And now an exclusive interview with David Basse for Dodger Talker.
Welcome back to Dodger Talk. David vass with you until eight o'clock as we get set for the big World Series rematch beginning tomorrow night at Dodgers Stadium. Max Freed and Cino Zone will be on the mound for the Yankees going up against Tony Gonsolin. And we're joined right now by a man that couldn't stay away from southern California. He wanted to get close to the heat. He didn't want to get too close. With the Dodgers in first place in the NL West, the Yankees back in town
for the World Series. A man that spent his entire Major League career with one team, and that is in Dodger Blue. He's a Gold Glover, he's a Silver slugger, he's an All Star, and he's number one in your program, not mine. Andre Ethier. Andre, thanks a lot for joining us finally on Dodger Talk this year.
Need a commercial break after that intro?
My goodness, Yeah, I mean it's hard. You're a hard guy to get a hold of these days.
Hey, we're we're you.
I think we talked right before we started taping this. We're almost sixty games this season. You finally give me the signal from the bullpen to come in and let me get on the show.
So I appreciate it.
And yeah, I'm in southern California for the last couple of weeks hanging out and yeah, looking forward to the series this uh this.
Speaking there in LA.
I was actually gonna go up and see it until I found out that my son Devils from Arizona State are in the u c l A hosted regional this weekend, So I kind of did a pivot and I'm gonna go see some college baseball action this weekend with the Sun Devils, Irvine, Fresno State, and u c l A Bruins there all at fourteen Regional UCLA this weekend, So it will be a fun time bottom a lot of baseball in the LA area, and who knows, maybe some good future dogs out there on that airs Astaate Tue.
Hey, I'm surprised you're going to that and not going to Anaheim for the Savannah Bananas. I thought maybe you might be the guest star for the Savannah Bananas tomorrow.
Hey, you know, I don't I don't like anything Anaheim, and I don't consider that a part of what we do down there. I think I like those parts of that Hoveyers down there in Crystal Cove.
I'll go down there to hang.
Out Hobviers and have a few drinks there watching the sunset. But other than that, I don't need to go to the Angel Stadium for anything. I'll wait for the Bananas to be in Donders Stadium and maybe I'll have my guest appearance.
Well, well, Hobbers is a big, a big fan of Dodger talk and David Vasse Senior and Junior. They love me, but I heard they are lukewarm on you.
That's all right, I like I like the margaritas enough to give a path for the good favor of me. Good time, great food.
Yeah, it's good to be back in California for a few weeks and you know, hang it out watching a lot of Dodger baseball actually there on this last road trip, and it's fun to see that. You know. I think they went out and did pretty well on that road trip. It was kind of the beginning of a tough stretch
for them, and I think they did pretty well. You know too, You know, a tough New York series, and obviously it's always tough to go into Cleveland and play games, and you know they handled business there too.
How much do you believe players, especially now, don't appreciate just the attention and the microscope they are going to be under when they're playing with sho Heyo Tani and they're part of a team that is coming off a big time World Series championship. Do we have to give Tanner Scott and Michael Confordo and I know Blake Snell hasn't pitched a lot, but a little bit more grace to get used to their new environment.
I'm gonna be very I wouldn't say political, but I'll be very upfront. I don't I couldn't even tell you because you know what, unfortunately, I've never got to play with this player show is caliber, and I never got experience to play after a World Series win. So you know that being said, the game has changed a lot the last six seven years that I've been out, and uh, the Dodgers for that, you know, has changed so much.
You know, the lights bigger, the lights of brighter, Uh, you know, unbelievable, what the you know, team, you know, front office, ownership, fans have done to elevate this team to the forefront one of the main, uh, you know, premiere organizations in.
All Major League Baseball.
Yes, so I will say just from that experience of knowing going into some of those you know, playing in l A, going into big markets. Yes, the lights of brighter. Uh, the microscope is is that much more fine? The grace doesn't get so, you know, so leading when you're not performing and what do the fans?
What do this?
What does this coaching staff, what does this front office expect? They expect another World Series? And rightfullis so there's no days off, there's no years off. It's get right back at it. It's the same team, maybe even better bullpen, maybe even better pitching. You know, offense is the same, maybe even some key guys that were had it on and there's no excuses not too And I think that's just a part of adding those guys who might have not played recently with teams.
In that area.
All right, here's something you know about because during your time with the Dodgers, you were considered and rightfully so, as being one of the most clutch players in Major
League Baseball. Can you explain to us, and it's kind of lost in the analytics of baseball these days, just the difference between being in the batter's box with a runner at second base or third base or both runners in scoring position, compared to coming to the plate with nobody on base and being counted on as a run producer.
I mean, it's it's that's tough to both sides. You know, there's so many nuances to the game that we have to look at. And that's, you know, something I'm constantly trying to teach, you know, younger players and stuff now is it's not purely just go up there, seatball, hit ball, and whatever happens happens.
You know, there's a game.
You know, you've you've heard it how many times say there's a game within a game right there and there until he is and there's a game within the game of the game. Because each inning, you know, you can break it down to thirds, first, third innings, middle you know, second, third innings, and the last three innings. There's different things that hitters top to bottom are asked to do and they're expected to do, uh, and those change according to
the situation. And that's a part of being a good baseball players, you have to be able to adapt to, you know, a lot of those different possibilities.
A guy like show, Hey, it's simple.
It's get up there, drive the ball as hard as you know, as hard as you can off the bat, and hit it as far as you can and hope you can get the points. But you see himself giving himself up in certain situations and and you know, try to get a ball, you know, pull aside, try to you know, make sure he's making contact, put a ball in play, stuff like that.
And then guys who might not hit homes.
All the time, you know, late in the game you might be expected to drive a ball to the wall rather than just that's you know that good contact lines d I swing that gets the base runner going.
So being a good.
Baseball player, you have to know all the possibilities. You have to know your you know limits, what your possibilities are of your own talents and go out there and whatever the situation calls for.
Andre Ethier, the Man, the Myth, the Legend, making his premier appearance during this season on Dodger Talk. Do you have a superior grocer's word? Are the day for us today? Or is that just during the games, just.
Through the games.
But yes, the player grocers, you know, they're they're a good partner of mine, and I've been happy to be on board and we've been having a great time the last two years together and being on this great run with the Dodgers and Superior Grocers is a place with all your needs.
Your last year was twenty seventeen. Are you still taking off guard how much the fans still love and appreciate everything you did for your twelve year major league career?
Uh?
Yeah, I do, because I'm trying to be you know, I try to say, you know, I just went out there and did it to you know, play the game right way, and obviously when I was playing the game the right way for the fans and and uh you know, make them proud of, you know, not only me, but making proud of to be a Dodger fan, and try to elevate uh you know, the city, elevate everything, you know, to be representative of what we see on that hat, which is LA and yeah, you know everything that everything
I tried to do obviously was to have the most success, you know, for myself and family, but was for those reasons also, and you know, I have this love and fondness for la for all the fans and the way
they treated me all those years. And yeah, there's there's no better feeling than walking back in the Dodger Stadium, which still feels like home every time I step in it, and you know, getting a chance to hear and express you know, with you know here fans, how they talk to me, and then I get expressed, you know, some of the things that I might not ever get a chance to say when I was a player, because you're so focused and be concentrated and sometimes even guarded.
Uh, for yourself.
But it's nice to be able to be in this position to you know, go to some of the things I do and be around the stadium and get a share, uh, you know, my appreciation for the fans.
Back, you know, to them.
Do you miss the game?
Oh yeah, I missed it every every day, think about it. That's That's the one thing that's kind of kind of weird, uh, to be because you know, there's a lot of professions where you might be able to get back and get experience and taste of it again. And you know, when you're done playing professional sports, it's when it's done it's done. There's no uh kind of going back, especially baseball, all basketball going back and just you know, give it one
more shot. You know, for the most part, less you're any ram mirrors and they're still swinging the batting stage. Yeah, like you see like you see the videos all the time. But yeah, every day, sometimes somethings more, some days not.
I don't miss it.
I mean, I was just throwing uh balls, the whiffle balls of the beach with my daughter while she's hitting, and you know, it's I would be lying if I didn't say, flashbacks come in my head just.
Standing there, you know, throwing you just.
Have flashes of you know, hey, at this time and years ago, while I was getting ready to play, you know, the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium on a you know, three game set, and in set, I'm sitting on the beach. But yeah, there's there's always tonts of reminders. And then you know, I got two uh older boys who were playing baseball you know quite a bit, and out there, you know, using my rolodex of of experience and and gameplay and practice and all the things I saw the
and seem to help them. Uh you know better, prepare and and form a game plan to make them the most successful they can, uh, you know, for their uh you know, baseball crewers.
Okay, so you're on the beach having flashbacks to playing catch with while you're throwing to your daughter. Who is Andre Ethier's favorite catch partner in your career?
Well, favorite catch powers that?
That's easy one. Matt Camp.
Wow, Hey, you make us all feel good when you say that.
Yeah, Matt Camp, by far one was my favorite catch partner. He is my catch partner for was that eight years?
Eight years?
Nine years there, but my catch partner, you know, every day out there, spring training to end of the season, playoffs, the whole thing. Uh, you know, it wasn't even it was only playing catch, but was also just catching up and talking, uh you.
Know, about life at.
The beginning, you know, sitting there fifteen twenty feet away, talking about life, talking about whatever you did last night, talking about what you you tomorrow, talking about who you're
facing that day. All kinds of things happen in those conversations when you see but not a lot of you know, people get to see that unless you come to the ball field early, sometimes on the road, and you know, see the opposing team playing catch or you know that's how at two thirty three o'clock in the afternoon when we're out there really doing our first you know, warm up of the day and you know we're out there having those conversations, uh, you know, preparing for the.
Game that night.
After Matt camp left and Cody Bellinger emerged in your final season his rookie year was Cody Bellinger. Every year catch partner.
He was a casey.
But who was my actually catch partner all right after Matt left was Matt Ouer was Josh Peterson. Oh okay, so Jock was my catch partner after that. And it was when it was when it was not being my catch part it was more of comedy hour I was. I would sit there just crack up about this guy all the time and all the you know, the antics
and stuff that he always had going on. And it was pretty good for me because it was, you know, great to play catch with a young up and coming player that you know, had that enthusiasm and just like newness of the game. And they kind of reminded me of, you know, to be appreciative of you know, where we're at because you know, that's that's the one thing you can you know, you hear and tells the whole time.
As baseball is, you know, the old players are grow up me and the new players are too happy, and sometimes it's going to put yourself in the young player's shoes again as a as an old player, just see how fun and and how much uh you know, how new and how exciting the game was when you first came up.
Those are great stories. I love hearing that, and I know fans love hearing that kind of stuff. Before I let you go, I asked fans to call in again tonight with the Dodgers and Yankees getting set for tomorrow. Where were you when Freddie Freeman hit his walk off Grand Slam? And did you feel like it was going to happen?
Oh?
I I don't know whether it was to the Gland Slam was going to happen. I thought, definitely, we're getting to hit in that situation, and you know things were gonna I was actually capping the lineup and see who was behind him, to see how we're setting up for that.
But I knew he was going to get something done. I could just feel it.
It was like one of those you know moments that those great clutch hits for the Dodgers that you see replayed in history that I mean, you don't want to be jump on, but the gifts and home run that replayed a thousand times inside the stadium every time I played there when the team was behind. You know, it was one of those moments that were setting up for there.
And I was actually sitting at a baseball game in Phoenix watching what of my kids playing when it happened, and I just see you could hear the little four pack of you know, baseball fields at these club games. You could hear the four pack of people at the fans. He could hear cheering and groaning all at the same time of all the parents and everyone watching the game, watching the kids games, but also watching the World Series on the phone.
Hey, how's your guy at Noble Bakery in Phoenix handling it? Because every time you take me there, he's got a Yankee hat on. He's mister New York. How is he handling the Dodgers being the Yankees? Daddy?
Uh, Jared dare my guy. Darre's actually funny story is we hopped on a plate.
The next days together that he too and yeah, yeah, yeah, so he was. He took it. He took it better.
You know the Yankee fans, they like to say, well we have twenty I said, well, you one, you won twenty of them when there's only four teams in the league. So, uh, you know that's that's what time might joke to him about that. But yeah, he took it pretty well. And uh he makes the great flies of pizza over there. I think we've had lunch there together, right.
Great spot, great spot. I recommend it. Great guy. He's one of the few fans that we like.
Yes, one of the few.
And you know what I missed me and you getting a slice of pizza in downtown La at Prince at Prince Street Pizza.
I had a couple a couple of years.
Ago, we got a slice together there.
Uh yeah, games, you know all the spots. Still you're still the king of foodie.
Yeah, Prince Prince Street Pizza one of my favorite places to grab a place in downtown Me schooser again.
I love it. We actually were having this debate during the rain delay, where the best slice of pizza is in LA and you just you just solved the answer for all of us.
Well, here's the Stadium. I like that Prince Street my still favorites maybe kind of.
I mean forgotten or maybe not, but I.
Like Oysteria or Pizza Ria Moza. Oh yeah, they're on Melrose in Highland. That's you know, one of my favorite all time places. I think they kind of were at the forefront of just going to a restaurant to sit down and have a whole pie type restaurant was based around the pizza pie. And yeah, it's kind of one of those great slices that you forget is there, but every time you have it, and if you've had it before, it just as like, oh yeah, I remember this.
Great memories, Dre and certainly everybody in Los Angeles remembers them and appreciate how you just left it all out on the field, no regrets and we can't wait to see you back at Dodger Stadium soon.
Well, thank you, appreciate it. And uh yeah, I'm having fun time watching this team and you know, watching this Dodger, this brand, this new brand of Dodger Baseball and this next generation of guys, it's exciting to see and exciting to you know, still be somewhat a part of the organization. And get a chance to see it kind of firsthand.
Yeah, I can't wait to do this in person. We'll see you on this homestand maybe.
All right, appreciate it and go sun Devils this week and at the UTLA Regional.
I know you don't like that, but.
Yeah, for them, I mean, I'll pretend that you have a chance to win. But John Savage is my guy.
All right, all right, we'll
Hear the fork