Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: He keeps their heads ringing every year, and he's making
Speaker 1: the All Star team again the tenth time in his
Speaker 1: major league career. Freddie Freeman is going to be representing
Speaker 1: the National League fifth time with the Dodgers, sixth time,
Speaker 1: a starter and rightfully so, a great ambassador for the
Speaker 1: game as well as being one of the great players
Speaker 1: this game has ever seen. Freddie, thank you for the time.
Speaker 1: Sorry for making you uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: You certainly did, but I appreciate those words. Yeah, ten times,
Speaker 2: pretty special. Looking forward to.
Speaker 1: It, all right, So I don't know if you don't
Speaker 1: listen to the show. So I'm going to fill you
Speaker 1: in on what I'm calling you these days. Frisky Freddie,
Speaker 1: the fountain of youth. Those legs have founded, Freddy.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately it didn't work yesterday. I got thrown out at
Speaker 2: home plate. But yeah, no, I feel good. I do
Speaker 2: trying to stop the age curve. We've got a couple
Speaker 2: of guys on our team, Max making the All Star
Speaker 2: Game at thirty five plus years old. So you know,
Speaker 2: all you can do is just try and stay healthy,
Speaker 2: keep your body in shape and We're doing a good
Speaker 2: job of that right.
Speaker 1: Now, Freddie. I don't think people appreciate the fact how
Speaker 1: much pain and limitations you were playing through last year.
Speaker 1: Is this the best you've moved in a while because
Speaker 1: of the lower half being healthy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, pre surgery, for sure. Last year was a grind.
Speaker 2: You know, I was taping my ankle all the way
Speaker 2: up until probably August. Just I was in a you know,
Speaker 2: really confined to not being able to move at first base.
Speaker 2: There's just a lot of limitations I had last year.
Speaker 2: I mean, I still feel like I put out some
Speaker 2: decent numbers last year, but this year it's, you know,
Speaker 2: I can stick to my routine. I don't have to
Speaker 2: worry about getting in the training room for hours and
Speaker 2: on end just to get on the baseball field. It's
Speaker 2: definitely a freeing feeling, and you know, it's obviously showing
Speaker 2: I can stay on the field. Doc's not worrying about
Speaker 2: having to sit me and take my get off my feet.
Speaker 2: And just like right now, we're in the span of
Speaker 2: thirteen games in a row and I'm probably gonna play
Speaker 2: a thirteen, So I don't think that would have happened
Speaker 2: last year. And but yeah, probably pre sarve you, this
Speaker 2: is the best I felt.
Speaker 1: How long would you have to get into the training room?
Speaker 1: What time would you have to get to the stadium
Speaker 1: for a seven to ten game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd probably have to get there at like twelve
Speaker 2: thirty and then it'd take probably two and a half
Speaker 2: hours for me to get on the field. And that
Speaker 2: was just last year when I first heard it. You
Speaker 2: guys know, I was probably in the training room for
Speaker 2: about five hours trying to get on the field in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four playoffs. So now I could just kind
Speaker 2: of show up and just get myself ready for the games,
Speaker 2: which is nice. But yeah, a lot of work and
Speaker 2: a lot of thanks to the training staff, so much
Speaker 2: time and effort. I know, you guys just see me,
Speaker 2: but so much work goes behind the scenes of getting
Speaker 2: us onto the field. So Bernard Lee, Thomas Albott, there's
Speaker 2: so many guys that helped me get on the field
Speaker 2: last year and kept me on the field, So big
Speaker 2: credit to them.
Speaker 1: Freddie, speaking of gratitude, from what I saw in the
Speaker 1: video I heard yesterday, when Dave Roberts was going through
Speaker 1: the announcements of All Stars, you stopped it and said Hey,
Speaker 1: we got to thank the coaches because the coaches have
Speaker 1: helped us all get better.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's one of the special things obviously when
Speaker 2: you make it to the World Series, the coaching staff
Speaker 2: and the manager gets to be the ULCER game manager
Speaker 2: the next year, and coaching staff. So like I just
Speaker 2: said about our training staff there. I mean, you see
Speaker 2: right now as we're doing this interview, you have Edmund
Speaker 2: is about to do live and Blakes now, and you
Speaker 2: see seven different coaches out there working and training staff watching,
Speaker 2: and there's just so many people behind the scenes that
Speaker 2: make this engine to run. You know, it really is
Speaker 2: a true team effort around here, and I just wanted to,
Speaker 2: you know, make sure we stopped and thank Doc and
Speaker 2: their staff, because I know everyone comes to see the players,
Speaker 2: but there are so many people that help us get
Speaker 2: on the field and get it and make us be
Speaker 2: better at this game, and just wanted to make sure
Speaker 2: we recognize them as well.
Speaker 1: Freddy, You're one of those players that really stand out
Speaker 1: to me that really embraces and understands what it means
Speaker 1: to be an All Star. You want to be there,
Speaker 1: you want to be part of everything. Where does that
Speaker 1: come from to really appreciate still at this stage of
Speaker 1: your career, ten years being an all start to love
Speaker 1: it and treat it the way you did your first year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I always say maybe it's just kind
Speaker 2: of how we came up seventeen years ago. Coming up
Speaker 2: in the big leagues is a little different than coming
Speaker 2: up now. I don't know. When you get voted in
Speaker 2: by either your peers, the fans, the league, whoever votes
Speaker 2: you in, it's truly an honor and you never know
Speaker 2: when it could be your first, it could be your last,
Speaker 2: it could be you just don't know if that's the
Speaker 2: last All Star Game that you'll ever go to. So
Speaker 2: I always try and you know, appreciate those moments. It's
Speaker 2: such hard work that goes into it to make an
Speaker 2: All Star Game, so I like to show up and
Speaker 2: be there. And it also for me, it creates memories
Speaker 2: with my family and those little things that are special
Speaker 2: because you know, unfortunately I am coming toward the end
Speaker 2: of my career. Hopefully it's a few more years down
Speaker 2: the road, but it's just a little moments and little
Speaker 2: memories that will have forever. And this game has given
Speaker 2: so much to me, so the least I can do
Speaker 2: is you know, give it, give myself back to the
Speaker 2: game when when it calls me to do so.
Speaker 1: Does Freddie Freeman allow himself to appreciate the moments more
Speaker 1: now than he did even five years ago.
Speaker 2: That's the thing. It's as you get older and I've
Speaker 2: been blessed to play this game, but seventeen years now
Speaker 2: in the big leagues, and as I've gotten older, you
Speaker 2: start appreciating because you know it's going to be coming
Speaker 2: to the end.
Speaker 1: It never will Freddy stop saying that.
Speaker 2: No, I mean you count it counted on one hand
Speaker 2: now of the years that I'll that I'm going to
Speaker 2: play left. So yeah, it's I'm trying to force myself
Speaker 2: to stop and take a second and you know, take
Speaker 2: in the little things. It's you know, like we're here
Speaker 2: in July fifth and it's an absolutely gorgeous day and
Speaker 2: you see the green grass in these seats and it's special.
Speaker 2: So you just as you get older, you take it
Speaker 2: in and really that all the hard work that you've
Speaker 2: done since you know, since I was four or five
Speaker 2: years old and playing and loving this game, and to
Speaker 2: be recognized as one of the game's best, Yeah, I
Speaker 2: take it in and try and for a second, you know,
Speaker 2: realize how hard it is to do this game and
Speaker 2: to accomplish and have success. And you know, we're doing
Speaker 2: a great job so far trying to take in those
Speaker 2: little moments. I guess that's just comes with age.
Speaker 1: Freddie Freeman is our guest before I let you go.
Speaker 1: Obviously a lot of great videos of Charlie meeting the
Speaker 1: All Stars. You got the two little boys, you got
Speaker 1: your baby girl coming with you to Philadelphia. Is there
Speaker 1: any players that Charlie has latched onto that he wants
Speaker 1: to meet with the National League All Stars? Have the
Speaker 1: little boys start to latch onto other players.
Speaker 2: So we're really into opening baseball cards now, so they
Speaker 2: have their all three boys have their own binders. Charlie
Speaker 2: has them by teams. He came yesterday and he started
Speaker 2: getting the Dodger teams. I obviously he loves Show Hey,
Speaker 2: so he's gonna get all the show show Hay cards sign.
Speaker 2: But I think it's Jacob Mezerowski. He's really wanting to
Speaker 2: get his Jacob Mezerowski cards signed. So I'll try and
Speaker 2: make that wish come true in a week or so.
Speaker 2: But they're just you know, Charlie loves everything about it.
Speaker 2: He's already talking about getting all his cards signed, getting
Speaker 2: his hat signed. He's oh, he has this King Griffy
Speaker 2: Junior card and he wants because last year Ken Griffy
Speaker 2: signed his hat, so he wants to get his card
Speaker 2: signed this year. So those are the kind of cool
Speaker 2: things that I love. And it helps him come out
Speaker 2: of his shell, you know, like as a nine year
Speaker 2: old to be forced to go up to say when
Speaker 2: and I say, Hi, Ken, can I please get your autographs?
Speaker 2: It's fun for me to see the joy in his
Speaker 2: face to have to go up and do that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff and him branch out and show his personality.
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna have a blaster in the home run
Speaker 2: derby because all three boys will be down there getting autographs,
Speaker 2: running around. So it's gonna be a good time.
Speaker 1: It's like the theme of Toy Story five. Stop looking
Speaker 1: at the iPad, have some social interaction pretty much.
Speaker 2: And it's a good force. You know, forced him to
Speaker 2: get some autographs, and just like yesterday he was going
Speaker 2: to just say, hey, can I have your autograph to
Speaker 2: Paul Gervais because he pulled one of Paul's cards and
Speaker 2: I said no, you have to say Hi, Paul, can
Speaker 2: I please? And he was like, no, I can just
Speaker 2: I said, no, Charlie, I won't let you ask him
Speaker 2: unless you say his first name. So I just it's
Speaker 2: a little teaching thing, and make sure you look him
Speaker 2: in the eyes, and you know we're making him grow
Speaker 2: as a nine year old.
Speaker 1: Loved it, Freddie, how about the kids? They love the babblehead.
Speaker 1: Tomorrow night's bibblehead night. What did they think about the
Speaker 1: giant babblehead you were gifted?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I took home the giant bubblehead, so I facetimed
Speaker 2: him when I first got the big bubblehead and they
Speaker 2: didn't realize how big it was on FaceTime and then
Speaker 2: went after the game yesterday, Max's eyes were just so
Speaker 2: big and so shocked of how big that thing is.
Speaker 2: But no, it's pretty cool. So I'm trying to get
Speaker 2: a couple more. I know they're coming out to the fans,
Speaker 2: so maybe I'm gonna have to send some people into
Speaker 2: the lines to try and get me into a couple
Speaker 2: of big, big ones again, because one with three boys
Speaker 2: is it enough. But it's pretty cool. I've never seen
Speaker 2: a big one before or credit to the Dodgers and
Speaker 2: doing something different. That's pretty cool. My kids loved it.
Speaker 1: My vision for the Freeman family. Dad to Dad, it's
Speaker 1: kind of like Elf on the shelf, Dad's biblehead on
Speaker 1: the shelf. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, it's in the downstairs right now. I don't know
Speaker 2: if Max was kind of looking at it all weird
Speaker 2: because it was so big, and so I didn't want
Speaker 2: him to get scared. So it's kind of in the
Speaker 2: corner of the downstairs area. So we'll see if Charlie
Speaker 2: brings it into his room or not.
Speaker 1: Well, Tomorrow night is Bobblehead Night, the eighteen inning walk
Speaker 1: off home run for Freddie Freeman. Come out tickets are
Speaker 1: available on a great Monday night at Dodgers Stadium. Freddie,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for the time. Congratulations on being named
Speaker 1: a Starter. You deserve it. That just shows you how
Speaker 1: much the fans still love and appreciate everything you do
Speaker 1: which you represent, and we can't wait to see you
Speaker 1: in the City of brotherly Love.
Speaker 2: I can't wait. Thank you David very much. Thank you
Speaker 2: fans for voting for me.