Dodgers 3-Peat Quest, Ohtani's Secrets to Greatness, CRAZY World Series Breakdown with Tyler Glasnow

This is an I Heart Podcast.

Guaranteed Human

Then she says,

Have you seen a photo of my son?

And I'm like,

Who is this person?

Welcome to the Boys and Girls Podcast.

A ranged marriage is basically a reality show

And you're auditioning for your soulmate

And who's judging?

Only your entire family?

I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition

Hoping to find love the right way

And instead, I found chaos, comedy

And a lot of courage

Listen to Boys and Girls on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts

Or wherever you get your podcast.

This Women's History Month, the podcast,

Keep It Poses Sweetie,

Celebrates the power of women choosing healing,

Purpose and faith,

Even when life gets messy.

Love is not a destination

You have to work on it every day.

Keep It Poses Sweetie creates space

For honest conversations on self-worth, love, growth,

And navigating life with grace and grit

Led by women who have lived, inspired,

And tell the truth out loud.

I have several conversations with God

And I know why it took 20 years.

To hear this in more,

Listen to Keep It Poses Sweetie on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts

Or wherever you get your podcast.

I'm Daniel Alarcone

And this is my friend is much more famous than I am.

I wouldn't go that far.

But I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End

With my old friend Daniel.

On our podcast The Away End,

We'll share with you the magic of international football

All leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

Together we'll find out why of all the unimportant things

Football, soccer is the most important.

Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcone

And John Green on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts

Or wherever you get your podcasts.

It's the new me and it's the old them.

This woman's history month, the podcast

If you knew better with Amber Grimes,

Spotlights women who turn missteps into momentum

And lessons into power.

My like tunnel vision of like I gotta achieve this

Was off the strings of like I want to make a better life for us.

If you knew better,

Brings real talk from women who've lived it.

Unpacking career pivots,

Relationship lessons,

And the mindset shifts that changed everything.

Listen to if you knew better with Amber Grimes

On the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts

Or wherever you get your podcasts.

The human body is a beautiful machine.

And keeping it running,

It means understanding how it actually works.

Which is why this podcast will kill you

Is doing a multi part series on sleep.

What it's for why our bodies don't follow neat rules

And why modern life is not helping.

When you consider what we know about sleep in humans

There's one rule that comes out.

We are predictably unpredictable sleepers.

We'll continue exploring how the body works

With a multi part series on digestive functions.

So listen to our newest series,

Which runs January 20th through February 17th

With new episodes every Tuesday.

From the exactly right network,

Listen to this podcast will kill you on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts

Or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome back another episode of all the smoke dugout.

Well, my man, see why?

Let's do it.

Running through them today.

You running through them. Let's go.

Man, I'm in LA.

So I get a chance to see this guy's greatness.

Two World Series championships.

Yeah.

Welcome to the show, Tyler Glassna.

Thank you, man.

Appreciate it.

Thanks for having me on.

No, thank you.

Like, I appreciate that.

You guys were just talking.

And obviously I've been on teams that,

You know,

I was on the Lakers when they had one, two, and we were going for three.

I mean, you guys in LA are playing for rings.

With such a long season,

What is your approach?

Because again, on the basketball side, we play 82.

You guys play 162.

What is the approach on a team that knows that when it's all said down,

We're going to be playing an October, most likely fingers crossed.

But is your approach any different coming into seasons?

Yeah, it's been on other teams.

I think so for sure.

Like early, when I was at the raise,

It was more about, I feel like I had to kind of,

not carry the load.

But you want to go in and do a full season and you have like that.

I want to hit the 200,

Check the boxes.

You want to go in and do all that.

And like have your, like the personal accolades

and then being in a good position to go into playoffs.

But I think with the Dodgers,

like I've had injury history in the past.

And like it's been like the 162 has always been a grind.

But I think going in, I think their strategy has been more,

like let's prioritize later in the season.

It doesn't mean like let's not have you pitch for a reason.

But it's like if things aren't feeling great,

we try to iron some stuff out.

Let's just prioritize like the last month,

last two months and then head into the post season.

Because last year,

I did really well in the beginning of season

and I couldn't participate in the post season

and it was like, kills you.

Yeah, so it was this year or this last year,

I got hurt in the beginning

and they're like, it's silver lining is,

you'll be healthy by the time we go in the post season

and it was like, I was feeling good, feeling healthy

and I got to participate.

So there is a little bit of load management in baseball.

Oh, okay.

Well, it is now.

Yeah.

If you're a starting pitcher for the Dodgers,

there's a load management.

But I guess how tough is that on the mental

to be able to ship to that?

Because in Tampa, like you're in it,

I know you had your fair share of injuries,

but the mentality is for a starting pitcher.

Go out there, I'm trying to get 200 innings.

I'm trying to get 160, 170 innings,

whatever it may be.

And then it's like you found the perfect home for yourself

from the injury history that you had,

from what the team really needed,

knowing you're going to be in the post season

and how dominant you can be in the world series

and how us having tower last now

could win us a world series in the value of that.

So tell us about the process of when the Dodgers

even approached you and how you felt like

this would be a perfect fit for you.

Yeah, I think that's the hardest part for me.

Like I never want to hear,

and I haven't had the Dodgers haven't come up to me

at all at any point.

I'm like, hey, let's slow it down.

It's just kind of like things happened organically

and it's like, I would get hurt and it's like, hey,

let's try to have you map it out to where it just so happened

to where I'd be in the post season.

But I think I'm in that in between,

part of like coming up with like the old school guys

mixed in with the new school.

And like I still have it very much in my brain

that like I don't want to go slower than I,

like I want to throw to an innings.

I want to do it as much as I possibly can.

And like I think with injuries comes lessons

and it's like I can take that and I can learn.

And I can put all this stuff I've learned together

to string out a season of like 200

isn't really a thing dudes do anymore.

Like 185.

But that's still like I really want to do that.

And I think like learning how to pitch

and learning myself and learning like the recovery stuff

which the doctors have been great with.

It's like something I still,

I don't want to have to like slow it down.

But if it does happen, it's the best place to be.

Like if I end, if say it doesn't go a full season,

you are at a place where like I'm in the best position

to compete well in the post season.

So if it doesn't work out, if anything happens,

and I don't feel great, I can build up

and just be ready to go in the post season.

But yeah, it's just, it's the best place to be.

And as far as going to the Dodgers,

it was, I was there on a trade.

And then I got to sign an extension later.

And it's my hometown team.

So it was like a no-brainer.

I knew that they wanted to do something.

And I was like, so do I.

Santa Clarita?

Yeah.

Okay, I just moved up to Porter Ranch.

I was in the scene of a Santa Clarita.

It was like, just to get my son on my son's play

football up in that way.

Oh nice.

Where do they play?

Oh man, they're in the career.

We're in Calabastas, but we always have games inside.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

It's a beautiful ballad there.

Yeah.

You and my wife went to the same high school.

Really?

Very different years.

Want to hurt?

I don't think you know it.

I was going to be like, well here, but if you don't,

no need to do that.

No need to do that.

That's happening around here.

Exactly.

Believe that.

Go ahead and throw it out there.

But let's relive the World Series just a little bit

before we move on to this year.

What stands out to me?

The conversation was Yamamoto,

which he deserves it, pitching back to bad games.

But you were right there with him.

Absolutely.

Even though it was only three pitches,

they had to be the highest stress three pitches

of your life.

Going to the ninth inning,

game six, up three, one.

Sasaki's in the game.

I'm just paying the picture for everybody.

Yeah, there we go.

Sasaki's in the game.

I remember Alejandro Kirk hitting with a O2 count

gets hit by a pitch.

Barger gets the craziest ground rule double

that I've ever seen in my life.

Yeah.

And you starting pitcher, Tyler Glass now,

has to now enter in a situation that

has to be the worst for even a guy

who's been a bullpen guy for his entire life.

Yeah.

It was definitely wild.

Because the beginning of the game,

I had gone in on my cab.

I'm ready to go.

Game six.

If we lose a game, we're gone.

So it's like, clearly, I'm going to go to the bullpen

regardless, like at some point.

But I was starting game seven.

And then you're looking while it's happening.

The beginning of the game,

I'm in the dugout still.

It's kind of like marinating in the clubhouse.

Just doing whatever I got to do.

We're sitting there.

We have like, it's the first or second inning.

And I'm kind of hanging out around there.

I didn't think I'd come into later in the game.

And then I think Mark came up and he's like,

all right, you can go down there?

I'm like, yeah, I'll go down there.

And then head down there.

I do what I got to do.

I do my routine.

But like not, there's no part of me

that was really like, I'm going to pitch in this game.

And I think for me, it's probably a better mindset to have.

Like, I'm so routine oriented and like,

even in spring, like a bullpen,

everything is like minute by minute by minute.

Like, I want to be in control of everything I can

on the day I'm prepared, like control what you can.

But something about like getting thrown into something

where you get stripped of your routine for me anyway

has always been good.

Because it's like you have that like consistent mental thing

you always do.

And for some reason, like I just went down there,

it started to hit the fan a little bit with Roki.

And I still was kind of like, all right, I'm warming up.

I'm feeling good.

I don't know.

And they're like, all right, get up and like throw light.

Just like get it going lightly.

And I was like, okay, let's sounds good.

And I'm just kind of out there tossing

and then the double happens and it was like,

let's go, like get going.

So I'm pitching, I'm doing what I got to do.

And then they call down.

And I think at the point of the same saying,

like get going and me throwing hard,

it just kind of was like just blur.

Yeah, it's like a buzz the whole time.

And I didn't have like the same head space

I'm normally in when you're like, it's like this is now.

And then you go here, then you go here, then you go here.

And then you go here.

It was just like, you gotta go now.

And they call down.

And I'd thrown like five or six hard pitches

but the adrenaline, like it doesn't matter.

I could have thrown no pitches.

They call down and I remember walking out of that bull pin

and it's like that little L shaped staircase.

And I remember like hitting the corner

and knowing that like no one can really see you

and I just fucking cheese so hard.

I was smiling like I wasn't nervous.

I was just such a weird like crazy situation

to be thrown in that it was like, I mean, this is insane.

And I just I was so excited for some reason.

I'm walking down the staircase.

And like the Toronto fans were just talking mad.

Yeah, the whole time.

I always want to like, what kind of, they're dealing

anything they can, right?

You take a guess, I had long hair.

They were like, cut your hair, you girl.

Like anything you can think of.

I was talking shit, talking about your wife and your mom,

whatever you got.

And I, for one, I kind of, if it's like funny,

shit talking, I don't know if I can cuss.

But if it's funny, I appreciate it.

I'm just a cuss.

I kind of, I kind of like it.

But if it's just like, this name,

it's just, it's like, that's fine.

I feel like people around them too and the stands

are like, that's not even funny.

But they were talking mad shit.

And I hit the corner and I was like,

roots are really chisened, like smiling.

And then the no one said anything.

They were like, oh shit.

Like he looks comfortable.

And then I ran out.

And then I just, I kind of like, not blacked out.

But I knew I wanted to throw a two-seamer.

Because I was always doing four-seamster IDs.

And then they're going to, guys are on base.

They swing early all the time.

So I get something in.

It was a pop-up.

And then I threw an awful curveball.

And then another two-seam that ran across the plate.

And then it was a double-play.

Kike comes out.

Sick defensive play.

Miggie with the pick.

And then I'm like, I always remember the,

I remember Miggie's reaction on the crazy game

in a double play.

Yeah.

I remember Kike's clearly.

And they show some people on the bench.

But I never saw your reaction.

What was your reaction right there?

I didn't have one.

Because I, like, he throws the ball to second.

And my immediate thought was like,

don't adrenaline dump right now.

Because they could challenge this.

And they could be safe.

And it looks so close.

In my mind, they had the double play.

Or not the double play.

He caught the ball.

It was like, all right, cool.

Two outs.

And I didn't see how far he was off a second.

And then he threw the ball in.

And I was like, what are you doing?

And then he got him a third.

He called him out.

And I just was like, all right, chill out.

I don't want to like do anything yet.

Because they could reverse it.

Take this.

Take us through this real quick right here.

That's the trash curveball.

That was the second pitch.

That was cool.

Yeah, back is when we had the first out.

The first pitch.

First pitch.

So I know I want to throw a two seam.

The fourth seam wasn't feeling that good.

And the two seam was feeling better.

I saw it.

Will.

I think I shake to it or will cause it.

Runs across the plate.

He breaks his bat.

Catches it.

Throws it.

And I'm like, what are you doing?

I'm like, oh, that's what you're doing.

What a dig.

It's crazy.

Catches it.

They're freaking out.

They're going nuts.

And I think my only reaction is just like this.

They showed me on the thing.

And I'm just like, out.

Like, I don't really do anything.

In this moment, you know, I feel like we just won the World Series.

I remember just being like,

this is absolutely incredible.

But it's still at this point.

I'm like, I don't want to think anything.

Because they could challenge.

And then once they challenge, I was like, holding.

Then it became this like instant stress relief going.

This is where baseball IQ is through the roof.

Like, he K knows to play more shallow on his own.

Like the scout report is going to have him playing much deeper

to explain right here.

Yeah.

But you know who's on the mound.

You know who's Arsenal.

You know who's hitting.

You just take a chance in the moment.

Like one of them gut feelings that you have in the middle of the game.

I'm going to go with it.

Play shallow.

Miggy with the amazing pig.

Miggy had an amazing pig here.

And then an amazing play in game seven.

The fact that y'all go to game seven after this.

And you're back on the mound again in game seven.

And got to get them a couple innings.

Yeah.

What was the thought process of y'all were down that game too.

Yeah.

Like it looked like, honestly, Toronto looked like they were playing

a better brand of baseball than y'all were.

Yeah.

They were going to be up until that mistake there by barger.

Yeah.

And a couple of bass running mixed cues in game seven.

Yeah.

I think it was just a little mistake.

It came down to you.

Like I think every momentum shifting opportunity we took advantage of it.

And made the plays.

And I think there was just a couple little things that if they were done differently.

I think the result probably would have been a little different.

I'd never gone back to back.

But I think like with the adrenaline of the World Series.

Like you don't feel anything.

And Yamamoto just went out there.

Exactly.

So it's like, yeah, exactly.

How can he pitch it in like nothing?

Yeah, exactly.

I'm not good.

I know Yamamoto exactly.

Exactly.

Like I'm not feeling great today.

But it was, I felt great.

And I think a lot of people too, if you talk to a lot of pitchers.

Like if you have a heavy workload.

The next day, your body still very much like loose and normal.

And then the next day.

When you feel sore.

When you feel sore.

So like to back to back, I'm like, all right, this is fine.

It's more about like the two days after when everything starts to tighten up again.

So I felt totally normal.

I'm John Green.

You may know me as the author of the Faulkner stars.

And now I guess also is the co-host of The Away End.

A brand new world soccer podcast.

I'm Daniel Alargon, a writer and journalist.

And John and I have known each other since we were kids.

My first World Cup was Mexico 86.

I was nine years old.

I watched every game.

And I fell in love.

On our new podcast The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football,

all leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

For us, soccer, football is a story we've shared for over 30 years.

Since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team, very debatable.

And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan.

I love this game.

I love its history.

It's hope.

It's heartbreak.

And above all, it's beauty.

Together, we'll find out why of all the unimportant things football, soccer is the most important.

Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alargon and John Green on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Usually, on this podcast we'll kill you, we talk about the diseases, infections, and biological threats that can make us really sick.

But right now, we're doing something a little different.

We're stepping back and looking at what the human body needs to keep going.

When you consider what we know about sleep in humans, there's one rule that comes out.

We are predictably unpredictable sleepers.

We're talking about why sleep works the way it does, why our bodies don't follow neat rules, and why modern life makes rest so hard to come by.

The second half of our series takes us to the digestive system, with a multi-part series on what happens after we eat.

Okay, I just have to say that all of my favorite words, apparently, are digestive.

Yeah.

It's sphincter, parastel lodges, duodenum.

It's fascinating.

It's funny, and it matters so much more than you think.

Episodes of our new series run from January 20th through February 17th, with new episodes every Tuesday on the exactly right network.

Listen to this podcast will kill you as part of the exactly right network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the adventures of CuriosityCode podcasts, what if the right fit isn't what everyone expects?

In the case of the right fit, Ella explores movement, confidence, and belonging, and learns that not all strength looks the same.

Tennis is powerful, fast, focused, and kind of fun, strong swing Ella.

This Women's History Month story introduces kids to women who change sports by trusting themselves and moving differently.

A thoughtful episode about identity, courage, and helping kids discover where they truly belong.

So, it's okay if I'm not quite sure what my thing is yet.

It's absolutely okay.

When, and if you do find a sport you love, you may be the next Gertrude, Tony, or Venus.

At CuriosityCode.

Listen to adventures of CuriosityCode every Monday from the Black Effect Podcast Network, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I went and sat on the little ottoman in front of him, and I said, Hi Dad!

And just when I said that, my mom comes out of the kitchen, and she says, I have cookies and milk.

I said, I have bad ass congregations.

Right.

Just when it's five years.

I'm gonna have cookies and milk and milk.

Yeah.

On the Steiner Show Podcast, each episode invites you into a raw, unfiltered conversations about recovery, resilience, and redemption.

On a recent episode, I sit down with actor, cultural icon Danny Trail, talk about addiction, transformation, and the power of second chances.

The entire season two is now available to binge, featuring powerful conversations with guests like Tiffany Attish, Johnny Knoxville, and more.

I'm an alcohol.

And without this truth, I'm a die.

Open your free iHeartRadio app, search the Steiner Show, and listen now.

Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeart Media, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Magic,

Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing.

Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds of marketing.

I'm talking to leaders from the entertainment industry to finance, and everywhere in between.

This season on Math and Magic, I'm talking to CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario, financier, and public health advocate, Mike Milken.

Take two interactive CEO, Straus Selnik.

If you're unable to take meaningful creative risks and therefore run the risk of making horrible creative mistakes, then you can't play in this business.

Sesame Street CEO, Sherry Weston, and her own cheap business officer, Lisa Coffee.

Making consumers see the value of the human voice and to how that guaranteed human promise behind it really makes it rise to the top.

Listen to Math and Magic, Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Buy Guest, or wherever you get your podcast.

Do you feel the aura of just greatness of your guys pitching staff? I mean, your guys' rotation is incredible.

I mean, do you kind of just feel that and have that confidence as a staff?

I think so, for sure. I think we dealt with some untimely injuries and stuff, but I think once we got together as a whole later in the season, we were like,

as far as most of the starting staff rotation stats go, we were leading all of them.

And I think once we got on that role, and I think just sign in dudes and knowing on the team, you sit down and you think about who we've assembled.

There's a lot of confidence in, for sure. And you feed off one another and it's been great.

Yamamoto got you on his workout plan yet?

No, yeah, I actually have messed around and he's got this dude Yada Sensei and they do the craziest things.

They showed it. I don't forgot. I wonder if they showed leading into the playoffs or in the playoffs.

He's throwing like javelins out there.

Just the shit. It's crazy.

The big, but like, do you guys kind of sit back and watch?

Like, oh, we're like, yeah.

I think I worked with them a little bit with like the mobility stuff and everything.

And like, I do some of that stuff, but not obviously as in depth as he does.

But it makes you just you wonder and it makes people like, if I'm a kid right now and I'm watching the game, it's like,

all right, there's so much like heavy lifting involved.

And I think that's a huge thing for especially if you're a small kid and you need to gain mass.

If you look at any successful pitcher or like the spread sheets of who succeeds in the big leagues as a pitcher,

it's like you're generally like six foot or above.

And if you're not, you weigh 200 pounds and above.

So it's a very heavy emphasis on like weightlifting and like moving weights quickly and all that stuff.

But then you look at a guy like, yeah, I'm auto.

And he's not in any of those categories. He throws a hundred.

And he's just doing like, it's just this calisthenic holds strong.

And you look at him. He doesn't look strong or yoked or anything.

But he's his like tissue is just incredibly strong and it makes you wonder like if you can somehow blend these two and find what you need.

What kind of part?

I think that's a great point you make because I think about, I mean, I play with each other.

I play with a Japanese, I play with a Japanese players.

And now you have a staff that's hat, Yamamoto, Otani.

And then you have Snail yourself.

Yeah, Kershaw last year.

Like all of you guys, all of like you and Otani may have some similarities.

Y'all are very different to me.

As a hitter, if I were facing y'all, I'm going in with completely different plans.

How much are y'all able to bounce things off of each other?

Or is it we just brought all these great guys to one place that already know exactly how they want to go through their process and is not as much of that going on?

I think for the most part, I bounce ideas off of a lot of.

I think the most like constructive time within baseball is like the dugout.

Whenever you get like any sort of off time, or if I'm like thinking I'm sitting there, I'm not playing.

And I see Snail or whoever's sitting there and I have a question, you kind of talk during the game.

Especially Kershaw, I would talk to him a lot about certain stuff.

But you do realize the more questions you ask people, like how unique everyone is.

And I realized too, if you came up in an organization, if through the minor leagues with someone,

you're a lot more similar to that batch of people than you are when you come from.

Because if I came over in year six and you've done so many different coaches and you learn this,

you messed up this way, so you readjust this way.

And like you've got this whole different trajectory of who you, or how you've become the athlete you've become.

And so when you compare and contrast with other people, you go, okay, does this work for you?

Like this thing works for me. Does it work for you?

And they're like, I don't know what you're talking about.

It's just such a whole different like ecosystem of things that you've learned.

But you can find similarities in things or something really does feel off.

You can be like, what do you do here? And you can get ideas.

But for the most part, it's really insane how different everyone is.

Because you overlay people's mechanics and like, it's not one person throws the same.

What are some of the tricks of the trade that you feel like American pictures could take from Japanese pictures and vice versa?

Culturally as a whole, I think.

It kind of, it even like transcends baseball in a sense of like, it's not all about like brute force.

And like, just go harder.

Because like that Western culture, I guess, or whatever it is.

Like growing up for me, it was always like, more is more all the time.

Like your sore work out more.

It's like, it's like, it's just more about it.

It's like, I know as soon as I'm saying.

And it's like, it's kind of that thing that I've always leaned on to where like, if I'm struggling with anything, it's like,

I'll just go run five miles and like, just sweat it out and get an endorphin rush and like, do more and more.

And then you get older and you realize like, that's just not the way to go.

And like, it's like the recovery aspect, you can still have that.

But I think it takes just as much like mental fortitude to be like, I want to go do this right now and like, move this way.

But it's probably, it's easier for me to go do that than it is for me to sit here and just stew and whatever it is I'm trying to deal with.

And I think the Japanese side is almost the opposite of that where nothing, it's all very like,

even if I see like manual therapy stuff in the weight room or in the training room,

it's like, they're getting worked on like every day for a couple hours.

Like, their tissue is soft.

They're like, it's like Play-Doh.

But it's strong under the Play-Doh.

When I'm not feeling good, you can like physically feel how stiff certain parts are.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, and they've just been getting, they're just like wagoo beef.

Everything is just so soft.

And there was a sound that was frowned upon if we were doing that.

Exactly.

But if I were the young player and I went in.

Oh, you want to know?

You want to know?

And I'm going to train it.

Two hours ago.

I can't get on it.

It's so hard and it's still on some places.

Like, if you're in there for 10 minutes, get out of here.

Yeah.

Like, you're 22.

What do you need to be in here for a type of mentality?

And they do that mixed with like the calisthenic hold.

So they're getting both best of both worlds.

But they just move so fluidly.

You compare the mechanics of people in Japan or in the people of the US.

It's like that collect the flow up here and then they relax and they go down.

And so much of the new age weighted ball American stuff.

It just looks painful.

It's not right or wrong.

It's just like there's got to be like a fine like a middle ground.

You seem very in tune with your own body.

You understand yourself.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

You have one parent who was a swimmer and another parent who was a gymnast.

Yeah.

Is that?

Yeah.

So how did their philosophies when it come to training get passed down to you as you were young?

Were you in gymnastics?

Were you like, were you doing those type of things as a kid?

Yeah.

Help you to where you are now?

Yeah.

When I was younger, I would do, I did like, it was like daycare gymnastics.

Like, I don't think anyone looked at me and was like gymnast.

I was always like a big human being.

Right.

My mom's like 5, 9, 2 and she didn't college and she coached.

So if she chose a different sport, she probably could have done, she's a very, very good athlete.

But she put me in everything as a kid and like, I'd go look at old gymnastics like home videos.

And we're doing like 90, 90s and like stuff, baseball players are doing now.

It's crazy how like I had it.

It was so weird.

I remember looking at the video me and like, damn, like we're doing back bends.

We're doing all this stuff.

And I was a huge high jumper.

And like back bends and high jump was huge.

So I've been doing that since I was a kid.

And like, I think a lot of my like back and hip mobility has come from doing that stuff.

And my mom was my coach for a while in high jump.

But I think as far as like the like tangible things, it's so different.

Like from, she was like a, it's a kinesiology major in college.

So it's like, the stuff you got taught back then is so much different than the stuff you got taught now.

It's like everything is so different and it's trial and error.

But what I took from both of them for sure is like the work ethic thing.

I always remember them like they still to this day go to the gym all the time.

I dad would wake up at like five, go to the gym, go to work, come home, like clockwork all the time.

My mom like lives in the gym.

They were just very like always working and they never complained.

And they work together.

And the only time they ever fought was about work.

So it was just a constant like their relationship was very much like how do we.

This thing, this problem at work.

How do we work together and fix it?

And then they were both just like like business owners and they were stressed in their own world of.

Work and I would see them work it out and then they'd go to the gym and were like I just saw how to like.

Take care of yourself mentally and physically in a healthy way.

And I think me and my brother both saw that at a young age and like implemented it young.

Were you obsessive about training at the young age?

Yeah, like too much for sure.

At a young age, maybe not.

I had like a lazy bug in me and I think my family was good at like when I was younger.

And I started to get good in baseball.

It was kind of like.

You like, you said kind of like especially my brother or something.

It was like you I would watch him train like a mad man.

He's still like that.

And I learned from that.

Like you need to go into the gym.

You need to like get it going and.

What days do you really turn on training?

Because I mean, I know when I came up, we never trained.

We just played all different sports and went out and played our sports.

Now it's really specific on what you're doing.

Right.

What days did you really personally want to turn it on?

Like I hate my parents don't need to tell me brother doesn't need to tell me.

I know I need to do this.

I think junior year of high school, which is like relatively late in your parents.

But I was the same as you.

I played every sport like basketball baseball track and it was like I just go.

Spare and do it.

And I hated running.

I hated conditioning.

And then something my junior year like flipped.

And I just became like obsessed with it.

And I would just do every day probably in a bad way.

And I was just like doing too much.

But then you didn't, it doesn't matter when you're like 16.

You can do anything you want.

It hurts.

Like bounce back.

Yeah.

Which is, it's a, it's a weird dynamic because you're known as your skate guy.

A skater guy and like normally a skater guy in the way room.

And I had two things.

They're not your worlds that cost bass.

And even the people that you hang out with.

Yeah.

Are normally not going to be people that are going to be attracted to the gym.

Exactly.

So did you have to, a moment where you had to separate yourself from it a little bit?

And how did you bring that culture with you when you identified more as a baseball player.

But you still at heart.

Yeah.

A skater guy.

I early on like I skated from like fourth grade to ninth grade.

And I remember I was always like pretty much in the, like I think like culturally and my friends were always like in the skate.

Like my good friends still now from high school all the guys I skated with.

I still have good friends from baseball.

But like the people I really keep up with and still hang out with.

Like even now in spring, my best friend I skated with is like four doors down for me.

So like I'm still very much that at heart.

But I knew going into, I even in like fifth grade.

I was like when I go to high school, I'm done skating.

Like I knew it early on.

I loved it.

I would skate hours and hours a day.

But I loved, I knew like baseball was a career.

Like I could actually, I can't go make money skating.

I could make money playing baseball or go to college at least.

So the second my freshman year started or I was in eighth grade summer camp to go play football.

I was like I'm done skating and I just dropped it and I never did it again.

Or I would do, it's coupled here and there.

But I was fully focused on baseball.

And of the major sports you knew it was baseball.

Yeah, for sure.

I was either track and field or baseball, but like to the, no, no.

I'm not making money track either.

Yeah, I'm not doing that.

No future.

But I liked it.

There's a huge Japanese presence on your guys' side.

I came up in locker rooms where no way it was off limits.

Like do you guys have fun?

Talk shit to them if they do.

If you do, how do they react?

How do they take it?

Like what is that interaction like when it's not the game?

Just like the banter in between?

Yeah.

All the same.

Nothing's off limits.

I feel like too, as a baseball player, as an athlete, like we're very fortunate to have that.

My whole life has just been that.

Like there's no, you can do this.

You can't do that.

There's no like HR type of thing.

So you really, you develop like a good sense of humor and tough skin.

That's right.

And learn how to talk shit yourself.

Exactly.

Or fight.

It's one to learn.

You know, exactly.

Like it's a good, it's can't just be like, well, I'm to tell on you.

Yeah.

And then now, enough is this is going to be a thing.

It's like you kind of have to learn how to become like the thing when you know the language.

Yeah.

All you do is learn the curse words.

Yeah.

And you feel from there.

Yeah, they're great.

Like they'll, they got tough.

Like we, everyone talk shit to everybody.

And it's like you know it's out of love.

You're not like you're trying to be mean.

Right.

So it's no one cares.

I actually keep getting a club house like he's talking shit to everybody.

I love it.

Keeps it loose.

Yeah.

I mean it has to be a dream come true for you to be a so Calcutta.

Yeah.

Plan for the Dodgers.

Yeah.

Was that was the dog with the Dodgers always your squat?

Yeah.

Growing up.

We live like 35 minutes which could be like 2 hours to the field.

Yeah.

So like we would go to games sparingly but like on weekdays, generally and like lead before traffic.

But I've always liked them.

We'd always go to games.

I remember watching games in the backyard of my dad all the time.

And it was like I always liked the Dodgers.

not only hometown team, but when with your hometown team,

that's gotta be different.

Insane.

And I think it'll really sink in when I'm like done

and because I'm glad that you had that moment yet.

Have you had that moment standing on the mound

looking around like?

Yeah, I think comparatively,

because there's been some post seasons that I have on

and you go into the off season,

like with the rays, you go into the off season

and it stings for like three months.

Like you think about, I wake up in the middle of the night

like damn, like you know what I mean?

Like if you don't pitch well or this or that,

there's always like that ruminating thing

that happens randomly.

Like you get a little anxious thought of like,

it just goes, you think about it.

And it's like a little virus that's always there

and you didn't win and you think about it.

And it's like, I'll be Thanksgiving dinner,

like having a good conversation.

I'm like, oh, we lost.

Yeah, like, so it's just, I can, I can feel that.

And then after 25 feeling that at Thanksgiving

being like, oh my God, we won.

Like I pitched one, I participated.

And so it's cool to feel the contrast of both,

but I think the real zoom out part of it will be

what I'm done.

And I appreciate it a lot more.

What's the attorney experience been like?

I mean, arguably the most famous athlete on the planet.

Yeah.

What's that like?

Just a day-to-day traveling with that and seeing it?

He's a man.

He's kind of a unicorn in the sense of obviously,

like his physical talents and stuff,

but his like, like the mental four to two part

is pretty insane.

I think for the most part when you're around,

you know this, when you're around dudes

for seven months a year, like how up and down people can be.

And there's all different flavors of up and down.

But everyone has like good and bad days.

Some people are a lot more volatile than others,

but some people hide it.

But no doubt you can tell.

But with him, I really have,

it helps when he hits like 400 and a million home runs every year,

but he's had some tough times and bad starts

and things have gone on and he's the same dude all the time.

And he does the same thing on the flight.

He's always smile, smiley happy.

He has to do like all the extra media compared to what we do.

After the game, he's got like 500 people sitting there

talking to him.

He's always smiling.

He's always respectful.

And he's just like, he's, it's crazy.

He sits on the flights no matter how long they are

and he reads comic books.

It's crazy.

Like he doesn't look at like electronic screen.

He does like, it's like perfect.

It's crazy.

He just reads comic books and sleeps.

And sleeps like so much.

I'll ask him how many hours of sleep he gets.

He's like 11 hours.

Like no problem.

That's part of the culture.

I guess.

I don't want to call it or not.

It's crazy.

I remember being teammates with him.

I played with him with the angels.

And he was a rookie.

And seeing his ability to make adjustments,

never get down on himself.

Like he has, is this inner confidence

of knowing everything is going to work out?

Like things that you would tell your boy,

like you know you're going to be fine.

It's like he knows that.

And he decides early in the season,

all right, who am I going to be this year?

If he has Tommy John and he know he won't be able to pitch,

all right, I'm going to be a slugger.

Stolen bass guy.

Stolen bass guy.

All right, with this year I'm going to pitch.

All right, I'll take it back on the stolen bases.

I'll be able to mix and match through this.

But to see somebody have to balance out the workload

of locking in and all the work that goes

into it being a starting pitcher and flip it on.

As soon as he gets through the inning,

he has to turn it on and go to the bat rag,

get his helmet, get his bat and be locked in

for one of the nastiest pitches in the game

because everybody's discussing it these days.

Like how do you feel like he's able to manage

the mental workload that comes with it

and have some level of personal life

or do you just not have a personal life?

I don't know.

I don't, you have to ask him.

I'm not sure what is personal.

I mean, he's married as a kid.

Like he loves his dog.

And his dog is well trained.

So clearly there are some times when this is going out.

I think sleeper comic books, I don't know.

Like I don't know what else he's doing,

but he just seems, I don't know.

I don't know like what he does all the time at home,

but he's always chilling on the road and just hanging out.

And I'm not quite sure everything,

but I think for the two most obvious things

are like the sleep, I think.

I'm still here, unicorn.

For you personally, a starting off with Pittsburgh,

going through, you know, being a top tier prospect,

huge expectations, has some success,

had a little time in the bullpen,

going to Tampa and then going to the Dodgers.

And this is something I want to talk to you about too, Matt.

Like you went to two of the best organizations

that you could possibly go to as a pitcher.

The race and the Dodgers are both well known organizations

when it comes to getting the,

finding out what a pitcher does best

and being able to get him to do that on the field

and have a lot of success.

How much do you think,

and you can answer this too afterwards,

the organization that you're with

can somewhat predict or enhance the player

that you end up becoming.

And I think it's a wide range of the type of player

you end up becoming dependent

on the organization that you're with.

Yeah, I think if your sample size is based off

of the things you've done, like in Pittsburgh,

if you were to,

because these algorithms are crazy,

I don't know if you've seen these things,

but they can like take a player

and be like, this is what he'll do this year.

And they're generally pretty active for the most part.

And the biggest one that I've seen is,

they'll take a team because there's more variables,

like 26 guys and they'll plug it in

and be like they'll win 77 games.

And by the end of the year,

they're like at least two to three games above or below.

It's insane.

So I think if you take,

like if in Pittsburgh you took all of the data

collected for me, like I had really good stuff,

but you punched in and you'd be like,

this guy just doesn't throw strikes

and he sucks a little bit.

Like you could just make that pretty obvious.

I was really good to minors,

but I just couldn't do whatever it was mentally

or whatever it was.

I just wasn't confident with Pittsburgh at all,

but they could still kind of get your raw talent.

And I think Tampa was the best at that early on.

Like in Tampa, you'd see our clubhouse,

there's however many 26 people

and then their R&D team was like 50.

Like you'd go up into these the front offices

or like the upstairs and they had like,

they put just as much money into R&D

as they did into the players.

Because like if we spend 40 million players,

we maybe win, you get like one or two more guys

win like three games,

but if we can put 40 million to R&D,

we might win like 10.

So they were like gung ho on trading for me.

And I knew some previous years they wanted me

and I never got traded.

And then they got me and they were so stoked.

Like just me getting traded

and how excited they were.

I was like, that's a good deal.

And my confidence was good.

And they were like, hey, you're starting tomorrow.

I'm like, I'm in the bullpen at this point,

like in the worst role in the bullpen.

Like you're gonna start tomorrow against Angel

and I was like, what?

It was just I flew in and they just poured

so much confidence into me and we're like,

hey, you have really good stuff set up down the middle,

stop with the sink or slide or stuff,

just throw the ball down the middle

and like throw a strike and they're probably

not gonna hit it.

And then my first start,

but I was like four innings, nine k's.

And then the next, I just was like going

and then I have some dips and but for the most part,

I was like kind of shoving.

And so I just was like, I'm gonna listen

whatever these guys have to say

and just the attitude overall with them.

It wasn't there was no like fakeness.

There was no like high coups and some places,

do you have like the high coup like the,

whatever organizational name and they'll have like loyal

and it's just like, they're like, are you play baseball?

Just don't worry about all the other stuff.

Like come in, have fun.

It's not that big of a deal and play baseball.

It was very much like, are you good or are you bad

until we care about?

And it was just freed me up a ton.

And then I learned a lot there and went to the Dodgers

and it's crazy there.

Very similar or do they function different?

It's similar in the fact that freedmen

was the GM of the race.

So I think like the template, like the foundation

is the same either it's analytic based,

more so I think in Tampa, like they lean on the analytics more.

And I know what I've noticed with the Dodgers

is it's a lot more like doc is,

it's emotional and analytical.

They don't go all in on one.

He'll kind of you take all that stuff into account

but then he'll use his like baseball expertise

to make decisions where he thinks he needs to

or the coaches in general and the front office

to even Andrew is very analytical

and they're really good at all the database stuff

but he's still very much like he knows the game

and he's and he'll let like the emotional stuff

is also very real.

And I think that's why they do so well in the post season

because you can control all the controlled variables

work very well in a controlled atmosphere

like a 162 game season.

But when you go into the post season,

like I remember I'm not going to name any names

in Tampa after we lost in 2020,

someone in like the analytic department was like,

you know what I've noticed is like I really do think

there's like an emotional part to this game.

And I was like, just now you think of it.

That's why you have to have,

you can have an amazing analytical department

but you still have to have somebody who can take that

information and translate it to the player

to where you can actually capture that.

Does that exist in basketball?

The analytics side of the human parts

where you feel like if I'm with this team,

I may become this player,

but if I'm with this team,

I'll become better version of it.

Unfortunately, you know, my first handful of years

I wasn't with very good organizations

but they stick out like a sore thumb when you get to them.

I'd probably say the first good organization I was with

it was used to winning with the Lakers

and it ran a completely different way

than other organizations.

The expectations were high.

I was playing with Phil Jackson and Cobb and you name it.

So I'm in year eight or nine by then.

So you just want to bring it out.

It's going to bring out the best in you.

And then I circled back around the Golden State

and won a championship for our retired.

And I was there earlier where it was terrible

different ownership.

This time around they took care of absolutely everything.

It freed your mind up.

Don't tickets traveling for the playoffs, bro.

They had a whole giant 747.

Your family jumped on it for free and the hotels were free

and the tickets were all taken.

Like you don't have to worry about anything

but playing basketball.

So on those days with that team,

that's when Katie was there too.

Like even the off days that the gym was full.

Like you wanted to come in and get your work,

your treatment, your shots or whatever it was.

So there definitely are organizations

and I think obviously they're more pivotal early on.

But like I said, I didn't get any good organizations

early on but I got to taste some of those greatness

later on and you can see that the teams

that have the championships to Laker Dynasties

and the Golden State run that they went on,

it starts at the top.

And it's just a completely vibe

but different energy or approach techniques

than what I played for.

And I don't need to mention any of the piss-poor organizations

I play for but when you play for those organizations,

you can tell why they're not winning.

So yeah, definitely.

I think of the translators and you have Mark Pryor

over there with the Dodgers.

And somebody who's been there,

done that has the experience one of the best

at the time when he was doing it at the top of his game.

Top five guy, you know, having him

as a pitching coach, what does that bring to a staff

and how much of y'all chopping it up,

trying to talk through things

and allow you to make adjustments?

A lot, I like him a lot.

He's, I think to the longer I'm there,

like we develop a relationship together

and understand each other a lot more.

And like I tease the best.

We have Conor McGinnis too,

which cool about the Dodgers is like,

it's not like a traditional.

They have like two pitching coaches

and then you have some people in the front office

that can help you and you have like guys

in the minor leagues that are good at like movement.

And so it's like if you're messed up at all,

you have so many different resources to go to.

And I can go to Mark and go to Conor,

I can go to a bunch of different people

and be like, what do you think about this?

And they're open and they're cool about you

getting information from different places

and like they just want you to be

as good as you possibly can't can be.

And like Mark is good at that too.

There's not an ego, there's not like a,

it's not like you have to get all this information

for me and only me.

It's like go and find what you need to find

and he's so good at facilitating

and taking that information and working like with you on it.

But he's the best.

Like I think too, like he's so good at like the in game stuff

and like he's a dude who watches me warm up.

And like as you have more reps in front of a coach,

they start to learn you more

and like it doesn't take as long of like,

what do you think about this and this and that?

He'll just be like, I'm like, what do you think

and he kind of gives me that cue or that thing

that he knows I like and you just start to roll from there.

And like he's a good resource to have in between innings.

Like I always bounce stuff off of him between

and Conor McGinnis is amazing too.

Like if I'm in between innings,

I'm like, how is my heater today?

If I'm cutting a little bit on it,

I know that I'm not, I'm like ripping open

and that then affects my slider or that affects my curveball.

And there's all these things,

they like remember the things you say in the garden,

well you said that in last game when you said that,

now you can do this.

And so you're just it's like this workshop

in between innings and it's like every time

I talk to them in between innings,

it like if it's not this tangible physical adjustment,

it's like a nice, like all right,

we've kind of ironed through this thing,

we've talked a little bit and then on my next day

I can go out and like attack a guy differently.

And it's just, it's a sick little workshop I got going.

Is that a picture thing though?

Because it sounds like you sought out,

like you want the feedback, you want the information.

I know obviously my sport is different,

but as position players, the position players

look for as much back and forth with coaches

that more a picture thing.

I think it's unique to the individual

because I know some pitchers that go like,

get away from Iowa.

I'm seeing that you don't only look like you want to talk to anybody.

Exactly.

And I think that's like if that works for you,

that works for you.

I think certain dudes think if you think last,

generally in competition modes,

like thinking less is probably good.

I like doing in-between innings,

but on the mound, I'm not really trying to locked in.

I'm trying to just go and let my body,

like if I'm not consciously thinking,

I feel like I'm operating in my subconscious,

I'm moving smoothly and like everything's going well.

And then the times I'm not good,

I'm like stiff thinking about,

because this messed up, you know what I mean?

Same as hitting.

Same as hitting.

Oh yeah, it's probably even harder,

it's better, it's just more.

Right, for sure.

And I think it's like the takes confidence with that.

The days you don't have it, just being like,

fuck it, like I'm going to go out and relax

and just even if I don't have my normal mechanics,

if I can stay loose, it's going to be better than not.

And it's crazy how difficult it is sometimes

when you're not, when something is off,

you just like, you get into like,

I can fix it mode, as opposed to being like,

this is what I got, and I'm going to be loose with it.

And so I think the best ones can just be like,

this is what I got today.

Being a piece with your game is important for sure.

When you have so much experience

in knowing what works for you,

and you fill a team with guy,

if you took a lot of guys from your team

and put them on a squad,

they would be the leader of that team.

But when you put all those guys onto one team,

moot, Freddy, O'Connie, Tuck,

yourself, snow, I mean,

the coach goes on and on,

but you understand what I'm saying.

When you have that many leaders in one clubhouse,

is there still a leader needed?

Or if something needs to be said,

who is the guy amongst all of those guys

that will be the one to say something?

I think it probably depends on the situation or what it is.

Miggie's very vocal, I feel like as far as off field,

not off field, but away from the field clubhouse stuff.

Miggie, he's like the might guy,

and he's doing a lot of that stuff.

But leadership stuff too,

it's not all about talking about it.

It's like lead through example.

Freddy, you watch him go about his business

and how he does everything.

He's like methodical with everything.

And the work and the consistent thing

amongst all those guys is the work they put in.

They're at the same place every day doing the same stuff.

There's not this, I'm tired.

Maybe it's like,

baseball is such a routine oriented sport,

and it's such a marathon game.

There's never like a wasted wrap.

Like you watch Mookie go do his thing in the infield before,

and like you watch him go hit, you watch him do this,

you watch show, hey, do his thing,

you watch Freddy do his thing,

and it's just vast differences with everything,

but it's so similar in their little circle.

Like they're doing it,

and they're so locked in of what they're doing.

It's like the second nature subconscious operation,

and it's just crazy.

So you see that, if you're a young guy,

you're leading by example,

and none of those guys are afraid to say anything.

Like everyone is a leader in their own way,

but I think it's in a room full of veterans,

like you know what you gotta do,

and if shit hits the fan,

you gotta have a meeting or whatever everyone's in there

ready to collaborate and figure out whatever

they need to figure out.

And when everybody's moving like that,

nothing, a lot of times, never needs to be said,

because this entire culture has been built over there,

and it's really no expectation when you walk in.

And y'all have become this evil empire

that everybody talks about.

If y'all were to lost in Toronto,

I don't know if it's still the same storyline,

but you want.

Like you went back to back,

you're going for a 3P.

At this point, do you just embrace being the evil empire,

so many conversations,

dodges are bad for baseball.

You know, it's not fair.

What are your thoughts when you hear all those things say it?

I think a lot of that too,

so much more for like the outside of the clubhouse type of thing.

It's like a fan narrative type of thing.

It's fun.

Like that's that shit's fun.

Like it's like, it's exactly.

You don't know how much players are like looking at all that,

I'm like thinking about it,

because you already got so many things to think about.

You know what a season is.

Like I got to worry about my swinging, I got to worry about this.

It's like, I think it's more for the,

it's like wrestling.

You got the heel, you got the, you need that.

Like it's good for baseball.

I think it's just, we're there to play,

you sign your contract,

you're a professional, you go and you play,

and it's not my problem to think if we're evil or not.

It's like, it's, you want to play for the Dodgers,

and you sign a contract, you play, you do what you got to do.

Like no one, if you really think about it, strip it away,

like put yourself on our shoes, like you would do it too.

You're going to like, if you're,

you want to go to the best organization,

and you want to win, and you want to like learn from the,

and it just so happens,

the team that's winning the most is also the best at everything.

And if you want to be the best possible player,

you're incentivized to go to,

I want everyone knows in the league,

like if you, if you're struggling at a bad year

and you're a free agent or something,

it's like, if I can go to the Dodgers and like,

learn from what they have to offer,

or like I know, like Ashley,

there's a lot of different organizations

that have a reputation of like,

if you can go there and they can kind of mess with what you're doing

or like give you a different view of how to pitch,

or like maybe told it this way or whatever,

and you go there to be the best you possibly can be,

it's hard not, it's something like,

I'm not going to go there because they're evil.

It's like, I want to be good.

I want to know the truth.

Cause you know the organizations,

yeah, that players go to die too.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Like you know the organizations like,

he's probably on his last season.

Exactly.

I'll see you just see behind a mic soon.

Yeah.

Is this your nine or 10 for you?

So I have like just it under nine years now.

So sitting where you are as a veteran,

what do you wish you knew?

What does something you know now

that you wish you knew coming into the game?

It's not that serious.

I think I know.

I can tell myself that is cause I was so even talking on like,

when I was younger, like the more is more thing.

I was so like, if I'm not nervous about it all the time,

then I don't care type of thing.

Like I have to think about this and stress about it all day long.

And I for some reason, and my little kid brain,

I just like thought, you know what I mean?

It's like, well, if I'm thinking about it,

it's like I clearly I care.

And I, so I just would like away from the field.

I would like try to study and do things

I could do, do mechanics all the time.

And it was just like, this all consuming thing

that like took me away from my personal life for more.

Just enjoying the, enjoying which was not of that.

I was like dominant in the minor leagues.

And I think back to the minor leagues

and it makes my fucking hair stand up.

I was like, this is so anxious.

I would die like a one ERA in most of my minor league seasons.

And I think back when I was like miserable.

But it worked for you.

Because I kind of fell in that same boat.

Like I did all the extra work

because I never wanted anything in the back of my mind

if it didn't work out to be like, damn you didn't do it now.

Exactly, that's what my biggest fear was too.

So how did that change, like what you find in that freedom now,

how did that change your routine

from when you went to minor leagues to now?

How did you change how you go about it

to allow yourself to have more freedom

and have more of a life

while still giving the game what it deserves?

I think it's like you have your plan for the day.

So you say it's a five day routine.

I do what I have to do at the field

and then when it's done,

the things that I can control are over,

then I have to move on.

It's harder said than done,

but like if I can find a clear separation in my schedule

of like, okay, this is the physical stuff

and the thinking stuff ultimately end here.

All I can do is think and do physical stuff up to this point

and then if I'm thinking about it after this point,

that's just a detriment on what I'm doing.

I'm going home and like,

I'm not getting any better doing mechanics in the mirror.

I'm not.

I'm getting a lot worse if I'm doing anything.

So I think it was just finding that

and trying to stick to it and it doesn't always work.

You get those like, I gotta do something,

type of thing, but I think the more I would like,

just be consistent with that.

And failing for me was the biggest shifter,

like doing all that stuff and putting all that extra work in

and then going into 17 and being like

the worst pitcher in the league.

I was like, something's kind of changed.

It's like, it's not working.

So I got sent down in 16 or 17

and I remember as a, like we were in trippling like,

we're going out to a bar and I was like,

all right, then I would just start to like live my life.

I don't tell people to go out and drink,

but I had a nice separation of like, you work

and then you're allowed to go have fun

when you got an off day or something

and it just changed everything.

You got to enjoy the journey though.

For sure.

And I think that's, we can sit back and say

that once we're done, because you're in the midst.

And like you said, you'll probably appreciate stuff

when you're done and you look back,

but enjoying understanding the journey

is the most important and the funnest part of all of this,

because it's not, I mean, you're already your nine.

So you beat the odds, hopefully another, eight, nine,

another, you know, play as long as you want,

but just the journey during that, I think is a hard time.

I think it's current, like when you're in the moment,

you kind of forget, like, okay, let me just enjoy this shit too.

It's dope.

I'm John Green.

You may know me as the author of the Fault in Our Stars.

And now, I guess also is the co-host of The Away End,

a brand new world soccer podcast.

I'm Daniel Alagón, a writer and journalist,

and John and I have known each other since we were kids.

My first World Cup was Mexico 86.

I was nine years old.

I watched every game and I fell in love.

On our new podcast The Away End,

we'll share with you the magic of international football,

all leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

For us, soccer, football is a story we've shared

for over 30 years.

Since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team,

very debatable, and I was their most loyal

and sometimes only fan.

I love this game.

I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak,

and above all, its beauty.

Together, we'll find out why of all the

unimportant things football, soccer, is the most important.

Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alagón and John Green

on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts.

Usually, on this podcast, we'll kill you.

We talk about the diseases, infections,

and biological threats that can make us really sick.

But right now, we're doing something a little different.

We're stepping back and looking at what the human body needs

to keep going.

When you consider what we know about sleep in humans,

there's one rule that comes out.

We are predictably unpredictable sleepers.

We're talking about why sleep works the way it does,

why our bodies don't follow neat rules,

and why modern life makes rest so hard to come by.

The second half of our series takes us to the digestive system

with a multi-part series on what happens after we eat.

Okay, I just have to say that all of my favorite words

apparently are digestive.

Yeah.

It's fink door, parrots to wadans, duodenum.

It's fascinating, it's funny,

and it matters so much more than you think.

Episodes of our new series run from January 20th

through February 17th, with new episodes every Tuesday

on the exactly right network.

Listen to this podcast will kill you

as part of the exactly right network

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the adventures of curiosity, co-podcasts,

what if the right fit isn't what everyone expects?

In the case of the right fit,

Ella explores movement, confidence, and belonging,

and learns that not all strength looks the same.

Tennis is powerful, fast, focused,

and kind of fun, strong swing Ella.

This Women's History Month story

introduces kids to women who change sports

by trusting themselves and moving differently.

A thoughtful episode about identity, courage,

and helping kids discover where they truly belong.

So it's okay if I'm not quite sure what my thing is yet.

It's absolutely okay.

When, and if you do find a sport you love,

you may be the next Gertrude, Tony, or Venus.

At Curiosity, co-op.

Listen to adventures of curiosity, co-op,

every Monday from the Black Effect podcast network,

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts.

I went and sat on the little ottoman in front of him,

and I said, hi, dad,

and just when I said that, my mom comes out of the kitchen,

and she says, I have cookies in milk,

there's this badass convict, right?

Just when it's five years, I'm gonna have cookies

in milk, there's mom.

Yeah.

On the Cino Show podcast, each episode

invites you into a raw, unfiltered conversations

about recovery, resilience, and redemption.

On a recent episode, I sit down with actor,

cultural icon Danny Trail talk about addiction,

transformation and the power of second chances,

the entire season two is now available to binge,

featuring powerful conversations,

you guys like Tiffany Addish, Johnny Knoxville, and more.

I'm an alcoholist, and without this truth, I'm a die.

Open your free iHeartRadio app, search the Cino Show,

and listen now.

Hey, ambitious, well-intentioned, barotias,

and wealthy mother looks like in the Black community.

This woman's history month, the podcast,

key to positive sweetie, celebrates the power of women

choosing healing, purpose, and faith,

even when life gets messy.

Love is not a destination.

You have to work on it every day.

Keybit positive sweetie creates space

for honest conversations on self-worth, love, growth,

and navigating life with grace and grade,

led by women who have lived, inspired,

and tell the truth out loud.

I have several conversations with God,

and I know why it took 20 years.

To hear this in more, listen to Keybit positive sweetie

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast.

Give me your, obviously a very routine-oriented guy.

Give me your game day routine

from the time you wake up until you throw your first pitch

for fans that are interested in that.

I'll go, I'll wake up.

Gently, what are you eating?

What's going on?

If it's a night game, I'll wake up,

and I'll eat a breakfast, and I'm not hungry at all.

The day before, I don't have issues.

Even when I'm at my worst nervousness,

I can sleep the day before.

I've never been like an issue.

Some guys it's hard for them to sleep,

but I'll get a good night's sleep

usually the day before, and then I wake up,

and I get a breakfast.

It's usually like a ton of eggs.

It's like not fried potatoes, like a carb,

like a starchy carb, a bunch of fruit, some protein,

and just like, I'll try to load up on the calories

in the day, because it just gets harder

and harder to eat as the game gets closer.

Some home, before I go to the field,

I do like a 20 minute mind, whatever you want to call it.

Mindfulness, I just sit in silence

and watch all the shit go on in my brain,

and try to bring it back to,

just let it do what it wants, but try to observe it in a way.

Like not get carried away in all of my nervous thoughts.

And then I'll drive to the field,

always a podcast, it could be something, whatever.

I just want to lock it.

So I'm not to get you off, so say this is a seven o'clock pitch.

What time are you headed to the field?

I'm leaving for the field, if it's a seven o'clock game,

I'm leaving it to be traffic, generally at like 12th.

No, day on a game, probably 130, I'll get to the field

at like 230ish, three sometimes of traffic sucks.

So I'm podcasted on the way there,

trying to like externally focus on something else,

just like not go internally yet.

I get to the field, I go and I get food again,

like I'll wrap a turkey something,

I'm at this point I can't eat.

I'm smoothie, whatever it is.

I go, depending on how I feel, I'll like roll out,

or I'll just go straight to like we have like a nap room,

and I'll do like either like the immortal bed,

or I'll lay down and try to take a nap

and do like another little mindfulness thing.

And then I'm going on the training table.

It's like two hours and 10 minutes before I think,

so and then I'm on there for like 40 minutes doing whatever,

fixing whatever issues you have in the middle of the season,

trying to do that, electron plus this thing,

we do our soft tissue or whatever.

And then I go upstairs, put my pants on,

socks on, no belt.

So we go, no, no, no, just because I'm about to go roll out

and have my belts, that's annoying.

So I can use a belt off, I roll out, I do my warm up,

it's about 35, 40 minutes every day, weighted balls.

Then I go back upstairs, belt, cleats,

walk around a little bit more, like take it easy,

sit in this little coaches room I sit in,

and then I have to look at my phone at the exact time,

but it's 35 minutes before, it's 10 minutes window before,

10 minutes on the mound, 10 minutes of throwing,

and there's weighted balls before.

So about 35 minutes, I throw, and then I mound,

then I have 10 minutes to sit in that little office

before I go out and just chill.

I got a little fan, I had a thing called a cool mid,

if I'm sweating my beak off, I'll go and get cold.

Chill, just try to be as calm and as focused as I can,

and then I head up, get out,

tap up for any, tap up tail.

I can check everyone there.

You win it right now.

I can see you win it right now.

Listen, I want it, yeah.

I'm trying to like crack a joke or something,

or even though I'm like, I'm doing something,

and then we go up, I'm gonna go.

And then I'm ready to go.

What if somebody throws your clock off?

That's fine.

I used to maybe care about that in the minor leagues and stuff,

but like some of my best games,

I'll fuck up my clock, like in spring.

Last year, I dominated, I had like a 15 minute window

where I messed up and they were like,

you got a pitch in 10 minutes and I was like, here we go.

Oh, good.

And I just, and that was another thing I talked about

with the postseason, like as routine oriented as I am,

the best games I've had is when I get thrown off of it.

It's crazy.

Like if it's just had like no routine,

I'm like, all right, I guess I gotta go pitch now.

And it's like, I just feel good.

Thoughts on just what the game is done today

with the pitch clock and in no shifts,

they've taken drastic measures to kind of change the league

as a pitcher.

Yeah, that's not necessarily for you.

Yeah, it's more for the batter.

How do you feel?

And obviously you have to adapt,

but you're with thoughts on it.

I think like since the beginning,

or when they started making rule changes

in like the 70s and stuff,

they did, they generally like cater to however it swings.

If offense is really good,

they'll help out the pitchers a little bit more.

The pitchers are dominating.

They're gonna go a little bit more like,

like Randy Johnson, they lowered the mound.

There's a bunch of stuff they do.

As far as, I don't necessarily like,

if I had to do it from scratch,

I don't know if I would write it up that way.

For me personally, like the pitch clock is quick,

but it's good for baseball.

Like as a starting pitcher,

I'm pitching once every six days,

that games I'm not pitching, it's awesome.

Cause the games aren't four out of five.

That's right.

So it's a two and a half hour game.

I like it then.

I like the rhythm of it more.

I think when I'm at my best,

I'm not taking too much time in between pitches.

So it forces me to get into that like jumper routine,

where you just getting it and shooting it.

And you're not thinking about what's going on.

So I like that aspect of it.

The automated zone, we'll see the spring.

I'm not sure.

There's shrinking the zone and like kind of lowering it.

And I got my high ball guy.

So it's probably not going to be great for me,

but I don't know, all adapt.

I'll be fine.

So all those changes I think they're frustrating

because you people who have like that routine

and you do all this stuff and you prepare to master that.

One year, it's completely different.

It's frustrating, but like as someone looking outside,

like as a fan, you're catering to the people

that are like allowing you to play the game.

So I get it.

And I think the real changes have been really positive.

Once every six days,

that's a lot of off time during the season.

Golf, hoop, what do you do?

Video games, what do you like to do in your off time?

I used to play video games,

but I obsessed so hard on them.

I had carpal tunnel in high school.

I also hard.

I had to quit.

I can't play video games anymore.

It's a game.

Runescape, the nerdiest game you've ever heard of in your life.

And people don't know, they know.

It's like a computer game and it's...

Dylan shook his head like I was in there.

It was so I was on that all the time.

And then later I would try to play some Call of Duty

and like I'd feel my hand and I'd be like,

I'm not doing this anymore.

So I haven't played in like years.

I don't go, I want to get into golfing

but I just find it to be like so boring.

I can't.

I can't do it.

Don't want you to get the buzz.

You trying to find them that stayed at state of meditation?

No, of course.

I think you got to do it.

So similar to pitching and like I'm already

like navigating that is like a thing in itself.

When I go golf, I'm like, this is the same fucking thing.

I don't want to do this twice.

Yeah, like because I'd get too obsessed with it

and like try to master it and like think about it all the time.

And like I'm already doing that one thing.

So when I'm done with baseball,

I think I'll probably try to get into it.

But I'm a big, the most of my time is like podcasts

and like books, not where I'm not good at.

Like I sucked into watching a movie shows.

Yeah, like I'll go shows and movies a lot.

I just go in waves.

You see the podcast or shows and movies

and then like audible and stuff like that.

Is it true?

We was looking up some stuff earlier.

Is there a ODB tattoo on your foot?

Is this the same thing?

I lived in New York in the off season.

And I like Wu Tang in high school

with all my skate friends.

Like as all we love Wu Tang and like bone thugs

and like it wasn't even California rap,

but like we just all were obsessed with it.

It was amazing.

And like we've all tried to continue as California

but like rap in general, all my friends listen to it.

Rizz is a close friend of mine.

And my wife and I literally just went.

He had a premiere of his new film

at the African American Pan Festival

and it's a spoon of chocolate.

So we just saw him the other night.

Just incredible dude.

That's sick.

Incredible dude.

Just outside the box thinker.

That's nice.

He's just to his own V, but dope dude.

Yeah, that whole crew is like

especially when they came up and they even watching stuff on him.

Like God, it would've been crazy to be in that area.

And like I just we love their music.

How did you get connected with Wu Tang?

Because you're a little younger.

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't I loved all like old school rap so much

when I was younger like Nas and Big L and all those dudes.

I was just obsessed with for some reason.

And like New York rap for some reason I loved.

It's more grimy.

It's skateboarder.

Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

And I don't I just loved it.

And I think it was too like skating

with the older kids when you're younger and like you hear

and you're like, whoa, it just becomes nostalgic.

And then you just keep on like rolling with it.

I still throw it on and like mob deep and stuff.

Even when we're playing in New York

and they're it's like their home thing.

I'm like, oh, I love this.

That's why I pitch good there.

Anytime someone has a good walk out or something I like,

I'm like, you're fucked.

It's just any time a good song comes on in between at bats.

It's like who has the best walkoff walkoff on?

I don't know.

It's man.

I remember like a few in the minor leagues

but I don't even know who has like

if it's like some old school rap, I really like.

I like Led Zeppelin a lot too.

Like classic rockets in my walkout now.

I like it all.

I like like future and like at two.

I need something like that.

Even like some modern stuff.

I really like anything like heavy 808.

I love.

Especially before I pitch.

And like it just feels different before I pitch.

All right, go and put a three-peat first time.

It would be done since the Yankees did it

and then 98 to 2000 run.

Are you already thinking about that?

What would that mean to you for y'all to go out there

and get that three-peat?

Yeah, I think it feels similar to what it did

coming into spring this last year.

Like everyone's asking that question of like,

are you guys really serious about like winning

in a second time?

And I'm like, we're so focused.

It's not like a, we want it once.

Let's take some time off type of mentality at all.

It's same this year, everyone's locked in.

But yeah, that's such a unique opportunity

to be able to go three-peat.

Like you've got to win two in order to do that.

So nobody is like trying to not like really take full part

of this experience.

In baseball.

I think baseball is the hardest one.

Past it.

Out of all major sports.

I think it's the toughest sport to go back to back.

There's just so many different variables

and different, like a lot of different things

and so many different people.

We had like 62 guys you had called up last year.

Like 62 different people played on our team.

Like, that's a lot of moving parts.

So I'm just a lot of season.

It's so long.

Yeah, I mean, that's what people don't think.

I understand the fans maybe, but it takes a lot of luck.

I mean, you can be a very good team,

but it takes a lot of luck to win championships.

Like shit has to line up.

The way it's supposed to line up on time

and so and so forth.

So yeah, that's what you guys want to do.

I want to argue.

I mean, we still do seven get.

We still have the same length

to play off series like you guys,

but again, your guys this season is double ours.

You know, you guys have doubly amount of games we have.

So spotlight and basketball is like more stressful though.

Or like the pressure they put on basketball players

seems to be a lot like more unfair than like, it's crazy.

If you're like a good basketball player,

they're just like, yeah, but you're not the best.

It's just like this constant.

All you got to do is miss one big shot.

It's crazy.

It's like terrible.

It don't matter what you do.

And it's just like five things out there.

So it's like the math guys too.

Yeah, it's less guys.

You see too, like people I always would hear baseball players

sometimes be like, well, baseball is so different.

Like it's not like football where it's such a mental game

where like football you don't really have bad games

or basketball, you don't really have bad games.

So I was like, I don't think that's true.

I think like it's mentally basketball like free throws.

And do you guys, when you get fucked up as a basketball player,

do you become conscious of what you're doing?

Like a baseball player?

Well, I mean, obviously everyone has their quirks

on trying to fix and overdoing and underdoing it,

but the game is so fast you can't let your mind go.

It's always the next play, the next shot,

the next game because we're we're we're up and down like this.

You know, we can play for us.

It's, you know, you guys will play the game sets,

but we'll play it will be in different three different

we can play three games in four cities in four nights.

Oh, yeah, you know what I mean?

Yeah, we play four games in a week

and be in three different cities.

Yeah, you know what I mean?

So if there's not a ton of time to linger or doubt,

you'll see guys getting the gym after a game sometimes.

If they struggle or go to the gym early the next morning,

but there's not enough time because we're playing

so much to hold on to anything.

Have you, is there ever a time though,

if like you're in the middle of a game and someone throws you

ball to shoot a three where you're like, I gotta find it.

Like you got your, or you're so quite similar to you,

like the less thinking the better.

Like if I'm thinking about this, oh shit, here it comes.

Just come and like you got to like you're,

you know, naturally you just go in autopilot,

whether you're, you know, and I remember Kobe you say,

now I'd rather you, you know, I'd rather go, you know,

two for 30 than one for five.

Yeah, I gotta keep shooting that thing.

So it's just like, you know, kind of having that next

play mentality and the next shot is the most important shot.