Anthony Rizzo, David Ross start 2016 Chicago Cubs podcast
Opening day is at hand, and whereas Jed Hoyer hopes the “next great Cubs team” he started constructing in 2021 is lastly right here, followers at Wrigley Field will spend a lot of 2026 celebrating the final nice Cubs staff.
A staff assembly for the 10-year anniversary of the 2016 World Series championship is scheduled for July 18, and reminders of that particular season will probably be on show from opening day via the top of the summer season.
Like the 1985 Bears, the 2016 Cubs won’t ever actually go away.
Former Cubs Anthony Rizzo and David Ross, in the meantime, have determined to get the occasion began early. Rizzo and Ross have teamed up once more to supply a brand new podcast, “The Lovable Reunion,” which begins April 1 on Colin Cowherd’s The Volume community.
Rizzo mentioned the podcast will deal with the 2016 season from the start “through Game 7 and the speech.” And if you do not know what “the speech” refers to, you are most likely not a Cubs fan and might skip the remaining.
While “TLR” is clearly a Cubs-themed podcast, it is not a part of the Cubs advertising and marketing division or run by the group. The two outdated mates insist they will have full management over the content material, guiding us via the 2016 season, the place followers carrying “Just One Before I Die” T-shirts received permission to die pleased.
“This is us alone,” Rizzo mentioned. “Me and Rossy have been speaking, and with the 10-year reunion we needed to do that. Whenever all of us get collectively we simply sit down and everybody tells tales. I at all times needed to do a podcast after I used to be taking part in, and (Ian) Happ tried to at all times get me to do one whereas I used to be taking part in, but it surely was an excessive amount of of a dedication.
“This was like a perfect segue for us to see if we’d like doing it together. We were like, if worst comes to worst, it would still be therapeutic to talk about the whole run in 2016. But we actually love it, so it’s been a fun project.”
The interviews with gamers are filmed, and the podcast will probably be out there on YouTube. It’s principally a weekly present, though two episodes will drop every week on the outset. They’ve already taped a number of episodes, appropriately beginning with Jon Lester, their beer-loving running buddy.
“We get down with these sitdowns, and the guys are ticked off they don’t get to travel around with us and get to hang out with everybody and hear the stories,” Ross mentioned. “And they can’t believe when (it’s over). We’ll do a two-hour session, and the guys want to keep going. It’s amazing how much fun everyone has had doing this.”
Ten years is lengthy sufficient for Cubs followers to turn into nostalgic over the ’16 season, and quick sufficient for gamers to nonetheless have semi-vivid recollections of what precisely occurred. The ’16 Cubs weren’t only a nice assortment of expertise, however a near-perfect mixture of personalities, from stoic Jason Heyward, who delivered the well-known rain delay speech throughout Game 7 of the World Series, to melodramatic varieties like John Lackey and Willson Contreras.
Rizzo and Ross have been the ringleaders within the clubhouse, whereas Joe Maddon was the free-wheeling supervisor who gave his gamers house to be themselves. The outcome was the top of the franchise’s 108-year championship drought, the longest in North American professional sports activities historical past.
The dynasty was by no means realized, and plenty of finally left the group on a bitter observe. Not everybody’s story had a contented ending in Chicago, regardless of the 2016 season. Rizzo was dealt by Hoyer in the trade deadline selloff in ’21 after failing to agree on a contract extension, and Ross was fired as supervisor following the ’23 season, after Hoyer had lauded his performance.
But they continue to be Cubs at coronary heart, and scars heal over time.
So what can we anticipate to listen to? Will it’s a G-rated podcast?
“Most of them are PG-13,” Rizzo mentioned. “Some are rated R. But it is actually simply candid speak, simply us speaking and cameras there. You would not even suppose it is (a podcast). Once we get into an episode, it is a variety of full-circle moments and a variety of tales from guys, like Mike Montgomery speaking about rising up and among the pitches he threw, and being within the World Series closing out Game 7.
“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that was eye-opening even for me and Rossy, and a lot of stuff people have heard about, but now it’s coming from our mouths.”
No one has turned down a request to be interviewed, and plenty of episodes are already accomplished. Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, Kyle Hendricks and Aroldis Chapman are among the many largest names on faucet and ready to be interviewed, together with former president Theo Epstein.
Many visitors have their very own episodes, together with Maddon, Lackey, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber and Jake Arrieta. Others are in teams — coaches Eric Hinske and John Mallee; pitcher Travis Wood and coach Mike Borzello; outfielders Chris Coghlan, Matt Szczur and Albert Almora Jr.
Depending on the podcast’s reception, Rizzo mentioned they could prolong it to incorporate some media that coated the staff, together with broadcasters Len Kasper and Pat Hughes, and celebrities who have been round, like Eddie Vedder.
Rizzo, starting his new gig as a studio analyst for NBC/Peacock telecasts, mentioned he’d get Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts on board when he sees him Thursday on the Cubs opener at Wrigley Field. Ross, who returns to an analyst position for ESPN telecasts, mentioned he expects to be at Wrigley for some video games this summer season.
I requested Ross if there was any subject that the 2 felt was too delicate to deal with. Not everybody’s story had a contented ending, regardless of the 2016 season.
“I think we asked the stuff fans want to know,” he replied. “We asked Joe about different moves in the World Series.”
Like Maddon taking Hendricks out early in Game 7, or Chapman returning to the mound in Game 6 with a seven-run lead?
“He walks through all the plans,” Ross mentioned.
They did not spare their mates, both.
“We asked Lester why he couldn’t throw to first base,” Ross mentioned with fun. “We asked some hard hitters for us. I think it’s mostly fun, but we definitely ask some tough questions.”
Rizzo famous they weren’t grilling their outdated teammates and supervisor in the identical method as beat reporters.
“It’s all in good fun, it’s all celebrated stuff,” he mentioned. “But we ask the questions, because that’s what everyone wants to know. And now it’s coming from the horse’s mouth, and not from, uh, Paul Sullivan.”
That was good to know, though I reminded Rizzo and Ross that, like me, they’re each a part of the media now, so followers anticipate to listen to the unvarnished fact.
“Yeah, we’re on the dark side now,” Rizzo concedes.
“We’re going to change the narrative, Sully,” Ross added.
Sounds like a plan.
I’m guessing the podcast will probably be well-received, based mostly on the Cubs’ recognition and the chemistry of the 2 hosts. And if it really works out, perhaps they’ll even department out and produce a common sports activities podcast like Travis and Jason Kelce’s well-liked “New Heights.”
Good storytellers are at all times price a pay attention, irrespective of the topic.
