It's Game one of the NLDS and we're joined right now by a Dodger that has certainly had his big moments in the postseason, and that is today's third baseman, Max Munsey. Max, thanks a lot for the time.
Appreciate it always, David, always anything for you.
Hey, it's appropriate that we're talking to you before the first postseason game this season because you have embraced this stage. What's it like being back out here again and having another opportunity at a World Series?
Oh, it's always fun. This is this is why you play the game. And you know, a chance to play a first game at home in front of our fans in this stadium, you know, there's nothing better than that. This place is always electric. We love playing here. I've always loved playing here, and you know, I just it always has a different feel, especially in the postseason.
You're a guy that's been around this ball club and has really been part of the fabric of the culture. How important is it for these group of Dodgers to not get too far ahead of yourselves.
Well, you know, we have quite a few guys that haven't really experienced this yet on this team, and it's kind of fresh and it's kind of new for everybody, and uh, you know, obviously the biggest one as our leadoff hitter. Yeah, you know, we're all really excited. And just as as the season kind of came to an end, it was you could definitely tell those guys that hadn't been here the energy they brought started bringing everyone else up a little bit. And I think you saw that
during our last series against them. You know, just there was a ton of energy that we hadn't really had all year and it was a refreshing for us and it was something that we needed. And you know, it's
been carrying over this whole week. We've had a really good week preparing and we've had really fun week preparing, and you know, it's hard to it's hard to say that you have fun, but you know, we did get rewarded with a buye and that was something that we hadn't treated the last two years as was a reward. We were stressed out about it, trying to figure out
what we wanted to do. So, you know, we approached it different this year, and we we were obviously very serious about our work and we actually probably got better work and than we had the last two years. While we're trying to have more fun.
What was the biggest difference in preparation from the last two years to this year.
Well, you know, we just did a lot of team events this year, you know, and that was something that me and Will and Moo and miggiy Roe we all put together that you know, we should have these watch parties after our workouts at the stadium, and you know, something we hadn't done before, and it was kind of just one of those things where it's like, you know,
in the past, we've had these five days often. You know, it's a lot of time you get to spend at home, and you know, when you're out here every single day as you as you know for eight months, when you include spring training, you're not used to being at home, and so when you're at home for five days and you know, it just kind of seeps in a little bit. And that's something that we tried to change this year.
We wanted to spend as much time as we could at the field, being together, being the boys, being a team, you know, just having fun team events, you know, doing things together as a group. And you know, we've definitely spent more time together these five days than we have in the best.
Max, you are one of the more confident guys and you exude it, but respect your opponent. What's the balance between giving the Padres their due respect but not giving them too much respect and remembering, like Daniel Hudson did in New York, that you guys are still the Dodgers with the best record in baseball.
Look, it's the postseason. There's no such thing as a bad team in the postseason. These guys are really good and that's really all you need to say about it. They're they're a really good team. But if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. And so that's where we're at right now. We got to go out there and play our game, and we do feel like we're the best team out here and we have to prove it. But as I've told you, I don't know how many times this year, we're not
necessarily playing the opponent as we're playing ourselves. And that's one of those things where you have to prepare properly. You have to game plan properly, you have to you know, go out there and XU things properly, and if you're able to play the game against yourself as good as you can. The opponent really shouldn't.
Matter, makes sense, Max months. He's a World Series Champion for a reason, bringing a champion attitude to this NLDS and beyond. Thanks a lot for the time, Max appreciate it.
Yeah, of course, always