WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.719 And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger. 2 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:11.720 Talking from New York Dodgers Mets tomorrow night, Kershaw Day 3 00:00:12.199 --> 00:00:15.560 at City Fields, and our coverage begins at three o'clock 4 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.519 with first pitch at four to ten. I wanted to 5 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:23.440 reshare a great conversation I had with two LA Baseball legends. 6 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:26.839 It was done in twenty twenty during the baseball shutdown 7 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.039 due to the pandemic. Here was the great Darryl Strawberry 8 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.520 and Eric Davis together again, right here on a five 9 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:36.840 seventy LA Sports See. 10 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.560 How you doing all right? Every day? What's up? D 11 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.039 old timer? What do you do baby? How you coming along? 12 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:46.439 You say, we're good? Were good? 13 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:48.960 We old timers now, so we call each other old timers. 14 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:51.479 So it's good to be with you, David. Yeah, it's 15 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:53.079 really good to be with you on the phone with 16 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:56.399 my best friend growing up in California and playing a 17 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.960 little lad together, Eric, the great Davis man. 18 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.520 Man, it is so great to hear your guys voice. 19 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:06.040 And I know Los Angeles was really excited when we 20 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.079 put this together. When you guys come back to LA, 21 00:01:09.239 --> 00:01:11.439 do you still feel the same love that you had 22 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:12.480 when you grew up here. 23 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:19.760 It'll never leave, David, because that's kind of DNA. Even 24 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:22.879 though we started somewhere. He started in New York. I 25 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:26.719 started in Cincinnati, and then we went places, and he 26 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:28.719 came to LA, and then I ended up coming to LA, 27 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:33.359 and we went to other places. LA will always be home, 28 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.359 and so the jubilation of recitement we get when we 29 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:42.120 go is just as anticified when we see the La 30 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:46.560 Dodger fans and the Laker fans and the rams enerators. 31 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:48.480 Was there when we were there. You know, we had 32 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:53.640 a whole lot, but it was extraordinary and that'll be 33 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:55.239 part of what we do for the rest our life. 34 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:02.239 Hey, Darryl, Yeah, it is remarkable, you know to sit 35 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.200 back and think, you know, coming up and growing up 36 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:08.400 in California and being a Laker fan and Dodger fan, 37 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:12.280 myself and Erica, and you know, having our careers, you know, 38 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.560 shout off somewhere else and then you know, have an 39 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:20.000 opportunity to come back home and play, and like Gerrek said, 40 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:21.560 it will always be homes. 41 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:23.400 I mean La. I mean he grew up. 42 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:27.039 On the free mind. I grew up in Prenshaw And 43 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:29.759 there's so many great baseball players that come out of 44 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:31.879 southern California and all of us got a chance to 45 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:35.680 see each other and play against each other, and it's 46 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:39.680 but there's nothing like home. There's nothing like Harvard Park. 47 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:42.360 There's nothing like your program or who we were being 48 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:44.919 eric and what we built around there for so many 49 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.400 years in our old neighborhood when we became professional athletes. 50 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.759 You guys put together a documentary a few years back 51 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:55.159 about Harvard Park down there in South Central and even 52 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:57.439 me and the San Fernando Valley used to hear about 53 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.800 how you guys would be working out down there right 54 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:04.479 for spring training. What did that park mean to not 55 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:07.479 only you two guys to reconnect every off season, but 56 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:10.360 what did it mean to the community for you guys 57 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:12.080 to be there every off season? 58 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.840 Well, it started for me, it was uh and it 59 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.000 was great that I was able to hear it down 60 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:21.199 in the San Fernando Velly. That means we have some 61 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:22.159 good marketing people. 62 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:22.439 You know. 63 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:27.319 It was about the spread of news, but it was 64 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:33.240 something that we really really took pride in because like 65 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:38.080 the conversation me and Shaw would have and and it 66 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:41.879 really consummated itself from the history of so many black 67 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:46.520 baseball players from South Central Inner City and in our era, 68 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:49.680 we heard about them and we didn't see them. And 69 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:51.439 you know, some of them went on to do great 70 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.759 things and they moved away and the so forth. But 71 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:59.280 we wanted to make sure that our voices and our 72 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:03.879 face was seen in the same areas that we grew 73 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.879 up in. And by us starting Harvard Park where we did, 74 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:13.840 it did two things. It created a culture gap because 75 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:17.120 there's so many players coming from so many places in 76 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.240 South Central and it reminded us of where we came 77 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:24.120 from to always keep pushing, to keep wanting more and 78 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:26.560 to keep doing better, and to keep letting the kids 79 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:30.240 around that area see us to know that dreams do 80 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:35.759 come true. So it was remarkable. It was something that 81 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:38.399 we did from the bottom of my heart. That number one, 82 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:42.279 it had ever been done before that, and it has 83 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:45.399 never been done prior to that. So having a good 84 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.839 twelve to fifteen year run. And if you haven't seen 85 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:52.439 the documentary, then you've missed something real special. But watch 86 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:58.079 the documentary and watch how many different baseball executives and 87 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:02.759 players and managers house came from. Just that was part 88 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:06.240 of Povard Park. So for me, just being able to 89 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:11.600 resonate everything around that for our community really gave us 90 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:13.399 the worth all to want to be there, to let 91 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:14.600 them know that we still care. 92 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:18.720 Darryl, for you, how much did Harvard Park mean to you? 93 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.160 And to be able to go back and you get 94 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:23.839 to La with the Dodgers a year before Eric did. 95 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:26.560 Did that all of it bring it full circle? 96 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:30.319 Well, yeah, of course it brought it full circle. But 97 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.720 Harbor Park was always Barbara Park for us, you know, 98 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:38.920 because there was a community of us growing up in 99 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.759 and we will always want to go back and be 100 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:42.399 a part of that. We want to be a part 101 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:45.360 of people. I think that was the most important thing 102 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:48.120 for me and Eric. You know, yeah we were million 103 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.480 dollar ball players, but here we were working out in 104 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:53.920 the ghetto with trash cans. So we were making a statement. 105 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:59.160 Everybody was wondering, Yeah, everybody's wondering why these guys are 106 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:01.959 not up at U c l A or USC were Like, 107 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:07.439 we didn't grow up in Westwood, Yeah wherever U s 108 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:09.279 LA is and we didn't grow up. And see, we 109 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:10.480 didn't grow up and you know, we didn't go to 110 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.920 those schools. He went to Fremont, I went to Crenshaw 111 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.720 and we played on parks like these, and the reminder 112 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:20.480 for us going back there was to make people understand 113 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:25.720 that these parks like this breed major League Baseball players 114 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.519 like myself, Ic Davis, Chris Brown, you can go on 115 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:31.279 along the list, Eddie and Ozzie and all the different 116 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:33.800 guys that come from southern California played in some of 117 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.800 the same places we played in out in Compton, you know, 118 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:39.160 we played out there, But Harvard Park was very special 119 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:41.879 to us because it was a neighborhood full of trouble, 120 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.480 full of crime, and we were the only guys that 121 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:47.720 were and they had games in that area, and we 122 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:51.439 were like the only guys nobody would ever touch think 123 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:55.160 about touching coming in that neighborhood. They would walk around 124 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:58.120 what we were doing there, and they thought it was 125 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.360 just amazing that we would be a part of a 126 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:05.120 community like this that we know so much about it 127 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.519 and know the trouble that was there. But at the 128 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.680 same time, we realized that this is home for us, 129 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:15.560 and we need to let young people and young athletes 130 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:17.639 see that, you know, you can come out of here 131 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:19.279 and be very successful. 132 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:23.800 Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry are joining us on Dodger talk. 133 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:26.160 And the one thing that I said about you two 134 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:29.439 guys before you came on, not only were you really 135 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:33.360 great baseball players, you're great people. Number one and number 136 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.199 two you made everything you did cool, from the high 137 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:39.120 top shoes that you wore to working out at Harvard 138 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:43.000 Park is do you feel like some of the swag 139 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:46.360 in the style is missing from baseball these days the 140 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:48.639 way you guys used to do it. And like I 141 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.279 mentioned Harvard Park, you guys made it cool to want 142 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:51.839 to be there. 143 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:55.680 Oh David, let me just add some real quick man. 144 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:02.360 Swag is not something you give yourself, Okay. This generation 145 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:04.680 creates their own swag. That's why you have so many 146 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:09.120 people that are branding themselves. Swag is something that someone 147 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:09.839 else gives you. 148 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:14.680 Okay. If they saw dyl Strawberry, they was like, there 149 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:18.800 he is, watched, They went to watch, they went to 150 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:22.680 sit down. His name was ringing. When we were ten 151 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:27.319 years old. That swag. When you went to Crenshaw to 152 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:31.480 watch the the basketball team play, you was trying to 153 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:33.879 figure out where was he? There? He is right there. 154 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:37.399 That's your swag. When other people talk about you in 155 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.279 that light, that's your swag. Now you have guys now 156 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:45.159 that give themselves nicknames and doctor themselves up. They did 157 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.000 on Instagram. They show they do a lot of different 158 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.440 things to create the attention, but their game don't highlight 159 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:55.919 their swag. Swag is something that somebody else gives you. 160 00:08:55.960 --> 00:09:00.440 So what you saw was the natural essence of we 161 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:05.519 was all about. Uh. Style and charisma is something that 162 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:09.000 we was all about from a kid, and it wasn't 163 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:12.679 something that transcended or turned into once we got to 164 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:17.320 the major leagues. And so by us liking the things 165 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:21.360 that we were doing and entertaining the people from a 166 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:25.600 young age, that created our swag. And then that just 167 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:29.559 materialized over time because the better you performed, the better 168 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:32.879 swag you got, you know what I'm saying. So him 169 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:35.919 being an ultimate and me being an ultimate, we was 170 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:40.120 driven by that. Swag just consumed us. And that's when 171 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:43.399 people really know about you, is about how you performed, 172 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:47.039 not what you say on Instagram or Facebook or whatever. 173 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:51.120 Daryl, you're on Instagram, you see all that. Yeah, I'm 174 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:52.159 sure you agree with Eric. 175 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:55.960 Well yeah, yeah, but I understand that. And there it's 176 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:58.799 clearly clear about that. You know, the swag, swagen is 177 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:02.240 what you know. It's not something that we label ourselves 178 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:04.240 to be. Is it what people make you out of 179 00:10:04.360 --> 00:10:07.559 because of they watch you and they see you, and 180 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:09.799 and we didn't really have we had a different style 181 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:10.879 about us. 182 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:11.679 Us. 183 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:13.960 Wag was like you know, from the ghetto. You know, 184 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:17.720 we was we wasn't nobody gave us a spoon and 185 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:20.320 gave us anything. We had to work for it. We 186 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:22.919 had to work hard. We come from some very difficult 187 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:25.840 times and situations, and you know, we had to build 188 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:27.679 who we were. We had to we had to fight 189 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:30.559 our way through neighborhoods and you know, the gangs and 190 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.080 everything that was around us to play ball and stuff 191 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:36.320 like that. So you know, we we developed, We developed 192 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:40.159 who we were by stepping on the field and performing. 193 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:43.799 I mean, it just clearly showed that. You know, when 194 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:47.120 we played Little league together and you know, and Eric 195 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:49.039 was a short stop batting the leadoff and I was 196 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.440 hitting third, Chris Brown was hitting for you imagine a 197 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:54.480 lineup like that with guys in there, and you got 198 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.720 to face those type of hitters like that. And then 199 00:10:56.759 --> 00:10:58.320 we get to the big leagues and we take it 200 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.480 to a whole other level. You know, it takes the 201 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:03.200 game to a whole another levels as a player that 202 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:05.720 you know, hits o thirty home runs, still eighty bags, 203 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.360 you know, doing things like that, doing things that players 204 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:11.559 was not doing in the air and the time that 205 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:13.519 we came up with, players today are not even doing 206 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:15.720 that the kind of players we were back in the day. 207 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:20.559 So you know, that's what really gave us, you know, 208 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.240 brought the attention of who we were because we were different. 209 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:26.480 You know, we come from a different place and we 210 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:27.799 played the game a different way. 211 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:31.720 How much did you guys take from where you came 212 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:34.919 onto the into the minor leagues and onto the major 213 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:38.080 league stage. Do you feel like everything you guys went 214 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.559 through off the field helped you be better players on 215 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.559 the field when you got to this type of situations 216 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:47.360 where there were a lot of attention and pressure gets 217 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:49.679 a little bit higher, did you feel like all the 218 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:53.840 pressure of trying to survive was bigger than anything you 219 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:55.440 were going to face in the big leagues. 220 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:01.080 The pressure and how to survive is South Central was 221 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:04.759 way harder than trying to make it to the major leagues. Yeah, 222 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:08.960 just going to school, the towsand tribulations, I mean, uh, 223 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.960 having a fight to have your letterm and jacket or 224 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:17.039 your or your Walla Bees, or your biscuits, or or 225 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.559 someone trying to take you another codes or your bomber 226 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:22.960 jacket going here and there. I was more afraid of 227 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:26.879 my mama than I was anybody on the street. And 228 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:29.039 if I came home and I didn't have my bomber jacket, 229 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:30.759 I was going to deal with my mama. And so 230 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:35.039 right on the street was second nature to me and 231 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:40.159 the girl. The same way Ruby was that tough the 232 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.720 rocks for all of his siblings and stuff. So knowing 233 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:47.000 that going to play a game that that that you 234 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:51.440 grew up playing on on on dirt with glass and 235 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:53.759 different things of that nature. See, they give the guys 236 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:57.159 from Latin America that create about where they came from 237 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:00.799 and out they played. We did it the same way 238 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:03.559 in the parking recreations. That's why Straw was so intimate 239 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:08.159 about us playing at Harvard Park, Ross Schnyder, Jackie Robinson 240 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:12.159 all dirt in fields. We didn't have the grass and 241 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:13.879 fields and all those types of things and stuff. So 242 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:18.080 when you got to the point to where I'm gonna 243 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.159 tell you a story, actually we had a County Mac 244 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:23.840 team and like eighteen of our guys off our County 245 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:27.960 mac team to got drafted right, and we won the 246 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:32.679 Pacific Regionals at Compton and we went up to Seattle, Washington, right, 247 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.639 and so they put us on. After we landed, they 248 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.960 took us to the field and we just started laughing 249 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:45.200 because the guys was like, y'all laughing. We y'all laughing. 250 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:47.399 We got were playing here, and they was like, yeah, 251 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:51.559 the most home runs in the tournament was seven. We 252 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:56.159 hit six the first night and we broke the record 253 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.919 because we were used to playing in open spaces when 254 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.399 guys to play all the way back to the swimming 255 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:07.840 pool or something. So when you saw a nice beautiful field, 256 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:09.360 they was gonna get it. 257 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:11.840 And they got it. 258 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:15.120 So knowing all of that and then taking that into 259 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:18.759 the minor leagues, it wasn't if for us it was wooded. 260 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:21.639 Yeah, was that the same experience for you? 261 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.960 David Strong hit the ball in that ballpark that they 262 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:31.879 still looking for they ain't found it almost, so you know, 263 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:33.960 it was so it. 264 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:36.000 Was so incredible. I mean, it was so incredible for 265 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:38.840 us to grow up, you know actually where we grew 266 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:42.120 up in South Central and become you know, major league 267 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:45.600 baseball players. I think, like Eric was saying, most people 268 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:48.919 don't know. The challenges were more difficult for us, you know, 269 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.080 walking to school and being challenged by people from different 270 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.200 neighborhoods and things like that that we had to deal with. 271 00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:56.720 Putting putting the uniform on was easy for us, you know, 272 00:14:56.840 --> 00:14:59.840 because think about it, we both played basketball a place 273 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:02.679 for free mind. I played for Crenshaw. We played basketball. 274 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:05.399 Then we go crossover and we go into baseball, and 275 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:09.320 we get into baseball, and playing baseball was just really 276 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.320 easy for us, you know. But we were so determined. 277 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:14.000 Me and Eric was different than everybody else because we 278 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:16.720 saw guys get drafted before us, and we saw how 279 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:19.159 they were when they responded when they came back, and 280 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:21.799 we just used to say to ourselves, they have not 281 00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:25.519 seen nothing until we get into the league, because we're 282 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:27.919 going to be totally different, different type of players because 283 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:30.879 they didn't have Most people didn't have the ability that 284 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:31.759 me and Eric had. 285 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:35.799 We had such a high level five two s ability 286 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:39.240 to play the game and i Q for the i 287 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:41.639 Q was so high for the game and understanding the 288 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:43.799 game the way it should be played at such a 289 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:44.480 different level. 290 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.639 And I think most people never really recognized that. They 291 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:50.799 didn't recognize us until we actually entered into the big 292 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:54.279 leagues and realized and started playing the way we started 293 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:56.240 to play. And they was like, wow, I never seen 294 00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:58.720 anything like this. Would you know these two guys play 295 00:15:58.759 --> 00:15:59.720 at such a high level? 296 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:00.279 He did. 297 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:03.679 I could say this flat out. I mean, I'm not 298 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:06.200 as old as you guys, but I watched you guys play, 299 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:09.279 and I would say that you two guys were two 300 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:12.440 of the best players I ever seen play baseball. But 301 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:14.960 all I hear about is how good you guys were 302 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.399 at basketball. So did you guys ever go head to head? 303 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:21.480 Fremont Crenshaw? Did you guys ever play guard each other? 304 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:34.200 I thought maybe d might want to switch. I thought 305 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:35.399 maybe you might want to switch. 306 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:39.399 You want nothing I can do with him on the 307 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:52.000 I was going to stay outside and and uh and 308 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:57.840 was a quarterback at I got recruited play football and 309 00:16:57.879 --> 00:17:00.159 they didn't even know I played basketball or baseball. So 310 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:08.279 the ability to be multi talented has left a whole 311 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.359 lot of our black athletes because of it's such a 312 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:15.720 high profile sports now that they're putting all their marbles 313 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:20.400 into basketball or all their marbles into football. We could 314 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:24.920 our marbles into sports and then let our talents take 315 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.519 us where we wanted to go, but it gave us options. 316 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:31.200 Straw could have went to any school he wanted to. 317 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:33.000 I could have went to almost any school that I 318 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:36.960 wanted to, And so the options of being multi talented 319 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:41.000 helped us. In baseball, I was able to jump over 320 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:44.799 the fence because I could dump backwards. It was so 321 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:47.960 many different barrels that I took from the basketball court 322 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:51.000 onto the baseball field, and Sear did the same time. 323 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.680 I mean, he can run, jump, throw all the different 324 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:56.920 outcreaks of them. Being a quarterback was why his mom 325 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:59.599 was so small. So you have to all to diversify 326 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:04.319 and put things kind of around you to allow each 327 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:08.400 sport to give you soultic and and knowing all the 328 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:11.440 great athletes that came from South Centralinia, the ball was 329 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:17.599 said even for baseball at the at UH, the purns 330 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:20.319 or Ellis Valentine and the guys in Artis Johnson and 331 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.519 wanted to chair. There was so many different players that 332 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:26.680 you saw even from front with chet Lemon and Danny 333 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:31.160 Pallard and Barbie Tulla. You had UH the Dorsey and 334 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:34.680 many in Washington and Jefferson, so you had West, So 335 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:39.480 you had so much talent where you had to measure 336 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:44.119 up where you was gonna get set there, so you 337 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.799 had to cover a place. So that was the competition 338 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:51.680 at such a little at lower level for us Warner, 339 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:55.000 and those things were so competitive that when we got 340 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:57.559 to play against guys our age, because we always played 341 00:18:57.559 --> 00:18:59.359 against guys older than us, and so so when we 342 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.880 got to play his guys our age, they was in 343 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:08.240 trouble the right, right, That's so true because you make 344 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:11.359 that so clear. Because we grew up around so many 345 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:14.920 different players and our coach, Earl Brown, who coached us 346 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:17.039 in the Summer League, all he talked about is all 347 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:19.920 these other players, Oh, you guys not better than Eddie 348 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:23.480 and Ozzie, you know, And he just he just built 349 00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:26.839 us up inside to be better than guys like that 350 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:29.559 because they came through the same place playing out the accounpident. 351 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:31.319 Eddie and Ozzie they did this and they did that. 352 00:19:32.039 --> 00:19:41.559 We used to say nothing, yeah, willis so many chill 353 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:44.200 There were so many. 354 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:46.880 Yeah, there was so many of my head of us 355 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:50.160 and you know, and he kept always you know, putting 356 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:52.279 it in our ears and me and Ed was like, 357 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:55.240 well we only to stamp on this because when we 358 00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:57.039 when we get out of here and we get to 359 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:58.880 the major League, it's gonna be a different ball game 360 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.640 because they ain't gonna be a dude kind of things 361 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:02.960 that we're gonna do. Like he said, you know we 362 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:05.920 could jump, you can get over he going over the watch. 363 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:07.920 See I would have had forty home runs. But everyone 364 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:10.160 I knew this war. I mean if he had to 365 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.839 go over the wall and stay stadium and take one 366 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:15.160 of my home runs and then the other day, then 367 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:17.240 the next day he throws me out at third base 368 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:19.839 trying to go from first to third. You know, it's like, oh, 369 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:25.599 you're supposed joy right that David Star was hard hitted. 370 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:28.240 I told him to pull the ball like before he 371 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:30.920 get going over on the bus outside of the little stadium. 372 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:35.599 So I told him he was to be disrespectful by 373 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:39.559 tagging up on me. Disrespectful. Wanted to when we was kids, 374 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:43.279 but we was in the Apple. It was naturally televised 375 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:49.920 fifty five IM and then he took me to dinner 376 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:52.519 and we had a good time after the game. So 377 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.960 in between the lines, our competitor jus. 378 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:00.720 Was just that, Yeah, that's the one thing I wondered about. 379 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:02.960 You guys did you did you know Straw got his 380 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:05.680 World Series before you did he d Was there any 381 00:21:05.960 --> 00:21:09.400 of that kind of trash talking between you guys, No, no. 382 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:13.799 Never, no never. It was always the best. It was 383 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:17.160 a lot of after the best. Yeah, I'm gonna tell 384 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:20.519 you how humble dryl was and still is. As I 385 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.240 might add, is that even when he went Rookie of 386 00:21:23.240 --> 00:21:26.359 the Year, we went to the Laker games, and we 387 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:31.440 would always go to Laker games and everybody was telling 388 00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:35.799 Daryl congratulations and was hanging around him. But all he 389 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:39.799 could say was wait till my partner comes. Nothing. That's 390 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:44.519 how he was. Didn't good became. And that's how humble 391 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:48.200 he was was that he was always saying, y'all think 392 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:52.160 I'm good, wait till he comes. And so no matter 393 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:55.519 where the situation we were, he always looked out for 394 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:59.119 everybody that was around us, so they became turn I 395 00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:02.680 did the same. I look all the guys to bring 396 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:05.519 and the guys. And that's how our program was was. 397 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:09.000 It wasn't just about man Daryl. It was about every 398 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:12.799 one of us who came behind her. And that was 399 00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:16.480 one of the reasons why we started the program, was 400 00:22:16.599 --> 00:22:20.400 to give so many different guys the opportunity to see 401 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:22.960