Speaker 1: The same with Cardinals are en route to Arlington, Texas
Speaker 1: for a three game nder League series against the Rangers,
Speaker 1: So naturally we have to bring on everyone's favorite person
Speaker 1: to the show. Skip Schumacher, Welcome the Cardinals territory. I'm
Speaker 1: thrilled to have you. How are you?
Speaker 2: I am great.
Speaker 3: Everyone's favorite person's a tough that's a tough intro, but
Speaker 3: thank you all.
Speaker 2: I'll try to try to take that one. But I'm
Speaker 2: excited to be on with you, of course.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. It's always great. I know when I
Speaker 1: always put out little feelers on which guest do we
Speaker 1: want coming up here the series. Here are some you know,
Speaker 1: favorite former Cardinals, and naturally you're on the top of
Speaker 1: the list. So we just give the people what they
Speaker 1: want here. What can I say?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess so, So.
Speaker 1: We'll just start a little bit about you know why
Speaker 1: we're talking in the first place. Over the off season,
Speaker 1: for those of you who missed it, Skip joined the
Speaker 1: Texas Rangers as a special advisor to President at Baseball Operations,
Speaker 1: Chris Young. It's a new organization for you. Skip. What
Speaker 1: do you like about the Rangers so far?
Speaker 3: Well, I didn't know what was going to happen at
Speaker 3: the end of the season, you know, with my situation
Speaker 3: in Miami and trying to figure out the next steps
Speaker 3: and not to jump to anything into anything too quickly.
Speaker 3: I just wanted to be in a really good situation
Speaker 3: around really good people. And see Why is at the
Speaker 3: top of the list. He reached out right away. I've
Speaker 3: known see Why for a number of years now, played
Speaker 3: against him. I played against Sea Why in high school
Speaker 3: at eighteen years old, so I've known see.
Speaker 2: Why a long time.
Speaker 3: And then obviously the people that he has around him,
Speaker 3: Dayton Moore, Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, like all the people
Speaker 3: that I've Nick Hunley, that I've been around for a
Speaker 3: long time are in that group. And I get to
Speaker 3: learn from grow with, and that was the main thing.
Speaker 3: And by the way, I get to learn from a
Speaker 3: Hall of Fame Bruce Bochie is pretty special for me.
Speaker 3: So it just all kind of worked out, and really
Speaker 3: grateful for that. Also, my son is going to TCU,
Speaker 3: so it's like twenty five minutes away in a couple
Speaker 3: of years, so I'm just very grateful for this opportunity.
Speaker 1: Have you learned anything about the Rangers so far? This year?
Speaker 1: I'm going to have this episode double as a very
Speaker 1: brief Cardinals Rangers preview. Is I'm still figuring out what
Speaker 1: exactly the Rangers are.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, first of all, they're pitching has been so good.
Speaker 3: They're starting pitching with the healthy Jacob de Gram.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's a unicorn.
Speaker 3: He is when healthy, one of the best pitchers still
Speaker 3: in the major leagues.
Speaker 2: In Valdi, I didn't realize how good Evo was.
Speaker 3: You know, you you kind of advanced teams when you
Speaker 3: go in to play them and you only get three
Speaker 3: game series maybe see him five or six times a year.
Speaker 3: I didn't realize what type of leadership he had, you know,
Speaker 3: in that clubhouse, the stuff he had, this real true
Speaker 3: ace mentality that he has. And then obviously, you know
Speaker 3: you're looking at the offense and you know, we've struggled
Speaker 3: a little bit this year, been kind of these peaks
Speaker 3: and valleys, and you're waiting for these guys to get
Speaker 3: going and unfortunately how to make a few moves during
Speaker 3: the season. But I think, you know, seekers coming back
Speaker 3: here in a few days, which it's going to be huge.
Speaker 2: You need aircraft carriers. You've heard that before, and he
Speaker 2: is that guy.
Speaker 3: He's a guy that can just put a team on
Speaker 3: his shoulders and you know, roll off a number of
Speaker 3: wins and go into these eight, nine, ten game winning streaks,
Speaker 3: which you know we're going to have to.
Speaker 2: Get to to get back to where we want to be.
Speaker 3: But when you have a leader in Bruce Bochie, he's
Speaker 3: seen it all and is forty plus years in the
Speaker 3: big leagues, So I think there's a lot of stability
Speaker 3: in that organization, and I think there's it's only a
Speaker 3: matter of time before these guys get hot again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it'll be a good matchup for the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: who I'm you know you follow along. How could you
Speaker 1: not so many of your friends are on the coaching staff,
Speaker 1: and also I know you just have a an appreciation
Speaker 1: for the organization. But for Saint Louis coming in after
Speaker 1: their series against Baltimore, I mean, this is a team
Speaker 1: that's played the best defense in baseball, So I wonder
Speaker 1: how that, combined with the Rangers lack of offense is
Speaker 1: going to vote for Texas's bats, and they've been pitching.
Speaker 1: The Cardinals have really well. We've talked about on this
Speaker 1: show the sustainability of it, whether or not it can
Speaker 1: last throughout the entirety of a season. But right now
Speaker 1: those guys are throwing the ball well and they're executing,
Speaker 1: so we'll see. I think the Cardinals are one of
Speaker 1: the surprise teams in baseball so far. I know, coming
Speaker 1: into the season, my personal expectations were rather low. If
Speaker 1: you've watched the earlier episodes of Cardinal Territory, specifically the
Speaker 1: spring training vibes. I wouldn't say I with the most
Speaker 1: bought in person on the active roster, but they've done
Speaker 1: a very very nice job of turning things around. What
Speaker 1: do you make of the Cardinals this year?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, first of all, to your earlier point, the defense.
Speaker 3: Texas has a really good defense too, So they remind
Speaker 3: me a lot of each other right now as far
Speaker 3: as like the defense and what they valuate their values of,
Speaker 3: like pitching in defense.
Speaker 2: The Cardinals, I think.
Speaker 3: It started with Nolan Ornado showing up to spring training
Speaker 3: and just being that dude and not making it a distraction,
Speaker 3: letting the media and the teammates know, like, I'm here,
Speaker 3: I'm ready to win, let's go.
Speaker 2: Whatever happened in season happened.
Speaker 3: But I think it starts with him and him having
Speaker 3: the ability to say I'm a Saint Louis Cardinal. There's
Speaker 3: a tradition here. I'm still want I still think we
Speaker 3: can win. And then him going to the front office
Speaker 3: or all even saying I'm willing to hit six just
Speaker 3: shows you where he's at in his career and that
Speaker 3: winning is the most important part of his day, which
Speaker 3: just you know, it's not surprising to me knowing Nolan
Speaker 3: for so long, but I think it's just been really
Speaker 3: cool to watch his maturation throughout the years. Olie Marmle's
Speaker 3: done a fantastic job with that club. I think I've
Speaker 3: had Brent Brown as my hitting coach. He is phenomenal
Speaker 3: at game planning and getting the buy in that you
Speaker 3: know those guys need. We know who John I know
Speaker 3: who John Jay is and Descalzo obviously there's some street
Speaker 3: cred where they know what winning looks like in that clubhouse,
Speaker 3: and you know, those young players can go to them
Speaker 3: with just about anything because they've seen it all. And
Speaker 3: I think when you have a staff like that, it
Speaker 3: just goes a long way and they have fun. There's accountability,
Speaker 3: there's stability now and I think not enough. I know
Speaker 3: you probably have talked about I know you have. But
Speaker 3: Brendon Donovan is an absolute stud and it's somebody that
Speaker 3: you've mentioned, Katie.
Speaker 2: I've watched you speak because I think you're really good.
Speaker 3: I think he is somebody that you can really build around,
Speaker 3: and that is a franchise type of player. He's a
Speaker 3: cardinal type of player who plays the game right. You
Speaker 3: know what you're going to get every single bat, first, left, first, right,
Speaker 3: middle of the infield, he can play the outfield. He's
Speaker 3: just a special player that, like everybody can look too
Speaker 3: younger player, older player, like that's how you should play
Speaker 3: the game.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought that up about Brendan Donovan in particular,
Speaker 1: because he reminds me of the type of player that
Speaker 1: would have thrived on your Cardinals teams when you and
Speaker 1: Scalt and j were there in the twenty tens. Because
Speaker 1: he is so gritty. I've said this before on the show.
Speaker 1: He's like your textbook Saint Louis cardinal in terms of,
Speaker 1: you know, he wants to play every day. You can
Speaker 1: play him everywhere, and he's more than serviceable no matter
Speaker 1: where you put him offensively, in defensively. And coming into
Speaker 1: the season, Donnie was one of those guys that was
Speaker 1: kind of caught in between from an identity standpoint. He
Speaker 1: wasn't an established veteran with the club, but he was
Speaker 1: a little too old to be in the I don't know,
Speaker 1: we're not supposed to say rebuild, but the transition part
Speaker 1: of the club. They knew that they were going to
Speaker 1: count on him for the future, but they just didn't
Speaker 1: know to what extent. And instead of being confused or
Speaker 1: unsure about his identity, I think Donnie just came in
Speaker 1: and said, well, I'm just going to play and make
Speaker 1: sure they know exactly what they have in me and
Speaker 1: what we're seeing after the first fifty games or so
Speaker 1: was you're seeing exactly what you said someone the organization
Speaker 1: can build around in the future.
Speaker 2: He's exactly what you're looking for in a winning team.
Speaker 3: And you know, whatever they wanted to say, you know,
Speaker 3: they wanted the younger guys to play, or the rebuild
Speaker 3: or whatever transition period they were in, it doesn't matter
Speaker 3: what phase you're in in an organization. You want Brendan
Speaker 3: Donovan on your team because he knows what the work
Speaker 3: should look like. During batting practice, you see him, he'll
Speaker 3: put a screen in front of first base if he's
Speaker 3: not hitting the bag right and just rep and rep
Speaker 3: it and rep it. Just these little things, these little
Speaker 3: details that he cares so much about, that like win
Speaker 3: the margins.
Speaker 2: And when you have a team that doesn't have.
Speaker 3: These like you know, Aaron Judge or Showhey or these
Speaker 3: like incredible superstars, but you just have some really good
Speaker 3: talented players that are trying to find their way. But
Speaker 3: you also have a Nolan Ernando who's going to be
Speaker 3: a Hall of Famer, Like, how do you win the margins?
Speaker 3: And you have guys like Brendan Donovan That's how you
Speaker 3: do it. And my guess is Brendan Donovan, now at
Speaker 3: his whatever third fourth year in the league, is probably
Speaker 3: telling these young guys, no, you hit the bag with
Speaker 3: the right foot, or now this is how you take
Speaker 3: your secondary leader.
Speaker 2: No, you should be taking early VP.
Speaker 3: I think he's probably got that in him now and
Speaker 3: he's always had it before.
Speaker 2: But you're right, he's not like, you know, this ten
Speaker 2: year vet. He's not this rookie.
Speaker 3: But I think he's so respected that I'm guessing he
Speaker 3: commands some of that in the room. And again, it
Speaker 3: just goes back to that coaching staff, the coaching staff
Speaker 3: has been really good in developing these guys.
Speaker 2: All.
Speaker 3: He has been a developer his whole career and it's
Speaker 3: just a testament to what he's done with that club
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 1: Perfect segue to our next section. I would really like
Speaker 1: to talk about the coaching staff, because, like you mentioned,
Speaker 1: you are familiar with so many of them. But before
Speaker 1: we get to that, we've got to take our first
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Speaker 1: I love that Scott has like the world's smallest dog,
Speaker 1: so fitting for him.
Speaker 2: I wasn't gonna say anything, but yeah, So.
Speaker 1: Let's from an over arching view. You know so many
Speaker 1: of these Cardinals coaches, not just from playing time or
Speaker 1: from your time on the Cardinals staff, but an or
Speaker 1: for your time in Miami really that I feel like
Speaker 1: you were one of the best people to talk to
Speaker 1: about just what they've accomplished. And we'll start with Ali Marmel.
Speaker 1: You were s Benge coach in twenty twenty two and
Speaker 1: lots to like about what happened in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: except of course the very end of the season. But
Speaker 1: that was always first year as a manager, and you
Speaker 1: guys were just kind of in it together and figuring
Speaker 1: it out. How have you seen him grow from year
Speaker 1: one to year four. Now and why do you think
Speaker 1: he had he's seeing the success that he is right now.
Speaker 3: Well, I think you're always, you know, each year you
Speaker 3: learned something either from your experience, your coaching staff, former
Speaker 3: guys you know, or different players. I think he's he's
Speaker 3: grown into a manager that who he really.
Speaker 2: Wants to be.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 3: I had him his rookie year. You know, we were
Speaker 3: I was learning Ali, he was learning me, and we
Speaker 3: kind of grew into this like really good friendship and
Speaker 3: uh that I'll you know, I'll be friends with Ali
Speaker 3: forever just because of how much I respect him. I think,
Speaker 3: you know, as a former manager, you always look back
Speaker 3: and think about how you could have done things better,
Speaker 3: whether it was you know, how you're getting guys better,
Speaker 3: how you're talking to him as a group in the clubhouse,
Speaker 3: how you're reacting to media. All these things you're learning
Speaker 3: as you grow, uh into the manager you're trying to become.
Speaker 2: And he's he's gotten to the playoffs, he's.
Speaker 3: Taken young teams, you know, to places where a lot
Speaker 3: of media members didn't think they would get to so far,
Speaker 3: and it's been it's been really fun to see him
Speaker 3: also acquire the staff that he thinks is ready to
Speaker 3: take this group to the next level. In my opinion,
Speaker 3: you have to have a really good coaching staff to
Speaker 3: cover your blind spots because you don't know everything about
Speaker 3: the game. I feel like you should hire the expert
Speaker 3: in hitting, and the expert in pitching, and the expert
Speaker 3: and infield play because you don't know everything. It's impossible
Speaker 3: to know everything. And I think he's done a really
Speaker 3: good job of acquiring the experts in a lot of
Speaker 3: these areas in the game, and it's really helped them
Speaker 3: take that that that organization to the next level. You know,
Speaker 3: Stubby Clapp is one of the better infield guys in
Speaker 3: the league. Knows base running. Him and Pop Warner can
Speaker 3: dissect the pitcher as good as anybody. And obviously I've
Speaker 3: talked about you to you about Brent Brown and what
Speaker 3: I think of him and what he did for us
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty three in Miami. You know he is,
Speaker 3: He's relentless. He gets guys to buy in. So there's
Speaker 3: a I could tell all day about. You know a
Speaker 3: lot of those guys on staff, but I think they're
Speaker 3: in a good place. They're in a really good place,
Speaker 3: And I'm just happy for Ali because you know this
Speaker 3: was I'm guessing haven't talked to him about it, but
Speaker 3: like a lighter off season for them with the whole
Speaker 3: Aeronauto thing, you know, you know, hanging over the off
Speaker 3: season and hanging over his head most likely, and then
Speaker 3: to get him to like become like bought in is
Speaker 3: pretty pretty impressive.
Speaker 2: So I'm happy where he's at.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know firsthand what it's like to come
Speaker 1: in as a manager and take a club that people
Speaker 1: had relatively low expectations for and guide them to success.
Speaker 1: I mean, you were the twenty twenty three mL Manager
Speaker 1: of the Year with Miami for a reason, and you
Speaker 1: took a young, inexperienced ball club and made them playoff contenders.
Speaker 1: Can you see this Cardinals coaching staff doing that same
Speaker 1: thing this year?
Speaker 3: I can, because I mean you think about who's on
Speaker 3: that staff. Daniel descalzos on a winning person. First of all,
Speaker 3: he's a really good person, but he's one in Arizona.
Speaker 3: He's one a Saint Louis as a player. John Jay
Speaker 3: has one as a coach. He's one as a player.
Speaker 3: Brent Brown has one as a coach, one as a player.
Speaker 3: So you think about all these guys that through their
Speaker 3: experiences with young teams and really and veteran teams, they've
Speaker 3: they've seen it all. So you can only go back
Speaker 3: on what you've experienced. And I've said this before, I
Speaker 3: only know everything I know is because I've learned it
Speaker 3: from somebody, and they have been in. Brent Brown and
Speaker 3: the Dodgers organization learned a ton I'm assuming, oh, I
Speaker 3: know that for a fact. But he's also really good
Speaker 3: about with his own ideas, and Olie Marvel has been
Speaker 3: in this organization a long time, but they also, in
Speaker 3: my opinion, got guys from other organizations finally that were
Speaker 3: I can give you new ideas and implement them and
Speaker 3: then take this place to it to the next level.
Speaker 3: And I think that's where John Jay has been really
Speaker 3: beneficial and Brent Brown's been really beneficial, and obviously Scalzo,
Speaker 3: you know, seeing what Arizona has been doing for a
Speaker 3: number of years. I think when you see all that
Speaker 3: coming together, this is what you get.
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit about John Jay because a
Speaker 1: big talk about this Cardinals team, like we talked about earlier,
Speaker 1: has been the defense, specifically the outfield defense and when
Speaker 1: you ask the players, when you ask Ollie, it's easy
Speaker 1: to see just how much the outfielders have bought into
Speaker 1: the John Jay school of outfielding. Really, and we'll start
Speaker 1: with Lars Neubar, who was never a bad outfielder by
Speaker 1: any means. He was above league average, but he's managed
Speaker 1: to take significant strides forward. Going to what I think,
Speaker 1: you know, one of the most effective left fielders in
Speaker 1: the National League, Victor Scott the second always had the talent,
Speaker 1: you always had the raw ability, but his John Jay's
Speaker 1: ability to unlock something with Victor to turn him into
Speaker 1: the next level of center fielder, a Gold Glove caliber
Speaker 1: center fielder after less than a year in the major leagues,
Speaker 1: is super impressive. And then, of course, what has been
Speaker 1: going on with Jordan Walker to take from where Jordan
Speaker 1: was in the last couple of years offensively and to
Speaker 1: bring him to league average, and to see the everyday improvement,
Speaker 1: whether that's first step, whether that's sprint speed, whether it's
Speaker 1: the read off the bat. The Cardinals have one of
Speaker 1: the better outfields in baseball one because of the work
Speaker 1: the players have put in. But they're not buying in
Speaker 1: unless they believe in their coach with that messaging. You've
Speaker 1: known John Jay Fair a very long time. He was
Speaker 1: part of your staff in Miami, longtime teammate of yours.
Speaker 1: I know you're not surprised about the results here, but
Speaker 1: what makes John Jay so effective as an outfield coach.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, first of all, we talked about Brendan Donovan
Speaker 3: being so good and someone you can build around.
Speaker 2: You mentioned Lars Newbar.
Speaker 3: I was so impressed with the year I had with
Speaker 3: watching Lars new Bar in that clubhouse and getting guys better.
Speaker 2: And he wants he himself wants to be great.
Speaker 3: And when you have that quality and then you implement
Speaker 3: a John Jay and like I can make you great,
Speaker 3: I want to be great.
Speaker 2: Here we go.
Speaker 3: That's where you know you get from good players to
Speaker 3: great players. And I think Lars Newbar can be a
Speaker 3: great player in this league for.
Speaker 2: A long time.
Speaker 3: You don't see many outfield coaches actually take reps in
Speaker 3: the outfield with the players. Right is taking three groups
Speaker 3: of reps of shagging getting these guys to show exactly
Speaker 3: how it should look like with the first step where
Speaker 3: the positioning should be, the routes to a ball, because
Speaker 3: he's actually taking the flight balls with them, which you
Speaker 3: just don't see in today's game. It's a lot of
Speaker 3: like here, put in the machine, shoot it and go
Speaker 3: get the ball, where John's like having somebody else do it,
Speaker 3: and he's repping it with them and talking it through
Speaker 3: him and the reasons why. And I think he's, uh,
Speaker 3: he's really good for the veteran guy. I guess, I
Speaker 3: don't know, I guess large as the veteran guy yet,
Speaker 3: but but the older of that, I guess that group
Speaker 3: of you know, compared to the other guys that are
Speaker 3: on uh, in that outfield. But he's really good at
Speaker 3: teaching it and simplifying it and having like the message
Speaker 3: be simple. And when you can have simple messaging that
Speaker 3: these guys can relate to.
Speaker 2: It just goes a long way.
Speaker 3: And I think that John Jay Uh, you know, he's
Speaker 3: good in anything that you give him, Like he could
Speaker 3: be really good at base running, and he could be
Speaker 3: really good at you know, whatever you give him, he's
Speaker 3: gonna dominate in because he's an all in type of guy.
Speaker 3: He's like obsessive, Like you see him probably skateboarding all
Speaker 3: the time, like I'm gonna just try skateboarding. And then
Speaker 3: he's just like gonna be obsessed with it and like
Speaker 3: try to dominate that. Whatever it is, he's gonna try
Speaker 3: to be great at it. And what's great about John
Speaker 3: is like I had him a few years ago. He
Speaker 3: never coached before, and I just like, all right, you're
Speaker 3: gonna be the first base coach. You're gonna be like
Speaker 3: you have to like figure out these tips and tails
Speaker 3: and oh, by the way, you got to make Jazz
Speaker 3: a center fielder that he does not really want to be.
Speaker 2: A center fielder.
Speaker 3: Good luck, okay, And so like he took him and
Speaker 3: was like, right away off season, I'm going to I'm
Speaker 3: grabbing Jazz. We're gonna be in Florida together, and before
Speaker 3: we even go and even start spring training, we're gonna
Speaker 3: build a foundation. We're gonna build a relationship first and
Speaker 3: then set a foundation. So we get into spring training,
Speaker 3: he knows exactly what I think he should be doing
Speaker 3: instead of like being day one, Okay, this is what
Speaker 3: we're doing.
Speaker 2: He did the same thing in Saint Louis.
Speaker 3: He got there in spring training before spring training, got
Speaker 3: these guys together, and I think, you know, John holds
Speaker 3: guys accountable.
Speaker 2: He's tough. But again, it's the simple messaging that I
Speaker 2: think goes a long way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you're spot on. That sounds exactly what
Speaker 1: Victor Scott and Jordan Walker went through before spring training,
Speaker 1: and you could see it from day one that they
Speaker 1: were different outfielders. They weren't starting from day one. Their
Speaker 1: day one was weeks ago. And it's funny what you
Speaker 1: say about that Jay Shaggan in the outfield because a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, I've been around these guys enough
Speaker 1: for even if I'm standing by the dugout, I can
Speaker 1: basically tell who's who in the outfield by their body mannerisms,
Speaker 1: how they're running. And I was like, who is this
Speaker 1: guy flying all over the place and wearing a hoodie
Speaker 1: when it's seventy degrees beanie on up against the wall
Speaker 1: and I'm looking close to I'm like, that's John Jay.
Speaker 1: And I just fell out laughing because it was so
Speaker 1: funny to see him still look like he was a
Speaker 1: player out there, just going out and taking routes. But
Speaker 1: I think you're right. I think guys really respond to that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know, to make fun of him wearing
Speaker 2: a hood it was like in.
Speaker 3: Saint Louis, it was one hundred degrees and he's shagging
Speaker 3: with the hood on. But he would wear this like
Speaker 3: hood and it would only see like his eyes were
Speaker 3: the only thing peeking out. And it's because he wanted
Speaker 3: to be locked in without any distraction, so he could
Speaker 3: focus on the hitter and nothing else. So he was
Speaker 3: zero zeroing in on the ball and the bat, the
Speaker 3: ball hitting off the bat, and so he would do
Speaker 3: that everywhere, and so I thought he was just being
Speaker 3: like an idiot, you know, like all right, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: and but.
Speaker 2: He actually he still does that he did in Miami.
Speaker 2: He's doing it Saint Louis.
Speaker 3: But it's a focus thing of like I'm like removing
Speaker 3: every distraction, focusing on the hitter.
Speaker 2: And then he's trying to get other guys to buy
Speaker 2: in on that too. So it's pretty impressive.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, when I see a bunch of the
Speaker 1: Saint Louis Cardinals coming out with beanies in July, I'll
Speaker 1: know exactly.
Speaker 2: He exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll get to a couple more segments, But
Speaker 1: first though, one more ad read, which I'm killing today.
Speaker 1: By the way, let's hear from Cargo's.
Speaker 4: Pod father and I are from Jersey, so we're used
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Speaker 4: means when I'm looking for a car, I go to
Speaker 4: car Gurus.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I think, honestly, the best part about this
Speaker 5: communication which we love here in Jersey where we're from,
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Speaker 5: The price drops all the time, and they let you know.
Speaker 5: They let you know when your car is ready and
Speaker 5: when you can get it. The communication part is the
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Speaker 3: Skip.
Speaker 1: Is that a ben In Woods T shirt you're wearing?
Speaker 2: It is? Yeah? He Woods twenty four.
Speaker 3: I wear these things to work out, like all the time.
Speaker 3: They sent me a bunch of comfy shirts and I
Speaker 3: love those guys.
Speaker 2: They are great.
Speaker 1: Oh that's cool. I have exactly zero from them, so
Speaker 1: I will remember that for those of you in Saint Louis.
Speaker 1: Ben and Woods is a San Diego radio show. They're
Speaker 1: the flagship for the San Diego Padres and that's actually
Speaker 1: where I met Skip when I was an intern in
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen fresh out of college. Skip, you were the
Speaker 1: first coach, right, I was sure if you were assistant Yeah, not.
Speaker 2: Assistant to the manager or whatever.
Speaker 1: They gave me very the office like title for you.
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1: So it's great to just kind of to be able
Speaker 1: to like grow my career and have you be such
Speaker 1: a consistent presence in it. You knew me when I
Speaker 1: was like very timid, unsure. I'm sure Allie wishes he
Speaker 1: had that version of me. He has a superable version
Speaker 1: of me. Lately this year especially, I don't know what's
Speaker 1: getting into me, but I have been outlandish in pregames,
Speaker 1: so I'm trying to work on it. But yeah, Ben
Speaker 1: It Woods a great radio show.
Speaker 2: We love though they are, they're some of the best.
Speaker 1: So you have a bunch of things going on for you,
Speaker 1: not only you work with the Rangers, but it was
Speaker 1: recently announced last month that you were going to be
Speaker 1: the bench coach for Team USA and the World Baseball Classic.
Speaker 1: Just how cool was that.
Speaker 3: One of the highlights of my career was being able
Speaker 3: to play on Team USA in two thousand and six.
Speaker 3: I was selected with a really young group and I
Speaker 3: was playing triple.
Speaker 2: A actually, and they had guys like gosh.
Speaker 3: Billy Butler and Aiden Hard and you know, some like
Speaker 3: really young nineteen twenty k Suzuki. But we were trying
Speaker 3: to we would go to Cuba and we're trying to
Speaker 3: qualify for the Olympics. And I met Paul Seiler, who
Speaker 3: was the CEO of USA Baseball, and we just hit
Speaker 3: it off and we ended up winning the thing and qualifying,
Speaker 3: and it was just such a special time to put
Speaker 3: Team USA or USA across your chest and wear the hat.
Speaker 2: It was just really, really special. And I've never I've
Speaker 2: just been.
Speaker 3: Hoping one day I could get back and play or
Speaker 3: coach with them in some capacity.
Speaker 2: And when Mark de Rosa called me this a.
Speaker 3: Couple of weeks ago, about a month ago, and asked
Speaker 3: if I was willing to be his bench coach, I
Speaker 3: mean I was through. I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe
Speaker 3: that I got to do.
Speaker 2: This thing again.
Speaker 3: And then the names that he was talking about that
Speaker 3: are going to be on our roster that haven't been
Speaker 3: out there yet. It was just like too good to
Speaker 3: be true. So very grateful. The staff is amazing. Get
Speaker 3: to learn so much from these guys. I'm looking forward
Speaker 3: to learning from the best in baseball, like coaches and players.
Speaker 2: But you know, it was so cool to watch last WBC.
Speaker 2: I mean it was amazing.
Speaker 3: I was in Florida, obviously, so I would during spring
Speaker 3: training I would go and watch Venezuela versus Port or
Speaker 3: the Dominican and it was like forty thousand people just
Speaker 3: going crazy. And then obviously the USA versus Japan at
Speaker 3: the very end. Obviously USA didn't win, but what a
Speaker 3: great thing it was for baseball. The experience I had
Speaker 3: extreme fomo that I wasn't part of it, So to
Speaker 3: be able to part of it, be part of it
Speaker 3: now is really special for me.
Speaker 1: I love the World Baseball Classic. That same time frame,
Speaker 1: being out in Jupiter, the Cardinals had like over half
Speaker 1: their roster playing in the WBC, so I pitched the
Speaker 1: athletic I was like, Hey, these spring training games, like
Speaker 1: the guys that were focusing on they're actually in the
Speaker 1: World Baseball Classic. What if I went to Miami and
Speaker 1: did you know, I think it was the first game,
Speaker 1: like the quarterfinals, so I got to see Venezuela Puerto Rico.
Speaker 1: I got to see Puerto Rico versus the dr and
Speaker 1: it was just an insane environment. It was one of
Speaker 1: the coolest baseball things I've ever experienced. I saw Albert
Speaker 1: Poohle seven hundred firsthand, so that's saying something. I love
Speaker 1: the World Baseball Classic and I'm so excited that you'll
Speaker 1: be a part of it. I won't ask you for
Speaker 1: any spoilers, but for the names that are already out there,
Speaker 1: Aaron Judge, Paul Skins say less. I'm already in on
Speaker 1: on Team USA. So I hope I get to You know,
Speaker 1: this is me pitching to the athletic Let me do
Speaker 1: it again, please, because it was just really I think
Speaker 1: one of the things that baseball has really gotten right,
Speaker 1: just to see the passion that everyone has when they're
Speaker 1: playing for their country. You're seeing some of the best
Speaker 1: in the game in a different environment. I loved it.
Speaker 1: I loved every second of just being a participant of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 3: And the fan base is coming out of different areas
Speaker 3: and like you know, Miami is you know, we have
Speaker 3: a very Latin community that which is coming in pouring in,
Speaker 3: and you just saw the passion they had for their
Speaker 3: countries and like if I saw like ten different instruments,
Speaker 3: you know, going and throughout the game, didn't matter what
Speaker 3: the score was.
Speaker 2: It was so much fun to watch.
Speaker 3: And then you know, going to different countries and playing
Speaker 3: and I think, you know, I don't know where they're
Speaker 3: at with that, but I'm hoping.
Speaker 2: That you know, this can go to you know, more
Speaker 2: in the d R and more in Puerto Rico and
Speaker 2: Venezuela and whatever.
Speaker 3: Hopefully you know, it's some point that can happen too,
Speaker 3: because it would be really special to see, you know,
Speaker 3: the fan bases get to experience watching the best players
Speaker 3: play for their countries.
Speaker 1: Well, before we get you out of here, we have
Speaker 1: to talk about perhaps even the more important tournament going on.
Speaker 1: Your son, Brody is in his high school baseball team
Speaker 1: is in the playoffs out in California. You mentioned he's
Speaker 1: a TCU commit. Give us a scouting report. On Brody,
Speaker 1: what's he got to do?
Speaker 2: Hell?
Speaker 1: Locked in? Is he?
Speaker 5: Right now?
Speaker 3: He's pretty locked in? You know, I'm very grateful to
Speaker 3: have this reset in my life. I haven't been home
Speaker 3: this time of year and twenty years, right, I mean,
Speaker 3: it's just been a long time. So getting to see
Speaker 3: my son play high school baseball for the first time,
Speaker 3: getting my see my daughter play high school soccer for
Speaker 3: the first time this year, and then obviously going on
Speaker 3: this little playoff run that he is on. Is I
Speaker 3: get to fill my cup up and then whatever happens
Speaker 3: next year. You know, I'd love to jump back in,
Speaker 3: but I think the fact that I got to do
Speaker 3: this and just watch him play, I just get to
Speaker 3: take it all in and just sit back and just
Speaker 3: enjoy it. But you know, they play, Uh he's in
Speaker 3: the Trinity League, which is a you know, very good
Speaker 3: league out here and maybe the best in the nation.
Speaker 2: Honestly, it has the modern Days and Jay Sarah and
Speaker 2: Bosco and just like Powerhouse.
Speaker 3: He goes to Santa Margarita if they play Crispy High
Speaker 3: School today and uh, if they win, then they go
Speaker 3: to the championship against everyone's heard of this Corona team
Speaker 3: with like all these number one potential picks potentially against them.
Speaker 2: They beat Bosco, so it's one game away from the championship.
Speaker 2: He had a good year All Trinity League. You know,
Speaker 2: he's he's doing well.
Speaker 3: So it's but he's about winning, which I'm very you know,
Speaker 3: I really love that about him. He can well, I
Speaker 3: just think that winning is winning takes care of everything else.
Speaker 3: And he's Chris mallag in Santa Margarita has a really
Speaker 3: good culture and so I'm I'm lucky that he's in
Speaker 3: a program like that.
Speaker 1: Well, this podcast is officially pro Brodie Schumacher. So we
Speaker 1: are rooting for you, Brody. We are rooting for you
Speaker 1: Skip as always. Thank you so much for taking the
Speaker 1: time to do this. Like I mentioned, you continue to
Speaker 1: be a Cardinals fan favorite. In fact, one of my
Speaker 1: favorite memories of you is the twenty twenty three opening
Speaker 1: day Cardinals Marlins. Oh no, it's twenty twenty four. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: Vibes weren't like super high about the team at that point,
Speaker 1: and you and Willie McGee got the loudest fan ovations
Speaker 1: on opening day in Saint Louis as you were the
Speaker 1: opposing manager. So that says a lot about what Cardinals
Speaker 1: fans think about you.
Speaker 2: I know that was such a special moment.
Speaker 3: My family flew in for that and for them to
Speaker 3: hear that ovation and was something I'll never forget. And
Speaker 3: I just obviously loved my time there, and thanks for
Speaker 3: having me on and always going to be a fan
Speaker 3: of Saint Louis.
Speaker 2: Shockingly, no, not shocks.
Speaker 1: At all, Skip, Thank you so much, Cardinal Territory. We're
Speaker 1: back with you after the series in Arlington, and I'll
Speaker 1: be back to break things down maybe another series win.
Speaker 1: Who knows for Skip Schumacher, I'm Katie Who. This is
Speaker 1: Cardinal Territory. Thanks as always for watching. H