Andre Ethier (5-11-23)

Dave talks to former Dodger Andre Ethier.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Do you know, since we've lostthe great Tommula Sorta and Vince Scully,
we need ambassadors for the Dodgers tocarry the torch. And he has certainly
done that in his own way,in a great way. He only played
for the Dodgers in his major leaguecareer twelve years career, two eighty five
average, Gold Glove Award winner,All Star and a champion of the people,

(00:22):
and such a great Dodger ambassador thathe has stepped away from his beloved
Phoenix Suns playoff game to join usto talk to you on Dodger Talk.
That is the great Andre Ethier dreDay on M five seventy LA Sports.
How'd you like that intro? Ilove it. I think it's it's a

(00:43):
little over the top here for anoff day, but yeah, we'll take
it. No way, man,that is not over the top. And
that's actually something that you know,just thinking about this during our upbringing,
Tommula Sorda and Vince Scully certainly wereguys that really love of the Dodgers and
in their own way really made peoplefall in love with the brand. And

(01:04):
you certainly have done that in yourown way. Is that something that you
that you cherish that you can bethat next generation of you know, the
Tommy Lasorda kind of guy. Well, I don't think it's starting off those
two names right there, Tommy andVin. I don't think anyone ever replaced
him or replicate you know what thosecontribute to the to the Dodger uh you

(01:30):
know brand and the daughter franchise andeverything like that. But uh yeah,
I mean you see it. Youget a chance to play in and you'll
arguably the best uh you know,franchise and Major League Baseball and and I
know for a fact the best fansin all of Major League Baseball, and
you uh, you know, wantto be someone who can still give back

(01:51):
and contribute even when you're done playing. And you know, it's it's great
just to be back in the communityanytime I get to be back in LA
being the stadium, be around thecity and just be a part of the
organization. Well, you're a bigpart of it, even though you haven't
played in a few years. Whenyou played, though Dodgers Padres was not

(02:12):
as hyped up as it is thesedays. What did you think about what
went on in San Diego last weekend? I think I think it was.
You know, it's nice. It'sgood for baseball, it's good for for
the NL West. It's good toadd another team. We always know that
the Giants Dodgers rivalry will always bethere. It's been there since the start

(02:34):
back in New York, and itnaturally came out West all those years ago,
and it you know, had itsmoments all those times. You know,
the Podres organization, as I guess, come up on their own.
I still don't believe or see anythingthey say or do down there. You
know, that's just me being aDodger player who played against them and and

(02:58):
now from seeing the other side.So I think it's a good team,
but I can be with everyone else. I do not like san Diego,
I do not like Padre. Isnot like anything about it. You never
felt like that series was a bigseries. Are you surprised the way that
the intensity has been dialed up overthe course of the last couple of years.

(03:21):
I think third ownership group, Ithink they're marketing. I think everyone
has done a really good job toyou know, make the Dodgers, you
know, to be out the evilteam or whatever they want to say and
do. And I guess that happenswhen for thirteen short someone someone said that
person. I ran too, agentleman from San Diego a couple of months

(03:44):
ago, and he said, forthirteen or you know whatever many years you
played, you came down your teamcame down to San Diego and kicked our
butts all the time. So that'sthe kind I guess that's the type of
resentment. And you have towards theDodgers when that's happened for generation of fans,

(04:05):
you know, growing up and beinga fan there, you don't like
that team in LA because you haven'thad much success against them. Andre Ethier
is our guest, and Andre,you can appreciate this. When it comes
to some of the younger Dodgers,especially James Outman. He was never highly
recruited out of high school. Hewas never made that number one prospect or

(04:30):
even top ten Dodger prospect that gotthat got hyped up. He had to
even fight to make the team thisyear, and here he is one of
the best rookies in Major League Baseball. What have you seen from him that
you appreciate? And do you seeany of yourself? And James Outman as
far as the way he's come up. I think it's just all that opportunity.

(04:50):
And you know everyone's waiting their opportunities. Some guys are are given a
little sooner, given a little easyroad, you know, it's all you
know, harder road, whatever.But it's just whenever you get your opportunity,
you have to show up and showout. And you know that's what
he's done. And uh, Ithink you gotta give him a lot of
credit for you know, staying headstrong, for staying ready for that chance to

(05:15):
get up there and do it.And he's taken full advantage of it,
and he's become you know, apretty uh you know, important part and
important player in that lineup, youknow, both offensively defensively. And you
know we've seen over this course theyear, he's won a few games already
in his you know short uh youknow, stint with the team here,
and you know you like to seehim, uh, you know, keep

(05:38):
progressing and figure out a way tobe a mainstay in this lineup. And
you know that's the great thing aboutthis organization is you know, the quality
and the depth you have top tobottom through the whole thing. And you
know, you know I came up. You guys you know who started coming
up after you, and then youhave the guys now are coming up after
them, and it just shows youthat, you know, this team's loaded

(06:00):
from top to bottom, you know, not only on the Major Leaue roster,
but in the depth, and there'splayers in there, and there's diamonds
in the rough, and this isone you know right there, you see
so far. But you know,at the same time, it's it's a
long year and you know that,and you know, you just hope,
like I said, he keeps goingout there, progressing and you know,

(06:21):
finds his place, finds his footand can be a Major leaguer for a
lot of years to come. You'vetaught me a lot just being around you
when you were playing. And theone thing that always stuck out to me
that you told me was every yearis unique to itself. It's not just
because you had a great year lastyear. It doesn't mean you're gonna come
back with that same feel as ahitter or a pitcher. How do you

(06:43):
find that? And right now,I don't think Freddie Freeman has found it,
and I certainly don't think Mooky Bettshas found it yet. Yeah,
but I think those guys have abig enough track record. I think thause
guys have a big enough success,you know, to see that they know
how to come out of things,They know how to you know, have
tough starts, have hot starts.You know, I want to coach we

(07:05):
had over the years, you wouldalways say, you know, it's when
you have that sample size, thelaws of average always seem to come out
and play out the same way.Might be a little little bit less,
might be a little bit more,but they're always around where you're used to.
Especially those guys, those the trackrecords of the years they have underneath
them, the sample size you have, I think you know they're going to

(07:29):
end up right around where they're youknow, historical average has been for their
career. And not to say theywon't or they will, but you know
that's what you rely on. Steadyveteran big time players like them, who
are you know, arguably the best, you know, some of the best
that they're positioned and in what theydo, and you know to rely on

(07:49):
them, and you know it's fillingin the gaps and around them that you
take the pressure off and can sometimesfeel a void when those guys are not
playing their best if you that supportsstaff around you, which this team is
starting to shape up to looks likeit does. You know, you're not
missing them as much when they're goingto this little, you know, rough
patch to start the year, andI guess they may get they may get

(08:11):
more hits because there's not a shiftanymore. How envious are you of these
hitters now that don't have three orfour guys on the right side of the
infield. Yeah, it's you know, it's it's it's been a time in
a long time in the game,right It's it's one where you know,
so much of parts of the game, some of the nuances, some of

(08:35):
these parts made you know, fansenjoyable for you know, and having an
advantage of being a left handed hitter, you know, taking away from the
game because of some of the statisticalanalysis that we're looked upon, you know,
and we're used in its advantage,and you know, it's it's nice

(08:56):
to see that the teams are finallymaking an adjustment and uh, you know
in the league's making adjustment to putthe teams and the players and allow them
to have their strengths out there.And I think we talked about this earlier
in the winter, right you rememberwhat you said, Well, I don't

(09:16):
know, you know, it's apart of the game, and does this
And I said, well, aright hander gets rewarded for rolling over a
ball into the hole because there's notmany shortstops and not not many slov runners
who are gonna get thrown out fromshallow left field on a ball to first
base. Left he does the samething, hits a ball in the hole
and in a second base that makesall they can still get up and make

(09:39):
the play. So you know,you can shift someone. You can shift
a power pulling right hand or overput the second basement as short and the
short stop in in uh third,you know our behind in short left field
and uh you know he's not goingto throw the guy run out the first
base, So you know, Iguess there's so many camps in that department

(10:03):
that go back and forth. AndI do the same thing, Like,
Hey, if I was a managerand I'm running by defense, I would
want every advantage I have against thehitter if I knew that these were the
best odds to get them out.But then I'm on offense and I think
the other way around. So youknow, you go back and forth,
and I can understand why, youknow, it's still a hot topic,

(10:24):
but I think it's good for thegame. And you can see how you
know, a simple base hit stufflike that by left hander can can you
know, be a more effective inthe game now. Andre Ethier's thirty game
hitting streak happened last week in twentyten, and it was the anniversary of
it coming to an end. Ifthere was no shift with that hitting streak

(10:46):
have gone on. I can't rememberthe exact outs and all that of that
game, but do you think itwould have been extended without a shift?
No, because I actually I thinkI remember a couple of them during like
the ninth or tenth one where Ihad a fisted ball right over the pitcher's
head towards the second basement, andif he wasn't shifted, he probably would

(11:09):
he played on it and got youout at first though maybe the shift helped
me out a little bit. Butyeah, you never know. You can
see you like, you know,guys who've maybe struggled or had a little
bit of a of a time havingthat extra base hit that might you know,
like a month see like a likea bell as your guys We've seen
over the course of you know,a lot of years who've had that extra

(11:30):
base hit taken away from them.You can see how just getting that one
or two extra hits a week bythat hard hit ground ball through you know,
first and second kind of just liftsthem up a little bit more,
lifts up you know, their averagesand list up everything in their game.
And you know that was the onething that would point out right away is
the left hander who can hit adecent velocity. Uh, you know,

(11:56):
ball through that hole is going tobe that much more valuable now. And
I know the Sun's game is goingon, Dre. So I have just
a couple of more questions for you. Last night in Atlanta, your former
teammate Kenley Jansen recorded his four hundredthsave of his career. You were on
the team when he recorded his firstsave. Did you ever believe or imagine

(12:18):
that this guy that used to bea catcher turned into a relief pitcher it
would become one of seven pitchers tohave four hundredth saves, Yes or no?
Right? Like? It was thefunny thing where, you know,
I knew Kenley as a catcher andknew him all, you know, those
first couple of years when he youknow, got into the Dodgers organization in

(12:39):
spring training at Arrow Beach and he'scatching and you know, you like,
you make fun of it now becausehe's a you know, a top ten
closure of all time. But literally, you know, he couldn't he couldn't
hit water sitting in if he fellout the boat, you know, that
type of that type of hitter.So he had this unbelievable arm, and
they you know, he disappeared.I remember even I think it was in

(13:01):
two thousand and eight or nine,that was the last time I kind of
saw him, you know, ashe started his transformation into pitching, and
then all of a sudden, youknow, they're in what it was in
two thousand and ten, he's comingup yea and closing a game for us,
and you know, over you know, those first step, first year,
two three, you never know howthings were gonna end up. But

(13:22):
at the end of my career,yeah, you know, you were playing
with one of the best closers ofour generation, one of the best closers
of you know now, of alltime, and a guy I kind of
looked up after he had that lastnight and I mean he has a little
did him a chance to sneak intotop five by this year and if something

(13:43):
else happens, he's going to behe can has a chance to be the
top four safe leaders by the endof the season, but in this year,
and that's a pretty special place tobe. And when you look at
those names on there, and ifhe has another two three years in him,
you know, I don't think hecatches you know, the top two
guys, but he's gonna disk himselfnumber three for you know, quite of

(14:05):
ways. Because what is what isuh Trevor at six six, him and
Mariana are up there. I don'tthink that's happening. Yeah, I mean
right like, I'm not saying hedidn't do it, but does he have
what is that that takes what fivemore years to get to at a at
a thirty to forty year clip ourthirty to forty save a year clip right

(14:26):
there, which is elite of elite. I think he got forty one last
year. That was that's pretty unbelievable. And I don't see why with the
stuff he's bringing this year, hecan't get forty again this year. Yeah.
Trevor Hoffman six hundred and one career, says Mariano's six hundred and fifty
two and mister Lee Smith had fourhundred and seventy eight. He was third

(14:48):
all time and saves hey out,did they see him? Hey, hey,
Dave, I definitely see him getinto four seventy eight. I think
that's gonna reach now if you playright, If he plays two or three
more years, I think that's deathonly a reachable, reachable number for him.
If he plays two or three moreyears. You never know how things
go up, you know how thingsgo down over these next couple of years.

(15:09):
But I mean, he for noparticular reason, doesn't seem like he's
you know, slowing down any bitmore than any other. And let's just
can surely say thirty five in thenext two after this year and you know
you're knocking on the door or seventyeight, Yeah, good point. He
was throwing ninety nine last night inthe nineteen that's right, right. Forty

(15:31):
puts him at like four thirty thisyear, four four, four thirty five.
And you're, like I said,you had sixty on top of that,
and you're right at four seventy creeping. You're right, you're better at
math than I am. That's athat's a good point by you. Hey,
Victor, I know you're a littleslow on the tay. I know

(15:52):
you're a little slow on there.You have a lot of things going on.
I do not that much. It'sjust a lot of crickets. But
hey, Victor Brick just texts me. He told me to send his love
to you. Andre. I Imiss Vic and I hope he's doing well.
I know he's probably gearing up forthat Lakers game there tomorrow, and
what a what a what a treatto see you know, that team and

(16:17):
the way they're playing right now.Yeah. Hey, all your years in
Phoenix, your adult years, youever run into Charles Barkley. Uh?
No, I've not seen Charles.Uh you know, I think he's always
in that being set all the time. He just lives in Atlanta, now,
I guess. And that yeah,and lives on that set. Hey.

(16:37):
By the way, I want tosay this before you go, Dodger
fans will be going out to DodgersStadium all weekend long. You can get
the Andre Ethier walk off Blonde TarantulaHill beer at Dodgers Stadium. You go
out to the center Field Plaza,you go to any of those IPA places
that sell all those beers, andyou could get a pretty cool can that

(17:00):
Andre designed for the Andre Ethier Walkoff Blonte, so fans will be enjoying
that this weekend while the Dodgers whoopedthat padres. You know what, boom,
there we go, let's do it. And yeah, for sure,
I know, big series this weekend. You know, I think it's they
did a great job last week andputting those guys back to the place,

(17:21):
and I think each time you canshow up and and win the series from
those guys. I think it,you know, just takes a little bit
of confidence that they gained by winningthat playoff series last year. All right,
well, we'll hope to see youout here soon. Andre. You
take care of yourself out there inthe desert. Be safe, all right,
thanks Dave. There he goes AndreEthier.