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Speaker 2: You going back up on the hill. Oh your, oh your,
Speaker 2: oh you, oh your, oh.
Speaker 3: Your, oh your, Doyers dollars, Doyers, Doyers dollars, Doyers.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3: Dollyers dollars, Doawyers dollars, dollars.
Speaker 4: Where there is no quality in this world that is
Speaker 4: not what it is merely by contrast, nothing exists in itself.
Speaker 3: We're going out in the background, perhaps you can hear
Speaker 3: and let's go Dodgers chant. We are inside the locker
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Speaker 3: The next hour we'll commence with a live inside the
Speaker 3: locker room guest. We will head to Clippers basketball at
Speaker 3: five o'clock. So we got about fifty minutes with a
Speaker 3: beautiful collection of folks.
Speaker 4: Pee. They really showed out here. Thank you everybody in
Speaker 4: studio audience. A big thank you to our sandwich sponsor.
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Speaker 3: had a spicy a turkey the focaca. Oh incredible and
Speaker 3: I'm sure everybody here would agree. And yes, I'm sure
Speaker 3: our studio audience would agree. Brought to you by Verizon
Speaker 3: joining us right now. The man of the app one
Speaker 3: of the hour, Miguel.
Speaker 4: It's our guests we're talking about it. Not only one
Speaker 4: of the great men representing Venezuela and Southern California simultaneously,
Speaker 4: but also a legendary Dodger hero of epic proportion. I
Speaker 4: feel steel what Miguel Rojas was able to pull off
Speaker 4: this off season was very, very special. The fact that
Speaker 4: he's here is very special. There's so much to celebrate,
Speaker 4: but the flair the exuberance, the leadership that Miguel brings
Speaker 4: to the Dodgers. Honestly, very inspiring. Thanks for coming, Miguel,
Speaker 4: God bless you. That's Matt Smith on Petros Papadakas. I
Speaker 4: don't think we've talked on the radio in many years.
Speaker 2: Many years. Yeah, maybe way back the first time around.
Speaker 5: Something.
Speaker 2: I remember that, So tell us we don't know if
Speaker 2: that's good.
Speaker 5: Bet.
Speaker 4: It's two worlds, Ampi and Chips for Miguel going for three,
Speaker 4: just get another deal, and how could he not after
Speaker 4: such a magical postseason, But just give us an idea.
Speaker 4: It's been such a magical time for everybody in the city.
Speaker 4: I can't imagine what it's been like for you, your
Speaker 4: family and your teammates.
Speaker 2: What's this offseason been like. It seems like it's been
Speaker 2: very special.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's been overwhelming, to be honest with you, guys.
Speaker 6: But I didn't want to walk away from it because
Speaker 6: I know what happened was really special, having happened in
Speaker 6: twenty five years, and for us to bring together a
Speaker 6: city as big as La together for the last couple
Speaker 6: of games, and not just for those games, but for
Speaker 6: the whole playoff when we were down three to two
Speaker 6: against Toronto, going to Canada to play against a team
Speaker 6: in another country and pull it off that way that
Speaker 6: we did, and then coming back here and seeing all
Speaker 6: the people in the streets, not just the War series
Speaker 6: and all the fans that travel with us, but going
Speaker 6: downtown and do the parade and see all the people together.
Speaker 6: I feel like that's the most special thing on Mahart,
Speaker 6: not just winning back to back champions but bringing everybody
Speaker 6: together after a devastating gear starting with all the fire
Speaker 6: and all the stuff. I feel like the city of
Speaker 6: La they sort of a team like this that wants
Speaker 6: to get better every single time, and I'm.
Speaker 5: So proud of being part of the part of this organization.
Speaker 2: Baseball.
Speaker 3: Look at that beautiful opening statement, Miguel. The you know
Speaker 3: you always hear about when when people retire, they say,
Speaker 3: you know what do I miss? I miss the clubhouse,
Speaker 3: I miss you know, being around the guys. I assume
Speaker 3: every team is different. It's never the same twenty five guys.
Speaker 3: Baseball's you know, one hundred and sixty two games and
Speaker 3: one hundred and eighty five days.
Speaker 2: So kind of take us through because it feels like you.
Speaker 3: Need it, Like what is it about this group these
Speaker 3: last two years that is special that has led to
Speaker 3: this sort of success.
Speaker 5: Yeah, kind of the same, the same core.
Speaker 6: If we see the roster, couple additions that are always
Speaker 6: going to be important and impactful because we're never going
Speaker 6: to use just the same twenty six guys for the
Speaker 6: whole year. I think Dave rovers is being really good
Speaker 6: on making everybody part of the family. As soon as
Speaker 6: we get to sprint training. I know it's being two
Speaker 6: different things and so many people that contribute for us
Speaker 6: to win a championship in back to back years, But
Speaker 6: at the end of the day, it's kind of like
Speaker 6: the same chemistry with everybody who walks in this clubhouse.
Speaker 6: The mentality is winning, and the mentality is playing until
Speaker 6: the last game of baseball every single time. So I
Speaker 6: feel like that's the part that you were excited about
Speaker 6: getting ready for another year, is getting excited because you
Speaker 6: know you're gonna spend a lot of time with these guys.
Speaker 6: You're gonna go to battles and it's gonna be open downs,
Speaker 6: and that's the most graarifiing thing like winning after knowing
Speaker 6: that A lot.
Speaker 5: Of people talk about you talk about.
Speaker 6: Running baseball talking about doing all this, spending all the
Speaker 6: money and all that.
Speaker 5: And I remember in.
Speaker 6: The middle of July, we were in a position where
Speaker 6: the Padres took over the first place and a lot
Speaker 6: of people were talking about a lot.
Speaker 4: Of people were talking about that that we weren't good enough.
Speaker 6: And I think that's what kind of like fooled you
Speaker 6: every single day, because it's like you say, it's a
Speaker 6: long season. You play a lot of games, you're studying
Speaker 6: in Japan the year before, you study in Korea, and
Speaker 6: you spend a lot of times away from your family,
Speaker 6: and these people become your family, and that's what are
Speaker 6: going to miss the most, definitely when I when I
Speaker 6: step away from the game.
Speaker 3: From the game, you mentioned, every team's different. You know,
Speaker 3: you have different players, you know, either the back of
Speaker 3: the bench, starters, rotation, you know all of that. One
Speaker 3: thing that was different for you was your number. You
Speaker 3: won a World Series in number eleven, and you won
Speaker 3: a World Series in number seventy two. For people that
Speaker 3: don't know you did that for Roki Rokie came over,
Speaker 3: he signed you flip them eleven. You go back, what
Speaker 3: about what about the number eleven? So kind of take
Speaker 3: us through that decision. Why it was specially no you said,
Speaker 3: you mentioned that that was kind of special to win
Speaker 3: it in seventy two as well.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I make.
Speaker 6: My deview over ten years ago and that was the
Speaker 6: first number that was gave to me when I came
Speaker 6: to spring training. I wasn't giving supposed to be on
Speaker 6: the opening the roster for the Dodgers on that year,
Speaker 6: and they took me to this trip in Australia as
Speaker 6: a as a backup player, as a taxi squad guy,
Speaker 6: and then I make my debut that year and they
Speaker 6: asked me one number I want to wear. I had
Speaker 6: a really good sprint training and I got the opportunity
Speaker 6: to experience my first major league game from the dog
Speaker 6: out in Australia with them, and I said, you know
Speaker 6: what I'm gonna wear seventy two. Seventy two was a
Speaker 6: number to me that it means a load because it
Speaker 6: was my first opportunity to play in the big leagues
Speaker 6: in this franchise that is one of the most it
Speaker 6: franchise in sports, not just in baseball, and then having
Speaker 6: the opportunity to welcome another guy that it was going
Speaker 6: to help us, and I knew I knew he was
Speaker 6: going to be big for us, not just in the future,
Speaker 6: but in that year. And then Rocky Sasaki became one
Speaker 6: of the most love players on our team because he's
Speaker 6: step up big in the biggest situation as a closer,
Speaker 6: a position that he never pitched before or And I
Speaker 6: think I'm not gonna take all the credit, but I
Speaker 6: think that's the reason why we do things for other guys,
Speaker 6: because you want to make them feel good, make them
Speaker 6: feel part of the family.
Speaker 5: And that's another thing about this club.
Speaker 6: We were now selfish, we're trying to put the ego
Speaker 6: aside and we're trying to make everybody feel comfortable because
Speaker 6: when you feel comfortable, you're going to perform the way
Speaker 6: that you're supposed to.
Speaker 5: And that's what happened to Rocky.
Speaker 6: And I'm happy that he won a championship with number
Speaker 6: eleven and hopefully he can go to the to the
Speaker 6: wards here, to the to the Hall of Fame now
Speaker 6: with that number.
Speaker 5: And remember me, I love.
Speaker 2: You for that.
Speaker 4: Right in Japan, they gave you quite an ovation. But
Speaker 4: just because you gave up the number, yeah.
Speaker 6: I mean my relationship with with the Japanese fans, my
Speaker 6: teammates obviously show He Yoshi and Rocky U is being
Speaker 6: is being really cool ever since we signed show in
Speaker 6: twenty four and then Yoshio came along and and last.
Speaker 5: Year was Rocky It's being.
Speaker 6: It's very special and all the fens in Japan, I
Speaker 6: want to say uh, thank you to them too, because
Speaker 6: that's something that I will never imagine that I was
Speaker 6: going to be that kind of big time in Japan
Speaker 6: just because I play along with Shoe and I do
Speaker 6: like a little handshake. But now it is beyond that.
Speaker 6: It's my personality. It's what I like is I like
Speaker 6: the culture. I like the traditions, and I like the beer,
Speaker 6: you know.
Speaker 3: And right in front of us I love I love
Speaker 3: if you want to drink it. I mean it's that
Speaker 3: kind of atmosphere.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I love supporo, I love sushi, and I feel
Speaker 6: like it's a it's a special connection there with with
Speaker 6: the Japanese culture, especially because we have a lot of
Speaker 6: Japanese people here in l A and they support us,
Speaker 6: and they come to a field and they showed me
Speaker 6: a lot on on social media, and I went to
Speaker 6: Japan and it was it was amazing. I was hitting,
Speaker 6: but in practice, I was hitting Homer seem but in practice,
Speaker 6: and they were clapping for me. So that was something
Speaker 6: that I will learn.
Speaker 4: If it's not for Miguel Rojas, there's no way that
Speaker 4: the Los Angeles Dodgers are back to back World Series champions.
Speaker 4: We're talking about real history. But you know, it's not
Speaker 4: always been a great ride for you. I mean there's
Speaker 4: always ups and downs in anybody's career. You've been other places,
Speaker 4: Like you said, we talked to you ten years ago.
Speaker 4: What keeps you because it's hard to have a fire
Speaker 4: for a long time for anything. What keeps you competing
Speaker 4: and leading? You know, even on days that you're not playing,
Speaker 4: there's still leadership in the clubhouse. What keeps you doing
Speaker 4: that year in and year out, keeps you engaged in
Speaker 4: that way?
Speaker 6: I just feel like the mentality that I have, you know,
Speaker 6: like I knew I wasn't gonna be like the superstar
Speaker 6: that is Shohi Otani or Mookie Bets or Freddie Freeman.
Speaker 6: There's so many of them, you know, like not everybody
Speaker 6: can beat that guy, but I mean every clubhouse, every
Speaker 6: organization needs these guys that kind of put themselves aside
Speaker 6: and kind of help everybody else to feel better and
Speaker 6: to do their job a little bit easier. And I
Speaker 6: feel like that's something that I always live through in
Speaker 6: baseball and in life too. If I make you better,
Speaker 6: my job is going to be a little bit easier.
Speaker 6: So that's what I tried to do ever since I
Speaker 6: came to the Dodgers. They were really honest with me.
Speaker 6: They told me, you're going to be a utility guy
Speaker 6: on this team. I need you to bring your press
Speaker 6: and your leadership and everything that you are that you've
Speaker 6: been going through with the Madriless organization. I know I
Speaker 6: didn't win there, but I still got a lot of
Speaker 6: experience from like leading a clubhouse, being the better in
Speaker 6: that clubhouse, and when I came here, I just like
Speaker 6: continue to be myself and trying to help everybody to
Speaker 6: get better. And I think that's why my mentality of
Speaker 6: always being ready for my opportunity and instead of like
Speaker 6: asking for time or being mad because I wasn't playing
Speaker 6: every day. And like you said, my career is being
Speaker 6: through up and downs, but I never quit on my abilities.
Speaker 6: I always believe for myself and I feel like I
Speaker 6: knew my opportunity was gonna come. I didn't know that
Speaker 6: it was gonna be in Game seven of the Words
Speaker 6: Years and I was gonna hit a home run that
Speaker 6: the tide the game to gave us an opportunity.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly right.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 6: To be honest, To be honest with you guys, I'm
Speaker 6: more proud of the way that I play in Game
Speaker 6: six because I put a display on my on my defense,
Speaker 6: which is something that I that a lot of people.
Speaker 2: Know me for.
Speaker 5: They know me for my defense, and I feel like that's.
Speaker 6: The reason why the Robberts put me in the in
Speaker 6: the in the line up, not to hit a home run,
Speaker 6: but to play my defense, to inject that energy that
Speaker 6: I that I could bring because I was making jokes
Speaker 6: with the with the hitting coaches that my body was
Speaker 6: really fresh because I haven't played.
Speaker 5: A long time. So I got all that.
Speaker 6: I got all the energy from all the energy drinks
Speaker 6: that I was taking, and I put it all in
Speaker 6: that Game six.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I just the pictures to drink the energy drinks,
Speaker 4: you guys, to everybody.
Speaker 2: Sometimes we have some.
Speaker 4: Of the bullpen guys come over here and the amount
Speaker 4: of energy drinks they drink is a dangerous It's crazy.
Speaker 6: So many, so many energy drinks to play one hundred
Speaker 6: and sixty two games in Yeah, plus all the travel,
Speaker 6: not sleeping on the plane because you play.
Speaker 5: Cards the whole night.
Speaker 6: So yeah, and we're getting older. We're not, We're not.
Speaker 6: We're not a young team. We got a got a
Speaker 6: lot of thirty mid thirty guys on this team. So
Speaker 6: I that's that's that can be a positive but a
Speaker 6: negative at the same time.
Speaker 3: Well, you brought it up the defense, so let's uh.
Speaker 3: I mean, shoot, we get to the big stuff straight
Speaker 3: out the gate here. So what was what was the
Speaker 3: tougher play? Was it was a Game six and digging
Speaker 3: that thing out for the game ending double player? Was
Speaker 3: it throwing that ball home? And I mean it's it's
Speaker 3: a fraction of an inch from losing the World Series
Speaker 3: and extending the game and ended up winning an eleven.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you just answered, Uh, so which one was?
Speaker 2: Which one was? They were both huge? Was there one
Speaker 2: that was a harder play to make?
Speaker 5: Game seven? Play at the play because it's a du
Speaker 5: or di play.
Speaker 6: You know, if you don't if you miss misplayed the ball,
Speaker 6: if you babble the ball, if you don't make a
Speaker 6: great throw game sover Game six, I mean I did
Speaker 6: my best to kind of keep the ball in front
Speaker 6: of me. But we still got an opportunity to win
Speaker 6: the game after because we got two outs. Obviously you
Speaker 6: want to finish the game there. You don't want to
Speaker 6: give them another opportunity to score runs. But it was
Speaker 6: a great play, don't get me wrong. But game seven
Speaker 6: is basis loaded one out, and if you don't make
Speaker 6: the play, you lose. You lose the words ears and
Speaker 6: and all the work that you do throughout the year
Speaker 6: is kind of like empty because you didn't win.
Speaker 5: So so just.
Speaker 3: Like when you when you fielded that ball, you're you're
Speaker 3: obviously your way up on the on the grass right there.
Speaker 3: Did it because it looks like it was not an
Speaker 3: easy throw. You kind of have the ball here, kind
Speaker 3: of take us through. Did it get on you quick?
Speaker 3: Did it take a weird bounce because that was not
Speaker 3: an easy exchange to get that thing fired off?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 6: No, for for a lot of people who don't know
Speaker 6: were playing in a regular grass in la and the
Speaker 6: majority of the fields in Toronto got a this artificial grass,
Speaker 6: So the ball bounced different on the artificial grass. And
Speaker 6: you could see in practice we were missing a lot
Speaker 6: of ground balls when we were taking like infield in
Speaker 6: like in the position that I was, and I felt
Speaker 6: like when when the ball was hit, was hitting with
Speaker 6: this like weird tossing and I have to go backwards
Speaker 6: on it.
Speaker 5: When I catch it, I kind of stumbled a little bit.
Speaker 6: I lose my my food there and kind of like
Speaker 6: I don't know how I regroup and I plant my
Speaker 6: feet and I make a good throw.
Speaker 5: But that's what happened with the ball was hit.
Speaker 6: I took a bad route to the ball, like didn't
Speaker 6: go straight to the ball. I went back just because
Speaker 6: of the I was thinking about the back hops that
Speaker 6: this ball take. But I'm glad that I I gloved
Speaker 6: it and I played my feet and I make a
Speaker 6: good throw.
Speaker 5: But it was it was amazing. Still give me anxiety every.
Speaker 6: Time I just think about it. Yeah, think about it,
Speaker 6: because you can see my reaction. I put my my
Speaker 6: hands on my knees and I was just like being
Speaker 6: grateful that we got that out.
Speaker 2: And we will get into the home run maybe in
Speaker 2: the next segment.
Speaker 4: But before before we get too far ahead of yourself,
Speaker 4: we were talking about your defense and what a special
Speaker 4: talent you have for that. Was that something you had
Speaker 4: as a young man when you were starting. Was that
Speaker 4: what everybody noticed about you first when it came to baseball.
Speaker 4: How did you develop those skills? Because there's a lot
Speaker 4: of creativity and you know, and like an art that
Speaker 4: goes in when you're that good of a fielders as
Speaker 4: you are.
Speaker 6: Yeah, everything is started back in Venezuela watching marviy Scale play.
Speaker 6: I think that's the reason why I decided.
Speaker 2: To keep your shirt button up higher than him.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Omar Omar was was a wizzar man on the
Speaker 6: field and he won eleven Goglove and gray shorts.
Speaker 5: That great player. Uh so good with his in.
Speaker 6: Things and the way that he played the game. I
Speaker 6: was really like him because he was never like the
Speaker 6: best arm or or the taller guy from that generation. Know,
Speaker 6: he played alongside delegitor Alex Rodriguez car Rick m Junior,
Speaker 6: but Omar continued to be kind of the best short
Speaker 6: stop in that era. I know he didn't hit the
Speaker 6: same way that the old guy said, but I felt
Speaker 6: like I wanted. I wanted to be a player like
Speaker 6: O Marvis Kale and that's the reason why I decided
Speaker 6: to train really hard on my defense. And uh, I
Speaker 6: don't know, it's it's got given. Like the talent he
Speaker 6: was just there, Like a lot of the scouts told
Speaker 6: me that that that.
Speaker 5: Was the tool that it was going to take me
Speaker 5: to the big leagues.
Speaker 6: And it's definitely an opportunity here to talk about that
Speaker 6: because I think a lot of jump players put their
Speaker 6: mind on, oh, I need to hit, I need to hit,
Speaker 6: I need to hit to continue to get it, get
Speaker 6: an opportunity for college or for professional baseball and to
Speaker 6: go through the system. But remember, if you don't have
Speaker 6: a position and you hit a lot, but they can't
Speaker 6: really put you on the field, it's really hard. Because
Speaker 6: you're going to have just thirty dhs on the league.
Speaker 6: You have to be able to play defense. And I
Speaker 6: feel like that's something that I always gonna tell John
Speaker 6: players to continue to work on their hitting and continue
Speaker 6: to do whatever they need to do, but make sure
Speaker 6: you get good at defense and whatever the position you play,
Speaker 6: you kinda you gotta continue to play hard and find
Speaker 6: your position, because that's what I was gonna keep you
Speaker 6: in baseball, and I think that's what I did.
Speaker 3: So I think, I mean, I'm just kind of doing
Speaker 3: the math in my head here. I'm guessing that Omar
Speaker 3: probably made his debut maybe before you were born, or
Speaker 3: you had to be really really small. I'm guessing so
Speaker 3: like late eighties, yeah, late eighties.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm born in in eighty nine.
Speaker 3: Okay, So that never you never were like you never
Speaker 3: went to like I'm a teenager now I want to
Speaker 3: be Mickey Cabrera.
Speaker 2: I want to hit five hundred. Like that never shifted.
Speaker 3: You kept that defensive focus even with I think Alex Gonzales,
Speaker 3: I want to say it was probably when you were
Speaker 3: a little kid as well.
Speaker 5: Marcus Cutro was a right guy, So.
Speaker 2: I always stayed on Viscale though.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I always I always always shaped my game on
Speaker 6: on like kind of three or four different players on
Speaker 6: Marvis Keal, Marcus Cutro, Martin In, all guys that kind
Speaker 6: of play all over the infield.
Speaker 5: Biscal was always a short stop. He never moved.
Speaker 6: But Martinez and Marcus Kuta kinda taught me something really special.
Speaker 6: Always play short and be a short stud that can
Speaker 6: play all their positions. And I feel like that's what
Speaker 6: opens me the door to playing the big leagues. Kept
Speaker 6: me in the big LIGs for a long time and
Speaker 6: continue to give me a job because it's not because
Speaker 6: I hit twenty homers. It's because I, yeah, my personality,
Speaker 6: my leadership and.
Speaker 5: All that that you guys already talked about.
Speaker 6: But my defense is what kind of gave me a
Speaker 6: job yere after year, and it's because I took a
Speaker 6: lot of pride over it and and I wanted to
Speaker 6: be the best a defense.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I checked my game out of those three guys.
Speaker 2: Pretty easy guy to interview. Huh uh.
Speaker 4: You know, Mookie Bets credits you for helping him learn
Speaker 4: the position of shortstop.
Speaker 2: How good of an ne studiente? Is Mookie the best?
Speaker 6: I think not just because he's a he's a good student,
Speaker 6: and he's a kind of he's in love with the game,
Speaker 6: but his work ethic is what takes him to the
Speaker 6: next level. I feel like whatever he wants to do
Speaker 6: he can do because of he works on it really
Speaker 6: really hard every single day.
Speaker 5: He found he found his groove this last year. You
Speaker 5: guys could.
Speaker 6: See the difference between twenty three, the couple games that
Speaker 6: he played a short stop. Then twenty four wasn't that pretty,
Speaker 6: but twenty five was a Goglove caliber shortstop and he
Speaker 6: was if he wasn't because another guy had an amazing season.
Speaker 6: A sure, I think Mookie got all the credit to
Speaker 6: get that gog glove a short stop, and he's going
Speaker 6: to continue to do whatever he wants. If he wants
Speaker 6: to move back to right field, he's going to be
Speaker 6: a go glover over there. And it's because of the
Speaker 6: work ethic. He comes to the field every single day
Speaker 6: to prepare to get better. And I feel like, I mean,
Speaker 6: he credit a little bit to me, but I credited
Speaker 6: back to him because the way that he plays every
Speaker 6: single day. I was just an accept for him to
Speaker 6: kind of like share my experience at the position that
Speaker 6: I think he couldn't get in any with any coach,
Speaker 6: because I mean, one thing is the things that you
Speaker 6: do every single day to get better at a.
Speaker 5: Fielding or throwing or moving your feet.
Speaker 6: But the experience of like knowing that this guy is
Speaker 6: pulling the ball, or this guys is staying through the middle,
Speaker 6: that display you should throw the thirty instead of first.
Speaker 6: So those are the things that I'm there for Mookie
Speaker 6: every single day, and I'm willing to continue to do
Speaker 6: that this year and hopefully next year when I'm starting
Speaker 6: to be a coach.
Speaker 3: Pretty hard not to be excited about the next forty
Speaker 3: minutes with Miguel Rohase. After that starts, we are inside
Speaker 3: the locker room. We'll step aside here for a minute.
Speaker 3: We're going until five o'clock. Two more segments with Miguel.
Speaker 3: A big thank you to our friends at Verizon Wireless.
Speaker 2: Dance party in here.
Speaker 3: Putting this thing on a packed house inside the locker
Speaker 3: room as you would expect, as we make our way
Speaker 3: forward on your home the back to back World Series
Speaker 3: champion Dodgers Amphi sevylas words, this is Petro send money
Speaker 3: demand Uh. We continue live inside the locker room, courtesy
Speaker 3: and brought to you by Verizon Wireless, with two time
Speaker 3: World Series champion Miguel Rojas.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: If you were not able to make it in we
Speaker 3: have got a hack of a crowd all enjoying Miguel's company.
Speaker 2: He took pictures of everybody durned the brain.
Speaker 3: Talk about it, batterer afternoon here on your home of
Speaker 3: the Dodgers Pee.
Speaker 4: We're live inside the locker room, brought to you by Supporo.
Speaker 2: As we have is this cold? It's cold? I mean,
Speaker 2: should we crack them?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 2: Migal has a Sapporo tattoo. I'm going to crack them,
Speaker 2: Miguel ere we go. Yeah, good, of course, let's crack them.
Speaker 6: Salute, cheers, cheers, guys, must my favorite be it right here.
Speaker 4: That's right and brought to you by Verizon and our friends.
Speaker 4: We're talking to a real hero of to see you,
Speaker 4: don and beyond, Miguel Rojas. Now, before we go any further,
Speaker 4: let's talk about that home run because it was very special.
Speaker 4: It happened here on the radio. No one will ever
Speaker 4: forget it. It'll be like Kirk Gibson and Freddie Freeman
Speaker 4: and his teeth. It'll go down in the history in
Speaker 4: the history of Los Doyers in town. So let's hear
Speaker 4: it on the radio live when it was recorded on
Speaker 4: m FHI seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 3: When Rojas fight his way on base full count, Hoffman delivers,
Speaker 3: Rojas hits it in the air left field.
Speaker 2: This post got some carry.
Speaker 5: It is gold.
Speaker 2: It's gone.
Speaker 5: In game seven, he's died.
Speaker 3: Miguel Rojas off.
Speaker 2: The bench in game six, on the board. In game seven.
Speaker 4: Now we all know where we were and we know
Speaker 4: where he was.
Speaker 2: He was in Canada.
Speaker 4: Now, whenever something like that, we talked about the defense
Speaker 4: in game six. But whenever something like that happens, and
Speaker 4: you've been a pro for so long, when you thinking
Speaker 4: about it, do you think about those moments in bed
Speaker 4: where you know what happens if I do this, or
Speaker 4: what happens if I do Could you ever imagine something
Speaker 4: like that happening?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I dream of it, but I never
Speaker 6: knew that I was going to get the opportunity to
Speaker 6: do that, especially in game seven. Obviously I'm not a
Speaker 6: home roun hitter, and not many people would remember me
Speaker 6: as a as a big home roun hitter. But now
Speaker 6: that I hit the home run, think about it, right? Yeah,
Speaker 6: that's what that's That's something that he talks a lot
Speaker 6: about preparation and being ready for the moment.
Speaker 5: And and I continue to quote though, Doc, because when
Speaker 5: we get.
Speaker 6: To spring training a couple of years ago, he says
Speaker 6: something that he was really impactful, not just for me,
Speaker 6: but for the whole clubhouse. I feel like a lot
Speaker 6: of people I wanted to be in that in that
Speaker 6: in that opportunity and ask for the for the chance
Speaker 6: to to have the big moment, you know, three two
Speaker 6: two outs. You know, I want to be on the
Speaker 6: mound until you really got the chance, you know, like,
Speaker 6: are you are you really gonna have your mentality and
Speaker 6: you're gonna have to keep your composure and and do
Speaker 6: everything that you need to do in practice to be
Speaker 6: ready for that moment.
Speaker 5: And I think, uh, that's what I always I.
Speaker 6: Was thinking when I was on the bench, because if
Speaker 6: you have a spot on the roster, you're always gonna
Speaker 6: have the opportunity to get something like that. And that
Speaker 6: moment was for me, uh, the biggest moment of my
Speaker 6: career and always gonna leave between me, my family, and
Speaker 6: the city of Los Angeles because uh.
Speaker 5: That that was really special.
Speaker 6: And and for me to hit the ball and and
Speaker 6: kind of gave us an opportunity to.
Speaker 3: Win everywhere in Canada exactly.
Speaker 2: From ven with all of North America except for the top.
Speaker 3: You always hear, like a lot of times with players,
Speaker 3: they'll say, oh, well, you know, when you hit the
Speaker 3: home run, what were you looking? I usually say, I
Speaker 3: wasn't looking to hit a home run. I've got to
Speaker 3: believe three and two show Hail Tani's on deck, you
Speaker 3: really probably weren't thinking of hitting a home run, were you?
Speaker 3: Or was that pitch so groove that it changed It's
Speaker 3: hard for us to fathom, like a spherical object coming
Speaker 3: at ninety five miles an hour, and you can make
Speaker 3: those sort of split second decisions.
Speaker 2: So kind of what went into that swinging.
Speaker 6: Yeah, The thing is like he kept me like thinking
Speaker 6: and guessing what he's gonna throw, you know, because I
Speaker 6: guess wrong from the beginning. You know, I guess that
Speaker 6: he was gonna throw me a fassile away because I
Speaker 6: just got a good bass hitting my second about against
Speaker 6: Jersey with a slider, with a hanging slider. I hit
Speaker 6: it to left and I felt like, Okay, I got
Speaker 6: a hit against the slider. He's probably gonna attack me
Speaker 6: a little bit different. He don't want to walk me.
Speaker 6: He wants to he wants me to put the ball
Speaker 6: in play. So I thought he was gonna throw me
Speaker 6: a fassble away. He threw me a slider into the
Speaker 6: dead and I swiingmed through it, and I think that
Speaker 6: that pitch kind of make me lock it in a
Speaker 6: little bit more and make me let the boat travel.
Speaker 6: We talk about that when when a guy throws ninety
Speaker 6: four ninety five is a little bit easier, but this
Speaker 6: guy was throwing ninety six ninety seven almost ninety hour
Speaker 6: and it's really hard to let the boat travel and
Speaker 6: be on time for the fastball. So I felt like,
Speaker 6: what kind of gave me the confidence to do that
Speaker 6: was the second, the third and fourth pitch were fast,
Speaker 6: was away and I was able to file the back
Speaker 6: to right field and I was letting the boat travel,
Speaker 6: and I said, okay, I got time. I can't let
Speaker 6: the ball travel. I'm hitting his best fastball. So let's
Speaker 6: see what he's gonna throw now. So he threw me
Speaker 6: a bad slider that he was kind of like opening,
Speaker 6: and then he honed one and I was able to
Speaker 6: put a good swing on it. But like you say,
Speaker 6: I wasn't. I wasn't thinking to hit a home run.
Speaker 6: I mean, everybody knows that I'm not a power hitter.
Speaker 6: I was just trying to get on base for show,
Speaker 6: to get the opportunity to tie the game with a
Speaker 6: big swing of our big guy, you know.
Speaker 5: But I was able to do it, and as you know,
Speaker 5: I was going out, Uh, I hit it. I knew
Speaker 5: I hit it good.
Speaker 6: I was running hard because I thought because of the
Speaker 6: big fans in left field. But then when I saw
Speaker 6: the the booping guys looking up like this.
Speaker 5: I tied the game.
Speaker 3: What did show Hey say to you when you came
Speaker 3: exactly to the clause so you tie the game? Show
Speaker 3: Hay's coming. We always see like a high five of
Speaker 3: you guys had a little bit of an exchange there.
Speaker 3: What did what did he say to you when you
Speaker 3: came back to the dugout?
Speaker 6: Yeah, sho show He flew out on the first pitch
Speaker 6: to left field. And one one thing that happens before
Speaker 6: that is I'm seeing Blake snel on the on the
Speaker 6: bench's pitching right, and he had to pitch it but
Speaker 6: the bottom uh, the bottom of that inning.
Speaker 5: Uh to give us the opportunity to win the game.
Speaker 6: After uh, And he's just like quiet, like focus on
Speaker 6: on going back to pitch. It was just clapping. Well
Speaker 6: when everybody else is screaming like we.
Speaker 5: Won the World Series already, you know. Uh.
Speaker 6: That kind of like made me realize that we still
Speaker 6: got work to do, you know, like we I wing
Speaker 6: win the game. We just like this something really special
Speaker 6: because I mean we're down to our last two outs.
Speaker 6: But show her when he flew out, he came back
Speaker 6: to a dog and I'm like, I'm just walking back
Speaker 6: to put my helmet on the on the rack, and
Speaker 6: he just told me that.
Speaker 5: Hey, MIGGI, you can retire. Now you have to play
Speaker 5: for ten more years.
Speaker 2: Ten more years. So there you go. You're stuck for
Speaker 2: ten more years.
Speaker 6: So I played one more year with you and then
Speaker 6: after that I'll be coaching or doing something else. But
Speaker 6: that was special because I mean, when you put anything on,
Speaker 6: everything on context and and how great show he's being
Speaker 6: through his career, not just on the field but off
Speaker 6: the field, and the way that he carried himself, the
Speaker 6: way that he was like working so hard and getting
Speaker 6: that speech the other day, and it was flawless for
Speaker 6: the MVP, and I think that's that's the greatest player
Speaker 6: of our generation, if not the best player that ever
Speaker 6: played the game. For him to come to me and
Speaker 6: say something like that, it means a lot, and he
Speaker 6: is something that I will take forever.
Speaker 4: The one and only Miggy Rojas our guests on the
Speaker 4: Petros and Money Show brought to you by Verizon Wireless,
Speaker 4: his favorite beer Supporo, and his Japanese teammates who love
Speaker 4: it as well. But it really is a global team,
Speaker 4: uh is the you been on other baseball teams, other
Speaker 4: franchises in the miners.
Speaker 2: I mean, you fought your way all the way through.
Speaker 4: Uh, what is the feeling inside the Dodger Clubhouse among
Speaker 4: those guys Because you look around and this one guy
Speaker 4: sitting here is the best player maybe ever to play,
Speaker 4: Clayton Kershaw, your generational Hall of Fame pitcher. What's it like,
Speaker 4: you know, on a day to day basis being around
Speaker 4: all those guys and leading those guys.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he sucks because they become human beings, you know
Speaker 6: you And I mean they're not they're not superstars superheroes
Speaker 6: anymore to you. But that's that's what's really cool, you know,
Speaker 6: like that you get to uh to to for your family,
Speaker 6: your son and the people around you.
Speaker 5: To get to be with these people.
Speaker 6: And and when you get in the clubhouse is like
Speaker 6: a really a good connection that not everybody else can see.
Speaker 6: And it's really really cool to see the other aspects
Speaker 6: of the just the player, and see what kind of
Speaker 6: people they are and where they're coming from and the
Speaker 6: different culture and the way that they like things. It's
Speaker 6: pretty special because in this clubhouse we have so many
Speaker 6: different players from different cultures coming in with the same
Speaker 6: goal and and and that's right, it's a different creature
Speaker 6: when he's American. But that's that's the most special that
Speaker 6: the most special thing about this team is that everybody
Speaker 6: who walks in this clubhouse doesn't matter who it is.
Speaker 6: The mentality change and it's all about the Dodgers and
Speaker 6: about the winning that we have, the winning.
Speaker 5: Culture that we created.
Speaker 6: And then these guys they created before me and before
Speaker 6: us right now because they've been the winning on a
Speaker 6: regular basis for a long time in.
Speaker 5: The regular season.
Speaker 6: Now we put it all together and now we're going
Speaker 6: not just to the playoffs, but we're reaching another level,
Speaker 6: which is like, if we don't win the last game
Speaker 6: of the year is a failure every single time, and
Speaker 6: everybody knows it, from.
Speaker 5: The front office to the ownership, to the to the
Speaker 5: to the manager, coaching staff, and us.
Speaker 6: We feel it every single day and they continue to
Speaker 6: not make us be acceptable than anything else.
Speaker 5: And the reason why is because the.
Speaker 6: General manager went out and got the best reliever of
Speaker 6: the free agency and it got the best player on
Speaker 6: free agency this year, and that creates the competition that
Speaker 6: still needs to be alive. Older players need to continue
Speaker 6: needs to continue to do their job, and younger players
Speaker 6: they can't really come in and say, Okay, I'm just
Speaker 6: gonna have my spot right here, and I'm gonna be
Speaker 6: okay playing our level. No, it's not gonna be a
Speaker 6: kind of like a flexibility of like okay, I I can,
Speaker 6: I can be okay.
Speaker 5: For a little bit.
Speaker 6: No, everybody needs to kind of continue to push themselves
Speaker 6: to be the best because we have the best time
Speaker 6: in the room.
Speaker 2: Well, uh, it goes by quick.
Speaker 3: We got one more to go as we'll step aside here,
Speaker 3: come back for our final segment inside the locker room
Speaker 3: and join our souporos enjoying our company, then certainly enjoying
Speaker 3: the centerpiece of it all, Miguel Rohans, a two time
Speaker 3: World Series champion. We'll do it for one more segment
Speaker 3: before passing it along to Adam Ouslin and Clipper Pregame
Speaker 3: stick around. Uh, still a handful of time, a handful
Speaker 3: of questions, and some time to go when we come
Speaker 3: back on a five to seventy l a sports.
Speaker 1: Southern California's most listened to sports talk show this Money
Speaker 1: on Demand.
Speaker 3: Well, we have a lot of time, team, so uh,
Speaker 3: let's get right to it. We got good Let's go
Speaker 3: Dodgors xach. They got the let's go Dodger chant. We
Speaker 3: are in side the locker room with the great Miguel Rojas.
Speaker 3: We only have about seven minutes left, so jump right
Speaker 3: back into it so we can try to get because
Speaker 3: Miguel is so loquacious.
Speaker 4: I don't know, it's fantastic. Where and when did you
Speaker 4: learn such beauty? I mean you're a great communicator.
Speaker 6: I mean, I've been in this country for over twenty
Speaker 6: years now, I really understand.
Speaker 4: It wasn't always like that. Fernando never spoke. I mean
Speaker 4: he never talked.
Speaker 6: To us well because he might never think about being
Speaker 6: a coach after afterwards, you know, and when you just
Speaker 6: have to play baseball, you don't need to speak English, right,
Speaker 6: But I feel when you when you want to be
Speaker 6: a good leader, when you want to be a coach after,
Speaker 6: I feel like you have to put the fort of
Speaker 6: beautiful learning. And my son and my daughter are American,
Speaker 6: so they they got yeah.
Speaker 3: Exactly, I do want to go to before I want
Speaker 3: to make sure we get this in because I think
Speaker 3: obviously everybody knows about the home run, everyone knows about
Speaker 3: the double play, about the force out at home But
Speaker 3: because you know, you were gone so quickly after you arrived.
Speaker 3: I want to go back to June eighteenth, twenty fourteen,
Speaker 3: because Clayton Kershaw has only had one no hitter in
Speaker 3: his career, And for people that may not be aware,
Speaker 3: let's go to the I think it was a seventh inning,
Speaker 3: right one out. You're playing third base, and you basically
Speaker 3: save the no hitter, kind of take us through being
Speaker 3: a rookie wearing number seventy two. Kershaw is through six
Speaker 3: and a third and this freaking shot pushes you all
Speaker 3: the way back. If you can visualize the diamond the
Speaker 3: farthest right corner of dirt, You've got one foot in
Speaker 3: the grass, and you manage to pepper a throw over
Speaker 3: the first and preserve the no hitter for Clayton.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that was really special. Top three in my career
Speaker 5: for sure.
Speaker 6: At that time, I was just trying to stay in
Speaker 6: the big leagues and help any way I can. And
Speaker 6: I go back to what I was talking about a
Speaker 6: couple moments ago when I say, when you walk in
Speaker 6: that clubhouse and you see a guy like Clayton Kersher,
Speaker 6: Brian Clayton Cirsher, you know he's the MVP of that year.
Speaker 6: Cy Young winner, face of the franchise, face of baseball
Speaker 6: at the time, and you seem like dominating every single start.
Speaker 6: Like the least you can do is play your ass
Speaker 6: of every single time you're out there. So I feel
Speaker 6: like that moment was really special for me and obviously
Speaker 6: all the fans when I came back, that's the first
Speaker 6: thing that they remember.
Speaker 5: I remember.
Speaker 6: I remember me from saving kerchonal hitter and I didn't
Speaker 6: say anything. I feel like I just was doing my
Speaker 6: job because if that ball goes through me, they probably
Speaker 6: find someone else that can catch it.
Speaker 5: And that's what I was thinking about. And at the end,
Speaker 5: at the end of the game.
Speaker 6: It was like really special that he came to me
Speaker 6: and say thank you, MIGGI, and we started to create
Speaker 6: a really good relationship and he's gonna be one of
Speaker 6: my favorites forever. But that moment and that time in
Speaker 6: my career kind of make me make me realize that
Speaker 6: I was doing something good at my young age, and
Speaker 6: I'm glad that I did it with the tollerself.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 4: Part of the great appeal of Miguel Rojas, isn't you.
Speaker 4: It's the hard work, the story, the leadership, the things
Speaker 4: we talk about it's a style, a style, and a
Speaker 4: lot of people don't know because we don't know the
Speaker 4: Van Cleve and our peals, you know, most guys, you know,
Speaker 4: they don't know about the necklace and the ear rings.
Speaker 4: They see it, but they don't know. Could you tell
Speaker 4: the people because they're I mean, it's really beauty.
Speaker 2: You gotta lot. Did you always have that style?
Speaker 5: Now?
Speaker 2: I feel like shoes and kind of the same one
Speaker 2: we always see the earrings and necklace or.
Speaker 6: Do you have all I pair the same colored necklace,
Speaker 6: the Dodger blue. I pair it with the earrings now.
Speaker 6: So I brought it for this year for FanFest and
Speaker 6: for a community tour that we're gonna do. But definitely
Speaker 6: a style. Always been part of my game, kind of,
Speaker 6: you know. I love shoes. I love the Jordan brand,
Speaker 6: and I love Nike brand, and and I trying to
Speaker 6: kind of like reflect my personality through my shoes when
Speaker 6: I play baseball, right, because you can't really.
Speaker 5: Wear too many things or many colors.
Speaker 6: Especially when I was coming into a lee, it was
Speaker 6: a rule that you have to wear circuit colors, uh,
Speaker 6: you know, and and that changed over time and now
Speaker 6: that you can actually spress yourself a little bit more
Speaker 6: through the colors and and the shoes and all that.
Speaker 5: I always being kind.
Speaker 2: Of like that.
Speaker 4: But nobody else wears the cliff Bank Cliff, the number one.
Speaker 4: You only see that at like the can film festivals.
Speaker 4: That's pretty super style for the Dodgers. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 4: great style.
Speaker 5: I came.
Speaker 6: I came last year with the bank Cliff necklace because
Speaker 6: I felt like that's something that just the woman's where
Speaker 6: I got a couple for my wife and I said,
Speaker 6: you know what this, I think this would look good collaboration.
Speaker 5: I hope so they should. God, I'm playing.
Speaker 2: Nobody's pushed more than you.
Speaker 5: I'm playing.
Speaker 6: I'm playing on the biggest the biggest page with the
Speaker 6: biggest team in the in the world.
Speaker 5: So uh.
Speaker 6: But now it was really cool to see a lot
Speaker 6: of people like kind of connecting with me and and
Speaker 6: the stuff that I was wearing. And actually a lot
Speaker 6: of people from from Bankleef reach out to me and say, hey,
Speaker 6: you don't even know how many people came during Christmas
Speaker 6: trying to find the same necklace that I was wearing.
Speaker 2: Two bracelets I got thrown out of my house.
Speaker 3: I'm putting the guy an endorsement deal. I mean, my goodness,
Speaker 3: well we're right up against it. We got about thirty
Speaker 3: seconds forty five seconds here, So I do want to
Speaker 3: ask you wanted to play for the country. David Vesse
Speaker 3: shared with us that you committed to the Dodgers the
Speaker 3: last time this thing happened, and unfortunately now it's not
Speaker 3: going to be able to put together. But just it's
Speaker 3: hard for I think people in America kind of wrap
Speaker 3: their head around the World Baseball Class, but how important
Speaker 3: it is to so many players in this league.
Speaker 6: Yeah, WBC and putting the flag in your on your
Speaker 6: chest and like over your your career is really important.
Speaker 6: And I feel like that's why so many players that
Speaker 6: accomplished so much during their careers they always talk about,
Speaker 6: like how the e speerience was in the WBC, because
Speaker 6: it's different baseball. It's a game seven, every single game
Speaker 6: that you play, it doesn't matter who you go against.
Speaker 6: And I mean in twenty three, I had the opportunity
Speaker 6: to go. I was on the roster and everything was
Speaker 6: clear with my insurance, but then Gamy locks went down
Speaker 6: and the Dodgers asked me to stay to prepare to
Speaker 6: play short stuff for a full season, and I decided
Speaker 6: to do that.
Speaker 5: I couldn't go to the WBC.
Speaker 6: And then this year just because of my age, I'm
Speaker 6: turning thirty seven by the start of February, and the
Speaker 6: insurance companies say, I'm sorry, we can really get insured,
Speaker 6: like ensure your your contract with the Dodgers, And it's
Speaker 6: really hard for me to kind of like go out
Speaker 6: there and take away from what we.
Speaker 5: Can do for a long season.
Speaker 6: So it's kind of sad, and I feel like I
Speaker 6: want the best for the for the country, one of
Speaker 6: the best, the best for the team, and that's why
Speaker 6: I wanted to go, because I feel like I can
Speaker 6: help them to accomplish what they want.
Speaker 5: But at the end of the day, it will be
Speaker 5: a little portunia, hopefully as a coach.
Speaker 4: Always the best intentions. What a guy, Miguel Rojas. What
Speaker 4: a special treat. A big thank you to Soporo Caitlin
Speaker 4: from Soaporo is here. Our friends at Verizon Verizon Wireless
Speaker 4: brank you this great, great opportunity to talk to a
Speaker 4: great player, a great leader, a great countryman and a
Speaker 4: great Dodger Miguel Rojas.
Speaker 3: Every night, Thanks everyone for coming. Adam Oslin here with
Speaker 3: Clippers Pregame Next