Ross & Rizzo Unfiltered - Ross & Rizzo on Cubs World Series anniversary, Bryce Harper’s VIRAL comments, Posada-Yankees BEEF

0:00 I can't control myself right now. I'm trying my best.

0:04 It's understandably so, buddy. I'm emotional. I hear you. I'm an emotional wreck. It's only going to get worse. Just continue to breathe. That's all you can do, buddy. That's all you can do.

0:14 It's only going to get worse.

0:15 Look how young you look. Yeah, yeah.

0:17 You're actually older now.

0:19 You look younger now than you did then. God, I thought he was going to catch that. The 39-year-old. David Ross has made it 6-3. Been retired for two years.

0:35 I'm still not 39. Here's the 0-1.

0:37 This is going to be a tough play.

0:39 The Cubs win it.

0:43 Back pocket. Back pocket. Immediate back pocket. It's over.

0:48 And the Cubs have finally won it all. It's 7-10.

0:54 Wow.

0:55 Welcome back to another episode of Ross and Rizzo Unfiltered. Rossi, November 2nd, 2016, 10 years ago to the day we broke the 108-year curse, the franchise.

1:09 What?

1:11 10 years, bro. Like, what? Where did time go?

1:14 Where did the time go? Okay, people, this is our last time talking about our World Series. Not. It's not. It was not about us, but it is. Today is a special day. Man, I've been covering the World Series and watching those guys celebrate and watching Yelich and Terang and Murph on SNL on Saturday night, like brought back so many good memories of me and you, Dex. Just, you know, so much fun. I can't believe it's been 10 years. Again, we've talked a lot about that this year, but I did look younger. I've got hair now, like way more gray in the beard. My favorite, that clip too with Tommy, when he just laughs, he's like, it's only going to get worse. Great advice, Rossi. Great advice.

2:09 Yeah, that was my leader right there. It's only going to get worse, buddy. Bro, I think as I reflect on 10 years, I think my biggest thing that stands out is every single fan that has come up to me, whether it's in an airport or you know, standing in line somewhere out somewhere. And they just say, Hey, you have no idea what it meant to me. I I'm not kidding.

2:36 Rossi.

2:36 I was just at a speaking engagement in Chicago this last week. And one of the ladies dads, who was their older guy said, I went to the grave and listened to the game on the radio game seven. And then he's like, and then when it started raining in the rain, I went home and I was like, well, maybe if you went home a little earlier, We've never had to, you know, come back and win and all that.

2:59 But just the stories from the fans over the last 10 years have been... It literally sometimes it feels like it was yesterday that we won.

3:07 It's special, man. It is... The fans make it the best, right? Their stories now are the things that I value the most, like you're saying. Because, like, we've told all our stories. We've been on here recapping it with Lovable. But when you hear... The fandom, where they were at, they're kind of... They've got the memories so dialed in. They've told the story so many times that they know every detail. And it's just really cool. There's nothing better than that. And it's so cool to jump on here with you and celebrate that day 10 years later. God, you're right. Time has flown.

3:48 We got to do... We got to interview all. A lot of the guys from the 2016 team. We did the Loveable Reunion podcast. Now this is Ross and Rizzo unfiltered. But it will be airing tonight on Marquee, our live show from the Chicago Theater. So I'm excited to see that. I've never gone back and watched Game 7.

4:08 I don't know if I'll do that later tonight. But one of these days I'm probably going to go back and watch it. But it was, like you said, it was cool watching the Brewers celebrate. Right. First time in franchise history. Right. So these guys will be remembered forever. Legends forever there in Milwaukee. They it was almost like storybook, bro.

4:33 They win the next day. Thursday night football at Lambeau. I was like, there's no way. Right. And they're doing Lambeau leaps. I was saying, man, this has to be from a different game. But no, that was it. They walk out with a trophy. They have their parade. Trevor McGill looked like he was an absolute animal during the parade.

4:53 Daniel Vogelbach was an animal. Sal Freelix drinking 100,000 beers. I mean, it looked like a good time.

5:00 Yeah, you saw the Miz catch that beer and pound it. I don't know if you saw that highlight, but it brought back a lot of memories, man, because there's a lot of similarities with how long it had been, their first franchise, but how long it had been since they'd been to the World Series. and their first franchise championship, and watching the people celebrate. There's so many clips on social media that I watched, just brought back a lot of cool memories for us.

5:28 Did you see the Ashley lookalike?

5:32 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

5:33 That was great. I saw that.

5:35 Glasses. You know what? There's a little bit of jealousy, bro. It was like a little bit of like, shit, I want to do that again. It's like, when you get to be a part of that, and... You get to make history like that, and you're just a legend forever, and those guys are going to be legends and can do no wrong in the state of Wisconsin for a really long time.

5:55 Yeah, I mean, well, Rossi, there are a few managerial spots open, but we don't need to get into that.

6:00 Just saying.

6:01 Not putting you on the spot. I would never do that. But, bro, the story about Yelich saying, I walked past the cage, I smelled the cigarettes. The boys are smoking cigs. I knew we're in a good spot, right? Before game five. And that story has caught a lot of headlines and a lot of media, right? Like rally cigs. That's what made this team so special.

6:25 Yes. Yes.

6:27 But every, every, I feel like every championship team has something like that, right? Where they, there's some little quirk or rally that they rally behind that they believe in. The Rays, I'm sure, were doing something. You know, he just doesn't get talked about when you finish second.

6:47 The 0-4 Red Sox, like, cowboy up, down 3-0 in the championship series against the Yankees and come all the way back to win 4-3, never been done. And, you know, they're doing shots at Jack in the locker room, and Kevin Millar was talking about it when we were hanging out and talking about how the Rays kind of come back. And, you know, every team has a little bit of– you know, there's not, no, you know, no championship team I've ever been on has a bunch of choir boys, you know, like you gotta have some edge to you. And I don't know if that's a bad saying, like, I love Jesus.

7:22 Thank you, Lord.

7:23 But it's, it's, you've got to have some edge to you. And the fact that boys were, were ripping rally cigs and it comes out later after you win the world series, like there's, that's just was their thing. And, you know, good or bad, it got them a world championship. So, whatever you need to do, whatever it takes, whatever it takes.

7:45 I remember Jason Kipner's like, yeah, we had a fucking rain delay speech too. It just, no one hears about it cause we lost. Right.

7:53 Right.

7:53 But that's, that's the reality of it. All championship teams usually have something they're doing in that clubhouse that bring them together closer, whether it's a video game, whether it's ripping cards or, that's what everyone does now, whether.

8:08 It's whether you're, whether you're hitting coaches, seeing in Stacy's mom, you know, like obviously.

8:13 That was a thing, whether, yeah, whether your first baseman's dancing naked to Rocky, you know, whatever.

8:18 Right.

8:19 It was cool seeing them on SNL. I love seeing all the, all the championship teams now go on SNL. I think that's really cool. That Saturday night live does that.

8:29 Tom Hanks was one of my favorite memories. Like, honestly, that the party afterwards with Jay-Z and Beyonce there. And, That was so cool. That was such a cool moment.

8:41 Now what, though, Rossi? With the season being over with, we're less than a month away now from December 1st from 100% being a lockout. The lockout will start December 1st. I don't think fans really think it's a lockout until there's games being missed, but Now this is an offseason where there's so much uncertainty going into it for free agents, for teams, from guys coming over from Japan. There is so much uncertainty now. Once free agency opens here.

9:19 I.

9:21 Think you're going to see the big boys go quick before December 1st. But when I say quick, I mean the last day of November at the 11th hour, you're going to see guys sign. And until then, you probably won't see anyone sign unless it's a team-friendly deal.

9:40 Sure. They've got to get to their contract before something new starts or some kind of new language in there may hinder their contract. So they're going to get grandfathered in. Guys like Tarek Skubal and Freddy Peralta. Like Ken Rosenthal said, he thinks these guys will sign. before the December 1st deadline.

10:02 So I wouldn't blame him. I would say, Hey, everybody put your best foot forward immediately. If I'm their agent and pick your spot where you want to go, get your money and then sit back and relax for the off season. You know, it gets extended. It's extended when you're in the driver's seat and you are one of the top free agents out there. And, you know, everybody's going to be in on you. You know, I would want to, I'd want to sign him. I think most of those guys probably do want to sign immediately, even when it is a regular long off season, but it just drags out because of agents and, and, you know, the negotiation tactics. I think we all hate sometimes how long free agency drags out. At least I do when

10:40 I'm listening to talk radio in the off season or guys break down different teams and what they need and, you would love to see those things move fast, have some sort of a deadline. So you could kind of sit back and relax and start to start to plan where you're going to live, you know, where you're going to spend spring training, get your family locked in. If you've got kids, you're going to put them in school, get a house. Yeah. All that stuff.

11:04 So for fans out there, I know, look, no one wants to lose baseball. I think that the ratings, if those were the ratings of the world series, they blew away everyone's expectations. That's for sure.

11:14 Right.

11:14 Baseball's in a great spot. It's very competitive. I want to say the offensive brand of baseball is in a great spot because the defensive brand in the World Series was not on full display. There was good plays, but there's a lot of errors as well. But anyways, the game's in a great spot. But with this lockout, with the owners digging down and saying that they're going salary cap, I need fans to understand. Forever, baseball hasn't had a salary cap, and it's the people who come before us and before them and before them, right, Rossi? There's so much that needs to happen in this CBA negotiation that this could drag out, unfortunately, longer than expected because there is just so many things. They're talking about shortening the season.

12:02 They're talking about changing divisions, making it east and west, adding teams. All that needs to be handled, and this is like, this is literally like you're talking about two sides. It just, these things don't happen fast, which I don't understand why they don't because you have so much time to do it. But until there's an actual deadline, until owners start losing money, which is not going to be for a long time into the lockout, things aren't going to, or players start feeling it on their paychecks. Things aren't going to start moving.

12:34 Unfortunately. The one thing I heard is, and I think it's been reported. So I think there's a soft deadline. May 20th would be, if there's no games by then, the TV contracts, the media right contracts will roll over to the next year. So we'll get an extra year to the, so I think owners, obviously, you know, those media rights are so important to the owners and, you know, maybe that helps us get back on the field soon.

13:08 And we'll be covering this as it goes, but that's kind of in the back of my mind. Hopefully, you know, that may 20th deadline pushes everybody to try to try to start to, to meet in the middle, whatever the, the, the terms are.

13:23 No doubt.

13:23 And try to get the, get us back on the field. That would be nice.

13:26 I mean, cause we all want to see baseball, especially with how it's been playing. There's so many young kids engaged in it right now. So it's, it's unfortunate. And, I feel for the fans, right? No one wants to hear billionaires fighting with millionaires and, oh, we don't make enough money and we pay them too much. No one wants to hear that. That's grinding in life. And I want to just speak on the players' behalf. The players understand that. We do. And we are fighting, they are fighting to be on the field opening day. I'm sure the league is doing the same thing. They do not want to miss games, but We will be with you guys along the way. Any breaking news, Rossi and I will be coming at you unfiltered. Rossi, unfiltered?

14:11 Unfiltered. I hung with Diff. He goes, I like the unfiltered version best, is what he said of our pod. I was like, that's good. The unfiltered, it's fun.

14:20 Let's get into some news around the game. Bryce Harper was a little unfiltered, not really, on social media. Interacting with some fans, it seems like March through October is the offseason. And Bryce comments, it will be this year. And then someone said he likes the offseason more than the season at this point. And Bryce goes, this is true.

14:42 Right? The offseason is nice after a 162.

14:47 The offseason is way better than this season. Are you kidding me?

14:50 The offseason is– When you're sitting at home this time of year and you've got your trip planned, you're back and he's trick-or-treating with his kids, you're getting ready for Thanksgiving and Halloween and Christmas and baseball is kind of– you check out and finally get a little bit of a– you get that downtime that is so important to– the mental and physical health of the players.

15:16 Yeah, I mean, the offseason is, this is what you work for, right? This is what you grind for during the year. This is the light at the end of the tunnel. You're trying to win a World Series. And when you fall short and you switch into offseason mode, you start figuring out your offseason now. And you get to be with your family. You get to go on family vacations. You get to do trips that you have planned.

15:43 You start working out, working on your body again. Start retooling for the next year. No stress. You get to recharge your batteries.

15:50 I agree with Bryce.

15:52 The offseason is always better than the season. The season now is the greatest thing ever. I love playing baseball. Love it. There's nothing I would have rather done during the year. I feel like it's two separate things. I see what Bryce is saying there. Yeah, I love the offseason. I have four kids. I'm married my whole life. There were when you play baseball, it's, you're traveling a lot.

16:16 You get to do what you love. Do not get me wrong by any means, but the off season is the time to recharge and relax.

16:24 Yeah. I mean, you know, you said it best right there. I think the reason why you go through the grind and try to win a world series is, you know, to, to do historic shit as we talked about, but when you get to have that downtime, you sacrifice a lot. You sacrifice a lot when it comes to family and friends and, um, you know, you're, you're, you don't, you know, the season off days, aren't really downtime, like fully checked out when you get home and get back and take your, my favorite thing was like, take it and pick it up my kids from school. Like, I know that sounds so stupid, but when you don't get to do that for, you know, you wouldn't seven months in February, February you leave, or I would leave February right around Valentine's day, usually

17:08 February 14th, 15th. And then you're gone. We won the world series. I didn't get home till like November 10th. So like, that's a long season. And when you get to just be a part of their lives, coach them in, in their little league or T-ball or basketball seasons coming up and you just be on the sidelines or watch them play. Like there's nothing that replaces that. And you know, think gosh in baseball we make great money and you're able to take freaking show vacations with your kids it's like nothing nothing better than that with nothing on your plate but to to go enjoy a nice vacation yeah work out.

17:41 Work out for an hour or two and then enjoy uh my time or whatever i mean clearly for bryce i think after a down quote-unquote down year the year before he had an 865 ops this year he led the nl in walks so it's clearly not impacted he's he's a superstar. He puts in the work every single off season. He grinds, uh, with the best of them. So, uh, Philly fans, you have nothing to worry about, about your superstar player in years to come.

18:10 What's up guys. I need to tell you about this new prediction market called poly market. It's the best new way to trade in sports in the past. If you want an action on the game, you put some money in. And if your team was doing well and you wanted to cash out, they'd lock the trade and take a huge fee. But poly market is a prediction market. It's a stock exchange for sports, buying in and selling out on your terms. I've tried them all, and Polymarket is simply the best prediction market. Better than DraftKings, FanDuel, Kalshi, you name it. They're so confident you'll never go back to the other guys. They're giving you a free $ 25 on your first trade when you deposit just $ 10. And now they've launched a new feature, Squads, a group chat

18:50 where you can see what everyone is trading. So download the Polymarket app today and use the code ROSSRIZZO when you sign up. That's code Ross Rizzo and get $ 25 free after you deposit just $ 10.

19:01 Some more news where I'll see Jorge Posada talking about the Yankees. He was on a show saying that he doesn't feel welcome back there anymore, which rings alarms all over the place in New York saying, how can you say that to Jorge Posada? You know, we've won what five world series championships. They're one of the best catchers ever.

19:26 How do you feel hearing that stuff, Rossi?

19:28 Man, that's the worst part, and I don't know. When you create history within an organization, and the Yankees have such a long list of guys that played there and won, but he's part of that core that won five championships. um that guy's got the the golden ticket with lack of for lack of a better word to be around and do whatever the hell he wants for as long as he wants it just he he was behind the plate.

19:58 But what does that mean what does that mean the golden ticket to do whatever you.

20:02 Want how long he should be at every spring manager if he wants to sit in the fucking dugout during the fucking game, I would be fine. If you came back, Johnny Lester came back and I was still managing, you guys wanted to suit up and sit in the dugout, fine by me, Johnny fucking Lester. I'm in Boston right now, actually.

20:23 Johnny Lester started this whole thing. But these guys should be able to impact. They should be working with poor a Posada should be in there in, in, in the meetings just to fly on the wall. Another perspective, like you don't have to get your feelings hurt. And his opinion doesn't have to matter to, to whoever is running things, but having guys like that around just for nuggets or players to kind of pick their brain. Like that's valuable, man.

20:51 Like I know there's a ton of information in the game, which I think is so important, but also those guys that stood in a box that sat behind the plate, their opinions matter or maybe they give a nugget and talk about some things that, that Wellesley might want to talk to Posada about, about post-season baseball or world series.

21:12 And is it different than regular season? And, you know, I'm making bad analogies as far as, cause I know Wellesley has been in the fight, but man, there just may be something that he wants to ask a veteran about that's been there for a really long time. And even though it was a different era and time and things are a lot different, it's still standing in the box or behind the plate or on the mound. is irreplaceable when I think about guys that have told me different nuggets about the inside, the game within the game. Yeah.

21:41 I mean, I used to love when guys, former players used to come around, love it. It doesn't matter who you were. I would always try to figure, pick your brain and see what it was like when you played and hear all those stories. I like Andy Pennant is around the team a lot. He's there in spring training.

21:58 He's there all the time. He's downtown. with the boys in the tunnel between innings, talking, pitching, right? So guys love him, right? He speaks, you listen. He's a great dude. He has relationships with the guys. So as a former player, when you come in, right? I experienced it this year. I go in the Cubs clubhouse and look, we won the World Series there, right? Our World Series team has a huge presence there. Always, it always will, right? I guess we have the golden ticket But you can't just go in and think that you can do that. It has to start with relationships. And I'm not saying Jorge does that. But I do think that the team, what he's saying, this isn't an Aaron Boone thing. I don't necessarily think this is a Brian Cashman thing either. I

22:52 think it's the people in between them that don't... I don't know. When you say I don't feel welcome there. They don't want you around the players. These front offices now, a lot of the analytics people in front offices say, you don't really want to listen to players. You're going to get brainwashed. Let's follow our process. Our process is right.

23:16 The players are wrong. It almost creates a us versus them mentality. When players aren't there a lot and the they want to come in and be around the team and they're like, eh, we don't really need you around. Or they're not inviting you and making you feel the way you think you should be feel, feel right. Like, don't get me wrong, Rossi, we won the world series, but it's still nice when the boss calls and says, Hey, Riz, like we want you to be ambassador. I'm like that, that was, that was, that meant everything to me.

23:45 Right.

23:46 Just the phone call where I don't think the communication with maybe some of them, that's what it sounds like to me.

23:52 Well, and I think you hit on a good point. It also is on former players to go in with a little bit of grace and feel. And I'm not saying this is Posada. I'm just saying in general, as we talk through this, there's a little bit of grace and feel that has to come.

24:07 With coming in.

24:07 Which he does.

24:08 He's been around.

24:08 No, no, no. I know, I know.

24:10 Posada's been around.

24:11 I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about in general. We're talking about big picture. Yeah, like you're talking about you going into the Cubs clubhouse, everybody in there other than maybe Papper, Nico, maybe a few guys or– guys that you haven't been around that much. There's a, there's a, there's a feel process that you have to have. It's like somebody comes up to you. Great. But you don't walk around just giving people your opinion of how it's supposed to be and how analytics is dumb or this, this is dumb or why are you doing this drill? Like, you know, that's, that's bad feel. So you have to go.

24:41 No guys ever have done that to me. And, and Posada was there. He was there one year. I, Well, I don't know, but he came in and talked to the team and we loved it.

24:53 Right.

24:53 It's Jorge Posada.

24:54 Yeah.

24:54 It's dude, all the, all the Yankees legends. And over the years you're starting to see more guys go to spring training, but yeah, it, I don't like hearing former players talk like that at now being a former player. And, you know, I am very happy with my cup situation. Would I like to be involved more with some baseball stuff?

25:14 Absolutely.

25:15 But that's not what they want. Right. And yeah, I can go in and talk to the guys and give my advice and my opinion and they love it. And if they do want it, I'm always available to talk to them.

25:25 Well, it's not the first time I've heard this story. I just heard another story, the world series about another organization guy that, that drafted a player. They didn't want him to go down and he could come to spring training, but didn't want him to go down and talk to that player. Any of the players is a former crazy log logic. Yeah, it's crazy. So the, the feeling welcome thing is what, what would that bothers me the most, you know, like I don't need his opinion, but, when Jorge Posada walks in the locker room or the doors at Yankee stadium or the spring training and Steinbrenner, Brenner field, like he should feel welcome. That's that's a, that's a no brainer.

26:02 He, they, he won there. He won in New York, Rossi. We won in Chicago, right? If, if guys want our opinions and someone in that organization, which I'm not saying the Cubs are doing this, I'm just talking in general.

26:14 Right.

26:15 And then, the organization now let's not bring them in. Like they talk too much. And the guy that these guys listen to them, that's what you want. I mean, you know, the guys you're bringing in, you know, the players, you know, for the most part. So this is a, this, unfortunately, the clubhouse.

26:32 Guys are so important because they make you feel like when I come here to Boston and do a game, Tom McLaughlin, those guys, Pookie, all those guys make me feel like a million bucks. Same with VJ and Danny and, And Matty, all the guys in Chicago, they make you feel like a million bucks. That's really what you're looking for, being in that, those guys that were kind of in the locker room in the moment. Because there's still a lot of, you know, Gash has been there forever, you know.

26:57 And I doubt, like you said, I doubt it's him. Booney, I know Booney's not like that. So, you know, it's probably just some of those guys that probably just, I don't know, maybe they don't know how to act around a guy like that. Who knows? Who knows? But it sucks that he feels that way. It sucks he feels that way. He's willing to tell the world. That's all I know.

27:17 In my opinion, what it is, Rossi, is in the game today, there's a lot less coaches now. The trend is less coaches who have played in the big leagues and more guys that have grown up on analytics and the iPad. I've had coaches like this throughout my career that never played and they were great coaches and they understood the game and they were some of the best coaches I've ever had. And there's some guys that just run to the eye, like when things go wrong and you run to the iPad and you start saying, well, I told him to do this, this, and this, they, they get territorial. Cause at the end of the day, they, they don't have the financial backing. They don't have that 10, 15 year career where some coaches used to have.

28:03 Right.

28:04 So it's just a weird dynamic right now in baseball, where a lot of the former players are being pushed back. out of the game it feels like unless you get in line and if you don't get in line you're you're gone and i guess that's any business honestly fall in line soldiers i mean bro you so you're telling me you're telling me you're obviously you're just hypothetically you're you're still managing the cubs i'm retired and i come in and just start going off the rails saying what the why the fuck's the manager doing this or why the fuck's the manager doing that You're not getting pissed off at me?

28:42 I didn't say that. What are you talking about? I'm saying if you wanted to be in the dugout, like, suit up. But you have feel. I know you have. I know Johnny Lester has feel. Like, there's– I don't– Jorge Posada's not doing that either, you know? No, no. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying I had my first spring training as a manager. I had Rick Sutcliffe and the Hawk come in and talk about that brawl they got in when– So I charged the mound when they hit Hawk in the head, you know, like I thought that was a cool story about, you know, fighting for your brothers and, um, how things go down and, and the passion behind that. And, you know, those guys were getting pissed, just telling the story. It was, it was,

29:21 it was amazing. And Hawk's, you know, version of it. And then, uh, kind of no one was about to go down and, and watching it closely and, and then headed out to, to kick that guy's ass on behalf of half a Hawk as he's laying on the ground. So, Uh, I love having former players I mean we had R.I.P. Ryan Sandberg around all the time and you know he would get involved he would talk to you.

29:45 Ernie Banks was around early in my career yeah yeah uh Billy Williams remember we would do stretch and have those guys kind of talk to the group a little bit I think you were gone by then but I had like Billy Williams come in and talk to the guys in the circle about what's important.

30:00 As you look back. And, you know, even it's like sitting around with your dad or grandfather that you get to hear some stories about how things used to be. It may not be relatable at the moment, but there's some value in messaging in there that somebody might grab a nugget that they can take with them. That's just really important. No doubt.

30:18 I wish you could see every team, especially at home, you just see those guys, like former players around more. I feel like it's just good for the younger group, right? Where it's a whole new age game, right? And the game's always evolving, right? I really hope I never turn into the guy back when I played, right? The game is so hard. The game is so hard. I loved, you know what I loved? Seeing a clip of Daniel Vogelbach talking to Christian Jelic about Jelic missed the ball high in the cage, right? In batting practice. And Yelly's in there saying, down steeper, chop down, down. And then Yelly goes to hit a few line drives in batting practice.

31:02 And it's like, that's not the way the game is taught anymore from an instructing standpoint. It's more get under the ball more, like scoop it more, launch angle, launch angle. But the old school way comes back. And that is from player to player. I just feel like it's so important. from player to player to always have those conversations from past generations.

31:26 Because he stood in the box. You know what I mean? That's the one thing I would say is like, he stood in the box and knows, man, I popped up three in the cage. I've really got to work on top of this ball, like higher, higher, connect higher, and then make that adjustment and find that sweet spot. Because as much as we talk about certain mechanics, like most guys are some kind of, I need to feel what I need to do in the cage. And sometimes over-exaggerating that helps you get to the happy medium. You know what I mean? And the one more thing I'll say is probably, you know, this has been a player messaging as far as the union goes, but it goes into what we're talking about is like, don't forget about the

32:10 guys who laid the foundation before you. You know, don't shit on the people that have been there, worn that uniform and done what you've done. The game has evolved, obviously, and it changes. The guys that get into the error debate and all that stuff, that's always a dumb debate to me. The guys that have stood in the box is a respect that I carry for everybody that's been there and done that. Even if you only got to AAA or AA, it's hard as hell. Like you said, the game is really hard. Having conversations with guys that have been in the fight is important. No doubt.

32:48 Honestly, though, you don't have to stand in the box to be a good coach either.

32:53 Right.

32:53 And I know it's saying how poor it is to two of the best hitting coaches I ever had amongst many of them. I had a ton of hitting coaches throughout my career, James Rousen, current hitting coach for the Yankees. He was actually my first hitting coach with the Cubs and John Naley, both never played in the big leagues.

33:12 And I would go to war for those guys and they would go to war for me in the batter's box. So I, It's not like it just needs to be players, right? But, yeah, you want to be loved. At the end of the day, you want to be loved. You want to feel like you're wanted. You want to feel part of it, right? When you're done playing, it happens fast. The page turns quick.

33:37 Baseball knows no names. Especially in New York, there's no names on the back of the jersey there. There'll never be names in the back of the jersey, right? It knows no names. Next player's going to come up, he's going to wear... That number, unless it gets retired eventually.

33:49 So I got a question for you. The, I want to get to this because we were talking about the world series and the two teams were in it, but you know, these, we, we talk a lot about this copycat league and guys looking at organizations and what they're doing. Well, when you look at the two teams in the world series, the raise and the brewers, what do you think teams are most? I did. What, what, what have teams identified?

34:13 Do they feel like I'm, we really need to be stronger in this area. Like what stood out to you about those two teams? We talked about the defense. Both teams were great defensive teams during the season. I don't know them playing out in the World Series, but they're really good. That may have to do with all the pressure they put on you. But, you know, they sold bases.

34:30 There's contact, all kind of stuff. Strikes on control. What do you think teams are looking at the most of like, man, we got to do a better job at this, looking at these two teams and how they perform this year?

34:44 Offensive pressure. And what I mean by that is you can make up for a bad brand of defense if you're always on the offensive pressure. If you have a lineup that's constructed to put the ball in play, you have speed, right? Maybe guys that hit for average, your Nico Horners, your Louisa Rises, guys that hit for the higher average that are on base, that are pesky outs, right?

35:13 Jake Bowers in the NLCS kept grinding bats. They just kept grinding and grinding. Walls for the Rays. Good defensive shortstop.

35:27 Grinder at bats.

35:28 He bunts. I think he led the league in sacrifice bunts. He gets guys over. It's constant pressure. And I think that is the biggest thing for me, Rossi. If I was constructing a team is I would construct an offensive lineup. that isn't just relying on the long ball. The Brewers, at the end of the day, were pretty much at the bottom of the pack in home runs. And that's shocking playing at Miller Park. Miller Park is a launching pack.

35:56 You know what I mean? And the whole Central, the whole Central's got nothing but good parks to hit in. Exactly.

36:02 So they just are always, they have good at bats. They're grinding pitchers out. They're stealing bases. Like there's guys that get up, You think I, you did no, the two guys in that lineup, it was Dave Simpson, Samson or Simpson, right?

36:19 Chandler Simpson. Yeah.

36:20 Chandler Simpson from the Rays.

36:22 He's hitting third.

36:23 And then, God, who's the third baseman? I'm blanking on his name.

36:28 Hamilton. Kevin Arrow Jr.

36:30 No, Hamilton for the Brewers.

36:31 Oh, David Hamilton. Yeah.

36:32 Dude just put the ball in play. And then they ran into a few homers where over the last five, seven years, it's like, let's just out Homer. Let's out slug the team. And I think owners now keep saying, well, why can't we just be the Rays or the Brewers or these teams that keep these low markets, these low payrolls? Well, you've got to construct the right offensive lineup to keep pressure on every single pitcher every single night.

37:01 I love that. That made me think about my first year managing 2020 when we had all the boys. And I remember saying to Jed– you know, when you stop hitting, because we had nothing but basically home run hitters. You had you, KB, Javi, Schwarber, I mean, we had all the dudes, right? And when that lineup goes cold, it's a boring watch. You know, you're kind of sitting around waiting for the three-run homer, and when you're not hitting as a group, you're kind of hoping one dude kind of carries the load and somebody's different. But, you know, when you have contact hitters, and you had a two-strike approach, but you know, when you have more contact-based hitters and guys that control the strike zone, I think that's the

37:44 thing I fell in love with watching these teams. The Brewers team felt like they just dominated the strike zone and they weren't going to chase outside of it. They were going to make you throw it in there. And if not, they were willing to take their walk and pass the baton, which we've talked about. And I think our championship team did that really well, pass the baton.

38:01 And sometimes when you're relying on a three-run homer, somebody's trying to hit one and just, you know, it's just like, There's nothing to do as a manager. There's nothing to do as players. You just got to hope the guys kind of find their swing a little bit. And that just one of the small examples for managing when you're trying to like, man, I need to make something happen, but I just don't know what to. And then I was like, well, fuck this Riz. I got to trade him now. And, you know, I had to trade you the next year and all that.

38:26 Hey, I wonder, I wonder it'd be fun to ask some pitchers as we get into some interviews this off season, what it's the differences now, because most pitchers would say, as long as I can eliminate the home run, I'm fine, right? And you kind of plan around the Aaron judges of the lineup to show you Ohtanis. But now it's these guys, these teams that put pressure on you all the time.

38:49 What is that like as a pitcher facing lineups like that where there's no easy outs? They may not bridge you for a two- or three-run home run, but you're going to have traffic every inning. They're going to be stealing bases on you. You've got to control the run game. There's just so much more that goes into it than the long ball now.

39:06 I love that you said the full statement of offensive pressure because when you get fast guys on, the pitcher starts mixing his looks. He says it's a slide step. He's not comfortable out there, and that makes the dudes in the box better. He's going to hang one because he's worried about David Hamilton or Chandler Simpson on first, and he's got to slice it. He's got to be quick to give his catcher a chance because he doesn't want him on second. And, you know, that's just another piece. Right. Exactly. Exactly.

39:35 So I think it's just so well put. Offensive pressure is a really good term for that.

39:41 I mean, bro, it's been a saying forever, especially at the first base position or maybe, I mean, we used to say to Schroeder when he played outfield, Drive in more than you let in, right?

39:51 Drive in more than you let in. That's right.

39:52 You call a spade a spade. Defense, they made a lot of errors. The Brewers made, I think, 13 errors in the postseason. Like, that's not good. You know what I mean?

40:04 No, that's not good.

40:04 But they get away with it. And they won it. They won every game except two. So you get away with that offensive pressure. So as much as emphasis as we want to put on defense, the team who won the World Series made the most errors in the postseason this year.

40:18 Sure. Sure. Well, they had, they had the thing that, the thing that, huh?

40:23 Pitching, solid defense, but pressure up and down the lineup is going to win you a championship.

40:31 Well, I think that defense makes the pitching better and the Brewers just had such good pitching that it didn't matter as much down the stretch with that damn bullpen they had. It was just absolutely gross. But I love, I love, I feel like other teams can't get, I love good defense probably because I was a, I sucked at hitting.

40:46 Oh, no doubt.

40:46 That was a defensive player. But yeah, I'm with you. That pressure's good.

40:51 When you have a team that is relentless offensively on their approach, right? Okay, we just had a long inning. Alright, that's fine. If the guy decides to swing at the first pitch, it's on the next guy. It's his responsibility to go wear that pitcher out. It's an old school approach that is very hard to teach in today's game because the analytics and the numbers don't state that, right?

41:15 The analytics and numbers state your first pitch, the first two pitches are your highest slug pitches. That's facts, right? So as a player, as a coach, as an instructor, as a front office, how are you not telling your guys to swing early? So it's a catch 22.

41:33 It really is.

41:34 You face these aces and you want to get them out of the game and grind them out. But if you grind them out, you're 0-2 every of that and you're going to strike out. So you need to get them early. But if you get them early, then you look up in the sixth inning and they only have 60 pitches. So that's why the grinder mentality will never lose its value to me. It may not show up on paper. Front offices may not value it, but the grinder at bat mentality will always be a winning formula.

42:05 Jason Lane sent me a video. I talked to him. He's the offensive coordinator for the Brewers, and he sent me a clip of Lance Berkman talking about hitting. And he said, he said, Lance Berkman in this interview said, if you can't hit with two strikes and he called it in the fetal position, basically like, you know, sucking your thumb in the corner, you're oh two, then you're not going to be in the big leagues very long.

42:35 And they took that mantra in Milwaukee and talking about, This vision, I think Sal Freilich was the one that kind of made this phrase of, I'm going to bring him to hell with me. I'm going to take the pitcher to hell with me. I'm at the bottom of this well, scratching and clawing, trying to get my way out.

42:54 And I'm going to bring that pitcher down here to hell with me. And they had a batch like that, man. Like, they didn't mind getting to two strikes. But when they did, like, hey, I'm going to foul off balls. I'm not going to chase outside the strike zone. I'm going to make your life a living hell to get me out. And when you get a full team of at-bats like that, that's so fucking valuable. Like, thinking from a catching and pitching standpoint, like, it sucks for guys to foul off that strike three corner pitch. Or, you know, Todd Helton was the worst, man.

43:24 We would get him, you know, with two strikes on him. He seemed like he fouled off every pitcher's pitch.

43:29 Joey Votto.

43:31 Yeah, Joey Votto. Like, guys are just up there. They're just a pest. And it doesn't matter if you don't have power, you do have power when you're making it hard for that guy to get you out. And he's got to work extremely hard for five, six pitches. It's, it's, that's a winning at bat, man. That's a way it's going to, that's going to benefit you in the long run in a game.

43:51 I know for me, it's a lot easier to play every day. That's for sure. When you have guys up and down the lineup grinding, right? Where I swing at the first pitch, um, the guy behind me is grinding or the guy in front of me swings the first pitch. And another thing too, which is valuable for me is the same consistency of who hit in front of me and who hit behind me. Cause you talk to the guys like, Hey, I'm thinking about jumping them here. What do you think? I go for it. Or a man like, Hey, we just had a long inning. Like let's be selective here.

44:22 Right?

44:22 So it's almost like you get that comfort of who you're hitting around as well.

44:27 Our boy, Matt, Mike Napoli hit behind David Ortiz in 2013 and, Well, M14, but when we won the championship and it felt like Knapp, David could have his at bat. Like, obviously, David's going to do whatever David does. But Knapp, it felt like he was 3-2 every pitch no matter what. You know, he would foul and false. And so you had that protection behind David. If he, you know, let it rip first pitch and rolled over one, it didn't matter because Knapp was going to throw a professional at bat on you every time he was in the box. Grinder. Grinder.

44:58 And that's why Knapp had such a great big league career and played for 15 years. Rossi, let's get into our daily mailbags. Not daily now anymore, but our weekly mailbags. Our Tim Buss ball bag questions of the week. Again, we were with you guys all playoffs. Now we roll into the offseason. Our offseason coverage will consist of some breaking news, but we're going to get into some interviews, interview some players. We have a very special guest for next week that we will be interviewing later this week that we are very excited to announce later on. But Man, let's get to these ball bags. Our favorite segment, which will never go away, is the questions from all of you listeners, and we appreciate it. You can email us

45:42 at rossandrizzo at gmail.com. Leave us a comment on YouTube or our socials. Subscribe, send them to your friends. We love growing this thing. Our first question, Rossi, is an email from Shane.

45:54 Let me get this one. Let me get this one because this one's for you. Email from Shane. I remember hearing about Anthony playing the Rocky movies and music in the clubhouse before games. Since November will mark the 50th anniversary of the Rocky movies. Can he talk about what the movies meant to him personally and his favorite Rocky movie of all time?

46:13 Man, those Rocky movies for me is just the symbolism of it's not how many times you get knocked down. It's how many times you get back up. That was my senior year quote in high school, Rossi. I got to get the yearbook. In my yearbook, it literally says it's not how many times you get knocked down. It's how many times you get back up. And the fact that I ended up that being my mantra in our World Series run and we're dancing to Rocky and all that was really cool. I mean, my personal favorite is Rocky IV with Drago, the Russian, right? But we would go to Philly. We'd work out at the Rocky Steps.

46:51 I'd go there in the mornings, run up the Rocky Steps, throw the hands up.

46:55 Adrian!

46:56 Do the whole nine.

46:57 He's not a machine. He's not a machine. The Russians cut. The Russians cut. That's my favorite part.

47:05 I mean, just, I mean, I feel like if you ever put on a pair of sweats and you go jogging, you just feel like you're Sylvester Stallone.

47:14 That's right. He's a little beanie in the jacket. I like that. I like that. Good question. Good question. I didn't know his 50th anniversary from Rocky. That's badass.

47:26 I told you. Sylvester Stallone was on the Today Show, and he walked right by me, and I got starstruck. I can't believe that was my one opportunity.

47:36 I can't believe that. You talk to everybody. I can't believe that. That's wild.

47:41 Next question is an email from Greg Swartz, big fan of the show, longtime Sox fan. Which one, White Sox or Red Sox? I'm going to assume Red Sox. I have a question for Rossi. I would never ask which World Series ring... ring means more to you but how are they different from each other it was a very emotional championship for Boston that year that was the Boston strong year but that was certainly true for the Cubs for different reasons I love this show keep it up guys thank you Greg.

48:10 Greg thank you so much I get asked that a lot like which one's better and like they're not you know I think the one thing I say all the time is I learned in Boston being around Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz and that whole group you know Johnny Gomes, Knapp, Lester Lackey, Buck Holtz we had a group Salty my catching partner we had a group of guys that brought their lunch pail every single day to work to grind that that team however it was we were going to go about it and win or lose we brought it back the next day and the similarities between the two teams it felt like We were coming to kick your butt every single day in Chicago and in Boston. And we laid our head down at night knowing you either

49:00 outpitched us or you got the big hit or we just didn't get a big hit. But it was rare that we felt like we beat ourselves on either one of those teams. And I think Boston showed me that the way I thought, the winning way that I thought of how to go about your business every single day and then going out and doing it with a team just solidified my belief that I was able to take that knowledge onto Chicago and help impact guys like Riz Schwarber, you know, you know, Addison, all these guys that were up and coming and young and also hadn't been a part of a lot of winning yet. And so taking those, memories and those core beliefs to the field every single day about how we go about our business and the

49:46 standard we set was, I think, one of the most important things for me to impact that group of guys that I get so much love for.

49:54 What's the biggest difference from your roles, right? Because your role with us in Chicago was Grandpa Rossi, veteran, champion, right? And with the Red Sox, you guys were all kind of similar in age or with a lot of veterans and, but you were a huge part. You were starting, would you start game one of the world series?

50:18 Yeah. Yeah. Well, I was out for two months with a concussion, which was a big blow in, in Boston. And so I came back and that was kind of like the storybook for me because I had missed so much time. Salty had carried the load.

50:30 Andrew Miller came back with a great tan, right? I heard your tan lines were off the chart.

50:33 Great, great tan. It was a great tan quick story. I was like, came back from being gone forever. And, um dip dip loves this story it's like uh full spray tan like thong spray tan and told the guys i'd been in hawaii for a couple for a little quick quick vacation that was that was like what i told him i was gonna do but uh i didn't i didn't do it i i never i never did it the one thing that was crazy we had these beards that i mean i was sitting home with this concussion and i kept thinking i want to shave this beard so damn bad i mean it was like down here like a homeless man but um I didn't shave it cause I knew the boys would blast me when I got back, you know, cause it was, it was our thing. So my role in Boston was a lot

51:16 more of, I would kind of like me and salty were co-starters. We both just kind of split time, whatever the matchups were. And that's what I signed there to do. And being out for so long, when I came back, I was just trying to fit in and, and do my part. And then mine and Lester's kind of connection just kind of took off. And that's why I ended up starting game one of the world series and, And it was really cool because I caught all four wins.

51:40 You know, being gone all year long is just nothing against Salty. I got to start all four wins in that World Series, which was super cool to me. And then my role, obviously, in Chicago was just really to catch Lester. And, you know, I would spell Miggy a day game every once in a while and kind of switch it up a little bit like that. But mainly Lester and just be about the boys, be in the locker room. And you guys were... say you guys, I talk mainly about the young group, but, um, the personality to listen to some of the stuff that I would say a lot of the times I say, you know, I, I was never boasting to the, to the media about myself.

52:19 It was you guys talking me up and my impact. And I think that's where the value of y'all's personalities, um, lifted me up because you guys heard, you know, I don't always deliver messaging in the nicest way sometimes. And you guys, would hear the message and not the tones a lot of the time. So, yeah.

52:39 Yeah, I remember watching. We were going to the 2016 season. I don't know if you remember this, but I remember I was getting a power elliptical workout at my house in Parkland. And I was watching the documentary on the 2013 Red Sox. Bro, I swear I was getting emotional. I texted you. I was like, dude, that team was so special. It looked so special. Like, we're going to do that this year. And then we end up winning.

53:04 So that's why I watch those back, man, because it's like, like they're so emotional and you realize that band of brothers that you're with, like, it just never goes away. I'm so happy. MLB does that movie for the teens because.

53:18 Everybody's very special.

53:21 Yeah. Their memories are fresh right out, right after the season, you sit down right after the season and just do all that stuff while you're signing autographs and get ready for the parade and stuff. So shout out MLB for that. Those are cool. All right, last question. Email from Caleb. Hi, fellas. My name is Caleb, and I'm a lifelong Cubs fan from Kansas. My girlfriend and I wore our Brizzo jerseys.

53:42 She wore Riz, and I wore KB. My question is about the Brizzo relationship and how unique that was. How much fun did you guys have playing together during the peak of your careers?

53:54 It was a lot of fun. It was really cool, the old Brizzo movement, especially in 15 and really in the 16 with the commercials. for MLB Network and on national television so I mean Chris and I pushed each other we held ourselves to a very very very high standard every single day and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves as well so playing with someone similar like that it was very easy to talk to and relate to on a day-to-day basis right he was usually hitting third I was hitting fourth or vice versa so We just became friends. Our wives became friends. We hung out all the time. We sat adjacent to each other on the planes, on the bus rides, right? We were always together, always talking the game. So it was a

54:46 lot of fun. I mean, Chris won the MVP in 2016, won the rookie there in 2015, had amazing years, 17, 18, 19, right until he got traded. So it was a really good run.

54:58 You guys– You guys, from my perspective on that team, just for Caleb's knowledge, you guys were inseparable. You guys were brothers, but you were always a little bit more the big brother because you had more time in and helped KB deal with when he would get into a mental spiral or you would get in one. You guys worked really good together because you guys know you guys were the ones carrying the ship. From the offensive standpoint, obviously Dex, everybody's important, but you guys in the middle of that order made us go, and you guys worked well together, and I always thought you had this big brother relationship with him that I thought was really valuable because of your just being in Chicago for so long,

55:44 and he had so much hype coming in that it was probably nice of him to lean on you, I'm sure.

55:51 Yeah, well, because I can match where I felt like And this could have been maybe cockiness or arrogance, but I felt like I could match KB with where he was at. I wasn't a first-rounder. I was not the second overall pick or third overall pick like he was, coming in with massive expectations. There's billboards out in front of Wrigley before he even gets called up saying, worth the wait, right? So, but I was... on that team.

56:22 I was hitting third. I was, you know, quote unquote, the franchise player. And when he got called up and, you know, do the struggles and ups and downs, I felt like I can match him and relate to him where it's harder to do. I feel like like when I play with judge, same thing I would, I felt like, and judges on another planet, especially being the captain for the Yankees, but I felt like I can talk to him and relate to him and relate to what he's going through as well.

56:49 Right. Right.

56:49 No one, no one, is ever worried about the star players. Like, the least of your worries as a manager was probably me and KB when you were managing us. You guys will be fine. I need to go worry about this. Right? Because at the end of the year, right, it's just you expect the good players to have their numbers in the back of their baseball card. That's what everyone says.

57:11 That shit's hard. And when everyone expects you to do the hard stuff, it makes it even harder because what goes into that is so much harder. So anyways, that was a little sidetracked, but me and KB had a really good relationship.

57:24 That's good stuff, man. So you guys, you say that so well because nobody does check on the star players, even when they're struggling. And, you know, KB even talked about a little bit about how much pressure he put on himself when we did the lovable reunion stuff. And like, that's a big weight to carry at such a young part in your career. And he goes out and wins the MVP, you know, I mean, rookie of the year, the whole thing. So I think that like, you need that.

57:50 You guys needed each other, but I know you being able to relate to that had to be extremely valuable for him.

57:57 Well, your perspective, right? Like I always try to keep it in perspective for everyone that I played with. And honestly, I think I needed that looking back to even keep it in my own perspective. So talking to others helped me realize, okay, this is just a game, relax. So good question, Caleb.

58:13 So thankful for these questions, people, and you guys listening and that you love our show. I just hear these comments and read these emails and it's so rewarding for my, for us just to sit here and tell you guys stories and kind of relate to what's going on in the, in the baseball world and our stories. It's just so much fun. So thanks for sending those in. Just want to get that out there.

58:33 Yep.

58:33 Great time for the post-season right now with all the awards about to be gold gloves, silver sluggers, Lindor won the Roberto Clemente award, just MVP Cy Young. So, Cool 10 days coming up for baseball for personal accolades. A lot of guys were very hard, so hopefully some guys are getting rewarded with some hardware. But thank you, everyone, for listening, tuning in. Next week we have a very special guest. Like I said, we cannot wait to interview him later this week. Thank you, everyone, for watching. Comment on our YouTube. Email us, rossandrizzo at gmail.com. I'm Anthony Rizzo.

59:09 with my partner. I don't think I started the show off like that. David Ross. We are Ross and Rizzo Unfiltered. Peace.