Speaker 1: Well, it's Taco Tuesday, and we all know it's a
Speaker 1: celebration at Dodger Stadium on Taco Tuesday. And it's a
Speaker 1: celebration every time we have the man Anthony Banda joining
Speaker 1: us second time on the show. I appreciate you taking
Speaker 1: the time out. I know the energy level is high,
Speaker 1: but you gotta be ready, Bunda.
Speaker 2: I'm ready. Yeah. What are we talking about right now?
Speaker 2: Talk for Tuesdays? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Why are you so laid back man? Why are you
Speaker 1: trying to be so suave right now?
Speaker 2: I am always laid back. I don't have any I'm
Speaker 2: not a ra ra guy or upbeat guys. I just
Speaker 2: always been this way. My father's that way. How about that?
Speaker 1: Maybe that explains why you have a low heartbeat on
Speaker 1: the mound. You never get to you never let the
Speaker 1: game get too fast. Your heartbeat is just mellow like
Speaker 1: you are right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I I think you know within that my head,
Speaker 2: my thoughts and everything, obviously they're racing, but the controlling
Speaker 2: of the thoughts and understanding what it is that I
Speaker 2: need to do to, you know, proceed to the next pitch,
Speaker 2: whatever it is, and understand like the sequence that I've
Speaker 2: already pitched to uh, you know that those are the
Speaker 2: kind of things that I'm that that's going through my head.
Speaker 2: But I was always taught not to show too much
Speaker 2: emotion on the on the mound. Uh. I was always
Speaker 2: a kid that you know, younger, younger days, I would
Speaker 2: have a lot of emotions just from like failing and
Speaker 2: being upset, you know, And I was always getting in
Speaker 2: trouble for that. So that was something instilled in me
Speaker 2: right away, and uh, my father kept on it, and
Speaker 2: I think it's evolved into the sense of just understanding
Speaker 2: what it is I needed to do on the mound
Speaker 2: and then move on.
Speaker 1: So two lefties and that Dodger bulpen on opposite ends
Speaker 1: of the spectrum as far as showing emotion on the mound.
Speaker 1: Alex Vessi is the complete opposite.
Speaker 2: He's a great day. He's uh, he does he does
Speaker 2: a tremendous job. He's having a great year. I've watched
Speaker 2: him on the other side a lot. I followed him
Speaker 2: a lot, and you know it's I think it's it
Speaker 2: fits him because you know, his personality is exactly that.
Speaker 2: Off the field, he's very interactive, he's very uh, you know,
Speaker 2: he's funny, don't tell him I said that. But he
Speaker 2: is funny, he gets he gets me to laugh and
Speaker 2: stuff like that. But no, watching him throw and watching him,
Speaker 2: you know, be himself and that that was That's the
Speaker 2: biggest thing I guess you can say as far as
Speaker 2: being confident and stuff like that, is if you're allowed
Speaker 2: to be yourself, you're gonna you're gonna shine and and
Speaker 2: be that. And you know, everybody around the clubhouse loves him.
Speaker 2: Everybody knows who he is. Everybody, you know, enjoys the
Speaker 2: energy that he brings every single day.
Speaker 1: Los Angeles knows. So Anthony Bonda is as well. With
Speaker 1: how well you've been pitching, Anthony, I'll ask you the
Speaker 1: question everybody else is asking, why has it come together
Speaker 1: for you right now with this team.
Speaker 2: I don't know the exact answer to that. I think
Speaker 2: it has a lot to do with, you know, the
Speaker 2: information given, you know, the pitching coaches, the staff, everybody
Speaker 2: around me allowing me to be myself. That was the
Speaker 2: first thing they told me. And then you know, obviously
Speaker 2: like understanding what my job is is throwing the ball
Speaker 2: of the plate, you know, and just having confidence and
Speaker 2: conviction with the pitch that we're throwing and you know,
Speaker 2: just understanding that. You know, at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: we're a team. We're all pulling for each other. And
Speaker 2: that's the biggest thing as far as like for me
Speaker 2: is to be able to understand that I have, you know,
Speaker 2: eight guys behind me that will do like everything and
Speaker 2: anything that can possibly do to win the ball game.
Speaker 2: So I just I just think it all comes down
Speaker 2: to a mixture of all that, to be honest. But
Speaker 2: I think the clubhouse vibes and everything else like that,
Speaker 2: the you know, the guys introducing me to newer people,
Speaker 2: bringing me in, understanding and accepting me. I think that's
Speaker 2: that plays a big role in it too.
Speaker 1: So what does it mean when the people pictures that
Speaker 1: come here say the Dodgers allow me to be myself?
Speaker 1: Does that mean off the field or does it mean
Speaker 1: as a pitcher they allow you to pitch to who
Speaker 1: you are.
Speaker 2: Both. You know, you know, if you're in this clubhouse
Speaker 2: for a reason, you have something some something special about
Speaker 2: you and they want to bring that out. They do
Speaker 2: a very good job of bringing that out. And you know,
Speaker 2: within this clubhouse there's there's no egos, there's no you know,
Speaker 2: anything else like that. Of course, the Dodgers is loaded
Speaker 2: with superstars, but they treat we treat each other just
Speaker 2: like anybody else on the street, you know, with respect,
Speaker 2: you know, confidence and everything else like that that comes
Speaker 2: with that. But I think that's it's a it's a
Speaker 2: mixture of both. When they when they allow us to
Speaker 2: be ourselves. They allow us to be ourselves in the clubhouse,
Speaker 2: allow us to be ourselves on the field, and I
Speaker 2: think that's just where we can just relax and just
Speaker 2: go play some baseball.
Speaker 1: Love it, Anthony, Thanks a lot for the time. Great
Speaker 1: to have you on the pregame show again. The only
Speaker 1: rule on the Dodgers have your bag on time. That
Speaker 1: comes from Alex Torus, the Dodgers clubhouse manager. You better
Speaker 1: have your bag on time or he'll be knocking on
Speaker 1: your hotel door.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, cool,