Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: Right now, we are joined by a man that pitched
Speaker 2: in Oakland the final year the A's were in Oakland,
Speaker 2: but he will always be remembered as a Dodger and
Speaker 2: he just recently announced his retirement on social media because
Speaker 2: that's how you do things. In twenty twenty five. He
Speaker 2: made his major league debut with the Dodgers in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2: He was drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round
Speaker 2: of the twenty twelve draft out of Texas A and
Speaker 2: M A proud Aggie, the one and only Ross Strippling
Speaker 2: Chicken Strip is joining us on Dodger Talk. Ross thanks
Speaker 2: a lot for calling in.
Speaker 3: Appreciate it, Fasse.
Speaker 1: What's up, Man, It's It's great to be here. This
Speaker 1: is like twenty sixteen all over again. Excited to talk
Speaker 1: with you. Man.
Speaker 2: I remember your first spring training in Major League Camp
Speaker 2: Ross in twenty twelve and just being able to uh
Speaker 2: to see your career where it started and where it finished.
Speaker 2: What do you remember or what do you appreciate the
Speaker 2: most about your major league career?
Speaker 1: Gosh, Man right off the bat with a with a
Speaker 1: hard hitter. You know, it's funny when I announced that retirement,
Speaker 1: it kind of forced me to reminisce and being nostalgic
Speaker 1: more than I normally am, just with how people reached
Speaker 1: out and seeing stuff on social media and and all
Speaker 1: that stuff, and you really start, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: thinking about your career and you know, first person and foremost, man,
Speaker 1: I'm just so lucky to have been drafted and developed
Speaker 1: by the Dodgers that at I will be adamant about
Speaker 1: that forever. Just uh, how good they are at taking
Speaker 1: in talent and getting the best out of them. You
Speaker 1: still see that to this day.
Speaker 3: And uh.
Speaker 1: And then to have Kershaw there to kind of take
Speaker 1: me under his wing and just learn by osmosis from him,
Speaker 1: and I'm just you know, no doubt I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: lasted as long as I did without the Dodgers, you know,
Speaker 1: picking me and showing me the way. And then as
Speaker 1: far as maybe what I remember the most or maybe
Speaker 1: most proud of, is just the you know, the Swiss
Speaker 1: army knife, being the key ke Hernandez of the pitching
Speaker 1: staff and just knowing that a team could ask me
Speaker 1: to do anything and I'd do it with a smile
Speaker 1: on my face and usually hopefully do it successfully and
Speaker 1: help us win games in any way I could. I
Speaker 1: just think, you know, that's what kept me around, and
Speaker 1: then now a few months removed from it, that that's
Speaker 1: what I remember and I'm most proud of it is
Speaker 1: just being a guy that a team could always rely
Speaker 1: on to give him a shot and to do the job.
Speaker 1: I think that's that's I'm proud of that for sure.
Speaker 2: Well, speaking of being a Swiss army knife, we always
Speaker 2: thought that you were the most well rounded human being
Speaker 2: in a Dodger clubhouse because you had your sight set
Speaker 2: on life after baseball. It wasn't going to be baseball
Speaker 2: and then try to figure out what you could do
Speaker 2: with your life. How much did that play into your
Speaker 2: decision to say, you know what, I've had a great career.
Speaker 2: I'm going to move on to the next chapter of
Speaker 2: my life.
Speaker 1: You know, it definitely did. Now I don't have the
Speaker 1: next after figured out by any means, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of what you said of kind of being well rounded
Speaker 1: is now all of a sudden, I find myself interested
Speaker 1: in like five different buckets of things, and I can't
Speaker 1: decide how I want to spend my time, and all
Speaker 1: the while I have a six week old son or
Speaker 1: third boy, and you know, so just enjoying the family time.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of using that as an excuse right now
Speaker 1: to punt some stuff down the road where I'm just like,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna enjoy this this chapter with my family as
Speaker 1: I start to get restless here a little bit and
Speaker 1: need to start doing something. But for now, you know,
Speaker 1: just enjoying that and knowing I got a lifetime to
Speaker 1: figure that out and to work and to you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully stay involved with baseball in some way, and then
Speaker 1: to find some other things I'm passionate about. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you know it that makes it, I think a little
Speaker 1: bit easier to walk away when we know you have
Speaker 1: loves and passions away from baseball. But you know, all
Speaker 1: the while, I showed up to spring trying and expecting
Speaker 1: to make a team this year and it just fell
Speaker 1: a little short. So like I still had the fire
Speaker 1: in my belly to compete, and I thought I could
Speaker 1: get out to the big league level. It just you know,
Speaker 1: it didn't quite work out. And you know, now here
Speaker 1: we are a few weeks removed from it, and it's
Speaker 1: you know, I'm okay with it. It just it's always
Speaker 1: weird leading the game behind for sure.
Speaker 2: Hey, I thought you were taking over for Warren Buffett.
Speaker 2: That's the reason why you retired.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I put in my resume. He didn't take
Speaker 1: me up on it. I guess you had someone else
Speaker 1: in mind.
Speaker 2: That's the voice of Ross Stripling forever a Dodger. He
Speaker 2: just announced his retirement. And I'm going to ask you
Speaker 2: another tough question. Ross, you played on a lot of
Speaker 2: good Dodger teams. You were an All Star in twenty
Speaker 2: eighteen when you guys went to the World Series for
Speaker 2: the second straight year. Which Dodger team that you pitched
Speaker 2: on was the best team that you played on?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, good question, man. That twenty seventeen team
Speaker 1: comes to mind. I mean, we we that was an
Speaker 1: extremely talented team, as are all Dodger teams of the
Speaker 1: last you know, fifteen years or whatever. But you just,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously ending against the Astros in the way
Speaker 1: that it did, that lived an infamy at this point.
Speaker 1: But that team as far as like who we got
Speaker 1: at the trade deadline and how confident we were going
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, And I don't even want to guess
Speaker 1: how much we wanted division by, but I guess it
Speaker 1: is double digits. And I mean that team just felt
Speaker 1: like we were firing on all cylinders and obviously take
Speaker 1: it all the way to a Game seven of a
Speaker 1: World Series against a team that was cheating to have
Speaker 1: to beat us. I think that goes to show you
Speaker 1: how good that team was. So I would ride with
Speaker 1: that twenty seventeen team.
Speaker 2: How much does the way that season ended still kind
Speaker 2: of stick with you and your teammates?
Speaker 3: You think twenty years from.
Speaker 2: Now, do you, guys, do you believe you'll still be
Speaker 2: thinking about, you know, if they weren't cheating, how your
Speaker 2: career and how a lot of careers would have been different.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, Bessy, I probably won't go too deep
Speaker 1: into it, but you know, I think in group chats
Speaker 1: and small rooms and stuff like that, twenty years from now,
Speaker 1: we'll certainly still acknowledge that it's probably one of the
Speaker 1: bigger cheating scandals in sports and certainly in baseball. But
Speaker 1: you know, it was what it was. We kind of
Speaker 1: knew it in real time, and then you know, it
Speaker 1: comes out in twenty twenty and Bastros go through what
Speaker 1: they go through from a punishment standpoint, and you just
Speaker 1: kind of move on, you know, And I wouldn't say
Speaker 1: it's keeping us up at night or anything like that.
Speaker 1: Maybe real legacy guys, if we're talking about Clayton and
Speaker 1: you know, guys like that that could have used another
Speaker 1: ring on their resume for historical reasons, we'll think about
Speaker 1: them more than maybe you think about yourselves and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. But you know, obviously really thankful the Dodgers
Speaker 1: got that twenty twenty ring, and you know that probably
Speaker 1: won't go too much. Seeper down this rabbit hole with.
Speaker 2: You fair enough, Ross. This is a good feeling retirement interview.
Speaker 2: And speaking of the twenty twenty World Series, how much
Speaker 2: did it mean to you that, even though you weren't
Speaker 2: there in Texas, that Dave Roberts went out of his
Speaker 2: way on stage as he's accepting the trophy to name
Speaker 2: role call you out for what you meant to the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that'll always be amazing to me that, I say,
Speaker 1: I really will that when you are on stage accepting
Speaker 1: a World Series trophy after a year's work worth of
Speaker 1: work in COVID and even like multiple years worth of work,
Speaker 1: and my name went through Dave Roberts's mind at that point,
Speaker 1: for one, just shows you who he is as a person.
Speaker 1: And then you know, that's something I'm really proud of
Speaker 1: that I left a little bit of legacy on that
Speaker 1: team where you know, as definitely not the first ten
Speaker 1: dudes on the call sheet of that team, they still
Speaker 1: acknowledged me and what I did for those teams to
Speaker 1: get that ring that. You know, when I think about
Speaker 1: my career, I think about, like my debut, I think
Speaker 1: about pitching the first game back in Toronto in front
Speaker 1: of an entire country when baseball and been there for
Speaker 1: a year and a half, and I think of Dave
Speaker 1: Roberts saying my name on stage when the whole world
Speaker 1: was watching a World Series because we were shut down,
Speaker 1: and he says thank you, Ross Stripling, you know, as
Speaker 1: his team accepts the World Series. That I instantly called
Speaker 1: my dad and I was like, did you see that?
Speaker 1: And he's like yeah, I was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: You know, so that really means a lot, and I
Speaker 1: just think it's it's so cool for him to acknowledge
Speaker 1: me in that situation when he certainly didn't have to.
Speaker 1: So that will forever mean absolute tounch me.
Speaker 2: Well, that just shows how much ross strippling meant to
Speaker 2: Dave Roberts into the Dodger organization. Another name that you've
Speaker 2: brought up a few times, and obviously he means everything
Speaker 2: to the Dodgers is Clayton Kershaw. What was the dynamic
Speaker 2: between you two like and why do you believe Clayton
Speaker 2: took you under his wing when you first arrived in
Speaker 2: Big League camp and with the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I don't want to get ahead of myself.
Speaker 1: I would say Clayton took me under his wing as
Speaker 1: best that he knows how because he is so laser
Speaker 1: focused on his especially at that time. You know, he's
Speaker 1: now got four kids. I think he's mellowed out a
Speaker 1: little bit. At that time, he was still you know,
Speaker 1: hunting Cy Young's on a yearly basis, and so just
Speaker 1: hell been on what he was going to do that
Speaker 1: I you know, if you almost I got three kids now,
Speaker 1: I think about how my second kid follows around my oldest.
Speaker 1: That was me. I was the second kid, and you know,
Speaker 1: my oldest wants nothing to do with my second kid.
Speaker 1: And Clayton was just you know, going about his business
Speaker 1: like throwing his bullpens, working out, doing his arm care,
Speaker 1: scouting the lineup that he's about to face, all that stuff,
Speaker 1: and I would just watch him, and you know, I
Speaker 1: knew that we had the Texas thing in common. He
Speaker 1: was supposed to be an Aggi. He didn't go to
Speaker 1: A and m his wife's an Aggie, you know. And
Speaker 1: I just kind of like played to my strengths as
Speaker 1: far as what could keep me around him when I
Speaker 1: was young, and you know, and then you kind of
Speaker 1: wear him down and he starts opening up to you
Speaker 1: and helping me out a little bit and all that.
Speaker 1: But I just, you know, from a mentor standpoint as
Speaker 1: far as being a Christian man, a father, a husband,
Speaker 1: and then also you know, maybe the greatest left handed
Speaker 1: pitcher that's ever grace a major league mound. I just
Speaker 1: learned so much from him, and I just, you know,
Speaker 1: I said it at the top, like I just I
Speaker 1: don't think I would have made it nine years without
Speaker 1: being around him and just seeing what it takes to
Speaker 1: work day in and day out to be ready for
Speaker 1: a big league season, to stay healthy and to have success.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just I can't say enough about Clayton
Speaker 1: when he's up.
Speaker 2: There at Cooperstown one day. Ross, do you feel like
Speaker 2: that's the privilege that you have that so many others don't,
Speaker 2: is that you got to see what it takes between
Speaker 2: the starts to be as great as he was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it. Man.
Speaker 1: You know, most all the fans, you know, they get
Speaker 1: to see him every fifth day, and obviously you see
Speaker 1: the passion and how competitive he is. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: you know, one of a kind. But we that were
Speaker 1: lucky enough to see him day to day like you,
Speaker 1: or to play with him day to day like me,
Speaker 1: you know, really get to see the behind the scenes stuff,
Speaker 1: which is where he's just an animal, and you know,
Speaker 1: you realize what it takes to not only just like
Speaker 1: be in the big leagues, but for him to like
Speaker 1: be a superstar, you know, to be one of the
Speaker 1: greatest ever as far as how dedicated to it you
Speaker 1: have to be in and just you know, if he
Speaker 1: gave up two runs, that was a bad start for
Speaker 1: like the first ten years of his career. Like that's
Speaker 1: just so amazing to think about, you know. So he
Speaker 1: just said to be so laser focused. So not only
Speaker 1: did he have the stuff to back it up. But
Speaker 1: he had the mentality that you see from like the
Speaker 1: Verlanders insuresers of the world, where like if he gets
Speaker 1: three runs early, he's going for your throat and that
Speaker 1: game's over. And you know, there's just not that many
Speaker 1: guys like that, and Clayton was certainly one of them,
Speaker 1: or is still certainly one of them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, still is is that surprising to you that Ross
Speaker 2: Strippling retired before Kershawn? Maybe you can give us some
Speaker 2: insight on what's still driving him right now.
Speaker 1: I I will not put words in the Clayton Kershaw's mouth.
Speaker 1: I you know, yes, he was there long before me,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna be around after me. Still getting guys
Speaker 1: out in the big leagues, you know, I I honestly
Speaker 1: don't know. I think that he still has the passion
Speaker 1: to play and to get out. So I'm sure, you know,
Speaker 1: not being healthy for one sixty two in the last
Speaker 1: couple of years probably just drives him nuts. I'm sure
Speaker 1: he just wants to like make thirty stars and feel
Speaker 1: that again and and you know, be a guy that
Speaker 1: the team can rely on to go out every sit day.
Speaker 1: I know he holds his you know, has so much
Speaker 1: pride in that, and then you know, I'm sure his
Speaker 1: family's in a good spot where they feel good about
Speaker 1: he's you know, he can still play and be a
Speaker 1: dad and do all the things that he wants to do.
Speaker 1: They got a good routine going, so I think it's
Speaker 1: like the Dodgers are in this awesome era of being
Speaker 1: so good, you know, like the mid nineties Braves kind
Speaker 1: of thing, and he's like, I want to miss out
Speaker 1: on it. I helped build this and I'm going to
Speaker 1: see it through. And I just I think, you know,
Speaker 1: all encompassing it still works out where he can kind
Speaker 1: of do it on his terms, and when he's ready
Speaker 1: to pitch, he'll he'll show up and he'll be cutting
Speaker 1: Kershaw and I you know, I can't wait to see
Speaker 1: him in the second half of the season and hopefully
Speaker 1: make some postseason starts and do great And because you know,
Speaker 1: no one deserves it more than him.
Speaker 2: Ross Strippling is our guest. He announced his retirement last week. Ross,
Speaker 2: just a couple of more questions for you, because you
Speaker 2: have such a unique perspective considering where your career started
Speaker 2: as far as the time that base was being played
Speaker 2: and the way baseball's being played now and the whole
Speaker 2: Dodgers trajectory here.
Speaker 3: What do you think about this.
Speaker 2: Version of the Dodgers compared to where it was in
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I you know, I really love the teams that
Speaker 1: we had. Those teams probably felt a little more homegrown, right,
Speaker 1: And the Dodger's still unbelievably elite at drafting and developing
Speaker 1: talent or taking guys from other teams that have been
Speaker 1: maybe spit out for various reasons and taking them in
Speaker 1: and getting the best out on think of like early
Speaker 1: Justin Turner, early Max Munsey. You know, they're still elite
Speaker 1: at that. I'm obviously not saying they've they've lost their
Speaker 1: touch there, but you know that twenty twenty World Series team,
Speaker 1: I think the stat is either sixteen or nineteen homegrown
Speaker 1: players were on that roster, and then you know guys
Speaker 1: like Munsey and JT that certainly weren't you know, highly
Speaker 1: touted from other organizations. So, like, I think those teams
Speaker 1: are really special because it shows that not only did
Speaker 1: they have kind of an unlimited bank role, but they
Speaker 1: also drafted and developed from within and got them to
Speaker 1: the big leagues and had immense success with those guys.
Speaker 1: So I just think that is like the ultimate testament
Speaker 1: to being a successful organization. But then you know, now
Speaker 1: it's like, let's bring in the star power, let's totally
Speaker 1: swallow up the Japanese market, and you know, and really
Speaker 1: like make Los Angeles baseball a show, I mean to Hollywood,
Speaker 1: and let's let's let's go all the way into this
Speaker 1: thing and then in the first year win a World Series.
Speaker 1: So I think both are awesome, and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: ownership going all the way in one way or the
Speaker 1: other is just a testament to them being like one
Speaker 1: of the only ones that says like we're here to
Speaker 1: win baseball games and to make it look good and
Speaker 1: to be a powerhouse. And you know, obviously, as players
Speaker 1: would wish other owners would do the same because that
Speaker 1: leads to more money for players and just better things
Speaker 1: all the way around, a better show, better product on
Speaker 1: the field. So you know, I wish other teams would follow.
Speaker 2: Suit, no doubt, perfectly said before I let you go,
Speaker 2: I want to end it on this, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2: Back in twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen, as far as the
Speaker 2: relationships that you built with those same homegrown guys. What
Speaker 2: was it like sharing a house in Los Felis with
Speaker 2: Alex Wood and Corey Seeger as roommates. Was that one
Speaker 2: of your fondest seasons being roommates with those guys?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just think, you know, and you even go
Speaker 1: back to like the minor leagues before that, when we'd
Speaker 1: pile like six dudes into a two bedroom and you know,
Speaker 1: I'll sleeping on a twin mattress in the kitchen, and
Speaker 1: some of those guys were groomsmen in my wedding. You
Speaker 1: know that those are gonna be the stuff that stick
Speaker 1: with me, you know, ten years from now, I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna remember the May outing against the Padres in twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen or whatever. You know, I'm gonna remember some of
Speaker 1: those funky memories from when we piled into houses together.
Speaker 1: And you know, answer your question that those are two
Speaker 1: still probably maybe my two best friends from baseball still,
Speaker 1: you know, are Corey and Alex. So I just think
Speaker 1: it that was and our wives are super close. Like
Speaker 1: that's just you look back at like when like true
Speaker 1: friendships and stuff were built right there where it was
Speaker 1: cool because we were having success on the field, but
Speaker 1: then we were getting dinners and exploring off Angelis and
Speaker 1: staying up late and talking about life and you know,
Speaker 1: just like building a real friendship with those guys, and
Speaker 1: I hope last forever. So I just think it's like
Speaker 1: one of those perfect six months where you like will
Speaker 1: look back and just like man like, my life changed
Speaker 1: in an awesome way during that time, and I'm so
Speaker 1: thankful for it.
Speaker 2: Hey, Los Angeles is thankful for Chicken strip Ross strippling.
Speaker 2: You were always a professional, You're always first class ross,
Speaker 2: and I'm happy to share you with the fans again
Speaker 2: as you announce your retirement. All you guys from those
Speaker 2: teams will always have a special place in Dodger fans
Speaker 2: hearts and mine as well.
Speaker 3: So thank you for a great career.
Speaker 2: Thank you for being as good of a person as
Speaker 2: you were on the mound as a pitcher.
Speaker 3: So we all appreciate that.
Speaker 1: Well, Dave, thank you so much, man, And I'll do
Speaker 1: the same and say thank you for always making it
Speaker 1: fun and you know, making it in aiable to talk
Speaker 1: with you and also making it easy. You know, these
Speaker 1: questions we you know, kind of joked that they're hard hitting,
Speaker 1: but you're you're fun to talk to you all the time, man,
Speaker 1: so keep up the good work and you know I'll
Speaker 1: come on anytime man, looking forward to doing it again.
Speaker 3: We'll do it for sure again.
Speaker 2: And uh you never know, Ross Strippling might be on
Speaker 2: sports Net LA and running Berkshire Hathaway on his weekday.
Speaker 2: So uh, this is not the last time you'll hear
Speaker 2: from Ross Strippling. I guarantee that. Thanks Ross, and congratulations
Speaker 2: on being a great husband and dad. And we'll see
Speaker 2: you soon at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 1: All right, sounds good, bet say thank you man.