Speaker 1: It's the Dodgers and Rockies getting said for first pitch,
Speaker 1: and we're joined right now by a local kid from
Speaker 1: Orange County. Everybody a modern day high school knows who
Speaker 1: Ryan McMahon is, and certainly his reach stretches way beyond
Speaker 1: the Orange curtain, and he joins us right now at
Speaker 1: Dodgers Stadium. Thanks a lot for the time and great
Speaker 1: to see you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for having me. Man.
Speaker 1: Man, it's awesome to see you after all these years.
Speaker 1: Every year you've come back to Dodgers Stadium, every season
Speaker 1: you've been in the big leagues, you found a way
Speaker 1: to evolve and get better. Do you feel like you
Speaker 1: still have that in you?
Speaker 2: Man? I feel like you never figure this game out
Speaker 2: all the way. You just adjust and find different ways
Speaker 2: to survive. Yeah. I've been lucky, man, to stick around
Speaker 2: long enough to make a lot of trips at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 2: Always fun coming back here.
Speaker 1: It feels like you found a home at third base.
Speaker 1: You were known for being a guy that moved around
Speaker 1: a lot. How does it feel to have a home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, it feels a lot better sticking in one position.
Speaker 2: You know, when you're young, you do what you gotta do.
Speaker 2: To get in the lineup, But yeah, I definitely feel
Speaker 2: good holding down third base.
Speaker 1: When you're done with the season, do you come back
Speaker 1: to California? Do you go back to where you used
Speaker 1: to go when you were just in high school and
Speaker 1: still whatever you were doing in the lab trying to
Speaker 1: get better.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I come back a lot. I've got family still
Speaker 2: in Orange County, up in Elie County. My wife and
Speaker 2: I live out in Arizona, but we're back here a
Speaker 2: good bit.
Speaker 1: How much do you still lean on the same people,
Speaker 1: baseball wise, baseball community you did when you were starting out.
Speaker 2: When I'm in town, man, definitely, you know, I'll go
Speaker 2: hit with some old coaches, you know, go back to
Speaker 2: the high school and take some grumballs stuff like that.
Speaker 2: But yeah, besides that, not too much. But I definitely
Speaker 2: stay in touch with all of them. When we come
Speaker 2: and play the Angels or come play here. I always
Speaker 2: get texts and always see a lot of people.
Speaker 1: What's it like coming to Dodger Stadium. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: how many times you got here when you were a kid,
Speaker 1: But what's it like playing here?
Speaker 2: Oh? Man, I came here a lot. My grandfather, his
Speaker 2: work had season tickets and stuff, so we would come
Speaker 2: up bum those all the time. So I used to
Speaker 2: love coming up here. Shawn Green was my favorite player
Speaker 2: growing up, so coming back is always special for me.
Speaker 1: Have you ever had Sean Green?
Speaker 2: No? Never met him. That would be cool though.
Speaker 1: He's a he's a OC guy too. You might have
Speaker 1: to connect with him. He's in you know, the beach area. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think he went Tustin High School something like that. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So yeah, hopefully one day we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: Is there a rivalry between modern day and Tustin back
Speaker 1: in the day.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't call it a rivalry. Man, We stomped on
Speaker 2: those guys if we played him.
Speaker 1: Ryan McMahon is our guest, all right, Ryan, I'm curious
Speaker 1: from the opponent's point of view when it comes to
Speaker 1: Otani and the things he's doing this season. How much
Speaker 1: do opposing players watch what guys like him are doing?
Speaker 2: Oh? Man, As a baseball fan, it's hard not to
Speaker 2: tune and enjoy it. You know, he's he's incredible. The
Speaker 2: ball he hit for Homer last night, I mean, most people,
Speaker 2: the best you can do with that pitch is fouled off.
Speaker 2: So it's incredible. It's been fun to watch, and yeah,
Speaker 2: he's just a specimen. He's different than all of us.
Speaker 1: Where were the Rockies when he went fifty to fifty
Speaker 1: two days ago?
Speaker 2: I think we had an off day, Yes we had.
Speaker 2: I was golfing, but I remember everybody checking their phones
Speaker 2: all at once, having a bunch of messages about it.
Speaker 2: So the baseball world's talking about it.
Speaker 1: Is the most unique part about him is not just
Speaker 1: the power, but his size to be able to steal
Speaker 1: fifty bases.
Speaker 2: You know what, man, for such a big, strong, powerful guy,
Speaker 2: his feel and finesse for the game is incredible. When
Speaker 2: he's a shorten up and take his knock. I've seen
Speaker 2: him do it plenty of times, and you know it's
Speaker 2: time to let it fly. He's letting it fly. So
Speaker 2: just as all around, you know, cleanliness of his game
Speaker 2: is really impressive.
Speaker 1: What's the balance between competing and obviously having respect for
Speaker 1: what a guy like that can do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, on the field, man, you hope he goes over four,
Speaker 2: you know, but you know he's a great talent, and
Speaker 2: you know it's it's probably not going to go that way,
Speaker 2: but you're you're always pulling for him to go for four.
Speaker 2: You want to beat him, And I mean that's that's
Speaker 2: as basic as he can go with it. You just
Speaker 2: you want to beat the other team, doesn't matter who
Speaker 2: they have or what they're doing. You know, our our
Speaker 2: goals to go out, win, win every game.
Speaker 1: Ryan McMahon is our guest, and the Rockies don't sleep
Speaker 1: on them. I feel like they're in the same spot
Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks were in just a few years ago. Does
Speaker 1: it feel like the talent is starting to come to
Speaker 1: the major league level? You already have a pretty good foundation,
Speaker 1: but do you feel like you guys are getting close?
Speaker 2: Yeah, We've got some really good pieces, man, and our
Speaker 2: bullpens really sharpened up lately, kept us in a lot
Speaker 2: of games, and we played a lot of good teams
Speaker 2: really tough. So you know, you see the teams like
Speaker 2: the Royals, like the d Backs who had all that
Speaker 2: young talent and then finally put together. So you know,
Speaker 2: we're hoping we're close like them.
Speaker 1: How much would it mean to you to be that
Speaker 1: guy like Eric Hostmer was in Kansas City, To be
Speaker 1: that guy, that veteran that's been through the bad times
Speaker 1: but still there for the good times.
Speaker 2: Just to turn around, man, for the organization. You know,
Speaker 2: I grew up in this organization eighteen years old. A
Speaker 2: lot of the people that I've met, you know, I've
Speaker 2: kind of shaped who I am as a person. So
Speaker 2: to me, it would mean a lot to feel like
Speaker 2: I helped do something or turn around in a way.
Speaker 2: But it's going to take a lot more than just.
Speaker 2: But we've got a lot of good players and a
Speaker 2: lot of good pieces.
Speaker 1: When you look around the National League specifically, can you
Speaker 1: handicap how this October may look or do you feel
Speaker 1: like it may go sideways as well?
Speaker 2: Man, I think so many teams are so good and
Speaker 2: it's gonna be it's gonna be really fun to watch. Obviously,
Speaker 2: the Dodgers are dangerous, but I think the Padres are
Speaker 2: a really good team too, which I know Dodgers fans
Speaker 2: aren't gonna want to hear, but they've got some really
Speaker 2: good pieces over there. So in my opinion, the NL
Speaker 2: is the strong side, but we'll see how it shakes out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like the Padres might be the most
Speaker 1: dangerous team out there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're just really complete. Man. They got the stars,
Speaker 2: they got the bullpen, they got the hitters. So it
Speaker 2: should be fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Ryan McMahon, thanks a lot for the time. Great to
Speaker 1: share you with Dodger fans. They know who you are,
Speaker 1: not just because of your roots here in southern California,
Speaker 1: but you've madeor mark in this season series over the years.
Speaker 2: I had a couple of big hits against the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: It always feels good against the hometown.
Speaker 1: Team, no doubt. Great smile, big smile whenever he's here
Speaker 1: in LA. Thanks a lot for the time. Great to
Speaker 1: share you with Dodger fans.
Speaker 2: Thanks man,