Speaker 1: The right fist. Dodgers Playoff Baseball is back, and with
Speaker 1: it an annual postseason tradition.
Speaker 2: Scam is back. Baby.
Speaker 1: This is Sax and Cakes in the A app Go
Speaker 1: with Broway. Dodger legend Steve Sacks is joined by your
Speaker 1: favorite Dodger pregame host, Tim Kates. If you want to
Speaker 1: talk Dodgers, get in on the show on eighty six
Speaker 1: six nine, eighty seven two five seven now while the
Speaker 1: Dan Patrick Show streams on the Ihearts Radio app, We've
Speaker 1: been banished to the Internet until this Dodgers playoff run concludes.
Speaker 1: Here they are broadcasting live on AM five to seven
Speaker 1: e LA Sports. It's Tim Kates and Steve Sacks.
Speaker 2: On March twentieth in Seoul, South Korea, the Dodgers and
Speaker 2: Padres kicked off the twenty twenty four MLB season and
Speaker 2: now six months later, a collision course has a meeting
Speaker 2: in the NLDS. Hi everybody, and welcome to Sax and
Speaker 2: Kates in the AM otherwise known as Scam here on
Speaker 2: AM five seventy LA Sports. Thanks for being with us.
Speaker 2: If you're looking for the Dan Patrick Show, you can
Speaker 2: listen on the iHeartRadio app with scamback. That means it's
Speaker 2: the start of the Dodger postseason. I am Tim Kates,
Speaker 2: Dodger pre and postgame host, joined by two time World
Speaker 2: Series champ, former National League Rookie of the Year, and
Speaker 2: one hell of a guy. He is Steve Sack.
Speaker 3: Saxy. How you doing, buddy, Tim Kates. Good to be
Speaker 3: with you. Tim. Here we are again.
Speaker 2: Here we are again, year number seven. It feels like
Speaker 2: yesterday the Dodgers were in Chicago twenty seventeen. They finally
Speaker 2: got past the Chicago Cubs to make their way to
Speaker 2: the World Series, and I reached out to you and said,
Speaker 2: let's go, Saxy. We're gonna go live in local in
Speaker 2: the morning in Los Angeles on AM five seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 2: Give the Dodger fans what they want. And we've done
Speaker 2: it every single postseason, including this year, and we're often running.
Speaker 2: Gosh darn. It's great to hear your voice.
Speaker 3: Hey, breaking it down, Tim, Maybe you could tell our
Speaker 3: listeners how we kind of got to know each other.
Speaker 3: Early on in your life in Burbank, you were interviewed
Speaker 3: and why don't you kind of go in that you
Speaker 3: were little Timmy Kates from Burbank. Remember that I.
Speaker 2: Was little Timmy Kates from Burbank, grew up a baseball fan,
Speaker 2: grew up rooting for a Steve Sachs at second base
Speaker 2: for the Dodgers. We're in number three and later in life,
Speaker 2: get to move ahead and here I am co hosting
Speaker 2: a morning talk show with you now for seven straight
Speaker 2: postseasons talking Dodgers baseball. We have a World Series championship
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty that we got to help break down
Speaker 2: a couple World Series appearances for the Dodgers along the way,
Speaker 2: and hopefully this postseason saxy another deep run in October,
Speaker 2: because quite frankly, the last two years has happened to
Speaker 2: them bouncing out in the NLDS to the Padres and
Speaker 2: last year the Diamondbacks. Is unacceptable.
Speaker 3: Yeah it is. And you know, especially the bar is
Speaker 3: so high for the Dodgers because it's deservingly so. This
Speaker 3: team is absolutely stacked, and you know, the record always
Speaker 3: is is put there. Eleven of the last twelve years,
Speaker 3: can you imagine represented the Western Division of you know,
Speaker 3: of the National League. So this is a team that
Speaker 3: you know, people expect big things. And of course in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty they went it and maybe tainted a little
Speaker 3: bit in some people's minds by saying, well, it wasn't
Speaker 3: a full season. I don't agree with that. I think,
Speaker 3: you know, the rules were saying for everybody, and the
Speaker 3: Dodgers were the world champions and that's and that's that.
Speaker 3: But we want to see a full season victory now,
Speaker 3: and I think they're they're well suited this year to
Speaker 3: do that.
Speaker 2: You're a part of a lot of great teams, Zaxi
Speaker 2: teams that went to the postseason. Can you imagine being
Speaker 2: on a Dodger team that has gone to the postseason
Speaker 2: twelve straight years but won the division eleven in the
Speaker 2: last twelve years, and every year is either favored or
Speaker 2: one of the teams people are picking to win it
Speaker 2: at all. It's a run we've never seen before here now.
Speaker 2: It's absolutely incredible.
Speaker 3: It's kind of reminiscent of what the historians look back
Speaker 3: and see what the Yankees had done in those early
Speaker 3: days where they were always in the World Series, it seemed.
Speaker 3: And the Dodgers are kind of, you know there now
Speaker 3: with with the talent that they have. Then I really
Speaker 3: got to, you know, tip you gotta tip my your
Speaker 3: cap to the Dodgers front office for going out and
Speaker 3: getting what they need. Look, they did here with Flaherty.
Speaker 3: They needed that big shot in the arm and they
Speaker 3: certainly got it with him to you know, to set
Speaker 3: this team further down the road. And I think he's
Speaker 3: a big reason why. You know, the Dodgers are you know,
Speaker 3: that good this year and probably a lot of teams
Speaker 3: are looking at them as the way to do it.
Speaker 3: You know, we know that they've got resources and they're
Speaker 3: not afraid to use them.
Speaker 2: We're gonna get to your calls between now at nine
Speaker 2: o'clock this morning in eight six six nine eighty seven
Speaker 2: two five seventy. You know the number eight six six
Speaker 2: nine eighty seven two five seventy between now and nine
Speaker 2: o'clock this morning. We got a pair of tickets yet
Speaker 2: for Game one of the NLDS, which is tomorrow night
Speaker 2: out of Dodgers Stadium. First pitch here on a five
Speaker 2: to seventy is at five thirty eight pm. Yoshinobo Yamamoto
Speaker 2: on the mound for the Dodgers and what is going
Speaker 2: to be a great game one of this Dodgers padres
Speaker 2: NLDS also coming up this morning. In our second hour
Speaker 2: David Vasse, our Dodgers insider, will join us get the
Speaker 2: very latest. Also in the third hour, Tony Gwinn Junior,
Speaker 2: who is now part of the Padres broadcast team on
Speaker 2: TV and radio, does a show in San Diego in
Speaker 2: the afternoons as well. Tony Gwenn Junior will join us
Speaker 2: in the eight o'clock hour, But a lot of time
Speaker 2: for your phone calls at eight six, six, nine eighty seven,
Speaker 2: two five seventy. We're also going to hear from the manager,
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts. We'll hear from hopefully a guy that's gonna
Speaker 2: turn his season around here in October, and that is
Speaker 2: Chris Taylor. We'll hear from him coming up next hour
Speaker 2: as well. I don't know if you saw the Brewers
Speaker 2: Mets game last night, Saxy, but a wild finish. We'll
Speaker 2: get into that in that series and kind of look
Speaker 2: around baseball in general as the other series are going
Speaker 2: to get underway here the divisional round. But this Dodgers
Speaker 2: team this year, Saxy. Going into this year, it was
Speaker 2: all about the disappointments of the last two years and
Speaker 2: getting bounced by the Padres, surprisingly by a lot of
Speaker 2: folks two years ago. Last year they ran into a
Speaker 2: red hot Arizona Diamondbacks team, and after the last two postseasons,
Speaker 2: there was a lot of processing here in Southern California,
Speaker 2: a lot of reflecting by the Dodgers' front office. That
Speaker 2: was something that the Dodger management of Brandon Gomes, the
Speaker 2: general manager, Andrew Freeman, the vice president of Baseball Operations,
Speaker 2: talked about in their exit meeting last year was we're
Speaker 2: going to really reflect and look inward and see what
Speaker 2: went wrong and how we can change the results of
Speaker 2: the last two years. And one of the big thing
Speaker 2: was the team camaraderie and getting into the postseason and
Speaker 2: just continue to play the same way they did over
Speaker 2: the course of one sixty two into October, and you've
Speaker 2: got to kind of flip a switch, whether it's a
Speaker 2: switch mentally, emotionally, physically, as a team whatever. It's interesting
Speaker 2: here here Brandon Gomes, Dodgers general manager, talk about this
Speaker 2: and how the Dodgers team this October got a little
Speaker 2: different mindset this year here.
Speaker 4: A lot of stuff has been player driven up really
Speaker 4: focusing on team unity and bonding and wanting to make
Speaker 4: sure they're together doing things. So from that standpoint, it's
Speaker 4: a different look from what our schedule looks like. And
Speaker 4: then also with the guys really focused on doing things together.
Speaker 2: Over this time, Saxy. That's something we found out over
Speaker 2: the last two postseason demises for the Dodgers is things
Speaker 2: were different. They weren't tight, they weren't together. You know,
Speaker 2: going to San Diego two years ago in the NLDS,
Speaker 2: you know, twenty five different cars, twenty five different places.
Speaker 2: It was different. And now Mookie Betts has taken leadership
Speaker 2: of this team. They're gonna ride together down to San Diego.
Speaker 2: They're gonna have a team dinner in San Diego when
Speaker 2: they made the trip down there for the second half
Speaker 2: of this series and the NLDS, and they had a
Speaker 2: team viewing party to watch the wild card round. This
Speaker 2: is a different team.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and I love the idea that Mookie has really
Speaker 3: stepped up there because he is kind of the statesman,
Speaker 3: you know, for this ball club. But having that team
Speaker 3: unity is everything. Tim. Sometimes you can look at the
Speaker 3: fact that social media kind of interrupts that, and you
Speaker 3: see a lot of lonely people out there in the
Speaker 3: world today because they're just so enveloped in their phones
Speaker 3: and the messages and whatnot. And I just think that
Speaker 3: one to one, you know, encounters with everybody really makes
Speaker 3: a difference. And you know, you can look back and
Speaker 3: see what people did before I was playing. I know
Speaker 3: what was was really important was the team kind of
Speaker 3: hung together. They went out to dinner together, the families
Speaker 3: knew each other, and we tried to take that tradition
Speaker 3: on when I was playing as well. I like going out,
Speaker 3: you know, having dinner with my teammates and hanging out
Speaker 3: in their hotel room and whatnot and kind of passing
Speaker 3: that time. That's a that's a very important thing. I
Speaker 3: can only imagine what it's like today with social media,
Speaker 3: and that's that's kind of like a separator, if you will,
Speaker 3: for me. When you see guys taking twenty five different
Speaker 3: you know cars down down to the ballgame. Hey, the
Speaker 3: game doesn't start just when you get to the ballpark.
Speaker 3: It starts in the conversation in the locker rooms and
Speaker 3: before you get there.
Speaker 2: That's player lead, right. That can't be something that Dave
Speaker 2: Roberts or you know your day Tommy Lesorda or you know,
Speaker 2: the front office saying hey, you guys need to do this,
Speaker 2: you guys need to be together you guys need to
Speaker 2: go eat. That's player lead, right.
Speaker 3: Yes, it sure is, and you know it can be.
Speaker 3: You can take that as far as you want with
Speaker 3: the players, you know, like I said, sometimes in the
Speaker 3: off season they're hanging out together, they go hunting together
Speaker 3: and fishing. I think it's a great thing. I also think,
Speaker 3: you know, when you see some of the standards set
Speaker 3: with the team, Like you know, when we were playing,
Speaker 3: we had to wear a suit on the road. When
Speaker 3: you traveled, you had to have a certain tie and
Speaker 3: a suit to represent your team, and it kind of
Speaker 3: sets you apart, you know, not that you're better than
Speaker 3: anybody else, certainly like that, but it means that you're
Speaker 3: holding a certain amount of dignity as a unit when
Speaker 3: you travel and what you're representing with your organization. I
Speaker 3: like that stuff. I think it makes you feel like
Speaker 3: you're showing a great example for everybody else, and that
Speaker 3: makes you stick together, and that's a good thing.
Speaker 2: It's interesting because we're talking about this this year because
Speaker 2: of the failures of the last two Octobers for the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: and really it's the struggles of the superstars the last
Speaker 2: two octobers. Freddie Freeman Mookie Bets. Once the calendar flipped
Speaker 2: to October. It's like these guys turned into pumpkins and
Speaker 2: they couldn't carry the Dodgers and the NLDS against the Padres,
Speaker 2: and they certainly couldn't do anything against the red hot
Speaker 2: Diamondbacks pitching a year ago in the NLDS, and both
Speaker 2: those guys realized that, you know, they need to help
Speaker 2: carry this team. And now Shoe Aotani needs to help
Speaker 2: carry this team. Other guys need to rise to the
Speaker 2: occasion as well. But the one for the postseason last
Speaker 2: year between Freeman and Mookie Bets is something that Mookie sacks.
Speaker 2: He still talks to this day about how it just
Speaker 2: eats him.
Speaker 3: You know, you know what I love about that, tim
Speaker 3: is is Mookie steps up and owns it. He knows
Speaker 3: that he's expected on a higher level from most most
Speaker 3: other players because he's that good and he is that
Speaker 3: guy that they looked to to kind of lead the charge.
Speaker 3: Freddie Freeman the same way. What I liked about it
Speaker 3: when they didn't have their their their best outings, they
Speaker 3: sat there and they and they owned it. They took
Speaker 3: the questions after the games. They didn't run from anybody.
Speaker 3: They weren't ducking out anywhere, so the press couldn't find them.
Speaker 3: They stood right there. They took it, they owned it.
Speaker 3: And that's real leadership guys that you know, hang in
Speaker 3: there and say, look, this is this is part of
Speaker 3: the process, and we're gonna come back and we're gonna
Speaker 3: be better next time. And Mookie certainly has taken that
Speaker 3: with them all throughout the season. I think he's just
Speaker 3: chomping at the bit to get out there and kind
Speaker 3: of change that whole narrative from last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he even took it. You know, ten days
Speaker 2: ago he went on with Jimmy Kimmel on a late
Speaker 2: night show and was talking baseball and other things. And
Speaker 2: you know then he had doing a podcast with Fernando
Speaker 2: Tatise a week ago when the Padres were in town
Speaker 2: and the Dodgers lose on that triple play weird play
Speaker 2: in the series opener to the Padres at Dodger Stadium,
Speaker 2: and the perception was from fans like, hey, Mookie's too,
Speaker 2: he's too busy doing other stuff.
Speaker 3: Mooki's doing this.
Speaker 2: Wait, Mookie's won for this, Mookie's zero for three. Why
Speaker 2: is it? Mookie bets paying attention. Why is he working hard?
Speaker 2: And it's interesting Saxy. He made the point two days
Speaker 2: later to say, Hey, I've been in the cage. I've
Speaker 2: been taking four hundred you know, hacks in the cage,
Speaker 2: off the machine and off a tee and extra batting practice.
Speaker 2: I'm in here working, you know, because the perception is
Speaker 2: not just him. Maybe some of these guys are just preoccupied.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, look, with the flow of information in social
Speaker 3: media today, it's gonna seem like, you know, they don't
Speaker 3: do anything and they're just hanging out and doing whatever.
Speaker 3: That I can guarantee you is not the case. There
Speaker 3: is nobody ready and more and more position right now
Speaker 3: for this for this playoff run than Mookie Bets. He
Speaker 3: is a workhorse. He loves what he's doing, and there
Speaker 3: is no question in my mind that he's not one
Speaker 3: hundred percent ready. Look for him to be a big
Speaker 3: reason why the Dodgers move on to the next level,
Speaker 3: because this guy's like a tiger, just ready to get.
Speaker 2: Out from the outside looking in. And David Vassi can
Speaker 2: give us a better perspective when he joins us next
Speaker 2: hour our Dodger insider, since he travels with the team
Speaker 2: and it knows these guys so well. But from the
Speaker 2: outside looking in, Mookie Bets never really seems like a
Speaker 2: vocal leader or even that guy that maybe has the
Speaker 2: command of the clubhouse. He's more of a lead by
Speaker 2: example on the field, like Freddie Freeman is. And that's
Speaker 2: certainly the way they lead, and it's been successful individually
Speaker 2: and collectively. Justin Turner was the glue of this Dodgers team,
Speaker 2: the guy who stood in front of the cameras the
Speaker 2: win or lose, the guy who would take the heats,
Speaker 2: would reap the praises, but also would keep the guys
Speaker 2: in line and together in that Dodgers' clubhouse. So to
Speaker 2: hear Mookie say this the last ten days, it kind
Speaker 2: of feels like he's he's now at least publicly having
Speaker 2: to emerge and say, this is my team. I'm the leader.
Speaker 2: Okay Otani's a superstar, but there's a language barrier. Freddie Freeman's,
Speaker 2: you know, the silent assassin, so to speak at the plate,
Speaker 2: and mister consistent. But all right, I'll find I'll be
Speaker 2: the vocal lead everybody wants.
Speaker 3: Me to be, and that's good. I mean, the vocal
Speaker 3: leaders that you know the guy that wants to step
Speaker 3: up and do that, that's a great thing. I can
Speaker 3: tell you one thing, though, the guys that do it
Speaker 3: by example. That is a guy that's yelling in the
Speaker 3: locker room without saying anything, that means everything. Guys follow those,
Speaker 3: Those those guys that put that on display. They play
Speaker 3: when they're hurt, they don't complain, they take the heat
Speaker 3: when they don't step up and get it done. Those
Speaker 3: are the leaders. And I was fortunate to play with
Speaker 3: some guys like that and absolutely loved it and wanted
Speaker 3: to follow those guys that did it by example. Those
Speaker 3: are the real leaders on the team in eighty eight.
Speaker 2: Whether you guys were, you know, losing five of six
Speaker 2: or on a hot streak or getting ready for a
Speaker 2: postseason run, who was that emotional person in the in
Speaker 2: the club or did you need to have a player
Speaker 2: be it because Tommy was so vocal.
Speaker 3: Look, here's the way, here's why I look at it
Speaker 3: in general, and then I'll break that for you. Break
Speaker 3: that down for you is you're you're a major league
Speaker 3: baseball player. You're a grown man, right and you're you're
Speaker 3: in a position out to do something that you've dreamed
Speaker 3: about since you were a little boy. If you need
Speaker 3: another grown man to kick you in the pants and
Speaker 3: get you to get going, bro, there's something wrong with you.
Speaker 2: Really.
Speaker 3: I never thought I needed another player or manager or
Speaker 3: coach to say, hey, get ready for the game. I
Speaker 3: just wanted to keep BP and and some ground balls
Speaker 3: and get the hell out of my way. That's all
Speaker 3: I wanted. Okay, I couldn't wait to get out there
Speaker 3: and get her done. If there's somebody out there that
Speaker 3: needs to be pushed a little bit, you need some
Speaker 3: more coffee. I mean, is there something more important that
Speaker 3: you're doing today than playing in the playoff game, you know,
Speaker 3: against these guys. Really, I mean I never thought that
Speaker 3: I needed somebody to do that. Now that being said, uh,
Speaker 3: the guys that we that I was playing with that
Speaker 3: were kind of like those leaders on it. We had
Speaker 3: we had it stacked. I mean, you had Gibbie on
Speaker 3: one side that was like the assassin, as you say.
Speaker 3: You had Mickey Hatcher that was on the other side
Speaker 3: of me in the locker room that I thought was
Speaker 3: like a clown, a court jester that would come and
Speaker 3: tell a joke, which is good. You need the balance. Sure,
Speaker 3: you had guys like Mike Soosha, who was a former
Speaker 3: great you know, the future great manager. You had Tommy
Speaker 3: Lasorda at the helm. You had lots of guys on
Speaker 3: our team that that it was kind of like an
Speaker 3: eclectic group that gave you different perspectives, but it kept
Speaker 3: the team loose, It kept the team ready, and you know,
Speaker 3: we did things that were you know, immeasurable really when
Speaker 3: you consider the amount of talent that we had, which
Speaker 3: wasn't you know, the top of the line.
Speaker 2: We well, yeah, you got me going here. Because I'm
Speaker 2: thinking about team bonding and I'm thinking about this Dodgers
Speaker 2: team is absolutely and it's something that this team in
Speaker 2: the postseason kind of you know, it's been known they
Speaker 2: didn't have it the last two years, and that with
Speaker 2: that being said, now there's this emphasis about how they're
Speaker 2: going to be traveling together on the team bus together,
Speaker 2: and they're going to eat together down in San Diego,
Speaker 2: and they've done that on road trips, you know, try
Speaker 2: to have a team dinner at least once when they're
Speaker 2: on a big, long road trip back east. Is that
Speaker 2: is that something you remember in the postseason runs in particular,
Speaker 2: seasons are long and you got dinners all the time
Speaker 2: on the road, but come postseason time, Saxe in eighty
Speaker 2: eight and the other years before and after. Uh, were
Speaker 2: those those those team dinners and and those important for
Speaker 2: you guys?
Speaker 3: Oh yes, yes they were, And there's nothing else more
Speaker 3: important at that time. I mean even the wives are
Speaker 3: hanging out together every it's like a it's like a
Speaker 3: group effort, which is a phenomenal thing. And and the
Speaker 3: fact that the Dodgers are doing that, you know, it's
Speaker 3: not that surprised at all. They understand the importance of
Speaker 3: team unity and and bonding, like you say, and you know,
Speaker 3: it can take you a long way. You can have
Speaker 3: you do things that maybe you never thought that you
Speaker 3: could do. At least that was my experience in playing.
Speaker 3: But this team is expected with that bar so high
Speaker 3: and the talent that they have. Uh, sometimes it's it
Speaker 3: can be a little bit tougher. I mean, in Dave
Speaker 3: Dave Roberts position, I think it's tougher for a guy
Speaker 3: to manage a team like this as opposed to a
Speaker 3: team that's going to be in the cellar. There's no
Speaker 3: expectations there. Certainly with this team, they're expected to win
Speaker 3: the World series or bust. I mean, that's how much
Speaker 3: talent they have.
Speaker 2: Who's picking up the bill when it's all said and done,
Speaker 2: and you guys are looking, oh.
Speaker 3: You always do the guy that just signed the big
Speaker 3: deal they of course.
Speaker 2: And everybody knows that, of course, and he knows that certainly, right,
Speaker 2: you know, the guy who's got the most zeros in
Speaker 2: the in the check.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know the one thing you don't want
Speaker 3: to do. You got to kind of draw a fine
Speaker 3: line between it, because not necessarily do you want to
Speaker 3: pick up that tab for twelve hundred bucks That sometimes
Speaker 3: it gets into. But what you don't want to do
Speaker 3: is go to the bathroom right when the bill comes,
Speaker 3: or develop the pterodactyl or I'm sorry, the velociraptor arms.
Speaker 3: You know, I get my dinosaurs mixed up. You don't
Speaker 3: want to develop the velociraptor arms where they you know,
Speaker 3: kind of won't don't want to reach for it that much.
Speaker 3: Just kind of look at the guy with all the
Speaker 3: zeros in the newest paycheck and you say, there's your
Speaker 3: leader right there, and that was always you saxy No, no,
Speaker 3: not always no, no, no, uh uh no, I don't
Speaker 3: think so. I wish Tim, I'd be glad to pick
Speaker 3: up that check all the time, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2: He is Steve sax I'm Tim Kates. We are back.
Speaker 2: It's Scam Saxon Kates in the am here on this
Speaker 2: Friday morning. Thanks for being with us as you wake up,
Speaker 2: enjoy your coffee, Get the kids ready for school, get
Speaker 2: ready for work. We're getting you ready for the NLDS,
Speaker 2: which we begin tomorrow night at Dodgers Stadium, Game one,
Speaker 2: Dodgers Padres. It's a series that everybody wanted come October,
Speaker 2: and now it's here in the NLDS. While first pitch
Speaker 2: at five thirty eight, we're gonna get down into the
Speaker 2: pitching matchup coming up in just a little bit, the
Speaker 2: Dodgers switching things up in their Game one. In Game
Speaker 2: two starter, we'll hear from David Vase, We'll hear from
Speaker 2: Brandon gom some more. We'll hear from the manager, Dave Roberts.
Speaker 2: We'll hear from Chris Taylor, Tony Quinn Junior. We'll check
Speaker 2: in with us and you eight six six nine eighty
Speaker 2: seven two five seventy eight six six nine eighty seven
Speaker 2: two five seventy We've got a pair of tickets between
Speaker 2: now at nine o'clock for one lucky Dodger fan to
Speaker 2: go to Game one of this NLDS How You feeling
Speaker 2: Dodgers Padres the postseason run to a championship begins. He
Speaker 2: is Steve Sacks, I'm Tim Kate. Thanks for being with us,
Speaker 2: say fi seventy LA Sports, sax and Kate's and am
Speaker 2: a five to seventy LA Sports. Thanks for being with
Speaker 2: us here until nine o'clock this morning before we had
Speaker 2: things off to Colin Cowherd, Brogan and Rodney and the
Speaker 2: Petro Some Money Show will be live at Dodger Stadium
Speaker 2: this afternoon, beginning at three o'clock is both the Dodgers
Speaker 2: and Padres go through an off day workout. The Dodgers
Speaker 2: have been working out the last couple of days, Saxey.
Speaker 2: They took a few days off just to get rest,
Speaker 2: just to get in the gym and work out a
Speaker 2: little bit, but not do a lot of baseball activities.
Speaker 2: But the last couple of days they've ramped it back up.
Speaker 2: Yesterday they had a SIM game with some of the
Speaker 2: Dodgers hurt pitchers and minor leaguers helping out and just
Speaker 2: getting the guys back into the groove of playing a
Speaker 2: game out of Dodger Stadium. They'll do a full workout
Speaker 2: this afternoon for a couple of hours, talk to the media.
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts will talk to the media. Yoshi Ama Modo
Speaker 2: will talk to the media, as he is now your
Speaker 2: game one starter. They've flipped him and Jack Flaherty around
Speaker 2: first strategical purposes, which we'll get into. But yeah, it's
Speaker 2: been a nice break for this Dodgers team. And last
Speaker 2: few years the Dodgers have coasted Saxy into the postseason,
Speaker 2: clinching the division mid September. You know, not a lot
Speaker 2: of play for the last few weeks of the season,
Speaker 2: maybe the last week going into regular play in September,
Speaker 2: there wasn't a lot there for them, and they struggled
Speaker 2: offensively at the play. I don't know if there's a
Speaker 2: similarity or something you can kind of string together as
Speaker 2: a coincidence there that they struggled after clinching the division
Speaker 2: so early. But this year they took to the final
Speaker 2: weekend to clinch the NLS. So maybe having to play
Speaker 2: meaningful games the last week of the season had it
Speaker 2: will help this team. I don't know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think I think Tim, you're onto
Speaker 3: that is that could be a helpful thing for the Dodgers.
Speaker 3: I mean, still ninety eight and sixty four this year,
Speaker 3: posting the best record to ensure them they get the
Speaker 3: best you know, situation about playing at home throughout the
Speaker 3: World Series. This is a team that was amazing at
Speaker 3: home this year, fifty four and twenty nine. I believe
Speaker 3: this said, they had the best record I think other
Speaker 3: than maybe the Phillies as far as the home home
Speaker 3: field goes. So they they were just absolutely outstanding. And uh,
Speaker 3: you know, I think the fact that they you know,
Speaker 3: that didn't have the biggest layoff like they had before.
Speaker 3: I think this is going to help them a bit.
Speaker 3: But you know, a lot of this too, I think
Speaker 3: is made up in people's minds and in the press
Speaker 3: of Certainly it's going to be something that they can
Speaker 3: hang their hat on and talk about, well, there's nowhere
Speaker 3: else to go except down because they've had such a great,
Speaker 3: you know season. But I don't believe that. I think
Speaker 3: there's three seasons, you know, throughout the course of this
Speaker 3: of the year. You know, you have spring training, which
Speaker 3: is it's a season and its own right. Then you
Speaker 3: have the regular season, then you have postseason, and by
Speaker 3: the time you get to this point right here, I
Speaker 3: can promise you anybody that's thirty and over, there's nobody
Speaker 3: out there that's feeling one hundred percent even with the layoff.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's there's a bit that you are still
Speaker 3: going to carry with you into postseason unless you're, you know,
Speaker 3: somebody with a crazy physique, maybe like Mookie Bets. But
Speaker 3: for the most part, guys aren't feeling, you know, one
Speaker 3: hundred percent all the time, even going into postseasons.
Speaker 2: So what does a five day rest then mean to
Speaker 2: a play and everyday player, certainly a reliever, which the
Speaker 2: Dodgers have a lot of older arms in that bullpen
Speaker 2: that have been so good this year. But there's a
Speaker 2: lot of innings on that arm, a lot of pitches
Speaker 2: on those arms this year. What is five days off,
Speaker 2: maybe even just a couple of days of not throwing
Speaker 2: and then getting back to playing long toss mean for
Speaker 2: a team like this.
Speaker 3: It's it's huge. I mean, you know, taking two days
Speaker 3: off is great, you get five days off. I think
Speaker 3: this is a big advantage for the Dodgers. Like you said,
Speaker 3: you know, there's the bullpen's got the arms, got some
Speaker 3: you know, mileage on those They're not the youngest guys
Speaker 3: in the world. Give them a break. I mean, that's
Speaker 3: that's why we see maybe the switch from Yamamoto and
Speaker 3: Flarerity right now. It's it's probably a better time wise
Speaker 3: for these guys. As far as resting goes, Flerity was
Speaker 3: tremendous for the Dodgers. He did have a little tick
Speaker 3: up in the ERA for the last three starts at
Speaker 3: over six, but nonetheless given a few days off to
Speaker 3: everybody kind of get a reset and get a little
Speaker 3: bit of that sore on us out. I think it's
Speaker 3: a great thing for the Dodgers. I don't think it's
Speaker 3: gonna be a mental thing for this team. They're they're
Speaker 3: too strong in that.
Speaker 2: We're gonna get into it a little bit. This pitching
Speaker 2: matchup in game one and the switching of Flarity and
Speaker 2: Yamamodo in Game one and game two. As far as starters,
Speaker 2: but just Jack Flaherity is a dog. I mean, and
Speaker 2: I don't just say that because he's here from Burbank
Speaker 2: and you know, grew up here, but that's a compliment.
Speaker 2: He he wants the ball. He is not afraid of
Speaker 2: the moment, certainly doesn't have the postseason experience in his resume.
Speaker 2: You look at the back of his baseball card, it's
Speaker 2: just not a lot of postseason experience there. But this
Speaker 2: is a guy who wants to put a lot of
Speaker 2: postseason experience on the back of his baseball card and
Speaker 2: on his Wikipedia page because he wants the ball. And
Speaker 2: I love his mentality, sax See he is. He is
Speaker 2: an old school I'll pitch through soreness, give me the
Speaker 2: ball every four days.
Speaker 3: I don't care now love it and that's that goes
Speaker 3: a long way with team. That's the guy you want
Speaker 3: to be teammates with, you know, when they talk about
Speaker 3: beating in the fox all with somebody, that's what you
Speaker 3: want right there. And besides that, he's a pretty big dude,
Speaker 3: So I wouldn't mind being the fox all with him.
Speaker 3: But in his in his career in postseason, you know,
Speaker 3: just four games and that's okay. He's had a little
Speaker 3: bit of taste in it, but it's still I don't
Speaker 3: think it's going to matter as far as his experience.
Speaker 3: You know, the guy's been there and done that. Like
Speaker 3: you said, look at the back of his postcard. He's
Speaker 3: had high expectations this whole life. He was a first
Speaker 3: round picket with Saint Louis back in twenty fourteenth, thirty
Speaker 3: fourth overall. So he's had the tag of a guy
Speaker 3: that's had big expectations his whole life and he's delivered it.
Speaker 2: Not to go on a side note here, because we're
Speaker 2: gon he from Dave Roberts, Dodger manager here in a
Speaker 2: second and get into a Dave Roberts has done not
Speaker 2: only this year but in his tenure with the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: But you said something that sparked an interest here and
Speaker 2: that he'd be the first guy out there if something happened.
Speaker 2: Jack Felherty, there was a situation in which the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: you know, got a little back and forth earlier this
Speaker 2: year with a team and benches emptied, and it was
Speaker 2: a slow empty It wasn't like anything. Big guys just
Speaker 2: kind of trickled out. But Jason Hayward at the time,
Speaker 2: who's no longer with the team, I remember this because
Speaker 2: he was one of the first guys over the railing
Speaker 2: to have his teammates back, and you know, a week
Speaker 2: later he got DFAD and it's no longer with this team.
Speaker 2: But as a player, dude, guys, notice that saxy. Does
Speaker 2: it get filed away somewhere that if something happens and
Speaker 2: you know, the bullpen's empty players come out of the bench,
Speaker 2: it doesn't get noticed, like who the first guys are
Speaker 2: that are there? Maybe who some of the stragglers are,
Speaker 2: and who are some of the guys that are out
Speaker 2: there that don't want to be there? Does that get
Speaker 2: filed away? Like, Hey, this guy's got my back. I
Speaker 2: want to go to war with this guy and this
Speaker 2: guy I don't know about. Yeah, I mean you you
Speaker 2: pretty much know who the stalwarts on the team are
Speaker 2: and I don't know what it's like now. And I
Speaker 2: don't want to step my foot in this because I'm
Speaker 2: not in the locker room. Sure, but I can tell
Speaker 2: you when we were playing.
Speaker 3: If you didn't go out or if you were very slow,
Speaker 3: not only did you catch the raft of the brethren
Speaker 3: on your team, really, but you'd get fined. And that
Speaker 3: isn't really and you don't want you don't want to
Speaker 3: be fine for wimping out, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3: So if you're wimping out when the fight starts and
Speaker 3: you get a fine tagged on your shoulder. That is
Speaker 3: an evil, awful thing to get. So you want to
Speaker 3: be out there and you know, getting your teammates back.
Speaker 3: But that you know, really there isn't there isn't too
Speaker 3: much of that. Yeah, that was just kind of put
Speaker 3: in the you know, putting the bat on the back
Speaker 3: shelf in case you didn't want to go out. Boy,
Speaker 3: you might have to face that. So there weren't too
Speaker 3: many guys that were kind of hanging back and you know,
Speaker 3: playing scrabble on the bench when the fight started.
Speaker 2: That's good, That is good to know. I know of
Speaker 2: a guy that was maybe in the bathroom one time
Speaker 2: when the Dodgers and Diamondbacks got into a little bit
Speaker 2: of a scuffle. Maybe he was I don't know, the
Speaker 2: first base coach at the time with the Diamondbacks and
Speaker 2: came running out after Yasiel Puig in the in the
Speaker 2: Diamond Bass got.
Speaker 3: In terribly embarrassing, terribly terribly you.
Speaker 2: Know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, that was yo, and it was terribly embarrassing. Hey,
Speaker 3: there's a fight starting, man, I had to whoa hang
Speaker 3: on to be right there.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts gosh I love this guy because he takes
Speaker 2: the incoming from everybody. Every single year, it feels like
Speaker 2: they win and they win despite him. According to Dodger fans,
Speaker 2: when they lose, it's all his faults for a loss,
Speaker 2: or a string of losses, or losing early in the postseason.
Speaker 2: Nine seasons as Dodger manager already a six to twenty
Speaker 2: sixth career winning percentage, eight NL West titles, three NL pennants,
Speaker 2: a twenty twenty World Series Championship. Certainly, being the manager
Speaker 2: of the team with a high payroll, it's sort of
Speaker 2: like being Phil Jackson. You're not just rolling the ball
Speaker 2: out there and a coach Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen or
Speaker 2: Kobe in shack. You have to massage a lot of egos.
Speaker 2: And we'll get into that in a second. But here's
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts talking to with the media yesterday about this
Speaker 2: Dodgers team as they get ready for Game one on
Speaker 2: the NLDS.
Speaker 5: See some more hunger, I see some more edge. I
Speaker 5: like that. And not to say that guys weren't prepared
Speaker 5: or trying or cared, but there's a different level of
Speaker 5: intensity and that kind of sour taste that you have
Speaker 5: when you make an early exit from the postseason. Our
Speaker 5: guys are tired of it, and so this is another opportunity. So,
Speaker 5: you know, hearing about guys not caring who we play,
Speaker 5: they've got to beat up us. You know, we're the
Speaker 5: team with the best team in record in baseball. You
Speaker 5: know we have a lot to prove. We have a
Speaker 5: lot to prove. A lot of people have certainly doubted us,
Speaker 5: and so I think our guys have kind of embraced that,
Speaker 5: and I like again, I like the edge, I like
Speaker 5: that hunter mentality from us. Probably I would say this
Speaker 5: lineup is probably the best we've had, given everyone's healthy,
Speaker 5: and we obviously got to see Freddy coming back and
Speaker 5: maybe coming back. But I think when everyone's right, I
Speaker 5: think we're very good. Versus left versus right. There's an
Speaker 5: on base, there's a slug component, there's a bat to
Speaker 5: ball component. So I think that you know, it's very
Speaker 5: well balanced and probably our best if you're Freddie or
Speaker 5: Mooky or the rest of the lineup. To feel that
Speaker 5: there's a pressure taken off because you have show at
Speaker 5: the top, I think that yeah, being a support or
Speaker 5: alleviating some pressure. But I still expect Mooki and Freddie
Speaker 5: to be the guys that they all and I've shown
Speaker 5: in past postseason. So you know, if we can get
Speaker 5: those guys and the rest of the lineup doing what
Speaker 5: they're capable of, I just don't think we can beat
Speaker 5: all Right.
Speaker 2: A couple of things there saxony from Dave Roberts. I
Speaker 2: kind of feel like that's also a message he's sent
Speaker 2: into his team that we can't be what we were
Speaker 2: the last two years. We've got to be mad, we've
Speaker 2: got to be angry, we've got to take this as
Speaker 2: uh uh, you know, we can't be bout out again
Speaker 2: this early in the postseason. And it's sometimes you say
Speaker 2: things to the media, sometimes you say directly. I think
Speaker 2: this is a message he's also making sure everybody knows,
Speaker 2: is that this team is pissed off.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he says it in such a good manner,
Speaker 3: you know, when you're talking to the press or I
Speaker 3: remember my kids were growing up, and you know, they
Speaker 3: don't want to hear you talking to them directly. So
Speaker 3: I would talk to maybe a friend of mine or
Speaker 3: whatever my kids were like in the next table. They'll
Speaker 3: listen to every word you say and you're telling your buddy, boy,
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what. It's nice to see kids today
Speaker 3: and doing their homework and so faithful. My kids aren't
Speaker 3: drugs and they're not drinking alcohol and tobacco and all
Speaker 3: that stuff. And I wasn't talking to them directly. I
Speaker 3: was talking to them, but I was doing it indirectly.
Speaker 3: And that's what Dave Roberts is doing here. He's a
Speaker 3: he's a very smart guy. He knows how to get
Speaker 3: the word across, and he knows how to deliver it,
Speaker 3: saying I like the edge, and it's not we need
Speaker 3: the edge, he's saying, I like what I'm seeing with
Speaker 3: the edge. So he does it in a very positive manner.
Speaker 3: And look, if you can't follow or like Dave Roberts,
Speaker 3: I don't care what anybody says. And I'll say it
Speaker 3: up front right now. We don't know what's gonna happen
Speaker 3: in the series, but I guarantee it ain't gonna be
Speaker 3: Dave Roberts fault that because he knows the game. He's
Speaker 3: not gonna make a gigantic, you know, gaff here. He
Speaker 3: knows what's going on. He's got his you know, he's
Speaker 3: got his whole coaching staff to depend on as well
Speaker 3: all all managers do, which is a great thing. And
Speaker 3: I think the team is ready, and I think he
Speaker 3: made a very important point there where he pointed out
Speaker 3: show Hey time, Show Hey is the is the create
Speaker 3: elixir for this team. He can change everything with one
Speaker 3: swing of the bat. He's gonna get four trips to
Speaker 3: the plate in that leadoff position. This is a guy
Speaker 3: that can change it and in many different ways, especially
Speaker 3: when he's pitching as well. But this is an unbelievable
Speaker 3: weapon to have at the top of the order. This
Speaker 3: is something that's different than every other team because there's
Speaker 3: only one show Heo Tani.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're gonna get in a show Heo coming up
Speaker 2: in just a couple of minutes because the factor that
Speaker 2: he has had on this team, what he has done
Speaker 2: this year with a fifty to fifty season sackxy. I
Speaker 2: want to get your thoughts on that coming up after
Speaker 2: the break. But you know, Dave Roberts, you mentioned it.
Speaker 2: It's not gonna be his fault yet. Everybody's gonna point
Speaker 2: the finger at the manager now, who's almost been here
Speaker 2: a decade at the Helm. But I hear a sense
Speaker 2: of urgency out of him, and he must know that
Speaker 2: they can't come up short. He must know that. You know,
Speaker 2: these players aren't going anywhere if they fall short of
Speaker 2: a World Series championship, which is the goal this year
Speaker 2: with the players they got. And I kind of feel
Speaker 2: a little searches of sense of urgency from him, like,
Speaker 2: come on, guys, hey it, I'm the manager here, but
Speaker 2: gosh darn it, yeah, I need you guys to play better.
Speaker 3: It's time. It's time. Yeah, And you love that, and
Speaker 3: he does it again. He does it in the right way. Look, look,
Speaker 3: if the team wins there, you don't ever hear anybody
Speaker 3: go out and say we won because of Dave Roberts.
Speaker 3: Oh my god. You know you don't ever hear that,
Speaker 3: So why are we hearing it sometimes when the team loses.
Speaker 3: I hate blaming the manager, never once in micro and
Speaker 3: you've heard me say this before. I could never ever
Speaker 3: stoop to that low and say I didn't have a
Speaker 3: good year. I got thrown out trying to steal that base,
Speaker 3: or I struck out with the bases loaded. It was
Speaker 3: all because of Tommy Lasorda. I mean, that's absurd. If
Speaker 3: you think about that, it's never gonna be the manager's fault.
Speaker 3: Those guys are. It's all about the players, the plus
Speaker 3: and the minus.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you why I think managers get nitpicked more
Speaker 2: than ever now, Saxy and Dave Roberts in particular. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna blame analytics, and I'm gonna blame TV coverage with
Speaker 2: the different numbers they put up and telling us launch
Speaker 2: angle and all this and all the numbers that are
Speaker 2: tracked and all the trend and all the splits that
Speaker 2: we have. As far as information, numbers are great, and
Speaker 2: certainly numbers are a game for baseball that put people
Speaker 2: in the Hall of Fame, and don't put people in
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame based on their numbers. I get
Speaker 2: that right, But I think we've dissected the numbers so much,
Speaker 2: and when they go to a bullpen and maybe a
Speaker 2: guy's hot or maybe a guy's this or that, well,
Speaker 2: the numbers say his reverse splits are really good against
Speaker 2: left handers late in the game in the month of October,
Speaker 2: and we start overthinking this. Sure, and the fans see this,
Speaker 2: and you're watching and listening to the games, and you're
Speaker 2: hearing these number sacks and you're hearing, well, Alex Vesia
Speaker 2: against left handers is you know, in the change up
Speaker 2: they're hitting under two hundred. But if he gets ahead
Speaker 2: in the account and then you start thinking about this
Speaker 2: and maybe he gives up a home run, Well, why
Speaker 2: did Dave Roberts do that? Why did Dave Roberts put
Speaker 2: in Alex Vessi? The numbers say he shouldn't be there.
Speaker 2: There's no feel anymore.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Oh, my gosh, did you say when his wins
Speaker 3: blowing out seven knots to left center field? Again? Yeah?
Speaker 3: That you know, it's a pla because baseball is like
Speaker 3: the only sport that is really defined by the numbers,
Speaker 3: and it's something that really does kind of, you know,
Speaker 3: clean people together when you can talk about that thing.
Speaker 3: I mean, everybody knows what seven fourteen is, everybody knows
Speaker 3: what twenty game winner means. Everybody knows what three hundred
Speaker 3: average is. You know, you don't have that in other sports,
Speaker 3: but you certainly have it in baseball. And that's because
Speaker 3: it's been around so long and everybody knows about it.
Speaker 3: But my gosh, if you go on the other side
Speaker 3: and try to break down every player for everything that
Speaker 3: they do, all by the numbers. Look, the numbers aren't
Speaker 3: going to read and that computer's not going to spit
Speaker 3: out when a guy comes to the ballpark and he's
Speaker 3: got the flu that particular day, facing this picture, or
Speaker 3: if he's having you know, there's a breakdown, maybe maybe
Speaker 3: his little brother died or something. A computer's not going
Speaker 3: to be able to read that at this particular point
Speaker 3: in time. So that's why a manager's got to have
Speaker 3: his finger to the pulse and go by the baseball
Speaker 3: acumen of that guy that's been around and played the
Speaker 3: game for a long time. That's what you're manager's for.
Speaker 3: And Dave Roberts is the best at it.
Speaker 2: He is Steve Sack, I'm Tim Kates Saxon Kate's and
Speaker 2: the AM is back on this Friday morning. We appreciate
Speaker 2: you being with us as you get up on this
Speaker 2: Friday morning get ready to start your day. We appreciate
Speaker 2: you starting it with us as we are here until
Speaker 2: nine o'clock this morning. Eight sixty six, nine eighty seven
Speaker 2: two five seventy. We got a pair of Game one
Speaker 2: NLDS tickets to give away to one lucky doctor fan
Speaker 2: between now in nine o'clock this morning, next hour, David
Speaker 2: Vase will join us. In the eight o'clock hour, We'll
Speaker 2: hear from Tony gwyn Junior, who is on the Padres
Speaker 2: radio call. We'll get his thoughts on what this Padres
Speaker 2: team is thinking coming in to this NLDS. It's the
Speaker 2: series everybody wanted Dodgers Padres in October for the right
Speaker 2: to move on to the NLCS. It's a best of
Speaker 2: five and it begins tomorrow night. Right here on ANFI
Speaker 2: seventy LA Sports. Your phone calls and what show Hel
Speaker 2: Toddi has done this year is absolutely amazing. Saxon and
Speaker 2: I will put it in perspective and your phone calls
Speaker 2: next right here on NFI seventy LA Sports Saxon Kates
Speaker 2: and am here on M five seventy LA Sports Dan
Speaker 2: Patrick Show. You can listen to on the iHeart Radio
Speaker 2: app just click am FI seventy LA Sports. Game one
Speaker 2: of the NLDS is tomorrow Dodgers Stadium. We'll have all
Speaker 2: the coverage beginning of four point thirty in the afternoon
Speaker 2: with Dodgers on deck. First pitch at five thirty eight
Speaker 2: Dodgers and Padres Dylan Ceese and Yoshi Yamamoto. The pitching
Speaker 2: matchup in Game one, Jack Felerty and you Darvish will
Speaker 2: go in game two on Sunday. David vess Our, Dodger Insider,
Speaker 2: will join this in just a little bit next hour,
Speaker 2: and then in the eight o'clock hour, Tony Gwinn Junior
Speaker 2: from the Padres broadcast will join US Saxy Show. Hey, O,
Speaker 2: Tani is a unicorn. I had to explain to my
Speaker 2: daughters what exactly that means. There's nobody else like him.
Speaker 2: He is a one of a kind, and what he
Speaker 2: did this season is a great example of why he
Speaker 2: is the best player in baseball fifty to fifty season
Speaker 2: went past that number for stolen bases and home runs.
Speaker 2: When you watch what he did this year, and knowing
Speaker 2: that he was just going to be a designated hitter,
Speaker 2: wasn't going to pitch this year because of the arm surgery,
Speaker 2: this contract he signed, and all that being said, to
Speaker 2: see what he did this year, what were your thoughts.
Speaker 3: It's it's almost not real when you can consider what
Speaker 3: this guy put up as far as those numbers, it's
Speaker 3: I can't even imagine if somebody would have told me
Speaker 3: you're going to have a player like this in the
Speaker 3: next generation to play that's going to put up these numbers.
Speaker 3: I mean, baseball tim is a really hard game to play.
Speaker 3: It's not easy. This guy's uber talented. We all know
Speaker 3: that he's got a great frame. He's six ' five,
Speaker 3: he's strong. His arm speaks for itself when he's throwing
Speaker 3: the ball one hundred miles an hour, and he can
Speaker 3: run like a deer. So you know, it's one thing
Speaker 3: to have all that, but it's another to put it
Speaker 3: all together. And he's done all of that and more.
Speaker 3: But the numbers seats put up are just unconscionable. I
Speaker 3: can't even believe that. I'm looking at these numbers.
Speaker 2: To me, what sticks out is what he did this
Speaker 2: year stealing bases. And I say that because this is
Speaker 2: a show. Hey O Tani that has never stolen more
Speaker 2: than twenty six bases in his season with the Angels
Speaker 2: in his six years down in Anaheim. That was in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one, and not pitching this year and being
Speaker 2: just a designated hitter in spring training, and even before that,
Speaker 2: we saw videos of him at Dodger Stadium back in
Speaker 2: January and February working out the training staff and he
Speaker 2: had the parachute behind him and he's doing the strength
Speaker 2: and running with resistance and really working on his get
Speaker 2: off his first step as a as a runner. And
Speaker 2: I didn't think about it at the time, but he
Speaker 2: was already in that mindset. Saxy is, Okay, I'm on
Speaker 2: a pitcher this year. I'm just a hitter. What else
Speaker 2: can I do to elevate my game? What is something
Speaker 2: that I'm not great at that I can be great at? Oh,
Speaker 2: running and stealing bases. Okay, let me start working on that.
Speaker 2: And now he has a season in which he steals
Speaker 2: fifty nine bags this year. To me, that shows a
Speaker 2: guy that is great and can be a great at
Speaker 2: anything he wants to do, including stealing bases.
Speaker 3: Anything, because he's got the talent in the bag right there.
Speaker 3: But it's, like I said, another thing to put it together.
Speaker 3: And you see him work out, he's like a he's
Speaker 3: a bull. He's out there and he's constantly wanting to
Speaker 3: improve himself. You just go down the line and look
Speaker 3: at his numbers right at two hundred hits as well,
Speaker 3: this guy's a phenomenal hitter, not just a home run hitter.
Speaker 3: With the with one hundred and thirty RBIs he hit
Speaker 3: three ten this year, his on base percentage was three
Speaker 3: to ninety is his ops you know, one dot three six.
Speaker 3: You look at that number, you think, okay, maybe for
Speaker 3: a few games, but for one sixty two it's crazy.
Speaker 3: I mean, score one hundred and thirty four runs to him.
Speaker 3: I mean, how often you see this. You don't see
Speaker 3: any season like this ever, even from Barry Bonds or
Speaker 3: anybody else, not to this magnitude.
Speaker 2: Only knock on show. Hey, and again it feels like
Speaker 2: we're what.
Speaker 3: He doesn't book the rooms for the team, besides the secretary,
Speaker 3: besides that, it doesn't pick up the bill for dinner,
Speaker 3: which I'm sure he does every time.
Speaker 2: Is his sometimes chasing pitches out of the zone. And
Speaker 2: maybe that's a reflection of a guy at the plate
Speaker 2: that's maybe chasing fifty home runs in June and July
Speaker 2: and August and trying to get those power numbers and
Speaker 2: home run numbers up. Because you look at September when
Speaker 2: he got to fifty and was trying to get on
Speaker 2: basemore to steal bases. He was hitting the other way,
Speaker 2: find the gaps, I mean, doing what he wanted with
Speaker 2: at the plate with the bat. So when he chases pitches, Saxy,
Speaker 2: and he starts expanding that zone and teams were throwing
Speaker 2: him inside, trying to get him off the plate and
Speaker 2: start pulling a little bit more. And then he's chasing
Speaker 2: the outside slider that's breaking away from him. He kind
Speaker 2: of got away from being show Hey. And there was
Speaker 2: some times there in the season, Yes, where he went
Speaker 2: through some slumps, and he went through some times where
Speaker 2: he was searching at the plate, which every hitter does.
Speaker 2: You know that, yep, But it's when he expanded his zone, SAX.
Speaker 2: And if you could explain that, expanding the zone and
Speaker 2: chasing pitches, that that's an area you don't want to
Speaker 2: get at because bad things happen.
Speaker 3: First of all, I want to I want to preemptively
Speaker 3: say this, go back in history and look at some
Speaker 3: of the slumps, the horrible slumps that Mickey Mantle went through,
Speaker 3: uh and William may So these guys are some of
Speaker 3: the greatest hitters ever. Horrible slumps, especially from Mickey Mantle.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: And Anyway, when you go back to show show Hey
Speaker 3: and the chase, yes, every player goes through that. You
Speaker 3: have to fight to stay back in your zone, to
Speaker 3: be aggressive. Only with the con in the confines of
Speaker 3: the strike zone. That's that's a perfect thing to do.
Speaker 3: It's a great, you know, place to shoot and to
Speaker 3: aim to to try to achieve. But if you take
Speaker 3: away and say, hey, don't ever change, don't ever go
Speaker 3: out and chase a pitch show show, Hey, that's out
Speaker 3: of the zone, you're kind of taking away what he's about.
Speaker 3: And you don't want to take away that aggressiveness. Yeah,
Speaker 3: would you like to tide it up and go the
Speaker 3: other way sometime if you have to? Sure, And I'm
Speaker 3: sure he deals with that every day of his life.
Speaker 3: All hitters do. But you don't want to take away
Speaker 3: what's great about him, and that's his aggressiveness. That's why
Speaker 3: he hit fifty nine home runs this year.
Speaker 2: JJ and Beaumont joins us here on a five seventy
Speaker 2: LA Sports. Good morning to you, JJ on with Steve Saxon,
Speaker 2: Tim Kate, How you doing.
Speaker 4: Good morning, Tennling, Very good, very good.
Speaker 1: Hey.
Speaker 5: I just want to say he thought it was these
Speaker 5: teams about the Dodgers this year. I've been along time
Speaker 5: fans in nineteen sixty five and.
Speaker 4: I just love the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: Good, yep, you like this team in particular going into October. JJ,
Speaker 2: the mindset, the makeup of this group with Shohtani, Freeman
Speaker 2: and Betts.
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, it.
Speaker 4: Didn't get any better than that.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited, all right.
Speaker 3: JJ.
Speaker 2: Appreciate the phone call. I love the excitement from him.
Speaker 2: But I understand there's also the other half of Dodger fans,
Speaker 2: because I've seen it right now on social media, the
Speaker 2: old Well, let's wait to the first inning when Yamamoto
Speaker 2: gives up three runs at the top of the first
Speaker 2: Let's wait until the Dodgers face some adversity down five
Speaker 2: to nothing. For it's like it's already started.
Speaker 3: Sax.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Okay, the pessimistic Dodger fans are here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, chill man, Let's just wait. Let's just take it easy.
Speaker 2: Eight sixty six ninety seven two five seventy. He is
Speaker 2: Steve Sacks. I am Tim Kay's. David bat Say will
Speaker 2: join us. After the top of the hour. We're gonna
Speaker 2: hear from Chris Taylor, who is hopefully going to have
Speaker 2: a resurgent cheer in October to help out this Dodgers team.
Speaker 2: Off the bench. Tony Gwin Junior will join us. We
Speaker 2: got a pair of Game one and LDS tickets to
Speaker 2: give away between now and nine o'clock this morning. Could
Speaker 2: it be you, We'll see it's scam. Saxon Kate to
Speaker 2: the am and for Dan Patrick. Thanks for being with
Speaker 2: us on this Friday morning leading you up to the NLDS.
Speaker 2: You're on your home with the Dodgers. An FI seventy
Speaker 2: LA Sports