WEBVTT - “One Win Away From the CS” 0:00:07.770 --> 0:00:08.770 Hello, hello! 0:00:09.670 --> 0:00:16.380 Welcome, welcome, welcome everybody to Dodger Blue Dream. I'm Richard Parks, 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:23.700 the third, and it's Tuesday, October 6th, in the evening, 7.58, 0:00:23.700 --> 0:00:30.090 very specifically Pacific time, and the Dodgers. 0:00:31.170 --> 0:00:31.990 Beat the Braves. 0:00:33.820 --> 0:00:39.860 3-1, it was a dominant outing from Yoshinobu Yamamoto that 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:42.199 did most of the damage. 0:00:42.890 --> 0:00:44.209 And with a little help from. 0:00:45.909 --> 0:00:52.330 October performer for the ages, Kike Hernandez, in his first 0:00:52.370 --> 0:00:56.000 start this postseason, who hit a two-run home run, and 0:00:56.620 --> 0:01:00.210 Freddie Freeman. who hit a solo home run for that 0:01:00.310 --> 0:01:03.740 third run in his return to his. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:10.420 Former team's ballpark. It's a living room app. 0:01:10.660 --> 0:01:12.620 We're going to kind of chop it up and talk 0:01:12.660 --> 0:01:15.860 about those three guys, chunk by chunk. A few other things, too. 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.759 A lot of good in this game. Just a really 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:24.490 great baseball game. Low scoring, obviously. Two aces on the mound. 0:01:25.390 --> 0:01:31.230 Our guy out-dueled their guy. That means we have two 0:01:31.290 --> 0:01:35.830 wins and the Braves have one. It's the best of 0:01:35.910 --> 0:01:39.210 five series, so we just need to win one more game, 0:01:40.090 --> 0:01:42.980 and we have two games to do it. Game four 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:48.460 is tomorrow, October 7th, in Atlanta, around the same time, 0:01:48.460 --> 0:01:53.960 3 p.m. very specifically Pacific time. And game five, should 0:01:53.980 --> 0:01:57.450 there be a need for a game five, which is 0:01:57.510 --> 0:02:00.270 not guaranteed because if the Dodgers take the game tomorrow 0:02:00.650 --> 0:02:04.190 with Tyler Glasnow on the hill... The series is over 0:02:04.250 --> 0:02:06.710 and the Dodgers advance and the Braves go home or 0:02:06.750 --> 0:02:13.570 go to Cancun, as they say. Baseball players do. Game five, 0:02:13.650 --> 0:02:15.430 should we need it, we'll be back in L.A. 0:02:15.450 --> 0:02:15.930 On Friday. 0:02:16.889 --> 0:02:20.030 We'll see what happens. A lot of good baseball being 0:02:20.090 --> 0:02:24.290 played in this series. So it's a happy ep. It's 0:02:24.330 --> 0:02:27.800 a living room ep. Just like game one, we're doing 0:02:27.820 --> 0:02:31.500 it in the living room live once again. But first 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:35.680 we're going to take... a quick commercial break and come 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:40.960 back and do everything that I just said. Dodgers win 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.919 game three. Let's take a little break. 0:02:46.630 --> 0:02:50.290 Let's take a little. 0:02:56.090 --> 0:03:08.799 Break. Welcome back to Dodger Blue Dream. Dodgers win game 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:13.760 three of the NLDS over the Braves. It was an 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:20.870 exciting day today, October 6th, Tuesday, 2026, year of our Lord. 0:03:22.070 --> 0:03:28.010 The overwhelming reaction must be a sigh of relief because 0:03:28.510 --> 0:03:31.389 having split the first two games of this series in L.A., 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:34.800 When we had two of our best pitchers on the mound, 0:03:34.820 --> 0:03:37.100 we have so many great pitchers, that's part of the problem. 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:42.190 We were going into Atlanta, and as I anticipated, their 0:03:42.330 --> 0:03:45.250 home crowd was very engaged, doing a lot of the 0:03:45.330 --> 0:03:51.110 tomahawk chop that Braves Nation does and the chanting that 0:03:51.150 --> 0:03:51.730 they do. 0:03:52.510 --> 0:03:53.610 Stadium was super loud. 0:03:53.630 --> 0:03:56.030 They've got a great organist there, I noticed today, maybe 0:03:56.060 --> 0:04:04.530 rivaling our Dieter Ruhl for quick-witted... musical references throughout the game. 0:04:06.850 --> 0:04:12.490 Going into this game three and that atmosphere, we were concerned. 0:04:13.110 --> 0:04:16.529 All day today, media keeps driving home the point that 0:04:17.029 --> 0:04:21.310 in a best of five series, the team that wins 0:04:21.510 --> 0:04:24.520 the third game, when the first two games have been split, 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.039 goes on to win that series 75% of the time. 0:04:29.900 --> 0:04:33.159 Now we know there's a three quarters chance probability that 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.130 the Dodgers will go on to win this series in 0:04:36.170 --> 0:04:40.010 advance and the Braves backs are against the wall. Braves 0:04:40.110 --> 0:04:43.960 backs are against the wall, but couldn't have anticipated that 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.380 that would be the way this thing would go down because. Yes, 0:04:47.420 --> 0:04:49.280 we had Yoshinobu Yamamoto going. 0:04:49.500 --> 0:04:51.350 Yes, he is. 0:04:51.580 --> 0:04:55.150 He's my ace on the Dodgers staff that is stacked 0:04:55.170 --> 0:04:59.550 full of aces. And World Series MVP last year won 0:04:59.850 --> 0:05:02.130 three of the four games in the World Series. Might 0:05:02.150 --> 0:05:04.850 have won four had he come in in relief on 0:05:04.910 --> 0:05:08.060 zero days rest in that 18 inning game. He was 0:05:08.100 --> 0:05:12.520 willing to. Didn't end up needing to happen. But he 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:16.099 was going up against Chris Sale. And the only reason 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.880 the Braves, well, they play their cards right with this 0:05:18.940 --> 0:05:22.719 bullpen game and taking game two in LA. It set 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:26.870 them up perfectly because this game three was essentially a 0:05:26.930 --> 0:05:29.850 game one of a three-game series instead of a game 0:05:29.890 --> 0:05:33.690 three of a five-game series. It's now a three-game series, 0:05:33.770 --> 0:05:37.830 and we just won the first game in Atlanta's ballpark. 0:05:38.330 --> 0:05:42.359 There was just a lot of understandable tension before and 0:05:42.390 --> 0:05:46.430 during the game. Yoshinobu's dominant start and sort of the 0:05:46.589 --> 0:05:48.950 comfort level that he had on the mound and the 0:05:49.060 --> 0:05:52.700 tone that he set and you know definitely the offensive 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.779 contributions too but mostly for me it was Yama really 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:02.969 put me at ease. especially knowing that his final line 0:06:03.010 --> 0:06:06.790 was seven innings pitch, 10 strikeouts. He was getting so 0:06:06.850 --> 0:06:09.950 much swing and miss, just mixing in all of his 0:06:10.070 --> 0:06:13.100 many pitches very expertly. And yeah, it was just a 0:06:13.130 --> 0:06:15.260 super dominant outing. And like the one time that he 0:06:15.300 --> 0:06:17.920 got in a little trouble there in the fifth inning, 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.080 he never let it get to him. And, you know, 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:24.240 one run came in, but he got the outs that 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:27.400 he needed and got our boys back up to hit. 0:06:27.980 --> 0:06:30.980 They flashed a stat during this game that just shows 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:35.620 you how dominant this pitcher is. In games in which 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:41.969 Yamamoto gets three runs or more run support, coming into today, 0:06:42.410 --> 0:06:46.170 his record is 33-0. So if you give this guy 0:06:46.230 --> 0:06:49.530 three runs, he wins you the ball game. And that's 0:06:49.550 --> 0:06:53.540 what we saw yet again tonight. So we call that 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:58.600 34-0 now. So it's all about Yamamoto today, really. And 0:06:58.620 --> 0:07:01.440 we'll get to a few other of the guys because 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.520 the team's playing really well right now. Both teams are, 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.070 and the Dodgers are playing just a little bit better, 0:07:07.150 --> 0:07:11.010 certainly today. But when you think about Yamamoto, you think 0:07:11.070 --> 0:07:12.950 about this little guy. 0:07:12.970 --> 0:07:15.330 I mean, he's listed at 5'10, I think, but maybe. 0:07:18.420 --> 0:07:22.670 That's not entirely true because he looks so little. In fact, 0:07:22.770 --> 0:07:26.490 when there was a pinch hitter at one point, the Braves' 0:07:26.970 --> 0:07:33.070 Rowdy Taez, who's just this monstrous dude. I think he's 0:07:33.590 --> 0:07:37.730 like 6'5, 270, 280 or so. The camera angle from 0:07:37.770 --> 0:07:41.000 behind the mound, from the center field camera facing home plate, 0:07:41.620 --> 0:07:46.170 had Yama in profile as he was coming set. and 0:07:46.290 --> 0:07:51.290 facing off against Tellez, who was standing in the left-handed 0:07:51.330 --> 0:07:54.130 batter's box. And Yama's about, looked like he was about 0:07:54.190 --> 0:07:57.020 half his size. So he's a little guy, but he's 0:07:57.100 --> 0:08:00.400 super strong, and he's able to do these miraculous things 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:06.380 with his body, which John Smoltz, the color commentator, Major 0:08:06.420 --> 0:08:09.680 League Hall of Famer pitcher, was making a lot of 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:14.610 how impressed he was, especially with Yama's velocity, which, you know, 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.480 gets up into the high 90s. To be able to 0:08:18.580 --> 0:08:22.100 do that with such a small frame, you know, his 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.280 legs and his core have to be incredibly strong, and 0:08:25.300 --> 0:08:29.100 they are. One of the fun things about Yamamoto and 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:31.320 following him these past few years since he came over 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:35.040 from Japan is that when he signed with the Dodgers 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:41.670 to record historical contract for starting pitchers, when he came 0:08:41.690 --> 0:08:46.319 from Japan, Yama brought with him This guy who's referred 0:08:46.340 --> 0:08:49.470 to as Yada Sensei, I think that's not his full name. 0:08:49.950 --> 0:08:53.790 He's like a trainer from Japan who has unorthodox kind 0:08:53.830 --> 0:09:01.300 of Eastern Sensei methods, a holistic approach. But Yama trains, 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.260 you probably know this, but he throws javelins to train 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:08.160 his core and He does crazy yoga, like, you know, 0:09:08.179 --> 0:09:10.970 he's always doing backbends and handstands. There's a lot of 0:09:11.210 --> 0:09:14.350 nuts footage of him online that you can see. But 0:09:14.370 --> 0:09:16.809 I think that it's also like he does pottery in 0:09:16.830 --> 0:09:19.750 the offseason. He does, I think it's called bizen, like 0:09:20.010 --> 0:09:22.870 traditional Japanese pottery in the offseason. 0:09:22.910 --> 0:09:24.630 He says that it helps him with his focus. 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.520 And I think that there's this holistic thing where it's 0:09:28.580 --> 0:09:32.220 not just physical training that he's doing physically. It's also 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:36.520 practices like that that can inform your pitching. But just 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:38.740 to keep it with the physical stuff, I mean, he's 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.020 obviously worked on his body to the point where he 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:45.220 can do things that most people with his stature could not. 0:09:46.220 --> 0:09:49.500 And that's throwing a great, you know, split finger fastball, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:53.949 a high velocity four seam fastball, a change up, this 0:09:53.970 --> 0:09:57.370 like 12 to six curve that just drops off the table. 0:09:58.650 --> 0:09:59.890 Pitches that start. 0:10:00.300 --> 0:10:02.940 in and look like they are going to remain in 0:10:02.980 --> 0:10:05.739 the strike zone and then drop totally out of it 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.380 I mean they flashed another graphic on the screen tonight 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:11.900 of all the swing and misses that Yama was getting 0:10:11.940 --> 0:10:13.960 I think he was at like 11 swing and misses 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:17.480 at that point a number that grew and all of 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:22.610 these pitches were outside of the strike zone So he gets, 0:10:22.970 --> 0:10:25.469 you know, strikes. He gets into counts where, you know, 0:10:25.730 --> 0:10:28.330 there's going to be a hitter's swinging mindset. 0:10:28.630 --> 0:10:29.350 And then he. 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:34.160 Throws a pitch that deceives that way from his massive arsenal. 0:10:34.380 --> 0:10:37.579 And it was all just going for him tonight. So, 0:10:38.100 --> 0:10:43.050 you know, 10 Ks speaks to that. Just four hits 0:10:43.770 --> 0:10:46.849 and one run in seven innings. And, you know, I 0:10:46.890 --> 0:10:50.100 think that he could have kept going. probably, but instead 0:10:50.179 --> 0:10:54.200 Dave Roberts, um, went into his trust tree and picked 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:58.860 out Tanner Scott for the eighth, which he got through, um, 0:10:59.179 --> 0:11:01.439 with a walk, meaning that the tying run came to 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:05.050 the plate. Um, but, but no runs scored. And then 0:11:05.309 --> 0:11:09.510 Edwin Diaz came in to close this one out right away. 0:11:09.590 --> 0:11:10.329 He gave up. 0:11:11.870 --> 0:11:16.120 A double off the wall to Ozzie Albies, which obviously 0:11:16.580 --> 0:11:20.060 makes you hold your breath because Edwin Diaz hasn't been 0:11:20.100 --> 0:11:23.140 in a closing role for this team for most of 0:11:23.179 --> 0:11:26.420 this season. And when he did try to return from 0:11:26.460 --> 0:11:29.220 an injury and a surgery that he got earlier in 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:34.670 the season, he quickly underperformed his way out of that 0:11:34.750 --> 0:11:37.710 role and hasn't worked his way back up into it, 0:11:37.850 --> 0:11:40.110 despite the fact that he was signed in the offseason 0:11:40.170 --> 0:11:44.890 for a record high contract for a closer role. But 0:11:45.330 --> 0:11:48.690 Tanner Scott's been playing that role all this year. But 0:11:48.950 --> 0:11:52.809 Diaz came in and in spite of that double to 0:11:52.850 --> 0:11:55.569 lead off the inning, he got the next three outs, 0:11:55.610 --> 0:11:59.670 three up, three down. Mookie and Freddie collectively made a 0:11:59.740 --> 0:12:04.120 great play on a little soft roller that Mookie came 0:12:04.179 --> 0:12:06.660 in on, put a great glove on, a beautiful glove, 0:12:06.940 --> 0:12:10.780 new glove that Mookie's rocking with lots of like pastel 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:14.000 colors on. He just started a glove company, so this 0:12:14.050 --> 0:12:16.040 is one of those models where you can kind of 0:12:16.100 --> 0:12:19.599 customize the leather and the webbing and, you know, you 0:12:19.620 --> 0:12:22.160 can get stuff embroidered on it. Anyway, this isn't an 0:12:22.220 --> 0:12:25.740 advertisement for Mookie's new glove company, but he was using 0:12:25.780 --> 0:12:29.040 that glove and it was kind of like a turquoise, 0:12:29.620 --> 0:12:32.479 hot pink kind of glove. But he came in on 0:12:32.500 --> 0:12:35.339 the ball, fielded it really well, and he made a 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.620 throw to Freddie, which Freddie had to do this very 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.000 impressive and kind of awkward stretch for. 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:42.880 And pick it out of the dirt. 0:12:43.220 --> 0:12:45.220 He made a great catch himself on the other end, 0:12:45.300 --> 0:12:49.370 Freddie did, and fell to his knees while keeping his, like, 0:12:49.780 --> 0:12:52.910 the toe of his cleat on the bag to get 0:12:52.929 --> 0:12:54.989 the force out at first for the final out of 0:12:55.030 --> 0:12:59.450 the game. But Diaz recorded the save, so we love it, 0:13:00.150 --> 0:13:05.710 as Randy Newman once said. But really, it's just all 0:13:05.750 --> 0:13:09.290 about Yamamoto. You know, whatever he's doing, the javelin. 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:15.140 You know, the pottery, a couple of his pieces, his 0:13:15.220 --> 0:13:17.459 bowls that he's made, he eats out of them. And 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.210 he's also given some to Shohei Otani and to Shohei 0:13:21.250 --> 0:13:27.770 Otani's dog, Decoy, which I love. And another thing about Yamamoto, 0:13:27.929 --> 0:13:29.810 apparently one of his big regrets in life is that 0:13:29.830 --> 0:13:33.730 he didn't get more sleep as a young athlete because 0:13:33.770 --> 0:13:37.360 he believes that had he done that, he would be 0:13:37.410 --> 0:13:41.270 taller now. Well... It doesn't seem like he has to 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.410 be any taller to do what he does. 0:13:43.900 --> 0:13:46.520 And yeah, today was proof positive. 0:13:47.059 --> 0:13:52.400 You know, he ended up with throwing 98 pitches, 62 strikes. 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.220 We've seen him throw like 117. He could have kept going. 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:00.220 Good news is this means there's a lot more left 0:14:00.260 --> 0:14:05.020 in the tank for deeper in the post season. So 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:09.110 this was Yamamoto's game. Chris Sale on the other side. 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:13.359 You know, the offense did a great job making him, 0:14:13.380 --> 0:14:15.520 you know, throw a lot of pitches and get into 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:19.600 deep counts. We were able to take him deep, which 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.100 we'll get into in our next couple chunks on sort 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.920 of the offensive side of things. And we'll talk more 0:14:25.990 --> 0:14:30.130 about sales performance, I guess, within that, because I wanted 0:14:30.170 --> 0:14:32.950 Yama to have the spotlight in this segment. 0:14:33.750 --> 0:14:34.310 Stay tuned. 0:14:34.570 --> 0:14:36.990 We'll come back and do the rest of this recap. 0:14:37.350 --> 0:14:41.320 A couple more chunks later. We'll talk about Freddie, and 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:45.350 we will talk about Kike, the Dodgers' own Mr. 0:14:45.470 --> 0:14:46.870 October. Keep it right here. 0:14:47.950 --> 0:14:52.570 We'll be right back with more Dodger Blue Dream, Dodgers win. 0:14:53.730 --> 0:14:57.470 Game three of the NLDS over the Braves. 0:14:59.710 --> 0:15:05.930 Stay tuned. We'll be right back. 0:15:19.490 --> 0:15:25.610 Welcome back to the show it's dodger blue dream dodgers 0:15:25.670 --> 0:15:29.030 win game three of the national league division series over 0:15:29.090 --> 0:15:36.240 the braves october 6th 2026 we are celebrating by sitting 0:15:36.540 --> 0:15:41.920 in my living room talking to myself about the game and, 0:15:42.180 --> 0:15:46.530 and getting excited to share that with you. Dodgers are 0:15:47.190 --> 0:15:50.650 one win away from winning the series and advancing to 0:15:50.730 --> 0:15:56.130 the nationally championship series. So we, we talked about Yamamoto 0:15:56.370 --> 0:16:00.370 and the, the, the fab pitching performance that we saw tonight, 0:16:00.410 --> 0:16:03.670 but let's talk about, this is a close game all 0:16:03.750 --> 0:16:05.160 along three to one Dodgers. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:07.000 Is a very close score. 0:16:07.380 --> 0:16:09.920 So it was game two, by the way, mostly it 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.060 was a three to one game and ended up being 0:16:12.100 --> 0:16:13.960 three to two because of that Muncie home run in 0:16:13.980 --> 0:16:19.340 the ninth. Similarly in this game, the home team definitely 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:21.540 had a chance to walk it off in the bottom 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:25.070 of the ninth because that's just not a very wide margin, 0:16:25.590 --> 0:16:28.230 but that just goes to show we needed every single 0:16:28.290 --> 0:16:29.010 run that we got. 0:16:29.070 --> 0:16:31.610 And so how did we get them? Let's celebrate. 0:16:32.250 --> 0:16:35.250 That part next, because that has to do with two 0:16:35.290 --> 0:16:38.590 guys that we love to talk about. And their names 0:16:38.730 --> 0:16:42.550 are Freddie Freeman and Kike Hernandez. Let's start with Freddie, 0:16:43.370 --> 0:16:46.840 because you probably remember, you probably know if you listen 0:16:46.860 --> 0:16:51.560 to this show, Freddie Freeman was a longtime Atlanta Brave. 0:16:51.700 --> 0:16:56.220 And he was signed, drafted and signed by the Braves 0:16:56.300 --> 0:16:59.520 as a very young man. And so he was trained there. 0:16:59.940 --> 0:17:02.840 in their system, all through their minor leagues, getting to 0:17:02.900 --> 0:17:07.380 know all the coaches and executives and personalities that helped 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:11.550 make that happen. You know, made his debut there, signed 0:17:11.590 --> 0:17:15.090 his first big deal there, put down roots in Atlanta. 0:17:15.130 --> 0:17:18.570 He got a house, got a wife, had some children. 0:17:18.590 --> 0:17:20.630 He won a World Series with them. 0:17:20.890 --> 0:17:24.260 It was last year they won the 2021 World Series 0:17:24.300 --> 0:17:30.470 with Freddie catching the final out. So back when Freddie 0:17:30.490 --> 0:17:34.190 first came to the Dodgers in 2022, his first trip 0:17:34.250 --> 0:17:39.689 back to Atlanta was very emotional. And there was a 0:17:40.650 --> 0:17:44.320 tearful press conference that I featured in our episode, The 0:17:44.380 --> 0:17:47.000 Five Faces of Freddie Freeman, which you should check out 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:48.899 if you want to dig more into this history story. 0:17:49.530 --> 0:17:53.280 It was obviously kind of difficult for him to come 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:57.060 back to a place that, as he told us throughout 0:17:57.100 --> 0:18:00.090 that weekend, that he still loves and that he will 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:03.530 always love the Atlanta Braves organization and that fan base. 0:18:03.570 --> 0:18:03.850 And so. 0:18:04.690 --> 0:18:07.560 I was definitely thinking about that as this series traveled 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:09.660 back to Atlanta, because it would be not the first 0:18:09.700 --> 0:18:12.959 time that Freddie was going back to play baseball against 0:18:13.180 --> 0:18:15.919 his former team, but the first time he would be 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.260 playing such an important game against the Braves as a 0:18:19.300 --> 0:18:22.119 Dodger and appearing in the postseason. 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.720 So, you know, how would that affect him, especially with, you. 0:18:25.660 --> 0:18:30.060 Know, the crowd going like it was today, the, you know, 0:18:30.369 --> 0:18:35.290 the tomahawk chop and the chant. And... It was great 0:18:35.310 --> 0:18:38.389 to see that Freddie was able to compartmentalize that to 0:18:38.430 --> 0:18:42.169 the extent where he hit a home run off of 0:18:42.230 --> 0:18:45.680 Chris Sale, one of the best pitchers alive, you know, 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.100 a future Hall of Famer. And this is just a 0:18:49.140 --> 0:18:51.980 solo shot, but it's certainly when you're talking about margins 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.140 like this, it makes all the difference to have that 0:18:55.260 --> 0:18:58.830 type of cushion. He hit it out to right center field. 0:18:58.940 --> 0:19:02.750 It was a no doubter. Not only that, but Earlier 0:19:02.830 --> 0:19:06.030 in the game, before that solo shot, he came really 0:19:06.109 --> 0:19:08.350 close to hitting one out to the opposite part of 0:19:08.369 --> 0:19:12.139 the ballpark to left field. He was actually robbed in 0:19:12.180 --> 0:19:17.939 a leaping grab by Mauricio Dubon over the railing, running 0:19:18.100 --> 0:19:21.619 flat out and jumping, crashing into the wall to rob 0:19:21.700 --> 0:19:25.190 Freddie of what would have been a two-run home run. 0:19:25.890 --> 0:19:28.810 And for him to be doing that, knowing what he's 0:19:28.830 --> 0:19:32.330 going through emotionally or might be going through emotionally. With 0:19:32.390 --> 0:19:36.150 that added to just the postseason atmosphere of 40,000 people, 0:19:36.869 --> 0:19:39.190 you know, screaming at the top of their lungs and 0:19:39.869 --> 0:19:45.840 chanting and heckling and, you know, I'm sure doubtless chirping 0:19:45.900 --> 0:19:49.240 and throwing out all sorts of unsavory epithets your way. 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.240 It was so gratifying to see Freddie come through in 0:19:55.340 --> 0:19:58.460 this game in particular and caught a little bit of 0:19:58.500 --> 0:20:00.460 his post-game interview as well. 0:20:00.540 --> 0:20:02.060 And he was just cool as a cucumber. 0:20:02.100 --> 0:20:05.340 And when asked about the emotional connection to Atlanta, he 0:20:05.380 --> 0:20:07.720 just kind of shrugged it off and he was like, 0:20:08.140 --> 0:20:11.750 we've moved on basically. Awesome to see that. He also 0:20:11.790 --> 0:20:14.990 makes that great play for the last out of the game. 0:20:15.570 --> 0:20:19.230 Digging out a bad throw, an off-balance throw from Mookie 0:20:19.850 --> 0:20:23.949 that bounced up the first baseline and stretching out the 0:20:23.990 --> 0:20:26.540 way he did and then falling to his knees but 0:20:26.580 --> 0:20:29.919 keeping his toe on the bag, just beating the runner down. 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.659 to the bag really great defensive play that was the 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:37.199 last out in this game which is the game that 0:20:37.230 --> 0:20:39.389 we're thinking about we're not thinking about those other games 0:20:39.430 --> 0:20:42.670 that he played for that other team so freddie great 0:20:42.690 --> 0:20:47.900 to see it kike if you know anything about kike 0:20:47.940 --> 0:20:50.800 you know that he comes alive this time of year 0:20:52.010 --> 0:20:54.510 Kike is not an everyday player. He actually never has 0:20:54.550 --> 0:20:57.990 been during his first tenure with the Dodgers like 10 0:20:57.990 --> 0:21:00.780 years ago. The story was that he was always trying 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.580 to get to that point back then. Then he left 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:05.700 and went to the Red Sox and he came back 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:08.530 to the Dodgers. And the story was when he returned 0:21:08.550 --> 0:21:10.990 to the Dodgers a few years ago, he was comfortable 0:21:11.030 --> 0:21:13.470 with the idea that he wouldn't be an everyday player 0:21:13.570 --> 0:21:17.610 on this Dodgers team and embraced the idea of being 0:21:17.630 --> 0:21:20.790 a role player. And he has been such an incredible 0:21:21.270 --> 0:21:25.189 electric role player for this team as they vie for 0:21:25.230 --> 0:21:28.649 their third consecutive World Series championship. It's hard not to 0:21:28.670 --> 0:21:30.840 play every day. Not only does he play all these 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:33.320 different positions and he kind of never knows if he's 0:21:33.340 --> 0:21:35.700 going to come into a game as a late inning 0:21:35.740 --> 0:21:39.980 defensive replacement, or maybe someone tweaks their ankle and he'll 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:42.270 be starting the next day. He never knows what he's 0:21:42.290 --> 0:21:44.389 going to get or where he's going to end up 0:21:44.410 --> 0:21:47.909 being asked to play. And that's really tough for a 0:21:47.970 --> 0:21:51.850 baseball player. And that's especially tough when it comes to offense, 0:21:52.670 --> 0:21:56.470 because if you listen to hitters talk, It's all about 0:21:56.510 --> 0:22:00.470 seeing pitching every day and the discipline and getting into the. 0:22:00.530 --> 0:22:03.230 Groove of seeing the baseball. 0:22:03.609 --> 0:22:06.170 So you never have the luxury to do that as 0:22:06.190 --> 0:22:08.820 a utility guy. You're just coming in to pinch hit 0:22:08.900 --> 0:22:11.919 here and there. You get three at-bats one day, and 0:22:11.940 --> 0:22:14.840 then you don't get another at-bat for a week. And 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:17.119 as a consequence of all this, his batting average is 0:22:17.180 --> 0:22:20.020 never great. You know, it's always like whatever down near 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:24.800 the Mendoza line or nowhere near 300 like ever. And 0:22:25.220 --> 0:22:28.940 Kike had not played in this postseason so far. But 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:31.980 he came into this game because we were facing a 0:22:32.020 --> 0:22:34.600 tough lefty and he's a right-handed bat and he's a 0:22:34.619 --> 0:22:38.180 versatile defender. And so he ended up playing third instead 0:22:38.220 --> 0:22:42.650 of Muncy, which I get that Muncy maybe isn't great 0:22:42.690 --> 0:22:44.570 left on left, but he did homer in the first 0:22:44.609 --> 0:22:47.570 two games. So yeah, I was suspect of that decision 0:22:48.730 --> 0:22:53.169 because I wanted that Max Muncy homer. And when Kike 0:22:53.210 --> 0:22:59.140 replaced him today, I might have thought ill of that decision, 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:02.740 except for the fact that he did his part by 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:05.480 replacing the Max Muncy homer that we didn't get with 0:23:05.540 --> 0:23:07.199 a Kike Hernandez homer. 0:23:07.900 --> 0:23:13.719 And Kike just... This is Keektober. 0:23:14.460 --> 0:23:16.980 There's something about him where he just turns into a 0:23:17.060 --> 0:23:19.820 different player when the postseason comes around. 0:23:19.840 --> 0:23:21.320 He just loves. 0:23:22.920 --> 0:23:25.380 The limelight. You know, he's such a ham. 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:27.750 I know that he said in an interview once that 0:23:27.790 --> 0:23:29.970 if he wasn't a baseball player, he would be a stripper. 0:23:30.230 --> 0:23:33.910 And that kind of made Kike really click, finally, for me. 0:23:34.650 --> 0:23:38.740 You know, he's just a really outsized personality. And so 0:23:38.780 --> 0:23:41.320 it kind of makes sense... But given the fact that 0:23:41.340 --> 0:23:43.560 he doesn't get to play every day, he doesn't have 0:23:43.580 --> 0:23:46.480 the stat lines that, like, you know, the Shoheis and 0:23:46.510 --> 0:23:48.750 the Freddies and the Mookies have. The fact that he's 0:23:48.810 --> 0:23:52.910 able to turn it on and become this, like, monster 0:23:53.109 --> 0:23:57.770 clutch performer in the postseason is just all the more incredible. 0:23:58.609 --> 0:23:58.750 And. 0:23:59.420 --> 0:24:01.379 That's sort of perfect for this time of year because 0:24:01.420 --> 0:24:05.030 it's all about the mystique and the sort of reaching 0:24:05.109 --> 0:24:09.450 beyond the improbable and doing the impossible. And that's what 0:24:09.510 --> 0:24:14.440 Kike did today, hitting a two-run homer against one of 0:24:14.500 --> 0:24:17.419 the toughest lefties that ever pitched. 0:24:18.410 --> 0:24:20.850 I heard Kike's postgame interview. 0:24:21.130 --> 0:24:24.010 He said something about how he got a tell for 0:24:24.450 --> 0:24:27.730 when Chris Sale was throwing his changeup. So changeups is 0:24:27.750 --> 0:24:30.450 super hard pitch to hit, especially coming from a lefty. 0:24:30.770 --> 0:24:33.510 It's really hard to tell the difference between a changeup 0:24:33.550 --> 0:24:36.850 and a fastball, except that they're like 10, 15 miles 0:24:36.890 --> 0:24:40.530 per hour apart from one another. And so you get 0:24:40.570 --> 0:24:42.850 a lot of swing and miss on a changeup, as 0:24:42.890 --> 0:24:44.130 Sale was throughout the night. 0:24:44.250 --> 0:24:45.830 But Kike got a tell. 0:24:46.090 --> 0:24:49.910 What that means is that He saw some movement Chris 0:24:49.930 --> 0:24:54.820 Sale was making on the mound. Something physical indicated to 0:24:54.880 --> 0:24:58.520 him when the changeup was coming. And I think that 0:24:58.540 --> 0:25:01.520 he found it in that at bat because he took, 0:25:01.680 --> 0:25:04.980