Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talking.
Speaker 1: We're joined right now by a man that you see
Speaker 1: on Fox Sports and you also see on foul Territory
Speaker 1: ten to noon Pacific time during the week days. He's
Speaker 1: a World Series catcher, and he certainly has a lot
Speaker 1: of experience with a few different teams during his nineteen
Speaker 1: major league seasons. And that's the one and only AJ Prazinski. AJ,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for the time. Appreciate it, no, bro,
Speaker 1: happy to be on.
Speaker 2: You know, since I saw you in Milwaukee, I hope
Speaker 2: you've gotten better because you really stuck to doing pool tabs.
Speaker 1: I know, right, who knows? Aj Prasinski and I could
Speaker 1: bond in Milwaukee just being able to try to get
Speaker 1: some poll tabs, which are essentially traps of baseball cards
Speaker 1: and lottery tickets combined into one, right, AJ, Exactly.
Speaker 2: I don't think you have to be from the Midwest,
Speaker 2: even though what a poll tab is, I think I
Speaker 2: think that might be the only place where we have them.
Speaker 2: But yeah, so basically, like in scratch off lottery ticket
Speaker 2: that you pay like a dollar for and you win
Speaker 2: nothing out of by like fifty of them, you win
Speaker 2: like zero dollars.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, instead of looking at your phone, you're pulling
Speaker 1: these tabs and you're coming up with nothing.
Speaker 2: Exactly. But they're fun. They're fun. They are fun.
Speaker 1: I'll say that they were fun and you got you
Speaker 1: got to see the Dodgers in Milwaukee and obviously keep
Speaker 1: tabs on them. Are the Braves the only team that
Speaker 1: could possibly stop the Dodgers at this point in October?
Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. I think most of the
Speaker 2: Dodgers are still the best team going. But I think
Speaker 2: the Phillies, now what they're starting pitcher, I mean Christopher Sanchez,
Speaker 2: Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Pays's WIZARDO in the back end
Speaker 2: of Duran and the rest of that back end brag
Speaker 2: Keller are healthy in their lineup because they can hit
Speaker 2: homers and they have guys that have been there. I
Speaker 2: think the Phillies are a threat. I think the Brewers
Speaker 2: are a threat. I think if the Brewers can go
Speaker 2: out and find one more pitcher. Listen, you have Mizz
Speaker 2: and Harrison going. That's pretty good. One two punches the
Speaker 2: back end of their bullpen with your Rebay and McGill
Speaker 2: and some of their other guys they mix a matches great,
Speaker 2: But if they go out and find a hitter, a
Speaker 2: legitimate hitter. And this is not a knock on Bryce Terrang,
Speaker 2: Christian Yelich and some of the other guys that they have,
Speaker 2: William Contreras. But if they could go out and find
Speaker 2: a hitter, and when I say a hitter, I mean
Speaker 2: a guy that is a force, like I don't know
Speaker 2: who that could be, but if they could find a
Speaker 2: guy that is an absolute force where the Dodgers or
Speaker 2: any other team goes Man, we got a really game
Speaker 2: plan for this guy because he could at any point
Speaker 2: can hit a homer against us and change his game.
Speaker 2: I think they could be dangerous just because Pat Murphy
Speaker 2: knows how to handle his team. He knows how to
Speaker 2: mix a match with the best of them. So there
Speaker 2: are other teams in the American and the National League
Speaker 2: that could derail the Dodgers. And let's not forget the
Speaker 2: Dodgers for the last few years have been considered the
Speaker 2: greatest team in history in there about four inches away
Speaker 2: from losing the World Series last year. So it is possible.
Speaker 2: Is it likely? I don't think so, but it is possible.
Speaker 1: Hey, when you were calling that game in Milwaukee Doween
Speaker 1: the Dodgers and Brewers. There is a report by Ken
Speaker 1: Rosenthal that kind of went under the radar during that
Speaker 1: broadcast that the Brewers mine actually kick the tires on
Speaker 1: bringing in Schooble the way they brought in CC Sabbathia.
Speaker 1: Do you buy in that they would actually consider that?
Speaker 2: I would if I was them, because then you go
Speaker 2: school bol Masarowski and Harrison, So absolutely I would consider that.
Speaker 2: But I don't know. I actually was surprised when Ken
Speaker 2: did that. I told him this after the game that
Speaker 2: after he did that report, I thought he was gonna say, Dodgers,
Speaker 2: We're going to get terror school, and then the whole
Speaker 2: baseball world would go crazy. But when he dropped the Brewers,
Speaker 2: I was like, wait, Brewers, waits, what are we talking
Speaker 2: about here? But they did do that the year they
Speaker 2: brought in CC. We saw how well it went for him.
Speaker 2: Would they do that again? I don't know if Matt
Speaker 2: Arnold and the Brewer's front office would be willing to
Speaker 2: do that and meet the prospect costs, But I think
Speaker 2: it would be great for the game if the team,
Speaker 2: like the Brewers, went out and made a crazy move
Speaker 2: like that. Now for me, I'd rather see it be
Speaker 2: a pitch I hit her. But hey, Terry Schoob will
Speaker 2: look as in any uniform.
Speaker 1: AJ. You had a lot of stops in your career.
Speaker 1: One of them was in Atlanta while Freddie Freeman was
Speaker 1: playing there. What was your experience as a teammate with
Speaker 1: Freddie Freeman and did you ever believe that he would
Speaker 1: be going strong at age thirty six? Did you see
Speaker 1: that when you were playing in Atlanta?
Speaker 2: Freddy Freeman was a monster back then and a great
Speaker 2: I mean, you guys, Dodger fans have gotten you know
Speaker 2: what a great person Freddy is. So yes, there was
Speaker 2: never a doubt. Freddy was always special. I mean every
Speaker 2: coach I talked to that knew Freddy. I knew the
Speaker 2: hitting coach for the Braves before I got there, and
Speaker 2: he told me all about it. He's like, this guy's
Speaker 2: a monster. This is like two thousand, a couple of
Speaker 2: years before I even went and played there. He's like,
Speaker 2: you got to see this guy and what he can
Speaker 2: do with the bat. And then when I got to
Speaker 2: play with him and seeing on a first hand basis
Speaker 2: it it only made it more. It just amplified it
Speaker 2: even more to a point where I'm like, man, this
Speaker 2: guy really is special. He had to play with him
Speaker 2: for two years, seeing him on a daily basis, the
Speaker 2: way he goes about his work, it has not surprised
Speaker 2: me at all that he's got a chance to get
Speaker 2: three thousand hits. And you know, the one thing about
Speaker 2: Freddy that was so funny is that when I played
Speaker 2: with Freddy, all he cared about was he just said,
Speaker 2: I'm like, Freddy, man, you're going to go to the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame probably one day with it you as
Speaker 2: good as you are. And he would laugh. He goes,
Speaker 2: you know what all I want is one ring. He's like,
Speaker 2: you have a ring. I don't have a ring. I
Speaker 2: haven't com closed at the time in Atlanta at getting
Speaker 2: a ring because we weren't very good. And now I
Speaker 2: look at Freddy and I'm like, Freddy, you got like
Speaker 2: ten rings, dude. It feels like I feel like you're
Speaker 2: winning the ring every year. So one thing about Freddy
Speaker 2: is Freddy wanted to win at all times. And he's
Speaker 2: kind of proven out the way. He'll play through paying,
Speaker 2: he'll play injured, and he just shows up every day
Speaker 2: wanting to make his team better, and that is a
Speaker 2: big thing for Freddy Freeman.
Speaker 1: Aj Prasinski, you were behind the scenes with Freddy. Is
Speaker 1: it true that he takes minimal amount of swings in
Speaker 1: the cage to get ready for a game, and how
Speaker 1: abnormal is that, especially in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: Well, I think I took less of him. I was
Speaker 2: Predy Wow, one of the few guys that actually did
Speaker 2: take less than Freddy. But one thing Freddy figured out
Speaker 2: was it's not how hard you just listen when you
Speaker 2: take minimal swings, they have to be really good swings.
Speaker 2: But Freddy developed a routine and he would take minimal
Speaker 2: swings and he'd find the one thing he was looking for. Now.
Speaker 2: I see Freddy take a lot of swings when he's struggling,
Speaker 2: but there are times where you know what, if you're
Speaker 2: feeling it, just take a few swings and go on.
Speaker 2: And Nick Markakas was there at the time. And one
Speaker 2: thing Freddy learned from Nick was Nick was the first
Speaker 2: guy and never saw it take VP on the field.
Speaker 2: He took it. He took it in the cage a lot, right,
Speaker 2: and I was like, man, what does this guy doing?
Speaker 2: But all Nick Markakos to do is go out there
Speaker 2: and get hit after hit after hit, and I'm like, man,
Speaker 2: there's something to this. Freddy picked up on it. So
Speaker 2: Freddy kind of became another guy that didn't want to
Speaker 2: take a lot of VP on the field. And hey,
Speaker 2: for some people that work, some people like me, I
Speaker 2: wanted to feel it. I wanted to see it on
Speaker 2: the field. So I was a little bit different. But
Speaker 2: Freddy knew his no, especially now that he's a veteran guy.
Speaker 2: He knows what it takes for him to be ready
Speaker 2: to play, and he shows up every day and he
Speaker 2: wants to play. He's ready to play. So you can
Speaker 2: never question Freddy Freeman's work ethic or hey, he takes
Speaker 2: not as many swings, who care as long as he
Speaker 2: shows up at seven o five, takes zero swings, take
Speaker 2: a million swings, just be ready to go that clock strikes.
Speaker 1: Out, and he always is. Aj Prazinski is our guest.
Speaker 1: All right, you have a strong connection to the White Sox.
Speaker 1: The Dodgers will be in Chicago to start a three
Speaker 1: game series against the Chai Socks on Friday night. What
Speaker 1: can you tell us about the change in Miguel Vargas.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows about Miguel Vargas being one of those hyped
Speaker 1: up prospects, and the trade that the Dodgers made with
Speaker 1: the Cardinals and White Sox seem to have paid off
Speaker 1: for the Dodgers in White Sox more than the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: so it wasn't even trade. But how has Miguel Vargas
Speaker 1: come into his own Did you see this coming?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, I think the biggest thing
Speaker 2: that happened to Miguel Vargas is he went to a
Speaker 2: place in Chicago where gets to play every day. Right,
Speaker 2: you got to find a place where you get to
Speaker 2: play and you get to develop. In LA, that wasn't
Speaker 2: going to happen because they were trying to win World Series.
Speaker 2: They're trying to do all these special things, which obviously
Speaker 2: they're doing. But you got to trade into Chicago. Listen,
Speaker 2: say what you want about LA. There's a little more
Speaker 2: pressure on your in LA when you're trying to win
Speaker 2: than there is in Chicago when you're losing a Hunter
Speaker 2: in twenty games. But what it allowed for me Go
Speaker 2: Marts to do is he made some adjustments in his swing.
Speaker 2: He didn't have to go up there saying man, I
Speaker 2: want to. I want to. I got to get a
Speaker 2: hit because I want to play tomorrow, right, So if
Speaker 2: I don't get a hit, that I'm not going to
Speaker 2: play and then I'm gonna get platoons and I'm gonna
Speaker 2: have to do this and i'mna to do that. Like hey,
Speaker 2: just go out and play every day. It makes some
Speaker 2: adjustments and learn from it, and that's been a good thing.
Speaker 2: Some players need that and then they find themselves after
Speaker 2: a couple of years. Not everyone is ready the day
Speaker 2: they get to the big leagues. You have to make
Speaker 2: that adjustment. But go Martins has turned him into a
Speaker 2: heck of a player, and he's got a chance to
Speaker 2: do something that hasn't happened in like ninety years, and
Speaker 2: not to be a starting third baseman from the Chicago
Speaker 2: White Sox in an All Star Game. And if you
Speaker 2: had told Dodgers fans out a couple of years ago,
Speaker 2: they have said no chance. Even maybe White Sox fans.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right, Aj. And could you imagine Max Munsey's
Speaker 1: starting at third base for the National League and Vargas
Speaker 1: starting for the American League in the All Star Game.
Speaker 1: That would be pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, I love Max, so I hope Max gets
Speaker 2: every everything he can get. He's one of my he's
Speaker 2: one of our favorite guests on foul Territory. He's awesome.
Speaker 2: I love Max to death and I wanted, of course,
Speaker 2: I want him to start.
Speaker 1: Of course you do. He's a connection to foul Territory.
Speaker 1: A j. I could talk to you all day, we
Speaker 1: could spend two hours again like we did together in Milwaukee,
Speaker 1: but I know you got a busy day. And it's
Speaker 1: awesome to share you with la Dodger fans and certainly
Speaker 1: great to get to know you over the years, but
Speaker 1: especially bonding in Milwaukee.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, of course. And listen for Dodgers fans that
Speaker 2: think they're going to go into Chicago and just have
Speaker 2: an easy three games. I'm telling you right now, this
Speaker 2: White Sox team, and they're fun to watch, man. They
Speaker 2: got some offensive power. They're a little bit better if
Speaker 2: you guys see Davis Martin and Sean Burke and some
Speaker 2: of their other young starters. They got some arms. So
Speaker 2: you know it's not gonna be a cakewalk like he
Speaker 2: used to be for the Dodgers. Just just know that
Speaker 2: going into.
Speaker 1: It, all right, fair warning, fair warning, And I'm sure
Speaker 1: the Young White Sox want to prove something to the
Speaker 1: Dodgers that they can be on the same field.
Speaker 2: Of course, listen, every team when you're a two time
Speaker 2: defending world champion. I remember when I used to play
Speaker 2: the Yankees, right, the Yankees, said Jeter and that whole team,
Speaker 2: Bernie and a Rod, and they were coming off all
Speaker 2: their World Series and I was on the Young Twins
Speaker 2: team and you played the Yankees. It was the World Series.
Speaker 2: You're I could compete with these guys. Right when you
Speaker 2: face the Pedro Martinez back in the day, You're, yeah,
Speaker 2: I want to prove to everybody that I can hit
Speaker 2: this guy. Well, Yankees, the Yankees used to get everyone's
Speaker 2: best shot. And guess what now the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Do, no doubt. AJ Prasinski World Series Champion, All Star,
Speaker 1: nineteen year Major leaguer, and you could see that backwards
Speaker 1: hat and that beautiful beard. Tend to noon Monday through
Speaker 1: Friday on Foul Territory.
Speaker 2: Thanks Aj, Thank you appreciate it.