Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker.
Speaker 2: We are starting off leading off the show with two
Speaker 2: of my favorite players from my favorite Dodger team, and
Speaker 2: that was the miracle nineteen eighty eight World champion Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Will you talk about these days the Dodgers being perceived
Speaker 2: as Goliath, Well, back in nineteen eighty eight, they were.
Speaker 2: David and these two men were drafted a year apart
Speaker 2: by the Dodgers in the late seventies. I won't give
Speaker 2: away which year for both these guys out of respect
Speaker 2: to one of them, but these two guys have been
Speaker 2: linked for a long time in their baseball lives and
Speaker 2: have a never dying friendship to this day. They were
Speaker 2: huge parts of the Dodgers winning the nineteen eighty eight
Speaker 2: World Series and still keep tabs on the team and
Speaker 2: you can be up close and personal with them wearing
Speaker 2: their number nine and number four fourteen respectively. In January
Speaker 2: at the Dodger Adult Fantasy Camp. There are still a
Speaker 2: few spots open. It's almost sold out, but you can
Speaker 2: be there with our guests Mike Sooshia and Mickey Hatcher.
Speaker 2: If you go to Dodgers dot com slash fantasy camps
Speaker 2: and they join us right now. Mike and Mickey, thank
Speaker 2: you so much for taking the time out. It's great
Speaker 2: to have you guys together.
Speaker 1: All right, David Gregor, are you going first, Mike or what? Well? Mickey?
Speaker 1: You they called you first, evidently, Mickey, so you go first.
Speaker 3: Hey, Uh no, you're the manager. Go ahead.
Speaker 2: So guys, maybe you could fill us in here. I
Speaker 2: mean this, this friendship did not end in nineteen ninety
Speaker 2: or nineteen ninety one or even you know, when you
Speaker 2: guys were done being together on the Angels. How close
Speaker 2: are you to this day? And where does that come from?
Speaker 1: Mike? Well, we're yeah, we're close, except when he's my
Speaker 1: butt in the golf course and we're not that close.
Speaker 1: But you know what, David, it was a great time.
Speaker 1: I mean we still keep in touch with guys that
Speaker 1: we played with in the minor leagues, coming up through
Speaker 1: the Dodge organization, and then that eighty eight team was
Speaker 1: so special. There's a bond there, and you know, whether
Speaker 1: it was Oral or Kirk Gibson or or t Bone Shelby, everybody,
Speaker 1: I mean, we all keep in touch and I think
Speaker 1: that's that's the bond that you get from playing on
Speaker 1: a championship team. And I've known Mickey, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: since nineteen seventy seven when he signed, So you know
Speaker 1: we've been we've been together, Ron, Renicky, all of us,
Speaker 1: we're we're just we're good friends and we enjoy each
Speaker 1: other's company.
Speaker 2: Do you feel that way about Mike Mickey?
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean we came up. We have many
Speaker 3: stories that you know, we developed over the years and
Speaker 3: the bond. But you know what the greatest thing was
Speaker 3: not only the players that we had an opportunity to
Speaker 3: be part of, It was Peter O'Malley and uh, you
Speaker 3: know that friendship has still been really close from an
Speaker 3: owners to his players, and we still keep in touch
Speaker 3: a lot and do lunches together. And I think that's
Speaker 3: that's a special part about being a Dodger.
Speaker 2: I know Mickey comes out to Dodger Stadium a lot.
Speaker 2: His wife, Patty is a big time Dodger fan. I
Speaker 2: think Dodger fans would love to know from two great
Speaker 2: champions themselves, what you thought about this year's World Series hatch?
Speaker 2: Do you want to start since you you really follow
Speaker 2: it and your wife has a great passion for it.
Speaker 3: Still oh yeah, definitely. And of course Mike's social remembers
Speaker 3: probably every play that happened from Game one to Game seven,
Speaker 3: but I can only remember a couple, and you know,
Speaker 3: the game sometimes are won by inches, and uh, you know,
Speaker 3: it was just a great game to watch, going back
Speaker 3: and forth and just seeing uh, you know, Roberts just
Speaker 3: managed a great job in game seven, especially with that
Speaker 3: defensive move and you know, itches a guy leading off
Speaker 3: one more foot on third base and World Series goes
Speaker 3: to Toronto. So it was an exciting game going back
Speaker 3: and forth, especially for the fans. I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: to me, I really think it's going to go down
Speaker 3: as one of the Dodgers' best World Series.
Speaker 2: Mike, when you were watching Game six and it's the
Speaker 2: ninth inning, they're they're going to more starters. Tyler Glass
Speaker 2: now gets the first out on the first pitch, and
Speaker 2: you see keythk a Hernandez use his own Baseball IQ
Speaker 2: to shade in to be able to pull off that
Speaker 2: game ending double play. Just the sequence of events that
Speaker 2: took place to end game six in game seven, is
Speaker 2: that have you ever seen World Series games in that way?
Speaker 1: Well, you know, David, that was one of the most
Speaker 1: exciting series I think I've ever witnessed when we're with
Speaker 1: the Angels and two. Our seven game series with the
Speaker 1: Giants was so back and forth and we managed to
Speaker 1: you know, beat him in seven games. But not only
Speaker 1: was this the seventh game, the Dodgers going on the
Speaker 1: road and winning every game was back and forth, back
Speaker 1: and forth. And what I like about it was, I
Speaker 1: really feel the Dodgers stepped up and won the game.
Speaker 1: Toronto didn't hand them anything. The Dodgers had to make
Speaker 1: plays they did. They had to do things in the
Speaker 1: offensive end, and they you know, got some some incredible
Speaker 1: hits that that you know, just just got them back
Speaker 1: into the game. And the home runs were exciting. So
Speaker 1: I think the way Micky already talked about Dave Roberts,
Speaker 1: he did a terrific job. I think remolding that bullpen
Speaker 1: with a lot of the starters in game seven was
Speaker 1: the only way they were going to get that done,
Speaker 1: and they did it. And masasak Yama mode I should say,
Speaker 1: did his best impersonation of or A hersheives er an
Speaker 1: eighty eight come out of the bullpen and getting you know,
Speaker 1: and saving the game, and that was what an exciting series.
Speaker 2: Hey, Mike, since you are and known as being a catcher,
Speaker 2: caught more games than anybody else in Dodger franchise history.
Speaker 2: In Game seven, you know, one play where the Dodgers
Speaker 2: by an inch could have lost the World Series was
Speaker 2: with the infield in and the play at the plate
Speaker 2: bases loaded Isaiah Connor Falaffa just a hair behind the
Speaker 2: throw by Miguel Rojas to Will Smith. Can you explain
Speaker 2: you know, that situation for a catcher and how maybe
Speaker 2: his foot could have slipped off?
Speaker 1: Well, you know, Will Smith's incredible. I think as a catcher,
Speaker 1: you're told to put your foot right on the middle
Speaker 1: of the plate so as you do reach for the ball,
Speaker 1: your foot will stay on the plate. And I think
Speaker 1: he did, but the timing Rojas had kind of played
Speaker 1: and in between hop he lost his balance a little bit,
Speaker 1: but he showed his great arm strength and threw a
Speaker 1: bullet home and will stretch forward and just barely got
Speaker 1: you know, the runner. And I think Mickey already said it.
Speaker 1: They're very passive at third base on their lead because
Speaker 1: they don't want they don't want to get, you know,
Speaker 1: get you'll get a line drive double play. But there's
Speaker 1: a left handed hitter up and if that line drive
Speaker 1: is hit to the right side of the infield, you
Speaker 1: can be aggressive at third base and still get back.
Speaker 1: And I think that's you know, that's the little things
Speaker 1: that I think maybe get lost under you know, they
Speaker 1: get lost like water under the bridge. But if he
Speaker 1: if he had another two foot lead, then Mickey's right
Speaker 1: that the series goes to Toronto's favor, and but will
Speaker 1: Will kept this sort of the plate. I think Grohaus
Speaker 1: made a great play after he lost his balance, and
Speaker 1: the Dodgers jumped up and won the game, and I
Speaker 1: think that's what they can feel good about.
Speaker 2: That's the voice of Mike Sooshia and Mickey Hatcher, teammates
Speaker 2: World Champions as the Dodgers won it back in nineteen
Speaker 2: eighty eight, as David slang Elias slain the Mighty Mets
Speaker 2: and slaying the Oak's in five games, beating the Mets
Speaker 2: in seven games, and Mickey, you know, Miguel Rojas sitting
Speaker 2: that home run in Game seven of the World Series
Speaker 2: with the Dodgers down to their final two outs. I'm
Speaker 2: not going to say it was exactly the same situation,
Speaker 2: but did it remind you of a guy in Shay
Speaker 2: Stadium keeping your season alive against the Mets and Dwight Gooden.
Speaker 3: Oh, definitely. Sosia's home run was just amazing. And I'll
Speaker 3: tell you what, Rojas, that pitch was a pretty nasty
Speaker 3: pitch for him to pull and hit a home run,
Speaker 3: and you know it was just I kind of like
Speaker 3: Rojas's day. Man. That play a second base was amazing,
Speaker 3: and that home run and you can see it lifted
Speaker 3: the Dodgers. I mean it lifted their bench, It lifted
Speaker 3: everything for them. So that was That's going to be
Speaker 3: one of the most memorable home runs I think in
Speaker 3: that series.
Speaker 2: Mickey, you understand this. You were the leader of the
Speaker 2: stuff man, a group of bench players in nineteen eighty
Speaker 2: eight that if a guy got hurt all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: you had to be ready or coming off the bench
Speaker 2: to pinch it. You had an incredible World Series filling
Speaker 2: in for Kirk Gibson. You hit three sixty eight. Arguably,
Speaker 2: you know, if it wasn't for fifty five, could have
Speaker 2: been named the World Series MVP. But can you appreciate
Speaker 2: how tough it was for Rojas not to play for
Speaker 2: the entire World Series get in in Game six and
Speaker 2: have such a huge impact in the last two games.
Speaker 2: How do you do that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just think you know, it's like, you know,
Speaker 3: even when I was in the World Series, we had
Speaker 3: a bunch of guys we knew our career was coming
Speaker 3: to an end, and this was our moment, and you
Speaker 3: just stay into the moment and you take every advantage
Speaker 3: you can to that moment. I think the same thing
Speaker 3: with Rojas. You know, he knows he's coming to the
Speaker 3: end of the end of his career, and you know what,
Speaker 3: he wanted to be ready, and he wanted that one
Speaker 3: opportunity and he turned in to be about twenty five
Speaker 3: year old kid and that those two innings, and it
Speaker 3: was just a great moment for him. So no matter
Speaker 3: how his his life goes on, or whether he's going
Speaker 3: to retire or whether he's going to try to keep playing,
Speaker 3: this is going to be remembered in his family and
Speaker 3: his life, and it's just a great feeling.
Speaker 2: Mickey Hatcher, you were on Mike's Socio's coaching staff with
Speaker 2: the two thousand and two Angels that found a way
Speaker 2: to come back so many times in that seven game
Speaker 2: win over the Giants, and O two did this World
Speaker 2: Series remind you of that seven game World Series win
Speaker 2: by the Angels.
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm telling you what we just Mike did a
Speaker 3: great job with those players and putting them together and
Speaker 3: from the start of the season teaching them what it.
Speaker 1: Took to win.
Speaker 3: And we had to do the little thing just like
Speaker 3: the Dodgers had to do to win this game. And
Speaker 3: you know, it was just watching those guys go through
Speaker 3: get out there in game six. Uh, you know when
Speaker 3: we were down and even when Dusty Baker went out
Speaker 3: to the mound to take the guy uh can remember
Speaker 3: the pitcher's name out, or to see our players say
Speaker 3: we're going to win this game. We're going to win
Speaker 3: this game. And I think sitting back as a coach
Speaker 3: and seeing your players still having that energy to want
Speaker 3: to win that game means a lot to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was Ramon Ortiz, right, Mike, Daddy, he took out.
Speaker 3: And hello Russ Russ Russe or Teeth Russell, te Rush
Speaker 3: Russell t Yes, yeah, yes, And do.
Speaker 2: You remember the feeling that you had before Game seven?
Speaker 2: Could you as you're as you're watching Game seven start
Speaker 2: in Toronto, do you have some of those same feelings
Speaker 2: that you had maybe managing Game seven in two thousand
Speaker 2: and two, what Dave Roberts maybe going.
Speaker 1: Through Well, you know, you're you're you're so busy and
Speaker 1: good busy because you're getting uh, you know, you're getting
Speaker 1: everything together, you're getting your matchups, you're getting uh you know,
Speaker 1: you've already done all your scouting and everything and your
Speaker 1: pitcher and catcher should be on the same page. Uh,
Speaker 1: So you're ready for this game to start. I think
Speaker 1: that little anxiety like you're saying, let's get going, let's
Speaker 1: get going. Uh, you just want to You just want
Speaker 1: to get going and and and get get some momentum
Speaker 1: built and hopefully win a game.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: But but you know you're you're you're still doing so
Speaker 1: much David to prepare up until you know, you take
Speaker 1: the field. And I think it just keeps you saying
Speaker 1: so you're not dwelling on things too much. But we uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the team. One of the things I really
Speaker 1: liked about the Dodger club. I mean you talked about
Speaker 1: key k and being able to just use his experience.
Speaker 1: These guys played free, and I mean they they didn't
Speaker 1: play with with with with any burden of maybe if
Speaker 1: they if they missed a play or or if they
Speaker 1: were going to make a play, they played aggressively. Of defense,
Speaker 1: they played aggressively run the base and in the batter's box.
Speaker 1: And that's the same thing, you know two with our club.
Speaker 1: Our club was very aggressive in every aspect of it.
Speaker 1: They didn't think about making mistakes. They thought about making plays.
Speaker 1: And I think that's when it comes down to crunch
Speaker 1: time and everyone's going to point to a lot of
Speaker 1: the things that happened in that game. The Dodgers made plays,
Speaker 1: and I think what you're alluded to with kick Hernandez
Speaker 1: in left field, he knew when he caught that ball
Speaker 1: exactly where he was throwing it. Rohaus made a great pick,
Speaker 1: doubled off the runner, and the games over. So I
Speaker 1: think that had a lot to do with why they
Speaker 1: you know, why they played so well.
Speaker 2: Mike Soosie and Micky Hatcher are joining us on Dodger Talk,
Speaker 2: all right. I want to go back to when you
Speaker 2: guys were on the same staff, Mike the manager, Mickey
Speaker 2: the hitting coach, because this year when the Dodgers played
Speaker 2: the Angels, I was privy to a conversation of Dino
Speaker 2: Ebel and Tim Salmon praising Mike Soosha and Micky Hatcher
Speaker 2: just about the message you guys sent, the tone, especially
Speaker 2: Mike at the beginning of the season where you needed
Speaker 2: team at bats, whether it was Albert Poolhols, Mike Trout,
Speaker 2: Tim Salmon, Garan Anderson Mickey, do you remember those type
Speaker 2: of meetings that Mike would have and did you see
Speaker 2: some of those team at bats from guys like Otani
Speaker 2: and Freeman that reminded you of the message you guys had.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, we had an opportunity to go in
Speaker 3: there and see the players and have you know, a
Speaker 3: year under our bell watching these guys play. And I
Speaker 3: remember in the offseason, Mike before spring training says, we
Speaker 3: got to get these guys together. They don't know how
Speaker 3: to win, and and and he proceeded with the game
Speaker 3: plan of you know, we've got to move runners. The
Speaker 3: worst scenario, we got a runner in second base, we
Speaker 3: got to get them to third. We got to score them.
Speaker 3: We got to move runners over. You know, we we've
Speaker 3: got to play that type of game, knowing to use
Speaker 3: the big part of the field in those situations and
Speaker 3: not just to give away in at bat, give yourself
Speaker 3: an attempt to get a hit, but get the job done.
Speaker 3: And uh, in spring training, these guys started doing it.
Speaker 3: We said, hey, these bats don't count. Uh, you know,
Speaker 3: Mike had the meeting and we said I applied it
Speaker 3: as a hitting coach and said, hey, we're going in
Speaker 3: the spring training these had bats don't count, but this
Speaker 3: is what we're going. And and uh, these guys start
Speaker 3: doing it. And you know, here guys moving a runner
Speaker 3: to third base for the other guy to get an RBI.
Speaker 3: You see him start giving knuckles and they got really
Speaker 3: into it, and it was amazing. And when we started
Speaker 3: the season, we probably had the worst record the starting
Speaker 3: the season. What was our record, Mike when we were
Speaker 3: started the season fourteen? Yeah, we were struggling, yeah, fourteen.
Speaker 1: And then but the guys they kept doing it. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: they kept doing it. You know, Mickey remember with Troy Gloss.
Speaker 1: It was funny. We're talking about move and runners a
Speaker 1: guy on second and Troy saying Troy says, he goes, Mike,
Speaker 1: I can't hit a ground ball a second, I said,
Speaker 1: And Mickey goes, Troy, we're not asking. We don't want
Speaker 1: you hit a ground ball a second if we're on
Speaker 1: the other team. And hit her like you hit the
Speaker 1: ground ball to second. With a guy on second, we're saying,
Speaker 1: thank you, we want you knock down the centerfield wall.
Speaker 1: We want you to hit the ball left center centerfield,
Speaker 1: use a big part of the field. And he exhaled.
Speaker 1: He goes, oh, thank you, Okay.
Speaker 3: I can do that.
Speaker 1: And U and Tim Sabon, Tim Savon and spring training
Speaker 1: and a guy was on second base and uh and
Speaker 1: he hit a ball off the batter's eye in center field.
Speaker 1: And he came back and he goes, should I apologize?
Speaker 1: And I said, heck no, you shouldn't apologize. I said,
Speaker 1: I said, it's a big part of the field. If
Speaker 1: you hit it out of the ballpark, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1: I said that.
Speaker 3: You know that.
Speaker 1: That's what we're talking about. But you know, the big
Speaker 1: thing was these guys. These guys, they they understood it
Speaker 1: and they played great baseball, and they really blended with
Speaker 1: great base running, situational hitting and plug when we look
Speaker 1: about you talk about the middle of the lineup, and
Speaker 1: you had you know, Ga and and Tim Salmon and
Speaker 1: Gloss and our stat up at hitting second and ex
Speaker 1: Stein leading off. These guys fed the whole lineup and
Speaker 1: and and it was really a It was really a
Speaker 1: lineup that was I think very underrated. But these guys
Speaker 1: are one of the top lineups in baseball for a
Speaker 1: number of years, and they showed it in O two.
Speaker 2: Do you guys still believe if you were on the
Speaker 2: same staff, with the way the game has been played
Speaker 2: the last ten something years, do you think players would
Speaker 2: still be open to Mikesoshi Mickey Hatcher saying, Hey, I
Speaker 2: need twenty five team at bats the entire year. I
Speaker 2: need twenty five team at bats. Do you feel like
Speaker 2: that would still be in play today?
Speaker 1: Well, you know, there's some different philosophies out like strikeouts
Speaker 1: another out, which I don't know what Moron came up
Speaker 1: with that line a strikeouts not just another out. But
Speaker 1: I think what I think, I think what's important is
Speaker 1: you know, like like I say, you talk to Darren
Speaker 1: Nurseat who was a great team player. Anyway, he would
Speaker 1: do it anyway he's gonna get he's gonna go with
Speaker 1: six hundred plate appearances, and we would talk to these guys.
Speaker 1: So you guys are gonna get six hundred plate appearances
Speaker 1: if you don't have the twenty five team at bats.
Speaker 1: That we're talking about to where you get two strikes,
Speaker 1: you know, you got to shorten it up and pull
Speaker 1: the ball in the ground if you're er stat or
Speaker 1: ga to get a guy from from second to third,
Speaker 1: you know, and and two strikes, shorten it up and
Speaker 1: maybe hit that sack fly instead of and take the RBI.
Speaker 1: But you're not trying to hit home run, then that's
Speaker 1: on you. And I think as you communicate with these guys,
Speaker 1: and I think you know, there there's a lot of
Speaker 1: baseball players understand that part of it. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of guys that are not going to strike down those situations.
Speaker 1: And I think that that those are the guys that
Speaker 1: stand out, and you just know they're going to help
Speaker 1: their team win. And as I said, you're gonna get
Speaker 1: six hundred plate appearances. For most of the player appearances,
Speaker 1: you're free to swing and do whatever you want. But
Speaker 1: with that team at bat and it presents itself to you,
Speaker 1: we need it. And and I think I think guys,
Speaker 1: you know, I think ball players now would would rally
Speaker 1: around that and would embrace that. Also.
Speaker 2: Do you remember those those talks, Mickey, And do you
Speaker 2: believe that in today's game that players would accept that
Speaker 2: as well. And did you see it from the Dodgers
Speaker 2: in twenty five?
Speaker 3: You start seeing it on more teams now, you really do.
Speaker 3: You start seeing a little bit more bunning. You start
Speaker 3: seeing it. But you know, it's like Mike says, I mean,
Speaker 3: come on, a two strike approach, you know, that's when
Speaker 3: you got to like get up there and battle with
Speaker 3: that picture. And it's just a swing and misses that
Speaker 3: are are just amazing to me, especially on pitches that
Speaker 3: are right there with two strikes. And you know that
Speaker 3: was Mike's biggest, biggest thing was, Hey, come on, guys,
Speaker 3: two strikes, you know, maybe come off the knob. We've
Speaker 3: we've got a bad up there. We've got to put
Speaker 3: that ball in play. And uh, you know, strikeouts, that's
Speaker 3: just an easy out for anything. You put a ball
Speaker 3: in play. They can make an air, they can throw
Speaker 3: it away, they can there's a lot of scenarios that
Speaker 3: could happen. Uh, you know that can't happen if you're
Speaker 3: slinging miss.
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts is actually one of the managers that are
Speaker 2: active today that actually echoes what you guys have said.
Speaker 1: Well, I know, Dave, I know he was that type player,
Speaker 1: and he understands it. And I think you see players,
Speaker 1: I mean you see Will Smith choking up and putting
Speaker 1: the bamb play in some of the situations, you know,
Speaker 1: Freddie Freeman, I mean, these guys are professional hitters, even
Speaker 1: you know Show hey, he he's got such an a
Speaker 1: great idea of what to do in the battle box. Mookie,
Speaker 1: you know, Mookie bets same way. Mickey and I were
Speaker 1: contact hitter. So we had a guy on third base
Speaker 1: and less than two outs, and if we struck out,
Speaker 1: which you know sometimes it happens, sometimes you just get beat.
Speaker 1: We you know, we were we were upset with ourselves.
Speaker 1: Well we we were more upset because we knew what
Speaker 1: was waiting for us in the dugout from Togo Lasorda
Speaker 1: as we're walking back and here I'm walking back on
Speaker 1: the dugout and you can see you can see Tommy
Speaker 1: turning purple like like just saying, what's the ball in play?
Speaker 1: What are you doing? And you know that was that
Speaker 1: was the worst part of you know, the worst part
Speaker 1: about striking out in the situation like that.
Speaker 2: All right, before I let you guys go, You're not
Speaker 2: answering this question, Mike. This is only for Mickey Hatcher.
Speaker 2: Mickey Hatcher, Okay, there was a manager with the Angels
Speaker 2: manage one team for nineteen years, had unprecedented success. For
Speaker 2: those nineteen seasons, he won more games than any other
Speaker 2: Angels manager in the history of that franchise, sixteen hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty wins, won the only World Series an Angels
Speaker 2: franchise history. Don't you believe that guy should be in
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame as a manager And don't you
Speaker 2: believe number fourteen should be retired in Anaheim? Mickey?
Speaker 3: Oh, I do you know one thing that you and
Speaker 3: you can hear how Mike speaks, and you know he
Speaker 3: can remember a pitch forty years ago, what this guy
Speaker 3: did and whatever. But he's always had a passion for
Speaker 3: the game, and he's always wanted to win. You know,
Speaker 3: there's you know, I don't care if you give him
Speaker 3: the worst team in baseball. He's going to make him
Speaker 3: learn how to win. And I think that that was
Speaker 3: his passion as a manager. But he's the players really
Speaker 3: respect him. He has that. You know, he's able to
Speaker 3: bring him in the office and have the one on
Speaker 3: one you know, like he's like their father. And that's
Speaker 3: why I think you hear, like the Salmon's and the
Speaker 3: Erstes and all those kind of guys, just how much
Speaker 3: passion they had for Mike as a manager. I mean,
Speaker 3: their career was probably one of the differences in that
Speaker 3: they've ever had being playing baseball. And they'll tell you that,
Speaker 3: and uh, you know, I think it's going to happen
Speaker 3: for Mike. But I think in baseball, uh, he's well known.
Speaker 3: You go to an event and all these players from
Speaker 3: different teams or whatever they want to go and and
Speaker 3: talk to Mike and and and listen to his uh
Speaker 3: philosophies and stuff like that, and uh, you know, he
Speaker 3: just has a passion and uh and that's going to
Speaker 3: take him a long ways. And I do.
Speaker 1: But can I answer that question?
Speaker 2: No, No, because I know it.
Speaker 1: Mike shut up.
Speaker 3: That was my turn.
Speaker 1: Let me just say this real quick. I know you
Speaker 1: got to cut us up, but real quick, I want
Speaker 1: to say this. You know, this game is about playing it.
Speaker 1: This game isn't about coaching and managing it. When you're
Speaker 1: in the backyard with your brother and you're playing just
Speaker 1: you know, you're just playing baseball with him and you're
Speaker 1: making up situations, you're the one up at bat with
Speaker 1: three two bases loaded, and you hit the home run
Speaker 1: to win the game like Freddie Freeman did or Kirk
Speaker 1: Gibson didd and and uh, you know you're the one
Speaker 1: that hits it. You're out the one managing and putting
Speaker 1: guys in. So for me and I know Micky is
Speaker 1: the same way. We loved playing the game. We and
Speaker 1: we love playing the game for the Dodgers.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: And that's a special feeling of of of of playing
Speaker 1: the game that you can take with you.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: We like coaching, I love managing, but it doesn't compare
Speaker 1: to playing the game. And that's where our hearts are
Speaker 1: is really as ballplayers, and in particular with the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: we had great experience and uh fortunately you know one
Speaker 1: won some championships there and that's what we'll we'll take
Speaker 1: for over with us. And that means what means the
Speaker 1: most to me.
Speaker 2: That's why you're special. Okay, if you're if you're a player,
Speaker 2: you love the player. I want you in the Legends
Speaker 2: of Dodger Baseball. I want you wearing a blue coat
Speaker 2: one day. And I would love to have as many
Speaker 2: stunt men put in as legends of Dodger baseball as well,
Speaker 2: just the group of the stuntmen and Mike Soosha, how
Speaker 2: about that.
Speaker 1: I like the stumpman getting in because those guys, those
Speaker 1: guys were huge for us in eighty eight. And all
Speaker 1: the pieces fit. And you know, you said one time
Speaker 1: that we might have been the you know, David, you
Speaker 1: say we might have been the worst World Series team,
Speaker 1: Dodger team.
Speaker 2: I did not say that. Bob Costa said.
Speaker 1: I don't care what Bob Costas does. You repeated it,
Speaker 1: and let me tell you what the pieces fit. We
Speaker 1: were a great team that had a tremendous pitching staff,
Speaker 1: great bullpen, and players like the stump men that played free,
Speaker 1: They played loose, They did whatever. Whatever the situation was
Speaker 1: that Tommy wanted to do, he could do because we
Speaker 1: all had the back control to do it. And going
Speaker 1: down the whole lineup, we would get bunts down. We
Speaker 1: could hit and run. We put the ball in play
Speaker 1: with two strikes, and once in a while you hit
Speaker 1: the ball good and went out of the park. And
Speaker 1: I think that as you talk about the stumpman in
Speaker 1: that group with Mickey and and Rick Dempsey and and
Speaker 1: Danny Heap and Dave and I know I'm leaving missing somebody, Mickey,
Speaker 1: but you guys, you guys were so important does not
Speaker 1: only during the season, but in the playoffs and and
Speaker 1: and uh and and we were. We were terrific team
Speaker 1: in eighty eight.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: Very underrated as to the talent on the team and
Speaker 1: how it worked and how we played. And I just
Speaker 1: don't like you, David, saying we're one of the worst
Speaker 1: Championship Dotor teams on paper.
Speaker 3: I don't like that.
Speaker 2: I never said that.
Speaker 3: I said wins, Mike, we had ninety one.
Speaker 1: How many wins?
Speaker 3: We had?
Speaker 1: Ninety something wins?
Speaker 3: You were?
Speaker 2: I feel like, yes, ninety four great wins. You guys were, David.
Speaker 2: The Mets were Goliath, the A's were Goliath. Nobody thought
Speaker 2: you guys could beat them. You know, I was getting
Speaker 2: phone calls as a ten year old by adults just
Speaker 2: like you know, mocking my Dodgers at that point in time,
Speaker 2: and I said, you just wait, this team can do it.
Speaker 2: So it wasn't a slight to call you David. David's
Speaker 2: a great name, yea, A great biblical reference.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're trying to you're trying to worm yourself out.
Speaker 3: Of that one.
Speaker 2: I see as always.
Speaker 3: That's what I do.
Speaker 2: I just punch my way out of the corner. Hey,
Speaker 2: you know, I might sign up for this fantasy camp
Speaker 2: just so I could be there, maybe to be managed
Speaker 2: or coached by Mickey Hatcher and Mike Soosha. How about that.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. I can only picture you in
Speaker 1: a baseball uniform running around, and I'm about to start
Speaker 1: laughing right now.
Speaker 2: Maybe I'll wear number nine one day and number fourteen
Speaker 2: another day. How about that?
Speaker 1: Oh, I'll tell you you're if you're playing defense, you
Speaker 1: better have shing guards on, wear a batting helmet out
Speaker 1: there in the field, and have a double cup on.
Speaker 1: Because I don't know what's going to happen to you, David.
Speaker 2: You guys, I will say this, and I don't care
Speaker 2: what my wife thinks. Nineteen eighty eight was the greatest
Speaker 2: year of my life. To this day, I will say
Speaker 2: that flat out. You guys brought baseball to life for
Speaker 2: so many of us and made so many of us
Speaker 2: young people in Los Angeles in nineteen eighty eight fall
Speaker 2: in love with the Dodgers and fall in love with
Speaker 2: the game of baseball. And you guys were two huge
Speaker 2: parts of the Dodgers and you guys. As long as
Speaker 2: I'm doing this, nobody will forget the eighty eight Dodgers
Speaker 2: as great as you were. And nobody will forget Mike's
Speaker 2: Osha and Mickey Hatcher and the rest of you guys.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that, David. It was a special year for
Speaker 1: all of us, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: All right, Mike can't wait to come over me and Mickey.
Speaker 2: What time do you want us over for Christmas? We
Speaker 2: look forward to it.
Speaker 1: We celebig Christmas on the twenty six, So come on
Speaker 1: over there.
Speaker 2: Thanks guys, Merry Christmas.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Okay, bye, all right, bye.
Speaker 2: There they go, Mickey Hatcher and Mike's Sooshia. That was awesome.
Speaker 2: That was definitely a bucket list. It's one thing to
Speaker 2: interview one of them, but both of them together. Just Spectac,
Speaker 2: we're gonna take a break. When we come back, your
Speaker 2: phone calls, and also we'll get to my conversation with
Speaker 2: Keike Hernandez coming up from this past Saturday at the
Speaker 2: Polo Ralph Lauren store. They treated us great, trust us great,
Speaker 2: and I can't wait to share Keik with you as well.
Speaker 2: Mike Soshia, Mickey Hatcher, forever Dodgers,