Speaker 1: The one and only Justin Turner joining us here in
Speaker 1: the Mariners dugout Man, what a beautiful night last night
Speaker 1: at Dodgers Stadium.
Speaker 2: JT. Yeah, it was. It was something that was pretty special,
Speaker 2: and uh, you know, I want to thank the whole
Speaker 2: Dodgers organization for uh putting so much thought and time
Speaker 2: into that and and making it in a night that
Speaker 2: uh myself in court and one day boll uh we'll
Speaker 2: always remember.
Speaker 1: So I know you had some idea that Dodgers were
Speaker 1: going to honor your first return back here, But did
Speaker 1: it exceed your expectations?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I knew, I knew something was going on. They
Speaker 2: told me that they were going to do a presentation
Speaker 2: after the anthem, and then UH didn't know what. Obviously
Speaker 2: go out there and uh the tribute video was was amazing.
Speaker 2: Had me, uh, you know, in all my feels and
Speaker 2: running back all the memories, all the great memories we've
Speaker 2: had here. The check presentation to the foundation, I think,
Speaker 2: uh was certainly spectacular. I think everyone here knows how
Speaker 2: much the foundation means to court and I how much work,
Speaker 2: especially Courtney puts into the foundation. So that was definitely
Speaker 2: a nice, nice touch. But the thing that got me
Speaker 2: the most, and you know, thinking back and I actually
Speaker 2: wrote text to a bunch of the guys this morning.
Speaker 2: But you know, I've been a part of that on
Speaker 2: the other side. You know, when guys make their return
Speaker 2: to Dodger Stadium, and usually it's one or two guys
Speaker 2: come out and give a gift or a jersey or
Speaker 2: a picture or something. When I turned around and saw
Speaker 2: ten guys coming out of dugout, you know that that
Speaker 2: kind of got me a little bit. And I don't
Speaker 2: know if that was planned. I don't know if that's
Speaker 2: how I was supposed to go, But you know, I
Speaker 2: wrote all those guys this morning and that that meant
Speaker 2: the world to me. And that was at that point
Speaker 2: I started getting a little little mode. I was doing
Speaker 2: great until I saw all those guys walking out. I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh man, this is this is cool.
Speaker 1: Well I'm happy you got to experience that because you
Speaker 1: were one of the most inclusive teammates I've ever seen
Speaker 1: with the Dodgers, and you were such a big part
Speaker 1: of the success of this organization for the nine years
Speaker 1: that you were here. Like you said, to have the
Speaker 1: respect of the fans is one thing, but to have
Speaker 1: the respect of your peers, I'm sure is another level.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, uh, you know, I talk about it
Speaker 2: quite a bit. You know, there's a lot of things
Speaker 2: you can accomplish in this game, and a lot of
Speaker 2: awards and stats and accolades and you know, rings and whatnot.
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, the impact and
Speaker 2: the respect that you have of the guys that are
Speaker 2: in the room with you, that are you know, going
Speaker 2: out to to fight and to play and to compete
Speaker 2: for championships every day. You have their respect. That's something
Speaker 2: that that will last a lifetime and no one will
Speaker 2: ever take away from you. So, you know, that was
Speaker 2: that was a touching moment.
Speaker 1: I know you still have a lot of baseball left
Speaker 1: in you, but like you said, all your moments and
Speaker 1: the Dodger uniform were flashing up there within two minutes.
Speaker 1: I mean, what's that like to see you in those
Speaker 1: moments with those teammates just flash on Dodger vision before
Speaker 1: first pitch? I mean, how do you process all that, because,
Speaker 1: like you said, you're still going forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, you know, obviously there was there was
Speaker 2: a few individual moments up there. You know. Obviously the
Speaker 2: walk off home run played and the tag played. But
Speaker 2: I think the more special thing about that that, however
Speaker 2: long it was you said, two minute tribute, was all
Speaker 2: the guys that were in it and seeing the photos
Speaker 2: with everyone and flashing back all the memories of that
Speaker 2: and you know that at the end of the day
Speaker 2: when you go back and think about it and you
Speaker 2: think about all the ups and downs, the emotions of everything,
Speaker 2: and the guys in that room that you go through
Speaker 2: it all with, and that's what that's what means the most.
Speaker 1: Honestly, a lot of players put on the Dodger uniform,
Speaker 1: but they never even have one signature moment. What makes
Speaker 1: Justin Turner's nine years special is your signature moments were great,
Speaker 1: you accomplished it, you did it, but it was in
Speaker 1: the process of winning. Not many guys get that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I said, it was a special nine years
Speaker 2: and a lot of big moments, you know, not just
Speaker 2: for me. A lot of guys had big swings, big plays,
Speaker 2: big pitches. That was so cool to be a part
Speaker 2: of it. And I think obviously one of the biggest
Speaker 2: ones out of all of them was I guess my
Speaker 2: last act as a Dodger, and that was winning the
Speaker 2: Clemente award in twenty two So at the time I
Speaker 2: had no idea that that was going to be the
Speaker 2: last accolade I achieved as a Dodger. But looking back
Speaker 2: on it, if I'm going to go out and not
Speaker 2: put the uniform on again, accepting that award on behalf
Speaker 2: of court and I and the foundation is something that
Speaker 2: is probably the greatest accomplishment I had in the doubt uniform.
Speaker 1: Well, that's the reason why fifty one thousand plus at
Speaker 1: Dodger Stadium and the whole city loves you, is because
Speaker 1: not only did you perform on the field, but you
Speaker 1: cared about people off the field, especially during the pandemic,
Speaker 1: spending your own money to be able to feed people
Speaker 1: and keep people employed. I think everybody realizes that and
Speaker 1: doesn't forget, and it resonates with all of us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, I think you know, just in twenty fourteen,
Speaker 2: getting the opportunity to come back home, being from southern California,
Speaker 2: putting on the Dodger uniform with something special, and then
Speaker 2: coming here every night lean the league in attendance, having
Speaker 2: the people of this great city of la come out
Speaker 2: every single night supporting us. And you know, I'm one
Speaker 2: of the few guys that live here, lived here year
Speaker 2: round and got the opportunity to see the fans, whether
Speaker 2: it's in a mall, at a movie theater, down by
Speaker 2: the beach, whatever it is, and to see the love.
Speaker 2: I can't say it enough. To see how much love
Speaker 2: the city has for the Dodgers is special. So being
Speaker 2: able to give back, being able to start our foundation,
Speaker 2: being able to impact people's lives who are in need
Speaker 2: or who are going through the unthinkable with something that
Speaker 2: you know, Court and I don't take lightly, and something
Speaker 2: we're going to continue to do, and something that we're
Speaker 2: very very proud of.
Speaker 1: Well, even though he's only a couple of months old,
Speaker 1: baby Bo, when he gets older, he's going to realize
Speaker 1: how much this city loves Justin Turner because not of
Speaker 1: what he did on the field, but who he is
Speaker 1: as a person. So thank you for the time. And
Speaker 1: I don't believe it's going to be a one day
Speaker 1: contract situation. I'm holding out hope Justin Turner's final act
Speaker 1: is wearing a Dodger uniform in his final season whenever
Speaker 1: that is. So I'm not thinking about some ceremonial thing.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about really playing You're the next, David Freezer,
Speaker 1: Chase Utley one day.
Speaker 2: Right, the door's always open, man, We'll see what happens.
Speaker 2: It's a crazy game, a lot of moving pieces, crazy business,
Speaker 2: but that would certainly be the cherry on top of
Speaker 2: hopefully a really long.
Speaker 1: Career, no doubt. Great to have you back here. It
Speaker 1: was special seeing you in Boston, but extra special being
Speaker 1: here with you and seeing the way the fans received
Speaker 1: you last night. So thanks a lot for the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was so great to be home. Fans. Love you, guys.
Speaker 2: That was awesome. I felt your energy, felt your love,
Speaker 2: and yeah, I miss you guys.