David Ross & Anthony Rizzo kick off 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series podcast

Welcome to the Loveable Union podcast our first official episode we are here at the

“iconic Murphy's Bleachers with my partner David Ross.”

Hi there! 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 them, 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, 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, now the episodes, a lot of nakedness going on, but thanks to naked,

lots of party, 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 back upon us. We can't be more excited for it. I'm so pumped.

Let's get the little things out of the way first.

What have you been doing since retirement? Okay, what's going on in your life? What an epic day you had when they brought you back here. Just to cargo Anthony Rizzo Day. Yeah, sitting in the bleachers, really feel 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 it, it comes 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. He had a bullpen, probably had no idea who I was.

“My agents are like, hey, can you leave this kid to tickets?”

Just say, hey, maybe snap a photo, and I'm like, all right, what took some, you know, charity kid, I'll go say it turns out we're brothers for life turns out, yeah, that was kind of crazy, the fact that 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. It's funny, I remember driving to Tampa that for that game, we drove over that night.

In my mom's car shed 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, I think we had to push it into the gas. Well, that's a good story, but not a sign of things to come, because things got a lot better for you. Can you believe it's been 10 years?

I can't believe it's been 10 years, I can't believe we met so long ago, you know, my life has been crazy since with, you know, managing since then, being out of baseball, getting to the stars. Yeah. So I just got done with the doing BC, and that was when Dorosa introduced me, I was like, and dance with the stars, and I gave him this, and the room like crazy. So that's my new, yeah, I just did a little shimmy, and the crowd went crazy.

So yeah, man, things have been nuts for me as well, 10 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.

It really has been. When we first met, when Dorosa 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 ESPN car wash, and we just talked for like two hours, maybe. We had the same age in our age and was there, and I literally told my age and 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, it wasn't sane. Yeah, well, I think like”

that was a moment, we definitely hit it off and talk in baseball, and feel like we were had been friends for 15 years after that day. I mean, 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 need, it was Johnny Lesta. We need a little Johnny Lesta. I followed the good players around, if he hadn't noticed, look back in my career, just try to get on a couple good teams and hide, but no, that day at ESPN,

and then you came to Tallahassee for a football game, we got to hang out, and then me signing

to hear our stories, and the stories of our teammates 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 the hearts out. It's pretty, pretty epic. Rossi was the king of two year deals, and he would tell

me, in the year one, in 2015, he was like, "I'll just wait for the second year." I do tear your deals

for a reason, and he'll live true, like by the year two, I was like, "I want to fucking kill him." I had the clubhouse cancer second year. Yeah, every time I'm not like that, but in the next series, I'm over Asia, for sure. When you came in the spring in 2015, you and Lester came in, and it was like, "All eyes run, you too. You guys were intense. You were older than everyone else." So everyone was looking at you guys on eggshells a little bit, and 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 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 that, but

it's a shit sandwich, right? You start with a real positive thing, you say the shitty stuff in the

“middle, and you end with some positive. Yeah. That's why I learned early on. Yeah, and then you walk away,”

like, he just screamed at me, but I feel so good about it. Well, I think looking back on the group we had, and I appreciate that compliment, I can think it's a compliment. But we had the character of our group, I could be honest and say whatever you had to to our guys, and they took it, whether it's Schwalber, and talking about catching and his body language, he tells that story about coming off, and coming up to me, and telling me what I got, we'll get in our butts kicked, and, you know,

the little things about how guys in our group were receptive to the information, or a little bit of criticism. But we also poured, you know, we poured into it to our teammates. Like we had such good guys, we all hung out, better, young group. Like you were kind of the veteran guy when when I came here, you were the veteran guy, you and Starling had been here for a long time, but still were very young in your career, very young in age, and then starting to bring in some championship pieces,

that John had won, I had won, it 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, 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 things. You lose, you lose games, you win a couple of games, you lose all we lost again. When you win, after you win a lot, and you lose, it sucks to lose. -No doubt. -The energy it takes every day to bring you. -Well, I look back and coming from Boston and winning with Lester and Lacky on that team, I feel like I owe them, you know, 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 and say,

“"Oh, that's what it feels." That's what it's like to bring our lunch pale 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 you gotta have a couple of things go your way, but you got good talent, and you continue to focus on the little things. I think that's some you learn when you're on championship team. -For me in 15, and we talked about this a lot throughout the podcast with a lot of different guys and coaches. That San Francisco Giant series in 2015 and 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 third place in the wild card at the time, and the Giant's coming for a

four-game set, and we sweep on, we'd both raise some of the entire series, and after that series, I think that was like the night we all went out, we were singing that Stan Lee's karaoke, me, 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, like Dan, we are good, we just beat the San Francisco Giant's World Champion, they've won two rings already,

“or three rings already, and I know you feel the same way about that. -Yeah, that was the, I think,”

talking to each guy, it was in the second half, and August, in that series, released it out, because of the Giant's resume with Buster and Bomb Gardener, and I mean, 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, and handedly, I think we all started to feel, that was when we started getting on our right, 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. -Yeah, I mean, you two guys in the home run, Derby, me and KB, it's not about us,

-Home run Derby. -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, to hang out with Sean Casey, he was such a legend, and that's the story I wanted to tell you. -We got a good case story. It is, we were in Pittsburgh and in September, and we're, we went 97 games that year, the Pirates

“were in 98 games, the Cardinals, I believe, won 100, right? We finished third in the vision,”

second in the Wildcard. And we're trying to catch the Cardinals, or I'm sorry, we're trying to

catch the Pirates, the one in the Wildcard standing. So we're in Pittsburgh, we have a day game, it's a Saturday going into Sunday, it's a 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 like four or five in the morning, we have a 12-30 game, the next day, right? So it was a night, it was a guy, 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, dog-ing, and your McCutcheon for sitting out in the game, because he's like, how could he sit out, we're in the Wildcard race, this and that, and I'm like, hell yeah, I'm playing, like, I'm freaking, a little bit hungover. -Oh, go over, that's okay, a lot of

“the, so we're just games, we're a little hungover. -Well, I mean, we're honest, my, for it's about you,”

my first to bat, I ground into a double play basis loaded. -Wait, can I set the scene that 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, play with him at Atlanta, but Charlie Morton wasn't the Charlie Morton you're seeing now, Charlie Morton back in of his career. -Yeah, back in of his career, it was really good stuff. -He was, he was really good things out. -Yeah, yeah, and we got bases loaded,

nobody out. -Oh, but yeah. -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 grabs into a double play. -Wait, what, we're grinding this guy, and as what we do, we grind pitchers, and might be a little, I was there, so I know he's not feeling great, and I drove in a run.

-Oh, I didn't get the RBI because when you're going to go play, so I go back, and I always do,

I go back to Ross, and I kind of break down my bat, him and Hensky, I always break my bat's down, and he's fucking human. He's like, you want my opinion? I was like, yeah, he's like, you are fucking ready to play, because if you can't stay out on like, and you're not ready to play, don't stay out on like, and I looked at him, I go fucking Rossy, yeah, 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 for the two-year thing comes and play, but first time I ever snap back, I'm because I respected him, because you respect your own. -Hey, I better. -You're okay to bark back, I just, you asked my opinion, I was going to say it, you weren't ready to play. He let me have ready to play, right? -Right, and my next abat, I come back up, I had a two run Homer, and I come in the dugout. -Wait, he hits the Homer and it's gone, and before the ball is over

the fifth, he's staring at me, he's talking. -I got mean mucking that. -Just staring a whole through me,

and I, I come back in the dugout, and I'm like, I'm always fucking ready to play Rossy,

“fucking screaming at him. And he's like, if that's what it takes to get you going, I'm going to”

yell you all the time. -Hey, if you need me to piss you off to walk at the fucking, then I'll do that, as the pseudo bench player, I'll do that if you need me to get on your crawl, and he was mad at me for a good bit, but then he was happy, because he had a couple of RBIs and then a Homer. -And double not game two. -Yeah, we have win the game. -We won the game. -One of the game, yes. Another one, two, is later, literally next week, I actually went to Joe's office. I played, I think,

160 games out of here, and we had a make-up game, versus the Royals, and I walked in the Joe's officer, or 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 gasped, and he gave me a day off, and I think 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, "You have this bench player's grind every day for you watching, every at best, so invested in you, and you're not going to be out there, first pitch to watch them, and show them their 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. I don't know why these guys lag me, because all I did was get on them about being

being pro. I did that to Mike Napley, one of the hardest things I've ever done. I had come to find out later in Boston. I got a day game, after we had clenched, and Nap, I didn't know at the time, but had a shot in his foot, and all these things going on. But you want the boys around there to root you on, and the third inning came around, and nobody was on the dugout, and in the dugout,

up there, chilling watching football, and I was like, "Is beard chick goings?" Yeah, no, no, hey,

Tussu, Tussu. No, but I said in that, 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 so personal to me, and Nap's the best, you know,

“and Nap tells that story all the time, just because of like, you know, I think you lose”

side of when you're every day 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 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 root them on, you want to boys with you, so that's another thing, a 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, you're, 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 NLCS, we got our hearts broken, it was awful. I literally thought we were one of the world's series, and I remember after 15, I think we did a toast to Dan Haren, because it was the end of his career,

and Lester, another veteran moment here, John Lester, poor champagne for everyone at the end, and toast Dan Haren for having an amazing career, he was probably the end, and it's like, "Do, that doesn't happen," right? And like, the parties we had in 15 after we clinched, we beat the Cardinals. There's a story of a shorber that we talked about about the home runs, we hit the shorber, but those parties that Lester had were just another example of bringing the

teams together for the Iconic 2016 team. It all led up to that.

It didn't, and we went into that all season, knowing like, "Everybody's hungry, I always thought,

like, when you get to the world series and when there's a sense of relief and like, it relax, like, when you don't get there in your heartbroken, like we did against the mess, and they freaking Daniel Murphy. Fuck him. I love him. We ended up being teammates, and he's all around my number. I'm like, "I don't know about that," but on the Metz in 15, he's such a senseless. But it gives you that sense of like your hungry going into next season,

and then the great job by Theo bringing back Dexter, what a moment that was, we talked about that, and how cool that was, and Dexter walking us through his whole off season, and then who's on Lackie? We signed Lackie, and he's so brist. So, yeah. So, yeah. So, we, I mean, that was a critical all season where they brought us in everything we needed, and the whole Grandpa Rossi retirement started, and we talked about KV, certainly the Grandpa Rossi Instagram, and all the, all the

many episodes. You can tell we're really at Murphy's. Here's that. We are, we are right here in the heart of Chicago, Rickleyville, and we've got fire trucks going everywhere. I'm many nights here. We've had enough of you. In 16 in spring training, we rolled in, and we had this very arrogant,

“humble mentality of like, we already won the World Series. Let's just press play it, right?”

Like, Lester had a shirts made, and I know there's 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'd breathed it, and we were going into probably your last year, right? Yeah. And the, well, that was, I got caught on a talk radio show saying I thought that was it, and then it just kind of caught fire, which I didn't think it would back up catcher bootcares,

but I got a lot of love for that, and you guys took care of your work, right? I mean, KB, me, KB. Well, for us, it was like, dude, you were so, you're so instrumental in my career, and 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 him out of these gifts, but it was just another way for our team to have fun,

“and Joe did such a good job. That's what I'm about to say. But the players did, too, man.”

Yeah. We were, we were like the Motley crew. Well, Joe let us, he let us have those moments, and off the field stuff, and 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 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. Never, never. And so in 16, our last two games of the season were in Vegas. I'm sorry, of spring training. 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 sitting at the

let's share a room, right? Like, we had a whole night plan. I think we went to Hawkeson right at the MGM, and we went out all night. We had a game the next day, but it was, we were going to like two of that. Joe, we walk in and risk this guy. Like, welcome Chicago. We bought it out. We had 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 party, and they ended up winning the Rossi as I do, 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 around my first of that. Rossi is on the training table with towels over his head dead. And

“I remember Matt Caesar, I think we told this story with Caesar. Matt Caesar walks in and he's like,”

"Hey, Rossi, are you good, girl?" And he's like, "Fuck away from me. I was dying. And then cashman field and Vegas, like that hard table when 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. It was not feeling good. I went back to the nap and went back to the next nap. Yeah, well, we had a, that was an epic.

That was epic. Well, some guys didn't want to go. In Joe and Davey, I'm not saying who, I'm under my recommendation. We had a Bloody Mary Bar and I'm a most-so-bar pre-game for all of us because they knew we were going out. And Joe was just like, "I will have the most of his employees, 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 in the Anaheim. There was a team dinner at Theo and Tom, the co-spicked up the dinner that night, make sure everybody got out of Vegas. Yeah, make sure everybody left Vegas. So they wanted us, we wanted to stay in Vegas another night. They're like, "No, let's get to California. We need to be on a mask show as they're in a team that's new for it." And Mr. Ricketts and Theo picked up the bill.

And guys were order and like, any team dinner, less than lack, you 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 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 Bus. 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. There was outglister. Yeah, there was outside area upstairs that we were just training at. And it was a beautiful day. So him and I both took our shirts off. It busted too. We were the only ones there. And we're training

there's these monkey bars. And allow, 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'm 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 out of here and Philly, Forbes and Stan Wix, and Pittsburgh at the Gold Gym was iconic. We would go there every time we were in Pittsburgh. San Diego gas

“lamp, we walked around and grabbed lunch. We always grabbed the only thing risk had to eat when we”

go to Pittsburgh. He had to eat at Mose. It's like, bro, it's 10 30 in the morning and he's got to he's in there. What are Mose? That's a good time in Pittsburgh. It was great. But I think that was that to me you inviting me on that and you get nothing doing that, me you and Bussie. 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 head to the field. And that's one of my favorite things I look back on of those times. We bought the Gold Gym shirts, with the, with the, we all had these bright, highlighters, tell them to play with them, sure. It tank tops. It was, it was, I mean, we went, I don't, I don't think you were with us, but there was a time where I went to Muscle Beach. Yeah, I mean, Bussie. Yeah, we were outside,

working out, it was on, we're, Arnold worked out. How cool was it for you when you hit your hundredth home run? Back-up catcher, when he hit his hundredth home run, it was here, regularly. And like, everyone exploded. We were counting down for it. It was just, we rallyed so hard behind you. I have funny story, the guy hit that, I'll put it up, pitch inform me, and he walked into my, to my office in spring training. He was like, you don't remember, remember me, do. I'm like,

what, what, remember what? And he's like, you hit your hundredth home run, I was like, oh, back to back change jobs. 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 seven home run that will get to, but the look on my teammates face with the hundred home run and the game

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 love you and are rooting for you. That was a, that was a special one for me here. I, you know, I got so many stand-over vacions, little curtain calls that year. That was when, when Yati at the end, here, replaying the carnals is the last series of the Saturday night baseball Sunday night baseball,

and Rossi's first at bat, Yati gives him his, his runway and gets a standing elevation, you do a curtain call. But I thought that was so cool that Yati realized that moment, understood how much you meant to our team and gave you that moment, I really. He's such a professional

and I, 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 looked back on that that year and that game, you know, I got, I hit, I got another ovation he gave me two of on my second bat, then I hit the home run,

“I'm going to winning, I think two to one, 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 want to kill Joe when he was coming out, I was taking Lester out and I go out and then you put your arm around me, I'm about to start crying now and I, you know, trying to give everybody a hug. 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 Kirby calls and, you know, 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 playing just on your grandpa. Grandpa, I'm still so good. I still don't even think they know my real name, I think it's just grandpa. I know, that team too, that team we, in 2016 we had seven all stars out

here. I remember us rolling into San Diego and at the All-Star game, it was, you know, the pitchers

“weren't pitch, and I don't think Lester or Erietta were pitching, so that was nine of you guys, right?”

Was a nine? I think seven. Seven knows. Okay. Um, but the, the clubhouse was dry and Lester and Eriela, like 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 mean, I didn't feel like we were ever arrogant.

I felt like it was really easy to root for us because it's been 180 years. There is a real curse here, right? Like there's so much that went into, 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. We were dancing, and I remember like, they played Wook there. It is every time on the home run and like the whole dugout, that small tiny dugout was high five and in dance. We all, all the coaches had their high five,

speaking of, we had a little handshake pre-game to do with that. We did. We had a little, we called the cock bump. Yeah, we had that. We're, I never wore a cup of my career, but Rossi did, so it hurt me a little bit more than him, but we would exchange, um, yeah, we had, we had that. We had to tell that with the, that's a J. A. Well, we should say that for J. A. Can you tell us that story?

We did after Homer's, but our handshake was just, it was very professional. 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, it's go time, kind of like, he 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, yeah, it's both come in and he'd be like in game mode, right? I'm playing every day, I plan to play in 160, too. I think it's 16, I played 160, or 161. So I always said I'm a switch guy. Like,

I keep my mind off as long as I could until I have to turn this 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, I get the fuck in, I go, Rossi, I'm always like, yeah, I'm always like 10. Well, I would go to him, but I, good luck today, I think, looking right now. Yeah, he'd just stay fine, as luck has nothing to do with it. Well, luck has nothing to do with it. What happened?

In 15 at the end of the year, you came up to me after I think I grounded out in Joe took us out of the game as 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 in out there for first pitch. So I'm like, this fucking guy, it's September. A lot of your teammates are you're over on that

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 going to say to me? And you just go, you shake my hand and you go, congratulations on a great year. I went from like, I wanted to kill you to like, oh, thank you, I gave you a big hug.

“So remember that? So next year, that's why we started the handshake. I remember that. You”

were definitely ready to kill me, but it was it was done. We had a playoff spot locked in. And

start a new one. You know, how about the season? Let's get to let's get to some some the playoffs.

“The playoffs. Sam, we got to get to that game one. 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, playing the giants, right? Like, we got to go out west. I personally, my numbers at AT&T at the time are the worst of

my career. I've 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 hobby hits that massive home run into the wind. Thought it was going to go onto Waveland and it goes in the basket and we win one. One nothing off Queda who was Zedel. I think in the side, you're uncontentioned that year. Zedel. And we go, I think it was game three or four when we do this crazy backpack with me, you, Harvey. I wanted 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 pick and guys off. And you were so into our remember the game we ended in Washington when Rondon was getting, getting a little squirreary.

“Remember? And we so do, I believe. It was a, no, it was a first base of Robinson or something.”

Yeah, and we did one here too. Yeah, we had a couple of ones. And yeah, for that, the one I remember game three, remember area, we talked about this little bit takes bomb garner deep. We're up like three nothing. 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 not they came back and beat us, but I was the old man, like keep it together. People, we got a long way to go. The back. That was a crazy, crazy. That's serious. That's serious. That's serious in 10. It's five games too. The first game, the first series too, we're nervous. We know our expectations are up here. We're the best team in the league. We have world series or bus really all over us. But that back pick 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's a button play where there's a guy in first the pitchers up or we know the guy's bonding. I come here the best of the business crash. I come all the way up basically like 10 feet from the hitter. If he hits the ball, I mean, I'm dead. I understand that. I just play the odds of like,

there's no way he's going to hit it at me, right? Thank God I never got to hit at me.

But then hobby comes around behind the first base runner after the pitch and Rossy picks it off. And it's a ballsy play at the time. Yeah. But we do it. And it's just momentum for us. But again, like Joe let us play the game. When you trust, Holly was so good and he was such, his baseball IQ is some of the best I've ever been around. He knew what he was doing. He trusted. I could just let it go because his hands were so good. He was going to block it up saying

with you when you were back there and just a regular back pick. You know, like if you have trust your teammates that they're going to sacrifice to all they can to either keep it in front of it to 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. Yeah. I mean, that 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 Quito. They had Johnny Quito going game five. Yeah. 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 to be party in San Francisco and on the flight home, but we ran out of there like themes still not game. Everybody was getting, I mean, balls were

up the middle. Contreras, hobby, like things. Everything was going our way in that inning. And they were just brooch kept just rolling guys out of the bullpen and didn't matter. Yeah. It was just like a sign of like, when you really look back at that road series run, winning that game coming back down three in the ninth. We were down two one versus the Dodgers. Right. Then we come back and win in game six. So we win three games or four games too.

Like we faced our adversity in the playoffs. Right. No doubt. We had we were down two one.

“We get back to rig leave. We tie it. And we have Kershaw game six. When you remember the whole,”

we tell with Caesar, you're using his bat and that whole thing. Like we've got so many stories. But then our stories that these other guys and memories that they have of just watching from different perspectives. Like it's been so fun fun to do this. That Dodgers series. I mean, they were good.

They're really good. They're always good. Yeah. I mean, and that there was a game where

Kelly Jensen was pitching and I was using Matt Caesar's bat or I was using my bat. And he jams me.

me, I was kind of grinding up until that point. And I walked in the clubhouse. We lost, but

in the playoffs, you had to be real quick. You know, you got to be like, like a goalfish. Ted Lassel. Right. Like memory of a goalfish. So after the game, I was just like, that's it for me.

“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 carry that into the post. Yeah. You rolled into the world series. Game six. One of my more memorable home runs hitting a home run off Clinton Kershaw. Not about me. That was a bot. Yeah. Yes. That was about you. That was a bot at the bomb. Then we clincher a rigley. That was a bot at the front front. Yeah. Front one hand. And it's like game clinching game at rigley to send us to the world series. And the party outside of

rigley, like the fans, the emotion. It was like it was so insane. I'm not going to lie.

It actually annoyed me because I was like, we saw the job to do. And like clubs 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, no. Like we need to finish the job. 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 wanting to go out, you know,

as best we could and remember like taking a step further than we went the year before and 15 for these people and bringing the world series back here. Like I sense, I had a sense of like, hit 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,

not me. I was, I was head down in the tunnel. Like we need to win this. Like, yeah, this was cool. The celebration, it really, but it's going to be better when we win it. And obviously it was a lot better when we won this. But I remember game one here is like, we didn't really give them a lot to cheer about. But the energy in the stadium, a game one or I'm sorry, game three, originally 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. But I remember like every guy said it was like, what's going on here? Like usually we had fans on our feet. Like if it was a two-o pitch and we were hitting everyone get wild. And that game three was just, I don't know, it was nerve-wracking.

“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 celebrities and some guys that we know and get some fans perspective. Because there was that. The ones that fans roller coaster of emotion. 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, but what their families. 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 up we're 180 years. Both fan base were so happy. It really was. Yeah. 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 and 16 of the clubs, it was just like, everyone saw everyone just so happy. No matter what the outcome was going to be good because one fan base is going to break their own drought. What was cool winning game five?

Well, that's my favorite game. We go. Well, we go down three one, right? And we had been down three last year of the meds. And it was like, we almost deflated in 15. And when we lost in 16, and we went down three one, I remember you saying, like, most of the time, we've won three games in a row. How many times we won three games in a row this year? Well, I remember, I remember, I don't know who it was. My back was turned after game four, put in my stuff in my locker,

and somebody threw their glove in a lot 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 regularly 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

in the boys. And so whoever threw their glove, I remember saying, no, no, no, like, like, anybody get their left nut to be here tomorrow playing game five in the world series? I really feel there's, you know, 28 other teams home sitting down in the couch going to be watching us tomorrow. And I remember thinking that, and then you say to VJ, you know, to Busy to Busy and VJ,

“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 him, every single TV. When we come in a mile and no baseball on the on the TVs, it's all rocky like inspiration, right? And like

all this and and just kept screaming. How many times you knocked down? It's how many times you get back up. Adrian, Adrian, on top of the on top of the couch is in the, uh, and a 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 your loose, your 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 groups have in fun and you're just enjoying everybody else's enjoyment.

“Like that's how you, you're, you're, you're wired that way. And so as a teammate, it's fun when you”

come in and, 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 fun. 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 a fast forward to game seven. Can we? We win game five. We win game five. For amazing. For me, actually looking back ten years later, I was literally just sitting at my house. And I have the game five jersey framed.

And it's like world series game five, the world series patch. And I didn't, I just clicked the significance. That's the only world series game we won at rigley. Like what? Well, I look up the numbers on the board. You started that game. You know what I mean? But that game is such a grind and chatting grinding through that throwing, I think, two and a third innings. I remember any better to give me a shout out there. And they're in the seven things stretch on that one. Yeah. Yeah,

talking about it. Maybe we're tired, but it always being in our hearts and never for God. And

I don't know if it's unbelievable. Like what a cool moment that was. Like there was so many,

“that's my favorite game. Because I remember I was so jacked up before that game. And Lester had”

Jason Aldeen song playing. I had my, I mean, I told him, I had one of those moments you're talking about earlier, like I'm walking in and we talked 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, go do that right now. 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 streaming at the top of my lungs to get all my energy, singing song. Yeah, singing

out, being song. But that was, that was my favorite. What a cool, I mean, there's so many emotions going into that one. And we win. Yeah. Our mindset, at least the mindset I was thrown out there in that, the universe was whatever we got to do to in game five, we knew we were going to win game six. Like, that was our, like, well, boat race game six, which we ended up doing winning game six. And then game seven's game seven. But you helped us boat race at that big home run,

and their late was huge. The, the whole world series home run. Yeah. Sorry about it. Yes. But we get to game seven and we're pre game 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 where you just have late travel. So KB and I didn't take KB actually took BP only in game seven and he took it for like around and he tells us the story about it until areas. But I didn't go out there once because the media is just crazy. It's so much people talk into you. It's not your normal routine. No. So before game seven, I'm just chillin like playing playing Mario Kart. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've got pissed off at us. Yeah. I'm looking at the game wasn't until

eight o'clock. It's like game. I remember the night before sleeping. I'm up at like four in the morning, just staring at the ceiling like holy shit. I got to sleep like I'm like in the field of four PM. Yeah. I woke up that morning. My son Cole is sicker and heck and coming out of both hands. 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. 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? No, I'm not wearing Cleveland. We played. Yeah. They had a, like, an arcade game or a card arcade machine for a player Mario Kart. And we just, I mean, I've got our competitive juices going. 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, it was 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. Your last game. There was like, do worry about me. I'm locked in. I don't care about me right now. It's when this game. Yeah. Let's just win before the game. We're playing Rocky. This is probably 50 minutes, 55 minutes before the game. Oh, we did this before the game sick. Right.

Five, six. And now this game's seven. So this is my third act of what I'm about to tell you.

So before the game, start playing Rocky, I stripped down to nothing. I'm completely naked.

everyone's tired of now. It's not how many times you knock down. It's like, how many times you get up. Like,

we got this. Fuck 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 pector on dome comes and like sprays me with like the shoe cleaner stuff and like ruin like my whole like who raw thing that I had done for game five and game six. And I was, like, I was like, set me off. I was so pissed. I went patty into the shower. Into the showers. And then

Rocky comes in and goes, hey, 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. You're right. I get back up, start dancing again. We started the song. We started the song. We started the song.

Get back into the shower. And then I remember going out to the field. And the backstory of the

dance and naked was there would 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 Kirk 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.”

They just walk in there and 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 ever know it's coming. And I just watch it completely naked. The coaches would die laughing. They would throw me BP and I would just hit for like 10 minutes and I just like, ah, I'm just so sorry. I was in free. I've shown up every game. I would have a good game. They're every single game. They're may or may not be photos of this.

And it's a nice, it's a nice little, it pops up on my feet every once in a while and put the smile on my face. The teacher photo. Yeah. Yeah. I might need to throw it in the contact photo, but it's uh, it's uh, 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. The all of us just shaking our head. It like, you're those riz again, game seven. And then, you know, Ron, don't try to try to pull

a little, pull a little salt in your pancakes. So whatever you got to me. Yeah, and you came back out

“and we did it. 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 Mayer, 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 forward set. It was just like tunnel vision walking down, David Ortiz and the Fox crewers in the hallway. Like, I just give them like the locked in look, like, give them hello. David Ortiz, the 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 there to me took my two rounds and they just go, let's fucking go. Walk onto the field for warm up and they had to play 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, he had ran, 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. That's, 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 scan a little bit or 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. A Steven Drew hit a home run”

in game six that put us up big and Susie hit a nose gone. I was on deck and I look to the crowd behind me and Boston. You're so close there. And then I just, I remember the hands just going up in unison. And like, it's slow motion, right? Yeah, everything crazy slow motion and it's like, I can't believe I took that in and how that played out and that the same, the same story for you. But what a crazy game. Dude, we go up early, right? Yeah, we go up early and in game six,

we were winning big, what felt bad. I think we're going to five or six run lead and all the boys in the dollar are like, yeah, yeah, and Rossy's pacing. The game's not fucking over. The game's not over like beat red, right? I'm like Rossy, this game's all. I can finish this game. Like,

and obviously, no game is you're at never count, but just the way the game was going. Yeah,

game seven, what no read or was it, Rossy? So we're up, right? And whatever ending it was, I came up to Rossy and this is the glass case of emotion story. Yeah. Where it's, I go to you bro. I call him so nervous right now. Like, I'm a glass case of emotion, right? And I gave Terrell, what advice? Yeah. Terrell, I'm just tell us that next place. The reason I did that is because

to lightly, I'm partly joking about it, but also like, too, like, this is fucking nuts, right?

And they, it gets aired and it's just became this, this point of football. Yeah, a little clip. They're not, they're going to get the emotion, they're really going to get worse. It's only going to be worse. And then Rossy hits the Homer. 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. And the world series last year with the Dodgers and the blue jays, like the back and forth. And you just know, you, you

came in, you came in and games haven't. Him and Lester come out a little bit. Yeah, it's the fans. Same. And you'll get in 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 the world series history. So they come in. Lester spikes of all concusses Rossy, like Rossy has no idea was two guys score on what I almost killed you, measure the swing and bond from

kittiness. I just came in. He swing and bond. And I turn and spin, throw, launch it. You try to save

“me and kittness hit you. That's why they go second and third. I always said on those plays,”

I will always usually bail during the regular season. I always said to everyone, like,

when it really mattered, I would let it out. It mattered. And a game seven, you literally kittness is like a fricking. He's like a running back. He's like a full back. And he crushed you. Hey, crushed you. Oh, and I'm like, oh, God, I just got in this game. John is no strike breaking balls till indoor. So he shakes the breaking ball and like, okay, he's going to bounce away. Took it literally is like a 40 footer and I go to block it hits me in the mask. I go to stand

out. Everybody's like, you literally got knocked out. I was like, I rolled my ankle the next day. I remember waking up. That's when I was my ankle hurt. I watched the video and that was why. But two runs come in and I'm like, wait a minute. I'm the defensive guy. I'm not, I'm not supposed to let runs in. This, I just let the in the place went absolutely nuts. Think of the momentum. I'm 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 on deck. I was,

I was second that inning and, um, and I had to get loose and start trying to focus on things.

When you come up, you come up facing the end of your Miller game seven, you're last of that ever in the big leagues. Game seven, home run, oldest player, Major League baseball history. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. It was, bro. I mean, like, what a, what a ending.

“Well, we had, I remember thinking you're in the league because you're catching.”

Get, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The rear two, 20 hitter. You let two runs in catching. And then on the offensive side, you had a home run. It was completely, this split slipped. It was totally, well, what I used to tell you when you were struggling. Do you remember? I remember I was struggling one time and I looked at Rossy. And I'm complaining about my swing. He looks to me. He goes, oh, don't ask me. I fucking hit to 20. I'll hurt. Imagine going to work every day with my swings. Well, you know, it's telling like,

you've got a good one. Um, no, I remember like, you know, doing some homework and watching, but I didn't watch a lot of video about the world series. Like, if I'm going to face somebody, it's probably going to be a lefty. Um, I had good numbers off Andrew Miller when Andrew Miller was in Florida, and he was going 91, not when he, I'd caught him in Boston. And we were on a championship team together. 95, 96 with freaking a net at nasty sliders. So, um, just remember watching some video at him

shaking to heater. Uh, and he did that within my bat. And, uh, before that last pitch, uh, I knew

“they had bad me one, too. And I was just trying to put good swing on it and sure enough, Rajay,”

Rajay goes back like this, and I'm like, if this dude catches us all, I'm going to kill myself. And it went out and thank God, I was just like, you know, not even know about that. So in the dugout, too, we were so hyped. And the momentum comes back to us. Well, the picture I've got, too, of all you guys, just like, Katie, you were all about. Yeah, it was just, we met, 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. Rajay 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 Rajay comes up. You're calling all fastballs.

And he was, however, my job. Oh, you have foul left. But he hit this home run and it's like, off the bat. I'm like, no, no, but get down the high wall and Cleveland. And it goes right in the camera. Well, it's like the most iconic, like, that's such an iconic home run. I still think of that home run. I get the DBGBs and we won. When I was, I still see Rajay to this day. And I, I hate them. Yeah. But I love them. But it's like, we won. And I, I'm like, no, he's what he was working for the MLB.

P.A. And he'd walk into my office while I was managing. I'm like, bro, you got to get out like my stomach starting to hurt. Like, it's just, I still go back to that moment. And I, you know,

to get myself to stop thinking about what just happened. You know, like, that was close.

180 years were 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 Rajay Davis, it's how I'm running. 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, like, you know what's going on?”

We were all just came to it. And in my head, I'm just like, dude, like, this curse is fucking real. Like, there's a bunch of guys that talk about that. 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 and chat and talk to him. The fact that I wrote this

channel, I went back and out in the ninth inning and got us through the ninth inning. And a typo game is like the unsung hero of all of this. Because there's so many times if you're baseball fan, you watch the closer, give it up in the eighth, like, the games over the nine. Yeah. And then they got the miracle. I remember Maggie throwing a ton of sliders. I was going to come in and throw in just all sliders. Those guys and getting him through. Maggie's another

unsung hero, getting that last RBI for us that we ended up eventually meeting. Oh, yeah. I mean, big hit. Like, Chapy, well, we got to get to, you know, before we skip ahead, like,

“the range of 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 empire, the chief of that crew. And he

called the delay. Until this day, whenever I saw Joe West, I was like, Joe, you call the greatest delay in baseball history. Thank you. He was just laughing. I love Joe West. I love that. But we, we come down and we're just like, dude, our dugout in the ninth inning was like, ghost. Like, you look over to like, Theo, too. He was right down. Everyone's at ghost. And it's just like, we get to the ninth. And then with the rainbow, it happens. And then during that rainbow, I

remember, I, I reopt on my pregame concoction that talk about in the Dexter series. But Dexter and I, our pregame concoction was a shot of Woodford Reserve and a five-hour energy presented by Bill Murray. So Bill Murray, I think game six 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. Yeah. And it's just like, this is like rule number three hundred seventy five. Yeah, every minute, whatever. Right. So Bill Murray, me and Dexter talking,

he's like, hey, take this. It's a Woodford Reserve and a five-hour energy thing. I call it a speedball. And I'm like, all right, let's do it, Dexter. 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 rainbow, me and Dexter re-up on our pregame stuff. Because we're about to be going to Dexter's. We're in the weight room just like, there's no fucking way of losing this. You know, it was talking to Dexter,

bossy guy started gravity and then Jay-Hey pulls everyone in. And it was like, that moment for us is, it's a legendary moment. Yeah. We, Jay-Hey, and a few of other of us brought us all together and was like, we're not fucking losing. Like, when would you ever who we are? When Jay-Hey speaks to the fact that he came with music, hey, team meeting in the, 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 chappy off the, I walked back out. Like, everybody's like, where's it all this? We walk back out to the dugout. He's got his hands in his face just crying ball and crying on the bench. So like, and he walks in, everybody talks about remembering that and like, we want to be up like, yeah, we want to be about you. Like, you know, and, and then we, we close

into, and guys start, start talking and I remember coming out of that and we talked about this, the short talks about his kind of journey and his rehab back and then coming out of that meeting, he was leading off against Sean. Remember right before that, he walks up to me and looks me in the eyes. He's got his batting gloves on. He's tightened him up. I'm out of the game. And he looks at me because just got throws me a cutter in. I'm gonna knock the fuck out of it.

But he did the ball. He didn't go into one right. Yeah. He was like, if he would have been an air been a bomb, but he hit it about this far, it felt from Jason Kittness and who was playing short

“right field in a guy buying. That's how hard it was hit. But yeah, I remember that, that speech was”

so that kind of moment, it reset us. Everybody talking about how we're investing in baseball all year, our win totals, it just how we played. Right. And two, our bullpen was set up and there's wasn't they blew all of their guys. So we knew we were in 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. And it was like, we were able to take those 17 minutes and like

regroup because that route, at home, was like just the most duck wrenching thing. And what's so cool

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 wait room and I, wherever, whatever team was on it, that's what exactly were I was sitting. I was sitting right there on that right by the door with Jack. I was sitting right on the treadmill. What do you, um, so Schwerberleadsaw, Pinchron Almora, KB, Deep Fly Ball, thought it was gone, was a great tag-up

“by Al-Mora. KB, KB, history of the game. I think so. And you get walked. What was going through your mind?”

You're going to the play. Did you feel like you were going there when I walk you? There's, there was a lot going through my mind because that's the cat mouth 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 then I ended up intentionally walking me, but walking to the play in my head, I'm like, all right, they're, he's going to pitch around me. He might try to steal a pitch, pitch one, so I'm going to 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, oh, right. Because like, you were locked. And that moment, you want to, you want to swing in the back. Yeah, you were swinging the back. I was good as anybody at that moment. Yeah. Um, and they walk me and I'm all right. Like,

now it's on those obrists. And then he hits that. And I kind of picture where Rizz has got his eyes and and your hands. It's just the adrenaline of that, the meaning of that. Like,

I was here when we sought, right. Like, we lost a hundred games my first year, we lost 98

my second year. Like, oh, this rest in peace are our clubhouse attended. 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 Zobrists hit that that ball and we scored, I was like, hold the shit, like, we just won the World Series. Like, we just won the World Series. Right. And then Maggie, with the insurance run, just adds on. But like, in that moment when Zobrists had 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 180 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 and my head, all of that was run into that. That was crazy. Oh, I think it'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. It is all of

your face. And we do, I didn't, I didn't have, I'm a bingo card, Mike Montgomery closing it out. No, and he told us a great story. My talks about this is pitches is like, it's such a full circle podcast because so many guys talk about their, their personal journeys to that game seven. And him coming in. And Michael Martinez is hitting in the ground or the KB. And that was, that was Michael Martinez's first, um, at battle of the series. I thought it was a lot faster. And I thought,

I didn't read the ball, because I had to bust over to first. And before that, any, I like, loaded my glove off with playing tar. Like, I'm like, I'm not fucking missing this ball. Like, if a ball comes to me, it's, it's time to get up. And KB gets it. And I'm like, oh, shit, if you throw this over my head, there's a guy in a second, like, I need to catch this ball. And he sails it at first. I'm like, cut thousands of balls of KB. I'm like, oh, no. And I ended up catching it.

And it was like, the perfect, it wasn't as high as it felt. It wasn't as high. Yeah, it was about to go. But yeah, his ball just went. Boom. And I called it and, like, right away, my first reaction,

and I, I get emotional telling the stories. When I was a kid, me and my dad would always play

catching the house. And we could do like lightning round and hit me golf balls. That the end, if I won, I would 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 new and I 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. That was like, that's cool. That's hard. 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 to another, it was just like, this ending grandpa moment. Not that you get off of the railing series question. I'm going to ask JHA2 that I really have

never heard the answer to. I'm doing an interview. We're all celebrating. I get pulled over with

Like, I don't want to get a motion. That was crazy. Who's that? Who's that? Who's that?

I have a bunch of concussions. Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Always. Always.

I've been to me both the head. But like, seriously, like, to have that moment and looking back and for me is like, holy shit. Like, these guys, like, I, I, nobody deserves that. Like, it's like, Rudy, Rudy. Bro, what, what, like, what, how did that all transpire? Because I've never heard this story. Did 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 plan, so many good

veterans and like, you were just so life-changing for me. And another guy who comes off the top of his Eric Hensky with hitting. And we talk about this, how he helped me become the hitter I was. But you had 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 met and like going out, the emotions of you going out, hitting your hundredth homework, 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 La Fielde before a game at Rigley and he's like, dad, I go, no, he's my dad. And I go, dad and like me, Cole is sprinting to you. And like all that. And I know how much Jay Hayman went. Jay Hay signed here in 16. Jay Hay and his, I don't think in his contract, but told Vijay

a child and secretary, hey, every single road trip we go on, Rossi gets a sweep. So that's his key. And that's his key, which is his mentors and Jay was in Atlanta. And Atlanta, when he was

“coming, 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? That picture. That picture. Well, and it's like, you see the look on you guys's 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. I like what to do with my hands. I remember like, putting a number one, and then I'm like blowing kisses for some reason. I'm like, what,

what am I doing here? Like, it was so, yeah, like, what is this? But what a special moment for me. I like, I put up then in my career verse, anybody that that played the game, not because of the 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. So the celebration was, I mean, the plane ride back to there's pictures. And I just put it up on our lovely reunion, 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, 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. We got to take pictures of my parents

of the trophy, my wife with the trophy. It was just such an amazing thing. And we get off,

we get back to like five. Well, my daughter, Landry, tells a story all the time, Cole was six. We gave him his own bro, 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 a lackey family. She kept coming up with $100 bills. And I'm like, where are you getting these

hundreds? She's like, yeah, the guys are giving them to me. I'm like, go tell them, they're not allowed to give me more money. And Lester's in the back going, show kids, show kids to those given $100 bills everywhere. So the plan she tells us story all the time. The plan where I was epic. It was just, and I remember dimster and remember dimster and Theo reaver, racing down the hallways on the, in the cars, down the, down the aisles and the little, uh, the beverage cards.

Yeah. They're like, she's taking off. Yeah. It's going down. They're flying down there. Not, not safe.

“I remember, too, a big thanks 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 after we won, like, I made sure to say that. Like, this is for there are any banks, the Ron Santos, the Sandbergs, right, even the Stalin Castro's, the Sorionos, the veterans, I played Ryan Dempst, their carrywood. 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

wanted with us, because they, they laid the groundwork for us. And I remember driving back is like five in the morning when the bus is in. Demster was with us, Ryan Dempst, who was with us on the bus. I was like, I was like, dude, take the trophy. And like, I gave him the trophy. Like, he, he literally reminded me of their days. Like, dude, that was so awesome. 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.

with Lake Michigan in the background. And I get a text, like, eight, 30 in the morning. It's,

I literally get home. Like, six, 30. Barely set. My phone's blown up by VJ, our traveling secretary. He's like, hey, Lester's pissed. You have the trophy on my phone. I don't want to give it. Lester told you about that. I was told he got the trophy. So I bring it back to Riglia. Like, I get there, like, 9, 9, 30. Leave Riglia. Go to bottle blonde here in Chicago. Me and my wife, it's not girlfriend at the time. And we just go sit in bottle blonde in Chicago from 10 a.m. to

about 5 a.m. Like, we literally go. We sit there for, like, probably 10 hours in bottle blonde. All the, uh, my friend opened it up on me. Hey, 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 signing like years later. He's like,

dude, this is the bottle. You're first bottle of crown, you drank after that's winning the world's

series. And then we go out there. All my friends come. Then I come back to Riglia at some point with all my friends. I pictures on the field, like, with the trophy. Just, you could do whatever you want.

“Yeah, right. Remember we got a ride home at way, from the, uh, ride from, I don't know if you're”

going to townway, we're meeting everybody at Country Club and we're in the back of the place. Yeah, it's just like, I was so guess 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. I had everyone's like, you 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. Yeah. It blew them out of the water. Like,

the people at the graves go in and saying, like, laying the W flags on their, their parents or grandparents or whoever's graves. And like, people listening to the, the final outpat use iconic moment at the graves site. Like, it's just, that's my favorite thing to ask when I travel is people come up and say, you know, thanks for 2016 or they want to picture or something. It's like, I want to hear their game seven story. And the passion they have, the fans like, 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 Washington with her dad sort of crying. I mean, like, it just, like, those stories that fans give us are so much more valuable than, you know, the ring or, or any of that, like, I love hearing their story. I think the best part, too, is the 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, the, you, 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. Yeah. What cubs fans meant to us and how they showed out for that parade.

“Because that parade. That's what six million people are looking at being on stage. And like,”

you said so many nice things. And, you know, you're not concussed at the time, but you start to get in a little theory, I too. And I couldn't even get any words out because I wanted to think all the guys and tell them all what they meant to me, like, and how each guy affected me. And I wasn't, you know, like, you barely get anything out. But like, you looked out. And I just saw, like, the heads up people and then the tree tops. Like, it just, like, and people were in the trees

way off, way off in the distance. It was, it was, it's iconic. Yeah. It was just, it was literally in the parties to follow the parade. And like, bro, literally that 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's like, hey, how are your parents? How's Emily? Like, they haven't been here in 10 years, right? Yeah. And everyone's like, how's your wife doing? We loved her. Like, we missed her so much.

We're your parents. Your, your father, man. Like, your father. We drank one night and just tell like, all the ushers and people that work at regularly 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 you call this home? Why I love this place. Yeah. 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, go to football game or whatever they thank us for the overtime they got into that. You know, right? They got a big check for, for getting there. And then like, crown all the people. 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 know what that's like. Exactly. You, you won the last game you're a played in. I lost it. Okay. And at the story, funny story, I was at the final of the WBC and Ross is getting a silver medal after they lost. And I have a video and I go, how's it feel to finish second now?

Because he's always screaming. I don't know if finishing second feels like. Yeah, that wasn't a good

all these stories. Um, we're so thankful for the fact that 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. It's just, it's so special. We, we had our union 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. That way they say, yeah, what the kids say, I think, I don't even know. But”

the level where union podcasts, it's going to be celebrated all year. And we can't wait to take you guys for the ride with me and Anthony. It's, uh, it's not about us. Again, there'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 for them. And next episode, next week, we'll 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 the success. So tune in, tune in. Thank you. Thanks, fans. He's a rap. All right.