Cardinals Broadcaster and Former Pitcher Brad Thompson: From Mound to Mic

Dive into the fascinating world of professional baseball and sports talk radio with our latest episode featuring Brad Thompson. From dreams of playing in the big leagues in Las Vegas to winning the World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006. As a former St. Louis Cardinals player turned broadcaster, Brad unfolds his inspiring transition from the baseball diamond to the airwaves. Brett and Brad talk about 2024 season predictions and some of the favorites in Major League Baseball. Tune in for an insightful conversation blending baseball, MLB insights, and the business of sports. ⚾? Don’t miss this episode of The Circuit of Success! Check out the Youtube Interview Here! 00:00:16.000 –> 00:00:19.000 I’ve got my buddy, Brad Thompson. 00:00:19.000 –> 00:00:20.000 What’s up, Brad? How are you doing? I’m 00:00:20.000 –> 00:00:21.000 doing great, man. Thanks for having me. I 00:00:21.000 –> 00:00:23.000 was getting bored at the house. I’m glad 00:00:23.000 –> 00:00:25.000 somebody called finally. Well, yeah. You’re doing radio 00:00:25.000 –> 00:00:27.000 now, what? Part time. Is that right? Yeah. 00:00:27.000 –> 00:00:29.000 Filling in a little bit. It’s it’s been 00:00:29.000 –> 00:00:30.000 a change for me. It’s been, as you 00:00:30.000 –> 00:00:33.000 know, I was doing drive time radio, 00:00:33.000 –> 00:00:35.000 on one of 1PM on the fast lane 00:00:35.000 –> 00:00:36.000 for, like, last ten years. 00:00:37.000 –> 00:00:39.000 This past year doing more baseball games, with 00:00:39.000 –> 00:00:42.000 the cardinals, which Brad a blast doing. Season 00:00:42.000 –> 00:00:44.000 didn’t go exactly I had a lot of 00:00:44.000 –> 00:00:45.000 fun doing the games. I’m sure we’ll get 00:00:45.000 –> 00:00:46.000 into that, but, 00:00:47.000 –> 00:00:49.000 I scaled back my work on that side. 00:00:49.000 –> 00:00:50.000 So now I’m not doing that every day, 00:00:50.000 –> 00:00:53.000 and I’m, I’m reintroducing myself of the family 00:00:53.000 –> 00:00:55.000 in the off season. My dog’s not barking 00:00:55.000 –> 00:00:56.000 at me now, so that’s good. Who the 00:00:56.000 –> 00:00:58.000 hell? I’m just gonna change. Yeah. It’s a 00:00:58.000 –> 00:00:59.000 big change. It is a big change, man. 00:00:59.000 –> 00:01:01.000 Well, You are a blast, as I’ve told 00:01:01.000 –> 00:01:03.000 you a million times to watch on, the 00:01:03.000 –> 00:01:05.000 television. I think you do a great job 00:01:05.000 –> 00:01:07.000 with the games. And even despite the season 00:01:07.000 –> 00:01:08.000 we Brad, It was, that’s gotta be tough, 00:01:08.000 –> 00:01:10.000 which I’m gonna ask that later. But, for 00:01:10.000 –> 00:01:12.000 those that don’t know you, two thousand six 00:01:12.000 –> 00:01:15.000 world series champ ESPN Radio, as you mentioned, 00:01:15.000 –> 00:01:17.000 announcer for the Saint Louis cardinals. 00:01:17.000 –> 00:01:19.000 Just an all around great guy, but just 00:01:19.000 –> 00:01:20.000 give us a little bit of lay of 00:01:20.000 –> 00:01:22.000 the background of people that, again, that maybe 00:01:22.000 –> 00:01:24.000 not know who you are. What’s made you 00:01:24.000 –> 00:01:26.000 the man you are today? Yeah. Well, look, 00:01:26.000 –> 00:01:27.000 I I I never 00:01:28.000 –> 00:01:28.000 expected 00:01:28.000 –> 00:01:31.000 or intended to be where I am right 00:01:31.000 –> 00:01:34.000 now. In o’fallon, Illinois live here. 00:01:35.000 –> 00:01:37.000 In the media at all that was never 00:01:37.000 –> 00:01:39.000 a thought. I just saw it was a 00:01:39.000 –> 00:01:41.000 kid who grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, 00:01:41.000 –> 00:01:43.000 and, I just love playing baseball. 00:01:43.000 –> 00:01:44.000 And, 00:01:44.000 –> 00:01:44.000 it’s 00:01:45.000 –> 00:01:46.000 you generally hear 00:01:47.000 –> 00:01:48.000 people’s story of how they made it to 00:01:48.000 –> 00:01:50.000 the big leagues, and it’s oftentimes the same 00:01:50.000 –> 00:01:52.000 story. It’s like, oh, he’s the best player 00:01:52.000 –> 00:01:54.000 on this team, the best player on his 00:01:54.000 –> 00:01:56.000 high school team, two way player hit home 00:01:56.000 –> 00:01:59.000 runs, played shortstop. That is not my story, 00:01:59.000 –> 00:02:01.000 like, at all. I don’t think I was 00:02:01.000 –> 00:02:02.000 ever the best player on any team that 00:02:02.000 –> 00:02:04.000 I played on, and I’m not talking about 00:02:04.000 –> 00:02:06.000 any big league teams, like Albert Pujols and 00:02:06.000 –> 00:02:08.000 all these guys running around. I’m talking about, 00:02:08.000 –> 00:02:10.000 like, Timmy that picks his boogers wasn’t even 00:02:10.000 –> 00:02:12.000 the best player on on that team growing 00:02:12.000 –> 00:02:13.000 up, but I always loved it. And I 00:02:13.000 –> 00:02:16.000 always, worked hard, and I was just always 00:02:16.000 –> 00:02:18.000 there. Like, you know, I and think that’s 00:02:18.000 –> 00:02:20.000 one of the the biggest things whenever I 00:02:20.000 –> 00:02:21.000 have an opportunity to talk to kids. You 00:02:21.000 –> 00:02:22.000 don’t have to be the best player on 00:02:22.000 –> 00:02:23.000 the team. You don’t have to have the 00:02:23.000 –> 00:02:26.000 best skill set You have to care. You 00:02:26.000 –> 00:02:27.000 have to want to get better and you 00:02:27.000 –> 00:02:28.000 have to work. And if you do those 00:02:28.000 –> 00:02:30.000 things, opportunities might come. And that was the 00:02:30.000 –> 00:02:31.000 case for me. Out of high school, I 00:02:31.000 –> 00:02:32.000 got an opportunity 00:02:33.000 –> 00:02:35.000 right before school was about to start to 00:02:35.000 –> 00:02:38.000 go to a smaller junior college in Utah, 00:02:39.000 –> 00:02:41.000 at the time, Dixie State College, 00:02:41.000 –> 00:02:43.000 now Utah Tech d one school now, but 00:02:43.000 –> 00:02:46.000 a junior college back in the day. And, 00:02:46.000 –> 00:02:48.000 snuck on there did well, 00:02:49.000 –> 00:02:51.000 after my second year there ended up getting 00:02:51.000 –> 00:02:53.000 drafted by the cardinals, and it was just 00:02:53.000 –> 00:02:54.000 a kind of a a whirlwind. Spent two 00:02:54.000 –> 00:02:56.000 years in the minor leagues. 00:02:56.000 –> 00:02:58.000 And a month into my third year, a 00:02:58.000 –> 00:03:00.000 guy called up to the big leagues and 00:03:01.000 –> 00:03:02.000 made a career out of it. And it 00:03:02.000 –> 00:03:04.000 wasn’t the easiest. I I’m well traveled, Brett. 00:03:04.000 –> 00:03:05.000 You know that. I know I know the 00:03:05.000 –> 00:03:07.000 way from Saint Louis to Memphis really well. 00:03:07.000 –> 00:03:09.000 Big leagues to triple a. The ups and 00:03:09.000 –> 00:03:12.000 downs of have been incredibly blessed though to 00:03:12.000 –> 00:03:14.000 be able to to play the game that 00:03:14.000 –> 00:03:16.000 I love and do it as a living 00:03:16.000 –> 00:03:18.000 and now jump into this, which again, wasn’t 00:03:18.000 –> 00:03:20.000 unexpected. Yeah. I think I owe you a 00:03:20.000 –> 00:03:22.000 couple lunches still from little kids baseball. Can 00:03:22.000 –> 00:03:24.000 we talk about that on a podcast? Yes. 00:03:24.000 –> 00:03:26.000 We didn’t do that. We did not bet 00:03:26.000 –> 00:03:28.000 on lunch and his kids We just had 00:03:28.000 –> 00:03:30.000 webs my kids team all the time. And 00:03:30.000 –> 00:03:31.000 We had hunches of gonna lie. I had 00:03:31.000 –> 00:03:33.000 a hunch. Yeah. You were you were betting 00:03:33.000 –> 00:03:36.000 with your heart. It was crazy. Like, he 00:03:36.000 –> 00:03:37.000 didn’t even have a chance, but, hey, we, 00:03:38.000 –> 00:03:39.000 we tried to make happened. So I was 00:03:39.000 –> 00:03:41.000 gonna ask you too. Have you, have you 00:03:41.000 –> 00:03:42.000 seen Tiger Woods lately? 00:03:43.000 –> 00:03:45.000 No. Have you? No. Just in spring training. 00:03:45.000 –> 00:03:46.000 Just in spring. When you and I were 00:03:46.000 –> 00:03:49.000 creeping his restaurant. Damn. So what’s that private 00:03:49.000 –> 00:03:51.000 party out there? Looks like an awful lot 00:03:51.000 –> 00:03:53.000 of security for just a normal private party, 00:03:53.000 –> 00:03:55.000 doesn’t it? You and I are peaking. Yeah. 00:03:55.000 –> 00:03:57.000 Tiger was there. Tucker was there. We were 00:03:57.000 –> 00:03:59.000 in the same restaurant. We’re having dinner, Brad 00:03:59.000 –> 00:04:01.000 and I. And, 00:04:01.000 –> 00:04:03.000 well, my gosh, that’s a lot of people. 00:04:03.000 –> 00:04:04.000 I think I even tried to go to 00:04:04.000 –> 00:04:05.000 the restroom and turn right. And Sorry. You 00:04:05.000 –> 00:04:07.000 gotta go this way. Exactly. 00:04:07.000 –> 00:04:09.000 And then we found out, I think, wasn’t 00:04:09.000 –> 00:04:11.000 it you or me? Somebody got a text 00:04:11.000 –> 00:04:12.000 that Tiger Woods. They didn’t know we were 00:04:12.000 –> 00:04:14.000 there at the restaurant. They’re like Tiger Woods 00:04:14.000 –> 00:04:15.000 is at his restaurant Jupiter, and I’m like, 00:04:15.000 –> 00:04:17.000 oh, crap. We missed him. Yeah. Head his, 00:04:17.000 –> 00:04:19.000 like, daughter, soccer, partner, some either way, I 00:04:19.000 –> 00:04:21.000 think that we could say we had, dinner 00:04:21.000 –> 00:04:22.000 with tag. We had dinner with tags or 00:04:22.000 –> 00:04:25.000 did. Yeah. They were signed their their giveaway. 00:04:25.000 –> 00:04:26.000 You know, my kids, they give away like, 00:04:26.000 –> 00:04:28.000 you know, sour patch kids. I think Tiger’s 00:04:28.000 –> 00:04:30.000 end of the year party. They had signed 00:04:30.000 –> 00:04:33.000 soccer balls from Tiger Woods. That’s pretty good. 00:04:33.000 –> 00:04:34.000 And a whole new bag of clubs. A 00:04:34.000 –> 00:04:36.000 whole new bag of clubs. Well, good for 00:04:36.000 –> 00:04:36.000 them. So, 00:04:37.000 –> 00:04:40.000 let’s talk about post based ball career, man. 00:04:40.000 –> 00:04:40.000 So, 00:04:41.000 –> 00:04:42.000 and you and you already mentioned this, but 00:04:42.000 –> 00:04:44.000 what what did you think you were gonna 00:04:44.000 –> 00:04:47.000 be doing versus what you’re doing now? Yeah. 00:04:47.000 –> 00:04:49.000 So before I ended up signing with the 00:04:49.000 –> 00:04:52.000 cardinals, I had signed to after junior college. 00:04:52.000 –> 00:04:54.000 I was gonna go back to Las Vegas 00:04:54.000 –> 00:04:55.000 go to UN LV. I signed to play, 00:04:56.000 –> 00:04:57.000 there for the for the rebels. 00:04:57.000 –> 00:05:00.000 And my goal was to go into 00:05:01.000 –> 00:05:03.000 criminal justice. I wanted to be an attorney. 00:05:03.000 –> 00:05:05.000 Is is kind of the direction that I 00:05:05.000 –> 00:05:06.000 thought I was heading. 00:05:07.000 –> 00:05:09.000 And, obviously, did not go that route, but 00:05:09.000 –> 00:05:10.000 that was, like, the thought that go get 00:05:10.000 –> 00:05:13.000 into criminal justice. I I thought I wanted 00:05:13.000 –> 00:05:14.000 to go the route of attorney. 00:05:16.000 –> 00:05:18.000 And, that was gonna be the path. Now 00:05:18.000 –> 00:05:20.000 the path took me through baseball. And it 00:05:20.000 –> 00:05:21.000 was tough decision to make at the time 00:05:21.000 –> 00:05:22.000 too because 00:05:22.000 –> 00:05:25.000 I had the chance to get have my 00:05:25.000 –> 00:05:28.000 school paid for potentially get drafted higher maybe 00:05:28.000 –> 00:05:30.000 the next year, make make maybe a little 00:05:30.000 –> 00:05:32.000 bit more money out of the draft, which 00:05:32.000 –> 00:05:33.000 I didn’t make a lot of money. But 00:05:33.000 –> 00:05:35.000 I also thought what if what if I 00:05:35.000 –> 00:05:36.000 never get this chance again? What if I 00:05:36.000 –> 00:05:37.000 never have an opportunity 00:05:38.000 –> 00:05:40.000 to say that I played professional baseball. I 00:05:40.000 –> 00:05:42.000 can always go back to school. Yep. But 00:05:42.000 –> 00:05:44.000 I can’t always get this chance again. So 00:05:44.000 –> 00:05:45.000 ultimately, I landed on that decision. 00:05:46.000 –> 00:05:49.000 And so so grateful that I did. But 00:05:49.000 –> 00:05:51.000 you had never thought that the media side 00:05:51.000 –> 00:05:53.000 was gonna be a thing. And honestly, it 00:05:53.000 –> 00:05:54.000 was it wasn’t even on the radar. I 00:05:54.000 –> 00:05:57.000 wasn’t sure, Brett, what direction I gonna go. 00:05:57.000 –> 00:05:59.000 I knew I was nearing the end of 00:05:59.000 –> 00:06:02.000 my baseball career. I was playing independent ball 00:06:02.000 –> 00:06:04.000 for those that don’t know independent baseball is 00:06:04.000 –> 00:06:06.000 It’s still professional baseball. You get paid. Not 00:06:06.000 –> 00:06:08.000 a lot. You get paid nonetheless, but it’s 00:06:08.000 –> 00:06:10.000 just not affiliated with one of the major 00:06:10.000 –> 00:06:12.000 league teams. I was playing in, the Atlantic 00:06:12.000 –> 00:06:15.000 League which baseball fans will know what the 00:06:15.000 –> 00:06:17.000 Atlantic League is. It’s also been a league 00:06:17.000 –> 00:06:18.000 that’s kinda broken. Some of these major league 00:06:18.000 –> 00:06:21.000 baseball new rules before baseball breaks him in. 00:06:21.000 –> 00:06:21.000 Yeah. 00:06:22.000 –> 00:06:24.000 But a lot of former big leaguers, good 00:06:24.000 –> 00:06:26.000 baseball league. But I was playing there, and 00:06:26.000 –> 00:06:28.000 I just kinda I knew that I was 00:06:28.000 –> 00:06:30.000 I got it. Velocity wasn’t coming back. I 00:06:30.000 –> 00:06:33.000 had Tommy John surgery in twenty ten. And 00:06:33.000 –> 00:06:34.000 for those that know me well, velocity was 00:06:34.000 –> 00:06:37.000 never my thing anyhow. So losing a tick 00:06:37.000 –> 00:06:39.000 off the radar gun, we not a big 00:06:39.000 –> 00:06:40.000 thing, but I got a phone call in 00:06:40.000 –> 00:06:41.000 the off season, 00:06:42.000 –> 00:06:44.000 and this was prior to my final year 00:06:44.000 –> 00:06:44.000 of playing. 00:06:45.000 –> 00:06:48.000 And it was from program director at 01:01 00:06:48.000 –> 00:06:49.000 ESPN. I’m sure I’ve told you this story 00:06:49.000 –> 00:06:51.000 in the past, but he called me and 00:06:51.000 –> 00:06:54.000 said, Hey, I got your number from Chris 00:06:54.000 –> 00:06:54.000 Duncan. 00:06:55.000 –> 00:06:57.000 And Cardinal fans. Remember Chris Duncan. Good. Take 00:06:57.000 –> 00:06:59.000 time. Yeah, man. One of my best friends 00:06:59.000 –> 00:07:02.000 ever, unfortunately, passed away, Brad cancer 00:07:02.000 –> 00:07:04.000 and this was in the beginning of it. 00:07:04.000 –> 00:07:06.000 Dunk was was Brad to leave for some 00:07:06.000 –> 00:07:09.000 medic his, you know, medical issues. And program 00:07:09.000 –> 00:07:10.000 director called and said, Dunk passed along your 00:07:10.000 –> 00:07:11.000 number. 00:07:12.000 –> 00:07:13.000 I said he thought you would be good 00:07:13.000 –> 00:07:14.000 at this. 00:07:14.000 –> 00:07:16.000 Could you fill in on a Monday? 00:07:17.000 –> 00:07:18.000 I said, my wife probably wants me out 00:07:18.000 –> 00:07:20.000 of the house right now. It’s the office. 00:07:20.000 –> 00:07:21.000 Can you pay me a couple bucks? Yeah. 00:07:21.000 –> 00:07:23.000 I’m gonna sit around. I’m gonna sit around 00:07:23.000 –> 00:07:25.000 and watch football all weekend anyhow. That’s probably 00:07:25.000 –> 00:07:27.000 what you’re gonna talk about come Monday. I 00:07:27.000 –> 00:07:28.000 did. And I took over the weekend. It 00:07:28.000 –> 00:07:30.000 was like copious notes, just like you, you’re 00:07:30.000 –> 00:07:33.000 a note taker. Right? I’m Brett down all 00:07:33.000 –> 00:07:35.000 these college games these NFL games, like, come 00:07:35.000 –> 00:07:37.000 in. I get this stack of notes ready 00:07:37.000 –> 00:07:38.000 to go. I didn’t know what to expect. 00:07:38.000 –> 00:07:40.000 I never grew up. I didn’t listen to 00:07:40.000 –> 00:07:41.000 sports talk radio. I didn’t know how big 00:07:41.000 –> 00:07:43.000 of a thing that was. And, like, that 00:07:43.000 –> 00:07:45.000 actually really eye opening to me over the 00:07:45.000 –> 00:07:47.000 years of the connection you can have with 00:07:47.000 –> 00:07:49.000 the fan base actually doing that, but I 00:07:49.000 –> 00:07:50.000 I never had that. 00:07:51.000 –> 00:07:53.000 So one segment in, I get called out 00:07:53.000 –> 00:07:54.000 into the hallway. 00:07:55.000 –> 00:07:56.000 And I’ve said, oh, I must’ve said a 00:07:56.000 –> 00:07:58.000 magic word. I said one of the things 00:07:58.000 –> 00:07:59.000 that you can’t say here. 00:08:00.000 –> 00:08:02.000 And I said, did did that happen? He’s 00:08:02.000 –> 00:08:04.000 like, no. No. He’s like, you’re really good. 00:08:04.000 –> 00:08:06.000 Would you mind staying the rest of the 00:08:06.000 –> 00:08:08.000 week? I said, yeah. Would love to stay 00:08:08.000 –> 00:08:09.000 the rest of the week. And that rest 00:08:09.000 –> 00:08:11.000 of the week turned into the rest of 00:08:11.000 –> 00:08:13.000 the off season, which actually turned into before 00:08:13.000 –> 00:08:16.000 I was going to play, and what what 00:08:16.000 –> 00:08:18.000 was gonna be my final, you know, final 00:08:18.000 –> 00:08:19.000 year didn’t know it at the time. 00:08:20.000 –> 00:08:22.000 But they offered me a full time position. 00:08:22.000 –> 00:08:23.000 At that time, 00:08:23.000 –> 00:08:25.000 on a morning show. 00:08:25.000 –> 00:08:28.000 I said, man, I I I really appreciate 00:08:29.000 –> 00:08:30.000 the opportunity. 00:08:30.000 –> 00:08:32.000 Can’t do it. Like, I need to know 00:08:32.000 –> 00:08:34.000 that baseball’s done. Because the last thing 00:08:36.000 –> 00:08:38.000 that I wanted was to be sitting there 00:08:38.000 –> 00:08:40.000 and doing a job that I like, 00:08:41.000 –> 00:08:43.000 but wondering what could that have been like, 00:08:43.000 –> 00:08:45.000 you know, had I gone back? Maybe I 00:08:45.000 –> 00:08:48.000 found something or maybe magically the arm reappeared. 00:08:48.000 –> 00:08:51.000 Now, fortunately. The arm didn’t reappear, Brett. None 00:08:51.000 –> 00:08:53.000 of that stuff happened. I didn’t want that 00:08:53.000 –> 00:08:55.000 thought. I didn’t want that doubt that, that 00:08:55.000 –> 00:08:57.000 I did the wrong thing. So I went 00:08:57.000 –> 00:09:00.000 back and played. And after a few months 00:09:00.000 –> 00:09:02.000 in, I just knew the timing wasn’t right. 00:09:02.000 –> 00:09:04.000 My wife Andrea, she was pregnant with our 00:09:04.000 –> 00:09:06.000 our first with our first. 00:09:07.000 –> 00:09:09.000 He was born in May. I came home 00:09:09.000 –> 00:09:10.000 for a week. 00:09:11.000 –> 00:09:13.000 And I was like, man, I I’m this 00:09:13.000 –> 00:09:15.000 isn’t the place for me. I got I’ve 00:09:15.000 –> 00:09:16.000 gotta be done. I need to go home. 00:09:16.000 –> 00:09:18.000 I need to be with my family, and 00:09:18.000 –> 00:09:19.000 I need to figure out what is next. 00:09:19.000 –> 00:09:22.000 So I made the phone call, back to 00:09:22.000 –> 00:09:24.000 one one ESPN. I say, Hey, any chance 00:09:24.000 –> 00:09:26.000 you guys still got that job 00:09:26.000 –> 00:09:28.000 sitting there? And he said, we’ve been keeping 00:09:28.000 –> 00:09:30.000 a spot open for you. It ended up 00:09:30.000 –> 00:09:32.000 being in the afternoon show at the with 00:09:32.000 –> 00:09:34.000 Randy Carricker and Demarco Farris. If you’re ready 00:09:34.000 –> 00:09:36.000 to come back, we’re ready to have you. 00:09:36.000 –> 00:09:37.000 I said, well It was just the two 00:09:37.000 –> 00:09:39.000 of them at the time, maybe? Okay. Yep. 00:09:39.000 –> 00:09:41.000 And because it was the three. Chris Duncan 00:09:41.000 –> 00:09:43.000 was the third on that show. And they 00:09:43.000 –> 00:09:45.000 they had left that one open. And, 00:09:46.000 –> 00:09:46.000 fortunately, 00:09:47.000 –> 00:09:49.000 I was able to slide into that, that 00:09:49.000 –> 00:09:51.000 spot and learn so much from them Randy 00:09:51.000 –> 00:09:53.000 Carrick are one of my biggest mentors, and 00:09:53.000 –> 00:09:55.000 I love the way that Demarco Far, who’s, 00:09:55.000 –> 00:09:57.000 you know, he’s now in LA, followed the 00:09:57.000 –> 00:09:58.000 Rams out there. 00:09:58.000 –> 00:10:00.000 I love the way that he went about 00:10:00.000 –> 00:10:02.000 it, the energy and the excitement that he 00:10:02.000 –> 00:10:04.000 had and just kinda feeding off those guys 00:10:04.000 –> 00:10:06.000 and learning along the way and try not 00:10:06.000 –> 00:10:08.000 saying to magic words to get fired. And 00:10:08.000 –> 00:10:10.000 ten years later, you know, here we are. 00:10:10.000 –> 00:10:12.000 It’s amazing. Absolutely amazing. And I I think, 00:10:12.000 –> 00:10:14.000 you know, it’s crazy when you think about 00:10:14.000 –> 00:10:16.000 your career path, what you thought gonna happen. 00:10:16.000 –> 00:10:18.000 I think so many times, you know, we 00:10:18.000 –> 00:10:19.000 do planning for a living. Right? And it’s 00:10:19.000 –> 00:10:19.000 like, 00:10:20.000 –> 00:10:22.000 I plan these things, but, you know, there’s 00:10:22.000 –> 00:10:24.000 other sometimes other plans. And you just don’t 00:10:24.000 –> 00:10:25.000 know what they are. I think when you 00:10:25.000 –> 00:10:27.000 just gotta have trust and you gotta have 00:10:27.000 –> 00:10:28.000 faith and you gotta do great work and 00:10:28.000 –> 00:10:30.000 show up every day. And because I’m sure 00:10:30.000 –> 00:10:32.000 there was days I’ve talked to other players 00:10:32.000 –> 00:10:33.000 that when you when you 00:10:34.000 –> 00:10:36.000 retire, and that thing you love is gone. 00:10:37.000 –> 00:10:40.000 And Yeah. Arguably gone forever, right, that that’s 00:10:40.000 –> 00:10:43.000 probably pretty emotional. And So to find that 00:10:43.000 –> 00:10:45.000 next gear, what what was that process like 00:10:45.000 –> 00:10:46.000 for you 00:10:46.000 –> 00:10:48.000 to find out, and, obviously, you landed into 00:10:48.000 –> 00:10:50.000 that. But was there that emotional thing where 00:10:50.000 –> 00:10:52.000 you had to, like, think and journal and 00:10:52.000 –> 00:10:54.000 dream and do whatever? Oh, you’re huge. 00:10:54.000 –> 00:10:56.000 It was I still remember 00:10:56.000 –> 00:10:59.000 very vividly the drive home. So middle of 00:10:59.000 –> 00:11:00.000 the season Gilliland 00:11:00.000 –> 00:11:02.000 I had, I had given 00:11:02.000 –> 00:11:05.000 my, my manager the heads up, just told 00:11:05.000 –> 00:11:06.000 him I’d say, hey, I’ll stay here as 00:11:06.000 –> 00:11:07.000 long as 00:11:08.000 –> 00:11:10.000 you need to find a replacement for me, 00:11:10.000 –> 00:11:12.000 but I gotta go. I gotta I’m I’m 00:11:12.000 –> 00:11:13.000 ready to go home. He tried to talk 00:11:13.000 –> 00:11:15.000 me into being the pitching coach. I said, 00:11:15.000 –> 00:11:17.000 I I can’t. I gotta And what town 00:11:17.000 –> 00:11:19.000 was that again? This is somerset, New Jersey. 00:11:19.000 –> 00:11:21.000 Okay. Said said, you know, be on the 00:11:21.000 –> 00:11:23.000 same page. She was here. Yeah. She was 00:11:23.000 –> 00:11:25.000 here. Newborn son is here. 00:11:25.000 –> 00:11:27.000 So it it was it was 00:11:28.000 –> 00:11:29.000 flattering that they wanted to keep me around 00:11:29.000 –> 00:11:31.000 and wanted me to be around the team 00:11:31.000 –> 00:11:32.000 and maybe that would have started a new 00:11:32.000 –> 00:11:34.000 patch. Maybe that would have been coaching and 00:11:34.000 –> 00:11:36.000 and going from there. But, 00:11:36.000 –> 00:11:37.000 my heart was here. Right? Had had to 00:11:37.000 –> 00:11:39.000 go home, but I remember the drive. It 00:11:39.000 –> 00:11:41.000 was so bad of calling everybody, calling family, 00:11:41.000 –> 00:11:44.000 calling, like, my wife, Yeah. That’s it. Like, 00:11:44.000 –> 00:11:46.000 it’s a last road trip. So it’s, that’s 00:11:46.000 –> 00:11:48.000 emotional, right, when you’re when you’re going through 00:11:48.000 –> 00:11:50.000 it. But you also know, like, you know, 00:11:50.000 –> 00:11:53.000 something’s over. You know when it’s time to 00:11:53.000 –> 00:11:55.000 move on, and that’s where we were at. 00:11:55.000 –> 00:11:57.000 We were at that that that point. So 00:11:57.000 –> 00:11:58.000 when it comes to like finding a passion 00:11:58.000 –> 00:11:59.000 for a new thing, 00:12:00.000 –> 00:12:02.000 whatever I do, I try to, like, jump 00:12:02.000 –> 00:12:04.000 into. I try to just roll in. The 00:12:04.000 –> 00:12:07.000 energy, the enthusiasm, whether whether it’s it’s doing 00:12:07.000 –> 00:12:08.000 radio, it’s doing an interview, 00:12:09.000 –> 00:12:11.000 hanging out with the family, like, try to 00:12:11.000 –> 00:12:12.000 jump in. There are days where maybe you 00:12:12.000 –> 00:12:14.000 don’t feel like that. Mhmm. But it’s amazing 00:12:14.000 –> 00:12:16.000 if you come in with that attitude as 00:12:16.000 –> 00:12:17.000 you very well know, 00:12:17.000 –> 00:12:20.000 that’s how your day starts going. Right? So, 00:12:20.000 –> 00:12:22.000 I kinda poured into it and it started 00:12:22.000 –> 00:12:23.000 when I got that phone call. Like I 00:12:23.000 –> 00:12:25.000 said, I’m taking the notes and I’m saying, 00:12:25.000 –> 00:12:27.000 if I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do 00:12:27.000 –> 00:12:28.000 I’m not just gonna show up. And I’ve 00:12:28.000 –> 00:12:30.000 seen this a lot now, especially being in 00:12:30.000 –> 00:12:32.000 the business. You see a lot of former 00:12:32.000 –> 00:12:33.000 athletes 00:12:33.000 –> 00:12:36.000 show up and say, I played. I got 00:12:36.000 –> 00:12:39.000 this. Yeah. And then you’re you’re talking to 00:12:39.000 –> 00:12:40.000 him for a little bit or they’re speaking. 00:12:40.000 –> 00:12:43.000 It’s like, he doesn’t he doesn’t have this. 00:12:43.000 –> 00:12:45.000 Like, it’s it’s very obvious that it’s it’s 00:12:45.000 –> 00:12:47.000 not an easy thing to do. I think 00:12:47.000 –> 00:12:48.000 a lot of people at home are are 00:12:48.000 –> 00:12:50.000 saying, boss, easy. I watch sports, easy to 00:12:50.000 –> 00:12:53.000 talk about. Sure. So sometimes sometimes it is. 00:12:53.000 –> 00:12:57.000 Other times, it takes it takes different little 00:12:58.000 –> 00:13:00.000 avenues or or nuances 00:13:00.000 –> 00:13:02.000 to to get through it. So But it’s 00:13:02.000 –> 00:13:04.000 also, like, you gotta you gotta know, you 00:13:04.000 –> 00:13:06.000 know, when to talk, you gotta know when 00:13:06.000 –> 00:13:08.000 your voice goes up. Right? There’s more to 00:13:08.000 –> 00:13:09.000 it than just, oh, I know about Yes. 00:13:09.000 –> 00:13:11.000 Well, and that’s something that you learn as 00:13:11.000 –> 00:13:13.000 you go to. Yeah. And that is something 00:13:13.000 –> 00:13:15.000 that I’ve had to learn a lot more 00:13:15.000 –> 00:13:17.000 with the TV side of things as I’ve 00:13:17.000 –> 00:13:19.000 been doing those ball games for the last 00:13:19.000 –> 00:13:20.000 couple of years is the 00:13:21.000 –> 00:13:23.000 the picture is there on the screen. So 00:13:23.000 –> 00:13:26.000 I can’t be talking about something that maybe 00:13:26.000 –> 00:13:28.000 even I, like, I care about it a 00:13:28.000 –> 00:13:30.000 lot, whatever. I’ve got a good story. If 00:13:30.000 –> 00:13:33.000 they’re showing on the screen, it’s Miles Michaelis 00:13:33.000 –> 00:13:35.000 or whoever, that’s who we’re talking about or 00:13:35.000 –> 00:13:36.000 that, like, that’s what the story is at 00:13:36.000 –> 00:13:38.000 the time. You have to know when to 00:13:38.000 –> 00:13:39.000 get in, when to get out, but it’s 00:13:39.000 –> 00:13:41.000 reps. Yeah. And it’s caring about that. And 00:13:41.000 –> 00:13:44.000 it’s realizing when you mess something up because 00:13:44.000 –> 00:13:46.000 I in my line of work, I know 00:13:46.000 –> 00:13:48.000 when I mess something up, it’s very evident. 00:13:48.000 –> 00:13:51.000 Like, usually there’s producer near yourself. What was 00:13:51.000 –> 00:13:53.000 that? Don’t do it. Nothing. But you you 00:13:53.000 –> 00:13:55.000 care enough to fix it and just going 00:13:55.000 –> 00:13:58.000 back to the jumping into a new thing. 00:13:58.000 –> 00:13:59.000 This is another thing I like to tell 00:13:59.000 –> 00:14:01.000 kids when I get an opportunity or adults. 00:14:01.000 –> 00:14:02.000 It’s a good thing to remember, 00:14:03.000 –> 00:14:05.000 you never know when an opportunity is gonna 00:14:05.000 –> 00:14:06.000 come your way. Yeah. You never know. Nope. 00:14:06.000 –> 00:14:08.000 You know when one passes you, though. Like, 00:14:08.000 –> 00:14:10.000 you know when something just walks out the 00:14:10.000 –> 00:14:12.000 door and say, I should have done that. 00:14:12.000 –> 00:14:13.000 So I wanna be ready for that. I 00:14:13.000 –> 00:14:15.000 wanna be ready for whatever that next opportunity 00:14:16.000 –> 00:14:17.000 is. Yeah. And I I always talk to 00:14:17.000 –> 00:14:20.000 the old paralysis by analysis. Right? You could 00:14:20.000 –> 00:14:22.000 have that opportunity, but so many people will 00:14:22.000 –> 00:14:24.000 go back and they gotta 00:14:24.000 –> 00:14:26.000 think and think and think. And then what 00:14:26.000 –> 00:14:28.000 happens is they think themselves out of it. 00:14:28.000 –> 00:14:30.000 Yeah. This is a great idea because AB 00:14:30.000 –> 00:14:32.000 and see, but then that negative thought up 00:14:32.000 –> 00:14:34.000 here in our mind says, well, I can’t 00:14:34.000 –> 00:14:36.000 do it because I’m this, and I’m that. 00:14:36.000 –> 00:14:37.000 And I think so many times what try 00:14:37.000 –> 00:14:39.000 to help people with is just just take 00:14:39.000 –> 00:14:40.000 action. That’s one of the circuits on the 00:14:40.000 –> 00:14:43.000 circuit of success. Take action. Doesn’t mean you 00:14:43.000 –> 00:14:45.000 have the whole thing figured out. But if 00:14:45.000 –> 00:14:46.000 you trust yourself, again, I’ve said it a 00:14:46.000 –> 00:14:48.000 million times, you show up to work every 00:14:48.000 –> 00:14:49.000 day. 00:14:49.000 –> 00:14:51.000 Good things are probably gonna happen. For sure. 00:14:51.000 –> 00:14:53.000 Right? So liking this to baseball. Okay? Because 00:14:53.000 –> 00:14:56.000 this happens a lot nowadays, paralysis by analysis. 00:14:57.000 –> 00:14:58.000 We have all of this data. We have 00:14:58.000 –> 00:15:00.000 all of these analytics. 00:15:00.000 –> 00:15:02.000 One of my one of the most important 00:15:02.000 –> 00:15:05.000 things I believe for any athlete is trust 00:15:05.000 –> 00:15:08.000 your gut. Like, trust you, believe in your 00:15:08.000 –> 00:15:10.000 stuff. I don’t care, if this guy can’t 00:15:10.000 –> 00:15:12.000 hit this or can’t do that, what do 00:15:12.000 –> 00:15:14.000 you do well? Yeah. What is your strength? 00:15:14.000 –> 00:15:16.000 And I think that’s one of the biggest 00:15:16.000 –> 00:15:18.000 things in any walk of life. Like, what 00:15:18.000 –> 00:15:19.000 what is your strength? Do you trust in 00:15:19.000 –> 00:15:21.000 what you’re doing? If you trust in what 00:15:21.000 –> 00:15:22.000 you’re doing, good things are gonna happen. It 00:15:22.000 –> 00:15:24.000 might not be the direct route that you’re 00:15:24.000 –> 00:15:26.000 expecting it to happen might not be just 00:15:26.000 –> 00:15:28.000 a to b very easy, but you’ll get 00:15:28.000 –> 00:15:30.000 there at some point if you believe in 00:15:30.000 –> 00:15:31.000 what you’re doing. That’s right. Yeah. A hundred 00:15:31.000 –> 00:15:33.000 percent. I’ve I think about 00:15:33.000 –> 00:15:36.000 I my first job out of college, I 00:15:36.000 –> 00:15:38.000 was there for about, six weeks. I don’t 00:15:38.000 –> 00:15:39.000 think I’ve ever told this on the podcast, 00:15:39.000 –> 00:15:39.000 but, 00:15:40.000 –> 00:15:41.000 I was there for six weeks. I was 00:15:41.000 –> 00:15:43.000 in the financial He’s at a different firm. 00:15:43.000 –> 00:15:45.000 And I got a call on a Tuesday 00:15:45.000 –> 00:15:46.000 night that the guy that I was supposed 00:15:46.000 –> 00:15:48.000 to have lunch with the next day, my 00:15:48.000 –> 00:15:48.000 mentor, 00:15:49.000 –> 00:15:51.000 who I’d never met. Yeah. Tomorrow was the 00:15:51.000 –> 00:15:53.000 big day. Right? Here am twenty two years 00:15:53.000 –> 00:15:55.000 old. We’re living in this tiny condo in 00:15:55.000 –> 00:15:57.000 Saint Louis. My wife’s got an internship at 00:15:57.000 –> 00:15:58.000 Barnes. 00:15:58.000 –> 00:16:00.000 We had one car, and I’m gonna go 00:16:00.000 –> 00:16:01.000 this lunch. I get the call on Tuesday. 00:16:02.000 –> 00:16:02.000 He actually, 00:16:03.000 –> 00:16:05.000 died by suicide. Oh my god. And, 00:16:06.000 –> 00:16:08.000 jumped off a building, actually. And and so 00:16:08.000 –> 00:16:10.000 here I am, this twenty two year old 00:16:10.000 –> 00:16:12.000 kid, I’m getting ready to go start literally 00:16:12.000 –> 00:16:13.000 to knock on doors and try to build 00:16:13.000 –> 00:16:15.000 a business and, you know, got acne. I’m 00:16:15.000 –> 00:16:17.000 like, I look like I’m twelve. You know, 00:16:17.000 –> 00:16:18.000 I’m like, hey, give me your money. 00:16:19.000 –> 00:16:21.000 And so I said I’m never gonna be 00:16:21.000 –> 00:16:24.000 in financial planning. I’m never gonna do investments. 00:16:24.000 –> 00:16:25.000 That’s just not my deal. I actually went 00:16:25.000 –> 00:16:27.000 to Bush Stadium. I was gonna the next, 00:16:27.000 –> 00:16:29.000 you know, now jump as they lucked at 00:16:29.000 –> 00:16:30.000 the time, Mark Lamping. That’s what I thought 00:16:30.000 –> 00:16:32.000 I was gonna do. I applied for a 00:16:32.000 –> 00:16:34.000 job. They said, we don’t have any jobs, 00:16:34.000 –> 00:16:36.000 but not a bartender? I said, yeah. I 00:16:36.000 –> 00:16:37.000 know the bartender. They said, we need a 00:16:37.000 –> 00:16:39.000 bartender for the game tonight. So if the 00:16:39.000 –> 00:16:40.000 old bush that you played in, right, they 00:16:40.000 –> 00:16:43.000 had remember the left field at the stadium 00:16:43.000 –> 00:16:45.000 club. Yeah. Yeah. How’s the bartender in there? 00:16:45.000 –> 00:16:47.000 Long story short, I got another call from 00:16:47.000 –> 00:16:49.000 a company that said, come in. Let’s do 00:16:49.000 –> 00:16:51.000 an interview. I said, look, I’ll come in 00:16:51.000 –> 00:16:53.000 for the practice. I was very upfront. Well, 00:16:53.000 –> 00:16:55.000 I spent twelve and a half years there. 00:16:55.000 –> 00:16:56.000 Now ten years of visionary, and I’ve done 00:16:56.000 –> 00:16:59.000 nothing but investment. That’s good practice. Right. Good 00:16:59.000 –> 00:17:00.000 practice. But the point to that is what 00:17:00.000 –> 00:17:01.000 what is the point of that story. Right? 00:17:01.000 –> 00:17:03.000 Right? But I think the point is is 00:17:03.000 –> 00:17:04.000 you never know because what you said, you 00:17:04.000 –> 00:17:06.000 never know where it’s gonna go. How you 00:17:06.000 –> 00:17:07.000 take it, and then you take it to 00:17:07.000 –> 00:17:09.000 the next level by what you put into 00:17:09.000 –> 00:17:10.000 it. Gilliland, 00:17:10.000 –> 00:17:13.000 like, to your earlier point, a tragic event, 00:17:13.000 –> 00:17:15.000 obviously, with with with your mentor, 00:17:15.000 –> 00:17:16.000 but 00:17:16.000 –> 00:17:18.000 that life is not your life. You know? 00:17:18.000 –> 00:17:20.000 Like, there are different things weighing on him 00:17:20.000 –> 00:17:22.000 than weighing on you. It’s not necessarily the 00:17:22.000 –> 00:17:24.000 industry that you’re in. Don’t care if you 00:17:24.000 –> 00:17:26.000 you could be in the happiest industry in 00:17:26.000 –> 00:17:28.000 the world or the saddest industry in the 00:17:28.000 –> 00:17:29.000 world. You’d be in the happiest industry and 00:17:29.000 –> 00:17:31.000 be a sad person. You could be, a 00:17:31.000 –> 00:17:33.000 sad industry and be a happy person. It’s 00:17:33.000 –> 00:17:35.000 your mindset. It’s the way that that you 00:17:35.000 –> 00:17:37.000 go about it, and you just gotta be 00:17:37.000 –> 00:17:38.000 ready for when that one pops up. But 00:17:38.000 –> 00:17:40.000 that is like, I’m thinking about the conversation 00:17:40.000 –> 00:17:42.000 that you had. It was marked lamping at 00:17:42.000 –> 00:17:44.000 the time. Yeah. So and who runs the 00:17:44.000 –> 00:17:46.000 jaguars now. Right? So Oh, I think that’s 00:17:46.000 –> 00:17:49.000 right. I I I’m just picturing. It’s like, 00:17:49.000 –> 00:17:51.000 I’m interested in this job. No, but bartending. 00:17:51.000 –> 00:17:54.000 Yeah. Like, that’s, like, what what a drastic? 00:17:54.000 –> 00:17:55.000 What just happened? Let’s see if this kid 00:17:55.000 –> 00:17:57.000 will do that. Yeah. He will. Yeah. But 00:17:57.000 –> 00:18:00.000 that’s one of the things too. Like, in 00:18:00.000 –> 00:18:01.000 and this is a big thing in the 00:18:01.000 –> 00:18:04.000 radio industry. If someone asks you, hey, can 00:18:04.000 –> 00:18:07.000 you do x, y, or z. Yeah. Yeah. 00:18:07.000 –> 00:18:09.000 Yes. I can. I can do that. And 00:18:09.000 –> 00:18:11.000 you can dig in, you figure it out. 00:18:11.000 –> 00:18:13.000 It can you interview so and so? You 00:18:13.000 –> 00:18:14.000 might be a young producer 00:18:15.000 –> 00:18:17.000 Yeah. I can do that. That’s a chance. 00:18:17.000 –> 00:18:19.000 Like, that is an opportunity. You might be 00:18:19.000 –> 00:18:21.000 scared to death. Nobody knows what you’re feeling. 00:18:21.000 –> 00:18:23.000 Nobody knows what you’re thinking as you’re going 00:18:23.000 –> 00:18:25.000 through it. Take the opportunity. The answer is 00:18:25.000 –> 00:18:27.000 yes. Can you do it? Yes. I’ll figure 00:18:27.000 –> 00:18:29.000 it out. Yeah. Well, Danny Max said in 00:18:29.000 –> 00:18:31.000 this podcast. He said he started with he 00:18:31.000 –> 00:18:32.000 was running tapes or whatever they called it 00:18:32.000 –> 00:18:33.000 back in. Right? He’s like, literally, it’d be 00:18:33.000 –> 00:18:35.000 on a cart. I’d run him from one 00:18:35.000 –> 00:18:36.000 room to the other so the guys could 00:18:36.000 –> 00:18:38.000 talk about on the air. Yes. 00:18:40.000 –> 00:18:43.000 Cut up tape. And Yeah. It’s crazy. So, 00:18:44.000 –> 00:18:46.000 how did you how do how do you 00:18:46.000 –> 00:18:47.000 draw up on your playing career? 00:18:48.000 –> 00:18:50.000 Now being an announcer. Do you think back 00:18:50.000 –> 00:18:51.000 to your playing days? Like, does that play 00:18:51.000 –> 00:18:53.000 a role in the in the booth? Yeah. 00:18:53.000 –> 00:18:54.000 It does. I I think back to more 00:18:54.000 –> 00:18:57.000 so, like, than referencing my career, which is 00:18:57.000 –> 00:18:58.000 lack luster. Like, I’m actually gonna go back. 00:18:58.000 –> 00:19:00.000 Serious champ, darn right. I’m gonna have you 00:19:00.000 –> 00:19:02.000 say that a few more times as we 00:19:02.000 –> 00:19:03.000 go through this. No. More so I think 00:19:03.000 –> 00:19:05.000 about all, I think about emotions. I think 00:19:05.000 –> 00:19:07.000 about the emotions of what a player is 00:19:07.000 –> 00:19:09.000 going through at a given time because it 00:19:09.000 –> 00:19:11.000 is very easy to sit where we sit, 00:19:11.000 –> 00:19:13.000 you’re high up, and you’re you’re watching on 00:19:13.000 –> 00:19:15.000 a screen, you see the field in front 00:19:15.000 –> 00:19:17.000 of you, game looks easy. Like, it looks 00:19:17.000 –> 00:19:19.000 really easy when you’re watching at home, you’re 00:19:19.000 –> 00:19:22.000 a couple of cold beers. Like, why didn’t 00:19:22.000 –> 00:19:24.000 he hit that ball down the middle that 00:19:24.000 –> 00:19:26.000 I realized I’ve I’ve stood in that batter’s 00:19:26.000 –> 00:19:28.000 box. I’ve been on that amount. I’ve done 00:19:28.000 –> 00:19:30.000 it during the regular season. I’ve done it 00:19:30.000 –> 00:19:31.000 in the post season. I’ve done it in 00:19:31.000 –> 00:19:34.000 the world series. It is a different perspective 00:19:34.000 –> 00:19:36.000 when you’re actually going through it and things 00:19:36.000 –> 00:19:37.000 aren’t that easy. So that’s one of the 00:19:37.000 –> 00:19:39.000 things that I really try to remember 00:19:40.000 –> 00:19:41.000 when I’m in the booth and I’m doing 00:19:41.000 –> 00:19:44.000 games. It’s not that easy. So 00:19:45.000 –> 00:19:48.000 I’m not gonna also lie to somebody when 00:19:48.000 –> 00:19:49.000 you’re watching the game. I’m not gonna spit 00:19:49.000 –> 00:19:51.000 on you and tell you it’s raining. Right. 00:19:51.000 –> 00:19:53.000 When something is bad, it’s bad. But I’ll 00:19:53.000 –> 00:19:55.000 frame it in a way where, hey, nine 00:19:55.000 –> 00:19:57.000 times out of ten, he’s gonna make that 00:19:57.000 –> 00:19:58.000 play. Yeah. Because I believe that. Yeah. You 00:19:58.000 –> 00:20:00.000 know, I I believe that the the good 00:20:00.000 –> 00:20:03.000 things are gonna outweigh the bad things you 00:20:03.000 –> 00:20:05.000 have to mention the bad things. I talked 00:20:05.000 –> 00:20:06.000 about the bad season that the cardinals had. 00:20:06.000 –> 00:20:08.000 Twenty games under five hundred. It’s hard to 00:20:08.000 –> 00:20:10.000 sugar coat that. Right? But also have to 00:20:10.000 –> 00:20:12.000 believe in the fact that you didn’t have 00:20:12.000 –> 00:20:13.000 a losing season, 00:20:14.000 –> 00:20:16.000 since o seven before that. We’re very spoiled. 00:20:16.000 –> 00:20:17.000 Yeah. And you know that good things are 00:20:17.000 –> 00:20:20.000 gonna be on the horizon also, but Yeah. 00:20:20.000 –> 00:20:22.000 I I always go back to being in 00:20:22.000 –> 00:20:24.000 those shoes, what it’s like. And then the 00:20:24.000 –> 00:20:25.000 other thing that I lean on a lot 00:20:25.000 –> 00:20:27.000 is the preparation. I know what the preparation 00:20:27.000 –> 00:20:29.000 was like as a player. I know how 00:20:29.000 –> 00:20:32.000 I would dig in and learn about these 00:20:32.000 –> 00:20:34.000 hitters. Now there’s far more information now than 00:20:34.000 –> 00:20:36.000 there was when I was playing. And maybe 00:20:36.000 –> 00:20:38.000 too much information for some guys. I think 00:20:38.000 –> 00:20:40.000 that’s one of the biggest challenges is how 00:20:40.000 –> 00:20:41.000 to spoon feed some of these players the 00:20:41.000 –> 00:20:44.000 information that they need without giving them the 00:20:44.000 –> 00:20:46.000 quote unquote analytics because Some guys can’t really 00:20:46.000 –> 00:20:48.000 handle the numbers of it but need the 00:20:48.000 –> 00:20:49.000 information. 00:20:49.000 –> 00:20:51.000 But I I think about that. And a 00:20:51.000 –> 00:20:52.000 lot of times maybe you’ll hear me during 00:20:52.000 –> 00:20:53.000 a broadcast 00:20:54.000 –> 00:20:55.000 thinking ahead. Say, hey, 00:20:56.000 –> 00:20:58.000 if if in this spot, I would go 00:20:58.000 –> 00:21:00.000 with this slider down the way right here. 00:21:00.000 –> 00:21:02.000 Well, I’ve scouted him just like the pitcher 00:21:02.000 –> 00:21:04.000 scouted him. I scout the other teams, tendencies, 00:21:04.000 –> 00:21:06.000 and all that stuff. So ahead of time, 00:21:06.000 –> 00:21:08.000 I I feel like I know what direction 00:21:08.000 –> 00:21:10.000 they should be going in. Now that So 00:21:10.000 –> 00:21:12.000 you watch film as, I mean Yeah. Yeah. 00:21:12.000 –> 00:21:15.000 I watch video breakdown, scouting reports, all that 00:21:15.000 –> 00:21:18.000 fun stuff before games. I nerd out with 00:21:18.000 –> 00:21:19.000 it now, Brad. Like, this is what you 00:21:19.000 –> 00:21:21.000 do in your hotel room? I do. I 00:21:21.000 –> 00:21:23.000 guess they’re on the Brad, and I’m 00:21:23.000 –> 00:21:26.000 digging into video and watching, you know, hitters 00:21:26.000 –> 00:21:27.000 against the left. Do you have, like, the 00:21:27.000 –> 00:21:28.000 iPad that same when the players are watching 00:21:28.000 –> 00:21:30.000 the same I don’t get their good proprietary 00:21:31.000 –> 00:21:32.000 information. I have to dig in and find 00:21:32.000 –> 00:21:34.000 my own. I should really call in some 00:21:34.000 –> 00:21:35.000 favors and get good stuff. 00:21:36.000 –> 00:21:39.000 The broadcast. All the search engine stuff. But, 00:21:39.000 –> 00:21:41.000 no, it it really is. It’s fun. And 00:21:41.000 –> 00:21:44.000 it’s it’s like anything else. Say, I I 00:21:44.000 –> 00:21:45.000 dig in and do this thing because I 00:21:45.000 –> 00:21:48.000 wanna inform the viewer. Yep. And I want 00:21:48.000 –> 00:21:51.000 to be right. Like, there’s a pride in 00:21:51.000 –> 00:21:54.000 I’m not just saying stuff to say stuff, 00:21:54.000 –> 00:21:56.000 but there’s also the humbling nature of baseball’s 00:21:56.000 –> 00:21:59.000 ever changing. Yeah. And somebody’s thought process is 00:21:59.000 –> 00:22:01.000 totally different. I might know from my and 00:22:01.000 –> 00:22:03.000 this goes back to trusting yourself. I might 00:22:03.000 –> 00:22:05.000 know from my research that I did in 00:22:05.000 –> 00:22:06.000 my hotel room in Milwaukee, 00:22:07.000 –> 00:22:09.000 sitting there that o two 00:22:09.000 –> 00:22:11.000 slider down in a way. That is the 00:22:11.000 –> 00:22:14.000 best pitch for Gilliland Thompson. He’ll miss it 00:22:14.000 –> 00:22:16.000 by a mile. I don’t know what the 00:22:16.000 –> 00:22:18.000 guy on the mound feels when he grips 00:22:18.000 –> 00:22:19.000 his tighter. Yeah. There are times where a 00:22:19.000 –> 00:22:21.000 pitch in your hand feels amazing. There are 00:22:21.000 –> 00:22:23.000 times where even if you know in your 00:22:23.000 –> 00:22:24.000 head it’s a right pitch, you grip the 00:22:24.000 –> 00:22:26.000 baseball. I said, this Gilliland then you switch 00:22:26.000 –> 00:22:27.000 it to another grip, you say, this is 00:22:27.000 –> 00:22:29.000 the pitch I want. Let’s go with this 00:22:29.000 –> 00:22:31.000 one. So, like, that’s where, like, the human 00:22:31.000 –> 00:22:33.000 element really plays in the game of base 00:22:33.000 –> 00:22:35.000 one. I love that. Well, and and also 00:22:35.000 –> 00:22:37.000 you don’t know what he did last night. 00:22:37.000 –> 00:22:38.000 You don’t know if he got an argument 00:22:38.000 –> 00:22:41.000 with his spouse, you know, three hours before 00:22:41.000 –> 00:22:43.000 the game. Right? There’s so much emotion So 00:22:43.000 –> 00:22:45.000 for you, how much of it playing you’re 00:22:45.000 –> 00:22:47.000 playing days? How much of it was physical 00:22:47.000 –> 00:22:50.000 versus, you know, emotional or psychological I I 00:22:50.000 –> 00:22:52.000 think it’s a good balance. The the physical 00:22:52.000 –> 00:22:54.000 part of it during the season, at least 00:22:54.000 –> 00:22:57.000 for me, was maintenance. That was you maintain 00:22:57.000 –> 00:22:59.000 the arm care. You maintain all of the 00:22:59.000 –> 00:23:01.000 stuff that you worked hard in the winter 00:23:01.000 –> 00:23:02.000 to grow. Like, 00:23:02.000 –> 00:23:05.000 that was the growing part of it. But 00:23:05.000 –> 00:23:07.000 playing a big league season, a hundred and 00:23:07.000 –> 00:23:08.000 sixty two games in a hundred and eighty 00:23:08.000 –> 00:23:10.000 something days, like, it’s a lot. It is 00:23:10.000 –> 00:23:13.000 a rigorous thing. So that’s where the mental 00:23:13.000 –> 00:23:14.000 part it comes in. And I did this 00:23:14.000 –> 00:23:16.000 at mainly as a bullpen guy. I started 00:23:16.000 –> 00:23:18.000 a bit in my career too, but mainly 00:23:18.000 –> 00:23:20.000 as a bullpen guy, everyday players that have 00:23:20.000 –> 00:23:22.000 to answer the bell every day, That’s a 00:23:22.000 –> 00:23:25.000 different animal. You go over four, like, three 00:23:25.000 –> 00:23:27.000 days in a row Yeah. And still being 00:23:27.000 –> 00:23:28.000 able to put in the work, and that’s 00:23:28.000 –> 00:23:30.000 where having a routine, and and Brett, I 00:23:30.000 –> 00:23:31.000 know you’re huge on routine 00:23:32.000 –> 00:23:34.000 and just having something that you could rely 00:23:34.000 –> 00:23:36.000 on day in and day out. To me, 00:23:36.000 –> 00:23:37.000 that’s the biggest thing. You put in the 00:23:37.000 –> 00:23:40.000 work. You do during the season and the 00:23:40.000 –> 00:23:43.000 off season. You do what you know 00:23:43.000 –> 00:23:45.000 has made you successful in the past. And 00:23:45.000 –> 00:23:47.000 even if you don’t get the results, you 00:23:47.000 –> 00:23:48.000 yourself in the mirror at the end of 00:23:48.000 –> 00:23:50.000 the night and say, hey, I did everything 00:23:50.000 –> 00:23:51.000 that I could. I’m gonna do it again 00:23:51.000 –> 00:23:53.000 tomorrow. So being able to answer the bell 00:23:53.000 –> 00:23:55.000 and being able to be consistent in the 00:23:55.000 –> 00:23:57.000 game of ball. That’s the hardest thing. Yeah. 00:23:57.000 –> 00:23:59.000 Like, it stinks to be the guy that 00:23:59.000 –> 00:24:02.000 is standing there on the mound at wrigley 00:24:02.000 –> 00:24:04.000 as they start playing that go cubs go 00:24:04.000 –> 00:24:06.000 song. You know what I walk you off. 00:24:06.000 –> 00:24:08.000 Oh, yeah. That sucks. That’s a bad feeling. 00:24:09.000 –> 00:24:10.000 You gotta be ready the next day. Sort 00:24:10.000 –> 00:24:12.000 of the next yeah. That next opportunity might 00:24:12.000 –> 00:24:15.000 be there in often times. Managers just like 00:24:15.000 –> 00:24:18.000 a any manager in any business will likely 00:24:18.000 –> 00:24:20.000 put you right back into that situation again 00:24:20.000 –> 00:24:22.000 to see how you react to it. Are 00:24:22.000 –> 00:24:24.000 you ready for? And I always wanted to 00:24:24.000 –> 00:24:26.000 be ready. My ID is kicking in. So 00:24:26.000 –> 00:24:28.000 my I’m bouncing between your playing guys in 00:24:28.000 –> 00:24:29.000 your fave too. Okay. Good. 00:24:30.000 –> 00:24:31.000 I made me think you told me a 00:24:31.000 –> 00:24:33.000 story one time. I thought it was hilarious. 00:24:33.000 –> 00:24:34.000 Your Scott Rolling story. I think you probably 00:24:34.000 –> 00:24:36.000 know where I’m going. There’s a lot of 00:24:36.000 –> 00:24:37.000 Scott Rolling stories and you were fortunate enough 00:24:37.000 –> 00:24:38.000 I think to go to the hall of 00:24:38.000 –> 00:24:40.000 fame thing. I didn’t go to Oh, you 00:24:40.000 –> 00:24:42.000 did. I was working, working the games. But 00:24:42.000 –> 00:24:43.000 I know what you’re talking 00:24:44.000 –> 00:24:46.000 about. Yeah. Well, I let’s be honest. I 00:24:46.000 –> 00:24:48.000 helped Scott get Paul of Fame. All those 00:24:48.000 –> 00:24:50.000 rockets that I gave up down the line 00:24:50.000 –> 00:24:52.000 that he made these high life plays on. 00:24:52.000 –> 00:24:54.000 No. It was an absolute honor to Brett 00:24:54.000 –> 00:24:57.000 teammates with Scott rolling. And when I when 00:24:57.000 –> 00:24:58.000 I got called up to the big leagues, 00:24:58.000 –> 00:25:00.000 it was two thousand five. It was a 00:25:00.000 –> 00:25:01.000 little over a month, I think, end of 00:25:01.000 –> 00:25:03.000 the season. And I still remember 00:25:03.000 –> 00:25:05.000 walking in 00:25:05.000 –> 00:25:07.000 Bush Stadium. And it was, you know, bush 00:25:07.000 –> 00:25:10.000 to older stadium. I remember the doors opening 00:25:10.000 –> 00:25:12.000 like it’s a movie scene Albert Poolholz is 00:25:12.000 –> 00:25:16.000 walking this way. Matt Morris, Scott Rolling, Reggie 00:25:16.000 –> 00:25:19.000 Sanders, like, guys just like legends. Yes. 00:25:20.000 –> 00:25:21.000 I mean, it was it was I was 00:25:21.000 –> 00:25:23.000 like a kid. I was like a little 00:25:23.000 –> 00:25:25.000 literally like a kid. Twenty three years old, 00:25:25.000 –> 00:25:28.000 baby face. They they barely let me in 00:25:28.000 –> 00:25:30.000 the stadium. They had get somebody come in. 00:25:30.000 –> 00:25:31.000 Nobody the hell is this? Yeah. Nobody believe 00:25:31.000 –> 00:25:33.000 that I actually played. They laughed at me. 00:25:33.000 –> 00:25:33.000 But, 00:25:34.000 –> 00:25:36.000 the Scott Rolling story is when I did 00:25:36.000 –> 00:25:39.000 make my major league debut, you. It was 00:25:39.000 –> 00:25:41.000 Mother’s Day two thousand five. And I remember 00:25:41.000 –> 00:25:43.000 jogging in from the bullpen. And I think 00:25:43.000 –> 00:25:45.000 I made the mistake of looking around, even 00:25:45.000 –> 00:25:47.000 though they say you should soak up the 00:25:47.000 –> 00:25:49.000 moment. Sometimes maybe should be laser focused. I 00:25:49.000 –> 00:25:50.000 don’t know. But I I did this one. 00:25:50.000 –> 00:25:53.000 I started looking around. Oh my god. I 00:25:53.000 –> 00:25:53.000 mean, 00:25:55.000 –> 00:25:57.000 and surrounding you too. You know, the the 00:25:57.000 –> 00:25:59.000 difference in the stadium, it was Gilliland it 00:25:59.000 –> 00:26:01.000 was all the way around you. And I 00:26:01.000 –> 00:26:03.000 get in, I throw my warm up pitches, 00:26:04.000 –> 00:26:06.000 last pitch I throw to it was yachty. 00:26:07.000 –> 00:26:08.000 Throw yachty. He throws it down. They throw 00:26:08.000 –> 00:26:10.000 it around the horn. Yeah. And your third 00:26:10.000 –> 00:26:12.000 baseman comes creeping in. He’s getting the last 00:26:12.000 –> 00:26:15.000 guy to receive the ball. Third baseman, obviously, 00:26:15.000 –> 00:26:16.000 the hall of famer Scott rolling. 00:26:17.000 –> 00:26:18.000 He has the ball. He’s holding in his 00:26:18.000 –> 00:26:20.000 hand. He looks at me. He looks around 00:26:20.000 –> 00:26:22.000 like I did earlier. 00:26:22.000 –> 00:26:24.000 He’s like, Hey, your parents make it in 00:26:24.000 –> 00:26:26.000 town? I go, no. They’re not here yet, 00:26:26.000 –> 00:26:27.000 mister Rolling. They’re be here next week. I 00:26:27.000 –> 00:26:29.000 think I I think I missed it rolling 00:26:29.000 –> 00:26:31.000 him. He goes, yeah. A lot of people 00:26:31.000 –> 00:26:33.000 here. Well, good luck. And he flicked his 00:26:33.000 –> 00:26:36.000 face off. It was like, okay. Okay, mister 00:26:36.000 –> 00:26:38.000 Rolling. Sorry. It was as awesome. Good luck, 00:26:38.000 –> 00:26:40.000 kid. Yeah. Have fun. Let’s see what you 00:26:40.000 –> 00:26:41.000 do with it was 00:26:42.000 –> 00:26:42.000 it was 00:26:43.000 –> 00:26:45.000 a really fun experience, obviously, to make a 00:26:45.000 –> 00:26:47.000 majorly debut. So memorable with that. And it’s 00:26:47.000 –> 00:26:48.000 also, 00:26:49.000 –> 00:26:50.000 really nice to know you have a safety 00:26:50.000 –> 00:26:52.000 net like that over at third base where 00:26:52.000 –> 00:26:55.000 anything that you hit that way, you never 00:26:55.000 –> 00:26:56.000 had to look at the left side of 00:26:56.000 –> 00:26:58.000 the field. Yeah. Because Hammer, David, Xstein, was 00:26:58.000 –> 00:26:58.000 gonna pick it 00:26:59.000 –> 00:27:00.000 up, and you were gonna be good to 00:27:00.000 –> 00:27:01.000 go. And on the right side, you got 00:27:01.000 –> 00:27:02.000 pool holes at first. Yeah. You were gonna 00:27:02.000 –> 00:27:05.000 be good to go. Second basement was We 00:27:05.000 –> 00:27:07.000 it bounced around that year. Hey. I had, 00:27:07.000 –> 00:27:09.000 I think I had some, what, belly yard 00:27:09.000 –> 00:27:12.000 late no. The belly yard late no six. 00:27:12.000 –> 00:27:13.000 Gritzelonic 00:27:13.000 –> 00:27:15.000 was there in two thousand and five. 00:27:15.000 –> 00:27:17.000 So bouncing around a little bit on that 00:27:17.000 –> 00:27:18.000 side of the infield. What did what did 00:27:18.000 –> 00:27:20.000 it seem though? At Jim Edmonds in center 00:27:20.000 –> 00:27:22.000 field, like, just hit it. Go ahead and 00:27:22.000 –> 00:27:23.000 hit it. Try it. Just go over to 00:27:23.000 –> 00:27:26.000 anybody. Yeah. Don’t walk anybody. You’d be good. 00:27:26.000 –> 00:27:28.000 So how do you prepare for a game 00:27:28.000 –> 00:27:30.000 now? Like, what’s that like for you. Yeah. 00:27:30.000 –> 00:27:31.000 A lot of it is, like, we were 00:27:31.000 –> 00:27:34.000 talking about before is one of my first 00:27:34.000 –> 00:27:36.000 things that I do is I prepare, like, 00:27:36.000 –> 00:27:38.000 I was pitching against the opposing line. So 00:27:38.000 –> 00:27:40.000 I’ll dig in. I’ll I’ll look at the 00:27:40.000 –> 00:27:40.000 tendencies 00:27:41.000 –> 00:27:42.000 and all of that stuff. I’ll look at 00:27:42.000 –> 00:27:43.000 their last couple of weeks of what they’ve 00:27:43.000 –> 00:27:44.000 done and, 00:27:45.000 –> 00:27:47.000 all the heat zones all all that good 00:27:47.000 –> 00:27:49.000 stuff, then you’re obviously looking at your starters 00:27:49.000 –> 00:27:51.000 arsenal for the day. 00:27:51.000 –> 00:27:54.000 But, I’ll dig into Bullpens who’s been who’s 00:27:54.000 –> 00:27:56.000 throwing a lot late who’s likely gonna be 00:27:56.000 –> 00:27:59.000 down, try to manage my way through games 00:27:59.000 –> 00:28:01.000 like a manager would. Turns out I don’t 00:28:01.000 –> 00:28:03.000 make some of the same moves as other 00:28:03.000 –> 00:28:04.000 managers because I’m not I don’t think as 00:28:04.000 –> 00:28:06.000 fast. As some of these guys do. 00:28:07.000 –> 00:28:09.000 But that’s that’s part of the preparation. Just 00:28:09.000 –> 00:28:12.000 watching. And it’s it’s a lot easier 00:28:12.000 –> 00:28:14.000 doing the games the more you do. So 00:28:15.000 –> 00:28:16.000 the the reps that I got this past 00:28:16.000 –> 00:28:19.000 year, it was it was easier to do 00:28:19.000 –> 00:28:21.000 the job because you’re around these guys every 00:28:21.000 –> 00:28:23.000 day. You’re watching them every day. When you’re 00:28:23.000 –> 00:28:24.000 in and out, it makes it a little 00:28:24.000 –> 00:28:25.000 bit more difficult. You feel like not that 00:28:25.000 –> 00:28:27.000 you’re not watching at home, but it’s different. 00:28:27.000 –> 00:28:28.000 When you get your family running around, you’re 00:28:28.000 –> 00:28:31.000 cooking dinner, and like everybody watching games, you 00:28:31.000 –> 00:28:34.000 miss certain parts of it, but the repetition 00:28:34.000 –> 00:28:36.000 part of it just makes it big. And 00:28:36.000 –> 00:28:38.000 and that’s one of the other things. I’m 00:28:38.000 –> 00:28:40.000 around, I wanna be around the players. They’re 00:28:40.000 –> 00:28:42.000 the story. Like, what you’re it’s not about 00:28:42.000 –> 00:28:43.000 me. It’s not about what I did. It’s 00:28:43.000 –> 00:28:46.000 not about chipping eyes banter and forth, it’s 00:28:46.000 –> 00:28:47.000 about what are these guys doing? What are 00:28:47.000 –> 00:28:49.000 they going through? What are they working on? 00:28:49.000 –> 00:28:51.000 And that is a lot of the preparation 00:28:51.000 –> 00:28:53.000 is in being around these guys and getting 00:28:53.000 –> 00:28:55.000 that information. And I think too, that prep 00:28:55.000 –> 00:28:57.000 shows. And, obviously, you love what you do. 00:28:57.000 –> 00:28:59.000 And I think I know about you the 00:28:59.000 –> 00:29:00.000 same thing. You take lots of notes, you 00:29:00.000 –> 00:29:01.000 prepare. 00:29:01.000 –> 00:29:03.000 That’s important. And that comes across in the 00:29:03.000 –> 00:29:05.000 microphone. Too. Right? But I I talked to 00:29:05.000 –> 00:29:07.000 Chip Carey. He was on the podcast, not 00:29:07.000 –> 00:29:09.000 to keep name dropping podcast guest, but, he 00:29:09.000 –> 00:29:10.000 said you were one of the biggest 00:29:11.000 –> 00:29:13.000 helper. Like, biggest helps for him to embrace 00:29:13.000 –> 00:29:15.000 being in the Saint Louis cardinals. Right? You 00:29:15.000 –> 00:29:16.000 got a new guy. You’re replacing a guy 00:29:16.000 –> 00:29:18.000 that’s twenty four years everybody loved. 00:29:19.000 –> 00:29:20.000 That was tough, but he said that about 00:29:20.000 –> 00:29:22.000 you. So what was that relationship like for 00:29:22.000 –> 00:29:24.000 you and Chip? And then I came into 00:29:24.000 –> 00:29:25.000 the booth with you, at spring training this 00:29:27.000 –> 00:29:28.000 year. It would have been nice to know 00:29:28.000 –> 00:29:30.000 that he’s, like, six six. Oh, he’s enormous. 00:29:30.000 –> 00:29:32.000 I had no idea. He stood up. I’m, 00:29:32.000 –> 00:29:33.000 like, oh, I feel like I’m hanging out 00:29:33.000 –> 00:29:35.000 with Fredberg. Yes, dude. Yeah. Except her. Chip 00:29:35.000 –> 00:29:36.000 talks a lot more. Exactly. 00:29:37.000 –> 00:29:39.000 So what’s that like for you, you guys’ 00:29:39.000 –> 00:29:40.000 relationship? Yeah. 00:29:40.000 –> 00:29:43.000 It it was really amazing how quickly 00:29:44.000 –> 00:29:46.000 things click. Like, between him and I, and 00:29:46.000 –> 00:29:48.000 I, hopefully, that’s something that really comes out 00:29:48.000 –> 00:29:49.000 on air, 00:29:50.000 –> 00:29:52.000 really close, really fast. Now had the good 00:29:52.000 –> 00:29:52.000 opportunity 00:29:53.000 –> 00:29:55.000 to meet Chip over the years last couple 00:29:55.000 –> 00:29:56.000 of times. Okay. 00:29:56.000 –> 00:29:58.000 And you know how close I am with 00:29:58.000 –> 00:30:00.000 with Danny Mack, love him to death. And 00:30:00.000 –> 00:30:02.000 Dan was one of my biggest advocates 00:30:02.000 –> 00:30:05.000 of doing more games and helping me and 00:30:05.000 –> 00:30:05.000 really 00:30:06.000 –> 00:30:08.000 really mentored me through through a lot of 00:30:08.000 –> 00:30:09.000 things. And I know that there are gonna 00:30:09.000 –> 00:30:10.000 be a lot of big things come for 00:30:10.000 –> 00:30:12.000 Danny Mac as well, but they made the 00:30:12.000 –> 00:30:14.000 change, and I don’t think that you could 00:30:14.000 –> 00:30:16.000 have picked anybody better than than Chip Carey. 00:30:16.000 –> 00:30:17.000 If you were gonna make that change, 00:30:18.000 –> 00:30:18.000 the personality 00:30:19.000 –> 00:30:22.000 is fantastic, his energy, his love of life. 00:30:22.000 –> 00:30:24.000 And, like, that’s easy to feed off of. 00:30:24.000 –> 00:30:25.000 Right. So when you have, 00:30:25.000 –> 00:30:27.000 couple of guys that have that sort of 00:30:27.000 –> 00:30:30.000 energy. I don’t care if you’re down ten, 00:30:30.000 –> 00:30:31.000 nothing in the first inning. 00:30:32.000 –> 00:30:34.000 You’re a fan. Do you wanna listen to 00:30:34.000 –> 00:30:36.000 a couple of guys just beating a dead 00:30:36.000 –> 00:30:38.000 horse early on and negative and down in 00:30:38.000 –> 00:30:40.000 the dumps? No. Like, at least I don’t. 00:30:40.000 –> 00:30:42.000 I and maybe some some fans do. And 00:30:42.000 –> 00:30:44.000 I do get that I get the pushback 00:30:44.000 –> 00:30:46.000 of you’re too positive. You don’t say anything 00:30:46.000 –> 00:30:49.000 Brad, like, maybe maybe to a certain extent. 00:30:51.000 –> 00:30:53.000 But I’d rather just be happy too instead 00:30:53.000 –> 00:30:55.000 of and again, I’ll talk about the bad 00:30:55.000 –> 00:30:58.000 things that are there. I’ll spin them positive 00:30:58.000 –> 00:31:00.000 somehow or another because I want this to 00:31:00.000 –> 00:31:02.000 be entertaining. I don’t want you to tune 00:31:02.000 –> 00:31:04.000 into a ball game. It’s down. You’re down 00:31:04.000 –> 00:31:06.000 five runs and you just go wanna watch 00:31:06.000 –> 00:31:08.000 jeopardy. Don’t forget that. Yeah. Stay here. Yeah. 00:31:08.000 –> 00:31:10.000 We’ll have some fun. These guys are gonna 00:31:10.000 –> 00:31:12.000 put on a show for you and let’s 00:31:12.000 –> 00:31:14.000 entertain like at the end of the day, 00:31:14.000 –> 00:31:17.000 it’s still an entertainment business. Like I mentioned, 00:31:17.000 –> 00:31:20.000 the players, the coach, that’s your product. That’s 00:31:20.000 –> 00:31:22.000 what we’re watching and that’s what we’re propping 00:31:22.000 –> 00:31:23.000 up. But our job in between all of 00:31:23.000 –> 00:31:26.000 that is keep you engaged. Keep you loving 00:31:26.000 –> 00:31:29.000 the game. Keep you love the cardinals wanting 00:31:29.000 –> 00:31:31.000 to come back, and I wanna build that 00:31:31.000 –> 00:31:34.000 relationship. One of the biggest, like, compliments that 00:31:34.000 –> 00:31:36.000 I can get is when I meet people, 00:31:36.000 –> 00:31:39.000 said, man, I I love listening to you 00:31:39.000 –> 00:31:40.000 guys. I would just love to have a 00:31:40.000 –> 00:31:42.000 beer with you. Like, I wanna build that 00:31:42.000 –> 00:31:44.000 relationship where I’m, like, part of your 00:31:44.000 –> 00:31:46.000 your evening. Well, you’re in everybody’s house. Every 00:31:46.000 –> 00:31:48.000 night is creepy. You hit really creepy. When 00:31:48.000 –> 00:31:50.000 I when I talk to kids, I say, 00:31:50.000 –> 00:31:51.000 Hey, I’m the voice that puts you to 00:31:51.000 –> 00:31:53.000 bed Yeah. Like That’s not real. I mean, 00:31:53.000 –> 00:31:55.000 that’s what Mike Shannon was. Right? It’s it’s 00:31:58.000 –> 00:31:59.000 it’s fun to be part of such a 00:31:59.000 –> 00:32:01.000 a legacy line that. And so that we 00:32:01.000 –> 00:32:03.000 have so many great people that work around 00:32:03.000 –> 00:32:05.000 it. You look at the the radio side 00:32:05.000 –> 00:32:08.000 of of things with John rooney and Ricky 00:32:08.000 –> 00:32:10.000 Horton and Mike Clay warrant. They do such 00:32:10.000 –> 00:32:12.000 a fantastic job. 00:32:12.000 –> 00:32:14.000 Ship is great to work with. Jim Edmonds 00:32:15.000 –> 00:32:16.000 is every time I listen to Jim, I 00:32:16.000 –> 00:32:18.000 learn something about baseball. He’s just got an 00:32:18.000 –> 00:32:19.000 incredible 00:32:19.000 –> 00:32:22.000 baseball mind. The entire crew that works over 00:32:22.000 –> 00:32:25.000 there is is is great. Alraboski has helped 00:32:25.000 –> 00:32:26.000 me out a ton. I’ve got that’s one 00:32:26.000 –> 00:32:29.000 of the biggest things that I’ve been so 00:32:29.000 –> 00:32:32.000 pleased with and just honestly really impressed by 00:32:32.000 –> 00:32:34.000 is how that whole group is in erased 00:32:34.000 –> 00:32:37.000 me. New guy coming in. 00:32:37.000 –> 00:32:39.000 It’s a competitive industry. There’s only so many 00:32:39.000 –> 00:32:41.000 of these jobs. Right? There’s only so many 00:32:41.000 –> 00:32:43.000 reps that are out there. And 00:32:43.000 –> 00:32:45.000 you know, specifically talk about analyst 00:32:45.000 –> 00:32:48.000 guys, Rick Horton and Alraboski have, like, been 00:32:48.000 –> 00:32:51.000 my biggest helpers ever. Yeah. Like, I have 00:32:51.000 –> 00:32:53.000 a question about something, I can call them 00:32:53.000 –> 00:32:55.000 up. They they help me out. Give me 00:32:55.000 –> 00:32:57.000 advice. It’s been Which, how cool is that 00:32:57.000 –> 00:33:00.000 to think about their character I mean, that 00:33:00.000 –> 00:33:02.000 you’re taking games or reps as you say 00:33:02.000 –> 00:33:04.000 away from them. Right? And it’s like, here 00:33:04.000 –> 00:33:05.000 they are still helping you. Do you think 00:33:05.000 –> 00:33:07.000 that’s go ahead. No. I was gonna say, 00:33:07.000 –> 00:33:10.000 I that’s but that’s baseball. Yeah. Like, that 00:33:10.000 –> 00:33:12.000 is that is the mindset or at least 00:33:12.000 –> 00:33:14.000 the mindset of the great ones is 00:33:15.000 –> 00:33:17.000 I am gonna I’m trying to pass this 00:33:17.000 –> 00:33:19.000 along. Trying to pass this along. Yes. I 00:33:19.000 –> 00:33:20.000 wanna do this as long as I can. 00:33:20.000 –> 00:33:22.000 Talking about Friday baseball level. I wanna do 00:33:22.000 –> 00:33:24.000 it at the highest level, and I’m trying 00:33:24.000 –> 00:33:25.000 to to keep my ab ads, keep my 00:33:25.000 –> 00:33:28.000 innings, but I also know that someone helped 00:33:28.000 –> 00:33:30.000 me get here. Yeah. And I wanna help 00:33:30.000 –> 00:33:32.000 this guy get to that spot. And that 00:33:32.000 –> 00:33:33.000 guy is gonna help the next guy. And 00:33:33.000 –> 00:33:35.000 that’s something we’ve been so blessed with in 00:33:35.000 –> 00:33:36.000 the cardinal organization 00:33:37.000 –> 00:33:39.000 is they’ve passed these things down, and you’ve 00:33:39.000 –> 00:33:41.000 passed down what it means to be a 00:33:41.000 –> 00:33:43.000 cardinal, and and what it means to put 00:33:43.000 –> 00:33:45.000 on that jersey, Those things don’t happen if 00:33:45.000 –> 00:33:47.000 you don’t have players helping each other. And 00:33:47.000 –> 00:33:49.000 that’s actually what I was gonna go with. 00:33:49.000 –> 00:33:50.000 Wearing the birds in the bat as a 00:33:50.000 –> 00:33:53.000 player. Now wearing, quote unquote, wearing the birds 00:33:53.000 –> 00:33:54.000 in the bat as an announcer. You can 00:33:54.000 –> 00:33:55.000 work for You can work for a suit. 00:33:55.000 –> 00:33:57.000 That’d be a nice suit. Nice shirt. Yeah. 00:33:57.000 –> 00:33:59.000 We’ll see if there’s dust that made. Somebody 00:33:59.000 –> 00:34:00.000 will be less a custom suit guy. Get 00:34:00.000 –> 00:34:03.000 Brad a suit with custom bats on it. 00:34:04.000 –> 00:34:05.000 What was I saying? The card organization. So, 00:34:05.000 –> 00:34:07.000 obviously, you you don’t know they work for 00:34:07.000 –> 00:34:09.000 the cardinals. I think that’s okay to say 00:34:09.000 –> 00:34:10.000 that. Right? Yeah. You work for the ballies. 00:34:10.000 –> 00:34:12.000 Yeah. You’re employee of ballies. Yeah. But, yeah, 00:34:12.000 –> 00:34:14.000 how much does the cardinal organization 00:34:14.000 –> 00:34:15.000 run 00:34:15.000 –> 00:34:16.000 through 00:34:16.000 –> 00:34:16.000 valleys 00:34:17.000 –> 00:34:18.000 deep into you guys and all that stuff. 00:34:18.000 –> 00:34:19.000 Yeah. I think it’s a partnership. 00:34:20.000 –> 00:34:20.000 Obviously, 00:34:21.000 –> 00:34:22.000 and I I don’t even know what the 00:34:22.000 –> 00:34:24.000 logistics of are, but I believe that the, 00:34:24.000 –> 00:34:26.000 you know, Carlos are are in on ownership 00:34:26.000 –> 00:34:29.000 of that too. Like, they they bought into 00:34:29.000 –> 00:34:29.000 that. 00:34:30.000 –> 00:34:32.000 But I I feel like they’re they work 00:34:32.000 –> 00:34:34.000 together. Like, that’s kinda how the crew is. 00:34:34.000 –> 00:34:36.000 I know that the cardinals have a say 00:34:36.000 –> 00:34:38.000 of who is on their airwaves and who’s 00:34:38.000 –> 00:34:39.000 talking about their game 00:34:40.000 –> 00:34:40.000 and, 00:34:41.000 –> 00:34:43.000 I’m I’m so happy that I’ve been able 00:34:43.000 –> 00:34:45.000 to carve out a niche and and have 00:34:45.000 –> 00:34:47.000 the relationships that I have 00:34:47.000 –> 00:34:49.000 with, you know, with people within the organization 00:34:49.000 –> 00:34:51.000 not, like, just like I did as a 00:34:51.000 –> 00:34:53.000 player. Every time that I’m doing a game 00:34:53.000 –> 00:34:54.000 now as a broadcaster, 00:34:54.000 –> 00:34:56.000 I’m trying to keep my job. Like, I’m 00:34:56.000 –> 00:34:58.000 trying I’m trying to get Like, I wanna 00:34:58.000 –> 00:35:00.000 get better every day, and I I want 00:35:00.000 –> 00:35:03.000 to learn more and more. And I also 00:35:03.000 –> 00:35:05.000 realize something’s always coming for this job. Right? 00:35:05.000 –> 00:35:07.000 So I wanna put my best foot forward 00:35:07.000 –> 00:35:10.000 every single day and just continue to try 00:35:10.000 –> 00:35:12.000 to stay in everybody’s good graces and 00:35:12.000 –> 00:35:14.000 and do his of a job as I 00:35:14.000 –> 00:35:16.000 can. What’s been the most memorable, 00:35:17.000 –> 00:35:19.000 baseball moment for you as an announcer? 00:35:19.000 –> 00:35:21.000 Man, that’s hard. There there have been so 00:35:21.000 –> 00:35:23.000 many good ones, especially in the last couple 00:35:23.000 –> 00:35:24.000 years. I mean, you you had 00:35:25.000 –> 00:35:26.000 being able to be on the call two 00:35:26.000 –> 00:35:27.000 years ago 00:35:28.000 –> 00:35:30.000 as we knew the future 00:35:30.000 –> 00:35:31.000 of Yadi 00:35:32.000 –> 00:35:34.000 and Albert, you knew that they were gonna 00:35:34.000 –> 00:35:36.000 retire. Didn’t know at the time, the future 00:35:36.000 –> 00:35:38.000 of Adam Wayne. Right? But those three walking 00:35:38.000 –> 00:35:39.000 off the mound together. 00:35:40.000 –> 00:35:43.000 I mean, it’s just an unreal site, a 00:35:43.000 –> 00:35:46.000 picture that you’ll see forever in cardinal history. 00:35:46.000 –> 00:35:48.000 That is a a big one. 00:35:48.000 –> 00:35:50.000 Albert Puhl’s hitting number 00:35:51.000 –> 00:35:51.000 07:03, 00:35:51.000 –> 00:35:54.000 like the final one Yeah. Was a big 00:35:54.000 –> 00:35:56.000 one too in Pittsburgh. Now I would say 00:35:56.000 –> 00:35:58.000 six ninety nine and seven hundred. Mhmm. But, 00:35:58.000 –> 00:36:00.000 you know, I literally thought about you that 00:36:00.000 –> 00:36:01.000 night. We were in my basement. We had 00:36:01.000 –> 00:36:04.000 people over on Apple TV and my god 00:36:04.000 –> 00:36:06.000 sucks. Really Albert, both of them. Couldn’t take 00:36:06.000 –> 00:36:07.000 the side off. 00:36:08.000 –> 00:36:10.000 That hurt. So that’s that’s one. And maybe 00:36:10.000 –> 00:36:12.000 I’ll change this story. It’s like one of 00:36:12.000 –> 00:36:14.000 those fishing stories, you know. Like, I was 00:36:14.000 –> 00:36:16.000 there. Yes. Because I was in LA. We 00:36:16.000 –> 00:36:18.000 were just saying because you did it the 00:36:18.000 –> 00:36:19.000 night before. The night before, did it the 00:36:19.000 –> 00:36:22.000 night after, Brett. But, yeah, I was watching 00:36:22.000 –> 00:36:25.000 that one on my iPad in my hotel 00:36:25.000 –> 00:36:26.000 room. And they asked me to say, hey, 00:36:26.000 –> 00:36:28.000 you do you wanna take it for the 00:36:28.000 –> 00:36:29.000 game? I said, no. I’m I’m going to 00:36:29.000 –> 00:36:30.000 games every day. I don’t need to take 00:36:30.000 –> 00:36:32.000 it for game? What’s he gonna end it? 00:36:32.000 –> 00:36:34.000 It possibly happened tonight. In a couple years 00:36:34.000 –> 00:36:35.000 though, that story will be like, yeah, and 00:36:35.000 –> 00:36:37.000 he hit the home run. And then do 00:36:37.000 –> 00:36:38.000 you remember him going back and giving the 00:36:38.000 –> 00:36:40.000 high five that was me? I was there. 00:36:40.000 –> 00:36:42.000 It wasn’t Beltrey. It was right. Right. 00:36:42.000 –> 00:36:45.000 That was funny. Speaking to Beltran, you said 00:36:45.000 –> 00:36:46.000 Beltrey, I think you said. Yeah. I think 00:36:46.000 –> 00:36:49.000 you said. Beltran. Yeah. Beltran. What was that? 00:36:49.000 –> 00:36:51.000 Moment like I mean, he was a cardinal 00:36:51.000 –> 00:36:54.000 killer. Right. Oh, yeah. And two thousand six, 00:36:54.000 –> 00:36:55.000 NLCS, 00:36:55.000 –> 00:36:57.000 two men on. I think cardinals rep, what, 00:36:57.000 –> 00:36:58.000 three to one 00:36:58.000 –> 00:37:00.000 bottom of the ninth, tight. 00:37:00.000 –> 00:37:02.000 I mean, I remember, like, his yesterday watching 00:37:02.000 –> 00:37:04.000 that game. What was that like, obviously, being 00:37:04.000 –> 00:37:06.000 there and having a uniform on? The, 00:37:06.000 –> 00:37:10.000 the NLCS and specifically that game seven is 00:37:10.000 –> 00:37:11.000 far more memorable 00:37:12.000 –> 00:37:13.000 than the world series to me. And I 00:37:13.000 –> 00:37:15.000 think that for anybody that was in it, 00:37:16.000 –> 00:37:18.000 and doing it. Like, that was you go 00:37:18.000 –> 00:37:20.000 to a game seven. You have so many 00:37:20.000 –> 00:37:22.000 ups and downs throughout it. You still remember 00:37:22.000 –> 00:37:25.000 the Andy Chavez robbed home run of Scott 00:37:25.000 –> 00:37:28.000 Gilliland we’re, like, where did that come from? 00:37:28.000 –> 00:37:30.000 Like, Tyler Johnson left handed reliever and myself 00:37:30.000 –> 00:37:32.000 were right behind Like, you see you see 00:37:32.000 –> 00:37:34.000 Shaba’s arm? We’re right behind that wall on 00:37:34.000 –> 00:37:36.000 the bowl family. No. No. I was gonna 00:37:36.000 –> 00:37:38.000 catch that. Yes. Yes. 00:37:39.000 –> 00:37:42.000 But that, that place was so loud. Shea 00:37:42.000 –> 00:37:43.000 was loud. Have have you ever been to 00:37:43.000 –> 00:37:45.000 Shea State, anyway? Had you been there? No. 00:37:45.000 –> 00:37:48.000 So it was crazy loud. Old school speakers 00:37:48.000 –> 00:37:50.000 in center field, Apple would pop up. I’m 00:37:50.000 –> 00:37:52.000 telling you the place would sway. Like, you 00:37:52.000 –> 00:37:54.000 could see it sway. It was just an 00:37:54.000 –> 00:37:55.000 energy there was New York. Like, it was 00:37:55.000 –> 00:37:56.000 New York, passionate. 00:37:57.000 –> 00:37:59.000 Sports fans in the biggest Thompson. 00:38:00.000 –> 00:38:02.000 And then Adam Wayne Wright, the rookie 00:38:02.000 –> 00:38:04.000 comes in and does that. And I know 00:38:04.000 –> 00:38:06.000 you’ve heard Adam talk about him and yachty 00:38:06.000 –> 00:38:08.000 going through that. He starts him out with 00:38:08.000 –> 00:38:09.000 a change up, which is a pitch that 00:38:09.000 –> 00:38:12.000 he never throws. Like, it just it just 00:38:12.000 –> 00:38:14.000 had the body’s like, hey, this is the 00:38:14.000 –> 00:38:17.000 is the pitch. Do it. And then set 00:38:17.000 –> 00:38:19.000 everything else up. Let’s change this whole career 00:38:19.000 –> 00:38:20.000 probably. Right? I mean, you think one, the 00:38:20.000 –> 00:38:23.000 confidence, but number two, the the confidence to 00:38:23.000 –> 00:38:24.000 listen to a guy 00:38:24.000 –> 00:38:26.000 tells me in this moment to throw a 00:38:26.000 –> 00:38:28.000 pitch. It’s not my best pitch that I’m 00:38:28.000 –> 00:38:30.000 not the best at. Right? Yeah. Throw it. 00:38:30.000 –> 00:38:32.000 Trust it. He did it in then, holy 00:38:32.000 –> 00:38:35.000 crap. Yeah. Well, that’s and and remember too, 00:38:35.000 –> 00:38:37.000 that was, I mean, what, two years into 00:38:37.000 –> 00:38:40.000 Yati’s career. Wasn’t like he was six. He 00:38:40.000 –> 00:38:41.000 came up in o he wasn’t the cagey 00:38:41.000 –> 00:38:43.000 vet. Yeah. O four. O fours is for 00:38:43.000 –> 00:38:45.000 sure. Yeah. Well, he wasn’t like the cagey 00:38:45.000 –> 00:38:48.000 veteran at the time. But you already knew 00:38:48.000 –> 00:38:50.000 you knew what he was and you knew 00:38:50.000 –> 00:38:53.000 the preparation that was there. And Adam had 00:38:53.000 –> 00:38:54.000 that trust in him and also had the 00:38:54.000 –> 00:38:57.000 trust in his ability. If that’s what you 00:38:57.000 –> 00:38:59.000 believe is gonna be right, let’s do it. 00:38:59.000 –> 00:39:00.000 And I’m sure that if he felt it 00:39:00.000 –> 00:39:02.000 in his hand and he was like, this 00:39:02.000 –> 00:39:03.000 isn’t it, he wouldn’t Yeah. You know, but 00:39:03.000 –> 00:39:05.000 he he trusted in in yachty. He made 00:39:05.000 –> 00:39:07.000 the pitch, then obviously made the pitch with 00:39:07.000 –> 00:39:10.000 the biggest breaking ball of his career. Michael 00:39:10.000 –> 00:39:12.000 Charlie was probably sure was. But I I 00:39:12.000 –> 00:39:14.000 think you bring up a great point. Like, 00:39:14.000 –> 00:39:15.000 what if what if that went a different 00:39:15.000 –> 00:39:17.000 direction? Right? What what if it 00:39:17.000 –> 00:39:19.000 Beltran hit it out of the ballpark? Now 00:39:19.000 –> 00:39:22.000 I still believe that Adam Wayne, right, a 00:39:22.000 –> 00:39:24.000 man of conviction, a man of the he 00:39:24.000 –> 00:39:26.000 he’s not gonna he’s been knocked down plenty 00:39:26.000 –> 00:39:27.000 in his career. I still believe that he 00:39:27.000 –> 00:39:30.000 would have carved himself out quite a career. 00:39:30.000 –> 00:39:32.000 But what a way to start it? Or 00:39:32.000 –> 00:39:35.000 you you do that, and then you transition 00:39:35.000 –> 00:39:37.000 into starting cardinal hall You’ll transit one. You 00:39:37.000 –> 00:39:39.000 weren’t even to close busy was to close. 00:39:39.000 –> 00:39:40.000 Yes. Right. Well, he was, and then is 00:39:40.000 –> 00:39:41.000 he got hurt and then he had to 00:39:41.000 –> 00:39:43.000 say over. Yeah. So he had to learn 00:39:43.000 –> 00:39:44.000 that on the fly. And again, you wanna 00:39:44.000 –> 00:39:46.000 talk about mentorship You wanna talk about a 00:39:46.000 –> 00:39:48.000 guy that was going through probably one of 00:39:48.000 –> 00:39:50.000 the lower times, injured, 00:39:51.000 –> 00:39:53.000 hip, everything was was banged up for for 00:39:53.000 –> 00:39:55.000 Jason Iseringhousen who is, he, one of my 00:39:55.000 –> 00:39:56.000 biggest mentors 00:39:57.000 –> 00:39:58.000 as a player and one of the best 00:39:58.000 –> 00:40:02.000 people I’ve been around, but he he helps 00:40:02.000 –> 00:40:04.000 mentor Adam Wayne, right, through that? What it’s 00:40:04.000 –> 00:40:06.000 like at the back end of games? What 00:40:06.000 –> 00:40:08.000 to expect? The highs, the lows? Like, all 00:40:08.000 –> 00:40:11.000 of that. That’s a hard thing to learn. 00:40:11.000 –> 00:40:14.000 When you are you’re like a middle relief 00:40:14.000 –> 00:40:16.000 guy, you have a safety net. Your team 00:40:16.000 –> 00:40:18.000 could come back and, you know, you gave 00:40:18.000 –> 00:40:19.000 up three, but who cares? You guys are 00:40:19.000 –> 00:40:21.000 like, well, we won. Like, do that as 00:40:21.000 –> 00:40:22.000 a closer, 00:40:22.000 –> 00:40:25.000 you lose. Yeah. And then you’re you’re the 00:40:25.000 –> 00:40:27.000 goat and not the good one. Yeah. And 00:40:27.000 –> 00:40:28.000 then you gotta come back the next day 00:40:28.000 –> 00:40:30.000 and you have to have the right mindset. 00:40:30.000 –> 00:40:31.000 I think that was a learned mindset. It’s 00:40:31.000 –> 00:40:34.000 all So Adam Wainwright just has that something 00:40:34.000 –> 00:40:36.000 special. He’s just just get the x built 00:40:36.000 –> 00:40:37.000 that way. Of course. 00:40:37.000 –> 00:40:40.000 But having that mentor early, I think helped 00:40:40.000 –> 00:40:42.000 him as well. Yeah. So talk about the 00:40:42.000 –> 00:40:43.000 adrenaline of that. You know, I’m one of 00:40:43.000 –> 00:40:45.000 these guys that I watch sports, and man, 00:40:45.000 –> 00:40:47.000 I feel the moment. Like, you know, I 00:40:47.000 –> 00:40:50.000 just would dream about walking into that stadium 00:40:50.000 –> 00:40:52.000 or walking out of that cord or making 00:40:52.000 –> 00:40:53.000 that putt. Whatever it is, 00:40:53.000 –> 00:40:56.000 I feel the adrenaline at a much different 00:40:56.000 –> 00:40:58.000 level, obviously. But you can feel it. So 00:40:58.000 –> 00:41:00.000 for you, having the adrenaline, man, you know, 00:41:01.000 –> 00:41:02.000 phone rings, they call it up. Brad, you’re 00:41:02.000 –> 00:41:04.000 coming in. Game’s online. Right? You’re coming in. 00:41:04.000 –> 00:41:06.000 You’re walking out of that fence. You gotta 00:41:06.000 –> 00:41:08.000 run to the bull or run to the 00:41:08.000 –> 00:41:11.000 pitcher’s mound. Like, that adrenaline explained that adrenaline 00:41:11.000 –> 00:41:13.000 Gilliland how hard was that to know that 00:41:13.000 –> 00:41:15.000 you I mean, you’ll probably never feel that 00:41:15.000 –> 00:41:19.000 adrenaline again. Yeah. Look, aside from the camaraderie. 00:41:19.000 –> 00:41:21.000 And thankfully, in the job that I have, 00:41:21.000 –> 00:41:24.000 I get that. I still get that around 00:41:24.000 –> 00:41:26.000 the ballpark, hanging out with the guys, like, 00:41:26.000 –> 00:41:29.000 are the broadcast crews, our own team. We 00:41:29.000 –> 00:41:31.000 all hang out, everybody on the road, go 00:41:31.000 –> 00:41:32.000 out. And so it’s so I get the 00:41:32.000 –> 00:41:34.000 camaraderie part of it still. 00:41:34.000 –> 00:41:36.000 The adrenaline aspect, 00:41:36.000 –> 00:41:38.000 I have not been able to find that 00:41:38.000 –> 00:41:39.000 in life. Like, I don’t know what that 00:41:39.000 –> 00:41:42.000 is. And I you brought up the perfect 00:41:42.000 –> 00:41:43.000 example of the phone ring. 00:41:44.000 –> 00:41:47.000 Like, pavlov’s dog. It’s like, is it me? 00:41:47.000 –> 00:41:48.000 Is it me? Is it me? And then 00:41:48.000 –> 00:41:51.000 it’s you. It’s like, boom, get up, start 00:41:51.000 –> 00:41:54.000 throwing. It’s such a it’s such an amazing 00:41:54.000 –> 00:41:57.000 feeling. It’s such an exciting feeling, and everything 00:41:57.000 –> 00:41:59.000 just starts beating a little faster. Right? But 00:41:59.000 –> 00:42:02.000 it’s it’s still controlled. Yep. But it is 00:42:02.000 –> 00:42:04.000 energetic. It’s exciting. 00:42:04.000 –> 00:42:06.000 And I like there are things in my 00:42:06.000 –> 00:42:08.000 life that excited about. There are plenty of 00:42:08.000 –> 00:42:10.000 things in my life that I’m passionate about. 00:42:10.000 –> 00:42:11.000 There are not too many things that I 00:42:11.000 –> 00:42:13.000 have found. And maybe that’s your next big 00:42:13.000 –> 00:42:15.000 idea, Brett. You find that find that adrenaline 00:42:15.000 –> 00:42:15.000 factor. 00:42:16.000 –> 00:42:18.000 Get that going, but I do miss that. 00:42:18.000 –> 00:42:21.000 I I miss that that energy of going 00:42:21.000 –> 00:42:24.000 in. And then that feeling, and and honestly 00:42:24.000 –> 00:42:27.000 even even the bad day, Right? It’s it’s 00:42:27.000 –> 00:42:28.000 a different feeling. Like, you went out there 00:42:28.000 –> 00:42:31.000 and you gave everything that you had in 00:42:31.000 –> 00:42:32.000 what we all know is a game. Right? 00:42:32.000 –> 00:42:34.000 There are bigger things that are going on 00:42:34.000 –> 00:42:36.000 in the world. But in your world right 00:42:36.000 –> 00:42:38.000 there, just like anybody that is going to 00:42:38.000 –> 00:42:39.000 their job, that’s your world. That’s a big 00:42:39.000 –> 00:42:41.000 deal. Others might not look at it as 00:42:41.000 –> 00:42:42.000 a big deal, but to you is and 00:42:42.000 –> 00:42:45.000 it should be when you put everything out 00:42:45.000 –> 00:42:46.000 there on the line and you just let 00:42:46.000 –> 00:42:48.000 the chips fall where they make, like, that’s 00:42:48.000 –> 00:42:50.000 a freeing feeling Yeah. When you have that. 00:42:50.000 –> 00:42:51.000 That’s it’s it’s incredible. 00:42:53.000 –> 00:42:54.000 Let’s see what I’m trying to think the 00:42:54.000 –> 00:42:56.000 next question I wanted to ask here. So 00:42:56.000 –> 00:42:57.000 so how did you, 00:42:58.000 –> 00:42:59.000 when you talked about the camaraderie, 00:43:00.000 –> 00:43:01.000 how do you how do you stay a 00:43:01.000 –> 00:43:03.000 student in the game with what you’re doing 00:43:03.000 –> 00:43:04.000 now? And you’ve kinda touched on that, I 00:43:04.000 –> 00:43:06.000 guess. Yeah. Yes. Continue watching stuff. Yeah. You 00:43:06.000 –> 00:43:08.000 have to you have to keep watching, and 00:43:08.000 –> 00:43:11.000 you to be willing to change too. Yeah. 00:43:11.000 –> 00:43:12.000 You know, I mentioned earlier some of the 00:43:12.000 –> 00:43:15.000 the data and the analytics, and I’m sure 00:43:15.000 –> 00:43:17.000 that a lot of baseball fans, and especially 00:43:17.000 –> 00:43:19.000 in St. Louis, you you’ve got an old 00:43:19.000 –> 00:43:21.000 school baseball fan. Right. You have got, you 00:43:21.000 –> 00:43:22.000 know, Bob Gibson, 00:43:22.000 –> 00:43:26.000 Lou Brock, Ozzie, Smith. Like, yes, legends. And, 00:43:26.000 –> 00:43:28.000 like, that’s the style of baseball that you 00:43:28.000 –> 00:43:31.000 like is throwback in old school. Things have 00:43:31.000 –> 00:43:34.000 changed. Okay? It’s It’s three true outcomes. It’s 00:43:34.000 –> 00:43:37.000 home run, strikeouts, and walks. It’s missing bats 00:43:37.000 –> 00:43:39.000 as a pitcher. It is velocity. 00:43:39.000 –> 00:43:42.000 It’s spin rates. It’s exit velocity. City. It’s 00:43:42.000 –> 00:43:45.000 all of these different things. And I can’t 00:43:45.000 –> 00:43:48.000 be again, talk about a job is to 00:43:48.000 –> 00:43:50.000 grow the game. Mhmm. I can’t sit there 00:43:50.000 –> 00:43:52.000 and be like, that doesn’t anything. That doesn’t 00:43:52.000 –> 00:43:53.000 matter. It does matter. Like, and it does 00:43:53.000 –> 00:43:56.000 mean something. These evaluators are evaluating off of 00:43:56.000 –> 00:43:59.000 some of these things. Scouts are scouting off 00:43:59.000 –> 00:44:01.000 of some of these things. Guys are getting 00:44:01.000 –> 00:44:03.000 paid off of a lot of these different 00:44:03.000 –> 00:44:04.000 power numbers that are out there. It means 00:44:04.000 –> 00:44:07.000 something to a lot of these different So 00:44:07.000 –> 00:44:08.000 one of my biggest things that I try 00:44:08.000 –> 00:44:09.000 to do is, 00:44:10.000 –> 00:44:11.000 even if it’s something I’ll read on the 00:44:11.000 –> 00:44:13.000 surface first or or see a new stat 00:44:13.000 –> 00:44:16.000 come out, like, that seems stupid. Let me 00:44:16.000 –> 00:44:18.000 dig into it at least. Like, let me 00:44:18.000 –> 00:44:20.000 let me open my exactly. Let me continue 00:44:20.000 –> 00:44:22.000 to learn about this. Or let me figure 00:44:22.000 –> 00:44:25.000 out a way where I can feed it 00:44:25.000 –> 00:44:27.000 to a viewer or somebody just passing by 00:44:27.000 –> 00:44:28.000 and say, hey, you know, what does this 00:44:28.000 –> 00:44:31.000 mean? Say, let me make it make sense 00:44:31.000 –> 00:44:32.000 to them and make it matter to them. 00:44:32.000 –> 00:44:35.000 Yeah. Where it matters to people in, like, 00:44:35.000 –> 00:44:36.000 the analytics community. But, 00:44:37.000 –> 00:44:38.000 I try to keep up as much as 00:44:38.000 –> 00:44:40.000 I can with all of the other teams 00:44:40.000 –> 00:44:42.000 in baseball. I get home. I’m watching MLB 00:44:42.000 –> 00:44:44.000 network, like every other baseball fan, because a 00:44:44.000 –> 00:44:47.000 lot like playing. And he’s, like, turn that 00:44:47.000 –> 00:44:48.000 crap off. Oh, yeah. For sure. I’m I 00:44:48.000 –> 00:44:49.000 have to go in the basement. I go 00:44:49.000 –> 00:44:50.000 home. I go the basement. 00:44:51.000 –> 00:44:53.000 But a lot like playing, I can’t just 00:44:53.000 –> 00:44:54.000 go home after a game. I don’t care 00:44:54.000 –> 00:44:56.000 how long the game was. I can’t just 00:44:56.000 –> 00:44:58.000 go to sleep. There has to be that 00:44:58.000 –> 00:44:58.000 unwinding 00:44:58.000 –> 00:45:01.000 period because that’s as close as I get 00:45:01.000 –> 00:45:02.000 to the adrenaline now that we were just 00:45:02.000 –> 00:45:05.000 talking about that in my ear, right, in 00:45:05.000 –> 00:45:07.000 the headset, three, two, one, 00:45:08.000 –> 00:45:10.000 live. And, like, boom. Okay. Here we go. 00:45:10.000 –> 00:45:12.000 Like, this is real. Brad don’t say any 00:45:12.000 –> 00:45:12.000 bad words. 00:45:14.000 –> 00:45:15.000 This is the same about a bad tension. 00:45:15.000 –> 00:45:17.000 Yes. That’s I don’t wanna get used to 00:45:17.000 –> 00:45:19.000 it here though. Right. Exactly. And then and 00:45:19.000 –> 00:45:21.000 then do it, do it a little bit. 00:45:21.000 –> 00:45:23.000 Well, Brett said. Yeah. 00:45:25.000 –> 00:45:26.000 Talk about the pitch clock. Did that change 00:45:26.000 –> 00:45:28.000 the game this year? It did. It it 00:45:28.000 –> 00:45:30.000 it did and 00:45:30.000 –> 00:45:33.000 being an old school base. Spall person. I 00:45:33.000 –> 00:45:35.000 hated the idea. Yeah. Hate the concept of 00:45:35.000 –> 00:45:38.000 it. I liked being able to be that 00:45:38.000 –> 00:45:40.000 high horse guy, Brett, where it’s like, well, 00:45:40.000 –> 00:45:42.000 we’re the only game that doesn’t have o’clock. 00:45:42.000 –> 00:45:44.000 Oh, yeah. Yeah. We’re not. Now we’re not. 00:45:44.000 –> 00:45:45.000 But 00:45:45.000 –> 00:45:46.000 from 00:45:46.000 –> 00:45:48.000 and this isn’t just a broadcaster 00:45:48.000 –> 00:45:50.000 standpoint. Look, I get a half hour backup 00:45:50.000 –> 00:45:52.000 night. It seems like. True. 00:45:52.000 –> 00:45:54.000 So that part of it is nice, but 00:45:54.000 –> 00:45:56.000 I really do believe the game wasn’t meant 00:45:56.000 –> 00:45:59.000 to take three hours every Right. We we’ve 00:45:59.000 –> 00:46:01.000 slowed things down, and a lot of it 00:46:01.000 –> 00:46:03.000 has been the information slows it down. Like, 00:46:03.000 –> 00:46:06.000 a lot of that takes time and the 00:46:06.000 –> 00:46:06.000 evolution 00:46:07.000 –> 00:46:09.000 of the utilization of bowl pens where it’s 00:46:09.000 –> 00:46:12.000 match ups in the six, seven, eight, nine. 00:46:12.000 –> 00:46:15.000 We’ll do it again. Exactly. And, obviously, that 00:46:15.000 –> 00:46:16.000 rule changed too at least with the three 00:46:16.000 –> 00:46:18.000 better minimum a couple of years ago. So 00:46:18.000 –> 00:46:20.000 that sped things up. But I really don’t. 00:46:20.000 –> 00:46:22.000 There’s no reason 00:46:22.000 –> 00:46:25.000 to be out there and hold the ball 00:46:25.000 –> 00:46:27.000 for thirty seconds. Yeah. Like, there’s not. Now 00:46:27.000 –> 00:46:30.000 I don’t like the limited takeoffs. I don’t 00:46:30.000 –> 00:46:31.000 I don’t enjoy that. I think that you 00:46:31.000 –> 00:46:33.000 should be able to do that ten times 00:46:33.000 –> 00:46:34.000 in a row if you want to. I 00:46:34.000 –> 00:46:36.000 also believe that the pitcher should be granted 00:46:36.000 –> 00:46:38.000 a time out just like they or his 00:46:38.000 –> 00:46:40.000 grand time out. I feel like that should 00:46:40.000 –> 00:46:41.000 be a thing. Great point. It just doesn’t 00:46:41.000 –> 00:46:44.000 make sense. Right? She writes that in being, 00:46:44.000 –> 00:46:45.000 I I put it in Rob Manford’s, 00:46:46.000 –> 00:46:48.000 little his box out there, the suggestion box. 00:46:48.000 –> 00:46:50.000 We’ll see we’ll see how it goes. I 00:46:50.000 –> 00:46:51.000 think a lot of pitchers have been beating 00:46:51.000 –> 00:46:53.000 that drum, but that I think that’s something 00:46:53.000 –> 00:46:54.000 that might end up happening. 00:46:54.000 –> 00:46:56.000 At some point, but I do think that 00:46:56.000 –> 00:46:57.000 the pitch clock, 00:46:57.000 –> 00:46:59.000 it did a good job of speeding things 00:46:59.000 –> 00:47:01.000 up. And I really do believe, and I 00:47:01.000 –> 00:47:04.000 don’t know if there’s actually hard data to 00:47:04.000 –> 00:47:05.000 back this up. I’m sure there is because 00:47:05.000 –> 00:47:07.000 there’s data for everything now. 00:47:07.000 –> 00:47:07.000 It’s 00:47:08.000 –> 00:47:11.000 I think that it has affected the hitters 00:47:11.000 –> 00:47:14.000 as much if not more than the pitchers. 00:47:14.000 –> 00:47:16.000 Do you have a lot of hitters that 00:47:16.000 –> 00:47:18.000 take their sweet time getting into the box 00:47:19.000 –> 00:47:22.000 redoing their batting glove. Fifty times. 00:47:22.000 –> 00:47:23.000 Skip Schumacher, 00:47:24.000 –> 00:47:26.000 manager of the year. Congratulations 00:47:26.000 –> 00:47:28.000 to help. But they’re guys and skip will 00:47:28.000 –> 00:47:29.000 do it Alright? Skip being in the box 00:47:29.000 –> 00:47:31.000 too. If there’s some guys that would take 00:47:31.000 –> 00:47:33.000 such a long time doing stuff like that, 00:47:33.000 –> 00:47:35.000 there’s no need for it. Get the box, 00:47:35.000 –> 00:47:36.000 get ready to hit. Get on the mound, 00:47:36.000 –> 00:47:37.000 get ready to throw 00:47:37.000 –> 00:47:40.000 Now, the the only one that I’m, again, 00:47:40.000 –> 00:47:42.000 I’m not sure I love is the pick 00:47:42.000 –> 00:47:44.000 offs. And I think that one of the 00:47:44.000 –> 00:47:45.000 biggest weapons 00:47:46.000 –> 00:47:48.000 that a pitcher has again, I understand why 00:47:48.000 –> 00:47:49.000 baseball is doing it. They want to speed 00:47:49.000 –> 00:47:51.000 up the game, but they also wanna add 00:47:51.000 –> 00:47:53.000 more excitement stolen bases are exciting. One of 00:47:53.000 –> 00:47:55.000 the biggest weapons that you have though with 00:47:55.000 –> 00:47:57.000 runners on base is your ability to hold 00:47:57.000 –> 00:47:58.000 the baseball. 00:47:58.000 –> 00:48:00.000 So if you are there and you got 00:48:00.000 –> 00:48:01.000 a burner at first base, if you can 00:48:01.000 –> 00:48:04.000 just hold the Gilliland a few seconds feels 00:48:04.000 –> 00:48:05.000 like an attorney for a base stealer that’s 00:48:05.000 –> 00:48:07.000 ready to move. Back and slow them down. 00:48:07.000 –> 00:48:09.000 Yeah. Now you have a countdown. 00:48:09.000 –> 00:48:11.000 So that means that the next time you 00:48:11.000 –> 00:48:12.000 go quicker. So you keep getting with your 00:48:12.000 –> 00:48:14.000 kid for sure. Yeah. For sure. So that 00:48:14.000 –> 00:48:17.000 changes a little bit, but you still have 00:48:17.000 –> 00:48:19.000 twenty seconds. Now they’re talking about bringing that 00:48:19.000 –> 00:48:22.000 down to eighteen with with runners on. You 00:48:22.000 –> 00:48:24.000 still have the ability to do it. You 00:48:24.000 –> 00:48:25.000 just have to mix it up a little 00:48:25.000 –> 00:48:27.000 more. You know what? Drives me nuts. I 00:48:27.000 –> 00:48:28.000 don’t know why it drives me. I’m like, 00:48:28.000 –> 00:48:30.000 the old man, Brett, getting mad at the 00:48:30.000 –> 00:48:31.000 shit baseball players. 00:48:31.000 –> 00:48:32.000 When they pull, you know, they get their 00:48:32.000 –> 00:48:34.000 back pocket and they’re pulling Carda. I mean, 00:48:34.000 –> 00:48:36.000 I understand what they’re doing, but I’m like, 00:48:36.000 –> 00:48:38.000 at what point do we not let’s just 00:48:38.000 –> 00:48:40.000 work. We’re professional athlete, and we gotta put 00:48:40.000 –> 00:48:42.000 some work in, and it’s not some guy 00:48:42.000 –> 00:48:43.000 hitting me car and say, okay. When this 00:48:43.000 –> 00:48:45.000 guy’s up, then you’re gonna stand. He like, 00:48:45.000 –> 00:48:47.000 like, I I just missed the gut feeling 00:48:47.000 –> 00:48:49.000 and doing what you think she should do. 00:48:49.000 –> 00:48:51.000 That’s part of the game. Yeah. And, 00:48:51.000 –> 00:48:53.000 I I agree with that. I think there 00:48:53.000 –> 00:48:55.000 are a few things. I think that we 00:48:55.000 –> 00:48:57.000 get so caught up and he’s supposed to 00:48:57.000 –> 00:48:59.000 do this. That when he does the other 00:48:59.000 –> 00:49:02.000 thing, we’re not ready. Yeah. So letting those 00:49:02.000 –> 00:49:02.000 instincts, 00:49:03.000 –> 00:49:05.000 letting that athleticism take over I think is 00:49:05.000 –> 00:49:07.000 important. It just goes back to where is 00:49:07.000 –> 00:49:09.000 the fine line. I think that if you 00:49:09.000 –> 00:49:12.000 are if you’re neglecting the data and all 00:49:12.000 –> 00:49:14.000 of the things that have happened, you’re doing 00:49:14.000 –> 00:49:16.000 it wrong. If you’re just going fully on 00:49:16.000 –> 00:49:18.000 gut instinct, you’re doing it wrong. Where’s that 00:49:18.000 –> 00:49:20.000 middle ground? Where where can we find out 00:49:20.000 –> 00:49:22.000 where we still allow the athleticism? 00:49:22.000 –> 00:49:24.000 We give you the prior knowledge tendencies, 00:49:25.000 –> 00:49:27.000 but you know that anything could happen. 00:49:28.000 –> 00:49:29.000 So I I 00:49:29.000 –> 00:49:31.000 I like that part because our athletes now 00:49:31.000 –> 00:49:34.000 in the game of baseball they’re bigger, stronger, 00:49:34.000 –> 00:49:35.000 faster, more athletic than they ever have been 00:49:35.000 –> 00:49:38.000 before. We’re not seeing it. We don’t see 00:49:38.000 –> 00:49:40.000 that athleticism anymore. And I think that that 00:49:40.000 –> 00:49:41.000 was part of the idea 00:49:41.000 –> 00:49:43.000 of limiting the shift 00:49:43.000 –> 00:49:46.000 is having more rangey athletes 00:49:46.000 –> 00:49:47.000 is not having 00:49:48.000 –> 00:49:50.000 a second baseman standing in right field when 00:49:50.000 –> 00:49:52.000 a guy hits absolute missile that was 00:49:53.000 –> 00:49:54.000 used to be a hit. Well, just about 00:49:54.000 –> 00:49:56.000 really, man. Carpenter’s great. Oh, for sure. 00:49:57.000 –> 00:49:59.000 For sure. So, again, I don’t know if 00:49:59.000 –> 00:50:01.000 like that either, the limiting of the shot. 00:50:01.000 –> 00:50:03.000 I go back and forth because, 00:50:03.000 –> 00:50:04.000 like, in my brain, 00:50:04.000 –> 00:50:07.000 I say evolve. Right? Evolve as a hitter. 00:50:07.000 –> 00:50:08.000 Yep. They’re all standing over there, hit it 00:50:08.000 –> 00:50:10.000 over that’s what I don’t understand. I’m like, 00:50:10.000 –> 00:50:12.000 for Carpenter, I’d be yelling at the TV 00:50:12.000 –> 00:50:13.000 like that stupid fan. I’m like, if they’re 00:50:13.000 –> 00:50:15.000 all over there, just slap that thing down 00:50:15.000 –> 00:50:17.000 the line and fix it. Couple of things. 00:50:17.000 –> 00:50:19.000 Right? Couple of things that go into. And 00:50:19.000 –> 00:50:20.000 it hearkens back to when I said it 00:50:20.000 –> 00:50:22.000 looks easy from up here when I’m watching 00:50:22.000 –> 00:50:24.000 the game. So I wouldn’t even stand at 00:50:24.000 –> 00:50:26.000 the batter’s house. I’d be scared to death. 00:50:26.000 –> 00:50:27.000 A lot of times, they say, Hey, just 00:50:27.000 –> 00:50:29.000 hit a ground ball the other way. Well, 00:50:30.000 –> 00:50:30.000 the pitcher 00:50:30.000 –> 00:50:33.000 knows what your tendency is. They that you’re 00:50:33.000 –> 00:50:35.000 a pull hitter. They’re gonna pitch you to 00:50:35.000 –> 00:50:36.000 it. You’re gonna get a lot of cutters 00:50:36.000 –> 00:50:38.000 and you’re gonna get a, they’re gonna let 00:50:38.000 –> 00:50:40.000 you hit it that way. 00:50:41.000 –> 00:50:43.000 It’s very difficult when somebody’s trying to get 00:50:43.000 –> 00:50:44.000 in your kitchen to hit it the other 00:50:44.000 –> 00:50:47.000 way. And then the the other part of 00:50:47.000 –> 00:50:48.000 it, Brett, is monetarily 00:50:49.000 –> 00:50:49.000 monetarily, 00:50:50.000 –> 00:50:52.000 you don’t get paid to hit three hundred. 00:50:52.000 –> 00:50:55.000 And it sucks to say, but you these 00:50:55.000 –> 00:50:57.000 guys get paid for doubles and homers. And 00:50:57.000 –> 00:51:00.000 doubles and homers aren’t coming slapping the other 00:51:00.000 –> 00:51:03.000 way. So this is this is next level. 00:51:03.000 –> 00:51:05.000 This is Rob Manfred and company Brett get 00:51:05.000 –> 00:51:07.000 together with, like, Elon Musk or something. 00:51:07.000 –> 00:51:09.000 But like how do we incentivize 00:51:09.000 –> 00:51:11.000 the game where that does get you paid? 00:51:11.000 –> 00:51:13.000 Where it’s it’s the ground ball to the 00:51:13.000 –> 00:51:15.000 right side to get the guy over. That’s 00:51:15.000 –> 00:51:18.000 quantifiable stat. Like, winning ball, winning baseball should 00:51:18.000 –> 00:51:21.000 be the goal all the time. Realize that 00:51:21.000 –> 00:51:21.000 people have, 00:51:22.000 –> 00:51:25.000 you you have a small window 00:51:25.000 –> 00:51:27.000 to go out there make your money. Yep. 00:51:27.000 –> 00:51:29.000 And you get it again. It’s strikeouts, 00:51:29.000 –> 00:51:32.000 for pitchers, it’s home runs, it’s doubles. But 00:51:32.000 –> 00:51:33.000 man, there are times in the game where 00:51:33.000 –> 00:51:35.000 I need a ground ball that one side. 00:51:35.000 –> 00:51:37.000 Yeah. Where I need that sacrifice fly. I 00:51:37.000 –> 00:51:39.000 feel like there’s gotta be a way to 00:51:39.000 –> 00:51:41.000 encompass that more into 00:51:41.000 –> 00:51:44.000 winning baseball for everybody. And you know, have 00:51:44.000 –> 00:51:47.000 a pool of money for for that or 00:51:47.000 –> 00:51:49.000 the guy that hits the single and hits 00:51:49.000 –> 00:51:51.000 three hundred or, you know, whatever 00:51:51.000 –> 00:51:54.000 I feel like we’re losing our complete baseball 00:51:54.000 –> 00:51:56.000 players, and it’s not the fact that these 00:51:56.000 –> 00:51:58.000 guys can’t do it. Like, that’s the frustrating 00:51:58.000 –> 00:52:00.000 part. It’s just the fact that the game 00:52:00.000 –> 00:52:02.000 doesn’t benefit them doing it. Yeah. That’s a 00:52:02.000 –> 00:52:03.000 good point. That’s a good point. So do 00:52:03.000 –> 00:52:05.000 we talk about the, O’Tani deal? I mean, 00:52:05.000 –> 00:52:06.000 do we do we dare go there? I 00:52:06.000 –> 00:52:07.000 mean, 00:52:07.000 –> 00:52:09.000 I should play better. That’s one of the 00:52:09.000 –> 00:52:11.000 one of the first things that I think 00:52:11.000 –> 00:52:12.000 about. Well, you should have been a right 00:52:12.000 –> 00:52:14.000 fielder as well as a person. I think 00:52:14.000 –> 00:52:16.000 so. And talent did. And, yes, No. That 00:52:17.000 –> 00:52:19.000 those all would be good. Seven year, seventy 00:52:19.000 –> 00:52:20.000 million dollar deal with what was it? Sixty 00:52:20.000 –> 00:52:20.000 eight per deferred? Yeah. 00:52:24.000 –> 00:52:26.000 That’s So here’s my my question. And you’re 00:52:26.000 –> 00:52:28.000 the financial Gilliland so here’s what I don’t 00:52:28.000 –> 00:52:30.000 understand. Maybe you know this, maybe you don’t. 00:52:30.000 –> 00:52:32.000 And I haven’t read it in to see 00:52:32.000 –> 00:52:33.000 if it’s out there. So if I’m the 00:52:33.000 –> 00:52:35.000 fan, let me go on my soapbox for 00:52:35.000 –> 00:52:36.000 a minute. If I’m the fan, that’s just 00:52:36.000 –> 00:52:38.000 great for the net. Is it seven years 00:52:38.000 –> 00:52:39.000 or ten years, whatever it is? Oh, yeah. 00:52:39.000 –> 00:52:41.000 I’m sorry. Ten years. Yeah. Ten years, seven 00:52:41.000 –> 00:52:42.000 hundred hundred million. 00:52:42.000 –> 00:52:44.000 I’m excited for the next ten years, assuming 00:52:44.000 –> 00:52:45.000 it stays healthy. 00:52:46.000 –> 00:52:48.000 But what about the eleventh year? Right? So 00:52:48.000 –> 00:52:50.000 now the guy is getting paid sixty eight 00:52:50.000 –> 00:52:51.000 million dollars. 00:52:51.000 –> 00:52:53.000 To not play for you. They they talked 00:52:53.000 –> 00:52:54.000 about Bobby Baniya, 00:52:55.000 –> 00:52:57.000 like his deal, right, with the Mets? Remember 00:52:57.000 –> 00:52:58.000 that one? Yep. Still getting paid, I think. 00:52:59.000 –> 00:53:01.000 But point is is now I’m paying sixty 00:53:01.000 –> 00:53:02.000 eight million dollars. So number one, I don’t 00:53:02.000 –> 00:53:03.000 know if I liked that as a fan. 00:53:03.000 –> 00:53:04.000 But number two, 00:53:05.000 –> 00:53:07.000 as the financial guy, O’Tani, is I’d rather 00:53:07.000 –> 00:53:09.000 have my seventy million today 00:53:10.000 –> 00:53:12.000 because my fear would be, what if what 00:53:12.000 –> 00:53:14.000 if they’re not around? Obviously, the dodgers probably 00:53:14.000 –> 00:53:15.000 aren’t going anywhere. Yeah. That’s what you think 00:53:15.000 –> 00:53:17.000 Right? What if they’re not there? So I 00:53:17.000 –> 00:53:18.000 don’t know if they buy an insurance policy 00:53:18.000 –> 00:53:20.000 on that, but he’s putting a lot of 00:53:20.000 –> 00:53:23.000 trust in the Los Angeles Dodgers to, to 00:53:23.000 –> 00:53:24.000 pay me pay me in ten years. Brad, 00:53:24.000 –> 00:53:25.000 I didn’t even think about that. 00:53:26.000 –> 00:53:27.000 That’s why I have guys like you. That’s 00:53:27.000 –> 00:53:30.000 right. They’re thinking about things like this. So, 00:53:30.000 –> 00:53:32.000 what what are the ways, I guess, that 00:53:32.000 –> 00:53:34.000 he is able to do this, not that 00:53:34.000 –> 00:53:35.000 it, like, you want your money and you 00:53:35.000 –> 00:53:37.000 wanna be able to utilize it and wanna 00:53:37.000 –> 00:53:38.000 be able to grow it. I guess one 00:53:38.000 –> 00:53:39.000 of the ways that he’s doing it, they 00:53:39.000 –> 00:53:41.000 say he makes at least over fifty million 00:53:41.000 –> 00:53:42.000 dollars a year off the field. That helps. 00:53:42.000 –> 00:53:44.000 Okay. I shouldn’t know that. To be able 00:53:44.000 –> 00:53:45.000 to do that. I figured he wasn’t going 00:53:45.000 –> 00:53:47.000 broke. No. But chances are. I think I 00:53:47.000 –> 00:53:48.000 was I was looking at this the other 00:53:48.000 –> 00:53:50.000 day. I think that with the 00:53:51.000 –> 00:53:53.000 the two million that he’s technically making. As 00:53:53.000 –> 00:53:55.000 you and I were talking before the podcast, 00:53:55.000 –> 00:53:57.000 though, like, it’ll it’ll cost more or it’ll 00:53:57.000 –> 00:53:59.000 look like more Yeah. At least when they 00:53:59.000 –> 00:54:01.000 do the luxury tax, whatever. But for the 00:54:01.000 –> 00:54:03.000 two million that he’s making, I think he’s, 00:54:03.000 –> 00:54:05.000 like, the tenth or eleventh highest paid player 00:54:05.000 –> 00:54:07.000 on the Dodgers. Right? Now. Like, it’s it’s 00:54:07.000 –> 00:54:09.000 it’s kind of a silly figure that is 00:54:09.000 –> 00:54:12.000 out there. But, yeah, I I don’t know. 00:54:12.000 –> 00:54:14.000 I don’t know how this shakes out at 00:54:14.000 –> 00:54:15.000 the end of it. I don’t know how 00:54:15.000 –> 00:54:17.000 it works out for him, but I do 00:54:17.000 –> 00:54:19.000 know it allows the dodgers a team with 00:54:19.000 –> 00:54:21.000 a lot of financial flexibility anyhow, obviously, to 00:54:21.000 –> 00:54:23.000 be able to sign a deal like this. 00:54:23.000 –> 00:54:24.000 At some point, you’re gonna to pay the 00:54:24.000 –> 00:54:26.000 piper. Yeah. But it also allows them to 00:54:26.000 –> 00:54:28.000 go out there and add more pieces. You 00:54:28.000 –> 00:54:30.000 know, they already made the Brad. They brought 00:54:30.000 –> 00:54:33.000 in glass now. Yeah. And they signed him 00:54:33.000 –> 00:54:36.000 to an extension. Apparently, they’re still in on 00:54:36.000 –> 00:54:36.000 Yamamoto 00:54:37.000 –> 00:54:39.000 Yeah. Which is crazy. And who knows, by 00:54:39.000 –> 00:54:41.000 the time somebody watches this, maybe Yamamoto has 00:54:41.000 –> 00:54:43.000 signed. Right. He’s met with a few different 00:54:43.000 –> 00:54:44.000 teams. Don’t believe the cardinals are one of 00:54:44.000 –> 00:54:46.000 them at this point. Maybe maybe they are 00:54:46.000 –> 00:54:48.000 the mystery team. We’ll go with that mystery 00:54:48.000 –> 00:54:52.000 team, but, it’s if you are able to 00:54:52.000 –> 00:54:54.000 structure a deal like that, it sure does 00:54:54.000 –> 00:54:56.000 provide your team some flexibility. And I wonder 00:54:56.000 –> 00:54:58.000 I wonder, like, what doors is this gonna, 00:54:59.000 –> 00:55:01.000 like, or this Pandora’s box. Yeah. Like doing 00:55:01.000 –> 00:55:01.000 sixty 00:55:02.000 –> 00:55:04.000 dollars. They’re gonna be able to get. They’ll 00:55:04.000 –> 00:55:05.000 pay for that. Yeah. They’ll pay for that. 00:55:05.000 –> 00:55:08.000 That’s why, I mean, unfortunately, Anutani can’t, like, 00:55:08.000 –> 00:55:10.000 as he can. But to come to Saint 00:55:10.000 –> 00:55:11.000 Louis is gonna be hard versus you gotta 00:55:11.000 –> 00:55:13.000 be in LA or New York for that 00:55:13.000 –> 00:55:14.000 amount of money. You would think. You would 00:55:14.000 –> 00:55:17.000 think so. Right? So, I’m 00:55:17.000 –> 00:55:19.000 I’m interested to see it. Like, I I’m 00:55:19.000 –> 00:55:21.000 looking forward to you. Think about that lineup. 00:55:21.000 –> 00:55:23.000 You think about three guys or you have 00:55:23.000 –> 00:55:24.000 three hall of famers in a row. You 00:55:24.000 –> 00:55:27.000 got you got Muokey Brett Shohaeotani and Freddie 00:55:27.000 –> 00:55:28.000 Freeman? Stop. 00:55:28.000 –> 00:55:30.000 It’s incredible. Yeah. You know who’s gonna be 00:55:30.000 –> 00:55:32.000 calling his game. Who’s that? Brad Thompson? 00:55:33.000 –> 00:55:35.000 That’ll be fun. I mean, right? Hope I 00:55:35.000 –> 00:55:37.000 get the Dodgers series. Did and that who 00:55:37.000 –> 00:55:39.000 we open it against? Oh, yeah. In LA, 00:55:40.000 –> 00:55:42.000 right in the beginning. I mean, Brett It’s 00:55:42.000 –> 00:55:44.000 no hate time. Because he he’ll be, yeah, 00:55:44.000 –> 00:55:46.000 he’s back. He just has the DH next 00:55:46.000 –> 00:55:47.000 year. Right? Just the DH. But he’ll be 00:55:47.000 –> 00:55:48.000 he’ll be ready for opening day. Real quick. 00:55:48.000 –> 00:55:50.000 Yeah. And he will be. 00:55:50.000 –> 00:55:52.000 That’s one of the that’s another thing. You 00:55:52.000 –> 00:55:54.000 wanna think about this investment. That just tells 00:55:54.000 –> 00:55:55.000 you off the field they’re gonna make all 00:55:55.000 –> 00:55:56.000 their money. They’re they’re gonna be fine. You 00:55:56.000 –> 00:55:58.000 have a lot of smart people crunching the 00:55:58.000 –> 00:56:00.000 over there, with the Dodgers. 00:56:01.000 –> 00:56:02.000 What what if he doesn’t pitch again? I 00:56:02.000 –> 00:56:05.000 know. He he’s had two elbow surgeries. He’s 00:56:05.000 –> 00:56:07.000 had Tommy John, and then he’s had whatever 00:56:07.000 –> 00:56:09.000 this last one was, which that they’ve kept 00:56:09.000 –> 00:56:10.000 close to the vest. Obviously, the Dodgers have 00:56:10.000 –> 00:56:13.000 to know exactly what he Brad. But that’s 00:56:13.000 –> 00:56:15.000 a lot. That is an enormous risk, but 00:56:15.000 –> 00:56:18.000 it just tells you that unicorn that Shohae 00:56:18.000 –> 00:56:21.000 O’Tani is, that even with the murkiness of 00:56:21.000 –> 00:56:22.000 the future, it makes them it’s not murky 00:56:22.000 –> 00:56:24.000 at all. I just think two surgeries, one 00:56:24.000 –> 00:56:25.000 area, 00:56:25.000 –> 00:56:27.000 is a little scary when you’re investing like 00:56:27.000 –> 00:56:29.000 that. Yeah. Like, that is that is a 00:56:29.000 –> 00:56:31.000 lot to be thrown out there. For one 00:56:31.000 –> 00:56:32.000 thing, the rehab, I mean, you know that 00:56:32.000 –> 00:56:34.000 from experience. Right? I mean, the rehab become 00:56:34.000 –> 00:56:36.000 that who knows what’s gonna happen with the 00:56:36.000 –> 00:56:39.000 arm? It’s scary, man. So, last question for 00:56:39.000 –> 00:56:41.000 you, Brad, is, you think about your amazing 00:56:41.000 –> 00:56:43.000 well, now I got two questions for you. 00:56:43.000 –> 00:56:44.000 One of them is about your kids. What 00:56:44.000 –> 00:56:46.000 what do they think? You know, obviously Dylan 00:56:46.000 –> 00:56:48.000 playing baseball and stuff now. I’m sure your 00:56:48.000 –> 00:56:50.000 daughter pays attention to that stuff. And what 00:56:50.000 –> 00:56:51.000 do they think about Brad 00:56:52.000 –> 00:56:54.000 you know, doing what you’re doing now. Yeah. 00:56:54.000 –> 00:56:55.000 They, 00:56:55.000 –> 00:56:57.000 they’re finally at the point where I think 00:56:57.000 –> 00:56:58.000 that they understand 00:56:58.000 –> 00:57:00.000 what what it is that I do. And, 00:57:00.000 –> 00:57:02.000 as as I mentioned earlier, year. My son 00:57:02.000 –> 00:57:04.000 was born Gilliland, 00:57:04.000 –> 00:57:06.000 of my career, wasn’t in the big leagues 00:57:06.000 –> 00:57:07.000 anymore. So he never got to see that. 00:57:07.000 –> 00:57:09.000 And he never, my my kids never got 00:57:09.000 –> 00:57:11.000 to come to the field with me and 00:57:11.000 –> 00:57:13.000 and go play in the field. Like, stuff 00:57:13.000 –> 00:57:14.000 that I I got to see all these 00:57:14.000 –> 00:57:16.000 other guys do. Yeah. Or I was like, 00:57:16.000 –> 00:57:18.000 look at these old guys. They’re kids. 00:57:18.000 –> 00:57:20.000 My kids never got to do that. Yeah. 00:57:20.000 –> 00:57:21.000 Like, what a great thing it is for 00:57:21.000 –> 00:57:23.000 all these these kids. They get to kinda 00:57:23.000 –> 00:57:24.000 grow up in a clubhouse. 00:57:25.000 –> 00:57:28.000 Well, I they kinda get a little bit 00:57:28.000 –> 00:57:29.000 of that now with me doing what I 00:57:29.000 –> 00:57:31.000 do. They can come up to the booth 00:57:31.000 –> 00:57:33.000 and kinda see see what that is like. 00:57:34.000 –> 00:57:36.000 But I hope they think it’s cool. There 00:57:36.000 –> 00:57:38.000 there are downsides to it. Right? Like any 00:57:38.000 –> 00:57:39.000 other job. Yep. We were talking about youth 00:57:39.000 –> 00:57:41.000 baseball earlier. Unfortunately, 00:57:41.000 –> 00:57:44.000 you know, the youth baseball season, which, like, 00:57:44.000 –> 00:57:46.000 if perfect world. You know, if I weren’t 00:57:46.000 –> 00:57:47.000 doing that, I’d be coaching all the time. 00:57:47.000 –> 00:57:49.000 Like, that’s it. I’d be I’d have a 00:57:49.000 –> 00:57:51.000 youth academy and be doing all of that. 00:57:52.000 –> 00:57:53.000 I miss a lot. I miss a lot 00:57:53.000 –> 00:57:55.000 of the kid stuff during the summer, and 00:57:55.000 –> 00:57:57.000 that that part of it is very difficult. 00:57:57.000 –> 00:57:59.000 And that’s why this time now in the 00:57:59.000 –> 00:58:01.000 off season is so great to be home 00:58:01.000 –> 00:58:03.000 be able to pour in a lot more. 00:58:03.000 –> 00:58:04.000 But I I think that they like it, 00:58:04.000 –> 00:58:06.000 but I’ll be honest with you. I think 00:58:06.000 –> 00:58:08.000 the biggest thing that they get a kick 00:58:08.000 –> 00:58:10.000 out of is that I know Fred Bird. 00:58:10.000 –> 00:58:11.000 That’s it. Like that And I do your 00:58:11.000 –> 00:58:13.000 show. Fred Bird’s my end. Yeah. I got 00:58:13.000 –> 00:58:15.000 the Partners kids TV show. That’s my end. 00:58:15.000 –> 00:58:16.000 That’s awesome. And that last question I was 00:58:16.000 –> 00:58:19.000 gonna talk about is the community is very 00:58:19.000 –> 00:58:21.000 important to you, and you and your, amazing 00:58:21.000 –> 00:58:22.000 wife, you guys do awesome stuff for our, 00:58:22.000 –> 00:58:24.000 for our community here in Saint Louis. But 00:58:24.000 –> 00:58:26.000 when when you think about legacy, I mean, 00:58:26.000 –> 00:58:27.000 what do you what do you got the 00:58:27.000 –> 00:58:29.000 Thompson family to be known for. 00:58:29.000 –> 00:58:32.000 And, what’s important about that to you? Man, 00:58:32.000 –> 00:58:33.000 it’s it’s a great question. Honestly, I I’m 00:58:33.000 –> 00:58:35.000 not sure how much I’ve actually thought about 00:58:35.000 –> 00:58:38.000 leg Like, I thought about down the road. 00:58:38.000 –> 00:58:40.000 But I know this, I I don’t ever 00:58:40.000 –> 00:58:43.000 wanna be the person that is is walking 00:58:43.000 –> 00:58:44.000 up and you’re like, oh, here you go. 00:58:44.000 –> 00:58:46.000 Or are, like, I I want to be 00:58:46.000 –> 00:58:48.000 somebody that that leaves, 00:58:48.000 –> 00:58:51.000 when somebody thinks about me or what I 00:58:51.000 –> 00:58:53.000 do, like, they smile. Like, and, 00:58:53.000 –> 00:58:56.000 they I wanna bring excitement. I wanna bring 00:58:56.000 –> 00:58:58.000 happiness, and I I want to be able 00:58:58.000 –> 00:59:00.000 to give back. And I think that that 00:59:00.000 –> 00:59:01.000 is important, Brett. And I know that something 00:59:01.000 –> 00:59:03.000 that you and your wife do a ton 00:59:03.000 –> 00:59:05.000 of in in our community. And, it’s something 00:59:05.000 –> 00:59:07.000 that I would love to just build something 00:59:07.000 –> 00:59:09.000 more than the right here, the right now, 00:59:09.000 –> 00:59:11.000 the the this game. And, you know, that’s 00:59:11.000 –> 00:59:12.000 kind of a a process. But I think 00:59:12.000 –> 00:59:14.000 it’s also a great example. 00:59:14.000 –> 00:59:16.000 You’ve got a, you know, a young family 00:59:16.000 –> 00:59:19.000 who learning how important that is that it’s 00:59:19.000 –> 00:59:22.000 more so than just the the I am 00:59:22.000 –> 00:59:23.000 doing this right now and say, no, what 00:59:23.000 –> 00:59:26.000 we doing? What are we doing as a 00:59:26.000 –> 00:59:27.000 as a community as a as a people? 00:59:27.000 –> 00:59:30.000 So, I’d like to continue to grow that. 00:59:30.000 –> 00:59:32.000 But I think that any way that, you 00:59:32.000 –> 00:59:34.000 know, I can help in the community. I 00:59:34.000 –> 00:59:36.000 like to do. I like to to be 00:59:36.000 –> 00:59:38.000 around and I like to just be a 00:59:38.000 –> 00:59:40.000 part of things. And it’s special being here, 00:59:41.000 –> 00:59:42.000 being a part of the community of Saint 00:59:42.000 –> 00:59:44.000 Louis and the greater Saint Louis area 00:59:45.000 –> 00:59:45.000 is, 00:59:45.000 –> 00:59:48.000 it’s big. But it’s small. Right. It feels 00:59:48.000 –> 00:59:50.000 like, a Gilliland it’s it’s nice to be 00:59:50.000 –> 00:59:52.000 a part of it. Looking for the date 00:59:52.000 –> 00:59:54.000 exactly. I should know that. 00:59:54.000 –> 00:59:56.000 But speaking of stuff for the community, for 00:59:56.000 –> 00:59:58.000 those listening, February tenth, put that on your 00:59:58.000 –> 01:00:01.000 calendar, the the KC Hall in Ofoul in 01:00:01.000 –> 01:00:03.000 Illinois, Rock for Hope. Oh, nice. For Hope, 01:00:03.000 –> 01:00:06.000 Charity got a Brad, the Nashville All stars 01:00:06.000 –> 01:00:08.000 is what we’re calling about. It’s like big 01:00:08.000 –> 01:00:10.000 country music people. It’s like their guitar player, 01:00:10.000 –> 01:00:12.000 their drummer, their what Yes. When they’re not 01:00:12.000 –> 01:00:14.000 traveling with their main people, they come together. 01:00:14.000 –> 01:00:16.000 And so they’re coming here from Nashville, Tennessee 01:00:17.000 –> 01:00:18.000 on, February tenth 01:00:19.000 –> 01:00:20.000 at the KC Hall, we’re gonna raise some 01:00:20.000 –> 01:00:22.000 money. We’re gonna kick cancer’s ass and listen 01:00:22.000 –> 01:00:24.000 to an amazing band. So maybe you’ll see 01:00:24.000 –> 01:00:26.000 Brad Thompson there. Oh, no doubt. If I’m 01:00:26.000 –> 01:00:28.000 in town, I’m there. You’re there. How long 01:00:28.000 –> 01:00:30.000 have you guys been going with swingpro? 01:00:30.000 –> 01:00:31.000 It’s 01:00:32.000 –> 01:00:34.000 been amazing, man. It’s a long time. And 01:00:34.000 –> 01:00:37.000 so, you know, my the story, my mom’s, 01:00:37.000 –> 01:00:40.000 my mom’s mom and her grandma and two 01:00:40.000 –> 01:00:41.000 of her aunts were all diagnosed with cancer 01:00:41.000 –> 01:00:43.000 at the same time within about a six 01:00:43.000 –> 01:00:44.000 or seven month period. 01:00:44.000 –> 01:00:46.000 And, so that that was a lot. And 01:00:46.000 –> 01:00:47.000 so 01:00:47.000 –> 01:00:49.000 we were driving and thinking what are we 01:00:49.000 –> 01:00:50.000 gonna do about this? And so we started 01:00:50.000 –> 01:00:52.000 our charity. And so with amazing people in 01:00:52.000 –> 01:00:54.000 the community, look out the windows here. I 01:00:54.000 –> 01:00:55.000 mean, we couldn’t do what we do without 01:00:55.000 –> 01:00:57.000 the people on our our board and people 01:00:57.000 –> 01:00:59.000 like you that show up to events. It’s 01:00:59.000 –> 01:01:01.000 just it’s awesome, man. So thanks for asking. 01:01:01.000 –> 01:01:03.000 But it’s, this is about Brad Thompson. 01:01:04.000 –> 01:01:06.000 Two thousand twenty four season. What were we 01:01:06.000 –> 01:01:06.000 predicting? 01:01:07.000 –> 01:01:09.000 More wins. Yeah. More wins. That’s for a 01:01:09.000 –> 01:01:11.000 quote. Hey, look. The cardinals, they they made 01:01:11.000 –> 01:01:13.000 some additions. I know a lot of people 01:01:13.000 –> 01:01:14.000 joking around. I was like, man, they got 01:01:14.000 –> 01:01:16.000 older. It got better is is what they 01:01:16.000 –> 01:01:18.000 did. And, at this point, 01:01:18.000 –> 01:01:21.000 three additions to your rotation, Sunny Gravee, and 01:01:21.000 –> 01:01:23.000 the headliner who I think is a fantastic 01:01:23.000 –> 01:01:24.000 you have a three year deal for Sunny 01:01:24.000 –> 01:01:26.000 Gray guy that knows exactly what he’s doing. 01:01:27.000 –> 01:01:28.000 I think that he’s gonna be Brett. Second 01:01:28.000 –> 01:01:30.000 in the Sa Young voting last year. 01:01:31.000 –> 01:01:33.000 Lancelyn and Kyle Gibson adds certainty in the 01:01:33.000 –> 01:01:36.000 middle of your rotation, and especially Lance Lynn 01:01:36.000 –> 01:01:38.000 and Kyle Gibson adds leadership for sure. But, 01:01:39.000 –> 01:01:42.000 Lance Lynn adds an element that you didn’t 01:01:42.000 –> 01:01:44.000 have, somebody that a little porcupine, 01:01:44.000 –> 01:01:45.000 a little bristle, 01:01:46.000 –> 01:01:48.000 in there that will push back. And I 01:01:48.000 –> 01:01:50.000 think that’s an important thing to have club 01:01:50.000 –> 01:01:51.000 houses. So I I know that he’s gonna 01:01:51.000 –> 01:01:53.000 add that. You picked up a couple of 01:01:53.000 –> 01:01:55.000 bullpen arms, wanting to trade with Boston, other 01:01:55.000 –> 01:01:57.000 in the rule five draft. I I don’t 01:01:57.000 –> 01:01:59.000 believe that they’re done yet when it comes 01:01:59.000 –> 01:02:01.000 to the pen. So I’m excited. I’m excited 01:02:01.000 –> 01:02:03.000 to see the young guys. I wanna see 01:02:03.000 –> 01:02:05.000 a year two of Jordan Walker. Yeah. Can’t 01:02:05.000 –> 01:02:07.000 wait to watch Mason win, man short stop 01:02:07.000 –> 01:02:09.000 for a season the kid is. So he’ll 01:02:09.000 –> 01:02:10.000 start. They already said that. Yeah. I believe 01:02:10.000 –> 01:02:12.000 so. Like, that’s the plan, at least, that 01:02:12.000 –> 01:02:13.000 he’ll be the guy. 01:02:14.000 –> 01:02:17.000 So I’m looking forward to that. Gilliland Aronado, 01:02:17.000 –> 01:02:20.000 another year with those guys. Like, everything is 01:02:20.000 –> 01:02:21.000 right there for the cardinals 01:02:22.000 –> 01:02:24.000 to compete and hopefully win the central. Other 01:02:24.000 –> 01:02:26.000 teams have been pretty quiet in the central. 01:02:26.000 –> 01:02:28.000 I don’t expect come to stay quiet the 01:02:28.000 –> 01:02:30.000 entire time other than hiring Craig Council away 01:02:30.000 –> 01:02:33.000 from the Milwaukee brewers, which is crazy. You’re 01:02:33.000 –> 01:02:35.000 in division, isn’t it? Yeah. Well, especially how 01:02:35.000 –> 01:02:37.000 much money they paid Right? Gave him a 01:02:37.000 –> 01:02:39.000 a forty million dollar deal over five years. 01:02:39.000 –> 01:02:39.000 Pretty impressive. 01:02:40.000 –> 01:02:42.000 So you would believe that they’re not done 01:02:42.000 –> 01:02:43.000 adding to it. But I think that they 01:02:43.000 –> 01:02:45.000 should be competing for their vision this year. 01:02:45.000 –> 01:02:47.000 And I know cardinal fans, like, hate to 01:02:47.000 –> 01:02:49.000 hear it because they they wanna talk about 01:02:49.000 –> 01:02:51.000 building what the Dodgers Brett. Right? Go out 01:02:51.000 –> 01:02:53.000 and just spend all all of this money, 01:02:53.000 –> 01:02:54.000 but it is very true. And I think 01:02:54.000 –> 01:02:56.000 the Dodgers can tell you this too is 01:02:56.000 –> 01:02:58.000 they don’t win the world series every time 01:02:58.000 –> 01:03:00.000 they get there, get into the post season, 01:03:00.000 –> 01:03:03.000 get yourself and specifically win your division, 01:03:03.000 –> 01:03:05.000 win your Gilliland 01:03:05.000 –> 01:03:07.000 you never know what’s gonna happen when you 01:03:07.000 –> 01:03:09.000 get into October. So that’s the hope this 01:03:09.000 –> 01:03:11.000 year that we have a deep run into 01:03:11.000 –> 01:03:13.000 October, I think you got the right pieces 01:03:13.000 –> 01:03:14.000 to do. And I also know that you 01:03:14.000 –> 01:03:16.000 have the right prospect capital. If you get 01:03:16.000 –> 01:03:18.000 close to the trade deadline, you believe that 01:03:18.000 –> 01:03:19.000 you’re a piece short, 01:03:19.000 –> 01:03:21.000 that John Jose logged, Michael Gers, they can 01:03:21.000 –> 01:03:22.000 go out and make a deal like. Yeah. 01:03:22.000 –> 01:03:24.000 That’s awesome. Where do our listeners find more 01:03:24.000 –> 01:03:25.000 of Brad Thompson? 01:03:26.000 –> 01:03:28.000 Right here. On this podcast is where you 01:03:28.000 –> 01:03:30.000 find out. I’m, hopefully be doing a lot 01:03:30.000 –> 01:03:32.000 more games on on Valley sports, 01:03:32.000 –> 01:03:33.000 doing a lot of fill in work on 01:03:33.000 –> 01:03:36.000 01:01 ESPN as know, I’ve scaled back, but 01:03:36.000 –> 01:03:37.000 I can’t stay all the way out. You 01:03:37.000 –> 01:03:39.000 know, Andrea doesn’t want me home all the 01:03:39.000 –> 01:03:40.000 time, Brad. I gotta be able to get 01:03:40.000 –> 01:03:42.000 out of the house. So, hopefully, you hear 01:03:42.000 –> 01:03:44.000 me popping up a little bit more here 01:03:44.000 –> 01:03:45.000 this new year. Man, thanks so much for 01:03:45.000 –> 01:03:47.000 being on the circuit of success. I appreciate 01:03:47.000 –> 01:03:49.000 having you. I think I think you might 01:03:49.000 –> 01:03:51.000 be the only three time guest because you 01:03:51.000 –> 01:03:52.000 were I looked at this last night. Really? 01:03:52.000 –> 01:03:54.000 We did this in April. 01:03:54.000 –> 01:03:57.000 I started this February six two thousand seventeen. 01:03:58.000 –> 01:04:00.000 You were on an April of two thousand 01:04:00.000 –> 01:04:01.000 seventeen. I looked, so our kids would have 01:04:01.000 –> 01:04:04.000 been, like, three. That my fourth and your 01:04:04.000 –> 01:04:06.000 oldest would have been three. And then we 01:04:06.000 –> 01:04:06.000 did, 01:04:07.000 –> 01:04:08.000 which was a blast for me. Hopefully, it 01:04:08.000 –> 01:04:10.000 was fun for you all. Me, you, Jason 01:04:10.000 –> 01:04:11.000 Iseringhausen, 01:04:12.000 –> 01:04:15.000 Kyle McClellan, Jason Simonachi, and Brian Jordan. That 01:04:15.000 –> 01:04:16.000 was a fun one. That was awesome. We’re 01:04:16.000 –> 01:04:18.000 all at home. Remember that? It’s supposed to 01:04:18.000 –> 01:04:19.000 be open today? It’s supposed to be opening 01:04:19.000 –> 01:04:21.000 day for the cardinals, and we had an 01:04:21.000 –> 01:04:22.000 amazing, I don’t know, hour and a half, 01:04:22.000 –> 01:04:24.000 two hour deal. So that was awesome. So, 01:04:24.000 –> 01:04:26.000 brother, thank you for being with us again. 01:04:26.000 –> 01:04:27.000 It’s awesome having you. Thank you for having 01:04:27.000 –> 01:04:28.000 me as honored three times.