Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Rance Mulliniks: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1803

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

In this 1803rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Rance Mulliniks about his career in MLB, especially his years with the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Nick Ainis, Blue Sky Agency, Kindling, RetroFestive.ca and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail].

Ackerkey and Mullinix Cordill's got a bag of tricks With Cliff and Buck And a little luck We're going all the way With What up, Miami? Toronto

VNK on a beat Check I'm in Toronto Where you want to get the city love I'm from Toronto where you want to get the city love I'm in Toronto I might want to get the city love So my city love me back

For my city love Welcome to Episode 1,803 of Toronto Miked, proudly brought to you by Retrofestive.ca, Canada's Pop Culture and Christmas Store. Save 10% with the promo code FOTM at Retrofestive.ca. Great Lakes Brewery. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta, the home of TMLX-21 on November 29th at noon. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees. From Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville.

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Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Redley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today, making his Toronto Mike debut, number five, Rants, Mullinex! All right, do you have me? I have you. How are you, Rants? I'm pretty good. How are you today? Good. I'm glad to see you're still rocking the mustache.

You know, I've never realized until recently how famous the mustache is. I don't know why other than the fact that it is obviously gray now. It's not what it was during the playing days. Well, I have in my possession here, this is a, I'm going to hold it up to the camera for you here but there's a younger version of you and I'll just tell you so I'm 51 and I fall in love

with the Blue Jays in the summer of 83 so that all the big years for me Rance Mullinix is put tuning at third we'll talk about it all but I got to say I think the reason you're so popular is because you seem to be attainable

you look like a regular guy you wore glasses you had the mustache Like, it just seemed like you were attainable for us normies. Well, that's interesting that you say that, because there was more than one commentator that I said I looked more like a high school history teacher than I did a Major League Baseball player. So it's understandable considering my stature, you know, six foot, 170 pounds, obviously was not going to overwhelm anyone with my physical stature.

but yeah it's it's interesting and you know I've had several people mention you know that I don't know if you want to use famous as the word or popular as the word in Canada I to be honest I never ever realized that I had as many followers and people that that I guess admired what I did as a player with the Blue Jays one so we're going to cover a lot of ground here and i really appreciate you doing this rants so thanks so much but well well i'm going to interrupt you for yeah first of all uh i i do again want to apologize i completely i got busy i'm i'm helping with a local uh junior college baseball program and i my mind got on practice and what we wanted to try to get done on

monday and i just completely whiffed so my fault I got rung up on a call strike three, so I'll wear it, but I'm glad that you've been gracious in accepting my apology. Well, even Babe Ruth struck out, so it's okay once in a while to whiff. Okay. Yeah, but it's okay if I whiff, and it just strictly involves me, but when I leave somebody who had made plans and it probably no doubt to let people know that I was going to be on board on Monday and I leave you hanging, you go, where's my guest? that's not a good thing so but I would say it would be an absolute honor

for me to be stood up by Rance Mullinix like I would I would wear that like a badge of honor so I appreciate your being gracious no I'm glad we could do it now so thanks for this by the way

dumb question but I can only think off the top of my head I can only think of two rances like I know you Rance Mollinix and I know Ron Howard's dad, Rance Howard. But is this, like, where does Rance come from? Do we have a few minutes to tell you that story? Yes, please.

My paternal grandfather, when he was a young man in Oklahoma, pitched semi-professionally. And actually, in that day and time, he was actually paid to do it. But he was not a professional baseball player. But he played against a lot of, apparently good players. Matter of fact, he played against the older brother of Paul and Lloyd Wainer. But when he would tell my dad's stories, when my dad was, you know, a young kid growing up, he would often mention a player that he played against who apparently was a very good player and his name was Rance.

Therefore, my dad decided the first male child he had, he would name Rance. And that's where the name originated, where it came from. when I remember all those days in exhibition stadium in Toronto so before the dome opened in 89 and I can hear, like if I close my eyes right now, I can hear the voice of Murray Eldon announcing you, Rants, Mullinux!

What a great name for me to hear from Murray Eldon's great pipes. Yes, yes, I can still hear Murray announcing my name along with obviously my teammates, he was wonderful for many, many, many, many, many years. And I don't know. I appreciate the compliment, but I didn't have anything to do with it. You know, Murray's still with us.

I would love to track him down and have a chat with him. Like, those great calls. So, yes, Rance Mollinix was a great call, but a couple of others, I'll just shout out now before we go back and then talk. But I got to say, Tony Fernandez, his name was made. for Murray Eldon to like I can need Tony Fernandez it's just a great name for that I also liked it believe it or not I also enjoyed when he would announce Willie Upshaw yes Willie Upshaw yeah absolutely yeah and also Jesse Barfield too yeah Jesse some some names I guess based upon the

the syllables yeah just kind of resonate a little bit more than some other names too yeah because it's harder to get like some Murray Eldon's song action out of a name like George Bell. It's like one syllable, one syllable. But when you have something to work with, you can... Yeah, you can kind of string it out

or kind of announced it where you emphasize one syllable as opposed a little more than the other. Right. And it kind of takes on a life of itself. Which is part of why Murray was so good at what he did for so many years. I don't know how many years, but a long time.

Like all my youth anyway. He was there a long time. and Marie, if you're listening, I would love to chat you up here. The man's got to be in his mid to late 80s at this point. Yes, and by the way, he didn't come down often to the clubhouse or maybe into the dugout, but he's a very, very pleasant, very nice man. I know, I have a, like I produce a show for Humble and Fred, who were morning show guys throughout the 902.1 here in Toronto.

And I know Fred worked with Marie Eldon in some capacity on the radio. like maybe 1430 or something. But okay, do you mind, Rance? Now that we've built up this rapport, I got a question that came in for you that I'm going to read it as it came in from a gentleman named Len Lumber's, and we're going to find out

if there's any truth to this because this is going to be a wild place to start, okay? That's fine. Okay, Len says, I'm pretty darn sure Tony Quebec or Fergie Oliver or someone on the old broadcasts once said Rance Mollinix ran with a gang

in his youth in Florida or maybe California where he was born. I remember my dad joking, what? As their accountant? That would be Brian Linehan level background if you managed to ask him about that. What the heck is Len Lumber is talking about? I have no idea

other than the fact that, yeah, the accountant side I can, that registers. I could say, okay, I agree with that, but no, I never ran with a gang or anything even close to that. You know, a matter of I grew up in a town of about 1,200 people, Woodville, California.

It was very, very small. And we didn't, I mean, like any small town anywhere, you're going to have a couple of characters that are bad actors, but we never had anything gang-related in that sense, no. Because I didn't believe it when I got it, but Len's been on the show. He was actually on an episode with Stephen Brunt and his colleague, Blake Bell. They do an account called Today and Dave Steve History. And we were lobbying for Dave Steeb to be inducted into Cooperstown, into the Hall of Fame.

Do you think Dave Steeb is worthy of being in baseball's Hall of Fame? In Cooperstown, New York? Yes. No, I don't. And the reason I say that is it's overall numbers across the board, I don't think, warrant it. He didn't win enough games, et cetera, et cetera. So I would say, no, Dave had a great run during the 80s. decade. And, you know, probably first two years, three years that he pitched in the big leagues

with the Blue Jays. The teams weren't very good. So you can make an argument that he would have definitely won more games if he had played with the same type of team that he did from 83 till he retired, I think, at the end of 92, I believe. But no, I don't think so. and but for 10 years for a decade he was about as good as it gets that's for sure great points I the argument is that wins were overvalued back in that day and time and now we have new analytics and new ways of looking at a pitcher's performance where wins are less important but yeah you make you make a good argument well just as a a reaction to today the wins. Somebody's got to get the win. Somebody's going to get a win. Somebody's going to get lost.

We know that. But the one negative for me, and believe me, I don't have any problems with analytics. I think if used properly, you can definitely benefit. I want to state that clearly. But as it pertains, especially to starting pitchers, and if we just want to talk about starting pitchers period. I think it limits some of their potential because there are guys out there that can throw 120, 130 pitches and they can do it over a period of four or five starts and pitch deep into the game. And it's not going to affect the duration of their career. And I think in that sense, it limits their overall potential a little bit. And I think overall probably for a lot of guys. You get out to that 100 pitchmark, maybe some of them. There are going to be guys you

really need to start to watch very closely. But there are horses out there that can really run and go deeper into a game and throw more pitches. And I think that's minimized their potential. Well, one such pitcher that's had me waking up in a cold sweat the last few nights is Yamamoto, who I feel he won. He basically pitched his butt off for two and a half games practically and got three wins. Yeah, well, without Yamamoto, the Blue Jays are world champions. It's that simple. And I have to tip my hat to the Dodgers.

They left him out there. They say he's still throwing the baseball great. He has a lot left in the tank. Why take him out and run the risk that the player, the pitcher following him, may have an off day or an off night, and it costs us the ball game. So I have to tip my hat to the Dodgers for doing that. It's old school, right? We were used to that back in the day.

That was par for the chorus, and now it's an outlier. It is. It's become an outlier. I mean, there are guys that pitched prior to my era, and even some during my era, that have more complete games than pretty much any starting pitcher, at least from this day going forward, unless things changed, we'll have in wins. And I know there's got to be a balance in there somewhere,

so I'm not saying my generation and the generations prior had it all right and the generations today have it all wrong. I think there's got to be some middle ground somewhere. And I think one of these days, Major League Ball Clubs are going to find that middle ground again. Here's hoping. Again, you will jump around a bit here.

I can't believe I have... That's the way my mind works. so that's okay. Good, because now that I brought up Dave Steve, and I only brought up Dave Steve, because I read that interesting question from Len Lumber's, but I need to know from 1992, and we'll get to this again later,

but 1992, you're on the squad when the Jays win their first world series, and I'm just, be as honest as you can be, could you sense as a player on that team what the relationship was like between Dave Steve and Jack Morris? No. I really can't. And one of the reasons is, you know, Dave was injured quite a bit that year.

Didn't pitch a whole lot. I don't know the exact numbers. And so I never sensed that there was any friction or rivalry there with Jack Morris. And of course, Dave was away from the team, as I recall for a while before he came back. But no, I never sensed anything like that. Dave was a great competitor, Jack was a great competitor. They both had equal, I mean, when it came to competitiveness, I would say they were equal in that sense. And I think I can say both of them wanted to win a world championship too.

That was priority one. No, no, great perspective, because it's from where I sat with just some guy watching on the TV or whatever. Yeah. It just seemed like they were both such fiery competitors, and they had this. rivalry for like a you know a solid decade jack morris of course he got the rings he got uh he got the wins he's in the hall of fame now i just wondered what's it like for dave steeb when his team goes and gets a new ace and his name is jack morris i just think that would be a fantastic uh dynamic but it sounds like you couldn't pick up on any well well i i you know maybe there

was something there that i just didn't you know get that feeling but i i would think and i and i I'm speaking on behalf of Dave Steeb, and Dave may have a completely different opinion than I do. But just speaking as a Major League Baseball player and somebody who wanted to win a World Championship, and I'm going to assume that was Dave's goal. When you bring in an edition like Jack Morris, you're clapping and cheering because you're saying, this is another edition that can really help us win. And it did. And he did get a ring, as did you in 92.

So it all came together there. Okay, but we're going to go back a bit the year of my birth, actually. So you were drafted by the Angels. Correct. So obviously, you don't want to give me seven hours to do the deep dive documentary in the life of Rance Mullinix, but maybe a few highlights on our way to the Blue Jays.

And one is, like, can you, in a nutshell, tell us how you ended up signed by the Angels and what kind of a salary or a signing bonus you would get back in 74? Well, yeah, and I was, drafted right out of high school in the third round and a couple of days after I graduated I signed to play professionally at my bonus was $32,500 and but 7,500 did that were incentives I had to spend 90 days in the double a to get 1,000 90 days in AAA 1,500 90 days in the big leagues to get

the 5,000 which obviously I attained all those I got to the big leagues with the angels very quickly. I was 21 years old. I was a shortstop originally. And the rest of that year in 77, did well for a 21-year-old kid in the big leagues. And then early in the season next year, I hurt my back really, really bad. Bad sciatic nerve problem. And that really set me back. And that year was kind of a complete washout. I spent 79, a lot of that in AAA, playing for Jimmy Williams, by the way, trying to get back to where I was prior to the injury. And I can honestly tell you I was never the same. I lost a considerable amount of speed because prior to the injury, I could really run,

lost obviously some range. And then I get traded with me and Willie Akins to Kansas City. I go to Kansas City. They were set ball club. I was still primarily just a short stop. And sat there for two years, had less than 100 at bat's total in two years, never got to play. So getting traded to the Blue Jays late in spring training of 82 was a huge break because I knew I was going to get the opportunity. And I think you and everybody else listening here today knows the rest of that

history. So I don't need to walk through that. Well, I'm going to guide. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, and actually in 77, even though I came up in the middle of June, I was named the Rookie, the Angels Rookie of the year, not the American League rookie of the year, but the Angels Rookie of the Year. And, but, yeah, I will say this. You know, I always thought if I hadn't gotten hurt, my numbers would have been better and I'd accomplished more as a player but you know when I was 18 years old if you would have told me this is the way it's going to work out and it's a guarantee I would have taken it never look back so so no regrets no regrets that's the way to live your life do you remember your first major league hit yeah it was in

Chicago Old Kamiski Park a Sunday day game of a pitcher named Francisco Barrios and it was a line drive to center field for base hit and in my first whole run I hit July 4th in Anaheim, off of Rick Langford, who was a longtime coach in the Jay's system. A very, very nice man, by the way, when he was with Oakland. And Nolan Ryan was our starting pitcher that day, pitched a complete game. We beat him four to two. And I happened to hit that home run in front of my parents, grandparents, brother, sister,

and a lot of other family and friends. So that was obviously a very special day. And you hit it to deep right field. I hit it right center over the what is now the three. 384 or 386 sign in Anaheim, yeah, I remember, but there was no stands behind the fence then. There was, yeah, there was no stands out there.

There was just three decks all the way around kind of inside the foul poles. Quick question about the Royals. Then I have a question about exhibition stadium, but another question came in. He said, it says, there's a shot of Rance Malinix sitting on the Royals bench

near George Brett in the 1980 World Series, which he didn't, you didn't play in that. series but this so just basically this gentleman Len wants to know

it caught his eye that you know there you are in the 1980 world series so we let's we forget 92 is not your

first ring you got a ring in 80 yes a American League championship ring oh yes right of course

because it's yeah 85 when they against you guys which I mean bad memories I'll get to that okay but the

fun fact about 1980 would you know but I think for the youngsters who follow baseball George Brett George Brett, and I'm going to ask you a bit about playing with him, but he batted 390.

Yeah, he did. And you look, I think in 100, forgive me if I missed by a game or so, but I think in 116 games he drove in 117 or 117 games, he drove in 118. And it was a hard 390. I've never seen a performance like that. I used to fondly say I had the best seat in the house to watch it and it just seemed like

every day two or three times he hit the ball hard and it didn't matter a left hand or right hand or hard soft he just had one of those years that was incredible but if you look at and I think he struck out

maybe 22 24 times all year it was an amazing performance to watch yeah hard to believe I mean, again, I get cold sweat nightmares about the 85 ALCS, but put a pit in that for a moment, okay, that bad memory there. Generally speaking, when you're traded to the Blue Jays, how do you feel, Rance, going to Toronto?

I was very pleased because I had asked to be traded, because like I mentioned earlier, I wasn't getting a chance to play in Kansas City, and I knew, you know, I was 26 years old in the spring of 82, and I knew I had to get a chance to play to at least, find out if I can have a career or not have one. And so I was, I knew going to Toronto that they were a very young team and that they were developing players.

So they were going to give all of us young players. As a matter of fact, I was with some of the core guys there. I was the older guy and I was just 26. But they were going to run us out there and see who was going to be able to develop and play and who they had to eliminate and try to find someone to fill that slot and so i was i was excited about that yes and what was it like playing for bobby cox it was great playing for bobby bobby if you showed up on time and you worked hard and you played the game the correct way the way it is supposed to be played you never had a problem with bobby and you had no bigger

supporter i mean he pulled for all of us good bad or indifferent every day and he i i can remember after a tough loss uh bobby would come into the clubhouse where most you know some of the managers i played before you would see that they were down they were kind of wearing that loss he'd come through the clubhouse and say hey we'll get them tomorrow guys and uh he was just a wonderful man to play for yes amazing is it bobby cox it's his idea of course that uh you'll You'll try a platoon at third base with your teammate Garth Orge. Yes. And we actually platooned obviously at Catcher and Jesse Barfield platoon for a while.

I mean, we had a number of different platoons. But yeah, Bobby liked to play the percentages. And so I think that's one of the things that drove him to kind of platoon, especially maybe with me and Garth, kind of get the best out of both of us because neither one of us playing every day by our set, we're going to hit 20, 25 home runs and drive in 80, maybe 100 have a big year. That wasn't going to happen. But between the two of us, we could put up some pretty good numbers by just playing the percentage. And I think that's why Bobby did that.

And obviously, it worked out well for Garth, myself, and some other my teammates, and most importantly, the ball club. Yeah. What a long-term platoon. Like, you don't normally see them stick like that. I'm just checking my collection here. I got a Garth origin here somewhere. But what's it like when people say Rance Mollinix, at least people have a certain vintage, when they hear the name Rance Mollinix, they think Rance Mollinix and Garth Orge. Like you two are forever connected.

Yeah. Yeah. In that sense, we are. I think 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, and some of 87. So that's what six years that we platoon together. And obviously over that time frame, we both had some very, very good years. And it was kind of a, I was a little bit unorthodox in the facts that I laid my back flat and had quite a bit of movement with my load. And then, of course, you know, Garth had probably the most unorthodox stance in baseball at that time.

I mean, in the world we live today, if somebody saw Garth come up to hit like that, they'd go, no, no, no, you can't hit like. that and they would try to take him and make all kinds of changes so yeah but like I said it worked out well for everybody involved yeah I guess so it's it's the emergence of Kelly Gruber that sort of puts the platoon to rest right yes yeah okay that did and a kind of interesting I'll throw this out you because a lot of people don't know yeah so in 87 they were trying to bring Kelly along and and see what if he was going to be able to develop and again we know the history of that. But I never will forget. We're in Detroit. I hadn't played for probably five or six days. Kelly's playing pretty much every day. And after a game in

Detroit, get up in the clubhouse and Cito came over and says, hey, Jimmy wants to see you in his office. So, okay, so I walk in there and sit down. Jimmy says, hey, I just, I want to give you a heads up. But tomorrow, Jack Morris is pitching. I don't want Kelly to face Jack. So you're in there tomorrow. Thanks a lot, Jimmy Williams. I appreciate that.

I got to face their a race tomorrow. So anyway, long story short, the next night I go three for four off Jack and hit two home runs off of him, so it worked out pretty good. Okay, I'm going to play a clip. That's a great segue here. Let me see if I have it here. Yeah, let's listen to about 19 seconds of this here. All right.

Oil can serves up a gopher ball to Rance Mullinix who drives White Evans goes back and can't get there in time. Home run number nine of the year for Mullinix 5 to Toronto. Rance Mullinick again this time against Mike Brown the drive down the right field line

curls around the foul pole 6-3 Blue Jays. Okay, so there's a little clip of you having a that was your first multi-homer game. That one I just played. Yes. So the first one I hit was legit.

That ball probably went about 410 feet. The second one, I wrapped it around the pesky pole down there, right field, which you could almost reach out and touch from both plates. But, hey, you'll take it, right? I'll take it. So it was good, yeah. Do you have any idea how many multi-homer games you had in your career? I believe three.

Okay. I believe three. I had that one, the one against Jack Morris. Matter of fact, the second one I hit that night against Jack hit the old press box there in right field up above the stands and everything. probably I hit as far as any ball I ever hit. And then I know in the home run, the game that we set the major league record for 10 home runs

by the same, I hit two in that one. So I think that's the three, I believe. It's amazing that record is still the record, like all these years later. I remember watching that game, but 10 home runs, no team has passed that record yet. Okay, you know who hit the last one? Okay, let me, can I think for a second?

Rob Ducey? No. Okay. I will tell you this of all of those guys involved in that he's the only one that's in the Hall of Fame Oh okay well give me a moment to think about who that could be somebody in the Hall of Fame

who hit that last home run Who do do do do do do And it for us obviously Yeah obviously because it was against Baltimore right It was 10 home runs yes So because I mean not in the Hall of Fame I'll just not in the Hall of Fame I remember No he said no but I'm basically sharing

this thought process I'm having now which is that Ernie Witt hits three. Yeah, absolutely. He's not in the Hall of Fame. And George Bell hits a couple, right? Correct. Yeah. You and who, you know what?

I'm drawing a freaking blank and it's driving me nuts. Okay, so the other three, the other, I hit two, Bell hit two, Ernie hit three, Ducey hit one, Lemosby hit one, and the other guy that hit the last one's in the Hall of Fame. And he probably hit it further than any of the others that were hitting the game. arguably who was it Fred McGriff

oh my god of course yeah he went basically straightaway center yeah the crime dog hit the last one in that game another trivia

that nobody ever talks about yeah ever talks about Cal Ripkin's dad took Cal Ripkin Jr. out of the game in like the eighth inning so he didn't play

the last inning of the game that ended the streak of like 8,200 or 300 plus consecutive him innings that he had played prior to that night. Right. That is pretty impressive. It really is.

No, yeah, almost as impressive as Billy Ripkin's baseball card. We all tried to find. Yeah. We all know about that one, right? You were far more polite in yours. I don't see anything like that. Yeah, I totally know. So how was it like playing an exhibition stadium?

I mean, I always defend it because it was where my Blue Jays played when I was a kid falling in love with baseball, but when I see photos now, I'm like, what a, like, this is a disaster, but what does it like playing there? Well, you know, it's interesting that you bring that up because I did a podcast yesterday evening, and I was asked, what was my favorite ballpark to play in? And it was exhibition stadium. And because we had so many wonderful memories there, that's when the team really came into its own and became a force to be reckoned with.

recognized throughout the league. The fan support was just unbelievable. And you were real close, right? The fans set pretty close to the field, the playing surface. And, yeah, we had some cold, nasty days there. But I like to say, you know, it wasn't maybe for others the best place in the world to play. I don't think teams look forward to coming in and playing an exhibition stadium, but it was our home, right? It was our house, and I think that's where the Jays come of age, and that's where I had the best years that I ever had professionally.

So exhibition stadium, it will always be my favorite, always. Love to hear it, but what about that turf? I mean, I've heard about playing that turf, like, you know, you're at the hawk corner there. Yeah, well, you know, it had seams in it, and it had boards around the bases that had been covered with turf. So I'm not, it wasn't the best playing surface, but you know, back then, there were a number of infields around the league that were more difficult to play on than that, that turf at exhibition stadium. I can promise you that. And I think I would get a lot of O.J.'s infielders to agree with me. I feel like I've heard Buck Martinez talk about the fact he couldn't even see, because apparently it wasn't like completely flat or something.

Like sometimes he couldn't see Lloyd Mosby in Centerfield. Am I misremembering this anecdote? I don't know if he couldn't seem, but maybe you could only see him from the waist up. Right. Yeah, because it wasn't level. Right. If you plumb-bobbed it, it wasn't going to plumb-bob level, that's for sure. That's wild.

But like I said, it was ours, right? It was ours. No, that's what I say as well. And so you're, because you're around through 92, you're there when the Blue Jays moved from Exhibition Stadium to Skydome. Like, how did they compare to you? I know you were no longer getting the same playing time at the dome. that you got at Exhibition Stadium. But what was that like making that move?

It was incredible. It really was. We were moving into the ballpark that was the most modern in baseball at that time. And it was phenomenal, you know, to go to that ballpark for the first time and playing that ballpark. And obviously, I had some great memories there as well. And the organization and the fans do also. But as nice as it was, it's never going to be for me what exhibition stadium is. But it was a beautiful ballpark to play.

And by the way, I was there in September to take in a couple of ball games. And I was really impressed with the new additions that they have there. I think it's made it more fan-friendly. I think the way I would say it is you don't have to be a fanatic baseball fan to go to that ballpark and enjoy the ballpark, enjoy the outing, I guess maybe is the best way to say. But as you know, Mr. Molinix,

winning here's all. Like, yes, you're right about everything, but a bad team, who knows, but the fact that the 2025 Blue Jays were not only a good team, but an exciting, likable team sure didn't hurt. No, winning helps. It goes a long way to fix a lot of wrongs, right?

But they did have a great year. I actually be very honest someone asked me prior to the start of the year what do you think about the Blue Jays and I said I think if they win 86, 88 games that would be a great year for them and obviously I was wrong A lot of people were wrong

Yeah they accomplished so much And you know I one of the points I'd like to make is you know basically in September they didn't have Bichet the entire month Right right They didn't have Boreos Basset I think was shut down in the middle of the month So for them to rally and hang on like they did and win the division and then accomplish what they did before they got to the World Series without, you know, Bichette and so it was, I mean, you got to tip your hat.

They were very, very, they were able to to overcome a lot of adversity to get to where they did this year. And I think going forward, if they do some things right, make some right decisions this off season. This is a team that over the next four or five years should get to the playoffs pretty consistently and have a chance again to win a World Series. Let me ask you about 1985. You're facing off against your former teammate. 85 went seven games. The first time that the ALCS was a best of seven. Prior to that, it was a best of five.

If I remember correctly. So people might forget that if the. Jay's had won that game 7 you might have been the MVP of that ALCS like this is we can't prove this I think you were in the running

you were in the running you had a great series possibly well you know that's something obviously we'll never know I would have rather went 0 for 18 and us win it and go to the World Series than been the ALCS MVP but you know what I recall about

that series was game three, which I felt we should have won. We messed around and pitched to Brett twice, and that was the difference in that ball game. And, you know, we had talked prior going into the series, let's not let Brett beat us. Let's not. Anyway, here's my recall, just to summarize it very quickly. Yeah. George Brett and a Jim Sundberg, wind-blown fly ball was the series. that that was it and uh obviously we had our chances to to win it but we didn't but uh brett

took us that brett was just devastating and then unfortunately with the bases loaded a ball that wasn't hit very well but was wind blown hit the top of the right field wall and oh and uh we know the history of that i'll never forget man i'll never forget the wind-dated bases loaded triple that sunberg hits but uh you're talking about george brett who yeah it was just unbelievable in that series, but another Brett, Brett Saberhagen, just to remind the listenership who maybe they're too young or they don't remember. So to set the table, the Js are up to nothing in this series. And game three that you're referring to, Brett Saber Hagen is pitching. And you, my friend, hit a two-run homer. It was the top of the fifth, I believe. And the Jays are up five to two.

So in the fifth inning, thanks to a two-run homer by Rance Mullinix, Jays are leading five to two. If we win that game, we go up three nothing. Everything's different in that situation. And as you mentioned, we blew that game and then we lost a series in seven. Yes. And again, I think if we just one situation, we don't pitch to Brett. We win that ball game. We win game four and we're in the

World Series. And I tell you something that was, you know, now I'm speaking as a player and I know it was terribly disappointing to the fans but i truly felt like and people have different opinions but for me that was the most talented and the best team i ever played on and let me take let me qualify that a little bit if we if i have a moment yep we all year long we carried manny lee and lou thorpe who had been rule five draft big to keep them we had to carry them the whole year on the major league club they had played nabal the year before which means they were are not yet ready to contribute at that level at all.

Basically, the only time they got in a game when it was a blowout one way or the other or maybe a pinch runner or something. So if we had to have a full compliment, let's say both those guys, we would have had veteran guys coming off the bench that knew how to pinch hit, played positions, and do things like that. And then if we'd have had Tom Hinkie all year, because we didn't bring him up until July. Right.

And we were begging for the club to bring him up. The players were. If we had had him all year, that's a team that I honestly believe I could make a strong argument. We could have won 108, maybe 100 in 10 games. So that's why I say, I know there's some that feel the 87 club was a little better. But if we'd had a full compliment on that roster and hinky all year, I think I would win that argument just for argument's sake. Well, I love that 85 team because it's the first time my Blue Jays made the postseason. love that drive of 85 and that 87 that you're that nightmare 87 finished it's hard to believe a team that good doesn't even make the postseason back in the days before the wild card that's that's a wild collapse like what's it like being in the dugout when this thing starts slipping away with the seven losses to close the year do you really want to know you know maybe I maybe I move on no it it was rough it was rough it really wasn't it was and it wasn't like we didn't have opportunities

We played a lot of close ball games. We just couldn't get a big hit when we needed it. And it seemed like at a certain time in a game, we couldn't get a big out when we needed it. And I would say for me, losing those last seven, as bad as it was losing in 85, but losing those last seven games,

when all we have to do is win two. And we go to the postseason. That was more devastating to me. I took that. That was, I guess, more difficult for me to take than the 85. And I really believe it took us a good year or so to recovery. Because you remember in 88, we came back. We were okay, but nothing like the year before.

89, you know that history. We get off to a bad start. They fired Jimmy. Cito comes in and we win more games the rest of the way than any other major league club. But I really think it took the organization a year to recover. from from that that loss interesting one thing i remember about the the end of the 87 season and that is the season lest we forget george bell wins the a lmbp that season but down the stretch my man george uh stopped hitting he did he had a tough week yeah he did and and uh you know i can i can i can

promise you no one felt worse about it than george and i i don't know you'd have to ask him but But in my opinion, I think he started maybe started to press a little bit, try to do too much. And believe me, those things happen to us as professional athletes. Those things do happen. And but, you know, he had a pretty good supporting cast that didn't get it done either, too. That's true. We didn't just need George. We had others that could have.

I mean, we still had Barfield. We still had Mosby. We had Fred McGriff. You know, it's not like we didn't have some thunder that could. have gotten it done so true a couple of bad injuries i recall uh tony went down of course uh the bill madlock slide there and uh ernie went down right yeah yeah uh he tried to break up a double play against milwaukee right and um paul molitor completed the double play but had to jump to get out of his way and ernie kind of rolled into him and i think his knee caught him in it in the

rib and cracked a rib i believe uh i don't know if it broke it but it cracked it for sure and uh so So we lost Ernie for the rest. And Ernie was always good for a home run in Detroit, right? Right, that's right. It seemed like he owned Detroit. Right. Yeah, he did because, you know, he was from a suburb of Detroit. I forget the name of it now.

But it was like when Ernie went home, Ernie was going to hit a home run. That was for sure. Well, I had the pleasure this past summer of getting Ernie Whit on the program because I was recording from the Joe Carter Classic. And Ernie was there and he sat down with me. And I know my brother, Ryan, was the biggest Ernie Whit, fan on the planet so that was a that was a dream come true hey quick question came in from kevin in alberta and he wants me to ask you about the inside the park home run you hit at skydome do you want a replay of what went on in my mind yeah okay so how old was i then i was probably

34 did it happen in 90 or 91 uh you know i don't have that info i just took down anyway it i was 34 35 either way i had old legs at that point let's put it that yeah so i hit this ball then I didn't hit real hard, but it's kind of sinking in the left field off Kevin Brown. And left fielder comes in, I think he dove for it, skips past him, goes all the way to the wall. Okay, well, the center fielder, instead of breaking that way, as I recall, like he should have when the ball was hit, he was watching this take place. So he's got a long ways to go to get the baseball. So here's Rance Mullinick. I round first.

I'm headed to second. I obviously at that point, no, I have a triple. right and I'm watching the outfielders converge on the baseball and I remember before at just as I hit second base and I looked up to see where they were at I remember thinking would somebody please get that baseball back into the infield so I can stop at third and then as I get about two thirds this I'm not exaggerating this this was what was actually taking place in my mind yeah okay So I get about two-thirds of the way to third. I pick up my third base coach, Johnny McLaren, and he's giving me, you got to go. And now I realize I've got to make the entire trip. So I round third base and on the way to home, I felt like, I don't know what it looked like, but I felt like the wheels were coming off.

And I said this, I honestly, the only reason I slid at home plate, because it's the only way I felt like I had enough it, I could stop. If I kept running, I was going to do a face plant. So I might as well slide. Oh, man. Because my legs were gone at that point. But yeah, I remember that. I remember it well, but that's exactly what I was thinking.

And I'm telling you, if I wanted to stop at third base so bad, the last thing on my mind was an inside-the-park home run. So, but anyway, it worked out. It's a great story there, too. And just before we get the 92 and then a little bit, if you don't mind, I'm going to touch on your broadcasting career. and I'm just listening to you now in the headphones chatting with you. We need you on the broadcasts. We need Rance Mullinix back on the broadcast. But maybe we talk about that part of your life in a moment.

But I want to ask you about just in all those years you played at the Dome and all the games you've seen at the Dome. Have you ever seen a ball lodge like it did in the World Series where it gets stuck between the fence and the ground? Not at Rogers Center. I don't ever recall that. I've seen it a couple of other parks. That was a tough break.

It really was. Because Straw would have scored from first base. There's no question about that. Now you have that runner at second base and nobody out. And at that point, if you just execute, you're going to tie the game up. And then the way it ended with the double play, which took the bat out of Springer's hands, who was on deck. That was tough. That was tough.

And nobody felt worse. Nobody felt worse. then Addison Barger that got doubled off. I mean, I guarantee you that kills you as a player because you know the minute it happens, you've made a minimal mistake. Well, one last thing on the World Series, and then we'll get back to the 92 World Series,

and then I'll let you go very shortly, but I'm thoroughly enjoying this. So maybe I'll keep you on the line for several hours and see what kind of good guy you are here. But IKF, when he was on third base, and IKF, if he scores on that ground ball in the infield, If he scores, we are World Series champions in 2025. He slides, but you as a player all those years, would you run through?

Would you slide in at home play in that manner? Like, I'm curious what your thoughts are on that slide. You know, I think instinctively, the first thing you're going to do is slide. But here's where I think the mistake was made. And I want to state clearly, I'm not saying I'm right. But as I recall, Carlos Fedla is the third base coach, kind of went over and marked the deal on the dirt path, which to me indicated he didn't want the base runner to extend his lead beyond that point.

And I think what happened the night before Addison Barger getting doubled off, I think the last thing they wanted to happen was a line drive hit the third base and he can't get back to the back. so i think those those two things influenced what happened in that particular situation otherwise i believe he would have had it extended that if he if he extends one more step and it's what we call a secondary lead in that situation he's safe of course so i think that play the night before had some effect on hey let's don't stray too far away and get doubled off well rance baseball that's what i can tell him well that's

interesting. Baseball's always been a game of inches, but I don't remember it being so prominent as it was in this particular world series. Like so many plays where we're talking one inch. Yeah. And that's one of them. That force at home. Yeah. And that's just the, you know, the game moves extremely fast. You know, down there on the field. If you're down there on the field, I mean, it is moving extremely quick. And sometimes it is just a couple of inches that makes all the difference in the world. But one final note on that. Yeah. The Js, if they pick a clean 8th or a clean 9th, they went in. They had a chance to win it in the bottom of the 9th, bottom of the 10th,

and even again, tie it up, maybe win it in the bottom of the 11th, and they just couldn't get it done. So we're emphasizing, pointing out a couple of possible mistakes. One was definitely a mistake. The other, you could say maybe it was. But the reality is they still could have won it and had a chance to win it. And, you know, and that's sometimes we just have to tip our hat to the Dodgers and stay. They hit a couple of three big home runs when they needed them most. and got the key outs when they needed them.

Well, that home run that tied it up in the ninth, that's a, that's the, the batter number nine. You don't want to let batter number nine burn you, but these things. But as I recall, I think it was a three-two count. As I recall, I think it was three-two, so it's challenge time. You don't want to walk him, and then you got the top of the lineup coming out. Otani's up next, yeah. Yeah, so, you know, you're going to challenge him right there. Okay.

And, you know, again, somebody that nobody would have expected to hit a home run in that situation, hits a home run. Now, speaking of things you never expected, so in your entire Major League Baseball career, if you were having a good sleep and having a fantastic dream, do you think you ever could have imagined there would one day be a player like Shoay Otani? Not without steroids. But even with steroids. So, okay. You know, because, well, qualify that a little bit. You know, I go back to last year when he hit the 50 home runs and stole over 50 bases.

I say last year, 2024. Right. But to me, in the game today, because of the rules, it's a little easier to steal bases than maybe it was when they could do all kinds of things to try to hold you at first base and no limit on how often you could throw over, et cetera. But the reality is he could do it. And of course, when he's on the mound and he's at his best, there maybe is no better starter in baseball. But I personally wouldn't pitch him. I'd be afraid he'd hurt his arm again

and then I'd lose him for the rest of the year. I'd lose his bat. But yeah, phenomenal, phenomenal. See, that's just that you're talking about, you know, the 50, the 50, and we're talking about this batter. And then, oh, yeah, by the way, he's one of the best starters in the game. Like, it's like a side note.

That's where, again, I didn't dare to dream a player like this could ever exist in Major League Baseball. Well, I think maybe in the past, there was probably somebody out there, and I'm just going to throw this out, I think, at one point in his career, if he had wanted to, especially if he'd have pitched into minor leagues and early on. Well, he never played in the minor leagues. But let's look at a Dave Winfield, had a great arm, was a tremendous athlete, unbelievable athlete. You know, and if he had chose to pitch, he might have been able to do that as well. I don't know.

There's probably somebody out there that could. Ruth was a great pitcher. Right. Before he came in every day. you know so you're absolutely right yeah there was guys out there but that doesn't in any way distract from what otani is i mean he is just an incredible athlete no question about and ruth pitching we're going back over a hundred years and i'm glad you mentioned dave winfield because the fun fact about dave as i recall is he was drafted by four different professional leagues like two

basketball leagues of the nfl or i guess he's back drafted i think i think it was NBA ABA yeah and the NFL and of course baseball. Wild. And I don't think he ever played in the minor leagues. I think he went right to the big leagues with the podrays, as I recall. And it's fitting that brings us the 92 because, of course, Dave Winfield has the game-winning RBI, of course, in Atlanta when we win game six in our first World Series title. Did you, and I think I know the answer, but tell us, like, you knew going into the 92 season that this was going to be your last Major League Baseball season. Yes.

I had made the decision in spring training that no matter how that season went I was going to retire my back was bad it was bothering me extensively every day but my reflexes had started to slow a little bit too and I'll go back to 91

91 I hit 250 didn't have a lot of extra base hits and I can tell you that I knew more about how to hit at the major league level then than I ever did. I could literally, this sounds a little bit crazy, I guess, if you will. But I sometimes could set a hitter up to get where I know he's going to throw me what I want to hit, and I couldn't take advantage of it. So some of the fun had started to go out of the game, and I knew that it was time. It was close. So I had made up my mind to retire. Here's a fun fact for you. I was

at the dome the day that you had your last major league at that. So, and here's my memory of this is this game had a monster home run hit by a man

named Domingo Martinez. And I said to my brother, a monster home run, this big first basement, I'm like, oh, I said to my brother, one day that guy is going to hit 50 home runs in a season. And in his entire major League Baseball career, Domingo Martinez

hit, I think, two home runs, and that was one of them. So, you go, what do I know? Yeah, well, you know, you never know. I mean, you can see enormous potential in players. And none of us, even the best talent evaluators in the game, guys that have been around for 30 or 40 years and seen a lot of players come and go

will often sometimes project somebody out to be an all-star and a tremendous play. and a year and a half or two, they're out of the big leagues and you never see them again. So those things happen because you see guys with tremendous tools, but that doesn't always translate into being a professional baseball player or a major league baseball player. It doesn't guarantee it, that's for sure.

So in 92, you're not on the roster for the ALCS, but you are on the 25-man World Series roster for the World Series, yeah. And you don't play in that World Series, but you're there part of the team what is it like give me just a taste of what it's like when this team that had been so good for a decade finally climbs the mountain

and wins the World Series Wow I can still remember the last out when Otis Nixon tried to bunt for a base set and Joe jumping at first base

and everybody running on the field it was just that's a feature feeling I'll never forget. I can remember the last three or four innings before, of course, we went into extra innings, but we had a lead and you start counting out. Yeah. Okay, seven more. Now we just need six more. Now we, you know, and so forth. And to finally win it all with, you know, I mean, not only organization and some of the players, not all the players that were on that team in 8092 were there in 85 and 87 but uh some of us and for the fans to with all of the

tough defeats that we went through the heartbreaking loss in 85 87 of course in 89 91 and then to finally win it all uh was it was it was incredible this is very special moment for sure timeland de carter i'll never forget like timlin never forget yeah and uh okay where you're you're wearing your ring right No, the ring is put up. I don't leave it sitting around the house. I haven't put up because the last thing I want is obviously for that to disappear. But I do wear it on occasion. When I was in Toronto in September, I wore the ring.

And on occasion around here, I'll wear it, but I don't wear it every day. And here we are all these years later. And the mustache still looks great, as I pointed out off the top. You still hold... Yeah, but it's gray now. It's gray. You've got to throw... I guess anybody can see.

The color has changed, but you still hold a Blue Jays record. What Blue Jays record do you think you still hold? For 41 years, I held a consecutive hit record, but I don't hold that anymore. I think Bichette broke that this year with 9. Right. So I'm in good company anyway. And I would say the pinch hit record with 58. Correct. You have the record for career pinch hits as a Blue Jay.

Yeah, I think, yeah. And I think maybe possibly fielding percentage in one year at third base. I think maybe, but I'm not sure about that. I think it was 975 or something like that. But I'm not sure about that, I'm guessing a bit. And you know you had a 287 batting average with runners in scoring position. Like you were clutch, you know. You're no Pat Tabler, I suppose, where what did he bat with?

the base is loaded. I can't remember. Almost 500. Oh, it was something like $450 or something. Yeah, Pat was incredible. Pat was a good hitter. I remember playing when he was in Cleveland. He was a tough out, Pat was. Yeah, I think, you know, Cedogastin, and I won't go through that process that we went through when I was traded over there in 82. But in essence, he helped me learn how to create a mental discipline to hit in those situations. And maybe in another podcast, somewhere down the road, time we can we can delve off into that and that really helped me not only in those situations but just as a hitter overall and I think it's the reason I was able to accomplish what I did in

Toronto and have a good career but I was just very comfortable in those situations through a lot of hard work between me and Cito while he was the hitting coach and it and it paid off and I'm proud that I was able to be what we'd call I guess a tough out in a in a in a a big situation. And beloved, you know, all these years later, Rance Mullinix, we touched on this off the top, but one of everybody's favorite Blue Jays, if you're of a certain vintage, without a doubt. Well, I most certainly appreciate that. And, you know, I worked hard at my craft. I tried to be a team player, whatever a situation called for, do the best I could to help my team win in that situation. And I hope that the fans felt like anytime I was in the ball game or coming off

the bench hit that I was well prepared and I gave them the best effort that I could give, be good, bad, or indifferent. And I think that's what we all as professional athletes really owe the fans is our best every day. And I hope they feel like that's what I gave. And you also help mentor a couple of great players. I mean, John Allerud and Jeff Kent, These are two of the finer MLB batters. Yeah, well, and it's kind of ironic because I never knew that until later, because all I was ever trying to do was, you know, pass along some things that I had learned that CETO had taught me

and that I'd learned from other coaches and through personal experience. And later they had some very, very nice, kind words for me. And I appreciate that, but, you know, all I was trying to do was help them along. And, you know, Jeff had what I think is a Hall of Fame career. If you look at his numbers as a second baseman, and, of course, Ola Rood had a great career as well. So if I helped him a little bit along the way, I kind of felt like as a veteran player, that's what you're supposed to do.

No, I don't remember a sweeter swing in all of baseball than Johnny O. Johnny O. He could make a nice pass. That's for sure. Yeah. And I think, what, $2.95 career batting average? 363 and 93, yeah, he, and, and I will say this about John, too. You will never meet a better person in your life than John Elrude. He's, he's as good as they get.

Amazing. Now, Toronto Chris, I feel like I should talk to my lawyer, Lauren Honickman, about somebody calling themselves Toronto Chris. That's a little too close for comfort, says Toronto, Mike. But Toronto Chris says, I heard Rants do some Jay's broadcasts on the radio a few times in the 90s. And his analysis was fantastic. And this is a question from Toronto, Chris, but I'm going to spin on it. But he says, could you ask Rance why he didn't do more? Because his insight was

just great. Well, there's one regret looking back on the broadcasting side. Well, two. But the first one, the number one, I had an opportunity. People don't know this, but I was offered a three-year contract with an option on the fourth to do radio with Jerry Howard. Jerry was a big influence on my he really encouraged me to to to pursue broadcasting afterwards. So I want to get that out there because Jerry Jerry really went out of his way to help me and encourage me. And it's one of the reasons why I think I ended up with the opportunity that I did on the TV side. Right. But I had a chance to work with Jerry and I turned it down because my second wife, my current wife, we had a young boy that we had adopted.

We were in the process of adopting another young little girl out of foster care. And I decided I didn't want to be gone 162 games, you know, that long over the year. Because I had missed that out with my younger children. So I turned that down. That's my number one regret. If I had a do-over, I would have done that differently. I'd have made a different decision and figured out a way to make it work, right? And then number two, when I was working, when I was on the TV, and by the way, I appreciate the compliment.

I really do from Toronto, Chris. Toronto Chris. I really appreciate his thoughts and his compliment. But if I had to do over with the TV, one thing I would definitely do is let people see. instead of being so analytical and so forth, let people see more of my personality. Because if you really get to know me, my personality, you know, I kind of like joke, have fun,

got a decent sense of humor, that kind of stuff. And I think that would have made it more enjoyable for me as well as the listeners as well. But just naturally, when it comes to baseball, I'm very analytical and try to diagnose what's going on, why it's happening, what caused it to happen, what's going to happen next, which probably went a long way to help me be successful as a player. But that in itself can get boring, right? Especially if you're watching it on TV, because you're already seeing what's happening.

And, you know, I would do things a little bit differently, but I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity I have. If it ever presents itself again, I would love to do it. But I think maybe that time has passed, but hey, you never know. If I just get a chance to do a game here and do game there, that would be wonderful. Well, I'll tell you this. I guess you just recently sort of pumped up your social media presence. Is that fair to say? I did. Yes, that's correct.

And Jamie Campbell, shout out to Jamie Campbell, if he's listening at home, he probably welcomed you to Twitter and like, hey, Rance, my old buddies here. And I think a lot of people thought, a lot of people thought that you might make an appearance on the Sportsnet broadcast during the World Series. Well, I would have welcomed the opportunity, and I don't know, maybe next year. I hope the Jays get back, and, you know, an opportunity like that presents itself. I'd love to be, you know, I'd love to have a back and forth with Jamie. I really enjoyed my time working with him.

He was wonderful, and I know he's been extremely successful post those days. And, you know, I would welcome the opportunity, that's for sure. But we'll just kind of have to wait and see. But, you know, I got on X, and I've enjoyed that. And, of course, I launched a website, which is rantsmalinex.com. This is how I got in touch with you. Yeah, there you go. And the reason for that is I'm looking for an opportunity for speaking engagements.

And my message is simply this, what we can accomplish through change. You know, if we're willing to make ourselves uncomfortable sometimes for a while to make a change that we know is, going to make us either better in our individual lives or in our career, etc. I would love that that I'm seeking that opportunity to pass along what I learned through my career, some of the struggles I had, how I was able to overcome them, some of the people that helped me along the way, and just some life lessons. And of course, love to talk baseball, talk hitting, all of that, yeah. Well, I can vouch for this. You've been great. I thoroughly enjoyed this. And I think what people now know there's a new and improved

Rance Mollinix.com half the battle is figuring out how to spell Mullenix properly but if you can Well just Google it You can find it Rance Mollinix.com and then you can always There's a form there if you'd like to talk

to Rance I did that I also you were talking about this one regret with the radio side I'm here to tell you something you already know but Jerry Howarth who I consider a friend he would be the first person to tell you family first, you made the right decision.

I know that about Jerry. We go back, my first year in AAA, he was our play-by-play guy in Salt Lake City. And Jerry had a great career. And like I said, he went out of his way to help me. I will always be grateful. And I don't think I would have had the opportunity in the first place, if not for Jerry Howard. And I know he's doing well. He has a street named after him.

It's a very short street, though. I bike by it. It's near like the six points area of the KIP district. Short street, but no, I've taken photos. But yeah. But he's got a street named after him, well-deserved, and I know he and his wife, everybody's doing well. And hopefully maybe next year, I'd like to get back to Toronto again next year, taking a few ball games and I like to run into some old friends like Jerry.

Amazing here. Last question, Rance, what did you think, or what do you think? And I need complete honesty from you. I know you're always honest with me, but of the song OK Blue Jays, you heard it. every home game for your entire career. What are your thoughts on OK Blue Jays as I hold the 45 single here? Well, at first, it took a while for it to grow on me.

But then after a while, when you look and see how the fans enjoyed it, and then it just became part of Jay's tradition, right? I love tradition. I really do. And it became part of Jay's tradition. and so it's one of those things that grew on me over time and I got to where I actually enjoyed it and watching the fans, you know, dance and do the OK Blue Jay.

Okay, yeah. Yeah, there you go. And it was great. And so as far as I'm concerned, like I said, I love tradition and it became a J's tradition. So it became a part of the organization, the fans, and the entire country. Well, thanks again, Rance.

This was awesome. Well, thank you. I appreciate you having me on. And parting note, so that everybody else knows. On Monday, people, everybody listening out there, I screwed up. I whipped on a scheduled date to be on with Toronto, Mike. My mind went elsewhere, so I owe him. I've apologized personally to him, but I want to publicly apologize. It was my screw-up. I hope he wasn't left in too much of an embarrassing situation, but it's all on me. I'll wear it. It's been great today. It's been wonderful. I've really enjoyed it.

I love to be on again, and let's do it again sometime. And for anybody out there that goes to the website, Rancemollinix.com. Ransmolinsmolix.com. Well, and, you know, if you just want to ask a question, ask a question. That's great. And next summer, when you're in town for a Jays game, let me buy you a beer.

You're on. You got it. And that brings us to the end of our 1,803rd show. Go to Torontomike.com for all your Toronto mic needs. Whip out your calendar. Go to November 29th. It's the last Saturday of November. Put in your calendar that noon to 3 p.m.

I'm recording live from the second floor of Palmer's Kitchen in Mississauga and if you show up and I'm talking to you you know who I'm talking to if you show up I'll have a fresh can of uh great lakes beer for you and palma pasta will feed you and retro festive will give you a gift and you have no idea who might be there it's going to be a great time so be there November 29th for TMLX 21 much love To all who made this possible, that is retro festive, Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Nikaiini's, Kindling, Recycle My Electronics.C.A., Blue Sky Agency, and Redley Funeral Home. See you all Monday when my special guest is Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea.

Don't you dare miss it. Subdivisions Subdivisions Subdivisions Thank you. I'm going to be. I'm going to be. And...

...that's... ...and... Thank you.