Dodger Talk (7-27-23)

Off-day Dodger Talk with David Vassegh broadcasting live from the Blue Carpet at Dodger Stadium for Clayton Kershaw's Ping Pong for Purpose Tournament.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Off Day Dodger Talk DavidVasse live at Dodgers Stadium from the Kershaw's
Challenge Ping Pong for purpose, agreat cause here at Dodger Stadium. Ellen
and Clayton mostly Ellen put on agreat event here at Dodger Stadium on an
annual basis, always a great vibehere. Our guy and a loyal listener.

(00:20):
Brad Paisley is on the Blue carpetright now. He'll be heading over
our way. And the big questionof the night is not whether or not
Nolan Ernado will be a Dodger,but whether or not Clayton Kershaw will join
us before eight o'clock. But hewill, he will not, But Brad
Paisley might right if you're lucky.If you're lucky, I'll be right back.

(00:42):
Where are you going. I'm goingto say hi to Clayton, and
then I'm gonna try to talk himinto doing your show, which he won't
do. Okay, sounds good.I need all the help I could get.
Brad Paisley out here supporting the Kershaws, a close personal friend of the
family. He'll be coming back aswell. We are taking phone calls live
from the bol Blue car here atKershaw's Challenge Ping Pong for purpose. Eight

(01:03):
six six nine eight seven two fiveseventy. The Dodgers will be back in
action tomorrow night here at Dodgers Stadiumwith the Cincinnati All right, sounds good,
Bratt, I'll be waiting for youanyway. The Dodgers are back in
action tomorrow night against the Cincinnati Reds, and Ellie de la Cruise is going

(01:23):
to be in Los Angeles for thefirst time in his career. He is
the explosive young superstar for the CincinnatiReds. If you don't have tickets to
any one of these three games,you want to be here for this show.
And obviously I know you want theDodgers to win, but you can
have both worlds in this situation.You can have the Dodgers win the series

(01:46):
but also be entertained by one ofthe most exciting players in Major League Baseball.
Ellie de la Cruise. Eight sixsix nine eight seven two five seventy
is the phone number right now.The blue carpet is a little quiet.
A lot of media here as theyawait all the Dodger players to come through.

(02:06):
I do have some of the matchupsfor the Ping pong tables and some
of the teammates which I think willinterest you. I thought like a couple
of these teammates were interesting. Numberone, a couple of former Lakers are
going to be reunited on the pingpong table tonight. Derek Fisher and Metalworld
Peace are going to be teammates,and the host of the event, Clayton

(02:29):
Kershaw is obviously going to be joinedby his catcher, Austin Barnes. That's
right, shocker, right, KershawnAustin Barnes teammates. Yep, that's the
tag team duo. Our guy WillSmith has been paired with all star catcher
Will Smith. And it's interesting howKershawn Barnes have gotten a first round by

(02:52):
they're one of three teams that havebeen advanced to the second round. JD
Martinez, my guy with a deadFish and Shake has advanced to the second
round for some reason with Casey Afflack, So JD Martinez, they're trying to
really win him over and show himHollywood. They paired him up with Casey

(03:14):
Afflack and he's going to be advancingto the second round for some reason.
Gifted the second round like a trueDH being gifted by in the first round.
A couple of other people that I'mlooking at, those are the ones
that really stood out to me.Bobby Miller, Bobby Ice, and Emmet
Shean are gonna be teammates together,so that's really cool. Those two young

(03:38):
rookies have meant a lot to theDodgers in the rotation and certainly very coveted
players. As we get closer tothe August first trade deadline, I'm not
sure if the Dodgers are willing topart with one of those guys or both
of those guys, but I'm hopingthey find a way to pull off a

(03:58):
trade without having to give up BobbyMiller. From what I understand, they
don't want to really do that,but we'll see how it goes. And
look, Jorge Castillo from the LaTimes really validated me because he basically reported
everything that I talked about after thegame last night. When it came to
Nolan Eronado, Nolan Eronado will onlywave his no trade clause for the Dodgers.

(04:25):
Now. It still remains to beseen whether or not the Saint Louis
Cardinals trade Eronado, but they areopen to listening to offers for Nolan Eronado
from the Dodgers, because that's theonly team that I've been told Eronado would
wave his no trade clause. Forwhat are the Cardinals looking for. They're

(04:46):
looking for young, controllable pitching thatwould be ready this year and more importantly
next year, because they feel likethey smell blood in the water in that
division and they want to compete nextyear. But if Nolan Erinado wants to
be traded and the only team thathe wants to be traded to is the
Dodgers, the Cardinals still don't haveto trade him. He's under contract for

(05:11):
five more years. He opted intofive more years with the Cardinals. They
don't have to trade him. Buthow are the Cardinals going to rebuild by
selling off rentals like Jordan Montgomery andJack Flaherty. It's not going to happen.
So the only way to really getsomething going would be to trade either

(05:31):
Paul Goldschmidt or Nolan Erinado and theDodgers. Obviously, I've had interest in
Eronado for a number of years.This is probably the last chance Nolan Erinado
has to play for the Dodgers.He's thirty two years old, five more
years left on his contract. Idon't see another window of this happening,

(05:55):
and I won't say it's going tohappen, because obviously, no deal's done
until it's done. As Nick Collettiwould say, Hey, the deal's not
done, all right, until it'sdone, it's not done. But are
talking. The Cardinals want young pitching. The Dodgers don't want to have to
give up a guy like Bobby Miller. But because of the trades they made

(06:15):
with Kei ka Hernandez and med Rosariocoming into the Dodgers, now they're in
a point of position to trade fromdepth. They now have two right handed
hitters that can play shortstop, andKik Now can play basically anywhere on the
field, so they have the piecesto trade for Nolan Arronado. We'll see

(06:39):
whether or not that happens, becauseI've been told the only team Nolan Arronado
would wave as no trade clause foris the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team
he grew up rooting for from ElToro High School. But the Cardinals want
young, controllable pitching. I wouldhope the Dodgers do not give up my
guy, Bobby Ice Bobby Miller,one of the smartest players on the team.

(07:03):
Eight six six nine, eight seventwo five seventy is the phone number
his baseball I you off the charts. Not sure whether or not he can
name all fifty states. But he'smy guy, Bobby Miller, all my
life. They've been trying to keepme down. I'm on board with him.
So the Dodgers and Cardinals talking.Dodgers and White Sox also talking for

(07:27):
a possible trade to bring back MariachiJoe Kelly. That's been in the works
for a month. Joe Kelly wantsback in We'll see whether or not that
happens. Also, Lance Lynn hasbeen rumored to be part of trade talks
between the Dodgers and White Sox.An interesting name that really hasn't been mentioned
too often is Jonathan India. Withthe Cincinnati Reds coming into town, he's

(07:49):
a big part of their clubhouse,but he can be had for the right
trade. He's under control for threemore years and we'll see whether or not
that happens or not. But theReds are in town. The Reds have
a lot of young infielders that they'relooking to get playing time for, so
we'll see whether or not they're interestedin trading India, who was the Rookie

(08:16):
of the Year three years ago butobviously is losing playing time to Ellie de
la Cruz, to Matt McClain andto those guys out there. Eight six
six nine eight seven two five seventyis the phone number. We're gonna take
a time out here on Dodger Talk. When we come back, your phone
calls and we'll see whether or notthe players start showing up. This event
is started to get a little bitmore filled, and we're just waiting for

(08:41):
some of the celebs and Dodger playersto arrive and we'll grab them when they
come by. If you've listened tothe show and the years prior, don't
expect too much from me. Ifeel like the expectations are very low.
But you and me are here liveat Dodgers Stadium until eight o'clock right here
five seventy LA Sports being from ClaytonKershaw's ping Pong for purpose. A lot

(09:05):
of big boosters from Saint John Boscohave arrived here at Dodgers Stadium. Highly
touted trainer for the Dodgers, PossumNakajima with his son has arrived here.
Not sure if his son is tallerthan Austin Barnes, but it's getting close.
Eight six six nine, eight seventwo five seventy is the phone number,
by the way, biggest upset ofthe night. Yeah, Austin Barnes

(09:28):
and Clayton Kershaw are teammates. Whata surprise, right, Barnes is going
nowhere. He is not going anywhere. I mean the athletic trying to trade
my guy, Austin Barnes. That'sembarrassing. The guy has one hundred at
bats. You're gonna judge him offa hundred at bats. He's got the
softest minos in baseball. Eight sixsix nine eight seven two five seventy is

(09:52):
the phone number we were talking about. Nolan Erronado. The talks are ongoing,
and thank you. The talks areongoing, and we'll see whether or
not it comes to fruition. Iknow people in Saint Louis are in denial,
obviously so, but whether or notthey want to accept it or not.
The Cardinals, from what I've beentold, are open to hearing what

(10:13):
the Dodgers have to offer for NolanArronado. It still remains to be seen
whether or not that satisfies them,but the talks are going on and we'll
see what happens from there. TheDodgers are in the market for starting pitching
and we'll see whether or not they'reable to pull that off. Lancelin,
Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, allthose names are out there. The Dodgers

(10:35):
are very active and these trades,like I said in the last two days,
Jika Hernandez and Amid Rosario, it'snot just about those two individuals.
Yes, they will help the Dodgersagainst lefties and give them more versatility,
but it's also about being able totrade from a position of depth. If
they need to include a player likeChris Taylor in a trade for Nolan are

(11:00):
Nado along with young pitching, theyhave that flexibility. Now, now I'm
not saying I want to see ChrisTaylor go anywhere, but if you have
an opportunity to get Nolan Erronado,I'm doing what it takes to push the
chips in. And let's not forgetChris Taylor is not a cheap player anymore.
He's making a sizeable salary that couldhelp offset Eronado's salary. Moving forward,

(11:24):
eight six six nine eight seven twofive seventy is the phone number now.
Yesterday, Kika Hernandez made his returnto the Dodgers. It was great
to see Kik and jersey number eight, and we had a chance to catch
up with Kika Hernandez before he startedat second base. He gave the first
time that you came around. Youwere a young guy trying to prove yourself.
This version of you. You're aworld champion, you're a father.

(11:48):
How different does it feel? Uh? I mean it feels different because I
was playing for another team yesterday,but now a lot has changed, and
you know, some great memories thatyou know, you think you never forget,
and they kind of you don't havetime to think about it because you're
playing for another team now, andthen as soon as you get to the

(12:09):
stadium and you're walking in, youknow, taking the elevator and walking in
down the trophy room and all that, it's it's all starting to come back.
So uh, you know, it'suh, it's it's it's weird to
be here. It's it's uh,it feels like it's been forever, but
at the same time, it feelslike, guess it was yesterday that I
was here. So there's there's,it's, it's there's so many emotions that
I don't even I don't even knowhow to put it on put them all

(12:31):
into words. Is this version ofKeika Hernandez different as a baseball player than
the one before? Uh? Justolder? I mean just older. Uh
still bouncing off walls and and andhaving the energy and and trying to make
people laugh and all that, anduh, you know, as it hasn't
been the best of years for meperformers wise, but I'm still confident,

(12:54):
having lost confidence that that I canstill be the player that I was,
and I have confidence that that Basinand RBS are gonna We're gonna get together
and then figure out how to howto get back on track, and you
know, just starting on a cleanslate, and I'm looking forward to it.
Well, it started off on theright foot yesterday two hits for Keika

(13:15):
Hernandez brought the energy his dance inthe dugout when viral. I saw Sue
Joe from Dodgers social media say itwas one of the most viewed videos that
they've ever had on Instagram. Sohe certainly has made his presence felt.
So Keika is definitely a welcome addition, and how many players have left Boston
in that pressure cooker and really flourishwith the Dodgers. I mean, the

(13:41):
Red Sox put Keika Hernandez in atough spot, allowing Xander Bogarts to walk
and sign with the Padres, thenbasically making keik a the face of the
franchise. That's tough for anybody toreally fill those shoes with guys like Mookie
and Bogart's gone. JD. Martinezgone, trying to make Keika the face
of that franchise. Eight six,six, nine, eight seven, two,

(14:03):
five seventies. The phone number.Now, you might have noticed that
Kika Hernandez was wearing jersey number eightfor the Dodgers. Number fourteen is now
retired after Gil Hodges went into theHall of Fame last year. So Keika
had very few choices to consider.And here's the reason why he settled on
number eight. Well, they retiredfourteen. They very selfishly didn't want to

(14:26):
unretire for me, So my optionswere eight, ten and twenty nine.
I don't love twenty nine. Ilike single digits. I like number ten
a lot, but we all knowwho were number ten. Here for a
long time, and when DP washere, he told me that he was
considering changing his number to fourteen,but there were still a lot of Hernandez
fourteen jerseys around, so I didn'twant to. I didn't want to be

(14:48):
number ten when people the whole stadiumwas wearing number ten with Turner, So
I figured, uh, I figuredI'd honor Bob garn with number eight.
And also, you know, KobeBryant Mama Day in La is on my
birthday, so I figured number eightwas pretty significant in the city, so
might as well take a shot withhim birthday, all right? That was

(15:11):
Keika Hernandez Kobe Bryant Day, hisbirthday, makes sense for him to wear
number eight. He's not the firstDodger to choose number eight. When Manny
Machado was traded to the Dodgers,he went with number eight because of Kobe
Bryant as well. Eight six sixnine, eight, seven two five seventy
is the phone number David Vassey liveat Dodgers Stadium ahead of Clayton and Ellen

(15:33):
Kershaw's ping pong for purpose and they'regood friend and a good friend of the
show is standing with me out here. He is teamed up with Will Smith
in doubles ping pong tonight. That'smy man, Brad Paisley. Thanks a
lot for stopping by. I'm thrilledto talk to you. How are you
doing tonight? Any luck with Kershaw? Well? If we win our first
round, we play him in Austin. So no, but you said he

(15:56):
might talk to him for us.I talked to him. No, I
doubt he comes down. I wasa hard No. I think. See
he's so nice. He finds away to make it a soft landing.
All right, So you are teamedup with Dodger all star catcher Will Smith.
You're a big Dodger fan? Anybutterflies? Oh for sure? Totally?
Because I don't want to. Idon't want to like be the reason

(16:18):
Will doesn't move on past this.But I've been practicing. I think I'm
really I bring some to the tothe table, no pun intended. What
do you bring? U? Theability to hopefully hit it back and wait
on him to slam it? Allright? Have you talked to him?
I saw him out here. Doeshe know you're his partner? He probably
knows. I haven't seen him yet. Do you feel like there's been some
fixing of this tournament because for somereason, Kershaw and Austin Barnes have been

(16:44):
given a first round by Yeah,that's ridiculous. There's definitely this is definitely
suspect, and I think there'll bean investigation once it's over. I mean,
he did win it with Cody thatyear. I mean, something's wrong.
Put a trash can next to theirside of the ping pong table,
I think, So let's do that. Let's bang on that. I'll do
that. You bang on it,all right? Sounds good? Sounds good?
All right, Brad. I knowyou're a big Dodger fan. No

(17:07):
matter where your travels take you,even to Ukraine, you're following the Dodgers.
So what have you thought about thisseason? They're in first place and
with all the injuries, they're findinga way to get it done. Yeah.
It's a really interesting and inspiring andfun team to watch this year.
You just never know how they're gonnaI mean, look at the comeback the
other day. That was the greatestcomeback they've had since what early two thousands?

(17:32):
Yeah, since the four plus onegame two thousand and six, that's
right. So it's like we're lookingat a team that has the ability to
surprise us in every way, andI can't wait to see where they go.
I think there's the sky's the limit. They're definitely more battle tested this
year than they were last year.So you've been a Dodger fan for over
twenty five years, You've seen alot of players. I'm sure you've gotten
emotionally attached to some of them.Out of these new group of players,

(17:56):
who do you who is Brad Paisley'snew face of brick. Uh, let
me think about it. I thinkprobably Altman, Yeah, has gott He's
got something that's just really a trueAnd then I'm really impressed with de Luca
so far, those two catches andhis ability to sort of like, you

(18:17):
know, this kid came straight up. And then there's Bobby Miller. That's
my guy, Bobby Ice. Yeah, he's that kid. Feels like he's
got a Walker Bueller attitude, doesn'the I don't know him at all.
I've never met him, but heseems his presence on the mound reminds me
of Bueller. Here's something for you. Bobby Miller and Emma Shean are ping
pong partners tonight. Oh two rookies. Well, I could face him.

(18:41):
I suppose, yeah, we'll getfar enough. That's funny you said James
Altman or Bobby Miller. I thoughtyou were going to say Jason Hayward for
some reason. I love Jason Haywardtotally, but I thought I meant sort
of the brand new guys. Yeah, well, Hayward's brand new, brand
new to us, that's true,but he's far from brand new. That
guy's a legend. Have the Dodgerssurprised you in what way to be in

(19:02):
first place? For sure? AndI mean we talked about this as the
season was starting. I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure what they were doing,
and I don't think they were either. I mean in the sense that
they this was a year where theykind of reset and they it wasn't a
rebuild by any means, but itwas sort of like they were going to
kind of see what kind of teamthey had with some new players and not

(19:25):
having JT here has been the strangestthing to get used to. And I
didn't know what this would be.But when I think the trick has been,
there are people that became the leadersof this team, and you know,
and I think Peralta's won. Yeah, like these veterans and Hayward and
then you you, you and Italked about it. When it comes to
Freddie and Mookie. They had tolead this team, and man have they

(19:48):
Without Freddie or Mookie? They're notgoing anywhere. Yeah, and I love
what you said. I think itwas yesterday when you said you're all in
let's win. Now they're in theirprime. Those two are both in VP
candidates. Trade for somebody. Let'sgo, let's go. The time is
now. There is no tomorrow,all right. Brad Paisley our guest here

(20:10):
live at Kershaw's Challenge ping Pong forpurpose. One other Dodger question for you.
When you look at the landscape ofthis team, who do you believe
could play the best guitar with BradPaisley? Well, it would have been
Freeze. Oh yeah, but he'sgone. So Pollock also a big rocker.

(20:30):
Yeah right now, it's not Clayton. I only know that. I
think you saw the video I didon Instagram of trying to show him a
couple of chords on the guitar heneeds to stick to throw on the ball.
I don't know. Is there anybodywho plays on the team. I
don't I don't believe. So Ifeel like everybody's a gamer, a video
gamer. Yeah, that's probably right, guitar hero, but that's that's not

(20:51):
even that's not music. No,all right, before I let you go
for real this time, I wasblown away number one that you went to
you and did what you did there, but also you told me on the
train ride to Ukraine you were tryingto follow along with the Dodger game.
I was. In fact, noone knew I was headed there because it

(21:12):
was a total secret, and Iwas texting my friend David Wild, who
was standing over here. I wastexting him during the game because I couldn't
sleep. I was laying there.It was the middle of the night,
and I'm watching on the ESPN appsthere as there. I forget what they
were doing. I don't even rememberif they want or lost. But I
was texting my friend saying and hehad written saying, what are they doing?

(21:33):
And I would think, I wroteback, I don't know, hopefully
they'll pull this guy or whatever itwas. And nobody knew I was in
Ukraine. But it was the strangestthing in the world to be sort of
traveling through the countryside in a warzone, watching a Dodger game. It
reminded me of I guess that's whatanybody did who ever went over overseas during
a war. Baseball's this thing thatgrounds you and brings you back to America

(21:59):
and a really big way. Itwas really strange to be looking at that
phone knowing there's a baseball game goingon while I was overwhere. Hey,
that shows your passion too, forthe Dodgers. I love this team.
Yeah, it's great to have it, and you know it's these are great
people. You're a great guy.Most people would listen to this would have
no idea how great a guy youare. That's true. Everybody thinks I'm

(22:19):
a jerk. I know, Iknow you're nothing like the guy that's on
the air. All Right, I'lllet you go after that. Absolutely.
I don't think it can get anybetter or worse after that. People need
to know, all right, Thankyou, Brad. You're a great guy
too. You know how much Ithink of you. So I'm not just
saying that I don't care about yourmusic. Great, You've made that very
clear. Thanks buddy. Thanks.We'll find Will Smith over here, Brad,

(22:42):
let's walk this way. I seehim over here talking to one of
the big time owners over there,Bobby Patton with his wife over there.
So I won't crash that conversation.But at some point you guys need to
get on the same page. Yeah, no kidding. I don't want to
be the reason he doesn't move onthis tournament. Hey, there's your guy.
Let's walk over here. Caleb Ferguson. He wanted to meet you,

(23:03):
Ferd Train. Ferg told me hewould love to meet you, and I'm
gonna make this happen on live radio. And there he is, two lefties
together, Alex Vesia and Caleb Ferguson. Look what I brought over, Ferg.
Brad Paisley good to see. Don'ttry to play it cool. Don't
try to play it cool. Fergwanted to meet Brad Paisley. This guy

(23:23):
almost committed to West Virginia. Paisley, I was, yeah, I was
gonna go, but got drafted.And I actually when I got drafted,
I had my first TJ. SoI was like, all right, I'm
just gonna go ahead and try tosing out, see what happens, then
end up going. But I wasgonna go to school there. I watched
your debut on TV. If it'sPittsburgh. Yeah, and your family went

(23:45):
not great, pretty bad. No, but I knew you were gonna be
great. I could tell. Yeah. Right, how about that? He's
one of you that believed that afterthat one? Huh yeah, yeah I
believed it. Two. He knowsabout the furg train, right, Brad
Paisley. How many times times haveI written you and said fird train after
that's good? A couple of timesI didn't do it. But the four

(24:06):
people that listen to you, uh, exactly. But hey that's a good
one. Right, that's a goodone. Yeah, yeah, that is
a good one. Yeah, you'reright. Audience for sure. Have you
ever met this guy, Alex Bessieto finally meet you? Your energy and
your pitching is just off the chart. Thank you, Thank you. I
appreciate that. It's fun to watchyou go out there and you know,
basically kick the dirt and yeah,my sister says, I'm a little bit

(24:26):
of a crackhead when I'm out there. It's all right. Definitely, you
definitely looked like you're addicted to something. Thank you. We're live on the
radio, sir, don't go toocrazy. Yeah, thank you, thank
you. It's been fun. Haveyou ever listened to any Brad Paisley songs,
don't ask him that. Come on, absolutely, how about a Brad
Paisley walkout song Bessie once in awhile. I've never changed my walkout song.

(24:48):
It's been Gasoline by Sea there sinceI was sophomore in high school.
Oh oh, you know see there, Brad, Yeah, totally, that's
don't I have nothing that can competewith that, So that's fine. That's
right. Well, I'm glad Icould connect Brad Paisley, a big Dodger
fan, with two of the biggestlefties in the Dodger bullpen. So I'll
let you guys continue in front ofthe chicken sandwich smash Burger truck. Yeah,

(25:14):
leave us along, bye for goback out there. Ye'll find someone
else to haggle. I will.Wow. Hey, I love this hospitality.
We're gonna take a time out hereon Dodger Talk when we come back.
You never know who might stop buying, what kind of connection I can
make with fans and players. DavidBasset with you until eight o'clock tonight live

(25:37):
from Ping Pong for Purpose the twentytwenty three edition of Kershaw's Challenge Event.
It's a great event. Everybody's havinga good time. It's like a backyard
party. More of it next ona five seventy LA. Sports is fun
to be at and always a greatcause, and that's Ellen and Clayton Kershaw's
ping pong for purpose for Kershaw's challenge, and his teammates always come out to

(26:00):
Port. They always bring out theirwives for a nice date night. And
after that last family trip, Ifeel like every one of these parents needs
a night out. And it feelslike a backyard bash out here at Dodgers
Stadium. And I'm joined right nowby two of the most distinguished couples on
the Dodgers. That's Evan and ElizabethPhillips. Elizabeth, let's start with you.
How you doing. Congratulations on babyBow and being able to get through

(26:23):
Evan's rough job and handling all theduties. Well, thank you. Happy
to be here. But hey,super dad at the home front. Yeah
that's right, Evan Phillips, superdad, super reliever. Yeah, hey,
we'll take it. I love everysecond I get to spend at home.
Being a father has been, youknow, the best thing in my
life, and I'm happy to shareit with my wife Liz. And we're

(26:45):
enjoying every minute. I told EllenKershaw earlier tonight, this doesn't feel like
a stuffy fundraiser type of thing.It feels like we're at a backyard party
in Texas. Yeah. I thinkthat's one of the big draws to it
is that the foundation there of thisevent is so valuable and important, but
it's also just a great time.It's a great opportunity for you know,

(27:06):
the players, especially to step awayfrom the field and enjoy an off day.
Typically we get great weather like wedo tonight, and it's an opportunity
for us to play some ping pongand hopefully raise some money. All right,
for those that don't know, andwe're listening to Petros and money.
Earlier, I revealed that I aman immaculate grid player, and I am
on a group text with Evan Phillips, the Dodgers director of travel, Scott

(27:26):
Okasaki, and one of their strengthcoaches, Jonathan Herb. So we always
share our score and after a fewhours we reveal our answers. So,
are you as addicted to this asI am? Yeah? You know,
before they change the timing of itused to be in my routine right before
bed, but now it's a newroutine. I'm gonna do it first thing
in the morning, so I reallyenjoy it. I think it's a really

(27:48):
interesting way to get your brain working. Anything involved with baseball I'm typically all
about. So it's a lot offun to share with you guys and see
the different names we can come upwith. I feel like you have an
edge in the department of You've beenaround the league and you kind of know
some of the guys that have hada cup of coffee and some guys that
have played longer, and I feellike I bring to the table some history.

(28:10):
Are you ever amazed by the namesI come up with? Because the
ones you come up with, I'mlike, Wow, I don't know that
guy. Yeah, I mean absolutely. I think that's fun of the game
is that you can give it toany person. You'll probably find a bunch
of different names. And I thinkmy specific niche is definitely obscure relievers.
I think I find a lot ofpride in finding a reliever for each of

(28:30):
the combinations. I think it's alot of fun to do it that way.
But you know, the game iswhat you make it. So when
I see a bunch of the namesthat you guys toss out there from you
know, the earlier days that whenI wasn't around yet. I think it's
a lot of fun and honestly it'sa way to learn more about the game.
Today, I pulled out Gary Templetonfor Cardinals, Padres. Did you
ever hear about Gary Templeton? Absolutely, I think I know the name.

(28:51):
Couldn't tell you what teams you playedfor. Nope, probably couldn't even tell
you what position you played, Yes, second base, maybe shortstop, so
all right, well, middle andfield, close enough. Fun fact he
was traded for Ozzie Smith. Thatis a very fun fact. All right,
yeah, good one boom. Youcould use that in the next Immaculate
Grid. That's right. I gottakeep my stash always stocked with It's all
these unique names, that's for sure. Elizabeth Phillips also plays Immaculate Grid.

(29:15):
Right, maybe two times. Butthere was one time where I actually did
my own, and then there wasanother time where I did need a little
help. But I think it wasRaised Orioles and I got evid and it
was like point four percent whatever itwas, So it counts for something.
Does Evan Phillips is a good playand immaculate Grid, he joins us right
now, just before he walks infor ping pong for purpose, Who are

(29:37):
you teamed up with tonight? Iam teamed up with Becca Tilly, so
we will Becca Tilly and she wason the Bachelorette correct, Oh, gotcha?
All right? Yes, I watchedthat show, so I think she
was here last year, and I'mpretty sure she played pretty well. So
I'm I'm a little rusty, butI think I'm matched up with Ellen Kershaw
in the first round. So we'llsee. We'll see how that goes.
It's gonna be get it's gonna getcompetitive for sure. All right, well,

(29:59):
I'll give you a scouting report rightnow. Evan Phillips. Ellen Kershaw
and I were talking and she wastrying to find another Dodger wife and Elizabeth
may be on this group text yep, and she said Nobody responded except Nicole
Barnes. All it a little bitlate. I did see the text,
and I would have maybe throw myname in there. I have a little

(30:19):
bit of this background. I feelif that carries over into ping pong if
i'm you know, he doesn't agree, I don't know. I think I'm
decent However, I think Nicole andEllen will be great. You've got some
competition. Oh yeah. I thinkone of us has a ping pong table
in our house and it's not me, So I have a reason to be
nervous. Wow. Maybe Elizabeth Phillipswants to be a little closer to the

(30:41):
table just in case Ellen Kershaw wantsto pinch hit Nicole Barnes out of there.
Hey, I'll be there hanging outwith them if they need anything.
All right, Speaking of Barnes,he's matched up with Kershaw. They got
a first round by Do you feellike the fix is in here? You
know, we'll see. I thinkthey're on the other side of the bracket.
So if they're so fortunate to getto the championship, we're gonna have
something for them, that's for sure. Okay, I know you want to

(31:03):
go enjoy. I'll ask you onemore question baseball related. You guys are
in first place. You've dealt witha lot of adversity. How has the
bullpen and the team been able tostay afloat through the good times, the
bad times, and now back atthe good times. I think that's the
natural course of a baseball season.You know, we play one hundred and
sixty two games. It's it's fairthat there's going to be some ups and
downs. And I think the advantagethat that the Dodgers have over I feel

(31:26):
like other organizations is that aways towin the championship, and I feel like
as long as we're continuing, continuingto chip away at that goal, building
towards that final goal, I thinkit sets us up for the most success.
So wearing this jersey as a privilege, but it also comes with an
expectation. So I feel like everyoneunderstands that in the clubhouse, and we're

(31:47):
gonna go out there and try towin every game and hopefully be, you
know, holding a trophy at theend of the season. Love it.
I kind of have a feeling.I'm not gonna say anything more than that,
and I won't call you a closereither. Hey, whatever it takes
for us to win games, soI can. Hey, call me,
call me whatever you want. We'lljust leave it with Evan tonight. That's
perfect. Evan the ping pong forpurpose champion. How about that? I

(32:08):
like that. I like that.Let's take that one, all right,
Phillips enjoy thanks for letting me grabyour husband for a little bit, Elizabeth.
There they go. Evan and ElizabethPhillips, the super parents, wife
of super reliever Evan Phillips, andClayton Kershaw and his wife Ellen now are
on the blue carpet. Here.We'll see whether or not he uh,

(32:30):
he stops. We're only on untileight o'clock. This always comes down to
the wire. By the way,this never seems to really really happen other
than maybe two minutes and maybe atoken, hey, Dave, get out
of my face type of situation.So we'll see whether or not that happens.
Eight six six nine eight seven twofive seventy. This is Dodger Talk.

(32:51):
We are live on the off dayat Dodger Stadium from Ellen and Clayton
Kershaw's ping pong for purpose the KershawsChallenge. We are taking your phone calls
at eight six six nine, eightseven two five seventy. You heard from
Brad Paisley, Caleb Ferguson, andalso Alex Vessia. One guy that I
felt like took a little bit toomuch time on the blue carpet. I'm

(33:15):
not sure what he was doing,and that's Michael Grove. Michael Grove was
really feeling himself on that blue carpet. He was wearing really really eighties type
of shorts, might be Lulu's,he's got the black and white Jordan's.
He's got his nice chain maybe Jacksonchain around his neck, and he was

(33:35):
really really feeling himself out there.And did I give a great description of
what just took place? Michael Grove? Yeah, I was peacocking it,
so you will admit that. Yeah, I guess. So you saw Access
Hollywood out there, you saw thiscable access entertainment show right here, and
you're like, Hey, I'm Michaelfreaking Grove. Yeah. I was made

(33:58):
for that moment, all right?Well are you made for the ping pong
table? Oh? Shoot, Idon't know. I hope I have a
good partner, I really do.I hope he's been practicing. Who is
your partner, Jonathan Bond? Doyou know who that is? No me
either. Maybe we'll find out together. Yeah, I think so. I
just hope he's good because I needcarried. Doesn't matter, you're not a
good ping pong player. I'm I'mdecent all right, but not good enough

(34:22):
to win, gotcha. Maybe that'swhy you walk down the blue carpet the
way you did. Yeah, yougotta sell it right. Hey, one
thing you're good at and Dodger fanscare about, and that's pitching. You
really have endeared yourself to Dodger fansbecause of your competitive spirit. Yeah,
I mean I try to win.I guess I do my best well,

(34:45):
not only win, but you neverseem to give in. You're not backing
down. Yeah, you know.You have to just keep throwing strikes and
keep attacking guys. Had a coachtell me once if somebody comes to the
game and the fifth thing, theyshouldn't know how you're doing if the scoreboard's
not on, So stuck with me. Yeah, I would say so that
West Virginia toughness in you. Yeah, something like that. Usually you're given

(35:07):
a plus one to an event likethis, Grove, but you brought two
people. Are those year two guestsright there? Yeah? Yeah, those
are my guests. Really? Uhhuh. You gotta get them on here
too, Are they Groves? No? No, no, there the Hirsheisers.
Actually, oh that's Oral Hirsheiser's youngerbrother right there, the better looking
Hirsheiser. Talk to you too,Oral Hirsheiser promised to come on the show

(35:30):
tonight, but I haven't seen him. Oh is he peacocking it too on
the Yeah, he's next up.Oh my gosh. Now, the one
thing about this event, I've comeout here for ten years Grove and my
batting average. With Kershaw coming onthe show before eight o'clock, I would
say, it's it's about two fifty. What do you think Today's right there?

(35:52):
I know, but look, he'sright in the middle of the pack.
My show ends at eight o'clock.And when he does come on,
it's like a flippant, like getout of my face, vast say type
of thing. You don't think he'llprioritize you if you go over there right
now? Not at all. Onetime I try to jump the line and
he said, get to the backof the line. I don't believe you.

(36:13):
Oh my gosh. Maybe Michael Grovecan stick out the microphone form here.
Okay, you want to try that? All right? All right,
let's walk over there. Come on, let's go. Michael Grove and I
are gonna try to make this happenhere. Michael Grove is gonna try to
go up to Kershaw. We're gonnatry to squeeze in here. Come on,
Grove. Yeah, Michael Grove wantsto try to squeeze in with the
media. Is that okay? Prpeople, all right, Grove, Let's

(36:36):
go this way, Let's go thisway. Let's see what we could do
here. Grove. All right,Michael Grove is going to try to jump
in here. Let's just stand hereand make it really awkward. Okay,
there's Brian Cranston who's there with Kershawtwo as well, So people are acting
really weird when they're looking at usright now, Grove. Derek Fisher is
right behind Kershaw as well. Hewas really good on NBA two thousand and

(36:58):
three as a big fan. Maybeyou want to tell him that Grove wants
to walk the blue carpet one moretime. We'll see what how this goes
through here one more time. Itfeels like, once this lady's done,
you gotta jump in there. Jumpin there, Grove. Mister Kershaw,
mister Kershaw, can we steal youfor a second. What are you talking
about with Grover? Well, wewe thought Grove might want to be paparazzi
tonight. Well, he kept sayingthat you never talked to him, So

(37:21):
I decided to jump in and seeif I could talk to Dave, he
said, I don't talk to Davewhen I'm active. I'll talk to Dave
all right until then, That's whyI have Grove here. Yeahs an active
member of the team. You talkedto Grover all day? All right,
get Grove. Do you have anyquestions? Just cut the line, Dave,
I'm talking to other people. Youneed to talk. Way to go,

(37:42):
Grove. Hey, great assist byMichael Grove for Dodger Talk. This
guy's got a future. Wow,look at you, y, that was
a big time assist. Grow.I feel like I need to hook you
up with a Travis Matthew Polo.Yeah. I was a little nervous there.
I'm not gonna lie. Wow.I mean the way people looked at
us. I mean, you're amajor league pitcher, so I'm sure you
could block things out. But thestink guys we were getting on that blue

(38:06):
carpet. Oh, you're gonna haveto deal with that later, not me.
All right, sounds good. I'lllet you get out of here.
I'll take the heat, all right. There he goes Michael Grove with a
cutter and a big time assist forDodger Talk tonight, getting Clayton Kershaw on
this show before eight o'clock. Eightsix six nine, eight seven two five
seventy is the phone number. Weare live at Dodgers Stadium for Kershaw's ping

(38:30):
Pong for purpose event, and weare right here at the end of the
blue carpet and everybody is trying toget a piece of Clayton Kershaw. My
guy Derek Fisher, who I coveredwhen he played for the Lakers, I'm
sure he'll be surprised to see meand still working in media. I'm sure
he'll be surprised by that as well. But until then, let's go out

(38:51):
to the phones. My guy,Kevin in Culver City, You're on Dodger
Talk with David Vasse. What didyou think about Michael Grove's performance, David
C. Kris, You are doingyour thing man, and Michael Grove,
what a great, great production assistant. He's got a future in broadcasting.
To get Clayton kurs saw the man, Clayton Chris Shaw at the moment.

(39:13):
What a job, great job allaround. You are doing your things,
David, Michael Grove, great job. I gotta give a south to Ellen
Kursaw. Clayton great event, andit sounds like you guys have so much
fun over there. It's a reallygreat time. There's a lot of happy
people here. It's for a greatcause because of the two people that put

(39:34):
this on Ellen and Clayton Kershaw.Ellen especially, she has such a great
spirit about herself and does such agreat job raising their kids and making this
happen. Kershaw's challenge and everybody theyhelp. What do you got on the
Dodgers. Do you think Eronado's comingto the Dodgers. Well, Ellen's great,
great poo of LA community. Ithink Nolan's got to come to La.
I told you a couple of weeksago, I said I want Nolan

(39:55):
here, and you didn't think itwas possible, but I think not at
that. Yeah, and bring yourhomeboy home. That's your homeboy from from
Orange County, South Orange County,from Lake Lake Forest. Let's give you
a shout out, bring Nolan home. We want Nolan Aronado here in the
Dodger uniform. I want my boyCody Bellinger back to I want to bring

(40:15):
Cody back. I love the colchure. I was so happy to see my
boy kicking Hernanda's back in the Dodgeruniform through the dams. That's the stuff
that people don't talk about on ESPand or FS one. The colture,
the locker room. What he bringsto this locker room. Guys still loose.
I love kicking Hernanda is unique.Guys like that to win a world

(40:36):
series. Bring Nolan home and bringCody Bellinger here. Let's go and let's
get it. I love Nolan Aeronaddoat the hot corner third base, to
take care of our defense and toput a ballance here. People forget that's
why we were so good with TreyTurner and Coredy Seeker. You could bet
Aaron Aaronaddo two or three with Freemanand then you got booked. You got
bet, you got the one twothree punch. Then you're cooking for a

(40:59):
world series. I love that move. Let's get aggressive and let's go for
it. It might not be aone solo haul, but it's gonna be
a big one. Hey, hefits the Dodgers need a third baseman.
He's a guy that certainly would fillthat spot. Kevin, gotta let you
go. Big names are starting tocome my way. My guy Derek Fisher
is on his way this way.I got to talk to him, hopefully

(41:20):
once he's done with the media.Here eight six six nine eight seven two
five seventy is the phone number.Look, Max Muncy has a team option
for next year. The Dodgers havea decision to make on that if they
decide that they want a different thirdbaseman and maybe moving Muncy or just saying
it's time to you know, atsome point, every player's time comes to

(41:43):
an end with a team, andif the Dodgers want to improve their defense
and improve they're hitting from the rightside. There's only one third baseman that's
available on the free agent market nextyear, and that's Matt Chapman, and
Matt Chapman's going to command a lotof money. I would argue that Nolan
Arnado's remaining five years is a bettervalue than whatever Matt Chapman is going to

(42:05):
cost when it comes to free agency. So those are the two options.
Eronado and Matt Chapman. They're bothreally good defensively, they're both really good
hitters. But I feel like ifyou had to choose between Matt Chapman and
Nolan Erinado, you're gonna be choosingNolan Erinado. So that's how I feel
right now as we get closer tothe trade deadline, and the Dodgers and

(42:28):
Cardinals in discussions for the All Starthird baseman Nolan Erinado. So we'll see
how it goes, right. Eightsix six nine, eight seven two,
five seventy is the phone number DodgerTalk Live from May and five and Vivo
my friend and Vivo. Hey,my guy, my guy. Hey,
everything's good. Can you believe I'mstill working? Yeah, you're a hard

(42:51):
working guy, I believe it,My guy, Derek Fisher. See all
these guys like Kershaw, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, they think they're the
first guys that I covered. ButDerek Fisher was my guy in the summer
league. Yeah. Man, thatwas a long time ago. Bro,
you're dating both of us, soI always knew at some point you would
have a future in broadcasting. Areyou loving what you're doing now? Yeah?

(43:15):
I mean anything where I can bearound basketball, talk basketball, study
basketball, try and analyze basketball.That's in my wheelhouse right there. Are
you nostalgic? Do you look backat any of those times, and I
know you get asked about a lotof those Laker teams. How nostalgic are
you? About that or do youhave to be where your feet are at
to be as happy as you are? Yeah? No, I try to

(43:36):
stay present in the moment while alsobeing really thankful and grateful for everything I
got to experience. I do.I go back there when asked, but
I really try not to live therebecause they were so special. I want
to hold on to the memories.But at the same time, life goes

(43:59):
on, man, and know we'reraising kids and we're trying to help them
to follow their dreams, so Idon't have time to be worrying about my
old stuff. I want to helpthem create some new ones. I saw
your teamed up with Metal World Peacetonight on the ping pong table, all
right. I never knew ping pongwas in your forte. I didn't either.
I played a lot as a kid, broke a few paddles that my

(44:19):
dad didn't really like, but excitedto the team up with Meta tonight.
Man, it should be a lotof fun. Thanks for stopping. I
had to say, how to you. We had so many good times together
and you treated me like a normalperson, as an equal, so I'll
always remember that. Thank you fortreating me that way as well. Man,
All right. Good to see Fish, Thank you too. I'm rooting
for you guys. There he goesDerek Fisher, one of my favorites,

(44:44):
always treating me great. He's oneof the great people you ever meet,
d and certainly fun to be herewith him. Eight six six nine eight
seven two five seventy Ronnie, Iknow we're running up against it. By
the way, Rodney, Pete andr J on the blue carpet right now,
Clayton and Ellen Kershaw also on theblue carpet. I feel like we
got our cameo from them. Ihear the music in the background, so

(45:06):
I guess we're going to back outof here. I think it counts.
I think it counts. Ask Petrosome money tomorrow. We'll go to the
replay tomorrow. Clayton Kershaw did stopby thanks to our guy Michael Grove and
I jumping on the blue carpet andbasically saying, hey, we have some
questions for you. It didn't govery smooth. It was awkward, no

(45:29):
doubt about it. People were upsetwith us, but we made it happen,
and I feel like that counts.As they say in basketball, and
one and one right count it countThe basket anyway. Thanks to Brad Paisley
for joining us, Thanks to DerekFisher for stopping, Thanks for Ferg and
Vessia for being great sports about itas well. And Michael Grove of course

(45:50):
gets the biggest assist of the nightas he did interview Clayton Kershaw for a
couple of minutes there or a coupleof seconds there. In case you missed
any of this show, you couldfast forward through the iHeartRadio app if you
prefer, but I strongly encourage youto consume all the content from tonight and
all our Dodger talk shows. We'llbe back with you tomorrow night from Dodgers
Stadium at six o'clock as the Dodgershost the Reds at seven ten. Have

(46:15):
a great rest of your night,and thank you to Ronnie Fassio back at
our Burbank Studios, Thanks to CraigRobbins out here at Dodgers Stadium. Thanks
to our guy social media Matt Demickiout here. You could see all of
the content on M five seventy LASports Instagram and once again from Dodgers Stadium.
Have a great rest of your night. Wherever you maybe seea