Storytelling in Sports Broadcasting | Julia Morales

In this episode of Inside the Game, Greg Swindell (AKA Zeke) and Keith Moreland (AKA Zonk) sit down for an interview with Julia Morales. Julia shares her inspiring journey from small-town Texas to becoming a prominent baseball broadcaster. She discusses her early sports passions, career development, behind-the-scenes insights into baseball broadcasting, and balancing family life with a demanding travel schedule.

00:00 Welcome Back: The Journey Begins
01:14 Meet Julia Morales: A Multifaceted Talent
02:56 Growing Up in Crandall: Small Town Roots
05:02 Sports and Dreams: A Young Athlete's Journey
07:51 From Small Town to Big Dreams: The Path to Broadcasting
10:52 The Love for Sports Journalism: A Passion Ignited
12:39 Climbing the Ranks: The Early Career
15:11 The Transition to Major League Baseball
18:40 Facing Challenges: The Astros' Struggles
23:02 Building a Career: The Role of Timing and Opportunity
26:53 The Journey of Storytelling in Sports Reporting
30:01 The Impact of Mentorship in Broadcasting
33:26 Navigating Challenges in Sports Journalism
39:24 The Emotional Toll of Coverage
43:23 Analyzing the Current State of the Astros
49:37 Astros Farm System Insights
51:27 Personal Life and Relationships in Baseball
56:10 Building a Family Around Baseball
57:20 Entrepreneurial Ventures in Sports

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome to another episode of Zeke and Zonk Inside the Game. I'm Greg Sondalli's Keith Moreland. And we are Zeke and Zonk, and this is our podcast Inside the Game. We've had a few weeks off. Um, I've had some hearing problems lately. So I had a a cochlear implant surgery, which is uh took me about a week to get over. Zonk's had some dental surgeries, so us all us old men have have taken care of our bodies, and and now we're back, and it's a pleasure for us to have as our guest today. She, I mean, what doesn't she do? She's an entrepreneur, she's done play-by-play. Um, I guess her nickname is Miss Astro. And I I want to find I want to find out um as we get on, is it how do you get orbit to become your agent? You know, as you look on Wikipedia, that's what it says. So I'll have to do that. Oh, no way. That's a pretty good agent to have, especially working with the Astros. But uh Miss Julia Morales, it's a pleasure to see you. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

So good to see you guys, my Texas fam, my baseball fam. Um, you know, I I'm talking baseball all the time, all day, every day with this job. But it is so fun to to do this, to talk to you guys, to to you know, talk about other parts of my life that I've loved this game, and of course what you guys have done. I'm just I'm a big fan of both of you, obviously. So happy to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

We're happy to see. I mean, Cran Crandall, Texas. I looked it up, what, 7,000 people? That seems high.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

Well, I guess it probably is now. Yeah, there's no stoplights in Crandall, Texas. Um, it's booming now, you know, big, big town. Um, but it was very much a small town um experience for me growing up. It was one of those small cities my family found outside of Dallas. Um, it's real close to Fourney. I know people have heard of maybe Forney and Mesquite. Uh, so those were like the big towns that we would go to growing up. But that's yeah, I was like the Friday Night Lights, like the typical Texas small town girl. Um, I also had huge dreams to get the heck out of Crandall, Texas from a very young age. You know, it was one of those towns where a lot of people would would stay and they'd become teachers in this in the town, and and that's still going on. But I was definitely like, how the heck do I get out of here? Um, I was dying to get to Austin from a very young age and and go to UT. Uh so I had big dreams.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Well, having big dreams, it I'm I'm raised in the Metroplex myself, being from Carrollton. So it it you know, as soon as I could get out, I was ready to get out too. But uh do you get back very often? That's just what I'm saying. You know, do you get back some of your roots very often?

SPEAKER_03 2:56

Yeah, I do feel it's important to get back. I am very, very proud because I did a lot of cool things growing up. And I think you know, that small town experience was also huge for me to become, you know, just well-rounded. And I I learned so many different things, and I played all the sports because we could. We didn't have the competition, you know, you have to pick when you're at the bigger schools. We did not. We they they needed us to play all the sports to fill all the all the spots. And you know, it was just it was there was also the growing up with the same kids, you know. My the one of the girls that I was in kindergarten with is still one of my best friends to this day. So there's this whole family vibe to it. But I get back, my parents are still there. I will not let them sell the house yet. I am very much um I, you know, living in Houston, as you guys know, once you do get to a big city and then you start to raise kids in a big city, you realize that like there's a whole world out there that they're missing out on. Just like putting your bare feet on grass, right? Um, we live close to Houston too. So it's just a lot of concrete, a lot of cars, a lot of traffic. And so it's so nice for me to take my young daughter who's five, to my parents' house and have that like quiet nights where it gets pitch black and you can see the stars at night. And um, like I said, run around barefoot in the backyard and and mess around with weeds like I did, you know, and and find the blue bonnets and and all the the small town stuff that we did. Maybe cow tipping. I don't know. I don't I don't know what the kids are doing these days, but it's silly stuff that that only we understood, and and I and I'm hoping that she can learn a little bit from that and appreciate that part of um that part of the world.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

So you did cowtipping when you were little?

SPEAKER_03 4:35

I did. Why are we talking about cow tipping? Cow tipping and pasture parties. Those were those were things that we did.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

We call we called them barn parties. We we found a barn. At least we got something to cover up. So that's a little bit in.

SPEAKER_03 4:50

We didn't know. It was just everyone pulled their chunks up, you know, the tailgate down, and we just had a time. Had a time.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

So you say you played all the what was your favorite sport growing up?

SPEAKER_03 5:02

You know, I grew up like the first sport I played was basketball, and that was because my mom played basketball. Um, she played at a junior college and she walked on at SMU. She played one year there um before she ended up transferring schools, but she that was her love. And so she was my coach. I was eight years old. It was little dribblers back then, and we I did all the camps, and so I, you know, I wanted to be chill swoops when I was nine years old, and I loved women's basketball at a young age, which was crazy. Um, that that was that was the first thing for me. Of course, football was huge, so I wanted to be a cheerleader, so I started doing dance. I started doing all the other things. But once middle school came around, volleyball. I actually I was better at volleyball than I was at other sports. I wasn't very tall, but I learned how to set, and our team was pretty good for a small town. Um, we were ranked one in in the state, and we had deep playoff runs, and I just like I fell in love with sports. I fell in love with the team aspect. My dad was a track guy. My dad uh ran tracking college, and so he was a track coach, and we had no choice but to run track to. Like I said, I did it all. Um, I was a 300-meter hurdle guy. And like why? Why? That's the worst. There's a hard event. There is.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

It's terrible. That's a hard event.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

The hardest event. And I mean, the 800 is really hard. Of course, just the 400 in general. I mean, like the full sprint of it. Um, yeah, why? Why did why was that the race that we picked? But um, I, you know, I probably it probably built character, you know, just like run in 400 hurdles to train for it. It was really, really hard. But um, good memories, good memories from doing all the different sports and doing the individual versus the team. I was around it all. Um, the other thing I did, which is is fun and it doesn't come up a lot, but people will ask me every time to time how I learned how to score baseball. And when I was a freshman, my one of my favorite teachers was the baseball coach, and he was like, you know, we need help scoring the games if you want to come out to our games, you know, which was a block from my house, is where the guys played. So small town, but the field was right down the street, and so I would go and sit at the end of the dugout, and I learned he taught me how to score games. And then it got to the point where he would like, he's like, Well, if you want to meet us in Fourny or if you want to meet us in Ferris, all these little towns that were every town in our district was 10 minutes away. So I became the the scorekeeper for the uh baseball team on top of everything else. I had no idea that that was gonna like come full circle for me, but um that that just kind of tells you where I was. I was like, if there was a sport, if there was an event, I was there, I was all in.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

I loved it all. You know, but the the the next step from that is that people are gonna want to know, and I'm gonna want to know how that came forward to becoming a professional broadcaster.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Yeah. So the love of TV, um, uh, you know, I speak about this part a lot. My in that small town, my dad, who was a school teacher, I talked about him being a coach, he was a government teacher and extremely passionate about all things government, um, decided to run for office. And it was crazy at the time. It was kind of like this silly thing, and he he needed, he needed um so many signatures on a petition to do it. And he basically was just like, you know, ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they really work for it. And, you know, he found things that were worth fighting for. And it'd be one thing if it was like city council. This dude ran for US Senate. Oh wow. And he was a nobody, he was an absolute nobody because, like I said, he was a school teacher. And um, but there was all of a sudden he was he got his signatures, and then he started his big push was like he wanted young people registered to vote. So, you know, he starts off and he's like door to door, and he's he's just trying to get people to register to vote, and that's a big part of his campaign. We think this is going nowhere. I'm also nine, 10 at the time, so I really don't know anything about politics or anything. But we I'm just watching this all play out. He wins the primary, and the media, this is before social media and people can go viral. The media just like like attaches themselves to the story. They think it's a cra they think he's crazy. They're like, Who is this guy? Where did you come from? You don't have money to do this, you have no backing to do this, but like we love this little story of this small town guy doing this crazy thing. Um, and then it just like it like he was on the news every night, and it like people came out and did features, they were in my house, so I had reporters in my house, I had people doing live shots at my house, and it wasn't so much about like the race as it was about his story, and so um the he lost at the end of it, but like he made history because he was the first Latino to run for US Senate in Texas, and so he was actually on my college test when I grew up a little bit, but um with all of that, I learned one, you can freaking do anything that you want to if you put your mind to it, you know, and you and and like my dad was a great speaker, great motivational speaker, so he could rile people up and get people going. Also, I fell in love with TV because I got to see reporters do their thing and I saw them tell a story from beginning to end. Like they the way they started asking questions, the way they took notes, the way they put it into a package, the and then the final product, right? I would turn on the news at six o'clock and then I'd watch all of it unfold into a two-minute package. Um, so there you go. I put my two loves, I knew I was gonna be a news reporter at 11 years old. I was like, Okay, that's what I'm doing with my life. And then, like I said, I was just I was a big sports girl. I loved all of it. Um, and then when I got to UT Austin, um, they're decent at sports. And so it was like this really cool thing where I was studying journalism, I was doing all like all this newsy stuff, but the story was always what the Longhorns were doing, and that's when I kind of realized, like, oh, I could do this, uh, this reporting thing, but in the sports world, and here we are. I mean, I like it's not supposed to be that easy. It's not like it's not supposed to work out that easy. I don't think um, I just had really great timing. I was also at UT in 2005 when things were good, things were really good. Yeah, the glory days, the glory days, guys. I miss them, I miss them so much.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

So you I remember seeing you, I was doing a Texas State game, and and you were holding the camera, holding the microphone. Yeah, you were doing it all. I mean, you had to do everything on on your own. Did you see at that point that someday I'm gonna have somebody filming me? All I gotta do is hold a microphone and have people help me do all this. I mean, that's I don't you can make it sound easy, but you've you've you've put your dues in.

SPEAKER_03 11:47

Totally. No, you're right. And um, I I talk about my journey now that I've covered baseball so long. I'm like, it is so similar to one of a minor league player that's like working his way up and having to go through all the levels. And there's a reason you do that, right? And there even the small stuff, and you guys will understand this too. Like, I now that I've been around a big league team for so long, I forget the things that guys don't know before they get here, like where to sit on a bus, how you know, like how you hold yourself uh in the in a clubhouse and like what you wear to the field, you know, silly stuff that you know, like just you will know because we're in the baseball world, but like you learn on that all that as you work your way up and you get closer. And then the people who are at the big league level that are back in AAA will tell stories and tell you what to do and what not to do. The journalism world is very, very similar as you work your way up and the people that you meet and the people that you network. My first job was in Sherman, Texas, and it was a weekend sports anchor, it was a weekend sports anchor job, and then three days I would report on whatever was going on sports-wise. Well, Sherman, Texas is North Texas, but also it's like the Texoma area, but also went up into south, southeastern Oklahoma. They're not good at football in southeastern Oklahoma. I learned that very quickly. They're like, once you cross the border, the football was like uh not near as good as it was in Sherman and Tennyson, which is crazy because like we're you know, in Texas, we're like our football's the best, and we say all that, but like what do we even know? Except I know because I went north of the border and I was like, woo, um, different levels. So it was funny to to cover high school football at like such, you know, like that was it. That was the the prime story every night. That was like what we did every Friday night. Um, and that's all we really had. There were some D3 colleges, there was some JU codes that we would kind of follow if they had a good run. But that was where I learned how to work a camera, how to tell a story, how to ask questions, how to just be a female in a room full of 45 guys and and hold my own and be able to, you know, have feel. And there was so much of that that I needed to learn off the bat. Also how to be on camera and how to mess up and how to fix it and how to, you know, it's just like off like you just have to think quick and be on your, you know, think on your feet. And so all of that I was learning in Sherman Denison. Went to Tyler a year later. I worked so hard to get out of there because I was making no money. Um, similar to the miners, you know, you're making you're making pennies in A-ball. And and then you like get to double A and you're like, oh, I'm rich, like I'm making so much money. That was me when I went to Tyler and my equipment was a little better, you know, the clubhouse was a little better, and like I was uh I was covering better sports. Um, you know, the they would actually have enough money to send us to Dallas because Tyler's an hour and a half from Dallas. They would send me to Cowboys games on Sunday, and I was by myself, you know, I had my own camera and I was doing my own thing. Um, again, like having to ask Tony Romo questions with a camera on my shoulder and like, you know, trying to hold it still. I I was also watching Dallas Reporter. So this is where, you know, you're like all of a sudden you're in the same room as all these people who are doing it at the major league level, if you will. Um, learning, I was watching everything, soaking it all in. What are they doing? How did they get there? How are they telling their stories? My next jump was Austin. So that was a huge jump for me. It was also very exciting, and I was super lucky to work in Austin because I mean, I I'd just gone to school there. All my best friends were still there from college. It was fun to come home. It was an organization, a university. I like I knew everything there was to know about the team. I was obviously following it, so I just felt very comfortable coming in. And then there was the Roundhouse Round Ark Express down the street. So this is where like my baseball knowledge went from just like I kind of know what everyone else knows, to like this is what really happens in the baseball world. Like a lot of what people see is like the like what's above um like that major league level. Like, what are the teens doing and who's winning and who's a Hall of Famer and all this stuff, but like below that, there is a whole world that people don't know about, and it's beautiful. I think the minor leagues are so cool. And like, I mean, there's some hardships, there's some freaking hard times that happen under there, and it's what's what builds these people and what creates these great players. And sure, there's like the the top draft pick that comes through and has the easy route, like of course, but like everyone else has crazy stories as they work their way through and and like they're playing every day too, and there's stuff happening every day too. So, like living that at a triple A level um with them, I became kind of like the team reporter for our news station there, and that's I I was able to sit, so this is like back in the day, and y'all will appreciate this because no one charts anymore. How about that? These guys don't even chart anymore. These these starters will start and then they get to just chill for four days, they don't have to do anything, it's all being done for them. But like that's where I learned. Like the the starters would be in the stands and they'd be charting, they'd be doing their, you know, every and then the scouts were right behind them, and I would just like plop myself in the bleachers with him, and we'd be watching um together, and I'd be, you know, like who's this guy and where'd he come from? And and how hard can he throw? And what does he have? And oh, he's working on a new pitch, and and like the conversation, like I learned baseball from from that. There was also a pitching coach for the Express Terry Clark, um, who ended up being my father-in-law, but he was somebody that I asked a lot of questions to and kind of dumb questions. You know, there's like you hear guys talking and like the lingo and all that, and then I'm like, you know, a couple days later, I'm like, all right, so what were they talking about? And it was like, oh, you know, it's just little things here and there, but it helped me. And it, gosh, I mean, like now, then I could speak the language. Who knew that I was gonna get the astro job? I didn't know that at the time. Um, but that was setting me up to have a good career at the major league level. I just didn't know it yet. Um, so yes, I, you know, like every level got a little bit bigger, better. Um, I learned more. It was a little bit easier. Like when you saw me, I was still shooting stuff, but I think my camera was lighter. Yeah. At least, you know, like it wasn't, at least my tripod worked when I got there, and like the car I had to drive from the station was decent. Um, just the sports were good. And like uh when I got my job with the Astros, I was at like I was at spring training for the Rangers, covering the express when I was told I got the job. I came home and had two weeks in Austin before I left for Houston, and it was a very sad goodbye. Like I had gotten called up, but again, like this is so similar to what goes on. Like you're leaving this family, like you get traded, right? You know, like you're leaving this family, this this happy world that you had created. Um, I was like a little bit devastated. Half of me was like leaving the best city in the world at that I had known at that point. Um, I told Augie and like had a moment with Augie. I think I told you, Zeke. I think I saw you like right after like there was just it was just like mind-blowing how that all played out. And I just didn't know that it was going to at the time too, it was like it was a jump, but I had no idea it would turn into what's been a really, really cool career.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Yeah, yeah, I it it uh other things that people out there, Zeke and I know, but you you not only have to create the entertainment you're bringing forward. I mean, you you don't have writers. I mean, that's the other thing. Everybody's just well, y'all got somebody putting that stuff down. I said, No, no, no, that's not true. What's what's coming out of our mouths is what we've created. So you have to be uh you have to be a writer, you have to know how to massage to make sure that you don't it get in between uh somebody's having a bad, you know, it's a story, but it may be a bad story, and and just walking the line because there's all you're always on a tightrope. I mean, you can't say that you're you know that it's a big wide lane that you're walking down. You're walking down a tightrope all the time.

SPEAKER_03 19:39

No, and I also this, you know, people don't understand too reporters aren't all the same, and we are you know our our entities aren't all the same. So working in all those small markets I mentioned, working for the NBC affiliate and working for the CBS affiliate. Um, when I got the job with the Astros, I was the Astros sideline reporter. And I worked for a network that was some at some percentage at the time owned by the team. So at the end of the day, my boss is the Astros. And um, you know, like yeah, so yeah, like I also had to learn how to take off like the extreme journalist hat of like ask the hard questions and like no matter what, get to the bottom of the story and and all that, and be the first to break news. That was huge for me too. Because I the way I'd gotten attention and really ended up getting the Astros job is I was breaking some good news in Round Rock because I had the best sources, I'd made all these great relationships. Um let's see, Leonis Martin was an outfielder for the Rangers that had like come over from Cuba. And so, like they kind of just threw him in AAA, and I was like the first one there, so I had the first interview. Um, it was stuff like that. Martin Perez was another guy, a pitcher who had come over and he was really, really young, but they threw him into you know, threw him to Round Rock as a top prospect, and I was like first one there. I had like the first videos of him. Um who had Tommy John? Gosh, who had Tommy John? Who hasn't? Who hasn't? It was no, no, you're right, you're right. I'm thinking like it was a Rangers reliever who was down and rehabbing, working his way back. And then like no, this was like 2011. It's not Neptali Felice, it's um okay. Well, anyway, somebody like I I was there. I was there, like the doctors decided, he decided, he like told me because I was standing there, and so I I mean, but I that was the that was the gig at the time. Like people and Rangers people were following me. I had Rangers front office people following me because they knew like I because I knew what was going on. The Asher's job was completely different, so I had to figure that out, and like you said, there's such like the entertainment word is huge now for me. Like we put on a show every night, like we put our product is a show. That people are supposed to enjoy every night, and rather than turn on the 10 o'clock news and know what's going on in the world. Like, we are supposed to be like that breath of fresh air, like have fun, learn about your team, um, watch some baseball, and sit back and relax. So, well, I mean, the challenge in that, like, that sounds so easy, right? Until you get a team that loses 111 games. Like, what like the timing of me getting the Astros job was seemed at the time so tough, but it ended up being the best thing ever. So they were this was their third. I got the job right before the 2013 season. There was this brand new network called CSN Houston that was starting up. Um, so that's why I got this job because they created this job. They had had reporters in the past um report from home and do the pre and post game. They they had never had like the person goes on the road, 162, like you're in it with everybody else. And so this came with the new network, this came with the money they were spending. Um, of course, it like was a call to the show for me. I'm saying yes, no matter what, this is a dream job. But I had never been away from home that long. I mean, at the time I was I had a boyfriend, but I wasn't married, didn't have kids. Um, so it was like the perfect time for all of this. But also, like, I was also about to have to figure out how to juggle life, being away for 10 days at a time, 12 days at a time, you know, like that whole, hey, there's no days off anymore. Remember that weekend we used to get, like, you gave that up. Um, because even in sports news, like the hours are crazy and I was working nights, but I still would get like a Monday off or a Monday, Tuesday off. And those are rare in the baseball season. So I had to figure all that out. And then the team was awful, and people were mad because that new network they couldn't get distribution on, like it was only on Comcast, so it wasn't on Direct TV, and it wasn't on so people were just mad about that. They were mad that the Astros moved to the American League, like pissed that they moved to you know to the American League. Um, like how dare, how dare this happen? Um, also, yeah, also there were just a hundred lost seasons back to back. And 13, they knew it wasn't gonna be any better. They weren't going out and getting veterans or anything. It was just gonna be another lost season. They hired um or Bo Porter was the manager to start that year. I guess he made the cut year.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

And we were losing a hundred games, and I would look at Brett Dolan and go, Brett, no way two bad teams can have a good game. We're gonna be here three hours and it's gonna stop.

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Wait in 13.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yes, I mean, you know, they would come to Chicago and I'd come into Houston and sit there and look at at Brett and Dave. And of course, uh Milo's in the middle of them, and and and I'm just looking at I don't know what we're doing here. Two bad teams can't have a good game. There's no way. They're just it's not gonna be fun. There were some good things to take already. There was there were some good players. I mean, that's the first time I ever saw two bays, so you know, I thought, ooh, that's that's it's a unique little player.

SPEAKER_03 24:59

So I know exactly what you didn't think he was gonna be Hall of Fame or the time, but nobody, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

I I'm telling you, when teams that you're working for are losing, guys, it is one of the hardest jobs on this planet. Put it in the best light you can do, and you've done a great job with that. Now you don't have to do that anymore.

SPEAKER_03 25:19

So easy, so easy. That's but that's my timing thing. Like, I at the time it was like, God, this sucks that I showed up now, you know, of all the years. Um, you know, it was just loss after loss, and I have to ask both border questions before and after every single game. Because hey, we still have a pre and post-game show we gotta fill. So like, I don't care how many games like lost in a row, like I still gotta get sound and people still have to talk. And yeah, it's a long, long time. I was basically tap dancing and like, look over here, there's a new hot dog that they're selling over here, and like, look over here. They've got like this cool new thing at the ballpark. And, you know, just to get people to look away every once in a while, so we didn't have to to talk about what was going on in the game. Um, it was Bill Brown, you know, it was like one of his final years, but Alan Ashby was still with us, and then we, Jeff Blum, who's now our full-time analyst, started to be sprinkled in and he would like help us on the road. And so it was my first year, it was Blummer's first year to be an analyst, so we're like learning on the fly. Um it but it was just there were the good times were the first, you know, the the debuts, tons of debuts, and tons of guys who made their debut in an organization like they would have never, ever, ever seen the big leagues in any other organization. So it was like that was cool. First strikeouts, first wins. We made a big deal about it because it is a big deal. I mean, it's still the big leagues, you know, like it's it still counts. But then we never saw these people again, you know, like you didn't see them again after that. Like they didn't turn into careers. Um, but like you said, the uh Jose Altuve, I started to develop a relationship with him because he wasn't even close to the L2 we had now. He was like chubby at the time, um, but he would get a couple hits every night, and so he would be my interview and they would win because of course he would like have the best game. Um he wasn't doing anything spectacular just yet, but good relationship being built there. Um, Marwan Gonzalez was another player on that team that I would end up, you know, getting to cover, do some pretty cool stuff. I think Brad Peacock was there. Dallas Keichel had gotten called up. Um so but the other thing is we were telling the stories of the minor league like crazy. And this is where it was just like all things I was learning on the fly. It was like, oh, we're now we're gonna look at the numbers from Lancaster and the Jethawks, and like what's Lance McCullers Jr. doing down there? Like, who cares? This kid just got drafted, like why, you know, like stuff like that would be our stories. But I'm like, little did I know, like this that was part of the process. Um, but what it did is it taught me how to, yeah, tell stories, figure out a way, um, find the different angles, like just dig and dig and dig and find a way to make it entertaining in a way. Um, how to survive a major league season, which is one of the hardest things to do in general. Like, it's just so like I hit the wall in May, and I'm like, we got like I'm like I'm like a fifth of the way through, and I'm so tired, and I'm not playing, you know, like I'm not even going out there. But like, what how do you keep take care of yourself? And how do you take care of what's going on at home? And um, you know, and like at that time, our kids or our kids, our players didn't have um a lot of families. They were young guys too, and like no one's at their house taking care of their stuff or picking up their dry clean, you know, it's just like when you get home, you're just like, oh my god, I gotta catch up on two weeks of stuff. Um, survive that 14 was a little bit better. Altuvi came in in much better shape in 2014. And then not only was he hitting and he was stealing bags, and he stole like 51 that year. And like that was a really cool story to follow as the year went on because it was just like, who is this guy? And this is he's like actually really good. And then when it came to the end of the year, he was going for the batting title. So it was just like a fun thing. Like every day we had something to look forward to, like, where is he gonna end up? Um, George Springer got called up in 2014. We're like, all right, when he does connect, that ball can go a long way, but he was still striking out a ton. Um, you know, but it we saw flashes, like there were flashes of of goodness. They they didn't lose a hundred games that year, and I remember that being a big deal, like once they crossed, you know, however many wins they needed, it was like, okay, we got this. Um, and then like the then the change happened. Then it was like this new era. AJ Hinch becomes manager. Um, we know Carlos Correa is really close. That Lance McCullough's kid is really close. Like we knew in 2015 things were gonna be different. Um, they hired they actually got not only did they hire a bunch of new staff, but they um they got some veterans on that team. So we're like, okay, this feels different. And at that point, like you to your point, um, it was easy. I I could cover wins. Like, I got this. Like, this part is so easy, and they were winning most of their games and good stories to tell. Um, those veteran guys have just like a plethora of things you can talk about and things that they've been through. So um just changed the game for me when when all that when the tide turned, if you will, in the Astros organization.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Well, you brought up um Brownie, Bill Brown. I know um I've read some stuff about how he's a professional as as they get, and you say that he meant means a lot to your career. How did he help you out when when you first started with the Astros?

SPEAKER_03 30:20

Day one, he was just very welcoming and wanted to know my story, wanted to know like a little bit about me so he could share. I mean, like he he is the most professional guy there is out there. I think he's he was so good and he was a legend when I showed up too. And you know, I'm like, I'm not trying to step on toes, I'm not trying to talk too much, um, I'm trying to figure out my role. Uh, and he was so helpful. He took me on the first road trip, which was a long one, of course. I could they couldn't ease me into my major league career with like a six-day trip. It was like a 12-day, you know, two off days on the road. Like, I don't know what to do, I don't know who to hang out with. I, you know, like I don't want to be seen with like around the player. Like, I also had this whole like, I'm a female on a plane full of guys thing that I was trying to figure out too, because I was so frightened and terrified of people thinking the wrong thing because I was like, that's gonna cost me my job. Even if it's a you know, like rumors happen or like people just like didn't want me in the job. They could have made something up at the time. Um, so I was so terrified of like doing the wrong thing or looking the wrong way. And Brownie was awesome. He took me in um San Francisco, he put me on like he was like, come on, we're gonna go on the boat today, we're gonna get some lunch, and it was the nicest thing he could have done. You know, like I I've also never seen these big league cities, so I was very excited for just the opportunity to get out of my hotel, even though the hotels were so nice for me. Like, I was like, what is a great city? Yes, and I'm like, what are these five-star hotels that like you gotta be kidding me with this? And they were all nice, like it just kept getting nicer every hotel.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Don't hit the mini bar though.

SPEAKER_03 31:54

Oh yeah, no, I learned very quick. I mean, even room service, it's like this is different. Yeah, this five-star, like this next echelon or whatever. Um, but no, Brownie was so great, and he took me out and he just made me so comfortable. Like I was a part of the group. And um, the other thing he did was on the broadcast. He would bring me in and he would talk about me and like, hey, Julia was with us at lunch the other day. And what that did was it like told the Astros found fan base that like, we're cool, she's cool, she's with us. And because people would believe anything that Brownie said or anything that came out of his mouth. And um, I I found that just so I mean like I I owe him so so much for the way he welcomed me in. And and he did that all year in 2013 and all year in 2014, and it really like it's the reason I'm still here because you these jobs were so hard to get back then, and people were leaving pretty quickly too. Because girls, you know, young girls were using them. Once they were these were they were new jobs, these these weren't jobs that were around when you guys were playing. Like this whole sideline reporter traveled the team, do all these stories that came in, like the shows got longer and the pregame shows started doing, you know, like more sponsors, more all this. This is why this came about. But the people that were getting these jobs would use it to like propel themselves to the next thing, and that was very much like the way it was back then. Um, and that's kind of what I thought it might be for me too. I didn't know how long I would last at it. Um, but Brownie did such a good job of bringing me into the Astros family that I don't know, I felt all of a sudden like I was a part of the Astros family, and I kind of fell in love with it very quickly. And then the winning started happening, and I was like, Well, I'm not going anywhere now after investing all this into these tough years. Um, I'm gonna stick around and see how this plays out. And I'm so glad I did.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

Go ahead, Greg. If you got one, I'll I'll hit her again because I can tell you because keep him coming when you go through and and I've I've been there. Go through when you're just getting your teeth kicked in, you're trying to learn the job, your teams it's your cover's not very good, and then you start you start missing it right there, then they they get to the playoffs, then they get uh to a team that wins a a world championship. Just walk through that scenario, and you know how disappointed it is sometimes because you can't be there because it it gets ripped away from you. You've been there with these people the whole time and they get there, and then all of a sudden I thanks, but we're gonna move it over to NBC.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

Right, we're gonna hand it all over to Ken Rosenthal.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Yeah, like so you're like what it's just ripped your heart out.

SPEAKER_03 34:37

I know, and I had heard about that, and I remember people talking about that, especially in 2014, not that we were close to the playoffs, but I do remember like the some of my counterparts. I'd started making friends with reporters in other cities, and I remember I think it was the Red Sox, that's who it was. It was Red Sox winning in 13, and um the reporter that year was Ginny Dell, who all still doing it and still doing a great job in college football and now NFL, I think. Um, but this was kind of the beginning for her. She she had that happen to her at the end of 2013. Like she had done every game, and then the Red Sox were obviously very good and headed toward the playoffs, and they were like, All right, see you next season. And that that network too, like didn't they didn't have the way that they had their programming stuff, I guess they didn't need her for really anything because they were paid by the game, and um, you know, all that was was the situation there, and she was devastated and they went all the way and won it and oh yeah, and then I think she got to come back and like cover the parade. You know, it's like they had they had her come back, but when you're like you're saying, like when you're in it, when you're in every game, and I'm sitting in the dugout next to him every single day, and like you know, you're I don't know, it's it's it's so hard in 15. It was so hard for the team to take off. So we were in Arizona to end the season. They clinch on the very last day of the year, and that was wild. That was one of those, like you're watching the scoreboard, like okay, now we're still a chance. If we can win, we're in. Um, and the like the coolest celebration because it was one chaos. A bunch of young guys who have never been before. It'd been 10 years since the usher's gone to the playoffs. Um, it was just so sweet. Like that celebration was was just, I don't know, it felt nothing felt like that after that, if that makes sense. Like the first time. And even if it was just getting to the wild card game, like it was such a big deal. And um the so we're in Arizona, and basically they were like, all right, y'all, the broadcasters, like y'all have this flight to Houston tonight, and the team is going to New York to play the Yankees in the wildcard game. And I was like, I wanted to throw up. Like, I we're not going, like, we've been going this whole time, and it was like, all right, here's your ticket. Like, see you later. Um, and we got to cover, they came back home, they played the Royals, and we got to cover that in a different capacity, but not the same. Yeah, no, that was really, really hard the first year. 17, I knew it was coming, and but it's still like they kept winning and kept winning. And at the end, they finally decided to travel me. So we weren't even on the road for the game. Like, I'm watching from a bar. Like, that was crazy. That was so crazy to just like watch game, the you know, the away games, unless you wanted to spend your own money and go on your own time. Um, so I ended up like they at the last minute, they're like, We need we need some content, we'll do like a a magazine show, we'll like cover it or whatever. I'm like, thank God. So I actually got to go. Um, but no, it was it was so weird. So, so weird, and it's still weird. And now, you know, that's been such a topic. Now I find it interesting that like Peacock and NBC during the season when they take it take the exclusive games, they will now use the analysts from the visiting and the home, you know, they'll use one from each so that they have like people that actually know the team. Yeah. I know those guys do a good job. I know they prep the heck out of stuff before they come in. I know they have producers that are like that spend all week watching these games and like trying to get them ready. Um, but it's still like if you're gonna do an interview and it like it's gonna be different with someone who has not had has never met the manager that's walking up to him versus somebody that's with them every day. Um so yeah, definitely tough pill to swallow. It still is, and um, but that's just that's TV money. Yeah, TV rights, TV money. I get it.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

I I just I just look at uh it's the same thing. Uh uh you said, I know everything about this. And these people don't know anything about this.

SPEAKER_03 38:33

And now you're listening to the radio link.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

I had a tough time turning it on. I said, I can't look at it.

unknown 38:40

It's hard.

SPEAKER_01 38:41

I mean, when the cuts won in 16, I knew all those kids. I broke in when we were losing 100 games, and then I wasn't there with them. And I know that I know the kids and you know, uh Anthony Rizzo and all these guys that I that I've had, and uh, you know, Darwin Barney and all these guys, and I'm going, well, you don't know anything about these people. Y'all haven't been with them in in in at all because nobody covered them because it was such a surprise for them to be there. I knew that was gonna be a tough part. I mean, uh I I've even talked to other broadcasters because I I can't even turn and watch. I only go to the home games. I don't even watch them down the road. It's so it hurts so bad.

SPEAKER_03 39:23

It hurts, yeah. It really hurts. It's hard. And it like you feel kind of silly, but I mean, we put so it's our life, you know, for seven months of the year. It is my life. And then the Astros started winning every year. And it really was my life because then our coverage like kicked up. Then it was like, all right, we want to cover literally everything. So I'm I'm there four weeks of spring training, and then they were playing until the end of October every year, and then we'd wrap after that. So by the time I was done, it was Thanksgiving. Um, I did that for what, seven straight years? It was like that. Like that was that it's my it was my life. I'm to a point now where you know the team didn't go to the playoffs last year, so having October off was really strange. It's like, what do I do? What does everyone do in October? What's this month? And like, what is this fall thing that everyone's doing? Um, I like I'm trying to just enjoy that. Like when the opportunity rises, like I should just enjoy being with my family now and like having the time off. But but also like I don't know how long I can do the once like this traveling thing. Um, I'm on the road with them right now on a crazy long road trip, and it is so hard to be away from my kids, you know, because like we do, we pour everything into this, and people are like, Does your family travel? And I'm like, No, I'm at the ballpark every day. Like, what are they like not no? Um, you know, they they'd get here and I'd be like, Let's have breakfast, and then here I go to the ballpark. I'm there from two to eleven every single day. Um, so yeah, it's it's hard to explain. It's not just like it's not just a game every day. Like we're there all day, every day. Um, just give it a control.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

Games are long enough by themselves, and then all the prep that goes with it.

SPEAKER_03 40:55

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

It's gotta be harder playing in that wardrobe for a long road trip as well.

SPEAKER_03 41:02

TV outfit. It's the worst part of my job. Like going back to my roots and talking about being a small town girl, like I never cared about fashion. I didn't wear makeup until I was older. Um, like I just these weren't things that were big to me or any of the people that I grew up with. So getting into the TV business was kind of shocking because you know it's like you I knew I had to do it and I was doing it, but it was also all these other women that were getting in the business. Like, I it felt like some of them were in the business just for that. Like, I like this is what I'm wearing today, and look at my makeup today, and I went and got my hair done. Like, so then it felt like this competition to keep up, and it's literally the worst part of my job. Like, I don't enjoy it, I but I have to keep up, and you you know, like they you do want to look nice on TV, like obviously, but gosh, it's so exhausting. Every single day there's a game, and so this trip by itself, the it's the climates and stuff too that are so hard to pack for. There's no weight limit, as y'all know. Um, thank God, there's no weight limit because my suitcase is always crazy heavy, and I've gotten better over the years and like, okay, I'm only gonna bring a couple of pairs of shoes that way I can like wear them this day and that day. Um, but when I first started, I had no idea what I was doing. It was like 12 shoes for 12 days, and I I just went for it. And and I spent way too much money on the road too, because I would get to San Francisco and it like I would think it wasn't as cold as it was gonna be. And after that first night in the Bay Area, you're like, oh hell no, I need a parka. Like, why did I think a blazer was gonna get the job done? And so I would spend so much money in the beginning, and now I'm a little bit better at that too. But yeah, I mean the climates are crazy. So this trip alone, Sacramento, thank goodness they're still nice right now, but it was like warm. Um, and then now we're in, where am I? Denver. Like, how about that? You're like, what city am I in? I look out the window. Um, now we're in Denver in April, where like, you know, it's it could be 20, it could be 40, and you know, it's nice during the day, but freezing at night. And then Seattle in April is like the worst time of year to be in Seattle because it'll be wet and really cold. And so packing for all of that is a nightmare too. So yeah, not my favorite part. I'm just like, I've gotten really good at it. I've gotten good at packing and you know, figuring it out, but it's a lot of planning, a lot of planning.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Well, you've lived in a suitcase long enough because we Greg and I had both done that so much in our lives, it's unbelievable. Now let's let's talk a little baseball. Talk to us about the Astros right now. What do you see?

SPEAKER_03 43:36

So the Astros came in with a ton of questions. And you know, the lineup is one thing. Like on paper, these guys, there's they're proven, they can be good. There was a lot of talk about trading Esau creatives in the offseason that you know, who played third base to start the year last year. The team goes and gets Carlos Correa, so now they do have a third baseman. What do you do with East Ok Creatives? Like, I get all that. I get like, what are you gonna do with all these guys? But in the lineup. Isak's the guy that takes all the pitches. He's like, there's a whole different dynamic when he's in the line, especially the top of the top of the order. And so I'm glad he's still around. So the lineup still looks good to me. Can these guys get it done? Jake Myers is the center fielder. This is year six for him. Um he's kind of, you know, he is the guy in center field, a great defender, had a good offensive year last year before getting hurt. Um, but he's someone that like we just don't know offensively, not super consistent. And then the young guys, Cam Smith, uh, off to a great start last year. He was he's the one that can comes over for the cup from the Cubs, kind of skips that whole minor league experience, jumps straight to the big league, does a nice job because he has to learn a new position, um, did great in right field because he was a third baseman coming up. Um, but offensively, like he hit a wall. Like he his first year in the big leagues was hard. Imagine that. Um, you just, you know, the adjustments that he didn't make in time, and then there were times where he just kind of looked lost. I think some days he was just overwhelmed. You know, there's the information that people always talk about. It's a lot, and he is a smart kid and he wanted all of it, but at the same time, it's like, you know, you can only handle so much and you can only think about so much as that pitch is coming in. So he struggled at times. Um, and then there are you know some young guys that were competing for the other spots in the outfield. So those were the big questions. That was the question in the lineup. Other than that, I mean, like if Jordan's healthy and Altuve's in there and Correa's been there, and if Walker isn't, you know, off to a bad start like he was last year, then like they're gonna score runs. That's what we've seen so far. This team is scoring runs at a crazy clip right now, but the pitching definitely has questions. Hunter Brown was like, all right, he's gonna be he's the guy. He's your number one. He's on the IEL already, which is concerning because it's a guy that's never been hurt. Um, and then after that, the starting rotation was like, I don't want to say iffy. It's just like they're not proven yet. They're not dudes, they're not like the 2022 uh rotation that you were rolling out that you knew you were gonna get every day. Um Mike Burroughs comes over in a trade, like there's good stuff there, but he hasn't really done it a lot at the major league level. Ryan Weiss is the guy they signed who's not in the rotation right now, but he's coming over from Korea. Okay, so there's like he hasn't faced major league hitters. E my from Japan, great numbers in Japan, but like what's he gonna look like against Mike Trout? Um, you know, so it was a lot of that. Christian Javier's coming off of Tommy John surgery, so there's always questions about that first year and a half uh coming off the surgery, how they're gonna bounce back from that. And then the the bullpen, Josh Hader's not there yet. He's working his way back from injury. If you have Abreu and Hayter in your, you know, if you've got them healthy and ready, you're in good shape. Um, but they don't right now. Abreyu is closing but also struggling a little bit to start. So I, you know, it's like there's there's good there, there's a lot of good there. Um, we'll see how it all lines up and we'll see how those questions are answered as it goes. But um, it's gonna come down to some pitching because I think this team's gonna be able to score. And in the division, uh, you know, it's like no one went out and made themselves that much better in the division. Uh, we saw the Angels right off the bat and Mike Trout's hitting home runs. I'm like, no, wait, Angels, you can't be good right now. Like, wait a minute, you're supposed to be the team that we can all beat. Mike Trout's supposed to be like, you know, what are we doing? Um, I don't, you know, I don't know if they'll be able to sustain it. Uh they did try to get better, but Seattle's gonna pitch the heck out of some games. Um, but offensively, you know, it's like, I don't know, Rangers can be good. But no one like made it, no one made a big splash. And that's scary enough to be like, all right, that's that's it. Um, they're the the winners of the division. So I think the Astros could get back on top if they stay healthy and if these guys can be proven at the starting pitching position.

SPEAKER_00 47:46

Could um McCullers be an X factor if he stays healthy?

SPEAKER_03 47:49

Totally. Yeah, so he's the other starter I didn't mention. Um, a great story, too. I mean, if you're an Astros fan, you've known this guy forever, and I've I've talked about him in like my early days too, of known this guy for so long. But um, he looked excellent in that first game. Um, and he did say, you know, it's like when when you have that much time to game plan and get ready, and he is so cerebral, so he he figured it, figured out a great way to attack those hitters at first start. He looked awesome. The B lo's up a little bit, the delivery's a little different, just so you know, there's injuries there. Like he's gotta he's gotta get locked in and like feel good. And he does feel good. Um, and then you know, just he had what did he? He go he went almost five um in that last outing, like a couple walks killed him at the end. I mean, like, yeah, he's gonna be an X Factor. Like, if he can really help this, if he can help the rotation in terms of of innings, that would be huge. Losing Fromber, um, that's a ton of innings. It's a ton of quality innings, so that's hard to replace. And I don't know when like really wants to talk about that or think about that. You know, when the free agent goes, they go and you everyone moves on. But I'm like, ugh, that's a lot to cover. And Hunter Brown, of course, was right there with him, but I'm like, if Hunter's down, all right, here we go. Like, who's filling in the gaps? And we saw that actually last night with a bullpen game, and you know, the questions start to arise again. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_01 49:14

One more, uh you got the opportunity, uh, because our fans are gonna want to know, and I'm gonna know. You got to go to spring training. We're a little bit away from spring training now. Did you see a young couple of arms that that that you went, ooh, who is this guy? I mean, because you walk around sometimes in those B games and everything, you're there, you're working, you're looking, yeah, and you see you see something. Because I know when I was with the Cubs, I'd say, Oh, who is that? You could hear it, yeah, and I could see something. Go, who is that?

SPEAKER_03 49:39

People are talking. Yeah. So there's a Santa. It's his last name. Um, like he's not ready yet, but he's someone that the organization loves. Like he's someone that you knew because when he would be thrown on the backfield, like all the front office guys would be on the backfields.

SPEAKER_02 49:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:53

Um, so you're you know that that's like somebody that they love and want to do well, but he's still a little but he's like a back end of the bullpen type guy. So wait for him. Um, Uyola is the guy in AAA that they really need to take a big step. He's a pro huge prospect for them, and he has flashes of like he can be really, really good, has really good stuff. He just has to he's he's he's gotta cut down on the walks.

SPEAKER_02 50:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:19

Um, same story, right? It's like the story for a lot of them. Um, but that that one they are very excited about. He'll make his debut at some point this year. Like that'll be one of the next call-ups. He's a starter uh for AAA right now. Um, just really good stuff. So look for him. Trying to think of who else pitching wise. The so this is the thing about the Astros farms, like the Astros right now, they were so good for so long. Um, you know, lost some picks in there for some things that they did wrong. Um, there was a lot going on. The farm system definitely did dip in terms of like what we were used to with a bad team and a good farm system. So they're coming back around. The some of the really exciting prospects are really far away. And they were in the spring breakout game. Like there's a lot of exciting guys, but they've got a long way to go. They're really young. There's some good catchers coming. Um, it's just they're not, they're not like, yeah, they're not they're not sitting, you know, sitting in triple A like ready to be called up. So um, yeah, and we saw that with the we saw that last year, like the depth. It was just like all of a sudden, like, who can fill in all these spots and all these guys were getting hurt, and they really didn't have anybody. And they were calling guys up from double A. It was like, if you were having a good week, we'll call you up. I mean, that it it got the the injuries were kind of ridiculous last year. So you hope that that doesn't happen again. But we it what it did give us was a look into the farm system and just know that, like, all right, we have a little bit before we're seeing some of these big prospects show up and do it at the major league level.

SPEAKER_01 51:46

I got one more and we'll let you go because you're on the road. Uh you travel so much and you do whatever, but you did talk about getting married and having children. So talk to us about it. That one just a little personal stuff. Uh you know, sometimes in in you're gone seven months, so you had to have to find that right guy.

SPEAKER_03 52:05

I didn't yeah, I mentioned my father-in-law being Terry Clark. Um, I so he was the pitching coach for Round Rock, and he introduced me to his son, who came through at the time was playing for the two son Padres, and his son was a you know big left-handed first baseman, um, a lot of pop. And I thought it was the cutest thing that a pitching coach for one team was gonna tell his pitchers how to get his son out on the other team. And so I did a story on them, and I thought that was just a cute story, and like I interviewed both of them, and I met his name's Matt. I met him, and um, so that was really fun. And then they come back in town, you know, and it's like, oh hey, good to see you again, and we chat, and then the next year they came back, and at that point, you know, social media is like where everyone's like hitting each other in the DMs and like starting to follow each other, and so Matt and I became friends on social media and and just kept talking. And and I think a lot of it was because I understood like his I understood his world as he was in AAA and Tucson. I didn't think this was ever gonna be serious as he was you know nowhere close to me. I'm living my best life in Austin, Texas. But we just got each other at the time. Um, that offseason, he came to visit me in Austin, and that was kind of like our first dating experience. And while he was in town, he gets a call and he has a huge dishuge decision to make, and he decides to go play in Japan for Chunichi. And this is like my kind of boyfriend. We're not super serious yet, but I'm like, oh, you're just gonna go to Japan. Okay, this was fun. Good, good luck. Like, what? I mean, how does this work? I and that's another world. Like, I had just I had been learning about this world of baseball, and now you're like, I don't know anything about Japan or how that works or what this, you know, what this means. The crazy thing is that it was AJ Hinch, who was the assistant general manager for the Padres at the time that like got the deal done. Who I ended up like being my manager a couple years later. I'm like, I know your name. Like, I remember you selling my boyfriend to Japan. Cool. Um, like that's how I remember you. So just like you know, small world baseball stuff. So funny. But anyway, he goes to Japan. We ended up still, we're still talking and obviously still into each other. But I got the job with the Astros during that spring training. So he was already in Japan. Um, and then I made it to the big leagues, which I, you know, at the time was also very kind of awkward as we were still new in our relationship, but all Matt wanted to do in his whole life was make it to the big leagues, and I made it to the big leagues before he did, in a way. You know what I mean? Like, so I didn't know how this was gonna work, and I didn't know like how do I talk to my boyfriend about this every day as I'm like going to the Ritz and going to the four seasons, and I'm you know, I'm at Wrigley Field and I'm at Finway Park, and you know, like I like that I didn't know how that was gonna work, but it did. And I I you know I helped him through a really hard year as he was in the middle of Japan, not being able to speak Japanese, but he also had a great year over there. Um, and then we kept dating and like it for some reason it worked, and I guess y'all would get this, like when you're kind of in that like there's just people that get you and get what you do, and we were both like chasing a dream, and like we weren't really concerned about getting married and like starting a family immediately, too. So we were, you know, we agreed on a lot of things, and and that worked for us. He came back, he actually played, you know, he signed with the brewer's organization. It was playing triple A. He did get his cup of coffee with the brewer, so the story does have like a little happy ending. That's great. Um, he made it, and like that was really cool because I got to be there for his first hit. I like took off on a um you know on a day off for the Astros and I made it in time for to see him play in Milwaukee. And I don't I don't know, like here we are all these years later. It just it made sense. His his um career ended after the 2021 season. He finished in Mexico, so he, you know, he played, he grinded. He was one of those that was like, you're gonna have to rip the uniform off of me. And finally, after a few years in Mexico, I mean, like, I think he was ready mentally too. That is a tough place to to play. And you know, you were grinding at that point to those bus rides. And we had started our family about that time, and we are a baseball family. I mean, like, we can't help it. He still coaches and and gives lessons. We're enjoying living in Houston, and now we've got a five-year-old who like knows nothing else than Astros baseball, and she's she's locked in. And and I'm trying to, you know, I'm trying to show her my love for sports. So this offseason, I took her to four or five Texans games because I just feel like that can be our thing. I she can't go to Astros games with me. Like, we can't sit in the seats and eat a hot dog together because I'm working, as y'all know. Um, but like, what is our thing then, right? And I like I still love sports, I still love being around sports, so I I like find that to be fun. Like, she's in dance lessons. Don't worry, like I'm not turning her into like a sports crazy person, but like I think that would be fun for it to be our thing um to go to events and for her to see how much, like, how much I love sports and and how she how she arrived. You know, it's like this is how you got here. It was two two kids who loved um sports, wanted to be in it, wanted to chase our dreams and and met, and now you're here. So yeah, it's fun. It's it's been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 57:16

One last one from me, we um you got a website, shop baseball y'all.

SPEAKER_03 57:21

I haven't shop baseball y'all. So I started a little company. I'm crazy, I can't sit still. And a couple years ago, I so I on Twitter I would always say, or I guess it's X now, I would always say, um, baseball y'all, when I couldn't explain something, and I don't have to explain this to you guys. Like there are things that happen in the game where you're just like, Oh, like that's just baseball, or what you know, like, and stuff will take your breath away too. Like, I'm talking, there's crazy stuff that happened, there's plays that are wild, but then there's just like the full circle moments, or like Dallas Braden throwing a perfect game on Mother's Day. You know, it's like I just saw him the other day, you know, stuff like that where you're just like, wow, like the it just hits different. Um, so I would always say baseball, y'all. That would be like my little saying on X all the time. And so I decided to turn it into a shirt. It was 2022 when I did this, and I just started a little website, wanted hats and shirts. It's very simple. Um, because I also had people trying to get me to wear their stuff all the time, but I was like, I have this platform, I should be selling my own stuff. And then the Astros took off on like a crazy run and won the World Series. So I did a champs, y'all sweatshirt because I was like, this is fun, and it blew up. And then I was like, okay, I should, I should try this. And it's a side hustle, it's um something that's it's really, really fun. Like every once in a while, like I just have sit like today, like I've got simple, you know, simple shirts that are just things that you can like mix and match with uniforms. It's also like I have the neutral colors for baseball moms, because as y'all know, that's like a crazy world of itself, and like people are so passionate, and so I find that neutral hats you can wear to the major league stadiums, but also the little league ballparks. Um, that's kind of the point and just fun. And I appreciate you bringing it up, but it's chop baseball, y'all. I wrote a little book, little children's book that's on the website now. I'm telling y'all, I can't sit still, but being on the road, what else am I gonna do? And I don't want to spend my day at the hotel gym. Like, who wants to do that?

SPEAKER_01 59:14

Well, you are at the ribs, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 59:17

I got time to work, and it's also 37 degrees outside right now. Like, I'm not gonna be walking around. Um, y'all get it.

SPEAKER_01 59:25

Uh been there. Thank you so much for taking the time, Julia. It's been so much fun uh to to to catch up with somebody that's uh done what Zeke and I've done and put maybe put it in a different perspective because people don't realize the everything goes into a seven-month part of your year where you're just this is life for seven months. Then you get some time off, hopefully.

SPEAKER_03 59:48

I do a little bit, yeah. Just a little bit. No, I've enjoyed this. Um, my y'all are my Texas fan, like I said. So I appreciate y'all having me on. Um, and let me know if you need anything else.

SPEAKER_00 59:59

Hey, happy early birthday.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:01

Thank you. Thank you. Look at you doing your homework. Yeah. Birthdays now. I'm like, how am I gonna celebrate in Seattle? Like, what are we? What are we gonna have a baseball with?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:12

It's a great restaurant if you have a day game. Go down to the market and catch a fish or something. Thanks, Julie.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:21

Life on the road. Thank y'all.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:24

Get out of town, Zeke. Tell me, talk to me. What's your get out of town moment? It's been a while. It's been a while. It's been a while. I am glad to see you back. It sounds looks like and sounds like you you're doing better with with your hearing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:39

It's it's still a little swollen over here. I looked like sloth from the Goonies when I first had it done. It was it was not not doing too good.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:47

Well, give the fans give our fans out there a an idea.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:50

It's has it improved your hearing? Well, right now, since this one wasn't working, that's where the the implant went in.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:59

In the left side. So now we gotta wait about three weeks. Okay. And I'm coming to Austin, coming to Austin to get the processor put on. Okay. And that's the thing, that's the thing that you will see on the outside of your head. Yes. It's actually I'll be I'm gonna be there on uh uh planning it perfect for the Air Force game on April 24th.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:18

Oh see, Coach Cavs.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:20

So I'm gonna get it done at two o'clock. They'll put it on. I don't know how good it'll be working, but it takes a while for your brain, for your nerves and everything to wake back up. So but the other ear is working better since I've had this. My dizziness is gone. A lot of my I I feel healthier. I don't know why, just because I'm not in a fog all the time because of just a bad ear. Yeah. But every everything's going well. And um, yeah, a couple more weeks I'll get the processor put on. That could be a get-out-of-town moment right there. That's exactly where I was hoping you were gonna go with that one, because that was a good one. I got a I got a couple, Zonk. I got uh I'm going to the bayou. I'm gonna go Cade Aram Beattie. Okay. I mean, four home runs, four home runs in one game, three solos and a grand slam. Never been done in LSU history. And they've had some bombers go through there, so get out of town. Cade Aram Beattie. And then my second one is balls that didn't leave the park that Joe Adele saved from leaving the park. Yeah, that was great. He robbed three home runs in one game, Zonk. He did.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:26

I I got into the thing late, so I've only seen two of them. I can't wait till somebody puts a montage together so I can see all three at once. You don't do three in a career. No, we got three in one game. I only got I played outfield a long time. I got Del Murphy once, uh, brought one of his back. He would have more than than he had, and and then I got one of it for a guy that probably just was gonna be his first career home run. And never never played much for it. I don't even remember his name was September call-up. Sorry, kid. It's the best thing you can say.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:00

My get out of town moment for me when I was pitching.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:03

Yeah. My get out of town moment is just watching college baseball right now and being at that midway point. I don't know if anybody in the country, and I it's hard for me to say this, is as good as UCLA. Yeah. I I I I I've got a CM now uh three or four times. I watched pretty much all the games. I've seen most of the SEC, and there's some really good teams in the SCE, including Texas. But I UCLA has has got two guys in the back end of their bullpen that are really good. They got three starters that are really good. Really good. And they had, you know, the best player in the country plays shortstop for them. And their guys around them are all having really good years. It's not like anybody's struggling. You look at them, they're all pretty consistently good. Right now, they're gonna be tough to beat.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:55

And they're gonna be trying to midterm, get out of town moments, they're gonna be tough to beat. They haven't lost in a long time. They're on a 20-plus game winning streak, I think. You know, uh so they can play. And I I believe I saw an article where seven of the kids are local. They're all from right around the area. So good good talent out there in LA. Yeah, I we I got to see them uh third week of the season, and they they proved that they were a number one team, and they I don't think they lost sense. Like you said, the the the pitching the bullpen, the back end of their bullpen is is almost unhittable.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:32

Yeah, and and so you know, and we all know in college baseball now, uh you know, you get it's getting more like major league baseball. You know, you used to have those guys that were the frontline Friday night guys that would go into the eighth, seventh, eighth, and ninth. You don't see that much anymore. So every game you have to have nine outs coming out of your bullpen more times than not. I mean, the and and you know outs 25, 26, and 27 are really hard to get.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:00

I've comparing college baseball now to the 90 Reds. You get to the sixth name and you got Dibble Charlton and Myers. That's close it. You've got a lot of people. If you've got three guys like that in your bullpen, you got a great chance to win. And I bring that up because I I really think Texas has that. Texas baseball has I call them the C and C bullpen factory with Kozark and and Copel uh coming out of the bullpen and now Burns getting back right. Yeah, that could be your three.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:26

Lafhew, Hayden, I I I'm just telling you, that that's that is that's some really good stuff. And and he's got a great mindset. He he gets it, and uh Zeke, he reminds me of that one of the old school. He gets it, looks at that deal, and he comes. Here he comes.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:41

And he wants to work out I don't think there is a mindset. I think he he just gets it and throws it. Yeah. So if it's a ball, he gets it and throws it again.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:51

All of us, I'm gonna say the last thing before we close down. All of us are so happy that this thing is is is working. I'm glad you're feeling better, and uh, we can get back into. Some kind of regular uh routine. Glad to have you. It may be just you and I uh talking because we're at that point now when I'm already starting to look at, and it sounds crazy. Well, we're in April. I'm starting to look at seating and some other stuff, just seeing what happened because we all know how important it is uh to play in your home ballpark once you get into the postseason of college baseball.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:23

Well, let's do that. We'll plan on next week having a Zeke and Zonk convo on on the podcast. Um Let's see what date is that. And then we'll uh then we'll get back to doing some guests. Yeah, so next week we can do it on tax day.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:40

Yeah, let's let's do it tax day. Oh Lord, don't don't even mention that word. I'm I'm going tomorrow to finish that out. We already got our I just uh let me start. Now you I was having such a good morning. Why did you do that, Tim Z? I was having such a good morning until you mentioned tax day. I was having such a good morning. I was just kidding. Such a good morning. He lets me on that note, folks. Tax day is coming.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:09

Love you. See ya. Well, good. That was good. Julia Morales was awesome. She's she's is I've been happy to see her progress. No question. And you've been in the big ling just as long as we were.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:21

Well, not as long as you, but as long as I was for sure. 12 years. Couple rings. Two rings, two championship rings. She's got it all. She's doing well and very happy for her. And good to be back on with you. And we will um end this one and be back on next week. Appreciate it, folks. See ya.