Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: It's the Dodgers and Brewers getting set for first pitch,
Speaker 2: and we're joined right now by the man that is
Speaker 2: the best national baseball person out there multimedia from the
Speaker 2: Athletic to Fox Sports, and he was here for Saturday's game,
Speaker 2: and that's the one and only Ken Rosenthal. Ken, thanks
Speaker 2: a lot for the time.
Speaker 1: Appreciate it, David, thank you for the build up. I
Speaker 1: don't know if any of that's true, but I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: You know it is. You're safe on the Dodgers side, Ken,
Speaker 2: I hope so.
Speaker 1: I'm not safe anywhere actually, But okay, how.
Speaker 2: Much do you enjoy going over to the Brewers and
Speaker 2: talking to those young group of players.
Speaker 1: Actually, the Brewers are one of my favorite teams. And
Speaker 1: when I say favorite, I don't mean as far as
Speaker 1: winning and losing. I just like following them. They surprise
Speaker 1: us every year. It's often with new characters. The manager
Speaker 1: is a colorful guy, and every year I think this
Speaker 1: is it. They won't be able to sustain it, and
Speaker 1: every year they prove me wrong.
Speaker 2: We always hear David versus Goliath in the World Series
Speaker 2: but isn't Dodgers, Brewers n LCS the epitome of David
Speaker 2: Versus Goliath.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Milwaukee is I believe, the smallest market in the game,
Speaker 1: or if not, one of the bottom two or three,
Speaker 1: and yet them, Tampa Bay and Cleveland, those are three examples,
Speaker 1: and actually Sacramento is becoming another example. These teams do
Speaker 1: it without the great resources that the Dodgers and the
Speaker 1: other teams have. And with the Brewers, what's astonishing about
Speaker 1: them is not only do they have one of the
Speaker 1: best teams in Major League Baseball right now, they have
Speaker 1: one of the best systems. They have prospects coming. They
Speaker 1: may replace the entire left side of their infield in
Speaker 1: short order here because they've got two kids coming up
Speaker 1: behind Ortiz and whoever they're playing a third, then they
Speaker 1: have two kids behind them who might be better than
Speaker 1: those two. So it's really impressive to see how they
Speaker 1: go about this year after year.
Speaker 2: How do you believe they view themselves in comparison to
Speaker 2: the Dodgers when they seemingly find each other in the
Speaker 2: postseason every other year.
Speaker 1: I don't believe that they look at themselves in a
Speaker 1: way that's comparative to the Dodgers. They just have to
Speaker 1: do it their way, and which is not to spend
Speaker 1: money necessarily, but developed like crazy, make trades like the
Speaker 1: Caleb Durbin trade that will go in their favor. At
Speaker 1: least to this point it has. And they know they're
Speaker 1: not going to compete for a Kyle Tucker or a
Speaker 1: Mookie Betts or anybody like that. But they have Christian Yelich.
Speaker 1: He's their guy and he's a great leader for them.
Speaker 1: And again they just go about it in their way,
Speaker 1: and their way, even in this tilted world of Major
Speaker 1: League Baseball, is rather successful.
Speaker 2: Ken Rosenthal as are a guest as we get ready
Speaker 2: for first pitch between the Dodgers and Brewers. All right, Ken,
Speaker 2: you always have great perspective. We're so in it in
Speaker 2: LA when it comes to the Dodgers. Dodger fans are
Speaker 2: really spoiled. But when you watch the Dodgers, when you
Speaker 2: jump in and cover them for a series like this,
Speaker 2: how do you view them? Are they still the overwhelming
Speaker 2: favorite to win the World Series?
Speaker 1: Yes? And the reason I say that is because of
Speaker 1: the players they have on the injured list who are
Speaker 1: going to come back and probably come back just in time,
Speaker 1: Like they did last year, Snell Glass now Edwin Diaz,
Speaker 1: we forget about him. So beyond that, they have in
Speaker 1: their own way this ethic where like the Brewers, they
Speaker 1: know how to win. They know how to win a
Speaker 1: crunch time. We saw in the San Diego series, suddenly
Speaker 1: they rose up again. And there's a lot to that.
Speaker 1: You can't measure it. It doesn't come through an exit
Speaker 1: velocity or spin rate. He comes through in what they
Speaker 1: did in Game seven and what they do year after year.
Speaker 1: Now they're not always successful. People forget that. San Diego
Speaker 1: almost got him two years ago, Toronto almost got him
Speaker 1: last year. But they're still the team to beat, going
Speaker 1: to be the team to be until someone knocks them off.
Speaker 1: And I know that they go through these periods in
Speaker 1: the regular season where they look have a sleep disinterested.
Speaker 1: Joel Sherman, my friend from New York Post, said they
Speaker 1: treat the regular season like an annoying appetizer to the
Speaker 1: main course, which is true. But that said, they know
Speaker 1: how to do it, and they still.
Speaker 2: Know how to go about this. You were around the
Speaker 2: Yankees twenty years ago, twenty five years ago when they
Speaker 2: three peted and went to four straight World Series. Do
Speaker 2: the Dodgers remind you of those Yankee teams, especially the
Speaker 2: third one in the regular season.
Speaker 1: To a degree. Yes, And those Yankee teams had that
Speaker 1: special quality too, where when it was time to turn
Speaker 1: it up, they turned it up. Now it might have
Speaker 1: been four straight if not for Luis Gonzales off Mariano Rivera,
Speaker 1: and it was just a great run. Now they had
Speaker 1: this amazing group, a core four and beyond that because
Speaker 1: Bernie Williams wasn't part of the corps for it. But
Speaker 1: great teams always have that in common. The Chicago Bulls
Speaker 1: when Jordan had that, right, I mean, growing up I
Speaker 1: was a New York Islanders fan in the eighties, they
Speaker 1: had that. We can all name teams that were a
Speaker 1: cut above in terms of their understanding of how to
Speaker 1: compete and how to win. The Dodgers have that, So yes,
Speaker 1: could I see them winning a third straight? Could I
Speaker 1: see them being compared to those Yankee teams late nineties,
Speaker 1: early two thousands? Absolutely?
Speaker 2: And thanks a lot for the time. Always great to
Speaker 2: catch up with you. And I'm always curious to hear
Speaker 2: the perspective of guys like you that saw those Yankee
Speaker 2: teams and how the Dodgers navigate life.
Speaker 1: It was a long time ago. My memory is a
Speaker 1: little bit fuzzy about those years. That's twenty five years now.
Speaker 1: But Jeter set an example. I petted and Rivera and
Speaker 1: Posada and Tory was an amazing manager for them, just
Speaker 1: as Roberts is an amazing manager for the Dodgers. Like
Speaker 1: the right guy. So there is something there. And those
Speaker 1: Yankee teams were very special, no doubt.
Speaker 2: Thanks Ken, Thank you David