Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Dodger Talk. David Vasse with you until
Speaker 2: eight o'clock tonight here on a five to seventy LA
Speaker 2: Sports And earlier this week, the Dodgers announced some promotion dates.
Speaker 2: But this is more than just getting a bobblehead on
Speaker 2: August fifteenth, the Dodgers are going to honor a man
Speaker 2: that certainly has had an impact on many generations, whether
Speaker 2: it's on the field or off the field. The Dodgers
Speaker 2: are honoring the great Reggie Smith by inducting him into
Speaker 2: their pseudo Hall of Fame, the Legends of Dodger Baseball
Speaker 2: before the August fifteenth game at Dodgers Stadium. Reggie Smith
Speaker 2: played seventeen seasons in Major League Baseball, six of those
Speaker 2: with the Dodgers. He was a seven time All Star,
Speaker 2: three of those playing for the Dodgers, and he won
Speaker 2: the World Series. It was a huge part of the
Speaker 2: dodgers a run from nineteen seventy seven to nineteen eighty one,
Speaker 2: and certainly the reason why the Dodgers are inducting Reggie
Speaker 2: Smith is not just about how great he was on
Speaker 2: the field, not just about his two thousand hits, not
Speaker 2: just about his three hundred and fourteen home runs or
Speaker 2: his two eighty seven lifetime batting average. It's the legacy
Speaker 2: that lives on through so many teachers across Major League baseball,
Speaker 2: minor league baseball, and youth baseball, because that's the type
Speaker 2: of impact Reggie Smith has had on so many people,
Speaker 2: and the great number eight. Reggie Smith joins us on
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk. Reggie, thank you so much and congratulations on
Speaker 2: getting this honor.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much, David, and thank you for the
Speaker 1: kind words and introduction there. I truly appreciate it.
Speaker 2: What does it mean to you, Reggie, when Lon Rosen
Speaker 2: and the Dodgers called you to let you know that
Speaker 2: you were going to going to be part of the
Speaker 2: legends of Dodger baseball. What was your first reaction.
Speaker 1: I was humbled, almost to the point of being a
Speaker 1: little emotional, to receive that kind of recognition and knowing
Speaker 1: that you know all of the great players, and let
Speaker 1: alone great players, the great men that have put on
Speaker 1: and worn that Dodger uniform that you know, to be
Speaker 1: selected amongst that, it's quite a humbling experience. And I'm
Speaker 1: sure it will be August fifteenth. But again, having grown
Speaker 1: up in the Los Angeles area era area here, it's special.
Speaker 1: It's a special feeling.
Speaker 2: When you were growing up in the Ala area, did
Speaker 2: you ever have dreams of playing for the Dodgers?
Speaker 1: I did, you know, And mainly because I was a
Speaker 1: Dodger before I became a Dodger, you know, having listening
Speaker 1: to games when in school, when the Dodgers were back
Speaker 1: in Brooklyn and they were in the World Series back
Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty five and fifty six, and then go
Speaker 1: and Behold in nineteen fifty eight. They're playing here. But
Speaker 1: because of you know, Jackie Robinson, who was my boyhood
Speaker 1: hero in baseball, all that he stood for that, you
Speaker 1: know what, I wanted to play for the Dodgers. Yes,
Speaker 1: I would have, But it was just like anything else.
Speaker 1: It was a little boys dream that that was fortunate
Speaker 1: enough to have come true.
Speaker 2: Reggie going to Centennial High School in Compton. Has it
Speaker 2: come full circle?
Speaker 1: Has you know? Because fortunately by the time I got
Speaker 1: to high school, the Dodgers were well entrenched here in
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles area. And but at the time when
Speaker 1: I was in high school, it was more I was
Speaker 1: thinking of playing football at that time, and pretty much
Speaker 1: had thought that that's what I was going to do,
Speaker 1: to hopefully go to college and play college football. But
Speaker 1: like they say, life intervened in that being my dad
Speaker 1: got sick and it was an opportunity for me to
Speaker 1: help the family because at that time, you know, you
Speaker 1: could sign with any team. There was no draft, and
Speaker 1: I was fortunate enough to get signed and ultimately developed
Speaker 1: the skills enough so that when I did come back,
Speaker 1: ultimately got traded to the Dodgers, came home when I
Speaker 1: was in the prime of my career, and my parents
Speaker 1: got to see me what I like to think when
Speaker 1: I was at my best, and certainly being a part
Speaker 1: of the Dodger organization who had so much tradition and
Speaker 1: winning that I was able to help and participate in
Speaker 1: World Series with him, which is every little boy's dream
Speaker 1: or every baseball player's dream. I think of playing in
Speaker 1: the World Series and winning.
Speaker 2: And you certainly did in nineteen eighty one with those
Speaker 2: group of Dodgers, Reggie Smith's first full season back home
Speaker 2: in LA. He only hit three zero seven and only
Speaker 2: slugged five seventy six with an ops of a thousand,
Speaker 2: making the All Star Team for the first of three
Speaker 2: times in Dodger Blue, now Reggie during that period of time,
Speaker 2: we always obviously celebrate the infield that came up together
Speaker 2: through the minor leagues. But for those that remember, it
Speaker 2: was when al Campanis acquired yourself, Dusty Baker, and Rick
Speaker 2: Monday in the outfield that seemed to really change the
Speaker 2: fortunes of the team. What do you remember about Uh
Speaker 2: coming in with those four or five guys with Jaeger included,
Speaker 2: to really become kind of the leaders of the team.
Speaker 1: Well, when when this trade was made for me coming
Speaker 1: over from Saint Louis, al Campanis at the time said
Speaker 1: that he believed that I was that missing piece. He
Speaker 1: Dusty had come UH in a trade that winter, and
Speaker 1: h I came during junior that summer during the trade
Speaker 1: deadline there and Monday came in that that winter. So
Speaker 1: what it was and those pieces that between Baker, myself
Speaker 1: and Monday they believed were the missing pieces that and
Speaker 1: it worked out well because we jeled and all had
Speaker 1: a similar mindset and goal to be the best that
Speaker 1: we can be and win ball games. And it was
Speaker 1: fun because, like I said, those key pieces were already
Speaker 1: there with the players the say Garvey Loats, Russell Jaeger
Speaker 1: and further, those pieces were there. The pitching was already there.
Speaker 1: We just came in and filled in that outfield to
Speaker 1: make one probably one of the most potent lineups that
Speaker 1: had been in history at that time, so that we
Speaker 1: could compete against anyone. And you look, making up almost
Speaker 1: twenty games or thirty games between the years before to
Speaker 1: where we started to dominate against the Reds and other
Speaker 1: teams in the National League.
Speaker 2: Yeah, back in the day, it was the big Red
Speaker 2: machine in the NL. Lasting they were dominating up until
Speaker 2: nineteen seventy seven, which happened to be Tomu Lasorda's first
Speaker 2: year as the manager of the Dodgers. What do you
Speaker 2: remember the most about the seventy seven season? And A,
Speaker 2: I know, the World Series did not go the way
Speaker 2: you guys wanted, but for the first time in a while,
Speaker 2: it wasn't about the Reds. It was about your Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Well it was you know, you had the big Red
Speaker 1: machine and we became the big Blue wrecking crew, you know.
Speaker 1: So the fact that we were able to have eight
Speaker 1: guys on that field at any time, you know that
Speaker 1: had to not only the desire the skills to win,
Speaker 1: but the desire to win and and make it happen
Speaker 1: were we were eight strong and the motivation off. Tommy
Speaker 1: during that off season had spoken to each one of
Speaker 1: us and it was the first time I ever had
Speaker 1: a manager ever say to me, I need you and
Speaker 1: this is what I would like to see you do
Speaker 1: for this BAFF club. But he had that same conversation
Speaker 1: with all the other players, and we made the commitment
Speaker 1: to doing just that. That we were going to win,
Speaker 1: and we were going to go to spring training and
Speaker 1: one of the sayings that I like to tell a guys,
Speaker 1: because I even said the same thing to mister O'Malley
Speaker 1: at the time, that look, we're not coming here to
Speaker 1: spring training to prepare to play the season. We're coming
Speaker 1: to spring training to prepare to play in the World
Speaker 1: Series and win. And that was our philosophy at that time.
Speaker 1: And that's what Tommy inspired and expected of us, and
Speaker 1: that that's what we did. We went out and did
Speaker 1: just that. Yeah, the World Series didn't turn out like
Speaker 1: we like. You know, it's a short series and it's
Speaker 1: the case where the best team, I believe doesn't always
Speaker 1: win because Baseball is that kind of game. But we
Speaker 1: got there, and we got to the World Series in doubt, didn't.
Speaker 1: We didn't accomplish that mission until nineteen eighty one, and
Speaker 1: that was to win.
Speaker 2: That is the pillar of strength, the voice Reggie Smith,
Speaker 2: who is going to be inducted into the Legends of
Speaker 2: Dodger Baseball this season August fifteenth. You want to get
Speaker 2: there early now. Reggie not only had a great playing career,
Speaker 2: but his legacy is going to live on because of
Speaker 2: how great of a person he is and how many
Speaker 2: lives he has tough. He currently runs the Reggie Smith
Speaker 2: Baseball Academy and Encino. My ten year old son has
Speaker 2: fallen in love with it because Reggie has done a
Speaker 2: great job of teaching the teachers. And Reggie coached for
Speaker 2: the Dodger organization from nineteen eighty nine to nineteen ninety
Speaker 2: eight and still has had an impression on Major leaguers
Speaker 2: like Max Free to this day. With all that being said,
Speaker 2: Reggie and your playing career speaks for itself, But does
Speaker 2: it mean more to you to have this lasting impact
Speaker 2: on so many people, even when you're eighty years old
Speaker 2: and you can't play baseball anymore.
Speaker 1: You know who as I said with Jackie Robinson, And
Speaker 1: what did Jackie say, you know, the legacy. If there's
Speaker 1: anything he wanted to believe that was important to him
Speaker 1: was the impact that it had on other lives. Well,
Speaker 1: if that which Jackie's philosophy and how he wanted to
Speaker 1: be remembered, that's what I wanted to do. So being
Speaker 1: off the field absolutely more to me than what accomplished
Speaker 1: from a stair than what I accomplished on the field,
Speaker 1: because to give individuals hopes and instill confidence and the
Speaker 1: things in them that they need to hopefully be the
Speaker 1: productive life, whether it's through how the things that they
Speaker 1: attain attained through education or having baseball as a vehicle
Speaker 1: to be able to attain those things. I felt that
Speaker 1: that has been my purpose and my goal in life
Speaker 1: is to help others be able to, especially in baseball,
Speaker 1: play this little boy's game and have fun doing it.
Speaker 1: And you know, if anything, just just just be a
Speaker 1: good person, teak people like you want to be treated.
Speaker 1: And the rewards that I've received of seeing my students
Speaker 1: and the people that I've touched be successful and enjoy
Speaker 1: the game. And more importantly, I asked him if there's
Speaker 1: anything that you can give me, give back and share
Speaker 1: the things that were shared with you, because as my
Speaker 1: mother taught me a long time ago, the only way
Speaker 1: to keep a gift is that you have to share it.
Speaker 1: So that's that's what I endeavor to do. And the
Speaker 1: reward is saying and having kids enjoy Like you said
Speaker 1: your son that it made me really feel good that
Speaker 1: he said that he had fun there and he wants
Speaker 1: to come back. So then what else do you want?
Speaker 1: What else can you expect to have a child and
Speaker 1: have someone have fun and enjoy what they're did and
Speaker 1: hopefully take those lessons that they've learned in baseball and
Speaker 1: use them throughout their lives.
Speaker 2: I think that's the greatest compliment Reggie. A ten year
Speaker 2: old kid and ten year old kids that show up
Speaker 2: to the Reggie Smith Baseball Academy that never saw you
Speaker 2: play know who Reggie Smith is and are proud to
Speaker 2: say they went there. And I think that's a testament
Speaker 2: to you and the way you've taught your coaches. That's
Speaker 2: a special gift.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you. I appreciate it, and it's sharing a
Speaker 1: gift that was shared with me. And as long as
Speaker 1: I'm able to do that, and I will continue to
Speaker 1: offer that because as a blessing, because I was blessed
Speaker 1: with the ability to do it.
Speaker 2: Reggie Smith as our guest, Reggie, I got to ask
Speaker 2: you a baseball question with what's going on even before
Speaker 2: a single game is played in spring training? We've had
Speaker 2: superstars like Corbin Carro, Francisco Lindor Jackson holiday fracture the
Speaker 2: handmade bone. What do you make of that? It doesn't
Speaker 2: seem like it's a coincidence. Is it because of the
Speaker 2: training of these players during the off season? What do
Speaker 2: you make of three big time players breaking their handmade
Speaker 2: bone before spring training?
Speaker 1: I would venture to say that they are probably overlapping
Speaker 1: the little finger on the bottom hand of the hand
Speaker 1: that the bat is the extension up. So in other words,
Speaker 1: they might be overlapping where either that the pinky finger
Speaker 1: is resting on the knob or just below it. And
Speaker 1: what that does. That puts the pressure on the handmade
Speaker 1: bunk in the hands. It's actually probably more common injury
Speaker 1: then the people know. But I don't know for sure.
Speaker 1: I would have to feed how these guys are gripping
Speaker 1: the bats, But I believe that to be the cause
Speaker 1: of it. Because of that that pressure. You see, the
Speaker 1: grip of the bat is mainly held in the the
Speaker 1: bottom three fingers from in from the middle finger, ring finger,
Speaker 1: and the pinky finger. That's where most of the pressure
Speaker 1: is applied to strength in terms of the grip of
Speaker 1: the bat, so that if you put the knob of
Speaker 1: the bat on that little finger there, it positions it
Speaker 1: perfectly on that handmade bonk and to cause injury.
Speaker 2: That's a great explanation from one of the best hitting
Speaker 2: coaches you will ever find. Extended. Tim Wallack's career brought
Speaker 2: Mike Piazza back to camp and he went on to
Speaker 2: have a Hall of Fame career. To mention just the
Speaker 2: two of the many impacts that he has had as
Speaker 2: a coach and as a teammate, Reggie, look forward to
Speaker 2: celebrating you at Dodgers Stadium. Hopefully we can do this
Speaker 2: before then, but you know how many people are really
Speaker 2: happy that you're going to be celebrated, and rightfully so,
Speaker 2: I can't thank you enough, and everybody has so much
Speaker 2: reverence for you, So thank you so much for your.
Speaker 1: Time, thank you and thank you for the recognition and
Speaker 1: certainly for Lon and the Dodgers to bestowing this dis
Speaker 1: prestigious honor on me, and again I'm truly humbled and
Speaker 1: appreciative of it. Thank you for having me on Dave.
Speaker 2: All Right, there is Reggie Smith shade him taking as
Speaker 2: much time as he did to share a lot of
Speaker 2: stories and memories and just what makes Reggie Smith so
Speaker 2: respected and why he has affected so many people in
Speaker 2: the game of baseball and also you know, doing what
Speaker 2: he's done with the Reggie Smith Baseball Academy out there
Speaker 2: and Encinos. So thank you to Reggie for his time
Speaker 2: and looking forward to celebrating him on August fifteenth when
Speaker 2: he is inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball.