Latest / The 3-0 Take / Josh Sborz
Transcript
- 0:00Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Three O Take, where we talk
- 0:04all things Major League Baseball.
- 0:06Here's Kyle Carlin and Nate Reyes.
- 0:10It all starts right now. All right, we are here with
- 0:16World Series champion, College World Series champion.
- 0:21And I would argue most important 2008 AAU 15 U National Champion.
- 0:30Shout out, shout out. MVTVL stars our friend Josh
- 0:35Bors. Josh, how you doing?
- 0:36How's? It going guys.
- 0:39It's been a minute. For those of you that don't
- 0:42know, 'cause I feel like I've mentioned it a time or two on
- 0:45the podcast already. Josh and I played travel ball
- 0:49back when we were in 8th grade, oh, 8th, that would have been
- 0:558th grade. That would have been going right
- 0:57into high school. And then that's pretty much
- 0:59where I peaked. And I mean, I went on to play
- 1:01college ball, but Josh went on to do much bigger and better
- 1:04things as I mentioned College World Series champ and now World
- 1:10Series champ. You know, we're going to get
- 1:11into the talk about the the World Series stuff, but let's
- 1:15let's look at what went into that process.
- 1:21And I'm going to open up. I'm going to open up by asking
- 1:24you about this whole Creed thing.
- 1:27I just we need to get that out there.
- 1:28We need to get that out there right off the top.
- 1:30Explain to me what this whole Creed business was about,
- 1:34because that took over the baseball world.
- 1:36All right, so a lot of monotony, right?
- 1:39Long season we we listened to music before the game.
- 1:45It kind of fluctuates. We hit AI.
- 1:47Don't know how many games in a row we lost like 10 or 11.
- 1:52So Andrew Heaney was just like, we need to mix this up.
- 1:55We need to mix, mix up the mixtape and turns on Creed.
- 2:00I think we turned around and snapped off like five in a row,
- 2:03something really good. And then it just slowly started
- 2:07to stick. Like more guys wanted to listen
- 2:09to it and you know, I think he put it out to the public and
- 2:14then, you know, all our fans started singing during the game,
- 2:17but you know, nothing crazy was came out of it.
- 2:21But it was more of just kind of naturally occurring.
- 2:24You know, like I said, a lot of monotony.
- 2:26It's a long season and just kind of breaking it up, something you
- 2:29haven't heard in what, 10/15/20 years.
- 2:32I mean, it's pretty old song, but you know, it's just kind of
- 2:36took our minds off the game and you know, made us closer as a
- 2:39team. I guess, you know, nothing,
- 2:41nothing crazy. Was it received well by
- 2:44everybody? Because I feel like.
- 2:45It could be rather polarized. Took a while, took a while.
- 2:49But you know, you you get a little superstitious with
- 2:53winning and losing. And we played it and we won that
- 2:56first game after losing 10. I don't know how many it was,
- 2:59but you know, then we're like got to listen to it win, got to
- 3:02listen to it and we just kept, kept winning, so can't change it
- 3:06what's what's working right. So keep it simple like Creed.
- 3:10Are you guys aware that like they they're like back on tour
- 3:13now because of this, like Creed is like they're going all in
- 3:19now? I will say they went to a game,
- 3:22I think against Houston and we got absolutely clobbered.
- 3:27I remember seeing that. I was like, yeah, that's they
- 3:29finally come out of hiding and that's not a that's not a good
- 3:31look for them. We like your music, just not
- 3:33kind of the games, you know? Yeah, that's crazy.
- 3:36I mean, that's kind of like what?
- 3:38That's like what the Phillies, that what's his name, Calcum
- 3:41Scott or whatever, the dance number.
- 3:43The guy got like a billion streams off that just from,
- 3:47like, Philly fans. And you got that was my wedding
- 3:50song. You got all of Texas just single
- 3:54handedly reviving creeds. I mean, I don't know how much or
- 3:57how little they needed the help, but I mean single handedly just
- 4:00bringing them back to the spotlight.
- 4:02So I'm all, I'm all about it. I'm a fan.
- 4:05You mentioned the Astros. What was the what was the vibe
- 4:09around the clubhouse coming down the stretch, You know, the the
- 4:15divisions kind of slipping away and then the last day of the
- 4:19season, you know, obviously it it slips through the cracks.
- 4:23A little bit. I mean, listen, that team's been
- 4:26the best team in our division for 10 years now, you know, per
- 4:30SE. Close.
- 4:33So we knew that, you know the ball was in our court the whole
- 4:35time and we didn't have the easiest schedule, but we had, we
- 4:39had our chances against the Angels, right?
- 4:42We had four games against them and I think we had four games
- 4:45against Seattle to close it out. You know we didn't play super
- 4:50well in LA, so I think we only took one game right?
- 4:54And we needed, we knew before the Seattle we had to win two to
- 4:57get in two to clinch, but lost the first game on in the 8th
- 5:04inning. Really frustrating for us
- 5:06because they, you know how the club bees prepare, they tarp the
- 5:09whole clubhouse. So we were coming in and you
- 5:11could see that they were taking it off.
- 5:13So it kind of kind of upset us a little bit that we didn't get to
- 5:16cherish that moment. I think we lost game 2-3 game
- 5:21set four-game set. We won the 2nd to last day and
- 5:26obviously we celebrated, enjoyed it, but we knew, we knew we had
- 5:29to win on on Sunday and so came into that game locked in.
- 5:34I mean no one really partied. We celebrated.
- 5:37You know, we we sprayed champagne everywhere, drank some
- 5:39beer. But you know next day everyone
- 5:41was ready to roll and you know, honestly, they just beat us and
- 5:45they won one. Nothing.
- 5:46Kirby pitched. I mean, I felt like you get a
- 5:49pitched all nine. He just dominated us, you know?
- 5:52But I think that loss and us not clinching us, clinching it
- 5:56fueled us because we had a 5 1/2 hour flight from Seattle to
- 6:01Tampa. And I think we were just really
- 6:03upset. We were just sulking in it the
- 6:05whole flight. You know, we didn't get our five
- 6:08days off in Texas like we wanted to.
- 6:11So you know, I think I think it worked out in our favor.
- 6:16Obviously we won, but you know I I think just that loss on the
- 6:20last day of the year to get you that clinch really fueled us and
- 6:25it put us to a different level. I think our focus, you know,
- 6:28our, our. I mean, I call it pissing us,
- 6:31but we were pissed every single day, every time, every game we
- 6:34had to play. We were just, we were a
- 6:35different breed, you know. We relaxed and come game time we
- 6:38were just ready to kill everybody.
- 6:41I wanted to ask you, 'cause like, obviously the whole I
- 6:45don't. I think there's some baseball
- 6:46fans that either hate or use this term all the time.
- 6:51But like the team that's early, right?
- 6:55Like, they're performing before. They were expected to show up
- 6:58kind of thing. Obviously the Rangers were kind
- 7:01of slept on. You know, just I know they made
- 7:04some big moves in the offseason, brought on some big guys, but
- 7:07like, hey, they're not quite ready yet.
- 7:09We're not expecting them to do much.
- 7:11And then you guys just take off in the first half.
- 7:15What was it like kind of coming back down to earth?
- 7:20Like, kind of walk me through what it was like saying, OK,
- 7:23like, hey, maybe we are a little too early for this.
- 7:25Maybe we are a little too young. Like, what was the thought going
- 7:28on? Like, what was the clubhouse
- 7:29like? I mean, yeah, I mean, I think
- 7:34even in 2022 we were top five scoring offenses, right?
- 7:39So like, we already had that on pretty much on lockdown in
- 7:43Simeon and Seeger didn't even have great years, right?
- 7:46So I think going in 23, we knew the weakness was going to be our
- 7:49pitching, right? It was like how how many innings
- 7:52can our starters eat? What's our depth look like in
- 7:54the bullpen? So I think, I think the first
- 7:57half of the year, I mean I know if we look at winning records
- 8:01against the opposing teams, the first half against us was a lot
- 8:06easier, a lot of losing records, you know, a lot of double UPS
- 8:09against, you know, the Royals play the A's a lot.
- 8:11So you know, I think we were we, we dominated from two straight
- 8:16months. We absolutely hit the crap out
- 8:17of the ball. We pitched enough to win games,
- 8:20but I think we came out of the All Star breaks still doing OK.
- 8:26We were starting to skid a little bit.
- 8:27I think guys were wearing out, Me personally, I was, I was
- 8:30toast at the All Star break and you start playing good teams and
- 8:35you play them a lot and you know that's when the grind starts.
- 8:38You know, I think first two months of the season is pretty
- 8:41relatively easy. I think most people would agree
- 8:43and it's you getting those dog days the last 2-3 months and
- 8:47your body feels awful every single day and you're just, you
- 8:50know, you just try to put your head down and look.
- 8:51But you know, I don't think there was ever too much doubt
- 8:56about how good we could be. We just kind of knew, you know,
- 9:00our ebbs and flows of the game. We were just really struggling
- 9:03at that time and you know we knew we just had to get through
- 9:06it stay close. You know, I think that was the
- 9:08benefit of us having a large lead in the first half was we
- 9:12were able to struggle and we weren't able like we didn't we
- 9:16didn't have to put pressure on ourselves because it we still
- 9:18had time. You know and you know sure
- 9:20enough we didn't win the division.
- 9:22But you know, happens it's baseball and it's hard and you
- 9:25know I think Houston played extremely well for the last two
- 9:29months and we just didn't you know.
- 9:30So I think you you just got to know that it's a long season
- 9:34there's going to be those those times where nothing goes right
- 9:37for you ever, right. And you just got to keep going
- 9:40with it, stick with it and, you know, stick together as a team.
- 9:43And I think that was the biggest part for us was we stuck
- 9:46together the whole time. You know, I think when we were
- 9:48losing, the guys were still the same.
- 9:50When we were winning, we were still the same.
- 9:52And just being that cohesive group, you hear that a lot.
- 9:55But I mean, our team had fun, we had fun, we competed, we did
- 9:59stuff off the field together. I I think that's why we won,
- 10:03because those moments never got too big or too low and we just
- 10:06kind of stayed even the whole way through.
- 10:10You mentioned the group that you're playing with.
- 10:13You would obviously be able to speak to a better, but from our
- 10:16perspective that looked like a rather fun bunch to be around.
- 10:21What talk to me a little bit about what that group was like
- 10:26on the field, off the field in those lows, in those highs like
- 10:31I mean you you mentioned it yourself monotonous long season.
- 10:35Yeah, I'm sure you need some some fun mixed in there.
- 10:37And it seems like that got that group was a good bunch for that.
- 10:40I think just the pure competitiveness of our team, no
- 10:45matter what it was, was, was what made it fun.
- 10:49I mean, we played cards, ping pong, any game you could
- 10:52imagine, like we have a little hoop on the wall.
- 10:55You got guys betting. I think just those little games
- 11:01where you know that switch of I'm going to win this constantly
- 11:05never ends, you know, So you play some ping pong, you know,
- 11:09you compete, you try to beat them and then you go take it
- 11:11into the game. So we just never, that switch
- 11:14never turned off. And I think, you know, see why
- 11:17the people he brought in, everybody was a dog, you know,
- 11:21everybody wanted to win, you know, no one was rude.
- 11:23Good families, good people. And you know, everyone kept it
- 11:28pretty light. You know, there's no real
- 11:29screamers. We just kind of did our thing
- 11:33and just stay together. I want to let's let's let's give
- 11:39you an opportunity to support a dude that probably gets entirely
- 11:45too much hate from baseball fans if you.
- 11:49Were I mean, I. Would if you were to try to flip
- 11:52the script on Jacob degrom and just flip the script on like who
- 11:57he is and like get fans to understand like, hey, this guy
- 12:01is legit. Like, what would you say to
- 12:03like, try and change the minds of fans that are like, he can't
- 12:07stay healthy, he's not worthy, like all this kind of stuff?
- 12:11I mean one, he's one of the greatest people I've ever met.
- 12:15Like he signed. I don't know how much money, a
- 12:18lot of money, $175 million contract I think, right?
- 12:22And he walks in the clubhouse and you wouldn't know that.
- 12:25And I think he's just one of the nicest, genuine guys.
- 12:28Great family, likes to have fun, hangs out with everybody.
- 12:32But I mean, listen, starting pitching is hard one, you know,
- 12:37so injuries are always going to occur.
- 12:38But I think he just kind of had one of those.
- 12:41He was with the Mets. The Mets were in that winning
- 12:44phase of their of their group and he just wanted to come back
- 12:48every single time. And he feel like he may have
- 12:51rushed it, you know. And he even tried to do it for
- 12:54us because he's that kind of guy.
- 12:55He's a competitor and he wants to be out there.
- 12:57I don't know how many times he, he said like this is, this is
- 13:01the worst thing for me just sitting out here watching so say
- 13:06that he's happy about being heard.
- 13:08It's just the most off thing you could say about the guy because
- 13:11he's he wants to be out there. And I mean obviously we want him
- 13:14out there because I don't think I've seen a picture in my life
- 13:18that's like him. The guy is just he could wake up
- 13:22and throw 100. He could wake up and not pitch
- 13:25for three months and still be the greatest pitcher I've ever
- 13:27seen. I mean it's it's electric, it's
- 13:29special Unicorn, you know? So yeah, I think there is a lot
- 13:35of hate for him about his injuries.
- 13:36But again, it's it's sports and stuff's going to happen and he
- 13:41had what, 4 consecutive years with 200 innings.
- 13:44I don't think people understand the toll that that causes
- 13:48people. And then you include the
- 13:49playoffs for those Mets teams. You know, he's pitching two or
- 13:52three times, throwing 120 pitches in October.
- 13:56So I think, you know, it just just wore him out.
- 13:58It happens to a lot of guys, you know, I think when you're the
- 14:03best pitcher in the the game, right, and you're hurt, you're
- 14:06going to get more hate. Just it's just natural.
- 14:09When you're the best, there's always haters, right?
- 14:11The better you get, always more and I think it just shows how
- 14:15good he is. But it is frustrating to watch
- 14:17how how people talk about him and you know, it's I think, I
- 14:21think this was the best thing for him.
- 14:23It's going to give him a year, a whole year off.
- 14:26Get that body right, you know, and just restart it.
- 14:28I think if you get 3-4 years out of Jacob degrom healthy, it's
- 14:35worth it. It's worth every penny because I
- 14:36do this. He's special.
- 14:39Give me a little peek behind the curtain because you mentioned
- 14:41earlier, like you were toasted by All Star break and you're
- 14:44talking about, you know, the the wear and tear of a 200 inning
- 14:47season, that kind of thing. Like, talk to me a little bit
- 14:51about obviously the arm gets fatigued, duh.
- 14:56Like throwing a baseball's so unnatural.
- 14:58Like according to our anatomy. But talk to me a little bit
- 15:03about, like, what that wear and tear is like.
- 15:06Is it the legs? Is it the back?
- 15:08Like what is it? It's everything.
- 15:12You know, I think those first two months you kind of feel
- 15:15good, right? You feel great, body's moving
- 15:18good. You know, you recover well.
- 15:21But then it just slowly, you know, day by day just kind of
- 15:24catches up with you. And you know, when throwing 97
- 15:28used to be at 80%, now throwing 90 sevens at 90%, right?
- 15:32So there's just that more, more effort.
- 15:35You're going to get more tired when you start trying hard and
- 15:39then it and then it kind of gets into your mental aspect of man,
- 15:44I'm getting tired, I need to throw this pitch better and it's
- 15:48it's that tough part of managing effort and control, right.
- 15:52You start trying to Max out how hard you throw, start spraying
- 15:55balls, these dudes don't mess. So it's it's just, to me,
- 16:00personally, I think it's a mental grind, especially being a
- 16:02reliever because it's an everyday thing.
- 16:05I think for starters is a little more physical just because you
- 16:09know they are going out and throwing 7 innings, 5 days off,
- 16:12Do it again. But I I think it's just a
- 16:14balance of both. And you know, it's, you know,
- 16:18when you have a good locker room, I'll bring it back up.
- 16:21You know, you go in there, you don't feel as good.
- 16:23But you know your boys are there, your friends are there.
- 16:26You know, people you care about are there.
- 16:28You end up feeling a little better.
- 16:29You know, you want to fight. You know, the fight becomes
- 16:32easier. But yeah, it's a nonstop.
- 16:35And so it's you get used to it, but you never truly get used to
- 16:39it, right? And it's you got to embrace it,
- 16:41I guess. You know, you got to enjoy the
- 16:43the UPS and the downs, 'cause you know, you are going to
- 16:46struggle. I I mean, I sucked for a month.
- 16:48I absolutely sucked. But you know, I stayed in it
- 16:51and, you know, great things came out of it.
- 16:55Talking about that emotional physical toll, is there somebody
- 16:59in particular that gave you extra headaches that added to
- 17:03that toll this year that you just couldn't to get?
- 17:09Past I mean, most of my wife keeps me pretty even keeled.
- 17:13She's got a really good good feel with you know how I'm going
- 17:16to act based on my performance. I guess.
- 17:21You know sometimes it's, you know personally me I guess, you
- 17:24know sometimes I get a little try to do too much.
- 17:27You know when you lose the game, it's going to really piss you
- 17:30off, especially as a reliever. Like as a reliever, if you
- 17:35pitch, if you pitch well, you're generally not going to get
- 17:37noticed right until the playoffs.
- 17:40The only times your notice is if you suck right, you lose the
- 17:42game. So, like those those moments
- 17:45kind of just stay with you for a while, but but hitter wise.
- 17:49Like, is there anybody? Anybody.
- 17:52Just Molly Whop. Me.
- 17:54Yeah, Whether. Whether I you can look at it
- 17:57either this year or just over the course of your career that
- 18:01in particular have given you a little bit of a headache.
- 18:04Statistically and I if I I have to face them multiple times for
- 18:08me to like really, you know put them on my list.
- 18:12I mean the Bregman, Correa combo.
- 18:18I don't want to know what Bregman's heading off me, but
- 18:21it's. I bet it's around 700 some.
- 18:27I think he has two double S but it's just so frustrating at bat.
- 18:30I struck him out in game five and I just absolutely lost it.
- 18:37It was a ball, absolute ball. Probably 2 balls out of the
- 18:41strike zone. Umpire called in just straight
- 18:43fist pump just because I got him out.
- 18:48Correa till, I mean those two guys just kind of, they just
- 18:51kind of hit the craft out of me. That's frustrating too, because
- 18:54they're both righties, you know, you're supposed to get right.
- 18:57He's out, I think. I think those two guys probably
- 19:01have the best numbers against me, and it's not really close.
- 19:05What is it? About Bregman, is it, is it the
- 19:07short arms? I feel like the hitters with
- 19:09short arms can typically hold their own.
- 19:11I mean. He's a really good hitter in the
- 19:16sense that he has a hole and he's going to if if you put it
- 19:22there, 3 * 3 out of five probably going to get them out.
- 19:26But if you don't execute that pitch in regards to throwing it
- 19:30as a, you might execute a slider but it's a ball and he's not
- 19:32going to swing at it And so he sticks to his plan.
- 19:36He never gets off of it And so you know you leak one anywhere
- 19:40near the middle of the zone single, you know he's he's not a
- 19:43guy that's going to go up and try to hit a nuke, right.
- 19:46So I think those guys are already harder to face just
- 19:49because they're there to do their job right.
- 19:52And you know, and sometimes I just don't execute pitches and
- 19:58he hits them, you know and I he knows his role, right.
- 20:00He's 2 hitter hitting behind Alvarez.
- 20:04He's just trying to set that table so he can do damage and
- 20:08he's really good at it, you know, and I just can't seem to
- 20:13get him out. Let's.
- 20:17Let's shift gears here because I know you don't have too much
- 20:20time, but let's let's talk this postseason run because I think,
- 20:26ourselves included, I don't think there was too many people
- 20:31at the start of the year that projected the season going the
- 20:34way it did, especially for you guys and obviously with the way
- 20:38it ended. But you get.
- 20:40To October. You.
- 20:43We we already talked about coming up a little short there
- 20:47with the division speak a little bit to.
- 20:53Jumping. Right into it because there is a
- 20:55whole national debate and it's been going on for some time now
- 20:59about the time off versus jumping right into it, the
- 21:02benefits or the pros, the cons to be in a division winning team
- 21:06versus A-Team that just like I said, just jumps right into it.
- 21:09You guys were obviously one of those teams.
- 21:10You went to Baltimore which we were there for and as at one
- 21:17point our lives pre like nationals and our Red Sox,
- 21:20Yankees fan hoods before those developed Nate and I were OS
- 21:25fans. We lived at Camden Yards.
- 21:26So we're hoping you know this is exciting for Baltimore.
- 21:29It's exciting for Camden and you all just rolled in and and just
- 21:33swept them out of the building. So that thank you for that I
- 21:36guess. I mean, that was it didn't make
- 21:38for a great baseball. But I'm sure you all weren't
- 21:40competing. But speak a little bit to just
- 21:43jumping right into it and and whether or not you felt that
- 21:46that helped or that hindered your all's yours.
- 21:49Yeah, I think. It's, I mean there's two
- 21:52viewpoints, I guess the standpoint of recovery, right,
- 21:55like you're going to be able to send your guys out.
- 21:57I mean, we were fortunate that our order was pretty close to
- 22:02what we needed, needed it to be in regards to facing Tampa.
- 22:07We ran out Vivaldi and Montgomery, right?
- 22:11So or Tampa, Yeah. Tampa excuse.
- 22:15Me. Yeah.
- 22:15Yeah. Sorry, I thought you went.
- 22:16Straight to Baltimore. I completely forgot about the
- 22:18the race series. Yeah, so everyone.
- 22:20We lucked out in regards to our order being right the way we
- 22:24wanted to from the start. So I think the only downside, I
- 22:31guess the upside of having five days off is your guys are all
- 22:35fresh and you know your order is going to be right.
- 22:41You're starting, starting staff will be right.
- 22:45The downside is it's different from what you're used to, right?
- 22:49You you're used to playing every single day, maybe off day every
- 22:5310 days or so. So kind of breaking that
- 22:56routine, that schedule just the mental side of relaxing, you
- 23:02know you you turn your brain off for five days, that is a lot of
- 23:05time off. Obviously you're still going to
- 23:07practice, but it is different and you know obviously for us
- 23:14coming down into the hunt at the end, I mean we were we were kind
- 23:18of just running through arms. We were just trying to you know
- 23:21get through it. So with our one day break we
- 23:24just you know we got, we took our off day, most guys went to
- 23:28practice, we played catch. So that was it.
- 23:31So but again it's it's still routine.
- 23:34You're used to just kind of being in that.
- 23:38And yeah, so I I get both viewpoints.
- 23:41I I understand people's issues with it.
- 23:44But Houston didn't have a problem with their first series,
- 23:47right? They they'd be Minnesota pretty
- 23:50handedly. So it's it's a tough argument I
- 23:55guess. You know, people want to talk
- 23:58about it. They always need something to
- 23:59talk about it. And it is worth noting
- 24:01statistically, those teams are struggling now and obviously the
- 24:08MLB is going to want the big teams in there.
- 24:10You know, the Yankees, the Braves, Dodgers.
- 24:15But you know it's a sport, right?
- 24:18And you got to win games and it's not simple.
- 24:20You know, it doesn't matter if you have 12 days off or 10
- 24:23minutes off, you just got to win the game.
- 24:25And that's that's all it is. You know, keep it simple.
- 24:30That was the only part. Of that question, right.
- 24:33Yeah, no. And like I said, I completely
- 24:36forgot. And I completely forgot about
- 24:38the Rays series. And Nate reminded me like, yeah,
- 24:41the Rays are a rather forgettable team because in my
- 24:44head, I had you guys going straight to Baltimore.
- 24:45But yeah, I completely forgot you you you were in Tampa.
- 24:49So yeah, that makes sense. Talk to.
- 24:51Me about the facial hair decision that I need to know
- 24:56where that came from, yeah. Well, in the 1st 2 1/2 months I
- 25:01had a stash because I was pitching pretty well prior to
- 25:05getting hurt. Yeah, not don't have a lot of
- 25:09good facial hair anywhere, you know.
- 25:10I was blessed with this and my brother was blessed with this,
- 25:14but he has no hair up top so it's a trade off.
- 25:19If you look at my College World Series days, I didn't cut my
- 25:22hair for about two months and it looked awful in my hat.
- 25:27So I ended up doing something really weird with my head, I
- 25:31guess. I don't know.
- 25:32My wife never liked it, never has.
- 25:36But you know, let's see. I think we started with.
- 25:41Yeah. When we started with Tampa, I
- 25:42was like, I'm going to shave once and I'm not shaving till
- 25:45till we're done. And sure enough, we kept
- 25:49winning. Sure enough, it kept getting
- 25:51worse into. November we go.
- 25:54And sure enough, I'm general Spores from Civil War.
- 25:58You know, I don't. I don't have anything on my.
- 26:00Chance it's a. Bad look, you know, if I had to
- 26:06go back and they said, hey, you're going to look really bad
- 26:09on national television, but you're going to win a World
- 26:11Series. I do it, you know, No one,
- 26:16really, no one really looks bad when they're holding
- 26:18championship trophies. You're asking me that's?
- 26:20Exactly right. And for what it's worth, it from
- 26:23our point of view wasn't wasn't too noticeable.
- 26:26Maybe. Maybe just some.
- 26:27But to me it looked like you had a pretty strong beard, but you
- 26:31meant Now you mentioned the thing about not having anything
- 26:33on the chin. I might have to go back and look
- 26:35and see if it was. Yeah, there's.
- 26:36There's a gap on like the sides of my mouth and so they don't
- 26:40can I have hair on the chin? It just they don't can shops.
- 26:43It doesn't connect at all. Have you guys seen?
- 26:47I think it's rookie of the year the little kid that throws hard
- 26:50from the clubby in there. He has the same thing.
- 26:54Almost. I got, I got called that and
- 26:57then Marv from home alone. Honestly, I was pretty.
- 27:03I like that. I like the comps.
- 27:05It worked out for me. But yeah, I don't know.
- 27:09I just seem to do something stupid every year.
- 27:14Let me let me ask you a little bit about the World Series, and
- 27:17you can be honest, we're not, we're not going to, we're not
- 27:20going to put you on blast here. But as a baseball fan, because,
- 27:25like I mentioned, you and I grew up playing baseball together, I
- 27:28knew you You very clearly loved the game as a baseball fan did.
- 27:36Did the matchup of the Texas Rangers and the Arizona
- 27:39Diamondbacks move the needle for you guys, or were you hoping it
- 27:42would have been something somebody else?
- 27:45I mean, their team was tricky. You don't play that style of
- 27:52baseball anymore, right? Like that is I don't want this
- 27:57sound disrespectful in any regards of their play.
- 28:00But like, it was more of a college ass.
- 28:02We're going to beat you with speed.
- 28:04Good defense, good pitching. We're going to bump.
- 28:06We're going to move guys. We're going to hit singles turn
- 28:09them into double S So we were we were pretty worried about them.
- 28:13Honestly. I think we looked at the
- 28:15Phillies or them. The Phillies have a lot of
- 28:18dudes, right? Really good team.
- 28:21But they had a lot of swinging mess and we as a pitcher you
- 28:26like that this team not so much going to put the ball in play
- 28:30try to make it hard on you so and I think going into watching
- 28:36the Phillies play them we were a little worried as well.
- 28:39I mean Diamondbacks were hot. You know it's sometimes it's not
- 28:43about how talented yards who's who's playing right at the right
- 28:47time right. And so we weren't really, you
- 28:50know, thinking Oh yes, we lucked out or oh shit, we're we're
- 28:54we're playing the best team in the world.
- 28:56You know, I think, you know, we were going to just approach it
- 28:58like it's a normal game. You know, we're going to get a
- 29:00scanner report. We know what they like to do and
- 29:03we're going to try to adapt. To me, I mean personally I don't
- 29:09really hold runners on. So you know, I was a little
- 29:12worried that they were just going to steal.
- 29:14You know, I lucked out that I only pitched twice in the in the
- 29:16World Series. But yeah, it it wasn't, it
- 29:22wasn't like a Oh yeah moment. It's just let's do it again.
- 29:26Let's win it, you know, I mean, the playoffs are a month and a
- 29:29half long, You know, we get there.
- 29:31Might as well freaking win it, right?
- 29:34Absolutely. I love it.
- 29:35And I feel like I. Should have.
- 29:36I feel like I should have led off with this.
- 29:38For those who are unfamiliar because, my friend, do you put
- 29:42up some fantastic, fantastic numbers this postseason?
- 29:4612 innings pitched. It held hitters to A103 average,
- 29:50just allowed four hits, an ERA of .75.
- 29:54Only one run allowed a WHIP of .67 and 13 KS.
- 29:59That's good that. The one run was pregnant too, by
- 30:02the way. Well, well, now we.
- 30:03Now we know. Now we know it.
- 30:04It makes a little little more sense, a little more sense.
- 30:06But I I wanted to include that because that was a speaking
- 30:11specifically about your work, your body of work that you you
- 30:15put out there that that was impressive to watch and it was
- 30:17cool to see ultimately result in A at a title.
- 30:21So that was that was awesome. Yeah, it was got healthy at the
- 30:25right time. You know, I think I was blessed
- 30:29that our team had the depth to let me kind of recover.
- 30:33I mean, had to go on the aisle for my shoulder right after the
- 30:37All Star break. And then I went to IO for my
- 30:40hamstring in September. And listen, I just started
- 30:46feeling good at the right time. You know, I was able to recover.
- 30:49They gave me 20 days off. And so for me, I was just
- 30:55getting my hamstring right. I was still having shoulder
- 30:58pain. But you know, I think you look
- 31:00at my first two or three months of the season, I was pretty
- 31:03close to that. I mean, I think I had a stretch
- 31:06of 17 innings of no runs, 15 innings somewhere.
- 31:09So it was just about getting back to being healthy for me
- 31:12personally, you know, my mental state.
- 31:16And then I think every series I played, the first game of every
- 31:19series, I was a little nervous. But after that, I was cool,
- 31:23calm, collective. But yeah, I just, you know, I
- 31:29said I was healthy at the right time.
- 31:31It helps to have a really good defense and it helps to have a
- 31:34really good Gold Glove catcher, helps to have a really good
- 31:36offense. You know, like you look at, you
- 31:39look back at that team, there weren't too many holes,
- 31:42especially in a playoff scenario where we can just run the dudes
- 31:45out after, Dude, it's pretty scary team.
- 31:48I think if you look back at it now, just kind of peer offense
- 31:52we had. I mean, Seeger was freaking
- 31:56unconscious the entire year. I mean, good luck facing that
- 31:59guy. You know, we have a good thing
- 32:03going, him and I. He knows that if we face each
- 32:06other, I'm going to throw on the fastball up and away and he's
- 32:09going to hit it. He's going to get the crap out
- 32:11of it and we're going to move on.
- 32:12She's not going to waste pitches with him.
- 32:15Give me a story. I'm going to put you on the spot
- 32:19a little bit. Give me a story I need.
- 32:22I need two stories from you. And keep him somewhat quick if
- 32:24you want. What?
- 32:27Makes Maddox and Bochy Hall of Farmers like first hand story,
- 32:35whether it's from spring training or this year.
- 32:38Just a moment where you were like these two guys are the best
- 32:41to ever do it. I mean, Bochy's a little bit
- 32:48easier in regards to he's the head coach, so he kind of
- 32:51controls everything, right? And I think I've always had a
- 32:54pretty good idea how a bullpen is wrong, right?
- 32:57I I like to try to prepare, so I'm ready to go in the game when
- 33:01I think I'm going to go in. And I think the first thing I
- 33:04learned from him is you're always wrong.
- 33:08So just don't ever think about it.
- 33:10You know, he's he thinks of the game a little differently.
- 33:13And I think there was one game. I think it ended up being, you
- 33:19know, Seattle. I was in the 4th inning month
- 33:23and 1/2 in the season I ended up going two innings, but that was
- 33:27the last time I was like, oh, 7th inning.
- 33:29I'll wait till then. Just his thought process, I
- 33:34guess. There's no true story with him.
- 33:37I think he's just a genius. I think he sees the game
- 33:40differently. You know, when they talk about
- 33:42Michael Jordan, those kind of guys, you can't, you can't teach
- 33:47what he does. You can only appreciate it,
- 33:51right? Like Michael Jordan couldn't
- 33:52teach you how to play basketball because he sees it completely
- 33:54differently human. And I think that's, that's what
- 33:57Bocce does. I think.
- 34:00I think in the playoff time, he knows exactly what he wants to
- 34:02do and he spends all year preparing you for those moments.
- 34:05And that is it. You know, you look at his San
- 34:09Francisco teams, same thing. They just squeak into the
- 34:12playoffs and then they become the best team every single year.
- 34:16And I think especially going into this one, we knew we were a
- 34:21little more confident. Just knowing that this is what
- 34:23he's accustomed to, This is a game plan is what he lives for.
- 34:29I mean, Maddox, let's see. I mean, shoot, you helped me a
- 34:33lot. Stories, guys are really good
- 34:36joke teller and loves to play golf.
- 34:38So you're already kind of a good pitching coach, right?
- 34:43And if you're a pitcher, you got, you got to play golf.
- 34:45And I think we had a we had a bingo card of all of his sayings
- 34:50that he'll say during a scan report.
- 34:52I can't say him. I can't repeat him, I promise.
- 34:58And we played bingo for two or three series and he loved it.
- 35:02You know, he loved his little sayings, but I don't know, I
- 35:06don't really have a good story for him.
- 35:07But I don't know as a as a reliever you don't necessarily
- 35:12spend that much time with with with those guys.
- 35:15So we kind of just we kind of just sit in the bullpen and Dick
- 35:18around so that their thing comes around.
- 35:20So we're not necessarily locked in the whole time.
- 35:23Well, on that, is there somebody in particular or maybe even two
- 35:27or three guys that you're particularly close with on the
- 35:30team, whether it be? You.
- 35:32Know the pen I mean. Elsewhere, I mean Brock Burke, I
- 35:38think when the grom came, when the grom got hurt, he started
- 35:42coming down to the bull pen and hang out with us.
- 35:47I mean, honestly, our bull pen was kind of just cool overall.
- 35:50Leclerc, you know the Latin, speak English, we're all we're
- 35:54all allowed to have fun. You know there's no like groups,
- 35:56no posses. I mean Pico and I are pretty
- 36:01close to guys, just an absolute just smiling savage, you know,
- 36:06he's he's the only guy I've ever seen smile in a World Series
- 36:09game during the game. But yeah, I think Burke and I,
- 36:15we played pretty much did everything together.
- 36:17Stratton too. I'd play Burke and ping pong and
- 36:21I'd play video games. Stratton and it was just kind of
- 36:24carousel back and forth between those two guys.
- 36:28But yeah, good group, man. Everyone just kind of liked
- 36:30everybody. The old ELE, you know, everybody
- 36:33loved everybody type deal. We just, we did everything
- 36:36together and we did team dinners.
- 36:38It was 2526, guys. You know, everybody wanted to
- 36:43come and I think that's, that's why we were good.
- 36:47I got to ask, is Chapman like, what's?
- 36:50What's his deal? Is he just in his own little
- 36:52world all the time? Like, I I can't imagine what
- 36:55goes through that guy's head, especially like on a game day.
- 36:58Listen, he's. The most intimidating dude.
- 37:02I think if you you guys should go back and look at when he hits
- 37:07people. Not on purpose.
- 37:08Most he rarely hits people with intention.
- 37:13He will walk towards the guy first thing he does and he did
- 37:18it to McCormick and the Astros. So he's he's pretty terrifying.
- 37:23And then you get to see him in the in the locker room and you
- 37:27see him in the gym and this dude is not warming up and just
- 37:30rolling out 315 squats just no warm up.
- 37:34Gets it up to 450. No problem.
- 37:37Incline press 315. No problem.
- 37:40You know he just moves weight every single day and it's.
- 37:44I personally enjoyed it. Just watching this dude be a
- 37:48savage in the weight room and throw 102.
- 37:53You know he's in his own world but don't pop that chair and
- 37:58he'll come on. I mean we we got a little
- 38:01scuffle with Houston I think. I mean he was amazing.
- 38:05He said I don't know what team it was but we he was out there
- 38:08so fast. He he's he's the guy in the
- 38:11front, ready. For the smoke, happy.
- 38:14Guy man. Really happy.
- 38:17Really. OK, Smile, You know, Obviously
- 38:20game time's a little different, but good teammate don't have
- 38:26anything bad to say about him. And if I did, he would come
- 38:30kill. I'm just kidding.
- 38:32There it is. All right, I got an.
- 38:34Easy one for you. Would you?
- 38:36Rather have Chris Young's height.
- 38:42Or a. Dulles's biceps.
- 38:46Oh man. They're both pretty beneficial
- 38:48though. Being athletic, I think adults
- 38:53is Biswap, I think. I think there's some struggles
- 38:58with being 610, you know, a lot of doors, a lot of ducking, just
- 39:04a lot more body to move. Honestly, I take both.
- 39:08But you know, if I had to pick, yeah, good biceps, you know,
- 39:12never hurt on the little beach photos, have you?
- 39:14Been like, have you, I'm assuming, like, MLB guys like,
- 39:18kind of intermingle with other athletes, right?
- 39:22Like, have you seen Adolas next to a football player and just
- 39:26been like, like, he could just slide right in?
- 39:29He looks like a freaking middle line.
- 39:31Yeah, there. Was let's see, I got, I came
- 39:35over to the Rangers in 21 and so it was kind of like a week into
- 39:40spring training. So there was no, no spots in the
- 39:43big league locker room for me. So I was at the minor league
- 39:47side and he, sure enough was my locker mate.
- 39:51And I took a look at him, didn't know anybody.
- 39:55And I I asked myself, I was like, when did we get Adrian
- 39:59Peterson? Because he's bald, the same,
- 40:03almost identical bill. Obviously, you know, Adrian
- 40:06might have been a little bigger, but he's a spouse man and.
- 40:11Yeah, I mean, he does all these things, I think that walk off
- 40:15and run. He hit against game one, just
- 40:18showed how athletic he was because it was a pretty bad
- 40:21swing on that ball. Just kind of guessed wrong and
- 40:25he still hit it out opposite field.
- 40:28You know, 3340, no problem. You know, it's just an absolute
- 40:33freak. Those Cuban guys, man, they're
- 40:36they come out a little differently.
- 40:38You know when they when they hype those Cuban guys up, they
- 40:40normally don't mess because they're usually just absolute
- 40:43freaks. So you got to tell me.
- 40:50What I. Mean.
- 40:51What is it like pitching in a World Series?
- 40:55Like we've we've talked to guys that have have played in World
- 40:58Series of one World Series. But I just, I have to think that
- 41:03pitching in a World Series requires just such a unique
- 41:06mindset, especially a late inning leverage guy where like
- 41:11you were talking about the the microscopes going to be on you,
- 41:14they're only going to talk about you if you do poorly.
- 41:18What I mean what is that? What is that like?
- 41:22Oh, I mean, listen, the World Series, both games.
- 41:27I was, I was pretty nervous. I don't know.
- 41:31I think, you know, I said it before.
- 41:35I was fortunate that I had Jonah.
- 41:36I'm calling the game right. When you have a catcher that
- 41:39absolutely knows every single hitter it it it makes you think
- 41:43a lot less. And I think that's the biggest
- 41:46issue in baseball is yourself. You know, you if you get in your
- 41:50own head, you're tough, you have no chance.
- 41:53So I mean I essentially just tried to turn my brain off.
- 41:56Don't think, just execute that pitch, worry about what happens
- 42:01next, you know, and just kind of being overly simple
- 42:06compartmentalized things to the to the sense of if I throw this
- 42:10curveball, I'm going to throw it as hard as I can in the location
- 42:12I want it and that's it. Not not going to worry about the
- 42:15guy in first. I'm going to worry about the guy
- 42:17in 2nd and just keeping it again, abundantly simple.
- 42:25Like I said, when you have that, when you have the ability, I
- 42:28mean I have pretty good stuff. You have elite trust in your
- 42:32your catcher and your defense. It makes it a lot easier.
- 42:36I mean, there's nothing worse than you guys played than having
- 42:39a bad catcher and pitching or having a bad defense and
- 42:42pitching. You're going to try to do too
- 42:44much. Bad things happen.
- 42:46You know, in this league, they don't miss.
- 42:48You know, you hang a pitch, they do not miss the ball.
- 42:51And if they do, you lucked out and you know you did.
- 42:57So yeah, just keeping it simple, don't let the moment get too
- 43:01big. You know, worry about that one
- 43:04guy. I think the cool thing with
- 43:05this, with the playoffs is you're not really going to face
- 43:08too many guys, right? You you show a sense of
- 43:11weakness. You're going to get taken out of
- 43:12the game immediately. And so just knowing that these
- 43:17three guys are probably the only three guys I'm going to face,
- 43:20that's it. Let's let's get them.
- 43:22And scouting reports are obviously a little better too,
- 43:24so it helps well. I saw it.
- 43:27You mentioned the three guys that you assume you would face.
- 43:32I saw they interviewed you shortly after the game and you
- 43:37were talking about how if you thought you were going to come
- 43:40out for the ninth, you wouldn't have fist pumped the 8th.
- 43:43So it's safe to assume that you because myself, Nate and I, we
- 43:48were going back and forth about it as we're watching the game.
- 43:50We're like the sport is really, really about to come back out
- 43:53here for the 9th. And sure enough, I think to the
- 43:55surprise of just about everyone, everybody.
- 43:58Made me myself completely OK. So I wanted to wanted to confirm
- 44:02that you you certainly just were.
- 44:04Completely so yeah, it was. We scored.
- 44:07I think it was 1. Nothing.
- 44:08All right. Yeah, one nothing.
- 44:10Going into the ninth, he had told me that I was going back
- 44:13out. So in my mind Perdomo was up
- 44:16first. I was AI was AI thought
- 44:19personally I was a better matchup for him than Leclerc was
- 44:23right? Not as good on curveballs, a
- 44:26little bit better on sliders, change UPS.
- 44:29So I knew right off the bat if I was going to out it's just going
- 44:33to be him, right? We ended up scoring 5 S four
- 44:35runs. So it was a little different
- 44:37that the game changed and then got him out.
- 44:42I think strike out looking, then Carroll comes out.
- 44:46Not a super good match up for me.
- 44:48I don't have anything that's going to.
- 44:51He's more of a change up heater guy, don't throw a change up.
- 44:56Only pitch against him is a curveball and he hits him pretty
- 44:59good with his little scoop swing, thank God he hit that
- 45:05fastball up, fouled it off to the catcher.
- 45:08I was running out of gas and then they didn't come out.
- 45:12So I was like, well, I will finish this shit Marte.
- 45:18Also another not a great match up against me.
- 45:22It's a pesky. Bunch, man, that mean they you
- 45:24you're talking about that they they don't get out easy there.
- 45:28Was a reason they were there. It wasn't like a shock to
- 45:30everybody we played them in. We played them four games.
- 45:33They beat us three times the regular season.
- 45:35And it's it's you. You don't play against that
- 45:37team. It's it's different, you know?
- 45:41Obviously, I went to, I went to Virginia, and then when our
- 45:43basketball team won, it's the same thing as, like, you're just
- 45:46not used to that type of focus on defense, right?
- 45:49We look at basketball more of an offensive thing.
- 45:53They just, they did stuff that no one else really in the league
- 45:56does, and it's what it's why they were there.
- 46:00It wasn't like I said, they were leading that division for most
- 46:03of the season. They just kind of the Dodgers
- 46:05got hot, they had some injuries. So it was a little Tess.
- 46:10We knew they could be there. They deserved it.
- 46:14Yeah, Kettle, I think. I think I had two crew at bats.
- 46:21He does against me and I think I've walked them on twice on 9
- 46:24pitches. Pretty uncompetitive at bats.
- 46:28I don't think I really threw them too many good pitches
- 46:30either that I bat. Just kind of like some loopy
- 46:33high curveballs. I mean, I was running on the
- 46:36end, you know? Just not I knew.
- 46:38I knew like, we were that one out away.
- 46:41Jonah was in beyond home plate telling me to breathe.
- 46:44So yeah, I think I threw another hanging curveball and he took it
- 46:49and there's a celebration, you know?
- 46:52But yeah, I never thought for a second I was ever going to pitch
- 46:55tonight. I think Leclerc had closed out
- 46:58every single game we won, so I figured they were going to give
- 47:01it to him. But it's cool how it worked out,
- 47:06you know? I was happy I got to finish
- 47:08plays out the first championship for the Rangers.
- 47:11But yeah, everybody was shocked, just as myself included, you
- 47:16talk to anybody like. Super, super cool since this has
- 47:20happened. Like, have you been starstruck
- 47:22by somebody after winning it? I got to talk to you know, like
- 47:29I guess in baseball world I think I've always thought Joe
- 47:31Madden was an interesting guy and I got to go on his podcast
- 47:34and he's another one of those guys just outside thinker.
- 47:38You know, I just wanted to pick his brain because he's just,
- 47:41he's out there and I think, you know, people are always afraid
- 47:45of the unknown. But I've always liked to explore
- 47:47it, never really been afraid to kind of do for me pitching stuff
- 47:52like weird lifts, you know, things like that.
- 47:54I've always just tried to embrace it because there's
- 47:56always a different viewpoint and you know, just being open minded
- 47:59to things. Obviously you got to be in
- 48:01control but being open minded to something could change your
- 48:05life. But you know, no one crazy I
- 48:08guess. I mean the thing with
- 48:12celebrations, they're so short. Right.
- 48:14So you don't really, you don't get to really go out to the
- 48:19clubs. I mean I have two kids so you
- 48:21know, you know, my my part is when I come home, you know,
- 48:24that's what I live for. But yeah, no one crazy.
- 48:28I thought he was pretty interesting guy.
- 48:32I think our. I think our team kind of.
- 48:34We didn't really let too many guys in.
- 48:35We got to meet Bush, George W He came to a few games.
- 48:41I thought that was cool. Shook his hand.
- 48:43Good dude. So you don't know I'm crazy.
- 48:49I wish I had somebody cool to say but Nah Nolan Ryan like did.
- 48:53Have you? I'm assuming you've had a convo
- 48:54with him, right? Shaking his hand.
- 48:55Yeah. Can I can I just jump in here
- 48:57real? Quick, Where was I?
- 49:00Completely oblivious to where he was at, because I feel like any
- 49:04other Rangers game I'd watch. I feel like they always show him
- 49:06sitting in the seats, but I can't think of a single time
- 49:09where I saw them actually show where he might have been.
- 49:12He might have been in the. Suites with the owners, There's
- 49:16some bad blood. Not, not with the Rangers, but
- 49:22some past things happened, I guess.
- 49:25You know, I'm not be the one to talk about it.
- 49:27I don't know. I just know there was a little
- 49:29rift, I guess. But it'd be hard to believe that
- 49:33he didn't come to those games. I mean, yeah.
- 49:37I. Mean the guy who was the Texas
- 49:39Ranger. I mean, arguably the best
- 49:41pitcher ever, you know, I guess just just an absolute dog
- 49:46through 5000. Names 5000 Strikeouts.
- 49:49I mean Oh yeah, I know it's it's sad because that's one guy I
- 49:53really haven't met. I would love to just hear him
- 49:56speak. But I'm hoping that changed now
- 50:00that you know the dynamics have shifted a little bit in regards
- 50:03to our our staff and you know we are not 100 loss team.
- 50:08We are a 9894 win team with the World Series champion.
- 50:13So I'm hoping, hoping that change.
- 50:15I know you got that. That's a picture behind you
- 50:17right, of him. Oh yeah.
- 50:19Oh yeah, that's him. Take me inside.
- 50:24I mean, I'm sure you've gotten asked this question like 1000
- 50:26times, but take me inside your mind the.
- 50:31Strike to end it. Glove.
- 50:33Spike, I'm. I'm assuming you just blacked
- 50:36out. Like what?
- 50:37Take me, take me through your let's.
- 50:41See, I mean, my heart rate was pumping.
- 50:44You know, you can, you can taste that victory.
- 50:46And I think I was lucky because it was a five run lead.
- 50:51So I got to like kind of savor it a little bit.
- 50:54But I saw Daniel Hudson do it with the Nationals, the glove
- 50:59spike and I absolutely loved it. I never really thought about a
- 51:03celebration. I didn't think, like I said, I
- 51:05didn't think I was going to going to be the last guy to get
- 51:07the out. So yeah, that was the first
- 51:13thing that came to my head, glove spike and then run to the
- 51:16catcher. But that distance between the
- 51:19catcher, Jonah and I, it felt like it was a 30 minute ordeal.
- 51:23Just getting to him, it felt like everything just kind of
- 51:26stopped slow motion. And then getting back to
- 51:30Chapman, you know, we we were jumping up and down and the
- 51:34first dude running out and it was him.
- 51:37And if you see me like you know, I'm jumping with Jonah and then
- 51:39I start jumping away because I was afraid he was going to
- 51:43happen. But yeah, just like you said,
- 51:47blackout you just, it's something you dreamed of your
- 51:51whole life, something you've, you know, you work for your
- 51:53entire life. And we had guys that had 1617
- 51:58year careers and this is their first one.
- 52:01So, you know, I think that was the approach.
- 52:03You know, I was fortunate to play with him.
- 52:05Kennedy, you know, just his outlook of, you know, you might
- 52:09only get this one opportunity. This might be your only time you
- 52:12ever go to the playoffs ever again.
- 52:13So one, enjoy it. Don't don't get lost in the good
- 52:18and the bad, just enjoy the moment.
- 52:20And I think that's that was the approach overall I tried to take
- 52:24just, you know, I guess getting back to having some of these
- 52:28veterans on this team kind of guide us and that was a big
- 52:32aspect for me. It was just living the moment.
- 52:35Appreciate it. You know, you get to be with
- 52:38your family's family. My whole family was there, my
- 52:40wife's family was there. You know that that doesn't
- 52:43really happen. You know, I think you get a
- 52:44little older, it becomes a little harder.
- 52:46But you know, everybody showed up for this big moment and you
- 52:49know, those were the special moments.
- 52:52You know, the championship was great, but you know, doing it
- 52:54with my wife and my kids that that that's that's what you play
- 52:57for. You know, things kind of shift
- 52:59in regards to you play for yourself, but now you I I play
- 53:02for my family and that's makes it easier to play and gives you
- 53:05something to fight for. I love it.
- 53:08My last. Question Then when I'm I'm all
- 53:10done. The dream 789 trio all time.
- 53:16Current guys. Past guys.
- 53:18You plug yourself in however you want.
- 53:20The 789 who are the other two. I I mean, I'm gonna.
- 53:25Toggle your fancy a little bit with Mariana?
- 53:28Sure, sure. That's fair.
- 53:30I appreciate it. I mean, if Hoffman Eckersley, I
- 53:44like a Sneaky 1 Billy Wagner. Oh, I like that.
- 53:48I like that. I don't think he gets.
- 53:50I don't think he. Gets enough credit for how good
- 53:52he was. You're probably right.
- 53:54So. I mean if we're talking like
- 53:55lanes too, like if you're if you're going to set yourself up
- 53:59for 789, trying to get different lanes, different strengths, I
- 54:03mean I if we're going left, right?
- 54:05Left or right? Left.
- 54:06Right, Definitely. I mean, I can't really think of
- 54:10another lefty that was dominant as him.
- 54:15You know, if we're going to go this year, shoot the Orioles
- 54:19closer Batista. Batista before his.
- 54:24Injury man. That dude was bowling balls.
- 54:26Listen. When guys came in, they were
- 54:28like. Don't know what's coming.
- 54:30Everything's the same, he throws.
- 54:33I mean, if we're looking at data on his heater, it's it's an
- 54:37absolute insane Unicorn of a pitch 7 feet of extension, 100
- 54:44miles an hour, 100 miles an hour, 20 pulse, vert.
- 54:47You know, it's if we're going to nerd out, I think.
- 54:51And then you throw that that splitter he throws.
- 54:54It's kind of a joke. Also, like, it can't be that fun
- 54:58to pitch when you're that good. Like just having those 2U
- 55:01pitches. Yeah, that those three guys
- 55:05would probably not lose too many games.
- 55:07I think you could sprinkle me in like the 5th inning, 'cause
- 55:12that's probably where I'd be. It'd be a pretty.
- 55:15Relaxing. Year.
- 55:17Yeah, 'cause you know, they're going to finish everything out.
- 55:23Last question I got for you and you kind of just.
- 55:25Alluded to it, albeit jokingly, but I you mentioned pitching the
- 55:295th. We obviously know you closed out
- 55:30the World Series this year. Speak, like I said, just to
- 55:35close this out here on the evolution of your career to this
- 55:39point, like what is, what is something that you've taken away
- 55:43from your time in the league thus far?
- 55:45What's something maybe you've learned about yourself, or
- 55:49what's maybe a way in which you've grown as a as a pitcher,
- 55:54as a competitor, Whatever it may be, I think.
- 55:58Just in sports, like you're going to have however many
- 56:04coaches, right? 20 coaches probably in your
- 56:07career. I don't think one coach is going
- 56:11to change your life. I think, I think my approach if
- 56:15I had to go back was take, you know, the best thing that that
- 56:18coach has and learn from that and that's it.
- 56:21When you meet a new coach, best thing, move on.
- 56:24I think for me, I kind of got a little close minded and pitching
- 56:28just kind of, you know, these are my 3 pitches.
- 56:30I'm never going to change them. I don't make it.
- 56:32So be it. And I think, let's see 20.
- 56:37I made it to the big leagues kind of with that mindset.
- 56:40Never really changed much. Really struggled in 1920.
- 56:46I was OK, but you know I knew I wasn't going to be able to stick
- 56:50around with what I had. So took a risk.
- 56:54Did some crazy stuff for throwing.
- 56:56Come back. Then 9798 sitting there, you
- 57:02know have a decent year in 21. You know, I don't think people
- 57:06talk about stick enough. I mean a lot of guys were using
- 57:10it. I would say 90% of the league
- 57:14curveball goes, my curveball was pretty bad.
- 57:17Never really changed before. Like I was like I said, some
- 57:19grew up. Spin rates weren't crazy.
- 57:26Let's see, come June 2022, new curveball grip.
- 57:32And Kyle, I don't know if you remember, it was kind of a big
- 57:3512/6 prior, a little slow, just a big one.
- 57:39I always thought it was cool because I could see it move, but
- 57:42never really good, could never really strike it.
- 57:45We throw this weird grip, spike, curveball, and I think pretty
- 57:51much kind of changed my career, I think.
- 57:53I mean, you look at my pitches, they're all good, but my
- 57:56curveball's like my true outlier pitch.
- 57:59So just being open minded, I've said that before, but like, but
- 58:05obviously you always got to stay guarded.
- 58:07But you know, listen to what people have to say.
- 58:10It might be out there, it might be different, but it could also
- 58:12change your career. So like for me is just learn,
- 58:17understand how a coach operates and use what they're really good
- 58:21at. I think one thing with Maddox is
- 58:24he's one of the best scatter report coaches I've ever seen.
- 58:28Just kind of he's obviously coached forever, played the mid
- 58:31leagues forever, but he's, I know that when he talks about a
- 58:37hit or swing I need to listen. I know it's going to make me
- 58:40better as a player and you know, obviously when my career ends
- 58:43I'll be a better coach because of it.
- 58:44So just taking little things from everybody.
- 58:47You know, UN uncoachable isn't a word.
- 58:50But but you know, just taking small aspects wherever you go,
- 58:56even even even if it's just a little nugget, it, it could
- 58:59change. And you know if you're paying
- 59:03attention you'll know who the bad ones are.
- 59:06You'll know who the bad coaches are.
- 59:08Bad people. And so just being aware little
- 59:11Nuggets, pretty simple, nothing crazy.
- 59:13And I think kind of use that for life.
- 59:16Kind of bad. Seeing it.
- 59:17It's just about to say that's good baseball.
- 59:19Advice. Good life advice.
- 59:21That's about all I got. Nate, you got anything else for?
- 59:24Thank you so much, Josh. World Champion Josh for another.
- 59:30Few months and then restart. Hey, that's yours.
- 59:34That's yours. Until next November, that's all.
- 59:36All you guys. That's all.
- 59:37That's all yours till next November so.
- 59:44There you go. Love it well.
- 59:46Josh, we appreciate you coming on.
- 59:47Congratulations and a heck of a heck of a run this year.
- 59:51And best of luck in the years ago.