One Last Time, For Old Time's Sake

Greetings and welcome to Inside Baseball with Old Chestnut. I'm Liam Allen without my friend or sack. I'm here with Leslie Harris. How you doing, Leslie? Um, I'm okay, not great. You're I gotcha. Okay. I'm all right. Hanging in there. All right. Uh as many of you may or may not know, we haven't done the show in a while. Um, and that is because our friend Lost his fight against a vicious brain tumor that he battled silently for three years. Okay. MB was diagnosed.

So I guess it's been three years now with a br a cancerous brain tumor, okay? And he sat and he did this show every weekend without saying anything to anyone, without complaining to anyone. Okay, and he put on a brave face and he did it up until he couldn't do it any longer because he loved.

Getting the feedback from the audience. He loved his weekly process of paying attention. It gave him something to do in retirement. And as Leslie knows All week long we'd swap emails and he stayed engaged and he was a proud husband and father up until the very last day, which was yes. Okay? And I wanna thank his daughters and his wife Cheryl. for letting me do this today to tell the listeners what happened and so that we can remember him and we can have a couple nice stories, chit-chat.

Thank you. So here we go. Um I got before we proceed, I I w think that uh an enormous debt of gratitude needs to be paid to you because uh as you pointed out correctly, that doing the podcast and having the podcast gave him tremendous sense of purpose. It wasn't so much a distraction. It wasn't a reason to be, but it kept him very much engaged while dealing with a really horrific ordeal.

And you know, the podcast was a really source of uh comfort. And as you said, he kept him very engaged with the markets, although he was always intellectually engaged. Uh thinking about things that he needed to talk about with his audience. So thank you for for

Whatever you provided in that capacity. No, it was my honor to do it. And I actually asked him there were I there were times towards the end where I told him not to. I was like, dude, skip it this week, you know? I was like, we don't need to do it.

And he was adamant. He said, Nope, I'll be ready Saturday. He would text me from his fucking hospital bed and be like, Are we doing the show this weekend? I was like, Bro, you you got other like what are you talking about doing the show? You're laid up in Houston You know, you've just had your head shaved, you had an invasive surgery, and you're talking about doing your podcast?

And the answer yeah, he wanted to do it. Um, so I felt like I should do one more. I didn't wanna leave you guys hanging. Um but let me read this let me read what the girls gave me. His daughters again, I wanna thank them for letting me do this. Um, you know, I felt bad even bringing it up to Maddie, but I just knew I started getting emails from people about oh, you know, rest in peace and we loved it. So people knew. Um, so let me just read this, okay?

I'm not gonna edit it. Dear listeners, with heavy hearts we share the passing of our wonderful father, Morris Bernard S. He left us peacefully on April 5th, surrounded by family at the age of 64. We take comfort in knowing that he was not in any pain. Morris was born in Flossmore, Illinois, and attended the University of Illinois, where he studied business and accounting and met his wife Cheryl. He went on to a long and successful career on Wall Street until his retirement in 2010.

He was an avid cyclist, rock climber, and snowboarder. He was above all a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. Through his work, hobbies and philanthropy, Morris touched the lives of so many. In the last few years, our father really enjoyed recording his podcast with his friend Leam. As with everything he did in his life, he approached the prod the podcast with enthusiasm, consistency, and dedication.

Although he never, never formally prepared for his talks, he liked remarking to fam friends and family on news or subjects that struck him during the week that he could chat with Liam about on the weekend. He enjoyed the feedback and interactions with the listeners. Thank you for listening. And although normally we play the fish, he invited you to listen to Jungle Land by Bruce Springsteen. It was one of our dad's favorites. Lisa, Maddie, and Kate Sachs.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean he never prepped for the show, let's be honest. I mean, you he he might not think he did, but he'd be funny. He'd be like, you know, I was sitting on the couch and I was up late having a gummy and I was just envisioning the yield curve. You know, I was like, Wait, dude, I was like, What are you t But he did have a pad. He was a man with a pad.

You know, periodically on during the week he'd ru he'd note stuff down on the pad. But yeah, he used to tell me, Oh, you know, I had a gun and I was And I was just envisioning the yield crab. He's like, You know how you see constellations in the sky?

And this is you know, the yield curve's Chinese to me. I was like, Yeah, I yeah, I could envision a constellation. He's like, I see things in the yield curve and I was like, Oh, you know, God bless you, dude. I was like, That you know, that's what really makes you special, you know? Um But yeah, he you know, it was fun, dude. We never formally prep for the show. It was based off the emails that we had during the week.

And if it wasn't for like I got a list of people to thank and you know it's like it's half joking but it's But it's true. I mean, the the people that listen to us from the beginning when I used to sit and play the music out of my cell phone into the computer, it was dreadful. But we got through that and we you know, we improved it. Um So let me just go through a couple people that I w I I feel obligated to mention and I'm sure I'll miss people.

But the first one that comes to mind is Kevin Muir, okay. Because and Kevin Muir is the impetus for this, okay. He's the absolute spark that lit this fire and he ne Morris never would have done this if it weren't for Kevin because Kevin had him on the show. And he did the you know, the options he you know, the the famous picture of him sitting with the option selling book. Um And he did that show with Kevin and he was good on it. And I just knew from that day I was like

Dude, you got a lot to say. I was and I and I broke his I broke Kevin's balls and I broke Morris's balls. I was like, you know, Kevin cut you off a few times. I was like, you know, you got you got a lot more I was like, you need a full hour, like weekly, buddy, uh And he kinda rolled his eyes and gave me some shit about it. Um but he did it and

And it was great and it was just, you know, it was easy for him. It was never work. It was just talking to me. And I don't work in finance. I'm a I I no nothing. I know nothing about the yield curve or the long buy. You know, I I learned from him. Okay, he was a teacher. He was a teacher in that sense. Like we used to go to dinner and he told me to bring a notebook and I went to dinner and we and I brought my notebook and he handed me little did I know then

how important it was that he handed me that HP twelve C which I've got sitting right here. He gave me that calculator and we sat at dinner in Armonk and he went through equations that made my head spin. And it was that was I said, look, dude, we're if you're gonna do this for me, you need to pr give the the people that would really appreciate this.

You c you can do it on the show, you know? Um, and that's how we started it. And people that in in the beginning remember how It was great and and there was like, you know, after you know kevin muir so kevin muir is first and then I just got a little list there. Kathy Wood couldn't have done it without her. You know how much how many miles did we get out of Kathy Wood? Okay that was one of his favorites.

I used to just it was just too easy to get him teed up and s and serve him fastballs down the middle of the plate so he could just hammer her. Um so we have like you know thousands of hours of us just going on about Kathy Woods. Same thing with Tether. Remember when we used to beat that dead horse tether was one of one of our favorites to the point where we couldn't talk about it anymore. And still I pray at night to some God.

That thing will fall apart and he'll be sitting up there in heaven. And I'll say, I he told you so. He was right, you know. Speaking of him being right. Gold? Are you fucking kidding me, dude? He took out okay, I don't know what the I don't know the details of it, okay, but I knew that he meant and he talked about on the show. Um

He wanted to take a big swing with his own bat and his own money, okay? And he did it at gold, okay. And everyone will say, Oh, you were you might have been if you were right, you were If you were early, you were wrong, or whatever whatever the cliche is. But goddamn if he wasn't right, you know, he might have been early, but you have seen what gold has done and it kills me. It just

It tears my heart out to see gold every day hitting a new high and I'm like, Oh God, MBU or just, you know, whatever, a year early, okay? But he was right about that stuff, you know? So Kathy Wood, Tether, the gold, and Bitcoin. Remember how we did Bitcoin store of value? He used to call it rat poison. He would I couldn't look Cheryl in the eye, waking up and telling her my Bitcoin is gone, you know?

So yeah, we that's what we based the show on in the beginning. I mean, we did all that stuff for how long and it morphed into The two year. Okay. And I didn't you know, I you you you paid attention to the two year. I didn't I didn't know the two year from the five year, from the ten year. I didn't pay the bond market wasn't even on my watch list until I started doing

hit the show with him. And then it was our beloved two year. And what did I do every morning? Just like when he went into the office, what's the long bond trading at? Where's the two year? That's all I need to know. So that was just th that's what that was what we did. Um

And he was always open and honest with his bad jokes, okay? Like how many times you know, the the jokes were just so funny. He but that's what made him happy. He got a kick out of telling those jokes.

And I would just, you know, yeah, how many times did I say, here we go? When I when I could see them coming, you know? Um And it was just it was just phenomenal. Um he did Leadville, he could he did Leadville, he got his buckle on the show, okay, which You know, as as g as that as important are the days that he got married and the birth of his daughters, I don't care how big of a day he ever had trading. If you gave him truth serum

Getting that buckle for him was the highlight of his, you know, retirement life, his out his life outside of work and family. All right. And I said to his coach yesterday,'cause I was with him. All right, he got me into Leadville the year before he got his buckle. He greased Leadville and got me got me into the race.

And I got my buckle that day and he missed his buckle by like fifty seconds or something. And I remember driving back to Vail in the minivan where he was just shell shocked, staring out the window. And you know what he didn't? He went back the next year and he got He you know, I I said, Oh geez, dude, you missed it by, you know, fifty seconds. I said, This is your chance. I said, you know, you're not getting any younger I I I I honestly I had sincere doubts that he'd pull it off.

He devoted himself for that three hundred and sixty five days and he went out that next year and he did it. And he couldn't have done it without John Benson and his wife Juju. And and Jason Tullis. So those three people that'll never get you know, the fame or the you know the the accolades that the all the that the traders, the people that traded with him or worked with him and all the people that have written in that have been touched by him, those three people carried him to that day.

And I couldn't have been prouder for him or happier for him. Dude, he's a he was a 60-year-old guy. And he's a you know, he wasn't a born athlete. He was all a he was all a six foot, 165 pounds, soaking wet. Okay, but he just drilled away and he worked and worked and worked and he went out and did it, okay? Same thing with the rock climbing. I I never understood the rock climbing thing. I always it just didn't compute to me. I said you're the most risk-averse. Person I know

And you're out here hanging off of a three thousand foot wall in the middle of the desert. I it just didn't make any sense to me, but he was determined. It wasn't about the wall It wasn't about the rock climbing. It was about him accomplishing something that he wanted to do. And he went and it was just That was just two little examples of like the kind of person that he was. He wasn't an athlete, he wasn't a rock climber, but he went out and achieved greatness in both of them. Um

So yeah, I just think and then then it comes to like, you know, the diagnosis. That that all it all came into like the diagnosis. I remember getting the phone call and being, you know, absolutely floored that it happened. And it wasn't a g i the prognosis wasn't good. I ne I never knew the exact acronym for what he had. Because I was on a don't ask, don't tell basis. All right, you're sick. You have XYZ. Well, we're gonna act. We're gonna c continue what we do until it ends. Um

And h the prognosis I believe was grim. I think the prognosis was like six to nine months and you're not gonna get out of this alive and it's gonna be fast. And he battled it for three years. Without showing any sign any side effects. There were days he'd come on the show and he'd have his head shaved And he had that you know, he had a scar in his head and I would barely be able to hold it together'cause I hadn't seen him all week.

and he logs in with his head as a cue ball with that big goofy grin and I'd play the fish and he'd be bouncin'er around and a and away we go like nothing had happened.

Meanwhile he was dying and he just it just it didn't it didn't come it didn't come through on the show. There was never any woe is me. And towards the end, I'll be honest, a little bit of that bothered me. I almost wanted him to talk about it on the show so that I didn't so that I could have done so that I could've gotten the emails and the and all that stuff before he was gone.

And I but it wasn't you know, it wasn't my place to to do that and he was comfortable not talking about it. That's just the way he is. He wouldn't have been comfortable you know, with the people doing all that stuff. But there was still a part of me that wanted I was like maybe there's a doctor or a miracle out there in the audience or some sort of hope. Um, but he was just adamant, no, we're just gonna continue doing what we do and we're gonna talk about the markets and that was that. Um

So yeah, it was just great. There's other guys like you know, we talked about that like the people that I wanna thank, especially like the listeners that have been there since the beginning that are total nobodies, or you know, they're just strangers that we opened up our conversation to. Guys like Bob Cobb and Senator Greg Brofey or Red on the Day.

Pat McGroyne, Ethan Fanschel, Platinum Sombrero. There were just people that would write in every week, Hey, we love the show, keep doing it. Or there they'd write in, Oh, we learned this or I never thought of that or, you know, I I was thinking about Morris when I was at work today. There were things like that, you know, like never make a decision in the room.

or sleep on it and things like that or if you don't love the trade, you know, if you don't love the trade, all those things people would write in at like, you know, noon on a Monday while they're watching the market and they would say, You know, I was thinking about Morris and I was you know, I thought about what you guys said on the show. So it was just

It was just a wonderful experience, um, and I'm proud to have been able to do that with him. Um and I don't wanna overstate it, but he said, you know, He wasn't he he didn't want to retire. He uh maybe he didn't want to but he was he was antsy. He needed he needed something to do in retirement. It was before the grandkids, okay, and you know this is just the most The most heart-wrenching thing about it was that like he lived to see those grandkids.

And the most wonderful thing is he lived to see his daughter get married last weekend, okay? It's the classic How long can you hold on? And I told my wife, I said, He's gonna make it to that wedding. There is no chance he doesn't live to get to that wedding. And Kate got married, whatever, two weekends ago. And he didn't get to go button.

I was there at his house with him, okay, and Turgett was there at his house. Rich Handler came to his house. So I know I fanboyed Rich Handler for a long time on this show, but I was right, okay, because that guy went and visited him. He came and saw his dying friend. A week before he passed away.

And I knew that that was so important to Morris, okay? I kept asking his daughters, What can I do? And when I went to his house I said, MB, what do you want me to do? And he said, You're doing it And that was it. And I sat with him for an hour on that day. And it was should have been the happiest day of his life, okay, when Kate got married. But he was awake and he was cognizant of it and I knew

I knew that he would make it to that and I knew he wasn't gonna make it long afterwards. Um so if there's a God somewhere, that God gave him that gift of living to see his youngest daughter get married, and even though he wasn't there on set. He was there for it in spirit. There's no doubt about it. Okay. And it was wonderful that that happened. Um So yeah, there's uh there's just a long list of things that I you know, I've already gotten messages from listeners that that knew him.

Or worked with him and they, you know, it's already started. Um, and just the stories, there's so many people out there that that he touched. There's so many people that. I d I don't know who they are. They just you know, I get a message and say, Oh I you know, I worked at Goldman and da da da da da and I and he was the he w you know He was a legend, you know. I know maybe it's he retired in 2010, but I think if you said his name in 2000, 2005, 2008, 2010, if you met if you read

if you said the name Morris Sachs, that meant something on Wall Street. And that's a big pond and he was a big fish. Um so I didn't I you know, I d I didn't really grasp the magnitude of that. I knew he was a A great trader, a BSD, but then the when the people that write in are are big guys and big names at big shops and they say, Oh, he was a legend. There was none like him, you know, or, you know, we cross paths at uh Bobo's shop or whatever and

And he was the best of the best. And yeah. And even Anthony Peters mentioned how like he was the longbond trader. Okay. I don't you know that was what back when the longbond trader was the alpha male. And I was like, Okay, well w what exactly does that mean? He was like, Oh the long bond trader, you know, like that's the serious that's the s that's the serious guy, you know, the guys trading equities. You know how Morris felt about the equities. Um

And it was just it was just fascinating to hear, you know, like, oh the Morris Sacks. Okay. So like I think maybe that's why I sort of appealed to him because I I didn't I wasn't Starstruck and I didn't I didn't know I wasn't involved in in the Wall Street so I wasn't I uh you know, I wasn't there to kiss the ring every week and I knew how to handle it. I didn't ask him how do you feel about Apple?'Cause there was a lot of people that tried to have that the conversations that I had with him.

Oh, what should I do with what should I do with my money today? You know, all this the the questions and he would they would just irk him, you know, and I was like, All right, well we're not gonna do any of that Um

But yeah, it was just uh it was just a wonderful relationship. It was a gift that I was given c that was completely random. I you know. I met him on a bike ride. And you know, that's how we came together. We just we were we were bike guys and I you know, I don't know how it came up. He he left a snarky comment or something and I love the snarky comment and I went up I said, Are you the more sax that left the if it's

If nobody's feelings get hurt, it wasn't a good ride. I said, Is that was that you? And that that was how it started on that s on that Godforsaken Gimbal's ride, you know, whatever it was. It's gotta be fifteen years ago now. And ever since then it just it it took off. And I guess we did we started the podcast after COVID.

Because, you know, it was locked down and you know podcasts became a thing and you know he had done the show with Kevin and I I said look you know you gotta do this um and I couldn't be happier that he did because it opened him up I was able to give him and the gifts that he had to people that could use them. Okay. Nobody on the bike ride could use his knowledge. Okay. They're, you know, they're bike ride's a bunch of mouthbreeders.

But I said there's a market out there for people that will value what you have to offer. And God did he offer it, dude. You're the a day can't go by in the markets without you without me thinking about'em. And I I gotta imagine there's listeners out there that absolutely feel the same way because I I mean I know there are'cause I get the emails where they say, Oh, you know, I was thinking about m M B saying saying this or that. Um

So yeah, it was just an overall wonderful experience and I'm I'm thankful for you, the only guest we ever had. So you should be honored, you know. Um somebody said that to me. I said, I'm gonna do the show with Leslie today and the And the g and the kid mentioned it to me, he goes, Oh what he said it's just perfectly fitting, you know, that you're having Leslie on. He's the only guest that you ever had, it's the way it should be, you know. And the girls wanted you to have so that's

So for the listeners, that's how much Leslie meant to MB, okay? I know I'm buddy buddy with MB, but Leslie has it ever Leslie goes back to the desk. Okay, you how long do you guys go back? Thirty are you thirty thirty years. Thirty thirty years. So you guys were kids like you guys were kids. Yeah. I yes, very much so. And it was you know, so like

The fact that I know that he would ask you like si the serious stuff. He said I wouldn't do anything without talking to Leslie, you know? That that's flattery, but that's you know, we had we were very close. That's very flat that's very flattering to say, but you know He he was a unique he was a unique fella, you know, a unique colleague, you fabulous friend, you know, a real you know

I was thinking, you know, I've gotten some calls as well from people uh, you know, who knew him and worked with him and you know, the thing that is the most striking to me, or not the most striking, but

is that he lived his life with professional professional life and personal life with a great deal of integrity. And, you know, pe folks in the financial markets don't often behave that way. And particularly people who achieved the kind of success that that he did, you know, they they after a while they think they did it by themselves. And he was never that way. He was always, listen, he was a star, don't get me wrong. You know, he was a unique talent.

You know, and he would have been very successful regardless. But He really understood the collaborative nature of the people that he worked with and he acknowledged that he would s you know, he you know, would talk about people he worked for. And, you know, I had a conversation with a former colleague and you know Mars would say about Ray, I hope he's listening. It's like, you know, Mars would acknowledge that.

You know, he would not have been who he would been without Ray. And even like the folks who are you know, or listening here, uh colleagues, you know, the folks who programmed for him, he knew that those guys were valuable. Like it wasn't just him. It was the programmers, it was the execution guys, it was the clerks.

the the colleagues, everyone was part of that success. And like I said, you know, in the financial markets, that doesn't happen a lot. And, you know, it's really Really admirable and and people who knew him really recognized that, which I I I admire. Yeah, no, the guys like did he I mean, you'll you'll ni all the listeners know of his team, you know? And how often do you hear about a guy who kept his team together? Amir, Robbie Wall.

E. G. Fisher. Those are the three that come to the the right right off the top of my head, you know? And those guys he he still kept in contact with. But th this isn't something where like, you know, he You know, where the guys bounce around, they work it wherever, wherever, wherever, and they can they change desks and yada yada yada. But he kept those guys.

close and he and he was loyal to them, which to me in in in he what did he say? It's it's it's always night of the long knives there on on Wall you know, he loves that, you know. But he kept those people And dude E. G like for example, like E. Gee, E. Gee's gotta be E. Gee's not younger a lot younger than him. He was E. Gee was a kid when Morris got him and Morris brought him up and and you know he He knew that E.G. what the fastest hands on the desk or whatever, you know? To say the least.

Not only on the desk, maybe the fastest hands I've ever seen. So exactly, you know, and then I was in his office the other night when when I went up into his study and I was like, Is this where you would sit? And you would trade those J G Bs at night and he was like, Yeah, this is where the magic happened at night and I had seen a clip recently of a trader

punching numbers onto uh onto the computer. It was on Twitter or something where the it was like circa 1993 and the dude's just just ferociously typing away as fast as he could inputting numbers. And that's when I finally understood the fastest hands that E. G. had. Um Ichi was like he kept him like a brother, like a son, like his best friend and his partner.

Um, but they were totally different people. E. Gee's E. Gee you know, they were just like if you put them two that you wouldn't think those two would be a pair. Those were two peas in a pod, but they were just different people, you know? Yeah, and he gave me the g and and he brought me into that circle, you know. He brought me to E you know, I went he brought me to EG's

You know, I went to the parties at E. Gee's house for uh I don't wanna say the name of the band like Deep Donkey. Okay, don't Google it, okay? All right, E. Gee, you got it? Deep Donkey. I think there's an album release party coming up in April, okay? Um, deep d yeah, d E. G. Fisher and I you know, I met those guys like John Mannion, okay? And those were people that he I

Who am I? I'm a I'm Joe off the street. I don't work on Wall Street. But MB brought me into that circle like as if I was one of them and treated me like I was one of them. And it was just so incredible that I was allowed to come in and meet these people that are just brilliant Wall Street minds that don't know me from Adam, but I was you know, the MB would introduce me. This is a friend of ours, you know. Um that was just it was just deeply honoring. Um

You know, one thing about the podcast that I'd like to share uh is that, you know, it was probably I don't know, like ten or ten years ago. You know, maybe longer, 15 years ago, uh Mars sent me an article which he he really impacted. And it was an article about. physicists and composers and uh scientists who are brilliant in when they're young. They make their greatest accomplishments and greatest discoveries and greatest compositions when they're young.

And the trick once you get older and you don't have that, whether it's a mental elasticity or the drive or the talent to to to create, it was very important to become a teacher and a mentor. And I think that, you know, that was very much embedded into the soul of this podcast. Whereas he never wanted to go back and sit on a desk and you know, knock stuff around anymore. But this gave him a a forum where he could be that teacher and share his knowledge and and mentor people. And it was very

much in the vein of that article, which I knew he he kept and thought about a lot. And I I like I said, the the the great thing about the podcast was that it, you know, it gave him that outlet and it, you know,

He got to nourish the world and the podcast nourished him, which is really wonderful. Yeah, it was just fun for me, dude. Um it was just a lot of fun for him too. By the way, fun for him too. It was, you know, it was never work, dude. It was and We used to sit and crank out an hour or an hour and twenty minutes and there was it was never a there was never a

a a framework or notes or anything like that. It was there was a lot of times where I was like, dude, I gotta go. Like my kids are crying in the hallway. I got I got stuff to do here. It'd be like, All right, we'll see you next week. Um

And that was just an incredible gift. Um but like as I just I just wanna also say this and I said this to him, um, because we talk you know, uh so much of the Of the you know, people will focus on how wonderful of a trader he was in the markets and everything and he didn't but I told him I said, dude, you've you've done everything. You know, you always you know, people say what what keeps you up at night or whatever. I said, dude

You have hit the grand slam. Okay. You hit the grand slam at work. Okay. You hit the home run at work. Work was a home run. Okay. It's a no-brainer. End of discussion. I said in your athletic or your com competitive, your your your hobby career, you hit a home run. You did Leadville, you you climbed XY, you know, you get halfway up the Matterhorn, whatever you did. You check that box. But most importantly, dude, you raised three Ace it. Aces of dawn.

Which statistically is impossible to do. Okay. I've got a five and a two year old. Okay. And I'm I my both my parents are are still alive. They have three kids. All right. They've got one ace. My brother's an ace. And they got me. I'm a little, you know, I'm shaky at best. But I said, look, dude, you will never ever have to worry about getting a phone call in the middle of the night.

or worrying the least bit about any of your daughters, which statistically speaking is un And that to me was the greatest accomplishment a man can have. Okay, it's it's virtually impossible. I just I I told him that. I was like statistically like one of them should be a junkie or a stripper. I was like, just like that's what the st I was like, you love statistics. I was like, that's what the statistics say. You got two aces. Okay, you got three.

Three perfect children. Okay, and I'm not exaggerating about that. Okay, there is no concerns out of any of them. They are grown, wonderful, successful women. All right. So I was like, I said to him, I was like, dude, you're done. I was like, you you've done it all. I you there is nothing left. There was nothing left to do, dude. You know, there's that old famous uh

You know, and then I I th I think you've neglected he was a very wonderful husband as well. And very wonderful long marriage, which is also statistically um Unlikely. Right, exactly. Well that was yeah, I mean, that was easy work because he had a it was Cheryl. You know, for him, you know, he didn't

So it was but I said to him, I was like, dude, you've done it all. There's like no when the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup and whatever it was, nineteen ninety four, ninety five, there's a famous poster where one of those smooth brain hockey bands held up the sign that said, Now I can die in peace. Okay. So for him the Rangers went in the cup. But I said to him, I was like,

Dude, you can die in peace, dude. Your girls are good, your wife is good, your house is in order, you accomplished everything you need. You know, God, yeah, I would have loved you I would have loved for you to live in a way. twenty one more years until you know, however old you were. I was like but The fact is you you you've done it all and you aced it. You hit a grand slam, dude. Um so like that gave me peace, you know. Like yeah, of course it's absolutely

devastating, you know, to not have my friend and for the girls to not have their father and for Chanel have that their husband. But the peace The w the peace that they should find, you know, it might take time is knowing How perfect of a dad he was, you know, and how perfect of a husband he was. I never I never ever ever saw an inkling of anything other than absolute harmony and love for that man, dude. He used to say

Or I don't know if he said it, but there's a thing that said like if your kids come back and visit you, you've succeeded as a parent, you know? And whenever I went over to his house If there wasn't one, there was two that were there, you know, and they were grown grown women that don't need to be hanging out up in Greenwich with their dogs and their and their father, but the girls were always there. And that's a telltale

sign that's the that's the evidence that you've succeeded as a parent, you know? So for all the wonders that he did on Wall Street, um It's just it it's equally impressive that he did that, to have three girls, dude. I can't imagine having three girls and getting them all to be perfect aces.

Um and I couldn't be happier that he got to see his grandkids. Okay. It's like you know, there was this To to see the girls, to see the to see his grandkids born, okay, and he was able to not just see them born, he was able to to be there for the first year or so or two years of their lives.

And to see Kate get married, I mean, that was just the it was just incredible. Um so there's a little you know, it was really p that was really poignant for me to to to know that that would that that happened. Um

So yeah, dude, um yeah, it it breaks my heart, obviously. Um but like There I don't have there's no regrets. I don't have regrets, you know. I don't know, I I I I I think I think that's really true for you and I I hope for myself too is I think you know the audience, the podcast was like I say, trying to figure out how to be useful. And I think, you know, collectively, the audience, you

me to the best I could were very useful to him during a very, very challenging time. And and I I I I would like to say, you know He handled himself with such dignity throughout this entire ordeal and um You know, he was a very proud person and uh very private person. And he was very adamant about not wanting people to know about his diagnosis.

And it was never, you know, poor me. And I I I remember even having conversations with him, like, you know, uh being very clear, like I I would not have been able to handle it the way he did. And in very typical Mars fashion, he goes, it's not a con. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, dude. Um it bothered me uh it bothered me a lot that he that I that I couldn't, you know, there was times where people would be like

you know, what's up with the show? And I was like, eh, next week. I was like, we're taking the week off, you know, but there was a burning inside me that I want to be like, you know, MB's not well, say a prayer. But he didn't want that. He and he wo he would have been pissed about it. And I and I just kept it quiet. Um But yeah, dude he did three Three years, okay, with like of doing the show after having an invasive brain tumor.

Whereas I would have laid down on a bed and drank myself to death like within a week, you know? And you know, not just, you know, I mean, we don't even multiple surgeries, multiple different kinds of treatments, you know. very, very, you know, in invasive and you know, I we don't have to talk about that part, but it's more about it's more about The way he handled himself and handled his business. Yeah.

Still. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Like he loved um, you know, he loved reading Churchill and he loved reading war books, um, and he liked, you know, military leadership. And I think dude, he he He trans uh you know, he put that into his life towards the end where he was like, you know, there's no problem in baseball, you know. He was a big you know, stiff upper lip, you know, and and dude, he was a leader of men, okay, and maybe not on a battlefield.

But as as a person, as a man, he he he inspired confidence in you and I would imagine as a coworker he ins you know, you wanted to im you wanted to Not not to impress him, but you wanted to follow him and and like he was a leader in that sense, like a general, you know. And I I really thought he certainly commanded the respect of his colleagues. Yeah, for sure. For sure.

Yeah, that was just um he always you know, I used to laugh at him, you know, reading that Churchill book. I'd be like, You do what the fuck you doing reading another church you know, another seven hundred word Winston Churchill autobiography. But he was but that was like he really he really enjoyed that stuff and I and I really I really saw that in him and and y it's n it's not a it's not so it's not a tangible thing, but I'm sure listeners would know that like

If there's a guy that you listen to and you respect, I mean that that person's opinion comes into your mind and affects your decisions. And by default, that's a leader. So to me he was always a leader, you know, and and there was no Yeah, there was just no question about it that he was just uh he was just a wonderful dude. Um I got nothing nasty to say. Um, you know, he was a hater, you know, like who whatever whoever it was that said he was a hater, he really was a hater, dude.

There was so many You know, you know, he I wouldn't call him a hater. It just, you know, he had standards. Okay. He had standards. You know, it it's like there's an old joke about the Hells Angels, you know, the Hells Angels never starfy. But the level of their provocation is different than other people. So it's, you know. Yeah. I think it was one of his younger colleagues or something, called him a hater. And when he when he said that I was

It it was only like recently that he said it. I was like, Oh my god, dude, that is like the perfect description. I was like, dude, there you hate so many things, you know? But yeah, that was he was just great. And I and I say that laughing. I mean there you know, he he loved there was so many things that he loved, dude, and if he loved it, um It was just you know, it was just wonderful. And he would immerse himself in whatever it was, if it was fish, if it was mountain climbing.

You know not a casual person. No, exactly. Yeah, exactly. He did not dude, he did nothing half assed, you know. Um Yeah, it was just it was just a beautiful, beautiful thing, um, to be able to know him and me as like a nobody.

to be able to you don't be fair to yourself. You're a very mean person. Yeah, yeah, no, no, I know. But like in this in like um in the big scheme of things, like, you know, it was just it was just random. It was just by chance. It was, you know, I know there's no coincidences or Whatever cliche you want to apply to it, but it was just It was just a gift to me to be able to to meet'em, dude. And I'll never rema I'll never forget like

We used to talk about restaurants and I'd be like, dude, like I need a restaurant. I I'm taking taking my wife out somewhere in the city. And he'd always be like You know, if you don't like it, I'll pay the bill. He was like and I was I was like, Wow, that's that's really I was like, that's quite the endorsement, you know.

And they're just like little things like that that I'll that I'll never forget. Just things like that and I've said that to people before. I'm like look, if I don't if you don't like it, I'll give you the money, you know? And those are just things that that that it was just It's just poignant that he was able to do all that and I I think you know, I think the girls in their in their in their note, uh both to you and to um to to to

in their statement and their about their fathers, like he really did both through his work, through the podcast, through his philanthropy, touched really very, very many people. And you know, in the last couple of days, uh You know, I've had some conversations, some with people I haven't spoken to in years.

And you know, people are weeping on the phone and um, you know, w uh another friend, a former colleague was just like uh wrote they were gutted by, you know, by by the news and I I don't think you can underestimate really how many lives he touched in a very positive, proactive way, and you know, lives that he changed and made better. I mean, he definitely

you know, professionally for sure, you know, you you know, changed the trajectory of my career. And, you know, on a personal basis, you know, I mean, you know, I couldn't have loved them more. I mean, we had uh, you know, it's like We always got each other and we always really cared about each other. And um you know, it's funny, I don't know if I said this earlier, and if I'm repeating myself, I apologize. But is, you know, even for people who knew he was Uh

uh ha dealing with these health challenges, you know, there is still this profound sense of loss, which I I, you know, I w personally I wasn't prepared for. Like I I was ready for all this and, you know, I've, you know, Uh but there's uh there is a big hole. Yep. Um, yeah. It's uh I feel bad and and I had to like I actually really I lost sleep over it last night'cause I I texted Maddie and I asked her

I said, How do you feel about me doing the show? And she was like, It's a little it's a little early and I was and then like I when I got off the phone with her I was like, What the fuck is wrong with you, dude? Her dad just died and you're talking about

stupid podcast and I really felt sick over it. Um and then again, this is just a perfect example how wonderful those girls are. I get a text message this morning saying, Go ahead and do it, you know, w we'd love it, you know, have Leslie on. Um And it was just, you know, it It I don't wanna say it hasn't hit me. I spent the whole day yesterday, um, as an absolute puddle. Um

But then I you know, th you go through the stages uh of grief and I just had to fast forward, you know, uh who am I gonna be angry at? I don't have anyone to be bent out of shape about. Um You know, and and the the thing that gives me the peace and of course do for the rest of my life, every single day, anything that happens

With y there's so there's every aspect of my life he touched from my relationship, okay, from you know, from everything. He's been there for the birth of my kid. He was at my wedding. The the my favorite picture from my wedding is a shot from overhead of me and my wife walking out of the church.

And in the corner, it's him and Cheryl looking over his shoulder at me like a proud papa, okay? And nobody knows that except for me. Nobody knows who he is, but he was there. And that's the only photo that I love. from my wedding and it's him standing down in there in the corner with that little happy, proud smile on his face. Um and yeah, it's just um everything, you know, like if I go E

Ever every aspect of my life. Okay, if I go to work, I'm thinking about MB. If I'm looking at the market, I got MB. If I'm riding my bike, I got MB. If I'm going to dinner, I got MB. He's just there. And I told Maddie last night I was like I it's almost like I can feel him like watching over like he's he's there with me like he's up there right now being like wrap it up dude you you know like you've said enough

That's like when other people die, I've had people die, you know, I've been through this, but you feel like they're gone and you don't feel like they're there with you. And I just feel like He'll always be there. Maybe it was the hours and hours that we spent together talking on this show where I it just It's just a voice of like he's like, you know, Jiminy Cricket on my shoulder where I just I feel he's there and I don't And I don't feel like I can't talk to him. I can always be like

What would Morris do now? And I and I'll have an answer where if it's like, you know, what it what would so and so do? And I'm like, I don't know, they're gone, you don't know. But if it was M B, I like I feel I feel him there with you and that's just a a tribute to his the his presence that w that was just, you know, m just magnificent. Um

So yeah, dude, it was just um yeah, like you said, you know, it doesn't it's I'm not gonna I I've I've held it together. I cried all day, you know what am I gonna do? Everything I you know, everything you you think about, um, you cry, you know. Um

But I've I think that I've I wanted to pull it together for this and and and I felt like I felt like I owed it to the audience because the audience gave him so much. If it wasn't for the people that were like 'Cause in the beginning we were like, Yeah, what are we doing here? You know, I was like, Is this a thing? And all it took was a few emails. from people that were like, we love it.

We like like we've we've listened to like all three of your shows. We loved I was like I was like okay. Um and I would send them to him because dude, you know how he was. He was he was skeptical and sometimes cynical regarding some things. And I was like and he was like uh I don't know and I was like, dude, trust me, you're killing it. And we used to get off the show so many times. I I'd hit stop on the record. And he'd be like, How was

And I'd be like, dude, you killed it. I was like, you were great. You were awesome. I could tell right away. Like, if he was good, he was good. And then there was very rarely where I'd be like, Yeah, you know, we could have done better. There was times where I said that. I was like, dude, I, you know, I didn't

I botched it, you know? Um, but there was so many times where he'd be like, How was I? He was like, Was it good? And I'd be like, dude, you were great. Okay. I was like, dude, we just did I'd I'd hold up my watch, I'd be like, MB, we just did ninety minutes. He'd be like, Oh, wow. Yeah, dude, 90 minutes of chit chatting. Um so the aud but like yeah, the audience, um, the people that sent those emails every you know, I got emails all the time from people that would be like

Love the show. By the way, can you talk about this or I thought about Morris? And I'd have a three paragraph questions or comments where they'd be like, I was thinking about MB when I was doing this trade. And that was and I'd forward them to him and there was times where he'd write back, This is the holy grail you know, he where he just w Like th that was the not the uh

Not the validation, but he'd be I be you know, that was I guess it was. That was the validation that what we were doing was meaningful, you know? And he loved it. He loved it, you know? Yeah. He did. Um he wouldn't have done it if he didn't love it, that's for sure. Dude, he loved it to a fault, man. He did it up until the end. Um, like I said, to the point where I was like, dude, go do like go be with your girls.

And he'd be like, No, I already did that. I wanna do the show. I'd be like, Come on, man, you know? Um But yeah, uh you know, I I I think about his brother Mark, I think about his sister Amy, who's mentioned on the show. Um and they you know

you know, we don't talk about them on the show, but they but he he was really close with them. Um where he mentioned Amy's big sist big brother's big sister on the show. Okay, and he mentioned that I always laughed when he would say Mark, he'd be like, you know I always loved the comment where he said For all the whipping stuff around I did over my career, I could have just done what Mark did.

Buy the S P or whatever it was and we would have been in the same spot, you know? I just thought that was so, you know, self deprecating and so honest and and funny. that I just I think about that a lot with all this the whipping around things I would do, you know? Um but yeah it was just um it was a gift and I and I really do. I want to thank the audience. Um and please please for the girls And for Cheryl, inside baseball casted Gmail. Okay, I need I need you to write in

and and s give me something for the girls to email to the girls, okay? Because I've already gotten stuff. The first message I got is from somebody on Twitter that I don't even know And he said and this is at ten o'clock yesterday morning where I I I had just gotten the word um and the first email that comes in and he was like Morris gave me my big break on Wall Street, you know? He gave me my first big break on Wall Street.

And I was like, Oh my god I was like this is gonna start already and I was like Yeah. So there's there's those um so inside baseball cast at Gmail, write in and and just s and just thank'em so that I can give it to the girls, all right, and I can give it and you can give it to me so that I can live with this. Um And I can feel like we gave something. I know we did. Um

But it really it meant it meant the world to me that I got those notes already. Um and I wanna thank Anthony Peters who wrote so many nice words about us over the years in his good morning column. And I know guys asked me for that email chain and he was extra close with Morris and he he plugged that show and he got us listeners and he is as eloquent as the day is long and he was he meant a lot. Um he really helped MV and I with this. Um

So yeah, I thanked everybody else. I'm sure there's people that I forgot. Like Ed. I like I thank Ed. All right, yeah, Big E. Ed Sheets was just like an absolute rock for us. Um, you know, he gave us a ton of of help and and material to go through.

And there's just you know, the guys that we mentioned on the show. I mentioned Amir and Robbie and E.e., um, you obviously and all the listeners. It was just a big family that came together like, yeah, we're just a bunch of random people at the end of the day, but we came together under his umbrella. And that was just it was just magnificent to me that, you know, there's people that that don't get that opportunity, that don't have that platform

And they don't and they don't use it for good. He never wanted you know he he would always joke about like

subscribe and I want to make you know, we should make it sponsors or whatever. But he was only saying that'cause he wanted to give money to me. Okay. That was the only reason. He never wanted money out of it. He and he used so he used the platform to help people like and that was his idea he wanted he wanted people to learn even if it was through osmosis How to be a good person, a good trader.

And that was what he did. And it was uh it was an absolute gift and I and I and I'm forever grateful for him and I'm not gonna and I'm not gonna mope about it. I'm gonna be happy that I was given the gift of knowing him. Um Yeah. And as as they say, I I've written to a number of people, as they say in my tribe, may his memory be a blessing.

Exactly. That's what I've said to everybody else is just remember the good times, you know. There's there's d then there's to me it was nothing but good times. There was never There was never anything that I'll ever remember that was a downside. You know, we never argued, we never had a crossword. Um, and it was just it was it was nothing but good times. And for me it was from

It was from m m meeting my wife and getting married and the birth of my kids, like the most important things in my life he was a part of. He was you know, he was there from the wedding. to my daughter being born where I would sit in this closet when she was zero, three months old, sitting and we would do the show. Um and I would take the kids up to the house and they would play in the backyard.

And she'd ride her bike around the circle in front of his house and he'd panic about her falling down. Okay. It was just it was just great. And so like Yeah, I'm an adult and I'm a you know but he was there for the important arc of my life, um, right there by my side and I'll be eternally grateful and I will cherish those memories forever. And I hope that the audience really, really realizes how good he was, um and how much of a gift doing the show was to them, because that to me was price

It was just priceless. There's people out there, young guys, old guys. that learn from'em and, you know, what's the old saying to

to you know, if you if you saved well, I I don't wanna get dark, but if you saved one, it's like you saved them all. Um yeah, if you teach one, it's like you taught them all. And that's what he did. Um And he left his mark as a wonderful man and a wonderful leader, a wonderful husband, and he taught, you know, and if you can give your wisdom to other people, especially total strangers. I mean that's just it's the it's the wonder it's the most wonderful thing in life you can do.

You just think about the generosity of spirit of that, you know? Yeah, exactly. Um, yeah. So So all the listeners, so this is it. Um it's been a wonderful run. You've been with us since the scratchy shitty music in the beginning, um and tether and bitcoin and you've been with us all. through, you know, whatever, when, you know, COVID, we went through everything and and be happy. Be happy that

You were there for you were there for it. It's you know, it was it was lightning in a bottle and it it seems even more valuable now that it's over. In hindsight, how much of a gift it was um for him to give his time Every single weekend, dude. There was time. We did it every single weekend for whatever it was four years. And you know, the time is the ultimate gift that you can give someone. And that's what he did.

You know, it's uh there's an expression you can always make more more you can always make more money, but you can't make more time. Yep. Exactly. Um, no, exactly. And uh Yeah, so on that note, I won't take up any more of the listeners' time. Inside baseball cast at Gmail, send me your notes, okay? Um And I gotta put I'll put Jungle Land on Twitter. I don't wanna I I don't wanna play it now'cause they'll pull it down for copyright and it'll make me cry.

But yeah, he always used to say he'd be like, All right, I want you to play this at my wake. And I'd be like, What the fuck are you talking about? I was like, You're not having a wake. I was like, you know that and then that he plays that song. And he's just it's just a It's just funny. He always used to say that. Played Jungle Land at my wake. So it's you know, I'd play it now, but I put it on Twitter. Um

So yeah, that was uh I'm s dude, thank you for I Leslie, I couldn't have done this without you, dude. I would have wept. I would have I wouldn't have gotten I wouldn't have gotten through the intro if it weren't for you, dude. Um and I wouldn't have gotten through any of this without you. So I really I'm I'm forever indebted to you. And again, I I wanna thank the girls. I wanna thank Maddie.

I want to thank Maddie. I want to thank Kate. I want to thank Lisa and I want to thank Cheryl. Okay. Because their husband and their father died yesterday. And they let me do this show, okay, and to come on and they trusted me. to represent him and to give him the grace and dignity that he deserves. Okay? They didn't have to do this. They could have made me wait and they could have made me fade away. They could have said, No, we want our privacy.

But they said at eleven o'clock this morning they said, Go ahead, Liam, and do it. And I can't thank them enough. There's no way in life that I'll ever be able to thank those girls enough. for letting me do this thing today for the audience. I did it for the audience because I didn't want people to wonder about what was going on and I wanted to honor that guy in the way that he deserved. And I will, for the rest of my life, love him and remember him.

And I will always, always remember the good times. Likewise. Sorry, buddy. I'll talk to you soon. Talk to you later. Thanks, Liz.