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

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. I NA where
we talk about the unforgettable twenty sixteen World Series Championship
Chicago Cubs. We sit down with all of our former teammates, coaches, executives,
Tom Ricketts, theo Epstein, Joe matt and John Lester, you
name it. We're talking to him, we're interviewing him, and
we're telling you, guys stories, what we saw, where 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 twenty sixteen. We're gonna walking
through all the stories and all the episodes had a
lot of nakedness going on, but.
Dancing naked, lots of party and lots of king, 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 seasons 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?
Dude?
What's going on in your life? For what an epic
day you had when they brought you back here in Chicago,
Anthony Rizzo day.
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 the Cub's 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 Rossie and I
met back when I was going through cancer. Actually, ROSSI
was playing in the Alcus with the Red Sox in
two thousand and eight and we had the same agency,
and Rossie left me a ticket. He came and said
hi to me before the game near the bullpen. Probably
had no idea who I was.
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, went to some you know, charity kid. I'll
go say, he turns out were brothers are life turns out?
Yeah? I was.
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 that for
that game. We drove over that night and 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 ruled. I think we had to
push it into the gas.
Well that that That's a good story, but not a
sign of things to come, because things got a lot
better for me.
Can you believe it's been ten years.
I can't believe it's been ten 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 and two of the Stars. Yeah,
so I ever just got downe 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. Little 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.
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 ten
years has gone.
It's really a husband. It's when we first met. When
Rossi and I really first actually met, we sat down
at ESPN at the end of the twenty fourteen season.
It was going into the playoff and we sat down
in 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, it was insane.
Yeah, well, I think like that was that was a moment.
We definitely hit it off and talking baseball and felt
like we were had been friends for fifteen years after
that day. I mean, we just hit it off so well,
and I think, you know, I was glad to be
a part of that. But I think what we needed
was Johnny lest we need Johnny, I follow the good
players around. If he had noticed looking back in my career,
just try to get on a couple of good teams
and hide. But no, that that day at ESPN and
then you came to Tallahassee for a football game, we
got to hang out out, and then me signing here
and us being able 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 gonna
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 pretty epic. Ross.
He was the king of two year deals, and he
would tell me and year one in twenty fifteen, he's 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 the year or two, I was like, I
want to fucking kill him.
I had the clubhouse cancer second. Yeah, yeah, everybody not
like that. But in the next year he's like, I'm
over his ship for sure.
When you came into Spring in twenty fifteen, you and
Lester came in and it was like all eyes were
on YouTube. You guys were intense. You were You're 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 that.
But well, 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're in with some positives. Yeah,
that's what 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 think it's a compliment,
but 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 coming up to me
and tell me what I got when we 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,
but 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, at 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.
I feel like him and Lester came in and they
literally taught us all. It 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, no,
losing's easy in the big things. You just lose. You
lose games. You win a couple of games, you lose, Ah,
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.
So I look back and coming from Boston and winning
with Lester and Lackey 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 finished 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 paal 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 got to have a couple of
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 the championship team.
For me in fifteen, and we talked about this a
lot throughout the podcast with a lot of different guys
and coaches. That San Francisco Giants series in twenty fifteen
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 third place in the
wild Card at the time, and the Giants come out
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 Kat
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 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, Love.
Yeah, that was that was the I think talking to
each guy. It was in the second half and in
August in that series really stood out because of the
giants resume with Buster and Bumgardner. 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
and handedly, I think we all started to feel 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 and off
we went.
Yeah. I mean yet two guys in the home Run Derby,
Me and KP. It's not about us, but it is today.
It is it is about you?
Is us today?
How was that?
Home run?
Dirt?
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 hanging out Sean Casey,
who was such a legend, And that's a story I
want to get We got a good case story is
we were in Pittsburgh in September and we're we win
ninety seven games that year. The Pirates win ninety eight
games the Cardinals I believe one one hundred, right. We
finished third in the division, second in the wildcard, and
we're trying to catch the Cardinals or I'm sorry, we're
trying to catch the Pirates be one in the wildcard 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 four or five
in the morning. We have a twelve thirty game the
next day. So it was an it was a night.
It was a I remember taking a cab to the
park like panicked because I'm rolling in out like eleven
and on the on the radio, I hear the Pirates
people like dogging Angew McCutcheon for sitting out in the game,
because he's like, wow, 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 a little bit
hung over.
It's okay, a lot of it. Some of your best
games were a little hung I mean, for honest, my
first about you, my first to bat, I ground into
a double play, basses loaded. Can I set the scene?
He's gonna gloss over this? So we first hitting. Charlie
Morton's on the mound, and Charlie Morton turns out to
be a really good picture love Charlie played with him
in Atlanta. But Charlie Morton wasn't that Charlie Morton you're
seeing now, Charlie.
Morton the back end of his career.
Yeah, back end of his career. He was really good.
So he was things out. Yeah yeah, And we got
bases loaded, nobody out, and our four hitter, who's one
of the best players in the game, comes up and
swings in 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.
And I drove in a run although I didn't get
the RBI because when you're gonna do a double play. So
I go back and, like I always do, I go
back to Rossie and I kind of break down my
bat him and Hinsky. I'll 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 aren'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 fifteen, right where teammates now for six months
for the two year thing comes and play. But first
time I ever snapped back because I respected him, Because
you respect your own.
Hey, it's okay to bark back. I just you asked
my opinion. I was going to, hey, won't ready to play?
He let me ready to play?
Right, And my next to bat, I come back up.
I had a two run homer and I come in
the dugout right.
He hits the homer and it's gone and before the
ball is over the fence. He's staring at me, just
like staring a hole through me.
And I come back in the dugout and I'm like,
I'm always fucking ready to play, Rossie, fuck you screaming
at me, and he's like, if that's what it takes
to get you going, I'm gonna yell you all tight.
If you need me to pish you off to lock
at the fuck in, then I'll do that. As 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 of RBI's.
And had a homer and double in that game too.
It was good we win the game.
We won the game, won the game. Another another one
too is later literally next the next week, I actually
went to Joe's Off's. I played I think one hundred
and sixty games that year, and were we had a
makeup game versus the Royals, and I walked in the
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
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 this
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.
And I don't know why these guys liked me, because
all I did was get on them about being being pro.
I did that to Mike Napoli. One of the hardest
things I've ever done, I caught 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 nobody was on the
dugout and in the dugout, so I go up, like
I faked getting a red bull or something. I see
uh Lackeye and Nap, who played every day up there
chilling watching football, and I I was like.
His beer chickings.
Yeah, no, no, no, 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 that'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 your everyday player. These other guys that are out there.
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
you're out there with them on you want the boys
with you.
So that's another thing of leadership that people don't understand
if you're not out there guys that are playing like, oh, like, oh,
he's 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 fifteen, we go to the NLCS,
We got our hearts broken. It was awful. I literally
thought we were winning the World Series. And I remember
after fifteen, I think we did a toast of Dan
Harron because it was the end of his career and
Lester another veteran moment here, John Lester poort champagne for
everyone at the end and toasts Dan Harrons for having
an amazing career. It was probably the end, and it's like, dude,
that doesn't happen, right, And like the parties we had
in fifteen after we clinched we beat the Cardinals, there's
a story with Schwarber that we talked about about the
home runs we hit the shore bomb. But those parties
that Lester had were just another example of bringing the
team together. For the iconic twenty sixteen team, It.
All led up to that, 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 your heart broken, like we
did against the Mets and they think, freaking Daniel Murphy.
Fucking I love him. Actually we ended up being teammates
and he's he were my number and I'm like, I
don't know if yeah, but on the Mets in fifteen heat.
But it gives you that sense of like you're hungry
going into next season. And then the great job by
THEO bring him back Dexter, What a moment that was.
We talk about that and how cool that was and
Dex walking us through his whole offseason and.
Then signed Lacky.
We signed Lackeys and yeah, yeah, so we I mean
that was a critical off season where they brought us
in everything we needed. Uh, And the whole Grandpa Rossie
retirement started, and we talked about kV starting with the
Grandpa Rossi Instagram and all the all the many episodes.
You can tell we're really at Murphy's.
Hear that iconic we are.
We are right here in the heart of Chicago Rigleyville,
and h We've got fire trucks going everywhere.
Many nights here in sixteen in spring training, we rolled
in and we had this very arrogant, hum but humble
mentality of like, we already won the World Series. That'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, yeah.
And the best and 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 will backup Catcher who cares? But
I got a lot of love for that. And you
guys took care of your.
Me and KB me and 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 the year two I probably wanted to kill you.
But it was just we make the Grand Parassi 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 at us about the
players did too. Man, Yeah, we were like the Motley Cruz.
Well, Joe let us. He let us have those those
moments and the off the field stuff, and he championed
that and talking about embraced the target. I remember just like, yeah,
the target is on our back because 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 in our own little
world inside that clubhouse that none of that, none of
those cursed things ever really creaked in.
I didn't think it'll never never. And so in sixteen,
our last two games of the season were in Vegas.
I'm sorry off spring training. Yeah, we go to Vegas
for two exhibition games and the whole team goes because
after that we're going to Anaheim start the year. So
Rossie and I we played in Vegas every year for
the most part. In spring training. I went on every
one of those trips. So Rossie and I were sitting
at the Cosmo tollog I wonder why, and we shared
the penthouse. The two veteran penhouse are like, hey, let's
share a room, right, Like, we had a whole night planned.
I think we went to Hakissan right at the MGM
and we went out all night. We had a game
the next day, but it was we were gonna get
like two of bats. Joe.
We walk in and Riz this guy like, welcome to Chicago.
We followed it out. We had like the whole team there,
and it's just one of those things I remember. I
remember in twenty fifteen Spreenching, I saw the Royals, the
whole team party and they ended up winning the world.
He was 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 to beat. Rossi is on the training table
with towels over his head, dead, and I remember Matt Caesar.
I think we told this story with sees. Matt Caesar
walks in, He's like, hey, are you good, bro, and
he's like, fuck away from me. I was dying.
And then Cashman Field in Vegas, like that hard table
what 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 back and got out of there. Was not feeling good,
I think, went back to g nap and then went
back down. The next night.
Yeah, well we had a that was an epic. That
was well, some guys didn't want to go, and Joe
and Davey I'm not saying who up 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 we'll have mimosas and
Bloody's like, if 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.
Remember the team Remember the team dinner A THEO and
or Tom the coach picked up the dinner that night.
Make sure everybody got out of the shore. Yeah, make
sure everybody left Vegas.
Yeah, so they wanted us. We wanted to stay in
Vegas another night. They were like, no, let's get to California.
We ended up going to Mastros there and at Newport
and mister Ricketts and THEO picked up the bill and
guys were ordering, like any any team dinner less than Lackey.
We're 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 sixteen, I think it was the
end of fifteen. 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.
Yeah, we had a blister.
Yeah, 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
Bussy too. We're the only ones there and we're training.
There's these monkey bars and 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 Stanwix in Pittsburgh at
the Golden Gym was iconic. We would go there every
time we were in Pittsburgh.
San Diego Gas Lamp. We walked around and grab lunch.
We always grab the only thing Riz had to eat
at when we go to Pittsburgh. He had to eat
at Modes. It's like, bro, it's ten thirty in the
morning and he's got it.
He's there. What are mos? Every time in Pittsburgh. It
was great.
But I think that was 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 those times. We bought the gold gym shirts with
the with the we all had these bright highlighter colors
tank tops. It was it was I mean.
We went I don't I don't think you were with this.
But there was a time where we went to the
muscle beach. Yeah, and I wasn't there for yeah, we
were outside working out. It was where Arnold worked out.
How cool was it for you when you hit your
hundredth home runs? Backup Catcher when he had his hundredth
home run, It was here Wrigley and like everyone exploded.
We are counting down for it.
Counting down.
It was just we rallied so hard behind you.
I have funny story the guy hit that if I
ended up pitching for me, and he walked into my
to my office in spring training. He was like, you
don't remember remember me? Dude.
I'm like, what remember what?
And he's like, you hit your hit your under the
home run of me. I was like, oh, back to
back change ups I do it was. It was a
funny little sto. Yeah. I remember, like looking in the dugout.
There's a couple of things I think about the Game
seven home run that we'll get to, but the look
on my teammate's face with the one hundred home run
and the Game seven home run, when you look in
the dugout A round it second and you guys were
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 love
you and are rooting for you, that that was a
special one for me. Here. You know, I got so
many standovations, little curtain calls that year, that.
Washout when Yati at the end here we're playing the
Cardinals as.
The last series of the Sunday Night Baseball.
Sunday Night Baseball, and Rossi's first at bat, Yachti gives
him his runway and gets a standing ovation. You do
a curtain call. But I thought that was so cool
that Yadi realized that moment, understood how much you meant
to our team and gave you that moment.
Every 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 my favorite moments of my career.
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 a bat, then I
hit the home run. We end up winning I think
two to one, and I gave us the 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. Thought
he 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'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,
twenty sixteen. 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 playing Grandpa. You
still still get that's the only thing they know my
real name. I think it's just Grandpa.
I know that that team too, That team we in
twenty sixteen, 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 Lesser or Areat they were pitching, so that.
It was nine of you guys, right, it was nine
I think.
Seven, seven knows okay. But the clubhouse was dry in
lesser An area, 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 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 one
hundred and eight years. There is a real curse here, right,
Like there's so much that went into it. We went
so far in fifteen, so I really felt like in sixteen,
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 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 the dance, we all all the coaches
had their high five. Speaking of we had a little
handshake pre game.
Do you remember that we did.
We were that.
We had a little uh we called it the cock bump. Yeah,
we had we had where 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.
Yeah, we had.
We had that.
We had to tell that with the that's a J
one We should say that for J and details that story.
We did that after homers. But our handshake was just
it was very professional.
Yeah. He was always love 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 I always said I was a switch guy,
So like he wasn't he when he was playing every
fifth day or a couple of times a week.
Yeah, probably you'd come in.
And he'd be like, in game mode, right, I'm playing
every day. I planned playing one sixty two. I think
of sixteen, I played one sixty or one sixty one.
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 thirty five minutes before the game, He's.
Like, get the fuck in, and I go russy, I'm
always locked in.
I'm always locked in.
But I would go to me be like, good luck today,
ann looking right now? Yeah, he just stayed for as
luck has nothing to do with it. Well, it has
nothing to do well.
In fifteen, 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 as the last
game of the year and we already 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 a Pittsburgh story a
week before. You wore me out for not being out
there for first pitch. So I'm like, this fucking guy's
it's it's September. A lot of your teammates are. You're
over him 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 you're gonna say to me?
And you just go you shake my ego, congratulations on
a great year. And I was I went from like
I wanted to kill you, like, oh, thank you. Gave
you a big hug. Remember that. So next year, that's
why we started the handshake.
I remember that. I remember that you were definitely ready
to kill me, but you were. It was it was done.
We 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 that reason. Let's get let's get to let's get
to some some the playoffs, the playoffs, SA, we got
to get.
Go to that game one. San Francisco were the best team.
The Giants are coming off of their every other year
even year World Series runs. So they won in ten, twelve, fourteen.
Now at sixteen, and I'm in my head, I'm like, damn,
like I'm playing the Giants right like, we got to
go out West. I personally, my numbers at AT and
T at the time are the worst of my career.
I've zero home runs. I think I hit under two
hundred 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 on to Waveland and it goes in
the basket basket and we went won nothing off Quato.
Who was Del? I think in the contention that year,
Del and we go I think it was game three
or four when we do this crazy backpick with me,
you Hobvey.
I wanted to bring that up. And I know we're
in the playoffs, but like you were, there's only so
many guys that 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 ron Dome was getting getting getting
a little squirrely. Remember and it was no it was
my first base Robinson or something.
Yeah, and we did one here too, Yeah, yeah, we.
Had a couple of good ones and yeah for that
the one I remember Game three, Remember Arietta. We talked
about this a little bit, tacks Bumgardner Deep. We're up
like three nothing, 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 uh second or third inning, and sure
enough they came back and beat us. But I was
the old man, like, keep it together, people, we got
a long way to go. But that was a nut.
That was a crazy crazy, that.
Serious, was that serious intense five games too, the first game,
the first series two. We're nervous. We know our expectations
are up here, we're the best team in the league.
We have World Series or busts 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 backpick, 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.
You're the best the way business.
I come all the way up basically like ten feet
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 going to hit it
at me, right, Thank god, I never got a hit
at me. But then Hobby comes around behind the first
runner after the pitch and ross he picks it off
and it's a ballsy player at the time. Yeah, but
we do it, and it's just momentum for us. But again,
like Joe, let us play that.
When you trust. Hobby was so good and he was
such his baseball IQ's 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, saying with you when you were back there
and just a regular backpick, 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 of 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 trusts. Talking
about Game four, against the Giants.
Yeah, I mean literally is just talking a hundred pence
about this. When we were out in San Francisco and
we were down three runs going into the ninth we
had Johnny Quato. They did Johnny Quato go in 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 fell like a did. Not only
did we party in San Francisco and on the play home,
but we ran out of there like thieves steal in
that game.
Everybody was getting I mean, balls were up the middle,
Contrere's hobby like things. Everything was going our way in
that inning and they were just Bruce Boach kept just
rolling guys out of the bullpen and didn't matter.
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 were down
two to one 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, no doubt we had we were
down two to one. We get back to Wrigley, we
tie it. Then we have Kershaw.
Game six, when you remember the whole Retael with Caesar
using his bat and that whole thing, like like we've
got so many stories, but then our stories that these
other guys and and memories that they have 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.
Forget, they're really good. I think, always good, you know
what I mean. And 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 clubhoufs. We lost, but in the
playoffs you have to be real quick, you know, you
gotta 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 post you roll
into the World Series Game six, one of my more
memorable home runs, hitting a home run off Clinton Kershaw.
Not about me, it is about you. That was the bomb.
Then we clinch at Wrigley, like the game was at
the front front. Yeah, from one hand, and it 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.
I'm not gonna lie. It actually annoyed me because I
was like, 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.
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 and fifteen for
these people bringing a world series back here, like I
sense I had a sense of like, oh hit, now
we go like it doesn't you know a little bit,
like we've we've were back to where further than we
were last year. Like now it's all gravy, 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
went And obviously it was a lot better when we
want and all that, 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 of Game
one or I'm sorry, Game threeley 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,
it is like what's going on here? Like usually we
had fans on our feet, like if it was a
two oh 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 some celebrities and
some guys that we know and get some fans perspective,
because there was that they want that fans roller coaster
of emotions. 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.
Yeah. And then we roll into the World Series, right,
we split in Cleveland. It's iconic World Series. The Indians
are having won in what fifty something years, We're going
we're one hundred and eight 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 and sixteen with the Cubs, it was just like
everyone you saw, everyone's 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 Game five? Well, that's my favorite game.
We go well, we go down three to one, right,
and we had been down three oh last year of
the Mets, and it was like we almost deflated in fifteen,
and when we lost in sixteen and we went down
three one, I remember you saying, like, most of the
times we've won three games in a row. How many
times have 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, putting my stuff
on my locker, and somebody threw their glove and their
lock 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 like anybody
give their left nut to be here tomorrow playing game
five in the World Series at Riggy Field. There's you know,
twenty eight other teams home sitting there on the couch
is gonna be watching us tomorrow. And I remember thinking
of that and then you say to VJ.
No to bussy, Bussy, 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 them,
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 and you
walked in that day and.
They put on dent and you come in doing all
this and 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, Adrian and on top of the on top of
the couches and the U 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 whole 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 and everybody else's enjoyment. Like
that's how you you're 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 we win Game five?
We win Game five?
Amazing for me actually looking back ten years that 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 understand.
I just clicked the significance that's the only World Series
game we won at Wrigley and what, well, look up
the numbers he started that game, you know what I mean?
But that game was such a grind and chatting and
grinding through that throwing I think two and a third innings.
I remember Eddie Better gave me a shout out during
the during the seventh thing stretch on that one. Yeah,
yeah talking, but it may retire, but it would always
be in our hearts and never forgotten.
I don't know.
It was unbelievable, Like 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 Alden song playing. I had my I mean,
I had told him 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. You know, he's like game
face all the time. He's like, bro, don't do that
right now. And so I was gut behind there and
I was streaming the top of my lungs to get
all my energy and singing a song, yeah, singing out
Dean song. But that was 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 wing game five. We knew we were
going to win Game six, like that was our mind.
Like well, boat Race Game six, which we ended up
doing winning game six, and then game sevens games, Well,
you helped just.
Boath race at that big home run and they're late
was huge, the whole World Series home run.
I'm sorry about it, yes, but we get to game
seven and 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 VP only in game seven, and
he took it for like a round and he tells
the story about it and 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. So before game seven, I'm just chilling, like
playing playing Mario Kart. He got pissed off at us.
The game was until eight o'clock. 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 not going to four pm. Yeah.
I woke up that morning. My son Cole is sicker
and the 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 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? Nobody, no Mary.
In Cleveland we played they had they had a like
an arcade game at Arcade Machine four player Mario Kart,
and we just I mean, that's 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,
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. Everyone's like, don't worry about me,
lock in, I don't care about me right now, let's
win this game.
Yeah, let's just win. Before the game we're playing Rocky.
This is probably fifty minutes, fifty five minutes before the game.
And we did this before game six, right five six.
And now this game seven. So this is my third
act of what I'm about to tell here. So before
the game we started playing Rocky, I stripped down to nothing.
I'm completely naked and I'm 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 not how many times
you get up, Like we got this fuck, then we're
gonna 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 On Doone comes and like sprays me with
like the shoe cleaner stuff and like ruined, like my
whole like hoorah thing that I had done for Game five.
In Game six and I was like, set me off.
I was so pissed, and I went poudy into the
into the showers, and then Ross he comes in and goes, hey,
it's not how many times getting 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, so you're right, get back up,
start dancing again, restarted the song, restart, restarted the song,
get back into the shower, and then I remember going
out to the field and the backstory to the dance
and 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.
They 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 ever know it's coming, and I
just walked completely naked. The coaches would die laughing. They'd
be throwing me BP and I just hit for like
ten minutes, and I'd just be like, ah, I'm just
so sure enough every game. I would a good game,
every single game.
There may or may not be photos of this, and it's, uh,
it's a nice it's a nice little it pops up
on my feet every once in a while and puts
a smile on my face.
Feat your photo.
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 that that three game speech, the Rocky,
all of us just shaking our head and like here
goes Riz again. Game seven and then you know, ron
Don tried to tried to put a little put a
little salt in your pancakes. Whatever. Yeah, and you came
back out and and 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 Hinsky, John Eric Hinsky
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 four words 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 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 through to me, took
my two rounds and they just go, let's fucking go.
Walk onto the field for warm up, and they had
been playing Phil Collins Into the Night and like literally
there's fifty thousand people there and Phil Collins Into the
Night comes and I'm just doing my pregame stretches and
like the adrenaline, I'm getting goosebump 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 games.
Stuff. That's it. 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.
Steven Drew hit a home run in game six that
put us up big. As soon as he hit, I
know he was gone. I was on deck and I
look to the crowd behind me in 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.
Yeah, yeah, everything is slow motion.
And it's 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.
We go up early, right, yeah, we go 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 and the dog are like yeah
fuck yeah. And Rossi's pacing. The games are fucking over
games on over like beat red rightm Like Rossie, this
games I could finish this game like and obviously no
game is you're never count but just the way the
game was.
Going, Game seven was no reader or was it Raj?
So we're up right, and at whatever ending it was,
I came up to ROSSI and this is the glass
Case of Emotion story where it's I go to you, bro,
I'm so nervous right now, Like I'm a glass case
of emotion, right.
And I gave terrible advice yea, stellists the next But.
The reason I did that is because I knew how
stressed he was, and like, in that game, it's so intense,
and I go up almost I'm partly joking about it,
but also like, dude, like this is fucking nuts, right,
and they it gets aired and it's just became this
this point clip, it's gonna get worse and it's totally
gonna get worse. And then Raj hits the homer.
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, well, you you came in, you came in
in Game seven, him and Lester come out of the
hit the fans saying, 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 gonna hear this story, like this
is what was going on in the biggest game of
World Series history. So they come in. Lester spikes the ball,
concusses ROSSI like, ROSSI has no idea was two guys
score on it?
When I almost killed you matter the swinging bunt from Kittnus,
I just came in. He swinging bunt, and I turn
and spin throw launch it. You try to save me
and Kidness hits you. That's why they go second 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 matters.
And in Game seven, you literally Kidness is like a
freaking He's like a running by, he's like a full back,
and he crushed They crushed you.
They crushed you, And I'm like, oh God, just got
in this game. John is no strike, breaking ball still indoor.
So he shakes the breaking ball. I'm like, Okay, he's
gonna bounce it. Well, he took it literally is like
a forty foot and I go to blog. It hits
me in the mask. I go to stand up. Everybody's
like you, lily, you got knocked out. It's like I
rolled my ankle. The next day, I remember waking up
that why's 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 ship'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.
You come up facing Andrew Miller, Game seven, your last
of bat ever in the Big League. Game seven home run,
oldest player in Major League Baseball history. Thank you, thank
you lord. It was bro I mean, like, what ending
well we had. I remember thinking, you're in the league
because you're catching. Yeah yeah, and your leadership career twenty
hitter you let two runs in catching, and then on
the offensive side you hit a home run. It was
completely the scribble of slipped it totally.
Well, what I used to tell you when you were struggling?
Do you remember?
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 fuck,
you had two twenty my whole career.
Imagine going to work every day with my swings. Well
he is to tell him, like, you 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 on facing by, he's
probably gonna be a lefty. I had good numbers off
Andrew Miller when Andrew Miller was in Florida and he
was going ninety one, not when he I called him
in Boston. We were on a championship team together ninety
six with freaking that nasty slider. So just remember watching
some video and him shaking to heater. Uh, and he
did that within my bat and before that last pitch,
I knew he had had me one two and I
was just trying to put good swing on it. And
sure enough, Raj, Raj goes back like this and I'm like,
if this dude catches this, I'm gonna kill myself. And
it went out, and thank god, I was just like,
you know, not even know You're.
So in the dungout too. We're so hyped, and the
momentum comes back to us.
Well the picture I've got too of all you guys.
Just like, it's just we've met. Everyone cared so much
about our teammates in sixteen, and that's really another reason
that this team was so special. We're on defense. Raj
comes up. Chapman's in the game. Chapman has been our
literally our workhorse all playoffs. Joe went to him early
and often, and Joe left him 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
Raja comes up, you're calling all fastballs and he was. However,
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 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 bigb GBI's and we won when I still see
RaSE to this day and I hate them but I
love them, but it's like, we won, and I'm like, no,
he is.
What he was working for the MLBPA and he'd walk
into my office when I was managing. I'm like, bro,
you gotta get out. Like my stomach 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 I one hundred and eight years, we're
the best team. We won one hundred 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 Raj Davey sits 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.
Like, oh my, what's going world just came to 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 Chatman and talk to him. The fact
that ear all this, Chiman went back and in the
ninth inning and got us through the ninth inning in
a tie ball game is like the unsung hero 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 it got a miracle.
I remember Miggi throwing a ton of sliders all of
a sudden, coming in and throwing just all sliders those
guys and getting him through. Miggie is another unsung hero,
getting that that last RBI for us that we ended
up eventually meeting. Yeah, I mean big hit, like uh, chappie, Well,
we got to get to you know, before we skip ahead,
like the range.
Of seventeen 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 chief of that crew,
and he called the delay. Until this day, whenever I
saw Joe Wes, I was like, Joe, you call the
greatest delay in baseball history. Thank you. He would just laughing.
I love Joe West that. But we 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 two. He was right down and everyone's a ghost
and it's just like we get through the ninth and
then when the rain delay happens. And then during that
reign that I remember, I re upped on my pregame
concoction that talk about in the Dexter series, but Dexter
and I are pregame concoction was a shot of wood
for 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,
just like this is like.
Rule number three hundred and seventy five met whatever.
Like, so Bill Murray, me and Dexter talking to him.
He's like, hey, take this. It's a Woodford reserve and
a fire energy saying I called a speedball, and I'm like,
all right, let's do it. Dex Like we've we've done
shots before the game before, 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 pregame 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.
I was talking to Dexter. Bussy guy started gravitating in
and then Jay Hey pulls everyone in and it was
like that moment for us is it's a legendary moment
because Jay Hay and a few of other of us
brought us all together and was like, we're not fucking
losing like when whichever who we are.
When Jay Hay speaks to the fact that he came
up to me, was like, 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, uh, it kind of carried some volume.
I remember walking in and everybody's in there and I
had to go get Chappie off the walk back out,
like everybody's like, where's roll this. I walked 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 he wouldn't like yeah, we wouldn't be about you, bro,
like 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. Shore talks about his
kind of journey in 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 eyes. Guy's batting gloves on, he's
tightening him 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 fuck out of it.
But he hit the ball, didn't get Yeah, he was
like if he would have been in the air, had
been a bomb, but he hit it about this far.
It fell from Jason Kidness and who was playing short
right field. Uh, and it got by and that's how
hard it was hit. But uh, yeah, I remember that
that speech was so that that kind of moment reset us.
Everybody talking about out how we're the best team in
baseball all year are win totals, and just how we
played for me and.
Two our bullpen was set up and theirs wasn't. They
blew all 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 seventeen minutes and like regroup because that Raj
Homer was like just the most gunt 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 what every team goes on
he goes That's exactly where I was sitting. I was
sitting right there, right by the door with Jackie. I
was sitting right on the treadmill.
What do you so Schwarver leeds a pintron al Mora
KB deep fly ball, thought it was gone? Wasn't rate
tag up by al Mora car Newgaggin History of the game.
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 be were gonna walk yet?
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 then it ended up potentially 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, because like you were in that moment, you want.
To you want to swing in the back, and you
were swinging the back as good as anybody in that moment.
Yeah, and they walked me and I'm all right, like
now it's on those oversts.
So and then he hits that and the iconic picture
where Riz has got his eyes and your hands.
It's just the adrenaline of that, the meaning of that,
Like I was here when we sucked, right, Like we
lost one hundred games my first year, we lost ninety
eight my second year, like otis rest in peace. 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 Zobers hit that that ball and we scored, I
was like, holy shit, 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 sobers hit that I knew, like
I just had that belief we were gonna 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 one hundred and eight year cursed. We know how
much Cups fans this means to what the city of chicague.
We've seen the city of Chicago partying for the last
two years because the fifteen run and now sixteen. So
that iconic moment of me in my head all that
was running through.
The crazy I at 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. This
is all over your face and we do I didn't.
I didn't have on my being Goo card. Mike Montgomery
closing it out, no, and he told us a great story.
Story Mike talks about is his 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
grounder to KB and that was That was Michael Martinez's
first at bat of the series. I thought it 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 pin tar like I'm like, I am not fucking
missing this ball. Like if a ball comes to me,
it's it's time card. And KB gets it and I'm like,
oh shit, 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 caught thousands
of balls.
KB.
I'm like, oh no. And I ended up catching it
and it was like the perfect It.
Wasn't as high as you felt, It wasn't as high
it was about to go.
Yeah, his ball just went and I caught it and
like right away my first reaction, and I get emotional
telling the stories. When I was a kid, me and
my dad would always play catch in the house and
we can do like lightning around. He'd hit me golf
balls that 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
Pro twenty World Series that I remember of the last
out in all the reactions, and like I always say
what I would do, and like in that moment, it was.
Like 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 whether.
It was like this ending grandpa moment.
Serious question I'm gonna ask Jay two 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 should Like I don't
want to get emotion. That's crazy, Like who's that? Who's that? Always?
Always I've been too many bows to the head, But like, seriously,
like to have that moment in looking back and for
me it's like, holy shit, like these guys like I
I nobody deserves that. Like it was like Rudy, Rudy,
what what? Like what how did that all transpire? I've
never heard this story 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 ten 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 comes
out the top of his Eric Hinski 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 hundred with Homer hitting a game seven home run,
like the glass case of emotion coming to you because
you're like my big brother. Like 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, and I go, no, he's my dad, And
I go Dad, And like me and Cole are sprinting
to you and like all that and I know how
much ja hey man. When Jay signed here in sixteen,
Jay hay in his I don't think in his contract,
but told vj our traveling secretary, Hey, every single road
trip we go on, Rossie gets a sweet so his
mentors and Jay was in Atlanta.
In Atlanta when he was coming.
Up, 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?
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 I 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 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? I like I
put up the end in my career versus anybody that
played the game, not because of the stats, but because
of how you guys treated me. So that was the
I was really really special. And then we go we
go celebrate. We got a parade.
The celebration was I mean the plane ride back to
there's pictures and I just put it up on our
level 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 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.
We have 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 five oh six.
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 Leicester family. And the Lackey family. She kept
coming up with one hundred dollars 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 you more money. And and
Lester's in the back going show kids, show Kids, was
given them a hundred dollars bills everywhere. So the player,
she tells that story all the time they were playing, right,
was epic.
It was just and I remember.
Gimpster and remember Dempster and Theo.
Reil racing down the hallways on the in.
The cars, down the down the aisles and the little
uh the Beverans cards.
Yeah, they're like taking off, Yeah, it's going down.
They're flying down there and not not safe.
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 Ernie Banks, the Ron Santos, the Samberg's right, even
the Starlin Castros, the Shorianos, the veterans, I played with
Ryan Dempster, Carrie Would The list goes on 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 want it with us, because they they
laid the groundwork first. And I remember driving back is
like five in the morning on the buses and Dempster
was with us. Ryan Dempster was was with us on
the bus. I'm like almost like, dude, take the trophy,
and like I gave him the trophy forly and he
like he he literally reminded me the other days like, dude,
that was so awesome that he 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 gonna 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 got a text at like
eight thirty in the morning. It's I literally get home
at like six thirty, barely slept. My phone's blown up
by VJ are traveling secretaries like, hey, Lester's pissed you
have the trophy. I'm like, I don't really give.
The fuck left they're talking about that. Why does Tony
got the trophy?
So I bring it back to Wriglely, Like I get
there like nine nine thirty, leave Wrigley, go to Bottle
Blonde here in Chicago, me and my wife my girlfriend
at the time, and we just go siting Bottle Blond
in Chicago from ten am to about five am, like
we literally go. We sit there for like probably ten
hours in battlah blah all. My friend opened it up
on 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.
Yeah, right, And then we got a ride home at
way from the plate a ride from I don't know
if you're at town. We we're meeting everybody at country
club and we're in the back of the police cup.
Yeah. It's just like you see all the reactions ofs
and it was like, holy shit, we knew. I knew
how big it was gonna be. I really did. Everyone's like,
do 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 and saying like laying
the w flags on their parents or grandparents or whoever's graves,
and like people listening to the final out pat use
iconic moment at the gravesite.
Like it's just that's my favorite thing to ask when
I travel is people come up and say, you know,
thanks for twenty sixteen, or they want a 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 White House about Washington 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 story.
I think the best part too, is look ten 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 it was at opening day
yesterday twenty twenty six, 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 part six million.
I remember looking of 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 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 Like you, you.
Could barely get anything out. But like you looked out
and I just saw like the heads of people and
then the tree tops like it just like 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 and
the parties to follow the parade and like, bro, literally
that yesterday again, I'm that opening day and it's just
me because 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 ten years, right, and
everyone's like, how's your wife doing? We loved her like
we missed her so much. Were your parents? Your father? Man?
Like your father we drank one night and just like
all the ushers and people that working 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 you call this home, why I
love this place much. Yeah, it's a special place. The
friendly confinence 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 two thousand six time, they got a big check
for forgetting right 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, that's
like exactly you you won their last game you ever
played and 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 got to boom in and I go, hah,
how's it feel to finish second? Now? Because he used
to always screaming, I don't know what finishing second feels like.
Yeah, that wasn't a good feel and that was a
good field, but this was this was I mean, this
podcast is going to be unbelievable with telling all these stories.
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 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. I hope
everyone can get the behind the scenes that they want
follow us on all of our socials. Everything but the.
Lie get subscribed, and that what they say on you.
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 tell you 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.
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.
So tune in, tune in, Thank you, thanks fans.
Is a rap
Ah nah, all right,