Mick Unplugged - Unstoppable Spirit: World Series to World Traveler with Jeremy Guthrie

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

Jeremy Guthrie is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who commanded the mound for over a decade with the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, and Kansas City Royals. A Stanford graduate and former BYU standout, Jeremy was an American League Rookie of the Year candidate in 2007, represented Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and started Games 3 and 7 of the 2014 World Series before earning a World Series ring in 2015. Off the field, Jeremy serves as an MLB Commissioner’s Ambassador, traveling to over 60 countries across six continents to grow the game globally. He is also the owner of Custom Cleats, the pioneering company that converts any sneaker into a high-performance cleat for athletes of all ages and sports. A man of deep faith, Jeremy’s two-year mission in Spain at age 19 laid the foundation for a life built on service, resilience, and redefining what success truly means. Takeaways:Redefine Success Before It Defines You: Jeremy learned on the streets of Spain what most people never figure out in a lifetime — success isn’t about the scoreboard. It’s about the effort you pour into becoming the best version of yourself. John Wooden said it, Jeremy lived it, and it carried him through a decade in the big leagues when the stats didn’t always cooperate. If you’re measuring your worth by outcomes you can’t control, you’re playing a losing game. Control your effort, your focus, your resilience — and let the results take care of themselves.Forget Yourself and Find Your Purpose: At 19, Jeremy walked away from a professional baseball contract to spend two years serving others in Spain. No fastball. No spotlight. Just service. And what he found was the foundation of everything that followed — a deeper understanding of who he was and what he was capable of becoming. When you stop chasing what the world says you should want and start pouring into other people, that’s when the real breakthroughs happen. Lose yourself in service and watch your purpose reveal itself.Every Day You Have a Platform, Use It: Jeremy’s teammate Kevin Millar said it best — every day you’re in the big leagues, you have a chance to touch somebody’s life. Jeremy took that to heart and ran with it across 60 countries and six continents. But here’s the thing — you don’t need a Major League roster spot to have a platform. You have one right now. The question is, are you using it? Whether it’s a kind word, a signed autograph, or showing up for your community, your platform is your opportunity to leave people better than you found them. Sound Bytes:“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of the self-satisfaction that you have in making the best effort you can to become the best you’re capable of becoming.” “Every day you’re in the big leagues, you have a chance to touch somebody’s life.” “I learned the joy of forgetting yourself, of losing yourself, and yet finding yourself through that.” Connect & Discover Jeremy Guthrie:Instagram: @therealjgutsCustom Cleats Instagram: @customcleatsFacebook: @TheRealJGutsX: @TheRealJGutsWebsite: customcleats.com 🔥 Ready to Lead Different & Win Bigger? 🔥 How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One by Mick Hunt isn’t just a book - it’s your blueprint to set up, stand out, and lead with confidence (even if no one ever showed you how).Straight talk. Real Strategy. No fluff. Just the tools you need to elevate your leadership and life.👉 Get your copy now and start leading on your terms → Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A MillionFOLLOW MICK ON:Spotify: MickUnpluggedInstagram: @mickunplugged Facebook: @mickunpluggedYouTube:  @MickUnpluggedPodcast LinkedIn: @mickhunt Website:  MickHuntOfficial.comWebsite: howtobeagoodleader.comWebsite: Leadloudseries.comApple: MickUnpluggedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Mick Unplugged, and today I am joined by a Titan, a legend, who commanded the mound of Major League Baseball for over a decade, a World Series competitor, and a global ambassador whose impact transcends the game itself. He's building bridges through sports from Peru to China. He's a former Eagle Scout, a Stanford mind, and more importantly, one of the greatest human beings I know. Please join me in welcoming, the inspiring, the visionary, the incomparable, Mr. Jay Guts himself, Jeremy Guthrie. You're listening to Mick Unplugged, hosted by the one and only Mick Hunt. This is where purpose meets power and stories spark transformation. Mick takes you beyond the motivation and into meaning, helping you discover your because

and becoming unstoppable. I'm Rudy Rush, and trust me, you're in the right place. Let's get unplugged. Jeremy, how you doing? You are very kind, Mick. That is a very kind introduction. Well beyond what I deserve. Thank you.

It's a pleasure to be with you. Well, you know, I can talk trash to you now. You probably don't deserve it because you went to Stanford and I went to UNC and now somehow we're rivals. I don't understand how East Coast, West Coast, I don't know if we're like 90s hip hop beef now, but I guess we got something that we got to talk about, right? I tell you what, it's one of the greatest rivalries in the history of college sports to have that. I mean, it's amazing. Three years now running and it just, the roots are deep in this rivalry.

I can't even imagine these West. coast teams traveling all up and down the Atlantic coast to play conference matchups. It's college athletics is in a very unique. And I would say a broken spot, I'm not a super well-versed and professional person to say that. But as a fan, it's very broken as a fan. So it's awful. And for you, like, you played baseball.

So you understand truly. Like, I think obviously football is what controlled all of this. But they didn't think about the other. man and like like baseball is hard i i would say baseball is probably one of the hardest to to do this coast-to-coast traveling because you're there you've got series that you play like it's not just one game and then you're out uh it's multiple days and then you know the day before the day after after and then you're back at it again man like it's crazy to think what the baseball players have to go through it maybe one of the net positives here will be that college players

are more prepared for professional baseball since you get stuck right into the fire riding buses overnight or even in the big leagues having flights that are late with late arrival. So maybe college baseball players will be more prepared and the work to get to the big leagues will be shortened.

Maybe that'll be one of the side effects that no one anticipated, one of the positive side effects. Yeah, yeah, we never know. And we'll talk about you being an expert in that in a moment. But more importantly, you know, I ended that opener by saying just one of the greatest humans that I know is you. Aside from being phenomenal professional athlete, you're a phenomenal professional human being, bro. And I put that number one for you.

And I always ask my guest a question about what's their because, what's their purpose, what's their mission? And I know it changes as we evolve as adults, right? If I were to ask you today, Jay Guts, bro, like, what's your because? Why do you continue to do the amazing things that you do beyond baseball and impact the lives that you impact today? Perhaps my because is a recognition of who we all are, better said. You know, I have a deep faith. I was raised in a home, a spiritual home with a faith tradition. And, you know, I believe in God.

I believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior. And when you believe that you're a son of God or a daughter of God, then that means everybody around you is your brother and sister. And if you believe that, then you should treat them as such. And although my sisters and my sister and brothers would probably say I didn't always treat them great, the idea is I have a desire to. And so I think that's the because. The because is recognizing who I am and when I see someone walking down the street or hobbling down the street or whatever it might be, I try to envision that they are just as important in God's eyes as me, certainly just as much as me, if not more. and why would I treat them as anything different than such?

And so that's what's the underneath. That's the because. And it doesn't mean I'm perfect at it, but it means that anytime I make a mistake, I'll go back to that. Well, am I treating people as God would treat them? Am I being a brother that he would expect and ask of me? And that's the because.

Amazing, man. And, you know, talking about your faith, which... Again, is one of the reason I'm connected to you because I don't hide from my faith either. But you did something at 19 that I don't know if I could have done. I'm going to be honest with you, man. You drafted professional sports like that dream, that vision that we all have as children, right? Like we all have that dream at some point to make it big.

And making it big is right in front of you. It has happened. And you at 19 go on this two-year mission. and talk to us about, I don't want to say the decision because I know for you that decision was easy, right? Like you just talked about your because and who you are as a human. But talk about what that two-year mission did for you and what it changed in your life. Well, I really appreciate that. To reflect on those two years, which was from 1998 to 2000, became the foundation of my life that I'm continuing to try to build and live out and enjoy and maximum.

And to your point, the decision becomes easy when you know the decision is being influenced by something greater than you. And so, you know, you're complimenting me on that decision, yet I know that there are millions of listeners that are making important decisions the same, that are just as much sacrifice. And they're different because they maybe aren't between professional sports and their faith. but there's something else, whether it's a challenge, a weakness, or an opportunity, there's some decision they're making. And it becomes easier. It becomes doable when you know that it's God that you're doing it with. And you know that it's his voice that you're trying to listen to. And so that's why I decided to forego signing with the New York Mets as a senior in high school back in 1997. And a year later, I found myself in Spain preaching Jesus Christ and serving other people. And

ultimately, I think the greatest thing opportunity of that two years brought to me, in addition to learning of my Savior and better understanding who he is and how I can strive to live the life that he exemplified was that for two years, I was asked to forget myself and to think about everybody else in the world except me and to see how we could, with my companions, bring a message of hope and peace and how we could teach of Jesus Christ, which would then help them to make important decisions in their life that would bless them the same way that I had felt blessings in my life for trying my best to choose Jesus Christ first, right? When whenever, if you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all things are added unto us. Yes. And we don't know

what all things are. I warn kids all the time. I said, all things happen to include baseball for me down the road. But that doesn't mean that what you most love or desire is going to be your all things. Maybe it's something you never recognize until later on in life. And so, And so I learned, number one, the joy of forgetting yourself, of losing yourself, and yet finding yourself through that because I was asked to do that. And I practiced for two years. Can I genuinely forget about a potential baseball career? Can I genuinely forget about a girlfriend who became a wife?

Can I forget about, in a positive way, my family, and do the things that I feel inspired by God to do? I'll tell you one other lesson that was foundational for my life. that was understanding the definition of success. As a missionary, our purpose was very clear. Our purpose was to go and invite and help others come under Christ. That was the purpose. But success is not defined on how many people you help bring under Christ. Success was defined by our effort and our commitment to that purpose. And so you have this interesting dichotomy. Your goal and purpose is to bring others under Christ, and that can be done through faith in Him, through repent,

through baptism and in living, you know, committing yourself to God and Jesus Christ. Yet your success was not going to be measured by how often that happened because of your hard work and the work that you did with God. Your success was going to be defined by your effort to fulfill your purpose. And so you were doing one thing, trying to measure it one way, yet your success was going to be measured a totally different way. And it had helped me learn something I had learned in high school, which was the definition of success defined by John Wooden, the legendary college basketball coach. And he said, of course, that success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of the self-satisfaction

that you have in making the best effort you can to become the best you're capable of becoming. And so I learned that. I learned that I can control my effort, my focus, my enthusiasm, my resiliency. and when I do that, I can feel successful. And that lesson has paid off in life. It has paid off in baseball. It's paid off in every aspect.

And I learned it in a really powerful and unique way. As a 19 and 20 year old, walking around the streets of Spain, attempting to share a message of Jesus with all who would listen, which frankly was very, very few people in 24 months. I spent most of my time talking to people that had other things. and had jobs or kids or were in a hurry to go somewhere. And so had I defined my success by, am I making an impact, a visible impact in someone's life?

I probably would have felt really dejected, but I came home with the new definition of what success is, and it was ingrained in my heart, and I've tried to live that way ever since. That's beautiful, man. That is beautiful. I'm assuming you took Spanish in high school, right? No, no, don't assume anything.

No, German. It was really bad German at that. Oh, wow. Wow. So you should German in high school. Yeah. And I spoke no Spanish. Why didn't choose Spain?

That was the challenge. I really wanted to go to Japan. My mom's family comes from Japan. I'm half Japanese. I don't speak Japanese either, but that was a dream of mine. And so I wanted to go to Japan, but I was assigned to go to Spain. And that wasn't a choice that I made. I simply volunteered.

I submitted a resume, said, here's who I am. Here's what I've studied. Here's what I've done. I would like to serve. Send me wherever you will. and they chose to send me to Spain. And so I learned Spanish from the very first word, the first day, spent two and a half, three months learning it in a training center in Utah,

and then was shipped off to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and was thrown right into the fire and understood just about nothing for about five months before it kind of clicked. Wow, bro. So again, I did make an assumption. I assume that, you know, you would have studied Spanish prior to going to Spain. And so that tells me more about you. Just how you immerse yourself into, one, being the best version of yourself that you can be.

But two, I also look at it that that's probably how you took on challenges too, right? Like, give me a challenge. I'm going to be fully committed to that challenge. Talk to us a little bit about that. Well, I would say taking on Spanish was one of the earlier. challenges of my life. You know, I was really fortunate to grow up in a home that had loving parents and stability. And so as a young kid, I really can't think too much about really difficult challenges. I'm grateful for that. And I recognize that that's a unique opportunity. But learning Spanish

was hugely frustrating. And so as much as I look back now and tell my own children, you should learn Spanish, I'll help teach you. We'll talk about it after school, spend 30 minutes a day. And they want no part of it. I'm just trying to help them, but it stems from how frustrating it was for me to learn Spanish. And now I have a 19-year-old son living in Peru who never wanted to study with me, but is forced to learn it himself right now. I wanted to quit. I wanted to quit Spanish, being a missionary even after a couple weeks and months, was something that went from a really powerful kind of crossroads in my life and decision to one that I'm like, geez, do I make the right decision is this really why i want to be is this where god wants me to be because it sure feels like

i'm alone and abandoned and that it's not going well uh but i i learned okay i can only control one thing and that's how much effort do i put into speaking my language and studying it so after about two months it finally clicked i said okay i'm just going to speak spanish all day long even if i can only say five things and i'll stick with those five things and i'll translate everything else and that made a big impact and so my ability to speak went in my faster than my ability to learn to hear and understand because I could put more effort into that. And the listening and the understanding kind of came bit by bit. So I think I was comfortable speaking by about three months into Spain, whereas it took another

three or 40 to really be comfortable understanding. But it was a grind. It was hard. People around me were much better. The other 12 missionaries in my class, most of them had taken Spanish. Some of them had taken significant amounts of Spanish. And so I remember after, I think it was a month and a half, I kept, I finally asked, I said, why do we keep taking these verbs like, you know, tenor to have? Why do we keep taking the verbs and changing the spelling? And they said, what do you mean? I said, like, why is it tango and tianes and tenemos? And they said, that's conjugating. I said, what does it mean to conjugate? They said, what do you mean? We've been talking about this for six weeks. To conjugate, it means you have to say like, I have something. You have something. In English, it's the same word. But in Spanish, it's the same word. But in Spanish, If I have it's Yotango. If you have it, it's two TNAs.

Like, so that's what we're doing. So anyway, just like, they couldn't even comprehend that after six weeks, I didn't know what we were doing. Every time we walked in and did a chart with six different ways to say a word, I had no idea what we were doing. But it was a grind. It was difficult and challenging. Well, you did it.

And I'm proud of you for that, bro. I'm proud of the work that you did out in Spain as well, too, because that's led to other things that we'll get to in a moment. But you come back from Spain. right. Baseball career is ready to resume. You know, there's NIL now, so I won't ask you to tell me the bag that Stanford gave you

because, you know, Oregon has some great baseball programs out there too. Sanford obviously always elite in baseball. But talk to us about that brotherhood of college baseball and what that was like. I love it. When I went to, you know, I attended BYU as a freshman and play baseball there. And I wasn't very good. And our team was okay.

We were a 500 team. When I came back, I had an opportunity to transfer to Stanford, and that was thanks to my late high school coach who passed away a year ago. And my father, who really believed in me and wanted me to have more opportunity. And so they bothered the coaches at Stanford and said, you've got to take a look at this kid. He could help your program. And they were kind enough to do it.

And so I was accepted kind of as a planned walk-on. They gave me $1,000 of money towards, I think it was about $40,000 of tuition and, you know, living expenses and books at that time, which actually seems pretty cheap now compared to what cost to go to school these days. But they gave me very little, but they said, you'll come and be on the team. And so I'm like, fine, I'll take a chance. And I had no idea what I had, you know, two years of not throwing, two years of no lifting weights or exercising or running. I didn't really know what I would have. But it came back pretty quickly. I always attributed that to the hand of God. I can't explain it. I said, I don't know how I can go

from 91 miles per hour at BYU, take two years off, don't throw a single ball for two years, lose 25 pounds of presumably muscle that I'd gained in high school. And then within two and a half months, I'm throwing 97 miles per hour. I said, I have no explanation for that other than just a gift in the hand of God touching my arm and saying, this is what I have in store for you. And so quickly I was confident, believed I could be a part of the team and earned a spot, you know, from going from a walk on to actually having a role as the Friday starter for a team that eventually became the number one team in the country and who eventually lost in the championship game to Miami in the College World Series in 2001. So it was unexpected. It was a whirlwind. It was really an enjoyable ride in the camaraderie that you asked about is I tell me, I tell people all the time, my teammates at stake. Stanford, from the pitching staff all the way to our elite infield and our outfield that had three major league players in the outfield, go on to have good careers in the big leagues.

I just grew a love of baseball. These guys loved baseball. They ate, slept and drank it, but in a good way in a really kind of productive, constructive way that made me love baseball more, which caused me to just enjoy myself. And when I enjoyed myself, I got much better, which is, you know, what do you, what do, what parents and coaches tell their kids all the time, have fun. And it sounds like a cliche, but the moment I began to have fun in baseball was the moment my talent and career really, you know, took off. And it totally took off leading to the big show, right? You know, most folks don't understand

the short tenure of people who actually make it to the big leagues, right? Like, we all hear the stories of the grind of minor leagues and we get that a lot. But people don't understand. It is very rare that when you do get called up, when you do make it, that you actually stay there, especially for pitchers, right? Like, it is very hard for a pitcher to have over a decade in the big show, but Jay Guts did, man. Talk to us about, you know, some of the highlights or the things that you're most proud of

of your career. It's a great question. And I wish I had the data because when I talk to parents or kids that have the big dream, you know, dream big and you should always follow your dreams. Of course. But be realistic. And, you know, whether it's a backup plan or whether it's just a safety net to fall on, I think one of the greatest things, number one, that helped me in my career, because my career was mirrored that of,

I'd call it 98% of major league players, meaning it had ups and downs. It had challenges. It had setbacks. And there are very few that don't. You know, we can think of a couple that are in the big leagues today that I would say they didn't have setbacks. I'm sure they would disagree completely. But you see the career of Bryce Harper, who is a young man, was on Sports Illustrated as the chosen one and makes it to the big leagues at 19 and is a two-time MVP and is chasing, you know, a career that could ultimately end up in Cooper's town. That's a, that's a player that really lived up to the expectations kind of in a linear way.

Paul Skeen's today very similar, but 98% of big leers up and down, their careers on the brink, and somehow they come back from it. And so I was, you know, I was no different in that, but you learn through it that if you can keep, you know, keep grinding and they had to go back to that definition of success in my mind, I had to really lean on that because when your success outwardly is not happening, meaning you have a high ERA, a lot of losses, a lot of home runs, and hits allowed, that, you know, that, you know, know, if that's your only definition of success, it kills careers. And I don't have the data, but, you know, players that make it to the big leagues is a tiny

percentage. Players who stay in the big leagues longer than two years is an even tinier fraction of players. And then, of course, those who reach 10 years is a minuscule number. And so education gave me peace of mind. When I was in my worst moments, I always knew with an education in college, I could fall back and go find a job. And I think that was helpful. I think to know that I had something gave me kind of that that umph to keep going.

And I've been around enough players that are all in on baseball, which, you know, to their credit, that's that's the way they live their life. They're passionate about it. But I know that at some point when it becomes difficult, that the pressure no longer is just baseball, but it's life. It's like, wow, if I don't make it and get a multi-year contract, what am I going to do? I got nothing to fall back. And I have no education.

I have no money saved because kids need to know when you get a signing bonus, that money evaporates pretty quickly if you spend it on anything. You know, you get half of it to start between taxes and an agent. And then, you know, you go buy a car. That's another chunk of it. It just goes really fast. And so a signing bonus is almost null and void for most players unless they are really wise with their money. And so I think I think education helped. I was married in my career.

My wife was a huge support. and most players probably aren't married in the minor leagues. I was. And so no matter what, I always had someone to go back to, someone that loved me, someone that encouraged me, someone that believed in me. And that was enormous. For a lot of players, that's a parent, a sibling.

And if you're really fortunate, it becomes a teammate or a friend. But that's more rare because, you know, baseball, you're competing. You're not there, like, in college, trying to win a championship necessarily. You're competing against the other 12 pitchers to take the one job that might become available in middle of July in the big leagues. And so that's a big change as well. Players need to understand money goes fast. If you don't have a plan to fall back on, pressure, mounts,

you're going to be challenged, you're going to fail. And most of the time you're going to be surrounded by a bunch of guys that understandably are selfishly trying to take the same job that you're shooting for. And that's a tough life. Throw on some bus trips. And at the time, $20 a day for food and some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tuna fish after batting practice. and you see very quickly why professional baseball will eat you up

and spit you out quicker than you can say big leagues. There you go. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Well, again, man, I'm proud of the career that you had. I always say, you know, number 11 in your program, but number one in your heart, right? Like, that's my dude right there. But I want to talk now about the things you're doing outside of baseball, man.

Like, you're currently traveling the globe from Peru to China to Cuba. bridging communities through baseball. Talk us a little bit about that, bro. Well, you know, a lot of it goes back to my time in Spain, first and foremost. That was the first time I really left the country, excluding a quick tournament I had in Canada as a senior in high school. Yeah. But, you know, I just learned to appreciate cultures, language,

lifestyle of people who live outside of what I knew, which was the United States of America. So I became more adventurous when I came home. Baseball provided me all the platform I needed to be able to go and have unique opportunities. Because I played baseball, because I could throw a fastball 95 miles per hour, suddenly I was invited to go and do certain things. And I really wanted to take advantage of that. And so while I played, most of my off-season were filled with travel,

whether it was personal or whether it was related to baseball. And I got to know people. And the more you get to know them, the more you care about them and care about what they're doing. And as I went to unique parts of the world, I realized that baseball is well beyond South America and Central America and the Caribbean. It goes well beyond Asia in these places that we really identify as baseball hotbeds. But I could find myself in Bulgaria and players are playing every Sunday and they have been for 30 years because they love a game of baseball. And you can find yourself in Croatia and Uganda and all these places all over the globe that love baseball because baseball is a game that teaches. so much about life. It teaches, it's a fun game. And so everything about everything you love about

baseball for those who love it, you know, people outside of our country and outside of the baseball sphere also love it. And so I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to see the joy that they have. It made me love the game more. So it fueled me. And I had a teammate named Kevin Malar. And Kevin was one of my all-time favorite teammates and still one of my favorite friends. And he said something that he lived by. And that was every day you're in the big leagues, you have a chance to touch somebody's life. And so he would point out to people, he's let's go touch that kid's life or let's go touch that dad or that mom's life. And that meant just go over there, say, hello, be pleasant, sign an autograph, take a picture with them, do something nice for their kid or

for them, whatever might be. He says, because you throw hard, Jeremy, because I can hit the ball out of the ballpark, because our team, we've been on good teams, people look at us like we're heroes and we're no better than them, but they look at us like that. And so we have the chance to go and touch somebody's life. And I think of it that way. Anytime you can be with someone or do something for somebody and as it relates to baseball, it's a much easier path for me to touch someone's life because they see me as someone, you know, that's accomplished something. So because of my my God-given talent and my accomplishments, I'm of importance to them. And I try to remember that. I try to remember that as much as I can. And it's not always easy, but try to be giving.

And through that, I've been to over 60 countries. I've played baseball on, I've actually played it on five continents. I've coached it on six. And if I can get a snowball fight with some penguins down to Antarctica, I can add a seventh continent to my baseball and throwing teaching resume. I do want to go to Antarctica. And I know some players have gone. I'm really jealous.

But it's fun. Last year, I was in 18 countries for different reasons. And most of them were baseball related. and being an ambassador for Major League Baseball, sharing that honor with roughly 21 other former players, guys I've competed against and some with, is beyond my wildest dreams. I couldn't be more grateful for that opportunity. And I take every day with gratitude for that chance and that invitation that was extended to me by a good friend, C.C. Sabathia to be a part of the commissioner's ambassador program.

And for all those who make it work from E.J. to Brian. and Dan Haley, who's a tremendous supporter in the commissioner himself, they have a desire to grow the game of baseball as well. And it's amazing to partner with them and doing that work. No, man, I'm a huge supporter of what you're doing individually and then also the work that you're doing with Major League Baseball, man. I think all of us, right? Like, we can all go back to those moments as kids, you know,

whether you played in an organized league or sport or not, or whether it was just backyard family reunions. There's nothing like picking up a bat and a ball and a glove and just having that fun. And those are all great memories, which is why we call baseball America's pastime. And I think, you know, I love football. And as much as football is trying to approach that, there's still those memories that we have that there's nothing like baseball. There's nothing like a ballpark, right? Like there's nothing like that ballpark.

Like I just, those memories. So I applaud what you guys are doing there. And I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about something else, man. Like, I'm a sneakerhead. I'm a sneaker head. I'm thinking about joining this old man softball league. Because, you know, I'm in my late 40s now. So I got to go to softball.

I need some cleats, bro. Let's talk about custom cleats. Well, custom cleats has you covered. Let's go. Yeah, custom cleats is a passion project of mine. I run the business with my best friend and college, not roommate, but my college neighbor. And, you know, it really started because, well, the business itself started 25 years ago because of a need. The original founder, Anthony Ambroseini, his brother played professional baseball, said, man, if I could, you know, I'm having feet problems and leg problems.

if I could just play baseball in my shoes, I know all these problems would go away. And so Anthony went to work. He said, okay, let's make you a pair of cleats out of your shoes. And so he cut up a pair of actual cleats, glued the cleat plates onto the shoes, and gave him to his brother and said, okay, here you go.

And, you know, played more time and got healthy and stronger. Never made it to the big least to my knowledge, but was able to play. And so that's how custom cleats began. It's evolved and morphed. We still serve thousands of athletes that have medical conditions or issues that are solved by having shoes, including a number of who are in the major leagues. I've been called by trainers this spring training and doing special projects for guys,

and you would see them all over the league. You wouldn't know who they are, but there's guys that need that help. And then, of course, as rules and regulations for what colors of shoes you can wear and what you can wear kind of relaxed, suddenly you wanted guys to be able to make a statement on the fashion side. And so custom cleats has grown from a need of one player to servicing thousands of athletes around the world. And what we do is we take any sneaker and make it into a cleat. And it's a simple process. We carve into the shoe without compromising its stability.

Pretty much I tell people, whatever the shoe felt like before, it's going to feel like afterward, but now you're going to have cleats on the bottom. You're going to have traction. So baseball is our biggest sport. Golf is up and coming. Our golf conversions are unbelievable. And you can show up with some of the most fashionable shoes, or maybe you want comfort because you're going to walk 18 holes and you want to be in that floating on clouds,

the on shoes that don't have golf. we're there for you. And so we have customers from five years old, which I think is wild and crazy and fun at the same time, all the way up to 75-year-old. So you're right in the middle. You are primed for your first pair of custom cleat conversions. It's all about, I tell the guy's like, what should I convert?

I said, well, what's your purpose? Is it comfort or is it look or is it both? I said, if it's one of the other, go that direction. What's the most comfortable should you have? Well, that's the one you should probably convert. And I said, if it's more of a style thing, What's the color? What's the uniform you want to match? What colors do you love? Let's go find that shoe and convert that one into a cleat. And there's a big mix of both. Of course, guys want both and they get both. So anyways, we run the business. We hustle. We're two guys that admittedly probably aren't the best business guys, but it's fun. It's passionate being a lover of sneakers my whole life. I grew up in Oregon. I grew up in the era of Michael Jordan. I was seven years old when he released his first Air Jordan One. have a pair of the Sky Jordans as they were for the small sizes.

And I've loved sneakers ever since because of Michael Jordan and what he, kind of what he emulated as an athlete and as a competitor. And it's just grown into something much, much bigger since. Yeah. So I'm definitely going to get custom softball cleats and some golf shoes. I'm a Jordan brand guy. So, you know, we'll make this happen. And we'll throw some Mick on plug player in there too.

I like that. That's what we got to do. We got to do it. So anyone looking for us, you can find us on Instagram at custom cleats. Very simple handle. We're the Kleenex of customization, I say. Like, if everyone wants to do something, we don't paint shoes. But if someone wants to customize, they put in custom cleats, custom kicks, and they find

us by custom cleats.com is where you place your orders. Custom cleats on Instagram is how you can see a lot of what we do. and get familiar with our business. And we'd love to welcome you to our family mix. So we got you covered. I can't wait to see what you're going to bring to the table. Better be good. Don't come with something weak.

Bring me something good, you know? Something with some pops and some pizzazz. Sir, I am a tar hill. You know, Michael Jordan went there. I got you. We will have some pizzazz. And here's what I want to do, Jeremy. After we do my shoe and I'm going to pay, I don't want it done,

I'm going to pay. I want it done. I think Mick Unplug, the podcast, should then find five people that Jeremy and MLB want to do a custom shoe for. And Mick Unplug will sponsor

and pay for those five shoes. Oh, you're amazing. That would be incredible. Let's do that. That'd be a great partnership. Something fun. Let's do it. Exciting.

Okay. Let's do it. Well, bro, I know how busy you are. I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule. Keep touching lives. like I know you're going to, I'm going to have all your contact information in the show notes where people can follow you, find you.

If you're listening, do me a huge favor. Don't just follow Jeremy and custom cleat. But be a part of what they do. And being apart doesn't mean that you've got to give money every time, right? Sometimes just showing up, showing support, spreading the news of all the things that they're doing. Obviously, if you can support financially, that's an amazing thing.

but just be a part because as a community, a lot of times we just need people to believe in us and to help spread the messages that we're spreading. Do your part and help us do that. That's awesome. Thanks, Mick. Jeremy, I love you, brother. Appreciate you, my man. Thank you. Love you very much.

Keep up the great work you're doing, telling stories and making the world a better, more inspired place. You got it. And for all the viewers and listeners, remember your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. That's another powerful conversation on Mick Unplugged. If this episode moved you, and I'm sure it did, follow the show wherever you listen, share it with someone who needs that spark, and leave a review so more people can find

there because I'm Rudy Rush, and until next time, stay driven, stay focused, and stay unplugged.