Dirt From The Dugout

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil wrap up their conversation with World Series champion Anthony Rizzo, digging into the origins of the Lovable Reunion podcast he launched with David Ross for the 10th anniversary of the Cubs’ 2016 championship, and the fan stories that still give him goosebumps a decade later. Rizzo breaks down what made manager Joe Maddon so effective at building genuine re...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil welcome World Series champion and cancer survivor Anthony Rizzo, tracing his winding path from Parkland, Florida through a cancer diagnosis just one year after being drafted, two trades, and an eventual breakout in Chicago. Rizzo talks candidly about hitting his first real valley in travel ball during his junior year of high school, watching teammates like Hunter...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil wrap up their conversation with five-time World Series champion David Cone, digging into the paradox of “turning your brain off” on the mound which Cone argues the best pitchers have already done so much mental preparation that trusting your stuff in the moment just looks effortless. He opens up about why catchers, not fellow pitchers or hitters, gave...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil welcome five-time World Series champion David Cone, one of just 55 players in MLB history to win that many rings. Cone traces his love of pitching back to backyard Wiffle ball with his brothers, where he first learned to spin a curveball while idolizing Luis Tiant’s unmistakable style during the 1975 World Series. He opens up about the mound presence and co...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil break down a loaded League Championship Series slate, with the Brewers-Dodgers NLCS set and the Rays waiting to find out their ALCS opponent after sweeping the Yankees. Musil, drawing on his own front-office experience as a strategic advisor to the Brewers’ scouting department, explains the organizational identity that’s carried Milwaukee through a hi...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil wrap up their conversation with 15-year MLB veteran Adam Ottavino, diving into the career-saving decision he made after a disastrous 2017 season. Ottavino tells the story of building his own pitching lab in a former shoe store in Harlem owned by his father-in-law, training alone in the middle of the night with a high-speed camera and a Rapsodo unit to rebuild his...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil welcome former big-league reliever Adam Ottavino, who pitched for the Rockies, Yankees, Mets, and more over a 15-year career. Ottavino breaks down just how unhittable modern pitching has become, pointing to the explosion in repertoire size, pitch design, and sheer volume of arms hitters now face. He traces his own path from a Brooklyn kid obsessed with emulating ...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil break down the wild card round as the 2026 postseason kicks off, naming their teams and players of the year before diving series by series. Musil goes with the Brewers as team of the year for their relentless, never-say-die style, while Ravech makes the case for the Rays and their similarly pesky, pressure-everyone approach, floating a Brewers-Rays World Series a...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil wrap up their conversation with Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander, digging into the unglamorous grind behind his rise. Neander tells the story of his unpaid internship with Baseball Info Solutions, the four months he spent sleeping on a twin bed crammed into a coworker's walk-in closet, and the winter-break scramble to enroll at a rando...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil sit down with Erik Neander, president of baseball operations for the Tampa Bay Rays, on the eve of the playoffs with Tampa Bay sitting atop the American League. Neander traces his path from a Cal Ripken-loving kid growing up 20 minutes from Cooperstown to landing a Rays internship on his third or fourth attempt, and shares the leadership philosophy that's driven ...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil close out their conversation with Yankees manager Aaron Boone, diving into how he handles the pressure of New York and the social media noise that comes with it, including the annual talk he gives his team every spring training about protecting themselves from it, and the lesson Giancarlo Stanton once shared with the clubhouse. Boone also revisits one of the most...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil welcome Yankees manager Aaron Boone, drawing on Ravech's decades covering Boone's playing career at ESPN and their long friendship since. Boone opens up about growing up in a baseball dynasty with his grandfather, father, and brothers all in the game, and how his family gave him room to make the journey his own rather than pushing him into it. He talks through th...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil close out their conversation with Savannah Bananas founder Jesse Cole, and it gets personal. Jesse breaks down the rule he thinks is Banana Ball's real secret weapon, the one-point-per-inning scoring system born from a phone call with his dad after a blowout loss on the night he proposed to his wife, Emily. He opens up about the couple's near-collapse in 2016, se...

Ravvy and Justin are joined this episode by Jesse Cole, the creator of "Banana Ball" and founder of Fans First Entertainment. He's best known as the owner of the viral baseball sensation, the Savannah Bananas. Starting out as a minor league baseball general manager who wanted to make the game more exciting and engaging for fans, he created a faster-paced, highly choreographed version of baseball that now regularly sells out major s...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Karl Ravech and Justin Musil talk all things September. From the food to the weather, to the sports, and of course, the baseball. Nothing beats September, and this conversation captures exactly why American sports fans love this time of year. 

Hear Ravvy and Justin's World Series Favorite, their favorite teams to watch as the regular season comes to a close, and even which NFL teams the...

Karl Ravech and Justin Musil welcome San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King to the show. A Rochester, New York native and Boston College product, King was a 12th-round pick who developed into a full-time starter with the Yankees before headlining the trade that sent Juan Soto to New York, and has since become one of the Padres' most reliable arms. Ravvy and Justin talk with King about his winding path to a big-league rotati...

Karl Ravech and Justin Musil welcome San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King to the show. A Rochester, New York native and Boston College product, King was a 12th-round pick who developed into a full-time starter with the Yankees before headlining the trade that sent Juan Soto to New York, and has since become one of the Padres' most reliable arms. Ravvy and Justin talk with King about his winding path to a big-league rotati...

On this episode of Dirt From the Dugout, Justin turns the mic around on his co-host, sitting down with Karl for a rare look back at his nearly three-decade run at ESPN. Ravvy has been one of the defining voices of baseball broadcasting since joining the network in 1996, anchoring Baseball Tonight as its longtime primary host and, most recently, calling games as the lead announcer for Sunday Night Baseball from 2022 to 2026. 

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Ravvy and Justin are joined this episode by Dave Roberts, manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He's best known as the steady hand behind one of the most dominant runs in modern baseball, guiding the Dodgers to World Series titles in 2020, 2024, and 2025. Roberts began his career as an outfielder, playing for the Cleveland Indians, Dodgers, Red Sox, Padres, and Giants, and famously stole a pivotal base in the 2004 ALCS that sparked B...