WEBVTT - Andrew McCutchen 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:05.880 Welcome to the Sports Bubble, a production of I Heart 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:14.080 Radio Entree Fork Media. My name is Jensen Carp and 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.240 I'm a sports fan and my office is looking more 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:19.160 and more like Claire Dane's workspace and Homeland. I'm keeping 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:21.600 track of every positive test in sports, connecting them by 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.280 strings and marking the hotspots, and I'm gonna be honest 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:27.680 with you, it's hard to keep up. Things are changing constantly, 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:29.960 and even Adam Silver admits now with coming up on 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.640 ten percent positive tests in the NBA, there's no running 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.040 from the virus. And all this is happening while the 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.360 country continues to seek justice and equality, opening its eyes 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.440 to the struggle black people of face. Since what feels 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.840 like the beginning of time, it's a lot to handle. 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.159 What what? Oh? Okay? Another positive? Well, I'll post it 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:49.120 on the board when I'm done with this intro. Quite 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:51.600 a workload these days, mostly because I'm still talking to 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.080 athletes and sports and just sup professionals about what they're 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:56.400 doing during this very weird time because even they have 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.120 no idea what's gonna happen. Trust me, it's all in 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:04.680 the sports bubble. One of baseball's best players, Andrew McCutcheon 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:06.600 is also one of the league's best assets when it 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:09.479 comes to personality. Anyone who's followed the five time All 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:11.319 Star in two thousand fifteen and l m v P 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:14.640 on social media knows he's hilarious and witty and thoughtful, 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:17.160 all attributes that have made him a fan favorite. But 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.319 I've often wondered why his sense of humor hasn't sent 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:22.200 him into mainstream orbit, like say, how Blake Griffin did 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.280 with the NBA during quarantine. He's even created a hilarious 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.400 alter ego named Uncle Larry, a mustachioed elderly man in 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.320 sunglasses and a ridiculous wig who also appears to hate 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:34.360 Andrew's guts. It's super funny. And then there's this new 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.160 viral Tops Baseball card the debuted last week that you 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.679 just have to google to appreciate. The guy is a 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.840 meme machine that everyone should know about. So in this conversation, 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:44.920 Andrew and I talked about the culture of baseball and 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.200 why maybe his type of swagger isn't necessarily appreciated enough. 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.880 We also chat about returning from injury, conforming for the Yankees, 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:55.600 baseball's need for African American outreach, and how or if 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.320 Major League Baseball locker rooms can actually adapt to Black 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:01.920 Lives matter. Move man. Listen. If this gets you to 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:04.639 at least follow Andrew and uncle Larry on social media, 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.520 well my job here is done, so let's chop it up. 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:10.280 On this episode of the Sports Bubble with Jensen Carton 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:26.239 from Andrew mccushion to accept press one. Hello Andrew, nice 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.960 to meet you. Thanks for doing this. Oh yeah, no problem, 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:31.480 Thanks for having me. I wanted to start off. I 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:33.640 know you went viral in this new rental house. You 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:36.200 took a picture kind of playing off the Will Smith meme. 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.240 I wanted to talk to you for a second before 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:42.400 the move. Where did you spend quarantine? Okay, so there 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.360 was a couple of places I spent my quarantine. Of course. 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.480 I was in clear Water, continuing my rehab there at 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:51.880 the Strange training facilities. And then I left clear Water 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:56.040 and went and went back home to to my hometown. 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.360 When I'm at hometown, but where I live in Pittsburgh. 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.919 So I was at those two places. And yeah, I'm 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:05.520 in Philadelphia. Yeah. I don't mean to be your uncle 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:07.480 Phil here, but I'm nervous that you won't be able 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:11.000 to furnish the house during a quarantine and get a sofa. 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.040 Oh yeah, so yeah, I uh what I mean. And 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:16.959 my wife we we purchased some furniture last year in 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:20.760 Philadelphia and we just left it in storage here. So 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.200 whenever we rent, when we come back the Philadelphia for 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:26.800 the season, we just get that stuff out of storage. 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.880 So I had the moving company and get our stuff 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:32.600 out of storage and bring our things the next day 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.920 after I posted that that picture. So so that's that's 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:37.640 kind of what we do. It just right when I 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:39.840 came to the house. Right, it gave me that feel 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.480 of of that episode. So I just figured out, I'm 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.240 by myself not doing anything, might as well just just 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.440 posted a picture of it. Good. You've you've, you've well, 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:50.640 you've you've saved my fears of what you're gonna be 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.040 doing in Philly. But you're you're coming off a season 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.280 ending injury in two thousand nineteen, a torn a c 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:57.920 L Did the break in working? Did it help or 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:00.360 hurt the schedule you had in mind? This is obviously 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.760 the longest you've probably went without baseball by a long shot. Yeah, 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.040 you know, there there's definitely a silver line with it 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.640 for me. It did help me because you know, I 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:14.200 wasn't going to be ready come March. Whatever day it 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:16.800 was at the opening day, was going to be happening 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:21.120 this year. So for me us having this this break, 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.000 it definitely helped me be able to to rehab and 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:29.000 take my time through the rehab process and um, you know, 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:32.320 so it was it was good for me. And yeah, 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:35.440 it helped me get to feeling ready and ready to 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:37.839 go and ready to play. Well, we have to talk 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.440 about my favorite thing from baseball stop down now. It 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.960 is the baseball card. I assume this is all you've 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.440 been texted about, all you've been emailed about, because it 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.760 truly brings a smile to my face. Tops revealed their 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:51.960 big Series two set and there's a picture of you 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:55.160 that a lot of people are calling the greatest baseball 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.159 card ever produced. You are wearing a bandana under your hat, 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.960 your double cupped in the dugout jersey, half open, chains exposed. 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:04.360 It is truly beautiful. Can you please tell me the 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.960 background of this photo? Oh? Yeah, So basically that day, 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.760 you know, I was probably a month post stop from 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.200 my my a c O surgery. So I had just 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:16.880 got back to Philadelphia after my surgery, um and just 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:19.279 to be around the fellows again. And I was just 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.160 trying to bring, you know, a little bit of light 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.960 to the season, trying to be positive, trying to you know, 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.240 find ways to to be able to make a difference 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:29.320 even though I can't like be on the on the 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.320 field and playing. So we had to throw back any 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:35.919 day um of wearing those uniforms, and uh, you know, 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:37.960 I thought there were some pretty dope uniforms. You know, 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:40.720 they had a big zipper in the middle, and I 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:42.120 was like, man, you know, I need to make this 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.680 just a retro day. I need to look like, you know, 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:48.000 how I feel in this uniform. So I, you know, 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:50.880 I got what people didn't see. Where the sneakers. The 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.479 sneakers were the best part of the of the whole 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.039 the whole outfit. What were those? There are just some 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.120 throwback nikes that I had. They kind of give you 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:04.120 the feel of the old cortez Um shoe. But yeah, 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:06.320 they were some pretty dope shoes that I was wearing. 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:08.400 So I just I just made the whole outfits you 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.560 to down put the chain on, and those uh sunglasses 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.920 were actually gave Kapler's um aviators. I guess they're pretty 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.120 pretty good pair of sunglasses, and so he was like, 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:21.880 you know, you got to complete the outfit with these sunglasses. 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:25.960 So he gave them to me, and um, double cut 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.960 red Bull, and uh I was I was out there 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.960 just enjoying myself having a good time. So, yeah, the 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.120 card is going for two on ebie. I don't know 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.760 if you know that. I'm sure those prices will go 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:41.440 down there. So uh, Now, I wanted to talk a 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:45.520 little bit about your sort of persona on Instagram and 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:48.599 and and Twitter and social media in general. What tell 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.480 me how Uncle Larry started? You know, funny thing, I've 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.839 always been the type of person to be kind of 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:59.000 quite the the jokester of my family, loving to make 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:01.719 people laugh. Um, I don't know if you did here. 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:04.599 I mean, it's not that far off, but pretty familiar 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:08.400 with buying when buying videos are red big. I used 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.720 to love watching buying videos, so I used to make 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:12.960 I used to make uynes all the time and send 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:14.960 them to my family, send them to my wife all 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:18.000 the time, and friends that always say how crazy I 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.320 was and how stupid I was. And so once this 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:22.960 quarantine hit my my wife is like, you know, you 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.120 should you should do something, you know, make make fun 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.320 make light of the situation that you're in. You know, 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.760 you you always like to make funny videos. Why don't 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:33.200 you do that? Keep doing it? So I kind of 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:35.440 set with her, talk to her about it, and talked 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.960 to my PR guy about it, and and then that's 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.200 how Uncle Larry came about. And Uncle Larry, you know, 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:47.640 for people who don't know, it was because of basically, 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.640 the way the name came about was because I was 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:55.200 taking bandon frantice during spring training and someone posted a 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.640 video of me taking ban in practice and they straight 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.480 up watched my name called me launched mc cutcheon, and 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:02.720 I was like, you know, I'm going to take that 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.280 around with it. And so that's that's kind of how 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:07.800 it all, how it all came about, the name came about, 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:12.240 and the character came about. I bring up all this 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.960 personality stuff and how much fans enjoy seeing you, especially 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.640 me your your personality and and and and what you 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.760 do online to get to some heavier stuff because with 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.840 COVID and the murder of George Floyd and the resulting 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.960 response from America finally opening their eyes to the struggles 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:30.200 that black people have been facing for hundreds of years. 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.640 I was genuinely moved by Ian Desmond's Instagram post this 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:35.640 past week. Did did you get to read it? Yeah? 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:38.680 I definitely ran through that and it was it was 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:41.360 definitely moving to hear and read some of the things 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:43.240 that he had to talk about, for sure. Yeah, and 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:44.959 a lot of stuff stuck out to me. I mean, honestly, 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.160 it's been sort of plaguing me all week, and and 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:49.480 it's been mentioned by a Mere Garrett, a former guest 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.440 on the show as well, and a sort of roundabout 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:54.160 way on Instagram. But one part I can't shake it 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.520 involves Ian bringing up sort of a good old boy 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.240 culture that exists in baseball, and what he describes is 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.760 quote unquote white rules to the sport. Don't have fun, 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.320 don't pimp home runs, don't play with with your character, 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:07.800 don't do anything fancy. It's kind of the opposite of 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.599 what the NBA has sort of found popularity within. And 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.360 it started to hit me that this eye for an eye. 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:15.360 You know, you you throw your bat, you get hit 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.719 or it feels kind of racial, and it obviously did 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.400 to Ian Desmond as well. What did you take out 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.319 of that angle on it? Yeah, I mean there are 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.680 some unwritten rules to this game and to this sport 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:30.160 that we play in. There's so many rules that are unwritten, 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:34.520 so many things and uh, so many creeds and guidelines 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.120 that that you know, that that you're a part of 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.439 and that you have to be taught in this game. 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.520 And you know, there are a lot of the there's 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.280 ways that they people take things. They take things too 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.120 different ways, you know. You know, I definitely like to 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:50.840 look at it. And you know, Adam Jones has said 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:53.760 this before as well. He said, Uh, if I if 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.280 I get mad or if I throw my back, um, 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:00.000 I get heated in the situation, I'm being angry. Um. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:01.760 But they said, you know, if there was a white 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:05.120 guy who does the same thing, he's being the gamer, um, 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.920 you know. And he was like, and there are certain 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:11.360 situations like that where you do see two different sides 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.959 taken in two different ways even though there's two people 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.120 doing the same thing. And that does happen in this game. Uh. 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.200 And the unwritten rules in this game that we feel 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:23.240 like we have to abide by and um, at the 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.719 same time, I just feel, you know, there's there's there 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:28.840 needs to be changing it, and there needs to be 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.640 an understanding of what we're talking about in ways that 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:34.640 we need to go about it here, coming from here 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.040 and moving forward in the future. Yeah, I mean I 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.560 thought about you know, the Yankees came to mind. You 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.480 played there obviously, the shaving of the beard, requirements, not 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.120 overshadowing the jersey, letting that kind of be the star. Uh. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.280 You know, this morning before we talked, the Yankees organization 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.200 said that they look forward to sort of the Black 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.760 Lives Matter movement showing itself in the game. It's difficult 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:58.000 for me to accept those rules in even the shaving 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.160 of the beard, which seems so miniscule, but it's like 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:04.319 the individualism of baseball and and the issues with black 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:08.160 representation in the league. It seems like they're not catering 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.280 to what maybe the black community might be looking for 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.400 in baseball back in the day with Ken Griffey Jr. 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.439 And people me and you looked up to. Yeah, I mean, 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:17.840 it was definitely a great organization to her part of 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:20.720 you know, to to gon those Finch tribes. For me, 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:22.440 it was an honor. It was it was something that 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:26.080 I felt I would never have the opportunity to do so, 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.840 even though it's the same game Um, you definitely feel 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:33.320 a sense of you know, like you feel a little 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.840 more in a sit powerful when you put that uniform on. 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:40.480 But um, yeah, those policies shaving and U let New 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:43.560 Jersey speak for ourselves. UM, I definitely do think it 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:47.320 takes away for them from our individualism. Um as players 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:51.800 and as people. Um, we we experienced ourselves in different ways. 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:53.800 For me, when when I was on the Pirates and 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:57.040 me having my dreadlocks, I'd be blind to you if 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:58.840 I said, if I had to go to the we 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:00.920 got traded over to the Yankees, and I said, you 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.880 gotta shave your hair. You know, for me, that was 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.319 a very tough thing to do because that was who 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.360 I was. That's that's how I expressed myself. That's who 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:14.680 made me Andrew McCutcheon, That's how people notice who I was. Um, 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:18.040 you know, it made me unique. Um So UM, I 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.920 think especially in this year, the year of I think, um, 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.160 you know, I just feel like these these things are 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.680 it should be things that people should take at heart 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.280 and realize that, you know, we we have a way 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:34.280 of expressing ourselves in different ways. And I definitely feel 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:36.640 like maybe there should be some change there in the 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.760 in the future who knows when. But yeah, it those 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.079 are just one of the many things, um, in this 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:46.120 game that I feel, um that just that just needs 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:47.840 it needs to be talked about, It needs to be addressed. 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:49.920 I mean, what can we do? So so Desmond brings 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.360 up only one black GM two black managers, now less 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.160 than eight percent black players. I'm a forty year old 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.200 who idolized. I mean I was laying in bed last 0:12:57.240 --> 0:12:59.400 night sort of thinking over this interview. I was thinking 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.400 of the Dwight It into the Darryl Strawberries, the Ken 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:05.160 Griffy's obviously even down to the Kevin Mitchell year in 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:08.160 the Giants, Like these guys, we were top of their game. 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:12.280 What happened? It seems like a trickle down from from 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:15.120 the front office down that that that the African American 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:18.640 culture just hasn't gravitated towards baseball. Yeah, you know, you 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.280 don't have to try and pinpoint this. And believe me, 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.040 I've been trying to pinpoint this for quite some time 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.680 and quite from the years now. Um, the game in itself, 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.160 because I remember I had guys who I admired as 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:31.800 a little kid when I sat down in front of 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:33.840 the TV and I would watch someone who looked like 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:37.240 me and someone who I wanted to play the game, 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:41.160 like being someone like King gerse Jr. Watching him play 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:43.640 this game with a flare that stood out amongst so 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.559 many other people. You know, I wasn't looking at his 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.079 color as a young kid. I wasn't saying because he's black, 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:50.600 like I have a chance. I was just looking at 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.160 him because he just was different and he played the 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.000 game with a flare that no one had, and for 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.560 me that that resonated with me because I wanted to 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.280 do that same thing as a kid. So I tried 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.000 to emulate him in so many ways. And I just 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:07.720 feel like with the game now, you know, there there's 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:10.760 so many, so many different outlets. And I and I 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.800 talked about this before in an article UM talking about 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.560 the game and the access to the games, the amount 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:19.720 of money that has to be spent, and realizing that 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:22.360 it is so hard for families to be able to 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:26.960 provide for UH kids, especially kids of color Um inter 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.200 city kids, kids of families that are making lower income, 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:33.680 that this game has just become a game that is expensive, 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:38.560 so it it kicks those kids out at a certain point, 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:41.200 it kicks them out to where they can't keep continuing 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.520 to to play this game if they want exposure, uh, 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:46.680 if they want to be on these teams that are 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:50.000 that are the teams to be a part of. Um, 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:51.920 it gets to a point that where there's a line 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.320 that they can't cross because it just the game just 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.800 becomes too expensive, the accessibility of it becomes too hard. 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.280 So I think that's just what happened over time, is 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:04.640 you know, these these games, the tournaments, these teams is 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:08.120 starting to cater to an upper class of people who 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:12.440 can afford to to play the game and uh, to 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:15.840 be able to to make it further and to be seen. Um, 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.320 it just starts to cater to a certain class. So 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:21.920 I think that's what's starting to happen. Honestly, that's just 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.400 one of the things. And we know the statistics, especially 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.320 in black families. You know, the single family home is 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.040 pretty big in the black family, in the black in 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:33.120 the black community, and um, it's hard for those fams 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.120 still provide for those kids to play this game. After 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.400 this more with Philadelphia Phillies All Star outfielder Andrew McCutcheon. 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:47.240 Right now, Feeding America is working tirelessly to ensure our 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.120 most vulnerable populations like students who are out of school, 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.520 the elderly individuals whose jobs are impacted, and low income 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:56.640 families continue to have access to food and other needed 0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:00.240 resources during the COVID nineteen pandemic. The Feeding America Food 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.040 Bank Network is committed to serving communities and people facing 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:05.920 hunger in America, and their greatest need is donations and 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:09.120 support of local food banks. This podcast is committed to 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.400 donating a portion of the proceeds from the show to 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:13.640 Feeding America and we hope that you can join us 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.840 in this effort to find out how you can help 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:26.400 Feeding America dot org backslash COVID nineteen. Now let's get 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.720 back to Andrew. You going back this season. You know, 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.400 whatever it ends up being in obviously, Black Lives Matter 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:35.680 will still be on the minds of of of players. 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:39.200 And you know, no one would ever call baseball you know, 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:41.920 a kind of friendly nature when it comes to politics. 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:43.480 I mean, we said the same thing about NASCAR, and 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.560 they look great right now. There's a lot of progression there. 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:48.080 Do you expect to walk into a locker room that 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.440 understands what's went on the last few months? Yes, And 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:53.880 though I feel that there will be some people that 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.920 understand it, um, but I do feel that it needs 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.520 to continue to be talked about. And with the amount 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.440 of African Americans that are in this game being that 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.960 it is only not even eight percent, that it's something 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:09.720 that will if we don't talk about it, it will 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.680 easily be swept under a road. So it's just because 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:16.879 it's just we don't have many people that represent us 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.520 in this game, and you know, there aren't and there's 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:21.760 some guys who aren't in my position. You know, there's 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.000 some guys who feel you know, they may want to 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:25.920 say something or speak up or talk about it, but 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:27.520 at the same time they don't. They don't want to 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.560 feel that the oversteps in their boundaries or feel like 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.280 they're making people uncomfortable considering that they're they're one of 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:38.520 maybe three African Americans in the clubhouse if that um So, 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:43.160 if it's not addressed amongst the team or the clubhouse, 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.399 then it's something that more than likely won't be talked about. 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.360 And so it takes people like myself and and others 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:52.720 in this game to be able to speak up and 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.679 to be able to make this a public um and 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:58.679 not just in the in clubhouses from one team to 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:01.280 the other, hoping that these things that happened if we 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.880 don't make them happen, and more than likely you won't. Yeah, 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:05.920 I hope. I hope to see baseball of all that way. 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:08.320 Truly as a fan. I it has bothered me in 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:09.919 the past, and I think this is the time for 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.160 a lot of sports to finally face it. I wanted 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:14.679 to ask kind of in closing, and then I'll do 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:16.879 a fun little game with you about Uncle Larry, some 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.680 questions I have about him. With with COVID numbers rising, 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.919 guys like Desmond making the decisions and woman still on 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.800 the fence, have you questioned returning at all? Um, They're 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.400 definitely had more times where I question returning. Um myself 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:33.600 considering my family and knowing the difficulties of the season 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:35.720 and how it's gonna be. Um, you know, my family 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.480 is gonna have to She's been my my wife and 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.600 she's gonna have to uproot her the kids and move 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.960 from one place to the other. After we've already moved, 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:46.640 you know, a couple of times already this year. So 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:50.159 that's gonna be difficult in itself. Um. So there's so 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.760 many different variables that go along with this season. But 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.879 I love the game and you know, I haven't played 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.160 since June fourth last year, and you know, I want 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:02.840 to play this game as much as possible because I 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:06.040 know there's a time that's gonna come where you know, 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:09.520 I won't be playing anymore. So, you know, with all 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:11.800 of that, and we're thinking things through, I was, you know, 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:13.960 we made the decision that you know that this is 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:16.639 something you know that I want to do. And my 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.720 wife m of course, she she supports that. And yeah, 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:23.160 I mean I thought about it at first, but after 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:26.159 talking about it and really going over things, Uh, this 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:28.760 decision that we made and we feel, um, we feel 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:30.919 good about it. Great. Well, I wanted to play a 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:33.360 game with you, something I feel passionate about. If that's cool. 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:36.000 It's called would Uncle Larry? Okay, I'm gonna give you 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:38.560 some situations and you tell me if Uncle Larry would 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.560 or would not do this thing? Is that cool with you? Okay, 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:43.480 let's go all right, here we go. My number one, 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.679 would uncle Larry ask for someone's phone number at a 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:54.439 family reunion? Uh? Yeah, it depends, It depends on it 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:56.840 depends on what he gets out of the out of 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:00.400 the deal. But it's always it's always all about him, Okay. 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.919 Would Uncle Larry order a whopper at McDonald's and then 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.120 laugh at his own joke for twenty minutes, even though 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:11.520