WEBVTT - Alex Call (6-22-26) 

0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:04.840
<v Speaker 1>And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker.

0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.479
<v Speaker 1>People try to come between us, but Alex Call will

0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:12.360
<v Speaker 1>never allow that to happen. The day after Father's Day

0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.520
<v Speaker 1>at Target Field, Alex Call joins us, thanks a lot

0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:17.079
<v Speaker 1>for the time, Alex appreciate it.

0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:18.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Dave, happy to be here.

0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:20.960
<v Speaker 1>See that's when you know you started to arrive when

0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.000
<v Speaker 1>other media people try to be a wedge between us.

0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:27.200
<v Speaker 2>Whatever you say there.

0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:31.000
<v Speaker 1>How did you enjoy Father's Day yesterday at Dodger Stadium?

0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:33.920
<v Speaker 1>Being there with your son, being able to you know,

0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:35.520
<v Speaker 1>have that moment before the game.

0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.239
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's nice. You know, it's kind of tough on

0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:41.080
<v Speaker 2>a travel day. We didn't you know, kind of up

0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:44.160
<v Speaker 2>before he wakes up, and then having to leave after

0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.040
<v Speaker 2>the game before we can really have like a full day.

0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:49.519
<v Speaker 2>But to have him out on the field and my

0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:53.239
<v Speaker 2>wife and my daughter to just special, you know, it

0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.400
<v Speaker 2>makes it you know a little bit extra that day

0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.440
<v Speaker 2>and just so grateful to be a dad. I love

0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:03.160
<v Speaker 2>those love my family, love my kids, you know, and

0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:04.720
<v Speaker 2>hope everyone had a happy Father's Day.

0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.800
<v Speaker 1>How do you balance being a dad of two young

0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.280
<v Speaker 1>kids and being able to focus on being part of

0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:12.680
<v Speaker 1>the world champion Dodgers.

0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.480
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's a real task. I mean, first and foremost,

0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:21.640
<v Speaker 2>you know, I am a father, you know, a Christian,

0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.000
<v Speaker 2>someone who just wants to be a blessing to others,

0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:27.360
<v Speaker 2>you know. But also I get to the opportunity to

0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:32.240
<v Speaker 2>play baseball, a game that I love, and just have

0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:36.080
<v Speaker 2>fun with it. So and with being a baseball player there,

0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.520
<v Speaker 2>it's it's a job. It's a job. You gotta work,

0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.840
<v Speaker 2>you gotta you gotta prepare, you gotta be ready, and

0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:44.160
<v Speaker 2>that takes a lot of time and effort and discipline.

0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:46.880
<v Speaker 2>But so does being a dad. So does being a husband,

0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.080
<v Speaker 2>and so does anything with life that you want to

0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:51.600
<v Speaker 2>be good at. So there's a balance. I try to

0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.640
<v Speaker 2>leave the baseball at the field as much as I

0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.040
<v Speaker 2>can and take care of business there, and then when

0:01:58.040 --> 0:01:59.880
<v Speaker 2>I'm at home, it's just full dad.

0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:03.720
<v Speaker 1>I remember back when Adrian Gonzalez was playing for the Dodgers,

0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.200
<v Speaker 1>he gave me some tips on how to balance all that.

0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:08.720
<v Speaker 1>When you're in the hotel room, he said, just FaceTime

0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:11.600
<v Speaker 1>your kids, your family and leave it by the TV.

0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:13.920
<v Speaker 1>And while you're just hanging around in the hotel room,

0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.000
<v Speaker 1>you FaceTime your family. Have you ever given that a shot.

0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.320
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, sometimes it's just like you just want to know

0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:24.519
<v Speaker 2>that you know their presence is there, and yeah, I've

0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:27.720
<v Speaker 2>done that where we just FaceTime. Sometimes there's not a

0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:29.959
<v Speaker 2>whole lot of conversation where it's just like, hey, we're

0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.040
<v Speaker 2>just kind of living our life and I'm doing what

0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.880
<v Speaker 2>I'm doing. But yeah, anytime you can connect the family,

0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:38.240
<v Speaker 2>that's what it's most important.

0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:40.880
<v Speaker 1>Alex call is our guest in front of first pitch

0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:45.000
<v Speaker 1>between the Dodgers and Twins in Minneapolis, Alex, your manager

0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:48.639
<v Speaker 1>Dave Roberts voice some of his frustrations with the entire

0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.680
<v Speaker 1>group as far as the plan and the approach of

0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.600
<v Speaker 1>the offense. Do you feel like you guys can be

0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:55.160
<v Speaker 1>better at that?

0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.800
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I think overall there's always room to improve.

0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:05.440
<v Speaker 2>I think baseball there's ebbs and flows, and whenever you're

0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.720
<v Speaker 2>you know, not performing the best, sometimes you have to

0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.160
<v Speaker 2>just keep going number one. But too sometimes you have

0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:13.600
<v Speaker 2>to look in the mirror and say, hey, what can

0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.000
<v Speaker 2>we do better? And you know, anytime you want to

0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.280
<v Speaker 2>just take the focus level up a couple extra notches,

0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.840
<v Speaker 2>not try harder by any means, because that doesn't always work,

0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.400
<v Speaker 2>but just hey, just have a little bit of extra focus.

0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.160
<v Speaker 2>I mean, we were approaching the halfway point of the season.

0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.480
<v Speaker 2>You know, guys are grinding, guys are working through things, injuries.

0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:35.560
<v Speaker 2>You know, it is what it is. We play a

0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:37.800
<v Speaker 2>lot of baseball and we have to do it every day,

0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:41.280
<v Speaker 2>so it just happens. But at the end of the day,

0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:43.760
<v Speaker 2>we want to be our best and we want to

0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.080
<v Speaker 2>bring our best out every night, and so just ratching

0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:49.680
<v Speaker 2>it up one extra notch, can you know, maybe just

0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:51.920
<v Speaker 2>kind of get things going back in the right direction.

0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.200
<v Speaker 1>How much? Knowing that you guys have a little extra

0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.160
<v Speaker 1>room margin of error because of the standings and how

0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.040
<v Speaker 1>far you're ahead right now plays into all that.

0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.480
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you know, I don't think about it too much

0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:07.080
<v Speaker 2>because at the end of the day, we want to

0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.600
<v Speaker 2>play our best ball at all time. You know, we

0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.360
<v Speaker 2>want to go out there and give a great effort.

0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:15.400
<v Speaker 2>We want to go out there and win these games

0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:17.520
<v Speaker 2>because they matter. You know, we want to have home

0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:23.080
<v Speaker 2>field advantage. And you know, I think it is nice

0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:25.600
<v Speaker 2>like when things go bad, you can still kind of

0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:27.640
<v Speaker 2>be like, wow, I mean, we still got a nice cushion.

0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.960
<v Speaker 2>But you know, things change quick in baseball. You know,

0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:35.680
<v Speaker 2>injuries happen. You know, teams get hot teams, can you know,

0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:38.640
<v Speaker 2>but the same thing goes for us, So a lot

0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:40.880
<v Speaker 2>of things can change, so if you never want to

0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.320
<v Speaker 2>be complacent in it. But there's also like, hey, we're

0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:46.720
<v Speaker 2>a great team, we got great players, we know how

0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:50.119
<v Speaker 2>to put it all together, and we've shown that many

0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.920
<v Speaker 2>times this year. And you know, just to wake up sometimes.

0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.760
<v Speaker 1>Before I let you go, Alex call I always love

0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:59.640
<v Speaker 1>to share with fans just how you use the technology

0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.559
<v Speaker 1>to prove pair for each and every at bat, which

0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.120
<v Speaker 1>Twins left hander? Have you put the VR set on

0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:05.760
<v Speaker 1>for today?

0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's a little bit early for that, but be

0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.479
<v Speaker 2>assured that will happen. I'll watch. I'll watch my friend Banda.

0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.760
<v Speaker 2>You know, I played with him in Washington and I

0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.360
<v Speaker 2>played with him with the Dodgers obviously, so I had

0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:22.360
<v Speaker 2>I think I had a double against him last year,

0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.320
<v Speaker 2>so hopefully we can do again this year. But rest assured,

0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:27.560
<v Speaker 2>all the lefties and all the bullpen they'll be covered.

0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.360
<v Speaker 2>I'll take a look at him and we'll be ready.

0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:32.760
<v Speaker 1>All right, Alex, thanks a lot for the time. Happy

0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:34.800
<v Speaker 1>day after Father's Day, and we look forward to a

0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.720
<v Speaker 1>great road trip for you and the Dodgers, thanks Dave,

0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:41.080
<v Speaker 1>and don't let any media members come between us, all right,

0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:41.400
<v Speaker 1>never