And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Well, he's out of his South Bay bubble. I'm back at Dodgers Stadium, suited and booted and ready to go for tonight's game against the Mets. And that is one of the greatest hitters we have ever seen a Major League Baseball and he's our own. Nomar, garciapara, Nomar. Thanks a lot for the time, Dave.
You know, it's always good to see you.
I mean, you have that beach glow after being out there in the South Bay, you know, on the strand, you come back ready to go.
Well, you know, we were off the last couple of weekends, you know, because the games were nationally televised, you know, with Fox and ESPN and then Apple TV taking it all. So we were off a little bit. We enjoyed ourselves for the last couple of weekends, but at the same time, I did enjoy watching the Dodgers, you know, win that series this past weekend.
For a number of different reasons. How important was it for the Dodgers to, hey, come back against Max Freed on Friday night and then be come back the way they did on Saturday.
Listen, no matter what, you always say, win the series, right, we talk about that all the time, and they did that, and it was a great way in which they did that, the way they battled back, the way they persevered. I mean, I know every fan was hoping for a sweet but at the same time, you know, let's consider and take in the series win and continue that momentum against another tough team coming into town.
No, Mark, I feel like with the Otani celebration on a nightly basis, the incredible things he does incredibly Freddie Freeman gets lost in the shuffle. What do you appreciate the most about Freddy and do you feel like sometimes we forget about him?
Well, listen, this is a team full of superstars, so I don't think we forget about Freddie Freeman. I mean, at the same time, we're just also amazed at what Otani is doing on a regular basis. But Freddie Freeman, I don't think it's lost. Freddy Freeman is just a professional. He's a Hall of Famer. That's what he is, a Hall of Fame player going out there and doing it on a nightly basis. What I love about Freddie Freeman is not only his consistency. But he always talks about
how batting average matter scene. It really does, because he understands, you know, in this age of analytics, and if you really look back, if you hit three hundred, all those other numbers fall into place. If you worry about that, your ops, all this other stuff that just happens. And he knows that. So that's why he focuses on that. I think if more and more players do that, they're going to be where they need to be.
When you hear Freddy talk about hitting, do you identify or relate with the way you used to approach hitting?
But I do enjoy talking to him about hitting. And it's not just my approach. I think, you know, there was there was this older thought about hitting, an approach and you and he talks a lot about those things that was taught to me what I would hear around
the clubhouse or other players when I was playing. So yeah, there is some you know, familiarity when he's speaking about hitting, like, oh, yeah, exactly, hit lane, drive, stay up the middle, stay on the other side, you know, stay back, shorten up with two strikes. You know, guys when they're in scoring position, it's a different mentality. That's my guy to knock in. I have to figure out how to knock him in and look with the defense and what the other team is giving.
Maybe you can translate some hitting lingo that Freddie threw on us a couple of weeks ago. He said he feels like his swing is where he wants it to be. Even last year he said he had this cut swing. Hard to believe his swing was not on yet last year either.
Yeah, I think he's when he's cutting the swing, you know, he cuts it off and he's not barreling it up or staying on the ball as long as he would like. Yeah, there are times when maybe he'll get a hit and he still hovers around, you know, he's still hovering around three hundred and doing what he was doing. But at the same time, it might be off the off the end of the bat or the way the ball is coming off your bat. It's not coming off with that
backspin that you like. Sometimes it has kind of that we call like a flare or just kind of you know, tails away, especially when you're going the other way. So that's sometimes you're cutting the ball off. You're hitting it maybe not square right behind us, so you don't create that backspin you like.
All right, now we got it. You explained the Freddie Freeman next level hitting to the common man like us.
We listen. Like I said, he he is fun to watch and he is special in watching his consistency, his joy for the game, and how hard he works. It's truly truly something to admire. No More.
Garcia Para is our guest in front of first pitch between the Dodgers and Mets, a four game series here at Dodgers Stadium, and no more. You obviously played in so many big games. What does a weekend like this past one, dude, to kind of get you a little extra something to get through? You know, the hot summer months of June.
Well, listen, I think you know you you had their certain series that you know, okay, there's a lot of height behind it. There's you feel that, you feel that the energy from the fans as well, and you want to play well. You're playing against a good team, and listen,
the Dodgers can't let up. I think as a Dodgers you look, you're thinking, hey, this is just part of what we have, all the run of all these good teams that we're playing that are going to be in contention or you assume they're going to be in contention down the stretch. So you're trying to win the series. I know it's cliche, but it's true. You do have to take it one game at a time. You can't look past you can't you couldn't look thinking past the Yankees and think of the Mets. So now that you
go out there, you tip play a tough series. Now you've got to come in and play a series against a tough team that just beat you over at their home field, and you want to return the favors. So you're like, listen, we got to be at the top of the game, and then you have to continue that. It doesn't stop after that because then you're going over there and you're playing a hot team over the over the weekend after this week finishes. So you just got
to be on. And you know this is not the bad time to be on because you're going through May June. This is when you're right in the thick of it. This is when you're kind of feeling where you're supposed to be and this is who we are, and the weather's nicer, this is the heart of it, and you love these this month.
Hey it's hot, the weather's warmer, but no, Mar's hair is still perfect. You'll see it tonight on sports net LA. Thanks a lot for the time Nomar appreciates Dave.
Always great talking to you.