Well, it's officially Matt Camp Day today, but it was Matt Camp Day every time twenty seven was in the starting lineup. And Matt Camp is back home here at Dodgers Stadium being celebrated. Man, Matt, great to have you back and so happy the Dodgers are recognizing a great career.
I'm happy to be back, man. It's a special moment for me and my family. And to be able to come back where it all started. This is really exciting and I can't, you know, wait to get out there and see everybody.
What was your reaction when you found out the Dodgers wanted to have a Matt Camp Day.
I mean I was. I was surprised. You know, Lon had been coming to me with it for a little while and I was like, go ahead and and scheduling. I kind of had put my I guess I guess you could say my retirement hole for a while. But I officially did it, and Lone was like, now it's time to do this. So to be able to to come back and see all this and see all these familiar faces, it's exciting.
Yeah, so many people giving Mac. I'm a lot of love here. I mean, it's not just former teammates. It's not just workers here, it's media that Matt camp is loving to see. I guess that's one thing that players always talk about. You miss the people.
Yeah, absolutely, from the janitors to the to the elevator people. You know, they're all part of the team. They're all part of the family. And when you come back, you see familiar faces. It's always good to see everybody. Everybody loves working here, working at Dodger Stadium and seeing and being around all the players. And you know, most of the people that work here, they've worked here for a
long long time. So yeah, they're they're consistent, and uh, they're part of this winning process that goes on here in LA.
When you were playing, I always remembered how much Don Newcombe meant to you. You would always go over there and talk to him during batting practice. Now that you're a retired Dodger and having Matt Kemp Day, do you feel the need to pay it forward?
Oh? Absolutely, you know today, you know, I was sitting next to Steve at a Yager during luncheon. I was like, is this what it feels like to officially be old? And he was like, yeah, this is how it is. Don't get no better than this, And I was like, you know, I'm one of those guys now, so I definitely needed wanting to pay it forward and just offering whatever help I can.
Your partner in crime, Andre Ethier was here this weekend. What was it like seeing him again? It's always good seeing him. You know, that's my guy. We came up together, and to be able to.
See it's just a lot of good guys, a lot of good Jerry Turner, my guy.
He looks the same.
Unfortunately, it looks just as beautiful as ever. No, it's just just this is this is home. So to just come back here, it's been a while to come back and see everybody that's still here, it's amazing.
I know everybody talks about Matt Keemp's twenty eleven, but I remember when you first broke in, and I remember how special two thousand and eight was for all you guys, especially when Manny Ramirez came here to take you under your wing, under his wing. What was those two seas like eight and No.
Nine four you It's definitely special. You know, it paved away for me to become a better hitter. He's man, he's one of the top right hand hitters of all times. And uh, what better to learn from than a guy like him. Learned a lot from him and even to this day, you know, with you know, family, friends and people that I know in baseball. A lot of the things he teaches me, I kind of pay it forward to some of these younger guys. And it's crazy, you know,
the younger guy. A lot of younger guys don't even know who many Ramirez is, but then they go google him and they're like, oh, this dude was bad dude. So it's just surprised. It's shocking to to to to see, uh, you know, guys not know who he is, but you know, I kind of remind him of how good he was, and uh, it's just cool to give him that little.
Nugget of information. What's it like coming back here because a lot of the current Dodgers were your teammates as well. Some of them are you know, ten year service time now, like Miguel Rojas and Kei y Hernandez.
Man, it's crazy, man. That means I'm I'm officially old. That means I'm old.
I think you could take right field tonight, Yeah, and pull.
A hammy No, it's just good to see those guys flourish. And uh, when I was here, you know, they were still not necessarily starting out, but they were still in the middle kind of beginning middle of their career. And now they're vets on the team. So it's cool to they're still, you know, in the big leagues. That means that says a lot. And uh, they're playing really well.
Do you keep tabs on the Dodgers from Texas or Oklahoma?
Yeah? Absolutely, I got I got the alert on my you know, MLB network thing on my phone, the app, so I always know what's going on. You get to set your your uh, you know, I got pretty much all the guys that I'm close to as alerts when they do something good. So I'm always seeing all the good and the bad and and everything. It's baseball.
He still he still got the ear for the right music.
Oh yeah, I always have that. I just music's different now, so I kind of like stick to the older the older music.
I guess that's what your car generation.
Oh yeah, I guess our generation. I'm not that old, but I'm old.
No you're not. You still got a great smile, and it's great that Dodgers have brought you back to have Matt Kemp Day and certainly just enjoy it because you earned it.
I'll try, man, I'll try my best. I'll try not to cry.
I got money on one tier at least.
That's why I got. You got glasses For that, you got glasses. So I'm good.
Hey, miss you, and it's great having you back here.
I miss you too, man. Your style is getting a lot better. Man, I'm proud of you.
Hey, you finally cracked through all the advice. You made me smell good when you played, and now I'm trying to look good.
That's what I'm talking about, baby,