bro listen never in my life Associated the word boring with baseball we know we know what's up me yeah famous yeah and I'm like giddy over there there smiling like holy I mean we're about to win this did everyone give you crap give me a good like host story you know I'm like I'm not picking it up no we both love the game we talk about it every day baseball having some popcorn you're ping around your phone i' have to way in line for 3 hours hang on cuz it's about to be a wild ride well there's no human being I'd rather be talking to right now the grd size one it's a fact it's a fact and so Grady it's good to see you um I covered you 10 years ago and as I told you the other day you you had a moment you've had a lot of Great Moments in your career congratulations oh thank you but there was one the the best spring training game ever played may have been on March 17th 2014th and I bring it up not only because you played well and I think it was on is it on ESPN I don't know it was a it was a it was a no worthly game but I remember the emotion that you had of like how far that had come to get to that point do you remember that at all uh I mean I remember I I remember the game you know I remember uh I don't really remember everything about it but I you know I remember having some plays in the Outfield um and and I I remember that season you know I it was I think I you know it was a late signing with these guys um you know I still wasn't 100% I didn't know what it was going to look like it had been away from the game for a long time so uh it was nice to have you know a positive moment you know come back and and kind of feel like my old self again for the first time I think that was probably the the first time I I had felt that way in in a long time so uh definitely remember the game I I remember diving for a ball remember my hat all being messed up I remember uh I remember it was the same Patty's Day game so yeah it was a it it was a fun it was a fun experience you know and I was new to the team I was new I had been around these guys a lot so uh you know you want to make an impression you want to show everyone that you can play that you still got it so uh you know I just uh you like I said you want to make an impact well so I'm going to spin this to like the lessons of of being a player right this one game but you end up make you know opening day starter you hit a home run on opening day too um but you hit on some of the things about making an impression um you know whether that's you as a manager whether as young players or whatever putting your best foot for the grind of it to get to that point cuz that was another part of that great like man like like to the Grind to get to that point to like you said to feel sort of the way that you used to feel but do can you take away I know of all the good things you had can you take away a lot from that experience the end what was then ultimately the end of your career but how many lessons you learned in that one time in just that getting there or getting well getting there and also just the the understanding that hey you know what you want to make a good impression and it takes a lot to make a good impression yeah you know I think uh it was uh in that moment I I probably didn't look at it that way you know I think uh I was just so hungry to get back so that's all I could really think about you know was just trying to get back to myself and and and get back to competing but uh you know you look back and and I I feel like it was um you know things happen for a reason you know I think you go through these struggles you have these injuries and uh you know I I in the moment you're just trying to to be the best version of yourself and and try to fit in with these guys and make an impact so I I I enjoyed it you know I loved I love the grind I love just you know you know working on my game trying to trying to be a good team player and uh you know I was grateful for the the time that I had here I was around a lot of great players um you know it's a great atmosphere I loved uh Lov just the the community just the just the whole energy that comes in with with Boston so uh it was uh it was live but again like I said I think uh you know I went through so much with so many injuries it was nice just to kind of get back and and still compete at that level and have fun and have success do you remember the first time obviously you that was adversity but you were so good for so long early in your life do you remember the first time you had adversity in in pro ball or just in general whatever man like in Little League you probably dominated you probably dominated like for I mean because this is a thing right the first time you have adversity yeah I think you know you look at it different ways I don't know I I um I think for me I I never viewed myself as like a I I always kind of felt like I had to get better I never really looked at it it was never even in high school I didn't look at baseball as like easy or like I can just go out there and be better than everybody I think I always kind of had this tried to have like this grounded approach where like I I need to I need to get better I'm still you know I'm still not where I want to be I'm still I never felt comfortable you know yeah I never never felt in any sport you know whether it was football baseball basketball you know I competed in all of them you know I was good in football and baseball but I never felt like I had it figured out or like it was comfortable so I I always tried to to stay humble and and just you know think about what I need to do to get better the next day so it was uh everything felt like adversity from high school to you know that's crazy like as good as you were yeah no I never felt like it always felt like there was the competition was tough and I had to you know be on my best game and be sharp and and even in Pro Bowl I me first day I feel like I was it was I want to say it was like an 18 inning game and it was one for nine and I was like I got a lot of work to do you know so like I think that that moment was a tough moment you know like your first game was a struggle that first year was a grind you know I remember I did had a good rookie ball season but after that I struggled I think I struggled in low a I struggled in high a at the beginning so it was a lot of like struggle I think you know my my you know my best years were probably in the big leagues not in the minor leagues so um I felt like I just continually was always trying to work to get better and and and and grind through it was a grind everything was a grind well okay so when you finish playing baseball the grind takes on a different form right yeah I mean it's it's so talk to me if you can about your mindset then I mean then when like how did you view cuz it's always hard it's always hard to move on from the thing that you've done your all adult whole adult life but tell me about that that grind uh I think you you you uh you know from from the time you're a kid I think your identity is is is sports and and competing and being a player and then all of a sudden just like that it's it's off it's over um and you don't really know what to do with yourself or or or really like you know like what your identity is at that point so you know I I kind of just threw myself into my family uh you know I was just we had I think I was you know we had just had our first born like my last year and then you know my wife was pregnant with our second and you know I just you know I was just you know being a husband and being a dad and that was easy it was not easy but it was it was easy to throw myself into that and uh you know much harder being a parent than it is is compe well again you're not used this is another thing with retired baseball players to said you're around your guys more than you're around your family right yeah I mean like you are yeah you are I mean this is you spend you know you're here you know 10 12 hours a day you know just you know plugging away so um you know it was it was nice to kind of be grounded you know at home not living out of a suitcase and being able to throw all my time and energy into my into my wife and kids so I enjoyed that um you know and that was that that was my new identity yeah so when did it been when did you morph back into okay let's go yeah you know I I think uh I I guess um you know the Competitive Edge never really leaves you know I think you weren playing pickle ball or anything I like that you know I think I just you know you always you know I always miss competing you know I love the game it was never something I could totally shut off um you know so I I I think I I had I was still in communication with some friends in the game and would talk to players every now and then and I I think it was just um kind of you know you know talking with guys and working through some things and trying to help help players that that kind of gave me the itch and then when I when I um you know I reached out to some friends that I still had in the game and was you know trying to get my foot in the door and just kind of went in slowly and just every time I you know did a little bit more I I continued to like it and continued to kind of you know have that itch to go a little bit further and then and now here I am but like you said the competitiveness thing man like it's that's no matter what it is yeah I mean what you're saying is all these things the grind of it like the enjoyment of the grind of it the competitive stuff all of it this is this is this is all the fabric of what you are this whole existence right yeah I mean I think you you just that's what we are you know we we're we were athletes who compete and I think you know when when you can't compete anymore it doesn't it doesn't shut off you know internally you still look for that edge you still look for that that um just you have to you know Channel it somewhere so um you know even um you know as I got away from the game five six years I I I still uh I still felt like I could compete even though I knew I couldn't so you know you want to I had to channel it somehow and um you know I was fortunate to just kind of you know got in with Arizona and then it Led Led to this here in Chicago and and I'm just uh I'm just trying to embrace it and and make the most of all the opportunities that are in front of me is managing different than what you thought it would be and I know that like so of like you you've been around a lot of great managers which is awesome well the beauty of it is I never thought about it you know I never really thought about it or contemplated it or never when you're playing you're like I no no I never thought about it it never it never even came into my mind so um I didn't have any you know expectations coming in I didn't have any like uh I I just I didn't have any um I didn't know what to expect you know I was just kind of you know thrusted into it which was nice I didn't cuz that way I you know I could just just be myself and just uh you know do whatever I had to do that day to to to put the team in position you know that's interesting man like like cuz a lot of times guys will sit next to the manager it's like I'm going to be a manager someday no I never thought like that yeah my mind was never there even when I was playing I never really thought I was going to be like coaching at this level you know maybe helping out here or there but never really envisioned it this way um so it's all new it's all fresh it's not you know I that's the beauty of it I didn't have expectations or or thoughts or I wasn't looking for a certain thing in a certain way and again it's just kind of you know I try to take advantage of what's in front of me and just have fun with it and and and make an impact you know I again I just want to give back I want to you know do right by these guys by the players and and represent the you know the organization as best as I can is there anything again that's like I I love the fact that you come in front like I'm I'm not even saying that I love the fact that because you hear so many like I've been taking mental notes all my life and just coming in hey I'm going to do my best I want what's best for the players but is there anything like actually the like I talk to Kevin cash and he's like oh you know the media is a lot or is there anything that you sort of like oh man I didn't know this was part of it no you know I think what what you what I'm what I'm having to to really try to study I guess is like you know the pitching side of it different you know I never thought about you like I said never thought about managing so never thought I'd have to be making moves so you know so you're trying to learn and strategize on like how to use your Bullpen how to like protect certain guys you know what matchups you're looking for and and that's all so that's all new you know I think that's that's tough um but it's fun it's a challenge you know and it's you know you try to find you know you know it's we have a good coaching staff here so we're always kind of like brainstorming and and you know it's we like this matchup or we like this or who do we like and you know okay we're both kind of in different spots let's let's try to figure out how we can come together and and and make it work so I I like that I like working together as a team um you know as far as the other stuff you know the media is it doesn't it's yeah no I'm I'm just using that as an example you know it's like it's just it's just a lot of different your day is made up like you're I I really appreciate you doing this because I know like your day is full man like you know but it is and it's again but it's fun it's like I said I think because I I I didn't have any expectations haven't been around around it and and seen you know a lot of this it's all it's all new to me it's all fun and it's all like I said I just want to embrace it and and and go with it and I think if I can you know bring a positive energy to to the guys and to the organization and and make it positive for for the media and a good experience I think we can all enjoy it and try to get the most out of it you know another there no blueprint for is how to argue with an ump honestly like like I mean I don't know if as a player had you ever n never been thrown out yeah never been thrown out like so like you talk about I guess I would imagine shock that up to the competitive side of things like when you argued with the other day you know EXC excellent whatever was in your mouth excellent I would imagine in so actually gum SL toss I mean but the whole thing was textbook it was I'm congratulating you but you never that's another thing that you had never gone through right no I never gone through it but you know like you uh but he does is that the thing you disc competitiveness takes over yeah I think you know in that moment you know you're just you know you're you're frustrated I think you're you're frustrated for your guys you know it had been a couple nights in a row and and I just uh like I said that's a lot of frustration that I just let out there you know like I said most guys would say I'm pretty calm pretty even kill you don't get mad but I think I I let it all I let I let years of aggression out right there did you did you break down the film I don't like watching you want you want to watch it yeah I but you know the who did break it down was my was my uh my children you know so having my recite what I said was oh no was uh was not the best example he's nine oh wow so having him geek out and recite what daddy said on TV he was he like was he proud he was proud right he just laughing you know he's at that age where they uh they they know it they know the bad words and they know they're not supposed to say but it makes them laugh anyway so he got a big kick out of dad say stupid stupid social media uh well you know just sort of the last thing is is that having done this now do you I mean what do you want to do like is this something that you would want to do and I know you're taking it day by day and everything's fresh and everything's new but sometimes you're like oh this is interesting this might be something I want to do yeah you know I I am having fun with it you know I I want to I want to start what I I want to finish what I started here you know you know I want to be I want to be here for these guys you know whatever that is whether that's managing or just part of the staff next year um I think we got a great group of guys I think it's a great organization you know I I've I've loved that they gave me an opportunity and I want to make the most of it I want to do right by them so you know I want to be here making an impact every day you know whatever that is whatever position that is however that goes I just uh you know I want to I want to be a positive force all right um we asked two questions at the end yeah uh Hot or Not In other words do you like it or not um um candy corn candy corn I don't like it no no it's very polarizing Halloween tree and now we're in school math math yeah I like math you like yeah math good hot ma all right all right well you know a lot of people come away from math and like why am I taking math so I think Math's important you got to know math yeah all right okay all right all right thank you so much