Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger.
Speaker 2: Talking Well, we are always honored and humbled whenever Freddie
Speaker 2: Freeman has time to join us. He's one of the
Speaker 2: best players in Major League Baseball and certainly a great father,
Speaker 2: a great husband, and certainly one of the guys that
Speaker 2: you could say is the epitome of professionalism in Major
Speaker 2: League Baseball.
Speaker 3: Freddie, thanks a lot for the time.
Speaker 1: I appreciate those kinds of words. Thank you, David.
Speaker 2: Are you feeling at the end of a long road trip,
Speaker 2: the longest of the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I said right before we came on air,
Speaker 1: this is a long one. I think it's more for
Speaker 1: the fact of we've had all like night game getaway days.
Speaker 1: We've had a lot of couple of raindelays in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: just a lot of get in lates with no days off,
Speaker 1: and you know, we had a flight to Atlanta which
Speaker 1: is four hours five hour flight here. So there's just
Speaker 1: a lot of extra things that went into this road trip,
Speaker 1: and especially the Rangelers. I think the Raine lays when
Speaker 1: you start your body, you stop your body, you start
Speaker 1: your body, there's an extra layer of of tiredness that
Speaker 1: comes into play there. But you know, I think we
Speaker 1: got the first one under our belt. We obviously didn't
Speaker 1: get the first win here in Arizona, but I think
Speaker 1: we're all feeling a little bit better after the flight
Speaker 1: and hopefully things are a better result tonight.
Speaker 3: Is that something we don't fully appreciate.
Speaker 2: It's one thing to be the Dodgers, but everybody wants
Speaker 2: you guys playing prime time.
Speaker 3: There's not many day games.
Speaker 1: No. I think that's the we are you gonna get
Speaker 1: this on?
Speaker 2: This is gonna be hey, it's it's the atmosphere of
Speaker 2: the stadium tonight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think the the one o'clock getaway days there,
Speaker 1: they're not gonna be there that much for us, And
Speaker 1: we understand it's the gate. You want to get more
Speaker 1: people if you like, just like the Marlins. If we
Speaker 1: start at four forty, there's a chance of getting those
Speaker 1: people that get off work at four or five that
Speaker 1: might see the game time starting. Oh, maybe we'll come
Speaker 1: to the game get some more people, which is great.
Speaker 1: We want more fans at the games coming out to
Speaker 1: watch us play. But there is a little the thing
Speaker 1: that goes against us and that that we get in late.
Speaker 1: And you know, as much as you know, we pride
Speaker 1: ourselves and being ready. They're like a couple of late
Speaker 1: flights can take a toll on you. We feel good
Speaker 1: right now, so hopefully we can, you know, get back
Speaker 1: on the winning way tonight.
Speaker 2: Freddie Freeman is our guest. Freddie swinging the bat really
Speaker 2: well right now. Everybody focuses on what you're doing swing wise,
Speaker 2: approach wise, But is what you're doing right now a
Speaker 2: testament to the work that you put in after your
Speaker 2: ankle surgery.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I feel like I'm doing the same thing.
Speaker 1: It's the same approach, my same routine, and I, like
Speaker 1: I've been saying the last couple year, I feel like
Speaker 1: I've been fighting a cut swing for the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, and it's not cutting right now, it's it's
Speaker 1: what have been what I have been looking for for
Speaker 1: a long time, and everything's going up through the middle.
Speaker 1: Just like in Miami, I had a couple of low pictures.
Speaker 1: I was able to say through them and hit him
Speaker 1: into the gaps. And if I had my cut swing
Speaker 1: that I've been trying to fight against and not have,
Speaker 1: I would have rolled those over. I fouled those off
Speaker 1: ors swing and miss, so sometimes you're just feeling good.
Speaker 1: There's no there's no rhyme or reason to it. It's
Speaker 1: the same thing I'm doing every single day, getting ready
Speaker 1: for each and every game. But right now the swing
Speaker 1: is going through the middle.
Speaker 2: But it's remarkable, Freddie. Most guys I went through what
Speaker 2: you did last postseason, not only with the ankle but
Speaker 2: the ribs.
Speaker 3: To play through it.
Speaker 2: And play at that level and then have ankle surgery
Speaker 2: during the off season and not skip a beat.
Speaker 3: That doesn't happen. But that's a testament to your work ethic.
Speaker 1: Oh, I appreciate that, I really do. I do appreciate
Speaker 1: those words. In my mind, I'm just doing this what
Speaker 1: I expect myself to do. I did put in a
Speaker 1: lot of work trying to get back as fast as
Speaker 1: I could. It's still work in progress. Like I just
Speaker 1: was on the table for about an hour and a
Speaker 1: half to get to come out here and do my
Speaker 1: drills and get ready for this game. So it's still going,
Speaker 1: you know. But I'm in a good spot physically with
Speaker 1: my ankle, my ribs. We've worked on that still too,
Speaker 1: just because of what happened in Japan and we weren't
Speaker 1: really thinking about my ribs and then all of a
Speaker 1: sudden flared up again real quick. So we've been working
Speaker 1: on that, keeping that hopefully in check. So in my mind,
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to do my job and do what
Speaker 1: is it expected of me. So I understand there's been
Speaker 1: a lot of things that happened in the offseason with
Speaker 1: surgeries and stuff like that, but I'm in a good
Speaker 1: spot physically where i can go out there and be myself.
Speaker 2: I got a big picture question for Freddy Freeman, because
Speaker 2: your career has endured generations now at this point in
Speaker 2: a good way. What's the biggest difference hitting in twenty eleven,
Speaker 2: your first year in the big leagues, compared to hitting
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty five. The type of pitching you're seeing,
Speaker 2: just the way the game is approached.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say obviously, velocity is a lot higher
Speaker 1: than it was in twenty eleven. I also think, like
Speaker 1: we saw with the Miami starter Blowzo, two times through
Speaker 1: the order he goes out, So you're facing most often,
Speaker 1: you're facing at least three different pitchers in a night.
Speaker 1: There's different arm angles, just like the diningbacks, they have
Speaker 1: guys coming at all different angles. You got Thompson who
Speaker 1: throws her side arm. You got left these, you know,
Speaker 1: facing another guy that we hadn't faced Mario laest night
Speaker 1: thrown a hundred, So a lot of different things that
Speaker 1: are a lot different from fifteen years ago. But I
Speaker 1: would have to say more velocity and facing more pictures
Speaker 1: each night than we did fifteen years ago.
Speaker 3: What about pictures making hitters move their feet? It doesn't
Speaker 3: seem like that happens anymore.
Speaker 1: Not real, not really. I mean, you are you do
Speaker 1: want to pitch in If that's the case, you don't
Speaker 1: want to be pitching on one side of the plate
Speaker 1: and we look out over there and it's easiest to
Speaker 1: just cover that and just shoot it the other way.
Speaker 1: So it's not about hitting someone and moving their feet.
Speaker 1: It's more about maybe throwing a sinker like as left him,
Speaker 1: throw a sinker in and then you can go back away.
Speaker 1: It's not about trying to hurt someone, hit someone, but
Speaker 1: it's more of just trying to move your eyes throughout
Speaker 1: the course. You don't want a hitter to have their
Speaker 1: eyes on one specific plate and you just throw it
Speaker 1: in that area all over and over again. So it's
Speaker 1: more about moving eyes around and it's not about hitting
Speaker 1: people are moving feet. But you know it's a little
Speaker 1: different now.
Speaker 2: Dy Freeman is our guest. All right, Freddie, I think
Speaker 2: we always have short memories anything. Things just fix themselves automatically.
Speaker 2: Nobody really has asked you how your son Maximus is doing.
Speaker 3: Is it still a work in progress? How is he doing?
Speaker 1: Yeah? So I think we I think Chelsea gave an
Speaker 1: update about closely about a month ago, we were told
Speaker 1: about the neurologist. He's about eighty percent. If you were
Speaker 1: to see him on a couch, if you walked into
Speaker 1: the room and someone the couch, you'd have no idea
Speaker 1: there's anything going that. He even had yambre. So he
Speaker 1: looks great. He's I'm still as stubborn as I am,
Speaker 1: so but he does we are. He still does pt
Speaker 1: multiple times a week. His ankle flexion dorsy flection at
Speaker 1: the top of his ankle on his left side is
Speaker 1: not all the way back. There's little reminders still that
Speaker 1: he's still healing. Just in spring training he had like
Speaker 1: a little cacti spike in his left foot and he
Speaker 1: had no idea it was in there because his nerves
Speaker 1: are still regrowing and getting and healing, so there's little reminders,
Speaker 1: but he's obviously well on his way. The neurologists. I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's he's going to be an Olympic
Speaker 1: track runner. I said he was. Last name was Freeman.
Speaker 1: He had never had that in his cards anyways. But
Speaker 1: he's gonna be okay longer than we thought, because we
Speaker 1: were hoping to he'd be, you know, close to one
Speaker 1: hundred now, but it's looking maybe hopefully by you know,
Speaker 1: July August, that he'll be completely back normal.
Speaker 2: Love it, Freddy, And with Mother's Day on Sunday, you're
Speaker 2: always in our thoughts, and I know Chelsea's done a
Speaker 2: great job being a mom to your kids. And I
Speaker 2: know your mom's with you every day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, when I when I was younger, Mother's
Speaker 1: Day was a little tough after my mom passed away.
Speaker 1: But now I know that she's she's looking down with
Speaker 1: the perfect seat to everything that's going on. And Chelsea's
Speaker 1: an incredible mother. So Mother's Day is a little bit
Speaker 1: happier these days now, but I'll be always in remembrance
Speaker 1: of my mom, and you know, Chelsea's an incredible mother.
Speaker 1: So I can't wait to get home on Sunday and
Speaker 1: see here.
Speaker 2: Well, Freddie Freeman's an incredible person. I never forget the dads.
Speaker 2: Everybody loves the kids and the moms, and rightfully so.
Speaker 2: But I give a lot of kudos to Freddie Freeman.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but we're not dad with our at our wives either,
Speaker 1: so it's all his mother's day.
Speaker 3: No doubt.
Speaker 2: Should listen to Freddie Freeman more, I wouldn't be in
Speaker 2: the doghouse as much as I am.
Speaker 1: Thanks Freddy, I appreciate Thanks. David