Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talkers,
Speaker 1: the Dodgers and Padres from Piero, Arizona. And we're joined
Speaker 1: right now by a man that joined the Dodger organization
Speaker 1: at the trade deadline last year. He was with the
Speaker 1: Red Sox. The Dodgers acquired him from Boston in exchange
Speaker 1: for Dustin May. And here he is James Tibbs the Third,
Speaker 1: a proud Florida State seminole and camp with the Dodgers
Speaker 1: Number one. Congratulations on all the success you've had and
Speaker 1: welcome to this organization.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. I mean, it is an honor
Speaker 2: to be here. This place is surreal.
Speaker 3: I mean, the guys walking around, you know, the locker room,
Speaker 3: the staff, it's first class and I'm so happy to
Speaker 3: be a part of it.
Speaker 1: What's it been like for you? Three different organizations in
Speaker 1: a matter of months. How have you been able to
Speaker 1: handle all that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, forty seven days, I think to be exact, it's
Speaker 3: been a lot, you know, the uh it was it
Speaker 3: was a hard transition both times, and I think just
Speaker 3: finding ways to get comfortable, find ways to be you know,
Speaker 3: comfortable being uncomfortable, you know, learning new people and just
Speaker 3: relying on the Lord. I mean, at the end of
Speaker 3: the day, you know, God has gotten me through this,
Speaker 3: and so I'm so thankful to be here, and I'm
Speaker 3: so thankful to be a part of this organization and
Speaker 3: for them to want me, for them to want me
Speaker 3: to be here, I mean, it's it's a dream come true.
Speaker 1: As a minor league player, everybody wants to try to
Speaker 1: put their fingerprints on you guys and maybe tweak something.
Speaker 1: Being with three different organizations, how have you been able
Speaker 1: to stay true to yourself as a hitter.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been hard.
Speaker 3: It's been a learning curve, you know, first two years
Speaker 3: in pro or first year, just my second year in
Speaker 3: pro ball, and so for me to come in here
Speaker 3: and expect, you know, to try to do everything myself
Speaker 3: and and and you know, there was always places and
Speaker 3: avenues that we could get better at, and so being
Speaker 3: open minded to those things and still sticking true to
Speaker 3: myself was a huge deal for me.
Speaker 2: You know, I was so blessed.
Speaker 3: You know, Bill Rhymes and I had a conversation early
Speaker 3: on and it was just like, hey man, we just
Speaker 3: want you to be you.
Speaker 2: And so it was such a beautiful thing to hear
Speaker 2: that in the way to the world.
Speaker 3: I felt like I came off my shoulders, just allowing
Speaker 3: me the freedom to go out here and compete and
Speaker 3: do what I do well, and them to be okay
Speaker 3: with that and to help me, you know, maximize what
Speaker 3: I do well and the best avenues for me.
Speaker 2: It was it was a dream come true, you know.
Speaker 2: And so for them to do those things, it.
Speaker 3: Really helped me understand a what I do well and
Speaker 3: be how we can you know, work and maybe tweak
Speaker 3: and make those things even better.
Speaker 1: That's refreshing it here because you hear big leaguers when
Speaker 1: they're signed by the Dodgers or traded. The one thing
Speaker 1: that Andrew Freeman always talks about is be yourself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. I mean that was literally the name of
Speaker 2: the game.
Speaker 3: You know. We felt like we had a good foundation,
Speaker 3: you know, coming into pro ball, and so for them
Speaker 3: to come in there and say, hey.
Speaker 2: We love what you do, we want you to do
Speaker 2: what you do and and help me to you know.
Speaker 3: Maximize those things, it literally was is you know, an
Speaker 3: answer to prayer.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was such a beautiful thing.
Speaker 3: And from the top down, they've been nothing but welcoming
Speaker 3: and helpful and helping me.
Speaker 2: From the players, the staff, you know, the front office.
Speaker 3: Everybody's been so welcoming and it's really made my life
Speaker 3: a lot easier on the field and makes me feel
Speaker 3: I can play with freedom, you know, do what I
Speaker 3: want to do and do it to the best of
Speaker 3: my ability.
Speaker 1: Go into a school like Florida State, not only are
Speaker 1: you teammates with some of the best in the country,
Speaker 1: but you're playing some of the best and facing pitchers
Speaker 1: that are the best. What is the biggest jump from
Speaker 1: playing at a powerhouse college program compared to coming to
Speaker 1: professional baseball.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's just the level execution, the attention
Speaker 3: to detail the things that they do well here at
Speaker 3: the big league or in the big league, in big
Speaker 3: league camp, in the minor leagues, they try to continue
Speaker 3: to work on those and and and use those pitches
Speaker 3: and locate, you know, if they can locate. You know,
Speaker 3: they're trying to play to their strengths. And so for
Speaker 3: me in college, it was a little more broad in
Speaker 3: terms of how they were trying to approach me, and
Speaker 3: so now as getting into pro ball, it's a lot
Speaker 3: more specific. They're trying to, you know, figure out what
Speaker 3: works well for them against me, you know, and so
Speaker 3: being able to just you know, figure what those things are,
Speaker 3: you know, and and and work around them and try
Speaker 3: to maximize my ability in those situations.
Speaker 2: I think that's probably been the biggest you know.
Speaker 3: Jump for me, is the level execution, the mind games,
Speaker 3: you know, figuring out how to play along with the pitcher,
Speaker 3: all those things.
Speaker 2: You know, you have to do at a higher level.
Speaker 3: And so it's been my favorite part of the game,
Speaker 3: but it's definitely been the most frustrating at the same time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for a young guy, it sounds like you have
Speaker 1: an approach a plan before you even start in the
Speaker 1: batter's box.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: I mean it goes without saying like if you don't
Speaker 3: have a plan, you're going up there.
Speaker 2: You know, in a very tough spot.
Speaker 3: And so for me, you know, it started a long
Speaker 3: time ago and even in high school and just really
Speaker 3: trying to figure out what it means to have an approach,
Speaker 3: figure out what approach works best for me, and and
Speaker 3: really just go out and use it, stick to it,
Speaker 3: you know, the you know, basically you know, whatever it is,
Speaker 3: go down, you know, swing it, go down with that approach,
Speaker 3: and if it works it works, and if not, we
Speaker 3: stick to it for the next next at bats.
Speaker 1: Before I let you go. And James Tibbs, the third
Speaker 1: is our guest. You're gonna know his name and you're
Speaker 1: gonna see him at Dodger Stadium soon. You're right in
Speaker 1: the middle of the clubhouse. That's where your locker is.
Speaker 1: When you look to the other side of the room
Speaker 1: and you see guys like Freddie Freeman, you work next
Speaker 1: to guys like taoscar Hernandez. What's it like to be
Speaker 1: in this clubhouse with so many guys that have reached
Speaker 1: the mountain top year after year?
Speaker 3: You have a lot of people to ask a lot
Speaker 3: of good questions too, would be the main thing. You know,
Speaker 3: My whole goal coming into spring training was just soak
Speaker 3: everything in, be a sponge, you know, write it all down,
Speaker 3: figure out ways. You know, maybe people do things differently.
Speaker 3: How does that work for me? You know, maybe they
Speaker 3: do things in ways I haven't thought before, maybe approaches they.
Speaker 2: Haven't thought, you know, I haven't thought before, and.
Speaker 3: So it's really just trying to learn as much as
Speaker 3: I can figure out, you know, almost add another tool
Speaker 3: to the toolbox of what you know can allow me
Speaker 3: to take the next steps and be, you know, an
Speaker 3: even better player. And you know, you couldn't ask for
Speaker 3: a better locker room. You've got Hall of famers all
Speaker 3: over this locker room, and so to be able to
Speaker 3: just you know, be around them and listen to what
Speaker 3: their conversations and ask questions, I.
Speaker 2: Mean, credit to them.
Speaker 3: They've been nothing but welcoming in those areas, you know,
Speaker 3: absolutely answering every question.
Speaker 2: It's just been a dream come true. I'm so thankful
Speaker 2: to be here.
Speaker 1: James, thanks a lot for the time. It's great to
Speaker 1: introduce you to Dodger fans because certainly you are very
Speaker 1: close to helping this team in the Big League. So
Speaker 1: thank you for the time and we look forward to
Speaker 1: seeing you all spring long.
Speaker 2: Peah, thank you so much.