Latest / Foul Territory / Jon Berti on Cub life, Dodgers taking shots at Yanks, Beard policy

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Jon Berti on Cub life, Dodgers taking shots at Yanks, Beard policy · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I was fortunate, obviously to get traded to the Yankees
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: and play for that great organization and and you know,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: get to a World Series and all of that. So
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: I'm very grateful for that part of it.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Hey, we've got a new Chicago cub, John Birdie, joining
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: us right now on foul Territory for the first time. John,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: great to have you on the show. You look happy
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: and excited to hit some warm weather. If you're not
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: already in Arizona. Congrats on the deal.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Where are you head? Thanks for having me.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Guys head down next week about a week today, So
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: you're late excited?
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: Were late?
• 0:41
  Speaker 5: We had tie on On. We had tie on On
• 0:44
  Speaker 5: like ten days ago. He's like, the whole team's here already,
• 0:46
  Speaker 5: So I don't know, you better get down there. You
• 0:49
  Speaker 5: better hurry up.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: I'll have to move that flight up a little sooner. Perfect. Yeah,
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: there you go.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Well, pitchers and catchers obviously, But for you, how did
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: it come together? Like was this an early conversation or
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: did it swing together pretty quickly in January? Right because
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: you signed about three weeks ago.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, it's just a different off season.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Obviously, getting non tendered by the Yankees and becoming a
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: free agent.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: So it was interesting.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Obviously a lot of interest early, but not a lot
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: of offers early on.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: A lot of teams seem to want to wait around
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: a little bit.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: And you know, once it started to happen though, in
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: kind of mid January, after after the holidays, it kind
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: of happened pretty quickly and came together quickly, which we're
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: really excited about.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: I can't wait to be in Chicago.
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: All right, you're signed now. And I have to say,
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: like John and I have the same had the same agent,
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: and now this is almost we're almost at two years
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: of the show. This is the first client, first represented
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: player by our agent Storm to actually come on our show.
• 1:57
  Speaker 5: So thank you Storm for getting forget John on here.
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: But it's been way too long. I mean, a face
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: like that, I.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Was storm lacking, that bed slacking, that bad that he
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: couldn't get on get another guy on here sooner.
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: Unbelievable, And I mean maybe maybe it was me, Maybe
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: it was my fault. I got him, you know, I
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: got him to talk to too many teams. But that's
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: kind of what I want to ask you about talking
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: to talking to these teams. We hit this with every
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: free agent. I talked to Storm in the offseason and
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: he was like, well, you know, kind of talking to
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: some teams, but none of them really want to put
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: it out there. Do you feel like it took too
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: long for you in the sense of like how many
• 2:38
  Speaker 5: times did you call Storm, like, hey, is there anything?
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: What did that team say when you reached out?
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: Because I know Storm always, always, always reached out to teams.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was just interesting because it was like pretty
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: much I would say even like two thirds of the
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: league had reached out to to Storm and said that
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: they're interested in keep them in mind. But it just
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: like felt like so early on it felt like, okay,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: this might go pretty quick, like we're excited, you know,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: hopefully we can narrow it down to a few teams
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: and kind of make a decision. But then obviously the holidays,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: you know, holidays come and go and all that, and
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: you're just like kind of still without a job, so
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: you're thinking, you know, when is this going to kind
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: of pick up again? And fortunately, like I said, middle
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: of January in Storm and I had a ton of
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: conversations leading up to it, but some teams got a
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: lot more serious come middle of January, and so I'm
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: just glad to be signed before spring started, because nobody
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: wants to wait wait until camp begins and feel like
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: you're behind and not really get to know your teammates
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: as well and stuff like that. So I'm excited to
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: get down there and start dealing with the team.
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: All right, one more on the Cubs before you have
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: to move on, because I'm not a Cubs lover. Okay,
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: so let's just get that out there right now. But
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: I have to This is a great This is a
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: great point that was brought to us by Jeremy, our director.
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: Did you get the key k Hernandez treatment? We're last year?
• 3:59
  Speaker 5: He came on here and said, like five teams called
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: and they all gave me the same offer, and I
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: just had to choose which one I liked best. So
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: did multiple teams come to you with the same offer
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: or were the Cubs by far the best offer.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: No, there was definitely a handful of teams that were
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: pretty much everyone was talking the same thing. It was
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: all in the relative range that we ended up in,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: maybe one or two a little higher, maybe a few
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: little lower, but it was kind of in that range.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: And then it was just between my family and I
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: and talking with Storm too of where we wanted to be.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: And you know, I've always had a soft spot for Chicago.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: I had my first big league homer at Wrigley, and
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I love playing there, and I know you don't, but
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: I love the fans, so you know we're really excited
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: to be there.
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: I actually loved the fans and I loved hitting their
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: trust me check my stats. I loved it. More they
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: buwed me. The more they bowed me, the better I did.
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: So thank you couch fans. All right, So I have
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: to say this as someone that's had a beard, and
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: I haven't seen my chin in ten years. You played
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: for the Yankees last year. I didn't recognize you when
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: you came on because now you have a beard. But
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: I know we're talking good things here, but I got
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: to ask you, what were you thinking in the fifth
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: inning last year? What was going through your head? Like, Man,
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: I wish I was out there. I could have done something.
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: I don't know because I think it's sitting there watching
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: it happen that I mean, it happens quick obviously when
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: you're in it, Like what was going through your head
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: when you're just like, wait, we dropped the fly ball
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: you didn't cover for.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: It's like, oh no, it was a very very up
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: and down emotional game obviously, and I'm sure you guys
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: would agree. It's it's way more nerve wracking when you're
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: not in there, because you feel like you can be
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: contributing or helping. When you're when you have zero control
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: and you're just watching, it's just way more gut wrenching.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: After we had won game four, we felt pretty good
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: about everything that was that was happening, and felt like
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: if we could take game five, we had obviously col
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: on the mound. You know, no team had ever come
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: back even that far, I think, to force a game
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: six after being down three to zero. And so then
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: we felt like, okay, yeah, we'd be going back to
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: LA to have to win, but we're putting more pressure
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: on them. And so early on, Cole's on fire, giving
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: us a great start and the first five innings are
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: going great, and so then it's just like the momentum
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: building and just like, okay, we're going to do this.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: We're going to win this game, and we're going to
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: put all the pressure back on LA and we're going
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: to have an opportunity.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: And then with everything that happened.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: That's just baseball, unfortunately, and you hate to see it
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: obviously in the World Series, but stuff like that happens, unfortunately.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: And and then it just kind of was, you know,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: pretty demoralizing obviously, and we still had fought back a
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: little bit, but unfortunately it just wasn't meant to be.
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: You've probably seen all the all the smack talking or
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: Victor's talking that the Dodgers were doing about the Yankees defense,
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: base running. How is it talked about from your standpoint
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: you from the teams you've played for and the skill
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: set that you bring to a team. Is that at
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: How is it talked about with the Yankees all season
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: with a chat with Chappie, with you know, different guys
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: who are pushing those those different aspects of the game.
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: It was very I don't know if I've ever really
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: heard a World Series winning team kind of talk as
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: badly as they did about the World Series losing team.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: You know, it was almost like it felt like we
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: were being disrespected and to the point of like, I
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: don't know where we didn't even belong to be in
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: the World Series. It's like we won a lot of
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: games last year we won our division. We we went
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: and took care of Kansas City, took care of Cleveland,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: and so like, we deserve to be there, and unfortunately
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: we you know, didn't perform at our best. That all
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: the guys will tell you that, especially from probably the
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: defensive standpoint and the base running standpoint. And I don't
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: know what the metrics kind of say about all that
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: of how we were as a team, but you know,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Chap obviously and the staff there, it's a really good staff,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: and we worked really hard on our defense, and then
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: we talked quite a bit about our base running and
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: stuff throughout the year. So it was obviously a point
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: of emphasis of wanting to improve. And I think the
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Yankees are gonna continue to want to improve in that
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: area obviously, But you know, unfortunately we ran into a
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: team that played better than us and in a seven
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: game series, and they deserve to win. So I guess
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: they can say whatever they want at this point.
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: Hey, Listen, alcohol is a hell of a drug, especially
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: when you interview guys right after what in the world there, Listen,
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: you never know what they're gonna say. Okay, So I
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: don't know that i'd take it that personal because there
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: might be someone don't remember even what they said until
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: they watched it take. So let's just stay the victors
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: go the Spoils.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: Right, Yep, they won.
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: Unfortunately you were on the team that lost. Krats knows
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: about that. I don't, so I mean, I get it,
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: and I apologize. But listen, all right, So speaking of
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: a team that might we don't know what they're doing,
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: you can't. You kind of came up with the Marlins.
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: Kind of major mark with the Marlins. What do you
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: think of what the Marlins are doing? I mean, they
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: have gotten rid of pretty much anybody and everybody that
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: has any big league service time track record other than
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: Sandy obviously, who's hurt to start the year. But what's
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: going on down there in Miami? And does it hurt
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: your heart to see it? Because there was a time where,
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: I mean the Marlins were really building something special, made
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: the playoffs a couple of years ago, and now, I mean,
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: I don't know if I can name five players on
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: the Marlins.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, i'd probably be a little more truthful. You guys
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: have me back on here when I retire, and I
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: can maybe tell you guys a little more.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: But I mean, honestly, it's just.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: I was fortunate, obviously to get traded to the Yankees
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: and play for that great organization and you know, get
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: to a World Series and all of that. So I'm
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: very grateful for that part of it. But there's definitely
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: frustration because you felt like you're building something, you know,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: and we created a lot of momentum going into the
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three seats after the twenty twenty three season
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: of getting to the playoffs, and felt like that last offseason,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: you know, maybe bring back Solaire, maybe bring back another bat,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: maybe a few bullpen arms or something to kind of
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: help the momentum.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: And keep going.
• 10:13
  Speaker 6: And the front.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Office, for whatever reason, just didn't decide decided not to
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: do any of that, and and then I got traded
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: the day before the season started, and then Arise shortly after,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: and then Tanner, Scott and some of these other guys
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: also got traded throughout the year. So I don't know
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: what they're what their intention is, if they're you know,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: if they want to kind of new front office staff
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: wants to do it their way or whatever, But.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: Definitely a little frustrating because you felt like you're building.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Something and felt like we had a good core of
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: guys and really good staff there, but it just didn't
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: work out that way.
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: So we're gonna hold you to that because Scott takes
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: notes and everything. And so when you're done, when you
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: finally quit, because you can't make you can't retire like
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: you made the big LEAs way too late, You're gonna quit, Okay,
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: AJ careers like that, they retire, they don't quit, but
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: you you're gonna quit.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: So when you quit, we'll have you back on.
• 11:09
  Speaker 6: When I when I quit, I'll come back on.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: I'll promise you that.
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: Let's let's let's say you're going back in your Marlins
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: days and you had a number and the Marlins signed
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: was probably didn't happen, so it's a bad example. A
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: big free agent, what would you need for your number?
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: Like let's say when they brought obviously Garcia in, he
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: was the biggest free agent. I remember them signing when
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: you were there. What would you need as a gift?
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: Because we just talked about how MiG Roe isn't getting
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: a gift from Rokie and I know he's like a
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: rookie getting a veteran's number, but play along, what do
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: you need for a gift.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: I do love my number. I do love number five.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: That's always kind of been my number. I was able
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: to wear it for the Marlins, unfortunately not for the Yankees.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: But I ended up wearing nineteen for the Yankees, which
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: was my dad's number, so that worked out well. But
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: back with the Cubs, back with number five. So if
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: we signed someone and they wanted five, and as much
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: as I love it, I wouldn't need a lot, to
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: be honest with you. If it's gonna make if it's
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: gonna make their incoming guy that much more happy and comfortable,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: then that I'm all for it. Maybe maybe a nice
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: bag or something, especially if it's if it's a guy
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: like Avisel, he probably would have he would have done
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: something for me regardless, probably a nice bag or a
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: watch or something.
• 12:29
  Speaker 6: So but nothing, nothing.
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: Crazy, okay, okay. So so at the trade deadline, Cubs
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: are in it. They're in first place, they make a
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: big trade. What would you say if a veteran came
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: in it was like, hey, here's a here's one thousand
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: dollars Apple gift card.
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: Would you say that's kind of a crappy gift or not?
• 12:47
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think that would be a little a little low.
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: Okay, good apple, thanks hard.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: But uh, you know, I'm not it wouldn't be a
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: huge fan of it. But at the end of the day,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: if this guy's coming in to help us win a
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: World Series, then I don't I don't need anything, So
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: all right.
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: How about if it was like September twelfth and the
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: veteran didn't know that number was available, and so he
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: also had to buy all the jerseys that they had
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: already printed on them in order to you to ask
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: Major League Baseball if he could switch numbers. I think
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: a thousand dollars was fair at the time, Thank you.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Carus act was that this.
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: Was twenty fourteen when rookies were making like, you know,
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: three hundred grand, so like a thousand bucks was a lot,
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: you know, plus made money.
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: Now it's like a rookie, he's.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Not a roo next question was going to be I
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: didn't think you could even change numbers mid season.
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: You know, it was a process, trust me. The Cardinals
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: had to call Major League Baseball and they're like, you
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: got to buy all seven jerseys that we've had made
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: for you in the team. Okay, so it's going to
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: cost you a little bit. I was like, oh, I'll
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: buy him all. There's zero out there. Okay, so that
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: wasn't a big deal. But Ty, you said you mentioned
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: the thanks you couldn't get five. Well, I mean one
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: through ten is all retired, some of them twice, right, insane?
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: So why didn't you? If I was you, I would
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: have gone there and said, I want to number one
• 14:09
  Speaker 5: hundred and nineteen or one hundred and five, right, yeah,
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: give me something judge ninety nine. So you should have
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: said I want one of I don't know what the
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: club was, one, yeah, one oh one, right, like something
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: crazy that way. If you ever see when you're like,
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: that was me first, because they don't put names on
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: the back.
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: You're right, I was first.
• 14:27
  Speaker 6: Yeah, you're right.
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: I should have. Yeah, that's a big mistake. That's a
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: big mess on my part.
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: There.
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: You got to think about these things, listen, John, you
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: got to think about these things.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: I was too demoralized that I had to shave my beard.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Right to you, I hadn't seen I hadn't seen my
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: chin in probably six years, and my wife didn't even
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: recognize me when when I was clean shaven. So I
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: had to bring back the mustache at least to give
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: me a little something in the second half of the
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: year and through the playoffs, which made me feel better.
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: But I'm a beard guy, so that's one.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Plus about not being on the Yankees anymore, as I
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: can grow my beard back.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: Did you feel less grizzly, less manly? And do you
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: think that it's time to consider the change to the
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: tradition so we can have a little tougher luck. Yeah,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: I mean you're a hockey guy too, right, It's got
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: to be like, oh, I feel naked on my face.
• 15:21
  Speaker 5: I did.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: I did, Like I said, I sent a I flew
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: that night to Houston late Wednesday night, and we opened
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: up in Houston on Thursday. And I got to the
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: hotel at like two in the morning, and I was like,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I can either get up a little early to shave
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: it or I just gotta I just gotta do it.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: So I shaved it all off.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: At two three in the morning the night before our opener,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: and I sent a picture to.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: My wife and she had no idea who I was.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: So I'm just, yeah, you just I didn't feel like myself,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: I'll put it that way. So I'm against any kind
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: of facial hair policy.
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: Okay, know, were you worried, what's the I don't know.
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: Krats thows is better than I do. The old lady
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: that goes around and has like a ruler, she like
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: pulls out the ruler and is like, Nope, that's not
• 16:08
  Speaker 5: gonna work over this guise of the baseball. Were you
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: worried she was gonna be in Houston on opening day saying, John, listen,
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: it's too long, shave.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: I had no idea that this lady existed. I don't know,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: maybe maybe, uh, I don't know. I never came across her, fortunately,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I guess, so, yeah, I just knew it. It was
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: probably about this length when I when I got to Houston,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: I knew that wasn't gonna fly. So I probably should
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: have went with the mustache to begin with. But I
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: decided to just rip the band aid off and.
• 16:38
  Speaker 6: Do it all.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: And I regretted it.
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: Oh no, that's that's fair. That's fair. And Jean does
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: not come around. Jean does not come around. She is
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: she is the She does it by video and then
• 16:50
  Speaker 5: she tells Boonie to come and tell you.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: To be like.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: So I guess I was. I was on good behavior
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: all year then Okay, you're.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: On good behavior.
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: I've seen I've seen Boonie at Malt visits, look at
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: the picture or look at one of the position players.
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: You know, Glaber. I'm sure you saw Glaber tighten up
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: a beard on like an off day or something. Yeah,
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: and then like at a Mound visit, waiting for the
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: picture to come in, and he'll be like, maybe you
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: don't see that, GT, but you got going on there.
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: It's a pretty straight line you got going on there.
• 17:19
  Speaker 6: M h.
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: But one day I saw Boonie have a straight line too.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: He was pissed about something. He had a straight line.
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: He would never admit to it, but he had it,
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: and he just laughed about it. But anyway, you know Boonie,
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: Oh yeah, tell us about tell us about your career
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: being a late pick, being a guy, and how it
• 17:39
  Speaker 5: correlates to like the prospect rankings just came out and
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: how like all these kids are now like rated the
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: top one hundred PG high school superstars, and like people
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: look at your career and they would say, no way,
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: no way, that kid had a chance to play in
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: the big leagues.
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: And look what you did.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, got drafted in the eighteenth round. By Toronto,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: had some early success in the minor leagues and was
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: moving up pretty.
• 18:08
  Speaker 6: Good and dealt with a few.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Few injuries here and there, and then it just felt like,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: especially when when maybe we were coming up, it always
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: felt like teams didn't want to bring up younger players.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: They want it unless you were obviously like a stud,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: but they wanted more veteran type players. And so it
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: felt like I got to Double A and it felt
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: like I just kind of my career kind of stopped
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: there a little bit. I had some Triple A time,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: but most of.
• 18:36
  Speaker 6: My minor, minor league career was in the minor I.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Was in Double A, and it just felt like Triple
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: A was always full of guys with big league experience,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: and so it was like my buddy and I would joke,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: we'd be like, how do you get to the big leagues, Well,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: you have to have big league experience. Well how do
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: you get to get big league experience? Well you gotta
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: get called up, But you can't get called up unless
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: you have big league experience. So it was just like
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: constantly feeling like, you know, it was tough to break through,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: as it should be obviously, but I always felt like
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: I had the ability, but as I got older and
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen was a wild year for me of starting
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: in Triple A, then getting traded to Cleveland, was in
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: Columbus and Triple A with them for six weeks, and
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: then getting traded back to Toronto, but they didn't have
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: a spot for me in Triple A, so I went
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: back to Double A as a twenty eight year old
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: and just feeling like, you know, did I miss my window?
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: And fortunately I was able to work with a really
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: good staff there. A lot of those guys are in
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: the big leagues now with Toronto and kind of turned
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: my swing around a little bit and changed some things
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: up and found a lot of success and was able
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: to make it to the big leagues and at the
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: very end of twenty eighteen and ended up signing with
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Miami and which was a great opportunity for me. And
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: I got called up middle of April of nineteen and
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: have been up since.
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: You're a huge Destroit sports fan, feeling about how the
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: Super Bowl is now Eagles again and the Chiefs again, because.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: You're lying, Yeah, I I've been trying to put it
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: out of my mind. So it was a very tough,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: tough week against Washington. Yeah, big Lions fan, It's just
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: tough because I feel like the Lions, if they didn't
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: have all those injuries on defense.
• 20:28
  Speaker 6: They'd have a much better opposit.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: And it's not an excuse.
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: It's not an excuse.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: It's it's just a fact of that their their offense
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: would have had to play pretty close to perfect football
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: throughout the playoffs to win the Super Bowl, which they
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: were capable of, but they just didn't. The offense turned
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: the ball over four or five times against Washington. You're
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: not going to win a playoff game that way, and
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: the defense wasn't prepared to be able to stop you know,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Jane Daniels and the Redskins or sorry, the Commanders. So
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: it's not an excuse, it's just the fact. I feel like,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: you know, they have a great roster. They lost a
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: lot of coaches obviously, but I'm looking forward to the
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: next few years and thinking that that Super Bowl window
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: still open for him and the culture has changed there
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: in Detroit, and so it's a lot of fun to
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: see as a fan.
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: Were you able to yell at the tv? Are you
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: somebody yells at the TV if you're not at the game,
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: because you've got the new baby.
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: Can't wait with the baby.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: Wait the baby?
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: No, so no, no, no, usually watching the basement, so
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: there's a good buffer there between between me and.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: The baby just in case.
• 21:38
  Speaker 6: But you know, I stay pretty.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: Even keeled throughout the game for the most part.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: But it just as the lines have gotten better, it's
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: almost more nerve wracking watching, especially when they're playing someone
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: that leading up to everyone is just which is what
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: I hate is everyone's just like, oh, they're going to
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: blow out Washington by thirty points and blah blah blah.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: It's like, it's not how it works, man.
• 21:59
  Speaker 6: You gotta come, you gotta come.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Play every day.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: And you know, unfortunately they just they just didn't.
• 22:06
  Speaker 5: As a Bears fan, thank you for Ben Johnson and
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: our producer Lady. As a Jets fan says, thank you
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: for Aaron Glenn so good luck finding coordinators and a
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: whole new.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: Dude, two very very good ones.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: But I'll say this about that Lion's offense with their
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: weapons and that old line and Jamier Gibbs.
• 22:24
  Speaker 6: And all that, I mean, I feel like I could.
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: Call some place for him and we would be halfway decent.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: So don't don't say that it don't. I'm just saying,
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: don't broadcast. I love.
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: There's one team they're united for. It's the Bears.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: I'm giving you don't get a twisted I love Ben Johnson.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: I thought he was phenomenal for the team and for
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: golf's growth, and that offense is growth. But I mean
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: they have built a Brad Holmes has built a really
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: really good team and they have a really really good offense.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: So I'm sure there'll be a little bit of a
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: you know, a step back because they were fifteen and two.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's really hard to replicate that. But I
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: still think they're going to be a really good football
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: team and there's no reason they can't compete in the NFC.
• 23:09
  Speaker 5: And you know what you're talking about for their injuries.
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: Not good enough to come for their injuries though, just.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: Say you're in the right place then hey, I mean,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: you get to obviously play at regularly. It's going to
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: be fun. But they love talking football out there, talking Bears,
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: so you can bite back with some Lions talk. John great,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: san you man, congratulations on the signing. We'll see in
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: spring training.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: Okay, sounds good. Thanks guys, appreciate it.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you. Should the Yankees get rid of their facial
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: hair policy? Seventy one percent said yes, twenty eight percent
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: said no. John Birdie's a pretty tough hockey player, dude,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: and he was like, I didn't feel the same with
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: that week in my mind, creepy policy. It's creepy. It's
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: like someone's got like some oh, shaved face fetish or
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: something like that, like, get rid of it. It's trash.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: It's trash this America. Guys are feeling less manly. It's
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: not over the top. It's such a dumb as policy.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: It's a loser policy rules, it's a policy for losers.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: It is Nope, I'll die on that hill. I don't care.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: It's so stupid.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: Kay.
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: They can have facial hair, they just can't have it
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: below the lip.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: It's weird that there's some person behind the scenes that
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: cares that much.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: It's weird.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Creepy.
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: Yep, that's it.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: Someone someone said, well, you have a choice. You don't
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: have to sign there. Okay, what if you get traded there?
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: Refuse the trade.
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: I mean, it's a big league team. Like beard, beards
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: aren't worth more than even the minimum. Now it's like
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: seven twenty Yeah, Scott, are you paying me seven hundred
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: fifty K? I'll shave my beard?
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: What I'll shave his beard? If you pay me seven
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: or fifty K? I'll grow my I'll grow I'll grow
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: my U out.
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: For seven or fifty K. The team's like, you can't
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: have a shaved head. I gotta have the U you'll
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: you see me with, Like I might even get a
• 25:07
  Speaker 5: ponytail seven fifty K.
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: Then every team should have their own policy about how
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: certain they look. Each owner can pick up weird white.
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: Sox enforced a hair policy on me and Joe Creedy
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: in two thousand and six. We had to get our
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: hairs cut.
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: Oh yeah.
• 25:26
  Speaker 5: And then Danny Ramirez came over and had dreadlocks down
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: to his button and Jerry goes, he's gonna have to
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: clean that up. And he cut off like this much,
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: and he goes, well it looks nicer, And I'm like, wait,
• 25:36
  Speaker 5: what you made?
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: Greedy and I cut our hair.
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: But many can have dreads.
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: You had to be able to show had to show
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: four inches of your sock