Joe Buck - I’m The Lucky One

[Music] gos East is one of Chicago's most famous deep dish pizza places they've been open since 1966 and there are still some people who don't realize goo's East is here in La now too and let me tell you it feels like you're in Chicago when you're in there I know I'm in there a lot and during the week gos has a happy hour from 3:00 to 6 Monday through Thursday get $5 drinks like Stella and Dark Horse Chardonnay also $6 eats like spinach artichoke dip garlic bread sticks and a jumbo bowl of fries there's so much great stuff on the menu I always have a difficult time deciding what to order at Goins my go-to is probably the tavern pizza cheese and sausage you know what everything is my go-to there deep dish the Italian beef you name it everything on that menu is fantastic gos East of Chicago in Los Angeles was named best pizza in the Southland by LA Times readers 2 years in a row it's more than just a Chicago restaurant it's one of the best restaurants in La check out the friendly confines of gs's East LA today on the corner of Coldwater Canyon and Riverside Drive just off the 101 see you [Music] there sit back and relax it's time for peanuts popcorn and Cracker Jacks hey how's it going I'm your host Jeff Santo I'm here with my wife chrisy hello hello we're getting towards the end of the baseball season here let me ask you you're the son of the eternal optimist so how is your feelings on the Cubs right now I I don't really have much because I feel like I've gone there and I've been disappointed and I don't see consistency in the team but I will say this Anything Can Happen baseball today no one is dominating okay so if they play like the Miracle Mets of 69 they got a shot but they do they beat wouldn't that be something yeah that would be something but let me tell you they beat the Dodgers last night 10 to four I was there it was nice so they got to win a night and the next day they got to win like uh what do they got 18 games left they got to go 13 and and and five I think so here's the thing I I I last week you know you know I'm on that text thread with my Irish Brethren right we go back to our childhoods high school everything and and I te you know I'll throw a text out someone will throw a text out about the game or something and we'll all reply I threw a text out after the Cubs you know won six in a row and they brought it home and then they lost that game to the Pirates because uh they were up 3 nothing after seven and they took out Talon and four scored in the in the eighth and I'm how is this how you take a guy out with a three hit shutout and I don't care if he's got 89 pitches sacrifice 11 more for another inning MH and I put that out there nothing radio Silence from my brethren oh really yeah and it was quiet Cracker Jacks quiet cool Cracker Jacks at that right all cool Cracker Jacks and very quiet and a very quiet text thread right so I started sitting on it I'm like no they hit me sooner or later nothing so I called one of the cool Cracker Jacks the next day and want to know like what's going on how come you no one responded to me well and so here's the answer I got and hey I accept it it's it's it's it's a fair response said it's it's you got to accept baseball today Jee that's like oh that's hilarious no but this he didn't want to upset me we're still living in what was and not what is well let me tell you what is okay here's what is is going on I did some research do you know that there are only four five teams that have one 300 hitter out of 30 teams oh my God that's ridiculous only one team has two 300 hitters and that's the Astros Alvarez and Altuve and check this out like Toronto has one three 300 hitter um Guerrero awesome hitting 322 the next closest is hitting 221 there is an epidemic in Major League Baseball called shitty hitters and you know what's funny they're all about the stats right but the stats are getting are getting weaker so if you're all about the stats then what's the key that you're missing and I think it's sports psychology well okay yes you're you're probably right there because it's gone to here's the thing we love the movie Money Ball it was a nice movie it was a it opened a lot of avenues like yeah we got to look at on base percent you got to look at what the good hitters do they do on base they hit per power right they drive in runs all the things they get they take their walks uh so the on base percentage is so key so but now we've gone to a dark a dark movie I go back to the game you're on a win streak in baseball you tell me Leo de roer Tommy lorta any great manager of the past would say I'm going to take my starting pitcher out after seven he's got a three hit shut out he's got 89 pitches and we're in the penet race right now we've come back from a really kind of horrendous SE and we might still have a shot no I'm just going to take him out now if I'm the bench call I'm going do well let's think about this because if they score four in the eighth that's a horrible decision right so why do it let's just go one more inning and and get to the ninth because things are tighter we got to go all in no but our manager says after the game he made the right decision how do you make the right decisions you lost exactly it's not the right decision because you lost yeah yeah here's what I get out of my my brethren thread that I I got the The Silence from when there's silence that means that you have accepted the outcome that there's no more argument and that's what that's what it's getting to now in a lot of situations baseball it's like we what do you get the box is getting smaller and smaller before you know they're pitching five innings and then four and then the hitters oh let's pay a guy uh 10 million to hit 220 I I it's it's it's we have to change we have to keep the argument going we have to keep responding on our text threads and go yeah this is this is crap we shouldn't be supporting this stuff because this is not big league baseball when five teams have one 300 hitter we need to bring the heart back into baseball there's something going on and maybe it's you know maybe you start looking at the analytics the guys that they're hiring maybe start hiring some you know GMS in that are players that get back to that and use what you can what you learned from money which there's some good things in there but this this has to stop balance balance of heart and mind consistency yeah you got it you got it absolutely so I don't as far as where the Cubs are going to go hey if they if if if they surprise us all boy would that be something but I I I wouldn't bet on it but get guess what we got a great show today we do have a great show today this this special guest of of mine is um I got to tell you he's a big fish he's a whale such a cool such a cool cat and uh can't wait for you here to discussion and the Cracker Jack too it's uh it's Chicago coming to LA and bringing a Chicago vibe to LA and that's my Cracker Jack so uh enjoy enjoy have you ever wondered how cool it would be to experience the life of a big league ball player well at Northside baseball Fantasy Camp you'll enjoy the week of a lifetime playing ball on Pro Quality fields being coached by and sharing a clubhouse with Cub Legends including Fergie Jenkins Jody Davis Bob daer Shawn Dunston and Lee Smith imagine your first day at the camp at North Side you enter into the clubhouse and see your locker with your name plate and personalized Home and Away Cub uniforms and then you see that one of your Cubs Heroes has a locker right next to yours no longer a fantasy your Cubs career is about to get real at Northside baseball Fantasy Camp you'll stay in top shelf accommodations and compete in a 10 game season that includes a playoff to determine the camp champions my brother and I were on a couple of Camp championship teams and it got intense it was great competition and you'll have Services of a professional training staff and you'll need it that's for sure plus a clubhouse attendant like the big leagues have picture yourself Towing the rubber facing Ron SE or Willie Wilson or Ron kummer yeah that's right and when you're in the Batters box you better get ready to take some hacks against Big League arms like m mik reminger Ray burus and Tim Stoddard Northside baseball Fantasy Camp is run by Veterans of Randy huntley's Fantasy Camp Randy's a legend and will always be remembered for this gift he gave to Baseball fans to all of us his legacy is in good hands Northside Camp runs January 26 to February 2nd 2025 in Tucson Arizona roster spots are limited so grab yours today go to Waveland events.com that's Waveland events.com and click on Northside baseball Fantasy Camp link for more information and to register you can also follow Northside baseball fantasy camp on Facebook sign up now my special guest today is one of the most accomplished sports broadcasters in history he's got the stats to prove it he's called over 5,000 baseball games 22 MLB All-Star games 25 MLB playoff series and 24 World Series over 1, 1500 professional football games over 100 Monday Night Football games 25 playoff games and six Super Bowls he is an extension of his father's greatness and then some and that's saying a ton that feat to me is a rarity of human proportions he called the 2016 Cubs World Series Championship no one did that in 108 years and I got to meet him that weekend and hang out with him again recently at a mutual friend 60th what a blast that was he's such a cool guy so great to have him on the show Joe Buck thanks for being here man after calling another Monday Night Football game oh brother it's so good to be with you uh my voice is a little uh wrecked right now dealing with a cold and then talking for four hours last night but it's good to see your face um thank you for that great introduction and uh we're two lucky guys that get to walk this world being uh sons of great dads and forging our own path and you know I'm I'm happy to be on I I don't want to start on a soliloquy I'll let you go no man that's that's we're going right into that your dad Jack um a legend a Class Act uh an old school badass you know succeeding in a profession that carries the weight of a parent significant Legacy to me is one of the most difficult things to do the mental vulnerabilities of it all uh are deep and daunting I know how did you navigate a path at such a young age with a completely different mindset than your father's growing up I mean he was working on a shipping boat on Lake Michigan before he got into broadcast yeah yeah you're right um you know it's it's why God made therapists although I didn't have one when I was 21 and doing the Cardinals and hearing the cries of nepotism uh from the local paper the St Louis Post Dispatch and while it hurt me then um I I I think as time went on I understood it better you know I I think it's just human nature um I got a million breaks I wrote a book it's called lucky bastard I am that um but I'm lucky in a lot of different ways and and I think the main way was not am not only am I Jack Buck's son but I'm Jack Buck's son who got behind the curtain like I I think as time's gone on I've realized that the greatest gift my dad gave me when I was a kid and and idolizing him and sitting in the corner of his office while he did interviews on the phone and going to Bush Stadium going to a Monday night football game in the radio booth and watching him do his thing with Hank stram the greatest gift he give he gave me was letting me know that I was welcome to be with him and letting me see it firsthand so I just happened to come along at the right time in his life he had six other kids uh my half brothers and sisters he was just at a different point in his life and then you know Harry KY leaves St Louis my dad ends up taking over the main job with the Cardinals and and that's when I was born it all coincided so I I was seeing his career take off as a little boy but he was more I think willing to be invested as a dad and take me along with him and and I got to see it firsthand he was as you said said an old school badass and he was he's a World War II vet he got shot in Germany he grew up during the Depression um he he didn't suffer fools he was a hard laugh a hard audience he was a man's man whatever that means in today's world I don't know but he he he was just a dude and to see how he was almost egoless because of all those things he never thought he was the star of the show the star of the show was the game and and calling it for Cardinal fans or calling it for Monday night football fans or whatever he he he was there and always felt lucky to be there and that's what I saw and that's what I wanted to be when I was a little kid so I I I just so lucky in so many different ways but I mean he was my best friend and uh you know he's been gone for 22 years I I like to try to work to continue to make him proud and uh you know like you then I'll stop talking uh like you I never have to worry about the end of the sentence when somebody said oh man I knew your dad and you don't you don't have to worry about what an [ __ ] or you know he owes me three grand or whatever it was it was like what a good person I I had such a good good time with him or he was so great to work with or whatever it was and that's the way it was with your Dad one of the sweetest men I've ever met in this business um you know you know those guys were were kind of rare unfortunately and we're just lucky that that they happen to be our dads you know well we sit on that I mean your dad was a little older when he had you versus my dad we were young you know we were in the clubhouse he had Ronnie you know was when he was 20 you know me at 22 so you know that is a difference but I think you know you talk about the NEP I I hate that nepo baby stuff you know because it's so difficult to try and follow a parent of of of of such significant and and and their path of what they had to go through our dad's they were tough guys like I said Dad World War II my dad grew up on the streets you know his dad left him at eight all this kind of stuff and then for you to take it I really think that is the equation to actually absorb to be there we were there with my dad but I think he was just a little too young and in the middle of really like his Pursuit right for great yeah and um so it was tough like we we just took in the surroundings and took in the the atmosphere we grew up in the clubhouse so I love that I took all that in and knew how to behave in those kind of rooms I can I think that's the most special thing that my brother and I got but actually following in the footsteps was a different thing it's a it's a it's a mental fortitude that he had that's hard to teach and it seems like you you caught on to your dad you took enough of what your dad was doing and make made your own out of it but then also to to take that to another level at such a young age to be determined to have goals and to not get caught up in you know life like your friends that are hanging out in packs or you know the stimulation of all the excess and Egos and everything how did you maintain that man yeah that that's a great question you know is you were saying that I I think one thing that dawn on me and I I don't know that I've ever really thought about it this way but you know I I think the whole nepo thing and and just it gives you so many advantages I think if you just accept it and and realize that that's just where you come from and that's just a huge advantage and and you don't fight it and you don't become bitter about it and you can use it to your advantage um I I think that's the place to land on that and and when you talk about packs of friends and getting in trouble I just my dad was traveling so much that I didn't want to be in trouble or grounded or unable to go down to the ballpark with him because I was being a punk and I I pretty much walked a straight and narrow I I didn't really get into a lot of trouble and I think one of the reasons why was I you know as opposed to Chicago St Louis is a small town and when we walked into a restaurant as a family and Jack buck with the white hair and you know kind of the mayor of the town so to speak uh he had a big presence in the city with fundraising and being on the radio and being a cardinal guy and doing call-in shows and whatever everybody knew him all eyes went to our table and I was aware of that when I was six seven eight nine and so you it it kind of shapes you to like hey if and by the my dad was like if we were bad we just wouldn't go the next time you know and and so my sister and I we we behaved pretty well and and so I don't know there there's so many things that come together as you look back and I'm 5 5 years old now and I think about my childhood and being in St Louis I was so lucky to grow up in in kind of a smaller town uh because it it kind of helped push me onto that straight and narrow path so um I you know what else I had a great mom and and I have a great mom and I I think sometimes the moms get overlooked um but she did everything and and she was kind of mom and dad for my dad was always out of town and this was not we weren't FaceTiming in the 70s uh my dad was gone and so keeping us you know on the right path was was largely her job and then my dad got to come home and have the fun with us so uh I was lucky that way too um you know I'm I'm just a really at least I'm aware of it and it may be annoying but I'm just a really I'm really blessed guy that that I I got to be Jack and Carol Buck's son yeah you know and at the same time you're doing that we were doing that riding with no seat bels back in the days there wasn't guid right so it was in the way back of the station wagon facing back just waiting for somebody to smash into it yeah but that's that's how kind of life was you know and I almost like I I look back at and I was a lot like you in that way I was real very beautiful like uh more than my brother right but I got trouble with my brother because I would follow him he was my older brother but at the Ballpark you know um I was and I almost kind of like I look back at it now I'm 60 and I I feel like God I almost wish my dad gave me that mental Edge that he had but how does he how does he transfer that to a son that he doesn't know if he got the total ability because I always think that growing up you know you always kind of that's that whole nepple thing I'm like well hey man a guy's a father a fireman son might want to be a fireman because he likes being around the firehouse you know there's that's how life is you wna you want to do what your dad did especially I agree 100% is on that's the nepo thing yeah if you're lucky yeah if if you have a dad or a mom or whatever that's involved and doing something that you see them enjoying doing like if you saw your dad go to the ballpark probably is a happiest day of his life every day was going to the ballpark every same with my dad different job but I saw a dad that couldn't wait to go to work and we were close and so if we're close and I respect him and I see a dad that even at his sickest when he had Parkinson's and diabetes and a pacemaker and all this other stuff he couldn't wait to go down to Bush Stadium to get that shot of life I I that's what I saw and I was like why wouldn't I want to do that no matter what it was it could have been an announcer it could have been a lawyer it could have been a street sweeper it could have whatever it is and and it just happened that he was the voice of the Cardinals and did all these other cool things and I got to tag along and I just wanted to be him so that's the nepo part you're in you're involved in it at a much younger age so when I was 19 broadcasting in Louisville or I was 21 broadcasting in St Louis I was already over the hump of oh my God I'm in a big league ballpark oh my God I'm in a I'm in a broadcast Booth well that's where I grew up it was like I just moved over one seat and started saying out loud what I was thinking in my head or doing into a tape recorder in the booth next door and and that's the I had access and so I I was never do I was doing stuff at a young age but it wasn't intimidating because it was it was like home to me so that that that was the great gift also that I got yeah and and like you said senior dad go to the ballpark happy it was it's it's you have a bad day but you know the day starting over and it's a new game that's kind of life that we grew up in right spring training we that was our vacation right our family vacation and and I I feel like you know 60 I remember my dad I look always go back as a kid and just the personality and he walked in the room like you're talking about there's just something that that just I remember that about right yeah remember everybody is gravitating to your dad and everybody gravitate to my dad and we see that it's like wow you know that's dad I I saw my dad on TV for the first time and I I was a little kid and I went up to the TV I thought he was stuck in there that's a dumb I was but you know when you see a dad that can command a room or everybody's like hey hey Ronnie come over here Hey Ron you know it's the toast of the party Toast of the group um you know again why wouldn't you want to be that when you're so how do I work toward that you know it's different for me than it it was for you and that this I think what I do is kind of an acquired skill and and I think it's reps and it's whatever it's different than hitting a baseball it's different than I you know so it's your dad set out an example that's hard to follow my dad set out an example that's hard to follow but I think a little bit more attainable than you know than what any ball player's kids have had to follow um and it just it's just life I mean you you're a happy good dude and and I know made your dad proud and and he still is uh you know wherever he is and and I'm I feel the same way and that's what we have to hope to do and pass it down to our kids which I'm trying to do every day yeah I thank you for saying that but I I you know I still like yeah baseball physical you got to have that talent but but you're seeing more sons of ball players make it today because I think they're getting that full-on guidance right I I think it's a little different than like we grew up with no seat belts it wasn't as much structure like they're more isolated we were kind of in the open we were part of public we were part of middle class um so get you can get you can get lost in that I and I just think like still that to to do what you have done to take the mentality of what your dad did and and and how much did he teach you like outside of the game like okay Joe um yeah you got the skills down now but there's going to be a lot of stuff coming your way life I remember he was yeah I again um I I don't I wouldn't categorize him as a dad that was handson in that manner I think he let me just watch him and find my own way um but again I had a strong mom who was straightening me out if I was wandering off the path which I didn't do a lot of but I you know I I just from the from the actual broadcast stuff I remember going leaving spring training and driving he was dropping me off in Louisville when I was 19 to do my first year of triaa baseball as the announcer second second second banana guy and also the traveling secretary which was a lot as I look back for a 19-year-old kid to handle then it seemed like okay yeah I'll I'll do that um but he said you know just as far as on the air a couple of things one you've been watching Big League players your whole life you know I tried to pitch I tried to go to Indiana to pitch I was no good but unless you think you could make the play 10 times out of 10 realize it's hard these guys are trying hard and don't act like you know how can somebody make an eror I think that was that came kind of from his days with Harry which he was always like I don't know how a guy can lose a ball in the sun I don't know how can you make a be on they're trying and and everybody's trying and it ain't that easy um two don't get on the umpires uh because it gets annoying to fans and three realize that if you get hit by a bus going into the game they're still going to play the game and you're the announcer you're the eyes and ears of the fans don't don't act like people are tuning in to hear you they're tuning in to hear the game they're tuning in to hear the Cardinals or Monday Night Football or whatever it is and and that's great advice that he gave me and I think that kind of permeates life too I I think you know I saw a guy who was dead tired dragging himself off the couch to go raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs uh guy who was dead tired going to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis going to host events going I mean the list and the the the example he set out of the people that he raised money for was like my God I can't I can't match that and he just didn't say no and and so I I think all that stuff goes in but he he wasn't the guy that's would ever sit me down and go okay here's how I would have called that home run because that would have been offputting or you know you know you're you're saying ground ball to the short stop the same way every time you got to change that up just let me find that out for myself and I think he did that with life too but again because of a strong mom I I think I I had a leg up and you know I I I was able to navigate kind of trying to be a good kid and and not be a little jerk yeah yeah now it's it's an art form what you do um and obviously uh you're an artist man like like like a rock and roll singer to get to the top of your profession and um do the stats that you have what was your prep like early on like did you have how did you form your style is that might not be the right question but it's you know that is the right that's the exact right question that's a great question and only a few people have asked me that and that's what broadcasting is all about there you said like a rock star and I I am not and I'm not musical I mean I my mom was on Broadway she's got the musical town the family but there is a rhythm and there is that and part of that Rhythm becomes your style and so it was hard to not be Jack buuck 2.0 because that's what I grew up listening to so maybe if you're in Chicago you grow up listening to Jack brick house and now that's how I think everybody should broadcast a game I mean these are Hall of Fame people and and broadcasters so inevitably my dad's Cadence and Rhythm was in me whether genetically just because I listened to him every night I sat in the booth I had a little headset I watched him watched the game broadcast the game I watched the game and I put my own mind to it and so but I that's the Rhythm I heard but I didn't go in trying to be my dad it's like well what's your style my dad didn't really have I don't think a style other than he was light he wasn't heavy-handed he could be really funny he was best in I think rain delays when he just dragged somebody in from the Press Box and go hey we're talking a longtime Scout so- and so you know as a scout what do you do and where do you live and where what's your area you cover and what do you look for when you look for a picture what do you look for he just he enjoyed people so I I just got into this business and and I'm glad I didn't take the bait of trying to be Jack buck and talking like this you know it was there was only one jackb and so I I had to develop whatever my style is is a little bit bit of Jack buck and a little bit of Al Michaels and a little bit of Vin Scully and a little and then a lot of me and whatever comes out in that mix is my quote unquote style and and I I don't know I mean it's off-putting to some people some people like it thankfully the people that I work for at Fox for 30 years and and at uh ESPN now like it and continue to employ me but um you know you just you find your style over time you can't go in going I'm going to be Harry Carey okay well good luck or I'm I'm going to be Vince Scully well there's only one and and so you have to be willing to just give it time don't force it and eventually your style will be whatever kind of comes out of your mouth in certain situations right how often do you have to tune your guitar per se yeah like like because obviously in the beginning you're probably prepping like oh man I I got to get to The Bigs right I got to stay in The Bigs I got to you know now you've done you've done so much do you do you fall into a slump ever in your mind do you how do you how do you organize yourself hopefully I can fall into a slump for sure um and I I'll never I don't think I'll ever fall into a slump prep wise I think Mike too makes me work harder Al Michaels makes me work harder Jim Nance makes me work harder Kevin burkhard makes me work harder the the guys that do what I do at the other networks they make me work harder um and when I when I'm tired I'm like I I'm raising sixy olds I'm 55 I've got daughters in their 20s right now I've got a wife with a broken ankle and uh it's we got Mayhem going on over here and I I really love to go to bed because I'm on the road and it's the first time the room's been quiet around me and but those other guys are on my shoulder like better get to work better look at this up better so the the prep never changes but I mean you can vocally struggle um I a paralyzed vocal cord in 2011 from a botched hair transplant surgery uh and it could have happened in any surgery it's one of the waivers you sign that when they put a tube down your throat uh it can damage your vocal cords you don't really read those waivers you just go to sign it and you're going into surgery and uh and so that's what happened and and I thought my world was collapsing I was going through a divorce I my best friends my daughters were heartbroken because of that uh you know I have a lot of people relying on me to show up and go do these games and make the money I make because I've got this pyramid scheme of family that's all needing you know whatever assistance I can bring and it was stressful and and that so life life interjects and it's like you know I I think the slump can be driven by life around you and uh you know fortunately I've got a family that I adore and and I I believe leave they adore me and I go to work for them too and so I I carry all that with me too and um if if I ever skimp on the prep that scares me because I would imagine like for a ball player like I didn't hit enough today I'm not ready I'm not ready to face whoever for me that's when I'm calm if I know that I've done my work I can go into a broadcast feeling like ah okay now I can just be my myself I'm not scrambling I'm not trying to catch up I'm ready and I'm prepped and then I can relax and be myself and and that's a good feeling so I want to get there before every game and and that's what I'm at my best that's great man that's what it takes for for greatness man I saw in my dad I mean how many ground balls he would take and um and and the ones that discovered early it's it's it's a gift that that you did that that's that's you though that's that to me I go back to that equation like God how do you figure it out and you know take what your dad had and do that I mean you did all of that and and to me that's mindblowing but it's also like what you're saying you're still doing that and you're maintaining that high level and that's like a war like mentality individual mentality that that is keeping everyone healthy around you too yeah I mean I I I I literally and I you know to be honest with you I saw my dad do the same thing not to keep going back to that but I you know we grew up middle class and and I think the perception would be oh Jack Buck he made millions of dollars as the Cardinals announcer and it just wasn't that way I'm the lucky one I'm the and there's guilt with that too I mean I'm the one that got the entree I was doing the Cardinals at 21 freaking years old there's only one reason I was doing the Cardinals at 21 years old not cuz my dad signed my check but because I was around it it was a novelty kind of thing that i' had done two years in the minor leagues they needed a fill in so let's bring Jack's kid up and do the games and you know my dad's going through a a World War to get to go to college and grew up with zero made his own name and now I get to ride off that which I don't fight at all I I you know that's a that's the gift that keeps on giving and my dad worked his ass off to to get himself in a position where he could show me what it took and and what have you but that work I saw my dad being driven off the couch to go do his job and do it well and and it's the same for me that I I bring my little village with me every time I I go on the air and I do my best and you said at the beginning you know I called the World Series for the Cubs in 2016 and you know there weren't any games in 1908 on TV so uh I I'm that was not lost on me and I it it pissed a lot of people off in St Louis when the St Louis paper picked up an article that I did uh and I said this is going to be the highlight of my career and it was to be sitting in Wrigley in a World Series for the first time since 1945 think about what was going on in 1945 in our country to be sitting in wriggley and and to to be involved with this organization against Cleveland by the way which was the team my dad's family grew up uh rooting for uh to be involved in this historic World Series and to think what was going on in 1908 the last time they won it I mean that's before World War I it's before the Titanic sunk I'm like this is this is amazing and the series was so great but I I said you know this is and and it got picked up in the St Louis paper and then it was your dad's turning over in his grave how can you say that it's the Cubs and and I I just if I could I would grab a microphone and go first of all you didn't even know my dad secondly he was my biggest fan and finally he was a baseball fan and he's a fan of this country and kind of you know the significance of things and this is a significant World Series this is a big deal for the game of Base baseall the ratings proved it people tuned in it was massive and so it it it it remains and probably will always be for certain reasons the Pinnacle for me because I'm screaming into a microphone that the Cubs are world champions and nobody had done it on on TV ever and it got yeah it's amazing and the game itself game s and the rain delay and then the game ends and 20 minutes later it's a downpour like you can't believe I mean it just it was like it was special and uh and and so you know that that's being a fan and enjoying the hell out of what I do and and when I got to do those Red Sox winning in' 04 for the first time in 86 uh White Socks winning in' 05 for the first time in forever I mean it goes on and on and on and uh you know it's I just was lucky to be the guy calling it you know you talk about the the the Red Sox you you you you called Aron Boon's home run that year before and then they they pull off a miracle you you actually witnessed like two Miracles the Red Sox in the Cubs for sure right and and above and and I you know what you're saying about the history of the Cubs and how Cardinal fans could say that I always look at the Cardinals and cubs uh rivalry as not a rivalry because you guys have won so many World Series right I'd be like come on you got to give us a break once in a while and most Cardinal fans you're right you're right we're happy for you in 2016 and I think they were for them to say that though because coming from a son of a father who would have given anything for a World Series champion I was thinking of your dad yeah when that was happening because the beauty of your dad was just the sheer love he had not just for the game but for the Cubs and him you know being excited during a home run and and while whoever was calling on the radio whether it's Pat or else that was doing it and he's just in and he's like oh come on yeah like and that's that's just your love of the organization the game itself and how many people came and went and just lived C baseball and never got that never got that experience of of seeing them win at all and you're right I in ' 04 the the Red Sox one in St Louis and you know Cardinal fans it gets annoying I know nationally oh they're great fans they cheer for the opposition whatever but I have many friends who were Red Sox fans who Moved Heaven and Earth to get to St Louis for game four of That World Series and they were like I'm telling you Cardinal fans were buying us beers Cardinal fan I mean it was over it was just kind of witnessing history at that point and and it was almost like okay we're over with the whole Cardinals Red Sox thing and all like enjoy congratulations this is amazing and we're getting to see it firsthand I mean the yeah brothers were filming a movie right that fever pitch I think it's called they had to change the ending because it was it's another year more Red Sox and so they were there Drew Barrymore was in was uh in Bush Stadium the night the Red Sox won it Jimmy Fallon was there filmed the end scene at Bush Stadium and I was with one of the faires at a charity EV they're like oh my God Cardinal fans were like here sit down let's and they didn't even know who you know either Peter or Bobby Fairley were they just were being they knew they were Red Sox fans so they were just nice to them I I I feel the same way with Cardinal Cubs I feel like yeah you know there's a rivalry but it's kind of like that's our rivalry like you know we grew up to not like the Cubs and cubs fans grew up to not like the Cardinals but there's like a respect there that when when it comes down to it it's like tip of the cap well done and and congratulations yeah and it and it seems like that 2004 the miracle was the Yankees obviously right getting past the Aron Buu home run the year before and then down three 0 and then the Cubs the rain delay Sim similar Miracle there what what were you thinking in that rain delay Joe I mean little did we know that Jason Hayward was down there uh getting guys ready to go back we don't know any of that stuff I I think I think we're up there like good God can this rain please stop this is too good like this can't go on to where pick it up the next day and then it's like okay here we are in the 10th inning or wherever we were 11th I don't know and I it just please yeah please make it stop raining please um there were so many moments in that game alone and Joe mat who I love dearly uh you know Mike Shannon who I broadcast with forever in St Louis was like whoever that manager is that wins in Chicago they're going to make a statue out of him and you know it it kind of ended fast after winning it all in 2016 for him but when we talked to him before the game he was so open with us with what he was going to do his strategy going into the game and it just shows you how everybody's got a plan until they get hit in the mouth and like Mike Tyson says and in that game he did everything he told us he wasn't gonna do I'm not gonna bring John Lester in in the middle of an inning wrong he brought John Lester in the middle of an inning and he didn't want to do that because that forc a catching chain and now Ross is out but Ross hits a home run and I'm not going to bring our oldest Chapman Ino early the guy's on fumes and wrong he comes in and whatever the eighth inning I mean he had a quick hook excuse me for Hendrick and I mean it kind of set the domino effect there was a little Panic there it's like God we can't blow this um and then you know you get tied and you win in Extra Innings and it was just like whoa this this this is as Good As baseball gets yeah and and for you to be there man and and and and calling it all and you know you talk about that too like that game just for our family I mean you know so many people that were wearing around Wrigley wearing Ernie in my dad's jerseys and and just though the heaviness of not winning the 69 you don't realize it it carries in the family you know you almost become like am I losing in life yeah I know seriously I mean because I think it affected my dad so much um that he wanted to see it as a broadcaster and didn't see that and and so just I remember the end of that game I got a call from WGN and Andy merer and Jeff can you talk and I was like and I was my wife and I were moving to California the next day had to pick up had the U-Haul packed and I couldn't almost even talk I went to a dark corner I'm like I don't even know what the hell's going on here it was just so surreal and just picking up like what my dad you know went through in his whole life the psychological journey of never really winning and and then getting that great team and still not winning I mean so you I I can see why you're saying that and um everything that's involved in it because you're talking generations of Chicagoans just waiting yeah I did that in the White Soxs when they they ended up Sweeping in ' 05 and you start I had a buddy that was our PR director at Fox and he's like he gave me a list of all the little townships uh on the South Side he's like you gota say it's gonna it's going to mean a lot to the fans and you start thinking about the players the great players that had come and gone and you know the great players that had come and gone for the Cubs I you know had it been a different type game and it's six to one in the ninth inning that's a different story now you can start going through for Billy Williams for Ron San for Ernie Banks I mean you just go on and on and on and uh it just wasn't that type game so I couldn't never really get there it's like okay bam it's over um and it was it was tense right until the end and then the beauty of it was as normally when you're doing the game on TV you kind of say it and you get out of the way and you let the crowd react if a team wins at home it's awesome because the place is going nuts and the director showing all these different shots and there's nothing for me to say we take cameras out there that have microphones you can hear these men reacting like little boys and just because they For the Love of the Game and it's just special and you don't talk over that well when a team wins A game seven in a World Series on the road typically it's crickets like when uh the White Soxs won in Houston it's just dead quiet well in this case there were so many Cub fans that were in Cleveland for game seven that by then the Cleveland fans are packed up and pissed off and walking out of the stadium and the Cubs fans were making enough noise where I could be quiet and there was crowd celebrating and the players it's like this is on the road but it was so cool because there were so many Cub fans that were there and it would have been nuts had Cleveland won because they haven't won in a long time right and you know their fans would have been going berserk and and so you know it's just it was such a special World Series um it was the first one I did with JN Smoltz um and I we walked out of the booth I'm like maybe it's you maybe it's all after all these years it took you getting on TV I've did 18 years with Tim McCarver but it took you coming here to make this happen was like I mean like a pinch yourself time that's so cool man and I know you gotta I got what I got a question for you you're not doing baseball anymore um and I know that is your existence and so is football your dad did football too and you guys are just great at both is is baseball your sport as far as announcing and and are you going to ever go back to it for a lot of reasons it is um because there's more room in there like if if football's so huge I mean it's it's just massive and and the ratings are nuts and the you you do a Super Bowl and you're doing it for hund I've done one for 112 million people that's intimidating got three hours of a Highwire act and don't look down because it'll get you um but baseball's different baseball you know the crowd the audience is smaller these days um unfortunately uh but it's still massive and you start adding up those crowds over the entire month of October and it's just awesome and then you see these teams that go from spring training through the early part of the Season All-Star break penet Drive get to the postseason get through that Gauntlet get to a World Series get to a game seven hopefully or game six where everything's just tense and it's just it's the guy on the mound with a ball and the guy at the plate with a bat and may the better man win and and it's just these little pockets of intense drama when it matters the most and and then you know mechanically speaking when you're doing baseball especially on TV because you don't have to really tell everything that's going on because people are seeing it so you can pick your spots and you can get into strategy you can talk about who's left in the bullpen you can talk about who's on the bench you talk about what the manager said before the game you can talk about whatever the size of the crowd the smells of the ballpark whatever it is and and there's room in there in football it's okay here's the snap and I go uh you know in the case of last night herie finds Debo over the right side six yards Tackle by Gardner uh second down coming up quiet Troy talks play clock winding down little beat now it's second down and four and then you do it all over it's a series of that over and over again but because of the play clock and now it's different because of the pitch clock but you just find yourself going play by play by play by play baseball it's like your mind can go so many different directions and the game when it's at its best with the strategy and the management of the bullpen and uh workload of starting pitchers and whatever it's just there's a lot room in there to to do more and that's why it's a bit more challenging but it's uh a bit more rewarding as an announcer uh and and will I do it again maybe uh probably not nationally I think I'm done with that I I've done 24 World Series I I don't feel like I need to do anymore um but following a team whether it's the Cubs the Cardinal or the Rockies or the Rangers and being the eyes and ears of those fans and then you can do it it's why Cub fans oh you hate the Cubs because you know you show up in the World Series and the Indians player and they were called the Indians then hits a home run I've got to get excited for that right that's my job and you know when you're doing the local stuff right is what fans hear every day well the the Indians guy or the Cardinals guy hits a home run and it's like you get sad almost on the air it's like oh and gold Schmid hits a home run in left and now the Cardinals lead3 and then but but if you do on nationally you gotta go gmid in the left and the Cardinals lead and every CBS Fan's like shut up why do you why do you love Gman and the Cardinals and it's just the way it is so to be able to do that again for a team and be like you think like the fan like Hey we're winning we're losing what do we need to do to be winning again right being Switzerland and making everybody m because you're excited no matter what you know it's it's a weird existence and you have to be willing to put up with that and be booed if your face comes on in a bar or have people say mean stuff when you walk in the ballpark you have to you know put up with that or don't do it you know like that's just the way it is and and it gets its own life on social media and and what have you but I remember my dad is when I was a kid going he did two years of national TV World Series with Tim McCarver and Pirates fans hated him and then uh you know whoever Braves fans and uh twins fans and but but they had to send a letter in and you know and nobody read it every once in a while one would sneak through and it' be at our house like you suck you're the worst you right but there was no Twitter where like yeah this guy sucks he's the worst he hates my team I hate you you're awful uh so it's it's just kind of hey either put up with that stuff and cash your check or go home and suck your thumb and I'd rather cash the check let me ask you this though did baseball you know been around it my whole life we were both born into it it is changing man and you have watched so many games from above literally and do you just look down and go these managers man some of the moves I feel bad for them I feel bad for the managers because a lot of decisions are not in their hands um which begs the question then why have somebody walking up and down the Dugout checking the looking guys eyes why why have somebody in the clubhouse going man my right-handed reliever that was that is slated to come in tonight in the seventh inning at the first inkling of any trouble uh showed up and he's fighting with his wife or he showed up hung over or whatever it is I mean life gets in the way and that's what managers are paid to do like who wants the ball right now I don't care what the stats say and the stats are history now I'm not doing the get off my lawn act I get it analytics are a great tool but they can't be the end all Beall and and there has to be room in there for I have a gut I mean Don Zimmer did anybody manage with their gut more than Don Zimmer with the Cubs I mean sometimes it defy logic but I'm going to roll these dice because I feel like this is going to win this and these guys don't have that freedom anymore and so you know whether it's it's just analytic ball and and that it should be a tool a big tool but it can't be the judge and jury on this thing and and I feel like we're kind of getting there where moves are made at two o'clock in the afternoon for a night game and no no two situations are the same it happens in the NFL and you know we go ESPN analytics on this fourth and one at the 38 yard line says to go well okay that's great but who's the quarterback who's the left tackle is a running back you know maybe tweaked his hamstring maybe none of that is taken into consideration these are just facts and figures based on history of every team going into a computer and going well our our AI logic or our analytic logic says that you'd be better off going here well no two situations are the same so I talked to Kyle shanan about it not to go on a rant and he said I said you know you didn't go for a two-point conversion the entire year last year is there is that just coincidence he goes I I'm gonna always take the free point I I and analytics sometimes says you know in the third quarter go for two I'm not that guy if I have a free point I'm taking it um and if if in the fourth quarter we score a touchdown and we're trailing by two and there's 14 seconds left we'll go for two is that's when it makes sense but before that I'm going to take the free point there's nothing wrong with points in this game and he's like I know what analytics say I get it but I'm the head coach and I'm gonna make that decision and and I was like oh my God praise you because I I feel like there still has to be a human element in this thing and and sometimes that's get I feel like that's getting lost yeah I wonder if we can reverse that because even like last week the Cubs had a six-game win streak going and come home they went eight and one on the road and I'm just thinking okay you're in a playoff hunt far far out it's you know you got to do a lot you got to be the Miracle Mets here maybe we can I who knows right but what like Tommy Lort any kind of manager back in the day would not pull their starter with a three hit shut out in the 70s I mean I did a World Series where uh Snell was pitching like a one hitter in the sixth or seventh inning and I'm terrible on these on these details but it's like this guy's pitching the game of his life trying to get to game seven uh in a World Series against the Dodgers in 2020 and he get one guy gets on here we go off to the bullpen never would know how Blake Snell had him befuddled all night gives up one hit or one walk or whatever the hell it was he's gone parade starts is the bullpen first guy comes in mookie bets it's righty on righty there's a great history this guy's had whack double into the corner tie game more runs loss nice seeing you and then I I see the manager Kevin cash who's awesome I see him I mean awesome great dude and a really good manager I see him at the All-Star Game the next year and he's like boy my mom's mad at you and I said why because we said this is kind of defying Logic the way that Snell's pitching he's like yeah you know you guys were pretty hard on me in the booth I'm like well that was first guessing that's not second guessing in the moment saying it before happened yeah right right that's kind of our job and I it wasn't combative I said that's our job I said by the way how'd that work out and H yeah yeah that and that's the thing it's like you got you're on a win streak in baseball don't hurt the streak but looking at the worst case scenario if you bring a guy in that gives up four runs in the eighth inning well that's not a good decision then if you could just for what maybe 11 pitches that might hurt his arm we're getting to a place where I think if keep you know pushing the Box in how do you how do you get a different box man I I don't know I don't I I'm with you I think at some point it swings back the other way everything self corrects if it needs correcting I I'm just I'm now the old guy I used to be the oh my God he's calling the world series of 27 well now I'm 55 so I'm this stuff's passed me by but you know when when John and I were Smoltz and I were doing it and Smoltz is obviously old school like keep the starter are you kidding me we'll never know how great this guy could be because he never gets a chance to be great he never gets a chance to pitch in the eighth inning he's done and and so but then it's like oh buck and Smoltz you know that they're the get off my lawn guys they don't they don't love baseball it's like no the opposite I love baseball I know what I grew up on I've seen how great this game can be let's bring a little bit of that back in let's train pitchers to try to pitch seven eight nine are you kidding me nine innings I mean that doesn't happen so all that stuff yeah well I hope you uh get back in the game of baseball man you're phenomenal and what's what's ahead like I know we got Monday Night Football 2028 Olympics for you no God no Paul Walter uh no I'm done I'm I'm happy I got six-year old boys I got you uh I've got a wife I'm about to take to the doctor for a broken ankle um and I'm content I I'm not the guy that's always like hey I wish was doing that I wish I was doing that I wish I was Mike too I I was host hosting the Olympic I'm good i' I've done more than I ever thought I would times a factor of 50 and I'm I'm just good having fun raising Sons doing Monday Night Football working with Troy and living life that's awesome and do your sons like uh the the behind the mic stuff uh oh yeah well we got one who thinks he's uh Michael Jackson reincarnate and then we've got the other who's a left-handed power hitter right on man I'm gonna ride this kid he's gonna be my ticket I'm gonna finally be that Dad that annoying dad in the crowd like come on Blake what are you do what are you looking at but uh he gets the crap out of the ball so I you know that's that's awesome Joe so so thankful for coming on man um just you're a great guy dude and just a lot of fun to hang around your personality is awesome and uh man I hope I see you down the road soon oh you will we have that Mutual friend you referenc I'm sure we do we do man it's awesome all right brother thanks thanks again Joe all right see you this Santo moment is brought to you by onesty entertainment during spring training on March 28th 1970 Ray sons of the Chicago Daily News writes Cub fans will have to love and hate the same old Ron Santo in the new baseball season I can't be different Santos said the other day that's the way I am I holler a lot throw my helmet and bat show emotion more than anyone else if I didn't show it out there on a field I'd bring it home and let it out on my family or I'd let it out on kids who wait outside the park for autographs there's a lot of frustration in baseball if I kept it inside me I might get sick that santoy was brought to you by onesy entertainment [Music] Cracker Jack this call is being recorded how you doing what's up hey man you're what's happening man you are my crackerjack call this episode of penix Pop okay I hope I got the brain power for this yeah right hey man I just want to yesterday do I get a phone a friend if if I can't answer sure sure of course of course all right man you what what a day yesterday at's East LA uh opening day for for the beers uh boy that was something else you guys uh how' that I mean has that been the way it is every Bears game like last season two no you know usually it's like only the Packers bring that out I mean you know and and also the Bears never help you know I mean like usually it's the opening game they're great and then like it just kind of has dissipated through the seasons as you know um uh right but you know the expectations were so high and I think that you know a lot of bars maybe aren't carrying the games as much I don't know but it was yeah but it was great and they know you know we gota we're Chicago you know so right yeah that was so cool yeah you know the thing is too like I was telling Dan I've been kind of away from football for a while you know I I I T you touch in base you know watching the 49ers coach chrisy but the beers kind of fell out for a while I don't know why it just kind of went that way but then now you know they had they were on HBO's uh special Hard Knocks and it's just cool to see the new team coming around and I think there's new there's just a good feeling out there I'm back in it man and and I'm pissed that I was away from it that long so I kind of felt that too happening yeah yeah yeah there's a lot of a lot of like energy for them you know I mean they're young they're exciting they have like a lot of weapons you know I mean yesterday yeah was certainly not what we the way that we we we were expecting to win but I don't think we had any idea it would happen that way yeah no doubt you guys were doing a lot of down and outs and down and ends working your butts off yesterday man so yeah but you know what it's so weird because I feel like like the first half I was really busy so I missed all the bad stuff and then and then stuff slowed down in the second half you know people weren't eating and drinking as much so he able to like you know see like some you know see them the comeback which was great yeah and I got to say you know uh Gino East out here you guys have been great been a supporter of the podcast but you guys are great guys and there's a story behind both of you which is so cool um which I love talking about you know the show is about stories individual stories and team stories but your story both of you guys being lifetime friends you and Dan and I talked with Dan before get you're both were in the entertainment business and you were a writer tell me about that man how'd that start for you you know I mean I I weirdly like I I went I had I mean I'll go way way back which was you know a friend of mine was a year ahead of me in high school uh he goes off to college he comes back and he's like he said I'm a film major and I'm like I had no idea anybody could do that you know I mean truly like back in the Midwest and you know that era it's like who thought of like going into the film business uh you know one of my best friends he went on to produce the film and shoot the film hoop dreams uh and um you know and so like I CH I I went to college and I was like okay I'll I'll give it a shot I'm creative uh you and and so um I go to college I'm a film major I meet some guys there we graduate they bring me out to California to Riverside to do commercials with them um from there uh they imploded fairly quickly but my brother who was a personality it was a radio personality in San Diego and uh he had a spot on the Nightly News like you know three nights a week doing like comedy commentary he also was doing standup they gave him a nightly show half hour a night um and to do whatever he wanted with on the CBS affiliate there and I went down and we started writing skits and you know so I kind of learned the craft from there we did about three and a half years of that uh 800 some episodes I think wow man uh yeah it was often the most humiliating thing was being nominated for an Emmy and losing to my brother but wow now that was so that was like a local station that your brother worked at you went you left LA to go down there and and kind of formed your craft from doing all the outstanding yeah you got extra money if you if you in if you were in something got extra money so I'd write myself into stuffff Excellent Man and I so did you were you like did you grow up in Chicago and then found your way out here from the business and your brother was already out here living out here he's kind of yeah exactly my brother my brother actually was a disc jockey in Chicago in the late in the early 70s and the days of underground radio a station called wglb that then uh a lot of those Jacks went to wxrt my brother's best friend John plat was one of the founders of wxrt um and so you know so like I was I was familiar with it I was around it but my brother's like 12 years older than me so you know there was also like he was off off doing his thing you know while I was a baby still um so but that still kind of gave you kind of okay you were aware of the industry and there there's a living to be made of somewhat right exactly so yeah exactly I remember a family legendary story was my brother was wanted he got his first radio job and wanted to drop out of college um and my dad knew Brick House Jack Brick House who and my brother was at Bradley brick house was a Bradley you know famous Bradley alumni and Brick House went and sat down with my brother and convinced my brother not to drop out of college how cool is that right yep oh my God that's something else yep so yes I did so yeah so that was kind of my my how I gned it and and so when you came so then you came back to LA now you've you've been on a lot of shows like everyone loves Raymond According to Jim suddenly Susan so talk talk about that how you get back here well my my first break I I came back up because I knew there was nothing left in San Diego you know I mean after you know we burned all the local television we could you know and I knew that I wanted to do something I came up here at a party from somebody also I knew from Columbia College meet a woman named Linda manuso who is an executive I met L yeah I know Linda oh my God yeah Linda pass yeah yeah everybody know new Linda everybody Linda she's wonderful woman so she's like absolutely say have you ever considered writing animation I'm like okay um and and like a few days later a stack of Scooby-Doo scripts show up in my door and she's like learn learn the craft learn what it is and I learn and I wrote a spec script and I got like a a gig writing like an episode of a thing for Hannah Barbara and then I got a couple other children shows and I wrote animation for like about three years eventually got into the Warner Brothers television Writers Workshop with a Chicago one became my writing partner we got in together and then we got on started getting on sitcoms we got an agent our first show was set in Chicago it was a sitcom you know shot out here but it was like about a Chicago family court judge and so you know we're able to bring all of that Chicago based knowledge to the show with you know a couple of Great Chicago actors um and then you know I mean probably the you know the show that really kind of put us on the map when I had a writing partner was Ellen you know I mean that was like that that was groundbreaking and uh so you know and then you know just kind of you know you know really was fortunate and you know I guess there was some calent involved too but just you know Bill course you know show after show bringing you know and so much of it was bringing ideas from you know from the life that I've lived you know and that to going hey here's something that happened to me what about this According to Jim you know like you know nobody was from Chicago on that show none of the writers originally that were from Chicago and you know and I'm like you know what about this what about you know because they new Chicago I mean I we had ER Locker on the show nobody knew who ER Locker was it was his second season and you know we got Brian erer on the show uh that that's great man and what was like you know what Drew you to the to the comedy side was that your brother or you just you kind had an act for that growing up was that your kind of L brother yeah my brother and just in general making people laugh you know I mean like in college I used to like I had a whiteboard on my kitchen when I lived in an apartment and I started like like writing a sck for the day and you know friends had come over and they laugh and then I'd expand on it and they laugh some more and then then you know all of a sudden it was like hey that's how it goes right yeah that's that's so good and what was like now you have you you you you've had a career out here uh I'm out here uh you're a little older than me not much but now do you now you're in in the the pizza business right you you guys uh gos out here in La which is franchise everyone in Chicago knows it just been around for years this unbelievable pizza and food what made you guys now now you and Dan are lifelong friends right now both you he was a this jockey too what what made you guys guys do this like you were you were done with Hollywood what broke you from there to go here you know like you know I mean it's always like once you get something it's always like never quite as good as you expect it to be and again I loved it I I had a great path but you know after a while it gets exhausting and I found myself like just like not having as much fun doing it um you know like I was not quite phoning it in but I go into the room and I'd be like okay you know we've done this story before I had you know I was fortunate enough that I you know that I co-created a show that on the Disney Channel for a couple years but even that felt like I didn't and I was lucky enough to C dick buckus in it so while I didn't enjoy the G I got to cast dick buckus so you know there's the good and the bad and everything um and like every time I go on hiatus from a show I go what else do I really care about and honestly truly I'd go back to Chicago I'd bring pizza back with me and it was like I love pizza and so I kind of you know and Dan and I had always wanted to do something together and so like one day he's like hey you know and I always kind of getting serious about it and it's like I would do this with you and so and here we are that's amazing man and it's so cool it's such a great place you guys are just great guys and it's got that Chicago feel but you know you know I got I got lifetime friends too we go back to a lot of time you know coming from Chicago you get lifetime friends like that now you guys have been that but let me ask you this do you guys have like a a safe word in case things get too hot in the kitchen um I mean yeah we you know we have different temperaments but we're you know we're both like we're we're born within three weeks of each other we we're both pretty chill we have our little hot buttons but we just you know occasionally yeah occasionally we'll get a little pissy with each other but like for the most part you know our goal is like this is our second act for both of us and you know and we get so much joy out of like just the connection with the people and stuff that that all the other [ __ ] is like doesn't really matter I mean you know that's the coolest thing about having this place here in La is not is just it being a magnet for Chicagoans and non Chicagoans too but you know were people really connect with each other I mean like even you and me you know you think about it like like you know like I mean we didn't know each other but like you know the connection with Ira you know doing you know I deutman you know in your film and hoop dreams and you know my my friend Peter Gilbert it's just that connectivity is so Chicago it it really is man and you and it is cool I gotta say it's it when you guys open up like this is great we got to go over there you know Chris we got to check this out and it is cool man to go in there and then you got you know it's just nice to sit in a bar and remember how you did it back home you know and what it felt like and and root root for your team from a distance you're you get that same feel and it's it it is it it's it's that and then I tell you man main reason I'm going there is that their Pizza is amazing and the tavern style pizza I I got to say I mean people like oh I'm not in the deep dish well if you're not in the deep dish get the Tav Jesus yeah come on yeah or a beef sandwich eat a beef sandwich yeah or a beef sandwich or what whatever exactly you know the wings the wings are amazing there's something for you right there's the food that's why I go there the food and the atmosphere is great but the food is great you know yeah um do you have any Cravings thought uh creative appetite to uh do anything more in the in the TV Land you know I mean like the thing that like I keep you know like like what I saying the thing that I found out the story and you know it's funny like we joked about doing a documentary before we opened but the thing that I really found that's so interesting about this place is the connectivity of like I said with you and with just everybody I mean Dan meets people from his life you know I mean the the things the the opportunities that are brought to us through these Chicago Wings you know were one degree from everybody and and so you know that those those kinds of stories that have come out of it you know that I write down every night after we you know go home with there people you know if I you know I'll meet people who like you know I went you know to kindergarten with you know and stuff just out you know and it's just like putting the pieces together it's almost like a like detective work to find out somebody comes in from Chicago and they say what school they went to and to do the detective work of how we know them you know so creatively like I I I haven't found the way to like you know to congeal it all together and make it you know a succinct story but I I feel like it there's that sort of you know that that uh you know like that that the idea that we are all connected in some way and that sometimes we're Uber connected like it you know right that that kind of that I mean those are the storytelling and you know there's just a few stories that really you know that still I have like some creative juice for um and and otherwise I don't have the time to right but what you're doing though while you're enjoying the second act with your best bud and you guys are you know everything you're saying about it just makes total sense is that you're still bringing home you're writing down stories and you're keeping you're keeping them alive you know and you don't know what that could be but that's what Writers Do hey something's coming here because there's a good stuff happening over in this place yeah and sometimes I'm coming home and writing down a you know going hey this is an idea for a pizza you know I mean yeah you know the creativity or you know promotion or whatever the creativity creativity is creativity it doesn't matter where you put it if you but you know you got to have an outlet for it if you're a creative person and that's you know that's you know part of it for me I mean well you know we're planning next month is National Pizza months you know and we plan something for every day to you know so yeah you know and so it's all like it all brings you know it brings you know creative satisfaction totally it's it's it's you're right in the story every day and I believe that too like an independent film we talk about I mean hoop dreams you know what you guys you're always like the promotion part is what some film don't get prepared for you have to if you're going to be independent you got to know that stuff and be creative in those areas too so it's a constant creative over and over working it to to to whether it's marketing or but if it's your that feels great you know and now it's your restaurant and that's where you're going it's beautiful and the story will that's some a story will unfold someday that's for sure I know yeah yeah yeah no doubt even if it's just a good story from my obituary story oh man great talking here Todd aome man I will see you soon definitely I'll see you soon all right all right we'll see you soon take care yeah bye bye have a good day bye this podcast is brought to you by Bernie tap and Grill it's family-owned and operated since 1954 located across from Wrigley Field on Clark and Waveland my dad hit a few home runs on the Waveland Avenue and bernes was my dad's favorite place to go it's got delicious food four full service bars an awesome bear Garden a sidewalk Patio Cafe and a cool upstairs area it's the place I've always met my friends at before and after games go on by and tell Linda dilman Jeff Santos sent you Bernie's ta and Grill where you go when you go to Wrigley thanks for listening to our show special thanks to our cool Cracker Jacks Scott Nelson Jim mccauly Debbie Foley Sher matesi Terry O'Brien Gary tomman an Marie pascol Jim Mel Liz Rutherford and Mac mcphilamy this show is made possible because of them and all our subscribers if you want to support the show and be a cool Cracker Jack yourself subscribe on our patreon page click the link below this episode or go to the patreon tab on our website www. peanuts popcorn and crackerjack.com our long-term cool crackerjacks get a membersonly t-shirt so sign up now to be a part of the club to get notified of the next episode click the follow button or sign up on patreon for free and leave a review on Apple podcast or Spotify and don't hesitate to write give us suggestions tell us how you're liking the show email jeff. ppcp podcast gmail.com for my closing quote the minute you get away from fundamentals whether it's proper technique work ethic or mental preparation the bottom can fall out of your game your schoolwork your job whatever you are doing Michael Jordan [Music] taloo This Old Cub the documentary about former nine times Allstar third baseman broadcaster and Chicago Cubs Legend Ron Santo and his lifelong battle with diabetes Santo was the first major league position player to play professional baseball with type 1 diabetes insulin dependent this old cup captures the spirit of a man and his will to achieve Santo is the ultimate Optimist and therefore the ultimate Cub by the DVD at Santo films.com we also have T-shirts and other merchandise go to S films.com or Santo films. bigcartel.com [Music]