The Fifth Hour: Robby Inc. - Sacred Grounds Book

0:00This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Kaboom! If you thought four hours a day, 1200 minutes a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of the old Republic. A sole fashion of fairness. He treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter, the same as the rich pill poppers in the penthouse. Wow. The clearinghouse of hot ticks, break free for something special. The fifth hour with Ben Mallor starts right now. In the air everywhere, the fifth hour with me, Ben Mallor, and Danny G Radio, a happy Friday to you. As we are back in the remote studio after a successful week on the overnight show. And we begin a new today on this Friday podcast only edition. Celebrating National Oreo Day today,

1:00the Oreo Cookie, which first debuted way back in 1912 by a grocer in Hoboken, New Jersey. Before that, think about if you lived in 1910 or 1888, no Oreo cookies. But it was a grocer in Hoboken, New Jersey that gave us the Oreo Cookie. And originally they had a lemon meringue flavor, which was not very popular. Not very popular. So they discounted that, or they discontinued that. And it's been around over 100 years, well over 100 years, the Oreo Cookie. Today is also a day that you are not participating in. It is the National Day of Unplugging. We thank you for not participating in the National Day of Unplugging. It does mean a lot to us. They say that 77% of people own a smartphone. It's got to be more than that. There was a study done somewhat recently.

2:0077% of people own a smartphone and use it constantly. So never put it down. Always have it. The whole thing. Cannot unplug. No digital detox. I use it a lot. Occasionally I can put the phone down. I am able to put the phone down for a few minutes. Anyway, enough of that. Let's get to the meat of the matter. And a chance to hang out with a buddy of mine. Someone that I've known for many, many years. His name is Robbie. Ink Makoski. He is a broadcaster. TV guy. Has had a long career in television. Is a listener. To the overnight show. And if you're in Minnesota, and Pittsburgh. You know who this guy is. He's lived the life. And Robbie has been a broadcaster. Spent several years with the Minnesota twins. Long run with the Pittsburgh pirates. Has done some work with the Texas Rangers.

3:00As a TV sideline guy. And Robbie. I've known him for so long. He wrote a book. I'm going to get into that at some point here with Robbie. We're going to talk about that. Robbie. I love baseball stadiums. And Robbie. All his years traveling around the major leagues. He went and took photos. And did a bunch of interviews. And things like that. The book's called Sacred Grounds. We'll tell you about that. Where you can get it. On Robbie's website. Robbie. INC.com. But right now. It's been a long time. And you're one of those people that came into my life. And I know you've been around. You've been someone that I've known for a number of years. But I do not remember how we met. I assume we met in a press box. Probably somewhere in LA. But can you let me know Robbie.

4:00Do you remember when we first met? Well, that was in person. Ben at the Dodger Stadium press box for the first time. And it was one of the finest moments of my career. Because, you know, like a lot of your listeners. They're devoted. And they're maniacs. And they're psychos. And I was one of them, Ben. So it just brought me so much joy to meet you. And now I have the honor of putting you in my book. Which is even cooler. And, you know, we've stayed friends for these years. You know, probably about 15, 17 years somewhere around that area. It's been, it's been a lot of fun, man. Yeah. And I'm just thankful to be back on again with you. The thing, too, is like when you said you were a listener. I was like, oh, yeah, right. You're not a listener. And then you were like coding things from the show. Which was really cool. Because you did, you're a late night guy. Or you say up late. But when you had that job as a sideline guy as a reporter in baseball, you're all night, right? You're late at night, not all night. But you're up all night doing stuff.

5:00I go to bed 2, 3 a.m. a lot of nights. And, you know, when am I listening to, before I go to sleep, I'm listening to Ben Mallorff. No, of course not. No, that would never, that would never happen. I mean, you have had quite the run. I did not realize this. I was, I was looking some stuff up the other day. And I've known you for all these years. I didn't know that you, you're a Philadelphia guy. And you did stuff with the Eagles as a kid, right? You had a, you had a little gig as a kid. I was a ballboy for the Eagles. Yeah, growing up when I was a kid. No, I used to, I used to sneak into the Eagles practices. So they had a practice field at the old, so remember the old veteran stadium where they played right in South Philly. So I grew up about roughly a half a mile, three quarters of a mile away from the old veteran stadium. And my buddy and I used to collect aluminum cans. And then we would bring him to the can bank, get a little money, grab a little snack here and there. And there used to be a hole in the gate of the practice field. And it was right along Packer Avenue. So those in South Philly and Philadelphia are no exactly what I'm talking about right now.

6:02And I snuck into practice one day. And I saw Reggie White. I saw Randall Cunningham. I saw Buddy Ryan, the head coach. I saw Clyde Simmons. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. And then they could never get rid of me. And that's how it all began for me. They hired me as a ballboy. Then I worked into training room and then I got into entertainment, television, radio, all that. Yeah, that's, that's awesome. And then like, you couldn't do that now. You were arrested like today, right? I would be, I would be in handcuffs if I got passed a shrubbery of the Eagles facility in 2026, Ben. Yeah. And I used to sneak, I literally snuck in the practice and hung in the corner and was yelling at the players. That's how long times have changed. That was back in 1987 when there was a strike year for the NFL. Oh, yeah, for sure. And when I was a kid, I didn't, I also was in a ballboy, but I have a funny story, kind of funny. So I was a Rams fan. And the Rams would practice.

7:02I grew up in Orange County. They have training camp in Orange County. And NFL training camp in the 1980s, much different than NFL training camp in 2026. It was just mom and pop. I got dropped off the Ram training camp. My mom would drop me off. I was at UC Irvine. So I'd wander around. And there was like one security guard there. And he was sitting on a folding chair. And there was a little, there was a little bit of like a rope situation. And that was it. So I would always go over to the offensive lineman and watch them practice. And no one else cared about the, there were a few people there. But nobody really cared. And I remember watching Jackie Slater was the big star lineman. Oh, yeah. And a couple other guys there. And they would curse and fart. And I was a little kid. I was like, oh, man. I did a radio show. I didn't think I had one of this podcast. And Jackie's like the coolest guy in the world. And he was laughing.

8:02You know, you thought it was funny. What in the world? That's the old Jackie Slater line. So you go from Ballboy. And I'm sure you met a lot of cool people with the Eagles, right? Doing stuff around there. That must have been amazing. You mentioned some of the names there. But just people that went on to have great runs in the NFL, you know, in the front office and things like that. They would give me $50 for every A I got in my report card. And that $50 was game changing money. Now, I think it didn't cost him a lot because I didn't get a lot of A's. But the ones I got I made sure I showed him. That's great. So it was great. Those teams had Reggie White was obviously the best player on the defense. But then, you know, you had Andre Waters, Seth Joyner. They had Anthony Tony, Keith Buyers with the running backs. I mean, there were some pretty good teams that they had back in the day. And buddy, his defense, you know, he's known for his defensive coaching. And they had some big time players in those days. And I still stay in touch with a decent amount of those guys.

9:03So, yeah, man, it was a lot of fun. And it was a great time of my life. I was a kid until I learned work ethic. And, you know, and that's what was like being in locker rooms. You know, I was at a locker rooms hanging out in locker rooms at an extremely young age. Yeah. There is a, there's a way you have to act, right? People don't understand like there's like, there's a code of the locker room. Like you have to kind of understand the code of the locker room. If you don't understand it, you're going to get crushed. It's not pretty if you don't understand. It's its own unique world in there. Yeah. It's just like you have to be like, you know, like people, you know, fans out there. I don't know how many of them realize if they have friends that work for teams or people that work in locker rooms. You know, whether it's a clubhouse assistant, an equipment manager or a trainer. I mean, you've got to be slightly whacked in the head. You know, which is why I love your show because a lot of your listeners, a lot of your calls are just slightly whacked in the head and they have fun. So those are the people I spent my years growing up with, those kind of people. And that's why I loved your show. But why could do it all?

10:03The why could do a crowd. I love the why could do it all. Right. Like, but I mean, that in the good way. I mean, that in a complimentary way. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So how did you end up? I met you. You were already doing TV. Yes. I knew you were the pirates at the time. So how did you end up like in that world from ball boy with the Eagles and then, you know, down the line. You're doing television. That's pretty cool. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Well, first of all, it's great mentors. Kurt Menifey, who hosts the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show. Brian Baldinger, Baldi, you know, famous for Baldi's breakdowns. Those are the two guys that got my career going. And those two have been very close friends for man since since the 90 over 30 years. Those two have been extremely, extremely close friends. And they both kind of took me under their wing because when I was in that locker room, Ben Baldi played for the Eagles. He was an offensive lineman. I don't know if, you know, people realize Baldi spent 12 years in the NFL as an offensive lineman.

11:04An undrafted free agent coming out of Duke, played for Steve Sparrier. And he got into broadcasting and just took me under his wing. And that's kind of how I made that transition. Kurt Menifey was his broadcast partner doing games for the NFL and Fox. And obviously Kurt has since transitioned to become, you know, the face of the franchise and the studio show. But Baldi was doing games and I tagged along with him. And my first job, Ben, how about this? Yeah. But I ever had an television was with Fox Sports. I was a spotter for Pat Summerall, the last year that he did games in the NFL. So if you remember, they called Tom Brady's first Super Bowl. That was the last Super Bowl. Madden and Summerall did together. Remember when they upset the St. Louis Rams. A great a show on turf. The Adam Vintetary Field goal to walk it off. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. That was Pat Summerall and John Madden's last Super Bowl together. So Baldi and Pat Summerall were broadcast partners the next year in 2002. That season. And that's kind of how it all started.

12:05And that's where the bug bit me. So I just kind of tagged along and had some great mentors. Crazy story. A lot of people realized Baldi and Pat Summerall were broadcast partners. Yeah. I remember because Matt did Madden, did he leave or they broke? I know they broke him up, obviously. But did he leave Fox? Yeah. Yeah. Madden stopped doing television. Yeah. And Summerall, he had done a couple more games. But I think it was more like guest appearances he did. I think he did some Sunday night football on ESPN. Might have covered a few games for Mike Patrick back in the day. But, but primarily that's who it was. The legend too of Pat Summerall. It's awesome. You got to be right next to him and watch him work. But I remember it would be like Emmett Smith with the Cowboys to be hand off the Emmett. And then touchdown Cowboys. And we like 90 yard touchdown running. It was like four words from Pat Summerall. It was, as we always said, it was less is more. And that's what it was with with Pat Summerall where he would say Montana, Rice, touchdown. And like that's it.

13:05It's crazy. And it's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. So now you get a word salad. A lot of times you get like a word sub. This coffee shop running smooth thanks to genius from global payments. Instant transactions, effortless inventory and synchronized operations. Big league reliability for any business. That's genius. This is Julian Edelman from dudes on dudes with Gronk and Jules. All right, real quick. Take a look at yourself right now. Why? What's wrong? Nothing's wrong. You look like a guy running on three hours of sleep and vibes. Okay. Yeah. I'm tired. Kind of cranky. Very thirsty. Congrats. Those are some of the potential signs of mild dehydration. And I bet your last bathroom break showed you another sign. Your body might be throwing you a penalty flag. So what's the play call? Liquid IV hydration multiplier. One stick in water helps hydrate faster than water alone. Okay.

14:05But where's the proof? Liquid IV's clinical studies. Not just a guy I know. Real science results you can trust. Well, take a look at me now. Liquid IV is officially part of my daily hydration routine. Pass the firecracker popsicle flavor. Stay hydrated like a pro, not like Jack before this. Stock up on liquid IV hydration multiplier at liquid-iv.com and use the promo code nut house for 20% off your first purchase. Attention, fans of jury duty. The groundbreaking comedy series is back for season two. Featuring an all-new cast, this installment takes the comedy out of the courthouse and into the mountains above Malibu for an annual company retreat. The catch? Everyone but the new guy is an actor. Oh yeah. And the company's fake. Get to know all the employees of Rocking Grandma's Hot Sauce, a family business with everything on the line. Season two arrives with bigger laughs, higher stakes,

15:05and the same heart that made the first season a cultural phenomenon. And here's the fun part. You'll be able to try all four flavors of Rocking Grandma's Hot Sauce on Amazon. Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat is streaming on Prime Video March 20th. Don't miss the feel-good comedy everyone's going to be talking about. So you're doing the silo stuff. You worked for the twins for a while, right? You were beloved in minutes. Four years. I don't know about beloved. You were beloved. Come on. You know it's time. Let me tell you, Robbie. I was in Vegas a couple of months back. And the morning show, the Power Trip Morning Show from K-Fan was there. They were doing a remote at... I got done with my show at three in the morning.

16:05And then they invited me to come over. They had a place at New York, New York, this restaurant over there. So I show up thinking there's going to be about three or four people there. This was after the Vikings played. The Chargers in LA. But they were in Vegas. I walk in. There were like 300 people at four in the morning at this restaurant. All Minnesota people. It's different. You live there, Robbie. It's a different animal. They're in Minnesota, man. These people love... They loved it. They were there going crazy, eating food, drinking at four in the morning. Talking about the Vikings and whatever else was going on at that time. It was next level. And so you live that life in Minnesota. But the twins were not very good, Robbie. Right? They were not... They were good in my first two years when I was there. 2009, 2010, and then 2011 things kind of went against them. So, yeah. They won the AL Central. They had... Remember the crazy game in the metradome? It was a walk-off single by Alexi Cassia against Detroit Tigers. It was one of the absolute craziest playoff games ever played.

17:05It was a game one... I shouldn't say playoff. It was a game one, 63, is what it was. Yeah. And that was the last year of the metradome. The twins won the division that year under Ron Gardenhire. And then they won it again in 2010. Their first year in Target Field, then the struggles began in 2011. So, they were good for two, and then they struggled for two after that. Yeah. And then, obviously, your time in Pittsburgh, the pirates... It was a tough run. It's not... Well, how was it for you, Robbie, when you're doing the sideline stuff, and you're doing the interviews, and the team is... You know, to be honest, they're out of the race by the all-star break, if you're... Well, here's the thing. So, the first three years, the pirates, they were really good. 2013, 2014, and 2015, right? Really? I don't even remember that. They had good teams, really? I don't remember. Oh, yeah. They won 98 games in 2015. The problem wasn't staying the lowest cardinals won 100. So, that was the problem there. And then, they ran into some buzz saws pitching in the NLDS in 2013.

18:06It was at a win right in game five. And then, in 2014, Madison Bumgartner, mad bum, had that crazy run, began at the wildcard game at PNC Park. And then, 2015, wildcard game again, they ran into Jake Arietta. So, they ran into two consecutive buzz saws in the playoffs, and that's what ended their run. And then, they started to struggle in 2016. But, you raised an interesting point, Ben. And people have asked that question. When you're a field reporter for TV, like I was, when a team is bad, that is when you have to be at your best. Because when a team is good, the baseball carries itself. When the team is bad, that's when you have to keep viewers and have fun. So, you had to dig a little bit harder when you're covering a team that's not winning a lot of games in baseball. Because it's every day, and there's such a loyal fan base. And people are watching day in and day out. So, you got to put on three hours of entertainment every night, brother. So, you end up meeting a lot of people, having a lot of fun, and that's how I was end up able to write my book. Because I created all those relationships. So, I guess, in a backhanded way, I have to thank the pirates a little bit for losing so many games.

19:09Because I got to meet so many people, because I did so many cool stories on them. Yeah, for sure, for sure. And we'll get to that, but like, what? Is that what makes a good silent reporter? So, you were able to find some really goofy things in your time. I mean, I saw some of the stuff. Obviously, I don't live in Pittsburgh or Minnesota, but I saw some of the clips on the internet and stuff. So, you were able to track down a lot of kid stories, right? People love kid stories. All the time. Yeah. All the time. It's just, you know, it's entertainment, man. And you get that, Ben. Yeah. You know, there's so much it goes on around the game of baseball. So, our job, you know, it looks, you ask me what makes a great TV reporter. It's just my personal opinion. Only people that humanize these guys. We know what they can do as baseball players. But, dig deep a little bit. Make me root for them. People root for who they like. So, my job was to make people like them. You know, so that involved humanizing. Talking to their parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, high school coaches, youthly coaches, brothers and sisters, everybody. It was a combination of everything. So, you know, we just humanize these people, you know, and hopefully people realize that, you know,

20:13yeah, they're great baseball players, but they're also regular human beings like the rest of us. For sure. That was a job. That was a job. Who's your, who's your, of all the, the players you dealt with Robbie? Who is like the coolest guy to deal with? Who is the guy that you really, as a TV guy that you connected with when you were doing that stuff? So, to stand out. One is currently playing. One is doing television. Actually, three stand out. And two that aren't playing anymore are in media. Number one, probably the current players, Joe Musgrove, with the San Diego Padres. A pitcher through the first snow hitter in the history of the Padres. Yeah. He's just a real cool guy. A real introspective guy gets along with everyone treats everyone with respect. Comes from a great family, wonderful parents, Mark and Diane, sisters, Tara, Marisa, brother, Aaron. I mean, just, you know, just a really down the earth guy who happened to be great at throwing a baseball. So, we were able to, you know, fortunately develop a really good relationship. And then, you know, another guy that was really good to deal with is Cole Tucker.

21:14He was the first round pick played for a couple teams. And now he's doing some shows on radio, doing some podcasting and stuff. And he's just a wonderful, wonderful guy to deal with. And then Stephen Brawl played a couple of years for the pirates and then went to the Cubs for a season. And now he's doing television here in Pittsburgh as well. So, we had some cool guys throughout the years. Man, baseball has a lot of good human beings in it. And you don't run into a ton of guys who are like bad guys. Some people don't really enjoy doing media, but that's okay. It's part of the business. But you just meet so many different people. And some are funny, funny characters. And some are pretty straight and narrow. And some prefer to stick to themselves. So, you meet all kinds of people. But those three stand out as well. Well, you, Robbie, it's because you're a personnel. But when I was in locker rooms all the time, I did have dust-ups. There were dust-up situations that took place. And, but I think you are so likable that hard to be upset with you, Robbie.

22:15Because you're just a great guy. People love you. You're looking at me. I'm a slut, right? I'm bedrackled. I mean, one of my funniest, you know, I had a few guys that got really upset with me back when I was a radio reporter before I got into... Why would anybody dislike you? You don't do controversy? Oh, not at all. No, no. But the funniest was I got yelled at. You remember Todd Hunley, who played with the meds and the... Of course, I remember Todd Hunley, yeah. He came to the Dodgers and he had had an operation with the meds. And they screwed up his arm. He couldn't throw anymore. And they tried to put him in the outfield, didn't work. But the Dodgers got him. But this was a weird time for the Dodgers. Because they had Mike Piazza, who was beloved. They got rid of Piazza. And then they had Charles Johnson. But anybody brought Todd Hunley in. And he wasn't that good at that point. He had a few home runs. But he, you know, really bad defense player. So I had made some comments. I just started doing a talk show. I was doing a midday show in LA.

23:16And I had made some comments that, you know, he was not good. And he wasn't. And Hunley was not playing very well for the Dodgers. So I made some comments. And I was in the locker room a couple days later. And Todd came up to me. And he starts reading me the riot act, right? You know, it's kind of getting in my face. And I was like, oh boy. But then the funniest thing Robbie, he said, I do not listen to your show. But my family does. I was like, okay. I got it. I was like, okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. But, uh, but enough about that. Let's get to the good stuff. Oh, that's great. I love those stories, though. By the way, I can't tell you how many players over the years have pulled me aside and go, who is that guy? And they would say, I thought that was him. I can't stand that guy. Oh, yeah. For sure. For sure. For sure. So you contacted me a while back. You said, hey, I'm working on this thing. Yeah. I want to chat with you guys. Okay, sure. Whatever.

24:16Fine. So we chatted for a little bit about some of my experiences at Dodger Stadium. And then, uh, somewhat recently, you contacted me. You said, hey, the project is done. And that project, I thought, well, this is probably some rinky dink thing. This is nothing. But no, it's, uh, it's a book called Sacred Grounds. Yes. This is your baby here. And if you're a baseball person, uh, you know, it's just a maid. You did a great job. You nailed it. And it's all about all the different ball parks and all your experiences. Some of the stories, right? You've got a bunch of, I, you've interviewed a bunch of people that you know and met over your time with the pirates and the twins. So explain. I'm not doing a great job. I mean, Sacred Grounds, Robbie, what this project is all about. So Ben, and, and I appreciate you have me on and give me a chance to talk about this because the reception so far that we've received for Sacred Grounds, uh, really has just blown me away. And I'm so thankful for it. Um, so as I described to you before, I spent 16 years

25:20as a TV reporter and host in Major League Baseball. So I spent four years with the twins, 11 with the pirates. And in 2024, I took a backup role with the Texas Rangers on their TV broadcast before they switched networks to the Ranger Sports Network. And you spend all this time getting to know the players, the coaches, the trainers. But as you know, Ben, how many characters are there around the game of baseball that nobody knows about? Right? Like, for sure. You know, there's just so many of them. And I never thought in my life I would be writing a book on ball parks with photos from all 30 ball parks and then interviewing the press dining server in Cincinnati, Ohio. And that's one of the stories in my book. So I tried to shed a light on the stories that happen in baseball that people really don't know a lot about. They don't really know that they exist. So we tried to get the story behind the story a lot of times.

26:23So I'll give you an example. Everybody obviously remembers when Cal Ripkin broke the Major League Baseball Record for consecutive games played. Right? Yeah. Everybody remembers that. Sure. I interviewed the guy that played third base next to him that night. And I just wanted to know what that was like that night. What was your day like? What's it like being remembered as the guy that played next to Cal Ripkin at third base? The problem is not a lot of people remember it. Jeff Houston is his name. And he's a wonderful guy. And he starts telling me some of these stories. And he sent me a couple photos. We ended up getting a great story for the book. You know, you remember in August 7, 2007, Barry Bond sets Major League Baseball's home run record. Well, my broadcast partner with the Texas Rangers was Mike Bassic. The guy that gave up the home run. And he's very open about it. And he owns that part of history. So why not dig into that side of the story? We've heard from Barry a ton. We've heard from Cal Ripkin a ton about breaking the street record. But what about the people on the other side of that? So we looked into that a little bit and just tried to talk

27:25about the game day experience at each place and give people a tour of all 30 ball parks from their own couch. Yeah, I know it's great. And of course, I love it because I'm in the book, Robbie. I made the book. Who? Hey, it's Jonas Nox. And every business has its own rhythm, rushes, loals, moments when every second counts. Running a business isn't about doing one thing well. It's about making sure everything works together. That's where genius comes in. More than a point of sale, genius from global payments brings payments, appointments, inventory, and so much more into one seamless platform. So your business can move faster and operate smarter. What you need is consistency, reliability, and a system that keeps up. The same system that handles payments at high-pressure stadiums and venues around the world, by the way. Big league reliability for your small business, that's genius. Meet genius at globalpayments.com.

28:25This is Julian Edelman from dudes on dudes with Gronkin Jules. All right, real quick. Take a look at yourself right now. Why? What's wrong? Nothing's wrong. You look like a guy running on three hours of sleep and vibes. Okay, yeah. I'm tired. Kind of cranky and very thirsty. Congrats. Those are some of the potential signs of mild dehydration. And I bet your last bathroom break showed you another sign. Your body might be throwing you a penalty flag. So what's the play call? Liquid IV hydration multiplier. One stick in water helps hydrate faster than water alone. Okay, but where's the proof? Liquid IV's clinical studies, not just a guy I know, real science results you can trust. Well, take a look at me now. Liquid IV is officially part of my daily hydration routine. Pass the firecracker popsicle flavor. Stay hydrated like a pro, not like Jack before this. Stock up on liquid IV hydration multiplier at liquid-iv.com

29:30and use the promo code nut house for 20% off your first purchase. Attention, fans of jury duty. The groundbreaking comedy series is back for season two, featuring an all-new cast. This installment takes the comedy out of the courthouse and into the mountains above Malibu for an annual company retreat. The catch? Everyone but the new guy is an actor. Oh yeah, and the company's fake. Get to know all the employees of Rock'n'Gramas Hot Sauce, a family business with everything on the line. Season two arrives with bigger laughs, higher stakes, and the same heart that made the first season a cultural phenomenon. And here's the fun part. You'll be able to try all four flavors of Rock'n'Gramas Hot Sauce on Amazon. Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat is streaming on Prime Video March 20th. Don't miss the feel-good comedy everyone's going to be talking about. This episode is brought to you by Spreaker, the platform responsible for a rapidly spreading condition known as podcast brain. Symptoms include buying microphones you don't need,

30:32explaining RSS feeds to confused relatives, and saying things like, sorry, I can't talk right now, I'm editing audio. If this sounds familiar, you're probably already a podcaster. The good news is Spreaker makes the whole process simple. You record your show, upload it once, and Spreaker distributes it everywhere people listen. Apple podcasts, Spotify, and about a dozen apps your cousins swears are the next big thing. Even better, Spreaker helps you monetize your show with ads, meaning your podcast might someday pay for, well, more microphones. Start your show today at spreaker.com. Spreaker, because if you're going to talk to yourself for an hour, you might as well publish it. The Dodger Stadium section there, you go into the behind the scenes on Chavez or being some of the stories there from Dodger Stadium, but it's every ballpark. And this is, and you have, I love that you have a checklist in the back there too, Robbie. So if you're like your travel, a lot of people love to go to, I haven't even been to every ballpark. You've been there because you did the TV stuff.

31:32I've been to most of them, but I haven't been to every ballpark. And I'd like to get to every ballpark before I'm done here, and check it out. And you have, you know, obviously, stories, you can things to look at when you go to the ballpark, and in the back you have a little checklist, so you can check out the dates and write down the dates and all that. And you brought up a great point though, about the people behind the scenes. I know for my years at Dodger Stadium when I was there every night, the most important people are often like the, for the players, it's the clubhouse attendance and the people like that. But for the media, it's the person that cooks the food. It's the press box attendant. Like those are the people that really, that move the needle. And you were always running, I remember always you were running around taking photos. You were, you were multitasking while you're doing the TV stuff all those years, right? I mean, this was something. Yeah. Were you planning this? Like, did this just kind of pop up? Um, it was, it's kind of crazy, because it was a little bit of everything. It was, I didn't really plan it. I had taken a bunch of pictures.

32:33I started at Fenway Park in 2017 when the pirates had opening day there. So I thought that would be kind of cool. So I bought a digital camera. But I've always been fascinated with ball parks because you know how they, they connect, you know, baseball stadiums connect a city with its baseball team. You know, when you look at, you look at football, it's a hundred yard field and the end zone's ten yards. And then you look at a hockey. It's two hundred by eighty five. You look at basketball, same dimensions. But baseball is so unique in that way. And you look at the character and charisma of each ballpark. It ties a city to its team. And I've always been fascinated with baseball stadiums for one reason or another. And I've loved them. So I made sure I took pictures of all thirty ball parks when I traveled. So from 2017 to 2024, I did that. And thought I was just going to do a little, you know, a little shutter fly album for my friends to check out when they came over. And then I met my author Kyle Fager and his team at a sender book services.

33:33And they said, oh, this is going to be pretty good. And we worked our tails off and called a hundred and probably hundred and thirty, hundred and forty people. We ended up getting a hundred and twenty into the book. So we just, we put the work in. We worked, you know, extremely hard. We're extremely proud of the product that we produced. And I don't know, man, like it just, it kind of all came together a little bit. You know, people love retelling stories. And they love talking about what the ballpark experiences. So that's kind of how all this came together. And it's been a lot of fun doing it. It's a great point because we were kids. We're about the same age. And we had, there was that era, you know, where if you watched a Philadelphia Phillies game or a Cincinnati Reds game or Cardinals game, you didn't even know what ballpark, they all looked the same. They were all cookie cutter back in those days. Yeah. And you look at, and you know, you spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh, PNC Park. And I've never seen a game there. I mean, I went to Pittsburgh years ago and the pirates were out of town or whatever. And so I was walking around and I looked at the view.

34:34And it's just, it's amazing. The apps, the bridges and the skyline and the background. It's like a painting. It's like a Bob Ross painting. If you were just a Bob Ross painting. Amazing. No, the view from PNC Park in Pittsburgh is just next level. It's the most beautiful ballpark in America. It's gorgeous. Yeah. There's another way to really say it. The way it's situated, looking at downtown Pittsburgh right along the banks of the Allegheny River. Not far from the point, point state park. It's just beautiful. You have plenty bridges. Right there. Beyond center field. Roberta County statue. You see it as soon as you come down into the north shore. As soon as you step off the bridge, the first thing you see to your left is the big statue of Roberta County. You keep walking. You see Willy Stargeville statue. And if you make your way down the river walk. You go down the steps along the river walk. There's a bunch of giant numbers, giant baseballs. And then you see the bill Howell Mesorowski statue.

35:35It's just an amazing, amazing place. place. And any baseball fan that has not had a chance to see PNC Park, you absolutely have to put this on your ballpark tour. And it has to be at the top of the list. I completely agree. And Pittsburgh underrated city, too, by the way. I thought I'd heard some terrible things back in the day about Pittsburgh. When I visit, I think it's really cool. It's a lot. No, no. All that stuff has gone, man. Pittsburgh's a beautiful city. It's a great city, full hard workers, great sports town, Ben. They love their sports in Pittsburgh. They love it. The insers, the insers, the insers, the insers, there are so many insers. And I love them all. They're beauty's man, stealer flags outside their house. They complain about the pirates when they struggle. It's, it's, it's incredible. I love it. I, I, I, I love this town. I love living here. I love it as a city. And I love it as a baseball city even more. Yeah, I got to get the pirates good again, though. I got to get the pirates. They're going to be good this year, Ben. They're going to make playoffs in my opinion, brother. I hope so. All right. How can people now robby? Where do you want people to buy the book?

36:37It's called sacred grounds. It's, do you want them to go to your website? Is it? Yep. My website. That's it. It's the only place it's available right now. We're working on changing that. My, my name, my first three letters in my last name, Robby, R-O-B-B-Y-I-N-C. So Robby and R-O-B-B-Y-I-N-C.com. And we'll get the book out to you, you know, depending on the time of day, if the post office is open, it's going out that day. If not, it's going out first thing the next morning. All right. Yeah. Check it out. It's really cool. It's a, you know, it's a hearty book. And it's great because you can, you know, you can sit down and whether you want to sit down and look at the whole thing or maybe, you know, you got a few minutes. I do a lot of my reading, Robby, on the throne. I'm an admitted. I do. And, you know, I might take that and read it, check it out a little bit. And then I'll look at the Marlins ballpark because I don't know. I want to go see that stadium. And, but I'll check it out because you've got stories on that and everything. So again, it's on all 30, brother, all 30 ballpark. You get to see them all. All right. So check it out. Again, Robby, as he

37:38said, R-O-B-B-Y-I-N-C.com. It's called his correct. Sacred grounds. Thank you so much, Robby. You're the man. Appreciate it. Thank you. You are the best, Ben. Thank you, brother. And I am honored to have you in my book. Got a murder. Got to go. You know how it's never really about where you're going? It's about who you're going with. The right people can turn any drive into a great memory. That's something Toyota really believes. They design vehicles around real life and real people. The ones who make plans happen and bring everyone together. Inside, everything's built with passengers in mind, comfortable seating, smart layouts, and space that actually works so everyone can relax and enjoy the ride. There's room for the people, room for this stuff, and room for the moments that happen along the way. Because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at Toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people. Hey, it's Jonas Nox. And every business has its own rhythm, rushes, lulls, moments when every second counts. Running a business isn't about doing one thing well.

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