From the Marine Corps to MLB Laz Diaz's Path to Excellence

Step onto the field with us as we explore the life and lessons of Laz Diaz, a seasoned umpire with 25 years calling the shots in Major League Baseball. Diaz’s tapestry of experiences weaves together a narrative of his Cuban American heritage, his disciplined years in the Marine Corps, and the unwavering influence of his father. Join us for a heartwarming recollection of his professional milestones, from World Series stints to All-Star games, and his Cuban Hall of Fame induction. But it's not just about the accolades; it's about the man behind the mask, the poignant moments like bestowing his father with an All-Star game ring, which truly capture the essence of his journey.

Umpiring is more than just balls and strikes; it's about leadership, integrity, and the kind of grit that's polished in the Marine Corps. Diaz opens up about the rigors of umpire training, the no-nonsense approach to personal conduct, and the critical 'up or out' reality that shapes the destiny of those in the profession. We uncover the parallels between the discipline of sports officiating and life's broader challenges. Whether you're an aspiring umpire or striving for success in your own field, Laz's wisdom underscores the value of truthfulness and the relentless pursuit for excellence.

Finally, we're taking you behind home plate to discuss the evolution of umpire training and the diversification of the community. Laz reminisces about witnessing baseball history being made and shares insightful perspectives on the sobering topic of fan violence, recounting personal experiences that led to significant policy changes within MLB. His advice to chase dreams with unwavering passion is the rallying cry for anyone on the precipice of chasing their own. So, put on your cleats, and let's play ball through stories of resilience and dedication with the remarkable Laz Diaz.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hey, good afternoon folks. Once again, this is Charlie Shaw, host of the Little Mill Podcasts on Filter Show. We're back with another special guest and a topic that may inspire and motivate each and every one of you. As always, I appreciate you staying engaged with the show and spending time with us each week. So let's get it started. Well, I'm impressed with being able to interview this gentleman that we have coming up Last Diaz.

Speaker 1: 0:30

Last Diaz is a major league umpire, has been for 25 years.

Speaker 1: 0:39

Last. He's Cuban American, out of Miami, born and raised down there, and while he was in high school down there he played baseball, a lot of baseball, and then, when he graduated, he also went into, went to college at one of the historical black colleges, which is now a university, Florida Memorial College at the time, Played a year there and then joined the Marine Corps and spent 12 years, if I'm not mistaken, in the Marine Reserves and after that he worked his way up. Well, he actually went to went to umpire in school in 91 and worked his way up to the international league and in 99, he was one of 22 umpires that was promoted to the major leagues, Becoming one of three Cuban Americans who were selected to umpire major league baseball and in 2010, Laz was also inducted into the Cuban Hall of Fame down in Miami, which is huge. And also, as of now since 2022, he's been a crew chief for major league umpire and teams go out and umpire all the baseball games. Hey, Laz, thank you and welcome to the show.

Speaker 2: 2:07

Well, thanks for having me. I appreciate you having me on your show, right.

Speaker 1: 2:12

Well, people probably wonder how we know each other. We got both of us share a good friend, angel Isla. He's a deputy marshal with me and first time I met Laz was I whooped him in a whole bunch of other people in dominoes over at Angel's house and from there we got a little friendship going on and he was kind enough to do it do the show with me. So, let's tell me about. Tell me about what you do as umpire. I know the people without probably wonder.

Speaker 2: 2:47

Like you said, I went to college. I further more of college at that time, played some baseball there and 84 I had a chance to play in a minor league with the Minnesota Twins. At the end of the year I got released and tried to fall in year 85 with the Cardinals. Got hurt during spring training so that ended my short career with the Cardinals, sat out in 86 87. I said, well, let me give you one more shot and I was down there and I fell out of there with the Yankees in the minor leagues and that didn't work out.

Speaker 2: 3:22

So after that I hung up my spikes in my glove and just hung around for one year and then I started up on down in Miami. You know Sunday leagues, softball leagues, so pitch leagues and then I did a bit of a high school and and I got into college. And then I did all this while I was in the in Marico because I did a reserve. I work in reserves in 81 and 91 golf. What was going on? That's when I decided to go to umpire school, went to umpire school down in Daytona Beach and was lucky, was blessed and came out of there with a job. And here it is, 33 years later of a career that three World Series under my belt, two World Star games in Australia, been to Japan, then Dominican been to Cuba. So I've been Venezuelan, dominican. So I've had a great career and hopefully a couple more years and I could call it a day.

Speaker 1: 4:33

Yeah, man, that's a blessing right there. You know, I was reading up on your reading up on you, and you credit a lot of your, your success, to your father, and I think that that's huge. How did your old man have an impact on you?

Speaker 2: 4:49

Well, he kind of pushed me along and anytime I needed financial help he was there and support. He was a. You know he always, like like every father, you want your son to follow your footsteps or your dreams, and he always loved baseball. He wanted me to be a big league baseball player but you know it didn't happen and I rewarded him, or rewarded our ourselves, with becoming a big league umpire. So if I didn't make it as a player, I said you know what I'm gonna make it somehow and the avenue of getting up or opened up. And thank God you know I got lucky. Blessing, here I am.

Speaker 1: 5:29

Right, right, that was. Um, that was pretty cool. You, he was able to see a few of your games before he left us, right.

Speaker 2: 5:40

Yeah, he, uh, he saw a World Series with the that I did, no-transcript he did. He saw all star game, which, in Anaheim, I gave him my ring, you're right. And I said I already had one. I gave him a ring and he was what's this? I go, uh, you don't have one, so I Already have all star ring. You have that one. And he was so proud every time we take a picture he would get on the side with the rain so you could put his hands up and and it was, uh, you know it was, it was sweet, it was sweet to have him with me there and sharing that. And he got his dream to Uh, I didn't see a stadium built in Miami, right, he got to see. He got to see one of his favorite teams in Yankees go in there and Opened up the stadium. And then the St Louis was the first game, so, and that's the year he passed away 2012 after that, so, but he got just so, see the new stadium and walk around and all that man.

Speaker 1: 6:38

That's crazy how he was able to see both teams that you're on the farm team would play in the new stadium before. Yes, yeah, I like that. I like that.

Speaker 2: 6:48

Yeah, he was a big, big, huge fan, a big supporter, and he would call me and my biggest critic too, because he wouldn't sugarcoat anything. You know, if I, he would watch all my, all my play games. Every time I had to play he would watch and he could take me in and after the game, they, you did this, you did this, you did that, but you know everything. You were thinking there was a lot of help and you know, you, you, you want somebody around you that's gonna right, not sugarcoat anything, it's gonna take you the truth. And he was always Telling me the truth, right? I?

Speaker 1: 7:24

mean, you know, you know we were talking about inspiring and motivating motivating people, man. And that's a good, good, good segue into what I was gonna talk about. And that is how can you, how can you help a person grow if they're just telling you everything that you need to know? Sometimes you got to hear the bad with the good so that you can you know, correct, correct what's wrong, to make yourself better. So I appreciate you taking that up.

Speaker 2: 7:49

Exactly. You know if they don't you doing good, then you know there's no such thing going on because you're doing everything right, right. But you know I was so being a bit Coming up my crew chiefs of old city, when I fast, if I ask you the question, don't sugarcoat, let me know You're in it for more, let me know I'm wrong. I didn't call you in the conversation to tell me how good I am, to tell me how right I am. Yeah, and I want, I want to hear the truth and I've inspired that. And when it's time I work With the young guys and I say if I ask you a question, tell me the truth, don't give me if I messed it up, I messed it up and tell me, baby, mess that up so we could correct it Right. So you know that's one of my, my big cases. Tell me the truth.

Speaker 1: 8:34

Yeah, that's, that's part of leadership, right there, yeah, um, so what is as far as on part, as far as going on part of school? How long did you have to go through that?

Speaker 2: 8:50

A month. We, I remember, leaving my house, we used to go up to a date owner and started on the second I think we have. We have orientation, that that night, okay, with all the Instructors who are minority gun powers and I come up with maybe go powers and we had a hundred and forty four students and you know, being wise to, I guess the situation of being when I stood there I always had a mustache right and when I looked up all the instructors Everybody that's when charge had no facial hair. Mm-hmm, so that was it. That was a hand in the half.

Speaker 2: 9:34

If you want to do something, you need to shave everything off. Yeah, so I did. And people were asking me ready, why'd you shave it off? I was tired of it. I was tired of it. There you go. Yeah, at the end of the year, at the end of the month, when the big bosses came in and saw a lot of guys with long sideburns and go tees and mustaches and I came we don't mind you having a mustache and go tees, we like the nice and trim, right, but we prefer, you prefer that you didn't have any right. And you know now they all kind of looked at me like, oh, you know what that's like? Hey, you know, everybody on stage didn't have any facial hair. That's, that's simple math, right there.

Speaker 1: 10:15

Yeah, you gotta be aware what's going on around you. Yeah, you got to but you know that was, that was easy transformation for you because he was in a Marine Corps. You know Exactly, yeah, so he was already disciplined and you know, knew, knew how to carry yourself in, you know.

Speaker 2: 10:32

Yeah, that was and being I would be in the mirror. And Marine Corps going to bootcamp has helped me Throughout my career, um, throughout my my being disciplined and being able to Handle situations. You know, because in bootcamp they called you everything from A to Z. A to Z you had, you had that. It's it that you had to sit there and take it. You know you couldn't Rebuild, you can be rebellious again drill instructors you couldn't go back out and you couldn't tell. You know, just, it was a stick there, there left foot, and nothing like that. You just had to go take it.

Speaker 2: 11:09

So, in and in the marines coming up in the big leagues. You know there was arguments. We argued back and you know the good thing that I could argue back. But once the argument was over with I took a deep breath and said, okay, it's done, it's over with it. Whether I threw him out where I kept him in a game, well, he called me with a book and I called him everything in a book. Okay, it's time to move on. And that's helped me. Going to book have helped me a lot Because I was able to step back and start fresh. And that's what happens Some of sometimes guys coming up to the Marleagues, they're getting these arguments and they're so fired up that they do everything that goes against that team that you just had a big argument with and they throw out a couple guys. So I was able to the good umpires are able to put in the backseat, put in the trunk and go on about the business and keep it moving, man.

Speaker 1: 12:07

So you know, with that being said, you know we talked, we talked before and I was asking you. I said what type of motivation do you give, not only your crew, but what about players? Do you interact much with the ball players?

Speaker 2: 12:23

Not much. But the young guys that you know, once they cause, they're all nervous when they get up to the big leagues and stuff like that. And I said, hey, you're here, keep working hard, but be the first one here, be the last one to leave, cause, once you know, once they get up there, they want to hang with the superstars, and the superstars get there late. The superstars wear whatever they want. You know they sit there and I tell them, like you're not a superstar yet you just get here. You know. Now I tell them, if you go you hear, now you go back to the Marleagues you might not even ever come to come. So you know, are you already here? Make the best of it, cause you never know what's going to happen. The best thing for them, the players, there's 30 teams so they can bounce from team to team. Plus, as umpires, we only have one team and it's either up or out. Either move up or you're out, it's just like that.

Speaker 2: 13:20

So talk about just like that. Just like that I tell you what we I think the might for my year 91, um, we had 66 guys that went to the expanded umpire school. But there was three umpire schools when I went One in Daytona, one in Cocoa and the other one in Arizona. After a month of everybody going to school, we went to a 10 day um advanced class in what they call that, what they. It was called baseball city back then Cause where the Royals used to practice off of a high four, say row 27.

Speaker 1: 14:02

Right, that's all that's in Lakeland area or Plants.

Speaker 2: 14:06

No, it's before that, it's on 27th, so say row 27. It was called baseball city at Davenport, now Davenport there you go there, you go. Yeah, so they had a big state in the other world. Spring training was there, so that's where we went for our advanced class and we had 66 guys and those 66 guys, um, six of us made it to the big leagues.

Speaker 1: 14:29

Damn they great on hard curve, doesn't it? They ain't no curve, they're grim.

Speaker 2: 14:34

They yeah. So, and I mean the plate work you gotta. You gotta have a good plate work, have good base work, good physique and all that. But the big thing they look for is when you're able to handle situations. And I've also, you know, being in the Marine Corps help. And then I worked in Dominican and I worked in Venezuela as a young umpire, and all you do is handle situations because those Latin countries they love their baseball yes, sir, they love their baseball and they argue on everything, on everything. So I was able to go there and handle my business in Dominican and having my business in Venezuela and learn how to handle people, how to handle managers, how to handle players and be able to argue with them, throw them out and then step out and go, bob, my business, go on and keep the game going. That's pretty much.

Speaker 1: 15:28

That helped hold out. It's pretty much where you had to cut your teeth man, and maybe that was good yeah yeah, I mean it's.

Speaker 2: 15:35

And you know, in the Marine Corps when you go through boot camp, they call you everything in the book, like I said. But you gotta dig deep inside and say you know what. I'm not that person. So you could call me anything you want, and that's what I think is wrong with the young folks nowadays. Or people nowadays they call your name and you take it personal. I'm not that guy, I don't care what you call me. You call me whatever you want. I'm not that guy, so it doesn't bother me. Right, you know you call me a big head. I don't have a big head, so it doesn't matter. Rabbit ears, I don't care, you know, it doesn't bother me because deep down inside I know who I am and what I am. So you could, like I said, you call me everything in the book and I'm good with it.

Speaker 2: 16:26

Scan got his hands. I just laugh at him. Yeah, you gotta have a thick skin and some of these young folks nowadays they don't, and the first thing they wanna do, they wanna fight you, they wanna shoot that shoot. It's like you know what it's like. That's as short as it is now. Too damn short. Too damn short For you to gain the argument over something stupid and get shot, just dabbed and get jumped or whatever it's like you know what. Okay, you won. Yeah, you know, I'd rather be a live chicken than a dead hero.

Speaker 1: 16:58

There you go, there you go. Well, listen, I hear you and everything you're saying, but I know that some of those coaches or players have gotten underneath the nerve. Just give me one. Which one has ever gotten underneath the nerve?

Speaker 2: 17:15

Well, most arguments I had was with Joe Girardi from the Yankees. They seem like every time, you know, there's always one player or one manager, one coach that, no matter what they're arguing everything. Yeah, you can't do nothing, right, you just can't do nothing, right. So I mean, he was the one that for me and it probably not just me, because I've seen them argue with a whole lot of other guys, so I don't know if it was me or him, because he argued with a whole lot of other guys too, but you know, with him it just seemed like I could never do anything, right. Right, but you know, and like I said, that's all the baseball field, that's just how I grew up. Yeah, I've seen him in the hallway after the game or before and I said hello. He said hello and he's gone about to do his job and I'm gonna do my job. Yeah, I was gonna, but just when we stepped between the line, this is something that clicks.

Speaker 1: 18:11

I guess. Yeah, I kind of figured. That's what it is, man, it's business, it's work. You know he's in ball games and tried to disrupt a little bit, but you know it's fortunate that you didn't let that get up underneath your skin and you did your job. You know, yeah, but that is great advice for anybody that's coming up. I'll often do the whole on power schools.

Speaker 2: 18:36

Um, every, every year, every year, every year, from January 1st to dollars on two schools. They still get the one in Daytona and that's the what's the name of that school?

Speaker 1: 18:46

again, the.

Speaker 2: 18:47

Harry, harry, winters, that school, okay, and then now the major leagues took over the Myronings school, so they have a school in Vera Beach that starts the same time, january 2nd, and goes all the way through January 31st, and the same thing. They picked the cream and crop. But now these guys that go to the Marley umpire school, they got to go to a one day camp where it's held, I have my heaven, in Atlanta, cincinnati, charlotte, where it's at out west. So they have to go to this one day camp and you got some vices there, there from the money, from the big leagues, and they watch them. And then they get selected one or two or three, whatever they think is good enough, and it now they get a scholarship and they go to the Vera Beach, which is the money school.

Speaker 2: 19:53

The people that go to every windows, that school, they still have to pay to go to that school and I think they give them 10 guys to go to this, to the advanced camp which starts this week, I think the advanced gap and very be such this week, and the guys from from windows, that school, I think, sent the seven to 10 people because there's the women in there too. So, as a matter of fact, the windows. That school sent a, the first female Puerto Rican student, and she made it through school and now she's going to the advanced course to be to hopefully be the first female Puerto Rican umpire in the Marley.

Speaker 1: 20:44

So um, that was that that stadium is. I think it was Washington. Washington team. Major league team no it was the Dodgers.

Speaker 2: 20:54

The Dodgers. Okay, they still call it Dodger time. Okay, over there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're in there For a long time, like when Jackie Robinson was in the days.

Speaker 1: 21:06

Yeah, Well, speaking of notable ball players, you were able to umpire. You were second base umpire for um when Barry bonds broke Hank Aaron's record.

Speaker 2: 21:18

Yes, yes. And then that was that first week broke it again when he broke his own record and I got, I got behind the paid. I'm like, well, hopefully he only had one at bat. I said, well, hopefully he has one home run here, right, he'll break it again, break his own record, but he took one at bat. I don't know, I'm going to forget, walk to whatever, but I was like, top, why he shouldn't you should have swung it home run to break his own record, because every time he had a home run he broke his own record. Yeah, but yeah, I was at second base. I've been blessed. I have had a lot of.

Speaker 2: 21:49

I've been on the field for a lot of great events. When Wade Balls got his 3000 hit, I didn't have it, yeah, I didn't have a juice with Tampa and I didn't have a job then but I worked the plate and he got that three hits to get his 3000. He was bad. There was such a yeah, it was such a thrill and he's such a great guy too. Because the following day they put his, his hit, up in the newspaper to Tampa Tribune and sort of from center field and I was buying a plate. So I bought the newspaper and I saw the clubhouse guy Can you see if you might make my sign this? And he did. And then when I went back here of 8 by 10 picture and at a ball anyway, I mean what a, what a great individual. He is most definitely a great ball player too.

Speaker 1: 22:45

Well, folks, if you want to see what last look like man, some great pictures online that they got, they caught. They caught you good side. Last they caught you good side.

Speaker 2: 22:54

Yeah, but it caught me a little argue over time. Yeah, yeah, now now spring training for me starts on Saturday. Oh, saturday In the late in the late in Tampa, pretty intense Arizona area. So right yeah, my vacation is over.

Speaker 1: 23:13

You know it all comes to an end, but you know you spend it well down there, yeah.

Speaker 2: 23:19

Yeah, yeah, that's what's good about this job. You work till the end of September, beginning of October, and then you're done all the way till to now, to the beginning of March.

Speaker 1: 23:32

So you know you know you've talked about on the training. You talked about how you motivate the other umpires to. You know, take, take accountability for what they you know, for their calls, and you know, teaching them along the way. But I just have one other court, one other question for you. Well, I may have one other one, but this one is always you know, this is one that was on the fence about, but I'm going to ask you, and I think you, I think that you, you're okay with it what about when that fan came out on the field on young and Chicago at the White Sox game? What?

Speaker 2: 24:10

What Um? The year before he came out, there was Kansas City.

Speaker 1: 24:16

Rick Lee.

Speaker 2: 24:16

Rick White Sox and I was in the White Sox with the White Sox and so the what the Kansas City was playing the White Sox and and one of the innings, as a father's son, they jumped on the field and beat up the first base coach for the Kansas City rules. As a matter of fact, I think his name was Gamboa or is Gamboa, and I think he still has like 60% hearing loss. Are you serious? It is right here. Yes, from that beating that he took. As a matter of fact, from what I understand, the son called the mom and said hey, check out the TV. Dad and I are going to jump on the field and beat up somebody. So they, it was pre-meditated from the beginning. So they jumped up, they started hitting the first base coach. Everybody jumped in. They got the butt kicked.

Speaker 2: 25:07

The following year, the first time Kansas City goes back in there, I'm there and security, security comes out and says, hey, you know, the last time they were here this happened, but it might still have 潘 Final Choice, bad thoughts about what's happened with the fans and all that, and I said oh, don't worry about it, I'm at first base. If any fans come on the field, I'll take care of you. Being a Marine, I was pumping up, just talking noise. Well, during that game there was like three fans that jumped on the field and all the security people are police officers. They went in there and they grabbed them and jumped up and they did what they had to do and apparently that this one guy the Cubs played during the day. So he went to the Cubs game, got a little drunk, went over to the White House game and got in half price If you brought in a Pepsi product. So he did get in half price and apparently he called his girlfriend, which after all that became his fiance. I said, you know what? The three guys have been on the field and they got tackled. But before I get tackled I'm going to try to tackle somebody.

Speaker 2: 26:29

But it was the middle of the bottom of the eighth inning when the Royal Scots, the last out of that inning. They were supposed to come here at the top of the ninth and maybe the game would have been over with. But he came out and tried to grab me by my waist and I looked down and I'm like, oh, that's not the first place, it doesn't have a uniform. So I quickly, you know, did the twist and when I looked up he was on the ground and I'll tell you what all hell broke out on his behind. Because the right fielder who was there in the U before, they all had the bad taste in their mouth from what happened and they really pounded. They pounded all the rules, they pounded. This guy took turns pounding him. Really did I don't know, so he had nothing to do with me.

Speaker 2: 27:16

It was just a random fan when I came out and and and do damage. But he got damaged that time.

Speaker 1: 27:24

So yeah, man, well, I'm glad you got your head on swivel man, you was able to, you know, getting hurt in that sense.

Speaker 2: 27:33

And after that, after that instant, Major League Baseball came out with a rule where if you jump on a field, it's a before it was a misdemeanor, Right, but now they made it a thousand dollar fine and it's a felony now. So if you jump on the field, you go into jail, put the family fine, which they should have done a long time ago, but they're very you know. They don't do stuff for this supposedly week to tell later, Right.

Speaker 1: 28:02

I'll tell you, man, I don't understand. I don't understand fanatics yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:08

No, I don't. I mean, I'm a huge yeah, I'm a huge mommy dolphin fan. Let me hear you Pan three. I love my forties, but I'm a fan. Yeah, yeah, I'm not a fan that's going to go crazy and try to jump on the field. I'm a fan of a opposing player or even a fan.

Speaker 2: 28:30

You know, you go, you go to games and you're going to talk to the other crap, to the other fans, and all that. But that's as far as it gets. And I've been. I've got seen things with dolphins and I've been there where guys from other teams have talked stuff and then guys saying some of the dolphins have gone back at them, right, and you know they're getting ready to throw it out and I'm like, oh, and I thought a good ball from fans. I'm like yo yo yo, it's just a game. Yeah, they don't talk with a way to talk. You know it's a game and they're like you know what? You're right, it's just a game. We're both fans, we both want to win. I'm like and other fans, other fans understand. So like, yeah, you know what you're right. I try to be the mediator because you know why pay. You pay $75, whatever it is for a ticket and then you go fight and get kicked out and probably go to jail for the night.

Speaker 1: 29:25

It ain't, it ain't worth it. I'm not going to have a good time and enjoy it.

Speaker 2: 29:28

That was a nonsense, because you want to be a a fan of a fan, it's like no, just enjoy it. Doug, I'm getting Okay.

Speaker 1: 29:37

Well as current close it up, man, and I'll just want you to offer a little advice to anybody that's thinking about getting in an op iron or or anything that's going to be challenging, because you have a track record of um being able to handle that stress and um persevering to um accomplish your goal. What advice would you give, give, give our audience on that?

Speaker 2: 30:00

Well, first of all, whatever you want to do in life, go ahead and do it. Uh, don't let, don't let nobody tell you that you can't do it, don't let nobody talk to you into not doing it. Um, I grew up in Miami and, and it was, it was in the hood, but it was uh, it was, it was the, uh, the, the riches of the neighborhoods, um, so I had the. I struggled growing up, uh, but we had food on the table, we had a roof over our heads and, and I, it was, I didn't, I wasn't, uh, born with a silver spoon in my mouth and I worked hard for everything I got. I, I worked hard and I'm still working hard for everything that I have. Um, I've never um, I wanted to say I did it on my own and that's the way I've been my whole life, my whole career Work hard, work hard and then get chores.

Speaker 2: 30:57

I always tell these young folks I said hey, don't worry about these knuckleheads. In high school, especially in high school, when you get easily tempted to do whatever other popular people are doing, I said don't get tempted by these knuckleheads. We graduated from Miami, carol City, and we had like 300, maybe 400 people and I'm friends, real good friends, but like four of them, and there's a lot of them that are dead, that are in jail and you know what, and I never let that bother me. So leave those knuckleheads alone. Everybody knows right from wrong, good from bad and stay with those knuckleheads and do what you need to do to get chores. I tell the same to guys and the females, especially the females, especially the eight Don't worry about these knucklehead guys.

Speaker 2: 31:45

To work, guys and we're idiots. Just go get chores, go get your education, go do what you need to do. Be successful in life. You know, if you want to be a lawyer, you want to be a doctor, you want to be a judge, whatever you want to do, go ahead and do it. Don't let nobody bring you down. You could go down by yourself. You can be bad by yourself, yes, so you don't need nobody else to help you bring you down.

Speaker 1: 32:07

Well, you're living proof that dreams do come true, man, or get close to where you want, your dreams, yeah, and I appreciate it. And I also want to tell you thank you before we came on the show. You gave me a little bit of inspiration, man, to keep going with podcasts, you know, because you never know what directions things are going to go for you. So I appreciate you giving me that, man, and I'm going to take that yeah most of it.

Speaker 2: 32:33

Most of it, you know. You started something new and then you got something good going here and I wish you a lot of success and just keep going. Brother, I appreciate you having me on and maybe we could turn this into a live, live show one time, one day when you go on there and have a TV and an audience and go live on the TV channel or something.

Speaker 1: 33:01

Appreciate it, brother, appreciate that very much. Listen, stay safe through the season. I'll be catching up with you. I'm going to get Angel to well. We probably won't be able to play until October when you are well, november when you come off the road. But I'm definitely going to tell Angel that we're going to need to get back together, man, do some dominoes or even go to the Magic game or something along those lines.

Speaker 2: 33:22

Most definitely, most definitely, and you got my numbers. At any time you can holler at me and we'll get. We don't even have to pay dominoes. Just sit around and talk to MBS with each other.

Speaker 1: 33:34

That'll work. Hey, just stand by. I'm going to close out the show. Folks, once again, I want to thank last Diaz for coming on the show and talking about his story and I want to thank you folks for tuning in once again. And also remember, stay connected with us on social media and share your thoughts and feedback on my website, which is C Shaw Production. Also, take care of yourself and tune in to the next week's show. Take care.