Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talking.
Speaker 1: We're joined Ryan now by one of my favorite guys.
Speaker 1: He's always prepared. You can make a pawn on his
Speaker 1: last name, first call, last call calls all the time.
Speaker 1: That's the one and only Alex call. Thanks a lot
Speaker 1: for the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Dave, you you goot answering the call, You've got
Speaker 2: last call, you know, whatever it is there is, I've
Speaker 2: heard them all pretty much.
Speaker 1: Hey, you answer the call all the time. I watched
Speaker 1: you today. So much preparation goes into a day when
Speaker 1: you're not even starting, taking the ball off the bat
Speaker 1: and batting practice, all three outfield spots, taking batting practice,
Speaker 1: facing live BP to help Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart.
Speaker 1: Is this just a Dan the life of Alex call.
Speaker 3: Yeah it is.
Speaker 2: You know, it's a blessing to be able to be
Speaker 2: on this team and play Major League Baseball and do
Speaker 2: what I do.
Speaker 3: And there's just so much that goes into it.
Speaker 2: You know, everybody, every single kid wants to be in
Speaker 2: my position, and you can't take that for granted. You
Speaker 2: have to go and attack every day with the mindset of, hey,
Speaker 2: I got to earn my keep today, I gotta find
Speaker 2: a way to get better. I gotta find a way
Speaker 2: to prepare myself for the next opportunity.
Speaker 3: That's gonna be be my way.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: Bottom line is, you know, I I don't always know
Speaker 2: what I'm gonna play, when I'm gonna get called on,
Speaker 2: when I'm gonna start, And because of that, this game
Speaker 2: is about results. This game is about how you produce
Speaker 2: on the field. So it doesn't matter when they call you,
Speaker 2: what the game situation is or what's going on. It's
Speaker 2: my job to produce at a major league level. And
Speaker 2: you know, if you don't do that, then you leave
Speaker 2: the door open for you know, something else. And so
Speaker 2: preparation is the most important thing. And understanding that and
Speaker 2: taking that to heart and just being having it be
Speaker 2: a part of your U team and your day makes
Speaker 2: it easy and keeps you focused.
Speaker 1: What goes into why you go out to the out
Speaker 1: field in the corners and center field to take you know,
Speaker 1: shag during while your teammates are taking batting practice.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well as the outfield, like the best work you
Speaker 2: can do is live reads off the bat in batting practice.
Speaker 2: So this is a cherished time. I would say, because
Speaker 2: it's really the best practice you can do. And you know,
Speaker 2: nowadays with how they evaluate outfielders, how they evaluate everybody
Speaker 2: on defense, there's never been more data.
Speaker 3: Available for every single play.
Speaker 2: Every single play gets graded, every single play can carry
Speaker 2: an enormous weight for the amount of value that you
Speaker 2: provide for the team. And so trying to get the
Speaker 2: best reps possible via the best means of practice with
Speaker 2: batting practice live reads off the bat is how you
Speaker 2: can get better, stay sharp, and be ready for the game.
Speaker 2: So understanding like, hey, every single ball off the bat
Speaker 2: is an opportunity for me to create value for the team,
Speaker 2: and I have to be ready for every one of
Speaker 2: those in every position, So I like to rotate around
Speaker 2: all three. You know, might not get all three one day,
Speaker 2: but over the course of the week, try to try
Speaker 2: to touch all three.
Speaker 1: Alex, Since you played for the Nationals and now you're
Speaker 1: with the Dodgers, we've heard so much about the Dodgers
Speaker 1: research and development department being able to position infielders and
Speaker 1: outfielders where they don't have to cover as much ground.
Speaker 1: They're really good at scouting the opposition and positioning you
Speaker 1: guys in the right spot. Have you found that to
Speaker 1: be a big difference from where you were before.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we in Washington, there was you know,
Speaker 2: there was data that we had, We had the card,
Speaker 2: we had the information, and you know, I guess whose
Speaker 2: information is the best?
Speaker 3: You know, I don't really know.
Speaker 2: I guess the results kind of speak for themselves based
Speaker 2: on you know, what team has the most outs above
Speaker 2: average or defensive run saved, you know, for their outfielders.
Speaker 2: You know, it has to do with obviously defensive ability
Speaker 2: and talent, but also a lot of the underlying metrics
Speaker 2: have to do with positioning. And so yeah, I guess
Speaker 2: I haven't dived too deep into, you know what, which
Speaker 2: one's better, But you just you trust the organization that's
Speaker 2: giving you the information and trust the data, and then
Speaker 2: you also trust your eyes. You know, if there's something
Speaker 2: that we see, we're free to be able to move
Speaker 2: in that regard. And so but for the most part,
Speaker 2: I like to just trust and get ready to make
Speaker 2: the play.
Speaker 1: Alex calls our guests before first pitch between the Dodgers
Speaker 1: and Rockies. Got to ask you about that insane play
Speaker 1: last week in San Diego. Mason Miller Aaron throw you're
Speaker 1: at first base. Do you feel like you got picked
Speaker 1: off there and you were fortunate? How do you look
Speaker 1: back at it now that we've had a week to
Speaker 1: kind of digest it all.
Speaker 2: I mean, I was obviously, you know, if he makes
Speaker 2: a good throw, I'm gonna be in a pickle there.
Speaker 2: And the odds are literally right, Yeah, the odds are
Speaker 2: never favorable.
Speaker 3: But here's the deal.
Speaker 2: You know, against a you know, one of the best
Speaker 2: pitchers in the game who's been electric, had a ton
Speaker 2: of success, and nobody's.
Speaker 3: Really had success off of him.
Speaker 2: We got a guy on base with one out, and
Speaker 2: the bottom line is, how are we going to find
Speaker 2: a way to how are we going to find a
Speaker 2: way to score a run? So getting those extra ninety
Speaker 2: feet in a situation where we've had scouted looks, we
Speaker 2: know what he looks like, we know what he does,
Speaker 2: we know what his tendencies are.
Speaker 3: But that's just the information.
Speaker 2: The information is is the information, you trust it, but
Speaker 2: no information is one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: So I trusted my eyes, I trusted the read of
Speaker 3: what we had, and I went with him. And it
Speaker 3: didn't you know, something happened that we weren't expecting.
Speaker 2: But hey, he can throw an air and throw, and
Speaker 2: we were trying to, you know, not force the issue, but.
Speaker 3: Hey, we're trying to win the game. We're trying to
Speaker 3: win the game.
Speaker 2: We're trying to catch from off balance, and maybe that
Speaker 2: was just enough for him to get off balance and
Speaker 2: got over to third base. And then Andy had a
Speaker 2: great at bat and be able to get the sack
Speaker 2: fhe So, you know, it's a calculated risk. Obviously, you
Speaker 2: never want to get picked off, but in a situation
Speaker 2: where hey, that ninety feet matters, we're gonna have a
Speaker 2: tough time putting a few hits together on this guy.
Speaker 3: Anyway, you know, let's go for it.
Speaker 2: And so then you just trust the data, trust your eyes,
Speaker 2: and luckily it worked out.
Speaker 1: Hey, nobody would break it down better than that than
Speaker 1: Alex Call himself. Before I let you go, Otani was
Speaker 1: out here throwing off flackgrounds. So there was a lot
Speaker 1: of Japanese media hanging out while I was waiting for you,
Speaker 1: and they said, who am I waiting for. I said,
Speaker 1: I'm not waiting for Otani, I'm waiting for Alex Call.
Speaker 1: And they told me they believe that you have a
Speaker 1: doppelganger out there. And they told me that they had
Speaker 1: told you who they believe. Alex Call, looks like, can
Speaker 1: you share that with us?
Speaker 4: Was that the banjo? The young bon Jovi reference? Yes,
Speaker 4: John bon Jovi. Hey, you know, at least they didn't
Speaker 4: say old on job. They said young bon Jovi, young bo.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've gotten that, I've gotten Christian McCaffrey, I've gotten
Speaker 2: Leonardo DiCaprio.
Speaker 3: So a few different guys that.
Speaker 2: Depending on if I got the headband on or what
Speaker 2: I got going on, can get a few different results.
Speaker 2: But hey, I'll take it.
Speaker 1: Hey, Japanese media they see John bon Jovi every night
Speaker 1: at Dodgers Stadium, and that's Alex Call. Living on a prayer,
Speaker 1: living on a prayer.
Speaker 3: What's the other one wanted dead or alive? You know
Speaker 3: that one too.
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot for the time, Alex. Always great to
Speaker 1: catch up with you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no problem, Dave