WEBVTT - Jon Lester joins the show for a player’s perspective on the Wrigley Field experience 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:10.280 Welcome into Northside Territory File Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:13.440 Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney, and if you're 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:16.319 watching us on YouTube, you see that we have a 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:22.480 third host with us a guest today, John Lester, world champion, 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:28.200 multiple world champion, John Lester. Thanks so much for joining us. John, 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:33.120 How are you doing. How's the ten year reunion stuff going? 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:35.720 How how crazy has this year been so far? And 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.080 are you looking forward to getting back to Wrigley and 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:39.040 being honored soon. 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:41.800 Yeah, it's been great. 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:44.519 I mean we obviously started off with a bang in 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.199 January with the Cubs con and all that stuff, and 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:50.760 it's great to get back and see the guys and 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:52.960 you know, get up to Chicago and all that stuff. 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:55.440 So Cubs have done a great job with all that 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:59.240 stuff obviously, and you know, I look forward to getting 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:00.000 up there in a few weeks. 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.160 I got a busy few weeks with. 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:05.560 With kids, travel baseball, and then becoming in hot to 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:09.120 the to the to the reunion on the seventeenth or 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:10.200 eighteenth whenever it is. 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.319 Yeah, that travel baseball, you're in your life, but I 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.000 know that, go ahead. 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:19.959 Patrick, Yeah, I was gonna say, what's your your UBER 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:21.880 rating now as a driver? 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:24.800 Still so five? 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:28.840 No, no, it's far from five star. I think if 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:32.160 they could, they'd give me negatives. I haven't even got 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:33.040 to zero yet. 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:36.800 It's bad. 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:43.800 We you know, we we we've been looking to have 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.400 you know, a former Cups player on and you know, 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:50.400 to do this more more regularly. And you know, we 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:54.120 thought of you as a great fit because you know, 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.360 people asked us like, oh, what's what's so and so like, 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.560 and you know, obviously you had a great reputation with 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.320 people behind the scenes and side. And I would laugh 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:05.559 about is like, you know, you'd be in the clubhouse 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:08.639 and you'd always have your game face on and if 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:10.480 one of us will go up to to like, hey 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.240 you got a minute, and sometimes you'd be like. 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:14.320 What you got? 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:16.400 Like you know, like you know, you're always in a hurry, 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:20.119 and then we'd wind up talking for like twenty minutes 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.360 almost every time. And you know, I was wondering, you know, 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.600 looking at this, you know kind of ten year reunion, 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.680 do you think do you or do people maybe appreciate 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.280 it a little more? Like how how hard it was? 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.520 I feel like, you know, those last several years in Chicago, 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:43.000 it was like, you know, when's the next one gonna happen? 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:44.360 And I think you kind of really, I don't know, 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:46.799 I certainly came away from it like just how hard 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:48.560 it is to do what you guys did. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.960 Yeah, I mean I think that was kind of repeated 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:54.840 in the clubhouse from the players a lot. You know, 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:58.760 after sixteen, you know, we we'd make a run and 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.280 then come up short, and seventeen and eighteen, and you 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.600 know even in nineteen and you know, you realize that 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.840 to get to that, to that end game, the end 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.079 of the season game where you know, trophies on the line, 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.000 it's very difficult and a lot of things have to 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:15.640 go your way. 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:18.000 You know. 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.799 Obviously a topic of today will be injuries. I mean, 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:25.160 you need to be pretty injury free for the majority 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.120 of that year with your you know, kind of your 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.280 core guys, and not to take away from you know, 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:34.480 maybe the platoon guys or the guys that maybe don't 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.360 get as much attention on a day to day basis, 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:40.800 because you definitely need those guys as well. But when 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.120 your core guys are hurt, it makes that run even 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.880 harder and then you need a little bit of luck 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:47.920 you know, you need to get hot at the right time. 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:50.600 You need your pictures to you need you need your 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.400 pitchers and your hitters to be you know, to be 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:58.080 linked up and en rolling at the right times, especially 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:01.080 in the playoffs, you know, And that's a that's a big, 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.840 big part of it. Yeah, man, it's hard. It's not easy. 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.080 If it was easy, you would see the same team 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:09.560 winning every year, or the same teams winning every year. 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.760 But luckily that's not the case. You get new new 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:13.920 contenders in there every year. 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:20.240 John. Obviously, your career with the Cubs was was special 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.000 and and you had a lot of highs. I was 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.719 just looking at the numbers. Uh, you did get off 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.640 to that slow start when you signed the big contract. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.240 You come to a new city, a lot of pressure obviously. 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:33.800 Uh. 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.760 You figured it out pretty quickly though, but that first month, 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:39.839 I don't I mean, I remember the slow start, I 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:44.640 don't remember the fan reaction quite as much, but kind 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.120 of Yeah, can you kind of talk about the the 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:51.560 pressure you felt, the idea of Obviously we were watching 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.760 Alex Bregman struggle right now, A huge contract, huge pressure, 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.200 all that stuff that's happened that probably happened to you. 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:01.400 Different guy, different situation, but still, uh, maybe there was 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.120 more pressure on you because it was about like lifting 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.800 this curse and being part of, like being this huge 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.400 key to THEO and Jed's plan to break this curse 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:13.599 in Chicago or whatever you want to call it long drought, 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.120 if you don't want to call it a curse, Yeah, 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.880 can you can you kind of describe walk us through 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.919 the emotions and what you were feeling in that first 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:25.520 month when things weren't going the way you wanted and 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.280 you know how good you can be and it just 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.840 wasn't happening on the field at that point in time. 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:34.600 Yeah, I mean, I think for a picture it gets 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.799 a little harder. You know, at least a position player, 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:39.760 you get to get in there every night and try 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:46.400 to right the ship. I guess. Yeah, I mean that 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:48.840 first month was probably one of the longest months I've 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.080 ever I've ever had in the big leagues. You know, 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:57.000 you I wanted the season. I wanted the season total 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:01.400 numbers in April as opposed to just doing what I've 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:03.760 always kind of said in my career is like, hey, 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.240 if I just do my job every five days, show up, 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:10.200 pitch the innings, and give my team a chance win, 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:11.840 then the numbers will be fine at the end of 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:12.240 the year. 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.960 And you know, you lose sight sometimes of. 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:20.479 Who you are and what you've done in the track 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:24.480 record and that sort of thing. So I think for Bregman, 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:26.400 I don't want to speak for him. I don't know 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.720 him very well. I've met him a few times. I 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.440 think he might just be pressing a little bit, uh, 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:37.919 you know, and wanting wanting to be bragman, wanting to 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:40.880 hit you know, whatever that two seventy to two ninety 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.320 with twenty five thirty homers or whatever he's hit the 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.760 last couple of years. You know, he wants to hit 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.200 that four run homer or the four home runs before 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:52.560 his first at bat. Like I said, I don't want 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:54.680 to speak for him. I don't know what he's going through. 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:56.520 He may be banged up a little bit. We don't 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.880 know that, but you know, I know he's definitely out 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:02.440 there grinding and he's definitely, you know, giving it everything 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.919 he has. That doesn't make the fans any happier, you know, 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:10.440 they want a product, you know, but hopefully he can 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:13.040 he can kind of hold on and that where he's 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.040 at right now, and then maybe we get hot here 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.760 in the next month or so, and you know, beat 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:20.680 bragman like numbers towards. 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:23.440 The end of the season. Yeah, that's absolutely the hope. 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:27.040 Let's Patrick, Let's take a quick break before we get 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:27.960 back to John. 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:33.240 Here he see Geek is MLB's official ticket marketplace, and 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:37.640 in addition to finding every single game on the MLB calendar, 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:39.760 there are big events coming up soon. 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.320 There's an All Star game. 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Because 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:44.760 on the position player side, Bregman, you know, Jed was 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:46.880 obsessed with this guy for a couple of free agent 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.400 cycles in the same way that you know THEA one said, 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.520 I was ready to soak myself and dear your and 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:57.800 to sign John Lester, Like what did what? What did 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:01.880 like you know, when you're kind of going home at 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:04.160 night or leaving the park or you know, showing up 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.199 every day, how did you kind of just push through 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.120 it and let your like natural talents come out. 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:14.840 I think Rossie was a big part of that. We 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.120 had a I know we were at home. I don't 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:21.200 remember what start it was, but he came in and 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:23.680 he yelled at me and was like, hey man, you 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.920 know you can't pitch the seventh inning before the first inning. 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.560 You know you need to you need to relax, you 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:34.880 need to you know, not worry about you know, it's 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.640 easier said than done when it's not you, right, like 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.240 when Rossie's yelling at me, he's not worried about living 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:42.440 up to one hundred and fifty five million dollars, you know. 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:46.480 So the biggest line, the biggest line that I took from, 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:50.040 you know, the whole interaction was he's like, hey, listen, 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.600 if you suck, then I get taken out of the game. 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:56.439 So I want my third at bat. And I was like, well, 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:57.360 that's okay. 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:01.480 I mean, it's allid point, so you know, that kind 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:06.000 of relaxed and just realize like, hey, we've done this. 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:09.760 It's it's it's not hard to just go out and 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:13.240 compete and quit worrying about living up to six years 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:15.880 before we've even gotten to the first month. And that 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:19.240 was the biggest The biggest thing for me was just 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:23.240 trying to you know, I didn't want to be everybody. 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:25.320 You know, when I signed a deal, everybody's talking about 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:26.320 what was it going to be a bust? 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:27.480 Or is it going to be this? Is it going 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.400 to be that? And you definitely or I definitely didn't 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:31.160 want to be the bust. 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:35.920 So I think that was just the added pressure of Okay, 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.520 I want to make sure that THEO gets rewarded for 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:42.680 this contract and Tom and the city of Chicago, and. 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.000 It's a it's a lot, it's a it's a lot 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:44.760 of added things. 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:49.520 And you know, once we had that conversation, it kind 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.520 of really relaxed me. And I think in the next 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.320 that was towards the end of April. I believe in 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.240 the next couple of weeks I got my first win there, 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.320 and then it was kind of like, all right, say, 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:01.360 once you get the out of the way, you know, 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:03.800 you kind of settle in as a pitcher. I know 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:07.600 as a hitter it's probably a little bit different, but yeah, 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:13.800 I mean it's hard. It's it's you as a competitor. 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.680 And I know Bregman enough and competed against him enough. 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:17.160 I know that. 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:20.000 You know, he's down there grind and he's working and 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.680 he's trying to figure it out. You know, I see 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:25.959 watch games and see highlights and stuff, and I mean 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.120 he's not giving up defensively, he's still making great plays. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.600 You know, he's saving runs that way, So he's at 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:37.280 least you know, he's giving you everything he has, even 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:39.840 though he's not really hitting to the bragman status, right now. 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:44.439 Yeah, So with as April wrapped up of the twenty 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:47.680 fifteen you had an ERA over six May. First you 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.800 made a start, you went seven shutout against the Brewers, 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:52.800 and from that point on you had a sub three 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:58.120 ERA for that season. I think everyone who remembers your 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.240 career with the Cubs knows how like you had a 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:05.920 great twenty fifteen overall, so that that April quickly got 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.600 put in the rear rear view mirror. That was a 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:12.320 pretty impressive Cubs career as far as anyone's concerned. And 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.920 with one of the things that is a holdover from 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:20.319 that time, one of the people that's currently with the 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.200 club is Tommy Hotteby. He was kind of behind the 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.560 scenes back then. But the Cubs love to kind of 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:30.000 trumpet their pitching infrastructure. They've done a good job. They've 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.720 built out a good group of guys, obviously different from 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:39.440 you know, you had Chris Bosio and different people behind 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:43.520 the scenes helping you guys out, but Tommy was there 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:47.920 obviously rose to a different role now pitching coach. I'm 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:52.400 curious what you saw behind the scenes from Tommy, what 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:55.640 what kind of helped, whether it was younger guys, I know, 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.079 you and I've had chats about how much the group 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:03.560 helped out Kyle Hendricks and what he figured out in that. 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.600 I believe it was the twenty sixteen season when he 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:10.040 really figured some things out. But how important are the 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:14.520 behind the scenes things that are going on? Especially nowadays? 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:19.360 It feels like a decade ago it maybe wasn't, as 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.080 you know, it didn't impact pitching as much as it 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.800 does now. It seems like there's so much more that 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:30.120 pitchers go through and can the tiniest things with whether 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:33.640 it's you know, all the info that they have, all 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:35.560 the tech that they have, it seems like they can 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.640 tweak everything and maybe change things quicker than they used 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:41.640 to back in the day. But what did you see 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:43.240 from Tommy in that group. 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:48.120 Thing with him? 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:50.240 As he was always prepared, You knew what you were 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:55.200 getting from him as far as the information you know, 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:57.240 and to your point, I want to hit on it 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:02.280 before I get sidetracked. But the analytical side of pitching 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:05.760 has gotten as far as and you know, I know 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.800 I was hard headed when I played about the analytical 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.600 side of pitches. And you know, okay, if you throw 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.160 this pitch in this zone, it has this percentage of 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:16.240 getting hit or whatever. 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:18.040 I didn't like that aspect of it. 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.320 But on the mechanical side of the of the pitching now, 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:24.960 with the analytical and the biomechanics and all the stuff 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:28.120 that these guys have access to, I think would have 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.560 been huge for me just being a mechanical and a 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.480 field person in that aspect, you know, to be able 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:35.800 to go, okay, well, my. 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:38.600 Landing foot is. 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:43.760 X degrees open when I land, and as good of 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:47.560 a pitching coaches there are in the big leagues, you 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.640 can't tell that it's you know, one degree open when 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.000 you land right. So now you have that information, you 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:55.560 have a baseline. You can go back and be like, 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:57.440 all right, well this is what's causing me to be 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:00.360 a little bit rotational, or this is why my utters 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:04.760 flat or whatever. So I do like that aspect of 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:08.360 where the technology of the game is gone. You know, 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.320 as far as the people behind the scenes, I think 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.000 that they don't get enough credit for the time I 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.840 put in. You know, they're there before the players, they're 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:21.520 there after the players. The life that they live is 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:25.560 is beyond demanding that you know, hardly get any praise 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:29.040 for what you know, what they do when the players 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:31.120 don't perform, they're the first ones to get fired. And 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:34.200 you know that kind of is that that whole hierarchy 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.280 of of things that you know, I don't necessarily agree with, 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:41.680 but we won't go down that road anyway. Yeah, I mean, 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:45.400 I like, I think Tommy crazy part is is you know, 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:47.560 you're you're getting towards the end of your career when 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:50.200 you're you know, your coaches are guys you played with, 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.760 you know, so that was a little you know, even 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.080 when Rossi was there, that was a little weird, you know, 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:00.360 having somebody that I competed against and with that is 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.440 now telling you, you know, what to do and what 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:05.240 pitches to throw and and all that aspect of it. 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.280 But you know, I think I think he's done a 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.800 great job with that whole analytical side of of you know, 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.360 hot and cold zones and how where to attack guys. 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:18.160 And you know, like I said, to go back to 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:20.520 my original point, prepared. If you know a coach is 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:25.320 prepared and giving you even if you don't necessarily fully 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:27.640 agree with the information he's given you, you know that 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:30.280 he's put in the time and the effort, and that 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.280 makes your decision, you know, making process out on the 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:34.320 mound a little bit easier. 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:38.440 Yeah, I do think that's kind of a The cups 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:42.520 have changed a little lot obviously since since you were there, John, 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.840 But I think some of that pitching stuff kind of 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:51.240 what Mike Borsello and Chris Bosio you know, started. Yeah, 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.960 obviously that helped get the trade. Yeah, it's very, very 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.520 very old school. But I think that and uh and 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:03.160 the and the the great defense as well. I think 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.640 that was one of the big takeaways from twenty sixteen 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:09.160 of like how how they've built this team. It's obviously, 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:15.520 you know, haven't reached the same heights yet, but they 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:17.720 catch the ball, if they throw the ball, they make 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:22.080 through team plays, they make the spectacular plays, and that 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:24.160 that usually plays. 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:27.520 Yeah. I mean that. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.480 As a pitcher, when you know that, you know, especially 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.919 in a Wrigley or really in that division, with the 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:39.760 exception of maybe Saint Louis, you know, they're not exactly 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:43.080 easy places to pitch, uh, you know, as far as 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:45.800 dimensions and and the way the ball flies and all 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.600 that stuff. But when you're at Wrigley and you know 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.920 that if the ball's hit there's a likelihood that we're 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.199 going to get an out, that's a that's a reassuring 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.560 feeling on the mound, you know. And to your point, 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.240 I mean, you look at the defense. I mean we 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:03.960 we had Hobby Bys on the bench a lot of 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.520 the games, you know, for whatever reason. 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.320 And this guy is probably one of the best defensive. 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:15.040 Multi position players that you'll that you'll see, so that, 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:16.560 I mean, that just goes to show you the depth 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.399 of what we had, uh, you know, on the field. 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:24.080 So yeah, I mean defense, You know, defense wins championships. 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.040 You know, your your offense is going to go through 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.240 ups and downs throughout the season, and so is your pitching. 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:34.000 But defense, if they stay steadfast and keep making those plays. 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:38.160 You know, I always said, I don't I don't necessarily 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:39.160 need the flashy play. 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:40.240 I need the routine play. 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.920 And if you had guys on a team that make 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:48.719 routine plays day after day after day, that's just going 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:50.919 to keep you know, adding up to those outs, and 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:54.040 the faster you get, you know, to to twenty seven 0:18:54.080 --> 0:19:00.159 outs usually means that you've won that game. So you 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:02.160 know that that's that was a big proponent of mind. 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:04.240 I try to tell my my middle school guys that 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:07.760 I've been helping out down here, you know, Hey, guys, 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:11.440 just I don't care about you know, getting the necessarily, 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.160 I want to teach you guys how to play baseball. 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:16.000 But at the same time, you know, turning a double 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:20.199 play at their age is is a little difficult. You know, 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.920 you don't always have to go for the lead runner. 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.280 Just get out because if you guys get out, the 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:28.399 other team's defense isn't as good as you guys. 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:29.160 You're going to hit. 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:31.160 You know, you're going to drive in more runs, You're 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:34.320 going to be on the offensive sides. So you know, 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:36.080 at the end of the day, just continue to get 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:38.120 out and usually things work out. 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:41.119 All right, let's take a quick break. I got a 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:44.560 question about the rollercoaster like season that the Cubs are having. 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.480 This episode is brought to you by FanDuel Baseball Fans. 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.439 The MLB season is in full swing and FanDuel is 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.360 giving you a chance to call your shot with daily dingers. 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:00.960 Joining the action is easy. 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Restrictions apply, including any token expiration 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.680 and max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook dot FanDuel 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.280 dot com. Gambling problem caller Tex one eight hundred gambler. 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:53.359 John, I remember John Lackey would grumble at us and 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:55.920 tell us, you guys act like it's one hundred and 0:20:55.960 --> 0:21:00.320 sixty two seasons, but it was. I'm glad glad he 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:02.520 said that because it sticks in my head and it 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:06.639 makes it it really like makes me remember, you know, 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:10.959