Ben Zobrist on WINNING Cubs' World Series MVP, his Game 7 HEROICS, Joe Maddon stories | Ross & Rizzo

What are we doing again this Loveble Reunion? Anthony Rizzo,
David Ross, Ben Zobrist, Welcome back to another episode of
the Lovable Reunion Podcast. This week's episode, we are joined
by twenty sixteen World Series MVP ben Zobrist. Benny, When
you hear it at World Series MVP, how does that
make you feel? Ten years later?
I still don't believe it sometimes, you know, when you're
sitting amongst the company of the guys that we had
on our team, you know, and Anthony Rizzo himself.
That's how I feel every day. It's just like I've
been Oh I get to still work with.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're just kind of, you know, just
riding coattails the championships.
That's what we did. That's what I do, you guys,
that's my lie. I was like, hey late, hey, hey,
Lester Lackey, got me two rings. You know, I just
follow those guys around a little bit. Does it feel
like ten years to you? Can you believe it's been
that fast?
In some ways if it feels like a few lifetimes
have happened, you know. But then obviously, like when we
got together, I think it felt like, man, this is
like yesterday.
Yeah, yeah, right, isn't it crazy We get together and
it feels like we're just going to go into another
playoff series. He's been ten years. Yeah, that's I think
that's how special our team was. Our group was Ben's
nickname in the at least within the Cubs organization became
Benny Probist because he's such a professional, and he was
so professional every single thing that you did. And I
don't know if you realize how much that taught younger
guys and even veteran guys on our team. How professional
you were with your routine.
Well, I mean by the time I met you guys,
I mean I was I had been in the league
almost as much time as you guys had, you know,
so I mean maybe what ten years at that point
or close to ten years, And so I mean you
have to have a routine, right, You were what three
or four years in to your big league time, I
think in sixteen, so you knew your routine. But you're
always looking to get better, right, I think you have
to always look around and that I do think during
my career, I was trying to pick things from every
teammate that I really respect. I was like, what does
that guy, do that I really want to add into
my game or add into my routine, because you can't
be the same as anybody else around you, but you
can definitely grab little things from somebody's routine. And so
I mean, I definitely tried to pride myself on Hey,
every moment I'm at the clubhouse, I better be doing
something of purpose because I want to feel at the
end of the game, whether I played well or not,
I want to feel like I got the maximum out
of my capability today to be ready to go for
the boys, right, Because ultimately, I didn't want to feel
like and I had moments like this in my career,
and I know we all probably did, but I didn't
want to ever feel like I let the boys down,
like I made the mistake and I wasn't prepared for
that moment that happened in the game. So, I mean,
baseball is a tough sport in so many ways. Tear
your hair out from slumps and failures all over the field.
But at the end of the day, I just I
cared so much about making sure I didn't drop the ball.
When the ball need to be dropping.
But it still happened. You did learned the game.
Well, you said exactly what we've talked about a couple
of times here. It's like for the boys, right, there's
there was a sense of bid for the boys. That's
and you we we cared about each other so much
and our own success. But you knew how close you
were with that group, our group that there was an
expectation between and we've talked about with like Lackey and
Lester and how when they took the mounds, like this
sense of like okay, not today, boys, you know. And
so I didn't want to be that guy either right
on our because I played once every five days. But
you were coming off a championship in Kansas City. What
was that like that transition of like winning it all,
coming over to Chicago and viewing us and choosing us,
like walk us through that process.
I mean, there was a there was a healthy, a
healthy sense of fear. Anytime you're coming to a new team,
there's a healthy fear. I think when I got traded
from Tampa Bay to Oakland, I was like, all right,
they're trying to win over here. They think that I
can help them do that. Nobody wants to get traded
to Oakland. Back in the day.
Now everyone in a couple of years, everyone's on.
To be going to Ye, be really good and they're
gonna be going to Vegas, right, So it's gonna be
cool experience. But I think at the time it was
not what I wanted to be doing. And then we
have a tough start of the year, traded to Kansas
City mid year and fifteen, and this is when you
guys had all assembled under Joe, who was my manager
my entire career up to that point, right, So he
was my manager from the time I got in the
big leagues in six you know, through that moment in
fifteen when he went over to you guys, And so
I knew based on how he managed me and how
he made me a great player, like in Tampa Bay,
like basically giving you that freedom to be who you are.
I knew that when he went to a place like
Chicago where the pressure's probably even higher, and you guys
are young, you know, most of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry,
not about me, you know, but you have all these
great young players, and I knew when Joe gets there,
he's going to take pressure off of them. He'll take
some of the media attention. They're going to be better.
And you saw guys like KB and and you obviously
were already a great player, but Schwarber and and Hobby
and and you know, even Starlin at that time, his
care was like he's going to make them better. Like
you could see the right on the wall. I didn't
know that you'd be that good in fifteen, you know.
And I think you guys caught fire, but you're watching.
We were watching in fifteen the Chicago Cubs all of
a sudden become a really exciting team to watch, right,
And then I'm on. I then get traded to Kansas
City and they're already in first place. They had lost
in Game seven of the World Series in fourteen to
the Giants. They were poisoned ready to win a World Series.
So I knew when I got traded over there, and
I'm a veteran guy, they're expecting me to help them
do nothing short of win the World Series. Sure, so
there was a lot of pressure in that situation. I
played well. We ended up winning obviously with Kansas City
and go into free agency. I mean, I remember we
went and played a game against you guys in fifteen,
and it was a tight game. I faced Hendrix, who
was a young pitcher in fifteen, and I'm like, dude,
this guy throws like eighty seven miles an hour and
I can't hit him. I was like, he is uncomfortable.
He was jamming me. I'm like, how is his change up?
Jamming me right now?
Right?
But there was just this thing that you guys had.
I think we lost on a walk off by Donorphia.
I don't know if you guys remember that game in September.
It was a makeup game. The Royals came back into town.
Yeah, we were replacing Aventura that game.
I remember.
I remember that game specifically because I went and asked
Joe for the day off because I was so gad
because I never knew how to win before he show
was a Monday I believe Monday makeup game after the
Pittsburgh series. Maybe that sounds so.
Gad, that sounds about right.
That's last week of the season.
Well now we can check the tape now and we
do it. You're saying, so it's good. But I had
the same feeling as you when I was in Boston
in fourteen. I played when Arieta pitched and I was like,
he almost would no hitter against us, So I'm like,
that's an ace, and I knew they were getting lesser
like I came.
Obviously, John helped me get over there.
So you take notice of other teams and there's players,
and when you're playing against him you have a chance
to go. There's like, well, they're going to be really good.
They're we have two horses. And then like you said,
all the young guys coming, and THEO is such a
good salesman. It was a good salt.
He's really good.
And then the environment and Wrigley, I mean, there's nothing
better than that.
When that place is nothing better, nothing better, it's a
different feel then.
For me.
It was even when I first pulled up to Wrigley
the first time as a visiting player, I'm like, this
is special. But then when you feel it out on
the field with the fans, even as an opposing player,
you can't help but notice that this is a different
It was a different realm of playing the game of baseball.
And so having Joe and Dave Martinez there at the time,
who my guys in Tampa Bay there immediately even before
that game, they're like recruiting me.
Hey, when we get to the off season.
You're getting over here, We're getting over and I'm like,
I'm like, I mean, it's it's it's great to be loved,
but to be able to like then actually have an
offer in the offseason and have THEO call me and say, hey,
we want to put this offer together.
Was it early in the off season?
It was early.
But the thing is we we agreed on what it
would be if they could do it because I wanted
to be there nice, but I had to go. I
was flying to uh San Francisco, flying to the Mets.
I was basically listening to offers of these other teams.
They were putting even better offers on the table than
the Cubs. But I knew that's where my heart was.
I want to be managed by Joe again. It's Wrigley Field.
It's been one hundred and eight years at that point,
going into sixteen, and so I'm like, this is the
Penn Ultimate Championship to try to win with these boys
already you just want Yeah, even though I had just won, Yeah,
just one in Kansas City. Had this experience, incredible experience.
You guys had won in Boston, so you knew that feeling.
So now I'm going well, where do you go next? Right,
that is the place to go.
We chose the right one.
Well was the right one.
I just I wasn't sure that it could happen that quickly. Right,
But then you got these pieces, these other veteran pieces,
and some other guys that added in that year in
sixteen decks came back, Lacky came, Oh Lackey, Hayward, Hayward,
myself and some other some real.
Veterans that yeah, had time. What it's funny like listening
to this, like Lackie took less, you took less, Hayward
took less.
You took less.
You know I took them out.
I just took less because that was my skill set.
A big difference.
A show I'm so excited to see in July is
bon Jovi at the Garden.
Let's go Slippery when wet out.
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Thanks suit Boom, shout out suit Book SG in the house. Well,
let's get into Joe a little bit, and I want
to talk about I want to talk about one him
establishing this role and you were the catalysts for this
and what we now you can make an All Star
team being a super utility all Star like that was
you and him taking that you and putting you in
that role is like I need his bat in the
lineup and he's such a great athlete, can play anywhere.
How was that talk walk us through like becoming that guy?
Well, it wasn't my idea, you know. I mean, nobody
comes into the big leagues back in two thousand and
six and thinks they want to be a utility player,
right right, Because that meant you were on the bend,
but you weren't. But I wasn't. And and part of
that was built in those first couple of years because
they were going, hey, we need to make our money
work with our young guys in Tampa Bay, and you
had Andrew Friedman was a mastermind of that.
You know.
I knew when he got a whole bunch of money
out in LA it was a problem. It's a problem
for everybody, so but him. And then Joe being the
manager he was, He's like, hey, Zoe, I want you
to bring four different gloves to spring training. And I'm like,
I mean, yeah, we just signed Jason Bartlett down there,
who was a great shortstop who played well with Minnesota
the year before. So I'm going to yeah, it makes sense,
and I want to be in the big league. So
if this is the way to stay in the big leagues,
you know, you know at the time in eight that's
when Tampa Bay went from worse to first that year
beat the Red Sox and the Yankees, and so they
saw it start to work, and I started to play
every day and I was comfortable with it. I think
that the challenge to doing that for any player is
you're going to be uncomfortable at the beginning of trying
new positions that you haven't played when since you were
a little kid. And I was just like, you know what,
I don't care.
Joe, throw me wherever, put me wherever in the lineup,
and I think you have to have a certain flexibility
to be able to do that. And I was trying
to put my ego away a little bit to do that.
But at the end of the day, we were better
when Joe could say, Hey, I need you to hit.
He told me to hit right handed against right handed pictures.
At times he'd be like, hey, Mussina, Mike Mosina with
the Yankees reverse splits, I want you back right handed.
I was like, I haven't done that since Little League.
You know.
He's like, yeah, I always every time he told me
to do that, I got hits. Wow every time. And
he told me to do it like three or four
times in Tampa Bay. So I'm like, yeah, I trusted Joe.
Well that builds trust, right, It build and trust and
your managers ask you to do that. And I got
to like the question I always had for you and
still today, like did you have a favorite position and
one that you were like, I was really nervous like,
I don't love playing here, but I'm gonna do my best.
I mean, my favorite was second base once I got
acclimated to it. I came up as a shortstop. Uh,
and love being in the middle of the infield because
you're you're involved in every play and I like to
be in one. Wherever the baseball is. I wanted to
be around it. In the outfield, I felt like, well,
you kind of have to really lock in to stay
focused on the ball every time.
Uh.
In the infield, it's there. You have to focus on
every First base, same thing, right it catcher, you're always
here action. It's amazing. So second was my favorite. The
one I was most uncomfortable with was first base. Really yeah,
because think about.
Every doesn't everybody think anybody can play.
No, it is a difficult position to play. And think
about this every other position on the field. When the
ball is hit, you're going the direction of the baseball.
And first sometimes it's it's hit to you. Whenever it's
hit to your right, you got to judge your left.
You might you might have to change directions right away.
Right.
So that's something you learned and you were really good
at great around the bag and and eating the baseball
at second between second and first. You made a second
basement job really easy because of how good you were
over there. And you know, I used to think before
I played with you, I was like, big guy, not
very fast. That's not true. I mean, I'm not just
trying to do your own horn here.
But thank you. It's not about me.
It's not about it seems to be all about him,
these shows.
Surprisingly fast for it. Can I say chunk here?
Guy? Yeah? Well say fake yeah, first basements. He loved.
Give us all the love.
Okay, Yeah, you moved pretty well for a big dude,
and you stole a lot of basses to probably more
than I did when I was a sneaky you were sneaky.
Well, I was gonna ask you if you ever got
pissed off that I was always clogging the bases for you,
because I was looking at a bunch of videos of
how many times I didn't.
Score on a double.
But maybe that did not have I had KB in
front of me, so he always scored.
Oh yeah, so yeah, but now thankfully you would. You
would usually hit them in and I would have a
base open, so I'd walk the walk for hobby or something.
The super utility is basically should be named after ben
Zobris because that's when you play all different positions in
the big leagues. For maybe some viewers that don't know
what that is, and you literally ben Zobrist started a
whole movement within all thirty organizations that we need a
ben Zobris right. Teams will be obsessed with this super
utility guy now because of you. And I thought over
the years, especially after playing with you, how cool that
was because you see all these teams searching for who's
our next Zoe, where we can just get a guy
to play left, short, third, second, first, and it's not easy.
And teams take it for granted guys who play at a
certain position, but the guys who can play them all
is so difficult. And my question is was it hard
for you in that role, not knowing where you were playing?
Because I showed up to the field every day. I'm
hitting third or fourth, playing first base every day. If
I don't have if I have a day off, it's
probably I'm gonna be fighting to not where you come
in the spring, You're like, well, where am I playing?
We have this person, this person, this person, and.
I would show up every fifth day and go I'm
playing in the next four I'm like, high five everybody. Yeah,
I'm like I'm cheering today.
Well, early on, I learned with Joe that, like he
would try, I would say, hey, could you let me
know if I'm playing tomorrow the night before like where
I'm playing, just so I could get all my early
work in if I needed to feel like I And
I learned with him like sometimes he would and sometimes
he would just put the lineup up and I'd be like, oh,
I thought I was playing this position. No, I'm playing
a different one, because sometimes those are last second decisions
as a manager, and you got to so you don't
know all the things he knows that he found out
that morning or going.
On going into the night.
Yeah, yore.
So look he eventually I just realized, like just be ready,
like whatever it is. If you're feeling like you may
not be ready in a certain position, that's where.
I would work.
I'd say, I'm gonna take one whole round in that
position during VP. Make sure I'm getting extra balls in
there and seeing the ball off the bat, because I
might get thrown in there in that spot and be uncomfortable.
So as long as I and later in my career,
I understood all the nuances of each position, which I
think is that's the difficult thing for young players that
haven't done that, is there are nuances, like we talked about,
with each position, and if you don't try it, if
you don't go out there and work on that and BP,
you're not going to know those things right. So eventually
some of those things became a little easier, but it
wasn't always easy. And and I'll say this, like, it's
great to see guys do it now, and they're doing
it so great. They're way better athletes than I was.
I'm a little disappointed that MLB didn't come up with
this gold Glove or the.
All Star persima.
I definitely never had a gold Glove, but I was
a finalist a couple of times. I'm like, dang it,
if not for Dustin Perdroit. Every time somebody else, like
Ian Kinsler, I'm like, I might have had a couple.
But it's it's a pretty cool thing to know that
I was kind of one of the guys that was
thrown into that early and and was known for me.
You're you were the you were Yeah, you were the
poster child for that you started that, like he said,
it should be named after you. And I want to
get into we've talked about Joe a little bit, but
like you've been with him the most, what's his best quality.
We've talked so much about how he's kept us loose
and how he handles the media, like you were with
him for so long, like tell us more about him
and Davy.
Dud Okay, Well, Davey was the guy that would try
to make sure that you knew what Joe was thinking.
Before you think you was so important.
Very very good as as a bench coach to know like, hey,
here's what Joe's thinking, just so you know you're not
like shocked because and that was really important, especially as
Joe was an early manager, because he he is an
outside the box thinker and he would do things guys
wouldn't expect sure, and so Davey would help kind of,
you know, you know, gently help you understand, like hey,
just be ready for this, be ready for that ahead
of time. But Joe, I think what made him so good.
And I'll tell this quick story about early my first
road trip in Tampa Bay. We went out we were
playing against Oakla in my first twenty to thirty at bats.
I was hitting like zero point zero five or whatever.
I like one hit in my first twenty at bats
or something.
Now there's anything wrong with that, I go through.
I'll go through.
Everybody goes through.
But I was like struggling, and it was in my head, right,
there's a difference between like you're just working and you're
working the process versus I don't think I should be here.
And that's what I was feeling. And he could see
it in me. He came out during VP as I
was taking ground balls. He said, Zoe, he said, listen,
I can sense that you're pressing a little bit.
He said, listen.
I just want to tell you relax, enjoy this experience.
He said.
Trust me when I tell you this, you are going
to play in this league for at least ten years.
Wow.
And I was two weeks in and I'm like, first
of all, I thought this guy's blowing smoke right right.
You're like, I don't know if I even believe Yeah,
I didn't.
I truly didn't. And he But what I learned over
the years is when Joe puts a guy in a situation,
he believes in you. He is not throwing a guy
out there just like, well, I hope he does well. No,
he believes you can do it, otherwise he wouldn't put
you out there. Another quick story in twenty eleven, craziest
last game one sixty two of the year of.
Any that we can remember.
All there's four important games happening all at the same time.
We're playing the Yankees. We have this great comeback. The
Yankee or the Red Sox are losing to the.
Orioles raves lous in Atlanta. We lost on the last day.
There was so much crazy stuff happening that game. We
were down seven to maybe six or five or something
going into our last out. Dan Johnson, who was a
great hitter in his own time. I mean Dan was amazing,
but that year he had not had a hit for
US in September, since he had had a call up.
We hadn't seen him get a hit since April when
he was with the team in Tampa Bay. Joe called
on him with two outs last batter.
We're like, what are we doing.
Everybody on the bench is like, Dan hasn't had a
hit here, and you're putting the season on this guy's shoulder.
What does Dan Johnson do goes to tie the game
to send us into extras, and I was like, I
will forever not question Joe's decisions.
That's insane.
It was unbelievable. So he had this uncanny ability to
believe in guys that when nobody else was feeling like
they might believe it.
Well, we talked on a couple of these, like the
fact when he moved like Woody out to left field
and brought in Scrope and all.
This, like the stuff you're like, want to Montgomery to
close out Game seven? Yeah, I remember looking down and
we're like, what Monnie's coming head? Yeah right, I mean
Monni was really good for us in the playoffs, but
you just.
You thought it'd bet or like Lack. He was down there. Yeah,
I had all the boys down.
I love and I say this all the time. The managers,
especially in big markets, right, Cubs, Yankees, they have to
deal with so much stuff. Joe has to do with
so much media, all the pressure of not winning. Aaron
Boone had to deal with the Yankees and they haven't
won a long time. So they do really good. The
best I've been around of handling the media. The bench coach, though,
needs to be the one putting out all the fires
in the clubhouse. Hey, Zoe, this is why you're not
playing left today, Zoe. At points you had to be annoyed, right,
That's why I asked you these questions.
In Chicago, but earlier in Tampa.
Totally. Yeah, for a young player, Well you got paid
in Chicago.
Taking day off what.
You can't trade.
I actually they they made Hobby do a lot of
that stuff. Ye, Hobby became the guy that he would
just throw in there.
Which was so great. I remember that We've talked about
that a little bit. And just like because Hobby, like
when Lester pitched, I loved Hobby at thirds somebody you know.
And then KB with d h r K would go
the outfield and Kemby wins the MVP, but a lot
because he moved around to a lot that season, got
you know, his war was super high from playing all
the different positions.
Well, and the bench coaches have to put out those fires.
So the importance of a really strong bench coach, in
my opinion, is one of the most important things on
the coaching stuff. Because of how important Davy was to
our team and what I got to see from my
own personal experience when when you got to spring training
in sixteen coming off a World Series. I remember distinctively
you going around and introducing yourself everyone, Hey, I'm Ben
Yat Like in a way though, that was more than
everyone knows who you are, right, you're a big free
agent signing for us. That is, it was so rare
to see both of you are so good at being
so polite to people. I don't understand it, but what
where did you learn in Leicester? Just sorry, but where
do you Where do you learn that from? Because literally,
when I say he went to I don't even think
you knew who people were. It was either the last
guy in spring training or John Lester. And you were
the same to everyone.
Uh well, some of that was knowing, Hey, this is
not my environment, this is your guys' environment. And and
I wanted to show up and say, regardless of what
anybody's accomplished, like, I'm here because you guys, you guys
are the team and I have to assimilate into your experience.
And I think that's no matter whether you're a veteran
or not. I mean, and I was actually probably a
veteran wallflower on that team more than anything. I mean
I just wanted to do my job well and I
felt really great about we have stars.
We don't need.
Anybody to like you guys have mentioned on a couple
other podcasts we had so many good players, nobody needs
to try to do too much. Yeah, and that was
one of the benefits of that team, And so I
knew part of my job is just to try to
show young players how to do things. You know, This
is what I believe like you should do is go
introduce yourself to people, say hey, let.
Me learn you.
I want to know about you. I want to figure
out you and how you think, how you know your game,
because when we get out there in between the lines,
like I got to know that guy's personality, just like
a catcher needs to know a picture. I want to
know how my outfielders think because I don't want to
run into him out there. I got to know how
my first baseman thinks. I gotta know how my shortstop thinks.
I want to know what can I do to make
his job feel like a little bit easier so that
it's just seamless, Like we're turning that double play and
it's like that or and I just think that if
every play player thinks like that all of a sudden,
it becomes a unit instead of a collection of individual players.
And I felt that from the jump with that teacher,
as much fun as we had, it felt like every guy,
no matter whether it was a veteran guy that'd been
around a salty bet or whether it was like a
young first year guy, it felt like a family. Immediately
in spring training, the way you guys made all of
us new guys feel it felt like this is special.
And Joe kind of set the tone. He makes it fun.
Bussy, Bussy.
I mean, you cannot say enough about how these guys
created the environment.
You guys created our coulture and staff, like we had
a great coach of staff.
Our job was easy when you have that staff and
all those people around the club that are already saying
we're just we're ready to win it.
Yeah, you know, and.
We're talking about it from the from from the jump
and spring the training.
Yeah. Yeah, it's a really good point.
I think the best teams I've been on is probably
saying in Kansas City, like you go in there and
you're seamless, but everybody cares about one another, and you're
you're pulling a little bit harder because you know that
guy's got your back and you and and you've you've
got his. When did you know, I mean you knew
we were good coming in? Did you know we were
you know, once you saw the product in spring training?
Or to take a couple of games. I know you're
trying to a couple of months, like when we were
really really good and we got a chance to do
the whole thing.
Well, you know this too, Like, no matter how good
your team is in spring training, the beginning of the
year really matters.
Yeah, well, we wanted to win the TVs in spring training, right,
we want spring There's an urban legend that if you
win the grape Fruit League or the Cactus League in
spring training, you get these used to be forty inch
TVs when I was coming in. Now it's probably eighty inch.
Yeah, used always be not true.
It's not true. Yea, it's like, oh, well when the
Cactus League is like, no, nobody cares about when the
spring trainees. Yeah, well he cares about when spring Training's
front office as usually as like, we need to win
a couple more dames. We can get the boys Probablyason.
Yeah, everyone's feeling good going an opening day, I think April.
Watching our team play in April from the jump you
could tell and man, what a hit it was. Seeing
Shore we go down that first series was like, ugh,
that was gut wrenching. But watching our team respond to that,
because you you're always going to have injuries in April.
It's it's just gonna happen on every team. But how
your team responds to that and overcoming some tough losses
early is such an important part of creating a new
identity as a team totally. So once that identity, I
felt like that identity was formed. At the end of April,
we were what was seventeen and seven or something crazy like.
Yeah, we started on seventeen and six.
It was we were on fire, and then we won
like nine or ten in a row early May. It
was very clear. I was like, we're going to be
a really good team. Immediately I knew we're a playoff team.
But then you start to go, Okay, what's going to
make us a great playoff team? Because playoff teams are
pretty obvious, but once you've played for a while, But
I think what makes you be able to go from
a great team a playoff team to all of a sudden,
we're going to win in the playoffs, right? Is that hunger?
Like this team was more hungry to go beyond the
first the second round. You guys just went to the NLCS.
Well, and you you experienced a part of that getting
traded over Kansas City. But like they went to the
World Series and lost the year before, so they're so hungry.
We went to the Championship Series, got swept by the
Mets in fifteen. So you come in that offseason, you're
so hungry to get back in that environment. You work
that much hard in the offseason, you come in with
a mission to go further than that that next year.
Two right, yeah, you lost the World Series and won
on the world yeah one two yeah, right, so you
know what it's like to lose. You won one, and
then you come to our team. You really know all
the ends of the spectrum at that point.
And the thing I'm kind of smirking about is like
it's a combo of that that has that feel has
to already be around clubhouse, but you still got to
be a little kooky.
You still got to have a little bit.
Of fun, and you guys had that down. It was
like it was evident.
I'm learning about the drinking and then all the debts
and all that. Yeah yeah, now, yeah, when Zoe hit,
he would do it.
At the at the time, the shake weight was like
the most popular thing. So WHENO was like like two
AM commercials, yeah, so would be would be hitting the
entire time.
Shake We had so many antics on the dugout for
everybody's We were talking the other day about just your
walkout us Charlene Castro's old one where it's like bomb
bom boh. Yeah, like all this stuff and then the
whole dugout's clapping, and I mean we had a group
of characters, coaches included, but everyone had fun.
That's that's the beauty of that team is everyone felt
part of it, right, And that's where you look back
ten years later. Even whenever I think about a team,
I just think about everyone on that team and specific
stories of everyone rallying around that guy. Yeah right, because.
Well the great story of the shakewaight, and the great
story of you. They got so much pub of you
riding your bike to the field, like but were in Uni,
right in Uni.
Yeah it's sick.
Yeah, well and you got you got this one. Not
just our team in the organization, but the fans around
Wrigley when it's going well is electric. I feel that
right now watching the twenty six Cubs, like on a Wednesday,
they're walking off the reds over and over again, and
I'm like, I want to be in the stands right now.
I want to be in that dugout because it's electric
when they're doing that. And you got you know, it
was like all over meet the media. You riding your
bike like that. That was incredible. That was incredible.
Look, the energy is next level. And when you have
all these personalities and that's what the team enables you
to do is like I think I did that after
we clinched, because it's like I'm very much like you said,
I'm a routine guy, and I'm going to be in
my routine and I'm probably not going to break that
very often unless we're having a serious conversation about strategy
that night for who we're facing. However, like if you
can't have fun and step into your personality with that team,
they would get you to do it, Like bussy you
like I called you sometimes. I call you like at
the time in your career you were like the team
fourteen year old. They're like wearing your emotions on your sleeve.
Yeah, oh yeah.
And you have like older guys like you.
Know dad, yeah, yeah, the grandpa or the group Yeah,
we know well.
And I think it all goes back to Joe.
I've never had so much fun with the manager allowing
us to have a life outside of We came in there,
we locked it in, but he wanted us to do
things outside. We had great events for everybody's charity, his
you know, fight nights and all the fun stuff your charity,
Johnny's charity Knights, like, he allowed us to do a
lot of stuff off that, off the field and encouraged
that and us being loose that I thought, let everybody
be themselves, especially the young guys. To your point, we
had a lot of veterans that were kind of saw
Lackey me lester a little bit with routine guys, and
these young guys were so free to do whatever they
wanted because how Joe and then how we treated everybody.
I thought that was the environment that he created for
all of us.
That's just the top notch nice.
When when you rode your bike to the field, though
full uniform to the field, it cut because the years later,
we were still playing together when we went to DC
and I was in full uni. Oh yeah, you were
my inspo. Zoe rode his bike in because Wriggly you're
in the neighborhood. It's so special, and you lived in
the neighborhood, riding the bike with your PF flyers on
and you played in those PF flyers. It was just
it was so iconic for our team and the whole
script of that season, so all that.
You know, that type of stuff. I love baseball history too,
and that's part of why I love Wriggley Field, and
just it is electric and the energy that people continue
to bring. But it's a generational energy. It is not
just the fans are excited because the team's winning this year.
They're excited anytime. They're always excited about a team that's winning,
and they're excited to go to the ballpark regardless of
what's happening. Right So for me, knowing there's kids at
a field close by on a Saturday, I got time.
I don't have to get there early and go through
my routine. I was like, how do I be a
kid like you guys are in the inspiration of being
kids right, like I was not. I would try to
be very professional, but Joe was great at helping everybody
get out of that, all the dress up days and.
All that stuff.
But watching how much fun you guys were having all
the time with this guy, you know, like and just
everybody around the clubhouse. You could have grizzly vets just
kind of like barking at times, but it was always
turned into a laugh. There was always there was so
much laughing. And so I'm like, let's have fun with this, Like,
why not make some make somebody's day, make a little
leaguer's day dress up. I love the Sandlot.
It is.
It is an iconic movie, and it formed a lot
of our childhood memories. For those of us that grew
up in the nineties. Sure, you know, and so it's
that was yeah, not maybe not you I grew up
in the eighties eighty nine, But yeah, it really was
a fun experience. But all that, none of that would
have happened had we not taken care of business.
Sure, sure, you guys, you guys winning helped all that,
Yeah for sure.
Yeah, for sure.
At the end of the day, we knew, we knew
we were going when it was but that was the
beauty of our team because you were so routine oriented.
You were very routine oriented too, didn't play every day,
but angry at guys. You kept guys on top.
Of their boundary boundaries.
There was so many boundaries where yeah it was you said,
he talked so nice about me, the other guys like, well,
Rossie was salty, but it's fine, it's a good salty.
And I was like, it's like boundaries, boundaries.
No, I have a good story about that though. Okay,
if we can jump, yeah, yeah, yeah, jump to the
World Series because I don't know if this has been
talked about yet because I haven't seen every episode, but
like when you came in and said something after Game four,
I don't know if you remember that three one, we
were down three to one, and that the feel of that.
As a player, we all know it, and we all
knew what the stats in the World Series are when
you're down three to one, like to come back when
you got the other best team in the whole league,
with the staff that they have and the offense they
have to try to come back three to one to
a game seven and then win a game seven? Not likely, right,
Just not likely? We already had a lot of things
and and so we knew that when we lost that game,
this is not good, doesn't you know, Kipness I think
had a great game that day, Yeah, Chicago. And he
started and starting to feel like there's a writing on
the wall and good story. Yeah, like how do we
erase what's being written on the wall right now and
try to try to reset? Nobody knows what to do
sometimes in that moment, And we walked in very quietly,
may be as quiet as any team has walked into
a clubhouse I've ever heard. You know, everybody's kind of
shuffling their feet go to their lockers. And it was
I remember silence, and then all of a sudden, no, no, no,
you remember this?
That was it. I think it was Hobby. I don't
remember who did it something yeah, through their glove and
their locker. And I was facing my so I don't
know who I was facing my locker taking my stuff off,
but throwing. But my take on that, and and I
want you to say what I said, but my take
on it was like I couldn't wait for game five.
Because I got to catch Lester.
So I thought that was my last game ever playing baseball, right,
because even if we want and moved on, I didn't
know if I was gonna get in the game. So
I get to I had been looking forward to starting
a game at Wrigleyfield in the World Series, and I
had to wait the first two and sit the bench,
you know, and you're like, wait, I've been looking forward
to this game five for you know, since I played
in Game one. I couldn't wait to get back out there.
So I had hyped that up. And I remember saying
here in Hobby throwing his glove. I was like, no, no, no, no, no,
Like anybody in the world right now that's playing Major
League baseball as at home watching us, would give their
left nut to play tomorrow, right like they would they would.
I was looking forward to that, and so would anybody else.
Like let's don't carry that negative energy. And Joe was
so good about thirty minutes let it pass. But I
heard that and was just like no, no, no, no, like
don't ruin tomorrow, like let's flush this, Like no, we
could do. And I was looking looking forward to that.
But that's funny you remember that because that was a.
Turning point for me, because we were all feeling a
certain way, and everybody knew that this is not a
good feeling. And yeah, you usually lose hard for thirty
or whatever and then you move on. But you were like, no,
this has to be cut off right now. And and
I'll never forget the thing that you said. You said, guys,
you said, how many times have we won three games
in a row this year?
Oh yeah, like not worried at all. Worried like three
games in a row a lot this.
Year, that's right. And you and then you said go home,
be with your family, and you said come back tomorrow
and get ready to play. And and so we we
all did that. We all like, stop, okay, fine, turn
the page. And that changed my feeling at the time
for sure.
And you know, I remember that because you told me that.
So that's like, what's cool because in the moment, you're
just being we're just being ourselves.
I don't remember remember how the rest of my postgame
stuff went. But the next memory I have in the
clubhouse is this guy's button my face as I turned
the corner the next day and the rocky.
Yeah, yeah, it was you gave us some everybody was down.
Oh no, yeah, we were down.
After that.
I was all about it. I loved Rocky m I
just didn't.
What about the advance moves.
Listen as long as as long as you were not
facing me, I was.
It's a nice toush. We didn't want to see anything else, right, Yeah,
we saw the Italian toush well before we skipped to
like just so many of the World Series stuff I want, Like,
I think the turning point for that LA Series and
the championship were BT buddy, like that base ent bunt,
and then we took off. We were scuffling offensively, and
you found a way. That's the baseball mind one, you
being around, knowing how to play every aspect of the game.
We're down to one, right, we're down two to one.
Yeah, game game game four, right, and that base hit
bunt got it all going. Well. You just you were
trying to do anything to get the boys going. Well.
Yeah, I mean I think we were facing I forget
that guy's name, but he was hereous, Yeah, you're and
he had a good change up and he was he
was keeping everybody off balance and we were not hitting
well as a team, like what we were not We
didn't really even do that in San Francisco until the
last inning that series, like we didn't hit the way
we were capable of a double game, putting it all
together right, And so I wasn't feeling well. You know,
I think part of that strategy is also how do
I feel sure? And when my confidence was low as
a hitter, or I was feeling like I'm not seeing
the ball well, or I got to do something to
try to help the team here, And I'm always checking.
Like when I would get up there, especially right handed,
I liked to lay down a butt right handed if
that guy stayed back, So I'm like always looking around.
I didn't like to push the right handed, but if
that guy laid back, especially left you off the mound,
if I didn't think he could bounce off real quick,
that's a tough throw for I. Put in the right spot.
I just like, if I get on base with nobody out,
maybe that's a start. I just never wanted to try
to do too much, and so I think that was
my thought process going in. And he gave me one
up in the zone that I could I could wait
for the last second and then boom, put it there
in that spot, and I you know, it's nice, but
without the guys coming behind you should have good quality
at bat, sure, but yes, it was a start. And
I always prided myself in saying, what can I do.
What's the one thing, the one little thing I can do,
not the big thing, because I'm not a big splash player.
I just need to do the one thing that sets
the table or knocks a guy in or moves a
runner like those are things that a guy that feels
like maybe he's not the best player. I knew that
I could try to.
Do those things. That was great, but that I don't
know if you've seen that bunt. It was a perfect bunch. Yeah,
And Justin Turner playing third base was not that far back,
so there's no room for air there because he came
up and almost made a play.
With your speed. I mean it well, but.
I think the bus that's not can carry it out.
I think the bunt there, Honestly, if you would have
just got a hit, wouldn't have been the same feeling
as this no sneak attack bunt. No doubt what that
did for energetically to our dugout. Yeah right, and was
fired up. And I used to you're talking about get
get the job done, move guys over. I had a
huge John Maylee would always tell me, hey, quit doing
your two strike approach. Try to hit a homer or
hit a double wing on the slug. And I would
always reference the Royals team. I believe it was either
fourteen or fifteen. It was fifteen, seven straight singles to
come back fifteen, Yeah, advance the Astros to win game seven, right,
or whatever.
Game game we were about to go home, Yeah, and
we were about to go seven straight singles.
And I would whenever Melee because that's when slug started
to come into the game. Whenever you would come to
me and say hit for more stuck, I'd be like, no,
I'm just gonna do what I do and I'm gonna
get base hits. And and I would always reference that
Royals team that got seven straight hits singles to win
the game.
And that's how we came back against San Francisco with all.
Those Yeah, those hit double double right, But I mean
a lot of just a lot of contact.
Wilson very purposefully got inside the ball to remove the
runner from second and went up the base hit in
San Francisco. And I think that team understood that it
doesn't have to be one of us.
It just has to.
We just have to do our thing.
Now.
Some of our guys were home run hitters, Like they're
going to hit home runs. You were one of the
best I think at both you could drive the ball,
especially if it's a guy you can drive the ball.
It was a tough lefty and you knew he was
going to give you fits. You choke the heck up,
try to get hit stay inside, yeah to take like yeah,
Like the two strike approach for a power hitter is
really unheard of now, Like I wish more power hitters
would adopt it with two strikes because honestly, I think
that's what makes a championship player. That you know, you
maybe hit home runs and get yourself in the playoffs,
you're not gonna be a championship player until you learned
to do that against the best pitchers in the league.
When I fell in love, we're talking about like the
skill set, like when I managed, Like, you start to
fall in love with contact hitters. I know you need
slug but you those guys that just make it harder
for them to get you out, you know, And then
when you get the postseason, you're facing horses, right, You're
not facing the fours and fives on the team like
you're you're facing they're gonna be Yeah, they're gonna be
the best.
They've had a good year. Yeah. So there they.
Carry them to there and they're locked in the cluebers
and you know the Andrew Millers.
It's not about me, the just I just say that.
Where are your emotions at when we clinch to go
to the world seams right to go. The bunt really
turns us around. Addie has a big game. I start
get going because I didn't really hit until after that game.
The Caesar bat switch switched over the bat. We clinch
the world We're facing Clayton Kershaw. Game six, right, Game
Sixles on the mound, Cole's on the mount. It's electricly
like we kind of win from the jump. Right, you
win a World Series in fifteen, we're going back to
the World Series. You're from Illinois, right, Yeah, from Champagne.
Two hours south.
Yeah. Yeah, So you have a bunch of Cardinals and
Cubs fans in the family. Where's your emotions at clinching?
Oh man?
You know, I knew at that point we were a
part of history. Right, we're going now, this is something
that hasn't been happened. Happened what at the time, maybe
seventy seventy some years it was still the forties, end
of the forties prior to this, I believe forty five maybe, yeah,
something like that. So I was like, wow, like we
have now made history, but it's not gonna be enough.
Like it was still not be enough until we win it, right,
So it was like it is unfinished business. You celebrate
for a moment, right, you celebrate great that night, and
you celebrate the achievement. And we were great at that
as a team. I think you guys have talked about
that before.
We celebrated so much with Davy after every game. We
knew how to go hard and then get back to it.
And then get back to it. So so my emotions, well,
I'll go into the game a little bit when we
clinched because when Meggi hit that grand slam, that that
O two to Granny and I was on base, that
is the loudest I've ever heard, Wrigley saying that was
the loudest that was.
And Joe had had done the cat and mouse with
Dave Roberts with pinch hit and then brings Miggie out
like it was an.
O two like it was like very we were you know,
you're like, oh, I just hope he can get a
little base knock or put the ball in play boom home,
I mean home or and it was a no doubter,
or like he.
Had Kelly Jansen waiting in the pin. He just closer.
Meggie just got epidural that day or a day before
in his back because his back was dead, so we
didn't even know if he was available. And it comes
in and does that.
Maybe he's so clutch and obviously he had you know,
I mean.
Nobody talks about that hit.
You're talking about Game seven, Yeah, yeah, nobody talks about that.
Maybe still another obviously yours is really important, but another one,
just like how the game was going, like the insurance
run and the young guys coming in to close it out,
Like that's why we.
Ended up winning. That's right, you know, because otherwise we'd
just be an extra hitting still still to this day, could.
Still be there. Well, already put a runner on second.
Right now when we were down three to one, right,
you come back, we get the game seven, we're winning.
It seems like everything's going our way in that game.
The way the series is gone the way the flow
of the games have gone, there's no way they're coming back, right,
Like we were up and then Roger hits that home run.
Take me through those I was in left field. Yeah,
I guess so obviously that whole bat, we're all on
pins and needles, even as as players.
Uh.
And And that was not in my mind at all.
That was not my fear.
I had no fear that he was going to hit
a home er there. I was literally like, oh he could.
He could gap one here accidentally and hit a triple right.
That was my biggest fear. It was not a homer.
And when he hit that ball down the line and
I was chasing it, I was like, go fill, go file,
go flo. I'm like yelling that. I'm like, as I'm running,
go foul, Papa. And it hits the camera well, and
I was like, you know, like the air goes out
of your whole body, right, And I remember turning and
kind of being like looking down and then kind of
looking up. And that was the first time I was like,
this curse might be. He said, this is not good,
you know, eraldus And I was putting the pieces together
of what happened in the game. At that point out
in the outfield and I'm like, who, Like, what's going
to turn this around? Like I don't we better go
back and score right away? Like and then we go in.
Not to rush us out of that moment, but that
was for sure We've talked completely deflating, but then to
go back in and have an opportunity to score. We
had an opportunity to score and we didn't do it.
That's where I was like, uh oh, like this.
Could because then Chappi went out for the ninth, which
is how many times have you watched a baseball game
where a guy gives it up in the eighth the
team doesn't score game over game.
And that's what I give Miggie love because like I
was in there calling a million heaters and he clips one.
And then Miggi came in for the ninth, and as
I was sitting on the bench, now he's spinning these
guys to death with Chapion, I'm like, heck yeah, like
they're so on the fastball. I thought Miggi called a
great game, obviously getting the big hit, but a lot
of that is like he had a handle on a
rawness and getting him through that night that's totally everything.
This is a teaching point too for if any baseball
players watching this ROSSI or all this Chapman scouting report
is what he throws right well, Rossi. In the playoffs,
you didn't call one slider, no one slider.
And I didn't catch it. I called all fastballs against
San Francisco and he mode right through them, and then
I didn't catch him again until because I got taken
out game five. When Chappie came in, they put in Wilson,
so I hadn't called him again until game seven. You know,
I was just like in my mind, I'm like, no,
I can hit one hundred, you know, like, and I didn't.
Reports would say that he throws this or that. Yeah,
but if you're paying attention to the game and you're
noticing he's only calling fastballs, yep, that's a huge advantage
as a hitter that didn't sure Scott and report.
For sure, And this guy's report for me said no
sliders to Raj, which you know you're trying to balance
that anyways, I should have called like his splitty, but
I didn't catch you that much, so I didn't trust.
I didn't trust some insecurities You're like, I didn't trust myself,
Like I don't. I hadn't seen this thing, you know,
so thank got it all worked out. It'd be the
ross almost killed him on the bunt and the ball
guys scarp Like I just got in this thing.
Well let me, I mean, I want to know because
we I haven't asked you this question, like around your
feelings when the ball went out, because you're still in there. Yeah,
like how does that feel as a catcher when you
call it and that ball's hit?
I think thing I know about myself, Like I'm usually
like okay, onto the turn the page, onto the next one.
And that was the one where I just kept going
like in my head, I'm like shit, I just kept
getting like you're talking about the wind getting.
Knock not to think back and be like, yeah, what
did I just do?
Yeah? What did what was? You know? How could I
have changed that?
Oh?
God, like this place and you can't hear yourself think
because it's so loud it's rocking, And so I just
kept going like damn, like in my head, like I
couldn't turn the page to the next hitter and start
trying to get out of the inning. I just kept
out of this like overwhelming depression coming over me for
a second, I was trying to get out of that.
Yeah, And I think that's honestly the team feel. Even
Chappie goes out and really just I mean showed the
metal and the strength he has internally to go out
and get them out in the bottom of the night
to preserve it. Yeah, and still he's he's in tears.
Which leads us to how great was the rein de
lay by Jay calling that meeting like what do you
remember about?
Well?
Everybody, like we've said, we were deflated completely, and I
think everybody's minds kept going back to that eighth or
what was it the eighth yeah, eighth an and going
like how how did that just happen? Like we were
all still kind of thinking about like the past, and
as an athlete, you can't do that, like you you
will not be the best version of yourself if you
keep replaying what just went wrong. And I think as
a team collectively, that's what was so powerful about Jay
Hay and his voice, because, as I think you've said before,
his voice meant a little bit more being a veteran
and being that he's not going to speak up unless
he's got something to say.
That's what I think, that's the strongest attribute has he
only said When he says something, it carries a little
more way because he's not a talker.
He doesn't talk that much, and he but he would
say the right thing at the right time.
Sure.
And what was so important to me about what he
did as a teammate is he could have easily been
thinking about what situation he should have been in the
World Series in the instead of he could have been
thinking about himself and selfish, selfishly about like, yeah, well
of course this didn't go well.
Right because I wentn't in there, yeah, or could have
went the selfish route. Selfish so easy for and I
think that's the root of all losing teams is that
when when we get when you start losing, people get selfish,
and when you think about your career, you're in certain
moments in your career and you get selfish, like it's
the worst version of trying to win. Even on a team.
Teams there's only one team that wins the World Series, right,
So even on the teams that I went and finished
second place in the World Series, right, there's still maybe
one or two guys that may be selfish. So it's
the other twenty four to twenty five guys that need
to rally around that side.
Note Riz was happy when I finished second the WBC
and the coaching staff because I could finally he sent
me a video of me. How does it feel, Rossie
to finished second because I I don't go.
To the World STA you always win, I always win.
Yeah.
Yeah, so I finished second in the World Series with
the Yankees, so I sent him on them.
I finished second.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it doesn't it doesn't feel good.
It does not feel good.
I still feel like the first loser.
Yeah.
Do you remember where you were in the weight room
in Cleveland? Were you in the weight room? I so
so the door because I think we were in there
pretty early together with Bussy right or now.
Walk in the door. I don't remember what, like what
number of guy I was walking in, but I remember
kind of where the door comes in. I went to
the corner straight ahead that far in, Yeah, and I
was sitting there kind of like in the middle of
that wall on the backside. I don't remember what I
was sitting on, but I may have been next ye,
But like I remember Jay Hay being on my left
and I remember roll this being one of the last ones.
I walked with him.
Yeah, and I saw the tears and we all saw
the tears, and I was just like, oh, man, Like
you don't see that in baseball very often, and you
know that from him, Like he's a Cuban Cuban superman.
Yeah, Like, look at the guy.
We wouldn't have been there without. I mean, what he
had him and us down down the stretch of the playoffs.
I mean, and Joe was notorious. I had watched him
do this over several relief staffs. When he needed you,
he was going to use you, like it might be
the most appearances you've ever had in your entire career,
and especially the most you have in the playoffs. But
he's going to use you because you're effective. And that's
what he did with the roll of this right, And
it had nothing to do with free agency. He's not
thinking anything else, and this is our best guy. And
so he had been that for us. He had done
everything we'd asked him to do and more, which is
why I'm so glad he's still pitching and pitching well,
I mean, he deserves everything that he gets.
I just saw him in Boston yesterday.
But he was crying and we're like, oh, like, what's
in Jay Hay being the guy who doesn't say anything,
He's standing and some a lot of us are just
sitting and I'll never forget kind of the feel. And
maybe I don't have the words exactly right, but the
feel was fellas everything that just happened. Like he's said,
none of that matters right now. What matters is what
we believe. And he said all year long, we've had
each other's back. That's in between the lines. We have
had each other's backs. And I remember Hiven turning in
to Chappie at a moment, or maybe this was somebody
else that said it, because there are other people talked
after this, but it was said, you've had our back
all year. We got yours, Like we're gonna do this
because you've gotten us here, right, so don't you worry
for a minute. And I remember him saying it's zero zero.
And I think when you have a leader in the
situation he was in say the right thing at the
right time. That goes back to what you said in
game four, and it refocuses that is such a high
mental skill fortitude, like you have to be able to
have that intelligence to know here's what the team needs,
and you say the right thing at the right time,
and then everybody else around the room said multiple things.
I didn't say word. I didn't say anything, but there
were several guys that did.
But it flipped me, Like you're talking about the feeling
totally change changed.
We walked out of there like the Little Giants after halftime, right,
remember a lot of times speech the Little Giants like
we felt route we were pumped up again. Everyone got
their color back. I feel like everyone was a ghost
when they hit the homer.
Hey, that's what you said that.
I was like, that's exactly right.
That is a great analogy, and I think the life
came back into us. And the timing, that's what felt
so spiritual and divine about it, is like when we
were done talking, they were knocking on the door and
the tarp.
Was being pulled. Yeah, seventeen minutes.
That's what's so crazy to me is when could that
possibly happen where we need this really important moment to
refocus and change things, and exactly the amount of time
nobody puts a tarp on the field for seventeen minutes.
Joe, thank you, Joe, he said, Joe West, he said,
every time he sees him, He's like, Joe, how does
it feeling to call the greatest.
Empire, greatest, sweetest empire in the history of the game.
Joe us, thank you.
Okay, so we come out. I've seen you break down
the bat. They walk, Riz gets on shore. We have time.
We pincher on KB hits what would be a home
run four innings earlier to dead center that gets caught
at the wall. Al Mora with the insane taging that yes,
no way a rookie should be doing no, and he
did it.
I can't believe it's still the walk.
Riz Well, I knew.
Look, I knew when Al tagged and got to second,
I was like, what decision do you make if you're
a manager? You want to face Anthony Rizzo? Do you
want to face Benzo.
When he had just gotten hot in the home run?
Yeah, I'm like, this is a no brainer. And Shaw.
I don't know what your numbers were against Shaw going
into that at bat, but you're great at staying inside
the ball. I'm not so great. No, I'm so if
you look at my career balls that I hit to
left field or the place where that ball was hit.
I could probably count on these two hands.
How many times that might eddy lefty right.
It's very hard to go down that line unless you're
an inside the And I rolled over more balls than
I can count. And I had done that against Shaw
previously at pop up roll over, and so I just no,
and I knew. I was like, okay, I have to
like they're gonna walk ris. I knew that immediately. I'm like, okay, well,
all right, well what's your focus. I knew ahead I'm
gonna stay inside of it, even this is not my strength,
and I'm gonna stay in if I do anything. If
he comes swaying, I'm gonna hit that thing like this,
you know, like I'm gonna do everything I can to
get it to that side of the field. And uh,
you know it was it was he gave me just
enough of the plate on that that last two strike
one to like yeah.
What you could see is like shake wait, shake way
shake wait, well you know what you threw your hands
like inside it was like perfect. That was it.
That's so crazy to hear because any any if if
I'm hitting in that situation, it's gonna be really if
they didn't walk me, it's not about me. I would
it would be so hard to just try to get
a base hit and not hit the home run, because
you grow up as a kid saying in that position
like it's the home run you hit to win the
World Series, right, sure. So the fact that you were
able to be up there and be disciplined to say,
I'm just going to stay inside this baseball in the
biggest game of baseball history, in the last time, well.
Okay, Well that's where some of the veteran part of
me comes out, because you know, when you've been in
playoff situations before big ones, and I had had it
in Philly, and I'd had it in Tampa Bay several times.
We got beat by Texas several years, and I had
a lot of playoff experiences up to that point and
felt like really big, important at bats for the season,
last at bats for the season. And I knew at
that point if I tried to do something special, it
was not going to go well.
Like I knew.
It was like I got to block everything out, like
I talk, I tell it, experience, silence, everything else except
for amplifying the one thing.
You know, you need to do.
And for me, in that moment, I knew staying inside
the baseball was the one thing I needed to do.
I wasn't sitting on any pitch with that cutter. He
didn't throw the slider to left eas he only threw
to Riety's. It's like he's throwing the cutter. He's just
gonna spot up and I don't know where it's gonna go,
but he can spot up with it. So I'm like,
even if it's hard in I'm gonna try everything I
can to stay inside that thing. And I went into
a weakness which was not that was not a strength
of mind, because I knew that was gonna give me
the best chance of doing something good. Now, something I
learned a few years ago from Jon Gomes who was
with the Cubs.
A few years ago.
He told me, Hey, did you know this That two
pitches before that, we moved romy two steps to his
left towards second base two pitches before that. So if
if I had hit that same ball in the same
location two pitches before that, it would have been a
backhand double play.
Wow, Hey, you know what I mean?
Sometimes, Oh, that's insane.
That's that's what I thought, well, and then the iconic
picture of him looking at you like, I mean, when
I hit the ball, you're not an emotional guy. I'm not.
And so when I got emotional a second and my
helmet flew off, and I looked at the bench and
everyone's going freaking nuts, and I look over Riz.
I'll never forget that. Yeah, yeah, that's what I was
because I knew, like again, that was it. We just
won the World Series. Literally right then and there. I thought,
oh my, oh my god, we are going to win
the world Yeah.
I mean, and and I knew here's a crazy thing.
Like I'm leading off. Second, I was still in that moment,
you know, you know, you talk about being in a
tough moment and you're going back in the past. I'm
like still, like how did that happen? I'm like, leading off,
how did that happen?
You know?
And then Meggy, it's the ball. I probably got a
bad jump. Sorry, Miggy, I probably got a bad jump
on that because of that. But I'm like, what what
did what just happened?
You know, it was just we all were going crazy.
Man, Well I'm I win, will we win? And you
get the World Series? MVP?
Thank you.
Wouldn't happened if.
You thank god, thank god you.
Well, I did give you a ride in the car
the next spring training he.
Did, so that's you took. I know that you took
road to us.
Oh camp, but with our uniforms on.
Yeah, yeah, I wish it.
And they were like, there's Rizzo and Obris.
It was like and then his car.
That's sick a little bit better on that ride.
But how cool is that to get the car shout
out Chevy for.
Yeah man right, yeah yeah, and the actually for for
Champion four my nonprofit. We're giving it away this year,
no way. Yeah, there's a sweep steaks that people can
enter and I can't wait for that. That's gonna happen
in October, hopefully while the Cubs are making an incredible
playoff runty hot. That's when that's when I'm giving it away.
So when what's his name and Happy Gilmore stole the
green jacket, I'm gonna bid on it.
I should have been.
Yeah, put up with fifteen do? That's so much like
you got a little cash do thirty? I got to
you're taking great vacations now, but you should have a
little bit left. So so no, for real, like like
I think there's seventy five one hundred miles on the
car only like I barely have driven this thing over
ten years, so it's pretty spanking news.
That's cool. You're gonna get that away and when you're
Charity Champion, Forward.
Champion, Forward Champion, Forward Dot check it out.
Just an idea. Maybe maybe we drive that into Chicago
and when they introduce you, you roll in in the Camaro.
That's right.
I like that.
Yeah, like into the into the field and make it happen. No, no,
not to do that, but but that so that car.
I'll never forget that moment because it was so weird,
like you know, you were being carried off the field.
We're hugging everybody, and I turned and like I'm hugging
this guy. I'm like, wait, that was Eddie Vedder And
now I'm like hugging.
Like like who was it?
There was? Oh yeah, Bill mur Murray.
I'm hugging all these celebrities. I'm like where did these
people come from? Like it was so crazy and amazing,
but I just felt like I'm this is kind of
had imposter syndrome, like this shouldn't be me, Like this
should be Anthony Rizzo. This should be Chris Bryant, this
should be Hobby By, this should be somebody John Lester,
somebody that is a better player than me. But I
felt like it was just kind of such a like
this is a team of stars, and I don't know
how God put me in a situation where I'm like
winning the World Series that hasn't been won for one
hundred and eight years and I'm around these guys, Like
I still am like pinching myself that I get to
sit here and just we're talking about this. How was
I well involved in this?
The thing I was going to wait till the end
to say and get my words for this is tougher
for me. But I think like you took the words
out of my mouth, Like you were a man of
faith and led our chapel and our group and were
the guy that carried yourself in a way that was
a lot of respect and carry that godly faith everywhere
you went. I think that's got a lot to do
with it. Like I believe I got a strong faith,
and I think that's something that you represented in a
great way.
And I think like God put you in the moment
that he expected.
You to come through and you did.
Thanks for saying that, and I feel that way. I
still feel like what why me in a lot of ways,
but I'm not complaining.
You know it, and it's it's been a fun ride it,
But tell you why. Though you were prepared, Yeah, you
were accountable, you were honest, you were a great teammate,
and when you were ready, when you were in that position,
not one person on our team was like, fuck is
overs is off?
It was.
Yes, yeah, you know the bass and you know it's
going to be a good at bat professional, you know,
you know everything that Ben's overs was about on the
basement because you're pro.
That means, that means a lot. It really doesn't and
you can't you know. I think all of us understand this,
and I know this about you guys as teammates. It's
like nobody does that alone. You cannot put yourselves in
those situations. You also can't be the best version of
yourself unless you have great people around you. And I
think that was what we understood very early with that team,
that these are great people. These are people you want
to win with, you want to lose with, Like if
you're gonna lose, you want to lose with people that
you believe in, that believe in you, that have your back,
that are going to say the right thing at the
right time. They're going to kick in the pants when
you need it. They're gonna lift you up, They're gonna
make you laugh like it's all the things that a
great team is made of. And we had it all.
We really had it all.
We had it all, and that's how we did historic stuff.
Man. But I mean, I don't the celebration was amazing.
We get to celebrate. We're doing this because it's been
ten years and one hundred and eight year curse was
broken ten years ago and I can't wave to celebrate
your line.
Thank you, Thank you to you for being the World
Series MVP and for signing with the Cubs and for
being hey man, Beny Probistro the best. In my opinion,
that's the best compliment you can get in a in
a baseball uniform is be called being called a pro.
So your nickname being Penny Benny Pro was just always me.
So thank you.
That's a that's a wrap. I love everybody, the love union.
You guys are the best ten year World Series Anniversary podcast.
Ben Zobrist
Boom brow awesome bro