Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Basse for Dodger Talker.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Dodger Talk. David vass with you until
Speaker 2: eight o'clock as we get set for the big World
Speaker 2: Series rematch beginning tomorrow night at Dodgers Stadium. Max Freed
Speaker 2: and Cino Zone will be on the mound for the
Speaker 2: Yankees going up against Tony Gonsolin. And we're joined right
Speaker 2: now by a man that couldn't stay away from southern California.
Speaker 2: He wanted to get close to the heat. He didn't
Speaker 2: want to get too close. With the Dodgers in first
Speaker 2: place in the NL West, the Yankees back in town
Speaker 2: for the World Series. A man that spent his entire
Speaker 2: Major League career with one team, and that is in
Speaker 2: Dodger Blue. He's a Gold Glover, he's a Silver slugger,
Speaker 2: he's an All Star, and he's number one in your program,
Speaker 2: not mine. Andre Ethier. Andre, thanks a lot for joining
Speaker 2: us finally on Dodger Talk this year.
Speaker 3: Need a commercial break after that intro?
Speaker 2: My goodness, Yeah, I mean it's hard. You're a hard
Speaker 2: guy to get a hold of these days.
Speaker 3: Hey, we're we're you.
Speaker 1: I think we talked right before we started taping this.
Speaker 1: We're almost sixty games this season. You finally give me
Speaker 1: the signal from the bullpen to come in and let
Speaker 1: me get on the show.
Speaker 3: So I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I'm in southern California for the last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks hanging out and yeah, looking forward to the
Speaker 1: series this uh this.
Speaker 3: Speaking there in LA.
Speaker 1: I was actually gonna go up and see it until
Speaker 1: I found out that my son Devils from Arizona State
Speaker 1: are in the u c l A hosted regional this weekend,
Speaker 1: So I kind of did a pivot and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go see some college baseball action this weekend with the
Speaker 1: Sun Devils, Irvine, Fresno State, and u c l A
Speaker 1: Bruins there all at fourteen Regional UCLA this weekend, So
Speaker 1: it will be a fun time bottom a lot of
Speaker 1: baseball in the LA area, and who knows, maybe some
Speaker 1: good future dogs out there on that airs Astaate Tue.
Speaker 2: Hey, I'm surprised you're going to that and not going
Speaker 2: to Anaheim for the Savannah Bananas. I thought maybe you
Speaker 2: might be the guest star for the Savannah Bananas tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Hey, you know, I don't I don't like anything Anaheim,
Speaker 1: and I don't consider that a part of what we
Speaker 1: do down there. I think I like those parts of
Speaker 1: that Hoveyers down there in Crystal Cove.
Speaker 3: I'll go down there to hang.
Speaker 1: Out Hobviers and have a few drinks there watching the sunset.
Speaker 1: But other than that, I don't need to go to
Speaker 1: the Angel Stadium for anything. I'll wait for the Bananas
Speaker 1: to be in Donders Stadium and maybe I'll have my
Speaker 1: guest appearance.
Speaker 2: Well, well, Hobbers is a big, a big fan of
Speaker 2: Dodger talk and David Vasse Senior and Junior. They love me,
Speaker 2: but I heard they are lukewarm on you.
Speaker 3: That's all right, I like I like the margaritas enough
Speaker 3: to give a path for the good favor of me.
Speaker 3: Good time, great food.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's good to be back in California for a
Speaker 1: few weeks and you know, hang it out watching a
Speaker 1: lot of Dodger baseball actually there on this last road trip,
Speaker 1: and it's fun to see that. You know. I think
Speaker 1: they went out and did pretty well on that road trip.
Speaker 1: It was kind of the beginning of a tough stretch
Speaker 1: for them, and I think they did pretty well. You
Speaker 1: know too, You know, a tough New York series, and
Speaker 1: obviously it's always tough to go into Cleveland and play games,
Speaker 1: and you know they handled business there too.
Speaker 2: How much do you believe players, especially now, don't appreciate
Speaker 2: just the attention and the microscope they are going to
Speaker 2: be under when they're playing with sho Heyo Tani and
Speaker 2: they're part of a team that is coming off a
Speaker 2: big time World Series championship. Do we have to give
Speaker 2: Tanner Scott and Michael Confordo and I know Blake Snell
Speaker 2: hasn't pitched a lot, but a little bit more grace
Speaker 2: to get used to their new environment.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be very I wouldn't say political, but I'll
Speaker 1: be very upfront. I don't I couldn't even tell you
Speaker 1: because you know what, unfortunately, I've never got to play
Speaker 1: with this player show is caliber, and I never got
Speaker 1: experience to play after a World Series win. So you
Speaker 1: know that being said, the game has changed a lot
Speaker 1: the last six seven years that I've been out, and uh,
Speaker 1: the Dodgers for that, you know, has changed so much.
Speaker 1: You know, the lights bigger, the lights of brighter, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, unbelievable, what the you know, team, you know,
Speaker 1: front office, ownership, fans have done to elevate this team
Speaker 1: to the forefront one of the main, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: premiere organizations in.
Speaker 3: All Major League Baseball.
Speaker 1: Yes, so I will say just from that experience of
Speaker 1: knowing going into some of those you know, playing in
Speaker 1: l A, going into big markets. Yes, the lights of brighter. Uh,
Speaker 1: the microscope is is that much more fine? The grace
Speaker 1: doesn't get so, you know, so leading when you're not
Speaker 1: performing and what do the fans?
Speaker 3: What do this?
Speaker 1: What does this coaching staff, what does this front office expect?
Speaker 1: They expect another World Series? And rightfullis so there's no
Speaker 1: days off, there's no years off. It's get right back
Speaker 1: at it. It's the same team, maybe even better bullpen,
Speaker 1: maybe even better pitching. You know, offense is the same,
Speaker 1: maybe even some key guys that were had it on
Speaker 1: and there's no excuses not too And I think that's
Speaker 1: just a part of adding those guys who might have
Speaker 1: not played recently with teams.
Speaker 3: In that area.
Speaker 2: All right, here's something you know about because during your
Speaker 2: time with the Dodgers, you were considered and rightfully so,
Speaker 2: as being one of the most clutch players in Major
Speaker 2: League Baseball. Can you explain to us, and it's kind
Speaker 2: of lost in the analytics of baseball these days, just
Speaker 2: the difference between being in the batter's box with a
Speaker 2: runner at second base or third base or both runners
Speaker 2: in scoring position, compared to coming to the plate with
Speaker 2: nobody on base and being counted on as a run producer.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's that's tough to both sides. You know,
Speaker 1: there's so many nuances to the game that we have
Speaker 1: to look at. And that's, you know, something I'm constantly
Speaker 1: trying to teach, you know, younger players and stuff now
Speaker 1: is it's not purely just go up there, seatball, hit ball,
Speaker 1: and whatever happens happens.
Speaker 3: You know, there's a game.
Speaker 1: You know, you've you've heard it how many times say
Speaker 1: there's a game within a game right there and there
Speaker 1: until he is and there's a game within the game
Speaker 1: of the game. Because each inning, you know, you can
Speaker 1: break it down to thirds, first, third innings, middle you know, second,
Speaker 1: third innings, and the last three innings. There's different things
Speaker 1: that hitters top to bottom are asked to do and
Speaker 1: they're expected to do, uh, and those change according to
Speaker 1: the situation. And that's a part of being a good
Speaker 1: baseball players, you have to be able to adapt to,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of those different possibilities.
Speaker 3: A guy like show, Hey, it's simple.
Speaker 1: It's get up there, drive the ball as hard as
Speaker 1: you know, as hard as you can off the bat,
Speaker 1: and hit it as far as you can and hope
Speaker 1: you can get the points. But you see himself giving
Speaker 1: himself up in certain situations and and you know, try
Speaker 1: to get a ball, you know, pull aside, try to
Speaker 1: you know, make sure he's making contact, put a ball
Speaker 1: in play, stuff like that.
Speaker 3: And then guys who might not hit homes.
Speaker 1: All the time, you know, late in the game you
Speaker 1: might be expected to drive a ball to the wall
Speaker 1: rather than just that's you know that good contact lines
Speaker 1: d I swing that gets the base runner going.
Speaker 3: So being a good.
Speaker 1: Baseball player, you have to know all the possibilities. You
Speaker 1: have to know your you know limits, what your possibilities
Speaker 1: are of your own talents and go out there and
Speaker 1: whatever the situation calls for.
Speaker 2: Andre Ethier, the Man, the Myth, the Legend, making his
Speaker 2: premier appearance during this season on Dodger Talk. Do you
Speaker 2: have a superior grocer's word? Are the day for us today?
Speaker 2: Or is that just during the games, just.
Speaker 3: Through the games.
Speaker 1: But yes, the player grocers, you know, they're they're a
Speaker 1: good partner of mine, and I've been happy to be
Speaker 1: on board and we've been having a great time the
Speaker 1: last two years together and being on this great run
Speaker 1: with the Dodgers and Superior Grocers is a place with
Speaker 1: all your needs.
Speaker 2: Your last year was twenty seventeen. Are you still taking
Speaker 2: off guard how much the fans still love and appreciate
Speaker 2: everything you did for your twelve year major league career?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do, because I'm trying to be you know,
Speaker 1: I try to say, you know, I just went out
Speaker 1: there and did it to you know, play the game
Speaker 1: right way, and obviously when I was playing the game
Speaker 1: the right way for the fans and and uh you know,
Speaker 1: make them proud of, you know, not only me, but
Speaker 1: making proud of to be a Dodger fan, and try
Speaker 1: to elevate uh you know, the city, elevate everything, you know,
Speaker 1: to be representative of what we see on that hat,
Speaker 1: which is LA and yeah, you know everything that everything
Speaker 1: I tried to do obviously was to have the most success,
Speaker 1: you know, for myself and family, but was for those
Speaker 1: reasons also, and you know, I have this love and
Speaker 1: fondness for la for all the fans and the way
Speaker 1: they treated me all those years. And yeah, there's there's
Speaker 1: no better feeling than walking back in the Dodger Stadium,
Speaker 1: which still feels like home every time I step in it,
Speaker 1: and you know, getting a chance to hear and express
Speaker 1: you know, with you know here fans, how they talk
Speaker 1: to me, and then I get expressed, you know, some
Speaker 1: of the things that I might not ever get a
Speaker 1: chance to say when I was a player, because you're
Speaker 1: so focused and be concentrated and sometimes even guarded.
Speaker 3: Uh, for yourself.
Speaker 1: But it's nice to be able to be in this
Speaker 1: position to you know, go to some of the things
Speaker 1: I do and be around the stadium and get a share, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, my appreciation for the fans.
Speaker 3: Back, you know, to them.
Speaker 2: Do you miss the game?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I missed it every every day, think about it.
Speaker 1: That's That's the one thing that's kind of kind of weird, uh,
Speaker 1: to be because you know, there's a lot of professions
Speaker 1: where you might be able to get back and get
Speaker 1: experience and taste of it again. And you know, when
Speaker 1: you're done playing professional sports, it's when it's done it's done.
Speaker 1: There's no uh kind of going back, especially baseball, all
Speaker 1: basketball going back and just you know, give it one
Speaker 1: more shot. You know, for the most part, less you're
Speaker 1: any ram mirrors and they're still swinging the batting stage. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like you see like you see the videos all the time.
Speaker 1: But yeah, every day, sometimes somethings more, some days not.
Speaker 3: I don't miss it.
Speaker 1: I mean, I was just throwing uh balls, the whiffle
Speaker 1: balls of the beach with my daughter while she's hitting,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's I would be lying if I
Speaker 1: didn't say, flashbacks come in my head just.
Speaker 3: Standing there, you know, throwing you just.
Speaker 1: Have flashes of you know, hey, at this time and
Speaker 1: years ago, while I was getting ready to play, you know,
Speaker 1: the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium on a you know,
Speaker 1: three game set, and in set, I'm sitting on the beach.
Speaker 1: But yeah, there's there's always tonts of reminders. And then
Speaker 1: you know, I got two uh older boys who were
Speaker 1: playing baseball you know quite a bit, and out there,
Speaker 1: you know, using my rolodex of of experience and and
Speaker 1: gameplay and practice and all the things I saw the
Speaker 1: and seem to help them. Uh you know better, prepare
Speaker 1: and and form a game plan to make them the
Speaker 1: most successful they can, uh, you know, for their uh
Speaker 1: you know, baseball crewers.
Speaker 2: Okay, so you're on the beach having flashbacks to playing
Speaker 2: catch with while you're throwing to your daughter. Who is
Speaker 2: Andre Ethier's favorite catch partner in your career?
Speaker 1: Well, favorite catch powers that?
Speaker 3: That's easy one. Matt Camp.
Speaker 2: Wow, Hey, you make us all feel good when you
Speaker 2: say that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Matt Camp, by far one was my favorite catch partner.
Speaker 1: He is my catch partner for was that eight years?
Speaker 3: Eight years?
Speaker 1: Nine years there, but my catch partner, you know, every
Speaker 1: day out there, spring training to end of the season, playoffs,
Speaker 1: the whole thing. Uh, you know, it wasn't even it
Speaker 1: was only playing catch, but was also just catching up
Speaker 1: and talking, uh you.
Speaker 3: Know, about life at.
Speaker 1: The beginning, you know, sitting there fifteen twenty feet away,
Speaker 1: talking about life, talking about whatever you did last night,
Speaker 1: talking about what you you tomorrow, talking about who you're
Speaker 1: facing that day. All kinds of things happen in those
Speaker 1: conversations when you see but not a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: people get to see that unless you come to the
Speaker 1: ball field early, sometimes on the road, and you know,
Speaker 1: see the opposing team playing catch or you know that's
Speaker 1: how at two thirty three o'clock in the afternoon when
Speaker 1: we're out there really doing our first you know, warm
Speaker 1: up of the day and you know we're out there
Speaker 1: having those conversations, uh, you know, preparing for the.
Speaker 3: Game that night.
Speaker 2: After Matt camp left and Cody Bellinger emerged in your
Speaker 2: final season his rookie year was Cody Bellinger. Every year
Speaker 2: catch partner.
Speaker 3: He was a casey.
Speaker 1: But who was my actually catch partner all right after
Speaker 1: Matt left was Matt Ouer was Josh Peterson. Oh okay,
Speaker 1: so Jock was my catch partner after that. And it
Speaker 1: was when it was when it was not being my
Speaker 1: catch part it was more of comedy hour I was.
Speaker 1: I would sit there just crack up about this guy
Speaker 1: all the time and all the you know, the antics
Speaker 1: and stuff that he always had going on. And it
Speaker 1: was pretty good for me because it was, you know,
Speaker 1: great to play catch with a young up and coming
Speaker 1: player that you know, had that enthusiasm and just like
Speaker 1: newness of the game. And they kind of reminded me of,
Speaker 1: you know, to be appreciative of you know, where we're
Speaker 1: at because you know, that's that's the one thing you
Speaker 1: can you know, you hear and tells the whole time.
Speaker 1: As baseball is, you know, the old players are grow
Speaker 1: up me and the new players are too happy, and
Speaker 1: sometimes it's going to put yourself in the young player's
Speaker 1: shoes again as a as an old player, just see
Speaker 1: how fun and and how much uh you know, how
Speaker 1: new and how exciting the game was when you first
Speaker 1: came up.
Speaker 2: Those are great stories. I love hearing that, and I
Speaker 2: know fans love hearing that kind of stuff. Before I
Speaker 2: let you go, I asked fans to call in again
Speaker 2: tonight with the Dodgers and Yankees getting set for tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Where were you when Freddie Freeman hit his walk off
Speaker 2: Grand Slam? And did you feel like it was going
Speaker 2: to happen?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: I I don't know whether it was to the Gland
Speaker 1: Slam was going to happen. I thought, definitely, we're getting
Speaker 1: to hit in that situation, and you know things were
Speaker 1: gonna I was actually capping the lineup and see who
Speaker 1: was behind him, to see how we're setting up for that.
Speaker 3: But I knew he was going to get something done.
Speaker 3: I could just feel it.
Speaker 1: It was like one of those you know moments that
Speaker 1: those great clutch hits for the Dodgers that you see
Speaker 1: replayed in history that I mean, you don't want to
Speaker 1: be jump on, but the gifts and home run that
Speaker 1: replayed a thousand times inside the stadium every time I
Speaker 1: played there when the team was behind. You know, it
Speaker 1: was one of those moments that were setting up for there.
Speaker 1: And I was actually sitting at a baseball game in
Speaker 1: Phoenix watching what of my kids playing when it happened,
Speaker 1: and I just see you could hear the little four
Speaker 1: pack of you know, baseball fields at these club games.
Speaker 1: You could hear the four pack of people at the fans.
Speaker 1: He could hear cheering and groaning all at the same
Speaker 1: time of all the parents and everyone watching the game,
Speaker 1: watching the kids games, but also watching the World Series
Speaker 1: on the phone.
Speaker 2: Hey, how's your guy at Noble Bakery in Phoenix handling it?
Speaker 2: Because every time you take me there, he's got a
Speaker 2: Yankee hat on. He's mister New York. How is he
Speaker 2: handling the Dodgers being the Yankees? Daddy?
Speaker 1: Uh, Jared dare my guy. Darre's actually funny story is
Speaker 1: we hopped on a plate.
Speaker 3: The next days together that he too and yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: so he was. He took it. He took it better.
Speaker 1: You know the Yankee fans, they like to say, well
Speaker 1: we have twenty I said, well, you one, you won
Speaker 1: twenty of them when there's only four teams in the league. So, uh,
Speaker 1: you know that's that's what time might joke to him
Speaker 1: about that. But yeah, he took it pretty well. And
Speaker 1: uh he makes the great flies of pizza over there.
Speaker 1: I think we've had lunch there together, right.
Speaker 2: Great spot, great spot. I recommend it. Great guy. He's
Speaker 2: one of the few fans that we like.
Speaker 3: Yes, one of the few.
Speaker 1: And you know what I missed me and you getting
Speaker 1: a slice of pizza in downtown La at Prince at
Speaker 1: Prince Street Pizza.
Speaker 3: I had a couple a couple of years.
Speaker 1: Ago, we got a slice together there.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, games, you know all the spots. Still you're
Speaker 2: still the king of foodie.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Prince Prince Street Pizza one of my favorite places
Speaker 1: to grab a place in downtown Me schooser again.
Speaker 2: I love it. We actually were having this debate during
Speaker 2: the rain delay, where the best slice of pizza is
Speaker 2: in LA and you just you just solved the answer
Speaker 2: for all of us.
Speaker 1: Well, here's the Stadium. I like that Prince Street my
Speaker 1: still favorites maybe kind of.
Speaker 3: I mean forgotten or maybe not, but I.
Speaker 1: Like Oysteria or Pizza Ria Moza. Oh yeah, they're on
Speaker 1: Melrose in Highland. That's you know, one of my favorite
Speaker 1: all time places. I think they kind of were at
Speaker 1: the forefront of just going to a restaurant to sit
Speaker 1: down and have a whole pie type restaurant was based
Speaker 1: around the pizza pie. And yeah, it's kind of one
Speaker 1: of those great slices that you forget is there, but
Speaker 1: every time you have it, and if you've had it before,
Speaker 1: it just as like, oh yeah, I remember this.
Speaker 2: Great memories, Dre and certainly everybody in Los Angeles remembers
Speaker 2: them and appreciate how you just left it all out
Speaker 2: on the field, no regrets and we can't wait to
Speaker 2: see you back at Dodger Stadium soon.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, appreciate it. And uh yeah, I'm having
Speaker 1: fun time watching this team and you know, watching this Dodger,
Speaker 1: this brand, this new brand of Dodger Baseball and this
Speaker 1: next generation of guys, it's exciting to see and exciting
Speaker 1: to you know, still be somewhat a part of the organization.
Speaker 1: And get a chance to see it kind of firsthand.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't wait to do this in person. We'll
Speaker 2: see you on this homestand maybe.
Speaker 1: All right, appreciate it and go sun Devils this week
Speaker 1: and at the UTLA Regional.
Speaker 3: I know you don't like that, but.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for them, I mean, I'll pretend that you have
Speaker 2: a chance to win. But John Savage is my guy.
Speaker 3: All right, all right, we'll
Speaker 2: Hear the fork