Ep. 154: Tony & Ric Oliva: A Story of Family, Baseball, and Belonging

[00:00:00] Mall of America. It's home to world-class shopping, great dining, and amazing attractions and events. And these are our stories presented by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel and Tourism. Welcome to this episode of So Much More. I'm really excited to be here. I'm your host, Dan Jasper today, joined by my colleague, my friend, my co-host, Jo Renslow. How are you? Hello. I am fantastic and really looking forward to this conversation.

[00:00:23] I am too. We both kind of switch places every other show or so, but we're always here and we're both wearing light blue. Look at the blue. It's kind of looking good. In tribute to our guests that are with us today. And we have two really special guests with us today. It is, we are excited to have Minnesota twin, great, Hall of Famer, legend, Tony Oliva with us today. He has so many stories to share. And his son, Rick Oliva.

[00:00:52] Rick is the author of No Hay Problema, the amazing story of Tony Oliva. He's done other writing as well, I happen to know. And so he's going to share some stories of growing up with a famous dad and some of his members as well. Tony is a Hall of Famer, former Rookie of the Year, batting champion, eight-time All-Star, and one of the most beloved Minnesota Twins players in history.

[00:01:16] I grew up watching you when I was a little kid and I loved it. It was you, you know, it was so much fun. You and Rod Kru and Harmon Killebrew and it was the good old days. Tony, Rick, welcome to the show. Thanks for having us. Thank you. Thank you. It's nice to be here. For me, it's a dream to be here, especially right here in the modern America because I remember I played baseball right here in this field.

[00:01:43] You have never been this high, you know, this high here in the modern America. I remember this is the high that Harmon Killebrew used to hit his home runs. He could hit them high and far, couldn't he? He hit one here that still have this sign here in the mall where he hit the ball. Yes.

[00:02:01] 500, you know, 500 feet. Yeah, that was, you know, every time I come to the mall, I have to come to the home play. You know, I tell myself, man, I've been here for 100, at least 100,000 times because I played 15 years right here. And this was the home base of Minnesota Twins, you know. And that was your spot, that home plate. My spot. You know, I go, I'm making sure I go to the home plate. I've been to the left side.

[00:02:31] And I say, oh, man, can you believe it? A little guy from Cuba being here in Minnesota where it's nice and cold. And they got the best people in the whole United States. Yep. Wonderful people. Yeah, here, be a part of this thing. It's unbelievable.

[00:02:48] It is amazing. Take us back to the beginning of your days as a professional player when you did come to Minnesota and talk us through those early years and what it was like. Well, you see, baseball is a little bit different today than when I play, especially when you play in Emanuel Lee. You know, I used to play in Emanuel Lee. I came here from Minnesota and Hammond Killebrew was here.

[00:03:17] Soil Versailles, Camilo Pasquale. I don't speak any English. I still don't speak English too well. I think you're doing great. I don't speak any. Well, Camilo Pasquale and Soler Versailles and Julio Becker, and, you know, they take care of me. It's like I was his little puppy. You know, I follow them always. And Hammond Killebrew and Gene Carter was very nice to me. They take care of me, especially when I'm in this role too. Gene Carter used to take me to dinner and all this stuff.

[00:03:47] That was something different for me because coming here, I see I was a superstar. And I know about it, you know what I mean? You respect those guys because you don't have the opportunity. Right now, one of the ballplayers, you know, half the ballplayers right now right here, they have a chance to go to spring training, you know, mingle with the guys. It's different. Those days you see the guy, you say, oh, no, you know, this is Hammond Killebrew. This is Gene Lemmon.

[00:04:17] Somebody in that group, I say, I don't believe it. I was there, you know. Every time you see this guy, you know, you was like nervous about. But you get used to pretty soon because you have a guy like Killebrew, you know, that is American, Gene Carter. They don't understand me, but they try to understand me. They call me, they call me, I always tell a different name, you know, like, you know, like something that I like, you know. Okay.

[00:04:47] Like Gene Carter, you know, you say, call me a little boy, you know, with me, you know, because I was younger. How old were you when you started with the twins? Oh, when I get here, I was 21 already. 22, I was the first time I had a chance to be here because I was lucky. Yeah. I come from the minor league so fast. I hit 400 my first year, and they brought me up here to a big league.

[00:05:13] I not played the first year in 61, but I was practicing when the club got used to. And this year, I come back here to a big league, and right away, you know. But I think it was taking me a little bit longer, like one extra year, because believe me, I was a great hitter. I killed the ball in the minor league. I remember. I killed the ball in the spring training, 400, you know.

[00:05:42] But I had a hard time to catch the ball. I was so bad that I catch a flat ball and grab the ball. Sometimes the guy hit a flat ball and said, I got it, got it, got it. And the ball was 20 feet behind me. Well, the sun got in your eyes. No, I never played night games in Cuba. Yeah, but sometimes they hit a ground ball, and the ball got through my leg too. But, you know, the funny part was that I was so proud of that.

[00:06:11] Three years later, I practiced so hard. I believed myself that I can be like one of those big league ball players. I watched a lot of big league players, like Al Carline for Detroit. He was the best in American League in those days. He said, I want to be like him. I played the position like him, like that. Three years later, I won the Golden Glove in American League. That's amazing. Yeah, after that, I make the other start eight straight times.

[00:06:39] And that was something special for me. Yeah, I got the Golden Glove for me. My Golden Glove, I got a home. I got a, you know, four-balling champion. One in Emmanuel League was hit for Honda. And three in the big league. But my one, I said, I worked so hard. I was so proud about the Golden Glove because I was bad. Yeah. But you got good. You were determined. And you worked at it. I worked up. But a lot of people helped me. Yeah.

[00:07:10] Sometimes, you know, you can be good hitter and you forget about the other part of the game. You know what I mean? Yeah. But if you want to be good all around, you work. It's like any job you do. Yes. Yeah. And it's a team sport. You need all the players to be good in all the areas, right? Make a lot of difference. Make a big difference if you, every position you have a player who you can trust. You know, they do this job.

[00:07:40] Because in any games, win. I know you go have a good time. But if you don't win, you don't have a good time. Right. You know. It's much more fun when you win. Oh, yeah. Yeah. People say, nah, it's all right. No, no, no. It's like I tell the, you see, I never run, okay, because I come from Latino America. I come from Cuba. Yes. We believe in winning, winning, winning. I work very hard. Sometimes you lose. This party game.

[00:08:09] But you have to give it 100%. I know like when the people tell the kid, go over there, have a good time, win. It's not important. Yes. Winning is important. It's like to go to school. If you go to school, you do your homework and your grades will be better. Yep. You know, you give it 100%. If you lose or you have a grade, okay, you have to be happy. You give it 100%. But if you don't give it 100%, you know, you don't can feel it.

[00:08:37] You know, too happy about if it doesn't go your way. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's, and we're going to get here in a little bit. That's kind of the theme behind the book a bit, right? Which is no problem. We're going to figure it out. We're going to work at things. Rick, talk a little bit about what it's like, what it was like growing up with a famous dad who was an amazing athlete. So the funny thing is I didn't really understand that he was famous. Like I knew that people would come up to me and their parents would be like, oh my gosh, your dad's Tony Oliva. Like that's so amazing.

[00:09:06] But to me, he was just like, he's just dad, right? And so it's so funny. I have this picture that people look at it and they just go, oh my gosh, are you kidding me? So I'm probably 10 years old and he had taken me to some like old timers reunion game. And I'm like, whatever. Like I'm not playing. I don't care, right? Like I don't know who these guys are. And so there's a picture of me and my dad and this other gentleman. And I'm going like this.

[00:09:37] So it was me standing next to Hank Aaron. I have no idea. Like, whatever. You know, it's like, dad, why are you making me take this picture? Right? Like that was sort of how it was. Now, I did know that there was, you know, there's some cool stuff that I got to do that other kids maybe didn't get to do. Like, you know, hanging out at the Metrodome. Like I could go before the games and hang out in the clubhouse and stuff. And my friend would be like, oh, that's so cool. And every now and then I'd get to bring a friend with me.

[00:10:06] But to me, it wasn't, you know, I didn't really appreciate who he was as a public figure until I was probably in my 20s or probably really my 30s is when I appreciated it when I had my own kids. And I'd bring them to the ballpark. And then I'd just see like how people would just react around, you know, my dad being there and people taking pictures because now he's throwing batting practice to their six-year-old. Wow.

[00:10:35] And they're like, never did I ever imagine that this, you know, would happen. And so it's kind of funny because, you know, for me, it was like, eh, it's just my dad, whatever. Right. But looking back, I see it, I see my life growing up with a different lens. So talk to us a little bit about how the book came to be. So the book, No Eye Problema, the rough translation is this is not a problem. Right. And my dad used to tell me all these stories about him growing up and about him becoming

[00:11:05] a baseball player and some of the things that he overcame. And I thought that that was really inspiring. And I'd remember those stories. I still remember them now. I still have to remind myself like, this is not a problem. We can figure it out. Right. And when my now 21-year-old was a toddler, I said, you know, this would make a great children's book because I was reading all these other kids' books to my son. And it only took me 16 years to create the first draft. You can relate.

[00:11:34] But then I did, you know, and then I did. And so that's so funny because that was in like 2020. I released it. I had a bucket list, you know, it was COVID year. You know, trying to get my bucket list done said, okay, got the book, self-publish it. Boom, done. A year later, gets a call. Oh, by the way, you're in the Hall of Fame now. And it's like, oh, I need to redo the book. And so I had always envisioned it as being this illustrated children's book before the first edition wasn't illustrated. It was just a story.

[00:12:04] So I connected with Wise Inc. Publishing here, their local publishing company. They did the Joe Maurer book, The Right Thing to Do, I think is the name of it. And the same illustrator, Kevin Cannon, did a fantastic job illustrating it. But the idea was where you start doesn't determine where you're going to end in life. And if you keep working hard at things, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. So like, as he mentioned, he was horrible in outfield.

[00:12:33] Like the people that played with them back in the days, they laugh about it. Now they're like, Tony, you hit the ball so hard, but how are you so bad in the field? And they laugh about it. But in three years, he won the gold glove, which means that you're the best fielder in your position in that year, right? So he won a gold by putting his mind to it. He went from struggling to earning that golden glove.

[00:12:59] The book also talks about things like, and this is why it's important, I think, for some kids is they say, well, if I don't make this team, then I'm going to quit. If I don't make varsity as a freshman, then I'm just going to give up, whatever. He was cut from the twins. So, you know, a lot of people don't know that. He came, he went to his tryout, he was dropped by the team, and then he got a second chance. He didn't let that stop him. He didn't give up and just say, okay, well, I guess I'm going to have to put my tail between

[00:13:29] my legs and go home. So same thing with like, you know, growing up, he didn't have bats and balls. So instead of saying, well, we don't have a baseball bat, so I guess we can't play. They're like, well, let's go find a stick or a branch. Let's go find a piece of cork and wrap it with tape. And we'll make that our baseball. And, you know, if someone has an old shoe, that'll be first base or whatever. They just figured it out. So no matter what, no hay problema, you know, we will figure out a way to keep going and

[00:13:58] to achieve our dream, whether it's small, like figuring out how to put together a makeshift bat and ball in baseball field, or whether it's, you know, becoming a major league baseball player. The, um, I love that lesson too, which is don't give up, keep trying, figure out a way. When you were growing up as a boy in Cuba, we heard the story about using sticks for a bat or figuring things out.

[00:14:24] Did you also play, as you got older, did you play on organized teams at all? Or what was that like? You know, I'll tell you the truth. I think I, I blame everything to God. Okay. Because I don't have a, no, I say, how can I explain to you? There's no reason for me to be here. Well, I grew up in Cuba, you know, in the country was there.

[00:14:52] I grew up in the country, in the farm. Not too many kids was there. Not too many. We get together on Sunday and try to play the ball game on Sunday. I never play high school ball. I never play amateur ball. I only play in the country every Sunday. Okay. But every time I have a chance, my brother, a Sunday kid in the neighborhood, and the farm, we get together, and we play slow pitches, baseball. And Sunday we play the real balls.

[00:15:22] And the good thing is, back in 87, he had the opportunity to go to Cuba, and he experimented to hit baseball with a stick. He, you know, making your own baseball, you know, and this thing. We got some of the kids. Well, the kids, we get there right where the kids was, say, Rick, Rick, let's go play baseball. Eight of one in the morning, they was looking at my brother's house, you know,

[00:15:51] for him to go and play. I experimented all that stuff over there. The same stuff I experimented when I grew up. You know, but I never, I say, I come here, I see all the equipment, everything what the kids have, how they play, all the organizing, everything. I never have nothing like that. Yeah. But the only thing I have was my father. He loved baseball. He was a good baseball player.

[00:16:19] And my farm, in the farm, we got it. We got up 120 acres. We built a little field. This is a field that we use to play on Sundays. And every time I have a chance during the weeks, and the kids get together, we play. Sometimes we got six or seven kids over there. We play one base or two bases. Baseball, we play for hours. And the more you practice, the better you get. That's like I go to school. That's what I like to tell the kids. You go to school, you do your homework, and you get better, better, better.

[00:16:49] Baseball, the same. And you learned. The way I play, you learn how to hit, too, because I say, well, this kid that play in the right side, I want to hit the ball on the left side. Yeah. Because my secret was I want to get a base hit. I want to hit the ball, you know. Not only go over there and swing the bat. Hit the ball hard, no. Sometimes I look, you see, I see what's the hole.

[00:17:14] And that helped me big time coming to be a professional baseball player because that was the same thing I did through my years. You know, I don't want to the ballpark only because I left hand to hit it. I don't want to go there. I only want the idea to pull the ball. I used to hit a lot of ball to left field. I used to hit the hole ballpark. And that helped me a lot. You know, it's funny because Jim Cott, Hall of Fame pitcher, tells the story.

[00:17:42] He says, you know, when we'd be watching the game and the other team would get, or the pitcher would get Tony 0-2, the pitcher would think that they're ahead. But we all knew that the pitcher was behind because everybody knows you're 0-2. They're not going to throw you a fastball down the middle. It's going to be something crazy. And when you grow up hitting bottle caps that are doing this with a stick, like, you think you're going to throw me a little curveball and I'm not going to be able to hit that? Like, are you kidding me? So they're like, yo, then the breaking ball would come in and Tony would hit it to the opposite field.

[00:18:12] And so, you know, it's funny because, yeah, as you mentioned, when I was about, I think, 11 or 12 years old, we went to, I got a chance to go to Cuba for the first time. And yeah, it's crazy. But the thing is, is it's still that way, right? Like I took my kids, the last time we went was 2019. And same thing, like somebody would find a glove somewhere that somebody would have. And like, they were playing catch with, I think an Altoids container. Get creative.

[00:18:42] Like some trash that someone had thrown away, but they could throw it. And so it's just spinning and going all over and you just, you get good just because you have to be watching. You have to be paying attention. It's wild. So when you went to Cuba, could you hit with a stick? I mean, I got to the point where I could hit it a little bit, but I wasn't hitting like those kids. Not like the kids. No. And I have a question about your father, Tony. Could he catch a fly ball? You said he was good at baseball. I'm curious.

[00:19:09] You know, when my father already, when he started playing, I never saw him play too much, you know, because of his, it was, I was, already he was in the 40s. Yep. When I started playing, but he, he was a good hitter. The only good thing is he threw right hand and he left it. I threw right hand and he left it.

[00:19:34] And my only son, Pedro, who signed for Minnesota Twins, only one year he got hurt. He threw right hand and he left it. I said, no way he can miss it. Because my father was a great hitter. Yeah, was so, so hitter. And Pedro was a good hitter. My other son, he was good. But he got hurt. Example, Minnesota Twins. And my father, everybody said he was a good hitter. Wonderful.

[00:20:02] But he, for later, he gave me, in those days, you know, when I started playing, you know, he was umpire behind, behind the pitch, you know, in those days because of, and he, all the time, you know, he's umpire. He got his, in the country, the people in the country, the family, everybody used it. So, you know, machete or a knife, you know. Yep. You know, because of working the family, you need it, you know, in case you have to use

[00:20:27] it for, for, for the cows or, or they're for the, for something, you know. And he, umpire, he make sure to tell the pitch, upon the pitch. I remember my first time, I was probably about 15 or 16 years old. He tell the pitch, hey, be nice to my, to, to my son because he's only 15 years old. You know what I'm saying? The pitch, the pitch, the first time, but they throw me the ball right here. Yeah, he did so hard that he don't believe in that.

[00:20:57] He lied to me, you know, but, but that was me, you know, I don't know. I, I, I, when I say that God helped me to do what I did, I think it's truth. You know, four years ago, he went to the, for the fantasy camp for the first time. The Minnesota Twins fantasy camp, yeah. We can talk about that. Okay. And he said, daddy, this is right here because I want to, my dream is to pitch it to you. I said, no way, Julian.

[00:21:27] I'm too old. You don't want to pitch it to me. I didn't know what happened. Finally, I said, what's a lot of people would understand? That was the, some ballplay in all the, the fantasy camp people. What's about 100 people would understand? Because that day, that day, the pro play the campers. Yeah, the rookies, yeah. All the rookies. I said, daddy, I want to pitch it to you. Oh, man. I said, no, no.

[00:21:55] Finally, that day, he walked from his dog out to my dog out. I said, hey, this is right here because I want to pitch it to you. I said, okay. I don't have a choice. I want to go there. I get two bats. I get, you know, I get loose. You know, that'll loose. Yeah, no, swing the bat for a long time, okay? Yeah. And he throw me the first pitch right there. Beautiful. Cuban sandwich. I said, he took the pitch.

[00:22:23] Yeah, beautiful, beautiful pitch. What? Yeah, I take it. Picasso, I smut. Yeah. I know he no go to kick me out. I was timing. The next pitch was a little bit high. I let it go. The next pitch was another Cuban sandwich. I hit it so hard. That ball hit a land right over the second base, you know, one ball to the right field. That was unbelievable how hard I hit that ball. Everybody gave me a stand over. That's amazing.

[00:22:53] I got mad because I was like, I'm not a pitcher. I only have so many good pitches in me. Come on, Dad, take one of these. If you don't swing at the first one, I can't guarantee there's going to be another good one. So for you and anyone watching, if they don't know what Minnesota Twins Fantasy Camp is really quick, every year down in Florida, typically first or second week in January, there's an organization called you'reatwin.com. Well, the website's you'reatwin.com.

[00:23:21] And you get to pretend like you're a baseball player. So you pay your fee. You go down to Florida. You're at the facility down in Hammond Stadium, like that facility. I forget what the full name of it is. But, yeah, they give you a home and away jersey and uniform. And you play, it's like seven or eight games that week.

[00:23:42] And the coaches are like my dad, Burt Bleileven, Ken Herbeck goes down there, Al Newman, Frank Viola. Like currently, these folks are. That's very cool. Viola, Garden Hire. It's fun for you guys, too. And those guys are your coaches for the week. Very cool. And so they coach your team. Those are good coaches. So it's a lot of fun. Santana was there this year, though. Oh, yeah. Yeah, and so a lot of guys, you know, it's like between like 35 and 80 years old.

[00:24:11] So it was a lot of fun. So I went and I told him, I was like, well, it's fancy camp. Like I wanted, he never, the beauty of it was, or the beauty and tragedy of it was, he's a major league baseball player. He never got to be my coach as a little league coach. I got to be my kids' little league coach. But I was like, I want to go down there so you can be my coach for a week. And so it was fun. So he's my coach. And one of the games they do is a veterans versus rookie.

[00:24:41] So I was a rookie that year. Game. And I was like, you're going to play, right? You're going to, if I pitch, you're going to hit. He's like, no. I was like, what do you mean no? Like, just do it. And so that's, and that's where he, you know, the story picks up is, I finally, you know, convinced him to get out there. And he hit that ball so hard. And everybody was like, are you kidding me? Like, where did that come from? I love it. I mean, your determination of success is just inspiring. And Rick, you alluded to the Hall of Fame.

[00:25:10] And I would love to ask you about that because you waited many years to get that call. And I'm just curious of what, what did that feel like to get that call to be in the Hall of Fame? Well, truly, it was very nice, okay? But I get, I almost got used to that.

[00:25:33] I said, I know I go make, because I know inside of me that I go make the Hall of Fame, soon or later. But I want to make the Hall of Fame alive, you know? Because a lot of people, they put, they've been waiting a long time and they pass away, you know, before they put in the Hall of Fame. And the same happened to a lot of guys, you know?

[00:25:56] But I was, I was, especially the last year, I was feeling bad if I don't make it. Not for me, for my family, for my friends, for the friends. Because they put it so hard three or four years before, you know? And sometimes the media is waiting in the house for the call, in the pass, and the call not coming. You know?

[00:26:25] That was, that was, that was why I say very interesting. But if you're not coming this time, a lot of people are going to be disappointed. I was thinking about the other people more than me. Because I think, truly, I think I've been in Hall of Fame for 65 years. Before the game of the Hall of Fame. Before, I say 50, 60 years since I've been here.

[00:26:50] Because to sign, be able to play here in Minnesota, for me it's the best state in the whole United States. Believe it or not. But to have a, you know, to have a statue in the front of the stadium, you know? To be in Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, in Dominica Republic, in New York, in a lot of places. That's for me, you know? That was it.

[00:27:17] But especially to be here in Minnesota, having the statue in the stadium here in Minnesota. That was the big thing for me. It's amazing. I say, now Cooperstown put the whole thing together. Because now I know exactly how the people was feeling about me. Because any place I go, especially today, I went to see the doctor. So I had to go to, you know, check out on that. And I saw this lady was coming.

[00:27:47] I know she was smiling to me. She said, my mother is crazy about you. Aww. I was lucky because I have a peachy in my package. She went to take a peachy, you know? We take a peachy. I sign a peachy and say, give it to your mama, you know? And for not only that, any place I go, especially young people, old people, you know? Everybody, you know, recognized me. And they so happy that I made it to the Hall of Fame.

[00:28:17] That's amazing. You know, that was unbelievable. Well, tell you from the eyes of a long time ago eight-year-old who thought you were a superhero. We're glad you made it to the Hall of Fame. Thank you. Thank you. I grew up with you and it was amazing. We're running out of time, but Rick, if you could leave people with one lesson about your book, what would you say about the book and where can they find it? So they can find it on my website, rickoliva.com.

[00:28:45] Rick with no K, so R-I-C-O-L-I-V-A.com. So that, you can find information on there, but the easiest way is just search on Amazon. Amazon.com for no eye problema, the amazing story of Tony Oliva. You'll find it on there. You know, it was interesting and it's in the beginning of the book and thank yous is when I, like I didn't know how to write a book, but I can figure it out. I don't know how to get a book published.

[00:29:14] No eye problema. Like I can find, I just had to keep talking to people that I find a publisher. I can't draw like stick figures. I know I have a problem. I can find someone who can find an illustrator, right? So it's like, it just kept going. And when we started this conversation, I said, I use the lessons from the book in my daily life still, right? And that's some of the things.

[00:29:37] But one of the most poignant is when I asked my dad, okay, well, what do you want people to take away from the book? He just said that I never gave up. And that's one of the things is he said, people oftentimes give up too early. They have a dream. They have something that they want to do. You know, the first time they hit a brick wall, they're like, well, I don't know what to do. And they just put off that dream. But it's like, no, just keep going. You can, no eye problema.

[00:30:07] This too shall pass. Where you start isn't necessarily where you're going to end. He came from a small town in Cuba in the middle of absolutely nowhere. You know, you go to nowhere and keep going. He came to the United States, didn't speak English. You know, and that's, he just made it happen. And Tony, if you could leave words of wisdom for anyone, what would those be?

[00:30:36] For all the people that love you and care about you? Well, one thing is, that little book, I think I wish everybody have it. Because not only, it's good for the kids, for grown-ups too. It's a lot of fun. You know, you will laugh about. You will have, I believe, I like the people having a good time. You know, in anything they do. This is what I like to see. I like to see the people happy, you know, to have a good time. I have a good time. I go to, you see, I've been with Minnesota Twins. I've been lucky because of being with me.

[00:31:06] Some people who was here, you see. I'm Minnesota Twins. I've been with them 65 years. I'm still there. I still go to the ballpark and have a great time. What they remember me, I like people. I like them to be happy and enjoy yourself. I enjoy myself all the time. This is where I still go to the ballpark every time I have the opportunity to go. Two great lessons. I love it. Enjoy life. Have a good time.

[00:31:37] Don't give up. Absolutely. You can figure it out, right? No problem. Tony, Rick, thank you both so much for joining us today. It's been amazing. We kind of knew they would tell stories, right? Absolutely. Great storytelling. They were amazing. We're honored to have both of you, and we're honored to have you back on the site of the former Metropolitan Stadium. It's so good to have you here. You should go visit Home Plate one more time when you're here. Yeah, before you leave today, go visit.

[00:32:03] And we didn't get to hear your opening day story, but we'll catch that offline. For all of those joining us, thank you so much for joining us for this episode of So Much More. It's been fun. I think we're just going to sit here and talk for another hour or so. But please like us, follow us, and make sure that you check out the book and get a copy of the book. Great lessons in here and great stories about a wonderful man and a wonderful player. Thanks so much, everyone. Thanks for listening to So Much More, a Mall of America podcast.

[00:32:33] Subscribe wherever you find your favorite podcasts. This show is presented by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel and Tourism.