Speaker 1: Forget about the twenty six Dodgers. We care about a
Speaker 1: man that left it all on the field for the
Speaker 1: Dodgers from the moment he was traded here in June
Speaker 1: of twenty sixteen until the night that the Dodgers say
Speaker 1: goodbye to Chris Taylor in twenty twenty four. A man
Speaker 1: that was the co NLCS MVP in twenty seventeen. A
Speaker 1: man that made one of the greatest catches in NLCS
Speaker 1: history in twenty eighteen. A man that was an All
Speaker 1: Star in twenty twenty one and had a walk off
Speaker 1: wild card home run for the Dodgers. That is the
Speaker 1: one and only fan favorite CT three, Chris Taylor. Chris,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for coming on the show and congratulations
Speaker 1: on a great career.
Speaker 2: Thanks Versa. That's a very nice intro. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Hey, I wish I could go on and on, Chris,
Speaker 1: But I mean, the fans certainly have showed their outpouring
Speaker 1: of support for you. Were you surprised that you got
Speaker 1: as much attention as you did about your retirement? Uh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Honestly, the way it all went down was kind
Speaker 2: of strange. I didn't I wasn't anticipating making it public,
Speaker 2: and then it ended up getting leaked, I guess, and
Speaker 2: then and then people thought I was unretiring, and it
Speaker 2: was like kind of embarrassing. So then I was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: now I have to say something. But no, it was
Speaker 2: all fine. It was It was cool after I made
Speaker 2: the post or after it came out, seeing all the support.
Speaker 2: I got a lot of very nice texts, and yeah,
Speaker 2: it's cool to uh to see all the love, especially
Speaker 2: from Dodgers stands obviously playing almost ten years with them
Speaker 2: and you know, still I still think they're the best
Speaker 2: fans in baseball, and yeah, it's it always feels good
Speaker 2: to know that you were appreciated.
Speaker 1: So there was no retiring unretiring. It was just some
Speaker 1: members of the media jumping the gun a little bit
Speaker 1: too fast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of a weird way it happened. I mean,
Speaker 2: long story short, I kind of told I was at
Speaker 2: the fault like these at the time, I kind of
Speaker 2: told them that I was done. I got hit by
Speaker 2: a pitch and fractured my arm. First. I don't think
Speaker 2: a lot of people know that, but I told them
Speaker 2: that I was going to probably that's it for me.
Speaker 2: I'm going to go home with my family and then
Speaker 2: so I, you know, signed the papers and I think
Speaker 2: it was voluntary retirement. And then so that was the transaction,
Speaker 2: and that got released right away. And then when we
Speaker 2: had it switched to the IL, you know, just to
Speaker 2: try to keep it under wraps a little bit, but
Speaker 2: it was too late at that point. And then when
Speaker 2: I got switched, people thought I unretired and was coming back.
Speaker 2: It was very strange.
Speaker 1: Yes, and I know you don't love attention, and it's
Speaker 1: never and it never has been about you, but I
Speaker 1: feel like you never really fully understood how much you
Speaker 1: meant to your teammates into your fans. Do you understand
Speaker 1: that a little bit more now? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I mean I always knew the Dogger fans are always great.
Speaker 2: They were always very supportive, and I always felt loved there.
Speaker 2: You know, obviously I had some tough years towards the end,
Speaker 2: but you know, I always felt like the fans. You know,
Speaker 2: there's always going to be some a mix of especially
Speaker 2: when you're struggling, but I felt like the the there
Speaker 2: was plenty of loyal doctor fans that still supported me
Speaker 2: even through my struggles, and I really appreciated that.
Speaker 1: No doubt, they always will when you look back at
Speaker 1: your career. I don't know if you've had a chance
Speaker 1: to reflect. Have you had a chance to reflect on
Speaker 1: your career? Is it still too soon?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's still kind of like I don't think it's
Speaker 2: fully hit me, you know. Right now, I'm just like
Speaker 2: kind of enjoying being home. I was away from my
Speaker 2: family for two months, you know, which was really tough
Speaker 2: in and Salt Lake, Utah. And my family was here
Speaker 2: in Manhattan Beach. I was flying back home every Sunday
Speaker 2: night after our games for our off day on Monday,
Speaker 2: and then meeting back up with a team on Tuesday,
Speaker 2: and you know, just to try to be here as
Speaker 2: much a I could with them while I was playing
Speaker 2: in Triple A. And that was just a really tough
Speaker 2: two months stretch. And for me obviously being away, and
Speaker 2: then for my family and my wife kind of basically
Speaker 2: be in a single mom for two months, I was
Speaker 2: a grind. And so now I'm just kind of enjoying
Speaker 2: being a full time dad, stay at home dad, spending
Speaker 2: time with my family. We're going to do some things
Speaker 2: we've never gotten an opportunity to do. We're going to
Speaker 2: do some traveling and uh yeah, so I don't think
Speaker 2: I've really fully reflected on it. But when the news
Speaker 2: of the retirement came out, you know, I saw the
Speaker 2: love and support, so that was really cool.
Speaker 1: Chris Taylor is our guest, a man that will never
Speaker 1: be forgotten in Dodger history. And can you believe that
Speaker 1: Dodgers are in Pittsburgh right now? Chris? And what do
Speaker 1: you remember remember about your first day in Pittsburgh wearing
Speaker 1: a Dodger uniform?
Speaker 2: That was my first game as a Dodger. I think
Speaker 2: it was yeah, yeah, very cool. I think I remember
Speaker 2: coming to the Dodgers and expecting to be way more
Speaker 2: nervous and than I was with the Mariners, just because
Speaker 2: it's the Dodgers. You know, It's like bigger stage, more fans,
Speaker 2: more publicity, higher expectation, all of the above. And it
Speaker 2: was funny when I got there and stepped into the clubhouse.
Speaker 2: And I think that's part of what makes the Dodgers
Speaker 2: so good was I wasn't very nervous at all. I
Speaker 2: was very comfortable. They do a great job of like
Speaker 2: letting all their players know like, you're here for a reason,
Speaker 2: we want you to be the best version of yourself
Speaker 2: and there's no fear of failure. I feel like there's
Speaker 2: no hesitation. They want you to play aggressive, and you know,
Speaker 2: I felt that, and I thought that was a big reason.
Speaker 2: It kind of brought out the best in me, where
Speaker 2: in the past I might have put too much pressure
Speaker 2: on myself, or prior to that, I might have put
Speaker 2: too much pressure on myself and played a little nervous
Speaker 2: or whatever it is, which would be common for many
Speaker 2: young players in the big leagues. And I think the
Speaker 2: doctors do a great job of letting their young guys
Speaker 2: specifically be comfortable in their own skin and do what
Speaker 2: got them there.
Speaker 1: Chris, I never asked you this, since we were always
Speaker 1: in the moment, and I didn't never wanted to put
Speaker 1: you on the spot more than I than I did.
Speaker 1: But you had a lot of close team mates, a
Speaker 1: lot of great teammates. Uh what bonds did you form
Speaker 1: with those guys? And how how close are you still
Speaker 1: with the guys from that played with you from twenty
Speaker 1: seventeen to like twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, extremely close. I think those those years you just mentioned,
Speaker 2: you know, those are some of my that core group
Speaker 2: of guys, those are some of my best friends. Those
Speaker 2: are probably. Uh, to me, my closest teammates and guys
Speaker 2: that I keep in touch with, you know, guys that
Speaker 2: were at my wedding. You know, my wife is great
Speaker 2: friends with their wives. So yeah, it's uh, it was
Speaker 2: a very close group, and you know that that's not
Speaker 2: gonna change now that I'm done playing.
Speaker 1: Did Cory Seger text you. I heard he's not a
Speaker 1: very good Texter.
Speaker 2: Me and Corey are both very similar in that way,
Speaker 2: But he did, he did send me attack.
Speaker 1: Yeah, my dream is one day to have a reunion
Speaker 1: with the twenty seventeen Dodgers for obvious reasons.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a that was a special group. I
Speaker 2: still think that might have been the best team I
Speaker 2: ever played on, even though we never won.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you guys were You guys were on another level
Speaker 1: that year. And do you remember the feeling you had
Speaker 1: when you hit that lead off home run in Game
Speaker 1: one of the World Series at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 2: Uh kind of. I've always said, like those big moments
Speaker 2: for me, I sort of blackout. But I think there
Speaker 2: was definitely some shock. You know, that entire year was
Speaker 2: a bit of a shock for me to go from
Speaker 2: what I had where I was before for that, and
Speaker 2: then you know how the best year of my career
Speaker 2: and the biggest moments sign the World Series and LCS
Speaker 2: MVP is just like all these things. It didn't it
Speaker 2: felt very surreal.
Speaker 1: You know, it's weird, I you know how nostalgic I get,
Speaker 1: but rightfully so. You had so many great moments. The
Speaker 1: team gave us so many great moments that Dodger fans
Speaker 1: hadn't had in so many years. The team was just
Speaker 1: in Milwaukee, and no, I'm not talking about the slide.
Speaker 2: I was.
Speaker 1: I was looking at the leftfield wall, Cetea, and I
Speaker 1: was just envisioning you taking that route to catch that
Speaker 1: fly ball in Game seven of the eighteen NLCS. That's
Speaker 1: the only thing I think about when I go to Milwaukee.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that I mean definitely maybe my biggest probably definitely
Speaker 2: my biggest defensive moment of my career. And just I
Speaker 2: think as a player, when you look back at everything,
Speaker 2: those moments, moments like that at the biggest stage, you know,
Speaker 2: that's why you play the game. That's that's what you
Speaker 2: do it for. All the hard work, all the failure,
Speaker 2: like all the the low points, that's all worth it
Speaker 2: because of moments like that.
Speaker 1: My other memory of view CT is after you hit
Speaker 1: the walk off home run against the Cardinals in the
Speaker 1: twenty one wildcard game. If you fast forward after the
Speaker 1: NLDS and beating the Giants, at some point we were
Speaker 1: flying back to Atlanta maybe for Game six, and you
Speaker 1: were sitting in one of those first class seats and
Speaker 1: you were you just look really really drained, like you
Speaker 1: had given everything at that point in time for one
Speaker 1: hundred and six win team. It just seemed like such
Speaker 1: a grind for you guys to get to the NLCS
Speaker 1: and to try to win that thing.
Speaker 2: Don't remember the moment you're talking about, but I've had,
Speaker 2: I know, I mean, as I'm sure it's true the
Speaker 2: flights in the playoffs, and I think a lot of
Speaker 2: players can speak to this. Your body is so worn down,
Speaker 2: your mind is worn down, like because you're just so drained,
Speaker 2: because you give everything you can in those games and
Speaker 2: a lot of them are long games. And yeah, so
Speaker 2: it doesn't surprise me at all. I know in a
Speaker 2: lot of those flights, I am like, there's no way
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be able to play tomorrow or the next
Speaker 2: day or whatever it is. But of course those players
Speaker 2: you know, we kind of figure it out and find
Speaker 2: a way and are we bounce back quickly. But yeah,
Speaker 2: some of those flights in the postseason, guys are limping
Speaker 2: on and off that plane. It's it's no joke, hey, Chris.
Speaker 1: Is that what makes what the Dodgers have done the
Speaker 1: last two years that much more incredible? With everything that
Speaker 1: you just said, the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Are, Yeah, it's hard that baseball. It's so hard to
Speaker 2: go back to back because I feel like very rarely
Speaker 2: does the best team actually win the World Series in baseball.
Speaker 2: It's just like so much of it is who gets
Speaker 2: hot at the right time. And then also the fashion
Speaker 2: in which they did it last year the probably the
Speaker 2: best World Series I've ever seen in my lifetime. So yeah,
Speaker 2: that was a special World Series for them, for sure.
Speaker 2: That was pretty incredible.
Speaker 1: All right, Chris, We appreciate you coming on, and I
Speaker 1: love that I am sharing you with the fans because
Speaker 1: everybody appreciates how you left it all out on the
Speaker 1: and you do such great things still to this day.
Speaker 1: I mean I just saw a photo of you showing
Speaker 1: up unexpectedly to surprise little leaguers, and you and Mary
Speaker 1: do such a great job with the CT three Foundation.
Speaker 1: I have no doubt that's going to continue, and I'm
Speaker 1: just very grateful how humble you've been through your great
Speaker 1: time with the Dodgers. You've treated me like family, You've
Speaker 1: treated my kids like family, and I feel like LA
Speaker 1: will forever treat you like family because of everything that
Speaker 1: you've done and the spirit you've done it with so
Speaker 1: on behalf of Los Angeles and Dodger fans from the
Speaker 1: South Bay to Downey to the San Fernando Valley, just
Speaker 1: thank you for everything you did and the way you
Speaker 1: went about it.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Vesa, and this feeling really as mutual. I
Speaker 2: have a love for the Dodgers and all of Los
Speaker 2: Angeles County. This is obviously my home now here in Manhattan,
Speaker 2: and yeah, I'm very grateful for all of this love
Speaker 2: and support.
Speaker 1: If you ever need tickets to a game, let me
Speaker 1: know CT.
Speaker 2: I.
Speaker 1: Well, well, keep in touch. Thanks for doing this, appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, thanks for having me on