Speaker 1: It's the Dodgers and Giants hooking up for the first
Speaker 1: time this season, albeit in spring training. But we're joined
Speaker 1: right now by a man that can add his name
Speaker 1: to the list of players that have played for the
Speaker 1: Giants and Dodgers. That list seems to be growing more
Speaker 1: in recent years. But that's Dodger left fielder Michael CONFORDO. Michael,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for the time. Appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1: What's it like being on the West Valley compared to
Speaker 1: beautiful Scottsdale? Are you missing Scottsdale Stadium?
Speaker 3: Not Scottsdale Stadium itself. Maybe the commute there from my
Speaker 3: house it's a little bit longer.
Speaker 2: I actually live over in.
Speaker 3: Scottsdale, so it's just a little bit longer commute. But
Speaker 3: there's no place I would rather be than right here.
Speaker 2: Michael.
Speaker 1: What's it like in your first experience with the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: It's been great.
Speaker 3: It's been super positive since I showed up early camp.
Speaker 3: You know, I've gotten everything I need, got great coaches,
Speaker 3: great teammates, you know exactly what I expected. You know,
Speaker 3: great leadership from the guys who've been here.
Speaker 2: For a while.
Speaker 3: The Hall of Fame guys do things a Hall of
Speaker 3: Fame way, and uh, you know, I'm just trying to
Speaker 3: I'm trying to soak all that up, you know, take
Speaker 3: you know, take take in what I can and and
Speaker 3: and try to do things the same way.
Speaker 2: You know. It's kind of just the Dodger way over here.
Speaker 1: When you talk about soaking up the way Hall of
Speaker 1: famers do things. He got one to your left that
Speaker 1: will be headed to Cooperstown one day. And Freddie Freeman
Speaker 1: in the clubhouse here in spring training. What's it been
Speaker 1: like to be locker mates with Freddie?
Speaker 3: It's been great. You know, I've played against him for
Speaker 3: a long time. I know he's got a great personality,
Speaker 3: great sense of humor. But now I'm able to see
Speaker 3: kind of, you know, behind the curtain a little bit,
Speaker 3: you know, extremely competitive guy, wants to be out there
Speaker 3: every single day. Obviously, he's dealing with some rehab right now,
Speaker 3: so I'm not seeing him as much. I think he's
Speaker 3: gonna be in there tomorrow. Yeah, so I'm super excited
Speaker 3: about that. But you know, it's it's it's early. I'm
Speaker 3: I'm still uh you know, still getting to know him,
Speaker 3: and I'm excited to have that relationship grow.
Speaker 1: What you just described about Freddie Freeman is what pictures
Speaker 1: have said when they've joined the Dodgers, where they get
Speaker 1: to see behind the curtain as far as the work
Speaker 1: ethic and just the method of Clayton Kershaw. Is it
Speaker 1: the same type of feeling where you're you're looking at
Speaker 1: this guy across the field, but now you get to
Speaker 1: see how it comes together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3: There's some things that you see being on another team,
Speaker 3: the way he works in his batting practice, the discipline
Speaker 3: he works with, but just being around him, knowing that
Speaker 3: that discipline isn't just in his hitting, it's in everything. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, that's that's something that you just don't get
Speaker 3: to see. You kind of assume that, but to see
Speaker 3: it is a is another thing. And to be teammates
Speaker 3: with him and to be held accountable by guys like him,
Speaker 3: you know that that goes a long way yourself.
Speaker 1: And it feels like everybody that was here last year,
Speaker 1: humble and hungry seems to be what I'm feeling in
Speaker 1: that clubhouse.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: I mean, I know these guys are you know, one
Speaker 3: is or two? For some of these guys, two's not
Speaker 3: enough you know, they want to do something special, something
Speaker 3: that hasn't been done in a long time, and going
Speaker 3: back to back, and I think this team has been
Speaker 3: set up to do that. Now it's on us to
Speaker 3: go out there and actually execute and and live up to,
Speaker 3: you know, all the hype that's that's obviously always around
Speaker 3: the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Michael Conforto is not the only former Giant that's joining
Speaker 1: the Dodgers. You were teammates with Blake Snell last year.
Speaker 1: What can you tell us about Blake and how underappreciated
Speaker 1: he may be.
Speaker 3: There's no other guy like him, really, you know that
Speaker 3: shows up on the field. There's no picture like him.
Speaker 3: His stuff is electric, but people gravitate to him. He's
Speaker 3: a positive energy. He's a funny guy, you know, great
Speaker 3: guy to have in the clubhouse. I'm really excited to
Speaker 3: see him with a full off season, you know, right
Speaker 3: coming off of Asai Young where he started slow. You know,
Speaker 3: it could be really scary to see what he does
Speaker 3: if he's able to just be who he is the
Speaker 3: entire year, stay healthy, because when he's on, there's not
Speaker 3: a whole lot you can do to put the ball
Speaker 3: and play against him.
Speaker 2: So I'm excited to see that.
Speaker 1: Before I let you go, I'm sure you've noticed the
Speaker 1: hordes of media in the Dodger clubhouse, a lot of
Speaker 1: them Japanese media. Are you looking forward to starting the
Speaker 1: season in Tokyo?
Speaker 2: I can't wait.
Speaker 3: I'm super excited to go out to Tokyo. Yeah, it's
Speaker 3: hard to miss all the media in the clubhouse. I'm
Speaker 3: sure that's going to be a thing all year. Not
Speaker 3: necessarily not used to a lot of media, you know,
Speaker 3: I played in some in some big markets. New York
Speaker 3: was big, San Francisco was definitely not as much, but
Speaker 3: there's still some attention there. But to start the season
Speaker 3: with Shohy, with yosh with Roki in Tokyo, it's a
Speaker 3: special opportunity.
Speaker 2: It's you know, once in a lifetime.
Speaker 1: So that's the kicker, right, that's the kicker. You're not
Speaker 1: just going to Tokyo, but you're going with the ginormous
Speaker 1: superstar i Otani exactly.
Speaker 3: I mean it's one thing to go and one thing
Speaker 3: to play out there, start your season out there, But
Speaker 3: to go with the you know, I mean maybe the
Speaker 3: biggest sports star in the you know, on the planet
Speaker 3: in their home, you know, in their home country cherry
Speaker 3: on top.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you'll just be there.
Speaker 1: You'll be there and you'll make your impact. You'll let
Speaker 1: your game do the talking. That's why, that's the way
Speaker 1: Michael CONFORDA lives a proud Italian American. Thanks a lot
Speaker 1: for the time and look forward to being around you
Speaker 1: all year.
Speaker 2: Thanks a lot, Yeah, I appreciate it.