Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara - Malice at the Palace memories and Jack Flaherty’s World Series Celebration

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

In the latest edition of Throwbacks presented by Cash App, Matt and Jerry are joined by World Series champion Jack Flaherty. The 29-year-old pitcher spoke about what it’s like playing on a team of ego-less stars, what Shohei Ohtani’s group text said following his Game 2 injury and why Jack's all about Clayton Kershaw’s dad-bod. Flaherty also weighed in on our ongoing “too-many-celebrations-in-baseball" debate and shared some of his all time favorite sports video games as well.  Plus, it’s that time of year where Jerry is forced to remind people that he was not in Detroit the night of the “Malice at the Palace.” And Matt shows some love to rookie Dalton Knecht following his 37-point outburst.    New episodes of Throwbacks drop every Thursday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also, make sure you’re locked in on social @ThrowbacksShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys & the Throwbacks community. (https://link.chtbl.com/throwbacks)   A big thank you to our sponsors:   Throwbacks is presented by Cash App  That's Money. That's Cash App   https://cash.app/bank  Cash App is a financial platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). To earn the highest interest rate on your Cash App savings balance, you need to be 18 or older, have a Cash App Card, and direct deposit at least $300 monthly into Cash App. Sponsored Accounts are not eligible to earn interest. Other exceptions may also apply. Cash App will pass through a portion of the interest on your savings balance held in an account for the benefit of Cash App customers at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. Savings yield rate is subject to change. Stated rate is current at the time of recording.  Wendy’s   Try Wendy's New Saucy Nuggs Today   https://wendys.com/nuggs  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Otani. Like, I don't know. These guys are unicorn. I'm just curious, like, what is it like in the clubhouse? Day to day, like he just show his show. He's not like I don't mean that like he's he's like showtime or anything. He just is like a pretty much like a regular dude that's on the bus. And then it was also pretty cool to say that there was a billion dollars sitting. All right, welcome to another episode of throwbacks presented by cash app sending spending saving splitting donating gifting or just typing numbers all at the number one finance app

in the App Store. That's money. That's cash app. Matt. What's up? Got me back. Look at you're here, dude. You got me back in LA.

We're in our studio for the first time. You're real, in the flesh. In the flesh. We did a lot of stuff at your alma mater. We did. As a kid, you never went to college. I mean, three months of the community college don't count. Shout out to College of Staten Island.

It was amazing walking around that campus with you and then seeing all the kids and realizing what that must have been like for you back in the day, coming off the Heisman, I mean, surreal feeling. You know what, it's actually funny when I go back there now, it's kind of split because I'm a lot older,

so it's like you get some of them are like, like they grew up in the football fans and their parents were fans of our era. That's what I get now. I get a lot of these kids are the kids of like USC fans. It's just always like when I'm back there, it's just always brings back memories, right? It's just, you go back and you're like, man,

like the run we went on, the history forever etched in USC football history, that run and that dynasty. And it always brings back, it's just fun. It's fun walking around. We took you around, kind of give you a history. And I think people forget like you're a sports head. You love sports. So there's so much history of players that played there.

Some of the all time greats, the All-American Walk, all the Heisman Trophies. The first round picks, the number one overall picks. So like it's always fun to be back. It was good to have you on campus. It always feels good to be back. Our shootout video is coming soon. We're not going to tell you results. The shootout video will be out there soon, but you know what else was dope? We went to go have lunch and it's like, oh, there's Juju right there. We saw Juju, we saw Juju Watkins.

Waiting online for food. Of course, I think we tried to talk to her. It's like, no, she actually has to go to class. But then you realize like that's the, I'd say inarguably the best women's basketball player in the country. She's the next, I mean like. She's just walking around campus with a book bag.

Caitlin Clark, but like Juju Watkins is literally the next greatest thing. I mean, she already is, but the next, I mean, like. She's just walking around campus with her book bags. But like Juju Watkins is literally the next greatest thing. I mean, she already is, but the next, she's three. The thing that's crazy is she has three more years in college. I know. They can't leave early. She's got three more years. She was right there, like, I think she might've been on like her scooter or something like that.

It was cool to get a glimpse of her in like full college mode, not on the court. I could say years from now, like, yeah, I just bumped into her while she was getting ready to go to class. I saw Snoop a little bit was getting ready to go to class. I saw Snoop a little bit later in the day. He was a- Big SC guy, right?

Big SC guy. So like, that's the thing about USC. Like it brings a lot of people together, but you'll never know who you're gonna see. Didn't Snoop used to hype you guys up? Dude, drop it like it's hot. When he'd come in and say- He would come in, yeah.

Well, he grew up in Long Beach, man. He grew up in LA and he was a big SC fan, still is, and he used to come around campus and rap, and I was throwing him routes. I got through here routes. I was through here. You're all gonna see it. So it's a big LA day.

How are you feeling today, by the way? I feel good. Feeling this week. But I don't know how much better I'm gonna feel in a little while because we have a World Series champion entering our studio today. I'm feeling good. I'm feeling this week. But I don't know how much better I'm gonna feel in a little while because we have a World Series champion entering our studio today. Man, I'm so excited.

I think we've had five ring champions on this show. Don Trell. Charles. Charles never won. Charles ain't got no ring. Sorry Charles, we love you. Swish. Kurt.

Oh yeah. Kurt Warner. You count. No, I don't count. You have a national championship, bro. We got three. You have a national championship. K. You have a national championship. Kutcher's never won a ring. Kutcher's never won a ring,

but we have the great Jack Flaherty joining us from the Dodgers. Matt had to sit through my Yankee porn with Nick Swisher. Now I gotta sit through it with you and Jack Flaherty. One, as a Dodger fan, it's amazing, right? So I'm excited to talk to Jack. He's a cool dude, too. And by the way, he was a massive part of their run,

obviously. He pitched two games in the World Series, NLCS, all of these things. Like, there's just so many, like great, like, show hay. And then like the, like, Freddie Freeman's run and just like celebrations and like, he grew up in LA, coming back to, like, there's just like so many great stories around the Dodgers

and then having Jack being able to tell that man, like, I'm excited. And you're gonna have to sit through an hour of just. I'm here to accept it, it's good vibes. So the other thing that would just pass a few days ago, not that this is a good anniversary, I'm not trying to say, wow, this is a fun one, but for me, it's always something on the calendar

because I know my social media is gonna be a mess for 24 hours. Malice of the Palace just came up again and I'm sure you know, everyone my social media is gonna be a mess for 24 hours. Malice of the Palace just came up again and I'm sure you know everyone on social media thinks that the guy that our test hits and then Jermaine O'Neal almost murders with the slide punch that he misses looks a lot like Turtle from Entourage.

It's uncanny. Did you, what year was that? So that was, was that 2006? Andrew, do you know off the top of your head? We'll find out. So that was, okay, so my question to you is, and I'm sure you did this, cause you still live it, but like when that happened

and it started going viral or whatever, and you're like, did you play that up? So you said funny word, you said viral. There was no viral. I know, that's something, but did you play that up? So you said funny word, you said viral. There was no viral. I know, but did you play that up? Here's what happened. It first was talked about as a joke on Sports Center because there was no Twitter, there was no social media. So one of the anchors, I don't know which anchor it was,

said, and then Jermaine O'Neal almost knocks out Turtle from Entourage. They were dead serious. They said it on Sports Center as a joke. Oh, as a joke. So it caught fire there. And then once social media comes around, forget it. It's over for me.

Because everyone's, and I get millions of views. It was 2004. 2004. So. By the way, you play that up until you can't play it up anymore. Well, a few things. That's one of the greatest fights in the history of sports.

Turtle would never wear a Pistons jersey, ever. What works against me is the cameras were not nearly as good then. So the footage is grainy. So you can't even clearly. grainy so you can't even clearly. He had a beard. He was a little big. I was a big boy too. He was pretty round. But here's the ultimate thing of why I could tell you that's not me. I have a superpower. My superpower is I can tell you 30 seconds before a fight's about to break out. Whether it's in a club, on the street, in an arena,

I could literally say, oh, who might want to start walking that way? They're about the brawl. And you could look at them and they're just talking. I would have known from the minute our test laid on the scorers table, I said, babe, get your shit, we're getting out of here. Something's about to go down.

Players don't lay on the scorers table like that, staring up at the sky, we're getting out of here. I would have been so far out of that arena. Meta's a friend. He's a friend, we're gonna get him on the show. I've talked to him about it, and I believe he said, he's reached out to that guy, and they've talked since. They've made amends.

What a wild life. Wild. And that's something I hope we never, ever, ever see. I'm trying to think now of like the greatest, like those fights in sports. No, that's the- That's the by far, obviously it was terrible that it happened, but like-

Some good player fight. I was at a Knicks game- Some hockey fights. I was at a Knicks game sitting next to Fat Joe when JR Smith and Mello was still on the Nuggets. Nuggets were blowing out the Knicks and they was still, JR Smith was still doing 360 dunks. Nate Robinson grab, fouled JR Smith and grabbed him and they spilled into the arena. And that's the game where

Mello sucker punched Marty Collins. And again, I knew I was already on the other side of the court. I'm like, we're not going anywhere near that. These guys are about to fight. Man, I don't think I ever witnessed. oh, I did, I witnessed Andre Johnson fight. I was on the sideline. Have you? Courtland, Finnegan. Wait, the Andre, that's the Andre Johnson fight. We'll get into that another day.

That was like. You've never thrown hands in full uniform, right? No, I threw hands on fraternity row at USC once. It's got me suspended for football for two weeks, but that's a story for another day. Story for another day, and also. As a freshman. You're a lefty too, so you don't even see that Southpaw.

Nah, really, the guy grazed me, long story, grazed me, I kind of wrapped around to go to the front of the house and by the time I got up there, my boys have already ripped him down and it was bad. I'm not proud of it. And then I saw that dude maybe a week later at the nine-o, which is where we all went. I've been to them. You've seen them. I've partied at the nine. I know which is where we all. I know I've been to the party.

And by the way, we kind of like we actually like sorry, hugged it out and then we just went on our way. That's the way it should be. Yeah. That's the way it should be. All right. We got Jack Flaherty coming up in a little while right now. We are going to do our amazing can't get enough sauce moment of the week brought to you by Wendy's big shout outs to Wendy's.

We love by the way, I'm going to get some Wendy's right after this because I'm starving. I think we're in alignment on our player we're going to focus on. So it's the first time we're going to co-mingle on a Wendy's player. Have you seen Dalton Connect play for the Lakers? I have seen Dalton Connect live in person three. I've been to three Laker games so far. Okay. So he's my, he's my just saucy guy of the week. He caught fire the other night. This dude caught fire the other night.

Fire. 37, I think it was a rookie, all nine threes or something like that. Huge check of all time. And then gave the, and I was reading an article and I think he was talking about his bench was like, did you need to come up with a celebration or something?

And in the moment, he was just like, MJ came out of home. He did the MJ shrugs. And he's young, I respect the young dude for knowing that. And by the way, was just like, he did the MJ shrug. And he's young, I respect the young dude for knowing that. And by the way, and LeBron came out and was like, what the eff. You got LeBron talking about you.

How could, I think it was 17th overall. He was the SEC player of the year, which is a good basketball conference. I think he made a run, and he had a crazy run in the SEC tournament and even, I think, I'm assuming March Madness, I can't remember if he was but like he was dropping like 30 again Yeah, and I'm like he's too pretty for him by the way a little bit of like his head coach JJ reddick like a lot a little bit

He's bigger and like probably more athletic than JJ but like a sniper and all that So do you think this maybe opens up some things for the Lakers to make a trade? I think it opens up everything of him because this dude's gonna be a star for them. They gotta give him some minutes. They gotta keep giving him. He's getting minutes though. And like things with D-Lo, they're just like, he's earning those minutes,

but he's also gonna become a weapon for them because we always know as a Laker fan, it's like you surround Lebron with shooters. You surround him with shooters, let him facilitate ADs playing lights out. You're having such a big LA sports here. If the Lakers go, I'm gonna go right into my camera. If the Lakers go on a run, I might quit this show.

Now, if he gets two rings in the first season of throwbacks, I might be out. See, the Lakers are on their best start and I don't know how long. It's been tough the last couple of years, like slow starts. I don't wanna hear it. We hover around like the eighth seed or like the playing and all this stuff.

You're talking to a Knicks fan, bro. You can't complain. You can't complain. You guys are on a roll. Thank you to Wendy's. I'm actually going to go grab some saucy nugs. And when we come back, Jack Flaherty, World Series champ,

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And that very same day, two steady hands. From innovation to action, Sunnybrook is special. Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special. So, World Series, man, a couple weeks ago, you've had some time to digest it. And I'm a lifer dodger, I'm a lifer dodger. Life's changed, like what's the last couple weeks been like for you? I know it's probably been a whirlwind. It's been a whirlwind. It doesn't feel like it's, I was at dinner on Saturday night

and somebody there was like, didn't you guys win like three weeks ago? And I had to like, I just sit there and I like pulled up the calendar. I was like, how long has it been? It feels like it was like just yesterday. And then, then he said it. And I was like, maybe it has been like a really long time

that I've been celebrating this thing. And part of that was in my head, I knew like, okay, we had started to get back into, okay, we got to get ready for next year mode and like, was enjoying, I've been enjoying myself just like celebrating it, talking to the guys, talking with everybody about it and like trying to bring like, take in all those emotions and then. But yeah, it's, it's, it's been crazy. I think three weeks since, since we won it and just enjoying every little part of it. It's been, to win it here was crazy.

You had a great just post-game celebration, man. I think so, yeah. You've been labeled something. Man, I did a signing and people were bringing me bottles of tequila and I was like, I don't know if this is the reputation that I really want. Like it was, look, the parade was great.

If you've seen recently, Mookie just, he released his podcast of all the guys at his house. I was sleeping when they recorded this. I took a nice nap. You were just hungover. I had a great day. And you listen to walker talk, like that's kind of where I was at,

but I was asleep and they were like, where are you? And eventually I made it to Mookie's house and we continued on from there. But yeah, I was like, they started bringing me that. I was like, I don't know if this is the reputation I really want. Did you see when you did the parade, but it was like with local news or something,

and you kind of stumbled off the chair? Oh, yeah. By the way, I was so... Everyone saw that. By the way, while I'm talking about like post-camp, I was so, I watched that, and I swear, I was like, I was like, fuck yeah, dude. I was so proud.

I was like proud of you, dude. I was like, that's what you, you just won a World Series. You balled out in the whole playoffs, obviously, and like, dude, you just beat the Yankees in the World Series? Like, I'm going to get hammered. I'm going to enjoy the shit out of this because you earned it. J.R. Smith still hasn't put his shirt back on.

The Cavs won the championship. The dude took his shirt off. He never put it back on. Yeah, it was it was one of those like everything was really like buttoned up from September, October. We enjoyed. After each round, when we won, like team would get together. We go out, have some drinks and whatnot. But then it was like once it was all over, it was like, like everything was just like,

thank goodness. Like we got it done. We won. Like, let's celebrate and enjoy it. And I may have enjoyed it a little bit too much, but some may say I did it right. Speaking of shirts off, you know where I'm going with this? Kershaw. Oh dude. So like what happened to Kershaw, man? What do you mean? Dude, the dad, no, he's the goat. I was telling these guys, I'm like, Clayton Kershaw will be one of the,

go down as one of the best pitchers of all time in my opinion. But just like he puts some weight on. Talking about his body. He's your dad's father, man. If you can go out and still pitch the way that he can and what he was still trying to do at the end of the year with the pain that he was in, it doesn't matter. He had back, right?

Was it his back? His toe was destroyed. He like messed up his side a little bit. He was, I mean, he was grinding through his, his toe. Like it was like, I don't think they really let on how bad it was. And, um, but if you can, it doesn't matter. You look in there and you look in the locker room, everybody wants to point to him. You look at some of the other guys, it's like baseball. It's all like, it's just different. I know.

Shape, sizes. You got curse. You got glass, two guys that are so, that's like Thor. Right. Yeah. You've got two guys that are some of the best. Glass is like Thor. Right, yeah. You got two guys that are some of the best in the game of what they do. They look completely different. You look at... So, you know, Kersh can do whatever.

I just was so, I was, cause like I got a dad bod and I never, I was like, He rocks it. He rocks it. But that's like the first time I've ever seen it. It's kind of like when Patty Mahomes, he had a shirt off last year and they're like, this is the greatest player to ever live.

And he kind of looks like just the average Joe, which I think adds to the allure of Kershaw even more. That's why I like golf too, man. He's put on a golf shirt. Nobody knows what's going on under there. If you can hit the ball, no one cares what's going on under there. I hope he gets healthy, man.

And just go, I mean. He will, he's a stud. He was so much fun to be around. And I grew up watching him being in LA and everything, and to be able to be his teammate and talk to him and talk baseball. And then after big starts in the playoffs, get a hug from him. Like, it was it was it was pretty cool. Well, that's what's done.

I'm full disclosure, Yankee fan. Very happy for you. But in that three weeks you're talking about, we tried. I don't feel like it went on for a long time. I forgot about happy for you. And that three weeks you're talking about, we tried, you felt like it went on for a long time. I forgot about it right away. You might have moved on to free agency real fast. We had Nick Swisher on, who's a buddy of ours, and a Yankee guy.

Before, right before the World Series, right before D-1. We were doing a whole pod with Swish, and it was an hour of just Yankee talk and like, Soto. We made Matt sit through Yankee porn. He took it well. Yeah, it was Yankee porn.

And I think that's what also helped you guys. I was like, fuck this, dude. My boys are winning this shit. No, but the thing that stuck out too, watching, that I knew the Yankees were in trouble besides just a lot of the on the field stuff. You guys really do look tight. I know every team is tight, but because every team says that, you guys genuinely looked like you were a tight-knit

group. So I think there was a bunch of teams in baseball are. And what I think was crazy about the Dodgers was if you look towards the All-Star game, people are making a big deal about them not staying for Te Oskar winning the home run derby and people try to make a big deal out of it. I never really bought it being on the other side and knowing some of the guys in there. And then coming over seeing how close that they actually were and guys really giving up family time during the playoffs. Like it was kind of a point of emphasis like guys we're going to dinner, we're hanging out, we're getting together, we win the NLCS against New York, we all went out in LA.

I was genuinely shocked how many got. It was like, no, like we're going out, we're getting drinks like we're going to enjoy this together. And it just like continued on. Like we'd spent all, we spent all day at the stadium. And those guys just, they pulled for each other, especially how much they had all kind of been through the last couple of years. I think people like, I mean, in all sports, but even like on a set, we were talking like how the chemistry on your show and entourage, like you guys probably didn't know each other going and you have an eight year run or nine year

run. Like people don't understand how important like off the field stuff is. Like you got to be trust accountability. You got to be there for those guys in all sports, baseball, football. Like the locker room to me was like, is like the most sacred place in the world. Like those are your, those are your boys you're going to battle with. You got to get a norm. You got like, it's just like that goes a long way and winning. I think it really does. Especially when then you have good players and the lightening in the bottle. Like what sets you can't cast a show and say,

we're thinking you guys are going to have lots of chemistry. You have to have it. I feel like sports is similar. You put a bunch of guys in a room who are all top of what they do and it doesn't always mean that just because they're the best of what they do, they're going to figure it out on the field. Especially when you get three guys who have, well, four guys have MVPs and Mookie, Freddie, Shohei, and Kirsch. You get all them in a room, you get these guys with huge contracts and everything and thinking there's going to be huge egos all around. And coming over there, I didn't really expect it because I'd known Mookie a little bit. I've heard great things about Freddie from Max who had played with him. I heard about Shohei from G-Lito who played

with him and known Kersh a little bit. Like you just didn't expect any of that to be the case. Nobody was above anybody else. It was from top to bottom. Everybody was the same other than, you know, you get your certain rookie duties and that certain guys have to do. But it was, that's as close knit as I've seen. When you, like you just mentioned coming over, when you got traded to the Dodgers, obviously hometown,

although I'm sure you had some excitement too, but what, just like, what is that like? Just like you get a call, you're like, I got to go to LA the next day. Like, so I process. Yeah. So the trade deadline was I think on a Monday or something, and we had a weird day game. And so I lived like 30 minutes from the stadium in Detroit and our game got done at four. I think the deadline was at six.

And I was like, I'm not going home. Like I'm just, we were, I was waiting during the game. I was like, we're gonna go to Detroit. You knew it was coming, right? You knew that you were potentially. I knew I potentially was gonna go to Detroit. You never know. I loved being in Detroit.

I loved it there. I knew that team was really good and we had lost some close games and you saw what they did in the playoffs. It was fun to watch. And, but I just, I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna sit here. I just sat in the, sat in the locker room, was fun to watch. But I just, I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna sit here. I just sat in the sound locker room,

didn't pack anything. He's like, I don't wanna go home and then come back and pack. And a couple of guys stuck around, a couple of the trainers stuck around. Scoob will stuck around with me. We played cards for about an hour. And at that point they're like, all right,

like I gotta, he's like, I gotta go home, see my wife. Like she's like, Rob, you're good to see you. And so I just sat there waiting and it got down to like 10 minutes before like 30 minutes for AJ, a manager. He comes in and I look at him and go, you got anything for me? He just goes, no. And I knew, I knew he was full of it.

Like I knew he was full of it. He wasn't, he had a very good poker face, but I knew he wasn't just coming in there to just sit with me for the next. And then our, our, uh, my agent texts me that I was going to the daughters right before the GM walks in the room. And so my only thoughts then were how quick can I fire off this text to my mom to let her know before it like breaks.

So she's not seeing it like on TV or Twitter. And that was my only thought was I got to get this text off to her. And I'm like, that's a conversation with GM. I got to, I got to like, I know he's like, you know, we're going. And I was like, yeah, LA, was I got to get this text off to her. And I'm like, that's all conversation with Jim. Like, I got to like, I know he's like, you know, we're going. And I was like, yeah, I got to fire. I got to send this to my mom. I mean, she had been just over the moon, right? I think that's when it hit that I was going to L.A.

And like it's something we had talked about, obviously. Will it ever happen? Will I ever get the chance to come home and. Never something we really ever thought was going to happen. Spent seven years in St. Louis and went over, was in Detroit this year and you know getting on the phone with her and talking with her and hearing like her excitement and you know she was just like it's crazy you know you grew up like I grew up taking into these games and going there as like as a as a baby and spent like you know my teenage years there and growing up and that's just why I like that's why I fell in love with

the baseball and so it was cool it was awesome playing there as a visiting team as like the road team coming in there and playing and seeing family and everything and going against those guys and then playing there being on the other side. It was that was it was different. But yeah. And then I mean, I get on a call with the travel agent and it's hey, can you meet us in San Diego tomorrow? And I was like, sure. I had had two bags packed just in case. Like just in case it was like it happened. I had two bags packed just having been through it a year before. I'm going to be I'm gonna be. So I was, so I think it's fascinating, man, because when I was in Arizona, I was four years, and I met with the, I got cut.

So I was like, hey, we're gonna cut you. I kind of knew what was happening. And literally an hour or two later, I'm on with my agent and like, Houston's gonna sign you, Texans. And I was like, I was fired up because it was Kubiak. It was like a good team, whatever. And I literally went home, I packed like maybe a little carry on and I just went.

I never set foot on my Arizona house again. I never even went to say a proper bye house. I didn't even go back to Arizona for like 10 years. It was a little bad blood, man. I was, FD's guy. I was a little pissed, but different, probably different than baseball. But like, I just think it's fascinating.

So like you've bounced around a little bit, you it different, probably different than baseball, but like, I just think it's fascinating. So like you, you've bounced around a little bit. You've been in a couple of organizations. Like what is like, peel back the curtain of that. Cause I was, people will ask him like, dude, I never went back to my house. That was where I lived. I loved it there. And I'm just like the next day I'm literally in,

on practice squad for the Texans, like learning a brand new system, try and trying to like, you know, like get along with the new team and all that kind of stuff. It's stuff fans don't think about like, Oh, Matt's also got to like sell his house, get his stuff, find a place to live over there. Like this lifestyle, like we make good money.

We were professional athletes, all this, like it's hard, man. Moving around sometimes it's hard. And you just said like, I'm going to San Diego. You're probably suiting up like a couple of days. Now all of a sudden you're pitching to Will Smith. You know, like you got to, it's like all the shit. It was, it was, it was crazy. So like having been through it, going to Baltimore last year, going to LA was a lot easier for the sole reason that I had family here.

And like, I just, when I came to LA, I just, I stayed at my mom's house for like a week while I was looking for a house. And then a buddy of mine is like, our neighbors are renting their house out. Do you want to rent a house? I was like, absolutely. Like, so it was a lot easier. Whereas I think that's a rare case where he's going to Baltimore,

getting traded from St. Louis. And, you know, I think it's a Tuesday and I'm on the phone with manager and he's like, you think you can pitch Thursday? And then they're in Toronto. So I'm like, I mean, yeah, like I'll go to Baltimore. Yeah. And so that one, like I get traded and fly into Baltimore on Wednesday or flying to Toronto on Wednesday, like get there at like five,

like two hours before game time, have like a quick meeting, whatnot, do some stuff to get ready for the next day. And then like go in and pitch the next day. Like, and they do, they did a whole thing where it was like player of the game has to give a speech. And I'm like, look, I don't know any of you guys' names, but like we'll get, we'll figure that out. Like, I just appreciate being here.

Where, and then going to LA, like I get on a, I have two bags already packed. So I come home, get on a call with my friends cause they're, they're, they're excited. That's where I'm going next. Yeah. Yeah. That's where I'm going next. And it's like, I'm on a plane the next morning to San Diego, doing some work

then flying with the team, then fly with the team up to Oakland and then pitch two days later and then, and then it was on back to LA. So it was just a lot of moving around and then getting my stuff from Detroit to LA. Luckily, I had some people who helped me out a lot and moving around, but it's not easy. We were talking right before we were rolling about Power, right? So I did Entourage for years in LA and then I got the chance to move back home from New York, Power Shoots in New York, and I was very excited. But then when I got back home, it's like, oh, I'm definitely very accessible now to like kids I grew up with.

And hey, can I come by set? And actually, you know, I have 14 meatheads by set. Everyone's come to see you. So I early on was like, look, this is great because I used to, I would go see my mom for dinner every night. And I always wished that that way and I would bring my mom to set but there were times and also it's very easy to get distracted In New York, just like it is LA. There's a lot going on a couple times I said I got to do a little extra effort to make sure the main focus is I'm back here to work So at any point for you, you have a you grew up here. You got a lot of friends

I'm not saying negative distractions, but you know, it's yeah It's you're on the road a lot. I'm sure everybody wanted playoff tickets Yo, how many playoff tickets everybody asked about is tickets and tickets and I think what we did My mom honestly did a really good job this my rookie year of pretty much letting people know like don't bother him for tickets Yeah, I'm gonna leave tickets for my close immediate family and if you wanna come, you can buy your own. And I just kinda kept that all throughout my time at St. Louis whenever I'd come to LA.

And then even coming over, now it was a little bit different. It'd be like, okay, on days I pitch, my close core group, they knew they had a ticket. And I would, we had our own thing. I was like, hey, let me know if you guys wanna take it. I'm pitching on this day. And I would make sure that they had a ticket and I would be at our own thing. I was like, hey, let me know if you guys want to take it. I'm pitching on this day. And I would make sure that they had their tickets left. And anybody else who asked me for days on, I was pitching wouldn't really matter. Now, if they asked on a random day, Hey, you have an inch tickets?

Like, yeah, I'd leave them. And then playoffs. It was like, it was, I mean, it was like my mom, my brother was taking care of that. My agents took care of them on days I pitched. And then it was my close core group, my mentor and his family, like because I like I've loved them for I've known for I since I was like eight years old. And so it wasn't it could have been crazier, but I'm appreciative of my friends who allowed me to say no.

Yeah. And be like, that's great. I just and I and I also just didn't have anymore. Like my guy was like, it was just like my family and like immediate like close, like I had it for them. And then it was like, do you have any more? And I was like, I really just don't, I don't have anymore. So I was appreciative of them not giving me a hard time and letting that happen.

And then in terms of like my time and availability, it would be, you know, when, you know, they'd come to the house and they'd make it easy. Like come to the house, hang out. I could see them whenever they'd come to the games. I think they were happy they didn't have to wait for me after games, because for me, I take forever after I pitch.

I'm like, my mom's like, are you ever gonna come out? It's like, we're an hour, hour and a half. I wouldn't be in a rush to leave either, man. I would like my mom's like are you ever gonna come out? It's like we're an hour hour and a rush to leave either Man, I would take my time 100% but also and for me I learned quickly that Guys were either out of there really quickly or they're sticking around and I like because you're still dealing with the traffic of trying to Yeah, your stadium. So Yeah, I always took my time

What are you what are you like on game day? like in the world in the world series? Because a lot of guys have superstitions. A lot of guys like, I feel like pitchers too because I always watch you come in after no one talks to you, right? You're just locked in. Like what is game five world series? Like what's that day like for you?

I mean everybody is different. And me, I'm the same all the time where I'm just don't talk to anybody. Right. Okay. Like I don't, I don't talk to anybody. I go, I didn't even go down for breakfast. I think I ordered some breakfast to the room, ate, took a nap. I mean, game five, I didn't pitch well, but like it'd be the same game five versus game one. Same exact thing. Like come in, you know, get out of my car, come in, like heading out to everybody, hey, hi, how you doing?

And they know, too, right? They know, like they learned, they learned quickly, like, oh, he doesn't want to talk to anybody. Like they learned start one in Oakland. Like you're locked in. Like, oh, yeah, but see, it's not like it is like for me, that's what I have to do to get locked in. Some guys are chilling, playing cards, doing that, and that's how they are.

And they can still get locked in. I tried it. It just doesn't work for me. And I'm like, I don't I'm not talking to you. I don't want to talk to anybody learned in Detroit quickly. I was the same way Baltimore, St. Louis. It was just like, you know, like, I don't really, the

headphones are going to go in, I'm just going to kind of chill. Maybe on certain days where I'm a little, where I just like, in there, like I'll talk to, there's very few people that I will talk to. I would talk to one of the trainers in Detroit. I would talk to one of the trainers in St. Louis and that was like kind of it. Occasionally I'd talk to some of the some of the players and pitching coaches but have a short little five-minute meeting and otherwise like I'm just... How about our boy Bernie, Bernie Lee? Oh man he's the best but he knew I wasn't gonna talk to him. I was out it would be it

just I go through the training room a couple times had not everybody and just go on go on with my business. Bernie, I've known Bernie for like 10 years because he was tied in with the guy at USC and I got two fake hips this year, dude. That's, yeah, and so Bernie was like one of the first guys to work on my hips like 12 years ago. So he run, he's like the head PT guy in the Dodgers now, but, and by the way, he's my ticket guy for the Dodgers.

I'll text him, Bernie, can I get a few tickets this week? He's got you. Yeah, he's got me. Yeah, no, they don't talk to anybody. We were talking about, you know, when I first moved to LA, I spent the first couple of years in Burbank, and I'm looking at like your pitching rotation

you had in school coming up. Is this real or am I being lied to? No. So you had Max Fried. Yeah, and Lucas G. Yeah, so they were both two years old. Did anyone ever hit you? You guys had to win a national title.

You gotta have a title there. So we didn't win it that year. So Max and Lucas were two years older than me. I was a sophomore, they were seniors. Lucas got hurt our senior year, and I feel like I can tell the story. I don't think I've ever given actual details details of it, but like it's safe place. We've cut it. He was, he was potentially going to go one one that year and he gets hurt mid game

and we have to have a whole like meeting the next, like I come in pitch right pitch after him. We win that game and we have a whole meeting like a couple days later because it's like hey if anybody ever asks you can't say like it's a you can't say it's a tear like just say it's whatever and we're like okay I don't think anybody's ever gonna like it's a bunch of high schoolers yeah right he was gonna ask any of us right and so we he tries like rehab and try to pitch that like for us. He doesn't try to pitch for us, but he got ready to pitch for scouts and everybody. But so what ends up happening now, it's just me and Max and we've got a bunch of guys who are juniors, sophomores, and a couple of freshmen.

And I mean, we got beat in playoffs that year. We lost the game like two to one. And then oddly enough, the next year we ended up winning it when it was the team was all juniors and seniors. And who'd you guys lose to? This school called Placentia Valencia. They had some guy come out, absolutely like just shoved it on us.

And we were like, it was one of those days, like we lost two to one. And it was just like. Were you PO or did you hit two? No, I played, I played third short center, Freed played right and center. He could have gone, I still tell guys to this day, like he could have gone and played the outfield

and he's, I mean, he's gonna, he's unbelievable, but he could have gone and played the outfield in the big leagues. I love like, we talk, I think I want to ask you about Shohei, but like hitting pitchers, like obviously in the league, it's just hard, but like, so Max was, you think Max was a stud. Yeah. I feel like all you guys were stud hitters, but at some point you just have to make the change.

Like, yeah, I mean, the dude through 94, 97 from the left side in high school, it was like, but he also like, I think I've lost two races in my life. And one of them was to Max. Really? And yeah, he, so you of them was to Max. Really? And yeah, he- So you could run too? Yeah, so could he though. It was like-

By the way, you look like a football player, dude. You could have been like a nice type. I think I get around people, and I'm like, oh, you're bigger than I thought you'd be. And I'm like, I don't know. But Max was an athlete, and then Gio was throwing a hundred in high school. Jeez.

Yeah, it was crazy having, I don't know, it was crazy watching the two of them because I didn't know anything in high school about, I didn't know you could, coming in high school, I didn't know you could get drafted and go and sign. I didn't know, we didn't pay attention to anything. And I meet Gio, he's one of the first guys I meet when I'm a freshman, then he comes up to me like summer going into my freshman year says hi, and everybody's like, oh this guy's a huge deal. I was like, I have no idea who this dude is.

He's like, signed to UCLA and everything. I was like, I don't know a single thing about high school baseball. I'm like, I just didn't. And then you start to learn everything, and then you watch, and then you see the scouts come, and they're watching them. And so for me, I got very lucky

where I never had to go do, I had to do very little of the like the self-promotion, the self-promote, the showcase type type stuff, because I just got to play with two guys who in the first round. So they're already watching me. They're watching another guy, Arden Paps, who went to Georgia Tech, our first base when we went to USC. So like we were loaded around and people were coming to watch them and then they're like, I just got noticed

and I didn't have to go do anything else. It was just like, oh, okay. You like, now we've taken notice of you, you know, colleges come in and it was scouts and whatnot. But watching the way they handle scouts was impressive. That could be a blessing and a curse though because you're still only a sophomore, you a kid and now all that attention is there Could have like a half bad year and all of a sudden scouts are already making labels on you as a as like a

Sophomore like are you know? Yeah, it's just a lot. It's just a lot. It's good I think it's a good thing that you didn't play into the self-promotion game or had to I just think you probably just focus on What you would do it's tough now I like I know, you know, I run into people now and they talk about how it is and where baseball has gone in terms of like the showcase and travel ball and everything. It's in a very strange place that kind of needs

to get figured out because it's just not. Do you think that's, so I have this conversation, my oldest is 18 and just committed for football, but like I've always been on the fence of like club. It's a lot more competitive now. It's just, it's different, but like, I don't know, like your advice, like you had the route of like,

hey, if I'm talented, if I get seen, you got seen, you lucked out and all that kind of thing. It is a blessing. I think it's just like, do you think it's, like in baseball, do you think it's necessary for these kids to go to all these showcases and like, it's not right. No, and half of them aren't good enough to do it. And that's the thing, it's like,

more than half of them are never gonna make it, which is. The problem is, is that, and I don't even know how we got on this, but the problem is that. I just asked. Welcome to Throwback, sir. It's what we do. It's all like numbers based now.

So it's not like, what can you do against this pitching. It's like, how hard do you hit the ball? How hard do you throw? How fast can you run in this and that? So it's like, that's all the showcase stuff instead of like, how do you actually compete against these guys? So like, now it was different.

When I was growing up, we didn't, it wasn't as big of a thing. I played literally baseball with my best friends from seven until 12, seven until 11. And then I like skipped my last year to continue playing with them because I played up and we were playing, we were playing travel ball. And during that time, we were playing travel ball.

But when it was winter, fall and winter time, we were playing basketball, we were playing football, like volleyball, whatever it was. And that's just, that's how we did it. And I think it helped every single one of them. A bunch of those guys ended up going to D1 schools and just randomly out of nowhere, we all ended up going,

some of the best high school kids, you look in the Valley, you look at the names, we all played on the same team coming up. And we all were at Sherman Oaks Little League. That's just what we did. And now it's like, none of that really exists. It's all traveling here, traveling there for games and club ball.

And I get it to an extent, but I'm like, I wish it was the way it was when I was growing up because I just felt it was better. Sherman Oaks Little League is still fire. I mean, so we played Manhattan Beach with Joe Urbant. So one of his agents kid and my kid are good buddies, South Bay, so we did the whole Manhattan Beach Little League, tried to get to Williamsport and all that,

and Sherman Oaks Little League is always in the regional. We played them same term at three years in a row. That's a really good program. They're still doing it. I only have one athletic, almost claims fame. We were one game away from going to Williamsport. Was it this week when I was throwing catches and you pulled the quad? Yeah, we had a team out of Brooklyn. We had one like athletic almost claimed fame. We were one game away from going to Williamsport. Was it this week when I was throwing the catches

and you pulled the quad? Yeah, we had a team out of Brooklyn. Pulled the squad dude. We were like the bad news bears. We had this ragtag group of kids that they formed like the super team in New York and we almost came out of the East and made it to Williamsport.

We got rocked. You know what I remember that messed us up? Well, we got, tell me what you think of this because this has stuck with me since I was 10 years old. Bunch of kids from Brooklyn who never left Brooklyn. We go to the tournament to get to Williamsport. It was in Connecticut in the suburbs, right? We get to the hotel, they had an indoor pool.

No one ever saw a pool inside before. Like, whoa, there's a pool inside! So check, stay with me for a second. We came in there as like the worst team in this conference. We were gonna get rocked. So we really didn't care, worst team in this conference. We were going to get rocked. So we really didn't care. We were going to have fun. We're playing in the indoor pool.

How great is this? We go out, we win game one. Other teams talk of trash. All you kids are from Brooklyn. You can't play. You don't even have a field. This is going on in the high hold? We win game two.

I'm a ten, nine, literally nine or ten. It wasn't as much trash talking in the high hold. Oh, we're trash talking. So we get to the final game. Winner goes to the Little League World Series. Our coach tells us no one goes in the indoor pool today. I don't want anyone getting hurt. I don't want you guys getting tired.

And all of a sudden we got tight. We got nervous. We weren't nervous till that, but no, none of us were nervous till that point. And all of a sudden coach says, you guys can't go in the indoor pool. I don't want anyone getting hurt. I don't want anyone horsing around. And we're like, oh, this game must be important if he's saying that. We got rocked 11-1 the indoor pool. I don't want anyone getting hurt. I don't want any horsing around and we're like Oh this game must be important if you're saying that we got rocked 11-1 the next day Yeah, we were scared on the coach in the pool. No, no, I'm just wondering

It's interesting if there's anything to with kids like just let them play like to like Jack's point Like just go play with your friends and like be who you are and don't get so serious. I save your nine-year-old and like be who you are and don't get so serious. It's 10 years old. Trying to save your nine year old's legs. Yeah, that's also the thing is you're like nine, 10, 11. Some of our guys might have been 15 years old by the way. That's possible. I'm not saying, I'm just saying, it could have been 15.

Yeah, but at nine to 11, you're a bunch of kids. You're gonna have plenty of energy no matter what. Just wanted to go in. What position were you playing? I played, well, left field a lot. Little second base, little left field. I got a hot bat toward the end. Does this guy not look like Jose Altuve?

Second baseman. Second baseman. That's been my Halloween costume for five years. Jose Altuve, I hate the Astros. I hate the Astros too. Hey look, Detroit knocked him out, right? Props to Detroit for getting rid of the Astros. I was at the World Series when they beat the Dodgers and

The whole cheating thing man, she still pisses me off to this day How is that? That's crazy, right? You don't comment on it like trash cans and stuff. Hey, you know, there was a lot of There was a lot of things going on at that time in baseball Yeah, yeah just happen to be the most egregious of them science dealing. Yeah, there was a lot of things going on at that time in baseball. And that just happened to be the most egregious of them. Sign stealing. Yeah, there was a lot of things going on. We had that in college football

with Michigan, sign stealing. Yeah. Which everyone does anyway. It's like one of those things. Yeah, it feels like everybody was trying. Dude, my dad back in Little League was like, he was the greatest decoder. He would have had anyone signs in literally eight pitches.

We had that like, you know, first name, fastball, last name, curveball. Like, let's go, Liner. I'm like, all right, it's curveball coming. That was high school. So you cheated. You cheated. Yeah. I don't know if I could do the show anymore.

We also cheated in the Bush push apparently too, because I was against the rules. Apparently. Allegedly. How old were you for the, do you remember the boy? I was on my 10th birthday. Actually, I remember it very vividly. You're big you. Where were you?

I was at a, it was probably the only birthday party I ever had. Like swear, there was no offense, like my mom, lover. I was about to say, damn, that sucks. No, we were just always playing. And for some reason on that day, we, I don't know, we had games and then we were out of bowling alley and we can remember watching it with everybody.

And it was like That was the most that that's I mean that and the one other game where that was most nerve-racking game And then the other game is the most depressing game. Were you big Reggie fan? I'm assuming you know that dude is still to this day, man I had the pleasure of going to USC with Matt yesterday to shoot some stuff and as a guy who never really went to college My lord though seeing Matt walk around and like on that campus USC with Matt yesterday to shoot some stuff. And as a guy who never really went to college, my Lord, though, seeing Matt walk around and like on that campus, it's just, I'm like, I should have went to college.

I wouldn't have had that experience, but I should have went to college. It would have been our entourage. It would have been hanging. Yeah, I could I could have been like, I could have been some kind of equipment manager or something. I could have helped out. It was cool. It was cool to be on that campus with you though. I feel like growing up like in that time and you're a big Kobe guy, right? And Lakers. We got talks. Yeah, we have a Kobe like that's my, I mean, SC, but like Dodgers and Lakers,

man. Kobe was my favorite athlete. I think if you grew up here, just like. It was, it was, it was Dodgers, Lakers and SC for me growing up. And that time too, because like we all because at that time there were no NFL teams. And we were we were and like I remember you were the NFL. Well, Kobe and Shaq, Kobe and Shaq went on that that run and then Shaq left. And then that was when we kind of took over and the Dodgers, I think, were kind of up and down at that point. Like so we were like it was like the team.

But then we got Gasol and I say we because Lakers up and down at that point like so we were like it was like the team but then We got Gasol and I say we because Lakers about Gasol came and then that's when we went on the other run again Do you see Kobe play like you go a lot of Laker games as a kid you see it Do you get the chance to see a lot of no I person or not? I didn't as I as I got older I got to go a couple times but like we I definitely spent a lot more time going to Dodger games, right and I don't even think like SC, we watched all the games, never really, never really went. And then even for for Laker games, like I'd watch the games on TV all the time.

I just I can't remember going a whole lot, a whole lot down there. And then as I as I got older, like, go down there, I got to see him, like especially towards the end of his career. But yeah, we didn't go to a whole lot of Lakers games but this was a lot of fun. We do a throwback three every episode where we like just pick an old school topic, list our top three. We were going to do Kobe moments today. If you want to participate, you can. Or you can just listen and critique ours. I would love to listen and critique and try to think of three. Do you want to do it now?

Should we lose the eye three we do a throwback? So we just pick our three favorite personal to us Koby moments We've done like video game. Yeah, we done like best sports video game. It's actually sports video games would be fun That's fictional. Yeah, the best. Oh my goodness. We would but I only I only do smiling new sports video games Yeah, I mean to know we were only do sports video games. Yeah, me too. No, we were like. What sports video games you play? When I, well, it's a lot of 2K, FIFA. I might be able to, I mean,

I might be able to house you in 2K. I would love to see it. I managed the Knicks 2K league team, I was the GM for it. Matt, don't, by the way, I have a championship ring, bro. What's wrong with you? I have a championship ring, what are you talking about? I'm the only banner in MSG in the last 50 years. Do you stream?

No. Oh, shit. I'll stream. I'll stream. We'll stream. Oh, man. I'll call it football. I'm so glad Card Football is back.

It's awesome, dude. Oh, yeah. It's incredible. So now we're all side-tracked. No, I went all out. I know. This is a podcast. We go all over the place.

We did Mike Tyson's Punch out, just old school. Like the, like the style. We didn't do Madden. NHL 94 is like the greatest hockey game ever. 2K. But he's young for that. He's young Madden, but like what else did we do? Like Tony Hawk was one of my own. Tony Hawk was a good one.

Yeah, for me it'd be like MVP baseball with Ramirez on the cover. I don't remember if that's 04, 05. I always forget. Manny. Manny was a Dodger. Yeah, it was the Madden with Vic on the cover. You want to remember if that's 04, 05. I always forget. Manny. Manny was a Dodger. Yeah, it was the Madden with Vic on the cover. You want to do our Kobe throwback three?

You want to go first? Yeah, so I'm going to say my personal one for first. So my, one of my best, one of the best is the lob to Shaq. The lob to Shaq. I think it was 2000. She, you weren't even, you were like four. Five. So I was 17, whatever. I remember that was 2000, you weren't even, you were like four.

So I was 17, whatever. I remember that was like the prime, it was 2000 conference finals against the Blazers. That was Scotty. Shaq's face was the best after that one. And that was like them like, then knowing what we knew about them pretty much like hating each other at that time off the court,

but then on the court, like that lob in my mind still to this, it's like Reggie Bush highlights. You can watch the Reggie Bush highlight 20 years later. Like I watched that highlight still. I'm like, I got goosebumps thinking about. So that moment, that led to the finals. I'm so bummed out because my number three is like, we got to film Entourage courtside at Laker games, which no one else ever really did, but we did it twice. Both games we did it. Kobe was out. So game one, it was like Smush Parker put up 21. And game two, I honestly,

I could name almost every NBA player. I didn't even know half the guys on the Lakers. That's how injured they were. Chris Mim. But Kobe, so, but yeah, my first is the Kobe All-Star game when he was young and he got to go up against MJ. And that's where all the,

you really saw that this dude is kind of different because he wanted to go at Jordan. I think that was in the dock, the MJ dock, when he was like, hey, this kid on the other side is gonna go hard. He's holding like the Laker boy. The Laker boy is gonna try to score 50. That's sick.

My second was his last game, the 61, man. That was like, I think I might've had an opportunity to go. Like I was one of those things, like I should go buy tickets to go to the game. And I just, I was like, one of those, like, I'd rather just watch. One of our guests in the future episode had court side tickets and did not, and decided to do something else. Just for him, for him. I missed it. Are you serious?

Yeah, well you think about it, it's like, oh, you want to go watch Lakers Raptors on a Tuesday night in Feb, whenever it was. It was like, ah, I got plans. And then that happened on a Tuesday night in February, whenever it was? He's like, ah, I got plans and then that happened. And he went off for 61. Yeah, that was good. That was just sad, man. 81 point game. That was an end in the era, man. 81 point game is my number two.

The Raptors 81 point game is just bananas. I don't know if you're gonna know my number one. So my number one is awesome. So, and I got to know Kobe a little bit off the court. We have mutual friends down in, he lived in Newport Beach, so we had mutual friends down there, and I'm at a barbecue on, maybe 4th of July, we're at the beach, and it's me, Cole, my oldest is 18,

so he's probably, I don't even know, nine at this time or whatever. And so I'm like this with Kobe and his family, and getting to know them, and then we're just talking shit. He was talking about players. It was just awesome to see him in that light. And by the end of the night, I shit you not, we're in Emerald Bay.

I don't know if you've ever been to Emerald Bay. It's like a private community, small, it's like 50 homes in there. And we're in a golf cart to go from the beach to whatever house we were going back to. And we had, it was a six seater and we, I'll never forget this, Kobe's driving. I'm in the front, Cole is like, we had, I shit you not. We had 14 people on this golf cart.

And Kobe's driving. Kobe's driving. And people are hanging on the side, kids like. I just would keep going, Kobe! No, my best friend still, my best friend from high school school still and he's like a diehard Kobe. He's like he might be like turtle and entourage. He was like my boy kind of funny. Like he was like and he's like, yo dude Kobe's driving a car for like, oh, I'm just like, keep it cool, dude.

Like shit and Kobe starts just wheeling like this and I'm like, he's trying to get it was just like the funniest thing ever. I'm like, surreal. And then it was just like, and then I ran into him. So that's my number one. Then I then we just became like, you know, acquaintances. I see him and say, what's up? And then he followed my sons. And then I'd actually like I'd I'd seen him at a basketball tournament

before the track, like three weeks before he passed, man. And he was talking to Cole. We talked about that. Cole had grown my son six, four. So like he was like, this was eighth, that was like, whatever, right before he passed a couple years ago. And I was like, and it was just every time I saw, he meant so much to me, but that moment, man, I'll never forget, just the laughter he was,

just trying to get people off the golf cart and stuff, man. So my number one, Jack, is gonna lead me to a question for you that I've gotten a lot of heat about, and you're probably gonna say, shut up, old man. You're being a hater. But number one is the Kobe press conference when they're like, you're up three games to one. You gotta be feeling pretty good. He's like, two games, zero, by the way.

Why should I feel good? The job's not finished press conference. To me, that's one, that is one of the best off the court sports moments because that tells you every single thing We don't really see that anymore. Yeah, so why that brings me to baseball for a second I put this out on Twitter and I set it on the show and I got torched such a bad take and but I Don't know if I've seen this take. You definitely didn't see a take. I Understand when you like clinch a division in baseball, you pop some champagne, for sure. I get it. Long season.

Baseball's a long season. Or even if, hey, we got a wild card. Champagne, pop a Corz light, whatever. I get it. Bring it all back, but then first round wild card teams. You get, all right, boom, now we're in the divisional round, pop champagne. Now we're in the ALCS, pop.

Too much? I'm not saying don't celebrate with your team, but like to bring the camera crew in, put the goggles on, do all that. I'm not saying don't do it, it's a public event. And then when we get to the World Series, like, you know, when we pop champagne, it's like, all right, we've seen it five times already.

Just asking, is it too much? Okay, I've had this conversation before. Okay, so it's not a... No, but it came from a basketball player. Oh, all right. So I'll say this though. Having gone through it and won the World Series, it does not get old at all. It does not get old. For sure.

Every single one. And then the World Series one was just like... That was the ultimate. Yeah, it just was a build up. God, that's so... It was, yeah, the World Series one was just like that was the ultimate. Yeah. It just was a buildup. God, that's so crazy. Yeah. The world series one was, it was just a buildup. No one's saying jobs not finished. No one's saying jobs not finished. So one of my family friends, Robert Ory, he, he brought this up to me.

Wait, Robert Ory? Robert Ory. Oh my God. He just suddenly dropped that. You're talking about Big Shot Bob? Yes. That's amazing. One of my, so.

Seven rings, right? Yeah. He's got seven of them. He brought it up to me. He's amazing. Seven rings, right? Yeah. He's got seven of them. He brought it up to me. He's like, interesting. He was like, why do you guys pop champagne after it? Why do you guys do this after every round? Like goggles and everything and do this.

And I didn't have an answer for him. I go, I don't know, man. It's just the culture. He's like, yeah, it's too much. Like it really is. And I was like, and I, and I, and I actually like kind of listen and I was like In my head like when it was the one game Wildcard, right? So it was a one game wild card. So you would have a team

Like pop champagne to get into that one game wild card and then pop champagne right after the wild card and then division series, right? And like I get it you want you celebrate after every after every single one Do I think you have a point where maybe we do it. I got labeled the fun police. That's what they're calling me on Twitter. You don't see it in any other sport, which I think is why in baseball it just like it is what it is. It's part of it's a long series and everything. You don't see it in in in the NBA. You don't see it in the NFL.

After that you see it after the big after winning it all. Like you have a point where there is a lot of it, and I can't disagree, there's sometimes like, now when you get in there and you're in that moment, that never crosses my mind at all. It is like, how much champagne can I spray on somebody else? I don't know like tons of MLB guys, but I know a few, or I texted a few on the side, and they were just like,

look, you're right, but also you gotta remember, there's young're right. But also gotta remember there's young guys who've never been there. There's old guys who've never been there. There's guys who might not ever get back there. It's a long season. So you're also doing it because of that. It's not just like, Hey, we're going to be here every year. Let's yeah, there's the one awkward one that goes on. So there's a, I, I I'm with that of, of there's, there's not old guys So there's a I I'm with that of there's there's not old guys or there's old guys that may not get back there and I'm all for doing it when you clinch to get into the playoffs. Then when you go round by round I can be like you know treat it like it is how we do any other series where like in LA we we get together a little speech tequila shot everything. Yeah you

want to have some beers hang out like I'm all for doing it that way. I like the one, when you get in, there's always the one awkward one that goes on where certain teams handle it differently. Where when you're trying to clinch the division, right? There's always a point where you get that postseason birth. Yeah. And then it's like, do we celebrate the postseason birth? That's a big deal. Because certain teams do it differently, but do you celebrate the postseason birth or do you celebrate clinching the division?

And so like LA, we didn't celebrate postseason birth. Like cool, we're in the postseason, but we got to win the division. We can celebrate that. Yeah, that's cool. And that was the big thing. So like I've enjoyed every single one of those that I've been a part of. The World Series one hit different. Yeah. As long as it still hits different for you, then all right. I forgo my fun points. Thank you. I've had that conversation before. So before we're gonna let you go soon,

man. But the last one quick thought and on honey is a honey cut, right? Honeycut? Right, or Honeywell? Honeywell. Guy's awesome. I think he gave the greatest post-season speech of all time. That dude is awesome. He is just awesome, right? Otani, like, I don't know, these guys are unicorn. I'm just curious, like, what is it like in the clubhouse?

He hurts his shoulder, you guys, like, oh shit. You know? I think the story has been told of the text he sent to the group of like, it was, I don't remember what was verbatim. It was like, you know, in 2020 Bellinger hurt his shoulder and he came back this year. Like, it'll be me. Like I'll be fine. And he, we were all flying. We were getting on the plane to fly to New York. It just won the first two. And we were all supposed to, we were all gonna go out to dinner that night.

We knew he wasn't gonna be there, but it was one of those like, we knew Sho was gonna be fine. We didn't know how fine he was gonna be. Right. But I mean, day to day, like he just, Sho is Sho. He's not, I don't mean that like he's,

like Showtime or anything. He just is like a pretty much like a regular dude. He gets on the bus like, and I think he just gets on the bus, sits there, reads his comics, chills, like hangs out, does what he does, reads his comics, sitting in his chair, goes about his business, goes about his work, got a smile on his face whenever you see him. And he's just not big time at all. Like we had a couple of instances where we're on a, whether it was a bus ride, like to the stadium or leaving or relieving the stadium to go to the, to the

plane and, and you know, you've got a hand, everybody's, there are certain guys that have their own seat on the bus. And Yamamoto was one of the last guys on, this happened a couple times. And you've got guys offering up their seats, but then he goes and sits next to Shohei, and Shohei doesn't, he's like, and Shohei's much bigger than Yamamoto.

Like much bigger. He's just sitting on the inside next to the window, and Yamamoto's got the whole aisle and everything, and that's just like, for me, that depicts like who he is. Where he's just like, he does, he's just like, whatever. Like it's not, it's not a big deal to him. You'd have a bunch of other guys with big egos that would do that.

And then it was also pretty cool to say that there was a billion dollars sitting in two seats right there. Like legitimately. Were you, were you there when Reggie threw the the first pitch were you on the team? No, no He was super excited to meet you. Oh, Tony, right? Well, I don't he'd had no Yeah, no, so I saw so I tell this cuz I met him and I was like I just I became like a fanboy cuz I like I was so Reggie was strong

It was right after he got his Heisman back. So he was throwing the first pitch for the Dodgers I caught it in full catcher's gear. I was down the clubhouse. So I got to know Mookie a little bit and some of those guys. And I'm down there and Walker had walked by me. I'm full geared out helmet getting ready. I'll show you the video after. And I'm talking to Mookie.

He's like, he's like, what the fuck you doing here? I said, you know, I'm catching Reggie's first pitch out there. This was like five minutes before. He's like, oh, I'm going to doing here? I said, I said, you know, I'm catching Reggie's first pitch out there. This was like five minutes before, you know, he's like, oh, I'm gonna come watch that. And then Walker goes by and then Shohei just comes out of nowhere. He just walks up to me. He goes like this. And I was like, I was like, I don't know where I was like, he had no clue who I was. He was, but to your point, he was just like the nicest human being in that three seconds. And I looked at the camera and like, oh, Shohei Otani.

It was like the coolest moment ever, man. And then I caught the, you know, out there lefty catcher. Did you catch it? Yeah, but Reggie threw a cheese ball. Nah, he threw one, it was high, but whatever. That's another thing we maybe need to reexamine. We'll do that another episode.

Celebrity first pitches. I don't know if we need it anymore. I don't know if we need to see 50 Cent throw in 50 yards left. It shows how hard it is to just throw that ball over the plate. You guys can't do it. I've never, I did it one time in my life. Well, twice, but one time off the mound.

I did it once at Dodger Stadium, but I did it with the other entourage guys, so they didn't, we couldn't go on the mound because there was four of us at the same time. That wasn't so bad because you had cover. I did it in Cleveland from the mound and I don't think I've ever been as nervous in my life. And I literally said, they said, hey, come back and do this again next year. I went, no, absolutely not. Why do I need this in my life?

Well, your kids were there too, right? That was the best part was like the kids were there, but also not the best way to bring your kids to a first game. You should like. Cause now they think that's like, oh, dad, why can't we run around center field? I'm like, cause you're not allowed.

Dude, when I was catching, my kids were on the field with my wife and that was their first game because they're like five and three. Yeah, mine too. Mine are five and three. And of course, my two of my kids are crying because they wanted to come see me. And my wife, Josie's like, this is literally on the field. And I'm like, could you like get the bucket? And then my kids are like, oh, my.

I'm like, shit, this is going to be terrible cameras everywhere. But man, well, we will not hit you up for tickets. But very, very happy for you. That was an incredible run. I don't know if he means that, but I do. Look, I'm not lost as well. I really do. Like, I'm disappointed. But I there's no doubt about the fact that you guys are the better team.

It's just zero down. It was not even close. It was in close. Just that side. Hey, real quick. You're a free agent. I want to throw you on the... But Dodgers, man, let's get something back. We want you back.

We need you back. I'd love to hear that. Yes. I'd love to hear it. Okay. Appreciate it. That's it. That's all you need to say.

Appreciate you, man. Thank you, Jack. Absolutely. That's it. That's all you need to say. Appreciate you, Mancona. Absolutely. Additional supply details at freedommobile.ca. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What comes to mind when you hear the word gratitude? Maybe it's a daily practice, or maybe it feels hard to be grateful right now.

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You gonna hit them up for tickets? I'm not, man. Trust me, I wanted to say, like, when I was in Arizona, I used to get hit up for tickets? I'm not, man. Trust me, I wanted to say, like, when I was in Arizona, I used to get hit up for tickets, but by the way, I had to buy them. That's how cheap they were. It came out of my paycheck.

Yeah, dude, I was pissed. So I know what that's like. I knew when he was describing that, I was like, I've been there. That's a great system he has, right? To just like, one, you allow other people to handle it for you, or you just set the boundary from day one

and if it works out, it works out. So. I love that you had to buy your own tickets while it was the team you played for, that's money. We're gonna do some money moments now. It's time, presented by our friends over at Cash Out, sending, spending, saving, splitting, tipping, donating, gifting, or just typing numbers

or Matt buying tickets for the team that he played for. Whatever you wanna do. That's money on Cash Out. We're gonna do our money moment. What's our buying tickets for the team that he played for. Whatever you want to do. That's money on cash out. We're going to do our money moment. What's our money moment for the week? We're aligned on this one because this hits us in two different ways. Kyan Anthony. Kyan Anthony going to Syracuse. What that will mean for Syracuse. He's a good player. He was second choice from what they say was USC. So I don't know if you're a little muscle man and Kyan would have been a good player. He was second choice from what they say was USC. So I don't know if you're a little muscle man and kind of would have been a good combo.

I mean, I think USC was fighting Carmelo and Syracuse and his. The building's named, I mean, it's, what is it, Andrew Mello, the Mello Center, you know. Oh, listen, happy for him. Look, I think it's a bigger conversation of just like, I'm living a little bit, not to the status at Carmelo and he's an all time great, obviously.

Brawny's living it with his dad on the same team, which is like, it's just one, I'd say this, I always try to put myself in my son's shoes and his head space and what that must feel like. So for Kai and two, put yourself, your dad is Carmelo Anthony, your dad won a national championship for Syracuse, won a done gone, like changed the course of that, you know, like whatever. And one of the best NBA players of all time. Like, like a lot of these kids, man,

like my son is like, they're strong mentally. I think they understand like, like it's their path and it's their journey. And I would credit Carmelo, cause I'm sure I don't know him that well, but I'm sure he's a great dad. And he's obviously had a big impact in his son's life and hoops and all that. But for his son to go there and go to Syracuse and follow his dad's footsteps,

that's amazing, man. It's a great story. And whether he becomes whatever, that's really cool. It's a major accomplishment. And I always knew this day would come for me as You know now I'm starting to watch the kids of the players I idolized what that I watched as like and I was even like a year older once I became older than every player in

The NBA when Vince Carter retired I was officially older than every player in the NBA I knew I'm gonna start seeing the next generation The next generation. Funny thing about Kyan, like I don't know him well, but I worked with his mom, with Lala on Power, on Think Like a Man. So I would go to a Knicks game, and this is when Melo was on the team, and then Kyan, who I was at that time taller then, because he was a kid, would run up and be like,

my mom says hello, she's sitting over there, and then he'd run back over. That's dope. First of all, I'm like, that's so cool, like this is kind of like your house, your dad's playing on the Knicks, and then I would see Lala over there and he was shorter than me. And now he's developed into this really good player. And I think this we've even heard with like Dion and Chador and I don't know, it's all rumors with the Cowboys and stuff, but

we're starting to see the father son stuff. And by the way, we're going to see more because We're gonna see more because my oldest is 18 and he was on this club circuit of hoops. We were, you know, six, seven years ago. We're talking about it with Jack, you know, with the Kobe story and stuff. And it's like, the next wave is Gilbert Arenas' kid. Right, he's a baller. The next wave is Trevor Ariza's kid,

who is an absolute baller. We're gonna see it. Those kids are all like class of 26 or 25. Those kids are all gonna be making their commitments. They're coming and like, Kai and it's just like, like to your point. I feel old, man. Honestly, I feel old too.

When Cole committed, everyone was like, damn, I feel old. That was it. I was like, you're right. We're getting to that age where now all this next generation of the stars that we watched, their kids, and there's more of them. Those are just kids on the West Coast are all now entering college, which is wild. It's gonna be fun to watch. So yeah, that's, I guess that's what we leave. I gotta say again,

thank you, Jack Flaherty. You were awesome today. Andrew, Rich, Adam, everybody. First real full episode in the studio. Buddy, you're gonna get me to move back here. By the way, as our colleague Mark Ingham would say, in the flesh, you're in the studio buddy. You're gonna get me to move back here. By the way as our colleague Mark Ingham Ingham would say in the flesh you're in the flesh. Thank you Cash Out. Thank you Wendy's. Let's go. Yes.