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Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are

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Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. If

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Speaker 1: anyone thought coming up to Canada eating some poutine whatever, Hell,

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Speaker 1: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I hope you're enjoying Canada more than yeah, it is not.

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Speaker 1: It has not helped the Cubs to go to another country.

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Speaker 1: The offense still lost. I have no clue how to

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Speaker 1: explain what's happened here in simple terms, Well, in simple

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Speaker 1: terms that you could just say it's baseball, but I

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Speaker 1: I don't know, like, this is this offense has disappeared

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Speaker 1: yet again, you can't just I don't think there's an

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Speaker 1: easy explanation as far as well, this is what the

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Speaker 1: Cubs do. You added one of the best players in baseball,

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Speaker 1: and still here we are in the midst of a funk.

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Speaker 3: Ah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, this is this is getting rough to watch, and

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Speaker 1: it's getting it's feeling eerily similar to years past where

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Speaker 1: we're like, oh, it's gonna it'll end, it's gonna be fine,

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Speaker 1: and you just kind of wait for that moment.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think in our coverage and on our show here,

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Speaker 2: we try to be reasonable, We try to be measured.

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Speaker 2: We try not to overreact or ride the roller coaster,

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Speaker 2: as you know many players like to say over the years,

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Speaker 2: but there are also times where you have to sound

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Speaker 2: the alarm bells, and I think it is now, it

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Speaker 2: is now time to do that. That we have we

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Speaker 2: have seen enough, there's enough information, there's enough history. Frankly

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Speaker 2: kind of lingering in the back of everyone's heads that

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Speaker 2: this level of performance is unacceptable and that the negativity

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Speaker 2: is really kind of enveloping this team right now. Before

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Speaker 2: we get into that, I'm just curious, like, what is

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Speaker 2: kind of the atmosphere or the mood in the club's

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Speaker 2: clubhouse in Toronto. I know they're not necessarily going to

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Speaker 2: panic the way that others on the outside might, but

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Speaker 2: it also seems like just watching them play, seeing the

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Speaker 2: moments of frustration, listen to some of their answers, reading

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Speaker 2: your stories, that like it is seeping in now that

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Speaker 2: they like they ya, this has gone wrong.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, PCA didn't have a lot to say. You know,

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Speaker 1: he struck out in a big moment basis loaded two outs.

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Speaker 1: I believe it was the seventh inning, they're down four

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Speaker 1: to one. That's where, like you know, the first two

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Speaker 1: three months of the season, he was coming ruin those moments.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I don't even want to act like he

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Speaker 1: he's he had a bad July. July was his best

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Speaker 1: month offensively. So you know he's been coming through in

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Speaker 1: those moments more often than not any and he hasn't

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Speaker 1: in the last you know, ten days. And it was

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't describe him as I would. You know, you've

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Speaker 1: seen him in those moments. He's not the most he's

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Speaker 1: not going to elaborate, he's not going to he's pretty grumpy.

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Speaker 1: And that was PCA council. It was pretty you know, straightforward.

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Speaker 1: We're not gonna we're not gonna pout. We can't, you know,

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Speaker 1: we just gotta. He knows this offense is good and

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Speaker 1: it'll hit. That's kind of been his matra during these

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Speaker 1: past ten days and he's sticking to it. There's no

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Speaker 1: woe is me, I believe was a quote, and he's right.

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Speaker 1: You can't. If you're sitting there sulking in a dwelling

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Speaker 1: on it, then what's the point Danzy? I think is

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Speaker 1: usually the best in these moments he gives a pretty

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Speaker 1: you know, he expounds well and he and he's pretty honest,

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Speaker 1: and he said yeah. I asked him, you know, is

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Speaker 1: there any chance anybody's tight up there? Like you guys

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Speaker 1: don't hit for a week and then and then does

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Speaker 1: that happen? Is that real or is that something we

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Speaker 1: project onto you guys? He's like, no, it's kind of

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Speaker 1: human nature. You see guys struggling, you want to step up,

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Speaker 1: and maybe that makes you a little like that you

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Speaker 1: put pressure on yourself. I also ask like, is there

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Speaker 1: anything you can do, like, you know, is there like

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Speaker 1: do you do team meeting or do you do the opposite?

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Speaker 1: Do you forget about baseball? Do you go off and

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Speaker 1: like enjoy Toronto tomorrow? Like what is it? And he's like,

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Speaker 1: we do all those things. He's like, we we have

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Speaker 1: a meeting every before, like there's a hitters meeting before

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Speaker 1: every series, and we talk and we we're good about that.

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Speaker 1: We're we're a team that talks a lot. And he's like,

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Speaker 1: and we also are close. He's like, that's what The

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Speaker 1: play rides are full, the bus rides get team dinners.

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Speaker 1: He's like, maybe we need to He's like, maybe you're right,

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Speaker 1: maybe we need to switch it up, maybe we need

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Speaker 1: to push a different button. But he's like, but it's

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Speaker 1: not like I think sometimes people will like project their

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Speaker 1: anger onto this team, onto their team that they're rooting

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Speaker 1: for when they're not going well and say they don't care,

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Speaker 1: they're not trying. None of that is true. We know that, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: we know that they care. We know that they're trying.

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Speaker 1: They're not executing, they're not getting the job done. That's

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Speaker 1: the bottom line.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought last night that clip of Kyle Tucker

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Speaker 2: just flinging his helmet into the dugout was like a

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Speaker 2: like an eye opening sequence there of like when even

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Speaker 2: he is feeling it and expressing it in that way,

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Speaker 2: it was it was kind of I mean, shocking is

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Speaker 2: too strong a word, which is very surprising after knowing

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Speaker 2: his reputation in Houston, seeing how he handled everything his first,

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Speaker 2: you know, introduction to the Cubs, his first few months

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Speaker 2: in Chicago. He's kind of the classic guy to just

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Speaker 2: kind of drop his helmet, take off his batting glove.

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Speaker 2: Just kind of very very smooth player, a very calm,

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Speaker 2: even keel player. And when he does that like that,

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Speaker 2: to me symbolized a lot of what's going on with

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Speaker 2: his team, and I think a lot of the angst

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Speaker 2: and angers, not even just with this team, it's just

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Speaker 2: kind of an organization thing. And it's also a you know,

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Speaker 2: several year sort of window here of thoughts creep back

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Speaker 2: into people's heads of how the team faded the last

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Speaker 2: couple of years, the missed opportunities after the twenty sixteen

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Speaker 2: World Series, just like all of it for a brand

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Speaker 2: like the Cubs and a CEA like Chicago just gets magnified.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it stood out to us too, and we didn't

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Speaker 1: see it, or at least we didn't notice it live,

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Speaker 1: but then there was that video. And what we did

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Speaker 1: notice was when I say we, I mean the reporters

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Speaker 1: out in Toronto, we did see Tucker hitting on the

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Speaker 1: field before the game, which he doesn't do. That's not

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Speaker 1: something that happens very often. So they're trying different things.

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Speaker 1: I mean, he's trying. It's not like he's just sticking

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Speaker 1: with the tried and true methods. He's trying to figure

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Speaker 1: it out. So he's putting in some work. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: that that was an interesting scene. You don't see that

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Speaker 1: with him so frustration, I mean, and it's valid. He

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Speaker 1: didn't have good at bats yesterday, good results, you know,

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Speaker 1: I do, I don't. I do wonder if these like

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Speaker 1: with him specifically, like it is it pressing? Is it

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Speaker 1: is it? Is it the finger? Like if it's the finger,

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Speaker 1: then you got to figure out what to do about that.

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Speaker 1: You discuss a ten dayil I don't know. I don't

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Speaker 1: know with him, like I thought he was coming out

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Speaker 1: of it, maybe at some point in Saint Louis, not

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Speaker 1: that long ago, just a few days ago. Maybe yesterday

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Speaker 1: was just a bad day and we're overreacting to that.

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Speaker 1: But I'd like to you really want to see like

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Speaker 1: a stretch of him getting like, you know, a week

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Speaker 1: of just hitting the ball hard, whether the results come

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Speaker 1: or not, like line drives and fly balls hit hard

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Speaker 1: for a week and then you'll start to feel good.

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Speaker 1: And right now we're just not seeing that with him.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And obviously it goes without saying that Kyle Tucker's

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Speaker 2: going to be a free agent at the end of

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Speaker 2: this year, and there's been no signs or hopes that

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Speaker 2: the Cubs are going to extend him, and that there's

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Speaker 2: like real doubts about the organization's willingness or appetite to

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Speaker 2: extend him long term, and this year the Cubs did

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Speaker 2: not go all in, but there's a lot of was

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Speaker 2: a lot of urgency to it. And when your best

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Speaker 2: player goes really really quiet at a time when your

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Speaker 2: rival up north just gets crazy hot, like it's going

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Speaker 2: to be an issue. And you know it's not just

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Speaker 2: Tucker either, just a lot a lot of quiet at bats.

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Speaker 2: You know, Saya Suzuki has been a very good player

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Speaker 2: on some very forgettable Cubs teams. That's kind of been

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Speaker 2: and we have not seen that. We have not seen

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Speaker 2: him in October. We have not seen like a wired

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Speaker 2: to wire kind of dominant season. And there's time still

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Speaker 2: for him to get back to who he was earlier

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Speaker 2: this year. Certainly he has the talent for it. But

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Speaker 2: I think that's the question mark. We always knew Pete

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Speaker 2: crow Armstrong like probably wasn't gonna have like a fifty

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Speaker 2: to fifty season or whatever. So I think some of

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Speaker 2: that that's the one where like he's played so over

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Speaker 2: his head. I feel like like his production has gone

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Speaker 2: so far beyond what the Cubs could realistically hoped. I

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Speaker 2: think it's hard to get too worked up about that,

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Speaker 2: but it's like, yeah, it's it's Dansby, it's Seen Half,

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Speaker 2: it's you know, Michael Bush has had a really nice year,

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Speaker 2: but all of a sudden, you know, he he's slumping

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Speaker 2: a bit. And when you add all that together, it's

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Speaker 2: just like this team needs that because I still feel

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Speaker 2: like the bottom could really fall out still with pitching.

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Speaker 2: I know the pitching has been better like recently, but

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Speaker 2: pitching just always seems so fragile. That this team is

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Speaker 2: supposed to have this great foundation of position players and

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Speaker 2: it just has not shown up recently.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there were more moments where I thought like each

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Speaker 1: guy was kind of like coming out of it. Like

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Speaker 1: I said Tucker, I thought he had some hard hit

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Speaker 1: balls in Saint Louis, Like they were both singles, I believe,

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Speaker 1: but I was just like, okay, that's a good sign.

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Speaker 1: They were line drives. Michael Bush had that monster game

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Speaker 1: in Saint Louis. I believe it was. Yeah, the Saturday

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Speaker 1: in Saint Louis, say I had the final game of

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Speaker 1: the home stand, and you just thought, ah, here it

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Speaker 1: is okay, one of these guys is gonna get going,

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Speaker 1: and it just hasn't. It hasn't carried over to the

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Speaker 1: next day. All right, Patrick, let's take a quick break

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Speaker 1: and talk a little bit more about what's going on here.

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Speaker 1: Uh, Patrick, I was just we didn't really specifically talk

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Speaker 1: about yesterday's game. That's a Tuesday's game yet, but it

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Speaker 1: is kind of like I was talking to some of

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Speaker 1: the Toronto Beat writers, like Jose Barrios hasn't been that

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Speaker 1: great lately, kind of just you know, an OK pitcher.

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Speaker 1: He didn't have a good game, He didn't do anything

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Speaker 1: special and he held them scoreless. He you know, I

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Speaker 1: think the Cubs drew seven or eight walks by the

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Speaker 1: end of the day. They only had four hits all singles,

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Speaker 1: but they were oh for nine? Was it oh for

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Speaker 1: nine with the runners in scoring position or do they

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Speaker 1: get one hit? It was one for nine, left ten

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Speaker 1: men on, yeah, and seven walks four hits, Like you can't.

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Speaker 1: How do you draw seven walks and score one run?

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Speaker 1: Like this offense should be doing so much better. Uh,

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Speaker 1: that's that's the type of thing where they were beating

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Speaker 1: like what they did on Saturday against Saint Louis are

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Speaker 1: the types of things they just do. They'd been doing

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Speaker 1: earlier in the season against average pitchers average and below,

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Speaker 1: they really do well. It was the top of the

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Speaker 1: top pitching that they would, you know, have okay to

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Speaker 1: below average games against. And that's normal. It's completely normal, apparently,

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Speaker 1: except if hear the Milwaukee Brewers, who have kicked Paul

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Speaker 1: Skeinses but twice at American Family Field. What that team

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Speaker 1: is I think, I don't want to spin this and

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Speaker 1: act like there's no reason to be upset, but what

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Speaker 1: that team has done is making everything worse for the Cubs.

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Speaker 1: What the Brewers are doing is making this seem so

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Speaker 1: much worse the Cubs that here is the good news.

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Speaker 1: The Cubs are the top I think they're tied with

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Speaker 1: the Padres. End up winning last night. They did, so

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Speaker 1: they're tied top the well technically by percentage points. They're

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Speaker 1: in first place in the Wildcard. The Cubs are, but

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Speaker 1: the Padres and Dodgers are tied for first place in

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Speaker 1: the West, and then the Cubs are three and a

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Speaker 1: ha half games ahead of the Mets for the final

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Speaker 1: spot in the wildcard and five and a half games

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Speaker 1: ahead of the Reds to be out of the wildcard.

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Speaker 1: That's not you know, that's that's a pretty good spot

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Speaker 1: to be in all things considered. But they have, like

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Speaker 1: you it's I go back to what Jed said, one

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Speaker 1: other here's one other positive. They're not so we talk

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Speaker 1: about pressing, we talk about looking bad. I don't think

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Speaker 1: they are because they're swinging at the right pitches. I

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Speaker 1: like a lot. What we've seen in the past is

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Speaker 1: they get way out of sync and they just like chase, chase, chase,

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Speaker 1: and like the numbers bear it out. I remember looking

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Speaker 1: last year they were just like this team chases way

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Speaker 1: too much. And then they organized the strike zone and

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Speaker 1: they started hitting later in the season. They're not chasing.

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Speaker 1: They're one of the best teams when it comes to

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Speaker 1: swinging at pitches in the zone, and they don't. And

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Speaker 1: it's not like they just they're one of those non

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Speaker 1: swinging teams that takes a lot of strikes too. They

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Speaker 1: are aggressive in the zone and they are and they

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Speaker 1: leave those pitches that are bad. And like, there are

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Speaker 1: so many examples lately where you see these center cut

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Speaker 1: fastballs just sitting down the middle of the zone and

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Speaker 1: they miss them. And it's been Kyle Tucker, it's been

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Speaker 1: Pete raw Armstrong. It's where what is happening? Like? That's

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Speaker 1: that's the that's the confusing part. But I go back

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Speaker 1: to what Jed said about, you know, when you're in

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Speaker 1: these slumps, you don't know when they end. You don't

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Speaker 1: know when they begin. I think that's the unsettling feeling

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Speaker 1: about it because we went through this last year where

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Speaker 1: they kept saying, you know, we're gonna hit, We're gonna hit,

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Speaker 1: and it lasted. It'll just be you know, it's only

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Speaker 1: been two weeks. It's only been four weeks, and then

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Speaker 1: it was two months. So you just I don't know

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Speaker 1: when this is gonna end. I believe it will, but

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Speaker 1: each day that passes, I have to shrug my shoulders

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Speaker 1: and say, okay, like you can't put it past them.

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Speaker 1: You can't. You know, you never know in baseball, how

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Speaker 1: long will this end? Will they cough up a huge

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Speaker 1: wild card lead? They've already coughed up a huge division lead,

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Speaker 1: and they're seven and a half games back. We don't

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Speaker 1: even need to talk about the division. Right now, it's like,

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Speaker 1: put the division to the side, and then maybe maybe

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Speaker 1: if they get on a run and Milwaukee cools down,

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Speaker 1: then we can start talking about the division again. But

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Speaker 1: right now it's pointless.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you had sent the text in one

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Speaker 2: of our various texts changed about the theo quote of

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Speaker 2: our offense broke somewhere along the lines or along the way,

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Speaker 2: whatever that quote was, I believe from twenty eighteen when

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Speaker 2: the Brewers caught up to them. And that's not a

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Speaker 2: part of their daily hitting meetings or you know, pre

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Speaker 2: series hitting meetings, but it's in the back of our minds,

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Speaker 2: you know, the fans' minds. Organizationally, there's still enough people

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Speaker 2: around who have remembered that. And I think there's no

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Speaker 2: way to quantify this, but I think a place in

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Speaker 2: like Milwaukee just plays with a different sort of freedom

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Speaker 2: and that when things start rolling for them, or when

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Speaker 2: things you know, kind of turned down, they can just

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Speaker 2: keep moving. And I think there's just a different weight

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Speaker 2: that teams like the Cubs play under. And that's not

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Speaker 2: like an excuse or rationalization, it's not really provable, but

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Speaker 2: I think you're kind of seeing that play out this year.

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Speaker 2: And the Brewers. They make a lot of people just

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Speaker 2: look bad of just you know, Quinn Priester, you know,

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Speaker 2: a Pirate's first round pick, you know, bounces around to

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Speaker 2: the Red Sox and all of a sudden, he's like

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Speaker 2: lights out here, and there's just tons of you know,

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Speaker 2: Andrew Vaughn, you know, the worst team of all time

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Speaker 2: last year's White Sox, so he caldn't get it going

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Speaker 2: on the South Side, and all of a sudden he

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Speaker 2: shows up there and people are throwing his name around

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Speaker 2: in the MVP discussion. I think small market teams or

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Speaker 2: even median market teams that like do not succeed. I'm

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Speaker 2: all point out the Pirates again, like how come the

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Speaker 2: Brewers can do this on this payroll? Certainly in Chicago

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Speaker 2: there's a sense of like why isn't why in the

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Speaker 2: Cubs organization? Why is this organization spending you know, one

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Speaker 2: hundred million more on payroll and they could be double

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Speaker 2: digits games behind the Brewers by the end of August.

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Speaker 2: You know, Craig council is, It's irrefutable. He is a

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Speaker 2: good manager, Like he has the hardware, the experience, the

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Speaker 2: record to prove that. But clearly he was just a

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Speaker 2: piece of the machine there. He was not like the

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Speaker 2: entire brains of the operations. It goes like that's multiple regimes,

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Speaker 2: a lot of people, different departments, all working together. And

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Speaker 2: so I think just the timing of this, you know,

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Speaker 2: there are certain moments where it's okay to just like

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Speaker 2: call it out and be like this is unacceptable, and

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Speaker 2: I think this is kind of one of those periods.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't mean it's going to define the season, but

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Speaker 2: like we're not the types too after every blowout loss,

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Speaker 2: like you know, rip everyone. But I think we've seen

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Speaker 2: enough and like this has been kind of me long

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Speaker 2: enough that it's fair to just call it out and

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Speaker 2: be like they have to get a lot better, a

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Speaker 2: lot fast, or else the season is going to be

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Speaker 2: a massive disappointment.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to talk about something you said with

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Speaker 1: the Brewers and then we can kind of discuss what

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Speaker 1: is there a solution here that's not just sticking with

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Speaker 1: the norm. Uh, let's take a quick break and we'll

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Speaker 1: be back.

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Speaker 3: Hey, we love ripping slab packs on Arena club. I

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Speaker 3: just ripped one in a ruby pack. Those are fancy

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Speaker 3: schmancy kip and I pulled a Matt Shaw twenty twenty

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Speaker 3: three Bowman Draft Aqua Lunar Creater Refractor card and I

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Speaker 3: guess what. Guess what? I got a little offer. You

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Speaker 3: get the instant offer right away. Okay, so they're offering

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Speaker 3: me one hundred and twenty one bucks, sell it back

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Speaker 3: and then I can get a new slab pack.

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Speaker 1: What do I do?

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Speaker 5: I want to see this thing.

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Speaker 1: Hold on, look at that.

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Speaker 5: That's a beautiful card.

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Speaker 1: You know what.

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Speaker 5: I think that's a safe bet. I think it's gonna

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Speaker 5: make you a little bit money. I think the more

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Speaker 5: more big league time he gets, I'd almost take the deal,

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Speaker 5: though I'm in it for the chase.

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Speaker 1: I like opening more packs.

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Speaker 5: I think that one hundred and twenty one can buy

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Speaker 5: you a couple more slabs to open, and I think

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Speaker 5: you keep chasing until you get someone you really like.

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Speaker 1: But that's the best part about it for me. That's right.

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Speaker 3: You can sell it back one hundred and twenty one

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Speaker 3: bucks and then open up another slab pack. Use the

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Speaker 3: code foul to receive twenty percent off your first slab

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Speaker 3: pack orcard purchase at arenaclub dot com slash foul.

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Speaker 1: I think the burghs and how they're built is a

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Speaker 1: good lesson for fans, for all of us in the

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Speaker 1: sense that we don't know anything, and that screaming and

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Speaker 1: yelling about the decisions the team makes before you see

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Speaker 1: how it plays out is probably a little foolish or

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Speaker 1: you know, we just don't know how some of these

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Speaker 1: things are gonna go. I don't think the Cubs could

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Speaker 1: get away with playing someone like Isaac Collins on a

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Speaker 1: regular basis. And the guy's been awesome. He's a rule

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Speaker 1: he's a triple A Rule five draft pick. He's twenty

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Speaker 1: eight years old and he's finally getting some real playing

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Speaker 1: time and he's been amazing. I don't know if that

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Speaker 1: kind of guy can get playing time in Chicago, Like,

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Speaker 1: how do you even get to the point where you're

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Speaker 1: allowing him to play outside of injuries? If the Cubs

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Speaker 1: traded for Andrew Vaughn, what would the reaction be from us,

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Speaker 1: from fans, from other media members like it. I don't

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Speaker 1: think anybody would be like, oh, that that's a sharp move.

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Speaker 1: They're thinking outside the box, and it would just, you know,

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Speaker 1: it would be like, why are they going with this?

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Speaker 1: These failed prospects, they never worked. There's there's just so

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Speaker 1: many examples. I mean the team, the team traded their closer,

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Speaker 1: their dominant closer in the off season, and now you

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Speaker 1: know they they have I think I believe one of

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Speaker 1: the pieces that got them their third baseman, uh Caleb Durban.

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Speaker 1: Devin Williams is having an awful season, his first awful

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Speaker 1: season and like pretty much forever, like those types of

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Speaker 1: moves the Cubs, like, can they get away with and

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Speaker 1: not be excoriated for it? I don't know. I don't

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Speaker 1: think so, Like I know, I'll wed rip them if

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Speaker 1: they're trading away good players, you know, just because their

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Speaker 1: contracts are closed. They're probably gonna trade Freddy Peralta this winter.

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Speaker 1: So it's just like, look, I'm not saying that the

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Speaker 1: Cubs should act that way. It's just a really interesting way.

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Speaker 1: It's like these are the types of things that you say,

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Speaker 1: like you can't do that, Like what are you doing?

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Speaker 1: They'd let Willia Thomas walk. Oh, Willia Thomas is the

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Speaker 1: heart and soul of that team. He gets so many

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Speaker 1: clutch hits. He's an average player now and it got

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Speaker 1: paid and he's just an average player. Like that's just

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Speaker 1: that's a sign of an incredibly well run organization. And

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Speaker 1: maybe this is the bottom line, Patrick A. I think

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Speaker 1: you can do some of these things that it's a

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Speaker 1: little harder to do with the scrutiny of the media

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Speaker 1: and the fans in a bigger market, so you can

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Speaker 1: kind of go under the radar and do these things.

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Speaker 1: The second thing is by this point that front office

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Speaker 1: has earned the benefit of the doubt they like. I

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Speaker 1: don't know if if, like every Cubs fan would would

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Speaker 1: be fine with it, if the Cubs were churning things

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Speaker 1: out like like the Brewers were and getting every so

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Speaker 1: many things right, but there'd be less of an outcry

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Speaker 1: maybe if if they were behaving in this manner, but

429
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,640
Speaker 1: they were getting things right so often the Cubs get

430
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,680
Speaker 1: things right every now and then, like Matthew Boyd's a

431
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 1: hell of a signing that that wasn't a celebrated signing,

432
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 1: and that's a hell of an edition. Brad Keller is

433
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 1: a great nri. You know, there are some good stories here,

434
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,840
Speaker 1: but right now it doesn't feel like there there are

435
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:49,440
Speaker 1: many good things happening, you know. So it just it

436
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:51,840
Speaker 1: just struck me when I wanted to look up where

437
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,879
Speaker 1: Isaac Collins was from, like, are you kidding me? Triple

438
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,120
Speaker 1: A rule five draft pick. That's insane.

439
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 2: I love the Mizz because if the Mizz was in

440
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:03,600
Speaker 2: the Cubs farm system, like if he had two good

441
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 2: starts at Myrtle Beach, people would want to put like

442
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,160
Speaker 2: a stadia a statue outside Wrigley Field for the guy,

443
00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden, like he goes under the

444
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 2: radar and just you know, becomes an All Star under

445
00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:22,640
Speaker 2: very unusual circumstances. But you know, I don't it's this

446
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,439
Speaker 2: moment to me. I think there's a lot of a

447
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,680
Speaker 2: lot of layers to it. I think it starts with

448
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 2: just like Kyle Tucker isn't in a slump because the

449
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,639
Speaker 2: Cubs aren't spending beyond the luxury tax threshold. But I

450
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,680
Speaker 2: think just the overall tenor of this season began with

451
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:46,959
Speaker 2: the Alex Bregman sweepstakes. I realized Matt Shaw has been

452
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:48,800
Speaker 2: really good. We've talked about it, you know, on our

453
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 2: on our prior episode, But just this idea of the

454
00:26:54,400 --> 00:27:00,840
Speaker 2: Cubs not quite going all the way in and flexing

455
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,399
Speaker 2: their spending power the way that they had previously, the

456
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:10,000
Speaker 2: way that other teams do. I think this front office

457
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 2: is very systematic, very organized, very rational, but clearly at

458
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 2: this trade deadline, it seems like they went a little

459
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,199
Speaker 2: too far in that direction. This might have been the

460
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 2: time to color outside the lines a little bit. They

461
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,119
Speaker 2: did not. I also think we talked about it before,

462
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 2: but this trade deadline exposed some of the gaps in

463
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,719
Speaker 2: the farm system. Like we hear about how great the

464
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,760
Speaker 2: farm system is, how healthy the organization is, and I

465
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,000
Speaker 2: don't know if the rest of the baseball industry really

466
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,880
Speaker 2: viewed it that way, Like not just the Cub's kind

467
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,919
Speaker 2: of insistence upon protecting their future, but also other teams

468
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 2: being like, eh, not really moving the needle for them.

469
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,919
Speaker 2: And then it's what we talked about earlier, just until

470
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:02,960
Speaker 2: the Cubs like break through and get back to the

471
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,119
Speaker 2: playoffs and like Wrigley Field is rocking in October. I

472
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:11,880
Speaker 2: still think this his recent history lingers. You know, we're

473
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,840
Speaker 2: not talking about nineteen oh eight or you know, stuff

474
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,040
Speaker 2: that happened before we were born. It's just at this

475
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:23,760
Speaker 2: period of franchise history has been disappointing, and that people,

476
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 2: you know, want to see more. They expect to see more,

477
00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 2: and you know, I'm sure Wriglily, there'll be forty thousand

478
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 2: people at Wrigley this weekend, there'll be amazing atmosphere against

479
00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:41,040
Speaker 2: the Brewers, but like they want the on field product

480
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 2: to match that. And by and large, this year has

481
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,040
Speaker 2: gone very very well. We're not losing sight of that.

482
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,160
Speaker 2: It's just that at this moment you have to call

483
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,560
Speaker 2: it for what it is and you know, start to

484
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 2: kind of, you know, push the panic button a little bit.

485
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 2: You know, Dansby talks about different buttons to push, Like, Okay,

486
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 2: you have this front office. This is they built this team,

487
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,760
Speaker 2: Like this is fully their system now from top to bottom.

488
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:15,840
Speaker 2: You have a guy who was given the biggest contract

489
00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 2: ever for a manager, and you know, push some buttons.

490
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker, You you want to make five hundred million

491
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 2: dollars in your next contract, like, go out and earn it.

492
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 2: And the same with Pete co Armstrong. You want to

493
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:28,880
Speaker 2: be a Cub the rest of your life. Like put more,

494
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,240
Speaker 2: even more pressure on this front office. I mean, Sea

495
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,200
Speaker 2: Suzuki was signed to be part of the next great

496
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:37,440
Speaker 2: Cubs team, Like you know, those are just kind of

497
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 2: the hitters. And I still, like I said earlier, I

498
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 2: still want to see how the pitching holds up too.

499
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,920
Speaker 2: I think this this stretch is going to be really tough. Uh,

500
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 2: you know, jave Asade, it was the classic. Hey, once

501
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,400
Speaker 2: our guys on the injury list get healthy, it'll be

502
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,200
Speaker 2: like another trade deadline addition. And then you see like,

503
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 2: oh wait, he hasn't played all year in the majors.

504
00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:57,400
Speaker 2: It's gonna take some time.

505
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, I agree with all of that. I

506
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,640
Speaker 1: you know this, this could just be a blip, you know,

507
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,480
Speaker 1: but right now it feels really rough. And and it's like,

508
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,080
Speaker 1: I think the big thing for me is like you

509
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 1: see signs of it ending. You see a game like Saturday,

510
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,680
Speaker 1: you see a game like last Wednesday, and it and

511
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 1: it doesn't carry over it there's no building on those

512
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 1: games and and uh and and really turning the corner.

513
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,600
Speaker 1: I do still think it'll happen. I don't think this

514
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,640
Speaker 1: is like a full on collapse, but moments like this,

515
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,480
Speaker 1: it's it's hard to not feel kind of like, I

516
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:43,400
Speaker 1: don't know, this is a little worrisome. They certainly need

517
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 1: to turn it around. We'll see, Uh, we're recording this

518
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,400
Speaker 1: on a Wednesday. We'll see if they can get back

519
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 1: on track and and and win a couple of games

520
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 1: in Canada and and come back home against a pirates

521
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:58,840
Speaker 1: team that they should be able to beat up on

522
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:01,960
Speaker 1: who knows, who knows if they can do that. I

523
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:03,680
Speaker 1: don't know what the weather will be like at Rikley

524
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:08,280
Speaker 1: this weekend either, but yeah, we'll see. We'll see maybe

525
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: in a week from now, that they'll have had a great,

526
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 1: you know, end to this road trip and and are

527
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 1: looking and are playing well against Milwaukee and they beat

528
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 1: up on Pittsburgh, and we'll be feeling completely different about things.

529
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 1: We'll see. Thanks so much for listening to everyone. This

530
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,200
Speaker 1: is Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe

531
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 1: to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic where

532
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 1: Patrick and I are on top of all things Cubs.

533
00:31:32,600 --> 00:32:02,480
Speaker 1: Thanks everyone, Take the go