December 5, 2025 • 24 mins
Richard takes a moment to catch up with fellow Dodgers podcaster Jeff Snider, to discuss what Dodger podcasters do when it’s the baseball off-season, how Jeff defines a “break” from baseball, and the Dodgers’ re-signing of fan favorite and 2025 World Series hero, Miguel Rojas.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hey, everybody, welcome to the show. I'm Richard Parks. This
is Dodger Blue Dream. It's Friday, December fifth, twenty twenty five.
We're smack dab in the middle of the baseball off season.
The perfect time to do something I've been wanting to
do for a long time. Connect with one of my
(00:27):
favorite Dodgers content creators. As they say, Jeff Snyder.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
We recorded it.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
There we go.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We are often rolling.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
As Joe Davis says, I'm excited to connect. I'll always
associate you with what has been just such a great
era for Dodger baseball.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, and thank you, because, like I said, this is
a long time coming. You and I've been talking for
a year now about doing this, and so I'm glad
we were finally able to make it happen.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Jeff is a fellow Dodgers podcaster, one of the hosts
of Lockdown Dodgers up until recently this past summer when
he switched to the All Dodgers podcast. And I've always
considered Jeff to kind of be like just sort of
the quintessential ideal of what a podcaster on a given
(01:21):
topic should be, not a formally trained expert or broadcaster clearly,
but more of an every man who brings some really
insightful perspectives to what's going on with the Dodgers, and
obviously has been a lifelong fan. I thought that Jeff
could help me answer a question that I've been hearing
from a lot of people I know recently, which is,
(01:42):
what do you talk about on your baseball podcast during
the baseball off season. The answer to that question, plus
a little bit of off season baseball news in Dodgerland,
is what's on deck today. So stay tuned until after
the break when we bring you my conversation with Dodgers
(02:04):
podcaster Jeff Snyder. Just a chat, a podcast, Stay with us,
(02:26):
Welcome back to the show, and now, without further ado,
my chat with Dodgers podcaster Jeff Snyder. So it's December third, Wednesday,
December third. We just had Thanksgiving, We've got Christmas coming up.
If you looked at the calendar, we're about as far
away from baseball as you can get. I've noticed you
(02:48):
have this thing that you say about the calendar year.
The four seasons for.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
The four seasons are spring training, baseball season, Christmas season,
and January. And so yeah, basically as soon as the
Dodgers are done playing baseball for the year, it's Christmas
season for me. I'm listening to Christmas music and so yeah,
I mean, that's one of the worst parts of the
Dodgers getting eliminated early in the playoffs is that my
(03:16):
wife gets annoyed with me for listening to Christmas music
on October eleventh or whatever. But you know what, this year,
I mean, the season ended on November first, and so
November two was the start of Christmas season. And that's
kind of acceptable to a lot of people. When the
season ends the way it's supposed to, like it has
the last two years, we can bask in the glory.
My wife is just taken to smiling and nodding every
(03:40):
evening as I sit down and turn on my Apple
TV and go to them. We'll be up and go
and watch the recap of Game seven of the World Series.
That's the part of my daily routine. And you know,
and she sits there next to me and she'll she'll
play a lot. Oh, there's no way Miggy's going to
hit a home run, you know, And then he does
every time, and it's still shocking every time he does it.
(04:02):
But Yeah, it's like when you have happy memories, you
can enjoy it. And last year it was just Freddy's
Grand Slam that I watched over and over and over again,
plus the ninth inning of Game five of the World Series.
I didn't enjoy the fifth inning as much as most
people did. It was fun, but I like watching the
Dodgers sixteed, not the other team fail. And so yeah,
watching Bueller strikeout Verdugo to end that game, I watched
(04:24):
that a lot. The Freddy's Grand Slam, I watched a
ton and then I know exactly the second on this
recap of Game seven, it's like the first two minutes
and fifty seconds are you just skip them because it's oh,
Boobshit hit a three run homer, Oom boom, Freddy Freeman
hit into a double play, blah blah blah. But then
(04:45):
at the two fifty mark we get to the Blue
Jays and autressite. I'm a little bit surprised that Trey
Y Savage is still in this game, and then boom,
Max Munsey's at homers and the rest of the recap
is just good news and so and it's a fun
recap to watch because there was so much in that game,
starting with Munsies homer and then Miggi Rose homer, then
miggiy Rose play on defense and Smith like that play
(05:08):
at the plate where every time I watch it in
slow motion, it's like, there's no way he's gonna get
his toe backed out in time, and every time he does,
you know, and then the very next pitch, you know,
watching Pa has never taken his eye off the ball.
He's like, I don't care if he get gets in
the way, I'm gonna murder him, but I'm gonna catch
the ball. And then it flashes to Will Smith's home run,
and then it goes to Alejandro Kirk hitting into a
(05:31):
double play and Mookie Betts picking a great time to
make his best throw of the season. Like, you know,
he struggled with some easy throws this year, but that
one like running thrown across his body and just hit
Freddie right in the chest, no question about it. Boom.
That's the fun part of the off season of Christmas season,
when the season ends the right way, is that I've
(05:51):
got fun things to watch, you know, after the Dodgers
win the World Series, the offseason is actually a really
fun break from baseball.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
By break from baseball. You mean you you literally are
queuing up the highlights for Game seven and watching them
on a daily basis.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, I am. And you know when I say a
break from baseball, I'm a podcaster about the Dodgers, and
so I watch every Dodger game, every minute of every
Dodger game, and watching a three hour game and then
spending an hour podcasting and everything. My wife has become
a Dodger fan, but it's a lot for her. You know.
(06:31):
My kids love the Dodgers, but it's a lot for them.
And so, you know, spending seven minutes to actually, you know,
four and a half minutes because I skip the first
two minutes of fifty seconds to watch the recap every day,
it's like, okay, that's that's a nice little fix. And
even though I'm doing it every day, it is my
break from baseball.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
This the MLB highlights eight minutes or something like that.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Right, yeah, seven and a half, ten minutes something like that.
It's kind of funny the recap at Game seven doesn't
show the Dodgers first two runs because it's it shows
Bobaschat's home run and then next thing you see is
three to two. It's like, you know, a full minute
and a half on Bobaschat's home run, because it's like,
(07:12):
I know it was a big home run, but they
lost the game, you know, and so I don't know,
if I was putting it together, I might have taken
time to show all the runs that the winning team
scored and maybe cut down the Bobachett homer to forty
five seconds, you know, and maybe just but you know,
like I say, it makes it quicker because I can
just skip the first two minutes and fifty seconds.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And even though you know how it's going to end,
you still don't like to watch the bits where it
looks like the Dodgers aren't going to win.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
No, absolutely not. I am not interested in watching the
Blue Jays score runs. It's yeah, especially in that game,
because the good things that Dodgers did were just so remarkable.
Like Miguel rojas home run is still almost literally unbelievable,
(08:04):
Like I've seen I watched it happen live, and I've
watched it happen hundreds of times since then, and I
still am a little bit surprised every time. It's never
not going to be surprising that mague rohas hits that
home run, Monsi's homer, yeah, not surprising, awesome, but not surprising.
Will Smith's homer awesome, but not surprising. Magu ros home
run still surprising every time. And Joe Davis's call.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
No way.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
It's like Joe Davis is all of us that that's
what we were all thinking in that moment.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
No way, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Play off, drill, don't I field indepod good, no way,
mag Rojas.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
It's such a probably the most impactful home run in
Dodger's history. Yeah, when you factor everything in the game situation,
who hit all of those things? The Dodgers were potentially
two pitches away from losing the World Series. There was
two strikes on Rojas, and if I remember, had O
Toddy grounded out on the first pitch after the home run,
(09:13):
and so literally, if Rojas pops that pitch up one
pitch later, the Dodgers lose the World Series. The best
part is Dave Robert's reaction. His chewing tobacco just falls
out of his mouth and he puts his hand on
his head, and you can't even tell that he's happy
because he is in utter disbelief. And that's what all
(09:34):
of us were I was when I was watching it live.
I was with my wife and my two sons, and
like we were all just in shock. We know who
mcguil Rojas is, and we've been to games and we've
watched him in batting practice. The dude has some pop.
He's got five o'clock power. You know, hits a lot
of home runs in batting practice and you can see
him every once in a while. Turn on it and
(09:56):
you're like, okay, yeah, he's got some power. And I
actually that game, I actually had the thought when it
went to three and two on Mickey Row, my brain said,
you know, he's got power, and he knows he's getting
a strike, because there's no way they're going to walk
him in front of sho Heyo, Tawny, he's getting a strike. Now,
would be a good time for him to pretend it's
(10:18):
batting practice and just tiafo one. But then my brain
immediately told myself, shut up, you idiot, this is this
is real.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
This is.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah, of course that's not gonna happen. Like I had
already yelled at myself in my head, and then he
did it. And like even though the thought had crossed
my mind, I had immediately dismissed it because it was
such a dumb idea, and then it happens, and just
like it, that will never get old because for the
rest of my life, I will remember who and what
(10:52):
Miguel Rojas was when he hit that home run. He
is an injured, thirty thousand year old, six year old,
you know, light hitting utility infielder and hitting that home
run in that situation, It'll never get old. And then
(11:12):
you follow it up at the bottom of the ninth
where back to back pitches the Dodgers come within inches
of losing the World Series again like they were so
close to losing the World Series so many times, and
it's just it never gets old and again because all
the highlights are them doing great things. It's not Aaron
(11:35):
Judge dropping a routine fly ball and Anthony won't be
making an air and Garrett Cole forgetting to cover first.
It's not quite as satisfied, Like I would much rather
watch Freddy Freeman's Grand Slam, because that is a superhero
stepping up in a huge situation. At that point, that
was the biggest home run in Dodger's history. And the
fact that now Miguel Rojas has passed this up the
(11:55):
next year, you know, not a Grand Slam. You know,
didn't win the game in the moment. But you know,
Freddy Freeman, Dodgers probably win that World Series even if
he doesn't hit that Grand Slam. Kurk Gibson, Dodgers probably
win that World Series even if he doesn't hit that
home run. But Miggie Rose, the Dodgers literally lose the
World Series if he doesn't do that, and instead they
(12:17):
won the World Series. It's hard to beat that.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, the Kirk Gibson home run and then the Freddie
home run, both game won home runs. Yep, it's not
a do or die game. And then well, you know
we're strikes away from losing the game and the season.
You can't argue with that. Like, it definitely is a
much more impactful home run than either of those two.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, and that doesn't mean it's better, you know, Like,
and all three of them are baseball moments that I
will never get tired of watching. As those three home runs,
Miggie's was the most impactful. It was the biggest home
run in Dodger history, especially when you factor in who
was like Kirk Gibson was the MVP that year. Freddy
Freeman is Freddye Freeman. He's a Hall of Fame, right,
(13:01):
you know, this is mcgil Rojas. Mcgil Rojas has never
won an MVP. He never will. He's not gonna sniff
the Hall of Fame. But he's a Dodgers legend. You know,
near the end of his Dodgers career, we did find
out today he'll be back again next year with the Dodgers.
That's exciting in it. Yeah, even Dodgers resigned Meggi ro today. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Okay, wow, great, great. I mean I've kind of been
waiting for that to happen. What's the contract?
Speaker 3 (13:28):
One year, five and a half million dollars?
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Okay, he deserves every penny.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah, he's and you know, I'm thinking about the ring
ceremony next year on Opening Day and just the ovation
that mcguil rojas is going to get. And everybody's loved
migy ro anyway. He's he's been a fan favorite, and
like I said, partly because of what he did his
rookie year to save Clayton Kirkshaw's no hitter and the
(13:53):
role he's taken, the leadership role. Everybody loves Migil Rojas,
but he went from fan favorite to Dodgers legend on
November first of this year. And to do that at
age thirty six, like, it's one of those moments that
you can never predict. And for him, the way that
his life changed, it's you know, it didn't change him financially.
(14:17):
I doubt this contract is and is even a dollar
more than it would have been if he hadn't hit
that home run, But it changed his life because now
he is forever a Dodger legend. He's going to end up,
you know, inducted into the Dodgers Hall of Legends or
whatever they call it, just like Kirk Gibson was. Kirk
Gibson played what three seasons with the Dodgers and was
(14:39):
hurt for most of them, but he had that one
season and that one moment, and so he's a Dodgers legend.
And even when he was a grumpy Diamondbacks manager brawling
with the Dodgers, Kirk Gibson still a Dodgers legend. Miguel
Ross is forever a Dodger's legend now because of that
one moment. Yeah, part of this is he's all agreed
(15:00):
to a post playing role with the Dodgers in their
player developmentally. Yeah, so he is staying in the organization,
which is great. You know, Miggy row he is such
a good coach already, and so he's going to be
a great asset to the Dodgers. I'm glad he's staying
in the organization long term. Yeah. He had that stint
(15:22):
with the Marlins, and you know, if you looked at
his baseball statistics, the best part of his major league
baseball career came with the Marlins, but the most important
part came with the Dodgers at the beginning and the end.
And I'm glad he's going to be staying with the
Dodgers going forward.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
What else did you feel when you heard that he
was signed.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I wasn't surprised at all. It was a foregone conclusion,
like knowing he's only playing one more year, knowing the
role he fills and his comfort level in that role,
knowing that you want him in the organization after he's
done playing. It was there was never any doubt that
he was going to be back with the team. And
(16:01):
you know, they have three spots on the forty man roster,
so it's not like there was even any reason to
drag it out. Now they have two spots still on
the forty man roster, and so they can do whatever
they need to do, especially because I think they're going
to do more team building via trade than free agency
this offseason. Anyway, you know, it just made sense to
bring miggiy Roe back at some point, and why not now,
(16:22):
And so it was great news. I'm happy for him,
happy for the Dodgers, happy for us as fans that
we get one last hurrah. And like I said, I
can't wait to see the Dodger Stadium crowd embrace him
on Opening Day next year and give him all the
credit that he deserves for what he did in Game
(16:44):
seven of the World Series.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Absolutely, it's going to be a special moment. Yeah, Okay, great,
we got news to break. That's wonderful that there is
some news, because I mean, the whole context of this
conversation so far has been what do Dodger fans and
what do Dodgers' podcasters do in the off season.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I mentioned to you last year around this time I
was going back and catching up on your show because
it was a fun way to relive the twenty twenty
four World Series championship season. You know, I had listened
to your first couple episodes at the time that they
were out, and then I just between watching all the
games and then podcasting about it, I didn't have time
(17:28):
to listen.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
To your show the time, you know.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
But then once the season was over, like, this is
a fun way to relive the season, and so I
went back and listened to all your episodes. It's just
an excuse to look back and talk about what a
great season it was.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
No, that means a lot to me, and thank you
so much for listening. We'll be back with more after
a short break. Welcome back to the show. Well, that's wonderful.
(18:06):
You're gonna be fired up. I want to. Uh, I'm
gonna go watch it tonight, especially in light of the news.
But it's great that we have news, because we don't
have a lot of news this time of year, by
and large, and looking at the past couple of years,
even the hot stove stuff over the past couple seasons
has been potentially way more interesting. And then in the
(18:28):
case of both of the past couple off seasons, very
Dodgers centric, with Shohy being the biggest story of the
twenty twenty three to twenty four off season, and Yamamoto
probably second to him, and last year, you know, Roki
was pretty much the big thing to watch, right, they
were right right. This year kind of a quiet off
(18:52):
season overall in comparison, I would say, and then certainly
in Dodgers' land, like I feel like it's been very quiet, at.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Least so far. It has for sure, and you never
know the timing on these things, and every big free
agent is still going to be linked to the Dodgers.
There have been some pretty big like Dylan Cees signing
before ever being you know, rumored to be to Dodgers
being interested was an interesting development, but it also points
to the fact that Dylan Cee would be a fifth
(19:22):
or sixth starter on the Dodgers, and so it wouldn't
have made sense. Every agent in baseball knows that getting
somebody to report that the Dodgers are interested in their
client is good for business, and this offseason. Part of
the reason it's a little quieter, I think is because
no starting pitchers can realistically sell the idea that the
(19:46):
Dodgers are interested in them. You know, the only starting
pitchers the Dodgers might be interested in would be if
Ary Scougele or Paul Skeins would on the trading block
because those guys are upgrades to the Dodgers rotation. Because
they're upgrades everybody's rotation. Beyond that, there there aren't any
upgrades to the Dodger rotation available, and so that takes
an entire chunk of the free agent market out of
(20:07):
the conversation, out of the Dodgers conversation. But now we
do know Dodgers need an outfielder, and so Cody Bellinger
and Kyle Tucker and all these different outfielders, Yeah, they're
all going to get linked to the Dodgers. Oh yeah,
Dodger And we've seen it already, Scott Boris, Yeah, Cody
Billinger loved his time in Los Angeles and would be
(20:28):
opened to a reunion, except he said it in some
dumb alliterative way. Probably, uh, but you know that that's
gonna happen. They're gonna be everybody's going to be linked
to the Dodgers, and so there will be things to
talk about. But even then it's like it's rumors.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, but there's like not a ton else to look at,
you know. This week it's like Yamamoto went to a
Lakers game, you know, like that's like the big news
in Dodgers Land. Well until Miguel Ross is kind tract apparently, that.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Old saying about stare at the window and wait for spring. Yeah,
but also, you know, I've got a wife and three
kids who I love and I love spending time with them,
and I've got a good job that I enjoy being at.
And I say baseball is the most important, unimportant thing
in my life, and I try to keep that perspective that,
you know, I love baseball, and I am passionate about baseball,
(21:25):
but it always is in the category of unimportant things.
And part of the reason I love it is the
connection it gives me to the important things. You know,
When I think about Game seven, I think about the
fact that my wife and my two sons were sitting
there with me, you know, the connection to my family.
When I think about Max Mountsey's walk off home run
in the eighteenth inning in twenty eighteen, I think about
(21:46):
my two sons and my dad and my uncle who
I was at the game with, and you know, we
sat through the whole seven and a half hours, and
my youngest son was only seven years old, and when
the Red Sox tied the game, and I think it
was the eighth. He turned to me and said, Dad,
if it goes to extras, are we staying for the
whole game. I said, yeah, we're staying for the whole game,
you know. And I had to give him a pep
(22:07):
talk a couple times. And when it got to the
point where it was officially the longest World Series game
in history, then the boys were on board, and I
told them, I said, look, someday in the future, you're
going to be watching a World Series game and it'll
go to the twelfth Didning or whatever, and they'll pop
a graphic up on the screen that says, the longest
game in World Series history was Game three of the
(22:28):
twenty eighteen World Series. And you'll turn to whoever you're
with and you'll say, I was there, and I stayed
for the whole thing. Well, this year, game three of
the World Series, I was in California for my cousin's funeral,
which was the next day, and so I was watching
that game at my parents' house and my family was
at home, and my son, who's now my older son,
(22:49):
who's now eighteen, texted me and he said, Dad, it
just happened, and I said what he said. They popped
it up on the screen, saying the longest game in
history was Game three to the twenty eighteen World Series,
and he said, and Ryan and I turned and looked
at each other and said, I was there and I
stayed for the whole thing. And so yeah, those moments
like that's that's what's great about baseball.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Awesome, Jeff, Thank you so much. This was a real
joy for me, very fun.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Happy to do it. I love your show and a Jeff,
I think you're great at what you do, and so
I appreciate being here with you.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
No, that means a lot to me. Have a good night,
enjoy the highlights. Dodger Blue Dream is written and produced
by me Richard Parks, the third. My co host is
chef Wesley Avula. Original music in this episode by William
Ryan Fritch and by me. Please take a moment to
(23:54):
rate and review this show however you can, and really
appreciate that Dream is produced in partnership with Iheart's my
Quiltura podcast network. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Hey, everybody, welcome to the show. I'm Richard Parks. This
is Dodger Blue Dream. It's Friday, December fifth, twenty twenty five.
We're smack dab in the middle of the baseball off season.
The perfect time to do something I've been wanting to
do for a long time. Connect with one of my
(00:27):
favorite Dodgers content creators. As they say, Jeff Snyder.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
We recorded it.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
There we go.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We are often rolling.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
As Joe Davis says, I'm excited to connect. I'll always
associate you with what has been just such a great
era for Dodger baseball.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, and thank you, because, like I said, this is
a long time coming. You and I've been talking for
a year now about doing this, and so I'm glad
we were finally able to make it happen.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Jeff is a fellow Dodgers podcaster, one of the hosts
of Lockdown Dodgers up until recently this past summer when
he switched to the All Dodgers podcast. And I've always
considered Jeff to kind of be like just sort of
the quintessential ideal of what a podcaster on a given
(01:21):
topic should be, not a formally trained expert or broadcaster clearly,
but more of an every man who brings some really
insightful perspectives to what's going on with the Dodgers, and
obviously has been a lifelong fan. I thought that Jeff
could help me answer a question that I've been hearing
from a lot of people I know recently, which is,
(01:42):
what do you talk about on your baseball podcast during
the baseball off season. The answer to that question, plus
a little bit of off season baseball news in Dodgerland,
is what's on deck today. So stay tuned until after
the break when we bring you my conversation with Dodgers
(02:04):
podcaster Jeff Snyder. Just a chat, a podcast, Stay with us,
(02:26):
Welcome back to the show, and now, without further ado,
my chat with Dodgers podcaster Jeff Snyder. So it's December third, Wednesday,
December third. We just had Thanksgiving, We've got Christmas coming up.
If you looked at the calendar, we're about as far
away from baseball as you can get. I've noticed you
(02:48):
have this thing that you say about the calendar year.
The four seasons for.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
The four seasons are spring training, baseball season, Christmas season,
and January. And so yeah, basically as soon as the
Dodgers are done playing baseball for the year, it's Christmas
season for me. I'm listening to Christmas music and so yeah,
I mean, that's one of the worst parts of the
Dodgers getting eliminated early in the playoffs is that my
(03:16):
wife gets annoyed with me for listening to Christmas music
on October eleventh or whatever. But you know what, this year,
I mean, the season ended on November first, and so
November two was the start of Christmas season. And that's
kind of acceptable to a lot of people. When the
season ends the way it's supposed to, like it has
the last two years, we can bask in the glory.
My wife is just taken to smiling and nodding every
(03:40):
evening as I sit down and turn on my Apple
TV and go to them. We'll be up and go
and watch the recap of Game seven of the World Series.
That's the part of my daily routine. And you know,
and she sits there next to me and she'll she'll
play a lot. Oh, there's no way Miggy's going to
hit a home run, you know, And then he does
every time, and it's still shocking every time he does it.
(04:02):
But Yeah, it's like when you have happy memories, you
can enjoy it. And last year it was just Freddy's
Grand Slam that I watched over and over and over again,
plus the ninth inning of Game five of the World Series.
I didn't enjoy the fifth inning as much as most
people did. It was fun, but I like watching the
Dodgers sixteed, not the other team fail. And so yeah,
watching Bueller strikeout Verdugo to end that game, I watched
(04:24):
that a lot. The Freddy's Grand Slam, I watched a
ton and then I know exactly the second on this
recap of Game seven, it's like the first two minutes
and fifty seconds are you just skip them because it's oh,
Boobshit hit a three run homer, Oom boom, Freddy Freeman
hit into a double play, blah blah blah. But then
(04:45):
at the two fifty mark we get to the Blue
Jays and autressite. I'm a little bit surprised that Trey
Y Savage is still in this game, and then boom,
Max Munsey's at homers and the rest of the recap
is just good news and so and it's a fun
recap to watch because there was so much in that game,
starting with Munsies homer and then Miggi Rose homer, then
miggiy Rose play on defense and Smith like that play
(05:08):
at the plate where every time I watch it in
slow motion, it's like, there's no way he's gonna get
his toe backed out in time, and every time he does,
you know, and then the very next pitch, you know,
watching Pa has never taken his eye off the ball.
He's like, I don't care if he get gets in
the way, I'm gonna murder him, but I'm gonna catch
the ball. And then it flashes to Will Smith's home run,
and then it goes to Alejandro Kirk hitting into a
(05:31):
double play and Mookie Betts picking a great time to
make his best throw of the season. Like, you know,
he struggled with some easy throws this year, but that
one like running thrown across his body and just hit
Freddie right in the chest, no question about it. Boom.
That's the fun part of the off season of Christmas season,
when the season ends the right way, is that I've
(05:51):
got fun things to watch, you know, after the Dodgers
win the World Series, the offseason is actually a really
fun break from baseball.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
By break from baseball. You mean you you literally are
queuing up the highlights for Game seven and watching them
on a daily basis.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, I am. And you know when I say a
break from baseball, I'm a podcaster about the Dodgers, and
so I watch every Dodger game, every minute of every
Dodger game, and watching a three hour game and then
spending an hour podcasting and everything. My wife has become
a Dodger fan, but it's a lot for her. You know.
(06:31):
My kids love the Dodgers, but it's a lot for them.
And so, you know, spending seven minutes to actually, you know,
four and a half minutes because I skip the first
two minutes of fifty seconds to watch the recap every day,
it's like, okay, that's that's a nice little fix. And
even though I'm doing it every day, it is my
break from baseball.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
This the MLB highlights eight minutes or something like that.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Right, yeah, seven and a half, ten minutes something like that.
It's kind of funny the recap at Game seven doesn't
show the Dodgers first two runs because it's it shows
Bobaschat's home run and then next thing you see is
three to two. It's like, you know, a full minute
and a half on Bobaschat's home run, because it's like,
(07:12):
I know it was a big home run, but they
lost the game, you know, and so I don't know,
if I was putting it together, I might have taken
time to show all the runs that the winning team
scored and maybe cut down the Bobachett homer to forty
five seconds, you know, and maybe just but you know,
like I say, it makes it quicker because I can
just skip the first two minutes and fifty seconds.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And even though you know how it's going to end,
you still don't like to watch the bits where it
looks like the Dodgers aren't going to win.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
No, absolutely not. I am not interested in watching the
Blue Jays score runs. It's yeah, especially in that game,
because the good things that Dodgers did were just so remarkable.
Like Miguel rojas home run is still almost literally unbelievable,
(08:04):
Like I've seen I watched it happen live, and I've
watched it happen hundreds of times since then, and I
still am a little bit surprised every time. It's never
not going to be surprising that mague rohas hits that
home run, Monsi's homer, yeah, not surprising, awesome, but not surprising.
Will Smith's homer awesome, but not surprising. Magu ros home
run still surprising every time. And Joe Davis's call.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
No way.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
It's like Joe Davis is all of us that that's
what we were all thinking in that moment.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
No way, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Play off, drill, don't I field indepod good, no way,
mag Rojas.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
It's such a probably the most impactful home run in
Dodger's history. Yeah, when you factor everything in the game situation,
who hit all of those things? The Dodgers were potentially
two pitches away from losing the World Series. There was
two strikes on Rojas, and if I remember, had O
Toddy grounded out on the first pitch after the home run,
(09:13):
and so literally, if Rojas pops that pitch up one
pitch later, the Dodgers lose the World Series. The best
part is Dave Robert's reaction. His chewing tobacco just falls
out of his mouth and he puts his hand on
his head, and you can't even tell that he's happy
because he is in utter disbelief. And that's what all
(09:34):
of us were I was when I was watching it live.
I was with my wife and my two sons, and
like we were all just in shock. We know who
mcguil Rojas is, and we've been to games and we've
watched him in batting practice. The dude has some pop.
He's got five o'clock power. You know, hits a lot
of home runs in batting practice and you can see
him every once in a while. Turn on it and
(09:56):
you're like, okay, yeah, he's got some power. And I
actually that game, I actually had the thought when it
went to three and two on Mickey Row, my brain said,
you know, he's got power, and he knows he's getting
a strike, because there's no way they're going to walk
him in front of sho Heyo, Tawny, he's getting a strike. Now,
would be a good time for him to pretend it's
(10:18):
batting practice and just tiafo one. But then my brain
immediately told myself, shut up, you idiot, this is this
is real.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
This is.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah, of course that's not gonna happen. Like I had
already yelled at myself in my head, and then he
did it. And like even though the thought had crossed
my mind, I had immediately dismissed it because it was
such a dumb idea, and then it happens, and just
like it, that will never get old because for the
rest of my life, I will remember who and what
(10:52):
Miguel Rojas was when he hit that home run. He
is an injured, thirty thousand year old, six year old,
you know, light hitting utility infielder and hitting that home
run in that situation, It'll never get old. And then
(11:12):
you follow it up at the bottom of the ninth
where back to back pitches the Dodgers come within inches
of losing the World Series again like they were so
close to losing the World Series so many times, and
it's just it never gets old and again because all
the highlights are them doing great things. It's not Aaron
(11:35):
Judge dropping a routine fly ball and Anthony won't be
making an air and Garrett Cole forgetting to cover first.
It's not quite as satisfied, Like I would much rather
watch Freddy Freeman's Grand Slam, because that is a superhero
stepping up in a huge situation. At that point, that
was the biggest home run in Dodger's history. And the
fact that now Miguel Rojas has passed this up the
(11:55):
next year, you know, not a Grand Slam. You know,
didn't win the game in the moment. But you know,
Freddy Freeman, Dodgers probably win that World Series even if
he doesn't hit that Grand Slam. Kurk Gibson, Dodgers probably
win that World Series even if he doesn't hit that
home run. But Miggie Rose, the Dodgers literally lose the
World Series if he doesn't do that, and instead they
(12:17):
won the World Series. It's hard to beat that.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, the Kirk Gibson home run and then the Freddie
home run, both game won home runs. Yep, it's not
a do or die game. And then well, you know
we're strikes away from losing the game and the season.
You can't argue with that. Like, it definitely is a
much more impactful home run than either of those two.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yeah, and that doesn't mean it's better, you know, Like,
and all three of them are baseball moments that I
will never get tired of watching. As those three home runs,
Miggie's was the most impactful. It was the biggest home
run in Dodger history, especially when you factor in who
was like Kirk Gibson was the MVP that year. Freddy
Freeman is Freddye Freeman. He's a Hall of Fame, right,
(13:01):
you know, this is mcgil Rojas. Mcgil Rojas has never
won an MVP. He never will. He's not gonna sniff
the Hall of Fame. But he's a Dodgers legend. You know,
near the end of his Dodgers career, we did find
out today he'll be back again next year with the Dodgers.
That's exciting in it. Yeah, even Dodgers resigned Meggi ro today. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Okay, wow, great, great. I mean I've kind of been
waiting for that to happen. What's the contract?
Speaker 3 (13:28):
One year, five and a half million dollars?
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Okay, he deserves every penny.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah, he's and you know, I'm thinking about the ring
ceremony next year on Opening Day and just the ovation
that mcguil rojas is going to get. And everybody's loved
migy ro anyway. He's he's been a fan favorite, and
like I said, partly because of what he did his
rookie year to save Clayton Kirkshaw's no hitter and the
(13:53):
role he's taken, the leadership role. Everybody loves Migil Rojas,
but he went from fan favorite to Dodgers legend on
November first of this year. And to do that at
age thirty six, like, it's one of those moments that
you can never predict. And for him, the way that
his life changed, it's you know, it didn't change him financially.
(14:17):
I doubt this contract is and is even a dollar
more than it would have been if he hadn't hit
that home run, But it changed his life because now
he is forever a Dodger legend. He's going to end up,
you know, inducted into the Dodgers Hall of Legends or
whatever they call it, just like Kirk Gibson was. Kirk
Gibson played what three seasons with the Dodgers and was
(14:39):
hurt for most of them, but he had that one
season and that one moment, and so he's a Dodgers legend.
And even when he was a grumpy Diamondbacks manager brawling
with the Dodgers, Kirk Gibson still a Dodgers legend. Miguel
Ross is forever a Dodger's legend now because of that
one moment. Yeah, part of this is he's all agreed
(15:00):
to a post playing role with the Dodgers in their
player developmentally. Yeah, so he is staying in the organization,
which is great. You know, Miggy row he is such
a good coach already, and so he's going to be
a great asset to the Dodgers. I'm glad he's staying
in the organization long term. Yeah. He had that stint
(15:22):
with the Marlins, and you know, if you looked at
his baseball statistics, the best part of his major league
baseball career came with the Marlins, but the most important
part came with the Dodgers at the beginning and the end.
And I'm glad he's going to be staying with the
Dodgers going forward.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
What else did you feel when you heard that he
was signed.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I wasn't surprised at all. It was a foregone conclusion,
like knowing he's only playing one more year, knowing the
role he fills and his comfort level in that role,
knowing that you want him in the organization after he's
done playing. It was there was never any doubt that
he was going to be back with the team. And
(16:01):
you know, they have three spots on the forty man roster,
so it's not like there was even any reason to
drag it out. Now they have two spots still on
the forty man roster, and so they can do whatever
they need to do, especially because I think they're going
to do more team building via trade than free agency
this offseason. Anyway, you know, it just made sense to
bring miggiy Roe back at some point, and why not now,
(16:22):
And so it was great news. I'm happy for him,
happy for the Dodgers, happy for us as fans that
we get one last hurrah. And like I said, I
can't wait to see the Dodger Stadium crowd embrace him
on Opening Day next year and give him all the
credit that he deserves for what he did in Game
(16:44):
seven of the World Series.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Absolutely, it's going to be a special moment. Yeah, Okay, great,
we got news to break. That's wonderful that there is
some news, because I mean, the whole context of this
conversation so far has been what do Dodger fans and
what do Dodgers' podcasters do in the off season.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I mentioned to you last year around this time I
was going back and catching up on your show because
it was a fun way to relive the twenty twenty
four World Series championship season. You know, I had listened
to your first couple episodes at the time that they
were out, and then I just between watching all the
games and then podcasting about it, I didn't have time
(17:28):
to listen.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
To your show the time, you know.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
But then once the season was over, like, this is
a fun way to relive the season, and so I
went back and listened to all your episodes. It's just
an excuse to look back and talk about what a
great season it was.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
No, that means a lot to me, and thank you
so much for listening. We'll be back with more after
a short break. Welcome back to the show. Well, that's wonderful.
(18:06):
You're gonna be fired up. I want to. Uh, I'm
gonna go watch it tonight, especially in light of the news.
But it's great that we have news, because we don't
have a lot of news this time of year, by
and large, and looking at the past couple of years,
even the hot stove stuff over the past couple seasons
has been potentially way more interesting. And then in the
(18:28):
case of both of the past couple off seasons, very
Dodgers centric, with Shohy being the biggest story of the
twenty twenty three to twenty four off season, and Yamamoto
probably second to him, and last year, you know, Roki
was pretty much the big thing to watch, right, they
were right right. This year kind of a quiet off
(18:52):
season overall in comparison, I would say, and then certainly
in Dodgers' land, like I feel like it's been very quiet, at.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Least so far. It has for sure, and you never
know the timing on these things, and every big free
agent is still going to be linked to the Dodgers.
There have been some pretty big like Dylan Cees signing
before ever being you know, rumored to be to Dodgers
being interested was an interesting development, but it also points
to the fact that Dylan Cee would be a fifth
(19:22):
or sixth starter on the Dodgers, and so it wouldn't
have made sense. Every agent in baseball knows that getting
somebody to report that the Dodgers are interested in their
client is good for business, and this offseason. Part of
the reason it's a little quieter, I think is because
no starting pitchers can realistically sell the idea that the
(19:46):
Dodgers are interested in them. You know, the only starting
pitchers the Dodgers might be interested in would be if
Ary Scougele or Paul Skeins would on the trading block
because those guys are upgrades to the Dodgers rotation. Because
they're upgrades everybody's rotation. Beyond that, there there aren't any
upgrades to the Dodger rotation available, and so that takes
an entire chunk of the free agent market out of
(20:07):
the conversation, out of the Dodgers conversation. But now we
do know Dodgers need an outfielder, and so Cody Bellinger
and Kyle Tucker and all these different outfielders, Yeah, they're
all going to get linked to the Dodgers. Oh yeah,
Dodger And we've seen it already, Scott Boris, Yeah, Cody
Billinger loved his time in Los Angeles and would be
(20:28):
opened to a reunion, except he said it in some
dumb alliterative way. Probably, uh, but you know that that's
gonna happen. They're gonna be everybody's going to be linked
to the Dodgers, and so there will be things to
talk about. But even then it's like it's rumors.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, but there's like not a ton else to look at,
you know. This week it's like Yamamoto went to a
Lakers game, you know, like that's like the big news
in Dodgers Land. Well until Miguel Ross is kind tract apparently, that.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Old saying about stare at the window and wait for spring. Yeah,
but also, you know, I've got a wife and three
kids who I love and I love spending time with them,
and I've got a good job that I enjoy being at.
And I say baseball is the most important, unimportant thing
in my life, and I try to keep that perspective that,
you know, I love baseball, and I am passionate about baseball,
(21:25):
but it always is in the category of unimportant things.
And part of the reason I love it is the
connection it gives me to the important things. You know,
When I think about Game seven, I think about the
fact that my wife and my two sons were sitting
there with me, you know, the connection to my family.
When I think about Max Mountsey's walk off home run
in the eighteenth inning in twenty eighteen, I think about
(21:46):
my two sons and my dad and my uncle who
I was at the game with, and you know, we
sat through the whole seven and a half hours, and
my youngest son was only seven years old, and when
the Red Sox tied the game, and I think it
was the eighth. He turned to me and said, Dad,
if it goes to extras, are we staying for the
whole game. I said, yeah, we're staying for the whole game,
you know. And I had to give him a pep
(22:07):
talk a couple times. And when it got to the
point where it was officially the longest World Series game
in history, then the boys were on board, and I
told them, I said, look, someday in the future, you're
going to be watching a World Series game and it'll
go to the twelfth Didning or whatever, and they'll pop
a graphic up on the screen that says, the longest
game in World Series history was Game three of the
(22:28):
twenty eighteen World Series. And you'll turn to whoever you're
with and you'll say, I was there, and I stayed
for the whole thing. Well, this year, game three of
the World Series, I was in California for my cousin's funeral,
which was the next day, and so I was watching
that game at my parents' house and my family was
at home, and my son, who's now my older son,
(22:49):
who's now eighteen, texted me and he said, Dad, it
just happened, and I said what he said. They popped
it up on the screen, saying the longest game in
history was Game three to the twenty eighteen World Series,
and he said, and Ryan and I turned and looked
at each other and said, I was there and I
stayed for the whole thing. And so yeah, those moments
like that's that's what's great about baseball.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Awesome, Jeff, Thank you so much. This was a real
joy for me, very fun.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Happy to do it. I love your show and a Jeff,
I think you're great at what you do, and so
I appreciate being here with you.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
No, that means a lot to me. Have a good night,
enjoy the highlights. Dodger Blue Dream is written and produced
by me Richard Parks, the third. My co host is
chef Wesley Avula. Original music in this episode by William
Ryan Fritch and by me. Please take a moment to
(23:54):
rate and review this show however you can, and really
appreciate that Dream is produced in partnership with Iheart's my
Quiltura podcast network. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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