Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: This is the bullpen that Kenley Jansen made famous. Three
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty saves coming out of this bullpen for
Speaker 2: the Dodgers, still a franchise record. But in twenty twenty six,
Speaker 2: this is going to be the bullpen. Edwin Diaz comes
Speaker 2: out for timmy trumpet playing and serenading him and a
Speaker 2: man that is going to be standing on the infield
Speaker 2: just in just looking up maybe second base, maybe third base,
Speaker 2: maybe center field. I call him the glue of the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: and he is leading us off rightfully. So a proud
Speaker 2: new papa of a second child, the one and only
Speaker 2: Tommy Edmund. Tommy, great to see you, and you're no
Speaker 2: more scooter. You're actually standing on your own two feet.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's right. Feels good, feels good to use this
Speaker 1: foot again.
Speaker 3: Ben.
Speaker 1: Excited to be back and chatting with you again. To
Speaker 1: the back to the season days.
Speaker 2: Man. When I was in Los Angeles, I brought my
Speaker 2: son to see Tommy Edmund. He was in awe of
Speaker 2: Tommy Edmund. But you were on a scooter and I
Speaker 2: was really nervous, but you assured me that you'd be
Speaker 2: ready to go for spring training. Do you feel like
Speaker 2: you're still that confident?
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. Look at me, no more scooter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's probably just staring at me with the scooter
Speaker 1: back then, but no, but yeah, no, I'm feeling good,
Speaker 1: feeling good. I just started baseball activities again, so, you know,
Speaker 1: feeling like I'm in a good spot going into spring.
Speaker 2: What is baseball activities? Taking ground balls, shagging fly balls?
Speaker 2: I mean for me, you know, I just want to
Speaker 2: go into the cage.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it means I get to pick up
Speaker 3: a bat in the ball.
Speaker 1: So I just very very lightly started swaying and started
Speaker 1: throwing again this past week and then that'll just be
Speaker 1: ramping up as we get closer to spring. And you know,
Speaker 1: but I'm just really looking forward to being a baseball
Speaker 1: player again.
Speaker 2: That's gotta feel good, right, Tommy. Going back to taking
Speaker 2: care of this ankle. I know you've been playing, you know,
Speaker 2: through a lot of pain. Hopefully that pain's over with.
Speaker 2: That's got to feel good to know that, you know,
Speaker 2: there's only brighter pastures ahead of you and that ankle.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the idea, is that knocking it out with
Speaker 1: the surgery that I won't have to think about this
Speaker 1: ankle as much anymore, and you know, just getting back
Speaker 1: to one hundred percent and doing all the things that
Speaker 1: I normally would be able to do on a baseball field.
Speaker 2: So I saw you before your wife gave birth to
Speaker 2: your second child. Congratulations, Thank you, appreciate it. What's the
Speaker 2: off season been like for you, dealing with the ankle
Speaker 2: surgery and her almost ready to give birth while you're
Speaker 2: going and basically not able to really move around too much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, fortunately the timing worked out well. I think if
Speaker 1: I was still on a scooter and and had to
Speaker 1: help her take care of the baby, it would have.
Speaker 3: Been a lot more difficult.
Speaker 1: But fortunately I'm a little bit more mobile now able
Speaker 1: to help out. But yeah, the baby's only baby, Ava
Speaker 1: is only a week old right now, so you know,
Speaker 1: still getting adjusted to the schedule and the rhythms of
Speaker 1: having a newborn. But it's been so much fun. It's
Speaker 1: been fun to have her and see my wife be
Speaker 1: a super mom. She's so tough, such a champ. And
Speaker 1: then having Eli be a big brother as well has
Speaker 1: been really cool and just a blessing to see our
Speaker 1: family continue to grow.
Speaker 2: Nothing like having a baby girl. Right, as a dad,
Speaker 2: we always talk about having a son. Eli obviously is
Speaker 2: in the world, But what's it like to have a
Speaker 2: baby girl in your arms?
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm going to be a pushover for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I can already tell whatever she wants. I'm if she
Speaker 1: goes to mom and asks for suddenly and she says no,
Speaker 1: I know she's going to come right to me and
Speaker 1: I'll probably say yes. But but yeah, it's so much fun.
Speaker 1: I just can't wait to see her continue to grow up.
Speaker 1: And you know, hopefully we can just be good parents.
Speaker 2: For no doubt, She's got a great mom and dad,
Speaker 2: and that's the foundation. My guy Tommy Edmond is joining us.
Speaker 2: He's leading off Dodger Fest for us. We're here until
Speaker 2: one o'clock right here on a five seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 2: All Right, I haven't seen you since the Dodgers signed
Speaker 2: Edwin Diaz and Kyle Tucker. What message are the Dodgers
Speaker 2: sending to the rest of you as far as going
Speaker 2: for this three pete?
Speaker 3: Yeah, clearly we're not satisfied.
Speaker 1: You know, we're going for as many World Series Championships
Speaker 1: as we can, and you know we're we're really uh,
Speaker 1: attacked this offseason hard, you know, after winning two in
Speaker 1: a row. I feel like a lot of people kind
Speaker 1: of thought, you know, maybe they'll be a little bit
Speaker 1: complacent this offseason, but you know, signed to two of
Speaker 1: the best free agents out there, so we're amped. We're
Speaker 1: really excited, really excited to meet those guys and and
Speaker 1: see how they become part of the clubhouse. You know,
Speaker 1: how they mess with the culture of the team. For
Speaker 1: everything I've heard, they're both awesome guys who are gonna
Speaker 1: fit in really well. So, you know, really looking forward
Speaker 1: to meeting the Mount in Arizona. Maybe before then, but yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be great to have those two guys, and
Speaker 1: such talented players too, So it's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of fun to have those guys.
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts does such a great job of keeping you
Speaker 2: fresh and understanding the big picture as you're coming back
Speaker 2: from this right ankle surgery. Where do you start? Do
Speaker 2: you start at second base? Do you start to long
Speaker 2: uh long toss to get your arm ready for centerfield?
Speaker 2: What's the process for you as you get ready for
Speaker 2: this season?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean to be honest, it kind of just
Speaker 1: feels like at this point it's more of like a
Speaker 1: traditional off season, like almost like that that phase of
Speaker 1: baseball is starting up now just a little bit later
Speaker 1: than it normally would. So you know, I'm just getting
Speaker 1: back into my swings like I would in a normal
Speaker 1: off season, you know, starting with tea and then flips,
Speaker 1: and then same with the throwing progression as well, and
Speaker 1: then just continuing to stay on top of my ankle
Speaker 1: and and building back up to the U to getting
Speaker 1: back to full sprints and acceleration and everything like that.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of what I'll be working on as
Speaker 1: we get out to Arizona and start the workouts. You know,
Speaker 1: I probably won't be hopping in with like the live
Speaker 1: abs with everybody right away, but you know, I'll just
Speaker 1: be building back up to that.
Speaker 2: All right, Tommy, before I let you go, Since you've
Speaker 2: had a lot of time at home rehabbing that right ankle,
Speaker 2: watching go over your pregnant wife, have you watched any
Speaker 2: full games maybe a full Game seven of the World Series,
Speaker 2: or have you watched key plays in the ninth inning
Speaker 2: maybe earlier? You know, Pa has running into key k
Speaker 2: Have you been able to look back at those? Do
Speaker 2: you even want to? I don't understand how a guy
Speaker 2: that was so involved, how do you handle all that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1: It is very weird to I think the first time
Speaker 1: I watched it again, it was crazy to relive all
Speaker 1: of those plays, and because when you're in the moment,
Speaker 1: you're not really thinking too much about, you know, the
Speaker 1: scope of each individual play. But you go back and
Speaker 1: watch it and you see the crowd's reaction, you see
Speaker 1: the reaction of everybody on the field, and you think, wow,
Speaker 1: I was in that, I was part of that moment,
Speaker 1: and you realize how big of a moment it was.
Speaker 1: So watching it watching that first time was pretty crazy,
Speaker 1: and then we've watched it numerous times after because that's
Speaker 1: one of Eli's favorite things to do is to watch
Speaker 1: baseball games, and unfortunately in the off season there's no
Speaker 1: baseball to be played, so we go back and rewatch
Speaker 1: those games. So I think he's probably rewatched Game seven,
Speaker 1: maybe you know, ten or eleven times.
Speaker 3: But you know, it's fun, it's awesome.
Speaker 1: It's really cool to have my son already be in
Speaker 1: baseball at two years old, so he's looking forward to
Speaker 1: season as well.
Speaker 2: So you were in Monterey Park meeting and greeting fans.
Speaker 2: That was an experience. I'm sure. Maybe I'll ask it
Speaker 2: this way. You're probably one of the few Dodgers that
Speaker 2: got to touch hands with the fans after winning back
Speaker 2: to back championships. Did that make you realize how much
Speaker 2: it meant to so many people and their families. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you realize how much it means to a lot of
Speaker 2: people here.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that's what makes those events so cool is
Speaker 1: you actually get to interact with the people that you
Speaker 1: see every day. You know, you see him in the
Speaker 1: stands and you know they're there and you know they
Speaker 1: have the support, but you never really get to have
Speaker 1: those direct interactions. So you know, having those moments where
Speaker 1: you get to meet the fans in person and really
Speaker 1: get a grasp of you know, how much winning that
Speaker 1: championship meant to them. So you know, it's really cool
Speaker 1: to have that, and that's what makes events like this
Speaker 1: fan fest really cool as well.
Speaker 2: Hey, the only thing Tommy Edmond has done since he
Speaker 2: was acquired by the Dodgers is went back to back
Speaker 2: World Series championships. Start to your Dodger career, look forward
Speaker 2: to a three peet run here and just being around
Speaker 2: you guys. Because I respect the process and the grind
Speaker 2: that you guys put in, it just doesn't happen. So
Speaker 2: congratulations on a back to back World Series championships. Congratulations
Speaker 2: on baby Ava, and look forward to seeing you out
Speaker 2: there in Arizona. If you need me to assist in
Speaker 2: the rehab.
Speaker 3: Let me know. We might need some babysitting help as well,
Speaker 3: so I'll make sure to hit you up.
Speaker 2: All right, great, I'll find somebody for you. All right,
Speaker 2: there's my guy, Tommy Edman. Thank you, Tommy. I'll take
Speaker 2: the microphone away. You know you don't you don't let
Speaker 2: me hold your baseball bats. You know I don't let
Speaker 2: a lot of people hold the microphone.
Speaker 3: That's true. Hopefully I didn't didn't mess it up anyway.
Speaker 2: Oh no, I trust you.
Speaker 3: All R right? Cool, Great to see you.
Speaker 2: There, He goes, Oh hey, they want us to take
Speaker 2: a picture. We're gonna do this live on the radio,
Speaker 2: a photo with my guy Tommy Edmund. All right, there
Speaker 2: we go one more, one more. People want to see
Speaker 2: this beautiful face. A skinny, fat guy with a really
Speaker 2: small surfer dude from La Joya.
Speaker 1: That's the retirement days. I'll be working on my surfing then,
Speaker 1: but for now I can't.
Speaker 2: Surf smart move, don't do the worm either.
Speaker 3: I don't want to get eaten by a shark me either.
Speaker 2: I never go into the ocean because of that.
Speaker 3: Really scared of sharks, yes, you know.
Speaker 1: Actually most sharks are not aggressive, like, they don't really
Speaker 1: attack humans that.
Speaker 2: Often, all right, but they want to nibble and taste
Speaker 2: you a little bit.
Speaker 3: Sorry if you lose a tower or two, but an arm.
Speaker 2: I'm skinny, fat, there's a lot of flesh to chew on.
Speaker 3: I don't know, but you're in great shape, Dave.
Speaker 2: Thanks Tommy Edmund Man guy pumps me up right there.