1
00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,960
Speaker 1: Jason Hammer from the number one rated Hammer in Nigel

2
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,479
Speaker 1: Show joins us now and I know you, like me,

3
00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:14,640
Speaker 1: are a massive Chicago Cubs fan, and a rough day

4
00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:15,880
Speaker 1: for Cubs fans everywhere.

5
00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:17,599
Speaker 2: I think you would say arguably the.

6
00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:22,600
Speaker 1: Most beloved Cubs, certainly of the modern era.

7
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,440
Speaker 3: The cable TV era. Right right when cable TV first

8
00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:31,240
Speaker 3: really started becoming mainstream. You know, it was the super

9
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,760
Speaker 3: station WGN. Those were the stations, right, TBS, WGN. All

10
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,000
Speaker 3: the Braves games were on TVs. All the Cubs games

11
00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,199
Speaker 3: were on WGN. So by default, if you were a

12
00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,360
Speaker 3: sports fan at all, you started to identify with a

13
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:47,120
Speaker 3: lot of these people because they were on your TV

14
00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,440
Speaker 3: all the time. And as a Cub fan like Ryan

15
00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:52,760
Speaker 3: Sandberg was part of the group that was like my

16
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,800
Speaker 3: babysitter growing up, because I'd go to my grandparents' house.

17
00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:57,640
Speaker 3: Both of my parents worked, so I'd go to my

18
00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,680
Speaker 3: grandparents house and they got this new thing called cable television,

19
00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,280
Speaker 3: so they plopped me right down in front of that.

20
00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,440
Speaker 3: Then Harry Carey, Steve Stone, and Rydo were basically my

21
00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:09,640
Speaker 3: babysitters growing up.

22
00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,360
Speaker 1: You know, it's weird, like Case said, I were talking

23
00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,199
Speaker 1: about earlier, to start the show.

24
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:14,080
Speaker 2: The Sandford thing.

25
00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,360
Speaker 1: It feels like a massive deal because you're right, millions

26
00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,600
Speaker 1: of people saw this guy every day because there were

27
00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,120
Speaker 1: so few options. I mean, obviously Cable you had, you know,

28
00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,399
Speaker 1: fifty sixty channels, but in terms of you wanted to

29
00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,280
Speaker 1: watch baseball nationally, you really did have two options. And

30
00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,679
Speaker 1: the Cubs, because they were Chicago, had such a loyal

31
00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:37,240
Speaker 1: following that so many people. He was such an integral

32
00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:39,640
Speaker 1: part of their childhood and he was.

33
00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,960
Speaker 3: The perfect ambassador for it right like, right place, right time.

34
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:45,880
Speaker 3: You could say the same thing about hal Cogan right

35
00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,720
Speaker 3: right place, right time when Cable first started going into

36
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,040
Speaker 3: the mainstream. Hawl Cogan was this bigger than live character,

37
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,880
Speaker 3: and you know, USA was the benefactor of that same

38
00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,840
Speaker 3: thing with WGN. Here's this good looking guys dig him,

39
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,640
Speaker 3: Guys like him because he's an amazing ballplayer on a

40
00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:07,200
Speaker 3: team that's honestly not very good. You know, the whole

41
00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,240
Speaker 3: time Rhino was in Chicago, I think they made two

42
00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,320
Speaker 3: playoff runs. That's it. They had some awful teams, but

43
00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,239
Speaker 3: he was really good, handled everything with class and defensively

44
00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,600
Speaker 3: with the bat. You know, he wasn't a trash talker,

45
00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,160
Speaker 3: so he didn't rub people the wrong way. He was

46
00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:24,600
Speaker 3: just the perfect ambassador.

47
00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:31,240
Speaker 1: You know that you're special when forty years forty one years,

48
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,360
Speaker 1: like if you look at somebody who is remotely knowledgeable

49
00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,079
Speaker 1: about baseball in the Midwest and you say the Sandberg game, yes,

50
00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:38,600
Speaker 1: they'll know what you're talking about.

51
00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,560
Speaker 2: Well, it's been forty I was barely born when that happened.

52
00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,639
Speaker 1: I'm a full fledged, grown ass adult man. And yet

53
00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,520
Speaker 1: when I see the clip of that roll through, I mean,

54
00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:51,600
Speaker 1: I'm not even talking about yesterday like obviously was everywhere,

55
00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,040
Speaker 1: but I'm saying every year it'll pop up. You'll just

56
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,959
Speaker 1: stop and watch him crank two bombs off Bruce Soiter,

57
00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,800
Speaker 1: and you know what's gonna happen, right, all the great

58
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,119
Speaker 1: players that have played baseball.

59
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,720
Speaker 3: You know, there's not a Mickey Mantle game, There's not

60
00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,200
Speaker 3: a Johnny Bench game. Great players may have been better

61
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:11,160
Speaker 3: than Rhino, I don't know. We can debate that, but

62
00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:14,200
Speaker 3: that game, it was the national game of the week

63
00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,359
Speaker 3: when everybody would watch it on network television. I think

64
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,480
Speaker 3: NBC Bob Costas had the call. Great rivalry. Cubs and

65
00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,519
Speaker 3: Cards packed howls. Cubs were finally getting good. Rhino was

66
00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:27,880
Speaker 3: having an MVP season and I think he went like

67
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,639
Speaker 3: five for six or four for five something like that.

68
00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,560
Speaker 3: Two bombs off one of the best closers in baseball,

69
00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,600
Speaker 3: Cubs win and extra innings, and that put him into

70
00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:37,280
Speaker 3: the stratosphere.

71
00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,480
Speaker 1: And it's the like baseball so different from every other sport.

72
00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,760
Speaker 1: The call is so legendary. You know the costs. Do

73
00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,040
Speaker 1: you believe it? This is a tie ball? Like I

74
00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,960
Speaker 1: mean it, it's just so. It's this perfect June day

75
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,040
Speaker 1: in Chicago. It's those nasty awful Cardinals, and it's just

76
00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,320
Speaker 1: like it's so and it's like the crazy thing about

77
00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,120
Speaker 1: And this is when you know people were special. When

78
00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,200
Speaker 1: we were talking about this with whole Kogan, you know,

79
00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,800
Speaker 1: a couple of days ago, like the memories that it

80
00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,080
Speaker 1: floods back and I was thinking this morning and by

81
00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:07,800
Speaker 1: the way I told Casey, I guess I told her

82
00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,280
Speaker 1: audience like ESPN did this fabulous video tribute to and

83
00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,400
Speaker 1: I think maybe Kirchen. Tim Kirchen was the narrator and

84
00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,040
Speaker 1: it's just phenomenal, Like I just totally lost it watching it.

85
00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,760
Speaker 1: But like little things that you don't think of and

86
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:22,560
Speaker 1: then you realize what a big part of your childhood.

87
00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,720
Speaker 2: They were so when I was a kid.

88
00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,359
Speaker 1: Roger Clemens MVP Baseball was a Nintendo game like the

89
00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,480
Speaker 1: original Nintendo and for whatever deal they had, they got

90
00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,240
Speaker 1: Roger Clemens name to license. Right, he's the star of

91
00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,560
Speaker 1: the game, but they were too cheap to pay for

92
00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:38,640
Speaker 1: the rest of the players.

93
00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:40,680
Speaker 3: They sped it all on Roger.

94
00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,680
Speaker 1: So the names were made up for each team, like

95
00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,520
Speaker 1: it was just Chicago, but they made the names close enough.

96
00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,880
Speaker 3: To where you knew it. So like Mark Grace was G.

97
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:57,400
Speaker 1: Mace I think, and Ryan Sandberg was R Bergison and

98
00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,400
Speaker 1: you knew like the talent level of the player.

99
00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,240
Speaker 3: It is like based three.

100
00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,080
Speaker 2: But to me, in my mind every time as a.

101
00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:07,440
Speaker 1: Kid, when I heard the name Ryan Sandberg, I would think,

102
00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,720
Speaker 1: let's burguson on my.

103
00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:11,600
Speaker 2: Game.

104
00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,080
Speaker 3: And it's such a trip down nostalgia lane.

105
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:15,280
Speaker 2: Right.

106
00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:17,160
Speaker 3: We were kind of talking about this with Happy Gilmour,

107
00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,560
Speaker 3: you know, yesterday or the day before, and uh, you

108
00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,400
Speaker 3: know it just it's more than baseball. Like if you

109
00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,119
Speaker 3: grew up watching this kind of stuff, if you're around

110
00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,000
Speaker 3: my age or Rob's age, you grew up watching these

111
00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,640
Speaker 3: Cubs teams on television. It takes you back to when

112
00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,240
Speaker 3: you were younger and who you were with, not necessarily

113
00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:37,280
Speaker 3: even about the game. But I remember hanging out with

114
00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,360
Speaker 3: my grandparents and you know, they would go to all

115
00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,280
Speaker 3: my baseball games, and if I had a good day,

116
00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,560
Speaker 3: you know at the plate, he'd call me rhino if

117
00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,200
Speaker 3: I actually pitched and did well. Oh, Sutcliffe's out there,

118
00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,599
Speaker 3: like it just takes me back, and man, that one hurts, right,

119
00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,280
Speaker 3: and we knew what was coming. He had been rumored

120
00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,760
Speaker 3: to be in bad shape for a while. Beat it

121
00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,520
Speaker 3: at one point was incomplete remission, but then it came

122
00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:02,960
Speaker 3: back very aggressively.

123
00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:04,680
Speaker 2: You know what's crazy about him too.

124
00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,360
Speaker 1: So one of the things that I watch from as

125
00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:09,599
Speaker 1: far I think is interesting as people who collect stuff.

126
00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,200
Speaker 1: So I'm so enamored with Casey's husband because he's so

127
00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:18,280
Speaker 1: into collecting sports illustrated magazines. I don't collect things, but

128
00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,680
Speaker 1: I admire the people that do. And there's a group

129
00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,520
Speaker 1: of people who collect autographed baseball cards, Like they'll send

130
00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:27,160
Speaker 1: a card in the mail like we used to in

131
00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:29,520
Speaker 1: your kids. It's kind of weird grown adults do it,

132
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:31,479
Speaker 1: but whatever, right, Yeah, And so I enjoy there's a

133
00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,720
Speaker 1: whole like Facebook pages of people who will do their submissions.

134
00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,120
Speaker 1: And up until like a few weeks ago, people were

135
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,320
Speaker 1: still getting Ryan Sandberg autographed cards in the mail. And

136
00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,359
Speaker 1: it knew even signals like that is pretty cool that

137
00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,440
Speaker 1: even you know, guys clearly not doing well, people up until,

138
00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,240
Speaker 1: like I said, a few weeks ago, were still getting

139
00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:52,560
Speaker 1: those cards back in the mail.

140
00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,080
Speaker 3: Dude, he loved baseball and he loved being a part

141
00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,080
Speaker 3: of it. Right, and again, he was never one of these, hey,

142
00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:03,280
Speaker 3: I want to deal with Gator eight people. But you'd

143
00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,320
Speaker 3: always find him in Chicago, like a bunch of my

144
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,039
Speaker 3: buddies that live up there. They would go to Murphy's

145
00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,080
Speaker 3: at the Cubby Bear and there's Rhino. It's just kind

146
00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,560
Speaker 3: of hanging out like and anybody that wants a picture,

147
00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:14,440
Speaker 3: you know, he'll get it. He was never a big

148
00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,200
Speaker 3: timer to people and would go to show up to

149
00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,920
Speaker 3: these little leagues whatever. And I can't imagine he's getting

150
00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,560
Speaker 3: paid a lot of money or even at all to

151
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:24,520
Speaker 3: do this kind of stuff. But he's like, yeah, you

152
00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,560
Speaker 3: know what, screw it. They gave me a great life.

153
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,080
Speaker 3: And what we kind of forget is even with these athletes,

154
00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,480
Speaker 3: how good they actually are at the sport. Right, Rhino

155
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,239
Speaker 3: was an even better dude. But if you go back

156
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,520
Speaker 3: and read about him in high school, he was like

157
00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,960
Speaker 3: all state and football, basketball, and baseball. Could have played

158
00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,560
Speaker 3: any sport in college that he want, chose baseball and

159
00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:45,360
Speaker 3: I think it worked out.

160
00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,000
Speaker 1: Won the nineteen ninety home run derby at Wrigley Field

161
00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:49,720
Speaker 1: because he was the only guy smart enough to realize

162
00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,160
Speaker 1: how big the win factored in. And if the wind's

163
00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:54,880
Speaker 1: blowing in, you gotta hit it low, baby.

164
00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:56,680
Speaker 3: Low, and slow baby, turn on it Lin.

165
00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,920
Speaker 1: Drive bombs coming up this afternoon, uh Bo Duke.

166
00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,640
Speaker 3: John Schneider will join us. He's got a show coming

167
00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:07,160
Speaker 3: up in Indy. Jeff Boggs will join us and call

168
00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,800
Speaker 3: a roulette this afternoon. Thanks Hammer. It is Kenne La

169
00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:12,760
Speaker 3: Casey on ninety three WIBC