Episode 28 - Jack Andersen

As we moved towards the end of the MLB season, we decided to follow suit and move to a “season by season” format. This will be our Final Episode of our first season as the Plus Chirp Franchise. We can’t thank you enough for the continued support. We celebrate with our favorite parts of every episode of Season 1. See you in 2021 for Season 2!

As the guys have a week of travels, we decided to run through Jack's story this time as Mitch sits down with him diving into Jack's path to baseball at a collegiate level, his time playing professionally, and what he's currently doing to stay involved in the game. This episode is brought to you by Johnny's Banana Bread - head over to - johnnysbananabread.com - and use code "Chirp20" for 20% off your order.

Mitch and Jack get a chance to sit down with John Flood, their former Coach at UIC,  this week as listeners gain some insight into the in's and out's of the coaching world in Division 1 baseball. John and the guys share conversations about recruiting, player development, and building a strong team culture before we wrap things up with some rapid questions at the end.

The guys get a chance to sit down with Harvey Martin today where we talk with him about his story and current work with The MindStrong Project. Harvey shares with listeners about his unique story that helped pioneer his work in baseball and the sports world teaching athletes proper techniques to perfect their Breathing, Moving, and Thinking in the game.

Jeremy Frank joins the show this week to talk all things “knowledge” when it comes to the game of baseball. Not only do Jack and Mitch get a chance to pick Jeremy’s brain this week about unique stats in the game, but we get to hear about his experience writing his books, “The Hidden Ball Trick Vol. 1 & 2,” how he grew his following on Twitter, and what goes into making a complex stat easy for the common fan to understand. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @MLBRandomStats

Jon Goebel joins the guys this week to sit down and give listeners more insight into the JUCO world. We talk about the recruitment process, competition on the field, and learn more about his role as a coach at Parkland College.

As we spent our Monday's enjoying the day off for Labor Day, we decided to go for an interview only this week where we sit down with former UIC Flame and 8th Round Draft Pick, Connor Ryan, to discuss something more unique in the game of baseball - performance anxiety. Connor shares with listeners about his journey as he battled mental blocks on the mound and his process working through that behind the scenes.

We enter September catching up on another heartbreaking loss in this week’s “Riding with the Chirp Boys.” The guys then dive into discussion about tensions between the Cubs and Reds, the potential for The Baseball Cup and other miscellaneous baseball talk. We move on to chat about this weeks “Who’s Hot and Who’s Not” before we wrap it up to debate “Things that make a Super Bowl Party” in this week’s “Scouting Report.” Diamondback's Pitcher, Alex Young, joins the show (32:14) to share with listeners about his early career in high school and the process for him getting to collegiate ball. We then hear from him about his debut, current events, and Diamondback expectations for the next few weeks.

Schu is back this week as the trio catches up early to talk about this week's "Riding with the Chirp Boys" out the gates. As we missed the opportunity to discuss it last week, the guys breakdown the discussion of Fernando Tati's Jr. and dive more in the Padres early success before giving a league overview of "Who's Hot & Who's Not." We wrap things up with this week's "Scouting Report" as the guys debate Unique forms of Transportation. Steve joins the show (23:23) sharing with the guys about his playing collegiate playing and his period in the minors. We then transition as Steve gives us an insight into his role with the Cubs and what life's like working in the DR.  Steve's Social: Twitter - @mass_polly // Instagram - @mass_steven  

As Mitch heads out for a week’s vacation in the mountains, Tom and Jack pick up the slack to host this week’s episode. The guys give a quick run down of this week’s “Riding with the Chirp Boys” before diving into some baseball talk. Tom shares updates on a potential bubble in the MLB as we get a “way too early” preview of the postseason, we discuss the White Sox four consecutive home runs, and wrap it up with our “Who’s Hot & Who’s Not.” We finish our segments with this week’s “Scouting Report” where the guys debate The Best Uniforms in Sports. Devin Smeltzer joins the show (19:54) sharing his battle at a young age with pediatric cancer, his career through college and the minors, and his journey to earning his rightful spot in the MLB with the Minnesota Twins while wrapping it up with some talk about the current season and of course, fishing. Follow Devin: Twitter - @alka_SMELTZer // Instagram: @devinsmeltzer