Former Phillies teammates and National League MVPs Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are hosting a new podcast called “The 6-1-1,” which debuts today. Named after the numbers the players wore during their careers, the podcast’s first episode features as a guest Cy Young winner, World Series champ, and six-time All-Star CC Sabathia.

The 6-1-1 podcast is produced by Major League Baseball and is available on MLB.com as well as where all podcasts are found. New episodes will post every two weeks and feature guests both in baseball and from outside of the game. In episode two, which will debut on August 8^th, Rollins and Howard interview their former fellow infielder and current MLB Europe ambassador Chase Utley.

During the interview with Sabathia, the former MLB stand-outs discuss:

• The exciting atmosphere surrounding the 2009 World Series when the Yankees faced the Phillies:
• “We come up the escalator in the train station in Philly and the whole city was there. It was all Phillies fans screaming and going nuts,” said Sabathia.
• The cheesesteak situation in the visitor’s clubhouse at Citizen’s Bank Park:
• “The visiting clubhouse has the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia,” said Sabathia. “I think we (members of the 2008 Brewers) took down 28 in those three days….You can’t move when you eat those things. When we came back the next year in ’09, Joe (Girardi) took them out of the clubhouse.”
• A story about Derek Jeter’s superstition:
• “Jeet is super, super, superstitious” said Sabathia.
• Their post-career activities which includes their roles in the Commissioner’s Office.
• Sabathia is a special assistant to Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. Rollins and Howard are members of the Commissioner’s Ambassador Program (CAP).

“We are looking forward to giving current and former players the opportunity to express themselves and share their stories in a different way than they have before,” said Rollins.

Rollins is a 17-year veteran shortstop who played the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies. Nicknamed “J-Roll,” Rollins collected 2,455 hits in his MLB career, won the NL MVP in 2007, is a 3-time All-Star, won four Gold Gloves, and was a member of the 2008 World Series champion Phillies team.

“We are going to have a lot of fun, just be ourselves and have some great, interesting guests for the fans,” said Howard.

A teammate of Rollins throughout most of his career, Howard played 13 seasons as a first baseman with Philadelphia where he hit 382 home runs. Howard was a three-time All-Star, the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year, 2006 NL Most Valuable Player, and a member of the 2008 World Series champion Phillies.