 And joining us now is the guy who's starting game one for the Astros tomorrow, it's Justin Verlander, Justin, it's Kevin Burkhard. And I remember a couple months ago, you told me that when you came to spring training, this team was hungry right from the get-go. But describe the clubhouse culture that allows you guys to actually win more games this year than you did last year, which is, I mean, quite the accomplishment. Let's face it here. Yeah, you know, like I said earlier, these guys are just hungry. If I would have come into this clubhouse in spring training, not having been part of the World Series atmosphere last year and not having won it, I could have sworn that these guys had just lost it and were that hungry to win one. It's really incredible. It's a testament to these guys and how hard they work and how hard they want the, they want the glory, man. They're not afraid to say that. It's been a lot of fun being part of this atmosphere. And honestly, it's like they pass the baton. Nobody cares who the hero is on any given night. They just want somebody to be the hero. We want to win. JV Alex here, quick question here for you. In 2006, we faced you in the ALDS when you came into Yankee Stadium and threw a gem. What I remember back then was a fastball, curveball guy. Today you're more of a four-pitch, sometimes five-pitch mix and you're a lot more democratic in your approach. Describe to us what's been the biggest difference besides just obviously the many pitches you're throwing. I mean, just having to figure it out over time, you know, like back then it was, you know, kind of just grip it and rip it and see what happened. Obviously, as we get older, we need to adjust and I had to keep guys off my stuff in different ways. And honestly, when I went through a couple of injuries and my Vila was down, I having to implement that slider, something that looked more like my fastball, even though a little bit of a cutter, something that looked more like my fastball out of hand that guys had to react to and make a decision a little bit quicker. That really kind of saved me for those couple of years. So obviously, getting healthy again, I want to keep that same mentality and use that as one of my weapons. JV was so, brother, big poppy right here. Hey, look, man. I know you're going to be a daddy pretty soon, but you have been a daddy of the American League for a while, bro. Just looking at the result, I mean, I was watching you pitch the other day. Nobody can touch you. When you feel that way, tell me about your confidence level going into the playoff and pitching at that level in the playoff. Yeah, you know, I mean, you got to stay confident. You got to stay high on yourself. Honestly, if you don't believe in yourself, who will? But I mean, it's also you kind of ride that line also. When you're out there, you know that the game can swing on any pitch at any given time. So, yeah, you're confident in yourself and you're kind of like feeling like you can locate and execute pitches, but at the same time, you're very aware of the momentum of the game and you're just trying to stay in there. And really, if you put yourself in a high leverage situation, if your team has the momentum, you're just trying to stay on the throttle. That's what's up. Hey, and by the way, if you haven't found a name for the baby, come and talk to Bobby. JV is Frank Thomas talking to you, buddy. He's talking about it all fair. You know, there's a lot of doubters out there this year, JV, about repeating. And it is so hard to do it in this game. Is this team become obsessed to repeat or are they just saying, take it as it comes? I think take it as it comes, but we're not afraid to say that we want to repeat. You know, it's kind of these guys, man, they're not cocky, they're confident. We know we have a great ball club. We know we have a great test in front of us this next series and hopefully the one after that. But I mean, ever since day one, these guys were not afraid to say, we want to go back to back. We have the talent to do so, we have the team to do it. We want to be special. We want to be one of the best of all time. Hey, JV, Alex Rodriguez here again. Big Poppy has just offered, if you and Kate need a babysitter, he's making himself available to you guys. Oh yeah, Poppy, I got you, baby. Perfect. Thanks, JV. Oh my goodness, Justin Verlander, we appreciate it as always, my man. Best of luck in good luck in game one on the entire series. All right, always fun talking to you guys. Thanks for having me. All right.