Boonie Bite: Down Memory Lane With Rick Rizz

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2:03create new procedures and minutes and turn voice notes into clear and complete work order feedback. What used to take hours now only takes minutes, keep your operations moving and your wrenches turning. Join over 13,000 maintenance teams that are already fixing more and filing less. Try Maintain X for free today. Go to MaintainX.com slash AI. That's Maintain in the letter X.com slash AI. Welcome, welcome to the Red Boone podcast. Explore the mind of M.O.B. All-Star, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner, Red Bull. As he sits down with his friends from the world of professional sports. Now, up to that, Red Bull. All right, I'm going to let you tell, I talked about earlier in the podcast. You know, our relationship for years and years was that he'd see Rick at the ballpark. He'd shove a mic in my face. I would make a gesture. He'd make a gesture back and we'd go on.

3:03Very rarely off the field. Did we hang out, but there, I'm going to let you tell the story, that tell the Anaheim story. You tell it better than me. You remember it better than me. Well, I loved you building. And we had a great relationship and we'd get on one another. You know, in a fun way. It was always in a fun way. I remember one time at Spring Training. You always had a slow-started Spring Training. You know, and I was talking to Edgar. And Edgar was his locker was right across from you. And then I'm trying to talk to Edgar and you were getting on me and I was getting on you. But I'm talking to Edgar. And then I said to Edgar, hey Edgar, don't you have to hit your weight before you pop off and Edgar went, ooh, that's good, Rick. That was a good one, you know. So that's what happened at Spring Training. Now in Edgar's final year, it's 2004. And it's his last year in the Big Lakes. And it was the last road trip and we were in Anaheim,

4:06just like we are now, not at this hotel. But we're at the, oh, the cost of Mesa Hotel. So a lot of us went to the bar after the ball game, like we did a number of times. And Dave Valley was there in Edgar and you and myself and Kevin Cremon. And you guys were smoking cigars where we're having a beer and we're talking. And Edgar's there drinking a beer and smoking a cigar and you too, Dave Valley. And then you get on me a little bit and I get on you a little bit like we always did. Now Edgar's been watching this for years, Boone. You and I go at it. And so he had enough and we're having fun. You and I are having fun. You know, you're not one another. Just having a conversation late at night, drinking a beer, smoking a cigar. Then Edgar and I wish I could do it with my hands because I'm holding my phone right now. He goes, and your thumbs in the way, and your thumbs in the way. Oh, dang it. Oh my god, there we go.

5:07There we go. There we go. He looks at you, takes the draw on his cigar and he goes, hey, Boone. He says, don't get on Rick, another draw. He's having a better year than you are. And I go, pop me, don't leave me. I got another two years with this guy, you know? And I think for the first time in your life, you may have been speechless because of what I was doing. It was probably right. It was probably right. You were proud of it a better year than me. And I'll tell you what, we were both having a better year than Edgar, but we knew it was the end and he was the icon in Seattle. Yeah, but it was one of the greatest nights of my life to spend it with with Poppy, with you and Dave Valley. And it's one of the greatest memories of my baseball life. And here I am getting ready to retire. And Boone, you and I remember that story. And that's what I'm going to take with me

6:07to my grave, whatever that's at, is the relationships that you and I had. And we all had together. We had such a great bunch of guys. And I think that's what everybody, when I retire as a ball player, as a broadcaster, whatever, it's the memories and the times that you spend with your teammates and the people you really care about, fellow broadcasters in my case. But you guys, you made me feel like a part of the team. And I really enjoyed that. And I love that part about you and Jay Buehner and Edgar Martinez and Ken Grypy Jr. And I can honestly say we were a family, we were together. And I wish that other broadcasters had the same experience that I had over the last 52 years. You have that experience in the minor leagues because you're stuck out of fuss with everybody for an entire season. But you guys made me feel special in the part of the team. But that's a night booney. I will never forget because you started it

7:07and Edgar came up with that comment. And it was one of the greatest nights of my life. So there was a lot of fun. Oh, glad I could be a part of it. You were part of it. Yeah. The job you do day in and day out for so many years, there's a lot of kind of unsung heroes. The producers, the engineers, the guys of the press box, the PR staff. I know you've had a lot of great ones through the years. Who are some of those guys that were special to you? I know Kevin Kremen. You know, he was one of those guys that, you know, I had that kind of relationship with Kevin that I did with you when I'd see him. I'd give him a hard time and vice versa. He was great. But there's a lot of guys that go into this production that we see from, you know, in a three hour game every night. And I know that about it. Kevin Kremen is at the top of my list. He's like my brother from another mother. We were together for 35 years, Boone.

8:07When he had his first child, Calaine, I was her godfather and then another daughter, Kate. And I tell you what, he was just really special. We shared the love of baseball and what we did. He was great at what he did. He made my job so much easier. The guys in the TV booth, Robbie Nielsen and Bubba, on Sunday morning, I would always bring in some donuts. We'd sit there and have a cup of coffee and just talk about life. And, you know, he made my job so much easier when I did TV, you know, for 25 years. And of course, the people that I work with, Shannon Drares, you know, it's such a great job. But there's so many people and Gary Hilddown, Aaron Goldsmith and Ryan Rollinsmith, Angie Menti. They're absolutely amazing. But yeah, there's a lot of people behind the scenes. They work their tails off, you know, to do a great job for the fans, you know. We have a responsibility where it got to be accountable

9:08to the fans, I got to show up every day no matter what's going on in my life. I have to check my ego and my issues at the door because I got to be there for the fans and all those people helped me stay grounded so I can do my job and take care of whatever you've got to take care of my life, you know, after the ball game. But there's so many people I got to thank, but especially at the top of that list was Kevin Kremman. And then Curtis, you know, Wilson does such a great job on TV, he's been around for a long, long time and I can go on and on and on. But we have a great support group on radio and television and, you know, we've been really, really lucky to work with some of the greatest people in the world because they care about the game. They care about each other and that's why it works and that's why it's so much fun. We're a couple of weeks away. Your final game. Have you thought about, are you gonna, do you have a final send off that you've been thinking about

10:10or are you just gonna let it flow? Is it gonna be organic? I'm gonna try to let it be organic, Boone. I've been thinking about a few things that I obviously wanna say, I'm gonna thank John Dietrich, who was my friend in college, my best buddy in college. We got me started in baseball and gave me my first job in Alexander, Louisiana, 52 years ago in 1975. We moved the franchise to Amarillo, Texas together. I was his oldest child's godfather too, Robbie, you know, so I've been a godfather a couple of times. And of course, at the top of the list, Dave Nehause, I wanna thank Dave Nehause and Marilyn and Reddah, their daughter, who's like my daughter. I wanna thank David for giving me an opportunity to get to the big leagues in 1983 and to mentor me and to have so much fun that we had on the year and off the year going out and have dinner at night

11:11and having a few cocktails and introducing me to some of the greatest people in the world. All he had to do was just sit there and listen to these great stories. Like Hank and Gary, you know, we're at the Pink Pony and Scottsdale. Kevin and I and David having a big old prime rib for $14 of his youth as his way back when, you know, and Hank and Gary stops in. And former pitcher in the big leagues with Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs and Hank and Gary tells the story when he was a rookie with Cleveland, he comes in the ballgame at Fenway Park, he's face at a left-handed hitter and he gets in the game, strikes him out in three pitches, comes off the field. And his teammates say, hey, do you know what you just did? He said, yeah, he struck out that guy. He said that guy was Ted Williams. He said, I just struck out Ted Williams. He didn't even know. And then the next day his teammates told him, hey, go get Ted to sign a ball for you. And so he goes, okay, so he went over there and said, Mr. Williams, I'm Hank and Gary, he said, I know who you are, kid. And he signed the baseball form. And anyway, the next, that game,

12:13sure enough, he comes in the ballgame and Ted, he's facing Ted Williams. This time, things are a little different. Can you say some bad words on this podcast or not? Anything, yes, yes you can. We are PG-13, no, we're, I don't know. We're in between PG-13 and R, yeah. Okay, so anyway, he signs the ball form. He comes in the next day, now or that night, now he's facing Williams and he throws him a fast ball. Ted Williams, it's a home run about 500 feet because Williams is running first base. He looks at the Gary and he says, hey kid, you want me to sign that son of a bitch too? You know, anyway, it's wonderful stories like that, you know, son of a gun that we lost. Son of a bitch, son of a bitch is better. You bastard son of a bitch. And that first, yeah, throw it out there. Just don't go ex, no, no porn on screen. No, no, no, no, I would never, I would never, I would never, sure that we're good. I would never do that, but you know,

13:16that's what I love about this game is, you know, spending time with our friends and we had such a great time on and off the field and those are the things I'm gonna really enjoy for the rest of my life. But I'm gonna let it be organic. Let it be organic. As everybody knows, it was announced that the 50 year reunion that Rick Rizz will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next year. Very obviously, I knew that was coming. I didn't know they were gonna announce it there. I think nobody did, except for a few people. That was a pretty cool moment. I didn't know, I didn't know. There was only a few people that knew that had to be in the right spot when they announced it, but that's well deserved. That's gonna be next year you going in and it's only fitting that you'll be there next to knee house and all the great mariners. Rick, I appreciate you coming on, taking the time. I know this season hasn't gone as expected. So it is nice if you were in a playoff stretch

14:18and having more than the regular season to announce this year, but it's not looking that way, but I wish you the best of the rest of the way. Nice. Today's episode is sponsored by Nerdwallet Smart Money Podcast. Personal finance can feel like a pop quiz you didn't study for. This podcast is your study guide. On Nerdwallet Smart Money Podcast, you'll hear from trusted journalists who explain the why behind major financial decisions. You'll get research back to insights and clear pros and cons, whether you're planning a big purchase or just wanna grow your wealth. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow Nerdwallet Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app.