Sal and JJ Recap The Subway Series Opener and Mike Stanton Remembers The Yankees' Run During 9/11

Let's roll, baby, welcome in a special edition of New York, New York, yes, it's JJ John Jastremski right here on Underscore Media, and who likes to play with my stuff? A glorious Yankee win in the subway series, Juan Soto misery, Sal Licata misery. So here's what we have on that. We want live on YouTube. You're gonna love it. Sal's pissed off. I'm in a good mood. The Yankee fan is going to be happy. The Mets fan gets one last taste of angst and anger, even though I don't think you could have any more in this 2026 season. So I think you're going to enjoy our live reaction to Game 1 of the subway series and then a very, very powerful conversation I had with the former Yankee reliever Mike Stanton, who of course was a part of the 2001 New York Yankees. So his experience of being here in New York, playing for the Yankees through the tragedy of September 11th, and that healing power of sport, that healing power of baseball that was on full display throughout that World Series run. So Sal and JJ, live after Yankees-Mets, Mike Stanton, it's coming up next. No, no, no, don't be dancing already. We're vibing. Come on, Sal, we're vibing. We're just going to go in tonight. Welcome to Underscore, John Jastremski, Sal Licata here. I got to be honest with you, JJ. I have not been this pissed off immediately after a loss at a long time. Because remember, we were going live doing stuff solo, but for the Nixxron, they basically didn't lose the game. The Mets haven't been relevant to really go live after a game like this. And this one bothered me. And it bothered me in particular because one solo, for the love of God, can you get a big hit? I mean, it was on a tee. Forget everything that happened before. Lendor, the asshole running on the field that should be thrown in jail, like that is just ridiculous ruining that big moment for whatever ridiculous political reasons. But then Lendor lines out to Hedrick. Soto had multiple opportunities. But dude, in the ninth inning against Bednar, a guy who Ewing just hit a bullet in the right field stands. Juan Soto had the moment on a tee and he grounds it to a game ending double play. Makes me sick, JJ. Soto. Oh no. No, no. Listen, bottom line. Hey, this is now four Subway Series games played at Yankee Stadium. Juan Soto is a little spooked. Sorry, we all know. I'm poking the bear a little bit. Yes, I'm aware of what a great player he is. Yes, there's a feeling of sour grapes coming from me and every other Yankee fan because he's no longer ours and he turned his back on the New York Yankees. But Sal, I thought the body language from Soto in this game. I don't know if you felt that watching it. I thought it was awful. Like just watching them out in the outfield, then the play in the bottom half for the eighth inning. But listen, his defense is what it is. Juan Soto has paid a zillion dollars and is going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer because of big moments, big at-bats. That's what we saw with the Nationals. That's what we saw with the Padres. That's what we saw with the Yankees. Hey, before we went on the IL this year, he did his part and that's what we saw from the Mets. Dude, that was a pathetic at-bat in the ninth inning. When everybody is getting on base for the Mets, when Dore ropes a single, Ewing pimp a home run that still hasn't landed. One, a feeble double play to end a game. I mean, it was a perfect ending to the first night of the Subway Series for this guy, not so much for you. But that's the point and we'll get to the Yankees' perspective in just a second. Obviously, an enormous win for them. They need to keep pace with the Rays who continue. I mean, the Rays don't lose. The game is 1-1 on the ninth, Caminero, the walk-off homer. But that's why you nailed it. This is why I'm upset with Soto. You know I've defended Soto and love Soto. Even tonight, I'm getting texts from Yankee fans. Oh, Soto strikes out the first at bat. I'm like, guys, get over it. You're obsessed with him. But I am waiting for him to do what he did best when he wasn't with the Mets. And he has not done that. And forget even the result. You nailed it. He looks spooked. What is going on with this guy? Enough, it's pathetic. The play in left field, you're right. Make a freaking effort, please. And if you're not gonna catch that ball, that's fine. You better go up there and do damage against Bednar. This is not lefty on lefty. This is not some nasty closer or one of the Yankees' best starters. It's Bednar. Bednar's pretty good. Are you and Ewing just hit up a bullet off of him? And listen, I don't disagree with the point on Soto's level. I gotta defend my guy a little bit here though. Bednar's pretty good. But he's not Soto level good. Like, first of all, Soto at Soto's best, I really don't care who's on the mound. But Bednar against Soto is a very favorable, matchup for, like, he's not Mike Piazza, dude. And Piazza used to hit homeruns moment after. You know this and I know this. I never wanted to see Piazza up in these big spots when the Yankees were playing the Mets. Never, ever, ever. And obviously, there were a whole lot of monstrous, big time moonshot homeruns that Piazza hit against Roger Clemens or Romero Mendoza or the laundry list of Yankee pitchers. And what I'm so happy about tonight, because you wisely have made this point, I have also made this point, that the Mets season has been over for months. The fact that we are sitting here on the 25th anniversary of September 11th, and what a fabulous job by the Yankees and the Mets, and everything that's been done over the last couple of days, just beautiful, beautiful, touching tributes across the board. But the fact that I can get this angst out of you, the fact that I'm getting angry, met Sal in a game that, let's be honest, in a grand scheme of things for the standings means Jack shit for the Mets, but you're pissed off because it's the Yankees, it's the subway series, it's a grand stage. You want your guy to show up for the big moment. I get it. Okay, so you nailed it. I'm pissed off because it's the Yankees, and I'm even more pissed off because Soto looked awful, the strikeouts, the game ending double play when he had moments to break through and have that big moment and give the Mets and what they want. I'm also pissed off because Noel McClain got the night started off on a bad foot. I don't want to hear it anymore. I'm sorry, I don't want to hear it anymore. Siever, DeGraw, now I'm not saying he's not going to be good. What I'm saying is he hasn't been anywhere near good enough. You can take that ERA for the last few months and stick it you know where because in the biggest game of his career, he got beat around by the New York Yankees. A pathetic effort from Noel McClain. Ace? That's going to be your ace? Nope. The Yankees have their guy, Cam Schlittler, Schlittler, McClain. How many people are like, oh, McClain, the spin doctor, the spin doctor. Schlittler is a man. He is a beast. He went from a beast in the postseason to the best pitcher in baseball this year. Noel McClain went from very good at the end of last year to okay this year and in a moment that he had a chance to take that next step and dominate a good Yankee lineup in their stadium under the spotlight of the pressure, 25th anniversary of 9-11. Yankees trying to win the division. He spit the bit. McClain was pathetic as well in this game. Very disappointing outing. And let's be honest, whatever the stat line was for Noel McClain, it should have been worse because he was getting pounded in the first inning. Garcia hit the line drive right at Marcus Simeon, which allowed him to breathe a little bit. He gives up the run and then gets the double play to get out of the inning. But he was serving up batting practice. Cody Ballinger goes and hits the through run homer. The Yankees were hitting the ball hard all night. Sal, listen, two things can be true here. I'm not going to get nuts about this game in particular for McQuain because number one, he has been really good over his last 10 outings. Two, he pitched in big games when nobody else on your team had any heart and any guts in any fight when Met pitchers were basically dropping dead in August and September last year. I can't ignore some of the good stuff that I saw from Nolan McQuain, but I get your point about this ace Chris Sendel. I think McQuain is a really good pitcher. I think he has a chance to go and be an ace. He's not one right now. Like you look at Kam Schuettler, Kam Schuettler is an ace. Who is Kam Schuettler profiles as one of the five best pitchers in all baseball. I would say in all McQuain's probably anywhere from 15 to 20. Who is the best pitcher on the mound tonight? Believe it or not, can't believe I'm saying this. Your boy, Carlos Rodin. That's my point. Carlos Rodin outpitched Nolan McClelland. Rodin might not even make the Yankee postseason rotation. Well, he better be in the postseason rotation. Mothers hasn't pitched him forever. He's got to be pitching out of the bowl. Come on. This is a good start from Rodin. I don't trust him. He's inconsistent. He looked more of the ace than Noah McClean did. And McClean should be the clear guy for the Mets. So that bothered me as well. Now, I'm not sold on Rodin, but you have to tip your cap. He was clearly better. The Mets got beat and they got beat with the Yankees fourth guy beating their number one guy. That should not happen. Obviously it was multiple reasons from that, but those are the two things that really pissed me off, McClean and Soto. All right, let's do your Yankee perspective here because obviously a great win right from the start. The Yankee bats had everything going. Okay, I guess I'll go glass half full, and then we'll go to glass half empty. Glass half full, the Yankee offensive approach with all of those lefties against McClean was a thing of beauty to watch. Rice setting the tone early in the game. It feels like he's found the second win. Sal, Garcia is tremendous. I love watching this guy hit against right-handed pitching. And listen, Kessler takes a lot of shit. He deserves it in some cases. That's one of the best trades that was made at this trade deadline. I mean, Louis Garcia has been automatic against right-handed pitching. He has anchored the Yankee lineup, and you know I'm a Bellinger guy. Like, listen, Bellinger is a winning player. He hits at Yankee Stadium. I love the fact that he has a different approach, one and zero, one strikes compared to having two strikes, and he made Nolan McClean pay, and he does that a lot at Yankee Stadium. That's why, like in the off season, when I would discuss Cody Bellinger and talk about fits for Bellinger and compare them to fits for other teams, he fits the Yankees because of the ballpark, because of the idea he can hit behind judge, the positional versatility, like other teams would be like, man, I don't know if I'd want to have Cody Bellinger on my team for 35 or $40 million a year. For the Yankees, he's the perfect guy to have on this team. So yeah, from an offensive standpoint, there have been so many questions about what is this lineup going to look like against, hey, you don't want to call him an ace, that's fine. He's still one of the more talented pitchers in the National League. He still has pitched great over his last 10 stars, and the Yankee approach was tremendous. They beat him to a pulp. Yeah, no, 100 percent you got to give the Yankee offense credit. I'm not just saying, like McLean needs to be better, but you have to tip your cap to the Yankee offense, whether it's Ben Rice, whether it's Garcia Jr. And look, we didn't minimize it at the time. I mean, we said it, Garcia Jr. was the best bat available at the trade deadline. So the Yankees went out there and got him. It's no surprise he's continued to rake. My question at the time was, well, where's he going to play? And now that has been resolved. Well, with Stanton being gone, bingo, how soft. He not only was insurance, now he is going to replace the production that you were thinking of getting from John Carl Stanton. So even without Stanton, now in a perfect world, you'd like to have Stanton in addition, but there's just not enough spot. So the fact that you could lose Stanton and not skip a beat, that's what happens when Luis Garcia Jr. comes here. He hits the ball hard almost every single time. He hits with power. He's continuing what he did and even better so with the Yankees. So yes, that was a tremendous trade that they needed at the time and even more so now going into the postseason. And I'm telling you, man, you could start to see it with this Yankee team. I don't want to go nuts because I thought this was a soft schedule here with the Rockies and then even the Mets though they're playing better. But the Yankees, you can see JJ where if you... And we brought this up before about the Knicks in the regular season, weren't great in the regular season, but they had the potential to always flip that switch. I could see that same thing with the Yankees. The pitching is in place. I don't love the bullpen and I would be worried about Hedrick even and Blackburn. I know they've been great. I just would be concerned about them hitting the wall at the wrong time in the postseason after being used quite a bit here in the regular season. The Yankees didn't really add reinforcements, but you move some of those starters to the bullpen in the postseason, look a little bit different. The starters that they have are arguably going to be the best in baseball. Dodgers all of a sudden may be without Ohtani now. I don't know if I trust the Brewers. Look at the landscape of the American League. Really, if you get through the first two rounds, you can make a case that this Yankees could be the year the Yankees finally end their World Series drought. Well, it should be the best team that Aaron Judge and Aaron Boone have ever played together since they've been with the New York Yankees because the pitching is that exquisite from a rotation standpoint. Now, I mentioned that there was some glass half empty tonight, and you teed me up on this, Sal. I'm worried about those guys in the bullpen. It's not even, it's Brett Hedrick, he's going to turn into a pumpkin, or it's Paul Blackburn, he's going to turn into a pumpkin. No, I just think they've been pitching a crap ton for a long period of time, and the Yankees are in a position now where it's like, yeah, we have relied so much on Blackburn, on Hedrick, that you get to the end of the finish line and there's just not much left to give. And that's why you mentioned Ryan Weathers. That's somebody that can help you in the bullpen. Schmidt, he could get hurt tomorrow and not pitch for the Yankees. So assuming he's a given is probably a risky bet, but these are guys that like, man, you need that infusion, you need that next level of life to go and bolster that bullpen. I do trust Bednar because he's got balls, Sal. That's one thing about Bednar. He's got toughness about him. I know, but he's also, I'm not knocking him. And look, every closer outside of Mariano can get hit. Bednar, though, I don't know. I just don't love him. Man, he's been great, he's tough, that's fine. I just feel like in a big spot, I don't trust him 100% or I don't trust him as much as I've trusted other closers at the Yankees. You know what it is, though, what closers do you trust, though? Because I'll give you an example. Aroldis Chapman is going to end up as a Hall of Famer. Yeah, I trusted him more than Bednar, but you're right. See, I actually don't. Wow. I'm going to tell you why. Because Chapman could get unnerved and unravel and have no idea where the ball's going. Where I'd watch him warm up and he'd throw that first pitch to the backstop and I'd say, oh, it's going to be one of those. It's going to be one of those. I never felt, because he couldn't throw strikes, I felt like he was a nutcase. I never had the confidence of Chapman. All right. Let's say Bednar. I'll agree. Okay. Doesn't get much better than Bednar. You can trust him. He's clearly not the problem or a big concern, even if I don't love him. Who's the next arm? You say Clark Schmidt and he might get hurt. He might be the next arm that I would trust in that spot. Again, I know Blackburn has been great. I just don't know if that's going to hold up in the postseason after the wear and tear. Same thing with Hedrick. Clark Schmidt coming back healthy. We've seen him be a difference maker before. Him in the bullpen, Weathers potentially in the bullpen, Warren in the bullpen. I don't know where you're at with Heal, if you feel like he could be there. They have a bunch of options, but I just don't know that circle of trust when everything gets tight in October. Now, they may not need a ton because they're going to have the starters going deep in theory. You'd have Cole, Freed, obviously Kam. So you want these guys to go deep into these games. You may not need a ton of bullpen arms, but give me like your circle of trust right now if there are three best guys for the Yankees. Well, listen, Bednar is obvious, number one. Yeah. Um, dude, Blackburn and Hedrick gotta be there. But that's the problem. They're there, like I can't put Corch Smith there. He hasn't pitched in two years. All right, but if we're both concerned about Hedrick and Blackburn not being what they are, then what's the answer? But I trust those guys more than somebody I haven't seen this year. You understand? Like I'm concerned and I think it's okay to be concerned. I want to throw another bullpen arm in there that I trust. I trust Hill. I know he's been spotty this year. I know he had a miserable middle part of the year. He's another one of these guys. I know what I'm getting out of him. Against the lefty, he's going to throw strikes, he's going to get you a ground ball. Like there's something to be said for like guys from a reliability standpoint, I know what I'm getting at. And that's why until the Yankees win a World Series, I'm never going to forgive Boon and the Yankees for not going to him as opposed to Nesta Cortez in Game 1 of the World Series. And I almost broke a remote at SY and hopefully I won't be doing that again this October. You mentioned Boon. I was thinking about this watching. I thought he went to Bednar too early. I thought it was a panic move there. And the way now I know we're getting down to it and they got to win this division. I just felt like it was too quick to get there. Sometimes you got to let those other guys figure it out and preserve your club. He went to Bednar with one out in the eighth, right? And the eighth inning, well, the problem was Blackburn had no idea where the ball was coming from. Then Heacher comes in and he got lucky in the seventh inning because Lindor hit eight. You didn't feel that way? I did. I didn't. They talked it up on the broadcast like that ball was going to score runs if it got through. I didn't see it that way. Wow, you didn't? I think Lindor- I'm going to have to throw up the exit V-Wall on what that Lindor ball was. Somebody want to look that up in the comments? Please help us out. If he hit it hard enough, at that close a distance, the reaction time would have been a little bit there. It felt like he had enough time to move it. He didn't even look at it. He didn't feel like it was hit that hard. 87, somebody got this 87 off the bat. That's honestly Sal, not that hard to your point. It kind of enhances your point. It's not soft contact, but it's not like 120 up the middle. I do not think that that was getting through. Look at me breaking down exit V-Wall, by the way. Look at that, and I never do this shit. I just felt like it was necessary for the point. So advanced stats people, are you happy? You should be very proud. So anyway, I just felt, and I'm not second guessing the move, I'm just saying in real time, I was like, oh, he's going to him early here. Think about it. If you don't get that done, now what? Even if it's just a tie game, now you're going to be screwed. Like he was firing all his bullets prematurely. But my counter would be, if those guys still have no idea where the ball's going and you stick with them, you don't get to David Bednar. And I am going to defend the empty manager on this. I like this sense of urgency because this was a McQuain-Rodan story. Advantage Mets. If you look at the pitching matchups over the next two days. Yanks got to sweep this series now. Well, that's where I'm at, Sal. Yankees, you know what? Enough is enough. The Mets, and they showed the graphic. I was watching, I like to flip back and forth. Weirdly, when I watch these Subway Series games, and I know I'm an S and Y employee, and listen, Gary Keith and Ron are amazing. But you know, we love Michael and O'Neal and Coney and those guys. I try to be as fair and bad. I watch them every night. So to me, it's like I'm watching both every night regardless. I usually do the Mets when the Yankees are up, the Yankees when the Mets are up, because I like the Gary Squirm when the Yankees do something well. You get it from, that's way out of here. You know, like when he is very ticked off. I love it, it's fantastic. But anyway, I bring all of this up because where was I going with this? Oh my God, I lost my train of thought. I was talking about the bullpen, wasn't I? No, we were talking about, and now you made me lose my train of thought. I was thinking about the same thing. The broadcast, I was watching the Mets broadcast of it, and I think it looks weird watching the Mets broadcast. At Yankee Stadium. Oh yeah, dude. I love that I totally lost my train of thought by the way. This happens from time to time. Oh no, were you going with Boone? Going with Boone and that and going to the book fair early? Boone, yeah. Like these guys couldn't throw a strike. They couldn't throw a strike. What were they saying on the broadcast? Anything about that? Is that where you were going with that? I honestly don't remember. I don't remember. Maybe somebody in the comments remembers where I was going. Oh, the Yankees needing to sweep. Maybe that was it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, right. You got Cole and you got Schlutler the next two days. And maybe this is where I was going. They were confused on why about Schlutler pitching. Like Gary's like, oh, we're not going to see him. I like jumped out. I was like, oh, yeah, we are. He's pitching on Sunday. Come on, Gary. Right. I didn't. I thought Cole was supposed to pitch tonight. They pushed him back a day. When did that happen? 24 hours ago. Oh, OK. I was looking at just I just assumed it was going to be McLean, Cole based on maybe earlier in the week. Well, and I think now the Yankees are starting to finagle a rotation, thinking about what the next two weeks are going to look like. They want to chase down Tampa, but also Sal, they have to think bigger picture. How do you wind up your rotation so that if there's a wild card series at Yankee Stadium, that Tuesday after when everything wraps up, it's Schlitler, Freed and Cole, and that's the way the Yankees will line it up because you want to split the two power writers. You have to do that. Did you see, I heard this on the radio, dropping back from SNY before I got home and watched the game. They were saying that the Mets lined up these three young guys to see what they could do on the big stage, McClain, Thornton, Scott. Now, McClain would have been the one that I would have tried more. You're not using that as an excuse for McClain's performance today. No, no, no, no. I'm just saying that they, that like he failed, but he would be the one that I would trust. I like Thornton. I think this is a rough spot for Thornton against a Yankee. Oh, I totally agree. Even though the Yankees are not great against the lefties. That's what I was gonna say. I know, but agreed. He's not, they're not good against lefties and he's a tough kid. I like him. I just don't like that matchup and Christian Scott. I like Scott. I also don't have any confidence in him. I do think the Yankees need to sweep this series now. Coming into this homestand, I said five and one, shave at least a game off of the Rays. Well, they've shaved the game off here. They got two more to go. And with the way the pitching lines up, minimum they need one of the next two. But really you sweep and you hope the Rays at least lose one. And now you're really back in play with the final, whatever it is, 12 games left or whatever. Okay. So the Yankees are three back. Yeah, 12. They have this Tampa series, four games in three days next week or two weeks from now. Yeah. You think I should sign for two out going into the final week of the year? Are you gonna get greedy? I would get greedy if I were you at this point. Dude, I don't think it's unrealistic that the Yankees sweep the Mets here and have the Rays lose at least one against the Stroes. That gets it to two and you got six games before that. And you get the Twins and Diamondbacks. The Yankees are rolling right now, getting healthy. I mean, listen, they are the Twins. They believe it or not lost the Stroes to the Twins up before the July, which was absolutely stunning. The Arizona Series scares me a little bit though, because they're going to be playing big games. They're playing for the postseason. All right. They can score runs. But you're right, like this now... What's the worst they do? Minimum, if the Yankees don't win at least one of the next two games, I'll be disgusted. If they lose the next two games, that's sickening. That's not happening. I think it would be bad enough if they split these two games, but let's just say that they split. I still think worst case is four and two over the next six. Now, will a split against the Mets and four and two over the next six in Minnesota and Arizona, will that be enough to get it down to one? Probably not. I think you're gonna need to sweep the Mets and then go four and two, or split and then go five and one. And in that recipe, you probably can cut it to at least one, and that you would sign for in a second. One game back, four games against the Rays, head to head at the stadium. Sign me up for that. And that's the key. Those games would be played at Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees have had much more success against the Rays, as opposed to playing those games at Tropicana Field. And I've said it all summer, that's a huge deal for the Yankees if they can win in division, because then you don't gotta deal with playing Boston. You let Boston and Tampa beat them, hiss out of each other. You set up your postseason rotation, bing, bang, boom. And with the way the ALDS works out, Sal, they play Saturday, they have an off day, then they play again on Monday. So in theory, there's a world the Yankees could only need three starters in that ALDS. I gotta go and look at the dates, but it is definitely possible. I do think, and you were on this early on, but the more I think about it, like we could talk about the Knicks analogy and hey, okay, well, what about the regular season and they can flip the switch in the postseason. I do think the path to win the World Series starts with winning the division. If they win the division, post the momentum and feel if that were to be the case, I'll tell you this, if they win the division, I think they're going to win the World Series. I'll say they win the pennant. I'm not willing to go that far yet. Were you scared of the Brewers or the Phillies? Come on. The Dodgers are there. The Dodgers. Come on, Sal. They're four wins away from a three-peat. I know they're roping, doping everybody right now. They're roping. They're all roping, doping it. Remember, remember, the 2000 Yankees, and I don't need to tell you this, they were abominable the final month of that season. They won 86, 87 games. They were lucky to get into the playoffs. And the minute they got in, although they did have to go and win a game five in Oakland on the road, but it was like, hey, we're in. We've been here before. Switched left. If the Dodgers find themselves in the World Series, my feeling on the Yankees winning a championship this year, some Yankee fans aren't going to like to hear this, but I'm going to say it anyway, I think their best chance to win a championship is somebody taking out the Dodgers. If I think of the Dodgers are there and they could sniff it and they could taste it and they're four wins away from winning their third straight, I don't see them getting denied. Yeah, I don't know. And maybe that is similar, to use the Nix analogy, if somebody's going to take out OKC because the Nix weren't going to beat the Thunder, no matter how good they were. I don't know, man. I think the Yankees with their pitching, I'm not scared of the Dodgers. It could be reckless, it could be ignorant, especially with the Otani injury news. He may not play, I don't know what's going on, but it sounds like he might not play again. Forget about just pitch. You take him out of the mix, they're still good, but they're not as good as they've been without him at the top of that lineup. No doubt. Here's the bottom line, though. There has been so much Yankee PTSD in the postseason. Tell me about it. For you, for me, for all of the Yankee fans that are listening and watching right about now, it's show me time. Because Sal, I could have made the exact same argument last year. Hey, it looks like the Yankees are peeking at the right time. Boom, right at the end of the regular season. This is the best team I've ever had. The year before they have Soto and Judge, it feels like every year, it's going to be the year until we hit the postseason and they flame out and it's not. That's why I'm giving you cautious optimism. I don't think the division is dead. I do love the starting pitching. I'm encouraged by some of the stuff I'm seeing, but I'm not planning the parade yet, buddy boy. I wouldn't plan the parade yet, but the more I watch them play and the more I do the math, I really think if they win the division, I know they're going to the World Series, or at least I feel very confident they're going to the World Series, and I wouldn't worry about any teams, including the Dodgers right now in the NL. Let's get some comments in, but before we do that, there is one guy, Dylan Simpson, I believe it is, saying that you brought up, you said that they brought up a graphic on SNY, or yes, does that bring back anything? It doesn't, honestly. Guys, listen, I have a 16 month old. Every now and again, we have a senior moment. I have a senior moment, so you know what I'll do? I will go back and re-watch and re-listen, and I will be sure to enlighten you guys, either on Twitter or maybe it's on The Slate on Sunday, if we want to do a little baseball, we can do it then, when you guys can go and roast me to high heavens. Also, to be fair, and I'm not making excuses, because obviously we love what we're doing, which is why we continue to do it, this week, I mean, how many shows did you do alone today? Like we did, you did your own show. We did the Francessa thing, we had SNY, now this, I feel like we've done this our third one. You did Stu Gott's show earlier today. Oh yeah, no, today for me was just, I did my own. You did your own show too, holy smokes. I know it's been a fun week, it's been a busy week, but my point is that, and I feel like I've talked to you a hundred times, did we talk about that? Was that on the air, was that off the air? Was it on Francessa's show, was it on this show? We're all over the place. And listen, the bottom line is content is king, here, there and everywhere, baby. Let's go. That's it. That's it. We're back Sunday with a double header. We're actually not doing a show tomorrow, so we can recharge the batteries for 24 hours. Correct. Yeah, no, that's what I gotta do with the family tomorrow. Tomorrow's family. Well, good luck. What do we have on the agenda? We gotta go to my wife's, actually it's our friends, but her friends, we're going to their house to hang out with them for a little bit, probably watch the Subway Series, hang out with the kids, hang out with the kids, and then that's it. And then I do want to watch tomorrow night, I don't know, I'll probably be home in time. Texas. Oh dude, yeah. Well, my Saturday night, I'm playing golf at 6.30 in the morning. My wife actually allows me on Saturday, if I play early enough, that I can go, now 6.30 in the morning is crazy time. Like it's not even gonna be light out. What time you gotta get up for that? 5.55. The things we do for golf. And where is it, right in Brooklyn you're playing? Staten Island, so right over the bridge. 20 minutes, get the coffee, away you go. But here's the problem with that. Yankee Met to watch, which we love. I'm not bitching about the games. I'm thrilled about the games. Yankee Met, my girl, Arena, who you know, is in the family now for the Jastremskis, because Julie is doing her social media. She's in the final. Texas OSU. My wife is not gonna wanna hear about the fact that I only got about four or five hours sleep. It's like, hey, guess what? You could watch all this shit, you could also chase around our daughter too. The long day. Well, you take that on yourself when you decide to play golf. And that's what my wife says. She goes, you got nobody to blame but yourself. Oh, and we're doing SOY tomorrow too. You and me. I forgot about that. That's right. I'm glad I remember. Put it on the schedule. I had to move it from Thursday to Saturday. Good thing you reminded me. I might have forgot, slept through it. What would Sal do without me? I mean, who needs me and Bada Booms? I mean, he doesn't need a personal assistant. He's got me. I actually might be one. I told you this today, we also had a meeting. I'm going to get timed out for this publicly, which is fine. We did the Mike Show. I am working on all these videos that we're putting up. The show I did last night, TikTok, Instagram. You got to send videos everywhere. So Steve calls me, our boss, the great Steve Hirsch calls me in the afternoon. He goes, we missed you at the meeting. And I was like, oh, shit. Way to really make a first impression, Jastremski, come on. I didn't see, I looked at the e-mail real quick, because usually we'll talk about, hey, are we good to meet? Let's all meet on this day, whatever that's been going on for a couple of months. And this one just popped up in the e-mail, like it's like an office job type stuff. Usually we don't do that. And that's why we need it in the phone, the Google Calendar. Right. So it comes up, Google Calendar, and I just look at it real quick. And like you said, I'm doing nine million things. I did my show, we did the Mike thing. I was like, all right, I have a breather to go take the dog out. And I looked at the email and it said 1130. So I was in my mind, 1130, 1130. I was just about to walk out the door with Maddox and Bada Boom's text, where are you at? And I'm like, oh shit. Where was my text, Bada Boom's? I could have used one. It was 11 to 1130. We were figuring out Mike Stanton, JJ, that's why. Oh, and also we had Mike Stanton on earlier in the day. Oh, that's right. We were not 11 stuff there, it was great. I could have texted you because of Mike Stanton. Bada Boom's, I don't think your Mike is the right one. Bada Boom's also now needs to learn, you can bother me for anything. I don't give a shit. Like, let me know, like, let me know. Annoy me, annoy me. JJ, you saw what happened a little bit before the show got started, you know what I mean? Like, what is it? No, I admit I was in a pissy mood because of Soto. Well, listen, I'm glad Soto put you in a pissy mood. I would have been in a pissy mood if Soto hit one in a second. It's not just Soto, then we get a new way that we're doing the StreamYard thing, so I come in here and you guys are bullshitting. I come in and I'm in the waiting room and I hear these two guys go, oh yeah, Soto, they're ripping Soto to shreds. I'm in the waiting room. But I threw it to your face too to be fair. No, no, no, I know. I'm not saying anything that's out of bounds. No, no, it wasn't bad. I'll throw it to his face. I was making fun of his menstrual cramps too. No, whatever you guys are doing, it was like ripping Soto and I could see it and hear it, but I couldn't get in and I was getting more aggravated by the second, so I called Bada Boom saying, get me in the freaking room, let's go. And then he's like, no, no, we gotta wait, we gotta wait, build the room up. So anyway, that's what happened, but he's been nuts too. Can you do the Soto whisper? They want it, they want it, Sal. Soto, Soto. I don't know, I can't do it. Come on, come on. Sal saves it for good occasions. It's supposed to be a happy whisper. It is happy. I wanna make something clear here too. I will go after Soto in these subway series games. Now listen, I'll roast him if he doesn't hit big spots, but this is now, like, this has poked the bear for us, Sal. This is, and we're admitting it, like we're bothered that Juan Soto did not want to be a Yankee. It pisses me off, it pisses Bada Booms off. He chose the Mets. Great. More power to him, but when he goes up against the Yankees, there ain't gonna be no lovey-dovey love fest where it's like, oh, no big deal. No, no, no. It's a big deal when we play this. Nor should they be, and the thing that I'm frustrated at is that he continues to get punked by the Yankees. You have one up, so he left, and you could understandably be upset about that, but he sucked when he's come back to Yankee Stadium as a member of the Mets, making the last out. This is at least the second game that he made the last out. I'm pretty sure he made the last out in the first game back at Yankee Stadium. He did. That is correct. And then he did it again with the double play, and this was a spot where he could have hit a two-run homer. Also, he just didn't play a good game. The strikeouts early on, he looks different. I'm more mad at Soto than anybody else. All right, you want the whisperer, and then we'll get some comments in here. I'll give you the whisperer. Yeah, we want a whisperer. Let's get a whisperer. Soto. Yes. Very special spot here on Underscore Media on the 25th anniversary of September the 11th. This guy was a part of the healing process for the 2001 New York Yankees. He was a part of teams that were near and dear to me, because if you're a kid in the 90s growing up, you got used to the Yankees winning the World Series year after year after year. And as I welcome in Mike Stanton, you know, Mike, I tell this to people all the time. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see my team win again. I know it's been almost 20 years. It's kind of impossible for it to be as good as it was in the 90s. Is that fair to say for Yankee fans? I think it is. I mean, it is the last 90s day. I know the Dodgers are going for a three-peat, but yeah, I mean, that was a magical time in New York leading up to 2001. And then even the World Series afterwards, we didn't win, but what an amazing finish. But I can't believe it's been 25 years. It doesn't seem like yesterday. It does seem like there has been some time since 9-11, but gosh, it just doesn't seem like it's been 25 years. So talk me through this. You guys get rained out the day before against the Red Sox. I vividly remember this. And I was an eighth grader. It's good that you do, because I don't. You don't? Okay. But here's what I do want to know. Here's what I do want to know. So they kept us in school in the morning for like an hour and a half in the cafeteria. We're breaking down like the Monday night football game with the Giants. And this is pre-cell phone. This is pre-Twitter, Instagram, all this stuff. Your point for the Yankees. When did you first get wind of what was going on at the World Trade Center? Well, it was just a regular morning. My kids were in school at the time. We were living in close to New Jersey, Northeastern New Jersey, a whole 19 minutes from Yankee Stadium. And a friend of my wife's called and said, Hey, an airplane has hit the south tower of the World Trade Center. And so we turned on the news and then we're sitting there watching it. And then we see the second plane hit. And now all of a sudden, we know that it wasn't an accident, that this was done on purpose and that our nation was under attack. And then you watch everything that unfolds, the horror of the towers coming down, the smoke that's coming from lower Manhattan. And I know that Ground Zero, a lot of the Yankees and the Mets, you guys did a lot as far as the healing process of talking to loved ones, talking to family members. Was that like incredibly uncomfortable, Mike? Like the first time you're like dealing with like these people that like, it's like, what do you, you don't even know what to say. I don't know what to say, but it was the world we were living in. Was that like kind of eerie for you the first time you had to go through it? I don't think I knew anyone directly or not that I know of that actually passed away. I knew several families that the father or the mother worked in the trade centers that they had passed away. And in Closter, there is actually a memorial for 9-11 in that little town. That it meant that much to the community that they built a memorial. It's an impossible feeling. Cause you have to remember Major League Baseball, as much as we think it's real life, we as players, in reality, it's not real life. I mean, we're jet setting around the country. We're playing a kids game. It's thousands of people every night, or they're cheering us or booing us or whatever. We do have a regular life away from the field. But I think for a lot of Americans, they were in their own little bubble. They had it, maybe if you paid attention a little bit to politics, you knew what was going on around the world. But no one really had. It was one of those things you're like, oh yeah, this happened in the Mideast. Oh, that's terrible. What am I going to have for lunch? This was the first time that I think that the American people really got a real taste of what was happening around the world for decades. It came to our shores. I think we were a little naive. I think that we were definitely caught off guard. But the amazing thing that came out in 9-11 was the unity from the whole country. I mean, it was absolutely remarkable. Now, remember, this is 2001. We've already won three World Series in a row. We were playing well again. We get booed, packed stadiums everywhere we go. We get booed everywhere we go, which was fine. That was good. My point, my view on that was, you know what, they're booing us because they respect us. But after nine, now, you remember, we took 11 days off. Okay. We started again, the South Side of Chicago playing the White Sox. We didn't know whether we were supposed to be on the field or not. I mean, there was a lot of conversation about just not having a season, just ending the season right there. If we were, how long should we be? Take a week off? Should we take a month off? There was no precedence here and it was really hard to get the emotions of the event out of the way and think about the subject logically. They introduced the teams, we went out on the field, we went down the first baseline, the third baseline, they played the national anthem. The response after the national anthem is when we as players figured out, you know what, we are exactly where we're supposed to be. That the response just after the national anthem, game hadn't even started yet, White Sox fans were cheering like crazy and we were like, okay, we're supposed to be even a small part, but a part of the healing process. If I can get, I mean a player, Major League Baseball, if I can get the minds of the fans off of the horror of the real world for just a few hours, give them a break, maybe give them something to cheer about, something else to think about. That was our small part of helping heal this nation. Well, it played a huge role in it, Mike, because I just like, as a kid that grew up in New York City, the idea that like, hey, there's all this crazy stuff that's going on, but the Yankees are gonna be playing every night. The Mets are gonna be playing every night. It didn't erase what happened on September the 11th, but it was this perfect diversion where it's like, hey, for three, three and a half hours, they're gonna give you something to smile about. They're gonna make you feel good. I'm sorry, you asked me a question about talking to families, talking about, you really can't put it into words because there's nothing you can say to these people. There's nothing you can do. You know, we have to, you know, my teammates did a wonderful job of just whatever they can. And a lot of times it was just listening to people. The Mets did an amazing job. You know, one of the kind of the home bases for all the stuff that was going into the city, you know, supplies, stuff like that, was Shea Stadium. And the Mets organization, the Mets team, Johnny Franco, you know, Al Leiter. I mean, these guys really stepped up and did a great job of trying to put their arms around a community that was broken. Was it surreal having opposing fans? Like you mentioned in Chicago, Chicago loves New York. In Boston, we know the Red Sox and their fans hate the Yankees, right? The feelings mutual. They're singing New York, New York. Kind of crazy thinking that was the world 25 years ago, but it was the right, it just felt right, Mike. It really did. Well, all of a sudden, I mean, and listen, you could look around at different, you know, different groups of people, different nationalities, different ethnic groups, different religions. It didn't matter. Everybody all of a sudden, it wasn't about that. It was about being an American and, you know, the response from the first responders. You know, we had firefighters come from not just all over the country, all over the world to come and help. I mean, this, it really was a unifying force for not just the country, but the whole world. But that was the first thing that came to mind was, you know, we're being cheered now. We win a baseball game in San Francisco, wherever, you know, we're being, you know, we're being cheered where we had always been booed. And that wasn't because they were cheering for the New York Yankees. They were cheering for New York. They were cheering for America. Okay. That postseason, you guys play a really good Oakland team. They're really good. You played them the year before, it was a hard fall fifth game. You end up winning in Oakland. Mike, you're at home the first two games. You lose at home. You gotta go back to Oakland. What was the vibe of the team getting on that plane, flying cross country? I mean, there was so much championship DNA. You guys had won three straight World Series. And I know for me and many other Yankee fans, like there was this like, aura of invincibility with you guys, where it's like the Yankees win every year. They're gonna figure it out. They're gonna find a way. Like Zito was on the mound. The A's were really good. What was the vibe of the team taking that flight out to Oakland? You know, it was, to tell you the truth, I think we were, you know, we were just a little numb. We were a good team. We had done a lot of winning, down 2-0, or 0-2. There wasn't any panic or anything like that. There wasn't, you know, we just had to go out and win a baseball game. Not three, just one. And that was always our approach, all the way through the regular season, all the way through the whole run. At one point, we actually had T-shirts that said, play today, win today. That's it. That was the approach of the whole team. Whatever had needed to be done. And I'll tell you what, Oakland gave us all that we wanted and more. They were very good. Not just the pitching staff, you had Giambi in the middle that was hitting 330 and hitting bombs all over the place. They were a very good team. But we were able to get through that series and move on. And then you play a Mariner team that won 116 games and... Yeah, we kind of stole their lunch money. Yeah. It was amazing because after the euphoria of coming back against Oakland, there was no way in the world Seattle was beating the Yankees. You guys won game one of that series at Safeco and I'm like, this is a wrap. They can't beat the Yankees. Yeah. I mean, 116 games, that's an amazing season. And I think they were caught off guard with how well we played. I think they were another just great team. They didn't play well, particularly well in that series. But yeah, it seemed like destiny. I mean, this was really a story that was being written in Hollywood, that we were destined to win the fourth in a row. Then you play the World Series against Arizona. And I think one of the iconic moments in baseball during that period in 9-11 is President Bush, Mike, throwing out the first pitch, the securities through the roof. Sure. Nobody knows what to expect. Was there a heightened sense of angst and edge? I mean, listen, you get ready to play Game 3 of the World Series, but it's like this large-in-life thing with the President of the United States throwing out a first pitch and then of course, he ends up throwing a freaking perfect strike too. But what do you remember specifically about that day? He warmed up in the cages before for a while because he wanted to make sure that he was able to get the ball there. He took it seriously. This was not like a mess around him. I mean, you got to remember, he was a college player at Yale, I mean, a former owner of the Rangers. This wasn't just... And to tell you the truth, is there another president that could have done that? No way. No, I don't think so. No way. I don't think so. So incredible job. So I'm standing in the bullpen at that time, and we're with, oh my gosh, countless government officials, government law enforcement agents. Everybody's got binoculars. That was because of where the bullpen was in old Yankee Stadium, you had the view of the whole stadium. And so that was actually one of the main places that they were keeping an eye on everything. Was there anxiety? Of course there was, because again, we didn't know if there was something else going on. I mean, they closed New York City just minutes after the trade centers came down. I mean, it was crazy that hundreds of thousands of people were either trapped in the city or trapped out of the city. They grounded all flights. And yeah, this was a month or so later, a little over a month later. But you still, we just didn't know. And now everybody was on edge. But yeah, President Bush did a great job of throwing a strike. And then, you know, the iconic statement from Jeter, don't bounce if they'll boo you. They'll boo you. That was pretty good. Okay. You've played on a lot of winning teams. You've played in a zillion playoff games. Have you seen any crazier shit, Mike, than game four and five of those home runs? I was in the building for the Brocius one. Yeah. And like, everybody in the stadium was like, can you believe this happened again? Yeah. We basically ruined Bong Young-Kil, who had had a great season closing for the Diamondbacks. You know, Brocius got him. I think Jeter got him. There was one other that got it. Tino. Yeah, Tino got it. And I mean, again, this was part of that script that I was talking about a few minutes ago, that this seems like this is, you know, you get down, they win the first two games in Arizona. Okay, no big deal. You come back, you know, we're losing, we're winning, we're hitting late ending home runs. I mean, this was, this would have been, if we win the World Series, that would have been one of those situations that it probably wouldn't have done well as a movie in Hollywood, because it would have been, it would have been too hokey. It would have been, you know, you predicted it. It was, you could tell it was coming. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but it was still, it was just a storybook, storybook World Series. They win two, we win three, we go back to Arizona. Unfortunately, Mariana, who probably hadn't blown a save in like four years in the postseason, I think since 97. Also, the best player on the field, the best athlete on the field, probably the best shortstop on the field, even better than Jeter, throws the ball into center field and then the bloop single by Gonzalez for them to win. But it doesn't take away from how the whole country stood up with us, not against us, but with us to support everything that was going on and just supporting the American way. So I know it's not a happy memory for you, for me, for any other Yankee fan, but I was thinking about it watching Toronto and the Dodgers last year, Mike, in that epic game seven. I was like, wow, I think this is the... Cubs, Cleveland a couple of years ago was a great one too. But that 2001, the World Series, I think is the greatest World Series, pound for pound, that I've seen. And game seven, listen. I played in another one, another game seven. That would have been in 1991. That's right, you were not on the right. So these two, listen, when you finish your World Series, but you've had game seven in the World Series for you was not ideal. Gene Lockett and Luis Gonzalez. That was also another World Series that a visiting club did not win a game. Just home team crazy. Same thing. All home team wins. And that shot from Soriano, it gets forgotten. For him to hit that pitch, showing through that split, he was like at his ankles, Mike. When he hits that home run, Joe Torre was always very mild manner. He's like cool, calm collected. Joe threw the fist pump. You never saw that from Joe. It was like Mariano's coming in. It's over, baby. They're going to win again. Yeah. It just wasn't meant to be. But again, it doesn't take away from just an historic run that the team was on. And just what putting the NY on my hat, what it meant. It wasn't a Yankees hat. It was a New York hat. It was American hat. That's what that was. And Arizona beat us. It happens. It hadn't happened to us, but it happened that year. But again, it just doesn't take away from everything that the Yankees did, everything that the Mets did, everything that Major League Baseball did to try in their small part just help a nation get back on their feet. Was that one of the toughest playing rides as a ballplayer you've ever had coming back to New York after losing that game seven? Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think so because we had left it all on the field and it just wasn't in the cards. It wasn't like, yeah, I mean, Moe made the error to throw the ball into center field on a routine double play that we had seen him make dozens and dozens of times. He always did it with such casual effort because that's how good of an athlete Moe was. It happens. I mean, you can't really point the finger at him because, heck, he ends up being the best closer of all time and at the time, he was the best closer in baseball. When you're in the bullpen with him, is it obvious to you? Obviously, you've played with great players. Ice water. Yeah. Is it immediate? This guy's the best there ever is going to be. He's unhittable. I don't think so. You're not thinking that way because you're not thinking long-term. You're thinking you go to the ninth inning winning, you're going to win. Yeah. That's what you're really thinking. Jeff Nelson and I talk about it all the time. We did it at Old Timers Day last month. It's pretty funny that we were saying, you know what, we're the ones that made Moe so good. The reason he got so many saves is because I would give up a run or Jeff would give up a run to make it a save opportunity. Of course, we didn't do that on purpose. But it make it a save opportunity so he could pat his stats. In reality, he was the reason why all of us, including the whole team, without Moe, we don't make that run. I totally agree. But don't sell you and Stanton and Nelson and Mendoza, the whole crew. You guys as a bullpen, ice water, and it felt like in the post-season, Mike, you and the entire team was always at their very best, and you guys could kick it up an extra gear and turn it up an extra notch. That was a special quality. Not every team has that. Why were you guys so successful in those big spots? I think it, to tell you the truth, I think it was more than anything else, it was the ability, believe it or not, to belittle the situation, just do our job. Because one thing that you have to remember, what is concentration? Concentration is able to pay attention to what you need to pay attention to in the middle of chaos. And I work with a lot of players now, and this is something I talk about it all the time. It's not necessarily if you have the greatest talent, but it is, can you concentrate when there's nothing but craziness around you? And I think that was what we did more than anything else. We were able to just focus on what our job was when things were really crazy all the way around us. Mike, final one. You have your Back to the Bullpen podcast where you're talking about all things Major League Baseball. You know a thing or two about what's going on in the game at the moment. This Yankee group, judge who's one of the best players I've ever seen in my life. There's an argument to be made, he's the greatest right-handed hitter I have ever seen. He's got multiple MVPs. He's gonna be a first-ballot hall-famer. Yet you know this, because you wore the pinstripes. They're heavy. He hasn't gotten to the top of the mountain yet. Not all his fault. Last year he had a tremendous postseason. The team didn't cooperate. It's not all on Aaron Judge. It's a team game. We both understand that. But if he's gonna be holding up that trophy and this current Yankee team is gonna get to the top of the mountain, what needs to happen for this group? Well, listen, I don't think they don't even really need Judge to be superstar Judge. Just be a presence in the middle of the lineup. To tell you the truth, I think there's a couple really, really good pitching staffs out there in Major League Baseball now. But I think, especially if they can get Max Friedreich, the Yankees, I mean, that's not a team you want to play. Because with the rotation they're going to be putting out there, don't even have to talk about the bullpen. They have the ability to go throw four shutouts. And then all you need is one run. And so with that ability, that makes them very, very dangerous. It would be nice for them to go ahead and catch the Rays, even though the Rays have been an incredible story this year. And with the state of baseball right now, with the CBA coming up, having the Rays win, there's an argument there, that kind of throws a monkey wrench in the CBA. It's not a good case for the owners. Same thing with the Brewers. Same thing with the Brewers. But they are just, once they get there, because they're going to make the playoffs, it just makes them very, very dangerous because they can run a rotation out there that can dominate, not just give your team a chance to win. Wish this guy was pitching out of the bullpen for the Yankees in the playoffs. We knew a thing or two about getting some big outs, Subway Series, 2001, you name it. Mike Stanton, outstanding Yankee career. Mike, you're back to the bullpen pod. Where can everybody find it? You can find it. It's Back to Bullpen presented by Locked On, the Locked On Network. You go to Locked On MLB. That's the channel we're on on YouTube for the video. Hit podcast and you'll find Back to the Bullpen, this logo. You can also get us anywhere you get your audio, Spotify, Apple, we're on them all. Okay. Again, Back to the Bullpen. And we are on Sunday night through Thursday night, live at 10 o'clock, all five nights. Then also if you go to, you get the library on any of those also, so you can get the previous podcast. Yeah, we're on five days a week. Isn't technology beautiful, Michael? You just do the show from your home, you go live, all you need is a microphone, headphones, and away we go. If I had to go anywhere, I probably wouldn't do it. Amen to that. We love this world. Mike Stanton, we appreciate a couple of minutes and your perspective on those great Yankee teams. And of course, the tragedy of September the 11th. We appreciate a few minutes. We will never forget. Thanks, John. That was unbelievable stuff. And Mike Stanton was an unbelievable reliever for the Yankees. From 97 until what, 2002. I mean, the guy did nothing but get big outs in big spots and was instrumental in that repeat the Yankees put together in 98, 99, 2000. So we appreciate a couple of minutes from Mike. Now, as far as what we have coming up, a lot of people have been wondering, is there going to be a weekly Sunday morning JJ football show? The answer to that question is yes, yes, and yes, yes. We will be rocking and rolling. It's called The Slate, Sal and JJ, 10 AM on YouTube every football Sunday. We will be taking comments. We will be taking fantasy advice. We will be giving you all sorts of winners, we hope. We're going to have a fun little competition. That's a little spicier than the normal run-of-the-mill picks competition that we have been in the lab trying to put together over the last few days. But know this, on the Underscore YouTube channel, that is where you will find the show. So you want to make sure that you check in the description of this show, the link to subscribe to Underscore Media on YouTube. That is where our Sunday show will be. It's live, 10 o'clock in the morning, and if you miss it, it will be posted. You can listen right before the start of the games. On YouTube, we go from there. Now, on this feed, Sunday night, we will be going live after Giants Cowboys. So if you want to be a part of the show, Giants Cowboys, after the game wraps up, I spent more time on Licata now than I spent on my wife. We're going live again. So for the big events, we'll be together. During the week, that's when JJ is going to be branching off and doing some solo stuff. So for me, listen, I got the best of both worlds here. Hopefully, I can be antagonized on Licata if the Steelers go win by 30 points and the Mets go get swept by the Yankees. That would be an ideal Sunday for me, regardless of what happens with the Giants and the Cowboys. So that is our schedule coming up. Sunday morning, join us live, 10 a.m. Slate, our football Sunday show. Slate, simple as that, 10 to 11. Ask the Giants, Cowboys, come back, watch on YouTube, on the Underscore Media channel. It will be posted as a pod, Spotify, Apple and on YouTube for all of us here on New York, New York. That's gonna do it. And today was a very special day, a very sad day, a very somber day, but a day of reflection for, I think, a whole lot of people within the Tri-State area. And done a lot of soul search in the last 24 hours. I mean, if this 25 year anniversary doesn't make you put a whole lot of things in the perspective, I don't know what will. So I hope we take these lessons with us throughout the weekend and throughout the end of this year, and hopefully for the years to come. But maybe that's wishful thinking on my part. Let's be optimistic, let's be positive. We're in a good mood tonight. That's going to do it. JJ out. We'll see you Sunday. Take care everybody.