Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: We're in the office of the manager that has won
Speaker 1: three World Championships, including back to back titles, and his
Speaker 1: team is off to the best start in Dodger history
Speaker 1: since nineteen seventy seven. That's the one and only Dave Roberts. Dave,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for allowing me into the office.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Dave, it's always good catching up with you, and yeah,
Speaker 2: we're off to a good start. And you know it's
Speaker 2: interesting is yesterday we were in the midst of snow
Speaker 2: and today it's clear skies and it's seventy degrees.
Speaker 3: Dave.
Speaker 1: One thing that I'm not sure everybody can wrap their
Speaker 1: head around. You're the manager. You're never feeling comfortable no
Speaker 1: matter how good the record is. How do you handle
Speaker 1: this with the team playing as well as it has.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good question.
Speaker 2: I think that there's a realistic perspective of presence in
Speaker 2: the sense of appreciating that you're winning more than you're losing,
Speaker 2: which is good. But I think as a manager you're
Speaker 2: always mindful of trying to keep things on the rails
Speaker 2: and moving forward, so you know, whether it's player staff,
Speaker 2: how we play, you know, the mindset, the mechanics part
Speaker 2: of it, and just trying to have a pulse on that.
Speaker 2: So but again still being positive and appreciating the start
Speaker 2: we're off.
Speaker 1: At this time last year, the defense was a little inconsistent,
Speaker 1: the bullpen was a little leaky. How big had those
Speaker 1: two areas contributed to having the best record to start
Speaker 1: the year both both.
Speaker 2: I think that certainly the bullpen has done a fantastic job.
Speaker 2: There was obviously, you know, going back to last year,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of questions with the pen, and then
Speaker 2: you know, coming into the spring, how the spring some
Speaker 2: of these guys had. There were some questions kind of
Speaker 2: coming into the season, but all those questions have been
Speaker 2: answered up to this point, and you know, so I'm
Speaker 2: really excited about what they're doing. And the starting pitchers
Speaker 2: have done a fantastic job. And obviously we saw what
Speaker 2: Tyler did last night, and hopefull Emmitt can build on
Speaker 2: what he's done the last couple outings and the defense,
Speaker 2: and so I think that for me, it's what Andy's
Speaker 2: done at in center field, what Max has done at
Speaker 2: third base, and obviously, you know you expect the shortstop
Speaker 2: play to be really good even without Mooki out. But
Speaker 2: I think Tao's done a great job. I think Tuck's
Speaker 2: played a really nice defense and a nice right field,
Speaker 2: and Freddy's done well. So across the diamond, we're playing
Speaker 2: well and it's good to see.
Speaker 1: Is it fair to say it feels like the pieces
Speaker 1: are fitting a little better defensively this year?
Speaker 2: They are, they are, but I just feel that we're
Speaker 2: also playing better. I think that you know, Max looks
Speaker 2: a lot better, He's in better shape. I think that
Speaker 2: Freddie's done a lot to work on his mobility, which
Speaker 2: has helped, and obviously adding Tucker, I think Tucker's done
Speaker 2: a nice job in right field, and then I think
Speaker 2: Tao's inspired and he's playing really good left field, and
Speaker 2: he's getting off the ball really well. And Andy continues to
Speaker 2: make stride, so it's fun to see. And at second base,
Speaker 2: Alex Fri one of the things that we asked him
Speaker 2: to do is play good defense, and he's done that
Speaker 2: and getting Hayes on Kim in the mix. He's you know,
Speaker 2: been a wonder at second and a shortstop. So across
Speaker 2: the board it's been fun to watch.
Speaker 3: It's so unique.
Speaker 1: You come off back to back championships, yet individually, it
Speaker 1: seems like some of your better players are still playing
Speaker 1: with a chip on their shoulder. Have you have you
Speaker 1: experienced anything like this? How unique it is for so
Speaker 1: many guys that have won but are acting like they
Speaker 1: haven't won yet.
Speaker 3: I've never seen anything like this, you know.
Speaker 2: It seems like every year I say, this is the
Speaker 2: best group of men I've ever been around, And this
Speaker 2: is the best group I've ever been around. And it's
Speaker 2: the character, it's how they work, the focus, and yeah,
Speaker 2: I think that these guys understand the opportunity we have
Speaker 2: as far as the chance to win three in a row,
Speaker 2: something that's unprecedented in the National League, and they want
Speaker 2: to make their marketing baseball on Dodger history. So but
Speaker 2: with that, you still got to go out there every
Speaker 2: day and and play the right way. And that's what
Speaker 2: I really marvel at, you know, because I think that
Speaker 2: there's no talk of a let down, a hangover, because
Speaker 2: I do think that you know yourself, and people that
Speaker 2: are familiar with our ball club know that that's not
Speaker 2: who we are, and we're showing that with the start
Speaker 2: that we've had.
Speaker 1: Dave Roberts is our guest in front of first pitch
Speaker 1: between the Dodgers and Rockies. Here's another thing I'm curious about.
Speaker 3: You have so.
Speaker 1: Many really good players, and you know this. You have
Speaker 1: to have a certain level of ego to be as
Speaker 1: good as some of these guys are. How have you
Speaker 1: found a way How have they found a way to
Speaker 1: check their egos at the door, because there's other teams
Speaker 1: out there that have a big egos and they can't
Speaker 1: seem to do that.
Speaker 3: Starts with Freddie Freeman.
Speaker 2: I think that he's you know, he's going to be
Speaker 2: a first ballot Hall of Famer. There's there's not an entinement,
Speaker 2: there's a there's a gratitude, there's a responsibility. I think
Speaker 2: that you know, with our guys, this game doesn't need
Speaker 2: any of us. And I think our guys have that
Speaker 2: appreciation the responsibility to go out there and play a
Speaker 2: certain way. And I do think that with success comes
Speaker 2: an inflated ego. And you know, the media, the fans
Speaker 2: telling you how good you are, but you can't let
Speaker 2: that bleed into your psyche because I do believe that,
Speaker 2: you know, the saying, you're never as good as they say,
Speaker 2: and you're never as bad and so our guys have
Speaker 2: that even keeled mindset and that grinder mindset. And when
Speaker 2: you take a lot of talent, like minded talent and
Speaker 2: you perform the way we do and prepare the way
Speaker 2: we do, that's why we have something special.
Speaker 1: You can appreciate this more than most being a UCLA
Speaker 1: Bruin going to college there with Coach Wooden being around,
Speaker 1: his famous saying was make every day your masterpiece? In
Speaker 1: other words, do you feel like you and your players
Speaker 1: try to make every day your masterpiece without getting too
Speaker 1: far ahead?
Speaker 2: I love that and I love that, and I think
Speaker 2: for me it's every day's a test, you know, and
Speaker 2: I think that you know, what you did yesterday doesn't
Speaker 2: you know, matter today, and so it's hard to you know,
Speaker 2: to make a masterpiece. But I respect what Coach Woulden
Speaker 2: said I and I love that mindset, that idea, and
Speaker 2: me being a Bruin as well, I love it. And
Speaker 2: I think for me it's just to add on to
Speaker 2: that is you know, every day's a test. You know,
Speaker 2: you're you're trying to prepare and you know you got
Speaker 2: to pass a test and nothing is owed to you.
Speaker 2: So very similar and for me to be even mentioned
Speaker 2: in the same breadth as coach Wood and is something
Speaker 2: that's truly humbling for me.
Speaker 1: All Right, Dave, thanks a lot for the time. It
Speaker 1: is incredible to watch this run of success that you've
Speaker 1: had since you've taken over managing the Dodgers since twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: And we'll make today our masterpiece.
Speaker 3: Love it. Thanks Dave.