Speaker 1: It's the final day of the regular season, but it's
Speaker 1: been a long road for the Dodgers, and preparations started
Speaker 1: all the way back in November. And a man that
Speaker 1: never has a day off, a man that is vital
Speaker 1: to the energy of the Dodger dugout and the preparation
Speaker 1: of every single Dodger player, is Dodgers strength and conditioning
Speaker 1: coach Travis Smith. Travis, thanks a lot for the time
Speaker 1: and congratulations on getting through another regular season.
Speaker 2: Dave, thank you. We appreciate it.
Speaker 3: It's been a great season so far, so I'm excited
Speaker 3: for the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 1: You're very much in demand with the Japanese media. What's
Speaker 1: the attention been like for a guy that likes to
Speaker 1: stay in the background.
Speaker 2: It's been all right.
Speaker 3: It's been cool just being able to ask the questions about,
Speaker 3: you know, the work that show he puts in.
Speaker 2: It's been a blessing. It's been good to be a
Speaker 2: part of it.
Speaker 1: The first images we saw of showy Otani and Dodger
Speaker 1: Blue was the day after he signed with the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: and you were right there helping him already die been
Speaker 1: to preparation for this season. What's it been like to
Speaker 1: work so closely with a player of his caliber and
Speaker 1: his dedication.
Speaker 2: To the game. It's been amazing.
Speaker 3: Actually since day one, you know, you talk about those photos.
Speaker 2: Since day one, he's.
Speaker 3: Asked a lot of questions, he put a lot of
Speaker 3: work in. He wants to be the best, and so
Speaker 3: it's really cool.
Speaker 1: To see Travis. Everybody is curious to know whether or
Speaker 1: not he already had it in his mind that he
Speaker 1: wanted to steal a certain number of bases. Did he
Speaker 1: ever express that to you?
Speaker 3: He didn't say how many bases he wanted to steal,
Speaker 3: but absolutely he wanted to steal bases.
Speaker 2: That was his whole goal this year. He said, if
Speaker 2: I'm not going to pitch, I want to be able
Speaker 2: to steal more bases.
Speaker 3: And so he got with myself, He got with Clayton
Speaker 3: McCullough in spring training and worked on some things. They
Speaker 3: talked about his jumps, how poor they were in the past,
Speaker 3: and how he wanted to get him better. And so
Speaker 3: that's what our goal was with all of the training
Speaker 3: and things that we did. We wanted to work on
Speaker 3: his acceleration, improve his acceleration so that he can try
Speaker 3: to steal more bags.
Speaker 2: All the other things. I think it's on him. I mean, his.
Speaker 3: Dedication watching failm looking at the pictures and seeing what
Speaker 3: he can do, and just overall talent.
Speaker 2: This guy's amazing.
Speaker 3: And I think that he had it in his mind
Speaker 3: that he wanted to steal those bases. When he did
Speaker 3: steal a certain amount of bases, when he stole forty forty,
Speaker 3: he came in jokingly said to me, now, how about
Speaker 3: fifty to fifty?
Speaker 2: Wow?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so he maybe had an appetite for more after
Speaker 1: he got to thirty and then to forty.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, absolutely, and you can tell that he's thinking about it.
Speaker 3: At once, he knew he can achieve a certain amount
Speaker 3: once he got passed what he did last year, he
Speaker 3: knew that he can get to thirty.
Speaker 2: Once he got to thirty, he knew he can get
Speaker 2: to forty and so.
Speaker 1: Okay, So once he got to fifty, Ichiro Suzuki's record
Speaker 1: for the most stolen basis by a Japanese born player
Speaker 1: was broken by Otani. Do you believe he wanted that
Speaker 1: distinction and to have one more than Eachie wrote?
Speaker 3: You know what, Honestly, I don't know. I think he
Speaker 3: just wants to be the best. He knew that that
Speaker 3: was the case. I think he wants to steal sixty bags.
Speaker 3: You know, he wants to continue to get as much
Speaker 3: as he can. So I don't know about him wanting
Speaker 3: to be as significant or touch what each little did,
Speaker 3: but I know he wants to steal more bad.
Speaker 1: Travis Smith is our guest. He's the Dodgers strengthened conditioning coach.
Speaker 1: When you look at the work you put in with
Speaker 1: an athlete like Otani, we're talking about, you know, Kobe
Speaker 1: Bryant type level of popularity, dedication. What does it mean
Speaker 1: to you that a player of his caliber reciprocates by
Speaker 1: putting in the work that you guys set out to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, honestly, it's it's been cool.
Speaker 3: But the thing is we've been on his team with
Speaker 3: some great players, and so it is definitely a blessing
Speaker 3: and great opportunity to be able to work.
Speaker 2: With him, and it feels good.
Speaker 3: But I want to treat all of our players, saying,
Speaker 3: and so being able to have a relationship with him
Speaker 3: and every other player, this is what I work for,
Speaker 3: you know, I want to be able to get the
Speaker 3: best out of all of our athletes.
Speaker 2: And so, yeah, it's been It's been amazing.
Speaker 1: But when you get the buy in by a player,
Speaker 1: I'm sure, like any part of life, the more you
Speaker 1: put in, the more you get back. When you get
Speaker 1: that from him, I'm sure that makes you want to
Speaker 1: put more in.
Speaker 3: All hands down, I mean right away, knowing what I
Speaker 3: was going to get out of him asking questions on
Speaker 3: a first day, first me explaining what it is that
Speaker 3: we do as a staff, our training staff, our strength,
Speaker 3: condition to staff, what we can provide for him, and
Speaker 3: he was.
Speaker 2: All in that day. Man. That lit me up.
Speaker 3: I was excited and I was looking forward to seeing
Speaker 3: what we can do this year.
Speaker 1: How much do you believe being in this Dodger environment
Speaker 1: has helped him thrive to do things that he has
Speaker 1: never done in his career.
Speaker 2: I think I think it definitely helps. Being able to win.
Speaker 3: Winning is contagious, you know, people talk about it, but
Speaker 3: being able to win and being on the stage, I
Speaker 3: think it's amazing, and him seeing.
Speaker 2: The other guys that he can push and that pushes.
Speaker 3: Him, you know, being between you know, at the beginning,
Speaker 3: being between Mookie and Freddie, I knew that pushed him.
Speaker 2: And so just being able to see the.
Speaker 3: Caliber of players that we have on our team and
Speaker 3: challenging him every day and seeing like what he can do,
Speaker 3: and our players like, man, this guy's great.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I think it pushes him just like it pushes our
Speaker 3: players that he's on our team.
Speaker 1: All right, before we go with Travis Smith, the Dodger's
Speaker 1: strength and conditioning coach and hype man for the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: right before first pitch, can you let us in on
Speaker 1: what the hype roll call is for show? Hey, Otani, I.
Speaker 2: Think I did this.
Speaker 1: You did Mookie?
Speaker 3: Oh I did Moogie? Okay, okay, so show Hey the
Speaker 3: hype for show? Hey, I'm just gonna say it. And so,
Speaker 3: ladies and jumping in attendance and baseball fans around the world.
Speaker 3: LI from coursefield it showtime perfect.
Speaker 1: I think that's the best way to end this. Travis
Speaker 1: Smith one of the great guys along with Dodger trainer
Speaker 1: Possum Knakajima on this staff. I love these guys and
Speaker 1: they put in tireless hours that you never see for
Speaker 1: the Dodgers to be prepared to take the field every
Speaker 1: single night. Thanks a lot for the time, and congratulations
Speaker 1: to you and the great Possum Nakajima. Long Beach state
Speaker 1: legend on the Dodger staff. Thanks Travis, Thank you appreciated
Speaker 1: that