Speaker 1: All right, we're joined by a man that has invested
Speaker 1: not only his playing career on the field in Los Angeles,
Speaker 1: but he definitely has invested a lot in this community.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about two time All Star, two time World
Speaker 1: Series champion, a man that has hit one hundred and
Speaker 1: ninety home runs as a Dodger entering his eighth year
Speaker 1: in Dodger Blue, and that is the Dodgers Opening day
Speaker 1: third baseman, the one and only Max Munsey.
Speaker 2: Max, thanks a lot for coming on. Appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I'll tell you what here in two time
Speaker 3: World Series champion doesn't get old.
Speaker 1: No, it doesn't. And we haven't talked since the parade.
Speaker 1: What's it been like for you since that day? Has
Speaker 1: it sunk in that you are a two time World
Speaker 1: Series Champion? Do you have a little bit more swag
Speaker 1: in your step? Now? How has Max Munsey's offseason been?
Speaker 3: Well, you know, after we won, with the parade and everything,
Speaker 3: that was obviously a whorldwin and you try to remember
Speaker 3: as much of it as you can, but you know,
Speaker 3: it really sank in for me. We we ordered a
Speaker 3: replica trophy, the World Series Trophy, and when that showed
Speaker 3: up on the doorstep. That's kind of when it really
Speaker 3: sank in. I have it sitting next to the one
Speaker 3: from twenty twenty, so you know, I get to see
Speaker 3: that every single day and it's a pretty cool reminder.
Speaker 3: But you know, I also want to get a third
Speaker 3: one up there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be nice.
Speaker 1: And it seems like Andrew Friedman is trying to give
Speaker 1: you guys everything that you need to make another run.
Speaker 4: Well, he does this every year.
Speaker 3: You know, we always have, you know, the roster and
Speaker 3: everything to get the job done, and it's just it
Speaker 3: falls on us to make sure we do that. And
Speaker 3: so right now that's what everyone's doing. They're trying to
Speaker 3: rest up. It's been a you know, a short offseason,
Speaker 3: and everyone's trying to make sure we're ready to go,
Speaker 3: you know, going into Japan this year.
Speaker 1: Hey Max, speaking of the parade and all that, you
Speaker 1: didn't get one in twenty twenty, We all know that.
Speaker 1: But when you were on your parade float with your
Speaker 1: teammates and once you got to the stadium for the rally,
Speaker 1: did you realize how much you and that team meant
Speaker 1: to the city.
Speaker 3: You know, I've told this the several people, and you know,
Speaker 3: when we when we turned onto the street in downtown
Speaker 3: and you start seeing all the people lined up. When
Speaker 3: when you see people holding up pictures and images of uh,
Speaker 3: you know, relatives and people that have passed away that
Speaker 3: couldn't be there, and you start seeing like how much
Speaker 3: it actually means to everybody. You know, that really kind
Speaker 3: of hit a whole lot harder than I think I
Speaker 3: I I even realized.
Speaker 4: I've always known.
Speaker 3: That the Dodgers fans and the the city and the
Speaker 3: organization and everything, it's it's the best in baseball, the
Speaker 3: best fans, the best people, and but I don't think
Speaker 3: you you ever realized that it means that much to people,
Speaker 3: that it's it's it's you know, it's a style for
Speaker 3: a lot of people. And it felt really special to
Speaker 3: be able to celebrate that moment with with, you know,
Speaker 3: the couple million people that were in the city.
Speaker 1: Max Munsey is joining us from his home in Texas,
Speaker 1: and Max, I know you and your wife Kelly have
Speaker 1: been posting links to where we can help assist those
Speaker 1: that have lost their homes and need some help, and
Speaker 1: I know you've been monitoring what's going on in the
Speaker 1: city closely from your house in Texas.
Speaker 2: How hard. Is this hitting you guys out there.
Speaker 4: It's tough. It's it's real tough.
Speaker 3: We've been you know, we've had the news on pretty
Speaker 3: much twenty four to seven. We've been trying to follow
Speaker 3: everything as best we can, and it's just devastating to
Speaker 3: see the amount of damage that's been done. And you know,
Speaker 3: we're obviously praying for everybody and we're hoping that everyone's
Speaker 3: ever to get out and it sucks that people are
Speaker 3: losing their houses, but the most important thing is that
Speaker 3: you know, they're surviving and their living and you know,
Speaker 3: you can you can replace certain things, but you can't
Speaker 3: replace lives. And so, you know, where we're obviously trying
Speaker 3: to do what we can from out here. It's not much,
Speaker 3: but as long as we can bring awareness to it,
Speaker 3: and you know, people from around the country can chip
Speaker 3: in here and there, and every little bit.
Speaker 4: Helps in this scenario.
Speaker 3: And you know, so that was something that we'd wanted
Speaker 3: to do, is we wanted to make sure that there
Speaker 3: was you know, lots of links and stuff for people
Speaker 3: to just you know, to go on and just give
Speaker 3: any little bit that they can, no.
Speaker 1: Doubt, any little bit can help a lot of people
Speaker 1: out there. Max Munsey is joining us here on Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: We're with you until eight o'clock.
Speaker 1: And Max, during this postseason run, you were such a
Speaker 1: big part of it from beginning to end. One thing
Speaker 1: that sticks out to me the most, and we have
Speaker 1: not talked about this either, was the consecutive reaching bass
Speaker 1: streak twelve consecutive plate appearances where you reach base. That's
Speaker 1: a new playoff record. Reggie Jackson held the record before you.
Speaker 2: What is that similar to?
Speaker 1: Uh, when an NBA player describes like making ten threes,
Speaker 1: like Steph Curry just says, Uh, the basket just looked
Speaker 1: like the ocean. Is that what it felt like during
Speaker 1: the NLCS? Can you describe it?
Speaker 3: It's kind of hard to describe, but it's just is
Speaker 3: it's that was at that moment in time, that was
Speaker 3: the best that I had pretty much felt all season long.
Speaker 3: I was locked in to my mechanics, locked into the
Speaker 3: game plan, I was seeing everything real well that the
Speaker 3: game just felt very slow for me in that moment,
Speaker 3: and you know, it just it just felt like I
Speaker 3: had a very good understanding of what I was trying
Speaker 3: to do. And you know, through throughout the entire season,
Speaker 3: it's you know, that's one of those things where you're
Speaker 3: you're very rarely ever in that state. You might be
Speaker 3: seeing the ball well, but your mechanics are a little off.
Speaker 3: Your mechanics might be great, but you're not seeing the
Speaker 3: ball well.
Speaker 4: You know, there might you know, you.
Speaker 3: Might have a little nagging thing here or there, and
Speaker 3: so it's very rare that you get into that zone
Speaker 3: that I was in there and that was definitely the
Speaker 3: best that I've felt for a very long time.
Speaker 2: No doubt.
Speaker 1: And You've been a part of a lot of classic
Speaker 1: playoff teams for the Dodgers. You've come up big yourself.
Speaker 1: When you look back at how you guys came together.
Speaker 1: I remember what you told me at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the playoffs where you just asked everybody to sacrifice their
Speaker 1: families and whatever interests they had outside of baseball for
Speaker 1: six weeks. How much did that really play into you
Speaker 1: guys going all the way to win the World Series?
Speaker 3: You know, it's hard to really state how much of
Speaker 3: an impact that had, you know, but I really feel
Speaker 3: like that was something that helped us out. And you know,
Speaker 3: right from the beginning, you have those five days off,
Speaker 3: you know, getting to buy and you know, everyone was
Speaker 3: so stressed out about that from years past and just
Speaker 3: thinking about how that's actually bad luck. And you know,
Speaker 3: at the end of the day, we had to flip
Speaker 3: the mindset of you know, it's a reward. You're getting
Speaker 3: rewarded for playing well throughout the regular season. We needed
Speaker 3: to treat it like a reward. And so that was
Speaker 3: just where the idea came from that we need to
Speaker 3: get everybody together. We need to be spending a bunch
Speaker 3: of time together, but it doesn't need to be a
Speaker 3: boring classroom session. We need to be in there, you know,
Speaker 3: having fun, be at the stadium, just being with the boys.
Speaker 3: And then as that happened, it turned into you know, hey,
Speaker 3: this is going to be a two to three week adventure. Obviously,
Speaker 3: our families are going to be there with us, and
Speaker 3: we want them there with us, but we need to
Speaker 3: make sure we're focused on the goal because this is
Speaker 3: going to be a very good opportunity for us, as
Speaker 3: it is every year, but we need to have everyone focused.
Speaker 3: And you know, everyone just kind of bought into it immediately,
Speaker 3: and that's one of the things where you talk to
Speaker 3: a couple of guys and you know, you know, Milkie
Speaker 3: and Will and you're you're never sure if the entire
Speaker 3: team is going to buy into it, And it was
Speaker 3: almost immediately that everybody was completely on board and everyone
Speaker 3: started throwing out ideas, and you know, it's really it's
Speaker 3: really cool to watch, just from my standpoint, to see
Speaker 3: the you know, the that entire group come together like
Speaker 3: that and realize what we had going on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you had something special going on. And I felt
Speaker 1: like in the postseason, especially in the NLDS Max, even
Speaker 1: in a Game three loss, the way you guys came
Speaker 1: back and were resilient instead of just going down and
Speaker 1: getting blown out. To me, it felt like that kind
Speaker 1: of just changed everything. Whether it was Bueller throwing the
Speaker 1: gatorade bucket in the dugout or Tioscar Hernandez hitting a
Speaker 1: Grand Slam to bring you within one run and kind
Speaker 1: of screaming at you who was coming up to the plate,
Speaker 1: it felt like that game was a turning point. I
Speaker 1: know that's easy to say, but you got to hit
Speaker 1: the ball, you got to execute and do all the
Speaker 1: other things. But did that kind of just show to
Speaker 1: each other how resilient you were and you guys were
Speaker 1: not just gonna go out easy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know that Game four was very unique and
Speaker 3: kind of special to look back and think about because
Speaker 3: coming into the you know, coming into the clubhouse that day,
Speaker 3: we we kind of find out and get told that
Speaker 3: Freddie is not gonna be able to go, and you know,
Speaker 3: you're in an elimination game, and that's.
Speaker 4: That's obviously a big blow.
Speaker 3: But the bullpen kept coming in all day long say hey,
Speaker 3: we got you guys, We got you guys. We knew
Speaker 3: it was going to be a bullpen game for us,
Speaker 3: and immediately all of those guys just came in and said, hey,
Speaker 3: we got you guys. Don't worry, We're going to take
Speaker 3: care of.
Speaker 4: This and just get us. Just get us a couple
Speaker 4: of runs. It's all you need to do.
Speaker 3: And you know, the mindset right from the start of
Speaker 3: the day, even though we got bad news with Freddie
Speaker 3: not being able to go, you would have thought we
Speaker 3: were up to nothing in the series, everyone just felt
Speaker 3: super calm, super relaxed, and everyone knew we were gonna
Speaker 3: go out there and win that game.
Speaker 1: You're a big football fan, and you always hear about
Speaker 1: teams that are successful they take on an identity. Do
Speaker 1: you feel like the bullpen identity was contagious to the
Speaker 1: rest of the team, the way that they just were,
Speaker 1: like they called themselves dogs out there.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, absolutely, you know they were. They were incredible
Speaker 3: for us all year long. You know, they had to
Speaker 3: cover a lot of innings, and when you're when you're
Speaker 3: covering innings, sometimes the numbers may not look as good.
Speaker 4: As what they should.
Speaker 3: Uh, But we knew that we had one of the
Speaker 3: best bullpens in baseball, and you know, going into postseason,
Speaker 3: we knew that was definitely going to be a strength
Speaker 3: for us. Everyone wanted to talk about, oh, well, you
Speaker 3: have starters that are hurt, you have this and that,
Speaker 3: but we knew that we had a big strength. We
Speaker 3: just had to get get those guys a lead and
Speaker 3: let them do what they do. And you know, they're
Speaker 3: their Their mindset and attitude definitely carried throughout the clubhouts
Speaker 3: and uh, you know, from the position players standpoint, you
Speaker 3: watch that and your your whole goal is just get
Speaker 3: those guys a lead and the game is going to be.
Speaker 2: Over before I should go.
Speaker 1: Max Monthcy, how much does it mean to you to
Speaker 1: know that your teammates Andrew Freeman and Dave Roberts value
Speaker 1: what you mean to this team. I know there's a
Speaker 1: lot of noise every off season about different players coming
Speaker 1: and going, but they have been steadfast that you are
Speaker 1: their guy and that you mean a lot to this lineup.
Speaker 1: You are part of the sum being greater than the parts.
Speaker 1: How much does that mean to you?
Speaker 3: I really can't put it into words, you know, it's
Speaker 3: a yeah. I mean, it means so much to me.
Speaker 3: And it's one of those things that you know, I've
Speaker 3: obviously haven't been shy about it. I want to retire
Speaker 3: wearing a Dodger jersey, and I know that at the
Speaker 3: end of the day that that ball is going to
Speaker 3: be in my hands if I just keep performing, They're
Speaker 3: going to give me that opportunity. And it's it's something
Speaker 3: that this place is home to me, the organization, the city,
Speaker 3: it's it's become it's become home to us, and and
Speaker 3: you know, I love every single, every single thing about it.
Speaker 3: And you know, to just so to hear hear guys that,
Speaker 3: to hear guys say that, it kind of means everything.
Speaker 3: And it's really, in my mind, the whole reason you
Speaker 3: play the game and to leave an impact that you
Speaker 3: were a guy that always helped the team win and
Speaker 3: is willing to do anything and whether it's in the clubhouse,
Speaker 3: on the field, off the field, just do something that
Speaker 3: can help the team in the organization. And you know
Speaker 3: that's that's something that means a ton to me.
Speaker 1: Well, the city of Los Angeles means a lot to
Speaker 1: Max Monsey, and Monsey means a lot to the city
Speaker 1: of Los Angeles. It doesn't fall, you know, flat on
Speaker 1: us how much you invest yourself playing for the Dodgers
Speaker 1: and invest yourself in the city of Los Angeles, Monsey,
Speaker 1: and I think that's part of the reason why everybody
Speaker 1: loves you that watches you play and just knows what
Speaker 1: you're all about the last seven years and can't wait
Speaker 1: to see you in spring training really appreciate you coming
Speaker 1: on and I I know here in your voice made
Speaker 1: a lot of people happy out there.
Speaker 4: I certainly hope.
Speaker 3: So, you know, it's obviously a very, very tough time
Speaker 3: right now for a lot of people, but that's why,
Speaker 3: like I said, me and Kelly wanted to make sure
Speaker 3: we have a lot of a lot of links out
Speaker 3: there for people to do any type of good for
Speaker 3: anyone that's in need. So hopefully, hopefully our little chat
Speaker 3: brought a smile to some people, and you know that's
Speaker 3: something that'll do some good.
Speaker 1: Thanks as always, Max, you always take care of me.
Speaker 1: And like I said, this was not just for me.
Speaker 1: It was for the city of la to put a
Speaker 1: smile on their face with two times, two time World
Speaker 1: Series Champion Max Muncy. I'll see you in thirty five days, Max.
Speaker 4: It's coming up quick. I felt like I just got home.
Speaker 2: Hey, it's always sweeter to get back when you're a.
Speaker 3: Champ, right, absolutely absolutely, I'm ready to get back and
Speaker 3: run it back again.
Speaker 4: You know, can't wait.
Speaker 2: I can't wait to see you, Monsie.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Yeah, thanks for having me on