Speaker 1: And there's my guy, a man that every Dodger fan appreciates.
Speaker 1: Now it's never too late to appreciate him, and he
Speaker 1: is now greeting Ted News.
Speaker 2: Go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there he is Dave Roberts, two time World Series champion,
Speaker 1: greeting his newest reliever. Dave Roberts has wanted Tanner Scott
Speaker 1: since December, and you got your Christmas gift in January.
Speaker 2: I think I've wanted Tanner for like four or five years,
Speaker 2: but I couldn't say it publicly, but we.
Speaker 3: Finally got our man. And this is a great turnout.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of energy and obviously with the renovation
Speaker 2: we got going on here at Dodger Stadium, so we're
Speaker 2: kind of making it work. But I just ran into
Speaker 2: Evan Phillips and Tayl Gonsolin show. Hey was on the stage,
Speaker 2: So this is just exciting. And I'm a week out
Speaker 2: from heading to Camelback, so it's already upon us.
Speaker 1: Dave Roberts has been a great ambassador for the Dodgers
Speaker 1: during his tenure as manager, but this offseason, Dave seems
Speaker 1: to be a worldwide ambassadorship by you can you take
Speaker 1: us through your off season because you really have been
Speaker 1: the face of this franchise after winning the World Series,
Speaker 1: and rightfully so.
Speaker 2: You know what I think, Dave, thanks for saying that.
Speaker 2: And I think the first thing that comes to mind
Speaker 2: is Tommy Lasorda. I don't think there was a bigger
Speaker 2: advocate for the game of baseball and the Los Angeles
Speaker 2: Dodgers and Tommy Lasorta, and with how we're playing, with
Speaker 2: what we've done being so global, it was something for
Speaker 2: me just to really try to make Los Angeles the
Speaker 2: epicenter of the world in sports, and obviously shohes a
Speaker 2: big part of that.
Speaker 3: Winning certainly does that. And I took a trip to Japan.
Speaker 2: You know we're gonna obviously go back, and just talking
Speaker 2: about the Dodgers, talking about baseball, it's really exciting to
Speaker 2: be a Dodger.
Speaker 1: When you always talk about gratitude, do you feel like
Speaker 1: there's that gratitude from your players and from the city
Speaker 1: after just the ride you gave everybody last year?
Speaker 3: There is?
Speaker 2: And the great thing about our players is certainly the
Speaker 2: city of Los Angeles has gone through some hard time,
Speaker 2: some tragedy recently, and to see our guys step up
Speaker 2: in the community. I always talk Dave and you know this,
Speaker 2: and baseball is bigger than us. It's got to be
Speaker 2: bigger than you. It's about the Dodgers, it's about the city,
Speaker 2: it's baseball in general. And it's a responsibility and not
Speaker 2: just it's not responsibility to go out there and show
Speaker 2: up and pitch every fifth day or take it back.
Speaker 2: It's responsibility to do more. And so our guys have
Speaker 2: stepped up and with that, they are ready for twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five spring training. I've seen so many guys. They're excited,
Speaker 2: they look good physically, they're excited to go back to
Speaker 2: back and we know we've got to target on our
Speaker 2: backs and we're going to be ready to kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, take hold and own it and repeat us champs.
Speaker 1: A couple of things of what you just said right there,
Speaker 1: Let's just start about the responsibility to the city, the community.
Speaker 1: You not only lead in the dugout, but you lead
Speaker 1: in that way. And I saw something this week of
Speaker 1: you being a leader in that respect where you met
Speaker 1: with the Pacific Palisades High School baseball team. You met
Speaker 1: with those kids and it wasn't a quit meet. You
Speaker 1: actually took the time to listen to them and hear
Speaker 1: their story. What was that like for you?
Speaker 2: It was certainly like I told those kids, I said,
Speaker 2: I'm going to get more out of this than you
Speaker 2: guys are getting out of this interaction, and obviously acknowledging
Speaker 2: what they're going through, what their families are going through.
Speaker 2: Half of that group of young men lost their homes
Speaker 2: and they're displaced and trying to do school online and
Speaker 2: commuting to Cheviat Hills Park for baseball. And they open
Speaker 2: up in a week, and I just basically commended them
Speaker 2: on their desire to keep going, certainly playing baseball. They
Speaker 2: were out there, joyful, laughing. It was a little bit
Speaker 2: of a diversion, a respite from real life. But I
Speaker 2: told them, Dave that they have a chance to individually,
Speaker 2: collectively write their own story, and not only the city
Speaker 2: of Los Angeles, but our country has eyes on them. Thoughts,
Speaker 2: prayers are going out to them their families and as
Speaker 2: they embark on a baseball season, you know baseball, I mean,
Speaker 2: I said, guys, there might be an opportunity. This might
Speaker 2: be a movie. Yeah, you know, and their relationships right
Speaker 2: now with what they've gone through. These kids day have
Speaker 2: gone through COVID, they've gone through this and for young
Speaker 2: kids in a short time in their lives, that's a
Speaker 2: lot to take on. And so again I was just
Speaker 2: giving them a lot of encouragement and praise and a
Speaker 2: little shout out certainly to Palisay's high school charter school
Speaker 2: baseball program.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Dave Roberts has his finger on the heartbeat of
Speaker 1: this city. He not only has managed here for the
Speaker 1: last nine years, he's not only won two World Series championship,
Speaker 1: but he played and he understands what it means to
Speaker 1: wear the uniform. And when you talk about guys being
Speaker 1: ready already, I'm sure that's got to be a relief
Speaker 1: as a manager of not doubting how hungry those group
Speaker 1: of guys are.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, because I remember when I first started playing, guys
Speaker 2: used spring training to get into shape, and you remember
Speaker 2: those days. But this year we're only going to be
Speaker 2: in Arizona Camelback Ranch for four weeks and so then
Speaker 2: we're going to make our journey to Tokyo. So it
Speaker 2: is two weeks less than we're used to, so guys
Speaker 2: have to be prepared. There's Tyler Glasnow, hey, there he is.
Speaker 2: He looks he looks fantastic. So guys are ready to go.
Speaker 2: So certainly starting pitchers, it's a quicker ramp up, so
Speaker 2: they got to be, you know, throwing their sides and
Speaker 2: being ready to go, and hitters have got to be
Speaker 2: ready to go. So across the board training staff, Brandon McDaniel,
Speaker 2: who's performance coach and he's going to take on a
Speaker 2: different role this year for US, has kind of had
Speaker 2: a thumb on the guys and they've done a great job.
Speaker 1: When you look at the roster, I mean, obviously you
Speaker 1: have a lot of guys that were with you last
Speaker 1: year to win the World Series Championship. How important is
Speaker 1: it to bring in new guys, new blood that haven't
Speaker 1: been able to Like that.
Speaker 3: Guy there he is, Oh my god, Yeah, he's my guy.
Speaker 3: Come on to your guy, DV.
Speaker 1: He's your guy. Now.
Speaker 3: I thought it was that he wanted to be He
Speaker 3: wanted to be with you. That's what it was.
Speaker 1: Austin Barnes is jealous already, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: No. But the thing is, though, is that you made
Speaker 2: a great point, though, Dave, is that keeping the culture
Speaker 2: the talent in place right is crucial. And then when
Speaker 2: you kind of shake it up a little bit, you
Speaker 2: shake it up with guys that are talented, but also
Speaker 2: guys that are hungry. And so when you're talking about
Speaker 2: Tanner Scott, you're talking about Blake Snell, Michael Confordo, different
Speaker 2: guys like that, Kirby as we added, that are proven studs,
Speaker 2: but the one thing that they're missing from their trophy
Speaker 2: case is a World Series championship. So bringing these guys
Speaker 2: in to continue to add that urgency and Tasker Hernandez
Speaker 2: was a guy last year for us, and so guys
Speaker 2: like that that continued to be additive to the culture
Speaker 2: and raise the level of talent.
Speaker 3: That's exactly what we've done this winter.
Speaker 1: Oh Tani's second year with the Dodgers, after what we saw,
Speaker 1: it felt like him and Taoscar just wouldn't let anybody
Speaker 1: believe you were going to lose, even in that first round.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right, Dave, because and obviously how dare I
Speaker 2: forget show?
Speaker 3: Hey?
Speaker 2: But the thing is, though, is that we won in
Speaker 2: twenty there's a lot of guys that, you know, justin Turner,
Speaker 2: different guys that we've had that you know, I wish
Speaker 2: could have been with us, and Cory Seger that could
Speaker 2: have been with us for this parade in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: But guys like show Hey and Tao really led the
Speaker 2: charge this year because they wanted what MOOKI had, what
Speaker 2: Freddie had, you know, different guys with Austin Barnes as
Speaker 2: you mentioned had So that was a great infusion and
Speaker 2: we did the same thing this year.
Speaker 1: Have you had a chance to go back and watch
Speaker 1: any of the games from the postseason, whether it was
Speaker 1: the NLDS or the World Series? You know, I've gone
Speaker 1: back to watch a few of them recently, and I
Speaker 1: don't know, Dave, You've had a lot of great moments
Speaker 1: as a manager, but I felt like Game five, in
Speaker 1: the eighth inning, after Judge doubled Jash Chisholm walks, you
Speaker 1: go out to the mound and you feel a heartbeat
Speaker 1: of Blake trining to me, that was one of the
Speaker 1: greatest moments you've had as a manager.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 2: So, you know, going back a little bit, Dave, you
Speaker 2: know when Bruce dar pitched that game and I just
Speaker 2: felt he wasn't as sharp as he has been. When
Speaker 2: I made a decision to go to Blake right there,
Speaker 2: I knew I was going to be in bed with
Speaker 2: Blake essentially for the rest of the game or go
Speaker 2: as long as he can go. And so that right there,
Speaker 2: the guy fought back, and I felt I owed it
Speaker 2: to them to be all in and managed the bullpen
Speaker 2: and as in essentially a winner go home game, even
Speaker 2: though it was Game five, and I thought our guys
Speaker 2: earned that opportunity. And so as you mentioned that point
Speaker 2: with Blake, I just wanted to kind of call it
Speaker 2: time out, to get get a twenty second time out,
Speaker 2: slow things down a little bit, look him in the eye,
Speaker 2: feel his heart, make sure, you know, see where he
Speaker 2: was at. And he assured me that he felt good,
Speaker 2: he had a lot more in the tank. And you know,
Speaker 2: it proved to be the right decision, and you know,
Speaker 2: this was this was one of the things that I'll
Speaker 2: always remember and one of the great things about, you know,
Speaker 2: being a manager. And that's a moment, Dave that that
Speaker 2: might I too, will never forget it.
Speaker 1: You know, You've had great moments in the World Series, Dave,
Speaker 1: going back to skill in that base and scoring you know,
Speaker 1: two important runs for the Red Sox. I mean, when
Speaker 1: you talk about Dave Roberts in the World Series, it
Speaker 1: just seems like the slow heartbeat, whether it was as
Speaker 1: a player or a manager. I mean it just it's invaluable.
Speaker 2: It's invaluable, and I think that you know, one thing
Speaker 2: I talk a lot about to our players is having
Speaker 2: smart players. And when you have smart players, and I'm
Speaker 2: not talking about scoring you know, on an act or
Speaker 2: an SAT smart players, I mean by having feel understanding
Speaker 2: the value of the little things about you know, rundowns
Speaker 2: or throwing to the right base or you know, taking
Speaker 2: a walk to potentially get the next hitter up. Understand
Speaker 2: the value of each out the scoreboard, the long season,
Speaker 2: what preparation means. And so when you have smart players
Speaker 2: like that, when the moment gets there, it never gets
Speaker 2: too big. And there was a moment last year where
Speaker 2: I said to the guys in spring training that each
Speaker 2: one of you guys has got to get to the
Speaker 2: point where you want to be the guy with the
Speaker 2: baseball in the bottom of the ninth inning. In the
Speaker 2: bottom of the ninth inning, you got to want to
Speaker 2: be the guy with the balls hit to you, or
Speaker 2: you got to want to be the guy at bat.
Speaker 3: When the game's on the line.
Speaker 2: Because I think that every player will say that they
Speaker 2: want to be that guy. But I challenge each guy
Speaker 2: that behind closed doors, when you look in the mirror,
Speaker 2: you've got to find a way to really convince yourself
Speaker 2: that you are that guy. And last year I felt
Speaker 2: we had twenty six guys that really believed that they
Speaker 2: were the right guy in any spot they were put in.
Speaker 1: And he's the right guy to be the manager of
Speaker 1: the Dodgers for as long as he wants, and I
Speaker 1: have no doubt the Dodgers will make that happen. Dave,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for stopping by. You know, Mookie Betts
Speaker 1: had a great podcast with you. You know, I can't
Speaker 1: duplicate that I don't have that type of setup, but
Speaker 1: this was really awesome to share you with the fans.
Speaker 1: And I'm really happy for you that you know you
Speaker 1: are getting your due and rightfully so as a world
Speaker 1: champion manager and there I can't imagine anybody else driving
Speaker 1: this ship.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, thank you, Dave.
Speaker 2: And you know again, I just I love the city,
Speaker 2: I love the Dodgers, I love my players, and twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five is upon us now and let's go and
Speaker 2: have another great year.
Speaker 3: But thanks again, Dave. Love it.
Speaker 1: We'll see you in Arizona.