WEBVTT

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The Dodgers and Diamondbacks wrapping up this
three game series on the fourth of July.

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And I'm with a man that I
have now labeled a Dodger killer public

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enemy number one here in Los Angeles
because he has done amazing things, not

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against the Dodgers only, but against
major League Baseball. He has twenty home

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runs, tied with the best first
basemen, among the most hit this year.

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And that's the one and only Christian
Walker. Christian, thanks a lot

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for the time. Appreciate it.
Yeah, thanks for having me. I

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feel like I was obligated to come
over here just so Dodger fans can hear

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what you sound like, what your
personality is like. So I guess this

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is your personal introduction after your bat
has done all the talking. No,

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it's an honor. There's a ton
of history in the stadium, in this

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organization, so you know, to
be even on anybody's radar of you know,

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having success against the team or the
organization, it's it's humbling for sure.

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After last year the Diamondbacks going to
the World Series sweeping the Dodgers in

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the first round, is there a
different era of confidence among this group of

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players. Yeah, it's no secret. You know how how good this Dodgers

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team is year in and year out, and especially last year. So I

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know, I know personally that that
gave us and and me a ton of

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confidence and a ton of momentum moving
forward. That was that was something that

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was circled on our on our postseason
to do list, and you know,

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to be proud of that that that
series win and and you know, it

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felt like that was that was a
big stepping stone for us and in our

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success in the postseason. I know
there's an extra wild card berth now at

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stake, and it seems like teams
like the Dodgers, the Phillies, they

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talk about October, but for other
teams and for them as well, doesn't

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there need to be a sense of
urgency and not try to diminish the regular

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season? Yeah, yeah, I
think, you know, I think it's

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it's all part of the preparation.
You know, some some teams have the

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luxury they they know they're going to
be able to put up a certain amount

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of wins every year. They have
the luxury to you know, set their

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sights on the postseason, and you
know, it doesn't seem to affect how

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they go about their business during the
regular season. I think other teams that

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are, you know, a little
unfamiliar with the postseason and how hard it

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is to get in. Uh,
you know, their their focus is day

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to day and and trying to win
every game. I know the pitching has

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been hurt for you guys so far
the first half of the season. Do

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you feel like you're in the same
position or a better position to make a

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run in the second half this year
if you get guys like Eduardo Rodriguez and

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Merril Kelly back. Yeah, any
anytime you get your you know, your

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your your top guys back, that's
that's huge. But you know that being

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said, it's there's still a lot
of baseball left. You know, there's

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there's gonna be there's gonna be more
injuries, right There's gonna be guys that

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come back from the i L.
It's just it's part of the season.

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It's the nature of it. You
know, there's there's a lot of good

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talent in this in this clubhouse right
now to win games. And yeah,

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just a matter of you know,
trusting each other and having each other's backs

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and and just leaving it on the
field. That's the voice of Christian Walker

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ahead a first pitch between the Dodgers
and Diamondbacks. All right, Christian,

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we all know how well you've done
here at Dodgers Stadium. Is it something

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about the way you see the ball
here? Is it the heightened atmosphere here

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at Dodger Stadium? Can you put
your finger on why you've excelled? No,

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I mean a little bit of both, you know, all of the

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above. It's you know, it's
definitely a you know, there's a there's

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a play to your competition type type
expectation when you come here. We know,

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you know that the Dodgers are gonna
give us some some good games.

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And yeah, it's you know,
I wish there was you know, a

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rhyme or reason to it. It's
just I think it's just one of those

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funny baseball stats. When you go
inside that batter's box last night, obviously

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you're locked in. Is there a
feel, like you can use an analogy

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sort of like Klay Thompson or Steph
Curry when they're making threes from half court?

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Is there that same feel in the
batter's box for a hitter? I

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know, I know, you know. One major difference that comes to mind

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is just the size of the park, not that this is like a small

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park by any means, but playing
at Chase, you know, I hit

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a ball last week that was a
four hundred and twenty foot double, So

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like right, like, sometimes it's
it's a little daunting feeling like you have

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to hit the ball so hard and
so far to get rewarded there at Chase

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sometimes, and you know, there's
there's other pros that come with it.

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There's a lot of doubles, there's
a lot of triples to be had in

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that big outfield. But you know, I would say maybe maybe it takes

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a little bit of effort level out
where, you know, maybe on that

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like eighty ninety percent effort level and
it's maybe a little bit more efficient and

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just trusting that you know, if
I put a good swing on it and

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put the ball in the barrel,
I can be rewarded for it. So

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you have twenty home runs this year? Are you telling us your short change

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playing in what hitters consider a hitters
ballpark? No, you're talking about Chase.

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Yeah, yeah, that's not a
hitters ballpark anymore. I think I

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think five or six years ago it
definitely was. But I think since you

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know, the humidors have been added, and it seems like the league is

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trying to regulate how the ball,
how the ball flies around the league.

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You know, there's still some parks
that it's it's still a good place to

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hit, right, Like Cincinnati comes
to mind, Colorado comes to mind,

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stuff like that. But yeah,
for whatever reason, you know, I

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just I enjoy I enjoy competing at
Dodger Stadium, Christian I know, and

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Kershaw's on the injured list, but
you've competed really well against him. Does

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that go back to just certain matchups
are more beneficial to hitters than pitchers.

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What have been those type of head
to head confrontations for a lack of better

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term, You know, anytime,
anytime it's like righty, lefty or something,

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as a hitter, you try to
take you try to channel that as

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confidence, right, Like, regardless
of who's out there, It's like,

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obviously the credibility and the career successes
is there, you know, so you

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have to acknowledge that. But in
the same sense, it's like it's just

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a body out there. You're trying
to play the head game. It's like,

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oh, I got the match up
on my side, and you know,

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however, However, you got to
kind of phrase it and think about

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it to feel like you have an
advantage or have an edge in the box.

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You know. I think that's a
big part of it. I think,

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you know, the mechanics are important
and all that, but you know,

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the more confident I can be and
the more I can just trust myself

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in the box, the better hitter
I am. I've always felt, no

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matter who it is or what team
you're playing for, when you go to

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a visiting ballpark and you get the
booze, I feel like that's a sign

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of respect. Do you feel like
maybe you could feed off of that because

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I hate to tell you, Christian, I feel like you're a household name

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now in Los Angeles. Yeah.
Yeah, anytime the fans you know,

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acknowledge you good or bad, I
think there's something positive to be taken from

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there for sure. But yeah,
like I said, man, it's just

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one of those things. It's uh, you know, I wish I wish

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I had like a good juicy nugget
for you. Why it's here, But

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yeah, I think it's just one
of those one of those funny baseball stats.

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That's awesome. Well, great meeting
you and thank you. For the

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time. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, thank you. You're okay with

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me ending this by calling you dodger
killer? Still right? Hey, I'm

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not saying it. A lot of
games to be played, you know.

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There he is, Dodger Killer Christian
Walker on the fourth of July