Speaker 1: And now your host of Dodger Talk, David Vasse.
Speaker 2: Welcome the Dodger Talk David Fasse with you until eleven
Speaker 2: thirty tonight, taking your phone calls at eight six six nine,
Speaker 2: eight seven two five seventy. The Dodgers beat the Rockies
Speaker 2: tonight six to two, so that means they have won
Speaker 2: the series and the streak is over. They had lost
Speaker 2: three consecutive series going back to Philadelphia and our Nation's capital, Washington, DC.
Speaker 2: The Cubs came into town took two out of three
Speaker 2: from the Dodgers. So the Dodgers getting healthy against the
Speaker 2: team they should get healthy against. Last year, the Dodgers
Speaker 2: beat the Rockies ten out of thirteen meetings. Tonight they
Speaker 2: took care of business and again they didn't even play
Speaker 2: their best game. But I felt like the third inning
Speaker 2: may have been their best or their their best night
Speaker 2: as an offense. I really do the way they passed
Speaker 2: the baton the way they got on base, a two
Speaker 2: out base hit by Chris Taylor. Yes, the three run
Speaker 2: home run by Will Smith was the big one, but
Speaker 2: look how it got set up. It was the two
Speaker 2: guys ahead of Will Smith, part of the Big Three show.
Speaker 2: Hey Otani who led off the inning with a walk,
Speaker 2: stole second. Mookie Betts flew out that was the first
Speaker 2: out of the inning, and then Freddie Freeman took a walk,
Speaker 2: and then Will Smith hit a home run. So a
Speaker 2: lot of times players will tell you, yes, the home
Speaker 2: run is big, but look at the sequence of events
Speaker 2: that took place ahead of the home run. Yet bat
Speaker 2: right ahead of the home run, and those two guys
Speaker 2: Otani and Freeman set the table for Will Smith, who quietly,
Speaker 2: as always, is having a really hot start. In fact,
Speaker 2: he has the second most hits by any catcher in
Speaker 2: baseball seventeen to only Cabert Ruiz of the Nationals. Will
Speaker 2: Smith tonight two for five with threebis. He has now
Speaker 2: driven in five runs in the first two games of
Speaker 2: this series. Eight six six nine seven two five seventy
Speaker 2: is the phone number. Our guy, the voice of God,
Speaker 2: Todd Lights is in the booth tonight. For some reason,
Speaker 2: he wanted to check out how Dodger talk is done.
Speaker 2: Why don't you say hi to the people, Todd Lights
Speaker 2: before I get really into them? Go ahead, there it is.
Speaker 2: There we go, melt the other one hit the other one.
Speaker 2: There we go.
Speaker 3: See I'm a rookie when it comes to be in
Speaker 3: radio here.
Speaker 2: So hey, Dave, dramatic pause right there, Todd lights Now
Speaker 2: now you're hitting the cough button. See this is a
Speaker 2: high tech booth. People just think I show up and
Speaker 2: throw on headsets on and start yap and no, this
Speaker 2: is the real world.
Speaker 3: Well that's why I wanted to be here and see
Speaker 3: you do what you do. This is what I listen
Speaker 3: to on the way home every night, and I love it.
Speaker 2: Man, it's great to be here. Ah that voice, Oh man,
Speaker 2: that is great. Hey, maybe when we go to the calls,
Speaker 2: you could say the callers' names. That would give them
Speaker 2: a Let's do that, all right, eight six, six, nine
Speaker 2: eighty seven two five seventies the phone number. Dodgers beat
Speaker 2: the Rockies tonight six to two, and the Padres finally
Speaker 2: lost a game at home. They lost two to one
Speaker 2: in ten innings to those pesky Cubs. Nico Horner, with
Speaker 2: a go ahead triple in the tenth inning, handed the
Speaker 2: Padres their first loss at home. But I am not
Speaker 2: falling into the trap of scoreboard watching this early in
Speaker 2: the season. All I could say is the NL West
Speaker 2: is shaping up to be the best division in baseball.
Speaker 2: I know a lot of those East Coasters that East
Speaker 2: Coast bias. They don't stay up this late to watch
Speaker 2: the Padres or the Giants or the Dodgers unless they're
Speaker 2: in their time zone. But they better start recognizing because
Speaker 2: the NL West is the only division in baseball that
Speaker 2: has three teams with at least twelve wins. The Padres
Speaker 2: are fourteen and four, the Giants are twelve and five,
Speaker 2: and the Dodgers are thirteen and six. Not to mention,
Speaker 2: the Diamondbacks are ten and seven. It's these Rockies that
Speaker 2: are the anchor of the NL West at three and fourteen,
Speaker 2: after the Dodgers beat them again tonight six to two.
Speaker 2: And just think back, it wasn't that long ago that
Speaker 2: the Dodgers and Rockies played a Game one sixty three
Speaker 2: right here at Dodgers Stadium, where the legend of Walker
Speaker 2: Bueller was born as a big game pitcher, he beat
Speaker 2: the guy that's starting tomorrow night, Herman Marquez, in Game
Speaker 2: one sixty three here at Dodgers Stadium. And how the
Speaker 2: Rockies have fallen a mile high off the mountain after
Speaker 2: the Dodgers crushed their dreams in Game one sixty three
Speaker 2: back in twenty eighteen. The Dodgers have kept going. Teams
Speaker 2: like the Rockies have had miracle years like twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2: The Giants had a miss miracle year in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: But the Dodgers stay consistent, and they've won two World Championships.
Speaker 2: They've been to the World Series four times. And yes,
Speaker 2: seasons like this do appear where you know you have
Speaker 2: a surprise team like the Giants come from out of
Speaker 2: nowhere to give the Dodgers a run for the money
Speaker 2: in the division. But for the most part, the Dodgers
Speaker 2: have been the pillar of strength in the NLS. But
Speaker 2: don't sleep on the fact. I mean, early on, it
Speaker 2: looks like the NLST very well could have not only
Speaker 2: a division winner, but the rest of the wildcard playoff
Speaker 2: picture in this division with the Padres playing as well
Speaker 2: as they are, And look, I warned you about the Padres.
Speaker 2: Everybody thought the Padres were going to sell off their
Speaker 2: team with some of the disputes going on in their
Speaker 2: ownership after the unfortunate passing of a great man, Peter Seidler,
Speaker 2: who was the nephew of the great Walter O'Malley. But
Speaker 2: they did not sell off anybody. They kept the same
Speaker 2: core group that took the Dodgers to five games in
Speaker 2: the NLDS. They just didn't add any big pieces. So
Speaker 2: they are still that team. And I have a feeling
Speaker 2: that the Dodgers and Padres are going to see each
Speaker 2: other at some point in October. Again. Eight six six nine, seven,
Speaker 2: two five seventy is the phone number. Let's go out
Speaker 2: to the phones for the first time tonight. Abby, who
Speaker 2: was at Dodgers Stadium tonight? Abby? Do you feel like
Speaker 2: Todd Litz brought his a game tonight? All right, all right,
Speaker 2: I'm doing great. Thank you. Hey, Abby, your cell phone
Speaker 2: connection is really bad. I'll put you on hold and
Speaker 2: Colin's going to take care of that for you. I
Speaker 2: just can't subject us to that. I mean, there was
Speaker 2: a lot of wind and a lot of static, but
Speaker 2: not a lot of Abby's you regroup and we'll get
Speaker 2: back to you in a second as far as tonight's
Speaker 2: game goes. Jack dryer Man waited his turn when he
Speaker 2: was added to the forty manter roster during the offseason.
Speaker 2: He kind of had a feeling that his time was coming,
Speaker 2: and he pitched so well during spring training he forced
Speaker 2: the Dodger's hand to put him on the roster, and
Speaker 2: he has delivered with flying colors tonight and inning and
Speaker 2: two thirds of scoreless relief, four strikeouts, one walk, and
Speaker 2: extends his consecutive scoreless inning streak to eleven and a
Speaker 2: third innings. It's hard to do being a relief pitcher
Speaker 2: and coming in and facing the meat of the order
Speaker 2: a lot of times. And for Jack Dryer not only
Speaker 2: coming in for one or two batters, but going back
Speaker 2: to the dugout and coming back out to pitch a
Speaker 2: second inning. So Jack Dryer and for the most part,
Speaker 2: Ben Casparius have been big additions from the farm system
Speaker 2: to this Dodger bullpen. And how about Taylor. How about
Speaker 2: Chris Taylor getting his first start in center field. Since
Speaker 2: last June, Chris Taylor hasn't played a lot, and I'm
Speaker 2: really happy for him to be able to contribute the
Speaker 2: way he did tonight in the third inning with a
Speaker 2: diving catch in center field to rob Ezekiel Tovar and
Speaker 2: then coming up with a two out base hit to
Speaker 2: tack on the fourth run of the third inning. Many
Speaker 2: of you want to barry Chris Taylor. He doesn't play
Speaker 2: certain nights the Dodgers win, and I have a full
Speaker 2: board of calls of you trying to bury Chris Taylor,
Speaker 2: a two time World Series champion, the guy that won
Speaker 2: the Wildcard Game for the Dodgers in twenty one with
Speaker 2: a walk off home run, a guy that hit one
Speaker 2: of the biggest home runs in the twenty seventeen World
Speaker 2: Series Game one off of Verlander, leading off the World
Speaker 2: Series with a home run, A guy that made one
Speaker 2: of the great catches in the twenty eighteen NLCSM Milwaukee
Speaker 2: Game seven on the warning track, and you all want
Speaker 2: to bury this guy. Look, Chris Taylor is not the
Speaker 2: perfect player, but how many are There's not too many
Speaker 2: perfect players. The Dodgers have three that are pretty close
Speaker 2: in Otani and Mookie Bets and Freddie Freeman. But what
Speaker 2: Chris Taylor has. He has that blue collar type of attitude,
Speaker 2: that type of accountability to himself and to the team
Speaker 2: and to the fans to try to get better and
Speaker 2: contribute when called upon and not make a big stink
Speaker 2: about it when he doesn't play. And he has that
Speaker 2: championship pedigree. He knows how to play the game on
Speaker 2: the biggest stage. And look the swing It's a work
Speaker 2: in progress, right, It's not the same swing that can
Speaker 2: work in twenty twenty five the way it worked in
Speaker 2: twenty seventeen. But Chris Taylor isn't going anywhere. He's making
Speaker 2: a pretty large sum of money this year in the
Speaker 2: final year of a four year, sixty million dollar contract.
Speaker 2: Last year, if you look at his second half, it
Speaker 2: was better than what it was in his first half.
Speaker 2: And tonight was a big night for Chris Taylor because
Speaker 2: he proved to himself, he proved to his teammates, and
Speaker 2: he proved to you to a certain extent that there's
Speaker 2: still something left in the tank. And you have to
Speaker 2: appreciate guys like that. Look, is he going to be
Speaker 2: an everyday player? Is he going to be the twenty
Speaker 2: seventeen Chris Taylor? Probably not, But I do believe it's
Speaker 2: unfair to say this guy cannot play anymore and everybody
Speaker 2: wants to throw dirt on his grave prematurely. He has
Speaker 2: a role on this team. Is it to play every day? No,
Speaker 2: But he knows how to play center field, he knows
Speaker 2: how to play left field pretty well. He could play second,
Speaker 2: in short and third base. There's a value for a
Speaker 2: guy like that and also a guy that has veteran experience.
Speaker 2: So I'm just saying it's early in the season and
Speaker 2: you might want to just take some inventory on what
Speaker 2: the resume is of certain players. If Chris Taylor was unproven,
Speaker 2: I would say, of course, they just picked him up
Speaker 2: get rid of him. But he has a track record,
Speaker 2: and that track record is pretty impressive. Is it what
Speaker 2: it was in twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen? No, but
Speaker 2: is there still something that can help the Dodgers win.
Speaker 2: He proved it tonight that yes there is eight six
Speaker 2: six nine eighty seven, two five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 2: Let's go out to La Nick. You're on Dodger Talk
Speaker 2: with David vasse Hi. Nick.
Speaker 4: What's up, Dave. How are you doing tonight?
Speaker 2: I'm doing great.
Speaker 4: That's great. I'll just listening to your coumbo on Chris Taylor.
Speaker 4: I mean, I've been a huge Cresce hitter fan since
Speaker 4: since we got him back from Seattle. And I mean,
Speaker 4: like you said, moment after moment, he's he's there. You
Speaker 4: know that, he's I don't want nobody else in the outfield,
Speaker 4: nobody else anywhere. I want, you know, ball hit to
Speaker 4: him because you know he's gonna give you a hundred percent,
Speaker 4: full on effort. But with that being said, why don't
Speaker 4: we give him I don't.
Speaker 2: Know about that. I don't know if I want the
Speaker 2: ball hit to him every time. I mean to ask her,
Speaker 2: this weeks pretty.
Speaker 4: Good, Yeah, I mean, why don't we give him a
Speaker 4: shot at three v you know once he's you know,
Speaker 4: kind of struggling to start the season off.
Speaker 2: To see here we go. It's either Chris Taylor or
Speaker 2: Max Munsey, take your pick, because they seem to be
Speaker 2: the poster child for everybody's critique. And Max Munsey for
Speaker 2: the second straight game tonight, did you know, for the
Speaker 2: second straight game, Nick, Max Munsey took two walks. And
Speaker 2: that's what the Dodgers need out of the seven eight
Speaker 2: to nine holes. They need those guys to get on
Speaker 2: base to turn that lineup over. And it's been a
Speaker 2: little better here the last two nights, kind of tonight
Speaker 2: was much better than last night. So I don't want
Speaker 2: to hear that on Max Mounsey either. It's seventeen games in. Uh,
Speaker 2: it's a little premature to start saying that Max Mounthsy's
Speaker 2: washed as well.
Speaker 4: No, no, another question. I know that now was gonna
Speaker 4: begin his his throwing process again that that. How did
Speaker 4: that or is there any info on that went good?
Speaker 2: It went good. He's been all smiles the last two days,
Speaker 2: which tells me that things went well and he's happy
Speaker 2: with the way the shoulders feeling. So it's gonna be
Speaker 2: some time to build back up, but not a lot
Speaker 2: of time. Like I said last night, I kind of
Speaker 2: feel like when the Dodgers go on their East coast
Speaker 2: road trip and end in Arizona, when they play ten
Speaker 2: games on the road to start May, that's when you're
Speaker 2: going to see Blake Snell return to the Dodger rotation.
Speaker 2: All right, Nick, thanks for the phone call. Eight six
Speaker 2: six seven two five seventy is the phone number. Think
Speaker 2: about the Dodgers starting rotation. Dust May and Yamamoto have
Speaker 2: been by far the two best starters the Dodgers have
Speaker 2: had this year. Tyler Glass now has had two good
Speaker 2: starts at home, but had a not so great start
Speaker 2: in Philly. So I would say he's third behind those
Speaker 2: two guys. And if you look at the guys that
Speaker 2: are not pitching for the Dodgers right now, that at
Speaker 2: some point this season, will pitch for them. It's pretty
Speaker 2: scary for the rest of the league because you got
Speaker 2: Blakesnell coming back in the beginning of May. Kershaw, who
Speaker 2: is starting a rehab game in Oklahoma City tomorrow morning,
Speaker 2: is eligible to come off the sixty day il mid May.
Speaker 2: Let's not forget about Emmitt Shean. Emmit Shean physically looked
Speaker 2: more imposing in spring training than I saw him before
Speaker 2: he had his Tommy John surgery. Shean more than likely
Speaker 2: will be able to pitch in the second half of
Speaker 2: the season. And oh yeah, that guy number seven team,
Speaker 2: that's a great dh, A fifty to fifty guy. Show
Speaker 2: Hey Otani, He's going to be pitching at some point
Speaker 2: in July, August, September to get ready for October. So
Speaker 2: those are four big time guys that could start in
Speaker 2: the Rockies rotation tomorrow. And the Dodgers have a pretty
Speaker 2: full rotation right now. Eight six six, nine eighty seven
Speaker 2: two five seventy is the phone number. We have two
Speaker 2: lines open when we continue more of your phone calls,
Speaker 2: and we will also let you hear from Michael Kopek,
Speaker 2: who experienced his first Jackie Robinson Day with the Dodgers
Speaker 2: he'll give us an update on where he's at. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: By the way, the Dodger bullpen has been really good
Speaker 2: and Evan Phillips, Bruce dark Raderol and Michael Kopek have
Speaker 2: yet to throw a single pitch this season. You'll hear
Speaker 2: from Kopek and also we'll share Vin Scully's memories of
Speaker 2: the great Jackie Robinson as we celebrate forty two today
Speaker 2: and every day right here on five to seventy LA Sports,
Speaker 2: your home for the world champion Dodgers. They beat the
Speaker 2: Rockies sixty two. Be happy.
Speaker 1: Dodger Talk is available on AM five seventy LA sports
Speaker 1: dot com, hand on the iHeartRadio app. Back to more
Speaker 1: Dodger Talk with Dodger insider David Basse.
Speaker 2: There's lead, big lead.
Speaker 4: It first for Freemam.
Speaker 2: There's a swing a dry left field.
Speaker 5: This ball's deep and caring bean back to the wall.
Speaker 2: He looks up, better's got a hold. Run Will Smith
Speaker 2: with a three run shot and the Dodgers lead it
Speaker 2: four and nothing.
Speaker 5: Second home run of the season for Will Smith as
Speaker 5: he just hammered this one out for the right of
Speaker 5: the bull bend into the first row of the home
Speaker 5: run seats.
Speaker 2: A big night for the Big Three last night, with
Speaker 2: Will Smith driving in two runs, and then tonight, Will
Speaker 2: Smith with the hammer, a three run home run part
Speaker 2: of a four run third inning for the Dodgers as
Speaker 2: they go on to beat the Rockies tonight six to two.
Speaker 2: Daniels Jewelers presents the home run Forecast. Go to AM
Speaker 2: five to seventy lasports dot com and use the keyword
Speaker 2: home run for your chance to win a fifty dollars
Speaker 2: Daniels Jeweler's gift card predicting the number of home runs
Speaker 2: in the very next game. Daniels Jewelers own the Dream.
Speaker 2: Eight six, six, nine, seven two five seventy is the
Speaker 2: phone number. Will Smith off to a very hot start
Speaker 2: with an ops of over one thousand. He's hitting three
Speaker 2: sixty seven. His strikeout to walk ratio is remarkable. He's
Speaker 2: only struck out fourteen times this year, and he's already
Speaker 2: walked ten times. He has two home runs and twelve
Speaker 2: RBIs and certainly uh the ideal guy to be hitting
Speaker 2: behind guys like Shoe Aotani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman.
Speaker 2: That three run home run was set up by walks
Speaker 2: from Otani and Freddie Freeman, as Will came to the
Speaker 2: plate with one out and Freddy Tonight on base four times,
Speaker 2: two walks, and he had two hits, and he came
Speaker 2: this close to hitting a home run inside the left
Speaker 2: field foul pole. Instead it was fouled by a few feet,
Speaker 2: and Freddie was a little annoyed. You could tell he
Speaker 2: thought that. He well, he takes pride in keeping those
Speaker 2: type of fly balls fair, so he holds himself to
Speaker 2: a higher standard than anybody else would. How about Tommy
Speaker 2: Edmund who went over last night but came back big
Speaker 2: tonight four for five. His four hits tied a career
Speaker 2: hides the fourth time Tommy Edmond had four hits in
Speaker 2: a game. The last time was back in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: So it's been a while for Tommy Edman. Thank you
Speaker 2: very much, Saint Louis for Tommy Edman, by the way,
Speaker 2: I mean, I can't believe the Cardinals traded that guy,
Speaker 2: but the Dodgers are very fortunate to have him in
Speaker 2: their lineup. He is huge, plays gold Glub's second base.
Speaker 2: He's really the captain of that infield, and then you
Speaker 2: could kick him out to center field in the middle
Speaker 2: of the game like they did tonight, like you saw
Speaker 2: in the postseason last year, he could play shortstop for
Speaker 2: you all the way to an NLCSMVP and to a
Speaker 2: World Series Championship. So to me, Tommy Edmin is the glue. Hey,
Speaker 2: we want to send our thoughts and prayers out to
Speaker 2: Jose Mota and his pops, Manny Mota. Jose's not joining
Speaker 2: the show tonight and did not join it last night
Speaker 2: because his dad, Manny, who is a legendary Dodger, suffered
Speaker 2: a stroke. He's in recovery where he's responsive to commands
Speaker 2: and is resting comfortably. Jose was at the ballpark calling
Speaker 2: the game for Spanish radio tonight. I'm sure he's with
Speaker 2: his pops tonight, and our thoughts and prayers go out
Speaker 2: to Number eleven and the Motive family. Man. He's a
Speaker 2: great guy and means a lot to this organization and
Speaker 2: can't wait to see him back here. I was actually
Speaker 2: just joking around with him a couple of days ago,
Speaker 2: because he's here virtually every day. He was wearing a
Speaker 2: three quarter zip with the Chiefs logo. I was like, Manny,
Speaker 2: you're a Chiefs fan. He's like, yeah, you didn't know that.
Speaker 2: I said, no, I'd never seen you wear any Chiefs gear.
Speaker 2: He said, I played with Patrick Mahomes's dad back in
Speaker 2: the day, so all right, that justifies wearing a Chiefs
Speaker 2: three quarter zip. Michael Kopek not sure what team he
Speaker 2: roots for, but Michael Kopek was such a big part
Speaker 2: of the Dodger bullpen last year as they really did
Speaker 2: something unprecedented to carry the Dodgers and support a staff
Speaker 2: that basically only had two and a half starters to
Speaker 2: the World Series Championship and nothing more evident and encapsulated
Speaker 2: what the Dodger bullpen did than Game five of the
Speaker 2: World's Series as they were able to pick Jack Flaherty up,
Speaker 2: capped off by Blake Trinan and Walker Buehler doing herculean
Speaker 2: things to help the Dodgers secure that World Series championship.
Speaker 2: But Michael Kopek was so big as well part of
Speaker 2: that World Series run for the Dodgers after they acquired
Speaker 2: him along with Tommy Edmund in that three way trade
Speaker 2: with the Cardinals in White Sox last July. Michael Kopek,
Speaker 2: by the way, knew his elbow wasn't feeling great during
Speaker 2: that October run, but pitched through it and now he's
Speaker 2: trying to come back and good news. He threw a
Speaker 2: bullpen session today, his second, and he feels like things
Speaker 2: are going in the right direction.
Speaker 6: I think with the game in general, excuse me, with
Speaker 6: the game in general, there's a lot of ups and downs. Yeah,
Speaker 6: you know. So you know I'm let's say I'm healthy
Speaker 6: right now and I'm pitching. I and go out there
Speaker 6: and I can feel great for one game. In the
Speaker 6: next game maybe not so good, and you have to
Speaker 6: find a way. There's a little litle bit of that
Speaker 6: when you're doing a rehab stant too, but you don't
Speaker 6: know if you're going to bounce back when you have
Speaker 6: a bad day and rehab, so it can be this
Speaker 6: roller coaster of emotions if you if you ride every
Speaker 6: single feeling of every single day, but to have a
Speaker 6: high day make it that a little bit easier and
Speaker 6: you get to kind of just build off of that.
Speaker 2: Like I said, I have so much respect for you
Speaker 2: and for all those guys in the bullpen last year
Speaker 2: that were pushed to the limits to try to win
Speaker 2: the World Series. You guys were able to do that.
Speaker 2: I haven't talked to you about this, but you what
Speaker 2: you guys did as a group is unprecedented to carry
Speaker 2: a pitching staff that far. How proud are you of that?
Speaker 2: And I mean literally left your arm out on the
Speaker 2: mound last year?
Speaker 6: Uh yeah. I think the main thing is I'm I'm
Speaker 6: incredibly grateful to be a part of a group that
Speaker 6: that was that was that special. You know, whether one
Speaker 6: guy did the job every single night, or you know,
Speaker 6: somebody needed to get picked up, like, we never shied
Speaker 6: away from that, and we had a group of guys
Speaker 6: that were willing to fight that battle all the way through.
Speaker 6: And to be a part of that group and a
Speaker 6: part of guys that are just so determined to win
Speaker 6: no matter you know, what the feeling is or what
Speaker 6: the situation is. Like, the World Series was the end
Speaker 6: goal and site and that was what we were all
Speaker 6: working towards. So to be a part of a group
Speaker 6: that worked that hard for it, I was incredibly proud of.
Speaker 2: No doubt, they'll go down in history as maybe the
Speaker 2: greatest bullpen in a World Series. I'm not saying all
Speaker 2: of them were better than you know, the Nasty Boys
Speaker 2: of the Reds in nineteen ninety or k Rod and
Speaker 2: Perceval and shields of the Angels O.
Speaker 7: Two.
Speaker 2: But I will say this, none of those bullpens had
Speaker 2: to shoulder the workload that bullpen had to do. And
Speaker 2: I would, pound for pound take them over any other bullpen.
Speaker 2: And you can't measure the size of their heart, because
Speaker 2: that was immeasurable. They had a heart of a lion
Speaker 2: to be able to do what they did last year.
Speaker 2: There's no ways around that. Eight six six nine eight
Speaker 2: seven two five seventy is the phone number. Let's go
Speaker 2: out to Bob in Malibu. Bob, can you believe this
Speaker 2: Dodger bullpen is pitching as well as it is? And
Speaker 2: there's no Grattarol, no Phillips, and no Copek.
Speaker 8: Yet, not only can I believe it, Dave, I believe
Speaker 8: in it every single time these guys take the mound, Man,
Speaker 8: they give us such strength out there. They come in
Speaker 8: after our starters. Grateful to all the bullpen first and foremost, Dave,
Speaker 8: do I want to echo your thoughts about Manny motive men,
Speaker 8: Dodger nations behind that guy, thinking of him, thinking of
Speaker 8: his family, So wishing Manny the best man in the
Speaker 8: full recovery.
Speaker 2: Anything you want to say to Todd lights the voice
Speaker 2: of God, the PA announcer for Dodger Stadium. He's hanging
Speaker 2: out in the booth tonight. Bob, you want to say hi?
Speaker 8: All I can say is thank God. Todd.
Speaker 2: Yeah, go ahead, Todd sale Hell to Bob and Malibu.
Speaker 2: There you go.
Speaker 3: Hey you Bob, Thanks man, come on out and see.
Speaker 8: You like hearing the voice of God right over my telephone.
Speaker 8: Thanks for being with us. God Man appreciates you.
Speaker 2: Dave one for some reason, he's a sick man. He's
Speaker 2: a sick man that wants to sit here and watch
Speaker 2: me do sports talk radio at night. Bob, thanks a lot,
Speaker 2: Bob appreciated man. How about that a big fan right there. Todd.
Speaker 2: You know a lot of people hear the voice, but
Speaker 2: they really don't hear the personality of the PA announcer.
Speaker 3: Well, I try to add a little personality if I can.
Speaker 3: But yeah, we're on a limited wavelength up there in
Speaker 3: the PA booth. But boy is it exciting to be
Speaker 3: out here with fifty thousand plus fans every game. And
Speaker 3: we sold another game out tonight and these fans just
Speaker 3: keep turning up. It's a it's a Tuesday night in April,
Speaker 3: and we've got a full house out here, so of
Speaker 3: course it's Jackie Robinson night and everybody wants to be
Speaker 3: part of that. But you fans are amazing and we
Speaker 3: feel your energy and I know the team thrives on
Speaker 3: it too.
Speaker 2: So love it. And you were out there today. I
Speaker 2: saw you at the statue. You were wearing your Dodger
Speaker 2: jersey with the forty two on the back. How great
Speaker 2: was Kareem today?
Speaker 3: Kareem was fantastic. I loved his stories about growing up
Speaker 3: in Manhattan as a Brooklyn Dodger fan. You mentioned that
Speaker 3: he was born the day after Jackie broke the color barrier,
Speaker 3: and it was just he's such as he's such a
Speaker 3: sage man, you know, and such just such a towering figure,
Speaker 3: both physically of course, and in our culture and here
Speaker 3: in Los Angeles, and it's just great to see him
Speaker 3: out there. And I know he's not moving around as
Speaker 3: well as he used to, but he's got a lot
Speaker 3: to say and he's got a lot to offer. So
Speaker 3: we love Kareem.
Speaker 2: Hey, we love Todd Lights. Thanks for hanging out with
Speaker 2: us tonight. Todd. I'm glad I could share you with
Speaker 2: the people.
Speaker 3: Thank you, David. You're always a very hospitable. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: I love the show. Dodger Talk is the best seventy
Speaker 3: LA sports clip.
Speaker 2: That calling. That's a promo right there, Voice of God,
Speaker 2: just endorse me clip that clip that that'll run every
Speaker 2: single night. Todd, thank you very much. Eight sixty six
Speaker 2: nine eighty seven two five seventy is the phone number.
Speaker 2: On the topic of Kareem and Jackie Robinson. I wanted
Speaker 2: to share with you a very special conversation or part
Speaker 2: of a very special conversation I had with Vin Scully
Speaker 2: back in twenty twelve. I had so many questions for
Speaker 2: him about the Boys of Summer and in particular Jackie Robinson.
Speaker 2: So here is the great Vin Scully on the grate
Speaker 2: forty two.
Speaker 7: Well, I think, first of all, when I first started,
Speaker 7: I was the same age as many of the rookie players.
Speaker 7: I can remember sitting in the back of the bus
Speaker 7: with Dick Williams, who was a rookie outfielder for the
Speaker 7: Dodgers who eventually became a Hall of Fame manager. So
Speaker 7: a lot of years go by, and in those days
Speaker 7: with Jackie and I, we were sent to the Catskill Mountains.
Speaker 7: There were a resort up there called Gros singers, pretty
Speaker 7: famous in the East, and it was dead of winter
Speaker 7: and we were going to hold a Q and A
Speaker 7: with the guests and do whatever we could do to entertain.
Speaker 7: So I brought my ice skates because I was a
Speaker 7: kid from the East, and I skated and Jackie and
Speaker 7: Rachel came, and Rachel was about eight months pregnant, and
Speaker 7: Jackie said, oh, you're going to go skating and I
Speaker 7: said yeah. He said, well, I'll go with you. I
Speaker 7: said okay, so Rachel said I'll go too. Well. We
Speaker 7: went to the rink right at Grossingers and there was
Speaker 7: a lady named Maureen Mellerrick and she took Rachel off
Speaker 7: to get her skates, and Jackie and I went in
Speaker 7: the locker room and Jackie got a pair of rented
Speaker 7: skates and I was putting on mine and Jackie said,
Speaker 7: when we get out there, I'd like to race you.
Speaker 7: And I was shocked, and I said, jack I didn't
Speaker 7: know that you raced your southern California. I knew about basketball,
Speaker 7: I knew about football, but I didn't know you ice skated.
Speaker 7: And he said, oh, I've never been on skates in
Speaker 7: my life. So I looked at him and I said, well,
Speaker 7: jack I mean, I'm not a great skater, but I
Speaker 7: can skate, and there's no way that you're going to
Speaker 7: beat me in a race. And he said, I know,
Speaker 7: but that's the way I'm going to learn. And that
Speaker 7: really was the competitive fire inside of Jackie Robinson.
Speaker 2: Can you talk about what you went through and how
Speaker 2: you witnessed everything that he did go through as one
Speaker 2: of the pioneers not only in baseball but in American society.
Speaker 7: Well, actually, when Jackie started with the Dodgers nineteen forty seven,
Speaker 7: I was not there. My first taste of what it
Speaker 7: was like to travel with Jackie was the spring of
Speaker 7: nineteen fifty and we went from Vero Beach to Texas
Speaker 7: on our way to Brooklyn. So it was a long,
Speaker 7: long trip and we came back from Texas through the South,
Speaker 7: and that's when I realized the impact that he had
Speaker 7: made on the country. Jackie was very forceful, however, with
Speaker 7: the people. If the black community came out, and they did,
Speaker 7: they were in right field and center field and some
Speaker 7: of the small ballparks, and Jackie would go out and
Speaker 7: if he saw one or two, let's say, who were
Speaker 7: over celebrating, who perhaps had gone to the hard stuff.
Speaker 7: Jackie would really not ball them out, but he would
Speaker 7: say to them, this is not the way to behave.
Speaker 7: You can be happy, but you don't want to show
Speaker 7: some bad habits while trying to be happy. So he
Speaker 7: was very concerned about the reaction of the black people
Speaker 7: in the South. But he was a remarkable man. And
Speaker 7: I've often said this, most of us lose some of
Speaker 7: our skills when we get angry. Jackie actually excelled when
Speaker 7: he got angry, certainly on the baseball field. That's why
Speaker 7: Leo Durocher and other managers used to say, leave him alone,
Speaker 7: let him sleep, because if you got him angry, he
Speaker 7: could do the most remarkable things. And I remember in
Speaker 7: Pittsburgh one time they threw at him and he got angry.
Speaker 7: So he had a base hit, then he stole check,
Speaker 7: and then he stole third, and then he stole home.
Speaker 7: And so that's the kind of a player he was.
Speaker 7: The fire in his belly was amazing.
Speaker 2: Vin Scully with the final word tonight on Dodger Talk,
Speaker 2: sharing incredible stories that he lived with the great Jackie Robinson,
Speaker 2: and that was part of an interview that I did
Speaker 2: with Vin right here in the press box back in
Speaker 2: twenty twelve. I never get tired of hearing that voice
Speaker 2: or hearing those stories, and we miss Vin a lot,
Speaker 2: but his legacy lives on, just like Jackies does through
Speaker 2: his voice, through his storytelling, and through things like that.
Speaker 2: So thank you Vince Scully, because you gave us a
Speaker 2: first hand account of the greatness of the person of
Speaker 2: Jackie Robinson. Then I'll do it for us tonight on
Speaker 2: Dodger Talk. In case you missed any of the show,
Speaker 2: you can find it on the iHeartRadio app. Thanks to
Speaker 2: calling Ye back at our Burbank Studios, Thanks to Dwayne
Speaker 2: McDonald out here at Dodger Stadium, and thanks to Todd
Speaker 2: Lights for hanging out with us, and thank you for
Speaker 2: hanging with us every single night. Once again. The final
Speaker 2: score tonight from Dodgers Stadium on Jackie Robinson Day, the
Speaker 2: Dodgers defeat the Rockies six to two. Ben Maller on
Speaker 2: Fox Sports Radio is next. Have a great rest of
Speaker 2: your night. See yup.