The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - David Ross Talks 2016 Cubs Magic, Team USA Pressure & Launching New Podcast

Episode Date: March 25, 2026

Colin Cowherd is joined by World Series Champion David Ross on the latest episode of the podcast. David Ross announces his new podcast The Lovable Reunion .To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Chicago Cubs’ legendary 2016 World Series win, Anthony Rizzo and David Ross are teaming up to take fans where they’ve never been before, inside the clubhouse. Coming to The Volume March 31st, Rizzo and Ross are hosting The Lovable Reunion revisit the unforgettable moments, personalities, and team chemistry that made history. Colin asks David about the 2016 Cubs team including Game 7 vs Indians. They hit Kyle Tucker leaving the Cubs for the Dodgers, MLB players in big markets and the outlook for the 2026 Cubs. David was the bullpen coach for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic and shares stories about the team. Follow @LovableReunion on all social media & Subscribe on YouTube American Beverage Association Sponsored; Learn more at https://WeDeliverForAmerica.orgCHAPTERS00:00 New Cubs Podcast06:07 Cubs Curse10:53 Joe Maddon13:52 Cubs stories, 2016 World Series21:46 Kyle Tucker26:42 Team USA30:50 MLB Markets37:16 Cubs Championship45:05 2026 Cubs (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis keep coming to you. He's like, you know, I love you, dog.

You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor American beverage. If you think about some of the most iconic drinks in the country, the ones you grab at a barbecue, the ones you raised to celebrate your team that have been part of your story for decades, Coke, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi.

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the volume over four years ago. And, you know, we went heavy because when it first happened, it was around COVID, and we got sports gambling was legalized. So that kind of funded it. And we did a lot of NFL and football because that's the sport Americans bet. And it was a natural way to open our company. And over the course of years, and I had said this before, is that I thought I grew up my first job out of college was I got very lucky doing one inning of play by play for the Las Vegas stars. So I'm a baseball guy at heart. I used to like baseball America was my Bible out of college. but then I got opportunities in TV and other things. And I became very much a pro football guy and a football guy.

I've always loved college football. And then a couple years ago, I thought Rob Manfred made a couple of really necessary changes. And I think baseball's had a three-year renaissance where, and I never try to overthink it in my business, just what does it feel for you? I have watched more baseball in the last three years. I feel like when I came out of college, the game is faster. the big markets are fun, the Cubs, the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Yankees. There's also Milwaukee, Seattle, smaller markets. And there's more personality.

Baseball had a weird, kind of a weird run for a while where, thank God for the Cubs that had personality because, you know, the way to play the game stuff kind of wears fans out. Like, people just want personality. So about a year and a half ago, I went to this team at the volume, and I said, we got to have a baseball podcast. And I wanted to have personality. I don't want to, you know, I want smart guys who can just talk the game, bullshit, have fun, buddies laugh.

And it was pitched to me. Somebody said, you know, it's going to be in like a year, a 10-year anniversary of the Cubs World Series. And I'm like, what are you thinking? And they just threw the names out. They said, Ross and Rizzo, I went, there's no way we're going to get that as our first baseball podcast. I said, no way. And so of the many names that were throw, people were throwing actors at me that like baseball and players.

And then David Ross, the former 15-year career, Cubs manager for three years. He was just the bullpen coach for Team USA. And one of the most beloved Cubs ever. So he and Anthony Rizzo, our first baseball podcast. It's going to be called the lovable reunion, and it debuts in a week. And they're going to look back, not only are they going to talk baseball, they're going to look back at the 10-year reunion of probably the most memorable world series. I'm trying to think of my lifetime.

I grew up with a 75, 76 Cincinnati Reds. You know, we are family Pirates World Series, the Yankees, now Otani. I don't think anything surpasses the Cub. and David Ross is joining us. Anthony Rizzles doing the baseball and Netflix stuff, so he was going to join us. He's not today. So first of all, David, we've never met. Obviously, I know you, multiple Red Sox World Series, Cubs World Series. So let's start with this, because I didn't want us to talk before we did this. I wanted us to kind of meet each other as we're doing this. I want the audience to be along for it. When did you and Anthony Rizzle? When did the idea come up?

Because it was pitched to me a while ago. When did this come up for you guys, this 10-year anniversary thing? Yeah, well, first of all, we're pumped to be on this, right? Like, we're so excited. This has been a journey that's taken on a life of its own already with the guys. But we started talking, we had the same agents playing. And so we started talking about this after I was done a little bit. and what was baseball going to be like for us or life after us after baseball?

And, you know, him just retiring two years ago, we started talking about this probably around that time of, we've got such a great relationship. And we work well together and we're just good friends. And so us having a little bit of like we should do some of the podcast world is taken off, obviously. Right. and with our history and how we met and just how we like to be around each other. And we're very different in our thoughts about baseball. So it's been really fun to kind of banter a little bit with some of our old teammates and talk about some of these stories we had. But this has been in the works with us for a little bit.

And then when you guys, you know, we kind of met with your group and how excited Logan and the team were. It just was such a fit. They were so excited. There's so many cups fans there. It was, it was, it was like a note. We got off that call with you guys and it was like, that's the group. That's the group we've got to be with. They're, one, how professional you guys are on top of your stuff. But my goodness, the excitement are in the room when we had those conversations were at the top. There was nobody more excited and kind of on board with whatever we wanted to do and our vision. And so we're super pumped. This thing, we've been, we've kept it under wraps for a long time. We're so.

to break this thing out next week. Yeah, I told, I went to dinner with Tom Ricketts about six weeks ago, and I said, listen, you got to keep this under wraps. But we're doing a baseball podcast. And I said, and I told them about it. He goes, oh, shit, you guys got that. He's like, that's like a can't miss prospect. He goes to that.

So I want to go, I want to go back to this to the World Series team. So you had this 108-year drought. And listen, baseball's superstitious. And you can say nobody's talking about it. But it's one of the only times in my life, the country, even outside of Chicago, the country was rooting for Chicago. So that's even as popular as MJ was. They didn't like him in Detroit. They didn't like him in L.A. There were a lot of non-MJ guys. You know, a lot, the Celtics didn't like him. Everybody wanted the Cubs to win. Beyond Chicago, there's never been a championship in any sport in my life.

I mean, there's Olympic stuff, obviously. So I always felt like, oh, God, that's the most pressure ever. The country, it was almost Olympic feeling. At what point in that season, did you guys, and let's just talk specifically, you and Anthony Rizzo, did you guys start talking about, shit? We're, you sweep a couple series, you know, you get the bullfin right, you're sitting there, you know, you're hitting for power, well managed. When did you start thinking, God, this could be it?

Well, it goes back to 2015. That's what's kind of cool about this podcast of the journey. And we had, you know, got Joe Madden, signed John Lester. I came aboard in 15. You know, Chicago had been through a lot of losing at some young guys. Jake Arietta, the trade, Pedro Strope with Baltimore the year before. and you start to look at the season in 15, and we came together. We asked a lot of guys in this podcast.

They all got the same answer. When did you think we were good? And there was a turning point in a series in San Francisco. We played San Francisco at home late in the year. I think it was in August. 2015, 2015. 2015. And we went on a run.

They were the defending champs. We're good. Baumgardner, Posey. they had all the dudes. And we started, and everybody kind of points to that time of back into the season. All the young guys kind of coming up, Schwerber, Addison Russell, Javi was kind of getting, Javier, starting to get his feet wet. KB., Chris Bryant, obviously.

Like, I mean, these guys were coming along and young. We had some veteran guys, and we just took off, obviously, making the playoffs and going deep and getting beaten by the Mets in the championship series in 15. And then when we went into spring training the next year, we knew we were good. They added, we brought Dexter Fowler back, which is amazing. Added guys like Ben Zobris, Jason Hayward, John Lackey. I mean, we added some pieces in 16. Theo went out and did his part and we got the spring training.

I remember Miguel Montero tweeting out, like, we are good. The hashtag, we are good. And that was like the whole, we started off so darn good. And then we lose Schwabber early on in 16. So you're like, wait a minute. How are we going to navigate that? But we were, we had the pitching staff. Our guys stayed healthy.

I think we were one of the best defensive teams that year, number one. I mean, we were really good. But it started in 15. A lot of people, we really hit that momentum. And I thought it was so important the way Joe handled the group and for our young guys to get a taste going deep in the playoffs. Whenever you get that, you get so hungry in the off season that you knew going in, the target was on our back, but Joe did a great job of messaging and the expectations and how that's a good thing and just embrace the target, was our slogan going into 16 and we took

all. It was, it was amazing. I think it started in 15. And I told the audience at Lovable Reunion and all the social media, subscribe on YouTube. This is going to be a year-long journey. The pods are great. You've already done all sorts of interviews. I want to go to Joe Madden because Joe was a very, I remember when he was with the Angels, Joe was a very outside the box thinker. And you know baseball is about lore and history and tradition. And so, you know, Joe was different. Joe saw the world differently, the defensive shift, everything. So you had this quirky manager, successful, super smart, kind of an out-of-the-box contrarian thinker with this, with this, you got some veterans. This was a veteran team.

smart team, guys who had been around the big. I mean, you started with the Dodgers. They were, if I recall, very catcher heavy at the time. And you were one of them and they just, they had so many catchers. You're also, by the way, part of a great trivia question. Not only was your first home run a grand slam, it was off Mark Grace, if I recall. It was. Well, a lot of people don't know that. You did your homework. It's, yeah, I still get interviews with Mark every once while talking about that. That was a special one. right in my bat speed. I tell him all the time, about 83 miles an hour.

And he tells me I almost hit it in that Friday's front row out there in Arizona. That's a good story that a lot of people don't know about. So take me to Joe Madden. When you interviewed him, that's the one I really want to hear because he's a funny, funny guy. He is so, well, when you get to play for him, you know how he can talk anything from, you know, wine and, you know, off the field stuff all the way to the in-depth of baseball. He's just been around baseball so long, and he's such an eclectic man. He's got so many different personalities within just carrying on conversation with everybody.

But Joe's a special one, man. When we interviewed him, we got to ask the questions that everybody wanted to ask about just building culture and how you came over and being with the raise and no expectations and coming to a big market and what his plan was. was and then obviously coming up with new, bringing in new guys and being able to transition them with the veterans we had. And he spoke very eloquently about, you know, his plan and and then going into some of the World Series questions we asked him, it was so amazing letting him walk you through some of his decision making. Because you get so much, so many, so much criticism from talking about, you know, overusing Chapman or taking Kyle Hendricks out. And what's the plan? What, what he was thinking and where he,

kind of got awry and he talked all about that very openly it was such a good interview um just from somebody that got to manage the cubs and had a lot of managerial questions of like going into somewhere new and how to establish what you believe in and uh he just he spoke so well about kind of his plan for that you know it's interesting i i've said this i just moved to chicago and i've been in l.a for nine years and my wife's a mid-west you're surviving the cold? I tell all my friends who give me crap. And I'm like, they're like, how are you going to withstand the cold? I'm like, buy a effing jacket. It's not that hard. Just get a jacket, guys. So nobody in L.A. has one, apparently. And I loved L.A. L.A. is very special. I'm sure it was one of your favorite

road trips. I mean, the weather is ideal in the summer, no humidity. But Chicago is interesting, because one of my observations about Chicago, it's got some of the best-looking people in the world that are normal because in the Midwest, like if you're in the East, David, and you want to make money in your aspirational, Boston, New York, Philly, D.C. If you're in the West, you can make money in San Francisco, L.A. There's a lot of options. In the Midwest, you know, Chicago's it. If you're a driven guy, you're a driven young woman, and you want to make it, you want to make it big, and you want to stay in the Midwest. You go to Chicago. I remember running on Lakeshore about five years ago when I was considering

considering Chicago. And I told my wife, I'm like, I didn't see an unattracted person for my six-mile run. I'm like, this city is young and fun. So when you're winning in Chicago, 15, 16, Chicago can be distracting. It's a drinking city. It's a food city. The river, it's fun, the lake. This is like Miami North.

It does not close down at 9.30. It is a live city. That's a good analogy. Miami North. It is. It is what boats. Oh, it's crazy. Were there times, nobody can play in Chicago and be a cub with the greatest

cup team ever and not have a good time. Did you squeeze in some good time? Oh, man, it's the best. I mean, I've got so many stories of going out with Riz and some of the stuff we talk about in the pod. It's, first of all, everybody, it doesn't matter if you're the last guy on the roster. You would think when I walk into a restaurant, I'm Michael Jordan and out of the backup catcher. You know, I played once a week.

It's, these people love their sports so much. And they're so invested. They know everything about you. We were walking. I used to walk to the park in 15. I lived really close. And people, when we started, we were going to make the playoffs. We got in the postseason, and I would walk to the yard in the postseason.

Beautiful day, October's, and people stop me, start cheering you on your walk. I'd grab me a coffee and head to the field, and people are stopping me, taking pictures. Just everybody knew who I was as a backup catcher. I walked into one of my favorite stories. I walked in Chicago Cut down there on the lake, great steakhouse. Oh, great steakhouse. I got a standing oval. I was with my family.

I'm carrying my little daughter. she was one at the time. And I'm getting a standing ovation in a in a steakhouse. And I didn't even know how to react. Like these people are so passionate. We definitely had our times out. We went out on the road. We, you know, I say all the time, you're not going to win a World Series or championship

with a bunch of choir boys. We definitely, we definitely had our mix. And we've got plenty of stories of beer drinking and going out. And I thought the great thing about Joe, going back to him a little bit, was he took so much of the media off of us that we never felt like this whole, you know, 108 curse. We had such a bubble inside because we were so close as a group. And you see why, and the championship teams I've been on, that's how it is. But we never had that outside noise coming in.

People were so great and so pumped that Chicago was in the playoffs. And Wrigley Field and the postseason has to be top, two, three. And like, when that place was rocking, they were so hungry for a winner. So you definitely felt like a rock star walking around that place. Chicago treated us well. And we definitely had some late nights of partying and trying to game up for a couple of those 120 day games at Wrigley. Well, today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet, Florida Sportsbook. How much fun is this tournament been?

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Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey, Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Oden Kirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

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Let's go to the final game. Three outs is what the Chicago Cubs need. I want you as closely as you can remember. I don't even know if it's goosebumps, anxiety. Three outs to go. What is that dugout like? It's tense. I mean, we brought in CJ Edwards to start the end.

first of all, like Chappie had gotten us through, you know, he went back out after giving up the home run and gives us a clean inning. Obviously, the rain delay. We come out. We score two. You know, everybody talks about Ben Zobras hit. And then Miguel Montero got another base hit to add a run, which we actually needed. So C.J. Edwards come in. We get a quick out or two.

And then a run's given up. And Rajay Davis gets on. first two outs and you're thinking, okay, Raji's going to steal. I think he was top in the league that year and stolen bases. So you're kind of playing through like manager, or at least I was, manager in your brain of like, okay, we've, how are we going to navigate this? And they bring in Mike Montgomery,

another one where you're like, we had Pedro Stroke down there, Hex-Rondone. I mean, Arelletta was down there, we had all kind of bullets in the bullpen. And Joe pulled on, you know, turned these young guys, which as a veteran guy and even as a manager, you don't lean on the young guys in the biggest moments. So you're super nervous about that.

And then knowing the scouting report I did and Miggi, we're going to flip a bunch of breaking balls in. And you're just nervous, you know, you're hoping Rashi doesn't steal. You don't want anybody in scoring position. And then that swinging bunt to KB. Obviously he slips. He talks about that in the pod.

And Rizzo catches that ball. And then it just all the anxiety, all the, you know, the tension that you hold, just the relief that you have of, you know, we did it. Because it was such a back and forth game and how we came back down 3-1. And there's so many stories within that that everybody's thinking and sitting there on the bench

watching this all play out. And I've already played my role. I don't have any control over it. So you're just rooting for everybody super hard and that ball is hit. And you're just praying that it's hit to somebody. And KB nice and easy throws it to Riz. and off we go to celebrate.

But yeah, you're definitely nervous when things start going. You've got young guys. The young guys on the mound, too, you never know how they're going to handle those biggest moments of their career. And they did it. We did it. I'm talking to David Ross, and he and Anthony Rizzo are going to host the lovable reunion.

And they're going to interview, it's a 10-year anniversary of the 2016 World Series win, which, as David pointed to, kind of really started in 2015 with that San Francisco Giant series. You know, one of the things I noticed my first summer in Chicago, I always tell people, if Wrigleyville was in Berlin, it would be like a bucket list for Americans to visit. It's one of those things. Like, people don't understand who have never been to Wrigleyville, and I've been to it probably six or seven times, even when I worked at ESPN and now, I went for a football game this fall with Michigan Northwestern. It's probably as great as anything we have. It's sort of our Wimbledon.

There's nothing else really like it in America. It's like an SEC football game in Baton Rouge. You know, there's lightning. It's 88. Everybody's sweating. You can smell bourbon in the stadium. I've gone to a... Yeah, I mean, it's like there's nothing like an LSU night game.

There's nothing like Wrigleyville. I think it's the bit... They call it the biggest beer garden in Illinois, I think, on game. It's wild. I noticed this last year. Kyle Tucker's now a Dodger. He was a Cub. And one of the criticisms of Kyle, who's a really good ball player, was I heard Cub fans say, you know, he doesn't love it. He's just talented. Now, you know, people show it in different ways. Baseball's a long schloid. I mean, it's all, you start in spring training, you go to the playoffs, you're 200 games in. But it is interesting because, the Cub fan is not, you know, you go to a Dodger game, it's a lot of old fans. Wrigley's young. Wrigley's a party, and I mean every home game. Do you think fans, do you think it's possible, Kyle Tucker just wasn't a great fit with the Cubs,

personality-wise, or is it just one of those, hey, man, he didn't have a great year, people are going to pick on him. Because I, I mean, with the Dodgers, he may be the sixth best player. He's a really good player. But it felt like he kind of got beat up by the median fans here. Yeah, for sure. I think everybody's personality is a little bit different. I wish as a player I could have stayed more Kyle Tucker as far as like he's going to play every day.

I thought he was the reason to turn around this year of them getting to the postseason. I mean, he got off to such a great start, had a little bit, some, apparently some injuries on the second half that kind of hindered his numbers. But, I mean, he carried those guys and to have that staple in the middle of your order, kind of like they're going to have with Bregman this year and moving forward. It's such a, you have to bring it every day. I talked to Riz all the time. Like, I was a backup guy. The reason why I got so much love and the grandpa Rossi and the leadership kind of tagged for that group was I was just responsible for catching Lester.

It didn't matter. I didn't have to bring it every day. I brought my energy to other guys, making sure I was lifting them up. When you're the middle of the order bat, you've got to make sure you're taking care of and you're carrying the group. If your horses suck, the team's going to suck. You know, if the Mike Trouts and the guys in the middle of that order, Aaron Judge, if they're not very good, the team's not going to be very good. So they have a performance that they've got to carry every single day. And the guys that they can stay a little bit more unemotional, I think so really, really positive.

going back to Kyle Tucker and not knowing him very well, I do think it's such a good fit for the Dodgers because like you said, they have stars. They have guys that are going to talk to the media. When you're a guy that would rather just kind of be left alone and do your thing, it's easier to be the fourth and fifth guy. When you're the, the, the, KB went through a little bit of that early on. Chris Bryant with, you know, like Riz would answer questions.

Lester would answer some questions to the media. KB was more, you know, he wanted just go out and play baseball a lot of the time. And some guys are just wired like that. And I don't think that's a bad thing. But I think Chicago is so close to the players and so passionate about their sports and their teams that they want to see personality. They want somebody to either be pissed or, you know, I got a lot of love for yelling at umpires all the time. And now counsel doesn't. It's like, you know, they pick your boys.

And I wish I wouldn't have got thrown out of so many games. Everybody's a little bit different how they handle them. I'm an emotional guy. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I think it's going to be great for this podcast. But I do think Kyle Tucker probably gets a little bit of that because people just want a little bit more from their superstars. When you can pay a lot of money, fans want a lot out of you. Yeah. You were the bullpen coat for Team USA, and I had said this on the air, and because I work at Fox and Fox broadcast that people said, oh, you're being a shill.

But I said before it started, I said, the most under- valued property in sports, in my opinion, for the last 10 years, has been the world baseball classic. Now, it's not annual, and it's not as big as the Olympics or the World Cup. But I said, when I was at the other place, ESPN, I'm like, I couldn't believe the passion. And I also, you know, good players, great players want to play. And so, I mean, Bryce Harper and Judge and Otani. And were you, maybe you weren't surprised. I wasn't surprised because I've seen, in the world baseball classic, the passion from everybody. And anytime anybody beats USA and anything, it's a big deal, right?

Yeah. Could be Olympics World Cup. It's, it doesn't matter what it is. So Venezuela's reaction, that country's gone through a lot over the last decade. Like, I get it. But I was a little surprised how much the loss stings. And just the intensity of the players, I mean, it's the middle of spring freaking training. you're asking them to go playing an international event.

If somebody that was there every day, were you surprised how pissed Bryce Harper could be, how emotional Aaron could be, wit? I mean, it felt like playoff games. Yeah, I mean, it did feel like every one of them felt like playoff games. And even leading up to it, you know, the expectations, even when you're facing Great Britain, you know, like we're supposed to pound them. We're supposed to, we're supposed to 10 run rule them. It was definitely a playoff atmosphere immediately.

in the middle of spring training where nobody's really, you know, there's so many guardrails and things Mark DeRosa was dealing with with teams. And these guys wanted to throw all that. They didn't care. They wanted to, they wanted to pitch. They want to go past their numbers as far as pitching

and their pitch counts. And it was, and I had, I know Mark well and Brian McCann, a lot of this staff, they told me last time, four years ago, Venezuela was the loudest, game they had ever been a part of. And I can second that.

Mexico in Houston, excuse me, was one of our loudest games for sure inside that dome in Houston. And then the DR game, Dominican Republic, that was so loud. One of the best lineups I think ever created. Oh, my God. And then obviously the Venezuela game was epic. That one of the best things. I couldn't even hear, I had to sit next to the bullpen phone in the bullpen, because I could not hear it ring if I sat and watched the game.

I had to watch it on the screen down there. Pat McAfee told me after the game, I've gotten kind of close with him. And he said to me, that may be the best sporting event I've ever been to live. And that, I mean, just like you,

that guy lives and breathes sports. Yeah. When you're in these environments of college football, professional football, professional baseball, and you go to the world baseball classic. And he said when Bryce Harper hit that home run, how loud that place gotten,

it was amazing. When he said that to me, I was like, okay, I've been in a ton of World Series games, played in front of a lot of people. It was that epic and that loud and that many people cared about it. Two countries going at it, like you said, Venezuela dealing with a lot and what our country's been through. Those guys were crying after that game. Guys I know, Wilson Contreras, Daniel Palencia, like a lot of these guys that you played against and know really well, they're their passion for that. And our guys, my goodness, man, our guys were, Paul Schenz paste the locker room,

probably for 20, 30 minutes after that game, just as pissed as I've seen a guy in a long, long time. Guys cared a lot. I've never seen a group of men come together so fast and get so close in such a short amount of time in my time in baseball as that Team USA team was. We were doing dinners. We were having team meals, speakers come in. It was really, really one of the best baseball experiences of my life. You know, I've been defending. People keep talking. about the Dodgers' dominance and that we need a salary cap. And I keep saying, folks, if the Dodgers lost game seven, and I thought they were, I thought Toronto outplayed him for most of the series. What a game that was. What a game was? Best baseball game to me, I mean, there's been

a lot of great ones. I'm so old now that I can remember the Carlton Fisk home run at Fenway against the Reds and Pat Darcy. I mean, that was when I was, you know, young growing up. it was one of the best baseball games ever. I compare it to our games. I thought the two best game sevens of my lifetime and, you know, short memory and obviously bias towards ours. But like, when I watched that game seven in Toronto, I was like, okay, so there's another one that we can put in the book next to ours because that was, that was an amazing game.

Back and forth. Yeah, what Yamamoto did, like just unheard of. It just insane. And Aaron F and Boone. again, in the ALCS. That goes up there as well. Yeah, yeah. But I have defended.

Off Wakefield. Yeah, that's right. That goes out there. That's right. That's right. So, but I've said, okay, listen, I don't believe if the Dodgers would have lost that, the Kyle Tucker signing wouldn't mean anything. People would laugh at him.

The Mets spend so much money, but nobody's threatened by the Mets, right? They're threatened by the Dodgers because they've won back-to-back world series, but Toronto outplayed him. I said, what I think, baseball needs is a floor. If you can, Milwaukee spent 143 million, they were excellent. Mariner spent 160 million. Cleveland spent 130 million.

If you spend about 130 to 135, you can have a really good baseball team if you have a smart front office, if you got the right pieces. If you spend 180, you can win the World Series. You can't do the A's, the Marlins, the White Sox. You can't do that. So my take is, don't force. high-income teams, Houston, Atlanta, Dodgers, Yankees to play by St. Louis's economy. Like, I want great. If you can stack a roster, stack a roster, Milwaukee's proven. You can be a small market.

But, and when I've talked to players, there doesn't seem to be a lot of Dodger animosity. Bryce Harper's like, I love what they're doing. So, so it's somebody that managed the Cubs, won it when the Red Sox, you were with the Red Sox, when they had some big time money, Cubs went out and spent. Cubs were my third biggest revenue team in the sport behind New York, Yankees, and the Dodgers. I think they make, well, I won't say the number, but I talked to Tom Ricketts about it. They do very well. Yeah.

How do you now, because you've been in several chairs, how do you view what the Dodgers are doing? Does it worry you a little bit? They're pulling away. No, I think I fall in the same boat as you. you know, when I, when you're, when I was a rookie coming up with the Dodgers, you had to go to, they made the rookies go to all the union meetings and MLBPA meetings and learn a lot about that. And I think the scare, I think everybody would be okay with a floor without a ceiling, right, without a cap. And I think I'm in the same boat as you as I think that's, that's needed.

I love the teams, you know, these are smart businessmen. They're not going to, if they can afford it, they're going to spend. it, right? They're not going to go in debt over just trying to win a championship one year or two years. The Dodgers have created a money machine there with Otani, with how they've expanded across the globe in Japan and all the different graphical, geographical players that they put on that roster and the big market players. But if you look back, I mean, Freddie Freeman's a steal for 160. You know, if you look back in some of these, some of these, and the way Otani structured his contract, it probably helped them get tucked. I mean, they're, hell, Edmund, Edmund was a defensive guy with the Cardinals. Tommy Edmund was available to the league. Max Muncie got let go by the AIDS.

They're smart and they've got money. And that's the secret, right? You've got to have, and they built it the right way when they went and got a lot of veteran player Adrian Gonzalez and these guys back in the day when they've got the new ownership and built up the farm system. Now they've kind of integrated a piece or two a year of some young guys, the Pahas of the world, you know, Will Smith. I just got to be around him. What a winner he is. Three world championships. I think he's in his young 30s, or I think he is 30.

And they built it the right way and then they go out and spin with their excess. I don't think guys worry about the Dodgers because it is baseball. And you would look at the team USA and think, and I know it wasn't a series and I know there's a long season. But like anybody can win in baseball. And you've got to have smart front office. You've got to spend your dollars well no matter how much money you have because you the Mets and not making the playoffs and them spending the most money and also like being able to develop a farm system and use the young guys to supplement and

there's going to be injuries in depth. I don't think, I think the Dodgers are good for baseball. I think, you know, the big markets, there's, like you said it earlier, there's not been a better run of a three-year, five-year stretch. Baseball is funny. Like, you were tuning in everywhere and all these different platforms are grabbing these. I can't wait for Netflix tomorrow night and watching Riz. debut his first, his first broadcast and how that's going to go.

Like, there is a lot of excitement around baseball. And obviously there's things where we can clean up to help grow the game. But I just, we've got to keep the game going because it's in such a good place. And there's so many young fans, I love the new rules. The clock is amazing, especially being in the booth broadcasting for ESPN back in the day and how that can drag. And now we've got a nice pace to the game. And baseball's in a really, really good place.

and, you know, I hope, I hope the MLPPA and the league figure, figure something out to continue to get some of these teams that aren't spending that are just okay with the revenue sharing. I hope they can help bring that, bring those guys up and have more competitive. It's a shame. Paul Skeen should be on a good team, you know, like that pitch of staff Pittsburgh has is really, really good. And I think they put some other pieces around to help compete this year. but last year was not, you know, it didn't feel like they moved the needle very, very well. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news.

What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts.

We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call. call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories,

their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triage. the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. and I know firsthand because I competed there myself.

I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen, she went. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now,

and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Ten years later, what does the Cub championship mean to you? man well i mean me personally those guys and and how they've how they lifted me up in that i mean i carried off the field game seven like who's that happen to you know like i i'm so thankful i got to do so many

things off the field uh after that i'm working for ESPN getting back to manage um they put me on this platform to be on here talking to you and to start this thing with ris and just baseball is a part of my life and a lot of that has to do with my two championships, but especially at the end, the way those guys, you know, I tell people all the time, I wasn't telling the media, I'm this leader or I'm this guy or that guy. Just my teammates were saying nice things about me. And the thing about doing this pod and reminiscing about these stories is it just, I mean, there's laughter, there's tears, there's everybody's getting emotional at a certain

time just talking about what a special group we had. And me personally, my career, backup catcher, most of my career, career 220 hitter, got to go and do so many great things and represent that group on so many different platforms and talk baseball. And my life has taken off since that championship. And a lot of that has to do with the people there, the front office, the staff, and obviously the players in that city. It's meant so much to me.

I'm just so happy to be able to get on here and share these moments with behind-the-scenes moments with all these fans. I'm so thankful and grateful for so much. But yeah, it's a big one. The only thing anybody knows me for walking through the airport is my World Series with Chicago and Dancing with the Stars. That's the only two things I get. What, of all the, and I want people, it's called the Lovable Reunion. How many guys have you interviewed so far? 12. Okay. Who was the most emotional?

Kyle Schwarber, this last one we just did, we did him. He's such a dude. He's such a dude. He is so great. He's a dude. Golly. But he, he, you know, people just say such nice things to me and Riz as they're talking about it and talking about our leadership, but also talking about just how it changed their life. And Mike Montgomery got a little choked up talking about, you know, what it's done to him just to get that. last out. And, man, I think Schwerber just talking about this last one, talking about, you know, how his career is gone and how thankful he is for being on that championship team and his journey coming back from that injury and the examples that that room set for him that he's carried

and everywhere he's went. And now he's, like you said, he's a dude. He's a leader in Philadelphia. and every time I talk to any teammate of his or people that have been around him or teams he's been on, they can't say enough about his impact in the locker room, which we know is so important outside of his skill set. Well, it's baseball so unique because, again, you know, football, you don't spend that much time together. The new CBA, there's only so many practice days. You know, baseball, man, it takes one bad guy.

I mean, that shit can go sideways fast in that clubhouse. Like, you know, I mean, and let's be honest, good teams go on losing streaks. I mean, it just, I mean, it is hard. Was, you go back to that. Was there, was there a moment? Because you guys were stacked, but you also had some veteran arms. Was there ever a moment in 2016, a series, a moment, a stretch that you're like, man, we're. We got a good, good story.

Lester tells about Rizzo. struggling right before the All-Star break. We're in Pittsburgh. And I think Riz was raking at the time and the pitching just was giving it up a little bit. And Riz made a comment in the media about, you know, we just, we got to, we got to get something about we got to get the pitching going or we just got to pitch a little better or something like that. And Travis Wood was waiting with the article in John Lester's locker when he walked in the next day. And Lester was not happy, let's say the least, but that's a really funny, good story of Riz thinking John was going to beat the shit out of him. And we met him in the wait room and started MFing him about, don't worry about the pitching.

You just worry about the offense, stuff like that. So there's definitely, you go through moments, man, where you feel like, you know, it's baseball. Everybody, you know, I say all the time, everybody's going to go through that. You just got to, you know, don't let the highs get too high, lows get too low and try to keep on that even path. Right before the All-Star break, we were scoffed a little bit trying to get to that finish line and get our break. Yeah, man, you play those afternoon games in St. Louis, and it's about 98 degrees, and you're dragging, and you're on an over 11 streak. And it's, baseball is so random. You can just, I mean, you know, I remember listening to Derek Jeter once talking about somebody.

He didn't have a lot of slumps, but somebody asked him, you know, he was in a slump, and what do you think about? And he goes, I don't. Hit it hard. He goes, I've hit the ball. I have tagged it six times in the last two weeks. And they were all caught. And nothing to show for it. Yeah.

Well, and that's the, like, thank goodness for analytics and some of the stuff you can look at now, where, you know, some of these guys are able to keep themselves a little bit sane, even though it doesn't work a lot of times, but with the hard hit rate and, you know, you're expected this, you know, outcome and just keep it in it hard. But going back to what you were talking about and being around guys every day, I tell people, like, we start around Valentine's Day and mid-February, and we go for seven-a-half. We didn't get home until November. I think we won the World Series November 2nd, you know, and that's a long journey that you're with these guys every single day.

And you have a handful of off days throughout that, and usually you spend time together. So the fact of, like, becoming family, and that's what these guys are for brothers for life, I say all the time, because your family within that clubhouse, you see those guys every guy. every single day and you're working and pulling for them. And their success is your success. And that's not always the case in every sport. You know, there's these individual sports and guys you don't see so much. A baseball season is really, really long and you're going to go through some ups and that guys are going to go through stuff off the field and tell a story about, you know,

one time I got emotional during the podcast. John Lester, two, two times flew me home on a private plane. My wife at the time at emergency C-section was got to see the birth of my child. my last one. And then my grandma had passed away in the middle of the season, flew me home on a private plane for her funeral. So, like, I mean, these are these are guys that not just only care about each other, but when willing to give their hard-earned money to take care of each other.

And, you know, there's dinners and there's just so many off the field. They used to rent boats and go out on the lake on all days or after a day game. Like there's nothing better than that going out there. hanging with the boys and kind of decompressing after a game at Wrigley and enjoying that skyline in Chicago on that nice cold lake. Anthony Rizzo will join us next time. Rizzo and Ross, the lovable reunion. We're going to look back.

They will on the 10-year anniversary of the 2016 Magical Cubs World Series win, and a Cubs team that upgraded on their staff, Bregman, they're favored to win their division, and should be, you know, Milwaukee just up the road is becoming quite a rivalry. I'll tell you that. It has. They've done a really good job up there, and they keep rotating guys out and bringing new ones in, and it's going to be a good one. I'm so excited that stat.

Kate Horton for a full season, hopefully he can stay healthy. They've got some dudes up there in Chicago. And being around Bregman, I've known him. I've never gotten to be around him as much as I was in this WBC. see this guy is up first thing in the morning, looking at scouting reports, sending coaches text. Like, you know, here's where we need to look. Here's where we need a tunnel. You know, this guy throws a lot of behind.

I mean, this guy is a baseball rat and it's going to be everybody in that clubhouse better. So they're going to have a really good season. I'm pretty confident in that. And it should be a fun, fun. See, opening day, opening day is here upon us. How great is that? David, this is great. We are so excited.

Like I said before in the intro, when I heard this was going to be our first baseball podcast and they had met with you, I'm like, guys, I need Mariano Rivera. I need a closer. I said, we got to close this podcast. I think the audience is going to love it. I'm going to be at Wrigley several times during the summer. I'll be listening to the podcast. And I just appreciate you guys trusting us. Well, I appreciate you guys jumping on board and trusting us. I know you guys have really created a name in the industry for yourself. Obviously, you've been around a really long time doing this, you know, all the things from ESPN to the pod and your show. Like, it's just, it's so great to be a part of this group. They're a phenomenal group to work with. And they're fun. They're really fun and make it really enjoyable for us. So I can't wait to get started.

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The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. Nice. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest

survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee's on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments set to find Roland Garros. She's an outsider to win the French name. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming till he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human