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Speaker 1: I want you to put the word up here, but

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Speaker 1: we back up.

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Speaker 2: Understand me, back up, back up.

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Speaker 3: It's time for Dodger base Buenos DS. People.

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Speaker 4: Welcome to Dodger Blue Dream Season three. I know f

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Speaker 4: one title dream of three.

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Speaker 3: Ladies and gentlemen.

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Speaker 4: The long dark winter is over, spring has sprung in

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Speaker 4: a baseball is the back, and I'm here to tell

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Speaker 4: you Opening Day still hits Netflix trying to get in

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Speaker 4: on the baseball boom.

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Speaker 3: Boom, nice try.

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Speaker 4: We're not buying it, but it don't matter because we

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Speaker 4: are at the ballpark here at Dodger Blue Dream, attending

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Speaker 4: in person, brand new Edwin Diaz Jersey on battery powered transistor,

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Speaker 4: radio in hand, earbud in one ear gen Z style,

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Speaker 4: very current, other ear open to the sounds of the stadium,

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Speaker 4: eyes glued on that beautiful diamond below. And that's what's in,

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Speaker 4: or at least that was what was in this week

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Speaker 4: when I, your humble host, attended the festivities of Opening

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Speaker 4: Day at Dodger Stadium. Not gonna call it uniclo Field,

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Speaker 4: not now, not ever. And I'm here to tell you

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Speaker 4: Los Doyer's they're looking good. Brought home the doves, and

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Speaker 4: now we are tree of three.

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Speaker 3: Let me break it down for you.

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Speaker 4: Game one in the bag, one hundred and sixty one

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Speaker 4: to go in our quest to win the West, and

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Speaker 4: then eleven more games in October, and maybe you're early November.

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Speaker 4: Gott to check the schedule in our pursuit of a

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Speaker 4: third straight World Series title for these Los Angeles Dodgers,

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Speaker 4: Can they do it? Can show Hey and Freddy and

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Speaker 4: Mooky and Miggey Roe, Yama, Glass, now Ko Geek Months,

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Speaker 4: Smitty Trnan, the Try Guy, Snell Zilla, Robo King, Tuck,

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Speaker 4: the New Guy, Ts Tanner, Scott bounce Back, and the

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Speaker 4: rest of our beloved boys in Blue do what has

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Speaker 4: not been done since the dreaded juggernaut of George Steinbrenner's

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Speaker 4: death star nineteen nineties Yankees team, and once again this season,

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Speaker 4: bring home the hardware and join the hallowed ranks of

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Speaker 4: ball clubs that, with stick and glove and stitched rawhide

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Speaker 4: ball and sheer, determination and grit have one back, two

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Speaker 4: back to back. That's what I mean when I say

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Speaker 4: dreaming of three, and that's what we're doing out here

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Speaker 4: in LA.

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Speaker 3: Is looking good for three. Honestly, I've been around here

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Speaker 3: my entire life.

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Speaker 4: I have never seen La this excited about the Dodgers.

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Speaker 3: If you coming back to the Dogs this year, I.

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Speaker 1: Don't know, probably just like winning. I say, just just

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Speaker 1: keep winning, I.

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Speaker 4: Just keep The city is palpably a buzz with the

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Speaker 4: anticipation of three consecutive World Series.

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Speaker 2: Three ft yes, three yeah again?

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Speaker 3: Ready?

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Speaker 1: Yes?

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Speaker 3: How do you like the chances?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, good guy. We're the best of the West,

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Speaker 2: in the whole world. La Dodger, Dodger, Dodger.

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Speaker 3: I'm a great old pity day you were talking. The

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Speaker 3: show is called Dodger. Okay, it's on.

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Speaker 4: And now allow me to introduce myself. My name is

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Speaker 4: Richard Parks. I'm a writer, I make podcasts, and I'm

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Speaker 4: a lifelong Dodger fan, born and raised in the city

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Speaker 4: of Los Angeles. I started this show with the Dream

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Speaker 4: two years ago, in the spring of twenty twenty four,

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Speaker 4: and since then, every single year I've made this podcast.

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Speaker 3: My team, our team, the.

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Speaker 4: Los Angeles Dodgers, has won the World Series and so obviously,

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Speaker 4: as a fan, I'm contractually obligated to continue to make

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Speaker 4: this show, and thanks to my benefactors at iHeartMedia, I

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Speaker 4: am also contractually obligated to make the show.

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Speaker 3: And I'm making it for you.

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Speaker 4: Whether you're a die hard fan or a casual who's

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Speaker 4: down to visit the ballpark every now and then and

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Speaker 4: eat some hot dogs, drink some beers. Even if you

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Speaker 4: don't like the Dodgers, if you don't live in La

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Speaker 4: even if you don't like baseball, this could be the

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Speaker 4: show for you, because really, it's a show about the

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Speaker 4: love of the game. This is a show about a

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Speaker 4: fan's joy in following his team, the emotional rollercoaster of

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Speaker 4: a ride of one hundred and sixty two games, the

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Speaker 4: characters we fall in love with along the way, and

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Speaker 4: the twisty tail and beautiful unfolding narrative of a baseball season.

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Speaker 4: It's a story, and I'm here to help you understand it,

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Speaker 4: from first pitch to final out. So today on the show,

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Speaker 4: the very first episode of season three of Dodger Blue Dream,

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Speaker 4: we are going to dive a little deeper into the

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Speaker 4: feeling of opening Day, the buzz around the ballpark, the pageantry,

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Speaker 4: the traditions, and the way this starts a new chapter

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Speaker 4: for each and every baseball fan.

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Speaker 3: Then we're going to get into.

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Speaker 4: A little bit of why I believe that the Los

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Speaker 4: Angeles Dodgers in twenty twenty six are basically appointment viewing.

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Speaker 4: The MVPs and the bigger than the sport personalities that

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Speaker 4: have made this team a dynasty.

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Speaker 3: Stacked with star power like no other before. And last,

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Speaker 3: we'll turn a light.

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Speaker 4: On the few new faces on the twenty twenty six squad,

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Speaker 4: the off season acquisitions, what they each bring, and what.

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Speaker 3: All we have to feel excited about, as if.

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Speaker 4: There wasn't enough to feel excited about already. That's what's

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Speaker 4: on deck today. So thank you so much for tuning in.

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Speaker 4: We'll be right back with you after a short break.

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Speaker 4: Stay with us, Welcome back today. We're talking about the

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Speaker 4: start of the twenty twenty six baseball season, the twenty

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Speaker 4: twenty six Los Angeles Dodgers baseball season. We're going to

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Speaker 4: talk about opening Day and why it's still hits. We're

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Speaker 4: gonna get into the unparalleled star power that makes this

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Speaker 4: team appointment viewing, and we're gonna look at a few

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Speaker 4: of the new faces that have joined the boys in Blue.

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Speaker 4: So let's get into it with a little postcard from

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Speaker 4: Opening Day at Dodger Stadium earlier this week. All right,

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Speaker 4: headed up to the entrance, to Dodger Stadium. But I'm

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Speaker 4: making a hard right onto my secret parking street. Really

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Speaker 4: fingers crossed that I will be able to find a

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Speaker 4: spot on the street.

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Speaker 3: I'm gonna bleep that out.

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Speaker 4: Real ones know, we all have our traditions, and it's

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Speaker 4: the specificity of ritual that gives the passage of time definition.

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Speaker 4: And being that the baseball season lasts over half of

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Speaker 4: the year, for the baseball fan, opening day is super important.

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Speaker 3: Oho oh there's a half spot. Ooh, that might be

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Speaker 3: a spot. Oh nope, words out.

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Speaker 4: Even though very few of the one and sixty two

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Speaker 4: games in a baseball season air true consequence for a

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Speaker 4: team's chances to win a World Series, baseball fans are

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Speaker 4: a superstitious bunch, always looking for signs, always looking for

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Speaker 4: an edge that might push our team over the line

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Speaker 4: to greatness.

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Speaker 3: Let's take a look. Say whether I'm in the red. Wow,

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Speaker 3: I'm not in the red.

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Speaker 4: I'm good lucky parking spot unlocked. It's a good sign.

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Speaker 4: Good omen. Baseball is also something we bond over, so

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Speaker 4: opening days a great chance to connect with your community.

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Speaker 4: The like minded ones who similarly are handing over the

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Speaker 4: state of their mental health to a small group of

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Speaker 4: overpaid younger men.

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Speaker 3: All right, let's ring up my co.

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Speaker 4: Host, Hey Siri called West the Ovula on speaker.

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Speaker 2: Richie Top top top talk chief on number one.

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Speaker 3: Happy Opening Day?

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Speaker 4: Happy Opening Day?

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Speaker 3: Are you going your way?

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Speaker 4: I'm up at the tippy top of thin I got

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Speaker 4: that really sketchy looking spot, right spot, Yes, the one

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Speaker 4: sketchy spot, and it's behind like a sprinter van with

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Speaker 4: a vanity plate that READSOS. And I don't know if

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Speaker 4: you're fine.

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Speaker 3: I think you're fine at that one. So you just

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Speaker 3: got their n.

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Speaker 4: The main thing about Opening Day is that it has

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Speaker 4: to be the very apogee of hope for all baseball

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Speaker 4: fans across the nation. No matter which team you root for,

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Speaker 4: you gotta believe that anything is possible on opening Day.

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Speaker 3: So what do you guys? Yeah, my name is Rego Rego.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, my son got Rego Junior.

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Speaker 3: All right, that's easy that one day. Remember, I'm Richard.

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Speaker 1: It's been something that I guess we've been wanting to

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Speaker 1: do for for many years, but don't actually this is

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Speaker 1: you're actually actually gonna do it.

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Speaker 4: So especially after the last two years that they had,

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Speaker 4: you know, two World series, you know, trying to.

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Speaker 3: Go for a third to one. Yeah, we're definitely, you know,

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Speaker 3: very very excited about it. Yeah, yes, what about.

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Speaker 4: You, little Rego?

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Speaker 3: What are you most excited about?

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Speaker 4: And of course it's a tradition for a lot of families.

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Speaker 1: Obviously me with my dad right now and then probably

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Speaker 1: started with in the future with my kids.

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Speaker 3: Just start coming for openers. See a lot of families

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Speaker 3: coming together.

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Speaker 4: I'm Richard, I Richard so long time Dodger fans.

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Speaker 1: Yes, it's lawn and raised Dodger fans.

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Speaker 3: This is our tradition.

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Speaker 2: Come, it's our first time coming for opening day. It's

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Speaker 2: my daughter's birthday, so we're you know, we're celebrating her

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Speaker 2: day too. So but it's like our tradition, it's our

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Speaker 2: happy place.

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Speaker 1: So yes, yeah, it's a way of honoring my mom.

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Speaker 1: She's the one that she was like a daughter die

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Speaker 1: hard and we were little and she would just you know,

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Speaker 1: every time there was a Dodger game, it was an

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Speaker 1: event at the house. And so every time we come,

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Speaker 1: bring a little bit of her with us.

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Speaker 4: Yes, So what keeps you coming back this year?

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Speaker 2: Like?

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Speaker 3: Who are the players you're most excited about?

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Speaker 2: Freeman Otani, Kika Hernandez, Rojas. Yeah, yeah, it's Amamoto, all

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Speaker 2: the stars from the World Series.

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Speaker 4: And then there's all the pageantry of Opening Day. Will

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Speaker 4: Ferrell driving Ice Cubes Dodger Blue low Rider with Freddie

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Speaker 4: Freeman and Miguel Rojas passengers, each holding a World Series trophy,

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Speaker 4: one from twenty twenty four and one from twenty twenty five,

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Speaker 4: two men who hit very consequential home runs that brought

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Speaker 4: those trophies to Los Angeles. And then the game itself

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Speaker 4: did not disappoint. Yama on the bump, going six strong,

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Speaker 4: pa Hees with the big, go ahead three run bomb,

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Speaker 4: plus a couple nice plays in the field, and then

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Speaker 4: Smitty with the dinger that took us over the top,

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Speaker 4: just like Game seven of the twenty twenty five World Series. Folks,

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Speaker 4: we picked up right where we left off. It was

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Speaker 4: easy to believe that our Dodgers could sail through this season,

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Speaker 4: flying high atop the NL West. Now that we've given

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Speaker 4: you a flavor for what it was like at opening Day,

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Speaker 4: let's move on to our next topic. This Los Angeles Dodgers'

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Speaker 4: dynasty team's star power unmatched in baseball and sports overall,

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Speaker 4: a quality that makes this season must watch appointment TV.

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Speaker 3: What keeps you coming back this year? Like who are

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Speaker 3: the players you're most excited about?

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Speaker 2: Kika Hernandez grohas all the stars from the World Series.

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Speaker 3: Let's dig in.

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Speaker 4: Each baseball season tells an unforgettable, unique story. It's like

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Speaker 4: a movie heroes, villains, twists and turns, and to extend

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Speaker 4: the metaphor, think of the Dodgers right now as a

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Speaker 4: marvel esque super team stacked from top to bottom with

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Speaker 4: generational global talents, each with a unique character and flavor

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Speaker 4: and delivering something special that's entirely his own. To this

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Speaker 4: can't lose squad, of course, you have to start with

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Speaker 4: Shohei Otani, the Japanese Babe Ruth, who strikes guys out

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Speaker 4: and slugs massive home runs.

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Speaker 3: That's what makes him famous.

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Speaker 4: He can pitch and hit at an elite level, something

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Speaker 4: that has not been done in baseball for over a

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Speaker 4: century since the time of Babe Ruth. Even when he's

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Speaker 4: not pitching, he's one of the most feared hitters in

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Speaker 4: the game, if not the most.

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Speaker 3: We saw how far this goes in sho.

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Speaker 4: Hay's first season, when he wasn't pitching because he was

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Speaker 4: rehabbing a surgery. On his pitching arm, but he made

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Speaker 4: history in the batter's box, becoming the first player to

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Speaker 4: hit more than fifty home runs and steal more than

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Speaker 4: fifty bases in a single season. He set the Rodgers

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Speaker 4: all time franchise record for home runs in his first

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Speaker 4: season in twenty twenty four, and then he said it again,

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Speaker 4: breaking his own record last year. Show hay has hit

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Speaker 4: more than one hundred round trippers in his first two

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Speaker 4: years on the team, and last season we saw him

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Speaker 4: take the mound where he throws triple digit velocity and

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Speaker 4: mixes five or more pitches. It's been said that in

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Speaker 4: twenty twenty six, show Hayes' first year at full strength

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Speaker 4: as a pitcher, he wants to be in the conversation

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Speaker 4: for the Cy Young Award, and offensively, I'd watch out

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Speaker 4: for show hay perhaps reaching sixty home runs Ruth's own

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Speaker 4: single season high mark. If you're not a baseball fan

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Speaker 4: but football's more your thing, imagine a player who is

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Speaker 4: both the league's top quarterback and top wide receiver at

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Speaker 4: the same time. Or if you're from the theater world,

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Speaker 4: I guess it's sort of like he's.

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Speaker 3: In Egott Guy.

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Speaker 4: There really is no proper analogy, because he is what

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Speaker 4: we call the unicorn. There hasn't been anyone ever to

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Speaker 4: do this, and there probably never will be again. It's

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Speaker 4: something that just happens once ever, and that's why you

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Speaker 4: want to watch.

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Speaker 3: For more context on this, I recommend you.

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Speaker 4: Check out our episodes sho Hey, Otani fifty to fifty

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Speaker 4: Ichibun this is almost forty forty and forty forty Vision,

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Speaker 4: all released during the summer of twenty twenty four. Those

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Speaker 4: are a great way to get to know our beloved

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Speaker 4: show Hey. But of course, show Hey is not our

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Speaker 4: only star, not by a long shot. There truly is

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Speaker 4: nowhere near enough time in this segment to go into

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Speaker 4: all of our stars. They're about a half dozen guys

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Speaker 4: on this team that in any other market would be

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Speaker 4: the face of the franchise, but here on the Dodgers,

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Speaker 4: they share the limelight with their teammates. Let's start with

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Speaker 4: the rest of the so called MVY three with Shohey.

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Speaker 4: There's Mookie Betts, who does just about everything well and

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Speaker 4: recently made the incredible implausible transition from playing right field

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Speaker 4: to becoming an elite level shortstop who led the league

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Speaker 4: in defensive runs saved last year.

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Speaker 3: That is a huge deal.

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Speaker 4: His career batting average is close to three hundred, and

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Speaker 4: Muky had a bit of a down year offensively last year.

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Speaker 4: I'd look for him to maintain his excellent defense at

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Speaker 4: shortstop and bounce back offensively. I know my Mooki, you

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Speaker 4: can't keep him down for very long. One fun thing

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Speaker 4: to watch with Mooke this year. He's getting super close

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Speaker 4: to three hundred career home runs. It'll be great to

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Speaker 4: see him hit that mile stone. To get to know

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Speaker 4: Mooki better, I strongly recommend you check out our episode

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Speaker 4: Mooky's Best from twenty twenty four. It dives deep on

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Speaker 4: Mooky's history, some about his mom and where he comes

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Speaker 4: from as an athlete and sort of philosophically, and it

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Speaker 4: goes deep on why the switch from right field to

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Speaker 4: shortstop is so amazing. And then the third of the

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Speaker 4: MV three Freddie Freeman, mister Veneers. We call him mister consistent,

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Speaker 4: one of the best pure hitters in the game, a

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Speaker 4: true clubhouse leader, and with the absence of Clayton Kershaw

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Speaker 4: this year, I expect Freddie's role as a team leader

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Speaker 4: to only grow. Freddie has hit walk off game winning

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Speaker 4: home runs in both of the last two World Series.

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Speaker 4: He's known as one of the nicest guys in the game,

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Speaker 4: and his no nonsense, business like discipline really sets the

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Speaker 4: tone for this entire team.

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Speaker 3: For more on.

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Speaker 4: Freddy, check out the Five Faces of Freddie Freeman and

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Speaker 4: let Freeman Ring from our first season. Those episodes contain

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Speaker 4: insights on all of this. Just to give a brief

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Speaker 4: overview of the rest of the star power that makes

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Speaker 4: this team such a diverse and fascinating bunch. We have

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Speaker 4: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a megastar pitcher from Japan who's quietly become

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Speaker 4: one of the best pitchers in the major leagues in

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Speaker 4: his short time as a Dodger. There's Teoscar Hernandez, who's

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Speaker 4: had an amazing spring and is moving from right field,

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Speaker 4: which was a challenge for him to play last year,

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Speaker 4: back to his natural position of left for twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 4: For more on Yama and Tao, check out our episodes

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Speaker 4: yo Yo, Yamamoto and Teo Time. We've just scratch the

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Speaker 4: surface here, and I would love to go on, but

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Speaker 4: we're running out of time. But on the pitching side,

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Speaker 4: you think of Blake Snell two time Cy Young Award

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Speaker 4: winner Tyler glasnow local boy done Good, the Dows out

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Speaker 4: of the bullpen, Alex Vesia, the younger guys like Ben Casparius.

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Speaker 4: We didn't even go deep on Will Smith here or

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Speaker 4: Miggey Row, Miguel Rojas, Andy Payes holding down center and

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Speaker 4: hitting the go ahead home run on Opening Day. There's

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Speaker 4: just so much talent on this squad. You never know

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Speaker 4: who's going to show up and be the hero of

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Speaker 4: the game, and that's a big part of what makes

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Speaker 4: this team so fun to watch. And those are the

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Speaker 4: guys who are all returning from the twenty twenty five

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Speaker 4: and twenty twenty four teams. In addition, there were some

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Speaker 4: changes in the offseason which are equally exciting. After the break,

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Speaker 4: we'll take a look at a couple of the new

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Speaker 4: faces on the Dodgers squad that will be part of

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Speaker 4: this team's quest for a third consecutive title. Stay with us,

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Speaker 4: welcome back. For our final segment, we'll take a look

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Speaker 4: at a couple of the new guys on the squad

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Speaker 4: this year, joining the already totally star studded Dodgers roster

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Speaker 4: and making things honestly a little unfair for all the

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Speaker 4: other teams this season, the Dodgers went out and acquired

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Speaker 4: Kyle Tucker aka King Tuck, the biggest name available on

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Speaker 4: the free agency market over the offseason. He comes from

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Speaker 4: the Cubs and he is a great left handed bat.

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Speaker 4: He's not going to lead the league in home runs,

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Speaker 4: but he might hit thirty and he's delivered at that

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Speaker 4: type of level consistently with power over many years. He's

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Speaker 4: also proven himself in clutch situations and already on Opening

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Speaker 4: Day he had.

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Speaker 3: A big hit.

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Speaker 4: He got his first Dodgers RBI, and he scored his

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Speaker 4: first run. Also made a fine play in the outfield,

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Speaker 4: and that's not all. Also over the offseason, the Dodgers

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Speaker 4: brought in the most sought after relief pitcher available, Edwin Diaz,

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Speaker 4: his specialty shutting the door. The Dodgers' bullpen has been

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Speaker 4: amazing over the past couple years, but last year, by

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Speaker 4: the end of the season, due to injury and poor performance,

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Speaker 4: it had turned into a weak point, especially in this

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Speaker 4: role of a closer, which the big acquisition last year

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Speaker 4: in twenty twenty four, Tanner Scott was supposed to Phil

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Speaker 4: and that did not work out, and that's.

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Speaker 3: Why we went out and got Edwin Diaz.

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Speaker 4: So now we've got both Tanner Scott should he be

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Speaker 4: able to return to form, and Edwin Diaz. Scott being

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Speaker 4: a lefty, Diaz being a righty, plus Edwin Diaz has

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Speaker 4: a super fun entrance that he used when he was

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Speaker 4: on the New York Mets, where a song by Timmy

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Speaker 4: Trumpet blasts as he runs in from the bullpen. Imagining

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Speaker 4: that happening in front of fifty five thousand at Dodger

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Speaker 4: Stadium just ups the Annie. Can't wait to see what

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Speaker 4: Diaz and Kyle Tucker are going to bring to this

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Speaker 4: special team.

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Speaker 3: All right, that's it for us.

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Speaker 4: Hope this proves to be a useful primer for you

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Speaker 4: as you prepare for a twenty twenty six Dodgers baseball

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Speaker 4: season that's sure to be unforgettable. See you next time, Everybody,

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Speaker 4: keep dreaming of three. Dodger Blue Dream is written and

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Speaker 4: produced by Me Richard Parks.

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Speaker 3: My co host is Chef Wes Avula.

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Speaker 4: Original music in this episode by William Ryan Fritch, Jonathan Snipes,

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Speaker 4: Boyd pro and by me. Special thanks to Elizabeth Parks,

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Speaker 4: Kibbi and Caitlin Esh. Dodger Blue Dream is produced in

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Speaker 4: partnership with iheart's Michael Tura podcast Network. For more podcasts

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Speaker 4: from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 4: you listen to your favorite shows.