Speaker 1: It's hot and steamy out here at Angel Stadium, but
Speaker 1: Max Munsey's bat has been even hotter since his return
Speaker 1: from the injured list, and the great Funky Munsey joins
Speaker 1: us here in the Dodger dugout. Thanks a lot for
Speaker 1: the time you hear the ooz and o's. Everybody stops
Speaker 1: when they hear us talking to Max Munsey.
Speaker 2: No, I think I think it's more so they're just
Speaker 2: hearing your loud voice. I go throughout this empty stadium
Speaker 2: right now. You know, you do a good job of
Speaker 2: protecting your voice even though no one really wants to
Speaker 2: hear it.
Speaker 1: Munsey. You see that guy down the bench, that's Connor McGinnis,
Speaker 1: the best kept secret in baseball. He tries to talk
Speaker 1: like he's a surfer even though he's from Virginia Beach.
Speaker 1: How do you put that together? Uh?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean the biggest, uh probably the biggest surfer
Speaker 2: on the team is Chris Taylor, and he's from Virginia
Speaker 2: Beach as well. So, uh, you know, it's a you know,
Speaker 2: I guess it's just you get out to the West
Speaker 2: Coast and you just want to learn how to surf.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess, so just trying to fit in. A
Speaker 1: lot of sharks out there in Virginia Beach and a
Speaker 1: lot of sharks in our capital where Connor McGinnis is from. Sure, sure,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure where you're trying to go with that one,
Speaker 1: but sure, let's talk baseball, maximunth. So you guys are
Speaker 1: coming off a big series in the Arizona. I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm more excited about it than you guys are. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know, obviously it was a huge, a huge series.
Speaker 2: No one's trying to take anything away from that. But
Speaker 2: something that we continue to preach and continue to focus
Speaker 2: on is it doesn't matter who the opponent is. We
Speaker 2: got to go out there and play our game, and
Speaker 2: that that's no different tonight. You know, we did have
Speaker 2: a big series and now we have a two game
Speaker 2: set against the Angels, and you know, they haven't been
Speaker 2: playing great. But at the same time, we can't worry
Speaker 2: about the opponent. We have to go out there and
Speaker 2: worry about our game. And if we go out there
Speaker 2: and focus on what we we need to do, then
Speaker 2: we feel good about ourselves. Against any opponent that's out there,
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter, you know what name they got across
Speaker 2: their chest.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great point. If you come out here
Speaker 1: and fall short against the Angels, all that work in
Speaker 1: the desert was for.
Speaker 2: Not exactly, And you know, just every single day you
Speaker 2: have to go out and prepare and play that game
Speaker 2: to win that day, and you can't worry about what
Speaker 2: you got coming up ahead or what you've already done.
Speaker 2: You know, we all we and folks on is what
Speaker 2: we're going to do tonight for nine innings, and that's
Speaker 2: hopefully come out with a w.
Speaker 1: I love talking to players on this team that have
Speaker 1: been here for a while and understand the identity of
Speaker 1: what it takes to win. Do you feel like this team,
Speaker 1: this offense is starting to resemble what you guys have
Speaker 1: had in prior years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and for the you know better part
Speaker 2: of this entire year, we haven't had our full healthy lineup,
Speaker 2: and you know, to that extent, we're still not entirely
Speaker 2: fully healthy.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: I'm still dealing with my my rib thing. Freddie's got
Speaker 2: a broken finger. You know, guys are still trying to
Speaker 2: figure out where they are. But we're we're slowly getting
Speaker 2: back to having a full and deep lineup. You know,
Speaker 2: Luxy coming around and being who who Luxy is. That
Speaker 2: helps us out tremendously. And you know, we all knew
Speaker 2: he was going to get there eventually. It's just when
Speaker 2: you miss that amount of time from baseball, it's it's
Speaker 2: tough to come back and and and especially when you're
Speaker 2: a young player trying to figure out who you are,
Speaker 2: it's tough to come back and and be the guy
Speaker 2: you need to be. And he's finally starting to learn that,
Speaker 2: and he's he's been extremely fun to watch, you know,
Speaker 2: these these couple.
Speaker 1: Of months, and it feels like with all you guys
Speaker 1: coming back, playing times are being adjusted, and rightfully so.
Speaker 1: But it feels like the guys that filled in are
Speaker 1: understanding their roles with all of you guys back.
Speaker 2: Look, everyone here wants to win. That's why we're all here.
Speaker 2: That's why the guys that were free agents that came
Speaker 2: here decided to sign here. They want to win. And
Speaker 2: you know, you can't complain about anything when when you
Speaker 2: signed up for this, and that's uh, you know, everyone
Speaker 2: in this clubhouse understands that, myself included. You know, I
Speaker 2: know I'm getting a chance to play against the lefty
Speaker 2: to night, but uh, you know, for the most part,
Speaker 2: we have guys that hit left. He's very well, and
Speaker 2: so that might mean I'm missing out on some playing
Speaker 2: time because there's a left hand around the mountain. And
Speaker 2: I'm okay with that as long as it puts us
Speaker 2: in the best chance to win. Do I want to
Speaker 2: be out there one hundred percent, but I'm not going
Speaker 2: to throw a fit and cause a scene and and
Speaker 2: and you know, make it a toxic environment. And that's
Speaker 2: something that this whole clubhouse has done extremely well with that.
Speaker 2: Everyone in here wants to go out there, and everyone
Speaker 2: also knows at any given moment, your name can get
Speaker 2: called on to making it to make a difference in
Speaker 2: the game, whether you started or not. And you know,
Speaker 2: so everyone's everyone's bought into that.
Speaker 1: Max Munsey is our guest. Just in front of first
Speaker 1: pitch between the Dodgers and Angels and Anaheim, you mentioned
Speaker 1: how you're just coming back and still working through the
Speaker 1: rib cage issues. How have you been able to hit
Speaker 1: the ground running after missing as much time as you did.
Speaker 2: You know, it's just trying to just stay on top
Speaker 2: of my mechanics and stay on top of my approach.
Speaker 2: And you know, when you have three months off, you
Speaker 2: kind of have a chance to refine some things. Obviously
Speaker 2: I couldn't work on anything mechanically, but mentally, I was
Speaker 2: trying to figure out what would be the easiest thing
Speaker 2: to do. And you know, I found some cues for
Speaker 2: me that I can focus on mentally when I'm doing
Speaker 2: my pregame work, and that way, when I take it
Speaker 2: into the box, I'm not having to think about it.
Speaker 2: And it's just kind of been a result of that.
Speaker 2: And you know, when you have a chance to watch
Speaker 2: from the side, you feel like the game is a
Speaker 2: lot easier than what it actually is, and so you
Speaker 2: get a chance to focus on your approach. And that's
Speaker 2: you know, every single night I was sitting there watching
Speaker 2: those games, That's what I was doing, was I was
Speaker 2: just trying to figure out an approach, and you know,
Speaker 2: what would I do against this guy? How do I
Speaker 2: think they would pitch me? How do I think this
Speaker 2: guy had pitched me? What would I be looking for?
Speaker 2: And I felt like I was, you know, able to
Speaker 2: refine that a little bit. And you know, in this
Speaker 2: era now with the pitch clock, when you step in
Speaker 2: that batter's box, it goes a lot faster than what
Speaker 2: people think, and you don't have a chance to really
Speaker 2: focus on what pitch you're trying to look for. And
Speaker 2: so when you're able to just sit there for three
Speaker 2: months and reinforce yourself what you would be doing, it
Speaker 2: kind of comes second nature. When you get in the box,
Speaker 2: you're not having to think about it.
Speaker 1: We're always learning something, no matter how old you are,
Speaker 1: how much experience you have, Do you feel like this
Speaker 1: is something that's going to benefit you moving forward? It
Speaker 1: sounds like you're visualizing success before you even get close
Speaker 1: to first pitch. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know, when I had my best years before my
Speaker 2: arm injury, that was something that I did extremely well.
Speaker 2: Was I just stepped out of the box and I
Speaker 2: focused on, you know, what was going on in the game,
Speaker 2: what pitches had the pitcher thrown me already, how do
Speaker 2: I think they're going to throw? And I had a
Speaker 2: chance to kind of breathe and think about it before
Speaker 2: I step back in the box. And then, you know,
Speaker 2: just the last couple of years trying to get healthy
Speaker 2: with everything, and then the pitch clock coming around, it's
Speaker 2: been a little a little challenging to to refocus on
Speaker 2: what I need to be doing in the box in
Speaker 2: terms of the mental game, and you know, you get
Speaker 2: three months off to watch it, and like I said,
Speaker 2: from the side, it always looks easier than what it
Speaker 2: actually is. Yeah, you know, it helped me understand a
Speaker 2: lot of things that I needed to be doing better,
Speaker 2: and so far I've been doing that since i've been back.
Speaker 1: Love it, Monsie. I'm a nostalgia guy, so talking to
Speaker 1: the og Dodgers really makes me happy. Thanks a lot
Speaker 1: for the time, and obviously La is very happy Max
Speaker 1: months he's back.
Speaker 2: Thanks David, appreciate it.