7/3 H3: David Vassegh; Fireworks talk; Haiku

David Vassegh joins us. A safety PSA for the 4th of July. Vic the Brick haiku

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Now we continue on Fred Rogan RodneyPeat on a five to seventy LA Sports.
We do, indeed have another pairof tickets to give away for the
Dodgers and the Brewers. That gameis Sunday and you will win them between
now and three o'clock. Now,let's welcome in our good friend David Bassey.
The Dodgers get ready to go atthe Diamondbacks again tonight, and Dave,

(00:26):
good afternoon to you. Hey,doing great guys here at Dodgers Stadium.
Saw Mookie Bets doing some agility drills. He was on our Instagram Live
yesterday talked about how he gets hisleft hand scanned on a weekly basis to
monitor the healing process of the bones, and so far it's coming along pretty
smoothly for Mookie. What are welooking like, Dave? That's great?

(00:48):
What are we looking like? Dude? Did he give any kind of timeline?
Are you going to be back nextweek? Right now? He actually
told me the last home stand,right after it happened, that it's six
weeks. That's the prognosis. Sowe're looking at the first or second week
of August if all goes well.All right, Dave, you know every
game one of one's sixty two.But that one was fun last night,

(01:10):
wasn't it. It really was,And it could have been ugly the way
the Dodgers almost gave away that gamea mistake pitch by Evan Phillips with two
outs to Jock Peterson. But withthe Dodgers, they seem to be a
resilient group, more adversity seen thisyear and experienced this year than a year
ago. And they they showed they'renot just giving away at bats. They

(01:34):
very easily. After Paul Sewald gottwo outs by striking out Lux and Otani
could have just laid down, butWill Smith started the two out rally with
a double and then Freddie Freeman downto his last strike. I said this
on Dodger Talk last night, there'sno better that I'm more comfortable with being

(01:57):
down two than Freddie Freeman. Andhe proved he's a he's a professional hitter.
He's one of the best in baseball, and not only did he drive
in the tying run, but healso scored the winning run. Because he
is a complete player and values ninetyfeet, he's one of the best base
runners in baseball as well. Hey, Dave, are you surprised they didn't
after will Smith hit the double,that they didn't walk Freddy, and and

(02:21):
and and you know, and alsodoes that just you know, tell you
about this team, because if theywalk Freddy, obviously what happens is ta
Oscar's up next and it just keepsgoing. But are you were you surprised
at all that they didn't walk andput him on with open base. I
was a little surprised, Rodney.I was looking over at the Diamondbacks dugout
to see whether or not Tory Leavellowas going to put up four with first

(02:45):
base open, because you, beinga former college baseball player, you understand
there's a force play in order whenyou do that with two outs, and
Taoscar Hernandez is more of a freeswinger than Freddie. The only reason why
I would believe Tory Levello did notwalk Freddie Freeman is being right next to
the Dodger dugout last night in theninth inning. The way Seawald's pitches were

(03:07):
moving against Lux and Otani, twoleft handed hitters, was it was gonna
be an uphill climb, And maybethat was part of why toy Lavello decided
to leave him in Dave Tiascar,Hernandez keeps coming up big every time,
almost every time he's at the plate. I think he is the lightning rod

(03:31):
for this club. I know AllStar voting ended this morning. Do you
think he'll get in? Well,you know, Dodger fans are not known
to be the best All Star fanvoters. It took pantone two ninety four
being locked in the basement of DodgerStadium to get Justin Turner there for the

(03:52):
first time about seven years ago.So I would say he has an outside
shot. I think that's the bestway to put it. But he deserves
to be in there, and Ihave to disagree with you, Fred.
I would say Shoe a Otani hasbeen the lightning rots of the Dodgers,
considering the way he's taken over thatleadoff spot for Mookie Betts. Yeah,

(04:15):
sure, he's He's obviously been onfire. But I think that the unexpected
performance of taoscar from I guess maybefrom non baseball folks or just a casual
fan. I think baseball insiders knewthat he was a pretty good player,
but I don't think or do youthink that Dodger fans in general thought that
they would get this kind of performancefrom Tioskar. Let's go back to the

(04:39):
offseason, Rodney, he was one. He was actually the top outfield free
agent, so there were a lotof teams that were interested in Taoscar Hernandez.
His market did not materialize the wayhe thought it would, like so
many other free agents, so theDodgers in a lot way got a steal
and many consider it the best valueyou signing of the off season by any

(05:01):
team. And he gets more opportunitieshitting where he hits in the lineup.
He has the most at bats thisyear on the team with runners on base
and runners in scoring positions. Sothat's why a lot of people talk about
RBIs being a product of opportunity.Ta Oscar Hernandez is only hitting two seventeen

(05:24):
but has over fifty RBIs because hegets more opportunities than anybody else on the
team. Uh, Dave, Ilike that O'tani is not going to compete
in the home run derby. Didyou ever think there was a possibility he
would? No? Last week inChicago, Dave Roberts and Otani himself actually
hinted it was not going to happenbecause of the rehabbing of his pitching elbow.

(05:48):
It's just too much for guys thattake talking to guys that have participated
in it, had taken that manyswings in such a short amount of time.
It wears you down. And whenyou're coming back from an elbow surgery,
when fatigue sets in, all ofa sudden, other things start to
go out. And Dave Roberts mentionedthat in Chicago last week, and when

(06:12):
he started talking about it, Otanistarted saying the same things. It was
a no go, Uh, Dave. You know, obviously, like anybody
else, I followed Otani and becausehe was in La and although down the
road, you follow him and youunderstand how great a player he is when
he was with the when he waswith the Angels, but certainly not as

(06:34):
closely as we follow him now thathe's a Dodger. But it just feels
with everything that's happened to start theseason, uh, with the with the
gambling stuff, and now to wherewe are now, it just feels like
he is amongst family. He feelscomfortable. It looks comfortable. And I've
just watched him last night on thathome run. I don't know if I

(06:57):
remember him pipping one like he didlast night after he hit it and stood
there and admired it, and thenthe love and the smile from ear to
ear he had after he came backinto the dugout man, it just feels
like he is he is really athome with his team. Oh yeah,
I feel like Rodney. He isthriving under this competitive culture the Dodgers have

(07:24):
created. I feel like that's whyhe's taking his game to the next level.
That's why Dave Roberts has talked aboutit. Teammates have talked about it.
He has thrived in this environment.And the reason why he pimped it
the way he did that was abig home run. At the time bottom
of the seventh inning, Dodgers downa run, he hits a two run,

(07:44):
go ahead home run halfway up thepavilion, four hundred and forty three
feet fifty two thousand plus sellout crowdstill here on their feet. I mean,
how could you not? And Ilove seeing him showing that type of
reaction, emotion, whatever you wantto call it. But that's the reason
why Dave is Clayton kersh. Iwas supposed to throw a bullpen today he

(08:07):
is. I'm watching the bullpen rightnow. No movement down there, so
he's expected to do so. Andtalked to him yesterday. He was very
relieved that the MRI he underwent lastweek showed no new damage to his shoulder.
He said, it's just old man'sshoulder that he has to work through.
So he was very relieved that whenhe got the results of his MRI

(08:31):
there was no new damage and hejust has to work through some of that
soreness or pain, whatever you wantto call it. Heya, Bobby Miller
worked through some tough situations yesterday,bases loaded and some other times. Assessing
his progress now that he had onemore start, just keep trotting him out

(08:52):
there, hopefully he finds his form. What did you think about him last
night? I thought the fourth inningwas a make or break for Bobby last
night. He gives up the gametime to run home run to Christian Walker
and then loads the bases with nobodyout. He very easily in the past
would have lost composure and tried todo too much on the mound. Instead,

(09:13):
he was able to retire the sidein order and not make it any
worse. That game could have gotaway from Bobby Miller and the Dodgers last
night in the fourth inning, buthe was able to, like I said,
take a deep breath, try notto get three outs with one batter,
and started using his curveball, someof his secondary pitches, and started

(09:35):
to command his fastball down in thezone. So the fourth inning, to
me, was a big step forBobby Miller. Hey, Dave, before
we let you go, a coupleof injury updates, if you can,
Joe Kelly, he's going to begina rehab assignment. And what's with Gradarol
and Bueler. Well, Joe Kellypitched at Rancho Cucamonga last night, Fred,

(09:56):
Were you there? No, Iwas not at ranchall Koukamanga last night,
Dave. Well, it's close toyour Palm Springs of State, so
I figured you might show up.No, I didn't make it out there,
Dave. I've watching the Dodgers playArizona. I think you'll have three
more chances. He's going to makethree more rehab starts and then be activated

(10:18):
after the All Star break. WalkerBuehler, I don't see him coming back
in the next couple of weeks.It feels like his hip is giving him
more issues than what people thought.Initially, so he's working through not only
the hip, but trying to bea better pitcher after coming off his second
Tommy John surgery and Bruce Star graderolFred, he's not been mentioned, so

(10:43):
I feel like the Dodgers are notcounting on him coming back. If he
does, it's in September. Wow. Wow, all right, Dave,
thanks for coming on. We appreciateit. Okay, guys, thanks,
There goes our buddy, David vassa Dodgers take on that. I'm back
in LA with the first pitch tonightat seven. Listen to every play of

(11:03):
every Dodger game on AM five seventyLA Sports and stream old games at HD
on the iHeartRadio app. The keyboardis AM five to seventy LA Sports.
It's powered by LA Care for allof LA. You need some spirituality,
Rodney, Yes I do, Yes, I do. Let's have some.

(11:26):
Let's bring Vic on next. Allright, come on, let's keep it
moving, Rodney. Pete Fred Roganon a Wednesday day before fourth of July.
Freddy, you got big pans plans? Fred I got nothing? Oh
good, I got nothing. Youknow what? What time? The fireworks
usually start? Around nine? Righteight forty five nine o'clock like that.

(11:48):
Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna watchit. The problem is, do you
have any idea what the temperature isin the Coachella Valley right now? I
would say one hundred and six rightabout now at two thirty pm. Okay,

(12:11):
I can tell you. But thenI'm gonna tell you something else because
yesterday in the afternoon, I wentto get in my car real quick.
I had to go somewhere before Idid the show out here, and uh,
the car registered one hundred and twenty, one hundred and twenty and for
the record, it currently is onehundred and ten. I yeah, it

(12:35):
is officially one out there in theColechella Valley right now. So I'm saying
to go outside at night and it'sreally nice at night. But nice at
night is eighty eight degrees it itwill hit one hundred by nine thirty in
the morning, you know. Sowhat you're doing, get it done,

(12:58):
get it done before ninth. Ohyeah. And at night if you go
outside when the sun is down andit's like in the eighties, it's really
beautiful. Oh my, it's beautiful. That's that's the that is the part
of summer. I loved about Arizonawas the nighttime. You know, when
it dropped to you know, awhopping eighty eight at night and you go

(13:20):
outside and shorts and you just weused to love just looking at the stars
or hanging out at night. Butthen I love hot nights. Hot nights
in Arizona without the humidity was itwas pretty amazing. Yeah. So I'm
guessing for fireworks it'll be in thenineties here, and that they're great for

(13:41):
fireworks and fires when it's dry.That's the problem with their and and like
where we grew up in Arizona,where you got in trouble is the dryness
caused a lot of fires. Yeah, and out here, as I've learned,
because to a degree, it isthe wild Wie West, and almost
anything goes in some situations. SoI'm of the opinion and I think there

(14:05):
are cities here that allow you tojust shoot off fireworks, you know,
I don't want to. I thinkit's Indio. I think in Indio anything
goes, let it go, letit fly. You got fireworks, fire
him up there. And I thinkthere's another place out here like that too.
So I just think the best betfor me stay inside, watch a

(14:28):
little TV watch the fireworks show andactually I'll be watching the Dodger. I'll
bother me and I won't bother you. Right yeah, I'll just be watching
the Dodgers tomorrow. All right.But here's a man that is always explosive.
On the fourth of July, let'swelcome him in now. It is
Vic the Brick with the Daily Haikuat two and Vic, good afternoon.

(14:50):
He moves like Jagger. What doesn'tthrow like Guriel Fred Rogan? Thank you,
Vic, thank you. You knowthere's a sense, Vic, and
I want this on the record.Sure that I'm like a puma. Ooh,
I'm deceptively quick. Oh, likea puma. Cat, Like a

(15:13):
puma. Yes, he pulled thepuma. All the cats you could say,
you said puma. Don't you thinkI had to? Then? Umahs
are known to be yeah, knownto be smaller. But they're quick.
That's what I'm saying of the ofthe big of the large cats. They're
small and quick. Yeah, Igot you. I love the Puma Fred

(15:33):
in fact, of course you dorocking, rocking my Pumas for years,
you know, my sneaker of thePumas. And of course I love the
band the black Pumas made by theway, the sneaker, the puma made
uh mainstream by our good friend WaltClyde Fraser. Ah right, Okay,

(15:54):
Clyde made the puma famit. Iused to rock the high pumas back in
New York. Hi pullmas. Inever saw those, exactly, very rare.
Kick got a lot of respect inthe subways when I would rock the
pumas, and of course Fred Itotally empathized wearing the weights. I also

(16:17):
wore weights when I was a kid. You know, ankle weights. You
try to get a little more hops. So I'm rocking the black pumas and
the ankle weights, and I'm youknow, I'm doing the E train or
the F train, you know,from Queens into the city. I was
getting instant respect on the subway.Sure, instant respect, instant okay,

(16:41):
talk about instant respect. When heplayed quarterback at USC and the NFL,
his passes well, laser shop RodneyPete, not me. His aerials legendary
on seventy eighth and Vermont, Kevin, you went deep. I come from

(17:07):
the deep exactly, it is there, it is he holds down the ones
and the two's like no other unparalleledin his posseo. No Rodney Fossio fireworks
showing wit you at King Flavor's house. Yeah, yeah, I think you're
big Fourth of July guy. Iused to be back in the day when

(17:30):
it was much safer. Right now, it's it's so out of control.
It's nutty. It's just nutty.And I feel for the for the pets
and the you know, and themihos and mihas. I mean, it's
so loud. I remember my mypet, Basil, my Dobuman pincer.

(17:55):
I had to settle him down andyou know, cuddle him during the fire
works because he was freaking out.Wow. So take care of your doggies
and your cats, all your animals. Horse absolutely, if you have horses.
Also, the horses are very verysensitive. Yeah, if you have
a horse, take care of it. Oh, all animals, especially those

(18:18):
elephants walking down downtown Burbank. Youdon't want to freak them out. Don't
do that. Did I see themyet? Those the twenty five that the
herd of twenty five. No,No, And you know, Vic,
Ever since you said that, I'vebeen thinking about that, and I've been
purposely looking for any sign of anysort of pachoderm in the city of Burdbank.
I've seen nothing. I've seen nothinga packaderm y'all come on, yeah,

(18:45):
well, fellas, the deal isdone with Lebron James. Lebron hooked
up with two years, one hundredand four million dollars, keeping the Lakers
below the second apron is what I'mhearing. But is that official? Is
that the restructure? Well, Lebronis official as his son Brownie. Four

(19:08):
years, eight million dollars for BronnieJames guaranteed deal. I'm sure that was
one and the same, you know, culminated by Clutch Sports for their clients.
But is this the restructure that we'vebeen hearing about two years one oh

(19:29):
four? Because nothing, nothing's happening. DeMar Derosen is maybe the most desirable
free agent out there out of Compton, and pat Riley's got his eye on
them. The Miami Heat are schmoothingthe rosan Hard. Wouldn't de Rozan just
be a nice addition to the Lakers. I mean the talent, yeah,

(19:52):
but I don't know if he fitsfit. That's the problem. What do
you mean doesn't fit? He hitsa fifteen foot jump shot in his sleep.
Yeah, but do you really wanta guy that shoots mid range jump
shots in a situation where you're tryingto spread the court and open lanes for
people to score. Yes, Oh, okay, I guess you do.
Yeah, Fred, I'd answer myquestion as they generally know, no,

(20:12):
you don't. In this case,I do, of course, Vick.
Of course, the Lakers they talentFred. This is a roster, you
know, after a D. Thiscould be a d's team. He's the
hub, as JJ says, He'smade him the hub of the team.
He's a spoke of the wheel.He's the center of the Laker universe,

(20:34):
of the wheel. He's a spokeof the wheel. It's all going to
go through a D. And hegots you know, the the amazing Lebron
James. But who who is goingto score after those guys D'Angelo Russell once
every couple of days, Hachi Moraonce every couple of days. Who's gonna

(20:57):
score? They need scoring any players? You know, I love the player
development. You know I'm digging,you know, the holistic player development.
JJ reddicks laying down, But reallylook at the squad and look at the
West. They need players to MarthaRosen. Okay, so he doesn't hit
the twenty five foot jump shot,but he's he'll nail and bury fifteen foot

(21:22):
jays. I understand the game isevolved into a three you know, a
three point shooting game. But youstill need deuces. No, yeah,
you do, But I just don'tknow if you need to uh clog up
the middle. But maybe he's alsoa net negative defensively too, and the
Lakers have enough of those guys already. M Yeah, well, the Damar

(21:47):
wants to be a Laker. Lakersneed talent. I think it's just a
natural fit, just you know,add to Martha Rose into your squad.
A natural fit. Maybe you takehim if you can't give anything else.
I was just from a basketball standpoint, I just don't think it fits Vic.
It's almost like Westbrook. Now,Westbrook had the personality stuff and all
that. I'm not saying it's thatbad, but from a fit standpoint,

(22:07):
this is like Westbrook two point zeroas far as what he brings basketball wise,
this team is to devoid of complimentaryplayers who can score. Yeah,
got the Mordas and hang out defend. Yeah, they need help. Let's

(22:30):
face it, the Lakers need helpand there's not much out there right now
that the free agents are very it'svery thin. Yeah, I mentioned,
you know, Gary Trent yesterday.The Lakers have to make moves. No,
they just gonna stand pat. Theygo into summer league where jyj is

(22:55):
not even coaching. He's too busywith the you know, the player development.
You know what else he's not goingto coach when the Lakers are in
Vegas. Well, I understand somepeople thought it would be a good idea.
I I actually don't. Couldn't hurt, right, some sort of coaching

(23:17):
experience under your belt for a coupleguys have stuff to do. Is it
part of the player development looking atthe players who are your sumer league roster,
who you look to develop to bepart of your NBA culture. Look,
don't define what player development is toJJ Reddick. He's writing the book.
Well, he's hiring somebody to writethe book. Well, that's fine

(23:41):
to do that. He's a ghostwriter. I'll tell you who wrote the book
on comebacks? Yeah, who wroteit? We'll find out. And who
is going to the Dodgers on Sundayagainst the Brewers' eight six six nine eighty
seven two five seventy. Rodney wouldcall her number number five. Yeah,

(24:11):
sing it. Come on, let'skeep it moving. Rodney beat Fred Rogan,
Dick the brick Ticco, need it, need it all right? Dick?
Please continue? Oh by the way, wait wait Sergio Sergio and Highland
Park. He's going to the gameSunday. He won the Dodger tickets for
the Brewers. Hey, John,Sergail super excited to go there, Fred,
So congratulations to Sergio. He's lookingforward to it. Cool late birthday

(24:33):
present for his wife. He says, nice, Nice, It's gonna be
beautiful. Sergio, what an amazingbaseball game last night, fellas Dodgers Snakes
on Japanese Heritage night, Tycho TeraYaki and George Takai. My good friends

(24:59):
shook Oh and Michael were there.They got the jersey. It was unbelievable
there huh oh, what an amazingnight celebrating the heritage, celebrating the incredible
Dodger bridge to Japan, of course, and the great Walter O'Malley will be

(25:19):
honored in fact August tenth and theRing of Honor. So it's gonna be
an amazing, amazing night of Augusttenth for the O'Malley family. He built
the stadium, he built the Dodgersbuilt the bridge. A little surprise,
he not already in the Ring ofhonor victory. I know, I know,
this is a beautiful it's a beautifulthing. And then Otani just starts

(25:48):
it off with that RBI double.Then he gets the the little little single,
but then destroys one. The balllanded next to the old Tawi mural
on First Street in Little Tokyo.Oh, he hit it, then destroyed

(26:11):
at number twenty seven. Y,it's four to three and the seventh right,
so it's four to three. Everyone'severyone's giddy. The bullpens has been
flawless. But these are weird games. Listen, every game it's strange and
every team can rise up. AndArizona once he go, wants to,

(26:34):
you know, get some traction goingto the n west. So they tied
it up on that wacky bunt.Yeah. So we're four to four in
the eighth. Then the former DodgerJack Peterson, with two outs hits the
home run. Was he wearing hispearl necklace last night, By the way,

(26:56):
I don't remember. Anyway, Petersongoes deep or Phillips, which is
shocking. That was a shocking sobottom of the ninth, last licks LuxI
goes down on strikes, Oh TODDIgoes down on strike and say, oh,
okay, okay, let's do ittomorrow. Let's do it tomorrow.

(27:22):
I'm Bobby Miller, bobblehead Night.Let's just do it tomorrow. But no,
there's a different Dodger team. Everybodythey battle, they're fierce. An
America's catcher comes up Will Smith anddestroys a pitch for a double. So
Man on second, two outs,Freddie Freeman, two strikes, Freddy,

(27:48):
Yeah, the the ultimate two strikehitter laces one to the wall. We're
t we're tied up. And thenthe way of Tay Tay oscar he Nandez
the ground single Freddie Freeman, sensationalbase runner scores easily. Guriel's throw,

(28:15):
You tell me it wouldn't have matteredif he threw a bullet. Freddy had
the plate had to run this raptureat the ravine. What a ninth inning,
What a ninth inning? Mind blowingwalk off wonder Land. You know
that was a John Facinda esque gamerecap there, big actually was. I

(28:37):
love it. Good job, butlisten, is tay they Oscar the starting
All Star outfielder. If he's not, I demand the probe. Nobody enjoys
the good probe more than you.You're telling me I feel good about Otani

(28:59):
San not doing the home run derby. That was pretty much a done deal.
We talked about it last week.But it's a safe move. It's
the right move. And you knowwhere that leads us to Vic. Right

(29:21):
to the source, Fred, staycool in the Coachella Valle Fred than everyone
stay cool this weekend. It's gonnabe blistering. Everyone. Just stay cool,
drink a lot of water, stayhydrated, to stay in the shade
and enjoy the fireworks at a safedistance. And we're talking about freedom.

(29:41):
July fourth you huh. This highcoup is from Sandra L. Weis,
I believe, a relative of DaveWes Amazing Promotions Zar. It goes something
like this, this hikup for youthis Wednesday, July, the third Independence

(30:07):
Day, remembering who we are,our choice, what's freedom? I'm feeling
you, sandral Weise, very solidwork today. Then bless off freedom fighters,
bless off freedom, very very solidwork. All right. Before we
get out of here, a wordfrom Jacob. Accident, oh injury,

(30:30):
call Jacob and MONI call Jacob.Ay fourth of July is tomorrow. The
holiday leads to a busy day onthe roads in general, so our friend
Jacob wants everybody to be careful.And it's also a big day for people
to spend time in the water.If you unfortunately get injured on a boat
or some sort of watercraft, youmay have rights to recover damages from your
injury. So remember to call Jacobif it's an auto accident, a water

(30:53):
injury, a slipping ball, youname it. If you're injured tonight or
tomorrow, Jacob's team doesn't take timeoff, are available when you call them.
Jacob and his team will handle thedetails so you can get back to
enjoying the holiday. That's right,Fred. Jacob offers free consultations and you
don't pay a penny unless you winyour case. When you call an attorney,

(31:15):
you want one who is respected.Called Jacob. He's the real deal.
Eight four to four twenty four Jacob. Eight four to four twenty four
Jacob. That's eight four to fourtwenty four Jacob. Or visit called Jacob
dot com and make sure you're followingcalled Jacob on Instagram. Go to that
called on Jacob a great advice,prizes and a lot more. Call Jacob.

(31:36):
Oh yeah, Ronnie, thank yougreat week. Be safe this fourth
of July weekend. Uh, Kevinyou learn and baby O enjoy your first
fourth together and Rodney be safe andwe'll get together ground on Monday, right
on, he said,