Speaker 1: And an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: He's back. Keyk Hernandez is back tonight, starting at third
Speaker 1: base for the Dodgers, his first major League game since
Speaker 1: Game seven of last year's World Series. Key K, thanks
Speaker 1: a lot for the time. I know they really wore
Speaker 1: you out earlier, so I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Thanks.
Speaker 3: I guess, yeah, I'm excited to be here talking to
Speaker 3: you about baseball again.
Speaker 1: Yeah. We've seen you out here for every home stand
Speaker 1: taking ground balls at third base, but obviously you knew
Speaker 1: you weren't going to play in those games. So now
Speaker 1: that it's arrived, can you describe your feelings on your
Speaker 1: opening night.
Speaker 3: I'm excited, man, I was kind of worried because in
Speaker 3: Triple A I wasn't really Guys would ask me, are
Speaker 3: you excited to be back playing?
Speaker 2: I was like, ah, not really.
Speaker 3: But then yesterday I was, you know, at the airport,
Speaker 3: and I'd be walking just thinking about being back and
Speaker 3: all that thing, and I would catch myself smiling. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm definitely excited, a little bit of nervous jitters. So,
Speaker 3: you know, feeling pretty pretty excited to be back, and
Speaker 3: you know, pretty happy to be back on the baseball grind.
Speaker 1: Those feelings must remind you how much you love this
Speaker 1: game still, because if you didn't have them, then maybe
Speaker 1: your time with this game is over.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, definitely.
Speaker 3: I always have a hard time finding the balance because
Speaker 3: we all know that October's though the actual the games
Speaker 3: that excite me. But uh, you know, I battle with
Speaker 3: my brain and I lie to myself to to feel excited.
Speaker 2: But now you know it.
Speaker 3: Just it feels like you're always getting those nervous jitters
Speaker 3: in spring training and this or not in spring training
Speaker 3: opening day, and this feels like it. So I'm excited,
Speaker 3: excited to be back. I have a dilemma now, I
Speaker 3: don't know what song to use as a walk up song.
Speaker 3: I haven't thought about it, so I need to figure
Speaker 3: that out right now before game time.
Speaker 2: And yeah, just happy to be back.
Speaker 1: Can you give us a preview of the three that
Speaker 1: you may be thinking of? Absolutely not, Okay, I was
Speaker 1: worried about you in Oklahoma City. I did send you
Speaker 1: a text because I was concerned that you were on
Speaker 1: a minor league rehab assignment for that long at Triple A.
Speaker 1: So how did you deal with being in the minors
Speaker 1: for so long again for the first time in a
Speaker 1: long time.
Speaker 3: I don't know what you mean, man, I you know,
Speaker 3: I was just there playing. Like I told the guys,
Speaker 3: they have a great group of guys there, so my
Speaker 3: three weeks would have felt a lot longer. But you know,
Speaker 3: I had a great time with those guys, you know,
Speaker 3: just bonding, talking baseball, getting to know them a little better.
Speaker 3: They have a really a lot of really good players
Speaker 3: on that team. And Ei, there's something that I didn't know.
Speaker 3: Albuquerque has a huge Doctor fan base.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't know that.
Speaker 3: That was very overwhelming. I felt like I couldn't leave
Speaker 3: my hotel room.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I used to be their Triple A affiliate back in
Speaker 1: the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah I knew that.
Speaker 3: But you know, that doesn't mean that they're going to
Speaker 3: be Dodger fans. But I learned that the hard way.
Speaker 3: It was very humbling. There was a lot of fans
Speaker 3: at the games, you know, I felt like a home
Speaker 3: game in a way, And yeah, I was.
Speaker 2: It was cool to see KK.
Speaker 1: You talked about earlier with the media, just your responsibility
Speaker 1: in the clubhouse now and how you're one of the
Speaker 1: leaders that kind of check guys when they need to
Speaker 1: be checked what was it like being the veteran at
Speaker 1: Triple A for some of these young guys that have
Speaker 1: gotten their taste want to get their chance. What was
Speaker 1: it like for you to kind of be a mentor
Speaker 1: in that way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was fun.
Speaker 3: It's the first time in my life I've been the
Speaker 3: oldest guy on the team, so that was different. In Albuquerque,
Speaker 3: actually everybody, everybody's birthday would go up in the Joan
Speaker 3: boutron and that was that was not very nice.
Speaker 2: But yeah, no, it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: Those guys love baseball, man, they love baseball and they
Speaker 3: love asking questions.
Speaker 2: And for me, that's what it's all about.
Speaker 3: As a younger guy, it's sometimes it's hard to like,
Speaker 3: you know, go out of your way and like to
Speaker 3: grab a guy and like tell them what to do.
Speaker 3: For me, it's a lot easier when the guy comes
Speaker 3: in and asks questions. And those guys are very receptive
Speaker 3: and they asked a lot of questions, which is a
Speaker 3: good thing.
Speaker 2: You know. It got to open up. And like I said,
Speaker 2: they had.
Speaker 3: A great group of guys, especially on the position players side.
Speaker 2: They have some really really good players and it was
Speaker 2: fun to see.
Speaker 3: I got to see River pitch again and river looks
Speaker 3: the same river that we saw in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 3: so that's very exciting, And yeah, it was. It was
Speaker 3: a lot of fun, man, it was. I didn't necessarily
Speaker 3: play great, but I had a lot of fun those
Speaker 3: three weeks.
Speaker 1: All third base. They didn't really move you around too much.
Speaker 3: I played one game in center in Albuquerque and the
Speaker 3: wind was so bad that I felt like I never
Speaker 3: played outfield in my life.
Speaker 2: And then the last.
Speaker 3: Game in Albuquerque, I was supposed to d h but
Speaker 3: in the minor leagues there's no cage on the road,
Speaker 3: so you kind of have to stay loose, and Dodgers
Speaker 3: didn't want me to do that, so I played second
Speaker 3: game second base. In that game, no balls got hit
Speaker 3: to me, so it was like I didn't play.
Speaker 1: But yeah, well, at least you're prepared tonight. You're starting
Speaker 1: at third base for Max Munsey, who's still dealing with
Speaker 1: his right wrist. And the one thing that I was
Speaker 1: curious about with your elbow, the hitting was the biggest issue.
Speaker 1: When did you know that you could trust it mentally
Speaker 1: physically that you could just let it rip again.
Speaker 3: Once I started swinging again and it wasn't like I
Speaker 3: didn't have any of the of the pain basically in
Speaker 3: my setup, because that was like from the get go.
Speaker 3: It was It wasn't just when my swing started. It
Speaker 3: was in my setup, which was the worst, probably the
Speaker 3: worst part, because it just got me thinking more about
Speaker 3: the pain than anything. I could probably deal with the
Speaker 3: pain if it was just when I was swinging, because
Speaker 3: you're so focused on the pitch and all that that.
Speaker 3: You know, it's kind of like a something that comes
Speaker 3: and goes. But for me, it was just holding the
Speaker 3: bat was the problem because you need the extensors to
Speaker 3: hold the bad and that was that was the main problem.
Speaker 3: I wasn't just trying to battle the picture, but I
Speaker 3: was battling myself. But you know, just being able to
Speaker 3: swing pain free is uh, you know, probably probably not
Speaker 3: going to be show hey, but I'm probably gonna be
Speaker 3: better than I was last year. And for me, it's
Speaker 3: just enjoying the game and having fun playing baseball. And
Speaker 3: when I'm in that much pain, I couldn't really have fun.
Speaker 3: So I'm looking forward to having fun playing baseball again.
Speaker 1: Well, I speak for the city of la and Dodger fans.
Speaker 1: The Dodgers aren't the Dodgers without Keith k Hernandez, and
Speaker 1: it's going to be special when you step in that
Speaker 1: batter's box tonight for the first time. I am completely
Speaker 1: expecting a standing ovation because that's how much the city
Speaker 1: loves you and appreciates everything, your spirit, everything you've done
Speaker 1: for the team. So enjoy it tonight and we're all
Speaker 1: happy you're back.
Speaker 2: Thanks Dave, that's really nice of you. Thank you.