Building a Hall Of Fame Career with Josh Rawitch

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All right, so what does it take to build a Hall of Fame career right for yourself? Like, I'm obsessed with being the best version of myself and bringing that each and every day to work and my clients and the results that we generate. Like, I'm obsessed with it because I want to be the best version of myself. And every day when I was in college at the great University of Arizona, I would sneak in and watch hall of Fame basketball coach Lud Olsen run his practice. So what was I watching? Sometimes I was watching basketball, future NBA players. But what I was really watching was I was studying a business superstar run his organization. And since then, I been really lucky to watch hall of Fame performers in their niche close up. People like Tony Robbins, that executes at a completely different level. And you know what I've noticed? They aren't interested in being good. They don't care about great. They're obsessed with not even excellent. They need to be outstanding. And that's the level of obsession that it takes. In this episode, I'm going to introduce you to my friend, the president of the National Baseball hall of Fame and Museum, Josh Rawich. Now, Josh spent his incredible career in baseball, right? The entire thing. Fifteen years at the Los Angeles Dodgers, two years at MLB.com 10 years here in the greater Arizona area in Phoenix with the Arizona Diamondbacks, before joining the Baseball hall of Fame in June of 2021. Coming up in a few moments, Josh Rawich from the Baseball hall of Fame. This podcast is brought to you by the Wirebuzz team. Now, if that name sounds familiar, it's because I've spent the past decade growing Wirebuzz into a digital marketing powerhouse designed to maximize clarity in complex sales processes so we can help accelerate revenue. And we do this in three phases. Phase one, we transform your website to function like your best salesperson and then also incorporate persuasive on demand sales videos. Now, your entire team is aligned on messaging and they're injecting massive clarity into your prospect's head. So your site looks great, but it also has engaging content that helps your team sell on demand. 24. 7. The next phase phase two. We train your sales and marketing teams to sell remotely or in person to expand the impact of your sales team. And the third phase is we develop and run targeted ads to your prospects. Scale those ads to help you achieve more business results. Sign up for the Wirebuzz Company newsletter to learn more about effective and simple ways to improve your company messaging, attract more digital attention, and ultimately make more sales to help you identify Your opportunities in life and to help you reach your hall of Fame level for you, I'm joined right now by hall of Fame president Josh Rawitz. Josh, welcome to the Toddcast.

Thanks for having me. Todd, good to see you again, dude.

So good to see you. In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a. For those that are curious about this, I've been a Josh fan for a long time. We both are Josh. We are LA kids originally. We grew up loving Dodgers and Vin Scully. Some of that's coming up in this conversation. And we then became Diamondback fans and baseball fans and excellent fans. You know, just anybody that exudes excellence. Josh, do me a favor if you could. There are tell people what it's like to be the president of the Baseball hall of Fame. What's that experience like?

Honestly, I pinch myself every day. I mean you just, you don't grow up like you said, a baseball fan, A die hard Dodger fan. Since I was a kid until I went to go work for the D backs. I mean you just. Nobody thinks they're going to end up in Cooperstown. Not the, not the best players in the world. I mean you just never imagined that your career in baseball would lead you to this, this place. I'm looking at the snow outside the window and I just can't. I mean this morning I walked in and I was here early for an event and I wandered through the Platt Gallery and obviously it's quiet, it's empty, it's like 7:30, nobody's in there. And I just got chills. And it happens every day where something makes me pinch myself and that the opportunities that I've had in the game have led me to this point. And I just feel incredibly grateful and honored and humbled by it.

Yeah, it's so cool. Like I, I have like prided myself. I remember as a young kid of feeling like I was a baseball historian really enjoying the history of the game. And you started off, you landed an internship in Chavez Ravine with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a freshman in college. What were you doing back then?

Literally the most basic, I mean there was no reason these people should have hired me. But the sports industry was so different in 1995 that I don't know that there were that many people that went for it. So I was pretty green. I mean I remember early on an early boss literally just teaching me how to put together a letter properly with the address in the right spot. And it eventually over the course of the summer I started picking up additional duties, whether it was tied to our promotional events or helping put on Think Blue Week or things of that, that nature. But then as I kept asking to come back every year as an intern, I remember they said, we've never really had anybody come back as an intern. I said, well, does that mean that you can't or it just means nobody's ever asked. And came back the second year they let me write some of the scripts that we would put on the PA system and some of the, as you mentioned Vin's name. I remember at one point, I might have been full time by then, but I remember writing advertising drop ins that Vin would read on the air and it just slowly worked my way up through the marketing department from literally the lowest level of an intern.

That's so cool. You know, baseball has such a heart centered feel for a lot of people. My grandparents grew up in Brooklyn as Dodger fans, moved out in LA in at the end of World War II, right around 43, 44, something like that. And when the Dodgers moved out In, I think 56 to LA, my grandparents were 100% sure that they were being followed by, by the Dodgers. And we've had a lifelong family love affair. What was it like being able to watch somebody who's probably the greatest baseball announcer? Well, he did so many sports, I feel bad saying that. Probably one of the greatest announcers of all time, Vin Scully. What's it like watching them prepare for their day at work?

Inspiring. I mean, he was, he was truly an inspirational human being. And I just, I feel so lucky when you grow up hearing him and my, my dad GRE up hearing him. My grandfather grew up hearing him. And my, he actually announced my son's birth on the air. I mean, four generations of my family have gotten to love the sound of his voice and the way he taught you the game. And I, by the end of my Dodger career, ultimately I was overseeing the broadcasting department. And so one of the things I would do every day was walk into the booth, check in on Rick Monday and Charlie Steiner, and then I'd check in on Jaime Hareen and Fernando Valenzuela. And then I would check in on Vin Scully. Hey, do you need anything? And he was always, I mean, a, he's just always upbeat and positive and friendly, humble. But he was, I mean, still 60 plus years into it, highlighting the things that, the stories he wanted to make sure he told on air, doing the research that he did from the second he woke up until the time he got off the air, it was, it was inspirational.

It's Amazing. So what I really am hoping the audience gets from this is that people that rise to the level of outstanding do outstanding things to prepare themselves. Like, there's no doubt that Vin Scully not only prepared himself incredibly well, but he also did the play by play and the commentary. He was the only guy in the booth, which meant he played today what would be two people's roles. And I was standing on the stage for Tony Robbins the very first time, and I looked down, Tony, oh, by the way, Tony left stage right. I entered stage left. So he walks off, and then I step right on. And for a kid who grew up idolizing Vin Scully and Chick Hearn and Tony Robbins, getting to step onto Tony Robbins stage for me was like playing after the Beatles. Right? It was like. So as I'm up there speaking and I look down, you know, people are taking notes and they're working in their journals, and I look down and there's Tony's handwritten notes to himself. And what I instantly got out of this is, I hope what people get is in order to be the greatest of all time in your niche, Tony Robbins was still writing notes to himself in his own writing before he went on stage. And they were in there like you knew. He got up that morning or the night before and prepped himself like a champion. Do you see that? I mean, is that one of, like the basic requirements for somebody that wants to develop a Hall of Fame career for themselves?

Yeah. Frankly, not even just, I mean, hall of Fame career. You're talking about the top 1% that's ever played baseball. But just to be in the big leagues, the amount of preparation and dedication and sacrifice that they're making on a daily basis is unbelievable. And I've always loved when people say that really what matters most is what you do when no one's watching. I mean, there's. When you get to the big leagues, they're not telling you, hey, go into the weight room or make sure you're eating properly or make sure that you're getting enough sleep, that's all on you. And the preparation that ball players at that level have to have just to make it to the big leagues. And then you think to stay in the big leagues and then to have a 10 year career and a fifth and then eventually have a plaque on the other side of that wall is. Is just next level commitment. That is, like I said about Vin, inspirational. It not something that most people in the world possess.

No, I'm in awe of it. I want to emulate it in my life. I want to prioritize those things. The saying that Tony says that sticks with me is you'll be rewarded in public for what you intensely practice and refine in private. And the baseball hall of Fame is the most prestigious hall of fame of all hall of fames. There's like a swagger that baseball has about its hall of Fame that's different than any other hall of Fame. Is that an accurate observation?

I mean, I don't know if. Swagger maybe. Yes. I would say that we, we are obviously very proud of what's been built here long before I ever got in and long after I'll be here. I mean, 80 plus years. We're also the oldest of it. But I do think when I talk about it, what you're describing it, I do think we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Baseball as a sport is held to a higher standard than maybe some of the other sports. And whether it was performance enhancing drugs that were going on in other sports and people shrugged it off and didn't care, but in baseball it was the end all be all or gambling or any, any of. I just think when people ask us, you know, why. Why do we hold ourselves to this higher standard? It's because we've been held to that standard for 100 plus years is America's pastime. And I think the hall of Fame falls into that category. We have great respect for this place.

Yeah, it's so cool. You know, I, even though we grew up in L. A and my favorite baseball player was Pete Rose, and Pete Rose is Hall of Fame Persona non grata, but the thing that I learned about about him was how a reputation takes a whole lifetime to develop and a few bad decisions to dissolve. And that for me is like one of the great takeaways that I got from admiring his career. And baseball has some of those unique stories of, of exclusion that are also important learning lessons for people. How does the hall of Fame, like, every time I look and see the voting and it gets released, I always look to see how the people that historically will have asterisk next to their name for one reason or another. How does that topic come up in the baseball hall of Fame? Is it something that's openly discussed or is it something that isn't discussed at all?

Yeah, it's actually not only openly discussed amongst those of us who work here, but out in the museum. And I think most, what most people don't recognize when they hear Cooperstown, they think where this one hallway with plaques in it and it's just a Plaque gallery. But we're a three story museum that's changing constantly. And we have displays on whether it's Pete Rose or the PED era or labor relations. We tell the tough stories too, and we're not afraid to talk about that. We actually think that's our job, is to talk about it, to educate the public when they come. And so quite often when people say, I can't believe so and so is not in the hall, I will say, actually on the second floor, you can actually go see the bat used by Pete Rose or the jersey worn by Pete Rose or the ball hit by Barry Bonds. They just ultimately didn't receive the votes by the various committees to get them a plaque in the gallery, which is one piece of what we have here.

Dude, does this come up almost every day because of your job?

Yeah, I mean, certainly every time I'm doing an interview of any kind, I think it's a. It's a question that I would ask if I was in somebody else's shoes. But I think it's. I think the more time you spend here, the more you realize how seriously we take all those issues and how we don't shy away from it. We want to tell the truth of everything that's gone on.

Thinking about excellence and elevating and preparing yourself to succeed makes me think of Pete Rose, how he used to study his bat so he would know where he was when he would meet the ball, and then he'd study the bat to see if he needs to come up or lower. And I don't think anybody besides Pete Rose would do that. But that's the level of commitment greatness takes. And Josh, you took a jump from the D backs, sorry, the Dodgers, to the D backs. And that might have felt, I don't know, but that might have felt like a risk in your career. What was that? Take me back to young Josh Rawich making that decision to leave the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium and move out to Arizona. And the risk, and I hope people identify as you tell the story, the inherent risk that we have to take in order to get next level in our lives at some time.

Yeah, I mean, you just nailed it. Ultimately. I had always thought I'd be a Dodger for the rest of my life. I had. I landed my dream job at 18 and I was planning on staying there until I was done. And ultimately, a previous boss at the Dodgers, who you know well, Derek hall was the president of the Diamondbacks. Yep. And at the time the Dodgers were going, their owners were going Through a divorce and a bankruptcy. And there was a lot of. Kind of unknown going on at the Dodgers. And I had a mentor of mine calling and saying, hey, I got a heck of an opportunity for you here. And. And I didn't know at the time. I mean, I trusted Derek implicitly and he told me, look, I'm going to keep giving you more opportunity. Every time you do something, well, here, I'll give you more. And ultimately he did. But I would say that the. What's very funny. I'll tell a story very quickly, but I remember the day where I made the decision that it was time to go. I was actually driving to Dodger Stadium on a Sunday morning. I pulled into a Jamba Juice. I started having. I ordered my drink and a song came on that I liked. So I decided I was gonna sit and. And just hear that one song. And this guy comes in, he's like, I mean, 300 plus massive guy, might have been £400. No idea who he is. He has no idea who I am. And he just looks at me and says, can I ask you something? And I said, sure. He said, you look like somebody who used to shine. Does your job have you beat down? And I was like, what is this? And I was like, I literally got in the car, I called my wife, and I'm like, I think we know it's time to make the move. And so it was certainly a risk. There's no doubt you go from this established brand of the Los Angeles Dodgers to an up and coming. At the time, the Diamondbacks had only been around for like 13, 14 years. A little bit of a risk. But ultimately, I had faith in the. In the people that I knew and the one person at the D backs who I knew was going to look out for my career. And ultimately, he taught me so much of what I know about how to be a leader and what it takes to run an organization that when this opportunity opened up, I felt pretty. Pretty prepared for it.

Josh, I love this. I want to unpack something that you just explained that I think could be really valuable to the listeners, which is people will give you opportunity. And when you demonstrate, like Derek hall said, if you, you know, if you demonstrate abilities and you open up your wings, I'll give you more opportunity. And so there is a dynamic balance for professionals to be able to seek, seize those opportunities, and then come back to say, what. What's next? What else can I take off the list? And in doing so, business owners and decision makers will continue to give you more and More things off of their list. Because ultimately they want you to grow and shine and do good things, and it make their lives better and the company grow. And it sounds like when Derek gave you that opportunity, you seized it.

Yeah. And I think about actually the first piece of advice my dad gave me when I got the Dodger internship was, there's gonna be a bunch of things that nobody wants to do. You be the one who says, okay, I'll do that. And then you do it, and you come back with a smile on your face, and they keep giving you the good stuff after that. And so I did that for all my time at the Dodgers. And Derek at the time I moved over, I mean, the title and the salary was a little bit bigger, but ultimately the responsibilities weren't dramatically different. But I knew if he was saying, look, when social media kind of becomes, I'll put that underneath you, or publications or photography, there was. By the time I left, I think I was overseeing six or seven departments, none of which were what I moved over there to do. And I think, ultimately, I do think that some of the best people keep going back and showing someone that they can do it. They don't wait to be told, hey, go do this. You go after it.

You don't wait to be told what your next assignment is. You complete the assignment, raise your hand, and be like, all right, what's next? And you do that with, like, a loving desire to help the team win. And you guys, I think. I think it's really cool to see where Josh has landed himself. First time I met Josh, I believe I was in the Diamondback locker room. We were doing some videos. Wirebuzz was for. For Derek hall, and Josh was. Josh and Derek were going into a meeting upstairs, and Josh just looked at me. I just met him. I think we might have had a couple calls, and Josh said, hey, we're going upstairs for a meeting for about an hour. It's the off season, and feel free to. If you need anything, just help yourself. So I look, Josh left, and I looked around, and I was like, that's the coolest thing anybody's ever said to me in a Major League baseball stadium. So Josh, I go, all right. So I start setting up an interview. Rule number one in interviews is when you're producing it, don't put anybody in a swivel chair because they look nervous. So I was like, all right, I'm going to get myself a chair. But there's nobody here. And every chair in the Diamondback locker room was a swivel. Chair. And so I said, well, Josh told me to help myself if I need anything. So I literally went into the next room, into the trainer's room to look for a swivel chair. I went into the shower area for non swivel chair, four legged chair. I went down into the area where there was the batting cage and then I stepped out on the now I'm on a self guided tour. And I found the, the perfect chair after like 10 minutes and it was in the batting cage and I brought it back and had pine tar on the side. And I was like, what an authentic baseball moment by myself.

Very cool. I love it.

Now I remember when Randy Johnson became a Hall of Famer and the Diamondbacks jumped on a jet and went out there to celebrate Randy Johnson in his HOF induction. And you went out onto that trip. Was that your first time going to the hall of Fame or have you been there many times before?

Not many times, but I was there in 2001. I came up with my father and that's one of the best things about this place is the connecting generations. I was, I was in New York for my sister to see my sister's newborn baby. But my dad and I took a day trip up and came up to Cooperstown. So I saw it very quickly. And then the previous year to Randy Johnson, I was coming out because I'd gotten to know Joe Tory very well and Tony La Russa and they were getting inducted. And so it gave us a little bit of a chance to see without having an inductee, what what does a team deal look like when inductees there. So I felt pretty prepared when we came back with Randy the following year.

Yeah, that's so cool. All right, so each of these breakthroughs that you've had through your career, by the way, you must have been nervous when you said yes to the Baseball hall of Fame. Was it a stretch?

A stretch to make the decision to come, you mean? No.

Was it a stretch like you're gonna have to stretch out of what you're currently doing in order to assume this new responsibility?

It was. I mean, there's definitely. There's a lot of elements to running a museum that I don't. Didn't know anything about that I've learned to running a nonprofit and fundraising and the pieces that are just not what I was doing in Arizona. But I, I remember actually was another executive at the Diamondbacks years ago when they put me in charge of a couple different areas that I hadn't overseen. And I had asked him something like, well, what do you, what do you do when you don't have. Most of the things I had done to that point, I had actually done that. I. Now I'm overseeing them. These are areas that I had not overseen. And he said, your job is not to actually know everything. Job is to hire good people, motivate them. And you kind of learned that there's no way that I could know everything about sponsorship sales or merchandise or retail. So it was a little bit of a stretch, but I definitely felt it's a lot of a stretch. There's no doubt running an organization as you know, is not a simple thing, but I felt very prepared based on the 25 plus years I had been working in baseball.

But each of these new jobs required you to leave your comfort zone and learn new skills and take on some type of risk, right?

Absolutely. Yeah, without a doubt. Kirk Gibson's favorite line was get comfortable being uncomfortable. And he would, he would tell the players that that was an important part of what he wanted them to do. And I've never shied away from tough conversations. And nobody likes doing it, but it's part of what you got to do.

Okay, so you bring up Kirk Gibson. Gibby is Dodger legend and maybe like the greatest hit in Dodger baseball history. And it's like straight out of the natural what happened. But you must have had a Gibby relationship in la and then he was with the Diamondback. So did that relationship carry over? Were you there? Wouldn't help me out with my timeline.

No. So what's it? I mean, I was a kid when Gibby hit the homer and ultimately he was a bit estranged from the Dodgers. During my time at the Dodgers, there really wasn't. I think I might have shook his hand one time when I was working at the Dodgers. So interestingly, when I got the Diamondback job, they announced it on the day the Diamondbacks were playing the Dodgers and I went over to the visiting dugout to go introduce myself to Gibby. And he said, well, Kevin Towers tells me you're a good dude and you're going to be really good in this role. And we just stood in the visiting dugout at Dodger Stadium catching up for 10, 15 minutes. And I was still a month away from moving to Arizona, but I did not have much of an existing relationship with him other than like you being a huge fan of that moment at the seminal moment of my childhood sports career.

What a. Yeah, what a bizarre. You accept the job for joining the Diamondbacks while you are at Dodger Stadium, and they're playing the Diamondbacks.

And then even crazier, the following year, opening day for the Diamondbacks was against the Dodgers. I think we went to Dodger Stadium, if I remember correctly. So it's just a series of very strange coincidences where I often found myself back in Dodger Stadium. And. Yeah, strange, but I love the. I love that there's always these little moments that you can reflect back on where you came from.

So your career, you've been around greatness every day, one way or another, right? Like when I text you on Tuesday, you were. You were telling me that Scott Roland was in the building. And is there anything you can gleam from? These dudes are different, aren't they? Like, they're. They're different in an office. There's different people. Also, is it the priority? Have they prioritized? And because they have skill and ability and they focus, they have this extra greatness. Like, what is that?

It's. I mean, it's so hard to put a singular thing on it, but clearly there are some people that are just born with an incredible skill. But I have often told students when I used to teach at ASU or just when I. When I'm talking to classes that. To work in sports, and I believe in a lot of cases, playing, like, there's no substitute for work ethic. And you're simply talking about people that make huge sacrifices, Huge, huge sacrifices to be on the road away from their family. And people look at it and they think, oh, they make millions of dollars. It's no big deal. It's like, do you realize what it means to be away from your family for three, four months out of the year? Your newborn child, who you. You get to see born, and then you have to leave the next day and run off. It just. There are so many sacrifices that I think people who work, particularly in baseball, because of the everyday nature of. Is the same. And in the front office, it's the same way where I think the best people make huge sacrifices. And some people can get by on natural talent. But I do think there is no substitute for work ethic. And I feel like that's. That's something I see in every one of these hall of Famers. You don't hear a lot of them saying, yeah, I was just born this way, and I'm here in Cooperstown because I could slack off. It just. They worked really, really, really hard.

The reminder that I have in my head constantly is that natural talent can rise. It can. It does. But developed talent is Unfriging, stoppable. And I want to be developed talent. And that's something that I'm a bit obsessive about. Now, I know that you get access to some really cool historical items, and you get to go and be a part of really cool baseball moments. Like, I think you were at the World Series. I think I remember seeing you take some items. Like, is your. Are you now the. The person who can legally go in and grab their favorite things and then bring them back to, like, what is this going on? Like, is this prearranged, these items? Or how does that all work out?

Yeah, it's a great question. Grab would definitely not be the term I would use. So we.

When I said it, I thought of the Tom Brady losing his jersey.

Exact Super Bowl. Yeah. It's. There's two of us who do. Who do attend most of the Jewel events, the All Star Game, the World Series, International games, that thing, that sort of nature. We will try to lay some groundwork as maybe the World Series is going on. We'll start to come up with a list of, hey, what are the things that tell the story? Because we have an exhibit here that focuses on the previous year's World Series. And so then kind of after, I don't know, as the last game is coming to an end, we'll split it into, okay, you go talk to Chas McCormick for his glove and Altuve for his arm guard, and I'll go to Dusty Baker and try to get his jersey and try to get Bryce Harper's helmet. Or. And so we kind of split it up, and then the game ends, and we both head down to the chaos of the clubhouse. And obviously, you want to let these guys celebrate and have their moments. But then we will walk up and in a lot of cases, we'll explain to them, either they will have an existing relationship because we've met them elsewhere, or I'll just simply say, hey, Justin Verlander, I'm Josh Rollich with the hall of Fame, and I would love to, if you wouldn't mind donating your spikes to the Hall. And So, I mean, nine times out of 10, they want their stuff in Cooperstown. They recognize how incredibly cool it is. We explained that once you've donated it, your grandkids can come back 100 years from now and take a look at it, and they're still going to be preserved in the same. And so that's the process that. I mean, we have 40,000 artifacts that, over time, have either come in through donations like that or through people who call the hall and say, hey, I found this thing in my grandparents attic. Would you want this baseball from 1870? So we go through. There's a lot of processes in the museum world on what we accession and what we don't, but it's a, it's a surreal thing to be down there. Walk into Dusty's office and say, hey, I know this sounds crazy, but can I have that box of toothpicks you had in the dugout with you? Yeah. Next thing you know it's succession and it's in the. It's in our display upstairs. It's in the exhibit upstairs.

That's so cool. All right, let's. You mentioned Jewel events and they've come up throughout the year, but I keep hearing if you build it, they will come. And it seems like every time I look at, at that event, there's Josh and his family or Josh and his wife that's there in I think Iowa or something at some. On some cornfield with a baseball game. Any good stories from the Field of Dreams game?

Oh man. It was honestly the game in Dyersville we timed when I took the job in June and we didn't move until August. I was starting at the hall in mid August and we timed the drive cross country with my wife, my kids and my dog so that we could hit August 12th and be there for the game.

Ice cream in every city, dude.

Yeah, we, exactly. So we documented the whole. Documented the journey. But that event I honestly believe is one of the best that MLB has ever put on. And I think most people at MLB would say they thought of absolutely everything. It was such. I mean, I just remember walking the way they had you enter, you came into the field through the actual movie set. So the field itself that the big leaguers played on wasn't the film set. You could go onto the film set. The actual field that you see in Field of Dreams, you're playing catch, they let you throw a ball around in the outfield with your family or whoever. And then you walked into the corn. And I took out my phone and I'm filming my son walking into the corn. And as he pops out on the other side, you're now looking at a big league stadium. And the audio is piped in and you hear Kevin Costner say, is this heaven? No, it's Iowa. And I'm like, man, they thought of everything. Every little thing that MLB could think of. And so it just, it was. And then it ended up being an unbelievable game. But I'll tell you that the craziest thing about that event. Craziest is the wrong way to put it, but the day before, we actually got into. We stayed the night before in Dyersville. We went over to the movie set. We had my dog with me. And I'm like, I can't. My wife's like, you're really bringing the dog? I was like, we're just gonna stop and say quick hello, and then we'll go check into the hotel. And as it turned out, a lightning storm hit. Everybody had to go inside. And the next thing you know, we wound up in a barn with. Oh, man. It was literally. It was David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, John Smoltz. It was the whole Fox groups of Ken Rosenthal and my dog and my wife and my kids. And we're like. And we had to wait out this rainstorm. And I just thought, man, how is this where my career is taking me? We just sat and shot the breeze with that group and loved it.

But you know what? I remember the first time you told me that story. So I just kind of, like, pried it out of you, hoping you would say it. So I just think it's like, I get chills hearing it, because you never know where your life's gonna lead you. But what I see is if you didn't identify role models and mentor after them and learn from them, you may not have made this path all the way to the hall of Fame. And so what is the value of a mentor, like Diamondbacks President Derek hall, in your career that's allowed you to achieve, you know, your biggest dreams for yourself?

Well, it's interesting. I'll actually come back to Derek, but I will say that I feel like early on, somebody. I wish I remember who it was kind of said, try to take something from everybody that you. That you meet. And so I really do feel like even people, bad bosses I've had or bad people I've met, I still try to take something from each of these people that they're even. Even a bad boss can be a mentor. You might learn what not to do, or you might lear pick out the one nugget. But I do feel like when it came to specifically the handful of mentors that I've had, I don't feel like I've ever had a mentor who said, hey, I'm gonna mentor you. Come along and let me show you how I'm gonna do this. I think quite often, they basically just did it, and they invite you into their world. And there were a number of times where specifically Derek would bring Me along on a trip. We were sitting in the Oval Office of the president of Mexico or the day we signed Zach Granke. He was like, come into my office, sit on the couch, and don't say a word. And I just kind of sat there and I got to watch the biggest deal in baseball go down as things. The assistant GMs come in and the GMs come in and all the stuff's going on. And he was always just great about bringing me into that world. And so. And it was never, hey, Josh, I'm teaching you this so that someday you can be a president. It was just, come and see this. And I think you. I showed, I guess, the proper amount of respect that he kept letting me do it. And. And I try to do the same when I can for. For people that I work with.

And it also tells me that when you were in that room, you added value and because value and, you know, making. Making other people's lives better is like the ticket to get into the door. Last night at our home, totally coincidental and had a lot to do with the storm rolling in in Northern Arizona, but we had three of my biggest mentors in life at our home. Not orchestrated. They all just kind of showed up and. And we sat around and drank wine. I looked around and I was like, this is the person that helped me launch my company. This is a person who has mentored me and. And my wife who every day gets up and coaches me. And there's something cool about watching the people around you that, like, cheer and support, nudge and guide, and before you know it, you've built a career for yourself. It's like, it's so, you know, one of. Oh, over Josh's right shoulder is what looks like a big. I don't know, Josh, if that's baseballs or something. Like, is there a cool baseball memorabilia, like, all over your office? Like, there it is in there.

Oh, man. I mean, yes. Those are actually a lot of the baseballs I've just collected over the years. They're not necessarily signed. A couple of them are signed, but it's. If so, they're more humorous. Or it's like a baseball from the World Baseball Classic in Korea in 2017 when I worked there, or an All Star Game. But I figured, because you might ask, I brought a couple of cool things that I was going to show you that I don't have to get up and get. So one as the Dodger fan. This I brought. This is actually wine that I got from the Dodgers. It was from the 88 world, I think the National Championship Series. This was champagne that they, they didn't spray in the clubhouse. I guess this was a leftover bottle. If anybody is a fan of the Gold Glove, this is when I was at the Dodgers, I actually kind of helped Wes Parker, who was a great first baseman. He actually won the all time Gold Glove award for basically the best defensive first baseman of all time. They sent the trophy and it had this glove on it. And he said, I'm totally honored. This is so cool that you helped me win this thing. But why is it a right handed outfielders club instead of left handed first baseman's mitt? So I called Rawlings, they switched it out and I said, what do you want me to do with the other one? They said, keep it. So this is a piece of a gold glove that hangs my arms. And then the last thing that I actually have to put on. Those are not accessioned artifacts. Those are mine that came with me. But when we, when we touch real incredible artifacts, we put on gloves for preservation sake.

I do have home all the time.

Yeah, exactly. I do have next to me. This is actually Lou Gehrig's Jersey from the 1930s from an all star game. And you can actually tell what year it's from because if you look at the patch on the arm, it has. It's baseball centennial that they celebrated. We opened up the museum in 1939. So this museum dates to the, to the day that the. To the year that the hall of Fame opened up. And it is in fact an actual game worn uniform of one of the greatest players of all time. And so yeah, I asked if I could bring that upstairs just to do this. And that's what's pretty amazing in this world. You just. In this, in this job. I have some really cool stuff in my office, but nothing quite like that on a regular basis.

I don't doubt it. Dude, that is so cool. I just got chills. And I heard his farewell address in my head as you lifted it up as if I was watching an old movie reel or something.

Pretty amazing. Yeah, it's pretty. I mean, and that's. We're surrounded by it here. It's, it's. We're surrounded by history.

Josh, I didn't realize until you tipped me off that the Baseball hall of Fame is a non profit organization that lives on members and donors just like every other charity. How can people jump in to support the Major League Baseball hall of Fame and museum? And what is, what is that kind of like you Know way. What are the ways that normal baseball fans jump in besides just showing up? What are the other ways that they can contribute?

Yeah, I mean, the easiest thing I'd tell you is obviously check out our website and you'll see we have a number of different ways to do it. But I'd say becoming a member, incredibly inexpensive, where you'll wind up getting, six times a year, a magazine and you get access to additional content and you get access to, when you come out to Cooperstown, whether it's seats at induction, if you're coming for that reason, it's a lot of different member benefits in addition to the fact that you're ultimately helping preserve the history of the game. So while we do have kind of membership options where you get a bunch of stuff, in fact, you can kind of see it over here on my shoulder, there's a cardigan looking old sweater that was a membership gift for those who are members at a certain level. There's also plenty of people that, like you said, their favorite charity, they look and they say, you know what, the end of the year, I'm just going to make a donation to the National Baseball hall of Fame. And, and it's really because you understand that in doing it, you're actually helping preserve artifacts like that. There are, I mean, obviously coming to visit is a great way to do it, but there we have a gift store online that we sell merchandise for that helps support the cause and the institution. And really it's. I think most people think that we're funded by Major League Baseball, but we're not. It's a completely separate entity that really does run off of ticket sales, donations, memberships, things of that nature. And that's part of what we have to do, is balance that budget every year and find ways to do it.

Yes. And I feel like I should be a member, so that feels like a yes in my life. Coming soon, if not today. And I remember, as you were speaking, I remember George Brett and his brothers owned a restaurant in L. A in Manhattan beach where I grew up. And we would go and eat there regularly. And in the bar was the pine tar bat. And I was, you know, I was probably in high school or something, and I'd stand there and just gawk at the history in this unique artifact that tells a huge story. And that's one of the cool things about Major League Baseball's hall of Fame. I'm so, so excited about that.

So thank you. When you, when you look around this place, I mean, every artifact earlier today, we actually had the Secretary of State for. For New York State here to make a big announcement. So I gave him a little bit of a tour around the hall, and I. I said you could. You can turn every corner. And you don't even realize sometimes without stopping and looking at the label, that, oh, there's the bat that Babe Ruth used to hit, whatever, 27 of his 60 homers in 1927, that he notched every time. Here's a Hank Aaron locker, and here's a Mike Trout. I mean, it just. It goes on and on and on, and it's literally every time you turn a corner here that if you love the game, either the history of it or even the modern game, we're constantly adding new things that make it so that people want to come and. And be members and support the. Support the. The mission.

I love when history is preserved. I am not a UCLA fan, but I went to the University of Arizona and grew up in Los Angeles, and I appreciate greatness. And in UCLA's Athletic hall of Fame, they've got John Wooden's living room from his home that they have rebuilt. And I could just stand there looking into his living room for, like, 15, 20 minutes. And that's the beauty of an amazing museum piece, is you can get teleported into that time and place.

Yeah, that's. I mean, we have two exhibits here that focus specifically on people. One on Babe Ruth and one on Hank Aaron. They essentially are probably the two that have transcended baseball and to become true pop culture icons. Jackie Robinson has his own museum, obviously, down in the city, but in Hank Aarons, they've transported, in fact, Babe Ruth's, too. We have the actual locker from the locker room that you can basically sit in Hank's locker and know what it would be like and. And look around at all the. I mean, he's done. Both of those gentlemen donated their entire collections to the hall of Fame. And that. That's. It's interesting when you ask how people can get involved. We actually get a lot of people who don't donate money, but they donate artifacts. They come and they say, you know what? I'm gonna. I've got this incredible. Whatever. It's a baseball. Here's a baseball card that. That was a rare gem, or this is a glove that I was given to, but from whoever. And so quite often, there's. There are so many different ways. Again, our website, which actually was just recently redone, looks good. Great. And I hope. Hope people will take the time to look at it and figure out how they can get involved.

That's so cool. Well, I know we should. I'm grateful for your time. The best day I ever had at Wire Buzz, besides being in the locker room with you, of course, was the day we got hired to follow Johnny Bench around. And it ended in a little room with margaritas with Johnny Bench. And I was like, this is the coolest day ever. You know, like, how can I not be excited, excited about it? And it kind of feels like that's become your life now. And I'm so excited for you, bro, that you've continued to grow and take risk and find mentors and reach for excellence and it brought you all the way to the hall of Fame. Just different than what you thought when you were a 12 year old kid.

Yeah, I don't think I ever actually thought knowing, knowing my skill set, I might have been an average high school baseball player. I would probably about as average as it gets. So I never thought I'd actually end up in Cooperstown. But ultimately it happens every day, whether it's Johnny Bench or random person calls my phone and I'll kind of pinch myself and say, man, I can't believe this is, this is where my career has taken me. And I often think back to that was very early in my DBAX career, yours in my conversation. And I've enjoyed watching, watching you take off and create what you've created too. So I appreciate you letting me do this.

Thank you so much. My brother, always nice to check in with you. He is the president of the National Baseball hall of Fame and Museum. He's Josh Rawitz. Josh, thank you so much for joining me on the Todd cast, bro.

You bet.

Todd, thank you so much. This was a real treat. I saw that you guys were recently in Arizona and I hope you had a wonderful time.

It was great. It's funny, I actually earlier today or yesterday, I was telling my wife and.

By the way, I just wrapped.

Yeah, I figured, yeah, I figured we were done yet. I was telling my wife that, that I was doing two. I have a different podcast later tonight that has nothing to do with anything and I don't usually do two in a day, but she goes two. And I said, yeah, actually do you remember we were staying like around the corner from Wire Buzz and I drove by it like five times and I said, do you remember when we drove by the airport, I said, my buddy Todd, who's been. Oh. She said, I've seen that place a million times. I never really. So yeah, we were there for eight days and just had an absolute blast going back and forth, seeing old friends and catching up with Derek and Ken Kendrick. It was was great.

Oh, that's so great. Well, thank you. You've been very generous with your time. I look forward to seeing you. I'm going to be out there in the hall of Fame one of these days. I look forward to looking you up.

Hope you'll become a member. I love you guys.

Yo, that was a powerful episode. And from what we just learned, it should be obvious how you can now implement these lessons in your life to get to the next level. Now, before you bounce, I just have three quick first, thank you for taking me on your incredible life journey. Second, if you receive some value from me and you want to pay it forward, it would mean the world to me. If you left an honest rating and review at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, I'd be incredibly grateful. And lastly, if you share this episode, whether it be a screenshot or a photo from where you're listening, anything via Instagram stories or LinkedIn, Facebook, or any of the social media sites, just tag me and the guest. I'll repost your content and I'll reply back in the comments because I love mixing it up. In fact, I'd love to share your shoutouts in my feed too. Not only are these shout outs really good for you and for me, but they also help us book more amazing guests because they'll be able to see the reach that you're helping to cultivate. This is a way for you to help contribute to the show. So thank you again for listening and I look forward to earning a regular spot inside that ear of yours. Let's grow.