Speaker 1: The quest for the three peat has begun.
Speaker 2: Only four teams in Major League Baseball history have won
Speaker 2: three consecutive titles. The Dodgers are the favorites to become
Speaker 2: the fifth. This is World Champion Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: Here we go again. We're going to running back to.
Speaker 3: Get in on the show called eight six six eighty
Speaker 3: seven two five seven d and be sure to follow
Speaker 3: Dodger Talk wherever you catch your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, David Vasse. Welcome the Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: David Vase with you until eight thirty tonight after the
Speaker 2: Dodgers get a big win in Pittsburgh, twelve to three
Speaker 2: the final score. After the Dodgers score ten runs in
Speaker 2: the seventh inning tonight to beat the Pirates on a
Speaker 2: night that Paul sken started the game. We have phone
Speaker 2: lines open at eight six six eight seven two five seventy.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm just gonna get right into this. We'll
Speaker 2: get into that seventh inning in a second. But here's
Speaker 2: a question that begs to be answered at this stage
Speaker 2: of Freddie Freeman's career. Who just had another big moment
Speaker 2: in his Hall of Fame career wearing a Dodger uniform
Speaker 2: I know Freddy did not collect even half of his
Speaker 2: twenty five hundred hits in a Dodger uniform. But the
Speaker 2: reality is, Freddie Freeman's two signature career moments are in
Speaker 2: a Dodger uniform on their way to winning back to
Speaker 2: back World Series championships, something that no team has done
Speaker 2: in twenty six years, in fact, something that only two
Speaker 2: other franchises have ever done before. So you look at
Speaker 2: Freddy Freeman's walkoff Grand Slam in Game one of the
Speaker 2: twenty four World Series. You look at Freddy Freeman's walk
Speaker 2: off home run in the eighteen inning affair in Game
Speaker 2: three of last year's World Series. You see him holding
Speaker 2: up the line car the baseball wearing a Dodger jersey
Speaker 2: in front of his locker at this stage of his career.
Speaker 2: Who would have thought that this would even be a question.
Speaker 2: Will Freddy Freeman go into the Hall of Fame with
Speaker 2: a Dodger LA logo on his cap? I know he
Speaker 2: doesn't want to answer this question, but we can answer
Speaker 2: it for him. At the very least. Everybody always thought
Speaker 2: Freddie Freeman would go in as an Atlanta Brave.
Speaker 1: Of course we did.
Speaker 2: We thought Corey Seeger would go in if he ever
Speaker 2: did as a Dodger. But now he's spending the majority
Speaker 2: of his career with the Rangers. He's won a World
Speaker 2: Series and won the World Series MVP with Texas, and
Speaker 2: Freddie Freeman has had his signature moments. Whenever you see
Speaker 2: if Freddie Freeman highlight, it'll be in a Dodger uniform.
Speaker 1: It won't be in Atlanta Brave uniform.
Speaker 2: So at the very least, don't you believe Freddie Freeman
Speaker 2: will go into Cooperstown and at the very least do
Speaker 2: with Greg Maddox and not even have a logo on his.
Speaker 1: Enshrinement plaque.
Speaker 2: I see it at the very least that way. But
Speaker 2: come on, this guy's signature moments are as a Dodger.
Speaker 2: Let's hear from Freddie Freeman on sports and at LA
Speaker 2: after another signature moment, his twenty five hundredth career head.
Speaker 4: It does mean a lot.
Speaker 5: And then obviously when you're a manager and your teammates
Speaker 5: appreciate what you've done over the course of your career,
Speaker 5: it does mean a lot. Yeah, there's always another goal
Speaker 5: to get to, but to step back and realize, you
Speaker 5: know how long you have to play the consistency over
Speaker 5: the course of that to play at a high level for.
Speaker 4: Many, many years to get there. It does. It doesn't
Speaker 4: mean a lot, you know.
Speaker 5: I just try to play this game the right way
Speaker 5: the best of my abilities every single day, and you know,
Speaker 5: to reach some of these cool mind stones as you
Speaker 5: get later in your career.
Speaker 4: It's definitely means yeah, we did one.
Speaker 5: We just did when you had to give a little
Speaker 5: speech and yeah, doc ended it with you better get
Speaker 5: a five hundred more so where we'll start, hopefully start
Speaker 5: that tomorrow.
Speaker 4: Did you get the ball from this one? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: Alex has the ball. They the line of card.
Speaker 5: They asked if they want to keep my bassett, take
Speaker 5: my basset, and I'll keep using that one.
Speaker 4: But you know, it's cool.
Speaker 5: You know, I've never been one to collect and memorabilia
Speaker 5: and things of that nature, but as I've gotten older,
Speaker 5: they keep telling me to do it. Your kids will
Speaker 5: love it and stuff like that. So I definitely won't
Speaker 5: keep the ball. When you're in a season like how
Speaker 5: often do you reflect on like when you get your
Speaker 5: career monalstones like this, Like do you look at like
Speaker 5: those big picture numbers often?
Speaker 4: Like how do you just kind of like process it
Speaker 4: all when.
Speaker 5: When you have things like yeah, I mean I've never
Speaker 5: thought about it as I was going along, but when
Speaker 5: I got here. The over the last few years, we
Speaker 5: have appreciated the big moments for all the guys that
Speaker 5: reach these things. And I think when you're going through
Speaker 5: the course of one sixty two, you're just kind of
Speaker 5: every single day is the same. You're grinding, you're doing
Speaker 5: whatever you can. But and so when you have an
Speaker 5: organization that steps back and takes time to appreciate what
Speaker 5: you've done over the course of your career, it does
Speaker 5: help you take the moment for a second. You know,
Speaker 5: you know, I'm getting the text messages already, Andrew Friedman
Speaker 5: and all of them. So it makes you take a
Speaker 5: step back and realize how hard this game is and
Speaker 5: how long you have to play to reach these things.
Speaker 4: And it does mean a lot.
Speaker 5: So you know, it's I don't I've always If you
Speaker 5: had asked me ten years ago, I probably would have
Speaker 5: brushed it off and kept going. But as you get older,
Speaker 5: you get a little bit more emotional, and he's sentimental.
Speaker 5: But it is nice for people to take a moment
Speaker 5: out of their time and appreciate what you've done in
Speaker 5: this game, so it is special. I understand, twenty five
Speaker 5: hundred hits, the's a lot of hits.
Speaker 4: So I'm happy to be able to do it.
Speaker 5: You know, hopefully tomorrow will start the next five hundred journey.
Speaker 4: How much the goal is like.
Speaker 3: Three thousand right now, so it's like something you like
Speaker 3: really want to get to.
Speaker 4: Is it kind of like a like right?
Speaker 5: I mean it goes yeah, I mean it goes back
Speaker 5: and forth. I never thought about it ever until the
Speaker 5: last couple of years when people start bringing up more
Speaker 5: of the individual stats that I'm coming close to, and
Speaker 5: you know, obviously it's kind of you know, it sits
Speaker 5: on your mind, and when you reach this one, the
Speaker 5: next one is the big one. And but you got
Speaker 5: to be healthy, and you got to play. I got
Speaker 5: to play longer. You have what you played seventeen years,
Speaker 5: so you got to keep going. And I've always you know,
Speaker 5: over the last year or two it's three thousand is
Speaker 5: the number that I would love to get to. But
Speaker 5: I have one year under contract left, so there's still
Speaker 5: a lot of other factors that go into it. I
Speaker 5: have four kids now, we got to see what they're
Speaker 5: what's going on with there. But I would love to
Speaker 5: get to three thousand hits.
Speaker 4: I would love to.
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm not going to deny that, But do
Speaker 5: I know if I'm going to get there.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: But we'll start the truck tomorrow and see how we
Speaker 5: can see what we can get close to numbers and
Speaker 5: hopefully people want me to still play after twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 2: All right, there's Freddy Freeman on Sports at LA after
Speaker 2: having a very special night, a twenty five hundredth career
Speaker 2: hit collected in that ten run seventh inning for the
Speaker 2: Dodgers tonight and Tonight's game brought to you by Modello
Speaker 2: Modello the mark of a fighter. And it's somewhat unfortunate
Speaker 2: for Freddy Freeman because there are a couple of variables
Speaker 2: out of his control that have already prevented him from
Speaker 2: getting having more certainty about being able to get to
Speaker 2: three thousand hits, and also something that could happen next
Speaker 2: year that also can be a big obstacle to Freddie
Speaker 2: Freeman getting his three thousandth hit. Going back to the pandemic,
Speaker 2: the COVID pandemic in twenty twenty, only sixty games were
Speaker 2: played Freddie Freeman at least, at the very least, was
Speaker 2: cost one hundred hits. He won the MVP that year.
Speaker 2: He had seventy three hits in only sixty games.
Speaker 1: At that stage of.
Speaker 2: His career, it was an automatic. He was getting one
Speaker 2: hundred and ninety nine hits, two hundred hits. So at
Speaker 2: the very least, I'll be generous, you're very conservative that
Speaker 2: COVID cost Freddie Freeman one hundred hits. And then the
Speaker 2: uncertainty of the labor situation in Major League Baseball going
Speaker 2: into next year. If they lose games, that hurts Freddy's
Speaker 2: chances to getting to three thousand hits. If they don't
Speaker 2: play a season next year, then that really hurts his
Speaker 2: chances to get to three thousand hits. So also twenty
Speaker 2: twenty seven, the uncertainty of that is a variable that
Speaker 2: he can't control, and I'm sure to a certain extent,
Speaker 2: is a little frustrating. But the one thing you can't
Speaker 2: take away from Freddy Freeman is what he's accomplished already.
Speaker 1: If you look at his ranks among active.
Speaker 2: Players right now, and really that's all you can compare
Speaker 2: players by is their generation. Freddie Freeman has played the
Speaker 2: second most games of any active player. Right now, he
Speaker 2: has the second highest batting average or a third highest
Speaker 2: batting average of any player right now is right now,
Speaker 2: career average is two ninety nine. His twenty five hundred
Speaker 2: hits is the most by any active player. His doubles,
Speaker 2: his extra base hits, his RBIs his runs scored first
Speaker 2: among all active players. And that's something you can never
Speaker 2: take away from Freddie Freeman. Eight six six nine eight
Speaker 2: seven two five seventy is the phone number. Now, let's
Speaker 2: get to that seventh inning, because Freddy had two at bats.
Speaker 1: In that seventh inning.
Speaker 2: The first one he did not get a hit, but
Speaker 2: he came up for the second time and got that
Speaker 2: twenty five hundredth career hit. That seventh inning, where the
Speaker 2: Dodgers scored ten runs off the Pirates bullpen, in particular
Speaker 2: wilburd Dotel, was an inning to be whole in a
Speaker 2: lot of ways. They scored ten runs, They had seven hits,
Speaker 2: two of them were extra base hits, including Pajez's two
Speaker 2: run home run.
Speaker 1: They took four walks, They forced.
Speaker 2: Two errors from Brendon Lowe and Henry Davis to catcher Loud,
Speaker 2: the second baseman with the infield in couldn't throw a
Speaker 2: strike at a force out at the plate to Henry Davis,
Speaker 2: which goes back to show you how not automatic. Miguel
Speaker 2: Rojas's play in Game seven in Toronto last year to
Speaker 2: get IKF was, this is June in Pittsburgh and Brandon
Speaker 2: Lowe with the infield in, the ball hit more directly
Speaker 2: at him than the ball that was hit to Rojas
Speaker 2: in Game seven's ninth inning last year, and Brandon Lowe
Speaker 2: pulls Henry Davis a wide of home plate. But the
Speaker 2: problem was Henry Davis couldn't catch the ball. And I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna say that was a clank by day. It's
Speaker 2: a major league catcher, he should catch it. But that
Speaker 2: goes to the other end of that play in Game
Speaker 2: seven of the World Series, where it's not as easy
Speaker 2: to catch a throw like that with the catcher's mint.
Speaker 2: Guys have told me that that have played the game.
Speaker 2: It's not a myt that is meant for that type
Speaker 2: of play. It's not a first baseman's mint. But I
Speaker 2: didn't see Henry Davis try to catch it and secured
Speaker 2: it with two hands. So that goes back to little
Speaker 2: league stuff as well. Trying to secure, especially as a
Speaker 2: catcher on a throw like that with two hands, I
Speaker 2: know he was reaching like a first baseman.
Speaker 1: But the point is that play that Rojas.
Speaker 2: Made in Game seven in the ninth inning last year
Speaker 2: was just as incredible as his home run with one
Speaker 2: out in the top of the ninth inning. So that
Speaker 2: took place, and that seventh inning took thirty six minutes.
Speaker 2: The Dodger forced the Pirate's pitching staff to throw eighty
Speaker 2: three pitches in that inning. So that was an incredible
Speaker 2: inning that I haven't seen in quite some time. The
Speaker 2: Dodgers scoring ten runs an inning that took thirty six minutes,
Speaker 2: and the game time overall was three hours and thirteen minutes.
Speaker 2: Dodgers beat the Pirates tonight, twelve to three. The Pirates
Speaker 2: have now lost five straight Paul Skeen starts, and you
Speaker 2: got a feel for Paul Skeens is doing everything in
Speaker 2: his power to try to win these starts. Just some
Speaker 2: weird things happening from what I was told by people
Speaker 2: that watch Pirates and Skiens games. And tonight, in the
Speaker 2: sixth inning, Max Munsey reached out on a change up
Speaker 2: by Paul Skeens and was able to pull it by
Speaker 2: Brandon Lowe, who as we know now is not really
Speaker 2: a great second basement to tie the game, and Mookie
Speaker 2: Betts tonight, Max Munsey and Mookie Bets to me had
Speaker 2: the two best at bats against Skeens tonight. Mooki in
Speaker 2: his first at bats double to left center field off
Speaker 2: of schemes and hopefully that's a huge confidence builder for
Speaker 2: the Dodgers shortstop.
Speaker 1: Let's hear from Mookie on sports and at LA.
Speaker 4: Oh it's awesome.
Speaker 6: I mean, he's I think the first person I've seen
Speaker 6: accomplished something like that. So he's been he's been around
Speaker 6: for a while, and he's been really good.
Speaker 4: For a while.
Speaker 6: So I think these things are coming up because because
Speaker 6: of that. You know, he's so good for so long.
Speaker 7: You guys look at that seventh inning, what.
Speaker 8: Do you how do you describe just what you guys
Speaker 8: were able to do, build up fads, pass the time there.
Speaker 4: We're able to take walks, hits.
Speaker 6: I mean, we kind of did everything that ending, So
Speaker 6: I think it just shows what we can do. I mean,
Speaker 6: obviously you would love to do that all the time,
Speaker 6: but it just shows that we're capable of it and
Speaker 6: we're just grinding, you know, just just grinding as a
Speaker 6: team twenty How do you put in toowards why that's
Speaker 6: so hard to.
Speaker 9: Achieve twenty five years?
Speaker 4: I don't, I don't, I don't really know.
Speaker 6: I mean, especially with the game now, it's so hard
Speaker 6: to get hits, but he keeps doing it. So I mean,
Speaker 6: I don't know if I don't know if there are
Speaker 6: really words to say, because there's so few people that
Speaker 6: are that are in that category. So it just shows
Speaker 6: you how he is as a player.
Speaker 4: Are you personally to just the two hits?
Speaker 5: I know that you've been kind of working through a
Speaker 5: few mechanical things offensively, you feel like you're kind of getting.
Speaker 4: Into more of a consistent feel with the stuff.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 6: Every time I say, yeah, I go for thirty. So
Speaker 6: we'll just enjoy today.
Speaker 1: Let's enjoy today.
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, the guy gotta double off of
Speaker 2: Paul's skeens, and all they asked him about was Freddie Freeman.
Speaker 2: But hey, Mookie's been there with Freddie for quite some time.
Speaker 2: I would say Muncie and MOOKI are the two teammates
Speaker 2: that Freddy has played with the most on the Dodgers currently,
Speaker 2: right now. So MOOKI has seen a lot of those.
Speaker 2: I believe Freddy has eight hundred hits now with the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: So Mookie certainly has been by Freddie side during the
Speaker 2: last few years. And look, I'll maintain this. I know
Speaker 2: Mookie Betts is hitting just about a buck ninety, but
Speaker 2: it looks like Mookie Betts has a greater chance of
Speaker 2: coming out of his slump more than Kyle Tucker, who
Speaker 2: again was hitless tonight, didn't even get a hit off
Speaker 2: a position player that was throwing in the ninth inning tonight.
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts was our guest before the game today and
Speaker 2: I had a chance to ask the Dodger manager about
Speaker 2: what's going on with Kyle Tucker, what his thoughts are
Speaker 2: how to get Tucker out of this. When we continue
Speaker 2: on Dodger Talk, you will hear from Dave Roberts. And
Speaker 2: also last night on off day Dodger Talk, in case
Speaker 2: you missed it, Chris Taylor had.
Speaker 1: His first official closure.
Speaker 2: Retirement interview with us, and you'll hear how it all
Speaker 2: went down. So a lot to get to, including your
Speaker 2: phone calls two lines a row on a night that
Speaker 2: Freddy Freeman collects his twenty five hundredth career base hit,
Speaker 2: and the Dodgers beat Paul Skeins and the Pirates twelve
Speaker 2: to three on the back to back World Champion Dodgers
Speaker 2: Audio Network.
Speaker 3: On air at AM five seventy, online at AM five seventy,
Speaker 3: la sports dot com, and available by podcast on the
Speaker 3: iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: This is Dodger Tom with David Bassi.
Speaker 8: I have Freddy Freeman's wins there. It is hit number
Speaker 8: twenty five hundred. It's a base hit to center. Freeman
Speaker 8: comes into score, Otani goes first to third.
Speaker 1: So Freddie Freeman with a milestone hit.
Speaker 8: Two thousand and five hundred career hits for Freddy Freeman.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they're asking for the bowl. Don't play it
Speaker 3: on fire. Just motion through the ball for the Dodgers.
Speaker 3: First base dougout for Freddy Freeman.
Speaker 1: The souvenir well earned.
Speaker 2: Freddy Freeman two hits tonight, including his twenty five hundredth
Speaker 2: career hit.
Speaker 1: Andy pie has hit a two run home.
Speaker 2: Ron Max Munsey was three for three with an RBI
Speaker 2: and on base all four times, and the Dodgers beat
Speaker 2: the Pirates tonight by a final score of twelve to three.
Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers presents the home Run Forecast. For your chance
Speaker 2: to win a fifty dollars Daniels Jeweler's gift card, visit
Speaker 2: AM five to seventy LA sports dot com. Used the
Speaker 2: keyword home run in to your name, you could win.
Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers Own the Dream. This is Dodger Talk David
Speaker 2: Vasse with you until eight thirty tonight here on AM
Speaker 2: five to seventy LA Sports. And for the Dodgers tonight
Speaker 2: at p and C Park, only their second win in
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh since twenty twenty three. Coming into the game tonight,
Speaker 2: the Dodgers had lost six of their last seven at
Speaker 2: P and C Park. It has not been a player
Speaker 2: where the Dodgers have had a lot of success in
Speaker 2: recent memory. Not to mention when you go back to
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, I believe it was Rich Hill had a
Speaker 2: no hitter that ended on a walk off home run
Speaker 2: by Josh Harrison in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Speaker 2: Because the Dodgers could not score a run. It was
Speaker 2: a scoreless tie with Hill throwing a no hitter going
Speaker 2: into the bottom of the ninth inning and Josh Harrison
Speaker 2: ended the game one to nothing on a walk off
Speaker 2: home run to left field, and that's one of the
Speaker 2: memories I have. Also, another memory I have is off
Speaker 2: the field, or actually on the field before a game
Speaker 2: in twenty seventeen, a complete solar eclips I still have
Speaker 2: photos of that being on the field with Justin Turner,
Speaker 2: Yasie Opuigue and the rest of the seventeen Dodgers with
Speaker 2: those glasses to protect your eyes when you looked up
Speaker 2: at the sun. Maybe I'll post that on X at
Speaker 2: the Real Underscore DV.
Speaker 1: Eight six six.
Speaker 2: It's nine eight seven two five seventy is the phone number. Well,
Speaker 2: hear from Dave Roberts in just a moment. But let's
Speaker 2: go out to the phones.
Speaker 1: Rob in Rancho Kucamonga, You're on Dodger Talk. How you doing, Rob?
Speaker 9: Oh, I'm doing great.
Speaker 4: David.
Speaker 9: Hey, thanks for taking my call. I've really really enjoyed
Speaker 9: all the interviews and just all the great insight you
Speaker 9: offer on the show over the year. So again, thanks
Speaker 9: for taking my call.
Speaker 1: My pleasure. Thank you for the nice words.
Speaker 10: Rob absolutely day, if I want to run something by you,
Speaker 10: I've got you your opinion on these kinds of matters,
Speaker 10: and I think it's awesome that we're celebrating Freddie tonight.
Speaker 10: You've mentioned many times before and me being a Dodger
Speaker 10: fan going back to the nineteen seventies, right now is
Speaker 10: the golden age of Dodger baseball and Freddie is absolutely
Speaker 10: a future Hall of Famer, along with several other guys
Speaker 10: on this roster.
Speaker 9: As you will know later on this season. You know
Speaker 9: they're they're honoring a guy that you interviewed back at
Speaker 9: the Star of the Season, Reggie Smith. He's a legend
Speaker 9: of Dodger baseball, and David, I need you to leave
Speaker 9: the Reggie belongs in the Hall of Fame chat for
Speaker 9: us and really get out in front of that. I
Speaker 9: don't understand why Reggie does not get enough recognition with
Speaker 9: the numbers. When you look at the modern stats like
Speaker 9: Win's above replacement, Reggie's right there with current Hall of Famers. Anyway,
Speaker 9: would love to see him in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 9: I think he's really deserving and would appreciate your thoughts
Speaker 9: on that.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you for the phone call.
Speaker 2: Hey, you're never going to get an argument for me
Speaker 2: when it comes to honoring Reggie Smith. And look, even
Speaker 2: Eric Carross told me that if Reggie Smith was playing
Speaker 2: in today's game, he would be considered one of the
Speaker 2: greatest players that is currently playing because of what he did,
Speaker 2: his style of play. He had over two thousand hits,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty hits. He did, hit three hundred and fourteen
Speaker 2: home runs, He had an ops of eight fifty five,
Speaker 2: he slugged forty nine. And look, I'm not going to
Speaker 2: say he doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame considering
Speaker 2: some of the guys they put in there already, But
Speaker 2: I think we can all agree that Reggie Smith had
Speaker 2: a great career, and maybe even more rare was that
Speaker 2: he has impacted just as many players as a coach.
Speaker 2: And since he stopped officially coaching with his Reggie Smith
Speaker 2: Acadamy Academy in Encino, how many great players do that
Speaker 2: play seventeen years in the big leagues, have one of
Speaker 2: the great careers you could ever wish for, and then
Speaker 2: as a coach, touch even more players' lives like Mike Piazza,
Speaker 2: Eric Carrow's Tim Wallack, just to name a few. So
Speaker 2: Reggie Smith, to me is a Hall of Famer for
Speaker 2: the person he is and the legacy that he has
Speaker 2: left that will go on after he's long gone, and
Speaker 2: he's not long gone. He's got a lot more to
Speaker 2: live on this beautiful around Coyle, as Vince Scully would say.
Speaker 2: But what's great about Reggie Smith is that his teachings,
Speaker 2: his academy, the coaches that he has taught, the players
Speaker 2: now that are older, that are coaches, will carry his
Speaker 2: legacy forward. And whatever Reggie Smith believed in as far
Speaker 2: as hitting goes, and what he stood for will live
Speaker 2: for a very long time, even after I'm gone from
Speaker 2: this mortal coil as well. Eight six six nine eight
Speaker 2: seven two five seventy is the phone number speaking of
Speaker 2: Reggie Smith. Maybe he can help Kyle Tucker. Maybe Kyle
Speaker 2: Tucker can go see Reggie Smith and in Cino, because
Speaker 2: Tucker is struggling. He's sitting two thirty three. His ops
Speaker 2: is seven to eleven after going oh for three tonight.
Speaker 2: He did walk twice, so that's encouraging. But it's been
Speaker 2: an enigma to start his Dodger career. Nobody seems to
Speaker 2: have a real answer why. Maybe the only person that
Speaker 2: has come close is no mar Garciapara on Sportsnet LA
Speaker 2: talking about his overstriding. But here's what manager Dave Roberts
Speaker 2: had to say during our pregame conversation during the managers
Speaker 2: meeting presented by our friends at Downy Hunday, Kyle Tucker,
Speaker 2: You've been asked a lot about him. I thought it
Speaker 2: was interesting that Michael Conforto admitted last week that he
Speaker 2: was trying to keep up with the big boys on
Speaker 2: your team. That was a real candid answer. Do you
Speaker 2: feel in some ways that Tucker may have fallen into
Speaker 2: that same trap?
Speaker 4: You know, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think that it's certainly it's a big room.
Speaker 7: There's a lot of star power in our room, and
Speaker 7: regardless of who you are to come into this is
Speaker 7: certainly daunting, can be daunting as a very open, friendly clubhouse.
Speaker 7: But I certainly think as peers and you kind of
Speaker 7: try to play the comparison game, which is pretty tough.
Speaker 7: And yeah, Michael, I guess admitted that a couple weeks ago,
Speaker 7: and we had a good heart to heart, you know,
Speaker 7: probably a little later than it should have been, but
Speaker 7: you know, I was always a big fan, and it
Speaker 7: wasn't for lack of trying in preparation and just sort
Speaker 7: of talk to him about getting back to himself and
Speaker 7: not comparing and trying to you know, you know, be
Speaker 7: the athlete and fight for everything you've got because that's
Speaker 7: how we got to the big leagues. And I think
Speaker 7: it resonated with him, and you know, we didn't get
Speaker 7: to kind of see the fruits of that in the postseason,
Speaker 7: but he is obviously having a great year this year,
Speaker 7: and I do think that, you know, Kyle might be
Speaker 7: in that similar boat. I haven't had that conversation with
Speaker 7: him yet, but I'm still trying to learn him. And
Speaker 7: as a manager, you don't want to push too much
Speaker 7: too soon and sort of push players away. But I'm
Speaker 7: gaining more information every day with Kyle. But I will
Speaker 7: say the last couple of games he's been better. We
Speaker 7: gave him a day off in that Philly series. I
Speaker 7: think that was a benefit, and then so he'll get
Speaker 7: two out of three. He had two out of the
Speaker 7: three days off with the off day to come in
Speaker 7: come in fresh with this series. So we'll see. But
Speaker 7: I'm keeping a watchful eye on him.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: There's Dave Roberts, and certainly he's keeping a watchful eye
Speaker 2: on him. And maybe he learned something from what Michael
Speaker 2: Confordo revealed as far as him trying to keep up
Speaker 2: with the Otani's and the ta Oscar hernandez Is and
Speaker 2: the Freddie Freemans. Maybe Tucker is trying to do that
Speaker 2: in a subconscious way. Whatever it is, it hasn't gone
Speaker 2: well for Tucker to start.
Speaker 1: His Dodger career.
Speaker 2: And I go back to nineteen ninety one, a big
Speaker 2: signing in its own right. Darryl Strawberry signed at that
Speaker 2: time the richest contract in baseball history with the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: He also had the added pressure of coming home. He's
Speaker 2: from Crenshaw Crenshaw High School, so he had all that fanfare,
Speaker 2: and the first half with the Dodgers he was not
Speaker 2: very good. He only hit five home runs that first
Speaker 2: half of his first season with the Dodgers in nineteen
Speaker 2: ninety one, which was his best year because he finished
Speaker 2: with twenty eight home runs and ninety nine RBIs. I believe,
Speaker 2: you know, the first half for Kyle Tucker is probably.
Speaker 1: Still going to be a grind.
Speaker 2: But you just hope that the second half of the
Speaker 2: season we can see the Kyle Tucker that we've seen
Speaker 2: the majority of his career. He had a wrist injury
Speaker 2: the second half of last year, who knows if that's
Speaker 2: still lingering or if he got into some bad habits
Speaker 2: because of it. But I just think that for the
Speaker 2: rest of this first half, I don't see Kyle.
Speaker 1: Tucker going on a three week tear. Just from what
Speaker 1: we've seen so far.
Speaker 2: I find it hard to believe that all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: he's showing up at P and C Park and he's
Speaker 2: gonna go on a three week hot streak. It could happen.
Speaker 2: I just don't see it happening, And that's my opinion.
Speaker 2: I do see him resetting at the All Star All
Speaker 2: Star Break like Strawberry did, and come back and have
Speaker 2: a monster second half. I think that's the best optimistic
Speaker 2: type of approach you can believe. If you're around the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: you're trying to help this guy figure it out, so
Speaker 2: the second half of the year and going into the postseason,
Speaker 2: he can help you more than he's done so far.
Speaker 2: And you hope that Dave Roberts reinforces what Andrew Freeman
Speaker 2: and Dave Roberts talked about when they signed Tucker. They
Speaker 2: need more from him in right field. They need him
Speaker 2: to jump on balls, sit down the line, They need
Speaker 2: him to really scoop up those ground balls that are
Speaker 2: hit on the grass and get to the balls in
Speaker 2: the gap, because we haven't seen that consistently this year.
Speaker 2: And that's something the Dodgers challenged Kyle Tucker to be
Speaker 2: is a better right fielder to be able to get
Speaker 2: the ball to the infield, because I could tell you
Speaker 2: this talking to coaches and players on other teams this year,
Speaker 2: the word is out Kyle Tucker at the very best
Speaker 2: on the scouting scale of twenty to eighty fifty being
Speaker 2: somewhat average. I guess he's fifty at the best. Everybody
Speaker 2: knows that he's not coming up and charging the ball.
Speaker 2: They know if you hit a ball down the line,
Speaker 2: you can be a little bit more aggressive on him
Speaker 2: to try to take that extra base. So I know
Speaker 2: the Dodgers are aware of that. He's just got to
Speaker 2: be better, not only offensively, but also defensively. And who knows,
Speaker 2: maybe the offense is in his head when he's standing
Speaker 2: out there and right field, taking his glove off, putting
Speaker 2: it back on.
Speaker 1: Watch him.
Speaker 2: He's taking his glove off right before the pitch is
Speaker 2: thrown and putting it back on. All those things I'm
Speaker 2: sure are a product of him struggling at the plate
Speaker 2: the first half of the season with the Dodgers. So
Speaker 2: that's my take on the whole Tucker situation, And the
Speaker 2: only thing I can draw upon is experience and seeing
Speaker 2: guys that came to the Dodgers. Yes, completely different circumstances
Speaker 2: with Strawberry in ninety one, and we all know that
Speaker 2: it went downhill after his first year with the Dodgers
Speaker 2: for off the field reasons. Tucker's not going through that.
Speaker 2: But when you talk about high expectations, a big salary,
Speaker 2: sixty million dollars, you're playing on the back to back
Speaker 2: defending champions, the brightest spotlight, biggest stage in baseball, there
Speaker 2: is an adjustment period for a guy that doesn't like
Speaker 2: the attention. So my feeling is the second half is
Speaker 2: where it's got to be for Kyle Tucker because I
Speaker 2: just don't see it happening the rest of the first
Speaker 2: half of the season. Yeah he may have a couple
Speaker 2: of moments. Yeah he may get a couple of hits
Speaker 2: in a game. Yeah he may help out, But I
Speaker 2: just don't see him going on a three week tear
Speaker 2: starting tomorrow eight six six nine, eight seven two five
Speaker 2: seventy is the phone number. Speaking of Tucker as well,
Speaker 2: It's incredible to me because when he signed with the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: one of the things that stood out to me the
Speaker 2: most was how good of a hitter he was at
Speaker 2: Dodger Stadium. He hasn't been that good of a hitter
Speaker 2: at Dodger Stadium. In fact, he's been a much better
Speaker 2: hitter on the road then he's been at Dodgers Stadium.
Speaker 2: So you wonder if all that is playing into it
Speaker 2: as well. So that's that's that's my take on Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 2: The second half is going to be Tucker's half for
Speaker 2: this season. Eight six six nine seven two five seventy
Speaker 2: is the phone number tonight. Dalton Rushing played a big
Speaker 2: part in the Dodgers win, especially with his great base
Speaker 2: running in the seventh inning where he went first to
Speaker 2: third and also Henry Davis trying to backpick him at
Speaker 2: third base. Back dorm at third base, he was able
Speaker 2: to do what Eric Carross mentioned on sports Net LA
Speaker 2: and not dive back to third base but hold his
Speaker 2: ground stand up going back to third base to force
Speaker 2: the catcher to make a tough throw. It hits him
Speaker 2: in the back and he scores and that was the
Speaker 2: beginning of the end for the Pirates in that ten
Speaker 2: run seventh inning for the Dodgers. I bring that up
Speaker 2: because Dalton Rushing was starting his third straight game because
Speaker 2: Will Smith missed his third straight game with that neck issue,
Speaker 2: and Dave Roberts conceded the Dodgers are considering putting Smith
Speaker 2: on the IL. And if you're wondering who the Dodgers'
Speaker 2: third catcher is at Oklahoma City, it's not Ben Roartfitt.
Speaker 2: It's a guy they brought into camp named Elizier Alfonso.
Speaker 2: And if the Dodgers do put Will Smith on the IL,
Speaker 2: I predict they'll call this guy up. Alfonso up because
Speaker 2: pitchers told me during spring training they really like throwing
Speaker 2: to him. He was a really good receiving catcher. He's
Speaker 2: an experienced guy. He's been in the league for professional baseball,
Speaker 2: I believe seven years. So remember that name. If Will
Speaker 2: Smith does eventually go on the IL, Alizia Alfonso will
Speaker 2: be Dalton Rushings back up until Will Smith figures out
Speaker 2: whatever his next issue is. Eight nine, eight seven, two
Speaker 2: five seventy is the phone number. Dodgers beat the Pirates
Speaker 2: tonight twelve to three on a night that Paul skeins
Speaker 2: when six innings, allowed just two earned runs and struck
Speaker 2: out seven. Eric Lower started this game for the Dodgers
Speaker 2: and held his own. You thought it might be a
Speaker 2: high scoring affair after Lower gave up back to back
Speaker 2: home runs to Brian Reynolds and Ryan O'Hearn in the
Speaker 2: first inning, but after that, Lower did not give up
Speaker 2: a run. Five and two thirds, five strikeouts, no walks
Speaker 2: on those two solo home runs. Back to back home
Speaker 2: runs were the only runs that Lower gave up. So
Speaker 2: when three starts, I would say Lower's fared pretty well.
Speaker 2: Two out of the three have been really good. He's
Speaker 2: gone into the sixth inning and two out of the three,
Speaker 2: so I would say holding down the fort pretty well
Speaker 2: until the Dodgers get Blake Snell back, and you know,
Speaker 2: whenever Tyler Glasnow comes back, River Ryan's looming as well.
Speaker 2: River Ryan now is fully built up. If the Dodgers
Speaker 2: need to create another extra off day, or if they
Speaker 2: want to give one of their starters a breather, River
Speaker 2: Ryan is ready to go, pitching really well for Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2: Before we say good night, I want to share with
Speaker 2: you what Chris Taylor told us last night, and you'll
Speaker 2: hear the full conversation or part of the full conversation
Speaker 2: tomorrow on the pregame show. But Chris Taylor joined us
Speaker 2: on Off Day Dodger Talk last night and shared with
Speaker 2: us what the real story was about the reports that
Speaker 2: he retired, unretired, and then retired again.
Speaker 11: The way it all went down was kind of strange.
Speaker 11: I didn't I wasn't anticipating making it public, and then
Speaker 11: it ended up getting leaked, I guess, and then and
Speaker 11: then people thought I was unretiring, and it was like
Speaker 11: kind of embarrassing. So then I was like, Okay, now
Speaker 11: I have to say something. But no, it was all fine.
Speaker 11: It was It was cool after I'm made the post
Speaker 11: or after it came out, seeing all the support. I
Speaker 11: got a lot of very nice texts, and yeah, it's
Speaker 11: cool to see all the love, especially from Dodgers fans.
Speaker 11: Obviously playing almost ten years with them, and you know,
Speaker 11: still I still think they're the best fans in baseball.
Speaker 11: And yeah, it always feels good to know that you
Speaker 11: were appreciated a lot of.
Speaker 2: Love from Dodger fans. When Chris Taylor announced his retirement
Speaker 2: and he showed a lot of love back to Dodger
Speaker 2: fans during his playing career and during that interview. To
Speaker 2: hear the full conversation, go to Dodger Talk on the
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app and you can download the entire interview with
Speaker 2: Chris Taylor from last night and interesting, right how things
Speaker 2: go down. People want to be the first, they want
Speaker 2: to jump on the story, and there was never any indecision.
Speaker 2: Chris Taylor was retiring period and he shared and set
Speaker 2: the record straight last night on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: That'll do it for us.
Speaker 2: Tonight tomorrow show, Hey Otani will be on the mound
Speaker 2: at PNC Park. Otani and sixty one innings this year
Speaker 2: has allowed just five earned runs that translates to a
Speaker 2: zero seventy four era. His record is six and two
Speaker 2: going up against another local kid, Southern California kid and
Speaker 2: Jared Jones, who and only two starts this year is
Speaker 2: one to zero with an ERA of four eighty two. Tomorrow,
Speaker 2: our coverage begins with Morongo Casino Dodgers on deck at
Speaker 2: two thirty. First pitch from P and C Park with
Speaker 2: Rick Monday and Tim Neverett at three forty and I
Speaker 2: wanted to remind you Downy Hunday are my good friends.
Speaker 2: Go see Sam and the crew this Thursday at Downy Hunday.
Speaker 2: They are going to have a World Cup watch party throughout.
Speaker 1: The World Cup.
Speaker 2: And also they're giving away a bunch of prizes this Thursday.
Speaker 2: And I think I saw on their social media they
Speaker 2: may have Tike It's to.
Speaker 1: The World Cup as well.
Speaker 2: This Thursday at Downey Hunday, show up and tell him.
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk and David Vass sent you, and who knows,
Speaker 2: you may even pick up a great down Downy Hyundai car.
Speaker 2: It's it's not just a car dealership. I'm telling you,
Speaker 2: it's it's something else, all right. Thanks to Colin you
Speaker 2: back at our Burbank studios. Thanks to Dwayne McDonald at
Speaker 2: P and C Park in Pittsburgh, and thanks to you
Speaker 2: for listening. In case you missed any of the show
Speaker 2: or our interviews, you know where to find it on
Speaker 2: the iHeartRadio app. Once again, the Dodgers scored ten runs
Speaker 2: in the seventh inning and beat the.
Speaker 1: Pirates twelve to three. Have a great rest of your night,
Speaker 1: See you and It's true.
Speaker 2: Seven Away