With you until eight o'clock tonight here on AM five to seventy LA Sports. I'll be co hosting with Matt mney Smith on Friday from Dodger Stadium three to seven pm. So essentially that will be Dodger Talk from what I believe will be a Dodger workout as they prepare for Game one of the NLDS, which will be this Saturday
from Dodger Stadium at five thirty eight. It's looking like the Padres because they are leading the Atlanta Braves now five to two in the top of the sixth inning, although Matt Olsen is at the plate with runners at the corners against Tanner Scott, who the Dodgers made look human last week at Dodger Stadium. Also, the Milwaukee Brewers came from behind to beat those miracle Mets with a go ahead, three run home run in the bottom of
the eighth inning from Garrett Mitchell. So tomorrow a winner take all Wildcard Series game in Milwaukee, Dodg Mets versus and a guy that knows all about hitting home runs in Milwaukee and all across Major League Baseball. Fifteen years in the big leagues, one of the best first basemen of his generation. He played seven hundred and thirty five
regular season games for the Dodgers, five postseason series. He was really the symbol of this Dodger ownership turning things around for this franchise when they traded for Nick Punto, Carl Crawford, Josh Peckett, and our guests, the one and only Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzo, thanks a lot for calling in.
Appreciate it, Hey, Dave, thank you for having me, Thank you for wanting to speak to me. I know, you know, we jab at each other back and forth, but on this day today, we are not jabbing at each other. We are making deals.
That's right. Gonzo started a fantasy league while he was still playing for the Dodgers, and the league is still going. It's brought in some different people, and right now Gonzo and David Vasse's teams are both one and three. So we had to shake things up here, Gonzo.
We did, we did. We had to shake things up and you know, make make sure our teams are, you know, getting stronger.
So it's I love making trades with you because you're reasonable. I sent an offer over and you accepted it. It's Brian Robinson and Garrett Wilson going to lt Ton's team, Marvin Harrison Junior and Bucky Irving coming over to All Valley vass A. I feel like, see, this is the trade more teams need to make a Major League Baseball. It's a win for you, it's a win for me. I'm not trying to steal from you, Gonzo.
You know what it really it really kind of reminds me of the trade that, looking back now, the Dodgers made with the Tigers. Right, they get the Dodgers got Jack Clarity, the Tiger's got a few you know, players, and now the Tigers are in the postseason.
Yeah, how do you think the Tigers feel about that? Because the player the Dodgers gave Trey Sweeney, he's been playing shortstop ever since Javierhebias went out, and he served a very useful purpose for them.
Yeah. One, I think you know, the team wasn't expecting to make the turnaround that they did, and you know, they brought in some youth. They you know, kind of went into this like let's just have fun mentality, and before you know it, they started winning games and you know, here they are, you know, in winning a postseason series.
Adrian, You're the perfect guy to talk to about this. All around LA it feels like fans and even you know, the so called experts are giving the Padres way too much respect. When you came to the Dodgers, it felt like there was an attitude change and not arrogant, but a confidence level that when your Dodger teams took the field, you owned that field. How much do these Dodgers have to feel that when they take the field on Saturday night against probably these Padres, you.
Know, they have to be confident. I mean, obviously the team, you know, best record in the National League, you have to you know, step onto the field feeling like you're the best team out there. I will say the Padres have a great team, especially a team that is made for the postseason. Having said that, you know, the Dodgers have the stars they have with Tani, they have Mookie,
they have Freddy, they have you know, Yamamoto. They have these pieces that they should step onto the field feeling extremely confident, like, Hey, we got to go out there play our game. We're going to win because we trust what we have. WHI trust what we're doing and we're the most talented team out here, So you know, they just got to believe that. They got to know that. And on top of it, you know, you got to execute.
You have to go out there and execute, and you cannot be predictable, which is one thing in the past that Dodgers have been in the postseason is predictable. They we know what, we know what. You know, pitchers are gonna what kind of pitchers they're gonna throw in these situation, we know what. So they need to be a little bit un predictable when it comes to being able to adjust and do things that the other team is not expecting.
I love that you said that, Adrian, because even Dave Roberts said that during the regular season, playing the Padres, playing the Diamondbacks so much the last three years, they know how the Dodger pitchers are attacking them in game planning. What's the balance of changing things up but still pitching to your strengths.
You know, I the greatest pitchers that you that you see in the postseason, and now I'm going to go by you know, my own personal examples, right John Lester. You know you talk about, you know, guys that have had a ton of success, and I'm going to go to John Lester, specifically, right John Lester. During the regular season, every single at bad I faced him, he was a forcing cutter guy, forcing Cutter's kerball, right, That's all I
saw every single pitch. And then when we played him in the postseason against the Cubs, guess what, I get up to the plane and first pitch as he has a sinker. Second pitch I see is a changeup. So everything I had seen that season is now out the door, and that picture had the confidence. John Lesser had the confidence to go up there and say, like, listen, I know that you think I'm gonna throw these pitches, but I'm gonna picture completely different because you're not ready for that.
And that's what makes a picture very, very unpredictable and very successful in the postseason. Right, Madison Bumgarner, same thing. He was super super successful because he was able to change things up. And if a picture is very predictable in the postseason, the hitters are going to be able to adjust because the hitters have time to study that
picture in depth. In the regular season, if I'm a hitter, I'm gonna study the first ten to fifteen pitches of a posing picture, and then I'm gonna move on to the next and then you know it's the next day and the next day and the next day. In the postseason, you spend hours on every picture and you try to dissect every single situation so you know what they're gonna throw. And that is what I'm talking about when it comes to predictability.
Adrian Gonzalez is our guest, one of the best first base of his generation now does it for sports Net. La is the man for Collie Dodd for Jersey, Mike's for so many things, Gonzo, And speaking of the pitchers perspective, I wanted to ask you about the hitters perspective. There's been a lot of criticism of Dodger hitters the last three or four postseasons that they can't make adjustments in game because of what you're describing other teams are doing
pitching them backwards. How do you adjusting game? How do you recognize that because I remember so many times it was you, it was Justin Turner that was taking back scatting reports to the dugout. Is that what it's going to come down to?
Well, I mean, yeah, you have to do all your due diligence, right, You have to spend time in the video room. You have to see what they've done in the past, right, you have to use that as your first step. And then the second thing you have to do is, hey, that first time through the lineup, what are they doing differently? If we're not having success and that first time through the lineup, what are they doing differently? Because if they're doing what we expected them to do,
then we need to step up our game. We need to be better. We need to put our foot down on time. We need to make sure we're not over swinging. We need to make sure that we're getting barrel to the ball and we're not trying to hit home runs because in the postseason, you hit home runs because of adrenaline. You don't hit home runs because you're trying to hit home runs. If you're trying to hit home runs, you're over singing, and you're swinging under fastballs and you're swinging
over all speed pitches. So you know, if they're doing something different, you make that adjustment second time to the lineup. But the team has to communicate. They have to be able to have those conversations and they have to be ready to change. And the key, like I said, is don't try to hit home runs in the postseason, let your adrenaline create the bad speed and just focus on getting the bats of the ball.
Do you believe Otani will be able to do that? Gone, So, you know.
What, he's shown that he has that he can do that. He's have success in.
The WBC in the past, he's had some success, and you know the times that we've seen him that, you know, we think that they he might the pressure might get to him, and he's always stepped up to the play in those situations.
So I really do think that he is a guy that will be able to do that. You know, we don't know. Everybody's different, everybody can react different to a new situation. Obviously, this is his first postseason game coming on Saturday, but I do believe that he will be able to have the success that we expect him to have.
Not only was Adrian Gonzalez a great hitter, but he was one of the best defensive first basemen, a multi goal Glove Award winner, and one of the best at defending the bunt and the wheel play came into question the last home stand of the season, and I just remember how great you were crashing on those type of plays. So what are the challenges Freddie Freeman is going to
have on a bum right ankle. Are you concerned about the ground he'll be able to cover around first base, about handling bunts, doing all those things that you need to do to be a good first baseman.
I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna make a joke out of this, but it's also my answer. So Freddy Freeman and a bad ankle is moving faster than I was on a I'm too good legs, So I believe he'll be just fine. You know, playing first bases about having instincts and anticipating things. It's not about how fast you are. So I really think he will be just fine, you know, being able to cover bonds or cover you know, his positions I think he needs to do. He might not be feeling bases.
He might not be, you know, he might be. What I did is turning triples into doubles. Right, he hit the ball in the gap. He's not gonna get a triple out of it. He's gonna get a double out of it. That's perfectly fine. But we need his bat in the line of it. We need we need his glove at first base.
And that's his front foot when he hits Gone. So that's not an issue, right, It.
Shouldn't be much of an issue now. I mean, you know, it's gonna be heavily taped. I'm sure if their soreness still lingering, you know, comes Saturday, it's gonna be it's gonna be fine. He you know, maybe maybe a little bit of a mechanical adjustment there, but he'll be just fine. He's he's got he's got some of the best hands in the game when it comes to swinging the bat, so I'm sure his legs won't get in the way of his amazing swing.
Adrian and Zalez had so many great moments in a Dodger uniform, so many fun times. He knew how to be inclusive with everybody in that clubhouse. He knew when it was time to be serious, he knew when it was a time to lighten the mood. When you look back at those Dodger teams that you played on, Gone, So is there one that you're more fond of than the other. I'm not going to ask you which was the best, but which one were you the most fond of? If you can put it into context.
You know, I think, in my opinion, the twenty thirteen team the first team that we know the first year, you know, when it started, this twelfth season run, right, I believe that was the team that you know, we had, the team, we had the everything going for us to win it all. Obviously, you know, Hanley Ramirez being hit in the ribs and his ribs being broken and for pretty much taking him completely out of that, he's really hurt us. And uh, you know, he was our best
hitter at the time. He was he was you know, he had an incredible series against Atlanta and and you know, he was our number three hitter. And I think, you know, the fact that he was a guy that you know, was taken out of that series really affected us. So that's that's the That's the thing that I look back and I'm like, man, if if he was healthy that series, I think I think we had a really really good shot at winning that whole thing.
I still give Joe Kelly crap about that gone, So I don't let him forget that. I haven't forgotten.
Yeah, no, for sure, I uh, I'm uh, you know, maybe maybe maybe you can get him to admit on there that that it was semi semi on purpose just to uh to just to get under him a little bit. But Joe Kelly is a great guy. He's unbelievable, and uh, you know it was it was you know, they like they pitched inside with with no repercussions, you know that team. They they if a guy was was ready to lean out there, they made sure to throw one up and then on purpose and as they hit you as well.
When you major first debut as a Dodger you hit a home run. Is that still one of the more special moments of your career?
Yeah? Having Vin Scully be able to call that was very special, you know. And then obviously my first at Bad and the way that I got a standing ovation from the Dodger fans. I was, I don't know what to expect, you know, coming from a padre being a pottery for all those years, So it was just very special to me.
I'll never forget twenty thirteen the Mickey Mouse ears. Maybe the Dodgers can come up with something like that.
You know, they said I was a Mickey Mouse uff though. You know what, let's I'll show you what Mickey Mouse stuff really is, you know.
Yeah, yeah, hey, we follow you on Instagram. We follow you on x. You got this five am workout club, Gonzo. You got girls to raise, so you're getting You're getting your work out early before the sun comes up. What's up with this five am crew that you always post about.
You need to come. You need to come to work out with us every Tuesday and Thursday, five thirty in the morning. You know, group of guys, most mostly parents of the school, but you know, we got we got some some others that have been added onto the group. It's a it's a group of about twenty five. We get between six and twelve every every day. And yeah, we get we get it. We get the workout done before, you know, before the kids are up, before it before
the day starts. And you know, the way we like to say it is, you know, we start the day with a w The rest of the day is just for us to enjoy it because we've already won the day.
Love it. See, Gonzo is leading the school parents now. See just like you did when you played, you know how to galvanize and include everybody.
Yeah, I mean you have to write. I mean you have to create a community and you have to you know, have a goal in mind. And you have to go after it.
Love it, Gonzo. It's great to hear your voice. You meant so much to the Dodgers in this city ever since you put on that uniform, and certainly one of the great Dodgers of the last thirteen years. And Dodger fans still love you and we can't wait to see you again on sports in at LA. And maybe Adrian Gonzalez is throwing out a first pitch in the NLDS.
Oh man, that would be great. Now it's you know, it's gonna be a great series, regardless of what team it is. And you know, I can't wait for the Dodgers to, you know, be able to win that series, you know, after a couple of tough seasons.
All Right, Adrian, thanks a lot for coming on, and thanks a lot for making that trade. It's a done deal.
It's a done deal, Dave. It's a done deal. Our teams are going up from here on out.
Here we go two and three from here, Gonzo.
That's right, that's right.
I'll talk to you soon. Okay, thanks a lot for coming on.
All right, I appreciate it. I appreciate it, Dave. We'll talk to them