PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The Chris Garagiola Show

Episode Date: June 9, 2022

On this episode, Derek is joined by D-backs radio broadcaster Chris Garagiola to chat about his experiences calling baseball games, his legendary family’s connection to the franchise, his thoughts on this year's team, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to the PHNX Daback show right here on PHNX, brought to you by the Drafking Sportsbook app, America's number one sportsbook app. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am known as your mayor of PHNX, and I am joined today by a very special guest, who I'll introduce shortly. No, you know, again, Jesse has accused me several times of using interviews as some sort of weird way to interview. people for his position as vice mayor. And I would never think of doing that. I did do it with Jake. And I may have done it with today's guest. So he might be on to something. But of course, we thank you guys so much for joining us. By the way, before we go on too deep, I want to remind you guys all to go check out our website at go phnx.com. If you haven't had a chance to do so already,

all of our new members, we're excited to have you guys. We appreciate our existing members. If you're new member, you sign up for an annual membership. You'll get yourself a free t-shirt from the PHNX Locker.com, and there is a wonderful assortment of T-shirts, including a couple of shirts from your guys over here at PHNX-D-Backs, as well as Sons, Sun Devils, Coyotes, Cardinals, the entire lineup of Arizona and Valley teams. Of course, if you're not interested in getting that annual membership, you can sign up for a month-to-month option, and you'll get your first month for just 50 cents, regardless

of the membership status that you, you're not. you choose, you will get access to members-only discounts over at that PHNX Locker.com, as well as access to our members-only Discord, which we have been having some fun with this week in regards to the Arizona Diamondbacks Games. It's been cathartic. It's been a fun place for us to go and lament about the lack of offense and how bad this road trip has been against both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds. After our show last night, or I should say midway through our show last night, the Diamond

offense came alive and it was good to see. Hopefully it carries over to the today's game. We are recording this now before today's game, but you'll be seeing it most likely after the game airs. So I'm glad to have you guys with us if you're here. And most importantly, what we need to talk about is this guy helped get us through a rain delay yesterday. And he did an excellent job of it. We are very excited to have today's guest on the show. Again, not a replacement for Jesse. just a possible replacement for Jesse, but he is part of one of the most important families in Arizona Diamondbacks franchise history. He is one of the Diamondbacks newest broadcasters on the radio broadcast side. It's one and only Chris Gersiola.

Very excited to be joined by him, and here's my interview with Chris. All right, Chris, thank you so much for joining us, man. It's a pleasure to have you on. It's been a pleasure to listen to you this season as part of the DeBAC's broadcasting team. I guess my first question is, what has this year been like for you finally getting to this point and calling the major league team? Yeah, I mean, first off, thanks for having me. I really appreciate your patience. But this is, if I could have picked any scenario, you know, a couple years back, any team that you want to work for.

I think a lot of people look at much older franchises or, you know, kind of an air quotes historic. Oh, I want to work for the Yankees, the Yankees, the. Dodgers, the Giants. And for me, if I could have handpicked any situation, I would have been like I would really like to work for the Diamondbacks. It's my hometown. I love, you know, the Phoenix Scottsdale area. I would do anything to live there once again after kind of bouncing around a lot of these different places around the world, which I'm grateful for. But to actually have this chance to to work with people who I've listened to for a long time and people who've been with this organization since day one.

I could not have asked for more. And I told someone the other day, you know, there's a level of professionalism that you have to maintain, obviously, in respect for the opposition, but I have never experienced the kind of professional joy that I had after some, you know,

early summer Diamondback wins, you know? Like I just, I couldn't believe what I was feeling in terms of just like, I love what I do. you. And man, we're only a couple months in. I know we're kind of in a down swing right now, but this has been almost indescribable how much I just love doing what I'm doing. I can relate a little bit to that just here at PHNX, right? I mean, it seems surreal. And every day is challenging, but it's a, it's a fun challenge and it's an incredible feeling to be able to do

something like this that, you know, I think that I've been striving to do, that you've been striving to do. And I know you've been doing it for a long time. You've been working your way to this opportunity. And like you said, it's, it's almost like it's fate with your family's connection to, to this team and the valley. It just seemed like the perfect fit for you to be back here. But I guess, you know, I know your grandfather, your father, like I said, connection to this team. It's been something that's been in your blood since you were born. But what point did you like think I want to broadcast? I want to do that part of this sports world. It's a very, very, very specific moment, actually. I'm glad that you asked. I was in Bradenton, Florida.

I took a gap year after I graduated high school before starting college and it was a place called IMG Academy. You might have heard of it. know it's pretty well yeah exactly it's a it's a huge sporting complex for those who don't know lots of different sports when i was there you know it was originally this nick bolotary tennis academy but they had baseball and golf um and they were just starting to get like football and lacrosse but i was dorming with like three other guys and they were playing i think NHL 10 and i was just trying to make them laugh. And I just started doing like a like my rendition of a of a hockey broadcast. And what was supposed to be like 30 seconds before I ran out of steam, like I was going for like five

straight minutes. And they were just calling the game. Just call the game, you know? And it wasn't like a fake high pitch like, oh, it passes the buck. And like that. And like that's like a real effort. And they were like, dude, how did you do that? Like that was really funny. And just getting that reaction out of them. Even though I wasn't really trying to make it like a comedy hour, I was like, that was a lot of fun. And that kind of moment stuck in the back of my brain. And as I kind of learned over the next couple of years, you know, through IMG and then with my time at Trinity, I just didn't have the desire to kind of put in the everyday grind of, you know, five, six hours a day working at baseball, trying to get better at baseball. I just kind of knew,

even if I had done that, it wasn't going to work out for me in the long run. There wasn't going to be a major league career. So when that kind of faded out actually playing, then I started giving broadcasting a much more serious look. And a lot of people think like, oh, you know, you must have wanted to be like your grandfather. You must have wanted to follow in his footsteps. I never, when I was growing up, you know, like saw him or watched old tape and think

like, now that's what I want to do. I think I saw him do that. And I thought, you know, his personality, like the, the man I got to know who came over for family dinners and holidays and things like that, my personality isn't that different. Like I think, I think that I can do it and make a living from doing this, but I didn't want to try and imitate him.

And I certainly don't have aspirations, intentionally, you know, trying to become as famous as he was. He was an American icon in a sense when it came to broadcasting at that time. So, you know, I'm just doing it because of what I said. earlier. I had fun doing it. I love sports. So, you know, I love baseball. And I just, I enjoy going to the ballpark every day. And it, it really doesn't feel like work to me at all. Certainly want to get better,

you know, over these next years. But, you know, it's, it's, it's the cliche saying with, when you find something that you love doing, it, it really doesn't feel like going to work. Well, and I, I truly enjoy listening to you. I know you personally. And I mean, I'm not just saying that because I like you and you're a great guy. You have been really good, enjoyable to listen to. I thought you handled situations that have come up when you've been calling games well, this situation with these rainouts in Cincinnati and everything like that. But one thing I've noticed is that you, it's very natural for you. You seem to be able to not only talk about baseball, but other topics very naturally. And it doesn't really seem force. So I guess,

you know, you definitely seem to have the skill set to be able to be entertaining because broadcasting is more than just calling the game, obviously, when you're doing it, especially on radio. Yeah, I mean, I think I'm my own a harshest critic because all I'm very, yeah, I mean, I'm very pleased with how things have gone this far, but there is still a lot that I think I can get better at. And I compare myself to, you know, the best broadcasters, I think, in the league, your Benetis, your Shambis, your Fleming's, your Millers. You know, people who have been doing it for decades.

And, you know, I'm in year one, but I still look at it like, okay, you know, you need to try and get better. You need to try and push yourself to, you know, the maximum limits that you have, but also to your audience members, to people who are listening for the first time, to people who listen from the other team. Are you giving the opposition the sort of respect that they deserve? So and I have to say, Derek, like this is what you're seeing is the byproduct of five years, if not longer, of trying things and trying to get better. I'll be honest with you. You know, Cincinnati is a special place for me. I was an intern here. And the choice to work there led to everything else that came professionally, you know, worked at the red.

AA affiliate and then we changed affiliates a few times. And then, you know, at the end of the 2021 season, got hired here. But I remember being at Great American Ballpark, Jim Kulch was one of the radio broadcasters at the time. Dave Arm Brewster, who's the radio engineer for the Reds, he kind of gave me some equipment. You know, let me set up in an ox booth. And I gave that tape to Jim Kelch. And Jim's, I think, first comment when he listened was, I'm not exactly sure what you

were doing, but I'm not so sure it was broadcasting. All right, I got a lot of work to do. You know, I struggled in 17. I struggled in those first couple months. And when I became a lead, I really, it's different when you're an assistant versus being the main guy. And it honestly took me about 70 games worth to find a semblance of, okay, I think this is the personality that I want to have.

This is the direction I want to kind of take games in. And, you know, then I worked another year and a half. So I mean it when I say I have room to get better, but I also mean it when I say I needed those, you know, 500 plus minor league broadcasts to kind of find my identity. And I'm very fortunate because, you know, Tommy Thrall, who's the Reds broadcaster, it took him 12 years. And he was one of, and still is one of the best broadcasters I've ever listened to.

And he kind of helped shape my career in a big way. So it took a lot of time, anyone who does anything creative, I think what you do is a really creative media. you know it's not perfect in the beginning you have to stick with it and you have to stick through listening to yourself and going oh man I know what I want it to be and this isn't quite where it is exactly and I it's the reps right it's the reps that are important I've told people that so many times when they ask why I did a dumb podcast for years that I didn't get paid for or whatever it's it's because if you don't do something like that to to make yourself better to listen back to

then you aren't going to. You're not going to sit around and record fake, you know, broadcasts at home to practice. You know, you kind of need that to get out there. But also sometimes it helps, I think, to be not on such a big stage. So that way when you make those mistakes,

you can kind of learn from them and not always have them, you know, be, you know, kind of in the public eye as much. At least that's, that was my feeling on doing some of the shows that I've done in the past, right? But I imagine with broadcasting, it seems like it would be hard not to emulate somebody that you look up to or somebody, you know, even if not your grandfather, but like some of the guys you name that you listen to that you enjoy listening to. It's hard to not, you know, try to find your own personality and not essentially call a game like you're doing an imitation of one of them.

Yeah, I mean, I mean, a couple times this season, you know, my dad has called. He's got a really good ear. and he was like, you know, look, I think you're doing a good job and most people won't notice. But I think at times you're kind of sounding like, you know, this broadcaster. And I would go back and listen and I would go, you know what, you're right. Because you listen to people that you respect and other people have said, you know, that they're at the top of your profession. And you almost naturally want to imitate that because you think, well, if they're doing it and it works for them, that means that this is the blueprint.

and you can't you can't do that. So it's been different working with a partner again. And so I'm finding a little bit of my voice there just when you're talking as a broadcaster one versus trying to introduce somebody and kind of get them, get their thoughts and kind of when I'm pulling candy in or gonzo in or things like that. Sure. I'm kind of relearning that. But yeah, I mean, I'm sure that there are people besides me that have done that on occasion.

So I just like to kind of lock in and remember that. And who I am, there are people here with the Diamondbacks who believe that that is, is good enough, and I just can't deviate from that. Oh, yeah. And you're absolutely right. I mean, that's, it's really about the fact that, again, as a listener to the broadcast, it's enjoyable. Your personality comes out, and it's enjoyable because it's you, and it comes off as being

very sincere. And sometimes it's not easy to do that with, you know, with calling a game, with being, like, there's the voice you have to use when you're on the radio, which is just a little different than your voice and all of that kind of stuff, right? But also you're, you know, you're working with a Valley legend in Greg Schulte.

And not only has he been considered like the voice of the team for all of these years, but he's tremendously a great person to work with. I interviewed him a few years back. And he was just very gracious and was one of my favorite interviews that I've ever done. So I guess what, what is working with Greg been like and how has, you know, how has it been kind of being the opposite man to him? Yeah, I mean, I've said it before.

I never thought, and I don't mean to make him feel old, but I mean, since day one, you know, when I was six years old, I mean, I was, we would go to the game, but because we were little, you know, I had three older siblings. We probably left around the seventh inning and what we do. We put the game on the radio, you know, and there was Greg and Rod Allen or there was Greg.

and Jim Traber. And he has been there from the beginning. He is the voice of the Diamondbacks. And it's crazy to think that this, you know, relatively new franchise, still all these years later as we get ready to kind of celebrate 25 years, that it's still him. It's still his voice. And believe me, I know my role.

I'm just filling in for him on some of these broadcasts. I know that if he were able to, he would like to be out there. Maybe not this 10-game road trip. a tough one. Yeah, for sure. For you and the team, for sure. It's a long one. But he has been so kind.

You know, the day I got hired, he reached out and called me. And he's offered some feedback and he's offered positive support. And he is someone I can just ask so many questions about with the team. The guy's like a walking encyclopedia, not just with the Diamondbacks, but he's been a baseball fan his whole life. Yeah. And I'm so grateful that I have this opportunity because he, like you said, the dude is a Valley legend. Yeah. It's, he's, he's just got a magical voice and he's been, he's been there since the beginning. So it's, for me, it's the same thing, right? Like, I'm such a huge fan of his that, you know, to interview him, to bump into him in the press lounge is just still an absolute joy for me. And I don't get, I know, I, it's a weird feeling of not necessarily being starstruck, but just still kind of. being in awe of him and everything he's done as the voice of this team. And, you know, there's been a lot of, obviously, a, you know, a lot of ups and downs with this team not only during Greg's time,

but obviously this season has been a pretty unpredictable season for this team. And you've gotten a chance to watch quite a bit of it. What are your thoughts on this team's identity and, you know, what kind of what we see at times and the good times and the bad? I mean, is this what, is this what, you know, kind of, especially on this road trip, is this how things kind of round out to be back to what they expected of this franchise before the season started? It seemed like they were going to maybe, you know, really overachieve this season. Well, and they still might, you know, I think that when you step back beyond the Diamondbacks and you kind of look at every franchise, there is so much unpredictability based off the expectations we set for teams going into seasons. Sure. You know, we looked at the Angels as a perfect example.

And, you know, they got up to a great start. The Rockies were kind of the same way, you know. Yeah. There's this kind of sexy pick in the month of April. And people kind of said with them, and I don't mean it disrespectfully to our DNVR listeners or anybody else. But it's, we'll just wait until May and June happens. And they kind of will be the first to say that. They were saying that when I was saying their team, I'm like, what is going on with the Rockies?

They're like, right? Their word's not ours, okay. But they've kind of, you know, fallen back to maybe expectations. and, you know, everyone with the Angels, where it was like, look, they're off to a great start. And it was just like, look, we've kind of been burned a few times with that team, kind of underperforming. And now they have, you know, season worst, 13 game losing streak. They just made a managerial change. So to bring it back to us, like ups and downs, I think that's what I was expecting at the beginning of the season.

You know, I knew that we were going to be better than a 52 and 110 ball club. In fact, I kind of thought when the over-unders came out, I think the debacks were at 66, 67 and a half. And I thought, you know, I get it. That's 14 games over what we did last year. And people would point to that. But the circumstances that led to last season's record were so unbelievable, in my opinion, that, like, there's no way that we were going to be anywhere close to that. So I wasn't surprised. I would have been a little surprised.

And I think I still would be pleasantly surprised if we won 81 games. That would be a magnificent turnaround. You know, and as bad as things have looked right now offensively on this road. trip. We're only what, five games under. So the pitching. I woke up last night for sure after the rain delay. It seemed like the offense, it's like, it's like their luggage got lost and it finally showed up, you know. Yeah. I mean, I'm not, don't, don't aggregate this because this is not me officially reporting, but who knows? Maybe, maybe, you know, some guys went in the clubhouse and, and had a meeting. I don't know. But it certainly seemed like a Jekyll and Hyde after that rain delay

where the audience came alive, which was great to see. Like one run in 34. innings prior to that. And then all of a sudden they, they're able to explode in that, you know, eighth and ninth inning. So, I mean, it was, at least it was encouraging to see because it, like this road trip so far has left us scratching our heads a little bit. But I'm

with you on that. And again, I kind of screamed that from the rooftops about last season. And especially when people were, we're picking them to win like 65 games. I'm like, you know, they were missing four, I get it. Everybody had injuries. They were missing four starters at one

time last season. That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying, right? But yeah, this team, at the very least, they seem to, you know, really have invested in coaching staff. And it seems like, obviously, I know the pitching staff kind of the starting rotation, especially, came back down to Earth after that really good start. But it really does feel like the coaches that they put in place are impacting this team positively. Even with the way that the offense kind of disappears at times, it still has looked much better under Joe Mather than it did last season when you talk about, you know, hard hit balls and home runs and all of that kind of stuff when it comes to this team.

I think Joe's done a terrific job. I know that he was under a little bit of scrutiny at the beginning of the year and kind of what you were talking about pitching last year. Look, people don't realize, right, I guess I should say casual baseball fans, when you are taking out an everyday major league player, okay, you're not putting in another every day, major league player that might just be a little bit worse when you kind of compare the skill set. What you're bringing in is essentially a minor league player. And while we have good minor league players, you know, and young players, the reason why they're in

the minors is to get more at bats and to get more experience so they can improve their skill set and take that leap into becoming everyday major league players. Drew Ellis is a really good player, okay? But he needs more time. He needs a few more reps. I mean, outstanding defensive player. the bat I think is really going to come around. I think we asked a lot of him to be, you know, the opening day third baseman when Rojas was down,

Nick Ahmed was down. So it's not fair to ask those guys, hey, go ahead and just get ahead of schedule and be a 260 hitter, you know, with an 820 OPS, please. Like that's just. On a major league Vegas ball club, right. You know, same thing with the pitching last year. You take four starting rotation pitchers. You bring in four AAA pitchers who, again,

they're not ready. They shouldn't be ready. We're putting them in a situation because we're just dealt with injuries and say, hey, just go ahead and become major league starters. Like just snap of a finger. So what he's been able to do offensively, what a lot of the coaching's been able to do with Brent Strom. I think Brent is so masterful at connecting with different players from different backgrounds.

The way that you work with a Zach Gowan is going to be very different than the way you work with a Madison Bumgardner or an Umberto Castellanos, for example. So the fact that he's able to almost tailor make a pitching plan for them in the same way that Joe works with are hitters. I think the offense looks very different from what it did last year. I think the home runs have been really impressive because we've kind of seen the science about what's happening with the baseball and the way that it just isn't reacting maybe the way it was, certainly in 2019, but even as recently as last year.

So I think that when you start to see the averages go up a little bit, I know it's kind of an older school stat compared to things like Wobah and weighted runs Creative Plus, but I think when guys start to see hits fall, and I'm also a big believer that younger teams like we have can be susceptible to the emotional swing. So when a few guys don't hit, you know, it can be a collective thing. But when a few guys, as we saw after the rain delight, if you guys get on base with some hard hit line drives, all of a sudden it seems like the ball is just zipping. all over the yard. So it's, it's, it's like it's contagious no matter which way it goes with

this team. That's the one thing that's kind of been baffling with me. Like when, when the offense disappears, it disappears completely. But when they're, when they're able to put up some runs, I mean, everyone, everyone's contributing. It's, it's not like at times, especially when you look back at a series that one particular player didn't really stand out because in game one, you know, Christian Walker contributed, could tell Marte was a key in game two, you know, things like that. you really see it spread around when it's working. But when it's not, again, it's a bit, it's a bit frustrating to watch because it doesn't seem like anybody's able to do anything. You know, again, that one run in, you know, almost three whole games was, was obviously very frustrating to watch.

But it's a fun team to watch this year. I think that's the thing is it's been, it's been an exciting team to watch. And even with the frustrations, even with the frustrations, even with the. losses. It's been exciting. You know, like I understand people being mad. I'm not thrilled about it myself, right? But last season, there were a lot of blowout losses. There were a lot of games where you just felt you're like, they're not going to come back and they didn't. So even if you like change the channel, you, you didn't get a chance to be like, oh, man, I really missed that comeback victory by the debacks. Whereas this year, it's been so unpredictable that it's really

added to the enjoyment, you know, of watching this team. I think, yeah. I mean, I don't know if I'd go as far to say it is unpredictable. I think that there are some trends that have shifted a little bit or maybe regressed to the mean. Like we said, we kind of talked for the starting pitching. You know, when you had four starters with a combined ERA at like 1.9. Right. And like a sub one whip, you would think, okay, that's probably not sustainable over the course of 162. Sure.

I wish, but like, yeah, real. But I think you can point to that and say, the model of the fabric of this team over the next couple of years, their DNA is going to be good starting pitching. And I think that we can look at some of our younger players and we see these moments, you know, not just offensively. I know that at the beginning of the year, we had committed some errors.

And so that kind of inflates where we are in terms of a defensive ball club. But I also think that like in, you know, a couple of seasons, one of the things that will be part of the Debex identity will play really solid sound defensive baseball. You combine that with good pitching and a young ball club that can really slug. That is kind of the model for teams that are really, really successful in the regular season that make these postseason runs. My position will never change on the postseason. You need to have just dominant starting pitching and really kind of solidified pieces in the back end of your bullpen.

But look, that's a conversation for a different time. Where this team is headed right now, I don't think it's unreasonable to the things. that they should be fighting to be a 500 ball club. And they are going to start a lot more divisional games. You know, we haven't played the Giants this year. We've only seen the Padres one time at the beginning of the season. And I thought that we were a little short-handed there. So I didn't think that was the most fair representation of what this club can be.

But I'm very curious to see how they perform, because if there's one area that they need to take a step forward, it is being more competitive in the division. These are people that you see every year the most. You need to show that you are part of the class of the NL West, The Dodgers certainly with the way that they have played is certainly against us. There is still a bit of a gap. There is still areas we have to improve and certainly play better.

And anyone in the organization would tell you that. But we can certainly be much better against the Giants than we were last year. We should be winning games against the Colorado Rockies, I think with the personnel that we have. And I'm very curious to see, you know, what these upcoming performances here in June and July, because that will really tell us where the Diamond backs are in comparison to last year.

I agree with you 100% about that. And, you know, again, the one thing we thought about this road trip was that these teams that we were playing were, it was some winnable series, right? But again, looking at how they've performed lately, we came into these games against the pirates and the Reds when they were playing really well, despite how they've performed this season. It's not about when you play them. It's not about who you play.

It's about when you play them, right? And so we got them around this time. hopefully we can watch them maybe have that offense carry over here the next couple of days and maybe split the series with the red still. But before I let you go, I did want to talk to you about an important subject, and that's video games. You told me that you enjoy gaming. My first question about gaming is, do you play MLB the show?

Okay, so I played a ton of like Ken Griffey Jr. Slugfest when that was on. on, like, any version of a baseball game. If anyone, I think it's on the Wii, if anyone played, like, Mario Sluggers, that game is, like, ultra underrated. Yes. Yeah. So dang fun.

It's like backyard baseball in some of those games, right? I love backyard. I tried to find a way to, like, illegally download it. To our legal team, I wasn't able to do so, so, you know, put the phones down. But, no, I downloaded MLB the show on my Xbox. I played a few games at the beginning of the season, but dude, honestly, like, it just takes up a lot of time.

And I'm working a ton of games on the road. And when we get back, you know, I just moved into a new place. And I'm still, there's like a lot of other things that I'm trying to kind of fit in. But I would like to get back into my MLB, the showtime again and start trying to get some sweet cards. Here's the thing. And I know, because obviously your baseball guy, we're baseball guys like playing baseball games. But would you rather, in your video gaming, get away from baseball,

since you do it now so much and it's so much of your life and just kind of have an escape when when you do play video games a little bit um you know that i think part of the reason why i like gaming is more the social aspect you know as fun as it is to you know play whichever it is and i and i like to experiment with a whole array of things you know like you'll at times you'll find me playing call duty i i there was periods of my life where i was like i was trying to get every fiefa card i could. I love playing, you know, the NHL games on EA. Yeah. Yeah. Which are three. One of the most underrated RPGs.

It's unbelievable. So much fun. But it's really just the chance to connect with friends. And, you know, I was never really a person that was homesick, you know, when I was living in places like Cincinnati or, you know, New York or Pensacola. But I think that part of the reason why I never got homesick was because I was able to connect with my friends. And a lot of times that was through gaming and I never felt like, you know, I was 3,000 miles away. So I love it. You know, at some point here when I get a bit more settled and I'm able to kind of build out the office the way I want to, I would love to try to do some some Twitch streaming, not so much for like my gameplay, but it's a great place to maybe get some players or get some other

interesting people on and kind of true a pseudo casual interviews, you know, so they can get their personality out. I think that'd be a fun forum. some point down the road. I would love to see that. And I've really enjoyed watching you on the broadcast or listening to you, I should say, on the broadcast this year. You've done an absolute outstanding job and it's been a joy. So thank you so much for joining us, Chris, and we look forward to listening to you all season long. Thank you, man. Big shout out to the entire PHNX crew. You guys are awesome. Thanks, man. Thank you. We appreciate it. A big thank you again to Chris Gersiola for coming on the show. Excited to maybe get in on a few MLB, the show games with him at

some point once things get settled down, but very glad to have him be part of the broadcast team. I said it a couple of times during the interview, but I really have enjoyed him on the radio call as well. Just, you know, I love Greg Schulte, but I feel like he definitely brings something different to the call as well. He's just fun and energetic. And I know that's something that sometimes, you know, we tend to criticize both the radio broadcast side and the, and the television side of not being as energetic. So it's great for Chris to bring some, you know, life to the call on the radio side as well.

But of course, nobody can replace Greg Schulte here in the Valley. So, you know, again, just good to have them both here as well. And by the way, there's no better way, at least in this guy's opinion over here, of listening to or watching an Arizona Diamondbacks game, than doing it with our friends at OG's brands. OG's brands, edibles have a wide variety of edibles to offer amazingly delicious variety. I very, very much enjoy all of their flavors. Look, when it comes to edibles, they can tend to be a little gross.

They can taste a little strong when it comes to the medicine, if you want to call it as such inside. But let's be honest, no matter what, we want whatever we're eating to taste good, regardless of the effects. And that's what OG's brands brings to you. An amazingly delicious variety of flavors that range from, you know, stuff like tropical. It's all but I like all their tropical stuff. So everything fruity in their gummy flavors is on point. And again, delicious variety of flavors. Pena Claude, I've talked about it, my favorite.

Max is orange creamsicle. And Jesse's is I'd rather not have this conversation. So regardless of what flavor you enjoy the most, make sure to try those over at OGs. Remember also, again, I know I have some friends that say this. Sometimes they're the 10 milligram regular dose from OGs might be a little bit too much. And they do offer more than one dose. You can get a three milligram microdose option now everywhere that you get regular OG's 10 milligram dose.

And yeah, again, if it's, you're not looking for as intense of an experience that you get with some of their higher doses, that's the way to go. I mean, we used to just rip them in half. That's the way we used to do it. But again, who knows how much you're getting in your half, right? And that's one thing that you know you're getting with OGs. You're getting accurate doses and you are getting options on your doses. So regardless of you're looking for a chill indica or a fun setiva, again, to watch, you know, I like to watch cartoons on mute with rap music, but do whatever you want to do with your OGs.

And again, if you're interested in trying the amazingly delicious, variety of flavors that OG's brands has to offer. Go to OGsbrands.com. That's OGEZBrands.com to find OGs near you. And again, we thank you guys so much for joining us. Thank Chris so much for joining us. Look forward to seeing what the Arizona Diamondbacks can do once they get out of Cincinnati because this has been, this has been a very tough series.

They still have Philadelphia left on their schedule before coming back to Chase Field. So hopefully they can salvage the second. half of this road trip and come home with some wins and really with things not looking as bad as they did at one point, this series, much like yesterday's game, where the end result doesn't look as nearly as bad as it was when the game was nine to nothing. You know, there is a way to salvage this. And let me tell you, I am not opposed to getting down on the Draft King's sports book in the finale of this series and betting against the Arizona Diamondbacks. You say, Derek, how could you? And I say, why? Because I've been watching these games with my own eyes. But, you know, over at the Drafking

sports book, sometimes you have to make those awful decisions in life. And I like to think of it, and I believe it was Shane that said this to me. But if not, I'm just giving him credit for it anyway. But it's a way to hedge your bets emotionally, right? You can bet on the opposite team. If you have a strong feeling that your team is going to lose, and hey, again, just because your team loses doesn't mean you need to lose over at the Draft King Sportsbook. But remember, you can hedge your emotions here, right? Head your bets emotionally to the Diamondbacks win. Yay, it's okay that you lost your bet.

If the Diamondbacks lose, boo, but you won money, right? So there is a way for you to make it a win-win situation, no matter what you want to do. And you can do that over at the Drafking Sportsbook app now. By the way, get down on the finals. New customers get down on the NBA finals. You can bet $5 on any NBA team, either team to win. It's going to be the Warriors. you could bet on either team to win.

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It's our time. We're kings. Don't make me get the baseball bat out again because I freaking will. No chairs, by the way. were hurt or injured in the filming of this ad. But again, download the Draft King Sportsbook at now. Use promo code PHNX. Make any $5 bet during the NBA finals and get $150 in free bets instantly.

That's promo code PHNX only at Drafking Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. And that's all I got you guys. I thank you so much for joining me. We will be back with our live show on Thursday, our post-series wrap up after this four-game series with the Cincinnati Reds ends.

So be sure to join Michaela and myself for that. We hope to see here, of course. In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Kap underscore K-Man with a K. But of course, our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, and all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you're listening to us right now in your favorite audio podcasting app, please make sure that you subscribe to us if you haven't done so already,

and leave us a five-star review. Also go over to YouTube if you haven't done this already and subscribe to the PHNX sports channel. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss any of the content coming out from our PHNX team. We have some wonderful stuff coming out all the time, including things like this show, which wasn't planned. But hey, when you get Chris Gersiola on your show to chat, not only about baseball, but chat about video games, you got to make time. And you got to make sure everybody gets it as soon as possible. So thank you guys.

Thank you guys so much for joining us. Thank Chris again for joining me. appreciate it on behalf of Chris, I guess Jesse and Mac who aren't here. We appreciate you guys tuning in as always and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but sometimes you got to play another video game other than baseball because you just got to get away. You need a break. Sometimes you just need a break.