Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey or Dodger Talker.
Speaker 1: All right, we are in Atlanta, and I'm honored to
Speaker 1: be joined right now by a man that does a
Speaker 1: great job on Sunday Night Baseball. It helps that he's
Speaker 1: a Cy Young Award winner, a five time World Series champion,
Speaker 1: and that's the one and only David Cone. David, thanks
Speaker 1: a lot for the time. Appreciated my pleasure any time
Speaker 1: to be on with you. Your Yankees twenty five years
Speaker 1: ago was the last major League team to repeat as champions.
Speaker 1: What does it take for this Dodger team to be
Speaker 1: able to even consider attempting that?
Speaker 2: Well, obviously, you know, the people talk about health, the
Speaker 2: overall health of a team. That's a big key, you
Speaker 2: know that everybody knows. But really, to me, it comes
Speaker 2: down to the emotional part. How bad you want it,
Speaker 2: you know, how how aggressively you pursue that as a team,
Speaker 2: and you know, sometimes it really just comes down to
Speaker 2: that how relentless you are, and the Dodgers are relentless.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I don't think that's going to be a problem,
Speaker 2: but you'd be surprised that some players sort of you know,
Speaker 2: once you reach the mountain, you scale the mountain, and
Speaker 2: then yeah, the off season is a little shorter. Maybe
Speaker 2: you're not quite as motivated. Maybe you're a little too satisfied.
Speaker 2: I don't see those signs from the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: It's funny you said that, because I spoke to your
Speaker 1: former manager Joe Torre a couple of days ago, and
Speaker 1: he said, the one thing you have to fight off
Speaker 1: is admiring what you did the year before.
Speaker 2: That's that's key, you know, Joe Torre is you know
Speaker 2: it says it better than me, But yes, that's really
Speaker 2: you know, the sentiment in a nutshell is just the
Speaker 2: motivation factors. How motivated are you to be great? How
Speaker 2: motivated are you to have a legacy? How motivated are
Speaker 2: you to sort of be remembered as a dynasty? And
Speaker 2: that's what you got going on here. Historically speaking, you're
Speaker 2: going to be ten twenty years from now, you're going
Speaker 2: to look back on this air and said that was
Speaker 2: the dynasty? And did we do all we could to
Speaker 2: make sure that it happened?
Speaker 1: How did David Cone and the Yankees twenty five years
Speaker 1: ago stay motivated not when it got to October, but
Speaker 1: during the marathon of the season.
Speaker 2: It was the same thing. It was a relentless professionalism.
Speaker 2: It was just a never too high, never too low
Speaker 2: kind of a mentality of you know, you forget the losses,
Speaker 2: you forget the tough games. You're ready for today, You're
Speaker 2: ready for the next game, and you really do just
Speaker 2: stay in the present. That's that's where that mentality comes through,
Speaker 2: is when you just think about we play today, we
Speaker 2: win today today's game. That is all that matters. I'm
Speaker 2: not worried about tomorrow. I'm not worried about yesterday.
Speaker 1: David Cone is our guest five time World Series champion,
Speaker 1: and for a period of time there in the late
Speaker 1: eighties and the early nineties, whenever a team wanted to
Speaker 1: get over the hump, they seem to acquire David Cohne,
Speaker 1: whether it was the Yankees, the Blue Jays, obviously you
Speaker 1: had that type of championship. DNA. What makes a player
Speaker 1: be able to be that type of guy that you.
Speaker 2: Were, Yeah, I was just kind of I was just
Speaker 2: kind of forced into it. You know, Initially I didn't.
Speaker 2: Maybe I wore out my welcome a little bit here
Speaker 2: and there. Maybe it was because I was going to
Speaker 2: be a free agent and I was known as a
Speaker 2: guy who's going to push the system a little bit
Speaker 2: and test the mark it. So sometimes I put you
Speaker 2: in a position to be traded as well. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I just remember being, uh, you know, sort of you know,
Speaker 2: just this this fear, this fear of failure in the
Speaker 2: big moments that really kind of drives you. You didn't
Speaker 2: want to let your teammates down. You knew they were
Speaker 2: counting on you, You knew the fan base was counting
Speaker 2: on you when you.
Speaker 1: Got traded, So that that was that was motivation in.
Speaker 2: And of itself, because you didn't want to let him down,
Speaker 2: and you you knew that was that was your calling
Speaker 2: card that you had to come through in those kind
Speaker 2: of moments.
Speaker 1: I know he's not here right now, but he will
Speaker 1: be in Clayton Kershawn. I just been around him his
Speaker 1: entire career. There there seemed to be that intensity and
Speaker 1: dedication that raised everybody's focus and level of play. You
Speaker 1: were intense. I remember watching you pitch very intense. Did
Speaker 1: you accept anything less from your guys?
Speaker 2: No, Actually, that that collectively, it's a great question. Collectively,
Speaker 2: that's how the players police themselves in the clubhouse. You
Speaker 2: hold each other accountable. And uh, there's certainly a lot
Speaker 2: of things that happened in a major league clubhouse that
Speaker 2: you never hear about in the media, but I guarantee
Speaker 2: you are. Those are conversations that happen. Those are confrontations
Speaker 2: that happen. We certainly had our share in the nineties
Speaker 2: where you challenge each other and if you don't step up,
Speaker 2: or if you're not showing up ready, or you're not prepared,
Speaker 2: or you're not taking it seriously enough, you get called
Speaker 2: out in clubhouses like the Dodgers, like the Yankees back
Speaker 2: in the day. Yeah, that's called policing yourselves, and that's
Speaker 2: called accountability.
Speaker 1: That makes sense. David Cohene is our guest before I
Speaker 1: let you go. Everybody from Barry Bonds to David Bassey
Speaker 1: has shared their opinion on whether or not Shoho Tani
Speaker 1: should pitch again. Where do you fall on that.
Speaker 2: I let him do what he wants to do. He's
Speaker 2: earned it. Yes, he should pitch again. You absolutely should
Speaker 2: pitch again, especially when you think that the Dodgers and
Speaker 2: the type of games are going to play in September
Speaker 2: and down the stretch run and potential postseason. Absolutely, he
Speaker 2: should pitch again. Everybody wants to see that is their
Speaker 2: risk involved. Of course, there's always risk involved, but you
Speaker 2: know that's what he wants and that's why he signed
Speaker 2: here because he was guaranteed that he would be able
Speaker 2: to do both. So if he's game, I'm game. Let
Speaker 2: the show.
Speaker 1: Hey, do what he wants, all right, love it, David,
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot for the time and appreciate you always
Speaker 1: being so kind. A five time world champion being able
Speaker 1: to be as normal as you.
Speaker 2: Are not my pleasure, David, any time for you.
Speaker 1: Hey, the man my favorite Royal, not Mark Goobaza.