Cubs Pitcher Jordan Wicks Joins the Broadcast to Discuss His Role as Cubs Nike RBI Ambassador | WCSN

welcome back bottom of the second inning we are now pleased to be joined by pitcher for the shot Cubs and the Cubs Nike RBI Ambassador for this season Jordan WIS Jordan thanks so much for the time appreciate you coming on board and talking about your ambassadorship with Cubs Nike RBI and I want to know what's been your involvement so far with the program it's been awesome you know we we've got to do um a lot of really cool events um you know getting to meet a lot of the uh a lot of the Cubs teams a lot of the players talking to a lot of them um you know getting to be with on the field of grigley when they got to go out there and um you know have their picture taken and stuff like that was was a really cool event and then you know getting to come out here and see you know such an awesome field and um you know some games out here is is awesome and these are all high school players we're seeing unfold right now so from your perspective you know what was your experience playing baseball like when you were these young athletes age right now yeah you know it was a lot doing a lot of the similar things that they were you know playing in tournaments during the summer um on fields like this on you know hot days out here in the summer and um you know playing a lot of high school ball and it was it was it was a lot of fun you know it's it's awesome you know just getting to be out here and see this you know it honestly brings back a lot of memories and what makes you know being involved and trying to grow the game you know what what about that means so much to you is now that you've reached the Pinnacle of professional sports and professional baseball yeah for me it's you know I I just Tred to um you know help kids and and give them a lot of the things that I learned from growing up you know cuz I I was fortunate enough to have a lot of people that helped me along the way um so now that I feel like you know I've been in the position I'm in I feel like you know a lot of it is my responsibility to um to also give that back and so for me it's you know hoping to help these kids and you know whether it's you know teach something on the field off the field whatever it may be um you know I just I love that part of what Mrs downstairs for a ball um I want to talk to you about you were there alongside Luke little at Family Day you know back in may they did the Jersey presentation what would have gone through your head if you were you know a high school player getting that opportunity you know get your jersey presented and you get to go on and field that afterwards as well man that would have been a that would have been a moment i' have never forgotten I can tell you that you know and I hope it was a day that you know those kids would never forget and they'll take a lot from especially those families as well um one of the coolest moments for me you know being in there was just you know seeing all the parents' reactions you know how proud they were of their kids how you know awesome it was for them to be there which was which was really cool because you know it shows you lot of the stuff that we do has has impact Beyond just the players you know you sit there and you get to see look on the Family's faces you get to see you know all the people involved and it's such a it's such a CO thing to be and for example in this league that we're watching right here obviously the opportunity to play baseball for free how important do you think that is also for growing the game itself not just besides those opportunities get to go on the rle field but these opportunities here where you're going to play competitive baseball and quality baseball for free to little cost yeah I mean it's it's it's so important because baseball like baseball is an expensive sport it is um you know growing up it there's a lot of you know gear that goes into it there's a lot of um elements to it and so to be able to you know limit some of that cost and and make it more affordable is huge for you know growing growing the aspects of the game to to all people who want I want to talk to you also about your time you spent over at Lake fi High School you went back and visited a French class there in January from your perspective as well what that experience like for you and why is it so important to reach out to the community Beyond just helping the next generation of athletes yeah it's it's huge because you know it shows that you know not just trying to help kids who play baseball on the baseball field strictly in that element you know in all aspects of life and so you know being able to you know go into a class you know even a French class something I know very little about um it was was really cool just to be able to see that different side of um of kids days you know at it's see that aspect Chicago may not may not see a whole lot of that if you so how many years of French you take in high school you sit down here very little I so when I I actually lived in London when I was a kid yeah and um for about 4 months and I took I took French while I was over there first semester I was about 9 years old don't remember a lick um I also have to ask you right now we're watching a z00 game here there's possible pickoff play not executed in time say if they're at second base I feel like you you brought the the pitching duel Vibes here it's a very low scoring game what is your biggest piece of advice to all the young pitchers out there who might be watching this yeah man it's just the biggest thing is have fun fill up the strike zone make things happen um you know that's that's one of the things it's the toughest to learn for a lot of these kids is you know how to consistently throw strikes it's one of the most important um you know there's a lot of there's a lot of emphasis on velocity these days and you know that's that's great and everything and you know realistically it doesn't do you doesn't do you a whole lot of good if it's not in the zone so the big thing is is um you know filling up the zone and and all that sort of stuff talking right now with Jordan Wix he's the Cubs Nike RBI Ambassador for the year also involved with Cubs Charities you know that time you spent at the Cubs convention meeting fans what about this fan base makes you know cup fans and being a part of those events so special man it's unbelievable you know some of the some of the nicest people uh most outgoing love to talk to you about anything you know Cubs anything um about baseball so just being able to you know go out there and connect with them in in an aspect that's not just about the game so being able to you know talk to them off the field is so cool because you know you get to hear stories about how you know they're their grandfather brought their dad to rley who now brings them who I mean you run into these people who it just stems G and the stories you get to hear are just so so incredible with you know the different aspects of you you I run into people all over the country whether I'm in Arizona or whatever and they're like oh I moved from Chicago I lived there you know 10 years growing up used to go to Wrigley all the time and so it's you know Cubs are Cub fans are truly Nationwide they're all over the place and and they they show up whenever we travel that's for sure a lot of these athletes out here are part of the Cubs Nike RB Allstar they'll be competing at the region tournament in July to compete for the RBI World Series the biggest thing they talked about was the opportunity to compete with the name of their City their Hometown across their chest now if you were in the mindset of those young athletes how do you handle those emotions of you know handling the weight of a major city like Chicago when you're trying to compete for a trip to a World Series even if it's not the Major League World Series it's still World Series nonetheless man it's enjoy man those are those those are those moments that really you know you don't get a whole lot of them um and you know it's a it's a rare opportunity and it's an it's an outstanding opportunity for a lot of these kids and so just just enjoy every second of it um get to go out there with your city across your chest wear it with a lot of Pride and um and just go out there and have fun go out there compete have fun playing with your friends those are some of the best memories I had growing up was um playing baseball with kids I grew up with and some of the most fun I had on a baseball field you're here for a little bit you're going get a chance to talk to a lot of these young athletes both on B baseball and the softball side the sport of softball has grown so much and we've talked a lot about baseball why do you think the growth of softball has changed so much over the last couple years and why do you think it's important to be involved not just on the baseball side of growing the game but softball as well man I think I think a lot of what's been awesome for softball um especially is you know just the the publicity the Women's College World Series gets in college softball um I think that has blown up um it's a lot of fun to watch gets a lot of attention and you know when when they make it that easy to to watch and see how exciting it is it gets it gets exciting for a lot of young girls which is outstanding to see um because that's how that's how you grow the game you know you you get kids in front of it and the kids love to see it they love to watch it and whenever they see people they look up to they're like you know I want to be like that person I that's strike three and that's the end Jordan thank you so much for the time we appreciate it have fun with everyone the rest of the day awesome thank you so much