Speaker 1: It's Game one of the NLDS and we're joined right
Speaker 1: now by a Dodger that has certainly had his big
Speaker 1: moments in the postseason, and that is today's third baseman,
Speaker 1: Max Munsey. Max, thanks a lot for the time.
Speaker 2: Appreciate it always, David, always anything for you.
Speaker 1: Hey, it's appropriate that we're talking to you before the
Speaker 1: first postseason game this season because you have embraced this stage.
Speaker 1: What's it like being back out here again and having
Speaker 1: another opportunity at a World Series?
Speaker 2: Oh, it's always fun. This is this is why you
Speaker 2: play the game. And you know, a chance to play
Speaker 2: a first game at home in front of our fans
Speaker 2: in this stadium, you know, there's nothing better than that.
Speaker 2: This place is always electric. We love playing here. I've
Speaker 2: always loved playing here, and you know, I just it
Speaker 2: always has a different feel, especially in the postseason.
Speaker 1: You're a guy that's been around this ball club and
Speaker 1: has really been part of the fabric of the culture.
Speaker 1: How important is it for these group of Dodgers to
Speaker 1: not get too far ahead of yourselves.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, we have quite a few guys that
Speaker 2: haven't really experienced this yet on this team, and it's
Speaker 2: kind of fresh and it's kind of new for everybody,
Speaker 2: and uh, you know, obviously the biggest one as our
Speaker 2: leadoff hitter. Yeah, you know, we're all really excited. And
Speaker 2: just as as the season kind of came to an end,
Speaker 2: it was you could definitely tell those guys that hadn't
Speaker 2: been here the energy they brought started bringing everyone else
Speaker 2: up a little bit. And I think you saw that
Speaker 2: during our last series against them. You know, just there
Speaker 2: was a ton of energy that we hadn't really had
Speaker 2: all year and it was a refreshing for us and
Speaker 2: it was something that we needed. And you know, it's
Speaker 2: been carrying over this whole week. We've had a really
Speaker 2: good week preparing and we've had really fun week preparing,
Speaker 2: and you know, it's hard to it's hard to say
Speaker 2: that you have fun, but you know, we did get
Speaker 2: rewarded with a buye and that was something that we
Speaker 2: hadn't treated the last two years as was a reward.
Speaker 2: We were stressed out about it, trying to figure out
Speaker 2: what we wanted to do. So, you know, we approached
Speaker 2: it different this year, and we we were obviously very
Speaker 2: serious about our work and we actually probably got better
Speaker 2: work and than we had the last two years. While
Speaker 2: we're trying to have more fun.
Speaker 1: What was the biggest difference in preparation from the last
Speaker 1: two years to this year.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, we just did a lot of team
Speaker 2: events this year, you know, and that was something that
Speaker 2: me and Will and Moo and miggiy Roe we all
Speaker 2: put together that you know, we should have these watch
Speaker 2: parties after our workouts at the stadium, and you know,
Speaker 2: something we hadn't done before, and it was kind of
Speaker 2: just one of those things where it's like, you know,
Speaker 2: in the past, we've had these five days often. You know,
Speaker 2: it's a lot of time you get to spend at home,
Speaker 2: and you know, when you're out here every single day
Speaker 2: as you as you know for eight months, when you
Speaker 2: include spring training, you're not used to being at home,
Speaker 2: and so when you're at home for five days and
Speaker 2: you know, it just kind of seeps in a little bit.
Speaker 2: And that's something that we tried to change this year.
Speaker 2: We wanted to spend as much time as we could
Speaker 2: at the field, being together, being the boys, being a team,
Speaker 2: you know, just having fun team events, you know, doing
Speaker 2: things together as a group. And you know, we've definitely
Speaker 2: spent more time together these five days than we have
Speaker 2: in the best.
Speaker 1: Max, you are one of the more confident guys and
Speaker 1: you exude it, but respect your opponent. What's the balance
Speaker 1: between giving the Padres their due respect but not giving
Speaker 1: them too much respect and remembering, like Daniel Hudson did
Speaker 1: in New York, that you guys are still the Dodgers
Speaker 1: with the best record in baseball.
Speaker 2: Look, it's the postseason. There's no such thing as a
Speaker 2: bad team in the postseason. These guys are really good
Speaker 2: and that's really all you need to say about it.
Speaker 2: They're they're a really good team. But if you want
Speaker 2: to be the best, you have to beat the best.
Speaker 2: And so that's where we're at right now. We got
Speaker 2: to go out there and play our game, and we
Speaker 2: do feel like we're the best team out here and
Speaker 2: we have to prove it. But as I've told you,
Speaker 2: I don't know how many times this year, we're not
Speaker 2: necessarily playing the opponent as we're playing ourselves. And that's
Speaker 2: one of those things where you have to prepare properly.
Speaker 2: You have to game plan properly, you have to you know,
Speaker 2: go out there and XU things properly, and if you're
Speaker 2: able to play the game against yourself as good as
Speaker 2: you can. The opponent really shouldn't.
Speaker 1: Matter, makes sense, Max months. He's a World Series Champion
Speaker 1: for a reason, bringing a champion attitude to this NLDS
Speaker 1: and beyond. Thanks a lot for the time, Max appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, always