WEBVTT - Will Smith (3-30-26) 

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<v Speaker 1>And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talking.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a great birthday for Will Smith. Last time

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<v Speaker 1>we saw him on Sunday, the Babblehead Night the go.

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<v Speaker 1>I had to run a home run and of course

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<v Speaker 1>the family out here to witness dad do his thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Three time World Series champion Will Smith joins us. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>a lot for the time, appreciate it, of course, Dave,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks for having me on. So, I guess days off

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<v Speaker 1>are not really days off for you. You had to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of walk Dalton Rushing through some some things for tonight's game.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess, yeah, what what do you mean what I

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<v Speaker 2>had to walk him through?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, don't you help him with the game planning first

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<v Speaker 1>start of the season.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I know, we already talked. We talked through some stuff,

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<v Speaker 2>tragging the same page, talk to, you know, talk about

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<v Speaker 2>these guys and hopefully get Rookie up to a good

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<v Speaker 2>start tonight.

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<v Speaker 1>After another clutch home run the other day, I started

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<v Speaker 1>to look back at some of the moments you had

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<v Speaker 1>in your career. Is it hard to believe now you've

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<v Speaker 1>been in the league since twenty nineteen, was like yesterday

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<v Speaker 1>you were here following the team around in twenty eighteen.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, no, it's it's yeah, it's been it's felt like

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<v Speaker 2>a long you know, seven years now, I guess. But

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<v Speaker 2>also it's kind of flies by to Yeah, just just

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<v Speaker 2>grateful to be with the Dodgers. You know, we've been

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<v Speaker 2>competitive every year, making the postseason every year, won a

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<v Speaker 2>few World Series. Yeah, it's gone, it's gone really well,

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<v Speaker 2>and you know, just couldn't be We're happy and you know,

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<v Speaker 2>grateful to be here.

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<v Speaker 1>Was that thirty first birthday maybe the most memorable birthday

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<v Speaker 1>you've ever had?

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<v Speaker 2>Uh? Yeah, probably it's most recent, so it's definitely my

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<v Speaker 2>most memorial at this point. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't think of another birthday where you had your

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<v Speaker 1>bobblehead night and you're able to do what you've done

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<v Speaker 1>so many times and help the Dodgers win a game.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah yeah, yeah, usually, you know, sometimes the season hasn't

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<v Speaker 2>even started yet. So yeah, that was that was a

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<v Speaker 2>fun one.

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<v Speaker 1>The other day, What was this story that Dave Roberts

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<v Speaker 1>was talking about how he wanted to give you Sunday off,

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<v Speaker 1>but you convinced him to play you. Is that accurate

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<v Speaker 1>assessment of the way it went down? Uh?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, I think you know, it's still early the year.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel feel good. You know. I think you know,

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<v Speaker 2>his mindset, a front office mindset or whatever is always

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<v Speaker 2>kind of like just slow play it, you know, build

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<v Speaker 2>back up. But uh yeah, I felt good. Just felt

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<v Speaker 2>like I needed to let me know that. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>I was kind of just joking around. I wasn't really

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<v Speaker 2>like totally like fighting, like I need to be in there,

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<v Speaker 2>but I kind of like, you know, I want to

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<v Speaker 2>be in there every game. Uh. And I remember last

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<v Speaker 2>year I didn't play my bibblehead, and I remember giving

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<v Speaker 2>him some grief about that and stuff. But uh yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I pulled that card. He let me in there, and

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<v Speaker 2>uh turned out all right.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess when his starting catcher is invited to go

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<v Speaker 1>to Augusta with him, you got some pool with the manager.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, yep, that'll help for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>So your golf game is almost as legendary as uh,

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<v Speaker 1>your dramatic home runs lad in games. What what was

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<v Speaker 1>that like going to Augusta with Dave Roberts.

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<v Speaker 2>It was that was an amazing in three days. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>Mookie came with us, you know, Uh, our host was incredible.

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<v Speaker 2>It was it was awesome. You know, the courses in

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<v Speaker 2>such good shape. It was so much fun to you know,

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<v Speaker 2>play it. You know, I've seen the tournament so many

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<v Speaker 2>times and different holes and different shots, and like, oh,

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<v Speaker 2>that's where that was, that's where that was. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>we looked out with the weather, got to see kind

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<v Speaker 2>of the whole every facility in the grounds and all

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<v Speaker 2>that and kind of everything that goes on there. It

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<v Speaker 2>was you know, it's just a special place and uh,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, just just Cloud was able to go at

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<v Speaker 2>least once and hopefully, you know, at some point in

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<v Speaker 2>the future get to go again.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that place is tough to even cover as a

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<v Speaker 1>media member. There's a lottery to be drawn. Could you

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<v Speaker 1>ever imagine that you'd be playing golf where Tiger Woods.

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<v Speaker 2>Is one of the Masters? Yeah, that's you know, that's

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<v Speaker 2>one of those dream courses, you know, the bucket list

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<v Speaker 2>course you want to play, You want to you want

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<v Speaker 2>to see what it's all about. You want to you know,

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<v Speaker 2>at least just go to the Masters and watch the

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<v Speaker 2>tournament even and I know I'll do that at some point,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, after baseball, because that's in April. But uh, yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>it was. It was just really cool. It's kind of

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<v Speaker 2>so you know, it's incredible. You know, the level of like,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, care they put into every single thing, every

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<v Speaker 2>single little detail is the best of the best, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>from from their bushes and stuff to their landscaping, to

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<v Speaker 2>the buildings to just the service. The people are so

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<v Speaker 2>nice there and so like just welcoming and everything. It was.

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<v Speaker 2>It was really cool.

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<v Speaker 1>So can you share with all the golfers out there?

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<v Speaker 1>How Will Smith shot at Augusta.

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<v Speaker 2>The first day was bad. I don't know what I

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<v Speaker 2>was doing. The second day was better. But MOOKI and

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<v Speaker 2>I beat up on docs, so that's all that mattered.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, not surprising. Will Smith is our guest three time

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<v Speaker 1>World Series champion.

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<v Speaker 2>There's been a lot of talk.

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<v Speaker 1>Now after the first week of the season about the

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<v Speaker 1>ABS and how it's gone so far, and now we're

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<v Speaker 1>seeing percentages from your standpoint, both as a hitter and

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<v Speaker 1>a catcher, how has it gone in for the first

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<v Speaker 1>time experiencing it in games that matter, Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>It's it's it's gone. Well, you know, I don't I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know. I think it's good for the game, you know.

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<v Speaker 2>I think honestly the best part about it is I

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<v Speaker 2>think the umpires are more locked in just from the

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<v Speaker 2>get go. You know, just to spring training, I think

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<v Speaker 2>you know, there were a lot less overturned calls because

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<v Speaker 2>they were they were locked in. That's that's the most

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<v Speaker 2>important thing, is you know, just getting the call right

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<v Speaker 2>and you know they're they're trying to do their best too.

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<v Speaker 2>They get that instant feedback, which is great, you know

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<v Speaker 2>for the rest of the game. So I think it's

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<v Speaker 2>I think it's a good thing. I think we've handled

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<v Speaker 2>it pretty well. You got a couple of calls go

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<v Speaker 2>our way using the right situations, so it's just been good.

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<v Speaker 2>It's still kind of learning process and learning different situations

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<v Speaker 2>and all that stuff, but overall we've been pretty good

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<v Speaker 2>at so far.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, I know you're always in the moment. You got

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<v Speaker 1>the Guardians starting tonight, But ever since the schedule came out,

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<v Speaker 1>it's hard to ignore that your first road trip is

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<v Speaker 1>taking you to Toronto, the scene of where you guys

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<v Speaker 1>dramatically came back to win the World Series. Any concern

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<v Speaker 1>over customs the Mounties when you go back across the border, No.

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<v Speaker 2>No, I'm not concern. I was asked the other day

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<v Speaker 2>if I was actually banned. That was that one kind

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<v Speaker 2>of threw me for a loop thinking it was real.

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, I did a whole commercial promoting your bubblehead

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<v Speaker 1>going through the security line.

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<v Speaker 2>I know that was that was that turned out better

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<v Speaker 2>than I thought. That was pretty good. That was a

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<v Speaker 2>good a good script. I didn't I didn't have any

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<v Speaker 2>part of that other than just kind of reading the lines.

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<v Speaker 2>But that was good. But no, it'd be fun. I

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<v Speaker 2>know they're gonna want a little payback on us, so

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<v Speaker 2>it should be should be a good series. You know

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<v Speaker 2>they're they're a really good team again this year, so

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<v Speaker 2>it should be you know, fun, fun over there.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, So no concerns over Canadian TSA stopping you

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<v Speaker 1>a little longer. You and ROAs you guys have some

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<v Speaker 1>targets on your back when you go through TSA.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, we'll see. Maybe it'll be longer, but no,

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<v Speaker 2>it should be fine.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks a lot for the time, Congratulations on a great birthday.

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<v Speaker 1>Congratulations on helping the Dodgers win the World Series ease

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<v Speaker 1>and keep it going.

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<v Speaker 2>Yep, thank you,