all the guys and tell them all what they meant to me, like, and how each guy affected me. And I couldn't get a little. Thank you. You could barely get anything out. But, like, you looked out and I just saw, like, the heads of people and then the treetops. Like, it just, like people were in the trees way off, way off in the distance. It was. It was.
- [75:30]
B
It's iconic. Yeah, it was just. It was literally in the parties to follow the parade. And like, bro, literally yesterday again, I'm at opening day and it's just me because I. I've had a crazy schedule and everyone's coming up and it's like, hey, how are your parents? How's Emily? Like, we haven't been here in 10 years, right? Yeah. And everyone's like, how's your wife doing? We loved her. Like, we miss her so much. We're your parents. Your. Your father, man. Like, your father. We drank one night and just like all the ushers and people that work at Wrigley are, like, genuinely asking about my family. And it's just like, that's how much of a family playing here in Chicago is. And it's just, why. Why call this home? Why I love this place so much.
- [76:16]
A
Yeah. It's a special place. The Friendly Confines is real. And the people around here. I remember all the police officers, when I come back and go to a football game or whatever, they thank us for the overtime they got in 2016. They got a big check for getting. And then like, corralling all the people
- [76:32]
B
play more years here, obviously, I get traded, go to New York and really enjoy my time in New York. Go to another World Series and lose and, like, it's gut wrenching, right? I don't know what that's like, exactly. You. You won their last game you ever played in. I lost it. Okay. And funny story, I was at the final of the WBC and Rossi's getting a silver medal after they lost. And I have a video and I just zoom in and I go, ha. How's it feel to finish second now? Because he used to always scream, like, I don't know what finishing second feels like.
- [77:03]
A
Yeah, that wasn't a good feeling. That wasn't a good feeling. But this was. This was. I mean, this podcast is going to be Unbelievable. Telling all these stories. We're so thankful for the fact that
- [77:13]
B
we get to sit down with all of our guys like, you're. It's such a treat. And it's. It gets emotional. There's so many stories. There's. It all comes full circle. And the fact that all the guys were so nervous coming, like, what's this going to be about? And then when we're done, they're like, dude, I could have talked for four more hours. Like, it's just. It's so special. We. We had our reunion already a little bit the one night. And having all the guys back was incredible. And in July, when we have another reunion, the whole weekend, it's just going to be such a celebration. And I hope everyone can get the behind the scenes that they want. Follow us on all of our socials, everything but the like, and subscribe.
- [77:54]
A
Isn't that what they say on YouTube,
- [77:55]
B
what the kids say? I think. I don't even know. But the lovable reunion podcast, it's going to be celebrated all year. And we can't wait to take you
- [78:02]
A
guys for the ride with me and Anthony. It's. It's not about us again. It'll be about everybody else. This one was about us. But the rest of them will be all the stories from everybody else. I can't wait, bro.
- [78:12]
B
And next episode, next week will be our skipper, Joe Madden. Amazing episode. We sat down with him. He's one of our first episodes. And we go so deep with Joe and what he meant to us. You'll find out through all of these episodes on what he meant to every player throughout their careers. But without Joe, there's no way. We don't have. We don't have the success.
- [78:33]
A
So tune in.
- [78:34]
B
Tune in.
- [78:35]
A
Thank you. Thanks, fans.
- [78:36]
B
That is a wrap,
- [78:39]
A
Ana. All right, Sam.