Speaker 1: An exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talking.
Speaker 2: The three time World Series winning manager of your Los
Speaker 2: Angeles Dodgers, Dave Roberts, It is here for you, for
Speaker 2: the people of Downy, for the people of LA.
Speaker 3: He's come out here right before.
Speaker 2: Heading to the ballpark to manage tonight's game.
Speaker 3: Date.
Speaker 2: You deserve all this, and it's awesome to have you
Speaker 2: see the celebration of not only the team, but just
Speaker 2: how much LA appreciates you.
Speaker 3: No, Dave, this is great. You know.
Speaker 4: I've got to spend some time with Sam here, who
Speaker 4: owns Hyundai Downey Hundai, and to come to the city
Speaker 4: of Downey and to see all this Dodger blue, it's fantastic.
Speaker 4: And a lot of times I get so in a
Speaker 4: bubble with my job and I go to the ballpark
Speaker 4: and I don't get that fan interaction.
Speaker 3: So this is special to me.
Speaker 4: And we won a crazy game last night, so I'm
Speaker 4: feeding off this energy today to bring it to the
Speaker 4: part today.
Speaker 3: That's right, let's hear it for Dave Roberts. You want
Speaker 3: to meet Dave Roberts, you gotta give us a little
Speaker 3: bit more law here.
Speaker 2: He's been to five World Series as the manager of
Speaker 2: the Dodgers back to back championships. Like you said, you're
Speaker 2: in the bubble your day to day you have to
Speaker 2: worry about that game that season. How often do you
Speaker 2: have an experience of being at a place site downy
Speaker 2: Hyundai to see the fans come up from all over
Speaker 2: LA just to.
Speaker 4: Meet you, just to take a picture with you. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I don't get this very often. And as fans are
Speaker 4: coming in right now and I get to say hello
Speaker 4: and take pictures and kind of hear stories and how
Speaker 4: you know, fans love to tell me how they became
Speaker 4: Dodger fans, or tell stories about Tommy or Vin or
Speaker 4: big moments that they were at Dodger games. And you know,
Speaker 4: the Dodgers's it's a culture. And that's one thing that
Speaker 4: when you come to Los Angeles, it's such a as
Speaker 4: people say, it's a melting pot, is diverse, and but
Speaker 4: La bleeds blue.
Speaker 3: It is a Dodger city.
Speaker 4: And I don't get this opportunity very often, so I definitely.
Speaker 3: Enjoy the kind of the interaction with all the fans.
Speaker 2: Well, Dave Roberts is probably the one manager since Tommy
Speaker 2: LA sorta that bleeds Dodger Blue more than anybody. Think
Speaker 2: about all the managers that have come and gone over
Speaker 2: the years, Walter Alston, Tommy la Sorta, and this man
Speaker 2: right here will go down and Dodger history is the
Speaker 2: three greatest managers the franchise has ever seen. And Dave
Speaker 2: Roberts has the distinction. Yeah, give it up there, Come on,
Speaker 2: how many people could say that? And Dave Roberts has
Speaker 2: the distinction of playing for the Dodgers. He left body
Speaker 2: parts out in center field a few times. So it
Speaker 2: feels like you, more than anybody else that has had
Speaker 2: that chair, understands what it's about to be a Dodger.
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 4: And you know, it's funny you say that because I
Speaker 4: think that, you know, everyone has a job, but for me,
Speaker 4: the Dodgers, it's in my blood. I grew up in
Speaker 4: southern California, I went to school in LA I played
Speaker 4: for the Dodgers, so I understand, you know when you
Speaker 4: talk about passion and generational And I knew Morey Wills,
Speaker 4: I knew Don Newcombe, you know Drysdale, Duke Snyder. I
Speaker 4: knew all those guys that played for the Dodgers. And
Speaker 4: you know Rachel Robinson, sh Sharon Robinson are friends of mine,
Speaker 4: So my Dodger ties run deep. So that's why, you know,
Speaker 4: it pains me when we don't win, and I get
Speaker 4: just as much joy when we do win because I
Speaker 4: know how much the Dodgers mean to all you fans.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you realize this, but Dave Roberts,
Speaker 2: in his eleventh season, is closing in on his one
Speaker 2: thousandth regular season win.
Speaker 3: It's going to happen in the next month.
Speaker 2: Not a lot of people have been able to do that.
Speaker 2: He has the highest winning percentage of any manager in
Speaker 2: modern baseball history. And you think back to your first
Speaker 2: World Series in twenty seventeen, to where you were in Toronto.
Speaker 3: And Game seven of the World Series.
Speaker 2: What was the different feeling for you if you can
Speaker 2: remember before Game one of the seventeen World Series compared
Speaker 2: to you know, maybe even before Game seven of the
Speaker 2: twenty five World Series.
Speaker 4: Well, I think, you know, I think with life, you
Speaker 4: learn a lot through failure. And I think that sometimes
Speaker 4: you know, you either when you don't have success or failure,
Speaker 4: it's an opportunity to grow and get better. And I
Speaker 4: think for me, as you know, we've had five World
Speaker 4: Series appearances, We've won three and losing never feels good.
Speaker 4: But I think for me, I've always tried to take
Speaker 4: something from you know, winning or losing, and so for me,
Speaker 4: I think in seventeen, I've just the game has slowed
Speaker 4: down more.
Speaker 3: I think everyone.
Speaker 4: Sees that, you know, my trust in the players has
Speaker 4: continued to grow because I start to learn the players more,
Speaker 4: and you know, no bigger spot than last year, Miguel.
Speaker 3: Rojas, you know, and for me it was.
Speaker 4: Just more yeah, and Meguiro is just like he's one
Speaker 4: of you guys, He's one of us, and you know,
Speaker 4: so to go out there and just trust him in
Speaker 4: a big moment and for.
Speaker 3: Him to come up with a big home run meant
Speaker 3: a lot to me, meant a lot to you guys
Speaker 3: and the Dodge organization.
Speaker 4: But I think for me, it's just learning from things
Speaker 4: that haven't gone well, my mistakes, learning from failure, and
Speaker 4: trying to get better.
Speaker 3: And that's like what we all do.
Speaker 4: You know, we all have our trials, tribulations and good times,
Speaker 4: bad times, and we all try to get better and learn.
Speaker 3: And I'm no different.
Speaker 2: Hey, Dave Roberts and the team that he manages is
Speaker 2: an example for all of us to not give up,
Speaker 2: to have the mental toughness, to.
Speaker 3: Have the adversity.
Speaker 2: I was just telling our guys, Sam, who runs downy Honday,
Speaker 2: give it up for Sam over here. Everybody has their difficulties,
Speaker 2: their adversity.
Speaker 3: Your team.
Speaker 2: In game seven, Boba Shitt hits a three run home
Speaker 2: run off the greatest player on the planet at show haled.
Speaker 2: It could have been very easy for any other team
Speaker 2: to say, you know what, it was a great run,
Speaker 2: they got it, but you guys never gave up. It
Speaker 2: was like, okay, three runs down, let's find a way
Speaker 2: to do this.
Speaker 3: Where does that come from?
Speaker 4: Well, I think in you referenced twenty seventeen where we
Speaker 4: got down in game seven and we just kind of
Speaker 4: mailed it in. And this team last year just refused
Speaker 4: to lose. They were going to continue to fight. And yeah,
Speaker 4: we gave we got behind early, but I did feel
Speaker 4: it in the dugout that we were going.
Speaker 3: To find a way. Just keep fighting, keep fighting, keep pulling.
Speaker 4: And uh, you know Will Smith hitting a game tying homer,
Speaker 4: you know Max Munsey hitting a homer to get us
Speaker 4: a little bit closer. Obviously, the play that MIGGI made,
Speaker 4: the play that Pahes made at the end. So everyone contributed,
Speaker 4: and so I think for me, it's just about you know,
Speaker 4: and Sam, you know here at Downy Hunday, it's just
Speaker 4: instilling belief, confidence in everyone and everyone being positive. You
Speaker 4: have a bad month, you want to keep grinding and keep.
Speaker 3: Going, and that's what we did.
Speaker 4: And so I couldn't be more proud of what we
Speaker 4: accomplished last year. And we got a lot of work
Speaker 4: to do, but hopefully, you know, we can do it
Speaker 4: again and get that three feet that we all want.
Speaker 1: Yes, and they're on their way.
Speaker 2: James being humble right here, spoken like a true manager,
Speaker 2: I'll just save from your Dodgers right now as we
Speaker 2: sit here at Downey, Hyundai have the best record in baseball.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thirty nine wins.
Speaker 2: If they win today or when they win today, they
Speaker 2: will have fifty wins.
Speaker 3: And we all want to know.
Speaker 1: Is the Big DH going to be back from celebrating
Speaker 1: his second child. Do you think these fans can expect
Speaker 1: Otani leading off dhing today?
Speaker 3: I think so.
Speaker 4: I haven't got the text yet to confirm, but you know,
Speaker 4: show hey just had a baby that we're all excited about.
Speaker 4: But I expect him to be in the lineup today,
Speaker 4: so we'll see. I should know here shortly.
Speaker 2: So you're saying you get a text directly from Otani
Speaker 2: that says I got.
Speaker 3: The green light. It'll be a thumbs off. And he's
Speaker 3: head layer. Ah?
Speaker 2: Is that how old Tony texts you with emojis?
Speaker 3: Is he ever type words? He does type words, but
Speaker 3: he likes an emoji. Does he ever send you a
Speaker 3: picture of decoy? No, I haven't got a picture of
Speaker 3: I need to request one, all right.
Speaker 2: And Dalton Rushing last night the hero of the game,
Speaker 2: amongst others.
Speaker 1: He's a guy that I feel has been framed really poorly.
Speaker 2: That's not who he is. He's a great kid, a
Speaker 2: lot of great spirit. What did you see from him
Speaker 2: in that at bat last night?
Speaker 3: That showed you he.
Speaker 2: Has grown up a little bit or the maturity is
Speaker 2: starting to set in.
Speaker 3: I saw resilience.
Speaker 4: You know, he's a young ballplayer who cares, who wants
Speaker 4: to do his best every time out there, and so
Speaker 4: when he doesn't perform to his expectation, he gets upset
Speaker 4: and certainly visible for all of us to see.
Speaker 3: But I think for me.
Speaker 4: Is you know, you have three bad at bats and
Speaker 4: then the thing about baseball is that you could have
Speaker 4: the worst game up to a certain point, and at
Speaker 4: a certain point the game might fall on your shoulders.
Speaker 4: And so last night it did and he had a
Speaker 4: chance for redemption, and so he was able to put
Speaker 4: aside those three at bats prior and focusing on that
Speaker 4: one at bat and he ultimately won the game for us.
Speaker 3: So for me, I like the resilience.
Speaker 2: What's Steve Roberts rule in helping him grow well?
Speaker 4: I think for me as a manager, it's not just
Speaker 4: the baseball side of things and not just dullness all
Speaker 4: my players, it's to help them grow as men and
Speaker 4: to you know, get perspective and learn from.
Speaker 3: Good, bad and different.
Speaker 4: And so for me, I think that a lot of
Speaker 4: conversations that I have with our guys and just the
Speaker 4: belief that when you have these guys in the right
Speaker 4: frame of mind, playing for the right reasons, the performer
Speaker 4: it's on the field, we'll translate. And so that's a
Speaker 4: lot of what I do as far as managing our players.
Speaker 2: All Right, before we let Dave Roberts go so he
Speaker 2: can meet and greed kiss babies.
Speaker 3: Maybe pick you up with some quotas.
Speaker 2: Check out the dugout before first pitch.
Speaker 3: If you're at a Dodger game and you've got a
Speaker 3: great view of the dugout.
Speaker 2: You see those guys celebrating, getting their handshakes going on.
Speaker 2: What manager in baseball celebrates with the players and gets
Speaker 2: in on the handshakes.
Speaker 3: The very private, you know, secret handshakes.
Speaker 2: He dunks with Otani right before first pitch.
Speaker 3: I mean, how do you come up with these things?
Speaker 4: Yeah, these players come up with these things, and I
Speaker 4: just follow the suit and I just want to show, Yeah,
Speaker 4: I am the manager, but I do want to let
Speaker 4: these guys know I'm in it with them, and we
Speaker 4: do have our own every player that I have, we
Speaker 4: have our own little handshakes.
Speaker 3: So it's awesome.
Speaker 2: So the Otani one, I thought it was funny the
Speaker 2: other night against the Rays. He's obviously on with the
Speaker 2: knee issue, so you usually he usually jumps up silvia you,
Speaker 2: but you guys stood on the ground for the dunk
Speaker 2: that time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had to take care of his knee at
Speaker 3: that time. So the last few.
Speaker 4: Handshakes we did like a mild little layup.
Speaker 3: It wasn't really a dunk, all right. What other handshake
Speaker 3: do you have?
Speaker 2: With guys on your team, your players that you enjoyed.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, Mookie's the Mooky's a handshake, a hug
Speaker 4: and I tell him I love him, And Max Munty's
Speaker 4: a chest bump.
Speaker 3: Miggie row is a backhanded thing and I call out
Speaker 3: his name.
Speaker 4: Freddie is a fist bump and a point to the
Speaker 4: to the gods, and I yell out his name twice.
Speaker 4: So we got a lot of different ones. And I'm
Speaker 4: still trying to get Tucker to come out of it.
Speaker 4: So he's not a handshake guy, but I'm getting to him.
Speaker 3: I think he only does sign language.
Speaker 2: That's right, That's right, all right, Hey, maybe Dave Roberts,
Speaker 2: we'll get a secret handshake with you when you take your.
Speaker 3: Photo with him. Show him the love he deserves. He
Speaker 3: does this for the fans.
Speaker 2: He loves the fans, and he has delivered three works
Speaker 2: since and he's long for the three pat He would
Speaker 2: become the only Dodger manager to do that, on top
Speaker 2: of being the only Dodger manager to lead the Dodgers
Speaker 2: to back to back championships. Don't forget what you're experiencing today,
Speaker 2: because this is the golden age of Dodger Baseball and
Speaker 2: this man right here has led us all the way
Speaker 2: to the top.
Speaker 3: Thanks for coming out to the City of County.
Speaker 2: Thanks for being here with the people at Downy.
Speaker 3: Thanks for having David this garcial. Shout out to Sam
Speaker 3: Donny Hunday. You guys rock Go Dodgers, Go Downy. Hyundai,
Speaker 3: you guys are killing it. Congrats