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<v Speaker 1>And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.

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<v Speaker 1>The Dodgers are closing out this series in San Diego,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're joined right now by Dodger catcher Dalton Rushing. Rushing.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks a lot for the time, appreciate it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, absolutely, it's good to be here, David.

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<v Speaker 1>Surprisingly, you're more awake than most of your teammates this

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<v Speaker 1>early in the day.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, gotta wake up. It's a day game. Gotta be ready.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, what's the experience been like for you so far?

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<v Speaker 1>You've gotten your feet wet. Have you found a routine

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<v Speaker 1>in this new role of not playing every day?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's coming along. It's starting to figure some things

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<v Speaker 3>out and understand what I have to do to stay ready.

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<v Speaker 3>Haven't obviously perfected it to this point and haven't done

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<v Speaker 3>exactly what I would like to do or what I

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<v Speaker 3>think I could do to help the team. But yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>that's part of it. It's part of this journey. It's

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<v Speaker 3>part of getting your feet wet, like you said, and

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<v Speaker 3>being able to understand your role.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not easy playing just a week.

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<v Speaker 1>Everybody thinks you just show up and you're fresh and

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<v Speaker 1>ready to go, but it's a bigger challenge than what

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<v Speaker 1>some would expect.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's tough.

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<v Speaker 3>It's tough to catch a groove, but uh, like I said,

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<v Speaker 3>that's it's my role and it's something that I personally

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<v Speaker 3>have to figure out to uh whatever I have to

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<v Speaker 3>do to help the team. And that's something that we're

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<v Speaker 3>kind of getting on right now.

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<v Speaker 1>To make it to the major leagues, you obviously had

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<v Speaker 1>to do something right and the Dodgers valued it. Is

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<v Speaker 1>there any point in time in your baseball life where

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<v Speaker 1>you were a backup and not playing every day and

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<v Speaker 1>being the guy?

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<v Speaker 3>No, not to this point obviously until now. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>that's that's kind of the adjustment that we're we're trying

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<v Speaker 3>to make and yeah, moving forward, whatever, like I said,

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<v Speaker 3>whatever I have to do to stay ready, to be

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<v Speaker 3>ready to help the team, just do my part.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna be willing to do it.

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<v Speaker 1>Dalton Rushing is our guest in front of first pitch

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<v Speaker 1>between the Dodgers and Padres. This is your first taste

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<v Speaker 1>of being part of the team in this type of atmosphere.

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<v Speaker 1>What's it been like for the first two games, even

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<v Speaker 1>the night that you were not starting.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's cool.

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<v Speaker 3>It's something that you obviously dream about when you put

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<v Speaker 3>your head down on the pillow at night. You you

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<v Speaker 3>want to play in these atmospheres. You want the fans

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<v Speaker 3>to be this act of every single game. It's a

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<v Speaker 3>blessing playing in LA because you get this atmosphere most

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<v Speaker 3>of the time. So you kind of you become accustomed

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<v Speaker 3>to the crowd. You become accustomed to the way that

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<v Speaker 3>they act, the way that they show emotion to the

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<v Speaker 3>players on off the field. And Yeah, like I said,

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<v Speaker 3>I think it's pretty special getting to see it in

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<v Speaker 3>San Diego, a division rival right now, a team that

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<v Speaker 3>we're going to see down the stretch, we're going to

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<v Speaker 3>see throughout the year, And yeah, I think it's really

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<v Speaker 3>good for me to be able to see it early

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<v Speaker 3>on in my career.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, take us behind the plate. Being a rookie,

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<v Speaker 1>being new to the league. What's it been like developing

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<v Speaker 1>the relationships with the umpires, maybe talking to them as

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<v Speaker 1>the game is going on. Do you have any conversation

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<v Speaker 1>with the umpires as far as trying to keep each

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<v Speaker 1>other in the game together.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's uh.

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<v Speaker 3>You you meet a lot of these guys for the

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<v Speaker 3>first time. You kind of have to understand the way

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<v Speaker 3>that they operate. Each umpire is different, just like a player.

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<v Speaker 3>Each player is different, they all click differently, they all

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<v Speaker 3>respond to things differently. So being able to, like I said,

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<v Speaker 3>understand them, understand their style of calling a game, the

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<v Speaker 3>relationships that they want to build with the catcher, that's

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<v Speaker 3>I think that's the most important part. And obviously the

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<v Speaker 3>more that more time you get to spend with them

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<v Speaker 3>back there, the more comfortable you're going to be. And

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<v Speaker 3>like I said, once again, you're going to be able

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<v Speaker 3>to understand them as an umpire a little better.

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<v Speaker 1>Are you a talker behind the plate?

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<v Speaker 3>I usually have quite a few conversations in between, not

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<v Speaker 3>as much as far as like mid pitch, mid at bat,

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<v Speaker 3>anything like that.

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<v Speaker 2>It's usually like posty be in between ennings.

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<v Speaker 3>Like I said, just ask him on some pitches that

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<v Speaker 3>you have questions about. Understand that they are going to

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<v Speaker 3>They're gonna make mistakes, just like you are. And as

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<v Speaker 3>long as you can be right there beside them through

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<v Speaker 3>their mistakes and whether you're helping them on something you

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<v Speaker 3>think or call you think you should have got, or

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<v Speaker 3>a call you think they missed, whatever it is, the

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<v Speaker 3>better feedback you give them in a positive manner is

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<v Speaker 3>only going to help you as a.

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<v Speaker 2>Catcher, all right.

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<v Speaker 1>Dalton Rushing is our guest. He's in the show with

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<v Speaker 1>the Dodgers in LA, but before he got here, he

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<v Speaker 1>was in Oklahoma City. The Thunder are in the NBA finals. Rushing,

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<v Speaker 1>how many Thunder games in the minor leagues did you

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<v Speaker 1>have a chance to go see?

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<v Speaker 2>Never got to see one.

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<v Speaker 3>Actually we were always out of town for the playoff games,

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<v Speaker 3>so yeah, I never really got to go to a game.

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<v Speaker 3>I watched plenty, but didn't get to go to one.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a pretty good team though. I think they have

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<v Speaker 3>a really good chance of winning title, so that'd be

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<v Speaker 3>pretty cool to see.

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<v Speaker 1>Did Sga ever show up at Comets games?

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<v Speaker 2>He did? He did not. As much as a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of us would have liked him too, he did not.

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<v Speaker 1>What's it like being in a triple A city like that?

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<v Speaker 1>But it's a big city and you got an NBA

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<v Speaker 1>team right next door.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's uh, it's good.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a lot to do, keeps you busy on off days,

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<v Speaker 3>keeps you busy on day games, and you get a

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<v Speaker 3>little afternoon to go do something for the city a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit. Uh, Like I said, I haven't got to

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<v Speaker 3>see any Thunder games, but them being as good as

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<v Speaker 3>they are, it would obviously be really good time to

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<v Speaker 3>go watch them.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, that's in the past, la is in your future.

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<v Speaker 1>We'll go to a Laker game together.

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<v Speaker 2>I would I would love to do that. Let's go

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<v Speaker 2>do that.