Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: It's Opening Day at Dodgers Stadium, and I'm joined by
Speaker 2: a guy that embodies everything it means to be a
Speaker 2: professional baseball player, a man that is a three time
Speaker 2: World Series champion, back to back champion with the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: That is the one and only Freddie Freeman. Freddie, thanks
Speaker 2: a lot for the time. And you made it to
Speaker 2: another Opening Day.
Speaker 1: Thank you, David, thank you for those kind words. It's
Speaker 1: good to be back and get this year going.
Speaker 2: How does it feel after all these seasons, sixteen seasons
Speaker 2: entering your seventeenth, does Opening Day still mean the same
Speaker 2: to you?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does, just because of all the hard work
Speaker 1: that you put in the offseason in spring training. You're
Speaker 1: excited to finally get the games to mean something and
Speaker 1: you start your goal of winning another championship. And all
Speaker 1: the fans are excited. They've been missing baseball for five months,
Speaker 1: so everyone's excited just liking the Game's gonna say, angels.
Speaker 1: All the fans are there during those spring training games.
Speaker 3: Too, so it's it's a blast. Open Day is always fun.
Speaker 1: That means it to start of a new year, and
Speaker 1: hopefully I start of a really championship seller year.
Speaker 2: Hey Freddie, it's one thing to be hungry, but after
Speaker 2: you went back to back championships, how impressive is it
Speaker 2: that not only yourself, but everybody else on the team
Speaker 2: came day one to spring training hungry as ever.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think the group that we have here, the environment
Speaker 1: we've created, the chemistry, the desire, the want, all of it.
Speaker 3: It's a special place we.
Speaker 1: Have going on around here, and we want to win
Speaker 1: every single year. That's I think that's every professional athlete's
Speaker 1: goal is to win the championship for a year, And
Speaker 1: obviously when you win two in a row, you want
Speaker 1: to be those people that win three in a row.
Speaker 3: You know, you just want to keep doing it. We
Speaker 3: had the same narrative last year it be the first.
Speaker 1: Team since the Yankees went back to back, and now
Speaker 1: we get to be the same narrative going into this
Speaker 1: year to be the first first team since the Yankees
Speaker 1: to win three in a row.
Speaker 3: So we got a good group. We're really itching.
Speaker 1: To get going here and we're excited about this year.
Speaker 2: Freddie Freeman is our guest on opening Day. For you,
Speaker 2: this was a more normal offseason and spring training. Do
Speaker 2: you feel like Freddy again?
Speaker 3: I do. I feel good.
Speaker 1: I don't have to get to the field three hours
Speaker 1: or four games and stretches and to just get myself
Speaker 1: to be able to go out there and play defense,
Speaker 1: you know, during stretch and VP. It's been nice to
Speaker 1: just show up and do my routine and get ready
Speaker 1: for the year. It's definitely nice not having surgery and
Speaker 1: rehab all offseason.
Speaker 3: So I feel good.
Speaker 1: I feel ready to go, so hopefully we can stay
Speaker 1: healthy all year and have.
Speaker 3: A great year.
Speaker 2: You're a great guy to ask this question too, because
Speaker 2: you understand the game itself. You're hitting in a different
Speaker 2: spot in the lineup this year, and you've got different
Speaker 2: guys hitting in front of you. Are you a believer
Speaker 2: every spot in the order has a responsibility.
Speaker 1: I think in a typical lineup, yes, our lineup, I
Speaker 1: feel like every guy can hit third. It's it's a
Speaker 1: bunch of three hole hitters going up and down our lineup.
Speaker 1: So yeah, this year it's gonna be a little bit different.
Speaker 1: And I think you're you We're gonna see it in
Speaker 1: the you saw it during the Angels series where against
Speaker 1: a left handed starter. I'm gonna hit fifth this year,
Speaker 1: and you know, Doc and I talked and we're trying
Speaker 1: to figure out the best way to make the Dodgers
Speaker 1: the best they can possibly be. And obviously, against right
Speaker 1: handed starters, all hit fourth, and then we're gonna start
Speaker 1: with hitting me fifth against left handed starters, just so
Speaker 1: it's a lot harder to match up. And uh, when
Speaker 1: Dark and I had a conversation, I'm good. Just hit
Speaker 1: me wherever you want to hit me. I want I
Speaker 1: want to win a championship. Make it harder for every
Speaker 1: other team to match up against us.
Speaker 3: I think it no matter.
Speaker 1: Where we hit, it's gonna be a hard matchup. But
Speaker 1: that's what we we're gonna go with. And typically one
Speaker 1: through nine you're gonna have different roles. Obviously in our lineup,
Speaker 1: if you're hitting eight and nine, you gotta know show
Speaker 1: how he's coming up, and just sometimes the situation will
Speaker 1: determine what you gotta do. But in our lineup, with
Speaker 1: our guys, it's more of a free ring.
Speaker 3: Go for it.
Speaker 1: You know yourself, you know the player you are, and
Speaker 1: just make sure you're doing the right thing in the
Speaker 1: right situations. And our guys understand that. And in our lineup.
Speaker 1: When you got a bunch of three hole hitters up
Speaker 1: and down, I think and betteran guys they know what
Speaker 1: they need to do in this certain situations of the game.
Speaker 1: The game will tell you how to play the game,
Speaker 1: and I think that we have a good group of
Speaker 1: guys to understand that and go about our business the
Speaker 1: way we need to do. But in our lineup, it
Speaker 1: doesn't really matter where you're hit. I think you're gonna
Speaker 1: have guys on a lot more times than not, so
Speaker 1: just make sure you bring those guys in.
Speaker 2: Not too many teams can have a rabbit hitting fifth.
Speaker 1: I kind of like that. Maybe I'll look like a
Speaker 1: rabbit again. Run around the basins this.
Speaker 2: Year before I let you go tomorrow. Ring Day. It's
Speaker 2: your third ring. Where do you keep these rings? How
Speaker 2: much do you enjoy it? Where do you put it?
Speaker 1: I enjoy it when you get a ring. That means
Speaker 1: you want So if you don't enjoy ring Day, then
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're doing. So well, I'm excited.
Speaker 3: I look forward to it.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see him in first I've only
Speaker 1: seen a picture of them. Oh, so I'm really looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing it. They usually get put on for
Speaker 1: that day and then it goes into the box and
Speaker 1: goes away, hitting into somewhere to or no one can
Speaker 1: find it.
Speaker 3: So they're usually so big it's hard to wear those things.
Speaker 1: But I heard we got a different one this year
Speaker 1: where we can wear a band. The band comes out
Speaker 1: of the middle, so we can actually wear like almost
Speaker 1: like a band with the ring.
Speaker 3: So that's kind of cool.
Speaker 1: When you win a lot and win a few in
Speaker 1: a row, you gotta kind of come up with some
Speaker 1: new ideas, and they did it this year, so hopefully
Speaker 1: we can make them come up with a new idea
Speaker 1: for this year too.
Speaker 2: Love it, Freddy, thanks a lot for the time. You
Speaker 2: know how much you mean to this city. You are
Speaker 2: a legacy Dodger, and you're gonna keep it going. And
Speaker 2: I'm counting. I'm counting every single hit, every single double
Speaker 2: the rest of the way the next four years.
Speaker 3: Love it, I love it.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to it, and you know, hopefully those
Speaker 1: countdowns go quicker, no doubt.