Speaker 1: The Dodgers are back in action tomorrow night, opening up
Speaker 1: a three game series against the Chicago Cubs, first time
Speaker 1: the Dodgers will see the Cubs since Tokyo, and on
Speaker 1: Sunday Night. It will be a nationally televised broadcast. That
Speaker 1: means the Sunday Night Baseball crew will be in town,
Speaker 1: including my favorite Buster Only, my favorite guy from Vermont.
Speaker 1: It's not Ben or Jerry, it's Buster Only. Buster. Thanks
Speaker 1: a lot for the time appreciated.
Speaker 2: Gee, It's not a good start because they know you're
Speaker 2: not sincere about liking anything for Vermont man.
Speaker 1: Ben and Jerry was great in the nineties of Buster,
Speaker 1: but I feel like I've moved on.
Speaker 2: It's great now. I don't appreciate the shots. And you'll
Speaker 2: never get that the best maple syrup in the world,
Speaker 2: which is from.
Speaker 1: Vermont, No doubt you got that going for you, and
Speaker 1: they got Buster going for them as well. When we
Speaker 1: last spoke, when you came to Dodgers Stadium for the
Speaker 1: whole home opener, it felt like the Dodgers were in
Speaker 1: a very different weight class than everybody else. What do
Speaker 1: you think now after thirteen games that.
Speaker 2: They still eventually will be I mean we haven't. They
Speaker 2: haven't played a game this year. When you get a
Speaker 2: fully healthy Bookie and a fully Freddie Freeman, and I
Speaker 2: do think there's going to be a time of that,
Speaker 2: because we know that the way the Dodgers handle injuries
Speaker 2: is through the prism of getting players ready for October,
Speaker 2: and so you know, we'll see that happen. But I
Speaker 2: think the you know, maybe what you're referring to is
Speaker 2: the evolution of other teams in the division. The Nationally
Speaker 2: West might be more competitive, not because the Dodgers aren't
Speaker 2: a great team, but because the Giants are clearly better
Speaker 2: than they have been in the first year of Buster
Speaker 2: Posey running baseball operations. The Diamondbacks are the great offense,
Speaker 2: and even though the Padres were eliminating that division series
Speaker 2: last year, when I was around them, it's pretty clear
Speaker 2: that group of players walked away from that believing, you
Speaker 2: know what, we can beat these guys, and they've got
Speaker 2: a lot of great players.
Speaker 1: When you look at that division, I feel like the
Speaker 1: Padres are the most forgotten team in baseball. Many of
Speaker 1: us believed they could have won the World Series if
Speaker 1: not for the Dodgers winning the NLDS. UH what's the
Speaker 1: sense you get from those group of players in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think the Dodgers share your sentiment on that.
Speaker 2: I mean, in the in the post uh, you know,
Speaker 2: post post World Series interviews they did last year, so
Speaker 2: many of them were referencing the fact that they felt
Speaker 2: like the Padres were the toughest team. You know they are,
Speaker 2: so start Layton. You know, you've got Manny Machado. Uh,
Speaker 2: You've got Fernando Tett Jr. Who moved up another level
Speaker 2: this year with more play discipline than he's had in
Speaker 2: the past. Uh, you've got Jackson Merrill, who's one of
Speaker 2: the best young players at a five ninety six slegon
Speaker 2: percentage after the All Star break last year. You know.
Speaker 2: The the reason why the Padres are forgotten, I think
Speaker 2: is because their offseason was so you know, they've got
Speaker 2: this ownership going on, you know, fight over who's in control,
Speaker 2: where the payroll is going to be going forward, and
Speaker 2: so A. J. Peler, the general manager, didn't do a
Speaker 2: lot like we're accustomed to, but at the end of
Speaker 2: the winner, he did make some moves. He sign Nick
Speaker 2: Pavetta for the rotation, which they desperately needed. They signed
Speaker 2: Jose Glacier's depth in the infield, it still feels like
Speaker 2: that that's gonna be the biggest challenge for the Padres
Speaker 2: is how much depth will they have. It's generally speaking
Speaker 2: a pretty top heavy lineup, and they need their stars
Speaker 2: to stay on the field and stay healthy. So like
Speaker 2: right now, you know this hamshring injury for Jackson Merrill.
Speaker 2: It it's a big blow to them because they're not
Speaker 2: a lot behind that front that that great front line
Speaker 2: they have.
Speaker 1: Buster only is joining us. He's on the ESPN Sunday
Speaker 1: Night Baseball crew. They'll be in town on Sunday for
Speaker 1: Trews and Cubs. And we just got back the Dodgers
Speaker 1: just got back from my East Coast road trip. That
Speaker 1: reminded them they are human. And I guess since it's
Speaker 1: only thirteen Gamesbuster, I got to ask you this in
Speaker 1: that context, do you believe the Phillies might be the
Speaker 1: best and maybe the toughest competition for them considering how
Speaker 1: well they've matched up the last two years if they
Speaker 1: see each other, Because now I think it's nine out
Speaker 1: of eleven times Philadelphia has beaten the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent, And look they're a really experienced team.
Speaker 2: We talked about the Padres. Believe that they'll be able
Speaker 2: to debat them. You know, Bryce Harper it is hard
Speaker 2: believes that, Yeah, they can beat the Dodgers. You know
Speaker 2: that Kyle Schwarber thinks that they've got a guy who
Speaker 2: might be the best pitcher on the planet, Zach Wheeler.
Speaker 2: You know Christopher Sanchez, developing young left hander who is
Speaker 2: absolutely dominant. We saw him, you know that at Bad
Speaker 2: against Shohe and these great stuff. They can do that now,
Speaker 2: I think, you know, we thought that last year. People
Speaker 2: forget that. Most of last year we thought that the
Speaker 2: Phillies were the best team in baseball, and they just
Speaker 2: staded down the stretch. It's interesting because I was talking
Speaker 2: with an executive with another team during the last week
Speaker 2: and he mentioned the similarities between the Phillies and the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: You have this great lineup, but both of those teams
Speaker 2: are older teams that are probably going to be susceptible
Speaker 2: to injuries, and they're probably not going to be as
Speaker 2: good defensively just because of the h factor. But in
Speaker 2: terms of confidence to beat the Dodgers, yeah, it'll be there.
Speaker 1: Buster, you just mentioned defense and I know on yesterday's
Speaker 1: podcast you talked about it with Tim Kirkchin. Just now
Speaker 1: the Dodger defense may not be right now as good
Speaker 1: as it was last year. How unprecedented is it for
Speaker 1: the best right fielder in the game to try to
Speaker 1: move at age thirty one to the most demanding position
Speaker 1: outside of catcher. And what's the reviews you're hearing early
Speaker 1: on about this year's Mookie Betts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's never really been done never, and
Speaker 2: you you respect the fact that he's working at it.
Speaker 2: You know that he'll get better. The bottom line is
Speaker 2: he's not going to become an elite defensive shortstop at
Speaker 2: age thirty one. You know, I think afere the Dodgers
Speaker 2: with the team that they have there, you're hoping that
Speaker 2: they make plays and you don't make mistakes. But when
Speaker 2: you look at the you know, the various guys around
Speaker 2: the field, you know, Tommy Edmond is considered to be
Speaker 2: an excellent defender. I thank Freddie Freeman on his uh,
Speaker 2: you know, on when he's healthy. He's a really good
Speaker 2: first baseman. But just talking with folks with other teams,
Speaker 2: they don't see, you know, high end defense there. Here's
Speaker 2: the thing, you know, and I know, I mean the
Speaker 2: Dodgers' front office is filled with really smart people. They
Speaker 2: know all this, and as one executive said to me
Speaker 2: this week, they built this pitching staff that strikes out
Speaker 2: a lot of people. And so the the in the
Speaker 2: equation and the feeling is probably within the Dodgers front
Speaker 2: office that they can out hit some of their defensive
Speaker 2: mistakes and that their pitchers can strike out a lot
Speaker 2: of guys and lead runners on base.
Speaker 1: Yeah, hopefully that happens for them. They're walking more than
Speaker 1: they're striking out these days, and their starters aren't going.
Speaker 1: In fact, buster early on, their relief pitchers have thrown
Speaker 1: more innings than their starters. This famed starting rotation has
Speaker 1: less innings pitched than their bullpen, which has been stellar
Speaker 1: to start again.
Speaker 2: And that's in keeping with a trend in recent years
Speaker 2: where it does feel like at the end of every
Speaker 2: year and you look at you know, who throws the
Speaker 2: most innings within the Dodgers' rotation, they're always less than
Speaker 2: just about anybody else. You know, if their staff leader
Speaker 2: has been one like one hundred and thirty innings, one
Speaker 2: hundred and forty innings, they they're not getting a Zach
Speaker 2: Wheeler with a two hundred inning plow horse. I think they,
Speaker 2: you know, felt that, you know, a guy like Blake
Speaker 2: Snell would get my hundred eighty innings. So far, that
Speaker 2: hasn't happened. We'll see if they're healthier as we go
Speaker 2: along this season.
Speaker 1: Buster Olney is our guest. He is part of the
Speaker 1: Sunday Night Baseball crew which will be back at Dodger
Speaker 1: Stadium on Sunday, and Buster, part of the reason why
Speaker 1: I'd love to have you on the show tonight was
Speaker 1: because so much of the talk has been about breaking
Speaker 1: the Mariners record from people outside of the Dodger Clubhouse,
Speaker 1: with the exception of Miguel Rojas, but the Stars, Otani, Freeman,
Speaker 1: bats and even Dave Roberts have only talked about trying
Speaker 1: to win back to back championships for the first time
Speaker 1: since the Yankees that you covered twenty five years ago.
Speaker 1: What do you remember about that two thousand season when
Speaker 1: they were going through it. How how can you compare
Speaker 1: it to what we may expect from this Dodger team
Speaker 1: during the regular season, as that is their main goal.
Speaker 2: So the Dodgers, when healthy or the best team that
Speaker 2: I've ever seen. When you're talking about the you know,
Speaker 2: if you have Blake Snell and let's say Glasnow's healthy, Yamamoto,
Speaker 2: let's say Otani later in the year, Clayton Kershaw, you know,
Speaker 2: Dustin May, backed up by the best bullpen that Dave
Speaker 2: Roberts has ever put together, backed up by that incredible
Speaker 2: lineup they have. It's the best team that I've seen.
Speaker 2: It's better than the team that I covered with the
Speaker 2: ninety eight Yankees, which is saying something. You know, that
Speaker 2: team won one hundred and fourteen games in the regular season.
Speaker 2: They won one hundred and twenty five after they blew
Speaker 2: through the World Series, including a sweep of the Podres.
Speaker 2: What distinguished that team that year was this incredible drive.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, and I know, you know, fans
Speaker 2: go and I think they expect players to, you know,
Speaker 2: go to the ballpark every day with the with at
Speaker 2: absolute peak enthusiasm. But that's not how any of us
Speaker 2: do our jobs. That's not human to do that. And
Speaker 2: what just absolutely stood out to me that year in
Speaker 2: ninety eight was the Yankees had been beaten in the
Speaker 2: playoffs the year before by the guard then Cleveland Indians,
Speaker 2: and they were so motivated through the ninety eight season.
Speaker 2: They were just on a mission and they played with
Speaker 2: such such high energy, even against really bad teams. Now
Speaker 2: in September they played a couple of bad games against
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay Rays. You know, Joe Torri, who was managing them,
Speaker 2: called a meeting and chewed them out and they got
Speaker 2: back on track. That's the challenge to win that many
Speaker 2: regular season games, you know, all these guys. Once you
Speaker 2: get to postseason, you can get ramped up for a
Speaker 2: playoff game, a World Series game, and that's not going
Speaker 2: to be an issue. But to push yourself through one
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty days, one hundred and eighty one days
Speaker 2: in regular season, that is a challenge. And that's why,
Speaker 2: you know, generally speaking, I think it's really tough for
Speaker 2: any team to win that many games in a regular season.
Speaker 1: What about winning a back to back championship. Charlie Steiner,
Speaker 1: who's now part of the Dodger radio broadcast, was with
Speaker 1: those guys and he said they treated the race regular
Speaker 1: season as a warm up to the postseason. What they
Speaker 1: really cared about.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right. In fact, when you know that Yankee
Speaker 2: team won the World Series in ninety eight and ninety
Speaker 2: nine and two thousand and I think it actually the
Speaker 2: regular season got harder and harder and harder for a
Speaker 2: veteran group, and they did increasingly point towards the postseason
Speaker 2: to the degree that they actually crawled into the playoffs
Speaker 2: in a couple of those years. And then they got
Speaker 2: into October and all of a sudden, the bright lights
Speaker 2: hit and they were back to full intensity. You know.
Speaker 2: That's the challenge that Dodgers have. Which is one thing
Speaker 2: that I heard constantly from players, especially retrospectively looking back
Speaker 2: at those teams, is they felt like it was really
Speaker 2: important to bring in new guys from year to year,
Speaker 2: a new energy, players who were driven to win, So
Speaker 2: a Kirby eight for example, being really important, Blake Snell
Speaker 2: being really important, you know, as you go through the
Speaker 2: long regular season to be driven. And those Yankee teams
Speaker 2: in the year two thousand, which was the last of
Speaker 2: the three consecutive championships, I think they added seven guys
Speaker 2: during the July August waiver period because Brian Cashman knew
Speaker 2: they needed some new blood.
Speaker 1: Well, if you want some perspective on that Yankee dynasty
Speaker 1: and the team, the Dodgers are chasing in some ways
Speaker 1: the last team to win back to back championships. Buster
Speaker 1: published one of the best books on that Yankee dynasty,
Speaker 1: The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty Brings it All Together,
Speaker 1: and it's still out there on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
Speaker 1: It's one of my favorite books. So Buster, love having
Speaker 1: you on. I think you're the best at what you
Speaker 1: do and you always have great perspectives. So thank you
Speaker 1: for taking the time out and can't wait to see
Speaker 1: you on Sunday.
Speaker 2: That'll be fun day. But I always love talking with you,
Speaker 2: except when he talks Max about Vermont.
Speaker 1: I'll withhold on Sunday when I see you. From here
Speaker 1: on now, for the rest of Lent, I will not
Speaker 1: say anything negative about Vermon.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'll take it. I will take it.