Extra Innings Podcast Ep. 22 (9-1-21)

In this episode DV is joined by Braves pitcher and Harvard-Westlake Alum, Max Fried. Plus, Andre joins the show to recap their successful remote broadcast at WSS.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
This is the Extra Innings Podcast.We're going to Extra Innings like and subscribe
wherever you get your podcasts. Breakingdown all the latest with the Blue hosted
by Dodger Insider, an award winningreporter. Sure have one for most entertaining
talk show hosts to listen to Allthe Way to Work David Vast. Welcome

(00:38):
to episode twenty two of The ExtraInnings Podcast presented by Corona Extra Extra Innings
presented by my friends at Corona Extra. Summer might be winding down, but
there is still plenty of Major LeagueBaseball to be played. And nothing pairs
better with baseball than an ice coldCorona at E find the Fine life,

(01:00):
Please drink responsibly Corona Extra Beer importedby Crown Imports, Chicago, Illinois.
We have a great episode for youagain this week. Not only will Andre
Ethier join us riding high off hisappearance at WSS in Kanoga Park. That's

(01:22):
right, boots on the ground inmy neighborhood, Kanoga Park, California,
and it was a wild success.It felt like two thousand and eight again
with Andre Ethier. He is aspopular as ever and our apologies to all
those that were turned away and we'renot allowed in the store. They had

(01:42):
to cap it off somewhere, soI know there were a lot of disappointed
fans that couldn't meet Ethier. Buthopefully w SS, the Dodgers and A
five seventy LA Sports hold another meetand greet with Ethier. So thank you
to everybody that came out and showedsupport. It was a great event and
one of the best I've been partof. So great to see everybody out

(02:04):
there. Also, coming up onthis episode of Extra Innings, I had
a chance to catch up with anotherlocal kid from the San Fernando Valley,
the Encino Little League ALAM and HarvardWestlake Alam, Max Freed. He's in
town with the Braves and is goingup against Max Scherzer on Thursday night at
Dodgers Stadium. But I had achance to catch up with him the day

(02:28):
before that start and wanted to sharewith you the full interview. Reggie Smith,
the Dodger great from the seventies andeighties, had a huge impact on
Max Fried's life, and he'll sharethat story with us. Coming up in
just a little bit. Batty legsmost of the Extra Innys podcast. Dasse

(02:49):
all right, before we get toMax Freed and Andre Ethier. I was
not only at W as says onSunday at Kenoga Park, but also on
Wednesday night, a group of listeners, actually twenty of them to be exact
one tickets to have the Suite lifeat Dodgers Stadium, the night that the
Dodgers beat the Braves three to twothanks to a Mookie BET's home run and

(03:14):
a go ahead double by Corey Seeger. And it kind of was when I
went into the suite number one,it was great to meet all the winners
that listen to Dodger Talk and alsothat listened to A five seventy LA Sports,
So it was great to meet everybodyin the suite. And it's somewhat
was an in person Dodger Talk wherefans were asking me questions just as they

(03:37):
would calling into the show. AndI was all good with that, but
I started thinking about the questions thatwere asked not only that night in the
suite, but I get asked alot around Dodgers Stadium, and the one
question I get is about Corey Seeger. What's happening with Corey Seeger? Will
Corey Seeger resign with the Dodgers?Do you think the Dgers want to resign

(04:00):
Corey Seeger, and a couple ofthings about that question. Number one,
I'm always surprised that I'm always askedabout Seeger and Chris Taylor, and I'm
never asked about Clayton Kershaw and toa certain degree, Kenley Jansen. But
I can understand why fans don't.I feel like that's a topic for another

(04:21):
podcast. How Kenley Jansen has provenall the doubters wrong thirty saves now fourteenth
all time in Major League history andgoing strong. But I always find it
interesting, And I was reflecting onthis driving home the other night, how
everybody is so worried about whether ornot Seeger is going to resign with the

(04:43):
Dodgers, even after the Dodgers tradedfor Trey Turner. And I love Corey
Seeger. There is nobody I shouldn'tsay that Seeger would be one of my
top three Dodgers with the game onthe line that I would want at the
plate. Justin Turner would be numberone, Seeger would be another, and
Mookie Betts would be my third andMax Munsey. So those are the three

(05:09):
or four guys I would want atthe plate in that situation, and I
guess he's emerging in that role willSmith, but those are the veterans I
would trust, so I do qualifyit that way. But there's no doubt
in my mind Trey Turner is thebest defensive shortstop on the Dodgers right now.

(05:30):
And I have said from the beginning. Because Mookie Betts has been banged
up, Corey Seeger has been hurt, he has not been swinging the bat
that well. Even with that goahead double on Wednesday night against the Braves.
He's only hitting two eighty in twentynine games since coming off the injured
list and still trying to find hisrhythm. But Trey Turner is the best
player on the Dodgers as we speakright now. He's on his way to

(05:55):
not only winning the batting title inthe National League, but also a Major
League Baseball He scored seventeen runs forthe Dodgers in only twenty something games,
so make no mistake about it.Trade Turner is a top ten player in
Major League Baseball right now and movingforward. And that was a coup by
Andrew Friedman to not only acquire Scherzerbut also Tray Turner at the trade deadline.

(06:20):
But I still believe there's a spotfor Corey Seeger if Corey Seeger is
willing to change positions, and Iguess to a certain extent, if Trey
Turner is willing to accept second basefor a full year. But I just
don't see that dynamic working, especiallyif the Dodgers are intent on trying to

(06:41):
resign Turner, and that brings anotherdilemma into play. You just can't pay
everybody two hundred million dollars or threehundred million dollars. You just can't and
have a successful team. So theDodgers bought some insurance at the trade deadline
with Trey Turner. And here's myresponse to everybody. If Corey Seeger,

(07:03):
as I have heard, wanted tostay in Los Angeles with the Dodgers that
badly, why didn't he work outan extension during this past offseason or even
during spring training if he wanted tostay that badly. I know the Dodgers.
I know for a fact the Dodgerswould have been open to talking extension

(07:27):
with Corey Seeger. So there shouldn'tbe any bad feelings here, you know.
I remember when Jared Weaver was comingup on free agency with the Angels,
and Scott Boris was urging him togo to free agency, don't sign
an extension with the Angels. Andremember, Weaver's a local kid from Semi

(07:48):
Valley, Long Beach State, andhe was really loving pitching for the Angels
at the time. They were winningunder Mike Sosha at that time. When
he came up and when he wasup for free agency, and you know
what Jared Weaver did, He remindedeverybody that Scott Boris works for him.

(08:09):
He does not work for Scott Boris. So he told Boris, make a
deal with Artie Moreno, I wantto stay with the Angels. And to
this day, I'm sure Boris believeshe left money on the table, which
he may have done, but hewanted to stay with the Angels, and
that goes a long way. AndI've always applauded Jared Weaver for doing that.

(08:33):
And I harken back to the greatJohn Wooden and the definition of success
peace of mind, attained only throughself satisfaction in knowing you made the effort
to do the best of which you'recapable. And that means not chasing the
almighty dollar, not chasing grass thatmay be greener, but really isn't so.

(08:56):
Corey Seeger made a big miscalculation,big miscalculation, and the Dodgers were
presented an opportunity to acquire one ofthe best shortstops in baseball at the deadline,
and they pulled the trigger on it. And what does that mean for
Seeger? Well, he's in limbonow. If he wanted to be a

(09:18):
Dodger, he could have signed anextension, or the Dodgers and Seeger could
have found a way to work outan extension the way that Jared Weaver did.
But we all know Scott Boris wantshis clients to go to free agency
and Seeger may be left out ofLA all right. You know I have

(09:48):
I love catching up with players thatare from Los Angeles or Southern California.
I've gotten to know a lot ofthem doing it and putting them on the
pregame show. When the Hockey's werein town, I had a chance to
catch up with Ryan McMahon, whowas a quarterback at Modern Day High School.
That was really great. And justa few days ago I caught up

(10:09):
with a kid from my area,the San Fernando Valley who is doing big
things with the Atlanta Braves in August. He was four and oh with an
ERA of just about one and ahalf. And that is the one and
only Max Freed, who unfortunately alwaysseems to get lumped in with Jack Flaherty
and Lucas Giolito just because they wereteammates in the same season at Harvard Westlake

(10:35):
and one of the best high schoolrotations. But Max has his own identity
and it began in the Encino LittleLeague. Max. Thanks a lot for
the time, appreciate it. Thanksfor having me being back at Dodgers Stadium.
Is it a little bit more comfortablethan it was maybe your first year
coming here? Yeah, No,it's always nice coming back. It's yeah.

(10:56):
I grew up coming here and watchinggames, So to be able to
come back and kind of be inthe visiting dugouts, it's really cool.
Who was your favorite player when youwere growing up? Uh? Wow,
I would say probably when I wasyounger, I was I really enjoyed watching
you know, like Sean Green andyou know, Jason Worth when he was
here, and then kind of whenI got older, I was, you

(11:18):
know, really really enjoyed watching ClaytonKershaw. So from my understanding, you
also bat boyd at Dodgers Stadium.How did that all come together? And
what was that experience? Like?Uh? Yeah, I U during my
senior year, I knew someone youknow, with family friends working in the
visiting clubhouse and H once I waseighteen, invited me to come over and

(11:41):
I took up the opportunity and spentthe day bat boy doing you know,
little things and running out on thefield, and you know, it was
it was a cool. It wasa cool experience. It was really awesome.
I probably saw high school Max Freedin that clubhouse. I can't believe
it. Yeah, probably. Whatdo you remember what team was on the
visiting side plane the Dodgers? Didyou see any of the greats? And

(12:03):
where you? Uh were you wowedby all that? It was really cool?
Now it was it was the Diamondbacks. It was the Diamondbacks, and
it was Ian Kennedy versus Clayton Kershaw, So it was it was a cool
matchup. That's great. And you'rea left hander, so do you naturally
gravitate towards a great picture like Kershaw? Yeah? Of course. I mean,

(12:24):
you know, if you're if you'retrying to get better at your craft,
you want to look at the bestand you obviously he's been at the
top of the game for you know, since he's really broke in. So
to be able to kind of havea couple of people that you can look
at and you know, emulate alittle bit, to see if you're going
on the right track, see ifsomething that works for them works for you.
It's uh, it's always nice tokind of, you know, look

(12:46):
at look at stuff like that.Max Freed is our guest. He'll be
on the mound at Dodger Stadium tomorrownight. And Max, let's talk about
where this all started. Because anotherformer Dodger had a big influence on your
baseball life, and that is thegreat Reggie Smith. How did you find
Reggie and how much did he impactyour life? Reggie, Reggie probably is

(13:07):
one of my has probably had thebiggest impact to me or baseball wise.
He Uh, I grew up inEncino and I went to Encino Little League
and he runs his baseball academy anduh, you know and have all his
camps out of there, so uh, you know, just running around having
an older brother that that played andwas at the field. I was just

(13:28):
kind of running around having a goodtime over there, and you know,
he'd he'd be in the back battingcages, so I'd just be sitting there
watching, And you know, mydad became pretty close with Reggie, and
just our family has gotten very closewith Reggie over the years. So as
I developed as a baseball player,I really heavily relied and leaned on Reggie
for a lot on the mental side, on mechanics and hitting and pitching and

(13:54):
kind of just everything baseball wise.I wanted to soak it up as much
as I could from Reggie. Sofor me, he's a extremely huge influence
still is. I still talk tohim, still rely on him, so
he uh, it's it was reallynice and really really fortunate to have that
relationship. Getting to know Reggie myself, it feels like he's a modern day

(14:15):
John Wooden because he's all about themind as much as he is about the
body. Absolutely, he's, uh, you know, when you when you
play this game for as you know, as long as he has and been
around it, you know that,uh, you obviously need the physical talent,
but what separates you is kind ofthe mental side and the mental mental
game. So for him to beable to kind of share that knowledge of

(14:37):
what he was being able to learnand you know kind of go through It's,
uh, it's really invaluable. Max. It seems like he really knows
the body and he understands biomechanics.Do you feel that that gives you an
advantage to self diagnose yourself because I'msure he taught you a lot about your
own body and how to be intune with it. Yeah, it's something

(14:58):
that he's been preaching for a reallylong time as far as like being your
your own your own coach and beingable to kind of you know, spot
inefficiencies and being able to self correctyourself and really understanding and learning your body.
So for uh, I think that'sone of the biggest things that you
need to do, especially you know, in the middle of a game,

(15:18):
you got to be able to goout there and uh, you know,
really find what's going on and makethat adjustment quick enough before things go off
track. So, uh, youknow, if Reggie's been extremely you know
on the kind of the cutting edgeof that for a long time now,
and uh, yeah, it's it'ssomething that's really you know, heavily leaned

(15:39):
on. I actually heard former BravesHall of Famer Tom Glavin say that what
took his career to the next levelwas becoming his own pitching coach out there
on the mound in the middle ofthe game, because it's too late when
your own pitching coach comes out.Yeah, no, sometimes it's uh.
Sometimes you have to be able tomake that adjustment mid game, in between

(16:00):
pitches. Uh. You know,if a hitter gets away from you,
you got to be able to figureout what's going on and kind of fix
it before the next one. Soyeah, which completely agree with that.
Before I let Max Freed go,I can't talk to you without talking about
Pictures that Rake. And if Ihad to put a poster together, Max
Freed's face would be on that posterwith a hashtag Pictures that Rake. So

(16:22):
are we crediting Reggie Smith for allyour hitting skills? I know you've got
to be gifted, but is thatwhere this all comes from. Absolutely.
There's a lot of years and alot of ears in the batting cage.
Uh, you know, just tryingto figure out how to be balanced and
swing, and Reggie had a lotto do with that. Don't worry,
I'm not bringing up your numbers.I know the etiquette here. So you

(16:45):
don't have to worry about that.I appreciate it, all right, Max,
thanks a lot for the time,and you have to give me credit.
I never once brought up Jack Flahertyor Lucas Giolito during this entire interview.
I appreciate that too, I reallydo. Thanks for having me.
Hey, thanks to nice meeting you, and good luck the rest of the
season. No, thank you somuch. What a great kid. I
love talking to Max Freed, andhe certainly has a new fan in me,

(17:08):
and I'm sure after listening to that, there's a lot of you that
now root for Max Freed whenever he'snot pitching against the Dodgers. And oh,
by the way, that's accurate.Going into that game against the Dodgers
against Max Scherzer, Max Freed washitting three twenty five and talking to Mark
Bowman the Braves beat Rider. Hewas telling me that he believes that if

(17:33):
Max Freed had to, he coulddo the same thing that Rick Ankiel did
when he was playing for the Cardinalswhen he had the yips and he couldn't
pitch anymore. He became a hitter, an outfielder. And Mark Bowman,
a great guy, by the way, told me that Freed is hitting line
drives. They're not loopers into theshallow outfield. Their line drives. They're

(17:55):
hard hit balls. He has awalk off double, So yeah, that's
pretty impressive, and a lot ofit has to do growing up in the
Reggie Smith Academy out there at theEncino Little League Park on Havenhurst. So
Max Freed, the man from theValley, Grade one eight, my favorite.
Thank you. I'm glad to seeyou're not wearing Khaki's your favorite and
not everyone holds himself to high physicalstandard around here, but probably not Basset's

(18:19):
favorite. I know no one listensto your show, so how dare you?
DV is joined by Andre eth Here. That's right, fresh off his
wildly successful appearance at w SS inCanoga Park, the one and only Andre
Ethier joins us for episode twenty twoof the Extra Innings podcast presented by Corona.

(18:44):
It was great to have you inthe eight one eight, Dre.
I know you were surprised by theturnout. Yeah, thanks, thanks for
having me on again today on yourpodcasting show. But yeah, well what
a fun date. Sunday was outthere Canoga Park at the WSS store.
You know, had a great time. I think for both of us,

(19:06):
I think our biggest thing was beingsurprised about how great the turnout was.
Yeah, I didn't expect that.I don't know if you know this,
but when I was leaving, fanscame up to me and told me they
had been waiting since seven in themorning to get in line to meet you.
Well, I apologize. Next time, I maybe I'll make it at

(19:29):
seven at night, so they makinglyshow at New Yeah, right, but
it's goott. I mean, youhaven't played for a few years now,
but it did feel like you werestill playing. It felt I'm I half
joked that it felt like two thousandand eight. But that was the type
of crowds you used to get whenyou were playing. Hey, I say
this, and I don't probably sayit enough, but like that's what makes

(19:53):
LA and LA fan base is LAfaithful Dodgers Lakers crowd so great. Is
that when you are a player andyou're one of the you know, you're
one of their players and one ofthe you know, those guys that represented
them out on that field and anddid that. The loyalty is through the

(20:18):
roof, and you know it's atleast you know, this is a great
chance for me to get back andbe able to express my thankfulness and just
still being one. You know howgreat of a fan base La has.
You don't remember this, but thatwas not the first time I had been
on an appearance with Andre Ethier.Back when you were playing as a young

(20:41):
Buck in oh six, oh seven, maybe even oh eight, I was
on one of those community bus tourswith you, Randy Wolfe, Russell Martin.
Do you remember that one day wherewe were all over the city,
including the speedway all the way atthe end of the two ten freeway there,
I do, I didn't do.We stop at I can't remember the
name of the Mexican food restaurant.Yeah, that's right. We had a

(21:04):
lunch. Yeah, that's right rightalong the freeway right there, but it
was I can't remember the name ofthe restaurant, but three. Yeah,
I do remember that, and youknow, those those are fun times.
Another thing that you never did asa player was self promote yourself, and
social media was starting to get biggertowards the end of your career, and

(21:25):
you always refuse to get on Twitteror Instagram. But now you can follow
Andre Ethier on Instagram, at EverettEthier. So do you have the itch
of Instagram now that you've been onit for a week. The itch is
to just keep pubbing you and makingsure that people know that the real Dave's

(21:49):
a is a tape mouth guy.That's the best version. That's the best
version of you. Taped up mouthis still the best version of you.
But yeah, no, I'm gonnajoin. It's just another way to be
able to get some more feedback andinteraction with you know, that great fan
base and you know, hopefully wehad some exciting things with you know myself

(22:14):
you am five seventy a few otherthings that we can uh, you know,
start pushing a few more progress on, you know, on my Instagram
there to keep you know, justbeing out there and outreaching the LA community.
That's right, when you're retired,everybody wants to know what are you
doing these days, So that'll begreat for people to keep tabs on where
you're at and what you're doing andhow to connect with you. So you

(22:37):
can find Andre on Instagram at EverettEthier. That's Andre's middle name, because
Andre Ethier was taken. All right, Andre, We've talked about enough of
this stuff let's get down to brasstacks, as Rick Monday likes to say,
Dodgers Giants the final three games ofthe regular season. The Wagers are

(23:00):
closer to the Giants than they havebeen in a while. But Max Scherzer
is not pitching in this series.So let's just start with how you feel
about this series with David Price bullpengame, and then Julio, then Walker
Bueller. I will tell you rightnow, I feel a lot better only
being half a game back. I'lltell you that. Yeah, you know,

(23:22):
I think we've made up a lotof ground. The teams played well.
I think we circled last week thisAtlanta series, and I know it's
not over, but this Atlanta serieswas a critical pivol series that had a
lot writing on it. And tocome out and would a big game the
last night that was a close oneand take the first one just puts this

(23:44):
team in that much better position.But yeah, San Francisco, I guess
the Scherzer side of it, Idon't know if this is a tactical move.
Uh, you know, I thinkwhat we were discussing at a pitch
count thing maybe or a rest thingfor you know, staff. The way
they're trying to set it up oryou know, I've even seen where this

(24:07):
might be a team you're going toface, most likely in the playoffs,
and they don't want to get achance to see Scherzer, uh you know
recently and have this you know,this team see him. So I think
maybe there's a there's a lot ofcombination going on there, But yeah,
I just don't like it from thefact that these are important games that you
know, you this team's got towin and got to win first place to
get home field advantage. And doI trust and believe in what they have

(24:33):
doing out there, Yes, butMax Scherzer's Max Scherz, and I think
you can agree with me on that. Yeah, no doubt that Isn't that
the reason why you traded for Scherzerto have him pitch not only in the
playoffs but in this big series againstthe Giants, and the reasoning and even
Max said the way he understood itwas about giving Julio extra rest considering he's

(24:55):
pitching more innings than he ever hasin his major league career, which I
believe. We both agree that,Yeah, that's great, but can't you
do that after the Giant series?Yeah, I the guys whould call the
shots. And we know, andthis is you're hated PC answer, but
they have have figured out a wayto get the team this far over the

(25:17):
years, and they probably have alot longer of a game plan than we
do. We can sit there andand calendar coach all we want, but
you know, there's maybe some methodto the madness and how they're doing it.
And yeah, but I think you'reright. They got surgery for what
they did. But at the sametime, you actually go to win another
World Series. So if this putsthe team in the best situation strategic wise

(25:41):
to win that World Series, thenthis is what they're going and this is
how they're rolling with it. Didyou have a chance to catch the Dodgers
sweeping the Padres? Did you watchthose games? I did watch. We
watch all of them. Doesn't itlook like the Padres are a completely different
team, way different, way different. I it's I know some guys on

(26:02):
that team, and you know,especially on that staff and and from top
to bottom, staff wise to playerwise, there's a lot of confidence that's
been lost on that on that teamand organization. And you know what,
when you were tabbed to be theright there most likely, if not,
you know, first place, secondplace team, it's going to go right

(26:23):
down to the wire between you andthe Dodgers. And now you're looking at
a fifteen game or whatever. Idon't even know what it is. Now,
you know, out of it,that's disheartening. You know, it's
disheartened top to bottom. And there'snot a lot of good mojo going on
around that place because of you know, the circumstances surrounding. I guess,
just the way that whole thing turnedout. I was going to ask you

(26:45):
this because this is always the debatechemistry versus winning or does winning create chemistry?
But they did not have the mojo. They did not have the energy
in their dugout that we have seenthe last couple of years. So is
that a product of them going throughtheir first slump or is that exactly what
you're thinking that maybe they have lostconfidence in each other and maybe even their

(27:08):
manager. Hey, thirteen thirteen anda half games out of thirteen a half
games out, there's no sugar conet. You can say you lost faith or
a confidence your manager, you lostfaith in this other player. But as
a whole, when you sit thereand you look at yourself in the mirror,
Dame you put that uniform on,to realize that you're really not playing.
I guess you're playing for the secondwild card spot, but you're really

(27:32):
not playing for as much as youyou're expected to at the beginning of the
year in your fighting just to getin the playoffs. You know, it's
a real big dut check. AndI think that's what's going on across that
team right now. Yeah, rememberin May, all the way back in
May, they were talking about howthey were going to overtake the Dodgers.
They're not even a thought. Nowit's the Giants and Dodgers, the real

(27:52):
rivalry. They'd better worry about Cincinnatidown there big time, you know.
That's that's a that's a and evenI mean even Philly is still in that
race, you know, speaking inSaint Louis, so, I mean they
have four horse race right there.That they got a lot of other worries
on their heads. And the Dodgersor that awful team up north that we

(28:15):
don't like to talk about. That'sright. We won't even say their name
again. And I can't wait totalk to you next week about how that
series goes down. In San Franciscobefore we let you go, Dre Cody
Bellinger, you had a chance tobe in the clubhouse when you were in
town last weekend. It seems likecalls on Dodger Talk now are no more

(28:37):
targeted towards Kenley Jansen. Every negativecall is targeted towards Cody Bellinger. And
I keep warning Dodger fans not togive up on this guy. Well,
yeah, I know'll give up onhim because he's twenty five or so,
I says, still, young guy, has a lot of time. But
I'm not nave excuses. You know, I'll go both sides. Hey,
the guys been hurt, injured witha lot of that. It's tough to

(29:00):
get your swing back when you don'tfeel right, and you see it,
you know at bats. You know, he's analyzing at bats and seeing and
trying to replicate those at bats whenhe doesn't have maybe the physical strength to
do it. If you gonna leadto bad success. And at the same
time, he probably gay, he'sprobably giving up a little too much of

(29:22):
those who have bats and stuff away, if not making it earlier adjustment to
say, hey, you know what, I'm gonna get there in battle I'm
gonna figure out a way to getthem based. I'm gonnaigure way to just
getting hits. I'm not gonna workabout the home runs and you know,
I'll work about all that other stuffat the end of the year and when
we have an off season, andso you know that's where it goes.
Uh you know, shame on himfor uh not you know, figuring out

(29:44):
you know, how to go outthere and just battle. But at the
same time, you it's it's toughto do right when you're a former MVP,
when you're a guy who's put upthe numbers you have, and you
realize you're just relegated to maybe pittingsingles and doubles for a while, and
that's a tough pill to swallow,especially when you're young guy who has so
much ahead of him. Yeah,and I feel you know, I was
talking to Mark McGuire about it.Andre and Nomar Garcia Para agreed to what

(30:07):
you're talking about. Making the adjustments. Go into a two strike stance.
Don't be swinging for the fences,use the gaps. I mean, I'm
not gonna you can quote unquote me, but you know I got a chance
of hit it last week and they'reyou know, at the stadium on Saturday
and see a few of the guys. And I actually ran into a few

(30:30):
of the front office guys, andyou know that was they asked me if
I had talked to him, andthat was one of the things they said,
Hey, we just want him toget on base and gets hits.
You know, that's that's what wewant. And our team's a better team
when he's out there playing defense andwhen he's out there getting on base.
We have a team. You know, this team's full of guys. Get
the ball of the fence, drivethe ball. As many times you can

(30:51):
get guys out there and you getand you get the opportunities drive and run
the better. And I think that'ssomething he really has to take the heart.
And you know what, I willtell you that they said, he
has been working really hard and tryingto make those adjustments the last few weeks,
so hopefully they'll show up here inthe last month and go into the
playoffs. And he realized that hejust needs to make those for the best

(31:12):
of the team and then worry aboutyou know, him getting back to himself,
uh, you know, in thisoff season. Yeah, and it
wouldn't be a bad idea to getwith you during the off season while you
guys are both in Arizona. That'sjust my opinion. You don't have to
say anything like that. But youhad one of the sweetest swings and a
great understanding about yourself and hitting andwhat gets it done, and you're starting

(31:36):
to get it done here media wise. So congratulations on another great step.
Yeah. Thanks, And that's that'sanother thing that Dave Weiss, your boss,
always says, is that it's notmy boss. Yeah, everyone's your
boss there. You're the lowest guythere. So what they always say is,
uh, you know, Dave,you really should get with Audrey Moore

(31:57):
to figure out this media thing better. Hey, no problem, you are
figuring it out. You're you're expressingyourself really well. And we'll do it
again next week hopefully the Dodgers winthat series. Actually not hopefully, when
the Dodgers win that series, anyway, are we will talk to you next
week. Thanks a lot, that'sright. I gotta talk more like Tommy

(32:20):
Lasorda. I can find anybody totry. I need somebody that can do
and that's what the Dodgers will do. In San Francisco, against the Giants.
And don't forget former Dodger Alex Wooddoes have COVID nineteen, as does
Donovan Solano, so a big blowto San Francisco as the Dodgers head into
Oracle Park beginning Friday night. Sohey, you know that's part of the

(32:45):
competitive advantage. Solano was vaccinated.We haven't heard whether or not Alex Wood
was or not, but it feelslike the momentum is swinging, especially while
the Dodgers were playing the Braves andthe Giants were playing the Brewers. Only
one month to go until the endof the regular season. Thanks again for

(33:07):
joining us here on the Extra InningsPodcast presented by Corona. We'll be back
with you next week. SEEA.We don't have to do anything extra.
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(33:29):
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