The 6-1-1 Podcast Ep. 7: Lawrence Butler
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- Welcome back to another episode of the 611 Podcast. It's your boy, Young James. The big piece over here, Ryan Howard.

And we have with us today a young man I'm so excited to have the opportunity to speak with. I'm a fan of his. I've watched him, the way he's come along in his career, especially the second half of this year. We're expecting big things to go forward. I want to welcome a man that played for my hometown team, the guy

My favorite player, one of the greatest of all time, Ricky Henderson has adorned this jersey from the Oakland A's. Let's all bring in Lawrence Butler. Yes, sir. That deserves a hand clap. That was beautiful. Appreciate the intro. Before we get into, you know, what we're going to get into this podcast thing, we have some things that I've done a little digging. You know, I'm going to find a little something. Great greatness, you know, is on the way. And because of that,

You have been giving Lawrence Butler day. Yeah. Tell you, see that big smile? Yeah. Not everybody gets a day. Yeah, not everybody gets a day. I've done some things in Philly. Do you have a day? I think I do. Yeah, I do. See, you got to do good stuff. That's true. I do have a day. I don't have a day. I do have a day. We got to rectify that. Tell us about Lawrence Butler. Oh, yeah, man.

Actually, I'm having a brain fart. I'm forgetting what day it is. January 24th. There it is. I know it. January 24th is Law Day. I do my research. Appreciate you. January 24th is Law Day in like South Fulton, like Southwest Atlanta. And yeah, they gave it to me last year. I was getting my jersey retired at my high school and they

the head coach just came out there with a surprise he said he told me he had a surprise for me and i didn't really know what it was but it was from like the city of south fulton to give me my own day in that area so i mean that was that's like a dream come true i mean you grew up in the neighborhood and the neighborhood repay you for you know all the hard work you've been doing in life and everything so that's pretty cool i got the proclamation at home

Where's that? It's still, it's at my dude's house. Yeah, yeah. I just don't want nothing to happen to it. For sure. It's still in the plastic and everything. Like, I ain't even took it out. Nah, you got to keep it in the plastic. It's like the legend of Ricky Henderson. When he got his first check, he put it on the wall. He didn't cash it. Right. You know? So he got his first, well, he got his Lawrence Butler day and it's still wrapped in plastic. Nah, absolutely, bro. For sure. So Lawrence, I want to go, I want to ask you, bro, like what was your...

kind of welcome to the big leagues moment. Like when you first got there, what were you expecting? What were you thinking? Was it different than what you thought it was going to be or more along the lines of what you thought it was going to be? I mean, to be honest, like I would say it was my first game really. And like really just stepping on the field for like,

just practice and ground balls and BP is just a different feeling. Like you kind of, when you, when you come from like the minor leagues and you take your first step on that big league field, it's just a different feeling. Cause like, it ain't, it's not like you just here to watch somebody no more or just to take it in. You actually playing in the game. So it's just a whole different feeling. I could just feel as soon as I stepped on the field. And I mean, I would say my welcome to the big league moment was debut. I'm in right field.

- Where are you? - We're in Washington. - In DC. - DC is a national. - Playing CJ them and we, it's a tie game. And I'm like, okay, like tie game, first game in the big leagues. Like I'm finna come up and win this game. Like this is the moment, great debut. - Already, day one. - Day one. - Debut story gonna be crazy. And then Kebra Ruiz walked it off over my head. And I was like, yeah, this the big league.

No matter who in the box, they got a chance to win the game for them. So that was kind of like, and then the stadium went stupid. So it was, that was like one of my welcome to the big league. I walked off the field too, just to take it all in. Just crowd going crazy, walk off happening. So yeah.

So that was pretty cool. - Were your parents able to make it down? Your folks able to make it down for that? - My mama came, my brother came. My dad ended up coming later to like one of the Chicago series, but my mom and brother was there. And my couple like friends and family was there too. - And this is one thing we talk about, you know, the moment we're on the field and what it's like. We never have really been asked

What is it like after the game? You've made your debut. You're out there with the 0 for 4, 4 for 4. Made an error, made a great play. What is the reception with your family afterwards? I mean, it was amazing. I remember hugging my mom. That was a crazy feeling. It was like she was just so proud of me. I mean, my brother was on the field too. All my agents that helped me through it, friends and family was there. So, I mean, that's just a surreal feeling. It's like the cherry on top of just like, you know, you've made it.

your parents got to be able to see you play in the professional league. You know, they taught you. - Sacrifice. - Yeah, that's the whole nine. Just be able to see my mama smile like that is a crazy feeling. That was probably the best thing.

about the whole day for me to be honest. - It's like it's real. - It's real. - We here and it actually happened. - It's a thank you. It's a thank you and you're welcome. Thank you for all that you've done for me and the only way I can pay you back is by getting here and succeeding, staying here and letting you know that all those nights and those early mornings and the money you had to pay or maybe you were a scholarship player, all those rides, gas money, whatever it is, it is paid off. - It's paid off. - All that, yeah. - It's paid off. - All them trips from,

Southwest to East Cobb, Lake Point, Emerson, hour drives, man, it all paid off. So that was probably like my favorite part. - For sure. - For sure. - All right, let's dip into something because I'm interested. You know, I'm learning about you. Like, so I'm a fan. When I say I'm a fan, I'm a fan. - I'm a fan of y'all too though. - Actually, your cousin, I think you have a cousin that works at TBS. I met her a few years ago. - Ashley. - Ashley. - Okay, yeah. So she came up, she was like, "Yeah, my cousin, my cousin Lawrence Butler." And I'm like,

I know who he is, yeah, I know the kid. Just like, yeah, he's playing, keep an eye out for him. I'm like, for sure. So we pay attention, we try to pay attention to us. Like who's the next young brother coming up? And then I met your cousin, she's all excited. I'm like, well, that's dope. I'm meeting a little outside reference. So as I'm learning more about you, we have these notes, our research department, they do a great job. I do my own research. They do a great job, but

Tell us who are the Hillboys. So. And how that started, like how it came about, et cetera. The whole Hillboys movement started from COVID. Like just not being able to, you know, go to a field, go to a gym to work out, a batting cage. That's kind of where it started from. So Marquise Grissom.

that's kind of who we would work out with. If it was like majority time, if it's baseball related, we work out with Marquis. - Money, I call him money grip. - Yeah, grip. - Money grip. - Majority of the time we work out with grip and we couldn't get on the field. And we were just like, it was, we all had came back home from the,

from like when they sent everybody home for the COVID. - Now, when you say we all, who was all in part? - Oh yeah, let me introduce everybody. So first you got, of course me, you got Mike Harris, Marquise Grissom Jr., Chandler Simpson, Cam Collier, Jalen Nolland. - That's a squad. - Yeah. - That's a squad. - We loaded, oh, Tink Hintz too. Tink be out there with us. But yeah, we loaded out there. Yeah, them the guys.

So, yeah, but it originally started from 2020 and we all came back home from when they sent us home for spring training that year. And we were just kind of like because everybody was still working out. They like, oh, it's going to pass over. Y'all going to be back in no time. So we all like we're just going to keep working. We're just going to keep working until they tell us we're ready to come back. So this whole time we were just like Marquise owns like everything.

a lot of land in like Fayetteville, Georgia and it's behind the house and it's just straight, it's just straight here. It was probably like, you probably fit like three football fields on there. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. Straight up. And he, we would just work out back there. We would hit back there. We like speed and agility back there. Defense, five balls thrown. We do everything just on this hill. Yeah.

And we kind of just like, as y'all know, nobody came back during the season. So we probably worked out there for like a year straight, just on the hill.

I mean, the hill tough too. He been forcing us to run up the hill like 10 times, man. And Lou, Lou would be out there. Lou Carter, Cam Dad. - Sweet Lou. - Gripping Lou would be out there having us like ready to quit, man. I'm telling you, they'd be working us hard. So that's kind of where it came from. And that's kind of just basically how it all started. And then following year we all went out there and went stupid.

So that was kind of just where the Hillboys came from to be honest. - What are the lessons you learned about that group, about being one? 'Cause as black players has always been, as you go into another team, you're looking around because sometimes you're the only one. You guys have known each other, played against each other, with each other since kids.

What has that sense of community been like from that COVID era, becoming the Hillboys and like, this is us, this is our group, this is our brotherhood? Yeah, and like you said, brotherhood, I would really feel like it said, it like created our brotherhood for real. Because like, we all kind of knew each other, but

just, you know, grinding with the same person every day, you know, trying to reach the same goal. It just creates a different relationship with you and whoever you out there grinding with. Because, I mean, you pulling for each other. Y'all got the same goal. We all trying to get to the same place. So why not, you know, help each other like iron sharp as iron. So I would feel like that just meant a lot. I mean, Marquise and Lou, they have a, like a,

a 20-minute speech before every workout every day about just, you know, not even baseball, just life. Like, you know, just things that go on in life, you know, like they know we can ask them about anything. They'll give us a real honest answer. I mean, they tell us their experience they had, you know, in baseball and in life. So, I mean, the whole Hillboys thing, it's not just about baseball. It's more just about, like,

you know, just coming, becoming a better person. You know, they always tell us about, you know, just do things the right way. I mean, you know, any, no matter what happened in life, do things the right way. You never know who's watching. I mean, you know, anything could happen. So they always just give us great lessons on just, just really everything in general, you know, even before the baseball stuff. What would you say has been kind of the biggest piece

of life advice they've given you and that you've learned from the game itself as you've grown up playing the game. Yeah. So Mark, Mark, he's always, this is like favorite saying he was like, be like, you can't drink all the liquor.

Can't smoke all the weed. You can't talk to all the girls. So I kind of take that with me in every aspect of life. Like even baseball, like I'm not going to hit every fastball they throw me. And that's okay. Nobody hits every fastball they throw you. So, I mean, it's going to always be a next one. And just really everything. Like you can't overload yourself with one thing or it's just going to hurt you. So just try to keep an even balance in mindset and really just life all around. Yeah.

- Gotcha. - All right, so now we gonna dive into this hill boy. There's always an inside competition. - Oh yeah, there's always something. - Always. - There's always something. - Always. I think I know the answer to this first one, but I'm gonna let you say it. Who has the most power out of the hill boys? - Me, for sure. I know Mike and Cam gonna hear this, but I feel like I got the most power.

I don't even know how many homers Cam hit this year. He hit like 20 something in high, which is crazy. - He had a three homerun game too. - He did. - You had two of them? - Exactly, so I would say I hit more homers than Mike too. - But Mike might say he was injured a lot. - I don't wanna hear that. That's excuses, he just gonna make excuses. - I love how they set the bar for each other. It's that brotherhood of like,

Bro, like, we grind together. I love you. But, like you said, iron sharpens iron. Like, I'm going to make you better. You're going to make me better. Nah, you're not going to beat me, bro. Like, we're going to have this competitive edge. We told Chan, like, if you don't get 100 bases, then that's a failure. Right, right. He got 102, 103 or something like that. So, yeah, we be out there competing with each other for sure. Okay. All right, who is the –

- Best defensive player. - I give it to Mike. - He be tripping out there on defense, man. - Getting it. - I mean, is that catch of the year? - Getting it. - Going in Philly? - Yeah. - Gotta be that catch of the year. He be tripping out there in the outfield, man. I give it to Mike. - I like that. - Speed. - I was gonna let him take it. - I mean, yeah, you know it's fast guys. - I felt he was uncomfortable with that question of speed. - Like full all around athletes. - But he did have a week where he hit two triples.

- Yeah, I did. - That's crazy. - I hit two triples in a year. - He had a week. - One week. - He had a week. - I think y'all should line them up right now. - I had a couple stolen bases in there. - See, there you go. - Couple stolen bases. - How many stolen bases have you had in your career? A couple? - I mean, I might have like 15 maybe. All right, that's a lot. That's a lot. I know I got over 10. I got over 10. I had nine in '09, bro.

- That's crazy. - At least bro. - You had nine in one year and you got 10 in your career. - They didn't pay me to steal bases. - It was all in one week. It was all in one week. - They didn't pay me to steal bases. - It was the best week of his life. - I got my nine, I'm good bro. I got 10, I think I'm double digits. - As long as you got 10. - Yeah, I think I got thrown out twice. - He had more home runs in four years than I hit in my whole career. So I can't really say much about that. - I like jogging. I like jogging. I'm a jogger.

- But who has the most speed? - I give it to Chan. Chan, I mean. - Gettin' it. - Did y'all watch that Rickwood game? - Yeah. - Yeah, that's it. - I mean, it was speakin' for itself. Bro just hittin' the ball to play and beatin' it out. Still second, still third.

And he had a hundred to this. Yeah. I want to say a hundred to Ricky would have been proud of that. Oh, see, I want him to meet him so bad. I want Chan to meet him cause Chan love Ricky. Like that's his guy. Like he like, bro, like he'd be watching Ricky highlights, but I don't know how I could get. Have you connected him?

Nah, because you know Ricky. I know. He be incognito. He pop around. He show up. He'll show up every now and then. Yeah. Hopefully one day Chan will get to... I think Chan will get to meet him one day just because they both kind of play the same little bit. Ricky have more power, but still. Speed-wise...

I feel like one day they gonna cross paths and he'll get to meet him though. - Yeah, that'd be a beautiful thing 'cause Ricky knows. Ricky knows about some bases. Knows about popping collars. - He gonna tell you everything. I mean Ricky. - What would you say your biggest piece of advice from Ricky has been? Like in terms of that, like defensively, stealing bases, all that good stuff bro. - So his name was stealing bases he would tell us

He would always tell us, like, we get out sometimes because we don't know how to slide. So he feel like we slow down when we slide. So I just kind of asked him, like, what you used to do? He used to say...

he'd go dive full speed in the second base. He would tackle. He was tackling the bag. So I kind of just started doing that. Like, I just kind of was like, if you would see me sometimes, I'd either be like back door and I might come off the bag just because of what Ricky told me. Like, I'm literally trying to slide through the bag. But, I mean, it's helped me, though. Like, I think I went 18 for 18 stolen bases this year.

Didn't get thrown out that one time. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I find that very interesting because you remember Borny.

- Mike Bourne, who? Mike Bourne? - I beat him in a race actually. - Stop, stop. - It's on video. - Mike, Mike. - You talking about 40 year old Mike Bourne. - I mean, I beat Michael Bourne in a race. - Dang, bro. - That's all right. Bourne, you better start getting loose, bro. I know you gotta rectify that situation out there, bro. - We calling it alley cat. - Yeah, bro. - Alley cat. - Yeah. - That boy was quick.

But I remember watching Borny's slide and he slid, he used to slide late. - Late. - Late, late to where it was like, bro, you can't even hold onto the, the slide is supposed to slow you down. So it makes a lot of sense when you say that guys kind of slow down to slide as opposed to having the slide itself slow you down. - And I grew up a Ricky fan. So I learned how to slide at first watching this man on TV. Going from couch to couch, the couches may have been

Maybe three feet further than y'all two sitting apart right now. And I would just one, two, three and practice sliding to the couch. And I learned those things. What you got to hear firsthand, I got to watch on TV. But I always noticed, like Mike Bourne, Ricky slid head first, but it was late.

It was like he was hitting the ground and the bag at the same time. - It be like in the air. - Yeah. - In the air. - Like a bag right there. - Right there, crazy. But the greatest to do it. And he'll let you know too. - He gonna let you know every time. - He gonna let you know. - He still think, we be talking to him in the locker room like, "Ricky, how many bases you think you steal nowadays?"

yelling out crazy numbers like 200. Ricky, come on now. He bent on like he think he could get 200 if he was to claim his. But who gonna doubt him? Yeah, facts though. Who gonna doubt him? I was playing against Ricky. He was 40 something years old still with 40 bags. That's actually insane. It was crazy. 40 years old, 40 bags. Man, I'm telling you. What's bro? That dude was something else. That's crazy.

I don't even know if I'm gonna be able to run at 40. - You can barely run now. - No. - You got 18 bags. - He got jokes on. - I mean, you, I mean. - I coulda had. - You coulda. - I coulda had. - You coulda. - Ah. - You coulda, but we know what you got. - Don't worry about it. Next year I'm getting 20 bags just 'cause of Jimmy Ross. - Ooh, we got a 20 watch? - 20 watch. Y'all heard it here first. - Document it. Is it, we doing 2020? - 2020. - Okay. - 2020. - That. - Okay.

- Possibly more, but we just gonna stay humble right now. - We gonna go board, we going board, 2020, that'll work. - No, we gotta go stand anything else as a bonus. - Exactly. - And Ricky tell me, I had 20 by the first month. - Yeah, he be. - Be all in it. - He be going though, man. He tell us that too, he just say, just run. - He ain't lying. - Just run, man, you never know what could happen. - On the topic of Ricky, one more thing.

Because I know he tells his stories. We've heard plenty of Ricky's stories, but I want to hear what he tells you guys firsthand about Ricky. Ricky say, Ricky, you know he talking third person all the time. He'd be like, man. Because he from, like you said, he from Oakland. He'd be like, man, I'll be the last one to get there, first one to leave. He would say like, he wouldn't put, because that would kind of take all the pressure off himself. So he would be like, game at 1 o'clock.

he coming to the field at like 12:30, walking in, coming down, coming in from center field, putting his jersey on as he walked through the field, they stretching, both teams stretching, he just coming on the field.

like barely do a little sprint or something like that lead off homer yeah and i'm just like i don't even know how you do that ricky like how do you like i don't even think we could we would get fined yeah it was different it was different even when i came up that as a starting player you only had to be on time for your hitting group okay so if it's a stretch at four o'clock

but i know i'm hitting in the second group stretches at four you go from four to a 410 as a stretch first groups hit about 4 15 to 4 30. second groups hit you know at 4 30 to 4 45. i didn't have to be to the field to 4 30. right this is my rookie year exactly like just just make what they would say is make sure you're prepared

for your group. And then when you get there, then you do your work. That's crazy. And we won't, we will leave you alone. Cause there there's an, and we're talking about it on, on the round table. We did it the other day.

You can't ask questions. You're just supposed to know. And you don't know what you don't know, but you're supposed to know. But I learned that and I'm like, man, hold on. Why is my man, why is Bobby just rolling up when I kind of adapted that style? Why is this guy just getting here? This guy just getting here? And it's like, yeah, just make sure you're ready for your first group. You can't imagine that today. It's crazy that you say that too because in my team, pretty young, we a lot of rookies on our team, so like

I mean, 640 game, we all showing up like 2 o'clock. Oh, yeah. Like, every day, 1.30, 2 o'clock. I'm looking at y'all like, what y'all doing here? Yeah, and it's like if you show up later than that, everybody kind of looking at you like, you tripping. Like, you better get to the field. But, like, to hear y'all as a rookie showing up at 4.30, that's crazy. Yeah. That's actually insane. I mean, you probably get a lot done in a day, like, outside of baseball. Yeah, and see, for me –

That was my thing. I wanted to make sure when I got to the field, anything I'd had to do off the field, I got done. I don't want to be in a clubhouse talking about it, thinking about it. When I put on my uniform, it's straight work. It's from the time I put on my uniform, which I was...

the last dude that ever put on a uniform in that clubhouse. But when I put it on, I'm focused because everything else is handled. I'm not getting to the clubhouse playing crossword puzzles, get on a treadmill for 10 minutes, take a 20 minute break, go do a cup. That wasn't me. When I put on my uniform, BP, ground balls, do my work after the cage, straight into the game. - Don't forget that sandwich.

- Get that sandwich. Jimmy used to come out every day, stretch. He used to come out every day, stretch. It was like stretch was at what? 4:10. - 4:10. - Jimmy show up 4:05 full clothes. Everybody else is starting to walk out to the field. And it's about like, yeah, 4:05, we'd be walking into the clubhouse fully clothed. And then by 4:08,

Walking out there, putting his belt on, got his sandwich, like, all right, ready to go. On time. He figured it out. That's great. It's in the water. Obviously, Ricky did it. I didn't know it was in the water. That's how we do it in the Bay. Yeah. Our Bay boy is different, man.

So obviously being around Ricky, right? Obviously there's a lot of swag. You know what I mean? A lot of confidence. And I got a chance to check out some highlights of Mr. Butler over here. What we got, peace. My man does not lack...

- What we got, peace. - Out there. So for me, I'm watching this man hit home runs, right? Left and right. I saw a couple fade away home run swings where my man fell into the other batter's box. But when you, hey, when you gotta let 'em know, you gotta let 'em know. And I'm not mad at that. - You know something about that. - I'm not mad at that. I know he went into Philadelphia, had himself a little bit of time in Philadelphia as well. - He had fun in Philly. - What happened here?

Ooh, and let them know. Oh, wow. So that was the Cincinnati weekend. I hit five homers in three games. Pops came the whole weekend. So I got to show up for Pops. Will on the other side, playing Will for the first time. And, I mean, that swing right there, that was just pure emotion. I mean, I already, yeah, I got two homers.

And I'm like, I'm kind of, we kind of like, we had the league going into the, like we had the league in the eighth inning and we blew it. I mean, like we tied, like I think they tied the game up or something like that. Either way, that's a blown league. Exactly. Right. And I'm just like, bro, like I got two homers. I'm trying everything I can. Like we got to win this game. And like, I just was like, somehow we got to win this game. And I mean, that's a, he's a pretty good closer. That's Diaz. And I mean, it's two strikes and.

He just threw me a slider. It was really a good pitch, to be honest. But I think I was just so locked in that I just couldn't miss it. And I hit it, and then I knew it was gone instantly. Like, it was, like, down the line. Right. But, like, I hit it so good that it didn't even hook. It just stayed straight, and I knew I got it. And that was just – and it was crazy. And before, I'm like –

I'm finna come up here and do something crazy. Let me think about what I'ma do after I do it. And that wasn't even close to what I was thinking. I wanted to hit it like on some Tim Anderson, throw the bat towards the dugout, you know, get the boys turnt. But I hit it and I just lit. That's what came out. That's what came out. And that's the beauty of it. That's the beauty because I don't think...

the average person knows that stuff isn't planned. It's not like you had this whole run through and I've had it, you've had a good home, you had a good day and it's like, I'm gonna get this interview, I'm gonna say this. - Exactly. - And it never happens that way. You have a plan A, but plan A doesn't work. As you said, that was pure emotion. What was the emotion like as you look at that and you going back and tapping into what happened there, what was that? - It was just like,

It was just more of like, I just remember playing in clutch games in trouble ball. And it was like, that's kind of just what the feeling was with our whole team at the moment. We're jelling, we playing good baseball and we've been winning a lot of close games and

that was just that just reminded me of like that brought the kid out of me again like just playing baseball you know you have a big moment and you can just kind of celebrate and just you know let your natural emotions just take over and that was just i just it felt like it was just like travel ball you know like just hitting the homer and a big spot and travel ball your boys over there turned up you know got your parents in the stands that was just

Plus pops got to see me hit three homers. - Right, right. - That's crazy. I mean, that was crazy. So that was just really what it was. - So to my three homer guys, when you're having a day like that, and I start with you Peace, what is that like? Like, explain to me what's happening. Do you know, you know you're hitting home runs, but do you come in after that second one? Like, I'm not making it out. - I mean, for me, when I had mine, my situation was like Tim Hudson.

And it was infield. Who doesn't give up home runs. I went into that game against Tim Hudson. I was like two for 12 or something like that. He owned me. And I just went through the whole situation. I was like, all right, he always gets me out with this little cutter or whatever. And he threw me the cutter.

and I got it that day. And I was like, yo, I'm good. I'm good for the rest of the day. I can go one for four with a homer, strike out the rest of the time. I got him. - I'm good. - And so, but for me, it became a process of elimination with pitches because pitchers don't wanna get beat on the same pitch twice. - It's facts. - Right? So when Huddie threw me that first cutter, which he always got me out on, I'm like, all right, second AB, he's gonna show it to me again, but he's not gonna show it to me for a strike.

So, probably going to throw me a curveball. Chose me the cutter. Curveball. Bow. Homeward or center. Homeward or center. Now, I'm like, threw me the cutter. Got him. Threw me the curveball. What's he got left? Fastball away. I was like, all right. Cutter, curve. Fastball away. Bow. Homeward or left. So, I'm like...

looking at my boys in the stands 'cause we were out the night before. - Yeah, I see. Okay, see I was gonna say that but I didn't introduce that to the world. - We were out the night before and Huddy knows the story. - He wasn't even thinking. He giving us everything. - Yeah, we were out. - Those are drunk conversations, man. - Yeah, it was. It was literally one of them things but I had no swing thoughts really, bro. It was like Charlie used to say, an empty head means a full back. But that time when I went up there and I was just like, all right, he threw me this, he threw me this and then,

I just eliminated pitches because I'm like, if he's going to get me out, he's going to try to get me out with something else. And then once he makes that mistake, I'm on it. And then the swing just felt good that day. Cause I think they brought somebody else in and I was like,

- He might get it. - He might get it too. - Yeah. - So I'm just locked in, but they brought him in. I got like a base hit up the middle. I think I was like four for four with three homers. And so it's just, for me, it was about a process of elimination. Having faced him multiple times before, knowing his out pitch to me and I was able to get it up and like take advantage of it and get to his other pitches. - It was a full setup. You knew this, set this up for the next one, set this up for the next one. Now you, you did it twice.

But that's kind of the same thing, though. So the one in Philly, they went fastball in, and I hit it center. So I'm like, okay. I want to say the first game of the series, I pinch hit Homer fastball down and in, and I went center. So I'm like, all right, they're probably not going to throw me no more fastballs in. Next at bat, fastball away. Okay.

I'm looking for it, though, because I'm like, I'm already taking the fastball. I went away. I didn't hit him twice on it, backside. And then I go, in my head, I'm like, all right, I'm probably not getting no more fastballs. Like, I done hit two, I done hit three homers on, I mean, yeah. Yeah, three homers on three fastballs this week. Slaughter. Bomb. And then I'm just like, yeah, like you said, though, it's like the swing just feel like, it's like you see it out the hand.

And you like, I'm about to take the perfect swing. And you just kind of just do it. And then the one in Cincinnati, it was the same thing. But the pitch before, I hit like a 105 ground ball on a fastball. So, I'm like, first pitch too. So, I'm like, he knocked on a fastball first pitch. Got him off of that. Yeah. Get me over curveball, Homer. Next one, same pitcher. Two strikes. He probably...

Thought I wasn't going to look fastball up. But just because I hit the homer on the one before that, I'm like, he probably not going to throw me no curveball again. So I'm sitting fastball, dead center fastball. And then the last one, it was just, I think I was two strikes. But I was like, I remember that at bat because he, like, everything I was on it. Like, I felt like on time for everything. Fastball was on time for it. He threw the breaking ball. I was on time for it. So I was kind of in the box like,

If he just throw me something near the zone, just how I'm feeling today, I'm probably going to hit it. Yeah. Like, I'm probably going to hit it. And he just hung one and I hit it. Yeah, it's like that, though. Like, kind of process of elimination. Like, you kind of, they throwing you pitches and you're like, I hit one before. So, already in this game. So, you're probably not going to throw it again. So, you kind of just really sit one pitch and just take everything else.

That's kind of what I was like basically doing up there. And I ain't even like no, no guess type of hitter. Like I don't know what you weren't guessing. You weren't guessing. You weren't guessing. So what's your nickname though? Law. Law. How'd that come about? Just LA? Just Lawrence? I'm beyond this man. High school, female friend. She just called me Law.

That's all it takes. That's all it takes. He good now. She called me La. I didn't really have a nickname for real. Everybody just called me by my name and then she called me La.

And I'm like, damn, this kind of sound good. You like that? Yeah, so I just kind of went with it. And now everybody call me love. I feel you. I mean, mine was in high school, too. A female friend, she started calling me sexy six. Sexy six. Chase Move. I ain't never heard nobody call you that. What? I ain't never heard nobody call you that one. No, no. You weren't even born, bro. You're talking about. Sexy six? Sexy six. I wore number six. I played shortstop.

It was, it was six and I still have it. It's a drawing that my homeboy, Dustin Canlan, shout out trophy hunters. Yeah. We're going to have to bring that. And he drew me a little caricature and this was her friend too. And you know, she called me sexy six. I can't make this up. I can't make this up. Ryan, you know me, I'm going to tell the truth. I mean, I'm not denying this. It was, it was sexy six. And then another friend, she's come up like, you think you smooth, huh? I was like, well,

- I kinda, yeah. - She was like, you know what? I'm gonna call you J Smooth. So I had two nicknames, but I had two female friends in high school. - I can believe J Smooth. - I can believe that one. Sexy Six was a stretch. - I'm not trying to be sexy for y'all though. - Sexy Six was a stretch. - It's not for you, it's not for you, La.

I'm just telling you what it is. You know what? What was your nickname in high school? My nickname, I did not get a nickname from a lady friend in high school. That's why he's sour. Man, he ain't no Bobby. You know what I'm saying? Straight vinegar. Easy, sexy six. Straight vinegar. But no, my boys used to call me Hurt. Like after Big Hurt, after Frank Thomas. Yeah.

- Just from playing ball. - Just from playing ball. - On your bowling ball. - Yeah, so yeah, they used to just call me Hurt like in high school and stuff growing up. - That is not a sexy name. - Yeah, it's not a sexy name. - Hurt is a big person. - Where's Hurt at? Have you seen Hurt? - That's who we looking for? - I mean, I'm sorry, I missed out sexy six, but it's cool. - Thank you for acknowledging that. - It's okay though. - Thank you for acknowledging that.

Shout out to wherever you are. All right, Lawrence. So, you know, we like to pull up different highlights and get explanations behind things. Here we are. A's in Seattle. Julio Rodriguez hits the ball to right field. You go up. Got you. Bring it back. Was that a first ball? Was that a home run? It was either going to hit the top and come back or hit the top and go over. So I say it's a home run. Okay, we're going to get a closer look at it. Got it.

You see what I mean? It was either going to hit the top and bounce over or hit the top and bounce. But either way, it's F9. It's F9. Exactly. And so we dropped the no-fly zone on him. Yeah, because, so, I mean, I met Julio probably like two years ago in Spring Train, Arizona. We kicked it. He cool as hell. Like, shout out to Julio. Great dude. But that day, one of our rookie shortstops, Jacob Wilson, was like,

You remember when Julio robbed me earlier, like probably like a month ago and threw up the X? That was probably like my little welcome to the big league moment. And we all laughing about it and I'm like, hey y'all, if we rob Julio, we gonna throw

- Right, right. - It was like me, Gelof, Soderstrom, Wilson, we all said it and I think that was like first play of the game. I think his first at bat of the game and I had to do it to him, but he cool though. - You're getting it, that's funny man. - Yeah, it was a little friend game we'd be playing though. And he always hit the ball to me. - Really? - Like every time we play him, he hit the ball to right field. - Like he trying to get one back. - Yeah, like I just be waiting on him. I'm like, I already know you finna hit the ball over here to me.

- What would you say is like your biggest and best attribute is to your game and where do you take the most pride? Like what part of your game do you take the most pride in?

To be honest, it's really none of the physical stuff. I like the fact that I know the game. That I think about the game at a different level. Because even when I was nine years old, my travel ball coach would like... We didn't really know. We know baseball, but we didn't know cuts and none of that. He literally...

took us like we would be in the batting cage during our practices he would take us to the classroom upstairs give us a test and we would have to get like a 90 to even play like straight baseball test like he it's a field on the paper you got to show me everywhere every player is supposed to be on this play every play so i know i know how to play every position just off of remembering that stuff like that so like especially in the game when stuff happens i'm always thinking of like

if this happened, even though I can't get it out, what's my best chance of, you know, like getting out or keeping a runner here or like doing something to kind of just, you know, like that everybody on the field would be like, oh, wow, I didn't even think of that. Right. Stuff like baseball, like you, because I mean, we're going to keep it a hundred.

We're athletes. Yeah. You know, we're not brains. We get credit for being athletic, coming up with a big play, being clutch at times. But it's never – we're never given credit for the way we think about the game. We prepare for this moment. Before this moment happened, I done worked out five different scenarios. Exactly.

So no matter which one comes through, I'm ready. I'm prepared for it. You made that look so easy. So athletic. Like, no, I actually kind of thought about that before it happened. So I was ready for it, but we didn't get credit for it. And I'm, I'm glad you said that because I was the same way at shortstop. It's a defensive position where same way I knew where everybody on the field had to be. And I was big on defense. It didn't matter if we 0 for 4, 4 for 4, losing, winning,

I'm not going to get on you for not getting a big hit. You know what I'm saying? But you make a bad defensive play you weren't ready for, and, you know, that's when I'm upset. It's like, what are you doing? You don't run out the first, Jimmy. I don't care. What do they have to do with you not making the right play out there? Because we all out here in the field standing.

So I'm pretty sure we all want to go sit down. So I'm going to need everybody to be. We can go sit down. That's a professional team over there. We can't give them anything extra because we know if we get extra, we know how we go about our business. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Hey, all day. Extra outs. I don't know. You mean Ryan gets another at bat? Right. We're running zone. Let me eat. Come on.

- Big time. So, but I'm glad you said that because people don't understand there's a lot more than just talent, a lot more than just putting in the work, you know, the physical work. There's this part up here that plays the game well before the action. Before that, it be eliminated pitches. I just talking about the three home run games. It's a lot that goes behind the scenes before we even put on the uniform and step on that field. And then when we on the field, we're always prepared. So Lawrence, you,

You had an interesting 2024 season, start the season, go back down, and then you come up and you have a post-All-Star second half of the season that was like, this is who Lawrence Butler is. What changed, what adjustment, mentally, physically, whatever it was,

that you needed to make and you were able to make that made your season from the first half a very, you know, unsuccessful half of the season to this is who Lawrence Butler is and will be going forward? Yeah. So I would say, like, my first half, I like –

It wasn't really as, like, if you really go look at numbers for real, like, it really wasn't as bad. I was just very, like, and I could, like, it was kind of getting to me, too, because, like, I'd just be, like, putting in the work, hit it by heart, and get out, and I'd just get frustrated with myself, so...

- So talk about that frustration. - Yeah. - Because yeah, we all hit balls. - We've all been through that. - You hit it hard, they catch it. You get jammed, somebody makes a dive and play us like, but talk about that frustration for you. Like we did a spiral, you know, like there's a pressure mountain day after day because you know what I'm saying? - It is 'cause I mean, this is my first full year in the league. Like I'm not an established player yet. So like, I'm trying to still, you know, like,

Lock down a spot for I'm trying to make sure coach put me in the lineup every day So I'm trying to produce and I'm not producing but I'm out there doing everything I can so I mean it's taking a toll on me like I'm showing up to the field sometimes just already pissed because I feel like things ain't gonna go my way already like I'm getting now I'm Kind of pouting in the dugout cuz it's just like what am I supposed to do? Like I'm doing everything I can

And yeah, it was just, it was getting to me like, and they could kind of see it too. So, I mean, Kotz, Kotz sat me when he sent me down, he sat me in the office and told me like, look, like I know you're a great player, but we can, we can all see that this is getting to you. It's frustrating you. So he told me like, look, we're going to send you down.

we're gonna let you see some of the balls fall again like get get your confidence stuff back and then you're gonna we're gonna call you back up and that was kind of basically exactly what happened like i went down there i didn't i didn't i didn't take it as like a like ah they don't like me no more thing i just took it as like i mean you really weren't doing nothing so really go down here you know lock in clear your head you know get back in the space you

normally you're in and you know whenever it's your time again go show them who you are and that was kind of really what it was I just kind of went down there just simplified everything really just start trying to stop trying to do too much and just be myself and I came back and I told myself I'm not going to change that from what I did down there to come back here and

I mean, it paid off and Darren Bush, my hitting coach helped me a lot too. He helped me a lot with a lot of things. Like he showed me video and stuff, break stuff down to me. So I say he was a big part of my success this year too. - J, did you ever have a situation like that? - No, I didn't when I came up, fortunately. Fortunately there was no other shortstop, you know, so.

In the minor leagues, I struggle. I've had seasons where I was even told, you know, you're not gonna get to big leagues with that swing. You know, I'm an A ball hearing this high A like, fool, you see me played three games. You talking about I'm not gonna get to the big leagues with my swing and I'm looking at like, what you play five years in the show? You out here doing this and...

but I let it be motivation, not in a bad way. It was like, I always do what it was. And I didn't, I took it personally in that moment, but it's like, you just don't know me. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You just don't know me. So every level, it was just like, I'm going to show you with this swing I have as I refine it and I retool and it gets better. It's my swing. And this is how I'm going to be successful in the big leagues. And the guy was in our organization a long time, you know, we'll see him good, good man. Actually, I think he ended up coaching us at some point.

and I never forgot it, but it was like, maybe I needed that. Maybe my swing was a little too big. Maybe it was. - That's kind of what I took from it when I went down there. I was like, maybe I needed this. Maybe I just needed to get away from, you know, big leagues different. Like all them lights on you, all them people watching you. - And it's forever. - It's pressure too. So I was like, maybe I just needed a little reset.

you know, get my mind back right and come back. Did you feel like I belong in the big leagues, but what's the missing link? When you went back up, when we got recalled up, you were saying, okay, I know I'm a big leaguer. It was more just like,

when I got sent down, it was like, this just kind of how my story is. Like, it's just going to be how my story is. Like you just got sent down. It's part of it. It's part of my story. And then when I got back up there, cause like I had a feeling in my body, like I know I'm gonna go back. Like I'm like, I'm gonna go back. And when I go back, I don't want to come back down here. So it was more like fire motivation. Like,

I'm finna really show them who I am when I come back, just so everybody know, like, I'm a good player. And I'm like, that's kind of how I've been always since I was, like, younger. Because I got, like, an older brother that's three years older than me. And sometimes I would play in his tournaments, and I would never want to be, like, the sorriest person on the field. And, like, no matter how old they was, like, I always have, like, a fire inside me, like,

I'm not going to be, like, sorry. Like, I'm going to show them that I can play this game. So that's kind of what it was for me when I got back up. It was like, I'm going to show everybody that, like, I can play this game. And because it kind of stems from, like, travel ball, too. Like, a lot of the – I'm on an all-black team. So, like, we're not getting really majority of the looks that these other teams getting. But we playing these other teams and we beating them. And, like, I'm out there going crazy. So, like –

All my time through high school, I'm like, bro, I know I'm better than these players, but I'm not getting the same

or the same opportunities they getting. And I've kept that with me through my whole pro career. So it'll be like, I'll play a player that was in my class and I would just dominate them. - Make sure you know. - I wanna be like, I'm gonna be the best player on this field. - Practice, you show up. Every time you look at me, you don't know. - You don't know I'm the best player on this field. So that's kind of what it was when I went back.

I don't really care who on the other side no more. Like that's how I always been. Like, I'm gonna let you know that you might be good, but I'm good too. So y'all just gonna have to figure out a way to stop that. So that's really what it was when I went back up there. It was just like tunnel vision. Like I'm not gonna let nobody stop me. Really.

- That's for sure. - I love that dude. We talked about it all the time. It's the mindset. - Put the uniform back on. - Yeah, it's the mindset, bro. It's like you go down and you hear the stories about when dudes go back down and they're whining and complaining about like, I should be up in the big leagues right now. And man, I don't know why I'm here. And it's like, I remember seeing that when I was in AAA and I was like,

- Bro, this is exactly the reason why you here. You sitting here whining about not being up there instead of doing what you need to do to get back up there, bro. Like it's all about the mindset. And I think that's important for like everybody that's watching and listening for like all the kids.

You can control control what you can control and you can control how you respond to situations. You can either get down about it or focus on what you need to do to get better. And that's what it sounds like you were doing by not taking it personally and just saying, all right, I'm going to turn this into a positive. Yeah, I need a reset.

get back to who I am. I know who I am. I know what I'm capable of. That reminds me of me, bro. It reminds me so much of me like when I was coming up. Yeah, because your situation, you were blocked. You had a six-year contract in front of you. Yeah. But you came up, Jim got healthy, you went back down. And then your situation where his, it was in their eyes performance-based. Like we need you to get your confidence back.

Yours wasn't a lack of confidence. You were slightly different, but yet and still, yes, in your mind, I know I'm good enough to play here, but I'm back down here. How did that change you once you finally got that opportunity? When I came back. It's like you prepared a few times. It's like, okay, Ryan, it's finally yours. Where Lawrence was like, go get it. So that situation, when I first got called up, when Tone got hurt the first time,

I found out about the friendly confines of the grass of Wrigley Field. And how it just eats up balls. - Eats the ball up. - And I hit a couple of like good hard ground balls that just got, I'm like, oh, that's a base hit. And then they rounded it. They come around it and throwing me out. So I got out to a slow start, but I was up for like two weeks. And then they sent me back down and I was like,

Okay. Well, I knew I was on borrowed time already. Right. Tome comes back, gets hurt again the second time. And I just, it was the same thing you said. I was like, dude, I know who I am. I know what I'm capable of. And if I go do this, we going to be all right. Cause I remember like one of the,

the media folks asked me that question because Tomi was out for the rest of the year. That second time I came up and they was like, well, do you feel like you have big shoes to fill with like Jim Tomei and this and that? And I said, no, I said, I'm not Jim Tomei. I said, I'm me. And I said, if I do me,

I know what I'm capable of doing and we'll be all right. And I was just me. And like, I came up that second, second time and then went off and we almost made the playoffs. And like, we came up short on the last day, but it's that mindset, bro. It's like, you understand because you have to be,

You have to believe in your ability. You have to believe in who you are, especially being black, especially being a black player. Like you gotta have more confidence than the average. You know what I mean? It's like, I live by a verse by Jadakiss, bro. It's like, I'm not cocky, I'm confident. So when you tell me I'm the best, it's a compliment. Like it's all about how you carry yourself

And being confident, not to the point of arrogant, but it's like, I know who I am. I know what I'm capable of being able to do and go out there and just go do it.

And that's it. And that's what it sounds like because you made that adjustment coming back up, just saying, I'm just going to be La Butler, bro. That's all I can be. And y'all going to find out as we have seen. They found out. As we have seen. Now let's switch speeds a little bit. You know, we got to know who you are as a baseball player, you know, diving into your mental and hearing your story, which, you know, should be inspirational for kids that are looking up to you. Trust me.

You're young, right? You got some kid looking up to you. And it's a trip because you're going to start hearing it one day. You plan long enough. You're going to start playing against kids that were looking up to you, hearing their stories. Now you impacted their lives. So I'm glad you're able to share your story. But we're going to switch speeds because, you know, these young, I dabbled in it a little bit. I know you did, Young James. You know, I was trying to be exact producer on this thing, you know. But he's in a hotbed. He's from the hotbed of music.

- G.A. Atlanta side. - Yes, sir. - Tell us about your passion in music, why you do music and the way that you do it, but tell us how, and it's not, well, you know, we all grew up with music. Why are you involved in it the way you are? - I would really give that to my friends. Like I got a lot of friends that like rap for especially being from Atlanta. I mean, that's all it is, is rap and music scene. But I got a lot of friends that rap.

And like in high school in the minor leagues, I would go to the studio with them. And I would kind of just like, I wouldn't even rap back then. I kind of just be chilling like bros, you know, we in here chilling. They, I'm just in here chilling. Like I'm with the bros and me and Marquise Grissom's son. So like, I think I went to, I was like living with him for probably like two months and

And me and his son, like, we kind of got the same music taste. So we would just be listening to music all the time, new songs and stuff like that. And we was one day just like, bro, let's just try to make a song. Let's just mess around, like rap and make a song. So we like, we in the closet, wired headphones on an app called GarageBand. That's it. On an app called GarageBand. Yep.

And we just started making songs and we kind of was like, like it was obviously it was bad, but like we like, damn, this shit kind of easy. Like it ain't really all that, like all that hard. Like it's not as what you think it is. So we just, we started rapping there and then we kind of just, when I would go back with my rap friends, I just kind of get in, I would just like mess around and stuff. Yeah, just get in the booth and mess around and stuff like that.

And then I had, I want to say I probably made like one good verse that I feel like I was good. Because I ain't really rapping for other people. It's more just like to see if I could do it. And I just, I like this. So I was like, I'm going to just keep.

keep going with it and i mean me and me and uh grip little grip been rapping for a minute now we like we probably got like 50 70 songs but it's just me and him like we don't even really like we ain't dropping none of that because we kind of just do it just for like us like us and whoever else want to hear it for like our friends we want to hear so we kind of do it for stuff like that and

Yeah, that's really kind of how I got into it. It's just being around it. There's no wrong answer. You love baseball. Yeah. You know? And rap brings you joy. Mm-hmm. Which one is more enjoyable? Like, when I say enjoyable, I'm like fun. Like, this is just pure...

you know, unadulterated fun. Keep that thing real, La. All right. So we just talk about pure enjoyable fun. I would have to say music just because in baseball, it's stress with it. Like, I mean, you're going to go 0 for 4 that day. That ain't fun. So it's like, if you go in the studio, you just, especially how we rock, we just, we fun rap. Like, we ain't in here trying to make the next big hit. Like, we don't make this hit. We ain't going to eat. Like, it ain't like that. So it's more just like,

Relax, like no matter what you making here, it doesn't matter. But you know, like baseball is kind of like feeling good. - That's work. - Yeah. - That's the job. - That's the job, like that's the job. But I mean, I love baseball more than rap, but. - For sure. - I would say more enjoyable, like kid fun music. - Has it been a stress relief? Like, okay, I'm struggling. I'm over my last 12 and I could just throw my headphones, make some music.

And it kind of gets me out of that, you know, out of that area of stress and brings positivity back to it. Like, you know, I had so much fun. I'm off of four, but I look forward going to tomorrow because of this. Yeah, for sure. Because like, I mean, in music, what you're doing is just talking about your life. That's all you're doing. It's basically like a little, like a venting mechanism, like therapy, basically. Like you can, if you're just having a bad day, you can go,

Say it on the song. Go yell it on the song. Do anything. It's music. It ain't really like one specific way you're supposed to make music. You can make music however you want to make music. So it's like if you're having a bad day or you just need to get something off your head and you just want to talk about it, just go say it to the mic. You go say it to the mic. It might not sound good. It might not. But after, you're going to be like, all right, like I kind of.

- Got it off your chest. - Got it off, I can kind of just clear my head going to the next stage in life again. So that's why I do like it just for that reason. And like when I'm rapping, majority of the time, like some of the stuff I be saying be cap just 'cause it rhyme, but majority of the time-- - That's rap though, yeah. - But majority of the time I'm talking about like my experiences in life and what I'm going through in life, stuff like that. So yeah. - Who's got the better bars? Bars, who's got the bars? Between you and me?

Grip bars be crazy, man. Because his punchlines are like, make you think. He'll say something and then like,

10 seconds later, you like, oh, that's, that kind of was what he was meaning and stuff like that. But he got, he'd be putting a little bit more thought into his bar stuff. Sure. I kind of like, I like to be quick. Like I kind of just go in there off the top. Like we punch in, we ain't writing none of this down. It's all off the top of our head. And I kind of just say like, what come to my head? Like he'll kind of think about stuff a little bit longer than I would. Chan be rapping with us now too. Victor Scott.

They went to the studio last night, Chan, Grip, Vic. - Hellboy. - That's it. - Hellboy. - That's it. - About the Droplin' their debut album. You've heard it first on the 611. - What would the name of that album be? All Star? - We've been thinking about it, man. - What would that be? - So one of my friends, he in the minor leagues, his name Isaiah Gilliam.

He was saying we should call it sports bars. For a mixtape, I do like sports bars for a mixtape. For a mixtape, yeah. We ain't going to go album yet. You're right. You got to drop a mixtape. You got to get the streets talking. You got to put something out so then they kind of... I mean, the songs we got...

the feedback been great. Like we, you know. - Who listen to you? Mom and cousins and stuff? - Nah, this just, and like, we'll, what we'll do, we'll go around, like we'll get on ox in our clubhouse. - How about, how about see it then? - You kind of just play it and you kind of just sit down and just kind of watch to see how everybody kind of looking at, thinking about the song and stuff like that. - He get through lifting weights, play it and look at them like this.

- Say something. - Right, just blow up. - Say something. You know what you're dealing with. - But you know, like Gripper played in his clubhouse

And they start asking, who is this? Yeah, they be like, who is this? He be like, this is Locke. And they be like, Lawrence Butler for the A's? I'm like, yeah. And then they'll just... That's kind of how we get our feedback. We'll just play it around people. And then just kind of don't tell them it's us, though. Because they going to be wrong. Yeah, you want to get... Turn this shit off. Yeah, who does the beats? Or is it just... We get them off YouTube. Okay. We just get them straight off YouTube. They free off YouTube? Free. Free of charge. I mean, I don't know how to...

Like, if we was to drop it, then they would come back. Yeah, we probably have to, like, contact them, like, hey, bro, we finna use your beat and stuff like that. Yeah, because you don't want to get sued. Yeah. Majority of the time, we just go on YouTube. Free beats, man. They be hard, too. All right. Free hard beats on YouTube. So, we're going to bring this thing to a conclusion, but we're going to put you on the spot. We got a couple questions. So, you know, I see my man out here, Big Peace, and it's Kashmir and Jaze. You got a Nike deal. Big Hurt over there, drip. You know, drip. I'm trying, bro.

- I'm out there playing, Jam, I'm sophisticated. I'm on the road. I didn't get to go into my wardrobe. It's just travel suitcase, drip. When we play, we did our thing. We did our thing. We were coming out the Allen Iverson era and NBA and I had my braids, big necklaces. - I had John Rose swag. - We had bust down watches, no value now because we didn't know any better. You know what I'm saying? We just didn't know any better.

Who in the game right now that you're aware of, because you know you got big league outfits, so we get the seed catch now. We didn't have that then. Who has the most drip? Who has the most sauce? When every time they show up, you're like, yeah, we going to they city, we going out. It's like, yeah, we got to come with something. All right. So some of my players that I think got some swag for real, I would say Tommy Pham be putting it on. I like his fits. T-Pham.

jose ramirez be putting it on for sure okay he like a low key he just i don't know if y'all seen but he just bought a crazy chain yesterday y'all gotta go check it out i haven't seen it yet though crazy chain yeah jazz be putting it on too yeah jazz don't miss it yeah that's gonna mess for sure i give it to um cj be putting it on when he want to sometimes he'd be lazy so he'll put it on he'd be late sometimes i'm missing one more

I'm missing one more person. - Verdugo got any drip? - He got some. He got some. Yeah, he be having some fits. - He be on the field. - He be having some fits or something. - Yeah, yeah. What about you? Where do you put yourself in that? If you are the guys you name, sometimes we look like I got some, but like, oh boy, he clean all the time. Where do you stand in that? - So I would say,

This is basically what I'm going to say. I feel like I have more swag than them, but they kind of just got a bigger bankroll than me. They can kind of do a little bit more. That means a lot. We had the same bankroll. We know about that, James. We had the same bankroll. You know about that. But you don't. And I'm still in the conversation. So what that say to you? But what I'm hearing is like,

I would be, or I am, but they have a better, they have more money than me. So money means a lot. Especially when you're talking about drip. You're talking about, you know, what can I get access to? So you're saying that they have more money, have more access, but you're still killing the game. I'm still killing the game. They can't see you. No. Cause it's not about just like, and it ain't about what you got on. It's how you put it together. For sure. Right. It's how you put it together. Like,

What pieces are you wearing? Or are you just all over the place? You matching that all? You got to know how to put it together. So how do you do it then? How do you do it when it's time to step out? We in New York. Because everybody going to step out in New York. We in New York. Say I got, I'm going to just put a fit together in my head. That's in my closet.

I got some, y'all probably don't know what these is, but I got like some who the size wore jeans. They like some jeans and they got like patches all on them. They kind of like big patches. I'm too short to wear those. Yeah. I mean, they'll look good on you though because the shorter people be wearing them and they be looking good. But I got like patches all on them, all types of colors. And it got like this olive green in it, like within all the designs and stuff. And I got some Rick Owens shoes, some fur Rick Owens shoes and they fur olive green.

And I'm going to go who the size wore. That's what y'all stepping out? Yeah. I'm going to go who the size wore jeans, Rico in shoes. And I'm probably going to get me a Marnie shirt. And it's probably going to have like, it's probably going to be like, it's probably going to go with the whole.

the the outfit so is the shirt gonna be busy you know i might even go i might even go furry marnie shirt just to match the ricks oh wow you see what i'm saying so it's like wow it's different ways you can go with different fits it's just you got to know how to put it together because some people just be putting on expensive clothes just because they just yeah just because it's expensive clothes but you got to know like what you wearing like you got to know what you wearing what

with these shoes or these jeans and stuff like that. It's a whole process, man. My closet. Wait a minute. Why you sound stressed out? Sometimes you be tired. Like you got so many clothes. Yeah, for sure. What I want to wear today for real.

- But that's real though, because it's funny 'cause I remember those thoughts because packing up for a road trip when you know you're in a different city. - Oh, that was it. - It's terrible. - But it's not like I'm throwing clothes in the bag. You're like, okay, we got this game, we got this night, we going out here. - Yeah, exactly. - It's a lot more. And now that 70 pound bag weigh 130 pounds. Like y'all just going for five days. - Plus 'cause we had to wear suits.

on top we had to wear suits on the plane on the road so we had to pack like at least two suits right yeah like so i'm not gonna lie on top of it when i left the phillies i'm like yeah we don't wear we only wear sport coats oh it was a good oh yeah yeah yeah the best thing ever yeah i'm not gonna wear suits i don't want to have to get on those

four hour plane ride with a suit on that's going to be so uncomfortable. Now I know where overalls and jerseys in Philly. I never thought I'd see the day. That's where you should get like a team like sweatsuit. Like NBA style. Something like that. We got them now. Each team get a little Nike. Is it optional or is it something you have to wear? For us, it's like we can only wear that if cats tell us we can wear it. Like if he be like alright y'all can wear y'all travel suits this flight then you got it but

Other than that is collared shirt and jeans. And I don't really like that either. Cause like, I want to be able to wear. Express who you are. Yeah. But you got to wear collared shirts and jeans. See, we would have been cool with a collared shirt and jeans. I'd have been happy with that. What you talking about? Cause that was our, that was our to the field fit. To the field fit. I'm rocking to the field fit. Right. At home, wear whatever you want to wear. Right. At home. On the road, collared shirt, jeans, jeans.

You can't have no rips in your jeans, but that's swag. So you can't do that. Like you gotta wear just regular straight jeans. - Just plain jeans. - Yeah. So on the road, you ain't gonna really see me like walking into the field. You ain't gonna really see me like having on a crazy fit. - But post. - When it's time to do something. - Post game. - It's time to make a move. - You gonna hit that phone booth, transform. - My favorite thing to do is go to a city and off day I go shop.

- Every off day. - Remember them days, Ryan? - Oh man, it was beautiful. - It was beautiful. - It was beautiful, we'd just show up. I mean, I would under pack for certain cities. - Yeah, certain cities. - Like New York. - Under pack. - Yeah, I'm buying my clothes there. - One or two outfits. - LA, New York, Miami, you knew you were making those trips? - All day. - Oh yeah. - All day. I remember those days.

you know, just nostalgic. Right. You know, just having money to spend on clothes because I want to go out tonight. That's where you use your meal money. I got daughters. It's all about dance. Yeah. You know, buying their outfits, Tiger Friday. You can't do that. Who else? Uh,

Jack and Jill or something. I mean, it's literally about them. I don't know. It's the last time I bought me a new outfit. All right, that's a lie. I had a Kenzo. I had a Kenzo and I went to Givenchy here. Kenzo got some money. Yeah, I like Kenzo. But see, that's the thing too though. You got to kind of know what's the trend and what's in style. Kenzo...

People ain't really wearing it like that no more. I would say two, three years ago, people was wearing Kenzo. Four years ago, really, people was wearing Kenzo. But now you don't really see a lot of people. Trendy. People jump on trends. I find my staples and I'm a rocket. That's big in the fashion world. It's trend. It all comes back. It all comes back circle. It's a circle. We talked about drip. We talked about how you got to put stuff together. Right?

So World Series coming up and we want to take a look at some guys that are still in the World Series and let you tell us about what you see about this drip. And we're going to start with my man Mookie. Okay. You know, we're going to slide through a couple outfits, you know, let you get a little flavor for it. The gold piece.

That's nasty. That's nasty. You got to be confident to wear that, too. That is nasty. He get an eight with that. I like the design in that one. He just get an eight. I mean, what kind of shoes he got on? They look like some ones. If he would have had some forces on, he'd get a better grade. All right, Jack Flaherty.

That's a seven because that's just a chill little fit. You can tell he ain't try to OD. He just wanted to look nice and just kind of come through chill. So I give him – that's a comfortable fit. I give him a seven. And I have a question because we didn't have handbags right to the field. We were backpacks. We were in the backpacks. I don't know when the trend started, but –

It's the same thing I just put in the book bag, but it just, it's in the handbag. So, I mean, I got chapstick in mine. I got cologne. I probably got a water bottle in there. It don't really be nothing in the bag. - It's just for the look. - It's literally for the look. - I mean, I don't really be keeping, it's like essentials, like your wallet if you don't want to keep it in your pocket, stuff like that. - We got, we got. - Who this is, Shohei? - Shohei. - Man, Shohei just out here.

- Shohei know that ain't no drip. He probably don't know it ain't no drip though. He probably like, I'm just gonna put on some, that's like a, I'd give him a five. - A five? - Yeah, but he don't really care though. I mean, he just do it all. He do everything he do on the field. Who that is? - Aaron Judge.

- We gonna step back. - That's a con. It looked like they had to wear like a certain type of fit as you can see Volpe and the other side. So, and he got the J's on with him, the mat. Yeah, I like that fit right there. I wear some different jeans, but top and bottom, he for sure get a, that's a eight right there. I get that eight. - All right. I mean, it look like you're going to the Hamptons.

That's what I'm saying. See, like, we play so many games. It's like you can't show up every game with a hard fit on. So, like, that's obviously one of them. Like I said, CJ was lazy. That's like a lazy look. Let me just throw something on. I'm a Jordan athlete. My free Jordan shorts, little polo long sleeve with a Bronx hat. Yeah, yeah. Shout out to the Yanks fans. Woo!

See, Jazz came through tripping. Look at that. Jazz. Jazz came through tripping. That's nasty. That's drip right there. And he got the Travis Scott song with the 23 shirt. You can't never go wrong with a sweatsuit. Match a sweatsuit. You can't never go wrong with a match a sweatsuit, man. That's right. He got the chains on, glasses on, J's on. What you get at, though? That's a nine right there. That's a nine. I'm wearing that. I'm putting that on.

I like that fit right there. Strowman dressing trendy. Got them dad mics on. Yeah, he dressing trendy right there. That's like a cool little nice little day with a little breeze out there. Fair guy hat on. That first one I give him a 7.7. 7.5 chill fit. Like, that's a nice little... I'd throw that fit on, too. No 10s, huh? No 10s. What is a 10? 10 is like you got to pop out with like...

It gotta be, 'cause 10 is like, have you seen anybody with what you got on? And like, it's the more, it's like the rarity of it. Like nobody got this shirt or nobody got these pants or nobody got this jacket or nobody got these shoes.

It's like you like kind of the first one to really pop out with that type of fit on. You see what I'm saying? Like anybody could go get any of these fits. Like you can go get these fits in the store and stuff like that. But it'd be like certain fits where you got to know. You got to style. Yeah, you got to style. You got to know somebody. Yeah, they like you're going to be the first one with this or you're going to be select few with this. Well, love, man. We appreciate you.

being here today, you know, tell us about your story, you know, being honest in who you are and, you know, your way up learning about, uh, Lawrence Butler athletic achievement day. It's January 24th. January 24th. I can't remember that. Uh, the hill boys and, you know, letting kids know it's, it's okay to have outlets. Yours is music. You play ball. You got to have something. You got to have something. Don't sit there in the house and dwell on what isn't going, uh,

right with you have something have an outlet have an outlet hit the reset button and get back to it exactly and what I'm hearing you know you you you stay focused on your dream there was ups and downs Ryan you shared your story you know up and down sometimes they're going to be roadblocks you know and and to hear coming from such a young man early in his career to go from up and down season to a post all-star all-star season what you and Rooker did

And we talked about Judge and Soto. If they look at the numbers, it's you and Rooker, Soto and Judge. That's a hell of a turnaround. But that's a testament to the man you are. So we want to wish you continued success. Appreciate y'all. Enjoy Sacramento slash Vegas on the move. Keep representing. It's always Oakland's team. Keep representing the town. And from us at the 611,

Hope you enjoyed hanging out with Lawrence today. A young man I was very excited in meeting. Hearing his story. Ryan Howard. Big peace. Doing his thing. Check us out. Stay posted. 611 coming at you. If there's somebody we haven't spoke with yet, let us know. We got people. Peace.