Cubs' Ian Happ says MLB season resists Netflix 'The Clubhouse' documentary treatment

If Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ is underappreciated as a baseball player, he's practically anonymous as a podcaster.

Happ and former minor league pitcher Daktota Mekkes have co-hosted the Audacy podcast "The Compound" since its inception. After publishing more than 250 episodes weekly since 2020, their show is still going strong.

Being interviewed by full-time reporters, and doing interviews with full-time baseball players — while being a full-time baseball player himself — has given Happ an unusual vantage point among his peers.

Happ and Mekkes, who retired in Feb. 2024, shared their thoughts with Rob Bradford on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast about the relatively closed-off nature of Major League Baseball players, and why some media are better storytelling vehicles than others given the unique nature of their sport.

"A lot of things that are said in a baseball clubhouse just aren't meant to be heard by the general public, so I think that's where it's a little scary," Mekkes said. "Nothing too crazy but there's just a lot of things ... it's 25, 30 guys that are together for seven straight months. It's like your family. You're going to say some outlandish things to each other and you don't always want that getting out there."

"You're with these people for 200 straight days plus with spring training," Happ added. "Talk about the guys on Day 1 you're best buddies with, you're like, 'this guy's awesome.' Day 200, might not be awesome anymore. Day 200, that guy might be really getting on your nerves."

For that reason, Happ said, players will be naturally reluctant to offer behind-the-scenes looks at clubhouse life. That was the premise of the recently released Netflix documentary, "The Clubhouse," about the 2024 Boston Red Sox.

To its credit, "The Clubhouse" focused its storytelling on the back stories of a handful of the most compelling individuals on the Red Sox roster. The clubhouse itself, and the story of the Red Sox's 2024 season, were effectively reduced to supporting characters in the overall production.

A production focused on a shorter timeframe wouldn't be subject to the same restrictions, Happ thinks.

"I think there should be cameras in and around playoffs all the time," he said. "There should be more access in the playoffs. There should be more (productions). How great was the Jordan documentary? Things like that, like the (World Baseball Classic) — the WBC should have cameras all over the place, all the time."

"Special events, there should be things that are really well-documented to help with fan engagement. The game's in a really healthy place. It's the best baseball's ever been from a performance standpoint. We should highlight these players. We should market them. It's a special time. But we have to do it in a thoughtful way, that it's not intrusive but at the same time it's getting fans to engage with the sport in a new way."

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Cubs' star says MLB season resists Netflix 'The Clubhouse' documentary treatment, suggests alternative

By J.P. Hoornstra | Apr 22, 2025