Speaker 1: Is this a great game for what with Tim and
Speaker 1: Jeff Kirkshin It is our spring training addition, And Dad,
Speaker 1: we are back in the basement of my house in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2: Thank goodness too.
Speaker 1: I missed being this close to you while recording the podcast.
Speaker 3: I'm so happy I'm this close to you, Jeff, because
Speaker 3: we've had some technical issues and when I'm two hundred
Speaker 3: miles away from you, it terrifies me. But I am
Speaker 3: really excited about spring training, Jeff. Yeah. And of course
Speaker 3: our guest today is Joe Madden.
Speaker 1: Dad, when we talked about doing a spring training special episode,
Speaker 1: the first guy that came to mind for you was
Speaker 1: Joe Madden because he's a longtime MLB manager, Right, he
Speaker 1: was a minor league baseball player, and he just has
Speaker 1: an approach to the clubhouse.
Speaker 2: It's so fitting for a spring training episode.
Speaker 3: Right, And that's why spring training is so great? Is
Speaker 3: it so different than the regular season. It's not important
Speaker 3: how many games you win in spring training. It's just
Speaker 3: a matter of getting your team ready to go. So
Speaker 3: this is my forty fifth spring training and one of
Speaker 3: the rights of passages, I get my baseball writer's car
Speaker 3: and I just received it. Yesterday. Let me see, I'm
Speaker 3: very excited.
Speaker 2: This is fancy. So you get a new one of
Speaker 2: these every single.
Speaker 3: Year, every year. So I've been a base I've been
Speaker 3: in the Baseball Writer for forty five years. And what
Speaker 3: number am I down to?
Speaker 2: I was gonna say twenty two?
Speaker 3: Yes, when I first started, Jeff, I was number eight
Speaker 3: hundred and eighty one, stop it, yes, And now I'm
Speaker 3: down to twenty two. So that means only twenty one
Speaker 3: people out there have been doing this longer than I have,
Speaker 3: like continuously and still have a Baseball Writer card today.
Speaker 3: Ross Newhan of the La Times, I believe, is still
Speaker 3: number one. You know, Dan Shaughnessy, Jason Stark, Peter Gammon three,
Speaker 3: and my mentors. They're all ahead of me. But twenty
Speaker 3: two is pretty good. So a few years ago, maybe
Speaker 3: ten years ago, Mark Trumbo and Peter Borges, who were
Speaker 3: both on the Angels, I'm not sure exactly what year
Speaker 3: is not important, they really got interested in everybody's number
Speaker 3: on their card. So they saw me in the clubhouse
Speaker 3: one day and they came up to me and said,
Speaker 3: can we look at your card? And I was down
Speaker 3: to like fifty eight, and they went boy, that is
Speaker 3: really low. I've never seen a baseball player who had
Speaker 3: any interest whatsoever in anybody's number on their baseball writer's card.
Speaker 3: But it means something to me because to go from
Speaker 3: eight eighty one down to twenty two is really good.
Speaker 1: Forty five years of covering spring training, and as.
Speaker 2: A kid growing up, this was like always.
Speaker 1: Our spring break trip as we would either end up
Speaker 1: in Florida or Arizona because we could kill two birds
Speaker 1: with one stone. We could be with dad during a
Speaker 1: very busy time in your career, in your job, but
Speaker 1: also we get to enjoy some really awesome places. So
Speaker 1: forty five spring trainings nineteen.
Speaker 3: Eighty By the way, I had nothing to do with this,
Speaker 3: but just to show you how things have changed, the
Speaker 3: Oakland A's had one hundred different players in camp. One hundred.
Speaker 3: So there was a guy named Scott Meyer who was
Speaker 3: a non roster catcher. He wore number one hundred in
Speaker 3: spring training. I've never seen anyone with a three digit
Speaker 3: number before or after, because now if you have too many,
Speaker 3: you'll maybe be over one hundred. Some guys are like
Speaker 3: eighty seven A and eighty seven B, which we've made
Speaker 3: the joke when you're eighty seven. B You're not even
Speaker 3: the best number eighty seven, you know, But I really
Speaker 3: target nineteen eighty two because that was my first year
Speaker 3: is a full time, full time brand guy. And as
Speaker 3: I've told you, Jeff, everything changes when you're the number
Speaker 3: one beat guy from your newspaper, like all the responsibility
Speaker 3: is on you. So eighty two, I'm covering the Texas
Speaker 3: Rangers for the Dallas Morning News, and I'm sure I
Speaker 3: told you the story, Jeff. But three weeks into spring training,
Speaker 3: Mickey Rivers, the hilarious center fielder for the Rangers who's
Speaker 3: making four hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year, comes
Speaker 3: up to me in spring training. I've known him for
Speaker 3: three weeks and he goes, Tim, can you loan me
Speaker 3: two thousand dollars? I said, Mick, I'm making twelve thousand
Speaker 3: dollars a year. I don't have two thousand dollars to
Speaker 3: my name. So Buddy Bell, who was the star of
Speaker 3: the team, he whispered to me later he said, look,
Speaker 3: everyone loves Mick, but don't ever loan him any money
Speaker 3: because you'll never get the money back. Also, Jeff, back
Speaker 3: then and things have changed so much, in Pompino Beach.
Speaker 3: They had Municipal Stadium, which was a dinky, little rickety
Speaker 3: little tiny little ballpark, and they had a half field
Speaker 3: right next to it. And that was the extent of
Speaker 3: Major League spring training for the Texas Rangers. They had
Speaker 3: one full sized field and then a half field. That's
Speaker 3: all they had. Now you look at these spring training facilities,
Speaker 3: you know, they're all shared, they're all brand new. Mean,
Speaker 3: you get like nine diamonds to yourself in spring training.
Speaker 3: It's unbelievable how work actually got done back then because
Speaker 3: there were so little, there were so few, you know, facilities, fields,
Speaker 3: everything else, batting cages, everything else.
Speaker 2: Well, you look at like the Phillies in clear Water.
Speaker 2: It's just unbelievable the amount of space they have, the
Speaker 2: amount of fields, right, it's incredible.
Speaker 3: It's a perfect example. So Ron Darling broadcasting now with
Speaker 3: the Mets, used to play with the Rangers in eighty two.
Speaker 3: They traded him at the end of the eighty two
Speaker 3: spring training, one of the worst trades in Major League history.
Speaker 3: Not the point, so Ron recently told me that they
Speaker 3: would get their running in by running like through the
Speaker 3: trees and everything else. And he said, he said, we
Speaker 3: all found a short cut where you can cut through
Speaker 3: and everyone thinks you've run a by two miles. And
Speaker 3: he said, sometimes we would just sit on a bench
Speaker 3: and rest because we knew we're way ahead because we
Speaker 3: took a shortcut. That's how things worked at eighty two
Speaker 3: and a little bit later. A little off the topic,
Speaker 3: but Sid Fernandez was a picture for the Mets in
Speaker 3: the eighties and they had just opened a new facility
Speaker 3: in Port Saint Lucie where the Mets still trained today.
Speaker 3: And now it's gigantic, sprawling, it's beautiful, But back then
Speaker 3: it was built like in the middle of a swamp,
Speaker 3: in the middle of the woods, and the players had
Speaker 3: to do their running like through the woods, like through
Speaker 3: a path through the woods. And one day Sid Fernandez
Speaker 3: ran into a warthog who chased him out of the woods.
Speaker 3: And he comes screaming out of the woods, like terrified,
Speaker 3: there is a monster in there because a warthog had
Speaker 3: chased him out of the woods.
Speaker 2: Do you know what the warthog's name was?
Speaker 3: Is this buddy?
Speaker 2: Timowon with it? Boomba, you are a.
Speaker 3: Pig, Tom Boomba. Watch that movie A million times million
Speaker 3: you It was great. All right, eighty four. I loved it.
Speaker 3: It was so good. Mitch Williams first spring training in
Speaker 3: Major league camp. He was with the Rangers, and he's
Speaker 3: the wildest pitcher of all time. Mitch Williams gave up
Speaker 3: more walks than hits aloud in his career. Think about
Speaker 3: that for a second. No picture with that many innings, says,
Speaker 3: ever come close to allowing more walks than hits aloud.
Speaker 3: So that first spring training Mitch Williams is pitching to
Speaker 3: the veterans and he he strows so hard, but he's
Speaker 3: so wild everyone's afraid to face him. One pitch, it
Speaker 3: missed the cage and it hit the tire that you
Speaker 3: roll the cage up. It hit the tire and went
Speaker 3: like one hundred feet in the air. Then he hit
Speaker 3: Alan Banister right in the middle of the back. This
Speaker 3: is his teammate, of course, And Buddy Bell and Larry
Speaker 3: Parris said, I'm not doing We're not batting. We're not
Speaker 3: batting against him. He's not ready to pitch major league
Speaker 3: batting practice. So they they quit. They said, we're not
Speaker 3: hitting against him. He's going to kill us. So I
Speaker 3: asked Mitch about it later and Mitch said, yeah, I
Speaker 3: think that was the right move. I really didn't want
Speaker 3: to kill one of my teammates in my first major
Speaker 3: league camp. Good call. Mitch, by the way, had a
Speaker 3: brother named Bruce, and Mitch Klay and Bruce pitched professionally,
Speaker 3: not in the big leagues, but professionally, and Bruce apparently
Speaker 3: threw harder and was wilder than Mitch Williams, if it's possible. So,
Speaker 3: as Mitch one soldby said, we'd go outside like we
Speaker 3: were like teenagers, fourteen, fifteen, sixty years old, and we
Speaker 3: play catch at the front yard, me and my brother Bruce,
Speaker 3: and he said, and mothers would come running out of
Speaker 3: their house screaming at their little children. Get off the street.
Speaker 3: The Williams boys are playing catch. So just to show
Speaker 3: you how, just to show you how unimportant wins and
Speaker 3: losses are. In spring training, I think it was eighty four,
Speaker 3: it's not important which year. But Paul Splittorff, who's a
Speaker 3: wonderful man and a really good pitcher, was at his
Speaker 3: the end of his career with the Kansas City Royals
Speaker 3: and the Rangers. My team are playing the Royals in
Speaker 3: a game late in spring training, and Paul splid Orf
Speaker 3: is pitching to make the club, even though he's a
Speaker 3: veteran's he's on his last leg. So Larry Parrish tells
Speaker 3: his teammates, here's what we should do. We should all
Speaker 3: make outs on purpose. That way, it'll make Paul Splittorff
Speaker 3: look really good. Then he'll make the team and we
Speaker 3: face them the first week of the season, so we'll
Speaker 3: get to face him in a game that actually matters.
Speaker 3: So let's do that, and then we'll light him up
Speaker 3: when the regular season begins. So when people say, oh, gosh,
Speaker 3: they lost another spring training game, people don't care if
Speaker 3: you lose a spring training game. You're there not for that,
Speaker 3: You're there for other things. The rules are also so
Speaker 3: lax in spring training, Jeff. At least they used to be.
Speaker 3: You know, you could get tickets to games and people
Speaker 3: didn't even check you coming in. So one year, this
Speaker 3: is eighty nine. I want to say I left tickets
Speaker 3: for a family friend. Ron Petrello, still a friend. I
Speaker 3: haven't talked to him in a long time. But Ron
Speaker 3: was a big Pirates fan, and the Orioles were playing
Speaker 3: the Pirates in a game at RFK Stadium in Washington.
Speaker 3: It's the final exhibition game, so I leave tickets for Ron.
Speaker 3: He gets there and they don't have his tickets, and
Speaker 3: they're so embarrassed that they don't that they give him
Speaker 3: a pass much like my pass. They can get him
Speaker 3: on the field before the game. So he's down on thee.
Speaker 3: This is the guy who's supposed to be sitting in
Speaker 3: the stands, but he's got a pass where people are
Speaker 3: telling him you can go wherever you want with that.
Speaker 3: So he goes out on the field watching his favorite team,
Speaker 3: the Pirates, and then the game starts. This is an
Speaker 3: exhibition game, but the game begins and Ron Patrella is
Speaker 3: in the Pirates dugout. During the game, he's like sitting
Speaker 3: right next to Jim Leland and then looking at him
Speaker 3: and I said, Ron, didn't they know that you weren't
Speaker 3: supposed to be there? And he goes, well, no one
Speaker 3: even asked because it was so relaxed. He said, I
Speaker 3: think they thought I was like the son of one
Speaker 3: of the owners. So he watched an entire exhibition game
Speaker 3: from the Pirates dugout and he loves the Pirates. So
Speaker 3: I write this in the paper the next day at
Speaker 3: the Baltimore Sun because I'm the Orioles beat writer. So
Speaker 3: it goes in Oriole notes this little bright, funny thing
Speaker 3: about Ron Petrella. So Ron goes the next day to
Speaker 3: the real opening day, the real game at Memorial Stadium,
Speaker 3: and he's sitting next to the guy and the guy says,
Speaker 3: did you see that story of the paper today about
Speaker 3: that guy who got to spend the entire game in
Speaker 3: the dugout? And Ron said, yes, that was me.
Speaker 1: I always say ignorance is bliss when it comes to this,
Speaker 1: Like you remember that time we were at the the
Speaker 1: American Girl Doll Store. Oh yeah, yeah, So we were
Speaker 1: shopping in the I believe it was Atlantago, Chicago. We're
Speaker 1: in Chicago and it's in the mall. Big glass windows
Speaker 1: separate the mall from the American Girl Doll Store. And Dad,
Speaker 1: with my cousins, his nieces, they're all shopping, I mean
Speaker 1: hundreds and hundreds of dollars of stuff, and Dad doesn't
Speaker 1: realize where the store ends and where the mall begins.
Speaker 1: So here they are getting their American Girl doll's hair done, and.
Speaker 2: We look out on the outside of the windows.
Speaker 1: We see Dad in the mall with thousands of dollars
Speaker 1: of American.
Speaker 2: Girl doll clothes and we're going.
Speaker 1: Keep backing here, you're shoplifting, and he's like, what, what
Speaker 1: was it?
Speaker 3: Eleven hundred dollars worth of American girl stuff in my
Speaker 3: bag and he did not know we had not paid for.
Speaker 1: It, And that's how he got in the dugout. Because
Speaker 1: if you don't know you're doing something wrong, then you're
Speaker 1: usually innocent on it.
Speaker 3: Good point, Jeff, So, Jeff again, spring training is so
Speaker 3: great just because it's so different long bus rides, especially
Speaker 3: in Florida. So one of my favorite stories is Brian
Speaker 3: Anderson used to play for the Indians, now broadcaster for
Speaker 3: the Tampa Bay Rays. Brian's one of the funniest people
Speaker 3: in the world. But he's taking a trip from winter
Speaker 3: Haven to Vero Beach. It's like a three hour ride,
Speaker 3: and he gets about an hour into it and realizes
Speaker 3: he forgot his spikes, his hat, and his glove. Now
Speaker 3: back in winter Haven, all right, Back then, you know,
Speaker 3: you can't just turn around, and they don't bring equipment
Speaker 3: bags with all sorts of extra stuff. So Brian Anderson
Speaker 3: told me, in full uniform, as soon as he got
Speaker 3: to Vero Beach he had to get in a car
Speaker 3: and drive to go buy the equipment that he didn't have.
Speaker 3: So he went into a Walmart in full uniform and said, well,
Speaker 3: it's a Walmart. They have everything. They have tires, they
Speaker 3: have produce, they must have a baseball glove. So he
Speaker 3: went in there and bought a baseball glove at Walbart.
Speaker 3: It was enormous, he said, it was almost as big
Speaker 3: as Greg Maddox's gloves. Greg Maddox wore the biggest glove
Speaker 3: ever and maybe the greatest fielding pitcher ever. But Brian
Speaker 3: Anderson said, yeah, I pitched five innings and no surprise,
Speaker 3: I got five comebackers in a game wearing a glove
Speaker 3: that costs twenty eight dollars that I bought at the
Speaker 3: Walbart like two hours earlier. This is what happens in
Speaker 3: spring training. And speaking of buses, years ago, you've asked
Speaker 3: me many times about my favorite nicknames in baseball. There
Speaker 3: was a Rockies pitcher named David and his nickname was Diesel,
Speaker 3: So I said, how did he get the name Diesel?
Speaker 3: So the Rockies were on a spring training trip and
Speaker 3: the bus driver got sick and he couldn't drive. So
Speaker 3: David Lee said I'll drive the bus. So now he's
Speaker 3: driving the entire team in the spring training bus, having
Speaker 3: never riven a bus before. And then they they're they're
Speaker 3: getting low on gas, so he pulls off and he
Speaker 3: announces to the entire team, we got to stop for Diesel.
Speaker 3: And that's how he got his name. That's how he
Speaker 3: got it, Diesel Lee. I'll never forget it, just for
Speaker 3: that alone. And Alex Corr, of course, the manager of
Speaker 3: the Boston Red Sox, he used to tell me that
Speaker 3: he said, I was an I four guy, and I said,
Speaker 3: what does that mean? You know, this is years ago.
Speaker 3: I didn't know what that meant. He goes, oh, I
Speaker 3: took all the trips on I four in Florida, which,
Speaker 3: if you don't know, Jeff, the I four Highway in
Speaker 3: Florida like cuts all the way frough. It's the most
Speaker 3: crowded road in the history of roads. But if you're
Speaker 3: gonna take bus trips in Florida, you almost always have
Speaker 3: to go on the I four. And Alex core who
Speaker 3: for the most part, was not an everyday player, so
Speaker 3: he took the trips in order to give the everyday
Speaker 3: players a day off so they didn't have to go
Speaker 3: on this monstrous road trip. He said, I only had
Speaker 3: one rule. If I'm going to make a trip like that,
Speaker 3: I need four at bats when I get there, because
Speaker 3: I needed to make sure that I get my work
Speaker 3: in and it's worth me driving on I four all
Speaker 3: that time. So again, greatest spring training stories ever. And
Speaker 3: my favorite part, Jeff about spring training is you get
Speaker 3: to meet your new teammates for the first time. So
Speaker 3: I've told you about Michael Cadyer. Remember Michael Kadyer. You
Speaker 3: met him at the Coach's convention in January. What a
Speaker 3: great guy. So Michael Cadire is a magician, I mean
Speaker 3: literally a magician. He can do card tricks that I saw.
Speaker 3: Now I don't know anything about magic. I'm just telling
Speaker 3: you I watched what he did, and I could have
Speaker 3: watched a thousand times and not figured out what he did.
Speaker 3: So in spring training one year, Luis Castillo joins the Twins.
Speaker 3: Luis Castillo has never met Michael cadyr before, and now
Speaker 3: they're sitting right next to each other because that's where
Speaker 3: their lockers are. And Michael Cardire is the all time
Speaker 3: I'm best teammate. And when you asked, you know, the
Speaker 3: guys on the Twins used to say, what do I
Speaker 3: need to know here? And the manager and the coaches
Speaker 3: would say, Michael Kadire, just do what he does, act
Speaker 3: like him and you're gonna be fine. That's how great
Speaker 3: he was. But one day, Michael Kadyre does a card
Speaker 3: trick for Luis Castillo, and it is so unbelievably good
Speaker 3: that Luis Castillo was afraid of Michael Cadyre, like, how
Speaker 3: could you do that? Like it was like some you know,
Speaker 3: black magic view kind of thing, and it spooked him
Speaker 3: so badly that the next day when he came into
Speaker 3: spring training, he had moved his locker across the clubhouse
Speaker 3: because he didn't want to sit next to Michael Kadyre.
Speaker 3: And it spooked him that much. Yeah, and that's that's
Speaker 3: what can happen. So Michael Kadire also told me a
Speaker 3: story about Jeremy Guthrie, who's one of my favorite people.
Speaker 3: He used to ride his bike everywhere. Okay, he used
Speaker 3: to ride his bike to the ballpark during the regular season,
Speaker 3: but always in spring trading. So one day Jeremy Guthrie,
Speaker 3: pitching for the Rockies, pitches the game. Then he gets
Speaker 3: on his bicycle in full uniform, and according to Michael Kadire,
Speaker 3: he put his glove on the handlebars, just like we did,
Speaker 3: Jeff when we.
Speaker 2: Were kissing Sandlot.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's exactly what Michael Kadyre said. It was
Speaker 3: like a scene out of the Cell. Guy pitched five
Speaker 3: innings in an exhibition game and then he drove his
Speaker 3: bike back to the facility in full uniform with his
Speaker 3: with his glove on the handlebars. I just I just
Speaker 3: love it. Gotta be careful with this one, Jeff. Okay. So,
Speaker 3: the same Twins team that Michael Kadyre was on, they
Speaker 3: got a new player from Japan. His name was Nishioka. Okay.
Speaker 3: So he comes to camp and everyone is going to
Speaker 3: try to get used to, you know, dealing with the
Speaker 3: guys from another country. They want to make him feel well.
Speaker 2: And was it a little less common at this time
Speaker 2: like today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so many Japanese players today and they all speak
Speaker 3: some form of English, but apparently Isoka didn't speak English.
Speaker 3: So they go to Dinard Span it's one of the
Speaker 3: best guys in the game, and they tell the Twins
Speaker 3: teammates tell Dinard Span, you need to go over and
Speaker 3: introduce yourself. To Nioka and welcome him to the team.
Speaker 3: So Dinard says, okay, I will, of course I want
Speaker 3: to welcome him to the team. So he goes over
Speaker 3: to the locker of the guy that he thinks is Okay,
Speaker 3: but it's not Nioka. Sodannart Span very respectfully says, my
Speaker 3: name is Denard Span I play center field for the Twins.
Speaker 3: I'm your new teammate. It is really nice to meet you.
Speaker 3: And he said, do you speak English? And the guy
Speaker 3: who he thought was in Ishioka's name was rach and
Speaker 3: Ray Chang goes, of course I speak English. I'm from
Speaker 3: Kansas City. So the entire clubhouse like burst into tears
Speaker 3: because they got that one all mixed up between Mishioka
Speaker 3: and ray Chang. I hope no one takes offense to that.
Speaker 3: Cann Now everyone in the room howled with laughter. But again, Jeff,
Speaker 3: the big difference in spring training is just how much
Speaker 3: more stuff there is to use. I mean, there are
Speaker 3: the equipment that we have that you know, measures launch
Speaker 3: angle and spin rate. It's it's absolutely amazing. And as
Speaker 3: rich Donnelly, who did a million spring trainings, did the
Speaker 3: Washington Senators in the late sixties when I was a
Speaker 3: Senators fan. Was with Yeah, was with the Rangers in
Speaker 3: eighty two when I first got there, so I got
Speaker 3: to know rich well. He just said, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: I just can't see Ted Williams in spring training running
Speaker 3: around with a parachute on his back, because that's what
Speaker 3: guys do every once in a while. And he said,
Speaker 3: I just can't see Babe Ruth jumping over a bunch
Speaker 3: of orange cones, which is what we do. To me.
Speaker 3: That just shows you how much spring training has changed.
Speaker 3: But the bottom line is, Jeff, spring training is still
Speaker 3: the best time of year, my favorite time of year.
Speaker 3: Nobody's lost any games yet. All the rookies look great,
Speaker 3: all the veterans look good. They haven't gotten hurt yet.
Speaker 3: Everyone's in a great mood. The weather's here, springs coming,
Speaker 3: warm weather. It's the greatest time ever. Whether it's Babe
Speaker 3: Ruth days or days today. I can't wait to get
Speaker 3: to spring.
Speaker 1: Training, Dad, those are great memories of spring training for you.
Speaker 1: I have a couple that I wrote down and I
Speaker 1: wanted to share. First of all, one of the first
Speaker 1: ones I really remember was being in Arizona when your
Speaker 1: alma mater, University of Maryland with.
Speaker 2: Steve Blake and Juan Dixon. Dixon was on that team.
Speaker 1: They won the national championship while we were in Arizona,
Speaker 1: and I remember watching.
Speaker 2: The game with you on like the time, Mom.
Speaker 3: And Kelly in our hotel room. Now, Pison made that
Speaker 3: amazing three with plenty of time left on the shot clock,
Speaker 3: broke the game wide open, and we won the national championships.
Speaker 3: So cool.
Speaker 1: This episode being recorded on President's Day to be released
Speaker 1: the day after President's Stay. And you've done a best
Speaker 1: of all tim for the President's team, right, All President's team.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you could come up with a team that's better,
Speaker 3: bigger than mine. It's it's not that hard to do.
Speaker 3: The only rule is you have to use each president
Speaker 3: one president. You can't use like four Kennedy's or four Washingtons.
Speaker 3: You have to use it's done right, twenty five different names.
Speaker 3: So our catchers are Gary Carter, Hall of Famer and
Speaker 3: Russ Nixon loved that. Von Hayes and Reggie Jefferson are
Speaker 3: our first baseman. Got to have a Jefferson in there.
Speaker 3: The third baseman is John Kennedy, actually a third basically
Speaker 3: I remember him growing up named John Kennedy. So he's
Speaker 3: got first and last name. We love that. Ron Washington
Speaker 3: is the shortstop. He played on the Orioles when I
Speaker 3: covered them, and when Cal Ripkin's consecutive inning streak ended.
Speaker 3: It was ended when they put Ron Washington in the
Speaker 3: game in nineteen eighty seven in Toronto. I covered that game.
Speaker 3: That was the night that the Blue Jays hit ten
Speaker 3: homers in one game. No team's ever done that before
Speaker 3: or after. And in the eighth inning of that game,
Speaker 3: they took cal Ripkin out of the game in the
Speaker 3: eighth inning, which was an even bigger story because the
Speaker 3: consecutive inning streak, which had lasted three years, he didn't
Speaker 3: miss an inning for three years, that came to an end. Also,
Speaker 3: So Ron Washington is the shortstop. Outfield is Craig Munroe
Speaker 3: and Louke Clinton. Centerfielder is Willie Wilson. Outfielders are Michael
Speaker 3: Taylor and Brian Buchanan.
Speaker 2: Excellent job.
Speaker 3: Whitey Ford is our primary pitcher. Madison Bumgarner. I used
Speaker 3: all last names, but I made an exception because Madison
Speaker 3: Bumgarner is one of the great pictures of our era.
Speaker 3: By the way, James Madison, I believe was our shortest president,
Speaker 3: which I think he was. I'm sure he was shorter
Speaker 3: than me. And I was told, not like I know
Speaker 3: anything about presidential history, that he used to love to
Speaker 3: stand next to George Washington because George Washington made him
Speaker 3: feel bigger because he was standing next to George Washington,
Speaker 3: who was such a big man. It would make me
Speaker 3: feel smaller, right, But he felt the power of George Washington,
Speaker 3: so he loved hanging around with him. Lefty Tyler, Reggie Cleveland,
Speaker 3: great Babe Adams, ye two Adams of course, and mud
Speaker 3: cat Grant. And speaking of relievers, these are my two favorites,
Speaker 3: Pierce Johnson.
Speaker 1: Double double, Franklin Andrew Johnson or Lyndon Johnson and.
Speaker 3: Grant Jackson double wow and right, So that's that's important.
Speaker 3: JJ Hoover didn't pitch very long in the big leagues.
Speaker 3: Brad Lincoln. You cannot have an all presidential team without Lincoln.
Speaker 3: And let's see how well you remember who shares a
Speaker 3: birthday with Abraham Lincoln. He was one of our thirty
Speaker 3: five guests on the podcast.
Speaker 1: Todd Fraser, which I don't know why you brought that
Speaker 1: up on that episode, and you're fascinated by that, I
Speaker 1: think it's great.
Speaker 3: Herb score and ten years ago, you know, Todd Fraser
Speaker 3: played for the Eggs.
Speaker 2: Todd Fraser traded pins for twelve.
Speaker 3: Year old I love it right. Jermaine Van Buren is
Speaker 3: our last reliever, and even though this is not a president,
Speaker 3: he belongs on the all presidential team because I covered him.
Speaker 3: Lenn Whitehouse. What a perfect name for the last guy
Speaker 3: on our twenty five man presidential team.
Speaker 1: Dad, I'm really looking forward to because this is our
Speaker 1: spring training episode, and we've got an incredible manager, former
Speaker 1: manager Major League Baseball manager of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Joe.
Speaker 3: Madden's gonna be joining, and Joe is gonna tell us
Speaker 3: a bunch of stories about what we were just talking about, Jeff,
Speaker 3: how different spring training is, how laid back, even though
Speaker 3: you got to get your work done, how laid back,
Speaker 3: and how different spring training is, and Joe just embraced
Speaker 3: how important it was to keep it lively in those
Speaker 3: six weeks of spring training, keep it fun because pretty
Speaker 3: soon the unbelievable grind of one hundred and sixty two
Speaker 3: games is going to start. So I can't wait for
Speaker 3: everyone to hear some of Joe Madden's stories.
Speaker 2: Joe Madden joins, is just a great game? Or what
Speaker 2: coming up next?
Speaker 3: Welcome back to is this great game? Or what ourd
Speaker 3: guest today for the spring training episode is our pal
Speaker 3: Joe Madden, former minor league baseball player, former really good
Speaker 3: high school quarterback, and of course a major league coach
Speaker 3: and manager for a million years. Joe, this is my son, Jeff.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 4: I cannot be more honored to meet Jeff for the
Speaker 4: first time. We have a common friend, actually, and this
Speaker 4: therapist is my nephew, Michael, of all things, and it's
Speaker 4: always great to be with you.
Speaker 5: Tim.
Speaker 4: You've done so many wonderful things for us in Hazelton
Speaker 4: with the Hazelton Integration Project, which is really still going wonderfully.
Speaker 5: So Senior, both on the same screen.
Speaker 3: It's pretty cool, right well, Joe, we're going to start
Speaker 3: off with spring training. A couple of years you lived
Speaker 3: in your mobile home, correct, And would you please tell
Speaker 3: Jeff the name of the mobile home. You gave it
Speaker 3: a special name, did you not?
Speaker 5: It was the cousin Eddie.
Speaker 4: You know you remember you remember Christmas vacation and actually
Speaker 4: had a great decal made up of when.
Speaker 5: He's a cousin Eddie.
Speaker 4: Standing by the great the sewer great holding the hose
Speaker 4: from the sewage system of the of the r V
Speaker 4: into the into the sewage system.
Speaker 5: And that was the decal.
Speaker 4: And I had on the side of the r VC
Speaker 4: driving down the highway and people say, the cousin see
Speaker 4: the cousin Eddie with the silhouette of Kuwaid standing there
Speaker 4: with the hose into the into the sewer.
Speaker 5: It was. It was so good.
Speaker 4: I got so many compliments about it, but there was
Speaker 4: different iterations to I had about three. I think it
Speaker 4: was like three cousin eddies won two and three. I
Speaker 4: don't might have been a fourth, but I no longer
Speaker 4: have a cousin Eddie. It just got to the point
Speaker 4: where they were very difficult to maintain and storage is
Speaker 4: also a concern. But anyway, wonderful us to live in
Speaker 4: spring trainings all the time, and they were great.
Speaker 5: For spring training.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but Joe, you could have stayed at a really
Speaker 3: cool hotel. You could have gotten a house instead. What
Speaker 3: was the number one reason behind and having your own
Speaker 3: mobile home?
Speaker 4: It's your tay one thing when you do an RB
Speaker 4: mobile home RB whatever you feel like it's your own
Speaker 4: like you're on the road, but you're not. So you
Speaker 4: feel very comfortable. You know, you pack it up when
Speaker 4: you leave. A lot of the stuff is familiar. You
Speaker 4: get to where you're going and you're not taking suitcases
Speaker 4: in and out of hotels, You're not walking through a lobby,
Speaker 4: and quite frankly, you know, I have no problem greeting
Speaker 4: the public, but there's an isolationism to this that's also
Speaker 4: kind of neat at that time.
Speaker 5: Of the year.
Speaker 4: So I'm telling you, you get a cool I mean,
Speaker 4: this is a forty five foot or this is a bus,
Speaker 4: so you get one that large.
Speaker 5: It's like you are at home.
Speaker 4: You took your home on the road, parked it you
Speaker 4: live and then afterwards, of course, my son in law, THEO,
Speaker 4: Sarah's husband, would drive it back from Arizona back to
Speaker 4: Tampa when I had it out in Arizona. But it is,
Speaker 4: I mean, the best way for those that are on
Speaker 4: the fence. It's like you're living in your own place
Speaker 4: as opposed to something a little bit more sterile.
Speaker 1: Thank you Joe for joining this podcast. Seriously, when we
Speaker 1: were talking about having somebody you're mentioning living out of
Speaker 1: cousin Eddie in spring training when when we were talking
Speaker 1: about doing a spring training episode in our second season
Speaker 1: ever of the podcast, he said, well, we have to
Speaker 1: get Joe Madden.
Speaker 2: We just have to because of.
Speaker 1: The things he would do during spring training, the fun
Speaker 1: he would have. Can you take us back to those
Speaker 1: days of maybe some of the more fun things you
Speaker 1: did with your players or your teams to kind of
Speaker 1: you know, it's a long season. Baseball is a long year,
Speaker 1: and so what were some antics or some fun you
Speaker 1: had during spring training with your teams?
Speaker 4: Well, it all, you know, it evolved started with the
Speaker 4: Rays of course, and even goes back to instructionally with
Speaker 4: the Angels. Nobody ever sees different things that you do
Speaker 4: in the minor leagues. We used to do this thing
Speaker 4: where Jeter Hines would be the Mattale, the god of wood,
Speaker 4: and we would have to get into a slump, so
Speaker 4: we would get all the bats out into the middle
Speaker 4: of the field one of the fields at Geenautry Park,
Speaker 4: and then Alan say Where who then became the field
Speaker 4: superintendent at Joe Robbie Stadium, he'd bring him out in
Speaker 4: a one of those little dump things, the payloader, and
Speaker 4: it would be up in the this kind of position
Speaker 4: holding it up, and Jeter'd be inside his thing. In
Speaker 4: the meantime, we get all the bats together. I don't
Speaker 4: need to gross people out, but in the morning it
Speaker 4: would be like spit cans all over the locker room,
Speaker 4: and you were permitted to spit in these things. And
Speaker 4: then Jeter would consolidate it. And then he'd get out
Speaker 4: there with like rambo kind of stuff, like the knife
Speaker 4: in his mouth, paint all over himself, coming out of
Speaker 4: a payloader, and the right in the middle field number three,
Speaker 4: Alan would lower it, Jada would fall out, he'd get
Speaker 4: me start chanting, and then the last thing he could
Speaker 4: do he would gulp down this mixture that we all wanted.
Speaker 5: I don't mean to get you guys.
Speaker 4: Sick, but it was like hysterical to the point where
Speaker 4: Doug Rader had him fly to Baltimore one time when
Speaker 4: they were in a slut, just to do their bats there.
Speaker 4: So he was Matteo, the God of Wood. That's kind
Speaker 4: of how it started. I used to videotape it. Now,
Speaker 4: fine audio is really what makes you because you know,
Speaker 4: the guys were kind of gagging and stuff. So this
Speaker 4: was like that's probably one of the funnest things I've
Speaker 4: ever seen done to do that, and then you go
Speaker 4: beyond that. Let's go with the Cubs. Guys, heard of
Speaker 4: Tim Buss. Bussy, Yeah, Bussy was Bussy. You know, every
Speaker 4: every team should have a timbus invaluable. A Busy would
Speaker 4: have his meeting in the morning before that we would
Speaker 4: stretch in spring training. We'd get in a circle right
Speaker 4: outside of Sloan there, out of our little practice warm
Speaker 4: up facility, and they would all get in a big
Speaker 4: circle and he'd go with his ball bag and he'd
Speaker 4: start complaining to like the biggest stars about something stupid
Speaker 4: he over heard them say, and he would find him
Speaker 4: something in front of everybody and it would just be
Speaker 4: up roeries. But the one day he had this idea
Speaker 4: with the paintball gun, and so we went out behind
Speaker 4: the batty cages where the press could not necessarily see us.
Speaker 4: And I know Hector and Don't had one, maybe somebody
Speaker 4: else would. Bussy started at the one end of the
Speaker 4: of the batting tunnels and ran to the other end,
Speaker 4: and we did video this and as he's running down there,
Speaker 4: I think he had a helmet on and goggles. But guys,
Speaker 4: are shooting with a paintball gun and then you play
Speaker 4: it back in slow motion and you could see like
Speaker 4: the fat just like like you see in slow motion
Speaker 4: with just the jelly kind of a roll and all
Speaker 4: the way down there, and then Bussy would finally get
Speaker 4: to the other end and then he come back, so
Speaker 4: we were shoot him with the paintball gun in front
Speaker 4: of everybody. We brought bears down from Bear Country northern Arizona.
Speaker 4: There's a farm up there, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 4: We brought little cubs down and the guys would frolic
Speaker 4: with the cubs on the field. Listen, it was it
Speaker 4: was never any with the and then with the rays,
Speaker 4: with the raisin. Also with the angels, we had a
Speaker 4: golf event. We brought golf clubs out Raheem Morris was
Speaker 4: there the one time. He was the man, a head
Speaker 4: coach of the box and this that, and then of
Speaker 4: course you know what the falcons we would have long
Speaker 4: drive over like field and bj up. Then oh my god,
Speaker 4: you got to see that in person. And then with
Speaker 4: the angels we had closest to the pin. But it's
Speaker 4: just the camaraderie impact is incredible, the laughter, the fun,
Speaker 4: the giggle and whatever. There's enough pressure applied to these
Speaker 4: guys daily that we don't have to apply more from
Speaker 4: a staff. So I always wanted to hit the pressure
Speaker 4: relief valve as well as we possibly could and understand,
Speaker 4: and I think sometimes it's getting contorted now.
Speaker 5: It is a game.
Speaker 4: It's a game, and these guys should have fun, and
Speaker 4: if you treat them as such, you could end up
Speaker 4: going to several World Series and winning them.
Speaker 3: Joe, didn't you oose to start workouts with the Angels
Speaker 3: when you were a coach? There with the golf balls
Speaker 3: into the butte? Is that right you? Mickey Hatcher?
Speaker 5: That was Micky Hatcher.
Speaker 4: Mickey Hatcher, Oh my god, Hatch could really drive a
Speaker 4: golf ball. So we come out the back door there
Speaker 4: right field the main field that the buttes, and the
Speaker 4: buttes are in left center.
Speaker 5: I mean I couldn't reach them. But Mickey would get
Speaker 5: out there.
Speaker 4: Man, he t that sucker up and anybody like delivery
Speaker 4: trucks and stuff out there, and I think, oh my god,
Speaker 4: but he would lose it over the wall and it
Speaker 4: would start ricocheting off bricks and trucks and all this,
Speaker 4: And people had no idea where these golf balls are
Speaker 4: coming from. If you don't know Mickey Hatcher, Micky Micky.
Speaker 4: The way he could describe Micky, I love you so passionate.
Speaker 4: When he'd make an argument in a meeting, the only
Speaker 4: way to stop him is when he ran out of breath.
Speaker 5: He'd run out of breath and that would end his
Speaker 5: point and.
Speaker 4: It was always hysterical. Micky Hatcher is one of my
Speaker 4: favorite coaches teammates.
Speaker 5: Of all time.
Speaker 4: And yes, he could really drive a golf ball, not
Speaker 4: only far but incredibly straight.
Speaker 3: Right, Joe, I remember the famous one. Mike Soosha told
Speaker 3: me you were there when they brought in an Ostrich?
Speaker 3: Is that right?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Would you tell us that story when they brought when
Speaker 3: when they brought an Ostrich into the clubhouse?
Speaker 4: Yeah, Socia was the best at this, and I think
Speaker 4: he might have got some of it from Tommy. But yeah,
Speaker 4: during spring training, we'd all gather in the morning in
Speaker 4: a circle in the clubhouse. It's like claustrophobic, it's so small,
Speaker 4: and so she would just ramble and he would pick
Speaker 4: on guys to do different things, and primarily rookies. One
Speaker 4: guy said he could play the piano, So next day,
Speaker 4: there's a piano in the middle of the clubhouse. Dude's
Speaker 4: got to get up there and play the piano. As
Speaker 4: an example, Ramona Ortiz says in the Dominican I could
Speaker 4: catch fish with my better hands in the winter time.
Speaker 4: So the next day we had a waiting poll with
Speaker 4: live fish in the clubhouse and Ramone was out there
Speaker 4: grabbing fish out of a waiting pool whatever. But the
Speaker 4: big one you're talking about was the Ostrich Festival was
Speaker 4: being held.
Speaker 5: I think it was in Chandler.
Speaker 4: And Jared Washburn, who's game, you know, I love watch,
Speaker 4: So he assigns wash to go down there and was
Speaker 4: about to get information and photographs or pictures or T
Speaker 4: shirts whatever and report back the next day.
Speaker 5: And the next day we're doing the meeting and all.
Speaker 4: Of a sudden, wash calls time out and the handler
Speaker 4: walks in, and then behind him is an Ostrich really
Speaker 4: in person. These suckers are really tall, and that's when
Speaker 4: and again Ramona tees love. Ramona teas its sincerely, jumps
Speaker 4: out of his chair, gets on top of the lockers
Speaker 4: and starts screaming, that's the biggest chicken I've ever seen.
Speaker 4: And it was like freaked out by the whole thing.
Speaker 5: So we did.
Speaker 4: I mean we took it to listen, Angels win the
Speaker 4: two thousand and two Raise, win in two thousand and eight,
Speaker 4: we don't go all the way when we get there.
Speaker 4: And then the Cubbies in sixteen. I'm telling you, man,
Speaker 4: a big part of our success was the humor attached
Speaker 4: to it and the fact that we kept guys lose.
Speaker 4: We did different things, even to the point with the
Speaker 4: playoffs with the Cubs in sixteen, going to the series,
Speaker 4: I had when we had a off there, not an
Speaker 4: off day, yeah, an off day at home. We would
Speaker 4: serve breakfast on the field, so the guys are at
Speaker 4: the batting cage hitting, taking her VP and I'd have
Speaker 4: those tray set up in the back, those silver trays
Speaker 4: with the little burners underneath, so a guy could go
Speaker 4: get his breakfast in between swings. You know, during the
Speaker 4: playoffs on Wrigley Field, where things like this, and everybody
Speaker 4: wants to do look at more video, break data down,
Speaker 4: they want to do all this stuff. But at the
Speaker 4: end of the day, man, these guys have to be
Speaker 4: loose in their brains, have to work in the moment,
Speaker 4: and they have to be able to breathe, and whatever
Speaker 4: you can do to permit them to breathe in the moment,
Speaker 4: I'll take it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's so important, Joe.
Speaker 1: And we've had like Sosha on the show, like we've
Speaker 1: had other managers with Tito Francona on the show.
Speaker 2: So and there's one commonality I find is exactly what
Speaker 2: you're saying.
Speaker 1: Yes there is data, Yes there is numbers, but there's
Speaker 1: there's an unattainable statistic we can't get which is right
Speaker 1: in here is how is it feeling? How loose is
Speaker 1: this guy? And I think that's really really special. And
Speaker 1: it starts in spring training, of.
Speaker 5: Course it does. You have to set the tone.
Speaker 4: I only had three meetings during the course of a
Speaker 4: baseball season.
Speaker 5: I was not into meetings at all. I think they're
Speaker 5: overblown there.
Speaker 4: They're pretty much ever is holding an anger meeting that
Speaker 4: during the course of the year is pretty much doing it.
Speaker 5: For his own benefit.
Speaker 4: It's him getting some thing off his chest so that
Speaker 4: he may be able to tell others that, Yeah, I
Speaker 4: got him, I got in front of them, I got
Speaker 4: really upset. I told him, I told him what's what
Speaker 4: right for me? It's one meeting in the beginning of that,
Speaker 4: you set the tone and this.
Speaker 5: Is exactly who we are.
Speaker 4: We lay it out very clearly, specifically, this is how
Speaker 4: we're going to do it, how we're going to work,
Speaker 4: what our goals are, how we're going to attend that,
Speaker 4: we're going to remain flexible, et cetera. Just talk straight up,
Speaker 4: and then here comes the All Star break. I used
Speaker 4: to do it after the All Star break, but then
Speaker 4: I figured right before the All Star break was a
Speaker 4: better time to do it because it permitted guys to
Speaker 4: think about what you were thinking about at that time.
Speaker 4: I would normally rehashpring training and then try to fill in, Okay.
Speaker 5: We've met these goals. We have not met these goals.
Speaker 4: These are some things we have to pay more attention
Speaker 4: to post et cetera, et cetera. And we were normally
Speaker 4: in pretty good shape all the teams I've had at
Speaker 4: that time.
Speaker 5: And then the next meeting would be.
Speaker 4: Before the first playoff game, and most of the time
Speaker 4: we were in the playoffs. Sometimes it was just the
Speaker 4: end of the season, but before the first playoff game,
Speaker 4: I would want another meeting again, rehash the first meeting,
Speaker 4: second meeting. Now we're here and The primary objective at
Speaker 4: that point was, you know, you know what I want
Speaker 4: you guys to change right now. I is going to
Speaker 4: this first playoff game absolutely nothing. We played the game
Speaker 4: the same on March fifteenth, July fifteenth, August fifteenth, and okay,
Speaker 4: September fifth, November third, or fourth, whatever. I don't want
Speaker 4: us to play any different game. I want to keep
Speaker 4: playing the same game of baseball. And that's what I
Speaker 4: try to convince them that there's no more I don't
Speaker 4: want to attach more weight to any specific day. I
Speaker 4: would frustrate the press a lot of times in this
Speaker 4: pretty big game, but you know what, they're all big games,
Speaker 4: and I don't want us to change our attitude or
Speaker 4: our methods based on the perception that this one weighs
Speaker 4: more than the other. So that was all part of
Speaker 4: the planning from spring training, midseason, first playoff game. Then,
Speaker 4: of course, if you had to say goodbye in a
Speaker 4: way because we lost, of course you did that. But
Speaker 4: there was a couple of celebrations that were pretty cool.
Speaker 3: Joe, let's go back to the Angels one more time.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be careful about this, but remember when Scott
Speaker 3: Spiezio was assigned a word, and the word was erudite.
Speaker 3: Do you remember what happened? Because I wasn't there, but
Speaker 3: I remembered what happened. Do you remember?
Speaker 4: You'd have to jog me on that one, because I mean,
Speaker 4: I love Scott, one of.
Speaker 3: The great ever A World Series hero, but absolutely no.
Speaker 3: Sure he got erudite mixed up with hermaphrodite.
Speaker 4: And now, well, it's that makes sense. I'm sure I
Speaker 4: have done the same thing without even realizing it.
Speaker 6: So there he goes, Jeff, He goes in front of
Speaker 6: the team to explain what this word means, and he's
Speaker 6: got the wrong word, and like everyone in the room
Speaker 6: is Howllywood laughter because of what it was.
Speaker 5: Oh boy, you.
Speaker 4: Know that we did that. We did all kinds of
Speaker 4: fun stuff. I'm telling you, man, I would cry.
Speaker 3: What is it?
Speaker 4: Best was when when Rob quinlan so assigned Quinland to
Speaker 4: the what is it? The medieval festival out there when
Speaker 4: I can't remember exactly what they call it. He's Quinland's funny.
Speaker 4: Q went to the University of Minnesota. Low Q and
Speaker 4: I would hang out a little bit. He was a player,
Speaker 4: I was a coach. But anyway, Q goes to this
Speaker 4: thing and he's a reporter and he stands with his
Speaker 4: microphone and he's doing his gig. But every scene that
Speaker 4: he did would be a big fat guy with the
Speaker 4: number fourteen Jersey angels jersey walking behind the shop with
Speaker 4: Socia on his back.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 5: Hey, this is Rob Quinlan reporting from the.
Speaker 4: Medieval festival here and we and we're here at the
Speaker 4: Turkey Lake thing whatever, and all of a sudden, big
Speaker 4: fat guy goes walking by fourteen on his back social So,
Speaker 4: I mean, I am crying during this whole probably a
Speaker 4: five minute gig, and it ends up two things that
Speaker 4: were great. Quinlan's talking to behind him is number fourteen
Speaker 4: Soshia with this back to the camera and he gets
Speaker 4: a turkey leg and he just like you can imagine,
Speaker 4: takes it right down his gullet.
Speaker 5: From behind, guys are dying.
Speaker 4: The last one, he's on this rocking horse that had
Speaker 4: to be at least ten to fifteen feet tall.
Speaker 5: He's rocking on this with.
Speaker 4: A turkey leg in his hand and number fourteen Sosia
Speaker 4: on his back. As Rob Quinlan decides to say, this
Speaker 4: is Rob reporting from the medieval festival here out in.
Speaker 5: The farthest point out there in the Eastern Valley. I
Speaker 5: was crying. I mean I couldn't stop. I mean his
Speaker 5: laughing art. I was crying.
Speaker 4: But that was what we did. And it's you making
Speaker 4: your asking players to go outside your comfort zone. And
Speaker 4: that is so important in regards to not being blown
Speaker 4: up by heavy moments or fast moments, or or world
Speaker 4: series moments. You always got to get the more you
Speaker 4: walk outside of your comfort zone, because the great line
Speaker 4: is that success lies on the other side of fear.
Speaker 5: That's and that's what you have to You have to
Speaker 5: get beyond your fears. We all have them.
Speaker 4: And so the more you could put yourself in an
Speaker 4: uncomfortable moment, the more you diminish your fears, which then
Speaker 4: to me permits you to react in a situation with
Speaker 4: an anticipation of good and not a fear of doing
Speaker 4: something bad.
Speaker 5: I think it's all interconnected, right, But tell us.
Speaker 3: The story when you were with the Rais and you
Speaker 3: were doing a base running drill and Carlos Paina made
Speaker 3: a mistake in the base running drill. It was a
Speaker 3: it was a minor mistake, but you corrected him and
Speaker 3: then I know the story. Job, but it'll be way
Speaker 3: better if you tell it. Do you remember his response
Speaker 3: when you told him I got you got this raw?
Speaker 3: What he responded by, I don't.
Speaker 5: I'm not going to lie to you. I don't remember.
Speaker 5: I do remember doing all this, but I need you
Speaker 5: need to jog me a little.
Speaker 3: Bit, Jo, My memory is too good. By the way,
Speaker 3: it is my greatest cursed Also, all right.
Speaker 1: Joe, for the record, the amount of times in one
Speaker 1: year of is this a great game?
Speaker 3: Or what?
Speaker 2: That he has started this?
Speaker 1: And guess I had to say, Tim, you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to help me here.
Speaker 2: Stories he wasn't even there for.
Speaker 1: All right, I was it's it's it's a I'm clapping dad,
Speaker 1: because it's an incredible memory.
Speaker 3: You do have a right, Joe, your first base when
Speaker 3: Carlos Payne you quoted Martin Luther King?
Speaker 5: Do you okay? Go ahead, yes, go ahead.
Speaker 3: Explain what happened roughly that day when he made a
Speaker 3: mistake on the basis and gave you his answer.
Speaker 4: It was first to third. I think it was the
Speaker 4: first the third row? Was that correct?
Speaker 5: The first the third row? And and please tell me
Speaker 5: the quote.
Speaker 3: You can't remember the exact quote, but your point you
Speaker 3: you got him off the hook because of his reasoning
Speaker 3: right exactly.
Speaker 4: Well, Carlos always is going to have a good reason.
Speaker 4: I mean, my god, I love this man. I mean,
Speaker 4: he comes to us from Detroit. I think at that time,
Speaker 4: Andrew calls me in the off season and what do
Speaker 4: you think about Carlos Penias as well. You know, I've
Speaker 4: always been a big fan of this guy's got huge power, whatever, whatever, whatever.
Speaker 4: And then he comes to that camp, the first camp
Speaker 4: with us, and we're ready to keep Norton the third baseman,
Speaker 4: first baseman could really hit, and Carlos comes in my
Speaker 4: office and says, we're no, I'm supposed to be here.
Speaker 4: You guys are making a mistake. I've already seen it. No,
Speaker 4: this is wrong. We're playing our last exhibition game that
Speaker 4: day and Norton gets hurt. He gets hurt, and all
Speaker 4: of a sudden, who's on the roster forty six home
Speaker 4: runs later later, Carlos paenya. But Carlos is so bright
Speaker 4: he made that whatever the mistake was going first to third,
Speaker 4: I would imagine it did not hit the inside of
Speaker 4: the bag, nor did he probably snap his head to
Speaker 4: the next space. Those are the things that would really
Speaker 4: be emphasizing at that point. First, the third, reading your
Speaker 4: keys properly as you look behind you, did the right field,
Speaker 4: right field before you started, did the center field, and
Speaker 4: move loatterly. I mean, all these different things I would discuss,
Speaker 4: so he would suck it up and take it and
Speaker 4: then only he could come back with to me with
Speaker 4: Martin Luther King, you know, And at that point I
Speaker 4: just got to shut up. I mean, it's like, you're right, Okay,
Speaker 4: I accept this, and I wish I could remember the
Speaker 4: exact quote.
Speaker 5: You know, I got a dream. I don't even know
Speaker 5: what he talked about at that point. Maybe he had the.
Speaker 4: Dream like I was talking about what he was supposed
Speaker 4: to be on the team when I said he wasn't
Speaker 4: for Norton.
Speaker 5: So anyway, Loos the best. Los.
Speaker 4: I'm so happy for his success. But I loved, I'd
Speaker 4: loved when I get those guys that really kind of
Speaker 4: right and he's very bright, and then he would throw
Speaker 4: stuff at me, man, and he would always he would
Speaker 4: always corner me, would start talking about different things, and
Speaker 4: it was the best.
Speaker 5: But you're absolutely right, and I do remember that.
Speaker 1: Specifically, Joe, I want to talk to you about the
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen Chicago Cubs and hopefully my dad's okay, because
Speaker 1: so little background. In twenty sixteen, I was a morning
Speaker 1: radio host in Cleveland, Ohio. It was my first job
Speaker 1: out of college, and naturally, as my dad taught me,
Speaker 1: it's so important to support the teams of the city
Speaker 1: you're living in, and so I embrace the then Cleveland Indians.
Speaker 1: You had Terry Francona, Francisco Lindor. It was a great team,
Speaker 1: right And then of course we get to the World
Speaker 1: Series and it's two storied franchises to storied droughts. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the Cubs make the Indians drought at the time look
Speaker 1: like nothing.
Speaker 2: But Game seven, I was standing room only.
Speaker 1: I just had to be in the stadium and we
Speaker 1: talked to David Ross, who had a great, amazing home
Speaker 1: run in that and we talked to him a little
Speaker 1: bit about how Chicago embraced him kind of forever. Now
Speaker 1: for you being solidified in Chicago allure, so to speak.
Speaker 1: How cool is that for you to kind of have
Speaker 1: that notch on your belt.
Speaker 3: I know you're too.
Speaker 1: Humble to admit that any thing other than that, but
Speaker 1: that must be pretty awesome.
Speaker 4: I love going back to Chicago, and I love going
Speaker 4: back to Chicago because of the people. That fan base
Speaker 4: is extraordinary. I mean I knew that the backtrack livele Digress.
Speaker 4: I knew nothing about that, this this the Cubs and
Speaker 4: the lure. Before I got I was an American leaguer.
Speaker 4: I had never even been to Wrigley Field before the
Speaker 4: race played there for the first time in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 4: That's the first time I went there. Uh, stay on
Speaker 4: on TV. When I got there, I ran into the clubhouse,
Speaker 4: put my my backpack down, and ran right down to
Speaker 4: the bench because I had to say it with my
Speaker 4: own eyes, and I was not disappointed.
Speaker 5: That was how it began.
Speaker 4: And for me, I would I live downtown. I had
Speaker 4: to live downtown. I wanted to feel it. I'd walk
Speaker 4: around and go for my breakfast, join in the morning, whatever,
Speaker 4: I go for my bike ride on. Like sure, they're tremendous,
Speaker 4: but you always people would stop and talk to you.
Speaker 4: And all they wanted to do was stop and talk
Speaker 4: to you. It was not they didn't want an autograph,
Speaker 4: they didn't want a photograph. They just wanted to talk Cubs.
Speaker 4: How much they appreciate It's kind of like my hometown.
Speaker 4: I've always said this Hazels is like a microcosm of
Speaker 4: this large city of Chicago, which is just a bunch
Speaker 4: of neighborhoods, a big group of neighborhoods.
Speaker 5: So anyway, I felt very comfortable.
Speaker 4: There, and I felt very at ease with the people
Speaker 4: there because I knew these people. I'm Italian Polish, a
Speaker 4: lot of that happening there, right, And so when I
Speaker 4: looked in their faces, when I the conversations, they made
Speaker 4: me feel very accepted. And I was in a big
Speaker 4: city but didn't feel like it. And that's it. When
Speaker 4: I go back there, I've done different gigs back there. Yeah,
Speaker 4: you walk in the hotel, you walk in a restaurant, whatever. Still,
Speaker 4: and I did something at Crawley's cub Cave.
Speaker 5: They call it something. It's out in the suburbs a
Speaker 5: couple of years ago. I mean, four hundred and five
Speaker 5: hundred people in.
Speaker 4: The guy's backyard with a tent, you know, huge, and
Speaker 4: then you go into his house and he's got like this,
Speaker 4: this altar to the Cubs, this shrine of the Cubs.
Speaker 5: It's sincere. It's amazing.
Speaker 4: It's the most fortunate part of my baseball career that
Speaker 4: I was given that opportunity to be there at that time,
Speaker 4: and you know, for me, Chicago, the city, the people,
Speaker 4: I think for me, if I could live there, I
Speaker 4: would live there. The weather was so bad, but I
Speaker 4: love that place that much and I love going back there.
Speaker 1: You know, Joe, we called it the kirkshin World Series
Speaker 1: because at the time, my sister was living in Chicago
Speaker 1: and I was living in Cleveland. And I made a
Speaker 1: bet on baseball tonight that whoever won the series would
Speaker 1: have to have the other person pay for their flight
Speaker 1: back home to see our parents for Christmas. So David
Speaker 1: Ross didn't seem too open to helping me out with that.
Speaker 2: It's been a couple of.
Speaker 1: Years, but I just, you know, you just kind of
Speaker 1: screwed me out of a couple hundred bucks.
Speaker 2: I just wanted to let you know now.
Speaker 5: Well, you were just flying back to Maryland, right it was. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I don't feel so bad for you.
Speaker 1: That was a historic year and pretty incredible, and Chicago
Speaker 1: fan base is just unbelievable. So to hear that you're
Speaker 1: so connected and sold in that history is amazing, Right.
Speaker 3: Joe, Back to the Rays, when you had Stephen vote
Speaker 3: the Manager of the Year in the American League this year,
Speaker 3: and he was one of your players. He routinely would
Speaker 3: imitate you in spring trailing. Can you tell us what
Speaker 3: that was like?
Speaker 5: He lampooned me. But he's the best, you know.
Speaker 4: First of all, you know, he was not supposed to
Speaker 4: ever be a big league player, according to the front
Speaker 4: offices in the scutting department.
Speaker 5: But the guy can hit. He could absolutely hit.
Speaker 4: So he kept hitting his way up, up up, And
Speaker 4: then we brought him over to a big league game
Speaker 4: and he was so entertaining the guys wanted him back again.
Speaker 4: And we would put him in the circle in the
Speaker 4: morning like we do, and that he would entertain the
Speaker 4: whole group. Gets to the point where he finally gets
Speaker 4: to know me well enough that we had like a
Speaker 4: talent show that first year, those two thousand and excuse me,
Speaker 4: two thousand and eight at Port Charlotte talent show was tremendous.
Speaker 4: Percival as a judge, the Floy's a judge. All these
Speaker 4: dudes are the judge. And here comes Voter. This is
Speaker 4: out in the outfield on a deck. He comes out
Speaker 4: of his bicycle, which I did all the time with
Speaker 4: the dressed up like me with glasses like me, and
Speaker 4: with a fund he gets off the bat off the bike,
Speaker 4: and I always prop the fungo underneath my leg Cookie Row,
Speaker 4: I taught me how to do that. So he stands
Speaker 4: there like me and just starts extemporaneously saying a lot
Speaker 4: of big words, not making any sense whatsoever, being me
Speaker 4: and the place. Howled Voter is. You know, he's uh,
Speaker 4: he's so contagious.
Speaker 5: He is. Actually, he's like he's a pathogen. He's contagious.
Speaker 4: And when he got there, I knew, regardless of what
Speaker 4: he knows or doesn't know about managing a baseball team,
Speaker 4: him alone is going to make up for that as
Speaker 4: he plays ketchup.
Speaker 5: He is that.
Speaker 4: Appealing to a wide variety of people. He just is
Speaker 4: so doesn't surprise me. I love the way him and
Speaker 4: Carl got Karl Wilson, other guy.
Speaker 5: Carl the Truth.
Speaker 4: Carl used to have my picture underneath the bill of
Speaker 4: his cap when he pitched in Edmonton. Anytime I went
Speaker 4: in there as a as a roving instructor, the Truth
Speaker 4: would pitch well. So I mean to this day, for
Speaker 4: a long time he kept by a picture underneath his hat,
Speaker 4: under his bill. So when I see him sitting there
Speaker 4: with Voter. That's kind of a cool gig. It makes
Speaker 4: me feel pretty good about it. And I really believe
Speaker 4: Voter again, as he understands the game better from the
Speaker 4: manager's seat. Combining that with his talents as an individual,
Speaker 4: as a human, his ability to relate to people, it's
Speaker 4: going to get pretty special.
Speaker 3: But Joe, you do use a lot of big words
Speaker 3: because you are a transly educated from Lafayette and you
Speaker 3: read more books than the average person could ever dream
Speaker 3: of reading. How important are words to you, not just
Speaker 3: as a manager and a baseball guy, but as a person.
Speaker 4: Well, I think it was Twain that said, and Mark
Speaker 4: Twain said, a the cool stuff. The difference between the
Speaker 4: right word and the wrong word is like the difference
Speaker 4: between lightning and the lightning bug. Something along those lines, right,
Speaker 4: and that really synopsizes is the whole thing. I mean, Yes,
Speaker 4: starting nineteen seventy four or five, whatever that was, I
Speaker 4: told you this story. It's in our book of Joe,
Speaker 4: Me and Tommy Erducci, Uncle Chuck Game Centennial by James Mitchner.
Speaker 4: Now Mitchener, of course he could not have researched all
Speaker 4: of that, but Michener's books were normally right around a
Speaker 4: thousand pages.
Speaker 5: I couldn't put it down.
Speaker 4: And it really starts about plate tectonics, how animals move
Speaker 4: from from Russia Asia over the Bering Sea straight which
Speaker 4: was frozen.
Speaker 5: They'd come over North America end up in Colorado. And
Speaker 5: I was hooked.
Speaker 4: I was absolutely hooked at that particular junctre. So I
Speaker 4: read so many Mitchener books from that moment on favorite
Speaker 4: author Pat Conroy, probably because I just don't know. I
Speaker 4: don't know I've read anybody that could put his stiens
Speaker 4: together better or more interestingly then Pat Conry can do.
Speaker 4: I started with Beach Music, leon URIs, Exodus, The Hodge,
Speaker 4: Keep moving Forward, you know all the popular ones, Grisham,
Speaker 4: all those guys, Greg Ayle, some great stuff, spaned Out, Phoenix.
Speaker 5: All these books.
Speaker 4: I love fiction, but I love educational fiction, you know,
Speaker 4: stuff that was rooted in fact also, And of course
Speaker 4: I read Joe name it stuff because I'm a name
Speaker 4: it guy. But I'm telling you, Timmy, I don't I
Speaker 4: used to read, I swear to you, at least two
Speaker 4: books a month, probably like real books can fall It,
Speaker 4: Pillars of the Earth World Without and all these Ken
Speaker 4: follow stuff. Another thing, The Fall of Giants, the last
Speaker 4: thing you did the trilogy, unbelievably great. So yes, my
Speaker 4: interest in words, in reading was born of Uncle Chuck.
Speaker 4: My Uncle Chuck that one day, tell me read this,
Speaker 4: and then from that it moved into the Source the Caribbean,
Speaker 4: all these different missioner books, and the Drifters. That's the
Speaker 4: one that really made my mind jump. I just so
Speaker 4: wanted to go to Europe and travel and be young
Speaker 4: and travel and not worry about, you know, where's the
Speaker 4: next buck coming from. All these guys did that for me,
Speaker 4: and I think it's simpiltrated my craft as a manager
Speaker 4: and what I do as a manager because I see
Speaker 4: things differently, I understand differently, and I think that was
Speaker 4: a gift that Uncle Chuck gave to me.
Speaker 1: Joe, I've heard so many amazing stories of the work
Speaker 1: you've done in your hometown of Hazleton, which currently from
Speaker 1: where I am in beautiful Montgomery County, Pennsylvania's only ninety
Speaker 1: minutes away, so we're not too far from each other.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned at the top of the show your
Speaker 1: nephew is my physical therapist, Mike, who I run into
Speaker 1: at the local Chinese food restaurant, so we live about
Speaker 1: six minutes away from each other, and Dad, I joked
Speaker 1: about this before we hit record. On our first session,
Speaker 1: I was having some really bad planner fasci itis. We
Speaker 1: basically didn't talk about my foot the entire time. We
Speaker 1: just talked about Joe and you, Dad, and that connection
Speaker 1: in baseball, which I think is just so beautiful that
Speaker 1: that you know, when you find a connection and mutual
Speaker 1: connection in baseball. But back to Hazelton, my dad has
Speaker 1: been a part of some amazing events that you've done.
Speaker 5: I know that cal Rifken.
Speaker 1: Junior has been a part of it. Take us to
Speaker 1: what that means to you, what that event is, and
Speaker 1: what it benefits, because I know it's really important to you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll just thought synopsize again. Here give you the
Speaker 4: cliff notes. This began in twenty ten. I went back
Speaker 4: home for Christmas and it was really upset. I grew
Speaker 4: up in the best town in the world ever to
Speaker 4: grow up in as a kid, and it no longer
Speaker 4: was that it was dark. There was fear all over
Speaker 4: the city. There was this rift between the incoming Hispanic
Speaker 4: community versus the existing Anglo community, and it wasn't going
Speaker 4: to go anywhere good positively in iner future wasn't going
Speaker 4: to happen. And I flew back to California. I thinking
Speaker 4: to myself, I got to do something. I got to
Speaker 4: do something here. This is not going to work playing
Speaker 4: in baseball, well being in baseball, so many Hispanic members,
Speaker 4: and just in general terms, we've been able to expand
Speaker 4: on horizons internationally just by the people that we meet.
Speaker 5: So I get back and I'm upset.
Speaker 4: So I called my cousin Bob and Elane, and we
Speaker 4: started with the thought, I mean, we needed to do
Speaker 4: something because I saw it as the people that I
Speaker 4: grew up with are pushing these people away, and I'm saying, no, no, no,
Speaker 4: we have to draw them in because they're the ones
Speaker 4: that are going to save our city. The city was
Speaker 4: pretty much you know you talk about rust belt. There
Speaker 4: was nothing going on. There was no real industry. There's
Speaker 4: some warehousing and all that kind of stuff. Cole was
Speaker 4: no longer king as it had been. So these guys
Speaker 4: are coming in. They're coming in with families, and they're
Speaker 4: looking for the American dream. Inexpensive housing, good schools, much
Speaker 4: better schools, an opportunity for work. Because interstate eighty one
Speaker 4: meet right there. There's all these warehousing stuff going on
Speaker 4: out there with like low skill but good paying jobs
Speaker 4: and an opportunity to get your feet on the ground.
Speaker 4: So these were the perfect people to get us going.
Speaker 4: So how do you do this?
Speaker 5: How do you make this work? So we had to.
Speaker 4: I went to a daycare center after church on a Sunday.
Speaker 4: I was a Hispanic daycare center, and the lady's name
Speaker 4: is ne york Cup. And I'm watching this whole thing
Speaker 4: unfold and I'm seeing like low tables with adults knee
Speaker 4: sitting above and pot luck on the table. I'm seeing
Speaker 4: kids running everywhere. Everything's out of control. It's like one
Speaker 4: or two in the afternoon. And I thought to myself, Wow,
Speaker 4: this is exactly what my house used to look like
Speaker 4: back in the sixties and pretty much the sixties. And
Speaker 4: I thought, at that point, we are pushing this away
Speaker 4: and this is exactly who we were and what we need.
Speaker 5: So that was how it was born.
Speaker 4: And then we eventually started like with an event to
Speaker 4: raise money was Jogi Baron Don Zimmer and Lowitz's catering hall.
Speaker 4: That's how it began, and all of a sudden, we're
Speaker 4: raising some bucks, and then Bob starts writing grants and
Speaker 4: then eventually buy MPB School, which is a former elementary
Speaker 4: junior high school, twenty five classrooms, full cafeteria, full gymnasium
Speaker 4: that the Ripkins provided money to put an all purpose
Speaker 4: floor on that gym that's still is jammed every day there.
Speaker 4: And then you got adult education, you got after school education,
Speaker 4: and now we're winning national awards for you know, pretty
Speaker 4: much setting an example. This is how to do this thing.
Speaker 1: You know, you started with the Jogi barra and then
Speaker 1: you upgraded to bringing my dad in big upgrade.
Speaker 5: Very good, All right enough plus right.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you one of the highlights of my career
Speaker 3: was one night in Hazelton. I was the moderator and
Speaker 3: Joe and Cal Ripken spoke for an hour and all
Speaker 3: I did was like ask one question and then the
Speaker 3: rest of the hour was a back and forth between
Speaker 3: Cal Ripken and Joe Madden. And when it was over,
Speaker 3: I had to tell everyone in the crowd, one hundred
Speaker 3: people who paid one thousand dollars each, that you have
Speaker 3: just been let in on some of the greatest inside
Speaker 3: baseball that I have ever heard. Joe, do you remember
Speaker 3: that back and forth you had with Cal Junior.
Speaker 4: It was fascinating, absolutely, And I do remember pointing out
Speaker 4: the fact that he used to call pitches from short
Speaker 4: stuff and I was I was driving me nuts to
Speaker 4: try to figure out his different signs. When I first
Speaker 4: caught onto those coaching first base, so that would have
Speaker 4: been nineteen ninety five, Yes, when I first caught onto it.
Speaker 4: So I'm watching all these different things. He would like,
Speaker 4: put his arms over his head, he'd bite the string
Speaker 4: on his glove, he would kick his foot one way
Speaker 4: or the other.
Speaker 5: He would look right or would look left, and you.
Speaker 4: Know, Hoyle's is catching, and I'm trying to figure out.
Speaker 4: There's times I thought I got a couple of pitches.
Speaker 4: I figured him out for half any or whatever, but
Speaker 4: then he would blow up the whole whatever the key was.
Speaker 4: But I found that very interesting that Cal would call
Speaker 4: pitches from shortstops.
Speaker 5: We talked about that. He didn't deny it. That was
Speaker 5: not denied.
Speaker 3: It was tremendous.
Speaker 5: Jeff.
Speaker 3: Another night that I was in Hazelton, Bill Murray showed it. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and help me with this, Joe, Joe Namath came to
Speaker 3: one of those correct tell us about Bill Murray and
Speaker 3: Joe Namath separately going to Hazelton.
Speaker 4: Yeah, this will I can't remember where I was at exactly,
Speaker 4: but Murray, Bill Murray texted or called him, texted me
Speaker 4: and invited me to a gig in New York City,
Speaker 4: and I truly had something else going on. And then
Speaker 4: I said, but next week I have this thing going
Speaker 4: on in Hazelton at the Valley Country Club.
Speaker 5: I'd love for you to attend.
Speaker 4: It would be you know whatever, big great, Uh can
Speaker 4: you possibly do that? He said maybe, And he by
Speaker 4: saying maybe, I said, Okay, this is probably gonna happen.
Speaker 4: He dropped the big mayby on this. Then all of
Speaker 4: a sudden, at six p m. Right about six, him
Speaker 4: and his entourage, the door is open. Here comes Bill
Speaker 4: Murray and his entourage into the Valley Country Club, and
Speaker 4: of course he goes and sees my mom Beanie, takes
Speaker 4: pictures with Beanie, and of course all my cousins started
Speaker 4: gathering around him.
Speaker 5: But he was fabulous.
Speaker 4: He was there for a couple hours, He had a
Speaker 4: great time, and he was obviously the hit of the night.
Speaker 4: But obviously that that got started with the thing with
Speaker 4: the cubs. And I used to visit with them out there,
Speaker 4: and god, he was great.
Speaker 5: And so he did.
Speaker 4: That started with him asking me and I really couldn't
Speaker 4: make it. But then he shows up two hours away,
Speaker 4: drives over for the night, and then drives back to
Speaker 4: New York City.
Speaker 5: That's how that happened. And the name it.
Speaker 4: I've always been a Nameath fan, so I came remember
Speaker 4: with the exact spreen training with Rick Vaughan. I started
Speaker 4: out talking about different things. That started out my.
Speaker 5: Coaches meeting at Port Charlotte.
Speaker 4: With this, I didn't talk about the game winder, I says,
Speaker 4: first of all, I have one edic request, whatever you
Speaker 4: want to call for this camp. Joe Namath has to
Speaker 4: show up at our camp at some point this year.
Speaker 4: That was it, and I powered Chico. Chico Fornettis was
Speaker 4: our video guy. I also called them my concierge. This
Speaker 4: is for the concierge. You need to get name it
Speaker 4: here somehow. I don't care when we got to see
Speaker 4: Joe Namath in camp this year. Okay, the eventually that
Speaker 4: gets turned over Rick Vaughn, who's our media guy, and
Speaker 4: eventually we go down and play. The Cardinals are the
Speaker 4: Marlins in Jupiter and who shows up at Joe. Joe
Speaker 4: shows up and he's with us for an entire game
Speaker 4: in the dugout in uniform, just shirt and hat, and
Speaker 4: we talked the whole game and we hit it off
Speaker 4: so well. So then eventually I asked if he would
Speaker 4: come to one of our events. It was downtown Hazelton,
Speaker 4: really cool building. It really one of our more elaborate events.
Speaker 4: We have sent a private playing down for him and
Speaker 4: back he showed up, obviously, big hit, and since then
Speaker 4: we stay in touch. I've done his golf tournaments a
Speaker 4: couple of times. I don't know if you've ever ever
Speaker 4: had a chance to speak with Joe, but he's Western Pennsylvania.
Speaker 4: I'm northeastern Pennsylvania. He's grown up. What was the Hungarian
Speaker 4: I think was his background? Me Polish side of it.
Speaker 4: It's just so easy, The conversations are so easy. So
Speaker 4: we become like pretty good buds. And that's how it
Speaker 4: all began. Chico, I want to see name of the
Speaker 4: camp this year, and Bill Murray dropped the maybe on me,
Speaker 4: and that's how both of those things got wronged.
Speaker 3: And you wore white spikes in high school as a football,
Speaker 3: of course because of Joe name if correct.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I wore the bigger face mask number twelve white
Speaker 4: ry Dell's and eventually when I got to Laffyette, my
Speaker 4: first drink of choice was Scotch because that's the Joe
Speaker 4: Giant and I told him so well.
Speaker 5: He's right, Johnny Walker, I was with. I did doers
Speaker 5: white label so well well.
Speaker 3: Speaking of Rick vaughn, our dear friend who helps Joe
Speaker 3: with PR and was a PR guy with the Orioles,
Speaker 3: one of my best friends of the whole world, he
Speaker 3: told me that you play golf every day, like literally
Speaker 3: every day. Is that true? And how? Yeah? Are you
Speaker 3: getting any better? Because the last time I talked to
Speaker 3: you, you told me he stunk.
Speaker 5: I do steak at the time I stunk. Yesterday I
Speaker 5: played really well. I played well last.
Speaker 4: Week and I won my match and the club in
Speaker 4: the match play Club Championships I'm playing in tomorrow. I
Speaker 4: beat a really good golfer last Saturday. I can't believe
Speaker 4: by Sunday, came from behind him down by three strokes
Speaker 4: after twelve and I win.
Speaker 5: So I down a little bit. Yes, Then I played
Speaker 5: again two days ago. Was great.
Speaker 4: I should have had a seventy eight one o B
Speaker 4: at the end screwed me up. And then yesterday I stunk.
Speaker 4: I absolutely freaking stunk. So today after we get done
Speaker 4: one of the driver range because I stink with my driver,
Speaker 4: that's where I stink. And I'm playing I'm big Max tomorrow,
Speaker 4: so I got to get the driver's graight. So I'm
Speaker 4: gonna go do that, go to the gym, get good
Speaker 4: rest tonight, and then I'm gonna go out and play
Speaker 4: Tomorre and try to win. And if I win, the
Speaker 4: more I play again on Sunday, I'm down like an
Speaker 4: eight seven eight handicap kind of a guy.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 5: And you know, so it's listen. I have my moments.
Speaker 4: I even shot part once last summer at the Valley
Speaker 4: Country Club, which I've never been able to.
Speaker 5: I said once. Then the next day I was back
Speaker 5: eighty five. You know.
Speaker 4: It's just like, that's the thing about this game and
Speaker 4: so wonderful. I need to Yes, it's almost every day,
Speaker 4: but I'm what I'm doing now because I'm coming off
Speaker 4: a back surgery last year. I had to lam aneacdomy
Speaker 4: last year, so I'm trying to balance it out to
Speaker 4: not every day golf. Maybe there to gym, maybe day
Speaker 4: off golf, golf. I'm trying to like maybe four or
Speaker 4: five days a week at the most.
Speaker 3: Now, Jeff, so typical of our baseball players, who are
Speaker 3: such great athletes. I just think of this game. He's
Speaker 3: a seven, he's an eight. He shot seventy eight. That
Speaker 3: beats ninety nine point nine percent of the people who've
Speaker 3: ever tried to play that diabolical game. So I don't
Speaker 3: want to hear it anymore.
Speaker 4: Joe, Yeah, I'm missing I study it watching videos.
Speaker 5: This morning, I'm going over there.
Speaker 4: I'm going to the Chichi Rodriguez driving Range in a
Speaker 4: couple of minutes to work on a couple of things.
Speaker 5: Because if I get off the tea tomorrow.
Speaker 4: The local pro Anthony down at the member of Saint
Speaker 4: Pete Country Club. Now he's helped me dramatically with my chipping,
Speaker 4: chipping and putty good off, Iron's good. I just bought
Speaker 4: some Mazuno's. I love him, and I just got to
Speaker 4: get off the tee and once I get up to tech,
Speaker 4: I'll be able to play consistently, you know, high seventies,
Speaker 4: low eighties at the worst.
Speaker 5: I should be able to do that. If I could
Speaker 5: get off the team.
Speaker 3: All right, Well, Joe, we could talk to you for hours,
Speaker 3: especially about spring training. We want to make sure we
Speaker 3: get you to the course because we need you to
Speaker 3: win tomorrow, because we know how upset you'll be if
Speaker 3: you don't play well tomorrow. He's studying tapes, Jeff. He's
Speaker 3: almost seventy years old, and he's studying tapes of golf,
Speaker 3: his third best sport after baseball and football.
Speaker 5: Seventy one as a fibulary, Sorry, Joe, Sorry.
Speaker 4: Seventy was a new fifty one. When I got my
Speaker 4: job with the Rays, I was fifty one. I said
Speaker 4: fifty one was a new thirty one. So I'm staying
Speaker 4: with that mathematical equation. Seventy one is a new fifty one,
Speaker 4: and I'm sticking to it.
Speaker 5: Brother.
Speaker 1: Well, Joe Madden, thank you so much for joining the podcast.
Speaker 1: Thank you for the patience with my dad's inability to technology.
Speaker 1: Let's just say Joe was redded agout and we were
Speaker 1: still plugging things in when he was on the video at.
Speaker 5: Jeff Timke's perfect. It's right around two o'clock. I'm good, Jack.
Speaker 3: We got What you don't know is that one day
Speaker 3: we were doing a game in Chicago. Joe's the manager
Speaker 3: of the Cubs, and I'm having find I'm having technological issues,
Speaker 3: and he takes my cell phone and in front of
Speaker 3: all the press, he shows me how to do a
Speaker 3: function on it that everyone else in the world. The
Speaker 3: manager of the Cubs was teaching me how to use
Speaker 3: my cell phone.
Speaker 5: Thank you for that, Joe, and I was honored. Thank
Speaker 5: you and everybody.
Speaker 1: We'll have to have you as a repeat guest because
Speaker 1: I feel like we could talk for another three hours.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Joe, any subject you want, any subject you want, guys,
Speaker 4: thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you to Joe Madden for joining us and a
Speaker 1: perfect guest for our spring training episode.
Speaker 3: Dad, I need to.
Speaker 2: Know, did you Were you able to look up the
Speaker 2: Martin Luther King Junior?
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's not a great quote. I'm so embarrassed
Speaker 3: and I couldn't think of it at the time. But again,
Speaker 3: we were right about this. Joe Madden was right. Carlos Paying,
Speaker 3: a funny guy, tried to go from first to third
Speaker 3: in a base running drill and got thrown out, and
Speaker 3: he argued with Joe Madden that maybe it wasn't a mistake.
Speaker 3: He said, because and then he quoted the Martin Luther
Speaker 3: King Freedom Speech and he said, in which Martin Luther
Speaker 3: King basically said, it's okay to go to prison if
Speaker 3: you are going there for the right reason. So he
Speaker 3: was going first to third for the right reason, and
Speaker 3: even though he got thrown out, he should not be
Speaker 3: found guilty of that. He should not go to prison
Speaker 3: for that because his heart was in the right place
Speaker 3: on what he was trying to do. As Joe Madden said,
Speaker 3: this is unbelievable. It's spring training and my first basement
Speaker 3: is quoting doctor Martin Luther King.
Speaker 2: That's incredible.
Speaker 1: Joe Madden, thank you again for being our guest. To
Speaker 1: all of you listening, thank you so much for always
Speaker 1: being so loyal. Make sure to hit that follow button,
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Speaker 1: on all the Good Stuff at Great Game or what
Speaker 1: Dad Will See you in two weeks for our final
Speaker 1: offseason episode can't.
Speaker 3: Wait to get back to once a week during the
Speaker 3: baseball season.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening, and as always, thanks
Speaker 2: for being a part of our family,