0:00

Yo don't try to be

0:02

buddy buddy with hosmer he

0:04

doesn't like that shit right

0:06

baby don't talk to me

0:08

Vance is like you haven't

0:10

done shit and I'm like

0:12

I was just trying to like

0:14

have a good time but okay

0:16

first of all it was awesome

0:18

to see what you did how

0:21

fast you came back did

0:23

what you could sacrifice personal

0:25

accolades during a career

0:27

year to be ready to go

0:29

for the postseason because last year

0:32

what you proved up until that point

0:34

was you were a guy you're solidified

0:36

as an everyday big league guy so with

0:38

that comes a whole new level

0:41

of responsibilities now obviously after

0:43

you guys going on your postseason

0:45

run so kind of leading up

0:47

to that point because we obviously want

0:50

to know what's going on with the

0:52

clubhouse the guys we're watching but give

0:54

us venny p leading up to that point

0:56

to what he is right now Are

0:58

you asking me or are

1:00

you telling me you're gonna

1:03

ask me that? No, we

1:05

don't. That was it. Oh,

1:07

okay That was the real

1:09

deal This guy came played

1:11

my position years after I

1:13

played this position for a

1:15

long time in the first

1:18

year and he gets a

1:20

sandwich So we need to

1:22

know, yeah, we need to

1:24

know who many P is.

1:26

Okay, I mean, I guess I

1:28

could start from the beginning of my

1:30

life. From baseball life. Baseball life,

1:33

yes, I mean, I went to a pretty

1:35

good high school. We had three, two guys

1:37

that are in the big leagues now, but

1:39

a first round pick, seventh round pick and

1:42

11th round pick in me, so kind of

1:44

ingrained, like, learned how to be a professional,

1:46

basically from then, thought I was gonna get

1:48

drafted as a senior in high school,

1:51

ended up breaking my back. Thank God,

1:53

Old Dominion, that's where I went. They

1:55

still kept my scholarship alive. How'd you break your

1:57

back, by the way? Yeah. So I say break

1:59

my... sounds a little dramatic. It's

2:02

a stress fracture, a bilateral stress

2:04

fracture of the L1, L2 vertebrae.

2:06

So basically it's just kind of

2:08

cracking all the way through there.

2:10

I committed to college as a pitcher

2:12

and a hitter, which is kind of funny

2:14

because my arm or my arm is bad.

2:17

But never pitching college got there, pretty

2:19

much kind of learned how to hit

2:21

and that was it. So, but I'm

2:23

very thankful that they honored my scholarship.

2:25

played pretty good as a freshman

2:28

nowadays in college I would not

2:30

have finished it old dominion I

2:32

would I would imagine but you know

2:34

then you honored your commitment which

2:36

I don't blame those guys now but

2:38

sophomore year things are going pretty

2:41

good so I did my L5 L4

2:43

L1 L2 in high school did my

2:45

L4 L5 in college so I had

2:47

another season missed with the back those

2:49

a fracture again yeah another separate fracture

2:51

we think it was from

2:54

squatting but not 100% sure.

2:56

I don't squat anymore though.

2:58

I haven't had any issues.

3:01

Probably squatting. Yeah, so come back

3:03

my junior year, I suck.

3:05

Like first, first, I think

3:07

I'm going to get drafted

3:09

again, like another year where

3:11

I'm like, okay, things are looking

3:13

good. I'm going to do this.

3:16

First, I'm going to get drafted

3:18

again, like another year

3:20

where I'm like, okay, things are

3:23

looking good. You know, maybe it's time

3:25

to start looking at other options.

3:27

Went to a tow tap. I used

3:30

to be a big leg kick guy,

3:32

went to a tow tap, and then

3:34

my life kind of changed. Finish your

3:36

year hitting like 300 with 16. Got

3:39

drafted in the 11th round by the

3:41

Royals. Went to rookie ball played in

3:43

Burlington. Did you guys play in Burlington?

3:46

Not that Burlington, no. You guys played

3:48

in the other Burlington, that's right. So

3:50

I was on the last ever team

3:53

of the. It's pretty good, led the

3:55

league in Homer's, did pretty good, and

3:57

then COVID hit and didn't get

3:59

invited. anything, got a job at a burger

4:01

place, flipping burgers during COVID. I remember

4:03

watching. Yeah. Was that, COVID was weird,

4:06

because I remember India, a new guy,

4:08

that's with Kansas City, he was like, he

4:10

was part of this workout group we had,

4:12

and he was the cutoff, any kid younger

4:15

than him, he was a college kid, high round

4:17

pick, so he was in big league camp at

4:19

all site, but a lot of those kids after

4:21

him, man, they went a good two, two, three

4:23

years, three years, three years, three years after just

4:25

showing up to the gym. waiting for any

4:28

opportunity. Yeah, so we had like a really

4:30

cool group though in COVID. So every Tuesday

4:32

we would do live about to my high

4:34

school, which we weren't allowed to do. But

4:36

our coach was like, if you hop the

4:38

fence, I can't control you hopping the fence.

4:40

So, so we had like 14 guys that

4:42

would show up, professional guys. It

4:45

was one of something I'll never forget

4:47

as a guy who's in AAA at

4:49

the time, specifically. he needed to face a

4:51

lefty that was good enough to face him

4:53

i was not that guy i checked swung

4:56

at some breaking balls away he's like i

4:58

need some people here that like are good

5:00

enough to face me i'm like all right

5:02

never gonna forget that did we was he

5:04

was he a show guy no triple a

5:07

okay yeah did we book him at any

5:09

point in like i did yes i did

5:11

short fence no short fence but it's still

5:13

one home but it's still one home but

5:15

the funny thing about COVID is we uh The

5:17

Royals don't know that this happened, but it's

5:20

been years, so it's fine. We formed... Like

5:22

all of us were pretty butt

5:24

hurt about not being invited to

5:26

anything. Right. So we named

5:28

ourselves the C team because the

5:30

A team was the Major League

5:32

team, the B team was the

5:34

guys at the alt-site, and then

5:37

we were the C team. That

5:39

was just at my high school

5:41

in Virginia. And we got jerseys

5:43

and everything and played like a

5:45

collegiate summer ball in two games.

5:47

That's amazing. So we come back

5:49

for spring training in 21.

5:51

Go to... High A and then double

5:54

A finished the year. Then the next

5:56

year we go into it 22. That

5:58

was my first big. camp was

6:00

in 22 and I kind of came in

6:02

as a DH which was interesting they were

6:05

like look you're not gonna play first you're

6:07

gonna DH so if you want to have

6:09

a chance to make the team it's not

6:11

going to be playing first kind of come

6:14

in learn the ropes I still remember the

6:16

first day I ever started so only game

6:18

I started that year at home We were

6:21

facing Frankie Montos and the A's, I struck

6:23

out on a pitch away, I grounded out

6:25

to him softly, and then I struck out

6:27

on a pitch, there's a borderline call. Never

6:30

forget that. Because it pissed me off so

6:32

much. Like I need this on fire, this

6:34

guy doesn't need this. What number were you?

6:37

73. Yeah, that's why. Yeah, that would do

6:39

why. I need this more than ever. I

6:41

didn't sleep that night either. Like I did

6:43

not did not sleep that night either. Like

6:46

I did not sleep that night. and then

6:48

struck out that second at bat and they're

6:50

okay you're done. Thanks. That was good. I

6:53

mean hitting now is a whole different language.

6:55

Yeah I remember last year during a playoffs

6:57

when you wrote something about Gary Cole like

6:59

we've we literally just game-planned for a whole

7:02

month against this guy and he's 4% of

7:04

one pitch and then he comes against us

7:06

and just hammers this one pitch against. Yeah

7:09

I mean playoff baseball is just so different

7:11

than regular season baseball. I mean you guys

7:13

know that. You're getting their best. every time

7:15

and you mean I say that and it's

7:18

like no no we're actually once you face

7:20

the guy twice now it's like okay just

7:22

change up the whole game plan on me

7:25

like just make it even harder but it

7:27

I'm telling a long story but basically like

7:29

in my mind I've earned everything I've ever

7:31

gotten and I'm very proud of that so

7:34

getting to the big leagues I'd never forget

7:36

that like I always know there's a guy

7:38

in the clubhouse that feels the exact same

7:40

way that I did not necessarily that you're

7:43

getting screwed over but just like I've got

7:45

to go take this opportunity because they're not

7:47

going to give it to me. So I

7:50

always think about that whenever we have meetings

7:52

and anything and just who can I help?

7:54

Who was just like me? Because it was

7:56

important to me then when guys did it

7:59

to me so I want to help that

8:01

next group. Even though I'm, you know, I've

8:03

got two years and a hundred and one

8:06

days, but I feel... like I can help

8:08

these guys. Yeah, but you say next group

8:10

and that is you, you're a part of

8:12

that next group, you know what I mean?

8:15

And that's what, from the outside looking in,

8:17

what's cool is like, you remind me of

8:19

a moose, of a hard nose, like your,

8:22

like your, like your coach says, like if

8:24

you just, hop the defense and it's a

8:26

baseball field, you're gonna play baseball. Like, like,

8:28

we're just gonna go out there and sometimes.

8:31

we're just gonna look you in the eyes

8:33

and just like you were better than you

8:35

and play like how do you how do

8:38

you balance that being part of that next

8:40

wave because you're a guy you you bobby

8:42

you guys I get really frustrated with analytics

8:44

sometimes and analytics is a general word right

8:47

like I'm just saying a word and it

8:49

makes some people angry it makes some people

8:51

happy just saying the word but the technology

8:54

what we use it it helps you over

8:56

162 that is what it is there to

8:58

do it's supposed to provide a sample size

9:00

of Okay, today it didn't work, but over

9:03

the life of 162, it's going to work.

9:05

The problem is, is we play one game

9:07

a day. So, I'm supposed to win today.

9:09

Not tomorrow, not the tenth time, whatever. And

9:12

then you really see that being magnified in

9:14

the playoffs. It's like, oh, wait, you're asking

9:16

me to bunk? What? Yeah. Like I, I

9:19

bunted one time this year and got ripped.

9:21

Not like by coaching staff or anything, it

9:23

was mostly online, but it was the first

9:25

inning against the Cubs. I believe it was,

9:28

it was first and second, nobody out, first

9:30

inning. So it was first and second, first

9:32

inning. So it was first and second, first

9:35

inning. So it's first and second, they were

9:37

still playing the shift, so I'm like, I'll

9:39

just put this down. I mean worst case

9:41

scenario, I get thrown, it's a single. And

9:44

I'm getting like lit up like why is

9:46

the three hole hitter bonning? What's going on?

9:48

Like we just want and we're up to

9:51

nothing for him. We're winning to nothing right

9:53

now. And people were worried about this. It's

9:55

just like my job is to show up

9:57

and win. That's it. Like it's pretty simple.

10:00

when you put it like that, my job

10:02

is not to, one of my biggest pet

10:04

peeves and baseball is the sack fly and

10:07

how it gets written statistically because if I

10:09

have one week of going nothing but sack

10:11

flies, like say I get 28 at bats,

10:13

28 sacrificed flies. Old school baseball people be

10:16

like great, that's 28 runs. New school baseball

10:18

people will say well the sack fly is

10:20

actually because of the guy in front of

10:23

you, you get a negative 100 WRC plus,

10:25

you're now a negative war player because And

10:27

I'm like, well, wait a minute, my job

10:29

is to drive in runs. So that doesn't

10:32

make any sense. Are we supposed to win

10:34

or are we supposed to increase our value?

10:36

You would think they'd be one in the

10:38

same, but they're not. So a sack fly

10:41

is a negative. Yeah. Yeah. And your OPP

10:43

goes down. So we just hate winning is

10:45

what it is. Like the statistics. Scoring runs

10:48

is sometimes negative. Okay. But I mean, we

10:50

all laugh about it. Hopefully. Hopefully. It's not

10:52

that simple. What you think is simple is

10:54

not viewed that way. You know what I

10:57

mean? So it's refreshing to hear Kansas City

10:59

still values that stuff because JJ, same as

11:01

Dayton, you know, they're going to have you

11:04

out there base running, doing the little things.

11:06

And I think in the postseason, you guys,

11:08

you definitely see why. Yeah, I mean, the

11:10

postseason was just so tough because, I mean,

11:13

it comes to you quick. And if you've

11:15

never been there before, it's. I feel like

11:17

during the season, it's like, okay, how late

11:20

can I get to the ballpark today? It's

11:22

July, it's hot, it's like, can I get

11:24

there at 2.30 and still get ready today?

11:26

The playoffs, like, it's 9am. I'm ready to

11:29

rip. Let's just go. Start the game early,

11:31

start the game early, let's run. Yeah, like,

11:33

I'm just going to head to the ballpark

11:36

and just see what's going on. Yeah, like,

11:38

something you just said is like, like, like,

11:40

like, like, like, like, the first time, like,

11:42

the first time it's like, like, like, like,

11:45

like, the first time it's like, like, like,

11:47

like, like, the first time it's like, like,

11:49

like, like, like, like, like, the first time,

11:51

like, like, like, like, like, like, like, the

11:54

first time, the first time, like, like, like,

11:56

What's amazing about where you guys are at

11:58

now is you guys have got that experience

12:01

you've got a taste of it and it

12:03

was the same for me and him in

12:05

14 is like, oh shit, like this is

12:07

unbelievable because there's nothing like playoff baseball. This

12:10

is unbelievable. I want more. How do we

12:12

get there? And you're gonna do everything you

12:14

can and you talked about earlier is we're

12:17

gonna win baseball games so we can get

12:19

back to that postseason and get that adrenaline

12:21

that feeling that we already experienced and lost.

12:23

Now what does it feel like when you

12:26

win? And that's what we were chasing when

12:28

we were playing of postseason baseball. and the

12:30

way you get there is by winning baseball

12:33

games. You guys got to go deep. I

12:35

got to play in the playoffs basically one

12:37

time, 2010, and we went one round. But

12:39

just having that small sample size and that

12:42

taste, it just fills you with that's exactly

12:44

where you want to be. It doesn't matter

12:46

how far you go. Even leading up to

12:49

it, knowing that you're going to be in

12:51

the playoffs or knowing you have a chance.

12:53

It changes the whole impact at the end

12:55

of the season. If you're in a wetsocks

12:58

or you're out of it in August, it's

13:00

like, why are you showing up to the

13:02

field? There's no intensity there. It's guys are

13:05

playing for jobs rather than anything else. And

13:07

think of a situation now. We talked to

13:09

Caglioni the other day and he shouted you

13:11

out talking about how cool you were. You

13:14

reached out to him if you need anything.

13:16

And being a solidified guy, being on a

13:18

winning team, a winning organization. You know a

13:20

guy like Jack is solely there to help

13:23

you guys win right now. I'm out of

13:25

here, you know what I mean? Like I'm

13:27

hitting arbitration next year, they're not gonna pay

13:30

me, there's a good chance, like it makes

13:32

that situation that much more awkward in itself,

13:34

so I love to see where Kansas City's

13:36

at, but just you being that guy, where

13:39

does, I mean, that's, first of all, that's

13:41

awesome, because the fact that you can now

13:43

make a kid like Jack's first big league

13:46

experience just nice and calm, because you realize

13:48

there is tension whether or not spoken about

13:50

or not, the day before he walks into

13:52

that club house unless you say that. Yeah,

13:55

I mean there was definitely jokes thrown in

13:57

my direction from older players before he got

13:59

there, which is kind of funny. when's your

14:02

replacement come in? Like is he? I just

14:04

think all that stuff's funny because there's him

14:06

and I have had a lot of really

14:08

good conversations of just like what does it

14:11

take like he wants to learn like and

14:13

specifically him because yeah there is that tension

14:15

but like his job is to take my

14:18

job my job is to go win games

14:20

for the Kansas City Royals like because that's

14:22

just how it goes right and I don't

14:24

mean that any in any sort of negative

14:27

way but like The

14:29

likely outcome is he gets to Kansas

14:31

City, he plays first base IDH. I'm

14:33

gonna do everything in my power to

14:35

continue to be a first baseman because

14:37

I believe that's who I am. But

14:39

also there's a point of me that

14:41

I just wanna win, man. Like, I

14:43

don't play this game for money. I

14:46

don't. And that sounds ridiculous, like, it

14:48

doesn't sound ridiculous, but there's also a

14:50

piece of it where like, yes, I

14:52

need to know my value, I need

14:54

to protect the next wave of players

14:56

when it comes to owners. just trying

14:58

to devial you players so much that

15:00

like guys can't get jobs anymore. I

15:02

mean Anthony Rizzo is still sitting out

15:04

there. Like come on. Like that's a

15:06

joke. It is crazy. We like this

15:09

even as a little kid like playing

15:11

like losing hurt so bad when you're

15:13

younger. I actually have the reverse mindset

15:15

of like I like winning way more

15:17

than I hate losing and it's just

15:19

a mindset flip for me where like

15:21

I don't play not to lose I

15:23

play to win. I can sleep at

15:25

night knowing that I did that I

15:27

did that. I can't sleep at night

15:30

knowing that I didn't do that. So

15:32

like if I don't give it everything

15:34

I got on any given day, that

15:36

bothers me more than anything else. Because

15:38

like I want to kick your ass

15:40

every time I get out there. If

15:42

I do everything I can to do

15:44

that and I don't succeed, I can

15:46

live with myself. Like I just don't

15:48

view myself as a baseball player. I

15:51

view myself as a person. And that's

15:53

important to me. Baseball is what I

15:55

do. It's not who I am. So

15:57

like when I don't play for money,

15:59

I mean it. Yeah, because my value

16:01

is not tied into baseball. My value

16:03

is tied into me. As I don't

16:05

want to get like two, it's kind

16:07

of sound like we're a question. So

16:09

you say baseball isn't what? is what

16:12

you do not who you are, who

16:14

are you? I'm Vinny Pascotino, like to

16:16

me that's what means more to me

16:18

than anything is the kind of the

16:20

name on the back, like that doesn't

16:22

mean that I don't give a shit

16:24

about the Kansas girls, like I do

16:26

with everything I got, but like if

16:28

I didn't play baseball I'd be successful

16:30

in whatever I do, whatever that is,

16:33

because that's what I want to do.

16:35

And it just happens that I got

16:37

lucky enough that somebody believed that I

16:39

was good enough at baseball at baseball

16:41

to... give me this opportunity and I've

16:43

run with it and I'm going to

16:45

keep running with it as long as

16:47

I possibly can because while I do

16:49

say it's what I do, like it's

16:51

what I love the most. So I'm

16:54

just going to keep doing it until

16:56

they rip this jersey off me. If

16:58

you won a baseball player would you

17:00

be just the Jets GM? Probably. Yeah,

17:02

there's a big time love hate relationship

17:04

there, but mostly love. I picked the

17:06

Jets just simply because of any testiverty

17:08

and that's my name. And that's my

17:10

name. Any testimony? Like, think about if

17:12

my name was Tom. Oh, he's in

17:15

such a good spot. Speaking of Bobby,

17:17

right? The guy's a Patriots fan in

17:19

his entire life growing up and then

17:21

he's like, oh, guess who I can

17:23

like now? Can't see chiefs. The guy's

17:25

never lost in his life. Yeah. What's

17:27

it like to be that guy's teammate?

17:29

He seems like he's, I mean, as

17:31

humble as a superstar, hardworking, like... Is

17:33

it what you see? Tell me something

17:36

bad about fucking Bobby, would you? So

17:38

I live with him right now. Of

17:40

course. Stinks. Does his feet smell or

17:42

something? Is there anything? No, I mean

17:44

he pretty much does everything fantastic. He's

17:46

not great at call of duty. But

17:48

he talks a lot of shit. Like

17:50

he'll just start yelling at people and

17:52

it's awesome. He's got, you know, he's

17:54

got his screen. Nobody knows who it

17:56

is and he's just yelling at people.

17:59

It's amazing. That's probably my favorite thing

18:01

about him is when people, because he's

18:03

very protective as he should be over.

18:05

But like when he lets loose, he's

18:07

awesome. Like him at weddings, the best.

18:09

His wife said. Because he gets weird?

18:11

No, no, no, he gets fun. Like,

18:13

he gets fun. So he had the

18:15

water burger, Witterburger? Witterburger. What a setup,

18:17

he was set up. Like, that wedding

18:20

was, that wedding was awesome. The funniest

18:22

part was that they did it in,

18:24

you know, in a city. It was

18:26

like at one point a car blaring

18:28

its horn, drove right by. He's going

18:30

by? Just in the middle of the

18:32

ceremony. It's like, all right, it's like,

18:34

like, like, like, like, like, like, somebody's

18:36

like, somebody's going, like, like, like, like,

18:38

somebody's going, like, like, like, like, like,

18:41

somebody's going, like, like, like, like, like,

18:43

like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

18:45

like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

18:47

like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

18:49

like, like, like, like, like What's Salby

18:51

like? It's weird to think of Salby

18:53

as the old guy around there man,

18:55

but dude. It's unbelievable the type of

18:57

career. I mean, I don't understand how

18:59

he does it, catching and... Every day,

19:02

dude. Catching. And when he doesn't catch,

19:04

you know, because he's in there. Like,

19:06

no, no, I'm good. Ready to roll.

19:08

He's never had a day off that

19:10

he's liked. Ever. I mean he's the

19:12

captain for a reason, he's incredible. Yeah

19:14

they don't give that C out for

19:16

no reason man. They don't give that

19:18

C out for no reason. You guys

19:20

are in such a great spot as

19:23

an organization and not like in the

19:25

future but right now you guys are

19:27

built to win and it's just so

19:29

awesome being old Royals players to watch

19:31

you guys do what you did last

19:33

year and the camaraderie that you guys

19:35

have because it resembled kind of the

19:37

way we played and... just believing each

19:39

other doing the little things like having

19:41

each other's back you're living with Bobby

19:44

like you guys are more like a

19:46

family than anything and you go out

19:48

and you just get to play baseball

19:50

together as a family. I think some

19:52

of the biggest changes that we made

19:54

happened last year we got some we

19:56

got some real veterans on the team

19:58

last year and what I mean by

20:00

that is like my first year in

20:02

22 it was kind of a restart

20:05

where there were 22 and 23 sort

20:07

of became okay who's gonna be around

20:09

right? a tryout right as much as

20:11

that sucks to say like that that's

20:13

what teams do like you have to

20:15

you know if you get to a

20:17

point you got to start that rebuild

20:19

and that's kind of what it was

20:21

and last year you you bring in

20:23

Will Smith, you bring in Chris Stratton,

20:26

you bring in Adam Fraser, you bring

20:28

in some of these guys, like Hunter

20:30

Renfrew, you bring in these guys who

20:32

have been in the postseason, they've done

20:34

things, like real big league veterans is

20:36

what I would call them, like OGs

20:38

maybe is a better way to say

20:40

it, but just like dudes. And we

20:42

start doing golf outings, we start doing

20:44

like real team dinner, we had a

20:47

team dinner where 25 of 26 players

20:49

showed up. And the only person that

20:51

didn't didn't show up, didn't show up,

20:53

starting picture, starting picture, starting pitcher, starting

20:55

pitcher, starting picture the next day, the

20:57

next day. Latin guys, like everybody. And

20:59

I think that's what having Sal helps

21:01

with too, is because he can play

21:03

both sides of that where like he

21:05

wants to be there. And that was

21:07

in Cleveland. Easy spot to get a

21:10

team dinner for everybody to go. But

21:12

he's smart. But not everybody's at Jack.

21:14

So that's good. You're just at that.

21:16

You're just at. And that's what it

21:18

looks like from the outside. You can

21:20

you always see like you knew our

21:22

teams, the bullpen guy who knew. pictures

21:24

whatever clubhouse keeping it loose that seems

21:26

like it's like that's your department like

21:28

you that's kind of my job like

21:31

that's like you go about keeping the

21:33

energy in the right spot if you

21:35

feel like I feel like you have

21:37

the respect that if you send something's

21:39

different with Bobby that day like you're

21:41

not gonna do in front of everybody

21:43

but you're gonna be like hey man

21:45

let's get it going and you feel

21:47

that role mhm yeah and it's something

21:49

that I a treasure But to the

21:52

normal everyday baseball person that doesn't understand

21:54

how valuable that is to bring energy

21:56

every single day when you can just

21:58

be groundhog day like I just wanted

22:00

to really really exemplify that before going

22:02

on. It's just one of those things

22:04

where and it's kind of what I

22:06

talked about with like I want to

22:08

win more than because I don't want

22:10

to be that guy that if we

22:13

lose I'm just so down that right.

22:15

Like I want to be a guy

22:17

like after a loss like put on

22:19

Daniel powder about bad day like let's

22:21

let's grind through this put on the

22:23

1-800 logic song like like we did

22:25

that in high aid we did that

22:27

we had like a loser playlist now

22:29

we were one of the best teams

22:31

in the league that year but like

22:34

we had this loser playlist that we

22:36

were actually like there were some days

22:38

where it's like you know we need

22:40

this like we just just put on

22:42

the loser playlist and and let's just

22:44

do this and let's just show up

22:46

in the shower full union with a

22:48

beer yeah just like boys know how

22:50

we're gonna survive this every time I

22:52

got traded to another team and we

22:55

were playing like I got traded to

22:57

another team and we were playing like

22:59

I got traded we need this boys

23:01

we got to rinse this off yeah

23:03

like it's just it's little things like

23:05

that it's just like yeah okay we're

23:07

very upset that we lost you or

23:09

we did something wrong or somebody fucked

23:11

up but okay now how do we

23:13

respond like it's over because there's another

23:16

game tomorrow yeah the beautiful thing right

23:18

yeah one of the biggest cliches is

23:20

hey we get to wake up tomorrow

23:22

and go do it again yeah so

23:24

like a lot of the you know

23:26

some of the things that I'll do

23:28

is whether it's handling the media Making

23:30

up stuff like I mean that's half

23:32

talking to the media is anyway is

23:34

just answering these questions and trying to

23:37

be short try to give answers without

23:39

giving answers Yeah, but like I try

23:41

to take the approach of just be

23:43

honest. I've done like I think I

23:45

think I think starting the season last

23:47

year I'm hitting like Point nine been

23:49

there like news first 10 games I'm

23:51

sitting there I'm coming back for my

23:53

shoulder injury like I don't like I

23:55

remember like I remember like multiple times

23:57

like going home crying to my wife

24:00

being like I think I'm done. I'm

24:02

pretty sure that I'm done. Like, where

24:04

did it go? I used to be

24:06

able to, like, if a ball was

24:08

thrown, I would just take it. Now

24:10

I swing. Oh yeah. I swing. So,

24:12

like, then I kind of broke out

24:14

one game against Houston and they asked

24:16

me after the game. Like, was there

24:18

frustration. Like, we've been winning, thank God,

24:21

but... I'd like to be a part

24:23

of those wins in some way shape

24:25

or form. I think I said something

24:27

like the winning is what has kept

24:29

me sleeping at night. Otherwise I'd be

24:31

here and you wouldn't. wouldn't look like

24:33

myself. I had bags under my eyes

24:35

and everything. But like that's just, that's

24:37

just the ups and downs of a

24:39

season. And that's kind of what you

24:42

learned going to the playoffs is like,

24:44

okay, you have a bad April? Okay.

24:46

We're striving for something bigger than having

24:48

a good May. Yeah. So it's just

24:50

pretty cool. And I think that I

24:52

think I've dealt with a lot of

24:54

injuries through my career. So there's some,

24:56

like I never let guys forget that

24:58

when they're forget that. So I just

25:00

try to keep it positive in there

25:03

all the time because it's what it's

25:05

too hard It's too hard. It's too

25:07

hard or not and you're surrounded by

25:09

the same people every day You were

25:11

talking about like the team dinners and

25:13

stuff. Dude. How much fun is that

25:15

to get all the boys together? Outside

25:17

of the field you see these guys

25:19

every single day in the field. Those

25:21

were our favorite times is like you

25:24

get off the bird show dinner like

25:26

We live for those nights to go

25:28

out to a nice restaurant. You get

25:30

into a city early. Yep. What I

25:32

don't, like to again, normal baseball fans,

25:34

they don't understand how meaningful that is

25:36

to have that. Like, all right, we

25:38

got our veteran guy, we got a

25:40

reservation for 25, everybody on the bus

25:42

after you drop your bags off. Yeah.

25:45

Yeah. Why does that matter so much

25:47

to you guys? You always talk like

25:49

the golf, the dinners, the fantasy football,

25:51

like why? Yeah, why does that matter.

25:53

Because when I step up at first

25:55

base, I don't think you want to

25:57

kill me now. Like when I miss

25:59

a pick, or like if you miss

26:01

a ground ball at second, or miss

26:03

something in center, I'm not ready to

26:06

kill you because I don't think... I

26:08

think that's the biggest thing is you

26:10

just play for each other instead of

26:12

just with each other. It just changes

26:14

the relationship because you get to know

26:16

someone on a deeper level. You can

26:18

have conversations at the field every single

26:20

day, but at the same time you're

26:22

trying to get stuff done. It's a

26:24

bit of a rush. Spring training becomes

26:27

that idea too when you play a

26:29

ton of golf with everybody. It just

26:31

completely changes the relationship between guys and

26:33

it's become clearly more of a family

26:35

atmosphere in Kansas City, which is what

26:37

you guys would. obviously continued on, which

26:39

is massive because a lot of teams

26:41

don't have that. They're either changing guys

26:43

every year where it's a full almost

26:45

like a NHL shift where guys are

26:47

coming in and out. We finally just

26:50

we got to the point where like

26:52

we were vulnerable with each other because

26:54

we understood how hard it was. So

26:56

we're like we're gonna take this season

26:58

on together like if I suck we're

27:00

gonna laugh at me together and we

27:02

kind of got through. I feel like

27:04

we got through it like that. Like

27:06

that was kind of what carried us

27:08

through the bad times. Yeah, in 15

27:11

my mother passed away and we're in

27:13

Detroit and I kind of like, obviously

27:15

I'm sad in my locker, but I

27:17

remember everybody in the clubhouse came up

27:19

and just gave me a hug behind

27:21

like just everybody. And I'm like, like

27:23

I'm with my family, so I feel

27:25

safe, I feel comfortable and other places.

27:27

I mean, like, like, I don't know

27:29

how it be, but to have that.

27:32

like relationship with all of the guys

27:34

on the team was insane it got

27:36

me through tough times you know just

27:38

being able to come in that clubhouse

27:40

we were talking earlier like that's our

27:42

place that's where we go to like

27:44

be happy get ready to go like

27:46

all that stuff and on top of

27:48

that our families became families with our

27:50

teammates and like we still go on

27:53

vacations together you guys had weddings that

27:55

everybody was going to like That means

27:57

a lot to be able to hang

27:59

out with people outside of the field

28:01

and get your wives and your girlfriends

28:03

together and everyone's together doing the same

28:05

thing instead of everyone doing separate things.

28:07

It's crazy how much that helps you

28:09

on the field. I think a lot

28:11

of credit has to be given to

28:14

the royal stuff. Show, dog. I got

28:16

a sandwich and everything. Jesus Christ! No,

28:18

no, but I'm just kidding. But honestly,

28:20

what's really cool about that is what

28:22

you guys are what you guys are

28:24

doing as the Royals this new generation

28:26

of Royals I feel like you're a

28:28

big part of with baseball like It

28:30

was frowned upon for me and most

28:32

to have a podcast or to do

28:35

With the while you're still playing, but

28:37

you Rooker, these guys, are able to

28:39

now give us a different side of

28:41

you guys as the Royals are, but

28:43

at the same time, like, it's game

28:45

time doing this. So to kind of

28:47

bridge that gap, how like now this

28:49

new player, how do you balance that?

28:51

Being a leader, and then at the

28:53

same time having a guy being like,

28:56

hey man, like, I'm supposed to buy

28:58

into your message, but you got to.

29:00

I can't answer both. Yeah, you know,

29:02

Benny's long. Back to that. Because I

29:04

was curious, I'm like, you're going to

29:06

say to that. Back to that one,

29:08

I give a lot of credit to

29:10

the Royals for because it's the same

29:12

clubbies that have been there since you

29:14

guys were there. Like, everything is the

29:17

same. Like, I've heard other teams, like,

29:19

clubbies are in and out, strength staff,

29:21

in and out. Not us. Like, you

29:23

guys know Ryan Stoneberg. Like, you're going

29:25

to talk to him for an hour

29:27

before you get your lift in. That's

29:29

okay. Like, everybody goes through it. Everybody

29:31

gets stoned at least one time. Like,

29:33

Greening was stoning. Who's that? Strange, he's

29:35

awesome. Like, awesome. Louis Perez, I believe

29:38

he was there too, right? Like, every,

29:40

Meiji Garcia. Meiji Garcia, Major League Coach,

29:42

Meiji Garcia. He's been there forever. And

29:44

the Royals just, they invest in the

29:46

people, and then we can invest, like,

29:48

like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

29:50

like, like, That's cool. Yeah. He didn't

29:52

have to. He's like, yeah, let's do

29:54

it. So I mean, I just think

29:56

that from the top down, they're investing

29:58

in us, then we can invest in

30:01

each other and it's super cool. Now

30:03

to that one. The fact that you

30:05

can do this? That's pretty good. So

30:07

I look at players today, like we're

30:09

entertainers, like we're sportsmen and it's not

30:11

scripted obviously. So like, I have to

30:13

be locked in 24-7 because... It's my

30:15

job to like know the picture, know

30:17

what's going on, know whatever plays we're

30:19

running. But like at the same time,

30:22

like without the fans being invested in

30:24

us, what, like what are we got?

30:26

Nothing. who's going to watch us, nobody.

30:28

So I do think there's a piece

30:30

of it where, and I think players

30:32

coming up are better at it than

30:34

older players now because older players now,

30:36

it was more frowned upon, like you're

30:38

saying. It would have been super taboo

30:40

for you guys to do anything, just

30:43

because it's like, shut up, rookie. Now

30:45

it's not like that anymore. And I

30:47

appreciate that, but I would also never

30:49

do that to a young player. I

30:51

just think it's one of those things

30:53

where it's important to be vulnerable with

30:55

the fans. Like, if I had a

30:57

show, I know going in, okay, I

30:59

could go over 20 one week, and

31:01

people are gonna rip me, like, publicly.

31:04

But I don't care what people publicly

31:06

say, because as long as my teammates

31:08

know that I'm prepared for every single

31:10

about that night, that's really all that

31:12

matters. It goes in the same, but

31:14

like all I ask in a teammate

31:16

is just be prepared. I would hope

31:18

that's probably not what you're going to

31:20

do, but if that's what gets you,

31:22

if that's what gets you locked in

31:25

somehow, or if Robbie Grossman last year,

31:27

when he came over with us, he

31:29

was in at 11 a.m. every day,

31:31

dip in, in the cage, like doing

31:33

his thing. They're just different, guys have

31:35

different, guys have different things that make

31:37

him tick, and if you're ready to

31:39

go five times a night, you know

31:41

what the pictures doing, and you know

31:43

what the pictures, but if you can't.

31:46

Like you gotta take care of, you

31:48

know, checklist item A first before you

31:50

can move down to B. It's not

31:52

necessarily about performance, it's about what you're,

31:54

like the process matters there when it's

31:56

like, okay, I'm ready to go. Oh,

31:58

yeah. You catch any football games out

32:00

there? No, not this year. Didn't go.

32:02

I had season tickets and then they

32:04

upped the price for less games. I

32:07

was like, I don't get up there

32:09

enough. This isn't gonna happen, so. Did

32:11

you play any other sports besides baseball

32:13

baseball? No, I did theater. You did?

32:15

Yeah, I got cut from the basketball

32:17

team as a freshman in high school

32:19

and that was it. And you decided

32:21

to go into theater. I did theater

32:23

in middle school too. In middle school

32:25

I did theater basketball baseball. Won a

32:28

championship, eighth grade basketball year, whatever. Okay.

32:30

Then got cut as a freshman and

32:32

then yeah, did some theater in high

32:34

school. I was Arthur and Dracula, the

32:36

love interest. Got to kiss two girls

32:38

on stage in high school. Did you

32:40

ever have aspirations to go in? Yeah,

32:42

there was a piece of me where

32:44

like, so in the county that I

32:46

was in, Chesterfield County in Virginia, each.

32:48

school, each public school is like a

32:51

specialty center. And the school that I

32:53

went to was for leadership. There was

32:55

like 50 kids, 300 apply or whatever,

32:57

like 50 get in, you kind of

32:59

go and all your electives are leadership

33:01

based. So like ethics, perspective, communication, we

33:03

had a capstone so you had to

33:05

do this big project. But then there

33:07

was another one that I applied to

33:09

for theater. It was at a different

33:12

high school. It's actually where Nate Eaton

33:14

went to high school. who I played

33:16

with for a few years, grew up

33:18

with them and then played with them

33:20

in the big leagues, which was pretty

33:22

special, but hated them, though, grown up,

33:24

hated them, then learned to love them.

33:26

They're playing together. But yeah, that's, didn't

33:28

play really any other sports, but did

33:30

some other stuff. Oh, that's cool. Bus

33:33

rides, you might guy? I'm not there

33:35

yet, but I'd imagine, I'd imagine I've

33:37

got Mike Guy written on me at

33:39

some point. Who is the Mike Guy

33:41

right now? Well, we've had different Mike

33:43

guys every year because we've been a

33:45

huge deal. Who's the Mike Guy of

33:47

Kansas Rose right now? Right now, who

33:49

do you think it's gonna be? Mars,

33:51

Waka? Like, probably Waka. Because last year

33:54

was Will Smith, he was great. The

33:56

key was awesome. The Kew was awesome.

33:58

The streak. Hopefully somebody can knock them

34:00

off this year and hopefully it's awesome.

34:02

But we were looking, we were watching

34:04

their game today on TV. It's like,

34:06

oh, so their bullpen is just closures.

34:08

They're all closures. And they're AAA. We're

34:10

talking about, okay, who might be lined

34:12

up to pitch against? It's like, we're

34:15

gonna get one of the six aces

34:17

that they have. You'll get one of

34:19

them. Yeah. God, who might be on

34:21

the. Mike, it'll never be Bobby. There's

34:23

no way he'll ever want to do

34:25

that. I can't. Could you see, could

34:27

you see Bobby doing that? That's not

34:29

his role. Yeah, maybe that's what he's

34:31

bad out. Yeah, all right, we got

34:33

one thing about the bike, but I

34:36

think you're ready, dude. Whit Marifield was

34:38

my first year. Whit was on the

34:40

Mike. Whit was on the Mike. Whit

34:42

was on the Mike. It's not Mike

34:44

material. Don't go there. He's not Mike

34:46

material. So he was my guy first.

34:48

The second year we didn't have one.

34:50

Like there was nobody with enough time

34:52

or standing enough to be comfortable enough

34:54

doing it. So it was... And then

34:57

last year was Will Smith. So then

34:59

this year I'd imagine it's Waka. Maybe

35:01

in a few years I'll get up

35:03

there, but you gotta have time. Like

35:05

time is King. You guys. You guys

35:07

know that. Not the loud guy in

35:09

the back. I'm a chirp in the

35:11

back of the bus. Yeah. I'll be

35:13

the guy just egging it on. Some

35:15

of those bus rides get crazy, especially

35:18

if you got an off day the

35:20

next day. Oh yeah. Bus rides are

35:22

up. Because that flight got a little

35:24

crazy and then that bus ride gets

35:26

a little nuts. Somebody's up there singing.

35:28

Somebody's in the bathroom. Like, it's like

35:30

that's still happening. That's the time I

35:32

live for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We had

35:34

Dale Swain, he was our hitting guy,

35:36

I don't know if he was, was

35:38

he still there when you were there?

35:41

I've met him before. I think his

35:43

son was doing some stuff, maybe the

35:45

video or something, but he would always

35:47

tell us, you do all this work

35:49

preparing for a series on that flight

35:51

out, like enjoy yourself with your teammates,

35:53

get a drink, play cards, whatever it

35:55

was, and I've always lived by that.

35:57

Yeah, maybe a little beyond the flight

35:59

as well. You did great. I'm on

36:02

the table. So last year it was

36:04

me, Hunter Renfro, MJ Melendez, you can

36:06

take his money easy. I mean that

36:08

guy just starts launching money and now

36:10

he's in arb now, he's gonna have

36:12

more in the... I mean, I'm gonna

36:14

be rich just from taking that money.

36:16

Waka would play, Will Smith would play,

36:18

which it was good when Waka would

36:20

play, because starter money, so they was

36:23

able to get on the table. We

36:25

had some old vintage starter money. Yeah,

36:27

we'd play Kings and Littleman. You ever

36:29

hunt a hunter and fro. He loves

36:31

it. He loves it. It's like, and

36:33

Will Smith's object. This is the worst

36:35

game. Any game you play a high

36:37

and low come out on. Kings are

36:39

wild and your lowest card is wild.

36:41

You get five cards. So if you

36:44

have two kings, two twos, like you're

36:46

in a really good spot because you

36:48

got five of a kind of something.

36:50

Yeah. That's all it is. I had

36:52

a royal flush and I lost to

36:54

five aces. Yeah. What just happened? I

36:56

left the table. I was like I'll

36:58

never play a game again. Burya, bloody

37:00

Bury. Holdle. Hold them. We've done horses

37:02

before. We've done horses before. I think

37:05

that's it. I think India wants to

37:07

play Omaha this year. I don't know

37:09

Omaha though, so I'm gonna have to

37:11

learn that. Has another weird one though.

37:13

It's a tough game what going on?

37:15

Then you can go high low, it

37:17

gets complicated, that's not. Have we dove

37:19

in the AC Ducey yet? Oh yeah,

37:21

we'll play AC Ducey and then your

37:23

neighbor. Oh yeah. We're finished with your

37:26

neighbor. I'm guessing we're allowed to cuss

37:28

on here. and then you went down

37:30

big. He went up one flight, didn't

37:32

play, which Cardinal Sin. He went on

37:34

the flight, you gotta play the next

37:36

flight. He got on the next time,

37:38

the rest of the year pretty much.

37:40

I got down bad one day, I

37:42

got home to my wife and I

37:44

was like, tough day. And she and

37:47

you so mad at me, I'm like,

37:49

it's okay. Like we'll get this back.

37:51

Like MJ's still on the table. Yeah,

37:53

we're getting MJ's still. Yeah, so. Yeah,

37:55

I've seen some of those AC Ducey

37:57

pots where like, it's ridiculous. You just

37:59

have to write a check afterwards. Yeah.

38:01

And someone's like, oh. God, like. This

38:03

is brutal. If you ever have to

38:05

write a check, you're in a really

38:08

bad spot. It's like, it's not good

38:10

at all. Yeah, you don't want that.

38:12

When you're calling the financial guy. Yeah.

38:14

Just let you know some money is

38:16

about to be moving. What happens? I

38:18

mean, don't worry about the plane ride.

38:20

My funniest, well my best memories Ken

38:22

City was watching you guys after the

38:24

plane ride trying to figure out what

38:26

the hell went wrong and you and

38:29

you and Di is just talking. We

38:31

held a couple bus drivers up. Davy

38:33

got pissed at us one time, dude,

38:35

because we're just outside the key center

38:37

in the Marriott. And it was like

38:39

2.30 in the morning, and the bus

38:41

driver's still chilling out there. And then

38:43

he's like, hey, man, we got one

38:45

more hand. Just stay right there. And

38:47

Davy comes out of the bus. He's

38:49

like, what the hell's going on here,

38:52

guys. He's got to get out of

38:54

here. And she's like, man, you don't

38:56

think we're going to break this dude

38:58

off, man. And then you start going

39:00

at it. And then the hand still

39:02

hasn't been decided. Eight guys still on

39:04

the bus. Yeah, we are, when like,

39:06

Volquez and Kenzuz Morales, Neski, loves play

39:08

cards. Oh, we had a bus driver.

39:10

This made Davy very angry too. They

39:13

paid the bus driver to drive in

39:15

front of the other bus. They were

39:17

like, we'll give you a certain amount

39:19

of money if you beat that bus

39:21

to the hotel. And he said, yeah,

39:23

that was a new one, I didn't

39:25

understand. And he did it, and it

39:27

was awesome, because Davy was pissed. Which,

39:29

as you guys know, is kind of

39:31

our job. It's just to just make

39:34

him angry. Davy is our, you know,

39:36

anybody watching, watching, he's a head clubhouse,

39:38

everything. Is there any new like veteran

39:40

like it was like rookie dress up

39:42

in September? I feel like that's right

39:44

it out a little bit Yeah, football

39:46

is just kind of taking over fantasy

39:48

football takes over so we did a

39:50

regular fantasy league Like the bigger one

39:52

which I'm the commissioner of we had

39:55

a whole we're in Houston Especially the

39:57

night before I got hurt which is

39:59

cool, but James MacArthur sang the national

40:01

before we got started. We had the

40:03

music, Davy set it up for us

40:05

in the hotel, it was sick. Everybody

40:07

was there, which was cool, like not

40:09

even the guys playing, or even the

40:11

guys not playing. That was cool. Then

40:14

we did a guillotine league, whereas

40:16

18 people, whoever finishes, lowest,

40:18

done. Your team goes to Waverwire,

40:20

you get 200 bucks to bid

40:22

on free agents, and then once

40:24

you're out of money, you're done.

40:27

Chris Stratton won that league. There's

40:29

some wild fantasy football like charity leagues

40:31

you can get into. Oh yeah. The

40:33

best part about that league is whoever

40:36

lost. We had like chat GT create

40:38

an image for everybody. Like some image

40:40

with like, like, he doesn't care, but

40:42

we had, we had Jack Peterson slapping

40:45

Tommy Fam when he eliminated. That's amazing.

40:47

That is because of our league, by

40:49

the way. That's the big league, right.

40:51

Like that's the, that's the, that's the

40:54

one McCaffry one morning. Is Grandkey in

40:56

that league? No, that's a different one.

40:58

That's a different one as well. That's

41:01

the keeper sleeper league. Yeah, I got

41:03

an invite to that league. Couldn't do

41:05

it. No way I can justify that.

41:07

That one is different to me because

41:09

last year was my first year. So

41:12

we get to the league and Greek.

41:14

He traded everybody for draft picks.

41:16

He'd sold his whole roster for draft

41:18

picks. And I was like, man, this

41:20

is weird. And I'm scooping up

41:23

everybody. I'm thinking I have a have a

41:25

good year. Surging right around playoff time and

41:27

my team was out. I had no draft

41:29

picks nothing so like he outsmarted the whole league

41:31

He got all these draft picks for this

41:34

year and like he ended up with all the

41:36

receivers all the running back all that shit. Oh,

41:38

he grinds like that guy grinds hard I'm in

41:40

two leagues with him. I mean, it's still like

41:42

daily He's making moves. I'm like, I don't even

41:44

know what you're doing. He's always sending trade offers

41:46

and stuff. But he'll send trades, text the group,

41:48

and be like, Vinny, I got to trade for

41:50

you. You got five minutes of responder, it's gone.

41:52

And he'll be like, it's a good one. And

41:54

you look, and it's like, no, it's not. But

41:56

now he's starting to get me. I'm in my

41:58

head, like, is it a good trade? Man, I

42:00

love that guy. I got to play with

42:02

him, which is super cool. Who are

42:04

some other veteran guys you enjoyed being

42:07

around? Yeah, Grandki's definitely won. Waka's

42:09

been awesome. Matt Duffy's become one

42:11

of my better friends, which is

42:14

super cool. I'm trying to think

42:16

a guy, like Fran Milrez, we

42:18

had for about a month. Yeah. He

42:21

was hilarious. I think he is in Japan

42:23

now, but he was awesome. I

42:25

don't understand how that guy didn't

42:27

have a job. I don't know. It was San

42:29

Diego, Washington, it was first and second,

42:32

two outs, you were playing back, got

42:34

a ground ball, threw the guy out at

42:36

second, and I'm like, okay, that takes stones

42:38

to not just go to first there. Big,

42:40

A, size of some Florida oranges. Yeah, it

42:42

was Soto's debut. And then, how about when

42:44

I got traded to Boston, my luggage

42:47

gets held up, of course, so I don't have

42:49

a glove, I don't have a bat. Vennie

42:51

P sends over a glove. I was

42:53

using Vennie P's first game. I offered

42:55

my gamer to you. Yeah, Davy came

42:57

over. Davy comes over my locker. I'm

43:00

like sitting there. I'm looking at my

43:02

locker. He's like, hey, weird question,

43:04

but Haus just got traded. But

43:06

now he's here, but now he's here.

43:09

But you were supposed to come like

43:11

two weeks later with San Diego. Yeah.

43:13

So they were preparing for like a

43:16

video or something, but then it happened.

43:18

That's awesome. And I was playing first.

43:20

Benny, you need a glove. Wow. So

43:22

there's a, so I'm at third base,

43:25

you're running across the field. And I'm

43:27

at third base, you're running across

43:29

the field. And I like look at,

43:31

we don't know each other, obviously, like

43:33

we had never met at that point.

43:36

And I wanted to like, look at

43:38

you, be like, oh, what do you

43:40

think of the glove? And you like

43:42

looked at me, you said something like

43:44

thanks play or something like that. And

43:46

Vance Wilson comes up to me after,

43:48

like you guys have Vance too, right?

43:50

He comes up to me, he's like, yo

43:52

don't try to be buddy buddy with

43:55

Hosmer, he doesn't like that shit. Right

43:57

baby, don't talk to me. Vance is

43:59

a hard. He's like, you haven't done shit

44:01

yet to like talk to him on the

44:03

field like right after an inning. He's like,

44:06

he hates that. And I'm like, I was

44:08

just trying to like have a good time.

44:10

But okay, like. You should have just left

44:12

the glove on the base. That would have

44:14

been great. Just like go pick it up

44:17

and be like literally stopped. But you signed

44:19

a jersey for me that's in the collection.

44:21

Yeah, dude. Vance, I remember Vance, I remember

44:23

Vance his last year. before he became a

44:25

coach. He was in spring training, dude, and

44:28

there was a young catcher in the dugout,

44:30

and he wasn't catching bullpens, and Vance, like,

44:32

stopped the bullpens, sprinted to the dugout, and

44:34

embarrassed this dude. Yeah, oh, I'm sure. The

44:36

other day, first day, they're doing some lives.

44:39

They're doing some live reads at second, like,

44:41

just feel out my timing, whatever. And I

44:43

guess Vance just whistles at him. He's like,

44:45

what the. Get the fuck off the field.

44:47

And I guess he went to his locker

44:50

later on in the day and was like,

44:52

you're a big leaguer, man. Like, you don't

44:54

need to do that. Like, it's day one.

44:56

And Massey's like, I just wanted to, just

44:58

wanted to see what I was, I like

45:01

this. Like, I do enjoy being out here.

45:03

Vance is like, get the fuck out here.

45:05

Because Vance gets it. I feel like Vance

45:07

is at. He's trying to mature you guys

45:09

as players of understanding we're in this till

45:12

October. Yeah, and he gets it like he

45:14

gets it as a former player like he's

45:16

been through it he's been through the mud

45:18

like he's seen some things he's done some

45:20

things and he's a sounding board like he's

45:23

his role with the Royals their base coach.

45:25

He's my role with the Royals. They're basically

45:27

he's Marley manager for a while Arkansas. He's

45:29

a bullpen coach for a little bit. He's

45:31

done a lot of different. I bat boy

45:34

when Vance when Vance Wilson was playing Wilson

45:36

was playing for the was playing for the

45:38

playing for the Mets was playing for the

45:40

Mets was playing for the Mets was playing

45:42

for the Mets was playing for the Mets.

45:45

Like, I've known Vance since I was like

45:47

10 years old. And he's the exact same

45:49

as he was. I was like, this guy's

45:51

a nut chop, dude. Yeah, oh, yeah. But

45:53

like, my favorite person ever. The best, he's

45:56

awesome. Oh, you bat boy, where? My uncle

45:58

coach for the Mets. So I bat boy

46:00

when they come to LA. Sure? Yeah, sure,

46:02

my bet. My bet. Pi- So was there,

46:04

we got a, yeah, yeah, speaking of Piazza.

46:07

Yeah, so team Italy, WBC. There's the lay

46:09

up for you. How you feeling about that?

46:11

Easy money. I feel good about it. I

46:13

don't know if I'm invited to play next

46:15

year or not. Why? Because there's new leadership

46:18

within, now by the time, I don't know

46:20

when this is going out, but like, what'd

46:22

you say? Servelli's manager? Servelli's the manager now,

46:24

and there's a new guy running the guy

46:26

running the show, running the show, so the

46:29

guys who ran the show, so the show,

46:31

Maybe I'm good enough to play on the

46:33

USA team. Like I don't know. I don't

46:35

know if they need a first baseman, but

46:37

I'm eligible for three countries. Canada. Canada. I'm

46:40

actually more eligible. Like I'm easier eligible for

46:42

Canada than Italy. My name is just super.

46:44

I'm Italian. That's a layup. I'm ready to

46:46

give you everything I got. Whatever. I'm down

46:48

to represent a country in the third season.

46:51

That is so cool. It is wild. It

46:53

is the coolest thing. Like obviously, you know,

46:55

like my number one team that I'd love

46:57

to play for is the United States. Just

46:59

because... I'm from here, grew up here, like

47:02

it's super cool. I can get you a

47:04

visa for Australia? Perfect. Anytime you want to

47:06

carry on. I just love representing countries. It's

47:08

kind of my thing. I want to just

47:10

bounce around and spice it up. But like

47:13

the team early thing was so cool and

47:15

it got back to like my grandfather's roots,

47:17

which was cool for him. So it was

47:19

cool for me to, because I had to

47:21

like go through a bunch of steps to

47:24

make sure that I actually had family because

47:26

it was my grandfather's my grandfather's father's father's

47:28

father. back to like the early 1900s trying

47:30

to find records of like marriage certificates of

47:32

things happening so it was definitely cool to

47:35

learn the learn the family history and then

47:37

they went all out for us they we

47:39

did a trip in Italy a whole week

47:41

like they flew everybody out the country worked

47:43

out at some high school fields there which

47:46

was that was an experience yeah but it

47:48

was super cool and they're trying to build

47:50

baseball in Italy right now which I've got

47:52

nothing but respect for so it's all super

47:54

proud of being on that team maybe being

47:57

on that team again and then seeing what

47:59

they're in Houston next year So both United

48:01

States and Houston are in, or United States

48:03

and Italy are in Houston, which I think

48:05

is a lot to do with. we had

48:08

a lot of major league players on the

48:10

team Italy team so it's like let's get

48:12

you in the United States where there's more

48:14

eyeballs just like time zone wise. We played

48:16

Italy in our first ever game in the

48:19

original WBC and I think Piazza was still

48:21

either playing or managing and Jason Greeley absolutely

48:23

shoved it up for nine innings. We didn't

48:25

even look like we were gonna even get

48:27

close to beating those guys and we had

48:30

to pace Dominican and Venezuela after that. Kind

48:32

of kind of in sign it was huge

48:34

for a little while there when there's just

48:36

so many like famous names to think of

48:38

that like Major League players that have super

48:41

Italian roots right so I mean the game

48:43

is it got really big trailed off and

48:45

now it's coming back again which is super

48:47

cool good those are out with some royal

48:49

stuff man like Vance kind of like we

48:52

were talking about he understands you guys are

48:54

at that next level of expectation is October

48:56

and expectation is playoffs and we're getting to

48:58

that next level is that the same field

49:00

with the players and the younger guys as

49:03

well? Yeah I think it last year we

49:05

didn't surprise ourselves we may have surprised people

49:07

on the outside but not really ourselves and

49:09

I think it's the same thing this year

49:11

where there like our goal last year was

49:14

to win the division that didn't happen so

49:16

even though we made the playoffs like there

49:18

was still some failure there in our eyes

49:20

where like I think we were in Cleveland

49:22

with the chance to take the the sole

49:25

lead we had beat them with four game

49:27

series we'd beat them three times tied them

49:29

for the lead and then I think we're

49:31

up to nothing in like the six or

49:33

seventh I think bone bow nailer hit a

49:36

Homer to put them down to one and

49:38

then they went off that rest of that

49:40

game they took back the lead and we

49:42

never got it back so I think there's

49:44

some still some sour taste where it's like

49:47

man if we could have won the division

49:49

I mean we're probably looking at the the

49:51

two seed right and hosted more games and

49:53

I think that was one thing that was

49:55

super special was playing in Kansas City was

49:58

playing in Kansas City that was different like

50:00

Playing on the roads one thing in the

50:02

playoffs because the booze are really cool and

50:04

like making a stadium silent is like. Unreal.

50:06

But like playing at home, especially in Kansas

50:09

City with those fans, it's electric. Yeah, and

50:11

like the way that the parking lot is

50:13

too, like I'm showing up for the game

50:15

and people are already rippant. Yeah, tailgating. I'm

50:17

looking at my watch. Jesus, you guys gonna

50:20

make it in? Yeah, man, it is. And

50:22

you realize in the postseason, it's like it

50:24

could be that inning in the, that time

50:26

in the fourth inning were... guy on third

50:28

I didn't make that contact we lost two

50:31

to one like that moment just sticks out

50:33

that much more in your mind and I

50:35

feel like that's what post-season baseball you're like

50:37

all right every pitch matters that much more

50:39

huh and that's why we feel like we

50:42

talk about it like you guys are built

50:44

for deep postseason runs because you guys do

50:46

things the right way right like you guys

50:48

run the bases right way play great defense

50:50

you do the fundamental things that don't look

50:53

sexy but you get the job done and

50:55

like we talk about that all the time

50:57

with you guys Let me ask you this,

50:59

I remember what I was going to say

51:01

now, with the, so like looking at the

51:04

American League last year, and in my opinion,

51:06

I think the American League route to the

51:08

post-season, I don't think was as strong as

51:10

the National League, and I'm not saying the

51:12

teams weren't as good because I'm saying what

51:15

I'm saying is, is the Yankees in my

51:17

opinion didn't play like clean baseball all the

51:19

way throughout. Do you as the Royals, like

51:21

do you think you guys look at... kind

51:23

of the Yankees run last year and say

51:26

wait if we can just maintain our level

51:28

of play and play our brand of baseball

51:30

we feel like that's good enough do you

51:32

feel like you've met like gotten over that

51:34

mental hurdle as a team yeah I think

51:37

so because I think if like I actually

51:39

watched some highlights from the playoffs the other

51:41

day I didn't realize how like we lost

51:43

three to one to the Yankees like and

51:45

they beat us three three out of four

51:48

but you watch those games I mean they

51:50

were tight They were tight the whole way

51:52

through. Oh yeah. And the moment of it

51:54

seems like you guys are winning the game

51:56

for sure. Yeah. And since I was DH

51:59

in and I was like kind of doing

52:01

some rehab stuff during the game, there were

52:03

some stuff that I couldn't really see. Like

52:05

I didn't really realize some of the stuff

52:07

that was going on. Like to be honest,

52:10

I didn't know. how close those games. Like

52:12

I was just, everything was, okay, what do

52:14

I got to do to get ready? Like

52:16

how can I take this? But we're taping

52:18

up the hand, like making sure everything's good.

52:21

But I go back and watch my God,

52:23

we were right there. And then, you know,

52:25

you win that series, you go to Cleveland

52:27

and, you know, we play good against Cleveland.

52:29

Like, they play good against us too. I

52:32

mean, but it's just that your division team,

52:34

like anything can happen, like anything can happen

52:36

if you can happen, if you get happen,

52:38

if you get to get to get to

52:40

get We'll never know, like we didn't deserve

52:43

that chance to find out. But you'll, I'm

52:45

not saying you like the match up, but

52:47

you're excited about that opportunity to play another

52:49

really good team in a seven game series

52:51

to go to the World Series and you're

52:54

right on that doorstep and there's no reason

52:56

that we're not right there next year too.

52:58

Yeah, what's great about it is you guys

53:00

know that standard. So once you get off

53:02

that standard, you, Bobby, you guys know how

53:05

to reel it back in and say, hey,

53:07

we got to get back to get back

53:09

to our standard. Yeah, there is no more

53:11

like there probably won't be a whole lot

53:13

of standings watching the first two months of

53:16

the year It's just like go play good

53:18

clean baseball because we're gonna expect to be

53:20

at the top of those standings If we're

53:22

not like in our mind something is wrong

53:24

with the pitching that we have We also

53:27

have the best player in baseball which helps

53:29

a lot a like it helps a ton

53:31

I think the way our lineup is I

53:33

mean it just makes a lot of sense

53:35

you you've got Jonathan India at the top

53:38

who gets on base a lot and that's

53:40

his calling card then you have the best

53:42

player in the best player in the best

53:44

player in the game And then you get

53:46

me and Sal who like Sal's gonna be

53:49

at bare minimum a Royals Hall of Famer

53:51

in my opinion should be a Hall of

53:53

Famer because what he is doing I don't

53:55

give a what any baseball reference war says

53:57

like off. Yes, nobody does. The Hall of

54:00

Fame is about selling celebrating players that do

54:02

things that nobody else does not what your

54:04

baseball reference war is. He is doing something

54:06

as a catcher that nobody does. That's Hall

54:08

of Famer in my mind like us two

54:11

are gonna have so many rb i opportunities

54:13

i'm hoping i take them all from him

54:15

and then i'll just hit a double and

54:17

he can hit me in so what is

54:19

okay what is that then bridge this gap

54:22

from the old school, new school, because everything

54:24

you see now, people say that Coughman Stadiums,

54:26

a Hidders Paradise. I'm like, what? So, Hidders

54:28

Paradise only means in a Hidders' mind, Hidders'

54:30

Paradise means, in a Hidders' mind, Hidders' Paradise

54:33

means, the fence means, the fence is close

54:35

to me. That's all it means, when I

54:37

hit it, Coughman, like I don't really got

54:39

to be pullside. I'm gonna hit my doubles

54:41

over there, but I'm not, I don't play

54:44

in Houston. Like, I don't play in Cincinnati,

54:46

where it says I would have like 25

54:48

more home runs than I have, which would

54:50

be sick, by the way. I'd be awesome

54:52

to have 20 some more home runs than

54:55

I have. But like, Kaufman is a good

54:57

place to hit in terms of, it's good

54:59

to see, and I can bloop in some

55:01

hits. I would probably trade some bloops for

55:03

some homers. But like I think the argument

55:06

is just so dumb that like everybody thought

55:08

we were cheating last year like what? Because

55:10

we're good at home and I went back

55:12

and forth with that account like I saw

55:14

that the crazy like Bobby at home you

55:17

guys were hitting spin way better than the

55:19

real like yeah crazy number they broke down

55:21

but that's also like what you guys are

55:23

built though you guys aren't built for like.

55:25

Right. Bombs. We're not built like, Salvy hits,

55:28

hit that had the one year where he

55:30

hit 48 home rounds. Yeah. I still wouldn't

55:32

argue that Salvy's a home run hitter. I

55:34

think he's a hitter first with a bunch

55:36

of power. Exactly. Like, he swings at everything.

55:39

He also hits everything. Like, you play in

55:41

Kaufman, you become a good hitter. It's like,

55:43

you have to. That's like a prerequisite. It's

55:45

like if you can't hit for power. Doubles

55:47

still work, singles are still good. But I

55:50

think that's kind of where you talk about

55:52

the game, where it is today too, of

55:54

what teams are looking for. And that's why

55:56

I think we're built so well is because

55:58

we've got a bunch of good ball players.

56:01

I think in my opinion you don't want

56:03

to play us in a short, like in

56:05

a five to seven game series because we're

56:07

just going to grind out at bats. I

56:09

think the game that mattered the most for

56:12

us this season in Seattle, we're down like

56:14

eight nothing, we come back to win. We

56:16

ended up beating Seattle by one game in

56:18

the playoff standing. So it's like just little

56:20

things like that we just do really well

56:23

as a team. Again, it helps having the

56:25

best player on the team or in the

56:27

league on your team, obviously. count just as

56:29

much as the ones in September. And if

56:31

you guys have the mindset, which you guys

56:34

do, that every game is important, like the

56:36

standings will be there at the end. Like

56:38

you'll be where you want to be. And

56:40

it feels, I mean, just from the outside

56:42

look, and it feels like you guys got

56:45

that handled. Like, we play every game to

56:47

win. Our mantra is like today, because it's

56:49

all that matters. And it's all it matters.

56:51

Just go win the game today. Go win

56:53

that pitch. It's a cliche, but it's a

56:56

cliche for a reason. If you go up

56:58

there with them, like, oh, what do I,

57:00

if I have five about tonight, I'm at

57:02

Max gonna see 30 pitches, maybe, then that

57:04

would be a grind. I can, I can

57:07

focus for that. That's pretty, you break it

57:09

down like that's pretty easy. You break it

57:11

down like that's pretty easy. If I'm ready

57:13

to go, it's easy. If you get nine

57:15

guys to do that on a consistent basis,

57:18

you're gonna be. You're gonna be in a

57:20

really good. Can I do? It's cool to

57:22

see you guys at this spot because I

57:24

feel like the hardest thing to do in

57:26

the position you're at right now as a

57:29

leader of a clubhouse, being the clubhouse guy,

57:31

is these young guys are coming up to

57:33

the big leagues. The game is asking them

57:35

to do something different because that's what when

57:37

you go to make money is being argued

57:40

against you and you're asking these young guys

57:42

to play team baseball and to be able

57:44

to not worry about the... contract stuff and

57:46

just try and win and that's the state

57:48

of the organization for the Royals is bad

57:51

to see and you're a big part of

57:53

that because you're you're running clubhouse and I

57:55

think all the guys that played they know

57:57

how much the clubhouse means and it's not

57:59

on Bobby it's not like that's your and

58:02

I love it. I love it for you

58:04

guys and keep it rolling, man. We love

58:06

watching you guys from afar. I appreciate it.

58:08

One more thing really quick. Last year we

58:10

had our 10-year reunion and you guys came

58:13

and showed, or 10 year for the 2014,

58:15

you guys came and showed up and hung

58:17

out with us. Like, how was that for

58:19

you to be around like? guys that weren't

58:21

like we're out of the game now but

58:24

like to see you and like come out

58:26

and hang out with us like it was

58:28

awesome for me to hang out with you

58:30

guys too it was like the younger guys

58:32

want to come and you know support what

58:35

we did like that was that was super

58:37

dope. Yeah it was really cool like I

58:39

was honored to be invited because we knew

58:41

how big of a deal that was to

58:43

the city and to you guys like coming

58:46

back like that's super cool I ended up

58:48

going to that bar with you guys with

58:50

you guys afterwards? Like I'll go, whatever. What's

58:52

the worst that can happen? Like go hang

58:54

out with some people? So yeah, that was

58:57

super cool and I'm sure that there's a

58:59

bigger event coming this year. I think it's

59:01

85 and 15 coming this year. So we're

59:03

going to get a lot of old heads

59:05

coming in telling us we suck because our

59:08

BP is not going to be any good.

59:10

I mean, how good does this sound? 85,

59:12

15 and 25? Sounds pretty good. I would

59:14

argue that's good. Good. Good argument. Yeah, thank

59:16

you. No, good. Yeah. You guys are just

59:19

quiet. It's cool to like appreciate that, but

59:21

at the same time, you guys want to

59:23

create your own shit. Yeah. Well, so it

59:25

isn't, it's funny that you ask me not,

59:27

because I've had this conversation multiple times, is

59:30

like, while we love you guys, we don't

59:32

want to be you. No. Like, and I

59:34

don't mean that in a disrespectful way. Like,

59:36

like, we want to be us. Because I

59:38

was y'all's thing. We got to come up

59:41

with our own. So it is always funny

59:43

like around those times like Fettiwap will start

59:45

getting played around the stadium. We're like all

59:47

right like it's that time of year right

59:49

now. We'll get through it and then in

59:52

10 years like somebody's gonna play our song.

59:54

But we do talk about like random things

59:56

that you guys did like can we do

59:58

something in the interview where the whole team

1:00:00

does? Not necessarily the same thing, but just

1:00:03

on the similar mindset of

1:00:05

like, one, we've been studying

1:00:07

you guys for years because

1:00:09

throughout the, coming up in the

1:00:11

minor leagues, like it was always

1:00:14

study these 1415 teams. What

1:00:16

did they do? Honestly, like, study

1:00:18

what happened afterwards. Like, why did

1:00:20

it not continue? Why did all

1:00:23

of you guys leave? Like, like,

1:00:25

that's a real question. It's like.

1:00:27

You guys shouldn't be ashamed for

1:00:30

leaving because you went and made

1:00:32

a ton of money and like I'm

1:00:34

assuming that money was not offered

1:00:36

to you. You just understand I

1:00:38

think I think a lot of it is

1:00:40

we try and I think our group of

1:00:43

our team our group of Royals think back

1:00:45

and we're like damn like it's messed

1:00:47

up they didn't sign everybody back

1:00:49

offer us whatever at the end of

1:00:51

the day it's not like It was an

1:00:53

owner's team, he has the decision. So

1:00:56

you go on in your career. Yeah,

1:00:58

I signed back by the way. I

1:01:00

signed back. I got traded. You did

1:01:02

time back. That's right. You were like

1:01:04

the only one. Yeah, nobody wanted me.

1:01:06

So was it 16? 16? No, I

1:01:08

was at 16. Yeah, 17. It was

1:01:11

18. 18. 18. What we understood

1:01:13

was like. Being able to come

1:01:15

up in the minor leagues and then experience

1:01:17

a couple years in the big leagues with

1:01:19

that same group of guys You guys going

1:01:21

to the playoffs having this majority group of

1:01:23

guys going to experience another year You

1:01:26

understand like those years. That's a big prime

1:01:28

time year that you need to make the

1:01:30

most of and make the full opportunity and

1:01:32

You when you look back at your big league

1:01:34

career the reality is yeah you think you can

1:01:36

win every single year but there's these prime years

1:01:38

where it's like this is it's now or no

1:01:40

we're starting that in my opinion this is like

1:01:42

the first year of that prime year we're like

1:01:44

the young guys that we brought up two three

1:01:46

years ago or get into that point where it's

1:01:49

like one arb is coming which is going to

1:01:51

matter when nine guys hit arbitration at one

1:01:53

time but like you bring in some you bring in

1:01:55

some pieces from the outside it's like now you go

1:01:57

like now you go like this is this is this is our

1:01:59

time to like go do it now. And

1:02:01

it doesn't mean that in five years it's

1:02:04

going to be gone, but it means that

1:02:06

like right now today, like is the beginning

1:02:08

of what could be something great in Kansas

1:02:10

City, we just got to go do it.

1:02:12

So I think that's a big difference too

1:02:15

is we knew in four or five years

1:02:17

it was done. I think one or two

1:02:19

of us can maybe sign back and this

1:02:21

is our window. What's awesome about you

1:02:23

guys is JJ has proven now like

1:02:25

if we win, guys are going to

1:02:27

come to Kansas City. Which is a super cool

1:02:30

thing because I feel like we're all a part of that

1:02:32

of like they want to come here because they want

1:02:34

to play with us and they want to be

1:02:36

in this culture too and that's something that we

1:02:38

don't take for granted and we want to continue

1:02:40

going because we think it's a special place very

1:02:43

welcoming to families kids bring your kids in the

1:02:45

locker room like at the right time but bring

1:02:47

them in like everybody's cool with it and just

1:02:49

different things like that I think we do that

1:02:52

I just don't know if other teams do or

1:02:54

not It's a special organization that people are willing

1:02:56

to come to now. They've come to Kansas

1:02:58

City not just to keep a job, but

1:03:00

to come win. And that's super special and

1:03:02

it's something that I'm super proud to be

1:03:05

a part of. You should be, man, because honestly,

1:03:07

for Caglioni to have that confidence going

1:03:09

in the spring is a huge credit

1:03:11

to you. That's a huge confidence look

1:03:13

on your part as well to know, like, either way,

1:03:15

like, we're both professionals. You're not

1:03:17

coming from my job, I'm not coming for your

1:03:20

job, we're both in this to win a championship,

1:03:22

so I commend you man, that's special stuff for

1:03:24

you.