
Transcript
A Visit With Ironwood Native Dillon Makela - Now With The Chicago Cubs Organization
Ironwood News · Tue Jul 14, 2026
92 three classic country WJMS Rod I tell you it good thing.
You guys don't know what we're talking about off the air here rods.
Is this working?
Not
for long if you keep talking Well, it is 92 three classic country and we are here with Rod Halverson and a very special guest who flew all the way from South Bend to come up here just to be on our show South Bend wonder
Probably my second most favorite cities in the United States.
Do you know why, Joe?
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Proud to have Wakefield native of Dylan Mackalaw Working in the Chicago Cub organization working reason.
I brought up salt and he is working with the South Bend Cubs and Dylan will Welcome to the station today.
Glad you could make it home.
Your flight was delayed, but you got here
Thank you for having me, but yeah, it was it was you know only delayed like 20 minutes 30 minutes, but
We got here in one piece and here we are.
So we found out it was a the flight attendant wasn't there.
There wasn't a plane problem.
Yeah.
You know, the dancer, you know, over the speaker, he goes, you know, we're in a delay with our flight.
And I was like, well, usually it's the weather.
I'm like, it's perfectly sunny, you know, 85, 90 degrees go up.
And I said, like, why is the flight delayed?
He goes, oh, the flight attendants not here yet.
Like, OK, like that's, you know, the plane's working.
Weather's nice.
Just can't get my count of Coca-Cola zero.
OK.
All right.
So I, I knew Dylan in high school because he was, uh, he was playing sports for Wakeville, Marinusco Cardinals.
And then what year did you join Marty's golden years, 2019, 2000?
It was when I was like, what, 15 or 16, 16.
So like 20, 2016, 2017.
Okay.
You were a sophomore in high school.
Okay.
Yeah.
And that's where he came on the scene and, uh, he was a snare drummer.
Of course I was on cymbals and he was just
He was just a cool kid back then, and he still is.
I've seen him grow up a little bit here.
And graduated in 2020, or 2020, from Lake Kilmarinesco.
Went on to Northern Michigan.
You had a passion for sports medicine.
Yeah, sports medicine, athletic training.
Yep.
All right.
That's
right.
So you went to Northern for?
Went to Northern for, well, I started at GCC, went there for one year, got some of my basics done.
Then I transferred out, and then I was at Northern for the five years left.
Got my masters and...
Now we're in the baseball world.
So last summer you were down in Dominican Republic.
Yeah last summer I started all this baseball stuff with the Dominican Republic with the Chicago Cubs and the DR in Boca Chica was there from May until middle of August went back to school did my last year of school and then Now here I am in South Bend, Indiana.
Cool
home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
We can talk about that today too.
Every time I go past there, I just think about how Duke basketball runs that building.
Ouch.
I have to leave.
Oh my goodness.
He's going to have some good
digs on you
today.
You're
just going to sit there and listen.
I'm loving this right now, yes.
Football though, I mean, hey, I mean, you've got to join a conference for that, you know?
Well, you know, nobody wants them.
They're too good.
Aren't you joining a
conference though?
Are you, is that football or is that basketball?
They're in
a
conference, but football, they're staying independent.
Yeah.
So when you, we're going to school in Marquette, Northern Michigan, you got, how'd you get notified with, with the Cubs?
How'd you get involved with the Cubs?
So essentially, like I said, the first, this was my first year in grad school.
There's a application for athletic trainers for professional baseball.
It's called the Pbats.
So you go through there, you know, it's like a standard questionnaire interview form, like, you know,
your name, you really want your, you know, your resume, what you've done, all your experiences.
And then there's an option that gives you, like, choose your top three teams.
So at that time, I chose, like, the Brewers.
Yankees, Yankees, and Yankees.
Could you
let the gentleman speak,
please?
Yankees, Yankees, Yankees.
So I picked the, I put top three teams, like, not in any order, just, I basically, basically get off, like, location-wise.
I said to, like, the Brewers, you know, cause all their flights are kinda close.
Did the Brewers, the Twins, and then the Cups.
And at that time, you know, history, you know, we'll, we'll see that in the past.
And at that time, you know, I thought nothing of it.
Then you also have the option to like pick, you know, all your information goes to like all the, like major league teams and minor league teams.
You can select a box information goes all to those teams.
That's the application process.
And that was in December, November, December-ish in that timeframe.
And then essentially all you have to do is just wait for a phone call.
So then fast forward until like January.
Early February I was in class one day and I got a phone call from the Chicago number And I thought it was like a telemarketer, you know spam call I got an answer it I was like, okay, like you know not gonna pick this up and then I get a text from number saying like hey This is so and so with the Chicago Cubs and I was like, you know, there's this You know, they're just like I don't know so I call that number and it was the Chicago Cubs organization That's like like hey, we're like are you interested in like an interview like for athletic training them internship?
And I said like yeah, I'd be really interested
So I went through the internship process with them, and they said, well, how would you like to go to the DR?
And you know, a little history here, you know, being from the UP, I knew no Spanish.
Nothing like that.
Never flew out of the country by myself, or even flown by myself.
And I said, like, yeah, like, I think it'd be a great opportunity.
So I finished school that one year, packed my bags, and flew to Milwaukee to the Dominican Republic.
And the rest is history.
Good time down there, you got to meet some good people.
It was a great time, great people, great org.
Players now too, like I said, a lot of them are getting started to get called now to Arizona and low-way baseball Myrtle Beach with us.
So is that the lowest level of
the Cubs organization?
It is technically, but there's the DR, which is international.
That's mostly international prospects, Dominican, Hispanic, Latino, anything like that.
And then there's the Arizona complex.
which that is like, they're kind of like the same level, but the Arizona complex is like you're, you know, you D1, D2, D3 athletes are getting drafted by us just in the States rather than going to international and international academies.
But kind of the same thing, same schedules.
So
I think the thing to remember, Joe, is we should start answering these spam calls because he answered his.
Yeah, definitely.
We don't know
who's calling us.
We could be recruited
for
what I don't know.
Pickleball.
doing Notre
Dame football.
I cannot waste my Saturday afternoons doing that.
So you finished in Dominican Republic.
You come back to Marquette for your work on your master's last year.
I was working on my master's, yep.
Okay.
And you did good there, obviously.
Passed that, passed my board exam, yep.
And I remember talking to you, is either you or your mother during basketball season.
Not much of a difference.
mom
son right you
don't
remember who you talk
was were you there i don't know but this is when you were you were wavering you had you had some you had some decisions to make
i did yeah yes
and we were talking about that but
yeah that was uh going into the season like i said the first one it was only the cubs that call me go to the dr so i took that offer like i said great time great experience great people and then this cycle came around
And I got offered, you know, from the Cubs organization going to South Bend, which is the high affiliate.
And then I also got offered from the Kansas City Royals.
And that would have been right in Kansas City.
Yeah.
With the big boys.
With the big boys, you know, first name based with Bobby Whitton.
Yeah.
Kanglion.
But I, like I said, I want the experience like the Cubs organization has been great to me.
I, I Chicago Cubs.
Yeah.
They are listening by the way.
Yeah.
The Cubs.
Tap, tap didn't right
now.
Oh,
yeah, probably.
So the media app.
Yes, that's right.
You can get them all over the world.
That's right.
Hey, can I give a shout out to
Listers
in Depear?
I just did.
Go ahead.
Of
course you can.
Genie and Kevin.
It's your show.
Whatever.
Genie and Kevin listening in Depear, Wisconsin this morning on probably the Civic Media app.
I don't think our signal goes down there on 590, but Civic Media that they're familiar with because I gave them all that information.
So glad that they're listening.
Well, that's awesome.
That
is awesome.
So good shout out to them.
We're going to take a quick break here.
Okay.
And we're talking with Dylan and Rod.
And we'll be back here in about a minute and a half on WJMS.
Avanti Home
Health Care.
Good morning.
You're listening to 92-3 Classic Country 25 past nine o'clock.
We're here with Rod Halverson and Dylan Makula.
Yes.
And Dylan is nice enough to fly in from the south bend area.
All-star week, right?
That's why you have a couple days off,
is that what it is?
All-star week, like I said, all-star break isn't like, usually everyone's like, oh, it's like our halfway point, which in the major leagues, it's just over halfway, but with us, we're, we only have, when I go back, we only have seven weeks left, and then playoffs, because we clinched a playoff spot, so, you know, that could be an extra two to three weeks, so seven weeks, and then...
Eight with the playoffs and see how far we go
and you're in the Midwest League.
I read something about the I did my research on the Cubs and The environment what's the name of the baseball field
for wins field
at Mikosky Stadium or something?
It's just I think it's just for once field.
Okay feel that there's there's a stadium.
Yeah, yeah, there's like the actual stadium name.
Yeah
Sounds like it's quite the experience going to a game.
It is like I said, usually, you know, like the weekday games, you know, it's, you know, the crowd's somewhat smaller, you know, weekdays, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays, but then, you know, Friday, Saturdays, Sundays.
The crowd's really showing up, especially because we were, the Midwest League has split in the first half, so they have the first half and the second half.
The first half, we won the first half.
Okay.
So we clinched a playoff spot in like the past like month.
I mean, the crowd was really there, you know, to support us behind us.
I mean, the crowd was, it was pretty good.
But now the second half, we were
We started the second half like three weeks ago, and I mean, we were just on the road for two weeks in a row.
So I got to South Bend late on Sunday night.
We were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, going against the Twins affiliate.
Got to South Bend at like midnight, did my laundry, and then here I am in Ironwood.
I haven't really had much of a time in South Bend here in the second half, but.
Yeah,
so you travel with the team.
Yep, travel with the team all the time and where we go like I said a lot of the travel It is the Midwest League so all Midwest teams, you know Appleton, Beloy Cedar Rapids we go to the Grand Rapids I think we have Midland, Michigan coming up the Dodgers affiliate the Great Lakes looms So yeah miss gone Midwest.
Yeah,
I like some of the
team names,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah,
yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah,
So we, uh, the Cubs actually just signed someone from the, he played for the Duluth Huskies like a year or two ago.
And then he was in like the American baseball association with the Milwaukee milkman.
Oh yeah.
There's
another league too.
So yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mary hit goes to that.
Those games a lot.
Milwaukee milkman.
Yeah.
So when you, when you go on the road, let's say you, you guys go to Appleton.
How long are you there?
Three game series.
So the schedules for us, this is the part.
Usually it's, we get there on a Tuesday.
We play Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Oh, you're there for almost a week.
Yeah, we're there for six game stand.
You know, if things change, weather change, you know, any cancellation delays, you know, the double header, but it's Tuesday through a Sunday, then go back to South Bend on a Sunday.
Now there's a lot of local people from this area that live in that Appleton Green Bay area.
Are you in contact with them?
Do you get to see them?
Uh, when we were, we were in Appleton.
May, May 12th through like the 16th or 18th whenever it was.
Like I said, a lot of friends and family were there.
People from like Northern came down.
Yes.
Saw my teachers and friends from there.
So yeah, there's talked to a lot of people from there.
Yeah.
It was a good road trip for there.
Are you in the dugout?
Are you more like in
the local?
I'm in the dugout.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Yeah.
This
is cool.
It's just really cool.
Oh yeah.
Well, you got to do that, right?
That's a requirement.
Gatorade two in the water, got to.
Anything, Joel?
I'll take a
break if you have a question.
Oh, bring up.
I forgot what I was going to bring up.
Oh,
I will in
a
minute.
But I do have a question.
We were talking beforehand a little bit.
And if I got this right, so correct me if I don't.
Some of the players that you met that are actually on the Cubs right now that have come down.
Do you have a few names you can drop?
Yeah.
So yeah, this is all public information.
So a lot of a lot of guys I've worked with have been like pitchers and stuff like that.
I can't share like what I did with them.
Right.
Right.
but there was like Matthew Boyd he was there for a week trip Matthew Boyd another one I got talked to like really talked to and like now Jameson Tyone those are two of that recently that I got really close with and got to talk to so
now Matthew Boyd actually pitched for the Tigers I think
yeah he was came from the Tigers and then yeah he was our opening day starter this year and also made the all-star game last year
okay now do you get called up
I mean as the season goes on when because how long does your season run for
so like for just like regular season games like our actual season like work season starts in end of January February and spring training everyone goes to the Arizona for the complex you know gets their reps and their training in you know start working games and stuff then everyone goes to South Bend we start in April it's like the first week in April and then we go all the way until September 6th
And then if you make playoffs, you know, then it's just, you know, the playoffs is weird for us, you know, like typically in the MLB, it's like, you know, you have your wild card, which is best of three.
Then it goes, you know, ALDS or LDS best of five, then seven and seven.
For us, the first round is best of three.
But the first game, even like we won the first half, so we have home field advantage.
Our first game though is on the road.
So we go on the road for one game, then we go back to South Bend for two.
So it's flipped around a little bit.
And right now it would be,
The way the standings are right now, we would actually be going to Appleton on a Tuesday, play one game against Appleton, then it's Thursday, or right after the game or Wednesday morning, go back to South Bend, play two against, or hopefully one against Appleton, because we're 2-0, sweep them globally, and then just see who keeps winning, and
then
schedule me determined.
Yeah, I think it's you know, you got a rugged schedule though a lot of traveling going on and stuff like that But it's got to be just I mean you're young men.
Yeah, that's right.
It's right.
You know energy
Yeah,
a lot of energy a lot of traveling and stuff and it's got to be a neat experience for you
It is like I said young guy, you know getting this is this has been a dream of mine since I was you know sophomore junior in high school boys wanted to do it like I said it's
dreams of reality and it's it's a great time so
well you oh great good oh i just got to follow up on that a lot of work though
yeah
put a
lot of work a lot of work yeah from the school school wise you know how to get my undergrad how to get my masters and then also just had to pass my board exam to become a certified at and then yeah
all right well we're talking with dilla macula and rod helverson here this morning and uh it is time for the swap shop 906-932-5999 is the number to call uh we will keep
chatting and if you do have a call though and you want to get something to buy, sell or trade, definitely give us a call and we'll be happy to get you on the air.
Once again, it's sponsored by Avante Home Care on WJMS.
So you're, you said you were thinking
about this back in as a sophomore.
What was, what drove you to that?
Did you?
Like I've always like, you know, the way I've always approached it is like, I've always liked baseball.
I've always been big into the sports, but specifically, you know, as you know, baseball has been a big thing.
And the way I looked at it, I said, I was never good enough to be one of the pro players.
But I always said I wanted to be good enough to help one of them.
OK.
And like I said, from there on, I just got really big into sports medicine.
And then, like I said, fast forward here didn't effort.
If you were to tell me a few years ago, I would have been doing this.
I don't know if I would have believed it, but here we are.
Yeah, I'm just sharing with Rod.
Some of the this gentleman got drafted from Ashland.
Oh, yeah.
Yep.
Yep.
To the brewers.
So it's kind of neat, you know, and to piggyback off of that and your story.
I mean, it doesn't matter if you live in a small town.
You know, if you've got a dream and you want to do it, you got a passion for it.
Definitely.
So it's a real cool story that you have.
We're going to keep continue talking to you.
But I think it's a really cool story when Rod was telling me a little bit about it.
I mean, he told me, you know, we're going to have you on and stuff like that.
And I'm like, boy, I tell you.
You just chased your dream.
That's right.
That's right.
It's always, like I said, my mother, you know, my mother really close.
My mother always said, you know, where someone could tell you is no, you know, chase your dream, go for what you want.
And I did.
And, you know, like I said, South Bend, Indiana, home of Notre Dame, the Cubs.
Here we are.
There's only one person that can tell you no in that yourself.
That's
right.
That's exactly
true.
That is words of wisdom,
right?
Isn't that something I'm getting emotional over here?
Start
to
hear a note.
We're going to have to take a break here.
You're not going to hear much from Ron anymore, but switch tracks for a quick second here, because I've been wanting to ask this question because I found out you're a big Milwaukee Buc fan.
And I'm a Bucs fan also, and my brother's a Bucs fan, and we've been following him for years.
What do you think about the honest trade?
At the time when it happened that night, I remember I was laying on the couch, and I got a couple of phone calls that night.
a couple from the 80s in Arizona too.
I was angry about it.
I was, you know, honest, you know, it came and drafted him, what, 2013?
Changed our franchise, you know, he's the first Bucks jersey I got.
And, you know, it hurt at first, but, you know, the past couple of seasons, you know, it was back and forth.
I want to be here, I don't want to be here.
We're building for the future.
I think it was, I mean, it's sad to see him leave, but I think it was a good move for both parties.
We're building for the future for guys couple draft picks We'll see ask me that question again in like two years.
Yeah, I'm the same way.
Yeah, I was more disappointed and I did love the honest I mean watching him play the man's phenomenal.
He's probably gonna go down and a lot of record books and stuff, but
Going to Miami first of all, I don't like them anymore Go on to the heat somebody I just
I was yeah, I was hoping we went to the Western Conference or something.
Yeah going to one of our rivals.
We're gonna see playoffs and Rod I mean could be Boston in Miami.
You could be going against the two now all the time.
Oh my gosh This isn't just us two now.
Yeah, you're in this now too.
You're in the mix Yeah,
you know you want to put that you honest Jersey on swap shop you want to get rid of it?
Yeah, I only got a boat
I got, I think, almost like five or six
hours.
You do?
Yeah, I think you do.
Mine didn't make it past the fire pit.
But no, but you know what?
Honestly, I mean, I got a Bobby Portis jersey.
Yeah.
And I'm thinking, why?
Take someone else.
Take your brothers with you.
You know, why are you taking Bobby Portis?
He was kind of like the fire plug.
Yeah, I got the crowd into the game.
You know, get the momentum up.
And he was like 18 points a game, eight rebounds, you know, some assist.
No, let's take Bobby
Porter.
Take Bobby and Yannison.
Yeah, well, I don't know.
Well, we'll see what remains.
So we got, we got Tyler Hurrell.
Yeah, that's, yeah.
Yeah, that's, you know, hey, Wisconsin, Wisconsin guy.
Yeah, he's,
yeah.
I think he's Oak Creek, I think.
Somewhere in that area.
Somewhere down in the Milwaukee.
Play for like Wittnell or something like that in high school.
Yeah.
Is that where, okay.
Maybe it was
Wittnell.
Okay.
Well, Rod, how your Yankees doing?
They're moving back up.
They got their through their slump.
Didn't they lose like nine in a row?
Well, they did.
But now they're going to win nine in a row.
And then losing nine in a row is just going to be a trade off.
They'll be back and swept
them.
Well,
yeah, but what?
Yeah, but but what?
It's you have no explanation for that.
They'll they'll come back and you lose nine, you win nine.
It doesn't mean anything.
Baseball so long
it is
that.
You lose nine in a row, just come back and win nine in a row and you forget the bad parts.
They'll be there.
They're climbing back up.
Yeah.
Yeah, we'll see.
You don't want to be in first place now because everybody's chasing you.
You just want to be in the middle of it.
It's always bad to be the
number one team in your division.
Until the very end, then you
do.
Then you do.
Don't ever want to be in first
place.
No, no, no.
Because then everybody's fighting.
Everybody's chasing you.
I think that's the Yankees model too when they lost nine in a row.
Can we switch?
Let's not be in first place guys.
Let's lose nine and a half.
We gotta even this up a little bit.
People are gunning for us if we're in first.
All right,
back to the Cubs.
Okay.
All right, so when the Chicago Cubs need, we talked about this before we went on the air, they'll come to South Bend for rehab?
So a lot of that, it depends on like, you know, timeline injury-wise.
because Arizona, like the Arizona complex that I was talking about, they also have a rehab spot there for us, so any long term injuries, like six to eight weeks time frame, sometimes it could be like a four week injury, oops, sorry, it could be like a four week injury and they'll be like, oh, you're gonna stay at your affiliate or you're gonna stay in Chicago, or it could be the complete opposite, they go through the doctors and they say like, oh, Arizona, be there for six weeks, eight weeks.
So that is the big, it just depends for that, yeah, but.
Sometimes like I said like the rehab assignments like for us like in South Bend a lot of it is like rehab assignments because we are so close to Chicago like we're the closest affiliate an hour and a half Right, you know and the travel like Midwest League.
They could fly to Chicago or anywhere close They need to a lot of it for us is the rehab assignments.
They'll come to us for like pitchers.
They'll pitch Depending they might make like one or two starts in like the two weeks See where they're at and then you know, all right go back to Chicago or you know, it could be a triple a guy or double a guy well double a camp because
The rule is you can only rehab two levels lower.
So if we get, we get Chicago or triple I can come to us, but then, you know, double has to go to like Myrtle Beach and then, you know, keep working the way down.
But a lot of it is like rehab starts for us, you know, play for a week with us.
And then all like, you're good.
Like go back to Chicago.
How big is the rehab staff at Salt Bend?
So the medical staff for us, like I said, it's, uh, there's two AT's for us.
So it's me and Maggie or the two AT's there.
And then we also have a strength and conditioning person.
and we have like a performance coach as well.
So there's us four, I mean, everyone together, we all work together.
The coaches, hitting coaches, pitching coaches, they're all working together.
Everyone's doing what they're doing, you know, we're all on our twine with ideas and thoughts.
That's our team that we have.
There's no, we're not like a designated like rehab spot for us.
Like we rehab, but Arizona, like all the teams in Arizona and Florida, like I think the Tigers aren't Florida.
Yes, Lakeland.
Yep.
A lot of their like the rehab, those are designated rehab spots like, you know,
guy goes down long term that's where they're going to go for rehab rather than and then they'll they'll rehab them up and then when they're ready to start throwing again then they'll be like all right like go to single way make a start and then go to high make a start and then yep
all right
it's a process it's a long process yeah
break yeah we'll take a quick break here we're on the uh
What, what's wrong?
I forgot where we're
at.
We're on
the sports
show.
We're on the
swap shop.
Yeah.
Oh, and we have a dual show right
now.
906-932-5999.
Give us a call.
It's a swap shop sponsored by Avante Home Care.
We're talking with Dylan Makula and also Rod Halverson this morning.
And we'll be back in about two minutes to continue our conversation.
Classic country, 92-3 WJMS AM 590.
Jorm kiss along with Dylan Makula Rod Halverson.
We're here talking some sports and Also, it's the swap shop.
We got about three minutes left 906 932 5 9 9 9 is the number to call sponsored by Avanti home care All right, Rod
Let
me turn on your mic start over
my medical experience When the season started the Brewers pitcher they call him the Miz right?
Yeah
105 mile an hour fastball consistently over 100 miles.
And I said back in April and early May, I said, watch, watch how long he lasts.
He's not going to last the whole season.
He's already missing starts now.
Yeah.
Hey, you're wise beyond your years.
Oh, my gosh.
I could see it coming.
Yeah.
Just from talking to Dylan over the years, some of that medical knowledge.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, just the medical.
That's
a
big word.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean spit it out But you're talking about injuries and all that one thing about baseball because there's so many levels of baseball These guys these guys are never you can make the pros, but you're you may be gone
the next day You might
start for the Cubs on third base and the next day you're you're you're dropped down to what's the next level down Arizona
he said
Knoxville or it could be in South Bend or Myrtle Beach or Arizona or Dominican's International.
So that one's
yeah, but so it's so It's got to be so hard for those guys.
Some of these guys are in the minor leagues for years.
Yeah, waiting for that chance Yeah, a lot of them.
Yeah, there's a couple and like the system and stuff I've been there for you know, like three or four years and Like I said, you could be called up to a double-a or triple-a one week and then
before I know it, you're on a plane back to double air singly where you were
two weeks ago.
So you're, these guys in South Bend, you're getting close to them, you know them all there.
They love baseball,
right?
They're playing for a reason.
Whether they get called up or not, they're just content with where they are right now, aren't they?
I mean, content, like they're content with it, like they like it, but at the end of the day, like I said, they've been playing baseball their whole life.
They got drafted.
They got signed by us.
At the end of the day, they do want to be at the top.
They want to be in Chicago.
We got to go to Wrigley Field beginning of May, end of May, something like that.
And just like, that's their goal, their dream.
They want to be in Chicago.
That's what they want to work for.
Like I said, you know, being healthy.
You got, I mean, single A, high A, baseball, Arizona.
I mean, everyone's good.
Like there's players that are really good.
There's players that are good.
Everyone's good though in some form.
So I mean, like you said,
It's a long path.
There's so many levels.
And like I said, you might be good in high or singly, but that doesn't mean you can do the same stuff in double air triple a. It depends.
Did you see the picture of the cub sign welcoming the miners football?
Go give it minus.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think you said you sent me that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I did see that.
I
thought I thought maybe you were there that day.
No, I wasn't there that day.
We were there.
I think we were there like the week before that.
Yeah, they went down.
They went down to a football camp at Michigan State and they came through Chicago and they went to the game.
And yeah, I thought that was kind of cool.
Well, that's going to do it for the Swap Shop here at WJMS.
And we'll continue with our conversation with Dylan and Rod.
So yeah.
So Dylan, you just, I know you enjoy baseball.
What's your other
passion?
Yeah, baseball is a big one.
But I mean, I do like to golf a lot.
Yeah, I do like to golf.
I like sports cards too, sports cards and shoes.
But no, I'm a big, big golfer.
I mean, especially in baseball, because we have Mondays off.
Mondays are designated off day.
A lot of us players would go on the golf course and hit up 18 holes.
But it's a good way to pass the time.
Yeah.
Is Salt Bend big?
I was there once.
Not for a football game.
I was there once on my way to DC.
And we stopped in Salt Bend to get gasoline.
Were you lost there?
No, it was a straight.
Actually, I did make a wrong turn.
That's a different story about his Cleveland trip.
Not his Cleveland, Maryland.
Lost.
But yeah, he was driving around
Maryland for like half a day.
GPS is, that's a bad thing.
GPS, yeah, that's
true.
It's all been
big.
You know, honestly, like I said, the only place I really go there, like I said, I go to the field, I go by South Bend, and then I go to a town that's like 10 minutes east of there, like Misha Waka.
I could be saying that totally wrong.
But I mean, the only thing I really know in South Bend is Notre Dame.
Yeah, I haven't really like explored it much to be honest.
I
and I think the campus is right off the freeway, right up
Yeah, it's like right there.
Yeah, you get off like the toll road or yes, whatever it's called Then you just take a left turn and you see the Notre Dame non-conference football stadium, you know,
so
how
far is
it?
I like I threw that I don't know that was good
So where's the baseball field in relation to the stadium
ours or Notre Dame's ours yours our field is like five minutes from the campus because you have like
You have like Notre Dame, like Notre Dame is like a designated place, like Notre Dame is on the map, has Notre
Dame.
That's weird.
You're right, because it'll say Notre Dame Indiana.
Yeah, it's totally like, even on a map, you go to a store and get a map, it will say Notre Dame, like it's, and then you have South Bend, you have like the uptown part of South Bend, and then you have the downtown part.
We're in the downtown part.
Okay.
So we're like five minutes from Notre Dame, but it's two different areas, yeah.
Yeah, it is weird how they do that, Notre Dame Indiana.
Yeah, I did get lost in Notre Dame.
We stopped for gas.
I knew I was going south to the gas station when I came out the gas station I continued going
south in your defense Sometimes pulling out of those gas stations.
You can get turned around.
Yes.
Yes, I realized I was I should have gone north Yeah, you got to take the same eggs
that I hope that you pull into yes, it's confusing it was Has nothing to do with your driving skills Well, right
I was confused.
So, question for you.
You played for Marty's when you were 16?
Yes,
correct.
Okay, and how long you in town?
I'm in town.
Right now, I fly out of Iowa on Friday afternoon.
Oh, he's going to miss Marty's concert on Saturday.
We could use another drummer.
I leave Friday, though.
Well,
call the Cubs and tell them,
yeah.
I mean, hey, I could take more days, but I have some days, so I could if I need to.
You want Rod to make the phone call?
Yeah, put me on standby.
On
deck.
Put me on deck.
We'll call the Cubs and let the Cubs know he's been reassigned just for the day.
Just for
the day.
Designated
for
assignment.
Yes,
designated
for
assignment.
I like
that.
There we
go.
There we go.
So how many years did you play for Marty's
then?
2016 to...
Two there?
Two?
Three?
No, it was more than that, wasn't it?
I feel like cuz what junior like sophomore year junior senior and then had to be one more year in college.
Oh,
that's right.
Cuz you're going to give
it.
Yeah, that's right Norther my first year.
I was like back and forth.
It's like four years
might have been
four maybe all these years when
together is
Yeah, I was in track of time.
I don't know what day it is today.
I know that's
well your invocation.
You don't
yeah, my mind my mind's not there right now Yeah, that's my excuse this time.
Yeah, so that's neat.
So that's where you guys met Marty's yes, you changed your life.
That's right
That's right.
He changes my life.
He gets a banter about the Notre Dame fighting Irish and the Yankees and the Canadians.
He hates every team I go for.
Well,
who doesn't?
Well, I know.
You have a whole list here.
Besides the Packers.
I'm sorry, I'm a Packer.
We agree on the card.
We're both Cardinal graduates.
Yeah.
Yeah, we can't disagree there, but.
Yes.
The Canadians and the...
Everybody heard the story about how Rod liked the Montreal Canadiens because he drove through Montreal, Wisconsin.
Yes,
I thought that the suburb of Guile.
I thought Rosereeth was there.
Was the arena.
That's
right, she did.
I thought that's where the hockey team played at.
How cool.
Well, you know, Marissa texted me and she wanted me to ask you a question since you're a trainer and stuff.
I was lifting a fridge
the other day.
Oh, boy.
It's my all-star break.
It's my all-star break.
You know, and I just, you know, pop the rib here and, you know, she hates my whining.
So she said,
you
know, ask this guy.
He goes, he got to know.
No.
How about your pick?
Rod was saying before the show, too.
He goes talking about his pickleball ball.
Pickleball shoulder.
Yeah.
It's
like rotator cuff.
This is,
you
know, because you're doing this a lot.
You know,
it's all overhead.
You
know,
I know, I know.
It's a whiffle
ball.
And my, my pickleball opponents don't.
They don't, I don't get no sympathy.
Well,
I wouldn't either when you're a Yankees fan.
Well, they
didn't know that until.
Yeah.
Well, no,
they
all know that there's not going to be any mercy taken.
Yes.
So, so.
So, uh,
we're
trying to change the subject real quick,
real
quickly.
Yeah.
Come on, Rod.
You got something that's smoking in that head of yours.
I know your, your dream then is to eventually get on.
with Chicago.
Yeah, I do want to be on top.
And Salt Bend is the third.
It doesn't matter where Salt Bend team is in the ranking.
So you got the Cubs first.
Yep.
Arizona is the second team.
The
second.
How does that work?
So we'll go bottom to top.
Bottom to top, like I said, it's the Dominican, which is international.
Like Dominican, Dominican and Arizona kind of the same thing.
Okay.
Just Arizona's in the States.
The air is international.
Those are the two.
Then there's Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
That's our A ball affiliate.
then there's South Bend or Rotmatt, which is the high affiliate.
Then there's Knoxville, Tennessee, the Knoxville Smokies.
They're double A, and then we have the Iowa Cubs, which is triple A. And then you have really feel the Chicago Cubs.
Okay.
So A, double A, triple A majors.
Yep.
Yep.
Okay.
Yeah.
But there's nothing that would say you're in South Bend this year, maybe next year, you're in Chicago.
I know that's a dream,
but that would be pushing it.
But I would say maybe like a ball.
You know, maybe like Knoxville.
There's Myrtle Beach.
Okay.
Yeah.
One of those two.
I think we got to keep you in South Bend for a while.
You know, it's just
I got to stay there for a Duke basketball game when they go to Notre Dame and win by 50.
So I do have to be there for that.
See another Camp Booser 30 performance at a half
time.
Yeah.
Camp Booser.
Good ball player.
Super
flag.
Who do you go to?
Memphis.
Memphis Grizzlies.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And flag was another I mean this that guy's a stud.
I mean fabrics.
Yeah, he's
he's crazy I was watching him play, you know, and I'm not a Duke fan by no means because I'm a Michigan fan
So
you kind of have that
but I got a natty this year, but you
still got
a respect.
Yeah
a player like Cooper flag.
I think that guy is just I Don't know
he was crazy.
He was he was a high schooler playing in college.
Yeah.
Yes What he did was I mean, yeah, we didn't we didn't win the didn't win the natty, but
Yeah, it was nice to see Michigan then we got rid of our coach.
Let's let's let
yeah to the Mavericks.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's a coach up Cooper flag.
Yeah, and I this May is a great coach.
Yeah, he is
you got the win in that one That was definitely a win for Dallas to get the may be in a coach I I was very sad to see him go so two things hit me honest May went like a week before Giannis went and then all of a sudden Bobby Portis is gone and
Had to be consoled for like a week two weeks.
I still cry a little bit at night Yeah,
that's yeah, I was yeah, you know straight down to me
Yeah, it's good.
It gets a little emotional because you follow these guys.
Yeah, and I'm okay Rod take over You're probably crying because your Yankees are gonna go on a nine game losing star again back to another name
So Marcus Freeman coach of the Irish he's been at
He's
a pretty consistent fan,
right?
When he was first there, I wasn't down there yet because I was just getting ready to move in and stuff.
He and a few of the players, they have signings and stuff there on the concourse.
I mean, I'm sure now with the football season starting to ramp up and they have their camps, I'm sure it'll be less there.
You're
starting to see some important people in the world.
Yeah, it's
right.
You work in baseball, mainly.
Do
you ever, in the off season, I mean, or do you have an off season, I guess?
And if you do, do any of the other like teams locally try to get a whole year to help them out a little bit or anything?
I mean, is there some of that stuff happening?
So right now, like honestly, I don't have an answer for that.
Cause like I said, I was in school for the past six years straight.
So I haven't really had a break yet.
But like I said, right now, hopefully, you know, we'll end in September, see how far we go with playoffs that goes till, you know, middle or end of September, give or take.
And then we'll have the offseason.
And then in October again, October, November, that's when like teams can start reaching back out to me, you know, the Cubs may be offering me back something, you know, like maybe, you know, Arizona or Myrtle Beach or whatever that may be.
Or, you know, maybe the Mets or someone will be like, hey, like we want you for like an Arizona role or a Florida role, whatever their complex is at.
But that would be for next
year, right?
For next year.
Like from
from October to like
January, January, that's offseason.
You're off.
Yep.
And I guess staying with the Cubs organization, but also going over to like, say, since you're in South Bend, maybe working for the Irish a little bit, you know, doing something, you know, do they do that kind of stuff?
I mean, where they pull up?
Typically for like college like that doesn't because like the college has their designated staff, hire like their off time or like summertime and bring them on board.
If that does happen, could I carry the medical bag?
With you?
Yeah, you'll be on the sidelines chatting up the quarterback.
He
didn't say he was going to take the job just
so you know.
I heard Duke was calling me though.
Yeah.
I might have to go there.
Medical
bag.
They don't even carry a medical bag.
Everything's sitting there for a minute.
It's not 1946.
He'll
be chatting up the quarterback.
I'll meet some and he'll be talking to him.
What's his name?
Yeah.
What's the quarterback car now?
Is that his name?
Yes.
He'll be talking to the quarterback.
Yeah.
You're out.
I need
something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This guy needs, yeah.
Guys on the field near chatting up the QD about a pick.
No, not a touchdown interception.
Oh my God.
Now talk about being teamed up on.
Well,
we hate
the teams that you like.
I mean,
it's that
simple.
It's easy, you know.
I just thought if you need help holding in something to the Notre Dame game, I would give you a hand.
Well, you can park his car and make sandwiches for him.
But I want to get on the field.
I want to be like Rudy.
Rudy.
I will say that stadium know that feel it does look super nice.
Yeah, it looks I mean I grant I haven't been I don't think I've been to any college football games
No,
I mean like D1, you know power fives or you know Notre Dame like I haven't been to any of those But it looks just from like the outside itself.
I mean it looks
I Had a chance to go to Notre Dame, Michigan game Years ago one of the players from Michigan.
It was good friends with my niece Bobby Joe
And he had players from Michigan get two tickets.
His parents weren't gonna go.
And he asked my niece if he's got two tickets.
My niece knew that I was a Notre Dame fan.
Game wasn't Notre Dame.
But I just got back on a long trip from South Carolina.
Just like, it was like a week later.
And I thought, I'm not, I passed it up.
I probably shouldn't have.
Sorry, all you Irish listeners.
If any of you guys hear this sob story, I would I would have packed and went the day.
Well, it was a tough one to turn down.
I got back like on a Wednesday and the game was set
around Maryland for a month.
Well, I know.
But I tell you,
I missed the Notre Dame game
against
Michigan.
I mean, that's like a it's like a top game.
I
know who
won
the downfall.
Here's the downfall who won the tickets.
We're in the Michigan fan section.
Well, that would have been terrible.
I would have I probably would have been I Would have to just sit there and watch who won the game.
I don't remember.
I don't remember what year that was 2017 maybe 2018 I'll have to look it up.
But will Campbell was the player from Michigan All right, not that that matters now, but well it doesn't
well
It is getting close to the top of the hour.
Any last thoughts?
No, Dylan, I'm so proud of you.
I really am.
You know, I met you when you were 16 years old and just been hearing this story and stuff like that.
And I'm just happy for you and hope good things come from that.
Thank you.
Like I said, I'm glad to have you along for it.
So it's a journey.
It's just starting.
And
yeah,
like I said, maybe staying with the Cubs now, but
yeah,
like the Cubs.
But if they call, yeah,
you never know.
You never know what the
future brings.
Yeah, you never know.
You never know.
No, you just keep working hard like you did to get where you're at now.
And that's a huge achievement on its own.
So we really appreciate you coming in today and taking time out of your day.
We know you got a lot of family probably visiting and stuff going on.
And I do want to say,
here we go.
One thing, I did send a group text out to the golden heirs.
I don't know how many are listening to this guys.
I told them all the thing that we're going to be talking to you.
I think a lot of those guys are proud of you too.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Once you're in golden age, you're always a golden age.
That's right.
That's right.
It's a band of brothers as we call
it.
Yeah,
definitely.
Definitely.
So I'm sure they're all...
It's great.
They're all pulling for you too.
Yeah.
Thank you guys for having me.
Like I said, anytime when I come back, you know, anytime.
Give me a call.
Yeah.
Always.
Yeah, definitely.
We'll have
you on any
time.
Very interesting conversation.
Like I said, you know, I mean, it's it's a great achievement that you did.
And so we're happy to have you on and
look
in the future with everything
else.
Thank you guys.
I appreciate it.
Yeah,
is it?
Yeah, I was looking forward to this one as soon as I heard you was coming home.
So really glad.
Yeah.
All right.
Well, you're listening to 93 Classic Country WJMS.
That was Dylan McAulay, Rod Halverson.
Top of the hour, time for news on
WJMS.