The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: The Hostile Work Environment

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

After reading a story about the work environment at The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the crew shares their thoughts on Fallon and the evolution of the workplace. Are there any workplace issues with...MEADOWLARK MEDIA? Plus, Lucy hates Kim Mulkey and Arizona Diamondbacks star pitcher Zac Gallen joins the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. This is the Don Levertar Show with this 2GOTS podcast. This is pretty common knowledge in the entertainment industry, but I have never seen it actually written anywhere and reported. Are you guys aware that the environment of the tonight show, Jimmy Fallon's environment, is a pretty poisoned one, because Rolling Stone has now talked to 16 current and former staffers at the tonight show. And Jimmy Fallon's public image is one of benign likeability, kindness, you know, just his affable television persona.

And his environment is something that a lot of people have complained about for a long time behind the scenes that the making of the title is a bit of a misery. I heard about that a lot when I lived in LA. It was one of the like, when you'd go out to get drinks everyone would be like, to hear what Fallon did this week. Like he was always kind of somebody whose name was thrown around. So I'm not super shocked by this.

Continue the theme from the last segment. I would like to throw my head in as a long time Jimmy Fallon hater. This news makes me so happy. Let the hate flow through. I've always thought he was a hack. I've always thought his whole thing is kissing ass and like giggling and laughing at his own not funny jokes to try to convince other people to laugh along. And oh, by the way, I have secret musical desires, but I'm not really good enough, but I'm gonna pretend by having like my musical fantasy

is played out every single day or show or whatever. Are we still talking about the on Sanders? I'm so happy, I'm not happy for the people who are the victims of this terrible toxic workplace, but I'm happy that this has finally come out, that he's a piece of shit. That's right. Oh, come on. Yeah. Allegedly. It's your opinion. I thought he was like a known like cornball that people didn't get along with though. So this, this news does not surprise me. It doesn't surprise you of toxicity in a workplace in a late night environment over. Did you just hear what you said? No. So

toxicity in a late night environment. I feel Did you just hear what you said? No. So toxicity in a late night environment. I feel like that goes with the territory. It does. It seems like these plays are all terrible places to work. How many old BAs from the tonight show of years pass are laughing? Yeah. That you can have an expose and rolling stone. Oh, you're stress-outed.

A daily talk show. I mean, what is this? We're in a whole new world where Ellen gets to be called out as mean. And Jimmy Fallon gets to be called out as mean when all these people with Hollywood stars get to have their wonderful legacies when they were probably just as difficult. I would have assumed Letterman. Carson was a walk in the park. Letterman had a cold environment and has his regrets about not enjoying it more.

But I would have assumed, even though you are right, Ellen and a lot of workplaces are toxic, I simply would have assumed that in a place that looked that jovial, looked that fun, I would have assumed, not knowing anything, that many of those environments were fun to work in because there's a lot of laughter. I know that the Seth Meyers, I mean, it does depend on who's in charge and it's not just the person on camera. The showrunner, I'm pretty sure I have this right, that Seth Meyers showrunner used to be balanced and that that environment changed and Seth Meyers' environment became a lot more fun

when the showrunners change. But I would have simply assumed that if I'm around a lot of jokes, I would have assumed that that would be a good place to work, that many people would get into the industry wanting to work in that industry, thinking that it would be fun. Yeah, I mean, like, yes, yes,

but also I think this is gonna sound weird. Like I'm defending my sworn mean, like, yes, yes. But also, I think this is going to sound weird. Like I'm defending my sworn enemy Jimmy Fallon. But sometimes people think it's going to be fun because the final product is fun and they don't realize it's still a job. There's still immense pressures and people are going to be demanding. And so when it, like the, the concept of the crying room, like, oh, I'm like, look man, we've all had shitty days at work with awful bosses. I mean, to have to express it as,

like, oh my God, it was so bad I had to go to a room and cry, I'm like, that's kind of like life. Some of that, it reminds me, you know what it reminds me of. Remember when Magic Johnson, that thing came out with the Lakers at Magic Johnson was demanding it. He would yell at people and like, yeah, that's the job. That's it, I haven't worked on a late night TV show,

but I've worked in an NBA team, and I know that pressure is like, not every time you f**king up, someone's gonna be like, now, I really needed it like this, but you did it like this, could you do a little heart? No, that's not the job,

and if that's not the kind of environment you flourishing, it may not be the job for you. Oh, but I mean, I believe that you're bringing old ways of looking at this at what we're talking about. I remember famously, I think Magic Johnson didn't have any patients last like nine games as the head coach. And at one point, he did take, this is how old this story is, the pager, the beeper of LaDidy Devak and threw it across the room and broke it on a wall. But I do believe that some of this stuff, like it comes for the late night host, send for Ellen, eventually it's gonna come for sports.

It did a little bit after George Floyd where some strength coaches and everybody, you, it had to get as bad as racism. The cruel, that's different. We're not talking about like straight up prejudices in the workplace, right? I believe that while the sports environment it had to get as bad as racism. Right. The cruel. That's different. We're not talking about like straight up prejudices in the workplace, right? Right. I believe that while the sports environment is different, they tried to take out PJ Fleck.

It is a normal for a coach or a leader, a guardian of victory, uh-huh, to scream at his players. I do believe that some of this will soften as a new generation of younger employee comes up through the ranks and isn't used to being screamed at. Isn't used to, you and I got into an argument yesterday, it's the first we've ever had,

but not the first argument we've ever had, the first on air. I don't feel like you and I have ever had an argument where both of us are upset. Yes. Yesterday. Well, beyond yesterday. Thanks, guys.

You guys, you. And look, I'm sure it all looks like puppy dogs and ice cream here. And we've had our inner office strife. And I do think that there is something to be said when you see what's going on in daily shows such as Alan or even the daily show like had this surrounding them. When John Stewart, who's really well liked and respected, had some of that stuff surrounding him. It is a lot of my struggles in managing people's personalities here in this job.

It's not easy to say no to an idea, a creative idea that someone feels passionately about. And people personalize that, more than they'll personalize their TPS reports. And all of that goes into this big pot of festering resentment. And it's a unique piece of adversity that most normal places of work don't deal with. But you don't think, I mean,

that we are coming from a different time and that some of this is going to have to change as young people come in with power and they don't have to take anything that feels like abuse and they don't have to take anything that feels like abuse. They don't have to take anything from environments where we learned that, yeah, go into the other room and cry and shake it off and come back and do your job.

Then I think it's easy to say, well, it's gonna be different when I'm in the position to make those decisions. And when it's my show or when I'm the head writer, it won't be like this. And then you get to that position. And you're like, this is hard, man. And I've got a lot of pressure.

And I'm tired all the time. And people are all me. And like Mike said, people keep coming with bad ideas. And you're like, how do I get it across to everybody? How do I let everyone know? Yeah, this isn't good enough. We need to step up. And at some point those pressures manifest itself

and like, I can't be nice anymore. I have to be direct and blunt. And sometimes it is mean. And sometimes it's just direct and blunt and people are not used to hearing things directly and bluntly. But direct and blunt versus abusive are like, there's a line and the line does get crossed.

And I think for a generation that just experienced a pandemic in which we all worked for companies that were like, oh, we care about you so much, we care about you so much. Actually, so like we're going to lay off half our workforce. You don't get health insurance and go look, finding another job. We don't all work for that company. I didn't work here when the pandemic started. But no, I mean, I think a lot of people realize like, okay, our jobs don't care about us largely. Like these jobs do not care for their employees.

They will use us and abuse us. And then as soon as shit hits the fan, we are going to get laid off. We're gonna get fired and no one actually cares for us. So why don't this was like this whole trend of quote unquote quiet quitting that people were writing about, which is literally just when you go to work, do your job and come home and stop working, because people realize, why am I putting in an extra 10% at work

when I'm never going to get a promotion? The CEO of my company is going to make more money than I could ever fathom making minimum wages and going up. We're not getting pensions anymore. We're all working at jobs. I'm using the Royal Wee where you are not going to be able to progress the way that our parents generation progressed in the workforce and were able to buy properties for reasonable prices. Like all of this shit has declined over the last generation. And I think young people

realize that and now they're going to not stand for being abused at work because guess what? It's a job. I'll get another job. If you want to be abusive and racist or sexist or whatever and I have the ability to quit and move on to something else, I will do that or maybe I'll call a reporter and tell them how fun working for Jimmy Fallon show actually was.

So again, I want to be clear. Racism, sexism, that has no place. But the idea that like my job doesn't care about me, maybe I didn't discover that. I always knew it. Maybe it's because I worked in sports. Like I knew, you know how I knew? My first paying job with benefits,

like health and dental blew my mind. I mean, $30,000 a year. And the reason I'm giving to me by the sister, Jim at the time was, hey, I started the same way, I had the same job and I made the same amount and I said, that makes sense. And then I went home and I said, wait a second,

that was 1998 when you was doing this, I'm doing some calculations here and like, 30 no more, 30 is more like 45, 50. And as I was like, yeah, but that's the money. Take it or leave it. And so for me, you just have to like, do you want to do this? When you talk about sports,

when you talk about entertainment, you know, when you talk about not what your father did, an engineer, not like an architect, not a doctor, not like a standard nine to five, or whatever type of job with, you know, everything kind of codified. It's not you have to take with it like yo, I'm gonna have to eat a shit sandwich to do this. I wonder how many people in our audience think their employer cares about them. I don't think anyone should.

Nobody's employer cares about them. If not in this country, because it's all about the bottom line, right? And that's when you failed. That's where the pressure comes from. That's where the pressure comes from. That's where the pressure comes from. And when it's great, everything's great. And when it's not great, people have to become expendable at some point. Understood. but that doesn't mean that you're a warrior doesn't care about you. It doesn't. I mean, damn cares about you.

He does. That's why he threw a pen. That's why he threw a pen at me. I'll use him in fire. I did not throw it at you. I threw it at the desk and then it came and then it came dangerously. Oh, I can't wait for my anonymous tell all to Rolling Stone. Who's Matt Sullivan?

Is he still with us? Matt Sullivan. He's one day us? Matt Sullivan is the one. One day the sandwiches were so small. Don Lebertard. Are you back on the caffeine? Are you back on the red bowl? Is something wrong? Yeah.

See, you are something strong. I mean, it's unbelievable how manic he is and he's sort of just the keeps. He keeps chewing on his bottom teeth in a way that's scaring me a little bit. Stugats. I've been up since 5.30 a.m. producing content. And in terms of being able to be on, my body needs a little boost. And that's why it turns you cocaine. This is the Don Lebertar show with this two gods. You think that adds new works, duh, duh, duh of thousands of dollars that had to be spent on health insurance so that you guys would not have to cover the health insurance.

Appreciate that. That is the kind of gratitude I've come to expect. Thank you for letting me keep my teeth, kind of. Just saying that this company does care about you. Well, I don't know, Dan, I saw something very sketchy and rolling stone, and it is behind a paywall, so I only have a couple excerpts here. But this is an article that has just been released

about said company, and whether or not it cares about its employees. Out of company, our company. I've been dreading this day. Do you want to hear the article? Is it toxic work environment stuff? Finally happened. Matt, something I told you.

They report you to side. So that you decide for yourself. Throws pens at his employees? Oh, that might be in here. Let's see. It says, this is from Rolling Stone behind a paywall. It was a particularly tense day at the once-historic Cleveland or hotel on June 4, 2021, when the cast of the Dan Levitard

show was stewed as prepared to broadcast for 24 hours straight to announce a new partnership with Draft King's Inc. Dan Levitard live on YouTube started the show by crying, according to one longtime listener named for a condiment. The real turmoil began when the clock struck midnight, however, and an anonymous employee was forced to eat a Carolina Reaper pepper that had not been vetted by the company's newly named corporate leadership. The employee, speaking anonymously with Rolling Stone, said that when they asked executive producer Michael Ryan Ruiz, if they could speak to human resources, he replied, LOL, what

HR? Wow. So Mike Ryan is getting taken out there off the top by name. My name. The anonymous employee was... I had... It's anonymous. It's anonymous, Dan.

It goes on to say the Carolina Reaper incident was just the beginning of a tumultuous two years for the former ESPN show, helmed by the titular Dan Lebitard. I think that means that your name's on the show, not that... That's it. Right, yeah.

Rolling song. Oh, no. Right. That was unnecessary. That might be in the story, too, now. Let's see how quickly they no, spoke right. That was unnecessary. That might be in the story too. Now, let's see how quickly they're up to all got to be on our best behavior. Now, yeah, sorry. Rolling stone spoke to employees who have claimed they're subjected to hours, long conversations about circumcision bowel movements.

And the University of Miami Hurricanes football team. That one seems pointed and true and and recent that wasn't in 2021 And there's a couple more excerpts. I'll read the next one. It says one source close to the show I also said Dan Levitard himself barraved employees to stay with promises of equity in the company and a form of massage known as Maching in which Levitard's personal masseuse would dig her toes into employees vertebrae The source also claimed the employees were enticed to come into work for a surprise visit from the Stanley Cup only to find out it was not the real Stanley Cup but a fake one

and the lead is one of the dirtiest things you've ever done love it i didn't know that i was committed i didn't commit the fraud i was a victim all please is roi the source then right and you did tell us it was the fake cup and that's why you weren't upset to not have been here the day that the cup arrived. Hey, listen, don't throw my name on my name on your mouth. I'm not in this.

Well, the next part's about money dance. You're not going to like this. It says there have also been allegations about financial and propriety involving the company's own quote slash fund documents reviewed by rolling stone show that in twenty twenty two a seven figure some was given to my amys faltering quarterback amid a five and seven campaign that did not result in a bull bid another document remains like editorial large sums of money being funneled to zoom my amys very own ron ma gills and is sizeable endowment yeah and his uh... his wardrobe

and his car collection have improved. And keeping with the, the hater theme of today, I don't believe there is a greater hatred that's been expressed on this show than the one that Lucy seems to have for Kim Mulkey. I hate her so much. But she dressed as so fancy. Kim Mulkey is a pioneer that just got a 10 year,

$32 million contract. You didn't like that word. You don't like the word pioneer, Lucy? I would call her a witch. That's what I would call her. Whoa. Damn. Whoa.

Okay. Is it just that she seems like she is horrible in all of her opinions or is there some other reason that you don't like her? It's pretty much everything about her. Her opinions are horrible. She's unpleasant. She's the reason I say I support most women and not all women. Wow.

She's the reason. Yep. Her and Candace Owens. Got her ass. Well, what is it that her players have to say about her? Because 10 years makes her a dynasty. Now 10 years makes her retire on your own terms. Get a kind of money that you do not see very often in women's sports. And this part is groundbreaking to give a leader to pay a leader like this in women's sports. That's not a contract you see very often. I mean, her players at LSU now absolutely love her. I mean, why wouldn't they? She just

won a national championship. But when all of that stuff was happening with Brittany Griner and Kim Moky was refusing to comment on it. Former players came out and was like, hey, watch who you're sending your kids to play for. Because Kim Mulkey, like she is loved by a lot of her players, she's hated by also a lot of her players. Her Britney Griner haven't spoken in years. Don't you guys at this point expect coaches under the umbrella of leadership and we've got to be tougher.

And you aren't strong enough as strategic people. You're the muscle here. I need to teach you how to do this. Don't you almost expect them to be mean and file it under discipline? She's not mean though. That's not why I don't like her. She's innately hateful.

And I know that sounds ridiculous after I just called her a witch. But like, when she was at Baylor, there was a horrible sexual assault rape scandal within the football program. And she said, if you're not going to send your daughter to Baylor because of that, you deserve to be punched in the face. She literally said that. Yeah, that little, that goes a little bit beyond being mean. I was nasty. Is nasty worse than mean on the, on the mean on the upgraded scale of what people are?

For sure, because when you call someone mean, like, you're mean. Oh, nasty is nasty. You're nasty. Like, even your face, you can't even say that word without contorting your face and discussing nasty. You have to say it like that. You have to say it like that. It kind of goes back to the conversation we were having in the last segment as well, where

there is a line and it used to be that it didn't matter if you crossed the line, if you were in a position of power, that's too bad for everyone else. But now that we have, I guess more opportunities to realize and remember what people are saying that are in these positions and more choices to not have to agree with them. Yeah, the things that Kim Mulkey has said have, have stuck with her and have tarnished her reputation, which could have been one of the greatest women's basketball coaches of all time. But I think we'll forever be incredibly negative.

And there are people that will never forgive the things that she's done with Brittany Griner, the things that she said in the past at Baylor and the way that she's treated some of her players that have been the reason that she's been so successful. Those players that she's that have helped her get to the top at Baylor, she would tell them don't come out. I don't let anyone know about your sexuality because it's going to hurt recruiting. Like she has just done things time and time again to show you who she is. And yes, she's a hell of a basketball coach, but I do not like

her. She's rotten. Go ahead and help me rotten. Which she's a rotten which rotten versus nasty, which one? Where is high? I think nasty is because rotten, you can say rotten, but nasty got that disgusting look. Oh, you're nasty. It goes mean rotten nasty, right? Well, it goes mean rotten nasty and then nasty, where you're really hitting that end. I don't think there's a difference. I don't think you can say nasty without... What do we do with rotten?

I think that was what Lucy gave, like a little extra, yeah. There's some degrees to nasty, though. Nasty. When you say like that, sometimes nasty can be a good thing. Oh, like when LeBron says it. This is the part that I wanted to talk to you guys about because I think that in many instances, winning ends up deodorizing a lot of mean, a lot of nasty.

Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were cruel. They were cruel people and they filed it under competition and furthermore made it the reason that they won and we celebrate that nastiness, that cruelty. I don't know where you guys are putting the line on some of this. What is because she's done major winning, and Lucy said, well, of course her players love her, they want a championship for her, but I can see being miserable winning a championship if you're working for somebody,

even if you're winning, who is being bad to you, who is being like, you're come home from work and you feel unpleasant because the person who has power over you is unkind. Beyond not caring about you, beyond the idea unkind. Beyond not caring about you, beyond the idea of a business, not caring about you, the person in charge to whom you are powerless. You have a dream, you have a dream that is funded by money,

that person is mean, but you win. That was in the ticker of the Rolling Stone story about metal arc. I actually just got to the bottom. Oh, you paid it, you metal arc paid for you to get to the back of the... I won't the Rolling Stone story about metal arc. I actually just got to the bottom. Oh, you paid it? You metal arc paid for you to get to the back of the... I won't repeat what they wrote about a meme. I'll let him find out later.

As long as they didn't call me nasty, I'm fine. I called you an ebriated. Whoa. Oh my God. You said a knee out of the lock. I got scared there. I got scared. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, because I'm that guy. Well, I mean, look, no, I'm, there. I got scared. I

because I'm that guy. I mean, look, I'm I'll just I'll just say it in a live mic. I think you know that I say that behind closed. I think it's a story too. I don't know. Roy did not mean. I know. I'm not. It was dangerous enough to begin with. What is the last? What is the kicker to the Rolling Stone story? Something about money and dreams and the person in charge, but you're always doing winning and how does it feel?

Basically what you just said, Dan, you got it. Wow, wow. Are you not of the employees? Also that the employees are glad they have health insurance. Yes, tens of thousands of dollars that you don't get stuck with. It's really what I dreamed of when I set sail. I'm like, can I get a bunch of bills for health insurance? Like what I really like is just to have a future where I cannot escape a prison of my own

making that is pagered with health insurance. Man, two years, his prostate's gonna thank you. Don Lebertard. Mike Marty shot in Heimer past a... Still got. Why do you sound so happy? How did you say that in your family? I was wrong.

I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong. I was not excited, I was not excited. What happened? I was merely pointing out that a Browns legend has passed away. He pulled on. That was unbelievable. I was not excited. Fun, but I was merely pointing out that a Browns legend has been pulled on. That was unbelievable. I'm sure I haven't done. I haven't done. Hold on.

And maybe the greatest coach to never win a Super Bowl. Okay, wait a minute. Let's just everybody. Let's settle down. Shut it. Shut it. I don't know. This is the Dan Lebatar Show with the Stugats!

This guy is a badass, man. It's not just that he starts in the All-Star game. It's not just that he's top 10 in the National League in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. It's these doing it the old-fashioned way. Not throwing 99 and a hundred like all these Bums out there. No, he'll get you with 92 93 94 and people won't figure out how to hit him I mean do you follow your your Phoenix base? Do you follow Zach Gowon? I do I've been a couple of deep-ass games Okay, thank you Zach for joining us. Congratulations on all of your success Can you explain to me how it is that you do it? Because even you have to marvel at the guys

coming out of your bullpen throwing sometimes six, seven miles an hour faster than you are. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, but don't get twisted. I would love to have the 98, 99 and 200. I think that margin for error is definitely a little bit larger. But yeah, I mean, I was never a guy when I was younger to step through hard.

Still don't. So I just had to learn how to pitch. I learned how to take the chess match out there and just kind of sequence pitches, learn how to manipulate the ball, make the ball move a little bit differently. And just some other stuff just kind of was natural. That kind of helped me out, which was nice, but yeah, I just learned how to do it, really. Who are the guys in the league that you look at that you admire from that standpoint?

Not because they're just out there and they've got the overwhelming stuff, but because you're admiring their craftsmanship. Yeah, I think for me, this is my fifth year in the big leagues now. And it's gotten to the point where, I mean, you're seeing the guys that I grew up with that were crucial shares of Berlander. I'm kind of infatuated with how they've done it for so long and at such a high level. So those are the guys I grew up with, those are the guys I really take a liking to watching them do their stuff. Some of the newer guys are DeGrom.

But yeah, those are the guys that I'm in fact, way to it. Then, you know how I know Zach's fastball is, you know, of a slower variety. Because years and years ago, Randy Johnson hit a bird with a pitch and Zach Galen earlier this year hit a bird with a pitch, but the difference is in Zach's case, the bird kind of just got hit and fell down and died. In Randy Johnson's case, it just exploded in the feathers like a cartoon. Like, we never saw where the bird went. It just landed like feathers.

He evaporated it. How much guilt and I don't like that we've started this interview with a man who is truly great at what he does by just insulting his fast. No, it's praise because it's amazing. He's incredible without having something that disintegrates birds. But tell us about the bird incident.

Did you feel horror? One time I was driving in a bird. You made it sway into the grid of my car at 70 miles an hour and cartoonishly in the rear view mirror. I saw it falling out of the sky with feathers and it left a stomach sickness for a while in my stomach because I felt bad about killing the bird. Did you feel great remorse? Yeah, it was an unfortunate accident for sure. I mean, I didn't even hit it with a fastball. So I hit it with a curveball.

So maybe that might be even harder than trying to hit it with a fastball. I think I could. And so yeah, so I mean, hey, I still got 97 in the tank. It's just not there all the time. It's on rare occasions for the show up. But yeah, I mean, it was unfortunate. I didn't, the bird was kind of flying

at like a 45 degree angle. And I was just, you know, throwing that day and didn't even see the bird. The ball took a, like, it went off course. I was kind of not really sure what happened. And we, you know, I have to a couple of seconds. We realized that it was a bird to hit my coach in the foot And then yeah, there was it was a couple minutes and just kind of disbelief. I was out there You know nobody else was paying attention. There was just me and him out there and I came in the dugout guys like What's going on? I'm like I just hit a bird so we went and Where we're telling people about our video guy on Campbell guy on video You know people were like I have to see this no way. So yeah, it was it was unfortunate And it's just one of those things that like bird was just flying in an angle and just kind of flew into the ball

Which is kind of wild to think about did I hear you correctly that the carcass of the bird then hit your coach in the foot? Yeah, so the way that I threw the curveball and our coach missed it. I'm like, okay, what was it like that could have occurred? I mean, it was good, but it wasn't like a great curveball for him to miss. And I just saw this what we now know as a bird, kind of just headed towards the ground, balanced it the ground twice, and it hits him in the leg and he turns around to look for the ball because the ball goes behind him and then You can see on the video that he looks down and realizes that it hits him like it hits the ground like skips twice and it hits him in the leg Yeah, I mean it was it was a small bird

But he has, it was, it was a small bird. It was unfortunate. It was tough. When you imagined whatever your big league career would look like, or when you dreamt of what it was going to be like, your life as a youth pitcher, what did it look like? Have you exceeded your expectations? You know, it's funny actually, I was kind of having a similar conversation with that,

about this with my travel coach not too long ago. I saw him a couple weeks ago in Phoenix and I would say yes, it's been exceeded. For me, I always had a feeling that I was going to play in the big leagues. It was always a, you know, I had family members ask, you know, what are you going to do if Baseball doesn't work out? And for me, it was like, I don't know if Baseball is going to work out. Like, I don't have a backup plan, I'm just gonna,

you know, so, but to get to this level, I don't think, I never dreamt of that. I never dreamt of, you know, gonna start the all-star game, was gonna have two records in the first three years in my career. Like it was, it's just one of those things that like, I was just, I knew I was going to be a big leagues and I was just going to try and get as good as I possibly could

and play as long as I possibly can. When you talk about being infatuated with players or certain skill levels early on, was there anybody that you faced where you had to step off the mound or gather yourself because you're like, I can't believe that I'm here doing this. I'm finding myself moved as this is happening or do you have to treat every single person, they can't be an icon, they have to be an out. Yeah, I think now I think I think you can allow yourself to do that when you're younger.

I think now, I think you can allow yourself to do that when you're younger. Your first time in the big leagues, or maybe first time in big leagues from training, you know, that's okay. I mean, I'm pretty stoic for the most part, and I try not to, but as I look back now, I realize that those are moments that, you know, you can kind of soak it in.

I think for me, the first guy that I faced was in 2018 and Big Least Spring training. I faced the Algebraer. That's a guy that I grew up watching. I really didn't think anything of it. Then you just kind of see he's a larger than life figure in the box. It's just kind of like, wow, this is me look rare. So that was the first guy. And then there's just been some guys that I grew up, like I grew up a Cardinals fan. So, you know, facing our rules in spring training,

I think it was just kind of, this stuff like that is just cool. You know, you see, back then this was 2019, I think it was 2020. Shohei O'Connie hadn't really become the Shohei O'otani that we know of them now. But guys like that, try out same thing. Just, you know, it's good to soak those moments in,

but at the same time, it's like, all right, back to business. And now I'm kinda like, all right, just, I need to do a job. I need to get this guy out. Zach, as someone who's confident in your stuff, who's someone from baseball history that you wish you were, I wish I could have pitched against him just to see how hard it was. Yeah, we have this conversation all the time in the locker room.

And it's the, you know, kind of the same old thing that happens just like in any other sport, you know, the guys now are, you know, talking about the guys back then couldn't, couldn't, they wouldn't be able to hang. I think the one for me is probably Bay Brew. That's, if I'm going back like, legend, I'm going to say, say, tell us about the conversations in the locker room that you're having of like I've throws Babe Ruth nine pitches in an inning and he would swing and miss it all of them. Yeah, that's that's pretty much the the general how it goes. It's, it's funny because you hear

the hitters talk about oh so and so, you know, I don't like they're just like that guy would hit 240 today and then you hear about, like, well, the pitchers will go, yeah, this guy threw 400 innings, but you're starting 75 miles an hour, like, you know, 10-E-R-A, if you played that. Like, that's usually how it goes, and it gets pretty wild,

because there's some people, most of the players, like, it's generations, obviously, so the players are like, well, you know, this guy would have been, maybe it would have been nothing today, but then you get some coaches who well, you know, this guy would have been, it would have been nothing today. But then you get some coaches who played, you know, back in the 80s and 90s. And he's like, oh, no, that guy was, he was legit.

And then, so it's kind of a fun conversation. But I would say for me, if I'm going way back, I'm going, they root. If I'm going more recently, it's probably Barry Bonds. And I probably will welcome anyway. Can you give us a guy in the big leagues now, Zach, that you throw your pitch, you feel good about where you've put it. And still you're amazed because that skill level has doubled off

the wall. Yeah, I'm trying to think just guys that I think are just a tough out. I mean, the guys like, you could probably name who I'm going to name in the sense that like they're on, you know, I'm going to be network every night. I mean, I think Akunya, Tatis, the guys that, I mean, you're looking at, they're going, wow, that guy does something every night that you're like, that's impressive. That's a really good player.

That's something that we're not gonna see. I haven't faced Corbin Carroll, but Corbin Carroll is at that point in his career or about to be at that point in his career, where I think a lot of people face him and go, yeah, that was a good pitch. I mean, Max Sherrzer threw him a change up earlier this year when he played the Metz. And I mean, it was a little more of a horizontal change up. Didn't have as much depth.

But I mean, it was probably three balls off the plate. Corbin just shoots at the left field for home run. And I know as a pitcher that I would go. Yeah, that's a fine pay. I was throw that again. Mooky Betz did that to me. Mookie Betts is probably one of those guys that like Mookie, Freddie Freeman, where you're just throwing pitches and, you know, they're just so good at what they do that, you know, they're able to foul it all for put in play or like you said, hit it off the wall. It's impressive. You wear number 23.

You went to North Carolina. Aren't you a little young to be a Jordan fan? Like, you didn't even get to see Jordan play. Actually, I didn't get to see Jordan play in Chicago, but I did get to see Jordan play when he's with the Wizards. They came to Philly. I think I was, I don't know, seven, eight, something like that. But I more so begin, I was a Jordan fan because my brother said my brother's own was nine years over the day. So he was prime, he was prime Jordan error. So he had all the Jordan close, he was all that stuff. And then I just kind of, you know, so, you know, YouTube highlights

whatever, but I did get to see him play. It was, I think it might have been his last year, second or last year, whatever it was, but I can't actually say I've seen him play. How do you guys feel about his nickname, the Milkman? The Milkman? How do we feel about that as a nickname? Well, I'm aware. And that's a Bennitz nickname, I think. I'm lactose intolerant.

Not a fan. It's about bird killer. Oh, bird killer. Bird man. Oh, that's sick. Taken. What is the story behind the Milkman? Has it caught on?

Yeah, I think it's kind of caught on a little bit So from what I understand is that when I was at UNC one of our Radio slash TV guy like one of the guys who would do like when we would plot TV or whatever he was color commentator and He started calling me the milkman so For the longest time, I thought it was just because Gowon and Gowon and Milk, but I just figured it was just kind of a poem, like, Plown Words, whatever. And coming to find out when I finally asked him, he was like, oh no, I did that because

the Milkman always delivers. Like whenever we needed a big star, you seemed to deliver. So I was like, oh, okay. Like, I was going with the Gowon and Milk thing, but like, to deliver. So I was like, oh, okay. Like I was going with the gown, a milk thing. For the like, I was like, that's fine enough for me. He's known for his first 20 C.B. The fact when they delivered milk to your door. Exactly.

He's not like, he's not that old. I mean, he's, he was fairly young at the time. I mean, this is what 2015, 2014. So I would say he was probably in his late 30s. Like, it wasn't like, it wasn't around for never enough. It's only man. So, yeah, so that's, and then somehow a caught on in Arizona, like, in Phoenix. I don't know what it was. Somebody probably on Twitter saw it and heard about it.

And people were saying it and I'm a little hesitant to like lean into it. And then I just was like, whatever. I mean, which is leaning to this thing. If they're gonna do it anyway, I'm as well just, you know, kind of build up squads I brand out of it, I guess. So let's see what we got.

The milkman ladies and gentlemen, uh, profoundly indifferent about his nickname. It sounds like, uh, Zach, thank you for being on with us. Yeah, guys, thanks for having me.