Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Basse for Dodger Talking.
Speaker 1: David Vasse with you until eight o'clock tonight here on
Speaker 1: a five seventy LA Sports. We'll get back to your
Speaker 1: phone calls in a moment eight sixty six nine eight
Speaker 1: seven two, five seventy. But we are joined right now,
Speaker 1: but by one of my favorite people. He has been
Speaker 1: a key member of Dave Roberts' coaching staff on their
Speaker 1: way to back to back World Series championships. He is
Speaker 1: the best third base coach in all of Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball and that is the one and only pride of Barstow, Dino, Ebel, Dino,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for calling in. Hey, you're at a hibernation.
Speaker 1: Thank you for calling in.
Speaker 2: Hey. Thanks David. Always great talking to you and looking
Speaker 2: forward to another championship season. Can't wait and getting ready
Speaker 2: to get to spring training.
Speaker 1: Have you have you worked with any of the players
Speaker 1: this offseason, Dino, have you seen any of the guys?
Speaker 2: Well, this week started with Kim's in town. Months he's
Speaker 2: in town, so there's gonna be guys coming in and
Speaker 2: out of the stadium. So yeah, we guys are coming
Speaker 2: in and getting work all winter long. Especially in the
Speaker 2: weight room. But now they're starting to get their routine down,
Speaker 2: getting some fly balls, ground ball. So it's getting closer
Speaker 2: to spring training, and that's when guys will start to
Speaker 2: come in at Dodgers Stadium and start getting prepared for
Speaker 2: spring training.
Speaker 1: Dino, Before we look forward, let's look back at an
Speaker 1: incredible World Series. First question is have you watched one
Speaker 1: of Game six or Game seven all the way through
Speaker 1: or is there a particular play that you go back
Speaker 1: to watch the most since you guys won Game seven.
Speaker 2: Well, David, to tell you the truth, with being at
Speaker 2: home and you know watching you know some highlights, I
Speaker 2: just I don't go through all all, you know, pitch
Speaker 2: to pitch, inning, the inning. But the highlights that I
Speaker 2: just keep going back to is Game six when Key K,
Speaker 2: you know, throws the ball on the soft you know,
Speaker 2: Lin's ride to left field and doubling up and Rojas
Speaker 2: making that great pick. And then Game seven just numerous
Speaker 2: defensive plays, one on Rojas and then you know the
Speaker 2: Paez and Kei k and left center and then seeing
Speaker 2: Yoshi come in and close that game out. So those
Speaker 2: are the things that just you know, the home run
Speaker 2: Rojas home run Will Smith in the eleventh goes deep
Speaker 2: to win it. But just going back to the Philly series,
Speaker 2: the comebacker and the pitcher throws it away just highlights,
Speaker 2: you know, parts of each series with the Brewers, you know,
Speaker 2: the dominant pitching we had in four game series, So
Speaker 2: show hayes ten punchouts and three home runs. So that's
Speaker 2: kind of what I usually look at. But what an
Speaker 2: incredible run, What an incredible series from Game one from
Speaker 2: Cincinnati to the Game seven in Toronto. Never will forget it,
Speaker 2: and what an exciting year.
Speaker 1: Two of the guys that you know really well were
Speaker 1: on the show before Christmas, and that was Mickey Hatcher
Speaker 1: and Mike Sosha, and you obviously are one of the
Speaker 1: best third base coaches out there, and you understand the
Speaker 1: value of ninety feet and each actually taking big leads
Speaker 1: from third base. They each said that Isaiah Kana Filefa,
Speaker 1: he should have taken a more aggressive lead, and if
Speaker 1: he did, we may not be celebrating back to back
Speaker 1: World Series championships. What did you think about that play?
Speaker 1: How close was it?
Speaker 2: Well, you're looking back and you know the game of inches,
Speaker 2: and yeah, if you know, if he gets off a
Speaker 2: little bit more left handed hitter. The odds are that
Speaker 2: you know, he's probably not going to hit into a
Speaker 2: line's ride on the left side of the diamond to
Speaker 2: double up the runner at third base. But you know,
Speaker 2: going back in the moment and then the dugout, I'm
Speaker 2: down there in the uh you know, far into the dugout,
Speaker 2: watching our defense, and I see the coach, third base
Speaker 2: coach febulous who's a good third base coach, go over
Speaker 2: to the line and he draws the line with his foot,
Speaker 2: So it's on it's on the it's on the video
Speaker 2: where you know, this is what can't blame the For me,
Speaker 2: you can't blame the player. This is what they hit.
Speaker 2: They teach in the organization. So Febulist goes down, draws
Speaker 2: the line, and then you know, the runner goes and
Speaker 2: puts his right foot on the line and doesn't move,
Speaker 2: which was as shortly they were worried about getting doubled
Speaker 2: up or back door by the catcher with a left
Speaker 2: handed batter. So uh, you know, I know everybody goes
Speaker 2: back and looks at the player and says, well, he
Speaker 2: should have got a little bit more. But for me,
Speaker 2: this is what Toronto teaches this is what the third
Speaker 2: base coach put, you know, the line in the in
Speaker 2: the dirt, and the player did exactly what he was
Speaker 2: supposed to do. Now going back, yeah, now we don't
Speaker 2: do that. We're a little bit more aggressive. You know.
Speaker 2: It's uh, you know, you get off. You know, I
Speaker 2: try to teach pitch to pitch. Now I look to
Speaker 2: see where the third basement is. And if you do
Speaker 2: take a shorter primary lead, then we got to get
Speaker 2: a better secondary lead. But if you get a bigger lead,
Speaker 2: then you got to cut down on the secondary lead.
Speaker 2: So one or the other what we do. That's what
Speaker 2: we would have done in that moment. But you can't
Speaker 2: blame the player. He did exactly what he was supposed
Speaker 2: to do with the organization teaches.
Speaker 1: Another key play in game seven was when Andy po
Speaker 1: Haz was fresh into the game. After that play and
Speaker 1: you know, you talk about being at the far end
Speaker 1: of the dugout, My understanding is that's where Paes was
Speaker 1: with his hoodie on when Dave Roberts said, go into
Speaker 1: the game for Tommy Edmand. Can you take us through
Speaker 1: what you saw on how how it transpired where Pahes
Speaker 1: was into the game and he he has that collision
Speaker 1: with Key Gange catches the ball right.
Speaker 2: He's down there, down there by me. He's you know,
Speaker 2: watching the game where everybody's standing up on here. You know,
Speaker 2: the game is on the line. And then you know
Speaker 2: his name is called, so Danny Lehman, the bench coach,
Speaker 2: runs over and tell Pa has grabs his glove and
Speaker 2: then you know they call time out and boom, there
Speaker 2: he goes, which you know, he's running out to the
Speaker 2: center field and in the moment, you know, I look
Speaker 2: at Edmund who's coming in from center field. He thinks
Speaker 2: we're going to run a five man infield. You know,
Speaker 2: he's he's looking at me like, where's my glove? And
Speaker 2: then I look down at the end of the bench
Speaker 2: and Bob Garrin. You know, it's signaling to me that hey,
Speaker 2: he's out of the game. So I tell Tommy that
Speaker 2: you're done. So he comes in the dugout and now
Speaker 2: you know it's we're not going to the five man infield.
Speaker 2: They decided not to, and you know we got the chopper.
Speaker 2: That's when you know Varshow chops the ball to Rojats.
Speaker 2: He makes the plate to play. But we had all
Speaker 2: the infielders in. But in that moment, yes, it was
Speaker 2: just you know, Dave thought, let's put in our best
Speaker 2: center fielder with the best arm, give us a chance.
Speaker 2: If it is hitting the outfield, we're in shallow, so
Speaker 2: that in that situation, they've got to go over our
Speaker 2: head to beat us. Some type of lines drive, shallow
Speaker 2: fly ball. We can have a plate to play. So yeah,
Speaker 2: that's that's looking back, that's living the moment. That's what happened,
Speaker 2: all right.
Speaker 1: Dino Ebel, the Dodgers third base coach, nobody has a
Speaker 1: better view of home runs than you do, and an
Speaker 1: experience of high fiving these guys every time they hit one.
Speaker 1: Take us through what you saw when Miguel Rojas tied
Speaker 1: the game when you were down to your final two outs,
Speaker 1: and what was it like congratulating him when he rounded
Speaker 1: third base?
Speaker 2: Oh man, that was just what a thrill. You know,
Speaker 2: I've been in some big moments, some big games where
Speaker 2: you know, last year, thirty three men Game one hits
Speaker 2: the Grand Slam, which we'll never forget that. But you
Speaker 2: know you're down, you're down to two outs and it's
Speaker 2: a three to two count. You know it's one out
Speaker 2: and You're just hoping that he can put the ball
Speaker 2: in play. You got show Hey on deck, you get
Speaker 2: a guy on so you know, maybe show Hey can
Speaker 2: hit a two run homer, you know, to put you ahead.
Speaker 2: But you know, the count goes to three and two,
Speaker 2: and you know, all I'm thinking out there is just
Speaker 2: come on, Rojas. He's a contact guy. I felt he
Speaker 2: was not going to you know, strike out. I knew,
Speaker 2: like you know what, anything around the plate, he's going
Speaker 2: to put a good swing on it. But when he
Speaker 2: hit it, my hand went straight up. I knew it
Speaker 2: was gone. Soon as he hit hit. You know, the
Speaker 2: sound of the bat, I look up and you know
Speaker 2: it acts just it went quiet, and just it was
Speaker 2: so quiet that when that ball went over the fence,
Speaker 2: I turned around. I mean, it's just pure chills, you know,
Speaker 2: in my body, and I see I see like our
Speaker 2: family section behind our dugout just going crazy. And that
Speaker 2: was the only thing I heard was our family section.
Speaker 2: So in the moment, it wasn't like a Dodger Stadium,
Speaker 2: you know, home run, because we're on the road, but
Speaker 2: it felt like it because of the crowd that was
Speaker 2: behind our dugouts, mainly all family section, but him coming
Speaker 2: around third base was probably the best feeling I had,
Speaker 2: just because he tied the game, giving us a chance
Speaker 2: to go into extra innings, and I felt we had
Speaker 2: a great chance winning if we went to extra innings
Speaker 2: on that one.
Speaker 1: With how quiet it was at Rogers Center after Rojas
Speaker 1: tied the game in the ninth inning, Dino, when he
Speaker 1: was coming around third base, could you hear his cleats
Speaker 1: come off the dirt? Was it that quiet that you
Speaker 1: could hear that?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah it was. He was, you know, yelling, you know,
Speaker 2: like you know, yeah, come on and let's go. And
Speaker 2: I looked over at our dugout and it's like, this
Speaker 2: is you know, everybody's out, you know, in front of
Speaker 2: that dugout, and just the emotion of playing baseball and
Speaker 2: having fun, and you know, you look back as a
Speaker 2: kid and it didn't matter. You're in Game seven. He
Speaker 2: ties it up with a home run with you know,
Speaker 2: one out in the ninth inning, you're on the road,
Speaker 2: and it's just pure excitement. That momentum just shipped it
Speaker 2: on our side, and they knew it. You know, you
Speaker 2: saw the look on Hoffman's face. I looked at him,
Speaker 2: I looked at their dougout. It was like they couldn't
Speaker 2: believe what happened. And all we heard, all I heard
Speaker 2: at third base was our family section and our dougout
Speaker 2: going crazy. So that was what that's living the moment,
Speaker 2: what I went through in that in that in that period.
Speaker 1: Of time, that's amazing. Deno Ebel, Dodgers third base coach,
Speaker 1: back to back World Series champion third base coach, is
Speaker 1: our guest. Was it similar when Will Smith hit his
Speaker 1: go ahead home run in the eleventh inning? Do you
Speaker 1: know similar experience with only hearing the family section?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, and you know Will, I mean, when he
Speaker 2: hits them, it was a no doubter or it was high. Uh,
Speaker 2: you know, I as soon as he hits it, I
Speaker 2: know it's gone. And I looked to our dougout. Everybody's
Speaker 2: jumping up over the railing there and they're coming out
Speaker 2: that dugout and I see Will. And when Will comes around,
Speaker 2: he's one of those guys that's got like super super
Speaker 2: strength that he doesn't you know, doesn't really realize, but
Speaker 2: his his adrenaline emotion. When he hit my hand, I thought,
Speaker 2: there goes my right fingers and just he crushed him
Speaker 2: so so hard I said, you know what, I didn't
Speaker 2: even feel it. But afterwards I told Will I said, man,
Speaker 2: you came close to breaking my whole hand, but you
Speaker 2: know what, I didn't care. And I just I love
Speaker 2: the moment and just just pure excitement is just you know,
Speaker 2: here in our crowd here and seeing our dougout going
Speaker 2: crazy is uh, you know, that's what we play for.
Speaker 2: And then went in at on that double play. I'll
Speaker 2: never forget it. So that's uh. It was a what
Speaker 2: a what a game seven?
Speaker 1: What a World series? The Dodgers celebrating back to back
Speaker 1: World Series championships looking for a three Pete and dinu
Speaker 1: Ebel is a big part of Dave Roberts' coaching staff now, Dino. Uh,
Speaker 1: everybody was a little surprised that the Dodgers were able
Speaker 1: to pull off signing Kyle Tucker. Did you have any
Speaker 1: hint that you were closing in on Kyle Tucker? And
Speaker 1: how much more improved is your outfield going to be
Speaker 1: with Tucker and right taoscar and left Dan pa has
Speaker 1: in center.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, you never, you know, you hear stuff,
Speaker 2: you know, like in the media, and you you know,
Speaker 2: you hear Andrew and Brendan Gomes saying that we're always
Speaker 2: open to you know, getting better. So you know, there
Speaker 2: was a rumor out there that we were looking for
Speaker 2: an outfielder. You know, we lost, we're losing a comforto.
Speaker 2: So you know there's call and there's you know, you
Speaker 2: know you have call there and you got you know,
Speaker 2: some guys who can platoon out there. But I just
Speaker 2: in the back of my mind, I felt like Andrew
Speaker 2: and Brandon Gomes and our ownership was going to do
Speaker 2: something very special. And you know, the Tucker got out there,
Speaker 2: and you know, I'm thinking, I'm not going to get
Speaker 2: excited until you know, you've been in this game long
Speaker 2: enough to where you hear all these rumors and whispers
Speaker 2: and you know things can fall in the last second.
Speaker 2: But what an exciting moment when I found out before
Speaker 2: they announced it that we came to an agreement with
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker. Now I had him in the WBC. What
Speaker 2: a great player. He's gonna Dodger fans are going to
Speaker 2: fall in love with this guy. He puts the ball
Speaker 2: in play, he's got power, He's a plus southfield or
Speaker 2: plus arm. So I think I saw I haven't talked
Speaker 2: to Dave yet, you know, probably this week sometime we
Speaker 2: always get together before spring training. But he made the
Speaker 2: comment that Pale is probably going to move over to
Speaker 2: left and Tucker and right. But our outfield now is
Speaker 2: it's going to be really good Kyle. Kyle's going to
Speaker 2: really help us try to repeat this thing. And what
Speaker 2: an explosive bat that you're going to add into that lineup.
Speaker 2: And we're deep all the way from one to nine.
Speaker 2: So I can't wait.
Speaker 1: Since you're the only guy on the team that has
Speaker 1: been around him, since you are part of Mark Durosa's
Speaker 1: coaching staff as well. What type of guy is Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 1: I know he's not a raw rod type of guy,
Speaker 1: but do you believe he does have the enthusiasm to
Speaker 1: grind out a season with the Dodgers?
Speaker 2: One hundred percent? This guy, he's a winner. He wants
Speaker 2: to win. That's why one of the reasons he chose
Speaker 2: to come to the Dodgers because he wants to win
Speaker 2: another World Series. So he's quiet, you don't know he's
Speaker 2: in the room. But those are the guys kind of
Speaker 2: reminds me like Mannarism type guy like Chris Taylor. When
Speaker 2: Chris Taylor talks, everybody listens, and uh, he just goes
Speaker 2: about his business. He's gonna be ready to play every day,
Speaker 2: every game, every inning. This is who he is. So
Speaker 2: you know that he'll uh he'll come into that clubhouse
Speaker 2: and there's some leadership in there. He'll add leadership to
Speaker 2: the to that clubhouse too. Because he's been in a
Speaker 2: championship game and he's got a ring. So I think
Speaker 2: he's gonna be a great addition to this club. And uh,
Speaker 2: he's he's gonna go about his business and and our
Speaker 2: club is great. You know, they're gonna they're gonna get
Speaker 2: along fine, and he's gonna be uh, you know, a
Speaker 2: big help for us when in uh you know this,
Speaker 2: uh this year's World Series once once we get started,
Speaker 2: so much to.
Speaker 1: Tap the brain of Dino Ebel for I mean, man,
Speaker 1: you talk about a lifetime of experience. How about just
Speaker 1: the last year. What an incredible ride for Dino. And
Speaker 1: you're gonna be back with Team USA and the World
Speaker 1: Baseball Classic again. How about uh, your old buddy Clayton Kershaw.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be joining the team this year. Uh what
Speaker 1: uh what effect is he going to have on Team USA?
Speaker 2: Uh? It's gonna be huge, you know, to have a
Speaker 2: guy like Clayton, and uh, you know, he goes out
Speaker 2: as back to back World Series champion and now he
Speaker 2: gets to put that USA jersey on, and you know
Speaker 2: the goal is to win a gold medal. So, uh,
Speaker 2: he's gonna add a lot to our pitching staff. Again,
Speaker 2: Mark de ros is managing how he uses him, I
Speaker 2: don't know. You know, we all get together on March first.
Speaker 2: We'll have five days of practice in Arizona and then
Speaker 2: we head to Houston. But uh, if I'm a pitcher
Speaker 2: on that pitching staff, man, I'm gonna be all ears
Speaker 2: and be asking, you know, a ton of questions to
Speaker 2: a first ballot Hall of Famer. So I can't wait
Speaker 2: till when they announce his name. I'm sure he's going
Speaker 2: to be excited. When I heard when Mark Durosa called
Speaker 2: us and Tota said Kershaw's joining us, man, I got
Speaker 2: the chills. And I can't wait to see Clayton. I
Speaker 2: know he's ready for this moment and help us win
Speaker 2: a gold medal. So looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: So are we. It'll be great to see twenty two
Speaker 1: with the stars and stripes on his jersey. Do you know,
Speaker 1: before I let you go, you already have been at
Speaker 1: Camel Back Ranch. You were there for the Adult Fantasy
Speaker 1: camp with a lot of the members of the eighty
Speaker 1: eight Dodgers. What was that experience like again with seeing
Speaker 1: so many guys that you've known for so long.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's always fun. You know. You go there for
Speaker 2: five days and all you do is you talk baseball,
Speaker 2: You bring up you hear stories that you know I
Speaker 2: first signed in nineteen eighty eight, and I'm here in Sacks,
Speaker 2: Mickey Hatcher, Mike Sosha, and Kenny Lando and Steve Garvey
Speaker 2: and just Billy Russell, just name after name guys, and
Speaker 2: you know they're just talking baseball and you're hearing, you're
Speaker 2: learning every day. I asked baseball questions to those guys.
Speaker 2: You know, they've managed in the big leagues, Rick Dempsey
Speaker 2: and I just it's always a thrill for me to
Speaker 2: be there for five days, and it's a blast to
Speaker 2: be with the campers and to be a Dodger and good.
Speaker 2: It's just a thing that I never say no to
Speaker 2: love going to them. But I was there four days
Speaker 2: earlier for Camp Blake Snell and he put on a
Speaker 2: great camp for the thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen you at Camelback.
Speaker 2: He's got something really good going with the young youth
Speaker 2: in the generation of today's game. So it was a
Speaker 2: good ten days for me in Arizona. Now I'm home
Speaker 2: now I'm looking forward to get back on February eleven,
Speaker 2: get on the field on the twelfth.
Speaker 1: Can't wait to see ninety one back in that third
Speaker 1: base coaching box this year. Din know, thanks a lot
Speaker 1: for the time. Great catching up with you, and you
Speaker 1: are invaluable. The Dodgers are very lucky to have you
Speaker 1: back in the organization because you are a wealth of
Speaker 1: knowledge and certainly a great person as well. So thank
Speaker 1: you for the time and can't wait to see you
Speaker 1: out there.
Speaker 2: Thanks David, always a pleasure talking baseball with you. Go Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Can't wait to get it going.
Speaker 1: Go Dodgers, no doubt. Deno Ebel part of Tommy Lasorda's
Speaker 1: coaching tree. He learned from the best, not only Tommy,
Speaker 1: but also Joe Amalfitano. So certainly Dave Roberts Andrew Freeman
Speaker 1: picked a great one to be the third base coach,
Speaker 1: and it was awesome to hear his experience being in
Speaker 1: the coaching box, Third base coaching box when Miguel Rojas
Speaker 1: hit his game tying home run and what it was
Speaker 1: like for him being on the field and hearing only
Speaker 1: the family section behind the dugout at a very quiet
Speaker 1: Rogers Center