Chicago Cubs 2023 - Danny Rockett shares in word & song ala SonRanto style

Chicago Cubs with Danny Rocket - SonRanto

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to Baseball Biz. I'm Mark Corbett, your host, and with me today, I have the most avid Cub fan. I know. And that's Mr. Danny Rockett. Hey Danny. How you doing today, buddy? 

[00:00:13] Danny Rockett: I'm doing great. I'm enjoying a, uh, an off day, actually, a Cubs off day. It's, uh, after a arousing weekend down at the Friendly confines. 

[00:00:23] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I mean, Gee Man.

I've loved watching the Cubs. I was, loved it so much. I was supposed to be there last Thursday, but some family things popped up. Somebody got ill, we couldn't make it. And I was looking at it that night. It was Thursday and the skies were, were crazy looking that night, man. It looked like the fire was in the sky.

[00:00:41] Danny Rockett: Yeah, it was bright orange sky, um, real low clouds. It, yet it really did look like it was Armageddon time. I mean, it was a, maybe a harbinger of doom because the Cubs lost three or four of the Dodgers this weekend. So. 

[00:00:55] Mark Corbett: Well, and you guys, what, you got 'em twice or you got 'em coming up again? Or [00:01:00] did y'all just playing before?

[00:01:00] Danny Rockett: We just 

played 'em twice. And in the strange schedule that is this year's scheduling, uh, where the teams are only, they're playing everybody and only playing division rivals twice. Um, it's really strange. We're done with the Dodgers now. Completely done. We don't see 'em again. So that's just, it's, it's strange.

Wow. Yeah. Twice in one week. Well you, 

[00:01:23] Mark Corbett: you know, you mentioned that, and I said on a previous show we're looking at the Marlins and the Yankees. They played so many games and they're not gonna play again until September and they're in the same freaking division. So figure that out cuz I came, uh, balance schedule.

I don't know. We'll see how it plays out. I like the idea of being in front of every one of the other 29 teams. To me, that's exciting. You get to see everybody, even if it's just on tv, but you get to see your team against every other 

[00:01:51] Danny Rockett: team. Yeah, I mean, I just living so close to places like Milwaukee and Cincinnati being a pretty short drive, [00:02:00] I do kind of miss the fact that I don't have as many opportunities to go catch the Cubs on the road because Cub fans are kind of like deadheads in that way.

And we like to travel and hang out in the town and gotta take it over. Drives Reds fans nuts. Like my, my friends that are Reds fans from Cincinnati, they, they hate us. They like me, but they hate, uh, us as a group. , so that's the only, that's one drawback. I guess. It's somewhat interesting to get to see every single team, like, um, You know, Ohtani?

 I think we're playing there, actually. I'm not actually sure. Um, but to see Ohtani and Trout, that usually would only happen what, once every three years maybe. Yeah. Or come into your town maybe once every six years or something like that. One positive of it. But, St.

Louis is close by, talk about schedule abnormalities. , the Cubs will be done with St. Louis in July this year. So if you have, some division [00:03:00] Rays going on, , between the Cubs and the Cardinals, which storied, uh, rivalry, it's gonna be, done not in a head-to-head. Combat way.

So it's, to me, that's less interesting if I'm like, oh, well we're playing Baltimore. It's like, well, everybody's just scoreboard watching at that point. So, but yeah, it's, got its drawbacks and it's got, I guess advantages too. Well, 

[00:03:25] Mark Corbett: it's like everybody moves the f furniture around in the room and I've got a blindfold on, man.

It's like, I'm trying to figure out what things are going on, but, uh, and when I'm gonna be able to see the different teams play, but that's okay. Uh, I didn't do a proper introduction for you, Danny. You know, we're speaking again with Mr. Danny Rockett. He's a musician. I said he's an avid Cub fan. And you're playing on stage.

My gosh, you're everywhere, bud. We were talking before we actually started recording about how busy you are right now, but, uh, at the beginning we played a little recording. We'll talk about it in a moment, and that's about, I think, back in 2020, around the beginning of [00:04:00] pandemic and what was happening with the Cubs at that point.

My gosh, man. J Hoyer and the Ricketts fans felt a little lonely back then, 

[00:04:10] Danny Rockett: didn't they? Yeah, it was all happened quite quickly between, , Tom Ricketts announcing biblical losses from the pandemic and then. Basically doing a few White flag trades. Like you kind of knew it was the beginning of the end when they traded Yu Darvish for a bunch of teenagers.

And at that point the Cub fans were like, what is going on? Like, they, they were promising us, not just, , to, well, to, they wanted to thread the needle and keep part of the core, uh, together. And like your Rizzos and your Bryants and your Baez. Like we, we all expected that they were gonna keep one of those players, um, on the team to, to kind of have a through line for the team.

They got rid of all of them pretty much the same day, and it was just, it ripped the heart outta Chicago. Now, whether they were good [00:05:00] baseball decisions, I mean, so for it seems like, except for the Rizzo, It seems like that they did some smart moves. Baez hasn't been very good in Detroit. Chris Bryant has continued to have trouble staying on the field with injuries, and that has, , affected his performance.

 Maybe in retrospect, I mean, Yu Darvish though, it would've been nice to ha still have him on this team right now. It really was a very transitionary thing, but they really ripped the, they, they pulled the rug out and there was a big hole underneath that rug. We all fell down in the hole, and I've never seen Wrigley so empty.

It went from, , sh the walls shaking every day and being, playoff, bound pretty much every year to, , to, yeah, just a pretty bleak outlook. So, they said they were gonna try to be a little bit more, , consistent with the team. That does not, , seem to be the case, although we might be getting back to it.

Well, 

[00:05:58] Mark Corbett: you know, I was wondering, cuz I was looking [00:06:00] at you alls, uh, lineup up the other day, a couple of games ago. And I'm looking 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 guys who were not with you before. I mean, we're looking at Dansby Swanson, you know, from Atlanta. We're looking at Bellinger from, from the Dodgers. Uh, what Suzuki from, uh, Japan, Hosmer.

, he'd, he'd been with you I think a little bit though, but he'd been with the, , Kansas City and Boston Mancini Baltimore. And then where was he? He was, , with Houston for a bit and then, , Torrance. Torrance is coming your way too, so yeah, there they are. Six guys. Bang. I said, who are these guys? I mean, obviously I knew who they were, but I wasn't, I hadn't been paying enough attention to realize they were all be wearing Cubs uniforms 

[00:06:40] Danny Rockett: this year.

Yeah, I mean, what they did was a kind of a reset of the roster and got a bunch of, well, let's see, in the case of like somebody like Co Cody Bellinger, so the Dodgers didn't wanna pay it. Uh, the, you know, what, what he was gonna get in arbitration, so he was available. And so the, the Cubs went and [00:07:00] snatched him up.

And then, and he's a professional ball player, somebody, they're veterans, you know, Eric Hosner, veteran Mancini, who's been on his team for seven years or something like that. They got a platoon situation going, gone over there, going on over there, Seiya Suzuki's a little bit older, played many years in Japan.

These guys know what they're doing. They're a little bit older. We have no stars. They're all like two win players. Uh, something like that. And they're kind of waiting on some of the kids. You know, there's a lot of excitement down at AAA. , in fact, a lot of cub fans right now are really scratching their heads at some of the performances of these, , Like specifically who I just mentioned.

Mancini and Hosmer. Um, they're not, there's, we're not getting any production outta the first base position. So everybody's, you know, pounding the drum right now to bring up this young stud who hit like 30 home runs last year in the minors. And he's doing the same thing this year in aaa, uh, called Matt Mervis.

They call him Mash Mervis, of course, because he mashes [00:08:00] and everybody's, you know, banging the drum. We got Christopher Morrell who was with the team last year. Fan favorite too, because he is got a lot of personality, a lot of fun to watch. Really nice guy. I've met a a few times now. Really cool dude. , he's riding the bus in AAA too.

It does, it doesn't make any sense to people when you're carrying like a third catcher, , who doesn't really hit when you have, , when you're carrying, , like Edwin Rios and you just don't even p play him. Like, you just don't even play. So you're like, well, we have these dudes. , and I don't know, and it seems like a no-brainer.

Like, you know, there's a lot of clamoring for like DFA and Hosser. Bring this kid up, just do a one for one swaps, throw 'em on the 40 man. But they, they're playing what I call 40 man footsie right now. And they're gonna do like, it's a very business-like approach to how to put together a ball club. And they're gonna go probably 40 days.

They're gonna get through one quarter of the season and they're gonna reassess where they're at and what their schedule looks like, and [00:09:00] they're going to sit down in front of their computers and their spreadsheets and actually probably have the computer tell 'em what to do and not even have a thought process.

It's the way things work these days. I have a feeling that that'll be the point where they'll be, take a look at what's going on in the minors, who we got and what, who's performing on this team and whether they truly wanna win this year because, I, I think they just wanted to get a teen that would go 500 and sell $30 beer bats, , and the bleachers, they're, what they're promoting is a big party at Wrigley Field, and it is.

Um, but you know, if they can go 500 and have a few guys that you've heard of and a couple of fan favorites, that'll be around, like they just locked up half, , for another three years. They extended Horner by one year. But you know, so there's some guys you like. , so they're trying to just get it. You got Stro Stroman, he is kind of a fan favorite.

He's got a lot of personality and style and they're just trying to get guys you've heard of out there. So they sell those beer [00:10:00] bats. So I'm, I'm not convinced that they're really truly trying to win or just keep us interested enough to watch and not have to spend the big money. I don't even know if you could spend the big money right now.

You may, I guess if you wanted to, , flip and assign, , you know, for show, Hey, Ohtani, right now, give 'em five your best prospects and get a half a Euro Ohtani. I d I don't see 'em doing that, , that's kind of the state of the Cubs right now. You know, like you said, I, I went to the game with my mom and I spent most of the time telling her, oh yeah, that guy was from the Prop Padres and this guy's from the Dodgers and, and you know, this guy's, you know, from the Orioles and, and so she's like, whatever.

Um, you know, they're wearing Cubs uniforms, you root for the laundry. But I would imagine that if the Cubs are sitting around 500 and not really competing by the, the trade deadline, I'm really guessing that some of these one year dudes are gonna be on the block and they're just gonna keep shoring up [00:11:00] their form, , fill some holes that they see in their next year's team.

, I just, I'm unconvinced that this is real for them this year. You know? 

[00:11:13] Mark Corbett: I, I hope that's not a case member and I, I hope there's real, uh, decision there. I hope if they do make some trades throughout the year that it's gonna be something that continues to shore you guys up. You were talking about going with the laundry, and I think the longer that I've been, uh, fan, the more I don't see the laundry and I see the players and I mean, I was looking the other day with you guys with the Dodgers and there, I'm seeing Mookie Betts out there.

Well, watching I, I watched him when I was a big fan of Tampa, still am, and watched him out in right field, throw a ball all the way deep, deep, deep up against the wall, all the way over to third to get an out and. It just blew my mind. I mean, it wasn't a bouncer or anything, it was just boom. But you follow people.

I mean, there he was back then, who was [00:12:00] there with, he was with, uh, Boston back then. Yeah. Yeah. And, and you follow the different players. I mean, with me, I had Willy Adames with Tampa. I still follow him with what he does with Milwaukee. Forgive me. But, there's, there's players that you, you've enjoyed watching and seem to just kind of trek them through their careers as well.

I mean, right now you guys got Stroman and what he, he just hit his thousand. I mean he, he just, uh, what. 

[00:12:25] Danny Rockett: Thousand strikeout. Yeah. Thousand strikeout. Thank you. Yeah. And he also, uh, got it. He is now equal 69 wins and 69 losses after losing to the Dodgers on, uh, uh, well, so that was just yesterday actually, right?

Yeah. I think that was, that was just yesterday that all that happened. So, no, we've got, we've got some guys, you know, and they've, and a lot of these guys, like you mentioned, have played on many different teams. Stroman has had a few teams already as well. Um, yeah, it's, uh, it, it's rooting for the players.

You know, I've, there's the rise in that, [00:13:00] That's going on. I think a lot of it is, uh, you have kind of fantasy sports to thank because, uh, you know, you instead of just like being very team centric, uh, like I really am, I'm really more of a team centric guy. Like, we go and play the Mariners. I'm like, I don't know who any of these guys are.

What, you know, or a few, uh, uh, except for the guys that were on the Reds, you know, like those are the other ones I know. But those kind of situations, , when people are more into the players, I think it's cuz of they're, they're putting their roster together on their fantasy team and they're looking up more players and you've got the information, , at your fingertips, you know, baseball reference and fan graphs and all that stuff.

You can look anybody up and they really get quite a bit of information. To what extent that is predictive or not, I don't know. But, , people seem to think they could read the tea leaves and gamble on it and, baseball's such a weird sport. It's like you can't really, I, I never think that.

In fact, like, I would even say it's opposite. Like if a guy was awesome out of the bullpen [00:14:00] last year, he's d don't get him because, you know, next year he is gonna be bad. I, I have this like every other year, uh, every other year, bullpen. Few guys are top nots, hall of famers, , , that just dial it up every year.

But with bullpens, they're fickle in those pitchers. They have a, they have an obvious shirt here that the, , bullpen wears and it says failed starter cuz they all are Oh, 

[00:14:27] Mark Corbett: oh man, man, I get that. I tell you, I know originally I used to be so upset with, uh, Eric Neander, the guy who's the gm, et cetera, for the Rays.

And one of my first things years ago, he traded away Evan Longoria. I thought, what the hell? And then I started seeing what he was doing. I thought, okay, I get, I get what you're building now. Uh, I hate to see him go, but I. The people he brought in bit by bit by bit. You were making a difference. And I'm looking at you guys too, going, I'm jumping here a little bit, but I did want to [00:15:00] ask you about pitching.

I know you guys brought up Asaad, you've got some guys that are out, but Drew Smyley the other day. My gosh, that man is amazing, isn't he? 

[00:15:10] Danny Rockett: Yeah, he had one bad start to start to begin the season and then, uh, he's been throwing this, he basically throws his curve ball all day long. Is what he is been doing.

It's this new knuckle curve that he is doing. Nobody can, nobody can hit it. Yan Gomes, our catcher, was talking about him having two different curve balls and like they, the Dodgers, they near, well, he nearly had a perfect game. I actually had a pretty good seat to this game. It was a nice day in Chicago and I was sitting, , right down the third base line.

 Really watched, , his pitching performance up close and , and that play where that ruined the perfect game happened really right in front of me. Cuz it happened right down the third base line right where I was sitting and I could, you could do nothing but laugh. Like I could not, the crowd was just shocked.

Mouths of gap. When Yan Gomes goes tumbling over Drew Smyley, what a, and what a weak contact that was such a weak [00:16:00] contact hit too. It was gonna be a tough play either way, but, uh, probably Gomes his ball, but, a lot of adrenaline in the moment. And, I was something that we're gonna argue a about on, uh, the Son Ranto Show, my podcast.

Because me and my co-host Michael Cotton disagree about something. And, , that was, that I was kind of glad it ended. Partially because Drew Smyley has spent quite a bit of time on the Il, the Cubs were actually the team that rehabbed him. And I'm, I'm looking at this, he's getting near a hundred pitches.

 I think his, the top amount of pitches he's ever thrown was 108 in, in a game. , and, , at least within the last few years since, , surgery, he's not slated to pretty much pitch more than 130 innings maybe would be the most that you'd think that he could do, at least without hurting him.

And then, so I'm like, when the no hitter at it, I'm good. I said, good Ross can pull him. [00:17:00] And, uh, you know, m my co-host says, what do you mean pull him? It could have been destiny. I'm like, well, if he gets, if it's the ninth inning and it's still happening, like he's gonna leave him in. But if it's like, if he's like a pitch a hundred, 15, 1617, you know, and who knows?

Cuz he would've definitely started the ninth that a around a hundred pitches easily. So, , so I don't know it, I, I was at Johann Santana's, no Santana's, no-hitter in New York City, uh, back in 2012 or whatever, wherever, whenever that happened, about 10 years ago, whatever. , and he ne he barely ever pitched again after that.

He went 130 some odd pitches and, uh, you, same thing. He had been on the injured list and they let him go with this no-hitter, which wasn't really a no-hitter by the way. There was a, if there had been reviews back then, There was a fair ball that went down the line that was called foul. It was definitely fair.

, I don't know if that's even reviewable, he's, I was hearing this other [00:18:00] podcast talk about, , this guy Brennan Miller, who's smart guy, knows a lot about pitching and he was talking about how to, speaking of things being predictive or not in, in the stats that none of Smyley's pitches really rate very highly in comparison to other pitchers in cur in terms of stuff.

But it's effective. So to me, , it's, if it's some, if something's effective, doesn't that eventually change the stats and doesn't it make. The stats that you're looking at, actually not predictive. It's the opposite. It's like, because those new stats of Drew Smyley's curve ball are now gonna show up in those stats and move the needle ever so slightly and change what those, , predictive quote in quotes , stats we're supposed to be saying.

, he pitches backwards. It's weird. Cool. Cause he's a lefty. They're crafty lefties you every, uh, good rotation should have 

[00:18:58] Mark Corbett: one. I like [00:19:00] that. I, I liked what you're saying too about basically the industry of baseball needs to figure him out because the measuring stick they have right now just isn't accurate for what he's able to deliver the results that he's delivering.

Guess what? Boys or girls, you're going to have to look at it again. So I'm not surprised. I'm, I'm ex I'm excited about watching him and, and looking at some of the other guys you have on there too. Jameson Taillon? Is he, is he still out injured or, 

[00:19:25] Danny Rockett: yeah, he just got hurt. , which is a shame because he had had a couple of stinkers to start his Cubs career and, , then seemed to pull it together.

, had a nice outing and then next thing you know, it, he's hurting and Asaad's coming up and doing a spot start. And, , so yeah, that hurts. That's, , like basically your number three starter. The other one who hasn't really performed as much as we had hoped was a guy named Hayden Wisneski, who's got a real wicked slider.

He is a rookie. We got him from the Yankees in a trade last year. And, everybody's real excited about him cuz the, the, he struts around the [00:20:00] mound and he is got a lot of confidence. He is fun to watch, but, it's so for, , in this season it hasn't gone very well for him.

It's getting hit around a lot. So, , what's one strange thing is like, I know now that he is with the big league club, they've, they have this pitch lab. I think every team pretty much has it. The, where they go and measure everything and give you all this data and they're always tinkering with guys, you know, giving him extra pitches.

, one thing that's been noticeable for Hayden Wisneski is that his velocity is slightly up, but when his velocity is up, it seems like his pitches don't move quite as well and so they can hit him. So unless your velocity is 103, , it's not really necessarily worth going from, you know, 93 to 95 if it means that you lose some movement.

So, , I dunno if that's what's going on, but , it definitely is not going the same as it did in his rookie [00:21:00] year last year when he first came up with the club. So, Get a nice spring training too. So it's a little disappointing. , the back end of the rotation, , the Assad, who I just mentioned to, , really awesome in the World Baseball Classic.

, I love watching him pitch for, , team Mexico. He's got a lot of style wears those big old Harry Caray goggles and, , and he came up last year as a starter. They used him and it was quite effective. , this year they've been using him out of the pen as a long man, and it hasn't been good. So he did get the one start to spell Taillon when Taillon went to the injured list.

But, , he wasn't very good in that game either, , and he's not stretched out either yet, so, , they tried to send him down to AAA to stretch that out, but it, it didn't work well. Who we're really waiting on right now is Kyle Hendrix. . You're gonna need to get through, at least he's gonna start a rehab assignment soon.

Apparently. He's hitting, he's [00:22:00] hitting his speeds right now. Everything's going well with his rehab, so that would be a big boon to this rotation. We still don't have a full fledged base, but we got a lot of know-how and veteran leadership on the staff. It's a pitch to contacts kind of group, and it's a pretty good defense to back it up.

So if you pitch it and catch it, you can get a, you can do a lot with that. , so for the offense has held up for the most part. , surprisingly so, too. I think, , it was just, , a a lot of guys kind of picking each other up, if it wasn't . So it's been going well. I mean, we're, we're, I think we're 12 and nine.

Yeah, well, something like that. Yeah. You 

[00:22:43] Mark Corbett: guys, I was looking at your winnings percentage right now, like about 5 71. So I mean, you're, you're there right in the middle of n l Central. Um, let's see. Uh, the brewers are at 6 82 Cardinals 4 0 9. Forgive me for saying that out loud. Uh, Pirates at 6 [00:23:00] 96 and the Reds at three 18.

Pirates at 6 96. I'm sorry. If I was a betting man, I would've lost the house, 

[00:23:08] Danny Rockett: man. Yeah, well, if you'd just bent on April. Sure. But, I don't think the Pirates have really played any good teams yet, so I, I wouldn't put too much stake in it. They lost O'Neill Cruz their shortstop to a crazy injury.

 They played, let's see, the Pirates, they played the Reds. Actually they lost to the Reds, they beat the Red Sox, who I believe are in last place in the, in the East. Oh yeah. , they, , beat the White Sox who have had a terrible start to their year. , then they beat the Cardinals who also have had a terrible start to their year, and then they swept the Rockies.

They swept the terrible Reds. , , when you got a week of playing the Rockies and the Reds, they won seven straight. At some point I'll, I'll stand up and take notice, maybe if they sweep the Dodgers right now, there you go. , then maybe I'll, I'll look into it for, [00:24:00] oh, how about if they, they'll play , the rays in, um, early May.

So let's see if they can get through that, run through that gauntlet. Oh gosh, this, it's been 

[00:24:08] Mark Corbett: nuts, man. I mean, they've had a home run every game. I don't have the first percentage in front of me, but I mean they've, I think it's like, what is it? Uh, 19 and three, 20 and three. It's a, it's an amazing number at this point and it's, it's dumbfounding.

I want to go back to something you were saying a moment ago about Asaad seeing some of these guys, in the World Baseball Classic. To me, when I saw with my own team with Randy Arozarena and some of the other guys looking at, uh, from Kansas City, Perez, you know, seeing these guys out there playing for these other teams as a fan, there's a lot of excitement to build up with me.

And I think even with those players, there was an excitement that they brought along with them, into this season. I'm digressing a little bit cuz I never do that, but coming back to the n l cent, I'm with you, man. Like only 14% of the games have been played thus, yet, you know, in the Rays, some have, , criticized as for as who we played [00:25:00] thus for, and I get that.

I get that, but there is an energy there and I'm not sure how that's gonna play out the rest of the year. We're gonna have stretches where things don't look great, and that's just part of baseball, thank God. Otherwise we bore to death, , it's exciting time. So, looking at the NL Central, what do you think it's going to be looking like?

Come game 1 

[00:25:19] Danny Rockett: 62, I mean, we were joking before the season even started that uh, a 500 team could take it. Like, because it, on paper it was a weak division. , one of the weaker divisions. Right now it, that's not what it looks like. I am curious, you know, obviously it's gonna change as the, the year goes on, but, you look at some of the powerhouses in the, in the east, we haven't faced them yet.

Atlanta, the Mets, we're facing Miami this weekend. , they've had a pretty good start the year similar to us, We faced San Diego this week. , not off to a great start, but, , maybe they're starting to put [00:26:00] together. They certainly have better players than the Cubs do.

So we haven't faced any of those kind of teams yet. We've faced pretty good teams, though we've faced the Dodgers and stuff, but we lost the season series to 'em. Um, so I, I had this team at Fi 81 and 81. , I don't think Cardinals have very good pitching. I think they're pretty much a 500 team. , I think Cincinnati stinks.

, they have no players. I think Pittsburgh is, er, is gonna emerge at some point soon because they've just been stuck in these draft picks and, , they'll never spend money, which Bob Nutting is just like really a criminal to baseball cuz he won't spend any money. But, the last time when the Cubs were good in 20 15, 20 16, that kind of golden era for us, Pittsburgh was right there.

, As well. They had a lot of great pitching. They all trade, traded it all to the Yankees and Astros , you know, Milwaukee, they're kind of in a, it's interesting with them cuz they're in the last year of a bunch of guys, , and they got some expiring contracts and some that expired the year after.[00:27:00] 

So , if it's indicative at all what they did with that Hader trade last year when they traded Josh Hader. Yeah. That's pretty nutso to be trading your elite closer. And he had some bad outings. I think everybody knew that Hader would be back. Doing well. He just had enough year, but they traded him.

And I wonder if that's more what they're going to be doing. But it's hard to do those White flag trades when you're in first place. So I don't, that's pretty, fans hate that, let's just put it that way. They would hate that. And, , I do wonder what's gonna happen, but I'm seeing the Cubs end up really about 81.

81. There's deviation from there, , where they could be five games better than that, and that might be enough to win this division. I don't know. , even so they don't, they, the cubs don't have a big one two punch. , Milwaukee is the best pitching. St. Louis has the, probably the best [00:28:00] hitting, , in the division.

Cubs are just kind of like, A working man's two win above replacement baseball team of no stars at all. Pittsburgh's got the emergent dudes and Cincinnati ain't got nothing. They've got some young talent I know in their system, but it's, , it's gonna be a second. They're only seven to 15.

So it's, it's a competitive division, I would say. , it's one of the reasons why I kind of wish we played those extra series Yeah. Against each other. Cuz I think it's fun to make hay against you beat the teams that you have to beat to take your division. And , that to me is more exciting. I, I'm curious as to how will play against the other division.

So for so good. I mean, Cubs have surprised and opened some eyes this year so for by playing well, but, we had the Rangers, they're decent. It's all been two or three winning series. , but I don't know, it's, , once you [00:29:00] get into the season and you don't have necessarily have the depth , of, , a really solid fit starter or you get some injuries or , some guys go all into the slump at the same time.

 We don't know what this team is cuz everybody was on a different team last year. So we don't know what their chemistry is. They like to have dinner on Sonday nights apparently, but nobody, , that's, they're boring dudes. Like they're not, this is not like you're 2016 cubs with all those personalities and being a lot of fun.

It's just not even if this team were to go really for, people still might not really even know who's on the team, you 

[00:29:35] Mark Corbett: know? Oh, oh my gosh. I think about 2016 a lot, breaking that a hundred years waiting for something to happen. You know, the Billy goat curse, all that. Joe Maddon, my gosh, by, by the way, let's talk about Joe for just a minute.

, he meant so much to, to the growth of what happened, , in Chicago with the cubbies, he brought in, guys like Zobrist, et cetera. It was just amazing to [00:30:00] watch that team come together. But as you and I were saying earlier, it sounds like it got kind of picked apart shortly thereafter.

 Where all those players are gonna be, et cetera. So the excitement that was built up was taken away. , but coming back to Maddon, you think will ever see him come back , as a manager, 

[00:30:16] Danny Rockett: I don't know, and I'm gonna get a chance to ask 'em later this summer at an event that, , they're doing over at this place, , called Club 400, do a lot of charity events.

And I usually play music at them either solo or with, Bleacher Bum Band, which is my band. , so maybe I'll ask 'em, Hey, you're gonna come back? Because you saw a situation like Cubs just played the Rangers. There was Bruce Bocci. Yeah. And he, after years and years in San Francisco, , won those World Series in those even years in the, the beginning of, just what about, what was that?

2012? 2014? 2010 I think is when they were winning. so he came back with the Rangers. I think what happened with Joe and , the angels was the analytics [00:31:00] guys , were getting into the dugout. And , and it's funny cuz. Joe's one of the guys that actually was the first one to use analytics to do things on the baseball field that were at the time, unconventional the shift.

, I don't know if he is the first one to use it, but he definitely was one of the earliest to really adopt it and use it all the time. Joe Maddon with the Rays, um, made a team, made teams full of, , a lot of no name guys successful. , they became household names later, , but the Rays not a lot of people.

They're not clocking that team so much, , unless you're AL East, , But, , yeah, he a lot of success there. , he did things in such an unorthodox manner, whether it be having a petting zoo or themed trips, but made sure that baseball stayed fun. Those were really fun years.

He had a lot of personalities and he curated them well.[00:32:00] , nobody was picking the Cubs to truly, , they were thinking more like 20 17, 18 would be rarely when the window would hit, when, , all the rookies had a little bit more experience, , cuz in 2015 and 16, yeah, everybody came up.

Then, let's see, Javi came up in 2014 at the end of it, and he, Javier Baez, and then you, then Bryant came up in 15, then , and so anyway, they were predicting them , to go, , to win a little bit after they did when they did. So 2016, they were almost like too young and dumbed to know that about the curse and all, and expectations.

And so I think that's, it happened exactly the right way. , and it barely happened by the way. It had to go seven games and come back from a three, one deficit. All, you know, all the, the crazy stories that we went through back then. But, , Joe Maddon was the right guy to, I think, manage those youthful personalities.

And I think what happened is that by 20 17, 18, , you start, you got the [00:33:00] same guys. They didn't change anything and they didn't, and after 2018, they didn't really add to it anymore. It was just subtracting, subtracting, subtracting from this core. So I, I partly blame some bad decisions from Theo Epstein, to be honest.

When they, they fell a little bit too, he said this. Fell a little bit too in love with their guys and they probably should have moved on from , some of their talent and at least switched up the personnel a little bit to get some churn in it because it got a little long in the tooth.

The offense broke. And that's another thing that Theo admitted the offense broke and then he did nothing to fix it. . So you have these very talented hitters, but they were all kind of the same guy. They would all be selling out on every pitch trying to hit a home run. And there was no diversity to the offense.

You didn't have a lot. [00:34:00] Once Ben Zobrist was gone in that, like it was terrible what happened? He got divorced and just this whole mess and you took all this personal time. Um, but once you lose that kind of O B P outta your lineup, You had nobody on base for when those home runs were hit, 

so it, you have to have a diversity in the way that you score your runs. And sometimes it's gotta be, , get 'em over, get 'em in, make productive outs, , set up your lineup in, in ways , where you might have a, a, a, a doubles hitter right in front of a lefty so you can get him to third with one out, so you can get a sac fly, things, things like that.

, that's, those are all, , baked into that runs, created plus or whatever, or WRC plus, stat, how are you creating , these runs And like the 2016 Cubs, they didn't, they scored a lot of runs. , , they did, but after a time[00:35:00] , it was all the same bat over and over again, and , they'd all go cold at the same time.

It was the craziest thing, like you see all these big offensive names, Chris Bryant, Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, and , they're winning games. 1 nothing like, all like for an entire years. . They're in the middle of the pack and, , it's just, was just a real head scratcher, like why they weren't able to go further again, like 2017 and that was pretty much it.

[00:35:28] Mark Corbett: I don't think players consciously lay down. Okay. But I do believe the players can get comfortable and whether it was his team, and if you're sitting there with all these guys that dug out, I mean, I remember when I worked the newspaper in Louisville and we'd finished up doing all the press, putting their paper together every night and two o'clock in the morning go across the bar and we would drink.

But I mean, what I'm getting at was there was a familiarity with all of us there. We'd go back and we put a paper together the next night and it was basically doing the same thing over and over again. There was nothing extra that was [00:36:00] happening, even though we did good thing there. As for as getting that work done.

There was never anything that exploded beyond that. There weren't new people coming in and coming out. There weren't new ideas. Oh, let's do things different here. Let's, you know, the big thing that came in was something called digital, but Yeah. But that one happened to you. Oh, brother. Uh, I had to shift gears real quickly, and that's the thing too.

I mean, The game changes around you and these teams have to change as well. , and I think there's something for players when they leave, I was, I keep going on about Willie Adames. He's doing much, much better with the brewers than he did with us, and he did well with us. You're going to find some players when they move to another environment that actually they grow, they become better.

And the same happens for that team. If they bring in some new blood, it affects the other people around the team. You know, and, and you see some older players come in and you're saying, I'm glad they're bringing that guy in because he's got a [00:37:00] perspective they haven't seen. They got all these young guys.

He can be that unofficial coach and still give a warrant to them as a player and give more guidance. So when you see those situations, I think that's where you see growth in a team and it becomes from change. 

[00:37:15] Danny Rockett: . Yeah. And I do think there was, that is part of it. There was a certain comfortability. I, I don't know if there was, uh, too much poison.

I've heard, I've heard a few things as, as time has gone on and, a little bit more information's kind of coming to light about some of the personalities that were in that clubhouse. And I think that it was time to move on. It's almost like a, a band, that ha has a really great few albums.

And then, , they've been, they toured a lot and one guy got married and another guy got into, there's a drunk and, , or, and then all of a sudden the band's not really working out. They put another album together, it's not as good cuz they're not, and then , it's time to start some solo careers and get some new bands.

 That's kind of what I liken it too, in that way. . Sometimes [00:38:00] these things have played themselves out, it's like, Having a job and you know, this job's been good, but I don't wanna do this anymore. I've got, I want a new kind of job.

 That's kind of what this is, , as much as I wa , I'm surprised they didn't keep at least one guy. Yeah. From that core. They let Willson Contreras walk this year. Oh lord. So, and, you know, and, uh, talk about a little inside baseball, it's like they didn't like him.

They didn't like Willson Contreras. He didn't listen to them. Yeah. They had a lot of stats, guys and analytics dudes telling Willson what to do. And sometimes he would just go do what he wanted to do anyway and call the game how he wanted to do it. , but obviously a great bat. Fiery really fired up the Clubhouse.

Fan favorite people love me. He was part of that 2016 squad. And really now the only guy left is Kyle Hendrickson. He's hurt. So, yeah. Coming back. But, , Anthony Rizzo, I think, I think a lot of Cub fans were a little disappointed cuz they envisioned him,[00:39:00] maybe if he had stayed with the team, like he's getting a statue someday, he'd get a statue out in Gallagher way in our statue garden.

But now that's not gonna happen. None of those guys are getting statues. Not one of 'em. Probably Rick Ricketts will build a statue of himself hoisting the trophy that he paid for. 

[00:39:19] Mark Corbett: So, oh, that, that sounds about right with a lot of owners. I gotta tell you. Wait, hey, let's go back to the fun part, man. The fun part being the fans.

You're an avid fan. One of the things, I mean, I follow you on Twitter, is I love the weather report that you give, dude. Give me every weather report. Can you give me one? 

[00:39:37] Danny Rockett: Sure. I'll have to be like, hi, this is Danny Rockett with another Cubs Wrigley Field weather report. I am a mile north of Wrigley Field right now, and as I look out my window, uh, I can see that the Son is trying to peek out behind the blue skies.

But, uh, unfortunately, uh, it is a little bit cold today, but there is no game. So there will be no [00:40:00] freezing fans at Wrigley Field tonight. , the wind was, it would be blowing slightly out had there been a game, but, , there is no game. And, , go Cubs. So they, yeah, so those are the dumbest things. So during the pandemic, During the pandemic, there was no baseball, but I do live a mile north of Wrigley Field.

And , I would go on these walks. They weren't letting anybody in the park cuz you know, our brilliant mayor was that thought you could get, uh, covid from the ducks or something. I don't know what she was thinking. I don't think they wanted people congregating is what it was.

But, , anyway, so I'd go on these walks and they'd just want tell you to keep it moving, you know, no sitting at park benches next to people and things like that. So I'd go on walks around Wrigley Fields , every day I just started going down there and there's no game. And, , the season was two months late starting.

I didn't start till July. , no three months late starting. , so I'd go around Wrigley Fields, beautiful days outside and , take these walks and, , give the weather report. There's nothing else to do, you know, just go down to Wrigley Field, say, everybody, I'm down here by Wrigley.

There's no [00:41:00] game, but here's what the weather's like. , , there were a lot of, um, you know, also, riots and stuff like that happening that year, if you remember Chicago had a few, , situations with, where police and protesting and things like that. , so, that, that was kind of part of it too, cuz you know, Chicago, you know, we get, we get dragged through the mud.

Like nationally as a city. It's kind of one of the things that I always want to do is , make fun of that idea because, not that we don't have our problems, every big city does, but we're a big city and it's, and I swear to God, it, some people think we're just dodging bullets all over our place here.

 So that's kind of one of the things that, I wanted to point out. So like that summer I just did a lot of these reports and also, , they called us a hellscape, they called Chicago Hellscape. So I would take pictures of these beautiful scenes and call it a hellscape, just a, , mess with people.

And, , yeah, tumultuous times breed. Uh, you know,, I'm a big fan of Abby Hoffman who is, , in the hippies [00:42:00] who they, they played the Merry, Pranksters, they played a lot of pranks. And, so I enjoy , that way of communicating both, , politically and as a Cubs fan. , , I know a lot of, , sports journalists don't use a heck of a lot of humor in art in their journalism.

, it's just not their thing. But I don't come at it that way. I'm a musician first. And then I'm more , a Cubs personality entertainer kind of thing is my show is called the Son RantoShow cuz it is a show. You know what I mean? And we, , we try, like, we do this, um, bit like it's a timer where you spin , the wheel and the wheels called, you know, we got the pitch clock.

So we, so on the show we have the bitch clock. So you spin the wheel and anybody spins the wheel and they get like , a grievance and it's all our fans, , that they've come up with this list of grievances that we have about the team or whatever it is. And then you spin the wheel and it comes on , the, , on, , one of the grievances and then you have a minute to to, to bitch [00:43:00] about it, to, to, to, , to spout off.

, we do things like that on the show , and so that, it's just like a different approach I think to it. I, I talked to a guy who's works for the C H G O, which is a new outlet in town. Covering the Cubs. They do a daily podcast, things like that. Young guys re really nice. And , it's, it, it's funny I said, he's like, cuz he went to school.

All the guys there went to school for, for journalism. They all went for sports journalism. And , he's like, we're trying to be the outlet that's like the real fans, you know, that we tell like it is and we're the real fans. I'm like, well you can't do that because you got a guy in the, you got a guy up in the, in the booth.

You can't say, , how you, it really is, you need access. You're in the locker room. You can't say what you want about these guys. And I'm like, but who you should be really mad about in the competition of all this stuff is guys like me. Because I did not go to school for sports journalism. I have no business talking about the Cubs in any kind of professional light.

I am simply just a fan who likes to [00:44:00] sing and rock out about the team. I'm like, but I'm not the news. You know, the news is the news, you know, but a lot of those guys, they wanna be the news, but instead they're trying to be the fans. Like, it's a weird line to, to draw. So I don't draw it, but I also didn't go to school for it or trying to have a job in it, really, you know?

Thank God. Yeah, thank guys. I've had, I've had a few accidental jobs in it, you know, they're like, Hey, this guy's pretty good. Like, let's have on the show. So, you know, I get a fair amount of publicity, but I'm coming at it more of like a, uh, an influencer, you know, maybe I'll sell you , a hat or something like that.

Sell you a rock song, make you come to see my band, that kind of thing. Well, 

[00:ma44:40] Mark Corbett: you, you know, you're fantastic. I love it. I mean, it's the Bleacher Bum Band, is that right? 

[00:44:44] Danny Rockett: Yeah. Uh,, it's me and, , Bleacher Jeff, who is, a character in of himself. He's always in the left field. Well, Wrigley Field, good friends with Ian Happ.

Um,, knows all the bullpen guys cuz they, the, the bullpen's right underneath Bleacher Jeff, as he sits there in the stands,[00:45:00] very distinct looking character. Very tall, big hair, big beard. , so he is very recognizable, really from anywhere in the stadium you could see him. And, uh,, and he plays a mean guitar.

 We became friends out there in the bleachers. Couple , years ago I was already playing my songs, but usually solo. And then I had another band called Bad Teenage Mu Bad Teenage Mustache, which is a comedy band that just did , kind of parody songs and , I think irreverent comedy is what I, maybe at this point I probably can't even play some of those songs with the, some of the societal changes we've made.

But , that's comedy though. It changes, . That's fine. I'm fine with that. You know, that's cool. But, , but the Cubs thing, you know, we meet, we are, here's the beauty of it. It's like we already, the Cubs already have fans, and so because of that, it's a much easier, , kind of sell to people.

If I sing about the Cubs and I write music about the Cubs, then people already, like the Cubs, they'll like your music if they like rock and roll [00:46:00] and the Cubs. So like we, we have a Bum of punk songs. And I write pretty eclectically like country. , Pop songs that, you know, just different, whatever, it's coming outta me.

We got a new album coming out. We have one album called Bleacher Bum Band. That's, , you can find anywhere like on iTunes or Apple Music or, , Spotify. It's all over there, but we got another one coming out in June this year. We're busy recording it right now. , and the other guy in the band is, , Jared Gable.

, him and I were childhood friends and, we used to go to Wrigley Field in the eighties when we were 12 and 13 because we had older parents. That didn't really know, like we didn't have boomer parents who would've been a little bit more protective and , not knowing that we had , what are the silent generation parents who were a little older who thought like, yeah, when I was a kid, I just went down to North, Street, beach with my b my brothers and I was 12, and it was fine.

So they would send me, we were pretty free range children and , we just spent a lot of time at Wrigley Field, me and Jared, and he found me years [00:47:00] later, , a actually, , he came to my house and I'm like, uh, ring the doorbell. And I looked down, I'm living on the third floor of an apartment building, and I look down and I see this weird guy down there with th this woman.

And I'm like, I don't know, it's probably like religious freaks, like sending me a, trying to gimme a pamphlet or political people or something, ? So I'm not going down there Sunday afternoon. I'm not doing it. So I, I didn't answer the door and, , come down two days later. And , I had been leaving out the back entrance, I guess.

I didn't realize there was a note on my front door. And, uh, Yeah, it was from Jared and, uh, he's like, Hey, you might remember the story about when we went to the Doubleheader in Milwaukee in 1987 and like all this stuff. I was , like, yeah. I'm like, he would be the only person that would know that story.

So it turns out it, it's him and it turns out he played bass and it turns out I needed a bass player. Oh my gosh. It all worked out great. And then, um, so yeah, so that's pretty much the band. We got a new drummer named Tony, we, he's awesome. But we had, [00:48:00] we played opening day, packed the house at this place, output Lounge.

We played all our Cub songs. Everybody had good times singing along. And then we got a CD release party at, , Nisei Lounge, which is right. And Wrigleyville after the Cubs play the Orioles on, uh, the 17th of June. , 

[00:48:16] Mark Corbett: wow. Well, I, I salute you, my friend. I, I love that you got music first, being an artist and such, but tying it right in with your fanhood.

You talk about the journalism and I think sometimes people get a little bit stuck with all of that, especially when they're, there is a, , a lot of people in sports when they're announcing for a team, , I feel like they're handcuffed. , I think you speaking as an avid fan who's not associated with, , the organization per se can say a lot more and be a lot more entertaining than we'll ever get from folks that are doing the news.

Part of it's, I don't know enough about Marquee, but I know that when you have a regional. Sports network. There's agreements they have with the team and things probably that they can say and can't [00:49:00] say. It's probably not like , , the Masters where Augusta says, Hey, guy's gone. He said they use bikini wax on the green, so he is gone.

You know? Yeah. 

[00:49:09] Danny Rockett: Yeah. It's, you know, that's, we, we have a joke. We call it state tv, like we call Marquee State tv. It's a, it's kind of, it's, you know, it's like, uh, Vladimir Putin's channel, and he's ne never gonna say anything bad about Putin. Right. They'll have a little bit of pushback from some of the players who won't like a decision or will be left scratching their head as a player who's talking about it.

But , the thing about Marquee network, they couldn't have really launched at a worse time. They launched in 2020, and so that was part of the biblical losses that they had invested a lot of money in this TV channel. And, , everybody's pretty excited about it except for the fact that a lot of carriers won't carry it.

And a lot of bars won't pay for it either cuz it's , it's a different rate for them to carry that channel in a bar. So [00:50:00] even some bars in Wrigleyville, you can't get the game on the tv. So, , so that was pretty unpopular., the Cubs, the reason we have fans all over the world, or really over the country I should say, is cuz of W G N and the Super Station.

Oh yeah. Harry Caray And being on, in the daytime and stuff for years and years and years. Um, we still play a lot of day baseball, but those games used to be free over the air on antenna. Now that ship has sailed a long time ago. You know, we all know that. But I'm one of those dinosaurs and I st and I don't really watch television at all.

I just watch Cubs games. So like I was watching those games over the air. I had a freaking antenna with rabbit ears in my t in my, uh, and I have a TV in my bedroom. I don't have a TV anywhere else. Like, I just don't have, I don't watch tv. , Yeah. So I mean, I never, I didn't grow up really with a tv, so like, it just never became too much of a habit.

But I do like watching the Cubs game, , so they really did, those were like unpopular moves, , especially to [00:51:00] the old timers who were doing things a different way. Like, my mom now, she can't get Marquee, so she's listening to our radio. So they really would love that to go away. Cuz you can't make any money now.

They got like adult diaper ads, , it's getting worse, let me tell you. But the, um, what Marquee did is they ran it like, like their E S P N, so they ran, they kind of hired everybody. Yeah, they got Joe Gerardi, they got Ryan Sandberg, they got Cliff Floyd, they've got, , just, they got three Mabus, they got Rick Sutcliffe.

, they hired Bug Chibi, , who did a lot of national work and, , national radio. Because he's a national guy, , he replaced Len Casper. Who was pretty beloved here in Chicago, but Len went to go do, , White Sox radio, which he said he preferred. So, um, I don't know. There must have been some inside stuff there too.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think once again, these stories are gonna come out little by little as, uh, you know, people start , to talk about [00:52:00] their former employers about what really happened. So they hired everybody. They hired Boog who did, doesn't really seem to be a fan of the team.

And you kind of, for your home, you want a homer. We're the Cub fans especially want a Homer because we had Harry Caray, we had Ron Santo. Yeah. And those guys lived and died with the team. Now Harry, he brought, he broadcast for a lot of different teams. He broadcast for the White Sox, he broadcast for the Cardinals for years, but he became beloved towards the end of his career, like in Chicago, to, to the point that he's got a statue out in front of Wrigley Field, you know, uh, right around in front of the bleachers.

But that's the kind of dude we're looking for. That's who we thought Boog was gonna be for us. And then he wasn't. And , in fact, like it's a lot of complaints from, and I don't re I, I listen to more of the games on the radio myself personally, cuz I love Pat Hughes. But, , a lot of people complain about, , Shabi because [00:53:00] he doesn't really seem to be calling the game.

So he doesn't talk about what's happening in the game. They also do a lot of these like sideline interviews. They got these side reporters, , that are always, you know, talking to a player. Then they got a dick dugout interviewer, they got a player micd up or just, they're all these gimmicks and Cub fans don't like that.

They don't like it. They're we're traditionalists. Just get up there and tell us what's happening in the game. So it's, and there's a lot of split screens, , a lot of dumb analytics that people don't care about. , so they've really just , they really tried so hard to make this network this thing that they thought was just this comprehensive, brilliant thing.

And, , Cub fans did nothing but boo it. And then it's just like, , It's wild and it's, how most people are consuming the game. So, but, but 

[00:53:54] Mark Corbett: Danny, it's, it's worked in other markets, man. I mean, 

[00:53:56] Danny Rockett: come on. Yeah, I mean, well they got, that's just it. [00:54:00] They hired New York guys. They hired New York guys to come make this Marquee network and it's hard to, you know, these guys, the, they, you can't tell 'em that they made a wrong decision cuz it's always gonna be somebody else's fault because, you know, they ran this for years and there's no way that I screwed up.

They don't listen to the fans. And a lot of my Cub fan friends, who are pretty involved in and also do interview players and do interview some of the media and are more involved with that side of things, , they just wonder like why we were not consulted, considering we are the main consumers of this, 

thank you. So thank you. So it's just strange. Um, Yeah, so I, I, so I want, so I listen on radio and, , been practicing Spanish for a Bum of years now, so I'm finally at an intermediate level enough where I can also listen to my friend Miguel Esparza for as I call the game in Spanish as well. And I just watched the highlights later of anything that cool that happened.

You know, it's, it's, [00:55:00] it's usually the highlights are usually on there within minutes after them happening. , they're usually on the app. So just listen in Spanish, figure out what's going on, listen to Pat Hughes and then, uh, yeah, watch it. So, and I'm at, I'm at the ballpark a lot too, so 

[00:55:16] Mark Corbett: if they want the real dirt though, they can come to, to your website and, and listen to you.

And let's, let's remind everybody, what, what is the name 

[00:55:23] Danny Rockett: of your website, sir? Yeah, we're Son Ranto, S O N r A N T o, , dot com. And then that's, , like Ron Santo, but with the R and the S switched. , yeah, that's my Twitter handle as well, where I'm pretty darned active, , until I guess Elon Musk blows it up and we don't have Twitter accounts anymore, but, , yeah, I'm always out there like tweeting out pictures and, whatever I'm doing, I'm usually promoting.

So. 

[00:55:47] Mark Corbett: Well, man, I gotta tell you, you keep it exciting, , I love what you guys are doing. I love your Bleacher Bum band , , you guys seem to be having fun and I see the tweets, I see the things that Sara Sanchez said, oh, well, I I, maybe [00:56:00] I asked you a question after all this, but it, it is, it's been exciting to see what you guys do and anybody you're a Cubs fan or if you just enjoy entertainment, Son Ranto is the way to go, and there's plenty of different opportunities and opportunities people can find even more when 

[00:56:14] Danny Rockett: they get to your site.

Yeah, and we've, we've got a fun discord too that we all hang out in a Bum. , I also do another show you bring up Sara, uh, cuppa. Cubby Blue is our show. We just, , switched networks. We're on the Fans First network, which is brand new. And, , real excited about that. That's a, a brand new venture this year, actually just within the last couple months.

And, , so we're doing that. , I also do a Cubs pod that's, , for our Patreon subscribers. So we have a a, a daily show, which was just a recap and stuff. So we're always doing stuff and trying to really, , me media, we just talked about how, , it said when, uh, print turned to digital, you have to change, , so all of a sudden when you have a situation where I can go live, And do a live [00:57:00] show that's interactive where I can see livestream comments on my YouTube or on my Facebook, , and this new technology existing in such a way that it's really easy to like plug and play.

Yeah. And you don't have to have large amounts of technical know-how to put on a pretty well produced show. , when that became the case back in like 2020, we were early adopters of doing that and uh, people really appreciated it , , it. So that, that is our show. Son Ranto Show is now a live show that we do once a week to, and we have our ranters and our community of people that, that we, , commune with really as Cub fans.

And, , it's, it's, it's a lot of fun. And it's, and in 2020 when everybody was sitting in front of their computers the whole time, ? Yeah. , and, , not able to really do anything, , to go to the grocery store. Uh, you know, when, when that was the situation, , we just, we started going live ev pretty much every day because we had the technology to do so.

So I'm always trying to think of like, the new ways people are going to [00:58:00] consume things and, , I always like trying the new stuff and, , and I love people, so I, I always want, , to be interviewing. Interesting. We had a, a poet on who wrote . A book called Aisle 228. It's all Cubs inspired poetry.

Sandra Marchetti, or Marchetti is how you say her name. And, , it's, it's awesome. It's on Amazon stuff. You could find it. And, um,, I just love talking to those different people. Cub fans are such a diverse group of people. You know, there's artists, there's famous people, there's, you know, the ex-players are hanging out.

Like I'm hanging out with Glen and Rush. I'm hanging out with like, all these different dudes cuz they love Migi Mi Montero is back Wow. From the 20 sixteens. He drunk at my friend Stu's house. , so the Cubs are a special situation, , that it's fun to roll with. So I, I just, I like doing everything.

So yeah, it, everybody should just follow my stuff. If you like the Cubs or even if you don't like the Cubs and, , you like making fun of stuff. 

[00:58:52] Mark Corbett: Well, again, I wanna remind everybody we're talking with Danny Rockett of SonRanto.com and he gave you kind of an idea of some of the things you're gonna find that you over there, you [00:59:00] will be entertained.

You know, whether you're a Cubs fan or baseball fan or not, Danny will keep you entertained. So I really appreciate having you here today on the show, Danny. 

[00:59:09] Danny Rockett: Yeah, thanks for having me. It was really a lot of fun, Mark and, I, I love talking Cubs, so that's why I do it pretty much every day of my life.

All right, 

[00:59:18] Mark Corbett: well maybe we'll leave this show here with, , a song of your alls with, , about Mr. Manfred and his enjoyment of the game. 

Yeah. People like this one, cuz this, this one is for all baseball fans. Oh, okay. Danny, thanks again for joining us here on BaseballBiz On Deck, my friend. Thank you so much.

Take care. 

Show Notes
Special thanks to Danny Rockett for the use of songs, "Nobody is Coming to Town" & "Rob Manfred Hates Baseball"
 
 Below is more information on Danny Rockett, the Son Ranto show & the Bleacher Bun Band
  
 Son Ranto Show on Bleacher Bum Network

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bleacher-bunch-network-a-chicago-cubs-podcast/id1462808218?l=ru?l=ru

Website is http://www.sonranto.com

Bleacher Bum Band https://open.spotify.com/artist/5wBhE7HmZNCiXaKrWq8ju9

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