Speaker 1: We're joined right now by a man that still bleeds
Speaker 1: Dodger blue no matter where he is or what part
Speaker 1: of the country he is working from home in. And
Speaker 1: that is one of the great all time guys that
Speaker 1: you will ever meet, and certainly one of the more
Speaker 1: successful Dodger catchers in recent history. And that is the
Speaker 1: one and only special assistant to the special GM, to
Speaker 1: the San Diego Padres aj Preller, and that is our
Speaker 1: aj aj ellis great to see you back at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 2: Good to be with you, Dave.
Speaker 3: That was probably one of the worst introductions I've ever heard.
Speaker 3: I don't know what you were going for with that.
Speaker 3: It is good to be with a special assistant like yourself.
Speaker 3: I don't know who you assist and I feel bad
Speaker 3: for that person. But it's great to be back in
Speaker 3: Dodger Stadium. It's crazy. It's my first time back at
Speaker 3: the ballparks in twenty.
Speaker 2: Nineteen, and it just doesn't take long.
Speaker 3: To be reminded of what a special place this is
Speaker 3: and be the atmosphere of any Dodger game, let alone
Speaker 3: one that has so much playoff implications. Spent a great,
Speaker 3: a great few days catching up and watching baseball.
Speaker 1: What's it like to come back here obviously working for
Speaker 1: the Padres Dodgers and Padres battling for the NL West.
Speaker 1: What's it like as you walk around the stadium with
Speaker 1: Mike Shilp before the game, Uh, to walk in front
Speaker 1: of that dugout and just think about all the great
Speaker 1: times you had.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it all comes back, you know, floods back and
Speaker 3: actually talking with Mike about some of those memories. And
Speaker 3: you know, he works along with San Louis Cardinals, and
Speaker 3: you know, even when he was just in player development
Speaker 3: at the time, he still has a great recollection, recollection
Speaker 3: of a lot of those those battles we had, you know,
Speaker 3: thinking about the you know, two thousand and nine Mark
Speaker 3: Loretto walk off after you know, the Matt Holliday misqu
Speaker 3: and left field and and and then talking about then
Speaker 3: in some of the tougher games in the against the
Speaker 3: Cardinals in the postseason as well. But it's special to
Speaker 3: be back, especially be sitting here with you right now
Speaker 3: and watching a Clayton Kershaw retrospective here on Sports in LA.
Speaker 3: And I'm just wonderful to be back and uh spend
Speaker 3: time with him and spend time with a lot of
Speaker 3: other my former Dodger teammates and uh, and then some
Speaker 3: of the staff that I still have a great fondness for.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's fitting that we're seeing Kershaw's top ten highlights
Speaker 1: of his career. You were part of so many, including
Speaker 1: his no hitter We saw you be part of that
Speaker 1: special as well, but reconnecting with him here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: What do you cherish the most about your friendship with Kershaw?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think it's definitely you know, I
Speaker 3: think it's wast when this when this trip came out,
Speaker 3: it was one of the things that I circled to be.
Speaker 2: What I was looking forward to the most.
Speaker 3: And we've we've we've evolved to a point where very
Speaker 3: little of our conversations you revolve around baseball. It's more
Speaker 3: about family and life and being a dad and being
Speaker 3: a being a husband and you know what's next, and
Speaker 3: so it's just it's just great and we have that
Speaker 3: that shared history, those shared moments, and but beyond that,
Speaker 3: it's definitely transitioned to a relationships as.
Speaker 2: Friends beyond more than what it was. His teammates. A.
Speaker 1: J Ellis was Kershaw's big brother basically in the minor leagues,
Speaker 1: they came up together, and obviously you were a shepherd
Speaker 1: to him for a long time. Can you just describe
Speaker 1: where he was even in twenty twelve to where he's
Speaker 1: at right now and just how he's evolved as a
Speaker 1: person as a pitcher, and how he's so determined to
Speaker 1: still even pitch at this stage of his career.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, without a doubt.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, he's one of the most consistent
Speaker 3: people I've ever been around. That consistency of that determination
Speaker 3: was evident going back to our minor league days as
Speaker 3: teammates together, and just the way that he approached his craft,
Speaker 3: the seriousness that he took it, the diligence he had
Speaker 3: on a day and day out basis. He was very
Speaker 3: meticulous about what he was going to do and what
Speaker 3: he continues to do on a daily basis. And he
Speaker 3: goes out and whether he's pitching in a game or
Speaker 3: doing his his pregame work on a field on a
Speaker 3: day's not pitching, he's going to attack that with a
Speaker 3: focus and a concentration that allows him to maximize every
Speaker 3: single day and turn maximize a career.
Speaker 1: Aj Ellis was part of one of my favorite Dodger teams,
Speaker 1: the twenty thirteen Dodgers who were so special. It was
Speaker 1: the first of this run of twelve consecutive postseason berths.
Speaker 1: Aj when you look back at your Dodger career, was
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen maybe the most special and the most talented.
Speaker 1: Which team, when you look back at your career was
Speaker 1: the one that was truest and dearest to your heart?
Speaker 2: I think, Dave, I think you're exactly right.
Speaker 3: I think that twenty thirteen team really stands out a
Speaker 3: lot of circumstances around that.
Speaker 2: It's kind of funny.
Speaker 3: We were talking about the Padre success that we've had,
Speaker 3: and you know, the second half turnaround we've had. We're
Speaker 3: at one point, we're at fifty to fifty and fifty
Speaker 3: and fifty just coming out of the All Star break,
Speaker 3: and the run we've been on. Where we've gone I
Speaker 3: think something like forty two and seventeen since that point
Speaker 3: to put ourselves in a position to play postseason baseball,
Speaker 3: which is extremely exciting for the city of San Diego
Speaker 3: and for the entire Padres organization. But then to think
Speaker 3: about man forty two and seventeen is historic. It's best
Speaker 3: record in baseball that twenty thirteen Dodger.
Speaker 2: Team went on a run of fifty games where.
Speaker 3: We went forty two and eight, and just like to
Speaker 3: see what this team has done and see how that's
Speaker 3: that's kind of seeped over is really special and really
Speaker 3: a great you know memory from that team. So many
Speaker 3: great friendships still remain to this day. You know, Jerry
Speaker 3: Harrison Junior and Mark Ellis and Skip Schumacher, Nick Punto,
Speaker 3: Michael Young, Andre Ethier, you know, the list goes on
Speaker 3: and on of people who made that easily the most
Speaker 3: the most enjoyable season of my professional career. A.
Speaker 1: J Ellis is back at Dodgers Stadium. He is part
Speaker 1: of the Padres front office. All right, AJ, everybody in
Speaker 1: LA is wondering, why can't we get rid of these
Speaker 1: San Diego Padres? What has made them so special? Why
Speaker 1: are you so good? And why do players like Ryan
Speaker 1: McMahon say you should be the most feared team in
Speaker 1: the postseason.
Speaker 3: Well, I think it starts at the top of AJ
Speaker 3: Prowler and his ability to evaluate and then go acquire talents.
Speaker 3: I've been thoroughly impressed with his ability to identify exactly,
Speaker 3: you know, a player strengths, their weaknesses and how they
Speaker 3: will fit on a team. And then once he hands
Speaker 3: those that extreme talent over and he's decisive enough to
Speaker 3: go and acquire in some cases that talent and and
Speaker 3: and maybe strike a little bit sooner than maybe a
Speaker 3: traditional GM would and get those players in the fold.
Speaker 3: Whether it be a Luis riaz A, Dylan sees A,
Speaker 3: Donovan Solano, David Peralto, David Paralta, you get these guys
Speaker 3: who come in and help change the culture and you know,
Speaker 3: reinforce what Mike Schilt has brought into.
Speaker 2: Our organization as well as ours our first year manager.
Speaker 3: And being around Mike and watching the way that he
Speaker 3: uh he preaches a discipline, a focus, but in a
Speaker 3: in a way that it's all about being detail oriented,
Speaker 3: buttoned up.
Speaker 2: In a slow build up to a seven o'clock.
Speaker 3: Game, we're gonna go out and and and and just
Speaker 3: try to outcompete the other side. We have an amazing talent,
Speaker 3: but we want to play like grinders and guys who
Speaker 3: get out there and maximize each game.
Speaker 2: You know, one of our pillars has been our ability
Speaker 2: to fight with two strikes.
Speaker 3: Victor Rodriguez is don a tremendous job coming over as
Speaker 3: a new hitting coach, and he's been stubborn since day one,
Speaker 3: instilling that philosophy of called Petco Park hitting, fighting low
Speaker 3: line drives. For Petco Park notoriously being a very hard
Speaker 3: place to hit for power, We're not gonna complain about it.
Speaker 3: We're gonna maximize that and turn that into our our
Speaker 3: team identity. And that's shown through us as us becoming
Speaker 3: the hardest team in baseball to strike out, a team
Speaker 3: that's always gonna fight with two strikes, fights to the
Speaker 3: last out of the game, and that identity is taken
Speaker 3: hold and and made us a tough team to play against.
Speaker 1: Dang, sounds like you're describing a j Ellis a grinder,
Speaker 1: a guy that would see pitches, not try.
Speaker 2: To hit homers.
Speaker 1: How many years did you lead the league and see
Speaker 1: more pitches per at bad I feel like it was
Speaker 1: at least two.
Speaker 2: I don't know for sure.
Speaker 3: I don't I don't know for sure, but I'll tell
Speaker 3: you what I I don't think any team that had
Speaker 3: a full team of a j Ellis as will be
Speaker 3: playing postseason baseball or in the in the hunt of it.
Speaker 3: So it takes it definitely takes elite.
Speaker 2: Talent that we have.
Speaker 3: You know, Mayday Machado, Fando Tatis, Xander Bogart's Jackson Merrill
Speaker 3: who has come over and helped change our culture without
Speaker 3: even saying a word, with the infectious joy that he
Speaker 3: plays baseball with a guy who genuinely cares about the
Speaker 3: success of his teammates equal or surpassing that of his own.
Speaker 2: And that's such a special, unique trade to have.
Speaker 3: And that joy for each other, that love for each other,
Speaker 3: that ability to compete for one another, it's it translates,
Speaker 3: it's being translated on the field. A couple that with
Speaker 3: an amazing pitching staff with with Dylan Ceas and and
Speaker 3: and Joe Muscrove, you Darvish, Michael King. You know, no
Speaker 3: one's really talking about that Wan Soto trade anymore.
Speaker 2: Being a mistake. When you know.
Speaker 3: You get a Michael King, you turn that part of
Speaker 3: that trade into Dylan Ceese. Uh, you know, Kyle Goascioka
Speaker 3: behind the plate. It's it's been a special, special uh.
Speaker 2: Group of guys.
Speaker 3: And I'm really excited to play. And yeah, I tend
Speaker 3: to agree. I think we're one of those teams you
Speaker 3: look at that's gonna be a tough matchup for anyone,
Speaker 3: but the Nashley Playoffs is gonna be a lot of
Speaker 3: fun to watch, and that this Dodger team is gonna
Speaker 3: have a big say in what happens as well.
Speaker 1: Hey, Padres and Dodgers may not be done after tonight.
Speaker 1: They are on a collision course for another matchup in
Speaker 1: the NLDS. Great to have a j elis join us.
Speaker 1: Great to have a jlis back at Dodgers Stadium. There
Speaker 1: is life outside of working from home, Aj, you just
Speaker 1: got a taste of it.
Speaker 3: It is it is, This is crazy. This has been
Speaker 3: a full day already. Usually, you know, I try to
Speaker 3: work only about you know, you know, an hour or
Speaker 3: two hours a day, like these long hours. I don't
Speaker 3: know how you do it, Dave, but uh, you know,
Speaker 3: keep up the good work and you know someday, you know,
Speaker 3: soon maybe somebody will be your special assistant one day.
Speaker 1: Man, he looks the same, he walks the same, he
Speaker 1: talks the same, he thinks the same. The great a
Speaker 1: j LS mister consistent