Fresh off raising $1 million from a variety of investors including current and former Major League Baseball players, filmmakers, actors, and media executives, Jomboy Media is expanding its roster of podcasts and production staff as the 2021 MLB season approaches.
The latest addition to Jomboy’s fast-growing podcast catalog is Ian Happ’s popular show, The Compound.
On the podcast, which has recorded more than 50 episodes, the Chicago Cubs outfielder, along with pitcher Dakota Mekkes (also in the Cubs organization) and former teammate Zack Short (who was traded to the Detroit Tigers last season) talk about life as professional ballplayers — including Happ’s major-league experience — and interview players and broadcasters.
Guests on The Compound have included Cubs players Anthony Rizzo, Alec Mills, Nico Hoerner, Kris Bryant, and Jason Heyward, former teammate Kyle Schwarber, and new TV play-by-play voice Jon Sciambi.
Active players doing a culture podcast is exactly the sort of addition Jomboy Media wanted to add to its burgeoning network, according to founder Jimmy O’Brien.
“We wanted to add voices that weren’t our own,” O’Brien told Awful Announcing. “And give them space to grow creatively.”
According to Jomboy partner Jake Storiale, Happ being “in the grind,” producing his podcast himself, showed how dedicated he was to it and made him an appealing addition to the network. (Happ is also an investor in Jomboy Media.)
“He is now my favorite for the NL MVP,” said Storiale.
The Compound joins a roster of more than 20 podcasts at Jomboy, including The Chris Rose Rotation hosted by the former MLB Network broadcaster with a variety of active MLB players. Rose brings legitimacy to the network, which was important to O’Brien, but also “loving the game and wanting to talk about it.”
Not a bad debut @roserotation pic.twitter.com/bo3IkPT4Kx
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 2, 2021
Jomboy’s other shows include flagship program Talkin’ Baseball, Talkin’ Yanks, GM Files with Jim Duquette and Bobby Evans interviewing players, coaches, and executives, and Sequence with former major leaguer Trevor Plouffe. The site is expanding its footprint into culture as well with Soundtracks, Talkin’ Folk, and Soundbits.
With the podcast network and YouTube channel, the goal is to make Jomboy Media “the place to go for baseball,” according to Storiale. “The key word is ‘grow.'”
Related: How @Jomboy_ became Baseball Twitter’s most intriguing offseason follow
About Ian Casselberry
Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.