August 22, 2025 • 5 mins
Mookie addresses the LA Times story about his "meeting" with Dave Roberts. He also talks about his relationship with JD Martinez and the team's sense of urgency down the stretch.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker. Well,
we are joined right now by Mookie Bets and this
is the biggest meeting Mookie Bets has had all week. Welcome,
thank you for having me brother. Hey Mookie, there was
an unverified report earlier this week that you, Doc, and
(00:23):
Andrew had a meeting to discuss you going back to
right field. What can you tell us about that? And
can you set the record straight?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
People are making stuff up. You know. Somebody's in there
just trying to be the first one to report a
story of their own. So that's completely false. I go
in there to talk to Doc. Me and Doc have
like this mentor father son type relationship, and I've been
I talked to him all the time about my swing
and hats coming along and this, that and the other.
(00:54):
So somebody in there was just kind of guessing and
making stuff up. So whoever made that up, you know,
you need to be careful with what you're reporting, because
that was just I was in there talking about my
swing and how it's coming along, So that has nothing
to do with it.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Going back to right field, how shocked were you when
you started seeing that pop up? All over and it
wasn't even true. Very shocked.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I mean it's you know, I understand reporters have to
do their job, but I mean, you don't have to
spread lives. You don't have to just make stuff up,
you know. Especially I'm a very open and honest person.
Just come talk to me and come ask me. I
don't appreciate things being made up, you know so, but
it kind of is what it is.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I could vouch for that. You're very approachable.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, I mean I feel like you just come ask me,
you know, I'll be honest. I'm very honest person, very
very honest.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Mookie. Around this time last year, you took it upon
yourself to say moving to right field would be the
best for the team. Would you be open to doing that?
And is that even something that's ever been brought up recently?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
No, it's never been talked about. So that's another reason
why I don't even know how these reports he would
just make stuff up. Want to play GM and manager.
But whatever I mean, I'll my tone has been the
same from the beginning. I'll do whatever it takes to win.
So if I need to move to third base, to
right field, to second base, wherever, it doesn't matter to me.
I feel like I'm a very viable option anywhere except
(02:11):
pitching and catching.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You never know, you could do a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, no, I'm not doing those too though.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Hey, speaking of your swing, you talked about how you
met up with your old buddy JD Martinez when the
team was in Florida. How much does it mean to
you that a guy like that that's not playing anymore
would still take the time out to meet up with
you and still do the things you did when you
were teammates.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
It means a lot. But I mean, me and JD's
relationship is one of my brothers, so it's not surprising.
It wasn't like, I, you know, something crazy. You know,
for me and him, that's pretty normal, you know. So
I talked to him all the time, and this is
our relationship runs way deeper than baseball. So for him
to come see me in Tampa was partly yes, baseball,
(02:54):
but partly because he lives down in Miami. He just
would then come see me and Rob and you know,
we have a like I said, a brotherhood. So you know,
it is a really cool thing. But don't I don't
view it that way.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
He's a different guy. Now he's lobster fishing, so maybe
he wouldn't been able to come off the boat for you.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, we he is. He does a lot of lobster
fishing and whatnot, so he was able to put that
to the side for a couple of days to come
hang out with the boys.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Mookie, this is the last time you see the Padres.
You guys had a big lead in July. Now it's
a back and forth division. How big is it to
have the urgency and how do you guys approach it?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I mean, it's obviously important to have urgency. It's just
hard to do it for one hundred and sixty two games.
But now he's getting down a crunch time. You know,
the Padres, the Rockies, Cincinnati, whoever we're playing against it
we have to have that sense of urgency. The division
is close, and so we know that they're not They're
gonna be hungry, They're not going to grow over and
just quit, you know. So we had to really play
(03:51):
a good Dodger baseball for the next two months, you know,
including a postseason.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Do you feel like you guys still have the same
hunger you had last year when you were chasing it.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, I definitely think so. I mean, you know, we
had some injuries and whatnot that kind of plays a
part and whatnot. But guys aren't going out here just
dogging it. You guys are out here working and doing
everything we can to be successful. And you got the
young guys out here working hard. You know, everybody coming
up is working hard to help us win. And so
I definitely think the sense of urgency are the the
(04:22):
will to win is definitely there. And just sometimes you know,
you go through your ruts, you go through your ups
and downs and and but that doesn't change our our mindset.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I see you guys, prepare you Freddie. Everybody comes out
here five hours before the game. Those are the type
of things that most people don't see. Doesn't that Isn't
the actions speak louder than anything else that you're out
here working.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, I mean for sure. I mean, like you said,
we're we're all here doing everything we can. I think
that kind of shows that we're not We're still hungry,
we still we still want to win, and so we're
doing everything we can possible to uh to be the
best product we can on the field. And I mean,
like I said, sometimes we go throw our ups in
our in our downs, but we're definitely working every day
to be the best that we can be.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Before I let you go. We always see the baseball
and bat necklace. I know you broke it recently you
found a new one and fans can get that too,
right you.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Have all star pieces and so yeah, this is uh,
there's a business that me and a couple of buddies
we created. You can go online and get it. Support
support me and like I said, my my, my boys
and our business. But you know, I just try to
switch it up and get the red one now because
the black one once it broke, you know, it was
(05:36):
kind of you know, that was all that was when
I was playing terrible as well, So I tried to
just get a fresh start.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Mookie, thanks a lot for the time. It's great to
see you smile. MOOKI mothers across America still need that smile.
I'm glad it's back.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yes, there's back. It's back.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
There he is. He's at shortstop today and tomorrow and yesterday.
Mookie bets
And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker. Well,
we are joined right now by Mookie Bets and this
is the biggest meeting Mookie Bets has had all week. Welcome,
thank you for having me brother. Hey Mookie, there was
an unverified report earlier this week that you, Doc, and
(00:23):
Andrew had a meeting to discuss you going back to
right field. What can you tell us about that? And
can you set the record straight?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
People are making stuff up. You know. Somebody's in there
just trying to be the first one to report a
story of their own. So that's completely false. I go
in there to talk to Doc. Me and Doc have
like this mentor father son type relationship, and I've been
I talked to him all the time about my swing
and hats coming along and this, that and the other.
(00:54):
So somebody in there was just kind of guessing and
making stuff up. So whoever made that up, you know,
you need to be careful with what you're reporting, because
that was just I was in there talking about my
swing and how it's coming along, So that has nothing
to do with it.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Going back to right field, how shocked were you when
you started seeing that pop up? All over and it
wasn't even true. Very shocked.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I mean it's you know, I understand reporters have to
do their job, but I mean, you don't have to
spread lives. You don't have to just make stuff up,
you know. Especially I'm a very open and honest person.
Just come talk to me and come ask me. I
don't appreciate things being made up, you know so, but
it kind of is what it is.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I could vouch for that. You're very approachable.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, I mean I feel like you just come ask me,
you know, I'll be honest. I'm very honest person, very
very honest.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Mookie. Around this time last year, you took it upon
yourself to say moving to right field would be the
best for the team. Would you be open to doing that?
And is that even something that's ever been brought up recently?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
No, it's never been talked about. So that's another reason
why I don't even know how these reports he would
just make stuff up. Want to play GM and manager.
But whatever I mean, I'll my tone has been the
same from the beginning. I'll do whatever it takes to win.
So if I need to move to third base, to
right field, to second base, wherever, it doesn't matter to me.
I feel like I'm a very viable option anywhere except
(02:11):
pitching and catching.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You never know, you could do a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, no, I'm not doing those too though.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Hey, speaking of your swing, you talked about how you
met up with your old buddy JD Martinez when the
team was in Florida. How much does it mean to
you that a guy like that that's not playing anymore
would still take the time out to meet up with
you and still do the things you did when you
were teammates.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
It means a lot. But I mean, me and JD's
relationship is one of my brothers, so it's not surprising.
It wasn't like, I, you know, something crazy. You know,
for me and him, that's pretty normal, you know. So
I talked to him all the time, and this is
our relationship runs way deeper than baseball. So for him
to come see me in Tampa was partly yes, baseball,
(02:54):
but partly because he lives down in Miami. He just
would then come see me and Rob and you know,
we have a like I said, a brotherhood. So you know,
it is a really cool thing. But don't I don't
view it that way.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
He's a different guy. Now he's lobster fishing, so maybe
he wouldn't been able to come off the boat for you.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, we he is. He does a lot of lobster
fishing and whatnot, so he was able to put that
to the side for a couple of days to come
hang out with the boys.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Mookie, this is the last time you see the Padres.
You guys had a big lead in July. Now it's
a back and forth division. How big is it to
have the urgency and how do you guys approach it?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I mean, it's obviously important to have urgency. It's just
hard to do it for one hundred and sixty two games.
But now he's getting down a crunch time. You know,
the Padres, the Rockies, Cincinnati, whoever we're playing against it
we have to have that sense of urgency. The division
is close, and so we know that they're not They're
gonna be hungry, They're not going to grow over and
just quit, you know. So we had to really play
(03:51):
a good Dodger baseball for the next two months, you know,
including a postseason.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Do you feel like you guys still have the same
hunger you had last year when you were chasing it.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, I definitely think so. I mean, you know, we
had some injuries and whatnot that kind of plays a
part and whatnot. But guys aren't going out here just
dogging it. You guys are out here working and doing
everything we can to be successful. And you got the
young guys out here working hard. You know, everybody coming
up is working hard to help us win. And so
I definitely think the sense of urgency are the the
(04:22):
will to win is definitely there. And just sometimes you know,
you go through your ruts, you go through your ups
and downs and and but that doesn't change our our mindset.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I see you guys, prepare you Freddie. Everybody comes out
here five hours before the game. Those are the type
of things that most people don't see. Doesn't that Isn't
the actions speak louder than anything else that you're out
here working.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, I mean for sure. I mean, like you said,
we're we're all here doing everything we can. I think
that kind of shows that we're not We're still hungry,
we still we still want to win, and so we're
doing everything we can possible to uh to be the
best product we can on the field. And I mean,
like I said, sometimes we go throw our ups in
our in our downs, but we're definitely working every day
to be the best that we can be.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Before I let you go. We always see the baseball
and bat necklace. I know you broke it recently you
found a new one and fans can get that too,
right you.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Have all star pieces and so yeah, this is uh,
there's a business that me and a couple of buddies
we created. You can go online and get it. Support
support me and like I said, my my, my boys
and our business. But you know, I just try to
switch it up and get the red one now because
the black one once it broke, you know, it was
(05:36):
kind of you know, that was all that was when
I was playing terrible as well, So I tried to
just get a fresh start.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Mookie, thanks a lot for the time. It's great to
see you smile. MOOKI mothers across America still need that smile.
I'm glad it's back.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yes, there's back. It's back.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
There he is. He's at shortstop today and tomorrow and yesterday.
Mookie bets
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