Welcome back to Dodger Talk. David Vase with you until eight o'clock tonight here on a five to seventy LA Sports. The Dodgers are back in action tomorrow night against the Baltimore Orioles. The last time the Dodgers and Orioles ever met in the World Series was back in nineteen sixty six, the last season Sandy Kofax ever pitched in Major League Baseball before retiring and joining us right now is a man that learned quite a bit in his catching career from the great Sandy Kofax while he was in the
Dodger organization. A two time World Series champion as a player with the Dodgers in nineteen eighty one in nineteen eighty eight, he holds the distinction for catching more games than any other Dodger in franchise history. He also holds the distinction of being the only manager to lead an Angels team to the World Series. And now he has taken his talents global with Team USA. He is back managing for Team USA in the premiere twelve and that is the one and only Mike Sooshia. Mike, thanks a
lot for coming on. Appreciate it.
David great to be with you, and boy did I learn a lot from Sandy. You're right about that. It was just a great experience to be around a lot of those great Dodgers, and Sandy was at the top of the list.
Mike, Is it true. I've heard stories from past reporters that told me Sandy Kofax would throw BP to you guys in Vero Beach. Is that true?
Yes, he would, and he still got us out. He was THROWBP last time I remember was nineteen eighty five. I remember hitting off of him on the lower fields and he still had that curve ball. You could hear. It was unbelievable, and he really enjoyed it. He loved it. And then I think he finally his shoulder gave out, but he loved it. You know, anything he could do to make us a little better, he put his time in and just a tremendous man.
You feel like, who makes you this manager? Now? That team USA once was was kind of built as a catcher as a young catcher in the Dodger organization with all these guys being around like Sandy.
Oh, there's no way, I mean, excuse me, there's no doubt that. Uh, you know, the way that I took through the Dodger organization was uh special. And to get so many great baseball minds around you at such a young age and just being smart enough to shut up
and listen was really important to to my development. Is not only a player, but getting opportunity to manage and uh you know the great the great guys like Roy Campanella, Sandy Kofax, Del Krandall playing for Timeless Order for all those years Joel Malfatano Monty basketballin had a whole list, uh you know of of of coaches that I had, and uh that that just that just had a huge impact on me.
All right, So all these years of managing and playing and all the knowledge and experience you've gained has brought you to Team USA. You managed in the Olympics and now here you are back again managing this Premiere twelve team. Can you explain the type of players that you'll be managing and is this a qualifier necessary to be able to have Team USA here in LA in twenty twenty eight.
Well, since we're the home country, we will get an automatic bid into the twenty eight Olympics. But this is important tournament. David it's really for world seeding and world ranking. We're going to be playing really tough teams. There's twelve teams around the you know globe that are really that just excel in baseball. You know teams, teams from you know, Mexico and Venezuela and Cuba and Japan, Korea, these these
It's gonna be a tough tournament. So we'll play a series of Mexico to get going, hopefully get through that and then head to Tokyo. And the quality of players in the caliber players is going to be very high. We can't use forty man roster guys, but we can use a lot of guys that have major league experience that aren't attached to a team when we play. And then some of the young guys coming up that are in Double A and Triple A that haven't hit forty
man rosters yet. So we're excited about the group. We're putting the rosters together as we speak, through these last this last month and moving forward getting ready for the tournament, so we'll be ready to go.
We hear about when these players want to play in the World Baseball Classic that are on the forty man roster. Mike obviously the team has a lot of say and how many innings the pitchers can pitch, and just the restrictions on them. Will you have the same type of challenges managing this Premiere twelve tournament.
If a player is with an affiliated team in an organization, most likely yes, if there's but there's a lot of guys that are are pitching an independent ball, a lot of guys that are pitching you overseas right now that aren't really affiliated with an organization, so they'll be able to you know, we'll be able to use them probably, you know, a little in some of the roles we want, but certainly every organization wants to protect their players, and we'll be looking at the guys that are in the
Fall League. They'll be hopefully ramped up or ready to go, and if they can come, we'll we'll live with whatever restrictions the organization gives us.
I was talking to Dino Ebel, who is going to join your staff for this Premiere twelve, and I let him know that Team USA put out there with you, Ron Rennicky, Dino Ebel, Dave Wallace, among the others on your coaching staff. There is eighty four years of coaching experience on this staff, and Dino said, you got eighty of them.
I would expect, you know, to say that, but yeah, I'm excited about our staff. I think we've got guys that are going to set an environment. And it's one of the things I learned from Tommy is just how important that environment is. The player's got to come in feeling he's going to achieve, you're going to win, and we'll certainly do our best to such to set that environment. I think the players will feed off of that. This
is a tough tournament. I mean in the past, you know, you had Shohe playing for Team Japan in twenty fifteen, Break came over here in this tournament. You know, guys like you know, croner Worth played here, Bond with the guy with Phillies and with Philly, and Rooker with the A's dollback with Boston. These guys all played in this tournament. So it's going to be a high level tournament and we'll be ready to go.
Mike Soosha is our guest. He is Team USA's manager in the Premiere twelve tournament coming up this November. And as you know, Mike, we just mentioned it the Olympics are coming back to Los Angeles and Dodgers Stadium for the first time since nineteen eighty four, and there's been some major league players that are trying to encourage Rob Manfred to find a way to have major leaguers participate in the Olympics. How do you feel about that during the summer of twenty eight.
Well, obviously would be welcome, I think, you know, I really think the best base on the world has played here in the United States, although Japan has really done well in the international level over the past five or six years. But it would be great. You know, it'll be welcomed these players if they want to play. I
just don't know about the logistics. I don't see how baseball is going to shut down for the two to three weeks it would have to to get this, you know, to get these Olympics finished, and and then you know, rampant back up. So there's so many hurdles that are going to come into play, and it might be a little bit difficult.
You still would I mean, if major leaguers can't do it, I would be open to having maybe the top prospects in the minor leagues or even the top college baseball players, Mike, that's how they did it in eighty four, and they turned out to be Will Clark and Mark McGuire.
They did well. They were all collegiate players back in eighty four, and you're right, they had They had a really good team. And you know a lot of these guys were just you know, cutting their teeth into that hadn't even played in pro pro ball. Yet we're going
to have a good team. I would like to the Olympics at least to open it up to forty man roster guys, maybe some guys that are in a minor in major leagues, but are forty man guys, and that would give you a deeper talent pool and you know, a team that you know, you could really go out there and contend.
I know it's a few years away, but since you are very much involved in USA Baseball, what are the chances that you're managing Team USA in the twenty eight Olympics.
Well, let's get by this tournament first. A lot happening, you know, a lot can happen in four years. I just you know, I just know how much what a great experience it was in Tokyo, And even though with COVID. It was still a great experience, and I think that, you know, whoever gets an opportunity to manage in the UH the twenty eight Olympics here in southern California, it's going to be the same incredible experience.
Mike, do you remember your Dodger season in eighty four where you guys had to be away for an extended period of time. What was that summer like for you guys in eighty four while the Olympics were going on at Dodger Stadium.
Yeah, I want to think it was like a thirteen day road trip. I might be mistaken, but you know, when you're young and you go out and you're you know, you're always you're always somewhere playing baseball. So we didn't put too much stock into it. You know, eighty four was a little bit of a of a you know, a little bit of a mediocre year for us. We'll be bounced back in eighty five. But I honestly, I don't I couldn't tell you a lot about it other than you know, it was a long road trips for sure.
Mike's Sooshia is our guest, one of the best catchers of his generation. And I've had some hitters these days, Mike tell me the saying, if you reach, I'll teach, Meaning catchers these days are reaching for pitches a little bit too early, and there's a lot more catchers interference these days then I can ever remember what is that all about? With so much catchers interference these.
Days, Well, there's no doubt that the catching business position is changing. You know, I'm not going to say it's for the better, but it's changing into and it's evolving into really trying to steal a strike, steal a low strike. You're moving your glove a lot. You're trying to catch the ball out in front to keep it keep that low pitch looking like it's a strike. And at times your glove's going to get out there a little bit early and you're going to get some interference calls, that's
for sure. It's just really the it's the philosophy of you know, a lot of analytically driven teams to say, look, we're going to do everything we can to steal that low pitch, and here's the way you have to do it. So there's a lot of glove movement. The glove is out in front and you know, My position on this whole thing is you always want to represent a good target for the pitcher. And we were taught to get low strikes back in nineteen seventy six instructure in the league.
I remember being taught how to get a low pitch from guys like Johnny Roseboro and Del Crandall and Roy Campanella. And you were in a conventional stance, and you learned how to get up underneath that low pitch and frame it and make it look good. And they've taken it to the nth degree, so you're going to see a
little lot more movement. You know, there's certainly a one knee aspect to catching right now, to try to get low that is, that is making some of the other things, not that it's impossible, but some of the other things you catcher has to do a little more difficult. So you know, just like you're talking about catchers, interferences is up for this simple reason. These you know, catchers are reaching a little bit to try to keep that low pitch looking like a strike.
I remember growing up they would always talk about a good catcher is quiet behind the plate. That doesn't sound very quiet when you're moving as much as these guys are.
Well, you're certainly not quiet, and before even before you receiving the ball, I think it's important to give and give that pitcher a definitive target. That's part of the pitcher catcher communication that are so important. I think pitchers need to have that target. They need to understand what their focus is. Uh. There's an old adage in almost every sport. I know it's in golf and baseball. We
talk about it am small miss small. So if these pitchers can get a good target and really zero in on what part of your glove, there's a better chance they're going to execute a pitch. So you know, that's where I think you looked at Bob Boone. What a tremendous receiver he was, How quiet he was, Johnny Bench, you know, all the all the great receivers that were you know a little before me. But those guys were the class of their own and the league of their own.
And I think it has a lot of merit on the way they received the ball and they they got more strikes called then, uh, you know, than anyone else on borderline pitches.
Yeah, you guys were pretty good back in the day without trying to do all these different things things. Uh, I guess you used to present the strike. That's the term that you used to talk about, right, Mike, present the strike to the umpire and not try to yank it.
Oh you want to you want to hold that ball there and and and you're right, give the umpire a good look at where you held that ball. You know, you worked on getting strong hands and being able to control the ball. That was that was all part of the training you went through as a young catcher. And I'm sure it's the same now as far as how important you know, the priory they put on having strong
hands and controlling the ball. It's just there's a there's a huge there's a huge gap in the guys that put the ball on the plate, put put the glove on the plate, and they come up to catch a pitch and then they keep going. You know, it almost ends up high higher or you know, or waist high on a pitch that was maybe four inches low. So there's a lot of glove movement. I think you're you're you're going to see, uh, some issues and guys on if a guy's running and some of the transfers that
go on. It's just a different philosophy that's really in play right now, David.
All right, Mike, Well, we can't solve the world's problems today, but hopefully with you teaching at these youth academies, you could teach the next generation how to do it the right way.
All right. Well, I appreciate that, and there's a lot of talented catchers out there. It's fun to watch. I just the philosophy is totally different, that's for sure.
Look forward to keeping tabs on Mike, Soosha, Dinu Ebel, Ron, Rennicky and the rest of the Team USA team in the Premiere twelve tournament coming up in November. Mike, thanks a lot for your time. We always learn a lot from you, and despite me hosting the show, I appreciate you doing.
This all right, all right, David, thanks a lot.
Thanks Mike.
We'll see you as