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: We are at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, and it's
Speaker 1: awesome to be joined by two time two time World
Speaker 1: Series winning manager, a three time World Series champion going
Speaker 1: back to his playing days, a man that has been
Speaker 1: celebrated from Europe to LA to Japan, and here in Dallas,
Speaker 1: the one and only Dave Roberts. Dave, thanks a lot
Speaker 1: for the time. And it feels a little different this
Speaker 1: time around at the Winter Meetings.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, David, it does you know, I don't
Speaker 2: feel a weight or a burden or trying to spin
Speaker 2: a story and try to show optimism for the coming
Speaker 2: season or try to rehash.
Speaker 3: The previous postseason.
Speaker 2: So this year, you know, you can still bask in
Speaker 2: the glory of twenty four and then you know, going
Speaker 2: to twenty five with a lot of optimism.
Speaker 1: Hey, last year we had a great time in Nashville
Speaker 1: at Brad Paisley's farm, and we're gonna have a great
Speaker 1: time tonight. From my understanding, the two days going to
Speaker 1: be at the Kershaw Compound.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm a little under the weather, so I'm
Speaker 2: trying to figure out if I want to just bail
Speaker 2: and keep you guys healthy. But you know, I'll tell
Speaker 2: you Clayton invited me, and I'm trying to keep it open.
Speaker 2: And there's nothing better than hanging out with you, Alex
Speaker 2: Torres and obviously Brad and Kerse.
Speaker 3: So it's good to be here.
Speaker 2: We've got some great weather and there's a lot of
Speaker 2: good energy here at the Winter Meetings.
Speaker 1: Great energy, and it feels like the great energy was
Speaker 1: from the Dodgers winning the World Series. So what's life
Speaker 1: been like for you? We saw you celebrated in Japan.
Speaker 1: We all know your mom has roots there, that's, you know,
Speaker 1: part of who you are. What was it like to
Speaker 1: be there and be there with your son Cole?
Speaker 3: It was great, Dave.
Speaker 2: I think that, you know, just to kind of go
Speaker 2: back to where I was born and just realizing that
Speaker 2: obviously every game that we play is televised in the
Speaker 2: mid morning in Japan, so there's a lot of eyeballs
Speaker 2: on us, and obviously with Shohey and Yamamoto and myself,
Speaker 2: and so to be able to go back there and
Speaker 2: be celebrated, I said, it in the in my City
Speaker 2: Council award reception where I said that it was the
Speaker 2: end of a journey, tied a boat to my season
Speaker 2: and full circle you know where I was born to
Speaker 2: then now finish up there in Okinawa.
Speaker 3: It was great.
Speaker 2: Good to be back here back in the States, and
Speaker 2: you know, we've already done some exciting things this offseason,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure there's some more things to come.
Speaker 1: When you look back at your playing and managing career,
Speaker 1: can you compare winning the World Series having a parade
Speaker 1: actually being celebrated to when you won your first one
Speaker 1: as a player? Does it have the same feeling for you? You
Speaker 1: know what?
Speaker 2: I think the more I because I've gotten that question
Speaker 2: a few times, and I think the more I've got
Speaker 2: that question, the more I can kind of give an
Speaker 2: accurate answer. And I think as a manager it's more
Speaker 2: gratifying and special. And I say that because obviously, as
Speaker 2: a player, you're playing, you're taking the offers, you're making
Speaker 2: the plays, you're getting the hit, getting the outs. But
Speaker 2: I say that in the sense that as a manager
Speaker 2: you have your hands and a lot more aware of
Speaker 2: the people that it impacts. Obviously the fans, but then
Speaker 2: there's ticket holders, there's vendors, there's parking attendants, there's scouts,
Speaker 2: baseball operations, you know, the business side. And I think
Speaker 2: as a player, you're just focused on just the players
Speaker 2: and playing your game. And so I think that the
Speaker 2: gravity the scope as a manager is just way more
Speaker 2: weighty for me. And so that's why I think that,
Speaker 2: you know, I got so much more emotion because as
Speaker 2: a manager, you realize how impactful it truly is for
Speaker 2: a lot of people.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you had that impact on you
Speaker 1: in that perspective because your first major League game was
Speaker 1: with the Dodgers. You've been with the Dodgers longer than
Speaker 1: anybody else currently in this organization.
Speaker 3: You know how badly the city wanted this. I think
Speaker 3: that's part of it, you know.
Speaker 2: And you look back in recent years and I lost
Speaker 2: a friend, We lost friends and you know don Nukeom,
Speaker 2: you know, moriy Will, Vincecully, Tommy Lasorda, you know Sweet Lou.
Speaker 3: You know, the list goes on and on.
Speaker 2: And so people that you know I was friends with
Speaker 2: that were Dodgers that I played for the Dodgers, went
Speaker 2: to school in the city of Los Angeles.
Speaker 3: I know this organization.
Speaker 2: You know, I know the O'Malleys and you know, so
Speaker 2: that makes it more personal to me and the connection
Speaker 2: to the city, the fans, the organization, and I think
Speaker 2: that's probably why you know, I showed, you know, a
Speaker 2: ton of emotion.
Speaker 1: Dave Roberts has taught his players a lot. He's taught
Speaker 1: me a lot. And the one thing that always sticks
Speaker 1: out to me when I hear your voice in my head,
Speaker 1: which is somewhat scary, but I hear your voice in
Speaker 1: my head a lot when you talk about gratitude, because
Speaker 1: you've always talked about how important that is, and it
Speaker 1: feels like you have a lot of gratitude right now.
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 2: I do, And I think that, you know, just off
Speaker 2: the top of my head, I didn't interview and just
Speaker 2: you know key Y Hernandez coming back to Los Angeles
Speaker 2: and having a great postseason and winning another championship, and
Speaker 2: you know, Clayton Kershaw and we talked about him on
Speaker 2: the stage and you know, was hurt in the postseason,
Speaker 2: but he got his parade. And so I think that
Speaker 2: each day baseball, as anyone knows to watch the game,
Speaker 2: it's a game of failure. So I just think that
Speaker 2: if you approach it from a place of having some gratitude,
Speaker 2: it's much more palatable to get through a season and
Speaker 2: the grind of such a tough game in sport. And
Speaker 2: I want to impress out of my players because as
Speaker 2: a Dodger fans, I think that they can appreciate the
Speaker 2: way our guys go about the game with zest and
Speaker 2: zeal and energy and compete every single night.
Speaker 1: As excited as the fans are about signing Blake Snell
Speaker 1: and obviously the reports of Michael Conforto, they still have
Speaker 1: a lot of emotional attachment to the players that you mentioned.
Speaker 1: How hopeful are you that you'll be able to bring
Speaker 1: back a Tioscar Hernandez and a key k A Hernandez.
Speaker 2: I'm hopeful, you know, obviously, you know, Tayo in particular,
Speaker 2: really had a tremendous season and put himself in the
Speaker 2: rightful spot to choose where he wants to go, and
Speaker 2: so he's sort of sussing out different deals and opportunities
Speaker 2: and I would be very disappointed if he's not back
Speaker 2: with us and Keith k you know, he's a postseason
Speaker 2: player and that's what he's built for, and so I'm
Speaker 2: sure he's got a lot of interest from ball clubs.
Speaker 2: But again, these guys, Tayo has cemented himself and Dodger
Speaker 2: lore keiy K is certainly a Dodger legend, and so
Speaker 2: I would certainly love him. They make my job a
Speaker 2: lot easier having those guys back, and you know, and
Speaker 2: obviously with Clayton. We talked about Clayton early and expect
Speaker 2: him back to at some point once we get him healthy.
Speaker 1: Hey, you always talk about betting on your players. No
Speaker 1: greater example of that in Game five when you went
Speaker 1: to the mound and you know, didn't look at whatever
Speaker 1: the three year sample size was. You listened to Freddie Freeman,
Speaker 1: Blake Trinan when you went to the mound. That seems
Speaker 1: to be one of the images that stand out from
Speaker 1: the World Series. How proud are you that you were
Speaker 1: able to bet on the player, but the player was
Speaker 1: able to deliver.
Speaker 2: It's everything I think that I think I told our
Speaker 2: guys after the World Series. This is the team that
Speaker 2: most sort of mirrored I feel who I am as
Speaker 2: a person, as a competitor, and the buy in was reciprocated,
Speaker 2: the trust reciprocated, and so yeah, when you believe in
Speaker 2: bet on a player like Blake or like Fred or
Speaker 2: anyone and our key k you know, in tougher spot
Speaker 2: and they come through. It makes you feel good. And
Speaker 2: it's about the players. The game is about the players,
Speaker 2: and I do think that, you know, I showed my
Speaker 2: trust in.
Speaker 3: Those guys all season long and they delivered.
Speaker 1: Dave, very happy for you. You deserve all the celebration you're
Speaker 1: getting from Europe to Japan to Dallas and Wednesday you'll
Speaker 1: be back in Los Angeles to be celebrated by the
Speaker 1: Scouts of Los Angeles. So looking forward to the celebration
Speaker 1: continuing back at home.
Speaker 2: That's gonna be great to get home to Los ange
Speaker 2: and the boy Scouts do do great things and it's
Speaker 2: gonna be a great evening.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Will.
Speaker 1: Dave Roberts, you're getting your flowers long overdue, so congratulations
Speaker 1: and look forward to many years being together.
Speaker 3: Thanks Dave. I appreciate you and all the work you did.