#141 NEW Chicago Cubs pitcher Brandon Morrow
Scott Benner
Chicago Cubs pitcher Brandon Morrow...
Brandon pitched (with type 1 diabetes) in each of the seven games of the 2017 World Series, tying a record previously only held by one other major league pitcher. In this episode Morrow talks about playing in the World Series, being a free agent and living with T1D.
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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Announcer 0:00
Morrow delivers a ground ball slowly hit the short seekers got it throws the first thing is over, get the job done. Second pitcher all time to throw in each of the seven games of a World Series.
Scott Benner 0:15
This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Omni pod. On the pod is the tubeless insulin pump that is flexible, precise, simple to use, discreet and waterproof, and gives you the peace of mind that I talked about here on the podcast. This episode is also sponsored by Dexcom. The dexcom continuous glucose monitor gives you the complete picture of your glucose, showing you where it's going and how fast it's getting there. You can learn more about the Omnipod at my omnipod.com forward slash juice box, and dexcom@dexcom.com forward slash juice box also be links in the show notes.
2017 World Series between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers went seven games, it was an incredible series, each one of those games had one thing in common. Brandon Morrow came into pitch. Brandon's had Type One Diabetes since he was 18 years old. And he's on the podcast today talking about being a free agent playing in the World Series living with Type One Diabetes and a lot more. You're going to love this. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before being involved with Ensign.
Unknown Speaker 1:42
All set I think
Brandon Morrow 1:44
all set I think Yeah, I haven't used the Skype app in a really long time.
Scott Benner 1:48
So that's everyone who's like I don't use Skype that often. I'm like, No, I
Unknown Speaker 1:52
know. But
Scott Benner 1:53
it works great for this. So I appreciate you doing this. Thank you very much for the podcast is really casual. I mean, I have an idea of where we'll go. But I just want to start talking and I think it'll follow along on a pretty good path. I'm recording now. And let me tell you a little bit about myself so you know who you're talking to. I'm 40 I forget how old I am. 4546 years old. My daughter. My daughter is 13 she was diagnosed when she was actually just a couple weeks after her second birthday in 2004. Oh, okay. Yeah. And my son is senior in high school. And actually he just just committed to play baseball in college. Oh, nice. where we're at? At Dickinson in Pennsylvania. Oh, okay. So he's, um, I don't know if he would prefer me talking to him about this like this. He is short for baseball standards. He is a he's a legit 511 and a fairly spectacular centerfielder. But
Brandon Morrow 2:51
yeah, that's not 511. Actually not that short for baseball?
Scott Benner 2:56
I don't think so either. But
Brandon Morrow 2:57
whenever you run into guys who have maybe maybe if you're a pitcher, they might look at you as a touch under ideal, I guess but not for a position player.
Scott Benner 3:10
Is that because pitching wise? Or are they more aware of the angle of your release? And how close you are to the plate when you're letting go?
Brandon Morrow 3:19
Yeah, there's some advantages to that with height. As far as then like extension towards the plate, you know? Yeah.
Scott Benner 3:27
I mean, you are You look like you're feeling like you're letting go of the ball on the grass
Brandon Morrow 3:31
by the time you're done. Yeah, I'm not I'm not incredibly Tom six, three, but I do have a pretty decent extension.
Scott Benner 3:38
Yeah, for sure. So yeah, so it just it as he went through the recruiting process it what would happen was is he would impress people, and then they'd say, we really like you. And then it would be sort of a waiting game to see if they like somebody who was taller than him. And then, and then and then there were guys who thought that way. And then there were and there were plenty of guys who didn't think that way. And the ones who didn't we just started realizing, you know, why are we beating our head against the wall trying to change people's opinions of baseball? Why don't we go where guys think you're, you know, you're a player because you're a player?
Brandon Morrow 4:09
Yeah, absolutely. It worked out really well.
Scott Benner 4:12
And so he's really excited. And we're proud of him, because he's been playing since he was four.
Brandon Morrow 4:16
So yeah, yeah, it's pretty cool.
Scott Benner 4:20
I know you were diagnosed when you were 18. And I know you were drafted out of high school, but where were you in that process when you were diagnosed?
Brandon Morrow 4:28
Had you been drafted already? No, no. And so the draft is in June, I was diagnosed in January. It was it was before our season had kind of really started going. We hadn't played any games and we had probably just barely started practicing. We were out. Doing some conditioning, running, jogging out on the blacktop at the high school and I was complaining about all my symptoms. I remember obviously, the didn't have a lot of weight to lose. So there wasn't like the weight loss, but dry mouth waking up in the middle of the night to have to use the bathroom. And also, you know, drinking like four or five bottles of water throughout the night. blurry vision and all that fun stuff. And one of my buddies had done a research project or paper on diabetes and just said, Hey, like, it sounds like you checked all the boxes, you know, you know, all the symptoms of diabetes, you should probably check that out. So I went home that night and mentioned it to my parents. And, you know, we went on Web MD. And yeah, I pretty much had every symptom to Hawaii. Yeah. So we went to the doctor The next day, I think my blood sugar was like 715. So I was on insulin injections later that later that afternoon.
Scott Benner 5:50
Okay, and so your as a senior in high school in January, did you feel like you were a prospect to be drafted to it? What was your understanding of your trajectory at that point?
Brandon Morrow 6:01
I had already committed to Cal. But I don't think Yeah, I don't I don't know about pro prospects at that point. I think that stuff started coming later towards the end of the year. Yeah, I don't, I wasn't like, a really big, professional prospect in high school. I mean, I was drafted in the 14th round, I guess, if I said, if I really wanted to go, I could have, you know, told them I was definitely gonna sign and probably could have gotten earlier. But yeah, it wasn't that big of a prospect. So they weren't visiting me visiting me like, really early on.
Scott Benner 6:37
I see. And so did you think to yourself, I'm gonna go to college and come out and get drafted higher? Or were you just like, I really just want to go to college and play baseball. Where was your mind at around that?
Unknown Speaker 6:49
Um,
Brandon Morrow 6:51
I think it just worked itself out. Like it was just a better opportunity to go to college. And I was excited to be going, I knew I knew some guys that I played with on travel teams that were going to cow. And so it was, it was already a pretty good, like, situation. For me going in, I was really comfortable with coaching staff like them a lot. And Berkeley's close enough to where I grew up, but also far enough away to where you're, you don't feel like you're in the same spot. So I was excited to go and address stuff, just in case. It didn't make sense to, you know, enough financial aid to pull me away or from education.
Scott Benner 7:29
Yeah. And that experience. Yeah. And so, did you finish account? Well, I
Brandon Morrow 7:33
went three years, so I don't have a degree. But now that in baseball, you know, they allow you to be drafted after three. So I had to take that opportunity.
Scott Benner 7:42
Gotcha. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So I asked all that to just try to figure out what your mindset was because you're 18 years old, you're a senior in high school, you're, it's your mindset is I'm going to college and play baseball with my buddies. This is gonna be amazing. Yeah. And you're diagnosed, you're old enough? Do your parents get involved in your care? Or do they kind of just say, Hey, you got to figure this out on your own? Like, what was that like in the beginning?
Brandon Morrow 8:08
It's hard to it's hard to remember. And, to be honest, I'm sure my mom was involved in staying on me, but I don't remember. Like her really like lording over me and really, like hammering down on what I was doing on the time, I think. Maybe they figured it was better just to let me you know, figure it out on my own because I was going to college, you know, I was going to be on my own in such a short period of time, you know, just six months later that I was then you know, getting dropped off at Cal. It was trial by fire you Yeah, you had to figure it out. I was gonna have to figure it out. And yeah, I don't I don't remember them. Like holding my hand.
Scott Benner 8:53
Really. It's a weird it's a weird time because it to me art you're 18 you're about to leave for school. At the same time you're getting I mean, you just get diagnosed with a with an incurable lifelong disease. It takes insulin to manage and it's it's not easy to figure out what was the expectation back then for you? Were you pumping right away? Or? No, I
Brandon Morrow 9:09
was I did. oranges, or first, maybe like six months and then I got I think I got the pen before I left for cow. And then I had that for another year. So I didn't get the pump until maybe like two and a half years in. Okay. I think
Scott Benner 9:34
were you part of the regular rotation right away, or did you set for a while playing? Yeah.
Brandon Morrow 9:41
I was, uh, I think I started I believe I didn't start on the weekends. I think I started some Tuesday midweek games, and did some relieving on the weekends. But I think I got in there at least once pretty much every week. And
Scott Benner 10:00
yes, so you were in the mix. And so you were having to manage your diabetes along with playing not just not just Oh, yeah, that's Yeah, okay. Do you have a CGM now? No, no you don't so used to see you. So you manage with you manage it by testing your blood sugar. And you know, and and that sort of stuff. Is it mostly mealtime boluses? Or do you find yourself testing and making adjustments during the day? Or what's your what's your standard day? Like would look with the insulin?
Brandon Morrow 10:28
It's mostly meal time.
Unknown Speaker 10:33
Until
Brandon Morrow 10:35
like, maybe during the game, if I'm a little high, I usually so relieving. I'll just go to that, because that's what I'm doing now. Yeah, doing now. So yeah, relieving, you know, I check and eat a little bit before the game, and head out and kind of hang out for a few innings. And then the fourth and fifth inning, I start to kind of get my routine going, and I'll check in then. And sometimes eat a little protein bar or something. And obviously give myself a bolus with that or make any sort of adjustment. Give a little bit Hi,
Scott Benner 11:12
do you ever find yourself low during the game? Or is it is it mostly?
Brandon Morrow 11:15
not usually.
Unknown Speaker 11:18
not usually I have it I have it
Brandon Morrow 11:21
down pretty good. As far as my routines leading up into the game to to get myself My sweet spot to kind of like between 120 and 140. Because I was added, I don't think that it's like a bad situation to follow. I've never been low in a professional game. And I've only been low in a game one time. Starting. I used to go low in my pregame bullpens. But I would have you know, 510 minutes to push it to get myself right. And that was that was plenty of time. But yeah, you know, no problems. No problems in game.
Scott Benner 11:55
You just mentioned having a routine. And I don't know if you know Chris Freeman. He's an Olympic skier who has type one, but I was speaking with him recently. And he called it he talked about, like, the preparation. He's like he has he's a cross country Olympic skier with type one. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Right. And so he's like, if I prep, right, I'm okay. And yeah, you know what I mean, and I think that's what you mean by routine, too, is that you just, you know, what works. And you just, you need to put the effort into actually doing it.
Brandon Morrow 12:19
Yeah, for sure. It's like, I mean, I find I find myself saying the same thing. Like, every time I'm asked about it, really, it's just trying to stay consistent. And if I know what I'm putting in my body, and how it's going to react, you know, you find over time that even though something says 30 carbohydrates on it, and you put, you know, 30 carbohydrates in your pump, and it has your ratios all built in, and everything else, it just does not react the way that you expect it to. So, you know, knowing those things, if I have the same protein bar, if I'm at, you know, 165, and I have that same protein bar that has 18 grams of carbs, I know that I can get myself, you know, a third of a unit on top of that, and it's going to bring me down just, you know, just enough, you know, if I, you know, just dial it into 18. And I don't need to make any adjustments, and then it's going to be just enough that I need. So staying consistent with that just kind of like takes it out of your mind. Like any possible, you know, mix ups or or spikes or lows that you could encounter. You trust that you you trust that what you know is going to happen is going to happen.
Scott Benner 13:30
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a weird sentence. But I say that on here a lot. Like you have to I tell people all the time, like, you know, if, like you were just saying just because a carb count says something. If you bolus something and later you need two more units to bring it back. Well, those two units probably belonged in the initial bolus. Right, so the next time you do it, don't count the carbs again and say to yourself, well, the last time I did eight, it took 10 I'm just gonna go to 10. Yes, yourself and trust what you're seeing is happening yet, you know, so. So you figured out how to do that for yourself. Plus your I find a schedule to be very valuable. Like when my daughter's in school, we have a much easier time keeping her blood sugar where we want it to be because she's regimented. And we know what's coming next and we know what's going to happen.
Brandon Morrow 14:10
Oh, yeah, I'm a I'm a much better diabetic. During the season.
Scott Benner 14:16
My daughter Arden's been wearing the Omni pod tubeless insulin pumps since she was four years old. And just last week, as a part of diabetes Awareness Month, I actually wore an omni pod demo. You know, I tell you all the time, you should try a demo pod. While I tried to demo pod. I couldn't believe I hadn't done it before. So we put it on. And I forgot it was there. I couldn't believe it actually thought for sure it was bothering me or I would notice it or it would feel like a drag but it absolutely didn't. But I took off my T shirt. I was kind of cautious. But other than that my day to day moment to moment, I never once noticed it. It just was really cool. So if you've been thinking about switching your pump or leaving shots and going to a pump, I have to tell you, I think the only pods the way to go for person who never wore one before I put it on and I didn't know it was there. And that has to be a big part of this not being burdened by it. No tubes coming off of you know, things hanging from your belt, nothing to hold on to or remember nothing that can get caught on a doorknob, just this small little device that just adheres to you. And then apparently, you just forget it's there. You don't really have to take my word for it, you could try it yourself. You just go to my on the pod.com Ford slash juicebox. And you fill in the tiniest bit of information and on the pod, we'll send you one out. And if you like it great, just keep going with the process. And if you don't, whatever, toss it away and say I tried it didn't work for me. That Scott guy is crazy. But I don't think you're gonna say that. I think you're gonna say wow, this is worth looking into further. I know that the pot has been a huge part of how we manage my daughter's Type One Diabetes over the years. It is an incredible piece of technology. And I don't know where we'd be without it. I hope you give it a try. My on the pod.com forward slash juicebox try a free no obligation demo today.
Unknown Speaker 16:04
Eddie gotta Morrow continues to be lights out.
Brandon Morrow 16:08
Much better diabetic during the season, because it's like Groundhog Day. You know, it's the same thing every single day you play at seven o'clock you get there at 130. You do you know batting practices at four. It's the you can you can set your watch by where you are on the field. Right? Pretty much And yeah, much better. As far as keeping a schedule during the season.
Scott Benner 16:30
Yeah, yeah, Arden. She's 13 now so she just finished like her she plays softball, she plays third base and she just finished Little League and to give I know every a lot of kids play you sports. But to give you an idea of where she's at. She was 13 was too game shy going to Little League World Series last year. So yeah, so they so she plays and she's little, she's five to try to match is five three weighs about 96 pounds, and throws the ball around at third base, like she's twice that size. And it's it's but the once we got into the real into the tournament, and they were now living in barracks, and literally barracks, and it was really, it was something like I mean, you're used to the travel where you show up on the weekends. And for softball, they play two and three games in a day, and then it's over. And then your biggest, you know, it's easy to keep her balanced, I find it easy to keep her steady during the games. And then you just kind of have to catch a low if it's coming later in the evening. But you know, when they were playing when they went to like once a day, and then you know, it was like practice and then they come off the field and they go do other things. And it's like, wow, this is it was a lot of work. Like it was a lot more work than it usually was. But But we did find a pattern with it after a couple of days. And it became I don't want to say it became easy, but it but like you said like I started to know what was coming. And it was easy to handle it because I know.
Brandon Morrow 17:47
Right? Yeah,
Scott Benner 17:48
that's really it's very cool. So. So I tell my son all the time, that baseball is about playing the next year, like being being good enough to still be there. The next time somebody makes a team. You know, you know, it's great how you're doing now. But you know, you know, are you going to be there next year? Are you still a prospect for the next step in the next step. And I always try to talk to them about not being too like I always tell them like, don't ever feel like you made it in, you know, because I said once you feel like you accomplished what you're going after, you know, maybe that's the maybe that makes that sort of the end of the journey for you. Yeah, you know, and I want and I watch him do that. And I see how baseball pushes him academically. And then vice versa. I see how the academics push like he wanted to play baseball in college. So he tried harder with his academics and I believe he would have if he didn't love baseball so much. And that idea of continuing to get better and improve and find a new like tier to reach for Do you think baseball has helped you with your diabetes or diabetes has helped you with your baseball? Do you believe that they're interconnected in a way that they both like inform each other? Or do you not think that at all like I'm just wondering if if you have that feeling like I see it with with my kids,
Brandon Morrow 19:05
I would say probably that baseball has helped me more with the diabetes Okay, then the other way around? I don't I don't think the baby is helps with the baseball I don't see how that would
Scott Benner 19:17
it doesn't make you tougher or more.
Brandon Morrow 19:20
Yeah, I mean, I mean maybe there's you know, there's some things you could do just that but I think the baseball you know you you obviously have to take your health very seriously. And then there's also the you know, I have to take mice my health seriously for the 24 other guys on the team. And that's what that's why i i've talked about before like, you know, if I go low out on the mound, I'm not just you know, hurting my own statistics or you know, whatever having a bad out again, myself, like that's hurting everybody because I'm out there, doing whatever then then they have to maybe make it pitching change. Or if I make a bad pitch or, you know, based or whatever, whatever you write Exactly. And so you gotta, you know, you're not just only doing it for yourself, but you know, you're doing it for all your teammates as well.
Scott Benner 20:11
And you think that does kind of give you the like, but you sound like me. Listen, I sometimes think that, that athletes don't know how maybe they don't know as much about like, like, I talked to my son about baseball, and I asked him like, how do you do that? He just his answer is like, I don't know, I just I just do it. Like, it's not like he doesn't realize that running. The he doesn't realize that running, you know, 50 yards in three seconds and catching a ball as he's careening into a fence is impressive to other people. You know, to me, like he just feels like that's what happens. That ball goes up in there I go get it. And yeah. And so when it's funny to hear you talk about it a little bit, because it is. It's It's what you do every day is an incredible amount of effort. And it takes a ton of focus. But I think it's probably just by you being a ballplayer, it's just who you are. You know what I mean? Like, I don't I don't imagine, you know, another way to live. Like, if you stopped playing baseball today, I don't think you would suddenly stop taking care of your diabetes, because there was no one counting on you anymore.
Brandon Morrow 21:10
No, no. But yeah, but I think the baseball just with with all the other kind of aspects that that you think about like you think about your your health and diet, and because you want to be successful at baseball, then obviously, controlling and managing your diabetes as well as you can it falls falls into that category of you know, physically preparing yourself to compete.
Scott Benner 21:40
Yeah, yeah. Hey, are there other any other endocrine issues in your family? Do other people have type one or are other endo issues?
Brandon Morrow 21:50
No,
Scott Benner 21:50
no. You just a lucky one, Brandon.
Brandon Morrow 21:53
Yeah. Yeah, no diabetes. My grandfather was type two, but
Scott Benner 21:59
not like celiac or thyroid conditions. My mom
Brandon Morrow 22:01
has a thyroid condition that she takes postwar, I think.
Scott Benner 22:09
But you find that a lot. My wife has a hyper thyroid and had it for years after she had Arden and then ARD was diagnosed. And we didn't even see the correlation until a doctor bottle up one day and said, you'll probably see other endo issues near family line, if you look. And it was interesting that they were there. It was almost like, there were a number of people on the female side of my wife's family who had different endocrine issues, but not one of them repeated. Nobody had the same thing twice. It was a It's weird.
Brandon Morrow 22:36
Oh, interesting. Yeah, I haven't really probably researched that so much.
Scott Benner 22:42
So listen to your you're drafted really high. I mean, five is you must have been pretty thrilled. And and you head out to the Mariners. Was it your intention? like did you hope to start? Did you think you're gonna come out of the pen? How did they use you when you got there and I read your draft profile do I bet you haven't heard this in a while. fastball splitter duo will be tempting for any team looking for an advanced college arm with these two pitches, he could move to the bullpen where he has previous experience. Here's the part that I don't know if it's hurtful or not his weight, and his diabetic condition maker relief are all more possible. Do you think baseball saw you as a reliever just because of your size? Or do you think do you think the diabetes had some thought and how people saw you? Or is this just some guy writing bs for a blog?
Brandon Morrow 23:30
It's probably bs for a blog. But that doesn't mean that other people didn't see it that way.
Scott Benner 23:35
That way,
Brandon Morrow 23:35
I know that the Mariners did not. And that the reason I moved to the bullpen early was not because I was diabetic, but because that they thought they were going to compete and had a need in the bullpen. Okay. And I know that when drafted, they saw me as a starter and allowed me to stretch out and have some starting experience at different points throughout my firt my three seasons there. Yeah, I don't think anybody has ever been pigeon holed me, just at least, at least in the like, baseball development you know, front office, guys, I don't think they've ever cared about the diabetes or thought that it was gonna hold me back. I think there's been plenty written on it and you know, conjecture as to whether or not I would be able to start or whatever because of it or what I would be better best suited to do, but I don't think it ever came into any actual decision making. They don't make baseball decisions based on on that.
Scott Benner 24:38
on things like that. They wouldn't let you pitch and if it didn't work out, then they would have did would have cut there they would have made a change but but not so you don't see because that's what I meant. So I because I've interviewed people on here who whose kids have been kicked off a sporting teams for having diabetes because the coaches were so scared of it. Like I didn't know it, at what level do the coaches not even think about that they think of that as something that's between you And maybe the trainer and it's not even something they get in volved in you know, it's it's funny because I've talked to Sam fold a couple of times and and he said that, like he's he's heard from Joe Maddon like that man so that you'd forget that even had diabetes. Like it wasn't something I thought about when I thought about it right?
Brandon Morrow 25:17
Yeah, I'm sure that pretty much every coach that I've played for would would say that about me, it's just it's never I've never made it an issue, it's never been an issue, you know, when you have it good. And I've always been self sufficient. The trainer's have never had to do anything other than maybe helped me, you know, get the phone number of a doctor to get some insulin on the road or something like that.
Scott Benner 25:43
But they're not involved at your character in the game, or they're
Unknown Speaker 25:45
not involved in
Scott Benner 25:46
my care at any point. It's funny, because even even when I go to back to school night for my daughter, one of the things they'll say is, you know, I was so worried about having someone with diabetes in my class. But to be honest with you, I didn't I don't remember it anymore. As if my daughter's CGM beeps, the teacher sometimes don't even recall what it is because it just doesn't happen that often. And she takes care of it on our own. And I just think it's a good, I want to say a lesson. But I think it's good for people to hear that you were able to get to such a high level in such a competitive part of life. And you're not waving your hands around going, I need help or you know, like, you know what I mean? Like, it's, it's valuable for people to be able to hear you say that, I think and yeah,
Brandon Morrow 26:26
I've been I've been a free agent. I think this is the fourth or fifth year in a row. I've been a free agent. And every time you know, a team asked me like, hey, what what do we need to do for you? As far as the diabetes? We need to connect you with the trainer now? Or, you know, what do we what do we need to have set up when you arrive in the snatch say nothing? Right? You literally don't have to do anything. I take care of it all. Yeah, trainers, like won't even, you know, you don't even see it. Like, I maybe change my insertion site, like a couple times at the field. And maybe that's the only time you would ever notice. No,
Scott Benner 27:03
yeah, do you. Um, so it's funny, I just to wrap this up, as I brought, I brought up my son's height when we started talking. Because I see that as somebody's like, preconceived notion of what a baseball player is. And I knew at some point, we would talk about this. And I wanted to know, if you were ran into people who just had a preconceived notion of a baseball player doesn't have a health issue to think about while they're playing. And it's great to hear that that's not been the case for you. Because it gives everybody hope that, that they can be kind of, you know, counted on their own merits and not and not have to, you know, not have to worry about people doing that to them. It's that's it's really uplifting to hear, actually.
Brandon Morrow 27:42
Right. Yeah. And I think in professional athletics more than youth, athletics is more of a meritocracy. Right? Like, they don't, they don't care if your diabetes is well controlled, or poorly controlled, as long as you're, you know, if you hit 25 home runs, or you know, you win 15 games, like they don't care what you do. Yeah, right, right. And if you can, you know, and obviously, you want to do everything you can to, you know, play as well as you can. So, you know, taking care of your diabetes is is obviously one of the bigger things that I have to focus on.
Scott Benner 28:20
Someone told me one time that I think the team I play for just sees me as a commodity, I'm just a, I'm a piece of meat, they pay me I'm supposed to do what I'm supposed to do. And if I can't do it anymore, then that's gonna sort of be it I have to perform to, to stay. And, and I think that, you know, it's not a harsh thought, it's, it's a business, it's a great sport. And it's, it's a beautiful piece of, I mean, I could wax poetically about baseball forever, and how kind of beautiful it is to watch and, and the game inside of the game and everything. But in the end, you guys are out there, somebody's paying you to do it. And, you know, they need you to do it. So So you think as long as you're not having a problem, and you say you don't need anything, they're not going to worry about you again. And that's gonna be it. That's, it's, I like it. I think it's great. I think that people worry about it. One of the reasons I love talking to you today is because parents who, whose kids get diagnosed when they're younger, one of the first things they consider is what are all the things their kids can't do anymore. That's the first that's their first worry. And to see somebody doing something, it's such a great, you know, a great way to great level, it really does give people hope that there's really no limits, and I shouldn't be placing them on my kids.
Brandon Morrow 29:31
Yeah, well, I think I was fortunate to be diagnosed later. And, you know, kind of already like, my parents were like, Hey, you can't do this. I would have been, you know, like, leave me alone. Of course, I'm going to keep playing baseball. Like he didn't tell me not to go out there and play baseball. They would obviously never have done that. Especially at that point in my life. I mean, I was already going to college baseball like it was. But yeah, when when. I mean, I'm sure my mom Had sleepless nights thinking about what I was doing at school, you know how my blood sugar's were controlled and if I was, you know, doing well or not, and those are probably, you know, well thought out thoughts because I know there was times where, you know, I left my vial of insulin in my dorm room or, you know, whatever until I switched to the pump. Really it was it was probably a bigger struggle. But yeah, I know like, it's it's tough on, on parents with younger kids. I've spoke in front of groups before and they're always it's when you have a group of, you know, kids and parents, you're almost always speaking more to the parents than you are to the children because they're, I mean, they don't care. They're like, they feel right. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The parents are the ones with all the worries.
Scott Benner 30:51
Yeah, it's interesting. So you see you were a tubes, pumps. So you disconnect the pitcher, I would say, obviously, right. In when you were starting, did you reconnect during innings? Or how did you handle that? Because now you're I mean, listen, they pulled you, you you through I can't remember what game it was. But in the World Series. We were we're Phillies fans, but we were cheering for the Dodgers because of you and because I want good things for chase la no matter what. And so I I spent my life pointing to chase Utley and telling my son, if you play like that guy, you'll be okay.
Brandon Morrow 31:22
Right? That's a good, good thought I
Scott Benner 31:26
was thinking the other day about this Dexcom ad. And then I would have to record it. And I thought continuous glucose monitor. Those are not sexy words. How do you make that sound exciting? Well, here, if you're living with Type One Diabetes,
Unknown Speaker 31:39
here's one way
Scott Benner 31:40
right now it's Saturday morning, and I'm editing this podcast, and Arden is sleeping in. Do you know what our blood sugar is? It's ADA. And it's nice and steady. And she's sleeping away and resting up. And I am as comfortable as can be. Now that that is peace of mind. So continuous glucose monitor might not sound fancy or exciting. But it really is. The dexcom g five, mobile is amazing. And you should have one, I'm not kidding. If you should immediately go to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box to find out more is x com g five features share and follow apps that are available for Android and iPhone. It is FDA approved to make treatment decisions, which means you don't need a finger stick to dose insulin. Really, the best part is that you know when your blood sugar is moving in what direction it's going in, and you can make these small adjustments to stop it. So instead of getting a high blood sugar that you have to crush later with insulin and you end up low, you just say Oh, it's creeping up, you give it a tiny little bit, you bump it down, you nudge it down. And it's right back again. Just tiny little bumps and nudges that make everything so much easier and keep your blood sugar so stable. It's how we do it. Go to dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. To find out more. If you don't want to use your phone to use your Dexcom It comes with this really great new receiver. You could just use that if you want to. Not everybody has a cell phone. I mean, you might be one in like, you know, bazillion, but hey,
Unknown Speaker 33:06
you'd be you.
Scott Benner 33:25
There was one game you through such a beautiful ending and he lifted you afterwards and I was heartbroken for you. And I don't remember which game it was but you know, that's your role. Right? Like you finished that ending no matter how good you're going. You're probably not going back out again at this point. At least with the Dodgers this year.
Brandon Morrow 33:40
Yeah, most of the time. I mean, you know there there's Yeah, there's there's lots of different reasons for that. It's you know, the the point in the order is how they want to craft their you know, bridge to get to Kenley Jansen and who's coming up next. The fact that if I just throw the one in that day, then I can throw again the next day, which during the World Series I did you did every time. Did you set a record with that? Well, you you tie a record because there was actually no, the gentleman that he derald Knowles is the only other guy to pitch and all seven games of the World Series. I think it was in 73 with the A's. Okay, um, and he was a he was a pitching coach in the Blue Jays organization when I played with him, so I actually knew that about him before I did it, so you can't break a seven game record when there's only seven games and there's only seven K so you
Scott Benner 34:39
take the hall afterwards.
Brandon Morrow 34:41
Yeah, they did. They they a pair of cleats that I wore and my hat.
Scott Benner 34:46
That's excellent. But you take a trip when you're older with your you have kids?
Brandon Morrow 34:51
Yes, we we have a 15 month old son.
Scott Benner 34:55
Oh, congratulations. Yeah, there'll be a road trip in your future one day where you pointed out issues. And it's really it was really cool. I mean, you were so your Can I ask you something because I, I became aware of you, I guess in Toronto, you and I actually tweeted back and forth years ago, which you would have no idea. Okay. But I became aware of you there because of the diabetes Did you? My first question is did you cross over with Roy Halladay? Or did he leave you where
Brandon Morrow 35:22
he was? So, in the oh nine 2010 offseason, Toronto hired a new General Manager Alex anthopoulos. And his first move as general manager was trading Roy Halladay to the Phillies embrace every day for that mistake. Yeah, sure. Well, they had to they had to do something they were they were starting to rebuild and was still great, but nearing the end of his career. Sure. And they got really good prospects in return. And then, but anyway, the second move that he made maybe four or five days later was trading for me from Seattle. So we know we never we never played each other. We never been teammates for any period of time by about a week.
Scott Benner 36:16
I'll tell you a couple of years. I got to watch him like throw every day. He just it was amazing. He just He appeared to will the ball to go where he wanted it. Yeah, it was really something to watch him just to go and we were actually in my sunlight. We're in Florida. In his last season first spring training, and I watched him pitch. I was up on a hill. So where was I did the Tiger Stadium. I was in the outfield up on a big berm. So I might have bet that we might have met the Tiger Stadium and he was laboring and laboring and I've never felt so bad for a person I didn't know personally in my entire life. Like he you could see how badly he wanted to do what he wanted to do. And he couldn't get his body to do it anymore. It was Yeah, it was heartbreaking. Yeah, you know, but but you're not having that issue later in your career. You're on fire?
Brandon Morrow 37:02
Well, not not anymore. I had I had shoulder surgery a couple years ago, that, you know, has seemed to clear everything up I had, I was lucky to just have a debridement surgery. So that means they just, you know, trimmed the fraying tissues and cleaned it up and made it all nice and tidy. So nothing was rubbing on, on different things in their intention and no anchors or sutures to fix any tears. gag I really like with that. And it really felt really, really good this year and everything just so much better and seem to clean up a lot of issues that I hadn't passed.
Scott Benner 37:45
Yeah, that's excellent. So you were you. You weren't out but you, you. You went to the miners at some point before you came back up, right?
Brandon Morrow 37:52
Yeah, I have two years in a row. I signed a minor league deal. I signed. Don't 15 after I was done with in Toronto, I went to San Diego I signed signed a deal to start with San Diego and I made five starts with them and then was ultimately shut down with what ended in the shoulder surgery. And then I resigned with them after that winter and spent 16 with them. Mostly in the minor leagues. I tried to start a little bit at the beginning. And then started relieving about the all star break. I made it back up to the major leagues in the middle of August. with them. I pitched great, but I didn't really have like my stuff back. Okay. It was okay, I was getting out during the ball where I wanted to but nothing was I wasn't impressing anybody obviously because I had to sign another minor league deal the next year, which was before this season, so I signed with the Dodgers. And I was able to have a full offseason. I mean because I going back to the year before even after right after the surgery then that winter I came down with valley fever which is a it's like it's basically fungal pneumonia, which you cannot Yeah, it was miserable. So I was bedridden for three weeks and really couldn't work out at all. So that was a huge wrench in my plans. But I had you know, a full healthy offseason before this last year in the spring training I knew things were immediately different for the better with my body and I started in triple A with them after well in spring but I just have so many guys I have so much that snack last year it was crazy. Yeah. And they just had you know it's just roster management. And you know they could afford to stash me in the minor leagues for a couple months. So I so I stay down there and pitch and then obviously through through great when I came back up and say the rest of the time
Scott Benner 40:00
you sat around him You sit right around 99 you hit 100 ever? Yeah. Is it frequently? And that was it like that before the surgery?
Brandon Morrow 40:10
It was Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I could I could run it up. I could always get probably hit 98 in almost every startup ever. Okay. Made minus like the last couple years before shoulder surgery probably. And I probably sat like 94 starting. But relieving. Yeah, I mean, everything gets bumped up a little bit.
Scott Benner 40:34
And so it's funny. I can't think of his name now. But he's in the club system. But a few years ago, we were my son was working out somewhere locally here in New Jersey. And there was a kid in there and he was throwing, he was already in the minors with the cubs. And he was pumping just like that. But I asked, we were talking a little bit and he said, Yeah, I don't know if I'm gonna make it. I'm like, dude, you're throwing 100 miles an hour. It's like he's like, but I get hit. And I was like, wow, that's first of all. That's insane. And he really had to learn how to pitch even just throwing that hard wasn't enough. Yeah. He said, you know, through college, and everything, it didn't matter. He's like, I stood up there and just blew people away. And he's like, and I got that a minor and these guys knocked me around, like, like, it was nothing. And I was like, wow, that's insane. So I guess my bigger question is about that as I mean, it's you obviously can pitch you're fantastic. But I was wondering how much the hitting theories in baseball right now affect pitching. I don't know if this is to baseball geek, you're not but I really care. So is the idea of guys swinging for launch angles? Does it change how you have to pitch?
Brandon Morrow 41:41
Yeah, that is real baseball geeky and yeah,
Scott Benner 41:43
sorry.
Brandon Morrow 41:44
Right. Yeah, I think I think guys going for launch angle. And, you know, the way they have to manipulate their bat path to get to that I think that does fall into what at least the Dodgers did. Our philosophy was high fastballs and you obviously have to have the velocity to throw it there. And then also other fastball characteristics, characteristics like spin rate and rise and all that other stuff. And I think that guys just have trouble getting getting get Terrell to the top of his own like that. And we had a lot of guys with that. Were really good at doing that.
Scott Benner 42:34
Right. Especially in the bullpen, when they hit her can actually catch one of those. It's shocking. It just the pitcher look shocked. The hitter look shocked. I look shocked sitting at home. like everybody's like, wow, how did you did you barrel that up up there? You know, but yeah, but it seems to me that the way the game ebbs and flows, at some point, pitchers are going to like, you know, would have been able to devise a way to pitch around what they're trying to do. And yeah, it goes back and forth. I mean, you see, you saw so many sinker ballers in the late 90s, early 2000s. And that was combating the, you know, huge home run numbers that you saw then and, and then now, guys,
Brandon Morrow 43:14
Bennett, you see a lot of good low ball hitters. And that's probably partially because there were so many sinker, ballers And guys, so much pitching philosophy was just throw it down, down down all the time, right.
Scott Benner 43:29
And you'll learn how to get your hands out then to get under that and
Brandon Morrow 43:32
yeah, and then now you see it just kind of going the other way. It's like a, you know, constant back and forth. By it's fun when you're they'll continue you know, it's probably cyclical the way you know, everything else is
Scott Benner 43:44
Yeah, I know. My son hopes it doesn't go the other way too soon, because he just figured it out about a year and a half ago. So
Unknown Speaker 43:49
I'm pretty thrilled at the moment.
Scott Benner 43:52
Which Jamie Moore you're in Seattle when you get out there. He just he talked about his
Brandon Morrow 43:56
Yeah, his his last year in Seattle was the year before it was the year I signed with the Mariners. But the year before that, I got to the major leagues. I actually played catch with Jamie the day that I signed my contract after being drafted Wow, that's crazy. They bring they bring you up to Seattle and you know do a little mini press conference and then you send you sign your contract and I went out and I changed and play catch with the guys on the field and Jags and batting practice and stuff so I played catch with Jamie wire but that's pretty cool. I don't think I ever met him again after that.
Scott Benner 44:29
He's very he's very involved in in supporting good causes. And I and I know you you really have thrown a lot of your weight behind the jdrf which I I really appreciate i think i think a lot of the things that the jdrf does is exciting. But I I'm always most impressed with the work they do in Washington on behalf of people living with diabetes like I think that's incredibly behind the scenes but very, very important.
Unknown Speaker 44:55
Do you
Scott Benner 44:57
do you have other things You do around diabetes? Or is the jdrf sort of your main focus for your, your advocacy for type one?
Brandon Morrow 45:07
jdrf has been the easiest. Yeah, because they're the most prevalent. So they've been the easiest organization for me to reach out to or have them, you know, reaching out to me. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do as much as I would have liked. You know, after kind of starting to get settled in my career, then I had all the injuries. So when you're not on the field, it's hard to do all the other stuff because you're, I spent so much time rehabbing either in Florida or Arizona that I, you know, I was starting to get especially when I got to San Diego, there's there's so much in that areas with medical research. And they, one of the owners is is diabetic. Peter Siler and I met him right away when I was there, right. And his wife is, like the director of the San Diego chapter of the jdrf. So they were already involved. So it was it was a really nice situation for me to get involved in. And I did some stuff early where, you know, kids come out and you meet them on the field, and you talk and just kind of a meet and greet and, and I went I did a couple events. There was a jdrf, one walk or something that yeah, that I got involved with, and, and then I was hurt. So it's like, if you're not around? Yeah, it's hard to do it. Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to be involved. So then there was the whole, you know, the next year and a half was pretty much a focus of trying to trying to get back and go back to the major leagues. And it's hard. And obviously, there's, you know, when you're, you're not out there, like, you're not, you're not getting the call is that? Yeah, help anybody out?
Scott Benner 46:52
Well, you know what, though, it's, I mean, every time I've heard you speak, you talk about it with no fear, like, it's, I can see a situation where somebody might want to keep that more private, because they don't want to get judged. They don't want people to have cross thoughts about them. But I've always seen you be very just out in front of it. And you know, I have diabetes doesn't change doesn't change what I do, it doesn't change how I eat, you know, like the kind of messages I think that people need to hear about it, which is, you know, it's, you know, it's seeing you talk about it, or, you know, watching the World Series and having, I think you I think they started to talk about it one night, and then you got the guys out so fast. They couldn't get the story out, which was funny, and sad. At the same time. I was like, oh, they're gonna talk about diabetes. Unless Brandon just Nazis guy. Yeah,
Brandon Morrow 47:34
that was actually I think that was game one. I actually I tweeted out a picture because Ken Rosenthal was wearing his jdrf tie. Okay, he wears a bow tie every game with a with a different organization, a different charitable organization, with their logo printed on it. So for game one of the World Series, he had a jdrf tie, which was actually it was voted in. As you know, the game one time, he added on whatever website or, you know, a fans vote on which tie they want him to wear in the jdrf that they voted for game one. So he's wearing that I tweeted out a picture with me and him in the clubhouse before. With him with it on But yeah, I think I watched the back that somebody said they were, you know, the same thing. And yeah, it was funny. I was, I think I threw like six or seven pitches, and they use and he was like, Alright, and come up next. Yeah, exactly. I
Scott Benner 48:29
don't think I've ever heard about Yeah, I didn't. I've never written for anybody to plunk somebody before. I'm like, but he needs a guy on base and get the story out.
Brandon Morrow 48:36
And yeah, and then I don't think they ever got through the rest of the series. But
Scott Benner 48:41
yeah, it's got less than that. You're doing other things. And it's really cool. So like, just watching you out there playing. So I don't know, if you like how aware you are of it. Like my daughter. My daughter plays salt. Like my son lives and breathes baseball, right? So he's right now wondering why it's not warm out where we are. So he can go outside. You know, he's only paying attention in school. So we get to college and keep playing baseball, like that. But my daughter is good. My daughter is very good at it. But she's also the minute she walks away from it. She doesn't really talk about it anymore. But I saw her stop in front of the television a couple of times during the series. And she's like, Is that him? And I'm like, yeah, and then she just sort of sit and watch it through. And then you know, and she get up again, but you could just tell it meant something to her that other person with diabetes was, was there doing that thing? You know, like it was me it was meaningful to her to see you there. And what I saw on social media and in the circles that this show travels in, is it there are a lot of people who felt the same way. Like if it was you know, I don't know if no one was cheering for you, except for the people with diabetes, you still would have had a lot of people cheering you know, so it's just really I'm thanking you when I have no business thanking you but I it really does mean a lot. You're just living your life but by being open about It means a lot to a lot of people. Yeah.
Brandon Morrow 50:01
Yeah, that's great. And it's something that I just I, I guess you don't ever think about.
Scott Benner 50:07
Yeah, there'd be no reason to usually you're living your life. It's, you're just doing it. So. Alright, so this podcast is gonna go up the second week in November. But I am gonna ask you some questions. I don't know if you can answer that. So you are a free agent right now. I don't even know if you if it's smart to say do you have a place you hope to go? I hear some people talking about you should be going to the cubs. Some people say the Dodgers are definitely gonna resign you again. You're You're a hot commodity and baseball. First of all, it does that feel great.
Brandon Morrow 50:37
Yeah. Yeah, no, no, no, it's good. For sure. I mean, like I said, last year, I signed a minor league deal. And it wasn't until the end of January. So to have, you know, teens already, you know, calling on day one of free agency is definitely a different, different situation. And different fans definitely. Obviously the situation you'd rather be in. Yeah.
Scott Benner 51:03
Well, you deserve it. That's, that'd be first of all, you worked at it. And you mean,
Brandon Morrow 51:07
yeah, a lot of a lot of hard work a long, long path to navigate my way here. As far as the teams go, I mean, going back to LA would be great. They're set up to be good for a really long time. I don't really care if I start or close, that's not as important to me as playing for a contending team and having a chance to win a World Series. I mean, this is my first time playing in the postseason in my It was my 11th year in the major leagues, and my first time playing in the playoffs. So and you hear about it, and it's different. And I mean, once you get there, you don't see you don't want to play regular season games again. Just want to get it again. Yeah. So I think that's that's obviously the number one thing on my list. Yeah.
Scott Benner 52:03
And are you are you hoping for more than one year this time?
Brandon Morrow 52:07
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think I'm in a situation where where I can get commands, you know, two, three, maybe four years. So it's I don't have any you know, there's it's still a little bit slow. Things are you know, teams are obviously checking in and gauging interest and you know, we've been receptive to all of them. I don't I don't have any Korean but crossed off my list. I think in the next couple of weeks leading into the, to the winter meetings, which are like the second week of December I think, that's that's when all the action happens. So it's just kind of, you know, sit and wait until then. Well, I
Scott Benner 52:49
listen, I don't think the Phillies are in a position that you want to be in yet. But you could always fall Gabe Kaplan out here to Philly for us because my my son came home about 20 minutes before you and I started talking. I said you have any questions for Brian? He goes, No, Tom would come to Philly.
Brandon Morrow 53:03
And he kept log ins like, okay, they're gonna be good. I think I mean, we put we played him in August, maybe or early September. And it's a really they got some really good offensive pieces.
Scott Benner 53:16
Yeah. Yeah, no, absolutely. I just I don't know. I don't know if it's time to buy a ticket. Somebody with your specific skill set?
Brandon Morrow 53:23
I don't know if they're up to that yet or not? Well, it just, I mean, objectively speaking, it just didn't really kind of doesn't really make sense for them. Right. At that point to add, I guess I would be like a complimentary piece. Right. You know, that there's they're still working on getting all their all their pieces together. And I guess I would consider myself just somebody like, if you're knocking on the door, just to somebody that can help get you over the top.
Scott Benner 53:50
You're You're really nice add to a team who's there? Yeah. And and for a team who's struggling or not there yet. a position like yours is I don't want to say it's a waste of money, but they might not be in a position to use you that much.
Brandon Morrow 54:04
Right? Yeah. And you might as well just have, you know, you know, see what your 23 year old prospect can do at the same time then rather than signing you know,
Scott Benner 54:13
you know what, speaking of that, you guys were you had so many young guys on the field with a Dodgers issue. Do you think that's a trend in baseball, or do you think those guys are just special? Because in football, you know, you remember it used to be football you got drafted. You sat on the bench for a long time you watch them play football for a long time before you got in the field. Now. It's a race to get you on the field. Is that happening in baseball or we are Korean and Belgium. They just they just special? Do you think at a young age? I think
Brandon Morrow 54:39
they're just special. I mean, I don't I don't think most teams are in a real hurry to get their guys there. I think actually, they'd probably rather have them take their time. But those guys are different.
Scott Benner 54:54
It's just different. Oh, yeah.
Brandon Morrow 54:55
Yeah, that's I mean, they're, you know, They're Mike trout and Bryce Harper, and they're there. And Chris, Brian, they're lumped in with those guys like those guys. They're just Yeah, they're just different players like they belong there. And there's, you know, no reason. I mean, if there was a league higher, that'd be in that league. So,
Scott Benner 55:15
yeah, but my wife walks us over enjoying one game, and I think they had the camera on first patient. She goes, is that kid like 12 years old? I said, he does look young, doesn't it? I think it's a game you learn. Right? Like, I think that I think that is I watch. Listen, it's my son's not a professional baseball player. But I watch him absorb the game and take lessons out of things. And, you know, we've we've had weekends where I think an untrained person who didn't understand baseball would think, well, what a waste of a weekend and my son will come off the field go, No, you know what, that's the first time anybody ever hit a ball that high over my head, it was great to see that. And, you know, like it, he's like, now I know, when it leaves the bat like that. I know where it's going next time, there are these little lessons you learn as you're going through, and you have to play the game and watch the game be played to, to absorb that stuff. Unless you're such a super, you know, athlete and talented it just, it just comes that simply to you, I guess. Right? Well,
Brandon Morrow 56:16
I mean, as talented as the guys that we just talked about are I mean they're they still work as hard as anybody and you know, in between at bats are still, you know, going to the batting cage and trying to figure out what they did wrong with that just one swing and you know, everything, you know, everything you just talked about. Yeah,
Scott Benner 56:34
it's funny how videos come into play. Like I I'll actually because through the recruiting season, I was the camera monkey. While I was trying to train myself trying to gain interest. You know, somebody's busy just holding up like getting at bats and stuff. And at the first we just thought we were just doing it to have the video to show people this is how he plays. But at some point, he'd start coming over the fence. He's like, Can I just see my like, second and third swing of that bat? And I was like, and you could really see it helping like I was like, wow, these these like advanced holes are real and Oh yeah, it's really sad. I mean, do you watch yourself pitch ever? Like and Oh, yeah. Do you watch the hit of what's more valuable to watch the hitters react to the pitcher? Watch your mechanic Sterling or is there is there value in both?
Brandon Morrow 57:17
Um, yeah, there's value in both I mean you're watching we were watching for different reasons I don't I don't try to do a whole lot of mechanical analysis on myself. I'm one I'm pretty physically intuitive, I guess. So I can feel a lot of things and make a lot of changes on the fly. But I don't I think I think it can be detrimental to stare and watch it yourself and watch yourself do the wrong mechanics. And if you're trying to fix stuff that's what you're watching a lot of is really self care and rocks have sometimes times I actually watch more video of myself doing well which guys kind of call it like a digney video right? So you're watching yourself either like hitting homers or striking guys out but you're also reinforcing like good mechanics. Like in your mind, if you're watching yourself throw great pitches, then you're kind of like, I guess one building your inner confidence like like I don't know how nasty I am or whatever but you're also watching yourself with good mechanics because to throw a good pitch you have to have good mechanics to throw it and to make it you know to hit a home or you have to have you know good bat path and good swing mechanics to get the barrel they're
Scott Benner 58:37
amazing. You have to believe in yourself like you have to believe you can do it yeah, and not think about and I'm thinking about you pitching right now. You're you're you're an athlete not some There used to be a there used there can be a delineation some guys are just pitchers. Do you know what I mean? Right there. Yeah, throwers they get up there, then they throw but you're athletic. So you, you it's I'm really drawing a line here with my son because it's where my bits where my experiences, but like, like seriously when I'll say to him sometimes like I saw him catch a ball one time, like it was every bit of 400 feet and over his shoulder and it looked like he we were standing the backyard. I just flipped it to him. It was amazing how clean and easy he got to the ball. And I pulled him aside as his father amazed. I said, How do you do that? Like that's, that's amazing. And he's like, I don't know, he's like, you just, I just go and I'm like, wow, that's he doesn't even realize how athletic he is. And see an athletic so what I'm so excited about about baseball nowadays is watching real genuine athletes play baseball has elevated the game incredibly. And they're not just guys who play baseball anymore. They're like legit world class athletes. And I think maybe that's what you have going on is that your body just does what it does, and you trust it and and you can feel it. You know, it's a it's just very cool to watch. I sounded like I was gonna ask you out in the date there for a second. I apologize about that. But um, it's just if you will Baseball. It's really great to watch, you know, and so
Brandon Morrow 1:00:03
yeah, definitely. I mean, you definitely don't see. I mean, it's more of a, I guess, with the body types anyway, it's more of a throwback body type like a Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams style like body where obviously with the PD era you saw big hulking guys busted out of their uniforms and yeah, clicking home runs out and yeah, I think the value teams put on speed and defense has gone up a lot. So, obviously to play good defense, it's going to help to be faster and in better shape and be able to get to balls. And yeah, you definitely see a lot more just pure athletes than he did maybe 1015 years ago.
Scott Benner 1:00:48
I appreciate watching. Like, I think it's I think it's amazing. I appreciate watching you this year. And I know everybody else did, too. I'm gonna I'm gonna let you go in a minute. But um, I just let me tell you, thank you for for coming on and doing this. I genuinely appreciate it. This is my last question. Right? Like it? You You made a statement earlier about like, now you almost don't want to play a regular season game you want to get back to the World Series? Did you have that moment where you're like, Wow, I can't believe I'm here. Like I we did it. I did it. I'm here. And and I don't want to bring you down. But like, how? How was it crushing to lose? Or was it amazing just to be there. Because if as people who watch those games, there's two, there's two teams were amazing. Like, every at bat, I didn't know which way it was gonna go every inning you didn't know which way to go. You had a feeling like if this game kept going on, they both could win it. Like it had that weird like vibe. Like you almost didn't get lucky to come up against a team that was just not quite your equal. Right? on both sides. You know? And what does it feel like? I mean, I don't know if you can or you want to articulate but what does it feel like to get that close to something and then not quite get there? Does it just keep you hungry? or How would you describe it? Yeah, I
Brandon Morrow 1:01:59
think it. I think when you did it? Yeah, it's cliche, but when you get a taste of it, then you're hungry for more, I guess to be to finish off, you know, huge cliche there. But it's true. I mean, but yeah, it was there was every emotion involved. It was exhilarating and thrilling, and the best thing ever, but also the worst and crushing and heartbreaking. At the end. And and but I mean, it was obviously an amazing, amazing experience. And like I said, like the regular season, just the grind of that is different. And yeah, the postseason was it was awesome. Yeah. Well,
Scott Benner 1:02:50
you guys gave me a real gift. And I'm sure a lot of other people too. But I was at one night, the game just went on forever. I forget how many innings it was, but my son like sat up together. And Cole and I were watching the game. And at some point, and I got a little melancholy and I said, Hey, this is probably the last time we'll sit down and watch the World Series like this, you're gonna go, you know, go to school, you know, and you'll be in college the next time the series is on and he he's, you know, he's, he's a but he really is a ballplayer, kind of, he's a quiet kid. He doesn't say a whole lot. And he just really like very just kind of earnestly said to me, it goes down, though. He's like, the Phillies will be in it next year, I'll come home and watch it with you. I was I was like, Oh, god, I'm gonna cry. And so like it. But it gave me that moment, one o'clock in the morning, where I was having such a great time with my son and just watching the game. And I mean, the only complaint I have is it would be nice if they started the game a little earlier. But other than that, it's it. It was really, it was just a really nice moment to watch. Yeah, I just think that the baseball is is is it's so much more than people who don't love baseball think it is. And I just I appreciate having it. You guys created that sort of moment for probably a lot of families. So it was really cool. To do it again. I hope you go back to wherever you wherever you want to be. And, and you're crushed again the way that because it was it was really exciting to watch. Yeah, no
Brandon Morrow 1:04:07
doubt.
Scott Benner 1:04:08
Thank you very much. huge thank you to Brandon for coming on the show and talking about playing in the World Series and living with type one. Thank you also to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for helping me set this interview up.
Brandon Morrow 1:04:19
Thank you jdrf.
Scott Benner 1:04:22
Enjoying the Juicebox Podcast. press subscribe in the app you're listening in right now you'll get a new episode every week. Thank you dex comment on the pod for supporting the podcast so generously go to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box or my Omni pod.com Ford slash juice box to find out more.
Announcer 1:04:38
So this is his moment. Morrow delivers. I'm gonna grab ball fully hit the short seegers got it throws the first thing is over and moto gets the job. Second pitcher all time each of the seven games of a World Series.
Scott Benner 1:04:55
Hey guys bold with insulin t shirts are available now at Juicebox Podcast. dot com. Let the world know you're bold,
Unknown Speaker 1:05:02
could become a free agent. Dodgers gave him that chance and today find lightning in a bottle with Morrow who strikes out three batters. He's been doing that all postseason law. What a pitcher
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