January 17, 2025 • 29 mins
On this episode of The Dougout, Doug and Brent recap Team USA baseball's magical Sydney run. They highlight standout performances like Ben Sheets start in the gold medal match, surprising roster cuts like CC Sabathia, and unforgettable moments from the underdog journey.
Follow Doug:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougmientkiewicz16/
X: https://x.com/DMEASrecruiting
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
I always said this that that team was not afraid
of anything, and I think that was more important than
anything else we did on the field. Cuba just would
beat people by intimidation. And it's like, if you're not
going to intimidate us, like it's just not going to happen,
Like I don't care how big or how bad you
guys think you are, like not anymore.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Like this is like we're not kids anymore.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
And I think, you know, I go back to thinking
about when I saw Roy Oswald for the first time,
I was like, are you a second baseman? And He's like, no, sir,
I pitch and I was like, well, he's like five eight,
what what? And then I watched him play behind him
in one of the exhibition games and I called him
mister Oswald every day since going and that confidence grew.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And we think when we saw Roy throw for the
first time.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Sheets people, I think the position players we all heard
of each other, right, because we were kind.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Of older, some of us were older.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And we kind of at some point crossed paths at
some point, and but pitching wise, I didn't know any
of those dudes. And then, you know, I tell people
all the time we sent c C HOMEC got sent home? Yeah,
Like how good could we have been? Like CC, I go,
we we sent c C. Sabbathia home? Like why he
(01:16):
just threw it like five innings, twelve punchies. I'm like this, dude,
if can he pitch every day? Because that would be
really cool because I don't need to get a hit
If CC throws every game, this is ridiculous. You got
Roy's five hand and throwing tick tacks and then you
got c C handed people.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Shit.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I'm like they they might have screwed up with us
position player wise, but they didn't. They didn't miss a
beat pitching wise. Holy smokes. And I kind of thinking like,
if this is what's coming up the pipe pitching wise,
I'm gonna be Valet parking cars.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But I'm gonna enjoy this shit because this is good.
This might be my last row.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
But I for I always felt like because I read
Finuca's book and you realize who they wanted, and I
don't think it turned the names were bigger.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I don't think it turns out the same.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I was just gonna say on that one thing, I
talk a lot about Doug and you ask about business
and me transitioning into business. But I look at that
team and the guys that we had, and I think
every single person had a chip on their shoulder from something, right,
whether whether or not they're they've been in the minor
(02:23):
leagues for a while, had never cracked in the big leagues,
and they had a chip on their shoulder about it.
They felt like they deserved a shot in the big leagues,
or whether it was a young guy that was still
trying to make a name and trying to fight and.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Get to the big leagues.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Like, everybody had a chip on their shoulder. And that's dangerous, right,
And so coming into business the business world, that's something
I've looked for, you know, for people to partner with
in businesses.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Who's gonna chip on their shoulder?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Like complacency doesn't lead to anything, right, And so like
you're talking about, you know, if they had gotten bigger names,
are more well known people or whatever the drive the
chip on the shoulder there, there might have been some
complacency there and it might not have turned out the
same way it did. Like we all had something driving us,
(03:14):
you know that that was special.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
We wanted to win, but yet like a lot of
us needed this to catapult us moving forward.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And I think that.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
When they hit on the young guys pitching wise, they
picked not only stuff wise, their stuff was out of
this world. But they're mos man like their personalities like
they're like they I don't think they've ever admitted this,
but one wanted out duel the other one in a
positive way. And I think you look at every great
(03:44):
staff the Braves with Maddox, Smolkes, Glavin, those guys love
each other, but they didn't want to get out done.
And I think, I mean, like just I remember Sheets,
like gold Medal game, Tommy, like, hey, you know you're
gonna fill the game in your life.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
It's like, who are we playing on? Like one hundred percent?
That's how Sheets was.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
It didn't but like you want to talk about complete
one eighties of personalities off the field and his demeanor
on the mound were complete polar opposites. You saw him
as a goofy Louisiana boy sitting out, you know, playing
like the dumb card.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
But when he he was an assassin, when he when
he had the ball in his hand that gold Medal game.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I tell people all the time, and I had a
little bit different angle on it and playing second base
than than you did it first base, right because I
could literally see down the path of pretty much every
pitch right from from being behind sheets.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I don't think he.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Missed a spot the entire game. Like I tell people,
it is the best pitch game I've ever witnessed in
my life. And I played second base for a long
time and played behind a lot of guys a lot
of great performances. I don't think he missed one of
orders spots the entire game, and just they just took
out to me.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
The first hitter almost went deep, and I remember going,
oh shit. And then the job that Pat did with
him was phenomenal. Pat had his ankle tore up in
the first game against Cuba. We didn't know if he
was gonna play. I remember carrying him to the you know,
the medical houses. We almost had to cut his cowboy
(05:27):
boot off, and he came running out for infield like, uh,
oh okay, grandpa's Grandpa's gonna throw it, Grandpa's gonna strap
it on.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I'm like, this shit's over. And then Neili hits the
home run. But I remember, like I remember thinking there
were two things that stuck out there.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Four Hole who I played against the nineteen ninety four
I thought he was the best right handed hitter I've
ever seen up until I played against Manny Ramirez and
he tried to drag bun in like the fifth in it.
I'm like, they're done, Like they don't know what to do.
Like this dude's absolutely completely opened up both butt cheeks
(06:05):
and stuck the ball straight.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Up their ass.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And there there there, they don't know what to do.
And then I'll never forget. I'll never forget. Phil Reagan
had the pitch counter, and he kept looking over at
Tommy and trying to get Tommy's attention.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Hey, like, look at this, like he's getting up there, because.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
They had a pitch count. In the beginning, it was
forty five and then it was sixty I think sheets.
He called them the brewers himself and said let me
go to ninety, and they said yes. And I remember
sitting the dugout almost on deck, and Phil kept trying
to hey, you know, we got to get somebody up.
He said, eighty se eighty two, eighty three, and I'll
ever forget Tommy. By Tommy got Tommy's attention. Tommy looked
(06:46):
at that and he goes, looked at the look at
the clicker. He picked it up his left hand, he goes,
give me that, and he spiked it and it went
in fifty eight pieces, and he.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Goes, we'll apologize tomorrow fucking morning. And I was like,
hell yeah, I go it goes it.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
There would have been eight guys on defense tackling Tommy
before he took sheets out because he was absolutely that
game could have went fifteen and they were going to score.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
So that was the attitude we had. It was the
attitude like we are winning at all costs. We are
not fraid. I'll never forget, you know me. I was
the leadoff hitter, right, and that was forty pounds ago, right.
I used to be able to run a little bit
and start some stuff on the basis, but but we
(07:34):
were the visiting team. So I was the first batter
of the game and they're starting Lazo, right. Dude throws
like three quarters like from the side and throws about
one hundred. I think we faced three pitchers that game,
all of them through basically ninety nine or one hundred,
and so they start him and he's throwing this fastball.
We know what he's got. He's got a fastball around
(07:56):
one hundred, and he's got that sidelined and slider that
it's like a frisbee's throwing up there, you know, high eighties,
low nineties. And I was the type of guy, Doug
that I always had struggled with side arm guys, under
armed guys, which, by the way, thanks for thanks for
ending the game the night before against Korea off of
the dude throwing frisbees up there from underneath, because I
(08:19):
know I sure isn't going to hit that guy. But
so here I am, and I'm leading off the game
in the gold medal game, and I'm like, I remember
thinking to myself, I've got to send a message like
number one, it's not gonna be good for me to
sit back and take pitches off of this guy because
I don't see this type of pitcher well anyway. And
(08:39):
I'm like, I'm gonna send a message of aggressiveness from
the get go right. And I was a type of
guy that didn't. I rarely swung in the first pitch
of an it bad anything like that. I was like,
I'm going up here hacking. I'm going to try and
drive one out of the ballpark on the first pitch,
and damn sure if I I dude, I think I
(09:00):
might have swung before the ball left his hands on
the first pitch of the game and smoked one like
turned on and smoked it into left field seats. Now
I ended up striking out that at bat later, right,
because he started throwing the sliders. But but it was
just that attitude, man, that it's like, we are here,
(09:22):
we are going to win this game. We don't care
what you do, who you are, how good you think
you are, how many pitches we've thrown, how long we
got to play. We are walking, we are standing and
listening to our anthem being played at the end of
the night.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I remember the night before, I remember the day before.
I've said this, I think earlier on some episodes, but
just to reiterate, I remember sitting in the we set
in those rooms in those houses, and we got the
feed for all the Olympic sports games, right, and We're
watching Cuba play Japan, and people think I'm crazy, but
(09:57):
it's the truth. Like we wanted Cuba to We were
pulling for Cuba because we felt like in order for
us to get the recognition we have earned, we have
to slay the dragon and slay the dragon for the
gold medal, and like I remember, they faced they when
(10:18):
they threw contreras, and I took it as a disrespect,
like you think your gold medal game is against Japan
and they were supposed to throw the other guy and
they threw Wazo against us to start, who was forty
damn years old. Now I was like, these guys are
disrespecting us, like they're not taking us serious. You know,
(10:41):
they thought that they throw contraras the first game because
that would be over with and then.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
They could throw whoever they wanted to.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And Neely's home run in the first inning was I
just remember I could hear him screaming around first base
and thinking, like I remember he screamed when we came
to play to night motherfuckers, And I was like okay,
and like if I could being in the first bay
playing first base, their dugout was right in my eyeshot,
so I could watch their demeanor in between pitches and
(11:11):
in between every out that mounted. And then they drive
a ball and we'd make a diving play and sheets
we just kept coming and kept coming and had those
guys so mentally skull, you know, whated him and Borders
had the best plan I've ever seen, and they flip.
He flipped it midway through and they didn't know what
to do. And seeing their demeanor, they looked like we
(11:35):
used to in like ninety four ninety six when they
played Cubale. They weren't all they didn't know what to do.
They never been in that situation. So like, those are
the things that like, you know, we talk about the hits,
we talk about the the games, but stuff like that
that just kept mounting. Ernie's catched on the right field
line right just like you know, it's like and then
(11:59):
like you try to fight not counting ownstown. You're like,
don't do it, don't do it. Stop, I know what
you're doing. Don't do that because you're now it's like
you're counting pitches because you know that he's getting close
to the end. And it was a little scary. But
at the end of the day, like like I said,
I remember like it was yesterday, and like, I'm glad
(12:22):
that you got to because I missed some of the
steps to the story. I'm glad you clarified for us,
because all right, I'll go one better. Top three moments
for you personally, in Sydney from the day you got
there to the day was over.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Top three moments. The by far and away the top
moments was was you ending that disaster of a game
in the semi finals in the rain, the cold, that
we've been there for hours upon hours against Korea and
(13:01):
we were struggling, pushing runs across and Gooky getting picked
off right in front of you, and then us thinking
oh crap. I mean, I don't remember exactly what ending
it was in, but we've been there forever with rain delays,
and you ending that game with that home run. I
remember obviously the excitement, but I feel like it was
(13:23):
a weight lifted off of us because because I think
we knew when when you when you pulled that off
that we I know, you told sheets that you just
won yourself a gold medal, you know, and uh, you know.
So that's number one. The casino incident, which we've gone
(13:44):
in depth on, is number two, and dude, I'll never
the The number three moment was was by far and
away standing on the gold medal stands and I love
just the way they do that, like just the stairstep. Right,
(14:04):
you've got the bronze medal here. Then then the silver
medal here and then you got to go. I love
the image of us standing above the other teams and
standing together. They had it was like all of us,
because it's not like a swimming event, right where they
just have one personal right, there's one person, like they
(14:26):
got us all up there, and I remember the pride
I felt, you know, and and I know there's some
shots of you, you know, during that national anthem being
played and you're balling, and and I remember standing. I'm
getting chills right now, man, talking about it. I remember
standing there and and the pride that I felt, not
(14:48):
only for what we had accomplished as a team and
as individuals, but I remember, you know, my family was
there and and and how proud I was to to
be able to be part of something like that. They've
given up a lot, you know, which most families do,
right when when kids are young, give up a lot
(15:10):
to to help them succeed later on in life. And
and just the pride, man, So so I mean, obviously
they're there. We could go on and on and on
about stories and images and you know, because it was
a fun bunch of guys and we we talked junk
to each other I mean, heck, me and you in
(15:31):
the middle of games. I tell people all the time
about me and you during games, like like you'd be
at first base, I'd be at second, and we'd be
talking junk to each other like mid pitch, you know,
like like I'd be talking shit about you having no
rains over there at first and and you'd be talking
junk about Tommy still not even knowing my name even
(15:53):
though I'm you know, I'm you know, leadoff hitter, And
I mean, it was just we we just it was
just a great bunch of guys, man, and and there
were all kinds of memories, and it set us all up.
I'm sure like that that week over there set us
all up for the rest of our lives as far
as credibility, and it's something that can't ever get taken
(16:14):
away from me. You're always from there from that day forward,
you are considered a winner, right and and and you know,
you've you've climbed to the top of the mountaintop and
done something special. And that bunch of guys, none of
us will ever forget how we did it and what
it took to get there.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I don't think words or sentences can make it understandable
the emotional roller coaster you go on. I've been through
major league playoffs, I've been through long ones, I've been
through nine to eleven. I've been through post nine to
eleven baseball games, which were emotional as hell. Those games,
I think goes back to ties into the group they
brought together. They knew that the game meant a little
(16:57):
more to this group winning above you. And I remember
vividly thinking like we had to wait for the freaking
Cuban team to come out of the damn dug at
the locker room, like we just beat them, like you lost,
get your sore loser asses out, and I remember like
popping off of them at right there, and I'm like,
get your ass out here. Yeah, I'm like I go,
(17:19):
I go screw them, start without them, like screw any
poor babies. I remember, like just vividly like death staring
like say something, just say something.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I could.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I can understand Spanish, but that was that was our mo.
They're like, you're gonna take away our glory. I went
and having us make us wait for you the hell
out of my face. And then the funny part is
later that night, I remember the Cuban guys bringing cigars
over to our room and we end up drinking.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
And party with them.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I gave them my catching gear the third I remember,
I had the emergency catcher stuff, which I swear to God,
I thoughtwadn't have to use. I kept telling Pat if
I have to massage your ankle throughout the night, I
will do that because I haven't been back there since
high school. And I'll be damned if I screw this
up trying to have the catch. God bless you Marcus
Jensen for catching every damn inning after pack got hurt.
(18:06):
But that's the But that's where I think the baseball world,
that's what That's what made that, like Olympics in general,
so cool, Right, And I should have prefaced the top
three without you can't say winning or you can't say
metal stand because I tell people all the time, the
village itself.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Was a super cool experience.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Opening ceremonies, You're hanging out with the best of the
best and getting to eat right anything you wanted, like
the bus rides that smelled like the worst cab driver
you've ever smelled in your entire life, Right, I mean
how bad that?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I like, it's amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
There's still countries even in two thousand that don't know
what deodorant is, Like I just don't understand, Like I
don't get it, like you don't put deodan on.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
I went to the gym. I remember them. They had
They had the weight room that like the balleys of
the village. You couldn't lift him there without a gas mask.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Gone, I'm like, dude, I wanted to bring care packages
and leave deordering on each like exercise equipment.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
You're like, look, man, try this ship. It's amazing, it's amazing.
But I mean, am I wrong? Did not smell like
a just like a like a just a a casino
backboard urinal.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It was horrible, it was. But but I do remember
thinking to myself, you know, and that would have been
one of my memories if you hit, if you hit preface,
but it couldn't be winning. I remember walking into the
dining hall, right and and and and you walk. I mean,
(19:38):
it's like this big ass warehouse, right, and they got
any kind of food you can you can want, and
there's thousands of people in there all at once eating.
And I remember walking in and thinking to myself, you're
sitting here having eating with the best athletes in the
entire world, right, Like like that's just a crazy thought,
(20:00):
Like like walking through the tunnel of opening ceremonies and
you got one hundred and twenty five thousand people there
and you're walking out with the greatest athletes in the
entire world, and and like that, it's a feeling that,
like you said, words don't do it justice when you
have those moments of reflection and and and and just
(20:26):
again the pride and and and the work and the
effort it took to get there, and you're you're around
a special bunch of people.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Now.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Crazy thing about the village, though, Bro, you remember the
first day we walked into the village and we walked
up to the houses, right, We're like, Okay, this is
our house, and we're thinking, Okay, this is gonna be
nice or whatever. And we walk in and there's literally
just a bunch of rooms in there with each room
has two like twin size beds and it and and
(20:55):
there's like hardly any furniture in the place. They just
have beds stuck in the in the bedroom and like
one little small TV. And we're like, this is our accommodations.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I said to this day, they sent CC home because
he wouldn't fit in the beds.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I swear to God, I swear that's why we sent
Cez only because they would have cost him two beds
to put together. If we're just because he was so tall,
that's the only reason why him and Ralsh like they like,
we could only do it for one of them, okay,
one six ten, one of them six seven, We can
only do it to one of rooms.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
So all right, Ralsh, Is it because Indians wanted to
go back and pitch in the big leagues? Yep, exactly so.
But we made it work.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Man.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It was you know, you go back to the guys
leaving them weren't supposed to leave the village. They left the.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Village, and I'm just like, oh yeah, at this point,
I'm like, we're already here, so that I think I
made it.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
I think we're good.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
But like I said, all that stuff ties into and
I also want to say, like being an Olympian, it's
till the day you die. Yes, every year the Olympics
come on, and every time you hear that song that
comes on with the Olympics, you feel part of that group,
(22:08):
you feel part of that team. You remember it sparks
up all the between our yearly toasts we do every year,
the gold medal toast, which I think are freaking awesome,
But like every year, every time the Olympics are on
and they start playing, you get that it just rekindles
all those thoughts, all those emotions. It's we, not them, right,
(22:31):
It's we, we one, And whether you're the diver, the swimmer,
the gymnast, the basketball team, it's we.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
And that that, to me is what makes what we
did that much more special.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
And looking forward to twenty twenty eight, or we all
can get together in LA and kind of be a
little more and bring some you know, nostalgia to be
like this is it, Like this is what it means
and and hopefully, you know, we get to see another
group do what we did. But anything else you can
(23:08):
think of that pops into your head.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
No, I mean, you just hit on it, man. And
I always tell people, I mean, you're an Olympian forever,
You're a gold medalist forever. You know. I've got two
daughters now and they're they're sixteen and nineteen now, and
I've told people, you know, throughout the last throughout their
lives about it, and it's kind of funny because once
(23:34):
every four years, I'm a pretty cool dad, you know.
And uh, whenever the Olympics is on and they start
asking me questions, they start you know, we pull out
old videos or whatever, and they start talking. You know,
they're talking about their dad and and and their chest
is out a little bit, their shoulders are high, and
their head is held held high, and you know, it
(23:58):
just it's a special feat it's a special bond, it's
a special group of people. And as you said, you
know we will be that way forever. Uh, September twenty
seventh of every year is my favorite day of the
year with those toasts, and and I know we've got
our twenty fifth. This September will be our twenty fifth anniversary,
(24:20):
so that'll be an extra special toast. But I can't
wait to see somebody else take take what we started
and and add on to it. And I don't know
if there will ever be the stories in the background.
And we've hit on some of them, you know, you know,
(24:42):
because it had never been done before. Bye. Uh So there,
you know what, there's twenty five of us that were
part of that team, that were part of something that
has never been done by USA Baseball before, and uh
so it was a special bunch of guys and and
until the day we die, we will all have a
(25:03):
special bond. And I think I speak, I can speak
for everybody on it, of anybody on that team that
ever needs anything, you know, is in a tough spot whatever,
We're all going to be right there. We're going to
be the first ones there to back them in the fox.
I've heard you talk about how you know we were
in the foxhoul with with with our guys, and that's
(25:26):
never going to change until the day we die.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I remember saying that that thing we had that we
posted on because used to the backstory in the Olympics,
they basically you decorate your house right women's volleyball. I
remember we put we didn't come ten thousand miles to lose,
and that was hanging over our house. Now, last question,
(25:49):
strangest place your gold medal has been, strangest place or
most or strangest person that's ever held your gold nom.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I got this one.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
I got this one.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
You know, I'm sure as everybody has done. You know,
I've done some speaking engagements and things like that at
schools and and you know, younger people, youth and and
of course taking the gold medal with me. But in
twenty ten I got into the life insurance business. I
(26:24):
started a life insurance business and you know, has grown
it over the years. And have about two thousand agents
that work as part of my agency across the country.
And you know, we do about twenty million dollars worth
of business every month now, so it's grown into something special.
But along the way, and I don't really sell insurance
(26:47):
much anymore, I'm not in the field, I'm managing agents.
And but along the way to build it, I was
out in the field in trailers and in front like,
driving all over the southeast sell life insurance face to
face to face with people. And one of my buddies
one time said, and he always would sell a whole
(27:08):
lot more than I would would. And uh, he said, man,
all you got to do is take your goal medal
with you, and and and they will sign on the
dotted line just like that, you know, and and and
so I put off and put off. I would never
do it, you know, obviously, just being out in the
field knowing and not knowing where you are and you've
got your goal metal, your most precious thing, you know,
with you. And so I finally took it one day
(27:32):
with me and h unappointments, and I think I had
like eight appointments that day, closed every single one of them.
I mean, made more money that day than I had
made any day. And and you know it was It
was funny because I still have those clients that I
that I saw that day. They're like my my best clients,
(27:54):
my favorite clients. They still called me once every few months.
And this was probably ten years ago that it happened.
So it has been inside of some old ass trailers rundown,
you know, I mean houses out in the field, talking
about life insurance and telling these stories that we went
over today. You know, I have told these stories many
(28:15):
times sitting in front of clients.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
That's funny. That's one of those things.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
It's so heavy that you can't you can't miss it,
or you can't miss inarn it because it's like someone
dropped a brick in your living room, like, oh, what's that?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Oh I just fell out of my pocket. He signed this.
That's great, that's awesome. That's pretty cool. I never heard that.
That's awesome. Good for you.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
First and foremost, I want to thank Brent for coming on.
His insight was I was always one of the best
teammates I ever had on a short notice. He was
as good as it gets, Little grinder, little gamer. We're
friends to the end, So thank you Brett for coming on.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Loved it. That's gonna wrap it up for this episode.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Check us out anywhere you want to, Apple, Spotify, wherever
you find your favorite podcasts.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Until next time, this is Doug with the Dugout Podcast.
I always said this that that team was not afraid
of anything, and I think that was more important than
anything else we did on the field. Cuba just would
beat people by intimidation. And it's like, if you're not
going to intimidate us, like it's just not going to happen,
Like I don't care how big or how bad you
guys think you are, like not anymore.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Like this is like we're not kids anymore.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
And I think, you know, I go back to thinking
about when I saw Roy Oswald for the first time,
I was like, are you a second baseman? And He's like, no, sir,
I pitch and I was like, well, he's like five eight,
what what? And then I watched him play behind him
in one of the exhibition games and I called him
mister Oswald every day since going and that confidence grew.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And we think when we saw Roy throw for the
first time.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Sheets people, I think the position players we all heard
of each other, right, because we were kind.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Of older, some of us were older.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And we kind of at some point crossed paths at
some point, and but pitching wise, I didn't know any
of those dudes. And then, you know, I tell people
all the time we sent c C HOMEC got sent home? Yeah,
Like how good could we have been? Like CC, I go,
we we sent c C. Sabbathia home? Like why he
(01:16):
just threw it like five innings, twelve punchies. I'm like this, dude,
if can he pitch every day? Because that would be
really cool because I don't need to get a hit
If CC throws every game, this is ridiculous. You got
Roy's five hand and throwing tick tacks and then you
got c C handed people.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Shit.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I'm like they they might have screwed up with us
position player wise, but they didn't. They didn't miss a
beat pitching wise. Holy smokes. And I kind of thinking like,
if this is what's coming up the pipe pitching wise,
I'm gonna be Valet parking cars.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But I'm gonna enjoy this shit because this is good.
This might be my last row.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
But I for I always felt like because I read
Finuca's book and you realize who they wanted, and I
don't think it turned the names were bigger.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I don't think it turns out the same.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I was just gonna say on that one thing, I
talk a lot about Doug and you ask about business
and me transitioning into business. But I look at that
team and the guys that we had, and I think
every single person had a chip on their shoulder from something, right,
whether whether or not they're they've been in the minor
(02:23):
leagues for a while, had never cracked in the big leagues,
and they had a chip on their shoulder about it.
They felt like they deserved a shot in the big leagues,
or whether it was a young guy that was still
trying to make a name and trying to fight and.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Get to the big leagues.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Like, everybody had a chip on their shoulder. And that's dangerous, right,
And so coming into business the business world, that's something
I've looked for, you know, for people to partner with
in businesses.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Who's gonna chip on their shoulder?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Like complacency doesn't lead to anything, right, And so like
you're talking about, you know, if they had gotten bigger names,
are more well known people or whatever the drive the
chip on the shoulder there, there might have been some
complacency there and it might not have turned out the
same way it did. Like we all had something driving us,
(03:14):
you know that that was special.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
We wanted to win, but yet like a lot of
us needed this to catapult us moving forward.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And I think that.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
When they hit on the young guys pitching wise, they
picked not only stuff wise, their stuff was out of
this world. But they're mos man like their personalities like
they're like they I don't think they've ever admitted this,
but one wanted out duel the other one in a
positive way. And I think you look at every great
(03:44):
staff the Braves with Maddox, Smolkes, Glavin, those guys love
each other, but they didn't want to get out done.
And I think, I mean, like just I remember Sheets,
like gold Medal game, Tommy, like, hey, you know you're
gonna fill the game in your life.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
It's like, who are we playing on? Like one hundred percent?
That's how Sheets was.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
It didn't but like you want to talk about complete
one eighties of personalities off the field and his demeanor
on the mound were complete polar opposites. You saw him
as a goofy Louisiana boy sitting out, you know, playing
like the dumb card.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
But when he he was an assassin, when he when
he had the ball in his hand that gold Medal game.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I tell people all the time, and I had a
little bit different angle on it and playing second base
than than you did it first base, right because I
could literally see down the path of pretty much every
pitch right from from being behind sheets.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I don't think he.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Missed a spot the entire game. Like I tell people,
it is the best pitch game I've ever witnessed in
my life. And I played second base for a long
time and played behind a lot of guys a lot
of great performances. I don't think he missed one of
orders spots the entire game, and just they just took
out to me.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
The first hitter almost went deep, and I remember going,
oh shit. And then the job that Pat did with
him was phenomenal. Pat had his ankle tore up in
the first game against Cuba. We didn't know if he
was gonna play. I remember carrying him to the you know,
the medical houses. We almost had to cut his cowboy
(05:27):
boot off, and he came running out for infield like, uh,
oh okay, grandpa's Grandpa's gonna throw it, Grandpa's gonna strap
it on.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I'm like, this shit's over. And then Neili hits the
home run. But I remember, like I remember thinking there
were two things that stuck out there.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Four Hole who I played against the nineteen ninety four
I thought he was the best right handed hitter I've
ever seen up until I played against Manny Ramirez and
he tried to drag bun in like the fifth in it.
I'm like, they're done, Like they don't know what to do.
Like this dude's absolutely completely opened up both butt cheeks
(06:05):
and stuck the ball straight.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Up their ass.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And there there there, they don't know what to do.
And then I'll never forget. I'll never forget. Phil Reagan
had the pitch counter, and he kept looking over at
Tommy and trying to get Tommy's attention.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Hey, like, look at this, like he's getting up there, because.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
They had a pitch count. In the beginning, it was
forty five and then it was sixty I think sheets.
He called them the brewers himself and said let me
go to ninety, and they said yes. And I remember
sitting the dugout almost on deck, and Phil kept trying
to hey, you know, we got to get somebody up.
He said, eighty se eighty two, eighty three, and I'll
ever forget Tommy. By Tommy got Tommy's attention. Tommy looked
(06:46):
at that and he goes, looked at the look at
the clicker. He picked it up his left hand, he goes,
give me that, and he spiked it and it went
in fifty eight pieces, and he.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Goes, we'll apologize tomorrow fucking morning. And I was like,
hell yeah, I go it goes it.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
There would have been eight guys on defense tackling Tommy
before he took sheets out because he was absolutely that
game could have went fifteen and they were going to score.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
So that was the attitude we had. It was the
attitude like we are winning at all costs. We are
not fraid. I'll never forget, you know me. I was
the leadoff hitter, right, and that was forty pounds ago, right.
I used to be able to run a little bit
and start some stuff on the basis, but but we
(07:34):
were the visiting team. So I was the first batter
of the game and they're starting Lazo, right. Dude throws
like three quarters like from the side and throws about
one hundred. I think we faced three pitchers that game,
all of them through basically ninety nine or one hundred,
and so they start him and he's throwing this fastball.
We know what he's got. He's got a fastball around
(07:56):
one hundred, and he's got that sidelined and slider that
it's like a frisbee's throwing up there, you know, high eighties,
low nineties. And I was the type of guy, Doug
that I always had struggled with side arm guys, under
armed guys, which, by the way, thanks for thanks for
ending the game the night before against Korea off of
the dude throwing frisbees up there from underneath, because I
(08:19):
know I sure isn't going to hit that guy. But
so here I am, and I'm leading off the game
in the gold medal game, and I'm like, I remember
thinking to myself, I've got to send a message like
number one, it's not gonna be good for me to
sit back and take pitches off of this guy because
I don't see this type of pitcher well anyway. And
(08:39):
I'm like, I'm gonna send a message of aggressiveness from
the get go right. And I was a type of
guy that didn't. I rarely swung in the first pitch
of an it bad anything like that. I was like,
I'm going up here hacking. I'm going to try and
drive one out of the ballpark on the first pitch,
and damn sure if I I dude, I think I
(09:00):
might have swung before the ball left his hands on
the first pitch of the game and smoked one like
turned on and smoked it into left field seats. Now
I ended up striking out that at bat later, right,
because he started throwing the sliders. But but it was
just that attitude, man, that it's like, we are here,
(09:22):
we are going to win this game. We don't care
what you do, who you are, how good you think
you are, how many pitches we've thrown, how long we
got to play. We are walking, we are standing and
listening to our anthem being played at the end of
the night.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I remember the night before, I remember the day before.
I've said this, I think earlier on some episodes, but
just to reiterate, I remember sitting in the we set
in those rooms in those houses, and we got the
feed for all the Olympic sports games, right, and We're
watching Cuba play Japan, and people think I'm crazy, but
(09:57):
it's the truth. Like we wanted Cuba to We were
pulling for Cuba because we felt like in order for
us to get the recognition we have earned, we have
to slay the dragon and slay the dragon for the
gold medal, and like I remember, they faced they when
(10:18):
they threw contreras, and I took it as a disrespect,
like you think your gold medal game is against Japan
and they were supposed to throw the other guy and
they threw Wazo against us to start, who was forty
damn years old. Now I was like, these guys are
disrespecting us, like they're not taking us serious. You know,
(10:41):
they thought that they throw contraras the first game because
that would be over with and then.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
They could throw whoever they wanted to.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And Neely's home run in the first inning was I
just remember I could hear him screaming around first base
and thinking, like I remember he screamed when we came
to play to night motherfuckers, And I was like okay,
and like if I could being in the first bay
playing first base, their dugout was right in my eyeshot,
so I could watch their demeanor in between pitches and
(11:11):
in between every out that mounted. And then they drive
a ball and we'd make a diving play and sheets
we just kept coming and kept coming and had those
guys so mentally skull, you know, whated him and Borders
had the best plan I've ever seen, and they flip.
He flipped it midway through and they didn't know what
to do. And seeing their demeanor, they looked like we
(11:35):
used to in like ninety four ninety six when they
played Cubale. They weren't all they didn't know what to do.
They never been in that situation. So like, those are
the things that like, you know, we talk about the hits,
we talk about the the games, but stuff like that
that just kept mounting. Ernie's catched on the right field
line right just like you know, it's like and then
(11:59):
like you try to fight not counting ownstown. You're like,
don't do it, don't do it. Stop, I know what
you're doing. Don't do that because you're now it's like
you're counting pitches because you know that he's getting close
to the end. And it was a little scary. But
at the end of the day, like like I said,
I remember like it was yesterday, and like, I'm glad
(12:22):
that you got to because I missed some of the
steps to the story. I'm glad you clarified for us,
because all right, I'll go one better. Top three moments
for you personally, in Sydney from the day you got
there to the day was over.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Top three moments. The by far and away the top
moments was was you ending that disaster of a game
in the semi finals in the rain, the cold, that
we've been there for hours upon hours against Korea and
(13:01):
we were struggling, pushing runs across and Gooky getting picked
off right in front of you, and then us thinking
oh crap. I mean, I don't remember exactly what ending
it was in, but we've been there forever with rain delays,
and you ending that game with that home run. I
remember obviously the excitement, but I feel like it was
(13:23):
a weight lifted off of us because because I think
we knew when when you when you pulled that off
that we I know, you told sheets that you just
won yourself a gold medal, you know, and uh, you know.
So that's number one. The casino incident, which we've gone
(13:44):
in depth on, is number two, and dude, I'll never
the The number three moment was was by far and
away standing on the gold medal stands and I love
just the way they do that, like just the stairstep. Right,
(14:04):
you've got the bronze medal here. Then then the silver
medal here and then you got to go. I love
the image of us standing above the other teams and
standing together. They had it was like all of us,
because it's not like a swimming event, right where they
just have one personal right, there's one person, like they
(14:26):
got us all up there, and I remember the pride
I felt, you know, and and I know there's some
shots of you, you know, during that national anthem being
played and you're balling, and and I remember standing. I'm
getting chills right now, man, talking about it. I remember
standing there and and the pride that I felt, not
(14:48):
only for what we had accomplished as a team and
as individuals, but I remember, you know, my family was
there and and and how proud I was to to
be able to be part of something like that. They've
given up a lot, you know, which most families do,
right when when kids are young, give up a lot
(15:10):
to to help them succeed later on in life. And
and just the pride, man, So so I mean, obviously
they're there. We could go on and on and on
about stories and images and you know, because it was
a fun bunch of guys and we we talked junk
to each other I mean, heck, me and you in
(15:31):
the middle of games. I tell people all the time
about me and you during games, like like you'd be
at first base, I'd be at second, and we'd be
talking junk to each other like mid pitch, you know,
like like I'd be talking shit about you having no
rains over there at first and and you'd be talking
junk about Tommy still not even knowing my name even
(15:53):
though I'm you know, I'm you know, leadoff hitter, And
I mean, it was just we we just it was
just a great bunch of guys, man, and and there
were all kinds of memories, and it set us all up.
I'm sure like that that week over there set us
all up for the rest of our lives as far
as credibility, and it's something that can't ever get taken
(16:14):
away from me. You're always from there from that day forward,
you are considered a winner, right and and and you know,
you've you've climbed to the top of the mountaintop and
done something special. And that bunch of guys, none of
us will ever forget how we did it and what
it took to get there.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I don't think words or sentences can make it understandable
the emotional roller coaster you go on. I've been through
major league playoffs, I've been through long ones, I've been
through nine to eleven. I've been through post nine to
eleven baseball games, which were emotional as hell. Those games,
I think goes back to ties into the group they
brought together. They knew that the game meant a little
(16:57):
more to this group winning above you. And I remember
vividly thinking like we had to wait for the freaking
Cuban team to come out of the damn dug at
the locker room, like we just beat them, like you lost,
get your sore loser asses out, and I remember like
popping off of them at right there, and I'm like,
get your ass out here. Yeah, I'm like I go,
(17:19):
I go screw them, start without them, like screw any
poor babies. I remember, like just vividly like death staring
like say something, just say something.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I could.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I can understand Spanish, but that was that was our mo.
They're like, you're gonna take away our glory. I went
and having us make us wait for you the hell
out of my face. And then the funny part is
later that night, I remember the Cuban guys bringing cigars
over to our room and we end up drinking.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
And party with them.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I gave them my catching gear the third I remember,
I had the emergency catcher stuff, which I swear to God,
I thoughtwadn't have to use. I kept telling Pat if
I have to massage your ankle throughout the night, I
will do that because I haven't been back there since
high school. And I'll be damned if I screw this
up trying to have the catch. God bless you Marcus
Jensen for catching every damn inning after pack got hurt.
(18:06):
But that's the But that's where I think the baseball world,
that's what That's what made that, like Olympics in general,
so cool, Right, And I should have prefaced the top
three without you can't say winning or you can't say
metal stand because I tell people all the time, the
village itself.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Was a super cool experience.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Opening ceremonies, You're hanging out with the best of the
best and getting to eat right anything you wanted, like
the bus rides that smelled like the worst cab driver
you've ever smelled in your entire life, Right, I mean
how bad that?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I like, it's amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
There's still countries even in two thousand that don't know
what deodorant is, Like I just don't understand, Like I
don't get it, like you don't put deodan on.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
I went to the gym. I remember them. They had
They had the weight room that like the balleys of
the village. You couldn't lift him there without a gas mask.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Gone, I'm like, dude, I wanted to bring care packages
and leave deordering on each like exercise equipment.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
You're like, look, man, try this ship. It's amazing, it's amazing.
But I mean, am I wrong? Did not smell like
a just like a like a just a a casino
backboard urinal.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It was horrible, it was. But but I do remember
thinking to myself, you know, and that would have been
one of my memories if you hit, if you hit preface,
but it couldn't be winning. I remember walking into the
dining hall, right and and and and you walk. I mean,
(19:38):
it's like this big ass warehouse, right, and they got
any kind of food you can you can want, and
there's thousands of people in there all at once eating.
And I remember walking in and thinking to myself, you're
sitting here having eating with the best athletes in the
entire world, right, Like like that's just a crazy thought,
(20:00):
Like like walking through the tunnel of opening ceremonies and
you got one hundred and twenty five thousand people there
and you're walking out with the greatest athletes in the
entire world, and and like that, it's a feeling that,
like you said, words don't do it justice when you
have those moments of reflection and and and and just
(20:26):
again the pride and and and the work and the
effort it took to get there, and you're you're around
a special bunch of people.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Now.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Crazy thing about the village, though, Bro, you remember the
first day we walked into the village and we walked
up to the houses, right, We're like, Okay, this is
our house, and we're thinking, Okay, this is gonna be
nice or whatever. And we walk in and there's literally
just a bunch of rooms in there with each room
has two like twin size beds and it and and
(20:55):
there's like hardly any furniture in the place. They just
have beds stuck in the in the bedroom and like
one little small TV. And we're like, this is our accommodations.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I said to this day, they sent CC home because
he wouldn't fit in the beds.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I swear to God, I swear that's why we sent
Cez only because they would have cost him two beds
to put together. If we're just because he was so tall,
that's the only reason why him and Ralsh like they like,
we could only do it for one of them, okay,
one six ten, one of them six seven, We can
only do it to one of rooms.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
So all right, Ralsh, Is it because Indians wanted to
go back and pitch in the big leagues? Yep, exactly so.
But we made it work.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Man.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It was you know, you go back to the guys
leaving them weren't supposed to leave the village. They left the.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Village, and I'm just like, oh yeah, at this point,
I'm like, we're already here, so that I think I
made it.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
I think we're good.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
But like I said, all that stuff ties into and
I also want to say, like being an Olympian, it's
till the day you die. Yes, every year the Olympics
come on, and every time you hear that song that
comes on with the Olympics, you feel part of that group,
(22:08):
you feel part of that team. You remember it sparks
up all the between our yearly toasts we do every year,
the gold medal toast, which I think are freaking awesome,
But like every year, every time the Olympics are on
and they start playing, you get that it just rekindles
all those thoughts, all those emotions. It's we, not them, right,
(22:31):
It's we, we one, And whether you're the diver, the swimmer,
the gymnast, the basketball team, it's we.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
And that that, to me is what makes what we
did that much more special.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
And looking forward to twenty twenty eight, or we all
can get together in LA and kind of be a
little more and bring some you know, nostalgia to be
like this is it, Like this is what it means
and and hopefully, you know, we get to see another
group do what we did. But anything else you can
(23:08):
think of that pops into your head.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
No, I mean, you just hit on it, man. And
I always tell people, I mean, you're an Olympian forever,
You're a gold medalist forever. You know. I've got two
daughters now and they're they're sixteen and nineteen now, and
I've told people, you know, throughout the last throughout their
lives about it, and it's kind of funny because once
(23:34):
every four years, I'm a pretty cool dad, you know.
And uh, whenever the Olympics is on and they start
asking me questions, they start you know, we pull out
old videos or whatever, and they start talking. You know,
they're talking about their dad and and and their chest
is out a little bit, their shoulders are high, and
their head is held held high, and you know, it
(23:58):
just it's a special feat it's a special bond, it's
a special group of people. And as you said, you
know we will be that way forever. Uh, September twenty
seventh of every year is my favorite day of the
year with those toasts, and and I know we've got
our twenty fifth. This September will be our twenty fifth anniversary,
(24:20):
so that'll be an extra special toast. But I can't
wait to see somebody else take take what we started
and and add on to it. And I don't know
if there will ever be the stories in the background.
And we've hit on some of them, you know, you know,
(24:42):
because it had never been done before. Bye. Uh So there,
you know what, there's twenty five of us that were
part of that team, that were part of something that
has never been done by USA Baseball before, and uh
so it was a special bunch of guys and and
until the day we die, we will all have a
(25:03):
special bond. And I think I speak, I can speak
for everybody on it, of anybody on that team that
ever needs anything, you know, is in a tough spot whatever,
We're all going to be right there. We're going to
be the first ones there to back them in the fox.
I've heard you talk about how you know we were
in the foxhoul with with with our guys, and that's
(25:26):
never going to change until the day we die.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I remember saying that that thing we had that we
posted on because used to the backstory in the Olympics,
they basically you decorate your house right women's volleyball. I
remember we put we didn't come ten thousand miles to lose,
and that was hanging over our house. Now, last question,
(25:49):
strangest place your gold medal has been, strangest place or
most or strangest person that's ever held your gold nom.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I got this one.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
I got this one.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
You know, I'm sure as everybody has done. You know,
I've done some speaking engagements and things like that at
schools and and you know, younger people, youth and and
of course taking the gold medal with me. But in
twenty ten I got into the life insurance business. I
(26:24):
started a life insurance business and you know, has grown
it over the years. And have about two thousand agents
that work as part of my agency across the country.
And you know, we do about twenty million dollars worth
of business every month now, so it's grown into something special.
But along the way, and I don't really sell insurance
(26:47):
much anymore, I'm not in the field, I'm managing agents.
And but along the way to build it, I was
out in the field in trailers and in front like,
driving all over the southeast sell life insurance face to
face to face with people. And one of my buddies
one time said, and he always would sell a whole
(27:08):
lot more than I would would. And uh, he said, man,
all you got to do is take your goal medal
with you, and and and they will sign on the
dotted line just like that, you know, and and and
so I put off and put off. I would never
do it, you know, obviously, just being out in the
field knowing and not knowing where you are and you've
got your goal metal, your most precious thing, you know,
with you. And so I finally took it one day
(27:32):
with me and h unappointments, and I think I had
like eight appointments that day, closed every single one of them.
I mean, made more money that day than I had
made any day. And and you know it was It
was funny because I still have those clients that I
that I saw that day. They're like my my best clients,
(27:54):
my favorite clients. They still called me once every few months.
And this was probably ten years ago that it happened.
So it has been inside of some old ass trailers rundown,
you know, I mean houses out in the field, talking
about life insurance and telling these stories that we went
over today. You know, I have told these stories many
(28:15):
times sitting in front of clients.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
That's funny. That's one of those things.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
It's so heavy that you can't you can't miss it,
or you can't miss inarn it because it's like someone
dropped a brick in your living room, like, oh, what's that?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Oh I just fell out of my pocket. He signed this.
That's great, that's awesome. That's pretty cool. I never heard that.
That's awesome. Good for you.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
First and foremost, I want to thank Brent for coming on.
His insight was I was always one of the best
teammates I ever had on a short notice. He was
as good as it gets, Little grinder, little gamer. We're
friends to the end, So thank you Brett for coming on.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Loved it. That's gonna wrap it up for this episode.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Check us out anywhere you want to, Apple, Spotify, wherever
you find your favorite podcasts.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Until next time, this is Doug with the Dugout Podcast.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.