Speaker 1: Welcome back to Dodger Talk. David Vase with you until
Speaker 1: eight o'clock tonight here on a five to seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 1: The Dodgers are back in action tomorrow night against the
Speaker 1: Baltimore Orioles. The last time the Dodgers and Orioles ever
Speaker 1: met in the World Series was back in nineteen sixty six,
Speaker 1: the last season Sandy Kofax ever pitched in Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball before retiring and joining us right now is a
Speaker 1: man that learned quite a bit in his catching career
Speaker 1: from the great Sandy Kofax while he was in the
Speaker 1: Dodger organization. A two time World Series champion as a
Speaker 1: player with the Dodgers in nineteen eighty one in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty eight, he holds the distinction for catching more games
Speaker 1: than any other Dodger in franchise history. He also holds
Speaker 1: the distinction of being the only manager to lead an
Speaker 1: Angels team to the World Series. And now he has
Speaker 1: taken his talents global with Team USA. He is back
Speaker 1: managing for Team USA in the premiere twelve and that
Speaker 1: is the one and only Mike Sooshia. Mike, thanks a
Speaker 1: lot for coming on. Appreciate it.
Speaker 2: David great to be with you, and boy did I
Speaker 2: learn a lot from Sandy. You're right about that. It
Speaker 2: was just a great experience to be around a lot
Speaker 2: of those great Dodgers, and Sandy was at the top
Speaker 2: of the list.
Speaker 1: Mike, Is it true. I've heard stories from past reporters
Speaker 1: that told me Sandy Kofax would throw BP to you
Speaker 1: guys in Vero Beach. Is that true?
Speaker 2: Yes, he would, and he still got us out. He
Speaker 2: was THROWBP last time I remember was nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 2: I remember hitting off of him on the lower fields
Speaker 2: and he still had that curve ball. You could hear.
Speaker 2: It was unbelievable, and he really enjoyed it. He loved it.
Speaker 2: And then I think he finally his shoulder gave out,
Speaker 2: but he loved it. You know, anything he could do
Speaker 2: to make us a little better, he put his time
Speaker 2: in and just a tremendous man.
Speaker 1: You feel like, who makes you this manager? Now? That
Speaker 1: team USA once was was kind of built as a
Speaker 1: catcher as a young catcher in the Dodger organization with
Speaker 1: all these guys being around like Sandy.
Speaker 2: Oh, there's no way, I mean, excuse me, there's no
Speaker 2: doubt that. Uh, you know, the way that I took
Speaker 2: through the Dodger organization was uh special. And to get
Speaker 2: so many great baseball minds around you at such a
Speaker 2: young age and just being smart enough to shut up
Speaker 2: and listen was really important to to my development. Is
Speaker 2: not only a player, but getting opportunity to manage and
Speaker 2: uh you know the great the great guys like Roy Campanella,
Speaker 2: Sandy Kofax, Del Krandall playing for Timeless Order for all
Speaker 2: those years Joel Malfatano Monty basketballin had a whole list,
Speaker 2: uh you know of of of coaches that I had,
Speaker 2: and uh that that just that just had a huge
Speaker 2: impact on me.
Speaker 1: All right, So all these years of managing and playing
Speaker 1: and all the knowledge and experience you've gained has brought
Speaker 1: you to Team USA. You managed in the Olympics and
Speaker 1: now here you are back again managing this Premiere twelve team.
Speaker 1: Can you explain the type of players that you'll be
Speaker 1: managing and is this a qualifier necessary to be able
Speaker 1: to have Team USA here in LA in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 2: Well, since we're the home country, we will get an
Speaker 2: automatic bid into the twenty eight Olympics. But this is
Speaker 2: important tournament. David it's really for world seeding and world ranking.
Speaker 2: We're going to be playing really tough teams. There's twelve
Speaker 2: teams around the you know globe that are really that
Speaker 2: just excel in baseball. You know teams, teams from you know,
Speaker 2: Mexico and Venezuela and Cuba and Japan, Korea, these these
Speaker 2: It's gonna be a tough tournament. So we'll play a
Speaker 2: series of Mexico to get going, hopefully get through that
Speaker 2: and then head to Tokyo. And the quality of players
Speaker 2: in the caliber players is going to be very high.
Speaker 2: We can't use forty man roster guys, but we can
Speaker 2: use a lot of guys that have major league experience
Speaker 2: that aren't attached to a team when we play. And
Speaker 2: then some of the young guys coming up that are
Speaker 2: in Double A and Triple A that haven't hit forty
Speaker 2: man rosters yet. So we're excited about the group. We're
Speaker 2: putting the rosters together as we speak, through these last
Speaker 2: this last month and moving forward getting ready for the tournament,
Speaker 2: so we'll be ready to go.
Speaker 1: We hear about when these players want to play in
Speaker 1: the World Baseball Classic that are on the forty man roster.
Speaker 1: Mike obviously the team has a lot of say and
Speaker 1: how many innings the pitchers can pitch, and just the
Speaker 1: restrictions on them. Will you have the same type of
Speaker 1: challenges managing this Premiere twelve tournament.
Speaker 2: If a player is with an affiliated team in an organization,
Speaker 2: most likely yes, if there's but there's a lot of
Speaker 2: guys that are are pitching an independent ball, a lot
Speaker 2: of guys that are pitching you overseas right now that
Speaker 2: aren't really affiliated with an organization, so they'll be able
Speaker 2: to you know, we'll be able to use them probably,
Speaker 2: you know, a little in some of the roles we want,
Speaker 2: but certainly every organization wants to protect their players, and
Speaker 2: we'll be looking at the guys that are in the
Speaker 2: Fall League. They'll be hopefully ramped up or ready to go,
Speaker 2: and if they can come, we'll we'll live with whatever
Speaker 2: restrictions the organization gives us.
Speaker 1: I was talking to Dino Ebel, who is going to
Speaker 1: join your staff for this Premiere twelve, and I let
Speaker 1: him know that Team USA put out there with you,
Speaker 1: Ron Rennicky, Dino Ebel, Dave Wallace, among the others on
Speaker 1: your coaching staff. There is eighty four years of coaching
Speaker 1: experience on this staff, and Dino said, you got eighty
Speaker 1: of them.
Speaker 2: I would expect, you know, to say that, but yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm excited about our staff. I think we've got guys
Speaker 2: that are going to set an environment. And it's one
Speaker 2: of the things I learned from Tommy is just how
Speaker 2: important that environment is. The player's got to come in
Speaker 2: feeling he's going to achieve, you're going to win, and
Speaker 2: we'll certainly do our best to such to set that environment.
Speaker 2: I think the players will feed off of that. This
Speaker 2: is a tough tournament. I mean in the past, you know,
Speaker 2: you had Shohe playing for Team Japan in twenty fifteen,
Speaker 2: Break came over here in this tournament. You know, guys
Speaker 2: like you know, croner Worth played here, Bond with the
Speaker 2: guy with Phillies and with Philly, and Rooker with the
Speaker 2: A's dollback with Boston. These guys all played in this tournament.
Speaker 2: So it's going to be a high level tournament and
Speaker 2: we'll be ready to go.
Speaker 1: Mike Soosha is our guest. He is Team USA's manager
Speaker 1: in the Premiere twelve tournament coming up this November. And
Speaker 1: as you know, Mike, we just mentioned it the Olympics
Speaker 1: are coming back to Los Angeles and Dodgers Stadium for
Speaker 1: the first time since nineteen eighty four, and there's been
Speaker 1: some major league players that are trying to encourage Rob
Speaker 1: Manfred to find a way to have major leaguers participate
Speaker 1: in the Olympics. How do you feel about that during
Speaker 1: the summer of twenty eight.
Speaker 2: Well, obviously would be welcome, I think, you know, I
Speaker 2: really think the best base on the world has played
Speaker 2: here in the United States, although Japan has really done
Speaker 2: well in the international level over the past five or
Speaker 2: six years. But it would be great. You know, it'll
Speaker 2: be welcomed these players if they want to play. I
Speaker 2: just don't know about the logistics. I don't see how
Speaker 2: baseball is going to shut down for the two to
Speaker 2: three weeks it would have to to get this, you know,
Speaker 2: to get these Olympics finished, and and then you know,
Speaker 2: rampant back up. So there's so many hurdles that are
Speaker 2: going to come into play, and it might be a
Speaker 2: little bit difficult.
Speaker 1: You still would I mean, if major leaguers can't do it,
Speaker 1: I would be open to having maybe the top prospects
Speaker 1: in the minor leagues or even the top college baseball players, Mike,
Speaker 1: that's how they did it in eighty four, and they
Speaker 1: turned out to be Will Clark and Mark McGuire.
Speaker 2: They did well. They were all collegiate players back in
Speaker 2: eighty four, and you're right, they had They had a
Speaker 2: really good team. And you know a lot of these
Speaker 2: guys were just you know, cutting their teeth into that
Speaker 2: hadn't even played in pro pro ball. Yet we're going
Speaker 2: to have a good team. I would like to the
Speaker 2: Olympics at least to open it up to forty man
Speaker 2: roster guys, maybe some guys that are in a minor
Speaker 2: in major leagues, but are forty man guys, and that
Speaker 2: would give you a deeper talent pool and you know,
Speaker 2: a team that you know, you could really go out
Speaker 2: there and contend.
Speaker 1: I know it's a few years away, but since you
Speaker 1: are very much involved in USA Baseball, what are the
Speaker 1: chances that you're managing Team USA in the twenty eight Olympics.
Speaker 2: Well, let's get by this tournament first. A lot happening,
Speaker 2: you know, a lot can happen in four years. I
Speaker 2: just you know, I just know how much what a
Speaker 2: great experience it was in Tokyo, And even though with COVID.
Speaker 2: It was still a great experience, and I think that,
Speaker 2: you know, whoever gets an opportunity to manage in the
Speaker 2: UH the twenty eight Olympics here in southern California, it's
Speaker 2: going to be the same incredible experience.
Speaker 1: Mike, do you remember your Dodger season in eighty four
Speaker 1: where you guys had to be away for an extended
Speaker 1: period of time. What was that summer like for you
Speaker 1: guys in eighty four while the Olympics were going on
Speaker 1: at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to think it was like a thirteen
Speaker 2: day road trip. I might be mistaken, but you know,
Speaker 2: when you're young and you go out and you're you know,
Speaker 2: you're always you're always somewhere playing baseball. So we didn't
Speaker 2: put too much stock into it. You know, eighty four
Speaker 2: was a little bit of a of a you know,
Speaker 2: a little bit of a mediocre year for us. We'll
Speaker 2: be bounced back in eighty five. But I honestly, I
Speaker 2: don't I couldn't tell you a lot about it other
Speaker 2: than you know, it was a long road trips for sure.
Speaker 1: Mike's Sooshia is our guest, one of the best catchers
Speaker 1: of his generation. And I've had some hitters these days,
Speaker 1: Mike tell me the saying, if you reach, I'll teach,
Speaker 1: Meaning catchers these days are reaching for pitches a little
Speaker 1: bit too early, and there's a lot more catchers interference
Speaker 1: these days then I can ever remember what is that
Speaker 1: all about? With so much catchers interference these.
Speaker 2: Days, Well, there's no doubt that the catching business position
Speaker 2: is changing. You know, I'm not going to say it's
Speaker 2: for the better, but it's changing into and it's evolving
Speaker 2: into really trying to steal a strike, steal a low strike.
Speaker 2: You're moving your glove a lot. You're trying to catch
Speaker 2: the ball out in front to keep it keep that
Speaker 2: low pitch looking like it's a strike. And at times
Speaker 2: your glove's going to get out there a little bit
Speaker 2: early and you're going to get some interference calls, that's
Speaker 2: for sure. It's just really the it's the philosophy of
Speaker 2: you know, a lot of analytically driven teams to say, look,
Speaker 2: we're going to do everything we can to steal that
Speaker 2: low pitch, and here's the way you have to do it.
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of glove movement. The glove is
Speaker 2: out in front and you know, My position on this
Speaker 2: whole thing is you always want to represent a good
Speaker 2: target for the pitcher. And we were taught to get
Speaker 2: low strikes back in nineteen seventy six instructure in the league.
Speaker 2: I remember being taught how to get a low pitch
Speaker 2: from guys like Johnny Roseboro and Del Crandall and Roy Campanella.
Speaker 2: And you were in a conventional stance, and you learned
Speaker 2: how to get up underneath that low pitch and frame
Speaker 2: it and make it look good. And they've taken it
Speaker 2: to the nth degree, so you're going to see a
Speaker 2: little lot more movement. You know, there's certainly a one
Speaker 2: knee aspect to catching right now, to try to get
Speaker 2: low that is, that is making some of the other things,
Speaker 2: not that it's impossible, but some of the other things
Speaker 2: you catcher has to do a little more difficult. So
Speaker 2: you know, just like you're talking about catchers, interferences is
Speaker 2: up for this simple reason. These you know, catchers are
Speaker 2: reaching a little bit to try to keep that low
Speaker 2: pitch looking like a strike.
Speaker 1: I remember growing up they would always talk about a
Speaker 1: good catcher is quiet behind the plate. That doesn't sound
Speaker 1: very quiet when you're moving as much as these guys are.
Speaker 2: Well, you're certainly not quiet, and before even before you
Speaker 2: receiving the ball, I think it's important to give and
Speaker 2: give that pitcher a definitive target. That's part of the
Speaker 2: pitcher catcher communication that are so important. I think pitchers
Speaker 2: need to have that target. They need to understand what
Speaker 2: their focus is. Uh. There's an old adage in almost
Speaker 2: every sport. I know it's in golf and baseball. We
Speaker 2: talk about it am small miss small. So if these
Speaker 2: pitchers can get a good target and really zero in
Speaker 2: on what part of your glove, there's a better chance
Speaker 2: they're going to execute a pitch. So you know, that's
Speaker 2: where I think you looked at Bob Boone. What a
Speaker 2: tremendous receiver he was, How quiet he was, Johnny Bench,
Speaker 2: you know, all the all the great receivers that were
Speaker 2: you know a little before me. But those guys were
Speaker 2: the class of their own and the league of their own.
Speaker 2: And I think it has a lot of merit on
Speaker 2: the way they received the ball and they they got
Speaker 2: more strikes called then, uh, you know, than anyone else
Speaker 2: on borderline pitches.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you guys were pretty good back in the day
Speaker 1: without trying to do all these different things things. Uh,
Speaker 1: I guess you used to present the strike. That's the
Speaker 1: term that you used to talk about, right, Mike, present
Speaker 1: the strike to the umpire and not try to yank it.
Speaker 2: Oh you want to you want to hold that ball
Speaker 2: there and and and you're right, give the umpire a
Speaker 2: good look at where you held that ball. You know,
Speaker 2: you worked on getting strong hands and being able to
Speaker 2: control the ball. That was that was all part of
Speaker 2: the training you went through as a young catcher. And
Speaker 2: I'm sure it's the same now as far as how
Speaker 2: important you know, the priory they put on having strong
Speaker 2: hands and controlling the ball. It's just there's a there's
Speaker 2: a huge there's a huge gap in the guys that
Speaker 2: put the ball on the plate, put put the glove
Speaker 2: on the plate, and they come up to catch a
Speaker 2: pitch and then they keep going. You know, it almost
Speaker 2: ends up high higher or you know, or waist high
Speaker 2: on a pitch that was maybe four inches low. So
Speaker 2: there's a lot of glove movement. I think you're you're
Speaker 2: you're going to see, uh, some issues and guys on
Speaker 2: if a guy's running and some of the transfers that
Speaker 2: go on. It's just a different philosophy that's really in
Speaker 2: play right now, David.
Speaker 1: All right, Mike, Well, we can't solve the world's problems today,
Speaker 1: but hopefully with you teaching at these youth academies, you
Speaker 1: could teach the next generation how to do it the
Speaker 1: right way.
Speaker 2: All right. Well, I appreciate that, and there's a lot
Speaker 2: of talented catchers out there. It's fun to watch. I
Speaker 2: just the philosophy is totally different, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: Look forward to keeping tabs on Mike, Soosha, Dinu Ebel, Ron,
Speaker 1: Rennicky and the rest of the Team USA team in
Speaker 1: the Premiere twelve tournament coming up in November. Mike, thanks
Speaker 1: a lot for your time. We always learn a lot
Speaker 1: from you, and despite me hosting the show, I appreciate
Speaker 1: you doing.
Speaker 2: This all right, all right, David, thanks a lot.
Speaker 1: Thanks Mike.
Speaker 2: We'll see you as