Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Basse or Dodger Talker.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Dodger Talk. David Vasse with you until
Speaker 1: eight o'clock tonight here on AM five to seventy LA
Speaker 1: Sports and the Dodgers have had a lot of great
Speaker 1: players come through their doors since Andrew Friedman took over.
Speaker 1: Specifically one of them that kind of changed the culture
Speaker 1: when he arrived and they acquired him. That's the one
Speaker 1: and only Chase Sutley. Chase is out here at Dodger Camp.
Speaker 1: Great to see you back out here, David.
Speaker 2: Great to be out here and great to be talking
Speaker 2: with you.
Speaker 1: Oh, come on, you know it. I'm the only guy
Speaker 1: that keeps you humble.
Speaker 2: That is whatever you need. Let's let's wrap. Do you okay?
Speaker 1: You have this reputation when you were playing that obviously
Speaker 1: you were an intense player. Do you feel like now
Speaker 1: post playing where people still feel like you're unapproachable.
Speaker 2: The ones that don't know me. Yeah, I believe so.
Speaker 3: I felt like on the on the field, I needed
Speaker 3: to have a certain persona and something to get me
Speaker 3: to play my best, and that was to be take
Speaker 3: it extremely serious and have some type of intimidating features,
Speaker 3: so that I felt like that gave me a slight
Speaker 3: advantage on the field.
Speaker 2: Off the field, not not quite so much.
Speaker 1: You do things with a purpose, not only going against
Speaker 1: the competition, but did you feel the edge that you
Speaker 1: brought was something of a strategy to keep your teammates also,
Speaker 1: you know, focused on the task at hand.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: At a young age, I was always taught to try
Speaker 3: to try to lead by by example.
Speaker 2: Do it on the field. You don't necessarily do it
Speaker 2: by what you say. So I try to lead that way.
Speaker 3: And it really depends on the on the on the
Speaker 3: personnel and the team. But I feel like if everyone kind
Speaker 3: of has that similar mindset, it can be it can
Speaker 3: really create a winning culture.
Speaker 1: We've talked about this a few times. People know that
Speaker 1: you went over the pond for three years. Are you
Speaker 1: permanently back in the States and are you are you
Speaker 1: ted lassode? Have they turned you into ted Lass? Or
Speaker 1: you still baseball?
Speaker 3: Chase Utlely still still baseball, but I have become a
Speaker 3: football fan is what you would call it over there.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I really enjoyed our time living over there
Speaker 3: for three years. Had a blast with my wife and
Speaker 3: my kids, and saw all of Europe really showed them
Speaker 3: something that they wouldn't necessarily see. So we're happy that
Speaker 3: we did it. But we're also happy to be back,
Speaker 3: happy to be back in southern California.
Speaker 1: Are you back with the Dodgers because you were a
Speaker 1: vital part after you stop playing a part of the
Speaker 1: game planning for the Dodgers, do you feel like you
Speaker 1: want to get back into that role.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm here. It's being training. I'll be around.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, you might have to see me a little bit
Speaker 3: more throughout the course of the season. But yeah, obviously,
Speaker 3: as we all know, amazing organization Andrews Andrew is the
Speaker 3: best out there. So to have the ability to to learn,
Speaker 3: to continue to learn, absorb, interact with the current big
Speaker 3: league guys, maybe make some relationships on the minor league level.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm just here to help.
Speaker 1: Where you at in your baseball life or your post playing.
Speaker 1: Are you still searching for where you fit wanting to
Speaker 1: be part of the game or do you feel like
Speaker 1: you want to be in the evaluation part of it
Speaker 1: or do you still feel like maybe there's a place
Speaker 1: for you in the dugout somewhere.
Speaker 2: I was still still trying to feel it out.
Speaker 3: You know, I, as we mentioned, I have a young
Speaker 3: family that I enjoy being around and enjoy spending time with.
Speaker 3: So right now I'm happy with what we're doing, which
Speaker 3: is spending some time with with with the Dodgers and
Speaker 3: the front office and their and their players, but also.
Speaker 2: Have some time for my family. So right now we're
Speaker 2: in a good spot.
Speaker 1: When Zach Grienky played for the Dodgers, he was very
Speaker 1: famous in making trades and trying to pretend to be
Speaker 1: Andrew Friedman or a guy in that position. When you played,
Speaker 1: did you evaluate or gauge the temperature on players that
Speaker 1: you were playing against, playing with? Do you feel like
Speaker 1: you have that knack for evaluation.
Speaker 2: To be honest?
Speaker 3: Yeah, At a young age, no, you're just your focus
Speaker 3: on yourself and trying to figure out how to how
Speaker 3: to improve and help your team win. But as you
Speaker 3: age a little bit, you have a little bit of
Speaker 3: different perspective. So yes, you definitely recognized talent on the
Speaker 3: other side, good and bad. And yes you're always, you know,
Speaker 3: making mental cues of guys that you hope at some
Speaker 3: point you have the ability to play with the guys
Speaker 3: that could possibly hit make.
Speaker 2: You better, and I mean Andrew does.
Speaker 3: Andrew and his team do a pretty good job of
Speaker 3: finding the best guys out there.
Speaker 1: I've been doing this too long. I remember the day
Speaker 1: that Chase Utley arrived in the Dodger club house. It
Speaker 1: was in Houston in twenty sixteen when the Dodgers acquired
Speaker 1: you from the Phillies. You mentioned Andrew Friedman from where
Speaker 1: it was when he traded for you to where he
Speaker 1: has the Dodger organization. Now, what has he turned this into?
Speaker 3: Well, I mean the current team last, I mean the
Speaker 3: current team the last few years is pretty pretty talented.
Speaker 3: But I think his vision early on was to one
Speaker 3: identify what was going on in the organization and see
Speaker 3: if there's areas to improve, and slowly but surely he's
Speaker 3: done that year after year, and now they're in a
Speaker 3: pretty good spot with with the talent that they have,
Speaker 3: with the young guys coming up, they're they're in position
Speaker 3: to win for for a long time. I know they've
Speaker 3: from a division standpoint, they've they've won a lot over
Speaker 3: the past ten years. They've I think they've created a
Speaker 3: culture here that has a winning vibe and these guys
Speaker 3: are most of these guys are superstars, but that they
Speaker 3: work like they're hungry rookies, which you don't see very
Speaker 3: opt in.
Speaker 2: But there's a reason why they're so successful.
Speaker 1: There's so much focus on the payroll the last couple
Speaker 1: of years. But does Andrew and his staff not get
Speaker 1: enough credit for what you mentioned the culture and be
Speaker 1: the infrastructure to support players to be their best.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I mean, obviously talent helps to win games,
Speaker 3: but you need a common theme within in the clubhouse,
Speaker 3: at least in my opinion, to sustain that success over time.
Speaker 2: And they've they've created that. They've they've created that a
Speaker 2: while ago, and it's and it's lasting, and it's it's
Speaker 2: good for it's good for these guys that.
Speaker 3: Are, you know, in the middle middle of their career
Speaker 3: to recognize what they need to do. But it's also
Speaker 3: great for the young guys coming up seeing how hard
Speaker 3: these superstars work. I think, I truly believe that this
Speaker 3: culture will last for a long time.
Speaker 1: Do you appreciate these group of players because I remember
Speaker 1: when you played, you were on a time schedule for
Speaker 1: yourself to prepare. Every minute was accounted for. It similar
Speaker 1: to show Heyo Tani and you know, Mookie Bets and
Speaker 1: these guys. Does it look familiar to you where these
Speaker 1: guys are on such a schedule to prepare to play
Speaker 1: every night, It does.
Speaker 3: Look familiar, and it's it's it's great to see it.
Speaker 3: I mean, these guys know what they need to do
Speaker 3: and get ready. Everyone's got a slightly different program. At
Speaker 3: the end of the day, They're all have a program
Speaker 3: to get them ready for the seven five start. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and that's what's what's most important. So again, I can't
Speaker 3: reiterate enough, but like for these young players especially, it's
Speaker 3: bering training that are seeing these guys work. It's it's
Speaker 3: good that they can see guys with amazing work ethics.
Speaker 3: I've seen the opposite where young prospects, young players see
Speaker 3: you guys that don't have a work ethic like these
Speaker 3: guys do, and they think that's the way to do it,
Speaker 3: and it's not.
Speaker 1: Chase Sutley is our guest. He's an LA guy. Long
Speaker 1: beach u c LA eventually finished his career with the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you can appreciate this. Yesterday, pat Riley got
Speaker 1: his statue and he talked about the business of the
Speaker 1: NBA business of sports, where guys come and go. You
Speaker 1: had such a lasting effect on your teammates in Philly,
Speaker 1: but we got to see it here in LA with
Speaker 1: Corey Seeger and key Y Hernandez, among others. Do you
Speaker 1: still keep in touch with those guys? Do you do
Speaker 1: they reach out to you for any sort of advice?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I still keep in touch with them.
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously everyone's kind of spread out a little bit,
Speaker 3: but yeah, usually, like we text back and forth when
Speaker 3: there's when there's something something to talk about that that's important.
Speaker 2: I appreciate that they used me for.
Speaker 3: Advice, but these guys, these guys are now starting to
Speaker 3: become grown men.
Speaker 2: But I'm always there for him, Chase.
Speaker 1: Before I let you go, I've wanted to ask you this.
Speaker 1: I told you I have bi weekly conversations with rich Hill,
Speaker 1: and he somehow Someway still brings up the burn of
Speaker 1: the way the twenty seventeen World Series went down. That
Speaker 1: was your last Major League game, Game seven of the
Speaker 1: seventeen World Series. A lot of people, me included, felt
Speaker 1: like you guys were robbed of what should have been yours.
Speaker 1: How have you come to peace with it? How have
Speaker 1: you processed it over the years?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it doesn't make you feel good about it.
Speaker 3: I'm happy that everything has come out and the attention
Speaker 3: was put on on that. I mean, it's I think
Speaker 3: it's help for these guys now that we're a part
Speaker 3: of that. It's helpful that they have a few world
Speaker 3: series under their belt since then. I was able to
Speaker 3: get one in Philadelphia. So had I not got that,
Speaker 3: I think I probably would have a slightly different and
Speaker 3: in But yeah, we didn't feel good about it. We
Speaker 3: we prepared it, just.
Speaker 2: We didn't prepare for the for what happened.
Speaker 1: You don't seem to be a guy that just continues
Speaker 1: to stew over things. Do you ever think about it
Speaker 1: before a guy like me brings it up.
Speaker 3: No, I haven't thought about it for a while, to
Speaker 3: be honest with you, it's kind of in the past.
Speaker 3: Those guys, a lot of those guys, uh forever will
Speaker 3: be part of that group and they'll live with it
Speaker 3: for for the rest of their lives.
Speaker 1: How special was that seventeen Dodgers team.
Speaker 3: It was great because we had a mixture of young
Speaker 3: and old, and it was a lot of energy, a
Speaker 3: lot of fun, a lot of trying to figure figure
Speaker 3: figure it out. There were some growing pains, but overall
Speaker 3: we had a pretty pretty pretty solid team and to
Speaker 3: get to that point knowing they had a little bit
Speaker 3: extra help should make us feel good, although it doesn't necessarily.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, but Chase Suttley, it is a champion of
Speaker 1: a person, champion of a player, and Miguel Rojas is
Speaker 1: right there. So everybody has a story about Game seven
Speaker 1: where they were watching it. You said you were in
Speaker 1: London for three years. Where was Chase Utley watching the
Speaker 1: World Series? Specifically Game seven, the ninth inning, the home
Speaker 1: run and the incredible play Rojas and Smith made in
Speaker 1: the ninth inning.
Speaker 3: I was in la I was on my couch with
Speaker 3: his few friends watching it and biting my nails and
Speaker 3: sweating and nervous like pretty much everyone else was. But
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't think there's been a better World Series.
Speaker 3: Obviously it helps that your team wins, but overall, just
Speaker 3: the different moments, the Dowerde moments in that game you
Speaker 3: just don't see happen very often, especially in one particular game,
Speaker 3: and it happens to be Game seven. So I mean,
Speaker 3: these guys are preparing right now for that moment, so
Speaker 3: hopefully they get to do it again. But yes, I
Speaker 3: was on my couch sweat and bullets.
Speaker 1: I feel more anxious watching the replays of the infield
Speaker 1: in play with Rojas throwing out kind of philefa at home.
Speaker 1: How difficult is that for a second basement in that
Speaker 1: especially in that moment, a.
Speaker 2: Tough play, it's I mean, it's a do or I play.
Speaker 2: The game's over, it's not.
Speaker 3: And I mean maybe he's an amazing defensive specialist out there,
Speaker 3: so he can kind of do whatever he wants. And
Speaker 3: it's his his instincts that made it happen. When you
Speaker 3: first see the player, like ooh, he's backed up on
Speaker 3: the ball, but he was able to pick it cleanly
Speaker 3: and fire it. But that's what makes him so special
Speaker 3: that he has the ability to put his body in.
Speaker 2: Those positions and still make plays.
Speaker 1: Chase, thank you for laying me tap into you. When
Speaker 1: you were playing, you always had a time schedule, limited time,
Speaker 1: and you have so much to offer the game. You
Speaker 1: have such a high baseball IQ and the Dodgers are
Speaker 1: lucky that you live in LA and you can be
Speaker 1: part of this organization to help them grow and be
Speaker 1: the best that they can be. And you know you'll
Speaker 1: still come tiger claw over anybody's neck, including mine, So
Speaker 1: don't get it twisted. He's on the off the Skuys
Speaker 1: you ever meet. But I feel like I've softened. I've
Speaker 1: humanized Chase Suttley here right now on the.
Speaker 2: Field, slightly right now, in this moment.
Speaker 1: Yes, do we hug or no hug?
Speaker 2: Still we give, we give high five knuckles. Here we go. Okay, okay, David,
Speaker 2: but thank you, thanks for having me on. Can't wait
Speaker 2: to do it again.
Speaker 1: Awesome. Chase Sutley might even come in studio or I
Speaker 1: might even go to his house to do the show
Speaker 1: one day.
Speaker 2: You make sure he's going to my house. But we'll see,
Speaker 2: we'll see.