Well, we're joined right now by a World Series champion. And I knew
him way before that. He was one of those special guys that you connect
with in a clubhouse, and we certainly did in two thousand and four,
in two thousand and five when he was playing for the Dodgers before he went
on to an unbelievable Major League career to close out his fifteen seasons. And
now he's part owner of the Belmont Stakes winner door Knock. That is the
one and only Jason Worth. Jason. Great to have you on the show.
Great to reconnect with you. Yeah, David trazy, it's been this
long twenty years since those days. My Dodger days were good. Good to
talk to you and get back connected for a totally different reason. Yeah,
no doubt. You know, when we used to talk, we never really
talked about horse racing, but I know the Dodgers beat writer Ken Gernick was
a big horse racing guy. Did you you have it in your blood back
then? Uh? No? And as I mentioned, running into paul A
Duca at Saratoga on Belmont weekend and and you know, hugging it out with
my old Dodger teammate and and talking about horses. Was was was you know,
surreal? Also so it's uh, it was. It's been a crazy
couple three years here in horse racing. I never really had much interest or
or you know, really anything to do with it other than watching the Triple
Crown races and following it from afar. But yeah, here we are here,
we are sitting here today watching watching races at Churchill Downs this afternoon and
uh, you know, sitting on you know, arguably the best three year
old in the world, and and and Belmont Camps. What can you tell
us about door Knock? What makes this horse so special? To be an
underdog of sorts at the Belmont Stakes? Yeah, which is crazy. You
wouldn't have you wouldn't have thought, uh he was an underdog if you saw
my my betting ticket. We we we believed in him. Uh. We
thought he We thought he was the favorite in the race. Honestly, we
He had a he had a rough trip in the Derby ran ran big.
His gallop out was great. Uh. The horse the race before that was
the Bluegrass where he had a tough trip. Uh, similar to what the
what the Kentucky Derby trip was. He just didn't have anywhere to go and
came up empty on the straightaway. But uh, you know, maybe he
wasn't he was offul coming off a little bit of a you know, layoff,
I guess, but going into the Bell Mountain we felt really good about
him. He Uh, it's funny. I was telling on MLB Network the
other day. Mark dross the interviewed me. He asked me, what what
what he's like? And I said, and I think it's true. He's
a he's kind of like his uh, his his dad. He's a he's
a big, bad dude with a big with a bad attitude. And uh,
he shows up on game day, so he was he's uh, he's
cool to be around. He's tough to train, which you know I probably
wasn't the most coachable guy myself. So we got a lot in common.
And and you know, he's, uh, he's a gamer and he's a
he's a big horse. Uh, he's he's uh, he's cool, he's
funny. If you get we go see him see him a lot. We
give him peppermints, uh, and like he'll start like he'll start sucking on
his tongue and like it's it's it's it's hysterical. But then in that like
few uh thirty seconds of him and enjoying his peppermint, you kind of you
can get in there and uh and love on him and and pat him.
Will'll let you close. But as soon as that's over, he wants another
peppermint, and then he turns back into a jerk. So he's uh,
he's a he's an interesting guy. Do you remember the first time you ever
got introduced to door knock and when you went in with ten percent of ownership
on door knock? Yeah? So I was at the sale uh and Keeenland
a couple of steps ago, where it's kind of like when you buy buy
these horses and you don't know what they are. I mean the guys at
bottom that that that I ran into. I ran into these guys at the
bar uh at Keenland after the sales, and and that's how I got in,
just kind of sitting there chopping it up with these guys I just met,
and they wanted to get me in, and you know, they said,
oh, you know, I was buying mostly phillies, and they said,
oh, you get you a cold, get you, you know,
get you a horse, get you on the Derby trail looking back. I
mean if if when I tell people that in horse racing, they're like,
you know, those guys are are full of it, you know, because
you never no one knows what they have when they're one. But those guys
so good about it, and so did I. And it's been it's been
a just an incredible journey from from then to now the Derby. Running in
the Derby was was a life altering weekend, once in a lifetime experience for
me and the family. And and you know, you ran tense, which
was disappointing, but at the same time so cool that it was just you
know, you're just happy to be a part of it. So going into
the Belmont, you know, we felt like he could he could win the
race. It wasn't a you know, it wasn't a huge field like like
the Derby, where you know, I think if he got a better trip
of the Derby, he would have been you would have been right there as
well. But yeah, it's just it's just wild. I've I've gotten into
it. It's become a passion and it's a great sport. It's also a
great sport for for retired athletes, for guys like me that you know,
competed at the highest level, uh, basically every day, and then you
know, there's no real outlet for those uh for that, you know,
for those emotions for you know, for the the competition. You know,
you can't really recreate the joys of winning and losing and uh, you know,
the gut wrenches of of you know, big time you know events and
races and and just it's been an unbelievable outlet for me to uh to kind
of feel those emotions again. I don't know if you saw the video that
America's Best Racing, Uh, there's a like a four minute clip that kind
of takes you through the day and and uh then shows us celebrating, uh
after the one that Belmont. And it's so great to be able to celebrate
with you know, when you're when you're playing, it's awesome to hear your
teammates and and you win and and you know you got you have these you
know, you know, bonds you create with your teammates when you win you
can never break. And then you you look up in the stands and you
waved your family, you know, and they're they're they're there with you,
but not really. In horse racing, you know, you win, you
win together, you lose together, you cry together. You know, it's
it's it's a It's an amazing sport on so many levels, and I'm just
happy to be a part of it and looking to looking to share it and
spread the spread the good, the good name of horse racing. As we
go, Jason Worth is our guest. You can hear the passion of horse
racing in his voice. And really that's what I was going to ask you.
You answered, whether or not it helps you with the competitive outlet,
but also with winning the Belmont Stakes compared to winning the World Series in Oh
wait, maybe seeing door knock go down the stretch, does it feel like
two outs in the ninth inning? Is there any parallels there? Definitely is.
I mean, you know, for people that aren't familiar with the sport
or or just know the sport from from the betting side, when you bet
on a horse, you know, from on the ownership side, it's totally
different. I mean, it's such a different experience. This horse becomes part
of your life. You know, you worry about it, you wake up
in the morning, you check on it. You know, there's there's videos,
there's there's reports, it becomes like you know, you go to see
it in the stables, it becomes like a family pet. I mean,
this guy's he's got nicknames. You know, we bring the presents. It's
like there's a whole lot of a whole different experience to owning these horses than
than just betting on them or going to the track someday in Washington. So
it creates, you know, the will creates a bond similar to when you're
when you're playing then and when he goes and runs and you know, a
race like a Triple Crown race, you know, like I mean, this
is legendary stuff. So when you win, you feel the same emotions I
winning at the highest level, I mean I would I would say I would
put it right up there. If if you know, winning the World Series
in Philadelphia and then and then experiencing the parade in Philadelphia, which was which
was incredible, I would say, you know, one in one a winning
the Belmont would be would be you know, a close second. So it
was a it's remarkable to experience it, and like I said, to do
it with my family and my friends together, it just it makes for an
incredible experience. I can't I can't. I can't even begin to tell you
how special it is. That is so awesome. Jason Wirth is our guest.
Before I let you go, you mentioned seeing Paul Aduca at the Belmont
Stakes and him embracing you. That was such a tight knit group in two
thousand and four with the Dodgers. Obviously, you guys did not go all
the way, but of all the teams that you were part of, where
do where does two thousand and four ranked as far as the bonds you had
with those teammates. Yeah, yeah, I mean, awesome team. You
know, arguably that was Yeah, that was my rookie, rookie year.
So it was an unbelievable start to you know, a pretty storybook career with
with the way, you know, the way it went, with you know,
the the injuries experienced the following year and the troubles that we had to
you know, get it diagnosed and and get it fixed, and then ultimately,
you know, getting released by the team that you know, you know,
gave me the opportunity. It was. It's the four team was was
so close. You know, we we ran into a juggernaut with Saint Louis
that year. They were they were hot, and you know we were we
were kind of a little short, but it was it was a great experience.
The awesome year we had, you know, running down the Giants down
the stretch. You know, Finn's hitting that big walk off grand Slam at
Dodger Stadium. I had that. I had that long at bat to tie
the game and then Finn's coming up and hitting the Grand Slam. I mean
that that was that was That was a great Dodger moments. And to do
it at Dodger Stadium at packed house as a rookie, he was. It
was incredible. You know, obviously had some some other big games there for
other teams and and big moments, but always loved, always loved Dodger Stadium,
and you know playing in l A was was, you know, definitely
special in being a Dodgers. You know, it's like it's it's uh,
it's one of the tough sports franchises in all sports. So it was.
I was honored to be a Dodger and then to experience all that and you
know, had a great career and now here we are running and running triple
ground races and winning the Belmonts. It's you know, never it never ends
right. You always had a vision even when you were playing. You had
the vision of winning a World Series Championship, a vision of being one of
those premiere free agents, which you accomplished as well. And I'm sure you
had this vision of at some point in time finding this outlet and Door Knock
winning the Belmont Stake. So I'm really happy for you, Jason, and
awesome to hear from you again. Yeah, thanks David Trading. Dormic was
the first cult I bought, so my first chance I had. Uh I
would I kind of say that he found me. I don't know if I
found him, but it's it's been a crazy run. We still got we
still got the travers looking for the travers, and then hopefully we'll be in
We'll be in San Diego, down there del Mar for the Breeders Cup in
November, so I hope to see you out there when I get on the
West coast. Hey, if Door and Jason Worth are at del Mar for
the Breeders' Cup, I will be there, So let's book it. Not
hope I will see you out there in November, Let's do it. Thanks
for the time, and good to hear your voice, and good to speak
with you again,